Chapter 7

Cherie was waiting in his bedroom, sitting on the bed. She jumped up when he came in and smiled at him uncertainly. He could still see some tension in her and he drew her back towards the bed and sat her down beside him.

“We’ve got some history Cherie but it hasn’t all been bad. I liked you before Mum and Dad died and even for a while after I came to live with you. You were kind to me at first before Edna got going with her scheme and poisoned everything. And I like the person you are turning into. I would really like us to start again. I’ve always thought you beautiful and I’d like to make love to you. Are you all right with that?”

“Yes Chris. I’d like that. I did like you too before I got stupid and joined in that evil persecution.”

“I really don’t want to hear any more about that. We’re all starting afresh and I’d like to make love to one of the most beautiful women on this ship. Can I kiss you?”

She nodded and leaned toward him, offering her lips. He put his arms round her and pressed his lips to hers. They were full and soft and she was clearly anxious to please. He hoped she’d get over her issues soon. He’d always lusted after her beautiful body and frequently had fantasies of getting revenge for her cruelties by somehow getting control of her and fucking her.

He found the reality wasn’t quite what he wanted. The desire for revenge had evaporated since his disturbing flogging of Edna. He really wished the slate was wiped clean of everything behind them and they were just meeting and starting from scratch. It was clear that wasn’t going to happen though. Cherie was hanging onto her baggage and making it a negative example of what she wanted to become. She was going to try and pay him back in offering her body.

There was no point in any more discussion about it he decided. He’d just have to make the communication physical. It wasn’t as if he wouldn’t enjoy working towards an understanding that way.

He took his time, exploring her mouth and face and neck with kisses of varying intensity until she settled into responding naturally. Then he pulled her to her feet and helped her off with her shift before holding and kissing her breasts. When he was undressed himself he urged her into the bed and lay on top of her, just enjoying the sensation of her lush body under him as they kissed and handled each other. Then he rolled off and really began to use his mouth and hands to explore her.

As she started to understand that he didn’t want some special performance from her, just the natural reactions of her body and emotions she seemed to relax and begin enjoying the interaction. By the time he went down on her and used his mouth on her cunny and clit she was steaming and it didn’t take long for her to blow. The med unit had made them all more horny and he couldn’t long delay just getting on top of her again and fucking into her.

It was wonderful. Plunging into the fresh ripeness of her body with a long slow stroke, kissing the soft willing lips, feeling her reactions to everything he did. It was an old fantasy come true and the beginning of closure on that nightmare segment of his life He made love to her twice that night and again in the morning and it did seem that Cherie felt that things were good between them again.

When he came back from his morning training session the AI informed him that there had been a serious breach of the law banning minors from sexual intercourse. The captain had been informed and Marines were on their way to take him into custody. Sponsors were responsible for their concubines and children.

Apparently Solange and Helen had been involved in oral sex and finger penetration. Louise and Lou were freaking out that their daughters were going to be taken from them. Although at thirteen Helen was permitted oral sex, Solange at twelve was not.

For reasons known only to itself the AI had informed the captain rather than the mothers in the room immediately below or Chris or even the children. What could have been stopped immediately had gone on for several minutes until the captain had disposed of current business, accessed his queue and told the pod AI to order them to stop.

Two Marines arrived and Chris was taken to the captain’s duty office. This was his first sighting of the ship’s captain. Marines had so far been their main point of contact with only passing contact with the crew. He was a youthful-looking black haired man who still gave an impression of a starchy old man and Chris guessed that he probably was. He was clearly annoyed at having to deal with the infringement and impatient to dispose of it.

“How the hell did you allow this to happen? The Darjee are sudden death on crimes against minors. You’re going to lose a concubine over this at the least. Haven’t you established any discipline over them yet?”

“Sir, I know I am responsible for what happens in my household but these were both children who were out of adult sight when it happened. But there were responsible adults within easy reach. It could easily have been prevented. I don’t understand why the pod AI didn’t provide some warning of what was about to happen?”

“Both children? Ajax, show me a minute leading up to the event.”

They both watched the recording that showed Solange lying on top of Helen and kissing her forcefully and urging her to spread her legs. She soon had her hand under Helen’s skirt. The older girl looked more dazed and uncomfortable than engaged in the process. She shifted away but seemed incapable of resisting and eventually it was clear that Solange was able to penetrate with her fingers.”

“Sir, the taller girl and aggressor Solange is the twelve-year-old. Helen, the one underneath is a very shy, submissive thirteen-year-old. This is not a crime against a younger girl.”

“I see that.” Captain Yardley’s anger had noticeably diminished. “Still it shouldn’t have been allowed to happen. You must have had a privacy protocol invoked for the AI not to have reported this before it went too far.”

“I didn’t even know it was possible to invoke privacy sir. And I certainly didn’t ask for it. Can I ask for the recording of the instruction I gave?”

“Ajax, play it!”

They listened to a compilation of the various instructions he had given and Chris’s request that the pod AI contact him with anything he needed to know came through clearly at the end.

“Dammit Ajax, interrogate the pod on why it didn’t comply. This sounds like another screwed up pod from that batch.”

Almost instantly the ship’s AI reported. “Captain the pod justifies the decision to report it to your queue on the grounds that the ensign was the one with responsibility for the crime and therefore not the appropriate recipient. I have taken the other pods from that batch offline while I initiate a total replacement of those AI’s.”

“All right ensign. It looks as if you’re off the hook.” He hesitated and then went on. “Just so you know and don’t start any disturbing rumours, a fault in a Darjee AI like this is almost unprecedented.

“Four of the pods swapped into the ship in its last exchange were apparently gathered from a batch that had been in orbit around a mothballed supply planet for centuries. Evidently time and system and cosmic radiation can degrade even Darjee technology because one began behaving erratically soon after it was installed. Its self-test and repair routines were evidently affected.

“They were supposed to have been fully tested and certified for use but...” His voice acquired an edge and he looked up in that inevitable glance at the ceiling that people speaking to an AI seemed to use. “Ajax was going to get back to me on how the fault slipped through. Now we clearly have a second one.”

“Captain, a full review of the logs of that pod shows that there have been actual gaps in the continuous attention of the unit that were never detected by its damaged self-monitoring processes or in its interaction with other AIs. A substantial one occurred during the incident in question, partly contributing to an aberrant reactive process as it restarted.

“Review of the full history of those pods suggests that they were in fact tested and certified but at a level inappropriate to their provenance. The transport that collected them from orbit was involved in a fleet combat with the Sa’arm and received minor damage. Subsequently, some time later, the pods were tested for combat damage but the undamaged AI cores themselves never had the base grade recertification appropriate to their earlier provenance. An investigation is still in progress as to how the administrative processes failed.” Was it possible that the measured tones of the AI could convey the embarrassment Chris thought he detected, or was that just his imagination?

Captain Yardley growled something under his breath. “These AIs are so damned capable it’s all too easy to slip into thinking that they are infallible. The truth is like everything else in the universe they are subject to entropy and Murphy’s sneaky tricks. Nonetheless this is a highly unusual happening. I definitely don’t want to hear rumours circulating about malfunctioning AI’s. You hear?”

“Understood sir.”

“In a way it’s good that the fault emerged where it could be dealt with. Ajax will operate your pod until the fault is rectified. I expect you to make full use of this example to train your concubines and dependants in the consequences of breaking the rules. Deal with both children firmly.” He flipped his hand dismissively. “See to it.”