I ate for a while as I thought about it.
I said, “Bailey, I guess I can understand. She has to have a choice. I guess it’s like someone on Earth deciding to study a field that doesn’t pay enough to support them. They can do it, and a lot do, and then they wonder why they aren’t employable except and very menial jobs. I don’t blame them. It’s not what my goals were, but I understand and don’t really look down on them for those choices. It doesn’t impact me. It made them happy for a while and I support their freedom to do what they wanted.”
Bailey said, “So you get it? She has to have her freedom within the context of the culture. I think I understand what you are saying. The one difference is that this one didn’t choose this lifestyle, it was conditioned into her. But even so, she has the freedom to act according to her nature.”
I understood that even better. We are all acting within our conditioning. Call it programming. The things that I experience condition me to react in certain ways. I guess Alison had the same choices that we all did. It wasn’t up to me to treat her like a child and impose my will on her.
Michelle joined us a little while later.
She took some food and said, “She’ll recover.”
I said, “Mentally as well as physically?”
Michelle looked sad as she said, “There’s no way to know. What I mean is, we may never know. We will have to expect that however she acts is normal for her. Unless we can see that there’s something absolutely wrong with her. It won’t be obvious if her eccentricities are normal or not. Think of this Unit, sorry, Alison, as special.”
Then, smiling at Bailey, she said, “I am so glad we have a Diplomat on board.”
I said, “Can Bailey really help her?”
Michelle looked sad again and said, “Not for Alison. We might not be able to help her. No, I’m glad that Bailey is here for us. For you and me and Eevona. We will need a grief counselor, I’m afraid.”
I didn’t think that it could be as bad as Michelle and Bailey were making it out to be. Now that I was reconciled to the idea that Alison might leave, I was OK with it. We might be disappointed, but we’d be fine. The three of us would drop her off where she wanted to go, assuming that we were able to, and we’d be on our way. We wouldn’t grieve. I was glad that the girls had brought me to my senses. No, I should not try to bond with this one. Being with me was the best choice for Michelle and Bailey. I’d believe them that it wasn’t for Unit Three.
I said, “OK, thanks for helping me through this. Unit Three will have her own choices to make.”
Michelle ate quickly and stood up, announcing that she would be caring for the new girl most of the time for the next few time periods. I couldn’t call them days or hours. Our “time periods” were the spaces between meals and sleep. But even that seemed warped. I had woken up, eaten breakfast, worked with Bailey, ate lunch, and I could swear that it was time for bed already. Bailey noticed.
She said, “Jimmy, time is being strange for all of us. For several reasons. But let’s just adapt. You go sleep. I am going to help Michelle so that I can be there when the Unit wakes up. I’ll need to talk to her right away. Go get some sleep. I’ll clean up here and then join Michelle in the other room.”
I headed for the door, behind Michelle.
I wished that at least one of them was coming to bed with me. I didn’t mention it.
Chapter 11 - Unit Three
As the door to the stateroom closed automatically, Ee said, “I could stay with you if you want.”
I was surprised and didn’t quite know what she meant. She was always everywhere. I told her that, of course, she could stay.
We chatted for a while, but I was tired. I did wish that we had a clock. It was important data, not just an artificial construct. If I was only sleeping for twenty minutes at a time, I needed to know that. If I was only awake for an hour before I got so tired I needed a nap, I need to know. If I was only eating every thirty hours, something might be wrong. I needed a way to collect diagnostic data. I didn’t bother Ee with that right now. She was doing her best. I would adapt. But I hoped that the situation would resolve itself before too long.
Before I fell asleep, I said, “Ee, how does time-travel work? You say we are jumping around. How does that work? What about changing the past and stuff like that?”
I didn’t hear an answer.
I woke up with Bailey crawling under the covers with me.
Snuggling against my skin, she said, “Hi.”
I said, “Hi.”
She said, “We’re good.”
I said, “We are?”
She said, “Yeah. The Unit is stabilized. She’s as healthy as we could hope for. She’s awake and eating on her own and we don’t have to carry her to the toilet anymore.”
I pulled Bailey’s warm body against my side and asked, “And what about her mental state?’
Bailey said, “As good as new. I say that facetiously. She is as good as new, but that isn’t great. You know, if I hadn’t met you, if Michelle and I didn’t know that you existed, I wouldn’t give it a second thought. She is what she is and that’s how it is. But now I see possibilities and problems that I never knew before. Alison should have a better life than she will. Yeah, Michelle and I pitied them even during training, but it wasn’t any of our business to try to change it.”
I said, “Alison?”
Bailey said, “Yes. Alison. Like you said, she’s one of us. I know it would be easier to call her Unit, and I’ll regret having bonded with her even this much when she’s gone, but I can’t help it. She should be with us, damn it!”
I said, “Why can’t she be? I still don’t understand.”
Bailey said, “You need to meet her and interact with her. It’s going to break your heart. Jimmy, I love her. So will you. We’ll get through it, but we are going to grieve. I’m grieving already. So is Michelle. When someone is dying, we sometimes grieve in anticipation. We grieve what could have been. The lost opportunity. The relationships that we are losing, even if we never had them. We can grieve a future that we anticipate or desire.”
I said, “You love her that much?”
She said, “I guess I do. I wouldn’t have if I’d never met you, and if I’d never loved you, but since love and relationship has been offered to me, I want Alison to have it too. She’s a Genie. Like me and Michelle. And she is on this ship and she should have the same opportunities that Michelle and I have now. As a…I don’t know what to call us anymore.”
I said, “You and Michelle are unique now, aren’t you? You certainly can’t be called Units anymore. You have a husband.”
She stroked my chest and said, “Well, except that I’m still a virgin. We’ve been busy, haven’t we? Do you really like me? Physically?”
I said, “Bailey, you are perfect. And very beautiful. And yes, very attractive and sexy and arousing.”
She giggled a tiny bit and said, “That’s too bad.”
I said, “Why?”
She said, “Because we have to go to breakfast and meet the new Genie. You need to see her and she needs to see you. Come on. Hop up.”
I said, “But Bailey. You just got me thinking about something entirely different.”
She said, “I’m sorry. Kind of. I didn’t mean to tease you. We really do have to go though. I’ll try to take timing into account more from now on. Sorry. But we do need to go. I wasn’t supposed to take this long with you. We need to be in the dining area and then let Michelle know when to bring the freak.”
I said, “Do we have time for a shower?”
Bailey sniffed me and said, “No need. You smell nice.”
I groaned and slipped out of bed and hurried to the bathroom. I could use the bathroom at least.
Across the hall, Bailey had me sit at the table, facing the door, and started getting some breakfast ready. Ee asked if we were all set and then notified Michelle. A minute later, Michelle and the third Unit, or Alison, or whatever, walked in. Michelle looked c
alm and concerned. The Unit looked happy and carefree.
Michelle came straight to me and kissed me and whispered, “I love you. Stay calm.”
Then, to the Unit, she said, “Unit Three, this is the captain. Captain Jimmy Raskin.”
The Unit smiled and held out her hand. She was wearing a blanket around her shoulders, the only one of us with any “clothing” at this point. She didn’t seem to be wrapped in the blanket for warmth as much as she seemed to be wearing the blanket as if it were her clothing. As she reached to take my hand and introduce herself, her blanket fell open and one of her breasts came into view. It looked deliberate. She was obviously flirting with me. She didn’t bother to cover back up.
She said something that I couldn’t understand at all. It wasn’t English.
Michelle said, “The Unit prefers not to speak a foreign language since she won’t have a need for it as soon as she is delivered to her post. She said that she is glad to meet you and thanks you for being her host on this little journey.”
The girl smiled and spoke again and Michelle translated.
She said, “I’m looking forward to my assignment.”
Michelle added, “Bailey and I tried to explain to her that her assignment was no longer available, but she doesn’t understand.”
The girl and I started a conversation with Michelle’s help. It wasn’t that she couldn’t speak my language, it was that she was refusing to do so. That was OK.
I said, “Welcome. We are happy to have you here. I suppose that the girl’s told you that we had reasons for waking you up before your um, delivery?”
She said, “They did. Things happen. How long until we arrive at my assignment?”
I said, “Well, that’s a problem. Your assignment is no longer available.”
She looked down at herself suggestively and said, “Whoopsie. My boobies are popping out. This gown is almost obscene.”
I thought it was funny that Michelle translated parts of the conversation as “Whoopsie” and “boobies”.
I said, “Well, as you can see, we don’t always wear clothes at all.”
Bailey was the diplomat, and I questioned why she wasn’t acting as our translator, but she said that she felt that Michelle should translate and that Bailey would jump in if there seemed to be any misunderstandings.
The girl said, “Yes, I can see that. I have to wear clothing, of course.”
That piqued my curiosity and I asked why.
She said, “Oh, perhaps you’ve never seen an Entertainment Unit. My body is very special. Outside the proper context, the sight of my nakedness might cause adverse effects. I don’t know what kind, but perhaps blindness or insanity. So, when do we reach my assignment?”
I said, “Unit, listen to me. Your assignment is no longer available. I want to offer you a position on this ship, instead. You will be treated well and we’ll make you as at home here as we can.”
She grinned and said, “Oh, you! You’re just saying that because you want a peek at me. OK, I guess I can give you a preview, but if you want the whole show, you’ll have to come to the dance club. Don’t blame me if you spontaneously ejaculate and start to drool.”
The girl stood up and gleefully dropped her blanket. Of course, I had seen her before. She was as beautiful as both Michelle and Bailey, but no more so. She was about five-foot-four and well built. She was pasty whitish-gray and had breasts about the same size as Bailey’s D-cups. By Earth standards, she was a stunner. And yes, if I hadn’t been used to it by now, I might have drooled just a little. But I was in no danger of an involuntary orgasm at this point. She did look good though. Maybe there was something special about her. Maybe the way she moved. There was a ripple of sensuality that maybe the other two girls didn’t have. If so, it was subtle.
She stood there naked for a second and then closed her eyes and started to dance.
She said, “You see? I can’t work on your ship. I’m a dancer. An entertainer. If you had a club on board, maybe I could stay, but I have to get to my assignment.”
I said, “Bailey, why isn’t she getting this?”
I didn’t bother to whisper or keep the Unit from hearing me, even though I knew that she understood me perfectly well.
Bailey said, “Captain, This Unit isn’t conditioned to accept new information that way. She is meant to dance. She has the form of a perfect sex object without the possibility to function as such. What we are telling her makes no more sense than explaining that her feelings of sensuality are a perverse joke. Her mind won’t accept the reality of her situation.”
I said, “OK. We have to keep her here.”
Bailey said, “Captain, you have a few choices. You can enslave her for her own good. She will try to escape and become dangerous. You can space her, throwing her out the airlock as debris. You can cast her off and let her fend for herself. Or you can let her make her own choice, which amounts to essentially the same thing.”
I sat for a moment, watching the girl dance and sway with her eyes closed.
I said, “Or, we can let her make her choice, take her where she wants to go, and stick around and see if she changes her mind when what she wants isn’t available.”
Bailey said, “We can do that, too.”
I said, “Bailey, is Ee capable of taking us somewhere with one of these clubs that the girl wants to go to?”
Bailey said, “Ee, what do you think?”
There was a shudder throughout the ship and Ee said, “We have entered normal space. That wasn’t as hard as I thought that it would be. We are approximately 38 years forward of the point where I was when the damage occurred. Scanning now. OK, there is a Babylon Station nearby, about two and a half hours from here.”
I said, “Set a course.”
The Unit finally opened her eyes and stared at me and frowned.
She said, “Why aren’t you laughing? Don’t you find me attractive?”
I said, “Why would I be laughing at you? You are very attractive.”
She started moving more wildly and said, “Laughing is a sign of arousal and attraction and appreciation of my beauty and sensuality. Why aren’t you laughing at me? I don’t understand. You’re supposed to laugh. That’s how I know I’m doing it right.”
She stretched her leg high in the air and held her ankle above her head with one hand. With the other she started fingering her slit, quickly going as far as pushing two fingers deep inside.
She said, “See? See my sex? Doesn’t it make you want to laugh at me? How sexy I am?”
When I just stared at her, she grunted in exasperation and turned her back to me and bent over, putting her shoulders behind her knees and rubbed her clitoris from below.
She said, “You think I’m laughable! You have to! What’s wrong with you!”
She was screaming as she finished that last sentence. Unfolding herself and grabbing her blanket, she covered herself and looked furious.
She yelled, “That’s why! That’s why I could never work for you on this ship! Because you don’t appreciate beauty and sex. I don’t even know what you are. Men find me hilarious and desirable. Women envy me and my sensuality. At a club, they will appreciate me. When do we arrive at my assignment? Tell me now. I want off this stupid ship. You have no right to keep me here. I can go where I want. If you don’t let me go, I’ll call the authorities.”
At that moment, Michelle stepped behind the Unit and put her arm around her neck and applied pressure to her main artery there. She crumpled into Michelle’s arms a second later, unconscious.
Laying the Unit in a chair, Michelle said, “She won’t even have a headache when she wakes up.”
I said, “Wow. Um, I need a hug.”
Bailey sat on my lap and put her arms around my neck and held me.
I said, “She’s insane.”
Bailey said, “Well, she’s acting according to her conditioning. In a way, it’s perfectly sane. She is acting as reality dictates. The reality for her, and for all of us is that
she was designed and conditioned to react exactly the way that she is acting. She isn’t psychotic. She isn’t even confused. For a freak, being laughed at is high praise. She craves it. She was taught that when she exposes herself, that people will laugh at her and that she should enjoy it. It isn’t insane, but it is sick. She is conditioned to accept humiliation as praise. We told you that she was going to be a sad thing to see. And if you keep her from her purpose and goals, she will become devious and dangerous. And if you think that we can solve it by adapting ourselves to give her what she wants, to laugh at her, it won’t work. She’s highly intuitive and she would see through all of us in an instant.”
I hugged Bailey and said, “OK. We’ll take her somewhere so that she can try it out. See if it’s what she really wants.”
Michelle asked, “And if it is?”
I said, “I don’t know. Don’t they have homes for retired entertainers like her or something?”
Michelle said, “No. What a strange idea. No, when she is no longer useful, she would have been cast off or sent on contract.”
I said, “So, thrown in the trash and disposed of.”
She said, “Yes.”
I said, “Well, we can’t do that. Bailey, can you recondition her?”
Bailey said, “I can’t. Maybe you can. But not unless she wants you to. If she fights you, you don’t have a chance. She’d have to trust you. To love you. To accept you.”
I sighed and said, “We’ll need some clothes. At least I assume so. We’ll take her to the station and…Ee, did you say a Babylon Station?”
Ee said, “Yes. The closest station of any kind is a Babylon station. Babylon 208. No suitable planets are nearby. There is another station, Deep Space 71, but it is a bit farther in the other direction.”
I said, “Oh. OK. Um, cool. Take us to the Babylon Station if it has what we need. What about the clothes.”
Michelle said, “There should be a closet with crew jumpsuits. We can buy something else on the station. What’s our money situation?”
First Recruits Page 12
