Chapter 6 – A Scared Woman in a New Home

The next morning I awoke to the sounds of someone crying. I sat up quickly to find Nadia kneeling on the floor, covering her face with her hands. I knelt next to her and put an arm over her back. "What's wrong?"

Nadia sniffled. "I'm just so happy. I never expected this. I thought…."

Nadia trailed off for a moment and then Theresa sat up. I could hear the smile in her voice. "You thought that being a concubine meant being used for sex and then treated like a servant, and you found something different."

Nadia nodded. "Some of the women in the barracks have had more than one owner. Usually they've been traded in a couple times. Many of them have horror stories about men with impossibly large cocks and little tenderness. I remember one time I managed to sneak a peek at George after his enhancements. His was like a beer can with how large around it got when hard. None of the other girls could take it more than once a night."

I looked down and suddenly felt a bit inadequate. Theresa surprised me by laughing. "Oh, the old super Bud cock. Yeah, I've seen them. Half the men on the Park had that adjustment, and loved to show them off by forcing their concubines to blow them just when Martha or I were visiting Jon and Traci. I thought it rather pathetic."

"Didn't you want to try something that big?" I asked. "I've always heard that woman really get off on a big cock."

Theresa laughed. "Never! David, those men had all the tenderness of a personal injury lawyer. Sometimes, I'd hear one of the concubines really get into having sex with their man, but it wasn't often. Traci told me that most of the women were rather miserable when their man was about to show up. They were okay if they knew he was on duty, because they knew he wasn't going to stop by, but few looked forward to a visit."

Nadia nodded. "But they had to be there, and accept it. That was a surprising thing I learned. The girls in the barracks know which ships had just returned from a tour. There is an influx of exchanged concubines when a ship arrives because after six months with one girl, some men would dump that concubine into the pool to get a new one. I've been told that the girls dumped after a tour tend to be very beaten down at first."

I smiled and kissed Nadia on the forehead. "Well, I know Theresa will never do that to you. But it's time for me to get the kids up for the day. Why don't you and Theresa spend some time bonding? I'll call you when breakfast is ready."

Nadia did not move, but Theresa slipped off the bed to give her a hug. At her nod I left the room to get the replicators set up for breakfast and to wake up the children.

The next few days passed peacefully. Nadia loved the children and soon was Amber's favorite playmate. Theresa did have one long talk with Nadia about her looks and in the end used the medical pods only to insure that time and pregnancy would not diminish Nadia's looks. I think that helped Nadia more than anything else, she felt accepted completely.

Of course, Nadia noticed that I always tried to find ways to please Theresa, and soon found a new one. One night as we cuddled lovingly she asked Theresa about clothing and what outfits excited her the most. Theresa tried to avoid answering, but finally admitted that she loved seeing girls wearing camisole tops that barely reached their belly buttons and the smallest of thong panties. I am still not sure how Nadia pulled it off, but the next morning, she was the last to the breakfast table and was wearing just that outfit in a lacey red silk. The children might have enjoyed breakfast, but Theresa and I carried Nadia back into the bedroom and worshipped her body for hours after seeing that.

After seven days, we received word that there was more than enough interest for me to start work as an instructor. The township had one pod that was a combination medical and administration building. Usually it had just one or two unattached concubines serving at it rather than trapped at the barracks. Theresa was informed that they had set up a model room which could instruct up to twenty concubines, and that my first class would be the next day. I was more than a little nervous about the announcement, but Sophie and Nadia just laughed away my fears.

So in the middle of the next morning, I walked over to the administration pod and found the classroom I was going to take over. It was set up much like the main room of Theresa's pod, although there were additional chairs scattered around. I did a quick check to verify that the AI was ready to support any requests I made when the first student walked in.

"Oh god! You're teaching this?" I heard behind me. I turned and found that I was looking at Maxine, Martha's eighteen-year-old daughter and concubine. Martha had made it clear that she had no interest in sex with another woman, but I still was a bit surprised to find her daughter attending class.

"Oh god! You're a student?" I replied with a smile.

Maxine giggled. "Well, mom does tell me that I'm supposed to be a better concubine, even if she refuses to have sex with me. So when she heard you were going to be giving some classes she ordered me to come." Maxine then blushed slightly. "Besides, I think she wants a bit more time with Zack."

I had to smile. "Zack is her new man?"

Maxine blushed and nodded. "Yeah, he's dreamy. Very patient and quiet, but he knows all the right places to kiss."

I shook my head for a moment. "I thought you'd miss Jon."

Maxine stuck her tongue out at me. "Nah, he was always more mom's lover than anything. He'd been sleeping with her since a week after the 'Average Joes' episode just so he'd be sure to be picked up. He wasn't bad, but he couldn't ring my bells."

I had to laugh as Maxine looked around and then found a seat. I remembered that the young girl seemed much closer to Theresa and Traci than her mistress, and her sassy personality impressed me.

A few more ladies started to file in. A few looked as beaten down as the forlorn ladies I remembered from the trip to the unattached concubine barracks, but most seemed at least somewhat interested in the room and me. Finally, the AI broke into the quiet murmur coming from the ladies. "All participants for today's class have arrived."

One of the girls looked around, and noticed that I was standing in a loincloth. "Who's the teacher? I don't see anyone from Civil Service or the military."

I held up a hand. "That's because this class is being taught by a concubine. I guess you could say it's a class by concubines and for concubines."

The girl, who looked like some twisted porn star, with oversized breasts and blond hair seemed puzzled. Telling ages has proven to be very difficult because of the power of the cosmetic rebuilds. This girl looked to be about eighteen, but I could not be sure. I was going to speak more, but she finally responded. "What do you mean? I thought I was learning childcare or something."

I looked at the apparent young lady. "You will in time, but this isn't a class about childcare. It's a class about being the best concubine possible for your master or mistress. Tribune Octavian saw me with my mistress a few days back and wondered why the household was so happy. My lady blamed me, and for my crimes I'm supposed to help you learn some of the tricks I use."

One of the other girls raised her hand. She was a drop-dead gorgeous redhead with hair that fell nearly to the floor when she was standing. "But I thought we were just supposed to have sex with our man."

I shrugged. "That's the problem. Sex is important, and a concubine who can't get into sex is probably going to find herself being sent back to the barracks. However, while I'm sure some of your masters have used the new medical technology to help them last all night, there is a limit to how much time you can spend in bed."

The class giggled and the first lady growled. "But, what do we do then?"

I smiled. "That's what this class is about. I guess I should give you a little background. My mistress was a rather militant lesbian before the pickup. She had some bad experiences with men and wanted nothing to do with them. I was brought along to get her lover pregnant and it was kind of expected that I'd be asked to disappear after that. But, thanks to a couple events that occurred around the time of the pickup, we had an immediate family with three children, including one girl who is now thirteen. That meant there was a lot of potential for problems."

I could see some of the women nodding and one who looked like an Asian schoolgirl asked. "So, this is about childcare then."

I laughed. "Not entirely. It's about many things, which help make our new households run more smoothly. Look, we all know that our masters and mistresses are in the military. Most of them are busy in training, or their duties. In fact, many are gone on missions and tours of duty that can last months. If they are in the navy, they can bring along one concubine, but that still leaves at least one concubine at home, along with any children."

I could see some of the women nodding, but more than a few just looked confused, so I continued. "Well, that's what I'm going to work with you on. My mistress has been on two tours. During that time, my sister concubine gave birth to another child before traveling with my mistress on her second tour and dying in a battle. I have remained on Borneo, with the children. Thanks to a very understanding mistress, my suggestions for changes to the pod are listened to, and we now have a home, not just a place to live. The children are taking lessons as well as playing games. And my mistress knows that she can relax at home. I run the pod, but always with the thought that it's for her. That is what I'm going to teach."

Maxine giggled. "Now I get it. I heard Martha say that you always seemed to just know what Theresa needed. She wanted to trade Jon for you, but Theresa ignored her offer."

I blushed as the class laughed. "And I must remember to thank my mistress for ignoring the offer. But let's begin getting some background. How many of you are from two concubine households?"

Of the twenty girls, fifteen raised their hands. I noticed that this included all of the more alert and interested ladies. The remaining five, which included the one who had asked about childcare, looked almost bored.

I pointedly looked at one of the ladies who were not raising their hands. It was the young almost porn star who had thought the class was about childcare. "Don't think that what I say here is only for them," I said. "It's true that a two concubine household is more likely to have some of the problems I talk about, but they can show up anywhere."

The girl looked surprised. "But how can it pertain to me?"

"I'll get to that. However, we aren't done with backgrounds. How many of you are the senior concubine, or at least feel you are?"

This time every girl, except for Maxine, raised her hand. Maxine giggled. "Hey, I'm not that proud. My mom only pays attention to her boytoy. I'm just along for the ride and to make babies."

I heard a few giggles at that. I looked at the rest of the concubines and smiled. "Well, that's not a surprise, but I guess I'll surprise you. I consider myself the junior concubine in my household. Or as I joke, I'm the head baby feeder and diaper changer. I noticed most of you were quick to raise your hand this time. The issue is that being senior or even worrying about it, will hurt you."

One of the girls looked confused. "How is that? I mean, its just Jimmy, Lynn and me, and Lynn is really passive, so I'm kind of the natural senior. How is that hurting me?"

I smiled. "The problem is that many of the things you need to do are naturally submissive actions. One of the biggest things I do is listen. And this does not mean I try to generate conversations. But all of the others in our household know that if things are getting to them they can come to me and talk to me in private and I'll say nothing. I do this for my mistress, but I also do it for my sister concubine, and for all the children. This is probably the one thing that will be hard for you. Listening is very important. I can't stress just how important, but if you want to be senior, it won't feel natural."

"Why not?" the pornstar girl asked. "And who cares about listening? Its all about George for me."

I looked at the girl and paused. "Can I ask your name, and how big is your household?"

She looked at me if I was beneath her and then shrugged. "My name is Erin, and my George has the score to have six concubines."

I shrugged. "And yet, you are here. George is clearly not entirely happy with what he has. The reality is that a senior concubine isn't going to be in the position to make the household run smoothly all the time. In my household, I openly state I'm the junior concubine. I try to be low maintenance and I work very hard to keep not only my mistress but also my sister concubine happy. It defuses tensions, because I'm giving them the gift of more time to relax. And they have repaid me by being far more loving and caring than I ever expected. For the two concubine households, I highly recommend this method."

I could see most of the women looking thoughtful, although Erin just glared at me. "The best way to be the senior concubine is to be the most capable concubine, and to have everyone kind of look to you for leadership. This means you will be the concubine that makes the household run smoothly. Be the one controlling and teaching the children. Make sure you have a method to insure that the babies are always fed quickly so they do not disrupt everyone with crying. The AI can do quite a bit, but you can make things work much better. The truth is that I did almost all of the childcare for the first year I was a concubine. My sister concubine was uncomfortable around children, and my mistress was off on missions. If you want to become senior concubine this way, I can help, and you'll find that it will be a fairly secure role. But it does mean that you have to allow the other concubines to feel valued and to have access to your master."

"On missions?" one of the girls asked.

I looked over at her. She was another of the five women from larger households and looked like some kind of dirty man's fantasy with curly black hair and huge breasts. I paused and looked over the class. "Humm… good point, I did not ask that question. How many of you have sponsors who currently get assigned to naval ships?"

Eleven hands went up. I waited a moment and then nodded. "Ok, how many of you are concubines of marines who are often away on missions?"

Six more hands went up, leaving only Erin, the girl who asked about missions and one of the girls from a two-concubine household still sitting. They looked at each other and then Erin spoke. "How does that matter?"

Maxine spoke up. "He's talking about how my mistress serves the military on naval ships and unless she's on leave is off on missions and such. Right now we only have one baby in the pod, but next time she leaves there will be two more, and I'll be left alone to take care of them." The young lady blushed and I laughed.

"Martha is on pregnancy leave I see. Might be more than you realize. What happens if you have twins?" I said to see her reaction.

Maxine just smiled back. "I'll just have more diapers to change. But I enjoy that. I love my little Dylan."

I nodded but the redhead raised her hand. "Um… excuse me? You never talked about any other way to be senior... um… What is your name?"

Everyone laughed as I blushed. "Sorry, it's David. And I was about to get to the way I'm sure Erin is thinking of using. It's a common trick and leads to a lot of concubines ending up in the barracks. This kind of senior concubine gains the position by throwing herself at her sponsor and being his sex slave to the exclusion of anything and everybody else, and in doing so becomes his favorite. I expect a few of you are currently in that position. The problem is that the sex gets boring. And if all you have is sex, you have a problem."

Maxine helped me by speaking up. "Yeah, my mother served on a corvette and told me that after their first tour eighteen of the concubines who had been brought along for the trip were taken to the concubine's barracks and exchanged for new ones."

I heard the gasp from the ladies. "I can back that up. My mistress recently selected a new concubine from the barracks. I've talked to my new senior sister concubine and one of the things she mentioned was that the concubines there had little to do but gossip. One of the common gossips was which ships had recently returned from a tour, and they knew by talking to all the new concubines who had been exchanged out in the last few days. And that is why we have this class. There are good men and women out there fighting the Sa'arm. You do not get a six five on your CAP by being a self-centered jerk. However, most of us are unready to be in this kind of relationship, so our poor Civil Service is finding themselves in the position of constantly trading out concubines. They want it to stop, so they want us to look at our position a bit differently. You can't think of it like a modern western woman would. In many ways it's closest to an old medieval marriage."

"A marriage?" the redhead asked. "I can't think of many marriages that allowed multiple wives."

I was shaking my head, but one of the quieter girls spoke up. "No, he's right. It is."

The redhead turned in her chair to glare at the other girl. "How? I have only the rights my man gives me."

The girl looked at her and smiled. "And in a medieval marriage the wife promised to love, honor and obey. As a concubine love isn't exactly in the plan, but most medieval marriages were about alliances and inheritance. Parents arranged them and no one cared if the bride and groom loved one another. David is right. When we accepted the position of concubine, we said we'd honor and obey the man who took us from earth."

"Or woman," Maxine said quietly.

I nodded. "Or woman. Thank you…."

The girl blushed. "Rose."

"Thank you Rose. That is the major thing I want to leave you with today because anything I might teach you will spring from that. If you try to use sex to manipulate your master, it will eventually fail. If you want things to work, you have to accept what you are first. Not sex slaves, which is what too many think of yourselves. But as your master's right hand and friend. They have accepted a duty to serve the Confederacy and to protect you from the Sa'arm. Your duty is to make sure they come home to a real home. Where they can relax and feel welcome. I have a task for you all tonight. Find out your master's favorite food, and a type of music they can relax to. Then prepare a special meal for them. Don't try to eat with them or anything. Just serve them, with soft relaxing music playing, and be ready to listen if they need to talk. I think you'll be surprised. And if your master is not home, try it with another concubine or the oldest child. The key is to show that you can think about the others in the pod. This is a matter of your thinking attitude!"

The ladies started to stand up and head out. I leaned against the wall and watched them as they headed out. Rose and Maxine had stopped to talk, but the surprise was when the redhead paused in front of me. "Do you have a moment?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I don't have too long. I promised the kids I'd play a bit of catch later, and Sophie is supposed to be preparing for an English quiz. But I can speak quickly."

The girl looked nervous. "I guess that will have to help. David, I'll be honest, I'm scared."

"Well, tell me about your situation. And could you start with your name?" I asked.

Maxine and Rose had exchanged a hug and were leaving. I could see Sophie appear at the entrance and I gave her a subtle wave to wait outside, which she acknowledged with a nod. The redhead did not notice, but sighed.

"I guess its okay. My name is Monica, and well… I know I look twenty, but I'm really fourteen. Larry isn't home right now, and I'm hoping he doesn't find out I did this," the redhead said.

"Wait? He didn't send you?" I asked.

The girl almost shook with fear. "No, we've been here for three months, and he's been out on patrol, but things aren't going well and I asked for help. That Civil Service man was visiting the pod next to mine and I talked to him. He said that this class might help."

I paused. "How many girls in your household, and what can you tell me about the situation?"

Monica smiled. "We were picked up at a college basketball game. Larry was working as an usher. I was with some friends. Larry selected three other girls before me, all of us are eighteen or younger. We're all pregnant and miserable. Since we're all pregnant he left us all behind, and no one wants to work with the others."

I held up a hand. "But you claimed to be senior?"

Monica blushed. "I didn't want the others to think I wasn't. There is no real senior. Larry played us against each other, and we never worked out any kind of system. That's why I was a bit surprised. You make it sound like you are the senior, but you insist that you aren't."

Sophie was still standing in the doorway and decided to interject. "Calling David, the senior or junior concubine doesn't really make sense. He is just David. But I guess that's why the household works. We have Theresa who is in charge, and then the rest of us work to make sure she's happy, under the orchestration of the maestro here."

I mock-glared at Sophie. "Did you finish your English assignment early for once?"

Sophie giggled and nodded as Monica looked on in confusion. She looked back and forth and finally asked. "Um… Who is she?"

Sophie bowed to Monica. "I'm Sophie. I'm one of Theresa's dependants right now."

I held out a hand and Sophie gave me a kiss. I could taste Nadia on her and as we broke the kiss gave her a look, which caused Sophie to giggle and blush. Monica noticed the kiss and added another question. "Now I'm really lost. She's a dependant? But that kiss certainly was rather adult."

I was about to speak, but Sophie put a hand over my mouth. "Quiet David, you keep telling me to be more assertive. My older sister was Theresa's lover and first concubine. Thanks to David here, my sister was allowed to declare me a dependant child and I was brought along after the pickup. I turn fourteen in just under five months and well…"

Sophie was blushing and her hand relaxed, allowing me to speak. "Sophie seems to be taking advantage of the rule that thirteen-year-olds can participate in oral sex. However I hope she came down here probably to make sure I'm ready to guide her in her practice English exam. I'd like to see her get a high enough score to volunteer when she takes her CAP test."

Sophie giggled and I looked at Monica again. "Monica, this class will be good for you. Don't try to make huge changes instantly though. The big thing should be to think about how to bring some peace to your pod. If everyone is angry and frustrated, your Larry is not going to be happy. Worry a bit more about the happiness of the others, and you'll find the peace in the pod brings its own happiness."

Monica gave a sad nod. "Its just…" she blushed.

Sophie gasped. "Wait, you said you are only fourteen?"

Monica nodded again and I could see tears in her eyes. "I don't like looking like this. It happened too fast and it makes me feel like Larry only wants me for sex. I want to get to know him and the others, but it doesn't work. The other girls are just as dramatically beautiful and it makes it impossible to just relax around them. It's horrible."

I gave Monica a hug. "Keep your spirits up. Things can get better."

Monica gave a nod before heading out leaving Sophie and I alone in the room. Sophie watched the young girl leave and sighed. "Wow. I didn't realize how easy you make it. She really is miserable."

I nodded. "But she's doing something about it. Hopefully things will improve for her. Now let's get back home, you have an English test to complete."

I laughed and gave Sophie a hug before we headed home to work on her lessons.