Joah Maroon 1

gently slid out of the happy hole.  "I'm done."
"Me, too," Nancy announced with a heavy chuckle.  These occasions were her favorite form of workout.  Sometimes we were crude with our comments simply because there was no doubt about the affection between us.
"Will anyone need my assistance?" Portia then asked.  "Nancy, are you in need of medical care?"
"No thanks," she laughed outright, as did I.
"Your reaction to the penetration ceremony indicated that you were experiencing significant pain.  Are you certain that you are not injured?"
"I'm fine," she said as she started putting on her clothes and finding the opportunity to give me a thank you kiss.  "Intense pleasure resembles pain, Portia."  That was the first time that I heard anyone but me call her by name.  "If you had a vagina and a sex drive you would know the difference."
"I have not yet accessed my programming for sexual activity," Portia responded stoically.  "However, I do indeed have a vagina.  I fear that I will someday need to increase my lubrication supply based on the demonstration that you have provided, Nancy.  There is none in stock aboard the ship.  Could you assist me in acquiring a supply at the next station?"
What the fuck?  Did Plith set me up with a fuckable android?  I should have known.  That guy was a bigger party animal than me.  But I thought those were only for lonely guys that couldn't get some.
"Don't you get any ideas," Nancy said with a shake of her head and index finger in my direction.  "You belong to me and Lin now.  We'll only share you with Shira and Nevenah when we dock at Tau Ceti.  Metal ass bitch can do without."

Chapter Three
Docking at a space station was mostly a collaboration between two computers.  The one on our ship and the one on the station dedicated to safely guiding vessels into the berths.  However, there was typically some voice communication feathered into the mix at key points in the maneuver.  Not so with Andromedas.
I had not been involved much in my previous visit to this location when I was still part of the crew of the Chargreuse.  At that point I was basically a bodyguard for the captain on dock visits.  Our time spent there was minimal I remembered.  And for good reasons.
We could not communicate well directly with the Maedas.  Their language was far too complicated for most humans to tackle, and they lacked any interest in learning ours.  However, they loved to trade and welcomed anyone wanting to do business as long as they abided by their strict rules.  That included other alien humanoids that we would otherwise never encounter.
Glow station was the largest in the Andromedas system by far and offered the most diverse commercial experience in the galaxy to our knowledge.  The governing species of the station originated on the lone inhabitable planet in that star system.  Humans referred to them as Maedas upon first contact and the name stuck.  That wasn’t all that uncommon.
Taking manual control of my ship during the final approach or docking procedure was not only ill advised, but it would also be a direct violation of their law.  It came with a hefty fine and a ban from ever doing business with them again.  Oxeonn, our company would surely be pissed if I messed up on my first delivery.  The urge to tap out of the electronic tether must be resisted.  It was something with which I was gradually getting accustomed.
Nervously, I watched as the Terran Capsule was rotated by an unseen force to line up with our assigned berth.  There were twelve openings in the section designated for human entry.  Five were already occupied.  One by a ship so large that it blocked use of the two adjacent berths.  The crew of ships like those were usually all family that had been born and raised on their spacecraft and were very much at home with all these procedures.
On top of our vessel, like all human spacecraft these days, were four large rings that were recessed into the hull.  The Andromedas station invitingly used our common configuration for this section.  Four titanium hooks extended from the massive spinning tube to grasp onto us and pull our ship the final few meters to contact the padded bumpers.  The subsequent jolt was so minor that it could barely be detected.
Unlike human stations, the Maedas dropped an entire room out of the floor of their dock to line up with our lone exit.  Inside of it would be a lift strong enough to transport our four heaviest cargo cubes vertically to expedite unloading.  We would use the same elevator to enter the station ourselves, when needed.  The rest of the room was just for staging outgoing or incoming freight or receiving smaller deliveries like food and clothing.
An exciting part of a merchanter's life in the galaxy was to visit a variety of space stations and sample their culture.  Eat at their restaurants.  Drink at their bars.  Dance in their clubs.  Shop in their stores, and so forth.  Each location would have their own style and mix of local offers.
The life of a freighter crew was boring otherwise.  However, like a jet-setting celebrity back in my time, every stop offered a new adventure.  And just like Vegas, you could leave it all behind when departing and never speak of it again.
Unfortunately, Andromedas did not provide such an experience for human visitors.  It was one of the reasons that there were no other volunteers to join my crew.  Trading at this particular station was all work and no play.  However, including it on the trade loop significantly increased our profitability.
Selling our goods and acquiring new cargo could be handled without ever leaving the Terran Capsule.  If we were compelled to enter the huge multi-ring habitat, there was little to offer in comparison to other stations.