Chapter 27

I felt that Beth and I ought to go out with a bang -- and when I suggested it, Jack bought off -- he's cool, you know? Nothing seems to faze him -- not even Stepdaddy and Uncle Bart! If I have an idea, he tends to run with it, too, rather than going ballistic about how wild and crazy it is...

So anyway, that Friday Tara and Keisha dropped us at work on the way over to their places to pick up clothes and whatever; I really didn't see why they NEEDED clothes, but apparently it was to keep Beth's sisters from freaking out on arrival. Yeah, well, okay, I guess. Beth and I wore our usual stuff -- jeans and a blouse -- but we wore the spiked dog collars, too. That got us questions all day and a little hassle from one of the managers, who tended to be an asshole. But we weren't DOING anything, and we had our store smocks on and we weren't waving our tits at anyone and Donna gets away with all of those piercings, so ultimately, Needle Dick Peter had to shut up and let it alone. Peter is a fucking prick, and Beth, being the lightweight she is, would have rolled over -- but I don't play that shit and I let him know it!

Seven-thirty came and Jack came in, right on schedule, holding a small bag. I went and chased down Peter and said, "Beth and I are clocking out -- and you're gonna want to see this, since you were on the rag about our collars!"

So he follows me back to Customer Service, ranting and raving about how we'd better not do anything that will reflect on the store, blah, blah, blah -- he's SUCH an asswipe! I pick Beth up and we go back toward the office and clock out, then head for the Ladies Room. Peter is still ranting and raving and doesn't even notice Jack following us, so he's standing right behind Peter when I poke Peter in the chest and say, "Wait right here." There are six or eight others -- baggers and a couple of off-duty checkout people -- hanging out around Customer Service at that point, largely because they know if I say I'm gonna start something, I follow through...

Peter has the attention span of a gnat, so I tell Beth, "Don't try to take anything with you -- in the first place, it'll spoil the effect, and in the second, it'll look like you're hiding." So we just shucked out of everything and left it there on the floor of the Ladies Room. We'd come in carrying nothing -- Hell, we don't even have CAP cards anymore -- Jack has them! I'd had a twenty on me for lunch and I didn't give a shit about the change. We even kicked out of our shoes; Jack was supposed to be carrying flip-flops in his bag, but, hey, he's the boss, and if he forgot, I'd suck it up. I primped a little in the mirror and asked Beth, "You ready?" She gave me a nervous thumbs up and we walked out of the Ladies Room buck naked except for our collars!

Peter's eyes nearly bugged right out of his head! "Y--you can't DO that!"

"We're doing it, Asswipe! How you gonna stop us?" I retorted, grinning. We stopped next to Jack -- who Peter FINALLY noticed, observant dick that he is, and Jack fished our leashes out of the bag and clicked them on our necks and said, "Let's go!"

I turned to Peter, who was dancing around in front of us, sputtering, and said, "Oh, by the way -- we quit..." and strutted up the hall and out into the main store.

We got a few "Omigawd!"s and a lot of catcalls and whistles from the guys and I shook my hands over my head and Beth bucked up and smiled and waved -- she's chicken going in, but she DOES go in and when she gets there, she bucks up. We sauntered all the way up the register line like we didn't have a care in the world, with Jack following, holding our leashes and looking unconcerned. It was so much fun that when we got to the end I asked Jack if we could double back! Jack thought about it a second and said, "Sure -- why not?" So we paraded BACK down the row of registers to where Peter was standing puffing an blowing and I stopped and picked up a foot and looked at the bottom of it and said, "Mr. Manager? The floors are filthy! Look at that! This place is a pig sty! Somebody should call the Health Department!" Then we turned around and made a THIRD pass down the registers -- every employee on shift was out to see it by now -- they'd closed the bakery and the deli and everything -- and wandered out the door, smiling and waving and blowing kisses...

Jack DID have our flip-flops -- bless his heart! We stopped outside the door and put them on and then took our time going to the car. Somebody yelled, "Peter is calling the cops!" and I yelled back, "Piss on him! We're concubines! The cops won't touch us!" and there were some 'Oooo's and 'Aaaah's as we got in Jack's rental car and drove off. I got up in the back window and mooned the place as we drove off.

After that, we settled down. Beth asked, "How are things at home?"

Jack said, "Your father is home with a woman named Britney, who is apparently going to be his second concubine. Your mother is up and down -- one minute, she seems fine, and the next she's a little off -- but she's not giving your father or Britney any crap. Still, she makes me nervous -- I get the feeling she's up to something. Your sisters hadn't arrived yet when I left -- but I got out of there about six and hung out in the coffee shop taking reports on how things were going in orbit after they cleaned out your father's workplace." Well, that wasn't a surprise, I figured; Jack was supposed to come in with us, not be a sideshow by himself until we got there...

There were extra cars in the driveway; Beth took a look and said, "My sisters are here," and started nerving herself for the big show...

Maureen arrived first. She's the gifted one, the middle girl -- the only one to go to college, and she was on her way to graduating with honors. I had Vera greet her but not go to any effort to reveal the altered situation -- and Vera followed instructions to the letter. "Okay, Daddy -- what's up?" Maureen demanded.

"We'll be making all kinds of family announcements after Beth arrives with her man," I told her. "Since that's the big event, we should wait for them and let her have her moment in the spotlight, all right?"

"Oh, all right..." She went off to try to pump her mother -- but Vera was being cooperative for once. I introduced Britney as a colleague who was visiting the family, and that handled things for a moment -- until Maureen heard noises upstairs. It took her a good fifteen minutes to find an excuse to go upstairs, but when she did, she returned dumbfounded. "Who are those women upstairs?"

"I'm doing a favor for someone," I told her. "They're staying the night. Don't worry, we've made various sleeping arrangements. You'll be in Travis' room. If you don't like it there, we have a couple of other options on tap." I hoped that she wouldn't wander into the den -- there would be more questions if she did. Vera had managed a pair of king-sized aerobeds in the den and they were inflated and had linens on them and everything else required.

Judith arrived before Maureen could become too curious for her own good. Judith got the looks in the family; while all of the Hopkins women were large, she carried it well and gave off a 'cuddly' aura. She also came up shortest in the intellect department. She'd had no trouble collecting a man -- but Dan wasn't any great shakes, either. The couple had been married right out of high school and moved upstate to pursue some opportunity Dan had at a position in some manufacturing firm. That had been a year ago; they were still up there, but I don't think he had that position any more...

"Is Dan coming?" Vera asked.

"I doubt it," Judith replied. "If he shows up, it will be tomorrow sometime. Tonight, he's working late..." Then she began to bawl, sniffling, "Probably on some blonde he's working with! He's either been out drinking with the boys or romancing her every night this week!"

The hens closed ranks at that point; Vera and Maureen consoled her -- 'Men are pigs' and such rot. Judith was so full of her own misery that she didn't even notice Britney! Well, it kept them occupied; Vera dragged them off to the kitchen to help her clatter pans. I could have become paranoid, but Vera would do as she was told, or she wouldn't -- and if she ruined Beth's little surprise, I would deal with her later...

Seven forty-five came -- and with it, headlights out front. I got up from making small talk with Britney and went to the kitchen to announce, "I believe that Beth and her man have arrived..." The women made a beeline for the front door; I was content to take up the rear...

It all seemed like great fun and an incredible joke to play on my sisters that morning, but as we approached my house, I began to have misgivings over the whole 'naked slave on a leash entrance' thing. The problem was -- and Frieda, being Frieda, had probably planned it that way, knowing I would come down with cold feet at the last minute -- we had no clothes! I had no choice, unless I could talk Jack into retrieving our stuff from the store -- and I knew better than to try. As we pulled up out front, Frieda gave me an evil grin and said, "You'd be peeing in your panties if you were wearing any, wouldn't you, Sweetie?" I could only nod nervously. "Stick with me and just do it," she advised. "You're a winner here!"

Frieda always did make it easy for me to do brave things; I just had to stay with her and it would all work out... We got organized on the front walk, then pranced to the front door; I pranced because I didn't dare stump like an elephant while Frieda pranced. I opened the door and Frieda faded to let me have the spotlight...

Maureen and Judith just stood there with their eyes bugged out and their mouths open! I drifted right and stopped while Frieda and Jack came in and Jack closed the door. Maureen finally burst out, "What in the...?"

I'm not sure where it came from, exactly; I merely smiled graciously and said, "Maureen, Judith, you know Frieda, of course. This is Jack. Jack is an officer in the Confederacy Navy -- and we're both his concubines!"

Jack played it all up, stopping to undo our leashes before stepping up and extending his hand. Maureen took it, kind of distractedly, while she looked back and forth between us. Judith -- well, Judith was great! She stood there, looking at us and looking at Jack and I saw it -- something I'd almost never seen before -- a look of jealousy stealing across her face!

Maybe it seems petty; we were never super-competitive, my sisters and I. But Maureen got the brains and Judith got the looks -- and I ran a poor third. Yet here I stood, having basically won the lottery... Naked or not, I was the winner, here -- and Judith, with her doofus husband -- who was not in sight -- was the loser! Judith turned on the charm when she greeted Jack, but Jack was impervious -- as only a man who has six women to wait on him hand and foot can be, no doubt... "Girls..." Jack waved at the couch and we all seated ourselves. Jack turned to Daddy, who was standing, and asked, "Oliver, have my other women and my brood behaved themselves?"

"They've been fine." Daddy replied. He waved a nice looking girl about my age into an armchair and turned to Momma and said, "Vera, I think we may need some additional chairs from the dining room." Momma nodded and said nothing, heading for the dining room -- and Maureen and Judith both looked around, confused; Daddy was giving orders and Momma was fetching and carrying? Daddy turned to Maureen and Judith and said, "Jack has two other concubines and three children upstairs, but we thought that we would proceed slowly. He also has -- what? -- two other concubines on a colony world and... how many children?"

"One and one on the way," Jack supplied.

Momma returned, lugging chairs. When she cleared the dining room doorway, Maureen went and collected a chair from her. Judith just stood looking bewildered.

"There have been other changes and they're relevant to you girls," Daddy announced, "but first, I think Jack needs to show you something."

"Thanks, Oliver." Jack got up, fishing in a pocket of his coat, and handed the hypnotizer thingie to Judith -- who was already kind of glazed. Maureen looked warily from it to Judith to Jack, who said, "Maureen, right? You have a CAP score over six point five?"

"Yes." Maureen regarded him even more warily.

"The device hypnotizes the subject and allows an AI to implant inhibitions against discussion of sensitive information and enforces the inhibitions with nannites," Jack explained. "We'll undoubtedly be discussing a sensitive ongoing Confederacy operation tonight. Everyone else has used it."

"Without ill effects, I might add," Daddy said, waving at the device. Jack waited and watched Judith for a few more seconds, then plucked it out of her hands and handed it to Maureen, who went "Ouch!" I guess it poked her right away...

Then we waited a couple of minutes; I think Maureen fought the thing, but the nannites probably kept her from winning. Judith was back, looking bewildered; she sat in a chair and looked around, lost. Daddy parked himself on the chair arm of the chair the young woman sat in. Momma just stood there. Finally, Maureen looked up and handed the thing to Jack. "Ready, I guess."

Jack looked at Daddy and said, "Oliver? You're the patriarch here..."

Daddy snapped his fingers and pointed to the floor on the side of the chair opposite the arm he was sitting on. Momma moved to that location, flicked him a glance, and knelt. "As I was saying, there have been a number of changes. I've accepted a position in the Confederacy. Your mother is a concubine. That hasn't been without some rough patches, but we're working our way through them. As Jack indicated, he is here preparing for a major extraction -- which opens up certain options for the two of you -- but before we go there, this is Britney, who was a research assistant in my office and may continue to be, but who is here to examine us as a family and see whether she wishes to become my second concubine or not."

Britney, who had been silent and nearly faded into the furniture until that point, smiled and quietly said "Hello."

My sisters were dumbfounded. Daddy was running things and he'd brought ANOTHER WOMAN into the house -- and Momma was just doing whatever... "Momma's a concubine?" Judith burst out.

"Yes." Daddy nodded. "I think the time for deception has probably passed, Dear. Jack's concubines are undoubtedly uncomfortable at being the only nude women in the room..."

Momma got up, poker-faced but oddly serene, and took off her blouse, unzipped her skirt, and knelt again, naked, and began folding her clothing.

Maureen said, "I think I wandered into the Twilight Zone..." Judith just sat and stared.

Daddy waved an arm. "Please. This has been more difficult on your mother than you can possibly imagine. We've raised... old ghosts -- specters from her past. There has been some damage to our relationship, but no doubt we'll put things back together -- a bit differently, perhaps. Emigration to the colonies brings changes with it as we move to rearrange our lives to enter Confederacy society, as it were. I ask you not to make things more difficult on her that I already have." He turned to Maureen. "This is your opportunity to be extracted -- the benefit being that you will be co-located with the rest of the family -- Travis excepted -- at your duty location."

Maureen looked at Jack. "I'd hoped to be placed in the Civil Service -- but I would prefer not to have to run a brothel."

Jack smiled and nodded. "On Nuevo Angelino, the Civil Service is integrated into a government department called the Support Directorate. Concubines and other personnel run many colony support functions under the aegis of the Support Directorate; unlike many colonies, your position need not have seeing to the wellbeing of unsponsored concubines as a direct duty function. Education, infrastructure support, logistics -- all kinds of things come under Support Directorate control. The Governor requires a certain percentage of concubines to work on colony support at any one time, the usual limitation being whether there is adequate support for child-rearing in the home, so the Support Directorate has a considerable workforce employed in routine day to day support of the shipyard and naval base, construction of colony facilities, and so on."

"What do I have to do to be picked up?" Maureen asked.

Jack shrugged. "Come with us when we leave the house tomorrow. We're orchestrating a large pickup at a private school; the staff will be used to jumpstart the colony's educational system. There will be more than adequate opportunity to select concubines on site or later on the ship in orbit. I'll introduce you to your Decurion -- he's along for the extraction. You'll have lots of practical work on the cruise, helping us sort people out."

Daddy shifted his attention to Judith. "This is an opportunity for you, also. If you come with us, you WILL be picked up -- and someone can be found to take responsibility for you..."

Momma shocked us all by erupting, "May I speak?"

I'd been waiting for this moment -- and as I'd hoped, I took everyone by surprise. Oliver turned to me and cocked his head. "If you wish..."

"Please let me finish this before anyone comments. The first part may seem irrelevant, but it isn't," I begged. Oliver merely shrugged.

I gathered myself and began the speech I'd been preparing all afternoon, "Girls, you need to know this so you can understand why I'm doing what I'm doing. Becoming a concubine shouldn't have been anything serious -- on the surface, I just needed taking down a few notches. But it was more complex than that and I am undone. I'm a fraud, you see."

The girls just looked at me, confused. Oliver opened his mouth, but I held up my hand. "You gave me permission..." Oliver subsided.

"All your lives," I continued, "I've pretended to be a prudish, uptight, moralistic, bossy meddling woman intent on running yours and your father's lives. I've made your father's life miserable and his sex life less than pleasurable and downright boring, straight-jacketing him into plain vanilla sex done basically one way and one way only. Unless I've ruined you, you've both discovered by now that the views I raised you with are one-dimensional..." Maureen looked wary, but Judith looked surprised; well, no wonder she was losing Dan... "I've lied to all of you and cheated all of you -- especially your father -- and taught you all manner of lies -- and it was all for my personal benefit, because I was doing it to keep from backsliding. Your father discovered my secret, accidentally, while trying to prepare me to be a proper concubine, and your sister knows the details; you see, I'm not an uptight matron -- that's an act. In reality, I'm a fat pig of a slut -- a slut like you've never seen and seldom heard of, even if you had an entire library of porn!"

Maureen was shocked -- but it was nothing beside Judith, I think. Clearly, I'd screwed my youngest daughter up considerably... I pointed to her, "By the time I was your age, I'd slept with perhaps as many as a hundred men -- not one at a time, but in twos and threes and fives and God knows how many..." I turned to Oliver, "I'm sorry, Master, but every time I try to get a count, it seems to go up..." Turning back to my daughters, I continued, "I've probably sampled every perversion you can think of and several you haven't. I've had men in every orifice -- sometimes two at a time! I've had black men, brown men, yellow men -- probably red men! They're a blur... You see, I'm a gang-bang slut -- a fat pig who likes to have men crawling all over her, poking her holes, calling her names, spewing semen all over her... At the party after my senior prom alone, I took on twenty-five boys..." I covered my face. "I've hidden it from you and your father all these years, pretending to be uptight, not allowing him to bring me to full arousal for fear that I would backslide and go out on the streets looking for strange men to feed my cravings... Last night, by accident, a combination of things brought me back to who I was -- and now your father knows and can hardly contain his anger with me -- and I don't blame him, one little bit!"

I returned my attention to my youngest daughter, despite a rumble from Oliver; he'd promised, and he would keep that promise. "Judith, you are the one most at risk, here, but there is a solution. Jack has explained that incest is not a moral or legal issue in the colonies -- that many sons and daughters go as concubines with their mothers and fathers. Your father and your sister have demonstrated that, when pressed, they can have sex, enjoy it, and rise above it. Therefore, I want you to take my position as concubine. Go to the stars, please your father and raise his babies -- and leave your fat, ugly old whore of a mother on Earth, where she deserves to be!"

Shock was universal; no one was prepared for this! We all sat there, stunned, as Vera settled back, apparently at peace after her confession and her offer of sacrifice. The silence stretched for over a minute, I think...

"Momma! No!" Judith erupted. "I won't! I can't do that! I'll get a sponsor..."

Vera waved her hand. "This keeps the family together..."

"There are other ways," Maureen insisted. "I can take you -- or Judith -- even if Daddy can't."

"You need a man and a woman who can bear and care for your children -- and possibly have sex with you both. Slut that I am, I can undoubtedly do that -- but can you? Can you stick your tongue in your slut mother's dirty holes?" Vera asked. "I won't ask it of you. Fill your family with the right kind of people..."

Oliver sat quietly, his face grave. "This is wrong -- but I cannot spurn Judith to her detriment. Besides, whatever Judith decides, you both will go, in any case..."

Vera smiled. "Yes, maybe that's the thing. They can make me young and pretty looking on the outside so I can fulfill my ugly needs with a procession of young men who have left their important women at home where it is safe... I'll still be a stinking whore, but..."

<Ultimately, her issues would cause her to self-destruct if she were to follow that course of action,> the AI opined.

'Yeah, probably,' I subvocalized. 'I was hoping that Oliver would forgive her and get her on track, but this...'

<Doctor Hopkins has experienced significant growth since his last CAP test -- and under observation, his capabilities have increased markedly since Wednesday. There is consensus that his CAP score now exceeds seven point four as a supportable minimum without further testing. Therefore there is no requirement to choose between his current concubine and his offspring. Major Howard would approve an increase in the number of concubines allocated in any case.>

"Oliver!" I blurted, "There is no requirement for you to choose between Vera and Judith in any case. You have been allocated an additional pair of concubines. Apparently, Vera's growing pains are reflected in your own..."

"I would have backed out," Britney murmured.

"Well it's not required," I insisted. "In fact, if you take Vera AND your daughter, you're still short!"

"Good!" Oliver exclaimed. "I admit to being paralyzed by a moral dilemma -- maybe several! In the first place, you are NOT released, Vera -- this plan of yours to make yourself into a camp follower would only hurt you. We'll deal with your issues in other ways. Britney, I appreciate your offer, but I value you and the position we've discussed remains open to you. Judith, I cannot coerce you in this matter -- it is too close to home, as it were. I recommend that you look for other solutions tomorrow -- but will hold a slot open for you until you HAVE a solution. The implications of your accepting a position as a concubine alongside your mother might prove... disturbing... for all three of us -- but I will support you as necessary if you determine that it is for the best."

"Thank you, Daddy!" Judith seemed relieved -- and I wondered exactly why. Was it because she had a safety net? Or because Oliver didn't just accept her?

Britney licked her lower lip. "Oliver, what do you intend for Vera?"

Oliver eyed his one-time wife. "Oh, I'll forgive her, and attempt to find a way to help her deal with her issues. Clearly, her self-image is totally out of synch with reality. I have too much invested in her to just throw her away."

"In that case, I would like to accept your offer," Britney announced. "I assume that with Jack here, there must be some method of recording in place?"

<Awaiting sponsor acceptance,> the AI droned.

"There is," I admitted. "Oliver?"

"You're sure?" Oliver queried. "Clearly, this isn't the most functional of families."

"I would still like to become a member," Britney insisted.

"Very well," Oliver assented with a nod.

<Contract recorded,> the AI droned.

"It's done," I announced for the benefit of all those not plugged into the net -- which was effectively everybody human. I turned to Britney. "You just made your last independent decision. Oliver makes them for you, now."

"I understand." Britney got up and started coming out of her blouse. Oliver blinked, but made no comment while she undressed and knelt next to Vera.

Vera, however, had a comment -- or a request. "Master, I understand your intent, but there is much anger and resentment between us. You need to purge yourself -- and I need to be punished, severely. While I am not in charge of such things, it would seem to me that here in front of the family is a good time."

Oliver rubbed his bearded chin. "You're right -- it's not your place -- and yet..." He got up and came to me. "This sounds... right... to me."

"I'm not a psychiatrist, but I'm leaning that way, too," I murmured.

<Analysis indicates that it presents an opportunity for emotional release for both of them,> the AI offered. <As a recommendation, the session should not be a token one. Doctor Hopkins should apply himself without restraint, as only then will he be able to forgive and forget. Vera, while she does not fully understand what she is asking, will receive some release from her guilt in the process.>

Oliver was watching me closely, so I knew that he realized that I was communing with the AI. "The AI recommends that you don't hold back. You need to get past your anger and she needs to get past her guilt. When it's done, though..."

Oliver nodded. "We both need to move on."

"Just exactly."

Oliver turned to Vera. "I believe your suggestion has merit. I also believe that the entire family should be involved, with the exception of young children. Please go upstairs and collect Tara and Keisha." Vera nodded and got up to go. "Take something to wear to avoid being nude in front of the children -- but discuss it with Tara. I'm sure that Jack intends to desensitize the children to such things soon." Then he turned to me. "We can't do this here -- it is likely to be loud. The basement?"

"Better than nothing," I agreed.

"Perhaps we should bind her..."

"Probably," I agreed. "Self-preservation and the desire to escape pain will trump her willingness to be punished pretty quickly." I thought a moment. "Got any Velcro?"

"As a matter of fact, I have some inch-wide strips used for computer cabling. Will that work?"

"Probably. If we wrap it over some webbing, so she isn't bruised or scratched up..."

"Some toweling, perhaps?" Oliver offered. "A washrag?"

"Is the basement all studs and such?" I asked.

Suddenly, Maureen was standing there. "Daddy!" she hissed. "Am I hearing this correctly? You're going to whip Momma?"

"I am," Oliver replied frigidly. "Soon, YOU will have concubines -- and you may have to pick a male, who is likely to be unruly! Perhaps you should pay attention!"

"B--but..." Maureen gasped, "It's Momma!"

"Were you not listening when she suggested this, herself?" Oliver asked. "She's right -- and besides, your mother or not, she MY concubine and she requires discipline!" He stood there, toe to toe with his angry daughter. "You can join the family and help her expiate her guilt -- which weighs on her massively -- or you can go somewhere and pretend it isn't happening. If you do the latter, however, some of her effort will have been wasted, because she owes YOU, too!" He glared over Maureen's shoulder at Judith -- but Judith was in her own little world, apparently...