Chapter 717

The Clan meeting went off without a problem. Although they all knew about the Matthews’ vacation to the stars, Jeff again invited any who wished to go. The farmers said they could not leave their farms for someone else to operate for two years, and the FBI agents said they couldn’t get away from their jobs for that length of time. Dave and Evie wanted to go but said they couldn’t leave their company for that length of time, either. Eric, the pharmacist, said he had no one to take over whom he could trust.

Jeff reminded everyone that they were welcome to come, but with them not aging, sooner or later, they would have problems. However, he also told them this trip would be one of many over the following years. Again, he warned them to be careful and to try to keep the public, and particularly the government, from being aware that their bodies did not age.

Since Dave and Evie weren’t going, Jeff asked if they would take charge of the Retreat and its affairs while he and his family were gone. “I’ve already informed the accounting firm, and your names are on everything along with the General’s. The accountants have been advised to keep the checking accounts from running low. Frank Wainwright has agreed to oversee everything concerning my patents. If you run into trouble, Wainwright and Whitworth will assist you, but they won’t be looking over your shoulder — either of you. Oh, and I’ve doubled both of your salaries while we are gone.”

“Jeff, that isn’t necessary,” Dave said.

“Yes, it is, and even then, I’m not paying either of you enough. Bottom line, remember that the General has the portal thing we got from Morales’ cave that can communicate with Selina no matter where she is. But, make that a last resort. Otherwise, do what you think best.”

“Jeff, you know we will,” Evie injected.

“Of course I do. Your intelligence and your integrity are just some of the reasons you two are in charge.”

“We’ll have a list of questions in a few days,” Evie said.

Jeff chuckled. “Chances are all I’ll say is, do what you think best.”

Several weeks later at Security Headquarters.

Jeff and the General stood before a big monitor as they watched the Prime’s wives, as well as Adrienné and Selina, negotiate the obstacle course. All had already qualified, but Jeff required them to complete the obstacle course once per week in order to keep up their skills. This also included qualifying with their pulse rifles and sidearms. The camera they were currently watching was positioned to cover a particularly steep part of the course that was also kept extremely muddy.

The course was a timed event, but somewhere along the way, things had changed. His wives, including Adrienné and Selina, all began the course at thirty-second intervals. Roughly a third of the way through, there was a steep, muddy section as the trail wound its way downward. At the bottom, there was a mud hole roughly twenty feet across. As Diana descended the steep and slippery slope, her feet went out from under her. She managed to more or less guide herself down the slick path while almost totally on her back. Just before she hit the mud pit at the bottom, she managed to right herself and jumped to the side in order to miss the worst of the mud there.

Instead of hurrying on to probably wind up with the best time ever recorded for the wives, she positioned herself at the edge of the mud to grab hold of the next woman, Jennie, and pull her aside, missing the mud at the bottom of the slope altogether. This, of course, wrecked Diana’s time, but Jennie waved her Clan Queen on while she, in turn, helped the next wife miss the worst of the mud hole. Without prompting, that wife, in turn, helped the next wife and so on.

The General cast a look at his Colonel, but Jeff just said, “I didn’t give them any rules other than to finish as quickly as possible. They have run the course multiple times with acceptable scores, so I suppose that Diana didn’t break any rules by helping the next wife miss a dunking in the near-liquid mud.”

Jeff grinned. “It looks as though the rest are doing the same thing. Hmmm, all but the last will lose roughly the same amount of time by helping the next wife past the mud dunking. As you certainly know, we don’t allow assistance from another trooper, but we always stress their taking care of each other. Maybe we need to look at that rule as far as the obstacle course goes — especially when they have already qualified. Something to think about anyway,” he said, proud of his wives, as he turned for the door. “I’m going to wait for them at the finish line.”

“Hold on, and I’ll come with you,” Whitworth said as he followed his Colonel out the back door.

“What about pulse rifle qualifications?” the General asked a few minutes later as the two waited for the females to finish.

“They’ve all qualified, but I’m continuing with the advanced training. Most of their scores are equal to, if not better than the normal trooper, but they aren’t up to fire team standards — yet. And probably won’t ever be because the teams continue to practice more than any other group.”

“Damn, Colonel. What do you expect from your wives? I have a whole army that isn’t up to fire team standards. That’s the reason we have fire teams. We have a few groups that are a little bit better than the best of our troops, and we give them some extra training and call them fire teams.”

Jeff let out a sigh. “I know, but I think that almost all my wives are capable of reaching that level with enough effort and practice. Oh, and something else. I have a couple of videos of Selina practicing with her new pulse rifle. You need to watch the vids. Just think, with her starting out at seven years old, imagine what she will be capable of doing when she’s eighteen. Also, she can teleport and use TK. You expect your assailant to have to follow the same physical restrictions that you do — but she doesn’t. One moment she is in front of you, then with her teleportation, she’s suddenly behind you, and you are dead. I would not want to go against an adversary who can teleport or use TK.”

Whitworth grimaced. “Yeah. It would be a quick death. So ... what about your marriages? Is Adrienné next, or is there someone before her?”

“You know there isn’t. Aiko makes it twenty, but Adrienné wants to wait to be married on board Ship during our travels. There is something going on with my women, and I think even Ship is involved. They are planning something, but I don’t have a clue what it is. Whatever it is, though, it seems to be big. It rattles me when they keep something big from me, but I haven’t the foggiest notion what it is. Oh, well. I’m always the last to know anyway.”

“Yeah. I know the feeling,” Whitworth agreed, then motioned, “Here comes your Number One wife.”

Jeff waited with a hose a hundred yards or so past the finish line. After each of his wives, including Selina and Adrienné, crossed the finish line, they slow-jogged to him to allow their bodies to cool down a bit. When they reached him, he hugged, kissed and congratulated them despite the mud, then laughing, hosed them down to rid them of most of the filth. By the time the last of his family arrived, he was almost as muddy as they were, but not for long, because a giggling Selina grabbed the hose and made certain to get all the mud off him.

There was a big stack of towels they used to dry off enough so they could enter the Retreat, all laughing and enjoying themselves as they kidded each other. A little later, all freshly showered and dry, the group sat in the living room with Jeff’s blushing new bride (Aiko) snuggled on his lap.

Adrienné no longer lived with the other Miadax women but remained at the Retreat as part of the Clan. Diana, as well as her sister-wives, made sure that Adrienné had some alone time with Jeff as well as being part of the group. The only thing she didn’t participate in was their lovemaking. Frequently, she was invited to relax in the sitting room of their suite or even the bedroom but never late at night when the women were preparing for bed and the lovemaking that would ensue. They all knew she would become his wife shortly after they left Earth and treated her accordingly.

Selina’s parents, Phillip and Dessie, had qualified without any real problems, since they were already runners and into calisthenics. The two doctors, Karl and Glenda Müller, hadn’t qualified on the obstacle course just yet, but their numbers weren’t that far off. It wouldn’t be long before they were fully qualified. Amazing Jeff, they both took to firing the pulse rifle and passed the course with decent, if not outstanding scores.

The Müllers had visited with their colleagues and left them with the understanding that they would be traveling worldwide for the next couple of years and would check back in when their travels were over. They said that they would not answer their phones, so please do not call them.

With the power repaired and the phone service back to normal, Mia, Sophia and Fischer returned to Germany. They were given the General’s contact information in case they had problems they couldn’t solve for themselves.

The Miadax were not included in the physical or weapons training — other than Adrienné — but Jeff had assured them that they would have a position aboard Ship for a long, long time, including during Ship’s travels. However, if they happened to find a race they liked and wanted to remain with them, Jeff would make sure they had everything they needed. Still, he had not made up his mind whether to give them the full enhancement or not, but Diana, knowing her husband, knew he would if they continued to behave themselves.

Jeff had asked the Miadax women to vote on whether they wished to start dating the males, who, of course, all wanted to be alone with the females. Surprising Jeff, the vote was split down the middle — some adamant that the males had been “punished” enough while the others were just as adamant that they would go back to their old ways and demand sex or physically take it. Most of Jeff’s wives viewed the Miadax men as having raped the females and thought the males had not “suffered” long enough yet.

Jeff finally decided to wait a couple of months before retaking the vote. He refused to allow the sexes to intermingle unless accompanied by someone from the Bridge crew, and the same rules also applied to the bridge crew members. The penalty for rape was a walk in space without a suit.

As the departure time neared, a sense of urgency prevailed as everyone realized that anything they failed to take with them would be lost until they returned to the Retreat — well, if Ship couldn’t make a duplicate. Everyone, including Jeff, made lists, then refined, corrected and updated them almost daily.

Occasionally, Jeff would tell his wives, in addition to Selina and Adrienné, about some of his team’s adventures off-planet — something that he had seldom done in the past. It soon became evident why he hadn’t done so, but he intended to make them cautious. Things that seemed non-threatening sometimes turned very deadly, and that included the beings they met.