Chapter 16

Today was my final Program day. After today I will be wearing clothes most of the time. I'm not sure how I feel about that. At least the HardTime has finished with me. I think. I still get hard often, but I can tell the difference. HardTime got me erect almost all the time, then I'd go flaccid, but only for a short time. I was told that being erect all of the time could result in penile damage, so HardTime had a cycle of 90 minutes erect and 30 minutes flaccid. Ejaculation would result in a short reprieve, necessary when bladders were full.

The kennel and the stables are unheated, so I was permitted a blanket. I have a good idea of the "Three Dog Night" rock band name's meaning now! Goofy and Dopey are warm bodies—and since they've been permitted to cuddle with me and with each other, they've barked much less. Lonely? Cold? I don't speak Dog well enough to tell. Even Sergeant Saunders commented that the dogs barked less. Okay, the latter was simply applied psychology. Dogs are social animals and need each others' presence. Put a dog in solitary and you get a psycho dog.

I was cleared for full activities by the school nurse but warned that if I became dizzy, light-headed, or suffered a nose bleed I was to immediately stop. The cadre was informed that if I began acting strange, they were to immediately send me and a cadet escort to the dispensary. Getting whacked by an outraged woman didn't appear to have harmed me, but given my medical history...

Getting out of bed produced protests from the dogs—they didn't want to leave their nice warm nest and nice warm human. I told them "play, play" and they got up—slowly--and I fixed the kennel and got ready for breakfast. But first, a run through the doggie confidence course! I had to motivate myself to face the cold. Still not October but COLD. Even the dogs were shivering and whining.

"Twice around the course and we go in," I declared, running in place to stay warm. "Follow me!"

I didn't use the 'heel' command because that would have caused a traffic jam with two dogs. They figured it out and after the first run, I had them circle around and do it again. Dopey led the charge back inside and Goofy prodded me with his nose. We were all shivering—and then rain began falling.

"You lucked out that time, Cadet Thistle!" Commandant Mackie growled. "Get in here, don't stand out in the rain! Go shower—take the dogs with you, they need it too."

I detoured to the kennel to pick up a brush—dog fur isn't easy to clean bare handed. Dopey didn't like showers. Goofy would do whatever I was doing with only a little hesitation. It didn't take long for Dopey to push her way in when Goofy was in such obvious pleasure from a hot shower. Short Doberman fur is easy to towel dry, but I needed two towels per dog. I sent both dogs to the kennel and cleaned myself up before marching to breakfast. I made breakfast because I had a short PT session with the dogs—the shower made things come out even. As I was leaving the shower, naked cadets were entering after their own PT sessions.

"Cadet Thistle," Mr. Ray, the Commandant's secretary, shouted across the quiet dining room. "Sit with us. We have things to discuss."

To summarize, I was told that I wouldn't be attending normal classes for the rest of the week because a retiring first sergeant of the United States Army was visiting—and I was First Sergeant Wexford's guide. Even though my Program time was over at midnight, First Sergeant Wexford would have the authority to order me naked. The first sergeant would also accompany me on the Outreach program that Miss Krystal and Harmony had for me.

"Any questions?"

"No, Commandant Mackie," I replied as I finished breakfast.

"You should be asking questions," the commandant suggested. "What is the commander's intent? In this case First Sergeant Wexford is looking into making Mackie a co-educational facility. I have explained your situation. After breakfast you will square away the kennel and take First Sergeant Wexford to the stables. Your third mission will be at the library."

"Sir," I asked, "am I tasked to promote Mackie as a co-educational military academy?"

"That's the right question," Commandant Mackie nodded. "What I want from you is demonstrating how you get along with the animals. I want you to demonstrate your educational level. The first sergeant will accompany you on your duties, you will eat lunch at this table, and then you will make up for the dogs missing out their exercise. After that you will do as the first sergeant bids until time to feed the dogs and the horses, and you and the first sergeant will dine with Miss Krystal."

Miss Krystal was keen on a co-ed Mackie. The Federal Office of Social Awareness (FOSA) had expanded opportunities for women as its primary goal. Social nudity was a means to that end. In the first year of the Program only female college students participated—the rest is history.

First Sergeant Kelly Wexford was my height and weight—and female. She had red hair and freckles, green eyes, and she wore the light green Army female summer uniform with black Oxford shoes. I was still uncertain about the differences between boxers and briefs, so I won't attempt to describe her attire further. There was a name plate that said "WEXFORD," her sleeves bore three chevrons and three rockers and the diamond denoting her rank, there were three rows of ribbons on her chest, and she wore a dark green hat with the enlisted Army insignia on the front, the brass shined to a silvery-gold glow even in the kennel's florescent lighting. I called the kennel to ATTENTION as if it were a squad bay, and the dogs immediately responded. After introductions, I finished the dog half of the show and led the first sergeant to the stables.

Fortunately the morning had warmed up considerably. The frost was off the grass. I still marched as rapidly as I could manage—it wasn't comfortably warm yet. There were twenty horses and a man named Mr. Cox. I didn't repeat his standing joke that he was "Mr. Horse Cox" and neither did Mr. Cox. First Sergeant Wexford was intimidating despite her size. My stable duties were light that day, mostly moving the horses outside.