Making of a Starship Captain Ch. 07

[Note: This Science Fiction story is an intense character study with occasional sex scenes.]

Taylor was Sergeant Chappie's last target for the morning. "Moon Hero's doing pushups! Are my slender Chinese eyes deceiving me? How many you doing there, Moon Hero?"

"This is my fifth one, Sergeant," said Taylor, going up again.

"Good, good. I'm confident you'll reach six. Maybe seven! The only problem is, you have to reach a hundred in sixty days. What's the most you've done, Moon Hero?"

"Fifty three, Sergeant."

"Fifty three. Amazing. If only you had two more arms, you could do a hundred and six, and all your problems would be solved, wouldn't it?"

"Yes Sergeant," said Taylor, going down again.

Chappie lowered his head to Taylor's level. "May I tell you a secret, Moon Hero? I think it's more likely that you'll grow a second pair of arms than you'll get to a hundred pushups. You're smart, boy, I'll give you that, but you don't have the upper body strength that it takes to be a Survey Service officer. Even many of the girls have bigger muscles than you do."

"I can do this, Sergeant!"

"You're so brave, just like the great Moon Hero you are. I hear them talking about you, Moon Hero. The girls I mean. But... they don't always call you Hero," said Chappie.

What did he hear about me? What does he know?

Chappie saw the startled expression on his face. "Yes. My Chinese ears may look tiny, Moon Hero, but they hear things A lot of things. I hear the girls laughing behind your back. They say you're very good up here," and he tapped his head, "but not so good down here," he said, pointing between his legs. "I don't know all the details, but they say you're some kind of pervert."

Taylor reddened, and Chappie smiled. "We don't want perverts in the Survey Service, do we, Moon Hero?"

"No Sergeant!" said Taylor, and his arms almost buckled.

"Careful! Don't want to collapse on pushup number... fifteen, is it? Why don't you give up, Taylor? The truth is going to come out about you sooner or later. All the sordid details. Why don't you spare yourself the embarrassment and give me your RFD now?

"He knows about us! He knows all about us! We should quit now, and avoid further humiliation!" Inadequacy cried.

"Not on your life," said Love the Survey Service. "I'm not giving up for anything."

"No Sergeant! I'm not quitting!" Taylor cried.

"We'll see about that, Pervert," said Chappie defiantly. He wet his lips, and decided to try another avenue of attack. "Tell me, Moon Hero, how come you haven't sealed the deal with Oteri?'

"Sergeant?" said Taylor, painfully doing another pushup.

"You and Oteri. Oteri and you. Everyone knows. Why haven't you closed the deal?" Chappie asked. He glared at Taylor as he continued to slowly do pushups. "That's your real problem. Not the pushups. This is why we have to get you out of the Service, son."

"Sergeant?" said Taylor.

"You have no confidence. All the greatest Survey Service officers had confidence. And confidence goes hand in hand with libido. Roland Astor--you saw the memorial to him?'

"Yes Sergeant!" said Taylor.

"Back in his day, they called him Rocking Roland. No Yeoman in a miniskirt was immune to his charms. That was back in the day when the rules were looser, you understand. But the principle remains the same. The best officers get the girls because they have confidence. But you can't even get a girl who's wet and willing and right in front of you. No girls, Moon Hero, means no sex. And no sex means Michael is a very unconfident little boy. Get where I'm going with this, Moon Hero?"

"Yes Sergeant!" said Taylor.

Chappie stared at Taylor long and hard. "No, you don't. But maybe, just maybe, before this is over, you will."

********

At dinner that evening, Allyson Harshbarger sidled up to Taylor. They hadn't really talked one on one since they had arrived at the Academy.

"Mike, how're you doing?" she asked.

"Fine, Allyson," said Taylor coldly. He was fully aware of what she had done to him, how she had told everyone about Sister Audra.

Allyson wet her lips and wiggled her shoulders uncomfortably. "Listen, Mike, I hear that Chappie was a little rough on you today."

"Really, Allyson? Where did you hear that? Or should I say, where did you spread that?" Taylor asked.

"Me, Mike?" said Allyson, putting a hand on her breast. "No, Mike, I would never say a word against you. You know that. I'm just trying to help you."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Taylor's face. "So help me, Allyson."

"I know you've been struggling here. In more ways than one," said Allyson. "If you leave now, if you RFD on your own, without any external pressure, you can do so with your head held high."

Taylor looked at her. "That's it? That's your plan that shows concern for my well being?"

"Mike, you don't-"

"I understand too well," said Taylor. "If I were tied down in the desert, you'd be the first to cover me with honey, telling me how good it tasted. I get it."

"Mike-"

"Get the fuck out of my way," said Taylor, moving to bus his tray.

Allyson blinked as if she had been slapped. Taylor brushed her shoulder as he moved past her.

********

They had progressed.

Lieutenant Commander Sarah Blade no longer even pretended to teach Shipboard Mechanics at Mike's tutoring session. Besides, Taylor no longer needed any help. His scores had improved so much that he was consistently getting A's.

No, their tutoring sessions had become something else entirely. Now, all Sara did was tutoring of the horizontal kind.

As soon as Taylor flew into the door to her quarters, he was in her arms, kissing her passionately. She kissed him back. They had had three intense makeout sessions, and now she deemed he was ready for the next step.

"Mike, Mike dear, you've become such a great kisser now," said Sarah. She smiled as Taylor kissed her again. He couldn't get enough of her! "But there are also other considerations," she said, pushing back from him.

"Other considerations?" Taylor asked.

"Well, sure, now that you're a good kisser, you can attract a girl. But can you keep her?"

"What do I have to do to keep a woman?" Taylor had never considered this question before.

"Kissing is good," said Sarah. "But being a good lover is better."

"No, don't do this, Mike. Please, please, please, don't do this!" Ambition cried.

"Tell me Mike, have you ever made love to a woman? All the way I mean?" Sarah asked. Suddenly, he was aware that she was wearing only a fluffy white bathrobe.

"Yes. Once." His head hung down as he said it.

"Once," said Sarah, smiling triumphantly. She played with the rim of her bathrobe with her hand. "And Mike, what happened to the girl you were with... after you had sex with her, exactly once."

"She left me," said Taylor. "She betrayed me."

Sarah raised her eyebrows and gave him a "You see?" look. "Mike, I'm not saying you deserved it, but if you had been a better lover... don't you think things might have turned out differently?"

Taylor opened his mouth, and closed it. He had never considered that. "Maybe."

"Maybe," said Sarah mockingly. She started playing with the hem of her robe, opening it, widening the space in the middle. Her breasts started to appear. The wider the opening in her robe got, the wider Taylor's eyes got.

"Mike, if you were good in bed, you could have any woman you want. You could plow through your female cadet class like a robothresher through a field of corn. Who do you want, Mike?" she asked, looking at him slyly. She opened the top part of her robe all the way now. Mike could see her round, feminine Lieutenant Commander's breasts. Sarah had large, red areolas which called out to him.

"You could have anyone," Sarah smiled, as she saw Taylor falling under her spell. "Who would you like, Mike? Joanna Martin? Andrea Farber?" Sarah's eyes widened in pretend surprise. "No, I know. That little Chinese girl. The one everyone says you have the hots for. What's her name, Grapefruit?"

"Cherry," said Taylor. "Cherry Oteri."

Sarah opened her robe all the way. Now Taylor could see between her legs. The thick head of brown curls was in vivid contrast to the straight blonde hair on her head, but was the object of his mounting desire. Sarah spread her legs, and slowly worked her hand down there, playing with her curls. "You could have her, Mike. Cherry, that little slut, or any other girl you want. All you have to do is learn how to do it. Give me your hand, Mike, just give me your hand, and I'll show you."

"Abort! Abort!" Ambition screamed. "You'll get kicked out of the Academy! Turn away, Mike! This is your last chance!"

"She's so sexy. She's the sexiest woman I've ever seen," said Lust, in a hypnotized voice. "I have to have her."

Taylor extended a trembling hand. Sarah smiled. She had him. She took his hand, and put it on her breast. Taylor started to fondle her, with a shocked, ecstatic look on his face.

********

Exactly four minutes and seven seconds later, Taylor was thrusting between the legs of a Lieutenant Commander of the United Survey Service. Sarah smiled but also winced as she felt Taylor's penis tenderize her insides. Enjoying the act was not her primary goal, not at the moment. Merely completing it was.

Sarah chose her targets carefully. It was a most dangerous game she was playing. The Academy was the only place in the world that a 38 year old woman could seduce and have sex with 18 year old men. She had to choose men who were vulnerable, who had low self-esteem, but at the same time would be able to keep their mouths shut while she kept her legs open. It also helped if they were handsome.

Taylor fit the bill perfectly. He was young, and naïve, and eminently manipulable. He had gorgeous green eyes, a manly face, sexy dark hair (on both ends!), a big, hairy chest, and his thing, well... it was big. Before selecting him Sarah had been careful to surreptitiously check out his hand size. Taylor looked like he wore large size gloves, and now Sarah wore him like a large sized glove. Taylor would make an excellent addition to her collection of boy toys.

But first he had to be properly trained. That was the part that Sarah enjoyed best, taking a boy, shaping him, molding him, turning him into the perfect love slave. Mike was her block of marble, her mound of clay, and she was the artist, shaping him, sculpting him, turning him into the perfect tool of love.

"Aaaahhh," Taylor gasped, as he finished inside of her. He collapsed on top of her, as young men typically did, overwhelmed by the chemicals in their brains which commanded them to rest and enjoy the moment. She let him have his moment. They both would have more. Many more.

But after she decided the moment was over, Sarah said, "Hey there, are you awake, sleepyhead?"

"Uhh? Yeah?" said Taylor, waking up.

"I guess you liked the pillow so much you decide to take a quick nap."

Taylor looked down and realized his head was lying on her breasts! He reddened and started to sit up. She stopped him, grabbing him tight. "Not so quick, loverboy. Are you still hard?"

"Uh..." Taylor had to think a moment. "Yeah."

Thank God for 18 year olds!, Sarah thought.

"Mike, I'm going to tell you something, something which will surprise you tremendously," said Sarah. "What I'm going to say is... women have orgasms too. Did you know that?"

"I... uh, yeah," said Taylor. "But... when I come, you do too, right?"

"Not always, Mike."

She loved the look of vulnerability in his eyes. "You didn't?"

"No," said Sarah, smiling at him. "But the good news is, you can fix that."

Mike eagerly started pistoning away inside of Sarah. But his mind was a million miles away. Suddenly, he was thinking of his single sexual encounter with Allyson. Had she come? He had assumed she had. But maybe she didn't. Maybe that was why she put that recording of him online-

"Oh... oh.... Oooooooh!" Sarah cried out, her breasts heaving. She panted, and smile at him as she lay back in the pillows. Her chest was tinted red.

"Did that mean... did you....?"

Sarah smiled mockingly up at him and gave an exaggerated thumbs up.

********

Cherry looked at him differently the next day. Or did he imagine it?

"He fucked her, didn't he?" Cherry's Lust asked.

"It's not something that gentlemen discuss," said Taylor's Lust.

"You're not a gentleman, you're Lust, like me, and what happens on the Lust Plane, stays on the Lust Plane," said Cherry's Lust.

"Why do you ask?" Taylor's Lust asked evasively.

"Because he's grinning like a fool! I recognize that freshly fucked look anywhere! I'm no dummy, I went to high school in California, you know!"

"All right, perhaps he had some interactions," said Taylor's Lust.

"'Interactions'! Oh, you're so diplomatic. Why, why did he do it with her? I would have let him bang me in a Survey Service minute." Cherry's Lust was clearly upset.

"Mike... is shy. He needs to be led."

"You make him sound like a Shetland pony."

"Hey Cherry," Taylor said cheerfully at breakfast.

Cherry glared at him, her spoon halfway to her mouth. And then, as if becoming unstuck in time, she said, "Hey Mike," and moved the spoon upwards again. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yep," said Taylor.

"I'll bet," Cherry muttered.

"What?" said Taylor.

********

"He's much happier now, much more well adjusted," said Inadequacy.

"Since when have you ever been concerned about Mike being well adjusted?" said Ambition.

"Just look at him. Smiling, confident around women. It's power you're seeing. The power of his fully utilized penis," said Inadequacy.

"'The power of his fully utilized penis'. Wonderful How you wax poetic in your moment of triumph. I don't ever think I've seen you so happy to see Mike strong and confident," said Ambition.

"Thank you," said Inadequacy.

"It wasn't meant as a compliment."

********

"Miiike," said Doctor Vladek, drawing out his name. Something about his smile made Taylor uneasy as he sat down in his office. "I hear there's something new in your life."

"Something... new?" said Taylor.

"Yes," said Doctor Vladek. "Would you care to tell me what it is?"

Taylor licked his lips nervously. He wondered if his reactions were being recorded on a holocam. The thought only made him more nervous. "No, Doctor Vladek, I'm not sure what you mean."

Doctor Vladek smiled broadly. "I think you know exactly what I mean, Mike." Another pause. "Your grades. They have all improved remarkably."

"My grades! Oh, yes, of course, my grades. They have all improved. Markedly."'

"Yes, I just said that," said Doctor Vladek.

"And you said it so well," said Taylor, giving an odd laugh.

Doctor Vladek stared at him for a long moment. Somehow, the staring was almost as bad as the probing questions. Then he said, "You have improved markedly in Galactic Physics and Shipboard Mechanics. What do you attribute your improvement to?"

"Hard work. And studying," said Mike. "And... tutoring. Cherry Oteri, a fellow student, has been tutoring me in Galactic Physics."

"How nice," said Doctor Vladek. "And does that also account for your improvement in Shipboard Mechanics?"

"No... that was Commander Blade. She's been tutoring me, tutoring me, she's the one who's been helping me," said Mike, desperately trying to sound calm.

"I see," said Doctor Vladek. "Commander Blade is well known for taking students under her wing."

"She, she is?"

"Yes, Mike. She's helped a lot of students who had troublesome grades. It seems you have become her latest improvement project. How does that make you feel?"

Was Sarah having sex with other cadets besides him? Mike felt a surge of jealousy. But he clamped down on it. "It's so nice of her to help people."

"Yes, it is... nice," said Doctor Vladek. "How do you feel about Commander Blade helping you, Mike?"

"Well, it's... nice," said Taylor.

"Yes? Go on."

"And it's nice... to be nice... to the nice....."

"Yes, yes it is," said Vladek. Taylor felt like he was completely naked under that gaze, as if Vladek could see the red marks on the head of his penis where he had rubbed Sarah roughly the night before.

Doctor Vladek stared at him again for another long moment. "I want you to do something for me, Mike. To attend a special lecture. Would you do that?"

"Of course," said Taylor.

********

Taylor attended the "special lecture" the following day. It was called "The Parliament of the Human Brain." The lecturer was a neuroscientist named Doctor William Greenberg.

But Michael was barely listening. Did Doctor Vladek know about him and Sarah Blade? If he did, why didn't he report him to the Commandant?

"Your brain is made up of millions of neurons. Some of them contain memories. Some of them assist in controlling your bodies. But many millions of these neurons contain emotions, or preferences, or motivations. By themselves, each neuron is unaware; but each neuron is connected to thousands of others through slender connections. It is these connections between neurons that create awareness, and consciousness."

Maybe Vladek didn't know about Sarah, but only suspected. Or maybe this was all some kind of test, to see how he would react under stress.

"Every time we make a decision in our lives it seems to come spontaneously from us. But the idea of a single Us is an illusion. We are a collection of millions of neurons. Each time we make a decision, each one of our neurons is voting silently, instantaneously. Every feeling in your mind votes. Your feelings of friendship, kindness, desire, envy, ambition, all of them vote in this seamless system to produce an instant decision from what we loosely call the human mind."

And what did Vladek mean about Sarah helping others? Was Sarah sleeping with other cadets? Taylor didn't even know how to ask her about it. It wasn't as if they were boyfriend and girlfriend, after all. What, actually, were they?

"Over time, natural development, based on our DNA, can cause certain parts of the mind to grow stronger. People may become kinder, friendlier, or more thoughtful as they get older because that's what's been programmed into them. Similarly external stimuli, what's called experiences, can also shape the development of factions in the brain-"

********

Bill Kenilworth was talking to the twins.

"You guys seem to get A's in everything," said Bill Kenilworth, at dinner. "How do you do it?"

"We study very hard-" Ming Wa Ching said.

"-And we also study together," said Ming Wa Chang.

They looked so much alike. And they completed their own sentences. It was as if they were one person together.

"How does studying together help you?" Sophie Astor asked.

The twins looked at each other. "If one of us has a question about a subject-" one of them started.

"-Then the other one of us can often answer it," said the other.

"Interesting," said Ernie Maslarov. "You're like a pair of brains, working in parallel."

"Yes, that is one way-"

"-of looking at it."

"Mike, you seem to be doing better in class work," Andrea Farber said. "Was that an A plus I saw on your last Shipboard Mechanics exam?"

"Yes, it was," said Taylor, giving a nervous smile.

"How did you do it? I've been plugging away at it, and can't get better than B's."

"I have good study partners," said Taylor. He saw Cherry giving him a dirty look.

"Maybe you could tutor me," said Andrea slyly. She was a flirtatious redhead with gorgeous breasts that stuck upright out of her cadet day shirt, and Cherry always seemed to get jealous whenever Taylor talked to her.