Chapter 46

So now it was evening, after a day of changes, and there they stood. There weren't a whole lot of happy campers in Mess -- some sponsors, mostly young ones, working the aisles, checking out the merchandise -- but the Salazars were in with the majority, definitely. Nana waved her cane at me, but Javier called her down. I went on over to see how they were doing; I could have avoided it, but it was kind of like watching a train wreck -- you can't look away...

Nana met me halfway; she was moving better already, not toddling, doing that rocking walk thing old women in particular do. Pretty soon, I figured she would toss the cane. When she got close, I noticed that she was wearing a collar like a concubine. Being a dependent, she was clothed -- a blessing, no doubt. She looked up at me, her eyes slitted. "So you do not lie."

Javier said, "She says..."

I waved him off. "I got it." The AI was translating. "I do not lie -- it is a waste of my time."

"Estrellita," she called over her shoulder. "You must present yourself to men -- present yourself to this one. He has power -- and he uses it. Hector was a silver-tongued persuader, but this one compels. You're better off, I think."

Estrella blushed and looked away. "You're a handsome woman -- but I see women of all shapes and sizes every day..." I said.

"See how he consolidates his position?" Nana smiled, shark-like. "You are a commodity, my daughter. Now you must do something to distinguish yourself -- and you have no options. There is no bargaining, here -- you must grovel."

"I cannot," Estrella replied, eyeing me darkly.

"Today..." I appended, smiling thinly. I had no idea why I was bothering, frankly; Nana had made it a game, I guess. Did I want Estrella? Normally, the answer would have been no -- I'd have dismissed her out of hand. The battle of wills added interest, though...

"Should I offer to grovel, then?" Graciela asked. "The price for staying with Javier..."

I cocked my head. "Yes?"

"It might be simpler if Mama paid it."

"What?" Estrella spun on her daughter.

"I'm his mother," Graciela said diffidently. "Your relationship is more... distant..."

Nana had spun to observe this confrontation. "Neither of you need do this."

"There is Marisol," Graciela said tightly. "And there is you. Javier is responsible, but..."

"He is not a parent?" Nana finished. "I was. I am."

"Things are different, Mama."

"They certainly are!" Nana agreed, with some asperity.

"It appears that you need to work through this before anyone can grovel before me," I murmured, amused. The concubines eyed one another in consternation -- and Nana barked a laugh.

"Which would you want?" Nana asked.

"I'm not in the market," I replied. "Moving women, assigning women, placing women in brothels while they await a new sponsor -- these are all parts of my job. I see naked women all day every day -- and I use them as the need arises. I have no assigned concubines. I need none."

"Who takes care of your home?" Graciela asked. "Who cooks your meals? Who cleans for you? Who cares for your children? Do you have children? Are you not required...?"

<The concubine Graciela makes a good point,> the AI erupted. From the women's reactions, I wasn't the only one to hear it.

I found myself taken somewhat aback. "I... get my meals from the replicator. I sometimes bring in an unassigned concubine to clean..."

"And you have no children," Estrella murmured, her smile predatory.

"I have no children..." I admitted, defensive, "yet."

Nana cocked her head to the side, "Finally, a chink in your armor..."

"I really don't think it's the correct time..." I temporized.

<You are behind schedule, Decurion,> the AI interjected. The women's faces all reflected the fact that the AI had not kept this comment private, either. <You should have reproduced eleven months ago. There should be a second pregnancy in process.>

"AI!" I barked, angry, "That is privileged information!"

<Indeed not, Decurion. This is the first real opportunity that has surfaced to air this issue in the presence of someone who could repair it. Therefore, it was raised for discussion,> the AI retorted.

"He needs two..." Estrella raised an eyebrow, looking at Graciela.

"Two CHILDREN!" I erupted, "Not two..." Frustrated, I turned on my accuser, "AI!"

<The child, Marisol, would count...> the AI offered, reasonably -- well, from its perspective, anyway...

Having lost control of the situation, I got carried away. "IF I was to think about such a thing, I would have to use you both -- everywhere -- before I made a decision as to which of you I would keep. The other would go to Javier -- and BOTH of us would fuck BOTH of you, regularly! So you see..."

"He's about to tell you that you might as well both stay with Javier," Nana cackled. "Only he's a liar..."

"There's a whole world of men where we're going," I argued. "You don't need me. You don't even WANT me! I'm not going to stop what I'm doing -- it's my JOB!"

"It's his job!" Nana mimicked sarcastically. "So much better than Hector, for whom womanizing was an unannounced hobby, don't you think, Estrellita? He's up front about it... If you're going to have to share him, wouldn't you rather share a man of power than a loser like Hector?"

Clearly, Estrella's estranged husband was a bone of contention between Nana and Estrella... "I don't think I want to get in the middle of this," I announced. "Good luck to you all. Javier, take good care of your great-grandmother -- although I have to believe that it will be the other way around..." I got out of there!

After dinner, Britney and I and Judith returned to my quarters; whether or not they were Vera's quarters was unclear. I sent Judith to do her video -- and after she did it, I screened it. I didn't know whether to laugh or just shake my head sadly...

The screen cleared to display Judith, looking not particularly happy, visible to below her admittedly fine breasts. "Hi, I'm Judith Collins. I'm one of Dr. Hopkins' daughters, but if you don't know who Dr. Hopkins is, it's not worth the time to bother with trying to figure out if that's important. I just mention it because my last name is different -- I was married, for a while..." Her voice trailed off. "I'm not, now, I guess. There is no ex, and no kids. I'm nineteen." She stood and the camera panned and took her in to below the knees, but missed her feet. She did a slow but not necessarily graceful three-hundred-sixty degree rotation. "As you can see, I'm kind of thick -- but somebody said recently that I carry it well, and I hear there might be some backlash in the colonies with guys getting tired of blonde supermodels with impossible tits. I'm, uh, all natural... But of course, you can change me as you like, I guess..." She settled into Presentation Two, the video following. "I've been doing some, well, I guess you'd call it training -- so I figure I can probably handle most things you might want to do... If you're interested in meeting, I'm, uh, number seventeen sixty eight." That was it -- the screen darkened.

"Judith!" I yelled.

"Yes, Daddy?" She padded into the room, naked and barefoot. Taking her really WAS an option...

I shook my head. "Have you LOOKED at that thing?"

"Well..."

"You don't want to!" I declared. "You WANT to start from scratch, I think! About the only thing you did right was settle into Presentation Two, I think. Why did you bother mentioning me?"

"It was in case someone from Brinkman sees it, Daddy," she replied, shrugging.

"All right. Standing was a good idea, but you didn't display your feet!" Judith's feet, like her hands, were definitely part of any full presentation; they were well formed and well cared for. A normal person on the street could see them, but in her 'personal ad' she hadn't bothered. "You really need to do that turn thing a bit more gracefully and see to it that they see EVERYTHING. While you're at it, you should REALLY have done a bit of Presentation Three -- and SMILED, for God's sake! You should do it over."

Judith looked haggard. "Not tonight, Daddy. You have no idea what it takes... Thank you for your critique -- I'll do it again tomorrow."

"Very well," I sighed. "Goodnight." It was clear that she was going to bed.

I was sitting with Britney on my lap, idly fondling her breasts when a door I hadn't really noticed opened and Vera walked in. "We're back from Medical, Ollie."

"How did it go?"

Big Mike and Cletus White trailed her diffidently into the room. "Okay. I don't think anyone is prepared to play Superman or Superwoman -- the AI suggested a good night's sleep for everyone." She eyed my hands on Britney. "What about you?"

"A bit of quality time," I murmured, refusing to be baited. As far as I could tell, Vera's and my relationship was now very much at will; we needed to get used to the limitations, if any. Finding them would no doubt be agenda item one...

"Do you mind if I sleep with you, then?" Vera asked diffidently. "I slept elsewhere last night..."

I felt Britney tense. "Should I...?" she asked.

Vera smiled and shook her head. "I doubt it. I'd prefer the left side, but if you'll take the right... If Ollie decides that he needs exercise, I can provide it, but if you were looking forward to it at all, just go ahead. It's been a long day. Don't feel that you have to limit yourself or abstain, either -- I REALLY don't mind." She cocked her head, smiling at Britney. "We're not in competition. Ollie will have several more concubines, and I'm going to collect one or two. I want to be there for Ollie, but who knows what the future will bring? YOU are his concubine..." She looked over her shoulder. "The boys will sleep next door -- they need their rest, too. Where is Judith?"

"Next door?" I probed.

"Yes. The AI moved Maureen, unilaterally. I hope she won't be too angry," Vera sighed.

"Judith has gone to bed, after putting out a video that I would give a 'D' if I were grading it," I related. "She apparently plans a second attempt tomorrow."

Vera nodded. "All this is hard, Ollie. I'm not really sure you understand." She turned. "I'm going to settle my boys, and go crawl into bed. Just come whenever you're ready." She waved Big Mike and Cletus out before her; I stifled my amusement at the idea that either of them might be a boy...

"Oliver?" Britney stirred in my lap. "When do you plan to...?"

"Tomorrow, I replied. "There are still Brinkman people out there."

"Have you considered Rhonda?"

My interest piqued, I asked, "Do you know something?"

"I was just thinking..." she murmured obsequiously.

I couldn't shake the idea that she might be hiding something, but it wasn't worth the effort to pry it out. "Good thought." I rubbed her soft belly. "Let's go to bed. I think... yes... I'd like to get started with something before Vera arrives." It wasn't that I wanted to deliberately tweak Vera's nose -- more that I suddenly had the urge and didn't want Britney inhibited by Vera's presence during the early stages.

It worked, too; we were deeply involved, me kneeling between Britney's upraised legs delivering pleasure at a steady rate while Britney recovered from her first orgasm when Vera entered the room. She settled in a chair and watched, not bothering us while I brought Britney to a second peak and lost my way attempting to make it three, emptying myself in Britney's clasping tunnel. I rolled us onto our sides and we were still entwined when Vera entered the bed behind me, murmuring, "That looked good. Isn't he wonderful, Britney?"

"Uhm huhm..." Britney was flagged; orgasm tended to rob her of energy in the short term.

Vera smiled and caressed her back once and lay down behind me -- and we all went to sleep...

It is Sunday evening -- the end of our first full day on the Valhalla, and one involving a lot of education for everyone. I'm in bed, with Shelley -- my one-time spouse -- in my arms, crying bitterly, wondering if I hadn't made a serious mistake...

On the afternoon that I'd consolidated my hold on my two current concubines, Nadine had pulled me aside and asked me if she could cohabit with me. We were to pool our resources where concubines were concerned -- and Nadine wanted to carry a child or two of mine. This seemed like a pretty good idea, so I accepted.

Yesterday, upon our boarding, Nadine ensured that she was a part of my entourage and was quartered with me. This didn't seem to be a problem either, despite the fact that she banished both of my concubines so that we could have our own first tryst. Nadine is seriously accomplished, if somewhat demanding; I enjoyed myself and didn't worry, as I was up to the task WITHOUT augmentation.

Today, however, she asked for some interesting alterations to both herself and my concubines, including upsizing the clitoris on each of them and a limited (by me -- I'm not a fan of udders) bust increase -- and some tongue modifications on Shelley and Susan. She also became VERY controlling -- which was disconcerting for my concubines, as they expected to answer to me alone. She ended up spanking them both and then requiring from each an extended session of cunnilingus. Susan was still at it; Shelley's tongue was apparently worn to a nub...

'AI, I'm concerned that I may have made a mistake where Nadine is concerned,' I subvocalized. 'What is the current guidance for when two sponsors of different sexes cohabitate?'

<There are a number of formats, despite the fact that such relationships are too few to consider the norm. Some such households pursue equality as much as is practical; others are organized more on the lines of one sponsor being a 'concubine with privileges,' who subordinates herself to the other sponsor after the fashion of a concubine, within limits which may vary greatly over the range of examples.>

'We haven't really worked this out...' I mused.

<Nadine Epperson is a complex female who exhibits certain behaviors not considered the norm for your species. There are indications that she prefers to function in a dominant role over some people, but prefers to hand ultimate control off to others -- even to the extent of complete submission. Observations of this type of personality reveal that the more general and specific responsibility the individual accepts, the more likely that a balancing submissive role is required. What led Ms. Epperson to be interested in cohabiting with you, exactly? There is some indication that you were involved in a punishment session for your concubines...>

'That's correct.'

<A hypothesis presents itself that appears to fit the situation. Ms. Epperson is attempting to obtain a definition of your relationship from you by forcing you to act to curb her excesses.>

'She wants me to confront her?'

<This is the hypothesis. At issue is the fact that it IS a hypothesis and she is a sponsor. If the hypothesis is incorrect, there could be an aggravated assault charge leveled against you.>

'How will I know which way it is going to fall?'

<You will not, until you have won the encounter. However, should the assault charge materialize, this conversation and Ms. Epperson's psychological data may be entered as mitigating evidence at the hearing.>

'That could be cold comfort...' I mused.

<Agree. The safe course is to terminate your cohabitation agreement and rescind permission for her to abuse your concubines -- but if Nadine truly wants to be dominated...>

Was I up for this? The AI was leading me to believe that Nadine was looking for discipline -- was I a disciplinarian? Yeah, actually... I even had a big, thick paddle with a couple of holes in it in my old office on Earth... "Get up, Honey." I rolled Shelley off me and got up and headed out to the main room.

Nadine was splayed in a chair -- well, it had started out as one, no doubt, before she had the AI alter it. Now she was reclining on a sloping surface with her knees up over the padded arms of the thing and her crotch basically hanging at the edge. She was wearing nothing below the waist. Susan had her face in there -- and maybe a hand -- and Nadine was holding what looked like a leather strap. From the looks of Susan's back, even though it hadn't made enough noise for me to notice it in the bedroom, it was plenty capable of leaving stripes... "Nadine! There is such a thing as abuse! How long do you intend to do that?"

"Well, for a little bit, yet. I'm not sore... It'll be easier for the girls once our clitorises size up," Nadine replied, with a look that implied I was disturbing her.

"That's another thing -- I don't have any use for chicks with dicks!" I growled.

"They won't be that big, Dear. Now run along..."

"Stop fucking with Susan. NOW!" I roared.

"Who's going to make me?" Nadine snapped, climbing off the chair and snapping the strap against her palm.

<A clear challenge...>

"That would be me!" I stepped forward. Nadine swung the strap and I grabbed it; the damned thing must have been of alien manufacture, since the whole underside felt like cockleburs. It didn't matter -- I had the damned thing. I used it to tug Nadine toward me. She aimed a kick at my balls -- well, at least we could swap assault charges... I took it on the thigh -- which hurt -- and it meant that when I grabbed her foot, I felt no compunction about lifting it until she fell -- hard -- on her back. It knocked the wind out of her; I consolidated my position by rolling her over and putting her in a hammerlock. "AI, give me something in a whipping bench!" The chair started reorganizing itself into something a lot more narrow and boxy.

<The chair cannot produce binders, but some will appear in the replicator.> the AI informed me.

'Get me a gag, too.'

<Execution proceeds.>

"Susan, get the stuff out of the replicator when it shows up," I instructed. Susan hauled herself up off the floor and headed for the kitchen.

Nadine got her breath back and started to struggle. "You can't do this!"

"I am..." I rolled her onto her back and popped the seal on her blouse. We had a brisk physical argument over whether I was going to be capable of pulling it back off her shoulders -- which Nadine lost.

"This is assault!" she gasped.

"This is retribution!" I corrected her. Susan arrived with some cuffs and something that looked like a belt; I slid the latter through Nadine's upper arms as they were trapped behind her by the blouse's long sleeves and tightened it down, pinning her elbows behind her back. Nadine started howling and I took the gag -- something inflatable that had a flat part that fit between the lips and teeth and a balloon piece behind the teeth -- and shoved it in her mouth. We went around and around while she tried to turn her head enough to dislodge it, but I just kept my hand over her mouth long enough to inflate the balloon to the point that extraction was impossible. Then I held her nostrils closed...

Mouth breathing around a thick rubber balloon wasn't happening; Nadine struggled, turned red, and then started shading toward blue, her lungs heaving. Finally, she settled down. She was busy concentrating on breathing while I removed the blouse. Then I sat on her legs and put the ankle binders on and rolled her over to do the same with her wrists. If she gave me trouble, I squeezed the living daylights out of one of her small breasts.

The chair was now an 'L' toppled forward and supported by a base attached perpendicular to the tip of the short leg. The long leg, now horizontal at waist height, was about eight inches wide and eight inches thick. I stood Nadine up and draped her over it, then threaded the wrist binders under the extension and pulled her back to the point that she bent where the 'L' did and knelt on her knees. This pinned her bound wrists against the extension, the belt behind her back above her elbows robbing her of any slack at all. Her head was over the end of the extension and her ass was in a perfect position for me to test her little strap on her. "Go get Shelley," I told Susan.

When the pair returned, I directed them to stand in front of the bench, where Nadine could see them. "This is a nasty thing," I informed Nadine. "I don't like it. I'm going to see if I can wear it out on you." I gave Nadine five hard, criss-crossing stripes across the ass; if she hadn't been gagged, you probably could have heard her halfway around the planet! I circled around before her. "What? You don't like it? Imagine that!" I put six more on her back. "From the results, I think maybe you ought to find another punishment device, don't you?" Nadine nodded vigorously, tears splashing everywhere from her wet face. "I gave you control of my concubines, but they are MINE -- do you understand? I decide when they get abused! YOU get permission!" I eyed the strap. "Damn! Not worn out yet!" You should have SEEN the contortions and the head bobbing and the attempted squeals... I circled behind her and put two strokes on each thigh, then handed it to Shelley. "Have the AI do whatever they do with things we don't need any more with this."

I undid the strap around Nadine's upper arms; she stayed put, letting her arms droop. I unwrapped her from the extension by simply lifting her limp arms over her head and pulled her up and off the thing. "AI, make this a chair again. On second thought, make it whatever outlandish shape Nadine had it in. She owes the girls a cum or two." I deflated the gag and extracted it; Nadine panted and blubbered quietly. "Shelley!" I snapped my fingers and pointed at the chair. "Assume the position." Shelley got into the chair, now reconfigured for pussy licking. I hauled Nadine up to it and said, "Now YOU eat pussy until I get tired!"

It didn't go on long, but Shelley and Susan both got an orgasm. Then I sat in an armless chair and dragged Nadine over my lap. "I'm sorry!" she wailed.

"You did it on purpose!" I accused.

"No! No!"

"Yes you did! You wanted to see who was boss! Okay, so who is boss?"

"You are!"

"You remember that!" I admonished. "On the other side of that door, you're a sponsor and aside from the fact that you work for me, you're theoretically my equal. But on THIS side of that door, you're one step up from those poor sluts -- and one step isn't enough for you to get a swelled head over. Am I clear?"

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, SIR!"

"If you have a problem with that, you can STAY on the other side of that door -- understand? That's your prerogative. If you exercise it, though, don't come back -- EVER! Nothing will be said -- the door just won't open for you. You'll have made your choice. Clear?"

"Yes Sir!"

"Sit up here so I can take the binders off." I undid her wrists, then had her lie on her back while I undid her ankles. "Now drape yourself over my legs -- I'm going to paddle your ass some more." She came to me and bent over my lap gingerly and I gave her ten bare handed swats -- five on each ass cheek -- then sat rubbing her ass. Nadine was a fairly narrow woman; she didn't have a lot of ass to take such things. Rubbing her told me something, though; she was wet. I let my fingers slip down over her slit, and then further, to her clitoris. Rubbing it, I told her, "If that thing gets as big as the first joint on my thumb, I'm going to find a way to make you wish it hadn't -- understand? If you were gonna grow it more, you'd better pop down to Medical bright and early and get it fixed! I don't mind you sizing it up, but it isn't going to look like a short dick, understand?"

"Uuuhhh! Yes, Sir!" She was sloppy.

"Do you want to grab your clothes and hit the hallway? You can go any time..."

"No sir!" Nadine's voice was very meek.

"Apologize to the girls..."

"I'm sorry, Shelley! I'm sorry, Susan!"

"If you sized up the girls too big, I'll beat YOUR ass, not theirs!"

"I'll fix it!"

"You want to suck my cock?"

"Please?"

Things got pleasant after that. While Nadine tried her damnedest to deep-throat me, I explained to the other two girls that she wasn't really vindictive; she just had to know whether I was the boss or not -- because if I wasn't, things weren't going to work out. Then, nice and primed, I bent Shelley over the chair and fucked her silly, testing MY augmentation -- and followed up by doing the same to Susan. Nadine didn't get any -- and she understood why, perfectly.

Why am I with Maureen? Great question -- just don't expect me to be able to answer it. Take Friday night, for instance: Maureen wasn't the project -- her little sister Judith was. And Judith was younger and cuter and better built.

Maybe that was it; Maureen wasn't work. We sat and talked, and I moved her around the dance floor, and I was on break -- because Judith was the project. So it was free and easy -- the way it just isn't, usually.

You see, Troy and I didn't date -- not the normal way, where you meet a chick and you say nice things and you get her attention and you ask her out, yada, yada, yada. We'd developed a system that worked -- in that it got us laid regularly -- and we worked it. Basically, we isolated a chick and we played 'good cop, bad cop' -- Troy treated her like a slut, and if she balked, I tried to convince her she was acting like a cunt for not letting him have his way. Troy was always the bad cop and I was always the good cop -- because we just weren't suited to doing it the other way...

So I was fucking with Judith -- but I was on a date with Maureen; Hell, it wasn't even that, really. Maureen was there and she was pleasant and she didn't seem to mind if I rubbed her ass or copped a feel or slipped her a little tongue while we ground our crotches into each other on the dance floor. It was free and easy -- and Troy wasn't involved at all...

Where Judith was concerned, Troy ran things -- that's just Troy. We'd run this game with variations more times than I cared to count -- we probably averaged a couple of times a week -- so I made the moves and checked the block on schedule. But with Maureen there WASN'T a schedule -- I was winging it, and it was what I wanted, when I wanted -- and maybe more important, when SHE wanted! Troy's play list called for me to face-fuck Judith and then butt-fuck her, while he took the pussy -- but he didn't have a playlist for Maureen... That was OUR playlist -- and we shuffled it the way we wanted to. Maureen had a bigger ass -- so? She had bigger tits, too, even if they weren't as nice looking. When we had Judith on the ropes and got serious and Maureen got up and left, I missed her. So when Maureen came back and grabbed my cock after Troy set Judith up for the big double-penetration mind-fuck, doing Judith's ass just wasn't that important to me. Maureen WANTED my dick, while for Troy it was just a tool to fuck with Judith's head, and I wasn't gonna get any pussy from her, anyway.

So I walked -- Maureen wanted me to crawl on top of her and slide my cock in her pussy and I hadn't had to pop the top off her head and scramble her brain to get there. And she was hot and wet and moved her ass and said things and did things that said, "I like you!" rather than "Fuck me -- I'm worthless!" And when we were done, she wanted to cuddle. It was just... different.

Troy was pissed, but in the end Old Harley probably did a better job, anyway. And Maureen asked me what I was doing Saturday...

And that was a date, you know? An honest-to-God date... Troy gave me shit and called me a fuckwad and asked me, "What do you want to fuck with that fat bitch for?" He just didn't get it. I didn't, either, but I couldn't stay away...

So I cruised the school where this 'special event' was going on, and Jack's girls were out front and waved me over and then she was standing there, on the steps, in that grey uniform. I dunno, it just grabbed me!

She was totally the opposite of how she'd been the night before. Now she was reluctant, uncertain. And she was offering me something, but it had all kinds of strings attached, and she wanted me to know THAT up front. And the more she worried, the more I knew it was the right thing to take the deal...