Futanari Freighter Pt. 08

Futanari Freighter - Part 8

Carla had seen Captain J'mai at the earliest opportunity. She relayed everything she had learned to them, and recounted the circumstances that led her to overhearing the conversation with the apparent criminals. Naturally, omitting the more lurid details of her time in the BDSM club.

J'mai, as an indication of the gravity of the situation, didn't even question Carla's presence there. Didn't ask a single question about that.

They just wanted to know everything surrounding the people that may have been sabotaging The Tangerine.

With everything divulged, J'mai was quick to act, taking Carla with them to a private communications room, though she had to wait outside in a small lounge area with Heyto, who was there as a trusted confidant of the captain.

If nothing else, talking to Heyto helped pass the time while J'mai was talking with whoever it was they were talking to.

It was a little strange, no one else was in the waiting room, and even what conversation Carla had with Heyto seemed subdued owing to the circumstances. Carla didn't know how much Heyto had been told, the Zamaar admitting J'mai had been short on details for security's sake.

Heyto decided to try a new subject.

"I'm glad you're getting along with Tana," they remarked. "You seemed to have patched things up pretty well, as they say."

"Yeah, they're doing alright now," Carla answered, mid fiddling with her tablet, trying to keep her anxiety from spiking. "They told me a lot about their issues. Speaking of which, why didn't you tell me the history of their clan? Feels like that would've been important to know."

Heyto sighed.

"I suppose I was trying to do that thing you humans do, keeping some details close to the chest for Tana's sake. I didn't think they needed that laundry aired, and I wasn't sure how you'd react."

"Having dark history isn't unusual, but I'd like to think the majority of humans have learned not to judge someone by historical association by now. Tana didn't seem proud of their clan's actions, so I have no reason to be upset."

Carla sounded a little critical, feeling like Heyto had kept some important details to themself way back. But Carla sighed and offered a tired smile.

"It's fine. You meant well, and it wasn't like it was life-saving critical information."

"No, it's something I should have explained," Heyto insisted. "Consider this a learning experience, I guess. Knowing when to share information that isn't strictly confidential."

"I don't think you have to change up how you do things much. Just share what's important and might help diffuse a situation."

Heyto nodded, and the two went quiet again. After a while, it was Carla's turn to try and strike up a conversation.

But J'mai suddenly emerged from one of the private booths, pace strident.

They looked to Carla.

"Carla, you're coming with me. You gathered the evidence directly, so you're a key figure in all of this. Heyto, I will be off-ship and out of contact for a few hours, keep the crew calm. Just tell them I'm getting some private R and R, and nothing else."

"Understood, Captain," Heyto answered without question, but Carla could tell from the look on their face they weren't entirely thrilled with the command.

"Keep things under wraps. Follow me, Carla."

J'mai gestured for Carla to close ranks, and she did so, keeping close as J'mai left the room. But the human quickly found herself having to near jog to keep up with the Zamaar, J'mai striding with purpose through the corridors.

"Where are we going?" Carla asked quietly.

"The hangar bay. I'll tell you more when we get there."

Carla immediately realised the Captain was going to take the ship's shuttle somewhere, but where, she had no idea.

There were only a few sensor posts and 'marker buoys' for intra-system navigation, to what few research stations existed in the system, most of them automated or inhabited by one or two people.

Gonzales station, for all intents and purposes, was the singular population in the entire system.

J'mai was also treating this as rather 'hush-hush', and there was also that paranoid part in Carla's brain worried that J'mai was, in fact, in on the conspiracy.

And that Carla's corpse was about to be thrown into the Gas Giant.

Carla had to trust the captain, and if nothing else, she wasn't about to let anyone do her in.

They soon reached the hangar, a few of the crew giving them looks, some even smirking knowingly, likely believing J'mai was off to have some fun with Carla. Though a handful seemed to give serious or confused looks after when they saw how purposeful the captain's walk was.

There was no one else in the hangar, the captain having told people to vacate it prior to their arrival. The shuttle was waiting, a boxy, angular thing with vectoring thrust nacelles, two either side of the cockpit canopy, two at the rear. Compact, it could seat over ten people, not including two pilots, but took up little space. In a way, it reminded Carla of a bumble-bee, particularly with its yellow paint job and the black strips on some parts, though anything that needed hazard lines was bordered by bright red and white striping.

J'mai busied themself with preparing a pair of pressurised flight suits. Standard procedure for two pilots, even if Carla didn't think she was going to be co-piloting.

But at the same time, she had to ask.

"Captain, where are we going?"

J'mai paused, and looked around as they held a helmet in hand, as if worried someone was listening in.

They sighed.

"We're going to meet with some authorities from Gonzales Station, but we're going to another place to do it. I have concerns shared with the Gonzales management, but we need to discuss these things in a secure location. And you're coming along to provide your side of the story."

Carla didn't seem thrilled at going to some secret location, but she wasn't about to back down now.

"Alright. Just... tell me more on the way, please?"

"Everything," J'mai assured, and offered the other flight suit to Carla.

Compared to the bodysuits she was used to, the flight suit was quite a bit stiffer, and the helmet was a little uncomfortable. She hadn't worn anything like this in some time, and still wasn't used to the taste and smell of air from an internal supply.

It shouldn't have been any different to the air in the shuttle, and yet it seemed so much less natural. She couldn't quite describe it.

J'mai, meanwhile, seemed entirely used to the suit, moving around in it gracefully. They went through the pre-flight checks, communicating with the hangar officer - who didn't know the destination, or really what the captain was up to, but some procedure had to be adhered to - as they prepared to launch.

Carla watched as the lights in the hangar changed from the normal bright white to an enveloping red, pulsing slowly in warning. A sign for anyone who might still be in the hangar to get the hell out.

"Hangar check complete," the officer alerted.

J'mai flipped through several cameras showing the exterior of the shuttle, and looked out the cockpit themself for a more direct look, though their view was limited.

"Hangar check complete," J'mai answered.

"Prepare for depressurisation... depressurising."

The red lights outside started flashing fast, a final warning to anyone who, for whatever damn reason, was still lurking around in the hangar. As well as everyone on board any shuttle that it was no longer a good time to leave.

"Disengaging gravity."

Carla's stomach lurched as if in slow motion, the weight of force slowly diminishing until she was held to her seat solely by her harness. Loose items began to float, though nothing was completely free for safety reasons.

"Final systems checks complete. Spooling engines," J'mai said.

They weren't speaking English for Carla's sake. Given The Tangerine was still docked to the station, there were likely other traffic controllers listening in as their job required, keeping an eye on the shuttle traffic. Everyone needed to know what everyone was doing.

The thrusters began to whine, higher and higher in pitch. The shuttle began to softly rumble, not unlike an old electric train. The vibrations were high-frequency and gentle.

"Opening bay doors."

A crack of cold light formed, contrasting with the flashing red of the hangar. The pin-pricked void yawned before them. They were launching opposite of Gonzales station, so there was nothing to see but the endless universe.

It honestly made Carla feel small, and vulnerable. Leaving the sanctuary of the ship, going out there, into the nothing.

"Clear to launch."

"Disengaging mag-locks. Launching."

J'mai gripped the control sticks, and the shuttle lurched as its magnetic landing locks deactivated. It rose from the deck, and J'mai throttled up.

The vectoring nacelles rotated, and the shuttle slowly emerged from the hangar, gradually speeding up.

J'mai manoeuvred the shuttle and soon The Tangerine and Gonzales Station swung into view, along with its parent gas giant.

Space no longer felt so cold and empty. There was clutter, stuff, something that seemed real.

Carla was surprised, that after this long, she still found herself caught by the enormity and emptiness of the cosmos.

The artificial shapes of ship and station did not linger long in the frame of the canopy, J'mai taking the shuttle past Gonzales, and charting a route towards the gas giant, inputting coordinates and a flight plan into the shuttle's computer.

Then, the acceleration ceased, and the shuttle started to coast on its inertia, puffs of white from the RCS thrusters keeping the ship on its way.

J'mai's concentration lessened, and they turned to Carla.

"We're heading to a station orbiting one of the moons of the gas giant," they began. "Nominally, it's just a monitoring station, with a research lab on the side. No more than fifty crew, last I recall. However, the Gonzales management also uses the station for secure meetings when they believe there is certain criminal activity occurring on the station. The kind that they'd need to keep quiet about while investigating."

J'mai then looked straight ahead.

"And apparently, what you told me lines up with some suspicions they've had, but could never confirm. Given the seriousness of the situation, just how extensive the sabotage is for how covert it was, it suggests a sophisticated syndicate. But I don't know if they're smugglers. Seems likely, if the sabotage has stopped."

"But what would they be smuggling? As far as I know, nothing weird's been loaded onto the ship," Carla said.

"That we know of. Besides, they were clearly prepared to go to great lengths to get us here. But perhaps too far, because suspicions are high. No doubt they'll be extra twitchy, and catching them will be a lot harder."

"It's not like there's anywhere to go, captain."

"You'd be surprised where you can hide on a station like Gonzales. Especially if the authorities don't know who they're looking for."

"Point taken," Carla conceded.

She peered out of the cockpit, watching a moon slowly approach off to the starboard. The satellite looked rocky and sandy, but streaked with mouldy green, likely ice. Clouds swirled through a thin atmosphere, and small vaporous plumes flowed from vents in the surface like pores in skin. Here and there, she spied opaque streaks of rusty brown, what looked like narrow dust storms winding across the plains.

The atmosphere was likely toxic, and Carla was confident the 'ice' wasn't water. And even if it was, probably not potable with all the other toxic elements likely present.

Still, the tan brown, algae-green-streaked marble was an interesting sight.

Maybe next chance she got she'd read up on the celestial bodies in the system.

A severe rattle suddenly coursed through the shuttle.

"What was that?" Carla asked.

"I'm not sure," J'mai answered, and started flicking through the diagnostics on the computer.

As if on cue, the console began to light up and shriek with warnings.

The shuttle shuddered again, worse than before. And then there was an almighty bang.

"Fuck!" Carla shrieked.

J'mai swore in their own tongue as the shuttle lurched off course. A glint on the cockpit glass told Carla something was burning in the rear compartment.

Sure enough, a quick check through the window in the hatch separating the passenger cabin from the cockpit showed a small fire burning at the back of the compartment.

Fire suppression systems activated, but nothing seemed to arrest the shuttle's descent.

"I can't control it!" J'mai warned, struggling with unresponsive controls. They flipped through a number of buttons. "Mayday mayday mayday, Shuttle Alpha Four Four Lima suffering catastrophic malfunction!"

As J'mai desperately called for help, Carla looked around for something, anything, that she could do to help. She started accessing the various compartments and stowage bins in the cockpit, those she could reach without leaving her seat.

Especially now the shuttle began to accelerate.

For a brief, horrible second, she dreaded that the Gas Giant was drawing them in.

If they got too close, they'd never be able to break free if they got control. They would be stuck with the terror of an inevitable death, and too much time to contemplate it.

But she saw instead the shuttle was drifting towards the moon. At the very least, if they slammed into the moon, it'd be quicker.

Still, training, and a will to survive, kept Carla searching for something she could do, finding emergency medical and survival kits in one of the emergency stowage bins.

J'mai was still desperately trying to gain control of the shuttle, but the moon was getting bigger uncomfortably quickly through the canopy.

And the shuttle was starting to shake even more than its already violent shuddering.

They spent the next fifteen minutes attempting to gain control. And worse still, they were getting only garbled static in return; someone had heard them, maybe, but whatever they were saying was lost from interference.

Did anyone even have a fix on where they were? Would it matter in the time it took for them to be pulled down onto the moon?

"Carla," J'mai said lowly, and firmly. "Brace."

So she did, Carla strapping herself down with the emergency harnesses. She put herself in the crash position as she'd learned some time ago, but never did she expect to need it.

The rattling of the shuttle was horrendous, worse than it had ever been, as it hit the upper atmosphere.

A glow seemed to form, and what control surfaces and systems still worked struggled to maintain attitude, matching J'mai's shaky exertions to keep the craft stable.

That glow around the edges of the canopy turned to flickering, intermittent streaks of fire. The atmosphere was thin, but they were coming in fast and steep enough to cause reentry burn.

Miraculously, J'mai kept the shuttle on a glide slope, the moon's atmosphere providing a cushion that kept the ship from plummeting like a stone.

But as they passed through the hazy cloud layer, and the vast plains of the moon came into view, they both realised things were only going to get worse.

Certainly, there were vast plains, but the mouldy streaks of ice were like mountains up close, flanked by rocky crags, and the ice ridges themselves at their tops full of crevices and peaks and other jagged formations amid the smooth. Formations that were a lot bigger than they seemed from far away.

And their path was going to take their stricken bucket right into it.

"Pull up!" Carla cried.

"Trying!" J'mai growled through gritted teeth, but with the engines doing nothing and the shuttle hardly designed for atmospheric flight - the barest minimum, really - they were only dropping further.

The crags and baleful fingers of ice reached out for them, ready to claim their prize.

But J'mai demonstrated skill Carla never expected, as the doomed shuttle lurched towards a large gully in the rock and ice.

With extraordinary reflexes, J'mai navigated the shuttle through the meandering gully, dodging spikes of ice seeking to deny their chances, and keeping the craft from crashing by maintaining the glide slope, the shape of the shuttle fortunately providing a modicum of lifting body properties, and some of the thrusters operating on just enough strength to flatten their descent.

And, amazingly, they came out the other side, though not without the horrid sound of metal screeching as the bottom of the hull struck the ice, threatening to send the ship into an uncontrollable spin.

But J'mai kept it steady, and manoeuvred the shuttle down towards the plain on the other side. Though it wasn't quite as flat as it seemed, the terrain like rolling dunes mixed with harsh, sharp cliffs and overhanging sheets of rock. Often only a few metres above the ground below, but sometimes far higher.

And try as they might, J'mai could not keep the miracles going.

Only put the shuttle down in the least dangerous area they could find.

That happened to be a small, shallow gully between two cracked plates of rock, both several kilometres across, with many more broken sheets jutting from its surfaces. Not unlike broken slate piles from a mine of old. Just... with far larger pieces.

With solid, rocky ground between.

The shuttle was going straight for one such place.

Carla tensed up, bracing for impact and doing her best to make peace with her life.

She barely registered the impact. She was shaken up so much that it became a blur, the screeching of metal almost tuned out. It was like she was being thrown through a tumble drier that fell out of balance.

And then, things finally stopped, rather suddenly, with the sickening crack of glass, several shards bouncing off her flightsuit, the crunch of metal buckling signalling the frame of the cockpit bowing in.

Pain lanced through Carla's body from the harness stopping her suddenly. Her neck got whiplash, and for a brief moment, it was if she passed out.

But it was only disorientation. Disorientation that lasted a while.

Carla wasn't even sure she was alive. Everything hurt, and everything was numb. The contradiction didn't even faze her.

Groaning, her vision started to clear, and she realised she was staring at a rough rock face, jutting into the cockpit canopy, partially crushing it on one side.

Slowly, as she regained her faculties, she checked herself over for injuries. A lot of aches and pains, bruising, and those harnesses, even with the specialised shock protection of the flight suit, had probably left nasty marks behind. Or not. Everything was just a mess.

She went to take her helmet off, only to finally get a sense of clarity and remember the canopy was smashed.

There was no oxygen outside of her suit.

True to that, the Holographic HUD in her helmet was already ticking down the oxygen supply.

But belatedly, she realised she was alive.

J'mai.

Carla completely forgot about them, and in a panic, turned to face the captain.

It was a horrible sight; the cockpit was badly crushed in on that side, and J'mai was pinned between the rent frame, control panels, and their seat.

Their head was slumped over.

The blood in Carla's veins turned icy, icier than the almost sub-zero temperature her helmet indicated was the outside ambient.

With shaking hands, she grasped J'mai's shoulders, and gently shook the terribly still Zamaar.

"Captain..." Carla said, but her voice was little more than a terrified squeak. It would've been barely audible over the suit's automated wireless comms link. "Captain?"

Carla shook J'mai some more, but she was so timid about it, as if J'mai's head would suddenly break off if she did so any harder.

A despair began to fill Carla. She didn't want to die alone on this rock. She didn't want to live, not after J'mai did so much to save them. She didn't deserve to live if J'mai perished.

A choked sob escaped Carla's lips.

And then a tinny groan echoed in her ears through the helmet.

J'mai's head lifted, and the captain started rubbing the transparent visor of their helmet as if trying to massage a throbbing ache.

A jubilant gasp escaped Carla, overcome with emotion.

"J'mai! Oh thank fuck!"

She tried to hug the captain, only to be held back by her harness, wincing from pain. Yep, her body was definitely bruised.

"Been through... worse," J'mai groaned, shaking their head as they tried to dispel the disorientation. They then looked at their predicament, and huffed. "Sub-optimal."

"Hang on, I'll get you out," Carla said, calming down a little from her burst of joy. Releasing her harnesses, she rose from her seat, a little wobbly.

Gravity felt a little weaker on the moon. Nothing so bouncy as Luna, and still stronger than Mars. She wagered... about point seven G.

She looked over J'mai, and frowned; their legs were jammed in tight against the collapsed console, but the design of the shuttle had done well to avoid crumpling further.

Belatedly, Carla realised the shuttle still had some power, emergency lights blinking away. Something sparked.

One thing at a time. First, she needed to get J'mai free.

Crouching behind their seat, she manipulated the manual releases for the normally electric adjustment motors.

She started dragging the seat back, and J'mai cried in pain.

"Captain?!" Carla immediately stopped, standing by J'mai's side, seeing them clutch the top of their right thigh, what part of their leg was still free of the wreck.

They muttered something in their language, vulgar from the sound of it.

"I think my leg is broken," J'mai concluded. "Take it slow."

"Okay," Carla understood, and crouched back down behind J'mai's seat.

Carefully, she inched the seat back on its damaged rail. Sometimes it jerked, Carla unable to avoid that given the circumstances, but it thankfully wasn't so jammed she couldn't move it without tools.

She got back to J'mai, and grimaced when she saw the unnatural angle their right lower leg was pointing. About fifteen degrees further right, just below the knee, but not at the knee.

J'mai smiled grimly and chuckled bitterly.

"Well that doesn't look good," they joked.

Something in their voice seemed a little disoriented still. The faintest amount of delirium. J'mai was probably in shock and pain, but still had their faculties.

"We need to get you some help," Carla stated.

"Sure, but can't do that here," J'mai groaned. "Check the passenger cabin's atmosphere."

Carla did as instructed, and then paused, turning back to J'mai. She realised she'd been peppered with glass fragments, meaning they weren't sucked out.

"How come there wasn't any depressurisation when we hit the deck? This moon's atmosphere definitely isn't the same pressure."

"I vented all the air back into the shuttle's tanks just before impact."

Carla felt a bit of awe in J'mai's presence. The Zamaar had some incredible fortitude and reflexes in such a terrible situation.

With a smile, Carla returned to checking the rear compartment, first looking through the window; there was some fire damage in the rear, but it seemed the suppression systems had done their job, as well as J'mai's venting. She checked the diagnostic panel by the door, fortunately still working, though everything was operating on the bare minimum functionality and power.

After a moment, she confirmed that, despite the fire and the crash, the rear compartment was still environmentally sealed.

"It can hold an atmosphere," she told J'mai with a rising excitement.

"Good. Get me up," J'mai ordered.

With great care, Carla helped the captain out of their seat, the Zamaar grunting and hissing in pain more than once, but they powered through it, hopping on their good leg as they clung to Carla.

She led them over to the door, which required some amount of force to manually open.

Already depressurised, there wasn't so much of a hiss, only the shrill grinding of the door.

Carla helped J'mai inside, and gently laid them on the deck. Before she sealed the cabin up, however, she returned to the cockpit, and gathered up every bit of equipment, emergency kits, and supplies she could find, ferrying them to the intact passenger compartment.

Once done, she shut the door, confirmed that it was sealed and secure, and set about oxygenating and pressurising the cabin again. Before she even contemplated removing her helmet - and part of her was inclined to leave it on, just in case - she checked the cabin thoroughly, both through its remaining operating diagnostics systems - thank god emergency power was made of sterner stuff - and her own manual checks, her eyes fastidious in their scrutiny. She couldn't afford to half-ass things.

Only after nearly fifteen minutes of these checks did she seem remotely confident the interior was secure. Her suit constantly returned positive pressure and oxygen readings, no other toxins, no CO2 build-up thanks to scrubbers in the cabin and their own suits, and no leakage or breaches. That had to be enough.

With a sigh, she unlocked the seals of her helmet, metallic air flowing into her nose and across her tongue. The taste of burnt alloy and plastic hung heavily, as did the chemicals of the fire suppressant, even after the venting.

It still seemed so delicious...

Carla sighed, and then turned her attention to J'mai, who was stuck on the floor.

Carla crouched next to her captain, and helped them remove their helmet.

"Nnf... not leaving things to chance, huh?" they remarked.

"After all that? Hell no," Carla answered, slowly removing J'mai's flight suit, peeling it back and very, very carefully pulling it aside, especially when she came to the Zamaar's leg.

J'mai's face flinched and cringed, but they kept their mouth shut.

Next, Carla had to open up the normal body suit, at least around J'mai's leg; she didn't want to completely strip J'mai down, they might need that suit in a pinch.

With delicate care, Carla opened up J'mai's leg with another hidden zipper, designed to allow access to the legs without having to remove the whole suit.

She grimaced upon seeing the bruised, bleeding flesh around the middle of J'mai's leg.

"Setting this isn't going to be easy," Carla warned.

"Can't have that," J'mai snarked. Carla didn't mind, it was their own form of pain relief.

But she fished into the medical boxes, and read every label closely; the medicine was organised by what was okay for what races were part of the union, though Carla quickly ascertained these particular kits were tailored for Zamaar and humans.

She found some painkillers, hypodermic auto-injectors, placing one tube against J'mai's neck, waiting for the beep, and then on the problem area, waiting for two beeps, as the instructions indicated.

J'mai grunted, and then sighed.

"Better than Zamaaran Oil..."

Carla didn't answer, waiting a few moments, and then fishing out more medical implements.

Her next predicament was J'mai's leg itself; how to set it straight without risking the bones healing wrong.

She didn't want to cripple J'mai, so she started through the manuals that came with the medical kits, reading slowly.

There was an explanation on how to use the splints, and what to do in the event someone had a leg broken like J'mai's.

It didn't make Carla comfortable. But it was better than doing nothing.

She got the splint ready, the device completely manual, understandably, but it made her nervous that she was going to do it wrong.

A hand gripped her shoulder, firmly. J'mai looked to her reassuringly.

"I trust you," they said, nodding slowly.

Carla's breath hitched, and then she nodded quickly in return.

"This will hurt a bit."

She didn't count down, getting it over and done with quickly, manipulating J'mai's leg as the instructions directed.

They swore in their language and groaned in pain through grit teeth. But soon it was over, and J'mai sighed out in relief.

Carla adjusted the splint, and proceeded to apply specialised anti-septic sprays that Zamaaran biology absorbed through their skin.

"That should do it until rescue comes," Carla said. 'If' she added in her head.

"It'll... haa, do," J'mai agreed, rocking their head back on the makeshift pillow Carla had laid, a folded thermal blanket from one of the medical kits.

Carefully, she unfurled a bedroll beneath J'mai so the captain had something soft to rest on.

With J'mai's immediate medical needs dealt with, Carla took stock of the food situation, as well as the oxygen supply; for just the two of them, they had enough to last a week, perhaps more.

But with all of the emergency reserve tanks included, Carla estimated they only had about four days with of air. The CO2 scrubbers could extend that, but Carla wasn't counting on that luck after so much of it was spent in the crash. It was miraculous as much was working as it was.

"Check the emergency transponder," J'mai ordered. "Make sure it's transmitting. If not, there should be back-ups in one of the survival kits."

"Right," Carla nodded, and found a still-working console.

It flickered a few times, struggling to respond, but a quick bit of percussive maintenance encouraged it along.

Unfortunately, the readouts were not as encouraging, Carla's features hardening.

"The transponder's working, but... it's damaged. I don't know how, but it says its output is severely degraded. It's not able filter through the moon's atmosphere. On top of that, it seems there's interference coming from the rock around us."

J'mai groaned, the sound of their head thumping on the pillow audible.

"That transponder's supposed to be able to survive almost anything, and the shuttle's last check was a clean report," J'mai grumbled.

They both went quiet, and peered at each other.

"You don't think the shuttle was sabotaged like The Tangerine, do you?" Carla ventured.

J'mai grimaced, and looked away.

"I'm afraid to say yes... but it's an uncomfortably plausible answer."

Carla understood J'mai's reluctance to accept the likely. It was a disturbing development if true.

It meant someone found out... and tried to silence them.

"If the main transponder is weak, the emergency ones might work... but I'm worried about the location we crashed," J'mai added.

"How so?"

"The moon's mostly flat, but there's valleys and gullies across the plains, and we landed in one. The terrain rises surprisingly steeply around us, and I fear that interference you mentioned may distort our position or mask our signal entirely, especially in a low point."

J'mai sighed again.

"The only thing I can think of is creating a daisy chain. Using the additional transponders to act as a trail or a relay for our signal. Planting them at different points, with one at high ground. But that seems like a hell of a lot of risk."

Carla was quiet again. Looking down thoughtfully, expression hard.

Apparently for long enough J'mai cast her a knowing, warning expression.

"Carla, don't even think about it."

"Captain, you are in no fit state to even try. And if there's even a chance this could improve our odds for survival, I want to take it. I want to pay you back for even saving us to begin with."

"I don't want that effort to be in vain because you died out there."

"If we go without being found, it'll be in vain either way. I know how long SAR ops can take in these sorts of situations, it was part of the initial overview before I signed up, as well as part of the application for the science ship I wanted to join. Given Gonzales Station's resources, I can't imagine they have an army to scour the moon for us."

J'mai rolled their head back to face the ceiling again.

"It's... too risky. I don't want your death on my conscience."

"And I don't want yours on mine. Nor do I fancy dying slowly in this tub. Besides, if someone is out to kill us, I don't want to give them the satisfaction of succeeding. I want to pay them back for everything they've done to us even before this. For me, for Tana, everyone."

Carla didn't even know where this fire had come from. She never thought herself one for confrontation, but though she was afraid, she was also angry.

Angry at the people who turned The Tangerine into a flying disaster. Whose sabotage hurt her friends.

Who had the malice to commit murder to keep their plan from unravelling.

And above all, she didn't want to die here with J'mai, after the captain had done so much... for everyone.

J'mai sighed, closing their eyes.

"Alright... just... please, come back, you hear? If you don't, I'm firing you, unfair dismissal laws be damned."

Carla smiled, and crouched next to J'mai.

"I'll be back before you know it."

And quite without thinking, leaned down and pecked J'mai on the lips.

They didn't even hesitate, returning the kiss with equal affection.

"Come back safe, okay?" J'mai reiterated.

Carla gave J'mai a confident look as she gathered her equipment.

"Wouldn't dream otherwise."

---

It was tricky enough just getting everything ready, and getting out of the ship, having to set up a folding airlock by one of the hatches, working around bent frames and hull plates. J'mai had an emergency breathing mask and their helmet close by, just in case.

But Carla managed to get it working without causing catastrophic depressurisation. With the air in the folding airlock tent safely back in the tanks - Carla really had to find the designer of the little shuttle and give them the hardest handshake in the universe - she was able to climb out the top of the shuttle.

She was first greeted with the sight of left rear engine nacelle, its panels blown out and charred, wires and pipes sticking out at chaotic angles. The right nacelle seemed to have caught fragmentation damage, because clearly the left had exploded. Now they knew the main cause of the crash.

But Carla's attention soon turned to the desolate world around her.

Lonely wind howled through her helmet's speakers, reddish dust swirling in the eddies.

A heavy haze clung low to the ground. 'Low' in operative terms, it seemed to restrict visibility to a good fifty metres in all directions, though she could just see the sky above, where the gas giant hung silently, a luminous ball casting reflected light onto the moon currently getting only a modicum of sun.

Carla wasn't sure where they crashed, positional data wasn't forthcoming from the shuttle's systems, but she had to guess they were somewhere closer to the 'north' pole.

At least if she considered north 'top' based on their orientation flying past before things went to shit.

It resulted in a light that seemed perpetually like late afternoon, but it definitely wasn't this hazy when they crashed.

The temperature was down as well, but thankfully her flight suit kept her warm.

However, another problem presented itself; radiation.

Her suit flashed a warning, indicating that it could not protect against the radiation from the gas giant entirely, as well as what the moon was giving off.

There must have been strong concentrations of isotopes or other radioactive minerals in the crust, and they were emitting a not insignificant amount.

The suit gave a conservative estimate of at least four hours before she started taking potentially dangerous doses, with a maximum of six hours its internal algorithms deemed was the longest Carla could be exposed for as a 'calculated risk'.

And it wasn't going to be a quick trip to high ground, going by what pictures the shuttle took as it crashed.

Add to that the weight of several additional transponders, it would be slow going. She couldn't afford to delay.

Thus, first things first, she set up a transponder on the roof around where the main transponder was, as a sort of backup given the main one was weak.

With that sorted, she glanced up the shallow slopes of the valley they crashed in, a steeper gully the site of their crash at the bottom.

She looked back along the furrow the shuttle gouged into the ground, and managed to briefly glimpse the gap in the ice mountains J'mai managed to weave through.

It seemed so much higher from down below...

She turned away, focusing on her mission, the trek ahead of her. She couldn't afford to screw around now.

"Alright, Carla, you put yourself up to this. Time to make good on it," she told herself.

With a deep breath, she stepped down from a flat shard of rock next to the crashed shuttle, and began the march.

She thought the lower gravity would make it easier, safer, but in the end, all the old lessons proved true, that lower gravity was its own hazard.

Namely, in how it threw everything off. Regular strides could knock you off balance as the inertia carried further, each step had to be more deliberate, recovery was slightly harder during a stumble, for she was not used to this weight.

Especially since it wasn't Luna weak or Mars weak, the only other gravities she'd experienced. She felt it after the crash in the shuttle, but now, making her way across the ground, she was really feeling that issue.

All compounded by the wind; the gusts weren't strong, but they buffeted her enough she was imperilled a few times, in particular coming across a ravine running along her chosen route to the top of the valley. A gust nearly knocked her down into the crack, and even steadying herself almost ended in disaster, the flaky, loose sheets of rock beneath her not steady ground.

But she saved herself, and kept going, working up a sweat inside her suit, both layers working hard to regulate her perspiration. Huffing, and puffing, the lower gravity wasn't making it much less of a strain.

Though it was mostly the distance she had to travel, the valley wide and the slope shallow. Shallow enough in parts it was just an uphill walk. Elsewhere steep enough it was a marching climb.

And in some places, she had to haul herself up ledges and rocks to keep going, since it would've taken too long to go around.

Every so often, she put down one of the transponders, making sure even a gale couldn't knock them off, especially since they had to be somewhat exposed.

And all the while, she was alone with her thoughts; J'mai could contact her via the suit radio, but they had only reported in every ten minutes. It was always brief, but even Carla could hear the relief in their voice when she answered, even through the scratchy interference.

All the same, it left her with long stretches of time to think about things, namely the circumstances that led to this; who was it so desperate to protect their scheme they were willing to kill for it? And in this manner? What did their scheme entail to make it worth killing for?

Smuggling of exceptionally valuable or heinous goods? Some other, worse plan that Carla didn't truly want to know about? Or were these people those rare psychopaths willing to kill where it suited them.

Carla feared what would happen to The Tangerine. The extent of the sabotage that might be inflicted if the people involved wanted to exact revenge, to spite her and J'mai.

She shouldn't have been thinking about these things, but she couldn't help it. And J'mai wasn't showing willingness to chat over the radio.

Carla understood why, and was glad for it; she needed the concentration, and was ever thankful the suit had decent, if basic, navigation systems, including a compass that tracked the direction of the shuttle. Or she could've gotten lost if this sandstorm kept up, and she didn't like the odds of it waning any time soon. Alien worlds often stormed for long ass stretches of time.

And she'd already gone more than a kilometre, so even that relatively short distance carried the risk of disorientation without those bearings. And Carla didn't have all the time in the world, after all.

So her mind jumped between the looming hazard of radiation, the people behind the sabotage, and the terrain she traversed, interspersed by quick radio checks from J'mai.

Two hours passed, and the sandstorm was seemingly getting worse, the winds picking up, the howling more demanding. But the dust itself was getting thinner, which made plotting her way up the rest of the way that little bit easier, and eventually, after a close-call with a rock she grabbed coming loose as she tried to pull herself up, reached the top of the valley's rim.

She was ever thankful she was going to go back down to the shuttle, because if she was someone going to go find anything on this rock, she would've been utterly demoralised; a vast expanse of cracked ground, almost devoid of any other feature save for a handful of vents spewing out toxic fumes from the moon's mantle.

It seemed to go on forever and ever, despite the horizon not that far off in the distance, being a moon and all.

But there was nothing else til' the horizon.

It was oddly beautiful though, the way the terrain cast long, cloying black shadows across the landscape. How it simultaneously seemed so cold and yet so warm.

She turned her back to the view, not wanting to waste time. She placed down the final transponder, pushing it firmly into a dusty boulder's top, its legs helping to secure it to the stone.

Job complete. Now all she had to do was get back down.

But the sight wasn't looking appealing, the dust seemingly flowing like water through the valley. She was just above it all, and it seemed worse than before.

No choice though, she had to get back to J'mai, waiting it out wasn't an option.

So step by step, she picked her way back down, no longer burdened by several transponders, not even one.

Visibility quickly dwindled as she sank into the howling river of flying dust.

And that's when a gale knocked her off her feet.

She screamed as she started to tumble. It felt like it was happening in slow motion, but that was just the lower gravity.

She flopped onto her side and began to roll down the slope, practically bouncing.

Grunting and yelping as she was jolted about, Carla desperately scrabbled for anything to grab onto, something to stop her descent.

She briefly glimpsed that ravine she passed on the way up, terrified of tumbling into its depths. She'd never crawl out.

She kept screaming, as if that would help, but as her suit's warnings attested, her heart was racing and her blood pressure was spiking. She was panicking.

And then her helmet hit the pointed corner of a rock.

It jolted her head back hard enough it dazed her. But even dazed, she reached out again, looking for something to grab, and found it.

Pain lanced along her arm, but thank fuck, nothing broke or tore as she came to a stop.

It was a shallow enough section she could get up. But with the adrenaline coursing through her, her breathing rapid and her pulse wild, she didn't immediately think to get up.

Especially not when the first thing she noticed once she started to regain her reckoning was the large crack spider-webbing across her visor.

A chill coursed down her spine, a fresh, immediate fear plunged sharply into her mind.

It was enough to slow her heart and breathing, but it didn't calm her, a shaky, whimpering breathing reaching her ears.

Her HUD showed signs of distortion, and informed her of serious damage to the visor.

Dust particles ticked off its surface... and something heavier. Small stones thrown up by the gale. Not large enough to pummel her, nor puncture her suit... but maybe an already compromised helmet.

Which in turn might weaken her suit's resilience to the rads outside.

She thought it would've gone down in the dust. But it was increasing. The dust itself was full of irradiated material.

She had to calm herself, or she'd never make it back.

She counted in her head, breathing in and out at intervals, and it seemed to help a little. Then she tried to contact J'mai.

"C-Captain? Are you there? I'm... I'm alright," she said shakily.

No reply. Only static.

Carla muttered, slapping the ground. She was still lying on her belly, legs sloping down, but she was reticent to just stand up.

A heavier stone clipped off the cracked visor, enough her head flinched.

She couldn't stay here, but she had to do something about the damage.

Again, she breathed to an internal count, and then reached down to a small satchel at her waist.

She produced a patch kit: the evolution of speed tape, it was incredibly sticky and strong, and quite gooey once peeled off the layer beneath, designed to fill the crack.

She used the sharp blade built into the reel to cut the length of tape, and carefully smoothed it over the cracks, watching how the white substance spread out into the web-like fissures to provide a measure of resilience, gluing the pieces together, just a little, while forming an additional seal atop of the tape.

But with every crack covered, her vision was soon very obscured. At least she didn't feel in as much risk of her visor cracking completely.

However, the dust storm was still worsening, and it was getting harder to move. She had to get back to the shuttle now.

So, with a pit in her gut, she slowly rose to her feet, and made her way down the slope, her compass guiding the way.

A desperation fuelled her movements, but she had to take it carefully. She still couldn't contact J'mai. The dust must have been creating intense interference, which did not bode well for the chain of transponders, but at least one was in the clear.

She kept going, climbing down with her back to the slope in parts.

A dark shape passed overhead; a flat sheet of stone, like a shingle, thrown in the wind.

It was roaring now. It was hard to keep her feet. It wanted to claim her, to take her away with it.

Then came glinting flecks.

Shards of that sickly green ice were now in the mix, and one managed to put a shallow, thin scratch on her visor. Damn, they were sharp.

It was getting desperate, and suddenly, she stumbled, and tripped.

She didn't even scream, she was that full of fear, unable to stop herself, until a dark wall emerged from the roiling murk.

She stopped herself against it. A tarnished yellow colour greeted her.

It was the shuttle.

She had to get inside, now. Without even thinking, she climbed up top, struggling to hold onto the hand holds and shanks of rent metal. She felt like she was going to be torn away and thrown into oblivion, or slammed by a massive chunk of stone or ice, smaller bits plinking off the fuselage, but thank god it was still holding.

But calmness prevailed over panic, and she opened the hatch, quickly slipping inside and sealing up as quickly as possible, afraid something would fly in and tear the airlock walls and cause disaster.

And once inside, once sealed in, she stood there, still and silent.

Tears started to roll down her face, and then the sobbing came.

Never had she felt as close to death as she had now. A terrible tremor fell over her, and she struggled to even begin the pressurisation cycle, too shaky to press the buttons properly.

But soon the lights turned green, and she was able to return to the oxygenated environment of the passenger cabin.

J'mai's head was raised, eyes wide, expression one of desperate relief.

They began spewing words in their own language, but Carla could tell they were thankful.

J'mai caught themself, swallowed, breathed out, and then looked at Carla with tears in their eyes and a smile that conveyed more gladness than words in any language could.

"You don't know how very happy I am to see you," J'mai said.

Carla shakily removed their helmet, and loosed a choked laugh through tears.

"You don't know how very happy I am to be alive," she echoed.

J'mai's tears continued to roll, on the floor though they were.

Their eyes turned back to Carla's helmet, a breath hitching in their voice.

"How bad was it?" they asked carefully. "It's horrendous inside."

Indeed, it was like a bad hailstorm was pelting the hull of the shuttle, but thankfully it was well insulated from noise.

Carla hefted her helmet.

"I think this says it all... but I got it done."

J'mai offered a tight smile, nodding slowly.

"That you did."

Carla took time to get out of her suit, and hung it up at the back of the shuttle, wiping it down with what water she was willing to spare; it was not easy to do decontamination, but she couldn't afford radioactive dust filling the cabin. It meant she had to turn off the life support briefly to draw it all up in what was a glorified duster. Things got stifling surprisingly quickly, but once she was done, she turned it all back on.

With all those hazards out of the way, Carla decided it was a good time to rest, and to eat, breaking out some emergency rations.

There were some field ration packs, but she and the captain opted to save them for a little bit, in case rescue took longer than hoped.

So instead, they dug into 'survival bars', highly-processed bars of nutrients, carbs, vitamins, and artificial flavours designed to be as palatable as possible to a wide range of diets and species.

Said flavours trying to emulate entire meals. The bars looked more appetising in their foil packets, Carla pulling out a 'roast meal' bar that looked like a compressed wafer of speckled shit.

At least it wasn't glossy, and it did actually taste like a roast. What kind, she wasn't sure. But a roast with steamed vegetables. All blended together.

It tasted... okay.

J'mai wasn't so bothered, scarfing down their bar within seconds. Maybe they had the right idea.

They each only needed one bar, chased down with some flavoured water. That'd be plenty filling.

With their 'feast' out of the way, they sat in silence, listening to the storm rage outside, ice and rock pelting the busted hull of the shuttle.

They went so long without talking, or doing anything really, that Carla spoke up just to keep a grip on her sanity.

"So... how do you think they did it?" she began, an uncomfortable subject, but they'd get to it at some point or another.

J'mai sighed.

"I honestly have no idea how. I wish I do, and I've been thinking since we crashed on how they did it. There's something we're overlooking... or something they have that we're not aware of."

"Like, a new technology?"

"Or an obscure one. It's crazy, but it's one possibility that we have to consider..." they trailed off, looking away before quietly adding, "when we get out of here."

Even Carla picked up on the unspoken 'if'. J'mai was a strong-willed captain, but Carla worried they were struggling with the situation. Not that she could blame them, this was a nightmare scenario.

Carla couldn't look back at her helmet without feeling bile rise in her gut. Never in her life had she felt more afraid.

She breathed out slowly, doing her best to stay calm, and J'mai noticed.

"Sorry. I didn't meant to stress you out," they apologised.

"No, you didn't--"

"Yes I did. And I am sorry. I've just... I'm scared. And I have to keep a lid on it, you know? I'm the captain. When things go wrong, people look to me. And I know I'm allowed to be scared. But I can't show it as much, because I need to be an anchor. Something people can depend on. Someone who can take charge and keep them going."

Carla knelt next to J'mai and held their shoulder, a sympathetic look on her face.

"You've done a fantastic job so far, you set us down as safe as could be in terrible circumstances."

"Hah. And yet here I lie, on the floor of a shuttle, unable to do anything but wait. And hope. Hope that the person I'm supposed to look after doesn't suffer because of my incapacitation."

"Don't think like that, not for a second. We can't always rely on our leaders, things happen. That's what we're always taught as 'spacers'. We always have to be ready to step up when it matters."

"I know, I know... still doesn't make it any easier as a captain."

J'mai rolled their head to the side again.

"When you went out there, I was worried, as anyone would be, but it was fine. Kept in contact, checked in, didn't waste your time with chit-chat with all that interference. But then the storm started to pick up. I couldn't contact you. The sounds, the banging... I was so scared you weren't going to come back. It's not even a matter of me being left alone in here. I just wasn't sure I could live with the belief I sent you to your death... and I have to curb that thinking too. Or it'll consume me."

Carla's tears started to well up again, and she grabbed J'mai's hand tightly.

"We'll get through this, captain. We won't let this moon beat us."

J'mai offered a sombre smile in return.

"I admire you, Carla. You're a good person. You didn't want to be on my ship, but you adapted anyway. You're as much part of the crew as anyone else. And I'm glad for it."

Carla smiled in return, and laid her head against J'mai's chest. Intimate for captain and subordinate, but Carla thought J'mai a friend, even if they didn't interact much.

A sigh let J'mai's lips, a slightly sad sound.

"I just wish I didn't have to think about the fear. The worry. The doubt. That... 'if'. And this busted leg."

Carla looked at her captain, and then had a rather crazy idea.

"Well, if we can't be sure of rescue, then maybe we should at least make the most of the time we have left. And if nothing else... it'll take your mind off things."

J'mai gave Carla a quizzical look.

"What are you suggesting?"

Carla returned a knowing smile, and leaned in to give J'mai a kiss on the lips. It lingered longer than the first one... and proved deeper, Carla's tongue gently slipping between J'mai's lips.

Without missing a beat, J'mai's own tongue returned the favour, a slow tango that eventually came to an end.

J'mai looked only mildly surprised.

"Oh, that's what you're suggesting," they quipped.

Carla chuckled, and gently caressed J'mai's cheek.

"If you're okay with that, at least. Being Captain and all."

J'mai smiled and reached up to cup Carla's cheek in turn.

"If I didn't fuck my own crew because I was captain, I'd have quit by now."

Both laughed, and leaned in close for another kiss. It was more lurid this time, both passionate, both murmuring in soft lust.

Carla felt an arousal brewing inside of her. A certain fire that was a little different from all the other times.

Perhaps the spectre of rescue never arriving made this all the more special.

She explored J'mai's mouth, and J'mai explored hers, their tongues mingling as their lips twisted and worked away together, Carla gently twisting her head to mesh at different angles.

Soft murmurs and heated breaths were shared, until Carla finally pulled away, kneeling next to J'mai.

Carla offered her captain a smile, and started slowly removing her bodysuit, peeling it off her as sensually and quietly as she could.

J'mai's eyes were fixated, drinking in every feature Carla revealed, clutching their own chest and giving it a good, possessive squeeze, pinching a nipple, just barely, through their own suit.

There was a faint sheen on Carla's body, the remnants of sweat her suit hadn't quite absorbed and dealt with. The light purple streaks down her shoulders, bruises from the harness during the crash, and fainter red splotches elsewhere, received during her earlier tumble, were also visible, but not as bad as they could be.

Inwardly, she knew she should've been resting after that earlier near-death experience. She was certain they were nearing the normal 'bed time' on the ship, or at least her own.

But the fire inside her was lit now, and she needed it. Desperately.

And looking at J'mai's face, so did they.

Stepping out of her suit, Carla's naked glory captured J'mai's gaze easily, the Zamaar watching how Carla's breasts shifted with every firmer movement, eyes gazing over the smoothly shaven vulva that already twinkled with a hint of arousal.

But it was no good if only Carla was naked, the human moving over J'mai to start peeling off their bodysuit.

The way their voluptuous body seemed to spill out of their suit, bust jiggling, belly wobbling tautly with fat and muscle both, was just delightful. J'mai was a thick-set Zamaar, curvy, but not exactly fat, and Carla found herself drawn to them the more of their suit she peeled away.

However, Carla had to leave it beneath them, and only exposed down to their upper thighs. The rest of their legs remained clothed, and Carla knew she couldn't get too rough with J'mai, not in their state.

Honestly, she was fine with that. It meant whatever they were going to do, was going to be intimate.

And that reflected in how Carla stripped her captain, like she was slowly opening a delicate present.

Once exposed, Carla moved to tease the Zamaar, one hand moving to rub up and down that slick, smooth vulva, the other taking a handful of the captain's breasts, gripping one in hand, rolling her thumb over the firm nipple.

J'mai crooned softly, and reached up to grope Carla in return; clearly, they were not going to simply lay there idly. Not that Carla expected them to.

She giggled sensually, and curled her fingers against J'mai's clitoris, delicate strokes that made them croon. The hand fondling J'mai's chest got possessive, and sank fingers deep into the yielding flesh of their globe, so soft and pliant.

Carla explored further, sinking her middle finger into J'mai's pussy, right to the knuckle, tugging and clawing gently, back and forth, feeling for that firm shape deep in their sex.

She couldn't feel it, not just yet. But Carla knew it wouldn't be long before that organ started to press against the walls of their pussy, ready to slide out obediently for Carla's hand.

But this wasn't going to be a dom/sub situation, that much Carla knew. Circumstances were too intimate for that... and she really just wanted to feel good. She wanted J'mai to feel good. She wanted them both to enjoy themselves as nicely as they could.

So Carla started rotating herself around, taking her hand away from J'mai's glorious bust, until her legs were either side of J'mai's head, and hers looming over the Zamaar's crotch.

Alien hands slid up her thighs, and glided sensually over her rump, four fingers and four thumbs kneading her buttocks with sensual care. J'mai massaged her rear, palms circling against both glutes, peeling them apart and pushing them together, fingers kneading firmly, sinking into Carla's more streamlined bottom.

She wasn't as curvaceous as J'mai, but she had meat enough, and J'mai was having fun with it.

Leaving Carla to croon, and slip two fingers inside of the Zamaar's pussy.

Those walls clamped firmly around the invading digits this time, J'mai's arousal rising as fast as Carla's. And more, she felt that firm lump through the slick walls of the captain's passage, their cock erect but still quite contained within their body.

Carla smirked, and pumped her two fingers in and out with a careful pace.

Only to moan when she felt her own canal plugged by a pair of alien digits, J'mai moving one hand from Carla's rump to her pussy, occasionally tracing her labia and grazing her clit with wayward thumbs during the pumping thrusts of their two digits.

A shiver raced through her, but she felt no weaker for it. Only invigorated, encouraged to go further. To show J'mai an incredible time.

Her fingers moved with a greater pace this time, and slowly, the pitched, squelching symphony of her fingers pumping between tight, slick walls graced her ears.

J'mai must have heard the same, because their fingers were moving with a maddened speed themselves, eager to push Carla towards the edge.

But not quite over it. Neither did Carla want J'mai cumming too soon.

She could tell, like her, J'mai wanted this experience to last. To savour it. To explore each other as intimately as they could, Carla curling her fingers tight inside of J'mai's sex, tugging on their contours, gently tracing the subtle bulge of their still-contained erection, idly thinking about the anatomy of it all. How it all squeezed in so tightly, between canal and belly, without being noticeable from the outside.

Carla spread her fingers apart, while J'mai pressed theirs together tightly, pumping back and forth with steadily increasing gusto.

Hot gasps left them both, their free hands exploring the other's body as they could, J'mai still fondling Carla's rump, while Carla gently massaged J'mai's thighs, careful not to get too near the splint.

God, J'mai was so wet. Carla's fingers felt utterly sodden. She could only imagine her captain was thinking the same about her, because she felt the moisture rolling down her inner thighs.

Even as the storm continued to rage outside, as long as it sounded like the hull held, they weren't going to stop.

But stirring up J'mai's innards didn't hold Carla's attention forever, not with her fingers at least. So even as J'mai extracted moans from her, the human was keen to get a taste, and withdrew her fingers.

All to grasp J'mai's soft, meaty thighs and lower her head between them. Curling her tongue slowly along J'mai's gash.

J'mai flinched, and a soft croon left them. But immediately after, they tugged on Carla's hips, a good enough message for her.

Pulled down upon J'mai's face, Carla wiggled her hips to nestle herself upon their countenance, feeling both those alien hands slide around to take a possessive handful of each glute.

Their tongue followed next, prodding Carla's button with quick, firm, but precise dabs, flicking her nub and making her flinch in turn.

When one did something, the other often followed suit, and neither minded, the croons and groans of pleasure flowing freely as they kneaded the softer parts of their partner.

Carla was rather taken with how J'mai's thighs felt; they were a voluptuous figure, but clearly fit beneath all that, a firmer layer of muscle beneath the fat, and with the glossy, smooth, faintly reptilian or aquatic nature of their skin, it was a most unique tactile sensation.

Carla couldn't get enough of it, shaking her head between J'mai's thighs to rub her cheeks against them. And rub her lips to J'mai's pussy too, tongue curling firmly and deeply to gather up the alien's flavour.

J'mai was starting to push deep too, tongue often plunging into Carla's depths to waggle about assertively before retreating to taste her vulva.

Carla couldn't stop her hips wobbling atop of J'mai's face, grinding her pussy against their lips, forcing them to shift between suckling on her pussy, or her clit, but wherever J'mai had to focus, they earned Carla's moans and croons easily enough.

She wasn't too rough, of course. Slow, sensual, that's how she moved. J'mai couldn't exactly move about, so Carla didn't want to stress them out, or their injury.

But it seemed to be working, because Carla hadn't heard them grunt in pain or ask for any more painkillers.

She did feel a shiver course through J'mai though... a rather nice sign the alien was getting aroused. Very aroused.

So was Carla, of course, J'mai's tongue waggling enthusiastically about her pussy.

And then, Carla felt it; the passage her tongue probed closing up, tightening and narrowing.

Something emerging above J'mai's entrance, forcing Carla to retreat in good order. But all the same, she did not mind this, gasping shakily and lustfully as the captain's exotic cock started pushing against Carla's face, a sweet musk swirling around her face.

She inhaled deeply, revelling in the scent, how it worked her up, made her feel so much more aroused.

A hand left J'mai's thighs, gliding over their smooth flesh to find their cock, fingers wrapping one by one around it, slotting into the gaps formed by the angled, fleshy ridges.

J'mai's member was a little thicker than most Zamaar, and they seemed to have a few more ridges. But they were not particularly flared, allowing Carla's hand to glide up the rod with surprising smoothness.

And with each ridge her hand rolled over, a tiny little flinch coursed through that exotic dick. Precum oozed from the tip, rolling down the mast 'step by step'.

At least until caught by Carla's grip.

She started to twist her hand, adding to the stimulation, making J'mai moan against her pussy, the Zamaar making thorough use of their slightly longer tongue compared to a typical human's, extracting moans from Carla in exchange.

It wasn't fair to J'mai for Carla to be back to using her hand while they still tasted her pussy. So Carla crooned, and dragged their tongue slowly and firmly along that textured length... enjoying the flavour as she did so.

It must have been one hell of a change for her to go from being unsure about all this, to delighting in the flavour of her alien colleagues. But she was happier for it.

J'mai's thrumming moans teasing her pussy was certainly an added bonus, shivering croons tingling around J'mai's rod, straight from Carla's throat.

She turned her head to slot her lips around that mast, sucking hard and digging their tongue up beneath each of the angled ridges, places Carla knew Zamaar were often sensitive.

The potent throbs that rippled through her mast was testament to that, a fat dollop of precum oozing from their tip and threatening to roll down J'mai's rod, the thickness of it the only thing keeping it clinging to J'mai's glans.

She grinned right against the head of the helm... and then slipped that glans between her lips, letting her tongue roil across it. More precum dribbled forth, and was quickly lapped up as it pushed that fat glob down into the path of Carla's wriggling tongue.

She focused on J'mai's tip for now, just as J'mai shifted attention to Carla's clit for now, instead of alternating. Their inner thumbs curled and swept in massaging arcs up through the cleft of Carla's rump, continuing to knead the human's rear.

Those lips wrapped firm and tight around her bud, J'mai eager to suck Carla close to release.

Carla had to keep up, though she faltered more than once, especially when she felt J'mai's slightly tapered tongue flicker vigorously against her clit.

Both were moaning into the other, both were losing their cool to the pleasure. And Carla hadn't even started descending upon J'mai's mast yet.

When she did, she did so with the practised ease of oral being the technique she had honed the most.

She twisted her head to reciprocate her lips around that alien cock, tongue pressing firmly to the rod just behind her lips.

J'mai purred into Carla's sex, vibrations buzzing directly against her clit.

Neither side could really stop their muffled moans, and it only served to stimulate them further, shivering and twitching lewdly.

J'mai started probing their tongue deeper into Carla's sex, and Carla was soon kissing the base of J'mai's cock, the length throbbing in her bulging throat.

She lingered there, moaning at the feeling of it buried so deep. And she let her tongue slip past her lips, and start swirling around J'mai's root, rolling over their vulva, tasting the secretions of arousal that still trickled up from their slit.

The Zamaar, on the other hand, was happily shovelling Carla's arousal right into their mouth, J'mai shifting back to her pussy proper and curling their tongue with impressive dexterity, practically drinking down the human's lust while J'mai's lips worked madly away at her pussy.

Carla whined in pleasure, and couldn't keep herself buried to J'mai's root while under that sort of assault. So finally, she started bobbing her head, again with the practised twist that made her lips undulate over the numerous ridges of J'mai's cock, indulging in as much flavour as possible.

She suckled hard on J'mai's tip like a leech, twisting and rolling her lips around and attacking the Zamaar's clit with the wild abandon they were inflicting on her pussy.

Both were shivering, both were definitely nearing orgasm. But weren't quite there yet.

And neither seemed worried about 'beating' the other. They just wanted to enjoy themselves, Carla starting back down to J'mai's root, and back up again, her rhythmic bobbing ramping up the pace stroke by stroke, while J'mai's efforts were only just shy of ravenous and remained at that level, for now.

Not that it wasn't enough for Carla, it was plenty, a pressure building inside of her, an orgasm growing and approaching. She was going to lose herself to the bliss, and probably more than once.

J'mai's grip on her rump tightened, fingers digging into her glutes, but the Zamaar didn't just settle for a squeeze, plying Carla's cheek's apart or pushing them together, squishing and kneading them in a luxurious massage.

Sometimes J'mai even traced fingers up to Carla's tailbone and caressed the lower part of her spine, little twitches racing through the muscle.

Carla kept her focus, even as she was drawing closer to orgasm, gulping that cock over and over, tongue curling from side to side.

She even, several times, scraped her teeth delicately over J'mai's glans, making their dick all but bounce in response.

Oozing globs of precum never ceased, and Carla happily lapped them up, an appetiser treat... and with how much was flowing, the main course wasn't that far off.

She whined with a shrill voice, her pleasure reaching the cusp.

And then she felt J'mai hold back. Slow down a little.

While walking a hand along Carla's side until a finger teased her cheek, and gently tugged on her. Not enough to hold or command Carla. But enough to... 'suggest'.

'Keep going'.

Carla understood J'mai's plan immediately, grinning around their cock in anticipation.

And then promptly went to town on J'mai's dick, bobbing her head swiftly and with gusto, occasionally slurping, saliva dribbling down the sides of J'mai's rod along with missed precum, the vigorous throbbing felt in Carla's throat.

J'mai was close. Very close. It wasn't going to take much more to make them blow.

That turned out to be a count of six more bobs of Carla's head... and the lusty alien howled into Carla's pussy.

And immediately plunged their tongue into its depths, stirring up her innards and attacking every sensitive point they could find.

The result was Carla groaning with a lurid intensity around that dick, and her pussy spasming as wildly as the rest of her body, sputtering lust right into J'mai's mouth.

Who was flooding Carla's with a potent load of alien semen, the woman doing her best to gulp it all down, dropping to J'mai's root and fixing there for the duration of the captain's... rather lengthy climax.

But Carla took it, and she took it well, moaning and gurgling a little around that rod.

The two shuddered together, though Carla caught J'mai's right hand moving down to keep a good hold on their upper thigh. But no sound of pain came from the captain, their other hand holding tight onto Carla's hips and making sure she couldn't escape from her lustful attention.

Not until both saw out the end of their first climax. Carla whined as the ecstasy endured... and then went limp when J'mai's tongue stopped thrashing at her clit, and their cock stopped pumping thick alien cum down her throat.

She slowly pulled free of J'mai's shaft, and rolled her hips off their mouth, both of them gasping for breath, even if it was the somewhat stale, metallic air of the shuttle.

Of course, it now hung heavy with the smell of sex and a faint whiff of perspiration. Carla wasn't sweating that hard. But she would, in time.

She gave J'mai's rod a parting lick, and then slid off them, turning around to face the Zamaar that so energetically ate her out.

Immediately, she pulled herself into an intimate cuddle, J'mai welcoming Carla into their embrace. Hands proceeded to roam across skin, Zamaar and human alike, Carla ever delighted by the glossy texture the species possessed.

She kept her legs spread, keeping some space for the poor captain's injured leg, and was careful with her more lurid acts of closeness, gently kneading J'mai's wonderful bust.

But even being gentle, Carla couldn't contain her lust, dragging her tongue along their belly whenever she slid down to glide her nude body upon theirs, pushing up against the underside of J'mai's bust on the upward journey.

Lips and tongue both graced the captain's globes, Carla taking her time rolling her mouth over those voluptuous treats.

She focused her oral ministrations upon one, leaving her opposite hand to massage the other, kneading firmly, sliding over the curves of that mammary until she had J'mai's nipple slotted between index and middle finger.

Carla pinched carefully, tugging upwards on that rather fat teat, but doing so delicately. Such could be said for all her ministrations, Carla relishing the soft croons of her captain, as they too explored Carla's body with wandering hands, finger pairs curling against her skin like J'mai was gently trying to scratch at her.

Naturally, J'mai also grabbed a healthy handful of her ass, Carla shivering and lightly pushing her rump into that squeezing hand.

Her lips found the cap of the breast she hovered over, tongue swirling around the ever so slightly engorged areola, a little fatter than most, human or Zamaar. And the nipple itself, firm and pliant, just begging for a set of lips wrapped tightly around it.

Carla obliged it, practically devouring the entire peak of J'mai's breast with a careful motion, sucking the meat into her mouth and assailing the sensitive nub with a wiggling tongue.

She murmured softly, with savour, slowly rubbing her body upon the curvy alien's body. Ever conscious of J'mai's injury.

But J'mai continued to pull Carla closer and tighter against them, demonstrating no discomfort.

Carla could feel J'mai's rod throbbing between her thighs, sometimes twitching hard enough to lightly smack her slit, a little wince racing through her.

As she 'fed' on one breast, her hand played with the other, fingers able to sink to the first knuckles inside of that pliant, wobbly flesh, so warm and enticing on Carla's hands.

She even squeezed her palm against the globe, an extra layer of stimulation, really working out any knots that might have been inside.

If breasts could even get knots. Carla didn't really care. As long as J'mai seemed all too happy to receive the attention.

And with every moan that left J'mai's lips, Carla felt a tingle race along her spine. It made her happy to hear her efforts were doing good, that she was taking J'mai's mind off things.

And her own.

She curled her tongue firmly against that nipple, pressing hard, licking slow, tasting for as long as she could, all while suckling that titflesh with luxurious effort and tender jaw movements.

Her hand fondled the other breast for some moments more... and then swapped over, hot breath washing over the heated saliva.

Now Carla was upon the other breast, sucking on its teat with tugging motions that suggested she were drinking down a full stream of milk, though no such treat was there for her.

It didn't bother J'mai any, whose hands squeezed her rump with a sudden possessive tightness, earning fond hip wiggles and an arching back.

Carla was never still, always grinding against her captain's body, a shameless indulgence, but one her captain encouraged with every little tug and squeeze against her soft parts.

And J'mai was certainly getting handsy, curling a digit down between the cleft of Carla's rump, rubbing a finger pad across her pucker with a fleeting pressure, little more than a ticklish caress.

It made Carla flinch. Many things made her flinch, but that got her attention. Even after 'breaking in' her ass, it remained tender and sensitive.

J'mai applied more pressure, rubbing their finger in circles against that striated ring, the muscle tight and responsive.

But J'mai's hand soon slid further, until both fingers on that hand were gliding along Carla's pussy, getting wet from the seeping moisture, and sometimes getting touched by their own throbbing cock.

It made Carla croon, prompting a soft laugh from the captain, and a series of salacious, alluring murmurs. But no words. It didn't seem necessary at this stage.

As for J'mai's other hand, it roamed all over Carla's back, squeezing here and there, rubbing her spine, and bumping over her vertebrae with a delicate trail.

The two of them were slowly shifting masses, erotic but languid, taking their time and enjoying the other's body, Carla even slowly humping her hips against J'mai's groin while their cock was still between her thighs.

And eventually, their intimacy saw Carla's lips trailing further up J'mai's chest, grazing along their collar bone, coming to linger upon the captain's neck.

The soft sighs that came from their lips were ever encouraging to Carla, who drew her lips together firmly against J'mai's throat.

And in return, J'mai grabbed a tight handful of Carla's ass in their free hand, the other preoccupied with the teasing of the human's pussy, pushing far enough down to just graze the edge of her clit.

Carla moaned against J'mai's neck, and she could feel their jaw move a little, indicating a salacious smile. Carla didn't need to see it to be certain, and smiled against J'mai's neck in return, humping the Zamaar that little bit more vigorously.

Carla even nibbled upon J'mai's neck, teeth gently clamping around the Zamaar's throat in a teasing manner, chuckling deviously before curling her tongue firmly against that vulnerable jugular.

She knew J'mai would have their revenge, but for now, Carla ventured a little higher, until her lips grazed over J'mai's jaws, up their cheek... until they found their lips.

The transition to another kiss was utterly seamless, their lips meshing together perfectly, Carla tilting her head a little to achieve that.

And their tongues were quick to meet and dance together, a twisting tango as they curled and coiled around and on themselves, and wrestled in a lurid contest that went unseen. But they could sure feel it.

J'mai's fingers continued to tease Carla's sensitive pussy, pushing in to the knuckles and gently pumping, while Carla held onto J'mai's head with one hand, fingers playing across the Zamaar's head spines affectionately.

Her other hand was sliding along J'mai's shoulder, up and down in a loving caress.

And all the while, J'mai's cock was throbbing eagerly.

Carla capitalised on that quite by instinct, carefully squeezing her thighs together to ensure she didn't stress J'mai's right leg.

Once their rod was trapped between her thighs, Carla began to lift and lower her hips with an added rolling motion, stroking J'mai's rod luxuriously.

It wasn't enough to get them off. But it made them feel good. And returned the favour to J'mai's continuing effort to finger her pussy.

Muffled moans of their pleasure were lost in each others' mouths, their eyes now closed as they acted purely by instinct, experience, and the desires of their hearts, though conscious at least of J'mai's injury.

Never once did it seem to cause problems, J'mai groping Carla's rump more and more insistently.

Their kiss became ever more salacious, the twisting of Carla's head quickening, her lips practically sucking upon J'mai's. While J'mai's tongue leveraged its Zamaaran length and dexterity, a notch or two superior to a typical human's, to overwhelm Carla's muscle with erotic attention, and explore every inch of her mouth in the process.

Their heads rocked together, firmly pushing their mouths into each other as they mock-fought for the gentle dominance of the kiss. There was no clear victor in the battle, nor did they want there to be.

Precum oozed from J'mai's cock, and moisture seeped from Carla's pussy, both receiving tender pleasure that could never push them over the edge, but served well to get them ready for the next round.

They enjoyed the intimacy a little longer, however, Carla grinding her belly to J'mai's, really feeling the voluptuous softness of the Zamaar's features.

Before lust and need demanded she continue.

Carla broke the kiss with a soft gasp, J'mai curling their tongue against her lips and nose in parting.

With a cheeky grin, Carla worked her way back down J'mai's body. There was no need for this, not with what she planned next. But she wanted to shower more reverence upon the lovely Zamaar that had so inspired her since she joined up.

She peppered kisses along their soft frame, nuzzling her face into their pudgy belly, moaning from the feeling of warm, pliant flesh hugging her countenance, an alien hand moving to rake through her hair.

She crooned, and continued further, licking her lips and J'mai's skin, until she passed their hips, twisting aside so she kept clear of the Zamaar's legs.

All so she could revere their thighs, sucking kisses the least of Carla's lustful admiration.

Like J'mai's neck, she even nibbled upon their softer parts, and then let her tongue graze along the base of the alien's mast, earning an audibly heavier breath.

Lips twisted deviously, Carla always spurred by J'mai's pleasure.

But it came time to push for the finale. And so Carla rose up, and carefully straddled J'mai's hips, their cock twitching and nodding between gently clenched glutes.

Precum oozed down into the crack of Carla's rear, which she gently stroked against J'mai's dick, a little extra foreplay on top of everything else they've done.

If nothing else, it'd help lather in J'mai's own precum for suitable lubrication.

But what was a little more?

With a smirk, Carla lifted away and then rocked her hips against J'mai's cock and pinned it down to their belly, leaving her to grind her slit against that delightfully textured cock.

Feeling her clit bumping over the edges of all those angled ridges was damn pleasant, and Carla moaned appropriately.

She huffed and sighed, slicking up J'mai's rod with her own arousal, until it was utterly glistening in the dull light of the shuttle's cabin.

J'mai's hands slid up Carla's thighs with a loving tenderness, coming to rest on her hips. They gripped gently, but did not guide her. Only held onto her as Carla raised up and let J'mai's rod rise with her.

Now she rested the entrance to her womanhood upon the pinnacle of their rod, pulsing with a luxurious virility.

She started to twist her hips, a teasing gyration to get J'mai even more aroused and ready than they already were.

But in time, Carla wanted it as much as J'mai did... and slowly sunk down on that meaty rod, feeling its throbs pulse against her tight walls, the oozing of its precum into her folds, its heat invigorating her.

Her moans filled the cabin, eyes closing as she was stretched. Opening them, she saw J'mai had closed their eyes too, and only cracked them once Carla came to rest on J'mai's crotch.

It was always a little difficult to take members on the bigger side like J'mai's. But always so rewarding, Carla never skipping the opportunity to enjoy the feeling of fullness in her depths.

She rocked her head forward, looking down upon J'mai, resting her hands on their shoulders.

Their eyes were beautiful in their strangeness. And the intensity within them was palpable.

So Carla started to gyrate her hips, grinding circles upon J'mai's lap, gentle and luxurious, rump squashing down on their upper thighs and hips. The rod was stirred up inside her, pushing against her walls, and her G-Spot, earning no small number of coos and musical gasps.

J'mai pinned their lower lip behind their teeth, the lust more than evident on their face, an intensity behind their eyes that Carla couldn't look away from.

The Zamaar reached up to play with Carla's own breasts with one hand, deftly shifting from one globe to the other, leaving their free hand to continue groping her ass.

The needy human groaned, and finally started to rise and fall upon that fat member, still twisting her hips and squeezing her walls tight, such her muscles gripped and stroked J'mai's rod with every movement.

Carla was slow at first, savouring the sensation and trying to make it last for as long as possible. In so doing, she couldn't help touching J'mai's chest, one hand slipping down from their shoulder to once more play with their wonderful bosom.

It seemed they shared something in common, even if Carla didn't have as much 'bounty' to offer compared to J'mai. But they didn't seem to mind at all, delicately flicking Carla's nipples in sequence.

Carla crooned from how sensitive she was, and that was only increasing by the moment as she worked herself up, twisting J'mai's cock about inside her, even as she reached the tip of that spear. She lingered there, for a little while, squeezing the muscles around the entrance of her pussy to scour that glans, teasing J'mai some more.

But that didn't last, Carla soon dropping down more straight than she rose, rump squashing salaciously upon J'mai's lap, pulsing throbs in that shaft releasing hot, heavy globs of precum, smeared into the alien's meat when Carla began to raise again.

The pace she chose was slow, out of consideration, but she squeezed tight to make it all the more intense.

She fondled J'mai's bust, squeezing and kneading in circular motions, rolling her thumb over those teats, so springy and pliant beneath her touch.

She couldn't use both hands at once, needing one to remain on J'mai's shoulder for leverage, but the hand she could use was making sure to maximise the effort, kneading and squeezing with careful motions, practised on many other Zamaar.

J'mai was no different, their hands such masterful masseuses, be it the one fondling Carla's breasts, or the one gently holding onto her hips and sliding around to toy with her rump.

Carla let her spine twist and undulate with every rise and every fall of her body, rolling her hips to grind against J'mai's rod with every shift.

With a lick of her lips, Carla started to move faster, fast enough to gently slap her rump against J'mai's crotch, making it jiggle.

She looked into the eyes of her captain, and saw the same yearning lust she herself had.

It made Carla's heart melt, but she couldn't let it distract her completely.

She had to keep going and make J'mai feel good after all.

Rising and falling, she settled into a moderate pace, fast enough to quietly clap against J'mai's lap, but not too fast that either were getting close too soon, or caused J'mai discomfort.

Carla's breasts and rump still jiggled, if subtly, as she rode the captain's member, leaning over J'mai with heated breath and lusting pants.

J'mai themself was huffing with pleasure, sliding their hands up Carla's side and around her back to grip it, a gentle hold, an intimate one.

And it gradually pulled Carla further down towards J'mai's body, until their breasts were touching each other, nipples lightly grazing together.

The position was too close to keep fondling the Zamaar's bust, so Carla's hands both held onto J'mai's shoulders for the time being.

They stared at each other, gazing long into the other's eyes, losing themselves to the desire, the affection, that burned behind their orbs.

One of Carla's hands slipped from J'mai's shoulders, and cupped the side of their face, the mutual gaze between them deepening.

By now, Carla had to make use of her hips more than her knees, but still she managed to take J'mai's impressive specimen from root to tip, wringing out as much precum as she could from that erotic member.

Drifting ever closer to J'mai's body though, it was taking more effort to keep up the pace, especially since J'mai could not help in that way.

But with the way they were throbbing, Carla didn't think she'd need to work too hard.

With that thought out of the way, they both succumbed to their yearning, and pushed their lips together, engaging in yet another deep, rapacious kiss, muffled grunts and murmurs flowing freely from their throats.

Their tongues fought in the shared cavity, while Carla twisted her lips firmly to J'mai's, and they as much the same as they could in their position.

However, while Carla could no longer have her fill of pliant tit flesh, J'mai was perfectly free to take firm handfuls of her ass, and the Zamaar was making the most of it.

If nothing else, Carla's chest was getting a nice massage, rubbing against J'mai's hefty bosom, and as such, they received the same, Carla grinding her body luridly against her alien lover just to continue taking that cock in and out of her.

Slowly though, their moans got more heated. More lecherous. They were nearing the final stretch of their shared ecstasy, Carla leaking arousal profusely around J'mai's cock, and J'mai's precum oozing near-constantly into her pussy.

It was going to be an explosive finale, and they both knew it. They both wanted it explosive.

And so Carla picked up the pace, rolling her hips madly against J'mai's, squeezing hard, and practically devouring their shared kiss.

And J'mai returned as much fervour as Carla gave, their tongue starting to overpower Carla's, filling her mouth with so much subtly flavoursome saliva. It made the kiss a delight, their brains both tingling at the edge of fresh bliss, ready to give each other what they wanted.

Carla's humping movements were getting shorter and sharper, nearing the crescendo of ecstasy. J'mai gripped Carla's rump and the back of her head with an almost obsessive possessiveness.

And both their sexes were twitching and throbbing on the verge.

Indeed, when Carla raised her hips to the apex of J'mai's rod, lingering for but a brief moment before slamming down with a loud clap, the spasm both of them experienced was almost violent.

It was like they were sharing the same electric shock, their cries filling the cabin of the shuttle upon the breakage of the kiss, the sounds shaky and strained.

Carla's pussy shuddered an inundated J'mai's penis with plentiful fluids of lust smeared crushingly into the contours of that alien rod, which itself was practically bouncing with each throb, releasing such thick ropes inside of Carla's pussy, she could feel them.

And the heat... it radiated through the both of them, J'mai's hand moving down to Carla's back to pull her tight into them just so they could really feel her soft, nubile body against theirs, chests squashing together tight enough they could each feel the beating of the other's heart. Racing and pounding.

J'mai's hips made short, sharp jerks into Carla's pussy, but it was obvious they were holding back from anything more energetic. Not that their cock wasn't demonstrating that well enough.

Their ecstasy swirled around each other, the world, the events that had unfolded, the reason they were here in the first place... it all seemed distant, unimportant, downright unreal.

All that was real, was their euphoria, the nirvana they had reached, if for just a little while as two shuddering masses of sweat, semen, and substances erotic.

Then they hit the afterglow stage and started to calm. Carla went slack atop of J'mai, and the Zamaar's embrace loosened, one hand resting atop the human's rump, the other between Carla's shoulder blades.

The pleasure faded into an obscure haze, and they panted softly against each other, Carla holding loosely onto J'mai's upper arms.

They said nothing for a good five minutes, Carla resting her head in the crook of J'mai's neck. It was only when they pulled Carla into a quick peck were words exchanged.

"You know, I think that took my pain away, at least for a little while," J'mai remarked.

"Doc is definitely onto something in that regard," Carla quipped, and the two shared a giggle, then a sigh.

It was only then Carla realised the cabin was quiet; the storm was no longer raging outside, nothing clacking or banging off the hull.

They hadn't noticed it end in the midst of their reverie. Carla thought this a little amusing.

"Storm's over," J'mai remarked, possibly coming to the same conclusion.

"Sounds like it. Hopefully that makes it easier for SAR to find us," Carla added.

"Well, with those daisy chained sensors up and running, I think we stand a very good chance of that."

J'mai sounded more hopeful than before. That unspoken 'if' now very quiet.

And that rang true for Carla as well. Maybe it was all the endorphins and other chemicals still flowing through their brains after such raunchy intimacy, but Carla was happy to take it if it gave her hope.

"I suppose I should be getting up now," Carla remarked.

"You probably should," J'mai agreed. Then fixed Carla with a gentle smile. "But I wouldn't mind if you stayed atop of me for a little while~"

Carla giggled, and pecked the captain on the lips again, feeling their member slowly retreat from her pussy and return to their own body.

Normally it was considered a serious problem to fuck your boss. But in this case, Carla felt that she was going to be fine.

"I think I earned a good rest after all that, and before," Carla added.

"What, you're counting what you just did in your exhaustion?" J'mai teased.

"What can I say, you wear me out~" Carla quipped.

Again, the two shared a laugh, which tapered off into contented murmurs and mumbles, Carla laying her head once more in the crook of J'mai's neck, feeling the captain embrace her loosely.

In that position, it didn't take long for exhaustion to finally catch up with Carla, and drag her down into the oppressive and terribly comforting embrace of sleep, aided by being in the embrace of her captain...

---

It was Day 3 of their spell on the moon. Carla had gone out several times in order to check on some of the transponders, but fortunately they could monitor them remotely, for the most part.

The inside of the cabin was something of an orderly mess, rubbish all kept in dedicated bins, but things were still open everywhere, things they needed, and so kept within easy reach.

J'mai's bedding was improved with a few additional layers, and her leg was seemingly on the mend, though they both knew it'd need surgery to properly set right after this much time, being a full break. Easily done on Gonzales Station, or even The Tangerine.

They hadn't lost hope. They knew things could take time, and they'd gotten... intimate, a few more times to keep their spirits buoyed, though they weren't always at it, or as intensely as last time, for the sake of J'mai's recovery.

Right now, Carla was cleaning out a gasket in her helmet, her suit half open at the front for some extra airflow. She was covered in grime, as they had no way to really bathe, and she'd been checking filters across the cabin, to make sure there was no build up of residue or anything else of the sort, and to make sure they could stretch their air supply as long as possible.

Fortunately, they were working perfectly fine, but getting to them was still a little dirty.

The hull banged, a new storm roiling over the shuttle, proving to be somewhat common occurrences, at least twice a day. It was the second one of day 3, so neither expected more after this.

"I have to give credit to the designer of this tub, it holds up remarkably well," Carla commented.

"That's the fourth time you've said that," J'mai observed with a hint of mirth in their voice.

"Oh. Well, it's true," Carla deflected, looking sheepish.

The banging and clanging from outside started to calm, indicating the storm was winding down.

And as it was, Carla heard something, and paused.

J'mai piped up.

"You know, I think when we get back, I'm going to make some changes to The Tangerine. Nothing drastic, I like the old girl when she's not falling apart from sabotage, but some improvements--"

Carla held up her hand suddenly and sharply.

"Shh," she interrupted. J'mai went silent, and both listened quietly.

Nothing. Then, something like a scratchy hiss.

'... repeat...'

J'mai looked to Carla with wide eyes.

'... ome... n'

It was louder this time, and Carla immediately jumped over to the cabin's radio set.

There were definitely words coming through from the other hand.

"I think it's a SAR craft!" Carla exclaimed.

The words were still so faint and quiet, but every few seconds, more came, and they were a little louder, and more came through.

And then, suddenly, the radio set practically yelled at her.

"Come in shuttle Alpha Four Four Lima, this is S-A-R Tango Niner, we have picked up your transponder signal. Repeat, come in shuttle Alpha Four Four Lima. Captain J'mai, are you receiving?"

The SAR craft must have flown right overhead. Carla needed to get her message out now or it might lose it in the interference again. And no wonder, she could hear the wind picking up, dust must have been flying overhead now. So much for the storm winding down.

She practically slammed the buttons of the comms unit.

"This is Carla Piers of Shuttle Alpha Four Four Lima, I am receiving! Captain J'mai is here with me! She has suffered a serious injury and is in need of further care! Repeat, S-A-R Tango Niner, we are receiving!"

There was a brief moment of silence. Garbled words followed. And then another clear message.

"Shuttle Alpha Four Four Lima! Please, state the current status of your craft, the nature of Captain J'mai's injuries, and immediate surroundings. Hold tight, we're coming for you!"

"S-A-R Tango Niner, Captain J'mai has suffered a total fracture of their right lower leg. Cockpit of the shuttle has been breached, much of the hull is buckled, but the main cabin is intact and air tight. Crash area is in a gully at the base of a large valley. Exercise caution, violent dust storms sweep through at intervals, carrying rock and ice."

"Roger that, we see moderate dust storm through the valley now, we are directly overhead. We're coming in to get you, debris seems negligible at this stage."

"You should have time before it picks up. I'll get the captain into a suit, and I will meet you outside... thank you for finding us."

"Happy to oblige, Carla Piers. S-A-R Tango Niner out."

The comms went silent, but Carla's heart was racing, she felt like her body was full of helium.

She whipped around to face J'mai, who had propped themself up by their elbow to twist her way.

"They're coming to help us!"

J'mai smiled broadly, tears rolling down their face.

"Yes, they're coming... thank you Carla. I wouldn't have this hope, if it weren't for you."

Now Carla was tearing up, a sob catching in her throat as she smiled. However, she needed to ready herself for the Search And Rescue team.

"When we get back, I'm getting you whatever drink you want," Carla remarked.

"I think I'll be taking the longest shower of my life first," J'mai retorted.

Carla laughed, and proceeded to don her suit, going through all the checks, and making sure the patches to the cracks were still holding. She still felt terrified going outside with it, but thankfully it still held. Soon, she'd not have to worry.

After getting herself and J'mai into flight suits, Carla exited the shuttle through the ad-hoc airlock, and stood atop of the buckled shuttle, shielding her visor from the dust. Her Geiger counter ticked away from the radiation content of the dust, but it was within tolerable parameters, she had time.

She just had to wait for the rescue ship to arrive and pick them up. Soon this nightmare would be over.

Indeed, through gaps in the billowing haze, she glimpsed a shape sweeping back and forth, looking for a good way down through the dust storm.

And soon, she saw it, their salvation emerging from the gloom of the dust storm; it was a little similar to the shuttle she stood on, only its cockpit and passenger cabin seemed a little more separated, the cockpit stuck to the 'spine' of the craft while the passenger bay looked bulbous, hanging a little lower, giving the craft the sense it had a fat belly.

Its rotating engine nacelles stuck out much further, mounted to the ends of stubby aerofoil wings to give it some better atmospheric performance.

A veritable array of cameras, spotlights and numerous other optics sat in a gimbal mount beneath the nose, pivoting and twisting this way and that, focusing on Carla when the ship drew close.

The rear of the craft tapered into a tail with a bent 'H'-style set of stabilisers, a series of winches and cranes mounted beneath it just ahead of a ramp. She spied two side doors as well, both with similar equipment.

And lastly, it was coloured a stark white with red highlights, a very simplified caduceus painted on the sides, wreathed with a hexagonal shape which sported additional simplified wings, the mark of a Search And Rescue craft.

The ship's engines continued to pivot and adjust as it came in close, buffeting Carla with the wash.

She opted to slide down the side of the shuttle, watching the SAR craft move to settle down behind the shuttle.

That's when she saw something... odd.

"Huh?"

The old transponder dome, the one that was malfunctioning... something was flicking in the wind, pinned by a piece of rock that managed to get wedged.

At first it seemed like a piece of broken metal shivering from the gusts, but its shape was odd.

She climbed back up the shuttle, and leaned in close, plucking the rock from where it was jammed with some effort, discarding it.

And caught the strange thing before it was borne away in the wind.

Her eyes widened at the sight; it looked like a mechanical silverfish, a dark green sheen to its metallic parts, missing a few from being caught in the wind and crushed by that rock.

It was about as long as her middle finger, and twice its width.

Stranger still, it hard markings on its 'head'... markings that were in use by the various species in the union.

She narrowed her eyes, and produced a small container from one of the pouches on her belt, normally meant for taking quick samples, of any kind.

It was just big enough for the strange mechanical critter. And right as she plopped it into the transparent container, several figures came around in bright red and white suits, the face of a Zamaar, and two human men visible behind the visors of the three.

"Carla Piers?" crackled a voice through her radio, Carla seeing the first man's mouth move.

"That's me," she answered.

They all smiled.

"You're damned lucky we found you, the crust of Able-Five-Five plays hell with comms when the dust picks up, not to mention all the rads. But we detected that daisy chain you left behind, good thinking... hey, your helmet."

"I had a nasty fall the first day, but the patches are holding. Please, Captain J'mai is inside. I think we're both ready to get off this rock."

"Of course, this way," the man said, pointing to the other.

He gestured to Carla to follow him, and so she did, picking across the rocks strewn across the ground and making for the landed search and rescue ship.

The side door on her left was open, and a woman was sticking her head out, beckoning them over.

"This way," came her tinny voice over the helmet comms.

Carla was helped into the bay of the ship, numerous folding chairs and a lot of stretchers held on the ceiling, along with a full suite of paramedic equipment, of which some was on standby.

It was a little more spacious than the runabout Carla had spent the last three days in.

"When we get the ship buttoned up, we'll have a look at you," the woman said.

"I'm fine, it's my captain who needs attention," Carla assured.

And speak of the devil, she saw J'mai being carried over on a folding stretcher that one of the rescuers must have stowed on their back.

Serious as J'mai's injury was, it didn't warrant anything more sophisticated.

They hauled J'mai up into the bay of the rescue craft, the Zamaar crew tossing out what looked like a heavy duty beacon, no doubt to mark the crash site for later recovery.

And then, the door whined as it closed, and Carla heard the hiss of air as the cabin was pressurised. She saw that the rear ramp had a separate bulkhead, so that it could serve as an airlock.

"I want to thank you, all of you, for finding us," J'mai said to the gathered rescue workers, voice now audible through the helmet in a quiet, pressurised environment.

"It's what we do, but gladly," the other Zamaar answered.

One of the men was looking over J'mai's leg, while the other started to ask questions.

"Do you have any idea what may have caused the crash?" he asked.

J'mai shook their head.

"I don't know. The shuttle's engines just... blew, but I can't tell you exactly how. But I suspect and fear sabotage was involved, though I can't be entirely sure."

"Oh, we can be sure it was sabotage," Carla proclaimed, prompting everyone to look her way.

She then produced that small container, with the synthetic insectoid contained within, holding it before her face and for all to see.

"And I think I know how they did it."