Chapter 690

The Retreat

When Diana, Jennie and Melissa hadn’t come to the bedroom by nine-fifteen, Jeff went looking for them.

As soon as he opened the door to his office, he knew that Diana was going to have an actual office of her own, and not one associated with the kitchen or ordering supplies. Maybe even an office for her and a connecting one for her assistants. It also needed to be soon. The free space in his office had suddenly been reduced to practically nothing by the addition of a long table that was sitting in what used to be the middle of the room. He carefully worked his way around it and his wives to realize that his desk was practically hidden by yet more stacks of printouts.

Jennie and Melissa barely acknowledged his presence as they continued walking around the table while each added a page of paperwork to each of the multiple stacks spaced around the tabletop. He assumed they were developing a handout packet for each of their students.

“Just in time,” his Clan Queen said as she handed Jeff a stack of printed pages. That’s page fourteen. Follow Melissa and do not screw up the order. They go facedown and on top of her last pages.”

“But, don’t we have printers and copiers that will do this?”

Diana motioned for him to get started. “Yeah, but I didn’t have time to set the big copier/printer up. Oh, I don’t have time to explain. Just help us get the booklets together. I will not go into that class unprepared ever again.”

“We could get the others to help,” Jeff offered.

“There is hardly room in here as it is, more people would just get in the way. Besides, we’re almost done, but Honey, we need a room with a big table and all the necessary equipment. We thought about the living room for now, but there were several people already there watching TV or playing games, and we didn’t want to disturb them.”

“You mean a room similar to the Sergeant’s prep room?” he teased, but the sharp glance he got rendered his comment not so amusing.

“Exactly. And I would have everything set up... if someone had bothered to tell me about my new job ahead of time. And don’t bother telling me that we already have a room set up with office equipment ready to go. For one thing, it is too small. We were in here when we started, and things just progressed. Besides, the room we have set up for our guests to use office equipment doesn’t have room for a table that is big enough to do what I need to do. Next time, though, I’ll use the big printer/copier to collate everything, so we don’t have to go around and around a table dropping pages to make a packet of material.”

“Diana, I will be glad to assist,” the AI said, even though he had offered before.

“Too bad you don’t have hands. We could certainly use you just now,” Jennie broke in to say.

“Indeed, it is true that I do not have hands, but with your permission, Diana, I can bring the guests’ office computer system into my network, which includes the big printer and collator that you just mentioned. Since it already has a high-capacity paper bin, I would be able to print and collate handouts for your class with only an occasional restocking of blank paper by one of your assistants. Or, if you prefer, you could move the big printer into this office...”

“No,” Jeff returned almost before the AI had time to finish. “They need more room than this, not to mention that I need an office. She’ll temporarily set up with the big printer and copier where the guests’ office machines are now.” When he turned to Diana, he continued, “I’m sure it wouldn’t take Kei long to design a professional office for you, which would include any equipment you might need to prepare for your classes. You might even want to think about having a small electronic pad or laptop computer for each student instead of going the paper route. Think about what you’ll be teaching and the materials you’ll need. Also, you might want to make certain that Kei understands exactly what your primary need for the office will be, so that she can provide plenty of room to work now and for expansion as your training program develops. There is a fairly large sitting room next to the room that is set aside for a business office for guests. You could incorporate those rooms to give you ample space for your equipment and an adjoining office for your assistants. Something like that sound okay to you, Hon?”

“Jeff, we could get by with a table in one of the conference rooms while using the guests’ office room as well...”

“And you would constantly be running back and forth as you work. Better to design an office with what you’ll be doing in mind. It isn’t as if we don’t have space in this great building. If you need help with your class preparation beyond what Jennie and Melissa can provide, just let me know.”

A little later, they were nearing the completion of the booklets when Diana caught her assistants’ eyes for a moment before turning back to her husband. “Jennie and Melissa are tired, and we still have to put each of the handouts into a plastic folder which will entail running the paperwork through the three-hole punch and threading the metal tangs through everything to make a nice-looking booklet. If you would do that for us, we’ll go shower and get ready for bed,” she said while motioning to a stack of empty folders. And don’t forget to put a cover sheet from that stack there on the top of each handout stack.

“I’ll help,” Kayla, who had just walked in, said. “It shouldn’t take us more than thirty minutes.”

Jeff knew he had been had, but he had dropped everything on Diana without notice. Turnabout and all that, he thought as a grin touched his face.

The others had been gone less than a minute when Arlene and Ann, following their Jeff finder, walked in. Two teams in their interceptors had been on a joint patrol of the inner planets. Even at speeds up to a half light between planets, the mission had taken twelve hours, much of the time spent, of course, searching for electronic and gravitational anomalies that might indicate an intelligent species spying on Earth.

“Who was with you?” Jeff asked after thoroughly kissing each wife, and the two having gotten hugs from Kayla.

“Maxwell and Cotton,” Ann answered. “Other than travel time, we spent a large part of our day in a careful electronic search of the inner planets of the solar system with Maxwell and Cotton assisting in their own interceptor. We would have been here an hour ago, but Cotton found a gravitational anomaly whose output was just above what our computer considered the norm. I had almost decided that it was just Venus and its weird atmosphere, but Cotton convinced me we should investigate anyway.

“As you are aware, Venus is ... uh, different. It has volcanoes, and its volcanoes seem to have volcanoes,” she said, exaggerating only slightly. And then there are the seemingly ever-present sulfuric acid clouds while you steadily bake at 800 degrees F in more than 800 mile-per-hour carbon dioxide winds. I didn’t want to go down into that even with our shields protecting our interceptors. However, we did manage to do several low-level passes over the area, and if there are aliens in that boiling cauldron of the liquid rock of that massive volcano that the emissions were coming from, I would hate to meet them. Anyway we marked the location on our maps, and we’ll keep an eye on the gravity fluctuation there to see if it continues to exist. Otherwise, it was a very dull and repetitive day.”

“Forgive me, My Love, but I hope they are all dull,” Jeff added.

“Got that right,” Ann agreed.

While the three women finished up, Jeff found a box to put the handouts in. After everything was in an Escalade by the back door, the four went toward the bedroom.

When they walked in, Kei, Diana, Jennie and Melissa were sitting together as Kei sketched out a rough outline of what his Clan Queen and her assistants wanted for Diana’s new office.

When the Clan Queen called him over to look at the sketch, Jeff just shrugged. “I’ll get Dave and Evie on it as soon as they can get a crew in. This shouldn’t be a problem and will just be combining two rooms and installing the equipment.”

That earned him a kiss from each of them.

After breakfast the next morning, Diana and her sister-wives headed for the Sergeant’s office and his training room. After seeing them off, and with Kei’s sketch in hand, Jeff went looking for Dave.

A little later, he, Dave and Evie were standing in the sitting room Jeff had suggested as the three discussed the details of Diana’s new office. “How long?” Jeff asked.

Dave looked at Evie, who shrugged and said, “Hasting’s crew is finishing up today. I can do some rearranging and have them here in the morning. If we have to, we can rob the doors we need from the third floor until we can get replacements. With a full crew and the two tech people, say three days and possibly four to make the changes in the wall, purchase, install and get everything up and running — barring unforeseen problems, of course.”

“Do it,” Jeff said without hesitation. “And if you need me, I’ll be in my lab office in the basement much of the time until you finish. If there is ever any doubt, you know my preferences.” Which meant for them to choose the best there was just as Mr. Wainwright had done when he had Dave and Evie build the Retreat.

In his lab office a little later, Jeff fixed a pot of coffee, which was always his first project. (The One Cup made great coffee, but he drank many cups a day. It was much quicker to pour a cup from the pot rather than wait for each one to brew with the One Cup.) His mind was fixed on a problem with his next project as the maker finished and he poured a cup. As he turned toward his desk, cup of freshly brewed coffee in hand, he almost stepped on Selina, who had just teleported in.

“Shit, that’s hot, ” he exclaimed as freshly-brewed coffee splashed onto his hand when he stopped practically between steps. Quickly, he transferred the cup to his left hand while slinging hot coffee off his right. “You need to put bells or a flashing light on your head when you teleport — something to let people know you’re suddenly there,” he grumbled.

Selina grinned up at him while knowing it would take a lot more than spilling a few drops of hot coffee on his hand for him to be mad at her. “I just got here and started to speak when you suddenly turned around. Besides, it was fun seeing the expression on your face, not to mention watching you trying to keep your coffee from spilling all over you.”

“That’s sadistic.”

“No, just funny,” she said with a giggle that always made him smile.

“You need to teach me how to do that,” he tried to grouse.

“What? Spill coffee on your hand? You seemed to be doing quite well with that without my help.”

“You very well know what I mean. If I could teleport, I would get to have fun scaring the crap out of you for a change.”

“I have shown you how to teleport many times.”

“Yeah, well, saying ‘You do it like this,’ just doesn’t do it for me.”

“But I have demonstrated while telling you that I envision where I want to go and just ... push like this,” she said as she disappeared with an accompanying sound of air slapping back into the space that she had just vacated. A second later, she popped back and was now sitting on the couch trying to look innocent.

Jeff stared at her, took a sip of his coffee and slumped down beside her, almost spilling his coffee again. “What did you want other than to scare the crap out of me — again?”

“I’m not tall enough to be part of the pulse rifle class, so...” With a change of tone, she went on, “Why should I want anything?”

“Well, for starters, I suspect you want to be part of that class — really badly, but the rifle is as long as you are tall — well, almost, and it’s heavy.”

“I can still fire it by using my TK. I did just fine in Ship’s academy.”

“I know that. You know that, and Diana knows that, but she’s apparently decided that you aren’t tall enough, regardless. And I’m not going to override her judgment. Besides, I’m almost certain she has something else in store for you.”

“What?” Selina instantly asked while sitting up straight.

“I’m not sure, and even if I were, I won’t spoil her surprise.”

Selina got up to pour herself a cup of coffee. At first, both Jeff and Diana had discouraged Selina’s coffee drinking, but she had been accustomed to it when she came to live with them. Now, no one thought much about it, and with the enhancement, it couldn’t harm her anyway.

With about “nineteen” spoons of sugar — at least the way Jeff described it — and a large helping of cream, she returned to her seat with her “coffee-flavored sugar.” The count was nearer six spoons of sugar, but Jeff enjoyed teasing her about it.

After a moment while they both sat sipping their coffee, Jeff finally asked. “Okay, if you’re not here to complain about Diana not letting you into the class, what’s the problem?”

“Do I have to have a reason to visit my Prime?” she asked.

Jeff looked at her — really looked at her — for the first time since she appeared in his office. “What’s wrong, Baby?”

Selina let out a sigh as she put her half-full cup on the table in front of them. “I have violated an order you gave me. Well, not exactly an order, but you told me that you thought it would be best if I refrained from trying to study the communication portal — maybe, to wait until I was older before attacking the problem.

Jeff hesitated before saying, “That ... being in the ice cave doesn’t like me. I wouldn’t say that it was evil — exactly — but I’m almost certain it doesn’t want any of us anywhere in its domain.”

“But the portal isn’t in its domain — well, not exactly,” Selina insisted.

“And how do you know that?” he asked.

“I ... uh, just feel it, I suppose. I think it does have something to do with the ... plane where that other thing exists; maybe it even uses the plane to accomplish its ends. Perhaps it is some type of control, but not necessarily a part of the plane where that creature exists.”

“Or as I’ve already speculated, the creature is the control.”

Selina thought for a second, or at least paused as if she were, but Jeff suspected that with the speed of her mind, the pause was only for show. “I have been experimenting with the communications portal — perhaps getting to know it would be a better way to describe my activities.”