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Equulust

(© 2010 "CarLOS Penguin")

The year is 2217.

152 years ago, a Centaurian exploration vessel came across an ancient curiosity in space - a probe.

Long out of power and made from very basic materials, the scientists on Alpha Centauri examined the artefact before placing it in one of their public museums.

The plaque that was on the artefact was easily deciphered and the probe was determined to originate from very close - only 4.4 light years away from a system around a yellow star they previously thought far too primitive still to create such things. The beings there after all, still communicated with sub-light electromagnetic fields.

The discovery brought much public excitement, not only on Centaurus, but Capella and other systems they regularly traded with and shared colonies with.

A stir grew in their government as to what should be done with this knowledge?

A decision was made.

150 years ago, a Centaurian 'welcome wagon' of diplomats, scholars and theologians visited what is now on their star charts, as Sol Three of the Terran system.

1 - "Alive"

I am a survivor.

There were 15 of us on a trade mission within the Pegasi systems. A boring three and a half month hyperspace trip to Iota Pegasi Four, 38 light years away.

I was the oldest in the group - a 41 year old cynical son-of-a-bitch Terran amongst a bunch of loud college kids and business school grads from various star systems full of wide eyed optimism and even more alcohol or other deleterious substances. I felt more of a roadie on a rock stars bus than a businessman.

The plan was a two week cram-conference on how to do business within that system and adjoining star systems and their laws. Then a week practicum with the local merchants to get the feel of extraterrestrial business and two days to absorb the facts. I heard that two days was usually spent sleeping it off as the Iota Pegasiian merchants could drink all but the hardiest species under the table.

A month into the trip, we already made the best profit of our lives - our LIVES!

The cargo freighter we were on wasn't luxurious by any means, but it was a fast and sturdy Centaurian ship, Gar Betraenl, of 30 years... about half the age of the Terran vessels available. The 23rd century still full well knows the meaning of "budget cuts". The Alpha Centaurian's that made first contact with us a hundred and fifty years earlier, refused to launch anything that wasn't done right. But nothing is perfect.

The investigators after our return home told us that micrometeorite, probably a millimetre across, travelling with us penetrated the Centaurian freighter's navigation shield as the crew did a regular maintenance cycle. Normally on a ship of that size, the magnetic polarization of the hull can withstand that half nanosecond of hyperspace energy or nanometre dust that got trapped in the shield that'll hit us when the shield collapses for the brief period of time. But definitely not one of that size. No ship we knew of could.

The accident could have been far worse however... the micrometeorite shot a hole through the ship so clean, little damage to the ship was done. Two storage rooms, one at the bow and the one at the stern, decompressed slowly over several minutes, allowing any crew to escape before the bulkheads closed. The captain for safety sake however, decided to bring us to a halt, power down everything but mandatory life support to conserve energy and call for help... which took two weeks to arrive.

Thirteen wannabe merchants, one experienced businessman and myself plus 12 crew, two weeks and no showers. No data-net connection. One personal call and one business call per 27 hour Centaurian day period. Just food, drinking water, one shared head, hand-held lights and our palm computers. Unlike the younger passengers, I hadn't loaded any porn on mine. Damn!

Sleep. What else was there to do?

How many days was it?

What time was it?

It didn't matter any more and I didn't care. After the initial fear, the younger passengers got into two fights before the captain himself, a 300 kilo muscled Centaurian of frighteningly calm demeanour, came down and said in a slow, controlled voice that may have well been at deafening levels of sound pressure for the weight it had behind it, that the next fight will be with him.

I chuckled. But had to keep my own temper in check.

The reason I was out here was I had little use for idiots and wanted to do a "working vacation" with other professionals. Well, I thought professional until I saw this lot of final-grade-seekers when I boarded.

Once it was obvious in a few days this was everyone's (well, the passengers anyway) first space trip, the crew did a wonderful job of morale and acted themselves like this was the norm. They included us in their calesthetic routines to burn off the excess energy and mundane duties keep us focused. But the two days when we knew the rescue ship was coming, it was like the longest Christmas Eve and we were a bunch of 5-year-olds waiting for the time to get up and open presents.

The lights came on and we heard the announcement that the MV Nightingale, a Terran manned medical ship of Sirian design was now only five hours away and would take the passengers off and give the crew a check-up. The crew would remain another week until a space tug arrived for them and the ship. Space tugs were always busy... usually pulling in those Terran ships I spoke of to some dock somewhere.

Thankfully in that five hours, we were allowed to shower, shave and get out belongings together. Most took twenty minutes gathering and the rest in the shower.

Thanking the captain and crew for their patience and support, we embarked onto the MV Nightingale. We were as happy to go as the crew of the Gar Betraenl were to see us leave.

That was the last time they took passengers on their interstellar runs.

Ushered quickly into medical treatment bays for an examination, the doctors aboard the Nightingale discharged us after treating minor bruising and cuts to those who were in fights early on our previous journey and were informing us that we would be dropped off at the nearest space station, two light years away where we could obtain continued transport onto our destination.

With luck, we could catch a ride on a passenger transport... luxuries and all. Hey, it was being paid for by the company owners of the Gar Betraenl after all, for our "inconvenience suffered".

Then a call came in... a border enforcement cruiser boarding a smuggling vessel had walked into a trap set by pirates. Guess what? The MV Nightingale was the closest med-ship. Our drop off had to wait... a week in the flying hospital turned into a trip of five.

The Nightingale was a med-ship, not a passenger ship. There was rooms for all sorts of medical duties and training of interns in xenomedicine. Luckily there were no interns aboard, so there were bunk quarters for twelve extra beings of various species. I emphasize twelve. There are fifteen of us! Three had to double bunk with the med-ship's crew.

The captain asked his crew for volunteers to share their quarters. Two did. That left me assigned to share a crewman's quarters.

It wasn't that the crewman didn't volunteer, two weren't there at the briefing. I was told that the crewmen were engineers aboard the ship and they traded 12 hour shifts. One was on duty, the other likely asleep. Since it was decided that I couldn't be dumped in with the fellow asleep, I was to go to the quarters of the one on duty and settle in. That crewman would receive their orders as per this when they got off duty.

I entered the quarters and was dismayed at the disaster. It reminded me of my office back home with technical papers and schematics strewn all over the place.

I cleaned off what I thought was a desk turned out to be the bed. Way too small for me and not wanting to inconvenience the crewman more than he had to be already, I looked for a bench long enough for me to lay down on. None appeared there until what I thought was a table against a wall turned out to be a cushioned bench, once I cleaned all the ... whatever parts they were off of it.

A wave of nausea crept over me and I nearly lost my balance when an announcement from the captain came in that due to the border cruiser's desperate need, he would be pushing the hyperdrive beyond the ships systems to fully compensate for the velocity effect and to expect some discomfort.

The Nightingale's crew of course were used to this... we weren't. Nurses came with a mild sedative and some concoction for our stomach and told us that the only cure was time for our bodies to adapt to the effect.

Grabbing one of two blankets off the bed, I laid down onto the bench and waited for the potions to kick in, which I hoped, was very soon.

2 - "Sami"

The slide of a door woke me, but I didn't open my eyes. It seemed the meds were working on my stomach, but the velocity effect made my head still feel like I had a hangover. The sound of the loudest shoes I had ever heard walked across the floor as a dim light came on over from where the bed was. As dim as it was, it made me scrunch my eyelids even tighter shut than they already were.

The crewman's breathing was loud and I could tell when he must have seen my blanked covered body on the bench, as the breathing became faster, shallower, almost like he was afraid. "I bet he never saw the orders?" I thought to myself. The sound of the loud shoes crept cautiously back towards the door.

"Ah, geez!" I thought, "I better introduce myself before I get a laser scalpel through me or something." Slowly pulling the blanked off my head and opening my eyes slowly as I did it, my ears were assaulted...

"SHRIEEEEE-nnn-nny!"

"GACK!" I yelled as I clasped my hands over my ears and winced.

Slowly looking up and uncovering my ears, I saw this tiny terrified... panting... dark brown furred... horse? Not shoes, hooves. Bipedal.. horse being pressed flat back against the wall and large brown eyes open wide... face wrenched in terror. Oh... my... gawd! An Equuleusian.

Equuleusian's were almost never heard of being off their home world. An equinesque race that evolved as the dominant species there. Though technologically advanced , they still had many Terran-like equine qualities... proud, free spirited, independent, yet flighty and skittish. In school we used to joke when someone dropped a book during study time, Equuleusian's would stampede the school to the ground in their panic to escape, then conduct a mathematical study on how much energy they released, calmly like nothing happened.

But another equine trait they had in absolute abundance... curiosity. Insatiable, curiosity. It was that quality that made them reach out to the stars first with communication attempts, then probes, not unlike us of the Terran system in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. And the day someone answered them? HA! That is a whole other story!

I also appeared to have been misinformed. The crewmans quarters I was assigned happened to be female.

"Ummm, hi?" I say sheepishly and wave.

"Wh... who... who are you?" she asked, still panting heavily, but face no longer looking like she'd just been thrown out an airlock without the benefit of a pressure suit.

"Someone with terrible luck it seems." I answer, shrugging my shoulders. "Didn't your captain tell you?"

She just stared back. Her nostrils flaring and contracting slightly as she breathed heavier from being startled.

"I'm one of the survivors off a ship you people rescued. They had to put us somewhere. Weren't you notified when you got off duty."

"I... I'm not off duty just yet. I came for one of these papers." she said visibly relaxing, her ears flat now raising and beginning to look somewhat annoyed. "Which I see you have made a complete mess of for me!"

When I took the papers and parts and whatnot off of the furniture on my arrival, I stacked them in a corner and she says "I" made the mess? Typical!

"Why do you call yourself a survivor? No one died on that ship from what I heard." She asked inquisitively.

Shrugging, "It will impresses the ladies." I respond with a smile as she tried to suppress a chuckle at my answer. "So, what do they call you anyway?"

She let her smile come out as she replied as if quite pleased that I asked, "Sameetraaha." she said with an Equuleusian accent, unpronounceable by Terran vocal cords. "But you can call me Sami."

After introductions and handshakes, she eventually found what she was looking for and in a world of her own, clopped out her cabin door.

Doctor's potion finally kicking in, I gave up on any more rest and decided to explore the ship.

3 - "A Long Voyage"

The ship had the widest corridors and doorways I'd seen. I guess the efficient moving of patients were the reason behind this. An eerie silence was broken only by the odd shuffle of crew and equipment being moved about. Unlike the freighter, there was no engine noise to be heard.

Rounding one corner, I heard the excited noise of people laughing and conversation coming from a room with a relatively narrow doorway. There was no keypad or announcer beside the door, so I just walked in.

I entered what was obviously the mess hall/rec room of the ship. Looked like every off duty personnel as well as the rest of our merchant team was there, trading stories, laughing at jokes and stuffing their faces.

"Hey, Carlos man!" shouted one of the other rescues... I think his name was Derek? I could not remember names. Well, I can remember names AND faces, just if you put them in columns and asked me to draw a line to who belonged to what, I'd fail every time.

The group shuffled over on the bench making, room. "We thought the old man got left back on the other ship?"

"Nah, just waiting for the drugs to kick-in for the speed"

Some younger merchants scoffed, "Pffft! We didn't even need our shot. It's fun, kinda like a roller coaster back home." I agreed and reminded him it was 20 years since I'd ridden one. That brought a chuckle from the group as one of the medical crew broke in and began to explain to this latecomer to the table, how to use the food dispensers.

"DAMN! This is one great cup of tea!" I said to the nurse that explained how to make a drink from the dispenser.

"Enjoy it Mr. Carlos... it's the only thing the food dispensers can make perfect." She said with a hint of sarcasm. "If you ask it for a coffee, you'll think you're on a prison barge."

"Ummm, dare I ask about the food?"

"We can cure the common cold, but we have no cure for hospital food yet, I'm afraid" she replied as her chrono alarm "beeped". "Excuse me, duty in five minutes. One of the others will have to answer any further questions. Enjoy your day!"

Crew rotation was in progress. The group that had been with us was leaving and one by one, tired and hungry looking crew were trickling in. With really nothing better to do, our group hung around, thoroughly enjoying meeting the new people after being stuck with each other for so long. I think a couple were even successful selling a doctor or two into a time share on some vacation planet.

No one wore name tags or anything and everyone was introducing themselves by their first names... a casualness not seen in the medical fields back home. Out of respect, we just called them "Doctor" or "Nurse" when addressing one of them.

Listening to the conversations in the room, I learned even the captain was a surgeon. A retired military doctor who left with the rank of Commander. Too sharp a mind and too steady of a hand for "The Pasture" as he put it, but too old to serve in the Stellar Alliance Reserve, he signed up as a CMO on a luxury passenger cruiser, but due to the the increasing need for "space ambulances", soon found himself captain of this ship.

I just leaned against the wall, sipping my tea and stayed out of the way.

*Click, click, click, click...* came the familiar hoof sound of what I thought was Sami coming in through the door, but I couldn't see over all the standing personnel. Little thing wasn't more than what, 1.5M tall? All the others seemed a good 2M and even the female crew were tall... made me wonder if this was an entire Dutch or Swedish crew aboard for this tour of duty?

Weaving her way expertly through the bodies to the food dispensers, Sami keyed in her order and scurried off with a huge salad and a cup of something green to a table in a corner, away from the big, boisterous group of crew and medical staff with stories to tell and young merchants eager to listen. I decided it was time to stop being a "wall post" and sit down.

Sami's well coiffed mane expertly tied up and out of the way was looking noticeably scruffy. Her coveralls were equally scruffy and unzipped halfway to reveal her sweat soaked fur and well shaped breasts, large for an Equuleusian of her size, restrained by a tee shirt that was equally as scruffy as her coveralls.

"She must be off shift by now?" I thought to myself. "Hey Sami! Mind if I sit down?" I ask as I was lowering the retractable chair down from the table into place.

Munching as only a herbivore could with a much overstuffed mouth, she muffled a reply and motioned toward the position across from her. I sat and watched for a moment... not knowing quite what to say to a species I had only read about as a passing glance in a book. But for all the lack of contact, the Equuleusian's provided anyone who was interested in them with enough library data and history to take scholar's decades to sift through. But, it was also expected in return... less than forthcoming species were mistrusted by them for generations.

Despite her eyes being on her plate, her ears were perked up and aimed toward me indicating I had her full aural attention at least.

"Hard shift?" I ask, hoping to 'break the ice'. She just shrugged.

"I guess since we're bunking together for a while, we should get to know each other a bit."

Lifting her head and looking at me with her large brown eyes, brown furred face and a dainty pink muzzle twitching away, a final big gulp and the last of her meal went down, "What would you like to know?"

"I've never met an Equuleusian before today. So, heh, I guess a lot? Like what brings you out here. I read your people don't like going too far off their home world."

"Oh!" she said sounding surprised, adding "I'm what you would call a misfit back home." in a manner that she believed explained everything. "What brings you out this far? Explorer? You don't look like an explorer." she finishes, shaking her head.

"I was on my first trip off world. Heading to a business conference on Iota Pegasi Four. Looking to have a vacation and make some money at the same time."

"Oh! A business trip." she said as if satisfied with the answer. I knew Equuleusian's had shortish attention spans and therefore liked to condense everything as much as they could for simplicity and efficiency. Not that they weren't capable, heck, their scholars and engineers were comparable to anyone else's, it was just a cultural thing. So was talking at a fast rate.

"So, just what did you mean when you said you were a 'misfit' back home?"

Sipping the last of her green liquid with odd green floating things in it (looked to me like grass clippings), she paused as if pondering an efficient reply. "I did not fit in."

My turn to stare. And raise my eyebrows. Finally shrugging with open palms, she got the hint I wanted more than that. "I wanted to focus on one study. I was considered very 'single minded', even 'handicapped' because I didn't want to know everything about everything. I could make broken things work from a young age and by the time I was two, I built my own aircraft from junk parts. My dad was proud, but mum didn't know what to think of me."

When she mentioned her accomplishments at such a young age, I was impressed. Equuleusian lifespans are much shorter than ours, typically 27 Terran years. Two for her would be six to eight years old for a typical Terran.

"Dad wanted me to finish my education on Centaurus. Said they knew how to do things right. Because I could focus on one task better, I graduated when I was five instead of eight, like most of my Equuleusian classmates that were there would."

"And now you're an engineer on a ship?"

"Apprentice. Actually a 'fix-it girl' for the chief engineer. I can get into places the Chief Engineer can't."

The ship was built by Sirian's in their yards to Terran specifications. Their chief engineer ended up being Centaurian, a physically large species, as I leaned first hand from the captain of our last ship. Getting into service corridors would be a task I assume the Chief Engineer would try and avoid as long as Sami was around.

"I guess there's an advantage to being a tiny thing?"

Sami giggled and her eyes shone as If I paid her a great compliment. Hmm, there were cultural subtleties that the mandatory xenoeducation studies for those going off world did not cover.

Despite being tired and dirty, Sami gave me a personal tour of the ship. We ended with a visit to the engine room, where the Chief Engineer was on duty. Unlike most Centaurian's I read about and met, he was in no way stoic and humourless. He was downright chatty and with a smile, began to show and explained to me everything that wasn't protected by security restrictions.

Her face indicating she having heard this speech a million times, Sami excused herself to return to her cabin and get some rest. The Chief engineer and I spent most of his shift together as he extolled the benefits of having Sami as his assistant and he's already lamenting the inevitable day she decides to go back home.

There was three hours left in the Chief Engineers shift. I didn't know when Sami would awake and prepare for her shift. I wanted her to have as much privacy as possible, so I grabbed a bite in the mess/rec room and played with the entertainment computers until it was an hour before her shift and I couldn't stay awake any more myself after the enlightening, but draining experience with the Chief Engineer.

I returned to the cabin and quietly entered. Thankfully the small light near the bed was on, as it would be suicide for a guest to navigate Sami's quarters in the dark.

She was in her bed still, likely exhausted from staying up late giving me a tour of the ship. Her small frame curled in a ball with only her muzzle sticking out from under the blanket, it was easy to see why the bed required was so small by Terran standards.

The bench I was sleeping on before had been transformed into a bed, complete with blankets, sheets and a pillow. "Aww, what a sweet gal!" I thought as I willingly crawled in, pulled the blankets over my head and looked forward to the first decent sleep in a couple of weeks.

* Click, click, click * Hmmmm, hmm, hmmmmm....

The sound of Sami getting up for her shift disturbed me while I was dozing. With a scowl, I pulled the blanket down from one eye to get an idea as to how long she would be here. My scowl faded as I saw her standing naked and unashamed in front of her mirror, brushing out her long brown mane, streaked by various shades and humming.

"Good morning! Or is it good night for you?" Sami asked. "Damn!" I thought to myself, "She must have caught me peeping."

"Humph. Night." I said mocking grogginess, but was wide awake again.

She turned toward me and walked over, brush still in hand, her breasts bounced and swayed with each step and nothing was left to the imagination on any part of her.

"I'm on duty in thirty minutes, so you'll have the place to yourself" she said, grabbing her tail and running the brush quickly through it as static crackled and her tail hairs stood out where she brushed. "Just relax and try and not mess up the place again, hmm?"

Walking back to her bed still brushing her tail, holding it up for grooming, I wonder if she knew the full exposure that gave? Perfect half-moon buttocks, jiggled slightly with each step until she stopped by her bed, bending over opening a drawer underneath, she pulled on a tee shirt, clean coveralls, tied her mane up and headed out the door.

Lying on the bench, I let out a sigh and thought, "This is going to be one.. long.. voyage!"

4 - "Nightingale Run"

* BZZZZT!* .... *BZZZZT!* .... * Knock, knock, knock *

"Oh, what the frick now?"

* Knock, knock, knock *

"I'm COMING!"

I threw the blankets off and stumbled to the door in the dark. It slid open to reveal three of the guys on the merchant team.

"Hey Carlos, old man! No one saw you for hours, so we came looking for you."

"Humph... long night. Went wandering about the ship after I left you guys."

They chuckled, "Yeah, you left with that little pony chick. She show you a good time?"

I was going to snap a rebuke to them, but thought of the show I got before going to sleep and smiled, "Wouldn't you hormone laced college kids like to know?"

With hoots and whistles, they laughed and told me since we were on an emergency mission, the Head Nurse was going to brief us on triage procedures and how we could render assistance to the medical team when we arrive at the border cruiser's position. We were all to gather in one hour in mess/rec. I said I'd be there on time.

They left and I looked at the chrono on the wall. It was to ships time and didn't mean a damn thing to me. I looked at my own timepiece and saw I had been asleep for nine hours. "Synchronizing my timepiece with the ships chrono might be a good idea" I thought as I proceeded to do so.

Now, where in this little room was the shower? Last time I used the head was in mess/rec and was a Terran standard loo. I opened what I originally thought to be a closet in Sami's room to find what appeared to be a shower stall. A stainless plate on the wall of the shower pulled out to reveal a toilet barely large enough to put my fat ass on. This was anything but "standard". Then I thought it must have been customized for Sami's equine physique. I did my best and managed not to make a mess of the room, showered and had ten minutes left to make it to the mess/rec room.

"You will not have to provide assistance in any actual medical procedures!" the gruff looking Capellan Head Nurse who looked more military than the captain bellowed. "Matter of fact, we would just be happy if you stayed the hell out of our way. But we may need you to help transport patients from the damaged ship to here while the medical team does their job. Or we may need you to assist in the bringing of supplies from medical stores, in an expedited manner."

We were given data pads with photos and explanations of the most likely needed supplies and how to identify them. Blood substitutes, oxygen generator masks, even something called "gauze" should the dermal regeneration units for some astronomically remote reason, fail to function.

The group fidgeted and mumbled nervously as we were told those going aboard the other ship would also receive oxygen enhancement injections, pressure masks and "chest restrainers" to their keep lungs from bursting if for whatever reason the border cruiser suffered a decompression when we were helping transport patients.

The second oldest member of the group, a family man in his early 30's out here as part of a business "continuing education" course was white as a sheet.

"What's your issue, Mister?" The Head Nurse asked loud enough to be heard in the next star system.

"I just hope to make it back to my family after this." he said despondent.

"OK, new rule.." the Head nurse shouted, "Married men and those over 30, stay aboard and help on the Nightingale."

There was an audible sigh from six of the members. I was relieved, but disappointed at the same time. One of my motto's always has been, "In for a penny, in for a pound!" Some of the younger members looked as if they would trade their soul to be over forty right now, while others looked as if they'd just been offered the dream adventure they'd waited all their life for.

The two hours had gone by quickly as we were just finishing the briefing and picking up our data pads to study what we needed to while we finished our beverages. The door slid open and a crew rotation was in progress. The tell-tale "click, click, click" of Sami was in the group that came rolling in and as she as yesterday, weaved in and out of the tall medical staff and headed for the dispensers.

The guys that came to get me for the briefing got a smile and whispered, "Psst, Carlos, your girlfriend is here!" as the one nearest to me gave a poke in my ribs with his elbow and chuckled. "Yahhh, waddevah!" I replied sarcastically, letting them have their fun as I didn't bring my eyes up from my data pad.

We moved off the main table to let the doctors and nurses coming off shift relax and discuss the day. We moved to the individual tables, or reclined on chesterfields in the rec area to study our material. I moved to a small table against the wall away from the louder, more crowded main table we just used for the briefing that was now filling with medical staff.

No sooner did I sit down did I feel a hand brush over my shoulder and Sami just casually plopped herself down across from me with her plate of silage and cup of green goop.

"Hey!" She said, like she was glad to see me. Can't say it didn't give my stomach butterflies when she did that, the image of earlier that day still fresh in my head, despite the fact she looked like she'd been crawling in oil at the present moment.

"Hey Sami!" I replied, "Have a good shift?"

"No, I didn't get a lot done."

"You sure look like you did." I said as I brushed some sooty substance off her nose with a napkin.

"Oh.." she said as she continued to wipe her face with her napkin. "That's just carbon-47 I'm full of."

"Is it dangerous?" I asked. Vaguely remembering the carbon groups used on ships were mainly graphine conductors for hyperdrive controls.

"Oh, no, no, no. Just a bloody mess to clean up and it gets everywhere!" she said waving her hands wide and rolling her eyes. "I'll have to replace these clothes in a recycler now. They're shot."

Chuckling, I ask "Well, hopefully it washes out of fur?"

"Eventually it will. But for a few days I will be a..." she looked up as if trying to recall a phrase, "... a 'painted pony' girl."

We both laughed. She had a high pitched laugh that could said to be a "giggling whinny". There was so much knowledge on Equuleusian's, but so little actual contact. I was enjoying this thoroughly.

Walking together back to the cabin, we talked about our curiosity of other cultures. She studied some Terran culture and was fascinated by the fact equines also developed on earth, but development stunted somewhere along the historical line. "Those could have very well been how my people ended up! It's frightening and fascinating at the same time."

We get to her cabin and she gets a bag and hands it to me. "This is the recycler bag. I don't want to get this carbon on anything. Will you hold it for me?"

I hold open the bag as Sami strips out of her coveralls and places them in the bag, as well as her tee shirt. Standing before me naked, she takes the bag, closes it and places it in the recycler chute and heads into the shower with a nonchalance that I found... extremely erotic.

Twenty minutes passed and I was laying on my bench, studying the data pad the Head Nurse gave us when Sami exited the shower, naked and dripping wet. "You used the towel!" she said accusingly.

"I didn't bring one with me from earth, sorry." I replied trying to make it sound humorous, not knowing what else to say.

"Well!" she said in a frustrated voice, "Then you must know we only get one towel unless more was requested, which I see you did not!"

Before I could say anything, Sami shook her head like a wet pony, soaking me in the process and headed back to the shower and just before closing the door, looked back and gave a high pitched "Humph!" and snapped her head up in a mock snub. If she was a Terran female, that would be downright flirting! But she studied Terran culture... is she flirting with me? ARRRGH! I must hit a library console and read up more on Equuleusian's before I get myself into trouble!

*BSHHHHHHH...*

A horrible sound like a fan and a deep red light came from the shower that lasted for about a minute.

The door clicked open part way as Sami slowly peeked around from it, still having the spot of carbon-47 on her nose.

"Carlos?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah?" I said looking up from my data pad.

"Promise you won't laugh at me?"

Confused as hell by this question, I agreed. Sami came around from the door looking like the 'painted pony' she joked about earlier... but a very, very fluffy painted pony.

The showers were equipped with a heat and forced air dry function.. a function she said was preferred by most hairless species like Capellan's and humans. But on a furred species.... Oh I wished I knew this earlier when I took my shower. Oh, I wished I had a camera!

I smiled and said, "What's to laugh at? I've only seen an Equuleusian naked twice in my life: once this morning and now. I have no complaints about either."

Looking rather surprised at my comment, Sami laughed her little whinny. " Equuleus is a tropical planet. No one on my world wears clothes other than for physical protection. We are however very proud of our grooming."

It all came together now... towel dried fur, her beautiful long mane always tied up when out of her cabin, her long well groomed tail, coveralls ... Equuleusian's must have a vanity streak!

"You look just fine to me. Matter of fact, I think you're a very beautiful species.... and.... I think you are quite lovely."

With a giggle and a bounce that gave a lavish display of her breasts, Sami seemed extremely pleased with my compliment, hopped over to her bed where she reclined on her back, grabbed a data pad to do some work. She had crossed her leg over the other's knee, giving me and exquisite view of her femininity. Oh geez! This was going to be a long voyage.

I spent roughly two hours searching the ships library computer on Equuleusian sexuality to come up blank. Lots of "birds and bees" stuff, but nothing really on the culture of flirting or courting. Also, there was nothing on casual sexual encounters. It seemed to not exist on Equuleus. The closest thing was kind of a "Kama Sutra" for them after their third or fourth birthing, to keep "the flame alive" between mated pairs. There was even a "safe sex" guide for homosexuality, so two males didn't rip each other's insides to shreds, or how two females could use "penetrative assistance" without infection or disease. But nothing, NOTHING on defining flirtations or even so much as a common pick-up line.

She was close to the Chief Engineer, so I thought that maybe talking to him was the best bet. Blank there too. He was married, so never studied or asked an Equuleusian about it. He also mentioned that I'd better not be about injuring his assistant in any way, especially emotionally... which he said with a smile, but in the same frighteningly calm, Centaurian voice the captain of the Gar Betraenl used to break up that fight.

"I'm too old for this teenage shit!", I thought to myself. "Just come out and ask her."

Sami was about to start her shift in the engine room. Another night of monitoring dials closely and replacing important parts at only 20% wear instead of 80%, since the ship's engines were being taxed for an extended period of time.

The Chief Engineer had just logged out and Sami logged in when he looked at her with a smile and said, "Sami, how do Equuleusian's feel about casual dating?"

Totally surprised by this question, she looked rather wide eyed and said "Chief!? A... are you interested in me?"

Chief placed his face in his palm, realizing how he could have phrased the question better. "No Sami, you know I'm a happily married taur. But I may know someone not an Equuleusian who is interested in an Equuleusian. How is it your people date?"

"Well..." Sami began contemplating the answer, ".. a female and a male on our world fall in love, mate and they are together for life. Simple."

"I don't mean marriage, I mean dating... casually." Chief tried to clarify.

"Oh! You mean promiscuity, as demonstrated by most of the non-furred species? That has rarely happened on our world and not in the last,,, ummm.... hundred years or so? It happens when the male/female ratio is off balance."

"Ahhh, OK" said the Chief, comprehending the scenario Sami was explaining. "So it's not forbidden by your people, it's just not necessary."

"That's correct, Sir"

"But, don't Equuleusian's get lonely for companionship off world?"

Sami cocked her head, puzzled by the completely new line of thought confronted her, "There has been so few of us that have gone into deep space for any length of time, it has never been an issue before."

Chief smiled, "You're not going to be out here forever. There's more to explore than stars and planets on a ship."

On that note, he bid Sami a good shift and left.

"Who would be interested in me?" Sami thought to herself. "No one has demonstrated any physical desire to mate, nor have any males competed for me?"

Questions in her mind and Equuleusian curiosity now raging through her veins, Sami was confused by what races aboard ship would even be interested in someone from Equuleus and why?

5 - "Gar Talwar"

The same nausea that hit me when the Nightingale went into extreme hyperdrive hit again. This time it was from de-acceleration as a loud alarm gave two whoops and the captain made an announcement, "Ten minutes before rescue operation on the Gar Talwar. All personnel to your stations!". The alarm and announcement repeated three times.

Five merchants and I were in a poker game I was losing my shirt. Seems these college kids used their math skills for things other than just business. "Let's see what we forgot the Head Nurse taught us guys!" said Kormack, the obvious winner of the night as he scooped chips into his briefcase and we headed out to our pre assigned duty stations.

Being one of the few the Head Nurse ordered to stay aboard and given my aptitude for gadgetry, I got the duty of manning supplies with the quartermaster. I took requisitions, he pulled stock from the secured stores, I handed it out to the personnel awaiting in the distribution area. The door to supplies had been locked open to save time and I could see everyone scurrying past. Those of us who were passengers were fitted with masks and chest restrainers ran past towards the airlocks. No longer any fear in their eyes, but a determination to do the best job they could to help out.

We arrived on the Centaurian built border patrol cruiser, Gar Talwar ... or what was left of her. Of the fifty two military and civilian police aboard her, ten were in need of rescuing, twenty two needed recovery and the other twenty were either vaporized or their bodies adrift forever in space, long freeze dried by the cold vacuum and radiation.

Of the survivors, hypoxia, burns and cuts were the worst injuries and most were expected to recover fully. A lieutenant needed artificial lungs from inhaling chemicals from a coolant leak and everyone was amazed he hung in so long as to be rescued. The morgue was full of charred remains for return to their various home worlds for memorial.

Sami had gone over to the Gar Talwar to see if it could be auto piloted back to the nearest space dock. She reported that the ship was a total write-off and unable to enter hyperspace without breaking up, even with structural reinforcement.

Declaring the Gar Talwar a navigation hazard, the captain of the Nightingale ordered beacons to be set aboard that ship so a special investigation team could find her and nearby ships could safely steer clear.

The Nightingale had only one psychologist aboard, Dr. Melinda Johansen. She would be very busy with those survivors on our return.

We had all been on our feet at least 13 hours. Those unlucky enough to have already been on shift when the alarms rang, another good ten hours more. We were drained, physically and mentally. The doctors assured us that no matter how long one had been in this service, it never got easier. Dinner in the mess/rec was quiet, sombre and everyone left as soon as they were finished their meal.

I arrived at our shared cabin to find Sami hadn't returned from duty yet. A twinge of concern fell over me, but I knew everyone from our ship was fine and we were already heading back. Two and a half weeks to go. Falling onto the bench, I didn't even undress or bother with covers, just fell asleep.

*Rattle, rattle... squeak, squeeee... KLONK!*

"Shhhhit!"

My eyes popped open. I had been asleep for only a few hours to be awoke by the odd noises and a low curse from Sami, who was working with her back to me at her mess covered desk in her coveralls on some object.

"Is everything OK?"

Startled, Sami spun around with the object still in her hand, unintentionally launching it across the room. Had I been sitting up, the thing would have aced me square in the forehead.

Sami's eyes went wide and she covered her mouth in shock of realization at what just happened as her object bounced off the cabin wall and rolled onto the floor, just below where I was laying on the bench.

"I'm so sorry.... I woke you... I didn't mean.... I hope I didn't.... are you OK?"

Reaching down and picking up the piece of... whatever metal, "I'm just fine. What about you? Have you been to bed yet?"

"No. I took that back here to work on it after the Chief ordered me to get some rest."

"So, why aren't you resting? Twelve hour shifts after only a few hours sleep can't be fun, no matter how much you enjoy your job." I said in an almost a scolding tone, still grumpy from lack of sleep, then nearly being knocked back into it by a chunk of metal.

Sami sighed heavily, "I couldn't sleep even if I wanted."

In a more concerned voice, I asked "Why not?"

"I was aboard the Gar Talwar trying to get it going again, so it could return to a port."

"I heard about that. She was too smashed up or something."

Nodding her head with distress in her eyes, "Uh-huh. But I was crawling through debris to get to the engine control panel in the service conduit. The engine room was exposed to space, so I had to crawl around some to get to it."

"Sounds like you didn't have any fun over there. Must have been hell being on a ship where all those men died so horribly."

Hanging her head, eyes closed, Sami said in almost a whisper "I just want to fix and make things..... not crawl through sintered beings.... pieces of bone and teeth getting caught.... caught...." shaking her head and placing her hand on her forehead, unable to finish the sentence.

"Ooooo, that kind of debris." I thought to myself.

Getting up, I put the piece of metal back on her desk where she reached for it to begin working on it again. I put my hand on it, keeping her from picking it up, "Uh-uh sweetie, you're getting some rest and going to see that shrink when you get up."

"But my shift. A couple of hours I go on and..." she got up in protest, looking very stubborn as only a female of any species, could.

Giving her one of my adamant looks, I scooped her up in my arms and took the three steps over to her bed, where I laid her down on it, coveralls and all and tossed the blanket half across her.

She gave a shocked, surprised, humiliated and defiant look all at the same time to me, ears twitching like an annoyed cat's tail. She opened her mouth in what I assumed was to be a protest. Raising my finger, I cut her off "I'm going to see Chief. Let's defer to his wisdom about this."

Her mouth still open for a few seconds, closed as she gave an irritated equinesque snort and with a fire of extreme annoyance in her eyes. But she said nothing further.

I found the Chief Engineer replacing a power conduit in the operating room. Normally a junior technician, or Sami would do such a task, but when it came to the O.R., the Chief preferred to do it himself. His head was inside the wall, as well as his two muscled forearms and blue flashes of light were emanating from the gaps. The sight was almost amusing to see though, given the Chief's size, he looked kind of like a Saint Bernard trying to fit through a knothole in a fence.

"Chief?"

The flashes continued, but no response came.

I knocked on the wall and the blue flashes stopped. He carefully extracted one arm, then the other, finally his head and rolled over on his back, lifting the reddish UV shield from his face.

"What can I do you fer, Mr. Carlos?" he asked, looking like he'd rather not be kept more than a few seconds at most.

"It's about Sami, Chief.." I began as he cut me off.

Giving a nod and a smile, "I have some info for you, but can it wait until I finish this?" He said, pulling the shield back down over his face, rolling onto his stomach and starting to stick his head back in the wall.

"She's not well, Sir." I said and he immediately stopped and banged his head trying to lift it before becoming clear of the access hole.

Spinning around, whipping the face shield off his head so fast that it slipped out of his hand and slid across the floor, he asked with a concerned voice one would expect from a worried father, "What's wrong? Is she sick or...?"

"I'm sure she'll be OK, Sir.." and explained what happened in her cabin.

After hearing the story, Chief was nodding his head and slapped me on the shoulder in a Centaurian manner of approval, almost dislocating it. "Good call, Mr. Carlos. I'll get Petty Officer Adelaide from ops to cover for her shift today and make arrangements for that psychologist to pay her a visit."

The Chief punched in some codes on his palm computer disabling Sami's duty notification beeper and leaving a note to get that rest he previously ordered to get.

Spending most of the day assisting the quartermaster restock and catalogue the medical supplies and assess needs once returning to a space dock, he thanked me for the assistance and cutting a good extra shift of work off his schedule. I headed to the mess/rec to get a very much desired cup of tea. No, not cup... pitcher!

I entered the room to find it empty, save for the silhouette of a lady with long hair playing a game at one of the holo-tables. I had never seen a holo-table before outside of a casino, so I got a pot of tea (which the dispenser gave me a very granny-looking pot) with all the condiments and headed over to sit beside them and check out this cool looking game.

As I approached and saw the side of her face, it was Sami. She had her mane down and looking very soft with lots of body to it, it bounced almost feather-like with each movement of her head. She was wearing a casual dress, almost like a summer dress of Terran design. My study last week of Equuleusian off world customs did not include dresses.. just boring practical clothing with coveralls being the most common. I sat down quietly at an adjacent table, so as not to disturb her concentration.

Pouring my third cup of the most perfect tea, the last drop from the pot dripped out as the game console chirped a happy sound and flashed "Winner!" in mid air. I didn't quite comprehend the game, but it was like a three dimensional chess and checkers mixed, where pieces could be moved over and around the boards in a pattern that would take some skill to master.

"Ah-ha!" Sami chirped, lightly clapping her hands excitedly. Looking at me and giving a happy giggle and a big smile, she waved her hand over the game and cheerfully said, "We played this on Centaurus and I never was able to win!"

"Happy day then, eh?" I said in a congratulatory manner. Pausing, I added "Are you... still mad at me?"

Still smiling and cocking her head with an endearing expression, "No, of course not."

She moved over across the table from me, her mane flowing gracefully behind her, as did her tail, which protruded from her dress, which wrapped around over her lap as she sat down. Elbows on the table, she entwined her fingers and rested her chin on them in a feminine manner, looking much more like a "Southern Belle" than an engineering apprentice. Her eyelashes stood out looking long and soft as they surrounded the gentle gaze of her large brown eyes. "That was a very sweet thing you did for me today."

"You looked like you needed help. People together in deep space have to look out for each other, don't they?" Still having no clue what Equuleusian flirting methods were like, I tried to sound platonic, though her appearance, manner and dress we piloting me over the moons of Saturn with desire!

She blinked.. or was she batting those eyelashes at me? "Gar Talwar Syndrome" she blurted as she put her hands on the table, then began to fiddle with the handle of the teapot.

"'Scuse me?"

"Chief sent the psychologist to see me today... we talked." she said, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "It's something never seen before in Equuleusian's. We don't deal with trauma well and never have our species had to deal with it at all in deep space. Since I'm the first to do so, the psychologist named the condition after the cause - the Gar Talwar."

"I'm sorry you had to deal with it at all. I mean, you're so..."

"Young?" she incorrectly finished the sentence for me (I was going to say 'delicate'). "True. Trauma on our world is the death of a loved one from accident or at an elderly age. Our period of mourning is typically a month by your timekeeping."

Unlike most worlds, Equuleus never had war and death at the hand of another Equuleusian hadn't been heard of for millennia. When two Equuleusian's fought physically, it ended when the first one hit the ground or ran off.

"So, this could be something that will be with you for a while?"

Sami shrugged casually and gave a brave smile, "We adapt. Free spirited and all that." I returned a sympathetic smile.

After a minute of uncomfortable silence, Sami snapped up out of the chair and with a chipper voice, "I'm getting a drink. Want some more tea?"

"Sure!" I replied happy to see her snap into a happier mood. She picked up the teapot and went towards the dispensers, mane bouncing, tail swinging and dress flowing, as not a care in the galaxy. How much we Terran's could learn from them.

6 - "A Slow Walk"

Returning from the dispensers with her usual cup of green goop in one hand and carefully walking with the full teapot in the other, she was keeping the drinks perfectly level as not to spill anything. That manoeuvre transferred the walking energy into other parts... her hips, tail and dress swayed in motions making her look more like a professional model going down the "runway". Being the observant girl I learned her to be, my following eyes had caught her attention.

Placing the teapot and her cup on the table, she stood in front of me and pulled at one side of her dress and spun around, "Do you like what I put on for my day off?"

A myriad of replies buzzed through my head. Not all of them becoming a gentleman. I chuckled inside. Choosing the most gentlemanly response I could, I stood, I gave a slight bow and bestowed, "You look absolutely beautiful, my dear!".

Sami gave a giggle and a big grin at the unexpected response. Still holding her dress out, I took her other hand and guided her back into her seat. "You have really good taste in off duty clothes. Did you spend time on earth?"

Shaking her head, "Never been there." She explained, "I've been studying Terran dating customs and sexuality."

I choked slightly on my tea.

Looking curiously at me, "Maybe you could help me understand it a bit better?"

"JACKPOT!" went through my mind at hearing this. Not wanting to tip this extremely observant lady off with body language, I still had to play "Mr. Cool."

"What would you like to know?" I asked as calm as I could.

"Why do they do it? I mean on my world, a male and a female who desire companionship with each other, they become friends and when the female indicates she's ready to mate, they do. They are then considered bonded. Simple." she ended with a shrug and took a sip of her drink.

"BONDED?" I thought to myself, feeling my eyebrows hitting the ceiling.

"Well, we don't usually bond permanently until later in life." I began the cautious reply. "But we do temporarily bond for companionship and pleasure."

"We don't live a million years like you." Sami said with a hint of sarcasm. "Your cultural database is filled almost to an obsession with material on the subject. Each culture and subculture on your planet has its own customs! I'll be an old mare before I even learn what the proper responses to pick..uh...pick-up lines are!" She said with a frustrated sigh and a smile as she tossed her arms in the air as if to exclaim her task was hopeless. Her response triggered a hearty laugh from both of us.

Another shift change began to take place and the room was filling with people. Given the direction our conversation turned, I suggested we talk elsewhere. "Let's stretch our legs around the ship for awhile." Sami suggested. Sounded good to me.

Leaving the mess/rec room, we walked a slow pace through the wide corridors.

"What made you interested in Terran dating and stuff?"

"Chief did." She replied matter of fact.

"Chief?"

"Uh-huh!"

"How did that come about?" I asked trying to sound surprised, remembering my conversation with him the other day.

"Chief was asking odd questions about Equuleusian dating. I explained we didn't have any and he said that he may know someone interested in an Equuleusian."

"So, that made you study Terran?"

Poking me in the ribs, she said with mock insult, "Mr. Carlos, when the lone Equuleusian on a deep space ship loaded with a Terran crew is asked about sexuality in a way common only to a hairless species, she can put two... and... two... TOGETHER!"

She let out one of her little "Humph!" sounds as she stuck her head up and trotted a little farther down the corridor before stopping to let me catch up. She stood staring straight ahead as I stood beside her. Looking up at me only moving her eyes, I gave a smile and placed her arm in mine, saying as we continued walking, "My dear, you don't have to study anything. You have this down pat."

I could see her mind at work as her head cocked and eyes moved about, then asking in a totally confused voice, "What have I got down... pat?"

"Flirting - sexuality one-oh-one."

"How have I done so?"

"You said it yourself... you adapt. On your world, a male and a female who desire companionship with each other, they become friends and when the female indicates she's ready to mate, they do."

"I have not yet though. I at least... I don't think I have."

"How is it on Equuleus, then?"

"The female nuzzles and rubs against the male until he is aroused. She then places herself in front of him, back to him so he can penetrate her."

"How boring!" I thought to myself as I see a solution to her misunderstanding and ask, "Ahhh, but this is not always the way with Terran's, is it?"

"No. I see in almost every case, the male is the one to show the interest and the female will accept or reject him. Sometimes after a very long courting ritual if the mating is for permanent bonding."

"And how do Terran females get the males to notice them?"

Sami stops and looks up pondering the question and thoughtfully begins her answer, "Well, the female invariably makes herself attractive to the male in a way depending on culture."

She was ready to answer her own question. I wonder if this ship needed a second psychologist?

"Aaaand, let's take the European continent for example. How do their females make themselves attractive?"

Continuing to walk again beside me down the corridor, her left arm in my right, now pressing her body closer to my side and placing her right hand on my arm, she replied "Traditional dress, or something of great exposure is worn. Hair is almost always long or immaculately styled. Mannerisms were displayed the male thought attractive in a female, even if not part of that female's regular personality."

"Like for example, an Equuleusian wearing a beautiful dress, smelling like flowers, long mane styled in a manner most human males would find irresistible and a bubbly, happy personality, despite being on a ship that takes her far from her comfort zone?"

Realization hit Sami like a brick. Her eyes wide, mouth open in an increasing grin of revelation and satisfaction, she stopped and turned to me, "I've been doing it all along and didn't even know it? But... HOW?"

"Sweetie, males and females will always be attracted to each other. It does not matter how far you are from home. As you said earlier - 'You'll adapt'!"

"You're on a ship full of European humans. You made yourself, subconsciously, attractive to the males of the culture. You're alone out here and whether you realize it or not on a concious level, you're lonely. Otherwise you wouldn't be doing what it is you're doing on a physical level."

"Physical... level...?" she said in a low voice, looking up at me with an expression of being 'out of her element' at the thought.

Taking her hand and giving it a tender kiss, I place it back in my arm and begin the return trip to her cabin. "Just go with the flow, you're doing just fine with that too." as I raised our arms, bringing attention to them being entwined. "A closeness shared between two who are attracted to each other."

Sami stopped on hearing my words, her eyes blinking. "You... are you attracted to me?" she asked with a hopeful smile.

I placed my free hand on the side of her face, for the first time feeling how soft her fur was, not at all the stiff hairs of a Terran equine I had expected. She pressed her head into my hand with a rub against it, "Yes... I am very much so." I drew my hand under her chin, gently lifting it and leaning over, kissed her soft, pink lips.

We didn't say a word as we walked the rest of the way back to her cabin. But just walked slow, arms entwined and Sami leaning her head against the side of my arm the whole way.

As the door slid closed behind us, Sami faced me and ran her fingers over my lips asked, "What is that called?"

"What, the kiss?" I asked curiously. Everything I had learned so far, told me Equuleusian's had no concept of the subtleties of romance that other species enjoyed.

"A... kiss!" she said, stretching her face towards mine as I gladly followed the lead and leaned over until our lips met again.

Giving her incredibly soft mane gentle stokes and wrapping an arm around her, I pulled Sami against my body, gently nibbling her lips. Adaptable as she said she was and catching on to 'a kiss', pressed her open mouth against mine. The tips of our tongues touched, hers quivered hesitantly. I ran mine over her tip and along the side as hers slid farther and being much longer, explored mine fully.

As our lips separated, Sami's mouth remained open, her eyes closed and head up toward mine. An experience she did not want to end quickly. Kissing the side of her mouth, her chin, side of her face just below her eye, I place a hand gently behind her head and run my tongue gently over bottom lip and giving a nibble, we entwined our tongues again.

Sami places her arms around my sides just above my hips, pulling me closer during our passionate kiss. My hands move slowly down the sides of her body to her hips as I gently caress them and pull her again close against my body, wrapping my hands around, gripping and massaging her ample rear.

The closeness of our embrace brought my attention to the pressing of her breasts against me and her attention to the erection in my pants, pressing against the belly of her tiny physique.

She separated from our kiss with a slight gasp. I opened my eyes to see hers staring into mine and with a pleasantly surprised smile. Her eyes glistened with flattery and had there not been fur covering her face, I would guess that she was blushing profusely.

She still held my waist tightly to her as I with one hand stroked the side of her face, then gently down the back of one of her ears, through her mane and down her shoulder. Using the back of my hand, I stroked he exposed fur of her chest and across the top of her breasts. Closing her eyes and still smiling, she took a deep breath as my hand crossed the top of her breasts.

Sami relaxed her arms from around me, as did I with my hand that was behind her. Her hands stroked the outside of my upper arms as she leaned back slightly, just enough that I could bring my hands up her sides to the side of her chest, gently bringing them along the sides of each of her breasts. Taking each one in a hand, gave a gentle squeeze as she ran her hands down my arms to cover my hands on her breasts and pulled them close, giving a massaging squeeze hinting that I did not need to be so gentle.

Removing my shirt, Sami opened her eyes slightly and gazed at my hair covered chest and ran her hands over it, exploring for the first time in such close company, a 'hairless species'. She seemed fascinated, like seeing a human again for the first time, exploring every centimetre of my torso with her gentle caress. Wanting her exploration to be complete, I also removed my pants (which were killing me now anyway).

At the sight of my erection, Sami filled with Equuleusian mating instinct and pressed against my body and uttering quiet murrs, rubbed her head on my chest several times and pressing herself harder against my body, turned her back towards me raising her long tail as high as she could and to the side.

Reaching around her, squeezing her breasts and nibbling gently on her ears. Her soft, full bodied mane rubbing the side of my face, the scent of which filled my sinuses with a floral scent I had never encountered before, but was increasing my desire for her with each sniff. My actions being similar to the Equuleusian male's response, Sami grunted and began pressing her high tailed rear to my crotch.

My hands moved to her shoulders, sliding her dress exposing her shoulders and kissing them tenderly as she tilted her head exposing her neck for my lips to continue their passionate touch. Slipping her arms through the loose material, the upper part of her dress now falling free, I Run my hands through the soft fur across her back and around to her sides, slipping around to her bare breasts, cupping them again, fingers teasing her teats, again she clamped her hands on top of mine, as if she never wanted them to leave.

Sliding my body lower, kneeling behind her kissing down her back as I go, running my lips across her fur until I come to the waistband of her dress. Her raised tail brushes the side of my face as I slide my hands down her sides and across her skirted hips and shapely legs. I slip underneath her dress, lifting it as I went, caressing her calves and thighs, exposing the beauty of her well rounded, furless lips between the sweetest shaped butt cheeks any man could ask for.

Gripping the sides of her hips, I give each cheek of her ass a kiss before running my tongue in a gentle lick up her soft lips as she gasped in a breath of pleasure at the touch. Pressing her rear firmly in my face, my tongue plunged from the force, filling my mouth with the peach-sweetness of her juices. The sensation caused Sami to drop down on all fours, uttering soft whimpers followed by a panting as she pressed against me, her tail curled husky-like over her back.

Her waiting rear was at the perfect height for me, not even needing any guidance I placed my hard shaft just touching her now very moist lips. Running my hands across her lower back, finally onto her hips, I gently slide in to her tight pussy. Pausing a moment fully inserted to her, feeling the great warmth surrounding me, hotter than other females I had the pleasure of being with previously.

My hips began slow, gentle shallow thrusts. This immediately brought an involuntary 'squeeze' response from her already tight vagina, so well lubricated that it was not at all uncomfortable, but allowed me to feel every ripple and texture inside of her.

Panting a little faster, Sami began her own synchronized thrusting with her body. The extra motion delighted me with the sensation of feeling my balls swinging against her furry ass. I run a hand up Sami's tail, pressing the softness close against my body and gripping it near the base, thrust a little faster and as her panting increased, she let out little high pitched grunts of pleasure as her head raised.

Getting closer to my own release, my thrusting deeper and faster, her tightness turned into a gentle quivering, getting stronger until she raised her head and uttered what sounded like a muffled whinny as her back arched slightly and her quivering gave way to strong pulsating squeezes. Completely beyond my ability to restrain myself, I felt my own internal muscles tense exquisitely as I released an intense stream deep into her body... three, four and five, as I have never felt before.... with anyone.

7 - "To Boldly Go"

*BZZZZT!* .... *BZZZZT!*

Sami had the previous shift off, but today she was supposed to be on duty in a half hour. The Chief Engineer concerned since being informed of 'Gar Talwar' syndrome, contacted the ships psychologist to go to Sami's cabin before her shift and see if she was OK and if she was fit for duty.

"Door lock override, medical authority, Doctor Melinda Johansen"

Buzzing twice in acknowledgement, the door lock released and pressing the 'Enter' key, Sami's cabin door slid open.

Taken aback by the disarray of Sami's cabin on first glance, she stuck her head cautiously inside and looked around.

On the floor she caught sight of bench and bed cushions tossed together and Sami in apparently fine health on them stretched out on her side, still asleep. Cuddled in naked embrace from behind by yours truly, blanket draped only only across our legs, leaving no doubt as to the reason for no one seeing her at breakfast.

Silently withdrawing her head and letting the door close, Dr. Johansen contacted the Chief via the intercom, "Chief, Sami is... ummm... practising some therapy. She will be delayed a short while."

"Sami's OK then?" Asked the Chief, with a concerned, yet relieved tone.

"I think she'll be just fine. She's discovering... ahhh... more about herself."

"Good to hear! Petty Officer Adelaide was visiting me down here anyway. He said he can cover for a hour or so.

"Got you Chief. We'll have her down there before then. Johansen out."

*Knock, knock, kno... *

The door to Sami's cabin slid open mid knock as Dr. Johansen finished her knock in mid air.

Sami answered with a blanked draped around her while in the background, I was scurrying replacing cushions, barefooted with hastily thrown on pants.

"Doctor?" asked Sami, surprised expression... literally caught with her pants down.

Doing a poor job of suppressing a grin, Dr. Johansen cleared her throat, "Sami, Chief got concerned and asked me to stop by."

"Chief? OH MY GOD!" Sami shrieked, dropping the blanket that covered her and frantically rummaged for her coveralls.

"Sami!" Dr. Johansen shouted, causing Sami to stop and look. "Sami, you have another half hour. Why don't you... say your good mornings first." and with a smile, the Doctor left.

After the Doctor left and Sami calmed down, sitting on her bed she finally found a set of coveralls in the mess at her hooves. I sat down beside her and put my arm around her waist, she layed her head on my shoulder. Reaching my free hand around, I gently stroked her face from muzzle to neck and rested my face on hers looking into her big beautiful brown eyes, "Good morning, lover." I whispered as I placed my hand under her chin, engaging her in a long, doctor prescribed 'good morning' kiss.

Last night, she didn't even know what a kiss was, or was called. Chief's words 'There's more to explore than stars and planets on a ship.' echoed in her head.

That evening in the mess/rec, the merchant passengers on the Nightingale and I were di"ssing our plans when we returned to the Pegasi station. Some had enough of space and were catching the next transport back to earth. Three of the five that went on the Gar Talwar to help transport the injured and recover the dead, decided there was more to be had than their business degrees and decided to study to become a nurse's aide on a space ambulance like this one. As they asked what my plans were, Sami came over to the table and setting down her tray, rubbed her head against me and nuzzled in the manner the way an her species greeted their mate and sat down beside me. Expressions ranging from delighted to stunned to confused from the group, I placed my arm around Samy and simply said, "I have some exploring of my options to do.â

I never did make it to Iota Pegasi Four for that conference. But I did have the pleasure of meeting Sami's parents, two sisters and younger brother on Equuleus. If you go there... dress as you would for a July day in Hawaii and bring bug spray... lots of bug spray!

We spent time getting closer physically and emotionally on the return journey to Pegasi Station, the transportation central hub for visitors to the Pegasus and Equuleus systems.

The MV Nightingale was assigned an eight week mission with interns and scrubs for training, evaluation and affirmation of their 'space legs'. Because of the training mission, they would not be expected to go on full active duty and would stay within established shipping lanes local to inhabited planets of space-faring technology. The Nightingale's Chief Engineer after talking with Dr. Johansen, authorized eight weeks of leave for her. Eight glorious weeks we never spent apart.

Sami was the first Equuleusian to focus on one field of interest, first to remain off world to work, and first in her world's history to have a romantic relationship with a non-Equuleusian partner. She became well known on her world as 'The Misfit'. The term not used derogatory, but as an inspiration for a whole generation of Equuleusian's to 'boldly go'.

And what about me? Ha! Who do you think is selling them their dreams ;-)