Chapter 4 – Cookie is Planetside

"Kokidoj. I don't know which I hate more the smell or their clucking?" You say as you move between the cages, picking up loose ovoj. You enjoy the fact you have live kokidoj laying fresh ovoj, but their smell and noise as the "Libereco" transports them and a small flock of safoj and kaproj to an outer colony, is almost more than you can take. You fill your basket and then head to the galley. 

"How many did you gather this time, Cookie?" The Skipper hollers down for walkway.

"Oh, about a dozen. Are you sure the client is only paying for the livestock? If I didn't mind the smell and the noise, we could probably make some pretty good valutos just selling ovoj. Especially to other ships." you say with a smile.

"If we did something like that, you'd be responsible for their care and feeding." The skipper says with a wicked grin. "I'd have Meko or Kurgio do the sales."

"I don't know which is more insulting skipper, me tending the livestock or you making our mechanic and doctor into salesmen." You respond with mock anger.

She laughs "Probably Both." Her laugh is one of honest joy. You enjoy seeing the Skipper happy. 

On the walkway, as you get closer to her, you say in a low tone, "Skipper you never did tell me what happened to all of the cokolada sauce and vipkremo. I don't mind you and your guest eating all of the leftover gulaso. But when Kurgio told me we had to replenish cokolada and vipkremo while still at the Pleasuredome, it raised a couple of questions."

"And what are those questions?" she responds also in a low tone.

You lean in closer and almost whisper, "Does his cock taste better with or without them? And did he lick all of the sauce from your pussy before your shower?"

The Skipper's face turns red with embarrassment. "How did you know?" 

"You forgot to turn off the galley security cam. I normally only review the vids if we have passengers or I suspect fibesto onboard. Imagine my surprise when I see you and Oficiro Lee enjoying the galley, naked. To your credit Skipper, you did the right thing, cleaned up afterwards, and ordered the restock. I just didn't expect to see you sucking a Maristo's cokolada covered cock." You lean against the railing, still holding the basket of eggs. 

"Cookie, does everyone know?"

Shaking your head. "The crew knows you and Oficiro Lee have a relationship. That's an open secret. You both are discreet about it. Making things look good and working it to both of your mutual advantages. I'm just unhappy you had sex in the galley. We all have to eat there. You could've taken the food to your cabin and had 'food play' there. Helm and Navs do it that way. I told them if I caught them using the galley for anything other than eating, they would have to explain what they were doing and why, to you."

Skipper blinks for a second, "So they just…"

"Take the cokolada, vipkremo, katsupo, mustardo, or whatever kondimentoj they want to pour and lick off of each other to their cabin, or the showers. Didn't you wonder why sometimes you find empty containers in the shower trash?" you respond with a mischievous twinkle in your eye.

"Thank you for the update, Cookie. The next time there is an increase in the use of kondimentoj while we are on a run, please inform me so we can ensure to restock when we are able. I think I need to talk to our pilot and navigator." She says with a smile.

"Oh, really Skipper? Thinking of putting things on auto and having a threesome?" you joke. 

"You just focus on our next mango and I'll handle the ship." she says in a mock serious tone as she heads for the con.

"Aye, Aye, Skipper." you respond as you continue to the galley.

You like the Skipper. You have known her for a few jaros. She is a good-looking woman, and if she wasn't your friend, you wouldn't mind sharing a bed with her, but you know she prefers men, and really has a good relationship with Oficiro Lee, even if all they are just "fuck buddies". You almost told her that watching the vid of them having sex, made you wet. Watching her mouth on him and, better yet, her legs spread as he licked her, made something that you would enjoy watching, if you just needed something to masturbate to. Heck you wouldn't have minded being a third in that one, sucking, licking, fingering, and riding both. But Lee really isn't your type. You prefer some of the farm colonists. 

Big, hairy, and in need of loving. Luckily while at the Pleasuredome, you indulged your fantasies for both men and women by having the cyberslut change gender and appearance a couple of times before you were fully satisfied.

In the galley, you put the ovoj in their storage bin. Then you touch the screen of the galley's vid and pull up a recipe search. Scanning through some old and unfamiliar ones, you found something called "egg salad". Supposedly it could be eaten on bread or "as-is". "If we have too many ovoj, I might make some 'egg salad' for the crew. But that is only if I get tired of having fresh ovoj to add to my other recipes first." You say as you exit the recipe search on the galley's main vid.

Kurgio comes into the galley and makes himself a cup of herbal tea. "How are you doing, Cookie?" he asks. "Should I make you a cup too, while I am at it?".

You shake your head. "No thanks. I am just wondering what I should start preparing for the next mango. We have lots of ovoj. More than I anticipated during this run."

His tea is ready. He lifts it to his face, smells the warm vapors, and takes a sip. "Mmmmm perfect." He sits down at the table, across from you. "Everyone is happy that you are able to cook with fresh ingredients instead of konservita. And it is better for us too."

"I know Doc, but after a while I am having flashbacks of being in the kitchen with my ma and grana, making things on an old solar stove. Being 8 or 9, and shown how to clean and butcher game. The wild game that my pa and granp had to trap or hunt in the hill country of a little rim world. Well, it's not a rim world anymore." you say sitting down almost lost in thought. 

"Weren't you part of a larger settlement? Or near a city?" he asks with genuine curiosity. 

You stand up, "Maybe I will have a cup of tea." you say as you grab a mug and drop in a couple of tea cubes. The steaming water causes the cubes to separate, and the compressed leaves mix with the water. You stir with a spoon to ensure that the cubes dissolve completely. Sitting back down you sip the steaming liquid. "Ma showed me how to grow, harvest, and dry our own herbs and spices. She would have been disappointed seeing me use cubes like 'those damn city folk'." 

Kurgio sips his herbal tea. "You never really talk about your past. But then again, no one here really does. Given your skills with organizing and computers, I always thought you went to one of the UGA Skill and Trade schools." 

You get a real far away look in your eyes as think back. "That's a good guess Doc. I must have been somewhere around 12 when the Uggos came and rounded up all of the "hill people". They came into the area, glassed all of the houses, and relocated everyone to the nearest city."

"Your family had been on one of the Charter worlds before the Uggos 'unified and civilized'? I was probably about the same age as you when my father taught me about 'Unification and Civilization. Light and Knowledge brought to the Darkness and Ignorance of the Rim.' My father was a surgeon at a central UGA hospital. He and my mother pushed me into medicine. They were so proud when I excelled at my studies and graduated near the top of my med-school class. But he was so angry at me when I told him I didn't like the Core and hated hospitals. 'What are you going to do, waste your talents on the rim, or worse become some quack ship's doctor?'." He drinks deeply from his mug and sets it down.

"I always figured you'd come from the Core." you comment as you take another sip. "But at least your parents enjoyed what they did. Before I was shipped off to the UGA school with other 'hill children', my family was moved into housing, given jobs, and my grans were given pensioj. I didn't see them for the next couple of jaros. When school thought we were 'civilized' enough and would return, we allowed to come home. I was shocked by the change in my parents. The joy and spirit were gone, but factory work'll do that to you." You drink deeply again.

The hot tea burns the back of your throat, but that is less painful than the memories.

Kurgio asks "What about your grandparents?"

You smile at that. "That is the only good part. My grans threw in with other's from the hills, and opened a restaurant. It was just a little place, but you had all of these old granas and granps cooking and serving food like they had in the hills. There were rumors that folks left the city and went poaching, or worse trapped meat within the city. But these olds had greenhouses, and used their valutos from their pensioj to buy what they needed. The Uggos tried to shut them down from time to time because of the wrong license or bad papers." and you finish your mug.

"Ah. Now that makes sense." Kurgio says as he gets up and washes his mug. "To keep the kitchens open, they needed paperwork that passed Uggo inspection. So how many of your classmates helped with this, or was it just you?" 

"Doc, you know I am a team player, so of course all of us "hill children" used our 'Skills and Trades' to make the necessary paperwork so our grans didn't have to worry. They kept their restaurant open, and we "kids" kept them off the Uggo screens." You get up and wash your cup too.

In a low tone, he says, "That explains your views on Uggos. I'm sorry what happened to your people." 

You respond in a louder tone, "Yeah, aren't we all. Well enough of that. What should I make for mango?"

"Is there something that your grana would make with all of these ovoj?" he asks with a smile.

"I really don't know, Doc. The only time we had an ovo was if we took it from a bird's nest. And she would use it in her baking or making fresh krespoj in a skillet. Don't worry. I'll think of something." you tell him.

By the time it's vespermango, you decide to make "flapjacks", a type of krespoj, but using an older recipe where ovoj is the main ingredient. You should already have jeleo and siropo in the pantry, as long as no one used it during sex.

As the ship gets closer to its destination, Navs asks to brief everyone while you are all seated around the table in the galley. "Helm and I have been looking at the vidis really closely. We might be in for a rough ride, as we try to put in planetside. There is an asteroid field just outside of its orbit, but it is a danger to ships. Apparently, we caught links and vids of folks who weren't prepared or were overconfident." 

Helm stands up next to her and rests his hand on her shoulder, "Skipper, we counted at least 4 husks of bigger transports that didn't make it. What makes it worse is they're a navigation issue for final approach. They're breaking up and spreading debris in orbit. Meko, I know you said our outer plates can take most of whatever we will find in the atmos, but this junk in orbit could cut us to ribbons if we time it wrong."

Skipper leans forward with her hands folded on the table. "Okay Folks. What's the plan? We have a hold full of livestock, and a client with valutos. What are our options?"

Navs grabs the main vid and touches the screen. "If we come on the pole side of the planet, we should be out of the path of the ships, but there are still objects in orbit near there. We can time it to minimize anything hitting us."

Skipper takes the vid and looks at the flight path. "Okay, what prep do we need? If there wasn't a danger, you would have just filed it and flown it, but you called us all together so what need to be done?"

Helm requests the vid. "May I Skipper?" Taking it, he enlarges a patch. "We said there was less debris, but there is still some. So, Meko, we need to be ready to patch anything that goes through the hull. Kurgio, we don't think there will be any casualties, but you should be ready. Cookie, we think you might have to be ready to do an emergency drop of the cargo hold. Are you comfortable piloting it, if we have to cut it loose?"

You exhale a slow breath for a moment. "We haven't had to disconnect the hold or use the hold engines for a long time. Will they even work?" 

Miko stands up excitedly, "Of course they will work. I keep every system on this ship ready to go. The cargo engines are part of the emergency systems. I check them as often as I check the escape boat."

"Ok. Skipper, how do you want us to play it?" Helm asks.

She leans back for a second. "I like the plan. How much time do we have before we hit atmos?" 

Navs clicks on the vidi showing eta of about 12 hours. "Thanks." says Skipper "Okay that gives us time to prep our sections. You mentioned positions for everyone, but me."

"You have two roles. 1. Be the floater who can help Meko or Kurgio as needed, and 2. make the call to blow the cargo connectors. Without the cargo hold, we are thinner and about a third smaller, which means.."

"Which means we are a smaller target entering atmos, and less mass to maneuver while making planetfall." She finishes. With a quick look around the table she asks, "Does anyone have any comments or thoughts?"

You notice a lot of silent, shaking heads. "I need to familiarize myself with the cargo engine controls again. It has been more than a jaro since I piloted anything." you say.

Skipper stands up. "Okay folks let's get things ready. If you need help prepping things, call out."

Everyone agrees and goes to their areas.

Down in the cargo hold, you open the small con. The vidis, panels, and controls are all dark. Flipping on the power, you see things come to life.

You sit in the small pilot's seat, noticing the safety belts. The belts and locks look secure and clean. "Meko, has been maintaining these." you think to yourself. The electronics and hydraulics are easy to maintain when you are doing the rest of the ship, but safety belts and security harnesses. No one remembers those unless you are working on the ship's safety systems. "I bet if I checked the escape boats, they would be ready too." you say aloud with a more confident feeling.

You pull up the cargo engine checklist on the vidi. Slowly you go through each item. You are glad you have time to do this. It is helping you remember your flight training, and it is reinforcing where everything is located and how it works.

You send a link up to the Con. "Hey, can I power up the cargo engines for a quick test?"

Helm responds, "Give me a minute. I will turn off main thrusters. Angle the cargo engines to act as auxiliary thrusters when I give you the word."

"Will do." you respond. You set the nav point to match the current heading, and set to 0% power.

"Hit it" he calls. You put power to all of the small maneuvering engines. You see all engines are live and ready. You add thrust to only the ones that won't change your heading. Slowly you increase the thrust in those until you get to 100%. "No warning lights, no issues. Ok, dropping thrust and turning it back to you." you announce, as you follow the checklist to return the engines to the "ready" status.

You glance at the time and check on the cargo. 

The animals seem nervous and restless. "That's crazy. They don't know what's going on." you say to yourself.

"They felt the cargo engines kick on." Skipper says from the walkway. "They might not know what's going on, but they know something different happened. Any problems or issues?"

"Nope. I was worried, but once I fired things up, it felt familiar. I'll be ready if we need." you say as you stroke the soft wooly fur of a safo. 

"I will let you do your checks on the cargo. Call if you need anything." she says as she leaves.

After checking all the pens and cages, you go back to the cargo Con and strap yourself into the seat. On the vidi you watch the ship's movement and link up to Helm, "Everything is ready in the cargo hold."

You hear a quick "Glad to hear it. We are almost there."

Then a ship wide link broadcasts, "Ok, everyone, we are almost to the planet. Cargo checked in. Let's hear from everyone else."

You listen in as Kurgio, Meko, Skipper, and Navs all say they are ready.

The artificial gravity and inertial dampeners prevent you from feeling changes to the ship's position, but you watch it on the screen as you head for the nearest pole of the planet.

The planet is ringed with orbiting debris, both natural and man-made. "Uggo engineers will have to come up with a plan to clear all of that before more colonists can land." you think.

Warning alarms sound through the ship as you hear and feel things hitting the outer plates. "Hang tight. We are going in. Skipper and Cookie, when I give the word, separate and drop. When you land turn on your beacon, and we'll find you."

"Got ya'" you respond.

"5….4…3…2…1…. Release." you hear.

Even strapped in you feel a change in movement as you are released and engage your own engines. 

You are entering atmos. You push your engines, so you control your entry. You don't want to be a tumbling cube, but to slow your momentum and your direction so you use gravity and not let it control you. You focus on your trajectory. You see why Helm wanted you released. You are over the lands the terraformers had already finished. You see plants, trees, lakes, and rivers. You aren't sure if things are safe, but they all look more hospitable than barren rocks and deserts. 

You look for a landing pad, or some place relatively flat to land.

Increasing the power to the engines, you slow your descent and use maneuvering thrusters direct you. There looks to be a grassy plain at the edge of hill country.

"If I put down there, I might be able to let the safoj and kaproj eat something that isn't hay and feed." mutter to yourself. Checking the readings, the atmos is high in oxygen, and nitrogen, with other elements. "Yep, the terraformers must have a couple of atmos processors if the air is already this pure. But I don't see them or any settlements."

You focus on landing and set it down as soft as you can. Clicking on the beacon, unstrapping, and getting to the cargo hold, you see that some of the animals are shaking and nervous. There are a number of broken ovoj and more manure than you remember.

You send out a link on the vidi. "Made it safely. Beacon is on. I'll try to send a link to the client." 

What bothers you is you don't see the Libereco on your vidi. They might be out of range or had comms problems. Heck you might not be transmitting. You slowly exhale a breath you didn't realize you were holding, then grab a water bottle from stores.

Using your minividi you call "This is Cookie from the Libereco. We have your livestock. We have turned on our beacon." But you aren't really sure that you are connected to anything. You don't hear or see a response.

"Well, lets just get some fresh air." you say as you drop the main ramp and open the airlocks. Warm fresh air rushes in, replacing the stale, smelly air of the hold.

You just sit down on the ramp and sip your water. 

Looking out over the grassy plain, you don't see anyone or any animals. But then again the ship would have scared away any wildlife.

Checking the area around the hold, the grass looks to be a type of prairie grass. "Ma and Grana would have probably known for sure." You say as you image with your minividi. The readings go into details about a terraform type of grass planted for livestock and other grazing animals.

Going up the ramp you start pulling out some of the unused pens and make a small corral. Then you move the kaproj and safoj into it. They appear to be happy to be on ground and able to eat fresh grass. You also take the kokidoj cages and move them into the fresh air. "Sorry, but I can't let you out of the cages. I can't have you running away on me." You then get = the manure off the cargo floor to the storage tank. It is a dirty job but never gets easier. 

"Halloo, are these your animals?" you hear a voice call up the ramp.

Turning around you see a person, might be a man or a woman. They are skinny with ill-fitting clothing and short cropped hair.

"Hi. No, these are for a client, so I am getting things ready for them." you say walking down the ramp.

"Oh. I was gonna see if I could buy or trade for a couple of them. I could use a kaproj and a couple of kokidoj." They say as they look at the animals in the pen.

"I am Cookie." you say as you get closer and extend your hand. 

They take it and shake it. "I'm Kris."

"I can't sell any of them. But If you need other things, I might see what I can do." you say. "Are you a freeholder or a part of a community?"

They shake their head. "I'm alone. I got a place up by the hills. There's game there and a small garden. The plan was for a group of us to stake our place and build it, but we encountered problems during planetfall."

"Would you like a water?" you ask. 

"Sure, I'd like that." they respond. You still aren't sure if they are male or female but out here it really doesn't matter.

"Follow me." you say as you lead them up the ramp. Pulling another bottle from the stores, you hand it to them. "Here you go."

They look around. "Do you have power tools and generators? All I have are hand tools. When the pods batteries died, I stopped using my minividi."

"Don't you have a mechanic or someone who can repair things?"

"Not tech. I am good with my hands, but I don't really have the skills for that." they say.

You slowly nod. "I understand. I grew up knowing a lot of people like that. Hard workers, and skilled in what they needed, but didn't know or like using tech."

You pick up your minividi and check for any responses.

"If you are waiting to hear from anyone, it might be a while. Links don't really send well. Something about the satellites were all destroyed, and the wrecks in orbit cause interference." They comment. "If you have a spare solar generator, and can help me, I might be able to have a stove and heat that isn't firewood."

"Give me a minute." you say. You know that Meko has a few back ups squirreled away. You pull out a collapsible panel, a converter, and a few cables. "I have these. What do you have to trade? If you aren't using tech, you don't have valutos." you say with a smirk.

"Oh, I have them on my minividi, I just can't transfer anything because no power. I have hides, herbs, and fresh veggies I can trade. We can go to my place, and you can pick what you want. I can help you get the animals back in the ship before we go."

"Why? Are there predators? Or folks who might come by and steal them?" you ask.

"No one who might steal them. I don't really see no one ever. But there're predators. This planet has its own lupoj, vulpoj and agloj. They might try to eat what's in the corral." They respond.

"Ok." you say as you start pulling the cages in first. It was harder to get the safoj and kaproj back into their pens in the hold, but luckily you had help. 

You raise the ramp and lock it.

They carry the panel and cables and you carry the converter. You check that you see the beacon on your minividi so you won't get lost. "Yes, the beacon is clear and visible." you think to yourself as you follow them.

You go from the flat plains to rolling hills. You don't really see any trails or paths, Kris seems to know where they are going. The hills have bushes and trees, and slowly you notice faint trails, probably made by animals.

"Not too much further." They say. 

Then on the next hill you see a rough-hewn cabin. The roofing is metal plating from a ship, but the rest of it looks to be hand made including a stone and clay chimney on the side.

"Home sweet home." they say.

You notice a large garden which looks to be watered by a series of small trenches.

"That is a nice garden. And I like your place." you say. 

"Thanks. As I said. I can do most things by myself, but having some tech from time to time would be a blessing." they say.

"So where is the pod?" you ask. 

They set the panel and cables down. "It's up that hill. Would you like some water before we go up?" They go inside and return with a couple of durasteel cups with cold water. You sniff the water, and it doesn't have a smell. Sipping it, it tastes fresh and cool.

"It's good water. Before the pod died, I did a scan of the water and soil. It's all good. The terraformers did a good job." They say as they drink deeply from their cup. "I fill things up from the local stream and catch and keep rainwater. It's not much but enough for my needs."

You remember your folks doing similar things when you were little. Filling up the cistern, using hoses, pipes, and ditches to bring water to the garden and home. You close your eyes and drink deeply. It even tastes similar.

You shake your head to clear away the memories. "Okay. Let's check out the pod."

At the top of the hill, you see a crashed landing pod. Larger than an escape boat, but not by much. It looks like it has been there for Jaros.

"Well, the good thing is that you get plenty of sun here so if we set the panels here, we can directly power the vidi of the pod. Or use its converter as a power relay."

After a bit of work you get things connected and working. Yeah, you were right, the date on the vidi shows that it crashed almost 4 jaros ago.

Running the cables from the pod, down the hill to the house you see where Kris is connecting them to outlets in the house.

"I thought you weren't really good with tech?" you comment.

"I'm not. But when I built this place, I left the possibility that I'd find a way to power a cooker and lights. So, I kept them."

Stepping inside you see a few lights strung along the open beam ceiling and a small cooker next to the fireplace. "This is nice and cozy." you say looking around.

They stand next to you holding up a dead minividi. "Hopefully its memory is good. Now I can plug it in and charge it."

"I should probably return to the hold." you say checking your minividi. You can still clearly see the beacon.

"No wait. It will be dark soon and you don't want to be out there. Lupoj here pretty big and might eat a lone person." They point to the large grey rug on the floor. It is a hide from an animal about two and a half meters long. "Besides, I can cook. It has been a long time since I shared a mango with anyone. Would you like some stufajo? The meat is a small local rodent and the veggies are all from my garden." 

You see where they had a large pot in the fireplace sitting on top of banked coals.

They take a couple of plasteel bowls and a smaller pot from a storage trunk. Using the ladle, they fill the pot and put it on the cooker. "This will be the first meal using the cooker since planetfall." they say.

In just a few minutes the stufajo is hot and smells good. Kris fills a bowl and hands it to you. There is a round, flat section of a tree that is used as a table, with a ship's chair and stool. "You should take the chair. You're my guest." they say, handing you a spoon. Kris sits across table from you. The food is good.

"It has been a while since I have eaten anyone's cooking. I'm the chef for our ship and make most of the meals." you say.

Looking out the wooden shuttered windows, you notice how dark it is once the sun goes down. The ceiling lights aren't bright, but they provide more than enough light. It is almost intimate.

"If you stayed here, I'd be happy to cook for you." Kris says.

"Have you really been alone all this time?" you ask.

They nod. "It isn't too bad. But there are times when I miss not having someone beside me."

Finishing your bowl, you stand up. "Where do I wash…"

"Oh I got that." they say as they quickly stand up taking the bowl from you.

Kris goes to the small basin near one of the windows. A pipe leads down from the roof with a faucet. They turn it on and wash water and a small cloth. You walk next to them. 

"I could have done that." you say grabbing a small towel. "Let me at least dry it."

When you take the bowl from them, Kris stops and almost blushes. "I have forgotten what it was like to have anyone around. I have been doing everything by myself for so long."

You nod and dry the bowl. "Okay. If I am not returning until daylight, where will I sleep?"

Kris dries their hands and walks over to a couple of curtained off areas. "Here is my bed. Would you like to share it? There is more than enough room for both of us. And here is the toilet and wash area." They say pointing to area with a composter toilet and a shower head connected to by pipes to the roof.

You take Kris's hand. "Thank you. I appreciate your hospitality. Let me clean up. Then we can talk a bit before bedtime."

They squeeze your hand and smile. "That's good. Do what you need, I'll clean up the mango."

After using the toilet and washing up, you check your minividi. No messages and not contact. The beacon is still on and visible so that much is working. You might as well relax and make the best of it.

"Do you drink tea?" Kris asks as they are heating up a small kettle.

"I do. What do you have?" you ask.

"I grow mint, and something like lavender. I dry and store them."

"Some mint, please." you say. She hands you a durasteel mug. Probably the same one from earlier.

"Be careful. It's hot. But now I don't have to worry about the fire being too hot and scorching the outside of the kettle. I forgot how much I missed using a cooker."

You sniff the mug. The strong smell of mint fills your nose. It is definitely hot, so you carefully sip it. Hot but good. So, you sit in the chair again.

As the night passes, you and Kris tell each other about your pasts. You have some similarities. Both of you grew up on rim worlds that changed during Unity. Both of you came from people who didn't want to live in the cities but were forced to. The biggest difference is you signed on to a ship and they were to be part of a freeholder settlement.

The colony ship was smashed by the asteroids right before planetfall. Kris doesn't know if anyone else got to the pods. Comms was out when the pod dropped and landed on autopilot. They tried to contact others before the pod died, but no one seems to have landed close. So, for jaros, Kris has been alone. Living off the land, the way their parents and grans wanted to.

Kris yawns and stretches. "I think we should go to bed." they say as they pull off their shirt and place it into a laundry basket. You notice they have a nice smooth chest and firm nipples. They notice you looking. "Oh. I'm sorry. I am so used to being alone, I didn't think. It's a good thing I didn't drop my trousers."

"No need to be embarrassed. I was just looking at your toned body. You lead a hard life and your body shows it."

"I wish my titties were full and round like yours. You're so pretty."

You just realized that Kris is a woman. You open your coveralls and lift your shirt. 

"Kris. Would you like to feel them?" you ask softly.

Nervously she comes closer. Her rough small hands extended and delicately touching around your nipples. 'Your titties are so soft and your skin so warm." she says looking straight at your nipples. They harden as you feel a tingle of excitement. 

You slowly caress her smaller firm breasts, "Your skin is soft here too. Have you ever been with a woman?"

She nods. "A long time ago. I haven't been with neither a man nor a woman in such a long time."

You take her hand and lead her to the bed. "Then let me fix that." you say as you kiss her mouth softly, then her nipples, as you undo her trousers and help her remove them. Her abs are firm and muscled from hard work. You kiss your way down and see her full dark bush. So soft and lovely. You have her lie on the bed and spread her legs. Kissing the inside of her thigh, you slowly kiss your way to her waiting pussy. The hair on her legs is dark and soft. Between sonic showers and the Uggo idea that "no body hair is beautiful and should be removed", it has been a while since you have seen such soft and beautiful body hair.

The skin of her inner thigh is soft yet firm from jaros of hard work. Slowly with the tip of your tongue, you lick up and down her wet lips. You can taste her excitement as you lick between her lips and around her clit.

"Mmmmm" she moans, biting her knuckle as you suck her clit. "Yes, that's so good."

"Much better than your fingers?" you comment, looking up at her face.

Nodding she reaches down to press your head tighter against her wet crotch.

"Help me, please, it has been so long." she says in a soft voice.

"My pleasure." you respond, gripping her thigh with one hand and working a wet finger in and out as you suck her clit harder. You feel her body tense and hold as pleasure washes through her.

She sits up, pulls your face to hers and kisses you. There is a hunger in her kiss.

"Let me lick you now." She says.

You stand up and finish stripping off your coveralls and underwear. She looks at you with such desire as she stands up kissing you again. "Lie down and let me explore your body, Cookie."

You do, noticing that the bed is simple frame with layers of fur for padding over web straps. A creative answer. As you lie down, she is on you, her thin frame between your legs and her hard nipples rubbing your soft round breasts. Kissing you again, she works her way down your body. Not as slowly as you would like, but you understand her desire to feel and taste as much of you as she can, as quickly as she can.

She sucks each nipple firmly, softly using her teeth, playfully. She is rewarded with each nipple hardening in her mouth. She looks like a baby suckling you for a moment. It feels good, but it's even better when she moves down to your damp pussy. You have a neatly trimmed patch which she softly kisses. Her tongue feels so good licking up and down your pussy lips. She grabs some of your pubic hair and lightly pulls as she sucks your clit. The mixture of suction and pressure feels great. Your orgasm is building too.

You feel a couple of rough fingers thrust into you. She finger-fucks you fast and hard as sucks and licks your clit. "I want you to orgasm for me. I want your body to pulse and throb because of me." she says with a determined tone.

One hand grabs the edge of the bed and the other pulls her hair as you feel your pleasure building. She works you so hard and fast. Your thighs tighten around her head as your orgasm moves though you. You are breathing harder as she crawls up your body and kisses you again, though this time you taste yourself on her mouth.

You shift various positions, some with you on top and then her.

After you are both fully satisfied you lie in each other's arms, feeling each other's hearts beating. You feel tired, but relaxed and drift off to sleep with her head on your ample chest.

You hear the beeping of your minividi.

Looking around, you see daylight thought the wooden shutters and look for your clothes on the floor. Your minividi is still in your pocket.

"Is everything alright?" Kris asks, still naked with only a blanket on her.

"This is Cookie." you say tapping the screen.

Navs' face looks back at you. "We found the hold, but where are you?"

Tapping the screen you see the ship located on the beacon. "I encountered a local who I helped last night. Give me a few minutes and I'll return to the ship." you say and click off your minividi.

"Do you really have to go? I was going to make you matenmango and some more tea."

You lean over and kiss her. "Unfortunately I need to go. I wish I could stay. Be a partner to you and live a life like my grans wanted. But my Skipper and crew need me, and I need them."

Getting up you grab your clothing from the floor. 

"Take a shower with me. I don't want to return you to your ship dirty." she says almost playfully.

You look up at the gravity shower, so similar to what you used as a child. "Okay. A quick shower and then I have to go."

She smiles, gets up, and pulls two towels and a wash cloth from a storage bin. You go over and stand under the shower head. She stands in front of you and pulls the chain, opening the valve. The water tank on the roof is cold in the morning air and the water feels almost icy. She releases the chain, the water stops and she lathers up the washcloth with soap. Quickly she washes your front and then back, rinsing you with the cold water. You take the washcloth from her and do the same. After a few minutes, you are both clean but cold. The towels feel good as your rub each other dry. 

Once you are both dressed, she offers to guide you back to your ship. You don't really need her to, because you can track the beacon, but you accept her offer.

The last thing she grabs is her minividi, which has recharged during the night. 

She looks at a few things. "Yes. It still connects to main system on the pod. I have tech again that work. I owe you for everything you did." she says.

Shaking your head. "You really don't owe me anything. You repaid me with food, shelter, and company. That is more precious than valutos or trade goods. Save them for another time, if you encounter someone. Now you have live tech, you'll put off a low signal for any to find if they're looking."

The walk back to your ship in the bright morning air feels faster than yesterday.

At the landing site you see both the Libereco and a local Atmos-hopper. The crew is loading the cages and animals into it. Skipper is talking with a man and receiving a chip. Putting it into her minividi, she nods, and shakes his hand.

"Is everything good to go Skipper?" you ask.

"It is, and who is your friend?" she asks looking at Kris.

"This is Kris. She needed a hand and she repaid me with kindness. She was going to make me matenmango but…. Hold on a minute." you say.

Running up the ramp, you head for the galley. Filling a basket with ovoj, you return.

"Kris, I don't know what you were going to make, but here. Now you have a working cooker, you might enjoy frying up, boiling, or poaching, some of these."

She takes the basket and hugs you. "It has been a while since I had ovoj, or at least ones from kokidoj." 

Skipper shakes her hand. "Thank you. Is there anything we can do for you before we leave planetside?"

"No. I think I have everything I need."

You hug and kiss her one last time and she heads back into the hills.

"Do you want to tell me what all that was about?" Skipper asks.

"Maybe later. How about I make some matenmango?" You reply.

"Gladly. If we hadn't found you. Meko was going to cook, and if his cooking is anything like his coffee…"

"You don't have to say it Skipper." As you walk up the ramp, you look across the plains towards the hills. "Maybe someday….Maybe someday." you whisper to yourself.