CAUTION... CAUTION...
CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION...
STANDARD WARNING
This
story is of an erotic nature.
I wouldn't dream of telling
you what you can or can't read but if the law, in your part of the
world, says you must not read this sort of fiction then please go
read something that they'll let you.
Don't break the laws,
change them.
CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION... CAUTION...
CAUTION...
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A Story in The Swarm Cycle Universe
A Piece of my
Imagination
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The Swarm Cycle is a collection of stories manufactured
around a concept introduced by the Thinking Horndog positing an alien
invasion and Earth's reaction. The intent is for this to be a
multi-author universe similar to the popular Naked In School stories.
If you're a budding author of erotica or sci-fi and see something
here that strikes your fancy, pop over to the Author's
Page for more info on what's going on here and how to submit a
story for this collection. The rest of you are probably here to read,
so...
---oOo---
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or
persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental
©
2007 Duke of Ramus.
All rights reserved.
---oOo---
The Swarm Cycle Universe
Copyright © 2007
The Thinking Horndog
---oOo---
I'd like to thank Mulligan for his assistance in turning
this into a better story than my initial effort, any errors remaining
are of course mine.
---oOo---
Colonel Boris Johnson was not looking forward to
this interview -- he never did when he didn't believe the interviewee
was going to be happy -- and the news he was imparting was definitely
not the sort of thing that this recipient wanted to hear, still it
was all part of the job he mused.
"Svetlana," he
greeted the young looking woman who entered his office after
acknowledging her salute, "take a seat," he ordered waving
at the conveniently positioned armchair.
Captain Svetlana
Sergeyevna Lebedev, Confed Space Marines had originally been a Major
in the Russian Naval Infantry and been attached to the US Marines in
Hawaii when the CAP testing craze had hit America. She'd gone through
the testing process -- along with several of the American officers
she was serving with -- and had been amused more than anything when
she'd come out with a CAP score of eight point four and been well
ahead of majority of them. When the true purpose of CAP testing had
been revealed she'd been ordered by Moscow to volunteer for the
Confederacy Marines and await developments.
Developments
had been almost immediate. She'd been picked up, along with the other
Marines she'd tested with, three months after the event -- that this
broke all ties with Russia had been a surprise, as it had been for
the Americans when they too realised that America no longer had any
say in their destiny.
After conversion and advanced
training in the Confed Space Marines Svetlana had spent eighteen
months leading hit and run raids against the incoming Swarm, first as
a platoon commander, then with a company and finally with a two
company raiding force before being transferred to Persephone. There
she found herself in a holding pattern awaiting developments in the
war. She'd led half a dozen extraction missions -- just to stop from
going insane -- and was hoping that this interview was her chance to
get back to a combat unit to continue culling lizards.
Once
the woman before him had settled into the armchair Boris began,
"Lana, there is no easy way to say this so I'll just read out
your orders and we'll take it from there." He tapped the paper
on his desk, a foible that he hadn't been able to break, even to the
point where he had to print things out rather than read them from a
screen. "Umm, here it is -- Is transferred to the planet
Demeter, township of Celeus, to undertake the training of the
volunteers as Space Marines and such other details as ordered by the
commander of the township." He looked up to see the woman going
pale, "To assist in this task Captain Lebedev is promoted to
Major effective this order. Deployment is to be implemented on the
first available transport to the new duty station."
Boris
placed the copy of the orders back on his desk and waited for the
explosion -- which he expected to both vicious and probably
incomprehensible given their different native languages. What he
actually got was a simple question that knocked him off his stride
completely.
The Russian looked across the room and simply
asked him, "Why?"
Surprised he held up his ace
card -- a record chip -- something he hadn't planned on doing until
she'd calmed down enough to appreciate it. "This is a background
brief on the Sa'arm war and an indication of future Marine Corps
plans to counter the threat. It's something that every line commander
has been saying we should have done a long time ago." He paused
to gather his thoughts and then went into lecture mode.
"When
the Darjee made contact it took awhile for us to realise that the AIs
were actually running the war. Most of us, myself included, just saw
it as a chance to get back to commanding combat troops." Boris
Johnson had been a Brigadier General in the Australian Army who'd
been attached to his country's UN mission in New York. "It has
taken us this long to get our act together and start thinking rather
than reacting." He looked Svetlana in the eyes, "We dropped
the ball when we didn't have a long term plan, we have been throwing
company and battalion battlegroups at isolated incursions with no
real overall plan or objective, all under the direction of the AIs."
He tapped the record chip, "This changes all of that."
"The
field elements we already have will continue to harass the Swarm,
reinforced as required by current extractions. Hopefully -- now that
there is human intervention with the AIs - this will start to have a
strategic goal in mind. In addition it has been decided to form
larger formations in three of the colony systems and recruit and
train these from scratch. Poseidon is one of the systems that has
been picked for this enlargement."
Again he tapped
the record chip, "This details the Demeter part of the operation
but basically they are creating a Marine Expeditionary Force in the
system with a full Marine Division being based on the planet along
with the Logistics group. The Air Wing will be based on Persephone
but will be an integral part of the MEF and along with the First and
Second MEF it will be the first step to destroying the Sa'arm instead
of just slowing them down."
"According to this
chip, each of the Regiments will be closely tied to one of the
townships, as will the Logistics group and the Headquarters elements
which means -- doing the maths -- that each township is going to have
a population of somewhere between six and eight thousand volunteers.
That'll give a total population per township of between thirty and
forty thousand and even with the thousand pods ships they're using at
the moment it's going to take at least a year to get each township
fully manned, let alone trained and equipped."
"That
isn't as bad as it seems as we don't have the ships to move these
people around and it'll take at least that long to get them built."
He noticed Svetlana raise an eyebrow, "They've designed a new
class of ship, the Tarawa," he said with some relish. "It
carries a full battalion of Marines with all their supports and it's
going to have enough lift capacity to put them all on the deck in one
hit. They are going to be used alongside another new class of ships,
the Midway carriers, which will embark the Marine Air Wings and
together they're going to provide the starting point for future
assault operations.
Svetlana was still digesting the
information on the Tarawa, "That's better than the Lancelots,"
she commented.
The Sir Lancelot class of landing ships was
the current major type of troop transports that the Marines were
using to get to battle. They were really modified passenger ferries
with a limited capacity and very little in the way of support
capabilities. The ship could transport a full company of Marines and,
using the two Leopard class assault shuttles they carried, get them
to the planet's surface in one wave. The ship had two beam weapons
for ship defence but no direct fire capability to support the ground
troops. Neither could they carry close support craft, which meant
that a Navy carrier had to be available to support any ground
operations.
"A lot better, and they're getting a new
class of assault shuttles too. All this means that we're going to
need more shuttle pilots and assault troops and to get those we need
training personnel. Which is how we get back round to you."
Svetlana
couldn't help it, her shoulders braced at the comment.
"You
will be training the first take of future assault shuttle pilots as
well as organising and eventually running the full training cadre for
the planet. If nothing else Major it should ensure that you get your
next promotion," he said with a smile. Promotion in the Space
Marines, to date, had been of little importance, with everyone
running around as independent battalions obtaining a higher rank had
been irrelevant but that would not be so in the future.
"In
addition you will be working with the local commander and that may
create a few interesting situations." He paused to gaze at the
wall, as though distracted. "Lana, because we've been grabbing
people from all over and, as often as not, throwing them into combat
it's left us in a bit of a mess. One of the things that has been
happening, underhandedly if you like, is that people have been
feeding back information to Earth. This information has been being
used to train various people, usually in military academies, for
future responsibilities out here. The," Boris smiled, mostly to
himself, "I keep calling him boy but I should think of him as a
man, you'll be working with is one of the recipients of this
training. Although only sixteen he's been put through the equivalent
of junior staff college with a few extras tacked on. Although he's
only a lieutenant at the moment, he will become a Commander on
completion of his basic training and -- in all probability -- a Major
by the time the first of the Marine Regiments is ready for
operations. He has some interesting ideas on what to do with the
concubines and has pushed them through for his own township and,
according to Dave Roberts, will probably force the whole planet to
follow suit, simply because it's so effective."
Svetlana
sat there trying to absorb what was being thrown at her, questions
already bubbling about under her calm exterior. Without warning the
chip flew through the air from the Colonel's hand, "For now take
this and study it," he said, "Then come back and see me in
a couple of days with any questions you have and I'll do my best to
answer them."
He stood and Svetlana, recognising that
the interview was at an end, did the same.
As he escorted
the new Major to the door he said, "Your niece is currently
going through the Malinovsky Academy." The door opened and
Svetlana stepped through it as Boris continued, "She's receiving
the same sort of training as Alex Flowers did. It wouldn't surprise
me if she appears out here in a year or so."
Svetlana
thought of little Nadia, who wasn't so little anymore and by the time
she got her thoughts back to the here and now she'd been deposited
outside the door with the minimum of fuss. Very smooth she thought as
she turned away, the data chip covering her new assignment clutched
firmly in her hand.
---oOo---
Alex stood on the highest point of his pod and gazed
across his township. Although all of the pods were grounded now you
couldn't see that many of them. The rolling hills and small copses of
trees that were scattered about screened much of the human activity.
Alex had managed to get the initial pods spread out over as much area
as was possible. He'd explained that he didn't want cliques forming
around first arrivals, second arrivals and so on and had,
effectively, forced his thoughts onto the AI's original plans.
Basic
power, communications and sanitation links had been made and the
colonists had all been safely transferred to the planetary surface.
The town, such as it was, was dirt side and ready to begin ironing
out the kinks that four weeks travelling had created.
The
major down side to his insistence that the pods be scattered was the
increase in time it was going to take to get the interconnecting
tunnels dug. In most cases the pods were only going to have one link
and getting from one pod to another would require a very winding path
if they weren't actually adjacent to one another.
The fact
that Alex had managed to get this less than ideal pattern, along with
his original idea that drones should receive military training, past
the AIs had led him to the belief that the AIs were not actually in
control but there just as advisors. A belief that in the short time
he'd had to test it had not been changed. It made him nervous. If he
insisted on something and the AIs couldn't convince him he was wrong,
then they'd let him fuck up in a big way. Not a pleasant
thought!
They still had nearly two months before the force
domes could be dropped and he figured that the next batch of
colonists wouldn't arrive until then at the earliest. It just
wouldn't be worth the effort to try to connect the pods up before
that.
Now they just had to wait, wait for the arrival of
the training team, wait for the equipment and most importantly, wait
for the atmosphere to become breathable.
"Alex,"
a soft voice behind him called.
Alex half turned, to
confirm his recognition of the voice, "Yes Sister Melanie?"
he asked, suppressing a groan.
"I know you're busy
and I really shouldn't be bothering you but I feel..." she
paused, what was it she really wanted to know? She wasn't too sure,
even now, "I mean, uhmm..."
Alex waited
patiently. Sister Melanie really should have been talking to Rebecca
but in the confusion of getting aboard the Aurora Sister Melanie had
ended up being allocated to one of the slots he had for concubines.
Which made things a little difficult, as the major purpose of having
concubines was to get and, as far as possible, keep them pregnant.
Something that wasn't really acceptable for a nun who'd been
effectively press-ganged into joining the colonists.
Looking
up Sister Melanie tried again, "Have you made any plans for my
use?" she asked.
Alex raised an eyebrow and was
rewarded by the Sister blushing. When Alex had been laying down the
law concerning the physical stature and abilities that the volunteers
were to apply to their drones -- during the augmentation process --
he'd failed to allow for any exceptions. As a consequence Sister
Melanie had gone from being a delicate, petite twenty eight year old
woman with a pale complexion to someone who looked like a twenty two
year old, two metre tall, hard bodied, pert breasted, fighting
machine, a true amazon princess.
When Alex had thought
about the issue, he'd believed that the hormone levels induced during
the augmentation process to facilitate pregnancy would be creating
all sorts of dilemmas for the chaste woman. Therefore -- in the true
spirit of man -- he'd been doing his best to avoid her, without
making it blatantly obvious. Now he'd been tracked down and would
have to deal with the fallout.
Alex looked the woman in
the eyes and answered honestly, "Sister Melanie, I've got no
plans, or hidden agendas, for you. Rebecca asked you to join us and
as far as I'm concerned that is how things stand. Why?" he asked
as he watched her eyes cloud over.
"Because I'm
losing my faith." she stated. When Alex started to open his
mouth Sister Melanie continued, "Not my faith in God, which I
believe is firm, but my belief in the vows I took and the life I've
led so far."
Alex waved the Sister to a convenient
low wall and sat down alongside her and waited to see what would
happen.
"How much do you know about my religious
order, Alex?"
"Nothing, really," said Alex,
wondering where this was going.
"Well, let's start
with one of the basics," she said. "Regardless of what I
looked like -- with the habit and everything -- I wasn't a nun."
That surprised Alex on two counts, he'd always believed
that the teachers at St. Genevieve's were nuns, and he hadn't
realised that there were different sorts of nuns...
"It
may not mean much to an outsider but I was a religious sister not a
nun. A nun takes a series of solemn vows, where the religious sisters
only take simple vows. The major difference for those outside the
religious community is that they get to see the religious sisters but
a nun is cloistered and not allowed contact with the outside
world."
"I belonged to an Order called 'the
Ursulines', we are a teaching Order with a long and distinguished
history," she said proudly. "I'd taken the simple vows of
poverty, chastity and obedience as befitted one of my standing."
Sister Melanie raised her eyes, "When I joined the order I did
so as a Postulant and was in that position for nine months. The Order
then accepted me and I became a Novice, where for two more years I
lived the life of a Sister without any real commitment. That was
after I'd left college with my degrees and no real idea of what or
where I was going with my life."
"The Order
helped me find a reason for being in teaching young girls who'd gone
off the rails, so to speak. For the last couple of years I've been a
full religious sister, having taken the three vows temporarily,"
she paused as Alex looked puzzled, the continued. "After being a
Novice you take your vows temporarily, for three years, then they are
made perpetual."
Alex nodded his understanding.
"You
see, Alex, I'd never made that final commitment and now, with all
that is going on around us, I'm not sure if I can." Sister
Melanie, sniffed, then a small sob escaped and before Alex could
react she was in his arms blubbering away.
Alex didn't
know what to do; he just held the crying woman and waited for her,
hopefully, to calm down.
---oOo---
Svetlana had become separated from her concubines when
she'd ended up in the Poseidon system and -- following a chat with
the Civil Service rep on her old planet -- had handed them over to
the pool. She hadn't been too bothered by this turn of events as the
two concubines she'd picked at the time of her extraction had proved
to be typical American teenagers and she'd grown bored with them very
quickly. She'd been so busy since that she'd never bothered to
replace them, or collect the other four slaves she was allowed --
when she got sexually frustrated there was always a willing Marine
around who she could take advantage of, in the nicest possible
way.
Which is why she was able to settle back in the pod
she'd been assigned and contemplate the screen before her, the big
screen that was currently displaying the contents of the chip that
Boris Johnson had so casually dropped on her in their interview.
He
hadn't been joking when he'd said this was the future of the Marine
Corps. It was a synopsis of the events so far along with an
appreciation of the current status of the Corps and its assets and
finally -- the meat of the document -- a detailed plan of how the
future development of the Corps was expected to run. A lot of detail
had been left out from this copy, Svetlana had noticed as she'd
worked her way through it. Colonel Johnson had mentioned that larger
formations were being established in three systems, the chip only
detailed what was happening in the Poseidon system and on the planet
Demeter -- which was a lot when you got down to the
nitty-gritty.
Demeter was getting a full Marine Division
and a Logistics Group, and Persephone would be getting the Air Wing
and the ships that went with the Marine Expeditionary Force. Colonel
Johnson had mentioned the Tarawa and Midway classes but he'd failed
to mention the new Landing Ship Logistics -- which was positively
huge -- especially when you allowed for the fact that they were
atmosphere capable craft.
The Air Wing was split into two
groups, one of which was capable of supporting ground operations from
space. The second group was deployed in the new LSLs -- after a
bridgehead had been established -- and provided the transport and
ground support elements for the Marine Division.
'And what
a Division,' thought Svetlana as she perused the contents of the
chip. Three infantry regiments, an artillery regiment, two recon
battalions, a combat engineer battalion and the assault landing
battalion, all of this adding up to thirty thousand men plus their
equipment -- truly awesome. Throw in three independent Brigade
headquarters groups and you had a large but flexible all-arms force
that really was going to give the lizards a hard time.
Svetlana
paused to get a drink before returning to her contemplation of the
information. The assault-landing battalion was to be her starting
point in this new assignment, and getting to know all about it and
its function was the first step she would be taking. It also looked
like she was going to have to find someone to help develop a tactical
appreciation for the unit because there wasn't one included on the
data chip and as far as she was aware the Confederacy Space Marines
had never tried to organise such a large landing force.
Svetlana
had already spent hours studying the chip and making a list of
questions and possible answers as she'd done so. She'd also spent a
similar amount of time having the AIs dig around in historical
records, both from Earth and amongst the member states of the
Confederacy for any indications of how best to go about invading a
planet, all of this information was stored away ready for her
use.
She figured it would take a week or so after her
initial interview before she was ready for her second interview with
the good Colonel and by then he wouldn't be getting off so easily...
---oOo---
"Well we're here," said the newly promoted
Tribune David ap Rhys standing in the hanger bay of the Colony ship
Diaspora -- a ship he'd almost hijacked a month before and had been
stuck on ever since. Around him several of the five hundred or so
displaced concubines who'd been put into his care were watching the
same moon displayed on the same screen that he was and wondering what
the future held for them -- for David that future was sure to be a
strain.
He was the first Civil Service officer having to
deal with a major loss of life to a combat unit. C Company, 2nd
Battalion of the Neptune Regiment had been wiped out when their
transport ship had crossed paths with a Sa'arm hive ship. Under the
system as it stood the concubines of the company -- being property --
had dropped into his tender clutches and, following various trials
and tribulations now found themselves orbiting a strange moon
numerous light years from their old homes.
David looked
around at his immediate family, still dressed in their illegal Civil
Service grey uniforms, and ushered them back to their own pod for a
chat. "I've got to report to the S1 for this system, a Colonel
Johnson, for a briefing and hopefully a clarification of the orders
we received in Frik. While I'm doing that I want you to keep an eye
on everyone, the last couple of months have been stressful for
everyone and I'm worried about a few of our people. Remember, you
know what the current plan for them is -- they don't -- let slip the
fact that it looks like most of them are going to be dropped on a
planet without sponsors and they'll flip. Only the belief that they
are going to a new home has kept most of them from going over the top
as it is."
He looked around, "I know I keep
saying this but remember it, I don't want to have to replace you so
take care," and with that he picked up his hat and headed for
the transporter station and his date with destiny.
On
Persephone, Svetlana was waiting patiently in the Personnel sections
outer office for her interview with Colonel Johnson -- either he was
late or he was deliberately keeping her waiting -- she hoped it was
the former because the later did not promise good things for her
future.
Svetlana had just started to consider doing
something about the delay when a man in the uniform of the Civil
Service entered the outer office, he looked around, nodded casually
to Svetlana and then crossed to the only occupied desk in the
office.
"Sergeant, I've an appointment with Colonel
Johnson, can you let him know I'm here."
Svetlana
scowled, she had an appointment as well and she didn't expect to be
replaced by some jumped up housemaid. Fortunately before she could
react the door to the Colonel's office opened and Colonel Johnson
made an appearance.
"Major Lebedev, sorry for the
delay," the Colonel said, "I've been waiting for Tribune ap
Rhys to arrive so I can brief the two of you together."
The
Colonel turned so that he was addressing both of the officers,
"Please come inside and I'll let you know what's happening."
He went back into his office and Svetlana and David followed.
"Take
a seat, please," he smiled, "this is probably going to take
awhile so we may as well be comfortable."
The three
of them settled in around a small coffee table and the two junior
officers waited to see what was coming.
"Svetlana,
this is Tribune David ap Rhys of the Civil Service. He was based in
the Neptune system and a short while ago ended up with five hundred
concubines on his books. Since then he's had to leave the system
because the Sa'arm turned up and now he -- and they -- are here."
The Colonel turned to David, "This young lady is Major Svetlana
Sergeyevna Lebedev of the Confed Space Marines and she is currently
earmarked for a training slot on the planet Demeter, the very same
planet to which you have been sent, Tribune."
Colonel
Johnson sat back once he'd made the initial introductions and paused,
allowing his guests time to absorb the information he'd just given
them.
When they both looked back at him he continued,
"Demeter is becoming one of the key colonies in what we hope is
the future of the human race in this part of space. It is far enough
away from the direct route of the Sa'arm invasion to allow us time to
get settled and sort out how future colonies will develop as well as
being a convenient place to site one of the largest military forces
we've yet to raise."
"Major Lebedev has the
plans for the military force that will eventually be calling this
system home, she is tasked with training the initial force and then
setting up the training establishment for the entire force. That
force, Tribune will contain over thirty thousand volunteers, which
means that we can expect to have at least another hundred thousand
concubines on top of that number."
David went to say
something but the Colonel held up his hand, "I know Tribune,
you've heard all this before but this time it will happen, not
overnight and," he turned to Svetlana, "not in the next
couple of years, but it will happen."
There was a
knock on the door and a Sergeant walked in carrying a tray, "Coffee
Sir," he announced before crossing the room and placing the tray
on the coffee table. While that was happening Svetlana and David
glanced at one another and both grimaced slightly, this clearly
wasn't what either of them where expecting and it didn't seem
particularly relevant.
"So what does this mean for
you two?" asked Boris Johnson as if reading their minds. "It's
simple really, but probably one of the most difficult tasks either of
you have ever faced. You are to ensure that the colony on Demeter is
stable and capable of supporting the sort of operations that we
expect it to carry out. Working with Alex Flowers, who is head of the
colony you will make this happen and keep it happening until such
time as the Sa'arm are defeated."
"Svetlana I
know you have questions coming out of your ears but we haven't got
time to deal with them now, so record them and I will get the staff
to provide full answers and forward them to you on Demeter." The
Colonel looked at the Tribune, "David I also know that you were
expecting better things for the concubines you've dragged half way
across the galaxy but that is something you will have to deal with
when you get to Demeter. Your original orders still stand in that
regards."
Boris stood and the two juniors did
likewise, "David you will take Svetlana with you and cross over
to Demeter and report to Alex Flowers and take it from there."
He held out his hand, first to David and then to Svetlana, "and
I wish you both the best of luck, I think we're all going to need
it."
---oOo---
"OK, will someone give me a clue," asked
Alex rhetorically as he read the message on the screen once more.
'Why would anyone change his title to planetary Governor -- and
having done so -- what did it mean for him?' His mind was in turmoil
as he tried to digest the information he'd just been given.
"AI,"
he called out, "define the duties of planetary Governor as per
these new orders?"
"The planetary Governor is
responsible for all actions of a civil nature that occur on the
planet," the AI responded. "The Governor sets the rules
which everyone on the planet abides by in all civil matters."
"The Governor is responsible directly to the
Confederacy Council for his actions and those of his planetary
population," the AI concluded.
"So," said
Alex quietly, "while before these orders I was in charge of the
Celeus township, I'm now responsible for the whole planet?"
"Yes
Sir," the AI responded.
"How will this change
when the rest of the Marines arrive?" he asked sharply.
"It
will have no effect, the Governorship is a civil post not a military
one," the AI stated.
"But I'm in the military,"
said Alex almost whining.
"It is as though you are
two people, Lieutenant Flowers is a Marine and responsible for his
actions to those placed over him and Governor Flowers is the head of
this planet and responsible to the Confederacy Council for his
actions. If there is a conflict of interest it will be up to Alex
Flowers to sort it out and set the standards for future actions,"
the AI responded.
"Fuck," exclaimed Alex as he
tried to get a grip on reality. "So what rules have other
Governors established?"
"There are no other
governors at this time," said the AI, sounding smug.
"Okay,"
said Alex, "and what other joys have the powers that be got in
store for me?" he wondered out loud.
"A ship of
refugees is on the way to the planet and should be here at zero nine
hundred hours tomorrow," came the surprising answer.
"And
what am I supposed to do with them?" Alex asked.
"Anything
you like, they belong to this planet as soon as they arrive. They are
accompanied by Tribune David ap Rhys of the Civil Service and Major
Svetlana Sergeyevna Lebedev of the Confed Space Marines who will give
further details regarding the future of the planet
Demeter."
Suspicion flared in Alex, "These
refugees, are they drones?"
"Yes Sir," the
AI answered.
"Do they have sponsors?" Alex
asked.
"No Sir, their sponsors have been declared
missing after an encounter with a Sa'arm hive ship."
Alex
shut his eyes and groaned, taking a deep breath he tried again, "How
many volunteers and how many drones will there be on the planet once
these people have landed."
"The figures are not
available at this time as the make up of the Marine training
contingent hasn't been specified," the AI hedged.
"OK,
make an estimate of the figures." Alex demanded.
"These
figures are estimates only and should be treated as such,"
stated the AI clearly, "there will be approximately fifty
volunteers with approximately six hundred and fifty drones, of these
approximately ninety are known to be pregnant. They are accompanied
by approximately a hundred children."
"Oh fuck,
we're going to have a slave revolt," muttered Alex. 'Unless I
can come up with something between now and tomorrow morning,' he
thought.
---oOo---
"Governor, the colony ship Diaspora is now in
orbit and requests permission to start landing passengers,"
announced the AI.
Alex looked around the practically empty
pod he'd commandeered and smiled grimly at the hastily provided
seating and occasional tables -- lightly covered in refreshments --
and stood. "Have the Tribune and the Major transported to this
room, then lock all transporter activity between the planet's surface
and the ship," he ordered.
The portable transporter
terminus -- the same as those used during extractions -- glowed and a
tall, dark complexioned man in the grey uniform of the Civil Service
stepped out, his collar insignia that of a Lieutenant Colonel -- or
Tribune. He was followed immediately by an equally impressive woman
in the uniform of the Space Marines. Alex -- in the uniform of a
Marine Lieutenant -- came to attention and put up a salute and then
waited to see what would happen.
What happened was a look
of confusion between the two new arrivals and then both of them
returned the salute.
"Welcome to Demeter," said
Alex as he dropped is hand. "Shall we make ourselves
comfortable," he looked from one to the other, "I think we
could be here for some time."
The three of them sat
down and Alex, feeling that he was the host, started in, "As I'm
sure you've guessed I'm Alex Flowers. I'm supposed to be running this
place but we've only been here for a month and there hasn't been a
lot for me to do. Yesterday I was informed that I'm now the Governor
for the whole planet and -- before you ask -- there are no rules or
precedents for a Governor's duties. I understand that you have -- is
it information or instructions -- for me?"
David
looked at Svetlana -- who just stared back -- looking as confused as
the Civil Service agent did.
"Do you want to go
first?" David asked Svetlana, who declined the offer.
David
grinned at her before turning back to Alex. "I'm David ap Rhys,"
he said, "and the first thing I'd suggest is that we dispense
with ranks and titles, otherwise we'll just tie ourselves in knots."
He got nodded agreement from the other two.
"Right,
I've got five hundred plus concubines up in orbit with no one to look
after them. I was told," he said with a cynical grin, "that
you -- Alex -- would sort them out, how I'm not sure?"
David
turned to the female Marine and indicated it was her turn.
"As
I'm sure you already know Alex, I'm Svetlana Lebedev and I'm here as
the training officer, initially for the volunteers that came with you
but -- in the future -- it will be for all the Marines who are
earmarked for this planet."
"I don't suppose
you've any idea how many that will be?" Alex asked diffidently,
he'd already had his expectations changed so many times that a new
number wouldn't be that much of a surprise.
Svetlana
fished a data chip out of a pocket and held it up, "The latest
plan," she said with a knowing look. "This calls for thirty
thousand troops here plus a full Air Wing on Persephone, that'll give
you -- call it -- around a hundred and fifty thousand people all told
on the planet."
"A hundred and twenty thousand
concubines," said Alex quietly.
"And…?"
prompted David.
Alex looked at David, "Do you think
that many slaves are going to stay as slaves when their masters are
away?" Alex looked over at Svetlana, "How long do you think
it would be before there was a slave revolt?"
Svetlana
and David stared at Alex as though he'd suddenly grown two heads. He
took note of their looks and continued, "Oh yes, I've given this
a lot of thought and I'm not very impressed -- which is pretty
worrying -- when you consider that we're out here fighting for our
lives. I mean, have either of you thought about the rules we're
operating under?"
His question was greeted with
silence and more puzzled looks.
"I'll try to
explain," Alex said. "When I asked the AI what the rules
were I was told that they would be whatever I made them. I then asked
who I was responsible to and the answer that came back was to the
Confederacy council, not Earth or the military command or even the
United Nations, just the council. I spent a large part of last night
going round in circles with the AI and as I understand it the
Confederacy is made up of member races - us - the Darjee - and so on.
Each occupied planet is given a seat on the Confederacy Council
though -- in most cases -- a race would elect one member to represent
them on the Council. The Thring, for example have eight occupied
planets but take up only one seat on the council, albeit with eight
votes. Now we humans are going to end up with at least a dozen
planets and each planet -- unless it agrees otherwise -- is a
sovereign member of the Council and entitled to a seat there and a
say in the decision making process."
Alex glanced up
to see both that David and Svetlana seemed to be engrossed in what he
was saying.
"Now I know," he continued, "that
the Americans were the lead nation back on Earth, and that the
Chinese have the largest number of bodies out here but no one seems
to be leading us politically. Out here everyone is running around,
obeying military orders and fighting the Sa'arm wherever we find them
but who is looking after our new homes while we are doing that?"
"The concubines are going to be required to fight
just like those who get left back on Earth -- those haven't been
extracted -- but that will just give slaves weapons if we leave
everything as it is now and -- to add to the confusion -- you arrive
here bringing even more changes."
Alex paused for a
moment, "And as if that wasn't enough it appears that I'm
expected to be two people in one body -- the Governor and the
Lieutenant -- and whatever I do sets the standards for any other
Governor that comes along."
He slumped back in his
chair, "So what do you think -- are we up shit creek sans paddle
or is there really a plan and I just can't find it?"
David
actually smiled at the younger man, "Welcome to my world,"
he said, "the Civil Service is a prime example of what you're
talking about though I hadn't given it that much thought. We weren't
planned for and have no real authority -- I believe the only reason
we have a uniform is that as in Germany in World War Two, if you
didn't have a uniform you were ignored. Everything any member of my
Service has ever achieved has been by force of character, and that
includes me dragging these concubines around with me. The fact that
we've ended up here just goes to show how little planning is actually
going on -- concubines without sponsors has got to be a major fuck
up. I don't know about Svetlana here but I'm willing to help you in
anyway I can if it means that the people up there have a safe home to
go to."
The two men turned towards the Marine Major
and waited.
"I'm not sure what you intend to do and I
won't go along with anything that stops us killing lizards, after all
that is what we actually volunteered for," she said. "By
the same token I was ordered to volunteer by the Kremlin and then
found that they had no say in what I did or where I went -- most of
them haven't even been able to volunteer to get out here so I've
pretty much forgotten about them. The Confederacy Armed Forces do
seem to be getting their act together," she said holding up the
data chip," but whether that's a general thing or just a few
good men, as the saying goes is hard to decipher. What are you
actually planning Alex?"
"Nothing at the
moment," said Alex, "I've got a few ideas and a lot of
hopes but an actual plan is noticeable by its absence." He took
a breath, "the first thing -- and that happens now -- is to
change the status of the drones. That may annoy a few of the
volunteers, especially those who will be coming along later but I'm
not prepared to have armed slaves running around when I'm not here to
keep an eye on them. To do that I guess I'll have to form a second
class citizen," he held up his hand as Svetlana moved forward,
"who will have exactly the same rights as a volunteer with one
exception - they will not be allowed to leave the planet."
"Why
that limit?" asked David.
"Because the original
purpose of CAP testing was to protect the Confederacy from the
results of letting us in. Allowing failures -- which is how the AIs
see anyone with a low CAP score -- to run around the galaxy
willy-nilly isn't going to be allowed," replied Alex.
"I
actually believe we'll end up with three classes of people on the
planet," said Alex. "Volunteers -- who will be mostly
regular forces personnel -- and can come and go pretty much as they
like. The second class will be those concubines who volunteer to
serve in the Militia, they will have all the privileges that a
volunteer has without being able to leave the planet. The third class
will be those concubines who won't serve in the Militia and they will
remain as they are now, effectively property."
"That
sounds doable I suppose," said David, "but what happens to
my concubines?"
"Well you ask them first if they
want to serve in the planetary Militia," said Alex, " and
if they do then they become citizens of the planet and will be
entitled to a pod and -- if available -- two concubines just like a
regular volunteer. If your people don't want to serve in the Militia
then they stay as they are, as concubines. After the new citizens
have had their pick of the concubines on the ship the rest will get
shared out amongst the original volunteers -- that way they will have
a sponsor -- and if a sponsor ends up with a dozen drones so be it,"
concluded Alex.
"What about in the future?"
asked Svetlana.
"Every concubine who is sent to this
planet will get the same offer," said Alex firmly. "And it
won't be a one time offer either -- every year on the anniversary of
their arrival here any concubine can ask to serve in the Militia and
thus become a citizen of the planet."
"What if
they change their mind," asked David, "about serving in the
Militia I mean?"
"I haven't decided how long a
term of service will be yet but it won't be short and anyone who
quits -- and they can -- will revert to being a drone," said
Alex. "As their sponsors will have replaced them they'll then
fall back into your tender care," he said with a smile.
"Likewise anyone who completes a term of service in the Regulars
-- or the Militia -- will become a citizen and will be entitled to
all the rights and privileges that the volunteers have now."
Alex looked at the two volunteers, "So the only way a concubine
will leave this planet is if a sponsor takes them away or they
complete a term of service and become citizens of the
Confederacy."
Alex looked bemused for a moment, “I’m
still trying to figure out what the pension rights are for all of us
as the AI’s aren’t being very forthcoming at the moment. So
that side of things is still a bit vague, no doubt it will become
clear in time - hopefully before we retire,” he concluded with a
grin.
Svetlana shrugged off his attempt at humour and
asked, "What if the volunteer doesn't want to give up his
concubines?"
"Then he doesn't bring them here,"
answered Alex, adding snidely, "he can do what he likes with
them, after all they're only property, but they will not be on this
planet. Which could cause problems for other people but not on this
planet."
David thought for a moment and asked, "Does
this service have to be in the Militia?"
Alex guessed
where David was going and responded, "You're thinking of
recruiting people for the Civil Service, I suppose that could be an
option but I wouldn't want to push it too hard, some people might see
it as the easy way out."
David smiled, "If they
do I'll let them speak to my concubines, that'll change their minds."
When Alex looked puzzled he continued, "I've had them running
around in Civil Service uniforms -- completely unofficial -- and
helping me out for the last couple of months. They'll tell you just
how easy an option my job is."
Alex nodded, "Yes,"
he said thoughtfully, "I can see how that would be." He
paused then nodded more firmly, "Yes they could do their time in
the Civil Service, that would count just as much as serving in the
Militia, we may even have to expand your role to cover all
non-military matters." When Alex saw the look on Davids’
face he added, “or maybe not,” before he turned to the
other Marine, "What do you think Svetlana?"
"Sounds
a bit like the old Roman Republic," she said, "serve your
time in the Legions and gain full rights otherwise do without."
She shrugged, which David noted as being a particularly impressive
motion, and finished, "I don't see how it will make any
difference to me, I've got no concubines and I'll be working with the
volunteers so go ahead. If nothing else it should be fun to
watch."
"The way I see it it's more likely to be
wet and dirty," said Alex. "I envisage using the Militia
like the Red Army in China, fighting and training when they have to
and then as a labour force for 'community projects' at other times.
Alex turned back to David, "Given that, how many of the people
up there do you think will volunteer?"
David thought
for a moment before answering, "You know what, I haven't a
clue," he said. "I guess those with young children or who
are pregnant will give it a miss but the rest of them -- it would
just be a guess and a wild guess at that."
"Well,
I press ganged all the concubines that were on my colony ship into
the Militia before I got here so I guess I'll have to reverse that
and then see how many of them will actually volunteer now," said
Alex. "D'you want to get back to your ship David and get things
organised and I'll do the same down here. Once we know how many
Militia volunteers we've got we can sort out the disposition of the
concubines amongst them and the rest of us volunteers before we get
the pods landed and new homes set up."
David stood
and held out his hand, Alex took it and shook. "I'll get things
in motion and call you later with the results," said David as he
stepped towards the transporter terminus. Svetlana joined him and as
they stepped through she thought, 'Boris was right, young Mister
Flowers could be interesting to be around.'
---oOo---
"OK people listen up," barked
Svetlana.
Around her the small contingent of Marines that
were to make up the training team stopped what they were doing and
turned their attention to their boss.
"Grab a seat,"
she said, "this could take some time and I don't want any of you
falling over with boredom."
This raised a few smiles
as the Marines found a place to relax and listen.
Svetlana
looked around at her people and pondered their possible responses to
the announcement she was about to make. The eight Marines she'd
bought with her were all combat veterans and experienced instructors
as well, though none of them had ever faced a task this large before.
Whether the fact that their concubines were still on Persephone would
play a part in their reaction was yet to be seen.
"I've
just been dirt-side and had a chat with the Planetary Governor and
he's told me about his new way of doing things," she grinned at
the groan this statement brought forth. "This guy is actually
serious," she said, "and I'm not sure how his orders are
going to affect us."
She glanced around and saw she
had their attention totally, "I'll run through his ideas and
then ask for comments, try to stay quiet until I've finished. He has
decided that all concubines will be given the option to opt out of
slavery by volunteering to serve in the Planetary Militia. If they do
decide to volunteer they will effectively have the same status as we
do, including the right to own their own slaves. This chance will be
offered to all concubines who become resident on the planet and will
be repeated every year." She glanced around, "Now does
anybody have anything to say?"
There was a moment of
stunned silence then a lot of garbled noise before Master Gunnery
Sergeant Jacob Archer; the senior non-com spoke up clearly.
"Does
he think he can make it stick?" he asked in an interested
tone.
"He believes so," said Svetlana. "He's
looked at the rules of the Confederacy and found that each planet is
actually a political entity and can do pretty much what it likes. His
big worry is that once the concubines are armed -- and they will be
eventually -- that they will stage a slave revolt when we are away
killing dickheads. What he's proposing is that any concubine who
volunteers will serve in the Planetary Militia and eventually gain
citizen rights. To me it seems like an easy way of separating the
sheep from the wolves and protecting his, and our, backs."
"What
does it mean for us?" asked Master Sergeant Isabella Kellogg,
the youngest woman present.
"Basically if you bring
your concubines here," Svetlana waved in the vague direction of
the planet, "you have a chance of losing them."
"Just
like that?" Isabella said, with disgust.
"Pretty
much," said Svetlana. "I don't see all the concubines
volunteering and a lot of them will quit after they've volunteered
when they find out what is involved. This tub is full of concubines
without sponsors, how many of them do you think will volunteer to
fight? Those that don't will become fair game in the cattle market so
I doubt if you would be without for long."
"He's
planning on doing this to everyone who gets posted here?" asked
Staff Sergeant Joshua Ward, the units' admin clerk.
"Everyone,"
said Svetlana with a grin. "Which should be interesting the
first time a General gets here, but according to the planetary AI he
has the authority to do it and having met him I reckon he's got the
balls to follow through."
First Sergeant Emma
Fletcher said quietly, "Well I'm going to give my two the
option. If they want to put their lives on the line for a chance of
freedom I'm not going to stand in their way."
Michael
Chandler, another First Sergeant scowled, "You can do that Emma
but I'm keeping mine, even if I have to do without, while I'm
here."
Before things could escalate Svetlana called a
stop, "The choice is an individual one but they're the rules
we'll be operating under so get used to them. Let Gunny know if you
want your concubines shipped here," she looked over at Jacob
Archer and got a nod of agreement. "We go down tomorrow to start
setting up so get a good night's sleep and I'll see you all at oh
eight hundred."
---oOo---
Tribune David ap Rhys settled into the armchair he'd
found for his pod and waited for his family to gather around him, He
was about to offer them all their freedom and he wasn't sure that he
really wanted to, he'd grown to enjoy being a slave owner. When he'd
been listening to Alex Flowers it had been an impersonal thing, then
the option of the Civil Service counting as a way of gaining
citizenship came up and now it was very personal indeed. Who in his
family was going to take this chance and leave him?
Stuart
was the last to arrive, carrying a fully loaded tray as usually, once
the drinks were dispensed David cleared his throat to gain their
attention and began. "We are about to start a new life here on
Demeter and it opens up a lot of possibilities," he glanced at
his concubines, "especially for you."
"The
Governor of the planet, his name is Alex Flowers by the way, is
instigating a new set of rules for concubines and they will affect
you and your life here." David found himself having to swallow
to keep going, "He has decided that all concubines will be given
the chance to volunteer to serve in the Planetary Militia and, if
they do volunteer, they will -- after a suitable period of time --
become citizens of the Confederacy."
David glanced
up and saw he had the undivided attention of his family, "While
the concubine is doing this service they will be treated the same as
if they'd had a high enough CAP score to join the regular forces.
That means a pod, concubines of their own and all the privileges that
go with it. The down side is that if the concubine fails to complete
their service -- for whatever reason -- they will revert to being a
concubine but without a sponsor."
David continued,
"I've asked the Governor -- and he has agreed -- that for you,"
his sweeping eyes made it clear it was just the family, "this
service could be with me, in the Civil Service." He paused to
look around, "and I would be more than happy, for all you, to
take this opportunity to move forward."
Megan was the
first to react and asked, "Do we have to?"
"No
Megan, there's no compulsion involved. If you don't want to volunteer
then you'll stay as you are now, my concubine," said
David.
Charlotte piped up, "But if we volunteer and
then change our minds we don't come back here?"
"Normally,
no," David answered, "but in your case," he said with
a smile, "I'd take you back if there was a space
available."
"When do we have to decide?"
asked Daniella looking very serious.
David fought to keep
his smile in place, "Pretty soon," he answered, "the
Governor wants all concubines to be offered the chance before they
land and that means I've got to make this offer to everyone else on
the ship. I just wanted you to know about it first and have a chance
to make your own decisions without getting caught up in the hubbub
that is going to happen when 'they' have to make a choice." The
way David said that indicated his feelings towards a lot of the
concubines that he'd had to look after on the ship.
"Well
I'll be staying with you," declared Katherine bluntly, "I've
helped out with everything that has been going on, as best I could,
but I doubt if I could do that sort of job all the time and being a
soldier just isn't for me."
Stuart looked up, "I'd
like to stay as well, if you'll have me?" Which surprised David
a little, he'd half expected Stuart to be the first to
leave.
"Stuart, I'll be happy to keep you," said
David looking around, "and that goes for the rest of you. I'm
not throwing you out, I'm just letting you know that the option is
there and if you want to go for it I'll help in any way I can. What I
will say is think about it tonight and tomorrow -- after breakfast --
let me know your decision."
---oOo---
Alex utilised the AI to collect all of the planet side
volunteers in one place and once he'd got them settled he launched
straight into his sales pitch.
"For those of you who
haven't been keeping up with local events I am pleased," he
said, "to announce that I've been stuck with the job of being
Planetary Governor. If any of you wonderful people would like to
volunteer to take my place I'll be more than happy to step aside."
He paused while his words sank in and to see if there was any
response.
Eventually Rebecca Shannon, who just happened to
be his lover sang out, "Get on with it Alex, none of us are
stupid enough to take on that job."
"Yes, well,"
stuttered a blushing Alex, "Right, in that case I'll let you
know my first decree, and you'll find it a bitch, I'm telling you."
He took a deep breath and continued, "With immediate effect the
Planetary Militia, as it stands is dissolved..."
Before
he could get any further Doug Rutledge and Maxine McMillan jumped to
their feet.
"Sit down!" Alex barked, "You
may ask questions when I have finished. Until then, sit and
listen."
The two former cadets slowly sat back down
not sure that they were doing the right thing but discipline was too
firmly ingrained to be ignored and Alex had been their Colonel.
"As
I said, the Planetary Militia in its current form is dissolved. In
its place I will be authorising the raising of a new Militia manned
entirely by volunteers from amongst the drones. Any drone that
volunteers for service in the Militia will be granted the same rights
we have now as volunteers, with the exception that they would not be
allowed to leave the planet. At the end of their term of service
they, like we do, will become full citizens of the Confederacy, with
all the benefits that go with that status."
He licked
his lips and looked across his audience, trying to gauge their
response. "Anyone who fails to complete their term of service
will drop back to being a drone and as such will be property, as they
are now. This right to volunteer will be offered to any drone or
concubine or whatever you want to call them when they are sent to
this planet. It will also be repeated every twelve months so a drone
will always know that they have a way of breaking away from their
sponsor without getting killed in the process."
He looked
around and waited for the questions, at first he thought there
wouldn't be any but realised that he hadn't told them he'd finished.
"Oh, so are there any questions?"
Dougie held up
his hand, "Yes Dougie?"
"Why?"
"As
we discussed on the ship on the way here, I've always been worried
about having armed slaves, because let's face it -- that is what a
drone is -- running around on the planet when we're away fighting the
Sa'arm." His comment received several knowing nods, "Well,
this is the way I've come up with to head that off," he
said.
"Everyone will be able to volunteer and thus
improve their status, if they don't then it is their decision and
they have to live with it. It also separates the wolves from the
sheep, which in the long run, is just as useful for keeping the
peace."
"Do you think we'll get enough
volunteers to man the Militia?" asked Maxine.
"I'm
not sure, it's one of the things that is going to have to be watched
but with another five hundred concubines in orbit already and upwards
of a hundred thousand earmarked for the planet I think there is a
good chance we'll succeed. Whether there are enough drones to go
around is another matter but I'll deal with that when the matter
arises but don't be surprised if you end up short."
Kevin
Hayles, one of the later arrivals muttered, "Thank God for
that," a little louder than he thought and his comment was
greeted by a mixture of laughter and derisive snorts.
Alex,
smiling, calmed everyone down. "Now I want you all to go back to
your pods and check with the AI that you know exactly what the offer
is and its limits, then I want you to put the offer to your drones."
Alex looked across his audience again, "We need to know what
they want to do by tomorrow morning so we can start shuffling people
about and making sure we've got enough homes for everyone."
"Hang
on a sec," yelled Paul Teesdale. "What if I don't want to
make the offer?"
Alex looked disdainful; "The
offer is going to be made. I just felt it would be better if it came
from you rather than the AI or me. Don't you agree?" he
asked.
"Well, yes I suppose it would," said the
older man, not looking at all happy but not prepared to go against
the authority of the young man.
"How many of your
drones do you think will volunteer, when they know what it's for?"
asked Alex sound conciliatory.
"One, possibly two,"
replied Paul after a moments thought.
"And how many
would that leave you with?"
"One or two."
"So
you'd still have a slave and the difference will probably be made up
from those on the ship," said Alex, "and these people would
have taken on that role twice so they really shouldn't give you any
trouble. Now wouldn't that be an improvement?"
Paul
smiled weakly, "I guess it would," he said, "I just
wasn't thinking things through."
"No problem,
now let's all go home and see how things pan out," said Alex,
finally bringing the meeting to a conclusion.
---oOo---
Paul Teesdale sat back and looked at what he'd come to
regard as his small family and wondered how they were going to react
to the offer he was about to make. He guessed that Erin would jump at
the chance and figured that Eleanor would stick with him. It was
Georgia he was unsure about and it was that uncertainty that made him
nervous. Still, sitting here and dithering wasn't going to get the
job done so he metaphorically squared his shoulders and
began.
"Ladies," he declared, "Our glorious
leader is changing the rules again!" He couldn't help but make
it sound sarcastic, he glanced around and saw that he had everyone's
attention, "His latest edict applies to everyone on the planet
and, as with his original Militia proposal, will impact on you
directly."
Around the dining table the women prepared
themselves for the worst, ever since the transport ship had arrived
in orbit there had been all sorts of conflicting rumours concerning
its cargo and how that was going to affect life on the planet.
"He
has declared that everyone will be able to volunteer to serve in the
Militia, it's no longer compulsory. If you do volunteer then he will
elevate your status to something similar to mine, except you'll be
stuck on this planet. If you don't want to play soldier then you can
remain just as you are now, without messing around with the Militia."
Paul took a deep breath and looked around the dining table again,
"What I want you to do is to have a chat with the AI and look at
all the implications of the proposal and then let me know your
decision tomorrow at breakfast."
"Whatever you
decide," he said, "needs to be the best for you,
personally. Don't let anything that has happened so far influence
you." He looked around again, making sure to catch the eye of
each woman, "I want you to know that I'd be more than happy if
you all wanted to stay with me but I'll understand if you want to set
out on your own."
Eleanor looked across the table,
ignoring the other women, "Paul, I don't care what the options
are, I'll be staying with you." She blushed as she continued, "I
want to have your children."
Paul stood and moved
around the table and then dropped to one knee beside Eleanor, "and
I want you to have them," he said, hugging her to him. After a
moment or two he looked at the other two women, "and that goes
for you as well, even if you wish to leave."
He rose
to his feet, "Now, go and relax, check with the AI and think
about the future." He smiled, "and, while you're doing
that, I'm going to relax here and get pleasantly drunk."
Across
town, if the settlement could be described as a town, Kevin Hayles
watched his drones as the AI concluded its briefing on the new rules
and how they applied.
"Well you've all heard what's
happening," he said, "So, what are your initial thoughts."
He turned to the only other male in the room, "Parker?"
"I'm
going for it," the dusky skinned man declared. "That's no
disrespect to you Kevin but I've been given a new body," he
said, waving his hand up and down to indicate the two metres of
muscle and sinew he now occupied, "and my get-up-and-go is back
with a vengeance. This is the ideal opportunity to become someone,"
he grimaced, "which is more than I managed back on
Earth."
Kevin nodded, "What about you Keira?"
he asked the oldest woman in his family.
"Not me,"
she said with feeling, "I wasn't happy doing the little training
we've already done, let alone doing that for ever. Besides," she
said batting her eyelashes at Kevin, "you'll need someone to
look after you."
Kevin chuckled, "That's true,"
he said. "What about you Sarah, how do you feel about
this?"
Sarah glanced around the room, "I'd like
to give it a go," she looked down at the table, "I never
thought I'd say that but, unlike Keira, I loved the training we've
done, it made me feel, oh I don't know, free maybe, or independent.
Whatever," she said looking up again, "I want that and if I
have to volunteer then that's what I'll do."
Before
Kevin could ask, Daisy McDonough jumped in, "Me too," she
said, "I don't want to be dependent on anyone else to defend me
when those dickheads arrive," she snapped her head to Kevin,
"Sorry, that didn't come out quite right."
"No
problem Daisy, I'll just take it that you'll be happy to fight,"
Kevin said smiling at the most impulsive member of his family. "What
about you Lauren, will you be volunteering."
Lauren
may have been a teenager, even if she now inhabited a fully augmented
body, but she also had the lowest CAP score in the family and really
was the only sheep in a family of wolves. She shook her head, "Not
me, I'm happy here." She looked shyly, "and I'm sure you'll
protect me if I need protecting," she said to Kevin. Who
promptly blushed, triggering a bout of giggling from the other
members of his family.
"Of course I will, petal,"
he said when he got a grip of himself, "of course I will."
As he finished, Keira slipped an arm around him and gave him a
hug.
In the Flowers-Shannon household things got a
bit hectic. Having twenty-one people there made things confusing at
the best of times, but once things were organised, starting with
putting the children to bed, it quietened down considerably. Rebecca
and Fred were familiar with what Alex had proposed and worked
together to brief the others on their new option.
Deciding
what to do was much more difficult and many discussions got a little
heated before everyone had decided.
Perhaps the easiest
decisions applied to Lilian, Mabel and Socorro, who all had children
and declined the chance to volunteer. As Lilian pointed out, her son
would be fourteen in two years time and she could reconsider then, if
she wanted to.
Lydia and Melissa, who'd joined the family
after stowing away, were the first to declare an interest, which Alex
didn't find surprising. After all, their drive and determination had
got them off Earth in the first place.
Fred Carroll and
Mercedes Pierce had been driving forces in the Militia and wanted to
continue so they too volunteered, but they were only joined by
Latonya Murphy and Marianne Castro. All this left Rebecca and Alex
with nine drones and three children in their extended family and, of
course, Sister Melanie.
Alex looked at Rebecca and nodded
towards the Sister, Rebecca mouthed back, "You."
"Melanie,"
he called, dropping her honorific for the first time since he'd met
her. "We've got a proposal for you that we think you'll
like."
The former Sister looked skittish, as she had
been for the last couple of weeks, still finding it difficult to fit
into the new society. "Yes?"
"Yes,"
said Alex, patting the seat beside him.
Melanie crossed
the room, a bit like a prisoner going to the gallows, and sat next to
her owner, because, despite her high CAP score, that is what Alex
was.
"Rebecca and I know you won't volunteer to
fight," he said, "and we all know that you are not really
suited to be a drone." Alex shushed her before she could say
anything, "Listen, just a little longer, please." he
requested.
Melanie settled back down so Alex continued,
"You know the work that the Civil Service does, do you think
you'd be better suited to that role?"
Melanie thought
for a moment before nodding.
"Rebecca and I agree, so
what I've arranged, if you want to, is that you can 'volunteer' to
become a member of the Civil Service. You'd be based on this planet
and work with David ap Rhys, the Tribune who arrived on the ship
upstairs." He looked into Melanie's eyes, "You'd be
entitled to your own drones and when you've completed your time in
that job you'd be a free citizen of the Confederacy, just like the
rest of us."
Alex sat there and waited for a
response, across the room Rebecca watched on silently, hoping that
the Sister would have the courage to break free from the melancholy
that had been gripping her.
"Are you throwing me
out?" she asked.
"Not in the slightest,"
said Alex, "if you don't want to do this then you can stay here,
just as you are now."
"If I go, will that be the
end of 'us'?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears.
Rebecca
answered, "NO! Definitely not! You will have your own family,
but you will always be part of ours," she stated categorically,
Alex, for his part, nodded his agreement.
"Do I have
to decide now?" asked the distraught woman.
"No,
not now, but you need to decide very soon," said Alex, giving
her a hug.
"I will," whispered Melanie, enjoying
the feeling of the young mans arm around her, a feeling that she also
found upsetting because of its sinful connotations.
John
Kam felt truly relaxed, which didn't come as any surprise having just
been on the receiving end of a blowjob from Libby Simpson. A blowjob
that had been freely given as part of an evening's entertainment for
the family which had commenced as soon as six-year-old Ping had been
put to bed.
This had quickly become a family tradition --
each evening -- after they got finished with their allotted tasks,
they'd shower and then settle in together for a cuddle, talking a
little and the girls would gently make love to the man of the house.
No particular routine was followed and John would make love to
whoever took his fancy. His favourite, though you wouldn't be able to
tell from his actions, was the Westerner, Bethany Williams, whom he'd
inherited on the journey to their colony.
Feeling sleepy,
he was just about to drop off when the AI called him, "You asked
to be reminded when it was time to brief your family." Scowling,
at the interruption more than the task, John sat up, which attracted
the attention of everyone else.
"I am sure that all
of you have heard the rumours concerning the new arrivals and how
they will impact on your position here," he began, "I can
tell you, that as far as I am concerned they will have no effect."
This was greeted by happy smiles all around.
"However,
you are being offered a chance to change your status," continued
John, "in that you can volunteer to serve in the Militia."
"We
already serve in the Militia," said Libby from her position by
his knees.
"Sorry, I should have started by telling
you that you no longer serve in the Militia," he said. "Alex
has decided that rather than telling you that you must, he will allow
people who want to, to volunteer to serve. If they do then they will
be granted certain rights, a home of their own, concubines, just like
regular volunteers."
"And if we don't want to?"
asked Bethany.
"Then you stay as you are now, my
concubines," he smiled, "to do with as I please."
"Ohh
goody," said Bethany crawling towards him.
"Wait,"
he stopped her, "this is important for all of you, and you need
to think about it. If you volunteer you will not be a 'slave', you
will move up in respect."
Fen, the oldest of the
Chinese drones, asked, "Do you wish us to volunteer?"
"No,
I want you to be happy and if that means staying with me then I'm
very happy to have you, but it is only right that you are given the
opportunity to volunteer, if you want to."
Fen looked
across at Wei and then down to Mei, a silent conversation took place
and then she looked at Bethany, who responded immediately, "Not
me, I'm staying here," she said.
Libby didn't wait
for Fen to ask, "I'm staying too," she declared.
"Then
it is decided," said Fen, "we are all staying for as long
as you'll keep us."
John Kam opened his arms and all
of his family joined him in a very happy group hug.
---oOo---
Breakfast in the ap Rhys pod had been a solemn affair,
made more so when Daniella announced that she intended to volunteer.
David gave her his blessing and then looked on as the other women,
who'd all declined the opportunity, hugged and kissed the thirty-nine
year old.
David was finally forced, by necessity, to end
the meal and get on with the day's business.
"Right,
if I can have your attention," he said, "today is going to
be difficult," he announced. "As soon as we've cleaned up
I'm going to inform the rest of the concubines about this offer."
He looked around, "For now, I'd like all of you to continue
wearing the uniform and acting as you have been."
He
glanced at Daniella, "Danny, if you're quick off the mark, you
can pick your concubines from anyone who says they're not
volunteering." He had a sudden thought, "Do you have anyone
in mind?"
"No," she said, shaking her head
for emphasis, "I'd never even thought about leaving."
"OK
then, let's get ourselves sorted and then stage a meeting." He
switched his attention, "AI, inform all concubines to be on the
main deck in thirty minutes, no exceptions."
The
meeting was long, because of the number of questions, most of which
had been answered in the initial briefing. Then it got fraught as
those who volunteered for Planetary Service set about picking their
concubines. The biggest problem was the lack of men, which was an
unusual occurrence for humans after they had been extracted.
As
David pointed out, numerous times, there would soon be lots of
Marines on the planet and if those who ended up in all female
households needed sex he, personally, would arrange it.
In
the end, of the four hundred and forty-five concubines who'd been
handed over to the Civil Service on Neptune, ninety-three of them
volunteered for service in the Planetary Militia. They accounted for
one hundred and eighty-six of the spare concubines when they set up
their families.
Of the thirty-seven concubines who'd been
employed in the Neptune brothel, eight volunteered for service and
picked their concubines from amongst their fellow workers. This still
left another ten concubines to be added to the list without
sponsors.
Daniella was quick off the mark; especially
after the prompting David had given her and grabbed her two
concubines before the other volunteers realised that they should be
picking. In the end she settled on Stephanie Salle, who was already
pregnant and Donald Pritchard, a young man who looked good without
any enhancements.
All told implementing Governor Flower's
edict raised another one hundred and three family groups for the
Demeter settlement. Of more importance to David ap Rhys was the
remaining number of unallocated concubines, these where his
responsibility, all one hundred and seventy-four of them. Along with
their children, both those running around and those yet to be
born.
His despondency at the numbers was relieved somewhat
when Alex informed him that a fair proportion of the concubines would
be taken up by the new families being formed within the settlers
already on the planet.
It took the best part of a week,
with a fair amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth, to resolve most
of the issues and to get Diaspora's pods to the planetary surface.
Locating the pods had been one problem they'd solved in their drive
to integrate the new arrivals with the original colonists.
That
this was the third time in five years that some of these families had
been relocated was another cause of stress but the idea that this
should, hopefully, be the final time settled most people's
nerves.
Finally the three leading lights in the new
colony, Alex, David and Svetlana met again.
"That
wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be," said
Alex.
"I think you were lucky with your timing,"
said David, "Everything has been so chaotic on the ship, and
here on the planet, that this was just one more annoyance. People
hadn't got any idea what normal was so they didn't struggle against
the change."
"David's right," added
Svetlana. "My people had the option to leave their slaves back
at base so they could decide to ignore your idea if they wanted to."
She smiled at the younger man, "I'm looking forward to the first
time you try to invoke this rule on a General," she said, her
smile becoming predatory.
Alex grimaced, "I'm not
looking forward to it," he admitted, "but it will happen
and if the AIs are right I can make it stick." He shrugged, "but
that's for the future," he said. "How are we set up
now?"
David went first, "I've got sixty-five
concubines left without sponsors," he said, "What do you
want me to do with them?"
Alex frowned, "You
said you used some of them in a brothel on Neptune, do you think we
need one here?"
Svetlana jumped in, "My people
are expecting one," she said, "It's why a couple of them
have decided to leave their concubines on Persephone."
"David?"
queried Alex.
"I'd rather not," he said, "but
it has become the normal occupation for a concubine who can't find a
sponsor." He paused for a moment, thinking, before continuing,
"I'll ask them, I'm sure some of them will volunteer.
Alex
raised an eyebrow in query.
"You haven't been here
long enough to realise it yet but your sex drive, especially that of
your concubines, has been jacked up," said David by way of an
explanation. "Frustration can be a pretty good motivator.
Another option is the concubines that are in female only families,
often the sponsor will lend out one of the concubines to get them
pregnant." David paused again before nodding to himself, "I'll
set up a brothel, it won't be as big as the one on Neptune but it
will do for now." He looked up, "What about the rest?"
"I
guess the best thing is to share them out amongst the regulars,"
said Alex.
"Regulars?" asked Svetlana.
Alex
shrugged, "I was trying to decide how to label everyone, so we
knew which groups we were talking about. The best I could come up
with was 'Regulars' for the full Confederacy volunteers, 'Citizens'
for those who volunteered once they got here and 'Drones' for those
who were owned. If you've got any better suggestions I'd be pleased
to hear them?"
"Not me," said David as
alongside him Svetlana shook her head negatively.
"OK,
it'll do for now," said Alex. "How many of the drones do
you think you'll need for the brothel?"
"Probably
half of them," said David, "that'll leave you thirty to
spread around."
"Less than one a family,"
said Alex nodding.
"Those are just minor details
really," said Svetlana, "When do we get on with training,"
she raised an eyebrow, "which is what you're here for
really."
"Yes Ma'am," answered Alex with a
grin. "We'll give them a week to bed in and for you and your
team to set up and then we'll get started."
David
grinned at the two of them, "Well, I'll leave you two warriors
to it and go and sort out my problems."
As David left
the room Svetlana glanced over at Alex, "You know," she
said, "he's a warrior too, he's just trying to deny it."
"Let's
hope he's never forced to remember, then," said Alex as he moved
over to the township map. "I think this is the best place to set
up..."
---oOo---
"Sister Melanie," said David rising from his
chair.
"Just Melanie, Tribune," said the former
Sister.
David raised an eyebrow and Melanie grinned in
response. "It appears that I'm coming back into the real world
and, as such, that title would be more of an hindrance than a help,
or so I believe."
"I see," said David, not
really sure that he did, but he gestured towards a free seat and
waited as Melanie sat. "Alex tells me that you want to try for
the Civil Service, is that right?"
"It's the
sort of thing I've done before," said Melanie, "and I'm not
really a fighter like you," she finished shyly.
David
snorted, "I'm not a fighter, not anymore," he said before
glancing at the pile of work on his desk. "These are my battles
now and, as you can see, it's a battle I'm losing."
Alex
had tipped David off that Melanie might be coming to see him and had
given him a quick resume of her history. "Why don't you tell me
what you've done and we'll see where you can be best used."
Melanie
settled back, "I was a member of the Ursuline Religious Order, a
Catholic Order, dedicated to teaching." She looked at David and
was surprised when he returned her gaze, "I went through
college, sponsored and guided by the Order and ended up a teacher at
St. Genevieve's. I'll admit that I was happy leading young girls back
from the brink, providing a structure for them to follow. Other than
that I've led a very sheltered life."
David looked
the woman before him over and was impressed. The former Sister
Melanie had been the recipient of the full augmentation package, had
as all the concubines who'd come in with Alex Flowers. David had no
idea what she'd been like before but now she looked to be in her
early twenties and was two metres tall. Her body was firm, if not
hard and was well displayed in the universal grey smock that most of
the concubines still wore. It was hard to believe that the sexy woman
before him had been a chaste Nun.
David had a sudden
thought and asked, "What was your CAP score?"
Melanie
blushed and said quietly, "Seven point three."
David
exploded, "Seven point three, why on Earth didn't you
volunteer?"
Melanie raised her eyes, "Because I
wasn't going to fight and there were no other options."
David
scowled, slumping back down in his chair. "There are," he
said, "I took one of them," he paused for a moment, "but
you're right. No one on Earth is talking of anything but fighting and
that really is wrong." He rubbed his temples and mused, out
loud, "I wonder how many others we're losing because of that
attitude?"
Melanie answered him, "I know of at
least four other Sisters who had CAP scores high enough to volunteer
and hadn't. I'm sure that if it was checked you'd find that there
were hundreds, especially in religious orders or the medical
profession that simply could not bring themselves to fight."
After a short pause she continued, "I'm sure there are many who
would gladly join the Exodus if they could be approached and they
would be a major beneficial addition to our population."
"True,"
said David, "whether it will happen is a different
matter."
"It's a shame we can't just go and get
them ourselves, isn't it?" Melanie asked.
David
looked up and smiled, his mind racing, "You know, that might
just be an option," he said, "but not now." He looked
Melanie over once more and after a moment's thought declared,
"Welcome to the Civil Service, Decurion. Lets get you a uniform
and see what task I can give you," he glanced at the pile of
paperwork he still had to wade through, "I could always..."
He
grinned as Melanie shook her head negatively.
---oOo---
Melanie stared at the woman reflected back at her in
the mirror. This time the body was clad in the drab grey uniform of
the Civil Service but it couldn't hide the fact that the woman was
tall, well proportioned and beautiful. The beauty was natural, not
part of the augmentation process and had always been a source of
pride, and therefore trouble, for the religious woman who'd had the
body originally.
Now, full of the raging hormones that the
augmentation process had introduced, it was driving her to
distraction and away from the vows she'd taken, what seemed like a
lifetime ago. Thoughts of children had started to appear in her
dreams and her body was developing an itch that she'd never wanted to
scratch before.
Deep down she knew she needed, as the
saying went, to get laid. That this was in direct conflict with the
last twenty odd years of her life was something she was going to have
to deal with. That Alex and David were clearly, big, strong,
competent men was a temptation that she'd come very close to
succumbing too.
Now, according to David, she had to go and
pick a concubine, not something she was looking forward to.
She
straightened her jacket, again, and despite her misgivings she smiled
and headed for her rendezvous with her new boss.
David led
his new recruit through the transporter and up to the ship and the
remaining concubines from Neptune. As he led Melanie through the ship
he explained how things had panned out for the occupants he'd bought
with him from the former Marine colony. "So now, there are just
women left and most of them have accepted, reluctantly in most cases,
that they are going to end up in the brothel."
Melanie
scowled and David, seeing the look on her face, continued, "That
is one of the problems with this job," he said, "you have
to do things that you don't like." He gave a significant glance
to one of the waste disposal chutes that were dotted around the ship,
"but the brothel beats the alternative."
Melanie
clearly didn't like it but she kept quiet so David continued.
"What
I'm going to let you do is pick one of these women as your
concubine," Melanie opened her mouth but David silenced her with
a gesture. "I know you're entitled to four but if I let you pick
now you'll do it out of sympathy and that is the last thing you, and
they, really need."
Melanie looked at her boss and
slowly nodded in understanding, if David had let her she'd, no doubt,
have picked the four most desperate cases and beaten herself up over
leaving the rest to their fate.
The two Civil Service
representatives entered the main hold area and found the remaining
women engaged in various time consuming pursuits. All of them looked
up at the new arrivals and one woman, a slightly plump figure, rose
and approached.
"Hi Becky," said David, "this
is Melanie..." he stopped and looked at his new Decurion.
"Melanie, what is your surname?"
Melanie
couldn't help it, her eyebrows raised and she chuckled, "It's
Carstairs," she said after a moments thought. "You know,
it's been thirteen years since I used that name."
David
grinned, "As I was saying, Becky this is Melanie Carstairs,
she's here to take one of the girls away." David turned
slightly, "Melanie, this is Becky Fletcher, she's going to be
running the house here on Demeter."
The two women
nodded in greeting.
Melanie looked at the women, who'd
returned to their tasks, and asked, "How do I pick one of
them?"
Becky looked at David as though she wanted to
say something; David gave her a nod.
"Have you got
anything specific in mind?" she asked.
"No,"
Melanie nodded at David, "he just told me I need one to look
after my house?"
"Do you have any objections to
a girl who's already pregnant?"
"Not at all,"
said Melanie.
"Then I'd suggest taking Gail,"
Becky looked around and indicated a young woman on the far side of
the hold. "That's her, over there."
Melanie
looked at the woman indicated and saw a dishwater blond with a very
large bust that the standard grey smock did little to hide. She
turned back to Becky and asked, "Why her?"
Becky
waved her arm around to indicate the room, "She's the only one
of these who is pregnant," she said. "All of the others in
that state have been taken by the people who volunteered." Becky
looked Melanie in the eye and continued, "I don't think a
pregnant woman would be much use in the job we'll be doing, do
you?"
Melanie frowned, "If all the others who
were pregnant got picked up, why wasn't she?"
"Triplets!"
exclaimed Becky.
"Triplets, what sort of reason is
that?" asked Melanie.
"Gail is pregnant with
triplets, which proved too much for most of the new families to take
on," said Becky.
"Come on," said David,
"let's go talk to the girl and see what she's got to say for
herself."
The girl in question glanced up as the
three of them approached and put the book she was reading to one
side. She rose to her feet and lowered her eyes.
David
conversed with the AI as he crossed the room getting the girls
particulars. "OK Melanie, this is Gail, she's twenty-one years
old with a CAP score of two point four. She has very high marks in
nurturing though she really needs guidance for most other things.
She's currently carrying three embryos from the same father and one
of the embryos is male."
"Gail," said
Melanie and then waited until the younger woman looked up. "I'm
looking for someone to look after my home, would you like that
job?"
Gail looked from Melanie to David and then back
again before nodding.
"It's yours," said
Melanie, "as soon as I've got a pod organised I'll get you
transferred to the planet. In the meantime collect whatever stuff
you've got and get ready to move." Melanie glanced at Becky and
smiled, "Could you give her a hand, please?"
Becky
returned the smile, "Certainly," she said, stepping forward
to gather up the young woman.
---oOo---
Svetlana, her face covered by the required breathing
mask, looked at the reality of the rugged area Alex had indicated on
the map and smiled. This was going to be a good place to break in the
new recruits and get them ready for war. Around her the members of
her team were doing a similar appraisal and finding themselves in
agreement with their commander.
Alongside her Master
Gunnery Sergeant Jacob Archer started pointing, "Range and
confidence area over there," he said before twisting to his
right, "Drill square about there." He then turned through a
hundred and eighty degrees and continued, "classrooms, armoury,
morgue..."
A short distance behind the two senior
members of the training cadre the rest of the team where clustered
together. Master Sergeant Isabella Kellogg flicked at her mask, "I'll
be glad when we can get rid of these damn things," she
said.
"At least it's only masks," answered her
partner, Abigail Proctor, "It could have been full isolation
suits and that really would have been a pain."
Staff
Sergeant Joshua Ward added his thoughts to the conversation, "Well
the AI confirmed that everything would be hunky-dory in a couple of
days so it shouldn't cause any problems with training. The
prefabricated sheds are being extruded as we speak and Governor
Flowers has already allocated us bodies to get the place set
up."
"What do you think of this Governor, Josh,
is he a Prima-Dona?" asked Isabella.
"No, I
don't think so," said the units’ clerk, "and from what
I've heard the boss saying she doesn't either. I get the impression
that he's given the job a lot of thought and rather than just react
he's trying to plan things out so that there aren't any problems down
the line."
"Yes, but taking away the slaves..."
she said.
"If you look around, you'll find that
everyone who wants their full quota of slaves has got them,"
said Joshua. "And how many of the other planets you've been on
are preparing to defend themselves as well as this guy is after only
a month." He shrugged, "I was sceptical, but the more I see
the more impressed I become and his people don't seem to have any
problems with what he's doing."
"That's easy
enough for you to say, Josh, you've got Jane coming to join you,"
said Abigail, who'd elected to leave all four of her concubines
behind on Persephone.
"But I left Alexandra behind
didn't I, just in case." Josh continued with a smile, "But
I'll tell you now, if all of this pans out the way I think it's going
to then I'm going to be sending for her too, and asking to have this
planet nominated as my home world."
"You really
think he's going to make his ideas stick?" asked Abigail.
"The
boss had me check up on what he's doing," said Joshua, "when
she found out what he was up to and, you know what, he's been right
in every instance." The clerk looked impressed; "I'm just
waiting to see what he comes up with next."
"Won't
they just replace him?" asked Isabella.
"If you
mean the military, they can't," declared Joshua. "Under
Confederacy law a planetary Governor has the job for life unless the
ruling council orders him to stand down or he quits of his own
volition."
"And?" asked Isabella, sensing
that there was more.
"The Confederacy Council hasn't
sacked a Planetary Governor in the last twenty thousand years
according to the AIs. I'm not sure how Mr Flowers got the job, but
he's stuck with it, that's for sure."
Their
conversation was interrupted by a yell from Gunny Archer, "On
me!"
---oOo---
"Alex, have you got a minute?"
Alex
turned to find Johnny Porter, his designated commander of the
Militia, hurrying to catch up with him. The former cadet was
practically dragging another man along with him in his rush.
"What's
up Johnny?" asked Alex.
"Are you still having
problems getting hold of the laser rifles for the Militia?" he
asked, panting slightly.
Alex frowned, it was a valid
question and Johnny had a right to know, "Yes, both the AIs and
the Military are of the opinion that the defence of colony worlds has
to be carried out from the resources available on the planet."
Alex grinned at his fellow cadet, well, former cadet, "I was
thinking of staging a raid on the Marine armoury after they get it
established but I'm not sure if I'd get away with it."
Johnny
grinned, "That's one option," he said, "but," he
waved at the man accompanying him, "I may have a more realistic
option."
"And what, may I ask, is that?"
asked the Planet's Governor.
"Sorry," replied
Johnny, looking a little sheepish, "Alex, this is Ismael Whyatt,
he's one of the drones who's volunteered for the Planetary
Service."
Alex nodded, indicating both his
understanding and as a greeting to the new Citizen.
"Well,
before he got picked up Ismael was a gunsmith," Alex raised an
eyebrow on hearing this, his interest piqued. "He says he was a
pretty good one and he's come up with an idea for arming the
Militia."
"Go on," said Alex.
Johnny,
his breathing returning to normal, continued, "He thinks he can
design, and more importantly, build a prototype weapon that the
replicators can produce."
That statement summed up
the problem -- the replicators -- without a good sample, or the data
from a machine that had already built a working model, the machines
couldn't produce the goods. They just couldn't work from an
idea.
"Build?" asked Alex, somewhat
surprised.
The two men smiled at Alex's reaction.
"I've
been speaking to some of the crew and they tell me that the ship up
there has a pretty reasonable machine room," said Ismael,
speaking for the first time. "If I can get access to it, I
believe I can make a rifle incorporating some of the best ideas that
were doing the rounds of military weapon design."
Alex
frowned, "What would we end up with?" he asked, envisioning
something monstrous and probably dangerous.
Ismael fairly
glowed, "Simply put, it would be a bull-pup design with
flechette ammunition and an integrated grenade launcher and laser
sight." He paused, "Well, that's what I would aim for. I'd
need some help from the AIs to actually achieve that but I think,
from the little time I've managed to scrounge with them, that it's a
feasible option."
"What sort of help would you
need?" asked Alex, beginning to hope but wondering if the
demands would place too great a burden on the AIs.
"Mainly
information about materials," said Ismael. "One thing I
really want is a totally combustible cartridge case, that would make
things so much more efficient."
"How long would
it take," asked Alex, "to get at least a
prototype."
"Well..." started
Ismael.
"Let's put it another way," said Alex
before the older man could start prevaricating, "the ship up
there is leaving in nine days, after that you'll be on your
own."
Johnny smiled, "So you want us to give it
a go then, Alex?" he asked, ignoring the older man's gasp when
he heard the time scale.
"Hell, yes!" exclaimed
Alex.
"Right," declared Johnny, "Come on,
Isie, let's get started," he grinned at Alex, "before the
boss here changes his mind."
As the two men walked
away Alex spoke to the planetary AI, "How much of the ship's
machine shop can we reproduce here?"
"Most of
it, given time," came the reply.
"How much could
we 'acquire' from the ship, before it leaves?" Alex
pressed.
There was a short pause, Alex assumed it was as
the two AIs conferred. "We can have, either from the extra's the
ship already has, or from it's own ability to replicate the
equipment, just about one of everything before it leaves orbit. The
items we cannot get it can give us full replication details so we can
produce it ourselves."
Alex nodded to himself,
thinking. "OK, get it started," he said, "and see if
there are any other items that we could use."
Humming,
Alex continued on his way, his mind turning over the idea of local
workshops and how to go about getting them.
---oOo---
Alex was sat at the desk he'd set aside for doing his
Governor's work, as opposed to the one he used for his military
duties when he was interrupted. "Governor Flowers, I have a
priority communication from Rear Admiral Cummings on Persephone, for
you."
Instinctively Alex looked up to the ceiling,
though he knew the AI was safely ensconced in a bunker several
hundred feet below him. Shaking his head at his own reaction he asked
the AI, "Did the Admiral give any indication regarding what he
wished to talk about?"
"No, Sir," came the
AIs response.
'Well,' thought Alex, 'he asked for the
Governor, so it's probably planetary business.' "Put him
through," he requested as he settling back in his chair.
"What
can I do for you Admiral?" he started, doing his best to sound
professional.
"What the Hell do you think your
playing at," stormed a voice in his head loudly.
Alex
instinctively bristled, "AI cut the line," he demanded and
was rewarded as the voice disappeared. Alex took a deep breath and
waited, sure that the Admiral would be back in a moment, hopefully in
a less aggressive manner.
It took two minutes before the
AI informed him that the Admiral in question was back on the
line.
"Governor Flowers," said the same voice,
though much more conciliatory, "would you please explain what it
is you are up too?"
"With regard to what,
Admiral?" asked Alex, fairly sure he knew what the topic
was.
"This requirement you've come up with to turn
the slaves loose if they're sent to Demeter," said the Admiral,
confirming his suspicions.
"Admiral, I am not turning
the slaves, as you call them, loose." Alex said, "What I am
endeavouring to do is ensuring that there will be a planet here when
the troops get back from battle."
"That's not
what it sounds like from out here," replied the voice.
"Requiring my boys to either turn their partners loose or leave
them at home doesn't bode well for the future peace and happiness of
those troops."
"Neither does leaving a hundred
thousand armed 'slaves', many of whom have been abused by your
'boys', behind when we go off to war, Admiral," said Alex. "I
think that is a more likely source of trouble than requiring troopers
to consider the well-being of their concubines when they get here,
which after all, is one of the responsibilities they took on when
they picked their partners."
"Whilst that
thought may have some merit, son," said the Admiral, starting to
sound condescending, "it doesn't really matter. The Confederacy
has set up the system where by volunteers from Earth get so many
slaves for coming out here to do their dirty work and you can't
change that. So, I'm afraid that your little plan will just have to
be shelved."
"Sorry Admiral," said Alex,
firming up his voice, "but in this case you are wrong."
Alex imagined the Admiral going red at that statement before he
continued, "This planet, which is a sovereign world in the
Confederacy, has a requirement that all concubines are offered the
chance to volunteer for Planetary Service when they arrive here and
that isn't going to be changed."
"Listen son,
you're in the Marines now and you have to do as I say and I'm telling
you..." started the Admiral.
"Sir!" said
Alex interrupting the man, "that may be your position on this
matter but it is not necessarily the best option for the people of
this planet. When I'm acting in the role of Governor, which is what
I'm doing now, they come first, no matter how much the Marine
Lieutenant, who also occupies this body, may disagree with that
position or wish to obey your commands."
"Listen
Flowers, you're still a British subject and I'll get the Prime
Minister, or the Queen, or whoever to..."
"No
Sir! I'm not British, not any more. I'm a citizen of the Confederacy,
as are we all and, as such I'm obligated by their rules and standards
and," he took a deep breath, "Demeter happens to be my
planet so the rule will stand and will be applied to all who get sent
here."
The line went dead and Alex slumped down,
wondering how many times that conversation was going to be repeated
before it finally registered on people that he wasn't going to change
the rules to make them happy.
---oOo---
"Governor, the atmospheric filtering by the
protective domes is no longer needed," reported the AI. "It
is recommended that the force component of the dome is kept activated
to ensure that any accidents during training do not damage the living
accommodation or endanger lives."
Alex acknowledged
the AIs message and stretched before he looked at Rebecca, "Well
it looks like our holiday is over," he said to the sleep-tousled
girl beside him.
"Over?" she said as she too
stretched, revealing her naked body to his gaze.
"Yes,"
he said with a grin, "Svetlana promised me that things would get
tough around here as soon as she could start training us innocents."
He flicked his eyes to the ceiling, "and the AI has just
informed me that the atmosphere has stabilised so it's all systems go
as far as our Russian slave driver is concerned."
"Have
you any idea what she's got planned?" asked the girl as she
rolled onto her side.
"Only a vague outline,"
said Alex as he clambered off the bed and reached for his clothes.
"She's talking about beginning with the regulars and then, in a
couple of weeks, starting on the militia." He headed for the
shower with his clothes in his arms, "Fitness training and basic
drill to begin with, followed by weapons, field craft and tactics."
He glanced across at his partner, "I think this is going to hurt
and come as a shock to a lot of people, including us cadets, who
think we've done all this already." He blew Rebecca a kiss as he
disappeared into the bathroom.
Ten minutes later and
dressed in his uniform he reappeared. "I've got to go and get
the work details sorted out," he announced. "Before we can
start training people we've got to put the training camp
together."
Rebecca swung out of bed and admired her
long legs for a moment, as did Alex, before asking, "How's that
side of things going?"
"All the buildings are
stacked and ready for assembly, we've just got to flatten the
required area and then bolt them together." He watched as the
naked Rebecca crossed the room heading for the shower he'd just
vacated. "The robots and nanites will then hook them up to the
power, water and sanitation grids overnight and that's it. Give it a
couple of days and the torture can begin."
Rebecca
stuck her head around the shower door, "I'll see you later
then," she smiled, "maybe we can have lunch together,"
she fluttered her eyelashes, "whilst you've still got the
energy?"
Alex grinned back, feeling a gentle throb in
his groin, "Be over my desk at lunchtime and I'll show you how
much energy I've got."
She grinned back at him before
disappearing back into the shower.
---oOo---
"Major Lebedev," the AI spoke in her ear,
"Governor Flowers has asked that you be informed that the ships
Sir Tristam and Sir Bedivere are now in orbit. The commanders of the
vessels will be meeting the Governor at thirteen hundred hours and
you are invited to join them."
"Tell the
Governor I'll be there," Svetlana said before turning her
attention back to Gunny Archer. "The assault ships are here,"
she announced.
"Well, about time too," he
replied with a grin.
"Come off it Gunny, you know as
well as I do that the squids have only delayed us by a day. And, lets
be honest," she indicated the group of recruits who were sat
around in front of the armoury enjoying the sunshine, "they
deserved a day off."
"True," the older
Marine admitted, "those cadets have been pretty good. It's
actually been a joy to teach them." He grinned at his boss, "but
I'd never tell them that, it wouldn't be good for our
reputations."
Svetlana nodded before asking, "What
about the Militia training, how's that looking?"
"Now
that is much more like we're used to," he said. "Most of
the new Citizens didn't know their left from their right but they're
getting the hang of it now. Though I'm not sure that Emma and Ava
would agree with me on that one." The two women were the platoon
commanders for the Militia training company.
"At
least they're only getting the basics," said Svetlana, "We
don't have to teach them about the power armour or heavy
weapons."
"You know, I'm surprised at that,
given the way Alex Flowers has pushed everything else." The
Master Gunnery Sergeant had come to appreciate the efforts the
planets Governor was putting into his job. He may not have agreed
with everything but he couldn't fault the effort.
"Don't
be," said Svetlana, "the Militia can only have the
equipment they produce on the planet and nobody is prepared to give
them the specs. of the gorilla suit or the laser rifle. The same goes
for heavier weapons, though I'm surprised that they haven't
fabricated at least a basic mortar."
"I think
they want to," said Gunny Archer, "but they've prioritised
on individual weapons and basic body armour, which, if we're
truthful, is better than anything we had on Earth. The whole progress
thing is limited by the capacity of their replicators, which is why
the drones are out there preparing fields for planting. Having a
basic crop will take some of the strain off the replicators."
"You
know," Svetlana ruminated, "one thing I've noticed is that
this whole Confederacy colonisation effort is that it is about as
well planned as the rebuilding of Iraq was supposed to have
been."
"Take it from me boss, this planet is
doing a much better job of that task than we did in Iraq, I know, I
was there," Gunny Archer replied, disgust evident in his
voice.
Svetlana rose, "Well I've got an appointment
with the Governor so I'd better get ready, hold the fort for me
Gunny."
---oOo---
"Svetlana," said the newly promoted Captain
Flowers, "allow me to present Major Abigail Richards, Captain of
the Sir Tristam and Major Darren Alvares, Captain of the Sir
Bedivere, the two assault ships attached to us for training. This is
Major Lebedev, commander of the training team."
The
three swapped handshakes and settled down as Lilian Alford, the
former kitchen manager and now drone to the planet's Governor, served
refreshments. Once everyone was ready Alex spoke up, "I'm not
sure what the situation is with your people but are you aware of the
rules concerning concubines and this planet?"
Both of
the Captains glanced towards each other and Darren nodded to Abigail.
"Yes Captain," she said, "we've been made aware of
that rule."
"Will this present any problems?"
Alex asked.
"Not at this stage," she replied,
"Most of the crew have left their concubines on Persephone, and
those who have accompanied us will be confined to the ships."
She didn't seem very happy as she said this.
"Your
choice," Alex replied, offhandedly. "Now, what toys have
you bought for us to play with?"
Abigail nodded once
and then launched into her lecture, "Sir Tristam and Sir
Bedivere are Lancelot class assault transports and come equipped with
a pair of Leopard class assault shuttles each. In addition we've both
dragged along two extra Leopards for crew and ground training."
The
Leopard was a versatile troop delivery craft, about the same size, in
the body as the C130 transport aircraft. It could deliver two full
platoons of Marines to any spot on a planet and give them fire
support and protection on the way in.
"In addition we
are prepared for a full Marine deployment mission and so have the
required ordinance for at least a dozen simulated drops,"
Abigail concluded.
Alex turned to his military senior,
"What do you think, Svetlana?"
"I'd hoped
for the newer Panthers but the control systems are the same and
operationally they are identical," she said. "You'll get
all the skills you need and hopefully time to cross train onto the
Panthers before you go into action."
"At least
they're not Bengals," said Darren Alvares.
"Bengals?"
asked Alex.
"They're a bit on the big side,"
explained Abigail, "officially they're drop ships, like the
Leopards, but that's a bit like saying the Pacific is a big puddle.
Most of the Marines who've been in them say that they're an excellent
landing ship, but you wouldn't want to use them in an assault. A
friend of mine who's flown one told me that they handled like a good
sports car but you were always aware of how big the damned thing
was."
Darren added, "The real problem with them,
as far as we're concerned, is that they are too big for the Tarawa
class ships. At the moment it looks like they're going to be used for
second wave insertions and as mobile hospitals and command
posts."
"Some are currently being used for
extractions on Earth," said Abigail, "and the reports that
are coming back about them in that role is that they are
great."
"Yes?" asked Svetlana.
"Apparently
they're that big that they intimidate the opposition," replied a
grinning Major Alvares.
"Has anybody given any
indication of when we'll be getting the Panthers?" asked Alex
returning to the matter in hand.
"No," replied
Abigail. "I know that there are at least another dozen of the
Leopards earmarked for here that are just waiting for transport,
other than that, nothing."
Alex shrugged; he'd only
just finished basic training and didn't feel he was in a position to
start griping about the equipment he was being given for his other
job.
He grinned at Svetlana, "So when do we start,
boss?"
She shook her head at him, "It's going to
take some time to get them down here, checked over and tested before
you and yours are let anywhere near them. You've got a lot of book
work to do before you get to play."
"Oh well,"
said Alex, trying to look sad.
"We'll leave you to
get on with your other duties," said Svetlana, rising. The two
navy Captains took the hint and joined her.
As they walked
away Darren asked, "Major, which of you is the boss?"
"It's
a bit confusing," said Svetlana, "militarily I am, but Alex
is the Governor of the planet which gives him authority over most
things non-military. So far there hasn't been a clash," she
noted Darren's raised eyebrow. "The slave thing?" she
asked.
He nodded.
"Once you listen to his
reasons it makes sense and I've come to agree with him and so far,
for people who are staying, it hasn't proved to be a problem."
She grinned at his look of disbelief, "Stick around and observe,
I think you'll find I'm right.
---oOo---
"Well that was interesting," said Ava Leach,
Master Sergeant and commander of the second training platoon.
First
Sergeant Emma Fletcher, who commanded the first training platoon,
nodded her agreement. "It'll be interesting to see what the boss
has to say about it," she agreed.
The boss in
question was having a hard time not rolling on the floor at the
downbeat look her second in command, Master Gunnery Sergeant Archer,
was wearing. Eventually she had herself enough under control to ask,
"Have you anything to say, Gunny?"
Still shaking
his head he looked at his grinning boss, "No Ma'am, not a
thing."
The Marines, under the guidance of Gunny
Archer, had just been well and truly suckered. Which would have been
bad enough if one of the other Marines had been commanding the
Militia force, but they hadn't. The Militia had been under command of
a sixteen-year-old boy, Johnny Porter, the same former cadet that
Alex Flowers had earmarked for the job before they'd reached the
planet.
Gunny Archer had made the same mistake that the
Marines had been making all through the training period, forgetting
that in the crowd of civilians they were converting to fighters there
were a few who'd been there already. The cadets, as part of Earth's
plan to survive the Sa'arm, had been taken far beyond what was normal
for the student of a military college. Not just discipline had been
instilled but a sound knowledge of military history as well as a full
appreciation of small unit tactics. Johnny Porter had failed the CAP
score by zero point two as a fifteen year old and would, almost
certainly, have passed if he'd retaken the test a year later.
As
it was he had been unable to volunteer but that hadn't stopped Alex
from finding him a military job that would allow him to make full use
of all his acquired skills. That the regular Marines were training
the Militia was a fortunate fact that both Alex and Johnny made the
most of.
That it came back to haunt Gunny Archer just made
it so much more enjoyable.
"Well," said Major
Lebedev, "I suppose it proves we've done our job right."
"That
it does Ma'am.
"Right, we'll get everyone back to
camp, cleaned up and call it quits," she said.
"That's
the end of the training program, isn't it?" Gunny Archer
asked.
"For the Militia, yes," Svetlana replied,
"The regulars have still got to finish flight training but that
shouldn't take long, the way they're progressing."
"Then
I suppose a party is in order?"
Svetlana grinned,
"Yes Gunny, and the first round is on you."
"Tomorrow
do you?"
"That'll be fine."
"I'll
get it organised Ma'am."
---oOo---
Johnny Porter was one of the last people to arrive.
His drone, Samantha Frogget clutched his arm as they entered the
decorated hall. Prior to the second chance to volunteer, Johnny had
been the concubine of Mandy Simpson and it had coloured his attitude
towards the way that concubines should be treated. Not that Mandy had
ever mistreated him, it had just given him a different perspective on
the position of drone from most sponsors.
Before he'd left
for this party he'd let Sam know that if she wanted to go home she
could, she didn't even need to ask him before leaving.
Entering
the building he was immediately struck by the noise as music blared
from a set of power armour positioned against one wall, he nodded to
himself in appreciation of someone's ingenuity. Across the room there
were various people sitting around, talking and drinking.
An
arm raised and waved to attract his attention and Johnny, recognising
Gunny Archer, waved back. He pointed Samantha at the makeshift bar
and told her to go get them both a drink and join him.
"Hi
Gunny," he called above the noise as he joined the older man and
the three women he was with.
"Stuff that, Johnny,
call me Jacob," said the man from his seat. He waved to a vacant
chair and said, "this lady is Berry," pointing to the woman
in his arms with his chin, "the blond is Joan and the short
thing is Tracy." The last girl he indicated blushed and lowered
her eyes.
"Ladies, this is Johnny Porter, the
commander of the planet's Militia and the guy who suckered me
yesterday."
Johnny made like a goldfish as he tried
to deny that he was anything special; he was saved from further
embarrassment when Samantha arrived carrying their drinks. He
introduced his drone and the conversations around the table
resumed.
Svetlana looked around from her corner of the
room and felt a flush of pleasure at how things seemed to be going.
She had no intention of getting involved in any of the shenanigans
that usually went with these sorts of parties but she felt duty bound
to at least show her face.
She'd been a little worried
when Stacy Klutch had turned up accompanied by a drone and a child
but had been assured by both Stacy and the girl's mother that she was
just here for experience. Svetlana had told them not to let the
fourteen-year-old out of their sight and let it go. She wasn't
responsible for the behaviour of the drones, the sponsor was and she
was sure that Stacy was aware of that.
Emma Fletcher
looked across the table she was sharing with Darrel Wheeler and
Abraham Schroeder and felt an itch that hadn't been scratched for
some time. "Well, gentlemen," she asked, "are we here
to party or are we here to 'party'?"
"Oh
definitely 'party'," said Abraham, "Isn't that right,
Daz?"
"Absa - fucking - lootly," declared
the former cadet, already feeling the effects of the beer he'd been
drinking.
"Then lets get started," declared the
Marine and urged her two drones, Sandra Doral and John Rough, up onto
the table.
"Strip!" she barked at them and
watched happily as the two of them began to move to the rock music
blasting around the hall. The two cadets needed no further prompting
and, following the regular Marine's example, got their drones up on
the table and performing a striptease.
This simple act
broke the ice and all over the room the party got into full swing, as
it did so Svetlana rose and slowly made her way home, muttering about
it better to be safe than sorry.
"Johnny," asked
a very happy Jacob Archer, "can I have a go with
Samantha?"
Johnny looked at his drone and raised an
eyebrow, the woman gave a nod of agreement and Johnny opened his arms
to let her go. Samantha rose and undulated around the table to the
big Marine and slid onto his lap when he indicated this was where he
wanted her.
"Tracy," summoned the Marine and
when she looked up he pointed at Johnny. No other words were said as
the young girl rose and crossed to the cadet.
Bright red
she looked at him, her lips quivering, waiting for instruction.
Johnny patted the seat beside him and when she sat he gently placed
his arm around the girls' shoulders and pulled her next to him. Jacob
already had his hands under the standard grey smock that Samantha was
wearing and was having a good feel of the goods. After a couple of
minutes he looked across at his other two concubines and
scowled.
"You two," Jacob said quietly, "why
don't you entertain each other." He blinked a couple of times
and then added with a grin, "On the table."
Tracy
buried her head into the side of Johnny's neck at this, the heat from
her blush warming his neck and reminding him that he had a pretty
girl in his arms. He twisted slightly and whispered into the girl's
ear, "Watch the show."
The show didn't take long
to get into full swing. Berry stood and pulled her smock over her
head before climbing onto the table. Joan was a little slower off the
mark and froze when Berry grabbed her smock and pulled it upwards.
Berry helped her naked partner onto the table and pushed her onto her
back before dropping onto the blonde's more than generous tits. She
wrapped her mouth around the first distended nipple she came to and
tried to pull Joan inside out with suction.
Johnny
thought this was a bit brutal but judging by the way Joan spread her
legs and grabbed Berry by the hair it was the right thing to do in
her case. Without noticing it his own hand was gently fondling the
breast of the girl in his arms, his movements corresponding to those
of Berry before him.
Across the room Emma was thoroughly
enjoying her time with the two former cadets. The young men may have
been sweet and innocent when they left Earth but they had been
through a very impressive training course on their journey to
Demeter. Now they were working hard together to ensure that their
military instructor was enjoying herself and benefiting from their
youthful enthusiasm.
"Switch!" demanded Daz as
he pulled his juice coated prick out of Emma's hot pussy. He was
moving towards the opposite side of the table before his partner had
disengaged his hard prick from the Marine's tonsils, but the way was
clear by the time he got there.
Looking at the
juice-coated prick Emma moaned, "Oh my favourite, Emma flavoured
boy meat. Give it here big boy." Daz, never one to disappoint a
lady, did just that, slipping his prick between the soft lips of the
willing Marine.
At the other end of the table Abraham slid
his prick into the hot welcoming pussy that Darrel had just vacated
and gritted his teeth, coming too soon was the last thing he wanted
to happen.
On the table next to them the threesome of
drones were entertaining themselves. John was flat on the tabletop
and was being circled by four naked women who took it in turn to wrap
their lips around his impressive erection. A quick stroke up and down
was all they gave him before they moved on leaving a stiff,
glistening prick beckoning the next willing mouth to worship
it.
Jacob lifted Samantha and wriggled, lining his now
freed prick with the moist gash that had been in his lap and lowered
the woman gently, sighing as he made entry. He held her in place just
letting his hardon soak for a few moments before he began to flex his
hips to a slow beat that only he could hear.
On the table
before him Berry and Joan had rolled into the classic sixty-nine
position and were still going at it for all they were worth.
Johnny
had given up on what was going on around him and was concentrating on
the girl in his arms who had come out of her shell and was engaged in
a frantic tongue wrestling match with him. Her smock had been dropped
around her waist allowing the cadet full, unfettered access to her
pert breasts.
A soft, repeated grunt broke into their
consciousnesses and caused them to part and look around. The noise
was coming from Samantha who was rising up and then dropping down on
Jacob's erection. She let out the little grunt each time she hit
bottom before rising up onto her toes, ready for another drop.
Tracy
looked on as the couple continued to copulate and whispered,
"Please," in Johnny's ear.
"You want that?"
he asked just to be sure.
Bright red, the girl nodded
which was just what he wanted to see. Grinning from ear to ear he
ripped open his trousers exposing a more than ready erection before
he reached for the girl and guided her into his lap. As he positioned
her she grasped his prick and ensured that it was in the right place.
Lowering herself down she gasped when she hit bottom and then
proceeded to match Samantha, stroke for stroke.
Bellowing,
Jacob blew his load up the more than ready Samantha's pussy, setting
her off. The noise she made as she came was enough to trigger a
similar response in Tracy who clamped down hard on Johnny's prick.
That was sufficient to milk an orgasm that the young man had been
fighting to hold off for the last couple of minutes. He let out a
grunt that was the equal of Gunny Archer's performance and dropped
back drained.
Abraham finally gave up the struggle and
buried his prick to the hilt in Emma's hot pussy and shot every last
sperm he possessed into her. His pulsing cock was the trigger that
she'd been waiting for and she screamed around the cock in her mouth,
Daz fearing the worst dragged his delicate equipment away from those
teeth but not before she gave his sensitive tip a final swipe with
his tongue.
He was shooting white juice as he left her
lips, the first pulse staying behind and the next couple plastering
her face. Exhausted he collapsed into a convenient chair and looked
on as Abraham dragged himself up off the Marine's ample chest and
grinned.
"Oh! That was good," said the young man
before he dropped to his knees.
All around the hall newly
qualified Marines, Citizens and drones did their best to ensure that
the human race would continue, enjoying their work as they did so.
---oOo---
"So, Sammie, what was the party like last night?"
asked thirteen-year-old Alison Colon.
Sam Ferry looked at
the group around her and giggled. They were desperate to hear what
she had to say, which was hardly surprising, given that they were
nearly all adults -- at least under the new rules.
"Fun,"
she said, "and very educational."
"Come on,
Sammie, make with the details," pleaded Paul Llewelyn, the only
boy there.
"Well I watched on as mom got drilled from
both ends," she said as a taster.
"Drilled?"
asked Fen Ho, the other thirteen-year-old.
"You know,
screwed, fucked, however you want to phrase it," said
Sammie.
"Oh..." responded Fen,
blushing.
"Yeah," said Sammie, "one of the
Marines had his big dick up her pussy while good old Martin Walters
was pushing his stiff one down her throat." She glanced around
before adding, "I thought mom'd hate it but she kept pushing her
ass backwards and grabbing hold of Martin's thighs to keep him in
tight."
"Cool!" exclaimed Paul., "Did
you see my mom?"
"No, was she there?" asked
Sammie.
"Yeah," said Paul, "I think most of
the adults who've finished training were there."
"It
was pretty full," said Sammie, "and I wasn't allowed to
wander too far, just in case."
"Just in case?"
asked Fen knowing her questions made her seem naive but she was
desperate to know more.
"Stacy told me that I was too
near adulthood to take the chance that someone would decide I was
fair game. I could look, even touch with permission, but that I
wasn't going to have sex until the AIs declared that I was an adult."
The look Sammie wore as she made this statement clearly defined her
position on the matter. "I might have wheedled a concession out
of mom but Major Lebedev agreed with Stacy so I was stuck."
The four of them passed the perimeter markers for their
township and kept going. The planet had been declared as non-hostile
and, mainly because no one had thought it necessary, no limits had
been imposed on travel.
The need for privacy couldn't be
met in the hectic environment of the township. The houses were too
small and people were to busy for it to be dealt with so the
children, like Sammie and her friends, had taken to wandering beyond
the town limits.
"I'll tell you one thing Ali,"
said Sammie.
"What?"
"You're
going to have to learn to like girls."
"No
way!"
"Yes, way," said Sammie, "Every
woman I could see did it at least once to another woman." She
looked at her younger friend seriously, "In some cases it was
the only sex they got all night."
"Is that the
reason I'm here, now" she demand.
"Don't be
stupid Ali, you're here because you're a friend," she said, "I'm
just telling you like it is."
"She's right, you
know," said Fen. "Both my father and first wife Shuang have
told me I will need to practise the art before I'm declared an
adult."
"And you think that makes it right?"
demanded Alison.
"Right or wrong doesn't enter into
it," said Sammie, "it's a fact of life for us and the
sooner you get used to it the easier life will become."
The
four of them continued in silence as Alison sulked and the rest
didn't want to get into a fight with her.
They crested a
small rise and Paul stopped, looking over the open valley with its
small stream meandering down the centre. A couple of stands of the
local trees broke the isolation and added a hint of colour to the
fertile green of the grassland.
"What's the problem?"
asked Sammie after she'd gone on ten metres and realised that she
wasn't being followed.
"No problem," said Paul,
"I was just thinking..."
"And,"
prompted Fen after a minute's silence.
"Twenty years
from now," said Paul, "when we've kicked the Sa'arm's butt.
I want to come out here to a place like that and build a home. A good
strong place to raise a family, you know, in the big open
spaces."
"Amen," whispered Alison as she
too began to dream of the future.
---oOo---