Chapter 76

Dear Will,

I read your tale about your trip home with the concubines. Alexis and Jennifer were both in the room and I asked them to read it as well. Alexis pointed out that you might be looking at this wrong. It's true that the concubines you are bringing back are certainly afraid, but she said the confusion is the bigger issue.

The problem as I understood it, is that for a concubine who has lost their owner. (I should note that Jennifer and Alexis both speak of their former masters as "owner" rather than master.) Well, for a concubine in that situation, the loss of an anchor is frightening. Someone like me leaves Earth knowing what my role will be. I'm here to fight the Sa'arm by driving a tank while my life partner, best friend and lover Erica mans the main gun.

But as Alexis and Jennifer have explained. A concubine leaves Earth with no real purpose other than pleasing their master. Their whole existence becomes to do whatever is required to keep one other person happy. If they find a good master or mistress. (Like Willow who takes the time to make us feel special – Jennifer), they can blossom and grow. But I guess a controlling master can make it so that the concubine's every thought is about how to please them. In fact I guess the more controlling a master is, the more likely this will occur. And of course, it has long term effects. These concubines really don't have any identity other than that of being their master's concubine. When their master dies or gives them up, they are suddenly an un-person in a place they probably don't know, and around people who hold their lives in the palm of their hands. You can try to be gentle, but some won't be able to accept it for a while.

So do be patient with the concubines, and don't be too surprised if Holly can't get them to talk too much at first. Most of them probably lost much of the trust for others they had, and it might be a while before they feel safe enough to open up to the two of you. Hopefully you can find them some better homes so they don't feel that way in the future.

But enough about that.

I notice you felt "sad". Brother, I know I can be insensitive at times, but you need to have hope. I am sure that someday soon you will hear that Katy is alive and returning to you. She loves you and Marissa and love is a very powerful thing. Back when Erica and I were trapped by the Sa'arm, our love for our concubines was a huge part of why we kept trying to get home. Katy must be seeking a way to return to her family. You all mean a lot to her.

Erica and I have received official word, we are going to be heading to Darling Downs for three months. General Montgomery isn't looking to throw the Sa'arm off the planet, like we managed on Wadi, but he does want to see if we can slow down their advance and keep them close to their hive sphere for several months. The planet is not rich in metals, so the plan is to send in a number of replicator and AI units to generate some robotic units that can quickly strip out the majority of the useful resources. After that the goal will just be to harass the Sa'arm and destroy and space based bases they attempt to set up.

I guess there are some concerns about this since our discovery of the Skywatch system Erica and I revealed back on Wadi, but here your smoke drone idea is going to receive a full test. Before any landing they will send in a ton of those drones, launching them from space. The expectation is that most will be shot down, but the smoke screens they send out should allow following shuttles to land safely. The good news is that Colonel Yarnway refused to retreat. He did have all concubines on the planet evacuated to Borneo, but his men remain on the planet to help start the process of delaying the Sa'arm. I do hear that initial hive sphere that landed appears to be a big one. Estimates have the Sa'arm population over one million and they definitely will have queens.

So we are preparing to head out. The only good news for the household is that Phoebe will be staying home. They are only taking Third Company for this initial campaign. First and Second company will be staying behind to make sure that we truly did wipe out the infestation on Wadi.

Of course, hearing that had Erica and I laughing. We haven't told anyone, but two days ago during a patrol that took us close to the devastated area near the Sa'arm fortress, we took a detour to the front door of the place. Nothing shot at us, so we took a chance and actually entered the tunnels. We found a few Sa'arm that were so starved they could barely move, but no living warriors.

Sa'arm workers make a very satisfying crunch under the treads of the Amazon Rhino. (Amazon Rhino is the name everyone has given our tank. We use call sign AR-1, or Alpha Romeo One now.) As part of our preparation for the trip to Darling Downs, we ended up sitting in on a very interesting training session. It was more for the infantry, but it was suggested that we show up. The briefing was on using marine powered armor. I didn't even know we had it, but once we were all at Frost's Fjord. (Yes, we named it after our commander. He wasn't up on the idea, but the troops won that argument. – It's actually not really a Fjord, but a large flat island near the mouth of one of the large rivers flowing out of Alpha Continent) Anyways, we were at Frost's Fjord. The island has a large amphitheater that is used for briefings. All of the troops heading to Darling Downs were gathered and waiting. None of us knew what was going to happen. We had heard nothing more than the fact that there would be a demonstration of some kind of powered armor.

The first thing Erica and I noticed was when a young woman walked in from behind a curtain that concealed a large part of the stage area of the amphitheater. The girl was pulling some kind of rolling coat rack. She maneuvered it until it was near the center of the stage and then walked back toward the curtain.

"She's not wearing armor," Erica observed.

In fact, the girl wasn't wearing much of anything. She had on a halter top that from a distance looked a lot like a sports bra, but was clearly not designed to give much support, since the girl's breasts were bouncing freely. She was also wearing a cheerleader's miniskirt. I found myself wondering if she had panties on, as she headed out of sight.

She quickly reappeared, only this time she was carrying a rather sturdy looking chair. She set the chair down near the coat rack and then knelt next to the chair.

The crowd buzzed. I could hear many men mutter something in surprised tones. Erica and I just sat quietly and waited. A moment later Colonel Frost stood up and walked to the center of the stage. He turned to look at the assembled crowd.

"Soldiers," he began. "As you know the Confederacy is constantly looking for new weapons to help fight against the Sa'arm. One item that is not widely used at this time is a combat exoskeleton. It turns out that one model has been used on Ishtar for over a year, and had proved useful. We asked one of the marines from that planet to come here and give a demonstration."

He stepped away as a figure emerged from behind the curtain. It was humanoid, but the armor made it impossible to see the person inside. I am not the best at judging sizes, but I'd guess it was about eight feet tall. The right arm had a visible mini-gun on the top side of the forearm. The arm pointed out to sea and we all saw the gun start to spin. Tracers flashed out at incredible speeds as the armor continued to march forward.

When the shooting stopped the marine reached over their shoulder with both hands. I couldn't see what was done, but as the hands came forward I could see a large rifle in the left hand and what looked like an axe in the right.

The final action of the marine was to swing the axe down so that it struck a block I had not noticed. The axe smoothly cut the block, splitting it in half.

The infantry marines were buzzing as the armored marine released the axe and then walked over to stand in front of the chair. Once there a very feminine voice emerged. "Any questions?"

"How well does the armor protect?" someone shouted.

"I've seen it save lives," the wearer replied. "However, I don't believe this model has been in direct melee with any Sa'arm warriors."

"Wouldn't matter," a marine called back. "The Sa'arm use melee weapons that cut through just about anything. Up close you have to be faster than them and be able to cut through their armor. Is it strong?"

"James looked into the history of this armor," the wearer said. "It was originally developed to increase the strength of construction workers. We've used it in search and rescue quite a bit because in this armor you can lift heavy weights with ease. I will warn that you can't turn quickly while wearing it."

The marine who had asked about the strength shouted again. "It sounds like it will work once we develop some tactics. How many shots does that chain-gun have?"

"Forty-five seconds of fire, unless you attach an external ammunition source. It fires at twelve-hundred rounds per minute," came the reply.

"Damn," Erica whispered in my ear. "That's a lot."

"Slow!" another marine shouted. "I've hear that back on Earth six thousand rounds per minute was possible."

"The armor can only hold so much," was the calm reply. "The rate of fire was a compromise based on the maximum ammo supply and the need to have the ability to fire for a reasonable period of time."

The armored woman held the gun out. The woman who had been kneeling on the ground stood up and reached for the gun. She staggered a bit under the weight of the gun, but carried it to the clothing rack she had brought out earlier and placed it in a special holder on one of the uprights.

"It was thought that the best way to show the armor would be to remove it, and then show someone getting into armor. I'm now going to remove the armor," the woman said. "Removal requires at least one person's help. My concubine Monique will assist me in this."