Chapter 1

Episode 1: Matriarchy

It was not easy to be the captain sometimes. Sipping a fine bourbon, Enterprise's captain sat relaxing in his quarters, reminiscing about recent events.

He had expected that they would stumble upon some truly strange places when venturing out into space, but this really beat the pants off anything they had encountered so far. It had been some time since an officers briefing had ended with every single attendant blushing a deep shade of crimson – except for T'Pol of course. She had delivered the report on the planet's population as if she had described the local weather pattern.

The essence of the strangest report he'd ever taken was, that the population was organized as a matriarchy. The men existed for two purposes only – to reproduce and to pleasure the females. They had basically stumbled upon a whole planet of nymphomaniac women. Of course he had classified that report immediately, if nothing else to save himself from having to deliver it in spoken form. That whole thing was just too weird.

Some of the crew had not had the chance to get laid for almost two years. If they would learn what happened down there, he would have a riot at hand. Somehow Starfleet had not thought this through when they had sent out a ship full of young people in their prime with the stern warning that fraternization was not permitted.

For many this problem had been solved, since he had basically rescinded the no-frats around the time of the P'Jem incident. Once Starfleet would see the log entry he'd be in all kinds of trouble, but that would be nothing in comparison to the circus that would have been his ship had he deprived his crew of something that every young person needed from time to time.

Hell, even he was not immune to the urge. Granted, at over forty he didn't need to hop in the sack every week, but even the ship's captain was in need of some TLC once in a while. He'd paid only a passing attention to the ship's rumor mill, but from what he had heard, there was one man who had no problems finding willing partners for a little roll in the proverbial hay – the ship's chief engineer.

Well, that did not really come as a surprise. He'd been with Trip in decon several times and knew that his friend had been more than generously provided for by mother nature. Adding to that was the fact that it was said he was not too discriminate about the gender of his partners. Thinking of it, bisexual tendencies seemed to be pattern among the crew. Hoshi, Trip's XO Anna Hess, Cutler from sickbay and – one of the more outlandish claims – even his first officer were said to be welcoming both genders to their respective beds.

He would have dismissed the idea of T'Pol even thinking about having sex with anyone as late as three weeks ago, but while he had found himself abducted by that Tellarite Bounty hunter, T'Pol had come down with a mysterious infection that, according to Phlox's logs, had had some biological implications. Since Phlox didn't give much details, citing doctor-patient confidentiality, he could only guess that it had something to do with whatever controlled the Vulcan sex drive, because the rumors about T'Pol being part of the ship's nightlife started right after that incident.

For all the tall tales and outlandish rumors about the crew's intimate exploits, things seemed to run flawless. There weren't any orgies in the Jeffries tubes or copulating engineers on top of the warp reactor. Everyone who was privileged enough to find a willing partner went on about it discretely in their spare time and the sanctity of their quarters.

Or in C47, he thought with amusement. He knew that Trip still thought the captain was laboring under the assumption that it was an unused engineering storage room, but he had long since discovered that several officers had created their very own swinger club in there. He saw no reason to alert anyone to this knowledge as it wasn't his business as long as everything that happened in that room stayed there.

The door chime startled him out of his thoughts.

"Come."

His visitor was revealed to be the ship's chief engineer. Their long friendship had taken a bad knock when he was forced to come down hard on the younger man after the congenitor incident, but the shared grief over A.G.'s untimely death had healed most of the rifts between them.

"Cap'n, Anna and I are going down there."

The announcement had been short and simple, despite the cultural implications. He reached over to fetch a second glass and indicated Trip to take a seat.

"Are you sure about that, Trip? I know you're not exactly a prude, but that will be quite a task down there."

"Sure, I could think of better things than being taken on a leash and stark naked on top of it, but you know that we have no other options. We are completely out of dilithium and those ladies down there have it in abundance. Whatever it takes to get some of that, we'll have to do it. Have you any idea how long it takes to get home on impulse power?"

"None of us would still be alive, including our long-lived science officer, according to herself," he confirmed.

"Look, it's no secret that Anna and I have slept with each other more than once. She's an exhibitionist and I'm not really squeamish either. We can cope with it. You can hardly order anyone to go down there."

"I'd take my chances with limping back in first gear, before I did that," Jon answered with a snort.

"Just let Anna and me handle it. The worst they can do is saying no. And even then my XO will have had a good time."

They both chuckled and sipped from their drinks.

"Can I ask you something?" Jon asked carefully. "You don't need to answer, but I've heard a few rumors about you and T'Pol and strange noises coming from her quarters."

"Don't tell me you don't know about it," the younger man said, shaking his head in amusement.

"I don't spend my days listening into rumors, but I've heard that T'Pol has become quite active lately."

The chief put his glass down. "You know about C47 don't you?"

"I've seen the changed interior design," Jon answered with a smirk. "But I wasn't going to say anything. It's obvious that it wasn't designed to play cards, but as long as things stay there it's none of my business."

"Well it is now," his friend replied with a smirk in return. "The girls have been nagging me for weeks to invite you along as well. And yes, that includes our science officer."

"I can't really do that," the captain replied. "Remember I'm the one who might have to send someone to his or her death one day. There's no way I can allow myself to be involved with anyone on the ship. If you and T'Pol think you can handle it; I know I couldn't."

"Your loss," the chief answered, emptying his drink. "Anyway, T'Pol is preparing everything and Anna and I will go down in the morning."

"Good luck, Trip."

He was happy that except for Anna, T'Pol and the Captain all other personnel had been ordered to leave the launch bay. They would only undress once the shuttle was underway, but he was sure he'd end up blushing a dark shade of crimson when he saw T'Pol take out a PADD.

Her lecture on appropriate protocols was nothing new, but this time it would almost certainly be a rather awkward affair.

"Remember, Commander, the ruling matriarch is addressed as 'First Mother', but under no circumstances are you to look directly into her face or address her directly. In fact, you must not speak to anyone but Lieutenant Hess, who you are to address as 'my lady'."

He acknowledged T'Pol's instructions with a nod. So far it had not been all too bad.

"When presented to the ruling matriarch or any other woman you are to look at their bust or genitals, but never at their face. Failure to do so is considered a lack of appreciation for the female's beauty. I believe you do not wish to know what this civilization's punishment for such a transgression is. Should you not have an erection when looking at a female I urge you to think about a situation that arouses you at all haste."

Okay, that didn't help at all, he thought as he felt his face burn up with a blush for the ages. He forced himself to nod his acknowledgement.

"I cannot provide details on exact protocol, but it appears to be customary that females have their servants pleasure them during negotiations. You will have to rely on your ability to improvise. Should your intimate services be requested by the First Mother, the request will be made to Lieutenant Hess and I advise granting such a request to improve your negotiation position. Maaterians are anatomically comparable, so all techniques of human sexuality should be applicable without the need for adaptations."

"So, I better have a hard-on at all times, stare at their tits and fuck them if asked to do so," Trip said, trying to hide his embarrassment behind vulgar language.

"Commander, I strongly advise you not to take this lightly," she reproached him mildly. "The punishments for male misbehavior on this planet are severe and I do not need to explain to you that the well-being of the entire crew depends on the success of this mission."

He nodded, adopting a slightly frustrated grimace. This would definitely qualify as the weirdest away mission ever.

With a last glance back at an apologetically looking captain, he followed Anna into the shuttle, where he ran through the system checks.

Anna was preparing herself for the arrival in the back of the shuttle, which amounted to getting naked, really.

"You wearin' that for a bet?" he asked when his stark naked XO took a seat in the co-pilot's chair. She wore absolutely nothing except for some wreath of flowers around her neck that was vaguely reminiscent of a Hawaiian Lei.

"Funny, Trip," she said with a smug grin. "Now get back there and unwrap my present."

He shook his head and started to undress while his second in command took over control of the shuttle. Well, however this weird stuff ended, they'd have the distinction of having conducted the first nudist away mission. Together with being the first pregnant male of the species and being the first to score an alien woman, that was his third 'first'.

He wasn't so sure about the tryst with Kaitaama though. It could well be that the captain had beaten him to the punch with that apothecary on the Akaali planet. His friend had always declined to comment on any questions in that regard.

"Well, my lady." he quipped, coming back to the front seats in his birthday suit. "Wanna put me on a leash now or does that have time till we've landed?"

"Take control," she replied with a mischievous grin. "First I'll make sure you're properly appreciative of the female beauty."

Once he had taken control of the craft, guiding it through the planet's upper atmosphere, he saw Anna bend over and take his 'best piece' in her mouth.

"I'll be damned," he groaned in bliss over the feeling of her soft lips around his hardening organ. "I don't think this thing is rated for blowjob landings."

It was hard not to feel sorry for poor Trip. Her superior officer was hardly one to spurn a good bang wherever he found the necessary privacy, but walking out of a shuttle, stark naked, on a leash, and with a raging eight-and-something inch erection on display was not something that was overly dignified.

She walked up to an equally naked alien woman, who also had a man on a leash. She wondered if all aliens were just 'bumpy-headed' humans. The Maaterians looked pretty much like humans. Their skin was somewhat pale and they had prominent ridges down their noses, around their eyes and down either side of their torso, but that was as far as the differences went on the outside. How evolution had arranged their internal organs was something that would at best be interesting to their science officer or Phlox.

It was a good thing she liked being looked at. Most other women would probably have considered the situation even creepier than it was already. The alien male stared straight at her precious bits and his body reacted accordingly. Looking over at her companion, she saw that Trip had the presence of mind to do the same with the Maaterian female. That was quite an achievement, considering where most of his blood currently was.

And another thing she realized was that Trip had a considerable size advantage over the indigenous males at least if the one on the other female's leash was anything to go by.

"Welcome, I am Rasena, adjunct matriarch to the First Mother of Maateria. We are most honored that you chose to respect our customs."

"I am Lady Anna of the starship Enterprise," Anna replied and followed the alien woman's lead into what looked like the palace. Instead of a reception chamber or anything, they were brought to a room in the left wing of the building though.

"You can use this room to rest and make use of your servant," her guide explained as they entered the luxurious suite. "The Council of Mothers will convene and grant you an audience four of your hours from now. I have taken the liberty to prepare written instructions for your visit in your language, based on the language data your Lady Hoshi has sent to us."

Anna took the offered PADD and thanked her guide with a bow.

She freed Trip from the leash as soon as the alien woman and her servant had left.

"You could be in some demand, Chief," Anna said with a chuckle. "If that guy was anything to go by the Maaterian males seem not to be too well endowed."

"You're not helping, Anna," he grumbled and she saw him rub the side of the neck. The leather collar of the leash had chaffed his skin lightly. She took a small tub with ointment from her pocket and applied it to his neck.

They were sitting in the luxurious pool of their guest room, relaxing before the 'hard part' of their visit. Trip had visibly relaxed over the last hour, but in three hours he would be taken to the task – literally if that text was anything to go by.

Considering how quickly and accurately they had produced a text in human standard on a PADD that was no less sophisticated than the ones on the ship, it was clear that the Maaterians were a technologically advanced species which merely had no ambitions to venture out into space instead of lacking the ability.

"Listen to that," she said, reading from the instructions. "Once you have stated your request, it is expected to present your servant to the First Mother for inspection. Should she choose to make use of him you will be presented with her own servant in return and it is considered a matter of respect to make use of him in the same manner if your physiology allows."