Hunting Grounds

Chapter 7

In the end it was Rick that dragged the dead bodies out off the bridge and dropped them in what they were betting was the captain's quarters given that she was dead. This was after Kate had taken everything she was interested in out of that room and moved it into the other room across the hall. She even picked up all the loose ends including all of the key cards that each dead body had on them.

Rick had what they were thinking was the captain's key card and Kate was showing off the other five that she had. "Nice work. Don't lose those. Those cards just might be needed elsewhere."

"Can we go eat now?" Yes, Kate was hungry. The days here were long so she wasn't sure if she had eaten half an MRE for the last two days, or three days, or even almost four.

"Deal," Rick said with a nod. "Then we need to find laundry. I'm betting the sheets on all these beds are crap. Let's hope at least a few are vacuum sealed like those uniforms. Not to mention towels."

"We need to find a tub, too, if we can get the hot water to work." Kate would kill for a tub full of hot water.

"I'm a shower man myself but hot water would be good," Rick admitted. He leveled his weapon, exited the cabin, and made his way to the stairs to go find out if there was something to eat on this ship.

[_] /\ [_]

The dining hall was easy to find. "Is there no kitchen?" Kate couldn't find another door leading out of this space and going back out of the dining hall didn't lead them to a kitchen. "They had to eat, didn't they?" Kate questioned as they both walked back into the dining hall.

Rick walked over to a wall. "We really need to learn to read Klingon if we stay here much longer." Even in this room there was writing that they couldn't read. "So what is this thing?" He looked it over as did Kate.

"I'm seeing three doors, I think? At least they look like doors. Three panels to press and a slot for a key card, maybe?" They both saw the panels each had a different color.

"Well it has power so let's see how this thing works." Rick pulled out his key card, slid it into the slot, and pressed the furthermost left panel. A moment later the door he was standing at opened.

Rick bent down to look inside and pulled out a tray that held four different colored cubes along with a cup of something that held a liquid. "Interesting." Each of the four was a slightly different size in addition to color.

"Um, don't laugh at me, but that looks a lot like something from the Jetsons," Kate mentioned.

"Actually I was thinking NASA astronaut food. Freeze-dried and vacuum sealed. So I'm not laughing." Rick lifted his tray up to his nose to sniff it. "It has a smell. Try one of your cards and see what you get."

Kate was willing to give it a try so she picked a card that had two bars on it and slid it in. She chose the middle button and a moment later her door opened and she pulled out a tray that also had four different colored cubes and a drink. The size of her cubes had more of a difference than Rick's did.

She followed Rick to a table and sat down across from him. She watched him pick up a cube, sniff it, and then nibble on it. Then he nibbled a little more. "Don't quote me but I'm thinking eggs." He nibbled some more.

That made Kate brave enough to lift up her biggest piece and nibble on it. She couldn't quite decide just what it tasted like so she nibbled some more.

"What do you think?" Rick asked her.

"I'm thinking sandwich," Kate told him.

"Then that would make that one chips, perhaps. Dessert and I don't know what. Candy?" Rick shrugged.

"That would make yours eggs, bacon or sausage, bread, and I don't know what. So what's with the cubes?" That part Kate didn't get.

"Just a theory here, but what if the kitchen is full of freeze-dried food? You select breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Then based on your card you get something. RHIP perhaps. Your idea of Jetsons might not be far off. The computer said long distance armed scout ship. So how would you keep the food fresh for a long deployment? Navy ships like an aircraft carrier has lots of walk-in freezers. Maybe these guys chose plan B," Rick offered.

"So if that's right there has to be a ton of food somewhere that comes here. This ship holds what in numbers and there's just the two of us. We might have food to last for months or even longer," Kate said. "So what's your drink?" It was the only thing neither of them had tried.

Kate watched Rick sip and smack his lips. "Tastes like watered down coffee or something. It's barely even warm."

"Give me that." Kate took the cup from him and did more than sip. She was addicted to coffee and she knew it so anything that came close was all hers. Now she was smacking her lips. Whatever it was wasn't hitting her system like coffee did.

"Tea maybe," she said and gave him back his cup since it wasn't coffee.

Rick sipped again. "Maybe tea. I'm not a tea drinker so you can keep it." He gave it back to her, took her cup, and tried it. "Fruity?" He just couldn't place what kind of fruit.

"So what's in out medical kits exactly?" Kate asked since she wasn't sure just what she was eating.

"Let's see, one anti-diarrhea tablet, one broad spectrum antibiotic, morphine for pain, various pads to clean a wound, cotton, gauze, simple band-aids, cloth wrap, tape, scissors. Not much else," Rick responded.

Kate was satisfied and actually began eating it with the intent of finishing it since she was hungry.

"So where is Rosie to clean up?" Kate decided on a joke and managed to get Rick to laugh. They were able to find the trash and where to put the trays and left the dining hall to search for the laundry area.

[_] /\ [_]

"This looks like laundry." Rick entered the space. "Look for anything that's vacuum sealed. Everything else will be ruined by now." He began on his side and let Kate search the other.

In the end they both found three shelves filled with sheets, blankets, pillows, and towels that were vacuum sealed. To Rick at least they looked like emergency backups after the basic items were too damaged to keep cleaning or repairing.

"I'm going to risk it. You take all this to the first officer's cabin. I'm going to go make sure the door we came in from is closed. I want everyone outside and us inside. Just be careful and keep your weapon at the ready." Rick watched Kate nod and he headed for the stairs. He needed to find the doors they used to get inside and close them. Turned out he had to open them first and then close them.

When he reached the room he didn't see Kate and instantly went on alert. He raised his weapon and started looking everywhere. Not seeing her only left the bathroom so he went there very carefully and very quietly, pointed his weapon, and looked inside.

"SORRY!"Rick jumped back out of the bathroom and went somewhere else. He had come upon Kate standing there topless, washing something in the sink.

"Great!" She should have thought this would happen but she hadn't. She was ready for some sleep in a real bed but didn't want to do it sleeping in her dirty bra and dirty panties so she was planning to wash both of them and then hang them up to dry. Only to have Rick suddenly show up. At least she still had her pants on so he didn't see everything.

Rick had the door closed and even found a way to lock it. So he set all of his weapons down and took off his vest followed by his boots and peeled off his socks. The stench made him realize he needed to wash his socks before he wore them again. He didn't need any foot problems.

He was taking off his shirt just as Kate showed up wearing just her shirt. On her that made it a mini skirt and damn if she didn't look sexy wearing it.

"You can shower and clean something while I make up the bed. Just try and ignore my underwear." Kate headed for the vacuum sealed items and tried to figure out how to open it.

Sure enough Rick spotted her wet bra and panties hanging to dry in the bathroom. He squeezed his eyes closed. "She's naked under that shirt. Why does she hate me?"

Since her underwear was hanging up he thought about washing and hanging up his shorts but that would leave him naked and he couldn't do that. So he washed just his socks and realized that he really could take a shower.

What was interesting was that it used nearly no water. It felt like a whole lot of air but when he was done he actually did feel clean.

Stepping out of the bathroom he saw Kate was already in bed and under a sheet for cover.

Kate watched Rick walk out. He looked clean and all he had on was his shorts. My God but he was handsome and built. What woman didn't want him was a fool. Except she wasn't sure what to do about it either. Dating him was one thing. Being involved with him was another.

The bed was big enough for two, Kate was thinking, but it was going to be close. This was a one person room and a one person bed. It was just neither of them wanted to sleep where the crew slept. It didn't feel all that safe for that. So this was it.

"Slide in." Kate moved the sheet aside and watched him get into bed. Immediately she was aware he was right up against her. Then things got even more interesting. She found herself being pushed so that she was partly lying on him. One of his legs went between hers. She flexed and tried to find a comfortable place to put her bottom arm while her other arm ended up on his stomach. Her hand was on his chest and her head went on her pillow that was partly on his shoulder. It placed her face almost into his neck. It also meant she could smell him.

At the moment at least he didn't smell so bad. He wasn't sweaty stinky so that was good. She had heard the shower running so he was clean.

"Comfortable?" Rick asked her.

"Good enough. So what's tomorrow?" Kate questioned him.

"We search more of this ship. So far we've stuck to this big box between those two big lances. We need to see if we can get into those and find out what's in them. Eventually we'll go back to that computer and get it to talk.

"What I really want is information on who kidnapped us. Maybe the computer knows and maybe it doesn't," Rick told her.

"You think they've noticed we're missing yet?" Kate was pretty sure the boys and her boss would by now. Two, maybe three or more days later they would notice.

"Oh yeah, everyone knows we're missing. What they're finding is another question entirely. I certainly didn't see anyone so I don't know how we got here." That alone pissed Rick off the most. Someone had caught him with his pants down. Maybe literally.

"Neither did I. One second I was at the trunk of my car and next I was here," Kate confirmed.

"We haven't even seen them. Just their dogs." Rick didn't even know who the enemy was. "Try and get some sleep. If I snore just jab me," he grinned, not that Kate could see him doing it.

"Oh, I will." Kate grinned as she snuggled in to try and get comfortable. None of the guys she had slept with had actually spent the night with her. They'd left before she'd even gotten to sleep. This was going to be a first and they hadn't even had sex.

[_] /\ [_]

Kate was awake and struggled a bit to focus her eyes. Looking up told her that Rick was still asleep. So that was good. Looking down showed her that the top sheet had been pushed down to just about their feet. Also her shirt was tucked under her, up around her waist, exposing her to view.

Her leg was still squarely between Rick's legs and her core was resting against his leg. Not perfectly, mind you, but it was enough and she was just a bit wet down there. So had she been humping his leg in her sleep? Or had he been moving his leg in his sleep? Either way she also saw something else. Rick had an erection that was hidden from view in his shorts.

Now Kate had learned that she loved cocks. She knew this because yes, when she was younger she had experimented with having sex with a girl. It had been nice and she had enjoyed it. It was just that a girl didn't have what a boy did. A cock. A girl didn't have a cock to wrap her fingers around. To take into her mouth and tease and caress and finally end up rewarded with tasting his climax.

Then there was the best part. Having a nice hard cock inside her. A dildo just didn't feel the same as a hard smooth cock that was controlled by someone else. It did what its owner wanted, not what she wanted.

Kate also wasn't all that surprised to find that her hand was inching its way down to his waistband. She was clearly thinking of lifting up his waistband so she could have a peek at his erection. Willing her hand to stop never even entered her mind. She wanted a peek.

Reaching his waistband had her looking up at his face again to see if he was still asleep. She was a bit torn between just wanting a peek and wanting a great deal more than just a peek. He was easy on the eyes, he was built, and he was being nice to her. He kept including her in his thinking and willing to hear what she was thinking.

Lifting his waistband ever so slowly she still couldn't see the head of his erection. This presented her with yet another problem. Seeing what she was able to told her that just seeing it wasn't going to be enough. She felt the need to wrap her fingers around it, place it in her mouth till she tasted him, and then finally feel him pounding her pussy.

It took all her willpower to lower his waistband back down and place her hand back on his chest. He had a nice cock and she didn't see why women everywhere wouldn't want him. He was handsome, he was a hunk, and he was nice. And he had a really nice looking cock.

So what if he went away for a few months on deployment? Alright maybe that was the sticking point. She wouldn't enjoy being away from him if they were together for that long, either. She knew she wouldn't cheat on him, but that didn't mean she wouldn't wish that she was able to. She would miss his touch, miss his cock, miss him.

Kate chose to bury her face into his neck. Maybe this would help her resist the idea of starting something. They really should talk about this first. Maybe he didn't want her. Maybe she wasn't his type. He, on the other hand, was clearly her type.

At first he smelled pretty good. Unfortunately that changed slowly to one of neutrality. He didn't stink but he didn't smell amazing like he had earlier either.

She willed herself to go back to sleep. Maybe she could dream her way through what she could do with his cock. To finally actually touch him, taste him, and feel him. All of him.

[_] /\ [_]

Kate blinked and as her brain woke up she didn't see him. Using her hand to search for him came up empty. He had managed to get out from under her and out of bed without waking her. Now that was impressive. And it was also a bit annoying. She knew that she liked waking up next to him, all snuggled in nice and close.

Then her mind reminded her what she had done earlier. That had her grinning as she remembered what she had seen. She had gotten a peek at him. He certainly had something to live for.

Question was, where was he? That was when she saw him walk out of the bathroom wearing nothing but his shorts. However, she could also tell that he no longer had an erection. She knew she could fix that if she worked up the courage to do something about it.

On that note Kate decided to twist a little and reach up with both arms. "Come back to bed. I'm cold." She really was a little cool at the moment. Sleeping next to him helped to keep her warm.

Rick, as he walked toward her raised arms, also spotted something else. Her shirt was bunched up around her waist and while her legs weren't spread far enough to see everything, he could see enough. Enough that he could tell Kate kept herself shaved down there. God how he loved bald pussy.

Part of him wanted to turn around and go back into the bathroom. Another part wanted to point out that she needed to pull her shirt down to cover herself. Instead he climbed into bed and reached down to pull the sheet up and over them. He did run his hand down her bare leg to reach the sheet and then again up her bare leg to pull the sheet up and over them.

Kate squeezed her eyes closed at his touch. He wasn't caressing her leg but he did leave a trail of goosebumps everywhere that hand of his went.

She parted her legs and slipped one between his, made sure her buried arm was comfortable and laid her other hand on his chest.

"Comfortable?" Rick listened to her hum. He was comfortable, too, and he was also getting a bit aroused. He had seen enough to create a picture of Kate completely naked now. He had seen her breasts earlier and now he got a peek at her core area.

Rick knew he shouldn't do this. They had to work together if they were going to survive this place and interjecting something personal might ruin that. But he also couldn't resist. She was just too damn pretty and far too sexy not to.

He adjusted himself so that he could kiss her.

Kate saw his lips coming and she even tilted her head to meet him halfway. This kiss was just like the previous kisses. It was electric and the longer she kissed him the more awake her body became. The hand that was still on his chest found a nipple that she squeezed on purpose.

When he finally broke from the kiss Kate reached up to pull his head back down so she could go on kissing him.

Maybe they both knew what was coming next and maybe they didn't. In either case what they did do was what both of them wanted.