THE three of them made their way to the cargo hold where the Nikora women still gathered, singing some sort of victory song in a language that sounded like a cat meowing. When Chetaara showed herself, the women all burst into applause.

Scarlett held up the bottles. "Ladies, we come bearing alcohol!"

The women clapped again, and the rattle of their chains made Byron look at Chetaara. "Uh, honey, do you know where the keys for these chains are?"

Chetaara nodded. "Ah, yes. Still in the Captain's Quarters. I will go get them."

She kissed him before hurrying off down the hallway.

As the women passed the bottles around to drink, Scarlett came up alongside him to nudge him with her elbow. "Hey, you and Chetaara are getting along, huh?"

He watched the feline curvy body retreating and couldn't hold back a smile. "Yeah, we are. She's really beautiful and sweet, even if she could break my neck."

Scarlett shivered visibly. "Oh, baby, I like that danger. Can't wait to get me some o' that."

"Are you sure you don't mind? I mean, me and Chetaara?"

The robot snorted. "Baby, I told you. I want to see you get as much pussy as you can. I am totally incapable of jealousy. Your dream girl, right?"

He laughed. "Yeah, I gotta admit, having a girlfriend who didn't mind me sleeping with other women is a fantasy."

She held up two fingers. "And you got two of 'em. Let's see how many more you can handle, Romeo."

Chetaara came running down the hallway again with heaving breasts and a large ring of keys. "Here we are."

The Nikora women stood up and gathered around her. She began to touch the keys to the cuffs, and they would pop off instantly. As more and more chains clattered to the floor, the freed women would hurry over to Byron and drop to their knees.

"Thank you," they began to chant in unison, growing louder as more women joined them.

As bowing women surrounded him in a circle, he felt a little uncomfortable. He wanted to step back, run, even hide from all the attention.

"Uh, there's no need for that," he called out. "Just happy to help."

Chetaara smiled. "He is so brave and so modest."

Scarlett had somehow found a food or drink locker because she burst into the cargo hold, whooping and holding up foil packets of some kind. "Hey, guess who found some more shit?"

The Nikora women rose up and cheered. Clawed fingers reached out as she tossed the foil packets into them. The many reaching hands caught the packets and they began sharing them out amongst themselves.

Scarlett tossed one into Byron's hands. "Here you go, Captain. Breakfast of champions."

As soon as he caught the packet, a description lit up in the air.

FOOD POUCH

+3 HEALTH

COST: 5 CREDITS

He looked down at the silvery pouch that reminded him of a juice box with a mushy substance he could feel inside. "What is it?"

She widened her eyes at him. "Duh, it's food. Generic food. We got other types of food and drinks in Venus Online, but these are as basic as they come. You'll find them anywhere, even on people's corpses." She nudged him. "Come on, you know how these games work."

"Yeah. But I never thought about what they were like to actually eat." He saw the Nikora tear open the pouches with their teeth and he did the same to find a blue paste inside. "What's it taste like?"

Scarlett shrugged. "Chicken? Tuna? Whatever the fuck you want it to taste like? I dunno. Just eat it. You need to recover some health. And show some hospitality. The others are waiting for you to take the first bite."

He glanced around to see all the women held their open pouches but stared at him.

He took a deep breath, dipped a finger into the paste, and stuck in his mouth.

He almost spat it out. It tasted like chicken-flavored toothpaste. The Nikora all watched him, so he swallowed and forced a smile.

Chetaara called out some sort of roar, and the other women copied her. Once that was done, they all began to chow down on the blue paste. He wondered if the roar was some sort of prayer like Grace or something like that. Either way, unlike Byron, they seemed to relish the food paste. Maybe it tasted different to them or they were used to it.

The Nikora still glanced at him as they ate.

Scarlett reached out to push the food pouch up to his mouth. "Come on, eat that shit. You're a growing boy. In your pants, I mean."

She pointed to his swollen crotch.

He turned away quickly and hissed, "Hey, I'm surrounded by naked women here. Shouldn't we get something for them to cover up?"

The robot rolled her glowing blue eyes. "Why? They don't give a shit. The Nikora don't have any hang-ups about nudity. Their planet is one big fucking nudist colony. Besides, why'd you wanna stop this free strip club? Just enjoy the show."

He took a deep breath and decided to go with it. He took one last glance over the sea of bare breasts, asses and pussies before turning away again. "And why aren't you eating this stuff?"

She shrugged and batted her eyelashes in innocence. "Sorry, my synthetic digestive system couldn't possibly absorb it. Plus, I'm a machine, so I'm powered by a fusion reactor and don't require food or water. Plus, that stuff tastes like you're sucking on a rooster's dick and looks like a Smurf took a shit in a bag."

"Thanks." He ate another finger of the paste.

When he finally ate as much as he could, text lit up in front of him.

+3 HEALTH

Byron set the pouch down just as Scarlett pulled out a clear bag and held it up, shouting, "And look what else I found!"

The women began to coo and squeal at the sight of the small brown leaves inside the transparent bag.

He pointed. "What's that?"

She pulled open the bag. "It's called rr'shika. Think of it like catnip for big cats. Or really good weed."

She took out one of the dry leaves and stuffed it in her mouth, chewing with obvious delight.

Byron narrowed his eyes. "I thought you didn't need food. And that your synthetic digestive system couldn't possibly absorb it."

With a full mouth, she gurgled, "It's selective. Look, don't gimme any shit. You want some?"

He hadn't been a heavy drug user in the real world, other than a few marijuana cigarettes at the few parties he went to. They always left him feeling paranoid and nauseous. He wasn't sure what drugs would do to him in the game, especially an alien one so he just said, "Pass. For now."

Scarlett shrugged. "Suit yourself, Nancy-boy."

She held up the bag to the others. "Get your rr'shika, right here!"

The Nikora women took the bag and passed it to each other, each taking a leaf but not chewing it.

One of the smaller women approached Chetaara. "Teacher, should we not perform the cleansing before we eat?"

Chetaara gasped. "Oh, true."

To Byron, she said, "Rr'shika is a sacred herb among my people. We have a cleansing ceremony to consume it, but I don't have my staff or prayer bag to give the proper blessings. I will perform a reduced ceremony."

She cleared her throat and faced the other women who bowed their heads. Her voice echoed through the cargo hold as she recited something in her native language before switching to English (he assumed for his benefit). "We thank you, oh P'rrshala, great and wise. Thank you for the gift of rr'shika to take us to a higher plane. Lead us on our journey through the Great Temple through this rr'shika which gives us a glimpse of the world after death. Bring us closer together through the unity of this blessing. Cleanse us of our sins, and bathe us in the blood of our enemies who try to conquer us. And thank you for bonding me to my Master who has freed your daughters with great kindness and love."

The women all said something in unison while smiling up at Byron.

He could only manage a weak smile. He felt increasingly uncomfortable with the praise being heaped on it. It seemed like the game was laying on his savior status a little too thick. "Uh, thanks. Amen. I guess."

The Nikora began to chew the leaves and for a moment, the only sound was the crunch of mouths and occasional hums of appreciation. They looked at each other, smiling and holding hands. It seemed like they enjoyed it.

Scarlett swallowed and held out her hand to grab his arm while she swayed. "Oh, this is good shit. I'm already flying."

He was about to ask what it did when she threw her arms around his neck, pulled him down and kissed him deeply. He could taste a sweet, minty flavor in her mouth that seemed to be leftover from the rr'shika. Her body surged against him while her tongue pushed through his lips into his mouth. He didn't know why she felt so amorous all of a sudden, but she always seemed horny. He decided to go with it, slipped his arms around her waist and savored the kiss.

When Scarlett began to ease back on the kiss, he felt a little self-conscious, knowing the other Nikora women watched him. He opened his eyes to look around the hold.

None of the Nikora looked at him, because they all had eyes for each other. The women all lay or knelt on the floor of the cargo hold, embracing, kissing, and stroking each other. One woman had her arms around the neck of two others, and moved between them, kissing each in turn. Another alien woman ran her hands over the breasts of another who moaned softly.

Byron let go of Scarlett and found no words except, "Whoa."

Scarlett looked out at the sea of women making out and snickered. "Yeah, did I forget to mention rr'shika makes you fucking horny as shit?"

The colorful stripes on the naked bodies blended into a maze of writhing, moaning, gasping, whispering flesh. Everywhere he looked, he saw women sucking and kissing breasts, necks, and lips. Hands flowed over bodies, stroking and teasing flesh. Tails flicked in the air and curled around body parts. They didn't seem to mind him looking, so he watched and felt a heat burning inside him, and a hardening of his cock.

"Is this another ritual?" he whispered.

Chetaara and two other Nikora seemed to rise out of the pile of bodies and make their way to him, all with large green eyes fixed on Byron. One of the Nikora was shorter but also curvier than Chetaara with heavier breasts and wider hips. The third woman was much shorter and more slender than both of the others, and had firmer but smaller breasts than all three of them. They had the same pattern of stripes as Chetaara so he assumed they were her mother and sister. Chetaara had taken off her bikini, leaving her breasts and pussy as nude as the others.

Chetaara approached him. "This is the sacred union of rr'shika where we bring joy and peace to each other with the ultimate gift of our bodies."

He swallowed, and found his mouth a little dry. "I-I like your rituals."

She stopped in front of him and reached out to run her claws along his left cheek. "Then you must join us."

A tingle ran right through his body from the top of his head to his toes. "Join you? You mean--"

"Yes." She took his hands and backed up, pulling him deeper into the cargo hold. "Let us know our appreciation."

The game text popped up in the air before his eyes.

OBJECTIVE: HAVE GROUP SEX

He looked back at Scarlett who just waved. "Have fun, Captain!"

He knew the idea of diving into dozens of female bodies should have been a chance of a lifetime any guy would leap at, but he just felt panic. Was he ready for this? Would he be able to keep up? At that moment, he felt like just the slightest touch would make him explode. Would the women be jealous or look down on him? With them under the drug's influence, would they regret it once the drug wore off?

All thoughts began to melt away as the Nikora women stopped caring for each other and looked up at him. Their hands reached out, taking his arms and legs and drawing him into their midst. He felt like he was crowd surfing at a concert as they carried him over their heads and down into the mountain of flesh.