Chapter 14

Let not thy divining heart
Forethink me any ill,
Destiny make take thy part,
And may thy fears fulfill;
But think that we
Are but turned aside to sleep;
They who one another keep
Alive, ne're parted be.
- John Donne - Lovers Infiniteness -

"We have entered normal space, Angie."

"Take us as quickly as possible to Gem-Ado's planet, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"The First Council will be happy with you for returning her people," Marty said.

"That's good because I hope to get a favor in return."

"What?"

"I think that we should recruit more of Gem-Ado's people. We need bodies and brains, and these aliens are very intelligent. They just have a weird society."

"You're right about that. I was talking to Noasa and he said that he gets punished for just looking at a woman too long."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Angie said with a teasing grin. "I wouldn't mind having a society like that. We women could punish you men for any little thing you did and get away with doing anything we wanted to."

"You wish," Marty said, frowning.

"I have the First Council on COM, Angie."

"Open COM, Delphi."

"Welcome back, Commander."

"Thank you. We have several of your people that we have rescued from the bad aliens. We will transport them to the surface as soon as we are in orbit."

After a ten minute delay: "You are most generous, Commander. You have my gratitude."

"I have a request," Angie said. "Could you give us two more of your people to go with us?"

After a nine-minute delay; "I have already selected two volunteers. Send Gem-Ado down and she will escort them up to you."

"I am in your debt," Angie said.

When the alien's image was replaced with a star field, Angie turned to Marty. "We keep this up and we'll have a full compliment."

"We're probably going to catch hell for revealing all of our stuff to these aliens," Marty said.

"We don't have any choice. If we're going to defeat the Dragons we need all the help we can get. These people are not inherently violent. I don't think that they'll be a problem."

"I hope that we can convince Space Command," Marty said.

"We're a long way from Space Command."

"Yeah, but we're still accountable to them."

"Whatever."

###

Marty looked over at George. "Let's go for a swim."

"Sure, if it's okay with you, Admiral."

"Go. I can mind the store."

"How about you, Jean-Michel?"

"I'm in. Let's get Karl, Andy and Tyler and make it unanimous."

"Good idea."

Within fifteen minutes all of the human men were present in the dressing room that adjoined the pool. They quickly undressed, showered, entered the pool chamber and jumped in.

Marty was first to dive into the water, and he swam under the surface as his friends dived in after him. The water felt cool on his flesh as he glided under the surface. He surfaced long enough to take in more air before submerging again. When he came up near the edge of the pool, the other men soon joined him.

"This is an excellent way to get away from the women," Marty said.

George looked up at the screen above the pool. "I hope that they're not watching."

"They're not going to watch us, George," Marty said.  "We're not pretty enough."

"Speak for yourself," Jean-Michel said with a laugh.

Marty splashed water on Jean-Michel, George splashed water on Marty and Karl, and then got out of the pool and ran. Marty and Karl got out and ran after him, laughing like skinny dipping boys cavorting in a swimming hole out in the woods. The other men ran after them and after several cycles around the pool, with some of them falling in and getting back out, they tired and sat down on benches around the pool.

"I wonder if the women have this much fun," Karl said, still breathing hard.

"They're too uptight to have fun," George said.
"Women only think of fancy clothes and gossip," Andy said.

"I think that they're hard up for sex," George said.

"Speaking of sex, I heard that Noasa has a humongous penis," Karl said.

"A lot good it does him," Marty said. "His species doesn't do sex."

"Then why the hell does he have a big sex organ?" George asked.

"Maybe he does elephants," Marty said, grinning.

They laughed.

On the command deck, the mood was more subdued. Uma, Anna and Lucia entered and went to their workstations.

Uma looked around. "Where are the men?"

"They're all down in the pool," Angie said.

"We should steal their clothes again," Anna said. "That was fun."

"I think that they've taken care of that gag," Angie said. "They've installed locks on the lockers."

"Bummer," Anna said.

"Maybe we should just go and pay them a visit," Uma said.

"Shame on you, Uma," Angie said, smiling. "You wouldn't want them to do that to you, would you?"

Uma hung her head. "You are right, ma'am. I am bad."

"You're not bad," Angie said. "You're just bored. I understand. You just want to see naked men."

"You make me sound like a pervert," Uma said. "I should go and offer sacrifice to Vishnu."

They laughed.

###

"We have achieved stable orbit, Angie."

"Open COM to the First Council, Delphi."

"COM open, Angie."

"Welcome, Commander. Our two volunteers are prepared to go to your ship."

"Thank you. We will send a vessel to transport them. We will also start transport all of your people that we have rescued."

"We are most grateful for your mercy, Commander."

When the First Council's image was replaced with a spectacular image of the pseudo-human home world, Marty smiled at Angie. "See, I'm not the only one who values your mercy."

"Whatever. Why don't you take Gem-Ado down to the planet and pick up our new crew members."

"Yes, Admiral."

Marty and Gem-Ado rounded up all of her species captives and loaded them on a Lander. After separating from the X-4001 and firing breaking engines, Marty flew the Lander to a newly designated spaceport near a government complex. Officials of the Council met them and escorted the captives away. Only two people remained.

Gem-Ado talked to them and then led them to the Lander. Marty noted that one was a male.
When the got back to the ship, Marty and Gem-Ado escorted the two new recruits to the command deck.

"This is Gem-Bao and Tem-Doa," Gem-Ado told Angie, pointing to the woman first and then the man.

"Welcome," Angie said, smiling.

"May I speak to you in private," Gem-Ado asked Angie.

"Yes."

When they were near the back of the command deck, Gem-Ado smiled. "May I be permitted to punish Tem-Doa when he commits infractions against our code of conduct?"

Angie smiled. "Yes. I allow Masai to punish Noasa. My only stipulation is that I be permitted to watch."

"I agree to that."

"Good. Now I want you to take your new people to Medical Station."

"Yes, Admiral."

Angie went back to her station. "What do these people do?"

"I believe that Gem-Bao is a geologist and Tem-Doa is an engineer," Marty said.

"Pretty soon the aliens will outnumber us," Angie said.

"They already do."

"With that, I'm taking a break," Angie said, standing up.

Marty answered with a smile.

"When Angie arrived at the swimming pool she found it unoccupied. But, as soon as she got undressed, Uma, Anna, Brigit and Lucia showed up.

"Great minds have similar thoughts," Uma said.

"And, similar recreational needs," Angie added.
After showering, Angie entered the pool chamber, dove into the water, cruised under the surface and emerged for air and then submerged again. The water felt refreshing gliding along her skin as she propelled herself along. When she saw explosions of bubbles, she surfaced and swam to the edge of the pool. The other women quickly joined her. Brigit splashed water on Angie and Lucia and they returned her playful attack. Brigit pulled herself out of the water and ran. Angie and Lucia did the same and chased her; all the while giggling and screeching like teenagers. Uma and Anna joined the fun. When they tired, the woman sat on benches along the side of the pool.

Lucia looked up at the screen above the pool. "I hope that the men are not watching us."

"They wouldn't dare," Angie said.

"I wonder if the men have fun like we do," Brigit said, still breathing hard.

"They only like sex and beer," Anna said.

"Speaking of sex," Uma said. "I heard that the male from Masai's planet has a big organ like an elephant."

They laughed at her.

"I would love to see his big organ," Uma said.

"Shame on you, Uma," Anna said.

"Why do you say that? You all like to see a big penis. I know you do."

"Guilty," Angie said, holding her hand up.
They laughed again.

###

Marty sat down in the recreational area with a beer. He found Tem-Doa sitting over by the side by himself, so he got up and joined him.
"Hello," he said, not knowing if the alien could speak English yet.

"You are Commander Sinclair," the alien said with a strange accent.

"Everybody calls me Martin. Why are you down here by yourself?"

"I am avoiding Gem-Ado. She wishes to punish me."

"Why? What did you do?"

"I failed to greet her correctly. That is an infraction of our codes."

"Let me guess: all of your codes apply only to men. Women are never punished."

"That is correct. Women only punish men."

"What are some of the codes?" Marty asked.
"We are forbidden to laugh in a woman's presence, we are not to speak unless spoken to by a woman, we are not permitted to touch a woman, we are not to criticize a woman . . ."

"Those are the same rules that Noasa has to obey or he is punished," Marty said. "He has already been punished by Masai."

"I don't like to be punished," Tem-Doa said. "It hurts."

"I don't doubt that. Have you been punished during Festival?"

"Yes. It is our duty to submit."

"I'm glad that I don't have to do that."

"You are fortunate."

Marty agreed with that. The idea of being strung up like a side of beef and whipped in front of an audience was like a nightmare gone bad.

###

"We have entered normal space, Angie."

"Take us to Masai's planet, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"I am not detecting any enemy vessels in this system," Ninja said.

"The planet's still there," George said. "But, I can't find the X-3001."

"They're probably still in stealth mode," Marty said.

"To be safe, we'll wait until we're closer before we establish COM," Angie said. "No telling if Dragons are out there monitoring us."

"They're not that subtle," Marty said. "One thing that we've seen so far is that the Dragon aliens are rather crude in the way that they approach us. They evidently have had their own way for a long time, and they're not used to our careful ways."

Angie stared at him for several seconds. "Take over Honey."

"I will, ma'am."

"Let's take a break," Angie said to Marty.

He gave her a funny look, but he did go with her to the common area between their respective quarters. She plopped down on a couch and he sat down on a chair.

"We have a morale problem brewing," Angie said. "The crew is getting restless. I'm sure that some of this is the result of hormonal disruption."

"That's Onuki's problem. Is it not?"

"She can only deal with the physical, not the psychological. I think that some of it is the result of sexual tension."

"It certainly is in our case," Marty said, sounding frustrated.

"I know," she said in an apologetic manner. "But, I think it's also true of the rest of the crew."

"You don't think it could be that they're scared silly that we'll lose one of these battles with the Dragons and we'll all end up as food on their tables?"

After a brief period of staring: "I hadn't considered that possibility. I'll have to think about that. Fear isn't what's messing me up. It's unrequited love."

"I have a solution for that," he said with a salacious grin. "I'm locked and loaded."

"You'll have to keep your gun holstered," she said with a frown. "At least until we're out of the woods."

He lowered his head. "I figured as much."

"We can still play," she said, smiling. "As long as we keep our clothes on."

He pointed at her. "No, Admiral, as long as you keep your clothes on."

"I accept that stipulation."

He laughed.

###

"We are in stable orbit, Angie."

"Open COM to the X-3001, Delphi."

"COM open, Angie."

"Hey, Brian, where are you?" Angie asked.

"We're on the other side of their moon. How's it going?"

"We raided another Dragon camp and rescued many humans and aliens. We're going to transport them down to the planet shortly. How have you been?"

"Good. We destroyed five Dragon scout ships two days ago. We've been patrolling around the system a lot. I think that last battle did them in for awhile."

"I hope so. We sure as hell need a break. Hey, we'll get together as soon as we square away these people."

"Very good, Admiral. See you then."

"Open a COM to the Superior Reagent, Delphi."

"COM open, Angie."

"Welcome back, Commander."

"We are glad to be back. We have many rescued captives, including many of your people. We wish to transport them to the camp that you have provided. Is there sufficient room?"

"We have expanded the camp in anticipation of your efforts to rescue people. I am in your debt for rescuing our people."

"That is why were out here. We also wish to have you begin construction of ships capable of traveling to the stars."

"I will assign a team of scientists and engineers to your project, Commander."

"Thank you." As soon as the Reagent's image was replaced with the alien planet, Angie issued orders. "Get the Landers cranked up. We need to get these people off this ship as soon as we can."

Marty stood up and saluted. "Yes, Admiral."
Marty organized teams to transport the captives to a camp on Masai's planet. The process went with only minor problems. Angie activated cleaning bots to take care of the mess that the people had made.

After the transporting had been completed, Marty took his place on the command deck.
"We're all cleaned out," he said.

"Good," Angie said. "I'm giving everyone some time off before we go out on our next mission."

"They'll appreciate that." He turned around to address the crew that was still present on the command deck. "You people are dismissed. Have fun."

It didn't take prodding to clear the command deck.

"I guess that they needed some time off," Marty said.

"We do too," Angie said.

"What did you have in mind, ma'am?"

"Let's go drink beer," she said, ginning.

"You're on."

"Take over, Delphi."

"Have fun, Angie and Martin."

"Thank you, Delphi."

"You are welcome, Angie."

On the way back to their quarters, Angie and Marty ran into Gem-Ado and Tem-Doa.
"I am going to punish Tem-Doa," Gem-Ado said. "Do you wish to witness it?"

"Would you do me a favor?" Angie said to Gem-Ado.

"Yes, I will."

"Don't punish him, please."

Gem-Ado looked at Tem-Doa and then at Angie. "I will honor your request."

The look on Tem-Doa's face was complete relief, but he didn't say anything.

When the two aliens exited the elevator, Marty turned to Angie. "Thank you. What these people do to males is wrong. It constitutes torture. We have no business condoning that."

"What about the Draks. They not only mistreat their women, they kill them for sport."

"That's even worse." He sighed.
"Unfortunately, we can't do much about it. Their cultures are not like ours, but we have no right to judge them."

"I agree, but we must get along with them," she said. "I'll try to change their attitudes, but I'll have to be subtle about it."

The elevator stopped and the door opened on Deck three.

"Where are we going?" Marty asked.

"To the handball court"

"I thought that we were going to drink beer," Marty said.

"We can do that after we're done."

"I'm sure that someone has already beaten us to the handball court," Marty said.

"No they haven't. I reserved it for a couple of hours."

"For the two of us?"

"Yes."

"So, you think that you can beat me?"

She grinned. "I'm sure I can."

"You're on. What's the bet?"

"If you win, I'll do pushups for you. If I win you'll do them for me."

"I assume that it'll be in the buff?" Marty asked.

"Yep."

Marty shook his head.

When they got to the recreational area, they found many people playing tennis, basketball, or exercising. The crew paid no attention to the dynamic duo. Marty and Angie got into shorts, tees and tennis shoes for their match. They started slowly, but soon got into a rhythm that escalated as the game progressed. People began to gather to watch, and after a few minutes, a crowd had assembled to watch, cheer, whistle and enjoy the spectacle.  When Angie defeated Marty, she was rewarded with clapping and cheers, especially from the mostly female crew. Both Angie and Marty bowed and then Angie took her shower in the common dressing room while Marty waited outside.
Angie found Lia, Brigit and Anna also showering after a round of tennis.

"Congratulations," Lia said to her. "You are very good."

"Thank you, but I've been practicing. I knew that I could beat him."

"The men are poor competition," Anna said. "We should recruit more male aliens."

"I'm trying," Angie said. "But, these matriarchal pseudo-human aliens treat men badly."

"That's not so bad," Brigit said. "Men need some female correction."

"I agree," Angie said. "But, what they do to them is considered torture by our standards."

None of the other women could argue with that.

###

Marty flew the Lander into the atmosphere and leveled out at 1000 meters. The new Space Port was just a large paved circle near a group of government buildings.  He and Angie had been summoned to inspect industrial facilities that had been proposed to build space ships. When he put the Lander gently down, a group of people came forward to greet them.

"Welcome, Commander," a Reagent said. "We have arranged a tour of our manufacturing facilities."

"Thank you," Angie said. "We appreciate your efforts to accommodate our requests for help."

A large ground transport arrived on large wheels that appeared to be constructed from some sort of elastic material. The Reagent escorted Angie and Marty onto the transport and ordered the driver to take them someplace. The trip in the alien vehicle was amazingly smooth and fast. They arrived at a large complex of geodesic buildings that had transport tubes running between them. Round vehicles shot through these tubes at high velocity. They rode one of those high-speed cells to an assembly area where both people and bots were assembling aircraft and space hardware.

A team of scientists, both male and female, met them. With the help of Lia's translator, they carried on a conference of sorts.

"We do not understand how you can accelerate so fast," a male asked. "Such action violates the laws of motion."

"We employ a technology called Antigrav," Angie said. "This allows us to create both positive and negative gravity fields in a local space. The main result is a reduction of effective mass. The gravity fields are created by using a form of fusion, the same nuclear process that powers the stars."

"We will share this technology with you," Marty said. "But, you must promise that you will not use it to conquer other species. This is not our way. We have journeyed to the stars to study and learn, not to dominate or exploit. We also wish to defend ourselves from an enemy that considers us food."

"Yes, we have witnessed the interviews with our people that you had rescued," a woman said. "They have described what has happened to many of our people. We are dedicated to aiding you in your mission to stop these evil aliens."

"I have another request," Angie said. "I would like to see a reform movement in your society that will free your males from a lopsided system of justice. I make this request as a female and as a suggestion, not a mandate."

The Reagent stepped forward. "What you suggest has been an ongoing debate in our Council. We realize that it is not just, but it has been a part of our code for a long time. We will introduce your request and debate it. That is all I can promise."

"That is fine," Angie said. "I realize that what I am doing is interfering in your affairs, but I feel it is something I must do. I apologize for any problems that I have caused."

Marty looked at his partner and began to realize that she was trying something that had never been done before. He felt proud of her.