Chapter 59

Jonesey and our new hull proved an effective combination. More drones could be handled along with an improvement in the image quality because of the increase in processing power. Almost twice as many Samutz were spotted and destroyed. These were well hid singletons and some were hidden so well we had to use the small anti-personnel bombs and did little damage to the area except to the Samutz and their suits.

The other areas with deep lakes were checked and another crew only found one abandoned installation. There was a curious absence of the larger forms of aquatic life in three other lakes close to this installation.

We covered an open section and went slow, but now had time to talk. "Tom, what do you really feel about me making love to Jul and her wives?"

Tom took a second to collect his thoughts and said, "They are very nice people and they are close to us and the base. If we have any children we will have time to help them grow correctly. I read in your mind about losing your own children and think this is the best solution. The only problem I see is that we have decided to remain in the military and this means they or us could be transferred at any moment. By Tandra law the children go with the mothers'."

Jim could also see in Tom's mind the clinical aspects of the multiple acts. The women would be impregnated and I would stay around for a while. I would come back only on occasion till the children were born and then it would be just us visiting the children for a few hours each day. The mothers would be happy to see us come and then see us go later.

This made me stop and think. Tom's view would actually be the way it was. There would be love from Tom and I for our children for they would be his too, but only a little from the mothers. This was definitely not the family life I wanted or needed.

I knew that since I embraced the Tandra way of life, I was the sooda of our family and could have more than one funt. Tom recognized this when we made our first commitment to each other but tried to keep his feelings of the two of us being a family well hidden. Would it really be possible for a mixed family to function? It must have been tried before but did not have a Human as the head of the family. Would I make a difference or would our family fail and cause a lot of grief to all of us?

At the end of our mission our course took us through the central section of the Gordon Plateau. Our sensors caught some activity. Two Donai were chasing a small herd of local bison toward a low cliff. As we watched some stopped at the precipice but were pushed over by the ones behind. Only four fell and the rest ran parallel to the edge to get away from the Donai that were not chasing them now. There was too much meat to feed only two Donai even if they had young.

"Tom, use our tractors to hook onto two of the bison. I want to deliver them to the family behind the falls and keep a little bit for us."

"You want to eat them?"

"If you remember, the antelope you ate tasted pretty good. Didn't it?"

"Well, yes, but this is somehow not right. They are already dead and we weren't hunting them."

"We will just keep it away from other scavengers or the carcasses will just go to waste. Let's stow them in the hold and finish our run?"

Tom manipulated the tractors picking up the two beasts and then put them into storage beside the missile that we were using for supplementary power. The remainder of our mission passed without finding anything noteworthy.

Staying at 500 metres we came into Souts. The city had changed little since we came except to the number of Tandra that were moving about. The wide slow moving Sandu River that passed close to the city formed a gentle curve as if to avoid the town. Four tunnels ran under the river to some small settlements on the other side. One day they would be incorporated into the city proper.

The camp was in one of these areas and now occupied almost a square kilometre. Outside this area was our own settlement with one tent and two Donai hunting within a few klicks.

I sat in the seat and recalled everything we had done today and composed the report. My own interpretations flavoured the observations as Tom's would as he sat in his seat in front of the manual reconnaissance controls.

I took the manual controls and brought our descent down to within a few metres of the cafeteria. With a sigh, I left the chair and slapped Tom on the shoulder, "Come on. Let's get some vegetables, fruit and some bread and maybe some beer to wash the beef down."

"Beef, I thought we were eating those animals in the hold?" Then in a snide way he said, "The way you have been eating lately, I have been thinking you have reverted to your carnivorous past."

"Yes, I do like my meat. Let's get some groceries and stock up the ship. That way we don't have to come back all the time. The roster says that we have to patrol the other side of the planet and give the others a chance to work close to the base."

We picked up a grav sled and loaded it with all the supplies we were likely to need including vitamins for both of us. Thinking of the family we were going to visit I got many things that would make their life better. The synthesizer on the ship could make edible food but the variety and quality were very inferior to the cafeteria.

Tom asked as we ferried the food; "If we are going to remain away from the base what are we going to do with Rosie and Mary?"

"The reports say that the Donai live over there too and I would like to take them with us if they want to come."

"How are you going to get a full grown and very wild Donai that has not been around us very much to accept such a thing?"

"The best way is to take things slow. We make short trips and make frequent stops where she can get out if she wants and the best inducement; the meat in our hold."

Dmitriy Baranov, one of the Russian recruits and his two female Tandra wives came up to ship and said; "Hi Jim, Tom. I heard you got a new ship. Why did you want such a slow ship as this?"

"Hi Dema I would like to introduce you to Jonesey. I am sure she could show you the error of your ways."

Dmitriy and his wives stopped by the ship and listened with their minds as Jonesey told them of her systems and capabilities. Dema, as his friends called him looked over the hull and tried to see everything that was discussed.

I invited them in as we stowed the last of our supplies. The three just wandered around and looked at the different features. Almost five minutes later the six way conversation ended and Losan the senior wife, or possibly metsu asked; "How is it possible that you found this ship? I have no recollection of any Tandra vessel like it."

"We did not find it. Jonesey here and the hull are the better parts of many ships. They have been put together to improve an existing vessel. We have more room better shielding and more weapons. We can stay away for extended periods. The increased space means we can sleep comfortably here and as I said to Tom, this could be our first house." I said looking at Losan and Dema; "I hear that you are going to be parents. Are you looking for a home too?"

Dema puffed out his chest and hugged his pregnant wife to him. Losan was from Earth while Nosa was from one of the ships that were taken away from the Samutz. There was no way that they would now be parted. Dema felt only a little odd having two wives while the Tandra felt odd about forming a family with a male head.

"Yes, we are going to have a baby. Soon Nosa will follow," he said as he reached out and held his other wife too. "Most of the Humans would love to have our homes here, even if it is much warmer than Russia. How do you feel about that?"

"I feel the same, but there will be lots of fighting left to do. The reports say that the Samutz have almost 50 planets, and that is only the ones we know about. As others join us we will have to lead the rest in evicting what Samutz we can. It will truly be hundreds of years before we can retire and I doubt if the job will be finished then."

"Da," he said as his dreams came crashing down. "But one day we can settle down and enjoy life. I can't think of a better place than here."

I watched the man leave later with his arms around each woman. There was a lot of love there and I was a little jealous of their ability to bring forth new life.

Tom said; "It is ok. Soon we will have our own females and then our children. It will be a relief to go on a mission and leave them behind."

"Tom, if we get one of those cruisers we can take our family with us. Then the only relief will be on the bridge."

I was cleared for a small trip and rose to find Mary and Rosie. They were still hunting so they were probably still hungry. Landing in our old spot, I walked down the ramp with Tom. I called with my mind; "Rosie, Mary; food." I pictured a bloody leg and the comparative size of the Donai. "Rosie, Mary; meat."

I felt urgency and a gladness that made me feel good. A few minutes later Rosie came barrelling out of the brush with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. I bent down as she jumped into my arms and then tried to lick both of us with her very wet tongue.

Mary stayed back but I could tell she was happy to see us too even if she refused to acknowledge it. I put Rosie into Tom's arms and walked forward to kneel in front of Mary. This was unusual for both of us but she could not see any hostile actions in my mind and relaxed.

"Mary; we brought bison," I projected the two animals in the small hold. She seemed eager for the food and wagged her long tail like a dog when promised a treat.

Tom went into the ship and the small tractors took out the carcasses and then lowered the two bison to the ground. Using a small hand weapon I cut a damaged front leg off one and asked Tom to return the animals to the hold.

Mary did not attack which surprised me but it was plain to see that she was very anxious. I carried the meat into the ship and she followed immediately. The leg was placed on the deck and the ship rose at my silent urging.

While Mary was happily ripping the flesh from the bone, we headed out and over the city.

"Jonesey, will you deploy the probes; I want to look in the river."

"Yes Jim. The silt content is a very high and we will have to fly them closer than usual."

The river had very few large fish which was surprising as there was lots of feed for them to eat. I corrected course and found much of the river was the same way. The Samutz had used the much more efficient waste management system even if they only converted it to chemicals for their industry. There was nothing going into the river to restrict some marine growth, or promote others.

Soon the river veered one way and we took the other direction overland to the falls. I heard the large leg bone snap behind me as Mary happily kept eating. Tom was sitting on the floor under Mary's watchful gaze as he groomed the cub. A low rumble came from her that would be to her type of purring.

As we approached the waterfall I said, "Jonesey, will you send out the drones in a wide pattern? I want to stay in the low area beside the falls for a while."

"Yes Jim. I will put a repeater above our position to intercept the signals."

From overhead we could see the entire area. The burrow had only small sources of heat. Coming around the sharp bend I found the local Tandra frozen in fright. The males were close and the females were fishing in the pool. As we landed the males just ran downstream while the females were trapped and cowered in fright at the possible Samutz coming to eat them.

"Fenna, Mona, Fonza, Boko, it is ok. We have brought you some food. Bring the rest." I said knowing the exercise might be useless if they couldn't hear me with their minds.

"Tom, land first and let them see it is only us. They're petrified."

As we settled they broke out of their trance and ran up the sides of the gully to escape even if it was a futile gesture. Their course was designed to lead us away from the children behind the water. We settled and I immediately jumped out to leave.

Tom stooped me, "Jim, take the rifle. One of these days you will die if you don't."

I took the weapon handed me and left on the run. "Fenna, Mona, Fonza, Boko, it is only us. We brought some food," I yelled in the local dialect.

I don't know if they heard or not but they stopped and looked back. They were very uncertain now. Before we had invaded their home and now came for a visit. This time we gave them the option of not meeting us.

The males were gone now and Boko was the first to decide to return. His first steps were slow and deliberate to give him time to think, but after his memory kicked in better his steps quickened. By the time he was half way back one then the other of the females followed his steps. I could see many bruises and Fenna was cradling her left arm. It looked like both adult males had been taking out their frustrations on the older children and the two wives.

Boko got down to the level section and stopped to think as he looked at us. He was not finished yet as the females came down and stopped beside him. I had not been looking into his mind as I should have. He had only a thin fur over his loins. He put his thumbs into the waistband and pushed them down. He looked no different from the females except for his much smaller breasts. He tentatively approached me looked into my eyes and sank to his knees before nuzzling my crotch. He wrapped his arm around one of my legs. His mind was in very deep turmoil.

"Tom, what is it he wants?" I thought I knew and was afraid to even look myself for fear of being right.

Tom looked deep into the young man or perhaps boy, and said, "I am afraid he wants to join our family and become your funt like me. His real parents are dead. The two males took him in like the other girl and the young boy for toys. You have to either accept him now or cast him aside for he has committed himself in front of witnesses. This itself makes the commitment very real and serious matter."

"What am I to do? He is only about 18 Earth years old. I have you and I don't know if I am ready to start a family. We were going to put off looking into this idea, till after the planet quieted a bit."

"Look into his mind. He is desperate. Since we were last here, he has been beaten black and blue because he found you superior to the other males. When Fonza did the same she was beaten. The women tried to stop the beatings but only got themselves in trouble. Even the little children have been hurt. It appears that the males were planning on abandoning them in a few days after laying up some supplies. If you don't take him in, they will probably die."

"We can take all of them to Souts and get them settled into the refugee camp."

"That could work especially for the older females and the children, but the boy would probably commit suicide. You are his last hope. He has only held on now because he was trying to protect this family."

I looked and then very deeply into Boko's mind. He had always been beaten for one excuse or another and even before we came he was planning this final decision. The females loved him as a child but one growing too big to mother soon. There were no other males around to take him in and he was too young to start his own family. His plan was to walk till he found a Samutz and present himself. It was well known that nobody came back after such a meeting.

"Tom, I don't want to put a strain on our own relationship. What do you suggest?"

"It is your decision. I always knew I would have to share and just hoped to put that time off as late as possible. I hoped it would be some females so we could have our own children."

"I feel the same way but I don't want Boko to kill himself either. Can we do this for just a while till he finds somebody better?"

"He will be just like me. It will be a lifetime commitment. He is young and can learn to watch out for the children when they come. He could do all the chores that need to be done when we are on patrol."

I looked down at Boko and knew that he was listening but could not hear very well for he caught only an image now and again. He was a pretty boy but would slowly age as the rest of us did. The lifetime commitment had to be on my part too. I was basically a heterosexual, but the Tandra blurred that distinction an awful lot. The fact that a male acted like a female, and the reverse, was the only way that I could even bring myself to take Tom. I wanted children to take over for me, but with the promise of a very long life this appeared to be just an instinctual need.

Looking into his mind again I saw that he would be faithful to me and our family which would be much more than Humans would ever commit themselves to. He was getting nervous now and wondering if he had made a grievous mistake. He wondered if he should have kept running up the gully and out onto the plain beyond.

Taking his chin in my hand I said with my voice, "I accept you into our family Boko, but I want you to know that Tom will always be at my side."

His smile was almost radiant as he pulled me tighter into his grip. "Will you take me now master?"

"That is not the way I want to be called. It is Jim and Tom," as I vocalized the odd, to him, sounds.