Chapter 10: Plans and Preparations

The next morning’s breakfast was a cacophony of discussions – happy, exploratory, serious, planning, and more. Sarah and Maggie flanked Pēteris, and they might as well have been second skins. Across the table was Monica, flanked by Miriam and Robyn. Charles sat between AlvaBeth and Ayesha, who had returned for the morning exercises and weapons practice, with Bron stationed at the end of the table by Autumn.

The morning’s after-breakfast baths were going to be interesting...

Pēteris looked across the table and asked, “Miriam, are you a Turtle?”

“You bet your sweet ass, I am!” she replied.

Asking the same question of Robyn, he received the same reply, then “So what’s that all about?”

Interested, the table’s occupants quieted to hear Pēteris’s answer. “This is a matter of trust – so use this information wisely and sparingly,” he began. “Among my people, there is an organization named the ‘Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles.’ What you heard was the challenge question and the required answer. Failure to give that exact answer, regardless of circumstance or company, obligates a member to buy a round of drinks for all present.”

“Our circle of trusted friends has grown and appears that it will continue to grow,” he explained, “and we need a way to identify ourselves on first meeting. This will also have the advantage of identifying yourselves to many others from my land. There are other challenges – riddles – that will also be recognized, and I’ll make sure that you know them.”

“So,” asked Maggie, “Would it be appropriate to call our home ‘Turtle Farm’ or ‘Turtle Haven?’”

Pēteris and his Companions looked thoughtful, then he nodded, “Turtle Haven, I think.”

In the privacy of the bathhouse, hair was washed, backs and other interesting parts were washed, and plans were laid. Sophie, sworn again to secrecy was kept busy hauling water, and to her continued delight, scrubbing and being scrubbed.

Pēteris and his Companions, having sparred with Monty and tested his skills and stamina, pronounced themselves satisfied enough to entrust him with the lives of their friends. They were further amazed at the skill and grit of little Sarah, who proved to be a demon with a dagger and both types of bow.

After discussing the separately developed plans and determining there was no conflict, they decided to proceed together until they reached a likely spot, well before Hastert’s stronghold. There, they would establish a joint meeting place, stocked with spare mounts and supplies. Then, for their individual rescue missions, they would separate into their previous traveling parties.

Based on the earlier information supplied by Moira, Pēteris estimated that the party traveling to Hastert’s stronghold with the captive Damsel Trudi Masseuse would take another two weeks to arrive. Accordingly, their combined parties would rise early in the morning and set out after exercises and breakfast. Should Devin arrive with Trudi, before Pēteris could rescue her, Monty would only intervene if Trudi were in immediate mortal danger.

Autumn was not deemed skilled enough to risk with Hastert and his followers. Tearfully, she demanded the right to help rescue her friend, and Monty reluctantly agreed that she could help with the supply camp. Upon reflection, having two in reserve – Autumn and Bron – made camp work and guarding an easier, more secure proposition.

It was some days of travel before they were to split into two parties, and with the usual security precautions, much easier to visit. Duties were spread between rotating pairs. With more pairs to stand guard, every other night was free from sentry duty and available for sleep or other activities.

For the most part, Maggie and Sarah behaved like newlyweds, sexing Pēteris at every opportunity and cuddling with Miriam and Robyn while the other two sister-wives were loving on him and when he was away standing guard. Monica kept Charles drained and happy, with Autumn dividing her bedroll time between her friend and platonically, with Bron. Bron was a gentleman and very frustrated...

Monty used the travel time well. She visited with Robyn and Miriam, laughing and joking, and surprising them with her lack of overt advances towards Pēteris. They knew that she was using Robyn’s potion and that she was sexing Charles almost every night. Nevertheless, baby-driven Damsels just didn’t ignore Heroes. They just didn’t!

As they grew to know one another, Monica revealed herself, hoping to win the Companions’ understanding and cooperation. “My whole life – my whole adolescent and adult life anyway – has been driven towards having a baby, a child of my own. Holding Tris and Blue’s at the farm just made the need stronger.” Then, she told them, “And now, having sex with a real man – for the first time a real man – I don’t know how I’m going to give that up!”

In her travels, Monica had shared enough with Maggie and Sarah to know and trust them – Charles, too when it came to that – Pēteris’s family on Chaos. As she came to know about Pēteris and now to know him and his Companions, Monica began to have hope – real hope. Early in the third morning, Maggie and Sarah were on point and the Companions were riding as rear guard. Had she thought of it, she’d have known it was deliberate, but she was very vulnerable.

She rode beside Pēteris and asked, “What do you really think of Damsels?”

“At first, I thought Damsels were foolhardy – risking so much just to have a baby. AND, I simply could not understand the sex drive,” he began. “Now, I think of you all as brave, incredibly sexy women, but still somewhat foolhardy.”

Monica nodded. “May I tell you about myself?” she asked. When he assented, she began by telling him of her life on Cassandra. She explained her drive, her need for a baby and her reluctance to toady up to a self-congratulatory Hero to be given one. She told him of her discovery of Onna-Bugeisha, the female Samurai warriors of feudal Japan and how that shaped her self-image.

The romantic, Chaos adventure dramas, she said, had done her no favors in shaping her perceptions. “I felt alienated. I never had real friends – I have more here on Chaos than in all my former life on Cassandra,” Monica told him, then she continued. “I manipulated. I trained. I fucked most of the selection committee hoping to get myself chosen to become a Damsel. I was going to, by damn, earn my baby – take my baby – on equal terms with a Hero!”

She thought for a moment, then continued, “All at once, I was on Chaos, and I was helpless – dependent – all my preparation and training probably worthless without someone I could trust. I’m not sure, but I think it must be at least a little different for men – Heroes. Anyway, I felt very vulnerable.”