"Well my loves, we should get cleaned up. Supper is in about forty minutes," Hugh said.
Jenna's eyes twinkled and she got a mischievous grin on her face. "Hmm, a shower sounds really nice after all the stress today. Anyone wanna join me?"
"Oh yeah! But I don't want to get too frisky; even though it doesn't seem like it, breakfast was a long time ago," Fallon said wrapping her arms around her small lover.
"Maybe we should see how big the shower is first, ladies," Hugh grinned. "Let's go."
The apartment was opulent to say the least. Walking down the ramp, they found themselves on a cliff overlooking a small pool. The walls looked and felt like dark volcanic pumice. The floor was like semi-rough obsidian. On and along the walls, holographic tropical plants 'grew' and moved in an unfelt wind. Off to one side of the small pool was an even smaller pool of steaming water.
The three lovers were amazed at the beauty, having only seen the like in historical holos. Going through the nearest 'cave' they navigated an 'S' turn and entered their new bedroom. The tropical motif continued in the master suite as a large, very comfortable looking, four-poster bed dominated the area of this room.
The bed and posts appeared to be made of real bamboo. The walls were made of highly-polished, reflective, black mica, giving the room more of an open feeling. The wall with the entry door was more rough-hewn, black, pumice. Beside the entry door, was a large, walk-in closet.
Opposite the mirror finished mica was a virtual 'wall of glass'. Patio doors opened onto a comfortable lanai, over-looking the central pool. The deck was wide enough to be shared with the big beautiful bath. A 'wooden' walkway with handrails led to a secluded black-rock hot tub large enough for about six people. On one wall was a wet bar, and the back wall had a complete electronic suite, including a comm that could be set to 'private'.
As the lovers entered the plush bathroom to get cleaned up for supper, they all began dropping clothes. Whomever designed the private areas of the captain's suite must of had thought that six people was the magic number since everything seemed designed for that many people; the shower was no exception.
Seeing the two nude beauties before him, Hugh was almost totally breathless. Granted, when it came to the women he'd met on this ship so far, there seemed to be no ugly ones. Now he understood; they were all ugly, because all the beauty in the universe was standing nervously before him.
Even though Jenna had made love to him the night before, she'd been far too occupied to get a good look the parts of Hugh that had always been covered up. Both she and Fallon had seen Hugh in his bathing suit before, but this was the first time they got to see the rest.
Jenna was highly aroused. She could smell Fallon's arousal as well as her own, and it only fanned the flames of desire in her belly. When Hugh had finally gotten his clothes off, she only became more aroused by what she was seeing.
Fallon was nervous. She'd seen plenty of boys and men nude before, and none of them had ever aroused her. Now however, with perfect little Jenna also nude beside her and holding her hand, She was surprised by how wet she was; by how badly she wanted to wrap her arms, and legs, around this wonderful young man.
"Jesus! I'm going to be in pain long before we get back here tonight!" Hugh said.
Fallon looked confused. That wasn't exactly what she was expecting him to say. "In pain?"
Hugh nodded. "I've been shown the most beautiful, wonderful, amazing and sexy women in the galaxy, and I can't touch them until we get back here tonight!"
"I think we can help with that!" Jenna said in a soft purr. "Come on lover; you kiss him while I try to relieve the pressure that's building."
"I think I'd like to try that too, 'enna," Fallon replied blushing brightly.
"I'll be happy to show you what I've learned so far, but after dinner, okay? We really do need to get ready," Jenna replied, amazed by Fallon's reaction to Hugh.
On Tatyana's advice, Hugh and the girls picked out uniforms for the evening and arrived at the Captain's Mess at seventeen fifteen. They weren't the first arrivals, but the only two that were familiar to the three were the two beautiful blond girls acting as wait staff. Both Haley and Holly gave them kisses before continuing handing out hors devours and glasses of wine. Before they ran off, Hugh asked them to make sure that all the guests had either a glass of champagne, or Sparkling Cider if they weren't drinking alcohol, at their places at the table for the toast. They said they'd handle it.
The Captain's Mess was as opulent as their quarters had been. It was spacious and formal, yet comfortable and warm. The deck was covered in a deeply padded carpeting, and the walls a warm faux-wood paneling. The deck head had a hologram of n-space projected on it, with the closest star and the candle-holding wall sconces provided the light for the diners.
Hugh and his wives, being the hosts, began to mingle with their guests and introducing themselves. Hugh was very pleased to see that he wasn't the only male on board. Two of the dinner guests were also male as was one of the marine guards. Since he'd never met a male marine before, Hugh made a mental note to chat with him as soon as he could.
Seeing an older woman in the uniform of a ship's captain, Hugh excused himself, and made his way over to her. "Captain, I really must apologize for not issuing you this invitation personally, All of this is happening far faster than I care for. Hell, I didn't even know you wouldn't fire on us until I got the countersign to our message."
The older woman smiled slightly at him. "I can appreciate that, Captain. I hadn't taken offence once I thought it through. I figured something different had to have happened when it wasn't Captain Reynolds' voice I heard. From what I can gather, Wilma shanghaied you into this. She did tell you what this is didn't she?"
Hugh slowly shook his head. "Nope, I'm supposed to get the full explanation after dinner tonight, while we're all still here. Hell, I don't even know what my cargo is other than a medical pod and at least one pod of Mechs. I'm not a big fan of surprises when it comes to my command, so I hope this is at least simple."
Captain Ayers tried not to grin, and nodded her head. "No Captain likes surprises. Especially the kind Wilma's going to dump on you. Please, when it's just the two of us, call me RyeAnn."
"Call me Hugh. Is it going to be that bad?" Hugh asked curiously.
"Just ... please don't keel-hull her, or kick her out an airlock; we still need her," RyeAnn said grinning.
"I'll keep that in mind; flogging is still okay, right?"
"She would probably enjoy that a great deal."
Hugh nodded as if thinking hard on the subject. "I'm sure we can find something ... maybe paint her Mech hot-pink."
Captain Ayers burst out laughing, and Hugh chuckled with her. As the laughter began to die down, Willie entered with a happily glowing Mercedes on her arm. Both were in uniform, although Fallon pointed out that, like the other military people in the room, the Colonel wasn't wearing a Confed uniform.
Excusing themselves, Hugh and the ladies met Willie and her daughter for a round of hugs and kisses. Since it was getting close to dinner time, the guests had begun to find their seats. As he walked the women to their seats, Hugh asked Willie, "Do you know how the Master Chief's doing? Fallon told me she'd been brought on board."
"She's doing really well. She should be up and about sometime tomorrow, but her ribs will be tender for a few days," Willie replied.
"I'll try to stop in and see her tonight. What'll happen to Hanna? Will the ConFeds just let her go?" Hugh asked.
"They probably would if she was still in Confederation custody, which she isn't. We have her in a cryo-stasis pod with a bio-seal on it. I'll tell you all about her after we get finished with dinner; it'll make the explanation more understandable," Willie winked when she saw the look on Hugh's face, then took her seat.
Holding with the not very old traditions of space travel, the Captain was the last to be seated, but before he did, Hugh picked up his wine glass and looked out at his dinner guests.
"May I have your attention, please?" He hadn't yelled, but spoke in the 'Captain's Voice' that Elizabeth Blazedell taught him. It worked well, all conversations stopped and people turned to the head of the large table.
Hugh held his glass high for a toast. "In case I didn't get to introduce myself, I'm Hugh Goodwin, Captain and Master of the free trader Titania. I ask all of you to please indulge me while I begin a new tradition on my command. Before we begin, I would like to raise our glasses in a moment of silent remembrance to those who have given their lives in the defense of others. Soldier and Civilian alike who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. I wish to salute our fallen."
Holding his glass aloft, he bowed his head for a moment, then looked up again. "To our Fallen!" then he drank the requisite gulp.
The sentiment was echoed around the table as the guests, who had risen for the moment of silence drank the toast and retook their chairs. Once everyone was seated, Hugh finally took his seat. That was the signal for the girls to begin serving dinner.