Chapter 2

Ned got about ten feet down the hall before the Captain roared "Petersen!" behind him.

Ned braced. "Sir!"

"Wait. I need to do what commanders always end up doing when they lose troops." He closed the door of his office behind him and stalked up to Ned.

"What's that, Sir?"

"Confer the condolences of the service to the widow -- or widows, in this case. Granted, they're technically property, but Marco's little family seemed to be operating smoother than yours, so I assume they loved each other. Come on." CPT Mackay took the lead and Ned followed him off down the corridor and down three tunnels to the hub that led to the late PVT Lezynski's pod. Mackay punched an access code on the keypad beside the door.

"Do they know, Sir?" Ned asked.

"No, they've been blacked out for communications -- and locked in," Mackay replied. "AI, this pod is temporarily CPL Petersen's property -- but it reverts to the service pool in seventy two hours," he added, eyeing Ned.

"Acknowledged," the AI intoned.

The door slid open, revealing two nervous, obviously pregnant women. "Ladies," CPT Mackay said solemnly, after entering the room, "it is my sad duty to inform you that your sponsor has given his life in the service of the Confederacy."

"Omigod!" the young woman on the left was buxom, curvy, and a redhead, maybe twenty-five, if she hadn't had her clock turned back. "Marco? Dead?"

"I'm afraid so," CPT Mackay nodded. He turned his attention to the other woman. "My condolences."

Ned got a shock -- the other woman was ... Dolores! But she hadn't noticed him yet; she was too busy looking stricken and collapsing onto the arm of the couch. "W--what happens to us?" Her fear was palpable; she'd been close to being spaced at least once...

"Marco made a bequest," CPT Mackay told her. "CPL Petersen is your new sponsor."

"Ned." Dolores' eyes shifted to Ned's. "I'm as good as dead."

"Not this time," Ned promised. "Trust me." Dolores just looked away. Ned was miserable; she was even more desirable with a swollen belly! He owed her -- and by God he was going to make it right! "I'll be back tomorrow. Pack your things -- you're moving to my pod then."

"Ned, if you can't..." Dolores began.

"No, I'm going to take charge. Judy is gonna have to toe the line! I just discovered some of the shit she's been doing, and it's time for a change..." Ned swore.

Dolores' expression said 'I'll believe it when I see it, ' but she nodded.

"I'll be by around 12:00. Be ready," Ned told them both. "I owe Marco and I owe you. Things will work out." He turned his attention to CPT Mackay.

"Again, my condolences." Mackay nodded and backed out. Ned followed. Once in the hallway with the door closed, he said, "You made promises in there -- see that you keep them."

"Yessir."

"Dismissed."

Ned saluted and they parted company.

Judy was waiting at the pod door. "You're back!"

"Yeah," Ned nodded as he came in, poker-faced.

"Good! Ellie has been driving me nuts and you need to get her pointed the right direction before..."

"Judy, shut up."

"Hey!" Judy glared. "That's no way to speak to..."

"A concubine?" Ned finished. "What would you know about it?'

"I'm your wife!" Judy snapped, "Not some..."

"You're wrong!" Ned interrupted her, "And you have been for a long time! I've put up with it because we WERE married, but you just keep stepping over the line! It's over! Our marriage is over, too, and you need to stop wandering around here under the assumption that you rule the roost..."

"Somebody has to," Judy said snidely.

Ned froze. He counted to ten, thought about it a bit -- basically ignoring Judy's follow-on comments about how she had to constantly take care of his sorry fucking ass - decided that nothing less would get her attention, and backhanded her just hard enough to put her bony ass on the floor.

Judy sat there, looking up at him in shock. "You hit me!"

"Want to go for two?" Ned asked levelly. "What are you? Tell me what your status is around here. Get it right, or I'll continue educating you the hard way..."

"I'm a ... concubine." Judy eyed him carefully.

"And that confers exactly what powers over me?" Ned asked coolly.

"Uh..." Judy thought about it and decided that she was looking at the possibility of losing ground via dangerous admissions. "Now look, Ned..." Ned, poker-faced, took a step toward her and she threw up her hands, "All right! All right! None! Okay? But..."

"But fucking nothing!" Ned snapped. "I've fucking had it! I let you get away with shit because we were married before, but all you do is take advantage and mess with everyone's head! Who the fuck told you that you didn't need to get pregnant?"

"Now, Ned, do you really want me to swell up like a hippo and have to drag around kids? I'm not really the mother type..." Judy decided that it was time to appeal to reason.

"And Ellie? Why is SHE infertile?"

"Jeez, Ned - I've got enough kids here..."

It was absolutely the wrong thing to say ... Ned growled deep in his throat, reached down, and hauled Judy into the air by the front of the nice blouse she'd nagged him into letting her acquire instead of the standard shift that most concubines wore and tossed her like a doll against the nearest wall. "GET IN THAT CORNER!" he roared, pointing.

Judy, trying to get her breath back, opened her mouth to protest - and Ned turned to face her directly, a move that was obviously threatening. She shut her mouth and scrambled to the corner, never taking her eyes off of the creature who had been her wimpy husband. What the fuck had gotten into him?

"Put up a field!" Ned snapped at the AI. "She's not to get out! I don't want to hear her, either - but I want HER to hear ME!" He turned to Judy as the air began to shimmer before her. "You do NOT rule the roost here! In fact, you're on probation, and if you don't get your shit together, I'll flip a coin to see whether you breathe vacuum or just get converted into steak and eggs! Do you fucking understand? Nod - don't open your fucking mouth!" He glared at her.

Cautiously, Judy nodded.

"You're in there until I decide you're out," Ned informed her. "If you have to take a pee or crap or something, you'd better hope Ellie takes pity on you and escorts you to the john, because I won't - and if you make a mess in there you're gonna clean it with your tongue! You are NOT Numero Uno around here any more - if you're lucky, you'll be Number Four for a while - make that Number Five, since the Number One spot belongs to ME!" He spun on Ellie, who flinched back. "Come here!"

Ellie minced over fearfully and stood cringing before him.

Ned got a grip and shifted gears. "Relax, you're not in trouble. How could you be? Judy probably doesn't even allow you to think on your own..." He eyed her. "Take off all your clothes."

Ellie stripped without comment. She was as much a sheep as Judy was a wolf - which is why Judy settled for her during the swap that got him Ellie for Dolores. When she was done, he asked her gently, "Did you know you were sterile?"

"No, um, Ned. No..." Did he want her to call him Master or something, now? She shook her head and turned to look at Judy.

"I didn't know, either - I gave Judy blanket authority with the AI in Medical and didn't realize," Ned told her. "What do you think about that?"

"It sucks," Ellie declared, her eyes hardening.

"We'll fix it tomorrow," Ned told her. "Was there anything you wanted to have done that wasn't before?"

"Yeah," Ellie hung her head. She was a little pudgy and mousy, with small, saggy tits and a belly - and considerable cellulite on her ass and thighs. "A bunch of stuff, actually. Judy said..." She stopped.

"What DID she say?"