Chapter 219

After the meal, the men tried to stay to help with cleanup, but Diana shooed them out, whispering into her husband's ear, "We," meaning the women, "need this time together to assimilate the new women more fully into the group. Nothing like cooking and cleaning up after a big meal to get us all in harmony. And that would have applied even before the enhancement. Now, that 'harmony' is raised to a new level. You and the guys go play with your toys, or do something, Husband. We'll call when the garbage is ready to go out."

Jeff briefly hugged his Queen. "Okay, Babe, but don't take too long. We need to go for a ride."

"Ride?" she asked, wondering at the expression on his face. "Where to? Winter Park?"

"We'll see," he finished, flashing the odd grin he sometimes used when he was teasing her.

"Jeff ... what have you..."

He spun her around and whacked her on the butt. "Just call as soon as you're done with cleanup."

When Diana walked back through the kitchen door, Arlene motioned her mother aside. "May I be excused from cleanup?" she quietly asked, "I have some things to do."

Even as Diana began to nod her head, she thought, Odd she would want to be off today, of all days. She's always the one to talk the younger wives into letting us older wives relax while she and they either cook the meal or clean up afterward. "Sure, Baby. Anything wrong?" she finished, slightly worried.

Arlene was shaking her head. "No, Mom. Everything's perfect. I just have to finalize some things. I'll tell you about it later."

"If you need help, take Ann or some of the others with you."

"No, Mom. It isn't anything like that."

Diana stared at her daughter, knowing there was something Arlene was keeping from her, but thinking it might be a surprise, the mother smiled. "Sure. We have more help than we need. I just thought..." But she stopped herself. Arlene would tell her when the time was right.

After mother and daughter hugged, Arlene turned and strode purposefully from the kitchen. A moment later, she stood in the hallway talking to her father. "You sure you want me to do this? I've never..."

"Just do what you think is best. I told the Ship earlier that we would all be there. Use your imagination. Surprise me. Oh, yeah, I've already informed Security, and Lieutenant Richardson says that he and the team are going with us as our Security force."

"We don't need..." but she stopped herself. Reaching up to hug his neck, "Okay, Daddy." Then after a slight pause, "Are you really sure about this?"

The Prime grinned down at her, their faces close. "When did you get to be bashful? I have faith in you. Go," he laughed. Swatting her butt as he had her mother's, he gave her a gentle push. "We'll be there as soon as your mom and the other women finish up in the kitchen."

Arlene jogged on down the hall, grabbed a coat by the inside garage door, ran down the stairs past the Escalades, then out the small garage door. She hardly noticed the shock of the icy winds hitting her face as she jogged on toward the Ship, her emotions cycling between scared and elated, finally settling on worried.

Inside the Ship, she doffed her coat and continued her jog toward the bridge. Mid-stride her clothes were replaced by the uniform she, her father and the Ship had agreed on. The young Queen almost stumbled, the sudden change unsettling for an instant, but a smile forced its way to her lips as she felt the Ship's almost embarrassing pride in her (Arlene's) endeavors to learn.

Sitting on the side of the second command couch, nervous, thinking, she tried to take a calming breath, leaning back as she accepted the partial cocoon the couch offered, the Ship's mind fully enveloping her. She felt the Ship's amusement as the two wildly dissimilar minds carried out the plan they had agreed upon.

Louisville, Kentucky

A little earlier, Angel found the hammer and a few nails. In the bedroom again, she drove the old nails back in, realizing they would hold little since she was driving them back into the same holes. With a half dozen new nails, she nailed the facing back reasonably securely. Her ability to hit a nail squarely with the hammer was sorely lacking, both from lack of technique and loss of depth perception because of an eye swelled almost shut. But what she lacked in technique, she made up with desperation. She had seen her father bend a nail, pull it out with the claws of the hammer, hold the bent nail against a piece of wood, and hammer the nail straight again. She had to straighten nails four times before she got them all in. She now had a blood blister on her left thumb to go along with the rest of her pains, but the door was back up and as strong as she could make it.

She pushed the chair under the doorknob, then slid the dresser against the chair. Standing back to survey her work, she thought, The bastard isn't nearly as strong as he once was, thank goodness. No telling how little he's eaten in the last few months; he had rather smoke a crack rock or screw around with crystal meth than put food in his stomach. Maybe this will hold him long enough for me to get some sleep; I can't stay awake much longer.

Shit, how did I get into this? she admonished herself as she got ready for bed. After pulling her top off, then her bra, she thought for a second. Worried that she might suddenly have to fight him again, she put her top back on. She certainly didn't want to have to run out of the house nude in this neighborhood. That would invite disaster.

His being drunk all the time was bad enough, but I should have left him as soon as I realized he had started using drugs. I've put up with this crap for a year. I can't do it any longer. He's going to fucking kill me. Shit. Shit. Shit, she thought as she half collapsed on the side of the bed, afraid to leave the room and go down the hall to the bathroom to wash the blood off her face. She sat with her head in her hands for a moment, tears silently flowing. After regaining control, she looked up and saw herself in the dresser mirror. Then it dawned on her. Daddy will kill Justin when he sees my face like this. Dad promised him that he would if he (Justin) ever hit me, and that promise has kept my no-good husband from abusing me until now. Somehow, I have to get out of here without Daddy ever seeing Justin. After all that's happened, I surely don't want my father to go to jail because of my stubbornness.

She slipped off her shoes and socks, leaving on the rest of her clothes. A wave of fatigue assailed her as she slumped back on the bed, the fatigue the result of working three doubles in a row with very little sleep between. I have to sleep before I fall on my face.

The Retreat

Diana walked into the living room, with all the other women, laughing and talking as they followed her. She went to her husband as he came to his feet.

"Okay, everyone," he called out as he reached to take Diana's hand, "we're going for a ride. You'll need coats. After you have them, meet me at the inside garage door."

"Where to, Jeff?" Dave asked.

"Oh, it's a surprise," the Prime responded with a chuckle and a wink.

Dave raised a questioning eyebrow, but turned to hustle his women out the door in front of him, knowing by the look on Jeff's face that he wouldn't reveal anything more until he chose to.

"Jeff, you're not..." Diana started as her mind began to analyze the possibilities, quickly settling on one.

"Who, me?" Jeff, oh so innocently, asked.

"Oh, my goodness," she whispered. "Courtney will ... Oh, Jeff, are you sure about this?"

"You going outside without a coat?" he teased. "Better hurry."

"It's at the garage door," she absently said as he guided her into the hallway.

A few minutes later, coats on and everyone in the garage, Jeff called out as some of them started for the vehicles, "Not in the Escalades; on out the back."

Jeff's wives and the others who knew about the Ship figured out where they were going, or at least they thought they did, but other than a few chuckles and giggles, there weren't any comments.

Outside, Matt put an arm around Courtney as the abrupt change in temperature hit them. Speaking to Jeff as the Prime stopped beside them, "It's hard to imagine it being this much colder up here than Idaho Springs."

"A few thousand feet of altitude makes a difference," Jeff responded. Then as he raised his voice to speak to everyone, "That way," he said as he pointed on out the path that showed Arlene's fresh footprints in the snow.

"But there's nothing out..." Courtney started as Jeff waved a hand over his head.

Courtney hissed in a breath, and she wasn't the only one, as Arlene responded inside the Ship and it/she seemed to snap into existence, her flowing lines, alien beyond the slightest doubt, assailed Courtney's and the others' senses.

"My gosh. Where did that monster come from?" Matt hissed out. "How big ... How long..." Then winding down as he realized the size of the ship he was gawking at, whispered under his breath, "Shit."

Jeff was assailed with questions from the ones who hadn't seen her before, but he staved them off. "Let's get inside out of the wind. Suffice it to say that she has been here, but wasn't visible. She's still invisible from above, but is showing herself to us for now."

Standing back watching, the Prime couldn't fight a grin as the old Marine practically dragged his women along the path toward the Ship. If he noticed that they weren't quite as enthusiastic as he was, he gave no indication of it.

Paulette, her youthful curiosity rising to the fore, tugged on Jeremy's hand to encourage him to walk faster. "Wow. Just, wow!" she repeated, her eyes wide as her sister-wives followed somewhat more reluctantly a step behind.

"Go for a ride?" Dave chuckled. "One hell of a Thanksgiving afternoon ride." Evie and his other wives were giggling as well.

Courtney was rooted in place as she whispered fiercely to her husband, "Matt, I told you they were aliens." Waving toward the Ship, "Nobody in his right mind would ever think that ... that... thing was made with human hands."

But Matt had passed the point where he cared whether the Matthews were aliens or not, and he was tired of his wife whining about it. He wanted to see the inside of the Ship, and if Jeff was taking everyone for a ride, he was going to be included. "Let's go, Baby," he hissed in his reluctant wife's ear. "There are people – many people, I suspect – who would literally kill for this experience. We're damn sure not going to miss it," he finished with determination – a determination that his wife felt from the newly enhanced Alpha.

Courtney didn't really want to get any closer to the big starship, or whatever it was, and if she had her way, she would have gone screaming back inside, but Matt slid his arm lower down her back. She tried to hold back, but her strength was insignificant when pitted against his, and before she could even begin to resist, she felt herself being propelled forward.

Oh, my goodness. This thing extends all the way to the woods. It's almost as big as this whole open area. Then staring at the surface that seemed to refuse to let her eyes focus properly on it, she thought, It's hard to tell what color it is. It seems to be shades of gray that morph into other colors, almost like oil on water. I can see hints of blues and greens, and sometimes other hues. There's a wet look to it as the light ... almost glances off it, somehow refusing to properly light the surface, but it's ... beautiful in its own way. Alien – deadly looking.

As they walked up the ramp, her husband's hand still "encouraging" her forward, she hesitantly put out a hand to touch the nearby surface just before she stepped through the door. Expecting her hand to touch moisture, she felt nothing whatsoever. Her hand skittered away from the side of the ship, seemingly without touching anything. She snatched the hand back and allowed her husband to escort her through the slightly shimmering doorway.

As she stepped through, there was a brief ... sensation that she couldn't place, but it was gone before she had time to focus on it. Inside, Courtney and Matt followed the others down a hallway, then into a large room with a high, vaulted ceiling. Unlike the hallway that seemed odd, somehow, the large room had an entirely different atmosphere. It was furnished with an array of comfortable-looking seats that were bound with soft leather. There were also a number of low tables scattered throughout the room, the walls a light beige that barely registered with her. The area almost seemed to be a large living room, or probably more accurately, an expensively decorated lounge.

In the far right corner, there was a simple bar, or counter, made of a rich, dark wood, its end and sides inlayed with a border of leather to continue the expensive motif of the room. Plush, matching bar stools lined the side of the bar. Behind the counter, in a wide area, was an array of snack foods. To the side was an assortment of fountain drink dispensers not unlike something you would find in a fast food restaurant.

Courtney dropped into a wide seat in the middle of the room, pulling her husband down beside her as she held tightly to his hand. The absurdity of the packaged snack foods and brand name fountain drinks on an alien starship made her want to giggle. Just as she thought to say something to her husband, Arlene's voice attracted her attention. Turning to look, Courtney sucked in a breath as others did the same.

Near the front end of the big room, an image – it had to be an image – of Arlene, stood well off the floor, her hands clasped casually behind her back, almost in a parade rest, but more relaxed. Her mane of long auburn hair bound in a ponytail, arched out from high on the back of her head, swaying to her waist as she looked around at her audience, the deep russet of her uniform seeming to enhance the beauty of her thick hair. But labeling her uniform with a single color was far less than descriptive. Indeed, the basic color was there, but the material almost seemed alive with subtle shades that hinted at change as she moved. There were small holographs made into the upper arms of the material at shoulder level, which presented a black field with a swarm of stars. Much later, they would find that the stars on the field would change as the Ship's position changed in space. Across the top of the shoulders, the russet darkened, giving an accent to the basic color. Attached to the left collar was a small gold bar representing her rank of First Officer, the bar bearing a detailed embossed blue and green planet – the Earth. The base of the bar held a small golden circle – the mark of a Queen. The uniform spoke of authority, but even so, it did nothing to hide the sexuality of the young woman.