Chapter 386

Arlene sat at one of the computer desks in their giant bedroom, Diana, Ada and Charlotte gathered around as the teenager went to the wives’ favorite lingerie site.

“Oh, my goodness,” Ada gasped at the price as Arlene clicked on a sexy pastel green pajama and robe set that was the next thing to being transparent, “That is enormously expensive, but it’s superbly beautiful.”

“So, you like it?”

“Oh, heck yes,” Ada said with a smile. “What’s not to like?”

“Good. I thought you would,” Arlene responded as she immediately clicked on the size panel, chose without hesitation, and sent the outfit to the shopping cart.

“But ... you just bought that,” Ada almost stuttered. “And how did you know my size?”

Diana chuckled and answered before Arlene could. “We had a talk with our husband a while back, and he did his thing with Little One. Chances are that the two of you were measured more precisely than you have ever been in your lives. She knows your bodies, even to the molecular level. Outer dimensions are a breeze for her. She even factored in the expected changes as your breasts tightened and changed a bit. After all, she’s the one who ... programmed the changes into your bodies. Besides, if something doesn’t fit, we’ll send it back. A workday seldom passes without a delivery by UPS or FedEx, and they pick up as well.”

While Diana had been explaining, Arlene had ordered a set that Charlotte had been looking at, then matching negligees for mother and daughter.

“Wait. Wait,” Charlotte hissed out. We can’t afford to shop at this site. Things are far too expensive...”

Diana giggled. “Obviously, you haven’t checked your accounts yet. I assure you that you can easily afford a shopping spree here, but ... this isn’t coming out of your accounts, anyway. Which reminds me,” she said, as she got up. Returning after a moment, she handed the two women bank charge cards with their names already on them.”

“But...” Charlotte stammered. “We can’t...”

“You can,” Arlene interrupted to say. “You’re part of us now, just as we have been telling you.”

“But we’ve only been here a couple of days. I didn’t know that a bank would issue cards that quickly...” Ada tried, before Diana cut her off.

“As soon as you arrived here, I called the accountant, who in turn made a call to the bank. You would be surprised what the bank manager will do to kiss Jeff’s ass, and he darn sure doesn’t want Jeff’s women pissed, either. The cards were here, via courier, two hours after I ordered them. And, yeah, I know that doesn’t happen for the general public. We, like just about all the working public, had to sweat finances most of our lives, but our husband now allows us to shop without bitching at us. And when you really get down to it, we buy most of the clothes with him in mind. And ... he likes quality sleepwear on us, if we wear anything at all. Oh, we have crotchless panties and negligees which show bare boobs, but he usually prefers quality and subtlety; however, he does allow us to go for slutty every now and then, in case you’re wondering,” she said with a grin.

Then going on, “We do not waste money. Remember, we do our own housework, and that means keeping this enormous building clean, and we do our own cooking as well. As soon as Jeff’s invention was sold, he, Arlene and I vowed that we would never let our wealth go to our heads. We all helped on Carla’s farm during harvest, and we worked real jobs there that needed to be done. Chances are we will help during planting this spring and again during harvest, only this time, you two will get a chance to help, too.”

“Carla?” Charlotte asked.

“Fred’s mate. Another Alpha and his women that you will get to meet soon. We own part interest in a farm operated by Carla. She got crapped on by a hospital that stole her money while they allowed her husband to die. We sicced our attorney on them, and Carla ... well, let’s just say that she farms now only because she wants too.”

“But,” Ada quietly said as she settled against the back of her chair, “I just can’t seem to believe that you’re doing all this for us. I mean...”

“What?” Diana puzzled. “You mean buying you a few things. That’s nothing...”

“No. I don’t mean that ... Well, I guess I do, but I mean... everything. A couple of days ago we didn’t even know you. Now, you’re sharing, well... everything. You’re even talking about sharing your husband, and you’re beginning to make me believe you’re serious.”

Diana turned to hug Ada to her, then Charlotte. “We’ve talked about this. We can’t just throw you two to the wolves. Moreau would kill both of you for sure. No matter what we did, we could never guarantee that he couldn’t find you. He hasn’t given up on Art yet. With his track record, as we’ve already discussed, Moreau will continue to come after both of you just as he has Art. But, even when my husband manages to eliminate Moreau – and make no mistake about that; he will – you two will still be part of us. I know my husband. He has claimed you, even though he refuses to acknowledge it publically yet. And that’s mostly because he doesn’t want to scare you two. But you are his, and he is yours. Lie to me and tell me you can’t feel him when he’s near,” she finished with a grin.

Both Arlene and Diana giggled when Ada’s and Charlotte’s faces instantly flushed. After Diana and her daughter did a high five, the Clan Queen motioned to the big screen. “Now, let’s get started on some serious on-line shopping. Tomorrow, we’ll take a trip to Winter Park for a little of the hands-on kind. As soon as Jeff and the General get tired of watching Morales, I’ll let my husband know about our trip so he can break the news to Security. Neither he nor the Lieutenant in charge of Security is going to be pleased, but I refuse to let them keep us cooped up in here like prisoners. Besides,” she said with a grin, “it makes all of them feel like they’re really important, and truth be told, they do keep us alive.”

The General’s Office

“Well, that’s the last of the vids the Sergeant selected,” Whitworth commented as he brought the lights back up, propped his feet on the corner of his desk and leaned back before continuing. “But I wonder if the wood Morales has found will really hold up in that compound bow of his. Oh, that one arrow seemed to work, but that could have been a fluke.”

“Well, if it is a fluke, there will come a time when he’ll be in big trouble. As we’ve discussed before, he will lose an arrow now and then, no matter how careful he is, and I suspect a wounded animal will fall and break one from time to time, as has already happened. Attrition will win in the long run. You could always send him more though...”

The General let out a huff. “That’s an option, of course, but as soon as I do, he’ll suspect that someone is watching him.”

“Could be a ‘standard’ resupply thing. He doesn’t know what you do with the other prisoners. As far as that’s concerned, send them all another quiver of arrows. In the long run, does it make a difference?”

The General shrugged. “Probably not,” he admitted. “Most of the prisoners are too self-centered to conserve or try to learn, anyway. After all, they couldn’t get along in society. Why should they be any different on 2214? But that planet gives them nothing if they don’t work for it, and there are plenty of highly intelligent and hungry animals whose stomachs will profit from the prisoners’ laziness or carelessness. Most of them never find, or take advantage of what was planted there for them. Morales is city born and bred, yet he has apparently set out to do whatever it takes to survive. It’s a shame he didn’t put forth the effort on Earth that he seems to have on 2214 – he could have made something out of himself. Granted, he may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I’m beginning to wonder about that, even. He damn sure has an instinct to survive and smarts to make it happen.”

There was quiet for a time as the men chased their own thoughts before the General continued, “The more I think about using that wolf as part of an exploration team, the more I’m tempted. But ... Morales did kill, and I’m not a bit sure that he could get along in society after being exposed to 2214 for any length of time. Let’s face it; my scientists are frequently full of themselves. Granted they generally have more education than most people will ever even think of having, but unfortunately advanced degrees and common sense don’t always go hand in hand. What’s going to happen when some over-educated asshole tells Morales to do something stupid?” He paused before hurrying on, “He won’t do it, right? And then some scientist will get his ass on his shoulder and order Morales to do it. When that doesn’t work ... well, things could get out of hand in a hurry. It would be a tossup as to whether the wolf would kill the asshole before Morales managed.”

Jeff lifted an eyebrow while staring at the General.

Whitworth shrugged. “All right. I know that’s an extreme case, but my point is that Morales never did get along well with rules. The prison planet and the way of life he is forced to lead might well exacerbate that tendency. Stick him with a group of prima donnas who have all those degrees and think they know everything, and there will be trouble. Push him hard enough and I expect he would solve the situation – violently.”

Jeff thought for a second before a grin spread across his face. “So, have Ship develop a program, and run him through her academy. When he graduates, give him some rank that will exceed theirs under certain emergency conditions. Define areas of expertise that the scientists cannot challenge. Something like his authority outranks theirs concerning camp and trail security. They either do what he says, or they’re recalled. When he’s challenged, make an example of the challenger. Hell, that might cut down on fatalities among the scientists. You’ve certainly griped often enough about them doing stupid things and getting themselves hurt or killed. Maybe Morales is the answer.”

There was quiet for a moment as Whitworth processed his Colonel’s comments. “Well, as you certainly know, I’ve already required them to learn to handle a pulse rifle and pass a minimum course, but some of them still manage to get themselves killed by forgetting everything except what attracted their attention and area of expertise at that exact moment. Sometimes, on particularly rugged planets, I’ve even had to send a combat team to wipe their noses for them and keep them from getting killed while they’re poking into things. But I can’t afford the personnel to send a combat team with every scientific team. Sometimes I think the scientists are like kids chasing a ball into a busy street. They’re so focused on what they are doing that they’re oblivious to what’s going on around them. Telling them that they’re on a strange planet where the rules, not to mention the wildlife, are different is like pouring water on a duck’s back. They can pass any written test you put in front of them, but still they walk under a tree on a new planet without looking up to see what animal is lying on a limb ready to drop on them and eat their asses. And yeah, that exact thing has already happened. Brilliant people with doctorates who routinely forget to keep their radio batteries charged and don’t bother to keep track of which way camp is. Others want to listen to music blaring in their ears while they work, oblivious to the sounds of the strange world around them, let alone the scream of some big cat in the distance, nor that the cat now sounds closer than it did fifteen minutes ago. They can come up with plenty of stupid ways to get themselves killed.”

The two looked at each other before saying in unison, “But you can’t cure stupid,” then both broke out in laughter.

Their meeting over, Jeff got up to leave, but as he neared the door, Whitworth stopped him with a question. “Think Ship can actually develop something?”

Jeff turned back to his commanding officer, but stopped to think for a moment before answering. “Off the top of my head, I would say yes, but whether the result would fit Morales or not...”

Then with a grin, “So how do you propose going about it, Colonel?”

Jeff hesitated, realizing what he had gotten himself into. Finally, he shrugged. “Well ... if I were to teach a class on something, I would first have to know everything I could about the subject. Since we’re talking about survival on many different planets, each unique in its own way, Ship, in this instance, would need an awful lot of background knowledge before she could even consider how to teach survival on primitive planets. I’m assuming you’re interested in the planets without civilizations such as 2214, right?”

At the General’s nod, Jeff went on, “Granted, Morales is doing one hell of a job on 2214, but if you put him with a scientific exploration team, the next planet would probably be quite different...”

“But I’m talking about basic survival – methods that should be employed on every primitive planet that’s explored. Methods these scientists have to know in order to pass a minimum test on basic survival, before we turn them loose on a new planet. Basic primitive planet survival that Morales is doing every day, only with modern survival equipment, but they don’t seem to be able to apply it to everyday life. We need somebody to nursemaid these prima donnas and keep them from getting themselves killed without my having to tie up a combat specialist or a whole combat team.”