Chapter 18

Day Eighteen: Wednesday

I slept through our normal muster time on the flight line the next morning. Tuesday had been a 24 hour workday ending at about two in the morning. I would have slept longer except for the movement of the bed as several of my wives got up to answer the call of nature. I looked at the clock and it was half past eight, which was well into my normal work day. Normally I wake up full of energy, raring to go, but today I felt lethargic, as if I had not slept at all.

Responsibility is a hard habit to kick and so I got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. In the bathroom Kari was quietly talking to Irene and Lana. I couldn't hear what they were saying and they stopped when they saw me. That always makes me suspicious but I'm not one that believes that loved ones should share everything they know. Some times it's best not to pry too deeply into the thinking and actions of your spouses. I have known many marriages that didn't last because one spouse or another had to know every thought of the other. I normally wasn't that insecure.

Kari's apology for waking me was quietly echoed by each of the others. Irene said that she thought I ought to go back to bed since each of my other wives had catnapped while waiting for our return. Instead of doing the smart thing and agreeing with them and going back to bed I asked, "Did Mike Jr. and the paint crew get finished painting the rest of the T-34s yesterday?"

Kari looked at me and asked, "You're not thinking about flying today are you? You're still exhausted."

Irene jumped in and said, "As medical officer I am ... Oh shit, what's the term ... Damn, help me out Kari, your dad was a flyer."

Kari said, "It's called grounding and you can't ground him because I'm operations officer and I've already grounded him except for emergencies."

Irene laughed and said, "I thought of it first, even if I couldn't think of the word. All this military terminology sucks."

Their argument made me laugh. I told them, "I have no intention of flying this morning. I just wanted to know whether or not I needed to go down and see if the paint crew got the other helicopter into the paint booth or not. BTW, if all of you had naps yesterday why isn't the operations officer on the flight line mustering the Aviation Brigade?"

Kari stuck out her tongue at me, something she could do as my wife but not as operations officer, so I tried to do what my mom did the one time I made that mistake with her. I tried to grab her tongue. I surprised her but missed. Lana giggled and playfully stuck her tongue out at me. This time I almost had it but my fingers slipped off.

Irene laughed and remarked, "If you have that much energy we'll have to find a bed somewhere so you can exercise your marital responsibilities."

Kari snickered before adding, "He can do me right here. I'll just bend over the sink."

Knowing that I was outmanned and outsmarted, I took Kari by the hips and squared her with the sink. The look on her face as I stripped her panties down was priceless. Kari had become a zombie only moving where I moved her as if she was stunned that I would take her up on her offer. I was only half hard until I fastened my eyes on her cute behind.

Irene looked from me to Kari with glazed eyes as I used my foot to kick her feet apart. As I said, "Bend down over the sink," to a subdued Kari, Irene sat down hard on the closed toilet seat and put her hand on the gusset of her panties.

Kari finally came out of her daze and moved into position as she remarked, "I was only kidding, honey, but this is so hot!"

Irene pushed her own panties down as she echoed, "Yeah, so damn hot."

Seeing Kari move into position and seeing Irene's fingers head toward her own honey pot was all it took to bring my staff to full attention. I rubbed the head in between Kari's legs and found she was moist enough for penetration. I moved my soldier's helmet through her outer lips a couple of times for lubrication and then on my third stroke penetrated Kari to about half my depth. Kari and Irene both moaned and Kari raised herself up on her tiptoes to help give me a better angle. My second penetration buried my soldier completely and caused Kari to gasp. I looked over to Irene who was lewdly leaning back against the toilet tank with her feet splayed far apart as she furiously rubbed herself in time with my strokes. She was mumbling something under her breath that I finally recognized as, "So hot ... so hot."

I took hold of Kari's hips again and began a rapid pistoning in and out as she grunted her lust. It was a good thing that she was small as I ended up supporting most of her weight with my arms as her toes gave out. The action came to a quick conclusion as Kari expressed her orgasm both vocally and physically as her love tunnel spasmed around my shaft. Irene and I came next, almost simultaneously and I fell forward across Kari pinning her to the sink.

The applause from the door was my first clue that we had an audience. I heard Lana remark that she was going to have to start getting up earlier. I smiled as I moved off of Kari who lay half in the sink. Lana and Laura helped her up and steadied her as they moved her back into the bedroom. Julie winked at me and said, "Damn, you're an animal this morning. I guess you're not as tired as I thought you would be."

Irene who was trying to stand from the toilet said, "Don't say that, that's how all this started. God, that was so hot."

I remarked, "Yeah that was just what I needed to get my energy back." Reaching into the shower I turned the water on as I felt the strength return to my legs.

I took Irene by the hand and pulled her over to me and said, "Come on, you might as well help me shower."

Julie who was still lounging in the door smirked and turned to the three on the bed and said, "Now he's going to do Irene. You're right, Lana, we're going to have to get up and get in line earlier."

I put my hand on Julie's shoulder, pulled her to me and gave her a peck on the lips. As our lips parted I said, "We're just going to shower. You can join us if you want."

Julie smiled and slowly stripped off her panties. She looked up at me and winked from her half bent over position and said, "You sure all you want to do is get clean?"

I ran my hand under my still flaccid cock and said, "I'm sure."

Julie teased, "I'm sure I can take care of that problem."

In spite of the temptation of the two lovely women and the valiant attempt of my brave soldier to rise to the occasion, all we did was tease as we lovingly bathed each other. The tub shower, designed for one, is a tight fit for three. We did manage to shower without tripping or getting hurt but it wasn't as sensuous as it might sound.

It was a bright sunny day, the type I have always thought makes living in this area worthwhile. I noticed that no one was clustered about the small table outside although the coffee pot appeared full with a clean stack of cups nearby. I drew a cup of coffee and then headed over to the reception hall. I noticed Jim step out of his room holding both Jenn and Jerry by the hands. I waved at them and waited as the twins raced to see who could get to me first.

Jenn won and launched herself into my arms as she drew close, spilling my coffee all over the pathway. Luckily none of it splashed on either of us. The first thing she did was stick her tongue out at her brother and laugh. Jerry reached my legs a few seconds later, grabbed them in a hug saying, "No fair, you cheated."

Jenn gleefully answered, "Did not!"

Which provoked, "Did too?" from Jerry.

Things went round and round for a few moments as Jim caught up to us and said, "I wish I had their energy. They plumb wore their momma out. She brought them over this morning and then headed back to bed. I think she may be catching the flu or something."

I nodded at Jim's remarks and said, "I'll ask Irene to look in on her. We don't need to get the flu started around here. It may be easier just to keep her isolated until she is better. I'm sure with her two students that Irene will be thankful for any patients she can get."

Jim replied, "Well, if she doesn't get well pretty quickly I'm gonna have to start taking vitamins or something. It's funny that I can wrestle a grown man to the ground and not be as out of breath as I am after 15 minutes with these two monkeys."

That brought an 'I'm not a monkey' argument from Jenn and a 'me neither' from Jerry.

We reached the breakfast area before I heard a 'Yes, you are!' from either of the two.

I sat Jenn down at the table and said, "I'm going to see if I can get another cup of coffee, then I'll watch these two while you go through the serving line."

I saw our new arrivals were already at the coffeemaker and were busy talking to their former neighbors. They seemed to fit right in, almost as if they had been here all along. I thought about John Smith and then saw Martha sitting alone with Tony and Bridget at a nearby table. I decided to pay her a visit after Jim got breakfast for himself and the kids. I looked back and saw that I wouldn't have to wait for that as Sheila had brought a plate out to Jim and was taking the twins by the hand back up to the serving line. I said my goodbyes to Jim and headed through the line myself. This morning none of my aviators or wives was on the line and I saw that it had been set up as a buffet.

I walked up to their table and asked, "You don't mind if I sit down with you for a few minutes, do you?"

Martha shrugged her shoulders but didn't say anything. I was puzzled and asked, "Are you doing okay? Is there something I can do?"

She gave me a strange look and said, "We're okay I guess. I doubt there's anything you can do. I just don't understand..." Her remarks trailed off as she looked across the way where Alison Grayton was busy chatting with Janet Barker and Marsha Johnson.

I asked her, "What don't you understand?"

Martha looked down at her plate and said, "Nothing. I guess I need to be grateful for what I have." As she said that she looked across at her children.

I picked up on her glance and guessed, "I'm probably getting all this wrong, but it seems to me that people are just being extra friendly to Alison because of what she went through. I'm sure..."

Martha interrupted me as I spoke and said, "I know I shouldn't feel this way, but my John sits in jail and because of it no one will speak to me while..." With that she gestured with her hand towards Alison and the other recent arrivals.

I didn't know what to say. I wanted to tell her to buck up and get over it. Hell, it seemed like something you would expect from high school kids. I decided to go over to the jail and have another talk with John while they were painting this morning. I reached over and put my hand on Martha's shoulder and she looked up from her plate to my face. I said, "Martha, you have to be strong for a bit longer. Things will settle out in a few days, and all this will be behind us and people will forget most of this ever happened."

She looked at me and nodded before looking away. I finished my breakfast and took my plate and silverware over to the collection point. I met three of my wives coming in as I walked out the door. I stopped them for a kiss and then asked Laura and Julie to say hello to Martha and maybe sit with her for a while. I asked them to let me talk to Irene for a few moments alone.

As soon as the other two went in the door I said, "You need to look in on Becky. Jim says he thinks she's getting the flu. He's minding the twins to keep them away from her."

Irene responded, "I keep telling you I'm not a doctor. Most of my training outside of nursing has been stabilizing accident victims. Besides, there's not much you can do for the flu other than fluids and bed rest."

I nodded and said, "I've heard that from my own doctor. The point here is that you are our doctor, our medicine woman, whether you have a degree or not. You may only be able to tell her to drink plenty of fluids, get plenty of bed rest and stay away from everyone else, but it'll mean more coming from you. I'm sure she'll feel better if you look in on her. Now go get something to eat."

Whiting is a relatively small base and so I decided to walk the few blocks to the security building. I thought that in a few years we'd either learn how to refine gasoline or we'd all be doing a lot more walking. Thinking about that reminded me that I had read about a small ethanol plant that had been in production in the county commerce park. It was supposed to convert locally grown corn and other biomass into a fuel that could be used to power certain vehicles. We could check into the feasibility of moving the plant back to the base. If we could possibly grow extra corn in some of the fields near the base for the raw material for the plant ... so much to do.

I passed the old communications building on my walk and waved to John Simmons who was opening the door of that building. I guess he thought I was flagging him down as he bolted down the walkway to intercept me.

I laughed and said, "I was just waving good morning, John. You must be getting started with the radio."

He looked a bit nervous and said, "I didn't ask anyone, but I went exploring and found a lot of old equipment in a storeroom in there. I found at least one workable shortwave transmitter-receiver and the antennae is still mounted to the roof. I think I can have them hooked up and operating by this evening. You know the best time for shortwave traffic is at night."

I knew nothing about shortwave operations but figured if I said that I would get much more information than I needed or wanted and so I nodded my head in agreement. Then I said, "Well, you better get busy, then. Make sure you get someone to help you when you go to the roof. You don't need to get hurt up there with no back-up. Good luck, and let me know when you hear from someone."

John was anxious to get back to work and he told me goodbye and headed back up the walkway as I started back down the street. I reached the security building and walked inside where I found Pat Simmons playing checkers with John Smith. She had pushed a table over against the small cell and was sitting on a folding chair on the other side of the table. As I entered the front door Pat jumped up to see who had entered. I grabbed another folding chair and moved it over to the small table. John appeared nervous as he moved to sit on the bunk in the small cell.

I patted the chair that Pat had vacated and said, "Come on and sit back down."

When Pat took her seat I asked, "Who's winning?"

Pat looked up guiltily and said, "Okay, I know I should be doing this in a more professional manner. It's just that..."

I cut her off and said, "Hell, Pat, just answer my question."

She looked embarrassed as she said, "He is. I haven't won a game yet."

I looked at Pat and asked her, "You ran a store for a long time up in Piney Woods. Tell me what you know about this man."

Pat looked at me as if she was trying to ascertain my motive. She closed her eyes and shook her head as if trying to clear away some cobwebs. Then she looked up at me and said, "John, here, was a good farmer. In the store we ran a tab for a lot of the small farmers. John always paid when he said he was going to. From what I heard he was honest with everyone else. I never heard anything bad about him. I always heard that he was a family man who set a lot of store in his wife and children. He was like most of the people up there. If he heard someone was having a bad time or needed help, he always tried to help."

I looked at her and asked, "How has he been since he's been in here."

Pat said, "Low maintenance ... When Ab broke out he left the keys in his cell door. John could have reached over and took the keys and opened his own cell and left. He didn't. John told me that Ab asked him to go with him and he refused. I don't know that to be true but I believe it."

I looked at John and said, "John, what do you think about everything that's happened? Somehow I get the picture that you're not cut from the same cloth as Ab or Bubba. Do you really believe that we're all agents of the devil?"

John had a look that I couldn't read. Finally he said, "My daddy founded that little church. I thought one time that I wanted to be a preacher. I know my bible well enough to understand that what the preacher was saying isn't in the good book ... still, I was raised to support the leaders of the church. As soon as we got down here I knew that this wasn't any group of Satan worshipers like I'd been told. I tried to get Ab to take a low key approach, thinking that he would eventually see the same things that I saw. I know now that would never have happened. I'm glad you're at least letting my wife and kids stay."

I looked at both of them and said, "Guess I'll let you get back to your checkers."

John spoke up and said, "What's going to happen to me?"

I looked into his eyes and said, "I had it all decided, but now I need to think about it some more. You'll know by this afternoon."

I didn't tell him but I had already decided that we should release him. I needed to make sure that Alison, Millie and Sandra understood my reasoning and knew what was coming before I released him. I walked back to the reception hall hoping to find all of them there. When I got there the buffet had been taken down and most of the people were gone so I checked the posted copy of the New Times to see where the women were working. Alison was working with Sheila while the other two women were not even on the list. I figured that they were still settling in and knew Sheila would have their room numbers.

I spent the next hour and a half talking to all three of the women. They seemed genuinely surprised that I would even ask their opinion in the matter and none had any heartburn over my decision. My last visit was with Martha Smith, who I found working with the other teachers preparing classrooms for the start of school. I knew my decision would shock her and I hoped it would please her. When I told her she almost choked me in a bear hug. Her countenance went from morose to that of a lottery winner in half a second. She was crying tears of happiness and left with me to make the short walk to the security building.