Chapter 9: Commanding Janice

At dinner in the Admiral's stateroom on the Imperial Voyager, Henry was very quiet. When Janice commented on this, he said he was thinking; she would have been surprised to learn that his thoughts included the whipping of the young woman he had watched earlier, and that Janice was substituted for the victim in his thoughts.

After the meal he and Janice retired to the master bedroom, where Henry found that all his luggage had been unpacked and his clothes hung neatly in his wardrobe. During the meal, Henry had sensed that there was something untoward in the manner of the men serving it. It seemed that they disapproved of Janice eating with her husband; indeed until a direct order was given the table was laid for only one person.

In the bedroom, looking at his clothes, he could have sworn they had all been freshly pressed also. Oddly, none of Janice's things were there. When Henry asked the eunuch about this he was surprised by the answer.

"I was waiting to be told which room will be used by this woman, Master."

"Oh, I see, well the one next to this, I suppose," he replied.

"Why are you sending me away?" she asked.

Patiently, he replied, "I'm not. We have eight rooms, so you may as well have one as your own room; in any case there is no dressing table in here. It makes no difference which room you have your things in; you can still sleep in either bed, as you please. If I have a night watch you won't want me waking you, now will you?"

"Captains, don't do night watches; especially Captains who are Admirals," she said suspiciously.

"This one does. Don't let the title fool you. I am skipper of this vessel and responsible for her day and night. I'll do some night watches in my turn."

"Nobody has unpacked my clothes," she complained, "And worse, I can't find them to unpack for myself."

Turning to the eunuch, Henry asked, "Where are her things?"

"All that is needful has been unpacked, Master," was the reply.

"Only my make-up and so forth. No clothes," wailed Janice.

"Where are her clothes?" asked Henry, imagining her naked and waiting for him, as the entertainments females had been.

"Stored, Master, ready for the next time she leaves the ship. Surely she will not require clothes while she is on board?"

Henry turned to his wife and said, gently, "I'll see that everything you need is fetched. It is a cultural difference that we have here. In this country the women never leave their quarters and so need no outdoor clothes. Indoors, in these temperatures, clothes are just a nuisance anyway."

Janice stared at him, thinking, 'I wonder if he has related that custom to his daughter's present situation?'

"Since you have no other concubines, will you require one or more of the ship's hostesses tonight, sir?" asked the eunuch.

"What do you mean?" demanded Janice.

The eunuch ignored her, as he always would any woman if there was a man in the room.

"Be quiet, dear," said Henry, "I'll deal with it."

"I will not be quiet. What did he mean, and why does he not answer me?" Janice's anger was evident now.

"Sit down," said Henry firmly.

Janice ignored him and continued to stare at the eunuch. Henry held out his hand and was given the eunuch's whip.

"Janice, you may have thought that this was a little bit of ceremonial uniform, but it isn't, and I will use it on you if you don't start obeying me pretty quickly. Now, sit down!"

Janice sat down rather suddenly as it dawned on her that her husband had just threatened to whip her. After a moment she put her head in her hands and wept.

"I shan't need anyone tonight. I've already arranged for Qubilah to visit me tomorrow," said Henry to the eunuch, "but I'll hang on to this for the moment."

The eunuch bowed and went to tell the concubines he had lined up that they were not required.

"Henry, what do you mean, you have arranged for a concubine to visit you?"

"Janice, just shut up. Everyone here has concubines, and I shall have to follow suit."

Janice stared at him for a moment before fleeing to her own room. She was somewhat mollified when her clothes appeared and the eunuch who brought them carefully unpacked them.

Two hours later the 'phone rang in her bedroom.

Answering it she said, "Yes?" rather timidly.

"You can come to bed now, dear," said Henry.

"Use a concubine," she snapped.

There was steel in his voice which she had never heard before when he said, "Now," and rang off before she could reply.

Warily she went next door into his bedroom.

"Undress and get on the bed," said Henry, who was beginning to enjoy the new status of Kobekistani male.

"Henry," she whined, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I am in charge here and you do as you are told. Now strip and be quick about it."

She went over to him and stroked his face, "Darling, please don't be like this."

Henry pulled her over his knee and gave her a resounding slap on the arse, quickly followed by another on the other cheek.