Chapter 8: Changes

“Like I said before, you’ll have the quarters right next to mine,” Octavia said as she led Calix and his concubines down the long, even hallway.

It was all she could do to keep her pace steady. The effect Calix had on her was unexpected and untimely but not unwanted. She’d never been this infatuated with someone before. Knowing she would be leaving soon, knowing she’d likely never see him again, she’d been trying to move away, to keep her distance. She couldn’t seem to help herself. It seemed every time she wasn’t paying attention, she found herself near the younger man.

She was leading them slowly through the halls of ‘A’ warren. The bulk of ‘the inner workings’ of Artemis base were in warrens leading off from the main cube-shaped cavern. The cavern itself had the main bulk of Artemis but it was mostly just DECO offices and public areas. The facilities and offices for all ‘Near Earth Command and Control’ functions were in the surrounding warrens. Though there were military facilities within, the main control structure of the base was designated by the Director of Evacuation and Colonial Operations (DECO). It was not coincidental the DECO offices were in the center of the complex.

Octavia had also disillusioned Calix about the viewing dome. It turned out the large dome wasn’t on the surface of the moon at all. Instead, the viewing dome was just under the surface and, while the windows were real (created by nanites), what was beyond them were merely holograms taken from sensors on a much smaller dome immediately above. People could actually walk out carefully hidden doors at different points around the main viewing dome. The hidden hallways led to a Marine Surface Training Area and Naval small craft hangers as well as various EVA points.

The large cube cavern held accommodations for ‘only’ a hundred-thousand people or so. Most of it was temporary housing but there were permanent apartments for various functionaries who managed Confederacy activities within the asteroid belt. All of the primary dining areas were on the cavern floor, though, and anyone staying at the station was required to eat at least one meal a day in one of the dining areas. Octavia indicated there were psychological reasons for it and left it at that.

The warrens were given alphabetic names. ‘A’ warren held most of the Naval facilities including barracks. Most Naval personnel stationed within the astronomic ring formed by the asteroid belt had quarters in the barracks in ‘A’ warren. There were also simulators, intelligence offices, and other logistics divisions housed within. Basically, any Naval operation in the inner solar system ran through Artemis’ Naval facilities.

Artemis’ ‘B’ warren was taken up by Confederacy Earth operations offices and storage, while ‘C’ warren held the Marine training facilities and barracks. ‘E’ warren – designated ‘E’ since it was the ‘Earthward’ warren – held the main power facilities as well as necessary support mechanics. There was still some facilities movement and other behind-the-scenes optimizations occurring, but such was normal for any base. New residents meant new ideas and it always seemed only newcomers knew the ‘right’ way to do things.

“The base is only about a year or so old,” Octavia continued. She knew she was walking slower than normal, and she knew why. She was trying to make each moment with Calix last. It was stupid and juvenile, and she just couldn’t seem to help herself. She’d tried to speed up a few times but within moments she had slowed again. Exasperated, she just kept the same slow pace. “Maybe a bit longer. I only just moved here about a month and a half ago from my home. My barracks was over in Daedalus, which was our first lunar base. It’s located over on the far side.”

Her eyes were drifting again, taking in his scarred but chiseled face and his trim, muscular physique. She wasn’t sure why he had this effect on her, honestly. Sure, he was handsome in a rugged way with his rather short, sandy brown hair, his penetrating, bright blue eyes, and his solid, firm chin, but he wasn’t movie star handsome. She knew she was drawn to his forceful personality, his implacable resolve, and his focused single-mindedness but he was also stubborn and hard-headed. She’d known many people with those attributes and she’d never become infatuated like this.

Then again, she’d never encountered a single person, man or woman, who displayed all of those traits at the same time. Nor had she ever encountered a person who cared as deeply as Calix. He seemed to have a need to right the wrongs of his world and he was genuinely concerned with anyone he considered family. With a warm tingle, she realized she had unwittingly become part of his family. Maybe it explained why she couldn’t seem to pull away from him. It had been a long time since she’d felt part of a family.

“How many bases are there?” Calix asked, shaking her from her thoughts. She watched as his eyes wandered around the hallway, taking everything in. She knew a bit about his mind, knew he was likely calculating distances, looking for routes of egress, preparing unconsciously for any eventuality of which he could conceive. She’d seen it earlier, not only in the video at the teleport pad when he’d taken on Private Gunter but also in countless other surveillance videos.

It was almost like a switch within him. One moment he could be the caring, happy Calix Gebel and the next, when he detected a threat, he could immediately become the ruthless, merciless Espanto. The abilities he displayed took constant preparation. They had to be so ingrained into the core of an individual they were handled without conscious thought. It was yet another in the long list of contradictions that were Calix Flynn Gebel.

Calix was impressed with the warren they were in. The hall was surprisingly pleasant, not what he expected from a military base. The walls were perfectly smooth and lit with white, recessed lighting towards the top. The only drawback was the disgruntling gray color of the walls. He was careful not to stare overly long at them – for some reason, the gray just seemed wrong. It hurt his eyes just a bit and even seemed to be giving him a mild headache.

The whole corridor was basically one long arch. Calix noted sloped walls and arches were common in Confederacy architecture. He’d never given much thought to why before. He knew humans tended to straight lines and corners – at least, male humans did, he corrected himself – so he had to assume the architecture was alien inspired since, according to various articles he’d read on the dark web, human sponsors skewed pretty heavily male.

The floors were all carpeted in close-cut gray Berber just a few shades darker than the walls. Calix figured keeping all of this carpeting clean likely cost a small fortune. Then again, perhaps it was self-cleaning. Surely a society advanced enough to completely rebuild humans and create such large, lavish lunar bases could create self-cleaning carpet. It was probably made of a bunch of nanites that only looked like Berber carpeting.

For a moment, he wished he’d had something like it when he was younger. A self-cleaning lab certainly sounded like a treat. So did nanites to do all the chores he had when he was little.

Spaced evenly down the corridor were recessed panes of glass that looked like they showed the lunar landscape. Obviously, they were holograms. The corridor had to be at least a hundred kilometers below the moon’s surface. He understood the psychological effect the builders were going for, but it had a bit of the opposite effect for him. Knowing he was at least a hundred kilometers underneath the moon’s surface made the view of the lunar surface in the faux windows an obvious lie.

The lie was causing a bit of an intellectual headache. He shook his head marginally to try to shake it off. Finally, he decided resolutely to just ignore the holographic images just as he was mostly ignoring the off-putting gray walls.

“Three,” Octavia answered, unaware of the young man’s musings. She was glad he was asking questions. It gave her a reason to slow her steps so she could answer him. Well, it gave her an excuse to slow since she was sure she could walk faster and still answer his questions. “Moon Base One – er – Daedalus was our first and Lipskiy was created about a year to a year and a half later. At first, Daedalus handled everything but as the extraction process grew, we had to shuffle things around a bit. At least, that’s what I’m told. It was a bit before my time.”

“How long have you been in the Confederacy?” Calix asked.

“About three years now,” Octavia responded after a moment of thought. “I meant the shuffling around was a bit before my time here. I think I’ve spent most of the past three years here and on Earth in various intelligence-gathering roles. It means I don’t get to see my concubines or my children as much, but they let me head home every now and then and I’m allowed to bring one of my concubines with me. I’ve got Avery with me this time. You’ll meet her later today or tomorrow. She’s about your age so she’ll probably fit in with most of your women.”

“You have children?” Calix inquired in surprise. He’d known Octavia for about two months now and he’d never considered she might have children. Intellectually, he supposed he should have expected it, but it had just never occurred to him.

Octavia chuckled. “Of course. That’s the whole purpose of having concubines.”

She made a bit of a face before turning away. Children were a bit of a sticky point with her. She wanted them and, by all rights, she should have had at least one of her own by now – but she’d never had the time. And, maybe, she’d never had the inclination – not with Darren, her male concubine, anyway. But, she felt a twinge of heat roll throughout her body at having Calix’s children.

“Well, not me personally,” she explained. “I’ve wanted to for a while now, but my intelligence work down there has been pretty important. Avery has two kids back on Truman, Letty and Milli. Letty is almost three now and Milli just turned two last month. Melissa, my number one concubine and our ‘house mother’ for lack of a better word, has Chantelle who’ll be turning fourteen in two months or so, Royce who’s like 30 months now, Vivian who’s twenty months, and little Clara who’s nine months. Finally, there’s Deanne who’s got Alona who’s four and a half, Simone at 27 months and Layla who is 15 months. Plus, she’s pregnant again.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of girls,” Calix remarked. “How do you keep them all straight? That’s a fear I have in this whole process. I know we’re supposed to have as many children as possible to help populate our colonies, but I worry I’ll lose track of things as the numbers mount. I’ve got a pretty good memory but – well, it worries me. I don’t ever want any of my wives or children to think they’re not important to me.”

“Wives?” Octavia chuckled, her left brow rising in question.

“Yeah,” Calix returned uncomfortably. He knew they were his concubines – his slaves – but he didn’t feel right using either of those terms. He certainly didn’t intend to treat any of the women in such a way – so he used the term that encompassed how he chose to think of them and how he planned to treat them.

Well, all of them except Alicia – but that was a horse of a different color.

“Look, I know I’m supposed to call them concubines or slaves or sex toys,” he continued in explanation. “It isn’t me, though. I can’t treat them in such a way. Well, I guess I could if they forced me to... , “ he glanced back at Alicia, hoping she’d get the hint. Unfortunately, the girl was carrying Amelia and didn’t look to be paying attention, so he turned back disgustedly. “I don’t want to, though. I think of them as my wives – so it’s the term I’m going to use.”

Octavia held up her hands with a smile. “You don’t have to justify it to me. Truthfully, I tend to treat my concubines much closer than protocol strictly dictates.”

She frowned slightly. “I’m not sure you should call them wives, though. A marriage between a Citizen and a concubine isn’t allowed – at least, not in most colonies. A ‘marriage’ – a union of some kind – is allowed between two Citizens in many if not most colonies, however, so using the same term to describe the two relationships could get problematic.”

Calix frowned in thought. “Maybe partners,” he said finally. He couldn’t think of any other term, unfortunately. “Something like that. We’ll figure it out.”

He looked up at Octavia and his face relaxed. “It still doesn’t explain all the girls, specifically. You doing something to make sure you have only girls or something.”

His face turned puzzled. “Can the AIs even do that?”

It was Octavia’s turn to grow thoughtful.

“You know, I don’t know,” she admitted, twisting her lips. “I would imagine they could – but I’m not sure they would.”

She shrugged, her eyes brightening. “I don’t know why anyone would want to, though. Girls aren’t better than boys nor are boys better than girls. Nope, it’s all Darren’s fault. We tease him about it all the time. He can’t seem to put the stem on the apple. Well, he managed once but we think it might have been an accident.”

“Darren is my male concubine,” Octavia explained to Calix’s puzzled look. “He and Deanne were married before I picked them at my extraction. Actually, I picked Darren and he convinced me to take his wife. They had Alona before the extraction, of course. She was...” Octavia’s voice trailed off as she thought briefly. “She had to have been two or close to it when I picked them up. Melissa was forty-six and only had Chantelle back then. Avery had just turned fourteen when I got her.”

Calix was unsure how to respond. “That’s a pretty big family.”

Octavia shrugged. “The whole purpose to taking concubines is to populate the colonies as quickly as possible and make them strong enough to stand against the Sa’arm. It’s a pretty cold way of looking at it, really, but I understand the need. You have six kids of your own already with two more on the way. You’ll catch up to my nine in no time. Of course, you have more concubines than me...”

The young man looked thoughtful for a moment. “That worries me a bit, as well,” he admitted. “Not the having concubines thing – although it bothers me quite a bit – but the getting them all pregnant part.”

“Are you telling me you don’t know how to do that?” The older woman asked with a twinkle in her eye. “You see, Cal, there are birds and bees – and stamens, can’t forget the stamens...”

“No,” Calix interrupted, rolling his eyes. He couldn’t help the chuckle that burst forth from him, however. It felt good to laugh – but it didn’t stop him from keeping a close eye on their surroundings. “I’m talking about the whole timing thing. I’m not sure how to decide who gets pregnant at which time. I’m pretty sure they all shouldn’t get pregnant at the same time – it would be a logistical nightmare – so how do I decide who and when? I mean, I don’t want to ever look like I’m picking favorites or I’m using it as some kind of reward or punishment or whatever.”

Octavia nodded sympathetically. “I can see that,” she said reasonably. She shrugged. “So don’t.”