Chapter 42: Major Complaints

I woke back up slowly. Around me I could hear the gentle breathing of my sister concubines. I peeked around to find them slumbering with me in the bed. Rising further, I was disturbed that James was not sharing the bed. Immediately I started to climb over Tina, who was lying by the edge of the bed.

My left foot was about to touch the floor when Tina suddenly rose up and grabbed me around the waist. I sucked in my breath to scream only to find a hand slapped over my mouth. "Don't," Tina whispered in my ear. "I'm not trying to hurt you, I just had to ask. What did you do to James last night?"

She pulled the hand away, lowering it to my shoulder gently. "Nothing," I whispered. "I did nothing to him."

Tina leaned forward and bit my left ear teasingly. "No man walks out of a room looking like he did over nothing. It wasn't even an hour after you entered and yet he seemed completely shocked. What did you do?"

I could feel blood rushing to may face and looked down for a moment. "I gave him all of me," I whispered. "And pretty much demanded that he take it all."

Tina stopped stroking me for a moment. "That almost makes sense," she whispered back. "Now, James decided to sleep out with the babies. I believe he planned on feeding them during the night so we could all sleep together. Shall we go check on him?"

"Yes," I whispered. Tina let go of me and rolled out of bed. She jumped to her feet as I put my own feet on the floor and stood up. She reached out and grabbed my hand.

"Let's go," she whispered as she dragged me towards the door.

We left the bedroom and found James lying on the couch. He was holding Kristi and Jamie on his stomach. The two babies appeared to be falling asleep. He noticed us and swept the babies up in his arms as he sat up.

"Meiko, Tina! Come see your latest nieces," he called out.

We giggled as we dashed over to James. I claimed one of the two babies and took a closer look. The little girl had ginger hair and I immediately realized that I was holding Jamie.

"Jamie," I whispered. "May you always be a reminder to your mother of how much she is loved."

I glanced up to see James with a forlorn expression on his face. "I wasn't there for her," he muttered. "Worse, I nearly threw it all away."

I switched Jamie so that I was holding her against my right hip. Then I reached out with my left hand to put it on James' shoulder. "James, I don't know why, but that man was clearly trying to make you lose your temper. It was as if he needed you to attack him."

James nodded. "And I didn't because you were there to stop me. I owe you everything."

I shrugged as I carried Jamie back to the cribs. I set her down. Immediately she curled up and closed her eyes. Tina giggled as I paused to look. Then she placed Kristi down next to Jamie. The two babies clearly were ready to sleep.

From across the room I could hear Madoka waking up, so I walked over to her. I had not dressed yet, but realized that I needed to clean up a bit. Picking her up, I carried her over to James and placed her in his arms. "Hold her while I clean up," I commanded.

Tina laughed loudly as I disappeared into our bathroom. I rinsed my body quickly and then walked back into the living area. James had sat back down and was bouncing Madoka on his knee as Tina sat in a recliner and fed Tolwin.

I sat down next to James and reached out for Madoka. As I did, Tina looked at James. "So what is the plan for today? I mean, it sounds like you are going to try to avoid our visitors."

James handed Madoka to me and smiled. "We have all of the male concubines agreeing to man the command post, although we'll have concubines in our old command post doing most of the work. The work in the old colony center will be mainly to impress Colonel Johanes and his scientists."

"Won't that major and his marines figure it out?" I asked.

James started to laugh. "That's just it. I don't think any of them have that kind of training. On most planets the work we do is given to the navy rather than the marines. I'm sure they could take the time to learn it, but for now, it's unlikely they have any idea what we are doing."

"So the idea is to keep them away while we do the real work over here. That sounds way too much like what we had to do with Ruth and Manuel," Tina said. "I thought we were past that."

"Ruth and Manuel never had official approval," James said. "Everything Admiral Himmel has told us indicates that someone very high up at Central Command is willing to issue orders that Colonel Johanes is to be offered all possible help."

"And what does that mean?" I asked. "It seems like Colonel Johanes is willing to demand time with other citizen's concubines."

I heard Tina gasp as she switched Tolwin from one breast to the other. "Is that what happened yesterday?"

James nodded. "He did, and tried to claim that he could issue that order simply because he is the governor of Ishtar. But we were interrupted at that point when Captain Werfel showed up. And before he could send them away, one of his scientists discovered something."

"Have we heard more about that?" I asked.

"Only that one of the devices we found moves if a certain raised circle is pressed in," James said. "I guess there are two of these buttons. One caused a tube to flip out from the center of the device. The other returned the tube to inside the structure. The tube was made from an alloy that was mostly lead with some heavier metals."

"Lead?" Tina asked. "Why would anyone use lead in something? I seem to remember reading that it's poisonous. It was in one of the texts Bethany had me read."

James nodded. "Yes, lead is poisonous to us. However, some of the radioactive metals, like Uranium, will actually turn into lead over time. One of the scientists believes he might be able to determine how long ago the civilization died."

I thought about that for a moment and then smiled. "So he's thinking that the tube was one made of uranium and has been decaying?"

James nodded. "That's what Terrence reported. Chief Scientist Johanes hasn't agreed with that assessment. It seems he is sure that the device has to be more exotic than that."

"Well, at least we know it's old," Tina said. "Now, what are you going to be doing?"

James smiled and looked at the ceiling. "AI, is Yvette awake and available?"

There was a pause and then I heard Carol's voice. "James? I'm afraid that Yvette is still wrapped around Esther and sound asleep. Is it important?"

I watched as my master shrugged. 'Not too important. How about once she wakes up you have her contact me? I'm going to take a couple of my concubines to the laser center."

"Isn't that the laser room?" Carol asked.

"It was," James said enigmatically. He stood up and helped me to my feet. "Finish feeding your babies and grab something simple to eat," he said. "We have a new task to undertake."

"Will it involve you kissing me all over?" Tina asked. "Or perhaps you want me bent over the couch. You definitely have to give me the same treatment you have Meiko last night. It's been a long time since I passed out during sex."

I giggled. Madoka released from my breast. At first, I believed she was going to protest the movement, but instead of grabbing at my breast she started to push against me. I lifted her up so she could look me in the eye.

My daughter smiled as my arms rose. I kissed her forehead and then moved to set her in her crib. I was worried about needing to change her and was about to check when Bethany staggered out of the bedroom.

"Wow," she said. "Meiko, I'm not sure how you can move this morning. James left you completely wiped out last night. However, he's in the bedroom getting clothing for Tina and you. I can take care of Madoka if you want."

"She just finished nursing," I said. I was going to change and burp her."

Bethany laughed. "I can do that for you."

"But..." I began.

"No buts, Little One," I heard James say as the door to the bedroom slid silently closed. "I want you with me, so no refusing Bethany if she offers to watch your daughter."

"I don't spend enough time with her," I said worriedly.

Tina giggled as she set her son down in his own crib. "Madoka knows you," she told me. "Next time everyone is leaning over the crib, watch her eyes. She tends to look right at you. And if you aren't there, she doesn't smile."

I sighed. Out of the corner of my eye I could see James smirking as he walked toward me. He had some cloth in his hand. As he passed me, he draped the cloth over my shoulder.

He was continuing to walk towards Tina as I reached up to claim the items he had put on my shoulder. It proved to be a halter top and skirt. As this seemed to be his preferred outfit for me I was not surprised, but I did notice that the skirt was similar to one worn by the schoolgirls in some of the anime James loved to watch. The comparison became more obvious when I noticed the halter top matched the skirt for color. Only the fact that the top stopped just below my breasts prevented it from appearing traditional.

"Well, we know James is a pervert, but not that he could get this kinky," Tina said as I slipped the halter top over my head. It took me a few moments to get my head through the opening. Once the top was on, I turned to look at Tina.

Tina was still standing there naked. She had the top in her hands and was slowly turning it around. I could see a small frown on her face.

"What?" I asked her as I looked around for some panties. I found that James had dropped a pair of white boy short panties on the couch next to me. I grabbed them and put them on.

Tina had been silent for several minutes and then sighed as I stood up and wiggled the panties into place. "It's just that I'll never look as good in these as you do."

"And I don't have enough on top to make the French maid outfit that James loves to dress you in look right," I said as I began to step into my skirt. "You are perfect just as you are."

I fastened the snap that held the skirt to my hips and then turned. Tina had stopped looking at the outfit and had already pulled the top on. James was standing by the doorway so I headed over to him. We met with a loving kiss and then turned to wait for Tina to finish.

Tina noticed that we were waiting and started running toward us as she fought with the buttons on the skirt. James swept her into his arms and held her until she had secured the skirt and was able to put her arms around his neck.

"That's better," James said as he kissed Tina. "Now, stop worrying. The Little One is right, I think you are perfect. And you are very sexy in that outfit."

Tina let go. "But I'm wearing panties. I thought you would want us open for you."

"For me," James said with a growl as he turned to nibble on my neck. He led us out of the pod and down the hallway. "But never for anyone else."

Tina and I giggled at this. I was going to say more when the speakers above us hissed. "Private Rabb, can I have a moment if your time?"

James stopped and looked around. "What can I do for you Major?" James asked.

"I want to look at the laser setup you have," Major Bonham replied. "There is some question on if we want to start training to use the system."

"The lasers were both ruined by the Sa'arm attack," James said. "But I guess I can show you the setup. Do you know the pressure door you have four marines guarding?"

"The one that leads outside," Major Bonham replied.

"Outside?" James asked. "Who told you that? Right now the only openings in the colony that go outside are the ones the lasers used to enter the atmosphere. Why would you think it led outside?"

"I walked the colony when we first arrived," Major Bonham said. "That was the only door I could not figure out. By the way, where are your people living? I haven't seen them since the first day."

James laughed. "Major, has anyone explained about the schism we had on the way here?"

"Only that you arrived on Ishtar with one hundred citizens and now have less than a quarter of your original number. That's wasteful and has been reported to Central Command. Someone needs to pay for throwing away so many good troops," the major replied.

"If you can find anyone who actually commanded them, go for it," James said. "We ended up with four factions before we had even landed. Some of our citizens were extremely aggressive towards concubines and threatened anyone they encountered, even the marines we had riding with us. In the end, twenty of us requested that we end up separated from the others when we were dropped. That door is one that guards our homes from the rest of the colony."

"So you are on the other side of this door," Major Bonham growled. "I don't like that. You should be living with the rest of the marines so you can receive training."