Chapter 15

Marty’s phone awoke us. “I guess you’re needed Joe,” she told me. “You’re expected in the dining hall in forty minutes.”

I put on my boxers and my robe, giving her quick kiss and perhaps walking the walk of shame if I cared about such things and didn’t back to my apartment.

I heard the shower and stripped naked and joined Emily there, rinsing my mouth in the hot water before kissing her.

“Have fun?” she asked.

“Yep. Did you get some work done?”

“Yep.”

We kissed again and cleaned each other sensuously, becoming sexual when she held my stiff cock while I finger fucked her and nibbled on her nipples until she came. I didn’t and let her know I was okay with that. Despite the enjoyable delay we managed to be punctual.

“Let Rosie know what you want,” Jock told us, gesturing to the two swinging doors to the kitchen.

“Rosie?” I chuckled. “Like in the Jetsons?”

“The guy who designed her insisted,” Jock shrugged.

She ended up looking like Rosie the Riveter, which might have been part of the joke, tall and sturdily built, somewhat voluptuous and very pretty with black hair and blue eyes, fake of course but like the rest of the androids convincing.

“What would you like?” she asked, working over a large griddle cooking hash browns, plating some and a couple eggs over easy and handing them off to a small robot who rolled into the dining room.

“You have something prepared?” I asked.

She pouted gesturing to a silver tray heated with sterno. “Scrambled eggs. But what would you like?”

“A ham and swiss omelet and those hash browns with wheat toast,” said Emily.

“Me too,” I smiled.

“Good,” Rosie smiled. “Help yourself to coffee and juice.”

Emily and I poured ourselves mugs of coffee, prepared them how we liked and since the orange juice appeared to be fresh squeezed, poured a couple glasses of that and headed back to the dining hall. We sat with Tex and Amira already near finished with their meals and Jock just sipping coffee.

“I’d like us to meet with William and Amira first,” said Jock. “Thad will be here a bit later for Emily to work with him and William.”

“I’d prefer if Martine is with me rather than you,” I told him. “She’s a therapist as well and I’m familiar with her techniques. I really think you’d be a bit ... intimidating?”

“Yes of course,” Jock agreed.

“With Tex,” Emily added.

“Yes of course.”

I brought out my phone and called Marty. “Be right down,” she said.

Thus began a week of interviewing with me and Marty and Emily training with Tex and Thad. Each interview lasted an hour give or take fifteen minutes or so, usually give, with anywhere from fifteen minutes to a half hour between for Marty and I to discuss things and for me to make notes. I managed to convince the Old Man to make use of one of the two completely buffered rooms, this one under Yoshie’s purview for more accusatory interviews that might create retaliations if known. The room had its own recording device as secure as the room. Of course everything I typed in for notes would be available, so I was careful and even brought in an old-fashioned writing pad during the interviews, and Marty made no notes at all. The room itself had no windows and the door actually had us sealed in, the air circulating apparently, like Jock’s car, had filters to further the hermetic sealing.

As expected, besides everyone exhibiting genius, the members of the project proved diverse psychologically, and even the genius could be expressed at different levels of erudition, often because English was their second language but sometimes their genius had less focus on abilities to communicate than with other factors to the point that a few of them could be placed fairly close to autistic in that spectrum, not quite the idiot savant but hinting at it.

The aggressive to passive spectrum had its extremes as well, the latter less of a concern, their meekness brought recommendations for positive reinforcement, but I didn’t find, despite the significant presence of the aggressive, that this was a bullying culture. Thus the aggressive arrogant sort didn’t concern me as far as abusiveness socially, and the alphas among them I thought would be likely effective leaders in whatever group they commanded or even those whose work tended to be independent would have a healthy self-confidence. No, the ones who concerned me were the betas of the aggressors, the ones who took orders from the most aggressive and arrogant of them, the ones who would band together like wolves and attack, and not necessarily the weak lambs, but females. A culture of orgies and group sex could very well foster gang rape!

And of all the ones we interviewed, where cases of bipolar or depression or anxiety tended towards the mild and none I found to be schizophrenic, with very few recommended for medicinal aid, I found only one to be psychotic, and he was the alpha male to the group of aggressive betas.

Thad ended up last of my interviews, following his father, the Old Man. Understandably Marty recused herself, not the first of those and in fact she had with Tex, the first interview I did and a couple other of the younger men and almost all of the first generation males, including Jock, in other words those she had sex with. Perhaps I should have with the women I’d slept with, but Jock insisted I interview everyone and in those cases I usually took longer perhaps to get past that intimacy, and Marty asked more questions than I did. And I did interview Marty at the end of the first day, the most problematic and the longest, but we both felt like it had been an effective opening up of her psyche. The only exception to interviewing everyone had been Emily, and even though Marty offered her services, Jock kept her the exception, and though biased I would agree she had the healthiest, strongest mind of anyone I’d ever met.

The interview with Thad started badly and got worse. Questions I asked everyone helped to open them up, and follow-ups tended to break down defenses further. Neither worked with Thad. He built a defensive wall of arrogance and cynicism and remained behind it. Except in the end I did break through which resulted in a strike to his neck in order to defend myself which nearly killed him. I just didn’t see any other option, and prepared for it sensing him edging towards violence.

As soon as he was down I pressed a button which signaled an emergency while also unsealing the room. It surprised me when immediately Kweli, the midnight black skinned African whom I’d met as part of the class designing our houses and knew to be head surgeon, accompanied by a sort of robot/crash cart immediately entered. I think the way Kweli looked amazed at me that he figured it would be me needing the help. I pointed to Thad, head on table, choking.

“On the table,” Kweli ordered, and I helped place the big man on it. “Wipe,” said Akil and a robot arm swung it over to him. “Trake,” Akil added, and a tube and a soft mallet was passed to him and I watched possibly the fastest tracheotomy in history, and heard the high pitched whoosh of breath as Thad finally breathed again. A mobile bed soon followed entering the room and the android who brought it in helped Akil lift Thad onto it and they pulled the injured man away.

Jock entered with Tex and Emily, Emily hugging me, and she seemed unusually distraught. “Sit,” Jock muttered softly.

Anger supplanted shock when I sat. “What happened?” I practically growled.

“I’m fine,” Emily told me, taking my hand into her lap.

“William?” Jock cued our friend.

“I think it was the end of the week that put the plan into action,” Tex started.

“What plan?” I asked.

“Let William talk,” Jock insisted.

“Sorry. Go ahead.”

“The first was separation of me from Emily,” Tex continued, “since we always end up hanging out afterwards. Thad used Claire to chat me up, to distract me, letting Thad enter the elevator with Emily.”

“Fortunately I noticed,” Emily said, “and made sure the elevator door held for Tex, mostly because I’m hyperaware of not being alone with Thad.”

“Me and Claire entered,” Tex continued, “and I think those two hid their disappointment well. Once on the residence floor, Heinrich supposedly just happened to be wandering past, and while Claire continued her conversation with me, coaxing me the opposite way, a door opens.”

“Opened by Heinrich,” Emily added.

“It’s right across the hallway,” Tex explained, “and Thad practically carries Emily inside. I’m like what the fuck and Heinrich stands there with the door opened and I hear Thad yell to him ‘Close the fucking door, Hein,’ but he doesn’t and I rush in and pull Emily off the bed which is surrounded by four assholes including Thad and we both basically run out and to my room which is closest. Amanda’s there and Emily’s crying and Amanda holds her.

“The phone rings and its Thad and he’s explaining to me it’s a ritual or some bullshit and then there’s a knock on the door and Heinrich’s yelling about being alone. So remembering him disobeying and ready for the worst I let him in.

“He stands there, tears leaking out and tells us it had been Marie a couple days before and how he had to play along to be among the command group or some shit.”

“Fuck!” I growled. “How is she?”

“Not good,” said Emily. “She wants to see you.”

I nodded. “So Thad strolls into this interview with you knowing this?” I asked.

“I wanted you to interview him without that bias,” Jock explained.

“Jock did ask me if I thought you’d be okay,” Emily added. “I told him we both knew how to take someone down immediately.”

“Did you hope for some kind of breakthrough?” I asked Jock.

“Some insights maybe,” Jock answered.

“It’s been building,” Emily said and Tex nodded.

“Thad never accepted Emily taking control,” he added.

“And you taking my side,” Emily said.

“Or just being there,” Tex shook his head.

“True. By today he was ready to explode.”

“Obviously,” I muttered. “So what are you going to do with him Jock?”

“Three choices. One he gets a shuttle to command. Two we put him in a cryogenic chamber.”

“Anywhere he doesn’t join us and incites a mutiny?” Emily asked.

“Yes. Psychosurgery. We know how to make him passive. Unfortunately not only will he lose his command personality but it would probably lessen his intelligence, which would make him essentially useless as crew.”

“Sorry to say this,” Emily said, “but being an arrogant asshole isn’t really a great command personality.”

“I looked at loyalty and he had that with his band of friends,” Jock tried.

“Who end up being a pack of wolves willing to do anything for the alpha,” I said. “And the other half, those not in his pack are treated like shit. Being in command means a balancing act more than anything, the confidence of decisions made being decisive and respecting the opinions, sometimes contrary, of those who surround the commander, which means, depending on the urgency, anything from instantaneous orders to solicited opinions, and even those needed immediately in a way are considered in that the captain knows his crew and what he expects of them and what they expect of him from things like exercises anticipating possibilities, and even when the unexpected and unplanned happens, he should have an understanding of all that has come before as input into what he orders. Delegation is always key to command, and with a group of experts at each post that should always be expected, but the captain gives the order, gives focus to those experts, and mutual respect has them responding at their best and has the captain expecting the best from them. Any gap in respect serves as a monkey wrench to the achieving of such peak performances.”

“Do you have anyone in mind to replace him?” Tex asked.

“For now I’d prefer you continuing as XO,” Jock decided.

“I’m fine with that. I didn’t meant to imply...”

“You agree you’re the best conduit with the crew?”

“Yes I do. Thanks.”

“What do you think, Joe?”

“I’d have to look over my notes...” I started.

“I mean about you being captain.”

“I can barely drive a car,” I laughed. “I’d be better dealing with their stress rather than giving it out. But if you’re looking for someone to drive this ship, you do have an experienced pilot available.”

“I have a few actually, but you’re talking about Martine?”

“Yes.”

“She certainly knows how to drive,” Tex snickered and Jock chuckled.

Emily and I looked at each other and shook our heads.

“I hope you’re not going to be sexist, and consider her,” I suggested. “She has the confidence and the intelligence of course. I believe she can manage the egos and head off any personal conflict, spotting it before it becomes a problem. She understands the way people think and the behavior it can cause better than anyone I know. And I believe she will be decisive in any situation.”

“Are you certain no one else comes to mind since you’ve gotten to know everyone?” Jock asked.

“I think everyone is slotted into their duties, what they excel at, which is a product of your choices for the program, even if many if not most can be capable of other things or I should say can have double duty where needed. I can see why you thought of me because, being a polymath, I have diverse capabilities, I just don’t see running a ship to be one of them.”

“Let me mull it over this evening and we’ll meet early tomorrow before you head off for the weekend.”

“Meet with Martine.”

“Yes. But whatever we choose I still think you should be trained as a captain.”

“You’re looking at the long view.”

“Yes, when you’re awoken along with Emily upon contact with the aliens. There may be a capable captain in place, but whatever happens you will have the unique perspective of having been there at the start.”

“Makes sense,” I nodded.

“Good.”

“Anything else?” Emily asked, “Because I’d like to check on Marie.”

“Are you okay?” Jock’s concerns were genuine, and perhaps generated by not a little guilt.

“I’m fine,” Emily smiled. “Tex and Amira have helped greatly.”

“It sort of channeled my anger away being a comfort to Emily,” Tex agreed.

“Alright. See you early tomorrow, Joe.”

“See you Jock.”

We headed to Marie’s apartment. Emily knocked and with no response, even after she announced her name, it only opened when she let them know I was there too.

Heinrich opened it and he looked devastated. “Excuse me,” he said quietly and headed to the kitchen, disappearing around the corner.

“Joe,” Marie murmured from bed, the covers close around her neck, a half smile on her face, her eyes dark, almost bruised looking. She brought her arm out and pulled the covers beside her down. “Would you join me? I could use a hug.”

“Of course,” I said, sitting on the bed and removing my shoes before slipping under the covers and pulling her into my arms.

“We should go,” said Emily.

“No stay,” Marie insisted. “You too, Tex. I heard you saved Emily.”

“I suppose I helped,” Tex shrugged. The two sat close using the two desk chairs.

“And Heinrich?” Marie asked. “Did he help too?”

“I think so. He kept the door open instead of shutting it, ignoring the asshole’s command.”

“The asshole,” Marie muttered.

“Do you want to talk about this?” I asked her.

“I do. I want to talk about it with you hugging me. You make me feel secure.”

“I’m glad,” I said.

“Heinrich has not stopped apologizing since the ... incident two days ago.”

“How much was he involved?” I asked.

“He let them in and he ... observed.”

“Why didn’t he stop them?” Emily asked.

“He ... I think all of them want the status of approval from the asshole.”

“Lackeys,” I said.

“I think Heinrich is more of a friend than the others, what I suppose you would call a sidekick?”

“Have they done this before?” Emily asked, “This...”

“Group rape? I don’t know. You’d have to ask Heinrich.”

“We have before,” Heinrich said, stepping out from the kitchen. “I think Thad hired them.”

“You mean asshole?” said Emily.

“Yes,” Heinrich bowed. “I think they were prostitutes or porno actresses or both.”

“He records it?” I asked. “Wouldn’t that be a problem?”

“He has a device which both records and prevents anything else recording or listening in. Something Greg created for him.”

“Through Claire?” I asked.

“I think so yes.”

“So she’s involved,” said Emily.

“She did try to steer me away,” Tex reminded us.

“How would what asshole did affect Claire?” I asked.

“Claire is a favorite of both Martha and Jock,” Heinrich shook his head.

“I can’t imagine being expert at procurement will have much value once we’re in space,” I pointed out.

“Negotiations might be,” Emily offered.

“Between you me and Marty those sorts of negotiations would be covered,” I responded.

“I wonder if she’ll try to negotiate him back on ship,” Tex said.

“He’s no longer captain?” Marie asked.

“Not only does his dad know about the attempted gang rape of Emily,” I informed her, “but he attempted attacking me during our session.”

“Attempted,” Marie murmured, examining me.

“I put him down before he struck,” I told her.

“It nearly killed him,” Tex added.

“It had to be definitive,” I explained. “Or he would have had me. He’s faster, stronger and more ruthless.”

“My hero,” said Marie, pulling my head into a kiss. “I’d like another session,” she whispered.

“Okay,” I responded.

“I spent hours in the bathroom ... after, and then I can’t seem to get out of bed. Jeez, I think I might have pissed it. I’m sorry.”

She did smell sour and her kiss had sourness to it as well, but I didn’t care. “Doesn’t matter.”

She pulled the covers off both of us, revealing full length pajamas on her. “Heinrich, have the bed changed,” she ordered softly.

“Yes Marie.”

I followed her to the bathroom, Emily telling me, “I’ll meet you in Tex’s room when you’re done,” to which I nodded. Once in the bathroom I shut the door while Marie peeled off her soft cotton pajamas.

“Bath?” I asked.

“Yes please, and there’s some flowery bath oils beneath the sink.”

I ran the bath and put in the oils while she stood naked and slouched. “Sit,” she said, and I settled onto the closed toilet seat. She unbuttoned my shirt and removed it and the t shirt beneath it before kneeling on the floor and undoing my belt buckle and the button on my pants and unzipping me. Tugging at the edges of my pants had me lift for her to remove them and the accompanying boxers. My socks finished me becoming naked.

Her hands moved to my penis, somewhat thickened but not the least erect. “I usually greet a cock that’s hard when I’m naked, even Heinrich, especially when I’m kneeling in front of him.”

“You know I’m concerned about you,” I responded.

“Me too,” she agreed, her eyes focused on my penis. “You know Heinrich was never circumcised. Is it because you’re Jewish?”

“In America it’s fairly normal,” I explained. “But I did have a bris,”

“The circumcision ceremony?”

“Yes. I attended one for my friend’s son. It is actually quite wonderful. Hopeful in a very spiritual way. My family has never been all that religious. If we had a Saddar it would be at my uncle’s, and for Passover it would be there. I attended my friend’s a couple times. But my dad liked the highlights, found them edifying I guess, so I was bar mitzvahed. In a way it’s like advanced studies, especially for a twelve year old. It’s like a step for Jews getting educated.”

“Hmm,” she commented, watching my cock harden because her thumbs rubbed against the edges of my glans. “I suppose I had something similar when I was confirmed.”

“You’re catholic?”

“Probably as much as you’re a Jew.” Her lips enclosed my glans and her tongue rubbed around it.

“Marie,” I murmured, not exactly objecting, more attempting to resist.

She removed her mouth from my cock and showed me a sad grin. “This is what I want, Joe. To be the one in control. Not to be forced, but maybe to force?” she grinned wider. “But I know no man objects to a nice blowjob, yes?” and she returned to work.

Moments later, I told her, “I should turn off the water. Maybe we could bathe?”

“Yes okay,” she said once my cock exited her mouth. She gave it a quick kiss.

“I should probably go in first,” I suggested, to which she nodded. I chose to place myself with the spout behind me.

She giggled once I settled in. “Periscope!” she pointed to my glans barely visible at water level. Climbing in, facing me, her butt resting between my knees, once more her hands went to my glans, thumbs rubbing.

I grabbed a washcloth and some shower soap and began cleaning her face carefully as it tilted downwards still focused on my cock. I moved on to wash her ears and her neck and just the top of her chest above her breasts before moving closer to her to wash her back.

“You can wash my tits, Joe. I’m sure they’re dirty too.” I finished with her back before doing as requested. “The nipples,” she murmured. “Give them a good hard clean.”

“Marie?”

“Please do as I ask, okay?”

“Yes Marie,” I said.

“Mmm,” she reacted to my thumbing her nipples much like she continued to do with my cock except harsher. The cloth buffered one hand before moving to the other.

“So good,” she moaned, one of her hands moving down my shaft and pulling on it. “Sit on the edge of the tub, Joe, but keep doing what you’re doing.” When I did, she took the cloth from me, rinsed it off in the spout and brought it to my cock, cleaning off any oils before her mouth moved back to sucking me. Her hands remained there too, tugging my shaft or caressing my balls. “Tell me when you’re ready to cum,” she demanded, a brief pause from her fellatio. Before she’d been somewhat gentle, loving even, making me wonder if she’d succeed. But after her demand, her sucking and her tugging became a lot more intense creating the friction I needed. Luckily the caressing of the balls remained gentle.