Chapter 8: Castle Games

The brief baby boom ended eight days later and the population of our colony had increased by forty-eight children. Every one of the original thirty-seven female concubines gave birth although only Madison, one of Linus Van Stern's concubines, gave birth to twins. She was thrilled to have her third and fourth children and was soon offering to set up a day care and baby-raising clinic for any concubines needing a break. Her master simply glowed that he now had two sons and a new daughter to go with ten-year-old daughter Lily he had brought from Earth. The other babies came from the concubines of our new citizens, Barbara, Debby and Mike, as well as four of the concubines who had arrived during the final destruction of the rest of the colony, plus the concubines Tanya and Carol who had new owners since arriving in the enclave. Tanya of course was with Donna and Carol had joined Yvette's household. Every sponsor in the colony was proud of their concubines and took to doting on the babies.

The doting appeared to completely confuse Alexis. During the boom of childbirths, she had spent considerable time training in hand-to-hand combat with Barbara, Debby and Amanda. Brad was actually the planetary champion in the group's unofficial tournaments. He had considerable training back on Earth. Barbara had tried to convince Alexis to train with him, but our newest citizen shrugged off the suggestion. However, once the boom ended and all the citizens gathered in the recreation room for a huge party, she showed up looking lost.

"Why?" she asked as she slumped into a chair next to me. I was sitting and watching as Yvette's children competed in some console racing game. I had not been paying attention at the start, but it was clear that they were not keeping score by who crossed the finish line first, and the game involved far more giggling than shouting. I turned to Alexis and shrugged.

"Why what?"

"Why have this party?"

I smiled. "They didn't really need a why. They like to party and relax. But if you are worried, this one is for exactly what they said. They want to celebrate the birth of a new generation."

Alexis glared at me. "I understand why a woman would want that, but why the men? Your babies are going to take time away from them. They are going to hate that."

I shifted slightly, carefully adjusting the sling holding Madoka. Marina had seen the contraption James had given me that first day and had burst out laughing. She vanished into her owner's pod and came back with a much simpler fabric design that allowed my daughter to lie down against my side and chest. She could even suckle if she felt the need. The design had won quick and universal approval and now every female concubine had at least one version of it. Madoka was sleeping peacefully, so I looked at Alexis.

"They knew it would happen. And while I don't speak for the other households, I still go to bed with James every night I can," I responded. "Yes, I'll wake up in the middle of the night to sneak out and check on my daughter, and yes, right now with the babies waking up so often we tend to cuddle many nights rather than having sex, but James is patient. Look around, do you see any of the other male citizens looking upset?"

Alexis looked around. My eyes also scanned the room and I had to raise a hand to hide my smile. As I expected, none of the citizens looked at all upset about the current baby boom or the fact that their concubines were distracted by newborns. Brad had a new permanent smile on his face as he teased his two sons. Terrence was sitting between Diana and Ingrid and cuddling a child in his arms. I thought it was probably his daughter Dana as Diana's sling was empty. Even Tyson, who I know intimidated Alexis, was all smiles as he showed Cleo's son, Lamont, how to hold his half-sister. Cleo looked more than a little distressed at the idea of a five-year-old boy handling her newborn, but Tyson never really let go.

I had finished my scan and returned to watch the racing game as Heidi apparently won a round and sent Roge over to the replicator to fetch something. Adam was lying on the ground laughing as Yvette's oldest boy headed to the replicator.

"None are upset," Alexis quietly said, surprise in her voice. "I don't understand it. Manuel's goons would be looking for a woman to beat by now."

"Why would one of these men need to do that?" I asked. "Again, I can't speak for everyone, but I already want James to make love to me every night again. I still want to have Madoka with me every night, but in a few weeks, I'm sure I'll be more comfortable with spending the night in James' arms."

"How do you get six women in his arms at night? I never understood how you make that work?" Alexis asked abruptly.

"We share him and he is careful not to play favorites," Bethany said as she slid into the seat next to me. "You can't really use the standards of Modern Western Civilization to explain the households here. I'd say that the old harems of wealthy Persians is closer to what we have, although I think most of them followed a one woman a night rule."

"What?" Alexis asked.

Bethany giggled. "Read the full story of the Arabian Nights. You know the ones that have Ali Baba and Sindbad the Sailor. However, read all of the stories including the less popular ones. You'll notice that many of the kings have multiple concubines. Western culture went away from the idea of multiple wives long ago, but many historians believe that polygamy came first. We just had to put aside petty jealousies and learn to love each other as much as we love James."

"It works," I whispered as I reached over to give Bethany a kiss. I noticed that she did not have her sling and pulled back. "Where's Astrid?"

Bethany pointed at James who was wearing the sling on his left side. "He offered to hold her for a moment or two. I hate to let her go, but she's just fed, so she should be fine. James will be very careful with her."

I was about to say more when Ulla's voice rang out. "James, Yvette. I think we have a transit. The detectors just spiked."

Yvette looked up. She had been teasing Candi and Randi as they changed their sons' diapers. "Do we have a vector?"

"Yes," Ulla's voice responded. "It's on a line with the Wolf system. It's not a large pulse. Probably a corvette."

James was rising to his feet. "I'll be there shortly. Tyson, Linus you might want to head to the lasers and get the tracking up there as well just in case. Fred, Brad I have to ask you to tear yourselves away from the party and get ready to suit up."

"We'll be ready," Fred called out as he rose to his feet.

Alexis was staring at the ceiling in shock. "What?" she asked as most of the other citizens stopped their games and began to head out of the room. I could see many of the concubines rounding up children and organizing them as well.

Bethany smiled. "You didn't think we just sat and partied did you? You were awake the last time we had a visit from a corvette, although that one was scheduled. I expect that this time we'll be performing repairs, so everyone is getting to their station and setting up."

"But? What about concubines?" Alexis asked. "And what about me?"

Just then Shawna stopped by the table. "Alexis, want to come to medical? We can hope that there are no issues, but we always open it up. Corvettes don't have many medical pods and if they have casualties we'll fix them up here."

Alexis gave a tentative nod and stood up. Once she had left the table Bethany nudged me. "Go to James and be there for now. I'll have Tina join you. The rest of us will help with the kids and preparing of rooms."

I nodded quietly and then got up to dash out of the room. There were still a few concubines clearing the room with help from the older children, but most of the others had already gone. With Bethany shouting to get Tina's attention I left the room and headed for the command post.

Inside I found James and Yvette standing as Ulla and Veronica continued to check their panels. Timothy and Xavier were sitting in the alcove, which housed the weapons controls, but they did not seem particularly alarmed.

Veronica gave an exasperated snort. "Nothing! It's clearly a Castle class, but they aren't answering on any frequency and their IFF is out. They must have taken a hit on the communications computer. The antennae are there."

Ulla nodded. "The scan was long range, but her primary IFF emitter is intact and I can see the secondary antenna extended. That might not be their only problem. The starboard engine is done for."

"Done for?" Yvette asked.

Ulla nodded again. "Linus would be the best judge, and maybe he can get it repaired, but even at the distance we took the readings from I can see that there are at least six basketball or larger size holes in the housing, and the damaged exhaust clearly indicates that the engine overloaded. I just hope the housing can still be removed."

"Wonderful," James said. "Another cripple with no communications. Veronica, can you send out a boost signal to Borneo. Hopefully they can brief us on who just arrived."

"Right away," she said.

James came over to hug me. Just then Tina ran in. "How can I help?" she asked.

"You took the class on running a tug right?" James asked.

"I'm not as good as Maggie, but I can operate one," Tina said.

James nodded. "Take the tug station. We just might need it. This ship looks like it's crippled."

Veronica then called out. "I have Borneo."

James had his eyes closed, but nodded. I could see Yvette trying to refrain from giggling as he spoke. "Admiral Himmel?"

The voice that replied was sleepy. "No, this is Daphne, his senior concubine. He's asleep and I hate to wake him for a non-emergency. Who is this?"

James cursed. "Damn, sorry, but it appears to be an emergency. This is Ishtar control. We have a crippled Castle class corvette in system."

"A cripple! But the only Castle on patrol is the Tintagel! That's William's ship! Horace! Wake up! It's our son's ship! Oh, I just know he's dead! Why did you send him out with that gung-ho Captain Jordan!"

"Wha?" another sleepy voice replied. "Daphne, slow down. I just heard the wake up and then it was all gibberish."

"It's that rabbit planet," the woman's voice said. "They just called and they have a Castle Corvette there, but it's crippled. I know the Tintagel is the only Castle on patrol! Oh, William must be dead!" There was a momentary wail that halted only after a resounding smack rang through the speakers. A quiet sobbing was heard for a moment.

"James," Admiral Himmel said. "At least I hope it's you James. Can you give me more information?"

My master shook his head and waved to Tina. She nodded and I could see her activate the panel to send out the tug. "I'm afraid we originally called you because all we knew was that we had a Castle Class Corvette in the system. We're on the far side of our sun from the arrival point, and have only managed a long-range scan, but what we have seen shows that the Tintagel has lost her starboard engine. If she is Tintagel that is. We've been sending out calls in every frequency we can, and aren't getting responses. I've been informed that her IFF is down as well."

"Fuck! We have to start shielding the communication suites on these ships better. It's bad enough they arrive damaged, but you can't talk to them to work to repair the damage," the Admiral growled out.

Just then there was a crackling sound from the auxiliary speakers. "Ishtar control ... Ishtar control ... this is Sergeant William Monroe of Tintagel Castle. We took a direct hit from a Sliver and it got the bridge. Damage to the communications computer is extensive and we cannot receive on any frequency. We'll attempt to head towards your planet, but we have lost most of our maneuvering thrusters. Please send help," a tired voice said.

The speaker then gave off a burst of static and started a low humm. "We lost the signal," Veronica said.

"Tug on the way," Tina said. "It's going to take ninety minutes to get there."

James just nodded. He opened his mouth, but Horace's voice called out first. "Daphne! That was William. He's alive!"

"But he doesn't have the last name Himmel." Yvette observed.

Admiral Himmel laughed. "That was something he insisted on. He doesn't have great leadership skills and wanted to be implementing things, so he asked to be started as a private. I was worried that he'd have trouble if we allowed others to know the relationship, so he uses Daphne's maiden name as his last name."

"That's fair," James said. "Well, we know there are survivors and we have a tug on the way, but it's going to take some time. I'll have someone call you as soon as we know more, and if Tintagel is going to spend time here, I might even remind William to phone home."

"Hey, that's an expensive long-distance call!" the Admiral barked. "And besides, I'm still trying to save up for a bunny. Daphne wants one badly."

There was a feminine squeal of outrage just before the signal cut off. Everyone in the room was chuckling for just a moment and then the room fell silent.

"Who?" a voice tentatively asked from the doorway.

I looked over to find Alexis standing there. She seemed to be torn between entering and running away. Yvette walked over to her. "That was Admiral Himmel. He commands the local military district. You might say he's the president of our biggest customer if we were running this as a business."

"Yes, only we're paying him," Ulla said with a giggle. "Oh, news on our cripple. I finally got a better scan. She's still holding atmosphere, but the Sergeant was not lying about the bridge. It's open to space. The Castle has a huge hole in the hull."

"Should we expect casualties?" Alexis asked. "Donna told me I should come here and find that out. I think she just wanted me to see this."