Valley Forge
Chapter 1
Kate woke up and felt him beside her. He was still there even if it was his room and not hers. Also they were both still naked. She slowly twisted around so she could look at him. The movement let her know that they'd been very physical last night and the ache in her muscles told her that their time together was going to cost her most of the day today. Not that she cared; it had been amazing.
He was a big man and that alone had almost gotten him disqualified for this job. She was tall with really long legs and she was also athletic in build. Her height had also almost gotten her disqualified for this job as well.
He was so cute while he slept. He had such a peaceful face. Completely different from when he was working likely much like she was when she was working. Thinking of work had her looking at her wrist to see what time it was. She'd always managed to wake up without an alarm though she did have one in her room exactly like the one that was in Rick's room.
"Are you staring at me?" Rick asked softly with a sleepy-sounding voice.
"And if I am?" Kate began smiling widely.
"It's creepy." After opening his eyes, Rick reached out to draw her closer to his body.
Kate went willingly though she needed to leave. "We don't have time. I need to run to my room take a quick shower then get to the bridge." Staying here in his arms had its advantages, but she had a job to do.
"We could make round…" Rick had to think about that. "Four, it could be quick." He took her hand and moved it down to show her that he was ready.
Kate gladly wrapped her fingers around his erection and truly wanted to succumb to his idea. "You're going to have to take care of that yourself. I have to run." Though she did lean in to kiss him soundly as she rolled out of his bed and went in search of her clothes. She didn't know how her clothes got so scattered. She was bending over to pick up her panties and saw him still lying in bed. She also saw that his erection had gotten bigger. "Like what you see?" She was sure she was giving him a free look.
"You're an evil woman, Captain Beckett," Rick answered, willing her to come back to his bed; he began smiling when she did just that. He felt her hand wrap around his erection as she leaned down to kiss him again.
"You have no idea, tree hugger." She gave his erection a quick kiss and started putting on her clothes. "I have to run. Enjoy your day digging in the dirt." She skipped putting everything back on and headed for his door.
"You're just jealous," he teased.
"Get to work, Castle. That's an order." Kate opened his door and left him. She didn't notice the smile all the way to her room which was just the other side of the hall.
Their rooms were more suites than simple rooms. It was one of the few indulgences that was part of this job. They didn't have any real glass but they did have a lot of cameras attached to the ship that showed any number of looks. You could pick any view you chose and place it on one of two screens that were floor to ceiling and six feet wide each.
Rick sighed then rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom so he could take a shower and deal with the problem she'd left him with. Moments later with a touch of water and a lot of air running over his body, he screamed out his orgasm as he took care of himself. Visions of a naked Captain Beckett in his head helped a lot.
Done with the bathroom and still naked, he walked over to a wall and chose a view. They were slowly headed for the rings of Saturn. It was going to take them a number of days to actually reach them. Once there the plan was to go round Saturn and head back toward home. Rick walked to his closet, chose one of his work suits, and sat down to put on his boots. A very happy Richard Castle left his room and headed to Dome 3 to start his day.
Kate had taken an even faster shower even though she was reliving what she had just done. Pinching her nipples and running a finger between her nether lips, she wished she could have stayed for round four.
A smiling Captain Beckett headed for the bridge to start her day. If anyone had asked her before she took this job if she would ever fall for a guy like Castle she would have laughed in their face. It was just that Richard Castle wasn't like any of the Tree Huggers that had been in the news. He was committed to his work and was a perfect choice for this job. She had taken this job perfectly willing to go without being involved with anyone.
Kate stopped at the door and composed herself before opening it and stepping into the tight and crowded bridge. Leslie greeted her. "You're right on time."
"That's my job." Kate walked over to a panel and put in her code. "You're relieved," Kate informed her. She watched her step to the same panel and put in her code.
"I stand relieved. B4 is on the outside of the ship doing maintenance. We had a pressure drop and he's out there trying to isolate it. We're on course. Yellowstone and Glacier report a problem with their long-range scanners. Mojave has advised of an issue with one the mountings for Dome 4. Communications from base are expected in 9 hours. Nothing else to report." Leslie saluted and left the bridge.
Kate moved over to the communications panel and put in a code. "B4, what have you got?" What she got back was a series of beeps and whistles which required her to check a readout. "Get a valve from storage and take B6 with you when you replace it." She received beeps and whistles in response.
Satisfied with his response, she moved over to take a look at the radar screen. "Yellowstone and Glacier." Kate singled them out from their formation of eight ships. They were both on the outside of the grouping. The Valley Forge was the only ship that was in tight to the anticipated swing around the outside of the rings. She would give them a chance to fix their problem before she voiced her concerns to the captain of the Berkshire who was in overall command of their group.
- :: - :::- :: -
Meanwhile, Rick was down on his hands and knees picking ripe wild strawberries from the plants in this section of this dome. He finished, picked up his container, and headed to the kitchen. Once there he started gathering what he would need.
Some mix, an egg and a little butter, and he was mixing before adding a touch of milk. Satisfied, he began pouring out his batter on the hot flat surface and waited before flipping.
He garnished them with a couple pats of butter, some powdered sugar and a squirt of whipped cream then went over to the communications panel. "Breakfast." Rick went back to the plates, sprinkled several sliced strawberries onto the whip cream, and picked up a plate. He started to leave after picking up a glass of milk.
"Pancakes!" Paul walked inside and saw what Rick had in his hand and tried to take it from him.
"Uh-uh, this is for the captain who can't leave the bridge. Yours and Leslie's are over there waiting for you." Rick moved the plate out of his range and stepped through the door.
"You may be a tree hugger, Castle, but you're a damn good cook." Paul, like a lot of people on Earth, didn't have a great love for what the man did, but he more than made up for it in a lot of what he cooked for them.
Rick had big plans for their meal tonight. "Wait until you see dinner." He saw Leslie walking toward the kitchen; he simply gave her a nod and kept on walking.
He heard Leslie greet her husband before the door closed behind her. "Hey, babe!"
Rick had a problem. His hands were full and he needed to input his code to get on the bridge. There were a few areas on the ship that required you to put in a code to gain entry. A log was kept of every person who entered and left.
He carefully put the glass on the plate, making sure it was balanced, and then put in his code before snatching the glass off the plate before he lost it; he walked inside. He found Kate bent over a panel that she using a finger to scan. "Breakfast is served." Rick put his plate on her panel and put the glass on the edge. "Would you like me to hand-feed you?" He picked up a strawberry and showed it to her, ready to delicately place it in her open mouth.
"I'm a big girl, Castle, I can feed myself." Kate wasn't interested. She was in captain-mode now and was in her space.
"Your loss." Rick popped her little strawberry in his mouth. "Anything happening?" He looked around and was still amazed at how much she liked this tight and slightly gloomy place. If it wasn't for all the displays and light they gave off he would swear this place was a graveyard.
Kate poured the little bit of syrup that came with her breakfast on the pancakes and picked up her fork to start cutting. "B4 and B6 are outside so you can't have them; other than that nothing's happening." Nothing he needed to know about, anyway.
She took a bite and moaned a little. She had long since learned that Castle was an excellent cook. His pancakes were smooth and just melted in her mouth.
"Don't make sounds like that," Rick protested.
Kate cut another piece. "You didn't complain about me moaning last night." She kicked herself for falling for that. She was on the bridge and wanted to remain focused. Letting Castle remind her about last night was not what she needed. She decided to get tough on him. "Shouldn't you be working? Or do I need to put you on report?"
"I'm going, I'm going." Rick headed for the door. "Your place tonight?" He was dying to see what her suite looked like.
"We have inventory tomorrow and you know it, so you're going to need your sleep. We have to start making room for our supply run. Now get off my bridge and get back to work." Kate took a bite and didn't moan this time.
"Aye, aye, Captain!" He saluted and turned to leave. "Is that thing supposed to be blinking like that?" he pointed, continuing to walk away.
Kate sighed lightly and took another bite before moving over to the communications panel and accepting the call. "Captain Bell, what can I do for you?"
"Your morning report was missing something," he informed her tersely.
She thought about it and didn't see that she'd left anything that he needed to know off of her report. "My report was complete with all the information you need as captain of this fleet."
Kate thought he looked angry. "Perhaps I should come over and obtain the answer in person."
"That will not be necessary and since you can't seem to take the hint, I'll make it plain so you and your simple mind can understand. I have no interest in having sex with you," she said coldly. "Not today, not tomorrow, or even a year from now – or any day after this tour ends. If you so much as set foot on my ship that does not have something to do with being a Fleet Captain, I will shoot you, drag your dead body over to the airlock, and eject it out into space. Now leave me alone, I have work to do." Kate killed the transmission and punched in the code to lock out calls from the Berkshire for the next two hours. "ASSHOLE!"
There were eight ships in the fleet. Each ship had six domes. Each dome was filled with plants and wildlife that represented each country participating in this plan.
The Valley Forge and Yellowstone were supported by the United States. The other six ships were supported by other nations. Each ship had a crew of four and had three drones to help with maintenance.
The Valley Forge had one husband and wife team and two single people. The other seven ships were all a mix. The Glacier, for example, had two husband and wife teams while the Blue Ridge had four single people who were all males. Fleet-wide, the woman were outnumbered almost 3 to 1. Kate was one of two single woman in the fleet. The Berkshire had one married couple and two men. One of which was the Fleet Captain who, as far as Kate was concerned, was far too full of himself. He clearly thought of himself as being an Alpha Male and was used to getting what he wanted. Kate had even entertained the idea that he had taken this job with the hope of getting into her pants.
Kate was monitoring the work that B4 and B6 had finished to verify that the pressure didn't change when her communications panel began blinking madly at her. She looked at the time and saw that the Berkshire was still locked out so she accepted it. "Angela, what can I help you with? Do you need to talk with someone?" She wasn't the person she was expecting.
"Captain Bell's lighting up the communications frequencies, screaming at everyone. What did you do?" Valley Forge was the only ship that wasn't on the net.
"He's still trying to get into my pants so I told him that if he set foot on my ship I would shoot him, drag his dead body into the nearest airlock, and eject him out into space," Kate admitted to her since Angela was one of the few woman in this fleet that she had any respect for.
"Still? Would it hurt you to screw him at least once." He was making all of their lives miserable.
"Once for him means forever until he tires of me. You know his type as well as I do. So the answer is and will always be no. You're a big girl, Angela. Tell your captain to tell Bell where to stuff it," Kate said and saw her drop her head.
"We're two years into an eight year tour. It took us two years to get out here because we were in a perfect position between the two planets. It's going to take us four years to get back followed by two years in Earth orbit while we wait." She was reminding Kate of 6 more years of Bell.
"He'll adapt. …That or I'll space him. Is there anything else? I've got work to do." Kate didn't want to be brusque with her, but talking about Bell usually gave her a headache.
Angela shook her head. "I should never have accepted this job."
"Bell is the one that shouldn't have taken this job. He trapped himself out here in space on a ship. You want to feel sorry for someone? Feel sorry for Lucy and her husband." Kate killed the transmission.
"SHIT!" Angela hung her head and felt her husband come up behind her.
"You tried, babe. We both knew what the answer was going to be. Kate is the Alpha Female out here and she can choose as she pleases." He paused for a moment. "Do you really think she would shoot him and eject him out into space?" He didn't know Kate as well as his wife did.
"Yeah, she would." Angela was sure of it. "On the bright side it wouldn't mean 6 years of hell." She tried to find the silver lining.
- :: - ::: - :: -
Rick had six domes to care for and while he liked all of them, this one was his silent favorite. It was also the one that gave him the most trouble and today was no different. "Why do you hate me?" he muttered as he sat back and tried to think about this.
Everything that dealt with nature was something that Rick could handle. Making sure the stupid pump system for the pool and waterfall…not so much. He had an idea. "THE SCREEN!" He got down on his stomach and started reaching. The second he felt and removed the egg everything went back to normal. He looked out over the dome. "You're supposed to bury them, not push them into the water." He stopped holding up the egg and looked out into the dome. He didn't see them but knew they were out there, somewhere.
"I have five other domes to care for, you know." He got up and saw that his body was now partly covered in mud and not just wet. "And this is not my idea of a mud bath," Rick grumbled and began walking to his room to change.
"Aren't you taking tree hugging a little far?" Leslie teased along the way.
"Ha, ha. It may seem easy and useless to you, but I do have to know and take care of the environmental systems, the electrical systems, and the plumbing systems. It's not all about dirt and plants. B2 may have fixed your plumbing issue but who do you think guided him? …I need to change. See you at dinner," Rick said with a smile; being called a tree hugger never got him down.
Rick left Leslie standing there and feeling a little ashamed about teasing him. She knew she shouldn't. She and her husband had a job thanks to this project. In eight years they were going to be able to afford to do what they both wanted to do so very badly.
"Yeah, dinner." They would all starve without him, too. "We need to have a little talk, babe."
- :: - ::: - :: -
"My God, what is that smell?" Kate walked into the kitchen with the others. Regulations only allowed the bridge to be empty for one hour during dinner.
"Have a seat guys. I know you only have an hour. Well, one of you. Let me get started." Rick began filling plates and placing them on the table in front of them.
"Are you trying to make me fat, Castle?" Kate tilted her head and glared at him.
"We have an exercise room," Rick reminded her.
"What is this?" Leslie asked, breathing deeply, savoring the delicious scents. She hadn't noticed the others were doing the same since she closed her eyes at the same time.
"This is leg of lamb accompanied by roasted baby leeks with bacon and croutons, roasted garlic and clementine carrots, and for dessert we have thin lemon bars." Rick started putting his plate together to sit down with them.
"Weight room, definitely going to need to use that weight room." Kate was eating fast since it tasted so good.