Chapter 584

The Prison Planet

... Jeff sighed, knowing that the General was right, but he, as did the General, would rather be out there doing something.

Jeff looked up while mentally telling Ship to bring him back aboard where he asked his Clan Queen, “Any change?”

“No,” she returned quietly. “The mist is still obscuring him, but Ship has told us that his recovery is progressing normally – whatever that means. The wolves are restless, though.”

The Prime chuckled. “With all the excitement, they probably need to pee.”

“They’ve only been in here thirty minutes or so.”

“And what about the ladies?”

“They’ve all gone to the bathroom, of course,” Diana responded with a smile.

“Lobo, Lila. I can show you a place where you can go,” he said as he tried to project what “go” meant. Both wolves were instantly attentive.

“Instead of going back to the snow, let’s try somewhere else. Okay, guys?” he said as he gave a command to Ship and turned to walk down a corridor, the wolves on his heels. “It’s through here,” he told them a little later. “But, before we go through the hatch, you need to realize that you’re going to feel a little odd.” After dropping to his knees, he put a hand on each wolf’s head, all the while trying to project where they were about to be.

Finally, Lila whined and licked his face. He didn’t know whether she understood or was trying to tell him to go ahead, anyway. Regardless, he ushered them through a hatch/doorway which closed behind them. There was a shimmer, and his ears popped from the slight change in air pressure. Both wolves slung their heads from side to side as they cleared their ears while Jeff yawned and swallowed to clear his. They were now standing at the edge of great rolling plains spotted with bushes and an occasional tree. The area seemed to go on practically forever. Behind them was a forest with trees even bigger, if possible, than the ones around Morales and Jasmine’s cave. The sky, a faint blue/green was clear other than a few puffy white clouds high up. Something that flew low overhead had what appeared to be at least a six foot wingspan and a long tail. It turned its equally long neck to scream down at them as it went on its way.

“Welcome to one of Ship’s pocket worlds.” Jeff motioned with his hands, “There are bushes everywhere, guys. Pick one and do your thing.”

The wolves glanced at him, then ran side by side for about ten yards before each picked a bush. Lobo watered the leaves of his bush, while Lila watered her bush’s roots.

Bathroom break over, it was obvious that both wolves wanted to explore, but after a quick look around, they returned to Jeff, who had finished watering his own bush. Both sat side by side to stare at him, totally quiet other than one very timid-sounding whine from Lila.

“This is another whole world quite similar to the one you two live on.” Again, Jeff bent down slightly as he put a hand on each of the great beasts’ heads. “I’ll have Ship try to explain it to you, but if you’re on Ship, you can come here any time you wish, with permission from Morales or Jasmine, of course. Jasmine is distraught just now, so I didn’t bother her this time, but Morales will be in good shape before the day is out.”

Jeff motioned around him. “There aren’t any large animals in this area, but there are farther away. Most are not as ferocious as they are on your planet, though. Oh, crap. I know that you two aren’t understanding one word in twenty, but as I said, I’ll have Ship talk to you.”

Lila licked him again, and they turned to the shimmering that was the way back into Ship proper. As soon as they returned, the wolves hurried over to look down into the mist covering Morales.

How is he – really? Jeff asked Ship in his mind.

I have touched his consciousness enough to communicate to him that his healing is progressing according to plan. And before you ask – it will require several hours at least. The arrowhead appears to have been designed to create maximum damage while also facilitating maximum blood loss. I managed to extract the projectile without further damage and have completed some of the major repairs of the wound. The patient’s heart was traumatized, but it received no significant physical damage.

I know that his women wish to hear his voice, but his body’s energy is being used to increase the rate of his healing, and I do not want to disturb the ongoing process. In addition to stimulating his body’s energy reserves, I have flooded the wound channel with what you would refer to as nanobots that assist his body in rebuilding torn or destroyed tissue. I, of course, have augmented his body’s energy supply, and he should be minimally ambulatory in slightly more than two Earth hours, and fully recovered after a night’s rest – devoid of sex. I could have informed his wives, but I decided that they would be better served if you delivered the ... report.

While she had been talking to him, she had also been showing some of the processes, at a significantly increased speed, of course.

“They’ll be so pleased that he’s alive, they probably won’t bitch about the no sex part,” Jeff returned with a mental chuckle. You know how much I appreciate...

I know, she said, simply, but you are also aware that I am pleased to serve my Prime.

Again, behind her message, Jeff was barely able to detect – and only for the barest instant – something. He almost asked her about it, but somehow embarrassed, he changed his mind. It can’t be – can it?

Shrugging mentally, he sat down with Morales’ women to bring them up to date on their husband’s treatment and Ship’s prognosis. To say that they hung on his every word was an understatement. Their appreciation was almost embarrassing, and he had to repeatedly tell them that it was Ship who was doing everything – that he was just delivering the message.

“But she obeys you,” Ashley insisted.

“She ... does, but she is a person in her own right.” Startling himself, the words continued to come out of his mouth that he knew were true. “She has feelings, just as we have. She feels sorrow and, I suppose, many of the emotions that we feel. She is very concerned about Morales and wants to heal him as quickly as possible, even more so after she has seen your sorrow and anxiety as you wait for word on his condition.”

As he came to his feet, he commented, “Ship is sad that the three of you are having to go through the trauma that you are experiencing. I know for a fact that she could induce sleep that would last until Morales was completely healed, but she would not insult you by even offering it to you.”

The Prime smiled and winked as he turned away. Several times over the next hour, he went down to check with the General. “Sir, Jasmine is already regretting the way she spoke to you. She very humbly asked if you would come back so she could apologize.”

“Nonsense,” Whitworth responded with a frown. “She had every right to be pissed. I didn’t have enough fail-safes built in to prevent this. You, Colonel, have taken the blame – more than once – for something someone in your command did. I can’t expect the people under me to do that unless I do it as well. After all, it was I who made the decisions about the locators.

“Oh, the team is searching his place as we speak. The bastard had a trap, a deadfall and a bow that was set up on a tripwire, all in case he had visitors. All of which would have been fine as far as I’m concerned. He was guarding his home, and there are no laws here to say that deadfalls and such are wrong, but attacking Morales just shows why I should have gone the next step with this ass from the very beginning.

“I told the Sergeant to video everything in detail, then burn the place. My gut feeling from the outset was to send the bastard to the sun, but I gave him another chance, anyway. That’s one reason I changed my decision making on major crimes to a tribunal form. It takes three out of three for the death sentence, but if we don’t wind up executing the person being tried and something like this happens, it wouldn’t be all my fault. But this one is all on me.”

Within moments, they heard the helicopter coming back to the clearing. A few minutes later, a Corporal came slogging up on snowshoes. “The Sergeant sent you this, Sir,” he said while handing the General a chip. Before the General could open his mouth, someone handed him a small computer, took the chip and locked it in.

After a couple of minutes viewing, “He was doing pretty damn well for himself,” Jeff commented.

“Well, as I said, once we gave Morales that extra case, I did the same thing for all the prisoners. With just a little ambition, any of them could make it, barring accidents and successful animal attacks. This one chose to build himself a fortress in a tree that almost seemed designed for the purpose.”

“Looks like that tree must have had wind damage or something early on in its life. The thing looks as if it is twenty feet thick at the bottom but has three major forks about thirty feet up. It’s a shame that he put all that work into building that house high off the ground, then went to steal a woman from Morales instead of sitting back and enjoying his own work. How long has he been here, Sir?”

“A little over four years, according to the records. I vaguely remember him and his attitude. If memory serves, though, I came very close to dialing him into the sun but decided to give him another chance. Well, he met the wrong woman, and she planted his ass.” After a slight hesitation, he went on, “I’ve got to do something for her to make up a bit for what’s happened.”

“Jasmine says the wolves actually finished him, but from the holes in his chest, she had already exploded his heart.”

“Yeah, the medic said that one of her rounds went through his heart and the other hit only inches away,” the General absently said as the two men stood watching the end of the prisoner’s fortress on the vid.

“What are you going to do with the body?” Jeff asked.

Whitworth shut the computer down and handed it back. “Dial his dead ass into the sun, the way I should have four years ago.”

“Good riddance,” Jeff agreed. “Come on and let’s go check on Morales.”

“Not until my people are back and I can tell Jasmine that her tormentor – both pieces of him – are toast,” Whitworth grimly said.

“Oh, by the way, Sir, Diana and Ship have invited you to eat with us at your convenience – as in the next couple of hours,” Jeff finished with a grin.

Whitworth grimaced. “I might not be welcome just yet – at least by Jasmine and probably not by Christine nor Ashley, either.”

Jeff just shrugged. “Chances are, when Morales is out of the healing chamber, Jasmine and her sister-wives will be so exuberant that she will have forgotten to be mad at you. Women tend to go on the defensive when their man is seriously wounded. I imagine that yours would be no different. But, she’s had time to think by now.”

The General let out a long sigh. “Well, I suppose I’ll have to meet with her sooner or later. Might as well get it over with.”

“General, I need to get word to my other wives...”

“I’ve already sent an abbreviated version of the incident through the portal. By now, Sergeant Higgins will have contacted them. They know that Morales is being healed by Ship and that you and the ones who came with you are okay and will be home later today.”