Founders Ch. 66

66: Monday September 28, 2043 1500 hours CST: A Match Made in Bollywood

Both crews sat at the front of the press briefing room. They had wrangled a pass for Becky, who sat in the audience. Pete Frankel, NASA's press liaison, stood. "We're pleased to make a major announcement today. Mars Mining Mission Seventeen will be accompanying Mars Colony Mission One. The two crews will be flying different excursion vehicles but sharing the Interplanetary Vehicle for the trip to Mars. Two years after they land, the MMM Seventeen crew will take the return trip from Mars back to Earth."

The press room immediately erupted in a buzz. "May I have order, please, while I introduce the crew of MMM Seventeen. The mission commander is Major Mateo Nelson, a veteran of the Prometheus Seventeen mission to Mars. Commanding the mining team on the ground is Jason Tyler, a renowned planetary scientist. Aiden Andrews and Ethan Connor are both geologists of some renown. The mission will primarily be one of prospecting. Now you are all familiar with previous mining missions, so I will open up the floor to questions."

"Ricardo Keever, Absolutist Journal. Colonel Bruno, is it by design that this new mining crew is all male and includes your former lover? Is it that Doctor Carson simply isn't up to the task? If so, why not replace him?"

Pete Frankel opened his mouth, but Colleen waved him away. "Let's see a show of hands among my female crewmates. Raise your hand if you welcome Doctor Carson's participation in our mission." The show of hands was unanimous and included Colleen's own hand. Colleen asked, "Now a show of hands among my female crewmates, who is interested in getting to know this new crew?" The show of hands was also unanimous.

"A follow-up question. I'm sure all you women are very friendly, but there is a difference between friendliness and sex. Which of you are going to keep these four new men warm and sane on those cold Martian nights? Be proud."

Pete Frankel raised a hand before any of the women could and said, "We are not discussing the sex lives of any NASA crews at this or any other press conference. These are private matters."

"Chelsey Voort, Space Romance News. Pete, don't be disingenuous. You've already happily lied about Doctor Carson's relationship with Doctor Gupta. It's already been discussed. Now the public wants to know."

Mateo said, "The ratio of women to men is going to be more than two to one. You do the math."

"Allison Herringbone, Religious Update. Major Nelson, is it true that you and your mining team will therefore litter Mars with your abandoned children?"

Mateo replied, "I remind you that with the advent of birth control, women now control their own reproductive systems. We are scientists who know how to use birth control. There will be no unwanted pregnancies on either of these missions."

"Excuse me, I get a follow up," insisted Chelsey Voort. "Major Nelson, you're talking theory, and the public demands facts. Are we only to hear lies from NASA regarding this important matter? What are you afraid of?"

Mateo raised a hand to stave off Pete. "The fact is that this mission hasn't even started yet. We lift off on December 13. There are no facts yet about the actual mission. In the sphere of human relationships, we're all adults able to make choices. This is all that's definitely known at this point."

"Alain Hooten, GerBuBu. Major Nelson, is it true that Doctor Carson's lack of ability to bring his crewmates to orgasm was the real reason your mission was thrown together with theirs?"

Mateo waved Pete off, preferring to answer himself. "From what I've heard, unequivocally no." There was laughter from the press. That was an edgy answer. Mateo pulled it off. He was a charmer. He winked at Zach. Zach tried to look innocent. Zach himself wouldn't have had the charm to pull off an answer like that.

"Alberto Inoye, Solar System Quarterly. For the group, how about wanted pregnancies? This crew presents more genetic diversity to the ladies of the crew. Anyone planning on taking advantage of that?"

Pete Frankel fielded this question. "NASA's official plan is to create genetic diversity on Mars through the use of artificial insemination."

"Mangalo Oppen, Conspiracy Times. Major Nelson, there's a rumor Doctor Carson poisoned the other male candidates. Are you concerned that your crew may be poisoned next?"

Pete Frankel said, "That rumor is only propagated by your publication, Mangalo."

"Vikram Rajani, Mumbai Now. Major Nelson, Khushi has been spurned by Zachary. Are you hoping to gain access to her superior mammaries?"

"Thank you all for coming," said Frankel. The press conference was over, but Zach noticed that Mateo smiled and nodded to the reporter.

That evening on the press broadcasts, speculation flurried. Most of the rumors were not at all flattering towards Zach, which was to be expected. This kind of rumor appealed to every man or woman in the world who thought his luck unfair. There were, understandably, many such people, both men and women. The court of public opinion still greatly favored monogamy. It was no use anybody explaining that he had not sought this disparity. The best thing was to just let the hubbub die down.

Public opinion was loud and was filled with all kinds of simmering biases. The public was adamant that Colleen would have Mateo between her legs. Jason was considered a much more suitable mate for Colby since they were both black. From there, it seemed like the youngest of Zach's crewmates were the most desirable. Berte was dismissed as "not social, so not in the running" because of her autism. Ayana, the next youngest after Colleen, was strongly suspected of being a lesbian, and so was dismissed from consideration for this reason. The public, though there was equal evidence Khushi was a lesbian, didn't want to believe it. She got assigned Aiden, the taller one, by most shippers. It was figured her big tits would give her an edge attracting the tallest of the new crew. Anming, the next youngest, was not as popular as Charisse. But Charisse was an inch taller than Ethan, so Anming won out for this reason. Public opinion concluded that Zach should end up with nobody because he was passe. Similarly, his thirtysomething crewmates were considered unable to compete because of their age.

Zach continued his morning and evening intensive inseminations of Anming and Becky. Berte flew off to visit Max again for a few days. Aanya flew back to India to appear on local chat shows to publicize her public service announcement. Zach continued to grab Colby and Colleen at least once during the night. He also kept up his scheduled lunch assignations with Beatrice and Emma. More importantly, he was scrupulous about delivering Colby her square of chocolate every day no matter how difficult the circumstances. One time she was working all day in an underwater zero-g tank. He jumped in and gave her the chocolate. She took out her rebreather for a moment and ate it on the spot.

Thursday was October the first. It held two notable beginnings for the crew. The first was that Berte returned from seeing Max. This was the start of the first week of Trigonometry trying out having one official wife all week. On week one, starting the first, Berte would be the official wife. This was because the idea was started with her in mind. On week two, Colby would be the official wife, and so forth. The idea is that Zach and the official wife of the week would have a semblance of monogamy that week. They would live together at Zach's apartment, have dinner together, and sleep together. This didn't mean that Zach wouldn't see the other wives that week. It just meant that these would be on the sly to maintain the illusion, especially for the official wife.

The other notable beginning was that Aanya met the famous Bollywood actor Aarav Acharya on a chat show. The sparks flew between them. Aarav was a very handsome Indian man with chiseled features. He was nearly six feet, lean, and muscular. His voice was calming. He was very articulate. There was a moment when the host of the show asked, "Aarav, wouldn't you like a girlfriend whose name comes before yours in the alphabet for a change?"

Looking deeply at Aanya, Aarav replied, "I'm not seeing anyone at the moment, as you know. I would love a girlfriend who is truly brave, an astronaut, an explorer, a genetic engineer. That's what I would find fascinating about Aanya, aside from her beauty."

Aanya was dumbstruck. She'd had a crush on Aarav along with most other Indian women. Finally she blurted, "But I'm leaving Earth for good in two months."

"I don't care," Aarav quickly replied. Their faces got close. It looked like they were going to kiss then and there. Then the moment passed. But the country of India, and soon the world, was electrified by it. Americans had to learn what Bollywood was. Later in that same show, Aarav said of Aanya's cause, "I call upon all Indian men to treat women with the utmost respect. They are our mothers, our sisters, our daughters. Now two women are our only representatives beginning to colonize Mars. It's a beginning, but there's so much more to do. India can lead the world in its treatment of women."

On Friday, as the crew learned of Aanya's encounter with Aarav, he crashed a chat show she was appearing on. He announced a foundation called "Create Joy" funded with his own wealth to combat coercive rape with education, outreach, psychotherapy, and other support.

"Are you stalking me?" Aanya jokingly asked Aarav.

"Do you feel stalked?" asked Aarav.

"I feel nervous," Aanya admitted.

"I want to be on a chat show with you tomorrow, too. You fascinate me," Aarav told her. "If you say no, I won't."

"You may," said Aanya. The show host called it a teachable moment, the difference between a respectful relationship and a coercive one.

That evening, Zach and Berte visited the Legendary Club, the swingers' club he and Khushi had previously visited. Over dinner, Berte was texting and Zach was talking. It looked to people like he was talking to her and she was ignoring him in favor of her phone. "It intrigued me when you said you wanted to come here," said Zach. "Any particular reason why?"

"Why such an elliptical question?" asked Berte. "You're nervous."

"It's just that I don't think this is really your scene, nor is it really mine," said Zach. "I'm not interested in purely recreational sex any more than you are. Khushi and I just happened to find that one lady in there that we really clicked with. I don't think that's a normal occurrence in these places. Anyway, I apologize for the poorly formed question. What do you want to do?"

"I'm enjoying this very well prepared dinner," texted Berte. "Khushi and I talked about her dancing on the stage here. She said every man in the room fucked her with their eyes. Since that conversation, I've been wondering what an eye job like that is like."

"Interesting," said Zach. "Are you going to do a strip tease for us?"

"Yes," texted Berte. "And the other thing I want is a bit darker. You and Ben have taught me so much about having fuller, richer relationships than what I was doing before back in the lab. I would never go back to having a sex life like that. But I miss it sometimes. I enjoyed it or I wouldn't have done it. I enjoyed the look on the men's faces as they ejaculated into my mouth. I admit I enjoyed giving pleasure casually. I don't think I'm interested in receiving pleasure causally."

"There were two types of men in the lab who came to me for blowjobs. There were the guilty ones and the domineering ones. Most of the guilty ones were married, but sometimes not. I liked how the guilty ones said over and over that they shouldn't be doing this. Some would tell me I shouldn't be doing this. I loved their helpless attraction to having their guilty orgasms in my mouth and between my tits. Guilty and ashamed, they were so attracted they could only rarely stop themselves. I don't expect to find that category of man here."

"The domineering ones, as soon as we were alone, pushed me down on my knees and had their way with me. Having spoken to Aanya about rape, I suppose what I did was dangerous. None of them ever hit me or otherwise used physical force to get anything out of me. But they wanted my cunt and asshole very badly. They would do anything and everything short of violence to try to get it. I liked the desire in it. I liked the juxtaposition of their bliss in my mouth with their frustration I would not do more. Usually, they would eventually stop asking. But their mouth fucking would often grow more and more violent. They would try to choke me with their dicks. They would try to pull my hair. I had to remain wary of them. There was fun in it. Now I'm nostalgic."

"Let me get this straight," said Zach. "You want me to find you some thoughtless assholes to fuck your throat?"

"One at a time is what I'm used to," texted Berte. "I've never had multiple men trying to fuck my throat. Maybe it would be interesting. I'll try it."

They were done with dinner, so Zach paid the check. They went through the door between the restaurant and the dance hall part of the club. Predictably, Post-Metal Rhapsody was playing on the sound system. What he wouldn't give for something a little more unique like Babilo or some of that new Surge music. The lights were low and a light show was dancing around the room. It was packed that evening. People naked from the waist up and fully naked were the norm on the dance floor. On the opposite side of the room, a woman was onstage stripping.

Holding Zach's hand firmly, Berte pushed through the crowd of dancers. They parted in the wake of the tiny intense-looking blonde. She arrived at the strip stage, Zach in tow, just in time for the current amateur stripper to lose her balance and fall off the stage. Zach caught her, so she wasn't hurt, and she thanked him profusely. Then she looked him up and down and asked him if he wanted to go to a room with her. He declined, saying he had to stay and support his wife.

The tight group of women who frequented the strip stage immediately adopted the quiet and quirky Berte. They asked Zach repeatedly whether his wife/slave/girlfriend was doing okay. Was she mute? He clarified that she was his wife. Some had thought she was a slave because of her metal choker with purple, red, and green streaks on it. He clarified that she was fine, just didn't like to talk much. The music was loud anyway, so much of their communication was gesturing, which Berte was exceedingly good at.

Berte waited patiently for her turn. She was wearing her tight green knit dress with the cutout. She climbed onstage and began shimmying her hips while trying to wrestle herself out of her dress. It was not an elegant dance. It attracted attention because as she pulled up her dress, everybody could see she wasn't wearing any panties. Men and women began to slip Zach calling cards. It wasn't the flurry that had accompanied Khushi's dance. Berte was a green knit cocoon from the waist up and naked from the waist down. Her nice little blonde bush shook as she wiggled out of her tight dress. What a spectacular little crotch and ass she had. Zach could feel the blood stiffen his penis as he watched her.

The men didn't care how badly she danced. Berte was a young and very fit woman with a pretty face and big tits. She looked happy. The women around the stage were a supportive bunch who knew this was her first time stripping. They cheered and clapped for her. They extolled her bravery, little knowing that Berte didn't feel the social awkwardness most people would under the circumstances. She finally wrestled off her dress and threw it into the group of women encouraging her. Her flats followed, and socks, and finally bra. She looked like, as she was twirling her hips, she was giving eye jobs to men in the audience. Focusing on one man, she squatted, spread her legs, and held her labia apart, eliciting a cheer. A moment later, the man slapped a calling card into Zach's hand.

When the music changed, Berte left the stage and a new dancer emerged. Berte hugged and kissed with her new girlfriends, then dressed. She towed Zach to one of the tiny circular tables at the edge of the dance floor. They sat. "Did you have fun?" Zach asked.

"It was nasty enough," texted Berte. "There was some eye fucking going on."

A large bald man dragged his petite timid wife up to their table. They looked to be in their forties. He looked at Berte and said, "Let's fool around. Here, you can have her in the meantime." He pushed his frightened wife into Zach's lap.

Zach smiled at the woman and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Zach," he said gently. The wife took his hand by three of the fingers, since her hands were small, and shook it. As a doctor and a good one, he had a skill for putting nervous people at their ease. She smiled at him meekly.

"Did you hear me?" the man said to Berte. "Do you want to fuck?" Berte just looked at him. Then he turned to Zach. "What's wrong with her? Is she deaf?"

Berte texted Zach, "This moron has potential. I like how coarse and dominant he's being. The men at the lab were all scientists, but some were this coarse."

"She says you have potential," said Zach.

"What, is she texting you? Is she mute?" asked the man.

"Tell him I'll give him a blowjob fully dressed," texted Berte. "In exchange, his wife must agree to fool around with you. You get to fool around any way you want to for as long as you want. He has to watch. I want you to fuck her really good, Zach. I trust that you can give her the time of her life. I want to get him really angry and frustrated. I'll tease him with my mouth."

Zach opened his mouth to ask the woman very gently, but she put a finger on his mouth. "I read the text messages," said the wife. "I like your wife. Her proposal intrigues me. Let me talk to my husband about it."

The couple stepped away several paces. The man seemed frustrated. As the conversation continued, the woman got more enthusiastic. Finally, it seemed the man gave up. They walked back over to Berte and Zach. "Okay," said the man. "I get a blowjob. In exchange..." He pushed the wife into Zach's lap again. "I'm Elijah. This is Charlotte."

The two couples went in search of a room. Berte shut the door, but left the observation window open. Elijah pushed Berte to her knees and unzipped. She looked up at him and smiled hungrily. He looked back at her sternly, like he was settling. She made sure her back was to Zach and Charlotte so that Elijah had to watch them.

Zach gently walked Charlotte over to the king-sized bed and began kissing and undressing her. She seemed to be warming up to him despite her initial trepidation. They lay on the bed half-dressed while he kissed her mouth, neck, and breasts and fingered her. About the time Elijah groaned and ejaculated into Berte's mouth, Charlotte climaxed wetly on Zach's finger as they kissed.

"Okay, let's go," said Elijah. He zipped up.

"Zach's not done yet," said Berte.

"So the mutie talks," said Elijah.

Berte just smiled at him and unzipped him. She began suckling at his limp cock.

"She's right, dear. We agreed to let Zach have his way with me." Charlotte smiled gleefully at Zach until he pulled down his pants. Then she looked a little concerned. Her husband was not small, average at least.

Zach's penis had a way of intimidating women. "You set the pace," he said to her. She continued undressing. "Maybe you should get on top," he suggested.

"I'm no good at that," said Charlotte.

"How about this then?" Zach lifted her in his arms and stood up. He held her against him with one arm while sliding the head of his cock against her wet opening.

Charlotte put her arms around Zach. "You can try it," she said a little fearfully. His cock head went in without incident. Her husband was not small, she was fortysomething, and had probably had kids. Since she didn't sound distressed, he rocked her down onto him further. This elicited a moan. He rocked into her farther and farther until he was in the tiny woman to the hilt, which surprised him. He gently slid her up and down his shaft. She purred. The more firmly he bounced her, the more pleased noises she made.