Chapter 47: SM03-Tau, Day 7, continued

The orgy and the meal that followed distracted Steve quite effectively, so his new responsibilities completely slipped his mind until a message from the room monitor forcibly reminded him of his new position.

"One of the males of the Tau meta-group is requesting assistance," said the room monitor. "He reports a problem with his relationship with the women of his household, and would like to speak to someone in authority. At the moment, that would be you."

Steve sighed, but he'd never been one to duck out of a job. "Let's hear what he has to say," he said.

A man's voice spoke in English, with a slight Southern U.S. accent. "I don't know who's going to hear this, but I'm getting pretty frustrated with the situation around here. I've taken a woman as my wife, and I'm perfectly happy with her, but the rest of them won't leave me alone. It's driving me nuts. I hope to God someone's listening that can do something about this. The name's Edward Baker. Give me a call, please."

Steve looked around the room at his family. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for; he was the one that was going to have to figure out how to help the guy, not them. What he found did make him feel better about looking for a solution; every face he looked at was calm, trusting him to find a way to help that wouldn't hurt any of them.

Somewhat reassured, but still unable to see what he'd be able to do to help, Steve decided a direct investigation would be the best solution. "I don't think this is something I should do by phone call," he told his women. "I'm going to visit the guy and see what I can find out about his situation."

Anna looked a bit concerned, and Steve took a guess at what she was worried about. "If you're thinking this is a trick to separate me from all of you, think again," he said, "If they wanted me elsewhere, I'd have woken up there this morning. Remember what we're dealing with, here." Anna still looked skeptical, but she nodded, and said, "Perhaps. I'll be happier when you're back, though."

Alexandra spoke next, saying, "Me too. I've decided you're going to be a father again, so we need to start practicing for the next time I'm fertile." It seemed that her 'submissive' nature had some significant limits, which was all to the good in Steve's opinion.

"I see," he replied, smiling, "I didn't really need any extra motivation to get back as soon as I can, but that offer can't hurt." He walked over to where she was sitting, and drew her to her feet for a hug and a long kiss. He kissed Anna, Lorraine, and his other two wives next, then his concubines, finishing up with a second briefer kiss for Alexandra.

His good byes said, he told the room monitor, "I need to visit the gentleman who sent that last message. How do we make that happen?" The room explained the transportation system to him, sticking to 'how to use it' and promising to discuss 'how it works' at a future date.

Unprompted, the room monitor explained to Steve's wives that if they needed to contact him, they should simply ask to speak to him and give his last known location, which would be 'EB02-Tau'. Steve was surprised, but grateful. It was the only time he could remember that the monitor had volunteered information. Maybe being in charge had its benefits after all.

Steve left his home, and traversed the transportation system without incident. He couldn't tell exactly how the transporter worked, but unless it was very, very fast indeed, or he'd picked an improbably local destination, he didn't think it relied on physically moving from point to point. He just hoped it was more reliable than the ones on Star Trek, which always seemed to fail when they were most needed, occasionally in gruesome ways.

His brief speculations ended when he reached the door to his destination. He considered 'knocking, ' but couldn't figure out how, and thought that if he did figure it out, it would take a bit of explaining for his hosts to find the door. With a mental shrug, he touched the panel to open the door, and stepped in.

From the entrance alcove, he had a good view of the common area of the dwelling, and he saw a tall, broad-shouldered black man, sitting on the couch with a slender black woman at his side, cuddling in his arm as he spoke to a small group of white and Asian women. There was a very slight tension in the air, which intensified slightly as the man broke off and stared at Steve. The women's eyes followed the man's, and they stiffened as well at the sight of the 'intruder.'

Steve spoke in a quiet voice, saying, "Please excuse the intrusion. I'd have knocked, but our hosts have been rather remiss in describing the 'front door' to us at my own home, and I suspected they'd failed to so here as well." Nodding to the man of the house, he continued, "Mr. Baker, I presume? You asked to speak to someone about an issue you're having? My name is Steve Miller, and I'm here in response to that request."

Ed took his arm from around the woman next to him, and stood, walking up to Steve and offering his hand. As Steve took it, and shook hands, Ed replied, "You can call me Ed. 'Mr. Baker' was my father. Welcome to our home, and don't be bothered about the knocking. You startled us a bit, but you're right that we'd have had no idea what to do if you had knocked."

"And I'm Steve, Ed. Thanks for being understanding. Care to introduce me to your friends? We can visit a bit first, or you and I can go have a chat about your call, whichever you'd prefer."

"Visit first, I think. Let the ladies get to know you before we disappear." Indicating the black woman who'd been in his arm when Steve arrived, Ed said, "This is Camile Baker, my wife. At least, that's how we feel about it; we obviously haven't been able to find a preacher or a JP to seal the deal.

"Left to right, these ladies are Charlene Lehman, Jessica Gardham, Phyllis Parker, Sally Lee, and Jane Wu," Ed said, indicating first the Caucasian women, then the two Asians. He continued, "Marilyn Wilson is in her room, taking a nap. She and Sally are also a married couple, which Sally will no doubt forgive me for pointing out. Our other house-mates are Katy Malacuso, Cecilia Edwards, and Carla Allen; they'll be out in a shot if they hear an unfamiliar voice, especially if they can tell it's male."

As Ed paused, Camille spoke up. "Can I offer you any refreshment, Steve?" she asked in a soft Southern drawl. "Please, pull up a chair and have a seat," she continued, indicating a comfortable chair next to the couch she and Ed had been occupying.

Steve sat where he was told, saying, "A cup of coffee would be nice, if you don't mind. No cream, one sugar."

Camille smiled, and said, "It's OK, you can say 'black' if you want to. Neither Ed nor I are foolish about such matters, especially with someone who's obviously no fool himself. If you'd been the type to make a big deal about race, it would be a different matter, but you obviously aren't."

Ed hadn't been idle, and when he handed Steve his cup of coffee, Steve thanked him absently. "You know, Camille," he said, "it didn't occur to me until you said it, but you're right. Before it happened, I liked to think of myself as enlightened, but race was something I was always aware of, even while I tried not to let it matter. But now, with what's happened, I don't even think of it. If I'd known you, I'd probably have just said 'black, ' but there was that residue of doubt, and that made me avoid the word."

Ed looked at Camille, and said, "Not to make too big a deal of it, but we're certainly not offended by an attempt not to offend, since it was out of respect, and not condescension. Just relax and be yourself, and I think we'll all be fine. So tell us about your experiences, so far, and we'll do the same, and then you and I can have that chat I asked for. I admit to being a bit embarrassed by that call; I'm not normally that whiny. We'll get into that later."

Steve started in on his tale, but when he got to the part about Anna's pregnancy, Ed stopped him, and said, "Hold up a minute. I think everyone needs to hear about this. Sally, can you get Marilyn? I'll get the rest of the girls."

Sally and Ed left to fetch the rest of the household, while Camille and the rest of the women chatted with Steve about their pasts. Sally returned first, with Marilyn in tow. Unlike Sally's slender form, Marilyn was broad-shouldered, with large breasts, and a somewhat mannish frame. She was the picture of the lesbian stereotype, in contrast to Sally, who was sending mixed signals, briefly glancing at Steve with slightly open lips before returning to Marilyn with love and lust in her gaze. Marilyn shook Steve's hand before she settled down in a large chair, and pulled Sally into her lap, wrapping her arms possessively (or protectively?) around her wife.

Before Steve could more than say hello, Ed returned with three more Caucasian women, who he introduced as Katy, Cecilia, and Carla. Carla was polite, but cool, towards Steve, while Cecilia and Katy greeted him much more warmly. In fact, Katy looked like she was ready to hop right into bed with him. Steve tried not to respond visibly, but he wasn't sure he'd succeeded. He didn't want to encourage anyone, or promise anything he couldn't deliver.