Chapter 34: Thunderous Silence

Kitty staggered one time when a powerful contraction wracked her body, but otherwise we were able to reach the medical bay without problems. The door slid opened as we approached and Shawna dashed out.

"It's nice to have some good news," she cried as she gave Kitty a quick hug before taking my friend's right arm and offering support. "How bad are the contractions?"

"I've only had one," Kitty moaned. "At least only one I felt. Ooooh."

"Two," Brittany chirped with a giggle.

Kitty glanced over at our sister concubine. Brittany just shook her head at the expression on Kitty's face before dropping back to allow Shawna and me to assist Kitty through the doorway.

Inside, we found David waiting with one of the maternity gurneys. He scooped up Kitty and settled her on the bed. Shawna immediately began checking the displays on the bed.

Kitty moaned one more time and then sighed in relief. "Why didn't you bring this to me?" she asked.

"Didn't want to reveal the ability to our visitors," Shawna said. "Donna has been listening in on the conversation. Our new governor doesn't seem to have much respect for us."

"He's a jerk and he threatened James!" Brittany snapped. "We should do something about him!"

"Not much we can do," I observed quietly. "Somehow, I imagine that Central Command would be a bit upset if James openly defied the man they appointed as Governor."

Shawna was shaking her head. "That's what everyone is worrying about. We don't know how this will play out. Right now, the plan is to see if we can develop a healthy relationship with our visitors. I imagine they won't stay for very long."

"But what if they order us to leave?" Brittany wailed.

"I'm not sure they can," Shawna replied. "At least, not officially. James was trying to piece it together. The administration of the planet could be changed by Central Command, but transferring us requires the acceptance of our commander."

"We have a commander?" Kitty asked. She was breathing slowly as David examined some of the readouts on the gurney.

Shawna giggled. "Yup. Even though we were never formally organized, we are considered to be a marine division under the command of General Montgomery. The AI units required that all marines based here be officially tied to a command when the planet was first set up. At the time, no one in Central Command was paying attention, so our unofficial unit was placed under the command of the Sector's Marine Commandant."

"Do you think General Montgomery will protect us?" I asked.

"Most likely he will." Shawna replied.

I sighed as Kitty lay on the gurney. She gripped my hand tightly for a moment and groaned. "Sorry," she whispered. "I'm just nervous."

Donna turned to look at my sister concubine. "It's understandable. Every concubine who was giving birth for the first time was a bit nervous. We're here with you though."

"James should be here," Brittany said with a growl. "That ... that..." she paused for a moment. 'No, I won't use the word. It fits him, but I refuse to lower myself to that level."

"We know he has one," Shawna said with a giggle. "The question is does he know how to use it."

David just shook his head. "Let's not go there. If he's really as small as he's acting, or was, he will take great offense to comments like that. And that is something we don't need."

"Sorry," Brittany whispered. Her face turned as red as her long hair as she looked down for several minutes.

Donna and Shawna were moving about the room, occasionally checking the display on Kitty's natal gurney. The overhead speaker was silent. I squeezed Kitty's hand to comfort her.

The silence seemed to stretch out, broken only by occasional groans by Kitty as a contraction rippled across her body. Finally, Donna turned to look at us. "Sorry, we're checking to make sure we have all our medical records and data current. We don't really need perfect records since the AI remembers everything, but I get a feeling our new overlord is going to demand to see them."

I nodded, "He didn't seem to be all that understanding of people."

Just then, the speaker crackled. "Medical, we've got incoming wounded." a voice growled out.

Shawna sighed. "Ed, can you get to the medical bay and prepare to meet the wounded? And can anyone report on how many we will be accepting?"

"Ten so far," Tamara called out. "The initial strike in the ambush worked, but the Sa'arm had sent out more of those stealthed mines. When Mongolia opened fire four mines detonated, and all were close enough to cause severe damage."

"Ambush? But they were just barely getting it set up when we brought Kitty here!" Brittany cried out.

Donna looked over at us. "That was over two hours ago. I'm surprised you hadn't mentioned it Meiko, your daughter must be getting hungry."

I nodded briefly. "She should be at the nursery with most of the concubines in attendance. I'm sure they have kept her fed."

"It's been that long?" Kitty asked. "I feel like only a few minutes have gone by. And I know my contractions haven't started coming faster." She groaned as another contraction rippled through her body.

"You aren't in full labor yet," Donna replied after a quick glance at the instrument panel on the gurney. "But it's not a false labor either. In a hospital, they might have you walk up and down the hallway a few times to help get the labor started, but here the gurney does a better job of helping maintain everything. Your contractions should speed up soon."

"I didn't know it could be so complicated," Brittany sad putting a hand over her own pregnant belly. "I always imagined that it was a fairly simple process."

Shawna just shook her head and turned to look at the speaker. "Ed, are you on your way to the medical bay?"

"Yes," Ed replied. "And I'm bringing Gina along to help for now. If you could send David to help move gurneys, I'd appreciate it."

"Damn!" James voice cried out. "Something's wrong with laser two!" His voice was cut off by a strange roar that shook the entire colony.