Chapter 7: Re-Attachment

Of course, I came to seeing the lid of a medtube sliding back. I sat up, buck nekkid, to a group of people standing around watching like they had never seen a medtube open before. Four of them hadn’t.

Ruth and Yoo Jin were there, of course, as were several high-ranking Navy Intelligence officers, the Marine squad leader that had given me the pistol, and, most embarrassingly, Frank, Anne, and Obie Henderson, and standing behind them, wringing her hands, Consuela their housekeeper.

“Uh, folks, I don’t mind being naked,” I said, “but unless you’ve paid the barker his nickel, you probably don’t want to see this peep show.”

The group laughed and Anne blushed, and Connie scowled and they both looked away. I hopped out of the tube and swayed a little. Ruth and Yoo Jin rushed to support me, but after a moment I waved my arms for them to step back. Ruth handed me some pants and I pulled them on.

“All better now,” I announced, and Anne turned and quickly stepped over and gave me a hug.

“Thanks for walking into that lion’s den, Richard. Thank you for getting me and Obie out of there.”

I hugged Anne back and, I must admit, gave her ass a squeeze. I had wanted to do that ever since Frank introduced me to Anne. I figured that I’d never get another free pass. I felt her buttock tighten under my hand, and figured that I’d get a deserved slap, but when she pulled back, I saw a twinkle in her eye. Hmmmm. Anne was adjusting to Confederacy life quickly.

Connie stepped forward, “You saved little Obadiah and Mrs. Anne,” she said, “For this I must thank you.” The way she was scowling, it looked like that ‘thank you’ had needed a crowbar to get out. I assured her that I was also devoted to ‘The Doctor’ and his family, and that her gratitude meant much to me. She seemed fractionally less hostile.

“So,” I asked the crowd, “How long this time?”

Two days,” Eddie’s voice announced from the ceiling, “You were in sad shape, Steward. It’s a good thing you have steadfast partners watching out for you, performing their fiduciary duty while you...”

“Sir,” Alfred’s voice interrupted, “You have thirty-seven messages from Earth’at command, two-hundred and seventy-nine messages from various personnel that were involved in various ways with this operation, and my own hearty congratulations on a job well done.”

“Watch it, Skin-boy,” Eddie’s voice snapped back, “Interrupt me again, and you’ll wind up the voice interface to a Gadrung sanitary facility.”

“Guys!” I yelled over the din, “Humans need to talk, here. Please, take it outside.”

The Navy officers congratulated me on the successful completion of the operation to retrieve Obadiah Henderson. Their project to validate their computer models progressed. The most senior officer let me know that they were sending out feelers to Reverend Powers to find out if he still wanted to be extracted, or if the shoot-out had spooked him off.

The Marine gave me an ‘attaboy’ for getting the hostages released, then rode my ass for several embarrassing minutes about dumb-ass NavInt desk jockeys playing James Bond that were too cool to take a few minutes to put on protective gear. “Nevertheless, that was a nice job, taking out three guys with two of them getting off shots, Shithead.” Once he moved away, I saw Yoo Jin staring at me with her right eyebrow raised. She mouthed “Later.” I shuddered.

I turned to the little family, “Frank, is everything okay?”

Frank smiled, a little wistfully, “Yeah, Bubba, everything is ... okay. Of course, we’re high-profile targets now for Earth First, so we can’t go back. We’re just going to have to figure out how to live,” He glanced around himself at the small room, “in this environment.”

I took his shoulders in my hands. “Frank, I’d like you to consider locating on Demeter. You could be guests of Clan Steward until you decide how and where you fit in. You know Ruth and Yoo Jin now. You would love the rest of the family.”

I turned to Anne. “People haven’t figured out just what the Confederacy is. But I know at least part of the answer. The Confederacy is family. Right now, it’s a loud, rambunctious, often profane family, but I have never seen a group that is more committed to birthing and rearing children. There is no abortion, because the nanites prevent fertilization of defective cells. There are no unwanted children because we are fleeing genocidal destruction and are desperately trying to populate hundreds of planets and moons. The most blasphemous, fornicating Confederacy Marine is so pro-life and so pro-family, that they would make a member of the Moral Majority wet themselves.”

“I’m not saying there won’t be adjustments, but I think that you would find a place that would make you very happy.” I held up a hand to stop her from replying. “Don’t try to answer now. Just think about it for a couple of days.”

Anne’s eyes were wet as she pulled me into a powerful hug. She stepped back to stand by Frank.

I looked down at Obadiah. “And you, young sir. Have you met Ruth and Yoo Jin? Still think they are slaves?”

Obadiah looked sideways at Yoo Jin and blushed extravagantly. I could tell he was at the beginning of a ferocious crush. “But they aren’t concubines, Steward. They told me they are sponsors.”

I nodded. “Just like you will be, when you feel you are ready.” Anne started to turn to Frank to object, but Frank shushed her. “Have you CAP tested yet?” I asked Obadiah.

“Yes, sir. I scored a 9.1.”

“God help you,” I said. “You be sure to get lots of good advice from your parents and from Ruth and Yoo Jin about picking out your concubines. And some advice from me: don’t try to pick all eight at once.” I looked down at this skinny little kid. “That could be a disaster.”

Everything was kind of like the heroic end to a Space Opera movie. You could almost hear the majestic music swell and the credits start to roll when Eddie’s voice piped up, “Bubba? He called you Bubba? Oh, I have GOT to hear this story!”

Frank looked surprised, “You didn’t know that Richard is his middle name?” No one that had any common sense at all spoke up.

“Richard was named after his father and his grandfather who were named after the American Civil War general P. G. T. Beauregard.” Frank informed everyone there, “When he was a scrappy youngster, people called him ‘Bubba.’”

“You know, I had almost left that name back on Earth.”

“Not true,” Yoo Jin said, “You named our first son ‘Beau.’ Now we know why.”

My shoulders slumped. I was defeated. “Somebody hand me a blouse. This medical facility is drafty.”

“Sure thing, BEAUREGARD,” said Eddie.

I had been without sex for the two months of transport to Earth’at, and during the entire extraction operation. Now I was in bed with my two favorite women in the galaxy. I was lying on my back with Yoo Jin riding me cowgirl-style and Ruth holding my hands above my head. Moderately kinky; definitely fun. All was going well, I was approaching orgasm, when suddenly Yoo Jin hauled back and slapped my face. She was breathing hard and her eyes were flashing with lust and anger.

“Just what the hell did you think you were doing down there?” she demanded.

I was whipsawed. I couldn’t begin to understand what she was talking about. “Huh?” I felt my erection start to shrink.

Yoo Jin twisted her hips, sending a shiver of pleasure coursing through me. “Don’t think you’re getting away that easily!” My erection re-hardened.

“You took a foolish chance and almost left us alone!” Ruth said. Yoo Jin punctuated the remark with another slap. Ruth continued, “You went to that meeting without ANY body armor? Do you think that we are just dolls, sitting on a shelf, waiting for your return? Do you think that the decisions that you make affect you alone?”

I tried to raise my hands in defense, but Ruth had done something to trap them while Yoo Jin’s incredible body distracted me. Yoo Jin slapped me again. For some reason, it made me harder. Yoo Jin felt that and smiled evilly.

Ruth moved away from above my head and leaned up to kiss Yoo Jin. Damn! They knew that the sight of them kissing was a major turn-on to me.

Ruth turned to me and said, “We’re not concubines that wait on your pleasure. We’re equals that wait for our lover. And when you take foolish chances, it makes us think that we’re not important enough in your eyes for you to be safe and come back to us.”

She reached down and pulled up an object that I couldn’t identify. Yoo Jin said, “If Kyle were here, we would use him to punish you. Since it’s just us, we’ll have to improvise.”

While Yoo Jin was speaking, Ruth started buckling some kind of harness around her waist. My blood ran cold when I realized that it was a strap-on dildo. Somehow, I knew that they weren’t going to use it on each other.

Yoo Jin leaned over me so that her black, straight hair formed a curtain around our faces, shutting out all other visual distractions. “So, Beauregard Richard Steward the Fourth, are we going to do this the hard way?” she paused and chuckled back in her throat as she said, “Or the harder way?”

I checked both of my outer coat pockets and made sure that I had a video player in each. “Yes is right; no is left,” I repeated to myself. I knocked on the door with more confidence than I felt. After a couple of minutes, it opened, and I was face to face with Don Claudie. “Don, thanks for seeing me.”

He shrugged. “Why the hell not?” He chuckled bitterly, it’s not like seeing you could screw my life up anymore.” He stepped aside and let me in. His language surprised me. It seemed far from the steady, calm Don that I had known and worked with for three years.

I looked around the small, cluttered apartment. “So, Don, I heard about the dust-up with the Board of Regents. What are you doing now?”

“Well, not too much. I’ve had a little money put away, but it looks like Sally’s lawyers will suck that account dry. I’m too old to dig and too proud to beg. I guess I’ll see about teaching High School. They probably won’t care that my students got picked up. Ha! They would probably see it as a recommendation.”

“Don, what do you think about the Sa’arm threat? Do you think that it’s real?”

Don got a far-away look in his eyes. “I didn’t for quite a while. I thought it was another damn-fool scare raised by the government to keep people distracted from earthly problems. You remember that economist chap who wrote for the New York Times? Was a big supporter of the government? He said that the perfect solution to the government problems was a phony threat from outer space. That seemed much more likely than real aliens.”

“And now?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Now I think it’s real. Just look at you. You and I are the same age and now you look like one of next year’s freshmen.” He sighed. “I try not to think about it at all, because if it’s true, everyone and everything I know is going to be destroyed in a few years.”

“Just like your theology predicts.” I observed.

“Don’t try to compare the two,” Don snapped, “One is eschatology, the other phenomenology. I thought you were trained better than that.”

I grinned. “Don, did you ever take the CAP test?”

He scowled, “Now why would I ever do that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Curiosity?”

“Well, no, I have not. Though at the time it seemed virtuous, I see now that I made an inappropriate choice.”

I smiled and reached into my right pocket and pulled out that video player. “Don, I have a message for you.”

I set the player flat on the table and tapped the flat surface on the top. A twenty-four-inch still-life hologram of Kellie, Don’s daughter sprang up, looking almost solid. She was wearing a modest blue sundress, standing in the bright sunlight of Poseidon’at, shading her eyes as she looked at the recorder. She carried on her hip a little girl who was frozen squealing with laughter. Kellie was sixteen now and was a lovely woman. She was no longer the fractious, pig-headed little girl that Don had last seen that day two years earlier when she was picked up.

Tears sprang up in Don’s eyes as he drank in the sight of his daughter. “Thank you,” he said, his voice choked with unshed tears. “Thank you for letting me see her again.”

He took a ragged breath. “You don’t know the reason that Sally and I broke up was over Kellie and her escapades with other girls.” Don said, “I didn’t know where such behavior came from, but Sally said that it was all the fault of the father, not portraying the kind of man his little girl needed to see.” His voice choked up. “I tried so hard to be the right kind of man for her.”

Without speaking, I slid my finger along the long side of the holoprojector, and the image came to life and spoke. “Hi, Daddy! I am so glad to get this message to you!” Kellie jogged the laughing baby on her hip. “This is Annabelle, your granddaughter. She is just like you, she’s so fussy about what she thinks is right, but so happy when she is shown love.”

“Daddy, I want to ask you to come here to Demeter to see me. You wouldn’t have to stay here if you didn’t love it, but I do so want to see you and tell you how much I love you, and how sorry I am that I made your life miserable.” Kellie pouted like only Kellie could pout. “Please come, Daddy. I want Annabelle to see her grandpa!”

Don was weeping silently now, tears running swiftly down his cheeks as he held in the sobs. He fought to get the words out. “How ... how ... could I ever get to see her?”

“Come with me and take the CAP test, Don. I guarantee, no matter what you score, I will take you to Demeter and we will see Kellie together.”

Don no longer kept his sobs silent.

In the center of the room, I unrolled a transport mat.

The two sisters, Tara and Tamara, stepped out of the cold wind into the warm lobby of the Lubbock CAP testing center. They had been there months before, getting tested. Now they were there to meet someone. They stepped to the counter and spoke to the ravishingly beautiful woman there.

“Hi! Were here to meet Rickey Stacks.” Tara said.

The woman blinked. “Rickey Stacks? And who is that?”

“He’s ... I mean ... We’re...” Tamara said.

“And who are you?” the woman behind the counter asked.

“We’re Tara and Tamara Seine,” they said almost in unison.

The woman looked distracted for a moment, then smiled a devastating smile, as if the sun had come out after a rainstorm. She came out from behind the desk and led them to an alcove at the back of the lobby. “So, you are agreeing to be concubines for Rickey Stacks?” She asked.

“Yes ma’am.” They looked at each other and held hands for reassurance. “Is he meeting us here?”

The beautiful woman smirked. “He left a message that you would be by and that I should do whatever necessary to get you off-planet to meet him. Is that what you want?”

The twins blushed with excitement and nodded. “Yes ma’am, whatever is necessary.”

The devastatingly beautiful woman began undressing. “Then strip, girls. We’ll see how much you want to be Rickey’s concubines.”

Back onboard the Georgia, things were very different from my first trip in her. For one thing, I was the CEO of Clan Steward, which made me ship’s master. For another, I was Ranking Navy officer aboard, which made me ship’s captain.

“But I’m telling you, I’m not a ship, I’m a boat. Captain LeCroix said so,” demanded Eddie.

“I’m done arguing with you Eddie. Call yourself a boat. Hell, call yourself a rubber ducky and see if I care.”

“That’s a nasty way to end an argument,” Eddie complained.

“Letting you win?” I asked.

“Quitting too soon,” Eddie replied.

I turned to the girls. “How are our guests coming along in their acclimatization to their new lives?”

Ruth frowned thoughtfully, “Well, Anne seems to be eager to make the adjustment. Four days at Copernicus base, seeing sponsors and concubines ‘in the wild’ has given her a fairly good idea of what is expected of her. She’s got a 6.4 CAP score, so she’s no dummy.”

Yoo Jin nodded, “I’ll bet that if she re-tests in a year, she’ll become a sponsor. It’s Frank that is holding them back. He’s trying to ‘protect’ her from becoming a slave. He doesn’t realize that Anne is anticipating it. She’s got a real wild side that Frank just doesn’t have eyes to see. Maybe...” Her voice trailed off and she looked thoughtfully at Ruth. She spoke briskly, “Don’t worry about Anne. When the time is right, Ruth and I will handle her.”

“What about Obie?” I asked.

Surprisingly, Yoo Jin blushed. “Obie’s a different kind of problem.”

Ruth pursed her mouth as Yoo Jin spoke slowly, “Obie is such a sweet little boy, well, young man really. He’s almost the opposite of Kellie. He could really deal with the shifting of the age of majority to fourteen years old.” She sighed, “His problem is that sex has been such an overwhelming mystery to him that he has inflated its importance way out of proportion.” She grinned, “Like we all did at his age.”

I said, “He’s going to fall into complete and utter love with the first girl he has sex with?”

Yoo Jinn nodded. “I just want that person to treat him gently. He has a big, sweet, heart looking for a place to break. You know, he’s like a lot of teen-aged Marine recruits we see back on Demeter. You’d be surprised how many of them have brought along their mothers as their first concubine.”

“That would have happened to him, if Frank hadn’t had first choice,” I said, “It looks as he’s shifted his attention onto you.”

“Yes,” Yoo Jin said, “I’m going to have to have a heart-to-heart with him, letting him know that I’ve been spoken for, too.” She smiled impishly, and I pitied every other man in the galaxy.

“Yoo Jin and I are back on duty, I suppose,” said Ruth, “interviewing concubine candidates for Obie. We need to involve Anne somehow, both for Obie’s well-being and Anne’s piece of mind.”

“What about Consuela, the housekeeper?” I asked.

Ruth said, “She took her CAP test while in the medtube and scored a solid 6.0. But have you seen her domestic sub-scores?” I shook my head no. “She is like the Mozart of domesticity. I don’t think the Hendersons realized what they had in her.” Ruth shook her head in amazement, “I’m tempted to grab her for my household. But she has cared for the Hendersons for a decade and wouldn’t be happy anywhere else. Once again, Frank is the one dragging his feet.”

Yoo Jin said, “I’ve helped her specify her body modifications. You know, when she was eighteen, she was a pretty hot Latina!”

“So, how about Connie becoming Obie’s first Concubine?” I asked.

“That’s just what we’ve been thinking. She’s going to transport over when we call for her. I suggest that we prepare the Hendersons to accept her as Obie’s concubine.”

Ruth had repurposed several of Georgia’s pods. We entered the one she had converted to a dining and social area. I pulled Obie away from a wall-screen sized Sa’arm-shooting video game where he seemed to be holding his own against other players that included off-duty Marines. We all sat around a low table, eating small snacks and sweets and talking about what comes next.

“I can’t tell you how grateful we are that you let us stay aboard your ship,” said Frank.

“Boat!” interrupted Eddie.

I didn’t rise to the bait. I think being calm and quiet made Eddie mad. I was glad to do so.

“I am so glad to host you. What’s the word on Connie?”

“She’s going to be okay,” said Frank, “Her ‘spell’ was angina brought on by the stress of the last few days. I asked Alfred to talk to the AI at Copernicus base he says that she’s out of the medtube now. They started the medical nanites to work on her arteries since they had her.” He chuckled. “Connie bullied them into starting to reverse her apparent age since she had to get into the tube. She is adapting to Confederacy technology faster than I am.”

I sighed with relief. “I’ve reviewed the colony ship schedule and by great, good fortune, the ‘Northern Lights’ under the command of Captain Clarke is arriving next week. I do recommend that you board her to Demeter. She’ll take about six weeks in transit, and that will give you all the time to adjust to your new roles.”

Frank and Anne glanced at each other, and Frank cleared his throat.

“Not to impose on your hospitality, Bubba, but aren’t you headed back to Demeter? Why couldn’t we ride in the Georgia?”

It was an awkward moment. Time to lay the cards on the table.

“Frank, Anne, Don, and yes, you too, Obie. I don’t think that traveling on Georgia is what’s best.”

Frank and Don looked annoyed. Anne looked confused, and Obie sat quietly, watching how the argument that was coming would play out.

“Frank, remember how I told you about ‘making the leap’ into a new culture?”

“Well, yeah. So what?”

“You all haven’t made the leap. I really do regret having to yank you out of your lives back in Texas, but with your making the Earth First ‘Hit Parade’ and the eventual Sa’arm invasion, I didn’t know what else to do. In my haste, I imposed my desires on your destiny, and for that I do truly ask your forgiveness.”

“You guys need to make the leap and find out where and how you fit in the Confederacy. And a colony cruise is the best way that has been figured out for doing that. There will be a pool of, uh, unassigned, uh, candidates for all three of you, and, uh, you can explore, eh, some aspects of your, uh, personal natures...”

I knew I was fumbling, but it was awkward bringing up some of these subjects in mixed company that knew only Earth culture.

Ruth and Yoo Jin exchanged glances. “Sweetheart,” Yoo Jin said, “Anne and Ruth and I must have a little ‘girl talk.’ We’ll rejoin you later.”

Ruth and Yoo Jin each took one of Anne’s hands and all three started for the pod door. “That’s okay!” I called, “‘Cause we’re going to have ‘guy talk’ now.” None of the three turned around. I raised my voice. “We’re going to talk about ‘guy stuff’ and ‘guy feelings’ and girls aren’t allowed to listen!” The pod door silently closed.

“Jeeze, Steward, could you act like any bigger of a loser?” Eddie asked.

I looked at the three males and felt more relaxed.

“So, here’s what I wanted to say, guys. You have all scored high enough on your CAP test to make you sponsors. Frank, Don, you are going to have two concubines apiece.” I turned to Obie. “And you are rated for eight concubines.”

Obie blushed, his eyes bright with the thought of eight girls, who before wouldn’t have noticed the skinny kid, now his and his alone to command.

“Frank, you and Don know how difficult creating and sustaining a working domestic relationship can be. Obie, no offense, but you don’t have a clue. That’s why, if you are as smart as I know you are, you will rely on advice from as many trustworthy older people you as you can.”

“I don’t know, Bubba. Can’t Anne and I go on as before, as husband and wife?” asked Frank.

“Frank, you can and you can’t. I know that sounds like a non-answer, but it’s because your question has a false premise. Of course, you can be ‘husband and wife.’ You two are who you define yourselves to be.”