Chapter 56

I woke the next morning to a minor crisis that took up the next couple of days. When I came out of my bedroom for my morning coffee Asana informed me that there was a message waiting for me on the household computer. The message was from Art and it was very short but it wasn't sweet. James Dong had left the cave just before dawn and he hadn't returned.

Over my coffee and a cinnamon bun I sat and reviewed the video feed from the cave. I watched as James Dong had risen well before dawn. I noted that he had been sleeping by himself and that the women in the cave were actually sleeping a fair distance away from him. To me it looked obvious that they hadn't been getting along. I pushed that thinking to the back of my mind and focused on the immediate. I watched as James dressed and then started packing up. He made himself a small pack of supplies that include food and water and a few basic tools and a makeshift bedroll. He took great care to keep quiet and to not wake anyone. Finally I watched him slip out of the cave. Once outside I watched him turn north and head back towards the upper part of the rift valley and the box canyon where we'd first met Soo Hong, Gaeta, and Little Fish. After a half hour of watching him trudge northward, I cut the video feed back to the caves. The rest of his extended family were still sleeping.

By then my family was up and about and getting ready for the new day. I greeted my wife and daughters with tender kisses and gentle caresses. They purred their good mornings to me and then went and found a spot at the dining room table. Once we were all seated Asana brought over coffee for the others and breakfast for all of us. Bizana poured me a second cup of coffee to help me wash down my meal. As we ate I informed my family of Art's alert. That got people stirred up.

"What do you think he's up to Dad," Sarah asked as she looked at me over the rim of her coffee cup.

"I don't know," I replied dismissively, "and I don't really care."

"Well Adam," Emma muttered in response to that, "you might not care about what he is up to but I'm certain that Olivia will and so will his daughters. Those girls still love their father even if he's being a dickhead. You're going to have to make this into something you care about and do it quick."

"I guess," I grumbled unhappily, sighing heavily in response.

"I know!" Emma stated bluntly, giving me the 'wife' look from across the table.

So that was it. After breakfast I sent Karen out to find Olivia Dong and Soo Hong and while she was at it, Vicky. While she was off doing that I got back on the computer and started watching the video feed once more. By then the women left in the cave were up and aware that James was missing. A heated debate was in progress when Olivia Dong and Soo Hong showed up. I waved to them to keep quiet for a few minutes while I watched the scene unfold before me on the computer. Only after watching things go from bad to worse did I minimize the video and turn to speak to the other women. By then Vicky had shown up.

"Olivia," I said firmly, gazing up at the woman from where I was seated, "your husband decided to go for a walk this morning and he didn't come back. Now before you freak out, I can tell you that he's still alive and nothing bad has happened to him. From what I've seen so far it looks like he decided to ditch the rest of your extend family and go off on his own. I don't know why or what he hopes to achieve by doing so, but his actions have raised a stir down in the cave. Your sister-in-law Laurie wants to organize a search party and go find him. Surprisingly she's run into a lot of opposition and even more surprisingly the ringleaders of that opposition are her own daughters. They've told her to forget James and to focus on the immediate which in their eyes is what they need to do to survive. As far as the girls are concerned the answer to that is for them to come back here and beg our forgiveness."

"I imagine that went over like a lead balloon with Laurie," Soo Hong declared with a little disgust in the tone of her voice.

"You're right," I nodded point back towards the computer monitor as I spoke. "I'll let the two of you sit and go through the video feed of this morning in a second or two, but the gist of things is that all the girls plus Elizabeth Chow want to pack up and leave while Laurie wants to go find James. The only undecided people there are Christine Dong and Marianne Chow. Christine is afraid of what will happen when they get back here. She's really hung up on the sex issue isn't she?"

"Yes," both Olivia Dong and Soo Hong agreed.

I left them to the computer and the video feed after that and grabbed Vicky who had been watching and listening with interest from the periphery. I got her a second coffee and a third one for me and the two of us went outside to have a private chat. By then the sun had punched a hole through the grey clouds of the morning sky and it was trying to warm things up. It had its work cut out for itself. It was damp and chilly and both Vicky and I needed to put on coats and gloves to keep warm while we walked down towards our armoury.

"So what's the plan?" Vicky asked once we had passed the dining hall.

"Well," I replied in a low voice, "I'm certain that part of that family are going to leave the cave sometime today and head back this way and I'm certain that when they do head out, Olivia Dong and Soo Hong will want us to go get them. I want you to get things ready. I think a pickup and one of the big trucks will do the trick for us. I'll have Art provide the vehicles. Once they're here, I want them supplied with some hot drinks and food and some extra blankets. I'll drive the pickup with Soo Hong and you can drive the big truck with Olivia. Make certain we have our carbines and ammunition packed and ready for use as well."

"What will you be up to while I'm doing this?" Vicky asked pointedly.

"One, I'll be running interference with Olivia," I replied firmly, "and two I'll be stopping by Rebecca's and getting her onboard as well. While none of the women or the girls down there appeared to need any medical assistance, I really think we should bring Rebecca along on the trip just in case something happens while they're trudging out of the valley. She can ride in the crew cab of the pickup with me."

"Okay," Vicky said as we parted company, "I'll see you later. Let me know when you're ready to leave."

We were on the road an hour later. After speaking to Rebecca and getting her onboard I had wandered back up to my mobile home. By then Olivia Dong and Soo Hong had poured over the video feed and were satisfied that they had an understanding of what was going on. In my absence they had watched Laurie Dong's defeat. It turned out that the girls were sick and tired of living down in the caves and with dealing with James' mood. They had told Laurie that they were leaving regardless of what she wanted to do and while Elizabeth Chow quickly warmed up a breakfast for everyone, the girls had started to pack. That had proved the last straw for Laurie Dong and after a bit of a cry she capitulated. Her surrender brought Christine Dong and Marianne Chow onboard as well. Their intention was to leave within the hour.

As expected both Olivia Dong and Soo Hong wanted me to go and pick them up. I chuckled at that and told them it was already in the works. I gave them time to go and get dressed for the trip and to leave instructions with Shaba and Olivia's girls. Then I kissed my wife and girls good-bye and promised to keep in touch by radio.

The trip didn't take us very long. Even without pushing it we made the seventy or so miles from our settlement to the ramp leading down into the valley in a little over an hour and a half. Of course there was no pulling over and waiting for the Dong family to show up. The distance from the ramp to the cave was well over twenty miles and I doubted that the women would make it to our location even by sunset. Instead we worked our way down the ramp and into the valley. Once there we drove slowly up the valley until we came upon the women. That was about forty-five minutes later. The girls were certainly happy to see us as were Elizabeth and Marianne Chow. The only two who weren't were Laurie and Christine Dong.

We stopped for about twenty minutes while the girls told us what had happened and while Olivia Dong and Soo Hong told them that we already knew about what they had to tell us. That revelation set off Laurie and Christine Dong. They were both pissed to learn that we'd been spying on them since I had banished them. I just ignored their rants and told Soo Hong to sort them out and to get them onto the truck.

Amazingly Soo Hong went to town on the two women. She gave them a blast of shit that silenced their whining and put smiles on the girls' faces. It was obvious to Vicky, Rebecca, and me that the girls were tired of having to put up with their mothers and their antics. Soo Hong made it clear what the rules were for returning to the settlement and pointed out that if they couldn't abide by the rules then they might as well turn about and trudge back to the cave because if they caused problems once they got to the settlement then I'd banish them again and it would be forever. That silenced Laurie and Christine Dong. They didn't look happy about it but they kept their mouths shut. The girls responded differently. They all turned to me and thanked me for coming and picking them up and for allowing them to return to the settlement. They also promised to be good members of our community and to participate fully in our day to day activities. I knew that was a loaded statement but I left it alone for the time being. I could see that it was aimed more at Laurie and Christine Dong than at me. I thanked them in turn and then told everyone to mount up.

We stopped for lunch at the top of the shelf after climbing the ramp up from the valley. While we ate I contacted the settlement and let everyone know that we were on our way home. While I did that Rebecca took the time and checked on the Dong family to make certain that there wasn't any major health issues. There weren't any other than a few sniffles. We eventually got back to the settlement around two in the afternoon. I was happy to be home.

By the next day we had snow. It came down hard and wet and then it was gone by midday. It set the mood for the day and for the rest of the week. It told us that fall was over and winter was here and it wasn't going to be nice. Most of us just stayed indoors and found things to entertain ourselves. Besides tending the animals and working on various crafts there wasn't much to do. Soo Hong made certain that the women and the girls from the cave met with Sally and Betty and Bethany so they could start settling in. That didn't take long. While that was going on I had a chat with Art about James Dong. I asked Art to keep an eye on him for us and to let me know if the guy got into any kind of trouble. I knew that Art couldn't protect James but I didn't want Olivia or her daughters to worry about him. Speaking of Olivia, once I was done with the meeting with Art I made an appointment with her. Olivia needed to celebrate her pregnancy. We spent the afternoon together along with Emma. It proved to be a fun afternoon. Once I had satisfied Olivia and shown her that I was ecstatic about her carrying my son, I introduced Emma to the joy of fisting. Olivia got her tiny hand up inside my wife while I pounded Emma's ass. Emma squealed with pleasure and let everyone know that she was having a great time. It certainly helped to pass the time.

Art let me know a few days later that James Dong had stopped at Buktohesh's old encampment. That surprised me and most of the Dong family. Then Art let me know that James was heading south and by his analysis he believed that James was retracing the route Buktohesh and his Turtle soldiers had travelled north. He confirmed it a week later when he reported that James Dong had spent the night at the old caves where Gaeta and her tribe had been living. It was now obvious that James was heading back to where his family had been originally dropped off on this planet. That got me worried because I knew that Buktohesh's ship had crashed near that site and I expressed my concerns to Art. Thankfully Art had already dealt with that issue. Even while Buktohesh and his henchmen were attempting to escape from the downed spacecraft, Art had been stripping it of anything that could be used to either damage him or that would upset the balance established by Lord Adina in his project outlines. Essentially there wasn't much left that James could salvage from the vessel even if he could reach it. It was a quarter mile off the shore and almost completely submerged. It was reassuring to know that Art was on top of the situation. It also reassured Olivia Dong and her daughters to know that Art had been helping James stay alive. He had been leaving food packages along the trail for the man to find. While James might have been stupid for taking off on his own, he wasn't that stupid when offered free food. How long it would continue would depend on whether James Dong started hunting or fishing for himself. Hopefully he'd wise up soon.