Chapter 19

Two more months of preparation, of fine tuning the bridge for multiple simulations and everything else for all the practicalities to sustain life in space had us running as efficiently as a well-tuned machine. Everything seemed ready for our move to the Pacific atoll and then into space, including personnel, with me, along with Marty’s assistance buffing down any spikes of psychological problems, sometimes with the aid of psychotropic drugs, though at low doses so as not to affect abilities too much, just enough to buff.

Those two months began with surprises, four of them to be exact. Neither Emily nor I expected to affect the lives we had touched since arriving in Denver to the point that they would be invited onto the space ship and would accept the invitation. I’m not even sure what would have happened if they didn’t accept, perhaps some sort of memory alteration at best, but that ended up thankfully not necessary.

Since I arrived first back at the lair, basically flying secretly on a private jet the old man owned from Honolulu to Denver in order to sustain the fiction of my death, and Emily remained in Indianapolis for my supposed funeral, I greeted Hannah and Josepha first. The twins had ended up bringing the twin women with them, and Lana ended up part of the greeting party as well.

“You’re here,” I could only say when I met them in the mess hall.

“Disappointed?” said Hannah while I hugged the other two women.

“Not even a little,” I smiled at her, my hands spread for her to hug me too, which she did happily.

“Pat approached us,” Hannah explained while we sat.

“The twins ended up giving us the spiel,” said Lana.

“I get to work on engines,” Jo grinned excitedly, “the rockets and other mechanics, including the androids.”

“I’ll be working on hydroponics of course,” said Hannah.

“Both my sister and I will be working with the androids, Lena with movement, along with establishing fitness protocols for the personnel,” Lana explained. “I guess I’ll be working a lot with the boys.”

“Any major concerns, like becoming suddenly absent?” I had to ask, focusing on Lana mostly since she seemed to have the closest family core.

“The way it was explained to me,” Lana responded, “was the timing makes it easier for us to just disappear. Everything from now on will happen within the lair and the island up until we finally take off, so no problem with being discovered, unlike you it sounds like.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Faking my death. That’s been a common method. There’s been disappearances like you, but usually when the affect wouldn’t be too strong having few family or being essentially expelled from family.”

“Yeah, that was the hardest part of the decision,” Lana murmured, and I saw both Hannah and Jo nod. “But the chance to be the first people in space, to actually fly beyond the solar system, not to mention working with a bunch of geniuses at the highest level of intelligence, it definitely had the greater weight.”

“Not that I’m a genius,” Jo countered.

“Believe me, you wouldn’t have been chosen if you weren’t,” I told her.

“Lena feels that way too, and I’d have to agree with Joe,” Lana said. “Just talking with you two, it’s like both a passion and a focus that reveals your gifts.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Hannah agreed. “Neither Josie nor I could be called stellar students, though we do well enough for a high b average, but in terms of what we study which involves our interests, we both know how to focus and I’d even say be creative in our thinking.”

“The creative being the least able to be measured, but I think is the most important element involved in this project,” I offered and they agreed.

“There’s the old story of Einstein getting Cs in school,” Lana added.

“So if Pat approached you,” I asked my Denver friends, “he must have told you about building a home.”

All three women nodded. “We worked on it these last few days,” said Hanna.

“John and I decided to pair up for ours,” Lana added. “Of course we’ll probably still keep trading beds, and Lena will want her threesomes, and maybe I could come visit then?”

“I certainly won’t mind, and I don’t think Emily will either,” I smiled. “Although I can’t say we’ll always be available.” I glanced at Jo and could tell she tried hiding a frown. I took her hand when I said, “We should wait for Emily to return before we figure that all out.”

It seemed to give her hope.

“Emily’s her real name,” said Hannah. “Lana told us.”

“Sorry about that,” I said. “I guess Joe’s a common enough name for me to keep, although they had me use a different last name.”

“No, I understand,” Hannah responded. “We got an inkling about the secrecy with Marty and her bum disguise.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “It was never a favorite thing getting to know someone, especially as intimate as we got, and having to not be upfront about things, especially something as important as a name.”

“I do understand,” said Hannah. “You guys always made it clear it was temporary, and it even felt like hopeful thinking that we’d get together.”

“I’m glad that’s not true anymore,” Jo smiled.

“Me too,” I smiled back. Though completely surprised they’d been chosen for the project, both the twins and Hannah and Josepha, I thought it was a supremely happy surprise because of the latter two. Ultimately it would be up to Emily, but it seemed like they would be a perfect fit sharing our bed, each of them comfortable with the two of us but inclined towards each of us, Hannah with Emily and of course Jo with me. What Emily worried about in Hawaii, the weird tendency for me to accrue some sort of harem, women preferring my company much more that hers could very well have just been resolved.

I enjoyed the evening with the three women, continuing conversations over dinner and then I led them to the simulated bridge. “It’s possible I might be at this station,” Lana grinned, sitting at what might be called the science officer position, although it had more to do with numbers crunching and logistics, essentially plotting out distances mathematically and calculating time to arrive at a chosen location, as well as negotiating possible objects that might interfere with the course. “I’ve always had a passion or a hobby for calculating astronomical distances historically from Copernicus on to having my own theories.”

“Very cool,” I said unscientifically.

“And I’d be over here,” said Jo, sitting at the engineering station where a monitor showed the status of the engine that would let us travel through space as well as the various mechanical devices that maintained things like the elevators and the environmental systems. “The various engineers will trade off.”

“Us math nerds too,” Lana nodded.

“Marty and I will take turns as captain as well,” I said, “along with Tex, a good friend who you’ll meet soon. He’s XO, or second in command, but I’m sure he’ll have his time in charge.”

“Oh my god, Captain Joe!” Jo exclaimed.

“And the bum,” Hannah laughed. “Are you sure the old man knows what he’s doing?”

“I know. I know,” I chuckled. “But there’s method to his madness actually. What it comes down to is who would be the better boss: a tyrant or a communicator? Even if I am in charge, it’s everyone else doing their job that makes things work. We captains need them to feel like they can do their best. When I give a command and the XO helps translate it to whatever specific station is required, I’d hope it would be an eager, supportive crew who responds and not one that feels cowed. And of course if things get a bit too intense for them, both Marty and I can put on our other hat.

“By the way, the chair to the right of the captain will be the XO’s, and to the left, the tactician, which will be Emily’s position.”

“You going to be bossing your wife around?” Hanna smirked.

“Actually more her bossing me in a way,” I countered. “I may send things forward with a command, but whatever she decides then takes precedence.”

“And who commands the captain?” Hanna asked. “Who makes the initial decisions?”

“Jock mostly, but there’ll be a quorum of first generations, and Marty, Emily and I will be privy to their discussions. Inevitably a second generation will need to take over and so forth, but it’s really the old man who holds the cards at this point.”

“What about those not assigned to the bridge?” Hannah asked. “Will we be able to observe just to know things are well in hand?”

“Or it might make them worry with Joe in charge,” Lana quipped.

I chuckled. “Thanks a lot, Lana. You will,” I admitted. “It will be a good thing letting everyone know what’s going on. For that matter, maybe everyone should see what you’re doing, Hanna, and the engineering and everything.”

“Sounds like we’ll have time for it,” Lana pointed out.

“True,” we all seemed to say.

When we left the bridge, taking the elevator up to our rooms, Lana finally answered what I had left unsaid despite my curiosity. “Us twins are going to hang out, and then it’s Jim’s turn with me. I know Josie and Hanna want some time with you, and I’d be more comfortable having Emily here before I share a bed with you.”

“Sure,” I nodded, and when the elevator door opened, Lana pulled me down for a quick kiss before heading the opposite way from my room.

“Just a second, Lana,” Hannah stopped her. “Josie wants some time with you Joe,” she told me. “And I kind of feel the same way about having Emily with you. And Lena and I have ... enjoyed each other and the nerd twins don’t seem to mind,” she giggled.

“Okay,” I said, and received a hug with her kiss before she departed with Lana.

“Is it okay Joe?” Jo asked shyly.

“More than okay,” I grinned. “Come on.”

I took her hand and we walked to the apartment I shared with Emily which opened for me.

“What would you like, Jo?” I asked her when the door closed behind us.

“I don’t know. Just want to be here with you. Uhm ... why don’t you sit?”

“The chair? The bed?”

“The bed.”

When I did, she took off her shoes and socks and straddled my lap. I sensed her need, her excitement. I could see it in her eyes and I could smell it. I moved my ass to the edge and she immediately pressed her heat against me.

“Joe,” she murmured, “I don’t want to be selfish, and I know you love Emily and I love Hanna, but I really like being with you, and I want to be with you. Maybe it’s my heritage, and I know the polygamy of my faith is mostly a legend now or something we try to forget, except maybe it’s in my blood, being a descendent of my namesake.”

“Except none of them were equal, all those wives he had, I mean equal to him,” I responded. “And that’s not how I feel about Emily or you or any woman I love.”

“So you do love me?”

“Yes.”

“Good, because I love you. You know his first wife, before the others, was upset and went off with one of his rivals, even maybe one who would want to kill him.”

“Because she felt he shrugged her off like some sort of possession in which he no longer had a care about.”

“I suppose that’s what happened. I won’t mind being your second wife, Joe. I know Emily will always be your first, and I understand. She’s brilliant and beautiful.”

“As are you.”

“You think it’s weird that I’m more attracted to you.”

“It surprised me knowing you’re mostly interested in women.”

“It’s more I’m interested in the ones I find interesting. I mean I noticed her beauty, who wouldn’t? But mostly I noticed how you are with her. I could see how much you care about her, and I suppose it’s ironic because I suppose I should feel like a usurper, but it’s what attracted me to you. I mean even if there was a significant degrees difference about how you cared about Hannah and about me, but I felt it, the interest, the caring, and it excited me. I felt like you would actually want to get to know me beyond any of the more superficial attraction, and even a sort of maleness of that interest, a confident strength or something. It made me imagine things which made me feel what I feel now.”

There had been a subtle rocking, genitals getting friction, which became more obvious, and her hands went to my shirt, unbuttoning it. I did the same to her blouse, both of us methodical, unrushed, working to the last button before each of us removed the barrier to skin from the other. I leaned forward and found the hooks that released her bra and removed it as well. Then both of us moved to the belts and buttons and zippers and once undone she moved off me and removed the rest of her clothing before kneeling and removing my shoes and socks and pants. I lifted up to let her finish with the last item preventing nakedness.

“Stay up,” she said, and while I stood, she stripped off the blanket and sheet before crawling to the center of the bed and onto her back, legs spread wide.

I began to move my head to her pussy. “No,” she insisted. “I’m ready. Please.”

“You let me taste you later?” I asked.

“Yes. Just ... I need you.”

I moved up over her. Her hand took hold of my cock, fully erect, and led it to her juicy slit, blindly because she kept her eyes on me and I gazed at her similarly. “Mmm,” she moaned softly rubbing my glans up and down, gathering her dew, and across her clit before centering it, whereupon I pushed it inside her slowly, her hand releasing it and moving to my head, bringing me down to have my lips attach to hers.

Our lips not quite sealed, her moans breathed into my mouth. Eventually though, she seemed to need the sealing and for a while her moans became more directly breathed into me while her nostrils kept busy sucking in air and releasing it. It couldn’t last though, her need to vent her pleasure and gain more air broke the kiss, her head tilted back baying amusingly discrete expletives along with lots of yeses while she built to an orgasm which completely overwhelmed her. My thrusts continued, but only a quick flurry, and I joined her, pulsing out ejaculate into her convulsive interior.

She grinned up at me, her cheeks at full blush, before she steered my head once more for a soft, lingering kiss.

She sighed when it ended. “I need to use the toilet,” she explained. “And I’ll make it clean and fresh for what you want.”

“Sounds good to me,” I smiled and moved off her, watching her full ass twitch when she walked away.

She indeed made her pussy clean and fresh and I enjoyed her effort fully, teasing her close for several minutes before she basically pulled me over her to recommence fucking, or making love really. It wouldn’t be classified as adventurous since we remained in the missionary position throughout, but it certainly was loving. Eyes gazed into eyes throughout, between kisses. Thrusts remained slow or at most medium paced. After her first orgasm happening quickly since she’d been well prepared for it from the cunnilingus, the next one arrived after several minutes, with me speeding up just enough to add the last bit of stimulus. The last arrived in less time, my pace having quickened as I began the ascent to my own release, and somehow, even though I never got beyond moderately fast, when her orgasm did arrive I found myself cumming with her. There was something joyful in our simultaneity as well as being highly pleasurable.

The next two nights followed suit, although we did get more adventurous our last night with me plunging deep and hard inside her from behind, the climactic moment of our time together.

During the day the new arrivals kept busy training, making up for lost time, while I mostly ambled about, writing and researching and exercising, the latter effort brought an afternoon of hard, crazy sex with Yoshie and Fred, with me actually getting somewhat used to getting pegged by Yoshie while fucking her girlfriend.

Finally, happily, Emily arrived, and we spent the rest of the day and the night together reconnecting even if it had only been a few days since our separation. I helped her get over her sadness at my fake funeral, and my sadness as well with the result of my departing from my family and friends, and we reinvigorated our deep love for each other. It was the last night of our vacation, and the training recommenced in earnest.

During the final month, Emily and I never had more than two nights a week with just each other, but it worked because we always had at least two nights sharing with Hannah and Jo, and though it could become a true foursome with an additional strapped on phallus sometimes involved, inevitably by the end we paired up, Hanna with Emily and Jo with me.

The other three nights we would share our bed with others, including Tex and Amira most often, and Amy and Gary. Lana would join us singly and sometimes Marty, although the latter often as not had me to herself while Emily joined Yoshie and Fred. And I’d join the two lesbians in their bed with Emily for some vigorous and crazy sex.

I continued my unorthodox sessions with Marie in the playroom and weirdly kept seeing her lover far more conventionally. A couple times Marie begged me to join her and Heinrich for a nights in their bed, and of course since Emily was not in the least comfortable with the German, without her. Both nights with her restrained the way she liked, being double fucked or forced (supposedly) to give us head to get us hard again, ended up with her and me in the bath together, strictly sensual and loving.

After cleaning each other, lingering on it, we would hug each other at the end, kissing softly and lovingly. The first time I asked, “Heinrich is okay with this?”

“He knows it’s what I want and deserve,” she explained.

“And ultimately why you wanted me here?”

“Partly,” she grinned mischievously. “I also like having two men fucking me into oblivion, and you’re the only two I trust. It’s just something I need sometimes, and this too, Joe.” Our kiss sustained for a while, and we showered after and joined Heinrich in bed. He actually smiled and nodded at me, which I returned. She faced him in bed and pulled me closer to spoon her from behind and we drifted off to sleep like that.

The second night repeated the first without my questioning it, at least not as directly, but we spent more time in the tub talking about Heinrich, Marie wanting to know how our sessions were going. Normally, in fact always, confidence needed to be maintained between doctor and patient, and yet I knew Marie would be the exception in the way she was the exception in terms of having sex with me as part of her therapy. I also knew Heinrich would be okay with me communicating to his mate his private confessions and that Marie would be okay with some of the angry things he confessed, some angry at her, which I knew and Marie knew he wanted to work past.

“He has to be hard and tough and angry and a misogynist in order to get approval from his asshole father which he never had and his asshole friends in order to fit,” Marie concluded.

“Yes,” I could only say.

“Well, he no longer has his friends except for me and maybe you?”

“I am his therapist,” I argued.

“To whom he admires and envies.”

“I hope not because of this?”

“I told you no,” she pouted, then smiled, adding, “Because you have ladies and do not act like an asshole. You see, he is learning. He is my friend. He no longer sees me as a body with holes in which he can pleasure himself, but as human like him only better. We can talk. We can make love. He can abuse me the way we both like. This is good, yes?”

“Very,” I smiled. “He has no other friends?”

“He is a hard man to know. Perhaps you can know him past being his doctor? And maybe Emily?”

“Emily may be difficult what with his threat.”

“But...”

“I know he ended up helping her and maybe in time that will be enough.”

“Perhaps she can tell him so, and maybe ... show him?”

“You mean like our therapy?” I chuckled.

She pouted cutely. “I am serious, Joe. I think maybe he is more like me?”

I nodded, actually seeing her point, though I wasn’t sure Emily would want to play like that, especially since she had to get to know and to like a man in order to be with him sexually.

I thought of Marty and her role playing. “Could someone else...?” I started asking.

“No Joe, I think it has to be her.”

I sighed. “I will ask her.”

“Thank you,” she smiled and pulled me into a lengthy kiss, and though it generated further hardening of my cock, this wasn’t about sex, but a different sort of intimacy, a literally naked honesty.

As promised, I told Emily about the conversation. Normally she liked to hear about my experience with other women, those whom I enjoyed without her and even, post mortem so to speak, those who she shared, and though I didn’t like it as much as her, perhaps revealing a bit of jealousy, except it could be interesting learning the difference for her in the experience compared to me and occasionally learning other ways to pleasure her from those experiences, she would also communicate what it was like with other men. But my times with Marie and Heinrich were the exception, partly because Marie’s odd therapy with me kept me from discussing it despite the first actually happening with Emily present, but mostly because of Emily’s discomfort with Heinrich and his association with the threatened group rape.

So it surprised her when I brought it up. “You know I never liked Heinrich from the get go, and befriended Marie to protect her, though she’s become a great friend since then.”

“I know,” I said.

“You really think he’s getting better?”

“I do, and so does Marie. His regret for what happened to Marie and what was about to happen to you has really changed him. I think it woke him up out of his macho stupor.”

“I just wish Marie batted for the other team more,” Emily murmured.

“Sports metaphor!” I crowed.

“Fuck you,” Emily laughed. “That cutie really does weaken my mind.”

“Maybe she’d been willing for that,” I offered, cringing after.

“In exchange for sex?” she actually pondered it.

“She really does get your juices flowing,” I chuckled.

“Do you blame me?”

“No. Maybe you could talk to her about her just joining us.”

“Maybe.”

All this, the second night with Marie and Heinrich, Marie’s proposal and the subsequent discussion with Emily happened near the end of our training. The semi-private conversation between Marie and Emily happened just days before we left the lair. Semi-private because Hannah, a colleague of Marie, working together on growing things in space, and the two had become friends, sat across from them.