Chapter 5 - Family Bonding

The next morning found me sandwiched between Tina and Bethany. I sat up slowly to find Janice and Meiko in each other's arms on the other side of Bethany, sleeping. All my ladies were sleeping peacefully so I carefully climbed out of bed and took my time to look around the pod.

Tina had commented that it was two-stories, but to the best of my knowledge none of us had really explored past the common room and the master bedroom. I took the time to check the upper floor and found that the pod had configured itself with four additional bedrooms as well a smaller common area and three bathrooms. The lower floor had three more rooms that could be used as bedrooms or private playgrounds as well. None could be considered small and I was impressed by the space granted to me.

I checked on the girls and they were just stirring. A quick query to the AI revealed that with all the transfers going on, the medbay was going to be devoted to performing high priority initial scans. It would not be available for cosmetic services until the evening briefing began, but offered to schedule my ladies as a group for then. Since the girls were still sleeping, I directed the AI to contact me any of them woke up and exited the pod to check on the rabbits in Green seven.

Brenda proved to be a bit upset that I woke her, and even more upset that she was effectively trapped in the pod. Corporal Mattingly had informed her that a sponsor named Dennis had accosted and nearly assaulted an unescorted concubine sometime the previous evening and she would only be allowed out if a sponsor could go with her. I told her that there really was not much to see on the ship and that the rooms provided the same food as the mess hall, but Brenda disliked being trapped.

The rabbits were all set up in a carefully arranged order. I even received a welcome from the ones from my apartment. Admittedly it was merely them coming to the door of their cage for a nose rub, but they did notice my presence and acknowledge it. Brenda told me that she had already bred several of the younger females and showed me her log of the breedings that she had made to help prevent inbreeding. I smiled when I saw that all of the females she considered hers had been bred the day before and a blushing Brenda admitted that she was still hoping that Corporal Mattingly would allow her to take them with her.

I did tell her about Yvette and her request for a rabbit if one was available. Since Brenda hoped to breed as many rabbits as possible initially to allow the largest number of genetic matches before any possible separation, she did not have any spare ones, but she did offer to show the children the rabbits and let them play with them in the pod. Corporal Mattingly had encouraged her to do the same and told her that the door would open for parties approved by him or me. Brenda's only worry was that of being caught by children either asleep or in Corporal Mattingly's arms.

We were enjoying watching some of the younger bunnies run around the pod when the AI spoke. "James, your concubines are awake and you requested to be informed when this occurred."

Brenda's eyes darkened for a moment but then she smiled and held out her hand to shake. "We were good for a time, but you knew me better than I did. We would have been terrible as master and concubine, and yet, I still get a chance out among the stars thanks to you," she said as I joined her in the handshake. She gave me a quick hug and then allowed me to return to my ladies.

I was greeted as I entered by Janice who wrapped her arms around me to give me a long and deep kiss. I was struggling to keep air in my lungs until she finally released me and then I took a huge breath. As I sucked air back into my lungs she looked at me and giggled. "I just wanted you to know how much I love you."

The others were all smiling and I shook my head. "Wonderful, now however, I think we need to all grab a shower and then we can eat breakfast and start to do some serious work on organizing the pod. We might have six weeks before we arrive at Ishtar, but I want this place to feel completely like home before then because it goes with us.

The ladies smiled and I paused to see if anyone disagreed. I was a bit surprised to hear Bethany say. "Home is wherever the four most important people in my life live."

Meiko was nodding quietly and I had to smile at the feelings shining through the faces of my ladies. I found myself wanting to say more, but instead went forward with my plans. "Very well, I know the shower and bath here can handle all of us, but I was thinking that Tina, Janice and I can use the one here, while Bethany and Meiko go use the larger of the ones upstairs."

Janice and Tina both ran up to hug me before sprinting towards the shower. Bethany gave me a puzzled look, but then nodded and started to ascend to the upper floor. Meiko sat quietly, staring at the floor until I knelt down beside her.

"Don't be disappointed, little one," I whispered. "I'm not rejecting you. I love you as much as you love me. I just want to give Janice time to bond with me, as she's still uncertain, and I think Tina can help. Also, you can do me a huge favor with this."

Meiko's eyes shot up and she looked at me, with tears in her eyes. I kissed the tears away and whispered again. "Meiko, my love. Bethany loves you just as much as I do, and she needs to be reminded that she's not an outsider just because she's older. When you get in the shower, I want you to show her how much you love her. Put your tongue to work and make her scream her love for all of us. Can you do that?"

Meiko nodded and wrapped me up in a hug, silently demanding a long and passionate kiss before following Bethany's path to the upper floor. I staggered my way to the bathroom to find Janice and Tina in a wildly erotic kiss. I had barely gotten under the water when Tina turned to face the wall and smiled at me over her shoulder. "I'm not in a maid's outfit, but I want it this way," she said as the water played over her.

I did not hesitate, but immediately positioned myself and with Janice giving me a loving wink, impaled Tina on my cock. She moaned in pleasure and I began a slow rhythmic motion designed to bring Tina pleasure. She had just begun to gasp when Janice smiled wickedly at me and knelt down so that she could put her tongue against Tina's clit while I fucked her from behind.

Tina's reaction was immediate and loud as her gasp was followed by a shriek of pleasure and joy. She did not even try to speak clear words as Janice and I worked on her and moments later her spasming pussy signaled that she was in the middle of an orgasm. I let myself go at that point and came in her with a cry of victory and lust.

Janice stopped licking us and stood up to give me a loving hug from behind as Tina and I recovered from our exertions. Once my cock softened enough to slide out easily I turned to Janice and gave her a kiss. "Should I make love to you as well?" I asked her as I held her under the streaming water.

"No," she replied as Tina slowly sank to the floor of the shower. "I'm still a little sore from last night, and I already know you love me." I pulled back to look in her eyes, feeling a bit disappointed only to see tears glistening in her eyes.

"James," she whispered. "Do not ever leave me. Never tell me that you are tired of me, or that you might trade me. Don't even think of loaning me out. I am yours. I gave you my body when I agreed to come with you, but right now I need to give you more. James, my body you know is yours, but there is more. My heart is yours, my life is yours, and my soul is yours. All my dreams now include you and only involve making you happy."

I stood there silently, stunned by Janice's fierce and open statement. I was still trying to figure out how to respond when Tina spoke from the floor. "James, Bethany told us that you were worried about how we all felt, and that she had tried to reassure you. I know that you worried because you did not use any of the standard methods of choosing and only interviewed us four, but fate definitely guided you that day. I know I'm naïve and lack understanding of how to be in a real relationship, but I also know right now that I'll never love anyone more than I love you right now. Your smile lights up my life more than you can imagine, and you have my eternal devotion."

I pulled Tina up from the floor and give her a kiss, one that became a bit sloppy when Janice joined in to make it a three-way exchange. We turned back to actually work on getting clean when Bethany's voice rang throughout the pod. "Oh god! Put that tongue in me! Fuck, you are almost as good as James. You little cunt! Give me it hard and fast! Oh fuck, that's good."

Bethany was clearly enjoying herself and kept getting louder and more profane for several minutes as Janice, Tina and I quickly washed off and then quietly snuck up the stairs to peek in the shower. We found Meiko on her knees with her face buried in Bethany's pussy as Bethany leaned against the wall of the shower and screamed in pleasure. It was completely erotic and I heard both Janice and Tina moan with lust as Bethany screamed out an orgasm and slid down the wall to lie on the floor.

"Wow," Tina said as Meiko relaxed and sat up. "That looked like fun."

Bethany moaned for a moment before sitting up to look at us. "It was fun, and I hope to do it often, although next time, I want to be the evil schoolteacher who lusts after her young students and seduces them by sucking on their clits and pussies."

"You never!" Janice gasped.

Bethany laughed. "You're right. I never did that back on Earth. I was the prim and proper teacher. Now, I just had a girl young enough to be my daughter bring me to a fantastic orgasm and my only regret is I didn't get to serve her the same way."

Meiko reached out and gathered Bethany in a hug before standing up and making sure she had finished washing up. Both ladies then exited the shower to stand with everyone in the upstairs open area. As they did, Meiko reached out to kiss me on the cheek. "I love you even more now, master," she whispered.

Janice heard the comment and snorted. "Okay, let's make this quick. Scale of one to ten, how much does each of us love James, our master?" she spouted.

"Too high to put a number on it," Tina said.

"Same," Bethany added.

Meiko merely smiled and hugged me again.

At this point Janice burst out laughing. "James, not one of us can put a value on our love for you. Stop worrying about it and just love us."

We laughed for a moment and enjoyed another group hug before everyone suggested heading down and getting breakfast. The girls all merrily chatted with each other, exchanging hugs and butterfly kisses while nibbling on the food provided by the replication units.

I finished and quietly slipped into the master bedroom while they girls kept chatting. I used this distraction to instruct the AI to generate five wardrobes into the wall of the bedroom, and also immediately provide me with four pairs of panties, one sized for each of my ladies. I came out and handed each lady her pair.

"Panties? But why?" Janice asked.

I smiled and said nothing, but Bethany obviously understood because she spoke up. "He's thinking about us and giving us something to make us more comfortable."

"Wha-?" exclaimed Tina. "But I'm comfortable naked. James has seen that."

Bethany smiled. "Yes, but panties were created for more than modesty, there are some advantages to them. I'm sure James isn't saying we should always wear them, but he's giving us the opportunity to wear them when we are resting in the room, and that does make sense. Only...."

As Bethany paused, I looked at her and she walked up to me, holding out the panties. I put my hand out to take them and she grinned and spoke. "My master should get to put them on."

My other ladies laughed as I knelt down and held the panties for Bethany to step into them. I then slowly slid them up her legs, lovingly running my fingers over her skin. I spent a short moment caressing her ass before I raised up the fabric to cover her pussy. Bethany sighed as the fabric settled into place.

I heard a moan from behind me. I turned and Tina was gazing on Bethany and me with lust in her eyes. "That was as erotic a scene as I've ever seen."

Janice and Meiko nodded in agreement and I smiled. "Well, just this once, I'll reward each of you if you come over here. Next time, I might have you earn it."

Meiko, Janice and Tina all jumped up and dashed up to me, holding their panties out as Bethany giggled like a schoolgirl. With each of them, I took the panties away with a smile only to slowly slide them up their legs, and caress them lovingly while dressing them. It was great fun and the group hug at the end only seemed to add to our closeness. Once we were done I called out to the AI.

"AI, how long until tonight's master briefing?"

The AI called back. "The briefing should begin in just over nine earth hours. Please note that Captain Nelson and Sergeant Powell are now recommending that no concubines be brought. There was another incident in the halls involving one of the sponsors and a concubine not belonging to him."

I could see all my ladies look a bit nervous and I smiled. There was another quick group hug and then I suggested that we move the games and such into one of the ground floor rooms to create a dedicated recreation room.

The idea of a dedicated game room met with universal approval and we soon were moving boxes into the room. Tina and Janice burst out laughing when I discovered that they had managed to pack away all my console games, and their accessories as well as my computers, while I had been still grabbing books and board games. I found myself wondering just how much was actually left in the apartment and had to laugh at the image of the place stripped of most of the items which had made it my home.

Five hard working people made short work of the boxes though, and we watched in fascination, as the floor appeared to absorb the cardboard leftovers. The AI had reported that some of the room conversions we needed to be able to hookup and use the console games and computers would take some time so we wound up playing cards for several hours. It was a surprisingly homey atmosphere and feeling and I found everyone smiling and relaxed. We finally broke for a late lunch when Tina observed. "You know, the panties were a good idea. I guess there are times when a little clothing makes a difference."

Bethany laughed. "Nudity is fun, and can be very erotic, but who wants it all the time. Besides, the panties are a bit more comfortable for sitting around in."

"You just enjoyed the feeling of James sliding them on you," Janice said with a smile, turning to kiss Bethany lovingly.

Laughter followed and we found ourselves sitting around a table enjoying lunch while Bethany and I extolled the joys of playing bridge. Meiko just smiled, but I had already come to realize that she would go along with any activity I enjoyed. Tina appeared a bit dubious, but it quickly became clear that she was worried about understanding the complexities. It was Janice who brought her around by explaining that we all knew that Tina could do it if she would only allow us to show her how. Then she promised to sit with Tina and help her learn to read when I was in training, something which earned the young lady a hug and kiss from everyone in the room. The scene was threatening to morph into an orgy when the AI called out.

"Ensign Bates is outside, and wishes to enter."

We all paused and stood up quickly. "Let him enter," I replied to the AI, watching the door as it slid back and revealed the Ensign.

He smiled and looked at my ladies. "I had a chance to see your plans for changing the ladies, and they are all simple," he said. "Right now the pods are empty because of the meeting starting in just under an hour, so if you trust me to escort them to the medbay, I can take them down and get their changes started, while you are in the meeting. I'll try to get Sergeant Powell or Corporal Mattingly to escort them when they return."

"It's that bad?" I asked hearing a note of concern in his voice.

Ensign Bates nodded sadly. "It's going to get worse too. The military discovered over a year ago that the CAP testing is good, but it's not perfect. There was one case where a volunteer with a nine point three allowed one of his male concubines to dominate him to the point where they ended up rescoring the man as a six point eight. Twice colonies have been set up and a governor appointed based on his high CAP, but he proved to be a complete disaster as a leader. I was on one of the ships that had to go there and help clean up, and the conditions were terrible. The military officially accepts every human with a CAP of six point five or higher who volunteers, but this time, they decided to try a new tactic."

This confused Tina and Janice as I looked at Ensign Bates. "Ishtar is a dumping ground then?"

I could feel Meiko hug me close as if to deny the truth of my statement, but Bethany gasped. "That means that most of the sponsors going on this trip..."

"Are unacceptable to the military for service in any line units," I replied in a monotone.

"Yes," Ensign Bates replied. "If the information I have is correct, that is the case. Some are like you, good people who just lack the exact personality makeup that the military is looking for, but the majority of the volunteers on this ship are the sadists and users who have enough ability to sneak in with scores right around six point five."

I nodded. "Please, protect my ladies then, and if the Sergeant isn't available, call me to come and collect them."

The Ensign nodded and after quickly slipping their panties off and handing them to me with a kiss, my ladies followed him to the Medbay. I spent a final moment making sure that the pod was secured and neat and then left for the briefing in the mess hall.