Pre-Flight Calculations

To say that Min Li was not in the mood for spy adventures. She had never stopped feeling just a little alien to the other members of the Hermes. In spite of the multinational crew and their often-professed loyalties first and foremost to the company, she still felt like an outsider, a foreigner.

Maybe, she thought, it was just the paranoia speaking. The spy fears that had so tormented her in Greenland started to return, and rarely a day went by that she didn’t feel it. SpaceY was about as far from aligned to China as she could imagine, so the paranoia made her feel crazy on top of all that, like she was overthinking it all.

“Maybe I am,” she said to nobody, stirring the food around on her plate. Ilsa Kellerman walked over to her and said hello, breaking her concentration on the self doubt.

“Hey Li,” she said warmly, brushing her long blonde hair from her face.

“Oh hey Ilsa,” she said with a smile, sit with me.”

“Will do, let me get some food. What’s on?”

“Some stir-fried veggies and some soup. Pumpkin I think.” Li watched Kellerman walk over to the steaming food and start scooping herself some soup. Li admired the German’s tight, fit form, and felt a little jealous that she hadn’t spent much time with Li and Alain lately.

“I got the soup, you didn’t seem to be um,” Kellerman said, indicating to her half-eaten stir fry, “enjoying it much.”

“Oh no, it’s good it’s just, I’m not very hungry.”

“Know what these meals need,” asked Kellerman, leaning in as if to say something scandalous, “meat!”

“Oh my god a bit of pork in that would have made the whole dish.”

“Know what I miss? My husband… excuse me, my ex… he would make tacos that were so good. Spicy, but not too much spice. Just right. A bit of cheese, some sour cream.”

“Cheese… Oh-Em-Gee Ilsa,” gushed Li. “I want some good cheese so bad.”

“Well you can’t have any,” came a harsh, grating, male voice. It belonged to Lyndon Carson.

“Lyndon, we know,” said Li, not hiding her annoyance.

“It’s a fantasy,” Kellerman explained, as if he’d never dreamt of food before.

“Fantasizing about animal products? That’s what you ladies do in your spare time,” he sighed with annoyance and left the kitchen.

“God he’s an arsehole,” said Kellerman softly when Carson was gone. Li giggled.

“He really is. Why? Why be like that?”

“His mother didn’t hug him enough Li, clearly,” Kellerman retorted with a chuckle. “Anyways, what do you have on today?”

“Oh landing prep actually. It’s only thirty sols from landing cycle so Alain and I are going to do pre-flights.”

“Are you going to be able to do a test flight before we hit orbit?”

“I think yes, but we’ll see how everything today is. I think Tara is nervous, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

“What about? Sabotage? Spies?”

“Probably both, but honestly, I don’t know why. It’s just the twelve of us. How could we sabotage ourselves? It’s silliness but whatever.”

“I think it’s to keep us busy to be honest.”

“What do you mean,” asked Li, curling her eyebrow to Kellerman.

“Well, like you said, we’re not going to self-sabotage, so who is this for? In basic training, there was always this rumor that there were cameras you see. They watched us all the time said the rumor, and the staff? They never said anything. Guess what?”

“No cameras?”

“Exactly,” no cameras, said Kellerman, jabbing her spoon towards Li. “They did this to keep us on our toes, I think. I know because I was a medic there for some time.”

“So you figure the whole thing is just more of an exercise?”

“Probably. If not I’m no spy catcher. I’m the medic, I’d treat you the same if you were the spy, so why bother worrying?”

“I’m NOT the spy,” Li said quickly.

“I… I’m sorry maybe my English, I don’t mean to suggest you are, just that…”

“I understand sorry, I think.” Li paused. “I think I worry because I am foreign…”

“We all are Li, except for the Americans I guess, but whatever, SpaceY is American too.” Kellerman leaned closer, and whispered, “maybe it’s Lyndon.”

“You’re right,” giggled Li, “it must be him.”

“There, now that’s solved,” Kellerman said with a laugh, “it’s time I get back to work. Not that anything is to be done, but Gaberiel… um, Dr Alphonse,” she trailed off.

“No worries Ilsa,” Li assured her, patting her hand gently. Kellerman smiled warmly.

“I will talk to you later, yes?”

“Of course,” Li said, her hand still on hers. Kellerman rose slowly, dropped off her tray, and headed down the hallway, glancing back at Li with a flirty smile as she left.

Li was conflicted. She was genuinely happy her friend seemed to have someone in her life, though she’d never actually said so. Still, the time she and Alain had spent together had been some of the most erotic in her life and she wanted more.

Eric Alain soon joined her, and the two started to talk shop. The pre-flights were of course on both their minds. They headed to the Hermes and together worked together with an air of disciplined professionalism.

“Who do you think the first tourists will be,” asked Alain as they left for the day.

“Oh, I don’t… I never thought about that actually,” Li said honestly. Nothing had been further from her mind up to that point. She felt like this twelve people would be everybody forever.

“Well I think terraforming scientists will be our first visitors,” explained Alain, who had clearly been thinking about this for some time. “Pay for research before their own projects you understand?”

“Yeah, that makes sense. What about SpaceY?”

“Probably none.”

“Why,” she asked, suddenly confused. That company had placed tourism in the forefront of their work up to now.

“Something isn’t adding up with their claims. You know, like their launch weight vs what they claim to be carrying. Something is off, I did the math yesterday.”

“What do you think that means?”

“Probably,” he said softly, “it means they’re not well supplied. Spare parts, food, backup systems. That would be my guess. That billionaire tool isn’t much of a planner and I just wonder.”

“Have you told Tara,” Asked Li, that fear of espionage welling up inside her like a cold ball in the pit of her stomach. “It’s just… she’s so worried and if you’re running their math…”

“I’m not running their math, just napkin math,” he said quickly.

“No I know but I mean, she’s paranoid. If she found out another way, she’d be furious I bet.” Li watched Alain think about it for a moment, then he sighed loudly.

“You’re probably right, I should. It’s just…. Not official or anything but if she wants to know, maybe it’s a good idea,” he said, Li nodding along with him. “Do you want to come along?”

“To Tara’s? No I need a shower. The spy stuff is… well I want nothing to do with it you understand,” she explained, and Alain nodded. “Besides, I need a shower.”

The two walked back to Li’s room. There they stopped, and Li gave Alain a long, deep kiss.

“I’ll see you tonight,” she said softly, between kisses. “Come to my room later.” Alain smiled knowingly, and the two parted ways.

Li gathered her shower things and some clean clothes and headed down the cold hallway to the communal showers. She undressed and claimed the shower stall closest to the door. She loved the sensation of the water running over her body, albeit colder than she would have liked. She slid her hand down her tight midriff and grazed the smoothness of her sex. She thought about Alain, and how much she wanted him, when she heard the door open. She hastily resumed lathering the rest of her body. She heard voices over noise of the water. Li peeked a little out of the curtain and saw Hans Hermann and Pamala Sheldon.

Hermann went into the shower first, and when he had, Li emerged. She felt Sheldon’s eyes on her naked body, and Li started to think here was another that, were she not in a couple, she’d happily invite to join her an Alain.

“Hey Li,” she said softly, stripping off her underwear and bra, still looking at Li.

“Hi,” Li said, equally softly. She picked up her towel and started to dry off, but found herself watching as Sheldon, still looking at Li, padded softly into the shower stall with Hermann. Li watched as Sheldon stepped in and closed the curtains, but not enough to cover what she was doing, then she dropped gracefully to her knees in front of Hermann.

Li tried to finish dressing, but stopped, captivated by what she was watching, what Sheldon was sharing. Li could see Hermann’s pelvis, legs, and still soft penis through the half-open curtain. Sheldon took him in her mouth, and Li watched as Hermann got hard between Sheldon’s lips. Hermann elicited a loud groan.

“Such a good slut,” he murmured, his hand on Sheldon’s head, gripping her wet red hair in his fist. “Yeah, suck my cock.”

Sheldon, started bobbing fast on him, once or twice gagging when he pushed his cock deep into her throat. It was rough and hot. Saliva dribbled down from Sheldon’s lips as Hermann thrust into her mouth harder and harder until she pulled herself off, a string of pre-cum on her lips

“Cum on my face,” gasped Sheldon, jerking him while with teasing his balls with his tongue. “Cum on my slutty face baby. I want your cum baby.”

Hermann needed no invite. He started jacking his cock while Sheldon teased the tip with her tongue, her eyes firmly on Li. Hermann started to groan loudly and Li watched him ejaculate rope after rope of cum all over Sheldon’s face, and into her open mouth. Then he grabbed her head and, still orgasming, pushed his cock into her mouth. She gagged a little, and cum leaked from between her lips. Her face, even in the water of the shower was a cum-covered mess. She licked her man clean, never taking her eyes of Li. Then she stood, and after giving the tiniest kiss gesture with her messy lips, closed the curtain.

Li hurriedly finished dressing and headed quickly back to her room, her fresh panties soaked, hoping Alain would be waiting for her already.