Shipwrecked - Chapter 169: That First Division (Mf creampie oral)

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Chapter 169: That First Division

One thing that worried me a little as I breakfasted with the others just before dawn was an issue of power differential. It was something I'd completely ignored up until the lovemaking with Geeni. I was the leader, the one person with the most power on the island. At what point was I abusing that power in my relationships with others? Would it be expected that those who shared my body would gain favor over those who did not? Would those who lay with me expect me to take their side in disagreements? It was a larger scale issue of something common in polyamorous situations where two sided against another. Favorites, those with more levers than the minority, were inevitable without a lot of effort to avoid such situations. Tricky in triads, even more so when trying to lead a disparate group of people who would inevitably have differing opinions on what we should do.

I kept those thoughts to myself and soon worked the fields again, humming along to one unknown song after another, one or two English ones mixed in. "Raspberry Beret" was so out of place that I laughed through the first verse, but had to join in once the chorus arrived. I learned later that Gale had taught them that one.

Geeni was friendly with me, but not untoward or forward, just a nice smile and a warm hug that morning. I couldn't help feeling a more direct connection with her after our shared intimacy the night before. I knew such ties were warming and comforting, but they would also bias me in the future. I wasn't really sure how to deal with that, and short of letting my mind drift around those concerns, I did not try to solve the issue before lunch.

If any others had thoughts or judgements about Geeni and me, I didn't notice it in their greetings or expressions. I hoped I was correctly reading things. I assumed everyone knew, but I realized that might be incorrect. Regardless, I figured it would be known by all before the day was through. For some reason, it felt like a first real test of how well my goodwill campaign in the North was taking hold.

We broke for a while to eat and rest in the hottest hours of the day. The air was humid, as always, and the heat becoming oppressive. There was no choice but to push through so long as perishables needed gathering, but it meant more breaks and more rest along the way.

I dozed beside Bailey back at the shelter, Katie snuggled into my wife's arms on the mattress. I woke to feel someone slowly shaking my shoulder. Looking up, I saw Popko and Tok. Popko whispered, "Can we talk a moment?"

I nodded and carefully extracted myself, then followed the men outside and some meters away from the shelters where Hakee was waiting for us. "What is it?" I asked.

"Popko noticed something a little concerning doing an inventory check this morning," Hakee said quietly. "Two of our rifles are missing."

"Missing?"

She nodded.

I glanced around. "Like, missing? Where would they go?"

"Dunno. They were all accounted for three days ago," Popko replied, "when I last checked. But two are now missing, some ammo, as well."

"Misplaced somehow? When did you last run exercises?"

"Just before that check. Not since."

I pondered it a moment. "Suppose you've already checked the shelters and storage?"

Popko nodded.

"Have you asked anyone?"

Hakee replied, "Not yet. I wanted to discuss it with you first, since you're here."

"Ideas? Scenarios? Suspects?" I asked the three.

"Nothing solid," Tok admitted, "no one sticks out. Simple thievery seems a silly possibility. There's nowhere to hide things like that unless out in the trees. Though, I wonder, someone might have an idea to protect themselves... directly..."

"I want a full inventory of all our assets here. Immediately. We need to know if anything else is missing. Hiding guns... I don't like what that implies."

We started in earnest and soon Bailey was up and joining in. It didn't take long to realize the guns were not our only missing items. Some of the food stores were gone, too, a few tools, a noticeable amount of clothing. "What on Earth?" I groaned. "Who would do this?"

Silence greeted me. "Who's our best tracker?"

"Tracker?" Tok asked.

"I dunno, someone who can help us find tracks, trails, any sign of someone coming and going."

"Not sure there's much to track, Kal... honestly, too many people are moving around these supplies... If they're being taken and hidden by someone here... Well... I doubt there's much we can do to find them without catching them in the act."

Tok wasn't understanding my growing concern. But Hakee did. "Do you think someone we don't know is on Phoenix?"

I nodded, "We have to assume so right now. That, or someone here is preparing to steal a boat and leave. That's my other concern. I want to comb the island. Hakee, you and I will do the upper side right now. Send two to start down to the lower island and scout East. Two more to go West. One to alert the South and have the camp and boats searched immediately. Have someone man the radio for coms on both ends."

She nodded and started to leave. I grabbed her arm, hesitating with disappointment and frustration before adding, "Make sure everyone going out is armed..."

- - -

Once her delegates were sent out with instructions, Hakee and I began to check the areas closest to the North camp. We found nothing much of interest, but the tension was high as we both gripped pistols tight. We talked little, respecting the natural silence of the careful search being conducted. I don't know what we thought we might find, but it seemed foolish to work under the assumption that an unknown presence was on Phoenix and give our approach away by talking.

We whispered a time or two, but little else. Not pausing while we drank and ate, we pushed along and found no sign of anyone as we wrapped around below the lake, past the cut going down the ridge, and moved towards the East end of the island. We neared an area along one of the small worn paths through that dense section of the trees where I'd finally chased down Poln when he'd accidentally discovered our salvation from the no-mores, the acorns he'd eaten providing a natural repellant, saving us all from our miserable days stranded in the dank, smelly cave.

Like we'd been doing every few minutes, we paused and listened for sixty seconds or so just in case there might be sounds worth investigating. As before, we heard little but whirring of bugs and the stiff breeze through the trees.

But Hakee put her hand on my arm and pointed to her nose, sniffing the air. I did the same and didn't notice anything. She shushed me a moment then slowly crept forward, me a few feet behind her. She crept back a couple of steps, hissing, "I smell something smoky..."

"Smoky?"

She nodded, "Like... a fire..."

"Possibly from one of the camps?" I whispered.

She shrugged, then shook her head, "Doubtful..."

I crinkled my nose, unable to confirm her senses.

Hakee added, "It's not far, whatever it is..."

She crept ahead again and I nervously followed.

We were nearing the edge of the cliff, trees right up to the edge and the long fall hidden until you dared to peek out and see no more land two or three feet beyond. Hakee turned North and followed the cliff edge until she stopped me again and whispered, "Can't you smell it now? It's worse, and not just smoke I smell..."

It was light, just a burned-wood with a sour-sweet hint on the breeze, but it was there. I nodded. "Something in the cave caught fire? When was the last check?"

"The next is due tomorrow, so... almost a week."

"Hmm..." It was becoming more clear things had changed. It seemed unlikely that something would have caught fire in the cave, and even less likely the amount of smoke would be so relatively light. "We have to check out the cave... carefully."

Hakee led again, creeping forward out of the trees and into the grassy, rock-strewn open area which surrounded the cave's location. "Smoke," she told me, pointing out over the edge of the cliff where the entrance to the cave, further down a slender path, was below. We'd built a small vent to service the cook pit constructed inside the cave. It was too much to try to dig through the cave's rocks to somehow hide where it let out. The vent ran simply along the cave's opening and up a few feet before dispensing the contents. Undeniably, there as stream of wispy smoke being caught as it rose above the surface of the land and disappeared into the breeze moving there.

"What's our move?" Hakee asked quietly.

I debated whether it was worth going for backup. If more than one or two people were inside, Hakee and I would be in trouble. Hell, we'd be in trouble anyway. The cave was not really assailable in any normal sense. The narrow path down prevented more than one from going inside at a time. More people would make no difference. We couldn't simply charge our way inside, one person or many. "I'll go down and peek inside..."

"No, I'll go," Hakee responded firmly. When I raised an eyebrow, she added, "I'm lighter and move more quietly. Plus, if I have to run, I'm faster than you. Also a better shot, just so you know."

I chuckled dryly. "All true. I suppose I won't bother arguing against you."

"Appreciated. Wait at the top. I don't want to risk us both running back up together."

I didn't like the idea of Hakee ducking her head in alone with me so far away, but there really wasn't much choice. "You yell and I'll be there."

Hakee nodded and kissed my lips briefly, then moved rapidly and carefully down the narrow path to the cave. I watched her as far as I could see her and waited nervously, straining to hear any sign of trouble.

Long seconds, then minutes passed before Hakee returned and told me, "I think it's a girl. Hard to see in the cave. The fire's going, but whoever it looks like she's sleeping near the back."

"Sure it's only one?"

Hakee nodded, "I went in just briefly, but got out to let you know what I found."

I debated our options and found we were in as advantageous position as we were ever likely to be. "We restrain her quickly. We'll ask questions once she's secured."

Hakee agreed, "I'll lead."

She did so and in moments, Hakee was outside the cave and poked her head inside. The smell was rather awful close to the entrance, as much raw shit as it was smoky.

I nearly lost my footing when the booming sputter sounded from the cave. Hakee jerked back and shrieked. Grabbing her arm, I pushed all my weight back against the cliffside, steadying us. It took a few seconds to realize we'd been shot at. "What now?" Hakee hissed.

Before I could answer, a light voice, given depth in the echos of the cave, yelled out, "Go away! I'll shoot you!" I thought the accent was British, though it wasn't quite clear. What was clear was that the person inside spoke English.

"Who are you?" I called out.

"Go away!" the voice screamed.

"We won't hurt you!" I replied.

I was met by silence.

A moment later, pistol still gripped tight in her fist, Hakee asked again, "Who are you?"

More silence.

"Can we come in, just into the entrance? To talk?"

Nothing.

"I'm unarmed," Hakee said, turning to hand me the pistol, "I promise, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Go away," the voice called with less force.

"Please... I'm Hakee... I live here... What's your name?"

Silence.

"Look, I'm unarmed..."

"Hakee," I growled in warning.

She ignored me, taking a step forward and putting her empty hands out far enough to be visible from inside. Hakee held them in place long seconds to the silent reply.

"What do you want?" the voice called back.

"To meet you and... welcome you to Phoenix..."

"Phoenix?"

"That's what we call this island," Hakee replied, her hands shaking lightly but held out for assurance. "Island of the Phoenix."

There was a pause, then the voice said, "Like... the bird in Harry Potter?"

"Exactly."

A moment passed with no response, then the voice said, "I'll shoot you if you come close to me. I swear."

"I won't, I promise," Hakee assured. "Just let me step in. Don't shoot, okay? I won't come close."

"Okay."

I held my breath, pulse racing, ready to unload the pistols at the first warning. Exactly at what or who yet to be determined.

Hakee took one step, then another, fully exposed in the entrance, and turned towards the interior. "See?" she said, keeping her hands open and out, "I'll stop here."

"Don't move," the voice said with diminishing certainty. "What do you want?"

"I told you... we just noticed someone was here with us, and... we thought we should meet. Did you know others were here?"

I edged closer so that I could hear the reply, and once I was closer, the femininity and accent of the voice became more certain. The British female inside said, "Yes. I knew..."

"But you didn't come see us?"

"No..."

Hakee asked, "Are you hurt? Sick? We have medicine. And doctors..."

The reply was weak, "My stomach really hurts."

"We can help you... Will you let us?"

"No," the voice said firmly, "I can't let you... You're not supposed to... know... I'm... here..."

Hakee stayed silent, and I would have done the same. The woman inside, girl more likely, seemed ready to break.

And so she did. "They'll kill me! If they know you found me... I don't want to die!"

"No one's going to kill you, sweetheart," Hakee said with genuine sincerity, "tell us what's going on?"

I heard sobbing. "They killed my Mummy and Papa. They keep my brother in chains... I don't want to die!"

"Who?"

"I dunno, just... them!"

"Someone on one of the islands?"

I didn't hear a response, but Hakee's next question suggested the answer was affirmative. "Soldiers?"

Again, nothing but sobbing. So the girl's family had been killed or kidnapped by either Progress or GS. I realized what was going on. I whispered to Hakee. "Spy."

Hakee nodded then said, "Look... we're not like them, okay? This is a safe place. We can help you... maybe even your brother... Let us help... I promise we'll not hurt you..."

I heard a short clatter and more sobbing, and Hakee was gone from my sight in an instant. I raced inside to see my Vice kicking away the rifle which had been in the girl's hands and ensuring she was being gently but surely restrained, holding herself around the girl while I collected the rifle and did the same with another close by. The girl cried harder but didn't fight much against Hakee's hold.

The cave smelled of raw defecation. Possibly illness, though it was difficult to tell for sure since the powerful stench of rotting feces nearly made me retch by itself.

Once I had ensured there were no further weapons and Hakee had patted down the girl, I stepped back, lit a couple of the candles available and took a better look at our captive.

I guessed she was in her mid-teens, maybe a little younger. She was pale of skin, freckled. Her hair was shaved down to stubble but her features were quite delicately feminine. Her crying had made her face red and puffy. I was fairly certain she was quite pretty when not so anguished or under such stress. I squatted down a few feet away.

"I'm Kal. You've met Hakee. We're not going to hurt you, okay? We just need to keep you still a moment until we're sure you won't try to shoot us again, okay? They we'll let you get up."

"You have my gun," she said firmly through her tears, "I can't shoot you anymore."

"I know... but I can't take any chances, okay? Hakee is too important to me to risk you doing something awful, right?"

The girl sobbed but didn't reply.

"What's your name?"

It took only a second for the girl to say, "Rebecca."

"Well, Rebecca, you said your stomach hurts... how long?"

She shrugged, "A couple of days."

"How long have you been here?" Hakee asked.

"I dunno... a week or two..."

"Anyone else here with you?"

Rebecca shook her head, "There was supposed to be... but the boy got hurt before we left, so... it's just me..."

"Anyone planning to come to check up on you?"

She shrugged, "I dunno. They call me every three days on that thing," she said, pointing to a small radio unit nearby. It was exactly the same model we used in camp to communicate with each other, and occasionally, the outside world.

Hakee asked, "Anything else hurt besides your stomach?"

The girl replied weakly, "I'm just scared all over... Everything hurts..."

Hakee nodded and glanced at me.

"We should have someone take a look at you, okay?" I said. "We have a doctor not too far."

There was no point in further interrogating the girl. She was clearly in pain beyond just being frightened, so I stood, collecting the weapons, and Hakee helped the girl stand. Clearly, the teen was going to have trouble making her way out of the cave, but with care and some help from Hakee, we were topside in a few minutes and slowly set off towards the North camp.

- - -

We'd asked a few gentle questions to follow up the earlier ones while we helped Rebecca along. She didn't know a lot. She'd been sent to Phoenix to report details about the island and who was on it. She had done so dutifully the week or two she'd been there, arriving with some supplies but being ordered to steal from us to supplement her survival. When asked why she was stealing food from the North camp when so much was still available in the cave, she told us it was part of her orders, to systematically take whatever she could from our stores so that we would have less. She'd only done it twice so far, taking the guns first, which had been made a priority once her commander had heard from her of their existence. Rebecca was supposed to steal more of them over time, along with anything else she could displace. "I was going back tonight, or trying to," she told us, "but... I don't think I would have made it..." The girl groaned and held her stomach as if to emphasize her point.

Beyond that, she knew nothing which would identify her superiors, which side they were on. The one strong clue we had was that she'd lived on an island, she thought, was not too far from Tahiti. It made it much more likely it was Progress pulling her strings than their opponents. That was a deeply disturbing revelation.

Her backstory included her growing up near London with her brother and parents, then the chaos when the war broke out, her family ending up somewhere in the South Pacific with others from England and continental Europe. They'd been isolated a while, but soon there were people fighting and they were forced to migrate a couple of times, eventually thinking they'd found peace on one of the islands where civilization was still hanging on to things like electricity and sewers. But they'd been taken, the four of them, and the next few weeks were unclear to the girl. They were often kept unaware of where they were being held. At some point, she was separated and learned later that her parents had been killed.

Her brother was arrested, in a way, or so it seemed, and was being confined as a prisoner while Rebecca was forced into service and soon sent to spy on those of us on Phoenix with almost nothing in the way of training. It was an extraordinary story, one I found hard to fully accept, but I kept my skepticism to myself and after a long walk, was back in camp and letting Manu tend to Rebecca while I huddled with Kate, Hakee, Tok, and Gale. I briefed the others of what we knew. "Reactions?"

"Scary," Gale shook her head, "I feel violated."

"Same, but we need to ignore that for the moment. We need a plan."

"We knew someone was going to be here at some point," Tok replied, "this changes little in that regard. They have information about us, and we can't change that now. Beyond what we do with the girl... I think we can only ensure we maintain our readiness and practice our plans."

"Agreed," Kate added, "what she passed on shouldn't really be far from their assumptions of us, other than maybe that we were armed."

Tok replied, "And if it is Progress, they knew all that already working with the Uhonamonans, I suspect."

I nodded, "Right. From what Rebecca said, and assuming she's not lying, she had only passed on a general idea of our camps, not detailed descriptions of our defenses. If she's not lying..."

"If they'd spent a week to train her," Hakee pursed her lips thoughtfully, "that girl would have known what sorts of things to report first. Our luck they seemed to have rushed her forward."

"It confirms they are interested in us, for sure," Gale nodded, "and that we can trust what we heard from our friends, the fishermen."

"So what about the girl?" Kate asked. "We can't just trust her, right?"

I was firm. "We cannot."

"So... what do we do with her?"

I looked from person to person for suggestions.

"We don't have a jail..." Tok said.

"Surely we're not gonna just tie her up or chain her like a dog?" Gale pleaded.

"What choice is there?" Kate asked. "We can't trust her alone or loose. What if she's been lying and decides to grab a weapon and start shooting again. She almost killed Hakee!"

I nodded, listening.

Tok said, "We could cast her off."

"That's murder," Gale hissed.

"Only if we do not give her the ability to survive a trip South. Or North."

"We're not sacrificing another boat," I growled, "I'd prefer chaining her up to that."

"So that's it, then?" Gale asked, "a frightened girl held in chains until... when, exactly?"

I shrugged, not offering to voice the uncertainty of the truth. I said instead, "I'm open to ideas, Gale."

She struggled a moment and let out a long sigh. "I don't know..."

Manu joined us, saying, "Popko's keeping an eye on her."

"How's she doing?" I asked.

"Not sure what she's got going on. Not constipation, possibly an infection. Mild fever but nothing bad. Could just be from spending days in that nasty cave and breathing that air. I've given her an antibiotic and something to help her relax for now. Offered her some cocoa which she accepted. Stable for now."

We briefed the woman on what we'd discussed. Manu listened then added, "I doubt she's a spy in the nefarious sense, not personally, Kal. That one's been scarred. She's a survivor, but a weak one right now. If she means us harm, I'm my own grandmother."

"We can't be sure," Kate cautioned, "she may be young and appear broken, but..."

"But we can't risk being wrong about that," Manu finished her thought, "I understand. I'm just offering my take on her."

"I hate the idea of roping her up somehow," I admitted, "but what option other than trusting her to be loose is available to us right now?"

I was greeted with frustrated silence.

- - -

The evening meal was strangely quiet. There'd been no prayer this time, and I made it clear we had to discuss, together, what was before us. Hakee stayed with Rebecca in one of the shelters while all the others in the North looked on as I explained our situation. I left off the decision we'd made, hoping I could bring those around me to follow on to the same conclusions. "And, as of right now, we don't think she's a threat... but she did try to kill Hakee earlier... we can't fully trust her."

"So she will be imprisoned?" Hunamu asked, the young man holding hands with Takino and Popko.

I shook my head, "Not really possible. We've never designed our shelters that way, and we have no cell to hold her in."

"Then you mean to set her free?" Geeni said.

I shook my head again, "Also, not an option currently..."

"Then what is to be done with her?" the woman followed up.

"Our decision is to bind her and keep a guard with her at all times."

Several spoke at once.

"Bind?"

"With rope?"

"We have no chains!"

"Like a dog?"

I let them simmer a moment, then waved them to calm. "I hate the decision, but I see no choice. At minimum, she'll be... leashed. Harnessed and under control. Tied to something, or held fast by her guard."

The uproar was tremendous, especially from Abuella and Ranice. I winced, realizing the very image of a slave I'd just described. Stepping back, I grew silent as Kate and Manu and others started to plead and argue with the others, several members upset and wanting to understand why there wasn't some better option.

I knew none, unfortunately. Did we tie her to a wall? Probably, at times, or to a tree. Did she work the fields like a slave, then? someone asked. I'm not certain the response given her. She couldn't even relieve herself alone? No, I heard several reply.

It was clear that, in that moment, my leadership failed. Not quite, maybe. My charisma, my ability to use words to convince had failed. But I felt the others, too, had failed, aghast at our choice of the best of terrible options. They didn't see the others. I could tell many understood, at least for now, that the girl couldn't be free to wander, but they failed to comprehend that anything left to us meant she'd spent time connected to ropes. With no locking rooms, there were no other options.

- - -

The argument settled slowly with some shaking their heads and walking off, others hanging around to get clarity from Kate or Hakee or Tok after Manu returned to Rebecca to see to her illness. I saw some reasonable nods and felt that roughly half of those outside the decision makers were accepting the situation as we'd decided. Many, though, such as Abuella, Ranice, Geeni, Kilba, and the triad of male lovers, were not so understanding.

It was just the sort of disagreement that could severely affect the harmony developing on Phoenix. None of us took the decision lightly, and none of us was happy with our solution. I just saw no other options at that point. I hated keeping Rebecca bound in any way, but even if the possibility of her doing something terrible was small, I would prefer her to be watched and restrained to taking a risk of freeing her completely and leaving the fates of those on the island to the girl whose current mindset was troubled, upset, and likely to be somewhat unpredictable.

I joined Manu and Hakee and knelt down beside where Rebecca was resting on a mattress, her clothing filthy and rough, her stubbly hair dusty and giving her pale skin a shadow which reflected her current situation.

"Rebecca?" I said quietly.

The girl was not asleep, but her eyes had been closed. She opened them a bit and glanced my way, eyes reddened and swollen. Rebecca didn't respond immediately.

I let out a slow, frustrated breath. "We've got a tough situation here... You came to the island to work against us, you've admitted as much, whether you really wanted to or not... These people, see, they are my family. I'm responsible for them, for their safety, their wellbeing. I won't take risks I don't have to..."

"So... what," the British teen said weakly, "I'm gonna be a prisoner again?"

I nodded once. "For now... yes."

Her lips quivered but she didn't cry. "I don't care anymore..."

"Look... I don't like this, either, okay? We'll be sure to tend to your illness and your health. You'll have plenty of food and water. A bed. We don't have a jail cell or anything like that... So... we have to be a little creative so that we can take the time to get to know you, right?"

"Creative like how..."

"You'll have a guard at all times, and... at least for now... we will need to keep you restrained..."

Rebecca started to sob and Manu caught my arm, pulling me out of the shelter quickly. "Kal... This might be a really harsh way to handle her... We don't know her background... What might have happened to her before coming here..."

I swallowed hard. "They may have abused her..."

Manu nodded, "They may have raped her... tying her up."

"Fuck!" I growled. Shaking my head, I replied, "What are we supposed to do, Manu? What choice is there?"

The woman glanced inside briefly, "I thought earlier that we might be able to do something else, just... I didn't bring it up because... because..."

"Because it means we take a bigger risk..."

She nodded. "She stays with me... unrestrained. On top of our normal watch, someone will stay with her, awake, at all times. If she runs, there's nowhere to go we won't find her. We can keep her away from the weapons. Those are already secured better, Popko took care of that. Anyone goes into that building, we'll all hear it."

I felt my stomach turning over with worry. "It would only take one mistake, one second, for her to turn against you, or anyone. Even if we could catch her after, even if she couldn't go anywhere for long... If she hurt you, Manu, or anyone."

"I accept that risk, Kal."

"For you, but others have the right to decide for themselves. What if those in favor of our decision this night aren't willing to put themselves at risk?"

"Well... for tonight, at least, I'll stay awake with her until I must sleep, and I'm sure Hakee or someone else can take over for me then until we have a chance to reconvene in the morning and talk to everyone."

"And of those in the South? Don't they have a stake in this?"

She nodded, "But what are the chances Rebecca could do anything there without us catching her first? Honestly, Kal, that's a pretty minor concern right now. This is ultimately your decision. You are our Chief, responsible for this situation. You need to put your position in stone on this and stand by it."

"I thought I had..."

"I know," Manu replied, "but... I cannot help thinking the decision is worse for all of us. I honestly don't think that girl is a threat. She's a victim. If I'm wrong..."

"You might die."

"Seems unlikely, Kal. A guard at all times, no access to weapons..."

"A shovel is a weapon if she wants it..."

Manu frowned, "I've had my say, Kal. This is your decision. I'll support you either way. You know my thoughts."

She walked back inside and left me to ponder things a moment. Hakee came out and I briefly described Manu's thoughts. Hakee was more hardline than her mother and told me she was very uncomfortable allowing the girl to move freely without restraint, but acknowledged that the threat was probably less significant than we'd believed in our first take at dealing with our captive. "I, too, can take this risk, and I will relieve my mother in the night. In the morning, let us reconsider our next move. I'll also support your decision, Kal. We cannot appear divided on this..."

I nodded and watched the nineteen-year old turn to go. I sweated in the heat of the early night. I glanced around at the shelters, trying to take measure of what sorts of risks were reasonable to maintain the security of everyone while not allowing our society to react in a way which would amount to a torture of sorts. It seemed likely Rebecca had been abused at some point, possibly often, maybe sexually, but certainly the events with her parents and brother were traumatizing. That we had decided on a solution to her presence which compounded that harm made me feel sick.

Of course, so much depended on whether the girl was telling us the truth.

My gut, the mental part of it, at least, made it clear what I had to do.

One-by-one and in groups, I went to those settling down for the night in the shelters. I explained my decision to each, allowing everyone to discuss, more personally, their fears and concerns, to tell me, directly, if my decision was the right one for each of them. One-by-one, I gained the consent of everyone, some more enthusiastic than others, but the divide which had been there an hour earlier had, at least for the night, been mended. Enough to get us into the morning.

Confident that things had been decided by unanimous consent, I returned to the shelter where Manu and Hakee were still tending to Rebecca. The girl appeared to be sleeping. I nodded to the women and they understood what we were doing that night. Hakee whispered, "She needs to bathe, Kal... I doubt she's done so since she's been here."

I had noticed the rank, musky odors the girl radiated. Some of that was her clothing, but the old stains of mud and sweat on Rebecca's flesh had turned sour and ripe, as well. "I'll wake her."

Kneeling down, I stared at the sleeping girl's face a moment. Puffy flesh showed her misery. She looked delicate and fragile. I knew such features, such situations, were my kryptonite, in a way. I checked my emotions, ever the rescuer, and determined to treat Rebecca with guarded respect without letting my tender empathetic tendencies shield signs of danger from my awareness. "Rebecca?"

Her eyes flickered opened. Maybe she wasn't sleeping as I'd thought. She looked at me a moment.

"We've come to a decision about you."

She blinked twice, dejected and appearing to want nothing more than to sleep away the days until all the pain was over.

"You won't be bound, okay? You'll be free to move around, but you will not be alone for now. Someone will be with you at all times. You follow their directions, you don't wander off, and if anyone believes you threaten violence or malice, we will have to react to protect ourselves. Tonight, Manu and Hakee will keep you company and ensure your pain is managed. Tomorrow, we're going to discuss things with all the others once more to be sure everyone understands your freedoms and your restrictions. Does this make some sense?"

"So," the girl said, throat dry, "you aren't going to tie me to things?"

I shook my head, "No. So long as you behave and follow directions, you'll be free to move around without ropes. Tomorrow, I expect, you'll mostly stay in bed. Manu will direct your care. You're in no shape to start helping out here, so we'll be sure you're cared for, okay? We can get to know you, and you can get to know us. Right now, we're stuck together, you see. We have to work together to make it work, right?"

I saw a small smile start to form, weariness washing it away quickly. "Okay..."

"I know you're tired right now, but Manu and Hakee believe you need to bathe. It will help with your illness, whatever it is. They'll guide you down to the lake and fetch you a towel and some fresh clothing."

The girl looked down her body as if considering the idea. "Okay..."

I stood, started to walk out of the shelter, then said, "Rebecca... I'm sorry if we've not treated you well so far. I hope you understand that we are a family, and for now, we don't know you. We protect our own. It's not personal that we protect ourself from you... We're taking chances by letting you have your relative freedom. You and I will start to talk more tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded and began to sit up on the mattress. "Yeah... Th-thank you..." she told us. "You're not like them... so far... you haven't done anything bad to me... yet... Thank you..."

I acknowledged her words by tilting my head and stepped out of shelter to allow Manu and Hakee to help clean and clothe the girl.

- - -

Sleep was not going to come easily that night and I knew it the first second outside the shelter. I wandered over to the outpost where Takino and Popko were keeping watch. The North crew had adjusted their watch schedules over the previous weeks, having three teams of two share the nighttime duties. It made it easier for all of them to work the fields and not remove as much labor for the harvest. I eased up to them and leaned against the wooden frame, staring out to see the dark ocean reflecting moon and starlight off to the horizon.

"So... it is decided?" Popko asked quietly.

I nodded, "She'll be free but guarded, yes."

Popko tightened his lips and replied, "It's the right decision..."

"I hope so."

He shook his head, "She's no criminal. She shouldn't be treated like one."

"The girl tried to shoot Hakee..."

Popko was quiet a moment, then said, "She's a scared kid."

"Scared kids can still kill people..."

"Yes... but now that she's here... I don't think she will wish us ill..."

I pursed my lips, "How can you know that, Popko? You've only barely even seen her. You can't possible make that determination."

He replied quietly, "I just feel it..."

I swallowed and paused, then said, "While I appreciate feelings, I can't make decisions based on them. I need facts, truths, real valuations of risks and opportunities. Anything else is just rolling dice and praying."

"I know," Popko said. "The thought of that girl being roped... You saw how Abuella and Racine reacted, yes?"

I nodded.

"They would not have felt safe to see that. They would have been reminded of the days they spent in slavery. That alone, Kal... that would have been a very bad thing for all of us..."

"I understand. I took that into consideration." I let out my breath and sighed, "Regardless... I appreciate your thoughts, Popko, and... more importantly, I value deeply that you are willing to stand against me when your principles demand it."

"Doing anything else would show you no respect, Kal."

"Never change, Popko," I said, reaching out to shake his hand.

Instead, he pulled me into a hug and said, "I don't envy you, Kal, not in this."

I chuckled, "Yeah, well. Someone has to do it. Suppose I asked for this at some point. Just a minor miracle this is our first serious issue."

"Other than those who decided to leave..."

"True, but there was no real division. No one seriously opposed letting the four leave, just some niggling about supplies and whatnot. This one... this one is tough. I hope we've made the right decision."

"You have. I trust this."

I wasn't as certain as the young man, but I stopped debating the point. "I'm gonna walk a while."

- - -

I hadn't originally planned to stay North two nights, but at that moment, it was unavoidable. I needed to stay North until the situation with Rebecca was sorted out. I asked Hakee to go South at dawn the next morning to give Nina a hand running things there, and to fill in for me in command. Not that Nina couldn't manage things, but it seemed the proper thing to do at the time. I'd let Nina know over a very brief, lightly-coded message sent over the radio after our discovery of Rebecca. I had yet to pass on the more recent decisions we'd made and then made differently. Hakee would do so when she arrived in the morning.

There was enough moon and starlight to wander near the Northern cliff, and I paused regularly to take in the view. It occurred to me there was a different cultural change taking place in the North, one I hadn't really noticed at the time. No one was naked. It made sense, working the fields and dealing with such conditions that clothing was protection, but even in the evenings, when the South campers would have, mostly, shed clothing, if any was worn, to share a meal, none of those in the North did so, not even the old-timers like Bailey and Manu.

I wasn't sure whether to be concerned about that. It wasn't, unto itself, a big deal, but our common, casual nudity did, for me at least, symbolize our open ways, our shared pleasures, our mutual enjoyment of so many of our peers. I wondered if it might provide yet another gap between the populations in the two camps. Sure, many moved from place to place, and I had no doubt that Bailey, Manu, Kate, and the others would shed their clothing and show no hesitation when in the South, but would the newcomers in the North do the same? Few of them had spent much time in the main camp to date, and I suspected it might be more difficult for them to accept the difference in tendencies.

I had more important concerns, though, so I let the thought drift off, and over an hour or two, circled slowly back towards the shelters. I spotted Mie squatting over the spot where we urinated in the North and smiled when she saw me slow to a stop. The girl waved me over even before her stream had finished, and I could hear the hiss of her urine as it rushed from between her spread thighs. I suppose I was a little surprised to see that she was fully naked.

"Hey, Mie," I greeted her.

"Kal... out walking?" the thirteen year old grinned.

"Restless, yeah."

"Just came out to pee."

"Sorry to interrupt you."

Mie giggled, "No you're not..."

"True... I did rather enjoy watching..."

The girl stood and looked me over a moment. "Gonna wear clothes to bed?"

"Hmm? No, hadn't planned to." Kate and Bailey had space with me on the mattress they shared, both surely asleep with Katie by then. "Does anyone go without clothes here much?"

Mie shrugged, "For sleep, yeah, most of us..."

"But not in the evenings, or free time?"

She shrugged again, "Not really, guess not."

"Different than in the South."

"Suppose so."

The girl walked closer and offered me a hug and a kiss, which I heartily accepted. Her lips moved down my neck and I stopped her, "I... I really should bathe, Mie..." The sweat and anxiety of the day, not to mention the raw heat, had left my skin caked and filthy.

"I kinda like the way you smell, Kal... is that strange?"

I chuckled, inhaling against her neck and smelling Mie's much fresher warmth. "Suppose not."

We began to kiss and I fondled her naked bottom while she shucked down my pants. Mie had grown and filled in a lot since I first met the pretty, prepubescent child, her breasts round and perky, small but swelling, her thighs curving lightly, her legs longer. She was a young woman in everything but age, and age mattered almost nothing on Phoenix. Mie was a woman in all ways that it counted, and it was a young woman who dropped down and slid her slender lips around my cock.

Her head bobbed lightly, sucking me gently. I rested my fingers on her head, letting the girl move alone. My hips had other ideas, and I was unable to resist responding to her movements with small thrusts of my own, Mie sucking harder a moment before standing and leading me to a bench which had been built along one side of the path leading up to the shelters, a small table built into half of the bench, a place for resting and doing handiwork.

Mie bent over, hands on the seat, rounding her buttocks and pressing her sex back against me. I swelled between her thighs before guiding my glans into her tight little vagina and feeling Mie's burning, stretching cunt envelop my length.

We rutted slowly only a moment, soon faster and faster, I felt her stiffen and strain. Reaching under her stomach, I found Mie's hard clit and while fucking her steadily, brought the young teen to a lovely, rocking orgasm.

I retook her waist with my fingers, grasping her, sliding one hand onto her butt to caress her flesh. I smacked it lightly and she giggled, so I did it again, a little harder. This time, she shrieked lightly, not loud enough to cast her voice too far, but it was magical in my ears. I was swelling as I fucked the girl, her cunt becoming sloppy and wet.

I started grunting with each stroke, "Uhn... Uhn... Uhn... Oh, Mie... Uhn... Cumming... Cumming... Uhnnnnnn..."

Mie braced herself as I began to ejaculate. Over blissful, waving seconds I pumped my semen into the thirteen-year old's pussy, each thrust spraying wildly inside her vagina. Pump. Pump. Pump. I groaned when I felt my last spurt let go, holding myself deep inside Mie's little cunt. My top half collapsed over her and I wrapped my arms below the girl, hugging her against me as I began to right my body, pulling her with me, my penis still leaking into her swollen little hole.

I kissed her neck, massaging her little puffy breasts, "Love you, Mie..."

"Love you, too, Kal..."

"Thank you..."

"Mmm... That was nice..."

"I think I rather needed that...

Mie giggled, "I thought you might... You had a tough day today..."

I slid out of her, spun the girl, and kissed her, "Tougher ones ahead, I'm afraid," I told her. "We do what we do best, now: work hard, come together, and enjoy what comforts we can when offered..."