Chapter 15: Actions and Consequences

The morning before he could move back into his own pod Naveen asked the AI, "Please connect me with Josh Rawlins."

An exasperated voice appeared in Naveen's implant, "What do you want now, Naveen?"

Naveen recoiled mentally, but persevered, "I am in the meeting room near the greenhouses that Captain Collins allows us to use for our research. May I know when to expect you?"

Josh was still upset with the reprimand Naveen had given him the day before for not completing a research assignment and snapped, "I don't have time for you right now, Naveen. Sissy miscarried, and I had to take her to medical before she bled to death."

Having consoled Meghrani after three miscarriages, Naveen was very sympathetic, "Please convey my condolences to the young lady."

"Condolences? I beat the thoughtless cunt when we got back from med-bay for not taking better care of my seed," Josh replied.

A shocked and outraged Naveen mentally shouted "Disconnect!" to the AI and sat dumbfounded. When he regained some control of his emotions he went to the ship's medical facility and inquired of the technician, "There was a young lady brought in last night after a miscarriage. May I know what caused it?"

The tech checked the log, "Looks like there was a blow to the abdomen that ruptured the amniotic sac. The other injuries caused by a beating were far more serious than the miscarriage. She had cracked ribs, internal bleeding from several sources, a broken wrist, and severe contusions and lacerations on her arms, back and legs."

Naveen appealed to the AI and the captain on behalf of Josh's concubines. He tried in vain to take some kind of action. Not even Meghrani's attempts at comforting him mitigated his anger and frustration. She finally suggested, "If you cannot enter through the door, then try a window, my love."

Naveen gave her a puzzled look; then a wry smile took its place before he kissed her soundly. "Thank you, my smart and lovely companion."

Josh's performance had dropped below "that of an oversexed undergraduate student" as Naveen had phrased it on several occasions. He formally asked the captain that Rawlins be removed from his team and given another assignment. Naveen cited documented incidents of poor performance and negligence of duties by Rawlins as justification for his request. "I do not know what motivates him and have neither the time nor the patience to find out," Naveen pled his case with the captain. "Perhaps if he's given training as a combat marine he can better serve the Confederacy. Undoubtedly someone like Sergeant Budzinski can do a much better job of motivating him."

Rawlins was retested as part of the assessment process and scored a 4.7, which remanded him to the concubine pool. Rawlins attacked Naveen when the two encountered each other in a companionway as Rawlins was being escorted from the hearing to confinement. The Marine escort shot Rawlins with their stingers even though Naveen had quickly subdued the man with a solid blow to the solar plexus. With no Civil Service presence on Azahar and the AI's projection of a poor outlook for rehabilitation, Captain Collins ordered him recycled and his concubines transferred to Professor Avalareddy.

The AI objected to the transfer, but Collins threatened, "Don't make me pull a Hurst Castle on you."

Rather than risk being disconnected from the ship's systems and possibly being spaced for mutiny, the AI replied, "Transfer noted." The drastic lengths that Captain Murphy of Hurst Castle seemed prepared to employ to prevent the recycling of concubines belonging to casualties aboard his ship was clearly being shared among the AI population.

Naveen asked the Marines who delivered the pair of battered women to his pod, "What am I supposed to do with them?"

The smiles on the Marines' faces spoke volumes, but Naveen knew he was doomed when Meghrani entered the foyer and took charge of the bruised, burned, and bloodied girls. "These children require medical attention! Why did you brutes not take them to the medical facility before bringing them here? Oh, never mind. I will take them myself. A great deal of comforting will be needed before they are again subjected to a male's attentions. Step out of our way, ruffians! I should think that at least one of you would have been taught manners by your mother!"

Naveen flinched, expecting Meghrani to be shot where she stood. He was very relieved when one the chuckling Marines stepped out of her way, smacked the other in the arm and bowed gallantly. "She must be talking about you, Richards," he told his equally amused buddy. "I still say 'yes, ma'am' to my mom."

Naveen was interrupted by the AI about twenty minutes after Meghrani had headed out with the two pitiful looking concubines. "The concubine Meghrani is requesting authorization for cosmetic changes as well as medical treatment for your new acquisitions."

While he was curious about what Meghrani wanted, and why, he didn't have the energy to enquire. "Whatever she thinks is best for them is fine with me."

"Acknowledged," was the only reply from the AI.

Meghrani returned in about an hour, "It will be this time tomorrow before Sissy and Carrie will be allowed to come home. They had some serious internal injuries."

"What cosmetic changes did you order?" Naveen asked.

"Just undoing some things that a truly evil man did to them," Meghrani replied.

Meghrani met Naveen at the entry of their pod the next evening with a martini and a serious expression when he returned from his daily routine of examining plants and researching their potential. It was the first time in two weeks that they had been in their original spacious accommodations. He had missed the pod even though it had only been his residence for six weeks. He had expected Meghrani to be pleased, not pensive.

"What troubles you, my love?" Naveen asked as he accepted the delicate glass.

"That evil beast filled our new girls with terrible lies about you. They blame you for the way they were treated." Meghrani was clearly distraught as she spoke.

Naveen calmed himself with a sip of the potent mixture in his hand before asking, "What can be done?"

Meghrani was all but wringing her hands with anxiety. "I am not knowing with certainty. Perhaps time in a loving household can reverse some of the evil done to those poor creatures. I have given them a room to share upstairs and asked Madeline to move in next to them. Perhaps she can succeed where I have failed in convincing them that you are a fine and honorable man who abhorred the way they were being treated enough to take action on their behalf. Have I done the right thing, husband?"

Naveen smiled as Meghrani slipped into her old mode of address. He didn't call her on it because she was clearly distressed enough as it was. "I can think of no better way to help them recover." He put his drink down and gathered Meghrani into his arms. "Do you think it would help or hurt for them to hear your cries of joy as I bring you to climax?"

Meghrani pulled back, "You can think of sex at a time like this!" When she saw the thinly veiled smile that always accompanied his teasing her, she relaxed into his comforting arms. "Perhaps I am wrong, and they are right. There just might be an evil man lurking behind your smiling lips and sparkling eyes."

The newest Avalareddy concubines weren't the only concubines in medical. Marvin sent Sasha for a checkup a few days after they had move back into their own quarters. Marvin kept her close for a few days afterward teasing her about spoiling her fun by getting her pregnant.

"The truth is," Sasha admitted while examining the deck between her feet. "I'm envious of Julie Ann. She glows with joy at being pregnant with your child." Sasha forced herself to look at Marvin. "I'd be more than happy to give up my fun if you let me get pregnant."

"Who do you want as the father?" Marvin asked intending to tease her. "I could get..."

Sasha interrupted him with, "You! I want you to be my baby's father, if that's okay. But I'll lie with anyone you say, whenever you say. Would you rather someone else... ?"

"No," Marvin interrupted her gently. "Let's go make a baby."

Sasha's entire face lit up as she attached herself to Marvin as though she were a drowning person. Marvin kissed her gently and swept her up in his strong arm for the short trip to the bed where they took their time undressing each other.

Sasha was usually in a hurry and liked it rough and fast. Marvin was uncharacteristically gentle with Sasha as he parted her legs and slowly pressed his length into the emotionally charged girl. She was still in tears thirty minutes later after the gentlest sex she had ever experienced.

"Making love isn't nearly as boring as I thought it would be," Sasha remarked as she snuggled up against Marvin and fell asleep.