Chapter 25: Unforgotten Friends

I did give Ashley a few minutes of attention once we returned to our home. Her prediction that we would be having an orgy proved to be correct. I woke up with all six ladies draped over my naked body. It took a few minutes and a bit of effort to lift their bodies enough to allow me to slide out from under them and make my way to the small shower in the back of the room.

I was carefully washing off the remnants of our play when Miki stumbled into the shower. She put her arms around me and leaned against me, pushing me against the wall.

“Sorry,” she said as I grunted. “I’m still waking up.”

“I should probably apologize to you. I’ve left you alone too often since we all got picked up,” I replied as I stroked her hair.

“You’ve been great,” Miki said as she put her arms around me. “You’ve shown me you care and that’s what I’ve needed. I don’t have to worry that you’ll dump me.”

“I’d miss you,” I said. “And you are a good companion.”

“I try to be. So what about Jason and Jessica. They aren’t part of your crew,” Miki asked.

“I was thinking of calling them after I have breakfast. I do have to do some training today, but I might have time to meet them,” I said.

“Why did the AI not set everyone’s training up first?” Miki asked. “I mean it seems so stupid to make you the captain and then just give you twenty-seven people and say that you have to turn them into a crew.”

“I expect we are a bit of an experiment,” I replied.

“Why?” Miki asked.

“Because they are probably running out of experienced ship commanders,” I replied.

“Why would that matter?” Miki asked. “The CAP system obviously would identify the good ones. And if they think you can be one, why remove Jason and Jessica from you?”

“I need to build a rapport with my crew. I suspect that the AI felt that I would have trouble convincing many of the older men in the crew to trust me if my two senior officers were my best friends,” I said.

“But they will work so well with you,” Miki said.

I shrugged as I got some shampoo from the dispenser built into the wall of the shower. I poured some over Miki’s head and began massaging it into her scalp.

“That’s nice,” she said.

“Just something I can do for you,” I said quietly.

Just then a bell rang in the shower. “Mark,” the AI said softly. “Sorry to disturb you, but a Walter Norbert is asking if you might have a few minutes to talk.”

“You’re clean,” Miki said. “Get dried and dressed and invite him over.”

“He might not want to come,” I said softly before looking up at the ceiling.

“Put the call through,” I said as I turned the flow of water off.

“Mark?” I heard Walter’s voice call out. “Are you really willing to talk to me?”

“Why not? We were friends once, and I wouldn’t mind hearing a bit about how things are in the marines,” I said.

“Oh they suck,” Walter said with a bit of a moan. “We were drilling up and down the halls until just three hours ago. Sergeant Griffith has made it clear he expects us to be perfect marines by the time we reach Crucibleat and that means we have to start up again in just over an hour.”

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping then?’ I asked.

“I got three hours,” Walter said. “You’d have been laughing about how it was like when I got home. I walked in and just collapsed onto the couch. I got lucky with Monique. She has taken a bunch of classes in massage therapy. She massaged my back and I fell asleep on the couch.”

“Sounds like you might need more sleep,” I said as Miki grabbed a towel and began using it to dry my skin.

“Sergeant Griffith warned us about that. He said that he’ll be watching to see how much sleep we’re getting and if he feels its too much he’ll decrease our break time,” Walter said.

“Decrease it? That doesn’t sound all that smart,” Miki said.

“Well, if you want to stop by you can,” I said. “But I have my own training.”

“What kind?” Walter asked.

“I’m the captain of Corsica. The AI has offered sleep training in command and the basics of all the various stations, but I plan on taking the full courses that my crew must take,” I said.

Walter snorted. “Sergeant Griffith hates the sleep trainers.”

“Why?” I asked as Miki ran up to me holding a uniform. “I would think that they would be far more effective at teaching.”

Miki handed the uniform to me. I started putting it on as Walter sighed. “He lectured on that for over an hour. I guess it teaches the basics, and can even get you familiar with the movements required, but he says that doing it for real helps build real muscle memory. He especially wants to see us practice with others nearby.”

“That makes sense,” I said carefully. “What do you think?”

“I’ll tell you when I get to your home. Mind if I bring Katarina?” Walter asked.

“You should hurry. Otherwise you’ll run out of time,” I said.

“I’ll be there shortly,” Walter said. “I just had to wait for Katarina to get dressed. I gave her the option and she selected a really nice blouse and skirt combination.”

Miki giggled. “Do you think he’ll learn?” she asked me.

“I’ll be ready. I might be eating though,” I replied.

“I’m fine with that,” Walter replied. “I’ll be there soon.”

I nodded as I finished pulling the uniform up over my hips. The rest of the suit was much easier to pull on and I was sealing up the closure as Miki headed to the replicator.

“Something filling? Or are you going to pretend to want fruit and yogurt?” she asked me.

“Surprise me,” I said.

Miki laughed and turned to speak to the replicator. I smiled as she whispered her order. While she continued to talk I walked towards the door to our home.

I was just arriving when the AI played a gong sound. “Citizen Walter Norbert and one concubine are at the door, shall I admit them?”

“Go ahead,” I said firmly.

The door slid open. Walter was standing in the middle of the passage, staring at the door. I could see a woman’s face peeking around his right side. The woman appeared to be in her thirties, but the clear fright on her face made it hard to gauge.

Walter smiled and put a hand out as he stepped forward. “Thanks for talking to me again.”

“I’m not sure I should,” I admitted. “You turned into more than a bit of a beast after the announcements regarding pickups.”

Walter grunted. I noticed that the knuckles of the woman hiding behind him had turned white as she held on to my former friend’s waist.

“Katarina. I told you that I made some mistakes. That was why I ended up at the pickup where I found you and Monique. But I’m not the same person I was when I was on Earth,” Walter said.

“How was he?” the woman asked me.

I looked directly at Walter. “Do you want me to answer that? It might cause some problems.”

Walter sighed. “Katarina, I told you when I offered you the opportunity to join me that I had behaved very badly on Earth. Mark witnessed a lot of it.”

“What did you do?” Katarina asked as Miki walked up to me. My concubine was carrying a plate filled with crispy bacon and well browned hash browns.

Walter saw the food. “Wow, I thought a Japanese girl would want to serve you something a bit healther.”

“Why?” Miki asked. “One of the nice things we can count on with the alien medical technology is an ability to eat food we like the taste of without worrying about the health aspects as much as we did back on Earth. Besides, Mark needs the energy.”

I shrugged as I took the plate. “I do have six ladies to please. But why don’t you come in and sit down for a few minutes. If you were marching all day yesterday you must be sore.”

Walter smiled as he stepped around me to enter my pod. “I have a very good concubine in Monique. She massaged most of my aches away. But it wasn’t just marching. We did a ton of exercises as well. Sergeant Griffith also had a replicator create fake weapons for us to work with.”

“Sounds like he believes in hands on training,” I said.

“Definitely,” Walter said. “But when I thought about it, it makes sense.”

“Oh?” I asked.

“He’s already started going over the basics of how to hold the weapons we’ll be using and how they work,” Walter said. “He said we would use some sleep training, but only after we already had a foundation in the operation of our equipment.”

“Almost like learning algebra before you move on to trig,” I said.

Katarina shook her head. “I know you are young,” she said firmly. “So I have to ask how did you catch on to that so quickly.”

“I think about the situation,” I said.

“He’s not kidding,” Miki said as she helped me sit down. “I found that out from the start. He really does try to plan ahead.”

“It worked too,” Walter said. “You got Jason and Jessica picked up at the same time as you.”’

“Unfortunately, they aren’t part of the crew of Corsica,” I replied as I started eating.

“What?” Walter asked. “Why in the world wouldn’t they be?”

“They were assigned to the other corvette for some reason,” I said. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to them about it.”

“That sucks,” Walter said. “What else should I know about?”

“That I don’t know anything more about your training,” I said. “I’m training for the navy, not the marines. I just hope you do well.”

“Do you really?” Walter asked. “I treated you like dirt all last year at school.”

“With malice towards none, and charity towards all,” I started.

Katarina was shaking her head. Miki looked over at her. “What?” my concubine asked.

“It’s just that I recognize that line,” Katarina said. “I was a sixth grade teacher. I’m just surprised to see someone Mark’s age saying it.”