Author's note: Here's chapter nine. I rushed this one a little, but since I'll be gone for a time I thought I would go ahead and post it. I'll try to get more up as soon as I can. However, it may be a week before I am able to do anymore with the story. It is possible that I will not be able to post again before the first week of August.
To everyone leaving comments or sending messages – Many thanks. To a particular "Old Fart" Marine – For your service and for your encouraging words: Thank you, Sir.
"Sergeant," M'pel E'kmel said, stepping around the abatis with a deq'istle slung on her shoulder. The brightening grey sky to the east announced the coming dawn and the two younger jZav'Etch were awake. She and Liam were off watch. "I need a bath. Will you accompany me? We can speak of the route and the camps we will need to make while I get clean."
"So you're going to ask me to talk business while you splash around naked," he said flatly and sighed. "Don't even try to make it easy on a guy, do you?"
"I am merely trying to make the best use of our time," she said, sounding perfectly reasonable. "I can't help it if your mind is always preoccupied with sex, can I?"
"I'll give you another cup of coffee if you take Clotilda with you instead of me," he said, only half serious.
"A good offer," M'pel E'kmel replied with a smirk and that ever-ready twinkle in her eyes. "Very tempting. Unfortunately..."
"I'll make it two coffees and throw in one of my tuna salad meals," he pressed, trying to keep from smiling.
M'pel E'kmel debated in earnest for a couple of heartbeats. She could accept, benefitting at least as far as getting the coffee. She did not know what tuna salad was, but it sounded dreadful. If he had offered some sort of fish she might have actually accepted, but there was real business to take care of, even if she was planning to tease the hell out of him.
"I'm sorry, Sergeant," she said finally. "We really do need to discuss this and there is much work to do before either of us can get to sleep. If it makes you less uncomfortable you may turn your back while I bathe. I will also promise to remain up to my neck in the water until I am done."
"Didn't think you'd go for it," he grumbled good-naturedly and picked up the fero-plas rifle.
M'pel E'kmel had only minor difficulty climbing the hill. Her stretching routine had done much to remedy the aches and pains of her body and she felt very refreshed. The early morning air was so clean, lacking the humidity that would come with mid-morning, it made her wish she was up to taking a run.
"This is my first visit to the stream," she said by way of making conversation. "So difficult to wash properly with only the water from the jugs. Sitting there in the sunlight, letting the water splash down over my bosom and shoulders, it's so wasteful, don't you agree? And I am sure you and Clot'ilda will be glad to make fewer trips to collect water for us."
"Yeah, we've been running our legs off," he said and glanced at her. "Commander, I know you're going to tease me and make a lot of innocent innuendos. Is it still going to be fun for you?"
"You are such a water blanket," she snorted.
"I think you mean wet blanket," he chuckled.
"Oh?" she asked. "Are they not the same thing?"
"No," he chuckled again. "A water blanket is what we call a fire suppressing liquid shield built into an ammunition storage bay. A wet blank is slang for a person that takes the fun out of a joke or a good time."
"Not so very different when it comes down to it," she observed. Liam eyed her quizzically. "Face it, Sergeant, both make an interesting situation less spectacular."
He snorted and gave her a wry smirk. She smiled back and suddenly they were both laughing.
"So are you still going to tease me?" he asked as they crested the hill.
"Every chance I get," she purred and started down the slope towards the stream, her tail twitching.
Liam followed her, switching his passive sensors to active and inspecting the area around their bathing spot. He picked up a large number of small animals nearby, but nothing that worried him. Off some hundred meters to the west was a very large creature, hidden from view by the undergrowth.
"You might like to try entering the water from over here by this boulder," he suggested, leading the commander to the same stone on which Tem'Ma'tel had posed like a pinup model for him the previous day.
"Thank you, Sergeant," M'pel E'kmel said and accepted his hand when she stepped onto the boulder. "I am going to take my clothes off now. I thought you might like to know that before I begin."
Liam laughed with her as he turned his back. He switched his sensors back to passive and set them to give an audible alarm if they picked up anything larger than a house cat. He heard the commander enter the water a moment later and she hummed happily until she squeaked in surprised alarm. Instinctively he spun to see if she was alright, only to discover her standing on one foot, shivering theatrically. Her back was to him and as she had announced, she had taken her clothes off. Shapely curves and golden fur did not at all detract from the splendor of the primeval forest around them. Liam swallowed, ground his teeth and turned his back once more.
"The water is quite cold," she said louder than necessary. He could hear the smile in her voice. "Do not turn around yet. I'm not submerged."
"I won't, Commander," he replied woodenly. "I wouldn't turn around for all the tea in China."
"Wouldn't want you being embarrassed or uncomfortable, would we?" she asked innocently. He heard her settle into the chilly stream and then she said, "You may turn around now if you like, Sergeant. All submerged and hidden from view."
"Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't think I could bear to see any exposed dainties so early in the morning."
"Quite sure," she replied and there was a ring of mirth in voice.
Liam turned around, half expecting her to be standing on top of the boulder, bent over with her tail in the air. She wasn't. M'pel E'kmel was in the stream with only her shoulders and head above water. The stream was so clear, though, he could see her breasts with only the slightest distortion. Liam averted his eyes, uncomfortable in spite of himself. In part he did it because he knew the commander wanted him to, though.
"So," she began and ran a wet hand over her head, plastering the fur between her ears down. "I found a number of places along our route that should serve our defensive needs well. Terrain contours should be in our favor. Clear lanes of fire and all the other details a soldier likes to have on his side. The first of these will require a four to five hour walk."
"Hours?" he asked.
"I felt it best to discuss this in units you understand," she said and scooped up water in both hands, leaning back her head and letting it pour down over her throat. The motion pushed her breasts together, accenting the depth of her cleavage to great advantage. Liam tore his eyes away before she looked at him again.
"That's a very good thing," he said, forcing his mind to focus on the discussion. "I've been doing some thinking on the logistics of the move."
"Logistics?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Go on."
"I left my pod with only the gear on my back," he said. "I took a spare weapon and ammunition, but that was pretty much it. The rest was what I normally carry during shipboard operations."
"I understand," she said and rubbed at the fur on the sides of her head the way a woman might do when using shampoo. The water rippled with the motion of her large, well-shaped bosom. Liam averted his eyes again.
"The life pod, Commander," he said, clearing his throat, "has two more stretchers, emergency rations, a water purifier and storage bladders, four medical kits, tools and a number of other things we could use. It even has four radios."
"Excellent," she said, suddenly more serious. "And it is only a short distance from here."
"Yeah," he said squinting. "Up the valley to the north west about two, maybe two and a half hours. More if we're packing everything."
"We could make it our first stop," she said. "Is the area around it defensible? Would it suit our needs?"
"Not really," he said, scratching his stubble covered chin. "I told you, the pod is wedged in a tree. The terrain around it is a lot like this only without a convenient hill or large hollow log."
"How long would it take to get everything out of the pod?" she asked, absently scrubbing her fur below the water.
"Half an hour to forty-five minutes," he shrugged. "Getting it out will be easy enough. I can send it all down on a line."
"Getting it rigged on the stretchers will take some time, though," she mused.
"Shouldn't need to put it on the stretchers," he told her. "It's all designed to be carried in packs. There are four of those in the pod, too. Clot'ilda might be a little small to carry one. I don't know that she would really need to, though."
"It sounds like a great deal of baggage to pack around on our backs," M'pel E'kmel said dubiously.
"It's all really compact stuff," Liam explained. "It isn't meant to be field equipment. It's just emergency stuff. Things that are useful to survive, but not intended for regular operations. Almost none of it requires even a small power cell. Even the lights are chemical. The tents are pretty old-fashioned. You just stretch them over a frame and crawl inside like at summer camp."
"I see," she said, rising and stepping out of the water. Her mind was so focused on the conversation and the description Liam was giving her that she was not aware of her nakedness until Liam spun around. "Oh. Sorry, Sergeant. That was completely unintentional. Not even fun for me, I'm afraid."
"I could turn back and gawk at you for a minute if you like," he grumbled.
"Give me a moment to get some of this water out of my fur," she said, her voice melodious with laughter. He heard her humming and the light patter of water drops hitting the boulder for a few minutes and then came the rustle of cloth.
"You may turn around now," she said. "Nothing dainty is exposed."
