Chapter 453

The Retreat

... After hurrying down the hall and making a couple of turns, they entered the dining room where Marie was congratulated over and over on her coming marriage to a “great guy”.

“You must be starved. I’ll introduce everyone later, but let’s eat first.”

With the meal and introductions over, Marie tried to help with cleanup when the other women began gathering up plates and eating utensils. “Not this time,” Diana said as she grabbed Marie’s hand. “Let’s adjourn to the living room for a few minutes of conversation, then we’ll leave the two of you to get reacquainted.”

“I want to help,” Marie tried, but Diana just grinned, grabbed her hand and pulled the young woman with her.

“You’ll get your chance, but tonight, we need to talk,” she assured her as they followed Jeff and Mike out of the dining room.

Almost as soon as they found seats in the living room – Mike and Marie sitting together on one of the couches – Joyce came in with a serving cart laden with coffee and soft drinks. Not offering to serve them, she, instead, plopped down in her husband’s lap, kissed him hungrily, then, with a chuckle, left the room.

Before Marie could become more embarrassed, Diana spoke up. “Joyce has every right to do that. She’s one of my husband’s wives, just as I am. I’m sure Mike has told you about us, but I asked Joyce to do that to make a point. We don’t hide what we have, but we will not try to influence you two, either. And that type of affection is as far as we go in public. Lest you worry, this is a marriage – not a commune. So, if you want to sit in your fiancé’s lap and show your affection for each other as Joyce just did, please feel comfortable in doing so.”

Going on with a smile, “As you know from the introductions, there are other families living here. We do go one step further in that the women who live here seldom wear bras inside the building. So, after you’re married, I suspect everyone will feel comfortable in our usual attire, and the bras will disappear. If you,” she said while locking eyes with Marie, “should decide to do the same, nothing will be thought of it by any of us. Oh, our men are men, and they might give you a glance or two, but no one will make you feel uncomfortable, and I can’t stress this enough; you are safe here – even if you should decide to walk around totally nude. We have welcomed you to our home, and that includes the safety of our home, as well.”

Diana stood and went over to the serving cart. “Now that’s covered, let’s get some refreshments in hand, because Jeff has something to go over with you.”

Marie quickly got up to help, which produced a smile from Diana.

Once everyone was seated with their favorite drink in hand, Jeff crossed his legs and took a sip of coffee while he thought. Glancing at Marie, he began, “Okay, Marie, I don’t know how much Mike has told you about things here...”

“Very little,” Mike broke in to say. “She had to pack today, so our conversation was short, and our previous conversations while I was working on your fortress were limited because of having to use the company-owned SAT phone.”

“Okay. First off, I know that Mike and all the people from the boring company have noticed the military helicopters going back and forth. There is a small base a quarter mile over and a short distance on up the mountain. They’re here, essentially, to protect me and my family. I can’t go into all the reasons, but suffice it to say that we’ve been attacked several times. Those avenues of attack have been blocked, so there’s no reason for you to worry, but ... there are consequences we have to pay for our well-being.”

After a slight hesitation, Jeff went on, “I mentioned military, and I’m on... detached duty, I guess you could say.”

Turning to Marie, Hall said, “It rained troops when Mr., uh, Colonel Matthews was keeping Carlson from being crushed under the small boring machine.” Turning to Jeff, Mike explained, “I heard the Lieutenant refer to you as Colonel.”

Jeff grunted. “No Mr. or Colonel. I’m just Jeff, remember? Besides, it’s a long story, most of which I can’t talk about right now. But, back to the subject at hand. The bottom line is that our little shopping expedition will be taken seriously by my Security detail – very seriously. I just wanted to warn the two of you that we’ll look like a parade when we leave on our shopping trip in the morning, and should the unthinkable happen, instantly, and I do mean instantly, obey to the fullest any orders my Security people might give you. Chances of something happening to you are slim to none, especially if you do what you’re told to do in the very, very unlikely event that something does happen. But, be prepared to react should you be given an order, otherwise, just shop as you normally would. You will not even see most of the Security detail, other than a couple of the female Security people who will be nearby to assist you in your shopping.”

“Mr. Matthews, uh, Jeff, we didn’t mean to cause you all this trouble...” Mike began.

The color had drained from Marie’s face, and Diana noticed. Coming to her feet, she addressed Jeff. “Husband, please call Security and ask if their mess Sergeant is free to drink a cup of his fine coffee with Marie and me. It’s time she met some of our friends that keep us safe.”

As Mike stood, Diana shook her head. “This is a girl thing. You guys stay here and talk. Marie and I are going to take a short ride.”

As the women started out of the living room, Marie gave a puzzled look to her fiancée. When Mike turned to Jeff to ask what was going on, the Prime seemed to be talking to himself – at least his lips were moving as he spoke subvocally to Lieutenant Mayfield, the speaker of the tiny radio buried behind the Prime’s ear.

A couple minutes later, when Marie realized they were entering the inside garage and what that meant, she almost balked, but Diana was already laughing as she began to describe her first trip up the driveway. “I still hate that thing, but it has turned out to be yet another means of keeping us safe. I won’t say you’ll get used to it, but after a while, it doesn’t bother you as much. Jeff’s other wives and I usually tend to get a conversation going to distract us as we negotiate the darn thing.”

As they backed out of the garage, crossed the lot and started down the driveway, Marie stiffened in her seat.

Diana’s voice brightened as she said, “Oh, I wish you could have seen this in the snow. Either Security or my daughter plowed the driveway and parking lot out every day, so negotiating it was generally not a problem, then Arlene snowboarded down it – scaring me half to death in the process. But we got the last laugh. There was ice at the end of the drive and she couldn’t stop ... until she hit the big pile of snow the snowplows had dumped just across the road from the bottom of the drive. She was still laughing when we dug her out.”

Diana continued to ask Marie about her life as they went down. The young woman understood what the Clan Queen was doing, but talking did help, and Marie certainly appreciated getting her mind, at least partially, off of the terror inducing driveway. At the bottom, Marie was able to relax as they turned right and soon pulled into another parking lot containing many military vehicles before parking in a visitor’s slot near a long building.

“This is our Security base,” Diana said as two men in military fatigues opened their doors for them.

“Mrs. Matthews, Sarge said to tell you he has a pot of his special brew just about ready.”

“Ma’am,” he said to Marie as she came around the vehicle with her escort.

“Lead on, Corporal,” Diana said with a smile.

As they walked up the front steps, she told Marie, “This used to be a ski lodge, but an avalanche damaged one of the slopes and also did major damage to the lodge. The company that owned it went out of business, and my husband bought it for our Security’s headquarters. They have done a marvelous job of renovation both with the lodge building itself and the ski slope.”

Soon, the Corporal was holding the door to the mess hall open for the women. The evening meal was over so the room was only lightly populated.

A big man, dressed like the others in fatigues, pulled his apron off, dried his hands and walked around the counter.

As he approached, Diana introduced him, “Sergeant, I’d like to introduce you to a friend of ours. Marie Myers, meet Sergeant Sims.”

“Nice to meet you, Sergeant,” Marie responded as she offered her hand.

“Nice to meet you, too, Ma’am,” Sims responded, approving of Marie’s firm handshake. “Would you ladies like to have a seat?” he said, nodding to a table already set up for coffee.

As they sat, a private came out with an insulated carafe and poured for the three. Sitting the carafe down, he hurried away.

When the women had fixed their coffee and taken sips, they both complimented Sims on the quality of his secret blend. After they had chatted for a few minutes, he looked a question at Diana.

“Marie is going to be married in the next couple of days and...”

“Congratulations, Ma’am,” Sims interrupted to say as he smiled at Marie.

“Thank you, Sergeant. We had thought it would be months before we would be ready, but thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Matthews, our wedding date has been moved forward quite a bit.”

Diana turned to Sims, “To be candid, Sergeant, when my husband explained about our shopping trip tomorrow and the necessary security ... Well, I thought it would be prudent if Marie met some of you, and what better place to start than with the best chef in the General’s army.”

“Oh,” the Sergeant said with a chuckle, “now my head is going to swell.”

Instead of answering him directly, Diana turned to Marie. “My husband says he’s the best. I’ve eaten here many times while undergoing training that all of us who live at the Retreat have to complete. On rare occasions when Jeff was allowed to take his family with him, I was, sometimes, able to eat with him in bases around the world, so I have to agree with my husband. The troops stationed here eat very well, indeed.”

“And I have some of that cheese cake you like so much,” Sims said while nodding to a private behind the serving counter who already had three pieces cut and waiting.

“See why we came here first?” Diana said with a laugh as they were served.

A little later as they were finishing up, Diana turned to the Sergeant. “Do you suppose Sergeant Higgins has time to speak with us?”

“I’m sure he does. Let me give him a call,” Sergeant Sims replied as he got up.

“If he’s in his office, we’ll go to him,” Diana told the Sergeant.

“Yes, Ma’am. I’ll tell him.”

“Higgins?” Marie frowned as she caught Diana’s eye. “Is he related to the Mr. Higgins that used to be Mike’s supervisor at the boring company? I’m almost certain his name is Higgins, too.”

“Hmmm. I don’t know. I’m sure that Sergeant Higgins will tell you if you ask, though.”

When Sims came back, he said, “Higgins is waiting for you in his office. Sure you don’t want me to tell him to meet you here?”

“No, his office will be perfect,” Diana responded as she and Marie came to their feet.

“Yes, Ma’am. Just follow me.”

After Marie and Sergeant Higgins were introduced and he had shown the women to their seats, Marie asked him about the name. With a chuckle, he said, “Turns out we are distant cousins – very distant – but I never heard of him until we checked him out before the boring company came in to work on the fortress.”