Chapter 67

That night Alice experienced the same depth of feeling with Sheila. Andrea the same with Cindy. Candice with Mae and Sally with Jean. Amy shared the bed with Theresa and John. Nobody was disappointed.

Time passed quickly. Sheila and Alice returned just in time for Theresa’s birthday party. Very little work got done that day as they all celebrated it by attacking her.

Various gifts seemed to come out of the woodwork. Sheila brought her a large collection of comfortable, high fashion shoes. Cindy presented her with a modified version of the toy John had made for her. With custom fit attachments for every other woman in the silo. They all tried it out, much to Theresa’s demise. When she finally slipped into sleep, she was exhausted and literally bombed on endorphins. Surrounded with warm, firm bodies and snuggled to John’s side.

To John’s amazement, the government agreed to his idea.

Howdy made plans for a second, and last trip to the silo. He had to hand deliver many of the items he carried in the small, specialized briefcase. Should he be involved in any incident such as a crash or hijacking, the contents of the case would be turned to ash before anyone could even catch a glimpse of them. He also carried a long tube, similarly equipped.

Seemingly on a whim he requested the same helicopter pilot as before. It was a good security practice as well, as it limited the number of people who got to see the silo or know of its existence.

Kevin greeted him when he landed at Hill AFB. He was grinning ear to ear at the prospect of seeing Theresa once more.

This time he bypassed Dougway. He had no desire to get near the place ever again. Kevin hummed to himself quietly as he flew a few scant feet off the ground, just above fence line, scanning the sky for power lines. (Which he now had a map of anyway.)

Theresa, warned by John of Kevin’s visit, preened herself and made up a special outfit; A body suit with coloration resembling Camouflaged Combat fatigues. It hugged every hair on her body.

“Damn girl, you could win wars all by yourself ... or start them.” Cindy chuckled when she saw her in it.

Theresa nodded absently as she examined her backside in a double mirror.

She even spun a set of mock combat boots to go with the outfit.

The thump, thump of the helicopter sent her scurrying up to the entryway.

Once again Howdy had Kevin shut down completely. Cindy and the triplets scrambled to tarp over the machine, again. Kevin wondering where Theresa was.

When John came out to greet Howdy, Theresa was on his arm, wearing a field Jacket like Kevin’s and a regular pair of fatigue pants. She looked very much like she was in the military, except the boots looked somehow wrong. Kevin wondered whether or not to salute her, as she wore no rank insignia.

John greeted Howdy and they shook hands. Then he guided him off into the silo.

Kevin and Theresa stood looking at each other. Each feeling a close feeling of love that was unexplained by their brief previous encounter. Kevin worried slightly about her uniform. Fraternization was against the rules. The military was quite strict about that.

“Hello, Kevin.” Theresa said.

“Hello, Theresa.” he stammered, “I didn’t know you were in the military.”

“I’m ... not really. I just put this on special for you.” she chuckled.

“For me? I think I prefer that last outfit you had on.” he chuckled.

“Oh, I think you might be surprised by this one ... aren’t you going to kiss me?” she asked.

He looked uncomfortable.

She solved his inaction by moving into his arms. Their first kiss was warm and deep. Theresa quivering in his strong arms.

“That’s better.” she said, flushing.

He nodded.

Theresa took his arm and led him inside. She took his Jacket and hung it up, then removed her own and Kevin’s jaw dropped. She chuckled and stripped off the outer pants. Kevin’s reaction was apparent inside his own.

“I suppose that outfit keeps you warm too ... although not too warm from ... outward indications.” he chuckled.

“Oh, I’m toasty warm ... I think those indications are caused by you.” she demurred.

He blushed.

“Theresa, I don’t know how to explain it ... but I had sort of a dream ... about us.” he said.

“I think I shared that dream ... but come on. I’ve got you all to myself for a whole day. We can talk all about it.” she said.

“A whole day?” he questioned.

“That’s what John promised me, and I’m gonna hold him to it.” she said, taking his arm and leading him to the elevator.

John and Howdy moved to the Com room. Howdy worked the specialized combinations to open the cases. The briefcase held a sheaf of papers and what looked like a small calculator. He handed the papers to John.

“Everything you asked for. Full tittle to the land and papers for all the girls. Also a presidential pardon for your previous actions and all actions related to project: Shit for brains. Additionally, there’s an authorization for government funds ... from an untraceable black budget, just to get you started on the housing project. I don’t think you realized the cost of a water and sewer system to handle such a project. Or of the costs involved in electrical and phone utilities.” Howdy explained.

“A presidential pardon? That means he knows about all this?” John asked.

“Oh ... not officially. Uh ... you shut down the recorders?” Howdy asked.

“As per your request. The top two floors are out of the circuit. The system is still tracking the lower portion...” John said.

“Why not shut it all down?” Howdy asked.

“History ... Theresa’s first time with Kevin alone ... I’ll shut it all down before we move downstairs.” John replied.

Howdy giggled.

“Okay ... good. Cause the other stuff I’ve brought you ... I don’t want recorded ... ever.” Howdy said.

“Other stuff?” John asked.

“Sign here. Your clearance has been reinstated ... upgraded to Special projects, need to know class. You could probably walk into any defense contractor in America and gain access to anything they’ve got. But we’d grind your balls into powder if you tried.” Howdy chuckled.

“I have no desire to know the nations secrets.” John said, reading the document and signing it.

“You don’t have much choice ... as you’re one of the biggest. And I think you’ll be very much interested in what I have to show you.” Howdy said. Removing the silo plans from their tube.

He laid them out on the table. John bent to study them. It only took him a moment to spot a discrepancy.

“You sure you want me to see these? I don’t have this hallway or any of this area over here.” John said.

Howdy chuckled.

“That’s what you think. If you’ll just shut down the surveillance above four down, then I’ll show you.” He said.

John moved to the intercom he had installed.

“Theresa?” he asked, his voice echoing throughout the silo.

“Yes, John?” he voice echoed back, only on the Com room unit.

“Where are you?” he asked. His voice now only going to her area.

“Showing Kevin the pool? Why?” she asked.

“I need you girls to stay below four for a while. Do you know where the others are?” he asked.

“In the gym, working out ... want me to tell them?” she asked.

“If it’s not too much trouble.” he said.

“No ... I think Kevin’s heart can take it.” Theresa said.

“Heart?” he asked.

“You know what they wear when they work out.” she giggled.

“Oh ... Yeah. Thanks. I’ll let you know when you can come up.” he said.

“Okay, bye.” she said.

“Good enough?” John asked Howdy.

“Yeah ... and the surveillance system?” he asked.

John moved to his computer.

“I installed a LAN system just last week.” John explained, as he called up a program and entered a private code. A map of the silo came up. Not including the sections drawn on the plans. He clicked on a few sections. Leaving only the kitchen and library active above four.

Howdy watched.

“We could use that software and your tracking system in our other installations. Probably save us all that money we’re going to be spending here.” Howdy said.

“You’re welcome to them.” John said.

Howdy studied the drawing ... the Com room and entry had indeed been turned off when he arrived. The only record of their presence, would be the recording of Kevin’s appearance on the lower levels. He smiled, his trust in John’s ethics verified.

“Excellent, now if you’ll just follow me.” he said.

He rolled up the plans and put them back in their container. John put the papers in his safe and locked the plans up in a large horizontal file.

“That will do for now. I’ll make more secure provisions for them later.” he said.

“Fine by me. They’re yours. That paper you signed said we could castrate you if you if you revealed them to anybody who didn’t need to know.” Howdy said, chuckling.

“Must have been in the small print. I think I’d prefer the fifteen years in Jail and seizure of all my assets the large print mentioned.” John chuckled.

Howdy retained the small calculator device, slipping it into his pocket.

They rode in silence down to the fourth level.

Theresa guided Kevin by the arm into the gym. The girls were all clad in the barest spandex shorts and tops. Kevin couldn’t help noticing them all. But trying to look at nothing in particular whenever Theresa looked at him.

She giggled: “It’s okay. I don’t mind a bit if you look ... I’ll be doing my own share of that.”

He seemed uncomfortable, but let his eyes wander, nonetheless.

“Ladies, our fearless leader has requested that we stay in the dungeon while he does some spook stuff with ... that fellow.” she told Sheila, Cindy and the triplets.

“What’s he up to now?” Cindy asked, breathless from the tread mill.

“Haven’t got a clue ... Don’t think we’re supposed to know.” Theresa replied.

“Welcome, Kevin. Has Theresa been treating you right?” Sheila asked from a weight machine.

“No complaints. Some place you’ve got here ... what little I’ve seen of it.” he said, eyeing her svelte form.

“Sorry Hon, rules ya know.” Cindy giggled, catching the direction of Kevin’s eyes.

“No need to apologize. I’m quite used to them, being in the military.” he replied, eyeing the triplets on various machines.

“Any grub in the kitchen here? We could use a snack.” Theresa asked.

“Just some crackers and cheese ... and coffee and orange juice, of course.” Cindy replied.

“Keeps us in the dungeon and feeds us crackers.” Theresa muttered, “Come on Hon, before you break your eyes trying to look five directions at once.”

She guided him into the small kitchen. Sitting him at the table.

“What to drink?” she asked.

“Coffee’s fine.” he said.

She poured two mugs and set them on the table. Then she moved to sit in his lap. She pulled him into a deep kiss, quivering slightly from his touch.

“So what do you think of our little harem?” she giggled.

“They’re incredible ... you really didn’t mind my looking?” he asked.

She gave him that exasperated look she was famous for.

“Not in the least ... What about you, how do you feel about my looking?” she asked, sheepishly.

“Fine by me ... as long as it doesn’t interfere with... us.” he said.

“So ... you want there to be an Us?” she asked, softly.

“Very much so ... I’ve never known a woman quite like you.” he said, kissing her.

She melted under his touch.

John and Howdy stepped off the elevator. The stop looked just like every other one; a cement cubical with a hatch on either side leading into the circular maintenance tunnel, a small box room directly in front of them. A seemingly wasted space to one side of it, about six feet wide. Around the corner, what used to be the hatchway into the silo, now an open archway.

“Like I said, no hallway.” John said.

Howdy chuckled.

He walked into the wasted space area. Before him a blank cement wall. He punched something into the calculator and held it about three and a half feet off the floor, one foot from the wall. He pushed one last button, nothing happened.

Howdy frowned.

“What were you expecting?” John asked.

“Have you got power to all the silo circuits?” he asked, ignoring John’s question.

“Not all of them. Only the ones I know the purpose of.” he replied.

Howdy pulled a notebook from his pocket and looked in it.

“Circuit 4SB12?” he asked.

John took out a key and opened the maintenance closet. He turned on the light and opened a panel. He found a separate breaker, isolated from the rest. Circuit 4SB12. He flipped the breaker on.

They went back to the cement wall and Howdy repeated his previous actions. This time there was an audible click and a whoosh when he pushed the last button. The whole wall moved on the right side out about six inches. Howdy reached around the edge and found a hand indent, pulling on the massive slab.

John stood speechless as Howdy swung the massive wall open. Beyond lay a long, dark hallway. Howdy looked in his notebook, punched a different code into the calculator and held it on the wall just inside the massive door. The hallway flickered into illumination.

“My god, it must run back for another hundred feet.” John said.

“One hundred and twelve.” Howdy chuckled, stepping into the corridor.

John followed him. Ten seconds later, the door swung slowly shut behind them. It was chilly, the area isolated from John’s solar heat system.

John looked at it. It now appeared to be the same blank wall it had from the other side.

“I imagine that could be a problem, if you were in here and that breaker was off.” he said.

“There’s an emergency release in here.” Howdy said, opening the first door on the right.

It was an almost empty room, about twenty feet square. Howdy moved to the wall and opened a small access hatch, showing John the release lever.

In the room was a large oak desk, a comfortable looking ergonomic chair and several large filing cabinets. Howdy opened all the drawers of the desk and the filing cabinets, checking that they were all empty. Not a scrap of paper or a pencil was left. He nodded in satisfaction.

John queried his actions with a look.

“One of the things I’m doing here, is to check that they didn’t leave anything they shouldn’t have when they packed up the place ... probably left the furniture because it would have seemed out of place when they hauled the other stuff out ... nice desk.” he said.

“Certainly is ... I love Oak.” John said.

“Keep it. You can keep most anything we run across ... furniture wise, that is.” Howdy chuckled.

They entered an inner office. It contained a slightly larger desk and a large impressive looking metal door. The door had no handle. Howdy looked in his book and punched another code into the calculator. The door clicked open.

This room huge, only it contained an arsenal of weapons.

“Good god!” John exclaimed.

“Precisely ... gonna have to remove some of this stuff. Don’t think you’ll have any need for LAWS rockets or grenade launchers. I don’t know why they left this stuff here.” he said.

“Some of the stuff? Why not all?” John asked.

“Oh ... I think you might enjoy the match grade weapons ... The C-4 might come in handy while you’re working on your housing project. You have any explosives training?” Howdy asked.

“Enough ... in the army I was with the Engineers ... but you knew that.” John said.

“Yeah, I just forgot. I’ve looked at a bunch of information since this thing started.” Howdy chuckled.

They moved on, the door clicking shut behind them.

They left the offices. The next room contained rows of bunks, twenty of them.

“God, this brings back memories I didn’t ever hope to remember.” John chuckled.

“Yeah, for me too.” Howdy said.

They made a complete search of the room. Finding nothing in the lockers.

The next room was a large recreation room. One area held several sofa’s. There was a ping pong table, card tables, a pool table and shelves of books around the walls. Several cabinets were found to contain cards, poker chips and about every board game known to man. John took possession of a Monopoly game. Then studied the books. There was a large selection of classics, and then just about every popular book from the sixties in hard back.

“Nice addition to my library.” John commented.

Howdy nodded and checked all the cabinets for classified material.

Next came a large workshop. It contained a lathe and a horizontal milling machine. Scattered around elsewhere were sheet metal tools and worktables. On one end was a small foundry pot and welding equipment. Cabinets on the walls held a large selection of hand tools. There was even a spot welder for the sheet metal.

“God, nice compliment for my other workshop. I’ve been lacking in metal working equipment.” John commented.

“Keep it all.” Howdy said.

Moving across the hall to the next one, They found a long storage room of some sort. It was stacked mostly full with cases of C-rations, stacked to the ceiling.

“Good god, must be enough here to feed an army.” John said.

“Or twenty guys for two years, in case they got stuck down here from a war.” Howdy replied, shivering.

John looked at the dates on the C-rations; 1969.

“Hell, still good for another century... “ he chuckled.

“Keep it. We’ve got better rations now.” Howdy said.

They walked down the narrow isle left by the cases. All they found were more C-rations.

“Hell, pretty monotonous food for two years.” John chuckled.

“I thought maybe they had left some specialty rations ... but I guess not.” Howdy said, turning at the end of the row.

A doorway led into a substantial sized kitchen. Complete with stoves and refrigerators. The refrigerators were now humming softly. John opened one. He was met by the aroma of old refrigerator, but they were all empty. A search of the cupboards yielded dishes, pans and canned goods. Nothing perishable.

“Hell, wish I’d known about this place when I first moved in here. I could have used this kitchen when I was cooking my first meals on a camp stove before I got the gym apartment completed.” John said.

The next room was a large communal latrine and shower.

“This should solve all your plumbing problems. It has separate systems from the silo. A large water tank that’s fed from the second well. It automatically isolates itself in case the silo was hit by an attack.” Howdy explained.

“Jesus, two years water supply for twenty men? That’s some reservoir. That explains the second leech field ... I never could find where it tied into the silo system.” John said.

Howdy nodded.

“Attack? You mean this could take a direct nuclear hit?” John asked, incredulously.

“No ... not a direct hit. We’re only sixty feet down here. I can’t tell you how close a hit it would take, but close enough the silo and this bunker would remain intact, but the shock wave would turn all the personnel into jelly.” Howdy said, shivering a bit.

Moving on they came to another room that opened to Howdy’s magic calculator. It contained many rack consoles full of obscure electronics equipment.

“You can retain most of this ... except this unit.” Howdy said, twisting the retainers on an exotic looking piece of gear. He pulled it out of the rack and disconnected several Ampenol multi-connectors.

“What is this stuff?” John asked.

“Communications equipment, all bands ... It’s mostly out of date, but I wouldn’t try selling it. Much of it is still classified. Don’t know why. We don’t use much tube equipment anymore.” Howdy said, finishing his removal.

“And that unit you’re removing?” John asked.

“I don’t think you’ll be needing to send launch codes to other silo’s.” Howdy said.

John shivered.

“No ... you can take all that kind of stuff you want ... I shiver just thinking what my arc welder probably did when I first bought the place.” John said.

“Arc Welder?” Howdy asked.

“When I was welding on the girders, hanging the floors. Just think what that looked like to a launch detector? I figure that’s when the Russians started watching me.” John said.

“Makes sense ... probably scared the piss out of them. A good thing it didn’t happen during a world crisis ... Come to think of it, I’d better report that. We’ve sold other surplus silo’s. I wouldn’t want that sort of thing to start a war.” Howdy said.

John nodded. He was studying the electronics.

“God, I sold better stuff than this to startup companies in Silicon Valley.” he said.

“The government equipment is usually a few generations behind ... but remember, construction on this place probably began in the early sixties. This was hot shit then.” Howdy said.

John nodded.

One last room opened to Howdy’s magic key. It contained two cots, a sofa, a desk and a large double console. With key switches and guarded toggle switches. A second large console contained television monitors and an array of switches. Two safes sat in opposite walls. Howdy shivered.

“I’m going to have to make a separate trip.” he said.

“What for?” John asked.

“Because I can’t transport this unit and the contents of those safes at the same time.” he said.

John shivered and nodded.

“I take it that this was a secondary launch control?” John asked.

Howdy nodded.

“Yeah, we probably should disassemble those consoles. You wouldn’t mind a specialized squad one time for that, would you?” Howdy asked.

“No ... get this shit out of here. I’m glad to be rid of it.” John said.

“We’ll leave you that second console.” Howdy said, moving to it. He flipped a few switches and the monitors came up. He poked a few buttons and finally located the gym. The girls were moving towards the hot tub, stripping off their outfits.

“Oops! Sorry!” Howdy said, punching up another view.

This showed Theresa sitting on Kevin’s lap. The two were quite involved in some very serious kissing. Howdy changed the view again. This time he got an underwater view of the pool. He punched up a switch from the top row. He got a failure alarm.

“That’s odd.” he said.

“My fault. Probably one of the circuits you said to disable. My circuit lays a virtual short on those lines I select to block.” John said.

“Oh ... good work. Sorry about that little slip with the girls.” Howdy said.

“No problem ... You’re welcome to join them if you’d like.” John said.

Howdy looked at him.

“You wouldn’t mind?” he asked, surprised.

“No ... I’d have to clear it with them first, as it’s their decision. But no, I wouldn’t mind.” John said.

“I’d be green with jealousy.” Howdy said.

“Over what? Theresa’s well on her way to a new husband, as you saw. I don’t think you could tempt Sheila or Cindy ... but you might. That would be okay, I guess. If that’s what they wanted. The triplets have actually expressed an interest in you.” John said.

“They have!? Good god ... how can you be so carefree?” Howdy asked.

John reached over and punched up the circuit with Theresa and Kevin on it.

“That’s how! You take a look at Theresa. She’s a happy woman. Kevin’s a good man for her. I know you checked him out, or you wouldn’t have returned with him, or allowed him to fly you here the first time. Anyway, Theresa’s happiness is what I care most about. That applies to every one of them. Besides ... I’ve got a spare available even if you were to seduce every one of them away from me.” John chuckled.

Howdy nodded, looking at the screen. Kevin was getting brave enough that his hands were starting to wander over Theresa’s firm body. John punched up another circuit. This one was the kitchen.

“I didn’t want to eaves drop on them ... just to give you an idea of what I meant. But to watch further would be an invasion of their privacy.” John said.

Howdy nodded. He shut down the console and they moved on.

“You weren’t supposed to know about this at all. I’m going to have to instigate an investigation into the other silo’s we’ve sold. We can’t have the kind of stuff I found here floating around in the world, uncontrolled. God, all we’d need would be a bunch of Arab terrorists getting their hands on launch codes, and encoder sending units. Let alone the LAWS rockets. I think I’d better stay here until I can muster a squad to disassemble that launch room and cart off the munitions.” Howdy said.

“You’re very welcome to stay as long as you need. Interested in the triplets while you’re here? I don’t know your marital status.” John said.

“I’m divorced ... a victim of my career. God, the triplets? Are they really interested in me?” he asked.

“Yeah, sort of. I think they just want to see what other men are like. Theresa would probably skin them alive if they got near Kevin. You’d have to use protection though, none of the girls is on birth control. They haven’t needed it because of my vasectomy. No sense fooling with their hormones unnecessarily.” John said.

“God, I don’t have any. Maybe it’s just as well. I don’t know if I’d be up to performing with three.” Howdy said.

“There’s only one way to find out. I have a theory about that. I think that men just lose their ability because they live with women who lose their interest after they pass their child bearing years. I regularly outperform what I was able to when I was in my twenties. And I’ve got plenty of condoms left over from when I had my vasectomy. I wanted to be very sure I was shooting blanks before I went unprotected.” John said.

“And you wouldn’t mind?” Howdy asked.

“Naw, I want them to get a little experience before they go out into the world. I figure that you’re about as safe as anybody, a lot safer than most that they’ll encounter. Besides, it makes the sleeping arrangements simpler. I figure that Theresa and Kevin can use the bed off the gym. If you take the guest room with the triplets, then I can spend a little quality time with Cindy and Sheila.” John said.

“God, it has been a long time.” Howdy said.

“Then why not ... Just a few things to consider though; One, if they change their minds I expect you’ll be honorable about it. No matter how horny you get. And second ... You should know in advance that their Bi inclinations extend to each other. I wouldn’t want you to spoil that for them. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, then we should make other sleeping arrangements for you ... Hell, what am I thinking. There’s twenty beds just down the hall.” John chuckled.

“Sister incest? God, I don’t know... “ Howdy said.

“Then maybe you’d better sleep in here. We just got them comfortable with enjoying sex. I don’t want anybody spoiling that for them...

Think about what your objections are though. The taboo against incest is based upon the fact that blood relations mating reinforce recessive genes. It increases the likelihood of a birth defect to at least one out of eight. That taboo probably got extended to all family members because of the stigma over same sex relationships. But it doesn’t really protect anybody from anybody. Society’s just carried on the taboo. Removing the danger of a deformed child, most of the actual damage arising from incest is probably the stigma that society places upon it.

That’s not a problem for the triplets. They can’t impregnate each other. Personally, I can see no problem with them making love to each other. They probably have a relationship unique in the whole world ... Much more unique than you could even imagine ... But that would be their business to share with you if they so desired.

Anyway, they share something very special with each other. I don’t want somebody messing that up. The most damage they could suffer from their relationship, is having somebody make them feel guilty over rules made up thousands of years ago to avoid birth defects and cater to homophobia.” John said.

Howdy nodded.

“Makes sense ... I never thought of it in those terms before... “ he said.

“Few people ever do question tribe taboo’s, they just accept them. I had to think about them in relation to the relationships I found myself involved in.” John said.

Again Howdy nodded.

“Well, no need to decide now. I imagine that the others are getting hungry and muttering about life in the dungeon.

But if you do decide to sleep with them, and they decide they actually want you too, then I expect you to honor their freedom to pick their own lifestyle.

That’s one of the few rules we have around here. We let others make their own decisions, without making judgments against them.” John said, seriously.

“I can promise you that much. I’ll honor that rule ... I think that it’s a good one. I guess I’m just not very comfortable yet about same sex relationships. For some reason, females don’t bother me near as much as men.” Howdy admitted.