Chapter 6

I was a little perturbed when I saw the size of the princesses entourage. Instead of two women, we would be taking twelve. I wasn't angry at them, but at myself. I should have anticipated this. You just didn't send a princess off by herself. Actually, after I thought it over, I was surprised there weren't more.

The first thing we did after returning to the ship, was to give K'athlen and M'aida's group the grand tour. This was not only to satisfy their curiosity, but for safety as well. On any starship, touching certain things can be detrimental to one's health.

I was impressed with their ability to remember the names of everyone, including the androids they hadn't met before they boarded. K'athlen explained that this had been drilled into them since before they could walk. They were expected to remember the names of all the people they met. It went a long way in making people feel that their rulers cared for them.

We didn't tell them that the androids weren't human, as sort of a test. We did show them the replicators, though. It would have been difficult not to. There was at least one in every part of the ship. We demonstrated it by providing a sample of the wine we had brought from the planet.

Two minutes after analyzing the small sample, the system was capable of reproducing it. One sip was all it took for them to realize why we only used it for the military.

"If there is any difference, I can't detect it", M'aida said. "If everyone had one of these, people would just sit around and do nothing. I can see why it would be handy in space, though. I wondered about the seemingly small cargo area on this ship."

"I was going to ask about that", added K'athlen. "On our vessels, cargo space takes more room than crew does. Speaking of crew, how can a ship this size, be run with so few personnel? This is about the size of one of our cruisers, and unless they're hiding, you have less than a fourth of what we use."

We explained the automated systems, and artificial intelligence. The idea was almost beyond their comprehension. The Forthan navy was small, by our standards. It seems that the main limitation was crew. They just didn't have the population for a larger one. Since we had mostly visited cities, we hadn't noticed. Rhonda asked for clarification.

"Reproduction is an ongoing problem for us", admitted K'athlen. "Only one in five births is male. This has been steadily getting worse, and we don't know why. To complicate matters, conception by artificial means is taboo. I heard you ask why we don't have more males in positions of responsibility. The reason is, they are coddled to the extreme. Every male on Forthan is a precious commodity. We try to direct them to areas with less stress, and danger."

"That is proving to be a disaster", added M'aida. "You can hardly call most of them men, anymore. The majority behave like spoiled, pampered, brats. We even had to resort to raising prospective concubines at the palace. The acceptable candidates were getting almost impossible to find."

"It's too bad we can't help in that area", sighed Connie. "Our population has a majority of females, as well. I'm afraid we just can't spare many men for immigration. I'm pretty sure that any ships that visit will enjoy their shore leave, though."

That got a chuckle, but the princesses agreed. They earned some blushes from their companions by suggesting that they might enjoy the journey more than they expected. I knew they would.

Something bothered me about this information. "What about That freighter captain?", I asked. "He didn't seem too spoiled to me. In fact, I was pretty impressed with him."

"So are all the women", K'athlen chuckled. "He's in great demand, and I think he enjoys being off planet. It's the only time the poor man gets any peace!"

"I think you misunderstood what we said", added M'aida. "We might strive to direct men into safe occupations, but we don't coerce, or force them to do it. They make their own choices, just as the women do. I just wish more of them were like Captain Bergath. Sadly, he is in the minority of real men."

At least having room for everyone wasn't an issue. The ship had been designed for all personnel, including twenty passengers, to have their own stateroom. Only the Captain's had a pool, but they all had a hot tub. The luxury amazed them as much as it had me.

The tour was almost complete, when K'athlen asked when we would be leaving. The look on the visitor's faces was priceless, when I told them that we were already under way. Inertial dampeners were also new to the Forthans. We hadn't thought to mention them. We'd had dampeners for years, and they were taken for granted.

M'aida explained that they had to gradually build up speed, and this was a long process. Her face fell, when she asked how far we had to go.

"But ... that will take years!", she spluttered.

After we quit laughing, Kalia told her we were two weeks from home. The look on their faces was comical. Then we mentioned just how far 'home' was from Forthan.

"But ... But ... It would take years to travel that far", K'athlen spluttered. "No, make that hundreds of years! Just how fast are we going, anyway?"

"It's probably best that you don't know", Tina replied with a smile. "Let's just say that it's fast enough, OK? Our power source is one of the things reserved for Federation members only. It makes a great many things possible."

Both princesses expressed interest in learning our language, so we set up a sleep course for all of them. This would serve two purposes. They could learn, and they could report on the effectiveness of the procedure.

The pool was a big hit, and we discovered that all of our visitors loved to swim. I loved the fact that they didn't mind the fact that we didn't use suits. I guess I was still as much of horndog as I ever was. Even with the beautiful specimens that were my mates, I still couldn't resist checking them out. They didn't seem to mind, and were quite obvious in returning my scrutiny.

K'athlen even teased M'aida a bit about it, remarking "Please excuse my sister, Mathias. At least she's in the water, where her drooling won't make a mess."

"Like you're not looking?", M'aida retorted. "I saw your tongue flop out when you saw that thing!"

They obviously could blush, as K'athlen was proving. She kept her composure, as a Princess should.

She just smiled, and asked Rhonda "Can you run some tests, to see if our races are biologically compatible? If they grow them that big in the Federation, we need to get those genes into our pool!"

I chuckled, but the ladies roared with laughter. Rhonda already had an answer for her.

"We checked on that, before we contacted your mother", she confided. "We would need some blood tests to be absolutely certain but, from the information we could gather, there is a ninety-four percent probability that reproduction is possible between our people."

"A word of warning, though", Dina chimed in. "If you're expecting them to all look like that, you're in for some serious disappointment. Matt's kind of in the upper range, in that department. There's a bright side, though. The way most of us run around naked, the good ones won't be hard to spot."

All the talk must have got their motors running. I even caught Andrea rubbing against me once! I guess they could swim, too. M'aida was the worst, and it wasn't easy to resist her. She was built a lot like Rhonda, and had help from my devious wives. The fact that I didn't complain made them even more blatant about it.

I've never been accused of being a prude, so I played back. The visitors were either oversexed, or desperate. I toned down my groping after a while, for my own safety. M'aida laid a lip lock on me that sent me under the water. It probably was the hand I had cupping her juicy little mound, that did it. In any case, I learned that a Forthan orgasm was pretty much like any other I had experienced.

The moan that escaped from me wasn't only because of the kiss. The jolt that ran through me when our lips met was all too familiar. I resolved to keep that little fact a secret. I knew what my mates had planned, and decided to make them work for it. At least a little. The look on M'aida's face told me that she had felt it, too. Her expression was one of amazement, mixed with confusion. Unlike me, she didn't know what it meant.

After a couple of hours in the pool, we ate, relaxed, and prepared for bed. We didn't have any extra company in our room, but I didn't get much sleep. Dina and Dora were the worst. They kept up a conversation as they double-teamed me. It seemed to center on my interest in 'bagging Princesses'. I couldn't even defend myself, as my lips were kept occupied the entire time.

At first, I thought they were just more worked up than usual. Then I noticed that the door was open. That explained the overly vocal performance. It wouldn't have surprised me if the ship's PA wasn't piping the screams into every cabin. I never minded being on stage, anyway, so I tried to give a good performance. There was no way in Hel that I could satisfy all of them, but I gave it my best shot. Until I ran out of ammunition, anyway.

From the blushes at breakfast, I could tell we had quite an audience last night. Immediately following the meal, there was a line forming for blood tests. My mates tried to get the point across that only one sample was needed, but they insisted. I guess they wanted to be sure. K'athlen and M'aida went last.

Before the last sample was drawn, the results were in. I wasn't sure how the news would be received, but I needn't have worried. The AI's announcement didn't start out very comforting, though.

"Compatibility is ninety-eight point nine five seven", it began. Then the concern began. "Anomaly detected. Probability of female being conceived is point zero two three."

Everyone except K'athlen took the news well. For her line to continue, she had to bear a daughter. The future Queen in her rose to the occasion, however.

"This is wonderful news for our people", she proclaimed. "Perhaps we could set up a visitation program between us."

She was interrupted by a further announcement.

"Secondary anomaly detected. Subjects M'aida and K'athlen samples vary in DNA structure. Compatibility is ninety-nine point eight three six. Probability of male being conceived is point one nine."

The look K'athlen sent my way made me feel like a pork chop in a kennel of Pit Bulls. Maybe worse. Her look was much hungrier, and more predatory, than any canine I had ever encountered.

The hen party that followed assured that I would get some time to myself, whether I wanted it or not. Andrea offered to keep me company, and I agreed. She was pleasant to talk to, and actually helped me come to grips with the situation.

"Sir", she explained, "Princess M'aida may well remain on Vanir, but the others will be returning to Forthan. May I suggest the solution which contains the best probability of a harmonious outcome?"

"Please do, and my name is Matt. Please use it." I smiled to take the sting out of my words, but all the sir shit was annoying.

"Very well, Matt. I will change the information in my programming to reflect your wishes. As to the course of action least objectionable, I would suggest taking Princess M'aida as a mate. She will be quite compatible with you and your wives. I would also suggest that you refrain from breeding with the other Forthan women, to broaden the gene pool. Princess K'athlen's situation is unique. Her people would best be served by an offspring between the two of you. I detect that she feels this strongly, and I agree. She can not become one of your mates, however, and will return to her planet after her mission is complete."

"That's pretty much what I thought, but much more orderly in expression. My thoughts tend to get scrambled on complicated matters."

"I suppose being an artificial intelligence helps me order my thoughts somewhat more logically than a biological being", she said. After a pause, she added "Matt, may I ask a question?"

You certainly can", I answered. "I'll probably even answer it, if I'm able."

My weak attempt at humor was lost on her. She seemed almost scared to speak. Finally, she asked "Why do you find me so repulsive? Is it because I am not human?"

I knew where this was going, and I was afraid that androids could actually have their feelings hurt. I tried to answer as diplomatically as I could.

"Andrea, you are very attractive. Whether you are human or not, doesn't change that fact. I think you are a wonderful companion, and easy to talk to. The problem is that I'm just not attracted to you in that way. I consider you a friend, but I'm afraid that's the extent of it. I think those feelings may be partially because you are an android. Perhaps part of that is because I'm a product of old Earth. I honestly think the generation born on Vanir would be a better choice for you. They've grown up in a totally different environment, where anything is possible. I grew up in a society that warped me to the core. I guess I just can't put some of that aside. I hope you understand."

"I think I do", she sighed. "I have studied films and novels from the time you lived on earth, and understand how you might feel that way. My kind was purely fiction, back then. I suppose I am what you might refer to as a cross between 'Hal', and a 'Fembot', aren't I?"

I had to stifle a laugh at the picture that brought to mind. Instead, I said You are a much higher caliber than a Fembot, and I can't imagine you running amok like Hal did. Are we still friends?"

"I hope so", she replied. "I enjoy our conversations very much. I am very impressed that, even given your feelings, you treat me as you do any other being. Sex is simply an experience that I wish to explore, to add the information to my memory. It is much less important than friendship. As I understand it, the human sexual drive is directly related to the urge to reproduce. That is not compatible with my situation. I mean, what could I give birth to, a laptop?"

That one caught me by surprise, but I laughed anyway. I was worried that Beth had left humor out of her programming. I was glad to see that wasn't the case. Like mine, it needed some work, but at least it was there.

when the others found us, I asked if the Forthan complement had made any progress towards learning our language while they slept.

M'aida laughed, and said "I'm afraid we didn't get much sleep last night. There was this constant howling and screeching sound, and it lasted until morning. At first, we were afraid that you were an abusive brute, so we were going to come to the rescue. When we got there it didn't look like anybody needed saving, though. Unless it was you, anyway. It looked like you were pretty outnumbered.

K'athlen had to add her two cents, as well. "It was pretty impressive, I must say. I didn't think some of the positions I saw were possible. I know some of them aren't in any of our manuals. Perhaps you could help us with a revision? My sister and I will be happy to assist, if you need any live models. Purely for research, you understand."

"OH, please", chortled Tina. "That is about the lamest attempt at getting laid that I ever heard. If you want some of what you saw, why don't you just ask him to bunk with y'all tonight? I think we left enough for you and M'aida."

I was worried that my mates were pushing things too fast for our guests, but not after a little thought. The ladies were too predictable, and I detected their scheme fairly easily. It was obvious that this had been worked out ahead of time, especially when K'athlen agreed so quickly. I knew it was inevitable, and it wasn't like I didn't look forward to the idea. It was an easy sell.

The two sisters were the complete opposite of Dina and Dora. Instead of being 'ridden hard, and put away wet', I was loved to the point of incomprehension. Everything was slow and sensuous with the princesses, and every caress designed to inflame me further. In short, I was ready to burst into flames. And that was just the foreplay!

They swore to me that the build-up before the main attraction was a foreign concept to them, but I found it hard to believe. I was also amazed at the talent they displayed, especially when K'athlen gasped, as she rode me

"Ohhhh SISTER!, This is nothing like the indoctrination program, it's Soooo much better!"

Being older, she had claimed the first ride. M'aida looked on, in rapt attention, as her sister writhed in ecstasy. That happened twice, before I could restrain myself no longer. It wasn't the fact that what she did to me felt so unbelievable when she came that pushed me over the edge. It was the expression of pure bliss on her face, when it happened. She was so beautiful, it hurt my eyes to gaze upon her.

When I finally could take it no more, I erupted. Her expression, when that occurred, transcended beauty. At least until her eyes rolled up into her head, and she collapsed on top of me.

M'aida was none to gentle with her sibling, as she rolled K'athlen off of me. When she had made enough room, she engulfed my semi-hard prick between those pouty lips of hers, and quickly had me at full attention.

Instead of mounting, she flopped on her back, and lifted her arms. The only word she spoke was "PLEASE?"