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It had been only hours singe Maya and her people returned home to Excalibur.

...........

Bridge

"Comms, Admiral." Erika said. "Priority one, audio only."

" "s hear it." Maya said.

"Excalibur Actual, this is Confederate Shuttlecraft Air Force One, we have cleared the atmosphere, and are on approach for landing."

"Wilco Confederate Air Force one, Ah'm transferrin ya' t' Fighter bay control." Maya said, motioning for Erika to transter the comm link to Feena in the fighter bay. Then Maya stood up. "Callie, Karen, yer with me, Tom, the bridge's yers till Ah get back."

"Yes ma'am." Tom replied, taking the much too large for him command chair as Maya and the others left.

"Lets see, how do I do this again." Tom said jokingly. "Oh yeah, Weapons to maximum!"

"Sir?" Belle who had taken Callie's console asked.

"Its a joke Belle." Tom said. "Forget it. Maneuvering jets maintain station keeping, lets keep the old girl nice and steady for Miss Landry's arrival."

"Maintain geosyncronous orbit, yes sir." Kayla replied.

..........................

Fighter bay.

Maya, Karen, and Callie had taken a utility cart which they'd reserved for the Confederate President to use down to the fighter bay, and now stood and watched, as the shuttle made its final approach.

The shuttle touched down without incident, and the pilot snagged the arrester cables with the tailhook in textbook fashion despite being his first time landing on a starship as big as Excalibur.

At the first his of the cabin decompressing as the hatch began to open, Maya gave the signal, and the Confederate anthem "Dixie" piped throughout the ship. Callie and Feena rolled out the red carpet, and Maya and Karen sang along just as the President, her wolfdog Jefferson, and a half dozen Men in Grey made their way down the shuttle's ramp. This was the normal national anthem, rather than the war anthem "To Arms in Dixie" which had been prevalent throughout the Xian war.

When they finished, Maya and Karen greeted the president in the usual Canid manner, as well as the human custom of shaking hands, both of which she returned in kind, then said; "Vice Admiral Karen, rahgt? Ah don' reckon we met."

"Yes." Karen said.

"Welcome aboard, madam president." Maya said. "If'n ya'll climb aboard the utility cart, we'll give ya the grand tour."

"The ship is huge." Karen said. "Without the cart we would not be done before we reach your destination."

"Ah understand." Chloe Landry said. "We in hyperspace now? It don' feel lahk were movin...Ah feel heavier though."

"We have yet to break orbit." Karen said. "But the reason you feel heavier is our gravity is slightly higher than Earth standard, as it is on the homeworld."

"Commander Callie, chief of security." Callie introduced herself, taking the driver's seat. "I will see to all your security concerns."

"Ah appreciate that... But whats them symbols on the fighters...they look lahk..."she blushed crimson, "well...you know..."

"Y' mean dicks." Maya said. "S' t' tally up Xian kills. "

"Ah reckon thats yer ship then?" The president said.

"Actually its mine." Karen said as they started off, Maya's is the one next to it."

....

Meanwhile, after Ashley had shown him to his cabin, Jed had a visit from the young ''old'' husky, Agnes moore. Among her many other duties, Agnes was the ships councilor, and it was in that capacity that she had come to see Jed. To help him overcome his fear of flying. This was the first of what would soon be nightly counceling sessions in that regard.

"Does the whole ship know about that?" Jed asked at first.

"No, Aside from myself, only Admiral Maya, Vice Admiral Karen, and Doctor Natalie know of your fear." Agnes assured. I discussed it with Doctor Natalie only because as she is your physician now, she needed to know."

"Fair enough." Jed said. "So how does this work anyway?"

"Just relax, make yourself comfortable." Agnes said. Think about what makes you fear flying so much, and describe it as best you can. Remember anything you say is strictly between us. Unless it threatens someone's life, even the admiral and Vice admiral do not need to know." She put a hand on his shoulder calmingly. "I'm your friend, Jed. I want to help you."

"Alright." Jed said. Thank you." he paused then, "I dont really know when it started...but I was young. My parents and my sister used to love watching the planes go overhead. They even took me to airshows, but I never really understood it. I kept thinking how those people must be crazy. How one little mistake or malfunction could cost them their lives...Then the war came. The War of Northern Aggression... My sister answered the call to arms first, and ended up getting shot down six months later. She took the yankee bastard that got in a lucky shot with her, but still.... That really solidified it I think... and then when they tried to draft me... well I'm ashamed to say, I cut and ran."

"After what happened to your sister that is perfectly understandable." Agnes said.

...........................

When they stopped in the Mess Hall, President Landry immediately noticed the "wall of remembrance" for all those killed in the Xian war.

"Ah heard about this place." she said. "Ah thought it was jus' yer people though. Y' put human pilots up here s' well." President Landry asked.

"Shure 'nuff." Maya said.

"We were all part of the same fleet." Karen said. "All soldiers, doing our duty, no matter what planet anyone was from." she paused, then, "i'm not sure about human beliefs, but in our religion, as long as we remember the contributions they made, then a part of them lives on in all of us."

" S' a very touchin' an' enlightened view." President Landry said. "Down boy, Jefferson, knock it off." The wolfdog was enthusiastically sniffing Karen's butt, teeth chattering excitedly.

"Its alright." Karen said. "I'm not in heat at the moment, but he probably smells Grace on me."

"Mah Apologies, Vice Admiral. Ah dunno why he's bein' lahk that." President Landry said. "He's mah mate, y'know."

"Canine love ain't monogamous." Maya said. " S' perfectly normal."

Finally they continued on.

Their next stop was the bridge, of course.

Tom stood up as they arrived, and started to move from the command chair after announcing "Admiral on the bridge!" but Maya simply said "as ya were'' and then, Kayla break orbit bearin' 180-mark 0, an' set course fer the Canid Homeworld, full sublight. Stand bah hyperdrive."

"Yes ma'am." the wolf replied.

"Engineering reports green across the board." Rena said from the bridge engineering station. "Hyperdrive ready at your command, Admiral.

"Ah'd be honored if ya'd give the order, madam president." Maya said.

"Thank ya kindly." President Landry said, then, "Kayla, take us to hyperspace!"

"Yes ma'am." the wolf replied. SHe manipulated the controls, and they all watched the hyperspace window form, then an instant later, like a rubberband snapping, the massive Heavy Dreadnought streaked off into it, and the view became the familiar sea of swirling neon they were so accustomed to seeing.

President Landry remarked how incredible it was that she couldn't feel that they were moving at all, and Maya introduced her bridge crew, a large portion of her senior staff. After that, they continued their tour, with Tom remaining temporarily in command. (Karen would be relieving him later once President Landry was settled, and Maya finally took her "Puppy Day"

Next on the list, was Engineering, of course.

.............

Doc Natalie, and her nurses had their hands full getting Sick Bay sorted out. The temporary crew had really made a mess of the way things were normally organized. Nothing was missing, it was all just out of place. Sometimes to great extremes. A canine anal speculum in with the tongue depressors was one such example. Natalie couldn't help but laugh, wondering if the temprary crew had actually used it for oral exams.

Another similarly humorous example, was an ear cleaning tool mixed in with the dental equipment.

.................

Tina, Holly, and the rest weren't exactly thrilled about the ''surprise inspection'', but nonetheless Engineering was in good shape.

President Landry and her Men in Grey were a bit concerned, that Tina made them all put on radiation tags as they entered, but soon relaxed once she explained it was only a precaution.

"S' amazin' seein' all this technology." President Landry said. "whats that screen over there?"

"Secondary status display." Karen said. "Deuterium injector manifold pressure, N1 and N2 rpms on all three main engines, exhaust jet temperature, hyperspace window generator power, and internal engine temperatures."

And so on it went, as they toured main Engineering, and eventually continued on.

The farm deck was next, and President Landry got to meet several collie crewmembers who were working here.

Maya also showed her how to milk a Dairy Lioness, and how the milk was stored and processed.

They stopped for lunch in the Admiral's Mess after that, going through Maya's cabin to get there rather than using the bridge entrance.

On their way, President Landry noticed a familiar looking figurine (General Lee on his white mare, aiming his Kentucky Long Rifle Musket), on Maya's desk. She didn't comment on it until they had reached the Admiral's Mess however.

Shortly after Karen contacted the Galley, to have today's lunch trays brought up for all of them, President Landry said; "S' all impressive...but Ah'm curious s' t' why ya display a likeness a' General Lee on yer desk, Admiral."

"From what Ah know a' yer history he was a great an' wise leader, an' revered freedom 's much 's Ah do." Maya said. "An on top a' that, mah mate Tom, used t' be a Confederate soldier. Perhaps y' know a' him. Bullseye, a' the flyin' gators."

"Ah reckon that explains it." President Landry said. "An' yeah, Ah know Bullseye. Ah pinned a medal on 'im a few tahmes."

"when do we eat?" one of the Men in Grey asked.

"The food will be here shortly." Karen said. "I must caution you though, many humans find our food a bit...overwhelming, at first. Most love it once they actually try it however."

"How so?" President Landry asked.

"For us, the scent of the food is even more important than the flavor, though the flavor is very rich and satisfying as well." Karen said. "I hope none of you are herbivores though."

"Naw, Ah love meat." President Landry said.

the others similarly confirmed having no aversion to eating meat.

"S' what're we havin' anyway?" President Landry asked.

"S' Meat-o Monday." Maya said."

"That means we are having Meat-o's, with dipping sauce, a side of cheese poppers, peanut butter cookies, and a glass of Lioness Milk." Karen said.

The mention of "peanut butter" made President Landry blush again, but no one seemed to take notice.

The food arrived moments later, and to President Landry's surprise, the Akita Inu girl delivering the food had an extra container on the cart. A simple platter of fresh meatscraps which she set down for Jefferson, after delivering everyone's trays. "Thank you, Kimiko." Karen said, as the girl turned to leave. then to President Landry; "I didn't know what you normally feed him so I just had the galley send up some fresh meat scraps."

"Thanks, Vice Admiral. Ah's wonderin what Ah's gonna feed 'im on this trip." President Landry said. "An all this smells delicious."

Karen shot Maya a look that said "try to show a little table manners this time", though she doubted it would do any good.

Callie lifted the lids covering each of the Mess trays, revealing the delicious contents within.

One of the Men in Grey insisted on taste-testing the President's food, before settling into his own tray. President Landry started to apologize for that, but Callie said, "Think nothing of it madam President, he is just being cautious. I would do the same for Admiral Maya or Vice Admiral Karen if we were guests on some other ship or planet."

"Mmm Mmm this shure is delicious." President Landry said. "What'd y'all call it?"

"Its called a Meat-o, Madam president." Karen said. "And you are supposed to dip it in that little cup of sauce, like this." she demonstrated. Karen said no more until after chewing and swallowing the bite of dipped meat-o, then she said. "Its ok to double-dip here. I would not do it in front of Queen Molly, but everyone here does it."

President Landry, and the others were all too busy eating to talk much, though they did try the dipping sauce as Karen suggested, and found it made the already tasty food even better.

Unsurprisingly Maya ate like a pig as usual. Thankfully she didn't belch or fart during the meal, but the way she ate, and talked with her muzzle full, she may as well have.

When they finally finished and continued the tour, Karen said; "I must apologize for Admiral Maya's table manners, madam President. I have tried to teach her proper ettiquite, but it does no good. that is just how she is."

"No 'ffense taken." President Landry said. "SHe showed me how not t' eat in front a' Queen Molly."

"Ha Ha, good point!" Karen said with a laugh. "I could teach you the proper ettiquite, but it will have to start tomorrow, as I am due on the bridge once we finish this tour, as Admiral Maya has "other matters" to attend to."

The tour continued on, making stops in Sick Bay, the Armory, main transporter room, the main recreation lounge, shower rooms, public bathrooms, which President Landry remarked were very clean and well kept, (and Karen had to demonstrate ((clothed)) how to sit (squat) on the strange shaped toilets), before they continued on to the ship's gym, where several crewmen happened to be sparring as they entered, and then on to their next stop, the Observation Deck.

"THe view a' swirlin neon a' hyperspace makes this place great fer relaxin' an' meditatin." Maya said

Eventually they continued on.

Their final stop was the recreation spa deck. After that they showed President Landry and her Men in Grey to the cabins they had prepared.

"I had Engineering install an extra security camera outside the room which you can monitor from inside, and I have security posted at either end of this row of cabins." Callie said, "You can also press this button on the wall here and say "security" to contact me immediately. Or you can use the communicator on your nightstand there to do the same. We had the instruction manual translated for you."

"We have done our best to make your cabin as lavish as possible." Karen said."If you need anything, do not hesitate to contact Admiral Maya or myself."

"Ah don' know what more Ah kin possibly need!" President Landry said.

"The computer on your desk has shipboard wifi access to connect to the transgalactic internet, or you can use the datapad on the nightstand." Karen said. "The Wifi password this month is; "AdmiralMayasDirtyUnderwear" no spaces."

"Tom came up with that one." Callie said. "Admiral Maya and Vice Admiral Karen were still delivering letters when the time to change it rolled around."

With the Confederate President, and her Entourage finally settled in, Callie and Karen returned to the bridge, and Maya headed down to the farm deck where she could really cut loose, and enjoy some much needed playtime.

"Vice Admiral on the bridge!" Tom announced as they entered.

"I'll take over from here, Tom, go join Admiral Maya on the farm deck." Karen said, as Callie took the tactical/security station. then to everyone else "As you were."

Tom vacated the command chair, and lifted Karen into it in his place, and then he set out for the Farm Deck.

"Status report!" Karen said.

"All green, ma'am." Rena said, from the bridge engineering station.

"Nothing notable on sensors, ma'am." Molly said.

"I have a brief communication from the Suvorov, Captain Poloniev wishes us safe travels." Erika said, and we're being hailed by the C.S.S. Stonewall Jackson, Captain Mike requests permission to come alongside."

"Send an acknowledgement and thanks, to the Suvorov, and put the Jackson on screen." Karen said.

"Yes ma'am." Erika said.

Moments later, the main window/viewscreen lit up, showing the bridge of the C.S.S.Stonewall Jackson.

"Good afternoon, Vice Admiral." Mike said. "I figured we'd tag along on your VIP trip. Besides I want to see the Canid homeworld too."

"Permission granted." Karen said. "Glad to have you with us, captain."

"Glad to be here, Vice Admiral, and thank you." Mike said. "I am curious though why your not broadcasting Confederate Presidential IFF."

"You never been through the badlands, have you, captain?" Karen asked.

"What's the badlands?" Mike asked.

"Its a nasty little sector of space home to all sorts of space pirates, rival mercenaries, and other thugs." Karen said. "We are going to be passing through only a small corner of it to get to the homeworld, but still, the last thing you want to do is broadcast any kind of signal that indicates you have a VIP aboard."

"That makes sense." Mike said. "So what can we expect?"

"You never know what to expect." Karen said. "Its always different, but chances are good we will be harassed by beligerant ruffians. If that happens, follow our lead precisely. Power up shields and weapons too soon and your looking for a fight, but time it right, and "baring your teeth'' like that will usually make them back down. If not, then, well we do what we do best." Once we cross into the badlands, have all your fighters fueled, manned, and ready to launch at a moment's notice. We will flash our hull lights 3 times to indicate when it is time."

"Thank you, Vice Admiral." Mike said. "I'd also like to request that Erika beam over so we can get in some personal time before we enter the badlands."

"Granted." Karen said. "I'll have her beam over, and get May to take over comms as soon as we finish."

"Thanks!" Mike said. "And tell Admiral Maya she owes me a beer."

Alright, but why?" Karen asked.

"Confederate MMA matches." Mike said. "we had a bet on who would win, and my pick won."

"No problem." Karen said. "Excalibur out." she motioned for Erika to cut the connection, and an instant later, the main window/viewscreen returned to its normal window function.

Karen pushed a button on one arm of the command chair, and called May up to take over for Erika, and once May arrived, she sent Erika down to the main transporter room with orders to beam over to the Jackson. Karen hated leaving it up to Holly to operate the transporters, but as she couldn't very well leave the bridge to do it herself, it could not be helped.

Over the course of the next few hours, Karen looked over and signed a fuel report, and various reports on ships' supplies. everything from raw materials, to food, ammunition, and medical supplies, as well as the fullness of the waste system. They were still using the recycling system from that "Outwardly seeming primitive" Canid colony which had been a great help in The Expanse, of course, so the system no longer needed periodic purging to space, but nonetheless it did require occasional cleaning and maintenence. Karen had marked Tara, a troublesom toy poodle who was always mouthing off, and Josh, a new human who was eager to prove himself down for that job. It was all buisness as usual, of course, and as much as she had enjoyed Shore Leave, Karen was glad to be home.

"You know, honey, Admiral Maya's not the only one who could do with a "Puppy Day". Hank said when Karen had finished looking over and signing the last report.

"Maya and I have an appointment for a Deluxe spa treatment, colonics and all, starting tomorrow morning, and I am behind on work as it is." Karen said. "And on top of that, Doc Natalie wants me in for a colonoscopy on friday."

"Have her record it, Ah wanna watch that." May said.

"Gods! May, you're as ''bad'' as Maya." Karen said.

"Jus' curious." May said. "Gods know ah had enuff of 'em mahself."

"Very well." Karen sighed. "But keep it private. you can show Hank, Tom or Maya, but no one else."

"Fair enuff." May said. "An Ah thank ya should take a ''Puppy Day."

"Come on, honey, it will be fun!" Hank said.

"If nothing else comes up, we should be able to get in a few hours thursday morning." Karen said. "I still have to straighten out the mess the temporary crew made of the transporters."

"Fair enough." Hank said.

.....

Several hours later, ehen Maya and Tom had finished, it was time for supper. As they were entertaining a VIP passenger, that of course meant Dinner in the Admiral's mess rather than eating at the senior staff table in the Mess Hall as usual. THe tight security Callie had posted reminded Maya of the weekly Fleet meetings in the Expanse

.....

After Dinner, Maya had to beam over to the C.S.S. Stonewall Jackson, as Captain Mike wanted her to observe his crew as they ran a series of drills. Vice Admiral Karen was Supposed to accompany her, but Hank had finally convinced her to tale a little "puppy Time" today instead of waiting.

Fortunately the drills went well, So well infact, that even Maya was impressed with how efficiently the crew carried out their duties and swiftly handled each situation.

When it finally came time to transport back to Excalibur, however, was a different story. The new guy, Chris, working the transporters showed his inexperience, when he couldn't figure out how to get a lock on coordinates inside a ship while traveling in hyperspace, and Karen had to walk him through it over audio comms.

That should have set off a huge red flag, but with Karen talking him through it, Maya figured the inexperienced human could get the job done.

Big mistake.

Normally the process was near instantaneous, taking less than a second to complete...but this time took much longer. THis time however, it felt like an Eternity. Dematerialization was quick, but rematerialization felt agonizingly slow. Her consciousness, still digitized at this point, could actually see her body beginning to coalesce as the molecules came together.

After what felt like hours, Karen managed to pull her through...but something felt weird. A lot of things really. First, Maya noticed she couldn't stand up...or get any of her muscles to do what she wanted. Her limb movements were very uncoordinated. Second, she noticed Karen looked a lot bigger than usual. Third, whenever she tried to talk, it came out as incomprehensible grunts and whines which the UT could not translate.

That's when Maya pieced it all together, and reasoned that her body had regressed to that of a two week old pup, having barely just opened her eyes for the first time. Her mental capacity was fully intact, she had all her knowlege, and memories, but her body wouldn't cooperate to make use of any of her skills.

"Bridge, put the ship on Tactical Alert." Maya heard Karen say. "Callie, work with Grace and lead a joint Security and Engineering team over to the Jackson to investigate the cause of the transporter malfunction. It could be simple Equipment failure, or due to their new transporter officer's incompetence, but I cannot rule out the possibility of criminal misconduct at this point. I'll know more once Doc Natalie completes her Examination. Karen out." Then Karen picked Maya up like a puppy, saying "Come on, let's get you to Sick Bay." as she carried her out into the corridor, and flagged down a Utility cart. "Sick Bay, and floor it." She told the collie Amber who was driving."

"Yes ma'am." Maya heard Amber reply, then she heart the whining roar of the turboshaft engine spooling up to full power, and felt the g's pressing her against Karen, as the wind whipped through their fur.

During the ride, Karen unbuttoned her shirt and offered Maya a teat, which she happily took despite having all her mental facilities intact. She hungrily suckled the sweet spaniel milk like the puppy she appeared to be.

WHen they finally arrived, Doc Natalie ran all sorts of tests, poking and prodding Maya in every hole in the process. After what felt like forever, she finally said, "I canna find anything wrong with her, lass. The brain scan shows her mental function is all there, but her body is that of a two week old pup. I doon't understand it, and I canna say if its reversable...but you can stop worrin yoor pretty head, lass. Aside from a wee bit of megacolon, the Admiral is in perfect health."

"A transporter accident was the cause, as I said before." Karen said. "Work with Engineering, and try to find a solution. In the meantime, I'll be on the bridge."

As Karen spoke, Maya let loose ''firing both barrels'', partly due to the numbing gel Natalie had used in her examinations, but also because like her other muscles, Maya couldn't control her bladder or butt muscles properly either.

"Lass, Doont ya think yoo should go shower first." Natalie remarked.

"Of course doctor, Thank you." Karen said. She took off her soiled shirt, and rolled it up to go in the laundry later, then flagged down another Utility Cart to take her to the showers, and then to her cabin to get a diaper (From Mabelle's youngest litter) for Maya, and finally made her way to the Bridge.

"What happened, Honey?" Hank asked as he vacated the command chair and helped Karen (holding Maya) up into it. "Better let me take Eve though (one of Mabelle's youngest daughters who looked exactly like Maya)."

"Actually this is the Admiral." Karen said. "There was a transporter accident."

"Seriously?" Hank asked.

"I'm afraid so." Karen said. "And worse we have to fix this before morning, as we are supposed to have breakfast with President Landry in the Admiral's Mess."

"You'll think of something, Honey." Hank said.

"Attention!" Karen barked. "Due to unforseen circumstances, I am assuming command effective immediately. Computer, log Emergency Command Transfer, Authorization Karen 1442 blue gamma victor victor 443 yellow."

"Emergency Command Transfer Accepted." flashed on the main window/viewscreen which returned to full window function afterward.

"Not a word of this leaves the senior staff." Karen said. "Yes Erika you can inform Mike discretely, and do the same for all senior staff who are not currently present, but insure they all know this is Security Code Black, Senior Staff only!"

"Yes ma'am." Erika said.

"Let's find a way to fix this, and quickly." Karen said, once more unbuttoning her new clean shirt to feed Maya.

"Yes ma'am." everyone sounded off.

a few minutes later, a young Ensign brought in a datapad. "Commander Callie's report on the investigation, ma'am." he said, handing it over. Karen read the report, signed it and handed it back, and then he left.

According to Callie's assessment, there had been no criminal involvement, and Grace's assessment rulled out mechanical failure, leaving gross incompetence as the likely cause. Unfortunately it didn't come up with a solution.

"Senior staff meeting in one hour." Karen said, "Get your heads in it, people, we have to solve this quickly."

"Yes ma'am." another round of acknowledgements.

After that, Karen pressed a button on the command chair, and spoke the following:

"Computer, encrypt log entry, Code Black level." There was a chime confirming the encryption, then Karen continued;

"Acting Admiral's personal log, Starship Excalibur, Vice Admiral Karen Leddoux commanding.

_ A transoprter accident has left me temporarily in full command of this ship, and the Avenging Aces. Admiral Maya, who was involved in the accident is alive and well, however due to the unique nature of the accident, it has lert her incapable of performing her duties. To that end I have assumed command and am working to remedy the situation quickly. _

_ The nature of the situation, is classified Code Black. I am hesitant to log it at all, as I would not want anyone knowing if it had happened to me, but I also know Maya would not be embarassed._

_ "The accident has somehow regressed Admiral Maya to the form of a two week old pup...Maya stop it...Doctor Natalie examined Maya thoroughly following the accident...Maya leave that alone!...and determined the Admiral's mental functions and memories are entirely intact, though her body is too immature to make sense of the nerve signals her active mind sends out. The Admiral is healthy aside from having regressed, however."_

_ "Its kind of ironic, as Hank told me of humans searching for a ''fountain of youth'' I had told him that if such a thing did exist, the reality would not be pretty....Maya!...And then this happens, and proves my point. _

_ To make matters worse, The admiral and I are supposed to eat breakfast with President Landry in the morning. I have all my senior staff working the problem, and have sceduled a staff meeting for one hour from now. Hopefully we will have found a solution by then."_

_ "End Entry, save, and verity Code Black Encryption."_

The computer chimed affirmingly once more.

........

In the hour that followed, Maya's Senior Staff, her closest, and most trusted, were all hard at work trying to determine exactly what had happened during the Admiral's ill-fated transport, and trying to find a way to reverse the effects.

One of the things they did, was to try and duplicate the accident, using laboratory mice, and even a pig from the farm deck. None of these tests proved fruitful however. the few times they had managed to ''de-age'' the lab animals, the results always expired soon after rematerialization due to massive organ failure, and cellular degradation.

Yet Doctor Natalie's tests had all shown that Maya was 100 % healthy (aside from megacolon) and showed no such degradation whatsoever. THey had to be missing something... Some key piece of the puzzle. Another factor had to be as-yet unaccounted for....but what could it be.

Tina had a theory. It was a longshot of course, but the fact they were traveling in hyperspace made it at least plausable.

"You might be onto something." Grace said. "If the transporter beam skimmed the event horizon of one of these microscopic black holes, it could have created all manner of exotic particles, and the gods only know what effect that might have on the transporter beam."

"WHich means we need to find one of these microsingularitiy things to test it." Callie said

"Which means dropping out of hyperspace." Kayla said. "Karen's not gonna go for that."

"She will once we explain things." Hank said. "Besides, as much as she enjoys babying Maya, she would do anything to help return Maya to normal."

"At least we have someplace to start." Tom said. "Alright, back to it then." and with that they each returned to working the problem from various points.

.......

Karen really went all out for Maya. She refused to leave the bridge for any reason until it was time for the staff meeting, which meant everyone on the bridge had to endure the smells of diaper changes (and a young ensign got to dispose of those), but also got to listen to Karen singing to the pup as well.

It made Karen feel better knowing full well Maya was completely aware of everything, and would remember this brief ''second puppyhood", in perfect detail when they finally found a way to return her to normal.

Unfortunately when time finally came for the meeting, some of the Senior Staff were less than thrilled by the fact Karen refused to leave Maya with anyone else.

"WTF is wrong with you, Vice Admiral. Seriously, bringing a baby to a staff meeting!" Holly remarked.

"Shut up Holly, that's not just any pup, that's the Admiral." Grace said.

There were a few other similar examples, but soon the meeting got underway.

Baby Maya made things difficult, interrupting with whining, grunting, and other things pups her age did, but in spite of it all, people explained what they had been working on, and ultimately how it all fit in with Tina and Grace's theory.

"I realize dropping out of hyperspace in the badlands is not the best idea." Grace added, "but I see no alternative. We need to find another microsingularity and attempt to recreate the conditions that caused the accident."

"Agreed." Karen said. "Assuming we find one, how long until we can reverse the effects?"

"Honestly, all we have to go on is theory and speculation." Tina said "But logically if we can recreate the accident using lab animals then we should be able to analyze the data and find a way to reverse the effects."

"It could take hours, then again it could take weeks." Holly said. "Honestly it would go a lot quicker if you'd leave someone else in command, and get your butt down to Engineering and help us....And leave that damn baby with someone else."

"You are this close to insubordination, Holly!" Karen warned. "I fully intend to leave the bridge to Tom and help out in Engineering....but Maya goes where I go, like it or not."

"What about President Landry?" Kayla asked. "How are we going to explain this?"

"Let me worry about that." Karen said. "For now, I want a combat patrol ready to deploy the moment we drop out of hyperspace. Lets find a microsingularity quickly I do not want to stay here any longer than we have to."

"Tom, me, and Reaper are going to sit this one out. We still have to learn to fly in our new bodies." Hank said.

"Yeah, besides, I think Gunner, Pokerface, and whoever else is up at this hour can handle it." Tom said.

"Agreed." Karen said. "Doctor are you absolutely certain Maya is not suffering any sort of ill effects?"

"Aye lass, she canna possibly be any healthier." Natalie replied. "there is noo sign a any a the degenerative effects we saw in lab animal tests." she paused, then "And no I canna let you use this as an excuse. yoo can bring the baby if we havena solved it by then, but ya still gotta get yoor colonoscopy, lass."

"Understood Doctor. Alright, lets get back to work." Karen said. "Dismissed!"

and with that everyone got up and dispersed as soon as Callie unlocked the doors.

........

Karen returned to the bridge, for the time being, and had Erika contact the Jackson to inform Dana they were about to drop out of Hyperspace, and that Mike would be beaming back shortly. Mike had come aboard Excalibur to share with Karen all that his crew had come up with on the transporter incident, of course.

After that, Karen gave the order to drop to sub-light speed, and deploy the Combat Patrol immediately.

Tom was in the Main fighter bay, as the other pilots prepared for takeoff. He held Grace who had suited up in his place, lovingly, and they shared a passionate kiss. Then Tom said; "Be careful out there, honey. Come home safe!"

That was the wrong thing to say, of course, and Grace let him know it. A fighter pilot of his experience should have known better, and perhaps if he was sober, he would have. But since he couldn't fly yet anyway, Tom had been drinking, a lot.

"Be careful out there! Really? Grace remarked. Our job isn't to be careful out there, my love. Our job is to shoot pirates, rival mercs, and anyone else that fucks with us out of the fucking sky! Good Hunting is what you say, not be careful out there. Maybe if you weren't shit-faced drunk you would know that."

"Sorry honey, your right. Its just, with all this craziness about the accident...well you know what I mean.

"Understandable." Grace said, snapping her mask on as she closed and pressurized her cockpit. "See you soon."

With that, Tom got out of the way as Grace fired up the engines, taxied into position, and soon joined the others speeding across the flight deck, and gliding smoothly into the inky black of space.

................

Karen never let puppy Maya out of her sight. She even took the pup to the bathroom with her. Not just in the room, in the ''puppy playpen'' as most people did, either. SHe took puppy Maya into one of the stalls with her, and held her while taking care of bodily needs.

Having stayed on the bridge so long, holding it, worried about Maya. Karen had got herself slightly constipated. It hurt a little getting it all out, she had to push really hard, and there was a lot of noisy gas, but fortunately she didn't have to dislodge anything by hand. Doing that one handed would not have been pleasant.

THe only real difficulty was wiping one-handed, and of course Karen never liked to use her wiping hand to hit the flusher as it was unsanitary. SHe did so in this case however.

It was also coming full circle, as just as everyone on the bridge got to ''enjoy'' puppy Maya's dirty diaper changes, so too, Puppy Maya got to ''enjoy'' the sounds and smells inside the stall as Karen relieved herself.

Karen washed her wiping hand one-handed, holding Maya with her clean hand as she had the entire time, and then Karen took the baby back to her cabin to play with Mabelle's youngest pups (same age as baby Maya).

Karen laid in bed, watching the pups play, while Dixie gave her a massage (Mabelle was part of the combat patrol so Dixie had been watching the pups).

Strangely enough, even the young pups could recognize Maya by her scent. Though they all had a blast playing happily, the others clearly respected Maya, and tended to ''follow her lead'' in everything they did.

Dixie suggested Karen should get some rest while the pups played, but Karen refused.

After a good hour of wild happy playing, the pups all looked ready for bed. Dixie worked to get the others to sleep in their puppy-bed, but Karen put puppy Maya in bed with her. She snuggled up, curling up with the pup on a teat, and sometime after Maya finally went to bed, Karen eventually drifted off herself.

Karen's sleep was restless, frequently waking at the slightest sound or change in scent only to go back to sleep after checking on it.

In contrast however, Maya slept better than she had in ages. Karen had never seen the Admiral sleep so soundly in all the time she had known her, and reasoned that she likely had only ever done so as a young pup.

...............

Karen soon found she had a newfound respect for Admiral Maya. She had some idea what to expect, dealing with her responsibilities as Vice Admiral, but even that was as nothing compared to being completely in full command.

Karen had barely got out of bed, changed Maya, and got dressed before it started. She was still brushing her fur one-handed, when there was a knock at the door.

"Its open" Karen shouted. Like Admiral Maya, she rarely locked her door.

To her surprise however, it was Sarah who had come at such an early hour.

"You look like you slept about as well as I did, Vice Admiral." Sarah said, handing over a combat patrol report.

"Yeah I slept light." Karen said, looking over the report as she spoke.

"It will get easier." Sarah said. "I was there when old May bought it...and Maya took over. What you need is to suit up and get out there with us to clear your head. It helped Maya a lot."

"I dont think flying with a pup in my lap would help much, and I won't leave her with anyone." Karen said, signing the report and handing it back. "And besides I'm just keeping Maya's chair warm for her" she added.

"With all due respect, Vice Admiral, you might end up doing more than just keeping Maya's chair warm for her." Sarah said. "Nobody knows how soon, or even if, this can be reversed. You could be stuck with the job while she grows up normally."

"If that happens I will deal with it." Karen said. "But until we have exhausted all possibilities we will continue with the intent that this is just a temporary change in command. Let's go hit the showers."

"Yes ma'am." Sarah said. "I could sure use one after last night!"

"I was not going to say anything but yeah." Karen agreed.

and so they set out for the showers together.

It was difficult showering holding puppy Maya, but Karen managed, especially thanks to Ashley doing her glands for her. Karen had used her pinky finger to do the same for puppy Maya of course.

Ashley was happy to do Karen's glands for her. For one because she respected Karen, but also out of thanks, for how devoted Karen was to looking after Maya.

"Maya would do the same for me." Karen said simply.

"Kin Ah hold 'er?" Ashley asked next.

Karen thought about it for a moment, then said; "Thanks but I can handle it. Besides I need to get to the bridge!"

"Lets take the long way!." Ashley said. "Ah know y' feel lahk yer carryin the whole ship on yer shoulders, but lahk Ah told sis back then, ya' gotta relax. Yer crew know their duties, let 'em do their jobs, an' don' push yerself s' hard."

"Agreed." Karen said. She took longer than usual dripping off before using the towels of course, as she couldn't shake the water from her fur or use the fur dryers while holding Maya.

At last they set out for the bridge.

THey barely made it fifty paces before being interrupted again.

"Vice Admiral!" a young shih tsu ensign said, handing over a datapad. "Fighter maintenence report, ma'am." he added. Once Karen signed the report and handed it back, he went the opposite way and Karen and Ashley continued on to the Bridge.

All things considered, the bridge was relatively calm for the moment. Ashley was taking over for Kayla, at the helm, and the rest had already traded off for fresh crewmen.

"Status report!" Karen barked, as Ashley helped her into the command chair, before taking her own station.

"It has been slow going, but we finally located a microsingularity." Molly informed. "No sign of enemy contact."

"They're out there. you can count on that." Karen said. "I want to find them before they find us."

"Yes ma'am." Molly replied.

"Engineering has begun testing procedures." Rena informed. "THus far they have been unable to recreate the accident."

"Tactical systems green across the board ma'am." Callie said.

"I have a comm from the Jackson, ma'am." Erika said. "Captain Mike offers his pilots to join the combat patrol, and requests a status update."

"Send him my thanks." Karen said. "As to our status update, tell him we are still trying to recreate the conditions of the accident, and I will let him know if anything changes."

"Yes ma'am." Erika said.

The rest of the morning proceeded in a similarly busy manner, right up until time for Breakfast.

Now that the initial shock of the accident had worn off, people began to realize they might have to get used to the change in command. It was never easy, for a crew to lose their commanding officer, and Excalibur had lost two now. Some took it better than others, doing their best to make things easier for Karen during this transitional phase, but others vented their frustration in less constructive ways.

Still, the Avenging Aces had survived losing Old May, and should it turn out they'd ''lost'' Maya until she grows up naturally, they would endure that as well.

As difficult as the change was for the crew, the shift in duties was equally difficult for Karen. She handled it well, but nonetheless had considered making an appointment to talk to Agnes about it. the young ''old'' husky had helped her greatly, getting over what her nasty puppyhumper father had done, but at the same time she knew the last thing the crew needed is to think their commanding officer was in need of counseling.

Karen took Maya with her to the Admiral's Mess right on time, to await President Landry.

When the Confederate President finally arrived, the first thing she did was to comment on Karen sitting where Maya had previously.

Karen explained that it was "complicated", and she would explain further once their food arrived.

The second thing was, noticing the pup Karen held, President Landry remarked how pretty the pup was, and asked to hold her.

"Of course, Madam president." Karen said, handing baby Maya over.

President Landry right away completely changed her demeanor. Devolving into baby talk, holding the pup up to her nose, and things of that nature. She seemed to think Puppy Maya was a feral. "Whos a good irl! yes you are! and things of that nature.

Maya really seemed to be enjoying all the attention, at any rate.

Karen let this go on for a bit, as the strong Cajun woman was clearly enjoying herself. Eventually however Karen corrected; "Excuse me, Madam president. "

"Yes, Vice Admiral?" President Landry replied.

"Its just...Well, thats not a feral pup." Karen said, pausing briefly as she thought of how to explain it. "She is....well, there was an accident last night...Admiral Maya was involved."

"Ah hope she's alrahgt." President Landry said. "S that got t' do with such a cute puppy though?"

"You're holding her, ma'am." Karen said. "The accident reverted Maya in age. SHe is in perfect health, but she is the pup you now hold."

"Mah god! Ah'm sorry." President Landry said, rubbing noses with the pup. "Fergive me Maya Ah had no ahdea."

"I doubt she minds." Karen assured. "Embarassing Maya would be about as hard as convincing a bomb not to explode."

"Ah reckon so!" President Landry said with a laugh. "S' what happens now?"

"I've assumed command until we can return Maya to normal." Karen said. "We are currently traveling at Sub-light speed attempting to solve the problem."

"An if'n y' caint solve it? Chloe Landry asked.

"In that case I ascend to the rank of full Admiral rather than Vice Admiral, and remain in command as Maya grows up normally." Karen said. "Don't worry, we will increase hyperdrive power to make up for the lost time. You will make your sceduled meeting with Queen Molly on time."

"Y' don' sound too happy about that." President Landry said.

"I never wanted to command on my own." Karen said. "It was always supposed to be me and Maya together. she paused then, "Now that I have no choice however, I will do the job to its fullest."

" S' who's takin' care a' her?" President Landry asked.

"I am." Karen said. "I couldn't let anyone else do it."

"Ah thank that's sweet." President Landry said.

Their meal, and conversation was cut short by the flashes outside the window though.

"Fighter weapons fire." Karen explained, taking Maya once more.

"Ours 'er theirs?" President Landry asked.

"Either way I have to get to the bridge." Karen said.

"Ah reckon Ah'll tag along." President Landry added.

"Fine by me." Karen said. She called a janitor to take care of their trays, then they made their way to the Bridge.

"Black Skull Pirates ma'am." Callie said as they entered. "Two "Jolly-Roger" class Corsair's, a Schooner, and several dozen fighters."

Ashley got up from the helm to lift Karen into the command chair. then quickly returned to her station.

"They have yet to attack us directly but are harassing our combat patrol." Molly added.

"Broadcast on open frequencies." Karen said, adjusting her posture to try and look threatening. Her cute looks made it difficult of course.

"DOne ma'am." Erika replied.

"This is Vice Admiral Karen broadcasting on open frequencies." Karen began. "Black Skull Marauders, we are conducting operations in this sector. Return to your ships or face the consequences. If you continue to harass our fighter patrols you will be dealt with harshly."

"Ar this be Admiral Iron Eye." A rough looking grizly bear replied. "I be claimin this sector in the name a me Black Skulls. Hand over yer swag and we be lettin ye go."

"The Aces surender to no one!" "Callie, put a couple across their bow." Karen said. 80" autocannons, firing solids."

Yes ma'am." Callie replied.

An instant later the ship shook from the tremendous recoil of the main cannons, and Ashley had to increase sub-light throttle to compensate.

"Then we be takin it by force." Iron Eye remarked.

"You will stand down, or I will blast you back to whatever hole you crawled out of!" Karen warned. "You may have noticed, my ship is in pristine condition."

THe shields cackled with electricity as they absorbed the pirates' 40" broadside "reply".

"Come on! Choot 'em! Vice Admiral!" President Landry sopke up.

"Erika end comms." Karen said. "Callie, return fire." she pressed a button on her command chair, "Launch fighters."

The crewmen carried out her orders flawlessly, and President Landry got to observe a great space battle as Excalibur and the C.S.S. Stonewall Jackson traded blows with the pirate ships.

The Black Skulls never stood a chance. Their ships had changed little in the years of the Xian war. Excalibur on the otherhand was always being modified, and upgraded.

It was over almost as quickly as it started. Or so it had seemed anyway. One minute Karen had given the order to return fire. the next, the pirate ships were in ruins, and Karen had ordered a boarding Party for Admiral Iron Eye's main corsair. as well as a salvage detail to collect swag.

Callie led the boarding party, and soon returned, with Iron Eye and two of her command staff in shackles and handcuffs.

"Put them in the brig!" Karen said. "I'll decide what to do with them later."

"Ye caint do this!" Iron Eye protested. "Admiral Maya owes me!"

"I'm not Maya." Karen said. "I'm in command now, and I don't owe you shit, Brig-Rat."

Callie dragged the pirates away before they could say anything else.

"S' Whats gonna happen t' em now?" President Landry asked.

"Swirleys, for sure." Karen said. "Then they will be humiliated, sexxed into submission, and eventually returned to their ship, forced to limp home with very limited power." she paused. "I would execute Iron Eye, except she is right about one thing. Admiral Maya does owe her a favor for the one time she found it in her best interest to help us against the Insectoids."

"All people're entitled t' a fair an' unbiased trial. Innocent till proven guilty. S' rahgt there in the Articles A' Confederation." President Landry said.

"That's where we disagree, Madam President." Karen said. "We've held tribunals before sure, but we dont always have that luxury. sometimes we have to move too quickly to concern ourselves with all that red tape."

"Yer system works, Ah reckon." President Lnadry said. "S' jus' weird."

"Dont get me wrong, Queen Molly is a firm believer in all that red tape." Karen said. "But we dont always have that luxury. We just do what we have to do."

President Landry remained on the bridge until lunchtime, then after sharing another meal with Vice Admiral Karen, she returned to her cabin.

The first of the afternoon meetings Karen had held in her own cabin, but after the 3rd time, she finally took Ashley's suggestion and held the remainder of the day's meetings in Maya's ready-room. It still felt weird doing so, but she was slowly getting used to it.

By supper time the engineering and medical staff had finally succeeded in reproducing and then reversing the effects in lab animals, with a considerable margin of safety.

After supper, Karen agreed the data was safe enough for the attempt.

She operated the transporter herself, with Grace aboard the Jackson doing the same in an effort to minimize the risk. At first everything was in the green, and it seemed to be working. Unfortunately as the materialization completed, Maya had only matured another two weeks. She still couldn't stand upright, but she had begun to form basic words and, much to Karen's displeasure, was cutting teeth as well.

Doc Natalie ran extensive tests and confirmed that Maya was still in perfect health, but advised against a second attempt. Karen agreed, and so the idea was shelved, and the two ships once more jumped back into hyperspace.

Before turning in for the night, Karen gave a brief speech over internal comms;

"_Make no mistake, this will be Admiral Maya's command until the day she dies. Unfortunately our plan to restore the Admiral to her proper age has failed. To that end, it falls to me to ascend to the rank of Admiral, and fill in for her until she fully matures naturally. Other possibilities are being explored, but at this point it does not look promising. As Maya would say, "Keep yer shirts on, we'll manage." _

.............

The first order of buisness the next day, was of course getting moved into the Admiral's quarters. After that, Karen had to find a Vice Admiral. She spent most of the time after breakfast thinking about who to promote. May had been her first and most obvious choice, but ultimately she finally decided on Ashley. Ashley was Maya's sister from the same litter afterall.

Tom probably took the news hardest of all, but at the same time he was also the most supportive. He treated Karen like a queen, and even offered to help take care of Puppy Maya.

Karen declined the help with Maya of course.

Ashley had a lot to learn about command of course. She was no Maya by any stretch, but she could keep her wits about her under pressure, and as the hours marched on, she was proving to be a very capable Vice Admiral afterall.

Ashley had her own peculiarities which made the Karen/Ashley command structure very different from the previous Maya/Karen command structure, but nonetheless things slowly started to get back to normal.

The next order of buisness, was of course to deal with the Black Skull pirates in the brig.

After first ''preparing'' three stalls. (Karen, Lily, and Belle relieving themselves without flushing), Karen had the prisoners stripped naked, and ''paraded'' through the corridors on a utility cart before finally stopping at the girls' bathroom. A camera had been set up, which Erika had tied in to broadcast the scene on open frequencies using subspace comms, as well as to a viewing screen regularly used for ''movie night'' in the recreation lounge.

"Ye be payin dearly fer this matey!" Iron Eye spat.

"I think not!" Karen said. She used hand signals to direct Callie's security personnel (a Komondor and a Bernese Mountain Dog in this case) to drag the bear into the first stall which she had ''prepared".

Moments later, a malamute girl and a newfoundland boy forced Iron Eye's second in command into the next stall, which Lily had ''prepared"

After that, two collie boys forced the last pirate into the stall which Belle had prepared.

Karen gave the pirates a moment to think about their fate, and then gave the thumb-down hand gesture.

Immediately the security officers bent the pirates over, plunging their heads into the smelly bowls and holding them there.

The pirates tried to scream, but only succeded in blowing bubbles, nevermind the foul taste in their mouths as a result.

Karen gave the "flush" gesture next, which is precisely what the security officers did.

In reality it took only several seconds to complete the flush cycle, but for the pirates it must have felt like an eternity.

When the cycle was finally complete, Karen gave the thumb up gesture, and the security officers pulled the purates up, and forcibly turned them around displaying their ''swirley head fur'' for the camera.

"Take them back to the brig. They need to dry before the next punishment!" Karen said.

"Yes ma'am." Callie replied, directing her security personnel to drag the prisoners away.

Karen once more returned to the Bridge for the time being.

The pirates' punishment going out live over subspace was an added ''badge of shame'' of course.

"Ah reckon they won' ferget that anytame soon." Ashley said with a laugh.

"Yeah." Karen agreed. "Maya always did have a certain fondness for swirleys!"

"Fwushie!" Baby Maya cried, giggling.

"Yes princess!" Karen replied. "That's right."

"Why dont you let someone else take her for a while?" Tom asked.

"You know I can't do that." Karen said. "I know all of you are very good with pups...but this is something I have to do myself."

As if their punishment wasn't bad enough, the Black Skulls weren't the only people in the Brig. An Xian who Maya's people referred to by the nickname ''Billy Ballchin" was in a cell across from the one Iron Eye was in.

This particular Xian had proven helpful in the Expanse, and as such Maya had kept him aboard. He occasionally was permitted out of the brig, under armed guard, usually to perform volunteer janitorial tasks.

At the moment, he poked fun at the pirates' swirley-fur, and commented how it made them smell like ''food''.

"Ar, shut yer mouth ye filthy rat." Iron Eye remarked. "We all be bound fer Davey Jones' Locker!"

"Not today!" Callie remarked. "Admiral Karen has decided to honor the favor Maya owes you, Iron Eye."

Iron Eye started to say thanks, but Callie cut her off. "Don't thank me you dirty brig-rat. All it means is she is not going to throw you out an airlock, or have you put up against a bulkhead and shot. By the time she is finished with you, you may think that fate would have been preferable." She attenuated the forcefield and retracted a small section of the bars on Billy Ballchin's cell to slide in a bucket of ''food'' as she spoke.

Iron Eye and the others watched the Xian eat. They had dealt with Xians before on both good and bad terms, but they never knew the aliens ate that.

"He serves a purpose." Callie said, noticing the pirates fixation with the alien. "Admiral Karen keeps him alive as his information on various unexplored sectors has proven useful. I have taken steps to ensure he is not a security risk. Honestly he's the last person on this ship you should be worried about."

Callie waited until the Xian had finished eating, then collected the ''food'' bucket and put it away.

After that she brought in several additional security personnel, and led the pirates to the next stage of their punishment.

To the pirates' displeasure they soon found themselves shackled to a bulkhead in a dimly-lit storage room deep in the normally unoccupied sections of the ship. Again there was a camera broadcasting everything over subspace.

Laci, the fur stylist Komondor girl who normally ran the recreation spa showed up after the pirates had ''stewed'' in the dark spooky-feeling room for an hour. She was dressed like one would expect a torturer from some ancient dungeon might dress.

Rather than inflict physical torment with things like the Rack, or a cat o nine tails, however, Laci opted for psychological torture instead.

To be more specific, she took her time, shaving the helpless pirates bald. The others being forced to watch as one by one they were depribed of their fur.

If that wasn't bad enough, she finished off by covering them head to toe in ''puppy oil'' to further display their bare flesh.

When she finally finished, Laci left the pirates to their fate. The dark musky storage room really did have an eerie feel to it. The pirates not knowing what was coming next, could only imagine all manner of horrible fates alone in that dimly-lit room.

When Callie and her security personnel returned, the pirates were taken to the Gymnasium, and shackled to three of the bleachers, bent over in very undignified positions. Once more there was a camera to record and broadcast everything. The Gymnasium had been chosen due to the enormous size of the room, affording itself well to what was to come.

Admiral Karen was first on the scene. She'd brought Vice Admiral Ashley, Hank, and Tom with her.

For the purposes of this event, Karen had let Ashley take puppy Maya, so she could take a turn.

The pirates were shackled in such a way they could only look straight ahead, and thus had no idea what was coming until it happened.

"Here's the deal." Karen told the pirates. "You will all be used as sexual relief for the entire crew. We have your ship in tow, and my engineers have restored basic life support and minimal hyperdrive. Once I am satisfied you have sufficiently paid for your actions you will be released, but should you ever harass this ship, or our allies again, you will not be so lucky!" She gave each pirate's rump a rough swat with a wooden paddle to drive her point home. "Bullseye and Gator, take the other two. Iron Eye is mine."

Karen set about fitting herself with a rather large Canine strap-on (the ones with a second knot which fit into her own honeypie so she felt pleasure from the pirates' muscles squeezing the strap-on.)

Tom and Hank would have both preferred to double-up on Karen instead. They had to force themselves to focus on the pirates, but nonetheless they both mounted their prey swiftly, and started humping like mad.

Karen took a moment to lube her strap-on with a packet of habaner`o hotsauce she'd taken from the Galley, and then roughly mounted Iron Eye anally. She did so because while anal was the greatest expression of love to her people, being raped anally was also the greatest humiliation to Iron Eye's people.

The bear screamed and cried in pain, from the rough penetration, and the intense burn of the hotsauce, but Karen didn't let up. She gripped the bear's back in her muzzle for extra leverage, and the bear being shaved as she was meant Karen's long pointy canine teeth sank into bare flesh.

The intense muscle contractions caused by the burn of the hotsauce worked the fluid filling the strap-on really good. The result of course was that the second 'knot' which Karen had inserted in her own Honeypie rapidly expanded and contracted in step with the bear's muscles.

Karen panted heavily. Her short little fancy tail wagging like crazy from the intense pleasure she felt.

Next to her, Hank and Tom had already dismounted for the turn and tie, but Karen wasn't done yet. She kept humping away like nothing else mattered. She didn't let up until the pulsations of the second knot drove her to climax. Only then did she finally pump the main knot tight and dismount for the turn and tie.

Karen kept the bear tied until after Hank and Tom had separated from their own prey, and two more crewmen had taken their place.

When she finally deflated the knot and pulled out, Karen climbed the bleachers, and gave each pirate a dirty sanchez with the strap-on, and then forced Iron Eye to suck it clean.

After that, Karen gave the strap-on to Ashley, and took puppy Maya once more, while the Vice Admiral took her turn with Iron Eye.

Iron Eye cringed when she felt the big Kuvasz take hold of her hips. What Karen had done was bad enough, but she knew Ashley would be even rougher. She was right, of course. Though Ashley surprised her. Knowing how humiliating anal rape was to her people, Iron Eye expected more of the same, so it came as quite the shock when Ashley buried her fake bone in Iron Eye's well-used bear pussy instead.

And so on it went. The punishment lasted throughout the night, and well into the next day.

It was late in the afternoon by the time Karen finally had them returned to their ship, and released.

The rest of the day was largely uneventful, and eventually Karen finally got Puppy Maya to sleep and then drifted off herself around midnight. All in all the day had went well, and people were adjusting to the change in command better than expected. Karen was still dreading morning however. Not because of anything command-related, but because she had an appointment with Doc Natalie tomorrow.