Chapter 61

Master reviewed the video footage of the entire process. "Bitch, you continue to amaze me!" he chuckled. "I couldn't have done better myself!" He stood there for almost a minute, frowning at me, cocking his head. Finally, he said, "This is against my better judgment, but... AI!"

"Troy Powers?" Oddly, the AI's mention of his name was my first exposure to it. So my Master's name was Troy...

"I accept this woman, Eleanor Whatshername..."

"Epstein," the AI supplied.

"Yeah, whatever..." Master eyed me.

"I accept," I blurted.

"Duly recorded," the AI intoned.

"Don't make me regret this," Master growled. "If you do, I'll find some way to fix it so you pull a train from here to the mess -- daily."

"Yes, Master." I knew better than to smile.

"Tell them Tuesday afternoon," Master directed. "We get in next Friday, I think... No, maybe we'll need a fall-back position -- I don't want to cut it too close, in case we have to toss this bunch..." He mused a moment -- and maybe I was the only one who recognized that his impatience and anticipation were the hidden drivers, here... "Tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon. Arrange it -- then get down to Medical. I'll tell them what I want." He shooed me off.

I went into the next room and called the Brocks. "My Master will see you tomorrow afternoon. Is that convenient?"

I watched Janine look irritated, then realize that she needed to adjust her attitude. "Yes. One o'clock?"

"That's fine."

"We'll reserve the same suite."

"We'll see you there." I hung up, then headed out to check on Reggie.

He was in the main room with Master. "Come here, Shit Bird," Master directed Reggie. "Grab my arm." Reggie came forward and grasped Master's forearm and Master hauled him into the air a bit. "See how long you can hang on. You kids need exercise -- besides your thumbs. All of you have big thumbs from video games -- and nothing else." Reggie, hanging from Master's forearm, was grinning from ear to ear. Master looked up at me. "I've got this. If I get bored, I'll hang him in a closet or something." I smiled, nodded, and withdrew, knowing that Master intended Reggie no harm -- and that Reggie was undoubtedly getting more attention from Master than he had ever managed from his own father.

I went into the tube not knowing what I would emerge looking like -- and emerged not changed much. Master had every hair follicle below my eyebrows removed -- that was the first thing I noticed in the mirror. My breasts rode higher, and some stretch marks left over from Reggie were gone. I felt younger and looked younger and my hair was the same color at the roots as it was at the tips and was glossier and springier. Oddly, he hadn't shrunk me much; some cellulite was gone...

"You're off to a good start," the medic announced. "By tomorrow, you'll be flushed out, pretty much, and regressed back to about twenty-five. Everything else is pretty minor, I think." I thanked her and went back to my Master.

"Well?" he demanded, eyeing me in his truculent way.

"Master, why didn't you...?" I turned and looked down at my butt.

"Shrink your ass?" Master chuckled. "I've gotten used to it. Besides, when I spank it or fuck it, I want it to jiggle, not be all tight." There didn't seem to be much to be said, so I said nothing, merely shrugging a bit in acceptance. "Go see if there is a playground or something on this tub," Master directed. "I'm serious about Reggie getting exercise. Be back for dinner." He waved me off. I went away smiling, thinking, 'He's just EEEVIL, my Master is...'

"June?" I burbled, once the connection was established.

"Maureen?" June was only allowing display from then neck up -- and she looked disheveled, but radiant.

"How did it go?"

"Today is the first day of my life as a REAL woman," June gushed. "I'm SOOO happy! Thank you!" The video panned back to show her sitting up naked in bed with Jesse Sayer's head on her lap. There was a clapping sound going on; at my prompting, the video panned left to display Barb playing some hand game with young Zachary. Clearly, they had moved in...

"So, all is well?"

"I think so."

Unable to come up with anything intelligent to say, I finished up with, "Call me if you need anything."

At Saturday's staff meeting, flush with my success, I planned to beard Decurion Tillotson for not having ANY concubines. THAT didn't work... When I showed up at his office around noon, there was a curvy young Hispanic woman kneeling next to his chair. "Um, did you hire a temp?" I asked.

The Decurion looked amused. "Not this time. This is Graciela Salazar. I've assumed responsibility for the entire Salazar family, which spans four generations of females. I'm mentoring young Javier Salazar, who is just over the border into sponsorship."

"Four generations?" I sputtered.

Nana Salazar is eighty or so," the Decurion related. "She's a dependent, technically, being too old to be a concubine. Graciela's mother Estrella is fifty-three, if I recall correctly. Graciela is somewhat younger than that, but older than she appears -- and her daughter Marisol is twelve."

"That's quite a family..." I said faintly.

"You'll be seeing a lot of Nana," the Decurion said, grinning, "I'm going to saddle you with her -- or maybe vice-versa -- because she's not only wise, she's devious. I think you'll learn a thing or two!" Gonzalo sat there grinning, too, so I guess he was in on the joke.

After the meeting, I asked Momma, "Did you know about this?"

"Nope," she replied, "I got blind-sided the same as you did. I had no idea. Just a few days ago he had nothing -- and no interest."

Nobody did poor Mack Friday night. I discovered the mistake Saturday morning at breakfast, but kept my big mouth shut; Tara and I had had 'the duty' the night before, leaving Beth and Keisha on deck. And since there were noises going around to the effect that Beth wasn't doing Mack without a direct order from Jack and Keisha is kind of shy, well...

I pulled Tara aside and talked with her. We'd both taken it easy on Jack the night before -- well, for us, anyway. We'd gotten one ride apiece and the off girl had 'helped out.' I like Tara and I don't mind chewing her titties and she's a helluva clit-sucker and knows I like having my ass played with. She doesn't taste too bad, either... "Hey, nobody welcomed Mack to the family."

"No shit? That sucks!" was Tara's response.

"Well, Jack's letting Beth get away with being a one man woman and Keisha..."

"Wouldn't be the first to volunteer," Tara finished. "She might after a pep talk though..."

"Let's talk to Mack first," I suggested. "He may not be interested for one reason or another." Jack had gone out after breakfast -- with Beth. I kinda figured she was gonna get a talking to at some point...

I took the lead; Tara hung back but was there for moral support. "Hey, Mack, I'm thinking that you didn't get much of a welcome to the family."

Mack shrugged. "I didn't expect much, really. I'm just happy to be here -- for myself, and for Michael."

"Well," I replied, "I still think you ought to have gotten a little something -- but Beth is seriously hooked on Jack and not looking for substitutes, and Keisha is a little shy. Tara and I, well, we were taking our turn, you know?" I cocked my head. "I bet if I let her know it was okay, Keisha might up something..."

"I don't want anybody to feel obligated," Mack protested.

"Too late!" I went to the door. "Keisha!"

Keisha came lumbering in. I mean, she's the sweetest thing, but she's fucking huge, you know? "Yeah?" She looked from me to Mack and back.

"Nobody took care of Mack last night," I accused.

"Oh." Keisha looked at Mack. "I wasn't sure..."

Mack threw out his hands. "Hey, I'm in no position to make demands!"

"I just didn't figure you'd want any," Keisha mumbled. "Not of me, anyways."

Mack cocked an eyebrow. "The way I understand it, if you have an itch, it's my job to scratch it if Jack isn't available. I don't see where I'd have a hard time getting motivated for any of you."

Keisha frowned, looking thoughtful, and I realized that Mack had talked over her head. "He said he'd be happy to fuck you, Honey."

Keisha's eyes popped. "OH! Okay! Maybe tonight, then..."

"Who has the duty tonight?" I asked.

"You and Beth," Keisha replied. "Jack was bitchin' that Beth and I damn near kill him..."

"And I'm an improvement?" I was a little insulted!

"Well, he's hopin'..." Keisha grinned.

"I predict that you're gonna look like an Oreo tonight, Mack -- the white filling in a black pussy sandwich!" I chuckled. I managed to scandalize two of them; Tara just cackled.

"Y'all want anything now?" Keisha asked. "I feel kinda bad; heck I coulda had you all to myself!"

"It's okay, really!" Mack protested. "I wasn't expecting anything. Besides, I'm not used to getting sex every day..." The look on his face said he got a lot less than that. "Jack took a risk; do you know how I ended up here?"

"I sense a story coming on!" I erupted. "Everybody, let's get some coffee and Mack can give us his life story!"

Mack rolled his eyes. "THAT'LL take about eight seconds!"

"Well, we can tell YOU some tales, too..." I offered.

"Sure." He shrugged.

A couple of minutes later, we were all relaxing on chairs in the living room. "You start, Mack," I cajoled.

"There isn't much, really," Mack replied. "I married Vicky out of high school. We had Michael more or less right away, and then everything dropped off. I was in electronics repair. Vicky was in and out, sexually -- and it got worse when she turned up pregnant with Monica. Over time, she got... abusive... over our sex life. I suspected that she was sleeping around -- there were just a lot of odd things going on with her -- but I kept my head down for the kids' sake. Besides, it was my fault, apparently. Anyway, after we got picked up, she started flirting with a couple of other women's husbands and the next thing I knew, they were doing a threesome thing right in front of me and the kids! Things got a little -- acrimonious, I guess you'd describe it -- and everybody got canned for rape or assault. Then Jack showed up..."

"Rape?" I raised a hand.

"Vicky saw that she was going to get into trouble over the mess and lied about it, basically. She definitely started it, and if she wanted out at some point, it was probably only momentary. It was clear to me that she did it because she could, because she planned to split, and because she got a kick out of knifing me in the back..." Mack related.

"Then what happened?" Keisha was all sympathy.

"Jack showed up and put us all in different rooms and the AIs started interrogating me -- I'm pretty sure it was the same for the others," Mack replied. "Vicky rolled over pretty quick, I guess. The AIs see EVERYTHING -- did you know that? Anyway, Vicky admitted what she was up to -- including cuckolding me and the fact that Monica isn't mine, even. I guess Jack was pretty disgusted with her. Anyway, he separated us, and he separated the other two couples. I guess to punish Vicky, he went over how fucked they were with the other two guys and then sicced them on her. I saw the video; one of them was a real rough rider -- beat the shit out of her and then fucked her in the ass. The other guy seemed happy just taking leftovers. Funny thing was, it seemed like she got off on it. Now I'm sort of wondering..."

Tara cocked her head. "What, Baby?"

"Maybe it wasn't the sex, per se," Mack mused. "Maybe I was just too gentle."

Tara looked sympathetic. "It happens, Baby. When we fuck -- I'm telling you up-front, so you know -- you can use me like toilet paper. I actually like it. You would think being a black woman that the idea of being a slave wouldn't be big with me, but I'm not wired right, or something -- I like being used. If I even look at you crooked, you just grab you a piece -- shake me, beat my ass, choke me with your cock -- and don't worry about it, Baby -- I like it!"

Mack shook his head. "I don't know if I can do that."

I eyed him. "Mack, I think you're a real nice guy -- but sometimes, you need to let yourself go, you know? You can do that with Tara -- get even with Vicky and get it out of your system. You won't upset her -- she REALLY likes it!"

Mack looked troubled. "I'll think about it."

Realizing what was up, I pressed, "You think you'll go overboard, don't you?"

Mack eyed me, considering. "Yes."

"Don't sweat it, Sweetie. I'll ride shotgun, if you like. You can go nuts until I step in. I'm good at these things," I assured him.

Mack nodded. "I'll... think about it."

"She had you thinking you couldn't fuck, didn't she?" I guessed.

"Yeah."

"It was all about the extras, I bet. That happens," I consoled him. "People lie about such things -- or don't even tell their spouse -- and shit happens. If you'd known, you probably could have fixed it."

"Maybe." Mack's eyes were hooded.

"Is there more?" I asked.

"Yeah." Mack smiled. "Jack has some weird ideas of punishment. He told the other guys' women that if they wanted, they should have sex with me and it would be videoed -- and he would MAKE their men watch it -- several times."

"So you got laid, Baby?" Tara chuckled.

"Yeah, one of them did me twice," Mack replied. "The other one didn't seem comfortable with the idea."

"Twice, huh? You don't sound busted to me..." Keisha offered.

Mack grinned. "Maybe not. That's my tale -- NEXT!"

"You got a chunk of mine already," Tara replied. "I was married, but he walked, after three kids. I had this thing -- and like Frieda said, I didn't really let it out, so I never really got what I was looking for. My old man -- he took advantage of some parts -- like the fact that I didn't bitch a lot when he came home smelling like some other woman -- but he never really picked up on the whole deal, you know? He just wandered out the door one day and didn't come back... My boss was sticking a dick in me occasionally at work, because he discovered I would let him -- and he wasn't real nice about it, and that was okay, too... Then Jack came along one night with Beth and Frieda -- who I knew as customers -- but things went wild and I found myself sitting at their table and spilling my guts..."

I grinned. "There were just these indications that you weren't saying everything you wanted to..."

"Nobody else ever saw them," Tara muttered, flicking a glance at me. "We were talking about my kids, and suddenly Frieda goes, 'So how long have you been fucking the bartender?' I nearly fell out of my chair! A couple of days later, they were back -- and Jack just pulled a dog collar out of a bag and put it on the table. The rest is history, as they say."

Mack looked at Keisha and me. Keisha erupted, "I was Tara's babysitter on nights that she worked. One night, she comes boiling in the house with Beth and Beth's momma and Frieda, all in identical filmy night things, and says, 'I'm gone. If you wanna go, too, go out to the living room and talk to the guy.' I figgered lookin' like I do, I didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell, but Jack said he was lookin' for mamas, not beauty queens -- so here I am..."

Mack's regard swung to me. I shrugged. "Beth and I were like sisters -- with me being the older, wiser one..."

"How old ARE you, anyway?" Mack interrupted.

"I'm twenty-three," I replied. "I'm a late bloomer, despite the fact that I started having sex at, like, eight..."

"Whoa!" Mack gasped. "Say that again?"

"My Stepdaddy's brother was a pedophile," I replied. "The nice type, who just has fun with little girls while giving them fun, too. Unfortunately, Stepdaddy wasn't the nice type. I don't think he was a pedophile, either -- at least, not at the start -- I was a slut and he was pissed about it and he used me -- more or less as punishment -- but then he got into it. Uncle Bart never hurt me and I don't think he would have ever damaged me, mentally or physically; we were just sucking each other and rubbing each other off. Stepdaddy, though, wanted things -- like my ass..." I paused, remembering. "After it was over, I just didn't feel like growing up for a while..."

Mack looked sad. "That sucks."

I cocked my head. "Well, it did and it didn't. I hear about pedophiles on the radio and TV and what terrible things they supposedly do -- and I wonder if a lot of them aren't like Uncle Bart. He NEVER hurt me -- we were just playing, you know? He never tried to get into my pussy or my ass with anything but his tongue. I had a GREAT time with him! Stepdaddy, though, was a bastard -- all the way around. He wasn't a bastard because he was a pedophile, he was a pedophile because he was a bastard. It took him abusing me -- in plain sight, with threats of pimping both me and Momma out -- for Momma to finally see it."

I sighed. "Anyway, Jack knows all about my lumps and bumps -- he seemed to up-front, almost. I'm here because I'm Beth's best friend and smarter little sister, not because Jack ever confessed his undying love for me. In fact, that's what I like about Jack -- he doesn't pull any punches. All the time Stepdaddy was calling me a slut and a whore, he had poor Uncle Bart trying to convince me he loved me -- something he couldn't do himself, because even at eight I knew an asshole when I saw one. So when Jack said to me, 'No promises, but love might come later,' I was good to go..." I sniffled a little; I get worked up over the way my childhood turned out.

Mack was all sympathy, of course -- which is the quick way to get me to shrug it off; I don't need to be felt sorry for. He saw THAT right away, and merely nodded and didn't say anything. Very perceptive, is our Mack.

He was popping an erection; he had been, off and on, throughout the conversation. It was a nice one, too -- no surprise if Jack expected him to take care of our action. Keisha started eyeballing it, "Hey, Mack, you don't think maybe you could spare any right now, could you?"

"I'm sure it wouldn't hurt me any..." Mack mused. "You don't have to because you think you owe me..."

"What if it's because I like what I'm seein'?" Keisha retorted.

"That's not a problem," Mack replied, chuckling. "No problem at all..."

I don't think he was prepared for just how fast Keisha moved; she was on her knees with her head between his legs before anybody could blink! She rolled those lips of hers over his dick and he went, "UUUUHHH!" and his hands went from trying to push her away in surprise to holding her head. I let out a cackle as he turned to me and said, "DAMN!"

Keisha is just a natural cocksucker; Mack found THAT out REAL FAST! I watched his legs straighten out and he flopped back, straightening out, looking at the ceiling and not seeing it while he made faces and I knew he was gonna blow in record time! He was trying to be nice to her, but he couldn't let go of her head, so he kind of just rubbed her hair; in less than a minute, he was gasping, "Shit! Shit! Shit! I'm gonna..." Then he REALLY locked up, and Keisha went "Ummmmm!" and stopped to swallow. Mack flopped back like a puppet with cut strings, but he got his shit together fairly quickly and sat up, looking for something nice to do for Keisha -- and ended up rubbing her back.

"That was real impressive for me," Mack croaked, "but probably not for you!"

"Oh, I dunno," Keisha muttered. "You be still hard..." She started fisting him. "I'm all wet now. I'm gonna flop back here on the floor; you jus' crawl on, okay?"

"Yeah, sure..." Mack looked at Tara and I.

Tara grinned. "Don't mind us, Baby -- you're gonna have two pussies in sight probably all the time, so you might as well get used to it!"

Mack dropped out of the chair on his knees and crawled between Keisha's big thighs. He had another surprise coming, and Keisha wasn't slow about delivering it; he settled in and pushed inside her and she said, "Yeah... Come on..." and crossed her ankles over the saddle of his back. "Yeah! Rub my nipples, please? Uh huh... Uh huh... Yeah, do it! Fuck me!" She put her feet back down at that point so she could start throwing her pussy up at him and Mack looked up at Tara, surprised; Keisha was already pushing him for more speed, more power!

"Fuck her like you mean it, Baby!" Tara yelled, cackling, "Keisha likes her dick hard and fast! You can't hurt that shit! Screw it!"

Mack didn't fuck around; at that point, he got totally with the program, and somehow he managed to get ahead of Keisha after all! If I wanted to crack walnuts, all I would have needed to do was drop one on Keisha's pussy -- that's how hard they were going at it! The sounds of them coming together made me flinch! In a minute or so, Keisha got big eyes and went, "OOOOOHHHHH SHIT!" and hunched up and you could tell Mack was poking her right where she wanted it from the howl she let out with! Mack got this feral grin on his face and I knew that any worries he had over his ability to fuck had blown right out the window as he kept pounding while Keisha arched herself up off the floor to take him deep...

He got through it and kept her rolling -- right up to the point where she went nuts on him the second time -- then he let her have it; I'd circled around and Tara and I were in prime locations to see the white goo foam out around his dick. Keisha chanted, "Yeah! Yeah! Gimme! Gimme!" bucking under him like a bronco! When he got done, Mack settled back on his heels, puffing and blowing.

Tara stepped up beside him and got this snooty expression on her face and waved a finger like she was Paris Hilton or something and said, "I'll have one of THOSE this evening at bedtime -- and if Keisha wants any more, she can wait until I'm done!" I cracked up! Tara lost it, snorting, when I did, and Mack grinned from ear to ear. We were gonna be just fine...

Down in Colonist Control, I got a look at the figures for who got picked up and who didn't -- and I didn't like them a helluva lot. I called Mark and Vera and Maureen and Gonzalo -- and they didn't, either. Gonzalo said, "We were hoping things wouldn't deteriorate this quickly."

"Yeah, no kidding," I grunted. Women were dumping their mates left and right -- and the result was an ALREADY disaffected group of males that we had no real use for. I waited until noon, and then got on the horn to all the public areas. "Your attention please -- sponsors in particular! A couple of days ago, we had an ugly little demo -- and it seems to have backfired! What we were ATTEMPTING to do was to provide a cautionary tale for male concubines regarding what they might UNREASONABLY expect to have to put up with. It was SUPPOSED to make sponsor's lives easier by reminding male concubines that they were no longer in charge of their erstwhile mates and that they shouldn't get any foolish ideas about interfering with their sponsor's right to do as he or she pleased with her. It was NOT supposed to fuck up a whole lot of families because one or the other parent took a look and said 'I can't handle that' or 'you can't handle that' as the case may be. It was ALSO NOT supposed to be a presentation of the operating model for concubine families! People, we're trying to PRESERVE the family unit here, not shred it! There are things a male concubine can do for you besides be your personal whipping boy -- and you need to pull your collective heads out of your asses and THINK about them!"

Taking a breath, I continued. "On Nuevo Angelino, the Support Directorate expects that fifty percent or so of your concubines should be doing some kind of work for them in colony support functions at any one time -- has it occurred to ANY of you that this might be more convenient or productive if that fifty percent was male? That means Momma stays home and raises the kids and Daddy trots off to work -- what a novel idea! I, personally, have taken on a single male concubine with a son -- and his purpose under my roof is to backstop me with however many of my women who get horny while I'm tied up, one way or another. Now, I know that a lot of you are gonna want to put limits on such things -- but Hell, most of the women were on birth control, anyway, back on Earth... Just because the rest of her kids are gonna have your genes doesn't mean he can't get a little periodically... In my case, I'm not sure I'm going to set that limitation; we'll have to see. For now, for my male, the rule is that he can't demand, but he can accommodate any request..."

"Navy guys go on cruises," I added, "and you tend to leave a woman or two at home without anything but tongues available. I figure that probably sucks, don't you? Concubines get into trouble like that -- wouldn't it be better if you KNEW who she was sleeping with? If she fucks up, you'll find out -- the AI will CERTAINLY mention such things -- but you can avoid the hassle by leaving them a supply and being a little open-minded."

"Most concubines get picked up and they make a conscious decision at that point to dump the old man -- but that didn't happen here! We picked up COUPLES -- and it stands to reason that your new female concubine will be a lot happier with you if you don't MAKE her drop the father of her current crop of children like a hot rock!"

"Female concubines! I'm gonna ask you to try to hold on to the old man for a couple more days. We pretty much assume that you must have loved the galoot -- give it the old college try! Male concubines -- what you saw represents the extremes, not the norm! Negotiate with a sponsor -- find out his or her expectations -- THEN, if you can't deal and Momma insists that this is the one, well, at least everybody tried... I'm kicking every male who reported to the Bachelor Male Concubine Quarters in the past twenty-four hours out -- go back to Momma and hang out for another couple of days -- see what happens. Last, but not least, sponsors -- grow the fuck up! How many women can you service simultaneously, anyway? You get extras for taking on a family -- you're going to need the help..." I paused for a second, decided that was enough, and said so. "That is all."

"Quite the little homily," Mark grinned.

"Yeah, well, it was unstructured, but needed, I think." I turned to the watch officer. "Send the males who were dumped out in the past twenty-four hours home."

The watch officer rolled his eyes, but said, "Aye, Sir." I didn't blame him -- it could get to be work. "What if they insist?"

"We're going to want to know why," I replied. "Real bailouts should have happened already. Send 'em to me. No, send 'em to Mark!"

"Hey!" Mark erupted.

"You've got the staff," I retorted. "Why should I do your job for you?"

Mark glared at me for a moment, then grunted, "Send them to Cuatrecasas -- with overflow to Hopkins the Younger." Mark looked thoughtful for a moment. "In fact, have Hopkins the Elder review all entries to the BMC group since Sunday and forward questionables to Cuatrecasas and Hopkins the Younger. Work backwards. Interview both sides to see why they split." He eyed me. "You're right, of course; the Evans incident had unexpected consequences -- and they go beyond anything we might have gained." He went back to communications. "Hopkins the Elder, please, AI. Vera? When you go through the list, have the AI flag women who got selected after dumping their partners -- I'm going to want to talk to the sponsor. We should check all three pieces of those."

I nodded. "I TOLD them it was heavy-handed!"