Chapter 451

The Retreat

...”Yep,” Jeff said, “but at least he won’t have time to worry about the wedding while they’re kicking his ass.”

“And,” Diana returned with a smile, “he’ll be out of the way so we can get started doing what needs to be done to make this marriage a reality.”

“Isn’t there a waiting period of three days when you get a marriage license?” Jeff asked with a frown.

“Not in Colorado,” she responded with a grin. “All they want is their thirty-five dollars – no waiting period and no tests. Just an ID and a birth certificate, and the thirty-five dollars, of course.”

“Preacher?” he said, knowing the answer.

“Brother Taylor,” she responded. “He works on a county road crew, remember, but I talked to his wife. She said – for us – he can be here any workday after five. If we need him during the day, he’ll have to get permission to take off from his job. I told her that six would be great and I would get back to her with the details later, but to expect the wedding in the next day or two because Marie only has one week off.

“I went ahead and talked to Dana, the dress shop owner, and she is expecting us for a fitting tomorrow morning unless I call and tell her differently. Of course, that will mean that Marie will have to use one of the dresses already made that will require only minimum fitting. I checked. Marie is five feet two inches with a petite build and wears a size five shoe. Dana says she has several dresses completed that should work with no major alteration.”

“What about his suit, or is he going to have to...” He cut the question short when he saw the look on his wife’s face.

“Come on, Jeff. He’s going to be working for Frank Wainwright in some capacity. There’s bound to be company parties and functions that he will be required to attend, so he’ll need a good tux of his own – not some obvious rental that might shame him or his boss under the wrong circumstances. I know how you hate to buy clothing, but, nevertheless, this has to fall under your purview. I simply will not have the time. And ... while you’re there, you might as well get yourself another tux, too.”

Jeff flinched mentally at her last comment. “Di, if I have to go into Denver, the Lieutenant will have so many people escorting me, we’ll look like a parade.” But, even as he said it, he was already beginning to like the idea of getting away from the Retreat for a while.

“I know it’s going to cost us a bit,” she said with a smile, “but we now have more than three times the money we had after selling your first invention, and we’ve poured money into any viable charity in the area, added to every Alpha’s accounts as well as other friends’ accounts, and still the bank accounts and investments go up.”

Jeff shrugged. “I never thought Frank would demand so much money from the government for every installation of the radar, and our percentage of that just keeps coming in. In addition, our investment guru has done a fine job with our normal investments, and he took that ten percent I allowed him to play a bit more loosely with and has managed to make us and himself richer.”

“And,” she said with a big grin, “we still have the physical update waiting in the wings, then, after that, the software update to follow that. But Frank said that the military will continue to pay the astronomical price for every unit and for every update, for several reasons. But, mainly, they have begun to expect that every one of your radars will function properly, all the way to specs – and beyond – as soon as the unit is installed. And from what I hear from Margaret, the aviators all love the new system. Feedback has been fantastic. According to Frank, every system works perfectly as soon as it’s installed. No glitches at all.

“As you certainly know, but to reiterate, our allies are scrambling to have their own equipment once their pilots have flown using your radar. And Margaret reminded me that it looks like the tiered level fines are working after the government got caught a few times trying to reverse engineer your invention. Just as you incorporated into each system, if there is any attempt to delve into the internal workings of the unit, it basically screams rape in a frequency that the government can’t seem to block, and of course, it gives its location and serial number. Frank, and consequently us as well, have made some serious money from the fines before the government seemed to quit trying.”

Jeff let out a chuckle. “Yeah, Baby, we’ve already discussed all this many times.”

“Oh, I know. I know, but I almost get the giggles every time I think about the government finally being stymied and having to obey its own rules. Frank reminded them, over and over, that any attempt to circumvent the seal on the units would be reported and the tiered fines would come into effect – per the contract. But I suspect the tremendous technological advance over their present systems was just too much temptation for them – not to mention the outrageous cost that Frank is charging for each unit. So, they just had to try. But, nonpayment of the fines would nullify the contract and any new contract would have to be negotiated pursuant to a huge cost increase. The fines are steep, and each new violation is much more, but they have to be paid within a tight time frame. The fines they incurred in the first few weeks, though, seem to have put enough scare into them, because Margaret tells me that the attempts to breach the seals seem to have come to a screeching halt. They may still be attempting to copy the technology, but so far, none have managed to get past the outer seals without the units screaming for Momma.”

“And they won’t,” Jeff said with determination. “I designed the system, and even I can’t get through without causing destruction and triggering the response. I seriously doubt that any of the government’s engineers will ever be able to, either.”

“So, we’re back to spending money,” she said with her tinkling laugh. “I’ll make sure the men’s shop I use is expecting you, Mike, and your Security, of course.” At the look on Jeff’s face, “Oh, don’t panic. Your other wives and I will pick out the style and material for the tux for the two of you. Just go be measured. Hopefully, they’ll have something already made that can be altered quickly to fit Mike. The one you have will be fine for the wedding, but I want you to have another, top-of-the-line tux made especially for you.”

“Di, Mike is probably expecting to wear the suit that Marie is bringing...”

“Oh, I’ve discussed this with her, and she has given me permission to pick out his tux. But, I imagine she is expecting it to be a rental. She can find out that it’s his after the wedding. But that isn’t going to be a problem. She and I hit it off very well, indeed.” Looking hard at her husband, she smiled, “Jeff, that young man is going places. Sooner or later, he’ll need to be properly dressed for some occasion. One day, he’ll be glad for the tux. You just watch and see. I’ve also talked to Margaret, and she’s onboard with this, and she and Frank have talked about where they are going to put Mike.

“For now, we get Marie here and the two of them fitted for wedding clothes. And ... for your next tux as well.”

Jeff was hard put to struggle out, “Yes, Dear.” But his Clan Queen had proven him wrong about things of this nature on so many occasions that he sucked it up and let her have her way, yet again. I’m pussy whipped, but, dammit, she knows what she’s doing. She’s the Clan Queen, and more than that, she’s my Clan Queen.

“So, we don’t have anything to do until we leave for Denver in the morning?” he asked, oh so innocently.

“What?” she exclaimed. “I have tons of things to do. There’s the decorating of this room,” she said while motioning. “Provisioning of the honeymoon suite. The cake to get baked. And then there’s the ... Uump,” she grunted as he threw her over his shoulder. “Jeff,” she squealed, panic in her voice, “I don’t have time...”

But that faded away as he jogged out of the living room with her and turned toward their bedroom.

As they passed a group of wives in the hallway, and the laughter had died down, Arlene turned to the group. “Okay, while Momma is getting her brains screwed out, who wants to bake the cake?”

Jennie and Melissa raised their hands. “Ok. You two see that it gets done. Who will supervise having Mike and Marie’s private meal before the wedding?”

“I’ll be glad to do that,” Susan said.

“Who is going to see to cleaning and stocking the honeymoon suite?”

“We’ll do that,” Nat, Nicki, and Whitney said as one.

“Good, now who’ll volunteer to be in charge of decorating the living room and getting the reception room ready...”

The assignments went on. Eventually, the wives were dispatched to their various jobs and given the authority to conscript help from the other Alphas and their wives as need be. The well-oiled machine, as the saying goes, was underway.

The Prison Planet

...”I am not a quitter, Mr. Morales. So? I have a couple of blisters. Big deal. I told you I intended to do my part, and I meant it. Now, do you intend to stir that stew all day, or feed me?”

Chuckling, Morales divided out their meal.

A few minutes later, as Jasmine was finishing the food on her plate, Morales saw her eyes shift toward the big pot he had used to cook the stew in. “There is a second helping for all of us,” he said, reaching for her plate.

“I’m going to get fat if I continue to eat like this.”

“Bullshit, Woman,” he responded as he spooned more stew onto her plate and handed it back. “Not with the amount of energy you expended this morning.”

Taking a big bite, she thought, while savoring the somewhat wild taste of the deer stew, “Expended this morning.” Ah, Mr. Morales ... your propensity toward studying anything you can get your hands on is showing in your speech. There are distinct changes between the first recording of your talking to your partner and the guards in that prison cell before you were transferred here, and what I’m hearing now. The teams that explored this planet were scholarly, literate and, as usual, quite prolific with the wording of their research as they recorded everything that happened. And I think it’s beginning to be reflected in some of your speech patterns. Sooner or later, you’re going to discover more of the things that the General’s people added to your computer system. Careful, or you’re going to wind up going a long way toward educating yourself.

“Why are you grinning?” he asked with a halfway grin of his own.

“Oh, just something that crossed my mind,” she answered with a smile. Then, to throw him off, “How do you and the wolves communicate so well?”

It was hard for her smile not to turn into an instant frown when she saw the curtain fall across his features, but she went on as if she hadn’t noticed. “While we were digging that hole, I saw Lila sitting on the big entrance rock, reminding me of a sentinel, while Lobo checked out the area. I suppose that was what he was doing, because his behavior was just too ... structured to be coincidental. I mean, I know they help you. I’ve seen that on the vids, but I didn’t hear you give them any commands this morning...”

Morales poured himself another cup of coffee. “You want coffee, or are you going to stick with the water from your canteen?”

“Coffee,” she said with a grin as she offered him her cup before going over to get her sugar and creamer down from the shelf.

When she was seated again and they had resumed eating, Morales picked up the conversation. “Lobo and I gradually learned to work together, but, after he realized what was needed, I could just tell him to search, or some other similar term, and that was all that seemed necessary. Now, if we go out, he immediately begins searching or patrolling – whatever the term is – as does Lila. I usually don’t have to say anything to them about routine scouting as we move about.”