Chapter 16 - A Meeting of the Sponsors

The next morning I woke in bed with all five of my concubines. I am not sure when I collapsed in bed, but they had arrayed themselves around me during the night. I snuck out of the room to get breakfast and clean up. The pod has a self cleaning feature, so other than putting the various games away, there was little cleaning necessary, and by the time that my ladies were stumbling from bed, I had the pod clean and breakfast on the table.

"Yesterday was fun!" Tina said enthusiastically as she ran up to claim a hug and kiss from me.

I held Tina close. "It was, but there was one thing wrong with it," I said.

"What?" Tina asked.

I quickly pushed Tina against the wall of the pod and slipped a finger into her naked pussy. "I didn't get to fuck any of you," I whispered lustfully into her ear.

Tina sighed and moaned back, "Oh master!" before grabbing my cock and lining it up with her pussy. We fucked with passion and abandon against the wall until we both came with a moan.

"Well, you haven't forgotten," Bethany said from behind me when we finally slowed down.

"Forgotten what?" I asked.

Bethany laughed as I turned to look at her. Behind her I could see Meiko, Brittany and Janice kissing and caressing, but she strode up to me naked and gently put her arms around me. "You haven't forgotten to show us just how much love and lust you have for each of us," she said as she gave me a kiss.

I wanted to pursue the idea, but remembered that according to the AI all pods should be connected shortly, so with a sigh I released Bethany. "AI, how is the tunnel expansion going? Can all the sponsors now reach this pod?"

The AI spoke back. "Yes, all tunnels are pressurized ahead of schedule. Progress on the main tunnel to the colony center has commenced and connection to the reactor should occur in eight hours. The tunnel will initially have only the middle pressure door operational. The remaining doors will form after additional power is available."

I sighed as Brittany and Meiko both stiffened. "Please put priority into getting the additional doors formed. Meanwhile, can you announce to all twenty sponsors inside our zone that we will have an informal sponsor-only meeting at this pod in one hour."

"Awww..." Bethany said. "That means we don't get to play."

I sighed. "I know, and I hate it. I could have the replicators make a strap-on for you ladies to use."

"No!" Janice and Tina shouted as Meiko and Brittany exploded from the floor to push me against the wall shaking their heads.

I was staring at my ladies and trying to figure out the problem when Meiko took a deep breath and spoke. "James, you don't understand. Yes, I love sex now! I need sex, but not just any sex. I need you and your cock. Some plastic or rubber contraption would perhaps take the edge off, but it wouldn't be you. It wouldn't fill me with your man-juice! And more importantly, it would lack your love. We all want you more, but we know that you have to be there for others. Just be here for us, and fuck us often."

I could feel Brittany's arms go around me and see the truth of Meiko's words in the eyes of my older concubines. I nodded with a sigh. "I just never want you to feel like I don't give you enough."

I was Janice's turn to laugh and speak. "So one night in seven I don't wake up with a wonderful feeling in my sore pussy. I think we all can live with that situation."

I just shook my head and took the scraps of my breakfast to the recycler. My ladies still had to eat, but they ate quickly and quietly, slipping off to the bedroom to come back out dressed in blue mini-skirts and white halter-tops. They were in a discussion with Bethany on how to handle the incoming sponsors and moving some of the chairs and tables around to create a meeting area when the AI spoke. "James, Terrence has arrived early and brought Brad with him, shall I let them in."

Tina immediately headed for the door smiling. "When Tina reaches it, open the door, and she can escort them to the meeting room," I replied. "Brittany, how about you and Meiko take a quick break and check on the rabbits."

They nodded and left the pod, exiting the room only a moment before Terrence entered leading a young man in his early twenties and a college coed dressed in a Tennessee Volunteers cheerleader outfit. The young man looked a little ashamed. "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't bear to be without Candi."

I sighed. "I guess she can work with my ladies, only why that outfit?" I asked.

Candi smiled and then jumped up and cheered. "Go Vols!"

Terrence and I laughed as Bradley shook his head. "I just love college sports and Randi and Candi agreed to be my personal cheerleaders. Right now Randi is back at the pod wearing the colors of LSU."

The laughter continued as Bethany came out to see Candi standing with us. She smiled and walked over to the girl before whispering something to her and then escorting her back to the game room. I smiled. "I see Bethany is organizing everything. Don't worry Brad, she'll probably just get Candi to help with serving once everyone shows up."

Brad stopped to think for a moment. He was looking at Tina who had returned to the main room and was waiting by the door. He turned to look at me. "You have four concubines?"

Just then Janice walked in from the game room and joined Tina in waiting by the door. "Five," I said, unnecessarily.

Terrence was looking in awe at Janice and her long ponytail. "I don't remember her," he said.

Janice gave an awkward curtsey and smiled. I was about to start introductions when the AI spoke. "James, more sponsors are arriving."

"AI, here's what we should do. Tina and Janice will be greeting sponsors at the door. Allow them to have privileges to ask for the outer door to open to greet sponsors," I said. Tina and Janice immediately nodded and left the room, heading for the outer door of the two-pod complex.

"Outer door?" Brad asked.

"We saw the other pod door," Terrence said. "Remember the two concubines we passed as we entered? The rabbits must be over there."

I was about to answer when Tina stepped back into the room. "Sponsor Xavier is here." Following her was a blond man in his early thirties. He seemed more than a bit out of shape, but smiled warmly as he saw Terrence, Brad and I standing there. We waved and he walked forward.

"I'm guessing that I'm looking at our leaders," he said, holding his hand out to shake.

Brad shook his head. "I'm just a grunt. But these two probably know something. Especially him," he said pointing to me.

I shook my head and smiled. "I'm hoping that we won't have to worry too much about leaders and such, but for now, I guess I'm one of the driving forces," I said. I would have continued but Janice stepped into the room

"Tiffany and Tamara are here," she said as the twins ran into the room and demanded hugs from me. I could hear Xavier's gasp as he noticed the twins but Terrence merely laughed.

"I see they are going to be trouble," he said as I grabbed one of the twins and hugged her. "Good to see you again, girls. It got rather lonely trapped out in the red ring."

The twins giggled. "At least"

"You had"

"All your concubines."

"We only"

"Have one"

"Male concubine"

"So it"

"Was a"

"Long two"

"Weeks for"

"Some of us!" they chorused.

Terrence and I had expected the outburst and merely smiled. Xavier was standing there with his jaw open as Brad looked back and forth between them. Finally he looked over at Terrence and wailed. "Do they always do that?"

The twins smiled. Finally, the one on the right giggled. "No, we can talk normally, but it was fun to see your face. I'm Tiffany, and my sister is Tamara." She held her hand out and accepted the bemused handshake from Brad while Tina walked in.

"Sponsors, Tasha, Tyson, Fred and Eric are here," she said, leading four individuals into the room. Greeting everyone became the key and while I wanted a moment to chat with Tasha, more individuals arriving made any kind of private meeting impossible.

The last person to arrive was Yvette, who walked up to me and whispered in my year. "I had the AI alerting me as each person passed my pod. All are here."

The twenty people were mostly standing around awkwardly. A third man was standing near Terrence, and I heard the name Ed mentioned so I guessed it was the third man who had been out in the red ring. Shawna was standing near Donna, but most of the men I did not know, and I had been too busy to more than smile at Louis when he arrived. I waved Tina over and whispered to her about checking on Brittany and Meiko, telling her to let them know that I would probably want a rabbit brought out later to show the sponsors. She nodded and rushed off as I tapped the wall to get everyone's attention.

"Everyone, I know this is uncomfortable because we don't have chairs for everyone, so if you can be quiet I'll try to make this initial meeting short."

The room quieted down and I smiled. "Thank you. I know many of us have just met, but if things go well, we will get to know each other very well in the future. And I do apologize from tearing you away from your concubines, but this room isn't big enough for a full eighty-five people."

"Eighty-five?" someone exclaimed. "How do you come up with that number?"

Yvette smiled and I nodded for her to continue. "Simple math," she said. "We have twenty sponsors, with forty-five concubines and twenty dependent children on our side of the door."

"Door?" a female voice said. I recognized it as Tasha's from my brief greeting.

"Let me get to that in a moment," I replied. "First, welcome to Ishtar. I know most of you were at the briefing and are wondering why only twenty people are here when the main briefing was much more crowded. The reason is unfortunate, and has to do with why we are on Ishtar."

There was a slight buzz of discontent, but everyone stayed quiet. I could see Tasha standing by herself looking thoughtful. No questions were being asked, so I continued. "Now, some of this is speculation, but not all. The basic situation does meet what was stated in the briefing. The Confederation Military does want us to monitor a resupply and repair center, but that facility is in orbit around an airless planet in a closer orbit to our new sun. They also are hoping that we can create a sensor net to scan this sector of space for Sa'arm activity. Both of these activities can be performed from a command post here on the ground."

I could see several people looking at each other in speculation. Before the question could be asked, I answered it by continuing. "Yes, for those of you about to ask. This is a two-person job and takes minimal training time. The military did not need a full colony here. Unfortunately, the military decided to use us in an experiment. Some of the people they pickup prove unworthy of their original CAP rating, and do not work out in line units. This colony is composed of one hundred citizens that the military rejected for that service. The AIs demand that any volunteer at a pickup be taken, but the military chose to dump us here rather than attempt to train us."

"You mean we washed out already?" one of the men cried out.

Terrence sighed. "That is exactly what happened. Although, there appears to be two different reasons people were rejected and sent to Ishtar."

I nodded. "Exactly and that's a great way to point out the situation we are in now. All of you remember the last two weeks on the ship with Ruth and her friends stalking the corridors and promising mayhem on anyone they encountered. She and her follows represent thirty of the one hundred people on this planet. We also have a Manuel Matos who has organized twenty-seven members of the colony to be his force in attempting to take control."

Someone must have been fast at math because someone immediately shouted. "What about the twenty-three that would be left after that?"

Yvette shook her head, but Donna responded. "We tried to contact them. They refused to have anything to do with any others. On the rare occasions I could get one to answer they refused to listen and ended the calls."

There was silence and I continued. "Yes, it's going to be the twenty of us, and that's about it. Ruth and Manuel both appear to be only interested in taking our concubines and making us work like slaves, and the other twenty-three refused to talk to us. However, we do have a few things in place. First, I'll let you see what we have. AI, display the area of Ishtar where the colony is as well as the colony center."

Obedient as always the AI dutifully displayed the landmass containing the colony and the location of the colony center. I could hear a murmur of appreciation when everyone saw the location. I could hear someone whistle and smiled before continuing, "Doesn't it look like we could put some green there, and have a tropical paradise? This is where we are going to be. With a short exile down here, underground, while the air and water are made safe. Now, I discovered that we had some options on pod locations. AI, please add in the pods of the eighty colonists who are not here, as well as the tunnel paths connecting them to the colony center."

Once again the holographic display changed, this time showing a half circle of pods appearing on the eastern side of the center. The intricate web of tunnels connected to the center in three locations, and I could hear some concern. "We're part of that?" Someone asked.

Yvette and the twins giggled while I smiled. "No. We are not part of that," I replied. "AI, please add in the twenty-eight pods in this section of the colony."

The holographic display changed again, showing the final twenty-eight pods and their single connection to the city center. Most of the conversation seemed appreciative, but then there was a squawk of protest. "Why are there double pod setups?"

The twins giggled and shouted, "We're guilty," in unison. The rest of the council broke out in laughter over this. I just waited for the noise to die down before continuing. "Thank you. Yes, the twins have one of the double pod setups. They are going to be a single household and it made sense. The other pod is just across the hall for a reason. Tina, signal Brittany if you would."

Tina smiled and turned to shout out the door. A moment later Brittany and Meiko entered carrying rabbits. Each was doing their best to be gentle, but making sure everyone could see the rabbits. Before I could say more Brittany spoke softly. "You were right James, that one doe lost her litter last night. We found some blood evidence in her cage."

I sighed as some of the sponsors reacted in shock. "She'll recover," I replied. Then I spoke a bit louder. "As you can see the other pod has a number of colonists who need a bit of care. Right now we are still hopeful that we will get several litters of babies in the next week or so, but that still means probably ten weeks before I can provide you with your own rabbits. We do have to be careful with them, as the military knows about them, and I understand there is a huge interest in obtaining some of them from us. They are the only animals the AIs have ever allowed to be taken from Earth."

I could hear a ragged cheer and some of the sponsors approached Brittany or Meiko to look at the rabbits and pet them. I allowed the short break as Yvette and Terrence approached me.

Terrence was the first to speak. "Good move on the rabbits, it gives us all a break and reminds everyone here that you are thinking ahead. What's next?"

Yvette laughed. "I'm guessing we'll get the details of the other pods and then plan for a general meeting and celebration once the recreation hall is open."

Most of the sponsors had taken a moment to pet the rabbits and after the one Meiko was holding started kicking my two concubines retreated from the room to return the rabbits to their cages. The mood was a bit more cheerful and I could see the twins had bracketed Tasha and were distracting her with questions.

"Okay, let's get back to business," I called out, quieting the crowd. "So you have seen the layout of our pods. You can see the single path to the colony center. It's unfinished, but when complete it will have three heavy pressure doors blocking the route and preventing the free entry of others in the colony. This should keep the Ruth's of the world outside and you and your concubines safe. However, to guarantee that I had to make a promise to the AI."

On the holographic display the seven extra pods started flashing. "Earlier I mentioned that we are expected to help maintain the resupply base and monitor the sector. This is supposed to be run from a command post in the colony center. However, with the number of sadists and other nasty people in the colony, I doubt any of us want to have to wander into the center of the colony to work. The AI has granted us a concession. The Wisp was carrying seven empty pods, and as you can see, all are now connected to our tunnels. These will transform over the next few days into units we can use. The primary one for our immediate purposes will include the actual main command post for the colony. As long as we maintain a two-person watch there, we never have to leave our section. It also will contain a fully stocked armory, although the AI has warned me that use of the heavy weapons in the tunnels is not recommended."

There was a bit of nervous laughter as everyone could see the armory pod glow red on the display. One man quietly murmured, "Good plan," before I could continue.

"Now I guess I'll cover the others," I began. "We will have a fully operational medical bay, so we can again avoid going to the colony center. We do need some people to take sleep training on how to monitor the equipment, but if all goes well, any physical or cosmetic enhancements you want performed will be possible within two weeks."

"Next, we have a pod that contains two planetary defense lasers. If you took any training courses on Confederacy Lasers you'll know they aren't the weapons of choice, but with the atmosphere being so corrosive projectile weapons would not work well. These are the best alternative. Unfortunately, they are crew mounts. Someone sits in a chair at the back of the laser and aims it. Battle armor will protect that person for five minutes, so if we ever need these the drill will be as follows; armor up, mount the laser, ride the laser to the planet's surface and into the atmosphere, fire one or two shots and descend back under the ground. I will not demand that anyone volunteer for this duty and promise to take it on myself, but it might save us some day."

There was another murmur, this time one of surprise. I was ready to go on when Brad suddenly shouted. "If it protects my Candi and Randi, I'll do it. Tell me what training classes I need!"

Candi had been providing the sponsors with drinks and squealed in delight, rushing over to kiss her master. The sponsors all laughed.

I smiled and chuckled myself. "Good, the other four pods are colony and not military related. First, we have one that will be set up as a nursery and school. I figure all of you might enjoy time without children, and if you agree to have your concubines help run this school, we should have a place for the children to go when you need some privacy. I know that we do have two concubines with teaching experience so it might be possible to set up a learning program for children as well. Second, one is set up as a general multi-use all for dances, concerts, presentations and such. One concubine saw a hologram of the planned inside and mentioned that it could also serve for indoor soccer and broom ball, so again we have opportunity to entertain children and concubines alike."

There was another general cheer and then one of the male concubines looked up. "Wait!" he called out. "We have twenty sponsors and forty-five concubines? How did we get an odd number, and who has more than two?"

Yvette laughed. "I've got four. I am one of three people on this rock with a CAP above six point nine, although one of them is on the other side of the door."

My concubines were now all in the room, Bethany and Janice by the game room door, and the other trio over by the front door. I waited for someone to notice and as expected another male voice spoke out. "Wait? Does that mean?"

I smiled. "Yes, because of a decision by the AI I now have five concubines. Brittany turned fourteen during our ride here, and the choice was I accept her as a fifth or she would have been turned over to the man who had murdered her mother. I'm sorry, but that just didn't feel right to me."

A woman's voice called out. "It most certainly wouldn't have been right. My Michael is still limping after one of those gorillas kicked him during that first breakfast briefing."

"We can fix that soon," Yvette said quietly.

"Yes," I added. "Meanwhile, I have two final pods to talk about. One is going to be a hydroponics unit. If the AI comes through, we should receive seeds as trade goods in exchange for some of the rabbits. The hydroponics unit will be for keeping the seeds going until the air and water are safe and then we can try to turn the land up above green. I make no promises though! This is a long shot."

The general cheer made it clear that everyone liked the idea and the hope it brought. I then held up my hand. "Finally, I asked for a recreation hall, complete with a six lane bowling alley, console games with large screens and tables for board games or food. If all goes well, it should be ready for use in about eight days when I'd like to see all of you and your concubines in the place where we can party and celebrate our safe landing on Ishtar."

There was a great cheer at this point. Everyone seemed to realize that the basic meeting was over and started to pair off in conversations. One man in his early forties approached me and put his hand out. "Hello again James, good planning there."

I smiled and took his hand. "Thank you..."

The man laughed. "Reggie. I was pretty sure you might forget with all the people and activity. I still am figuring out who is who."

I nodded. "I'm helped a bit because Yvette, the twins, Terrence and Donna spent a few hours in my pod discussing this. But that was before Ruth and her minions made walking around impossible."

Reggie nodded. "I got a feeling you knew some of the people here. But I wanted to talk more about the school. I was a math and science teacher, and both of my concubines worked in schools. So I thought I could help out there."

"That's nice, but you do realize that since at fourteen kids either become citizens or concubines the school won't be teaching anyone who is that old. It's mostly going to be for younger children," I said.

Reggie smiled. "That's fine. And with the sleep trainers we can concentrate on fundamentals and get away from all the dumb special teaching the unions demanded. Here we can work on basics. It will be just a simple diet of reading, writing, math and science, and there will be plenty of warnings that failure is an option."

I laughed and waved Bethany over. She arrived and smiled at me. "Bethany, Reggie here has some ideas for the school. I know you spoke with Marilyn some, but do you think that later you can work with him some on the curriculum?"

"Sure, it will be a joy to teach students who want to learn! The high school students at my last school just wanted to play," she replied

"You're a teacher?" Reggie asked her looking her up and down. Bethany preened and posed for him, showing him her youthful appearance before laughing.

"Yes, I was one for twenty years," she told him.

"But," Reggie sputtered.

I came up behind Bethany and spun her around for a loving kiss. "Just a little gift from me. Part of the cosmetic enhancements you can do includes making your concubines appear younger. Bethany is now a young, vibrant and pregnant forty-four."

Bethany giggled like a schoolgirl and dashed off blushing as Reggie just stood there. "Wow, it can do so much," he whispered.

"Well, Bethany provided the foundation. I merely had the years rolled back and her breasts firmed up a little. And then her own personality brought it all to life," I replied.

Reggie laughed and slapped me on the back. "I'll have to try that with my ladies. Oh, and Brenda A was a nurse, she might be helpful in the medical bay once it opens."

I nodded and Reggie headed off to find others to talk to. I could see that the conversations were continuing when Louis, a distinguished man who had shown up wearing a suit and tie walked up to me. "I finally understand why you wanted me to take the command post lessons," he admitted. "And I thank you for that. I know we aren't supposed to admit it, but I love Heather, my concubine very much and want to do anything that can be done to keep monsters like Dennis away from her."

Tina was walking by as he said that and threw her arms around me, giving me a long kiss before turning to Louis. "Why shouldn't you admit that you love the women in your life?" she asked him. "I certainly plan on making sure that James here never regrets bringing me along." She gave me a final kiss on the cheek and then dashed off to the game room with a giggle.

I tried to contain a smile as Louis laughed. Once he did I joined in. "Sorry, I have very cheeky concubines sometimes," I said. "But there is nothing wrong with loving them. The Confederacy may declare them property, but I'm hoping we can create a tradition where they are valued and treasured family members, and then use the system to create some stability for them."

Louis surprised me by smiling. "That does sound like a good idea. Heather and I had never talked much; she was my blond and beautiful trophy wife. She raised the children and appeared at my side for banquets and parties, but this last week in the pod, I rediscovered just how much I love her. And what surprises me, is despite the long hours and limited affection I gave her over the years, she loves me, not the money I worked so hard to provide."

"You have been a lucky man!" I said.

Louis laughed. "Yes, but it will be hard. I'm so used to hiding and staying out of the limelight. Now I know I'm going to have to be more active, and I don't think my skills are going to be valuable here. Not much call for financial advice in a world without money."

I joined in the laughter. "True, but we will need someone to help in trade. There will be children needing some help with math, and perhaps you can use that analytical skill to help in developing some probe routes to help scout the sector. We will find a place for you."

Louis seemed thoughtful. "Not bad ideas. Meanwhile, I was wondering about the rabbits just a bit. I know you said that there aren't any to provide yet, but do you think my children can visit here and see them. They are desperate for something to do."

I was about to nod when Brittany walked up. "Boss, do you think we can get leashes for some of the rabbits. Brenda told me that Gremlin had run on a leash before and it will allow others to see them."

I looked over at Louis. "That should answer the question. I'm happy to entertain them here, if I'm around or am alerted ahead of time. The outer door only opens to my command normally, or hopefully Brittany and Janice can take rabbits for walks to other pods."

He shook his head and after a brief handshake headed off. I could see some people were starting to leave, but most were enjoying the atmosphere and conversation. I was trying to decide if I wanted to approach anyone when Yvette walked up to me.

She was shaking her head, but smiling. "Most everyone is enthusiastic," she said. "And all the parents love the idea of a school. I know my children are tired of having little to do, and bored children are naughty children."

I laughed with her as Janice walked by. I reached out to pull Janice into a loving kiss, before looking back at Yvette. "Yes, I can imagine that, but I thought of it for more than just that. Think about the current situation. We have twenty sponsors, but more than twice that many concubines. Most of our current sponsors are caring individuals, but that doesn't change the fact that officially concubines are slaves to their sponsors."

I was about to continue when Janice slid her arms down the front of my uniform and then pushed me gently so my back was against the wall. She sighed softly and whispered in my ear. "Sorry, but I want a quick fuck. Think Yvette will mind?"

Yvette must have been paying attention because she snorted and spoke. "Ride him hard Janice, but let him speak. You'll just be priming me for some loving when I get back to my own pod."

Janice squealed in delight, and quickly moved to free my cock. As I tried to reorganize my thoughts she wrapped her right leg around me and slid her pussy over my cock with a sigh. "Just to remind you," she whispered. "I love you, master."

I snorted as she started a gentle and slow rocking motion, moaning softly. She seemed to be in no hurry to cum, so I struggled to refocus my thoughts back to my previous topic and turned back to Yvette. It proved to be extremely difficult, but the topic was important and I managed to look Yvette in the eyes and concentrate on my words. "Well, what I was trying to say is I want to establish a tradition of concubines being more than slaves. They are the parents to any children born in the family, and will provide much of the emotional and spiritual support for sponsors who treat them well. But rather than try to create a bunch of laws which will be broken, I want us to just set an example for the others to follow where we treat our concubines as valued and loved family members. Because in the end that is what we are, even with the rules."

Yvette smiled as Janice put her head on my shoulders and moaned with pleasure. I could see a few knowing smiles sent our way from the other sponsors in the room, and a look of pure longing in Bethany's eyes, but no one disturbed us. Yvette seemed thoughtful for a moment and then shrugged. "I agree. I feel that way about Philippe and Esther and now that I think about it, you can see the difference in how they are around me. And you are right, it will promote a bit of stability. But why not make it a law?"

I tried to hide a groan of pleasure as Janice began increasing the speed of her rocking. She was biting her lip to avoid moaning, but the swaying of her ponytail made it obvious to any onlooker what she was doing. "Laws will eventually be overwritten, or ignored. A solid tradition is a lot harder to break, and will incur a lot less resentment," I said, gasping for breath as Janice kept going.

Yvette laughed and leaned forward to whisper in my ear. "I agree, and now I have to run and go fuck my concubines. Watching you two has me wet and horny. Give your little lady here what she needs, I'm off to taste Esther's honey." She gave me a kiss on the cheek and then headed out with a laugh just as Janice stopped her motions and collapsed against me with a sigh.

I held Janice close for a moment, but she recovered quickly and backed off before kneeling down to clean my equipment with her mouth. Finally she carefully rearranged my clothing before turning to walk away with a giggle. I looked around nervously, but none of the sponsors seemed upset. Brad even flashed me a quick thumbs up before grabbing Candi and rushing out. I was still shaking my head when Bethany whispered in my ear. "That was so fucking hot. I can't believe she was brave enough to do it, and now I regret that I hadn't thought of it."

I smiled and whispered back. "Right now, let's make sure all the sponsors are happy, but when they are gone, you go and get into your schoolteacher outfit and tell Meiko that she should put on her schoolgirl uniform. Then you can lick her while I take you on the couch."

Bethany shivered in anticipation. "Ohh, I love that idea!"

Bethany walked over to Meiko to whisper to her as I scanned the few remaining sponsors. I noticed that Terrence was standing with a sponsor I had seen him with earlier and guessed this must be Ed. I walked up to Terrence and he greeted me with a smile.

"I remember seeing your concubines giving you longing looks when your back was turned, but I never imagined one would act so forward. They love you, you know!" he said.

I just nodded. "What's frightening is that I was at a concert, and had never met them before the day I was picked up. Now I find that they mean everything to me. I want to be sure that every day is filled with their smiles."

Terrence and Ed were about to reply when Brittany jumped onto my back. "Silly! You just don't understand what you mean to us. We love you because you respect us so much."

Terrence and Ed laughed and Ed looked at Brittany. "She looks so young."

"I am," she admitted. "I turned fourteen on the trip out here. Larry selected my mother because he thought when I turned fourteen I'd become his concubine as well. But the AI let James accept me as his. And he's made every day a celebration of life for me."

She giggled as Ed shook his head. Terrence seemed a bit thoughtful. "I never thought much about it. Diana, Ingrid and I get along well, but nothing like you do with your concubines. Perhaps I should try some of what you do."

Ed just laughed. "Trust me, one of my concubines is my wife Elle. Well I guess officially she's my ex-wife, but when I received my CAP card and we knew that I had a six point five I made her a promise that I would keep her as a concubine when I was picked up. She and I then selected Tara together, and together they make my life special. I can assure you Terrence, that loving your concubines is a good thing."

Brittany was holding onto me and I could see Terrence looking at me in speculation. He seemed to look at Brittany who showed no interest in letting me go and nodded. "Yes, I think I should do that. I definitely am missing something."

Brittany giggled and I looked at Ed for a moment. "You brought your wife, does that mean you have children?"

Edward smiled. "Yes, two wonderful little ones. Thomas is six and Jane is three. Jane didn't have much trouble on the trip, she's loved all the attention, but Thomas is growing bored. The school and nursery will be a wonderful idea. Thomas needs others to play with."

"It will be a while before it opens, but I'm hoping that little things like that will prove to be good for the community. I just worry a bit about any potential fights. Everyone seemed rather accepting of the situation today," I replied.

Terrence laughed. "We might get trouble from Eric, Jack and Tasha, but that would be about it. You are the one with all the ideas, and Yvette does a great job supporting your positions. Since its pretty clear you two have the highest CAP scores most of the others will follow your lead."

I wanted to protest, but Ed was nodding in agreement. The conversation turned to having Ed and his concubines visit in the near future. He hoped that seeing a rabbit would help calm his son, and also wanted to show Elle that his devotion to her was perfectly acceptable. I laughed at his worries and was giving both men a handshake when Meiko walked up wearing only a pair of panties. She smirked for a moment and then whispered. "Schoolgirl Meiko will be ready for her lesson in just a few minutes." Then she dashed into the bedroom with a quiet giggle.

I wanted to apologize, but both men just laughed. "Go show her you love her," Ed said, giving me a smack on the back. "With the look she just gave you, I'm sure she loves you."

Terrence and Ed left and I got Brittany to let go after I gave her a kiss and a promise to give her some special attention that evening. Then I headed to the bedroom where I found Meiko in her schoolgirl outfit on her knees as Bethany strutted around her.