The shields are on but we cannot detect if they are working.”“So my day just got worse. We may or may not have shields, we don’t have guns. And ...we have no control over where the ship is going. Does that sum it up?”“Yes, sir.”“Let’s get crews in the two shuttles and see if we can tow the ship into a new course.”Activating the communications in my chair I called down to engineering. “Jazz Hands give me some good news. Please.”“Pig, I promise you I will have the helm control and inertial controls. They were noisy, too, a minor annoyance when quiet was preferred. Harmless and friendly, patches were often kept as pets.Doe had been relatively unhurt, but still shied at sudden moves near her, especially when they occurred at the edges of her sight. Of the five, Tia and Seth were the only ones who had come through it unscathed, except for Tia’s dread of finally having to reveal her secret, her new-found ability to “see” through the eyes of animals. Afraid of rejection, she had kept this a. “And no scheduling. Just once a month, at random times—each of us. And no communication among us setting up times except maybe for holiday events and the like,” said Ava. “To the extent possible we don’t want him to be thinking that we’re doing this because we feel sorry for him or guilty because we have neglected him. He’ll slam the door in our faces if we do.”The yeses were universal.“Mom, everyone, just so you’ll know,” said Candace, “It’s going to be a boy. I just found out yesterday.”. At his leisure, he should have dictated punishment, and then you all could have seen how things progressed from there.”“Your thoughts on her punishment?”“Always with a safe word stopping point, which in this case would mean her release from your service, the little cunt should have had the shit flogged out of her. Literally.”“Don’t be coy,” Donna laughed, “say what you really mean!”Evangeline laughed.“Milady, if someone is going to play in this game for real, which Savannah professed to want to.