Chapter 24: Bonds and Chains

The rest of the afternoon seemed to pass in a blur. It seemed that as soon as Ingrid and Morgause had left that Vernon Boddicker was talking to me. Once he had made his pitch for an engineering tech position Brent Boswell was in front of me and begging to get an opportunity to work on a missile launcher. Soon I was facing a steady stream of men. Each one kept the discussion brief as they mentioned what they would like to do.

In the end I found someone for every position to be filled by an enlisted citizen. My big problem was that while I had found several people who appeared confident and competent, I was unable to find anyone who showed promise as either the weapons officer or the tracking officer.

In the end I just offered two of the older men the opportunity to start training for the positions. Tatyana was with me and had to laugh. Boris Smith was the potential weapons offer with Rocky Jones selected to be the potential tracking officer.

“Smith and Jones?” she asked me once they had walked away.

“They aren’t uncommon names,” I admitted.

The party was finally winding down. People were heading out as my concubines worked to return any uneaten food to the recyclers. Tatyana noticed that I was scanning the room.

“You met everyone,” she said. “And I have to say that most were nice. I think only a couple were rude or insulting.”

“I still have people like Brent, Raccoon and even Vernon who were more than a little dismissive about concubines. And then you have to remember that I’m going to be the youngest person on the ship,” I said worriedly.

“You can’t do much about that,” Tatyana said as the last member of the crew left the room.

“Not directly, but I need to show all of them that I deserve to be the captain. AI, is there any kind of training program already developed to help me learn all the duties on a Patrician class ship?”

“All?” Tatyana asked.

Lenore, Aine and Constance approached as I turned to face the young woman. “Sure,” I said. “My crew is far more likely to respect me if I demonstrate that I know what I’m talking about when I give orders.”

“What about the other ship? And why didn’t Jason and Jessica stop by to visit,” Lenore asked.

“The other ship has the former CEO in command,” I said. “It seems that Jason, Jessica and Morgan are all currently assigned to Ipanema.”

“Why?” Miki asked as she walked up. “They had been friends of yours for a long time. I’d think there would be a reason to keep you together.”

“I think it was a problem with our ages. Honestly, if they were here, I’d probably have given them officer positions. The older men in the crew would have wondered about that, and there also likely would have been claims that I was too close to judge them fairly,” I replied.

“I can’t see you doing that,” Ashley said as she joined the others. “You’ve always been so lacking in passion when you make a decision.”

I looked at Tatyana. She had a smirk on her face. I stepped away from the Ukrainian beauty and put my arms around Ashley. With a deft twist I swept my blond concubine from her feet and kissed her thoroughly.

I held the kiss as long as I could. Then with my lungs burning in protest I put Ashley back on her feet and stood up. “Was that lacking in passion?” I asked flippantly.

“No,” Ashley said. “But that makes me want you more. Shall we head home and...”

Before she could finish the sentence the AI spoke. “There are several training programs that might be of service. There also are video manuals detailing each station.”

“More complete than the overview we watched at the orientation?” I asked.

“These were developed during the period before the first pickups. They were used to help soldiers determine which duties they could switch to quickly,” The AI said.

“What?” Aine asked.

“The militaries of the world must have offered up some of their men to help fill out ship’s complements as soon as the governments went public. It sounds like the videos were used to help allocate the experienced crew to their new duties.”

“Wow,” Aine said. “I always thought our military stayed out of all of this.”

“I expect its more of a case of avoiding calling attention to what they have done in order to keep people from panicking. Many people are already far too nervous about the future of Earth,” I said.

Ashley tugged on my arm. “No more thinking about it. It’s time for you to take me home and fuck me hard.”

I looked over at Lenore while pointedly ignoring Ashley’s continued efforts to get me to move. “Lenore, I didn’t get much time with Angelique in the last two days. How is the little darling doing?”

Lenore gave me a surprised look. She glanced over at Ashley who had moved behind me and was now pushing on my back. “Well, she has missed you,” my black haired companion said carefully.

“She’s a sweet little girl. I imagine that Erica and Matti have been working hard to keep her entertained,” I said.

“They drag me into their games all the time,” Aine complained. “I’d hate it, but Angelique is cute and Erica is patient with me.”

“With you?” I asked.

Aine sighed and then looked at me. “Why do you sound so surprised?”

“Perhaps he is,” Constance said. “I’m sure he doesn’t expect you or me to spend much time with a couple of kids.”

Aine kicked at the floor with her bare feet. “You’re right. I never really thought about that. But what’s wrong with spending time with them?”

“It just doesn’t fit the personality you showed the first day,” I said.

Ashley had failed to push me with her hands. I could feel her back against mine as she had turned around and was now trying to use the weight of her body to force me to move. Miki and Tatyana had smirks on their faces as they looked at me.

Aine seemed to miss the interplay. “I guess. You know I have to admit I never thought about children. I didn’t want to ruin my figure or my fun by having them, but I think I always understood I’d want one someday.”