Sholan Alliance

I am editing the first five chapters of this series since I noticed a number of mistakes when I read them recently. Once I have them edited and submitted this should clear up the chapter order so that it is easier to read. That was a major oops on my part and I still am not sure how I managed it. Oh well, go me.

I also had a volunteer editor, Captain Siren, review the first chapter in the Silver Moon series and she made some very good suggestions. With her help I am going to be revising all the chapters to remove some glaring inconsistencies. They will be posted as we smooth each chapter out.

The last thing I have to say is that there are only a few detailed sex scenes in this series as with my other stories. I find, this is a personal opinion, that having a sex scene in every chapter of a story gets boring after a while. I have come across some very good stories that keep getting broken up by one sex scene after another. That makes it hard for me to follow the plot line.

*

Since Sandi and Jenna moved into his spare bedroom he ended up with Satasha in his bed not that he minded. "If you prefer to sleep in your bed I understand. It is more comfortable than mine." It had some sort of memory foam that automatically adjusted to what was most comfortable for who was sleeping in it. "That and your shower has the air jets to get you dry." To be honest he was sort of thinking about them moving in there for privacy. He had enjoyed her last night and wouldn't object to more activity with her.

Satasha actually laughed and covered her mouth so her fangs didn't show. When she did Billy reached over and gently pulled her hand away. "I like your laugh and your teeth don't bother me." He leaned over and kissed her and slid his tongue in her mouth and let it roam over her teeth. "Actually to be honest you fascinate me Tasha and that is saying a bit since I haven't found a women who draws me like you are for many a year." He pulled back a bit and licked her short muzzle and then nibbled on an ear.

She tensed when he pulled her hand away from her mouth since she had been trying very hard to keep her sharp teeth from showing. When he kissed her and slid his tongue into her mouth she was more than startled and her tongue slid into his as well. They kissed for a while before he spoke and her ears went down in embarrassment. "Thank you Yilly that means a great deal to me." She looked down shyly and spoke. "You interest me as well and not just because you are an alien." When he licked her nose and then nibbled on an ear she leaned into it and could feel her core starting to warm up again. Last night had been sort of awkward since they didn't know each other's body but tonight she had a feeling that it was going to be different.

He could feel her reaction to both his licking her muzzle and nibbling on the ear. She almost seemed to melt and soften in his arms. "I see someone likes that huh?" He was still learning about what she wanted and it was different since she was an alien. "If you like or don't like what I am doing tell me. I will do the same. I want to please you as best possible." Tonight he was staying away from her tail, or the base of it till later. His hands started stroking her sides and back and he most definitely was enjoying the feel of her fur. "I think I might just start liking the feel of fur against me."

Satasha leaned into his nibbling and sighed. "You are learning Yilly and if we get to my Mother Ship you are going to find women competing for your attention." She slid on top of him and started running her fingers across his skin. "You are so different from what I am used to but yet you still draw me. I can feel your want and desire for me which feels really nice." She leaned over and kissed him again. "I know you lost your wife years ago and in no way am I trying to replace her but your need is drawing me." She started nibbling on his ears and neck as well and his hands stilled on her back for a moment.

The mood for him wasn't really ruined but the mention of his former wife did hurt and he had to close his eyes and a few tears leaked out. "I understand and I still miss her a great deal. I guess that is one reason I haven't done more than a few short term liaisons."

She scented the tears and started lightly licking his face to clean them off. "Sorry Yilly for touching on that subject." She felt bad but when his arms curled around her and pulled her close she sort of guessed that he needed comfort.

When she started licking his face he was a bit startled but went with it and pulled her close and more tears started flowing. "Sorry Tasha for ruining the mood but damn it I still miss her. She didn't mind my travelling boots and went with me to my duty stations till she was too pregnant to be comfortable or was too close to delivery." One hand came up and pulled her head to his neck and he leaned into hers. "You are a fine woman and I did enjoy last night. It is still hard for me to let go." He rolled on his side and curled up in her arms and really started crying. "Sorry."

She could feel the pent up loss and agony he was feeling and pulled him close. "It is okay Yilly. I understand and cry all you need." She could feel that he was a rather private person and had done his best to be strong for his girls as they grew. That wasn't mentioning hiding his feelings for Sandi as best possible. "I am here for you Yilly and anything you say will remain with me as far as your personal life." She was stroking his hair and back and felt him slowly start to relax and before she realized it he had slipped into sleep.

Sally didn't realize she had some abilities but had felt her father's distress and slipped out of her room and to his to find him sleeping in Satasha's arms. "Is he okay? I could hear him crying from my room." That wasn't a total lie but close. She moved closer to the bed and looked at her father. "Thank you for taking care of him."

Satasha held a finger to her muzzle for the girl to be quiet and then waved her over. She really didn't think that she had heard his crying since it had been mostly silent. When she sat down Satasha lightly grasped her hand and frowned slightly. "You realize you are an empath don't you? You are untrained but even I can tell that. I think your world might have more people with powers than you think." Billy was an example since he had an affinity for machines.

Sally pulled her hand back and looked away for a few moments. "I have known that for a while and it was hard learning to shield myself from others emotions." That was especially hard in high school. Now she had pretty much shut it down except with those she most cared for.

"You need training girl and when we get Yilly's ship fixed it might be a good idea for you to come with and we can teach you how to control it. It isn't a talent we normally have but shielding is shielding and you can use the training or you might end up a hermit." She was being serious when she said it.

Sally sort of stared at her. "I will consider it but I am doing okay right now. Just take care of my father." Her face hardened a bit. "If you hurt him it will be the last thing you do. I know he is hurting still and doesn't need any more pain in his life." She was being serious when she said that.

Satasha shook her head. "You are not doing okay and I can feel it but it is your choice. As far as your father he is a very nice man." She stroked his hair for a moment. "I have told him this and am going to tell you. We are not monogamous since Sholan females can control when we get pregnant. He understands. Mind you that doesn't mean I am going to just jump into the bed of any male or female but he needed to know."

Sally stared at her and with a nod left the room without saying anything else and went to her room. She had wanted him to find another lady who could accept who he was but a furry alien female? That simply hadn't crossed her mind for obvious reasons. She had to admit that Satasha was nice enough and her father seemed to like her but it was still outside her ideas of who he might want to date. She wasn't stupid and knew that he also had feelings for Sandi as well though they would never be returned. With a sigh she rolled into her bed and fell asleep.

Satasha curled around Billy and held him for a while before she fell asleep. Since she was so close to him physically she could feel his dreams and remembered his mate as he dreamed of her. Much of the dream was about her dying and his holding his youngest girl and crying as he held her. When she woke the next morning she felt sort of used and tired. It hadn't been a good night and she could tell the Billy hadn't slept well either.

She started stroking his hair and held him till he woke up. He looked a bit ragged and he curled into her. "God that sucked I hope I didn't disturb your sleep." He hadn't had that dream for a long time and every time he did it tore him up and he would have a bad day or two. "I think I am going to go and take a shower." He moved away from her and walked to the bathroom. His shoulders were slumped as he walked.

Satasha stood and followed him and once she heard the water start she stepped in the shower. She curled her arms around him and held him. "I can feel the love you still have for your former mate. I think she would be very proud of how you raised your girls." She was purring for all she was worth. "I haven't met your youngest girl but if she is anything like Sally she would be most proud of you." Satasha felt him tense up and moved back a bit and started rubbing his shoulders and giving them a light massage.

Damn it he hadn't wanted to cry but with her attention and the dreams he couldn't help it. Thankfully the tears were concealed by the shower though he was sure that Satasha knew. He finally stood up and grabbed the shampoo and started working it into his hair. He did his best to pretend he was fine. As he was doing that she was working on her fur as well. He finished before she did and turned and started working on her back and the down the back of her legs.

Satasha gave his shoulders a final light squeeze before starting to work on her fur. Eventually they were done and she started stripping the water out of her fur before toweling off. She missed the hot air jets in her shower and might convince him to sleep there if he wanted. The bed was more comfortable and the shower larger. She was enjoying having someone curled up next to her as well. "Well time for breakfast and then work."

He sort of grunted but toweled off and got dressed in his usual work clothing. "Yah, I am going to be picking your brain today or as much of it as you will allow. I don't expect you to give away anything really classified and if I get close to that sort of thing tell me." He paused for a moment. "If you want to teach me your language please do so. Just don't scramble my brain in the process. I rather like it the way it is."

Satasha was more than a bit startled when he told her that and nodded. "How about we take care of it this evening after we get some more work done?" She followed him to the kitchen and Sandi gave him a look and sighed.

"Bad night Billy? You look rough and here is some coffee for you and some herbal tea for you Satasha." She came over and gave him a good hug after putting the cups down. "Breakfast will be done shortly and then you can go and distract yourself with your ship and all the lovely things Satasha did to turn your brain on overtime."

Sally snorted. "Bout time he started working with his brain again. He is old and if he doesn't exercise it his brain might ossify." She had fun teasing him at times and felt that right now was a good time to tease him to distract him. Whatever she might think about Satasha it really felt like she would be good for him even if it was only short term. Billy needed to look forward and she felt that Satasha would help him to do that.

"Thanks Sandi. It is nice getting up to an already made cup of coffee." He returned the hug but didn't comment about the night. When Sally started to tease him he shook a fist at her. "Ossified my butt, I can still run circles around you with math and a few other subjects so be good or I might have to send you to bed without supper."

~~~

Eventually they made it back to his Ship and he pulled the VR screens back out and reviewed what he had done the day before and was pleased. Before he did anything he was going to have to review all the equations and take one of the old tubes lying around to use as a test bed. There was a place in town that might just work since they had an induction heating unit. It was something that would have to be done slowly since the whole tube wouldn't fit in it. They would have to feed the tube through at a very specific speed. That would depend on the thickness of the tubes as well as a number of other factors.

Over the next two weeks he polished his equations and though Satasha did review them she tried very hard not to give much away. She had already pushed the limits of what she should or shouldn't do and was likely to get in trouble. One thing she had done was to get her language implanted in his mind so that they could talk easier. She wasn't skilled enough to take his language but the translator was getting much better with the dialect they used.

To be honest in a way Billy bothered her. Some of the equations he was working out were above her but she could tell they were dealing with both the tubes and the engines. She had a feeling that if he managed to gain access to their equations the changes he could make would spread like shock waves. Eventually he was done and he nodded at the boards.

"Well now we find out if I am nuts or not and I am going to take an old set of tubes to town and see about them getting properly crystallized." He backed the flat bed he owned part way into the slip and using the crane moved the old tube onto the bed of the truck. "I will be back at some point. This is probably going to take some time."

He hopped out of the cab and walked over to Satasha and pulled her into a good hug and after a kiss and a light lick to her nose he spoke. "I am sure you can sense it but I have been greatly enjoying spending time with you. I might end up being home tomorrow when I get back. If so I am going to miss being in your bed and arms."

She returned the kiss and licked his nose as well. "I know Yilly and I can say much the same. When it comes time for me to go back to the Mother Ship I am going to greatly miss you." Satasha had a few ideas that would require talking to the senior staff. Billy would be a damn good addition to part of the first contact team.

Billy climbed back into the cab of the truck and pulled away from the slip and headed towards town. He had talked to the shop he was thinking of and they were rather curious as to what he wanted and how he was going to do whatever he was.

~~~

When he finally pulled up to the shop he backed up to the large doors and climbed out. He walked into the shop and called out. "Sue Anne where are ya? I would like to get started but I am going to need to change a few parameters on your induction unit."

When he called out she came out of the office. "Oh shush ya old coot. I was just getting ready for you." She was rather butch looking even though she had a husband and several kids. "I want to see the changes you want to make before anything happens."

He nodded and pulled out his VR glasses and waited for her to put hers on and he pulled up the equations. "Basically it needs to auto adjust as the tubes are being fed through it." He started explaining what it was going to happen.

"Oh god Billy just shush and go do what you need or my brain might explode." He had lost her after several lines. "I don't know why you run a tramp freighter when you could be doing important research." Everyone in town knew just how smart he was and why he had left the space navy but he could have worked for almost any think tank out there.

He gave her a grin. "A very nice lady described me as having traveling boots and she is right. I do love space and traveling around seeing new places." He turned the screen off and headed towards the induction heater. "Where is the control panel?"

Sue Anne narrowed her eyes. "Nice lady? Oh tell me more considering I haven't seen you with any females except for Sandi and Jenna and they don't count." She followed him to the heater and showed him the control panel.

Billy simply smiled. "She isn't from round here so it would be rather hard to introduce you to her." At the control panel he inserted a drive crystal in the reader and started typing in commands. It was obvious he knew what he was doing and shortly he was done. "Now to see if it works." They opened the door and he backed the truck in so the winch could reach it.

Once that was done he started the program that would run the tubes through. He had his VR glasses on and was set to scanning mode. He wanted to view the entire process and as needed make changes to his equations based on what he saw. "I can take it from here Sue Anne. This is going to take some time to accomplish."

She shook her head slightly when he told her the lady was elsewhere. Trying to push him for more information wouldn't have any use. Sue Anne did have to wonder why he was reheating that old drive tube but knowing him some wild idea popped into his head. When that happened the results were usually pretty interesting and it had made school rather interesting. "Okay Billy though I would like to know why you are running that old tube through the heater."

He contemplated how to answer that. "Well you know that I was down checked since a few of my tubes were starting to de-crystallize right? Well I guess an idea popped into my mind on a process to re-crystallize the tubes. By doing that it will extend the life of the tubes and reduce the overall cost of maintaining a ship." Since the glasses would be doing the scanning and storing the data he pulled out some of the VR boards and started reviewing the equations.

Sue Anne had to shake her head and headed back to the office. This was going to take a while and she had other things to do than watch Billy scribbling things so far above her head on the VR boards. In any case he had them set to private so she wouldn't be able to see them anyways.

By the time the tubes were done it was late and he had pretty much finished the equations for the changes to the engine he was thinking of. He wished he had an old junker ship to try them on first. Unfortunately he didn't and he was going to have to strongly consider the changes before he made them. Most of it was changes to the programming for the drive though it did include some firmware and hardware changes as well. The engine itself didn't need much changing at the moment. If the equations worked then there were some additional changes that would be needed for the most effective use of the changes he had been thinking about.

Eventually the tubes were done and he used the lift to place them back on the truck. Sue Anne had already left and told him to just close the door behind him when he was done. He pulled the truck out and hit the close button and made sure that it was closed and secured before he pulled away.

Once he was home he backed the truck up to the slip and turned it off. He wasn't going to bother with checking the tubes at the moment. He was tired and wanted to curl up with Satasha and pass out. He climbed out of the truck and after stretching he headed to the Ship and beeped for admittance. The door almost immediately opened and he slowly walked into the ship and to her room. He quickly stripped down and rolled into bed and snuggled up to her.

She wrapped her arms around him and sighed in contentment. "Glad you made it back." Her voice was a tired murmur and her whiskers tickled his face for a moment before she fell asleep again. Billy wasn't far behind her.