The two women finished their shower and exited the cubicle. The act of taking separate towels and drying off distanced them from the intimacy they had just shared in the shower. They had washed off all evidence of the carnage that took place on the planet below. Now, barely over an Earth-day later, Daniels, the new Captain of the USCSS Covenant, and the only surviving member of the expedition's security team, Rosenthal were ready for their next trial.
The ship's artificial intelligence, known as MUTHUR, had enacted Enhanced Quarantine Protocols due to several landing party members being contaminated with an unknown contagion that eventually burst out of them in the form of nasty Alien creatures. To make matters worse, these aliens and others who had been attracted by the commotion around the landing site, had attacked and killed most of the party. Only Daniels, Rosenthal, Adams and their synthetic Walter had returned to the Covenant. The only two losing consciousness on the planet and thereby at risk for having been impregnated by the face-huggers they encountered throughout the fight, Rosenthal and Daniels were being put through EQPs before they could return to the rest of the ship and the precious thousands of colonists and embryos.
After their preparation and subsequent showers, Walter had left them to continue the operations of the ship. This left the women wrapped in towels facing the open hatch that MUTHUR had opened for them to enter the next phase of EQP. Neither of them wanted to go. They knew however that for the safety of the colony mission based upon events on the planet, MUTHUR would not let them out of quarantine if they did not submit to the established procedures. Carrying the bottle of spirits and cups that Walter knowing the unpleasantry they faced had brought to them, the two walked into the waiting chamber.
This room was gently lit and pleasantly warm like the last. The builders of the vessel had likely known that anyone using this room would likely be in distress already so they did not want to add to this with a stark atmosphere. There were a variety of cabinets throughout the room with orderly labels. In the center of the room were two chairs about two meters apart. Soft light shown down on each of the chairs, but diluted, not in a way to be troubling to future occupants. The chairs appeared to recline and articulate in a variety of ways; they were clearly more than a simple place to sit. Access points in the ceiling above each of the chairs indicated that various automated or if available, human physician-operated equipment, could descend. Fold-away trays were innocently stowed down and behind the chairs, but appeared as if they could readily move into position to support whatever happened there.
"Ladies, please move to the chairs and be seated when you are ready to be scanned. Place your towels in the bins nearby as nothing can interfere with your scanning process" MUTHUR intoned blankly. Neither woman considered arguing with the AI as doing so prior to their reluctant enemas in the previous room had been for naught. They walked into the room and over to the chairs, eyes running over them, wondering what was in-store.
Daniels was nervous, knowing the impact of her previous treatment by the AI left her biting her fist hoping not to be heard while she had an intense orgasm shortly after her previous invasion by MUTHUR. Rosenthal seemed stoic about the whole matter, having been extremely upset prior to her forced enema in the other room, but now acquiesced to her lack of control of the situation. She'd also been probed in a way that just thinking about made her blush. She had a hard time making eye contact now with Dani as she'd witnessed the whole thing.
Each picking a chair, they both sat on the side, not fully committing to sitting in the way the chair was designed. Facing each other, they smiled plaintively. Daniels remembering the beverage, handed Rosenthal a glass. Pouring some for her friend, then for herself, she set the bottle down. The quietly drank a significant glass of the whiskey, Daniels' tearing up as she remembered the last time she'd tasted this whiskey. They both drank it down, steeling themselves for whatever was to come. Sighing, grabbing the bottle and pouring them both another shot, she raised her cup. Making no noise as the plastic cups 'clinked' in toast, the women toasted.
"To being done with this" Daniels toasted and both women drank the shot. Rosenthal reached out and took Daniels' hand as the warmth spread through them.
"Thank you for helping me through this. I can fight tangible threats, but this kind of thing makes me feel like a helpless."
"It's cool Rosie, I'm barely hanging on myself right now" Daniels admitted to her.
"I heard something while I was still on the table...something from when you were in the toilet cubicle..." Rosenthal voiced hesitantly.
A long time passed with Daniels eyes downcast, not wanting to look at her friend.
"My husband and I used to do a lot of things back there" she said as she blushed. "The first time, he just rolled me over and gently did it. I wasn't too wild about it that time, but it wasn't terrible. The next time was ok too. The third time...the third time was crazy. He worked me up so much...almost as soon as he slid it in I think the neighbors might have heard me. I was hooked. We were both in college and couldn't risk getting pregnant so this was a great way to do it with no protection, inhibitions, or whatever. He came in my ass while I got off on him and everyone was happy. We hadn't done it since we left the Station, just doing it the regular way before we went into cryo-sleep. So when the probe did what it did...you know, I reacted. I miss him so much!"
Sobs shook Daniels as Rosenthal crossed the distance and hugged her. Sobs wracked her as Rosenthal tucked her face into her shoulder and held her close. Time stood still while Rosenthal rubbed her back, Daniels letting all out. Tears began to run down Rosenthal's cheeks as well. She hadn't lost a husband, but she'd lost a lot of friends in the last solar day. Daniels eventually heard her friend sniff and reached up, hugging her back. She rocked her standing friend slowly back and forth, both of their sorrow beginning to be deadened by the spreading warmth of the alcohol. Time passed with much back rubbing and gentle squeezes of two women who'd lost friends and bested a ferocious enemy on the planet below. The tears stopped eventually, both lost in their private thoughts and imaginations of what the future held beyond the next unthinkable event. Rosenthal the strong one now, she leaned down and tilted Daniels' face upward, looking into each other's eyes.
"We can do this. Whatever's going to happen, you fucking know we've been through worse" she said with finality while Daniels nodded in agreement.
Daniels' eyes opened in surprise as Rosenthal leaned down and kissed her firmly.
"Rosie..."
"Shhhhhh I don't know what I'm doing, don't be mad at me" as she looked away in embarrassment. Rosenthal turned away, going over to her table, dropping her towel in the bin and sitting down correctly, "MUTHUR we're ready."
Still staring in confusion, Daniels watched as her friend boldly faced what was next. Standing up, she also dropped her towel into the bin and sat down.
