Mercenary by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page B

along. She had understood sex as well as any woman living.
    “Are you ready to perform now, Private?”
    “Not with you, sir!”
    She laughed. “Of course not, though it is permissible in this special instance. Sometimes recruit girls feel easier about being initiated by male officers rather than enlisted men; it is a matter of breeding—no pun!—and perception. But for you, I mean, with June, whose office this is. You understand, she is required to make out a report; they all are. Attitude, technique, ejaculation—”
    A report! Was nothing sacred? That turned me off again. “I—” I hesitated. “She remains a—”
    “A prostitute?”
    "Yes, sir. She cares nothing for me. She just wants to get it over with, like an item on an assembly line.
    There is neither love nor respect in that. That is not the type of woman I—"
    “I understand, and I respect you for that attitude, Private. I really do! The Jupiter Navy does not require that you degrade yourself with a woman who is socially beneath you.”
    “Oh, I didn't mean that, sir! I—” But as I spoke, I realized I did mean it, at least in part. I had no status in the Jupiter society, but June was little more than a mannequin.
    “You are intelligent and well educated,” she said. “I'm sure your tests show high facility in more than one language, broad information, extraordinary social perception, and an intelligence quotient in the upper percentiles. You are elite.”
    “No, I'm not, sir! I'm just a refugee.”
    “Well, refugee, we intend to do right by you, for you have a future in the Jupiter Navy. Would it help you to know that not all our women are sexually professional? Many are recruits, like yourself, who are assigned to this duty by roster.”
    “But if it's not voluntary—”
    “That depends on how you interpret it, private. They do volunteer for the roster and are excused from KP or guard duty.”
    “Oh,” I said. “Sir.” I saw how it was. I knew that many of the male recruits I knew would be glad to exchange their places on the KP roster for one like this. Evidently it was true for some women, too. But that sort of woman did not excite me, either.
    “I can see you are sincere, and I do want to help you,” she said earnestly. I found I believed her. “I can offer you one other option, though a more difficult one.”
    “Sir?”
    “As I mentioned, more female recruits have initial problems than do the males. They have been raised more restrictively, especially in your culture, and never expected to become refugees or to be obliged to join the Navy. Many understand intellectually but are unable to accept it emotionally. We have the drugs and experienced male operators, but—” She shrugged.
    I caught on. “Me—and one of those?”
    She looked me in my eye. Her iris was purple, and I realized she wore tinted contact lenses. “Hope, she is intelligent and bilingual, like you, no woman of the streets. You would be doing her a favor, believe me.”
    Her use of my name startled me; I had not realized that she knew it. But, of course, she had done her homework before coming here, at least to that extent. She was a competent officer. “Uh—” I began doubtfully.
    “A refugee does not really have the option of dismissal from the service, as you know. I hesitate to conjecture what would become of her, if...”
    How well I understood! Perhaps some women considered sex to be a fate worse than death, but most refugees who returned to their home planets would find literal death, and the females would find sex, too, in the form of rape. They had to make good in the Navy. This officer had really maneuvered me; I could not refuse what she asked, as well she knew.
    “I'll try, sir,” I said.
    She smiled warmly. “You will have an hour. I regret that we cannot grant you more time, but our facilities are already overworked. You will be under observation, you understand; we must be assured of performance. But that will not be intrusive. We do