Chapter 5: You Can Ring My Bell

It was their turn for a cruise when Abigail and Ayesha decided it was time. They wanted romance and sex, so they each borrowed an ‘I need Michael now chip’ from one of the younger set - who knows at what price or promise - and on the first evening afloat, hauled him off to dinner.

The two wore backless, floor-length, prom style dresses, and when Michael and the two lovelies entered the dining room, one on each of his arms, they looked like a proud father taking his teens to a birthday dinner. Other diners smiled at the scene, some with envy and lust. He was seated with just the two of them at a window-side table, and it was clear to all that his daughters adored him.

Then there was dancing. Slow dancing - first separately, bodies press tightly to him, then the three of them moving in a hug to a slow foxtrot. It was soon very clear that these were NOT daughters. At the very least, they did not have daughterly designs on him!

From a well-preserved distance, a cadre of family spouses, companions, and children watched avidly. Coaching from the sponsor-wives and companions seemed to be working quite well. Michael had no idea that this event was raising the expectations bar for the Owen twins, Misty, and especially Valerie when they reached their own fourteenth birthdays.

Captain Hoag and his soon-to-be sponsor-wives watched the dynamics with amused interest. All three became even more convinced that their future was looking bright.

As the music wound down, the pair of young women each took a hand and walked Michael to the promenade deck, where they stood in the shadows on the fantail and watched the full moon. Each wrapping one of Michael’s arms around themselves, they took turns lifting a face for soft kisses.

Then, down they went to the lounge, where a chocolate buffet was beginning. The young ladies asked for a bowl, two bottles of iced sparkling wine, and three flutes. They proceeded to fill the bowl with chocolate covered fruits, and when ready, handed the wine to Michael and preceded him to their suite.

Once back in the suite, they deposited their goodies on a table, sat Michael on a sofa with a glass of wine, and abandoned him while they went into the second bedroom. There, they were met by a bevy of sister-wives who, following family tradition, prepared them for their ‘first good time.’ After half an hour or a little more, two visions appeared and paused in the bedroom door. The pale beauty was wearing a powder blue, see-through, babydoll nightie, covering boy cut lace panties. Her light brown hair hung to her shoulders and framed her face. The dusky young woman wore a similar nightie in see-through red; her hair was loosely bound in a braid hanging down her back.

Michael stood and applauded.

The young ladies were no strangers to sex, Abigail having been repeatedly raped, and since joining Michael’s family, both having witnessed much happy family sex. They also knew exactly how to pleasure themselves. But this was to be their first good time and they were excited. One might say they were dripping with excitement.

Michael picked up each girl, kissed her forehead, and lay her on the king bed, covers already turned down. He looked, smiled, and walked over to dim the lights. Returning, he scooted up the bed between them, cuddled one under each arm, and lay there. “Sooo, what do the two of you have in mind, now?” he teased.

They showed him - they showed him over and over. Bandwidth was too sparse for Dora’s avatar to be present, but she positioned a drone so that she could watch and comment with her usual bawdy repartee.

Multiple good times were had by all.

In Earthat’s Kuiper Belt there came an event, and then a greeting causing both consternation and merriment. The colony cube ship APL018, ‘The Good Ship Lollipop, ‘ suddenly appeared beside the waiting K’treel Explorer AGX026, ‘Helva’.

T’Kuudshpp, of Clan T’lilpp, the AI of the Lolli, hailed its protégée, T’Krandit by playing the Shirley Temple version of the song for which it was named. T’Krandit on the Helva, having absorbed all of Anne McCaffrey’s writings, responded as it imagined its namesake would have with a rich chorale of Beethoven’s Ode To Joy. The officers and senior NCOs of both ships were not amused; the junior enlisted ratings were.

Concurrently, aboard the CNS Victory, alarms rang in Orbital Control. Lieutenant Aubrey Maturin, standing at the coffee bar, dropped his newly filled mug and ran for the command console. Though an intersystem message had given notice of Lolli’s future arrival, timing had not been specified. More to the point, the presence of two new ships in the Kuiper Belt with no preceding hyperspace footprint was of immediate and urgent concern.

Maturin hailed the two vessels, fingers crossed, “Unidentified arriving vessels at AU 65, Earthat, make yourself known.” He was rattled, and his hail was decidedly off the standard protocol.

The fact that he received replies was a relief, the nature of the responses - not so much.

The answering voice was a rich soprano. “I am T’Krandit of Tuull Clan T’lilpp’s K’treel Explorer you designate as AGX026 -- Helva. You are mistaken about my arrival. I have been here for twenty-five point seven five four six two of your days, waiting for T’Kuudshpp, also of Clan T’lilpp. We know our names are hard for you to pronounce, so it too has taken a human name. Allow me to introduce The Good Ship Lollipop, your designation APL018.

There was a stunned silence, then laughter, then a new voice responded. “Victory Orbital Control, this is Captain Hilda Stone of APL018. We call her ‘Lolli.’ We are on our shakedown cruise.”

“Captain Stone, welcome. We’ve been expecting you, but you and the Helva arriving together gave us a shock,” Maturin answered her. “I’ve been told to inform you that the APL018 has been requisitioned by DECO and is to assume station 100 kilometers from the CNS Unity and prepare to evacuate staff and dependents.”

An old movie buff would recognize the replying voice as that of young Shirley Temple. “Tell Miles Chandler I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six.”

When the uproar and sputtering had a chance to die down, Captain Stone followed with, “Lolli is owned by the Tuull and is under contract to the new colony to be established in the Rukbat system. She is neither available nor subject to the vagaries of Earthat. The Darjee were the entities that established the primary contract, and you violate it at your peril.”

Having waited for a response and received none, she continued, “As a courtesy, we are requesting a slot at a Earth/lunar Lagrange Point L1 or L2 so we can pickup our colonists.” She left the consequences of a refusal unstated. “We plan to be here for at least a month, probably two. We will keep you informed.”

The flustered lieutenant, lacking instructions and unable to reach a sufficiently ranking superior, remained silent. After a sufficiently long pause, Stone finished, “Well then Lieutenant Maturin, we are proceeding lunar bound and will listen for any positioning instructions you deem to provide.”

When she was done, the previous childish voice sang out, “On The Good Ship Lollipop. It’s a sweet trip to a candy shop. Where bon-bons play. On the sunny beach of Peppermint Bay.” Followed by the sound of a loud raspberry.