The Loneliness of Space

Captains will allow 12 – 24 hours before turning their vessel over to automated flight management and the reduction of last crewmember into hyper-sleep. Final hyper-drive calibrations by engineering and final course corrections (if necessary) by Navigation will be made at this time. - Section 3 Weyland-Yutani Fleet Regulations

Flight crew members registering for the duration of their haul as 'non-celibate' can participate in relations with crew members of their registered 'preferred' gender as needed for crew morale purposes. - Section 212 Weyland-Yutani Fleet Regulations

The crew of the Nostromo was earning their pay by continuing with the mundane task of hauling 20,000,000 metric tons of processing ore back to Earth.

The high of making the jump to hyperspace wore off.

Chief Engineer Parker crawled and squeezed his body though dirty reaction drive induction conduits.

First Officer Kane prepped the hyper-sleep freezers.

Navigator Lambert watched the flight plan progress.

Flight Engineer Brett watched as the hyper-drive display glowed in steady blue gauged perfection.

Captain Dallas, Warrant Officer Ripley and Ashe, a corporate robot disguised as a Science Officer, did a final walkthrough of the non-lethally toxic areas of the refinery. Dallas and Ripley liked the data output coming from the processing computers. Ashe feigned a facsimile of delight.

Everybody went their separate ways for the last few hours.

Dallas conferred with the mother computer and began his write up of an evaluation of Ripley's command skills.

Ripley went to the gym.

Brett caroused with Kane in a showers.

Lambert locked down the bridge

When Parker figured he had done enough to polish the reaction drive he went to clean off. When he found one shower unit occupied he went to another. He cleaned. He dried. He left before the show was even half over. No biggie.

Ripley went to the bridge and passed Lambert as she was leaving. Nothing was said. Ripley looked over all the stations. Finding a harness slightly out of alignment she adjusted it. Now she had to check each and every rig and helmet to make sure they were secure. It was just Ripley's way.

Dallas finished with mother. He grabbed himself a beer and sauntered down to the shuttle, the Narcissus, to sit by himself and listen to music. Jones the cat followed him.

Lambert's cowgirl boots and Parkers soft soled shoes glided along the surface of the Nostromo's garage…a dark brass colored room with an assortment of small planet hopping and crawling vehicles. They danced to music blaring from a tracked excavation vehicle that was technically 'under repair'.

"C'mon, Lambert! Kick it!" The wiry navigator swirled her hips to the beat as she waved her arms in a circular motion over her head. Parker spun himself around and then spun her elaborately.

The music switched to a slower song.

"You wanna go in?" Parker asked.

"Yeahhh," Lambert agreed. He pushed her toward the entry hatch of the excavator and slapped her on the ass when she was halfway in. She punched him on his woolly head.

"Wooo! Smack dat ass! Why do you like using a vehicle?" Parker asked.

"Cuz you can lock the door and no one can walk in on you," Lambert explained. "It's more secure."

She plopped down on a futon-like covering of padding and cloth which was where the operators seat should have been. Parker took off his clean shirt and followed her down.

"Ya know, most girls like to find a spot where they can watch the stars," Parker noted. He removed one of her boots and then the other.

"Don't touch my feet, you freak," Lambert goaded. "I hate these stars. They remind me that we're 90, 000 light years from Earth. I hate thinking about that."

"We've spent two months hunting minerals out here," Parker took a breath of the inside of one of the boots. "Hey…I don't mind your foot funk Lammy."

Lambert giggled.

"That's disgusting," she cajoled again. She leaned against the observation bubble of the excavator that looked out on the rest of the garage. "We are so far out. If we went off course and couldn't get the drive working…we'd be lost forever. No one could find us. We are so remote."

"Well, if you promise not to get us lost," Parker began as he stretched and massaged one of Lambert's feet. "I promise I'll keep the hyper-drive kicking."

"You haven't shaved the entire time we've been out here," Lambert complained. "Well…at least you aren't wearing that stupid bandanna now. Come here."

Parker obeyed. He reclined next to Lambert and wrapped a strong arm around her. His 6 foot 4 inch frame fairly swallowed the smallish woman.

"Yeah…no work bandann and fresh out the shower. Jesus," he joked in his raspy voice. "I gotta cuddle BEFORE sex too, now? After is bad enough."

"You WILL provide adequate contact when and where ever you are told to, Mister." Lambert shook a mock stern finger at him. "Weyland-Yutani rules."

"Man," Parker interjected, "You sound just like Rip…"

With a swift motion Lambert swung her hand right over and onto his crotch area.

"Don't you dare! I will rip your balls off, shove them out the airlock and watch them explosively decompress."

"Easy, baby," Parker rumbled cautiously.

And eased…Lambert did. She began to move her hand in a gentle motion. He removed her shirt her pants and undergarment. His beard scratched the inside of her thighs.

They were going full-on by the time Ripley came through the garage bay area. The excavator had a steady rocking motion and she could hear the unmistakable sounds. Ripley was a bit of a voyeur but she liked to listen just as much. She imagined that Parker had Lambert in his preferred position. Ripley imagined Lamberts hands pressed up against the bubble glass and her face down with Parker kneeling behind her. It was hard to tell with the tinted glass on the vehicle.

There would have been no shame if they had been seen, but Ripley didn't want to get caught seeing them. It was more fun that way. She sneaked along the edge of the wall and approached the vehicle from the side. She pressed her ear against the cool rocking metal. She could now hear and feel the activity. She enjoyed hearing Lambert's cries.

"Oh god…Oh god…Oh god!"

Ripley clutched at her own breast.

When they finished she tiptoed away with the flush of excitement on her face. She skipped through the central airlock corridor and slammed a hand on the shuttle passageway to the Narcissus. She strode through and found Dallas in the main acceleration chair as she expected.

She spun him around, removed Jonesey from his lap…and even though he made no effort to get up she held him down and then straddled her legs over him and sat.

"Now, Ripley?" Dallas asked sarcastically.

"Uh-huh…" she bit on his neck and shoulder. "You busy?"

Dallas tried to steal a glance at the shuttle's chronometer.

"Bed time's soon." he smiled lazily. Ripley ripped off his white uniform over-shirt and then his t-shirt. She tugged at his chest hair.

"We got time, Captain." She stood up and with a rapid zip slipped out of her dark green flight suit.

When she sat down again on him Dallas ran his hands up under her t-shirt and palmed the softness of her breasts.

"Have you been up to naughty things?" Dallas asked suggestively.

"Yes," she growled. "Ready to take command of the situation?"

Ripley stood up again…removed his pants and sat down upon him again. She gave a shudder.

Replacement Science Officer Ashe sat by himself and played the ultimate voyeur…a non-participant, but a confirmed watcher. He did NOT understand them. That burned his circuitry just a little bit more.