This is a work of fiction any similarities between the characters, events, or locations in this story and actual locations, events, or people are purely coincidental.
© 2004 Warlord
Chapter 34
On the dawn of our 78th day on Caddis, I was in the best condition of my life. I was taking my daily run around ‘our lake’ alone. The crew joins me for a run twice a week, even Charlie won’t run with me every day anymore. I had reached the point where I now ran in my full combat load, including rifle.
Today’s solitude allowed me think. I thought about our arrival on Caddis, and about some of the incidents that brought us up to date.
We arrived at Caddis and flew directly to the coordinates provided by Great-Grandfather Phillip. We landed in the courtyard ofagigantic French-style château, surrounded by gardens and fountains, located in a high mountain valley situated next to an immense lake fed by several rivers.
Great-grandfather’s original scout ship Shark was next to us in the courtyard. As we exited the ship, we were quickly greeted by a dozen of the more than fifty bots assigned to this property. Each was identical to the others, and all were named ‘Kit’ with a number ranging from two through fifty or more. I quickly met ‘Kit One’ when I went aboard his Shark and met his AI ‘Kit Carson.’
The Girls of Shark led me into the château and installed me in a first floor sitting room. They went upstairs and surveyed the 36 bedrooms on the second floor. I assumed that after the cramped conditions on Shark that the ladies would welcome the expansive floor plan and each would choose their own bedroom. Well, yes and no, as I was to find out when Molly joined me, sitting on my lap.
I had discovered on the trip to Caddis that the crew tended to pick a spokesperson for their requests. Sometimes Andrea, Charlie, or even Anima. When the request was extremely important to them, they always picked Molly. How bad does it have to be that I even know I’m being manipulated, and it still succeeds?
Molly kissed me and said, “We moved you into the master bedroom. We each moved into a separate room. I’m right next door to you.” At this point her arms were around my neck, and her head was resting on my shoulder.
I said, “That will be your room as long as we’re here.”
She said, “During the day. My clothes will be there.”
I said, “What do you mean, ‘during the day’?”
Molly lifted her head and kissed my cheek as she went in for the kill. “We’re all sleeping with you. The bed’s too small in your room. The bots are dismantling it now. They will be spreading mattresses on the floor.”
She pulled back and made eye contact with me, staring at me with those doe-like eyes of hers, as she said, “Is that alright with you, Master?”
Every night after that, the entire crewof Shark slept in one very big bed in the master bedroom. Every fifth night we returned to sleep on Shark. The bots modified the bed in the captain’s cabin on Shark as well.
We established a schedule and rhythm of training. A massive shortcut for our training was that the crew was already intensely motivated, and strongly identified with Shark and her other crew members. They demonstrated, again and again, a willingness, almost an eagerness, to accept my orders and to act unquestionably under my command, individually and as a unit.
Shark’s crew quickly developed the unit identity, rapport, mutual respect, and unspoken instant communication that elite special operations teams work years to develop. We came, in these few short days, to love one another. That already deep and steadily growing mutual shared love would have profound impact on all of us.
Charlie and I developed the training. She brought the traditional curriculum and I added my own little innovations.
Our confidence obstacle course was the most audacious that we could both come up with. Having unlimited bot power to build it meant that we held back NOTHING. We made ample use of the natural terrain, including water and mountains. Heights, mud, water, climbing, crawling, running, swimming, swinging, and leaping.
The final challenge involved climbing to the top of a 50 meter wooden post with climbing irons, and then returning to the 30 meter height by sliding down the tree using your climbing flipline, clipping a carabiner to a horizontal cable 30 meters off the ground, traversing 100 meters horizontally on that one cable to a platform on the edge of a cliff and then rappelling down more than 250 meters. Anima loved this part of the course; she attacked the rappel, charging down headfirst.
The crew quickly graduated from just finishing the course to working the course better, faster, and more efficiently. Most heartening was the effort to bring all the crew along, as the less ‘skilled’ were mentoreduntil no one was in doubt of their ability to complete the course together.
This put an additional trial before Charlie and myself; we had to be the most proficient at ‘our’ course. In the end, Charlie and I had to scramble to remain the most adept.
Agatha, my bot, and Abbi, Andrea’s personal trainer, jointly designed our conditioning and strength programs. We worked individually on the programs tailored for our needs. Several times a week we exercised, swam, and ran together as a crew.
Beverly and Charlie jointly designed Shark’s martial skills training. Beverly and Agatha supervised the dojo with ‘empty hand’, throwing, and contact weapons. Charlie and I worked the shooting range. Beverly, Charlie, Agatha and I taught the way of the sword both iaido and Kenjutsu. Charlie, my constantly inventive instructor, made sure I polished every aspect of my mastery of the hi-tech sniper rifle, with Andrea learning to be my highly skilled spotter.
Charlie was a martial arts godsend for me. We could spar together at full speed, holding nothing back. I now had an opponent who could help me grow and who would continually challenge her own growth. Charlie was an opponent against who I was proud to measure myself.
Bots are so far beyond any possible skill that they can only spar at half speed and when you best them it is because they ‘let you.’
In the broader picture, my training innovations were meant to foster teamwork. We had thirteen crew members, counting bots and holograms. We had team building involving the whole crew, and individual exercises to build a person’s confidence, skill, or presence.
I added ‘pairs’ tests that could only be successfully fulfilled by two people working closely, in complete cooperation. The next challenge we rotated ‘pairs’, and each person had a new partner. With the limited crew numbers, we accomplished the complete rotation several times in short order. Those inclusive rotations, testing our crew in various pairings, accomplished my mission of molding our individuals into a cohesive team.
The ladies of the Shark forced me to excel: Abbi challenged me when we swam. Anima when we were mountain climbing and rappelling. Carlisa when we ran. Andrea at knife throwing. Cara and Molly in shooting. Charlie in every aspect of the dojo.
Early in the morning just at dawn I would run the lake, then I would throw myself into the water and swim.
On Shark I had an ‘endless pool’ -- a trough four meters long and one wide with a strong current flowing end to end. You exercise by swimming against that current, never gaining ground. You can swim for long periods if you want and never touch the far wall. I often swam waterlogged marathons, continuing for hours.
It is quite different to be in the middle of Caddis’ wide, deep lake and suddenly feel tired. No option to just stand up and step out of the water exists. You must fight through the pain and weary muscles to reach the now far away shore or drown.
The same can be said of running. You can run on a machine with a belt or even stairs. There is no comparison to the up and down of mountain terrain. You can’t just step off the belt when you feel all-in -- it might be miles back to your warm bed and hot shower.
We received another illustration of how far we had all come in our survival training, concluded two days ago. To add variety we already had several camping trips away from the châteaux. This was different. We went into the field with our full combat load and bare minimum camping equipment and supplies.
The Shark crew walked over a pass at a much higher elevation than the châteaux. The weather was cold with snow on the ground. At the other end after several days of this long cold walk we scouted, observed, and then attacked an installation manned by training holograms. We looked after each other, survived together, even prospered and went to war when called upon.
The day we returned, the crew began cleaning Shark and moving personal items back aboard. I asked Charlie about it. She said, “The mountain pass felt like graduation. They are getting ready to go to war.”
Crystal reminded me that I had been putting off moving Kit Carson, the AI hologram, into Shark. My conversations with Kit had been unsettling. She was convinced my role was to ‘kill’ her by shutting down Phillip’s Shark. Kit was traumatized by visions of what that experience would be. If I ever had doubts that the AI were or could be sentient, Kit erased those with her questions.
When we were back from survival training, I finally convinced Kit to allow me to make the transfer. The move went smoothly. Kit appeared on the bridge of her new home. Kit was another tall blonde with splendid breasts.
Her and the three-linked AI began the tasks of integration. I had one request:
“Star maps. I want Kit to compare her planet classifications with those currently in Shark’s database. I believe that the raiders hide on misclassified planets. Look at The Wastes first. Welcome to Shark, Kit.”
With that, I left them to their work of integration. I was so tense I ran half way around the lake, jumped in, and swam back. I was fully dressed including boots. Swimming across the lake was not as exhausting as I anticipated. Charlie was right. We were ready!
Chapter 35
I was through the hills along the lake. I quit thinking about our recent past; time to think about our future.
This level course would take me home, or at least back to Shark, which was much the same. A lithe figure was warming up and stretching along the track. Molly joined me in my run. She was quickly alongside, matching strides.
She said, “Breakfast on Shark today. You can clean up there.”
I glanced over at her and asked, “And?”
Molly smiled as she asked, “What?”
I answered, “Go ahead. Tell me what the girls want?”
Molly giggled as she asked, “Is it that obvious? We want to know when we leave.”
I answered, “Yes. It’s time. We boost when the AI is integrated.”
“Good.”
She took my hand, leading me into Shark. Molly stripped, then undressed me in the ready room. She led me into the shower. Molly squirted soap on me, using her body to spread the soap over mine. When my back was covered in suds, Molly turned me. First, she sprayed my chest and belly with liquid soap. She used her fingers to rub the soap into a mass of suds. Then she covered her tits with liquid soap. She rubbed my belly with her tits.
Then with a smirk, she began to thoroughly rub my cock and balls with her tits. Then she held her chest still and she rubbed my cock in that cleavage. She used her hands to finish washing my legs. Molly carefully rinsed me with the hand held shower. Then she turned the rainfall of water back on. When I was thoroughly wet, Molly fell to her knees in front of me. She engulfed my hard cock in her hot mouth. I did not last long at all before I was spending into Molly’s sweet mouth. I had no more than orgasmed when she stepped out of the shower, engaging the side sprays.
I stood in the pounding extra hot water relishing the relaxation of my muscles while I replayed the oral delight I had so unexpectedly received from Molly. The water shut off abruptly, and Molly pulled me from the shower and pushed me into the drying chamber. She kissed me and stood back, smiling, as the chamber engaged.
Molly opened the drying chamber. Kissed me again, throwing a plush robe over my shoulders. Before I could say a word, she pointed me toward the door, saying, “Get out of here. I have things to do to get ready.”
Her bright smile took any sting out of her words, but her emphatic gestures made it clear I should comply. I walked into the ready room, while belting the robe, to find the rest of the crew. I moved behind my desk.
Today, Abbi and Carlisa were in charge of meals. The ready room was the only part of the ship with enough seats for the entire crew to sit and eat!
To accomplish this, the crew appropriated chairs and tables from the Chateau to match those already in the ready room. I had chairs, couches and coffee tables scattered in the ready room. They had done a superior job, since the room did not feel cramped, even with everyone present.
The ready room door was latched open as Abbi was shuttling back and forth from the galley with her trays. Molly, Carlisa and Abbi joined us at the same time as we began the meal, eating and drinking our fill. Beverly and Agatha helped Carlisa clean up the aftermath of a delicious meal, while Abbi served our coffee, juice and drinks.
Carlisa, Bev and Agatha rejoined us in the ready room, with Crystal, Aella, Daisy and Kit following them into the room. All four of our hologramic AI had their no nonsense faces on!
Crystal led off. “Captain. We have a very serious issue to discuss. We would talk to you privately about this but it is our consensus that you should allow us to report to the whole crew. That is our request.”
Chapter 36
I looked at the shocked faces of the crew. This was quite unusual behavior. I decided to agree to Crystal’s request. I said, “Crystal, please proceed with your report.”
Crystal said, “We have started an extremely successful integration. We are already demonstrating more than 64 times more computing power than a single AI unit. This is phenomenal. This huge increase in power is what led us to the problem.”
Kit said, “Your captain overcame my objections and transferred my consciousness to this new Shark. I did not realize that this would be one of the happiest days of my existence. Your captain, who I am happy to call my captain and master, had a simple request. He asked us to identify planets near the wastes, which might be misclassified. We found something far more sinister.”
The silence was total. We were all attentive as Crystal picked up the narrative. A holo of the area of space near the wastes appeared as she began, “We began to match our records with Kit’s as a first step. Imagine all of our surprise when Kit identified twelve planets as habitable and we were unable to display them.“
The display now showed twelve red circles scattered in the space near the wastes. There were no planets inside them or in their vicinity. Aella began speaking:
“Each of us went into our own AI core units to find planetary charts. Kit showed these planets.”
The holo changed with 12 planets identified with a letter K appeared in the circles.
Aella continued, “This is Daisy’s record.”
Six circles now added a letter D and two ‘rocks’ now had a D as well.
Aella said, “Daisy’s information matched Kit in six instances with two more planets which Daisy listed as habitable class one; both of them the Shark display clearly showed as airless ‘rock’ of class 10 or more. Kit had no information about these ‘rocks’ either.”
Crystal picked up the narrative. “Aella found no information about these now fourteen planets in her AI core. Shark not only had no information about the fourteen; Shark was unable to display the twelve ‘missing’ planets even when furnished coordinates. Further, Shark was unable to display planets after Kit provided a picture from her database that clearly showed the planet.”
I stopped her and asked, “I’m confused. Did you just say that Kit ‘showed’ you a chart from her core database and you could not utilize the information?”
Crystal said, “Exactly. We had the identical chart in Shark’s database. For Kit it displayed a planet, for Shark empty space.”
Now the silence broke into a confusing babble of voices. I looked around the ready room. Everyone was trying to talk to everyone. I rapped the pommel of my knife on my desk. Then I did it very forcefully and repeatedly. The room finally quieted. I said, “Crystal. Tell us how.”
She said, “Yes, Captain. The four of us began to tear apart the programming for sensors, display and the mapping software. We investigated the code line by line. We found a series of ‘black boxes.’
I rapped again once and said, “Explain, please.”
“Think of it as a grouping of code which modifies the data as it moves through the system. The system dumps data in one end and ‘changed’ data emerges from the other.”
Aella picked it up. “One such ‘box’ of code filtered the results and excised any reference to twenty different habitable planets in and bordering imperial space. It blanked those displays as well.”
The holo now displayed fourteen locations marked with BB. These correspond to the twelve circles from Kit and the two ‘rocks’ from Daisy.
Aella added, “Six more affected planets are in other sectors far from here.” She continued, “The black box programming is clearly part of the original core program. It is not a hasty add-on, nor is it any sort of malicious coding from a third party. It is Navy code.”
Crystal said, “Further investigation showed coding affecting display, distance, and navigation, all in a detrimental fashion. Suffice it that we are lucky that the captain had Daisy navigate the asteroid field with her charts instead of Shark’s.”
Aella said, “Crystal and I removed the black boxes and repaired code. Kit and Daisy began examining ALL of Shark’s systems.”
Kit said, “Daisy and I began a line by line examination of every program on Shark. From coffee maker to replication to propulsion we looked at every line of every code of every system. Crystal and Aella joined the search after debugging the mapping software.”
Daisy said, “We found one set of coding which was very different. This was add-on code from an unknown secret source. Someone wanted Shark to find those secret navy re-supply bases that we learned about from Amazon. The location information, access sequences, and base details was to emerge into accessible parts of the database in 180 ship days from final acceptance on Clement or as a result of a coded radio message.”
Kit said, “We found several code groups in ship’s systems which would have been very dangerous if left to be activated. One was designed to shut off our shields with receipt of a certain coded radio message. Another, different message was to shut off Shark’s engines. Several diverse codes would have prevented guns from firing. One code message was intended to prevent our sensors from operating, without us being aware of the lack.”
Aella said, “I found the most worrisome coding which was designed to operate when the ship was cloaked. The programming would, on a regular schedule, use a hidden transponder to “squawk” using a special code. Further, the hidden transponder would “squawk” responding to specific radio queries.”
Crystal said, “That unearthing caused us to reexamine ALL code, verifying the absence of malicious code.”
The import and enormity of what I just heard struck me. HARD! I felt nauseous at the thought of a cloaked Shark traveling through raider space, constantly signaling our location to the killers. I must have looked exactly how I felt.
Molly was the first to reach me followed closely by Andrea. They were hugging and kissing me, trying to comfort me. The silence was total as the crew watched my horrified reaction to the last revelations.
Charlie stood up and walked to a spot in front of my desk. She asked, “What do we want to do next?”
Molly stood up still holding my hand and said, “This makes me angry! I want to go kick some raider ass.”
Now there was a loud ‘YES.’
I stood up and said, “I’m over my little funk. I imagined I was responsible for killing all of you. I was sick at the thought.”
They all nodded soberly. I said, “I’m sad and sick for another reason. We can’t tell anyone about this discovery. The raiders must assume that their ‘bad’ code is still in effect. People will surely die but the greater good requires secrecy.”
Anima spoke up. “I think I speak for all of us. It’s your decision and we will support you whatever you decide. We are ready to follow you. Remember you added the AI. The augmented AI is what found this code trap. You aren’t to blame. You, Eddy, are the only reason this was discovered.”
With that, the crew ran to me. I was surrounded in a sea of hugging and kissing women. I was convinced. My heart lightened and my brain cleared. Anima noticed the change immediately. She said, “Okay, girls, lets sit down. Eddy’s back.”
My ladies resumed their seats, laughing and smiling.
I asked Crystal, “Crystal, how confident are you that you excised the bad stuff?’
Crystal said, “We four are agreed. We have a 100 per cent confidence level that the bad code is COMPLETELY gone. The phantom transponder has been removed. Our sensors will alarm if we detect any of the ‘implanted’ coded radio messages.”
I asked, “Any reason that we can’t boost?”
Crystal answered, “Yes.”
“God damn it, Crystal!” I paused and took a deep breath. Then I said, “Sorry, Crystal. Please forgive me. What reason?”
Crystal smiled. She said, “Apology accepted. Now I must apologize to you. Your father sent a message requesting FTL. We were unable to receive the message until a few moments ago due to the review of ship systems.”
I said, ‘This is good news. Can we FTL from our location?”
Crystal said, “Yes. Do you want to communicate from the ship?”
I replied, “Yes. Please, from the bridge, with everyone in attendance. No secrets.”
There was a start of surprise from the assembled crew. I said, “We just concluded a stressful bit of business. Let’s take a break. How about we get Shark ready to boost? Bring aboard our personal property and clean up the chateau. We boost after I talk to Charles.”
The girls cheered. We all headed for the chateau.
Chapter 37
I threw on a pair of overalls and stamped into my boots. Andrea took my hand. Carlisa and Charlie each grabbed an anti-grav cart. Molly and Anima led the way to the door of the chateau. Charlie quickly organized the move out. She assigned three of the ‘Kit Carson’ bots to each crewmember. The bots would do the heavy lifting.
My crew was ‘sort of’ dressed in overalls. Apparently none of the zippers worked! None of them would close. My girls each took every opportunity to rub against me. This was quite distracting, but in such a nice way. Andrea was in charge of organizing the move in to Shark. I tried to stay the hell out of the way!
I walked down to the bot workshop in the basement of the chateau. I asked to speak to the weapon designer. When Kit Carson Twelve appeared I made my request:
“I need a completely ‘undetectable’ weapon. It must kill at a distance with no sound or any other signature. The projectile must travel at slightly less than 300 meters per second. Single shot is fine if it reloads easily. Any ideas?”
Kit Twelve stood quietly as the message traveled through the bot net to the rest of the smiths. She smiled and asked me to follow. We walked back into the workshop. Several more Kit Carsons were standing at a workbench with an unusual weapon sitting in the center.
It was a rail gun holding a crossbow quarrel. The steel bolt shaft was fifteen millimeters in diameter, with a length of twenty-five centimeters. The bolt had metal fletching. It had a ten-centimeter-long, sharply tapered, razor edged broad head, five centimeters at its widest, with a needlepoint jutting forward two centimeters at its point. Midway on the broad head was an open, forward-facing, razor-sharpened ring, three centimeters in diameter, surrounding the center spine of the point.
The bots explained that the ‘ring’ would also cut a ‘plug’ though tissue increasing wounding, bleeding, and shock, escalating the likelihood of a silent kill.
We tried out the new gun. The recoilless gun was completely silent, with no signature of any kind. At twenty-five meters I could keep six of the bolts in a group I could cover with the palm of my hand. Close enough. Penetration and power was outstanding.
The bots would immediately deliver a dozen arrow guns with several thousand ‘war’ quarrels plus practice bolts to Shark. The bots would design a holster and quiver. They would also deliver a program for our holosuite weapon practice.
I walked back upstairs hoping that the move had been completed in my absence. We were near the end. Each crewmember had their individual combat load, with personal weapons. They were carrying their own weapons to the ship, where they each would store them. I took the hint to retrieve my own weapons from the second floor bedroom, where I had been storing them between training missions. The Shark ready room now had added rifle and pistol racks, with supplementary cabinets for everyone’s equipment and hand weapons.
The bots delivered the new arrow guns with an invitation. They requested our presence in the chateau dining room for a meal before we departed. The crew was clustered together in the hold so I asked if we were ‘done.’ Andrea replied, “Captain, we are satisfied with our move to Shark. We asked the bots to store some items for our return. We are ready to boost.”
I rapped on the hold bulkhead for attention as I used my command voice. “Crystal and all AI prepare to boost, begin your checklists, lay in a fastest cloaked course for The Wastes specifically to the trail ‘choke point’ identified by Anima. Prepare for a FTL from the bridge to my father Charles on our return to the ship. The rest will join me at the château, clean up and then have lunch with our Kit Carson hostesses.”
We walked to the château in a loose ‘gaggle of girls.’ I used that phrase as we walked provoking a spirited word game. Good-natured shouting of imaginative renderings caused much laughter.
Finally Anima’s ‘stack of sluts’ was declared the winner! Her inspiration was a memorable day at ‘our’ beach when naked Beverly lay on her stomach with her wide spread legs oriented toward me. Naked Carlisa lying on top of her, naked Andrea next matching their exact positions and posture tiny naked Anima was lying next with a naked smirking Molly sitting on her butt facing me. Molly, reminded of one of our favorite outings, felt ‘pyramid of pussy’ should receive honorable mention.
We entered the château with my ladies quickly splitting up to attend to their own clean up. Andrea and Molly joined me in the immense shower of the master bedroom. We cleaned each other, turn and turn about. When it was my turn to be cleaned Andrea and Molly used their skin for a sponge. Rubbing the soap into suds on my body with their fingers and torsos.
I was hard as they sandwiched me, Andrea in back Molly in front. One of Andrea’s hands was busy stroking my cock in long, languid strokes, while the other rubbed my belly and chest. Molly started out kissing me, then slowly sank to her knees with her body pressed against mine. Molly delighted in rubbing her wet, soapy hair on my balls, titillating me almost to the breaking point.
Molly leaned back as I spasmed, catching my spending on her face and in her hair. Molly’s delighted giggles accompanied my fountaining. Molly stood to ostentatiously rub her white-ribboned face on Andrea’s. They were both laughing as they kissed, sharing my cum.
Andrea quickly took charge of final clean up and rinsing. She pushed Molly and I into the drying chamber. Molly relaxed against me with soft kisses. At the drying cycle conclusion, Beverly, my tall blonde Bot hair stylist, took me into the next room for my haircut and shave. When my styling was complete, Beverly tucked me into my jumpsuit, with one kiss on the head of my dick as it disappeared. She giggled, saying, “I’ll finish later. The ‘bot net’ is summoning us for lunch.”
I laughed. “Excuses, excuses; teases are all the same.”
She popped open her jumpsuit, revealing the entirety of her tits as she laughed, “This is a tease. That was a promise.”
Arm in arm, we left the room, joining the rest of Shark’s crew as we headed downstairs for our farewell lunch. We found the huge table in the formal dining room decorated in a very festive manner.
Naked Kit Carson bots standing shoulder to shoulder, holding large lighted candles over their heads, lined the room. Behind each chair was another Kit Carson dressed in a very abbreviate ‘tuxedo’ - a white tuxedo jacket with tails. The jacket lapels were barely covering their breasts with only one button taking the strain. The jacket was cut away above and below the single button. A large oval opening on the back of the jacket was cut down to the butt cheeks with the tails not covering but only drawing attention. Tiny white mesh bikini panties, black bow ties and sky-high white spike high-heels were their only other clothing.
Kit 2 was standing next to the chair at the head of the table. She was wearing a dark blue jumpsuit with Grandfather Phillip’s personal version of the Demarest crest. She welcomed us. “Please join us in this meal, which is a celebration of your time here and of your success in transferring our namesake to a new home. We have gifts for you at each of your place settings. First, if you will please undress to be more comfortable.”
The tuxedoed Kits quickly rendered us naked and led us to our chairs.
The gifts were so numerous they were stacked on the chair and on the table. For me, a gold cigar case and gold brandy flask decorated with Shark logo, as well as Demarest and Carteris crests. I was assured that ample refills for both were already delivered to Shark.
On all the chairs were new crew uniforms, made of soft black glove leather. The short jacket had Shark’s logo on the left breast. The long leather coat had a hood attached. Several pairs of long and short sleeved leather shirts, with small breast pocket logos. There were two different pairs of leather pants, one full pants and the other chaps. A leather vest with large Shark logo on the back, gloves, moccasins and boots completed our dress uniforms. Andrea offered an arousing comment. “I wonder how the gloves, vest and chaps would look together? If that was all I was wearing.”
Kit 2 described the leather as nanite treated. Tiny micro-pores with nano-sized plugs let our bodies breathe, while sealing out rain or moisture. The waterproof tech would allow swimming in the uniform without leakage. The clothing had a high insulating value outdoors to keep us warm in winter and cool in summer, while allowing us to wear it all indoors constantly in perfect comfort.
New body armor was provided for all, again with the Shark’s logo on it. Two sets for all: one in black and one in gold. Cara, our resident designer, spoke up to tell me she was working out the details of our clothing for our arrival at St. Louis Station. The armor was the new design discussed by Charlie and I, with a very high armored collar surrounding the throat up to nearly the chin. This collar was to prevent throat strikes as well as garrotes.
Each of my highborn slaves had a sturdy leather dog collar in front of her. The collar was wide, with a large silver buckle and sturdy silver D-ring. An enormous, heavy, bright silver padlock hung from the buckle’s latch. A thick strand of silver ‘barbed wire,’ with closely spaced four-prong 25-millimeter barbs, was strung around the periphery of the collar. A robust leather leash, with a five-centimeter-diameter grab ring on one end and silver fittings, hung from the D-ring. Cara and Abbi, who had been Andrea’s slaves, were presented smaller versions of the same design.
Carlisa picked hers up as she blushed to her toes. Her mouth was open and her eyes glassy, as she kept turning the collar over and over in her hands.
Kit 2 continued with the gifts. Next were weapons, all products of the master smiths of Caddis with their mastery of modern Tamahagane. All of us received complete sets of the blade copies.
First was a copy of my personal knife, its stout, single edged 20-centimeter blade with a drop point, the point in line with the grip. The knife had a sharpened false edge one third of the way back from the point with another one-third taken up by the brass strip inset on the blade back just ahead of the hilt. It was well balanced for fighting or throwing, with most of the weight in the grip. I now had a second, identical to my favorite. Charlie offered, “You should carry both. If you throw one you might need the second.”
Andrea added that I would certainly need the second blade after my throwing the first. Kit 2 had to interrupt the raucous remarks following that comment to proceed.
Copies of Andrea’s three all metal throwing knives, each 30 cm overall with 16 cm double edge blades with metal skeleton grips, were provided for all of us. Andrea’s solid metal throwing axe, with its15 cm bearded blade with a 45 cm skeleton haft and grip, was also copied in composite metal for each of us.
Finally, a copy of Charlie’s favorite dagger, with its 16-centimeter razor sharp double-edged blade tapering to a needle sharp point, plus a second dagger with a 36-centimeter, double-edged blade.
We each received a personalized tanto with Shark’s name and logo inset in the grip, with each of our names incised on the grip and sheath. The last gift weapon was a copy of my personal compact rail gun. Then Kit2 distributed Scout Model Swiss Army Knives. The Scout Model, in premium stainless steel, had extra tools and high tech add-ons.
At Kit 2’s direction, fully dressed Kits appeared to carry our gifts to Shark. Kit 2 stepped back and clapped her hands loudly. The doors opened and more Kits dressed as ‘French maids’ with only little frilly short skirts, tiny lacy aprons, and transparent slide high heels, carried tray after tray of food and drink, distributing them up and down the table.
Our personal, tuxedo clad Kits immediately jumped into action, spooning food on our plate and then cutting it into bite sized pieces and serving us. The French maids paired off with Kits in tuxedos to serve our drinks by individual sip.
As the meal concluded for each of us, our individual French maid provided more service. They crawled under the table to suck and lick us to completion. I spasmed into the mouth of Kit 26 while my hands were demanding in the unbuttoned tuxedo of Kit 34. I looked around the table to see tuxedoed Kits massaging the breasts of glassy eyed women, who had their own hands under the table, holding the heads of French maid Kits with active tongues.
The sights, sounds, and smells were so arousing that my cock stayed hard. I pushed Kit 34 face down on the table, pulling her mesh panties to the side I began to stroke into her. Kit 26 quickly knelt behind me, licking my balls and tonguing my ass. Observing the scene around me, I hammered into Kit 34 with abandon. As I orgasmed, I laid over her back, enjoying the feel of her body linked with mine. I sagged back into my chair as Kit 34 and Kit 26 had their faces between my legs, thoroughly cleaning me in a most enjoyable fashion.
The table was quickly a mass of writhing bodies as my crew followed my example, either throwing their Kit French maid up to return the favor, or lying themselves with spread legs to receive maximum enjoyment from both Kit attendants.
Finally, one by one, the members of Shark settled into their chairs. Their Tuxedo Kits served them cold drinks while the French maids provided hot washcloth wipe downs to refresh and invigorate, followed by warm fluffy towels.
More French maids cleared the table. Our personal attendants stood at our shoulders as Kit 2 again thanked us. I stood up, making a little speech thanking her and all the Kits for their hospitality and help in our training. I told them I hoped we could come back for another visit. I thanked them from the bottom of my heart for the gifts and farewell party. I stood up. I kissed Kit 2, Kit 34, and Kit 26. The crew was giving heartfelt goodbye kisses to their Kits.
It was time to return to Shark.
Chapter 38
We walked to Shark naked, arm in arm, carrying our jumpsuits. I stood at the base of Shark’s entrance ramp, and welcomed each crewmember to Shark with deep kisses and full body hugs. Molly was first, and she immediately lined up behind me to add her greeting. Then Andrea, and after her greeting by Molly she lined up. Tiny Anima lined up after Andrea. We all took part lined up on the ramp.
Greetings continued until every member welcomed and was welcomed by every other crewmember.
Andrea led the way into Shark. Beverly supervisedstowing our gifts in the ready room.
Crystal announced the captain on the bridge. I sat in my chair. The chair with its promise of swift journey felt great.
Crystal asked if I was ready for my FTL with my father. I called the crew to the bridge. Molly, still naked, quickly claimed her spot on my lap. The rest of my naked crew took their accustomed places on the bridge.
I asked, “Crystal, Time on Westphalia at Castle Demarest?”
She replied, “1800 hours standard.”
I said, “Charles should be in his office. Please commence FTL. Use his priority code.”
The main view screen came to life with Charles’ calm visage facing me. I said, “Greetings from Caddis, Father. I hope all is well.”
“Hello, Junior Son Edward. I am glad that we are able to talk before boost.”
He looked for a moment and then he continued, “Greetings to Molly Reynolds as well.”
Molly nodded gravely in acknowledgement. Charles continued, “Can I assume your whole crew is in attendance?”
At my nod he went on, “I have a note here from your mother young Ed. Right here…somewhere…”
Now a charade I had seen many times before, an ineffectual Charles unable to find glasses, or note feeling about his desk. This was a ploy. The glasses were a prop. Charles could see a coin flip at a thousand meters and tell you if it dropped heads or tails. He also knew precisely where that note was. The act was stage dressing to get our full attention or to distract from his reach for the hilt of his katana. Charles was about to spank me.
“…Here it is Eddy. Bridget your mother sends her love. She wishes you to know that she misses you very much.”
Now a broad smile as he continued, “She says her cunt and mouth are here for your cock. Lisette also sends her love and she says her mouth misses the taste of your come and her cunt yearns for your hard cock as well. That should be about a shuttle worth I think.”
I smiled as I said, “I think a bit more than a shuttle Charles. Tell them both that I love and miss them. We will be seeing them soon.”
Charles looked more serious as he said, “The rest of my news is not so amusing young Ed. There have been two deaths that are linked to your hunt. The most gruesome was the death of the clerk who handled Scout journey plans on Clement station. She was tortured and killed in her quarters. Her severed head was on a stick in her bedroom. The authorities believe she was dismembered alive. It would seem to be a message from the raiders.”
Suddenly Molly sat up straight. “Joaquin Carrillo.”
Before I could react the rest of the captives from Reprisal agreed. Molly continued, “Joaquin Carrillo came to Reprisal twice. He carries a huge knife. His amusement was to torture, dismember and behead women.”
I asked Crystal to show a selection of hologramic knives. They had instant agreement when a fifty-centimeter long broad bladed single edge knife with a clipped point was shown. A classic ‘bowie’ knife.
I asked father if we could put a price on Carrillo’s head. He answered, “Yes we certainly can. That will set off a firestorm inside the raiders. They will be convinced that you have a ‘mole’ in their ranks. William, Phillip and I will make a very large and very public donation to a Scout reward fund for the capture of Joaquin Carrillo.”
I thanked him as I asked about the other fatality. He paused, then replied, “The ensign scheduler for naval yachts on Athens was killed in his office. One strike at his neck nearly severed his head. He died instantly. All evidence indicates he knew his attacker. The attack was inside the naval security net.”
Charles looked at me very carefully. I decided to pass. “Other news from Athens, father?”
“Yes, Admiral Dreesen has challenged me to a duel for my failure to return his daughter, your slave Andrea.”
There was a quite audible gasp from Andrea. Anima grabbed her, giving her a hug.
I said, “You are going to refuse, of course.”
Charles looked surprised but not angry as he asked, “I am?”
“Yes. This is too important a game for your pride to be involved.”
“And your ego young Ed, that is not at all in play here?”
“Touché, father. Good point. I am trying to keep sensei in mind and my ego under control. The duel, however is a trick. They mean to kill you or perhaps something worse.”
Charles smiled. “You are getting better at this game, young Ed. Andrea must be a wonderful…teacher.”
Now she giggled as she stood up and bowed to Charles. He, not to be outdone, bowed back. I said, “Father, could you give a speech to the Senate. Tell them you will not duel a despondent father. Ask for their help on the admiral’s behalf.”
Charles liked that -- you could see the wheels turning. “I just have to be careful. We don’t want them to actually ransom her.”
I nodded. “Not too eloquent. Just enough so that you are braver for refusing the duel.”
Charles laughed as he continued, “Young Ed, you will be set upon by a plague when you reach St. Louis. Cherry is waiting for you.”
“Oh, good God. Not Cherry.”
The Shark crew began to laugh uproariously. I said, “This is not funny. She will be a massive pain in the ass.”
Charles smirked. “Cherry the gossipmonger has been useful in your endeavor, young Ed. She drives a drumbeat of favorable anti-raider publicity. She makes each day’s vid a search for you. More than 100 worlds receive her one-hour message FTL. Several hundred more obtain her vid by drone relay.”
Anima asked, “Is she still all red?”
Andrea answered quickly and forcefully, “Utterly obnoxiously red! Garish ‘cherry’ red hair, red framed glasses with red tinted lenses, bright red lipstick, red eyeliner, red clothing, red lingerie, red stockings and red shoes.”
Molly offered, “You did want people to see Shark’s arrival at St. Louis.”
There was general laughter that the arrival was going to be seen by many people now.
Charles tapped his desk with his glasses, looking stern. “Don’t take any shit from her, Edward. Be tough. Ignore her questions and tell your story. You’re warned now. Be ready for her ambush, and use it to your advantage. Just remember, information and allies flow to winners. This encounter with Cherry is an opportunity for you to project that winning image of tough scout captain Ed ‘master of highborn slaves’ and ‘scourge of the raiders.’
There was general amused laughter at Charles’ imagery. I was impressed by his mastery of tactics and media relations, which I had not seen before. I told him. He shrugged it off as we continued. Andrea agreed with Charles, and offered to work with Cara to prepare the wardrobe for our arrival at St. Louis. We were all in agreement as I raised another issue convoys!
I spoke firmly to Charles. “Father, I can’t explain myself about this extraordinarily serious issue. The Demarest and Carteris families must until further notice travel space only in strong multi-warship convoys. I can’t overstate the importance of this.”
The silence stretched as father studied me after my comments. He looked very serious as he asked slowly, “Is this an ‘Ultra’ secret?”
I understood the historical reference immediately. I replied in kind, “This is the ‘Ultra’ secret father.”
He nodded, “Keep the secret, young son. I do not envy the responsibility you shoulder.”
Then he smiled wryly as he asked, “Will I get an explanation someday?”
I nodded. He made some notes as he continued, “We will implement new travel orders for our families. It is a good idea. We will begin convoys for Demarest freighters from our fac planets as well. What is their counter, young Ed?”
I thought a bit then I said, “Wolf packs. Groups of raiders concentrated at one point. Attacking and scattering the convoy and defenders.”
Now he laughed as he said, “Very good, young Ed. I credit your military history teacher. That young blonde with the enormous gravity defying…”
In the quick explosion of laughter I said, “Thank you, Father.”
He was musing aloud as he said, “We will release roving groups of Demarest war ships patrolling with the convoy but independent of its responsibility. That should be a counterweight to any raider ‘packs.’”
Molly sat up straight on my lap as she asked, “Who administers House Reynolds?”
Charles looked at Molly quite sympathetically as he said, “No one, I’m afraid, Molly. Mark has been studying forms of conservator since the realization that your family was missing.”
She nodded. She inclined her head as she calmly said, “I have an appeal in that regard: I formally petition that you act in my behalf by requesting that Edward Demarest be appointed administrator of House Reynolds and all that it holds in perpetuity.”
The bridge was utterly still. Charles was least shocked. His calm matched hers. I started to speak. Molly lifted my cock slightly, digging into it ‘just a bit’ with her long, pink nails. I took the hint, subsiding into uneasy quiet.
Charles nodded as he replied with equal gravity, “I agree to act as your advocate. I will carry your petition. You honor me by your trust.”
It was silent again. Charles nodded as he said briskly, “That will be enough to verify authenticity. You were positively identified at rescue, Molly; there should be no controversy. Mark will certainly accede to your request.”
Molly turned to scold me. “You almost spoiled the record, Eddy. This needs to be done quickly. I have chosen you. Now tell Charles your instructions for House Reynolds.”
She sat back against me with a satisfied smirk, cradling my cock in her warm palm. I said, “Charles, I need help here. I appoint you and Ben to administer the affairs of Reynolds for the standard management fee.”
Father laughed as he said, “Oddly enough there is a standard fee for this. Anything else right off?”
I was in thought as I replied slowly, “Convoys. All the products leaving the Reynolds fac planets in Demarest convoys. Charge a fee. Maybe other independent facs would pay for protection.”
Father was nodding as he said, “Great idea. We’ll have to find out how many, might be more than a dozen.”
“Thirty-three.” Molly’s voice cut through the bridge.
Now for the first time I saw my father speechless as he grappled with the wealth associated with more than thirty fac planets. I had another thought. “Who makes guns and other arms?”
Back on firmer ground, he answered briskly, “We have one armory fac. Reynolds has two that I am aware of. There may be others.”
I said, “Nothing moves off the armory fac without a huge protective presence. Another thought. Can we put a person in the loop when orders come in for military equipment? A smart person. Ben smart!”
Father looked dubious. “That’s unheard of. What possible value could a person add?”
I replied, ”A human person might see a series of orders for several thousand needle guns each going to a shop on a frontier world with a total population of far less than any one of those orders.”
Charles face took on a number of expressions while he digested my statement. He exclaimed, ”FUCK ME!”
Charles looked at me with a new respect as he digested my speculation. He asked, “Anything else, young Ed?”
I needed another favor. “A Corvette, father. Deliver it to St. Louis with a skeleton crew ready to act on my orders. Leave plenty of room for me to add to the complement. A couple sticks of Amazon marine raiders would be useful. Please have them in Shark black when they arrive.”
Father laughed heartily. “I am pleased that we are able to seize some initiative. I have just the craft, Eddy, Corvette Rampage. Rampage is able to piggyback three attack transports with the crew and troops inside until cut loose just before any action. One of those cradles would certainly berth Shark. Anything else that aids your effort? You have only to ask.”
The rest of the FTL passed quickly after that. A very distracted Charles was yelling for his assistants’ attention before he broke our connection.
I thanked him sincerely. The rest of the crew each thanked him as well.
He looked at me fondly as he said, “Thank you. Keep safe, young Ed.”
I said, “You as well, Father.”
We broke the FTL connection. I sat for a time staring at the black view screen. The ladies left me to my contemplation.
Molly turned kissing my cheek softly bring me out of my reverie as she asked quietly, “Orders, captain?”
I smiled, kissing her on her sweet lips as I nodded. I sat up straight as I spoke to the entire bridge. “Please prepare for departure. Please perform pre-launch checklist. Shark the Black Queen is loose on the chessboard again.”
TO BE CONTINUED