Chapter 1

Marty settled back in his chair in the main briefing room on Space Port Alpha. He and two other commanders, Brian Scott and Andriy Leonenko, had been summoned to join Angie for a discussion with Arthur Wusserman, Director of Space Command. Marty had no idea what his new commission as commander meant. Was he to command his own ship with a completely new crew? Would he ever see Angie again now that she had been promoted to Admiral of the fleet? He was happy for her. She deserved it, but it placed their relationship on a slippery slope. Now, more than ever, he had to avoid any impropriety with her. She was his superior, and she had absolute power over him, a situation that he did not like one bit. He had considered retiring, but they would never allow it now that the ULGP was at war with the Dragon aliens.

Arthur Wusserman is a scientist, not an executive, but he is the obvious choice for Director of Space Command. The UN had decided that the military approach to space exploration was not the appropriate one. Marty and Angie had proven that concept by projecting an image of pure curiosity and friendly persuasion in their missions to other habitable planets around distant stars. As a consequence of this paradigm shift, General Wilson had been assigned to an advisor role, and the military aspects of weapon development had been assigned to an international research group under Viktor Woronowycz, a brilliant Ukrainian physicist, responsible for much of the advanced technology that had made galactic space travel possible.

"I'm sure that you are now aware that the Roswell aliens have joined the ULGP and have given us everything that they know about the Dragon aliens as well as many other intelligent extraterrestrials. They have also offered someone as a crewmember. She's an expert on the Dragon species and their language."

"Will she be joining the X-3002?" Angie asked.

"No. We are in the process of building a new ship, which has been designated the X-4001. This ship will be under Martin's command and it will serve as the command ship of your fleet, which will consist of the X-3001, under Brian Scott and the X-3002 under Andriy Leonenko. The Roswell alien will be assigned to the X-4001."

Well, that answers the question of whether I'll be together with Angie, Marty thought.

"When will this ship be completed?" Angie asked.

"It should be ready to go in two weeks. You and Martin will take it out for a test flight and then it will be fitted for the mission. That should require another two weeks or so after you return."

"Where are we going on the next mission?"

"You're going to the Sagittarius arm on the other side of the galaxy. The Roswell aliens believe that the Dragons come from a system on the outer edge of that arm."

Marty's right eyebrow shot up. "That has got to be at least 80,000 light years away. How can we go that far?"

"The new ship has been fitted with a Dragon alien jump drive. The jump will require several hours, but it can be completed with a minimum of risk."

"If we make many of those jumps, we'll end up as babies?"

Arthur smiled. "That would be impossible. It will subtract minutes from your age; that's all. You'll probably never notice it." He scanned his eyes over the others. "In the mean time, get some R&R. You deserve it." He handed a small square envelope to Angie. "This contains the tech manuals on the new ship. You two should go over them before your test flight."

Angie accepted it with a nod.

As he walked back to the elevators with Angie, Marty turned to her. "I didn't even know that they were working on a new ship."

"Don't feel bad. I was kept out of the loop."

"I guess that they don't value our opinions."

"We're neither scientists nor engineers. They don't need our advice."

"Only when it comes to fighting."

Angie flashed a confident smile. "That's what we do best."

"I suppose we should go over the manuals."

Angie gave him a teasing grin. "It's a date; my place or yours?"

He debated the implications of both locations, but could not decide. "It's your call."

"Good. It'll be my quarters. That way I can get into something more comfortable."

One side of him liked that. The other side was concerned. "Yes, Admiral."

She flashed a scolding look at him. "It's not necessary for you to be so damn formal when we're alone. I'm not going to discipline you for something that trivial."

"What precisely would you discipline me for, Admiral?"

She answered with a teasing grin. "I will discipline you for not obeying my orders, and I'm ordering you to kiss me."

"I'll obey that order as soon as we get to your quarters."

"You forgot the admiral."

"Sorry about that, Admiral."

She giggled, an emotional display unbecoming someone of her rank. Marty didn't know if she was acting weird or just teasing him.

When they arrived at Angie's quarters, Marty allowed her to enter first. She sashayed off to her bedroom but paused before disappearing.

"Crank up the video. I'll join you shortly." She added a teasing grin.

Marty activated the viewer and inserted the chip that contained the new ship's tech manuals.

His eyes ballooned when the first image displayed. "Holy shit! Hey Angie, it's a saucer."

"I heard that they we're considering a Roswell design," she said from inside her bedroom.

Marty turned to watch Angie approach wearing the same uniform. "What's different about it?"

"It's larger, more powerful, more maneuverable, and it has engines all around."

"I wonder if this means we'll have a larger crew."

"I don't know. What I do know is that we are getting Lucia and Jean-Michel back. You examine the manual while I get out of this uniform."

He watched her provocative departure before returning to the video unit. He had no idea what she was up to, but he just knew he would enjoy it.

After several minutes, Angie returned in a sheer nightgown that generously revealed her gorgeous anatomy.

"You're out of uniform, Admiral."

"What's the matter? Don't you like it?"

"Ah, I . . . I would be lying if I said I didn't, but . . ."

"Come here and give me a kiss."

He approached her with trepidation. She melted into his arms and their lips locked for a prolonged embrace.

"Admiral Sarasota and Commander Sinclair, please report to the Concourse."

Angie screwed her beautiful visage into a scowl. "They must be watching us."

"It sure seems that way, doesn't it?" He gave her a teasing grin. "You can't go like that, Admiral."

"Yeah, I know."

He smiled as he watched her storm off to the bedroom.

The concourse was the gathering place for those embarking or disembarking from Space Port Alpha. Here is where the greatest number of security and processing personal were concentrated. If you hung around long enough, you would see all sorts of weird looking creatures. Strangely enough, most humans living and working on the station had grown accustomed to this exo-biological display of extraterrestrial beings, but the appearance of a Roswell alien still turned heads.

Marty had no idea how anybody could discern that Rosie was a female. All of the Roswell aliens looked the same to him. Even Ferris couldn't figure out how they mated. The males had no organ, at least not like that of human males, and yet she knew that the females gestated babies just like human females. How do they do that?

She was dressed in a silver metallic gown that displayed no anatomical attributes. In fact, the floor-length gown exhibited no creases or wrinkles. The funny part was that Rosie had her little feet clad in sneakers. What an amusing combination.

Her large head had no hair. Her ashen face tapered to a pointy chin below a thin slit of a mouth, and her small narrow nose had two slits for nostrils. It was her large slanted black insect eyes that grabbed your attention. They appeared lifeless, like those of sharks.

"Welcome to Space Port Alpha," Marty said. "Admiral Sarasota and I have been assigned to see to your needs."

"Thank you, Commander." Her voice was child-like but distinct. "Where are my quarters?"

"You have been assigned to a suite near us, and you are teamed with a flat alien that we call Honey."

She blinked. "Very well."

Angie and Marty escorted her to her suite where Honey awaited her new crew pairing.
"Greetings," Honey said. "I will be your guide. Are you in need of bathing?"

Rosie stared at her for several seconds before replying. "I would enjoy that. Will you join me?"

Honey smiled. "I would be honored."
Rosie turned to Angie. "Would you join us, Admiral?"

Angie started to shake her head, but thought better of it. "I don't . . . I think I . . . I guess I will." She threw a pleading look at Marty, who flashed back a smirk.

"Good," Honey said. "Let us go to my bath then."

Marty watched the three females disappear into Honey's quarters before he shook his head.

Yuck! Ain't no way I'd do that.

###

Marty took a healthy swallow and smiled. "Good beer. What is it?"

George smiled back. "It's from Germany, thanks to Karl here."

Marty raised his glass to Karl. "You definitely know your beer."

"I thought you would like it. It's Bavarian dark ale, more robust than your typical American beers."

"What do you think, Ninja?"

The Mehen looked back at Marty with penetrating reptilian eyes. His pale yellow scaly face hinted of a grin. "Quite interesting taste. I like it."

"Good. You're now an official member of the space rat pack."

The Mehen wasn't impressed. "When are we going into battle again, Martin?"

"My guess is about four weeks. Admiral Sarasota and I have to test fly the new ship and then it will be outfitted for our mission to the Sagittarius arm on the opposite side of the galaxy.

"How are we going to do that?" George asked. "It's eighty thousand light years away."

Marty laughed. "That's what I said. We were told that it will be fitted with a Dragon jump drive, which, as I understand it, is able to maintain a wormhole singularity for hours. Supposedly, we can travel to other galaxies if we wish."

George shook his head. "I can't believe that we've gone from travelling to Mars in two days to speeding to the other side of the galaxy in mere hours. It's mind boggling."

"Yeah, it has been a wild ride, hasn't it?"

"Why are we going there?" Karl asked.

"The Roswell aliens think that's where the Dragon aliens are."

"Speaking of the Roswell aliens," George said. "Has anyone seen the new crew person?"

"Yeah. Angie and I escorted her to her quarters."

"Where is the admiral?" Tyler asked.

Marty repressed a smile. "She's taking a hot tub soak with Honey and the new crew person, Rosie."

George grimaced. "That's an ugly thought."

"I agree. I get the impression that Roswell females are more amicable than the males."

"This particular female is their highest ranked scientist," Tyler said. "She's also a member of their planetary ruling body. She probably knows more about human physiology than we do."

"How can that be?" Marty asked.

"The Roswell aliens have been around for at least fifty million years. They've been exploring the galaxy for a hundred thousand years, and they have been abducting other intelligent species for centuries. I've been told that they maintain huge zoos where their people can go to study these species."

"Including humans?" Marty interrupted.

"Yes. They supposedly have many thousands of humans on display. They breed them and conduct experiments on them."

"I don't like the sound of that."

"We humans are the lucky ones. The Roswell aliens have annihilated several species. Fortunately, they've preserved them from extinction in their zoos."

Marty sighed. "Oh well, that's all history now. I would be willing to wager that the Dragon aliens are worse."

"You're probably right," George said. "They seem more aggressive than the Roswell aliens."

Marty took another swig of beer. "Oh well, we'll soon find out."

###

The common room between Angie and Marty's quarters served as a meeting room for the crew and as a private party area for the two intrepid warriors.

"How was your bath with the aliens, Admiral?"

Angie frowned. "Keep it up, buster and you're going to get yours."

He laughed. "I think I got mine a long time ago."

"If you must know, Rosie is very friendly, not at all like I had expected. Of couse, Honey is loquacious to the extreme."

"Did you learn anything new?"

"Well, for one thing, female Roswell aliens have breasts."

"No kidding?"

"They are not all that different than those of humans, only smaller."

Marty shook his head. "The only thing that makes them different is the eyes."

"Their eyes come from the insectavore species that they evolved from on a planet around a dimmer reddish dwarf star in the Andromeda galaxy."

"Wow! I'm impressed. You sound like George."

"Hey, I'm just repeating what she said."

Marty held up placating hands. "Hey, I'm trying to complement you."

She flashed a teasing grin. "You're just a wise guy, that's all."

He grinned back. "Guilty as charged."

"You forgot to add the admiral."

"Sorry about that, Admiral." He looked at her with serious eyes. "First, you want me to be less formal when we're alone. Now, you want me to be formal. Which do you want?"

"What I want you to do is simple: obey my commands. If I want you to be formal, you'll be formal. If I want you to be less formal, that's what you'll do. Don't argue with me, just do what I tell you."

"Yes, Admiral."

"Okay, I want you to get down and give me a hundred pushups."

He looked at her for several seconds. "Am I being disciplined?"

"I told you not to argue with me. Just do it."

He stood up and after begging for mercy with his eyes but seeing that he was not about to get any, he went down on his hands and began to pump up and down, fast at first but after sixty pushups, he slowed.

"You're not going fast enough," she said.

"I'm doing the best that I can, Angie."

"I told you not to argue with me. And don't you dare call me Angie."

"When he got up to a hundred, he collapsed to the floor. "Are you satisfied?"

"No I am not."

He stood up and stared at her. "What do you want from me, Admiral?'

She smiled. "I want another hundred pushups."

"Come on, Admiral. I'm bushed." He wiped his brow for emphasis.

"I don't care if you're tired. You will do as I tell you. Understood?"

"Yes, Admiral."

He started the pushups, but he was too tired to go fast.

"Go faster."

"I can't go faster, Admiral. I'm tired."

"Stand up," she yelled.

He did, but he was too relaxed.

"You will stand at attention, mister."

He straightened up. "Yes, ma'am."

She paced back and forth in front of him. "You are the most obstinate man I've ever known, and you don't follow orders worth a damn."

He frowned.  "Yes, I do. I'm trying to do your bidding as best that I can,"

"You're arguing with me again. I think that you need to be severely punished."

"Come on, Admiral, I'm not doing anything that bad."

"Take your clothes off," she growled.

His eyes widened with surprise. "What?"

"I want you to strip."

"Why?"

"Don't argue with me. I want you to remove all of your clothing. Do you understand me?"

"No, I don't understand you. I'm not going to do it. It's not right. You can put me on report if you wish, but I'm not going to do it. In fact, why don't you court- martial me. Then, I could get out of this chicken shit outfit."

She twisted her face into a scowl. "I haven't dismissed you yet. Now, get busy and remove your clothes."

"No, I won't," he said before he went off to his quarters.

###

Marty showered, dressed and prepared to join his buddies for some tall ones. When he approached the door to his quarters, he came within inches of colliding with it.

"Open my door, please."

"I can not comply with that command, Martin."

"Why not?"

"Admiral Sarasota has confined you to quarters."

"Damn her, anyway. Oh, sorry . . . strike that please."

"Yes, Martin."

"Did she indicate the reason for my confinement?"

"Yes. She will release you if you comply with her last order."

"Thank you." He tried to sound calm, but his voice had signs of anger.

"You're welcome, Martin."

"I wish to file a formal complaint against Admiral Sarasota for issuing an unreasonable command."

"You're complaint has been noted, Martin."

"Fat chance it will do any good," he said under his breath.

"Please, contact the admiral."

"Yes, Martin."

After several minutes: "Hello, Commander. What can I do for you?"

"I would like to be released, Admiral."

"I will do that when you complete my last order."

"But, that order is unreasonable."

"No it's not. The Uniform Code allows various disciplines like pushups to be imposed for disobedience."

"I'm sure they don't permit it being done in the buff."

"Not so, as long as I don't touch you."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not. The only thing that cannot be imposed is corporal punishment. Pushups, running, marching and the such are permitted, and state of undress is not specified."

"You're not kidding. Shit."

"Let me know when you're ready to comply."

"Come on, Angie, be reasonable."

"That earned you another hundred pushups."

"Okay, damn it. You win."

"Good. I'll be right over."

She came out of her quarters five minutes later, and when she entered the common room, she saw that he was wearing a towel around his middle and standing at attention.

"I'm ready, Admiral."

"You're supposed to be completely undressed, Commander."

"Are you sure that's what you want, Admiral?"

"Yes."

"I'm protesting this indecent and demeaning punishment," he said, sounding sour.

"Your protest is so noted," she said without emotion.

"But, if I do as you order, I'll be completely naked."

"So what? Are you a prude?"

"No, but I'm embarrassed."

"That's just too bad, now quit trying to stall."

"I'm not stalling, Admiral. I'm just stating my protest."

"So noted. Now, get going."

"Yes, ma'am." He slowly unwrapped the towel, and held it in such a way as to block her view of his genitals. When he did drop the towel to the floor, he held one of his hands in a strategic position. The other hand quickly reinforced the first.

She smiled. "Are you embarrassed, Commander?"

"Yes I am, Admiral."

She walked around him several times. "Nice ass, commander. Too bad you can't hide it." She laughed derisively.

He frowned. "Could we get this farce over with, Admiral?"

She was enjoying herself, and she could see that he knew it. "Okay. As you wish. Get started."

He watched her sit down on his couch before he carefully got down on one hand, holding the other to protect his modesty until he was in a position. He was dismayed by the fact that there was no way that he could adequately hide his genitals when she got up and moved to one side of him. Gravity would betray him, so he decided to do pushups with one arm and use the free hand to block her view.

"I'm impressed, Commander. I didn't know you could do pushups with one arm."

He started pumping up and down, his arm muscles flexing like tight springs on each cycle. She tried to trick him by getting up and moving to the opposite side, but he simply switched arms. When he reached one hundred, he stopped.

"Are you satisfied, Admiral?" he said in a gruff voice.

"No, I'm not. You owe me another two hundred."

He slowly got up, carefully holding one hand to block her view. "How so? Your last command was for just a hundred."

She smiled as her eyes slowly scanned up his body to meet his. "Don't you remember? You earned another hundred for calling me Angie and another hundred for arguing. Now, I'm adding another hundred for questioning me."

"Yes, Admiral," he said gruffly before carefully getting down to start again.

By the end of the second hundred pushups, he collapsed onto the floor.

"You're not done yet, mister."

"I can't do any more. I'm bushed."

"What's the matter, Commander: out of shape?"

He immediately started on the third hundred, sweating and huffing and puffing like an old steam engine. He knew that she was goading him and it made him angry, not with her, but with himself.

She smiled. Punishing him in such a humiliating manner was great fun, especially when he was playing the game of trying to prevent her from getting a look at his genitals. She loved playing that game, and the best part was that she had the advantage because he was totally nude and occupied with doing pushups. Nevertheless, she felt a flush of shame for deriving pleasure from his suffering and humiliation.