When I woke up it was already light and all three women in my current world were sitting outside. I rubbed the gunk out of my eyes and swayed outside, tired from the restless sleep.
'Morning..' I yawned.
'Well, you sound awake.' Tashee said and giggled.
'I feel like I haven't slept at all..' I muttered.
'But one part very awake now.' giggled Naylee.
I tried to clear my mind and looked puzzled at her.
'He always like that in morning?' she asked Wendy, who barked to affirm it.
I looked at Tashee, who held back a laugh as she pointed at my feet. I looked down at them and saw their view was blocked by the tent in my shorts.
'Oh crap!' I said and hurried down to the beach followed by laughs and barks. 'I'm just going for a morning run!'
By the time I had returned I was back to a more decent appearance. I even brought some fruit with me. Of course they smirked when they saw me.
'Even you?' I asked Wendy as I could just see it on her canine face, then sat down to eat the rest of the fruit Naylee had peeled for me the night before. 'I think I liked it better when I was hated..'
Tashee moved closer and leaned against me. 'Your fault for spoiling us.'
I noticed neither her nor Naylee were wearing their usual military outfit, and only the bras and shorts.
She saw my eyes glance quickly at her and Naylee's curves. 'You sure you like it better when we hate you?' she whispered in my ear and I cursed my second head trying to do the thinking for me.
I dropped my forehead on the low table. '..no..' I said meekly, experiencing the biggest defeat in my life, and it wasn't even in combat.
The mood had really turned around from before and Tashee and Naylee had really warmed up to me. I guess when they were able to let it all out it lifted a big burden off their shoulders. I wasn't used to getting flirted with and tried not to think of it as too serious. I didn't know if they could really get into me, but it was sometimes damned hard to restrain myself when I felt their soft tails moving against the back of my legs as we stood side by side, or along my lower back when we sat. At least Wendy joined me when I went to sleep and ensured I slept peacefully again.
***
Things stayed quiet for some days again and I was hard at work with fishing. Okay, maybe just holding the pole while a thread with bait and hook hung in the water. I had caught four fish so far and was ahead of the daily quota but I wanted one more since the others looked smaller than usual. I scooted over to make room for Naylee when she joined me and leaned against me. One more similarity with house cats when they like you. I wondered if I was saddled with two oversized cats who would be just as bad as normal cats.
I discarded the thought and enjoyed the sun and breeze together with her.
'What's that?' she said, squinting her eyes and looking into the distance.
I followed her gaze but didn't see anything.
'I see faint spot moving up and down.'
'Too far for me to see.' I said. 'Maybe a bird?'
'Looks erratic.' she said, then got up. 'Hang on.'
I heard her rummage through the bag with supplies they had salvaged from their craft before it crashed on the island. She came back with a small pair of binoculars and peered at the horizon.
'Anything?' I asked.
'I not think I like it..' she said, then handed me the binoculars.
I tried to find what she was looking at and found it, making my heart sink. It was a search drone from our military.
'Shit!' I said, not happy with the turn of events just when things began to feel good. 'One of our search drones. Probably found my pod. It'll be coming here soon.'
'What will be coming?' asked Tashee who came back with Wendy from collecting roots.
'Trouble.' I said, giving her the binoculars.
'One of yours?' she asked when she saw it.
'Yeah.'
She gave the binoculars to Naylee to keep an eye on it. 'Your chance to go home..' she said and smiled at me.
I knew her enough to hear the sadness in her voice and see it in her eyes. I felt absolutely the same.
'It'll probably fly back to a secure space before sending information about the find to central command, then wait for the next orders. I estimate we have a day to make ourselves scarce before it comes here to find our hut.' I said and racked my brain for the options we had.
'You don't want to find you?'
'Are you crazy?' I said, upending my backpack. 'Like hell am I going to leave you.' I looked up at her with a sudden feeling of insecurity. 'Or would you like me to leave..?'
She smiled at me and went down on her knees to hug me tight. 'Never..' she whispered and it got my heart racing.
I looked up at Naylee standing next to me. 'You made me believe you, you not getting away.'
I held up my hand and she held it tight while I smiled deviously at her. 'I'll use those words against you, you know?'
She nodded, smiled back at me and Wendy put her paws on my shoulders from behind and licked my cheek.
'This is my home and you're my family. I'm not going to let anything come in between.' I said and would never again have insecure feelings about them anymore.
'Can we destroy probe?' asked Tashee.
'Not without it seeing us, if we even can. It's extremely tough and can self destruct.' I said.
'And it attract even more attention.' said Naylee.
I nodded. 'Best chance is to make it think there are no survivors and keep hidden.'
'But then this makes evidence.' she said, pointing up at the roof.
'Exactly.'
'We have to make it think we died.' Tashee said.
'We?' I asked.
She nodded firmly. 'We. If it sees our crashed pod it looks for us too. So we show all of us died. Silth spies will probably hear and call off any search.'
I smiled at her. 'Then we all die together.'
'Together.' said Naylee.
'Together.' said Tashee and I promised myself I would court them seriously after this was over.
