Chapter 4 - Meeting the Neighbors

It was Janice commenting from the floor that she was hungry that brought us to our senses. We decided to head down to the mess hall just to spend a moment outside the pod and I got back into my ship uniform although the girls all remained naked. I looked at them in surprise and Tina smiled. "You've seen it all already, and we know you like to look at it."

I shook my head but all of us proceeded to leave the room. Just outside we could see the door to Green five open and a rather slickly dressed lady emerged leading a naked man wearing a leash. I recognized the woman as being in the audience the previous night at the concert hall and nodded.

She was walking toward us and smiled as she approached. "Going to get food?"

I could feel Meiko cowering slightly behind me as the woman approached with her concubine. As he got closer the ball gag was evident and he was wearing some leather and latex contraption that must have been restricting the motion of his cock. I noticed that as his mistress stopped walking his eyes closed. However, the lady deserved an answer so I shrugged. "Yes, we could eat in the pod, but getting out of it for a moment didn't seem like a bad idea."

I turned away to walk to the mess hall and my ladies turned with me. We had just started to walk away when the woman said loudly, "You don't approve, do you?"

I stopped and sighed, turning back to her slowly, although my ladies did not turn. "It's not my place to approve or not. He's your responsibility. I do have to admit that I feel a bit sorry for him."

The woman nodded. "It is a bit cruel, but there is a reason behind it. Please, let me go to lunch with you and I'll explain it."

I glanced over at my ladies to see Tina and Bethany both give almost imperceptible shrugs. Janice had her eyes closed and Meiko was now cowering into my chest, obviously distressed by the situation. I ended up spending a moment listening to the silence in the hall before answering. "If you insist we can, but if it distresses my ladies I might ask you to leave."

The woman merely nodded and resumed her walk to the mess hall. I looked over at my ladies who all appeared bored and then we followed to the mess hall to find a table.

Once inside, Tina and Bethany said they would get trays for Meiko and myself and told me to find a table. The room was mostly empty, with only a few people eating, all clustered in the far side of the room, so it was rather easy to find a table and take a seat. Meiko immediately dropped into my lap and hugged me, still cowering. I was worrying about this meeting and wondering if I should call it off when the lady sat down across from me and her concubine knelt just behind her.

She looked up and I could see her shake her head. "Sorry to scare your concubine. Honestly, I'm doing this for Philippe's own good."

Meiko did not release me, but she seemed to relax just a bit. I looked over at the man and noticed that he was staring straight ahead, but attentive. "I don't see how it's for his own good," I replied.

The woman laughed. "Well, my ex-husband forgot that he's merely my concubine now. I could treat him like Ruth did her man last night, but I do love this man. I just need him to understand that I can't have him believing he's not a concubine."

As she finished my other three ladies arrived and Janice spoke. "Why not? James has proved that we are far more than mere concubines to him."

The woman laughed. "But you aren't going to argue with him in public, or try to undermine him in the household, are you? Philippe here tried to rearrange all of my careful organization last night, and nearly traumatized poor Marie."

I was a bit confused by this and held up a hand. "Let's start this conversation over, and do introductions. I'm James Rabb. My companions here are Tina, Bethany, Janice and Meiko." I pointed to each lady as I said her name.

The woman laughed. "Where are my manners?" she said with a giggle. She then held her hand out. "I'm Yvette Mimeux, we were picked up together at that country music concert last night. Behind me is my ex-husband and now slave, Philippe. I have three more concubines back in the pod; I'm allowing them to enjoy a meal without me."

I nodded and looked over at Philippe whose eyes now glistened with unshed tears. "Are you unhappy about your choices then?"

Yvette smiled and shook her head. "I'm not as happy as you are, but I'm not sure anyone on this ship is as happy as you are about their selection."

"How do you know that?" Tina snapped.

Yvette just smiled at Tina. "It's easy to see. You ladies are all confident and smiling despite the uncertainty. Look at Meiko there. She's obviously more frightened than ever before, but did she run off? No. She is huddling in the arms of the one man she trusts more than anything. If the five of you are this close now, after only a day, it's something special."

I was nodding and watched as Tina chewed on a piece of her hair and considered what she was just told. Finally she shrugged. "I just know that if love was scored one to ten my love for James would be about a twenty."

Janice and Bethany both burst out laughing and Meiko nodded into my chest. I watched as Yvette covered her mouth with her hand as laughter entered her eyes.

It took a moment for everyone to regain their composure and then Yvette looked a bit more serious. "I guess in a way I'm not entirely happy. Philippe and I married fifteen years ago, and I do love him very much, but he has no imagination and little initiative. If he'd been on that show Average Joes in the episode where the lady lost a dog in a burning building, I know he would never have entered to try and save it."

She continued. "The problem is that I scored a seven point one in the CAP, and was going to get four concubines. There was never a question that I'd take Philippe with me, and I even let him help me in selecting the others, but last night he thought he'd act as man of the house, and refused to back down when I reminded him of the new rules. I finally had to have Nathan hold him while I used a stinger to knock him out, and I've decided to take a bit more aggressive approach to making sure he learns the rules. Especially after the incident in the mess hall earlier."

"What incident?" I asked. "The one where the one male concubine was repudiated and terminated?"

"No," Yvette said with a frown. "It happened after that. Hector, one of the other men from the concert decided that he'd taken a shine to this fourteen-year-old concubine of Martha's. There was a big argument and the marines ended up having to use stingers on several concubines and even a few sponsors. Part of the problem was when one of Martha's male concubines tried to defend the girl. Hector smashed him to the ground and the marines did nothing. I realized that Philippe needs to remember that Confed law labels him property and not a person, so he does not make the same mistake."

"You expect more problems?" I asked.

Yvette just stared for a moment and sighed. "Yes. Ruth and Hector worked at the same company I do. That trip to the concert was a ploy by our boss to try to get himself selected, as he knew both Ruth and Hector has scored six point five, they had bragged about it so often. He tried to disguise it by making it a team-building event, with a company dinner first, but somehow he was sitting between them once we took our seats for the music. I know those two and while they are intelligent and can do a lot when they try, they are lazy, venal and selfish. Frankly, if they put as much effort into the CAP as they do into their play, they could have scored above nine, but they rarely try that hard. I expect both to become petty little chieftains and abuse any concubine whom they encounter alone."

Meiko stiffened again upon hearing this and I put my arms around her, holding her close. "That will be a problem," I muttered. "I won't have them touching my ladies."

Yvette nodded. "Fortunately Ruth is in the black ring and Hector in the white, so except in the mess hall or during meetings we should rarely see them. Your little one there definitely should be careful though. Ruth loved to terrorize the secretaries whenever the bosses were out of the office, and I'm sure she'd love add your girl to her list of victims."

"And that monster scored enough to volunteer," I said in amazement. "Well, I guess the situation does make sense now. Although, I still feel a bit sorry for Philippe."

Yvette laughed. "Don't feel too bad. I'll make it up to him later, once I'm sure he understands that he needs to obey me from now on." Philippe was looking straight ahead during this conversation, although I could see a faint glistening in his eyes, suggesting unshed tears.

We all turned to our food, and Meiko released me to taste the food Bethany had obtained. The replicators in the mess hall were able to make lots of different foods and I was surprised to find that the ladies had all chosen a teriyaki combination.

Bethany smiled, as I tasted the first piece. "We thought it might help calm Meiko down. She told us that she used to eat Japanese cuisine often while growing up."

I smiled. "Hey, I like it too, but next time, we should do sushi, if the mess hall can do a decent sushi that is."

"The replicators can reproduce fifty different types of sushi," the AI chimed in, to our group alone.

Yvette burst out laughing at that. "God, I never know when the AI is going to respond or not. I am impressed by how much they can do."

Bethany frowned. "They ignore concubines unless they are told to respond by the sponsor. That's all I know."

I reached out to tickle her. "You are just mad 'cause it ignored you earlier."

Bethany nodded at that, and we all resumed eating quietly. Few others were about and for a few moments the only sound was that of everyone eating. Finally, Yvette finished and reached over to take Philippe's gag off.

"Take my tray to the disposal and get yourself some food," she said lovingly. "And please don't get too mad. I know it's going to be hard, but if you want to stay with me, you'll have to respect me."

"Yes dear," Philippe said back lovingly. "I understand and I'm sorry. I just have to fight how I was raised a lot harder." He turned to walk away and then paused to look at me. "Hey, what's the rule on the rabbits?"

I looked over at Yvette, but she just shrugged at the question. "Finish your job and if your sponsor asks when you return, I'll answer," I replied to Philippe with a wave.

Janice watched him walk away and then asked. "How come you never acted like that with us?"

Yvette answered immediately. "Because he doesn't have to. You already treat him with more respect than Philippe will ever give me. And with far more love too." She sighed a little as we watched Philippe review the choices at the replicator. "I could hear a couple of the marines near me questioning the procedure James used to find you. They have seen so many pickups that they are jaded about it and actually encourage men to take women for test drives to insure that there won't be a problem later."

Tina giggled. "I offered; James wanted to wait."

"And I can see it was worth it," Yvette said. "You have a connection built on more than sex and the rules. I'd bet you'd refuse to leave if you were set free. Philippe would leave in an instant if he could."

"That's sad," Meiko whispered. "He doesn't understand how special a family can be."

Yvette shook her head and Philippe returned and sat down next to her. He was actually a rather handsome man of about thirty-six but still seemed a little unhappy about the situation. Yvette waited until he was sitting and turned to me. "Actually, I did want to know about the rabbits myself."

I laughed. "It was a wild idea and I'm happy the AI went along, although I'm very surprised. I suggested that pets might help stave off boredom for the concubines, especially since there really isn't going to be a lot to do. Confed technology takes away most of the manual labor of keeping a house going. My idea was that a pet would be a good way to add an element of relaxation, and also give children something to care for that wasn't a human baby. The AI accepted my argument."

Yvette laughed. "And you just knew where to find rabbits."

"I used to breed them for rabbit shows," I admitted. "Now I'll breed them for pets I guess."

Philippe gently touched Yvette and whispered something in her ear. She smiled and turned to give him an extremely gentle kiss. "That is how you have to be, love, and that was perfect." She turned to me and continued. "Can we get a rabbit for our children?"

I smiled. "I want to check with Brenda about what all we have. She's probably thought out a breeding plan already and I wouldn't want to hand out a rabbit she's about to breed, but they definitely can visit with the rabbits on the trip while we get organized, and as soon as I have any to spare, we'll get them one permanently."

"Brenda is the concubine currently staying with the rabbits?" Yvette asked.

Janice opened her mouth to speak and then looked at me. At my nod she continued. "She used to be James' girlfriend and when we collected the rabbits, Corporal Mattingly brought her back as his concubine, although he didn't tell her that's what he did until the next day. Right now, she's helping with the rabbits, but Corporal Mattingly is staying with the ship and she'll stay with him once we reach Ishtar."

"She'll be sad," Yvette said.

I shrugged. "Some of the rabbits we brought have been Brenda's pets for years. As long as Corporal Mattingly does not complain, I'll probably let her keep a few. It might even help spread rabbits to another planet."

Yvette nodded. "On that note, what do you know about Ishtar so far? It seems to be an unusual situation."

"I've heard nothing definitive yet, although I have been busy settling in and getting everyone into medical for their initial scans so I haven't been paying attention. I do know they aren't planning on having line marine units there, and that this ship will be the first colony ship to arrive, so the initial population will be whatever the ship is carrying. I'm sure we will hear more soon, but I'm not sure what the schedule for that is."

The ship AI jumped in. "There will be a final round of pickups commencing at dinner time on the east coast of the US and continuing across the US. After the pickups are completed, the final transfers of volunteers will occur and this ship will depart the system for Ishtar. Of the one hundred eight pods this ship carries, sponsors are expected to occupy one hundred on the trip out. The new arrivals will have the standard morning briefing in this chamber tomorrow, and then a formal briefing for all Ishtar-bound sponsors will be held as the ship leaves the system."

"We have an answer," Bethany said.

We had finished our meals and Meiko unwound from me to collect all the trays and return them to the replicator. As she walked away Bethany snickered. "Sometimes I feel like I'm on the Enterprise."

"The wha-?" Janice said, turning to look at Bethany.

Yvette and Philippe were smiling and I could see that Philippe wanted to speak, so I waved to him. He turned to look at Yvette who nodded and he smiled. "Bethany is talking about an old TV series. The ship had food replicators that replaced all the work of having a galley and cook. Confed technology seems to be similar to what the show had."

"I'm sure the uniforms were a bit more modest though," Janice said, earning another laugh from Bethany.

Yvette took a moment to stop her own laugh and then smiled. "Only if you consider form fitting tops and miniskirts modest; and that was only because showing more wasn't allowed back then."

Janice looked confused, but I promised that I'd see if the ship had a way to display the old show.

Yvette then stood up. "Well, it's been nice meeting you, and I might try stopping by later to meet the rabbits. But right now I have to run. I promised Marie and Nathan that I'd suck Nathan's cock while Marie licks me and Philippe here works on getting her pregnant."

Philippe immediately whined as he stood just behind her. "I only want you."

Yvette turned and slapped Philippe hard, leaving a red mark. "Damn it. We've talked about this twice already. The AI told me that my concubines must participate in breeding and that I have to remain childless until I complete the basic training. That means you get either Marie or Esther pregnant, and you told me you like Marie. I'm not going to get upset if you have some fun with her, so smile and show her that I wasn't just bragging about how well you can use that cock of yours."

Philippe looked a bit upset, but then looked down and whispered. "I just don't want you to forget that I love you."

Yvette's shoulders went down as the anger flowed out of her. "I know my love, but we had to do it this way if we are to survive."

Yvette walked out followed by a reluctant Philippe. I sighed as they left. "I hope they can make it work. It must be harder for them, since they were together before all this happened."

Meiko whispered. "Philippe loves her more now for standing up to him. As long as she cares enough to slap him, it will last."

The rest of us turned to look at her, and she merely shook her head and smiled. It was clear that she did not want to explain the situation and with the warning from Yvette about possible trouble with other sponsors we decided to return to the pod to rest.

As we reached the pod I had a thought. "AI, will concubines be needed at the formal meeting for Ishtar-bound sponsors tomorrow?"

"No, only sponsors need to attend," was the clipped reply.

We entered the pod and I sat on the bed for a moment and looked at the ladies. I patted the bed next to me and said. "Bethany, we have a body plan for you. My question is do we include everyone, or should this be private?"

Meiko looked confused, but Tina gasped. "You are planning the nanotech changes to us!"

"Only if you approve of them as well. I discovered that the AI is rather helpful in this," I replied. "AI please display a hologram of Tina as you did Bethany earlier."

Instantly a hologram of a naked Tina appeared in front of us. It rotated slowly and I considered my options as the others watched it turn.

I waited to hear anyone speak and since no one spoke up decided to begin. "Let's start with the body. Tina needs additional mass, about ten pounds overall, spread around the torso; let's make the ribs disappear. The breasts need to be a bit bigger, let's try a pair of firm B-cups."

The hologram changed as I spoke and Tina gasped. "So, you are suggesting changes to me that can be made to happen, just like that? What are the rules?"

I shrugged. "I don't really have rules. I actually have found your current faces quite beautiful and other than getting longer hair for Meiko and Janice was only going to clear up scars and acne here and there. I wanted slender athletic bodies, but with good hips for having children and long legs. A little landing strip, but no wild country down below, and firm breasts. For you, maybe we should aim at an apparent age of twenty. I have simple tastes."

The hologram had changed as we spoke and we found ourselves look at a younger, stunning version of Tina. She watched it turn speechless, with tears in her eyes. "To think that you find me beautiful already." She whispered.

I smiled and looked at Bethany who winked at me knowing what was coming. "AI, do you understand the idea of a French maid outfit?"

Instantly the hologram was dressed in an indecently tight and short French maid skirt and top, complete with a hair band tied into the ponytail. The model was even holding a feather duster and Janice and Meiko dissolved into laughter. Tina seemed indignant for a moment and then joined in the laughter. "Oh my. That's indecent, its racy, its cheap, and I have to wear that for you. God, I can just picture you coming up behind me and pounding me against a wall while I moan in pleasure. I love it!"

I instructed the AI to lock in the form and then called up one for Janice who stopped laughing with an "eep"

Meiko was grinning as I watched the hologram rotate silently. Janice was watching it closely and I could see a look of concern enter her eyes.

I waited just a bit longer to see if Janice would speak first, but she just stared at the figure so I began. "Let's see. AI, give Janice improved muscle tone and remove the excess fat on her thighs and around her waist. I think she should have solid B-cups as well. For her hair, put it into a high ponytail, where it comes up at the top of the head and cascades down. I'd like it to reach her neck once in the ponytail."

The figure changed and I could see Janice smile. Once again I had not made major changes, but the effect was stunning while preserving who she was. I figured I was about done when Janice spoke up. "Can the hair be lighter, more of a honey blond, and the ponytail needs to reach my waist."

Obediently the AI followed through on the changes, apparently anticipating my approval and the figure's hair grew considerably. I was about to say something when Bethany spoke. "Wow, good idea Janice."

Janice giggled. "Well, I've already seen that James loves long hair, and I wanted to try it. I like how it looks."

I grinned evilly. "Then there is one final test. AI, please dress the hologram in a tight-fitting cheerleader vest and skirt, make them green and white."

The hologram changed and we found ourselves looking at a beautiful and sexy model of Janice. I wanted to say something, but Tina put it into words before I could. "Another masterpiece!"

Janice was looking at it and nodded. Smiling she came over to give me a long and loving kiss. "I love it, and I'll even do cartwheels in the hallway for that."

I laughed and returned the kiss, remembering to run a finger up and down her pussy just to feel her moan into my mouth. We broke the kiss and looked over at Meiko who was sitting on the floor and blushing furiously. "Ready, little one?" I asked.

Meiko nodded and then looked up at the spot where the previous holograms had been displayed. The AI did not wait for my order, but displayed her hologram instantly.

As I remembered from her earlier posing Meiko did not require any major changes. I did have the AI show her face without the residual acne scars and had it remove the last vestiges of baby fat from her body. Meiko's tiny body required little improvement, and in the end I left her breasts as A-cups although I did what I could to firm them up. Finally I looked over her hair and asked the AI to extend her hair to mid-back and show it with a hair band pulling it back from her forehead. Bethany was the first to speak when I was completed.

"Once again, you have it right," she said, admiring the hologram. "Meiko doesn't need much changing and I like the hair."

I watched Meiko look at the hologram for a moment and then she came over to kiss me and push me back on the bed.

"She likes it," Tina said.

"I'm not done though," I smirked. "AI can you dress her in a catholic schoolgirl outfit, with the short plaid skirt and a tight fitting white blouse?"

Meiko turned and I shifted to see the hologram now dressed as I had requested. The AI must have heard this request before, because the blouse was only buttoned at one point and then tied off under the breasts, revealing the belly button and enhancing the appearance of the breasts. I was prepared for Meiko to slap me, but instead she collapsed against me sobbing.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Janice jumped in to put her arms around Meiko, but she had wrapped her arms around my chest and refused to let go. She cried for several moments more and then Bethany gasped.

"Its not that she's upset about it," she asserted. "I think Meiko just realized how beautiful James thinks she is, and she's overwhelmed by the feeling."

I was puzzled by this, but could feel Meiko nodding into my chest. I waited a moment and then as her grip relaxed lifted her up to look into her eyes. "Is that it, my little one? Do you like it?"

Meiko's response was to give me a kiss that sucked all the air from my lungs and forced me back onto the bed. She finally let go and lay atop me silently.

Tina laughed. "She may be speechless, but I don't think I've seen anyone give a better answer of yes in my life. Bethany, I think we need to take kissing lessons from her."

I laughed. "The schoolgirl giving the naughty teacher a deep French kiss. I love it." I told the AI to lock in Meiko's changes and show what we planned for Bethany, reducing Tina and Janice to tears of laughter when they saw her dressed up.

Tina gained her breath back first and spoke. "James, you are an evil, horny pervert. But there is so much love in this room, I can't begin to complain, unless it's that you are still dressed and not fucking one of us silly."

She turned to look at me only to find Meiko removing my outfit and positioning herself to descend on my cock. Her laughter caused Bethany and Janice to turn and moments later I had Janice sitting over my lips while I used my right hand to explore Bethany's pussy.

Well, I don't need to tell you all the details. Let's just say that the next two hours passed very pleasurably and only ended because exhaustion descended on us and we fell asleep in a happy pile.