Shipwrecked - Chapter 170: Dreaded Reality (Mf anal creampie)

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Chapter 170: Dreaded Reality

My night was restless and without long periods of being under. I woke every few minutes, it seemed, sweating in the night's heat. With Bailey and Kate crowded with me on our mattresses, Katie nearby, the heat was bad enough to make me miserable. It would have been tough sleeping after a normal day, but the discovery of Rebecca and the division it had caused, however briefly, kept my mind racing and churning through the obvious and weighty concerns.

I knew it was part of leading people. Though I'd never had any political experience, I'd led plenty of teams of individuals. I thought I was a decent lead, someone capable of directing without ordering, energizing without exhausting, encouraging without being a pedant or micromanager. Phoenix challenged everything I knew about leadership, and there was no fallback position. No one else wanted to be in my shoes in those moments. It was an odd thought, to know that I'd worried about a fight to take charge of the island and instead found myself in an unenviable position where I was expected to deal with a tricky and increasingly risky situation, and whatever I did, a significant number of Phoenicians might be upset. Or worse.

Regardless, during the night the growing threats caused me to catch my breath often. It wasn't just Great Society forces which might assail our island, but it was clear, after the warning from the Uhonamonan fishermen and the espionage of Rebecca, that Progress United was to be considered our enemy, as well. It wasn't wholly clear what moves they might make, but the bold move of sending an agent to steal our supplies and reconnoiter our island showed they were not going to ignore our presence.

I wondered, though, what it said about their resources that they sent a scared and scarred teenager to do the work. A robust militia, I thought, would have a professionally-trained scout able to do the job much more efficiently. Was the War creating shortages of soldiers? Nina and Kate had been pressed into service, essentially, back when they'd survived the cruise ship disaster, but that was a rather chaotic time and both had been eager to build something better for themselves and the world at that time. Had the months and years of fighting with Great Society forces diminished the free world's ability to recruit and maintain a fighting force of a reasonable quality?

Or, perhaps, I realized it might say more about the regional force of Progress and the mindset of its leaders. They had tortured and imprisoned kids, it seemed, and if Rebecca was to be taken at her word, murdered innocent adults, as well. I wasn't sure how much to trust the girl or what she'd learned about her family. I knew how rumors could spread easily and how, in a world without the means to easily check facts, misinformation could become gospel. Regardless, we were right to consider Progress as a serious threat and it was for that reason and all the others that I got almost no sleep that night.

A couple of hours before dawn, I carefully crawled out of bed, quietly checked on Katie, the girl sleeping soundly next to her mother, then left the shelter and headed over to where Rebecca was being watched.

Ducking my head inside, a single candle lit the room. I could see the girl on her side facing away from me, and nearby, Tok was in a chair, naked, knitting something in the low light. He saw me and sat aside the project, striding quietly in my direction and motioning me outside. I stretched as he passed and we walked silently a few meters away from the shelter.

"Any changes?"

Tok shook his head, "Nothing. She mumbled a little in her sleep a bit ago, but nothing I could understand. I think her stomach's doing better, Manu says, at least."

"That's good," I replied.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

Shaking my response, I tightened my lips and stared off into where the starlight was being overrun by a front pushing in from the South.

Tok saw my gaze and followed it, then said quietly, "Storm's gonna hit by midday, I think."

I nodded. "I feel it, too."

When we'd grown silent again, Tok said gently, "I know this isn't the greatest time, Kal, but can I talk to you about something personal?"

"Always, my friend."

He let out his breath and told me, "I've been noticing a change in the way Bailey looks at me..."

"Showing a little interest that didn't used to be there?"

It seemed to catch him by surprise that I already knew, Tok replying, "Erm, yes. I feel like she's got an interest, yes, exactly..."

I didn't think it was my place to give away what my young wife was thinking about, so instead I told him, "She is free to do as she will, she is my love and I want only happiness for her, no matter what."

"Then," Tok said, "should that interest... manifest..."

"She does not need my permission, Tok."

"No, I understand, Kal, it's just that... she has only been with you, yes?"

I shrugged, "Not really my place to discuss Bailey's sex life, honestly, but since she has been quite open about things, it is true that she has yet to be sexual with another man."

Tok nodded, "I do not wish to sow trouble in any way, Kal, but..."

I smiled, "But you wouldn't mind enjoying a beautiful young woman if the opportunity arose..."

"Exactly... In some ways, I have thought of Bailey as a niece or a very young sister, but that does not take away a certain interested curiosity of my own..."

Laughing lightly, "I understand you, my friend. What happens here, with Bailey or anyone, so long as it is consensual, it has my blessing."

"I will not pursue her, I am only noting the change in her glances, Kal. Should she come to me and want more than to look... I just wish to know this will not cause any issues."

I put a hand on Tok's broad shoulder and told him, "No issues at all. If that happens, I trust you, and her, to have fun and enjoy the experience. She is a very generous lover, Tok, as are you. I'm sure things will be just fine, if it happens."

He smiled finally. "Good to know, Kal. Good to know..."

- - -

I set about rousing the breakfast stew after Tok returned to keeping watch over Rebecca. The process was not significantly different than in the South, but it still felt unfamiliar to me. It took me longer, being less familiar with how things were stored in the North, but by the time a handful of others had roused, I had the stew ready and coffee filling up cups for those who partook. I was greeted with easy and thankful smiles, even from those who had most strongly opposed me the day before. I admit that I took a great deal of heart in that experience. I'm not sure why I'd felt a bit of dread to face some of those in the North that morning, but the reactions I received were wholly positive and encouraging.

They did nothing to solve the weighty issues hanging over my head that morning, though. Rebecca roused around the time the work team left to hit the fields a bit before sunup, the sky become grey and the air remaining sticky and humid. I hung back with Manu, everyone else out of the camp by the time the first rays of light were hitting my face.

Manu tended to a few chores while I kept an eye on the girl. Rebecca was quite thin, perhaps malnourished. At least she looked clean. She'd been given a freshly-laundered shirt and a long skirt. I worried immediately about her pale flesh, especially her head, in the Southern Pacific Summer. She showed little sign of sun exposure, meaning she would burn quickly if she was outside too long. We'd had to handle the same situation with Amy when she'd first arrived as a stowaway. I ducked into a storage building and pulled out a broad-brimmed hat, offering it to the girl as she ravenously downed a second bowl of fish and pea stew.

"For me?" she asked weakly, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.

I nodded, "Keeps the sun off your head. You'll burn before long otherwise."

Rebecca settled it on her head and looked eagerly at the nearly-empty stew pot. I took her bowl, scooped up what was left and returned it to the girl, the contents quickly sucked down. "This is bloody good," she said after slurping the last of the broth.

I smiled, "Thanks. Pretty standard meal around here. We work hard, but we eat pretty well. You'll see."

I saw Rebecca stare off a moment and sink into her chair a little. She didn't reply.

"Can I ask you some more questions, Rebecca?"

She shrugged.

"You told us you didn't know anything much about why you were here, only that you had to steal from us and report back information. Other than our supplies, what else did you tell them?"

Rebecca told me, "Not too much, really. I said, um, that you didn't have any power that I saw... umm... that there was probably, umm, twenty people. I told them how many guns I saw. Not really much else, really..."

"And when are you supposed to check in again?"

Her eyes turned up towards the cloudy sky. "Tonight, around sunset."

I nodded, trying to slowly groom the girl for an idea I'd had in the night. "What do you want, Rebecca? I mean, understand you want your brother to be safe and, other than that, what would you want?"

"You mean like, wishes? Um," she paused, "to go home, like, real home... but..."

"Not likely to happen any time soon..."

She frowned, "Yeah, I know..."

"What else?"

She shrugged, "I just want to not be scared all the time... Like... I've been scared since everything started... I just want feel normal again... this all sucks!"

I started to offer her a hug and stopped myself. I'd already identified the things about Rebecca which would override my more cautious concerns. I was a sucker for her situation. A scared, beautiful young woman, me the rescuer ready to show her that the world is kind and loving. I'd done the same with Bailey and Amy and even, in a way, I'd tried with Kinnon and Felicity. On top of that realization was the concern for the girl's previous traumas. I didn't know if offering her a hug might trigger some awful memory. I had no idea what she'd been through, what Progress or others might have put her through on her way to Phoenix. I didn't want to cause more harm and I surely didn't want to push aside my awareness of the risk the girl might pose to those of us on the island.

Instead of a hug, I told her, "Would you want to try to start a new life, Rebecca? If you couldn't go home... would you like to try something new? Maybe a place where you get to spend every day doing things which matter, bonding with people who care about you, learning new things about the world and your place in it?"

"What are you saying?" the girl asked cautiously.

I replied, "Just saying that, right now, you're stuck with us. I'm hoping we can work something out with you so that you feel free and get a chance to recover and heal. Long term, well, we don't know what the options are for you. Those of us here, we've come to call this place home, some came by choice others, like me, and now you, didn't."

"What do you mean, you didn't?"

I told a very brief version of how I came to be on the island, leaving out the sexual details but ensuring Rebecca got a rather romanticized telling of my story. I left off with, "Though we're rather worried about what the rest of the world might do to us if they showed up here, we've grown together to form a new society, one which is more loving and open and free than any I've ever known. I love it here."

Rebecca didn't respond at first, possibly listening to my story, possibly tuning me out. It was hard to tell in the way her light-brown eyes seemed lost studying the cloudy horizon to the South. "I miss Mummy and Papa..."

"I'm sorry, Rebecca."

If she was faking it, the teen was very good. Rebecca started to cry and I stopped fighting the hug I wanted to give her. Stepping forward and kneeling down, I wrapped her gently in my arms and the girl seemed to melt against me. Her voice was plaintive, "Why are you being nice to me? I tried to kill her!"

I didn't reply at first, softly stroking the teen's back, the wind starting to whip around us as the heat of the day grew stifling despite the cloud cover. After a moment, I told her, "Because, if it was my daughter who had been put in your shoes, I would hope someone would help her instead of harming her more."

Between light sobs, the girl asked, "Is your daughter here on the island?"

"Yes. I have two, actually, and a son. Katie, Hermione, and Harry."

Rebecca chortled despite her sobs, "Hermione and Harry? You do really like those books, don't you?"

I grinned, "Suppose so. I didn't named them myself, but I love the names. Kinda perfect, to me. They were all three born here."

"Really?"

"Seriously. Katie is my oldest, she is a little over a year old, the other two are twins, about two-and-a-half months right now."

"Wow, so little!" the girl exclaimed, wiping her eyes with her shirt sleeve. "Doesn't that scare you?"

"A bit," I agreed, "but... they are amazing, Rebecca. And they're going to grow up never knowing a different life, unlike you and me. They won't know the world before all this chaos and war. And here, on Phoenix, I get a chance to ensure they grow up knowing nothing but love and opportunity. They may not have air conditioning or refrigerators, but they will know bountiful food and intimacy and kindness and a balance with nature most will never understand."

The teen paused before responding, then said, "Uh... I noticed something a little odd yesterday, ummm..."

"What's that?"

"Like, several people were," she hushed, "naked. Like, in front of everyone!"

I grinned, "Yeah, that's pretty normal here. In the other camp, that's how most everyone is all day long."

"Err, really?"

I nodded.

Rebecca's pale flesh grew rosy. "Strange..."

She'd clearly cheered considerably, and I realized I was still holding her. "Sorry, hope that was okay," I told her as I let go.

"Yeah, thanks... I needed it, thanks..."

"So," I continued, "you contact your handlers tonight at sunset?"

She nodded.

"Think you don't much care for them, right?"

Rebecca growled, "I hate them all."

"Then do you think you can help me mislead them? We're not sure what they want with us... but we might be able to better prepare and defend ourselves if they... have the wrong information in their hands."

She thought a moment, "Yeah... I can do that... what, uh, what do you want me to do?"

I thought a moment, then began to give her a few ideas for that night's contact.

- - -

The day went by quickly. The first half, after leaving Rebecca with Manu to continue her recovery, was spent hustling in the Easternmost fields as we tried to beat the storm rushing in. Thunder could be heard a good hour or more before it was to arrive, and by midday, just as Tok had predicted, the rain poured down as we huddled in our shelters.

Kate and I kept Rebecca company. The teen had quickly warmed up to me, especially when it was clear I was willing to do something to get back at her captors. I admit I might have let my rescuer mentality overwhelm my caution, but I was no longer harboring serious concerns about the girl's motives. If she was playing us, playing me, she was really, really convincing in her desperate innocence.

With the storm howling outside, Bailey led a class in mathematics for many attendees in the main shelter, and those of us who weren't following along were together in the one connected just to the East, sipping tea and playing cards or reading books. I fought sleep for a bit until Kate patted my head and told me it was okay to nap. I grinned at her, kissed her lips, then curled myself beside her and, exhausted from the worries and lack of sleep, quickly went under.

- - -

I woke to quiet. I was alone in the shelter, but I could see light outside. It wasn't too late in the day, it seemed. I sipped from a cup of water near my head then ducked out of the shelter.

No one in sight, I checked the obvious footprints in the fresh mud and decided to follow them out to the East field. The crew, it seemed, had returned to the harvest after the storm had passed. I was thankful it was still light out and that I hadn't missed the meeting Rebecca was to have with her contact.

To my surprise, instead of the fields, I found the others in the North, except for a couple on watch, at the lake. Rebecca was there, sitting alone but with both Kate and Manu nearby, the former completely nude and resting on a rock which hung out over a deep hole along one wall of the lake. Rebecca spotted me and I thought I saw a small smile spread before the girl hid it from view.

Gale met me as I walked up and gave me a big hug, the woman naked and glistening from the water. "Feeling better, Rip van Winkle?"

"A little. I hate naps, honestly, especially in the heat."

"You are spoiled, Kal," Gale laughed.

"True, I am. How are things?"

"Reasonable. Field are too muddy to do much right now, so we're letting them dry a bit tonight." She nodded towards our newest addition. "Seems she's not much of a threat?"

I shrugged, "Suppose it's too early to say, but so far, I see nothing much to worry about. Scared kid, mostly."

"Tok's got the relay set up for her contact, assuming you want to be there?"

"I do."

"Might be a little tricky with that storm in the area, but since we don't know where she's calling out to, might not be a big deal."

I glanced up at where the sky was clearing to the South. "Got about an hour to sunset, I reckon. Suppose I should get cleaned up a bit myself."

"Enjoy! I'll go get supper going."

Gale walked off after gathering up a few things. I noticed that Rebecca looked quite rosy after glancing at the naked woman. I debated modesty in light of the teen's certainly-reserved expectations, but if Rebecca was going to join in on Phoenix, assuming she didn't turn out to be a highly-trained assassin or something, she was going to be exposed to such regular nudity pretty soon. All those already in the water were naked, and in a few seconds, I shed my clothing and noticed Rebecca's eyes following me as I waded deep into the water, my nakedness lost from her sight for a while.

- - -

"Ready?" I asked the girl gently.

We were in position in one of the shelters, Rebecca's radio on and humming. Tok was with me, as were Kate and Manu. Tok had rigged the headset to feed an additional speaker, temporarily disconnected from one of our radio units, so that we may listen into the conversation discretely.

Rebecca was nervous, but we'd discussed what she was to report about the previous three days. She finally nodded and depressed the button on her input. "Thadius. Thadius. Maker. Maker. One, One, Seven."

Staticky-nothing was the reply. Rebecca repeated her call. "Thadius. Thadius. Maker. Maker One, One, Seven."

"Calliope. Methodist. Watson," a male with a sing-song accent replied.

"One One Seven on site."

"Continue."

Rebecca looked at me as if for permission to start lying. I nodded firmly.

"Secured seven, repeat, seven arms, assorted supplies. Must adjust estimates previously sent."

"Which estimates?"

"Population likely less than fifteen."

"How much less?"

"I dunno," Rebecca told the man. "Maybe ten? Twelve?"

Silence lingered for a moment, then, "Continue."

"Arms estimate was also too high, like, way too high. I think I have all of them."

"Repeat last. You have all their weapons?"

"I think so, yeah, like, they didn't have very many at all, actually. Also," she added, her voice betraying her a little, "they have, uh, a sickness. Like... three or four of them are really sick."

A brief pause, then, "More?"

"Um, no... That's everything. Are you coming for me soon?"

The man ignored her question. "Hold for additional instructions."

We waited a good five or six minutes in silence. It was nerve-racking, and I could tell Rebecca was growing more anxious by the second.

Finally, a different male voice came over the radio, "You are to remain in place another cycle and report on schedule. Out."

The line went dead and Tok switched off the radio after another moment of waiting. "Well," he said quietly, "that was interesting. Think it will work?"

Everyone glanced at me. I grinned, shaking my head, "No idea." I'd instructed Rebecca to feed her handlers insights which, I hoped, would cause them to underestimate our ability to defend ourselves. She'd only given sparse estimates of our strengths previously, so it seemed reasonable that she would revise the early information as soon as she had a better evaluation. "If they think less of us, perhaps their first assault will be less forceful. We're a pushover, based on what Rebecca just told them."

Kate said, "They'll just return with more, Kal."

"I know. But is it better to get attacked with a full force on their first try and get wiped out, or to have a chance and a few extra days to figure something else out?"

"The latter, I suppose," she admitted. Kate shivered, "This is making it seem inevitable, them coming to Phoenix."

"I think it is inevitable," Tok replied, "and we better start acting like it."

"We are," Manu said, putting a hand on his arm, "but beyond the drills and the planning... what else can we do?"

He shook his head, "I know, I know..."

"We keep our chins up," I said, "and we keep being ourselves. We cannot dwell on what might be. We prepare for the arrival of a Progress assault, but we don't lock up with fright. We can't stop our work in the fields or the seas. We must continue our classes and our meals and our preparations for the Fall and Winter months. We keep ourselves ready to defend what is ours, but we must continue to assume we will require our regular supplies for the coming year."

I saw Rebecca watching me closely. Kate put a hand on my face. "Everyone needs this from you, Kal, what you just told us. You have to lead these people and make them keep a balance between awareness and routine. You can do it, Kal. I believe you are the right person for this moment."

I knew Kate well enough to believe it was a reasonably-practiced pep talk, one full of truths but also flattery. It worked, though, to help me gain a bit of confidence in my ability to lead the island in the trouble surely to come in the days or weeks ahead. "Thank you. And Rebecca, you did great, okay? Couldn't have gone better. You feeling alright?"

"Better, yeah," the girl replied, lightly patting her stomach, "but I'm really, really starving."

The others were at supper and we could smell the fresh-caught fish and clams cooking over the fire. I grinned, "Then let's go eat our fill, eh?"

- - -

I want to believe it was hard facts, first-hand evidence, and an instinct for sniffing out the truth which made me so confident that Rebecca was an innocent and unwilling participant in her antagonistic activities. Honestly, there was nothing terribly compelling suggesting anything else. But I knew, even then, that my weakness for damsels in distress was clouding my thinking. During dinner, I individually pulled aside several of those whose opinions I felt would not be so compromised and got their impressions of the girl. I found little disagreement, whatever my biases. Popko was the most certain of them all, which didn't surprise me give our discussion in the night. Kate was, perhaps, the one with the most judgement reserved, but even she felt there was no significant danger in the teen.

I made the decision to leave the situation unchanged for another day or more. I didn't want to risk simply letting the girl wander around alone until a few more things had been settled. The growing threat of Progress loomed over us, and I wondered if even a week would go by before they made an appearance.

After dinner, I brought the camp together and discussed the situation. I told those gathered that we were likely to face a serious and dangerous threat from Progress United in the coming days, and that the weapons and defensive drills would be stepped up. Free time, whatever there was, would be lost, I said to serious expressions, but we could not risk being caught unprepared. I instructed Popko to run a fresh check of weapon readiness, ensuring all were clean and in shape to be snapped up in an instant. We discussed various defensive plans, fallbacks, how to communicate in the chaos. I was thankful for the preparations Nina and Popko had readied over the months to ensure that we had relatively clear plans in place for the most likely scenarios.

"An assault first in the North seems unlikely," I said towards the end, "but we cannot assume it won't come. Defending that ridge is key, should it happen. Much more likely is an attack on the South camp."

My stomach twinged when I looked at Bailey cradling our sleeping daughter against her. Katie had grown so much over her first year of life, but the girl was terribly small compared to the challenge to come. My mouth grew dry as I tried to continue my thought, but I found it difficult as the gravity of the situation really settled into me.

Thankfully, Kate picked up on my loss of momentum and took questions from those gathered. Mostly, it was a lot of 'what ifs' around various scenarios, and I lost the plot enough to excuse myself. I walked, alone, off towards the lake, settling down along the South edge and staring out at the reflection of the moon on the surface.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I heard Bailey say quietly from behind me. I turned to see my young wife alone and without our daughter. As if predicting my question, she replied, "I put her to bed so we could have a little private time..."

I smiled and gathered Bailey into my arms, holding her so tight that I lost sensation in my fingers for a bit. I didn't care. I needed my rock right then. She was half-naked, her small breasts still heavy with milk and swaying freely, her groin covered by a loose skirt. I wasn't sure exactly why Bailey was often partially or fully clothed in the North. Maybe she had taken to the 'when in Rome' philosophy, at least somewhat. Though, I realized, I, too, was half-naked instead of fully so. Perhaps I was doing the same.

"You okay, Kal?" she asked.

"Trying not to panic..."

She sighed, "Yeah... I know what you mean... this is gonna happen, isn't it..."

Bailey wasn't asking a question, but I bobbed my head in response anyway. "Seems so."

The bugs whirled behind us and a frog or turtle nearby plopped with a small splash into the water. Bailey said quietly, "People are going to die..."

"I think so..."

"This sucks."

I squeezed my wife tightly once more.

She whispered, "Is there nothing we can do? Can we negotiate? Can we just call them up and tell them not to come here?"

I suppose I'd never really thought about such an idea before, yet it felt almost silly at first. Why hadn't we tried communicating with them at some point? Well, I realized, we didn't exactly have their phone number, in a sense, but now, with Rebecca's direct radio contact, we had a chance to reach out. Would it be something useful, to open a line of communication with Progress? Would they hesitate to come to Phoenix if we presented a docile, open stance over the airwaves? Would they hammer us harder instead? "I guess we could try that..."

"Have Rebecca try to reach them for us?" Bailey followed up on her idea.

"Makes sense... We'll be giving away the ruse we started earlier. They'll catch on quick that their spy is compromised. They'll doubt what she told them."

"But really," the teen replied, "will that matter? They're coming, Kal, no matter what they believe, right?"

I nodded.

"Then we should try to talk to them..."

"Worth a shot, but I think I should discuss it with the Elders first, just to be sure we aren't missing something obvious right now..."

The urgency of our situation made my nerves jangle. My hands, still a little numb from my hold around Bailey, were even trembling a bit. My stomach felt raw and a touch fiery. I wished I believed in benevolent gods right then because I would have been offering them prayers and sacrifices to prevent the destruction of Phoenix and my family.

"Kal," Bailey's voice was soothing and gentle, "it's going to be okay." I think she could feel my nerves becoming manifest in my touch. She slid around in my embrace and kissed my lips, holding there a moment before pushing me onto my back.

I needed her so desperately right then, and she clearly needed me as well. Caressing her breasts, I pulled Bailey over me, her legs straddling my hips as her loose skirt rose up. The fifteen-year old wore nothing underneath and the heat between her thighs soaked against me a moment as I throbbed to life. "I love you so much, Bailey... I love you so much."

She repeated my words, moaning even before she reached between us and took my penis into her cunt. Bailey sank down and I throbbed inside her, surely leaking sweet precum into her lovely vagina. We began to mate slowly, rocking and rolling our hips in a rhythm which felt timeless and wonderful. Bailey leaned down as she rode me, kissing my lips and my cheek and letting her hot breath linger along my neck.

I suckled her breasts, still full of milk, swallowing the delightful warm cream pulled from her nipples. Bailey ground down onto me suddenly, "God, Kal... Uhnnnn... Uhnnn... Nnnnnn... Oh, Kal... I love... you... so... much... Nnnnnnnnn... Nnnnn..."

Her orgasm became my only focus. I thrust up into Bailey as her vagina clenched and spasmed, wrapping my arms around her and bending my knees up, pushing my cock deep into her body as she came. I rolled my hips against her trembling form, moving her up and down on my penis as her climax slowed and then I kissed her deeply as she sighed and moaned in pleasure.

To my surprise, Bailey pulled her hips higher, letting my cock slip free, then took hold of my shaft and positioned the head of my dick further back, effortlessly sinking back down on me, my penis now deep in her rectum. I groaned into her mouth my pleasure at the tight, grasping hole now sliding up and down my cock.

In almost no time, the incredible tight hole milked me to orgasm. "Mmmm... Mmmmm... Mmmmmmmmmmm..." I filled Bailey's bowels in several tense, powerful spurts, emptying my nuts deep in her butt, the fifteen-year old's anus so tight as to risk forcing me out with each spasm of my orgasm.

Long after that moment, long after my penis had slipped free from Bailey's raw butthole, we held each other, kissing, caressing, needful of each other like so many times before when facing uncertainty and difficult challenges. Perhaps this was the most difficult, but I recalled the earliest moments on Phoenix when the two of us, half-drowned and starving, had managed to work together to survive and, eventually, thrive in that place. Those were hard moments, to be sure, but even then, before I knew how deeply Bailey would be included in my life, in my happiness, having the girl at my side had been a powerful force keeping me focused, grounded, and encouraged. Holding her beside the lake, the threat of Progress over our heads, I felt once more the power of Bailey in my life. Maybe it could have been Kate or Keekah or Amy instead, maybe one of them could have made me feel that way, but so often had I found my strength in Bailey that she was my first choice. I felt a small twinge of guilt for that, as I had before, that I held Bailey as my favorite companion, but I couldn't help that it was true. In that moment, I needed what Bailey could give me, and she gave freely and with all her heart and mind.

"We'll get through this," I said quietly. Perhaps I had a bit more confidence than earlier. Perhaps it was just the afterglow of our coupling. Whatever it was, there was no doubt in my mind about Bailey's role in my ability to face the world each and every day. Whatever was to come, I would protect her with my life. I'd protect her even if it meant dying to do so.

I'd do that for everyone, I realized, not just Bailey. Certainly for Keekah and Amy and Kate, for Katie, Harry, and Hermione, Azure, but also for everyone else. Tok. Nina. Manu. Takino. Geeni. Everyone. I hoped desperately that I didn't face such a sacrificial moment, but I steeled myself in the belief that those people, my family and friends, they were worth the sacrifice. Our way of life, our independence, our unique developing culture, those were worth the sacrifice.

I rolled with Bailey to my feet and we slid into the water to bathe and clean ourselves. I never let go her body, holding her hand or elbow or waist throughout. I'd gained come confidence, but the assurance of her warmth, the love, the experiences we'd shared, I still needed to feel that physical connection at least a little while longer. We kissed once clean and slowly made our way back to camp, most of the others already settled in for the night.

I told Bailey I'd be right with her for the night, then ducked into the shelter where Rebecca was sleeping with Manu quietly mending a shirt nearby and a few others cuddling or kissing or sleeping on mattresses. When I saw the teen shifting restlessly, I knelt down near her, whispering, "Can we talk a moment, Rebecca?"

The girl rolled over in my direction and nodded. Motioning her out of the shelter, I led her a short distance away so as not to disturb those inside. I let out a breath, then said quietly, "I'm going to trust you right now, okay? I believe you, Rebecca, I believe your story, I believe you have been coerced to be here and to spy and to steal from us."

"Okay..." the girl replied, scratching her stomach, "I'm telling the truth. I promise!"

"We're in a tough spot. We think the people who hold your brother and sent you here are going to come to Phoenix. We believe they don't mean to be very nice about it."

Rebecca nodded as if she understood. "They aren't nice at all."

"Did you get any sense, the people you met, that they might be open to some sort of discussion?"

"Umm, what do you mean?"

I looked off into the dark distance. "We might survive one attack here. But... we won't a second. If they decide we're a threat of some kind, which we're not, we won't be much of a hassle for some sort of force... We're hoping, Bailey and I, that we might at least reach out and try to discuss some sort of less dangerous first meeting, maybe convince them that we aren't worth attacking. Your messages earlier to your contact might help, they might think we're really not much worth any further response, but..."

"But?" Rebecca said as I trailed off.

I knew I was risking showing my hand a little, but if the girl was a spy, her handlers already knew what I was going to say, "They think I'm some sort of threat, me personally. See... I had a little interaction with Progress some time ago. A big misunderstanding and, I, too, was not handled all that well. Not so bad as you, but... I had to escape and with some help I got back here. We've heard, through some people we think are trustworthy, that they are interested in taking me back. They think I might know something about Great Society, that I'm one of them, perhaps worth some time being interrogated. Completely wrong. I've never been in contact with GS except when they kidnapped me, setting this whole thing off in the first place." When the girl looked a little confused and alarmed, I added, "It's a long story. Look, all I'm trying to find out is if you knew anyone there who might be sympathetic... who might be a conduit to use to defuse what we're sure is going to happen very soon..." Rebecca looked thoughtful a moment, then her shoulders slumped, "No... I don't know anyone... I was pretty much kept alone... They didn't tell me anything. There was one guy who was nice, maybe a couple people, but I didn't get to know them or anything... Sorry..."

I nodded with disappointment. "It's okay... Just seeing if there might be any connection we could use... I appreciate it, Rebecca..."

After a moment of quiet, she said, "So you're sure they're going to come here?"

I nodded silently. The teen shuddered and looked forlorn. I told her calmly, "We'll do our best to keep the interaction... peaceful... but I suspect we're going to be cornered from the very beginning..."

"I don't want to go back to them... I don't want to die..." the teen replied pitifully.

Instinctively, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and the girl leaned against me, tucking one of her arms around my waist. "Me either, Rebecca. Promise you, none of us do." I thought of Katie, of Harry and Hermione, of Azure. Of Bailey and Keekah and Kate and Amy and everyone on Phoenix. My stomach lurched and turned and twisted into a knot. The reality of what was sure to come made me feel sick.

The warm teen cradled against me kept me from sinking too low, though. Rebecca needed me. My babies needed me. My wives. My friends. My family. I supposed I asked for such responsibility by stepping up to be the Chief. Inside, I could be a wreck, but outside, I needed to be calm, strong, and decisive. I vowed to wake the next morning showing no signs of the fear I felt. It didn't matter if I was faking it. Other people would feed off me and would face our upcoming challenges much more successfully if I showed only confidence and strength.

I grasped Rebecca a little tighter, then told her, "Thanks again... Listen, go get some sleep, okay? Whatever's coming for us will require a lot of energy and we need to be ready, you included. Think you're up for it?"

She nodded against me, "I will be... I'll try."

"That's all any of us can do, Rebecca. That's all any of us can do..."