Futanari Freighter Pt 04

Futanari Freighter 4

Carla had

partly

gotten used to her new sleeping arrangements. She was still looking forward to the day her original quarters were fixed, but she'd stopped mindlessly wandering to them only to discover them taped off, and thus reminded of her current situation. She'd been able to sleep a little better as well, and thankfully avoided any stints of weariness.

But Tana's frosty demeanour towards her, and general secretive behaviour, had made it difficult to really settle in. They'd not gotten any more receptive of Carla, and seemed to still resent her presence in their quarters.

Carla had opted to be as neutrally cordial as possible; polite and professional, saying hi and asking them simple requests, but avoiding small talk or making more friendly offers.

Tana had to come around on their own, as Carla had surmised early on, but... the time they were taking, with seemingly little change, was taking its toll on Carla. It was frustrating and grating, and Carla was starting to suspect Tana's contempt for the situation was self-feeding and not entirely logical.

With little she could do on that front, she spent much of her time with the other crew when not working, and finding quiet places away from her and Tana's cabin to do her study, to avoid the distraction of a frosty atmosphere.

It was far more pleasant and kept her stress quite manageable... especially when her crewmates stole her away for some 'quiet moments'.

She deigned not to overindulge, and it was working out for her. Still, she kept things reasonable in her eyes... she hadn't actually had sex with any of them, just kept things to outercourse and oral.

Truth be told, though she could suck on their dicks easily enough, something about them... intimidated her, when she thought about taking them inside.

Thankfully, the Zamaar seemed to

adore

outercourse and oral sex. Carla didn't feel like she was missing out or disappointing any of them, because the way they did things was as fun as actual sex, if not more so.

For Carla, that was one step at a time... even if she was already having casual non-intercourse sex on a semi-frequent basis.

One day, she was sat down in the cafeteria, and an old friend joined her.

"Utan, how are you?" she greeted. They smiled, leaning in to peck Carla on the lips in greetings of their own, Carla smiling herself; she'd gotten used to their greeting kisses.

"I've been just fine. Kinda bored, actually. Doesn't seem like there's much work to do. I even tried to offer my assistance getting your room back in order, but apparently all the people necessary were on it already."

"Bored, huh?"

"Yeah. Fooling around is fun, and Shadow knows I've fooled around a lot, but dammit, I want to

do

things too. I wanna feel like I'm actually helping out and doing something useful. And if not useful, I would

love

to be able to run. Can't keep a body like this looking so nice with just weights and stuff."

"Aren't their omnitreadmills in the gym?"

Utan gave Carla a sheepish look.

"I mean, yeah, but... that's not the same, you know? Even in VR. You can't run and jump and feel so free on something like that."

Carla did not take Utan for a parkour freak... but it made sense all the same.

"Yeah, I get you. I think I'll stick to the basics, personally. I don't feel I need to be so chiselled," Carla admitted.

"Hey, a bit of softness never hurt anyone~" Utan teased, making Carla blush slightly.

"I'm flattered," Carla answered with a coy smirk.

Utan laughed, and then sighed, reclining in their seat. They took a bite of the ration bar they had, and sipped on a drink in a bottle, before looking back to Carla.

"So how's things with Tana?" they asked. Carla's expression immediately dulled, and Utan cocked their head. "That bad, huh? Still?"

"They're not

as

testy as they have been, but I know they're still pissed over the whole thing. Even after they've been told to get over it. But, I don't think they're going to, not any time soon. They're stewing in their own frustrations, I'm sure of it."

"Sheesh, and I thought K'dai was broody," Utan casually remarked, Carla not terribly familiar with K'dai.

"Well, once I get my room back, I'll be able to get some space. And maybe then Tana will ease up once they get their

own

space back."

"Here's hoping. Don't need bad moods like that getting morale down, not on a ship like this. Speaking of which..." Utan trailed off, leaning close and smirking knowingly at Carla. "... how about we do some good for our own 'morale'~?"

Their suggestion was obvious, and Carla was sorely tempted, even after their little rant about wanting to do more than just 'fool around'.

But with impeccable timing, her tablet buzzed, and she pulled it out to find that she had a job lined up for her.

"I guess we'll have to put a rain check on that," Carla said, before glancing at Utan and smirking. "Unless you wanna help me out and find some time during a 'break'~"

"Something to do

and

alone time with my favourite human? Say no more~"

They both giggled, and rose from their seats, heading off to work.

---

Carla wiped her brow of sweat, grunting as she pulled on the hammer wrench to unscrew a failsafe bolt on a piece of machinery in one of the engineering bays.

It was part of the system that ran the plumbing and supplied everyone's hot water. It was also responsible for keeping its pressure up, and it was in need of inspection and testing.

The failsafe bolt was part of a redundancy system meant to keep pressure from catastrophically building and bursting somewhere else. Of course, even failsafes needed to be tested and inspected. But that didn't mean they were always

simple

or

cooperative

.

The bolt needed to withstand exceptional strain, but burst at just the right amount of excess pressure - it'd cause a mess in the immediate area, but at least things wouldn't burst or shake apart elsewhere, places where people actually were - so removing it, even when the pressure in the piece of machinery they were inspecting was at zero from being disabled for the duration of maintenance, was a pain in the ass.

Utan couldn't help because they were busy with their own bolt, the two of them groaning until, eventually, Utan had some give. Carla managed to loosen her bolt moments after, and eventually, they had the bolts removed. Now they were able to check the piping of both the pump and the emergency pressure release system.

"That is not the exercise I had in mind," Utan muttered, flicking on a head lamp to peer into the pipe, a scanning device in their left hand projecting a pale flat beam that swept across the interior, meant to highlight abnormalities or structural defects and weaknesses.

"See anything?" Carla asked.

Utan furrowed their alien brow, not answering immediately as they looked both directions.

"Mmmm, nothing out of the ordinary. Not much residue build up either. System hasn't been needed in a while. So, things should hopefully be good?"

"We'll need to run a test after all this," Carla said. They took turns checking the pipe, making sure they didn't miss anything. Once they and the scanner were satisfied, they returned the heavy duty cover to its position, and began the arduous task of affixing new failsafe bolts; the old ones were, well, old, and nearing their recommended lifespan, by a margin of a few months. So they figured they'd replace the bolts now.

It was only marginally easier putting the new bolts in place compared to removing the old ones, so Carla still worked up a fresh sweat. So did Utan, and Carla had flashbacks to that time in the vents... the first time she ever did something intimate with one of the Zamaar.

Unfortunately, Utan hadn't stripped out of their clothes this time, so Carla couldn't appreciate their curves glistening from perspiration.

The bolts were eventually in place, and Utan wiped their brow.

"Phew..." they breathed out, then muttered something in their own language. "That's all done. We should check the electrical system."

"On it," Carla answered, heading over to a nearby wall, a panel on its face covering the local circuits for the pressure system. She opened it up, and first gave a cursory glance over the wires neatly contained in brackets beneath their corresponding switches and status monitors. Everything

seemed

to be fine, but it paid to be careful.

"Alright, putting it to maintenance mode," she announced, flipping a switch that sent all the blinking green lights amber, indicating that power had been diverted, save for only a small flow to help detect faults.

Carla brought the scanner over and used it to check for any faults that weren't so noticeable to the naked eye or the integrated sensors. When she found none, she flipped the board to test mode. One by one the amber lights blinked blue, before going back to amber, each receiving a normal flow of power for a brief moment. Once all had cycled, they cycled again, the blue lights blinking three times rapidly to indicate they were now receiving 150% normal power.

They all cycled normally, no faults were detected, or abnormal fluctuations... nor did anything spark or pop, which was also a good indicator.

All that was left was to do the surge test; all of the cables would receive power at normal and 150% levels. If any of them burst... well, she'd be fine. She was wearing some protective glasses, so at worst, he face might get stung from some sparks.

"Alright, beginning surge test," she announced, and flicked the switch to initiate the surge.

There was a flash of light. Suddenly, she felt very hot. Her face and scalp stung. And about a millisecond or two later, she registered the white, sparking flames lashing at her face. She screamed and fell backwards in pain, clutching her face and rolling around on the floor.

"Carla!" Utan screamed out. Carla didn't respond much, clutching her face and whimpering. Things seemed to go quiet and muffled as she laid on the floor, the stinging pain not going away. She was idly aware of Utan pounding over, and blasting the burning electrical panel with a fire extinguisher. A cold fog also slowly blanketed her, alarms ringing out and the fire suppression systems activating.

She could feel herself crying, but she was terrified to see what had happened to her face.

"God, please, please, please, no,"

she pleaded in her mind as Utan hauled her to safety.

---

Carla sat on the examination table in the infirmary, her face covered in burn wound patches, but she was largely feeling sorry and embarrassed for herself, having reacted in such a way; the medic said she'd got off quite light, with a face looking more sunburned than seared by an electrical fire, with only a smattering of pits on her face that'd heal up fine. She just had to wear a transparent face mask lined with a special gel to help her skin heal up better every time she went to sleep. Fortunately, her hair got out of it intact, and her safety glasses had done their job admirably.

"I think I can say you're clear for now, but I'd like you to stay for a bit longer, if that's alright with you," the medic said.

Carla nodded her head.

"Good. I'll monitor your burns for an hour more. If things seem stable, you can go, though I'm prescribing rest until you're healed. Your face is going to hurt like hell for a little while when you don't have the relief gel on. Working like that is a dangerous distraction, so I'm marking you down as 'unfit for duties'."

The words stung Carla, even if she needed the rest. Being declared 'unfit' in any capacity felt disparaging and a little humiliating, but the doctor was only doing their job.

"For the record, can you tell me what was happening at the time of the accident?" they asked.

Carla shook her head.

"I don't know what to tell you. I did everything as the protocol said. I didn't deviate from procedure at all, the only thing that I think I could've done better was wearing a full mask... but the procedure said that shouldn't have been necessary."

The doctor gave Carla a sympathetic look.

"That procedure shouldn't have produced the flash fire it did. But I suppose freak accidents do occur."

"Then my luck is shit right now, that's the second flash fire that's affected me since I signed up," she muttered, sighing.

The doctor walked over to them. They had wild looking head spines and a bottom-heavy frame with curvy hips and glutes, though their bust was still pleasantly endowed.

Their eyes were a dark red, but despite that, they seemed to have a tiredness to them... no doubt from their job.

"Yes... I'm thankful you didn't get hurt when your cabin had that fire, even if most of it wasn't damaged. I'm not comfortable dealing with injuries," they said.

Carla gave them a quizzical look.

"Isn't that your job?" she queried.

"It is my

job

, yes, but that doesn't mean I enjoy seeing people get hurt. I like to keep people healthy, healing them from poor health just makes my heart ache."

The placid, almost bored expression of the doctor seemed at odds with their heart-felt concerns, though Carla was somewhat sympathetic for them.

"I understand... you'd rather everyone was healthy all the time," she surmised. The doctor nodded.

"For starters, it makes my job easier, but it's nice to see people living life, not having to sit life out because something unfortunate, especially if it was purely accidental. Alas, people can't be healthy all the time... that's just not going to happen."

The doctor shook their head.

"Forgive me, I'm rambling. Just remember to wear your gel mask overnight, and don't take those patches off; they'll let the gel permeate through to help heal your burns. Taking them off early will only hurt anyways."

Carla grimaced, but nodded in understanding.

"And what about showering?" she asked.

"They won't come off, they are designed to be submerged. Now, if you want, you can take a shower in the decontamination room when I'm done monitoring you, there are stalls for you to wash up in on the far wall."

The doctor then tapped away at their tablet, and Carla waited for the over to be over, lying on the table in silence save for answering the odd question.

When the hour was up, the doctor cleared their throat.

"You can take that shower now," they informed.

Carla nodded, and sat up. She slipped off the table, gathered her things, and made for the decontamination room. But before she could leave, she heard the doctor speak up.

"Please don't hold it against Utan," they implored, as if they were worried Carla would, for some reason, blame Utan for what happened. "I had to escort them out so I could treat you."

"Yes, I know," Carla stated; she hadn't exactly passed out, and her feelings of embarrassment were inflamed by how much Utan desperately wanted to stay close to make sure she was okay.

The doctor paused, and then nodded.

"Ah, right... anyhow, get yourself showered. It'll help you feel better. A gentle warmth, nothing too cold or hot."

Carla nodded, and then made her way to the decontamination room.

She hadn't stepped foot in here since she first boarded those weeks ago. She had a strange feeling, thinking about how she was back then. So much more reserved than she was now. Though in the grand scheme of things, it didn't take long for the Zamaar to crack her open at all.

She sighed, and found a bench to place her clothes on as she stripped, and opened up one of the shower cubicles; they were slightly more cluttered than the usual, as they also had upwards facing nozzles for washing eyes out, even though such things were present in the main infirmary.

There were more handrails and even buttons for emergency calls if someone had an accident in the shower.

And she quickly learned, when she turned on the taps, that the heat was capped anyways, unable to get that hot without an override, so it wasn't as warm as the usual showers.

That was fine by her, something more calming was just what she needed after what had happened.

She closed the door behind her, and rubbed herself down gently, wincing whenever her hands touched her face. The burns, though not that severe, were still tender.

Alone in the shower though, her thoughts were starting to wander, worrying about whatever potential accidents she might get caught up in. If things could go even more wrong.

She sighed, but the anxiety was starting to gnaw at her. She knew space work was hazardous, she had to accept that even if she got onto an exploration and research vessel. But these mishaps had left an impression.

Before she could spiral too deep into her thoughts, she heard a gentle knocking on the door panel for the cubicle.

"Carla? It's me, Doctor K'tah,"

they said. Carla realised it was the first time she actually heard their name spoken aloud. Everyone, including her, just seemed to call her doctor or doc.

Somehow, the knocking didn't startle Carla.

"What's up, Doctor?" she answered, continuing to rub herself down.

"Well, I... I don't want to seem too forward. Or unprofessional. Or offensive either, but I have a... proposition,"

they said, muffled by the door and the shower.

Carla paused, and looked at the door even though she couldn't see K'tah.

"A proposition?"

"Yes... well, you know what we're like. Us Zamaar. Intimacy is part of our lives. And that includes... well, the closest translation would be 'sexual healing', in human words."

Carla toned down the strength of the shower, making it easier to hear.

"Come again?"

"Sexual healing... gentle intimacy to help someone who is hurt recover. Pleasure that doesn't aggravate the injury or illness, as long as it's not contagious. It might not do much for the body. But for us, it does wonders to help soothe the emotional stress injury can incur. And I'm... offering to give the same to you. If you want it."

Carla felt... taken aback. She'd gotten used to the forwardness of the Zamaar, but in this context, it was rather surreal; she'd just had an accident that could've been a lot worse than it ended up, had just finished seeing the doctor for treatment, and now that same doctor was offering sex to help her?

It was all very bizarre, especially given how shy K'tah sounded, after knowing them as a more jaded-seeming individual.

But Carla found the idea to be... appealing. After what had happened, she felt like something to take her mind off things was worthwhile.

"Alright... just give me a bit to finish my shower, so I can be ready for you."

"We... don't have to wait, if you want. We can do it right now, in the shower. It might make it better as well."

Carla was a bit confounded again, but after some thought, couldn't really bring herself to say 'no' to the idea.

"Alright then... I'm waiting for you," she said.

There was a moment of quiet, and then the door to the stall opened; there was K'tah, standing nude and looking both shy and eager to slip inside.

Carla wasn't sure if what the doctor said had all been a clever excuse to fool around with Carla, but she didn't feel like caring at the moment, beckoning K'tah inside.

K'tah smiled, and slipped into the stall, closing the door behind them. In the cramped space, their bodies immediately pressed together, K'tah's frame quickly getting as wet and slick as Carla's, their bust brushing against Carla's.

But K'tah didn't immediately embrace Carla. Wordlessly, they cupped one of Carla's cheeks gently, a look of sympathy and care crossing K'tah's face. Carla winced a little, and that made K'tah's touch even more ginger than before, softly caressing Carla's cheeks, before they leaned in close to press their lips to Carla's.