Chapter 31: Dark Intent

Calix opened his eyes, the soft hum of the sleep-trainer fading. He twisted up to a sitting position slightly annoyed. He’d been excited when he’d seen the ‘Faster Than Light’ topic but it wasn’t what he’d hoped. There were interesting parts, but it didn’t touch on the FTL theory or any details on how the Confederacy vessels effected FTL. The training had given hints and snippets but no hard data. He felt like he had been promised a steak dinner and someone had ground it into hamburger.

It was a dimensional jump, the vid had made it clear. How the ship was pushed or pulled into another dimension was never actually stated.

He looked over where Julia was laid out on the bed, sheets twisted around her. The bed was a mess – but it had gotten quite a workout. Julia hadn’t allowed him to sleep until well after 0300 – almost 0400. Used to getting about two hours of sleep a night, he’d only managed one last night, his body waking up at 0500.

Luckily, he’d had the sleep trainer. He didn’t actually sleep – not restful, REM sleep at least – because data was being ‘engraved’ in his head, but it was better than nothing.

“Hermes,” he sub-vocalized, careful not to wake the sleeping woman in his bed. He shook his head. “Sorry – Artemis. Are there any other training courses on FTL?”

“No,” Artemis responded. “Further information on Confederate FTL drives is classified.”

“Well that sucks,” Calix groused. He stood up and pulled out a chair, sat down and leaned back. He started to think of it as a thought exercise – he’d seen bits and pieces of a Confederacy drive unit once, a few years ago. Well, to be clear, he saw bits and pieces of an obsolete Confederacy drive unit. Still ... using it as a template, how might he effect a dimensional jump?

He was still thinking about it when he started his Parkour/weight-training routine. He was surprised when he finished the first circuit. He hadn’t really been paying attention. His body had worked on the course without his conscious thought.

It was a break-through. It was how his body had always re-acted before he’d enhanced his muscles and reflexes. He knew he still had work to do – the thought problem had cost him time, he could see – but he was making progress which was the important point.

By the time he’d finished his fourth circuit, he still hadn’t made progress on the FTL problem. He had a lot of questions, but Artemis was being particularly close-mouthed about the whole thing. He preferred to think it meant he was on the right track – the problem became which track was the correct one? He had half a dozen theories about how dimensional shift could be achieved, based on what he knew about physics, time/space and Confederacy technology. He just didn’t know which track to pursue. He was thinking about setting up a lab – but then thought better of it. As close-mouthed as Artemis was being, he couldn’t be sure he’d be allowed.

Rather than head for the weight room, he instead started practicing his Krav Maga techniques. It had been some time since he’d taken the time to practice the only form of martial art he actually knew. Usually, he’d been busy enough with real world attacks so practice wasn’t strictly necessary. Now, though, with his body foreign to him, he realized he needed to start taking the time to be sure his technique had not suffered – and to change the technique where necessary to account for his increased strength and speed.

Krav Maga borrows from every style of fighting. It isn’t taught so much as experienced. There are the normal techniques, such as strikes, takedowns and throws and even groundwork, but there are other techniques which are situational such as escapes and disarming. Of course, he could only work on one-person principles since he didn’t have a sparring partner, but he did what he could.

Alicia hadn’t slept much. She hadn’t realized Calix was going to be going to the Naval Academy. She thought she had more time. She thought she had at least three or four more weeks to work on the other women.

She still might, she reasoned. This could actually work to her advantage – she could be more blatant about things without Calix hovering around. His being away for a little while would play right into her hands. The long, four-week absence would be the ideal time to really play on the fears and resentments of the other women. It would give her plenty of time to sow the discord and she relished the idea of Calix returning to find all of his women intent on leaving him. She could imagine the dejection and angst – hell, he might even save her the trouble and kill himself.

She considered the problem with such a scenario. In four weeks, she would have given birth. Without the protection of her baby, Calix might just actually decide to cast her out into space. She couldn’t conceive of such a thing – but it was possible. Her discrete inquiries of Artemis plainly told her as much.

Without a thought, her fingers found their way to her power once again. As soon as she realized it, she pulled them away. She couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. She was horny all the time. It didn’t seem to matter how much she masturbated, she always seemed to want more. It must have been the pregnancy messing with her hormones. Hell, there were times it was all she could do not to ask Artemis to make her a dildo – but she’d never stoop to such an act. Well, as long as she couldn’t hide it from the other women, she would never stoop to it.

She considered her options, never realizing her right hand – the hand that had been fingering her slit – was in her mouth and she was sucking on the fingers which had just been buried in her snatch. She never realized her left hand had drifted down and taken over from her right.

She wanted the four weeks. She could do so much with such time. She could have all of these bitches eating out of her hand, including her cunt of a sister. She’d be the queen – and she’d have them all kick Calix right in the balls.

It needed something, though. She would need something – some act – on Calix’s part to cement her as the martyr. To give the other women something to chew on, a chink in Calix’s armor she could drag them through. The question was how to goad Calix into such an act without looking like she’d provoked him. It wouldn’t work if the women saw him as reacting to her own actions.

Plus, it had to be now. But how? She was certain she’d cast enough doubts into the other girls’ heads that any unprovoked action Calix took against her would be seen as proof of what she’d told each of them. Heather, Julia and Yolanda had been easy. They’d only known her a few days, so she’d been able to chalk her ‘attitude’ – as if she had a fucking attitude – up to hormones and stress. It’d been easy to wrap them around her fingers.

Tamara had been easy, too. The girl had always been her bitch. It took hardly any effort to pull her back in line. She still was going to have to pay, though. Maybe she could have the girl gang-raped or something. Or maybe just let her little sister suck some guy’s cum out of her pussy.

Whiskey was a meek little mouse. It was almost unfair how easy it had been to sow some distrust in her. She’d already been on the edge with Calix so it just taken a slight, insignificant, little push.

Brianna had been tough. Sophia, too. They’d known Calix the longest so getting through to them was tricky. Like all of the women, she had to be certain she never cast blame on Calix. She made sure she took all the blame. She was careful to express her fears, though, and it just so happened the fears she had were tailored to the person she was with at the time ... and reflected their own fears.

With Sophia, she played on the woman’s insecurities and natural submissiveness. With Brianna, it was her concern Calix would send her sisters away if they didn’t already pass the stupid CAP test. Honestly, Brianna had been the harder of the two to bring around.

She gave an evil little smile. It was a good plan. It was a workable plan. She’d leave Calix with nothing – but maybe, if he crawled prettily and kow-towed nicely, she would let him remain the nominal head of this harem. It would be like it had always been, like it was always supposed to be. His would be the face of their group but she’d be behind him pulling the strings. Hell, she might even let him sleep with one or another of the girls once a month or so – if she were feeling generous.

She almost chuckled when her sister’s words ran through her mind. The little cunt had actually given her a wonderful idea and she didn’t even know it. It dovetailed nicely with her current plans...

Her eyes narrowed as she processed the new information. She worked her plan, changing things to make optimal use of Calix’s absence. Four weeks was a long time. The gloss of his finish could wear off in four weeks – with the right words and actions on her part, she might even make it rust off completely. Thanks to her sister, she knew exactly how to start, to let him leave on the wrong foot. It would make her job so much easier.

Given her abbreviated timeline and the plans already in motion, lunchtime would be the perfect time to bring the whole thing to a head. If she maneuvered it right, she could have all of the women alienated from him enough by the end of it. It’d make her final step in the plan as easy as cake.

She liked the thought of having him partially isolated before he went to the Academy. Beyond completely isolating him emotionally from the other women, it would give her four weeks to find someone to take his place ... or a boytoy for him to ‘adopt’ to father the rest of his children. God knows she wasn’t about to let his insolent ass knock any more of them up. It was bad enough Sophia would be having his brat. She might need an ‘accident’.

She took a deep breath and went through her plan again, just to be thorough. She didn’t like to rush into a plan so quickly, but this was simple and it would be effective. It was just the right mix of truth and a con-job to be successful. The first step had already been a rousing success – put doubt into the women’s minds. They were all so off-balance by the pickup it had been easy.

The second step was where some variability was necessary. Pierre would be the perfect mark, and maybe she could wrangle it so he would be her boy-toy. God knows he had good enough genes to knock up the rest of the cunts.

The third step was the most crucial. She had to push Calix just enough so he’d lose his temper in front of all of the women, just like he had in front of Sophia. With the doubts she’d planted, it’d flip the narrative completely, making Calix look like he was the one being a dick. Then, she’d have four weeks to work over the other women. By the time Calix returned, none of them would even talk to him, much less sleep with him.

Fourth, she needed to keep him off-balance until he left for the Naval Academy. It would require some finesse. She needed to be hostile enough to him to keep him simmering but had to play ‘the victim’ whenever the other women were around. Luckily, she was a mistress of finesse. She’d managed to land Rico, after all.

Finally, party time! Calix would be gone, and she could needle the others and play up all of their insecurities about him. Well, except the one he took with him. She’d need to manipulate him into taking either Sophia or Brianna. She hated leaving him anyone, but those two had known him the longest so probably were the biggest risk to her plan.

Whiskey might be the better choice, though. She was already a bundle of insecurities so if she went, it’d probably be easier to flip her when she came back. Which would leave Calix all alone – a far superior outcome. She’d have to think it over.

Calix returned from his workout still lost in thought. The exercise had been satisfying but he was unhappy he had made no progress to figuring out the FTL problem. It was like a stone caught in his shoe, an annoying morsel of information he couldn’t make sense of.

He didn’t like not understanding something. Especially when he felt he was on the edge of understanding. It was irritating.

He walked through the sliding door into his pod to find all of his women – a week later and he still wasn’t used to the term – and kids waiting in the living room. He paused a moment in confusion. He wracked his brain, but he couldn’t remember calling a meeting. Or having anything else scheduled.

“Did I miss a meeting invite or something?” he asked, looking around at the assembled women.

“Lunch,” Sophia explained with a grin.

Calix glanced down at his wrist and noted it was already after noon. Where had the time gone? He must have been more focused on the FTL problem than he’d realized.

“Do I have time for a quick shower?” he asked, lifting the front of his drenched shirt.