Chapter 551

The Retreat

Lieutenants Caldwell and Cox met Jeff in the living room before breakfast. “We have thoroughly enjoyed our short stay with you...” Caldwell began.

“Good,” Jeff returned with a chuckle. “The General and I wish to reward you for a job well done, and since you seem to be enjoying yourselves, we thought you might be receptive to another day to relax. I have spoken to the Sergeant. Should you need gear to tide you over, he’ll provide it.”

Jeff went on. “As you might have already heard, we had a problem in Winter Park yesterday. An attempt was made to kidnap Aiko. Diana and Security nullified the threat. You shouldn’t be bothered, but it pays to be careful, so go armed. Just give Security a call and they will supply you with arms and an escort, also. Please ask the Sergeant for the loan of the new-style body armor. I seriously doubt that anything will happen just yet, but I want to err on the side of caution. I will tell the Sergeant that you might want to go into town so he will be ready when you call. Denver is roughly an hour’s drive past Winter Park, so you might find something there that touches your curiosity. Whatever. Enjoy yourselves.”

“Sir, was anyone hurt?” Lieutenant Cox asked, worry showing on her face.

“One of the perpetrators was killed, but the others were taken into custody without major incident. Our people didn’t receive a scratch. Thank you for asking.”

“Is there anything we can do, Sir?” Caldwell wondered.

“No. We have it under control. The surviving perpetrators are being interrogated and will be tried after that, but again, thank you for offering.

“Oh, yes, I almost forgot. While you’re out, Martha’s restaurant is just a few miles down the road. Tell your server that you are staying at the Retreat for a few days and I’m sure she will give you exceptional service. Also, please ask her to tell Martha that Jeff and Diana said hi. Oh, yes, Diana has already prepaid your meals, so order anything you wish.”

“You would allow us to drive your vehicle? And Sir, we cannot have you paying for our food...”

“Done deal,” he said while grinning at them. “And, as far as our letting you drive our vehicles, I know more about you two than you think I do. Besides, all of our vehicles are insured,” he finished with a grin. “Of course, you don’t have to go anywhere unless you want to. To reiterate, you are more than welcome to use anything we have here. There is plenty of every type of handgun ammo in the bunker across from the indoor firing range, and numerous handguns in the lockers just as you enter the range. As I’m sure you would, please clean any weapon you use. Also, while you’re in the basement, you might want to try out our gym. Anything you see, you can use. Have fun.”

The two looked at each other before Cox asked, “Sir, could we also use your outdoor firing range?”

“Sure. If you want to use rifles, there is an assortment in the outdoor bunker. The keys are marked and are hanging on the rack by the kitchen door. And don’t be thrifty with the ammo. I have more than we will ever fire in our lifetimes, and a couple of nurses who live here love to reload. Just put your empty brass in the buckets that are marked for the caliber you fire. The nurses carry precision almost to the extreme, and consequently, their ammo arguably fires more accurately than factory ammo. You can be assured that if you have a flier, it isn’t the ammo. Have fun.”

Flyer: A round that goes somewhat wild, unpredictably out of the main grouping on the target.

“Come and get it before we throw it out,” Susan called out over the PA.

“That’s our cue,” Jeff said with a chuckle as he came to his feet.

“Thank you, Sir,” both Cox and Caldwell said as one.

Jeff escorted them into the dining room where, as usual, Nat, Nicki and Whitney took charge of them.

Later, Jeff sat at the head of one of the tables with his wives other than Nat, Nicki and Whitney who were sitting at a nearby table while they entertained Cox and Caldwell with stories of happenings at the Retreat. Jeff hoped the girls weren’t stretching the stories too much.

Diana, choosing to sit near Jeff today instead of at the other end of the table, nodded to the three young wives at the next table. “They have grown up a lot in the past few months. Despite all they have been through, they seem to have quickly adjusted to our lifestyle and their husband,” she said as she reached under the table and squeezed his groin gently.

“They survived hell with that bastard doctor who kidnapped them,” Jeff replied, his voice strained.

“Unfortunately, there are a lot of evil people in this world,” the Clan Queen responded with a sigh.

“And, Baby, there is one less today because of what you did yesterday. Never doubt that. And by the way, as I’ve already told you several times, I’m damn proud of you, and from what the Sergeant told me, you are getting top billing from our escorts yesterday.”

Diana’s face colored. “I just did...”

“ ... What had to be done,” he finished for her as he reached to squeeze her hand. “Now, let’s talk about something else. In other words, please bring me up to date. I know that the dress shop people are going to be here this morning to fit Ashley’s and Christine’s wedding dresses that they picked out from the website, right?”

“At eight,” the Clan Queen replied. “Dresses, undergarments, shoes and everything else they will need. Everything they picked out on the website.”

“You’re certainly leaping forward with a wedding, despite the fact that the groom isn’t even aware that he’s getting married. Don’t you think...”

“This is the only way,” she interrupted to say. “If Jasmine and Morales were here, we could do this gradually, but Jasmine is certain he has feelings for the girls, and well, twenty-two fourteen is another planet. We’ll keep the dresses and everything needed for the wedding hidden until we need them, but I hate to keep asking the General...”

“I guess you could say that I’m now in charge of twenty-two fourteen ... well, at least as far as Jasmine and Morales are concerned.”

“What?” the Clan Queen said as she stopped with a forkful of scrambled eggs almost to her mouth.

“The General said the transportation to twenty-two fourteen was now my responsibility, and,” he continued while gesturing with air quotes, “he ‘washed’ his hands of any further involvement of the situation – unless he is needed. But ... before you say anything, I do not have the authority to commute Morales’ sentence, so don’t bother going there.”

Diana put her fork down with the eggs still on it. “You mean that we don’t have to ask the General’s permission to take things to Morales or do things for the two of them?”

“Seems that way.”

Diana slid her chair back and was gone in a flash. Whitworth was in the middle of asking Dave about something when Diana leaned in front of him, grabbed the General’s face and kissed him full in the mouth – hard. After pulling back a few inches, “Thank you. Thank you. You’re the best,” she said before hugging his neck hard enough to turn his face red.

“Well, I, uh,” he stammered – not having a clue.

Diana was gone while Whitworth was still trying to figure out what happened, his wives giggling at his frustration.

“Now we can get something done,” the Clan Queen said under her breath as she calmly returned to eating her breakfast.

When Whitworth got up the courage to look over at Jeff, the Prime just shrugged and grinned back at his commander.

“I understand that you can’t commute his sentence, but can we bring Morales and Jasmine to...” Diana began.

“No,” Jeff interrupted, louder than he meant to. “Don’t even think about it. We can go there. We can take with us whatever I deem necessary. We can do whatever we want to for them, but we are not going to ask the General for anything more. Morales is a prisoner and likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Remember, I’ve told you that pushing the General would only get his back up, and in addition to that, I don’t want him pissed at me. We do not rock the boat. Just be thankful that he has allowed the guy all that he has, plus giving us some freedom to help both of them.”

“I know,” Diana returned, chastened. “Henry has been really nice about our visits...”

“And all of the other things he has allowed Morales. Since he has allowed him to have some additional things, he’s now given the other prisoners additional conveniences also – but no rifles, though. So just go easy. Let’s not get him upset about anything to do with twenty-two fourteen. He has enough on his plate just now.”

“He has problems?” Diana asked, worry in her voice.

“He said something about problems on a couple of planets. I offered to help, but he turned me down.”

Diana stared at her husband. “Jeff, I don’t want you going off on another mission. You promised me.”

“Well, not exactly. I said that I was mostly out of it because I’m the only one that Ship will obey. Oh, she allows Arlene and even you to tell her to do things, but she does that because I’ve told her to. As you well know, my activities are limited by the General for fear that I’ll buy the farm and Ship won’t have a Prime. We certainly don’t want her to leave Earth without us, and maybe go hunting on her own for the race that created her brain.”

“I don’t like that ‘buy the farm’ expression,” the Clan Queen said. “And ... it scares me when you use it in connection with yourself. My husband is not going to die and leave me a widow, so the General and I are in full agreement that you shouldn’t go on any missions – ever again. But sometimes, I still worry...”

“Unless I fall down the stairs and break my friggin’ neck, I’ll be around for a long, long time.” A startled look crossed the Prime’s face. “Uh, Little One just informed me that a broken neck would not kill me while she is on my back and therefore has instant access to my body.”

“Good,” Diana said with a grin, “But my daughter and Ann are going to be in extreme danger in their interceptor once those aliens get here. They can die – and I’m not talking about the aliens.”

“Yeah,” he grumped, “while I sit on my ass inside Ship – and if she is to be believed – invulnerable to most any type of weapon fire because of her dimensional shields.”

“Then there isn’t any reason why I shouldn’t go with you, is there?”

“Di, dammit. It will still be a battle, and you know the adage about battle plans.”

“Yeah, but I want to be a gunner. Ship said she had designed herself for a crew, so she must have the need for gunners. I was darned good at it during my mission with Selina.”

“Di, that was simulated...”

“Oh, certainly it was. And who repeatedly told all of us that there was no way to distinguish her simulated missions from real ones, hmmm? I’m going to have a meeting with Ship as soon as I can. It’s time for me to start learning about her systems. I should have been practicing long before now.”

“Di, I...”

“Glad you agree with me,” she said as she reached to kiss him on the cheek.

The dress shop owner arrived with three assistants and a van full of boxes and packages. Jeff wasn’t allowed to carry in even one of the boxes. “Go do something in your lab or see what Dave and Evie are up to,” Diana told her frustrated husband as his wives and the dress shop owner’s women promptly emptied the van as Susan escorted them to Diana’s sewing room which had once been one of the several conference rooms.

“Yes, Dear,” he grumbled. The Clan Queen whirled around and kissed him hard – almost literally. “See you later, Big Boy,” she breathed into his ear. “We’ll have to take up where we left off this morning.” The kiss and comment forced him to turn and walk in the opposite direction so the dress shop people wouldn’t see the bulge in his pants.

Denver – Tanaka’s Compound

Having received word from the mercenary that the Matthews were on the move, Tanaka, made certain he had an alibi the morning of the kidnapping. He was at his club earlier than usual, and made sure to be even more obnoxious in order that the wait staff would remember him as he ate a late breakfast. Following that, he had a steam bath before a massage from the masseuse, all with the assistance of the staff. He even tipped exorbitantly after one of the more beautiful girls gave him an exceptionally good blowjob.