Chapter 3

Over the course of the voyage back to Earthat, I did what I could for the other survivors. I took my job as governor seriously and made them my prime concern. During the months we had spent on Quay, my concubines had gotten pretty good at cooking. Every day we cooked homemade meals for different groups of survivors. We also baked a lot of bread, cookies and pastries. Anything we could do to make their lives a little better or put a smile on the children's' faces. I held more than a few adults and children as they cried their eyes out, whispering reassurances in their ears that everything would be ok. Every evening, I went to the daycare pod and read bedtime stories to the orphaned children. While not as hard as the dark times, it was still exhausting, both physically and mentally.

In my scant free time, I brought myself up to speed on being a sponsor with both sleep training and lectures. I also had the AI tell me what exactly being a planetary governor entailed, even though I would probably never have a planet. After I learned the basics, I asked the AI to assemble as detailed dossiers as possible on all the colonies and their governors. It would be a good idea to know what worked and what had not. I was rather amazed at the sheer variety of governments and styles. A few colonies horrified me and I took lengthy notes on what to avoid if I was ever permanently assigned a township or planet. The whole 'not knowing what to prepare' for was incredibly frustrating, so I tried to learn at least a little of everything. I learned what various colonies produced, how they worked, what defenses they had built and how they were run. The AI seemed to veer away from a few colonies, Ishtar and Gangriel were two examples, like it either did not know what was currently going on, or maybe they were taboo or secret.

On the home front, there were major changes as well. Both Meredith and Chital had their babies, adding an infant boy and girl to our household. When Xifeng had gone into labor, I was just a concubine, so Steve had gotten to hold her hand during labor. During the 'dark times', going into to labor was a terrifying experience, with no assurance that you would survive it. Several times, I held concubine's hands as they died while giving birth. This time, I was able to hold my concubine's hands while they were in labor and during the delivery without feeling anguish. It was both scary and magical. Meredith's water broke first, but Chital was only an hour behind her. I hustled them to Medical, doing a great imitation of a panicky husband. I found out later that my other concubines were all snickering up their sleeves at me. Women are supposed to be calm during labor, and damn it, I was half woman, but that half sure was hiding. I think part of the reason I was so nervous was that my male instincts, but also that my female instincts, were learning what labor was like and were scared. Someday, it would be me lying there sweating and straining. It was a very strange experience, viewing labor from both a male and female perspective. It had been a long time since my dual-nature had made me feel so different, but sitting there holding their hands, I had a distinct feeling of otherness.

Medical had special childbirth medtubes that were open-faced so the mother-to-be could talk and interact, but was still monitored closely and had nanite support. Meredith, Chital and I had one of the strangest, most rambling conversations ever. It drifted from topic to topic for hours while they went through labor. Childbirth was still as sweaty, undignified and messy as ever, but when the medtech handed the women those tiny squalling creatures that only vaguely looked human, it was magical. Meredith smiled blissfully when she held her baby for the first time and named him Adam. Chital named her little girl Stephanie, in memory of her father, Steve. That brought tears to my eyes, but I was smiling as well.

They loved being mothers, and were also thrilled to have their fuckable bodies back. The two of them had been feeling like ungainly whales for the last few weeks. A short while in the medtubes had them looking like they had before they got pregnant. That night I spent a few hours worshipping their bodies with my hands, mouth and cock. They had missed sex a lot, and tried to cram in a month's worth of the sex they had missed out on due to their pregnancies into one night. I finally had to beg them to stop, as even my enhanced endurance was totally spent.

Also during that time, Chandra slowly became closer to us. She started hugging the others and me more often. When we had sex, she no longer left, but stayed and watched, usually jilling herself off. One night, after a lengthy fuck session, I was lying in bed holding Xifeng and Chital. I was half-asleep when I felt someone slip into bed with us. Looking down, I saw Chandra poised between my legs, looking at my dual sexes from very close range. Looking up, she saw me watching her. I smiled at her and she smiled back, blushing. Leaning forward, she licked my cock, sampling the mingled tastes of cum and pussy juice on it. After her taste of us, she paused for a long moment, and I thought she would back off and leave. Much to my surprise, she leaned forward again and sucked my limp cock into her mouth without using her hands. Her hot mouth quickly reawakened my cock and I got hard in her mouth.

I suspected she would feel uncomfortable if I stared at her while she sucked my cock, so I leaned back and closed my eyes, loving the feeling of her mouth. Even beyond the physical pleasure I felt was the emotional pleasure. It was like the first time I had slept with Chital and the entire harem had finally been physically united. Realizing what was happening, I had both Xifeng and Chital discreetly get out of bed and leave the two of us alone. I was pretty sure they were as thrilled as I was at Chandra's unexpected action.

Chandra was as much exploring the feel of my cock with her mouth as she was trying to get me off, so I managed to last a fairly long time before I got the familiar feeling of my approaching orgasm. I groaned aloud and arched my hips up to warn her in case she did not want a mouthful of cum. Happily, she started sucking harder while bobbing her head up and down. The increased sensation quickly brought on an awesome orgasm. I cried out as my cum splashed into her mouth and my hips bucked up off the bed. The intensity of the orgasm was overwhelming. It was both a physical release as well as a mental one. As the orgasm faded, I collapsed back onto the bed panting, but Chandra was not done with me. Having explored one part of her master's anatomy, she was obviously determined to explore the rest. I gasped as her mouth slid down to my very wet pussy. Still only using her mouth, she gently explored my female sex. After exploring my nether lips, she started licking the juice out of my pussy. Her explorations soon turned into another type of oral sex and my cries of pleasure filled the room.

After my second orgasm, Chandra leaned back and put her hands on me, one on each type of genital. Her left hand gently stroked my semi-hard cock, while her right hand toyed with my pussy lips. As my cock grew hard, she slid two fingers into my pussy, finger-fucking me while jacking me off. I absolutely loved it when my lovers did that to me, and Chandra had definitely learned what I liked over the weeks she had been watching the others pleasure me. As my arousal mounted, Chandra slid a third finger into me, making me groan happily at the fullness of my pussy. Instead of leaving all three fingers in my wet pussy though, she pulled her ring finger out and gently pushed it into my ass. She had to slip it back into my pussy a few times for more lubricant before she could slip it completely up my ass and dual finger-fuck me. I grabbed my nipples and rubbed them between my thumbs and index fingers as the erotic sensations from between my legs flooded my brain.

My first and second orgasms almost overlapped and were incredibly intense. Her left hand sped up and very soon I felt a third orgasm coming, this one penile. As my cock swelled, heralding my orgasm, she leaned down again and fed my cock into her mouth while still jacking me off and finger fucking both holes. My third orgasm was incredible and I cried out loudly in pleasure as my cum again filled Chandra's mouth. The incredible sensations almost overwhelmed my brain and I came close to blacking out. I revived slightly as Chandra's hands left my nether region and she slid her body up mine until she was lying on top of me, her face inches from mine. She was staring into my eyes, looking for approval, which I had no problem showing her.

Smiling lovingly at her, I said, "Thank you for that. You were incredible." Putting my hands around her, I gently started rubbing them up and down her back. "As soon as I've recovered enough, I would love to return the favor."

"You would really go down on me?" she asked.

Trying not to sound puzzled, I replied, "Of course I would. You've seen me go down on the others enough times. I love the taste of pussy." So saying, I lifted my head up and kissed her. Her lips tasted of pussy and her tongue tasted like cum. It was a delicious combination that I found incredibly arousing. I suddenly suspected one or both of her former masters had absolutely refused to go down on her, which had made her feel very self-conscious about it. While hesitant at first, she quickly got into the kiss, exploring my mouth as I explored hers. It was wonderfully sensual as well as tasty and left both of us breathless and aroused.

Gently rolling us over, I kissed my way down her body. I spent a little time licking and sucking her nipples before slowly continuing down her taut stomach to her aroused pussy. Her lips had already spread open showing how aroused she was, and I followed her example of only using my mouth on her. I started by licking and nibbling her outer and inner lips, gently tugging them with my teeth. Then I slipped my tongue up and down her slit, pushing it a tiny bit deeper into her each time until my tongue slipped into her wet hole. She moaned happily as I stiffened my tongue and thrust it as deep into her as I could. I spent a minute gently fucking her with my tongue and enjoying the taste of her pussy before I slipped up and licked the fourteen-year-old's clit. She jumped and cried out as my mouth stimulated the sensitive nerves. My tongue's rhythmic motions quickly had her panting in pleasure and the muscles on the insides of her legs jumping. It only took a few minutes before her back arched and she screamed in pleasure as an intense orgasm swept through her. I kept licking her clit, prolonging her orgasm, until she became oversensitive and begged me to stop.

Leaning back from her pussy, I was not sure what to do next. Should I stop now and just cuddle, or was she ready for sex and I should just lean forward and slide my cock into her? I sucked at reading body language and honestly had no idea how far she was willing to go. I decided to slide up next to her, lying on my side, and use my right hand to explore the areas my tongue had explored earlier. I softly rubbed my fingers over her delicious lips and over her cheeks, tracing her jawline with my fingertips. Then I turned my hand over and slowly slid the back of my hand along her jaw and down her neck. Turning my hand over again, I slid it down and cupped her small breast, causing her to moan.

As I rubbed my thumb over her nipple, she turned and looked at me. "Thank you Char. No one has ever done that to me before. They always made me go down on them. I know I have no right to ask, since you are my master, but would you be willing to stop now? I'm not really sure I can go any farther yet."

Leaning over, I kissed her softly and said, "Of course I'll stop. I told you long ago that I would only do what you were willing to do, when you were ready. Right now, I'm thrilled we did as much as we did. I really loved being touched by you, and getting the chance to lick your very tasty pussy was wonderful." She blushed furiously at that, but also smiled. I had her turn onto her side and I pulled the covers up and spooned her, being careful not to press my cock against her. I did wrap my arms around her and cup her firm, young breasts while burying my face in her hair.

As I was falling asleep, I whispered in Chandra's ear, "I love you, hun."

She put her hands over mine and holding them firmly to her breasts, she whispered back, "I've loved you since the first time you held me. I'm so glad you finally became my master."

That night I fell asleep with a wide smile etched on my face. The next morning, Chandra and I explored each other's bodies again. This time I went down on her first, loving the fact I could finally bury my face in her pussy. I made her cum twice with tongue and fingers before she begged me to stop and let her taste me. This time she started with her hands, laying between my legs and arousing me every way possible. Knowing from last night how much I enjoyed having fingers up my ass, she put two in my pussy and two in my ass, while jacking me off with her other hand and sucking my very hard cock. I do not know how, but somehow she managed to make me have an anal, a vaginal and a penile orgasm all at once. The tidal wave of pleasure knocked me out after my nervous system overloaded. I floated in blissful Nirvana for a long time before fully regaining consciousness. When my eyes finally focused, I saw her sitting beside me with a very smug smile on her face.

"Great holy hell," I gasped, "how the fuck did you do that?"

"Liked that, did you?" she replied, grinning widely.

Instead of responding, I pulled her down and French-kissed her with everything I had. Then I flipped her over and buried my face between her legs again, much to her very vocal delight.

Over the next few days, my face and her pussy had many intimate meetings and the minx managed to knock me unconscious twice more. I was really thrilled she was no longer holding herself aloof from us, and not just because of the unbelievable pleasure she was inflicting on me. She still was not ready for sex, but her hands and tongue explored not just me, but all the others as well. Her eyes glowed with happiness every time someone went down on her, as it was still a brand new treat to her. She even managed to knock our resident nymphomaniac Meili unconscious. Meili's eyes followed her with an awed expression from then on.

Around the end of the second week out, Lieutenant Galvin stopped by. Since most of my other concubines were over at the daycare pod, it was just Tina, Meredith and me in the pod. Tina was closest and answered the door. She led the ship's officer into the main living area. I had not seen Lieutenant Galvin since the lunch the captain had invited me to after we were rescued. Galvin was looking extremely downcast. When I saw how unhappy the lieutenant looked, I jumped up and ran over to give her a hug. Apparently, it was the right thing to do, since she clung to me and started crying. With a quick gesture with my eyes, I directed the others to leave us alone. It did not take her long to regain control, although she made no move to pull away. I remembered the look she had given me when I revealed I was a ghyaa and felt my cock stir. Galvin must have felt the stirring, since she looked up and gave me a small smile. She was also blushing faintly, which brought color to my cheeks as well.

"So what brings you to my den of iniquity?" I asked with a friendly smile. I confess that the smile was perilously close to a leer.

Instead of responding to my smile, she started looking somewhat downcast again. Galvin broke our embrace and sat down on my couch, although there was still a rosy tint to her cheeks.

She looked so sad when she said, "I've spent the past couple of weeks wracking my brain and searching everywhere for something I could trade to your concubine for a piece of jewelry. I don't have anything of value at all. Nothing! The farther we get from Quay, the more it will be worth as well, since no one is going back there at least until the war is over, and quite possibly never." She buried her face in her hands in despair. "I just wanted something pretty that was mine alone," she wailed unhappily.

Face still hidden in her hands, she continued, "I was the last of eight children in a poor family. In my entire life, I've never once owned something new or pretty. My only treasures were a few bird feathers and some pretty rocks. I had always dreamed of getting away, going to the city and making something of myself. I swore I would become an artist and surround myself with unique works. Only I have no artistic skill, and I was picked up at a truck stop long before I was ever able to get to the city. Now I'm on an old converted freighter, with the ability to make anything I want with the replicator. However, 'tis not the same! When you said she would be willing to trade with me, my heart soared. It was my dream come true at last, the chance to own something beautiful and unique. But there is nothing I can trade!" she finished with a sob, her shoulders slumping in despair.

I quickly rose and went over to Galvin, wrapping my arms around her. <AI, I need Moira back here right now.>

<Relaying message, > was its response.

While I waited, question occurred to me, <AI, what is Lieutenant Galvin's true age?>

<She is fifteen Earth years old, > it replied. I was surprised at how young she was, but her outburst was starting to make sense. She was only a teenager, despite her woman's body. My heart went out to her and I hoped I could convince Moira to part with something. I would not order her to though, for that would be an abuse of power. Working a trade on Galvin's behalf though would be fine.

Another thought suddenly struck me, <AI, when is her birthday?>

<Tomorrow, > was the response that sadly confirmed everything. The poor girl was alone and depressed, on the verge of her sweet sixteen birthday. All she was hoping for was to get something nice for the first time ever. My heart broke.

Moira burst in then, slightly out of breath from dashing back to the pod. I had never sent a summons like that before and she had moved as fast as she could. I smiled at her reassuringly and the slightly scared look cleared from her face. She looked from me to the crying woman in my arms and back again, questions clear on her face.

"Moira, this is Lieutenant Galvin, a great admirer of your work. Lieutenant, this is my concubine, Moira, who makes jewelry," I said, introducing them.

Galvin was so depressed and unhappy that it took some coaxing before she would lift her head and greet Moira. Seeing Moira's quizzical look, Galvin gulped a few times and said in a teary voice, "I've been trying for weeks now to find something to trade you for a piece of jewelry like the piece you made Governor Char, but I can't find anything. All I have are my silly rocks and feathers, kiddy stuff."

Moira suddenly understood the problem and even had a brilliant idea how to solve it. "Do you still collect rocks when you be goin' to other worlds?" she asked Galvin. I started to see where this was going and smiled in approval.

Galvin just looked confused though. "Yeah, but they're just pretty rocks, not worth anything."

"They are just rocks," Moira replied, "but from worlds I'll never be getting' to see. To me, that makes them priceless."

Galvin's face lit up and her look of wonder and hope brought tears to my eyes. "Really? You mean that? Oh God, that is so cool! I can describe where I got each rock and what planet it's from. That stuff really interests you?" Galvin asked with hope filling her voice.

I rolled my eyes. "You have no idea," I stage whispered loud enough for Moira to hear. She promptly stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry.

"Sure to goodness, I would be happy to trade for some rocks," Moira said reassuringly. "Anytime you can visit me, on whatever world I wind up on, I will trade you a bit o' jewelry for whatever rocks you pick up on alien worlds. It won't be always be Quay jewelry, but it will always be unique jewelry made by me just for yourself." Hearing that promise, Galvin broke down and burst into happy tears, running over and hugging Moira, crying on her shoulder.

After Galvin recovered, Moira dashed from the room and came back with a small box. When she opened it, Galvin gasped in awe. Inside the box was a beautifully made meteor iron necklace with three diamonds the size of fingernails suspended from the front. Galvin slowly, reverently reached out to touch it, but stopped short.

"It's amazing," she said, completely mesmerized by the scintillating diamonds.

Moira did not even tease her, she just said, "This t'was the last piece I made before the Dark Time. 'Tis what I be willin' to trade you first."

Galvin's eyes went wide, and tears flowed yet again. She was overwhelmed by the idea of owning something so beautiful. Seeing her response, Moira grinned but also got rather misty-eyed. Pulling the necklace out, she reached around Galvin's neck and fastened it. As soon as the weight settled around her neck, Galvin froze. It seemed as if she was afraid to move for fear the necklace to fall off or vanish.

"AI, please create a good reflective surface so Galvin here can see how she looks," Moira instructed.

Within a few moments, a section of the wall became a mirror. Galvin turned slowly toward it, moving like she was in a dream. As soon as she saw the sparkling diamonds around her neck, she burst into tears again and clutched the necklace. I realized that watching Moira make them had made me slightly jaded about them, and Galvin's response cleared my eyes. I saw again just how beautiful it was and I was moved as well. Galvin spent a few minutes staring at herself in the mirror, shifting slightly so the diamonds faceted the light and threw rainbows. Finally, she gathered herself and grabbed Moira's hand, dragging her towards the door. When she got there, she suddenly froze and looked back at me, wide eyed with concern.