Chapter 613

...”See that tree that has the broken limb hanging down?”

“Yes,” Aiko gasped out.

“We’ll jog to it, then we will walk for a hundred steps.”

“I don’t know...”

“Yes, you do. You know you can. I’ll bet it’s even less than a hundred steps. Let’s count them,” she finished as she began counting their steps aloud while they slow-jogged. Soon Aiko added her voice.

“Ninety-two. Told you it was less than a hundred. Now we’ll walk for a hundred steps, and rested or not, we will jog starting at one hundred and one.”

Each time Aiko had to quit jogging, the girls would not let her stop moving but insisted that she count her steps as she walked – the walk was not a particularly slow walk, either. At one hundred and one, they would jog again, no matter how tired Aiko was. Sometimes, she could make only a hundred jogging steps before she had to walk again, but after walking another hundred, she would stagger on in a slow jog.

Finally, back at the SUV, Aiko was totally exhausted. “I’m sorry. I held you back. You should have gone on without me.”

“Our job isn’t to go on,” Ann told her as they helped the exhausted woman into the SUV, “it’s to make sure you pass that obstacle course this fall.”

At the Retreat, they took Aiko into the Matthews’ suite where they stripped her and went into the oversized shower with her. Arlene gradually increased the water temperature until it was as hot as Aiko could stand it. As the water poured down on them, both girls knelt to massage Aiko’s calves that were rock-hard and hurting. With her muscles relaxed somewhat, they dried her off before putting her on the massage table where they worked liniment into her tired muscles. When they were done, they woke the pretty woman to hand her fresh clothing.

“Dress and let’s go work out a bit,” Ann said.

“We’ll concentrate on your upper body this time,” Arlene assured her.

Aiko’s face set as she struggled to her feet. “I will do it,” she whispered.

At the supper table, Aiko could barely stay awake long enough to taste the first bite, but when the food touched her taste buds, her appetite woke up. Two plates of food later, she was again so sleepy that she could barely function.

“Put her to bed,” Diana told Arlene and Ann. “And I mean that literally,” she said with a quiet chuckle that Aiko didn’t hear.

In Aiko’s suite, Arlene and Ann again rubbed liniment into Aiko’s leg muscles. “We’ll see you at five-thirty.”

Aiko awakened enough to groan before she rolled to her side and was almost instantly snoring softly.

As the girls stepped out of the suite into the hallway, Diana met them. “Think she’ll make it?” she asked.

The two looked at each other before Ann answered for both. “She never once said, ‘I can’t.’ There were plenty of times when she couldn’t, but she never voiced it. She tried, even when it was evident her body was done. If she keeps that attitude, she’ll make it, but ... she has a long way to go.”

Arlene sighed. “I hate to think about waking her in the morning. She’s going to be hurting all over, and that will be before she stands and the real pain hits.

Diana stared at the girls. “Don’t let her quit. Our Husband has, more or less, said that he wouldn’t marry any more women unless both Aiko and Tosha can qualify on the range and pass the obstacle course. With Tosha, it’s a slam dunk, but if Aiko doesn’t make it...”

“But Mom, there are seventeen of us already.”

“So what? He’s an Alpha Prime and the master of what is probably the most advanced starship ever built. As I’ve repeatedly said, I suspect that the more wives he has, the more respect he’ll command during our trip. I’ve talked to some of the scientists, and multiple wives in alien cultures are more common than I expected.”

Seeing the expression on her mother’s face, it dawned on Arlene. “Mom, you’re not thinking of...”

Diana grinned at her daughter. “The Miadax women are quite striking in appearance,” she defended. There is one in particular that I would like to see in a little black dress with her hair done up, subtle makeup and wearing five-inch heels. She has very nice breasts, even if they are positioned vertically, and she has big nipples. I’d bet that our Husband would have an erection in a heartbeat if he were alone with her for a few minutes. Well ... after that drug is out of her system, and she’s aware of what’s going on. She already seems to be coming out of the drug-induced stupor faster than the other women are.

“Moommm,” Arlene drew out the word and squealed. “Surely Daddy would never...”

Diana grinned at her daughter-sister-wife, “Never say never, Dear. And, as I said, this one is waking up faster than the others – well, not counting the two that the First Officer has been working with. He obviously thinks his two women are beautiful, but I think this one is even prettier. Admittedly, the brow ridge is ... different, but now that I’ve grown accustomed to it, well, I’m beginning to see her beauty from a different standpoint, I suppose you could say.”

Arlene and Ann looked at each other before Arlene hesitantly asked, “Uh, Mom, are Miadax women even sexually compatible with our race? I mean...”

Diana grinned at her daughter. “Not too subtle, Daughter, but ... I asked Ship the same thing.”

“And...” Ann broke in to ask.

“Well, you remember that Ship partially enhanced them so that human pathogens wouldn’t harm them. There is nothing about their bodies that she doesn’t understand. And ... Ship feels that, not only are we sexually compatible, but there is an excellent chance that we can interbreed. Ship also told me that the females had been given a substance that had basically sterilized them; however, she feels confident that the process can be reversed.”

Arlene and Ann passed a glance, both at a loss for words. Finally, Arlene spoke.

“Gosh, Mom, there’s something else, uh, Miadax women don’t have any education at all, do they?”

Diana let out a sigh. “Only a very fundamental one, and that’s an excellent point. One that I worried about as well, so I had a chat with Ship. She had anticipated the problem and told me she has adapted her space academy program to educate the Miadax women. She has the outline ready, but she would like some guidance to round out the core curriculum.”

“Helen,” Arlene and Ann both said simultaneously.

“Yeah, I agree,” Diana responded.

“Do you think Ship’s program will work with the Miadax?” Arlene wondered aloud.

Ship feels confident it will, but she says the program will still require several weeks of our time to bring the women up to a fundamental level of general education. After they have completed the learning course, they will be able to read and write, and will have a beginning background in our history, grammar, math, science, economics and, to a lesser degree, the governing structure of the U.S. She says that she will devise more in-depth courses, but those will take longer for her to prepare. The results for the more in-depth subjects will take correspondingly longer as well.

“Oh, yes, I almost forgot. Your dad will go with you in the morning when you get Aiko. After you told me about her run, I asked him to have Little One relieve her soreness in the mornings until she builds some strength; otherwise, I doubt that she’ll make it.”

“Ann and I have talked about that, and we were going to ask Daddy to have Little One help her. She worked hard today, and she never griped once.”

“Good. If she keeps that attitude, she’ll be a wife one of these days.”

At 5:30, Jeff, Arlene and Ann walked into Aiko’s suite. “You guys get her some coffee going, please; she’s going to need it. I’ll go wake her and have Little One begin relieving some of those sore muscles. I would never have thought she would push as hard as the two of you say she did.”

Aiko was still deeply asleep when Jeff walked into her bedroom and stood for a moment to admire her beauty. She’ll make an impressive addition to our family, but it’s essential that she learns to take care of herself. After a moment, he noticed that her long, beautiful hair was hardly mussed. She must have barely moved during the night. Oh, well, here goes, he thought as he put Little One on the bed beside the tiny woman. The blue beams bathed her face as Aiko’s sleep deepened even more.

Ten minutes later, Arlene and Ann came in with coffee for everyone. A couple of minutes after that, Little One told Jeff she was finished, and he put her on his shoulder, where she quickly flowed through his collar to spread across his back.

Aiko awakened when Ann held a cup of coffee near her nose. “Oh, my, that smells wonderful,” she said to herself even as she opened her eyes. Then she realized that Ann, Arlene and Jeff were standing by her bed. “My goodness. What is wrong?” she asked, concern in her voice as she sat up.

“Nothing. We thought you might enjoy a cup of coffee the first thing this morning. How do you feel?” Ann asked as she handed Aiko the coffee.

The woman took a sip and smiled. “Oh, it is delicious and fixed the way I like it,” she sighed out. “But why...” she began before she realized that she wasn’t sore. A frown and then an odd look crossed her face. “Oh, my. I was expecting to wake with all my muscles sore. I had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, and I was so sore that I barely made it back to bed, but I feel wonderful now.”

“You wouldn’t if it were not for Little One. You should tell her thank you,” Jeff quietly said.

Aiko stared at him for a moment before she understood. “Oh, thank you, Little One.”

“She says that you are welcome,” Jeff returned.

An embarrassed look crossed Aiko’s face as she realized that they had probably expected her to be too sore even to get out of bed. “I am embarrassed to cause you so much trouble.”

Jeff chuckled. “My wives tell me that you put forth a lot of effort yesterday. We didn’t want you to hurt this morning if we could avoid it.”

“Thank you – all of you,” Aiko humbly said.

After glancing at her watch, she continued, “I suppose that I need to get out of these pajamas and into my running clothes. I am flattered that you three have taken such good care of me. I will try my best not to let you down,” she promised.