Chapter 6: Training Begins

I woke up the next morning with something weighing down my arms. I raised my head and found that it was two somethings in the bodies of Jade and Bryn who were snuggled tightly to my sides. They were still wearing the schoolgirl outfits I had given them yesterday with the exception of the heeled shoes. Both were fast asleep.

It took a couple moments to slide my arms free from their joint embrace and climb out of the bed. Both gave of slight moans of disappointment as I slid free, but then rolled onto their backs and returned to deep sleep. They looked happy and content with small smiles on their faces.

I decided to move quietly, grab some clothes and head to the shower to get the day started. It proved to be momentarily difficult because the AI unit wanted to respond at full volume, but I somehow got it to provide a uniform without waking my concubines. Underwear was not originally provided, but I finally did manage to get the AI to provide one set composed of an extremely lacy and colorful pink and black bra along with some pink thong panties. The outfit was clearly more for the bedroom than everyday wear, but I accepted it without complaint.

After a quick shower, I asked the AI what the plan was.

“Today begins your formal training,” the AI responded. “You should go to the training room where the first sessions are set up.”

“No books to read?” I asked.

“Previous analysis has shown that few humans are good at learning from books. Instead training is hands-on with video reviews and instructions. Sleep training is available as well should you wish to use it,” the AI said.

I sighed. “I’d rather do something than just have a computer download the memory of the actions into my head. Well, let me grab something for breakfast first. Can I get a couple energy bars and some orange juice?”

The items appeared on the table in the booth on a tray. I drained the juice immediately and returned the tray and glass to the recycler while carrying the two energy bars into the training room I had seen the previous day.

The room was dark as I entered. I stood just inside the doorway as the door slid closed. Once it did there was a moment of complete darkness before an overhead light illuminated a chair and a path to it.

“Please go and sit in the weapon officer’s chair,” a new voice called out. It was much more lifelike than the AI’s usual toneless voice. I tried to look around, but the rest of the room stayed dark so before the voice could repeat itself, I walked over to the chair and sat. I took a quick bite from one of the energy bars and waited for the next instructions.

Several moments passed and then a sphere of light appeared in the area between the four chairs. It glowed bright red for a second and then the sphere faded to reveal the hologram of a sleek starship.

“You are currently training to be an officer in a Patrician Class Corvette,” the voice began. “This ship is the lightest corvette currently in service weighing in at nineteen hundred tons. Its primary armament is a pair of rail guns fixed along the spine of the ship. This gives a Patrician a strong attack that can penetrate the armor of most light and medium Sa’arm ships currently seen in service. The only drawback is that the rails cannot bend or turn, so the ship must face its target to attack, and the targeting can be difficult during evasive maneuvers. The ship does have four missile tubes as a secondary armament, but magazine space is limited to twenty missiles.”

I winced. I knew that some of the Confederations ships were small, but this sounded like the pod I was living in might be larger than the ships I was training to serve on. Still, the voice did not stop its speech so I continued to listen.

“The ships company on a Patrician is five officers, and twenty-three enlisted. The officers are ship’s captain, tracking officer, communications officer, weapons officer, and engineering officer. The crew is split up as follows three helmsmen working in rotation, six crew who serve the rail guns, eight on the missile launchers and six in engineering. The ship does have two emergency medical pods, but due to crew shortages a sergeant with medic’s training usually is in charge of the medical detail in addition to his regular duties.”

I nodded at this. It made sense to keep the crew small. I was a bit less worried about the small size and settled back to listen to the rest of the lecture.

“The officers do have individual small staterooms while the crew usually sleeps in specialized racks set up by their duty station. There is a barracks for concubines that any crew can visit while off-duty, with the understanding that they touch only their own concubine.” The voice continued.

“What? There are concubines on warships?” I called out.

“Correct,” the voice answered still in the same voice. It was almost as if I was not the first to ask this question. “The navy has an established policy that any crewman may bring along one concubine who is not pregnant during a tour. The concubines live in a barracks area near the center of the ship. They also serve as general labor, cleaning the decks, making and delivering the meals and even helping with damage control during and after battles.”

“Wow,” I said as I took another bite of the energy bar. Whatever I had expected the news that concubines were not only allowed, but also expected was a bit of a surprise. Sadly, I realized that if Bryn and Jade were pregnant both would have to stay home during my first tour.

The image faded away and the instrument panel in front of my chair lit up. I looked more closely at it for the first time and noticed that there were two joysticks, both with multiple buttons, placed about shoulder distance apart. Between them were two display panels and above the panels were a series of buttons and switches. As I watched the right display panel lit up and displayed an image of stars in space. In the center was a targeting crosshair.

“The right joystick is used to set radar targeting and ranging. Grasp the right joystick,” the voice said. I quickly tossed the last remaining bite of the one energy bar into my mouth and transferred the other to my left hand before reaching out to grasp the joystick. There was a slight delay and then I could feel the chair moving forward slightly.

The chair adjusted its position for several minutes. It speared to be checking for any pressure I was putting on the joystick. Finally, the unit must have decided that the adjustments met its requirements because three screens lit up in front of me.

The left screen showed a list containing six items. The first two were clearly labeled Rail Gun L and Rail Gun R. The others appeared to be for the four missile launchers. Another list just below that read “Magazine Status”. A flashing counter showed that the simulation had twenty missiles available.

The right screen showed a list of what I assumed were practice targets for the first lesson. Numbers to the right of each entry appeared to give distance and direction in formation. To the left of each entry a picture of the target glowed red. I was guessing this was to represent that the target had not been hit.

The middle screen currently showed a black expanse with a few stars glowing lightly in the distance.

“If you can see the screens, the detail on the left and right should be self-explanatory,” the AI began. “Now the right joystick allows you to designate a specific target and weapon. The trigger for your thumb is used to change weapons, or select all. It is a miniature joystick as well as a button, so you will have to handle it with a deft touch.”

I flexed my fingers and set my thumb on the trigger. As I did the screen on the left glowed, and the first rail gun line was highlighted. I experimented with moving the stick and adding pressure to see what happened. The glow would move up and down as I moved the joystick, but it took me a few minutes to figure out how movements left and right activated or deactivated a weapon.

The AI appeared happy with my experiments as it continued. “Your ring finger is also over a small ball. This one is used to change which target you are tracking from the list on the right screen. This is used to allow you to spot a specific ship faster in the middle screen, or to bypass visual confirmation of a target.”

This made little sense, but I tried to move my ring finger. It was an awkward motion, and at first each attempt caused my thumb to shake and throw off my weapon designation. The AI was silent as I worked on moving my ring finger without changing the weapon designation. Once I had that down I watched the screens. It took a moment, but I noticed that the movement of my ring finger was changing the location of a bright green circle in the middle display.

“The middle display shows the space around the ship?” I asked

“Correct,” the AI replied. It sounded slightly pleased that I had made that connection. As you can see, the ball your ring finger is on allows you to switch targets without engaging your right hand. We recommend only doing this when time is of the essence.

“It’s an awkward motion,” I said. “So is the right-hand targeting designation only?”

“No,’ the AI stated. “The targeting designation is done with a thumb joystick, just like the left hand one does weapon designation. The other main control on the right hand is an index finger trigger. This releases your control back to the helmsman.”

“Wait? Back to the helmsman? I remember that you indicated that the ship must face its target. That makes sense if the rail guns aren’t in a turret, but I can’t understand why the helmsman wouldn’t have control,” I answered.

“Tests have shown that its difficult to coordinate communication between the weapons station and the helmsman at combat speeds. A work around was introduced where once a Patrician class ship starts an attack run the helmsman will turn maneuvering control over to the weapon’s officer. The left joystick controls the orientation of the ship, and the right can be used to change thrust levels. Unfortunately, complex evasive maneuvers are not possible with this system so a method was introduced to allow the gunner to give control back in emergencies,” the AI said.

I shook my head causing my long hair to swing from side to side. “Like I’m ever going to remember all of this.”

“That is why we have training and practice,” the AI intoned. “We still start with single target simulations and increase the difficulty as you improve.”

I turned my attention to the screens in front of me. “Go ahead,” I said.

Numbers starting from ten counted down on the center screen. When they hit one the display indicated that I had a single target to attack. It was above and to the right of the orientation of my simulated ship. A voice called out. “Attack run started, weapons has control.”

I grabbed the joysticks. It was easy to use the thumb joysticks to set the system to track the single target, and arm one of the railguns. It was only when I started trying to line up the target that I had troubles. The left joystick proved to be almost too responsive. The slightest pressure in one direction would cause the orientation to tumble. I had a bad habit of overcorrecting for the tumble and more than once got the ship into a fast spin before the simulation froze.

The AI was merciless. No matter how poorly I performed it would reset the simulation and demand that I repeat the process. In the first twenty attempts I scored only two kills and one of those was an accident. I had pulled the left trigger as I was trying to get the ship to stop a tumble. The fact that the target was directly in front of the simulation did not even register until the ship congratulated me for my recovery.

My frustration started to ebb in the second hour. I had finally noticed that there was a very subtle feedback built into the two joysticks, and that if I blocked out distractions, I could sense how much pressure I needed to get the ship turning. I began using the right joystick to add speed and then spinning the ship to set up fast passes on the targets. I had finally hit seven in a row when the AI brought all the lights up.

“Morning training is over,” the AI intoned. “You can spend time with your concubines. There is an optional meet and greet at lunch for citizens with your training track. Guidance to the location will be given thirty minutes before noon if you are interested.”

I stood up. My hair was soaked with sweat and I realized the muscles in my arms were twitching. I felt as if I had just spent hours in a weight room. On shaky legs I staggered over to the entrance to the training room. “I think I do want to go to the meet and greet,” I said. “Can I bring my concubines?”

“If concubines are not permitted you will be informed,” the AI said.

“Thanks,” I replied absently as the door to the training room opened. I stepped into the doorway and sagged against the jam.

“Savannah!” Jade called out. “You look wiped out!”

“I feel a bit wiped out,” I replied as I closed my eyes for a moment. “The training they have me in is sadistic.”

“How is it going?” Jade said. “It’s only the first day; I’d think they would try to ease you into training.”

“I’m terrible,” I muttered.

“Ensign Tanya Walker’s performance puts her in the top one percent of all recruits to undergo her current training regimen. She shows excellent hand-eye coordination and a good feel for the sensitive controls,” the AI intoned in contradiction to what I had just said.

“In two hours, I only got sixteen hits, and I started out with thirteen straight failures,” I snapped.

“There is always a period where the new recruit struggles to become familiar with the control system,” the AI responded.

“What was it like?’ Jade asked.

I shook my head and stood up. “Intense. There are two joysticks and so many controls and buttons for individual fingers that it can be hard to remember which finger to move when you want to do something. The displays are actually easy to read, but the controls will take practice.”

“Sounds interesting,” Jade said. “Passion would have loved it.”

“God, she was always trying to talk us into going to her place to play in those weird gaming tournaments on her system,” I said with a laugh. “Well, I want a shower and I hear there is a meet and greet for lunch. Do you want to join me?”

“Oh may I, mother dearest,” Jade said in a squeaky voice. “I’ll be ever so grateful.”

Laughter erupted from the couch. I glanced over to see Bryndis sitting on the back of the couch and watching us. “Oh god, that was too much,” the girl gushed.

“For you perhaps,” I said as I examined my fingernails disdainfully. “I however, expect that my concubines will be thespians of the highest caliber. Jade, I expect you and Bryn to perform the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet tonight. And make it steamy hot.”

“Shakespeare!” Jade said. “At least give me a more entertaining scene. We should do a comedy. I think I still remember some good vaudeville routines.”

Byrndis jumped off the couch and walked over to us. I was leaning on Jade as we walked over to the shower. My younger concubine had a worried look on her face. “Mistress?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said with a sigh. “The training was a bit more intense than I expected and even though I spent all my time in a chair, I’m tired. You never think that two hours of intense concentration will wear you out.”

“I can massage you once you shower,” Bryn said with a smile.

“You don’t...” I started to say.

“No!” Bryn snapped. “Tanya, I want to do this. Jade and I have spent the last two hours getting to know each other, but I barely know you. I need to correct that.”

Jade shrugged. “She’s right you know. We didn’t exactly have the longest interview at the pickup.”

Bryn giggled. “I’m surprised Tanya didn’t have her concubines selected already. She’s pretty enough to have had many men sniffing around.”

I sniffed. “And if I wanted them I could have had them, but most men are too much like dogs.”

“Smelly and like to play with their own crotch too much?” Jade asked.

“No,” I replied. “They chase pretty women like dogs chase cars, and then have no idea what to do if they catch one.”

Bryn looked scandalized as Jade and I giggled. We finished our walk to the shower room and I started to undress. Jade and Bryn quickly removed the shifts they were wearing. They pushed me under the showerhead as warm water started to flow.

“Where are the outfits I had you wear last night?’ I asked as my concubines grabbed bath sponges and started to spread body lotion over my back and shoulders. They concentrated on cleaning every part of my body as I luxuriated to their touch.

“We found only these this morning,” Bryn said. “Well the two dresses you and Jade wore to the reception.”

“AI?’ I asked. “What happened to the outfits?”

“Shifts are the only automatically authorized clothing for concubines,” the AI responded.

“Not acceptable,” I snapped. “I want my concubines to know they are valued. Jade and Bryn will each have a wardrobe and any outfits I have the system create shall be stored there.”

“Accepted,” the AI replied.

I swiped a bath sponge from Jade and started using it to spread lather on her breasts. My old friend giggled. I worked in circles, never quite touching her nipples as I worked. Bryn joined me and started working on Jade’s back.

We traded off giving and receiving of caresses for some time, giggling like schoolgirls as I recovered from my time in training. I was about to suggest we leave when a bell tone rang out. “Lunch will be served in forty-five minutes. Citizens wishing to attend any of the meet and greet sessions should get ready. Directions will be provided in fifteen minutes.”

“That was fast,” Jade said as we stopped the games and concentrated on washing off the soap.

Bryn giggled. “Well, we did all sleep in,” she said. “So what should we wear today? Or are we really going to this meeting.”

“I think we’ll keep it simple today,” I replied. “AI, Jade and Bryn need to have simple outfits. How about brown knee length skirts and white blouses.”

“Professional women?” Jade asked. “But with no underwear. Nice.”

I shook my head as I left the shower and grabbed a towel. The room warmed up, helping dry my skin. Jade and Bryn rushed to follow me, patting their skin dry and massaging their hair to help get the hair dry.

I could not find the uniform I had removed before entering the shower. I started to search when the AI spoke. “A clean uniform is available in your bedroom.”

The AI’s comment induced me to walk towards the bedroom. The door opened as I approached, allowing me entry. To my right, I could see a fresh uniform hanging against the wall. Two more outfits hung behind it. I picked up the uniform and started to don it.

Jade and Bryn followed me. I noticed one of the remaining outfits was hung with a green hanger, while the other had a white one. Bryn looked at the hangers and giggled. “Sister Jade is green I bet. At least the AI makes it easy for us.”

They picked up their own outfits and began to put them on. Once we were all dressed, I looked around. “Now we wait for the directions,” I said.

There was a loud ping. “Citizens, if you wish to attend the meet and greet for your training group, the instructions are now available.”

Silence followed. Jade and Bryn looked at me as I stared up at the ceiling. The AI remained quiet.

“I need to hear the directions,” I snapped. “Just telling me they are available isn’t useful.”

“Your group is meeting in the Epsilon room. Return to the elevators for this floor and go up one floor. The room is next to the elevators,” the AI said.

I turned and started walking to the door. Jade and Bryn quickly caught up to me. They each grabbed one of my arms as we approached the door to the pod.

“You forgot to ask for heels,” Jade complained.

I reached around my old friend and grabbed her far breast. She gave a gasp as I gently massaged it through the thin blouse. “We need to get Bryn trained up,” I said. “For now, just those outfits are enough. Especially with nothing underneath.”

“Do I show other citizens your pussy?’ Bryn asked.

Jade leaned forward so she could look around me. “Tanya is wearing a uniform. How could you show off her pussy?”

“Not that one!” Byrn said. The little blond was blushing. “She owns the one between my legs too. Do I show it off?”

I snorted. “Not today. Today, you can stand around and look sexy, but you belong to me.”

Jade giggled. “I like how Bryn thinks. Do you want to own my pussy as well?”

“Don’t I already?” I asked innocently as we left the pod.

Jade blushed. We stepped into the hall with Bryn’s giggles as a musical accompaniment. The ship provided a series of lit arrows we could follow to the elevator, so we confidently walked through the hallways.

This time we saw only a few others during our journey through the halls. Jade pointed out a couple, but both groups turned away before we could greet them. I was feeling a bit disappointed when we reached the elevator.

“What’s wrong?’ Bryn asked.

“I understand that this is all new,” I said. “But you’d think that more people would want to get out and meet others. Knowing the people you will be fighting with will be vital to help build the fighting spirit people need.”

Jade looked pensive as we waited for the elevator. We had just heard the bell indicating it had arrived when she turned to me. “Do you worry about who you will be serving with?’ she asked.

“Do you think I should worry about that?’ I asked back as we stepped into the elevator.

Laughter issued forth as Jade and Bryn turned to look at me. I glanced over to see a young woman wearing a skirt and blouse standing. At her feet two teenage girls wearing bikinis knelt. The teenagers were giggling.

The young woman looked peeved. “Sorry,” she said. “Pabiola and Tawny still need to learn to respect citizens.”

“If they ever do,” I agreed. “Last night we met a man who said concubines were supposed to be cute, naked and silent.”

Bryn whipped her blouse off and then unsnapped her skirt allowing it to fall to the floor. She threw herself at me. The hug pushed me against the wall as I put my arms around my concubine. “I’m naked!” she chirped.

The young woman burst out laughing. “Oh, you must have met Commander Nelson and Sarah. That is so like her.”

“You’ve met?’ Jade asked.

“Sarah and Lieutenant Jackson helped me select my concubines. I learned last night that Sarah was very particular in how she helped me choose,” the woman said. She was blushing fiercely as she said this.

One of the two teenagers, this one a young girl with red hair stood up for a moment and placed a kiss on the cheek of her mistress. “And did she make bad selections?’ she asked.

“No,” her mistress whispered. By now I was worried that the woman would pass out. I was trying to figure out how to calm her when the elevator bell rang and the doors opened.

“Epsilon floor,” the AI for the elevator called out. “Your meeting will be just down the hall to the right.”

Jade immediately left the elevator. Bryn reluctantly put her feet on the floor. She released me and bent down to grab her outfit before dashing out of the elevator.

I turned and followed at a walk, giving Bryn time to put her blouse and skirt back on. She giggled and blushed as she smoothed the front of the blouse. “Now I know why Sarah did that last night!” she gushed. “That was so much fun!”

“You were definitely enthusiastic,” I said. “Shall we go to this social?”

I offered my arms to my concubines. Jade grabbed my right arm, but Bryn put her right arm around my waist and put her head against my shoulder. I just shook my head and held both ladies as we walked to the door to the social.

The door to the room was open. I was surprised that we could hear nothing inside. I led Jade and Bryn through the doorway and looked around.

The room was about a quarter of the size of the huge meeting room we had used the evening before for the briefing. I quickly spotted replicators off to the side and whispered to Jade. “How about meals for all of us? I’m in the mood for some fried chicken and fries.”

Jade snorted. “I should have known your southern roots would come out. I’ll even be good and get boneless chicken for you. What about your ice princess?”

“I’m no princess,” Bryn said. “A princess isn’t the happy love slave of a goddess such as Tanya. But I’ll have what she’s having. It sounds simple and I’m guessing she doesn’t let it make me fat.”

“Heaven forbid,” I said. “I don’t know when we get the full medical pod visit, but I’ll make sure both of you will keep your perfect figures.”

“Except when we get to carry a basketball because we’re pregnant,” Jade said with a huff. She immediately spoiled her comment by giggling and kissing me on the cheek. “I’m off to get meals.”

Jade swished off, her hips rocking back and forth as she strode over to the replicators. Bryn groaned as she watched. “I so need to learn that,” she moaned.

“That’s your task for the next three days,” I said. “Work with Jade and get the walk down. I’ll have the replicators in the pod make some heels for you.”

“Oh god!” Bryn said as she buried her face in my breasts.

I sighed and held Bryn as I gazed around the room. There were four citizens scattered around the room. Two were young men. Both men had two naked teenage girls sitting on the floor at their feet. There was another older appearing man. He was standing with a single woman in a shift holding his hand. The woman was almost morbidly obese, but had a wry smile as she looked around the room. The last person was a thin woman leaning on the wall; her lips were in a tight line, giving her a bitter expression as she ignored everyone in the room.

“Is this everyone?” I asked.

“Let go!” a female voice said from outside the room. “I need to look at least a little dignified when I enter.”

I turned to watch the entrance. The young woman I had shared the elevator with strode in followed by her two teenage concubines. She noticed me and stopped abruptly.

Before she could turn away I walked over to greet her. “Hello, I’m Tanya Walker,” I said as I held out my hand to her.

The woman looked me directly in the eye for a moment. I could see a moment of indecision in her expression, but it quickly hardened and she took my hand. “Jennifer Gates, call me Jen. Sorry about what happened in the elevator.”

“Why?’ I asked as Bryn caught up to me and gave me a hug from behind. “I will never complain if one of my concubines wants to cuddle. Well, let me amend that, I would be bothered if we were in the middle of a battle, but otherwise, I don’t mind.”

Jen’s concubines giggled. The redhead quickly knelt putting her face against Jen’s left leg while the other, a black haired and tanned woman with a short athletic build knelt against her right. Jen shook her head as they took their places.

Jen looked quite uncomfortable so I pointed at one of the tall round tables that dotted the room. “How about we sit at the table? Your concubines can join us and sit like refined ladies.”

Jen laughed. “I love that idea. Are you really a recent extractee, or have you been hiding someplace and are just being transferred to Borneo?”

“I was picked up yesterday afternoon from a company banquet in Lost Wages,” I said with a laugh as Bryn dashed ahead. She stopped at one of the tables and held on to one of the chairs. I started to talk towards it.

“Lost Wages,” the redhead said with a strained giggle. “I never heard of a city by that name.”

Jen shook her head. “I’m guessing its actually Las Vegas. However, since that city is seen as primarily a place to gamble, I could understand someone calling it Lost Wages.”

“It’s a good name for it,” Jade said as she walked up behind us. I could see she had two trays in her hands. One had two plates, both containing meals of fried chicken and fries. The other had three large glasses and a third meal with this one had chili covering the fries.

I took the tray with two plates from her and strode to the table. I deliberately put some extra wiggle in my step, causing Jade to groan slightly as she followed me over.

Jen and her concubines had stood and watched as Jade and I walked to the table. I was sitting down when the tanned concubine ran up to us. “Can you teach me that?” she shouted.

Jade put a hand on my arm. I looked at her and she raised an eyebrow and nodded towards Bryn. I returned a silent nod. My old friend climbed into her chair and then turned to look at the teenager. “If, and this is only if your mistress agrees. I’m willing to give you lessons on how to walk like a stripper.”

Jen came over and sat across from me. “Pabiola, why don’t you and Tawny get food. I’d like some pasta. How about seeing if the replicator has the recipe for spaghetti with pesto sauce?”

“Yes, mistress,” the tanned concubine said. She bowed and then scampered over to the replicators. The other concubine joined her there and I could see them whispering as they considered choices.