Chapter 23: In the Lounge

An hour later I was leading Bryn and Jade through the hallway of the ship. We planned on meeting the others at the elevator once we arrived on the floor with the lounge. Tilly had enthusiastically supported the idea of bringing both of her concubines and my duo was already happily chatting about how they would be corrupting more of the ship’s concubines.

“Just make sure that the concubines remember who they belong to,” I said clearly as we arrived at the elevator.

“Always a good idea,” a firm voice called out. “But you’ll find that its rarely a problem. Few concubines want to be repudiated so they are usually very careful to ensure that their sponsor is very happy.”

I spun around to see an older citizen wearing a uniform with the insignia of a commander standing behind us in the hallway. Bryn and Jade preened for him with Jade thrusting her chest forward and simpering.

“I offer sailor good time,” my Asian friend said in a strange sing-song accent.

Bryn broke up into giggles and I just shook my head. “Jade...”

“Aww,” Bryn said as Jade stiffened. Her face took on a guilty expression as she looked over at me.

“The commander might not understand that Jade’s just playing,” I said firmly. “And I really don’t need to find myself in trouble because of what she was doing. Remember that by law what she does is my responsibility.”

The commander nodded. “You remembered, but considering the outfits your concubines are wearing, I imagine you paid close attention to the briefing and you honestly care for your ladies. Keep treating them well and they’ll make you very happy.”

“They certainly try,” I said smiling at the two women. “My only worry is that they’ll cause trouble by getting other concubines involved in something that their owner isn’t ready for.”

The commander nodded. “It does happen, but you’d be surprised how rare it is after the first couple of weeks. Just don’t crush the spirit you see now. I’ve seen too many concubines who’ve had all the joy in life beaten out of them by people who didn’t understand how much they can do for us.”

“You mean more than giving my goddess all the orgasms she can handle?” Bryn asked with a smirk.

“Bryn!” I said with a gasp that echoed in the ship’s corridors. “And to think of what a shy scared young woman you were barely a week ago.”

“Besides, we know that our mistress needs us for more than just a roll in bed,” Jade said firmly. “I might play at being blinded by lust for her, but you’ve seen her after any training session. She needs more than just physical fun.”

“Anyways,” I said trying to stop the current conversation from devolving. “It’s nice to see you Commander. I’m afraid I don’t quite remember you, but I’ve been concentrating on trying to train with several other new citizens. In fact, I was about to attend an important meeting with a couple of my prospective officers.”

“In other words, she’s about to have a gab fest with two female citizens that she likes,” Jade offered.

I just shook my head as the Commander smirked. “Ah, its so nice to see a concubine who isn’t afraid to be cheeky and talkative. Someday you’ll look upon today fondly, I’m sure. But I shouldn’t delay you. I remember how lonely my original journey out to Borneo was despite my concubines, and I’m sure that staying in my pod was a huge part of that. Enjoy your party.”

The Commander nodded and then turned to walk away from us. I glared at Jade, but my friend just preened under my glare. Bryn did not help by joining in with another giggle.

“Not sorry,” Jade said.

I just nodded as the elevator we were waiting for arrived. Jade and Bryn playfully pushed me onto the elevator. As I turned I could hear Tilly giggling from the car.

“See,” my communications officer said. “It is possible to be playful and fun.”

“No it isn’t,” a man growled. “You’d never let me do that. You only encourage Silly to be playful. I’m expected to be stoic about being left to boredly watch dumb videos.”

“Tilly,” I said as I turned around to find my communications officer standing in front of a duo I had never seen before. The woman clearly had been in the medical pods for a rework. She had curves for days as Radov would have said. She was actually shorter than Tilly, but her body still looked right. The man looked like a contender for best muscled in any gym. He was wearing a loin cloth and nothing more. Only the scowl on his face and the wrinkles on his forehead kept me from smiling at him.

“Captain,” Tilly said. “I see your concubines remain as fun-loving and playful as always.”

“I try,” I replied. “They definitely work hard to keep me happy. And this is my first time meeting your concubines. Care to introduce them.”

Tilly nodded. She pointed to the woman. “This is Cecile.”

“Silly,” the man muttered. “Which is a good name for her. She doesn’t have two braincells to rub together. I swear if she demands we watch another vapid show about fashion I’m going to puke in the bed.”

“Wow, way to kill the vibe,” Jade said before turning to look at Cecile. My Asian concubine managed to curtsey in the mini-skirt she was wearing. “Jade, former stripper and now handmaiden to your owner’s Captain. If you want, we’ll kidnap you during the day and we can gossip about our owners and how we’d like to please them.”

The woman blushed. “Please,” she whispered. “I don’t know how to handle the situation. I’m not a lesbian, but I’m expected to help keep Tilly relaxed and Matt is such a bore.”

Matt turned and glared at the woman, but whirled back to me as I clapped my hands. “Matt, you need to relax,” I said to him. “Tilly gets to decide what will happen in your life, and if you make her uncomfortable or cause trouble when she’s around, she can decide to get rid of you. Relax a bit.”

“I’m supposed to be a warrior, not some speedo wearing moron who is just around to be eye candy,” Matt growled.

“Oh, poor baby,” Bryn cooed. I spun around to look at my formerly shy concubine. The blond playfully flipped her hair as she looked down at Matt. The man bristled, but said nothing.

Jade was nodding as the elevator door opened to reveal Este and her two concubines waiting for us. “It does seem like you need to take some time to talk to a few people. How about we all go to the lounge and find a table. Heck, I might even agree to dance for everyone.”

“Standard Pink Poodle rules,” I said firmly.

“Pink Poodle rules?” Este’s female concubine said in a posh voice as everyone gathered just outside the elevator. “That sounds...”

“Like a strip club?” Jade said. “It was and probably still is. And like most clubs the official rule given to any of the strippers was that we were not to touch the customers or allow the customers to touch us.”

“That was a rule?” Matt asked. “I mean, I’ve never been to one, but I thought...”

“It was the rule at every club I ever worked or inquired at,” I said. “Although a huge part of that was to protect the clubs against accusations of allowing prostitution. The truth was that in the private rooms, touching happened quite often,” I said.

The woman with Este gasped. “You were a stripper?” She was dressed in a fabulous silk evening gown that appeared out of place on the ship. “I remember seeing you as a guest judge on a beauty contest. No one ever said you had worked in a strip club.”

“Because my husband never wanted it talked about,” I said with a nod. “Not that he truly cared. His worry was that someone might realize just how little I cared for his lying, cheating ass. Reputation mattered more to him than taking care of his wife.”

“Ouch,” Este said. “I’ve heard of men like that. There are quite a few in my hometown in Brazil. There are even some who get a girlfriend so she can act as a ... I think I’ve heard it called a beard.”

Jade laughed. “Oh, I’ve seen those types. They work so hard to appear macho when they are in public, but once they think no one is watching some of them can appear more feminine than any supermodel.”

“Radov wasn’t that bad,” I said. “At least I never caught him allowing any of his mistresses to peg him, but he did work far too hard to never show weakness or even any empathy. It made him a miserable man to be around.”

“No empathy?” Este’s male concubine said. He had a strong southern drawl which made it a bit hard to understand, but his slow speech allowed me time to figure out what he had said. “Yeah, that would get him in trouble with just about everyone. Few people enjoy being around someone who can’t show empathy.”

Bryn smiled at the man. “Oh, we need to do introductions. I just realize that I recognize Este and Tilly because they’ve visited my goddess a few times, but I don’t think we’ve met. Should I start?”

“Let’s get a table,” I said as we entered the lounge. Jade just broke into a strut as she entered the room first. She slowly and theatrically scanned the room before pointing off to her left.

“I see a perfect table. Its got upholstered lounge chairs around it, and it isn’t too far from the food replicators. You want your usual Vannah?” Jade called out.

“My usual might get me in a bit of trouble,” I playfully called back. “How about a large chicken Caeser salad and a bowl of clam chowder. Just water to drink. I will never touch the fake alcohol the replicators put out again.”

“No one could drink that stuff,” Este’s male concubine said. “My grandpappy’s moonshine was easier to drink than that stuff and mom always swore that the only people who purchased her father’s shine were using it to remove paint.”

Jade waved. “Bryn, come claim the table and tell me what you want. I can carry three trays back.” The duo dashed away as Tilly and Este both laughed.

“They try so hard,” Este said. “Are you sure that Catherine will return from a visit unmolested?”

“They’ll demonstrate how to dance and how to walk in heels, but Jade knows that I would be quite cross should she touch a concubine sexually,” I said firmly.

“Why would you care?” Matt asked crossly.

“Because its not my place to touch someone else’s concubines,” I said. “And if I promise someone that their concubines are safe with me, it would be and is wrong for my concubines to take advantage of that. My hope is that any concubine they train goes home and then demonstrates what she’s learned to her sponsor.”

“I would,” Cecile said. “I’m still not comfortable with the idea, but I do understand that anything I can do to help Tilly is important. And with Matt being a pill, its been my responsibility to help her relax after every training session.”

“Are they that bad?” I asked Tilly as we entered the lounge.

Bryn was standing next to a large circular table that could easily seat twelve or more people. The table was lower to the ground than I expected, but then I looked at the lounge chairs which would have me closer to prone than sitting up once I got down.

“Jade! Get a few bunches of grapes. I feel like being pampered by my handmaidens and they shall kneel at my side and feed me grapes by hand,” I shouted to my concubine. She waved a hand as she waited to use the food replicator.

My shout caused a number of people to turn. There were a trio of groups playing some kind of game using a couple of lounge chairs and wall screens. I did not recognize the game. The men who were playing quickly turned back to their games. I just headed towards the table as Bryn shifted one of the chairs and knelt next to it.

“Your concubines are so diligent,” Tilly said as she rushed to catch up with me. Cecile was racing forward trying to get to the table before we arrived.

“You have one who moved,” Este said from behind us. “Neither of mine has even tried.”

“Not true!” her female concubine called out shrilly. “Its hard to run ahead of you when you’ve got an arm wrapped around my waist.”

“But you bragged about being your high school’s star power forward,” Este said. “In fact, didn’t you claim that you had several universities trying to get you interested in playing for them.”

“I was only a junior,” the girl said. “I had two more years of high school.”

“Catherine,” the man with Este said. “Stay calm. Este is teasing you. She seems to enjoy playing against the fact that you did brag about your parent’s wealth and the exclusive club team you played on during the high school off season.”