Space suited figures on both sides of the bay made last minute checks of their equipment. Squad leaders passed thumbs up signals to their platoon lead...rs who passed them up to Captain LeBlanc. LeBlanc said "All go" into his mike, listened to the acknowledgement, then unhooked and carefully stowed the umbilical.The Shuttle rolled so that the cargo bay was aimed at the enemy vessel, then fired steering rockets that slowed its motion relative to the alien ship, while continuing to match its speed.. What had been dreaded, was now amazingly,fucking, great.Months followed. Bill and Mike introduced theirfriends to Stephen periodically, and they took care ofhim financially, buying him food, clothing (alwayssexy and feminine), and taking care of his medicalneeds. When he was fully due, a beautiful baby wasdelivered at home by c-section, performed by Bill (whohappened to be a ob-gyn). The baby was perfect inevery way, but the genitalia was unusual. This onewas neither boy or girl, but had. Our trips topside were filled with begging and or threats warning us that we were the captives and they could take what they wanted, despite the captain's orders.We'd casually mention that if the captain weren't around, we'd have no problems bestowing on gifts on them. That got the men to grumbling and thinking. But, they were stupid and scared, so it was much ado about nothing. We did, however, talk one member of the crew into seeing if our snitch could float. He vanished quite suddenly. If I knew for a fact that you wouldn’t go after him, I don’t think I’d mind you knowing, but I worry about it. Despite how badly I’ve screwed everything up, I still love you and I don’t want to see bad things happen to you.”I nodded in understanding. If only she knew. She would soon. Doris and I had talked to Bert a few times and even met him jointly to assure him that we were coordinating our divorces together. After the news about how the commission and salary worked, Doris had quietly torn.