Chapter 541

The Retreat

Jeff and Diana’s conversation continues:

Diana shrugged. “Baby, I know we can never train too much, particularly with what’s coming, but I need to talk to you about something else.”

“Sure, Hon. Sorry about the soapbox. What’s going on?”

“Nothing to worry about, but Jasmine put up a note asking to talk to me about a problem she’s having. Apparently there is nothing urgent, but still, it only takes Ship a few minutes to get to the planet. I don’t have anything pressing scheduled for today, so...”

“You really like her, don’t you?”

Diana smiled at him as she took his hand. “Let’s continue this conversation somewhere that’s a bit more comfortable.”

As the two started toward the living room, she responded to his previous comment. “Yeah, I guess I do like her. She is, after all, now the wife of an enhanced Alpha, and she has been enhanced too, of course. I ... think Jasmine really likes the prison planet. She has, at least, seen a lot more of it than we have.”

“I suppose so. She was on another continent with that group of archeologists and anthropologists even before Morales was sent to twenty-two fourteen, wasn’t she?”

“Yeah, that’s what she said.”

When they entered the living room, Jeff headed for his favorite seat by the big wall window. Sitting, he pulled his wife onto his lap. After casually sliding his hand under her top to caress a breast, he said, “I’ve watched some of the General’s drone footage of the area around Morales’ cave. The planet has some impressive mountains as well as those plains where the buffalo are. In addition to that little waterfall near the cave that produces those beautiful rainbows, there’s a much bigger waterfall halfway up the nearest mountain. I can just imagine what it looks like when the sun strikes it just right.”

“So, when can we go see what Jasmine wants?”

“Any time is okay with me. I had planned to work in my lab, but I can do that whenever.”

“Oh,” she said, remembering. “I invited someone for supper. Well, actually the lawyer Kei used for her divorce and his wife. I didn’t have time to check with you first...”

Jeff was busy pulling her top up to tease her nipples, which caused her to sigh as he began caressing them. “He seemed like a nice guy – for a lawyer,” he said as he smiled at her, before leaning over to lick a nipple.

“Oh, Jeff, we don’t have time, and that’s not a nice thing to say about him.”

“Just kidding. I know nothing of the man except that he managed to accomplish what we wanted to happen about Kei’s divorce.”

“Well, there were three people who helped just a wee bit with that,” she said with a giggle.

“You know how it is, My Love. All us guys tend to want to keep our balls, and after all, he was down to one by then. Also, Kayla made it perfectly clear that she was ready to relieve Edi of the other one and his dick, too. He must have believed her because Security tells me he left the state like his tail feathers were on fire.”

“From the way Aiko talks about her husband, the same process that happened to Edi might have to happen to him, too,” Diana said with a sigh.

A frown creased the Prime’s forehead. “Apparently, he’s a high-profile kind of guy and, to use an antiquated term while understating, he seems to be a wee bit hardheaded. I doubt if even losing a ball would change his mind, at least that’s what I gather from the way Aiko and Kei describe him. Some people just will not change. They’re too entrenched in their way of thinking even to consider it, no matter the consequences, well ... until it’s too late, of course. Combine that with his having always had money...” Jeff left the rest unsaid.

Tired of talking about Tanaka, Diana asked, “So, are you ready to go see what Jasmine needs?”

“Sure. Want to scare the shit out of Aiko and take her with us?”

“Jeff, that’s...”

“Are we supposed to sugarcoat everything she’s exposed to? You know that won’t work around here. If she’s going to live with us, she might as well start getting used to us. She seemed to accept Ship and her healing without any major problems, but I doubt if, deep down, she believes that Ship is really a spaceship. Can’t blame her for that, I suppose. Even though she’s obviously lived a sheltered life as far as being involved with the outside world is concerned, she’s had a miserable existence physically and mentally with those beatings. Everything considered, I think she’s quite a tough little lady.”

Jeff thought for a couple of seconds. “Tell you what. Why don’t we explain what we’re going to do, tell her she needs to get used to things, and invite her to go with us, with ... more emphasis on the go rather than the invite? Have Kei describe the prison planet and cave, and stress that we were all there for Morales and Jasmine’s wedding. It couldn’t be too bad a place if we had a wedding there, right?” he finished with a grin.

“Oh, yeah, be sure to tell Kei to prepare her for the wolves, stressing that they’re friendly and super intelligent despite their ferocious appearance.”

“Baby, Jasmine and Morales aren’t expecting everybody, so what about taking only Kei, Aiko, Arlene, Kayla and of course, Selina?” he asked.

“Some of your wives aren’t going to be happy. Most of them love the planet and for some reason, the cave. I suppose it was a bit like camping out, huh? Remember, a while back we were all talking about going camping. I think that most of us like the primitive conditions that camping simulates.”

“Well, Morales didn’t get a choice. He can’t pop back to civilization and modern conveniences the way we can, and don’t forget what’s roaming around in those woods.”

“So, shall I ask Aiko if she wants to go?”

Jeff was shaking his head. “Tell Kei we’re going and to get her mother ready. Ask Ann to loan Aiko some cold weather clothes. If Aiko balks, tell her it’s necessary to begin learning about the family she’s now a part of. I think she’ll go, but if she flatly refuses, call me...”

“ ... And you’ll what? Throw her over your shoulder and say, Ugh. Woman must come,” Diana teased, laughing.

“And I’ll politely ask her to go,” he finished, lamely.

Thirty minutes later, the group, including a reluctant Aiko, walked through the fake building. When Aiko had left Ship, she hadn’t looked back as she walked down the ramp and into the fake building. Therefore, she hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, i.e., an invisible Ship. Today, she was fully in control of her faculties. As soon as she went through the building, she saw the ramp leading up and into nothing. After stopping so quickly that Kayla almost walked into her, Aiko sucked in a breath.

“Remember,” Jeff reminded, “we told you that Ship remained invisible while on Earth, and she was also invisible when we rescued you.”

“I...” she started, vaguely remembering that someone had said that. “But invisibility is impossible, isn’t it.” Before Jeff could respond, she went on, “Oh, well. So much was kept from me that I imagine this is only one of many things I have missed.”

“Actually, you’re right. Earth hasn’t progressed well with true invisibility, particularly with something the size of Ship.”

Kei took her mother’s hand, and they went on up the ramp and into Ship proper.

In Ship, Selina and Arlene started on ahead, but before they could take more than a couple of running steps, Ship put them in uniform and moved them to the bridge.

Aiko gasped when she saw them disappear, but when Jeff began to explain that Ship had moved them to the bridge, she just took it in stride, apparently thinking it was yet again more new technology that she had not heard about because of her forced sheltered life.

As the others walked onto the bridge, Selina told Arlene, “Course plotted and laid in.”

“Captain. We’re ready to warp,” Arlene advised, even though she was aware that he had heard Selina.

“Initiate,” Jeff said, knowing Arlene expected him to say it, but almost grinding his teeth in the process. And damned if I’ll say,”Make it so.“

Aiko reached to grab hold of one of the nearby clear stanchions, her face revealing that her stomach didn’t like the effect of warp, but before she could say anything, the effect hit again as they dropped out of warp just short of 2214-XR’s atmosphere.

“We call it twenty-two fourteen, or just the prison planet,” Arlene told Aiko as she motioned to the big holo stretched across the front of Ship’s bridge that was showing the blue planet below.

“That is another planet?” Aiko asked as she fought back the dizziness of warp transition. “Is that where we will be going?”

“Not going. We’re already here. What you see on the holo screen is live. We were out of Earth’s atmosphere by the time you walked onto the bridge. Ship has an inertialess drive, so any maneuvering isn’t ever felt. I suppose you were too sick to notice when you were picked up from your home, but there is no awareness of movement while we use any of her drives.”

Before they were through talking, the holo showed the entrance to the cave from treetop height. Seconds later, Lobo and Lila burst out of the cave, followed shortly by Jasmine and Morales, rifles in hand.

“Ah, I see we didn’t manage to catch the newlyweds in bed,” Jeff said, temporarily forgetting about Aiko. Then to her, “Sorry, Aiko.”

“Please, do not be. I must learn the ways of a new family.”

“Your new family,” Diana gently broke in to correct.

“My new family,” Aiko repeated with a smile.

In the Captain’s Ready Room as the women dressed for the cold of the prison planet, Kei briefly told her mother about Jasmine and Morales but forgot about describing how they all got from the ship to ground level. She had been brought into Ship with the inertialess tractor beam from the back of her house, but since she was barely conscious and in pain, she had scarcely been aware of her surroundings at the time.

As Aiko watched, Kayla boldly stepped to the hatch and disappeared, followed a second later by Arlene holding hands with Selina. Kei reached out a hand to her mother and stepped forward. Aiko barely had time to realize how high she was off the ground before she was suddenly standing in the snow near the cave entrance.

“How did we...” she began, but Kei just shrugged.

“Get my husband to tell you about it. He has far more knowledge about the tractor beam than I do.”

Before Aiko could say anything else, Jasmine, with her rifle now slung over her shoulder, said, “It’s really good to see all of you,” before adding, “and I think that congratulations are in order, Kei.”

“Thank you,” Kei managed, holding out her left hand slightly so Jasmine could see the gold band that was identical to what all of the Matthews women wore.

“And who might this be?” Morales asked as he stopped in front of Aiko.

After introductions, Jasmine spoke to everyone, “Let’s go inside and get out of the cold. I just put a fresh pot of coffee on, and thanks to Diana and the group, we also have several types of soft drinks that were left after the wedding that I can offer as well.”

They soon found folding chairs or logs to sit on. Aiko, obviously enthused about the cave, chose to sit on a log by her daughter. After everyone had something to drink and the group had chatted for a while, Jasmine picked up a lantern, motioned for Diana to get another one, and quietly said, “Follow me, please.”

When they reached the place where the wedding had been held, Jasmine sat her lantern down and turned on several of the other lanterns along the wall. “Is that enough light?”

“Sure,” Diana returned as she found a place to sit.

Jasmine sat beside the Clan Queen and stumbled out a couple of words before her eyes filled with tears and she choked back a sob. “I have a big problem,” she got out in a quavering voice as Diana reached a hand to grasp Jasmine’s. “Di, my husband won’t acknowledge it because he’s just too nice to admit it, but I’ve decided that it must be faced before it becomes a much bigger problem somewhere down the line.”

Jasmine’s tears increased, and she broke into sobs.

Diana reached to hold the woman in her arms, shushing her until the sobs finally faded away. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for acting like a baby,” Jasmine snuffled out. “I’ve tried to maintain the appearance of a good mood, but the truth is that I’m very worried about my marriage, and you’re the only person I could think of to talk to.”

“Whatever it is, we’ll do what we can to fix it if it’s possible to fix. Are you tired of living here? Is Morales treating you okay?”

“No. No. Nothing like that. I love it here and I love him. If anything, he tries his best to put me on a pedestal. It’s not him; it’s me,” she said, sniffing. “I just can’t seem to keep up with him sexually, and I know it’s going to become worse after we’ve been together for a while.”

“Can’t keep up?” Diana questioned with a frown. “Do you mean you’re getting sore, or what?”

“Exactly. I get sore long before he’s finished...”

“Whoa girl,” Diana responded, trying to quieten her. “Didn’t you tell me that you weren’t very experienced sexually? And you’ve only been married a short time. Sometimes it takes a while. Maybe he needs to cool it a bit if you can’t keep up with him. I really thought he would be more considerate of you than that.”