A Big Shiny Blue Marble Ch. 59

Katje lay on her front and she wore that look that he loved to see on her face when she slept. But she wasn't lying on her front on the bed, at least not completely.

She was lying on Ellie with her face on Ellie's chest. Ellie slept on her back and snored very softly. Katje was sandy toned, stripes and all, and Ellie was a demon girl, and still a lovely one, too. The thing of it was, that Katje's hand held something and as he watched, she moved her hand, releasing what she'd been holding and Talon now stood blinking at Ellie the demon girl and her um, ... well, her gear.

Talon blinked again and looked one more time, before he made the rest of his little journey and reached into the hanging pack to draw out the pouch.

He smiled and shook his head a little. Between waking up with stinking wings and the sight of the two in the bed well, ...

If this wasn't a time to have a smoke and think, ...

He was outside with his carbine in a minute, leaving the door ajar so that he could get back inside if he had to, and he'd set a rock there that they kept for the purpose so that the door wouldn't close and lock him outside.

Because it left them vulnerable, he elected not to go very far from it and after a good look around, he stepped to a corner and looked around that. Certain now, he had his pee and then went back to sit down and roll a smoke -- almost dying to and not from the nicotine either.

Having a means of ignition had originally been a problem, matches being expensive and all, but after a time, he'd found these curious metal boxes and opening the first one told him all that he needed to know.

After that, he'd looked for them and found more than a few in various states. Swapping parts, he assembled a few which worked and after that, it was a hunt for some sort of readily-ignitable fuel, but at length, he'd found a tall tin of benzene, still full.

The first time that he'd tried to use it after filling one of the 'zippo' things, by the name that he read on the bottom of every one, he'd almost burned his nose off, as well as his hand from overfilling it. But it worked and had become a favorite thing of his, just for the pitted picture of the woman on the side.

He sat in the sunshine and smoked.

And thought.

And then he tried doing both at the same time.

He put a few things together then and he smiled. Ellie's painful shyness made a lot more sense to him now. It changed nothing for Talon. He just wondered a little if anything had gone on between them the night before, not that it bothered him particularly.

A few minutes later, he went back inside and with a little quiet fiddling, he found life in the stove and added a little kindling, enough to get some heat to cook on later, but for now, he got the kettle filled and after that, ...

Talon sat out in the sunshine, feeling the heat of it on his wings and appreciating the way that a little sunshine could always kill a bad odor, given time. He smelled just a little better and he had a coffee and a smoke, and then he was just fine.

Katje came to the door a little later and ran out to hug him and he felt even better. The thing that made him feel a little like a king -- as though he didn't already feel that way because of Katje's love for him was the shy and slow way that Ellie stepped out into the sunshine.

She was still sandy blonde, gorgeous -- as lovely as his female -- and she was just as naked as he was as she walked over so bashfully, yet determined to let him see what she looked like. Katje's eyes were closed as she hugged him and before he knew it, Ellie kissed him softly and hugged him too.

Talon wondered if he was in Heaven now.

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The talking over the meal settled things and though he was still just a little confused; on non-existent paper at least, Talon now had two females -- kind of.

They'd all been very up front about things -- even Ellie, though Katje and Talon did have to wait for her to say what she wanted and they didn't mind at all. Talon still had Katje and he had Ellie. He also had, ...

It had taken Katje to explain it -- or more correctly, to define it, when she'd pointed out that she wanted them to live together and the point of it all was to survive and to help and protect Ellie if she needed it. She also said, though everyone wondered how it would go, that Ellie had two, uh, ... well one female in Katje, they thought, and someone else to play with who also needed to learn a lot, so there was that relationship possible.

None of them knew just how it would work out, but that didn't matter. There were now three of them. With a carbine of her own in Ellie's hands and two people who grew to love her, it improved the odds for all of them.

A large surprise was that Ellie, the shy and uncertain natural-born and complete hermaphrodite, had learned how to hunt from her father, and she was far better at it than Talon, who became a willing pupil to her.

The next few nights were bliss as they tried to iron things out between them. The commonality of being part-human helped a lot.

They always began in the same way. They'd decided that their wilder sides aside, they each wanted to be equal in the eyes of the others, so to begin, they were all on their knees -- a triumvirate who faced each other, sharing kisses and caresses as three tails whipped back and forth between them.

Ellie could have conventional intercourse and she liked the free feeling of offering it to Talon, especially with Katje's blessing. It was even better for them all because of what she was. She loved the feelings, but she couldn't achieve orgasm from it, her clitoris being something which was too far away from the action, as it were. That's when both Talon and Katje did absolutely anything that they could think of to make it good for Ellie.

Katje had two lovers to fuck her now, though she had to be a little careful not to go too wild with Ellie -- and it had to be said that once Ellie saw and understood why Talon and Katje were like that, she was a willing participant and loved to make the same noises at the others in it and sharing a large chunk of meat in their messy and meatjuice-soaked way resulted in some kind of sex in only moments after it was consumed. None of them would have ever thought just how close a demon could come to their kind and what they were. But it lay there waiting anyway. Ellie wasn't made to be an effective demon-killer; she just was what she was. She just needed the help of human weapons and she had no desire to harm demons or anyone. But if she was attacked, well ...

"Well that was certainly different," Ellie grinned as she stretched to kiss Talon, "Are you ok? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No," Talon smiled a little shyly, "That was , .... That was as nice as I'd ever imagined that it might be, once you got in. Hurt me again like that anytime."

Ellie hugged him again, "It's really nice for me - all of this. I see myself as so lucky. I get to feel what it's like for both of you in many of the things that we do." She kissed Talon softly as she slid her hand over his sweat-soaked muscles, "That was something that I never even dreamed that I'd ever do. And it was so good. I'd fuck you anytime, Talon. I could get to need it from you."

Katje giggled a little then, holding out the pillow, "I always use this afterwards, Talon." It brought laughter from all three.

But Katje wasn't laughing a little later while she gasped and shuddered between two lovers who penetrated her at the same time and loved to do that for her. And when she was fucking on either of them, lost in it and needing to be held up as she writhed, Katje was so happy that she now had another lover who could kneel behind her, kissing her while they loved her breasts for her.

As far as Ellie and Katje could tell, one of the most important things in this was between the two of them, no matter what, Katje had said. Talon never minded and always allowed time for it when Ellie crawled on top of Katje or vice versa and the thing that she'd hated about herself her whole life allowed her to copulate with the woman who loved her as much as Talon did.

Katje was also adamant that Talon and Ellie have their moments as well. The bond need to be maintained, was her view, though she did love to lie there and watch, no matter how it went.

"Hey, aren't you and I gonna get pregnant from all of this, Katje?"

Katje shook her head, "If we were what Mamma was, it wouldn't be possible. We're not the same things. I could get pregnant by Talon, but Mamma said that we're not the way that her kind used to be at first.

It's something that a girl can change, if she wants and she has a safe place to have young. I can change it in me and it takes about a month here, Mamma said. Talon can change it in himself too and it only takes a few days and he can make kids. He's been shooting blanks every time until now.

But we're all part human too. I think that's what allows us all to be in love with each other. You and I can get pregnant and you don't have to do anything. Talon and I have to change and then I can have his young - and yours too, now that I think about it. We all gotta talk about that, but I already know that I'd want kids by both of you, and if it's possible for you, then - "

"My father took me to a special doctor one time when I was about sixteen," Ellie said, "I know it cost him a lot of money, but he said that it was something that I ought to be able to know a little about to see before it might happen. He was afraid that if somebody got to me - as he said it, he wanted to have a little peace of mind to know that it likely wouldn't kill me. What he found out was that in the opinion of that doctor, it was possible.

But then that doctor said that I was something to make a medical case out of or something like that. The next appointment that we went to, there were like seven more doctors there and Dad almost had to kill a couple of them so that we could get out of there. We had to move not long after that."

She sighed, "I know my father did that for me and I'm grateful to know it. I just wish that it hadn't cost him so much gold. After that, he had to work even harder to feed us and he was killed after that - I guess from working so long and being tired."

She looked at Katje, "If you want it from me and it's ok with Talon, I'd love to make a kid with you, and if he wants one with me, well, I'd love that just as much."

Talon walked in then and came over to the bed, "Have I missed anything?"

Katje laughed, "No, actually. We were just deciding about the way that it's going to be when we want kids."

"Yeah," Ellie grinned as she rolled over to look at him, "And you get off easy. Katje and I have to do the hard part."

Talon wasn't stupid, but he didn't get it right away. He thought that it would just be Katje bearing their young. He'd already thought about them wanting to her to have Ellie's children too. That hadn't been a thought to him.

"He's not thinking about it the right way, Katje smiled, "Talon, Ellie wants to make a kid with you. She wants to have your little ones, just like I do."

He looked at Ellie and smiled, thanking her for thinking of him that way.

She chuckled, "Talon, that's a no-brainer for me. It's just that you get off easy." He watched as she stroked herself a little.

"So you're gonna be busy too. Bring that sweet face here and - "

But he'd already gotten it by then and he already had her in his hand, opening his mouth to suck.

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Things settled down for them a little after that, but more importantly, it remained. They all knew who was who and what could go where; they just stopped thinking in terms of what male and which female.

And out of it all, Ellie gained a place where she belonged; people to love and who loved her as well as self-confidence and more than a little pride in all of them. Talon had been surprised and pleased when Ellie's pubic hair had disappeared. He'd been thinking about it the next day as he'd worked, checking the fluid levels of the idol when he'd seen a motion and was about to reach for his rifle.

But what he saw made him forget about it and smile a little slowly. They were walking toward him, still a way off, the two most beautiful people that he knew, holding hands and smiling as they talked, their hair cut just like his. He liked it, but he really wondered about it. He finished up and began to walk toward them.

"Come on, Talon," Katje said, smiling the way that she knew could make him feel the weight of his own stones, "Enough work for today. You can tell us all about what that thing is tomorrow."

He smiled back, but then his eye fell on Ellie's face and the smile that she wore for him. She sure wasn't wearing anything else.

"Gonna rock your world, today, Talon," Katje smiled.

He sighed, "You always rock my world."

"More today," she laughed, "We have food. We've cut each other's hair, Ellie and I even found some more of that wine. Makes us want to play with our boy, you know?"

"I never knew that I'd be starting anything that day when I cut my hair," he laughed, "I just had an idea and wanted to try it."

"Yeah well, we like it and we're a freaking tribe, aren't we?"

He walked to them and he was in their arms the second after that.

"Come on, Talon," Ellie said softly as she hugged him. Her voice dropped off to a shy half-whisper in his ear, "I'd just love you even more if you'd do what I did to you yesterday to me today, honey. Could we?"

She was only asking in her sometimes shy way, but to the other two, it had a powerful effect and Katje answered her, "Talon needs that, Ellie, and I need to see it."

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"So you're telling us that this thing can fly? With hard wings and without flapping?"

Ellie was incredulous. So was Katje, but he nodded, "I just wish that I knew where I could get a few tons of diesel fuel. The legend says that whoever had ones like this built; they had ships that they could fly from and land on again on the ocean far from here. They were worried about using the fuel that they had been using because it was too flammable. So they had these made to run on other fuel and diesel is one that's still around.

It can carry three people in it -- the pilot who controls it, another person who works some stuff to search for other ships that they can't see because they're too far away to see, and the third person is there to drop stuff on them when they find them."

"Why?" Katje asked.

"Because back then, they were fighting those other people -- or they were ready to and stayed that way.

This has two engines to turn those black things really fast. The two engines are really in the same case -- side by side. Once it's flying, I can turn one engine off and it'll fly for hours before I have to come back. But I only have enough fuel now to start it. It's really noisy."

The girls asked questions and Talon answered them to the best of his knowledge. They asked him then if they could see it run.

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Copper wanted to know why they'd had to stop and Simmit pointed ahead. It did no good, since Copper couldn't see through several inches of armor plate. She ran back and swiveled her optics around to point at the obstruction and she stared at what she saw. She inhaled and what was about to come out was a long line of imaginative profanity when she noticed Simmit's voice in her helmet reminding her.

Simmit had been trying for a time to get Copper to clean up her vocabulary around the twins, and though she strained awfully hard in her efforts, to overcome a lifetime of colorful cursing in the finest Dwarvish traditions was not something easily done and Copper filled in the blanks with words she'd seen on store goods from long ago.

"What in the name of Aunt Betty Jemima is that?" she whispered as her jaw fell open. She'd have known exactly what it was -- other than the generality -- if she wasn't looking at it from this close up in optics meant to pick things out of landscapes -- far away landscapes.

She slammed in a feed tray for the chain gun and tried to remember if she'd read about any weak spots that she could hammer at repeatedly and as she did, she was muttering to herself.

As far as she could recall, the turret on this type was thick armored steel, so that was pretty much all week to get through, since this was the thickest part of all. The short range wouldn't allow for the discarding sabots to fall free. She just couldn't recall about the front plating on the body.

She was carrying two TOW missiles, though she hadn't taken the time to run diagnostics on them. She accessed the screens for that and saw that one missile wasn't even responding to queries. The other was in an outboard launcher tube. She'd have to turn the turret to even get a piece of that thing outside so it was too close for the missile to even arm itself.

She took another look and groaned.

The plating was angled to deflect shells.

Of course it was.

From this range in her optics, there was way too much slant to it. From this close, she'd never drill one in through there.

She looked up a little and saw that mother of a gun; six times the caliber of her chain gun as it moved to point right at her.

Copper just barely managed to keep her muttering a little clean now.

"Lord twenty-freaking-mule-team Special Cornflakes almighty; there's a tank out there and a freaking whackload of gunners sittin' on their horses laughing at us. I gotta get my head outta my arse right quick now."

Little Neath was the more vocal one and he hung in his harness next to his twin brother and toyed with what he'd heard.

"Whack-load," he said, parroting Copper.

"Whack-LOAD! WHACK WHACK-LOoaad!"

Copper raised her head and looked over, "You're not helping, sweetie."

He looked at her and decided to shift his little gears a bit. He didn't know just what it all meant, he just liked Copper's tone of voice when she said words that steamed his other mom. He opened his mouth.

"AAR -"

"No!" Copper glared, "You say that, and even if we don't get blasted, your mom's gonna paddle both of us."

Neath smiled.

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"Main gun on target," Lindsay called out. Then to Sam, he said "Load up with an anti-tank shot." Sam nodded and ducked her head to step over to the rack.

"Lindsay!" Randi called over, "I didn't tell you to lay that gun on anything."

"Should I point it away for now?" he asked and she said "No, leave it where it is. Just don't do anything else unless I ask you to."

"What's she doing?" Randi asked herself as she saw the Bradley there in her targeting optics. She thought something must be wrong for Copper to be stonewalling like this. She'd have expected that Copper would have taken one look at the Sheridan and known what it was and where it had come from -- as well as have at least a guess about who owned it. Copper had done a lot of the work on this herself.

"Loaded," Lindsay called forward, "Can Sam shoot?"

Randi snapped her head around, "NO! I know who's in there! Do NOT shoot!

Not - like in, don't you freakin' dare, Lindsay."

"I think she means not to, uh, ... Ok, I'm gonna unload now," Sam said.

"Thanks, Sam," Randi said.

Randi strode back and moved to climb up, reaching to pat Ayt'han's thigh gently, "Hey, move a little baby, I gotta go see about something."

She climbed out of the hatch and stood on the top of the turret, glaring at the Bradley with her hands on her hips. But there was no visible response from the other machine. Ayt'han only looked at her, not knowing what was going on.

But he loved that ass, he thought.

"What is wrong?" Rudhi called over from the back of her horse as Randi jumped down and began to stride across the few yards which separated the vehicles.