Chapter 35: Naval Relations

The fighting outside seemed to die down after Ruth was so violently thrown back from our door. The AI reported that all small arms and explosives had been stripped from the armory and that only the morgue and battle armor were still secure. I had recommended that the AI find a way to disable the battle armor only to be informed by the AI that a rogue power surge had already fried a part of the armor electronics rendering it useless until repaired.

We were pleased to hear that Ruth and Manuel were back to their cold war, but enough shots were still being taken to worry us. Both factions had lost at least one more fighter in a brutal knife and pistol clash just outside the colony center a day after the fight at our door and we now were receiving calls from Manuel asking that we join him to force Ruth out. They had equal numbers, but Ruth's faction had a better position and Manuel was slowly being squeezed out.

We also had some changes going on in our command center. Linus and Louis had developed a rocket bomb. It was not much more than a medium sized warhead with a heavy booster rocket behind it, but they could be commanded to target a spot in space up to about ten light minutes away. The lack of raw materials had limited the initial build to fifty, but we scattered them around the system in groups of five and then had the command post expand to create a special station just for commanding them and any other space-based weapons we developed. Louis had also suggested that the repair docks needed a special station as well and the pod was bulging even as it expanded to add the additional space and capability.

Terrence, Donna, Yvette, the twins and I were reviewing tunnel maps in the briefing room when Jillian called out from the communications chair. "James, we have a signal from a Confederacy headquarters. They report that a fast transport, the Stagecoach, should jump into the system within the hour and will be carrying supplies we need for the depot."

I looked up at Terrence who nodded. "She's early, but we did have that log about a supply mission to us. We should get ready."

I nodded and looked at Yvette. "Let's use this as tracking practice for some. Let's have Randi and Kelly in here and have a couple of the briefing stations run tracking. Tamara can support Paula out there."

Jillian immediately moaned. "Awww, but I wanted Tamara's support."

I was about to reply when Paula giggled. "You just want to sixty-nine her. I swear you two are always fucking."

I peeked out to see Jillian blush about as dark as her brown skin would allow as the twins filed past me. Tamara went over and kissed the girl on the cheek before turning to kneel next to Paula. She threw me a wink. "Don't worry, we have this."

Tiffany was walking Jillian through the response procedure as Terrence went out to find a crew to transport any goods sent to us. I was going to run to my pod to find my concubines when Yvette pulled me back into the briefing room.

"Don't worry," she said with a smile when I protested. "Much as I respect you, I love you too much to fuck you without your harem's approval. Yes, I know they'd give it, but you'd want to hear it first. However, this isn't about that. I wanted to ask about Tom and Carol. You do realize I've spent some time with them."

I nodded. "Yes, I noticed that they sat with you and Philippe playing bridge last night. Esther and Marie seemed to enjoy the conversation you were having."

Yvette looked down. "That's just it. You remember I said that Nathan didn't click with my household. That's still true, although he's very good in bed. It's just that there is no real connection. I talked to Esther and Philippe last night and they both think Tom is a better man, but that means splitting him up from Carol."

I smiled. "AI, authorize Yvette here to have five concubines. We'll let her decide when to make the announcement, but I'm sure she deserves an extra one."

"Authorized. Concubines Tom and Carol are now listed as belonging to Yvette. Does this mean that concubine Nathan is unowned?" The AI asked.

Yvette gasped. "No fair! Yes, it does mean that I'll be freeing Nathan. Actually I'm thinking ahead. Amanda and Jack Junior have the same birthday and will be testing in days. Nathan would be a great male concubine for Amanda."

I laughed. "We think too unselfishly. What will others think?"

The laughter echoed in the briefing room as we stepped out to find Randi and Kelly arriving to practice tracking.

Jillian was handling the communications with Tiffany's guidance and proving to be extremely comfortable in the role. The Stagecoach emerged into real space on schedule and quickly oriented on Astarte where it would need to dock to unload many of the repair parts and spares. The surprise was when two corvettes followed her into real space and Jillian giggled.

"James, one of the ships says it's the Hampton Roads and wants to talk to you," she said.

I smiled and spoke up. "This is James. Am I talking to Commander Sykes?"

"Damn right you are," a voice growled. "But what is this I hear about you handing out rabbits. There are no Earth animals in space. The AI never lets us take them from the planet."

I could hear a giggle and turned to see Brittany arrive and start to set up a cage near the teleport. I signaled her to bring two more and she dashed off with a nod.

"I'm sorry to hear you believe that, Commander," I replied. "I guess you haven't met with Commander O'Brien directly then?"

The voice growled louder. "Of course I haven't! He and I are in different patrols, but we both are based out of Borneo and I just got a teary call from my concubines about how O'Brien returned to Borneo yesterday and the Nassau had four rabbits on board. My Emily talked to his new concubine, Kelly I think it is, and she says that Ishtar was named as the source. So how the hell did you get bunnies?"

Jillian must not have been able to resist. "Because we have mommy bunnies and daddy bunnies," she spurted before covering her mouth and turning to stare at me. Tamara glanced over at her and smiled.

"James, I think you and I should punish her a bit later," she quipped causing another round of laughter in the command post.

I held up a hand for silence and sighed. "Commander, when I was picked up I argued with the AI about bringing rabbits along and distributing them to others as pets and baby surrogates for children to learn some responsibility with. To my surprise the AI agreed and right now Ishtar is home to over one hundred rabbits. The Nassau just happened to be here just as the first generation of babies was old enough to be sent off to the stars and we gave Commander O'Brien and two of his ensigns rabbits before they left."

Just then a female voice spoke up. "So can I get one then?"

I looked over at Jillian who pointed to the emblem for the second corvette. "I don't know," I said. "I'd like to know that our rabbits are finding good homes. And I know Patrician class corvettes don't have teleport capability so we'll need to dock you at Astarte to teleport one to you. Have anything to trade?"

The voice started laughing. "Wait, are you the reason that one of my ensigns suddenly dragged a ten-pound bag of hay seeds on board, right after I told my crew that our next stop was Ishtar?"

Tiffany cried out. "Jackpot! We can get the hydroponics up and some plants growing!"

"The what?" Commander Sykes blustered.

The mood in the command post was festive as I smiled and answered. "We have a hydroponics setup. Once the terraforming removes all the acid from the air we are hoping to have a bit of green on the planet surface, so we need something to grow. Hay is perfect as it's also a rabbit's favorite treat. We'll be happy to trade one rabbit for those hay seeds."

"Just don't start talking like rednecks," the woman chuckled. "I can just see the joy on Ensign Mott's face when I tell him that he can have the rabbit."

"No problem," I replied. "Um ... I know we have the Stagecoach coming in, although the captain has been silent and I've verbally sparred with Commander Sykes before, but who are you?"

Before the woman could reply Commander Sykes snarled. "Yeah, you had some bullshit story about a visit from the Sa'arm. Yet you sit there nice, fat and happy. The Sa'arm would have come back and wiped you out if it was a real visit!"

Tamara immediately started adjusting controls and a moment later a loud ping echoed in the command post. "Why don't you check the report?" I proposed to Commander Sykes. "Admiral Himmel was rather impressed by it."

There was a loud harrumph and Jillian said. "He's cut his communications."

I smiled. "Well, no rabbit for him then."

The other lady laughed. "He's a jerk, sadly he's also senior right now. I'm Captain Susan Marakova commanding the Palm Beach."

Yvette groaned. "What did they do, find every exclusive resort or community and use that to name Patrician Class Corvettes?"

Susan laughed. "That's what they did."

The laughter continued and I noticed a musical lilt from someone laughing. It wasn't anyone in the command post and I signaled for quiet. Immediately we could tell that it came from one of the ships. I was about to ask when the laughing stopped. "Oops, I've been caught," a female voice said.

Jillian smiled. "You must be on the Stagecoach, but the voice I kept hearing sounded male."

The voice spoke again. "Oh, you were talking to the AI. It runs just about everything. I just ride along, supposedly to handle any alerts, but I think it's more that the Confederacy doesn't quite trust a ship without a human on board."

"So it's just you?" I asked.

There was a musical giggle. "Yes, fleet auxiliary Ensign Mary Celeste at your service. I was staying quiet 'cause I can't stand the blowhard Sykes. What a jerk."

Susan giggled. "Must get lonely riding on your own."

Mary sighed. "I was a long-haul trucker on Earth and it works out about the same. Two weeks away from home and then three days at home for each trip. I don't mind except that they switched schedules and I've been 'on the road' for three weeks straight now. I miss..."

There was a sigh and Yvette giggled. "I'm not sure we can help you there, this is a tiny colony and we don't have a pool of free concubines."

Mary just groaned. "Doesn't have to be a concubine. Just find me a hard cock and a sweet tasting pussy and I'll be happy."

I looked around and heard Tiffany whisper. "I heard Gina say that she, Molly and Michael wouldn't mind adding another girl for a night of fun."

Yvette smiled wickedly. "Well, we might be able to do that, can you teleport down? Or doesn't your ship have teleport capability?"

Mary giggled again. "I told you the AI does everything. I just sit in my little bridge and play solitaire while listening for any alert signals. It has the docking all programmed in, and the regulations state that I can leave if we are in the hands of trained planetary traffic control personnel. Just hook up your teleport and I'll be there ready to party."

Susan giggled. "Oh I can tell she's hurting."

Yvette and the twins laughed. "I'll call Gina," Jillian said. "She can meet Mary when she arrives."

I turned to the teleport room and went inside, making the adjustments required to connect with the pad inside the Stagecoach. A moment later the pad activated and a cute blond lady who was no taller than Meiko stepped out of the beam. She was wearing only the flimsiest of negligees and smiled at me as she stepped off the pad. "Thank you," she said to me. "I need it bad."

I smiled. "I'm sure Gina will be happy to oblige. If you'll step out into our command chamber we can wait for her there."

Mary stepped into the main room and once again smiled at everyone. She made a hesitant step towards Yvette, but Gina and Molly appears in the doorway and quickly dragged her away, giggling.

"That was different," I said as Yvette just shook her head.

"At least we'll get a reputation for being nice and pleasant," she replied which caused Susan to laugh over the communications.

"Just don't tell Sykes. He's been on Mary's case since we left Borneo," Susan said. "Meanwhile, how do we conduct the trade? My ship has no teleporter."

I smiled as Tiffany spoke up. "That's easy. I've provided you with a parking orbit, which will connect you to one of our emergency evacuation teleporters. We designed and built them to hurry injured crew off ships that cannot give them medical treatment or that are in danger of exploding and one of them can handle what we are trading without Sykes even noticing. It's basically an airlock with a teleport pad inside. When you reach our orbit we'll guide it to your forward airlock and connect. We trade the items and can detach quietly. The process should only take minutes."