We happened to be fairly close to the auditorium, so we arrived early enough to find seats near the front. While we waited for the rest of the passengers to arrive, I overheard some of them saying to each other, "This is much earlier than usual: we're not even out of the harbour yet!", and I wondered exactly what they meant. I also wondered, as I noticed the many crew members showing passengers to their seats, when we would see them as crew slaves, naked except for their collar indicating their function -- and my pulse raced with excited anticipation!

At last everyone seemed to have arrived, and a Lady Officer came in with several other officers, all looking very smart in their crisp white uniforms. She took her place on the podium and spoke into the PA microphone there: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard -- especially those of you who are with us for the first time.

"As it happens," she went on, "the first announcement I have to make, has to do directly with 'first-timers'! The Purser tells me that, on this cruise, we have no first-time passengers who are unaware of the main purpose of our cruise, and the activities we all enjoy... which are? Let's hear it from you, loudly!"

Things were happening so differently from our previous cruise, that I wasn't quite sure what was going on. But I was left in no doubt by the roar of voices that responded to her invitation, calling things like, "Bondage and Discipline!", "Slavery!", "Sex slavery!" and so on.

"Right!" said the Lady Officer, now grinning broadly. "This time, we don't need to pretend to be an ordinary cruise to start with, for the sake of any 'first-time' slaves whose owners may want to spring a surprise on them with an island visit. Hence, we got the ball rolling immediately with this assembly, which is the appropriate place for my second announcement: All crew slaves below decks, strip!"

There was an instant flurry of activity as all the crew members around the room, except the few officers, took off their smart uniforms and dropped them on the floor, after taking from the pockets collars, which they fastened around their own necks. Then most of them stood at ease, hands clasped behind them, and smiled at the passengers: a few quickly collected the discarded uniforms and took them out, and within moments it was just as if the clothes had never been there! Beside me, Brenda and Dan gasped audibly as they took in this un-selfconscious display of nudity, and the speed with which it had appeared.

The Lady Officer spoke again: "Well done, crew slaves! Now we come to the next very enjoyable part of this first assembly. We call it the 'Introduction of the Slaves', and it merits a little explanation.

"Some of you, who have been with us before, may know which of the people sitting around you are Masters or Mistresses and which are slaves, but I'm sure most of you don't. Obviously, 'first-timers' will know very few, and very few will know you: also, as you are aware, sometimes 'owners' and slaves from previous cruises choose to change roles the next time. This, then, is the opportunity for everyone to announce -- and to find out -- who's who, as it were." She paused, as if to wait for all this to sink in.

"So," she continued, "down to business! Who'll be the lucky slave to be introduced first? Let's see now..." -- she consulted a list -- "... ah yes! The Purser has told me that we have an unusual situation on this cruise: namely, a 'first-time' couple who have both nominated to be unaccompanied slaves. Come on up, Brenda and Dan!"

Brenda and Dan were surprised and somewhat embarrassed; but, encouraged by my Mistress and Master Paul, they made their way up to the podium.

"Welcome to our cruise!" the Lady Officer greeted them, but gave them no time to reply before going on: "Now, I assume you know that slaves don't speak unless spoken to, and then in the fewest words possible, and that you should address your betters properly -- officers as Sir or Ma'am, passengers as Master or Mistress. You understand this?"

Brenda and Dan rose to the occasion and said, "Yes, Ma'am."

"Good!" was the reply. "The next thing we expect you to be aware of, is that slaves are normally naked. There may be exceptions to this, but only rarely and by special agreements, but there are never exceptions on this occasion. After all, the passengers want to see what's on offer -- especially with unaccompanied slaves!" I couldn't see Brenda's and Dan's faces, but the Lady Officer's smile told me that her point had struck home.

"The third thing I want to say," she went on, "and it's something you're not expected to know already, is that the crew slaves at this assembly have a job -- as 'strippers'. Obviously, this is not to undress for the audience: it is to undress you for the audience! However, with great kindness, we do allow you a choice: you may submit to being stripped by one of the crew slaves, or you may choose to undress yourselves, but with a penalty of five strokes with a light cane, in front of everyone here!

"Well?" she continued without the slightest pause to allow Brenda and Dan to consider their choice. "I want your answer now! D'you want to take your own clothes off, and pay the penalty? Dan?"

"No, Ma'am," Dan replied quickly and firmly.

"Brenda?"

Brenda stammered slightly, but managed an "Er... no, Ma'am," too.

"I'm glad," smiled the Lady Officer, approvingly, "... and so is the audience." She allowed the short burst of enthusiastic applause to die down before she went on: "I see that neither of you have much experience of slavery, so I'll explain something: my demand for an instant answer was just to show you that sometimes you'll be expected to make similar choices, with no time at all to consider your options. That's just part of being a slave, and I'm pleased that you responded so well!

"Now," her tone changed to one of sharp command, "turn to face the audience, stand up straight and lift your arms just over your heads!"

Brenda and Dan obeyed... and their faces betrayed their surprise, as their wrists were instantly grabbed from behind, by the officers there, and fastened into cuffs that had silently descended from the ceiling! In a moment, their arms were pulled high, so that their feet only just bore their weight and their bodies were fully stretched... but they were given no time to get used to this position.

"Strippers, do your job!" ordered the Lady Officer, and two crew slaves came forward, a male to face Brenda and a female to face Dan. From where I sat, a little to one side, I could see the male slave pause for several seconds, smiling into Brenda's eyes, before taking a firm grip with both hands on the collar of her light dress.

Brenda's eyes opened wide, as she realized what was coming, and her mouth opened wide. But she managed only a dismayed squeal, which was almost drowned by the "R-r-r-rip" of her dress being torn from neck to hem! In a moment, the slave was behind her, the dress bunched in his hand but still attached to Brenda's shoulders by its thin straps, her whole body revealed except for her bra and briefs.

The slave put one hand between her shoulder-blades to keep her still, as he slowly pulled harder and harder on the dress. Suddenly, the thin straps tore and Brenda's near-naked body arched forward for a moment, before the slave reached his arms around her and steadied her by cupping his hands over her generous tits. He kept them there for twenty seconds or so, as if he was fondling her, but I could see his fingers carefully feeling out the strength of the join between the cups of the bra.

With great strength, he suddenly tore that join apart and the bra simply fell to the floor. Brenda, clearly embarrassed -- but more, I suspected, by the manner of her stripping than by the exposure itself -- probably thought the slave would now caress her naked breasts, but in fact he took great care not to touch them at all. (I remembered that there was a ship's rule about slaves not fondling other slaves' bare flesh without specific permission!)

Now the slave's hands seemed to brush lightly down the sides of Brenda's body, and took a firm grip on her briefs where they passed over her hips. He began pulling them up and back, and the thin fabric steadily tightened and stretched over the mound of her pussy, outlining it even more prominently than before. Apparently, the flimsy-looking nylon was quite strong, and the slave had to put his knee into the small of Brenda's back to exert more pressure.

When the briefs finally tore, they did so suddenly and disappeared between her thighs as if they'd never been, and the force of the knee in her back thrust her hips forward sharply enough to make her feet actually leave the floor. Brenda grunted in pain and surprise as her arms took her weight for a moment, but she made no more sounds as the slave's hands grasped her hips and steadied her again... but held her totally naked body arched slightly forward, as if offering it to the gaze of the audience.

I'd seen Brenda naked last night, of course, but the effect of her public nakedness and the manner of her stripping was enough to make my cock start getting hard in my trousers. I realized that I'd been so fascinated by what was happening to Brenda, that I hadn't even noticed Dan being simultaneously stripped just a few feet away, but there he was, his naked body arched in a similar way to Brenda's.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the Lady Officer announced dramatically, "I present slaves Brenda and Dan! Their registered numbers are 21 and 22..." -- two officers came forward and hung signs over Brenda's and Dan's heads -- "... and although they are unaccompanied slaves, since they are also 'first-timers', they will initially be under the patronage of Mistress Tina and Master Paul..." -- she gave two cabin numbers -- "... until such time as they choose to enter full unaccompanied slavery.