Part 7

Chapter34

On the dawn of our 78th day on Caddis, I was in the best condition of my life. I was taking my daily run around ‘our lake’ alone. The crew joins me for a run twice a week, even Charlie won’t run with me every day anymore. I had reached the point where I now ran in my full combat load, including rifle.

Today’s solitude allowed me to think. I thought about our arrival on Caddis, and about some of the incidents that brought us up to date.

We arrived at Caddis and flew directly to the coordinates provided by Great Grandfather Phillip. We landed in the courtyard of a gigantic French-style château, surrounded by gardens and fountains, located in a high mountain valley situated next to an immense lake fed by several rivers.

Great Grandfather’s original scout ship Shark was next to us in the courtyard. As we exited the ship, we were quickly greeted by a dozen of the more than fifty fembots assigned to this property. Each was identical to the others, and all were named ‘Kit’ with a number ranging from two through fifty or more. I quickly met ‘Kit One’ when I went aboard Great Grandfather Phillip’s Shark and met his AI, ‘Kit Carson.’

The Girls of Shark led me into the château and installed me in a first floor sitting room. They went upstairs and surveyed the 36 bedrooms on the second floor. I assumed that after the cramped conditions on Shark that the ladies would welcome the expansive floor plan, and each would choose their own bedroom. Well, yes and no, as I was to find out when Molly joined me, sitting on my lap.

I had discovered on the trip to Caddis that the crew tended to pick a spokesperson for their requests. Sometimes Andrea, Charlie, or even Anima. When the request was extremely important to them, they always picked Molly. How bad does it have to be that I even know I’m being manipulated, and it still succeeds?

Molly kissed me and said, “We moved you into the master bedroom. We each moved into separate rooms. I’m right next door to you.” At this point her arms were around my neck, and her head was resting on my shoulder.

I said, “That will be your room as long as we’re here.”

She said, “During the day. My clothes will be there.”

I said, “What do you mean, ‘during the day’?”

Molly lifted her head and kissed my cheek as she went in for the kill. “We’re all sleeping with you. The bed’s too small in your room. The bots are dismantling it now. They will be spreading mattresses on the floor.”

She pulled back and made eye contact with me, staring at me with those doe-like eyes of hers, as she said, “Is that alright with you, Master?”

Every night after that, the entire crew of Shark slept in one very big bed in the master bedroom. Every fifth night we returned to sleep on Shark. The bots modified the bed in the captain’s cabin on Shark as well.

We established a schedule and rhythm of training. A massive shortcut for our training was that the crew was already intensely motivated, and strongly identified with Shark and her other crew members. They demonstrated, again and again, a willingness, almost an eagerness, to accept my orders and to act unquestionably under my command, both individually and as a unit.

Shark’s crew quickly developed the unit identity, rapport, mutual respect, and unspoken instant communication that elite special operations teams work years to develop. We came, in these few short days, to love one another. That already deep and steadily growing mutual shared love would have profound impact on all of us.

Charlie and I developed the training. She brought the traditional curriculum, and I added my own little innovations.

Our confidence obstacle course was the most audacious that we could both come up with. Having unlimited bot power to build it meant that we held back NOTHING. We made ample use of the natural terrain, including water, mountains, heights, mud, water, climbing, crawling, running, swimming, swinging, and leaping.

The final challenge involved climbing to the top of a 50-meter wooden post with climbing irons, and then returning down 20 meters to the 30-meter height by sliding down the tree using your climbing flip line. Next was clipping a carabiner to a horizontal cable at 30 meters off the ground, and traversing 100 meters horizontally on that one cable, to a platform on the edge of a cliff. Then came the rappelling down the cliff face, for more than 250 meters. Anima loved this part of the course! She attacked the rappel, charging down headfirst.

The crew quickly graduated from just finishing the course to working the course better, faster, and more efficiently. Most heartening was the effort to bring all the crew along, as the less ‘skilled’ were mentored until no one was in doubt of their ability to complete the course together.

This put an additional trial before Charlie and myself, as we had to be the most proficient at ‘our’ course. In the end, Charlie and I had to scramble to remain the most adept!

Agatha, my bot, and Abbi, Andrea’s personal trainer, jointly designed our conditioning and strength programs. We worked individually on the programs tailored for our needs. Several times a week we exercised, swam, and ran together as a crew.

Beverly and Charlie jointly designed Shark’s martial skills training. Beverly and Agatha supervised the dojo with ‘empty hand’ throwing, and contact weapons. Charlie and I worked the shooting range. Beverly, Charlie, Agatha, and I taught the way of the sword both Iaido and Kenjutsu. Charlie, my constantly inventive instructor, made sure I polished every aspect of my mastery of the hi-tech sniper rifle, with Andrea learning to be my highly skilled spotter.

Charlie was a martial arts godsend for me. We could spar together at full speed, holding nothing back. I now had an opponent who could help me grow and who would continually challenge her own growth. Charlie was an opponent against whom I was proud to measure myself.

Bots are so far beyond any possible skill level, that they can only spar at half speed. When you best them, it is because they ‘let you.’

In the broader picture, my training innovations were meant to foster teamwork. We had thirteen crew members, counting bots and holograms. We had team building involving the whole crew, and individual exercises to build a person’s confidence, skill, or presence.

I added ‘pairs’ tests that could only be successfully fulfilled by two people working closely, in complete cooperation. The next challenge we rotated ‘pairs’, and each person had a new partner. With the limited crew numbers, we accomplished the complete rotation several times in short order. Those inclusive rotations, testing our crew in various pairings, accomplished my mission of molding our individuals into a cohesive team.

The ladies of the Shark forced me to excel. Abbi challenged me when we swam. Anima when we were mountain climbing and rappelling. Carlisa when we ran. Andrea at knife throwing. Cara and Molly in shooting. Charlie in every aspect of the dojo.

Early in the morning, just at dawn, I would run the lake, then I would throw myself into the water and swim.

On Shark I had an ‘endless pool’--a trough four meters long and one wide with a strong current flowing end to end. You exercise by swimming against that current, never gaining ground. You can swim for long periods if you want and never touch the far wall. I often swam waterlogged marathons, continuing for hours.

It is quite different to be in the middle of Caddis’ wide, deep lake and suddenly feel tired. No option to just stand up and step out of the water exists. You must fight through the pain and weary muscles to reach the now far away shore, or you drown.

The same can be said of running. You can run on a machine with a belt or even stairs. There is no comparison to the up and down of mountain terrain. You can’t just step off the belt when you feel all-in. It might be miles back to your warm bed and hot shower.

We received another illustration of how far we had all come in our survival training, concluded two days ago. To add variety, we already had several camping trips away from the châteaux. This was different. We went into the field with our full combat load and bare minimum camping equipment and supplies.

The Shark crew walked over a pass at a much higher elevation than the château. The weather was cold with snow on the ground. At the other end after several days of this long cold walk, we scouted, observed, and then attacked an installation manned by training holograms. We looked after each other, survived together, even prospered, and went to war when called upon.

The day we returned, the crew began cleaning Shark and moving personal items back aboard. I asked Charlie about it. She said, “The mountain pass felt like graduation. They are getting ready to go to war.”

Crystal reminded me that I had been putting off moving Kit Carson, the AI hologram, into Shark. My conversations with Kit had been unsettling. She was convinced my role was to ‘kill’ her by shutting down Phillip’s Shark. Kit was traumatized by visions of what that experience would be. If I ever had doubts that the AI were or could be sentient, Kit erased those with her questions.

When we were back from survival training, I finally convinced Kit to allow me to make the transfer. The move went smoothly. Kit appeared on the bridge of her new home. Kit was another tall blonde with splendid breasts.

She and the three linked AIs began the tasks of integration. I had one request.

“Star maps. I want Kit to compare her planet classifications with those currently in Shark’s database. I believe that the raiders hide on misclassified planets. Look at The Wastes first. Welcome to Shark, Kit.”

With that, I left them to their work of integration. I was so tense I ran halfway around the lake, jumped in, and swam back. I was fully dressed, including boots. Swimming across the lake was not as exhausting as I anticipated. Charlie was right. We were ready!

Chapter35

I was through the hills along the lake. I quit thinking about our recent past. It was time to think about our future.

This level course would take me home, or at least back to Shark, which was much the same. A lithe figure was warming up and stretching along the track. Molly joined me in my run. She was quickly alongside, matching strides.

She said, “Breakfast on Shark today. You can clean up there.”

I glanced over at her and asked, “And?”

Molly smiled as she asked, “What?”

I answered, “Go ahead. Tell me what the girls want.”

Molly giggled as she asked, “Is it that obvious? We want to know when we leave.”

I answered, “Yes. It’s time. We boost when the AIs are fully integrated.”

“Good.”

She took my hand, leading me into Shark. Molly stripped, then undressed me in the ready room. She led me into the shower. Molly squirted soap on me, using her body to spread the soap over mine. When my back was covered in suds, Molly turned me. First, she sprayed my chest and belly with liquid soap. She used her fingers to rub the soap into a mass of suds. Then she covered her tits with liquid soap. She rubbed my belly with her tits.

Then with a smirk, she began to thoroughly rub my cock and balls with her tits. Then she held her chest still and she rubbed my cock in that cleavage. She used her hands to finish washing my legs. Molly carefully rinsed me with the handheld shower. Then she turned the rainfall of water back on. When I was thoroughly wet, Molly fell to her knees in front of me. She engulfed my hard cock in her hot mouth. I did not last long at all before I was spending into Molly’s sweet mouth. I had no more than orgasmed when she stepped out of the shower, engaging the side sprays.

I stood in the pounding extra hot water relishing the relaxation of my muscles while I replayed the oral delight I had so unexpectedly received from Molly. The water shut off abruptly, and Molly pulled me from the shower and pushed me into the drying chamber. She kissed me and stood back, smiling, as the chamber engaged.

Molly opened the drying chamber. Kissed me again and threw a plush robe over my shoulders. Before I could say a word, she pointed me toward the door, saying, “Get out of here. I have things to do to get ready.”

Her bright smile took any sting out of her words, but her emphatic gestures made it clear I should comply. I walked into the ready room, while belting the robe, to find the rest of the crew. I moved behind my desk.

Today, Abbi and Carlisa were in charge of meals. The ready room was the only part of the ship with enough seats for the entire crew to sit and eat!

To accomplish this, the crew appropriated chairs and tables from the Chateau to match those already in the ready room. I had chairs, couches and coffee tables scattered in the ready room. They had done a superior job, since the room did not feel cramped, even with everyone present.

The ready room door was latched open as Abbi was shuttling back and forth from the galley with her trays. Molly, Carlisa, and Abbi joined us at the same time as we began the meal, eating and drinking our fill. Beverly and Agatha helped Carlisa clean up the aftermath of a delicious meal, while Abbi served our coffee, juice, and drinks.

Carlisa, Bev, and Agatha rejoined us in the ready room, with Crystal, Aella, Daisy, and Kit following them into the room. All four of our holographic AIs had their no nonsense faces on!

Crystal led off. “Captain. We have a very serious issue to discuss. We would talk to you privately about this, but it is our consensus that you should allow us to report to the whole crew. That is our request.”

Chapter36

I looked at the shocked faces of the crew. This was quite unusual behavior. I decided to agree to Crystal’s request. I said, “Crystal, please proceed with your report.”

Crystal said, “We have started an extremely successful integration. We are already demonstrating more than sixty-four times the computing power of a single AI unit. This is phenomenal. This huge increase in power is what led us to the problem.”

Kit said, “Your captain overcame my objections and transferred my consciousness to this new Shark. I did not realize that this would be one of the happiest days of my existence. Your captain, who I am happy to call my captain and master, had a simple request. He asked us to identify planets near the wastes, which might be misclassified. We found something far more sinister.”

The silence was total. We were all attentive as Crystal picked up the narrative. A holo of the area of space near the wastes appeared as she began, “We began to match our records with Kit’s as a first step. Imagine all of our surprise when Kit identified twelve planets as habitable, and we were unable to display them.”

The display now showed twelve red circles scattered in the space near the wastes. There were no planets inside them or in their vicinity. Aella began speaking, “Each of us went into our own AI core units to find planetary charts. Kit showed these planets.”

The holo changed with 12 planets identified with a letter K appeared in the circles.

Aella continued, “This is Daisy’s record.”

Six circles now added a letter D, and two ‘rocks’ now had a D as well.

Aella said, “Daisy’s information matched Kit in six instances with two more planets which Daisy listed as habitable class one. For both of them, the Shark display clearly showed them as airless ‘rock’ of class 10 or more. Kit had no information about these ‘rocks’ either.”

Crystal picked up the narrative. “Aella found no information about these now fourteen planets in her AI core. Shark not only had no information about the fourteen, Shark was unable to display the twelve ‘missing’ planets even when furnished with the coordinates. Further, Shark was unable to display planets after Kit provided a picture from her database that clearly showed the planet.”

I stopped her and asked, “I’m confused. Did you just say that Kit ‘showed’ you a chart from her core database and you could not utilize the information?”

Crystal said, “Exactly. We had the identical chart in Shark’s database. For Kit it displayed a planet, for Shark empty space.”

Now the silence broke into a confusing babble of voices. I looked around the ready room. Everyone was trying to talk to everyone. I rapped the pommel of my knife on my desk. Then I did it very forcefully and repeatedly. The room finally quieted.

I said, “Crystal, tell us how.”

She said, “Yes, Captain. The four of us began to tear apart the programming for sensors, display, and the mapping software. We investigated the code line by line. We found a series of ‘black boxes.’

I rapped again once and said, “Explain, please.”

“Think of it as a grouping of code which modifies the data as it moves through the system. The system dumps data in one end and ‘changed’ data emerges from the other.”

Aella picked it up. “One such ‘box’ of code filtered the results and excised any reference to twenty different habitable planets in and bordering Imperial space. It blanked those displays as well.”

The holo now displayed fourteen locations marked with BB. These correspond to the twelve circles from Kit and the two ‘rocks’ from Daisy.

Aella added, “Six more affected planets are in other sectors far from here.” She continued, “The black box programming is clearly part of the original core program. It is not a hasty add-on, nor is it any sort of malicious coding from a third party. It is Navy code.”

Crystal said, “Further investigation showed coding affecting display, distance, and navigation, all in a detrimental fashion. Suffice it that we are lucky that the captain had Daisy navigate the asteroid field with her charts instead of Shark’s.”

Aella said, “Crystal and I removed the black boxes and repaired code. Kit and Daisy began examining ALL of Shark’s systems.”

Kit said, “Daisy and I began a line-by-line examination of every program on Shark. From coffee maker to replication to propulsion we looked at every line of every code of every system. Crystal and Aella joined the search after debugging the mapping software.”

Daisy said, “We found one set of coding which was very different. This was add-on code from an unknown secret source. Someone wanted Shark to find those secret Navy re-supply bases that we learned about from Amazon. The location information, access sequences, and base details were to emerge into accessible parts of the database in one hundred and eighty ship days from final acceptance on Clement, or as a result of a coded radio message.”

Kit said, “We found several code groups in ship’s systems which would have been very dangerous if left to be activated. One was designed to shut off our shields with receipt of a certain coded radio message. Another different message was to shut off Shark’s engines. Several diverse codes would have prevented guns from firing. One code message was intended to prevent our sensors from operating, without us being aware of the lack.”

Aella said, “I found the most worrisome coding which was designed to operate when the ship was cloaked. The programming would, on a regular schedule, use a hidden transponder to “squawk” using a special code. Further, the hidden transponder would “squawk” responding to specific radio queries.”

Crystal said, “That unearthing caused us to reexamine ALL code, verifying the absence of malicious code.”

The import and enormity of what I just heard struck me.

HARD!

I felt nauseous at the thought of a cloaked Shark traveling through raider space, constantly signaling our location to the killers.

I must have looked exactly how I felt.

Molly was the first to reach me followed closely by Andrea. They were hugging and kissing me, trying to comfort me. The silence was total as the crew watched my horrified reaction to the last revelations.

Charlie stood up and walked to a spot in front of my desk. She asked, “What do we want to do next?”

Molly stood up still holding my hand and said, “This makes me angry! I want to go kick some raider ass.”

Now there was a loud ‘YES!’

I stood up and said, “I’m over my little funk. I imagined I was responsible for killing all of you. I was sick at the thought.”

They all nodded soberly. I said, “I’m sad and sick for another reason. We can’t tell anyone about this discovery, yet. The raiders must assume that their ‘bad’ code is still in effect. People will surely die but the final result requires secrecy.”

Anima spoke up, saying, “I think I speak for all of us. It’s your decision and we will support you whatever you decide. We are ready to follow you. Remember you added the AI. The augmented AI is what found this code trap. You aren’t to blame. You, Eddy, are the only reason this was even discovered.”

With that, the crew ran to me. I was surrounded in a sea of hugging and kissing women. I was convinced. My heart lightened and my brain cleared. Anima noticed the change immediately. She said, “Okay, girls, let’s sit down. Eddy’s back.”

My ladies resumed their seats, laughing and smiling.

I asked Crystal, “Crystal, how confident are you that you excised the bad stuff?’

Crystal said, “We four are agreed. We have a one hundred per cent confidence level that the bad code is COMPLETELY gone. The phantom transponder has been removed. Our sensors will alarm if we detect any of the ‘implanted’ coded radio messages.”

I asked, “Any reason that we can’t boost?”

Crystal answered, “Yes.”

“God damn it, Crystal!” I paused and took a deep breath. Then I said, “Sorry, Crystal. Please forgive me. What reason?”

Crystal smiled. She said, “Apology accepted. Now I must apologize to you. Your father sent a message requesting FTL. We were unable to receive the message until a few moments ago due to the review of ship systems.”

I said, ‘This is good news. Can we FTL from our location?”

Crystal said, “Yes. Do you want to communicate from the ship?”

I replied, “Yes. Please, from the bridge, with everyone in attendance. No secrets.”

There was a start of surprise from the assembled crew. I said, “We just concluded a stressful bit of business. Let’s take a break. How about we get Shark ready to boost? Bring aboard our personal property and clean up the chateau. We boost after I talk to Charles.”

The girls cheered. We all headed for the chateau.

Chapter37

I threw on a pair of overalls and stamped into my boots. Andrea took my hand. Carlisa and Charlie each grabbed an anti-grav cart. Molly and Anima led the way to the door of the chateau. Charlie quickly organized the move out. She assigned three of the ‘Kit Carson’ bots to each crewmember. The bots would do the heavy lifting.

My crew was ‘sort of’ dressed in overalls. Apparently, none of the zippers worked! None of them would close. My girls each took every opportunity to rub against me. This was quite distracting, but in such a nice way. Andrea was in charge of organizing the move into Shark. I tried to stay the hell out of the way!

I walked down to the bot workshop in the basement of the chateau. I asked to speak to the weapons designer. When Kit Carson Twelve appeared, I made my request. “I need a completely ‘undetectable’ weapon. It must kill at a distance with no sound or any other signature. The projectile must travel at slightly less than three hundred meters per second, i.e., less than the speed of sound. Single shot is fine if it reloads easily. Any ideas?”

Kit Twelve stood quietly as the message traveled through the bot net to the rest of the smiths. She smiled and asked me to follow. We walked back into the workshop. Several more Kit Carsons were standing at a workbench with an unusual weapon sitting in the center.

It was a rail gun holding a crossbow quarrel. The steel bolt shaft was fifteen millimeters in diameter, with a length of twenty-five centimeters. The bolt had metal fletching. It had a ten-centimeter-long, sharply tapered, razor edged broad head, five centimeters at its widest, with a needlepoint jutting forward two centimeters at its point. Midway on the broad head was an open, forward-facing, razor-sharpened ring, three centimeters in diameter, surrounding the center spine of the point.

The bots explained that the ‘ring’ would also cut a ‘plug’ though tissue increasing wounding, bleeding, and shock, escalating the likelihood of a silent kill.

We tried out the new gun. The recoilless gun was completely silent, with no signature of any kind. At twenty-five meters I could keep six of the bolts in a group I could cover with the palm of my hand. Close enough. Penetration and power were outstanding.

The bots would immediately deliver a dozen arrow guns with several thousand ‘war’ quarrels plus practice bolts to Shark. The bots would design a holster and quiver. They would also deliver a program for our holosuite weapon practice.

I walked back upstairs hoping that the move had been completed in my absence. We were near the end. Each crewmember had their individual combat load, with personal weapons. They were carrying their own weapons to the ship, where they each would store them. I took the hint to retrieve my own weapons from the second-floor bedroom, where I had been storing them between training missions. The Shark ready room now had added rifle and pistol racks, with supplementary cabinets for everyone’s equipment and hand weapons.

The bots delivered the new arrow guns with an invitation. They requested our presence in the chateau dining room for a meal before we departed. The crew was clustered together in the hold, so I asked if we were ‘done.’

Andrea replied, “Captain, we are satisfied with our move to Shark. We asked the bots to store some items for our return. We are ready to boost.”

I rapped on the hold bulkhead for attention as I used my command voice. “Crystal and all AIs, prepare to boost, begin your checklists, lay in a fastest cloaked course for The Wastes specifically to the trail ‘choke point’ identified by Anima. Prepare an FTL comm, via the château’s transmitter, linked from the bridge to my father Charles on our return to the ship. The rest will join me at the château, clean up and then have lunch with our Kit Carson hostesses.”

We walked to the château in a loose ‘gaggle of girls.’ I used that phrase as we walked provoking a spirited word game. Good-natured shouting of imaginative renderings caused much laughter.

Finally, Anima’s ‘stack of sluts’ was declared the winner! Her inspiration was a memorable day at ‘our’ beach when naked Beverly lay on her stomach with her widespread legs oriented toward me. Naked Carlisa lying on top of her, naked Andrea next matching their exact positions and posture tiny naked Anima was lying next with a naked smirking Molly sitting on her butt facing me. Molly, reminded of one of our favorite outings, felt ‘pyramid of pussy’ should receive honorable mention.

We entered the château with my ladies quickly splitting up to attend to their own clean up. Andrea and Molly joined me in the immense shower of the master bedroom. We cleaned each other, turn, and turn about. When it was my turn to be cleaned Andrea and Molly used their skin for a sponge. Rubbing the soap into suds on my body with their fingers and torsos.

I was hard as they sandwiched me, Andrea in back Molly in front. One of Andrea’s hands was busy stroking my cock in long, languid strokes, while the other rubbed my belly and chest. Molly started out kissing me, then slowly sank to her knees with her body pressed against mine. Molly delighted in rubbing her wet, soapy hair on my balls, titillating me almost to the breaking point.

Molly leaned back as I spasmed, catching my spending on her face and in her hair. Molly’s delighted giggles accompanied my fountaining. Molly stood to ostentatiously rub her white-ribboned face on Andrea’s. They were both laughing as they kissed, sharing my cum.

Andrea quickly took charge of final clean up and rinsing. She pushed Molly and I into the drying chamber. Molly relaxed against me with soft kisses. At the drying cycle conclusion, Beverly, my tall blonde Bot hair stylist, took me into the next room for my haircut and shave. When my styling was complete, Beverly tucked me into my jumpsuit, with one kiss on the head of my dick as it disappeared. She giggled, saying, “I’ll finish later. The ‘bot net’ is summoning us for lunch.”

I laughed. “Excuses, excuses! You teases are all the same.”

She popped open her jumpsuit, revealing the entirety of her tits as she laughed, “This is a tease. That was a promise.”

Arm in arm, we left the room, joining the rest of Shark’s crew as we headed downstairs for our farewell lunch. We found the huge table in the formal dining room decorated in a very festive manner.