Chapter 51: Winnowing

SOME OF THE WOMEN who were our contestants were just too much fun to describe. They made me laugh and they made me cry. Sometimes at the same time. For example, there was Marie. I thought at first Marie had inhaled nitrous before she auditioned. Everything she said was funny. Which I thought was really strange. Marie was a doctor. We’d found her in Mexico City and auditioned her on the spot. She was a member of Traveling Doctors and spent three months at a time wherever they sent her. She was due for a new rotation and was able to join our crew instead of taking another assignment.

The scenario for her audition was a space battle in which we’d hear various explosions. We were supposed to act like the ship was being hit by lurching back and forth. We stumbled around almost as if we were drunk.

“Captain, we have to get out of here. We won’t have an able-bodied man or woman on the ship if this keeps up. I’m treating them as fast as I can!”

“Keep doing your best, Doctor,” I responded. “Weapons, fire port phasers! They’re hitting us from every direction.” We kept hearing explosions and each time we heard one, we stumbled. She knelt as if to treat a wounded crewmate and when the next explosion sounded, she rolled completely over the supposed body and into my chair. I was pretty sure the first ‘accident’ really was an accident. Marie stumbled against the chair and her blouse caught on a corner and tore open. She scarcely hesitated a moment before she simply ripped it off and quickly started wrapping it around my arm.

“You’ve been hit! Let me get this bleeding on your arm stopped.”

I nearly forgot to stumble with the next explosion. Marie was braless under her blouse and her large breasts seemed to have a life of their own as she stumbled into me and they wobbled. She next ripped her skirt off and wrapped it around my leg, ‘accidentally’ opening my pants to expose my cock.

“This calls for extreme measures, Captain. I’ll have to kiss it and make it better,” she said, sucking me into her mouth. I took another lurch to the side, just to see how she would react next. My cock popped out of her mouth and she looked up at me.

“Oh, my God, Captain! Your mouth is bleeding! I have to staunch the flow of blood!”

None of us expected her to rip off her panties and stuff them in my mouth. Next, she lurched to the side and landed in my reclining captain’s chair, pulling me down on top of her. She grabbed my cock and guided it straight into her pussy. That kind of ended the scene, but we continued to rock back and forth on the set as I pumped into her and the explosions continued. I finally spent my load as she screamed, “I’m hit!”

I collapsed forward and pressed her into the chair.

“Dammit, Bob! I’m a doctor, not a mattress!” she called out. That was an effective end to her audition.

We headed for London next, with a special invitation from the Queen. I’d been in the new palace several times while it was under construction, of course, but not since Her Majesty actually made it her new home. We were given a private wing as a guest suite where we all stayed together. Valerie was extremely happy to be back home in England and took us all on a tour of her favorite places.

Next to the palace, the British Space Park, BSP, was about to open with some special rides created to give guests the kind of adventures they expected us to have on our ship. Among the rides was a space capsule ride. It was meant to simulate our own command module, though not the entire ship. In fact, the control module was as near to a ship simulator as we had back in California. There were just two seats in the capsule. I would act as the copilot as each of the girls got to ‘fly’ the ship. The simulator ran a dozen different programs automatically and they were variable in terms of the challenge difficulty. We chose the series that was rated as moderate because I didn’t really want anyone to look like a total failure. I knew some of the girls could perform at the highest level of difficulty. Karla was an airline pilot and Julie was a racecar driver. They both had excellent skills on the simulator.

After consulting with my wives, we decided to give Deedee immunity for this contest. We tried to make sure we gave immunity to the person we thought would be the weakest for the challenge. Deedee had not done well on the simulator so far, but she still had to take the test, even though her score would not be announced.

It was a harrowing and exhausting day.

The test was thirty minutes long and the computer scored execution of each task based on response time, accuracy of response, and task performance. We really had no human intervention on scoring this one. As the copilot, I was supposed to be there in case of an ‘emergency’ the pilot couldn’t handle. If we were about to fall into the burning sun, I had the power to save the ship. I was also there to follow the instructions of the pilot. But the task instructions and simulation all came through the headset from the computer to the pilot.

The biggest mistake most of the contestants made was not using the copilot. They inevitably felt they had to do everything themselves, some of which was impossible unless the pilot had four hands and six-foot arms. Karla, of course, knew exactly how to use a copilot. She gave me instructions of what I was to do as fast as the instructions came through her headset. She had a very successful flight.

Julie was slightly behind her in that driving a car is a one-person job and learning to depend on a second person was a new experience for her. From there each girl had her own skills that ranged from barely competent to almost good.

After a long and grueling day, we all wanted to sleep for hours. The girls got to talk to each other about the test and compare their challenges. In all, it was a good team building exercise as well as a test of their skills.

The next day, we had tea with Her Majesty. Everyone was excited, as we’d bought all the girls new clothes for the occasion. They knew this was also the farewell party for one of the girls. After tea—when the queen retired from the room—we would announce who had scored the lowest on the test. She would have an hour to say goodbye to the girls and gather her belongings before coming to see me in my guest office.

I was truly devastated when Rin lost the competition. I was certain her dexterity would see her through, but she simply didn’t have quite the measure of skills the other girls had. After being spared from the competition in the last round, Rin simply didn’t have what it took to make the simulator challenge.

She came into my guest office, a part of the suite, carrying her cello.

“Bob, may I play for you one more time before I leave?” I wanted to tell her she didn’t have to leave, but it would spoil this lovely offer. I thought perhaps her father had arranged for her to audition. I had discovered he was a mid-level manager with Fukishina, and we had put out the invitation to everyone in the company to refer people. Nonetheless, she was beautiful and talented, and she sat in a chair across from me and placed the cello between her knees to play.

I don’t have a good memory for music, so I couldn’t tell you what it was she played. What I know is that it was so beautiful and sad and uplifting and sweet and passionate that it left me in tears. She put her cello in its case and came to sit in my lap as I held my arms out to her.

“Rin, I have something I would like you to watch. This is from Eun-ha and arrived for you this afternoon.”

Eun-ha told Rin that she’d gotten exactly what she wanted in life by simply listening to my suggestions and making her choice. She was sunning herself by the pool, much as Linda had been doing in the first video. I explained the choices and showed her the gateway, right beside the door. I’d been fine-tuning the appearance of the gateway to make it look more attractive each time I used it.

Rin kissed me tenderly and with as much passion as she had shown in playing the cello.

“Thank you, Bob. You have given me the choice of my heart’s desire. It pains me to leave you and our wonderful family behind, but I know now where my destiny lies.” She kissed me softly one more time, picked up her cello, and walked out the door.

The door! Not the gateway. I wanted to run after her and tell her she’d made a mistake, but I knew that as soon as she was out that door, Doug would be escorting her to a waiting limo and giving her a travel packet.

I sat there with tears running down my face as I remembered the last plaintive notes of her concert. I didn’t go out to join everyone else for the evening. I walked through the gateway where Josie and Nimia met me and took me to bed to comfort me.

“Well, Bob, thank you for coming to the palace for a few days. You know, you and your women are always welcome. I almost stole Valerie back again. The new chef doesn’t have her touch,” the queen said at breakfast. It was just the two of us and I was happy to have a bit of time with her.

“I am always pleased to spend time with you, Your Majesty,” I said.

“Now, let’s talk turkey, as the Americans say. I want another favor from you.”

“Anything I can do,” I said.

“I’d like you to take me with you when you go.”

Now that was something I didn’t expect.

“I ... um ... I mean...”

“Relax, Bob. I don’t mean now, and I don’t mean on your trip to Mars. Not literally. I’m getting tired of this ruling the kingdom and even being a figurehead. I think you could make a big deal about taking me with you as a stowaway, and just drop me off somewhere on your way to the ship. I could finally disappear and start life over again,” she said.