Chapter 50

I found Soo Hong leaving the dining hall. She was bundled up against the cold damp day in a heavy coat with gloves and a hat. It made me smile. It reminded me of the first time that I'd seen her back in the box canyon. In a way she looked similar, all bundled up and looking several pounds heavier than she really was. Soo Hong saw me and smiled back. Soo Hong was with a few of her relatives, younger ones from the way they were behaving in comparison to Soo Hong. When I indicated that I wanted to speak to her alone, she sent them on their way. Surprisingly, they all gave me a dirty look that left me wondering what was up.

"Where would you like to talk?" Soo Hong asked after her family wandered off.

I suggested going for a drive down to the beach. Soo Hong agreed.

We took an Argo. To my surprise all our big trucks and the humvee campers were gone. In their place, our 'benefactors' had returned the good old ubiquitous Argos. We took mine and headed off towards the lake. I made certain to pack my carbine and my hunting rifle before we left. I said nothing to Soo Hong until we got there and she kept her thoughts to herself.

"So," Soo Hong asked once I'd parked the vehicle and moved to climb out of it, "what do you want to talk about?"

"Your family," I told her bluntly.

"Oh," Soo Hong exclaimed softly as she climbed out of the vehicle and moved around it, to join me where I was standing.

The first thing I asked her was why had her relatives glared at me like I'd just stepped in dog shit. Soo Hong smiled at my words but that was it. Her smile faded quickly and she said nothing for a couple of minutes. Instead she turned her attention towards the cold dark waters of the lake. I let her have that time, waiting patiently and doing the same. Finally Soo Hong sighed as she realized that she'd have to answer me.

"My family has been talking to yours," Soo Hong said in a low voice, "and they have not liked everything that they've heard."

"What do you mean by that?" I demanded defensively.

"They've put two and two together," Soo Hong replied softly, "and they now know about your relationship with your daughters and the other members of your family. It has not impressed them."

"I beg your pardon," I declared sternly, "What do you mean that they're not impressed? Who gave them the right to question my relationships?"

"They did!" Soo Hong replied firmly, looking up at me as she spoke. "They are not mindless slaves and they are not controlled by the aliens that brought us here. They have asked questions and they have learned things that go against everything that society taught them back on Earth. Naturally their reaction has been one of disbelief and total rejection."

"Great," I grumbled angrily, fuming as I turned my gaze back towards the lake.

"I am sorry that this has happened Adam," Soo Hong responded sympathetically, "but it is something that you should have expected to occur. While I understand that you have had very little choice in this life you and your family are living, my family is not so willing to understand and accept it. My great-grandson is very conservative in his thinking as are most of my relatives. You will not be able to change their minds or attitude, no matter what you say to them. I am very sorry."

That pissed me off even more and I wanted to say something about it. In fact I wanted to go up to the new shelters and tell the whole pack of righteous bastards to pack up their things and get. As far as I was concerned they could go off and figure out how to survive on their own. I didn't do it, but I wanted to just the same. Thankfully, while my anger flared quickly, it also died down just as quickly. It helped that Soo Hong got my attention onto other matters.

"Was that all you wanted to know?" she asked after a few minutes of watching me stare off into nothing.

"No," I replied bluntly, turning my face towards hers and glaring sternly down at her. Surprisingly, she flinched and gazed down submissively in response. I ignored it and pushed on.

"I had actually called you down here to talk about other things," I told her pointedly, "although the things I wanted to talk about are still related to your family. This new issue is just the cherry on the cake."

"What do you wish to say Adam?" Soo Hong asked tentatively.

"Ever since we rescued your family," I stated calmly, "I've noticed things about them that have annoyed me and from the few conversations I've had with my daughters and with Vicky, have annoyed them as well. To put it bluntly, we haven't been impressed by their interaction with the rest of us. Gaeta and her people have tried to help out since they joined us. They helped at the cave and since arriving here. Your family have been standoffish and less than forthcoming when it comes to helping out. We're a community here and everyone needs to help out to make things work."

"Yes," Soo Hong acknowledged, bowing her head again, "I've noticed that as well."

"They're also not very friendly," I pointed out, "either to my people or towards members of your own family. That's not acceptable in our community."

"You should be talking to James about this," Soo Hong suggested to me. "He is the head of the family."

"Don't worry," I shot back firmly, "I'll be talking to him soon, especially after what you just told me, but for now I'm talking to you. So tell me, what's up with your family."

"New money," Soo Hong stated plainly and without hesitation. "My great-grandson made it rich a few years ago. He worked in the IT world and created something that one of the big software giants bought up. Fortunately he knew exactly its worth and received both cash and stock options. When they marketed his software the company did very well and the stock went through the roof. James made certain that as it started to slow down, he started to sell it. In a matter of no time, James was filthy rich. Of course, money turned his head and the heads of many of the others in the family. His brothers all fawned over him and did whatever he told them to do because they envied his money. Naturally, their wives and children did the same. Only Shaba and her daughters refused. That is one of the reasons that the family treats her poorly."

"So what is the other reason for the way they treat her?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Well," Soo Hong sighed before looking off towards the distant shores of the lake, "it is mostly because Shaba is Indonesian and because she is Muslim. George, who was a good boy, didn't care. He loved Shaba and married her. They'd met through business connections. George often went to South-East Asia for his company. He was a buyer and Shaba was a seller. She was young and pretty and a very modern girl for one of her background. She and the girls have missed George very much since coming here."

I said nothing for a moment or two about that. I felt sorry for the woman and her two daughters. While over eighty percent of my women had lost either a husband or a father when the aliens had kidnapped us from Earth, they hadn't really suffered from the experience. Maybe that was why my explosion of temper had abated. Just like the fact that all the women in my family had been conditioned to have sex with me, they'd also been conditioned not to focus on their loss. It helped that I'd taken to each of them, including everyone out of Tilly's group and had treated them all as my wives. From what Soo Hong had told me before, nothing like that had happened to her family and they were just as dysfunctional here as they'd been back on Earth. It gave me something to think about. It also brought another question to mind.

"All right then," I murmured after a second or two, "I can accept that your family is all fucked up and dysfunctional, however tell me about James and the fact that he's only fucking his wife and his sister-in-law Laurie. It doesn't make sense to me. After all, James is a fourteen-year-old with raging hormones. He should be dipping his wick into everyone."

"You'd think so," Soo Hong chuckled in reply, "but like I've explained to you before, the aliens didn't build in a compulsion to have sex into my family, so most of them are reserved about doing anything that crosses their moral line in the sand. Laurie has always had a thing for James and I suspect that they might have fucked around before getting dumped on this planet. Of course, neither of them has admitted it to anyone, but I've always had that feeling. The others might change their minds eventually, but not very soon. I think them learning about you pleasuring everyone in the settlement regardless of blood might have frightened them so much that they've padlocked their crotches again."

"That's fine with me," I replied quickly and firmly. "I don't need anymore women to take care of sexually."

"No," Soo Hong responded with a fake pout and a wiggling of her eyebrows. "Not even one more?"

What could I say? I just sighed and nodded my head.

"All right," I admitted grudgingly. "I've already committed myself to you and Gaeta and a couple of others, so don't get upset with me. I'll certainly do my part, however your great-grandson is going to have to do some work of his own if he intends to stay around here."

"Well that's questionable as well," Soo Hong informed me. "James and Laurie have been gabbing about moving on. Personally, I don't know what they're thinking considering what you and your family has access to, but I get the feeling that James is intimidated by you."

"Great," I grumbled shaking my head. "I'm definitely going to have to chat with him today."

"Well," Soo Hong said, reaching out and patting me on the arm, "I'd do it sooner than later. I definitely think this is something that needs airing. If not, there's going to be a lot of resentment on everyone's part."

I agreed with Soo Hong on that and said so. I suggested we head back to the settlement so I could do just that. The ride back was short and in silence.

I left Soo Hong at the Argo and went in search of her great-grandson. It turned out that he was in the dining hall having coffee with his wife and his sister-in-law Laurie. I walked up to him and asked him to take a walk with me. He looked at me for a moment or two, clearly hesitant. After a moment or two he asked why. That startled me.

"Because I want to have a chat with you," I replied with a voice filled with exasperation. "There are things you and I need to work out."

"Like what?" he shot back, just like a teenage kid.

"Like organizing your family into working with mine," I snapped back at him, "so that life around here will be pleasant."

"Forget it," James said without even hesitating. "We're not interested."

My mouth dropped open when he said that. He ignored me and picked up his coffee again and took a sip. I glanced about as he did. Only four people in the room looked embarrassed by James' behaviour. Three were Shaba and her two daughters. The last one was his wife. The rest were starring at me smugly.

"I beg your pardon?" I demanded, automatically clenching my fists as I spoke and taking a step towards the table where James Dong sat.

That caused a stir. Instinctively James Dong pushed his chair back and sat his coffee cup back down on the table before him. His eyes were wide with fright, as were the eyes of the women sitting about him.

"I don't think we have anything to talk about," James stammered in a quaking voice.

"Well I do," I growled back at him. "We need to discuss your plans for the future. Obviously, you're not going anywhere soon. The weather is getting colder and colder by the day and we're going to be into winter in a month or so. Since you'll be staying here, we should talk about how you're planning on spending that winter."

"Why?" James asked his voice sharp and defensive.

"Because we're a community here and we work together to survive," I replied sternly and just as forcefully, glaring down at the man. It was hard though. I knew that he was an adult, only a few years younger than I was, but his attitude and his physical appearance made me think of him as being nothing but a spoiled brat.

"I don't see your point," James said with indifference. "I'll worry about my family and you can worry about your harem. We'll keep to ourselves and you keep away. If you do that, there shouldn't be any problems."

"What?" I snapped back angrily.

"You heard me the first time," James threw back just as quickly, "My family is off limits to you, so keep that in mind. We'll winter here, but that's it. When the spring comes, we'll pack up and go. I'm certain that we can make do elsewhere."

"Really," I shot back at him, "Just like before, when you were making do down on the coast. Soo Hong told me all about that. It sounded like you were doing great down there."

"We made do," James growled in response. "Besides, not everyone kidnapped by the aliens received special treatment. I'd like to see how well you'd have done given what we had to start with. I'm certain that you wouldn't have done much better."

"And I'm certain that you don't know your ass from a hole in the ground," I said bluntly.

By then the conversation was over with. I was ready to reach across the table and throttle him and if I stayed there any longer I'd do it. I just walked away. I took one last look around the dining hall. Again the only ones that looked embarrassed by the whole preceding were Olivia Dong, Shaba Dong, and her two daughters. I also spotted my mother-in-law standing by the kitchen unit shaking her head. She just shook her head with disbelief when our eyes met. I just sighed and walked out of the dining hall without saying another word. I'm certain that James Dong had a smirk on his face as I did. I decided it was my time to head up to the barn and have a look around. Maybe checking on the animals would help calm me down. I figured it wouldn't hurt.

I found out that I wasn't the only person checking out the animals in the barn. Karen was up there sitting with Prince and the other dogs. She was just patting them and scratching them behind the ears. The dogs were eating up the attention she was giving them. However, my unexpected appearance startled her.

"Daddy," my youngest gasped as she noticed me. As she spoke she glanced up at me and I saw instantly that her eyes were reddened from crying. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Sorry sweetie," I replied, giving her a reassuring smile, "I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to have a little alone time with the animals. I need to clear my mind."

"It's okay Daddy," Karen told me, "I was just cuddling with the dogs."

"I can see that," I responded, nodding my awareness as I spoke, "and it looks like they're enjoying your attention. How are they doing?"

"They're doing pretty good Daddy," Karen answered in a low voice, giving Prince another pat as he nudged her in an attempt at getting her attention. "They don't seem to realize that Duchess and Lady are gone."

"That's good," I murmured in response, walking over to where my daughter was sitting and kneeling down beside her. When I got there I smiled at her once more and then asked the all important question.

"So honey," I said to her, patting Countess as I spoke, "how are you doing?"

"I'm sad Daddy," my little girl said without hesitation, "and I'm pissed. Duchess and Lady shouldn't have died that way. They were good dogs."

"They were honey," I agreed, "but the truth is that all these dogs are here for our protection. I know you've made friends with them and that you care about them and truthfully I think that is great, but as I just said, the dogs are here to protect us and you're going to have to accept that they could get hurt or killed in the process."

"It's still not fair Daddy," Karen protested softly. "We're had them for months and there hasn't been any problems and the first time we go into the valley with them, two of them get killed."

"I know honey," I sighed sympathetically, "but the fact is that we've been lucky here and we haven't had any real threats to us that called on the dogs to protect us. Things were different in the valley. If I'd know that they were going against a Turtle soldier, I'd have called them back. Unfortunately, we were all taken by surprise."

My words helped a little as did my arm about my daughter's shoulder and my tender kisses upon her head as I spoke. Still there wasn't much that I could do for Karen except to be there for her. The fact was that the reality of our existence had come home with the killing of Duchess and Lady and for the time being, Karen would be blue. Hopefully she would get over it in time.

We stayed together for a little bit. I sat and watched as she patted the dogs and I relaxed and listened to the sounds emanating from the various stalls. The animals were calm and that calmness eased my spirits. Eventually my stomach rumbled and I left my daughter to her solitude.

I took my time sauntering back towards the dining hall and food. Yes I was hungry but I had things still to think about and I wanted to do it before I got down amongst people once more. My thoughts were still on the Dong family and their reaction to our community and those thoughts made me hesitant about running into them again. I knew that avoiding them was out of the question, as our world was very small at the moment, yet I had no desire to be polite to them while they sneered at my family and made it clear that they weren't happy knowing us. By the time I got to the dining hall, I'd made a decision.