Chapter 3

Chris looked at the group of people he would be spending the next few months with speculatively.

He had been quietly listening to all that Pat and Lee had been telling them. While the ship was very roomy for a strike craft of its class, twelve people living in close quarters tend to develop interesting personal and group dynamics that can become a nightmare to sort out for a Captain. If they all developed magical abilities, then these dynamics will be even more intense.

“Empress Lee, I have done some study into magic since we poor humans learnt of its reality. Isn’t one of the side effects of using magic an increased desire for sex?”

Lee grinned at Chris. “Yes and no. Food and sleep will recharge you. Having a supply of Quaz crystals near you to draw magical energy from also helps suppress unwanted sexual desires. However, sex, preferably with another magical being gives you a faster and more enjoyable recharge, especially if your magical energies are very low.”

“Channelling magical energy during sex also lets you recharge your Quaz crystals faster and you can also charge any other crystals in your zone of influence. Unfortunately, strong magicians can also affect people near them if they don’t shield their activities. If those people are magically depleted then their desire to find someone to help them recharge is greatly increased.”

Quean said, “I noticed you didn’t specify heterosexual coupling.”

“No,” Lee replied. “The longer you’re a magician, the less inhibited you become as far as gender specific sex goes. While male-female copulation can produce greater highs if you like, same-gender sex can be just as rewarding especially if the persons hold each other in high regard and can form a mental bond.”

Chris then stated thoughtfully, “If we all accept the change to become Shifters then this will allow those who are single to interact in heterosexual activates if they prefer, with the others so they can recharge faster if they need to.”

“Yes,” Lee replied. “It has been interesting to learn that many people actually find being able to change gender for sexual interaction very rewarding. Some even spend as much time in their other gender as they do in the one they were born in.”

“Please don’t rule out you married couples from interacting with others aboard this ship either. Sean and I have learned, as have many other humans that have since become magicians, that we have the capacity to love more than just our spouse. While we will always be bonded, we love our third partner Donny very much and enjoy our occasional interactions with other magicians.”

“Magicians live a lot longer than humans. The higher up the ladder you climb, then the longer you live. Developing close personal and even sexual relationships with others is inevitable and even desirable. Apparently, we don’t handle the death of a loved one well if we don’t have the additional support.”

“We believe this is why we now have fewer inhabitations and are more open to having passing relationships with others. Using sex to recharge our magic with a person, not in our family group, is acceptable to us. If your bond with your partner or partners is strong, you will find jealousy is no longer an issue. While we don’t just screw whoever takes our fancy, we don’t stress over one of us being with someone else if the need arises.”

“That will take some getting used to,” Darla stated. She had always had an issue with female crew members trying to get close to Chris and was worried that with this crew and the nature of this assignment, it was possible that it would happen. They had been married for five years and she’d had problems on every ship they had been on since.

With the high female to male ratio of humans, some woman guarded their husbands jealously. While many people were more open and realistic about polygamous marriages, some like Darla were not so open. Interestingly, she didn’t consider her being in a lesbian relationship while married an issue, as long as the woman stayed away from Chris.

Chris was well aware of his wife’s double standard, yet he still loved her and being with her. She was an exciting woman in the bedroom. In truth, he had an ulterior motive for accepting the chance to become a Shifter. In the bedroom, Darla had always been the driving force and he had often wondered if they had the wrong genders.

He was sure that Darla didn’t know of his homosexual tendencies because she monitored other women and not men. He hadn’t indulged since they had married but the feelings did still bother him and he did look. He had begun to suspect he was more bi-sexual in nature.

Chris loved the idea of being able to change to female and experience being fucked while in that gender. He also suspected Darla would love to be in control of the dick. His most exciting sexual experience had been in a threesome with another couple.

Darla had so far rejected any hints at being in one with him. If she could change gender, then he just might be able to convince her that he would love to try a threesome with her. He wasn’t sure who in the crew would suit them but he suspected that if Lee had picked the crew then at least one of them would. He did quite like the look of the new gunner.

“Lee, for the nature of this assignment, I think us all being able to shift form or gender would be an asset,” James said.

“I agree, but it must be an individual’s choice. Once done it can’t be undone. If some of you wish to think about this for longer, I can change those who wish it and you can approach one of the others later if you also wish to change. Is that acceptable?” she asked.

They all nodded. Dusty said, “If James is happy then so am I.”

Quean then said, “I’m happy to change too.”

As Lee looked around the group, she got nods and yeses from all of the crew members except Darla. Darla soon realised that she was the only one holding out. She looked at Chris and was surprised when he wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. Chris wasn’t normally so blatant about sexual things in public and she now wondered why he was agreeing.

The soft loving smile he then gave her encouraged her to agree. She knew him well enough to know that he believed it would be a good thing for them. Her mind started racing with the possibilities, and her heart rate increased as she realised what he wanted to try and what she could do. “So how are going to do this?” she asked.

“Well, we need to give you all your new magical boxes first. How about you do the girls, Sean and give them a kiss as a reward and I’ll do the guys?” Lee suggested.

This drew many chuckles and good-natured groans of pleasure from the room.

Dusty was surprised when Lee and Sean also gave her’s and James’ parents’ magical boxes.

While the parents only received two gem novice boxes, she knew they would find a lot of uses for the new skills they learnt. She chuckled to herself as she realised the activities in their bedrooms would become a lot more interesting for them too. James’ big grin and wink confirmed that he had thought of this aspect too.

As to the new shifting ability and the possible change to their relationship, she decided to have a chat with James in private. While neither of them had found any need to seek sex out of their relationship, she knew living in a ship with ten other magicians might affect this status-quo.

She did enjoy the kiss she got from Sean and decided he was still hot and a definite temptation for any female. She knew Lee had knocked James’ socks off but then Lee had the same effect on all of the males, so James wasn’t the only guy surreptitiously readjusting their hardware after their encounter with Lee.

The crew had all listened carefully as Lee explained the reason for the different items in their boxes and how wearing the items, would make them strong magicians. The Novices and three gem Mages all received a diadem, a medallion, a ring, a new Mad and a baton that extended into a fighting stave. The batons could also be used as wands.

The four Enforcers got the new upgraded item that looked like flexible metallic vambraces. The braces had a Mad in the middle of it and the larger gems with their symbols surrounded it. They also received a baton. Sean showed them that their old data had been transferred to the new devices once they slid it on.

The mages and novices new Mads were similar to their old ones but had a lot more functionality. All of these devices had the removable pad that extended into a larger style of tablet. The enforcers were not aware that their vambraces made them even stronger magicians than the people with the regular Mads and normal magical items.

Lee decided that they could work it out for themselves. She was intrigued that the medallions Dusty and James wore had stayed with them. She had a feeling that these four, in particular, would be interesting people to keep an eye on.

Everyone was fascinated to find that they had received a few new items with the magical boxes. For one, Lee had included a magical backpack. She explained that the magical box for the items, the separate food storage box and the backpacks all had access to dimensional spaces.

The backpacks would also disappear and not impede their progress when moving in tight situations. They only had to call on them for them reappear. They could put a lot of items in them as long as they could fit the items in through the openings. The backpack had the largest opening and space to access. The boxes did have a limited space of a couple of cubic metres but the bag had four times the space they did.

The boxes for their magical items also had a large bag of the magical Quaz crystals for them to store extra magical energy in and to use for some spells. Sean explained that the crystals made great batteries and could even be used as torches. He had added his version of a crystal torch, a larger lantern and one of his electrical power boxes to their backpacks for them.

After the initial ceremony and gift giving, Lee had them all sit down again.

Dusty had to laugh at Aaron and Bindy.

The couple were so excited at becoming Mages that they had both hugged James and her exuberantly, several times. She guessed that they would be some of the most attentive students they would get, as they had both seen her and James using their skills and knew that it wasn’t all fun and games.

Lee’s warnings about good magical behaviour and etiquette were not lost on the couple either. Dusty noticed that many of the others also realised that they did have a duty of care to use these new skills wisely and not to hurt others with them unless they had to.

Lee also educated the group on the best ways to subdue or stop wrongdoers and gave all of them a separate box each that contained what she called cuffs. She explained they could put spells on the cuffs to inhibit specific behaviours and had to include times and the conditions the wearer were subject to until they complied and then the cuff would return to whoever placed it on them.

The cuffs also had an entity that would monitor the wearer. The entity could also tell if the cuff was being placed on an innocent person or if the person was lying to the Enforcer or Shield so the cuff could be used as a lie detector too. The entity could also suppress the wearer’s magical abilities if the wrong use of them was why the person had been cuffed. They all found this a sobering thought.

Lee then went onto explain hexes. These were more permanent and generally only used if the wrongdoer failed to learn after being cuffed. They could also suppress magical abilities. She told them that only wizards who were Lord Wizards or higher could evoke the third punishment of cryo-sleep. The last step was only done if it was believed that the person could not be stopped from killing or seriously hurting others.

She then educated the group about killing people. While they were expected to protect themselves and their team in hostile situations, and that using extreme force to save innocent lives that were in danger was acceptable for Enforcers, however, killing simply to remove an obstacle was not.

They recommended that they render the person unconscious or even place an immobilising spell on the person. Cuffing them was them another option. She told them to all go through their spell database and to learn some immobilising and sleep spells. They should practice them until they were always their first option.

Lee wasn’t surprised that the four new Enforcers just nodded in agreement. She surmised that James and Dusty had been limiting their killing of others as it was and that Bindy and Aaron did the same by association. She was delighted that they were mentally oriented to the preservation of life and that her feelings that they were all exceptional candidates to be future Wizards were confirmed.