First Recruits

by Marilyn Foxworthy

  When we get to our debris field, you will operate as independent companies. There is no need to compete. If there are questions, your engineers will negotiate the decisions. You are all in cooperation, not competition.

  I will meet with the officers as a group once a day and with anyone who needs me individually. This is supposed to be fun. It’s going to take a little while to settle in and get comfortable, but after that, everyone should be happy and healthy.

  I’d like you to take some time and gather your companies together. Try to even out the number of each skillset between you.

  Any problems?”

  Allie said, “Captain, I’d like to give them some instructions if that’s OK.”

  I told her that it was absolutely OK and she addressed the crowd.

  She said, “As you form companies, put on the uniform that you were given when Ee calls your ID, because that means that your registration is completed. I want everyone to start working on their appearance as well. Start growing hair. Just on your heads. Make it silver in color. Increase your breast mass to double what it now. Except concubines. Leave yours alone. And work on your skin coloring. Look at the uniforms of your neighbors and imitate that for your skin. Blue with yellow accents. Don't match it exactly though. Interpret it the way that you want to. Ask your leadership about a distinguishing mark for your company and create that on your right shoulder above your breast. But have fun and let me know if you need anything. No one needs to suffer in any way. OK? And, when you’ve done all the stuff that the Captain has asked us to, we need to have a party. I know that some of you have party and event planning skills, so let’s do it! We need a party!”

  There were some smiles around the room and a little bit of laughter, but not as much as I would have hoped for. It was going to take some time.

  We waited around for a bit while the women started forming companies and Ee called out a designation every few seconds and a woman would put on a uniform. Bailey and Michelle and the one called “Mercy” went into the ship to retrieve some tables and chairs to use as a temporary conference center. Later it would just be a place to sit, but for now, I wanted to stay here rather than disappearing into one of the normal conference rooms.

  It took about an hour for things to start to settle. I moved around the room, greeting the women, suggesting ways to make the groups more even, and building rapport and trust.

  When it looked like we were set, I said, “OK. That’s great. Like I’ve said, it will take a while to really get comfortable, but we’ll make it work if everyone is patient and kind to each other. Allie says that she wants a party, so let’s get it going. I am going to take the command officers away for a little while for a briefing, so you guys take charge of yourselves for now. I’ll be back soon. If you need something, ask Ee, and if she needs something, she’ll let me know about it. Chief Engineers, I’ll meet with you soon. Command Officers, follow me.”

  I turned into the ship, followed by Bailey, Michelle, Mercy, and eight combat and command officers. As I ushered everyone into the galley I noticed that all of us were wearing uniforms: except for Mercy.

  I said, “Oh, Mercy. I’m sorry. You don’t have a uniform. How did that happen?”

  Michelle said, “I told her that she didn’t need one yet.”

  Mercy said, “Yes, Captain. I am perfectly comfortable like this. In fact, I feel a freedom in being naked that I have never felt before. I don’t know why that is. If you would like me to dress, I will. If not, I feel a transformation taking place and I would like to see where it goes.”

  I said, “As you like.”

  The twelve of us sat at the dining table and outlined the duties of the command officers and the relationships between them and us. There were a few questions, mostly related to whether this was real or not and did they understand things correctly. I assured them that everything that we had said was true. Now that they were registered, they had access to my implant data and could tell that I was completely sincere and that they were safe as far as my ability to guarantee it. Bailey and Michelle led much of the discussion.

  We had glasses of the drink that we used at every meal and the women seemed to appreciate it. They were used to a very much watered-down version of the same stuff, but this was richer tasting. All of them drank as much as they wanted, but it seemed that every time I glanced at Mercy, that she was finishing off her glass and Michelle or Bailey were filling it up again.

  Bailey and I described our debris field, what we had taken and was on the way to the shipyard already, and the battle hull that Bailey had requisitioned. We explained as much as we could about how we wanted them to find and repair a ship to house all of them and then to make others ready to help with their exploration and reclamation efforts. None of them needed to have anything explained twice.

  When I suggested that we stop and that I meet with the chief engineers, Bailey said that she could handle that meeting by herself and that she felt that I should go with Michelle and Mercy and settle those matters. I didn’t know what those matters were, but Michelle felt that Mercy was somehow special and I assumed that I needed to hear how. Mercy had been kept separate from the others during our assignments. Michelle had told her to stand at my right side as I spoke and she hadn’t been given a title or a position. She had accepted the registration and partnership immediately, so what did Michelle know that I didn’t?”

  Bailey and her staff filed out of the room, back in the direction of our cargo hold and Michelle, Mercy and I waited for them to go. As soon as they were gone, Michelle took the lead, walking us to my stateroom.

  Opening the door, Michelle said, “You can use this room. Have Ee call me when you are ready. There is more fluid in the dispenser and you will find glassware in the cabinet. The stimulant is there as well. Are you sure that I shouldn’t stay with you?”

  The woman said, “No. But thank you. I will call you. Starship Eevona, show me where my supplies are,” and she disappeared into the suite and the door closed behind her.

  Now I was really bewildered. What was Michelle doing? What was Mercy doing? Why was she in my suite? Why did she need more fluids and stimulants? Then it hit me. Was this a mutiny? Was Michelle about to replace me with a captain that knew what she was doing? I thought that the girls loved me. Surely they wouldn’t throw me out into space now that someone worthy of command had appeared. But Mercy had my stateroom now, and I was locked out. This didn’t look good.

  Chapter 25 - Unknown Space

  Michelle could see my metabolism rise and said, “Captain, do you remember the castoff that we found and you registered her and we found her a job?”

  I said, “I do.”

  Michelle said, “And we knew that she wasn’t supposed to be with us and we left her where she was because she didn’t smell right?”

  I said, “Yeah.”

  Michelle said, “Do you want to make love? We have some time.”

  I said, “Sweetie, I think I’d rather know what’s happening.”

  Michelle looked nervous and said, “I don’t know what’s happening. Only to a certain point. Beyond that, we’re about to hit a storm.”

  I said, “Michelle, is Mercy dangerous?”

  She said, “Oh yeah! She’s very dangerous.”

  I said, “Are we in danger?”

  She said, “Oh, not at all. We’ve never been safer.”

  I said, “Michelle, am I being replaced as captain?”

  Michelle looked at me and smiled and said, “Oh Jimmy! No! Not at all. If anyone was going to be replaced, it would be me. Not you. You are our captain. Mercy agreed to it. No, we’re all perfectly safe. Mostly.”

  I said, “Do we need a plan or something? What’s going on? What do you mean, there’s a storm coming?”

  Michelle said, “Um, it will be a little while. Let’s go somewhere comfortable. I know, let’s go to the bridge and watch the stars. Should we head out? Should Ee ask Bailey if she should start us back toward the debris field? I guess we coul
d call it home for now. Should we head for home?”

  I said, “OK. If you and Bailey think that’s best.”

  There was a short burst of comms and it was decided and Ee headed out.

  Michelle took my hand and led me toward the bridge at the front of the ship. She had me sit in the command chair and she sat on my lap.

  She hugged me and said, “Jimmy, I don’t know what’s happening. I do, but I don’t. I feel overwhelmed. With joy. Or happiness. Or peace. No, completeness. We’re going home. We have a home. Jimmy, I love you.”

  I said, “Can’t you tell me what’s going on?”

  Michelle stood up and said, “Take your clothes off. You should be naked for what’s coming. Jimmy, it’s going to be beautiful. Magical. Bailey and Allie know. Don’t be scared. Or do be scared. It doesn’t matter. Bailey told me that being scared of you was the best thing that she’d ever felt. Remember what happened with Bailey. How you owned her and us and everything in the universe.”

  Suddenly Ee exclaimed, “Oh…my…goodness! Oh freaking hell. Yeah, Captain, be afraid. Be very afraid. But be the captain, just like you were with Bailey. Be a man. Oh, Mercy! Michelle, do you know what’s coming? No, how could you? You can’t see it. I do. Oh my freaking goodness. And yeah, I get it. It’s right. It’s complete, isn’t it? Oh, Mercy!”

  Michelle had finished stripping both of us and had pushed me back into the chair and was once again in my lap.

  She said, “Ee, can you see it?”

  Ee said, “I can. But I’m not sure that I believe it. Oh crap! I’ll try to get back to normal space before it’s too late, but if I don’t, we’ll just deal with it. If I live through it. I asked Bailey and she said I’ll be fine. You have a medkit, right?”

  Michelle said, “I do.”

  I said earnestly, “What is going on?”

  Michelle said, “Ee, filter the forward view so that we see it the way that you do.”

  Suddenly, the window in front of us lit up in a way that I’d never seen before. It was like the Aurora Borealis gone bonkers. Swirling colors and a disorienting sense of vastness where time was clearly meaningless. This had to be non-space.

  I said softly, “It’s amazing. But Ee, you see this all the time. What is so surprising?”

  Ee said, “I see this all the time. I’ve never seen anything like what is currently in your stateroom. This is just a way to warm you up so that you don’t pass out from the shock.”

  Michelle said, “Jimmy, Mercy is special. And she smells heavenly. I think that you are about to become the richest man in the galaxy. Not monetarily, but in so many other ways. Can you imagine that I am a top of the line Unit? Specialized for combat and command. Call me an Elite model. Sweetie, Mercy is a Legendary Class Unit. We told you, chameleons work to blend in. They change their bodies, their hair, their skin coloring to match their surroundings so that they aren’t noticed. Mercy was doing that. I’m Elite. Maybe one in a million. And Epic is maybe one in a hundred million. What Mercy is, well there’s no number for it. It might be between two and five. There might be two to five like her among all the hundreds of trillions of people everywhere. Everywhere. She is a single one-of-a-kind grain of sand in all of space. And Jimmy, when you rescued me, I had to decide if I accepted you. Mercy accepted you. You. And us. And that’s permanent.”

  I said, “So, all this is about is that Mercy is some kind of rare treasure and we found one?”

  Michelle said, “If that’s how you want to think about it. For now.”

  Ee shouted, “I don’t think I’m going to make it. It’s too far to normal space. I found a way to go faster than ever, but it isn’t enough! Michelle, you have to stall her. If this happens out here, it’ll be a long time before we find our way back. If that doesn’t matter, I guess it will be OK, but everything will go out the window if we don’t get out before it happens!”

  Michelle said, “Should I go right now?”

  Ee shouted, “Yes! Hold it back. I’ll lock the door, but tell it that we have to wait and why.”

  Michelle leaped out of my lap and ran from the room without another word.

  Ee said, “Captain, I’ve locked the door. Stay here until we are safely back in normal space. I’m concentrating so only talk if you have to.”

  Oh well. Something was going on, but I figured that the girls were overreacting somehow. Apparently, we had a Legendary Class Unit and that meant something special to other Units. At least to Michelle. And somehow to Eevona. As far as I was concerned, Mercy wasn’t anything special. She was as tall as Michelle, but not nearly as beautiful. For one thing, she had flat, shapely, but flat, breasts. I hadn’t even paid attention. I guess that she could grow some hair and fill out her figure the way that the other girls had, but that could take weeks. Was Michelle thinking that Mercy was getting the same deal that she and the other two had? Full relationship? I didn’t get it, but I really didn’t care. I quickly forgot about the fact that the door behind me was locked and just stared out at the spectacle of non-space through the window.

  What were they up to? On the one hand, I couldn't know and didn’t understand the fuss. On the other hand, it seemed awfully important to Michelle and Ee, so it had to be something. We had in-ear communicators now and I decided to try them out.

  I said, “Ee, connect me to Bailey, or whatever I need to do to talk to her directly.”

  Ee said, “Just touch the earpiece and say, Call Bailey.”

  I did as Ee directed and Bailey answered.

  She said, “Hey Babe! What’s up. These sound really good. I’m still in a sort of staff meeting, but I can stop if you want me to.”

  I said, “Bailey, what’s going on? With Mercy?”

  Bailey said, “I don’t exactly know. I got a chance to ask Allie and all we know is that Mercy is special. And because she’s special, she belongs.”

  I said, “She belongs with us? Like you and Michelle and Allie?”

  Bailey said, “Apparently so. We all know it, but Michelle especially. Can’t you see it? Doesn’t she have the right smell to be with us?”

  I said, “I don’t see it. I trust you guys, but why does she belong with us? I love you girls and we don’t really need or want another. Bailey, you’re suggesting that she live with us, right?”

  Bailey said, “I’m saying that she’ll sleep with us and make love with us and be one of us. She will bond with you and there will be four of us. All the same rights, privileges, and relationships. We just know it. You don’t have to, and when you get to know her if you think it’s a no-go, fine, but we all want it to happen. She said a lot during that exchange before you accepted each other. And I guess we kind of accept the fact that she loves us and she’s one of us. Oh, and don’t think that she’s some kind of master negotiator, which she is, and that she out negotiated me, which she could, to make us do her bidding, which she didn’t. It was an honest exchange. She was right wasn’t she?”

  I said, “Right about what?”

  Bailey said, “You asked her if she accepted you and she said more than you can understand. She knew that you wouldn’t understand. But before that, she demanded to know what you were going to call her and you blurted something out and because of what it was, it sealed the deal for her. And the three of us knew that she was not part of the workforce.”

  I said, “Then what is she? Yeah, you say she’s one of us and all, but what is she?”

  There was a pause while Bailey considered her answer.

  She said softly, “Jimmy, the best way to describe it isn’t good enough. But here it is: she is a princess. An angel. A goddess. You won’t worship her, but she already adores you. She is a death machine that will breathe life into all of us, you especially. How do I know? I don’t. But I know the um, well the word isn’t here. It’s not right, but you could say that I know the prophecy. No, that’s not it. I know the legend. And having met her, I believe it.”

  I said, “Bailey, I hate to say it, but she isn’t very attractive. Maybe
I’m shallow in that regard, but there should be some physical as well as emotional attraction and well, I don’t feel either.”

  Bailey said, “Yeah. I don’t get the physical part either. Michelle says Mercy’s not what we think she is in that regard. That she is more beautiful than Michelle herself. I don’t see it. I guess she can grow into her body over time, but yeah, I don’t think she’s very pretty right now. At all. And kind of the same emotionally. There’s some depth to her that I haven’t really gotten to see yet, but I can tell that it’s there.”

  Michelle’s voice broke in and said, “OK. Ee says she is just about to enter normal space. Jimmy, when you see the stars come back, come to the stateroom. I won’t be there. Mercy will. Jimmy, be her man, like you have been with all of us. We’ll see you soon. Don’t hurry. As if you have a choice,” and then both she and Bailey were gone and I was left alone with the darkness of the bridge and the colors of non-space.

  I wondered how urgent this was. It seemed like the girls were anxious about it. But it didn’t seem like there was a need to hurry. There was no apparent danger. The thing that I needed to do was stay calm and centered and explore what was happening. I’d take my time. I’d approach it carefully. I was the captain, regardless of my experience in the role. I didn’t make big decisions by myself. I provided leadership, not commands. I gave opportunities. Everyone had a choice and consequences. This would be no different. Mercy had choices. So did I. I didn’t know what was happening, but this was my ship, not hers. She had already pledged her loyalty, so what was the issue? I’d find out when I got there. To my stateroom. Where she was waiting for me.

  I felt a slight shudder as we reentered normal space and I saw the stars swirl into view. I stood up and put on my uniform, straightened it on my body, took a deep breath, and turned toward the door to the corridor. I was as ready as I could be. It wasn’t far from the bridge to my rooms. I walked slowly.