Chapter 655

The Prison Planet

The Matthews’ visit to 2214 continues.

Soon, the picnic table and the regular table were pushed together and set up with breakfast for everyone. The Matthews had mentioned that Charlotte and Ada would be coming to help, but when Jeff described how big the “garden” was and how much of it would probably be ready ... Well, things had changed. Charlotte and Ada had brought company to the tune of Jeff, Diana, Kayla, Jennie, Melissa and Selina. There were more that would have come, but Jasmine’s kitchen was not big enough for more people to work there all at the same time.

With few words, the women had decided that Jeff and Morales would have several primary duties today. In the giant garden, in addition to assisting the harvesting of the vegetables, they would take the full baskets to the trailer — so the women wouldn’t have to lug the heavy baskets across the long field.

At the cave, and after they had assisted with washing and preparing the vegetables, the men would assist in taking the vegetables into the kitchen when needed. When they weren’t busy with such matters, Jeff and Morales would be shellers, and of course, gofers when need be, all the while being armed guards so the females didn’t have to worry about the wildlife eating anyone. At least, that was the plan, but the women seemed to be giggling a lot when they were discussing things.

Jeff’s women were wearing bras when they arrived, but when they realized that Morales’ women were braless, they were soon doing the trick of pulling bras out of blouse sleeves. Morales’ women had left their bras off in their mad dash to get decent after the Matthews’ sudden arrival, but since they never wore them unless they had company, the Moraleses forgot until they noticed the other women ridding themselves of theirs. By then, they were all laughing and teasing each other.

“Nipples are really going to show when we get to sweating and the air hits our wet shirts,” Diana remarked with a glance at her husband.

“So, we’re going to get fussed at for looking,” Morales grumped, thinking his wives would be expecting him to sneak a peek at the Matthews women if he got the chance.

“Look,” Diana said, already halfway to becoming exasperated. “There are several families at the Retreat, and we’re all close friends. All of us women go braless unless we have company. A man at the Retreat can look at any woman there — with discretion — but he can’t touch anyone in a sexual manner unless that woman belongs to him. “You guys are as close to us as anyone at the Retreat, so we should have reached this point several months ago.

“Diana,” Morales began as he desperately glanced toward Jasmine, “I worry...”

“ ... That things are different because you’re a prisoner,” Diana injected, “and Jeff is going to jump down your throat if your eyes happen to focus on our boobs a second or two too long? Is that what you meant?” she groused. Not giving him time to answer, she went on. “Well, he just did that to Jasmine, and neither I nor any of his other wives that are here thought anything about it other than to tease him for blushing. This is your home. None of us think about it as a prison, or you as a prisoner. The General has said that his people and AIs have been ordered to keep any prisoner on the planet well away from you and your family.

“Oh, I don’t expect you to make a nuisance of yourself, just as I expect the same from my husband. Neither my sister-wives nor I have a self-image problem, so an occasional glance or even some light kidding won’t bother us. I feel certain the same thing could be said for your women. Now, it’s already getting hot out there, and it will get hotter, so if not for the leaves making us itch, we would probably be thinking about exchanging our blouses or shirts for bikini tops. The deciding factor certainly would not be due to your supposed status on this planet.”

A few minutes later, a seemingly aggravated Clan Queen dragged her husband outside. “Look, this guy has been beaten down long enough. If any prisoner has ever been rehabilitated, it’s Morales. The General needs to — as you would say — ‘shit or get off the pot.’ Morales and his women are going with us when we leave Earth, and it won’t be for only a few weeks, either. The trip could very well last a couple of years. The guy has a right to feel like a prisoner — because he is one. Heck, we have, with the General’s permission, given Morales and his women rifles to hunt with, and now we’ve even given them pulse rifles and the training to go with them. Yet, Morales has to go back to his ‘cell’ each night.”

“Di, they don’t have to come back here because of his sentence. They come back because of their garden and the chickens...”

She sighed. “Yeah, I know, but you know what I mean. Just look at him,” she snapped. Diana had gotten into their little charade now, so Jeff didn’t bother to point out that he and Diana were outside the cave, and he couldn’t look at Morales just now. She went on, “He’s wearing that prisoner attitude around his neck like a badge of dishonor, making him less than anyone else, even in his own home. Not a single one of our friends has said a thing about all of us going braless at the Retreat, yet it bothers Morales because, in his mind, he’s not in our ‘class,’ since he’s a prisoner.”

“Darn it, Baby, we’ve discussed this before — multiple times. I’ve gotten away with seeing that Morales has gradually acquired more and more — not to mention the tremendous amount the General has added on his own. I’ve gone way past my authority again and again, and so far, the General hasn’t called me on it, thanks to his faith in me, I suppose. If I push it too much, he just might, though. Remember, he’s strong-willed, just as any General worth his salt is. Once he says he’s going to do something, he won’t change his mind unless there’s an ironclad reason he should. Morales was convicted and sentenced to life on 2214. I agree that he has made a major change, and he’s certainly shown concern for others over himself, over and over again. If I push the General too much, though, he might come down on Morales, and it would take a miracle to change his mind. Di, Whitworth is a General, and a damned good one at that, yet, despite Morales’ sentence, Whitworth has been more than good to a prisoner and us, but if we push him too much, Morales could very well lose everything, and might even be back where he started from.”

Diana opened her mouth to say something else, but thought their charade had gone on long enough, lest they overdo it and the General realize what they were trying to do. She stood staring up at her husband for a few seconds before grabbing him in a tight hug. “You’re absolutely right, but thanks for letting me whine about something that I feel so strongly about.

(Later on Ship, where they could not be overheard by the General’s micro-cameras, Diana asked, “Do you think it will work?”

“I surely hope so, but there is no way to tell what Whitworth’s reaction will be, assuming that the Sergeant will even pick that part of the videos to send to the General. I do have hopes that he will react favorably to the ‘overheard’ conversation, though. Hopefully, he will receive our thoughts and supposed private comments about Morales favorably, and sway the General into acting favorably to Morales’ situation before we leave on our trip.

,

Diana and Jeff had returned as Morales called Jasmine to him. “While you and the others are getting breakfast, I’ll hook the trailer to the crawler and bring it around.”

“Okay,” she responded, “but be extra careful and don’t forget that other saber-tooth or whatever it was that coughed so close by last night.”

“No way could I forget that thing, but thanks anyway,” he said as he motioned for Jeff.

As the two men cleared the entranceway, Morales was suddenly walking alone. Shit, he told me that he was going to talk to Ship, but that gives me the creeps when Ship picks him up like that. One second he’s there, and the next he just isn’t, Morales thought as he opened the door of the crawler.

A moment later as he turned the key, the big machine started instantly. A couple of minutes after that, he had moved it to the equipment area and was attaching the trailer. While checking to make sure it was connected properly, he felt the hair stand up on his neck. Quickly turning, he brought the rifle to chest level, his thumb on the safety. But ... he saw and heard nothing.

Shit, I’m, jumpy as hell. I must be on edge because of that thing attacking last night. Almost invariably, those damn tigers attack when it would be simpler just to go on their way. Jeff mentioned that Ship had moved large animals away while she was here. Surely with her technology, no tiger could come near without her knowing it. If one of those things were near, Ship would have detected it by now and moved its big ass away, yet I keep wanting to look over my shoulder. I’ve already checked my rifle twice, and with a touch of my thumb on the safety, it will be ready to go, but I continue to want to look behind me. What the fuck is wrong with me?

A moment later, he had gotten back into the driver’s seat and was moving the crawler and trailer down the hill to the cave entrance. Fact is, I’ve gotten dependent on Lobo and Lila to warn us since their senses are so much better than what we mere humans have. We’ve thanked them many times for being our early warning system, and we were serious, but now without them, I’ve come to realize just how much we actually depend on them. A chill crossed his spine as his thoughts continued. If Lobo and I hadn’t met when we did, I might not have made it. No telling how many times he, and now both of them, has warned us long before we knew anything was near. By the time the animal is close, we are ready with our weapons up and our safeties off — waiting.

When Morales parked the crawler and trailer near the cave, Jeff was standing there.

“I told ship about you guys being attacked last night, and she immediately said that a large beast was making its way toward your cave while apparently using as much concealment as possible.”

“That doesn’t sound like a saber-tooth. There is nothing bashful about them.”

“Well, anyway, she said if it continued to come this way, she would move it toward the plains.”

As they stood talking, there was a roar of what must have been a large and pissed-off animal in the general direction of the equipment area, but much farther along the ridge.

“Is that...” Jeff began.

“That’s not a saber-tooth — guaranteed,” Morales said as he turned in the direction of the sound. “The hair has been standing up on my neck ever since I walked out of the cave, and I think it’s because of that thing. Too bad we didn’t get to see it before Ship moved it.”

“Ship will have a recording of it, and you’ll get a chance to see what it is. In the meantime, maybe it will take a hint and go in another direction when she lets it loose,” Jeff commented.

“I’ve never heard anything make that racket before, and I’m looking forward to seeing the recording,” Morales quietly said.

Jeff chuckled. “I’m sure Ship recorded it. I’ll have her play it for you later.”

Morales looked over at the Prime. “Uh, Jeff, I know you said those balls on your belt were lethal, but I would feel better if you were carrying a rifle.”

“Morales, I am armed. I have my .45, and these certainly are lethal,” he said as he touched his belt with the steel balls. “Your rifle round is .308 inches in diameter, while my steel balls are a full one-half inch. Your rifle bullet is moving in the neighborhood of 3000 feet per second. I usually push these more than three times faster. Before I knew what I was doing, I pushed one a lot faster, but I now keep the speed down to roughly 10,000 feet per second. Hit square in the head with the animal facing me, there would probably be little left of him, and the steel ball would barely slow while going all the way through his body, end to end, with the shockwave destroying everything in its path.

“Also, I can’t miss because the ball goes where I’m looking. I’m a lot more careful now than when I first tested firing the balls. I, thank goodness, just pushed it a little, but with the wrong selection of energy source. If I had put a hard push behind it, I might well have reduced myself to atoms from the ball moving through the atmosphere. As it was, the ball — or the plasma or maybe gas it became — took off the top of a mountain an estimated eight clicks in the distance. If Ship hadn’t slapped a shield down, the shockwave would have done me in, even then. I’ve made it so I have to think to dial in that higher energy source, and I’ve also made the lesser energy source — comparatively — much easier to reach. Thus, hopefully, making it impossible for me to tap accidentally into the higher energy source. When we have the time, I’ll take you to the pocket planet where I try out my weapons, and let you see what a steel ball can do at fifty thousand feet per second. While we are on our trip, I intend to find a star system without any habitable planets but with an asteroid belt. I’ll pick a large asteroid and hit it with a steel ball at a quarter light. Depending on the results, I might hit another one at a half light. It won’t have the same effect that it would in an atmosphere, but I think the results would still be useful to know.