Chapter 9: Broken Concepts

The next morning, I snuck upstairs to try out the sleep trainer. I set up a short thirty-minute training session that was supposed to give me detailed knowledge of the Goddess class ships, and the experiences others had using them in combat. I had skipped breakfast so I was hungry and thoughtful when the training ended and I headed downstairs.

I walked into the dining area and found Bryn sitting at the table eating a grapefruit and looking worried.

“I hate to say it,” Bryn started.

“But you are going to say it anyways,” I pointed out.

Bryn giggled. “I’m bored. I mean, the sex has been...”

“Impossible to describe?” I asked cheekily.

“No ... not impossible, just it’s too personal. I’m not comfortable talking about it. I’ve never had better sex, or a partner who meant more to me,” Bryn replied.

I shrugged as I walked over to the replicator. “Can you do a Belgian waffle with strawberries and a large orange juice?” I asked the AI.

“The only Belgian waffle breakfast I have in my databanks includes whipped cream,” the AI informed me.

I sighed. “Can you put the whipped cream in a bowl on the side rather than on the waffles?”

“No,” the AI said. “The replicator can only make copies of meals it has scanned.”

“Can it do a bowl of strawberries?” I asked.

“Affirmative,” the AI replied.

“Fine, a bowl of strawberries, some toast, and the orange juice,” I replied as I approached the replicator.

Bryn was staring at the unit. “I thought it could make anything.”

“The replicator units can produce anything they have a template for. Templates of human food were provided before the first announcement of the oncoming invasion, but there is a limit to the storage capacity of each ship. The captains decide what meals to have available to the passengers and crew,” the AI said.

“Can you provide the ingredients to make waffles?” I asked.

“Affirmative. However, many breads require yeast. As yeast is an actual living micro-organism, the replicators cannot produce it. Central Command is aware of this and there are attempts to set up yeast production facilities on most colonies,” the AI said.

“And we have industry, probably staffed by concubines,” I noted. “And Bryn was worried there would be nothing to do.”

Bryn snorted. “I wasn’t worried about that! I was just noting that right now other than sex there is not a lot to do. Jade is asleep and you have training. Should I go for a walk or something?”

“I’d never allow you out of this pod without an escort,” I replied. “Remember how some of the guys at last night’s meeting acted. They would have seen an unescorted concubine as a toy to play with.”

“That would be rape!” Bryn shouted.

“Can you rape a possession?” I asked.

“Concubines cannot be raped,” the AI said interrupting our conversation. “However, illicit use of a concubine belonging to another is a crime.”

“Not that the concubine will feel all that wonderful afterwards,” I muttered. “But it does confirm what the rules are.”

“So I’m not protected?” Bryn wailed.

“Who said that?” I asked. “Bryn, my love, you are protected as long as you are with me. And I’ll make sure you never have to fear. That was my promise to you.”

“But I thought the rule was concubines were protected off Earth. That was a huge part of why I wanted to go,” Bryn said with a sob.

“You are,” I reminded Bryn as I stopped eating and pulled her to my breasts. “The agreement was that your sponsor would protect you. I have never broken a promise and I won’t break one today.”

Bryn giggled. “You broke your marriage rather publically.”

I had to choke back my own laugh. “Radov didn’t listen to the wedding vows. We wrote them together and I only promised to be true to him and not divorce him as long as he never allowed another woman into his bed, without me being there.”

“You didn’t!” Bryn said with a gasp.

“That’s what my vows were, but I never actually did cheat on him with a man. It helped that Radov was more than a bit intimidated by me.”

“I wonder why,” Bryn said wistfully.

“Silence,” I barked playfully. “Anyways, Radov never even asked me to join him. Not that I would have with any of the women I did find out about.”

“He had affairs?” Bryn asked.

“He couldn’t keep it in his pants,” I replied. “Affairs would indicate that there was some passion, and that clearly wasn’t happening. Radov really only cared about Radov and few women who got in his bed returned for a second session. None seemed to go more than seven.”

“You did,” Bryn pointed out.

“I see a girl who needs to be spanked,” I muttered. “I can’t believe it. I save the girl. I take her into my home and bed, and now she insults me.”

Bryn’s already fair skin got even paler. Her hands shot up to cover her mouth. I heard her take a deep breath and immediately squeezed her to force it back out. “No,” I ordered. “I’m just teasing you back.”

“I’m sorry,” Bryn said softly.

“Don’t be,” I replied softly. “It was a fair statement, although it wasn’t exactly correct. The truth is that after the honeymoon, I never got into bed with Radov.”

“You mean you stopped having sex with him after only a week?” Bryn asked. “How could you stay married to him?”

I shrugged. “Radov was more interested in having a trophy wife he could show off at company functions and the high society parties he was so desperate to attend. As long as I didn’t openly cheat on him, he ignored me.”

“But you stayed with him?” Bryn asked.

“It wasn’t important to me,” I admitted with a shrug. “I had the CAP score to volunteer, so I figured that I’d get picked up which would be the way I got a divorce.”