"Incoming request for Rendezvous," the ships AI reported in an emotionless, atonal voice.
Jania's eyes barely flickered from the neutrino density scanner she had been monitoring for over an hour. Being 15th generation Rock Rat gave her an extremely tall, seemingly stretched, seven foot five body that at the moment was hanging motionless in the microgravity. The interior of the ship was 25 degrees Celsius, the dim red lighting keep to a bare minimum with the background throb of the power systems and constant susurration of air circulation creating a warm, comforting womb for her. She could feel the warm breath of air brushing over her naked skin, only bothering with underwear at all when necessity occasionally demand, which today it hadn't.
"Identification and location," Jania said in a soft, furry contralto.
"Ships transponder is the Baychimo, standard build asteroid extractor, distance point four light seconds out Sol, current radian plus two with a declination of thirty five degrees."
Jania continued to float, her eyes scanning the monitor looking for any tell tale signs of heavy metals, minerals, or water from the asteroid her ship was drifting alongside at a range of only one hundred kilometers. She considered the unknown ship some one hundred thousand kilometers away, her body motionless, her exposed nipples quickly swelling and hardening.
That motionless had been drilled into her almost from birth, the danger of a flailing hand or inattentive foot inadvertently striking a control surface a real danger, but there were other behaviors, other responses that were harder to train out of someone.
It had been four years since the previous Meet when scores of Rock Rats had come together at a common locus to trade and swap resources, materials, stories, pleasures and even crew if couples, triples or quads had been willing. It had been almost a year and a half since she had last agreed to a Rendezvous.
The long separation from other human contact wasn't unusual, anyone who couldn't handle the isolation didn't survive as a Rock Rat for very long, but the desire, the need... the ache to fill a void was still there.
Jania could feel the warmth spreading through her that had nothing at all to do with the ship's interior temperature. Could feel the moisture between her thighs building along with the tingle of anticipation.
"Accept," Jania replied.
She wasn't sure who the pilot of that distant ship was, only that it was a fellow Rock Rat. If the pilot had been in distress, a different priority signal would have been sent, but the request for Rendezvous held a different priority. And yet Jania still didn't move a muscle, letting the pleasure simmer and build while her mind wandered about who her visitor might be, what he... or she... or even possibly they might look like.
As intertangled as the Rock Rat's families were it was a guarantee that the she and the pilot would be related, almost certainly second or third cousins by some convoluted and twisted branching of a family tree that more resembled a ball of twine. She didn't recognize the ships name so she doubted very much the pilot would be a first cousin or one of her many brothers and sisters but would still honor the long standing traditions of Rendezvous even then.
"Baychimo has accepted and begun acceleration, turn over in two hours and approximate time to arrival and docking four hours and fifty minutes."
"Understood," Jaina said softly, her eyes still watching the scanner while her body responded to the anticipation of the unknown.
After an hour she could smell her musky scent filling the small space of the cabin, her inner thighs wet without her ever touching herself. The only release she allowed herself was the occasional squeezing of her Kegels, the ache and moisture only building. As the smell filled the ship there was never even the thought of using the fresher, of greeting her unknown caller with anything other than the natural, heady aroma of her excitement. The only outward indication of that excitement besides her bodies natural response was an occasional glance at the system plot, the Baychimo slowly and steadily tracking closer.
When the Baychimo had reached a distance of less than a tenth of a light second, the lag in communication wouldn't even have been noticeable, but still Jaina refused to call. The rules for Rendezvous demanded noting less, to wait until a visitor came aboard the accepting ship for her to see who she had invited on board... had invited within.
"Standard carbonaceous type C," Jaina said softly several hours later, "Water content is less than point zero zero five percent. Tag with a transponder and transmit orbital elements for database upload, this one isn't worth the time."
"Transponder... launched..." the ships AI said accompanied by a dull thump, "Orbital elements have been transmitted to Vesta City for upload."
Jania let her gaze switch from the neutrino monitor to the system plot, the Baychimo now only a little over an hour out. She had to focus on her Vipassana meditations to calm herself, her attention focusing inward on her breathing, her heartbeat, as well as the building ache in her nipples and between her thighs.
Her meditations were much harder with that constant aching, throbbing burn.
"Ship to ship AI established," the ships atonal voice said an hour later, "Coordination for docking maneuvers will commence in sixty seconds."
Jania reached out slowly and calmly to grip a grab bar set in a nearby surface, the idea of up and down, ceiling and floor meaningless. She used torsion through her arm to swing her body until her long, dexterous, flexible toes just as long as her fingers were able to grip a second bar on the opposite wall. Acceleration bursts began to pull and shove at her body while she held herself in place, the two ships gently matching trajectories, moving closer... mating...
"Contact in... three... two... one..."
There was a distant clang transmitted through the metal of the ship as well as a sudden, slight jolt that Jania was able to easily correct for.
"Docking complete."
Jania used her hands and feet to spin herself towards the aft of her ship and then with a tug sent herself gliding towards the companionway. In moments she was coasting down the long two meter diameter tube that ran the length of the ship and only brought herself to a stop when she reached the airlock for the ship to ship docking collar. She reached out, troubled by the fact that she could see her fingers trembling and triggered the locking mechanism from a bright red 'LOCKED' to a blue 'UNLOCKED' and waited.
Jania tried to concentrate on her Vipassana meditations, to calm her racing heart and rapid breathing, the fire burning in her veins making it much more difficult than it had ever been.
The rules of Rendezvous were simple and once Rendezvous had been accepted unbreakable. She would gladly welcome whomever came through into her ship, man or woman, welcome them with shared pleasures, welcome them willingly into her body...
And yet she knew without any question what her body craved, what she hoped to see come through that hatch, knew what she wanted to welcome aboard and welcome into her aching, throbbing core.
The digital display shifted from 'ULOCKED' to 'CYCLING', Jania's breath catching in her throat as she literally held her breath, her inner thighs noticeably damp.
The airlock finished cycling and with a dull thud unlocked and slowly swung inward, Jania's eyes opening wide in astonishment.
"Jania!" a woman just as tall and slender as Jania but with a very noticeable bulge around her midsection exclaimed and then pushed herself off to cannonball into Jania, her long arms and legs wrapping around her.
"Gia?" Jania gasped and returned her sisters tight embrace while glancing behind her and into the airlock at the man who was even taller than either of the women pushed his way through.
"Jania, how long has it been?" Gia asked and then kissed Jania on the lips before pulling away and gesturing towards the smiling man who was holding himself motionless while floating a few feet away, "This is Well, master of the Baychimo.
"He asked Mother and Father to take me aboard after a Rendezvous six months ago, and they accepted!"
"Gia!" Jania said in delight and placed a hand on the swell of Gia's stomach, "You're with child!"
"Yes!" Gia squealed happily and then pulled Jania's face in for another long, lingering kiss, their tongues gliding and twisting against each other before pulling away, "When I saw the 'Sun's Breath' on the plot I knew it was you and begged Well for a Rendezvous!"
Jania's eyes widened at the slight breach in the 'rules', it being unusual for anyone to know who the person they were meeting for a Rendezvous was beforehand and glanced at Well who smiled.
"After all the stories of you two pulling each other's hair and pinching each other's toes and nipples I wasn't sure what mischief she had in mind, but she didn't have to try to convince me to hard," Well said in a deep tenor that sent a shiver down Jania's back.
Gia reached out a foot, her long, dexterous toes interlacing with Well's fingers for her to pull the three of them together, unearthly long legs and arms entwining to wrap them in a tangled ball.
"I welcome you aboard the Sun's Breath with gladness and shared pleasure," Jania said breathlessly while Gia grinned from ear to ear, the ritual acceptance of Rendezvous seeming to be harder to speak this time for some reason.
"Oh, just you wait until you 'welcome him'!" Gia said gleefully, "Just be sure that the bastard doesn't leave anything behind!"
Gia patted her very pregnant belly while Jania glanced from her baby bump up to catch Well's dark brown eyes smiling back at her.
"Unless you choose to accept my gift," Well purred and leaned in to kiss Jania, her mouth opening to accept his probing tongue for several long moments before he pulled away, "I have it on very good authority from Vesta City Genitics that Gia and I shall make a fine, healthy young Rock Rat together... I'm sure that you and I would make one just as fine!"
"Hey!" Gia said and lightly hit Well on the arm, "Our little one will obviously be better!"
Gia gave Jania a wink as she said that and then grinned and leaned in to kiss Jania just as enthusiastically as Well had.
"But I'm sure you and Well's would be a very close second!"
"Gia!" Jania gasped and then leaned in to kiss Well and then Gia in quick succession.
As soon as their kiss broke apart Well took a long, indrawn breath through his nose and smiled at Jania.
"She smells delicious, doesn't she," Gia whispered and then bit her lower lip.
"She does," Well agreed with his eyes never leaving Jania's, "You've had the Sun's Breath for many years for your smell to sink so deeply into her very fabric."
