Quaranteam - Team Tim Ch. 16

This is a spinoff of CorruptingPower's Quaranteam Universe. I have 'written' many stories in my head and have started typing some of these into the computer in the past, but it has been the Quaranteam Universe that has spurred me to keep going. Thanks go to CorruptingPower for letting me play in his universe, and a big shout out to the growing group of spin-off authors for their help and encouragement.

Quaranteam: Team Tim

by The_Licentious_Laureate

Chapter 16.

Tim's Team starts to prepare for unwanted visitors.

Dramatis Personae:

Dr Tim Fletcher (27). - Cambridge University PhD graduate in Virology.

Tim's partners at the start of the chapter:

Dr Siobhan (pronounced Shiv-Awn) O'Sullivan (26). - Cambridge University PhD graduate in Virology. From Ireland.

Rana al-Awadhi (21). - Just graduated from the London School of Economics with a degree in Economics. From Kuwait.

Jenny Wright (21). - Just graduated from King's College, London, with a degree in Biomedical Sciences.

Ashley (Ash) Taylor (19). - General help. Had been training as a hairdresser.

Tammy Millbank (Romsey) (22). - Chef, daughter of a celebrity chef. Has her own YouTube cooking channel.

Maria Fernández (45). - Housekeeper, previously worked as a nanny. Originally from Spain.

Catherine (Kate) Bennett (25). - RAF Flying Officer, No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron.

Grace Jarrett (24). - 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Battalion, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.

Nicole Hughes (24). - 'Cornet' (2nd Lieutenant), Blues & Royals, part of the Household Cavalry.

Known in-bound partners for Tim:

Rachel Harris (27). - Tim's former girlfriend during his first degree at Durham University.

Lakshmi Mistry (20). - Friend of Ashley.

Other recurring characters:

Tim's parents: Brian Fletcher (Electrician, 55), Doreen Fletcher (previously a shop worker at Iceland, 53).

Tim's older brother: Mike Fletcher (Electrician, 29).

Tim's sister: Helen Fletcher (Retail worker for Marks & Spencer, 25).

Professor David Mackay (39). - Tim and Siobhan's professor at Cambridge University.

Reginald Fortescue. - RAF Squadron Leader. In charge of the Trials Phase of the vaccine rollout in the UK. Based at RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire.

Dr Hillary Grainger. - A member of Reginald Fortescue's Team and part of the Trials Phase vaccine rollout.

Monday, 27th July 2020 (Evening)

Although the news from Ash had buoyed them up a bit, it was still a sombre group that made their way out of the breakfast room that evening, each of them going to spend some time on their own.

Tim was one of the last to leave, still thinking about what Kate had told them all regarding the Russian threat. He knew that Siobhan was going to videochat with her family on their farm in Ireland and wondered whether he should do something similar, it being possibly his last chance to talk to his family before the Russian situation resolved itself, one way or the other. He hadn't quite made up his mind when Rana stepped up beside him. Taking hold of his hand, she rose up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

"My period has now finished and, well, ..." she whispered to him and, with that, any notion of contacting his parents was banished from his thoughts.

Still holding his hand, Rana led Tim to the nearest staircase before letting go. Starting to climb the stairs, she looked back to ensure that Tim was following her before she proceeded to run up the remainder. She waited for him at the top, reaching for his hand as soon as he arrived beside her. Rather than leading him to the master bedroom, though, she stopped and opened the door to the bedroom that she and Jenny had been sharing before her imprinting.

"I still think of this as my bedroom, even though I now share the master with you all," Rana explained, noting the expression on Tim's face. "Jenny and I use it occasionally and we still keep a few clothes here to change into. Now come here and kiss me."

Tim stepped fully into the room, closing the door behind him before wrapping Rana in his arms and gently placing his lips against hers. Rana's right hand moved to the back of Tim's head, her fingers pushing into his hair to hold him in place as her lips parted slightly, inviting him to explore her mouth further. Pushing her hips forward, she gently ground them against Tim's upper thigh, at the same time as their tongues duelled, moaning softly into his mouth.

Finally breaking the kiss, Rana laid her head against Tim's shoulder.

"This feels perfect," she whispered, more to his chest than to him. They stayed like that for a while, choosing not to talk. Eventually, Rana pulled away and sat on the end of the bed, patting the space beside her with her hand.

"Come and sit down, Tim. Would it be OK if we talk a bit first?"

"Of course," Tim replied, sitting down next to her where she had indicated.

Rana reached out and took hold of his hand, pulling it into her lap with both of hers. "Tim," she began, turning her body slightly to better look at him. "I've talked with Jenny, but feel I need to share a few things with you."

"Go ahead," Tim encouraged her, feeling a little unsure about what she might want to talk about.

"Kuwait has no laws against polygamy," she informed him, "and about 8% of Kuwaiti men have more than one wife. The Quran allows men to have up to four wives, but that is very rare. Also, a man is required to treat all his wives equally."

"That's a laudable aim, but does it ever work out in practice?" Tim enquired.

"Sometimes," Rana replied. "But often there are feelings of animosity between the wives, the first fearing that she's being displaced in her husband's affections, usually by a younger woman. My father married my stepmother before my mum died. She even helped him court his new wife, once she knew her illness was incurable. And having a second wife definitely helped my father recover after my mother died."

"Oh wow," Tim retorted. "There's a lot there to think about."

"I guess," Rana conceded, with a shrug. "Anyway, my family used to travel back to Kuwait for about three months every winter, sometimes taking the yacht and other times flying, moving into our family's large house in Kuwait City. While I was at Cheltenham and later at Uni, I'd travel there once the Autumn term ended and back to the UK before the Spring term began."

"So you escaped Christmas?" Tim observed, with a laugh.

"Can you escape Christmas? It basically starts in September!" Rana exclaimed. "Anyway, my best friend back in Kuwait is my cousin Aisha. She's the daughter of my mum's younger brother, Faisal, and one of his wives. When he returned from the UK after studying for a degree here, he met two cousins who basically went everywhere together. He struggled to choose which of them to court until they told him that they'd prefer to stay together. He ended up marrying them both, and I can never remember which of them is Aisha's mum."

"How are they doing?" Tim asked.

"Not very well," Rana confided, looking down at her lap where her hands clasped one of his. "They have already lost all of their younger children. Aisha is a year younger than me, and her brother Ahmed, the son of the other cousin, is a few months younger than her. All of their other children have died, even though the adults are managing to keep themselves safe. The only other young person there now is Perlah."

"Who's Perlah?" Tim wondered where the conversation was going.

"She's my cousin's best friend. I suppose she's also technically my cousin, but it doesn't really work like that."

"Why not?" Tim enquired.

"She's the daughter of Liesel, a servant from the Philippines," Rana explained, letting go of Tim's hand and retrieving her phone from her back pocket. "Her mother joined Faisal's father's household after one of his older brothers got her pregnant and discarded her. While Faisal was growing up, Liesel was always there and they were each other's first."

"So that would also make Leisel Faisal's cousin," Tim surmised, tilting his head towards Rana.

Rana had opened her phone and started flicking through her photos. Stopping, she looked at Tim, a puzzled expression on her face. "I'd never thought about her like that, but I suppose she is, although again she's not recognised as such." She returned to her photographs before finding the one that she was looking for. "This is Aisha and Perlah," she explained, showing Tim a photograph of two young women, both about the same height. One looked a lot like Rana, while the other looked slightly more Asian.

"They look like two beautiful young women," Tim stated, honestly.

Rana put the phone down on the bed and reclaimed Tim's hand.

"They are," she confirmed. "After Faisal married the cousins, Liesel went to live with them and gave him Perlah. As she's not classed as a Kuwaiti or an Arab, she's not treated the same way legally, although Faisal and his wives treat both Liesel and Perlah as equal members of their family."

"That sounds really messed up," Tim commented. "What does Faisal do for a living?"

"He's a secondary school teacher. He teaches sciences and English. That is, he did. I'm not sure that there will be many students left now. He knows that some of them have died, but probably doesn't know the full extent as it's been about six weeks since the Summer term ended, although everything was online by then and he didn't have that many students attending by the end of term."

"That must have been very hard for your uncle. He sounds like someone who really cares."

"It was and he is. And, hopefully, things may change, that is if Kuwait survives," Rana explained. "The viruses are devastating Kuwaiti society. Only about 40% of the people in Kuwait are actually Kuwaiti while another 20% are Arabs from other states in the Gulf. The rest are mostly Asians brought in to work there; Liesel is one of them. Many Kuwaitis can't function without their servants, but don't provide them with everything they need. This seemingly extended to facemasks and other protection against the viruses, although they still expect them to continue working as before."

"That's just stupid," Tim exclaimed. "An unprotected servant could catch the virus and take it back to their employer."

"That's exactly what has happened," Rana concurred. "In fact, the ruling House of Al-Sabah has been devastated in just that way, or so I've been informed by Faisal. Sheik Sabah Al-Ahmad is rumoured to have died, as has the Crown Prince, Sheik Mishal Al-Ahmad, both deaths widely reported and being discussed on social media without any rebuttals. The fate of other members of the ruling family is less well known, but Faisal believes that most of them have died. The country is currently in turmoil with no apparent leadership. There are many wanting to break from the current system, and believe this to be the best time to do it. But the National Assembly is ineffective and corruption has been widespread in Kuwait, so what comes next may be no better."

"You worry for your friends, don't you," Tim offered.

"I do," Rana wailed, letting go of Tim's hand only to wrap both of her arms around him and bury her face in his shoulder.

Tim, in turn, wrapped both of his arms around her, holding her tight until he felt her relax.

"But they're managing to survive in these uncertain times?" Tim asked, making it sound more like a statement.

"They are," Rana replied, her head nodding against his upper chest. "And helping others, when they can. Faisal isn't interested in politics, just social justice, of which there's little in Kuwait especially for non-Arabs and the Bidoon." Rana lifted her head from Tim's shoulder to look up at him. "You know, the stateless tribespeople," she added, before laying her head back on his shoulder.

"There's nothing we can do for any of them, except pray," Tim stated, stroking the back of Rana's head. "At the moment, at least. Who knows what opportunities may present themselves? The Americans may even introduce an oil for vaccine scheme, if it would benefit them."

"I'd do almost anything to see them safe," Rana whispered, just loud enough for Tim to hear.

They continued to hug each other for a few minutes, each deep in their own thoughts.

"With all of the deaths in Kuwait, do you still need a son?" Tim asked eventually.

Rana again lifted her head to look at Tim's face. "I do," she replied simply, before adding, "One of my uncles has been trying to take over everything there that was my family's."

Moving to sit up more, Rana took hold of Tim's hand again. "He's not really my uncle, he's my father's cousin," she explained. "My great grandfather's wealth was divided equally amongst his sons, but that branch of the family squandered theirs and have always coveted the wealth of others, assuming that it should rightfully be theirs. He tried to have me declared dead, claiming that I was on my father's yacht!"

"How did you refute that?"

"Faisal contacted me and he acted as my advocate. I ended up having a Zoom call with the judge, just to prove that I was still alive," Rana explained.

"Faisal isn't trying to get any of your family's wealth, is he?"

"Faisal?" Rana exclaimed, looking confused. "Absolutely not. He's my mother's brother so has no grounds upon which to make a claim." Dropping her voice, she added, "Plus, I'd give it to him if it would help to keep them safe."

"So this uncle can't get at your family's wealth now?" Tim enquired.

"No," Rana stated, shaking her head. "I told you that the Kuwaiti National Assembly is ineffective, but they did make one good decision, even if it was to do nothing. Recently, they decided that too many people were dying and that, until that position changes, no claims to inherit should be considered other than from immediate family. They don't want judges deliberating and arriving at a decision only to find that the situation has changed due to someone else having died. They also don't want people being evicted while these viruses are still killing so many there. I've filed my claim, but I believe that my position would be immeasurably strengthened by having a son."

Looking up into Tim's eyes, she added, "As would being married. But I'm assuming that, by the time Kuwait is in any reasonable state, the secret will be out and our current arrangement will be deemed of similar standing."

"I'm expecting that the laws on marriage here will change eventually, should the vaccine be deployed widely," Tim replied. "Until then, though, I'll not be drawn into choosing only one of you." He punctuated the last sentence by placing a small kiss on Rana's nose.

"And if the law did change?" Rana asked, expectantly looking into Tim's eyes.

"Then how could I not ask you? You're one of the most important people in my life now and I don't expect that ever to change. Apart from my family, anyone who means anything to me is living in this house." Or they will be very soon, Tim reflected, his thoughts going to Rachel. "But wouldn't you want to marry Jenny?"

"Jenny and I have talked about that. We've always known that I would be marrying someone one day, probably chosen by my father, and that our relationship wouldn't survive that. Instead, though, we're both partnered with you and, if you were to marry both of us, then we'd be ..." Rana's voice tailed off.

"You'd be what? Sister wives?" Tim enquired.

"We'd be family," Rana stated, stressing the last word. "I told you that Kuwait has no laws banning polygamy and, even before this pandemic, my most cherished wish was to be able to share a husband with Jenny, not that I told her that."

"We already are family; me, you, Jenny, Siobhan. We don't need a piece of paper to know that."

"Not to you, me or the UK government, maybe," Rana explained. "But to the Kuwaiti legal system, it might prove very important."

"Oh, I hadn't thought about that," Tim acknowledged. "The only thing I've got any influence over at present, though, is babies. And even then, I can't guarantee their sex."

"I think you're under-selling yourself, Tim," Rana declared. "You may only think you have a small amount of influence, but from my perspective, you're an important government scientist at the forefront of the UK vaccine programme who may find he has a lot more influence in the future."

Tim just stared at Rana, his mouth slightly open and a confused expression on his face.

"You can't see it, can you, Tim?" Rana remarked, looking directly into his eyes. "You and Siobhan are amongst a small number of people in the UK with an in-depth knowledge of both the DuoHalo virus and the US vaccine. When this country starts to scale up its vaccination programme, who are they going to come to for that sort of information? At some point, it's going to get too big for the RAF."

"I've not thought that far ahead," Tim conceded. "In fact, I've not really thought past the current threat from the Russians."

"Kate and the girls are here with those big guns I saw this afternoon, so I know we're safe from the Russians," Rana asserted with a small laugh. "Later, though, when the opportunity comes knocking, all I ask is that you remember Kuwait."

Rana started pushing her hands up under Tim's camouflaged top. "Anyway, you mentioned something about babies. I won't get pregnant today, but I definitely need the practice," she stated, continuing to look into Tim's eyes until his top blocked her view.

That seemed to end their conversation as Rana started removing both of their clothes in a frenzy. She appeared to be in a hurry, but Tim had other ideas. When they were both completely naked, he held her firmly in his arms and kissed her, slowing her down and feeling her body relax and mould itself to his own.

"That's better," he whispered to her. "There's no rush; we don't need to be anywhere other than right here."

"I know that," Rana affirmed, rubbing her body against his, one hand dropping down to gently stroke his fully hardened cock. "But I can't wait to feel this inside me again."

"Shhh. You need to be patient. The best things come to those who wait." He picked Rana up in his arms and gently laid her down on the bed, before moving to lie beside her.

Tim took Rana in his arms again and started to kiss her. After kissing her mouth for a while, he moved to her throat before migrating up to her ear, giving the lobe a suck for good measure. Rana's body was vibrating with anticipation as he slowly trailed kisses down over her collar bone before kissing around her left breast in ever decreasing circles until he arrived at her areola. he circled the tip of his tongue around it twice, before latching on to her nipple and starting to suck gently.

Rana's head was thrown back, her eyes tightly closed, when Tim became aware of someone else in the bedroom, having emerged from the attached bathroom. Jenny put a finger to her lips and quickly proceeded to get undressed. Tim moved one of his hands slowly down Rana's body, running the tip of his index finger over her taut stomach. When he reached her mound, he cupped it gently before stroking his fingers through her folds that already glistened with her dew, her petals just starting to open, then began to gently caress her clit in small circles. Rana emitted a deep moan, as she started to writhe under Tim's ministrations.

When Jenny had fully disrobed, she approached the other side of the bed. Tim rocked Rana slightly to mask Jenny's movements as she climbed onto the bed from the other side, although he suspected with the way Rana was moving, she'd not notice anyway. It wasn't until Jenny's mouth latched onto Rana's other nipple, quickly followed by two of her fingers invading Rana's pussy, that Rana noticed, her eyes opening wide to see who else was there.

"Jen, you startled me there!" Rana exclaimed, breathing heavily.

Jenny unlatched from Rana's nipple and sat back on her heels, her hand still thrusting two of her fingers into Rana.

"Love you too, Rana," Jenny exclaimed. "And I can't wait until we're both Tim's wives."

"You ... were ... listening?" Rana asked, between gasps.

Jenny just nodded her head, while continuing to finger Rana.

The stimulation was getting too much for Rana. Her hips were jerking up and down, her arse clenching and unclenching sporadically as spikes of pleasure ripped through her body. This culminated in her letting out a strangled moan, her body going rigid and her pussy drenching Jenny's hand to the wrist, before she collapsed in a boneless mess on the bed, gasping for breath.

Tim pulled away from Rana's body while Jenny extracted her digits from Rana's abused pussy and started licking her hand.

"Masha Allah!" Rana exclaimed, her chest still rising and falling as she sucked in fresh lungfuls of air.

Jenny made eye contact with Tim and motioned with her head. Tim got the message and quickly moved. Lifting Rana's legs without any resistance, he placed them on his shoulders and slowly pushed his cock into her sodden velvety tunnel, feeling it wrap him in its warm embrace. It wasn't until he was fully buried inside her that Rana seemed to notice the intrusion. Tim held still until she locked eyes with him and gave a small nod, after which he started to slowly withdraw and thrust back in, feeling her start to respond.

Jenny had slipped into the bathroom and returned soon after, drying her hands on the corner of a large towel that she deposited on the bed before crawling up beside Rana.

Lying down beside her girlfriend, Jenny started stage-whispering in her ear. "Doesn't it feel so good," she asked her girlfriend. "Tim's cock fills me up so well." One of Jenny's fingers was idly drawing circles around one of Rana's nipples. "Just think, Ran, he's going to fill you with his cum as often as he can until you're pregnant. And then he's going to do the same to me. We'll have his babies growing in our bellies together." Having said this, her fingers gripped the nipple, pulling on it gently before letting go.

"You like that, don't you?" Jenny enquired, before repeating the move. Rana tried to nod her head, but it was lost in amongst all of the other movements that were going through her body. Jenny looked into Rana's eyes before dropping her mouth to kiss her girlfriend, pulling Rana's nipple for a third time, this time with a little twist, before releasing it.

Rana's silent scream was lost in Jenny's mouth, her body convulsing with a surfeit of pleasure as her arousal crested. The rhythmic quivering of her velvet walls pushed Tim over the threshold and he started unloading deep inside her, sending her orgasm into overdrive. Rana's body couldn't decide whether it should be rigid or convulsing and appeared to be trying to do both at the same time, until her eyes rolled up and she collapsed back onto the bed.

Jenny looked startled when Rana initially blacked out, but a quick check confirmed that she was still breathing and it was less than a minute before she opened her eyes. By this time, Tim was lying on one side of her and Jenny on the other, both of them stroking her with their hands, marvelling as each successive twitch and shudder reverberated through Rana's body, her orgasm seemingly ongoing even though she wasn't cognisant of it.

When Rana had recovered sufficiently, she launched herself at Tim, knocking him onto his back. Wrapping her arms around him, she started kissing him with passion.

"Thank you -x- thank you -x- thank you," she began, kissing him in between, before locking her lips to his.

Tim wrapped his arms around her, holding her firmly against himself as she continued to shower him with her praises, Jenny pressed up against them both as Rana was now effectively lying on top of him.

After a few minutes, Rana began to wriggle and demanded that Tim let go of her, as she needed to clean herself up.

Having rendered themselves reasonably presentable, they made their way down to the breakfast room. Tammy efficiently got everyone what they wanted for supper, before sitting down and talking with them. Some of the others drifted in and Tammy sorted them out with what they wanted, just as efficiently. Kate, Grace and Nicole dropped in quickly for a drink, but didn't stay long and Tim noticed that they all had a holstered pistol, while both Grace and Nicole were also carrying assault rifles. Slowly, the others said 'goodnight' and left for their bed, until only Tim and Tammy remained. Tim spent a long time talking to Tammy, learning a lot more about her, until she ushered him out so that she could go to bed herself.

After bidding Tammy goodnight with a hug and an extended kiss, Tim made his way up to the master bedroom, where he found that Siobhan, Rana and Jenny were already asleep, Rana in the middle with Jenny on one side and Siobhan on the other. He went through his night-time routine on auto pilot while thinking how hectic his life had become in such a short while. Finally, he crawled into bed behind Siobhan and was soon asleep himself.

----oOo----

Tuesday, 28th July 2020

Tim awoke from his slumbers a few minutes after seven o'clock feeling cold on his back, not helped by the fact that he now slept naked, as did the other occupants of the bed. Opening his eyes, he found that the duvet had been pulled off him and was with the others on top of the three women more centrally located in the enormous bed. Jenny still seemed to be sleeping, so he left her there for the while.

Having completed his morning routine in the ensuite bathroom, Tim gave Jenny a gentle prod. She came awake instantly and quickly went to the bathroom. Tim, meanwhile, went into the walk-in closet, where he found a selection of new running gear waiting for him, together with a few other items. He was still looking through the selection wearing only his underwear when Jenny joined him, still completely nude.

"What do you think?" Tim enquired, holding up a New Balance top and a pair of Asics shorts in clashing colours.

"You wouldn't ..." Jenny began, before seeing the wry smile on his face. Moving forward, she gave him a light tap on the arm with her fist before wrapping him up in a hug.

"I think I got you there," Tim offered, enjoying the hug but unable to reciprocate as his hands were still holding the two items of sportswear and Jenny was hugging him over his upper arms.

Once Jenny released him, he put the two items back and selected a New Balance top and the matching shorts, quickly putting them on and receiving a nod from Jenny as she went about selecting her own outfit.

Both dressed, they made their way downstairs, stopping to put their shoes on at the back door where they were met by Ash and Kate, who were waiting for them having already put on their own shoes.

When they opened the door and left the controlled environment inside the house, they were assailed by an oppressive, muggy and humid day. Looking up, Tim saw that the sky was a clear blue with only a few wispy high-level clouds in sight. He found himself starting to sweat without even having done any exercise and noticed the women with him were similarly suffering. They were soon joined by Grace riding an ATV with her assault rifle strapped to the front carrier, as she had on the previous days, who was also suffering with the stifling conditions. Looking slightly further away, Tim saw that Nicole was riding the other ATV, an assault rifle similarly positioned to Grace's.

"Let's get this over quickly," Tim offered, receiving only nods of agreement. Making their way to the perimeter track, he noticed that the grass could probably do with cutting. Tim didn't even bother starting his Garmin, knowing in advance that their performance wouldn't be that good.

They set off without any chat and were soon into their stride. Ash dropped out early, having only completed a couple of laps, and Tim called it a day after three, much to the approval of Jenny and Kate. When they stopped, Ash approached and handed each of them a chilled bottle of water, her own already half empty. They were all breathing heavily and, after having stopped, their sweating became more profuse.

Tim removed his new top and wiped his face and chest with it, before putting it around his neck, receiving some appreciable glances by the women. He then gratefully accepted a bottle from Ash, opening it and drinking half the contents in one long pull. Bringing his eyes down having tipped his head back, he noticed that Kate and Jenny had also stripped off their tops and were now showing off their sports bras. Grace, sitting on the ATV a few metres away, was also drinking from a water bottle and Tim hoped that Nicole had also been given one.

"We should get inside before we all melt out here," he suggested, gesturing with the hand not holding the bottle.

Back inside the cooler and less humid atmosphere within the house, they made their way through to the breakfast room. Tammy ushered them to a table where she'd placed towels on each of the chairs. She then came back with four glasses of orange juice to which she'd added ice cubes.

"The bacon butties will be a few minutes," she informed them. "You didn't run as far today, but you still managed more than I could run on a good day," she added with a laugh.

"No probs," Tim replied. "Sorry that we're all sweaty."

"No need, you all look just wonderful," Tammy replied with a wink.

Just then, Grace and Nicole arrived after having parked up the ATVs and Tammy quickly brought them both a glass of iced orange juice as well.

They were still bitching about the heat when Tammy came back with their bacon sandwiches. Tim noticed how handsy she was, resting her left hand on each girl's bare shoulder as she served them. When she served Tim, he thought he knew what she would do, but instead she ran her fingers lightly up his spine, giggling at the effect that it had on him. She even brought out bacon sandwiches for Grace and Nicole, who were both surprised but very pleased.

----oOo----

It was well after nine o'clock by the time that everyone was assembled outside on the gravelled courtyard at the front of the house. The atmosphere still felt heavy and the sun was shining down relentlessly from a nearly clear sky, although a very faint breeze was now perceptible. Except for Tim, Siobhan, and the three servicewomen, everyone else was wearing shorts. Everyone, though, was as wearing a tee shirt that didn't leave a gap at the neck that a spent cartridge could pass through and get caught in a bra, as per the instructions they'd previously been given. Tammy had decided to further reduce the possibility by not wearing a bra and seemed to be forever rubbing the area under her obviously unsupported breasts through her thin cotton top while complaining about how much she was sweating. Tim noticed that Grace, dressed similarly to himself, Siobhan, Kate and Nicole in an olive-green tee shirt and camouflage-pattern combat trousers, seemed to be similarly suffering, although not complaining about it as Tammy was. Tim also observed that both Rana and Maria were showing no signs of distress whatsoever.

"OK, listen up," Kate shouted to make herself heard over the general chatter. "We're out here to let everyone handle a handgun and fire off five shots. This is part of our being prepared for the worst possible outcome."

Grace stepped in front of Kate, removed her handgun from its holster and held it out in front of herself with both hands, her fingers well away from the trigger and, noticeably, the barrel pointing away from everyone.

"This is a British Army standard issue L131A1 pistol, otherwise known as a Glock 17 Gen 4," she explained. "It utilises a double-stack magazine holding up to seventeen, nine millimetre rounds." Grace went on to describe various features of the weapon, including the safety locks and the sights, before going on to discuss the basic principles of safe gun handling and the loading sequence.

"Now, I'm glad to see that you have all heeded my advice and are suitably covered up," Grace stated, while returning the pistol to the moulded plastic holster she had strapped to her right thigh, "something that you're probably hating in this heat, but when the spent cartridge is ejected from the gun, it is hot and some women have been badly burned when one has gone down the open neck of their clothing."

She then gestured with her arm down onto the grass area to the south of the house. "We have set up a couple of targets at a distance of 6.5 metres," she informed them. "You will each be firing five shots and, hopefully, this will provide you with the confidence to use one, should it become necessary."

Jenny put her arm up. "Aren't the targets a bit close?" she asked.

"Pistols are a close-combat weapon," Grace explained, "Now, I'd like you all to go down to our temporary range and form up about a metre behind the line."

The range had been set up on a flat area of grass to the south of the house, facing to the west. A north-south tape provided the firing line, while an east-west tape divided the area into two separate lanes. A couple of metres behind the firing line were two tables that had been brought from the courtyard area and on each of these was a pistol identical to the one that Grace had shown them, together with a couple of magazines plus an open box of cartridges, along with an empty plastic sandwich box.

Everyone moved down to where Grace had indicated. After a bit of toing and froing, Tim found himself with Rana, Ash and Maria while Siobhan, Jenny, Tammy and Kate formed the other group.

"OK. Now, rules of the range," Grace announced in a command voice. "Firstly, only the person firing is to be stood at the firing line. Secondly, no one must cross the firing line while someone else is firing. And thirdly, if I blow this whistle, everyone stops what they are doing, the magazine is to be ejected from the pistol," here Grace removed her pistol from its holster and ejected the magazine, before pushing it back into place and returning it to the holster, "and both the pistol and magazine are to be placed separately down onto the table. Everyone understand the rules?"

There were nods all around.

"Good." Grace proceeded to walk up and down the line, looking at each of them. Stepping towards Tim's group, she gestured for him to step forward. "Tim, approach the line and put your hands out," she instructed him.

Tim stepped forward to the line, putting his hands out in front of him. Grace laid the pistol on his hands, making sure the barrel was pointing away from everyone.

"Feel how much it weighs. Some people are surprised by just how heavy a gun like this is." Grace took the handgun back from Tim and returned it to her holster.

"Now Tim, I'd like you to take up a firing position, pretending your fingers are a pistol."

Tim took up a stance, his body at right angles to the line and his feet slightly less than shoulder width apart with his right foot pointing towards the target and his left further back roughly parallel with the line. He was looking along his right arm towards one of the targets, his left arm down by his side.

"Tim, why have you chosen to stand like that?" Grace asked.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "Isn't this the way that they stand for pistol shooting in the Olympics?"

"When you're using one of these handguns in anger, you're not in a competition, you're shooting to kill," Grace advised, moving on and gesturing to Tim to relax and step back. Grace moved to the other group, calling for Jenny to approach the line.

After holding the gun, Jenny dropped down onto one knee, holding both of her arms out on front of her.

"What about your pose, Jenny?"

"I thought that this would be more stable," Jenny replied.

"It is, but unless the ground is sloping, you're going to be firing slightly up to hit a target in their centre of mass," Grace informed her.

Jenny let her arms drop slightly.

"... but you've got the right idea," Grace quickly added, before moving on. Jenny rose to her feet and stepped back while Grace called for Tammy to step forward.

Holding the handgun out in front of herself, Tammy shut her eyes. Tim, along with everyone else, wondered what she was doing until she opened her eyes again and declared, "nine hundred grams, maybe a little bit over."

Grace took the gun from Tammy with an incredulous look on her face. "How did you do that? The book weight for the gun is 905 grams!"

"I handle so many ingredients for my cooking that I inherently know what different weights feel like," Tammy replied with a grin.

"So how would you stand to shoot?" Grace enquired.

Tammy took up a stance, with her feet about shoulder width apart, her toes pointing slightly outwards. Her knees were bent and her backside was sticking out as she was leaning forward. She started going "pew, pew," with her fingers flicking up after each 'shot'. From his position a metre or so behind Tammy and a few metres to her left, Tim couldn't help notice how her short shorts became as tight as a second skin covering her shapely behind.

"What's this, Tammy?" Grace enquired.

"Mum liked watching westerns and I'd watch them with her," Tammy answered. "You know, Robert Redford, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, all the classics. We saw them all, many times."

"So do you think that they were true-to-life, or just showbiz?"

"Oh, probs just showbiz, but it's all I've got," Tammy offered, making a non-committal gesture with her shoulders before standing up and putting a hand on her lower back as if it had started to ache.

"Not a comfortable position, nor one you can hold for too long," Grace observed. "And I'm hoping that we won't be getting into any gunfights," she added, moving back to Tim's group and motioned for Ash to come forward.

When the pistol was dropped into her hands, Ash seemed to freeze. Her shoulders became tense and she was staring at the weapon as if it could bite her. In fact, she appeared to be terrified and had started to shake before Grace reached out to take it back.

Ash then seemed to be incapable of even attempting a pose.

Grace stepped up and placed a hand on the young blonde's shoulder. "Is there anyone that you really hate, Ash?" Grace enquired.

"Not now, they're all dead," Ash replied in a quiet voice, looking down at the grass and shaking her head rapidly.

"Well, maybe try visualising one of them while you're firing the gun in a few minutes," Grace suggested. The shocked expression that appeared on Ash's face caused Grace to recoil slightly. "Or not, it's up to you," she quickly added.

Things continued in a similar vein as Grace called out first Rana and then Siobhan, before finally calling for Maria to step forward.

Maria chose to stand square on to the line with her feet comfortably apart. Both arms were held out straight in front of her, with her left hand supporting the heel of her right, the index and middle fingers of her right hand pointing forward.

Grace moved past Maria and then turned to look back down the line. "Why are you standing like this, Maria," she asked.

"Because this is how I was taught to stand," Maria replied, turning her head to look at Grace.

"And who taught you?"

"My father and grandfather back in Spain. It was my grandfather's handgun; he brought it back after the civil war when he'd been fighting against Franco and his fascistas. We all got to practice with it. I don't think it was as big or weighed as much as the gun you have, though."

Grace walked up to Maria and, reaching out, gently pushed against her shoulder. The older woman had to take a step back to stop herself falling over.

"Sorry," Grace said, apologising to Maria. "But I needed to show that things move forward and your stance has some limitations."

Grace stepped forward and turned to address them all. "OK, so you all took up a different stance. For competition shooting, there are specific positions that you must use, but these are irrelevant in combat. The best position is the one that keeps you alive whilst giving you a clear shot at the enemy. You will be shooting standing up and, while there are arguably no right or wrong positions, there are positions that are better and others that are definitely worse." Here, she looked at Tammy, who let out a deprecating laugh.

"Kate, I'd like to see how they teach the Air Force to shoot."

Kate stepped up to the line with one foot behind and to the side of the other a half-step back with her knees slightly bent. Her front foot was pointing towards the target while the rear foot was at an angle to it. She held her arms straight out in front of herself, supporting her right hand in the palm of her left and with her elbows slightly bent. She then visibly leaned forward while lowering her head to look along the imaginary gun sights.

"Glad to see that the Air Force is teaching a proper stance," Grace observed. Turning to address the others, she added, "This is the most common position taught for pistol shooting nowadays and is sometimes called the 'Weaver stance'. It provides both front-to-back and side-to-side stability. The position that Maria adopted was more akin to the 'Isosceles Stance', although she was possibly standing a little too straight.

"Now, if you look under the tables, there are boxes containing safety glasses and ear defenders. I'd like each of you to equip yourself with both of these and then Nicole and I are going to fire a few shots so that you can see the guns in action."

They all moved to the tables in a co-ordinated manner. One person took control of the box, passing the ear defenders and safety glasses to each of the others before retrieving a set for themselves.

When they turned back, Grace and Nicole had already got their own safety equipment from somewhere else. They were both wearing the safety glasses and had the ear defenders hanging around their necks.

"OK, I'd like you all to stand back a couple of metres. As I said earlier, the ejected spent cartridges are hot and I don't want anyone getting burned. Ear defenders and eye protection on, everyone." Having said this, Grace nodded to Nicole and they both put their ear defenders on.

Tim chose to watch Nicole, who was standing in the other lane, as this gave him a slightly more side-on view. Both started firing at the same time, each firing five shots, and in no more than two seconds, it was all over. Tim watched very carefully, noting the recoil and the way different parts of the gun moved during firing, although everything moved very fast. Both soldiers then holstered their pistols and took off their ear defenders, after which Grace motioned for everyone else to do the same.

"So once you've fired your five shots, you will remove the magazine from the pistol and return them both to the table. After this, I want you to pick up the five spent casings, as we don't want a chance of them being eaten by the horses or getting trodden into the ground." She then bent and retrieved her own five spent cartridges and Nicole did likewise. "They are only hot for a matter of seconds, so will be cool enough to handle safely," she added. "Then I want you to put them in the sandwich box on the table," which they both proceeded to do.

"Now, before anyone fires a shot, the magazine will need to be loaded, so the first thing anyone must do is to load the magazine with their five bullets." Grace picked up an empty magazine from the table and, when she was sure that everyone was looking, she showed them how to load bullets into a magazine, before ejecting them and returning them to the box.

"Now, let's go and see how we did." Grace led everyone down the makeshift range until they were standing by one of the targets. The target itself was a sheet of thick paper or card printed with a silhouette of a stylised armless head and torso, maybe 50 cm high by 30 cm or so wide. Tim observed that there were two red regions centrally located on the head and torso, with other zones marked outside of these. Quickly going behind the thick stand that the paper target was attached to while a few of the women were still arriving, he observed that there were no holes at the back, indicating that all of the bullets had been captured somehow.

Once she had everyone's attention, Grace indicated where the bullet holes were in the target. These weren't as easy to see as Tim thought they would be as they hadn't punched out a hole, only torn through. It was also obvious that Grace and Nicole had been having some sort of game between themselves, as the bullet holes were in, or close to the 'X' in each red region and the numbers '7', '8' and '9' in the zones between. Grace used a pencil to show them where each of the holes were. Even while carefully watching Nicole when she was shooting, Tim hadn't noticed that she was altering her aim between shots.

"We need to know if any of the bullets have missed the target. Therefore, you will remove your target," here she removed the target from the frame, "and bring it back to either Nicole or myself and we'll confirm that none of your bullets have missed."

Grace held the target up in front of herself. "You should all concentrate on the central red region," she advised, pointing to the one on the silhouette's torso. "Oh, and if anyone misses the target, we have a metal detector and they will be out here with it until they've located the missing bullet," she threatened. "Anyway, let's get back. Tim, Jenny, you're up first."

While they had been focussed on Grace, Nicole had walked around, retrieving her own target and replacing both hers and Grace's with fresh ones.

Tim made his way to the table and quickly loaded five rounds into the magazine before sliding it home into the pistol. He then positioned the ear defenders and took up the stance that they'd been shown, finding it intuitive now that he knew about it, awaiting Grace's signal to fire.

He found that he was able to shut out everything happening around him as he concentrated, in part due to the ear defenders. A calmness settled over him and, looking at the target down the sights of the pistol, it was as if nothing else existed. He wondered how anyone could miss at the distance. Squeezing the trigger as they had been instructed, he fired his first shot, feeling as though everything happened in slow motion. He felt the recoil, and waited for the gun to settle. As soon as it had, he squeezed the trigger again. In no time at all, he'd fired all five rounds and stepped back from the line. Turning, he put on the safety before removing the magazine and placing both parts on the table. He then bent to retrieve the spent cartridge cases before dropping them into the plastic sandwich box.

Looking over at the other lane, he saw that Jenny had just finished firing and was now going through the same procedure.

Once both he and Jenny had finished making safe, they went forward to retrieve their targets, Tim was thrilled to see that his five were all close to the central 'X'. Looking over, Tim noticed that Jenny had also put all of her shots in the red region, although they didn't appear to be as well grouped. Jenny herself was on some kind of a high, though, exuberantly bouncing up and down on her toes with apparent limitless energy, waving her target. Once she noticed Tim looking at her, she rushed across and moulded her body to his for a kiss.

"That was so much fun!" she exclaimed, having finally broken the lip lock. Aware that they were holding up proceedings, Tim quickly guided Jenny back behind the firing line to join the others who weren't shooting and spent the time enjoying an extended kiss with her while Tammy and Ash loaded the magazines and slotted them into the pistols. Nicole had again replaced the targets and, all too soon, they were putting on their ear defenders again, at which point Tim turned to concentrate on Ash.

Ash seemed to have overcome her fears, after some coaching from Grace, and was taking things slowly, concentrating on each shot. She had taken three shots when he heard the whistle. Ash looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights and quickly scampered back to the table, hastily going through the procedure to render the handgun safe. Glancing over at the other lane while Ash was doing this, Tim saw that Tammy was caught mid-stride a couple of metres down the range, the pistol still gripped in her right hand. Giving a deprecating grin, she scampered back to the other table to remove the magazine.

Tim stepped forward in the ensuing confusion and bent to pick up Ash's three spent cartridges, handing them to her when she turned back.

"Not your fault," he mouthed to her, stepping forward and giving her a hug. The young blonde buried her head in his shoulder and he could feel her body quivering against his.

It took Grace blowing the whistle again to get everyone's attention, before miming for them to remove their ear defenders.

"OK, so why did I blow the whistle ...," she scanned around, staring into each person's eyes, "... Tim."

"Ash had only fired three shots when Tammy crossed the firing line," he replied. "Ash still had two shots remaining."

"And that's the critical thing," Grace stated. "Tammy had put herself in danger of being shot by crossing the line."

At this, Tammy yelped and started to cry. "I'm sorry," she whimpered.

"The rules aren't for fun," Grace continued. "People have been shot and killed on shooting ranges."

That information made Tammy seem to shrink into herself even more.

Kate and Siobhan quickly calmed Tammy down but, with all the other talking that had started, Tim couldn't hear what was being said. Grace quickly brought everything under control and Ash was allowed to reload the magazine into the gun and, with everyone's eyes on her, fire off her last two shots.

Tim accompanied Ash when she walked down to collect her target, and was happy to see that she'd not done too badly at all, although only three of her shots had found the red. He also noted that Tammy had regained some of her previous bounce.

----oOo----

The rest of the session passed off without incident, by which time everyone was pleased to get out of the sun and back into the house, thankful that the threatened metal detector didn't need to make an appearance. Tammy quickly set up glasses of orange juice for everyone, which were just as quickly consumed, as everyone was looking forward to getting into a cool shower and a change of clothes.

When Rana, Jenny and Siobhan started to leave the breakfast room, Tim got up to follow them, but Nicole put out her hand to stop him. "Tim, I need a service from you," she stated with a wink. "Grace and I will be going back outside to bring in all the remaining equipment. Go fetch a change of clothes and then come out to meet us."

Tim did a quick review in his head, determining that he'd not yet been with Nicole since she awoke after her imprinting. He was starting to feel that managing things was soon going to get to the point where he'd be keeping a spreadsheet just to remind himself.

"See you soon," he replied, before leaving the breakfast room.

Making his way up to the master bedroom, he could hear laughter from those already enjoying a soothing shower, their clothes appearing to have been removed in haste and not all having made it into the hamper. Quickly grabbing a new set of the military fatigues he'd been given, together with fresh underwear and socks, he stuffed them into a holdall, leaving before anyone noticed that he was there.

Exiting through the back door, Tim went round to the stables' courtyard where he dropped off his bag at the bottom of the steps up to the flat. Looking back to where Nicole and Grace were currently rolling up the tapes that had been used to mark out the temporary shooting range, he noticed that the ATV's that they were both using were probably not suitable for moving large items such as the target frames, and especially the tables. Opening one of the sets of doors around the courtyard, he was soon heading over towards them on the John Deere Gator.

The relatively slow-moving electric vehicle was quiet and Tim was most of the way there before Grace looked up and saw him arriving. They were both smiling by the time he arrived and in short order, the tables and target frames had been loaded onto the bed of the cargo box, together with the few other items that were remaining there. The handguns, bullets and spent cartridges had all been taken in earlier and were already safely locked away back in the house.

Turning the Gator around, and flanked by Grace and Nicole on the two ATVs, Tim drove back towards the house before manoeuvring to enter the patio area, where the tables were offloaded and put back where they had been taken from. They all then drove around to the stables' courtyard. The target frames were stored in an otherwise empty room off the courtyard, after which Tim put the gator away.

Walking out of the small 'garage' where the Gator was stored, Tim found both Nicole and Grace waiting for him, large smiles on their faces, and his holdall in Grace's hand.

"Now you're all ours for a while," Nicole informed him, turning and making her way to the external stairs up to the flat with Grace and Tim following behind. "Grace and I have discussed things and we'd like to be done together from now on, so you'd better get used to threesomes."

Tim looked at Grace, who just smiled and nodded her head back at him.

"Works for me," he replied. "I'm thinking I need something to help me keep track of how long it's been for each of you, so one less to track would be useful."

"Wait until a few programmers get added to Teams," Nicole suggested. "I'm sure there'll soon be any number of apps available to schedule the necessary interactions."

On entering the flat, the first thing that Nicole did was to strip off her top and sports bra, throwing the latter onto the sofa and using the former to dry under her breasts. Grace wasn't far behind her and, after putting down Tim's holdall, she was similarly unattired, her larger and darker boobs enjoying their freedom. Tim just stood there enjoying the view until he found himself being attacked and his own top removed. The two soldiers eagerly pressed their bodies against his while a hand snaked its way down into his combats, taking hold of his cock which was by now almost fully engorged. Turning, Grace started walking towards their bedroom, tugging Tim along by his now fully hard dick. With Grace pulling him along, Nicole followed behind, rubbing her hands up and down his back and sides.

As soon as they entered the bedroom, Nicole pushed Tim's trousers down to his knees. With his combats lowered but still wearing his boots and with Grace still tugging his cock, Tim started to fall forwards, only stopping when his hands met the mattress of the double bed.

"Oops," Nicole quipped with a giggle, while kicking off her own footwear and pushing her trousers down with a definite wiggle, leaving her in a very non-regulation lacy thong.

By now, Tim had managed to reposition himself into a sitting position on the bed and proceeded to quickly remove everything except his boxers which were, by this point, incapable of hiding the evidence of his arousal. Nicole's hands hooked under the waist band of his boxers and pulled this over his boner, letting the beast free.

Grace wasn't wasting any time and had surged ahead of the other two, having also removed her panties to leave her standing there completely naked. Tim couldn't help but appreciate the toned physique of the young infantrywoman, her darker skin almost glowing from their morning exertions.

Nicole had finished removing Tim's boxers, quickly followed by her thong and came to sit on his lap, pushing his cock down against the pressure of his circulating blood so that it was underneath her.

"Now Tim," Nicole started. "Grace and I have discussed how we want this to go, but we'd like some input from you." While saying this, her backside wiggled on his lap, giving Tim a clear message as to what she would like input and into where. "Today, you're going to fuck me while I eat out Grace and then she'll eat me out to get her fix. But the question is whether Grace sits on my face while you bone me, or does she lie back and you slide your salami into me from behind?"

"An interesting choice," Tim replied, visualising the options presented as Nicole moved on his lap, sending exquisite sensations up to his brain. "But whichever we go with, we can try the other next time."

"That's true," Nicole agreed, hopping off his lap. "Grace, lie down on the bed, honey. I want to feel Tim push into me from behind today."

Grace scampered to comply, lying down with her head propped up on a pillow, her legs spread and knees up, her feet not far from her backside. Nicole quickly moved between Grace's thighs, wrapping her arms around them, before burying her face in the darker woman's crotch.

Tim just watched for a while, mesmerised at the way Grace's nipples moved in circles as her breasts gyrated with the force of Nicole's ministrations. At length, though, sensing that he needed to get some skin in the game, as it were, he positioned himself behind Nicole and slowly fed his cock into her pussy, which by now had started to drip with her arousal. With the windows shut, the aroma of aroused pussy was heavy in the air.

His cock slid inside Nicole without any impediment; the top of his thighs soon pressed up hard against her fit arse. Looking over her shoulder at Grace, Tim winked, before sliding out slowly only to push back in more forcefully, knowing that there was more than enough lubrication. Nicole let out a deep moan that was mostly muffled by Grace's pussy, setting off a different pattern of ripples in the young woman's breasts. As Tim started thrusting more forcefully, Nicole's face was being pushed harder into Grace's cunt and her breasts were now moving in a more up-and-down motion. Seeing that Tim was watching them, Grace raised her hands, pushing her breasts together and pinching her dark chocolate nipples while smiling up at him.

Leaning forward and nearly lying along Nicole's back, Tim brought his hands around her to find her nipples and started tweaking and pulling them in time with his thrusts. Nicole was now struggling to keep herself in contact with Grace's pussy so, in a desperate attempt to finish her girlfriend off, she latched onto Grace's clit and sucked hard.

Grace's reaction was instantaneous, as she started to spasm, her orgasm causing her to throw her head back with her eyes half closed in ecstasy, a most wanton sound emerging from between her lips. Tim was close by this point and the sight and sound of Grace's orgasm set him off no more than a heartbeat later, his cock firing a broadside deep into Nicole. Unable to sustain her position, Nicole slid forward on top of Grace, her body passing through multiple phases as her orgasm crested and waned, dragging Tim down on top of her.

Lying on top of Nicole, Tim could feel every spasm and vibration going through her body as his cock continued to pump his cum deep inside her. As soon as he was spent, though, he quickly moved to get up, knowing that Grace was underneath them both. Once he'd rolled off to one side, Nicole rolled off to the other and Grace, whose orgasm had started first and was less debilitating having not been enhanced, quickly dove to get her head between Nicole's thighs.

Tim's head was spinning from his exertion, but he was aware enough to recognise that Grace was experiencing another, more powerful orgasm. He also found that his cock had not yet deflated and, indeed, didn't seem inclined to do so, something he'd not experienced since his late teens when it felt as is his cock would never go down.

Rolling back towards where the two junior army officers were, he was immediately presented by Grace's beautifully smooth, brown arse, her vibrantly pink and aroused pussy on prominent display against the darker skin of her labia.

Getting up behind Grace, Tim slotted himself in and started thrusting, feeling Grace's body respond even during her own enhanced orgasm and it wasn't long before he was experiencing a second, slightly weaker, orgasm himself, which kicked Grace's off again.

Eventually, they were all lying exhausted in a sweaty mess on the bed, arms and legs all over the place.

"That was ...," Grace started.

"Fantastic? Stupendous?" Nicole offered.

"All of the above, and then some," Grace replied, slowly pulling herself up to lean on one arm and stroking Nicole's taut abs with the other. "When Tim came inside me, something I was never expecting him to do this time, it was like another dimension was added to the orgasm I was already experiencing, somehow making it deeper."

"That sounds amazing, My turn next time!" Nicole exclaimed, grabbing hold of her girlfriend and kissing her firmly.

"I didn't know I could still do that," Tim observed. "It's been many years since I could cum twice on the bounce without a decent gap between."

"The vaccine obviously wants you to be able to come more often, then," Grace suggested. "Maybe the more partners you have, the more you'll be able to perform."

"I really hope so," Tim declared. "Or else you'll all be rationed."

"Which will reduce your protection, so that's not going to happen," Grace shot back at him.

"Things aren't fully reciprocal," Tim countered. "I just need to put my dick in for a while to gain the benefit, but you need me to cum. I could probably spend a minute or so with each of you to build up my immunity, without satisfying any of your needs."

"Cool it, you two," Nicole interjected. "I'd suggest we all get through the shower quickly. I don't know about you two, but there are several horses I need to look after."

The shower in the flat was smaller than most of those in the house and realistically was only big enough for one person. Therefore, they all went through singly before drying and dressing. Tim let Nicole and Grace go before him as he knew that it would take them longer to dry their hair.

----oOo----

It was well after eleven o'clock when Tim walked into the breakfast room on his own. Nicole had, as she'd suggested, gone off to look after the horses, while Grace had gone to catch up with Kate. What he didn't expect, though, was there to be no else there.

Tim quickly helped himself to a mug of coffee and a couple of Tammy's freshly baked pastries and had just turned to decide where to sit when Tammy walked through from the kitchen.

"Where is everyone?" he asked, turning to face her.

"Not sure," the cook replied. "But don't forget that Ash is starting cutting hair today."

Tim had forgotten, in amongst everything else that had been happening, but didn't say anything to indicate it and instead sat himself down at one of the larger tables, choosing to face towards the doorway. He'd just taken his first bite of the pastry and was lifting the mug to wash it down with a mouthful of his coffee when he heard excited voices approaching. Not long after, Rana, Jenny and Ash entered, each of them talking nineteen to the dozen.

Looking up, he could see that something was different with Rana's hair, but he was struggling to see quite what it was although he suspected that was half the point. He had to admit, though, that it looked good and really suited her.

"What do you think?" Rana asked, having spotted Tim. She performed a slow turn, allowing him to see her hair from all angles.

"It looks really good," Tim replied, not quite sure what else to say.

"Doesn't it just," Rana gushed. "Hasn't Ash done just the most wonderful job. It feels so good to finally be able to get my hair cut after all these months. She's a real marvel."

The smile on Ash's face as she walked towards him carrying her own drink and pastry showed just how much she appreciated the comments, and Tim could see that this was something that could help to build her confidence further.

By now, Jenny had availed herself of a drink and a pastry and came to sit on one side of Tim as Ash sat down on the other. Rana, delayed by her impromptu twirl for Tim's benefit, arrived a little later and decided to sit next to Jenny.

"You've made someone very happy," Tim stated, turning towards Ash.

"It were nothin', really," Ash responded, a large smile lighting up her face. "Rana's 'air is so thick, though, and I was a long time just thinnin' it to take the weight out before I could trim it up proper. You should see 'ow much of 'er 'air ended up on the floor!"

"But you were so patient and took your time to make my hair feel wonderful, Ash," Rana exclaimed. "Even when I've been in a salon paying over a hundred pounds, I've always been aware that they had one eye on the clock."

Tim found his right hand, fingers splayed, pushing up into his own hair behind his right ear, feeling how thick it had become. Yes, he could definitely empathise with Rana. Feeling a little self-conscious, though, he quickly removed his hand. "So that's why you're late down for a mid-morning drink," he offered with a wink. "Ash took too long cutting your hair?"

"No," Rana stated, shaking her head and making her hair move in ways he hadn't seen it do up until then. "She took the time that she needed, not rushing things."

"He's messing with you, Rana," Jenny offered, putting her hand on her girlfriend's arm.

Just then, Maria entered the breakfast room with her hair still wet and Tim wondered whether she'd been for a swim to cool down after their session on the impromptu shooting range, rather than take a shower. Watching the ease with which Maria was walking now, together with the more subtle changes that the vaccine had wrought. Were changes still occurring or had Maria become more comfortable with the changes? Either way, he thought that a conversation with Siobhan was definitely called for.

As if thinking about her had been a summons, Siobhan entered less than a minute later. By then, Maria had already selected what she wanted and had, uncharacteristically, come to sit down at the table with everyone else, which left a single seat free that was soon claimed by Siobhan.

Looking around, Siobhan quickly exclaimed, "Wow Rana, your hair looks so lovely. I can't wait to get mine trimmed." Tim could only assume that women were capable of seeing the most subtle of changes in another person's appearance, things that a mere male would overlook completely.

Turning to look at Tim, Siobhan continued talking as if the subjects were linked, "Tim, if your inbox is anything like mine, you'll have a load of emails that need answering. Hillary seems to be feeling the pressure at the moment and I can imagine that there are things going on we're totally unaware of. Maybe we'll find out more tomorrow morning during the video call -- if it still goes ahead,"

Tim immediately understood the unspoken meaning in her comment -- 'if we're still here'.

Reaching across the table, Tim took Siobhan's hand in his. "I'm sure she'll let us know what's going on as soon as she's able," he stated, trying to project a sense of calm to her that he wasn't feeling himself.

"Yeah, I suppose so," she replied, dropping her eyes to look at where their hands were joined. Tim could see that she wasn't convinced, though.

Tim had just let go of Siobhan's hand when he heard a phone ring. Looking around, he noted that Rana was pulling her phone out of a pocket in her shorts before standing and moving away from the table to take the call. The call didn't last long, although Rana made another quick call before sitting back down and turning towards Maria.

"Your delivery has arrived," Rana informed the older woman. "Grace will be down shortly to chaperone the delivery vehicle to the house."

This seemed to signal the end of their break, as everyone started to get up. Tim noted Grace passing the doorway as she headed out to check on the delivery vehicle. He didn't know what the delivery comprised but, having been pre-warned of a potentially large inbox, decided that finding out could wait for later. Siobhan was doing the same and the couple headed upstairs together.

Back in their lab, Tim switched on his computer and quickly logged in while Siobhan only needed to wake hers up. As Siobhan had predicted, there were a large number of emails from Hillary in his inbox, some sent only to him while others had been sent to both of them. A number were simple questions that he could answer easily while others wanted to understand how much had changed from previous positions he'd reported while working at the facility in Cambridge. There were also a couple of lightly redacted US documents that she wanted him to read and produce a brief summary for. Not all the questions were logical for her to be asking, so he got the impression that other people were now directing questions to Siobhan and himself through Hillary.

While he was contemplating where to start, the strains of Enya began to play through his Sonos One. He'd provided Siobhan with access and, as when they were at Cambridge, this was her day to choose the music. Although he knew that she enjoyed listening to Enya, he also knew that she was a favourite of her parents, especially her mother, who had even gone to see Lord of the Rings just because Enya wrote and sang on two tracks for it. Knowing that Siobhan had talked with her parents and family the previous evening, this gave him a much better understanding of the way she was handling the situation than a conversation ever could.

----oOo----