Chapter 550

Jeff and Diana had just snuggled into one of the comfortable seats in the living room of the Retreat when he felt the mental nudge from Ship. When he acknowledged, she spoke in his mind. The scout crew that was recently relieved from their watch has returned with news that the aliens have slightly increased their speed yet again. If there are no further changes, the ship should reach Earth in approximately three months.

Did the scout crew, by any chance, have any additional information concerning the aliens’ intent? Jeff asked while knowing the answer.

There have been no noticeable changes other than the slight increase in speed.

“Damn. Damn. Damn,” Jeff muttered under his breath, but Diana had been enhanced just like all of the rest.

“What, Baby?” she asked, having overheard his quiet cursing.

“The aliens have increased their speed a bit.”

Realizing that her husband had probably been talking to Ship mentally, and seeing the stress on his face, she said, using more desperation than logic, “Baby, maybe they’ll be friendly after all. Earth doesn’t have space travel, but we aren’t exactly backward. Surely, even these aliens wouldn’t want an interstellar war.” After thinking for a second, she sighed before going on. “I suppose I misspoke. Since Earth doesn’t have the capability to carry any such war to the alien’s home world, there could be no interstellar war, could there?”

“Not as far as Earth is concerned,” he agreed, “but, of course, once we add Ship to the equation, things change. But, as I said, I want to keep her as a surprise, should the aliens actually attack Earth.”

“It would be simple if you could take Ship out and challenge them.”

“Sure. Just as we’ve discussed before. Don’t think I haven’t considered that, but all they have to do is claim they’re peaceful. Same old thing. What if we allow them inside our solar system to trade and get to know each other, then they attack? I’m almost positive that Ship can take the alien’s ship, were it not for those damn Paladins. But, until I know the alien ship doesn’t contain females and children, I can’t fire on it unless they fire on us first.”

After a moment, he stood, frustration evident. “Ah, hell, we’re beating a dead horse. All of us have gone over this time after time. I’ve met with the General and the best of his people to get their input on the situation. We’ve hashed this out for weeks now, and dammit, there just isn’t any viable way other than what we’ve discussed. If I knew for a fact that it was a warship, I would challenge it – but I don’t. Hell, I intend to have my family with me when we leave Earth, along with troops and our interceptors. That alien ship is big and could easily be carrying families as well as those Paladins.”

Frustrated, he snapped, “Shit, let’s change the subject.”

“When are you planning to move the girls and their belongings to twenty-two fourteen?”

Diana smiled, but knew her husband was very troubled, indeed. “I haven’t checked in on them since we returned from our shopping trip, but Arlene says they have everything boxed and ready to go. They’re in the process of picking out their wedding dresses and will have them fitted in the morning. Oh, and I made certain that Ashley and Christine bought personal gifts for both Jasmine and Morales.”

“So, we’re just going to drop in on those two with all the ... stuff the call girls are taking with them? Morales will instantly realize that they have come to stay.”

“Good point. I’ve already suggested to Ashley and Christine that we should start out with just the personal gifts. And my dear Husband, you need to drop what you just called those two before you slip and say it in front of them. They aren’t call girls any longer and if they’re telling the truth, there have been no men in their lives for months now.”

“Good point. I’ll watch my mouth. Oh, yeah. Caldwell told me that there was very little food in the house that the girls were renting, and what little there was consisted of things like Ramen noodles, peanut butter and beans. We’ve all noticed how thin they are. All that suggests that they really have stopped selling themselves.”

When Jeff got up to stand staring out the wall window, Diana knew that his mind was back on the aliens.

“Maybe your wives should do some more training at Ship’s academy,” she began, but was instantly interrupted.

“Not just no, but hell no,” he said as he turned to stare at her. “Both Arlene and Ann are going to be fighting. If they weren’t so damn good, I wouldn’t let them near an interceptor, but their abilities are far superior to any of the other men and women in the fighter wing. But I’ll be damned if I’ll allow any more of my wives to risk their lives. Di, you’re a good pilot and so are some of my other wives, but you are not anywhere near the level of any of the fighter pilots, let alone those two. And... Arlene and Ann are far better than the best of the other pilots.”

He hesitated a second but went on as if something had just dawned on him. “There was a time when Arlene’s and Ann’s abilities seemed to level off at just below my best. In other words, I could beat them, but I had to put forth a serious effort to do so. Lately though, something has happened. Both Arlene and Ann have suddenly seemed to jump to a higher level of competence – a much higher level. Di, in that interceptor, they can now wipe my ass as if I’m a rookie – and I can take any of the other interceptor teams with ease. The other pilots are now taking Arlene’s suggestions and strategies as if they are commands handed down from above. I want to put one of the senior pilots in command of the wing, but it’s obvious who the real boss of the unit is. Dammit, Arlene is too fucking young to command a fighter wing, but hell, they all look to her as if she’s the boss, anyway. Basically, she’s already in control of the wing because they follow her friggin’ suggestions as if the General had spoken them himself.

“As I said, Arlene is much too young to command a group of wide-open jocks like those guys and gals, but her expertise as an interceptor pilot has so impressed the other pilots that they expect her to command. And Ann is the best damn gunner that ever sat a cockpit, and she’s almost as good a pilot as Arlene is. I’m afraid our daughter is going to wind up commanding the wing by fucking default because no one wants to give her orders when she spanks their butts with such fucking ease on every training mission. Hell, she is now designing most of the training missions and Ship is letting her – even fucking encouraging her.”

“But, Baby. She’s never been in combat...” Diana began before her voice trailed off when she remembered the attack on the Retreat.

“Jeff, I don’t want her to go. You know she set out to give her life to stop that mercenary from firing on us in the hallway. I’m afraid she’ll have the same attitude when she and Ann fight those aliens. If we have to fight them, I want her – both of them – to be in the safest place they can possibly be.”

Jeff took his wife into his arms, hugged her, then held her at arm’s length for a moment. “That place doesn’t exist, Hon. Besides, there’s no real way to anticipate what the aliens will do. If that ship drops all its Paladins in a group to attack Earth, and our interceptors find and engage them, it will be a furball that only Ship will be able to keep up with. But, as I’ve said before, I fully expect the Paladins to sneak in, particularly if the aliens get a hint of our weapon platforms. No matter how the battle starts, there will be engagements between the aliens’ Paladins and our interceptors, and that’s what our interceptor crews have trained for.

“The crews will have to make split-second decisions, and... Arlene and Ann have excelled in that environment. They both seem to be able to anticipate what is going to happen a half second before anyone else can. Hopefully, that gift will work when they engage the Paladins. We have good shields and good weaponry, plus the minimal stealth the interceptors have might just give us another advantage, but the major thing on our side is the inertialess drive. We can stop or change direction instantly. The Paladins seem to have some type of mechanism, possibly inertial dampers, which allow tight turns while pulling more g’s than our people could normally withstand. But we don’t have to worry about any of that because of the inertialess drive. Of course, the aliens might not have any equipment to lessen the force they feel during sharp turns. They could just be able to withstand the effects of inertia much better than we can.

“Babe, it all boils down to the fact that we won’t know until our Interceptors and their crews engage the Paladins and the alien crews – preferably before they enter Earth’s atmosphere. In the meantime, we train.”

“Jeff, you promised me that you wouldn’t be in one of those interceptors?”

“Oh, I won’t be. I would love to be, but the General hasn’t changed his mind. His order stands that I will be the overall commander, and to quote him, ‘will stay my ass aboard Ship.’ She will take on the aliens’ mother ship.”

“And I will be there with you,” Diana said, her voice firm.

“Like bloody hell, you will,” he snarled out. “You, My Love, are going to be in charge of our fortress. Once the battle starts and the skies light up with interceptor and Paladin fire, there will be mass panic among the population. Some of the people around here will remember that we’re building a fortress and will descend on this place like locusts. Security will take care of the fortress, but you, My Dear, will be in charge of the people.”

“So,” she half snarled, “I get to babysit while my husband goes to war. It ain’t gonna happen, Husband.”

“Di, now...”

“Do you want to fight while guests are here? You’re my husband and I give in when you’re trying to protect me, but not this time,” she said, spacing out the words. “I am not giving in on this, so expect a real fight.”

“Di...”

Diana stood straight as she stared eye-to-eye with her Prime, even if she did have to look up to do it. “Let that soak into your brain. I will be at my husband’s side. I will not babysit a group of whining people while my husband and sister-wives are out there fighting a ship full of aliens. I suggest that you stop fighting me on this and start training me so that I can be of some help, at least. Besides, if I’m not safe on Ship, Earth is going to be in some deep shit, anyway.”

Jeff was trying to hold his temper, but he knew there was little use in continuing the argument just now. Shit, if I keep on, pussy will be in short supply.

As if reading his mind, she grinned and poked him in the ribs. “I’ve already won this fight. You just don’t realize it yet, so you don’t have to worry about this continuing and maybe causing a reduction in the amount of pussy you get. Besides, I’ve already promised not to do that. I love my husband too much to undermine our marriage with stupid things like that. As long as we’re together, I’ll always be ready to make love with you, and I know that my sister-wives feel the same way. We didn’t make love when we spent the night with Jasmine and Morales, but she and I will have a talk before we spend the night again. They’ll just have to get used to my screams when I orgasm.”

Jeff grinned down at her, but she put a fingertip to his lips as he leaned close. “I have to help get supper on the table. However, we should be able to sneak in a bit of loving right after cleanup, but don’t think that gorgeous cock of yours is going to make me change my mind about being on Ship when she fights the alien vessel.”

“Yes, Dear,” he said just to piss her off. She shot him the bird as she laughed and walked away, her hips swaying.

Deep Space – The Alien Ship

The massive warp coils produced a sound so deep that it was felt as much as it was heard. The Chief Engineer stood listening with an unconscious grin on his face. Beside him stood the First Officer as they each sipped their stim while leaning against the rail on the observation deck.

“I thought we were supposed to never be in a situation where our beloved Captain, or one of his flunkies, could so easily take a shot at us,” the Chief commented as they looked out into the nothingness that was warp space.

“Shit, I know, but I suppose that I am just tired of the whole thing. If one of the idiots is stupid enough to try to take a shot at us, I am just stupid enough to enjoy killing his ass. So, how are the coils holding up?”