Sean was unsure exactly how to proceed, as the atmosphere on the other side of the hatch seemed almost chilly to her. The captain of the ship stood there, a tall blond Nordic type of man, no readable expression on his face. She decided to just go with being a businesslike spacer, presenting both of their papers to the man. “Captain Thorssen?” Her warm contralto seemed to just crack the surface of his icy demeanor as he reached for the proffered papers. “Sir, Sean and Charlie Barber reporting for duty.” The three of them stood there while he seemed to study their papers intently.

May 5, 2035.

An auburn haired woman pulled her trolley of luggage along the passageway, followed by a tiny blonde. It was obvious from their pink shipsuits who and what they were, but neither of them took any notice of the eyes following them as they embarked on the shuttle bound for the Thor Heyerdahl. In truth many of the spacers which belonged to those eyes were at the same time lustful towards and intimidated by the aura both of them put out, a cast of feature which both screamed sensuality and whispered danger. There was a difference between them, the bubbly blonde much more on the sensual end while the taller auburn haired woman seemed to stalk along the passage.

They quietly boarded, relieved of their baggage by crewmen who seemed almost abashed at approaching them. Soon, the only thing left in the crowded terminal was the memory of their passage. It wasn’t like this terminal was unused to the passage of caregivers, but this pair had a sort of magnetism that wouldn’t soon let anyone forget them. They efficiently strapped down into seats while the shuttle crew secured their baggage, then they were on their way to their first assignment.

Neither of them said a word that was not necessary during the short shuttle trip, but it was obvious to the crew from the glances between them that these two were new to the whole business of space travel. They arrived at the Heyerdahl and were hustled off the shuttle with equal efficiency.

Sean was unsure exactly how to proceed, as the atmosphere on the other side of the hatch seemed almost chilly to her. The captain of the ship stood there, a tall blond Nordic type of man, no readable expression on his face. She decided to just go with being a businesslike spacer, presenting both of their papers to the man. “Captain Thorssen?” Her warm contralto seemed to just crack the surface of his icy demeanor as he reached for the proffered papers. “Sir, Sean and Charlie Barber reporting for duty.” The three of them stood there while he seemed to study their papers intently.

“Everything seems to be in order here. Welcome aboard ladies.” He handed their orders back to them, another sheet on top of each set. “These will be your quarters. Take a while to get settled in and find your bearings, the midday meal will be served in 2 hours.” With that, he spun on his heels and marched down the passageway, his bearing stiffly erect.

Neither of them spoke for a moment, exchanging curious looks at each other and at the back of the rapidly retreating man. “Geez, I wonder what bug crawled up his ass?” The diminutive blonde giggled at her own remark.

“Damn, I was just wondering how far up it the broom handle went…” They both were on the edge of going from giggling to outright laughter when another figure came out of a side passage and extended his rather large and beefy hand to them.

“Welcome ladies, your other luggage and reputations have preceded you.” Despite the immense muscular bulk of the man, he was giving off the impression of a puppy eager to please, practically wagging his tail as he shook each of their hands in turn. “Don’t mind Gunnar, he’s had a bit of a bad go lately, wife left him and all. Said she couldn’t stand being married to a man she never saw. You’d never guess it but the poor guy’s heartbroken about the whole thing. Anyway, lemme grab your stuff and let’s get you two settled in.”

He efficiently retracted the wheels and pull handles of their bundles and proceeded down the passageway in a rolling sort of gait. He spoke over his shoulder as he lumbered “Oh, sorry, forgot to introduce myself, I’m Leif, First Mate, Gunnar’s my big brother. You’ll meet the rest of the crew in a couple of hours but I wanted to give you some time to settle in.”

The two women regarded his broad back as he effortlessly carried his burden. The taller of the two women said quietly “Holy shit, you know that’s about 200 kilos he’s carrying and he acts like he hasn’t even noticed it was heavy.”

“Yeah, kinda makes you wonder if his muscles match the rest of him, huh?” The blonde looked wide eyed and innocent, or at least tried to. They both went back to giggling as the speculation reached ever more outrageous proportions. By the time they reached the double cabin they would share, they had hatched a plan of action.

Leif had deposited their luggage in the small cabin and turned to squeeze his way past them when he found a small blonde blocking his way and grinning up at him. “You ain’t going anywhere until we give you a tip, mister!”

An hour later he left with a huge grin on his face.

As the hatch closed behind his ponderous and now sweaty bulk, the two sprang into action. For the next few minutes, the tiny cabin was a flurry of motion as they quickly sponged themselves off and dressed in fresh pink shipsuits. With about 5 minutes to go, they were both helping each other with hair and the lightest of makeup.

“Damn, who would have thought the one muscle was bigger than all the others? I think I’m ruined for the week!” The taller of the two fought to keep from blinking as her eyes were artfully smudged with color.

“What are you talking about, I think I dislocated my jaw! Hold still, dammit!”

They deliberately arrived in the ship’s mess about 5 minutes late. The hatch slid open to reveal 12 men in the process of shoveling food into their mouths as quickly as they could. There was a moment of near silence, broken only by the noise of swallowing and a fork being dropped. Even the taciturn and proper captain was staring, a forkful of food forgotten halfway to his mouth, just hanging there.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to introduce ourselves then. I’m Sean, the little hottie here is Charlie. Tell me you left something for us to eat!”
There was a general scramble to make room for them and plates seemed to magically appear in front of the empty spaces on the benches. Sean headed for one table and Charlie for the other, dishing up food for themselves while the mostly conversationless eating resumed. Lief was being very solicituous to Sean as she ate her food quickly but almost daintily, her eyes noting the posture and mannerisms of the men around her. Her eyes were almost immediately drawn to a slight young man who seemed almost withdrawn on his corner of the table, noting the slight separation he seemed to maintain between himself and the others.

Charlie had sat across the table from the captain and was trying to catch his eye without much success. He kept his eyes on his plate and shoveled the food into his mouth in almost a mechanical fashion, detached in a way from his surroundings and the men who constituted his command. She too noticed the young man who seemed to be in his own little bubble of space.

A soon as each crewman finished eating they left the mess without saying much at all. There was something going on here, some sort of tension that seemed to permeate the ship, and Charlie was distracted from her meal as she put her mind to working on just what that might be.