Chapter 4

Angie squirmed in her chair as if she was at her first job interview. Arthur had summoned her for a private meeting, and she was concerned that command had found a problem with her mission report.

Arthur's face hinted of concern, but his eyes hinted of fatigue. "I've read your report, Admiral. Your maneuvers in the nebula were brilliant, but you came very close to destroying the new ship. However, that isn't why I wanted to talk to you. I'm concerned about Martin. Dr. Takuya's report on his post mission physical is disturbing.

Angie felt a lump in her throat. "Is he sick?"

"There's nothing physical, but she says that he's suffering from PTSD."

"I don't understand. He's been through many combat episodes. He's certainly the bravest man I've ever known. Why now?"

"The doctor believes that it's because of the incident in the brig."

Angie reacted in horror. "Oh, God! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to . . . It's all my fault. I'm sorry."

Arthur held a hand up. "Chill out, Admiral. You're not being disciplined. There are no restrictions on what you may do to your crewmembers. Remember?"

"But, I don't want to cause them permanent harm."

"The doctor believes that his condition may be temporary, but she's not sure. Perhaps, you should talk to him and reassure him."

"I will, sir. I will."

"I also think that you should talk to Dr. Takayu about how to administer punishment."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Dismissed."

Angie made a beeline for Onuki's office on the medical deck. She had to wait for twenty minutes, exacerbating her anxiety.

Onuki smiled when she greeted her. That helped, but Onuki had a tendency to smile profusely anyway.

"I would like to discuss Commander Sinclair's condition. Is he fit for duty?"

"Oh, yes. He is suffering from anxiety and insomnia, typical symptoms of stress, but he is in good spirits, except when your name is mentioned."

Angie hung her head and sighed.

"I believe that he fears you, but he seems to desire your attention, especially if it results in pain."

"Are you telling me that he likes me to inflict pain on him?"

"Yes."

"Shit. Excuse me, but I'm angry at myself."

"Do you love him?"

"I don't . . . well, I . . . I guess I do."

"Have you had sexual relations with him?"

Angie blushed. "No. We've come close. But . . ."

"Do you want to?"

"Well, yes . . . but, I'm his superior, and we . . . you know."

"I understand, but in the mean time, when he requires discipline, you must talk to him and explain why you must punish him. He thinks that you despise him, and it has left him with low self-esteem. He believes that he requires constant pain to redeem himself to you. Let me ask you something: do you enjoy humiliating and tormenting him?"

"I don't start out enjoying it. Usually, I'm angry with him, but when I see him suffering, I . . . you know."

"Do you hate men?"

"I don't want to think that I do, but men are such assholes. Excuse me."

"That's okay, Admiral. May I make a suggestion?"

Angie gave her a cautious nod.

"Get laid," she said, adding a polite smile.

Angie blushed.

###

When Marty entered the common room, he found his admiral sitting on a couch with a serious expression on her beautiful visage. He immediately snapped to attention and saluted.

"Sit down, Commander," she said, pointing to a couch opposite the one she was sitting on.

"Now what did I do?" he said, sitting down but remaining rigid.

"It's not what you did; it's what I've done to you." She lowered her eyes. "Look, Marty, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to harm you." She looked back up at him. "I love you, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you."

"You don't have to apologize, Admiral. I don't deserve it."

"Yes you do. Quit saying that. You certainly deserve better than me." Tears glistened in her eyes. "I actually derived pleasure from your suffering in the brig. I'm terrible."

"That's okay. I don't mind . . ."

"Don't say that. Please listen to me. I want to make it up to you."

"You don't have to do that, Admiral."

"Yes I do. And, by the way, you can call me Angie."

"What about next week? Will you punish me for calling you that?"

"Please listen to me. I'm not going to punish you ever again."

"No matter what I do?"

She sighed. "Never."

He stared at her in disbelief. "Are you sick?"

"No, I'm fine."

He grinned. "I like it when you punish me."

"I know you do."

"Come on, Angie. You have to punish me. It would be unfair to the rest of the crew. They'll figure that you're playing favorites."

"You're probably right. Okay, I'll make you do calisthenics once in awhile. Speaking of that, I've been ordered to discipline the crew, and I've decided to give them a shock treatment of sorts. Since you are a crew member you'll have to endure it also, but whatever you do, don't take it personal."

"No problem," he said with a big grin.

###

The crew was assembled in a practice chamber where crews are given military workouts. They didn't look very military, however. Sloppy clothing and unshaven faces didn't look proper for a top astronaut crew about to depart on the most important mission ever. Uma, Anna, Ferris, Lia, Brigit, Lucia and Onuki stood in a group separate from the men. Marty, George, Karl, Tyler and Jean-Michel stood together in abject fear.

Wearing a new crisp white uniform with blue epaulets, Angie strutted back and forth in front of her crew while they stood in a line at less than attention. "You people are a disgrace to Space Command. You look like a bunch of ragtag Caribbean pirates. We have a new reputation among the crews. They call us the space rat pack. The fact is that you look like something that the cat dragged in. I will not permit this slovenly, sloppy attitude. From now on you will all wear standard Space Command uniforms and you will be groomed. If you don't comply with my orders you will be punished, which may include confinement, reduction of rations and being made to do various exercise routines for long periods."

Marty cracked a sly smile.

"This is not funny, mister," she yelled at Marty.

Marty put on a serious face. "I'm sorry ma'am."

"I didn't ask you anything, mister, so shut up."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Why are we being harassed?" Uma asked.

Angie got up into her face. "You will not speak unless I ask you something."

"Yes, ma'am, " Uma said in an apologetic voice.

"The whole bunch of you are miserably out of shape," Angie screamed at them. "And, sloppy and unkempt to boot. Take your clothes off."

Everybody reacted with confused and shocked looks.

"Strip to your skivvies people and hurry about it."

Nervous and excited fingers began to unbutton and unzip things. Articles of clothing, shoes and socks reluctantly ended up on the floor.

Angie pointed to a large plastic garbage container. "Pick up your things and put them in that bin over there, and them assemble back over here."

"You want all of our stuff together?" Uma asked. "How will we be able to separate them?"

"Did I ask you a question?"

"No, ma'am."

"Then shut up and just do it."

"Yes, ma'am."

After she watched them dispose of their clothing and then assemble into a line, Angie paced around in front and back of them.

"You look sloppy," she said. "What have you people been doing: sitting around snacking and drinking beer? You're hopelessly out of shape.
She stopped in front of George, who had his arms folded around his bare chest. "Are you cold, mister?"

"No, ma'am."

"Well then, keep your arms at your sides." She looked at his belly. "And, suck that gut in."

"Yes, ma'am."

Marty wanted to snicker, but thought better of it.

Unfortunately, Angie noticed it. "Do you think it's funny, mister?"

"No, ma'am."

"Give me a hundred pushups," she ordered.

Marty got down and started pumping up and down. While he worked, Angie strutted back and fourth, examining her terrified crew.

Marty finished and got up. Every crewmember was dismayed by the fact that his skin glistened with sweat and that he was breathing hard.

She pointed to the wall directly behind her. "I want you men to go over to that wall and stand facing it, and don't you dare look back or you'll regret it, believe me."

She waited until they had obeyed her orders before she turned back to the women, who were standing at attention with fearful looks on their faces.

She went over to Uma. "Where in the hell did you get that stupid flowery underwear? It's certainly not standard issue."

"I bought it in New Delhi, ma'am."

"Well, I want you to get rid of it. Go over there to the bin, take it off and throw it into the bin."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Wait a second. None of you are wearing standard issue. I want you to go with Uma and dispose of your underwear and then I want you to come back here. Okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," they answered in unison.

She turned to make sure that the men were not taking a peek. When the women came back and assembled in a line, she walked around them several times before standing in front of them.
"You women are in pretty good shape, however, I can't discriminate." She moved closer, prompting the women to gather around her. "I'm going to put the men through hell," she said in a low voice, smiling. "But, I have to have you girls do some calisthenics, or the men will accuse me of bias. I hope you won't hate me."

"We would never hate you," Uma said. "You are our hero. We love you, and we will do anything for you."

The other women signaled agreement with nods.

"Thank you," Angie said, her eyes glistening. "I would like to have you run to the back wall, turn and run back here. I'll tell you when to stop."

Angie watched the women run back and forth, enjoying the unusual display of bare female flesh in motion, complete with bouncing breasts, shimmering thighs, and flopping buttocks. Uma, Anna and Lucia soon found it necessary to support their large breasts with their hands. Ferris and Brigit allowed theirs to bounce and sway. Lia and Onuki didn't have that problem.

Moving over to one side and glancing back, she saw Marty taking several peaks, and she smiled.

After she had seen enough, Angie pointed to the back wall. "See that table back there. There are robes and slippers on it. I want you to put them on and then go back to your quarters. You're all dismissed." She held a hand up. "And, from now on wear only standard issue. Okay?"

They all nodded.

Uma's eyes began to tear. "We love you, Angelina." She came forward and put her arms around Angie.

Angie hesitated to return the hug, not knowing if she wanted to place her hands on Uma's sweaty bare back, but when she did, Uma reacted by squeezing her Admiral harder and kissing her cheek. When she backed away, Uma folded her arms around her large breasts and fired a shy smile back at Angie.

After Uma departed to get her robe and slippers, Ferris came forward and hugged Angie, whispering in her ear. "May Allah bless you."

Anna was next and she patted her admiral's behind. Angie returned the gesture with more gusto, causing Anna to smile.

Brigit hugged her and kissed her on the lips, surprising her.

Lucia hugged Angie and kissed her on both cheeks. Angie reacted to this display of affection by patting Lucia's fat breasts and giving them a playful squeeze, eliciting a warm smile from the Italian woman.

Seeing this, Lia covered her breasts with her hands before approaching Angie.  She allowed the admiral to hug her, and she politely smiled when Angie patted her bare behind.

Onuki blushed when she witnessed this blatantly improper display of familiarity. She folded an arm around her breasts and a hand over her pubic patch of jet-black hair. Angie took her chief medical officer's face in her hands and kissed her on the lips, intensifying the doctor's blush to a bright red. Onuki smiled profusely and then ran away as fast as she could.

Angie waited until the women had gone before turning to the men. "Showtime," she said beneath her breath.

She came up behind the men and smiled. "Okay, you guys, you can turn around now."

They did, and the looks on their faces exhibited abject terror, which amused her.

"None of you are wearing standard issue. I want you to go over to that bin and remove those shorts and dispose of them. Then, I want you to assemble over in the middle of the floor. Okay?" She held a hand up. "Oh, and by the way, gentlemen, I realize that you will be indecently exposed, but I prefer not to see your privates." She lied, but it served as another torment.

"Yes, ma'am," they replied in unison.

She had to bite her tongue to avoid smiling when she watched them remove their shorts and stand in a group afraid to be the first. She clapped her hands. "Get over here on the double. Chop, chop!"

The sight of a naked man running while desperately trying to protect his modesty with just his hands was amusing, but a group of such men was absolutely hilarious. They stood at attention completely embarrassed by their plight. She exacerbated their mortification by strutting around them several times.

"You men certainly need some exercise. You look sloppy. I think we'll start you out with calisthenics.  I want you to run to the back wall, turn around and run back to the wall where you were standing and then back again. I'll tell you when to stop." She clapped her hands. "Get moving. Chop, chop."

She watched them run several times back and forth, enjoying immensely the sight of so much bare male skin in kinetic motion, complete with bellies jiggling, thighs vibrating, pectorals flopping, and buttocks quivering violently from strained muscular exertion.

Even more amusing was their pathetic efforts to prevent her from seeing their genitals while running. She made their burden much more difficult by clapping her hands and urging them to speed up, and she added an extra challenge by walking around to change her viewpoint. George held on with both hands, but he had problems keeping pace, especially trying to run in his bare feet. She wanted to laugh at him when she saw how his fat belly bounced around crazily with each stride. Karl tried to use one hand so that he could swing an arm, but he found it extremely difficult to move his free hand around to block her view of his unusually fat organ. Jean-Michel attempted to use two hands like a fan dancer, but his timing was bad. Tyler became so frustrated by his efforts to hide the wild gyrations of his long thin organ he became flustered. Marty was more adept at this little game, and she rewarded him with a grin. Secretly, she really enjoyed watching her partner. He had sculptured abdominals, well-defined laterals, bulging quadriceps, solid glutei and beautifully shaped pectorals. Despite his skills at protecting his modesty, teasing glimpses of his sizable organ aroused her. To make matters worse, Jean-Michel was similarly endowed.
After she had seen enough, she clapped her hands. "That's enough. Come back over here."
George and Karl were breathing hard. Tyler, Jean-Michel and Marty were in reasonable shape, but they were all sweating.

"You are not doing a very good job of protecting your modesty, gentlemen. I don't care to see your genitals." She lied and hoped that the lie didn't show in her eyes.

"We're completely naked, ma'am," George said. "That makes it very difficult to hide our genitals, being that said genitals are external."

Marty cringed at George's impertinence, expecting a painful escalation of their discipline session.

"I realize that, but that's your problem, not mine. Maybe you'll stay in shape so that you won't have to go through this again. Quit complaining or I'll make you go back to your quarters as you are."

They stared at her through terror stricken eyes. The thought of doing this again was sickening, but having to go back through well-populated corridors in the nude was a horrible thought beyond words.

"Okay, now I want you men to do jumping jacks. In case you don't know what a jumping jack is, I'll show you." She demonstrated it, and she could immediately see in their eyes that they did not like the idea one bit.

"Oh, I apologize," she said with an ornery grin. "I am not being very considerate. Despite what you may think, I am not completely insensitive to your embarrassment, gentlemen. You may use one hand to avoid indecent exposure."
Their eyes immediately expressed gratitude.
She clapped her hands. "Get moving. Chop, chop."

They reluctantly did as she had ordered, and it turned out to be a very amusing exhibition. A naked male doing jumping jacks discovered very quickly that one hand was not very effective in hiding his male equipment even if he elected to hold on to it. When she saw the frustration in their faces, she struggled with the urge to laugh, so she grinned instead, adding to their embarrassment. She was having great fun. She clapped her hands to urge them on, and after a several minutes of exertion, the four men were sweating profusely and breathing hard. At that point she came to the inexorable conclusion that she enjoyed humiliating and tormenting men. It had become the main goal in her life, and she knew right then and there that she had to stop before it became addictive. 
What she was really worried about is the fact that she had driven poor Marty totally insane. He was no longer the easy-going, warm, generous man that she had known. He was sick, and it was all her fault. She owed him.

###

George looked over at Marty and smiled. "That was an interesting workout. You knew what she was going to do, didn't you?"

Marty took a drink of beer from his mug. "Believe me, I never know what she is going to do."

"I haven't been that embarrassed in all my life," Karl said. "Does she have a right to do that to us?"

"I'm afraid so," Marty said.

"She's rather mean," Tyler said. "We're grown men, not boys. I don't think that it's decent to make us strip naked like that in front of her. It's obscene."

"Yeah, I agree, but she's in charge of us. We have to obey her."

"It wasn't all that bad," Jean-Michel said. "She was the only female watching us. She could have allowed the women that privilege."

"Oh, now that would have been a real ugly trip," George said. "It's one thing for the admiral to see us like that, but having the women there would have been awful. They would have teased us unmercifully."

"We could never live it down," Karl said.

"I doubt that she would do that," Marty said. "She just wanted to scare us into obeying her orders to keep in shape and wear standard issue."

"She sure as hell got my attention," George said.

"Amen to that," Marty said, chuckling.

"Speaking of the women," George said. "She didn't make them do all that much."

"That's her prerogative," Marty said.

"What about the aliens?" Karl asked.

"She had no way of evaluating their condition," Marty said.

"Well, that's what we get for being males under a female commander," George said.

"She seems to think that we're her playthings," Karl said. "I heard that she has never been married. Maybe she hates men."

"That would explain why she treated us so indecently," Tyler said.

"She likes you," George said to Marty. "I think that you should take care of her."

"That would be like a male black widow spider trying to mate with a much larger female. The result is usually death."

George laughed, and the other men joined him.
George glanced back at the Black Hole Bar's entrance. "Speaking of the black widow, here she comes."

"Oh, hell," Karl said. "I hope she doesn't want to torment us again."

"Good evening, gentlemen."

"Ma'am." George said, nodding.

"May I join you?"

"Have a seat, Admiral," Marty said, gesturing to an unoccupied stool.

"I'll have a Bud," she told the barmaid.

The men kept their weary eyes on her, as she took a sip of beer.

"You gentlemen look prim and proper. I appreciate that."

"Thank you, ma'am." Jean-Michel said.

"I want to apologize for my shameful treatment of you gentlemen yesterday. I got carried away. I hope that you weren't offended."

"You only damaged our pride," Tyler said.

"I'm truly sorry," she said, suppressing a smile.
"We appreciate the fact that you didn't permit the women to view our discipline session," George said.

"What I really appreciate is that you didn't make us go back to our quarters in the nude," Jean-Michel said.

Angie's eyes momentarily flashed with contrition. "I would never do that. That would be blatantly unfair. It was bad enough that I was there."

"We didn't mind your presence, ma'am," Jean-Michel said. "We're not prudes."

"I appreciate that, but it still doesn't make me feel any better."

Marty grinned at her. "After a couple of beers, you'll feel much better, Admiral."

She laughed and they joined her.