Chapter 8

And then, the Earth being small, mankind will migrate into space, and will cross the airless Saharas which separate planet from planet and sun from sun. The Earth will become a Holy Land which will be visited by pilgrims from all the quarters of the Universe. Finally, men will master the forces of Nature; they will become themselves architects of systems, manufacturers of worlds.

Winwood Reade, 'The Martyrdom of Man,' 1872.

Every muscle in Sophia's body ached as she worked through the Tai Chi regimen with the rest of her class. Everyone in the class had emerged from their third round of augmentation the day before and they could be heard moaning and groaning as they stressed and stretched their sore muscles and joints. She even hurt where the gi she was wearing rubbed skin stretched tight over newly bulging muscles. Sensei Yamato moved among the students offering encouragement or criticism as needed.

"You must stretch your new muscles and learn your new balance. You are now living in someone else's body; you must make it your own." The diminutive Master Sergeant told them.

At five foot three inches, Master Sergeant Yamato was tiny for a marine, but still almost a head taller than his students. When Sensei Yamato was picked-up for service, he refused the standard Marine size augmentation, opting only for strength and agility improvements. When his choice was questioned by his superior officer, Yamato proceeded to best six fully augmented Marines in hand-to-hand combat. Colonel Walker had found Yamato cooling his heels in an administrative position because his unit commander didn't feel he was big enough to fight. Walker made him a much better offer.

"Concentrate on feeling your muscles move. Feel the new positions of your limbs. Work toward the new balance." He said to them. "The harder you work now the quicker the soreness will leave you. Remember, we start Aikido and Jujitsu training again in two days."

Sophia's brightened at the thought of resuming the faster martial arts. She, like most of the students, had really taken to the martial arts training that they were being given. The original intent of the training had been to help them adjust to their smaller bodies but, after a couple of minor occurrences between the students and a few of the marines on board the transport, it was also realized that the students would need to be prepared to defend themselves in a world where everyone, from humans to Sa'arm, were bigger than they.

All of the students had taken the martial arts sleep learning programs so they all had mental proficiency with the techniques. The daily classes with Sensei Yamato were now teaching them to use the techniques without thinking about them, making them second nature. Reggie and Aaron had both excelled at karate and the other striking forms of combat. Sophia had taken especially well to weapon Katas and was already an expert with the bo. She was really looking forward to next week when they would start Kenjutsu, the art and science of the sword.

"Excellent!" Sensei Yamato said as the Tai Chi routine ended. "Change clothes now and meet me at the gym in ten minutes. We are going to run 3 miles today and do light weights." Sensei Yamato bowed to the class who returned the gesture.

"That man is going to kill me." Aaron complained as he walked smoothly alongside Sophia. As promised, Confederacy medical technology had completely repaired his bad knee.

"It's not as bad as the first two rounds after they dropped our height. That was excruciating, even with the pain meds."

"I think it's my skin that hurts the most this time." Aaron replied.

"The med tech said that our skin would be expanded by the nanobots by tomorrow, so that should stop. It's my joints that are bothering me." Sophia said.

"That must be the bone reinforcement." Aaron responded. "It stills seems wild that we actually have titanium and carbon fiber reinforcement in our bones and that they actually weigh half of what they did before. I bet you could break a baseball bat over my head and I wouldn't even get a concussion."

"Do you want me to try it?" Sophia asked, her blue cat's eyes twinkling in silent laughter.

"Uh, no. Not really." Aaron said with a laugh.

They reached the recycler and stripped out of their practice uniforms, dumping them into the recycler to be remade into something else. They moved on to the replicator, which produced running shorts and T-shirts for them. After getting dressed, they followed their fellow students to the gym. Master Sergeant Yamato was there ahead of them, also wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Yamato now took on his other persona, drill sergeant in charge of the physical fitness of the Swift program.

"Three miles on the treadmills, ladies and gentlemen. After that, the AI has your workout routine for you. I will be here to help with weight-lifting technique," he told them.

They had just picked out a couple of treadmills when Reggie showed up and took one next to them.

"Where have you been?" Sophia said in an innocent voice.

"I bet he's been talking with that young English lass again." Aaron chided.

Reggie blushed. "Her name is Camilla and she is really nice."

"Aww, Reggie has a crush on her." Sophia said. "And here I thought that all the women he had at home would be enough for him."

Reggie refused to rise to the bait, concentrating on his running and refusing to look over at Aaron or Sophia.

"Speaking of all the women at home, we have to sit down with them about their augmentations. They're starting to drive me crazy wanting to know when they get to go to medical." Aaron said.

"It's not just the women. Kyle has been bugging me too." She replied.

"We have three hours between simulators and meditation tonight. We can at least start then." Reggie added.

Sophia said, "Sounds like a plan."

In the six weeks that they had lived on the Manfred von Richthofen, the concubines, led by Ann's sense of style for interior decoration, had transformed their living quarters into a home. Each sponsor had a bedroom decorated to their tastes with a king-sized bed, an office area and an attached bathroom. Each concubine had their own small bedroom with the exception of Ann and Marty who shared one and Tammy who shared with the children. They had also created a den for relaxing, watching videos and playing games. Just inside the front door they created a formal living room for receiving guests. They had plans to add bedrooms for the kids, a nursery, and separate offices for Aaron, Sophia, and Reggie when they reached the Colony.

Sophia, Reggie and Aaron were lounging on Aaron's bed waiting for the first of the concubines to arrive to discuss their individual augmentations.

"AI, you have the basic modifications we discussed for the concubines locked in, correct?" Sophia asked.

"Affirmative. The female concubines will all receive throat expansion, gag reflex suppression, enhanced libido, enhanced sexual stimulus response, kegel muscle strengthening, increased depth of penetration of the vaginal opening and an increased tendency toward bisexuality. The males will receive enhanced libidos, enhanced sexual stimulus response and a quicker recovery time between orgasms." The AI responded.

Before they could respond there was a knock at the door.

"Open door." Aaron said.

The door opened to reveal Wanda standing outside. Aaron waived her in.

"Sit with us honey," Sophia said, patting the bed between her and Reggie.

Wanda climbed up on the bed with them, giving all three a kiss before settling down.

"AI, display an image of concubine Wanda," Aaron said.

A slowly rotating holographic image of a naked Wanda appeared over the bed in front of them.

"Tell us what you want Wanda." Sophia said.

"I want to look younger, about 19, and I don't want to have to shave my armpits or legs ever again. I like my tits the size that they are, but I want them to be firmer with larger nipples. My ass needs to be firmer too." She said. Then she added, "If you want me to, I can be shorter so that I'm your height."

Reggie, Aaron and Sophia all said, "No!" at the same time.

"We have to be this size to fly the Swift. No one else should have to be this height," Reggie explained. "Just because you are taller than us doesn't mean you bother us or that we want you to change."

"Make the changes requested by Wanda but keep her height unchanged," Aaron told the AI.

The image of Wanda changed slightly.

"Here's what I would change," Aaron continued. "I want to keep the neat triangle of pubic hair above your pussy. I would also like to have the length of your inner lips longer so that I can see them poking out of your pussy. We'll give you stronger kegels and make it so that you can take any cock in the family without pain."

"I wouldn't add anything to that," Sophia said.

"Me either," Reggie said.

"Is that OK with you?" Aaron asked her. His reply came in the form of a blistering kiss that threatened to turn the meeting into an orgy. Aaron managed to get away from Wanda and send her for the next person.

Jessica appeared next. The only thing that she really wanted was to have her brunette hair be longer and to be prettier. They spent quite a bit of time making small adjustments until she was happy. Reggie thought that she looked a lot like Denise Richards when they were through. They decided to keep her C-cup breasts, firm them up, and trim her overall shape into one that looked more athletic.

Tammy arrived next, a look of utter fear on her face. She was crying softly when she got up on the bed.

"What's wrong?" Reggie asked her.

"Nothing, I'm happy. Just make me look nice, OK?"

"We will, Sweetie."

"AI, show us the image of Tammy."

Aaron said, "Make her 3 inches taller, 38 bust, 26 waist, 36 hips."

Tammy's image grew taller but shrank inwards to create a voluptuous hourglass figure.

"Firm up her tits and make them the same size. I think she would look good with larger areola and nipples that are slightly upturned," Reggie told the AI. "Flatten her stomach and shrink her butt just a bit."

"Shoulder length curly blonde hair, blue eyes, thinner nose and fuller lips. Porcelain complexion, pale pink areolas, bald pussy and no hair from the neck down," Sophia said.

The image that was spinning slowly before then now was of a beautiful, blonde bombshell, almost Marilyn Monroe like in appearance.

"What do you think Tammy?" Reggie asked, "Do you like it?"

"Can that really be what I look like?" Tammy asked, tears flowing from her eyes.

Reggie said, "Yes. Do you want to change anything?"

Tammy just shook her head, tears of joy running down her face.

"That's it. Lock in these changes along with the other usual improvements," Sophia told the AI.

Tammy gave them all a hug and a kiss before dashing from the room, her chubby butt shaking all the way.

"I'm going to miss that bubble butt," Aaron said wistfully.

"You'll enjoy her more when she has a self image she's happy with," Sophia replied.

"I know."

The next concubine to come in was sixteen year old Kelly.

"Officially you are my concubine but Reggie picked you so we'll ask Reggie what he thinks first," Aaron told her as they watched her image rotate.

"I don't want to change anything," Reggie said, gazing at the platinum blonde beauty. "Physically I think she's perfect."

"Me too," said Sophia.

"I agree," Aaron said. "What about you, Kelly? Do you want to change anything about yourself?"

Kelly thought for a moment before replying. "Just a couple of things. I would like to have green eyes and if possible I'd like to be tan without having to sun. My hair looks awesome when I have a tan to set it off. I've heard women talk about how sensitive their nipples are but mine aren't. I would like to have sensitive nipples so I can enjoy it when they are played with. And..." Kelly hesitated.

"What Sweetie? You can ask anything," Sophia said.

"Well, I know you guys said we could have sex with the others and that's been way cool, but when I was with Kyle, it hurt for me to take him. Can I be changed so that sex with him doesn't hurt?"

"Sure, that's not a problem," Aaron told her.

"But what about you guys?" Kelly asked, "Won't that make me too big to be good for the rest of the men?"

"No, the nannites are programmed to keep your kegel muscles tight. You'll be able to fit everyone and be tight for them too," Sophia said.

"Awesome!" Kelly said.

"AI, make the changes requested by Kelly and also remove the need to shave her armpits, legs and pussy with exception of her current strip of pubic hair," Aaron said.

"Changes noted," the AI responded.

Kelly gave each of them a hug and kiss. Before she left she asked Reggie, "Are you going to sleep with me tonight?"

"Um hmm. Come to my room at bedtime," replied Reggie.

Kelly rushed out of the room to be replaced almost immediately by Bonnie and Uma.

"Is it OK to do this together?" Uma asked them.

"That's fine, but why?" Aaron asked.

Uma blushed but Bonnie spoke right up, "We are bisexual and we love each other. We have for a long time. We could be lesbians, I think, and be happy with each other but we also like guys. We would just like to be here when the choices are made for the augmentations to each other."

Uma nodded.

"Well then, what do the two of you want?" Reggie asked.

Bonnie continued for the two of them. "We want to be thin and fit, like runners. And we both want to be the same height, about five foot five inches. Uma wants A-cup or small B-cup breasts with puffy nipples and I want C-cups with inch long nipples that push my shirt straight out when hard. We want bald pussies and we would both like our tongues to be longer."

Sophia laughed. "I like the way you think. Do you boys have any requests?" Reggie made a couple small suggestions on hair and eye color which the girls were both happy with.

Before the changes were logged Aaron whispered to Reggie. "Reggie, I think you should trade me one of your girls for Jessica."

"Why?" Reggie whispered back.

"Because if you don't Bonnie and Uma will be separated for 6 months at a time. You can only take one with you when deployed."

"Good idea," Reggie told him.

"AI, please log the changes to Bonnie and Uma along with the other usual improvements," Reggie said, "Also, Uma is no longer my concubine. I release her."

The three girls all gasped. Before they could say anything Aaron said, "AI, I release Jessica. She is no longer my concubine."

"Noted. The concubines Uma and Jessica are released and will become the property of the Civil Service until sponsored by another," the AI said.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bonnie screamed at Reggie, throwing herself at him and trying to hit him.

Reggie grabbed Bonnie and wrestled her to the bed. Once he had her under control he said, "AI, I take the concubine Jessica as mine."

"Noted."

Aaron spoke next. "AI, I take the concubine Uma as mine."

"Noted," the AI said.

"What just happened?" Sophia asked.

"We realized that if Bonnie and Uma remained Reggie's concubines, they would be separated whenever we are deployed. We have just arranged it so that they can go together as our technicians," Aaron explained.

As Aaron's words sank in, Uma and Bonnie began to cry. Reggie let Bonnie up from the bed and she and Uma immediately hugged each other. One of the things that they had been dreading was the times when they would be separated from each other by their duties. Now they would be able to be together. After kisses and hugs for everybody, they left the room hand-in-hand.

After the girls left the room Sophia spoke up. "That was nice of you. But we had better be careful. They could get lost in their own relationship and ignore the family."

"I doubt that will happen. Those two like to fuck a hard cock way too much to go all out lesbian on us," Aaron replied. Reggie nodded, having slept with both girls many times.

The next concubine to arrive was Kyle. He looked rather embarrassed when his image began to rotate above the bed.

"I think Kyle and Darren are all yours to deal with," Reggie told Sophia.

"Do you have any requests?" Sophia asked Kyle.

"I'd like to make my penis smaller, about 6 inches long," he said. "I want to be average."

"Kyle honey, that's not going to happen," Sophia replied.

"But I'm tired of hurting women when I have sex with them," he replied.

"Kyle, I'm not going to make you smaller," Sophia replied. "We've made the women bigger. The nanobots are going to adjust all of us women so that we can handle your magnificent cock without pain or damage."

Kyle thought for a minute then said, "OK, as long as I won't hurt anyone in the family. How about giving me a mustache?"

The image of Kyle grew a mustache. Sophia considered it for a minute.

"I don't think that a mustache is you. AI, show Kyle with a goatee. Make the hair in the beard about a quarter inch long and kind of narrow around the mouth. Also, put some muscle on him. Bring his weight up to about 165 pounds," Sophia said. "No hair below his neck. Make his chin stronger and his face a little more angular."

The image of Kyle changed to reflect Sophia's wishes.

"What do you think?" Sophia asked him.

"I like it," Kyle said. "The geek is gone."

"Record the changes."

"Changes noted," the AI responded.

Sophia gave him a quick kiss and said, "Send Darren in."

Darren entered the room a few minutes later and stood quietly by the bed. It had turned out that Darren was rather quiet and unassuming. Sophia knew it would be up to her to take charge of the moment.

"AI, show us the image of Darren," she began. The hologram soon appeared over the bed.

"Drop his weight down to 175 pounds. Let's see some muscles on him, flat stomach with ripped abs, and a tight ass," Sophia began. The image of chubby Darren transformed into one of a body builder.

"Hmmm. Too much muscle, I think. Pull back a bit on the muscles, make him look more like a tri-athlete," she said. "Let's try bald, no facial hair or body hair."

Darren's image changed again, now he looked quite a bit like Yul Brynner.

"Very nice," Sophia said as she got up off the bed. She slid up to Darren and began to stroke his cock. He was hard in seconds.

"Do you like anal sex?" she asked him.

"Yes. But I haven't had it very often," Darren told her.

"That's going to change Honey," she said. Sophia's looked at Darren's cock in her hand. Her thumb and forefinger could just touch each other around his thin 6 inch dick.

"Make Darren's cock 9 inches long but keep it the same thickness," she said.

Darren's image on the hologram changed again.

"What do you think?" she asked him.

"Can you make me twenty again too?" he asked.

"Sure."

"I love it," Darren told her. "I love you, too."

Sophia kissed him then asked him to send in Marty and Ann. As the door closed behind him, Sophia climbed back on the bed and asked, "Are we still going to go through with our plans for Marty and Ann?"

Reggie and Aaron both nodded.

"AI, please remove the pregnancy block on Ann and the temporary sterilization on Marty during their augmentation," Sophia said.

"Noted."

"I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they realize they're going to finally have another child," Sophia said. "Ann told me they tried and tried after Tiffany was born but she just couldn't get pregnant again."

"It'll be good for all of us," Aaron said.

There was a knock at the door and in a moment Ann and Marty were standing by the bed.

"Come on up here with us," Reggie said.

They climbed up on the bed and soon a hologram showing the couple was rotating above the bed.

"Here's your chance to cheat time." Aaron said. "What do you want to look like?"

Marty and Ann looked at each other then Ann spoke, "We don't really know. We've gotten so used to being just like we are."

"Maybe we can help," Aaron said to them. "AI, make Marty appear 35 years old and make Ann appear 29 years old. Make Marty's weight a trim 160 pounds and Ann's weight 120 pounds."

The hologram images changed to show younger and thinner versions of the couple.

"Oh my!" Ann blurted out. "I never thought I'd see myself look like that again."

"I have a question for you both but you have to come and whisper the answer to me." Sophia said. "If Marty's penis could be any size, width or shape what would you want it to be? You're first Ann."

Ann looked embarrassed, but she crawled over and whispered in Sophia's ear. When she was done, Marty crawled over and did the same. Before Marty could get away Sophia asked him, "Why?" He whispered a little bit more before returning to Ann's side.

Sophia said the AI, "Make Marty's cock ten inches long, six inches around and make it curve away from his body."

As Marty's cock changed on the hologram he exclaimed, "But that's not what I told you. I said I wanted it to be eight inches long so it would be bigger for Ann."

"I know what you told me," Sophia said, "but this was what Ann requested."

"Really?" Marty asked Ann.

"I've always loved sex with you, but I often wished I had more. Now I can have more," she said before she kissed him.

When she released him he asked, "But why do you want it to curve out?"

"My favorite position is from behind and this way you'll hit my G-spot," she replied, "Just like the vibrator I used to have."

"My turn to ask a question. Same rules but you have to whisper your answer to me," Reggie said. "If Ann's tits could be any shape or size, what would you want them to be?"

Ann scampered across the bed and whispered in Reggie's ear. Then Marty did the same.

Reggie laughed. "Well, at least the size is the same. Both Ann and Marty said they wanted D-cup breasts. Marty wants them to be hang a little and be bouncy. He says he likes to see them sway when Ann is on her hands and knees or is kneeling over him. Ann wants them to be firm and stand up."

"I think we are going to have to go with Marty on this one," Aaron replied. "The other girls all opted for firm, we need variety.'

"Here, here!" Sophia cried.

"Bouncy it is," Reggie said.

"Are there any other changes you would like now that we've started?" Sophia asked Ann and Marty.

They both shook their head.

"I have a few things," Sophia continued. "As befits Marty's status as our father figure, I want him to keep the little bit of gray hair he has on his temples. I also think he should keep his chest hair and pubic hair except for right around his shaft and his balls, which should be smooth."

"For Ann, I believe she should keep her pubic hair but make the hair finer. Let's keep it neatly trimmed above her pussy but shaved smooth below that," Aaron said.

"They both look awesome," Reggie said. "Let's go with this. Anything to add? Marty? Ann?"

They both shook their heads, tears of happiness trickling down their faces as they held each other close.