Chapter 51

After detailing my plan and listening to what others thought of it, I decided I needed to go for another walk. This time I asked Vicky to come along with me. Hesitantly she agreed.

Again I took an Argo and my hunting rifle. Naturally Vicky brought along her carbine and the 'big rifle'. I really had no intentions of using them but toting them along had become a habit and it wasn't one that I wanted to break. It didn't take us long to get down to the beach and park.

"So tell me about Olivia Don,." I told Vicky bluntly once we were both out of the vehicle and standing gazing towards the black waters of the lake.

Vicky hesitated for only a second and then started talking.

"There's really not much to tell you," she said in a low voice. "Olivia Dong is my Olivia Dong. She was shocked when I introduced myself to her. I've obviously changed a lot in the past ten years. I'm certainly not the same teenage girl that she'd seduced. Naturally she was hesitant to talk to me. I got the impression that she didn't want her husband knowing who I was, so I didn't push her. We've only talked twice so far and our chats have been quick. I've gotten the feeling that she feels awkward with the current situation."

"How do you mean?" I asked quizzically.

"Well," Vicky stated while glancing away, "I've gotten a few mixed messages from her. When I told her who I was, she reacted with excitement, but after a minute or two of chatting, she started to get distant. It might be because of her husband. When we were together, Olivia always complained about him. He was always doing something else other than spending time with her. I know that she never wanted him to know about us. Of course at the time I thought it was because of what we were doing. I might have been naïve at the time but I was conscious of the fact that what Olivia was doing with me was illegal. I didn't care because I wanted it and I was in love. Still I wasn't a dummy and I knew that Olivia could have gone to jail for having sex with me. I kept my mouth shut then and besides telling you about it, I've never told anyone else. I only told you because I never thought I'd be seeing Olivia again."

"How do you feel about her now?" I pushed Vicky.

"I don't know," Vicky replied softly. "I was excited to see her but her reaction to me has put me off. Maybe it's the physical differences between us. Back then I was the thin rake of a girl that she was teaching the pleasures of sex and she was the older woman. Now I'm big and buff and all woman and she's the slip of a girl. The dynamics are certainly off."

"Do you think that we should punish her along with her husband," I asked bluntly, "and the rest of her family?"

"I don't think we should," Vicky replied without hesitation, "although I've got nothing to tell you that supports my belief."

"Well," I said after a moment, "I personally don't want to punish her either, but I'm not certain that we can avoid it. If this AI that Asana and Bizana told us about can do what I want, then I'm thinking that I might leave the decision as to who gets sent to the cave up to it. I mean that if it can determine who in the Dong family won't make the effort to get along with us and just send them away, I'll accept anyone left behind as being salvageable. We're just going to have to see what happens."

"Yeah," Vicky sighed in response, "I guess you're right. We'll just have to wait and see."

Vicky and I stayed down on the beach for another hour or so just resting against the bush guard of the Argo and staring out at the cold black waters of the lake. Neither of us had much to say to each other, yet neither of us wanted to go back up to the settlement. Unfortunately, in the end we had no choice. The day got greyer as it progressed and it started to drizzle.

My family ate in again that night. Soo Hong dropped by after supper. It was an awkward moment for her. She apologized for her family's behaviour. I just nodded my acknowledgement of her words. It frustrated her and I could sense her awkwardness but I chose not to say anything. Sensing that I wasn't going to give her an inch Soo Hong gave up and left. Shortly after she did, I kissed my wife and daughters good night and went over to my mother-in-laws unit for the night. Betty welcomed me with open arms. We spent some time on the sofa watching a movie together and then making out just as if we were school kids. Eventually we headed to bed.

Lovemaking that night wasn't actually up to my normal standards. Betty sensed my mood and she didn't push things. We had a nice slow fuck and then we cuddled. She asked me what was wrong and I told her about what we'd learnt that day and about what I had planned for the Dong's. She chuckled at the image that I described for her, about how I imagined things to be in the morning for James Dong and his in-laws. I had to admit the thought cheered me up a bit as well. Eventually we just went to sleep.

I rose early the next morning and woke Betty. We shared a shower and then went and woke everyone else up. My plan was to eat breakfast as a group down at the dining hall. Betty and I got there first and had it open long before the sun had broken through the grey sky of the new day. I helped her get the coffee going and then sat and drank a cup while the rest of the family started filing in. We were all eating and chatting cheerfully when others started to show up. The first ones there were Gaeta and most of the other women of her tribe. They all smiled happily when the saw us. Two of the cave women went into the kitchen unit and joined Angela and Tilly who were working there. While the remainder settled about the dining hall and got comfortable, they helped Angela and Tilly serve up to the rest of their band. I noted that with the arrival of the twenty-four cave women that things were packed in the dining hall. I knew that even with the Dong's gone that we'd either have to eat in our units or we'd be dining in shifts. I mentioned it to the women sitting about me and we all agreed to talk about it later.

Soo Hong showed up half an hour later. With her were Olivia Dong and her two daughters and Shaba and her two daughters. That was it. Soo Hong walked over to where I was sitting with my family and stared questioningly at me.

"What have you done with the rest of my family?" she asked.

"Your great-grandson didn't want anything to do with me and my family," I told her bluntly, "so I got rid of them."

"What do you mean that you got rid of them?" Olivia Dong asked as she came up behind Soo Hong. "What have you done with my husband and my mother and the rest of the family?"

"I've told you what I've done," I replied coldly, staring at Olivia as sternly as I could. Both Olivia and Soo Hong flinched instinctively in response to my glare and the severity of my tone. Ignoring their reaction I continued.

"I got rid of them!" I declared once more. "I decided that since your husband and your in-laws wanted nothing to do with me and my family that I would send them away. Right now they should be waking up in the caves down in the valley. I'm certain that they're not enjoying the surprise."

"But you didn't get rid of us," Olivia muttered softly. "Why didn't you get rid of us as well?"

As she spoke Soo Hong eyed me closely. I could tell what she was thinking. I also noticed that Shaba was holding back near the entrance to the dining hall. She was staring at me waiting for my reply. She was also holding her two daughters close to her. Her face told me that she was thinking the same thing that Soo Hong was thinking. I sighed softly and then answered Olivia's question.

"Not for the reason that you people think," I stated bluntly. "In fact, I didn't intentionally keep any of you here. When I asked the planetary AI to shift all the malcontents off to the caves I left it with an opening and obviously it took advantage of it. I told it not to get rid of anyone who could adapt to living with our community and who would accept us for who we were and not what we've been doing sexually. I guess it decided that you seven fit my criteria and that the others didn't.

"What planetary AI are you talking about?" Soo Hong wanted to know.

I told them. I spent the next fifteen minutes explaining to them what we'd learned from Asana and Bizana. It surprised not only Soo Hong and the other six members of the Dong family who had been spared the trip to the caves in the valley, but several of my extended family as well. I hadn't spread the word about the AI yet and obviously those who had learned about it had kept their mouths shut as well. I knew I was going to have to have a family chat after breakfast and discuss this with them. Learning that a super computer had been manipulating their lives for the past few months was something that they didn't want to accept. I was certain that many of them were thinking about movies like the 'Terminator' and I would have to try and reassure them that it wasn't like that even though I was wondering the same thing. I would also have to have a chat with Gaeta and her people. They were paying attention to what I was saying but it was clear that none of them understood what a computer or an AI was. For the moment though I still needed to deal with Olivia Dong and the others standing before me.

"You have to bring them back!" Olivia forced herself to say, as she stood looking at me with uncertainty on her face. Her body language screamed at me that she was afraid.

"No I don't," I pointed out bluntly. "I've given the rest of your family everything that they had as of last night and I've had the AI replace everything that they'd been initially given when you people originally arrived on this planet. I even ensured that they'd have food for this morning. I didn't want them going hungry as they stand around complaining about what I've done to them. After that they're on their own. There is fish in the lake and while it's late in the season and most of the wildlife in the valley has moved to warmer climbs, they should be able to hunt and gather food and supplies if they can get themselves organized."

"And if they can't get themselves organized what then?" Soo Hong demanded to know, her voice and stance telling me that she wasn't as upset as Olivia was. "There are children with them that haven't done anything to deserve this. You should at least bring them back."

"Unfortunately the AI thought differently," I shot back at her. "Besides, if they decide that they're willing to apologize to my family and me, they can hike back here and do so. It's only a week's march and I'm certain they can make it if they put their minds to it."

"Bastard!" Olivia muttered before turning away from me and walking back to her daughters. She and the two girls left the dining hall and went back towards the barrack shelters. Both Soo Hong and I sighed as we watched her go.

"I know what you did was necessary Adam," Soo Hong said softly once Olivia was out of the building, "but it will take Olivia time to accept it. I do hope that you're going to keep an eye on my great-grandson and the others. As you already know, they're not great at living off the land and I'm certain that they're going to run into problems. I'm also certain that James won't be heading back here to beg your forgiveness. That boy is very stubborn."

"For the kids' sakes," I said conceding the point to Soo Hong, "I'll see if I can get the AI to give us daily reports. If things get really bad, we'll discuss options then. For now I think we'll just wait and see what happens. Anyway, you and Shaba and her daughters should get something to eat. Then when you're done, you should take some food to Olivia and her girls. They'll be hungry by then."

I finished breakfast and went and took a walk up to the barn to look in on the animals. Sally came with me as did her work crew. I stood around and watched them get the stock out into the paddock so they could muck out the stalls. While I watched them I reflected on what had been discussed that morning and what I had done to the Dong family. I smirked when the thought of how pissed off James Dong would be when he woke up and found himself sleeping in a cave. I know if wasn't 'Christian' of me, but it was a very satisfying thought. I placated any fleeting thoughts of remorse by telling myself it was a much better option than what I had really wanted to do to the smug little shit. I was certain that no one including my own family would have tolerated me pounding the shit out of the man.

Still thinking about it made me remember my promise to Soo Hong about keeping an eye on things. I decided to walk back down to the settlement and find a tablet. I wanted to talk to the AI and I wanted to see if it would respond. I waved good-bye to my mother and her crew and wandered off.

I didn't get back to the settlement. As I headed back down the hill from the barn I ran into a small party made up of Gaeta, Kasha, and Mira. From the smiles on their faces I knew what they had to tell me. I just walked up to them without waiting for them to speak and congratulated them. Kasha and Mira were excited. They explained that the spirits had spoken to them and that they knew that they were both carrying boys.

Their mentioning of spirits gave me the in that I needed to explain to them about the AI and what I had done to the Dong family. I asked Kasha to gather up her people and meet me in front of the medical unit for a chat. She said she would and headed off at a trot. I followed her at a slower pace, walking the rest of the way down the hill with Gaeta on one side of me and Mira on the other. I walked with my arms slipped about their waists and they snuggled in close to me. I promised Mira that she could join me later to celebrate her getting pregnant. That made her very happy.

Our impromptu meeting down by the medical unit went well. I used the moment to introduce everyone to Rebecca and Melody. I explained to the cave women that Rebecca was our 'healer' and that Melody was her assistant. I also informed them that the container behind us was our 'healing hut'. I kept things simple not knowing how the translation devices translated technical information into what these people could grasp. Thankfully it quickly became apparent that the cave women were getting what I was saying to them. They all smiled with understanding when I finished speaking and then they reciprocated by sharing some information with us. Kasha called forward a tall dark haired woman and introduced her as Soya. Soya was the daughter of Merta and the granddaughter of Hoyta who had been the healer in their old tribe. Since coming here Soya had been their healer. Rebecca and Melody greeted with a hug and promised that they would talk with her later. With that out of the way I got into why I'd called them all together.

The first thing I told them was that I'd gotten rid of the Dong's because they weren't good for our community. All the cave women nodded their acceptance of that fact. These were people who lived in tight-knit bands that survived only by working together. They knew that people that couldn't get along with the group were a threat to their survival. They also knew that a leader needed to be strong and see to the needs of the entire group and not just one faction. As the lone adult male they accepted my decision. The only thing that they questioned was how I'd done it. All of them believed that I was a powerful shaman who could control spirits and make them do my bidding. That brought me to try and explain about the AI.

I kept things simple. I had Rebecca bring out a couple of things including her medical tablet. I took ten minutes and explained to the gathered cave women what technology was. I pointed out that technology was all about them. I demonstrated the simplest forms like a fire starting kit which Gaeta had and a shovel explaining the basic science involved in its use. That got me some giggles and strange looks. It was obvious that they had never thought about why things did what they did and that they had just accepted it as being a fact. From there I introduced them to a magnifying glass and a couple of Rebecca's scanning instruments. They just stood and nodded their heads politely as I droned on. Finally I showed them the medical tablet. The fact that I could pull up all kinds of images impressed them but I still got the feeling that they weren't getting the point. Still I pushed on and explained that on the planet there was another device just like the tablet that was much bigger and much more powerful. I explained what Asana and Bizana had told my family about why Buktohesh had captured them and why he had been using them to dig a hole in the ground. That got a lot of murmuring going amongst the women and it was clear that the memory of what had happened to their men was a sore point. Ignoring their shifting mood I pressed on. I wrapped things up by explaining that the AI was like the spirits that they believed in but that he wasn't a true spirit. I assured them that he was only a device like the things that I'd shown them. I don't think they really got it.