Chapter 15: Good and Bad but No Ugly

The next person to show up was Robert Bruce. He swept in wearing a set of fatigues. The only thing missing was a gun slung over his shoulder. Crystal dashed in after him.

"Robert, please you don't have to be a jerk to every man you meet," she pleaded.

"I won't be," he said with a growl. "But just because the law says you are a concubine doesn't mean that I have to accept offers to trade you for a night. I'm still not happy that we have to have Darla."

"Robert, you are a great man. I've always known that. But that means you should have more children. I'll happily give you more, but I'm only one woman. Darla can do that too," Crystal pleaded.

I walked over to the duo. "Hello again," I said as I held out my hand to Robert.

The man froze and just stared at my hand. "Who?" he asked.

"Oh, it's the nice young man from the briefing," Crystal said. "The one who had all the pretty women around him."

"Why are you remembering things like that?" Robert asked.

"Just because I'm not married to you doesn't mean I don't love you. Robert, you rescued me from that small town I grew up in. You have never lied to me. You are an incredible lover," Crystal said.

"And how would you know that?" Robert snarled.

"I never said I was a virgin when we met," Crystal said sadly. "I never talked about my life before you came to my diner."

Robert's face brightened. He had a far away look in his eye as he gazed at the door to the room. "God, I remember that. I was in your town to look at the old factory. My boss insisted that we could get it for a song and use it to pretend to make clothing. He thought printing 'Made in America' on cheaply made t-shirts would increase sales. The people of your town quickly shot him down, but he insisted on talking to the mayor before we could leave. I stopped by that diner just to grab a bite to eat."

"Your boss was a sleaze," Crystal said. "Did you know he tried to get my panties off while you were driving us to the airport?"

"Why do you think I left the company and founded my own consulting firm?" Robert said. "I never liked how he disrespected both of us during that drive."

Crystal smiled. "And you wonder if I can be happy as your faithful love slave. Robert, I have been a slave to your love since the day you asked me to return to Seattle with you. Now, I know you love fried chicken. In the past I worried about your cholesterol. Today, I'm going to get you several pieces. You can enjoy them while you talk."

Crystal headed over to the buffet. Robert turned to watch the woman walk away.

"That is one wonderful woman," I said quietly. "You should make sure she knows how important she is."

"I want to, but she wants to share me with Darla," Robert said sadly. "It feels like she's pushing me away."

"I didn't hear that," I said. "Robert, you saw my harem."

Robert snorted. "Is that what you call them?"

"Not really," I replied. "I try to treat each one as an important part of my life. They are human beings and deserve respect and love. I try to give them all they could want. It was actually a friend who pointed out that I had a harem."

Robert shook his head. "And your ladies are happy with that?"

"Two of them have been with me less than a day. I don't know how they feel. Some of the others actually started hanging out with me over a year ago. They could have left me anytime they wanted," I replied.

"Where are they?" Robert asked.

"Ashley is over at the buffet helping people get food," I said. "I believe Miki and Tatyana are in medical pods. The others should be relaxing in our home pod."

"Are you sure they are happy?" Robert asked.

"Talk to Ashley," I said with a smile. "She'll happily tell you about everything. I swear that girl wants me to have more women. Not that I need any."

Robert laughed. "Now that I find I can believe. Crystal is the same way. I'll go over there. Do I need an introduction?"

"I'm not so controlling as to demand that she only speak when I'm standing over her," I replied. "She might stay on the far side of the table, but she'll talk if you ask about me. You'll probably find that you want her to stop talking."

Robert laughed louder and started walking towards the table. As he walked away Jason crept over and put a hand on my shoulder. "It's started," he said. "And so far, all we have seen are nice people."

"For certain levels of nice," I said as I nodded towards Mildred. The flamboyant woman was loudly telling some story to Morgan and Austin. She had Kirk on all fours as she sat on his back.

"Man, she is definitely a character," Jason said. "But from what I've seen she's not malicious at all. It seems to be mostly play and Kirk is clearly devoted to her."

"We can't ask for much more," I said.

"Is this where we go for the orgy?" someone said from the doorway.

"This is a proper social gathering," I said in my best imitation of an upper class sneer. "We do not conduct orgies."

"I thought we were having a party," a tall man in his twenties said. The man walked in and I immediately noticed that he was holding a leash in his right hand. Behind him a woman tried to run and keep up. Her ankles were bound together so that her steps were small. The ball gag in her mouth was the only other thing touching her naked body.

"A social one," I said. "We are all going to be in the military together. It made sense to get together and talk."

"Yeah," Jason said. "The orgy will be tomorrow night, behind the engine exhaust."

"Whatever," the man said. He looked over his shoulder. "Consider yourself lucky Baby. No one here is interested in a trade for some used pussy."

"Why don't you untie her feet and allow her to get you some food," I suggested. "You could move around and talk to the other citizens."

"Yeah," the man said. "That might work. I could meet some men who want to try out Baby's talented tongue. How about you?"

The man looked closely at me. "Nevermind. You're so young you probably brought along your momma and are singing hymns of praise now that you get to sample her sloppy pussy."

Jason started to lunge at the man. I caught my friend and held him back as the jerk turned and strode towards the buffet table.

"I'll kill him," Jason said as we watched him go.

"He's not worth it," I replied.

"He makes Walter seem friendly. Look at what he did too that poor woman," Jason said.

"He has the right to do that," I said. I turned back to the door just in time to see two men arrive. The men both stepped back and waved for the other to enter first.

Both men tried to wave off the offer, but finally the younger of the two men turned his back on the doorway. The gentleman who entered had snowy white hair. He walked in with a woman of perhaps forty years on his arm. The woman was wearing a sheer, but still opaque negligée.

"Don't worry Roxanne," he said. "I promise nothing will happen to you."

"But how can you protect me?" she asked.

"Remember the way the new laws were explained. You belong to me," the man said. "And I will prove to be a possessive bastard if any of these men tries to harass you."

"Sounds like my kind of man," Jason whispered.

The other man entered. He appeared to be in college, but was wearing a high school letterman's jacket. The woman following him was considerably older than him and rather chubby.

"I don't know why I had to come," the woman said with a plaintive whine. "Why aren't you showing off Susan?"

"Susan is shy," the man said. "A lot shyer than she pretended when we were in school. I don't want her feeling like everyone is staring."

"But you'll put a stupid looking shift on me and make me come to this party," the woman complained.

"I couldn't come alone," the young man said.

"That's my cue," Jason said as he touched my shoulder. My friend strode towards the young man.

I turned to the older gentleman. "Hello sir," I said as I held out my hand. "I'm Mark."

"William," the man said. "And this pretty lady is Roxanne."

The woman looked at me. "You're awfully young."

"I'm probably one of the younger citizens," I said. "But that doesn't mean I'm not a citizen."

The woman looked scandalized. "They allow child soldiers?" she asked.

I looked over at William. "Your concubine seems like a caring woman, but she definitely doesn't understand how things work now. It might be wise to explain it to her later."

"Talk to me boy!" the woman snapped. "How is it that you are a citizen?"

William put a hand on the woman's right shoulder. "Rox, think about the CAP testing. You obviously went through that because you had a card."