Chapter 6

You must be my Lucky Star
'Cause you shine on me wherever you are
I just think of you and I start to glow
And I need your light
And baby you know
-Madonna-

Angie sat in her command chair on the command deck and watched an image of an alien planet slowly rotate under the X-4001. The landmasses were unfamiliar but not all that different in coloring and shape from those of Earth. She glanced over at Marty, who was absorbed in looking through eyepieces at the space adjacent to the planet, and tried to conceive of a plan to make him trust her. She thought of several ideas but dismissed them as being too dangerous.

"We've received a message from the planet," Lia said. "I'll play it on the main screen."

"Good," Angie said, sitting up straight and running a hand over her hair to slick it down.

The image of the Reagent appeared. "We have approved your offer. Many have volunteered to join you, but we have decided on one. She is well versed in the science of the heavens." The new crew recruit joined the Reagent. She looked young, but it was hard to tell. "You may call her Masai. She is of good age and health."

"I am the commander of our fleet," Angie said. "May we have our medical people examine her?"

"Yes. She will obey you in all things."

"Thank you. We will be down soon to transport her up."

The Reagent gave Angie a crude smile.
Obviously, the alien leader was happy to see that a female was in charge of great ships in space.

When the transmission ended, Angie turned to Marty. "See, you did good."

"Thanks, but that was a cake walk. We didn't have to shoot anybody."

"Well, get your ready on and go pick her up. We're behind schedule as it is."

He stood up. "Yes, Admiral." He gestured to Ninja. "Let's go."

When Marty sat the Lander down, he found the new alien crew person waiting alone near the landing zone. He thought that odd. Was she a criminal that these aliens were condemning to servitude in an alien service? Or, did they consider her expendable? When he and Ninja exited the Lander, she didn't hesitate to come to them. Her expressionless face hid any anxiety that she may have had.

Marty showed her how to buckle in and he gave her a big smile, but he had no idea if she could return the gesture. She seemed unafraid, but that was difficult to discern in an alien. He didn't fail to note her large breasts, and he tried to imagine what they looked like under her tunic-like coat.

She looked at Ninja but did not exhibit any outward fear of him. Ninja looked at her but said nothing. He was simply doing his duty.

The new recruit's big round eyes widened even more when she saw the X-4001, but she didn't say anything. When the Lander settled onto the hangar floor, she appeared to tense up. She was out of her element and it showed in the hesitation in her movements and her wild eye movements. Marty tried to reassure her by placing his hand on her shoulder and smiling, but he had no idea how she would interpret the gesture. For all he knew, such familiarity was a crime in her society.

"You are among friends," Marty reassured her, using the translator. "You will not regret your decision to join us."

"I am in your service," the alien said, giving him a pseudo smile, which took the form of her thin lipped mouth curling up slightly.

Marty escorted the alien to the command deck so that he could introduce her to Angie.
"This is Admiral Sarasota," he said, gesturing to Angie. "She is in charge of our fleet."

"Welcome aboard, Masai," Angie said, smiling. "We would like to have you undergo a physical exam by our medical people. Their examination of your body will ensure your health and safety while you are in our service."

"I will obey," Masai said.

"Escort her to the medical station," Angie ordered Marty. "I want you to help Onuki and Ferris."

"Why me?" Marty asked.

"You're the Chief Medic. You may have to administer to her at some time in the future."

"When did this happen?"

"What?"

"That I was appointed Chief Medic?"

Angie sighed. "Just do it, please."

"Yes, Admiral."

When he and the alien arrived at the medical station, Marty and Masai found Onuki and Ferris waiting.

"Here's your patient," Marty said.

"Good," Onuki said. "You will stay and assist us, Martin."

"Yes, ma'am."

"We want you to undress her," Ferris told Marty.

Marty's eyebrows shot up. "You want what?"

"Remove her clothing, please," Onuki said.

He stared at Onuki for several seconds before he turned to Masai. "May I touch you?"

The alien showed no emotion. "Yes."

"Sit down on the exam table," Marty told her. "I'll start with your feet."

He pulled off one of her boots and examined it. Not unlike a cowboy boot, it had a three-inch heel and was decorated with interesting artwork in the form of swirling lines. He removed the other boot and then pulled her long, knee-high stockings off.

"That's interesting," he said, examining her right foot. "She has six toes. On Earth that's considered a sign of royalty." He felt the nails on her toes. "She has nails that resemble ours. That would indicate that she evolved from a simian life form, or at least something similar."

He told her to stand up and started on her tunic, which was fastened together at the back. When he pulled hard enough, the fabric separated with a familiar sound.
"How about that: Velcro!"

The tunic came off to reveal that she was wearing some sort of full torso underwear.
"This looks like a bustier from the early twentieth century."

When he removed her trousers, the bustier was all that she had left to cover her naked body. He looked at the bust part of the bustier and swallowed hard. He was about to find out what was under there that made it look so large.
The bustier was fastened at the back with hooks. He carefully removed them one at a time and the entire garment fell from her body. Her breasts were as large and full as he had expected, but there was a very interesting difference.

"She has very prominent nipples," he said, touching one. When he took the nipple between his fingers, fluid shot out.

"What the hell? She's lactating. She can't be pregnant. Her waist is the smallest I've ever seen. It's even smaller than Angie's . . . Oh, I'm not supposed to know that." He offered an apologetic smile.

Onuki and Ferris chuckled.

"Young females produce nectar at their first bleeding," Masai said. "All females must be relieved each cycle of our world."

"Does she mean that she has to be milked every day?" Marty asked.

"That's what it means," Ferris said. "We'll let you do the honors when we're finished with her exam."

Marty gave Ferris an incredulous look.

"Recline on the table," Onuki instructed the alien female.

After she was lying on her back, Onuki gave Marty his next task. "We want you to examine her genitals."

"What?"

"Oh, come now, Martin. I'm sure you've seen many female genitalia."

He gave them a rebuking frown, but he knew that it was true. He pulled examination gloves on and had Masai bend her knees and spread.
"She has vulva similar to human females," He said. When he separated the vulva and the associated labia, he obtained a clear view of her female equipment. "She has a urethra and a vagina, but I don't see a clitoris. There's a rib of flesh running from the vagina up to a position anterior to the juncture of the labia minora and it has rather hard knobs every centimeter or so. Perhaps that is this species version of a clitoris." He spread her vagina. "Her vagina is free of any obstruction and is moist and lubricated." He stuck a gloved finger up into the opening without effect to Masai. "I don't feel anything unusual. Since this female has a umbilicus, her species is obviously mammalian, not oviparous like Birdie's species."

"Very good, Martin," Onuki said with a smile. "You know your anatomy."

What he wanted to know was what it would be like to have sex with this alien now that he knew what her female equipment looked like. He removed the gloves and had Masai straighten her legs while Onuki ran scans. Images appeared on several screens showing bone structures and internal organs in very vivid coloring and high resolution.

"These look very similar to human anatomy," Marty said. "She has one more set of ribs and a somewhat unusual intestinal arrangement, but everything else is similar."

"She has an extra set of fallopian tubes," Ferris said. "Perhaps, this species has a problem with reproduction."

"She has a four chambered heart," Onuki said. "And there are separate arterial and venous systems." She looked at the alien's face. "I wish to remove some of your blood."

"That is permitted."

After Onuki drew a few cubic centimeters of the alien's blood, she placed it into an analyzer. "Her blood is iron based. The clotting factors and corpuscle structures are similar to ours." Onuki had Masai allow her to swab the inside of her mouth. "We'll run a complete genome on her DNA."

"What do think of her, Martin?" Onuki asked.

"All I know is that this female proves the existence of God," Marty said. "There is no way in hell that she is a result of some accidental evolution. Her species was seeded here, as were ours. There is no other explanation."

"Allah is great," Ferris said, giving him approval with a smile.

After Onuki had completed the scans and had finished bodily fluid collections, Marty helped Masai sit up. Ferris handed him a graduated flask.

"We'll give you the honors of milking her."

He accepted the flask and began coaxing milk from Masai's right breast.

"You are very adept at that," Ferris teased him.

He smiled. "When I was a kid on my parents' farm in Iowa, I often manually milked cows and goats. I know how to get milk from a teat."

"Very good then," Ferris said. "We'll designate you the official milkman." Both Ferris and Onuki laughed.

Masai appeared to be grateful. In fact, it appeared that she enjoyed the process, enough so to smile. The yield of milk was much larger than that from a human female, but considering the size of her breasts, it was not all that unbelievable.

###

"Take us out of orbit, Delphi. Sync with the X-3001."

"Yes, Angie."

She turned to Marty. "I was informed that you are responsible for milking Masai."

He flashed a mock frown. "Oh, joy."

Angie chuckled. "You're perfect for the job. You certainly like tits."

He gave her a deeper frown. "Thanks."

"I think she likes you."

"She's an alien, Angie. I have no way of knowing what she thinks."

Angie looked around. "Where is she?"

"She's learning English from Lia."

"Good."

"Where are we going?" Marty asked.

"Masai said that there's a possible habitable system only 10 light years away. We'll give it a look." She looked back at her crew. "Take your jump seats, people."

Lia and Masai came onto the deck. The alien looked at Marty and gave him an alien smile before taking her seat. He gave her a warm smile.

"Jump will commence in ten minutes, Angie."

"Execute on count, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

The jump was almost a non-event. It ended before anyone could react to it, including Masai. Onuki had decided to not give the alien female any pills to suppress hormonal stimulation. She had no idea what effect it would have on an alien biology. Apparently, her decision was justified.

"We're two billion kilometers out from the star," Karl said. "It's a class G5 star with a 97% mass, 92% diameter and a 60% luminosity compared to our sun. It's spectra indicates that it's four billion years old and has at least a 90% metallicity."

"This system definitely has planets," George said. "There's at least six gas giants, one of which is at 150 AU."

"Why so far out?" Marty asked.

"Who knows," George said. "That gas giant is over 1.5 times the diameter of Jupiter. Perhaps, it's a companion star that never ignited."

"We're not picking up any organized RF signals," Brigit said.

"There are no energy emissions," Ninja reported. "Wait a minute. I'm detecting a large number of vessels entering normal space."

"Keep alert, people," Angie said. She turned to Ninja. "What is their location and number?"

"They are approaching this system at four billion kilometers. I am counting at least a thousand ships and their energy profile is Dragon."

"We will engage them," Angie said. "Open COM to the X-3001, Delphi."

"COM open, Angie."

"Prepare to engage the enemy fleet," Angie said. "Deploy your fighters and await my orders."

"Copy that, Admiral," Brian said.

She turned to Marty. "You and Ninja take one of the fighters. Uma and Honey will take the second. Jean-Michael and Anna will take the third."

Marty saluted. "Yes, Admiral."

"I will need you, Lia," Angie said.

The fighter crews quickly left the command deck and went directly to the hangar deck.

"Prepare to fire two nova devices into the enemy fleet on my orders," Angie told Brian. "I will fire two devices at the same time."

"Copy that. We have two fighters ready to launch, Admiral."

"We are launching three. Keep me informed."

"Will do, Admiral."

Marty and Ninja wasted no time in preparing the X-402 for launch. When the hangar door had retracted, they were the first to exit.

"Wait until the nova devices have ignited," Angie warned them. "Prepare to engage on my command."

"Copy that," Marty replied. He turned to Ninja. "Well, this may well be the battle to end all battles."

"I am ready, Martin," Ninja said with no evidence of anxiety.

The nova devices from both ships exploded with devastating results. After the intense brilliant light of explosions subsided, the remaining enemy fleet ships broke up into unorganized groups. Marty pursued one of the groups and began firing weapons. The enemy ships swarmed around the X-402 like angry wasps, firing ever-increasing energy beams. The result was thunderous noises and intense vibrations.

But, Ninja returned fire with even more intensity and accuracy than the enemy and it had devastating results. Marty maneuvered around the attacking and exploding enemy ships with a skill that can only be learned in combat. Together, they had accounted for over a hundred kills in the first twenty minutes of battle.

Angie smashed into the main enemy fleet with abandonment. Lia poured particle canon fire into several enemy ships at one time while Delphi fired multiple energy beams into every ship in range. Exploding and careening ships made maneuvering difficult, but Angie was up to it.

Brian kept the X-3001 in the battle with a vengeance. He and his two fighters waded into them, destroying ships at an incredible rate. Unfortunately, one of his fighters exploded, leaving him in a more vulnerable position.

Marty knew nothing of this. He and Ninja were too busy destroying enemy ships, but the battle was becoming much too hectic for the fleet to prevail. They were in danger of losing, but they didn't care. This was to be a fight to the death.
Unfortunately for the enemy, a new fleet of unknown ships entered the battle. The tide of battle quickly turned. These new ships fought with a vengeance driven by hate, and enemy ships were soon dispatched at an astonishing frequency.

After her flagship had suffered damage, Angie pulled the X-4001 out of the battle, and she immediately began to get pleas for assistance.

"Our weapons have malfunctioned," Uma said. "We are limping on minimum power."

"Can you make it back to the X-4001?" Angie asked them.

"I think so," Uma said. "We will try."

"Hey, Marty, can you help Jean-Michel and Anna?"

"What's the matter with them?" Marty asked.

"I think they're dead in space," Angie said. "I can't raise them."

"We'll check them out," Marty said.

Marty headed for the X-403, but two enemy ships were blocking the way.

"I'm going to split those two ships," Marty said. "What I want you to do is fire at both of them at the same time."

"Yes, Martin."

The two enemy ships flew away from the X-402, but Ninja fired two plasma bombs at both. The results were spectacular.

"Nice shooting," Marty told him.

Ninja puffed his chest with pride.

The X-403 hung dead in space. Marty approached it and maneuvered near enough to use Antigrav to pull the ship along like a tug. He had no idea if Jean-Michel and Anna were still alive inside.

"Raise COM to the X-403, Delphi. Increase power if necessary."

"Yes, Martin."

A weak signal popped out of background static. "Hello out there. I need help. Please respond."

"This is Commander Sinclair, Anna. We're alongside you."

"Oh my God, Martin. Jean-Michel is unresponsive. He's not breathing. Help me."

"Calm down, Anna and tell me what happened."

"We took a direct hit with our shields down. The control panel exploded and Jean-Michel took an electrical discharge."

"Okay, Anna, here's what I want you to do: go to the med locker and get a case labeled 'Defibrillator' and get it to Jean-Michel as soon as possible."

After anxious minutes, Anna reported. "I have it."

"Open it up and turn it on. The switch is clearly marked. Okay, rip his shirt open. You need access to his bare chest. Good, now apply some of the gel to the paddles and stick them on his chest like it shows you in the diagram. Okay, push the button and stand back. The device will continue applying shocks until it detects a heartbeat."

He glanced at Ninja and then concentrated on the signal from the X-403, "What's happening over there?"

"It's still trying . . . wait, it stopped. A green light is flashing."

Marty rubbed a hand over his face and took a relieved breath. "That means you were successful."

He heard sobbing.

Marty towed the X-403 back to the X-4001. The instant that the hangar was pressurized, Onuki and Ferris ran to the X-403 to transport Jean-Michel to Med Station. Marty hugged Anna and consoled her. Uma and Honey came over to add their support.

On the command deck, Angie was trying to contact the X-3001, "What is your status?"
"Our engines and weapons are off line," Brian said. "One of our fighters was destroyed. I assume that the crew is lost. We have two injured, but nothing serious."

"Is your Delphi still active?"

"Yes, Admiral. We have already activated the repair bots." He hesitated before his next question. "What about those new ships?"

"That's my problem, Commander. Keep me informed of your progress."

"Copy that."

Marty came onto the deck and took a seat at the navigational station.

"How's Jean-Michel?"

"He's stable. Onuki sees no reason why he shouldn't come out of his coma."

"Good."

"Angie, I am detecting signals from one of he alien ships."

"Oh, that's just great. We have no idea how their communication system works, and even if we did, we can't communicate."

"Wait," Brigit said. "Their signal resembles Masai's." She typed several commands and the alien signal's image was displayed on the main screen."

Ninja perked up. The new aliens were reptilian, but had cat-like faces and more humanoid bodies.

"Too bad we can't talk to them," Marty said.

"I can do their speak," Masai said.

Everyone turned to stare at her.

"How is that possible?" Marty said.

"What difference does it make? Open COM to the alien ship, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Masai began an animated conversation with a cat-faced alien. Everyone else waited in a state of anxiety.

"I tell them you come to find enemy," Masai said. "Man say he thank you for help defense of home."

"Tell him thank you for his help," Angie said. "We request time for repairs."

After more conversation between Masai and the alien, Masai had the message everyone wanted to hear. "He say he want to form union to fight enemy."

"Tell him we accept."

When she relayed Angie's message, the contact ended.

###

Marty came up to the door to Masai's quarters, paused to calm himself and then pressed her request button. The door immediately swished open, and he entered to find the alien undressed and seated on a chair. He admired her completely flawless skin. He especially liked how it had a marvelous sheen that radiated youth and heath.

"Good evening, Martin. Did I say right?"

"You learn fast, Masai. How do you feel?

"I am fine, but my milk glands are heavy."

He smiled. "I'm here to fix that." He sat on a chair next to hers and pressed his finger tips into her left breast. Her mammary glands were large but did not sag. "My, you're on full."

Her nipples were so erect they could have punched holes through steel plates, or so he thought. As he relieved the pressure in her breasts, he was rewarded with an alien smile.
"Do you enjoy this?" He asked her.

"Yes, better when you do it."

"What do your people do with this nectar?"
"We drink it."

"Don't you nurse your children with it?"

"What is 'children'?"

Marty's left eyebrow rose. "You know: the little ones."

"We have no little ones."

"Don't you give birth to babies?"

"Our issue is not living. It is mixed in the crucibles."

"You've lost me. What is a crucible?"

"It creates duplicate life."

"As in cloning?"

"I know not this cloning."

Marty smiled. He couldn't think of what else to do.

When he finished he went back to his quarters and grabbed a beer. He had no sooner sat down to drink it when his request signal sounded.

"Come in."

Jean-Michel entered looking chipper.

"You look good," Marty said. "How do you feel?"

"Great. I've been working out a lot. How about joining me for a swim."

"Is the pool free?"

"I have it for three hours."

"Yeah, okay. I could use a dip."

They went to the third deck and entered the dressing room where they stripped and showered. Tyler joined them.

"Good evening," he greeted them. "I hope you don't mind if I make it a threesome."

"The more the merrier," Marty said. "We should do this on a regular basis. It's a great way to get away from the women."

"I say," Tyler said, pointing up at a screen. "Can they still view us?"

"We'll know it if they do," Marty said. "Their faces will appear on the screen."

"If they want to look, let them," Jean-Michel said.

"I don't think that I would like that," Marty said. "The only thing we're wearing is our smiles."

"Women are not interested in male anatomy," Jean-Michel said before he dove into the water.

Marty turned to Tyler. "I'm not so sure of that."
Tyler shrugged.

Jean-Michel got out of the pool and prepared to dive again while Marty and Tyler stood waiting their turn.

Suddenly the video screen activated and displayed Angie's face. The men instinctively pressed their hands into shielding duty.

"Oops! Excuse me, gentlemen, but I need you and Tyler up on the command deck on the double, Commander. We're scheduled for a conference call with the aliens."

"Is Masai going to translate for us?" Marty asked.

"No. She'll be there, but Lia has their language already programmed into the Universal Translator."

"Okay, Admiral, we'll be right up."

"Good."

Marty and Tyler arrived on the command deck just in time to see an image of the alien planet displayed on the main screen.

"That's the third planet," George said. "It's nearly the same diameter as Earth, but has 1.2 times more mass and a gravity of approximately 1.02 G."

"The oxygen is near 20%," Anna said. Water is scarce, much like Ninja's home world."

"It has only about 30% water surface area," George said. "I'm surprised that intelligent life developed here."

"I have request for COM from an alien source, Angie."

"Open COM, Delphi."

A cat-faced alien appeared. The face had a basic humanoid shape, but the whiskers and cat eyes were unmistakably cat-like despite the obvious scaly reptilian skin.

"Greetings, people from across star system," the alien said. "We are grateful for your assistance in our defeat of enemy. We invite you to our planet. We will discuss mutual plans to defeat enemy."

"We accept your offer," Angie said.  "We should arrive at your planet within the hour. Please give us a place to land. We have small ships to transport our people down to your planet."

"We will do your wish."

The COM was dropped.

"Well," Angie said, straightening her jacket. "That went well."

"Who is going down?" Marty asked her.

"You, Tyler, Lia and Ninja will go, however I would refrain from taking weapons. We need their help. Without help we will never find the home world of the Dragons."

"I think that I'll call these aliens Draks."

"Draks?"

"Yeah, it's short for Dragoncats, a fictional race."

"Whatever." She stood up. "I want to talk to you before you go."

"Yes, Admiral."

Marty followed his admiral back to her quarters. The instant they entered, she gestured for him to sit.

"Are we having another therapy session?" Marty asked.

"Please, Marty, I'm trying to earn your trust. I would like to apologize for intruding on your swim session."

"You don't have to, Admiral. We didn't mind."

"I thought that you did mind."

"You own our bodies, and you have the right to observe them."

She frowned. "That's ridiculous. I have no right to infringe on your privacy. I'm not a pervert."

"I didn't say that you were, but I'm sure that you like viewing us."

Angie smiled. "Well, yeah, but I don't wish to anger you."

"I'm not angry, Angie. I just don't see the necessity to protest, and I'm sure that Jean-Michel and Tyler feel the same. We just don't want the other women viewing us because they would needle us about it. We trust you."

"Okay, It's a deal. You've said the magic word: trust."

Marty got up. "Let's seal it with a kiss."

She got up and approached him. He took her in his arms and they kissed, but before they could get into it . . .

"I have been requested to inform you that your presence is required in Medical at 0900, Angie."

"Why, Delphi?"

"You are scheduled for a physical, Angie."

"Oh, for heavens sake. Don't they have anything better to do?"

Marty gave her a grin. "Better you than me."
Angie frowned. "Shit."

Marty got up. "Well, I think I'll grab Tyler and return to the pool."

"Have fun."

Marty and Tyler rejoined Jean-Michel in the pool. They found him resting on a bench.

"Welcome back," he greeted them. "We have the pool until 1100."

"Good," Marty said before he jumped into the water. Tyler followed him. After a few laps, Marty got out and sat on a bench near where Jean-Michel was resting. Tyler decided to try the diving board.

"What did the admiral want with you?" Jean-Michel asked.

"She wanted to apologize for intruding," Marty said.

Jean-Michel chuckled. "She didn't have to."

"I told her that." He shrugged. "Women, you know."

"I do, my friend."

Tyler had gone into the dressing room. When he returned, he had a look of panic on his face.
"We've got a big problem."

"What is it?" Marty asked.

"Someone took our clothes."

Marty jumped up. "What the hell?"

Jean-Michel smiled. "This smacks of a practical joke."

"Yeah, by the women, no doubt," Marty said. "I assume that there are no towels, robes or anything we could cover ourselves with.

"Yes," Tyler said. "I say, this is quite mean of them."

"Yes, it is. The bad news is that we have to go all the way down the corridor to get to the elevator, and I'd be willing to bet that the women are waiting for the show to begin."

"We could run," Jean-Michel said.

"They used to call that streaking," Marty said, smiling. He rubbed his jaw. "This calls for a bold action. We'll just have to run like hell and hope that they'll be caught in their little joke."

Uma, Anna, Brigit and Lucia waited near the elevators for the show to begin. They had decided that this was the optimum location because the men would have to wait until the elevator responded to a request for service.
Feet slapping on hard flooring sounded from down the hall. The women turned to gape at the spectacle of naked men running at full gate.

"Here they come," Brigit said. "Hey, you gentlemen are out of uniform."

The women laughed derisively. Uma whistled. Anna and Lucia clapped. The men heard their hysterical laughter even after they had boarded the elevator and the door had closed.

Angie appeared from the shadows, ending the laughter.

"Shame on you ladies. You forgot that Delphi sees all."

"We're sorry, ma'am," Anna said. "We just wanted to tease them."

"I'm surprised by you, Lucia. I took you for a more mature person."

"I am truly sorry, signora, but I think that this is the result of boredom."

"Yes, I understand," Angie said. "Although, playing practical jokes on the men is not really a very effective way to relieve boredom. I suppose I should put you four on report. I'm not sure how I'll punish you, but I'll think of something. You people should have thought about this. One of your victims is your commander. Even though he would never discipline you for this, he's probably not very happy about it."

"I am not a very good person," Uma said. "I have offended Martin."

Angie smiled. "Well, I hope that you had fun, but I would refrain from any such shenanigans in the future. You may end up becoming the butt of a practical joke yourselves."

"We understand, ma'am," Anna said.

"Good," Angie said before she turned and walked away.

When the men exited the elevator on deck 2, Lia met them. She reacted with surprise at first sight, but she quickly transformed her reaction to one of amusement.

"Are you guys practicing for when females rule the universe and dictate that men will not be permitted to wear clothing?"

"Very funny," Marty said to her, frowning. "We're the victim of a practical joke."

"Well, I think I could get used to you men going unclothed," Lia said, grinning at them. "It's more fun that way."

"Dream on," Marty told her as he and the other two men ran off to their quarters.

Lia smiled as she watched them run off showing her their bare backsides. She shrieked when Marty turned to give her a frontal view with his hands above his head. Jean-Michel emulated Marty's tease, giving Lia an extra thrill. When they had disappeared, she shook her head and felt ashamed.