by Robin Roseau
“We are making a different rule,” Liberty said. “We may not repeat the things we do to you, and we may not repeat things done to us. So you cannot tap my lips, but I can tap yours to see how you respond.”
“Oh, I see.”
“But I can tap her eyes,” Annalise said. “That is not tapping lips. It is decidedly different.”
“And we can rub lips, because that is also different,” Liberty said. “But she cannot tap one eye this time and the other eye the next time.”
“And if she taps your eyes, you can’t tap hers.”
“Yes. You understand.”
I readied the sand dial. “Ready.”
“I am ready,” Annalise said. “You may turn the dial over as soon as I am near her. You do not need to ask.”
I nodded and turned it over. “Begin.”
She began to caress Liberty’s ears. It took seconds before the woman closed her eyes and added a sound of clear pleasure. Annalise continued to rub Liberty’s ears until I said, “Time.”
Liberty opened her eyes. “Thank you, Annalise.”
“You are welcome, Liberty. How old were you the first time someone did that to you in this game?”
“Young,” she said. She turned to me. “Perhaps six turns of our home around our star.”
“We call that a year,” I said.
“A year here and a year at another home is different,” she said. “Do you use the same word?”
“Yes, although when we need to be specific, we flounder a little.”
Annalise returned to her seat, and Liberty turned to me. “It is my turn again, and this time I pick you. No offense is made in this game.”
“None will be taken.”
She climbed into my lap, and I looked up at her. “We wouldn’t normally say, but I am going to do something to irritate you. I will stop if you tell me to stop. Some people close their eyes. If you like it, then you should express your pleasure.” Then she took my hands and set them on her hips. “You do not need to put your hands here, but you may, if you are comfortable.”
“All right.”
She leaned closer, and then she lifted a hand. “Begin,” Annalise said.
She began tapping my lips, just like she had to Annalise. I closed my eyes.
If she’d tapped harder, it would have been irritating. Instead, I found myself responding positively. My lips parted, and I whispered, “That feels nice.”
She continued to tap, but she whispered. “I tried to irritate you, but I’ll get my question.”
I didn’t moan, but I took a few sharp breaths. And then Annalise called, “Time.”
Slowly, I opened my eyes. Liberty was looking at me. “The breaths you took. Pleasure?”
“Yes, but they could have been trying to resist making you stop. I’ll make sure I’m clear.”
“My question is this: do you like this game?”
I smiled. “Yes.”
“Good. It is your turn.” She slipped from my lap, but then Annalise set a hand on my leg. “You do not need to worry who you pick. You may pick her; you may pick me. We are going to pick you twice as often as each other.”
I laughed. “I’m not surprised.” I switched, climbing into her lap. She didn’t have eyebrows, but she had slight ridges over her eyes where human eyebrows would be.
“Begin,” Liberty said.
I began caressing the light ridges. Her eyes closed, and her lips parted. She began humming, and Liberty said, “That is pleasure.”
I caressed the entire time allowed, and when I was done, she looked at me. “I owe an answer.”
“Why did tapping your lips irritate you?”
“A good question.” I shifted from her lap. “Light tapping stimulates a… A portion of my body. It is here.” She pressed against her cheeks. “When done a few times, it is pleasant, but it builds, and then it begins to press uncomfortably. I could have taken the entire time, but I wasn’t willing to, not for this game. It is uncomfortable pressure, but I stopped her before I would need to clear the pressure. I didn’t want to show that to you, and I didn’t want to leave to do it.”
“I think I understand.”
“It is now my turn, and you know I am going to pick you.” She climbed into my lap, and then she offered my ears attention.
This time I moaned my pleasure, and when she was done, she asked, “Do you have children?”
“No. I have no children, and I came with no family.”
* * * *
We alternated. I made a point of switching my choice back and forth between them, picking each of them half the time. They each picked me two for one, so I received more attention than they each did, but only a little bit more.
Most of their questions were innocuous, although it was likely I was helping them learn about humanity. But they were open with their answers as well, and I detected no guile in their responses.
Then Liberty asked, “Is the reason you were the one to investigate our book was because you have no family here?”
I froze when she asked me that, and I didn’t answer right away. She continued. “We were afraid. You were afraid. You did not know if we were predators. We did not know if you were. Logic suggests caution. But if you cannot answer, we understand. Logic still suggests caution, but at the same time, we are here together, and neither of us has offered to leave.”
“I asked permission to go,” I said. “If the book were something bad, and it hurt me, it might have been terrible for me, but it was an acceptable risk for my people.”
“That is also our logic,” Liberty said. “I’m sorry. I should not have asked. We are learning about you, and I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“No offense was intended, and none is taken,” I said. “But it is my turn. I was going to do something to try to irritate you, but I think in the name of friendship, I should try to please you.” And she moaned her pleasure.
There were, of course, surprises. We each found pleasures where irritation was desired, and irritation where pleasure was intended.
And the door opened, and Mary walked in. She moved to us and said, “May I play.”
“Of course,” Liberty said. “Do you mind, Selena?”
“No.”
“Mary does not know what we have done,” Liberty explained, “and so she may repeat, but we may not repeat to her.”
“Does she know all the rules?” Mary inquired.
“Only the most basic,” Annalise answered. “We were about to teach her the next rule.”
“There are more rules?” I asked.
“You can make predictions,” Liberty said. “It is your turn. We have indicators.”
“I have them,” Annalise said. She passed out little plastic tokens, two each. “We will show you. It is your turn, and Mary is new, so it is customary to pick her now.”
“We need more space,” I said. I got up, and then they helped me move another lounger closer. I locked it to the floor, and then I climbed atop Mary’s lap.
“Begin,” said Liberty.
“We’ve been playing for a while,” I said. “I must be creative.” And then I leaned over and began nibbling at one of her ears.
“What is she doing?”
“My ears,” Mary said. That seemed sufficient, and it was just a few moments after that she began offering encouragement, little sounds of pleasure. I nibbled up and down until told to stop.
“Look at them,” Mary directed. I turned my head. They were both holding up a green token. “They cancelled.”
“I don’t understand.”
“They each guessed my reaction.”
“Green for encouragement.”
“Red if no encouragement,” she said. “If one is right and one is wrong, the one who is wrong has to answer a question. If they are both wrong, then you and I both get to ask a question. I would ask first.”
“I like this rule,” I said. “Not counting me, who was your favorite dance partner last night.”
“You.
”
I laughed. “Not counting me. You have to pick someone else.”
“I don’t want to pick someone else.”
“What happens if you refuse to answer a reasonable question?”
“We all do something she won’t like,” Liberty said. “Until she answers.”
“The one called Joy,” Mary answered quickly. “Why did you not let me pick you?”
“Because if I didn’t, you have two choices. You can say me, and I don’t know if it’s an honest answer or the answer you think I want, or you don’t pick me, and I could be hurt I wasn’t your favorite. This avoids that dilemma.”
“Very diplomatic,” she said. “It is my turn, and you know I am going to pick you.” She patted the sofa. “I want your feet. Put them here.” She patted her lap then frowned at my boots. “I do not wish to start the timer yet.”
“You may remove her foot clothing,” Annalise said. I said nothing while Mary removed my boots. “Begin.”
She began tickling. I gritted my teeth, but I held out. When Annalise called time, Mary looked upset, if I was reading her reaction. “You did not like that.”
“It tickled,” I said. “Some tickles are nice, but if there hadn’t been a time limit, I would have given in sooner. I believe part of the game is to resist if you can.”
“It is,” she said. “You win an answer, but first we must see their tokens.”
They both had green tokens. “We each get to ask.”
“You pick first,” Mary said.
“Liberty, do you like having done to you what Mary just did to me?”
“Yes.”
“Annalise, whose bed did you share last night?” Mary asked.
“I invited Joy to my bed.”
And in the back of my head, I heard the words, “Joy is owned.” That didn’t make sense at the time.
I turned to Mary. “Did you share a bed last night?”
“I shared a bed with Annalise and Joy,” she responded. And then, in my head, I heard, “Mary is free.”
* * * *
We continued to play. I was particularly poor at choosing green or red tokens, and so I was answering even more questions. They became increasingly personal, but they didn’t stray into forbidden territory.
We learned about each other, and we became increasingly comfortable with each other.
I asked Annalise, “Did Joy stay all night?” And then, “If Joy is still in your quarters, why are you here?”
“She is sleeping, and Liberty asked me to play. She will come here when she wakes.”
They found things to do to me that were irritating, and they expressed pleasure each time I failed to hold out, although that was only half the times they attempted to irritate me. They were quicker to surrender to irritations.
And, of course, we offered little pleasures.
And from time to time, the voice said in my head, “Selena is becoming owned.”
Eventually I found myself on the sofa between Liberty and Annalise. They were holding my arms, and Mary was perched over me. I was entirely zoned out, and then she whispered to me, “Do you want to belong to us?”
“Yes.”
And the voice said, “Selena is owned, but could still become free.”
She ordered me to stand, and she led me to her quarters. And then they began undressing me.
But that was when Artemis said, “Admiral Madden for Lieutenant-Commander Stark. Admiral Madden for Lieutenant-Commander Stark.”
The three were touching and stroking me, and Liberty asked, “How far is your home world?”
I didn’t answer, and Mary said, “She is not entirely ours.”
“She will be soon,” Annalise said. “Joy was much easier.”
They brought me to the bed.
“Admiral Madden for Lieutenant-Commander Stark.”
I roused. “Stark here.”
The three hissed.
“Lieutenant-Commander, report to the bridge.”
“Five minutes. On my way.”
I pushed away from them. “Duty.”
“You are ours,” Mary said, inserting herself between me and the door.
I smiled at her. “We can play again.” I began looking for my clothing. The three tried to stop me, but they weren’t forceful about it. Mary blocked the door, and I stepped to her.
“You want to stay,” she said.
“Duty calls. Please step aside.”
She stepped straight towards me and leaned in, brushing cheeks and licking my ear. “Tell me you want to belong to me.”
“I have to go, Mary.”
She gave a hiss, but then said, “This isn’t over.”
“Good.”
And then I stepped past her.
* * * *
I found the Admiral. She had assembled a portion of the crew, eight of us. “There you are, Selena,” she said. “Do you know the status of my daughter?”
“Joy is owned,” I said in a wooden voice.
“Oh.” Calypso nodded. “Very well. Two of the khalenzi offered themselves for questioning.”
And in my head, the voice said, “Pandora is owned and will not free herself. Ariana is owned and will not free herself.”
“We don’t have any useful intel yet.” She turned to me. “Where were you?”
“I was engaged in social diplomacy.”
“By that she means getting it on with the aliens,” Nan said.
“I do not. They were teaching me about their culture. A game.”
“Very good,” said Calypso. “We have three priorities. Number one: we absolutely must protect the rest of humanity. Have they been asking anything that would lead them to Earth?”
And the voice said, “Selena is not entirely free and remembers no such questions.”
“They’ve asked questions,” Nola said, “But nothing intrusive. Idle curiosity.”
“I doubt it’s idle,” Calypso countered. “Anything pointed? Anyone? All right. Next, we should remain peaceful here. There are four thousand settlers on the planet below us, and we’d like a successful colony.”
The voice said nothing to me about that.
“Last, we need to know if they truly stumbled on us, or if they expected to find us here. So far, they’ve expressed surprise. Does anyone have anything contrary to say to that? No. All right.” She turned to me. “Try to lure one or two into our territory. I’m going to work on the ambassador myself. Let’s see if they become more talkative when we ply them a little.”
* * * *
I made my way back to the alien territory, a little surprised the guards were missing, but I thought nothing of it. Instead, I found Gail and Esther.
“Oh, it’s Selena,” Esther said. She offered a greeting.
“Esther is neither owned nor owns. Gail is an owner but could still be owned.”
I cocked my head, trying to understand.
I turned to Gail. “Would you like a tour of the ship?”
“I would love a tour,” she said.
“Perhaps Mary would like to come.”
“Mary is busy, but she could join us later.”
“Mary and Annalise own Joy. Mary, Annalise, and Liberty nearly own Selena. Selena is struggling to become free and may succeed. If she does, Mary, Annalise, and Joy will become especially susceptible to her.”
I smiled at that, but I didn’t understand it. But I offered my arm to Gail, and she accepted. We turned, and I began a tour.
We arrived at one of the observation posts. I moved behind her, but set my hands on her shoulders, guiding her to the best point. No one else was about, which was unusual, but I was going to take advantage of it. “This is the best view. This is where Joy stood when she named the planet.” I stepped closer and began speaking into her ear. “She called it a Vision, and that became the planet’s name.”
We stood there for a while. Gail gave little whimpers of pleasure as I teased her ear, using everything I’d learned during the game earlier.
“Gail
is becoming owned. Selena is breaking free from Mary, Liberty, and Annalise.”
“Gail,” I whispered. “We want peace.”
“We want…” And then she said nothing further, but I could feel her trembling under my hands. I began nibbling her ear again, and she didn’t try to pull away. But then she whispered, “Mary is coming.”
“How do you know?”
“We have a communications device.”
“What do you want, Gail?”
“I don’t know,” she replied.
“You need to tell me what you want, before Mary gets here, Gail. She’s going to try to stop me. You want to tell me what you want.”
She turned her head. “I want to understand. Chastity tried to claim me. Breanna and Paityn together tried. They failed. Why do they fail, but I shudder to your touch?”
I didn’t understand the question, but then Mary, Liberty, and Annalise were there. They surrounded me.
“Gail is nearly owned. Selena is nearly free.
“No, she isn’t,” Mary said into my ear, her tone low, seductive. The three of them set hands upon me. “Come with us, Selena. We’re going to continue our game.”
They gave a gentle tug, but I held my ground.
“We’ll answer your questions,” Liberty added.
“We’ll show you what we like,” Annalise offered.
I shook them off and turned to Gail. I caressed her face. She closed her eyes. “Gail, what do you want?”
“I want to understand.”
Mary moved into the space, partly between Gail and me. “Come with us, Selena.”
“Gail needs me.”
Mary looked at Gail. “She isn’t ready to decide. You gave her much to think about, but now it is my turn.”
I didn’t fight when Liberty and Annalise pulled me back two steps. Mary turned to Gail and pulled her into her arms. The two brushed cheeks. And then Mary kissed Gail, as good a kiss as any I’ve ever seen.
“Gail is owned,” said the voice.
And then Mary brushed cheeks and whispered to her. The two separated, and Gail stepped to me. We looked into each other’s eyes. “I was afraid,” she whispered. “I’m still afraid, but I am going to face my fears.”
And then she turned and strode from the room.
Mary moved to me. “What did you say to her?” I asked.
