Page 34 of Volunteer 4711

“Do you watch a lot of dramas from the Home Planet?”

“Yes,” she says. “I’ve got a fair bit of time on my hands during the days.”

“Must be boring,” I muse.

“Better than doing slave labor,” she says. “Not working is a sign of my status.”

“I’m paid for my work,” I insist. I don’t need to mention that I just found this out.

“Not much, I bet,” she says and then changes the subject back to her life. “Thankfully, on my commander’s ship, there are lots of other females who also have a lot of free time during the day for me to socialize with.”

“Why is that?” I ask.

“Some are wives and other such companions for the crew. We watch the dramas together. That’s how I discovered them.” Then she looks around. “I’ve not seen many other females here. You must be lonely.”

“There are no females among the military, but there are a few female servants, including me. No wives that I’m aware of, but perhaps I just haven’t seen them as I don’t go to many areas of the ship.” I wash off a glass, and a thought occurs to me. “What about the females that aren’t wives or servants? What’s their purpose on the ship?”

“Oh, you know, I suspect the oldest profession known to man,” she says conspiratorially and then walks away to her task. I’m still at the dishwasher, and I continue to clean as glasses and then first course plates are brought in. I don’t stop washing until the breakables are clean. I have never questioned why there isn’t a machine for this task, but I suspect it has something to do with tradition.

Noticing I’m almost finished, the head waiter says, “That’s enough for now, 4711; you’ve redeemed yourself. Tomorrow you’ll be back on serving duty.”

“Thank you,” I say. I turn and hurry back to the assembly room, but this time the door is locked, and I can’t gain entry unless my commander requests me. I stand outside the door and wait. I wait for hours until the doors open again. I push my body to the side with my back against the wall so that all the males can pass by. My Commander catches my eye, and I hope I give him a look to let him know I tried to get back on time. I think he wants me to be here to learn and to be able to discuss it later. I know he values me as a sounding board even if I don’t have anything useful to suggest, and I feel like I have let him down.

I follow the males back to the officers’ dining room and serve drinks. At first, no one notices me, but when I’m offering drinks to the commander of the other fleet, he stops me.

“So, you are the other Water woman,” he says in a tone that immediately puts me on the defensive.

“Yes,” I answer him in the Silver language.

“And you speak our language?”

“I do.”

“Say something more. Say something long and complex.”

I look for my Commander. I don’t know if I should answer him. I finally find my Commander’s cobalt eyes through the small crowd, and he nods that I should answer. “Forgive me; I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to answer without my Commander’s permission. I can tell you about the Water planet if you would like? Or I could tell you about farming roots on your Home Planet, which is where I was before I came here.”

I can tell the other commander is very impressed by my language skills. “I cannot believe the rumors are true. Volunteer 4711, do you know you are famous on the Home Planet?”

“I don’t know what you are referring to,” I answer.

“Oh, that’s right, my Water woman told me, you are not allowed a computer or access to know what the galaxy thinks of you.”

I don’t correct him. I allow him to continue talking. I want to see where this is going.

“It seems as if there is a dispute as to whether your Commander took you illegally or not.”

“I know nothing about it except that I’m grateful to be here,” I say and bow deeply. “Now, if I may, I must work for my place.” I remain bowing until he dismisses me and the other commander makes me wait. No doubt, to prove to his Water woman I am a slave.

After half a minute, he dismisses me, and as I walk away, I hear him say to his first officer that I have been beaten into submission and that this adds to the negotiations. I have no idea how I could have anything to do with combining the fleets, so I assume I have misheard him.

I work the rest of the dinner service, and no one talks to me except to issue orders. Afterward, I go to my quarters to relax before my Commander buzzes me. I reckon I’ve time for a nap as I suspect he’ll stay up late with his officers. I fall asleep with my uniform on, and when I wake up, it’s the middle of the night, but my Commander never buzzed me. I check my notifications in my room, and there would have been a notice if he buzzed me, and I missed it, but there’s nothing. I hold my hand over the buzzer to his room, I wonder if I should ask if he needs me, but after a few seconds, I decide not to press it. Perhaps he just had a late night.

However, as I lay back down, I think about all the Silver females the human woman said that was on their ship, and I can’t help but wonder if my Commander is with one of them. I know, or I think I know, he hasn’t had sex in a long time. As far as I can gather from their culture, it’s not something that interests them, not as much as humans, and this is why they have this strange custom of masturbation. I tell myself that my Commander is nothing to me in that way and that his sex life is not my concern. But my mind cannot let go of this, and I imagine myself going to his quarters in the morning and finding a Silver female in his bed. The smell of sex in the air, the wet and dirty sheets, and I can’t deny that in my heart, I’d be jealous and angry to witness that.

“You aren’t even the same species,” I say out loud, chiding myself, but I still get a little teary-eyed thinking about this scenario. Then to twist the knife further, I remind myself one day, he probably will marry, and I will have to stand by and congratulate him and clean up after him and his wife.

“Go to sleep,” I command myself.

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