Chapter 10: Anger Management

The afternoon turned into a very pleasant interlude. We had entered the home pod and met Erica who had found a way to turn a wall into a giant screen. She had some children's program playing in the main room. Angelique was sitting and watching the show while Erica organized the games that we had brought in with our bags.

Matti ran over to look at the games. I scanned the room and then looked at Erica. "Did Aine come through here?"

"She stomped through screaming something about how the system robbed her of a comfortable living," Erica said. "I think she went down the passage to the elevator. Why?"

I sighed. "She's not working out," I said.

"Isn't that a bit fast?" Matti asked. "You waited more than a month before you had sex with Lenore. Jason made Letty wait until he tested. You haven't known Aine for a full day yet."

"She doesn't want to be part of a large group," I said. "Constance appears willing to work with me."

"Willing?" the young woman said. "Can I drag him into the bedroom to show him how I really feel?"

"Mark?" Ashley asked me.

"Wow," I said. "If you had talked to me two days ago I would have said that there was no way Constance would be a good concubine for anyone. Yet now she's acting like she'll be perfect."

I looked over at Constance. She blushed and looked at the floor. "No, I won't be," she said.

"Oh?" Lenore asked. "You appear to be trying hard."

Constance burst out crying. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't want Mark to get rid of me. I'll do anything to avoid that."

Ashley ran over as Constance collapsed to the floor. She lifted the crying girl and carried her to the couch. "There, there," she said in a comforting voice. "Relax. Mark isn't a monster."

My stomach grumbled. "Ouch," I said. "She might not believe that if she hears my stomach. We should get something to eat."

Lenore looked around. "Where is the kitchen I can probably make sandwiches."

"You can use any of the replicator units to provide food. Ask for what you want. The replicators in your pod have over four thousand meals available," the AI announced.

"For so many of us, that won't last long if we all eat three meals a day," Tatyana said.

"I think it means that there are four thousand different dishes. So there might be something from your homeland," I said.

"Currently there are over one hundred Ukrainian meals in the memory banks," the AI said.

"Can we increase that?" I asked.

"While Glowworm is still orbiting Earth it is possible to upload dishes from other memory banks. However, you'd need to have someone cook the meal you want to upload. We do not have time to find a cook before this ship will be leaving orbit," the AI said.

I looked at Lenore. "For today, I'll take something simple. See if it can do a shrimp cocktail and rice pilaf. Meanwhile, get with Miki and Tatyana. Go over the menu available and find some dishes they'd like from their home countries. Chinese is also good."

"Anything you don't want?" Lenore asked.

"Any meat that is well done," I said. "or anything that's slow cooked. Well except for a good chili. That should be slow cooked."

"Some barbeques are slow cooked," Ashley said as she continued to comfort Constance. "And Mark, I think you need to pay more attention to your ladies than your next thousand meals."

"Coming mother," I sang out. Miki and Tatyana started laughing as they followed Lenore over to a panel on the wall that had lit up. I walked around the couch and knelt in front of Constance.

"Constance?" I asked.

"Call me Cunnie," she said with a sniffle. "I know you and the others all called me that. And I deserved it. I was a complete cunt to you all. I tried so hard to ruin your freshman year."

"I don't hold grudges," I said. "And I'm not sure you deserve the name anymore. You aren't exactly acting high and mighty like you did then."

"You're going to have me executed aren't you? I'm not flashy that Aine or as loving as the rest of your ladies. You'll decide I'm not worth the time and throw me away," Constance insisted.

I put my arms around her. Constance buried her tear filled face into my chest. "Constance," I said softly. "You have to believe in yourself and in me. I want you to be happy. I want you to be able to walk around with your head held high. You should be able to look anyone in the eye and think, 'I'm special, my master Mark believes in me.'"

"I know I feel that way," Ashley said.

"But he could have you killed," Constance said mournfully.

"I'd never do that," I said. "I love Ashley. My fondest dream is that I survive these wars and years from now, I get to hold my great-great-great-grandchild with Ashley as we celebrate one hundred years together."

"One hundred?" Tatyana said from behind me. "Could we really be together that long?"

"The medical technology used will be able to maintain a youthful appearance and energy for up to one hundred twenty years," the AI said. "The time varies, but at your age, you can expect many years of healthy living."

"One hundred years of Aine?" Ashley asked.

I looked up. "Ai, what is Aine doing."

"Concubine Aine is lying on the bed in the room you designated as hers," the AI said. "She is currently shouting at the wall. Would you like to listen in?"

I cringed. "Go ahead."

"What the fuck! I finally get the perfect guy. He's too young to want to dominate me. All I should have had to do was show him my pussy and he'd follow me and obey my every whim. Instead I get some cocksucker who tells me he wants lovemaking. What the fuck is that? Men don't want tenderness. They want to pound your pussy!" we heard Aine rant.

"And the girls with him. That one Constance. God, who knew virgins her age existed, and what a worm she is. You can tell she doesn't want to have sex, but she'll roll over and claim it was her idea just to avoid getting kicked out an airlock," Aine continued.

"Ai put me through to that room," I commanded.

There was a loud chime that echoed through the room. "Aine! Do you want to be my concubine, or should I find someone else? I could always give you to Walter!"

The entire pod was silent for a moment. The silence was broken by a scream of fear. "No! Not him!"

"Why not?" I asked. "You don't seem to be happy with me."

"He'll be abusive!" Aine said in protest.

"And you aren't abusive? You wanted someone you could dominate. What is the term I heard? I think it was topping from the bottom. I get a feeling you don't want to be with me. I have more ladies than you want to share with and you can't just use sex to control me," I said.

"That's not what I want!" Aine screamed. "I just want to feel safe!"

"But you are fighting that," I pointed out calmly. "Aine, one of the most important goals I have is to make my ladies feel safe. I'm trying to do that for you, but you argue with everyone. Now, I need you to calm down and figure out if you can adjust to life in this new home, or if I need to rehome you."