(Note #1: All comments and constructive criticisms are welcome and appreciated.

Note #2: Those of you wishing for a quick story to wank to will want to look elsewhere. Although there are a few nude scenes described and illustrated in some chapters, and a quick love scene in the preceding one, the next sex scene only starts in the chapter following this one.

Note #3: Once again, all artwork included was created by Steve Rayner.

Note #4: And finally, huge thanks to volunteer Literotica editor TheNyxianLily for her help with this chapter. In addition to her usual editing advice, she helped me avoid a huge story faux-pas and got the plot back on track.)

“Captain,” Calley began, “I know I wasn’t at my post on watch when we ran into the asteroids. I should’ve been. You can take the cost of the repairs out of my share of the profits going back to when you made me a partner.”

 “Well that’s awfully generous of you Calley, but I don’t think that’s gonna cover it,” Sal told her.

“Then you can dock my salary going forward. I don’t need much to live on, so you can go back to paying me as an employee. Keep half or two-thirds of my pay and put it towards my debt.”

“Your debt?” the captain said with some confusion. “Are we posting fines for dereliction of duty now?” he asked Alezanna.

“I don’t recall discussing that,” she answered from the pilot’s station.

“Neither do I. In the militia, we’d be punished with crap duties or imprisonment if it was serious. Maybe flogging in extreme cases, but I never saw it come to that,” he continued, his words aimed between both his listeners.

Calley didn’t know what to say so it was Alezanna who clarified the situation for him. “She seems to think it’s her fault we ran into the rocks and she should pay for all the damage. Or maybe that we’ll throw her off the ship if we reach Rangxu.”

“I see,” Collondo said with a nod before turning back to the distraught young woman in front of him. “Calley, let me ask you something. Suppose, for a second, that you’d been in the cockpit when the engines cut out. And suppose that instead of sitting at your station like you normally do, you were sitting at the pilot controls. And let’s even suppose that you possess powers of clairvoyance or something that told you the asteroids were in our way. So there you are, primed and ready to act when the Hi-Vels shut down and the breaking thrusters fire up. What, exactly, do you think you could accomplish in this case?”

“I could’ve altered course to—” she began.

“No way!” he interrupted her. “In the split-second it happened? I know these controls better than you do and I couldn’t have done it. Unless you have a very different perception of time than the rest of us do, there’s no way you could’ve altered course. So let’s cut that crap out right now. You aren’t responsible for the asteroids or the damage to the ship. As far as paying for it, you’ll pay your share the same as Alez and me. I warned you when we made you a partner that sometimes runs don’t pay off. Well, this is definitely one that won’t turn a profit. As a matter of fact, fixing up the ship’s probably gonna eat up every microcred we’ve made since your birthday. We’re gonna watch our spending for the next little while.”

“You said we’d have to get rid of non-essentials,” Calley reminded him.

“And I meant it,” he acknowledged. He was going to add something but saw the look of distress on Calley’s face and realized what she was thinking. “Wait, not you Calley! We need you like crazy! Forget the fact that running without a medic means quarantines in most places we go to. Even when we don’t get affected by whatever virus we come across. We made you a partner ‘cause you fit in with us so well. You’re just as essential to the ship as Alez or me. I’d sell the reactor before I’d get rid of you.”

“Agreed,” Alezanna added.

“No, the non-essentials I’m talking about is anything that’s not nailed down. Spare parts we’re not using, some of the wines I’ve been collecting, maybe a few of Alezanna’s outfits.”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” the Bellixan said with a hint of edge in her voice. “Those are tailor-made for me  and I’m not selling any of them. We’re not selling Calley’s dress either. You touch one of my creations and see what happens.”

Collondo raised his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. It was just a thought. We’ll live in poverty but we’ll look good doing it.”

“Calley and I will. You’re beyond hopeless. Blind clowns dress better than you do.”

He turned back to Calley. ”Are we done with this ridiculous notion that we’re getting rid of you?”

“I guess,” she answered.

“Though there is the matter of you leaving your post on watch. Now, let me say that I’ve done that a lot myself. Sometimes I have to hit the head. Sometimes I get hungry and grab a snack from the galley. I normally eat it in here, but I’m still out of the cockpit for a couple of minutes. So being out of the cockpit, that’s no big deal. What I wanna talk about is where you were and what you were doing.”

Calley swallowed hard. She’d been focusing on her possible punishment for her actions because she didn’t want to focus on the actions themselves. But she realized that the captain didn’t feel the same way. He was going to make her talk about it.

“Where were you when the Hi-Vels cut off?” he asked her.

“You know where I was. You heard me fall down.”

“Yes I did. You sounded like a mallard caught by surprise. But I wanna hear you say it out loud. We can make sure we’re all talking about the same thing here. So, where were you when the Hi-Vels cut out?”

Calley’s discomfort worsened as she answered, “In the starboard hallway.”

“What part of the hallway?” he calmly asked her. Again, this was something she was sure he already knew. But he seemed determined to have her confirm every detail.

“Right outside the hatch to your room,” she admitted.

“You weren’t just passing by, though, were you?” he said. His intonation made it clear it was not a question.

“No.”

Without losing his calm, he pressed further. “What were you doing there, Calley?”

“I was…” she started to answer before she stopped. Admitting what she’d been doing would be hard to say out loud, but she knew she had to. She took a breath and said, “I was watching the two of you.” She couldn’t meet his gaze and looked down at the floor.

“And what were we doing?”

“You were making love,” she answered him. She was still quite uncomfortable. But now that she had admitted to her voyeurism, she thought the hardest part of her questioning was over. She was wrong.

In the same calm tone of voice, the captain asked, “And what were you doing while you were watching us?”

Calley stiffened. She didn’t expect him to ask her that. It was another question he had to know the answer to. She suddenly realized answering this question was going to shame her far more than the previous ones. “I was…” she began but the words caught in her throat. She tried again with, “I was…” but again found herself unable to continue. She couldn’t articulate the words. Finally, she simply said, “You know.”

“I have a pretty good idea, yes. Your jumpsuit was wide open afterwards so you don’t need to be a genius to figure it out.” He leaned forward to try to get Calley to look at him, to no avail. “But I wanna hear the words come out of your mouth, Calley.”

Alezanna interjected with, “Captain, do we really need to—”

“Not ‘Captain’, pet!” he cut her off. His voice had an edge Calley had never heard him use on Alezanna before. He turned to look at the Bellixan. “You know what to call me. If Calley’s watched us, then she’s heard you say it. So you can say it now.”

“Yes, Master,” the older woman acknowledged.

There it is! Calley thought to herself. It was indeed a title she’d heard Alezanna call Sal in their intimate moments. She had many questions about it. Was she his slave? Officially or metaphorically? In the bedroom or in all things? She wanted to know, but didn’t dare ask now.

“And to answer your question,” he continued back in his regular voice, “yes, I do need to have Calley answer for what she did. And that includes admitting everything about it.” He turned back to the young spacer and said, “So Calley, tell us what you were doing while you were watching us.”

Calley didn’t want him to unleash that harder tone that he’d just used on her friend. So she forced herself to blurt out the word, “Masturbating.” Once she’d said it, it relieved some of the pressure she was feeling. “I was masturbating, sir.”

Collondo nodded as he said, “All right then. You weren’t at your post because you were watching us and masturbating. Now we’re getting to where we need to be.”

Before he could continue, Calley added, “I’m sorry, sir.”

“Very well, but for what?”

Calley was confused by his question. Was he going to make her go through all of it again? Wasn’t it enough that she’d already laid it out? “Well… for everything, I guess,” she ventured, hoping the answer would be enough this time.

“You don’t have to apologize for everything. Masturbation isn’t a crime. If it was, there were cycles there where I would’ve had the biggest bounty in the galaxy on my head. Especially after Alezanna showed up.”

“I love you too, Master,” the mechanic told him. Calley was confused by her tone. It was almost playful, whereas before she’d been somewhat subservient to him. Her curiosity about the nature of their relationship remained but would have to wait as the captain continued talking to the young woman.

“You’re an adult woman, you have sexual urges. That’s normal. You need to indulge them sometimes. That’s normal too. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or trying to get you in a cult. So never apologize for that. But what’s not so normal is spying on your friends while you’re doing it.”

“I know. I’m so sorry, sir.”

“So you keep saying. But I’m very curious as to what possessed you to do that in the first place. Were you curious as to what sex looked like? I know you were on your own a long time before we came along and your previous experiences weren’t great. You told me about that guy you had to zap with the power cable. But if you had an interest, well, there’s better ways to indulge it.”

“Yes sir, you’re right.”

“Can we drop the ‘sir’, please? You can stick with ‘Captain’ for now. When we’re finished with this, we’ll see where we stand on first names. So, what made you start watching us?”

“Well,” Calley began nervously, “about a sub-cycle ago, I was on watch and the two of you were in your quarters. I went to the head and on my way out, I heard the two of you making love. I was gonna pass by without looking but I heard Alezanna call you ‘Master’ and that seemed really strange to me. You both told me stories of what you were doing before I joined your crew and there was nothing about slaves. And Alezanna just doesn’t act like any slave I’ve ever come across. Well, except for a minute ago when you corrected her.”

She’d kept her eyes down during her explanation and almost looked up at the taller woman at this point. Before she could, the captain’s words stopped her.

“She’s not my slave. She’s my pet. It’s very different.”

“Nicer,” Alezanna added. “There’s no forcing, no coercion. He’s my master because I trust him to be.”

“And in return, I don’t abuse that trust. I don’t do anything without considering Alez’ feelings. But I have to be in control. After two bad marriages, I was very careful when we first got together. And it just kinda evolved into what we have now.”

He extended his right arm towards his lover and she did the same with her left, taking his hand in the glove of her spacesuit and giving it a squeeze. That done, the two disengaged and Sal turned his attention back to Calley.

“But I interrupted you. You were telling us about the first time you watched us.”

“I didn’t watch at first,” Calley corrected him. “I was curious about why she called you ‘Master’ so all I did was creep closer to your door so I could listen in. I was hoping I’d hear something to explain it. So at first, I was just listening to you. But it didn’t clear up the situation. So then I wondered if maybe you had a shock stick or she had a collar on. Y’know, like you see slaves wear.”

Alezanna snickered at the idea and Collondo told the young spacer, “We’re not really into that kinda stuff. Anyway, go on.”

“Well, I took a look to see if you were wearing those things. You weren’t. You weren’t wearing anything at all. You were just naked and having sex. Now, I’d seen holo-vids of sex before. Like you said, I was on my own when I started getting curious about it so I’d looked into it. But the way you were doing it was different then I was expecting. Not as rough. More… tender I guess. Nicer. More loving. In the holo-vids, it’s usually rougher and there’s more swearing.”

The captain chuckled and told her, “Yeah, well, those vids aren’t real sex, Calley. Real sex is very different.”

The young medic managed to raise her eyes from the floor and look at him. “I can see that now. Your way is much more beautiful.”

Sal chuckled again and Alezanna asked him, “Is that something we should take as a compliment? I’ve never watched those kind of vids before.”

“No, not really,” he answered her. “Being told you’re more beautiful than porn vids is like being told you smell better than a sewer. It’s not a high bar to clear. But I think Calley was simply being honest here, so let’s just thank her and let her go on.” He returned his attention to the Gynapsi and asked her, “So that first time, did you touch yourself?”

Calley was surprised at his bluntness. “No,” she answered. “I just watched. I knew I shouldn’t but I couldn’t stop. When you were finished, I went back to the cockpit and finished my watch. But then, after I went back to my room, I thought about what had happened. What I’d seen and heard. I kind of got worked up and, well…”

“You took care of yourself,” Collondo finished for her. “All right. So that’s what happened that time. Have there been other times between then and now?”

Calley nodded as she continued to feel shame. “Yes,” she acknowledged as she returned to staring at the floor.

“How many times?”

“I’m not sure,” she answered as her throat tightened up again. Every time she thought she couldn’t feel more ashamed, the captain’s questions would trigger another wave of guilty feelings. She wished he would simply get angry and yell at her. She could handle that better than all his questions.

“Enough times to lose count? Well, that’s pretty troubling,” he mused aloud.

 ”Eight or nine times, I think,” she quickly told him. She didn’t want him to think her voyeurism was worse than it was.

“Still not good. Once or twice, I would pass off as just indulging in your curiosity. But that many times, it’s no longer a case of accidentally coming across us making love. You started checking on us on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And when did you start masturbating while you were watching us?”

This time, answering the question didn’t bother her as much. Her voyeurism and masturbation had already been exposed, so going over it again wasn’t so bad. “The third time, I think. Before that it was after I got back to my quarters. And I felt guilty about it afterwards. But the third time, I started doing it a little and, the next thing I knew, I was going at it pretty good. I was worried at first that you might hear me but you were both pretty, umm…”

“Pretty involved with each other. To be honest, if we hadn’t been thrown off the bed earlier, I’m not sure I would even have noticed when the ship’s alarm went off. But that’s exactly why we need somebody on watch in the cockpit. So we need to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.”

“It won’t, Captain, I promise!” Calley told him, and she meant it.

“Promises are nice, but I wanna make sure.” He turned to Alezanna and asked her, “Do you think we can trust Calley? She has these crazy hormones that led her astray. She seems remorseful now, but who knows what she’ll do in the future?”

“I think we’re safe,” the older woman opined. “I think all your questions embarrassed her enough to set her straight.”

“I’m not convinced. I’m not finished grilling her. I think this situation is gonna require some pretty radical therapy before I’m confident putting her on watch again.”

“Master, you’re not going to punish her, are you?” Alezanna asked him with a hint of worry in her voice. Calley, on the other hand, was quite worried, but resolved to endure whatever punishment the captain deemed appropriate.

“Depends on what you consider punishment,” he answered cryptically. “I’m certainly gonna make her more uncomfortable, but after what she did, I’d say I’m entitled.” He turned back to Calley and ordered her, “Look at me Calley.” After she forced herself to meet his gaze, he continued. “If you didn’t like answering my questions before, you’re really gonna hate these next ones. But you’re gonna answer ‘em, girl. And you’re gonna tell us the truth. I’ve known you long enough to know you’re not a very good liar, so don’t try that with me.”

“I won’t, si—, I mean, Captain” she said, cursing herself inwardly for having forgotten to stop calling him ‘sir’.

“Now before I keep punishing you with my questions, let’s be clear about a few things. I’m not punishing you because of the asteroids. It ain’t about leaving your post either. But watching us without our knowledge, that’s a big problem. We trusted you to respect our privacy and you didn’t. You watched us at our most basic state. You saw us naked, making love, having orgasms, and we never gave you permission to do that. You know that’s wrong. So here we are now. You did some bad things and I gotta punish you for what you did. Do you accept that I have to do this?”

Calley resigned herself to accepting the Captain’s punishment. “Yes, I understand. Whatever it is you wanna ask me, I’ll answer.”

“Don’t be so quick to accept my terms,” he warned her. “Like I said, you’re really gonna hate talking about what I have in mind. If it gets to a point where you can’t answer, you can just go to your quarters. I’ll lock you in and give you food until we get to Rangxu. Then you leave the ship and that’s that. Or you stay and tell me what I need to know so we can clear the air and make sure we have trust between us again. That’s why I gotta ask you these hard questions. So keep in mind that you can end this at any time by leaving. Do we understand each other?”

Calley swallowed hard and nodded in agreement as she braced herself for what he’d ask her next. Despite her efforts, she was still unprepared for his next question.

“Do you fantasize about us?”

“What?” she said in a low voice. She’d heard him clearly, of course, and understood his question. Her retort was born of surprise.

“Do-you-fantasize-about-us?” he repeated more slowly, like he was talking to a child. “When you’re looking at us make love, are you just taking in the action? Or, in your mind, are you inserting yourself into what’s going on?”

“I… umm…” Calley tried to answer but found herself unable to. His question had forced her to admit she had indeed fantasized about them. She was ashamed and disgusted at her thoughts, so much so she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge them to herself. But now the captain had forced her to face the truth. It was the worst admission she’d be forced to make, and she wasn’t sure she could do it out loud.

She tried to look away from him but he wouldn’t let her. “Keep your eyes on me, girl! Now answer the question or leave the cockpit!”

It was all too much for the young Gynapsi and tears started to fill her eyes. Her hands gripped the sides of her chair to keep herself straight. She couldn’t speak so she quickly nodded her head. She hoped that would be answer enough to satisfy him, but it wasn’t.

“Out loud, Calley!” he said in the same hard tone he’d used on Alezanna previously. The Captain Voice Calley named it in passing.

“Master, please, we don’t need—” Alezanna interjected with concern.

“Yes we do!” Sal cut her off while keeping his eyes locked on Calley. “I’m gonna drag the truth outta her kicking and screaming if I have to. But it’s coming out, no matter how much it hurts! We can’t go on with a crewmate we don’t trust. You think I like treating her like this? I fuckin’ hate it but I gotta get her head screwed on straight!”

Calley finally forced herself to shout out, “Yes! I did! I fantasized! I know it was wrong but I did! Gods help me, I did.”

She started crying in earnest but this didn’t seem to affect Collondo one bit. “Good,” he told her as his tone returned to its normal level. “I want these things out in the open, Calley. Now, tell me, which one of us did you picture yourself with?”

“Both of you,” she choked out between sobs. “Sometimes you, sometimes Alezanna.”

“Ever the two of us at once?” he inquired. His tone had softened, but she still feared angering him again. She’d heard him with steel in his voice before, but always to others. Often to those he negotiated with. But now also to assert his authority as the captain over both his junior officers. When he spoke to Calley that way, it left her discombobulated. But her fear of the Captain Voice actually focused her a little and caused her to lessen her crying.

“Yes. I know it’s wrong and I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s actually better that way. If we’re all together, there’s no lies, no jealousy, no secrets. I’d honestly rather you think of us together than separately. And to be clear, I don’t mind being the object of your fantasies. I’m actually kind of flattered. I mean, I expect people who meet Alez to think of her that way. But I’m glad you like me, too. Now take a deep breath and try to get yourself together. On your feet, girl.”

Calley did as he told her to do. She stood up and took a breath and calmed herself down. She wiped the tears from her eyes and inhaled. She was glad that he was asking her to do something easy after his interrogation.

“Now take off your spacesuit,” he calmly ordered her.

Without thinking, she said, “I can’t. I’m not wearing anything underneath it.”

“Yeah, I figured. When I go on a spacewalk, I don’t wear clothes under my spacesuit either. But you can take it off and you will. You’ve had a nice eyeful of me and Alez undressed, and now’s where we even things out. Now, she’s never been shy about showing off her body, Gods bless her. And I know you’ve showered and used the hot tub together. So she’s seen the naked Calley before. But you and me don’t have that level of comfort. You’ve seen my ass, my dick, pretty much all I got. Hells, you’ve seen me have orgasms. That’s an imbalance I can’t let stand. So you’re gonna take off that spacesuit and let me see you in the nude.”

She realized he was making sense, as much as she hated it. She knew that, however much she didn’t want to undress in front of him, she had no choice if she wanted to remain a member of the crew. She spent a split-second trying to think of a way out of her predicament but couldn’t find one. With trembling fingers, she reached up to her back below the suit’s neck ring and undid the seals. It was awkward but she didn’t dare ask for help. Once the seals were all undone, she leaned forward and rolled her shoulders. Her head disappeared under the neck ring and she pulled the garment upwards a little. This allowed her to slip her head out of the back opening. She straightened up and pulled the suit down off her arms and chest.

She shuddered as she deliberately, for the first time in her life, exposed her breasts to a man who was paying attention. Her mother had performed all medical examinations in her childhood and Calley had taken care of herself since going out on her own. But now, the entire top half of her bare body was on display for the captain to examine. She was alarmed to note her four-centimeter-wide areolas had hardened and her nipples were both sticking out a few centimeters as well.. It wasn’t that chilly in the cockpit anymore so Calley wasn’t sure why they were in such a state but it only added to her embarrassment. She could see the captain’s eyes were glued to them. She wished he wasn’t staring at her so intently. After all, he had Alezanna as a lover, so how could he possibly be that interested in her smaller tits?

His gaze made her very self-conscious about how she looked as she pushed the suit past her hips and shimmied it down her legs. With it bunched up at her ankles, all that was left to do was raise her leg to slip her foot out of the boot. She repeated the motion with her other leg, her bare feet now standing on the cold metal of the deckplates. She was thankful her light blue underwear had obscured her vaginal opening from being exposed when she’d raised her legs and hoped the captain would allow her to keep the garment on. So she made no move to remove it as she straightened up and let him take her in.

His gaze wandered up and down her body for a few seconds. She couldn’t read his expression, and wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. Did she really want to know his thoughts at that moment? She was incredibly uncomfortable standing there, not knowing what to do with her hands. Her natural instinct was to cross her arms over her chest, but knew the captain wouldn’t like her doing that. So she kept them at her side. Her hopes she could retain the last of her modesty were dashed when he told her, “I said nude, Calley. That means you drop everything.”

“Do I have to?” she pleaded.

“Consider it an order.” His tone was calm, but she knew there was no point in arguing. She paused for a moment before she resigned herself to her situation. She hooked her thumbs under the garment’s elastic band and pulled it down. She was again embarrassed, this time by how the gusset clung to her for a moment. The moisture had to be sweat, she lied to herself. With the jumble of emotions she was feeling, she couldn’t even consider that some part of her might like being made to expose her body this way. Once her underwear was midway down her thighs, she dropped it and kicked it to the side where it joined her spacesuit.

She straightened up again and watched the captain lock his eyes on her crotch. She knew he wouldn’t like what he saw. She’d seen enough holo-vids to know men liked women who shaved their pubic area but hers were a natural tangle of dark brown hairs. She knew Alezanna didn’t shave her black patch either but had always assumed her other charms were enough to keep the captain happy. She knew her body, as exposed as it now might be, was no match for her slender shipmate’s.

“Turn around, girl. Let me see your backside.”

She did as she was told, turning around and facing the cockpit’s port wall of instruments and displays. She knew the captain was looking at her ass. Well, she figured, let him look. She knew he’d be at it for a while, as she had a fat ass. It was, of all the parts of her body, the one she hated the most. It was far too big. It was the reason she’d favoured utility jumpsuits for so long. They covered up her terrible figure. Even now that she was buying blouses and pants, she was keenly reminded that her pants were far wider than she wished they had to be.

Then the captain asked her, “Since you’re facing that way, can you let me know which thrusters are offline?”

Calley wasn’t sure she had heard him correctly at first. It seemed like such a non-sequitur. Had he finally finished her punishment? She looked at the systems display but the thrusters weren’t on-screen. She started to lean forward to reach the controls but stopped when she realized why he’d asked her to look at them. He didn’t care about the thrusters. He was making her look up the information because doing so required her to lean forward. With her legs slightly apart as they were now, leaning forward  would display her vulva more prominently. She fought the urge to move her legs together. She knew that if she tried, he’d simply order her to move them apart again. Instead, she bent her waist forward and put her left hand on the console to keep her balance. With her right, she called up the thruster status.

“Starboard one out. Port three and four also out. Five and seven may not be fully operational.” She tried to keep her voice steady but felt utterly aghast. She never thought she’d be presenting her privates so brazenly. It was humiliating. Since she couldn’t look at Collondo in this position, she turned her head to find Alezanna staring at her. She couldn’t read her friend’s expression. But at least the mechanic was looking her in the eyes. Calley knew it made no sense, but she could feel Sal’s gaze firmly rooted on her gash.

“Interesting,” the captain commented. Whether he was referring to the thruster situation or Calley’s genitalia, she couldn’t guess. He then told her, “You can stand up and turn around now.”

She followed his instructions and looked at him. “No doubt about it,” he said. “You’ve got a great body. If I’m the first man to see it, well, I count myself pretty lucky. I can see you’re blushing. I don’t know why. Believe me, you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about. As a matter of fact, you can feel free to get undressed anytime aboard ship. I certainly won’t object. Alez, what do you think?”

“No objections from me, either. We’re pretty comfortable with each other. I was never bothered by a nude Calley. Well, that’s not entirely true. I am a little jealous of that chest of hers. I’d kill to have breasts like that. But now that I hear her say she’s fantasized about me, that changes things between us.”

“Are you upset?” Sal asked as he turned to look at the Bellixan.

“No, not at all. It’s just that I never let myself think of her that way. I’ve grown to love Calley, but as a friend. And of course, I can always see how beautiful she is, dressed or not. But I didn’t think what we have could become something else. Now that the possibility exists…” She let her words trail off as she ruminated on the idea, but the captain noticed the little smile on her face as she did so.

Calley, on the other hand, looked visibly upset again. Collondo noticed it as he turned his attention back to her. “What’s the matter now? You don’t like people telling you you’re beautiful?”

The young Gynapsi shook her head as she returned to looking at the ground in shame. “I’m not,” she said as she fought to not start crying again. “I’m too fat. My ass is too big. I’m not beautiful like Alezanna.”

“Not like Alezanna, no. She’s a Bellixan, and you’re a Gynapsi. You have different body types. Next to a Bellixan, I don’t look all that hot either. Certainly not as good as you. But that’s evolution, Calley. I don’t think I’ve ever met any human or Gynapsi or anything who looks like a Bellixan. I don’t expect anyone to. But when I compare you to other humans or Gynapsis, you look awfully good. So good, in fact, that I think if I’d met you when I was your age, there’s no way I’d have married my two wives. You make ‘em look like two kilometres of bad road.”

Calley didn’t know what to say. She knew she looked beautiful in the dress Alezanna had made for her. But she’d attributed that to the dress more than anything from herself. She wasn’t used to being complimented for her appearance. It left her confused and uncomfortable. Even more uncomfortable than her current nudity.

The captain addressed Alezanna next. “This is all your fault, you know. Your people and their fashions created unrealistic standards of beauty and now the other races can’t live up to ‘em.”

“We do have a lot to answer for,” she agreed with him. She then told Calley “But all kidding aside, he’s telling the truth. You’re gorgeous, Calley. I don’t ever want to hear you say you feel bad about how you look. You look very attractive to me. And I’m sure to the captain too.”

“Okay, whatever,” Calley mumbled. “Can we please talk about something else now?”

“No, I don’t think so,” the captain said. “I don’t think you believe us when we say you’re beautiful. I guess I’ll have to show you.” He stood up, leaving Alezanna as the only person sitting down. He told Calley, “Take my pants and underwear off, Calley. Don’t argue. Do it now.”

The copper-haired spacer was again surprised by his request, but stopped herself from asking him to repeat himself. She looked down at his pants and reached over to undo the buttons fastening the garment in place. With the buttons undone, she was able to reach inside each side of the pants and push them down, along with the captain’s grey underwear. While the loose pants quickly fell, the underwear she had to pull down more forcefully to work his penis free. She finally managed to get his organ out into the open and was glad she’d only had to bend over slightly to do so. She really wasn’t ready to get her head too close to his crotch.

She straightened up and found herself staring at his member. She’d seen it when looking at him and Alezanna together, but this was her first time seeing it up close. It was erect, at an angle where it pointed at her head. It was about fifteen centimeters long and twelve centimeters in circumference. He was uncircumcised, with a layer of skin surrounding the organ’s head. His entire pubic area was surrounded by black hairs. His scrotum hung below his penis, but she couldn’t see it well from her vantage point.

“You’ll notice my cock is hard, Calley,” the captain told her.  “Do you know why that is?”

Without taking her eyes off the appendage in question, she answered, “Because you’re horny?”

“Exactly right. And what do you think is making me horny?”

“You were with Alezanna before. You didn’t get to finish.”

“That’s true, but that was hours and hours ago. I can’t stay hard that long. Not even when I was a teenager.”

“Well, she’s right next to you and—”

“Dressed in a spacesuit,” he cut her off. “That makes her about as appealing as those asteroids we left behind.” He turned to the older woman and added, “No offense, pet.”

“None taken,” Alezanna assured him. “I know it really isn’t a flattering outfit.”

He turned back to Calley and told her, “Let me tell you a secret, Calley. A man can lie to you with his words. His eyes can lie too. Even his body language. But not with his penis. A penis is always honest with you. If a man looks at you and his prick gets hard, he likes what he sees, plain and simple. I looked at you naked and you looked damn good. So now that we’ve got that cleared up, we gotta decide what we’re gonna do about this erection. If you want, we go to our separate rooms and I’ll take care of my hard-on with Alez’s help. Without an audience, if you don’t mind. Or you can come with me and see if sex is more fun when you’re doing more than just watching it.”

The proposition created a slew of emotions in Calley. She was intrigued and excited, but also nervous and confused. She tore her eyes off the captain’s phallus to look him in the eyes. He was smiling slightly as if to assure her the offer was genuine. She looked at Alezanna to see her with the same warm expression. “You’re okay with this?” she asked her older friend.

“Only if I get to play too,” the raven-haired beauty answered. “We’re trapped here while the nav data comes in. A little fun and some rest seems like a great idea. And if this keeps you from sneaking around to watch the Master and I, so much the better.”

She made to get up to embrace Calley but realized, with her spacesuit still on, it would be an awkward hug. “Ugh, stupid suit! Master, why don’t you take Calley to our room and start things off? I’ll stow the spacesuits and join you both when I’m done.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he said. He bent over and picked up his discarded clothes. He held them with his left hand while his right took Calley’s and he led the nervous naked woman out of the cockpit.

NEXT CHAPTER: Calley loses her virginity.