An Endless Voyage Ch 56: The Estrus Festival
Admiral Karen used the hour before the festival to make sure she was good and ready. she took time to use the batheoom really good, then had Kayla do her glands for her, and use three fingers to test and make sure the lube had totally worn off. Kayla complained that Karen was clenching her perfect canine butthole way too tight, and that definately made Karen at ease. After that, Karen had Laci give her a quick touch-up trim, and apply tailhole and Honeypie gloss. After that, Karen headed down to the deck devoted to the festival, and stood before a lectern Vice Admiral Ashley had set up in a large warehouse room where everyone had gathered.
"People of the fleet!" Karen began, getting everyone's attention. "With the power granted me as your Admiral, I asked you all here for the commencement of Princess Mayali's Estrus Festival. "Many of you know what to expect, but for those who are new to the experience, you will likely see things that seem strange to you. SHe paused then, "I'd like to thank all of you for following tradition. I know the nudity makes some of you uncomfortable, but I am pleased to see all of you keeping an open mind."
"Thank you, Admiral!" Mike said, stepping up beside Karen. His face looked strained, trying not to think sexual thoughts, but his thick Cajun cock, and big hairy balls betrayed him. You could hardly blame him though, despite the fact she wasn't his type, the Admiral was damn hot. Any man would have to be gay to view Admiral Karen's naked body and not instantly get wood as hard as steel.
"Those of you who have served with me from the start, know the Festival well." Mike said. "For the rest of you, just enjoy yourselves, and follow the example of more experienced crewmembers."
"Thank you captain." Karen said. "Does anyone have any questions before we get started?"
She waited to see if anyone said anything, and when they didn't, she said, "Very well, As your Admiral I hereby declare the Estrus Festival to be underway. Enjoy yourselves, that's an order!"
The room echoed with a resounding of "Yes ma'am" and "Of course Admiral".
When the room finally quieted down, Vice Admiral Ashley brought Princess Mayali out for everyone to see.
"Our guest of honor." Karen said. "Her Royal Higness Princess Mayali!" She paused then, "As the Admiral of the Fleet, I will go first. After that, when I call your name, you are to come up here, and sniff the princess. DO NOT touch her with anything but your nose. A sampling lick is permitted but do not get carried away."
Moments later, Admiral Karen proceeded to do just that. She demonstrated for the newcomers what was expected, as she instructed Mayali to bend over, and then proceeded to sniff the princess' big richly pigmented canine anus. Karen commented on the delightful unique and very earthy scent, then gave the princess' big musky kuvasz butthole a quick lick. That elicited a surprised yip from Mayali, but nonetheless the princess kept her big fluffy kuvasz tail curled out of the way.
Karen slid her nose down the princess' bitch-stripe after that, and sampled the divine estrus scent. Mayali's huge (Y) was swollen to truly massive proportions as a result of her heat, and so dripping wet with Estrus Honey that it dripped down onto the deck plates comprising the floor. Her scent was very potent indeed, and Karen could not help chattering her teeth like a horny male as a result. It took all her mental discipline to do so, but nonetheless Karen forced herself to stop with just one lick, eliciting another pleasured yip from Mayali, as well as causing the princess to beg for more.
"D-Don't stop Admiral!" she remarked. She bucked back hard, instinctively trying to bury Karen's muzzle in her Honeypie, but Karen moved out of the way, standing back up.
"We may pick this up later." Karen said. "For now, as much as it pains me, I must let the others have a turn."
Vice Admiral Ashley was next of course. Like Karen, she forced herself to stop with a simple lick, but it was clear it was much more difficult for her.
Captain Mike was next of course. His devotion to Erika made him a bit hesitant, but nonetheless he did as Karen asked. He had experienced this festival many times of course, but it never got any easier.
spare replacement mess-hall type tables had been set up laden with food and drink. There were also bench seats and folding chairs set up giving everyone a place to sit as they watched and waited, enjoying the refreshments while awaiting their turn. THe only real trouble, was President Landry's feral wolfdog Jefferson.
Not long after Mike had finished, the feral dog had caught Mayali's scent and took off like a bullet.
Mayali screamed in protest, bared her teeth and growled deeply as the feral dog tried to mount her. THe size difference had kept him from getting it right thankfully, but not for a lack of trying. Jefferson was big, but Mayali was much bigger. He managed to lock his forepaws on her hips and really got to thrusting, but all he did was poke her clitoral fossa a few times.
Mayali soon lost control to the overwhelming desire to be bred, and pulled her Honeypie up invitingly as she flagged her big floofy kuvasz tail.
Ashley and May pulled the wolfdog off her before he could manage to get it right, of course.
Jefferson whined and howled in protest, but nonetheless Ashley held him fast.
Karen called President Landry up next of course. The Confederate President was more than happy to do exactly as Karen had instructed. SHe'd never been with a bitch before of course, so the scents were new to her. She was a little reluctant when it came time for the sampling licks, as the thought of licking a dog's butthole was gross to her. Or she thought it was anyway. Mayali didn't smell gross though, and that richly pigmented hole looked nice and clean, with properly trimmed fur to prevent dingleberries, so she finally forced herself to go through with it.
What she really enjoyed was tasting the princess' estrus honey. Chloe Landry could definately understand why zoo boys back home jokingly referred to it as ''love potion''.
When she finally finished, she stood up, with a visible honeystain on the tip of her nose, and said; "Y' smell s' wonderful, Princess Mayali. "
"I know little of your species, but you are very attractive yourself ma'am." Mayali replied.
"Thank ya kindly." President Landry said. Then she turned and went back to her seat, where a fighter pilot she'd been talking to, a sexy rough collie named Iris, poured her a tiny little crystal glass of Homemade Canid Whiskey.
"Be very careful with that, Madam President." Iris said. "Sip it Very slowly. Our drink is Much stronger than your people are accustomed to."
"Excalibur's finest." Ashley added. "Down the hatch!" She quickly downed her own drink and reached for a refill.
President Landry mimiced Ashley, and immediately regretted it, wnding up on the floor coughing and sputtering for breath. Now Chloe Landry was no stranger to strong drink mind you. She had a certain fondness for Kentucky Bourbon in fact. but damn...that stuff was like drinking Jet fuel.
Meanwhile on the bridge, an engineer among the temporary skeleton crew was hard at work replacing Maya's command chair with one appropriately sized for Karen. It was a temporary swap, but nonetheless Vice Admiral Ashley felt it would make things easier.
Back at the festival, once everyone had taken their turn sniffing the princess, most were enjoying the refreshments, while the princess herself essentially forced herself on Tom. Not that it took much convincing of course.
All Tom said in protest was, " I'm flattered really, princess, but I'm just a soldier of fortune. It would hardly be appropriate.
To which Mayali replied, "I decide what is appropriate. Besides, you are a runt, this may be your only chance to mate with another kuvasz."
"Fine by me princess." Tom relented, but Mayali was in for quite the surprise.
When Tom went to mount the princess, he adjusted his angle so that his sizeable red rocket slid up the princess' butt, instead of her honeypie, causing Mayali to gag and complain in protest. All too soon Tom's rapidly expanding knot had sealed her fate and locked them together of course, but by the time Tom dismounted for the turn and tie Mayali felt too much pleasure to care.
Surprisingly, Mayali felt pretty clean inside. Not spotless, but not constipated either. what little resistance there was, was firm but malleable, healthy feeling. Despite being related to Maya, she didn't seem to have megacolon at all. The best Tom could describe the feeling, was hot silk smooth muscles working his rocket in all the right ways.
Mayali wasn't used to being penetrated, so she occasionally had the cramping urge to use the bathroom, but Tom's knot kept her thoroughly plugged no matter how hard she bore down.
Once she got used to the sensation however, her huge canine anus quickly learned to clench bonecrushingly tight, and fully relax invitingly opening up like a great chasm, at the apropriate times.
On the bridge, the technician was nearly finished installing the command chair. He was a new addition to the engineering staff, Ensign Hernandez. a skinny whippet who looked more like he belonged in a cushy office than dressed in engineer's overalls. He knew his stuff though, and his slender build had already come in handy making repairs in tight places more than a dozen times. Still, he /was/ new. and as such he forgot simple things on occasion.
Usually when he forgot something, it was because he was so caught up in his work, wanting to impress his superior officers. In this case, it was a single bolt which he'd threaded in finger tight, but neglected to torque down flush, in the excitement of showing off his efforts.
"Dont ya think thats a bit excessive." Kayla's daughter Kassie remarked. She was temporarily at the helm of course. "I know Admiral Karen's a lot more personable than Maya, but that dont mean she needs all that stuff."
"What kind of stuff?" Callie asked.
"Interactive holographic status displays, inertial microdampers, heat and massage functions, heated and chilled cupholders, and even a flatulence-activated ''bitch in heat scent'' air freshener." Ensign hernandez said.
"That last one would be more suited to Maya." Larry remarked. Nice thing about the change in command, Maya would often ''kick in the afterburners '' (pilot slang) multiple times a day. I don't think Karen's done it more than a couple times in days, and always apologizes."
"speak of the devil." Dawson remarked, just as Kassie announced "Admiral On the Bridge" snapping them to attention.
"As you were soldiers!" Karen ordered. She took her seat in the command chair, as Ensign Hernandez set about showing off the new features. Karen was naked as she'd just come from the festival, so as you can imagine the young engineer had his tiny pink lipstick poking out beneath his coveralls.
As you can see, Admiral, it pretty much has everything except a latrine." Ensign hernandez said. "I wanted to add that too, but I'm a mechanic, not a plumber."
"Its fine as it is." Karen said. "It fits like a glove, thank you."
Glad you like it, Admiral." Ensign Hernandez said.
The engineer packed up his tools, and turned to leave. In the process he caught his overalls on the bolt he'd missed torquing down earlier, and tore them open to the point his tiny pink lipstick and puppy sized balls were visible to all.
Karen was mature enough not to poke fun at the young engineer, but most everyone else burst out laughing.
"Haha, Ensign Hernandez loves the Admiral!" Callie taunted.
"Lucky for you Karen loves urethral play." Kassie remarked. "bet you couid knot her pisshole."
"Yeah" Larry said. "I dont even like girls, but I dont see any other way you could tie."
Ensign hernandez felt like his ears were on fire of embarrasment. "I... I cant help it...Just how I am...."
"Its alright." Karen assured. "Its not the size its how you use it. You should have seen my son pleasuring Princess Mayali. He's bigger than you, yes, but his size compared to Mayali's would be equal to your size compared to me."
"thank you, Admiral." Ensign Hernandez said. He set about tightening the bolt he'd torn his overalls on properly, and then turned to leave. "Permission to leave the bridge, Admiral?" he said.
"Granted, return to the festival." Karen said.
"Thank you, Admiral." the engineer said.
Once he left, Karen made use of the heat and massage functions, as she accessed the interactive holographic displays. She had to admit, it felt really nice. But more importantly she could see all around the ship rather than the normal forward view afforded by the main window viewscreen. They were nearly through the badlands, so it was unlikely they'd run into any more trouble, but still it was nice.
Meanwhile, back at the festival, while Hank, Tom, and Captain Mike all took turns impregnating Mayali, President Landry got in some fun herself. Owing for her love of wolves and wolf hybrids, like her feral wolfdog, she'd spent the majority of the evening thusfar getting to know one of Kayla's sons, but now that things were really getting sexually exciting, she soon found herself sandiwiched between Kayla's son Dale, and Admiral Karen's son Jack,
Now she was no stranger to taking a red rocket in either hole, mind you, but being double-knotted was certainly a unique experience.
The human woman's lower body temperature slowed things down, but nonetheless it was plainly obvious all three were clearly enjoying themselves.
Jack and Dale actually had it easier though. SInce they couldn't actually impregnate President Landry, they didn't have to worry about interplanetary reprocussions.
On the otherhand, Tom, Mike, and Hank impregnating princess Mayali could very well increase tensions between the Aces, and the Canid homeworld. At the very least it would mean they's have an obligation to return frequently.
The rest of the day was largely uneventful, and the two ships undocked at midnight without incident.
The next morning however, marked a return to buisness as usual. Karen still wasn't quite used to Vice Admiral Ashley bringing her the morning agenda, things that needed immediate attention, while she was on the toilet, and particularly not used to pinching one off early and racing to the bridge without wiping properly, (((tactical drill))) but she also saw firsthand /why/ such things were necessary.
In a way, she thought Maya was fortunate having megacolon, as for all the issues it caused, it also meant Maya didn't need to go as often. It was to that end that Karen had increased her cheese intake significantly. She didn't want to get too plugged up of course, just enough to slow things down and make all those long hours on the bridge holding it in, between after-meal bathroom breaks less unpleasant.
It took some doing to get it right however, and the first two tries she overdid it. The first time necessitating a trip to sick bay for manual disimpaction and a thorough colonic lavage. the second time wasn't quite so bad and she took care of it by using a catheter hooked to a enema plug to give herself a piss enema.
She finally got it right on the 3rd try, slowing things down to only shitting once a day, but still being malleable enough that a soapy finger was all that it took to get things moving when the time came.
By that time, they only had a couple more days to go before they would reach the Canid homeworld.
Admiral Karen spent the better part of a day debriefing Princess Mayali's soldier friend. His injuries were healing nicely, and well on his way to making a full recovery. Thanks to Doc Natalie. He'd been taking walks as part of his physical therapy. It still hurt when he breathed too deeply, or moved certain ways, but sitting down meeting with the Admiral to discuss how he and Mayali excaped from the Xians was actually comforting.
When the meeting was over, Karen spent the evening taking puppy Maya and her own biological pups of the same age down to the farm deck to play. The extra room was hardly necessary at that young age, but at the same time it also encouraged the pups to explore their surroundings.
Princess Mayali spent the evening in sick bay. She' d gone for a transrectal ultrasound pregnancy check, and once Natalie had confirmed 8 healthy pups growing exactly as they should this early in the gestation, the good doctor insisted, much to Mayali's disdain, in doing a complete colonoscopy, upper endoscopy, ear cleaning, and vaginoscopy exam as well. Mayali hated every minute of it, but the good doctor simply wanted to make sure the princess was in perfect health when she returned home tomorrow.
Karen's sleep was far from restful. she was awoken around 0300 to deal with an incident. A drunken brawl had taken place, Belle, and Erika's daughter Kelsie, had been admitted to sick bay as a result. Admiral Karen had gone down to speak with them.
"I do not know what happened betweem you two, but this is ridiculous." Karen barked. "I got enough on my plate right now, the last thing I need is Doc Natalie dragging me out of bed to tell me two of my senior officers have been admitted to sick bay because they suddenly regressed to the level of three month old's."
:Sorry admiral, its just..." they both started.
"I don't know who started it, and I dont give a fuck, I want it settled. right now." Karen barked. "Settle it, thats an order!"
"Yes ma'am." Kelsie said.
"Its settled ma'am." Belle added.
"Good." Karen said. "Consider yourselves confined to quarters for twenty four hours. Dismissed."
With that dealt with, Karen went back to bed.
Natalie knew exactly what the problem was, of course. Both Belle and Kelsie were in full standing heat, and Kelsie's lover, ''hotshot'' from the Jackson, had been showing interest in Belle.
Unfortunately they werent the only ones. By the time morning came there had been many more fights, and when Ashley brought Karen the overnight status report, Karen knew exactly what the problem was. Well actually she had a very strong suspicion, anyway.
To that end, Karen made an announcement, on shipwide internal comms. All affected personnel wer to report to her office on the double!"
"So whats the plan, Admiral." Ashley asked. "I mean, Sis used to handle this herself."
"First I plan to verify my suspitions." Karen said. "Then, I intend to hold a lottery. To pair up those in need of relief with random males. Maya's way works, I have to admit, I learned that firsthand, but nonetheless it is crude. I believe my way will be far more effective."
Not long after that, the crewmen arrived as ordered. Once the last had arrived Karen locked the door.
"Admiral there aint no reason Ah gotta watch this is there." Ashley remarked.
"Maya always made me watch, and participate." Karen said, "But I'm not Maya. I see no reason you have to watch, but I would like you to see to preparations for the lottery."
"Thank you, Admiral." Ashley said. She used her Vice Admiral security clearance to unlock the door, and reset the lock so it locked behind her as she left.
"Alright." Karen addressed the crewmen that had assembled as per her orders. "You all know why your here. You have been getting into fights, acting irritable, and the quality of your work has suffered. Some of you have even neglected your duties completely. Under normal circumstances I would consider the possibility you were under the influence of mind altering agents, but given that I know firsthand how frustrating it can be to be in full standing heat, and desparate for relief, I suspect that to be the cause of your troubles."
"Admiral, that is personal." Holly remarked, embarassed.
"It is a normal biological function." Karen replied, "Now drop your pants, all of you. Bend over the desk and lift your tails. Do so willingly and you present only for me. Resist, and I WILL involve security. "
"Yes ma'am." the crewmen replied, and one by one complied with the admiral's orders.
Karen took her time sniffing each of them in tern, and then when she moed behind Molly, Molly complained "You can't do this, Admiral!"
"Actually I can do anything I want." Karen remarked. "I could have all of you as my cabin-girls if I wanted. Now lift your tail or I will call security." She paused, then, "You do not want to end up on Sex-Ed duty for the remainder of your heat cycle do you."
"N-No, Admiral, Please!" Molly begged, reluctantly lifting her tail as ordered.
"That's better." Karen said. She gave each of Molly's loveholes a good sniff and a lick, before finally moving on.
By far the worst of the lot was adult Sarafina however. Worse, because she was about as ''ladylike'' as Maya, lots of dried estrus honey, a few dingleberries, and very flatulent. She was very sexy, being a perfect 50/50 spaniel/kuvasz hybrid, but when it came to her manners, she was as bad as Maya.
Maci, a yellow lab girl was flatulent too, but she at least had an excuse. "Forgive me, Admiral." she said. "I just had the ''pleasure'' of having an endoscope shoved up my butt." she apologized.
"That is understandable." Karen said. "I had the same procedure done the other day."
Karen's own daughter Grace found the whole experience erotic. "Will you give us relief now, Mother?" she asked.
"In a manner of speaking." Karen said. "Instead of relieving each of you myself as Maya would, I will hold a lottery shortly, to pair each of you up with random males equally in need of having their tensions eased."
"No fair!" Grace complained. "I love you, Mother, and Daddy, and ''Uncle'' Tom, and my brothers and sisters! Just the thought of a stranger touching me...Eww....I'd rather have to manually disimpact May. At least she's family."
"I'm sorry princess, but if I make an exception for you, there will be dozens more wanting the same." Karen said.
Not long after that, Vice Admiral Ashley returned with the lottery boxes, having placed the names of every male on Excalibur and the Jackson, on equal sized pieces of index cards, in one and the names of those needing relief in another and shaken them around a lot on the way here.
Karen shook the boxes thoroughly when Ashley handed them to her, then placed them on her desk, and proceeded to draw a name from each box.
"Ensign Maci," Karen read the first name, then, "Your relief mate will be Gunnery Sargeant William Everett, of the C.S.S. Stonewall Jackson."
"Could be worse." Maci remarked.
"How well do you know him?" Grace asked.
"We talked after a mission once, but that's about it." Maci replied. "He lost his sister when the Xians attacked Earth. Having lost my parents to the Reptillians, I told him I knew how he felt."
" Lt. Comm. ''princess'' Molly." Karen called out next, "You will be with my mate Hank."
"You can not be serious!" Molly remarked. "You know I am a honeysniffer. I only make an exception for Tom."
"Dont worry princess, Daddy is very loving." Grace said.
"Yeah." Karen said. "He will be gentle, but he WILL put it in your butt once he is satisfied you are bred."
("Please let me be paired with Tom") Sarafina prayed.
"Commander Grace, you will be with Belle's son, Lt. Alek." Karen announced next
And so on it went. Callie's daughter Clara was paired with a collie boy farmhand, Grace's daughter Faith was paired with a rough collie from engineering, Holly was paired with Tom Jr, and so on. Most people were relatively happy with the assigned pairings, but there was one exception. Sarafina. Unluckily, she had been paired up with Ensign Hernandez, and they all had a good laugh as she complained about his size.
"You should have him knot your pisshole." Karen finally said seriously, "I had that pleasure from a little teacup yorkie, and several pocket spaniels before. It is a strange sensation, and having a bladder full of cum is a unique experience, but it also feels absolutely amazing."
"Of course mother." Sarafina said. "You know I love urethral play as much as you do."
"What about me?" Vice Admiral Ashley said. "I have enough self control not to make an ass of myself because of it, but I could do with some relief too, Admiral."
"You will be with Tom." Karen said. "I know he misses Maya, and, well, you are her same-age sister afterall."
"What about you, Mother." Grace asked.
"I'm not in heat." Karen said. "I'll be busy on the Bridge. Now you all have your assignments, Dismissed."
She unlocked the door and set out for the bridge, and the others all went their separate ways.
As it turned out, "busy" was an understatement. Barely an hour after Karen returned to the bridge, things started to escalate quickly.
"Admiral, I'm reading a half dozen Canid Heavy Dreadnought battleships on an intercept course." Lt Amber, a border collie who was working the sensors console while Molly got relief, informed. "Sensors show their shields are up, at full power, but their weapons are presently offline."
"Little early fer that kinda party." May remarked from the helm.
"Actually I am surprised we did not catch their attention sooner." Karen said. "Shields up."
"Yes ma'am." Callie replied.
"Erika, open a channel to the lead ship, Amber, send Confederate Presidential IFF."
"Yes ma'am." Amber replied.
"No need to hail them, Admiral, they're hailing us." Erika informed.
"On Screen!" Karen ordered, straightening her posture.
An instant later, the image of a large black and white female canine appeared on the screen. She looked to be part dalmatian by her facial features, but had the strong bulky build of a st bernard as well.
"Avenging aces, I am Admiral Persis of Her Majesty's Royal Battlefleet, state your intentions."
"I am Admiral Karen of the Avenging Aces." Karen replied. "We were hired to deliver the Confederate President Chloe Landry to meet with Queen Molly."
"Pleased to hear it, Admiral." Persis remarked, her whole demeanor changing. "That chair suits you." She had gone from all buisness, to almost pleasant.
"We are also bringing Princess Mayali home." Karen added.
"You must be joking." Persis remarked. "Princess Mayali has been missing for over two years. Her Majesty assumed she had been killed by the Xians."
"She was a prisoner on one of their ships, but she is alive and well." Karen replied. "I assume there is a reward for bringing her home."
"Always the mercenary." Persis sighed. "Well at least you're not Maya. You know that fat-ass fleabag actually mooned me the last time we met."
Karen felt her rage building. She wanted to make Persis pay for speaking ill of Maya like that. It took all her mental discipline to keep from losing her temper. Even so, she could not help a bit of a snarl as she replied, "It would be unwise to speak ill of ensign Maya in my presence again." (((she let the Canid Battlefleet Admiral think she had been forced to usurp Maya and take command, rather than trying to explain how Maya had regressed in age.)))
"Of course, My apologies, Admiral. I should have known you were screwing that brig-rat." Persis remarked. "But yes, there is indeed a reward of five million credits for bringing the princess home safe."
Karen was already planning ahead, and to that end, she needed to get Admiral Persis to come aboard Excalibur, and she had just the thing.
"Admiral, how would you like to come aboard Excalibur." Karen offered. "You can see for yourself, that Princess Mayali is alive and well. Lets talk over dinner. One Admiral to another."
"Give me half an hour." Persis replied. "In your Admiral's Mess. I look forward to hearing what it was like in The Expanse."
"That will be perfect." Karen said.
"Very well, see you in half an hour, Admiral. And do be sure your chef knows how to prepare a /proper/ dinner." she paused, then, "Valliant out."
The comm fell silent, as the screen faded to black, then returned to its normal window function. The Valliant, and the other Canid battleships lowered their shields, and fell into formation as Excalibur and the Jackson did the same.
"Admiral, you got a minute...in private?" Amber asked the moment the comm ended.
"My ready room." Karen said, then she pushed a button on her command chair, and instructed the galley to prepare a gourmet Canid dinner, before finally getting up from the command chair. "May has the bridge." she said next, leading Amber to her ready-room so they could speak privately.
"What's this about, anyway?" Karen asked, locking the door behind them.
"Its about Admiral Persis, Admiral." Amber said. "I assume you intend to get back at her for speaking ill of Maya."
"Yes." Karen said.
"I served with her before, in the last Reptillian war." Amber said. "Admiral Persis has...well...incontinence issues."
She paused thinking how best to explain it, then, "Its genetic. She's had several benign growths removed from her bladder, and damage to the urinary sphincter as a result. well you can imagine the effects."
"We can use that." Karen said. "Keep that to yourself though. I will program the transporter biofilters accordingly, and she will be in for quite the nasty little surprise."
"Of course, Admiral." Amber replied.
After that, Karen unlocked the door and they returned to the Bridge.
Karen activated internal comms as she took her seat in the command chair. "Attention everyone, this is Admiral Karen." She began "In twenty-five minutes, we will be welcoming Admiral Persis aboard our ship. All command staff are to assemble in the Transporter room at the appointed time, Full Honors. For the rest of you, just go about your duties as usual. That is all." She released the button, closing the internal commlink.
"Permission t' speak freely, Admiral?" May said.
"Sure, whats on your mind, soldier." Karen replied.
"Respectfully, Admiral, this's nuts." May said. "Y' heard what she thanks a' mah Maw."
"I don't like it any more than you do, May, but it is tradition, when two flag officers meet, they share a meal in this manner." Karen replied. "Why do you think I invited her here, rather than waiting to be invited aboard the Valliant."
"A wise precaution, Admiral." Callie agreed. "Nonetheless I would like to increase security outside the Admiral's Mess as a precaution."
"I was thinking I should invite Captain Mike, Princess Mayali, and President Landry to join us." Karen said. "That would give you an excuse to tighten security without seeming inhospitable."
"I think that is an excellent idea, Admiral." Callie agreed.
Not long after that, Karen called the nightshift crew up to handle things on the bridge, while she and her command staff went to get changed, in preparation to meet with Admiral Persis. It would only take a minute to reprogram the biofilters, so Karen waited until everything else was finished, before tending to that task.
As much as she hated to leave baby Maya with anyone else, Karen reluctantly left the young pup with Mabelle, to make things easier.
The preparations were made, Callie and her security personnel assembled in ''honor guard'' fashion, and the main Transporter room adorned with various Canid flags. Erika had even made arrangements to pipe Queen Molly's Royal Anthem through internal comms the instant the transport cycle completed. Captain Mike even commented how with all this pomp and protocol one would think Queen Molly herself was coming aboard.
"Yeah, besides, I'd like to give Admiral Persis a swirley for speaking ill of Maya." Tom remarked.
"We're not doing it for Persis." Hank said. "We're doing it for Admiral Karen. "Making her look good in front of a fellow Admiral."
"Lets get this over with." Karen said. "Stand aside Holly, I will operate the transporter myself." She shot Amber a naughty glance, as she said the last bit.
"Of course, Admiral." Holly stepped aside, and stood at attention with the rest.
"Locked in on Admiral Persis, and her accompanying staff." Karen said, quickly reprogramming the biofilters as she spoke. "Bio readings strong and stable, atmospheric readings within safe limits, background radiation nominal...commencing transport." She keyed the final sequence that set the machine in motion.
All eyes were on the transporter platform. In actuality the transport sequence was over in a fraction of a second, but for Admiral Karen, the anticipation made it feel like an eternity.
"Admiral Persis, I'm Admiral Karen. Welcome aboard Excalibur!" Karen said, moving to sniff the Admiral in a proper greeting as Queen Molly's Royal Anthem began to play.
"Thank you Admiral." Persis replied, returning the favor. She thought it was odd that so many of Karen's staff had burst out laughing, but it wasn't until she turned to introduce her second in command, Vice Admiral Keisha, who was a blue-tick coonhound, Her chief of Security, Commander Jon, a big rottweiler boy, and her Chief Engineer, Lt. Comm. Cadence, a very sexy border collie girl, that she realized why. Seeing her officers stark naked like that, Persis looked down to check her own attire, and immediately regretted it.
Persis felt like her ears were on fire. She had never been so embarassed in her life. Her uniform had failed to materialize, just like the rest of her staff, but unlike her staff she wasn't totally nude. In a way, that would have been preferable. But to her horror, her thin incontinence diaper, small pee stain starting to soak through, and all, had materialized properly. To her relief, Admiral Karen /wasn't/ laughing. She instead continued her work greeting the rest of Persis' staff. That made Persis think it was an honest equipment malfunction, and moments later, Karen ''confirmed'' it.
"My apologies, Admiral." Karen said. "We recently updated the biofilter software, and have been chasing down bugs in the system for days.
Persis was too embarassed to say anything.
Her security chief however, was even more embarassed. The big rottweiler boy struggled to cover his sizeable sheath with his hands, nevermind the fact his Red Rocket was peeking out, and he knew Karen /HAD/ to be able to smell his arousal. "Somebody get me some clothes." he growled, trying to sound tough.
"Lt Holly, get it done." Karen ordered, then as Holly left to get them some clothes, Karen introduced her own command staff, and then Captain Mike, Princess Mayali, and President Landry.
Admiral Persis and her staff were forced to work through their embarassment, to greet them each properly, while she waited for Holly to return. To their surprise, even the strange-looking humans knew how to properly return the greeting.
It wasn't until after they'd finished, that Holly finally arrived with their clothing. Then once Admiral Persis and her staff were once more properly attired, Karen led them aboard a utility cart that would take them to the Admiral's Mess.
"I'm surprised you still use these carts." Persis said as they got underway. "We use point to point transporter beaming to get around on the Valliant. We still have a handful of carts in case of emergencies but have not used them in years."
"Point to Point transporting is more convenient, but it is also a huge waste of power." Karen replied. "We don't always have the luxury of replenishing our supplies the way you can. We have to be self sufficient. That was true before the Xian war, but it became even more important in The Expanse."
"So that's why you use the carts, and only use point to point transporting in emergencies." Persis understood.
"Shure 'nuff." Vice Admiral Ashley remarked.
"Thats part of it, but, we recycle pretty much everything as well." Karen said. "Even...waste... Our water system is nearly a hundred percent efficient."
"This ship certainly is not the rustbucket I pictured." Persis said. "You've come a long way since the days of Maya purging the sewage tanks wherever she felt like it. Its hard to believe this is the same ship."
"In many ways it isn't." Tina said. "We have retrofitted and overhauled the systems so many times she might as well be brand new inspite of her age."
"What about food?" Persis asked. "Don't tell me you reprocess your own waste." She made a disgusted face.
"We have the capability to resequence it into food as well as raw materials, but no we have had no reason to do so." Karen said. "We have a farm deck, which supplies meat animals, hydroponically grown plants, and even Dairy Lionesses for milk, cheese, and anything else... "We even supplied the entire population of the human ships with food in the Expanse."
"I can not imagine what that was like." Persis said. "In the last Reptillian war, my longest tour was 14 months, without a 'pitstop'. By the end of it we were all so glad to see real Canine food again, I must have gained twenty pounds. but you were gone much longer."
"Five years and change." Mike said. "Every day was an adventure for me, but I admit, there were times when I wondered if I'd ever see Earth again."
"You did well keeping them together." Persis said. "So what happened with Maya anyway?"
"She never intended to leave the Expanse." Karen said. "She was like a fat pup in a meat store, bent on exploring the entire Expanse." (that part was true), "Eventually, I was forced to assume command, or we never would have left that place." (that was the lie).
Not long after that, they reached their destination, and once everyone had entered the Admiral's Mess, Callie locked the door behind them.
"The food will be along shortly." Karen said, as they took their seats. Then she poured them each a glas of finely aged Canid Whiskey.
"1962, That bottle is older than I am." Mike remarked.
"You're getting better at reading Canid." Karen said. "But it is hardly surprising."
"How so?" President Landry asked.
"Few lifespans are as long as ours, Madam President." Persis said.
Admiral Karen, Princess Mayali, Admiral Persis, and the other canines all slugged their drinks down in one gulp, while Captain Mike, and President Landry on the otherhand sipped theirs slowly, albeit still faster than was pleasant. They did so to savor the drink without looking weak, despite the fact it was so potent it took a lot of effort not to make a face.
Mike looked thoughtful. He fondly remembered the many meals he'd had in this room, in the years they spent in the Expanse. Once he'd drained his glass, he said, "We had some good times in the Expanse, that's for sure."
"Yes, tt is unfortunate that Dimitri, Meilin, Nigel, and the other captains could not be here, but they have their own missions to attend to." Karen said, refilling their glasses. "Though I have no doubt they will be given the mission of escorting their nations' respective leaders to meet with Her Majesty soon enough."
"I thought you were the leader of Earth, Madam President." Persis directed that at Chloe Landry.
"Ah'm the current President a' the Confederate States of America." Chloe Landry replied. "The leader a' one nation among many."
Their conversation was cut short by the sound of Callie unlocking the door, as the food finally arrived.
The galley workers brought in several food carts, each loaded to the brim with prime cuts of meat, platters of various flavors of Lioness Milk cheese, and other assorted dairy products, and of course thick bones to chew and clean their teeth. Before the galley workers left, one of them presented Admiral Karen with the still-warm heart of the bull which had been butchered to prepare the meal.
"Thank you, Ensign Kimiko." Karen told the Akita Inu girl who had brought her the heart. Then without another word, she took a big bite of the heart as though it were an apple, before handing it to Vice Admiral Ashley, who proceeded to do the same.
Ashley passed the Heart to Admiral Persis, who took a bite as well, before passing it down to Captain Mike, as he sat across from her.
Naturally, Mike was reluctant to bite into the raw beef heart. The alcohol in his system already had his mind swimming enough he was considering it though.
"I'm not carrying any pathogens, captain." Persis assured him, thinking he was simply reluctant to eat after her.
Mike turned the heart over in his hands, steeling himself for what was to come. It didn't help that it felt warm and sticky, or that it was slick with blood from the missing sections of course.
"Hurry up captain, you're letting it get cold! " Vice Admiral Keisha remarked.
"Sorry, its just...well its a bit underdone." Mike said.
"The heart is always best when served fresh." Persis' chief Engineer, Cadence, remarked.
"Right...of course it is." Mike remarked. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about what he was eating, as he raised the raw heart to his mouth, and forced himself to take a bite.
It took all his composure not to spit it right back out, but nonetheless he managed to chew it a bit as he handed the heart to Vice Admiral Keisha. He couldn't help gagging and making faces, but eventually he managed to swallow.
"I thought you said you loved Canid food." Persis' chief of Security remarked.
"If our food is too strong for you, perhaps your Admiral will permit you to suckle from her teats!" Admiral Persis remarked. Then she and her staff all had a good chuckle."
"We rarely ate this well in the Expanse." Karen explained. "Captain Mike, and the other humans all enjoy /tamer/ Canine foods that were common everyday meals."
To everyone's surprise however, when Cadence handed the heart to President Landry, the strong Cajun woman finished it off without a second thought, and even licked her lips afterward.
"Ah bin eatin raw beef fer 's long 's Ah kin remember." President Landry explained. "Started whan Ah's still in diapers."
At that time, Karen set about dishing out the food, loading their ornate gilded platters with prime cuts, cheeses and other dairy products, and a bone each to clean their teeth. She also poured them each a glass of lioness milk to wash it all down.
This time it was Captain Mike's turn to 'shine' as President Landry lifted the bone on her plate, and asked, "What am Ah s'posed t' do with this?"
All his time in the Expanse, being married to Erika, and eating dinner together, Mike knew exactly what it was for.
"It is to clean your teeth, Madam President." Mike said. "I know our teeth aren't exactly designed for it, but it does work, just watch, and do as I do."
"Thank ya kindly captain." President Landry replied. She kept her attention focused on Captain Mike as he demonstrated how to use the bone, and soon began to do the same.
Admiral Karen, Princess Mayali, Admiral Persis, and the other canines present had of course began chewing the bones to clean their teeth while Mike was still explaining it.
Once everyone finished cleaning their teeth, they all hungrily dug in to the platters Karen had loaded up for them all.
The meat was as fresh and raw as the heart had been of course, but Mike made a sort of sandwich, by piling a cut of meat with lioness milk sour cream, various cheeses, inferno pepper sauce, and lioness milk cream cheese, then topping it with another cut of meat. This mellowed the raw iron taste of the raw bloody meat to the point he really enjoyed it, and seeing Mike do so, President Landry did the same.
"Ah, now this is more like it, Admiral." Mike remarked, blood, cream cheese and sour cream running down his chin as he spoke.
Karen gave a brief affirming nod, and a playful hungry growl, but like everyone else, was too busy eating to speak.
No one really spoke beyond guttural growls, amd sounds of enjoyment until every bit of food was gone. After that, They all once more proceeded to clean their teeth, and then Karen poured them all another drink.
"I must apologize, Admiral Karen." Persis said at last. "You command these people well. Yes I am well aware you are a soldier of fortune. Your crew a bunch of lawless thugs, But I can respect you. You're not Maya. You didn't throw away your blood royal heritage to sail the stars as a ruffian. You just do your duty, and this is an extension of that."
"Thank you Admiral." Karen said. "We all do the jobs fate hands us."
After a few more drinks, to the point both Mike and President Landry were stumbling around in a drunken stupor, Admiral Persis said, "Thank you for the meal, Admiral Karen" and then Callie unlocked the door, and Karen escorted Persis and her staff back to the transporter room.
Meanwhile Vice Admiral Ashley sent for Doc Natalie, and the good doctor gave Mike and President Landry an anti-intoxicant which would help them recover and keep them from losing their dinner as well.
Not long after Persis left, Karen was back on the bridge, and taking care of baby Maya at the same time.
"Well, here we are again." Karen said, when Amber reported they were approaching The Homeworld. "Take us out of hyperspace, and adjust course for orbital insertion."
"Shure 'nuff." May raplied.
"Admiral I recommend we go to tactical alert." Callie offered.
"That won't be necessary." Karen said. "I know Maya's full diaper here sums up what we all think of Admiral Persis, but the Admiral is right about one thing. It is because Maya rejects her royal heritage that they all hate us so much. Thus, since Maya is no longer in command, it is unlikely anyone would be foolish enough to attack us."
"Ah reckon so." Ashley said. "Caint be too careful, but s' the impression Ah got too." She handed Karen a fresh diaper and a bottle of ''puppy oil', and took the soiled diaper to dispose of it as she spoke.
"We won't dock at the orbital spaceport." Karen said. "All personnel going to the surface, myself included, will be wearing intra-rectal short range personal transporters, and at the first sign of trouble we'll simply beam ourselves home. "
"Admiral, you can't be serious." Ensign Jed remarked. He was on the bridge as he had asked to see The Homeworld from orbit. "I want to see your homeworld as much as anyone...but /that/ is disgusting..."
"Yeah." Ensign Cletus, who was onhand for similar reasons said. 'Why cant we just wear a portable transporter armband or as part of our collars or something."
"The devices would be immediately spotted and confiscated." Karen explained. "That is the reason we developed intra-rectal personal transporters."
"Yeah but if we get cavity searched we're still screwed." Larry remarked.
"No." Callie said. "That's the beauty of it. The Intra-Rectal transporter capsule uses micromotors to imbed itself deep in the subject's waste, traveling high into the descending colon. short of a colonoscopy it is virtually undetectable."
"And how do we get them out?" Jed asked.
"The micromotors adjust the position to account for bathroom use, traveling higher as needed, but the power source is only good for 72 hours. after that time the devices simply pass normally." Karen explained.
While May put the ship into a geosynchronous parking orbit, and the humans present marveled at seeing the alien worl before them out the main window, Karen called a senior staff briefing.
"When we finish here, I will lead an away team to escort President Landry to the Royal Palace." Karen said as soon as everyone was seated. "Captain Mike, I want you and Callie with me, and two of Ms Landry's Men in Grey."
"Of course Admiral." Mike said.
"What about shore-leave?" Kayla asked.
"Once Madam President and myself depart, Vice Admiral Ashley will see to the organization of shore-leave parties. She will be in charge while I am away."
"Understood." Everyone except the vice Admiral said.
"Admiral, Ah respectfully request ya reconsider." Ashley said.
"Any particular reason why" Karen asked.
"Ah'm Maya's sister." Ashley said. "In Her Majesty's eyes, Ah dishonor mah royal bood same 's she does. Ah'd be a liability down there."
"Any professional reasons?" Karen asked.
"Nah, Ah reckon not, Admiral." Ashley said.
"Then We proceed as planned." Karen said. "You're my vice admiral, I can't have you hiding in your quarters every time we visit a Canid world, or encounter another Canid ship."
"Understood Admiral." Ashley replied.
"What can we expect down there Admiral? I dont imagine they seen too many humans." Mike's first officer dana remarked.
"Our culture is diverse, and very welcoming." Karen said. "We are an enlightened people, interested in learning about new cultures. You will find it very welcoming." She paused, then, "But crime exists everywhere. Even here in the heart of the Canid empire. To that end, bring only weapons you can conceal."
"Of course, Admiral." Dana said.
"We will all report to Sick Bay to recieve personal transporters immediately." Karen said. "Dismissed."
With that, Callie unlocked the door, and Karen and the others caught the closest Utility Cart to sick bay to do just that.
No one was particularly happy about it, but nonetheless they followed Doc Natalie's instructions, and one by one dropped their pants, assuming the position bent over exam tables.
Unpleasant as it was, it was comforting seeing the Admiral in the same undignified position as the rest of them.
"Try and relax." Karen advised. "See how my butthole is. Don't reflexively clench, but don't really push either."
"Y' dun this 'fore Ah reckon." President Landry remarked.
"Many times." Karen said.
"Yeah." Callie said. "Just try not to think about it."
Not long after that, the others all got to watch, as Natalie did Karen first, and then proceeded to do the others one after the next.
After inserting each capsule, Natalie changed her gloves, as one would expect. And of course Karen was right.
Those that relaxed as she had, felt only something cool and slick invade their rear entrance. It was weird, but it didn't really hurt.
Only those who clenched felt pain, but even then, Natalie used sufficient lube it only hurt for a moment.
After what felt like an eternity, Karen's party finally pulled up their pants, and boarded a utility cart, setting out for the main transporter room.
"Its weird." one of the 'Men in Grey' said. "I dont feel it now but yet I know its there."
"I hate those things." Mike said. " "Course none of us would be here without 'em."
"Y' used em 'fore." President Landry asked."
"In the Expanse." Callie said. "All command level officers used them any time we went to a planet or space station. Came in handy more than once. Of course all of us Aces have used them long before then."
"Yeah." Karen said. "Once you get over the initial insertion, you forget its even there...until you need it."
"Lets hope we dont need them today." Mike said.
"Here here." Karen and the others all said, sharing a laugh.
"I just hope I never have to wear one again." Princess Mayali remarked.
Once they reached the transporter room, Karen had one more unpleasant duty to perform. Unpleasant because she never liked to let puppy Maya out of her sight. That task of course was to entrust her own daughter Grace with the task of taking care of Maya until her task was complete.
As they stepped onto the transporter platform, Karen playfully told Holly, "You better double check the biofilters. If you make me materialize naked, you might find yourself reassigned to waste recycling."
"Of course, Admiral." Holly said.
"Lets get this over with." Karen said.
"Yes ma'am." Holly replied, activating the transporter.
An instant later, Karen and the others found themselves standing in what was to the humans, an alien city, beneath an alien sky. The air smelled different than they were used to, the slightly higher gravity made them feel heavy on their feet, and even the plants looked strange.
It was noisy, as any busy city would be, but instead of the familiar rumble of reciprocating piston engines, the ambient sound was that of various turbine engines, as all manner of vehicles zipped about.
The majority were various shapes and sizes of hovercar, from sleek hoverbikes to huge buses, all riding inches above the roadways on a cushion of electromagnetic fields, supplemented by gravity nullifying stabilization beams.
Others, which Karen referred to as ''skycars'' were just that, personal flying vehicles.
The architecture of the buildings and skyscrapers was also very different. Vibrant holographic displays and giant viewscreens largely took the place of more traditional signs, although there were still a fair number of those. All written in a language that was totally alien of course.
"Ah must be dreamin!" President Landry remarked.
"It /is/ incredible, Madam President." Mike said. "In all those years in the Expanse, I have set foot on many alien worlds, and each time, it never gets old."
"Ah thank 's beautiful." President Landry said.
As they talked, Karen led them to the curb of a busy intersection, and one of the Men in Grey stuck out a thumb, trying to flag down transportation.
"Do you wish to engage in anal intercourse with that sheltie girl across the street?" Princess Mayali remarked.
Her remark caught the man off guard, and he blushed deeply at the embarassment of sending the wrong signals. "N-no, that is the gesture for soliciting a ride.... a vehicle..." he said.
"You better let me handle this." Karen said with a laugh. Then she put both hands up to her muzzle in a cupping shape to amplify the sound, and gave two short barks, and a long howl in rapid succession.
Moments later, a large hovercar the humans reasoned was the Canid equivalent of a taxi pulled to a stop before them.
"Where to." the driver asked, as the alien vehicle's doors seemed to slide into the sleek body as they opened up.
"Get in." Karen told the others, then to the driver, "Her Majesty's Royal Palace. I'm Admiral Karen, escorting Confederate President Chloe Landry to meet with Her Majesty."
"Whatever you say." the chocolate labrador boy replied.
Once everyone was inside, the doors slid closed, and they all felt the vehicle lift slightly from the ground as it accelerated away.
"We got a ways to go, so how about some tunes." the ''cabby'' remarked. Instead of waiting for a response however, he just reached up and tapped a touch panel, and an instant later the interior was filled with loud blaring alien music. It was difficult to make out the lyrics barked and howled at the top of their lungs to get over the music itself, but nonetheless it had a lively, upbeat happy feel to it.
"What is this noise, Admiral?" President Landry had to shout to be heard.
"Its a form of music." Karen said. "Though this new-age racket would not be my choice."
......
Meanwhile
After dividing the crew of Excalibur and the Jackson into mixed shore-leave parties, carefully arranged so that each group of humans from the Jackson had at least one Canid officer with them to serve as a cultural guide, Vice Admiral Ashley saw to the preparation of false ID's, and scent masking sprays, which would enable Tom, and Sam to masquerade as pups. This had the added advantage that they would not be as thoroughly searched, as well.
They were still subject to the insertion of those covert transporter capsules of course. Even baby Maya recieved one of those. But unlike the real pups, Tom and Sam had weapons cleverly hidden in their toys.
"The skeleton crew's got orders t' beam us back in 48 hours." Ashley told the shore-leave parties. "Then they'll take their turn." she paused then, "Admiral Karen'll have mah ass if'n anythin' goes wrong, s' lets try not t' make too big a' scene. S' go have some fun." She stepped onto the transport platform as she spoke, and the skeleton crew transporter operator sent her and the others down to the planet below.
............
Unknown to Admiral Karen, due to the fact she'd chosen not to dock in the orbital spaceport, The Tsun Tsu, Queen Elizabeth, and the new Titan-class Suvorov, had already arrived. They were docked in the spaceport, and captains Poloniev, Patterson, and Cheng had already beamed down to escort their countries' respective leaders to the Royal Palace. All three captains regretted they had not had a chance to inform Admiral Karen of their mission, but understandably the leaders of their countries were insistant on having their voices heard. It was a last hiccup of old international rivalries, but nonetheless the other world leaders were concerned if they did not meet with Queen Molly at the same time, the Canid Queen might assume the Confederacy spoke for all of Earth.
.............
The windows of the "Taxi" were some sort of crystalline alloy. They refracted ambient light in such a way as to give a clear view of the alien cityscape, cutting out the white-hot glare of the white supergiant star that was the planet's sun, and bathing everything in a sapphire-blue which contrasted very well.
After cruising the alien cityscape for over half an hour, the "Taxi" was stopped and searched, and all occupants had to verify their identification by sniff test, verifying their scents in comparing with the ''scratch and sniff" portion of each of their ID's.
This was only the first of several military checkpoints of course, but already the great towering majestic royal palace, with its glimmering spires was imposibble to miss.
Barely fifteen minutes later, the "Taxi" reached the second of these checkpoints, which was much more thorough, searching everyone with hand scanners, as well as the "Taxi" itself. This was also the entry point, which meant they were now inside the first wall. The outer courtyard stretched before them, and with it the final five minute ride to the next gatehouse, and the parking garage which lay beyond.
Another gatehouse, checkpoint separated the parking garage from the inner courtyard, and the first truly thorough, and humiliating search. This time that involved cavity searches as well.
Karen led the group through the Inner Courtyard, and over a huge gilded drawbridge crossing an alligator infested moat, to the actual palace gates proper.
A final guardhouse lay just beyond the palace gates, separating them from the great Entry Hall proper.
After being subjected to multiple cavity searches, repeated sniff tests, eye scans, and even manual expression of anal glands to rule out the possibility of scent masking (for the canine members of the group.), Knightmaster Failin, a bulky bullmastiff girl who was the leader of Her Majesty's royal guards led them through the final set of huge steel-reinforced double doors, into the great Entrance Hall, and ultimately to a huge lavishly decorated guestroom.
"Servants will be along shortly to show each of you to your guest chambers." Failin said briskly. Then she turned and left. Karen's sensitive ears heard the room's heavy gilded steel door lock behind her, but tha heavy metal clank fo the lock was loud enough Karen reasoned even the humans heard it.
There were many other people in the room, all of whom had come to seek an audience with the Queen. Many were not locals, and had traveled from various worlds throughout the Canid empire, but perhaps what was most surprising is there were other humans present as well. That's when Karen noticed a few familiar faces among them. Captain Meilin Cheng, Captain Dimitri Poloniev, and Captain Nigel Patterson. People she knew very well indeed, as they'd spent years traveling the Expanse together. Karen didn't recognize the other humans with the captains however, but President Landry whispered in her fancy ears that the other people were her counterparts whom she often met with in "Global Alliance" meetings.
The Condederate President's whispering tickled Karen's ears, causing them to twitch involunaarily, and Karen had to fight to keep from laughing. She ''vented'' that in the form of a smile, as she greeted the people she knew, verbally first. "Its great to see you all again!" Karen added. She moved on to the sniff greeting after that, which each captain reciprocated in kind. then the captains each introduced the leader of their respective countries, and though Karen was well aware the other humans knew the Confederate President, in the spirit of things, she introduced President Landry in kind. Then she introduced Princess Mayali as well.
"Yes, Admiral, she is beautiful!" Captain Poloniev remarked.
"Beautiful! Bloody hell man, she's perfect!" Captain Patterson added.
"I am not normally into girls but I could make an exception for her." Captain Cheng remarked.
"I am flattered, but now that I am home, the only way I could be with any of you is if one of you were to win my heart, and publicly ask to be my mate in the Royal Ball my mother will certainly be throwing as soon as she realizes I am in season." Mayali replied.
"If you are all that infatuated, we can help." a scantily clad springer spaniel girl remarked.
"We will do /anything/ you want." a similarly attired Great Pyrenees boy added.
"They're royal concubines." Karen explained.
"We prefer the term 'Pleasure Pups." the springer girl remarked. "But yes you are correct."