“I want it done,” I say. I know I am being pedantic, but it makes me feel better knowing there is no question about who she is associated with.

“I understand,” she says, and I know by her tone she means something entirely different, but I let it go.

She finishes dressing me, and my body decides to have a mind of its own, and my penises slightly twitch at the sight of her unfastening my shoes. I will my mind to think of anything to save me from this embarrassment. Thankfully, she does not seem to notice before going into my wardrobe for my pajamas, and by the time she has returned, I have complete control.

Once I am in my pajamas, I dismiss her immediately for fear of embarrassing myself. Ten minutes later, she buzzes me for ‘her night’ from her quarters. I watch and feel incredibly guilty because I know that after she finishes, I will masturbate myself thinking about her.

CHAPTER 13

VOLUNTEER 4711

Every day I practice my aim with a small gun and self-defense with the same officer that carried me out of the farmhouse over a year ago. It’s easy for me to try to attack him as I have always felt he’s racist towards me. I don’t know if this is because I’m a Water person or because I’m a volunteer, but either way, I don’t like his attitude.

Often the Commander watches us practice, and I’ve done as he asked and put my status on my gym clothes. I can’t help but wonder if he’s attracted to me. I know that there’s very little risk of my being raped on the ship. I was pleasantly surprised by his rules regarding sex. And I have lived them. As a single female working as a servant surrounded by males, not once has there been an inappropriate look or comment. For such a patriarchal society, it seems fairer for females than on the Earth I left. In some ways, I don’t mind having fewer rights if it means I’m not afraid of my life or being raped all the time.

But I don’t know what life off the Commander’s ship is like, really. I only have experienced life on the farm and here, and I’d be lying to myself if I said it didn’t worry me a little that he wants me to learn how to shoot a gun and self-defense.

Every day is, more or less, the same for me, and I enjoy the routine, especially in the mornings. I get the Commander dressed, and then I take care of any social communications that need responding to. It’s mostly just sending gifts, acknowledging gifts, and sometimes managing his housekeeper for his house on the Silver planet. Because I deal with most of his social correspondence, I’m more and more curious about his personal life, especially his life before he was a pirate. I know now that he wasn’t always a pirate and that he used to live on the Home Planet. When I asked him about his house, he told me he only has it for sentimental purposes and said he didn’t want to talk about it because it wasn’t important. I haven’t asked him about it again, but whenever it’s whispered about in the servants’ canteen, I’ve put two and two together and figured out that he inherited it because a family member died.