Making of a Starship Captain Ch. 18

The Making Of A Survey Service Captain

By Gary L.M. Martin

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

Sheppard's Planet

Time passed.

At 36 years of age, Michael Tiberius Taylor was one of the youngest Captains in Survey Service history. Taylor was not just the Captain of a ship--his actual rank was Captain now, having rapidly moved up from Ensign to Lieutenant, from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander, from Lieutenant Commander to Commander, and now from Commander to Captain. Most Survey Service officers never were promoted to the rank of Captain, and most of those who did were considerably older than the age of 36.

Taylor was a mature, seasoned warrior now, and a diplomat and negotiator too, supremely confident in his abilities and quite an accomplished officer. He was practically a legend in the Survey Service among the men, and even more so among the women.

Taylor had no trouble attracting women now. His reputation preceded him. He got sex when he wanted and where he wanted it. All he had to do was give women his famous Taylor smile, with that patented charming look, that look that promise women an experience unparalleled in all their couplings as biological females.

And yet, despite all this, Taylor was dissatisfied. He had had two or three loves of his life, depending on how one counted them. There was Pam, of course, Pam who had dropped him for another man. There was Jennifer, Jennifer who he loved in his heart, even though he had never been able to actually enter into a loving relationship with her. Jennifer, who was now a dead squid body somewhere 500,000,000 years in the future. And lastly there was Cherry Oteri, from his Academy days. Taylor was not quite sure if he had been in love with or merely infatuated with Cherry, but he never got the chance to find out. Cherry married some other man. Some guy named Bill. That was all Taylor knew.

He would never have the chance to have a long, enduring relationship. He felt the emptiness acutely, a part of his life he thought was missing.

And so Taylor tried to fill the emptiness with sex. Sex with blondes, sex with brunettes, sex with redheads. If the woman he was seducing already had a boyfriend, Taylor simply viewed it as a challenge. He even slept with married women. Alexis Herman had sanded down his inhibitions on that score on PR-52981when she trained him to be a God-like sex machine.

Taylor found he enjoyed sleeping with married women, to get even the briefest touch of the life he never had. As Taylor pumped some hot blonde in her 30's with big, child bearing tits, he wondered what it would be like to be married to her like her husband was. What it would be like to fuck her every night, if he wanted to. To have a real, long term relationship with her. To get up in the morning and be the first thing she saw, and the last thing she saw at night, to be the person who he would love and who would love him for the rest of his life. To have her bear his children, and raise a family with her. To grow old together, while still being happy together. It was a fate not meant for him, but he could almost touch that life, just a little, as he pounded into the large breasted blonde, however briefly, until he climaxed inside of her.

The women he coupled with all viewed Taylor as a playboy, as the ultimate self-assured ladies' man. If they only knew the pain underneath his smile, the lack of contentment that lay within, they might have thought differently. They would have pitied him, and even worse, would never, ever have let him into their beds, or between their legs.

And so Taylor was all confidence and all swagger, all chin up and shoulders squared and chest raised, and everyone loved and adored this model Survey Service Captain.

Michael Taylor was in command of the USS Relentless, the first of a new experimental class of space vessels called Command Cruisers. Battle cruisers were the most powerful vessels in the Survey Service's fleet, but they were extremely expensive and time consuming to build, which is why the Survey Service never had more than four or five of them.

That's why the Design Bureau constructed a new class of warship, the Command Cruiser. A Command Cruiser had almost as much punch as a battle cruiser, but was far less expensive and far easier to manufacture. The only downside is that its power baseline and defensive screens were less elaborate than a battle cruiser. It could make the same punch, but not take quite as many in return.

Taylor was chosen to command the very first ship off the assembly line, a great honor. The Relentless was a beauty, armed with four plasma cannons and eight mark four megajoulers. He was the envy of every captain in the fleet.

The Relentless was currently in orbit around Earth, awaiting its next mission. But first Captain Taylor was completing a very important piece of diplomacy.

********

"Ah... ah... ahhhhhhhh...."

A broad smile appeared on Senator Michelle Wellby's face as she climaxed. Senator Wellby was the Chairthing of the World Government's Social Justice Subcommittee of the Military Affairs Committee. She was a not so well preserved female in her early 50's; her face, like her body, had started to get "the runs", that melting look that some people get when they get older, and her breasts were no firmer than hour old pudding, but Captain Taylor was sure to give her a performance she would remember for the rest of her life.

And remember it she would. As she climaxed around Taylor's raging shaft, she felt tremendous joy. She never, ever again would have the opportunity to have sex with a man twenty years her junior; certainly not with a gallant space captain like Michael Taylor. It was wonderful. It was incredible.

And now, it was time to pay the price.

As she lay side by side, she looked at him. He was so handsome! "Did you... did you-"

"Yes," said Taylor quickly. A little too quickly. So he hadn't. She couldn't help but notice he was still stiff.

Taylor played with her breasts, which had the consistency of runny scrambled eggs. "So, about that audit...."

The World Government was making noises about conducting another diversity audit of the Survey Service, a full spectrum one based on race, sex, sexual orientation, class, height, genital size, and a whole host of other factors that the World Government thought was vital to running a proper military service.

Admiral Von Windhoek, without raising an eyebrow, had asked Taylor if he could do something to persuade the Senator to block the audit. Taylor knew what was being asked of him. But he also knew how the game worked. He would do the Admiral a favor, and the Admiral would do him one. He had already done Taylor a very big favor when he got him the Captaincy of the Relentless.

"Don't worry about the audit, dear. I'll keep it bogged down in subcommittee for the next few years," said Wellby. Suddenly she looked anxious. "Michael...."

"What is it?"

Her lips were trembling. "Was it... was it good for you? Dear, please be-"

Her voice was abruptly cut off as Taylor pressed his lips against hers. In seconds, she was moaning.

Again.

********

"Mission accomplished, Admiral," said Taylor.

It was the next day, and he was sitting in the office of Grand Admiral Chellina. Even though it had been Admiral Windhoek who had made the request, Taylor knew that Chellina was aware of it.

"Good work, Captain," she said, without elaborating on what exactly his good work was. There was no need.

"What is my next assignment?" Taylor asked.

"Well...." said the Admiral in a high pitched voice. She bit her lip, and Taylor immediately screaned that there would be a problem.

"We would like you to take the Relentless and do a catalog of gaseous anomalies in the Adams Sector."

Taylor paused. "You want me to take a Command Cruiser, to catalogue... gaseous anomalies... in a distant sector?"

"That's the mission of the Survey Service, isn't it?" she said defensively, crossing her legs.

"Admiral," said Taylor. His voice deepened, and he gave a wolflike smile. "Admiral," he said again, and he saw her shiver slightly.

"We can't always give you the most exciting missions, Mike," said Chellina. "There are other Captains in the Survey Service too, you know."

Taylor nodded slowly. "I understand. Really, I do." He sighed. "But I thought I had reached a certain... understanding, between us. Remember the last time I was on Earth? Remember that long lunch we had in Willowby Gardens?"

"Of course," said Chellina, reddening slightly as she smiled.

"I feel like...." Taylor picked his words carefully. "That we've really gotten to know each other. To understand each other's needs and desires. Don't you think?" He stared at her with clear green eyes, unblinking, unwavering.

Admiral Chellina shifted in her seat once, and then a second time. Suddenly she noticed she was perspiring. "Oh. Well. You know, Mike, maybe, there is one other thing."

"Other thing?

"Well... we're having a bit of trouble on Sheppard's Planet," said Chellina. "You know, that's one of the planets that the World Government has opened up to competitive development. Several territorial governments, the Russians, the Chinese, the Europeans, even the Australians have launched demonstration projects there."

"What of it?" said Taylor.

"They've been having... problems. Minor earthquakes. Setbacks. Suspected sabotage of equipment."

"Do we have any idea who is behind it?"

Chellina shook her head. "I already have someone looking into it. An old friend of yours, I believe. Commander Andrea Farber of the Scunathorpe. You know her, don't you, Mike?"

The mention of Andrea Farber brought an instant smile to Taylor's face. Andrea had been at the Academy with him. She was a gorgeous redhead with a flirty smile. They had been friendly with each other, exceedingly so. If it hadn't been for Cherry....

"Yes, I know Andrea. A good officer."

"A capable officer," said Chellina, putting stress on the word. "And yet, the problems continue. I was wondering, Mike, if you could... assist her in her investigations? Strictly as an observer, of course."

"Of course, Admiral," said Taylor, understanding completely. He got up to go. "I can have the Relentless ready to go in 48 hours."

"Good," said Chellina. "And Mike?"

"Yes, Admiral?"

She hesitated for the briefest moment before speaking. "Do you have time for lunch before you go?"

Taylor gave a friendly smile. "For you? Always, Admiral."

********

Taylor's first officer was Commander Sophie Astor. Sophie had also gone to the Academy with Taylor. She was a Passive Observer, which meant that she observed the world around her unemotionally, dispassionately. As Taylor was the leading ladies' man in the Service, any woman around him would naturally be suspected of being his partner in bed.

But not one crewmember on the Relentless thought that Sophie Astor was sleeping with her Captain. Sophie never smiled. She barely blinked. Some people thought Sophie had been assigned as his first officer because she was the only woman in the Service who would be immune to his charms. Little did they know that Taylor was delighted to have his old friend as his first officer. Jennifer had been his good friend too, but a decidedly different kind of friend... and Taylor knew he would never have that kind of problem with Sophie. Not ever.

There were attractive women on the Relentless. The two most notable were Yeomen Audrey King and Ann Marie Queen. On the Relentless, female crewmembers were given the option of wearing the unisex (male) uniform or the more traditional miniskirts which the World Government had attempted to banish years ago. Taylor had given no orders but had subtly made his wishes known, and every female officer and crewmember (except Sophie Astor) wore the short miniskirts and skintight panty hose and high heeled boots that was "their option and their right".

Audrey King and Ann Marie Queen were simply gorgeous. They were fresh recruits to the Survey Service, and barely twenty years of age. Ann Marie had long, flowing blonde hair and Audrey was an audacious red head, with thick wavy hair which caressed her naked neck and collarbone. Taylor, after seeing their credentials, had promptly appointed them both as "Captain's aides", and had them on the bridge with him at all times. He called Yeomen King and Queen the "Captain's Royalty", and he flirted so much with them so much, so openly, that it was widely assumed he was sleeping with both of them, perhaps even both at the same time. Both Audrey and Ann Marie were constantly competing for his attention, Audrey bending over in her short miniskirt when she thought the Captain was looking her way, and Ann Marie leaning towards him to demonstrate the plunging neckline of her enlisted servicewoman's uniform.

But everyone who thought that Taylor was sleeping with one, or both of the young yeomen, would have been wrong, which meant that nearly everyone on the ship was wrong (except for Sophie Astor).

Taylor knew better than to sleep with a member of his own crew, especially a subordinate member, especially a subordinate member directly under his command who was the most junior member of the enlisted ranks. He knew what effect that could have on morale and ultimately, his own command. So he flirted with Audrey and sniffed her hair, and touched Ann Marie's arm, and told her how "fresh" she looked, but that was the extent of it.

Sophie Astor had not changed since her Academy days. She was the same old Sophie--dry, analytical, dispassionate, and as logical as ever.

Except, that her breasts were twice as big now as they were at the Academy.

Taylor tried to broach the subject with her when he saw her after she made the change. It was when she became his first officer on the Admonitor, before they both made the jump to the Relentless.

"Sophie, I, uh, notice something different about you," said Taylor, as he sat down to dinner with her in his quarters.

"You are referring, of course, to my breasts," said Sophie, putting a forkful of peas in her mouth.

"Well... I wasn't exactly looking-"

"Yes, you were," said Sophie.

"No, I wasn't," said Taylor.

"You always look," said Sophie.

"Not specifically at your breasts!" said Taylor.

"All women's," said Sophie, as if the matter were closed.

"How did we get on this subject?" Taylor asked desperately.

"Because you were asking about my breasts," said Sophie. She put down her fork with a clatter, and then she cupped the outline of her breasts over her Survey Service uniform. They were large and round and stood up firmly, a testimony to the strength of Survey Service bras. "Do you like them?"

"Do I like them?" This conversation was quickly heading into dangerous territory! He had held this dinner in his quarters to get acquainted with, actually reacquainted with, his new first officer, but now it was going in an unexpected direction. "Do I like them?" Taylor asked again. "Sophie, I can't say. I hardly know them."

Sophie then did the most unexpected thing. She laughed. It was a sight to behold. She smiled and chuckled for a long moment. And then her face became calm again. "You are almost the only person who can do that to me."

"Almost?" said Taylor.

"I got nuclear implants."

"Oh," said Taylor.

"Do you wish to know why?" Sophie asked, giving him a sideways glance.

Was she flirting with me? Sophie????

"If... if you like," said Taylor.

"So my superiors would listen to me."

"Sophie, were you discriminated against because you are a woman?" Taylor asked.

"No," said Sophie, chewing on her peas again. "I was discriminated against because I was rational."

"What?"

"When I served on the Beaverton, Captain Ramseys would hardly ever listen to me. If I suggested we change course to avoid an asteroid field, he would ignore me. But if I talked like this-" and suddenly, Sophie's voice grew higher and very feminine, and she batted her eyelashes, and became someone else. "Please, Captain sir, don't take us into that nasty asteroid field! The ship will get all battered up, and my lipstick will run!" Her voice returned to normal. "That, he would listen to."

"So you got breast implants so the men would take you seriously?"

"The men. And the women too. They seem to respect women with greater nursing ability."

"I did not know that," said Taylor. "Of course, your breasts are irrelevant to me."

"So you don't like them, then," said Sophie, giving him a sideways glance.

Somewhere along the line, Sophie Astor had developed a sense of humor.

********

Sheppard's Planet was a temporary name, like Tarsis IV and Vega II. Eventually, once the planet was heavily populated, the inhabitants would pick their own name. The Relentless entered standard orbit around Sheppard's Planet four days after leaving Earth.

"I am detecting a ship in orbit," said Sophie. "Sensors identify it as the USS Scunathorpe."

"Andrea's ship," said Taylor.

"Captain, we're being hailed," said Yeoman King.

"Activate the holoviewer," said Taylor.

"Aye, sir," said King. Taylor watched as she swiveled in her chair. While she was sitting, her miniskirt rode to the upper part of her luscious thigh, revealing her gorgeous legs, tightly encased in dark pantyhose, going all the way down to her high heeled boots.

The holoimage of Commander Andrea Farber of the Scunathorpe appeared on the bridge.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then she said, "Captain."

"Captain," said Taylor. She's nervous.

"Welcome to Sheppard's Planet, Michael," said Farber.

"Glad to be here," said Taylor.

Farber paused and wet her lips. "I'd love to give you a tour of the Scunathorpe. Why don't you come over and we'll have lunch... and discuss the situation?"

"I'd love it. I'll see you soon, Andrea."

She gave him a faint smile, and her image vanished.

Taylor turned to Yeoman King and Yeoman Queen. "All right, who wants to shuttle me over to the Scunathorpe?"

"I'd love to," said Audrey King, petting her red hair self consciously.

"Pick me, Captain!" said Ann Marie Queen, tilting the boot heel of her right foot up tentatively.

"You got to fly him last time!" said Audrey.

"But you piloted twice before that!" said Ann Marie.

"Girls, girls! Yeomen," said Taylor. He sighed. "You can both go. One of you can fly there, the other back."

"Who gets to-"

"You can wrestle each other on the floor of the shuttle for the honor. Get going ladies, before I change my mind."

The two Yeomen, with happy smiles on their face, made their way to exit. Taylor turned to Sophie. "Commander, the ship is yours."

"Yes sir," said Sophie. "Enjoy your lunch, Captain. Should I expect you back soon, or do you think you will be gone... for a while?" There was just a hint of insolence on her face. Taylor didn't know whether to laugh or be annoyed. "Sooner rather than later, Commander." He paused. "Unless I get lost during the tour." That made her frown, and Taylor gave Sophie an irritating smile as he made his way off the bridge.

********

Commander Andrea Farber was waiting for Taylor in the docking bay of the Scunathorpe when he emerged from the shuttle.

Her body language said everything. Her hand was rubbing against her thigh. She was biting her lip. She was trying to smile, but not doing a good job of it.