Scouts Read Online Free PDF Page B

that I knew I had made the right decision. Shirley brought me into the auditorium. All together, everyone I had seen on the tour would fit in it with room to spare. It felt empty with just the five of us.
    The director stood us up. We repeated an oath that sounded as old as the ages, and she congratulated us.
    We were Scouts.

    The rest of the day we spent getting settled in. First, there was a medical workup. It was much more thorough than anything I had experienced at Stakroya Station. In addition to taking blood, a cheek scrape, and poking and prodding just about every part of my body, there were measurements of every sort. Bicep circumference, thigh circumference, chest, abdomen, and waist measurements. They reviewed the medical records from the station hospital and we filled in a few gaps from my own memory. When that was all done, they put an implant in my palm that would activate the academy facilities for me. It would allow me to use the mess hall, information terminals, everything.
    After that, we got our personal supplies and uniforms, and were shown to our rooms.
    They were bigger than the dormitory cubes back on Stakroya Station. The space was about five meters square, with a big round pad in the center about three meters in diameter. I knelt down and touched it.
    “This is just like the chamber in the ship,” I said.
    Shirley smiled and stepped inside. “You’re observant. I can see already that we made the right choice in picking you.” She put her hand on my shoulder. “Go ahead, lie down. It’s for sleeping, too.”
    I did. It felt soft without being bouncy or yielding. “Comfortable,” I said.
    She lay down next to me, folding her arms behind her head. “If you want a pillow or a prop under your knees, you can program it to provide that.”
    “Eh. We never had that kind of thing on Stakroya. A pillow is just another thing to wash.” I rolled onto my side, facing her. “Where’s, ah, your room?”
    “Right here.” She shook her head in amusement. “You really are sharp, you know that? Catching onto these things so fast and with the tact to phrase them without making accusations.” She rolled up to a kneeling position and took my hand. “Challers, you’re going to learn a lot of things while you’re here at the academy, but one of the most important is going to be sexual discipline. Ultimately, sex is what we do, what we are here for, and we need to make it work for us, not the other way around. You’re young, and you have a powerful sex drive. It’s going to take some effort on your part to learn to control it. I’m here to help you with that.”
    I sat up. “And who says I need your help? I grew up on a station where an evening’s privacy has to be requested a month in advance and paid for with a week’s wages. I know how to control my urges.”
    “You know how to suppress them,” she said. “I’m going to show you how to harness them, how to hold back without suffocating them, and then let loose without restraint.” She put her hand on my cheek. “Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to traumatize you. I went through this once myself; I know how scary it all can be.” She leaned back onto her arms. “I remember when I was in your place. I was rescued, like you were, from a station that was overpop, and not just by two. We were up by eleven. Our life support really was overburdened. The captain was calling for passing Merchant ships to come take his excess.
    “Who did you get picked with?”
    She smiled and looked up at the ceiling. “His name is Robert. He had silky blond hair that felt amazing to touch.” Her tongue briefly licked the corner of her mouth.
    “Do you still see him?”
    “Oh, sure, whenever our paths cross. I have a flag set to tell me when there’s a possibility of a meeting. We leave mail for each other all the time. In fact, chances are good that he’ll be on-station two or three times while we’re in training. Would you like to meet him?”
    “Yes,