Chapter 7: Taking Tess

Signifer Tess called me into her office. Through sleep learning I had mastered the Confederacy rank systems. It's hard to explain to civilians, but the Confederacy Navy and Marines had a chain of command—and that was separate from Fleet Auxiliary and from the Civil Service. A Signifer was equal to an O-1 in the Navy, an ensign, but didn't command naval personnel. Fleet Auxiliary and Civil Service were under military discipline but not in the Navy command chain. As an O-2 lieutenant I was senior to Tess, but she wasn't in my chain of command at all and I didn't give her orders. We gave each other "suggestions." It was a working relationship but Tess wasn't my boss and I wasn't hers.

I did seek Tess's advice in filling out my concubine quota. Normally I would have had more rank for my CAP score—but I really didn't care about status. Sometimes it was a struggle to subdue my own ego, but it has always been mission FIRST. Next was to care for my subordinates—because they were the tools that I needed to accomplish my mission. I had an updated will because I was at risk and I wanted to ensure that any dependents would be cared for. I had at least one dependent—if not one concubine—and her name was Dawn. I had picked her up with a pet jaguar—and both disappeared when I was dispatched to check something strange near the asteroid belt. I wasn't clear what Spots status was—Spots was the jaguar. It was possible that Spots was regarded as one of my concubines even though Spots wasn't human. Or perhaps Spots had sponsor status and nobody told me.

But I didn't want for bed mates. When I had a spare few hours I'd sign out a concubine—whatever Tess lined up for me. There may have been some sort of deadline, but I was busy pulling duty with Targeted Extractions. I didn't feel urgency to fill out my quota of concubines. Either I'd have time or I'd be dead. Then there was the issue of extracting mothers and their children.

I carried a stack of games and videos I had picked up on my last mission. Some might not have been age-appropriate, but Tess would sort that out for me. It was for the orphans under her care. Sometimes I'd just buy everything on the shelves because I was pressed for time.

Tess's door was open so I announced myself.

"More junk?" Tess asked.

"More junk," I acknowledged. "I'm not even sure what I have. Trade goods if nothing else. I sent up a complete library—the branch closed its doors and I was allowed to send all of the books and videos up here."

"Where were you all of my life?"

"Rhetorical, Tess?" I asked. "Fighting the Cold War, cleaning up afterward, now I'm here. You wanted to see me?"

"Leave that stuff here," Tess directed. "Come with me."

"I've only got a few minutes."

"You don't have to be anywhere for nine hours," Tess countered. "I've got something to show you."

Tess was dressed in gray, covered except for face and hands in cloth. Her dress almost touched the floor when she walked and her hair was covered by a wimple. If she wore black, Tess would have been properly dressed in most of the Middle East—a few would have mandated that Tess wear gloves and veiled her face, too. Not only was she in charge of the orphanage but Tess was the madam of the fleet brothel. Her clothing served to disguise any womanly curves. It was a short walk from office to her quarters.

Inside, contrasting with Tess's head to toe garments were five nude adults. There was some gender bending going on—at first I couldn't tell who was male and who was female. Three of them were bald with well-defined pectoral muscles and two had breasts and shoulder-length scalp hair. I thought that staring was rude, so I didn't catch on that only one of the bald people had a penis—and one of the "girls" did, too. They were small but jutting erectly up at about a 45 degree angle. Meanwhile, Tess led me to the bathroom for a shower.

"Your mission is getting me pregnant," Tess instructed. "You are going to have help. Shower, first!"

"Yes, ma'am," I said. I remembered suddenly that I had just returned from a dirt side mission. "Where can I put my weapons?"

"Boo, show Lieutenant Lawrence the security locker."

"Yes, mistress," one of the bald people said. Boo led me to a locker and I put my stuff inside—a pair of stinger pistols, a 9mm service pistol, two miniature hand grenades, a couple of knives and some advanced body armor. I also had amplifier modules for my implants—call them radio stations if that makes you feel better—that looked like a cell phone and a butane lighter. I was naked in a moment. "You don't have any nudity issues, do you?"

"Somewhere," I said. "I think I left them in my other locker."

"If you don't mind, sir," Boo pointed at the 9mm, "why do you carry that? Why not carry only space guns?"

"Skill," I said. "I have more than 100 meters reach with that relic. The stinger doesn't have that much range because of the inverse-square law."

"Huh?" Boo asked.

"Boo, is Lieutenant Lawrence ready yet?" Tess called.

"Yes, mistress!" Boo reached for me but didn't quite touch me. "We have to go, sir."

I secured the locker and followed Boo. For the record, Boo was a she. The other two bald people were Vi and Cor—Vi had a penis but neither Boo nor Cor did. The two people with scalp hair were Xyn (penis) and Ro (no penis) and then there was Chastity—Tess's personal assistant and her sixth concubine. Boo, Vi and Cor were in the shower with a fourth bald person covered in soap foam. When she faced me I recognized Tess.

"Get clean, Tom," Tess commanded. "Do you know why I'm having your daughter?"

"I'm smart enough to avoid second-guessing women in the mating game," I said. "How do you want me?"

"That's why," Tess said. "Every time I assigned a woman to you from the brothel, you asked her to show you what made her purr. When they were too beaten down to give you directions, you drew it out of them."

"My best teachers were dogs," I said. "Dogs taught me to be human. If I listen, I can learn. The concubines helped me be an acceptable lover. I didn't have much experience with women—when on active duty, soldiers are married to the Army. That's why divorce is such a problem in the Army—soldiers commit bigamy when they marry another human being and the Army is Senior Bitch. The Army owns the soldier's body and commands first loyalty—or else. Most humans cannot stand being number two. That's going to be a problem for the Confederacy Navy."

"Oh?" Tess signaled her concubines to bathe me. "How so?"

"We humans are limited," I said as hands rubbed soap over me. "Simple fatigue because we humans cannot go full steam ahead. Okay, I sometimes burn the candle at both ends--"

"More like chuck your candle into the furnace," Tess interrupted.

"We humans need proximity to sustain love," I said. "Separation in time and space—especially time—love withers and dies. I wasn't able to find out how the internet revolution impacts military divorce rates. Social changes from when a paper letter took months to reach someone factor in."

I had to stop as my face was washed. A moment later I was rinsed and then the forced dryer got rid of excess moisture. Tess took my hand and had me feel Vi's crotch.

"I'm a lesbian, if you didn't know," Tess said. "I've had my concubines do some gender bending. Two are men but I've rendered them pseudo eunuchs."

She explained that the men only looked castrated. I felt no testes, no scrotum on Vi. The structures had been moved into the lower abdomen, producing enough testosterone. Vi's small penis deflated like a punctured balloon when Tess gave a command and Vi's penis retracted sufficiently that it looked like a hood covering a large clitoris. Nude, there wasn't much difference between Vi and the two bald people with vaginias unless I looked really closely. There had been an issue of 'crimes against nature' but the AI allowed Tess to perform temporary cosmetic modifications in an effort to reprogram Tess's sexual preferences.

"I want to be bisexual," Tess said. "I'm having trouble accepting people with penises."

"Oh?"

"Yes," Tess said. "What my concubines are going to do is strap me to a raping rack. I want you to rape me, Tom. I will be gagged. I can't tell you 'no.' You're safe--"

"One condition," I said, "a safety net. If it becomes too intense, if your fear or disgust are too much, I want the AI to referee and tell me to stop."

Tess blinked in shock.

"Think a moment," I said. "I sense your unease, your fear. If your pulse and blood pressure exceed safe limits, we stop. You have a baseline already—we'll use your lovemaking readouts."

"My what?"

"We are constantly monitored," I explained. "I don't need to know the data, but you've made love since coming here. We can--"

"No," Tess shook her head. "I am also a control freak. I was in total control when I made love to other women. I trust you to take control of me. I've seen you work with the horses, with the dogs. I've tested you thoroughly."