Chapter 40

When Sarah’s Clan entered their compartment, the babies were bouncing with joy when they saw them. They tried to sit up, waving their arms for attention. As a mother picked one up, she hugged them then quickly placed them at a nipple, as she could feel their hunger and desire to suckle. As they nursed, they discussed how they could do everything they needed to do with the ship’s crew, and still take care of the babies, and get the exercise they needed to stay fit. By the time they had fed the babies, exercised, and freshened up, it was time for lunch. They found the brief time with the babies, while they were nursing, to be very satisfying. Rusty, Maeve, and Aoife shared in the emotional satisfaction their spouses felt from their contact with the babies.

At lunch, the room bubbled with excitement. The new crew members and crew candidates were vocally very enthused with the learning modules and their work areas. Most had successfully completed preliminary familiarization of their department’s responsibilities. They were amazed by how much their telepathic interaction with the training system accelerated the learning pace. After lunch they would begin learning to use their new skills. They quickly ate their meals with their group then split up to return to work.

After lunch, Cathan came up to Sarah’s Clan with a big grin. “Did you plan that?”

“What?” they responded smiling.

“You gave us a wonderful presentation about your background, the ship, and our options, along with a pep talk this morning about becoming crew members, without mentioning it. Then, at lunch, we have to eat in a room full of the unbridled enthusiasm by the new crew members.”

They looked at one another, then back at Cathan. “We really didn’t plan to do that. Do you really think it worked to our benefit?” they asked with grin.

“Yes, and I sense you did not plan it. Would you be surprised if everyone wants to stay?” As she was speaking, Maureen and Siobhan joined them.

“Yes, we would.”

“Based on what I learnt this morning, a month ago there were less than a 100 people here. Adding the new crew members you invited to the resort put you well over 400. If you add all of those from the freighter, it pushes the total to somewhere above 800. How can you handle the sudden influx of people?”

“We will know in several months,” replied Joyce. Several laughed. “Cathan, we had a plan for adding crew members which started with meeting groups of around a 100 a week at the resort over several weeks. That quickly changed as you’ve probably heard. The plan was to do it again once those became comfortable being here, but now it looks like we will need to modify it.”

“I liked the way you laid out what needs to be considered before returning to Earth.” Just then, her communicator chimed. She said, “Oh, good. It’s time for my health evaluation. Again, thank you for rescuing us. This is the first good thing that has happened to me in like ... forever ... well maybe not that long, but a long time.” With that, she hurried off, looking at the directions on the communicator screen.

“You know, I think she has decided join us,” said Maeve. “I can’t fault her for how she handled the events that happened to her. I do wish it had not been me they tortured. I hope I never feel that level of pain again, and even that will be too soon.” They all reached out and hugged her. Together, they shared with her the love they felt for her. Her eyes filled with tears of happiness as she basked in their love. She was amazed that she could feel this close to anyone, much less a group, in such a short time.

“The rapidity of feeling so close to us is due, in large part, to our mental connection,” they shared with her. “Every minute of every day we learn more about each other, and how we fit together, just as we learn about this new world around us. Each day we feel closer than we did the day before. It is subtle but different.”

“Let’s go roam the ship, and see how things are going.” They spent the rest of the day doing just that. Part of the time they were all together, but, mostly, they did it in small, shifting, groups. Everyone was pleased to see them. Each group took time to show them something they had learned. They found quite a few of their guests in different parts of the ship, observing and, in some cases, assisting where they could.

Sarah’s Clan returned to their quarters late in the afternoon, to find their babies waiting for them. They played with them and then fed them. The nannies assisted with the babies in any way they could. The babies watched them as they exercised while letting down the remainder of their milk. Several mimicked their mother’s actions on the exercise bench.

Some of the nannies had helped to care for their sisters and brothers before going to college. That experience was one of the reasons they chose to major in child-care. With just the eight babies to care for, they had plenty of time to spend with them. They were delighted with the way the babies reacted to each of the women in Sarah’s Clan. Even though the person holding them might not be their birth mother, there wasn’t any difference in their response to them. They even responded to Maeve and Aoife in the same way. They had noticed it before, but as the babies were now over four months old, it was much more obvious. The recent addition of Aoife and Maeve accentuated it.

The nannies felt that finding this position was the best thing to happen to them. If each were asked why, their answers would be quite similar but unique. All of them felt it was a dream come true. Several, from time to time, had thought about their future and whether it was with these people. Each had skirted the question, since they knew they could stay after their contract ended. Karen had thought about asking, but so much had happened recently that she was hesitant. She had seen and felt the stress, anxiety even, in the clan, as they had responded to each crisis over the last few weeks or so. Besides, their contracts had more than a year left, so it wasn’t urgent, and there was an option for extending them. Still, she didn’t like the uncertainty, since she and the others had realized some time ago that they loved the children as if they were their own. Karen was shocked, as she suddenly realized this was now HER family and she was certain the others felt the same way.

By the time their exercises and showers were finished, it was time to go down to dinner. Tonight the babies were still wide awake. Alison said to the nannies, “Would you like to come down to dinner with us and bring the babies?”

“Yes,” they replied with big smiles. The babies kept them occupied, so they hadn’t met many of the crew since moving to the ship. They quickly gathered the items they would need.

“While everyone is here, could we ask you a question?” asked Karen, cautiously as they were about to leave. “Your babies are so easy to take care of, we aren’t sure that we shouldn’t be paying you for the privilege. But, sometimes, it is difficult for us to take care of them adequately. We are a little concerned about being able to take care of all the new babies. Over the next few months there will be a lot more babies born. Even though there are eighteen of us, we aren’t sure we can give them all the care we feel is necessary.” There were small tears in the corner of her eyes, as she felt as if she was failing in her duties to HER family.

A spouse took each one of the nannies in their arms to give them a comforting hug. “Don’t worry, we are sure you will have additional help. Remember though, they will be here to assist YOU, and some will be bots. As for now, we think you all are doing great. We’re very pleased we found you.” Each then gave the nannies another hug and kiss. The babies smiled and clapped their hands, as though they agreed. The whole interaction seemed to lift a weight off of Karen and her fellow nanny’s shoulders. They beamed at the compliments, both verbal and mental, that they received.

“There is more worrying you, isn’t there?” inquired Joyce, as she looked at each of the nannies. Karen barely nodded her head, as a look of uncertainty appeared on all their faces. Joyce and Judy looked from one to the other, as the rest of the family waited for a response.

Karen took a deep breath, as she wondered how she became the spokesperson. “We are very attached to your children, and expect it will be the same when the new babies arrive. It is a long time off, but what happens when our contracts are up?”

“What do you want to happen?” asked Joyce.

Karen looked at each of the others, and then said, “We want to stay ... like forever. I just realized it a few minutes ago, but you all are now my family. This is now my home.” The other nannies nodded in agreement, with a mixture of happiness and concern on their faces.

“Why would you think that would be a problem?”

“We don’t think we fit the criteria to be crew members.”

“Why is that?” asked Sarah, with concern clearly evident in her voice and expression.

“Well, for many reasons. We aren’t science or technology nerds, and don’t have a lot of the attributes they have. Everyone we have seen is very beautiful.”

“Bullshit,” said Sally, shocking everyone. “You have some very important attributes. The babies will attest to those. All of you also have the ability to be a crew member.” The nannies had a puzzled look on their faces. “All of you are telepathic. Each of you has used it to some extent with the babies, just not with the adults. And lastly, when was the last time you really looked in the mirror?”

“We think you are as beautiful as anyone else on the crew,” said the clan together.

“So, if you want to be crew members, it is your choice,” continued the clan, in harmony. The nannies whooped with joy. “Whatever you do, you are part of our family, and always will be.”

“Your comment raises a point we may have overlooked,” said Judy. “I don’t remember seeing any record of you taking a physical when you came up to the ship. So you need to do that tomorrow. Okay? While you are there, you also need to fully enable your telepathic abilities.”

“We will,” replied Karen. The nannies’ faces beamed with their happiness, as they picked up the other items and left for dinner.

They were a bit surprised, when they arrived in the dining area, to find only a few of the crew there. But that quickly changed, as the rest began to stream in behind them. Once the babies were noticed, they became the center of attention as crew members took turns holding them. Several women from the freighter came close, and watched the interaction with the babies from a distance.

A chime sounded, indicating that the buffet tables were ready. With that, they began going through the serving lines. In every case, where someone was holding a baby, a fellow crew member prepared them a plate, along with their own. The babies were well looked after by the crew members, with the nannies carefully watching the way each of their charges were treated.

Sarah’s and Amy’s Clan split up into pairs, and ate with as many refugees from the freighter as possible. As they began to eat, the conversation was a bit strained, and mostly faltering. Efforts by the two clans to stimulate a dialog only received simple responses in return. This puzzled them, as the responses and body language earlier had been much different, now it seemed to be driven by cautiousness.

“Do any of you sense a problem?” Sally asked hers and Amy’s fellow spouses.

“No. But, for some reason all of them now seem very shy or introverted. Star, what do you sense? We don’t want to telepathically probe without asking, as there doesn’t appear to be a threat.”

“Quickly scanning the conversations from today, I agree with your assessment about a threat. Most of them helped in many of the areas, and were quick to assist where they could. Maybe they are having trouble believing their good fortune.”

“Let me try something,” said Joyce. She looked around the table at those seated with her, and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, it appears we are making you uncomfortable, so we will move to another table, with our apologies.” With that, she rose with Claudette, and began gathering their things prior to moving. The people next to them placed their hands over theirs, stopping their movement. Joyce looked down at the hand, and then at their faces. She was surprised to see sadness and tears in their eyes.

“Please stay,” several whispered. Then, quietly, another said, “We are honored by your company, but feel unworthy of it, or even being here in your presence.” A tear ran down the cheeks of several of them.

Joyce and Claudette sat down. They now felt the distress of those at the table. Their spouses sensed their experience.

“I suspect, they are feeling survivor’s guilt, or something similar,” said Judy.

Everyone could see their dinner partners relax, once they were again seated. With that, they began to eat again quietly, waiting for someone else to break the conversational impasse.

Everyone had nearly finished eating, when the young woman sitting across from Joyce cleared her throat and began to speak. Her voice, while not loud, carried through the room, as dinner had been unusually quiet. “You deserve an answer, but I can only speak for myself. My name is Edana. When I was in high school, I was shunned, because I was tall, skinny and smart. Smart was probably the most critical attribute. I found it easier to limit my contact with other students, except for those whose abilities were similar to mine. During high school, I grew to be the tallest in the class and filled out. It was difficult to go unnoticed when I stood over six feet tall, with all the physical attributes boys like to see. Now, besides being taunted for being bright, the jocks took to groping me at every opportunity. My small group of friends grew smaller. In girls’ gym class, some of the girls would make passes at me, or grope me causing me to blush. In short, I was glad to graduate.

“College was better, because I did find some kindred spirits, both female and male. It didn’t take us too long to form a special group. Our group of six grew very close through college, and shared many occasions together. Each of us, with time, explored a physical relationship with others in the group. Surprisingly, everyone was comfortable with it, and we were all very definitely bi, well, maybe not the guy. As a graduation present to ourselves, we decided to take a vacation. We found a bargain world cruise, even so it took almost all of our money. The cruise ship was wonderful. We had spent several days at sea and visited one port. We were having a grand time, until one morning, when the nightmare began.” Tears rolled down her eyes as she talked. The two next to her put their arms around her shoulders, pulling her close to them. Their eyes filled with tears, as they felt her sadness.

“We woke up where you found us. All of us were in separate cages and naked. My friends were nearby along with many others from the cruise ship.” She told of her experiences on the freighter then said, “Now, nearly every night I relive seeing one of my friends taken from their cage and never return. The only common thread is that each was picked by a visitor shortly before leaving. I wondered about that until I was picked. Two of us were taken up to a suite where we were used for two days before being returned to our cages. There were several times I prayed to God, begging him to let me die. The brutality there made the dungeon videos seem like kindergarten stuff. After that I tried to look unappealing whenever visitors came through. On the way back to my cage, I saw them putting one of us in a crate. That was the first indication I had that those disappearing could be leaving the ship rather than being murdered. After that I tried to perform well enough to be acceptable but not draw any attention.

“So now I feel a mixture of confusing emotions. Why me? What happened to my friends? Could we have avoided this? What now? If I go back to Earth, what happens when someone recognizes me in those videos? With my big rack, puffy sensitive nipples and dripping labia, I am not sure I can wear clothes. There are only a few places you can work with those attributes, and they are too similar to the activities on the freighter. I have to admit that making some of the videos was enjoyable, well more than a few. Others were terrible, but nothing like my time in the suite. It is so hard to consider choices after what’s happened.”