Chapter 390

The Retreat

Charlotte and Ada were sitting on one of the couches in their sitting room. Responding to a knock on the door, Charlotte hurried to open it. When Diana walked in, Ada looked up from staring at the computer screen, both mother and daughter red-faced as Ada stammered out, “We ... just checked our bank account. Diana, there must be some mistake. Maybe your accountant misunderstood...”

But Di was shaking her head. “He didn’t misunderstand; he repeated the amount back to me. I assume the two of you are pleased?”

“Well, certainly. Shocked, even,” Ada replied.

“But ... we can’t accept all this,” mother and daughter said as one, then turned to stare at each other when they realized what they had done.

The Clan Queen just grinned at them. “The money from Jeff’s invention just keeps pouring in from the military, and he has an update waiting when sales slack off, not to mention the software update that Helen, Laura and the girls have waiting, too. As we’ve said over and over, you two are part of us now.” As Ada started to say something, Diana interrupted with, “Enough about that. Are you two ready to go shopping?” she asked with obvious enthusiasm.

“Yeah, we’re dressed,” Charlotte replied “but...”

“No buts. Just get your purses. Security and Jeff are waiting.”

A few minutes later as Ada, Charlotte, Diana and Kayla put on their coats at the inside garage door, and even Jeff slipped into a light jacket to cover his weapon, Charlotte asked, “Just us? What about all the other wives?”

Diana nodded to her husband who seemed a little embarrassed. “Well ... Arlene and Ann are watching the aliens, as you know, and the rest are either in our school here or at Ship’s academy. And that goes for everyone who lives here full time, with the exception of the General and his wives. They have opted not to go with us when we search for the aliens who constructed Ship’s mind.”

Ada turned to look hard at Jeff. “I guess I’m confused about all this. Will we be required to go through Ship’s academy? I mean, it seems like you expect us to, but a commercial flight or two is all the flying I’ve ever done, and I wasn’t even comfortable with that. Charlotte has flown many times, but I don’t think she likes it much more than I do. And ... I heard you guys talking about scouts and interceptors. I’m basically an old woman. No way could I ever fly one of those things, and while I’m on the subject, even the scouts scare me, and seeing those interceptors just sitting there on the flight deck tends to make me want to be somewhere else. They look like they’re just waiting to destroy something. I...”

Jeff cleared his throat. “Before I address that, let’s clear something up. You are what you look like you are. A young, vibrant woman with a sharp mind and a killer body. So you need to change that ‘old woman’ mindset or I might start thinking about a good paddling to get your mind in the right groove,” he finished with a gleam in his eye.

Ada wasn’t entirely sure he was kidding. Startling herself, but thankful she was wearing a bra, she felt her nipples extend and her nether lips become moist. Maybe the bra will hide my nipples, she thought, having no idea that with Jeff’s sense of smell, he knew exactly what was going on inside her panties. Has he somehow guessed that my dead husband and I did that on occasion? I haven’t thought about it in years, but it used to be a real turn-on for him to spank me.

Jeff was hard put to keep his expression neutral as he continued. “Everyone who goes with us will have to attend Ship’s academy ... for all our safeties. While at the academy, you will learn about and be trained in the various functions of Ship. She will decide who pilots which craft, but the minimum will necessitate everyone being qualified shuttle pilots, and ... the academy will introduce you to both the scouts as well as the interceptors. You might not be able to fight an interceptor effectively, but you will be able to do the minimum. Granted, the interceptors will be a lot more functional with a pilot who loves to fly them. But everyone will have at least the bare essentials. So far, only Arlene, Ann, Kayla, Evie and Dave have received their first combat level certification as interceptor pilots, but they are working on their next certification level. I want our main interceptor pilots to be certified to at least the third level.”

With the group seated in one of the Escalades, Jeff hit the remote and backed out of the garage. While they had been putting on their coats, both Ada and Charlotte had noticed Jeff’s lips moving silently. Remembering that he sometimes talked to Security that way, they weren’t surprised when a black SUV sitting in the parking lot fell in behind them as they started down the driveway.

Ada was amused when Charlotte hissed in a breath after the first switchback. The amusement fled when the second switchback put the dropoff on Ada’s side. She so wanted to ask if the driveway was safe, but refused to whine. When it seemed that Charlotte was going to ask that very same thing, Ada squeezed her daughter’s hand hard while shaking her head slightly.

Charlotte bit her lip and remained quiet.

Diana, sitting in the front beside her husband, turned to smile at the three in the second seat, noting that Kayla had chosen to sit in the middle, and ... consequently allow Ada and Charlotte to share in the view of the abyss. A silent look passed between the Clan Queen and her sister-wife. Diana might just as well have said, “Naughty. Naughty,” for Kayla grinned and winked.

“The driveway is safe, Ladies,” the Prime commented. “My daughter even snowboarded down it, and ... damn near scared me to death in the process. If you wish, you can view the AI’s video of it, and it has added excerpts from Arlene’s helmet cam of the trip as well. It ended rather ignominiously with her landing in a snowbank at the bottom of the drive, but she even found that amusing. Although the trip made a great video, I have declared the drive off limits to any purpose other than what it was designed for.”

“She almost scared us to death, and there were times that she was very near the edge while practically atop the guard rail,” Diana injected as she pointed out the continuing mound of snow that hid the railing along the side of the drive.

“I don’t think you need to worry about me coming down it on a snowboard; just riding down it in this vehicle scares me quite enough, thank you,” Ada declared.

Charlotte, though more accustomed to mountains because of the boring job, was also far from being comfortable.

At the bottom of the drive, Jeff fell in among Security’s full escort as Diana went on, “We still call this the county road, but it actually belongs to us until you get to the next house a mile or so down the road. Since we bought the deserted ski lodge as well as all the property down to the Spermans’, Jeff was able to talk the county into letting us purchase and take over maintenance of the road that used to be county property. That way they don’t have to come out here practically every day in the winter to plow it out, and we have more privacy. As my husband would say, A ‘win/win’ situation for all of us.”

A mile down the road, Diana motioned to a driveway and the barely-seen house at the end of it as they passed. “And speaking of the Spermans, they’re great neighbors, and ... they’ve been enhanced as well. They have become close friends with the lady we acquired some of our animals from, and I strongly suspect things will be happening between Steve, Marcie and Meg in the near future.”

Charlotte could see several vehicles in front of them with others following, in addition to a helicopter that seemed to be pacing them. She and her mother passed a glance before Charlotte commented, “All of this to just go shopping?”

Diana turned partway to better converse with them. “Wealth comes with its own problems, so once we were known, Security would have had to become part of our lives, anyway, but things really became complicated when Art joined us and Moreau found out where he was. Art has apologized so many times for bringing us his troubles that we’ve had to have some rather strong words to get him to hush up about it. He wants to leave so Moreau will forget about us, but we know enough about the bastard to know he won’t, ever, no matter where Art is. We’ve stymied Moreau’s plans, and he will never forget or forgive us.”

Jeff picked up with, “Oh, sooner or later, Moreau will screw up and my team, the General, or I will put paid to his ass,” Jeff growled, “and that doesn’t even include what Ship thinks about the situation. She is monitoring him 24/7 and can be there in moments. If it were not for other lives being endangered or lost, either the General or Ship would have long since ended Moreau’s threat. The idiot has essentially placed his own self in jail. As soon as he comes out of that compound, though, he’s a dead man, and ... Art or I have little to say about it. Both Ship and General Whitworth have declared him a threat to me and my family, and both have the capability to erase that threat from the face of the Earth.”

Jeff’s expression changed for the better. “Enough of drab thoughts. What have you ladies planned for your shopping trip?”

Ada and Charlotte glanced at each other, and Ada nodded for her daughter to answer. “Oh, we just need some jeans and tops and a couple of items of makeup. It shouldn’t take long.”

Jeff glanced at her in the mirror. “Oh, my,” he quietly said, mimicking Diana’s favorite expression, knowing that Ada and Charlotte were in for a shock.

Diana reached over and pinched his leg, causing him to grin. “Hush, Husband.”

The Prime winked at his wife, but didn’t make the comment he wanted to.

“I’ve made reservations for us to eat at Martha’s,” Diana told the two, changing the subject.

“The woman can cook,” Jeff injected.

“And she has hired a famous chef, and recently added or essentially built a new restaurant, all very high end, but she still treats the locals as royalty, not having forgotten where her original support came from.” Diana, of course, neglected to say where the money for the restaurant originated, but Charlotte and Ada suspected they knew.

A few minutes later, after an uneventful trip down highway 40, they entered the outskirts of Winter Park, slowed, made a couple of turns and stopped in front of the first boutique. A Security officer in full uniform stepped up to open the two right-hand doors, assisting the women to their feet as they stepped out of the vehicle, but other than two other Security vehicles parked nearby, their escort seemed to have disappeared. There were, however, suddenly several more people window shopping and entering or leaving other nearby stores.

The helicopter she had seen was now only a dot in the sky, but it seemed to remain motionless. She had no clue that there were two more, silent and invisible, much nearer as they patrolled the area for suspicious activity.

As the women neared the door of the store, a very well dressed young woman just in front of them reached to open the door and stood back holding it for them. “After you,” she said. Before either could comment, she turned to Jeff. “Colonel,” and nodded to him.

Jeff smiled at the woman. “That outfit looks good on you, Ashford.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

With the exchange, Ada and Charlotte knew that the young woman was part of Jeff’s Security team.

As the women went on inside, Jeff held back. “This is on me,” he very quietly said to Ashford. “Let the rest know, and have fun.”

“Sir, you don’t...”

“No limit. Just protect my women and buy what you want. That goes for everybody on the detail. The guys can buy for their women since most of these stores just cater to the female gender. Be sure to pass the word, and that goes for every store we shop in today.”