Making of a Starship Captain Ch. 03

********

"If Allyson is getting the answers to the test, I don't stand a chance," said Michael. "There's no way they'll take two people from the same high school. And if she's cheating, she'll get a better score than I will."

Hal looked at him in silence for a long moment, as he always did when he listened to Michael. Michael heard the hum of the consoles around them.

"What are you saying, Mike?"

"I..."

"What are you saying, Mike?"

"Maybe... maybe I should do this," said Mike. He saw Hal looking at him. "Cheat."

"Cheat," said Hal, and Mike flinched as he said the word. "Are you prepared to cheat your way into the Survey Service Academy, Michael?"

"We have to. We have no other choice," said Love the Survey Service.

"I am so surprised to hear that from you," said Ambition. "For years you've been pushing us to apply for the Survey Service. A career of honor and integrity, you said. And now you want to cheat your way into it. What's the point?"

"If it's the only way to get in...."

"If it's the only way to get in, then we shouldn't be there," said Ambition. "We can keep our pride and integrity and do something else."

"What else can we do? It's too late to apply to regular colleges! If we don't do this, we won't stand a chance."

"If Allyson is cheating. We don't know for sure that she is. If she's cheating, if she gets the right answers, and if she scores higher than Mike does, she still might not get in over him. There are other factors besides the test, you know," said Ambition. "I've supported you in this effort for years because the Survey Service is not just a job, it's a lifestyle, a way of being which I was proud to support. If you use subterfuge to get in, it will only be the beginning of the end. Mike will learn from this experience, and he'll cheat his way through his entire life. And I won't be a part of it."

"And neither will I," said Mike. He looked at Hal and said, resolutely, "I won't cheat to get in."

********

Michael had several more dates with Nettie Flairs. Kissing dates. Nettie would kiss him, and then she would kiss Jordana. When Mike protested once, Nettie smiled at him and said, "What's wrong? Aren't you man enough to handle two women?" And Mike didn't know how to answer that.

As a matter of fact, while there were two women in the relationship, only one of those, Nettie (who was 18 years old), was actually kissing Mike. And as the dates progressed, Mike noticed that Nettie was spending more and more time kissing Jordana (who was also 18 years old) than him. On their first date Nettie has kissed him almost as much as she kissed Jordana. But by their fourth date, Nettie kissed him once in the beginning, and twice more at the middle, and twice at the ending, and spent the rest of her time kissing Jordana.

Michael started to wonder why he was there. He was barely doing anything. Except watching. That's what Nettie must like. That's why she called herself bi. Because she liked men to watch. As Nettie kissed and fondled Jordana, she would look over at Michael, at the excitement on his face, and his expression would in turn arouse her. Nettie liked getting men excited in this way. And Mike had to admit, watching Nettie and Jordana lock lips together and hug and kiss each other was fun to watch... although it would be more fun if he were participating too.

"This is so degrading. I'm ashamed for all of us," said Ambition.

Self-Image looked into the mirror. He saw a slack faced, trembling skinny boy. "This is the best we can do. Just look at us! No normal woman in her right mind would want us. Everyone knows what Sister Audra did to us. This is the best we can do."

"No, it's not. You've just been brainwashed by him," said Ambition, pointing a finger at Inadequacy.

"Don't blame me for the cards we were dealt," said Inadequacy. "I didn't tell the entire school that Sister Audra abused us. I'm not the one who made us look like a freak to all women in the world. I'm just trying to help Mike adapt as best he can to the circumstances."

"Of course you are," said Ambition, narrowing his eyes. "You want the best for Mike. What's easiest for him, what's least likely to hurt his feelings."

"Right."

"If he keeps listening to you, he'll never make it in the Survey Service."

********

"Hey, Lifeboat! How's the rug munching business?" Darden asked, giving him a nasty grin.

"I wouldn't know," said Michael.

Darden got a thoughtful look. "Maybe you wouldn't. So how are you enjoying being the third wheel on a lesbian bicycle?"

"There have been challenges," Michael admitted.

"I'll bet," said Darden, grinning, sitting down next to him. "Have you gotten to first starbase? Second starbase? More?"

"A gentleman doesn't tell," said Mike.

"Oh, I forgot, I'm talking to the very dignified Captain of a Survey Service starship. Aye aye, sir," said Darden, saluting him, as he left the room.

Relations with Nettie were reaching a turning point. Nettie had told him in no uncertain terms that she wanted to get physical on the next date. "All the way", she said, with a sexy smile that made Michael so excited. Finally, he was going to learn what it was like being inside a woman! Sure, Nettie would probably have sex with Jordana too, but what did that matter, as long as he got what he wanted?

********

They were at Nettie's house on a Saturday afternoon right after Mike turned 18. Nettie's parents were gone for a long weekend at Cape Cod. They would have plenty of time, the three of them. For the first time Jordana actually showed some affection towards him. She looked him in the eye and said, "I think it's time we all got to know each other better, don't you think?"

Mike nodded dumbly as Jordana tenderly grabbed his face and gave him a luxurious kiss. Mike felt an electric current go through his body as her lips pressed against his.

And then he watched as Jordana kissed Nettie, slowly and passionately. The 18 year olds (they were definitely, definitely 18 years old!) took their time about it. When they were done, Nettie looked at him and said, "We'd better do something about those clothes, shouldn't we?"

And then, in a moment Mike would never forget, they undressed him. Both of them. Nettie looked longingly at him as she slowly pulled off his shirt. Jordana pulled off his shoes, and then peeled off his pants, pants leg by pants leg. And then Nettie came close and kissed him amorously, while Jordana, working behind him, pulled off his underwear.

In moments he was nude, and aroused. It could hardly be otherwise. He watched as Nettie and Jordana slowly and lovingly removed each other's clothes, kissing all the way. When they were nude, Mike stared at their firm, 18 year old breasts. Jordana's were larger, but Nettie's were much pointier. Both stood firm and proud, without a hint of slouch.

Nettie pulled Jordana on the bed. They started to kiss and hug each other. Mike waited for a moment and then decided to join in. But when he started to get into the bed, Nettie looked up at him. "What are you doing?"

"I thought-"

"Your place is there," she said, pointing to the chair by her bed.

Mike's jaw dropped. Could she be serious?

"But... what about me?"

"Yes, what about you?" said Jordana critically.

"Don't worry. I have something to keep you happy," said Nettie. She fished around under her pillow and tossed something at him. Mike saw it was a tube of lubricant. Jordana laughed when she saw his reaction."Now go. Sit!" she commanded.

Mike sat. He watched Netttie and Jordana kissing and hugging, rubbing their naked bodies against each other. Mike was quite erect; it could hardly have been otherwise. He looked at the tube in his hand. What should he do now?

"Leave at once! This is degrading," said Ambition. "They are humiliating you, using your humiliation for their own sexual pleasure. Get out now, Mike!"

"No," said Inadequacy sadly. "This is the best we can hope for. We're damaged goods, Mike. Remember our diary. Everyone in the school has seen it. They all know how tainted we are. No girl in her right mind is going to want to have sex with us. This could be our only chance to see a girl naked, in the flesh, having sex right in front of us. If this is the only kind of sexual pleasure we can have with a woman, we should take it."

"No, Mike, you're better than this. Don't listen to him."

"That's right. Don't listen to me. Listen to yourself," said Inadequacy. He pointed to Self Esteem, who was looking in the mirror. In the mirror he saw a skinnier version of Mike, also completely nude who looked needy, weak, and anxious, with a tiny erection between his legs. "Believe me, who's going to want that?"

Mike looked at the tube of lubricant in his hand and sucked in his lips and opened it. He started to spread some on his organ. He leaned back in the chair and gripped it, starting to move it up and down his shaft.

Nettie noticed immediately and smiled at him. "That's right, work it up and down, just like that, Mike!"

Michael watched as Nettie and Jordana pleasured each other. They used their lips and their hands and fingers to give each other sexual pleasure. The sight of two sexy women pleasuring each other in front of him excited him tremendously, the slick, sweaty breasts rubbing against each other, the long, slender legs intertwined, the smiles, the kisses, the moans... All of it was pushing him incredibly fast to orgasm.

Mike fisted himself tightly around his shaft as the friction from the cool lotion on his organ spurred him onwards. Jordana moved her head downwards, and started working between Nettie's legs, and Michael finally learned why Darden had called it "rug munching". As Nettie arched her chest, thrusting her breasts upwards, her head back, her eyes closed, she cried out, a long, guttural, female cry of joy. A few seconds later so did Mike, spurting in an arc on Nettie's bedroom carpet.

*********

Mike had reached a new low. He could never do that again, he realized. It was too degrading, even for him. In the aftermath of his sort-of first sexual experience he felt totally humiliated.

As he was walking home from Nettie's house, however, he heard shouting ahead of him. He walked more briskly, and saw Jeremy Piven and Brent Scalwood taunting his brother Darden.

"Temperature change denier! Watcha doin, temp denier?"

Jeremy and Brent were members of a Temperature Change gang.

Every day the temperature fluctuated mightily, often twenty degrees or more from morning to late afternoon and back again in the nighttime. The World Government said that this was because of industrialization, that pollution from air cars and factories was causing temperature to fluctuate, and in the old times temperature was a constant 72 degrees all day, every day, and that heavy taxes and regulation were needed to fight the effects of it. Some of the kids at the school became so passionate about fighting temperate change that they had formed a gang and beat up other students who didn't believe in man-made temperature change.

Darden, always a skeptical thinker, was an outspoken opponent of the temperature change theory. He said that it was ridiculous to believe that temperatures had always been the same, despite what he was told was a fact that 99% of all scientists agreed upon. Darden was called a temperature change denier and increasingly taunted in school.

"How's the weather now?" Jeremy asked, slapping him in the face.

"Come on, weather boy, give us a forecast," said Brent, pushing him in the back. Darden fell to the hard pavement.

Michael didn't think. He didn't hesitate. He ran forward. Brent, hearing the sounds of footfalls, turned around, but it was too late. Michael punched him in the face, giving him a bloody nose. He staggered backwards, clutching his face and screaming.

Jeremy threw a punch at Michael, but Michael was ready for that, and blocked him. Mike punched him in the gut. Jeremy threw another punch that hit Mike in the chest. Mike didn't even blink, but punched Jeremy again and again in the face, until he was down.

Darden, still lying on the sidewalk, looked up at his younger brother in shock. "Why?" he managed to ask.

Mike held out a hand. "Because in the Survey Service, we don't leave people behind."