Chapter 34: Duplicating Success

Midshipmen Kim Nguyen and Sara Crews had no difficulty passing their high-school equivalency examinations when they returned from Dargo. The sleep trainer had packed four years of schooling into a year. They were a little behind on history, art, and literature but neither one sat on her laurels. Both were absorbing William and Leonardo while backfilling the gaps they had in the evolution of human societies.

They no longer looked like school kids, having used the medical tubes on William Penn to advance their physical development during the long trip. Both were more interested than ever in pursuing careers that would put them on starships.

Sara dragged Kim along with her when she went to talk about their career options with Admiral Grayson.

"Is that really you, Sarita?" Ben Grayson met the young women at his office door when his aide announced them.

Sara gave him a kiss on the cheek before telling him, "I haven't been called Sarita in months. I doubt that my friend Kim, here, has ever heard anyone call me that."

"I'm pleased to see you again, Kim. I would not have recognized you in a crowd," Ben said as he held on to Sara. He held her at arm's length to look into her face. "Speaking of months, I haven't seen you in a while, Sara. What's been taking up so much of your time?"

"Kim and I shipped out as midshipmen on William Penn when she left to get a colony started on Dargo." Sara could hardly contain her pride and excitement. "We've managed to complete high school and want to continue a career in the Confederacy Navy or Fleet Auxiliary. We're looking into the schooling options for ship's crewmembers, but it looks like we need something more advanced than a high-school equivalency before entering the training programs at Poseidon or Haru if we're going to be anything more than cargo handlers. I'm not sure that the academy at Camp Timmons is up our alley, either."

"It might be," Ben mused. "Even though it's being run by the Marines it's mostly a generic college-level facility for developing the command potential in its students. You could do worse. I'll bet Colonel Bryant can help with this, or Commandant Schultz, whom he stole from my staff and put in command of the academy. Shall we try to talk them into having lunch with us?" It was clear that Ben was pleased that Schultz had been asked and had accepted the teaching assignment.

Lunch with Schultz and the girls was going well. There were the usual distractions and interruptions when Governor Grayson joined them in the administration complex's cafeteria.

"It's so good to see you out and about," Schultz said warmly. It was a clear reference to her size. "When are you due?"

"Any minute now," she replied in jest.

Schultz was not surprised that each of the two young volunteers had aspirations of captaining her own starship. He was not even totally surprised that Sara wanted a frontline combat command.

"I took the liberty of reviewing your records this morning. Very impressive," Schultz admitted. "Each of you exhibit natural leadership. You don't have to be put in charge by your superiors. It doesn't take long before members of a group follow your lead and start looking to you for direction.

"While you are far from timid, Kim, Sara seems to have inherited a knack for coolheaded aggression from her mother. Sara thrives on pressure without becoming an adrenalin junkie."

"Oh, my!" Martha Grayson exclaimed as she put both hands on her abdomen. "Please excuse the interruption. It's been a while, but that was most definitely not gas. I'm about to have a baby!"

Ben jumped to his feet like a first-time expectant father. "It's a pretty good hike to medical from here. Can you make it or do I need to carry you?"

Martha's scowl spoke volumes, but she calmly told him, "There's an orderly on the way with a wheelchair even though I'm not an invalid. The nanites have been doing their job surprisingly well, considering my situation."

"Her reproductive system was transplanted from a donor," Ben responded to Shultz's puzzled and concerned look. "It's not an exact match, but it was accepted by Martha's immune system using Earth medicine. Darjee technology doesn't rely on transplants and there was some confusion during her early treatments on Zephyrus shortly after our extraction. Even her age regression and enhancements are being done very slowly.

"Please, finish your lunch and your interview. The two of us aren't really adding anything to the subject anyway. If Martha is true to form, then it will be a while before the baby is delivered."

The nanites blocked the majority of the pain of childbirth and assisted during the delivery by expediting the reconfiguration of the birth canal from a tight playground to a wide-open baby-factory discharge chute. Martha gave birth to Lynden Oscar Grayson in less than an hour from the first contraction.

The infant clearly had some black ancestry which supported the claim that the donor was a Bahamian native and not a tourist. Martha would respect the privacy of the young woman whose tragic death was her salvation. Oscar may never have the chance to visit the Bahamas, but he would know all about the history of the islands.

"But, I've never felt so fit and energetic after a delivery," Martha argued.

"Your staff will just have to muddle along without you!" Ben insisted. "You've chosen them well. We need to spend the next couple of weeks bonding with our son," he held up a hand to forestall her objections, "without distractions, thank you very much!"

It's a rare person who'll deny favors to a top admiral, especially one who is celebrating the birth of a son. Before the sun went down over the western ocean Kim and Sara were enrolled in the next session at the academy and would spend the interim riding to Ammit and back as crew of Stagecoach transports. These were totally automated craft, but as fully functional starships the Confederacy also required that a qualified pilot be onboard.

The AIs had reservations about turning two starships, not matter how small, over to midshipman-level volunteers, but both girls were qualified shuttle and lighter pilots, as well as novice astral navigators. The AI agreed, with the caveat that the vessels be inhibited from leaving the Azaharat planetary system. They couldn't get totally lost or into serious trouble if they remained within a light-hour of Azahar.

The girls were really pleased that they didn't have to sit around working on their tans and waiting for school to start. Even though they had been sexually awakened, sex wasn't the only thought that they had when boys were around. They flew over to the beach and were impressed by the surfers, but not enough to jump onto the first dick that emerged from the waves like some of the other girls.

While the two girls had been off-world on William Penn, the colonization ship Daniel Boone was launched, loaded, and sent off to the next charted world on Azahar's list to colonize. The Kilo-class transport Cassio would probably launch before the term started, but they couldn't be much more than gofers for Commander Milford if they wanted to be part of the shakedown crew of that monster ship.

Sara waited a few days before taking one of the small freighters to Ammit. She wanted to spend some time with her mom before she left again on William Penn. The mission would take much longer than the wait for the next academy class. It seemed a bit silly that they wanted to spend time together since they had been on top of each other, literally in some cases, during the mission to Dargo, but this would be the first time that the two of them would be apart for any length of time, and they were missing each other before The Penn was loaded for departure.

Sara would be turning fifteen before Lesa returned. It would be the first of Sara's birthdays that Lesa would miss and that fact alone left both of them emotionally fragile for weeks after William Penn's departure.

The Stagecoach duty assignments gave the two teens experience and confidence with communications protocols and procedures. The short hops between Ammit and Azahar weren't long enough for even a fourteen-year-old to get seriously bored, but being alone in a starship did give each of them flights of fancy during the weeks that they relieved the regular crew members. Being in command of a starship — even one as small and limited in capability as a Stagecoach — would also look good on their résumés.

The time they had while alone in transit gave them ample opportunity to investigate and learn to appreciate some of the great pioneers in science, medicine, and technology from the little ship's sleep trainer and library. They were both a bit dismayed to learn that the major advances in all three of these disciplines usually occurred during times of war. The bigger the war, the greater the leap forward.

Giving up piloting the Stagecoaches in order to return to school was a bit of a letdown. On the brighter side, they would be working shoulder to shoulder with Jason Lawrence who appeared to have matured a good bit since they last saw him.

Kim in particular was disappointed that Bobby Wallace had opted to join the Marines instead of continuing his education. She knew that Sara would share Arliss, and she was sure she could talk Jason into scratching her itch with his downsized equipment — now that he was no longer Sasha's favorite project — but she wanted something a bit more stable, something like the controlled chaos of her dad's home.

They had heard some interesting stories about Jason from his little sister. Sara knew from firsthand experience that little sisters could remember what they wanted to remember. Jason was being very charming and helpful with them even though they had kept all of their clothes on. This gave credibility to Shelly's stories of his prowess and maturity as far as Sara was concerned. Shelly actually liked her big brother now that he'd moved out and was no longer underfoot.

Jason's concubines, Angela and Donna, were both pregnant, and Kim began hoping that Jason would need some physical consoling when they became too big for sex. She was sure that he would have other outlets for his excess spermatozoa, but she was also confident that she could qualify as a member of his sex-circle.

Kim knew that Jason would just be a diversion. After all, he was going to be a platoon leader when he graduated, and she would be aboard a colonization transport. If he remained on Azahar with the 504^th, then she may only get the chance to see him once a year.

She was being pressured to sponsor a concubine, but didn't want the responsibility or commitment needed to successfully run a household. She knew that responsibility and commitment were the very lessons that those pressuring her to take on a pair of concubines wanted her to learn.

She really wanted someone like her dad to be in charge of her dependents, not another kid her own age. Decurion Cohen promised to let her know if a mature male became available. She really didn't want to be saddled with females until she had her male concubine picked out. She was resolved to hold out until she got what she wanted. This attitude was not new territory to Kim, as her father well knew.

Lesa Crews and Jake Caulfield were lying naked on the floor of his study quietly talking about her upcoming mission on William Penn after an impromptu session of gentle sex. While both knew they were drifting apart, they still loved and respected each other.

"I'm considered bringing Sven on the mission, but I don't think he'll learn much or contribute more than a hard dick." She giggled as she fondled Jake's soft, messy member. "He has a bit more stamina than most, but I'm not sure that there'll be enough pussy available onboard to keep him occupied."

Jake chuckled and rolled on top of Lesa. "You are an insatiable bitch," he whispered before biting her neck where it joined her shoulder and began tickling his pinned prey's ribs. Lesa was laughing and squirming under Jake and attempting to push him off until she felt his glans push its way through her slick folds and return to her recently vacated vagina.