Taylor invited a special guest lecturer at his class the following day, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw.
Dr. Shaw had been one of the few survivors of the USS
Devonshire
on its fateful mission to save the Earth by traveling to the year one billion to discover who or what had created the Black Box which was slowly but inexorably destroying the Earth. Taylor had had a brief sexual relationship with Doctor Shaw. What he remembered most about her was her extremely thick, bushy pubic hair which reminded him of Tessa's. But Doctor Shaw had been more conservative about sex acts than Tessa was, at least until Pam, the Research Tool he met in the year one billion, had freed Elizabeth's sexual inhibitions... as well as the sexual inhibitions of
everyone on the planet Earth
for a brief moment in time.
When Taylor saw Elizabeth, the first thing that flashed into his mind was the memory of Elizabeth, totally nude on her hands and knees in the Church of Pam, as three men simultaneously pumped in and out of her mouth, vagina, and ass. Elizabeth had been so proud to please so many men in front of Taylor, though of course once Pam's meddling had been reversed it was very likely that she might have reinterpreted her enjoyment of these events.
Now Taylor and Elizabeth had a distant but respectful relationship, given what they had experienced together at the other end of time, and Taylor had invited her to speak on the topic of interrogation.
"We were interrogated, and tortured, roughly in the year 8,000,000," said Elizabeth. She whirled around. "Who laughed? Someone just laughed." She put her hands on her hips. "You'd better speak out before I come and get you!"
"I did," said a young woman.
"You being..."
"Cadet Miley Spruance, Ma'am."
"And why did you laugh?"
"Well, Ma'am, you have to admit... traveling to the year 8,000,000... it's all rather... unlikely, isn't it?"
Elizabeth put her hands on her hips, causing her pointed breasts to stick out from her tight shirt. "You know nothing and are proud of it. Is this the new generation which is being raised, Michael?"
"She's just a cadet," said Taylor. "I thought I knew everything when I was a cadet too."
"Well, Cadet Miley Spruance, for your information, we
did
go to the year 8,000,000, as well as other periods in future history. We were captured and we were tortured. And all of us broke eventually."
"And what is the lesson from that, Ma'am?" asked another Cadet.
"The lesson is that when you are held captive, and tortured, you survive any way you can. The human body is not made to endure torture. Do whatever you have to do to save yourself and worry about honor and integrity later."
"Is that what you did, Captain?" asked Cadet Straighter. "Did you let your captors break you?"
Taylor felt all eyes on him. "No, I didn't give in. But I don't respect Elizabeth or any of the other scientists who did concede any less. Each one of us does what we are capable of. That's the lesson that you have to learn here today."
After the class was over, Taylor took her hand. "Elizabeth, thank you for coming. Marvelous to see you again."
"Good to see you too, Michael," she said, looking him up and down. "If anything you've become even more... distinguished over time. Have you ever heard from Pam again... the other Pam?"
"No," said Taylor.
"A pity," said Elizabeth. "I hear you're seeing someone now."
"Does the entire world know I'm seeing someone now?"
"Most of Port Auburn, at least," said Elizabeth. "You're still one of the hottest eligible bachelors on the planet, Michael. She's a very lucky girl." And then she reached over and startled him by kissing him on the cheek. "I'm very happy for you."
And then she was gone.
Taylor walked in a daze back to the tiny office the Academy had assigned to him. He was surprised to find Cadet Sydney Straighter there, waiting for him.
"Cadet?"
"Captain," she said. "I mean, sir-"
"Is there something you wanted?"
"Only this," she said. And she reached out and kissed him on the lips and wrapped her arms around him.
Taylor was so surprised that it took him a moment to react, to unwrap her hands and free himself. "Cadet!"
"Don't you like me? Don't you think I'm attractive?" she said.
Sydney was a gorgeous blonde. If he wasn't so satisfied he would definitely have been attracted to her. But he was in love with Tessa... and Sophie... and didn't feel the need for even more companionship.
"Please, just go out to dinner with me. Just dinner!"
But Taylor knew it wouldn't be just dinner. He
screaned
there was something motivating her, some kind of desperation, something he didn't quite understand.
"I'm sorry, I can't. I... I'm seeing someone."
"I know. The world knows," said Sydney. "But she's
old
."
"Cadet, she's a year younger than me."
"You know what I mean," she said.
"I'm sorry," said Taylor. "My heart belongs to another."
Oddly enough, that made Sydney smile. "It sounds nice when you say it like that. All right Captain. But you really don't know what you're missing."
Taylor touched her cheek. "I'm sure I don't. And I appreciate the thought."
********
"Your performance is improving, Captain," said Vice Admiral Bunim.
"Thank you, Admiral."
"But there is still a ways to go," she said. The fat Indian woman gave him a pointed stare, her enormous breasts looking liked melted pudding trapped in her dayshirt. "In your most recent lecture you made reference to Obongo Babangida, your security chief on the
Devonshire
, a black man."
"Yes, he was black."
"And you made reference to your navigator Suki Tanaka, who was Asian."
"Yes, she was."
"These are all good things. But so far you still have made no references to sexual minorities."
"Admiral... do you really want me to make up stories about the sexuality of the people around me?" Taylor asked.
"Not make up, Captain. Embellish to inspire. Embellish to inspire is our motto in the Diversity and Inclusion Division, haven't you heard that?"
"No, Ma'am. I'm not a regular member of the faculty, I'm just a guest lecturer-"
"Ignorance is no excuse, Captain. Can't you introduce more sexual diversity? A female crewgirl who might have been lesbian? A crewman who might have had anal sex, or was unsure of his gender or which bathroom to use?"
Taylor thought hard. "Well... as I recall, Suki Tanaka was attracted to me, but she did have a brief sexual encounter with today's guest lecturer, Doctor Elizabeth Shaw."
"Perfect! Why didn't you mention that?"