Chapter 64: A Brief Break

It seemed that I had barely closed my eyes when the intercom chime pulled me back to full wakefulness.

“Captain,” Ensign White said. “Mike tells me that we will finish linking to the dock in less than ten minutes. Why don’t you head to the airlock?”

“My officers run me like they run the ship,” I grumbled as I got out of bed.

“No we don’t,” Ensign White said merrily. “We just want you to get the relaxation you deserve. You saved us in that first system. I would have charged in and got us caught by that carrier. Ensign Munfree admits she would not have thought of diving down below the orbital plane to escape the Sa’arm.”

“It wasn’t enough,” I said. “We need to take out Sa’arm ships and we needed to figure out which of the two planets they were on.”

“We’ll get more chances. Maybe we’ll arrive when they don’t have a carrier right at the edge of the system. Until then we have you,” Ensign White said. “Now get up and start walking to the airlock. I want you there before the ship comes to a full and complete stop.”

“Ah, but shouldn’t I have my seat belt fastened until the plane reaches the loading gate,” I asked as I stood up and walked to the door.

There was no answer from Ensign White. I left my quarters and turned right to head down the passageway towards the airlock. Ahead I could faintly hear some conversations going on.

The walk took me only a couple of minutes. When I arrived at the point where the airlock was the only indication of its location was a bright green light on the wall opposite the door. I noticed that Blaine, Morgause and Linus were standing in the hallway. The trio was involved in a discussion and did not pay attention to me as I approached.

“I’m telling you,” Linus said. “Look, I was picked up at this little diner in Koekuk.”

“Where?” Blaine asked.

“It’s a town in Iowa. The whole area is farm country and my two concubines both grew up on farms,” Linus said. “Anyways, Tracy has some experience with plants and she tells me that we’ll want to get some plants growing as soon as we can.”

“Why?” Morgause asked.

“Partly just to keep the dust and dirt down. Otherwise the wind can pick up any small bits of rock and carry them around. Tracy went to some college classes and she said part of the reason there were huge dust storms in the region at times would be a lack of grasses to keep the top soil from blowing away. I guess it was a huge problem back before World War Two happened,” Linus said. “She learned about it in her classes.”

“The Dust Bowl,” I said as I approached. “I agree plants would be nice, but right now we don’t have any. The AI did tell me that part of the terraforming process traditionally includes bringing in some plant life, but it won’t happen for a year or two at best, and we don’t get to choose. Automated ships make the deliveries.”

“What can we do?” Morgause asked.

“Not much,” I said. “If someone happens to have seeds on them when they are picked up and they get delivered her, which would help. Unfortunately, most people have nothing when they arrive. At best the sponsor and the concubines grab their clothing and rush onto the teleport pad. At least most of the people at my pickup were like that.”

“Most?” Linus asked.

“Four of my concubines had full duffle bags of things we wanted to bring with us. We never thought about plants though. It was clothing, games, and a few items we wanted to keep as mementos,” I admitted.

“Smart,” Linus said.

“I’m beginning to realize just how much thought, our captain puts into things. You realize that he just admitted that four of his concubines had already been selected before he was picked up?” Blaine said.

Linus just stared at me. “You did?”

“Yes. Ashley had been with me since before the Defense Forces Special. Lenore, Miki and Tatyana all met me before the day I was picked up,” I said.

“Wow,” Morgause said. “I never thought about doing that. I guess you really did think about the future.”

“He still does,” Blaine said. “That’s what all the training was about.”

“It worked,” Linus said. “The engine room was a mess because of the bad equipment, but we were able to handle every problem. And we’re getting better.”

“Just remember we have to keep getting better,” I said.

“Captain,” we heard over the intercom. “The grapples have us and the dock is extending a tube. Do you have any words for the crew?”

“Everyone knows about the situation, I believe we are ready. Just make sure no crewman leaves without confirming when they must be back,” I said.

“Just remember that if you come back too quickly we’ll send you back to your ladies,” Ensign Daniels called out. “You need to rest.”

“There’s no rest for the wicked,” I replied as the first airlock door opened.

“Sure there is,” Blaine said. “In fact I’d argue they sleep better because they don’t care.”

“I do care,” I said. I stepped forward into the airlock passage. All three of my crew followed.

We followed the same pattern through each of the many doors used to protect the crew from losing atmosphere due to damage at this one spot.

When we stepped out of the final door, three marines were standing at the entrance. One stepped forward and offered a salute. “Captain Parker, Sergeant Griffiths has decided to deploy a standing guard over the ship. Someone will be here until you launch again tomorrow,” he barked.

“Thanks,” I said.

I saluted the marines. When I dropped my salute they dropped theirs and moved to take a position to the right of the airlock passage. “The teleportal is that way,” one of the marines offered helpfully.

Blaine raced ahead of me. “I have to make sure Bets and Rory haven’t killed each other,” he muttered.

“At least I don’t have to worry about that,” I thought as I walked down the passage. Linus and Morgause followed me as we watched Blaine race ahead.

The walk to the teleportal felt much shorter than it had been a couple of days ago. The reason became clear when we arrived. This was not the same teleportal.

“It’s a different dock?” Morgause asked.

“The one we were in was probably a repair dock of some kind. Since we’re just visiting why have us pull into such tight quarters?” I asked.

“Makes sense,” Linus said. “After all the exhaust from the thrust has to do some damage to the docks, when a ship pulls out.”

We all stepped into the teleportal together. A moment later we were stepping out of the chamber on the planet.

“Home,” Morgause said with a sigh. “Now I get to find out if I have to terminate Jaden or keep him.”

“I still can’t understand why he did anything that crazy,” Linus said.

“We could have a long discussion about that, but I’m interested in visiting my ladies and having them fawn all over me. I’ll see you back on the ship,” I said.

“Can I talk to you about Jaden later?” Morgause asked.

“Certainly,” I said. “And Clarissa is welcome to visit my ladies anytime. However, I can’t promise they’ll leave her unmolested. I do ask that they not seduce others, but...”

“You don’t mind?” Linus asked.

“Other women? Sometimes I’m happy that they take the time. It keeps me from having to try to please all of them every night. That would be a huge problem for any man,” I said as I walked out of the administration building for our township.

The first thing I noticed was thenumber of people enjoying the sunshine. I counted more than a dozen women laying out in bikinis on towels before I gave up and started to walk towards my home.

I had walked about half the way across the open area we had put at the center of our new home when someone shouted. “A man!”

Instantly the air was filled with screaming women. I looked up to see more than one cowering away in fear.

The screaming might have continued, but Ashley had come running around our home pod when the screaming started. She noticed me and immediately raced towards me with a scream of delight. “Mark!”

Ashley’s shout silenced the terrified screams somehow. She wrapped her arms around me and pressed her breasts into my chest. I held her lovingly as she rubbed her check against me.

A moment later she put her hands to my chest and tried to push me away. “Wait! Why are you here?”

“We finished our first patrol and returned to the system. My ship is in dock for the next twenty-four hours and I thought I’d stop by to spend time with the loves of my life,” I said firmly. I looked down at her as I held her tight to me. Her blond hair was in a simply ponytail and her outfit of a pink tank-top and mini skirt was cute without being openly sexual.