Chapter 4: Advances in Medicine

The day after the call from Admiral Himmel, it seemed like everyone had decided to gather in the recreation room. Most of us were watching the children of the colony at play although the male concubines had taken over two of the bowling lanes for an impromptu tournament. James had established himself in one chair and was having each of his concubines lay on a lounge next to him so he could massage and caress us. It was public so he was limiting where his hands went, but no one complained with the exception of Tiffany who tried and failed to convince him that she deserved similar treatment.

It was my second turn under James' loving and tender hands. He was doing a masterful job of coaxing the tired muscles of my back into relaxing. My eyes were half closed as I watched the door to the room and thought of just how I could return this gift to my master when Donna walked in and waved to someone. I shifted my head slightly to see Yvette wave back.

Yvette then turned and shouted to Philipe. Her former husband turned and offered her a formal bow. Then he grabbed Tom and led him from the room. As he passed through the door, Yvette walked over to whisper something to Donna as Shawna joined them. The three seemed to be intently watching the entrance to the room.

I was wondering what they might be waiting for when the three Mikes appeared in the doorway. Mickey and Michelle both looked a little uncomfortable, which was understandable as like most of the concubines they were about eight months pregnant. Terrence quickly approached them and guided them to a nearby table.

Once they were seated James called out, without stopping his welcome massage. "Everyone, if you have a few moments. Yvette has a few things to say."

The various games and activities came to a slow halt, and conversations stopped. I could feel James' fingers continuing to seek tight muscles in my back and worked hard to quiet any moans as Yvette led Shawna and Donna to the center of the room. Once there she surveyed the room and smiled.

"It's nice to see everyone together for the first time in a while," she said. "Now our illustrious leader has graciously allowed me the glory of making this announcement."

"Yes, because we all know how much he demands our worship!" Brad shouted out. Most of the room started laughing as his concubines turned their fingers on him and tickled him until he was lying on the floor gasping for breath. While this happened, Yvette just stood and smiled.

When the room was again quiet she continued. "If we are done, I'm here to make an announcement I hope pleases all of you. Well, more to introduce it. As you can see Donna and Shawna are with me, and they have made a discovery they want to describe. Ladies."

Shawna stepped forward. The former college co-ed had the healthy look of a young woman who had just finished burning off the last vestiges of youth. Much like Donna she was wearing a surgical gown to show that she worked in the medical bay, although her gown bulged slightly displaying her pregnancy to the room. She put a hand on her belly and smiled.

"As you know, when we arrived our little band didn't really have a doctor. Yes, the medical pods can heal just about any wound that isn't instantly fatal, but general medical knowledge was limited to Bren's experience as a nurse and Michael's time as a lab technician," she began.

"When Donna and I volunteered to head the medical bay staff we independently decided that we wanted to do more than just push buttons and wait. I think we later found out that we started tasking the AI to provide the best medical training it could via the sleep trainers and virtual reality units on the same day. We've kept our progress a secret, but now we have made a discovery we want to share. Donna."

Donna stood up next to her friend and smiled as well. "It has to do with pregnancy and childbirth, which as you can imagine is important to many of our citizens." She put a hand on her own belly. I smiled, as everyone knew she was just as pregnant as Shawna despite her still flat stomach. There was a moment where her eyes turned glassy and unfocused before she looked back at the group.

"What we found out," she continued, "is that thanks to the Confed technology we have a few choices about how to deal with childbirth. We could just have a woman in labor enter a medical pod. The system would do everything and, from our research, the child would be born within the hour. It's a completely painless procedure."

Shawna stepped forward again. "But it turned out that we had other options. The next was a completely natural childbirth without using any Confed technology unless there is a problem."

I heard a groan from the crowd and we all looked. Louis' ex-wife and concubine Heather slowly stood up. "I've done natural childbirth and the labor can last hours. I'm not sure I want to do that again, even with the Confed technology backing up everything."

Donna giggled. "Neither did we. So Shawna and I investigated a bit deeper. We found that there is a solution. We had some special birthing gurneys made in the medical unit. They work similar to a medical pod, but are open, so a woman giving birth stays awake and alert. The unit can provide almost all the same support as a full medical pod."

"Almost?" someone cried out. I looked over to see Jillian shivering in Tamara's arms. "My older sister died three years ago when she went into labor with what would have been her third kid. Are you sure it's safe?"

Shawna smiled. "It's very safe. The system has the best medical monitors available. We also checked and our pre-natal checks should have eliminated all of the potential problems with giving birth. If our research is correct, a woman merely needs to lie on this table once labor starts and no more than six hours later she will give birth to a healthy baby. Her sister concubines and master can even be with her to offer support."

"Oh joy," Maggie said. "Once again I get to watch Heather show me how it's supposed to be done."

Heather giggled. "You'll probably get to go first this time, and then I'll have to prove to our master that I love him still."

Louis mock gruffed. "They never want me anymore. Every night they snuggle together and leave me alone. They even steal the blankets and leave me cold and shivering on the bed."

Heather and Maggie started hugging and kissing their master as everyone laughed. Despite the difference in their ages and the fact that both were considered the property of Louis, both visibly adored the man and did everything they could to encourage and entice him.

Donna smiled. "We just want everyone to know. You do still have the option to enter a medical pod to give birth, but we do have this new option. I know that I'm going to be on the gurney so I can hold Lindsay and Tanya's hands while I give birth."

Jacques' voice rang out. "I told you all the women tied me up, but none of you believe me. See, she doesn't even offer to have me there during the birth of our children."

Donna giggled. "Oh, but I thought you'd be standing between my legs to catch the baby as it emerged."

She held out her arms as Jacques scurried over and wrapped her up in a hug. The former photographer lifted her up and spun her around until she was giggling loudly and demanding that he set her down. The instant her feet touched the floor she pulled Jacques in for a long and loving kiss as the room erupted in applause.

"Reminds me of us," Janice whispered in my ear. "There is just so much love in the air."

I tried to stifle a giggle. James must have overheard Janice because he leaned down and whispered in my other ear. "You trying to deny it?"

I pushed my face into the pillow at the head of the lounge and pretended I had not heard him. His quiet chuckle told me that he knew exactly what I was doing and was amused. Fortunately Janice saved me.

"Nope, we wouldn't deny the truth," she said quietly. She then must have pushed James hands away because I felt her fingers teasing the last few stiff muscles in my back.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feelings my sister concubine was creating as the rest of our household excitedly discussed the announcement. It was clear that all of us liked the idea of James holding our hand while we gave birth. Tina did seem to be struggling with why she liked the idea when Bethany spoke.

"It's simple," Bethany said. "With James there holding our hand we get to share the experience. It will be a way of growing even closer to the man who fathered our babies. And I hear it's good for helping bond with your child as well. We'll honestly remember the experience."

Kitty snorted. "Yeah, six hours of screaming and swearing."

There was a gasp. "It takes that long?" Brittany asked.

For a moment there was silence. Then Marie, who was sitting at the table next to ours, spoke. "Sometimes it does, although I expect we won't have any that last too long," she said to us. We all looked over at her and she blushed. "Sorry, but I realized that none of you have experienced childbirth."

"Will it be worth it?" Tina asked. There was a tremor in her voice and her pale skin showed she was afraid of what might happen.

Marie nodded and pointed at her son who was teasing the two boys belonging to Tyson's concubines. "I will never regret what I went through to bring Ralph into the world. My only regret was not paying more attention to my parents who warned me that his father would abandon me if I got pregnant."

Tina was shaking her head. "I know how that works. I had two men insist that I get abortions when I told them I had got pregnant. My heart fell when I exited the medical pod my first night on the Wisp and the attendant told me I was pregnant."

Bethany laughed. "You came back to the pod crushed. And instead of being thrown out we toasted you."

I had to giggle. "And that night we learned that our prim and proper teacher..." I let my last words slowly fade away.

Bethany blushed. I noticed that both Marie and Esther were now looking at my sister concubine. Finally she sighed and shook her head. "I see the little one can be evil when she wants to. She's hinting that I discovered that if I have a strong emotional attachment to my lovers I'm rather vocal about what I want."

Chapter 5 »