Chapter 49: Discussions About Homes

I was stepping into the shower chamber when Constance caught up to me and threw her arms around me. The weight of her body caused me to stagger forward.

“Constance?” I said in fright and surprise.

She gasped and immediately backed away. “Oh god. I’m sorry. Please, I didn’t mean to ... I mean.”

“Constance, you don’t have to apologize for that,” I said. “In fact, never apologize if something happens while you are being affectionate. I never dreamed you’d do much more than lie there.”

“I can’t just lie there,” Constance said. There was a note of sadness in her voice. “You know about how it was growing up. I never realized how much I had been damaged until that night you took my virginity. It was so marvelous. I want more. I always want more.”

“You do realize...” I began.

“That today is your last day before you take possession of Corsica,” Constance finished for me. “We all do. That was a huge part of why Aine wanted us to line up like we did.”

“That was sexy, but I’m surprise you agreed. That had to be embarrassing,” I said.

“Not really,” Constance said. I turned around to see a faraway look in her eye. It remained for a moment and then Constance shook her head and giggled. “It could have been if I was alone, but with the others.”

“Ah, so you felt sexy doing it,” I said as I moved to the controls for the shower. I turned the water on and adjusted the temperature. The water was warm enough to help wake me, but not hot enough to burn as I jumped under the stream.

“Beyond just sexy. I know you aren’t much of an ass man, but you just stopped and stared. It helped me remember just how much we all mean to you,” Constance said proudly.

“Fine,” I said. “I’m a pervert.”

“You’re our pervert,” Constance said as she turned to grab some soap and a wash cloth. She began to build up a lather on the wash cloth. “And don’t you forget it.”

I had to fight off a smile as Constance reached out and began spreading lather on my chest. “And what about once I leave to take Corsica on patrol?” I asked.

Constance said nothing for a moment. She continued to work on washing my chest. “Ashley has that organized. She’s even going to see about keeping in touch with all of the concubines belonging to your crew. We’ll probably mostly talk and play games though.”

“No lesbian orgies?” I asked as I pulled the cloth from Constance’s hands and started spreading lather on her back.

“We have had a few cuddle sessions,” Constance admitted. “But they can’t compete with making love to you. I do love the others, but your cock fills something.”

“Sure, a pussy,” we heard Aine said from the entrance to the shower.

I turned to see the redhead standing at the entrance. She had a sexy smirk on her face as she proudly thrust her bare breasts in my direction.

“Oooo! Skank alert,” Constance said playfully.

I used the cloth to spread some lather on Constance’s ass. She shivered as I looked at Aine. “Are you joining?” I asked.

“Of course,” Aine said. “Although, I don’t need my pussy filled. You did such a great job last night I can still feel it.”

“He was inspired,” Constance said with a moan. Her knees seemed to lose strength and she sagged against me.

“Mark,” the AI called out. “Jessica is asking if she might speak to you.”

“Put the call through,” I called out. “Constance, Aine, we should finish quietly. Fun in the shower is postponed for now.”

“Oh,” Aine purred. “I’m sure Constance and I can find a way to have fun.”

I stepped away from Constance as she sank to her knees and started using the washcloth to spread a lather over my arms and legs.

“Mark?” I heard Jessica’s voice call out. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“I was in the shower,” I replied. “I fell asleep a bit early last night.”

“We drained him,” Aine said as she snatched the washcloth from my hands.

“Ah, I showered a bit earlier. I called because I have a couple dependents of yours here, and wanted to return them,” Jessica said.

“Matti, Erica and Angelique?” I said pretending to have trouble remembering. “Wow, I wondered where they had snuck off to. I hope they didn’t cause any problems for you.”

Jessica’s hearty laugh echoed in the shower room as I stepped out of the water and moved to grab a towel.

“I’ll have to let Erica know that you said that,” Jessica said. “And for your information, they were fine. I didn’t have a problem with any of them.”

“Good to hear,” I said. “That will cheer up Matti quite a bit. She was positive that you were going to dump her after the past few weeks.”

“I know,” Jessica replied. “Will you report me if I complain about the captain I got stuck with?”

“Soldiers grouse,” I said as I started to dry my hair.

“They what?” I heard Jessica ask sharply.

“They complain,” I said as I finished using the towel to dry my hair. “Complaining is nothing more than a way to relieve some stress. I really doubt there are any rules concerning you complaining. The only time it would become a problem is if you start to work to undermine Captain Prescott’s authority.”

“But he works to undermine you,” Constance said.

“True, and I do resent him for it,” I replied. “Unfortunately, there is no higher ranking officer I can get in touch with about this. What I have decided to do is work hard and make sure that my crew realizes that I’m the man they want in charge. However, we shouldn’t talk about this using the comm system. Come to my room and we’ll party.”

“I’ll leave my two men at home,” Jessica said.

“Why?” I asked. “I know Maurice fairly well. He’d get along fine with my ladies and would probably appreciate the break.”

“Yes, but Jesse won’t,” Jessica said. “He doesn’t really like leaving the pod.”

“But shouldn’t that mean you force him to get out some?” Aine asked.

There was no reply to that from Jessica. I finished drying off and looked up. “Jessica? Are you on the way?”

“Cadet Thornton has left her pod and is walking through the passageways, do you wish to be connected with her?” the AI responded.

“I can wait for her to arrive,” I replied. “Can I have some clothing? Perhaps a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt?”

“So Informal,” Ashley called out as I left the shower room and headed to the clothing replicator. “Why?”

“I’ve had four straight weeks of wearing a uniform, and I’m about to start a period of several months wearing it. I want to be comfortable and casual today,” I said.

“You’ll look it,” Lenore said as I reached the replicator and claimed the clothing that had been produced for me.

I pulled the t-shirt on. “Are Tatyana and Miki awake?” I asked.

“Not yet,” Lenore responded, my dark haired lady was looking directly at the door to the pod.

“Are you so worried about Angelique that you didn’t check? Or are you psychic now?” I asked playfully.

“I’m a bit worried about Angelique,” Lenore said. “You realize this is the first night I allowed her to sleep in a different building than me.”

“I wasn’t aware of that, but I might argue that on a spaceship, all of the pods are part of one building,” I replied.

Lenore started laughing. Ashley ran over and put her arms around me just as I bent down to step into the sweats. “You got her,” Ashley said.

“Mark,” the AI called out. “Cadet Thornton is at the door. Shall I open it?”

I shrugged Ashley’s hands off my back and quickly finished getting dressed. “Go ahead and open the door,” I replied as I tied the drawstring to the sweats.

The door opened. Angelique came running in with a happy scream. “Mommy! I got to sleep in a soft bed, and eat lots of candy.”

Lenore grabbed her daughter and lifted her into the air. “That’s wonderful. And how late did you stay up?”

“Late,” Matti said. “We were all awake past midnight. Your daughter wanted to play games forever. I’m not sure I can take another game of Candyland.”

“But it was so much fun,” Erica sang out sarcastically. “I loved getting trapped at gumdrop falls every game.”

“Sounds like something we should do later,” I said. “Jessica come in, let me see Kathy and Milli.”

Jessica walked in wearing a ship’s uniform. I could see a patch on her left shoulder. It looked like a mountain overlooking a beach. She noticed my gaze and turned so I could see it more clearly. “Captain Prescott’s mental picture of Ipanema Beach,” she said.

“He’s wrong,” Milli called out. “Kathy and I had the AI show us the beach. It’s not close to that mountain.”

Milli walked in. The young woman was wearing an outfit that seemed to be made from yarn loosely knit to form a sleeveless dress that came to mid-thigh. The loose weave made it easy to see her smooth skin.

“Oh god, we already have Jesse perving on us all the time,” I heard Kathy complain fondly. “Don’t tell me that now we’ll have Mark looking at us that way.”

Jessica giggled. “It works. Now I just have to get Captain Prescott to visit.”

“He wouldn’t like that and his punishment might be a bit severe. I don’t want you getting hurt trying to manipulate the man,” I said.

Jessica snorted. She glared at me as she guided Kathy to the couch. Her first concubine was wearing an outfit that appeared to have been lifted from some old movie about cavemen. She was in a halter and skirt that looked like it had been made out of deerskin.

Kathy blushed as she noticed that I was looking at her. “Jess,” she said shyly.

“Oh, you love it,” Jessica said absently.

“And don’t you say a word,” Ashley told me as she wrapped her arms around my waist. She pressed her breasts into my back as she leaned into me. “We all know that Jessica never asks her girls to do something they don’t desire to do.”

“Oh, I can think of one,” Milli said.

“Let me guess. To leave her alone to either sleep or study,” Lenore said as she walked around the couch and sat down. My dark haired beauty was holding her daughter in her arms. Angelique was dozing as she clung to her mother.

“I think my little Angel needs to go back to sleep,” I said.

“Oh, I’ll take her to the bedroom,” Erica said happily. “I want a few more hours of sleep myself.”

“But I just got her back in my arms,” Lenore playfully whined.

“Would you like some cheese?” Ashley said. “I believe we can bring some sharp cheddar.”

“I’d rather have brie,” Lenore responded.

Ashley’s body was quivering as she continued to cling to me. I heard the sharp short breaths she used when trying to hold back giggles. Quickly, I spun around in her arms. As I did I slapped her ass with my right hand.

“Wench! Go and prepare a tray of cheese and crackers. Hop to it,” I barked.

Ashley began laughing. She looked over at Jessica. “He’s so masterful. I find that he’s completely mastered giving orders. It was something we thought he’d never master. Oh master, may I please serve you?”

Jessica burst out laughing. Her concubines joined in as Ashley walked away from me.

I raised my right hand. “Yes, she got me good. Now my minions. Since Erica and Angelique are headed off to get more sleep, how about someone pull out a game we can play while we chat.”

“Do we have time?” Constance asked. “I mean, don’t we arrive in the Crucibleat system today?”

“Good question. AI, what is the schedule for today again?” I asked.

“The ship Glowworm will emerge in the Crucibleat system at approximately fourteen hundred hours,” the AI replied. “The plotted emergence point will put the ship about three and one half hours away from orbit. Once the ship arrives in orbit the process of landing will begin.”

“And its?” I asked.

“Oh seven fifty,” Jessica answered quickly. “I checked before we left our home. Captain Prescott said he’d be calling all of his crew at twelve hundred hours.”

“A bed check?” I asked in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? I told my crew that they were free to do whatever they wanted today. After all tomorrow we will be taking possession of Corsica and who knows how often we’ll be able to return home after that.”

“Will I never see Jessica again?” Kathy asked. I looked over at the woman to see her sitting on the couch. Her face was white with fear and her hands protectively clutched her stomach.

“I doubt it will be never. I haven’t seen any official orders, but I expect that Corsica and Ipanema will be patrolling all of the nearby systems. We’ll be tasked with finding out where the Sa’arm are and then trying to harass any ships they have,” I replied.

“So you’ll be spies?” Milli asked.

“I don’t think we really can do much spying on the Sa’arm. They don’t communicate in a way we can understand. No, we’ll be scouts for the rest of the military. Our job is to go out and find the enemy while not getting caught,” I replied.

“So you’ll never fight?” Kathy asked hopefully.

“We’ll fight,” Jessica said firmly. “If we catch a Sa’arm scout ship alone I’m sure Captain Prescott will attack it.”

“Why?” Kathy whined. “I want you to come home to me.”

“Because what if the scout has come to this system? We wouldn’t want it to be able to return to a Sa’arm hive and alert them. If that happens we might see some of their assault ships,” I said softly.

“Which just might be bad,” Jessica said.

“True,” I said with a very obvious shrug. “Meanwhile, what are we going to do? I’m sure we can find a game or three.”

“Something adult please,” Jessica said. “One which requires some strategy and thought.”

“Sick of Candyland?” I asked.

Milli giggled. “Do you know how hard it is to try to lose at Candyland?”

“Yes I do,” I sang out.

Ashley started laughing loudly. “Oh, you got her,” she crowed.

“Wench! Bring me a game!” I roared out. “And a drink!”

“Make mine a Mountain Dew!” Jessica added.

It was Milli and Kathy’s turn to laugh as Ashley stood up and walked off toward the replicator. Lenore arrived carrying a few boxes.