Author: Thinking Horndog Title: The Chinese Obligation Part: 3 of 5 Universe: The Swarm Cycle Summary: Tom Porter was alone on his space tug, positioning mines out beyond the orbit of Saturn, and he liked it that way -- but a disaster at his pickup point left him with all kinds of responsibility... Keywords: MF oral anal exhib ir rom ScFi The Chinese Obligation Chapter 3 The whole 'exploration' thing turned out to have a lot of merit. The fact that Tom was a loner didn't necessarily mean that he didn't get lonely or he didn't have needs. Tania felt really good under his hands, and while he didn't sleep as well as he might have because she was there in the bunk, she didn't seem to be inclined to complain when he felt her up for a while after each awakening. Tom fell back asleep with his cock in the crack of a plush ass and his hand full of nice, soft titty on four separate occasions. When the AI pinged him with a wake-up call for his first watch, his cock was like stone. He got up to take a piss and came back and rolled Tania over on her back. She was still half-asleep when he pushed her knees up and out and started rubbing her split with his cock. As a result, she was a little dry... "Ummm, give me a second and I'll get wet -- you surprised me!" "Yeah, okay. What can I do to help?" Tom asked. "Oh, anything. Just being there is enough -- I just have to catch up. If you want to entertain yourself, you can, I dunno, suck on a nipple or something. Kiss me, rub me -- anything is going to work -- I was just sound asleep..." "Yeah, okay." Sucking in a nipple wasn't a bad idea... He leaned down and sucked in the left one. "Oh, yeah!" Tania moaned. "THAT works!" Lightning seemed to flash from her nipple to her clit and her pussy pulsed. 'I'm there already -- or close enough. Go slow until you spread it around..." "Yeah, okay..." Tom applied a little pressure and he sank an inch or so deeper inside her, at which point he backed and filled a couple of times. "Are you always this tight?" "Uuuuhhhnnnhh!! Are you complaining?" Tania gasped as he bottomed out. Tom snorted. "No, actually. I withdraw the question. Fuuuuck..." He was moving smoothly, enveloped in her hot, wet tunnel. "I think we're ready to party!" "Uh...huh..." Tom was settling into a rhythm and Tania had no complaints at all... "Yeah... Oh, SHIT this is good!" Tom's pubic bone was banging her clit and the tip of his cock was riding over this spot on the upper wall of the inside of her pussy, feeling like it might poke out of her somewhere just above her pubic bone -- and whatever he was rubbing on in there was driving her frantic! "I'm gonna cum!" "Heh..." Tom had fucked whores who would have been buffing their nails or something at this point, just getting ready to fake it. Either Tania was a helluva actress, or she was about to pop already -- and those wide eyes of hers were pretty convincing! "Oh, SHIIIIIIITT!!!" Tania grabbed Tom's ass and started undulating under him. The clutch of her cunt felt incredible, but it was morning and he wasn't as sensitive as he might have been, so he managed to get past the physical manifestation of her peak, enjoying them without being sucked in. He continued to get his while she recovered and started chasing a second orgasm. "Wake me up anytime for this!" Tania gasped. "Just suck on my neck a little so I'm nice and wet for you... If you keep this up, I'll probably learn to get wet on command!" Her hands remained on his butt, urging him to pound her pussy urgently. Even morning numbness didn't protect him when Tania started locking up a minute or so later. "Oh! Oh! OH! OHOHOHOHOHOH!! OOOOOMIGAAAAAWD!" she shrieked, throwing herself up at him. She lurched up, grabbing his head, and locked her thick lips over his and proceeded to try to suck his tongue out while Tom's cock blasted away inside her. After a moment she fell back, gasping. "Okay, it's official -- I'm in love!" she croaked. "Uuuuhhh." Tom rocked back in surprise. "Oh, I don't expect you to tell me you are," Tania said, rubbing his sides. "Maybe you won't ever be, either. Just take what I give you and enjoy it. I'm happy with what I'm getting." "Yeah, okay," Tom said dubiously. Tania tugged at him and he reluctantly allowed her to pull him down to her. "Shhhh. I'm sorry. I scared you. I should have known better than to hit you with that. Don't be mad. It's okay, really. All I want you to do is be happy and enjoy yourself. You don't have to get all wrapped up in things. You're giving me plenty without that." "Well..." "Really. Just relax and forget I said it. It was a stupid thing to say." "Yeah, okay." Tom relaxed. 'How can I stay wary of the silly bitch when she feels so damned good?' He was half-asleep when he realized that he was SUPPOSED to be getting up. Lurching up, he grunted, "No rest for the wicked. We've got a full day ahead of us. Go drip out or whatever so I can use the head." "Do you have to pee?" "Yeah. That's pretty normal, after. It cleans the pipes or something." "Go pee, then, and hit the shower, and I'll use the toilet while you are taking your shower." "Yeah, that works." Tom lurched up and headed for the head. An hour later, after Tania augmented Tom's standard scrambled eggs and bacon breakfast with a toasted cheese bagel the original pattern for which had come from some kind of bakery café, they were looking over Tania's exoskeleton in the habitat pod. The pod was fully back online and but not the exoskeleton, it appeared. "Let's move it to the airlock mount point. I'll take a pod and pull it out and haul it down to Replicator One and once it is back online, I'll stick it inside for remanufacture," Tom announced. After a moment, he added, "About Don and Barbara..." "I don't know if I can..." Tania muttered. "What do you figure I ought to do?" "I'm sure an AI would say to recycle them, but I don't think I could eat for a while afterward," Tania muttered. "They deserve something..." Tom sighed. A burial would burn precious time, but Tania was right. "Is there a small excavator around?" "There ought to be one in the support pod that used to be next to Replicator One," Tania replied. "We should probably look at a spot on the southeast corner of the plant -- otherwise they'll be buried in ice." She looked sad. "We're excavating north of there for raw materials." "Why not up near the plant or the holding area?" Tom asked. Tania eyed him. "Like a monument or something?" "Yeah." "That would be nice, as long as we don't have to add too many people to the list." "Okay, go on up and see if you can collect the product and determine which missiles will have to be re-manufactured. Get the good stuff put back together and arranged. We need a dozen pods for the African Queen. I'll get Replicator One back on its mount and running and put your exo in it for re- manufacturing, then handle the other thing." Tania nodded. "Okay." "First things first. Show me how to deploy the exo into the airlock." The deployment mechanism was damaged, but they managed to get it to work after some judicious hammer and crowbar work. Then they went back to the ship and got into EVA pods. Tom dragged the damaged exoskeleton out to Replicator One, which was the missile replicator. The base management AI in the support pod reported that it was virtually undamaged -- merely upset. It became apparent that the EVA pod couldn't position it, however, so Tom first collected the other two broken exoskeletons and their grisly cargoes and set them aside, then went to the Mississippi Queen and used the tug's systems to reposition the replicator. He then went back to EVA Pod One and placed Tania's exoskeleton inside the replicator for remanufacture. Then it was time to use the excavator to create a couple of holes by the support pod and do some rather nasty recovery work... ... Somehow six hours flew by. Tom didn't notice until Tania's voice asked, "Tom, do you plan to eat or something?" "Huh?" Tom checked the EVA pod's chronometer. "Nah. If I do, then it will take me forever to get organized and back into this thing. How are things going over there?" "I'd say that fifty percent of the missiles will have to be remanufactured," Tania sighed. "I guess the good news is that when you have all of the right molecules in ALMOST the right location, it is faster than making the things from scratch out of a rock..." "Yeah." Tom checked with the factory management AI in the support pod. "Speaking of which, your exoskeleton is done. I'm going to stick one of the others in now..." "Where are they?" Tania's voice was soft. She wasn't talking about exoskeletons. "In the ground. We'll whip up a little monument to mark things, but they're out of sight." "Thanks." "Well, they deserved it. Maybe they deserved better, but they got what I could find to put them in and they got a burial. Maybe I can come up with some words, later." "Okay," Tania moved on. "I'm going to start hauling broken missiles up to the replicator. Have you looked at Number Two?" "I put some of it back on its stand, but the AI says we'll need to do component replacements -- probably two days' work -- remanufacturing the components in Replicator One. Lucky us -- Rep One wasn't too torn up." "Yeah." Tania drew a breath. "Yell when you're headed back and I'll quit and get us something to eat." "Okay." Tom went back to his work trance. 'Queenie' or 'McQueen' got him out the next time. "Chief Foster, twelve hours have elapsed. The concubine Tania is exhausted and her effectiveness is down by thirty percent. Yours is also down by a percentage greater than ten percent." "Oh? Yeah. Shit." You didn't fart around and make mistakes in an airless environment where the surface temps were two hundred plus below zero. "Tania!" "Tom?" "Head for the barn! Come get your exoskeleton -- I'll carry another one. We won't need a third for a while." "Coming! I'm actually just on the other side of Replicator One." "Feed it a missile. I'm done making parts for Replicator Two for the day." "Okay." In a minute, EVA Pod Two swept slowly around the corner. "Which one is mine?" "The one on the left." "Thanks." Tania shuddered in her pod. "I don't think I could get in the other one, even if it is all brand new." "Yeah, I get that. Let's head for the habitat pod." Tom picked up the other exoskeleton and followed Tania to the pod, where they stowed the two exoskeletons. The pod AI had directed nannites in the repair of the deployment arm while they were out, so it functioned smoothly. At that point, they returned to the Mississippi Queen and docked the EVA pods. When Tom got to the bridge, McQueen announced, "The EVA pods will require twelve hours' maintenance. There was significant wear and tear to both of them." Tom nodded, grunting. "Yeah, I scratched the paint on mine a couple of times." What they were doing was a lot more work than a missile pod deployment. "It is assumed that you are employing understatement," McQueen retorted. "Yeah, you're right. One of these days you're going to figure me out." Tom grinned in spite of himself. Tania looked like twelve miles of rough road. "What would you like to eat?" "Something I don't have to look at or fight with. AI, Dinner Number Six, times two. Tania, go get in the shower and see if you don't feel a little better when you come out. I've got some checks to run." Tom turned away and began doing his manual systems check. Tania shuffled off to the head. She was bone-weary. Only the low gravity -- about a quarter of a 'G' -- had allowed her to keep up while working in the pod for twelve hours. She had nothing but admiration for Tom. "What is Number Six?" she asked the AI. "Cheeseburgers and sweet potato fries, a dill pickle, and a soft drink," the AI related. "A presentation temperature is requested." "Um, medium?" "Understood." Tania spent twenty minutes in the shower in the head before she felt like coming out. When she found Tom in the pod bay doing maintenance checks, he eyed her and asked, "Is there any hot water left?" Tania blushed, but Tom just laughed -- the Mississippi Queen didn't carry THAT much water, but what it had was rapidly recycled -- the head wasn't just coincidentally right next to the main replicator. He turned back to what he was doing -- running a radiation counter over the hull of EVA Pod Two. "The pod picked up some rads -- probably from broken missiles." He turned to Tania and ran the detector over her. "You're a little warmer than you should be, too -- I think you'd better stay away from the missiles for a couple of days." Tania blinked. "Is it bad?" Tom shook his head. "No, you're within acceptable norms and won't get sick -- but there's no need to get stupid. I can pilot a pod remotely to deal with the missiles. The sooner we get the broken stuff under control the better, but Replicator Two is a priority, too." He scratched himself through a gap in his coverall, eyeing her in her bikini. "Guess I'll shower now." "I, uh, did use a lot of water..." Tania muttered. "You RE-used a lot of lot of water," Tom corrected her, laughing. "The head runs through the main replicator, so fresh water pops out pretty quickly. I'll see you in a few minutes and we can eat." He headed off toward the head, but looked back at her through the hatch to the next section. "What are you looking at?" Tania asked. "You," Tom replied. "I can't decide what is hotter -- that bikini or just having you be naked. The color really sets you off, but..." He shook his head and resumed his journey, leaving Tania standing in the bay, her mouth hanging open. Tom took ten minutes to shower, ducked into his unexpectedly clean cabin and pulled on a new shipsuit coverall. "Tell Tania I'm out," he directed the AI as he settled into his acceleration rest and started pulling up damage assessments from the factory AI. "Here's your dinner," a feminine voice sounded from a few feet away. Tom turned to look; Tania was carrying a tray, naked. "I thought we were going to eat," he muttered, clearing his throat. "We are -- but we're done working for the day. I figured a little recreation wouldn't hurt us," Tania replied, smiling. "So, is this better than the bikini?" Her eyes twinkled as she handed him his plate. "It's an incitement to riot -- that's what it is!" Tom declared, deliberately bypassing the plate to fondle Tania's left breast. Tania's eyelids drooped. "You say the sweetest things..." "You'd be the FIRST woman to say THAT!" Tom chuckled. "We can be a little weird, I guess," Tania replied. "On Earth, it was the thing to do to be stuffy and prudish and politically correct. I've had a little time to get away from that. I find your honesty... refreshing." She eyed him. "Take your plate, though -- you'll need your energy. If you want to rub on me, I'll find a way to make it happen while we eat." Tom put the plate on the console beside his screen. Tania came around beside him and squatted, eyeing the screen and putting her plate on the other side of it. "What's this?" Tom, who had just taken a big bite of burger, held up a finger while he got it chewed. "Repair estimates. We need to work on parts for Replicator Two and then get the feed chute problem that got Don and Barbara killed fixed." He grimaced when Tania blanched. "Sorry, I probably could have put that better." "No, that works," Tania shook it off. "How long?" "Another day and a half to get the replicator ready and three or four hours on the feed chute and excavator. You guys were making quite a tunnel in that crater wall -- were you developing a retirement community for dickheads?" Tania cackled. "That wasn't the idea, but I can see how you might think so!" She reached for her burger, but added before she took a bite, "Don thought we ought to make a tunnel right through the crater wall so we could get out onto the plain if we wanted without having to go over." The plant was set up inside a crater several kilometers in diameter. Tom nodded. "Not a bad idea, but the run is too long for a feed chute. That was the basic problem. We're going to have to stick something else in there to fill the gap and have two conveyors, one at the excavation site, and one at the replicators." Tania chewed thoughtfully and asked, "Okay, so what do we use to fill the gap? Dump trucks? A pair of transport pads?" Tom blinked. "We don't have the trucks -- but the pads aren't a bad idea." He chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "Plant AI, will a transport pad take the wear and tear of having rock and ice dumped on it regularly?" "There is a variant that will," the plant AI responded. "Two can be fabricated. There is an energy requirement for operation." "Is it prohibitive?" "It would render a commercial venture nonviable, economically," the AI replied, "but this is a military operation. Economies of scale are not required. Still, it is a short-term solution. A larger, automated rail system would be the preferred solution." "How long would THAT take?" Tom asked. "Several weeks." "We will proceed with the transport pads and allocate resources to the rail system as they become available," Tom decided. "Concur. Replication of the transport pads will occur overnight. Disassembly and adaptation of the current chute system will take less time than repairs would have." There was a pause. "Recommend manufacture of a third replicator." Tom thought for less than a second. "Begin component manufacture as soon as the transport pads are finished. We will pause for the remanufacture of components of Replicator Two, but press forward otherwise." "More raw materials will be required by tomorrow," the AI noted. "We will work on the feed chute upgrade tomorrow, then, during the periods when we are awaiting component remanufacture." "That would appear to be efficient." "Okay, we have a plan, I think," Tom announced. "What's next?" Tania asked, munching a sweet potato fry. "Sleep. Neither of us is superhuman," Tom replied. Tania nodded and was quiet for a bit while they wolfed down their meals. Then came the loaded question: "Same bed -- or different?" Tom was silent for a bit while he thought about it. "We'll be sleeping. It's been a long day." "Okay." Tania sounded disappointed. "You want to fuck?" Tom was incredulous. "Well, I'm tired, for sure. I was just thinking it might be nice to cuddle..." Tom processed this. "I don't cuddle. I don't sleep with anyone. I'm not used to it yet, so it will interfere with sleep." "Okay." Tania didn't hide her disappointment. Tom took notice, and might have been irritated -- but the woman had worked her plush little butt off out there. She was pulling her weight and not making trouble; she deserved a little something -- and maybe Tom did, too. "That said, we need to wind down some. I don't think either of us is going to fall into bed and sleep well without a little diversion. We can try this cuddling thing and see how it goes." "Okay." Tania worked hard at minimizing her expectations. "You done?" Tom eyed Tania's plate. She was playing with fries, more than anything else. Tom's was empty. "Uh huh." She nodded. "Dump these, then," he directed. "Fish me a beer out of the fridge and get one for yourself, if you want. I'll meet you in my cabin." The cuddling thing went really well, actually. Tom put some news download from the last courier drone up on video for them to pretend to watch, but they were both more into each other than the video. Tom hadn't spent an extended period with a woman under his hands in some time, and Tania had been feeling neglected, so they both had reason to enjoy themselves. Sex wasn't supposed to be on the agenda, but somehow he ended up with two fingers making squishy sounds in Tania's vagina while she moaned and sucked his neck and jacked him. "Let's fuck," he proposed in a gasp. "Please?" Tania rolled onto her back and tugged him atop her. There was no reluctance in her -- that was for sure! Tom punched in and started pumping and Tania gasped and wrapped her arms around him, her legs spread wide. When he was organized and pumping, she put her feet on the bed so she could shove her pussy up to meet him. They set fire to each other's nervous systems, and friction had nothing to do with it! It was fast -- only a couple of minutes' worth of frantic fucking -- but they'd been warming up for a good half-hour and were more than ready! Tania got off twice, and was recovering from her second orgasm when Tom grunted and started seriously hammering her, then buried himself deep in her and let fly several shots of seed. "Damn! Now I AM tired!" he croaked. "Go to sleep, then," Tania husked, caressing his broad back, "right where you are." Tom relaxed and did as he was asked -- it wasn't difficult at all... It was a couple of hours later before Tom's bladder woke him. Tania was twined around him and he had to gently remove her limbs. His cock had shrunk past her opening long since, releasing a flood of cum from her pussy. She didn't awaken -- or even move beyond the minimums and the emission of a petulant whine as he lifted himself away. He went to the head and took his leak and returned to the bed with a 'towel' made of something with the absorption characteristics of chamois, only better, and laid that over the puddle between her upraised knees. He thought about getting back into the bunk, but she was taking up a lot of it, there on her back with her knees up and spread. Shaking his head, he wandered off to the other crew cabin and settled in there. Tania awakened about an hour later, discovering that she was alone. She discovered the towel as she got up to pee, and made a note to herself to have towels on hand BEFORE sex, so they could limit the mess. She found Tom in the other bunk after she hit the head to pee and clean up, and decided that there was nothing to be gained by having him go back to his own bed. Given the puddle in his bunk and the interruption of his sleep that would result from the shift, there was much to be lost, actually, so she left things as they were and went back to his bunk to sleep, deploying a new towel to replace the old one. "Wake me when Tom wakes up," she told the AI, and crashed.