Chapter 137

Dear Brother,

Wow, just wow.

I mean I can't even quite understand what is happening to you. I mentioned this letter to one of the sergeant professors we have and he started asking all sorts of complex mathematical questions. He wanted to know the size of the sphere you have fallen into as well as the number of ships you have found, and the energy that the Aer Lingus AI estimates the system is capturing.

I told him that not only did I not know this, but I wouldn't ask you all about it. I sure its all science and stuff, but I'm a dumb tank driver. I care nothing for the power output of a G class star.

I am thrilled that you are hearing Katy. She must be frantic, since its been like six months since she disappeared. But now you have a chance to find her again. I'm sure that she's somewhere within the sphere. Just take your time and work methodically. I'd recommend having her stay in one place and using drones to try to triangulate her position. Then move your ship to her location. Any other way might have both of you moving to the last known location and playing "ships that pass in the night."

Of course the most important thing will be to reassure her that you love her, and have missed her. She's been away for a while. I can say from experience with my concubines that when you've been apart for a while they really do need a lot of reassurance when you do finally come back together. Even Violet and Bree can become quite demanding after Erica and I return from a mission. It's one of the few problems for concubines. They need to know that you still need them. Not so much sexually, but emotionally.

I guess that's the one part of the whole concubine system that I agree needs to be fixed. Our concubines have to trust that we'll always want them around, but it can't be just about sex. I think they instinctively know this because I've watched all of the concubines on Trinary Island, and there is a huge amount of emotional vulnerability they display especially when their owner is returning after being away.

I know I've told you quite a bit about the new mission for my unit. We will be heading to Tuftsat on a mission to burn the grasslands and hopefully make deep cuts into the food supply for the Sa'arm. It's an attempt to cut down on their numbers and hopefully slow down their expansion. From what I've heard Tuftsat does not have a lot of metals, so the hope is that if we are active enough we might keep them from building a hive sphere until they have run out of food. It's probably going to take lifetimes, but its better than seeing another Darling Downs where the Sa'arm wiped out thousands of marines once they landed. No matter what anyone tells you, humans are at a huge disadvantage when fighting the Sa'arm on land. The Sa'arm might be slow to react and use mostly primitive weapons, but they are larger, can take a lot of punishment and their hive mind means that they just don't miss stationary targets.

At least having a tank gives us protection against their basic weaponry. And Colonel Frost tells Erica and me that we are the best team he's ever heard of. I guess there was talk about sending us to a training planet, but our youth and the fact that we do a lot of things that even our commanders fear to attempt killed that idea. Captain Fabio said he's seen a video of our antics that is very clearly labeled. "Things you will be court martialled for attempting.

But I should be going. We have a last rehearsal before the transport picks us up.

Your sister,

Willow.