Chapter 37: Moments of Silence

The next three weeks proved to be relatively quiet. Linus, Louis, Timothy and Mike were continuing to attempt to develop new defenses that would get around the AI's prohibitions against operating the weapons themselves. Most ideas involved mines or unguided rockets, but the units in the system that the AI had for manufacturing items in space were still expanding the repair docks and Fred only had limited opportunities to obtain the raw material needed for additional mines or rockets.

The good news was that after one major gunfight that left several dead the fighting in the corridors outside had cooled down to a simmer. Neither side had more than twenty fighters remaining, but all reports indicated that the remaining fighters on both sides were the more aggressive members and that surrender by either side was not a likely possibility.

Inside our own walls things were going great. Tanya had recovered from her acid burns. Once shown the hydroponics setup and told about the plan, she became an enthusiastic worker in the pod. We soon had a wall of rapidly growing hay, which attracted regular visits from most of the inhabitants of the colony. Even some of the rabbits got a chance to see the growing hay, although their interest proved to be culinary rather than aesthetic. The few rabbits that were gifted with stalks from crop showed no hesitation in making the pieces disappear.

We had the new pods completed, and the new sports courts were large enough that a few half-court basketball games had been tried. In all it was a rather idyllic life, outside of making regular reports to the Naval and Marine commands.

I was in the command center to review one of those reports when I looked up to see the outer door open on the repeater screen. I watched in shock as three naked teenagers dashed through the opening door. It began to close when the one male teenager jerked and fell, a small pool of blood started to spread from his lower torso. The two girls screamed, but then one cried on pain and fell covering her thigh as the door finished closing. "Damn!" I heard Robert cry as I turned towards the armory.

"AI, do me a favor and lock the outer door for the next hour, then open the middle door and open a channel to the room," I said as I grabbed my usual flechette gun.

"Channel open," The AI replied as I could hear Robin calling for Terrence and Yvette to respond to the situation.

"Kids," I called out. "You aren't in a safe spot. I know that two of you are hurt, but get beyond the door that just opened. Both Manuel and Ruth have tried blowing that outer door once and I can't promise they won't try again. AI, when they are safely behind the middle door, close it."

I left after one more nod to Robin and Robert, and sprinted down the passage. I arrived at the crossing to find Terrence already there with his concubines. "I hear that two of our new visitors were shot?" he asked as I arrived.

"Door," I commanded the AI before turning to Terrence. "Yes, the outer door was closing when someone fired through the gap. The boy took one in the back, and was bleeding badly. One of the girls took one in the thigh."

"Dear god," Ingrid murmured.

The door had completed its cycle and we dashed into the corridor. In the distance we could hear a couple of ricochets off the outer door. Terrence and I sped ahead when we realized that the middle door hadn't closed yet. We arrived to find the one uninjured girl sobbing next to the body of the boy where he had originally fallen.

"I can't lift him," she wailed as Terrence and I arrived. Her friend hissed when she saw the flechette gun I was carrying, but then stopped in shock as Diana and Ingrid arrived and started checking her wound.

Terrence and I looked at each other. "We need a gurney," I said. "He's too badly wounded to carry to medical."

"Already on it," Robin's voice called out. "Donna is waiting at medical and she sent Lindsay and Tanya with a gurney."

Diana softly spoke up. "Stay calm. We can fix this. Don't panic."

I looked up and Diana was trying to calm the girl with the wound in her thigh as Ingrid tried to check it. I was about to ask when Ingrid turned to Terrence and me. "The wound looks like it's only flesh deep. I don't want to probe too hard, but the bone feels intact. But it's started to bleed."

I nodded and looked at Terrence. "She can be carried. Get her out of here, and I'll wait for the gurney." He smiled and moved to pick up the girl as a loud bang rang through the area.

I was going to say something when Yvette's voice rang out through the speakers outside. "Damn your souls you cowardly little maggots! Do we have to give you another lesson in overkill? I'd be quite happy to see what your insides look like you don't get away from my front door!"

There was a pause and then one last light bang. "Now!" Yvette shouted angrily.

Terrence was shaking his head as he picked up the wounded girl who gasped and then threw an arm around him. He turned to go and I looked back at the boy. The boy was breathing, but the bullet had caught him in the lower back and we desperately needed the gurney to rush him back to medical. I was about to turn and shout when Lindsay and Tanya ran up with it.

"Sorry," Lindsay cried out as they brought the gurney to a halt and lowered it to make it easier to put the boy onto it.

Neither concubine had brought any bandages so I had Tanya do her best to keep pressure on the boy's wounds. He groaned once as I lifted him, but a slight sigh as I settled him onto the gurney signaled that he had passed out. The unhurt girl gave a sob when she realized he was unconscious.

"He's just unconscious," Tanya said. "But we better hurry before he loses too much blood."

I nodded and started to push the gurney along. Tanya ran with it while trying to keep the pressure on as Lindsay steadied the gurney from the front. The girl uttered a cry of surprise, but quickly started to follow as we made our way towards the medical bay. We looked back as the doors closed behind us.

As we hurried through the passages the girl seemed to be looking around in surprise. We had finally reached the medical bay where Donna met us. "The other girl is in a medical pod already," she said. "No major damage, but it will take about two hours to close up all the blood vessels that were damaged by the bullet. They were using armor piercing ammo and it cut right through her leg."

Tanya nodded. "This one's a lot worse. He's definitely taken some damage to his intestines. We need to hurry."

Donna looked at him and gasped. She grabbed the front of the gurney from Lindsay and immediately pulled it forward to line it up with one of the medical pods. "James, can you use your muscles to get him in?" she asked me.

I quietly nodded and lifted the boy up. His limp body was a bit difficult to move, but Lindsay helped by supporting his head as I moved him into the pod, which closed with a hiss.

As it closed the remaining girl cried out. "Wha-? What is this?"

Lindsay giggled. "Welcome to Ishtar's one and only medical center. Operated by some of the best button pushers you'll ever meet."

"Lindsay!" Donna snapped. "Do you have to be so flippant?"

"Only when I'm pregnant and in love with you," Lindsay replied with a giggle.

I tried not to laugh as Donna glared at her concubine. She then sighed and looked over at me. "Do you remember the scared concubine who was terrified that I'd stop loving her?" she asked me. "Now I have one who is nearly as cheeky as Tina."

I tried to stop a snort. "No one is as cheeky as Tina when she gets going," I replied.

The girl was listening to this and wailed again. "I don't understand."

Donna looked at her for a moment. "Sorry, we are all good friends over here and the banter can get going sometimes. You are in a working medical bay. Right now your friends are in medical pods. Your female friend will be fine; she's going to take about two hours, but nothing serious."

"And Orlando?" the girl asked.

"Orlando? I see someone read too much Shakespeare," Tanya said.

Donna was checking the reading and sighed. "Well, the good news is that he should be fine. The bad news is that it will take at least fifteen hours to repair all the damage. The bullet missed his spine, but did a number on his internal organs."

I sighed. "Dare I ask who the sponsor is in this group?"

The girl started fidgeting. "Debby is, but will she be okay? I mean, we don't know what happened. Bernard used to talk to us, and Manuel threatened us, but then something happened and Manuel started bragging that Bernard was dead. Debby didn't want to join him, but when we tried to run to Ruth we got lost and ran down that passage. What happened? We were being chased and ran into a corridor that came to an end. I was frantic to escape, but Debby told us to stay put, and then this door opened in front of us. We stepped through and it closed behind us but Debby and Orlando were shot before the door closed all the way. I thought we were going to die and then you appear from behind another door?"

The girl collapsed to the floor sobbing and I looked at Donna. "They were the last of the neutrals. Debby must have been looking to escape from Manuel."

Donna smiled. "Well, they found something a little better than they expected, I'm sure. We just have to wait for Debby to wake so we can get her set up."

I nodded. "But they all look so young. Debby might be sixteen, Orlando looks no older, and this poor girl is the same. I think we should bring in one of the twins. Their man is a bit older, but they have the youth to help these kids."

Donna shrugged. "What about Mike and his family? They aren't much older."

The girl suddenly had a sour face. "Is that nerdboy Michael around? He was such a wimp. Never wanted to do anything except talk."

I looked over at Donna, but it was Lindsay who knelt down next to the girl and spoke. "There was nothing else he could have done except die. One of his friends tried to talk to Manuel and was beaten to death. He did all he could."

The girl nodded slightly. "I know, but it hurts. I saw Debby and Orlando fall and start bleeding and I thought it was over. After all once Debby is dead, what happens to me?"

Tanya smiled. "You come here and find out that an old friend from high school is now a well loved concubine and join a new household. At least that's what happened to me," she admitted.

I looked over to see Tanya and Lindsay holding hands. Donna giggled when she saw them holding hands as well. "You pushed me to take her, and it's proved to be the right move. Those two are such a pair in bed."

I looked at the girl. "Um, miss. Do you have a name we can use? And are you hungry?" I asked.

She looked up. "It's Victoria. And yes, I am hungry, but I want to be here for Debby."

Tanya smiled. "No problem, Debby will be in the pod for a while. We can take you to get food and bring you back here before she gets out."

Tanya helped the frightened girl to her feet and smiled. She winked at Lindsay who turned and left quietly and then looked over at Donna. "Sorry, mistress I'm going to need a few minutes to get this girl to the recreation hall and feed her. I'll keep her there until Debby is ready to be removed from the pod."

Donna waved and Tanya proceeded to lead Victoria out of the room. She was cheerfully asking the girl what kind of foods she liked as they disappeared from the room. It took a moment before they were out of earshot and Donna giggled.

"I'm guessing Lindsay is going to go find the twins and let them know. Most likely Marilyn and one of the younger concubines will be joining them at the recreation hall," she observed.

I just shook my head. "I am not going to bet against you on that. I'd lose and I probably wouldn't want to pay the penalty for losing."

Donna blushed. "What, you don't want a little orgy with Lindsay, Tanya and me?" She saw my expression and giggled. "Oh, don't take it so hard. Everyone knows how you feel. But Jack's complaint wasn't entirely wrong either. There isn't a woman in the enclave who wouldn't happily say yes to you if you asked. And not one of the men would complain. At most you'd be asked to share your concubines, although no one will ask for Meiko. Everyone has heard her protestations of loyalty to you."

I just sighed. "I'm not going to ask though. I already am the richest man on Ishtar just from the wealth of love my own concubines give me."

I suddenly felt arms wrap around me. "It's we who are wealthy," Janice whispered. "You have given all of us; Bethany, Tina, Meiko, Brittany, Kitty and me so much. And you just want to give us more. We love you, James. We love you so much. Please, don't sell yourself short. We want you to be happy."

I turned around and kissed Janice. "I'm happy to know that my ladies are content. Perhaps I'm a bit selfish, but I want them to need no man except me. I don't mind if they enjoy the touch of other women, but I want them always hungry for my touch."

Donna snorted behind me. "Just your touch? James are you trying to be polite, or to spare my not very virgin ears? James, part of why every woman wants you is the glow your concubines have every time they've been with you. We know that most of it is the fact that they love you so much, but part has to be you, and we want to try you out and find out what makes you so good at loving."

I tried to turn my head, but Janice held my by the chin and looked into my eyes. "God, James! You make it so hard sometimes. Not to love you, but instead to not love you. Will you ever be selfish with your affection? I remember all through high school listening to my girlfriends talk about how they felt about the boys they slept with, but not one ever described anything like how I feel for you. They just said the men the fucked were sweet or caring, but you are so much more than they describe. Fuck me, love me, but never leave me."

I just held Janice for a long moment and then sighed. "Janice, I promised you that I would respect you and be there for you as long as you trusted me. I never imagined that I'd love you and your sisters as much as I do."

"Sisters?" Donna asked.

Janice giggled. "My fellow concubines for this wonderful man. We aren't real sisters, but we are definitely a family now and calling us sisters is almost accurate. It's not perfect, but I know of no better word."

I smiled. "Donna, I think I should leave and remind this little girl of how lucky and happy I am that she agreed to come with me."

Donna laughed. "Oh great, make our office smell like sex again. Now I'll have to call Jacques to take care of my itch." I turned and she winked and waved us out of the room. "Do it in there, you'll want to be here when Debby wakes up."

Janice giggled as she dragged me from the room and over to the medical office. "Do you really feel that way?" she asked me shyly.

I smiled as I kissed her and ran a hand along her left leg. Like my other original concubines her pregnancy was now rather visible and she had switched to wearing a shift rather than the miniskirt and halter-top that had been my ladies' uniform for the journey here. She sighed as my wandering hands pushed the hem of the shift up. "I feel so ugly with this bulge," she sighed.

"And yet, seeing it hasn't reduced my lust for you," I whispered. "I think that old man Heinlein said it best when he once wrote about 'miracles'. He had one simple thought. 'I prefer the Real McCoy, a pregnant woman.' What that bulge is, is the miracle born of your love for me, and my love for you. I will never find you ugly because of it."

Janice gave a small sob and threw her arms around my neck. A moment later my little cheerleader forced me up against the wall as her lust boiled over. My shorts ended up on the floor and Janice then threw her legs around me and impaled herself on my cock, riding me with wild abandon as I returned her kisses. We coupled frantically for several minutes until Janice came and started sobbing in my arms.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I just needed that. I didn't trust you enough. I couldn't believe that you still loved me."

I just held Janice as she cried herself out. Her tears were warm, and her arms wrapped around me kept me from releasing her. In the end I was fighting to free my arms to dry her eyes when Donna stepped into the office.

Donna smiled. "I see that it's not just Lindsay who has attacks of panic that she might not be loved."

I smiled. "Tina was the same way a few weeks ago. I think all my ladies have had attacks, but Meiko and Bethany just hunt me down and demand I fuck them, should it happen."