Chapter 24

Friday morning, we were up early -- starting with little Shawna, who woke up disoriented and awoke several of us with her cries. Tara and Keisha handled the situation and Beth padded downstairs, nude, to start breakfast.

While I was sampling the product of the coffee pot, Vera and Oliver put in an appearance. Vera was at her most compliant to date, but Oliver was angry. When I asked him what was wrong, he complained, "That little bitch! She lied to me and cheated me and robbed me -- the peak of my virility was spent catering to her whims..."

"Oliver," I said, raising a hand to stop the tirade, "Next week you'll realize that the peak of your virility is still before you and you're merely older and wiser. Remember what she went through and what she was trying to accomplish. Who taught you sex, anyway?"

"Well, she did -- but it was the Reader's Digest Condensed version."

"And so you had who, exactly, before she came along?" I prompted.

"Yes, yes -- I see your point. But I'm STILL angry!"

"That won't hurt either of you any, since it will keep you in the right frame of mind," I assured him. "Just don't go overboard."

Olive puffed out a sigh. "Fine. I don't think it will help either of us if I forgive her at this point."

"Keep her under the thumb," I advised, "but remember moderation." Oliver growled and waved me off.

Beth approached then, her eyes pools of worry, "Daddy..."

"Shhh."

Oliver then turned and barked, "Vera! Go lay out something for me to wear!"

"Yes, Master!" Vera was off like a shot.

"Come here, Princess." Oliver pushed back his chair from the table and turned it so Beth could sit on his lap -- which, frankly, was smaller than her ass. "Imagine if you will that you woke up one morning and discovered that the person you've been catering to for a long, long time and you thought you knew everything about has lied to you and misled you consistently throughout your entire relationship -- and that person had done things with not one but maybe sixty or seventy guys -- in groups -- that she told you she was too prudish to even think about! I committed myself to her -- and she withheld herself from me and lied to me!"

Beth looked troubled. "I know she did, Daddy, but..."

"I know, there were extenuating circumstances. I am aware of them. But she didn't trust me -- THAT's what hurts! Whether you like it or not, she owes me for that. And she owes me everything she ever gave to another."

"She owes you that last, anyway," I pointed out.

"I won't be able to stay angry at her," Oliver told his daughter, "Not the way I am right now. But while I AM this angry, I can teach her some new habits."

"Well, all right, Daddy," Beth agreed.

"Go take care of your man," Oliver told her, patting her on the ass. "We all have a big day ahead of us." Beth got up and headed for the stove and began discussing what to feed the children with Tara and Keisha, and Oliver looked at me and said, "I grow long fangs when she sits in my lap naked. Why is that?"

"She's naked and female?" I guessed.

"There seems to be more to it than that."

I shrugged. "There is a compulsion to do something naughty in all of us. You've been conditioned to think it is naughty and you know it would be pleasurable, so..."

"What do I do about it?"

I shrugged. "It will go away, or it won't. You're a healthy male and you love her -- either one is enough to spark a little lust. The situation has changed; the only real controlling factor is the fact that she belongs to me -- and I'm aware of the situation. Permission -- or forgiveness, if it occurs spontaneously -- is a given. You may get over it because it isn't naughty enough anymore -- or you may not..." Changing the subject, I said, "Vera seems subdued..."

"I was rough on her after you left," Oliver related. "And the rougher I got, the better she got. And that made me angry, because it made it so clear how much she'd been holding out on me. She owes Major Howard a REAL blowjob."

"Oh?"

Oliver actually snarled! "The little bitch deep throats -- and swallows."

I nodded. "Okay. I begin to see why you would be pissed." This wasn't going to be fixed in a day -- or even two. The good news was that Vera was going to find her place redefined to somewhere within the norms of her new environment -- and had reason to learn to deal with it. She was in the doghouse and she'd gotten there all by herself...

It occurred to me that we probably didn't want to run Oliver and Vera's daughters off right away, so I had a word with Tara and Keisha, confirming that they were happy with their lot and instructing them to go back to their homes and collect a limited wardrobe and come on back. Then I copped feels of all of my on-site women and got in the van and headed for the school. Beth and Frieda and I had made some plans for a dramatic exit from the grocery and a similarly dramatic entrance at home, but Tara and Keisha would be on-site all day, and might have to look decent (well, be clothed) at some point.

At the school, we were in countdown mode. There was a little cleanup with students who had been genuinely out sick and we were putting in several transport pads in different locations to handle the flood while doing the usual 'family day' preparation as cover. The Marine support team and two AIs were monitoring communications for any indications that we were going to have Earth First troubles; the Marines would pull out and leave it to the AIs at fourteen hundred to begin final prep for the Brinkman Foundation extraction. Not that it was absolutely necessary, I tested transport from all pads to the eight transport rooms on the Valhalla, then hung out there to drill the crew -- all Fleet Auxiliary people -- on how things were going to be -- as if I knew... This was going to be HUGE and we were going to have to do most of the sorting out aboard the Valhalla, rather than on the surface; about the only question that would be asked on the ground would be, "Do you want to go?"

We would be screening for weapons at the school entrances -- with a lot more sophisticated equipment than usually got used -- but people did weird shit in big crowds and killing someone with bare hands could be easy. There were 48 'holding rooms' on the single deck of the Valhalla we were putting to use, each overwatched by the AI and a crew member who had access to automated stingers. The AI couldn't shoot anyone -- but it could alert the crewman and provide automatic targeting; all the crewman had to do was press the 'Fire' button on the console.

What we WANTED to do -- what we HOPED we could do -- was apportion out concubines to sponsors in more or less family groups. What we EXPECTED to have to do was accept a large number of males who were not of sponsor grade directly under the control of the Support Directorate -- which meant that rather than having an owner, they would be responsible to someone in the Civil Service hierarchy. We hoped to provide growth and promotion opportunities and perhaps a type of limited citizenship -- but the whole thing could turn into a penal colony without the proper focus and we knew it. And of course the general intent was for all female concubines to be actively apportioned to sponsors, as leaving large quantities of them with non-sponsor-grade males meant more non-sponsor-grade offspring and ultimately a population group that could cause us major headaches.

There were all kinds of issues to be addressed, such as stresses and proper support and ensuring that the needs of these males, in particular, were fulfilled so they didn't turn into a disaffected thorn in our sides -- an obvious one of which was feminine companionship and sexual release. The initial plan for this involved concubines already in the Civil Service pool for being 'undesirable' in one manner or another -- usually an issue with handling authority or a mismatch with the sponsor who picked them up, but sometimes as punishment for anything from being cantankerous up through some actual crimes. A tour with the 'bad boys' -- which would NOT end if they ended up pregnant, because they would be on contraception -- seemed a sensible punishment for problem females and it would provide these permanently unattached males with an outlet.

Homosexual activity was looked at, with concerns stemming from how it sprang up in penal systems -- and how much of it was coercive. Homosexuals among the sponsor community, male and female, tended not to be a serious issue, even on the subject of procreation. Most could bring themselves to suffer through heterosexual sex on isolated occasions, purely for the purpose of fulfilling the requirement for offspring, and Confederacy medicine helped them minimize this by ensuring that the female was more than adequately prepared for conception by enhancing the ovulation to ensure that the egg was almost ready to fertilize itself. The Confederacy allowed this, but didn't go much further; you would think that they would have advanced stuff like uterine replicators or something, but apparently the consensus was that that way led directly to the door marked 'Eugenics Project' and they'd passed laws forbidding it. Offspring were to be gestated the 'old fashioned way,' whatever that meant to the individual species involved. I'd read about Darjee sexuality during an idle moment; their particular outlook led them to understand the concept of 'host mother,' for instance, as one of their sexes basically carried the offspring to term then handed it off to the 'mother'. We had to explain the complications involved in the fact that in humans those roles were combined, and it led to there being two 'mothers' in competition for the right to nurture the child...

But I digress. Lesbians could prepare themselves for an isolated sex act with a male, as a rule -- particularly if their desire for pregnancy was ramped up enough. Homosexual males could do the same thing; in the extreme, either sex might need to be hypnotically prepared, but it was possible. Most might consider it distasteful -- but possible. Therefore, we generally had few problems with sponsors who were homosexual.

But in an environment where there was a dearth of females, homosexual activity tended to spring up in males -- not because they WERE homosexual, but because they had no other outlets. Monitoring in colony settings is omnipresent, which would tend to prevent rape, but again, human monitoring was required because human intervention was required -- AIs having limitations on the employment of weaponry -- and unfortunately you have to watch the guardians, too, in some institutional settings. Prison rape occurs because the guards are either inattentive, look the other way or actively encourage it and take part. We didn't so much care if it happened, we just wanted it consensual...

That was probably the worst of the issues we had identified in accepting large quantities of people who couldn't be citizens but had no support structure. Fortunately, on Nuevo Angelino, the Support Directorate had been in place for some time and was well integrated into the colony support structure, so even though they didn't have 'families', we could put these people to work and handle some of their basic needs.

Maybe the big takeaway you should get from this is that we had plans -- but we didn't know how well they were going to work. This was all new; the approved formula had most of the bugs shaken out of it, but just collecting EVERYBODY was a new wrinkle. Using Fleet Auxiliary personnel was also a new wrinkle; as I reminded them in briefings, "We're relying on history, here. People expect Marines at pickups. They expect you to be bigger, stronger and faster than they are, and they expect you to put down trouble before it starts. You're all stronger and faster, if not bigger, and you CAN put down trouble -- but we're planning on those expectations assisting you in your efforts."

I still wasn't feeling particularly charitable Friday morning, despite the fact that Vera was absolutely clingy in bed. Both Jack and Beth made shift to remind me that Vera had her reasons for her behavior; I was well aware of this, but continued to be stung by the implications. Did that mean I was going to dispense with Vera? No. Did it mean that I was going to punish her for her duplicity? Absolutely! Eventually -- probably in relatively short order -- my anger would dissipate -- but our relationship would never be the same. Since it wasn't going to be in any case, both Jack and I saw this as an opportunity to adjust Vera's behavior while I was prepared to be vigilant and exacting in the control of it -- something I really hadn't been prepared for before. The total erosion of her confidence would help with this, too -- she was now well aware that she was on thin ice.

Before leaving, I went over preparations with Vera again, standing over her naked, kneeling form holding the riding crop and gently tapping her on the shoulder with it to keep her ever-mindful of the threat. Jack's newest concubines would assist in preparations, as Beth and Frieda had been instructed to go to work more or less as usual; while there was plenty to do, there was also more than adequate support on hand. Neither of my daughters was expected before my return, but one never knew, so we discussed scenarios involving an early arrival of Maureen, early arrival of Judith -- with or without her spouse -- or both. It would have amused me to have Vera greet them at the door nude -- but if Jack and I were not present, it would present a security issue, so I instructed Vera to throw something on when answering the door. Jack's efforts were not to be compromised; he had bent over backwards for my family and I would not endanger him or his mission selfishly!

Taking my leave of the women, I made my way to the Brinkman Foundation for the final time -- in its current form, at least. I couldn't work; I ended up collecting some packing boxes and surreptitiously packing the contents of my desk and my files for transport. There was one other issue, though...

I waited until after lunch, but honor would not allow me to trick Britney into anything. I actually called Jack -- it took several attempts, and later I determined that the reason for this was the fact that at the time he was in orbit, but I managed to put the problem to him and get his permission to deal with it as I saw fit, which released me from my implanted inhibitions. A bit after one o'clock, then, I hunted her down... "Miss Shelton, could I speak to you privately? In my office?"

Britney frowned a bit and took off her glasses. "Certainly, Doctor." She followed me to my office under the eyes of several others.

Once inside, I didn't seat myself, but rather merely turned before my desk and said "Close the door, please."

She did so. The partition was partly glass; I had the option of closing the blinds -- which would start a whispering campaign -- or hoping that none of the witnesses was an accomplished lip reader. "Is something wrong?"

"No, but the situation has changed, and it would be dishonorable of me not to inform you," I replied.

"Is there a problem at home?"

I grinned ruefully and replied, "Several -- but they are of a nature that would tend to cement your position. No, the issue exists here..."

"All right..."

"Could we reposition a bit?" I asked. "I can't close the blinds and I also can't have someone lip-reading me."

Britney pulled a folder across the top of my desk and rotated it and opened it, bending down to pretend to examine the contents. "How's this?"

"Brilliant." I joined her. Moving up beside her and pretending to examine the paperwork, I murmured, "In a bit under two and a half hours, a Confederacy Marine detachment will arrive to evacuate the Foundation -- staff, files, and dependents -- everything -- to a ship in orbit and thence to a colony world."

"How do you know this?"

"It is a long, convoluted story. But my information is absolutely accurate -- it will occur. The Foundation will be vacant by five o'clock."

"Why are you telling me?"

"Because I could not take you from here under the impression that your only hope of leaving the planet was to become a part of my entourage -- you will be extracted in any case. Thus you commitment to me is... subject to review and revision."

"You don't want me?"

"I didn't say that. I said that you need not sell yourself to me in order to leave this place." I realized suddenly that I was entering a minefield...

"I see. Has it occurred to you that escape might not be my only concern?" Britney asked archly.

Yes, that was definitely a tripwire in contact with my shin. But I hadn't yet applied any pressure... "Never by word or deed have you indicated that your motives were anything other than an acknowledgement of the latent possibility of a more serious personal relationship between us. Yesterday, when we moved forward toward actualization of that relationship, the current situation did not exist; I was dealing with you in good faith. However, the situation has changed, and honor precludes me from deceiving you in this matter, whether it is relevant to your decision process or not. Certainly, the possibility of your extraction has ALWAYS been a consideration of mine..."

Britney looked at me oddly. "The situation didn't exist, or you were unaware of it? You have some interesting intelligence sources, Doctor."

"It didn't exist," I replied. "I... triggered it." THAT got raised eyebrows. "My sources are impeccable. They're... family, more or less." I thought about it. "Actually, I DID misrepresent myself yesterday. You see, had this evening gone well, you would not have returned here -- or to your apartment. By Monday, you would have been in orbit in any case." Britney's eyebrows went up a second time, and I began to hope that my retreat from the minefield had been successful.

"So what has changed, exactly?" Britney asked.

Damn! Another tripwire? Or had I actually stepped on something? "I guess that it would be accurate to say that you now have a safety net; even if you find that myself or my family present insuperable issues, you will still be extracted and will continue to hold your current position at the Foundation." Was this the proper approach?

There was a pause, then Britney said softly, "Doctor, when are you going to stop exercising your vocabulary and do something romantic?"

I had an answer for that. "When I'm certain of you. When you've formally accepted my sponsorship. Until then, this is an unsanctioned office affair in the making, and you have the option of withdrawal."

She shook her head, smiling, and I knew that I had probably jumped from the frying pan into the fire. "And if I said yes right now?"

"There is no one present who could record it," I replied. "Besides, you REALLY should see what you're getting into."

"Is your wife going to be...?"

"The wishes of my other concubine are irrelevant in this matter," I burst out, "and she is aware of that fact!"

Britney's face reflected her surprise, "My goodness!"

"Sorry," I apologized. "I am... irritated with Vera -- something else she is well aware of!"

"So you ARE capable of emotion!" Britney tittered.

"Yes." I was unable to control my agitation. "In large quantities, apparently. The one at the top of the list is unseemly, however."

Britney's hand covered mine on the desktop. "Tell me."

"Not here." I made to remove my hand.

Britney did not allow it. Instead, she took off her glasses and reached up to cradle my cheek. "Fuck them. It doesn't matter, anyway." She drew my face to hers and planted a kiss on my lips. "There -- that will give them something to do until three-thirty." She tugged my captive hand. "Let's sit on the couch and you can tell me what's bothering you."

A glance through the blinds told me that we were undone; there were at least three pair of startled eyes looking back. My anger had opened a door, and Britney had just walked right on in... She pulled me to the couch that sat against the office wall under the windows that had revealed our budding relationship and sat caressing my hand, gazing into my eyes. "Now tell me."

"I would have, tonight."

"I know -- but I think it is better done here."

So I did it. I poured out my tale of deception and manipulation and abused trust, and my anger and betrayal. And I did not fail to reveal how it had triggered my abusive behavior. I wasn't proud of myself -- but it hadn't stopped me from dealing out punishment and abuse... "There are other... ugly things..." I finished; I'd managed not to mention exactly how all of this had come about and I'd managed not to mention my tryst with Beth...

"No wonder you're angry!" Britney murmured. "Given that she is now a concubine, what you've done to her probably comes under the heading of a measured response!"

"Yes, well, she had her reasons," I muttered back. "Eventually, I will forgive her; I have too much of me invested. But for now..."

"For now, it's payback time," Britney finished for me, "and it will be until you get it out of your system!"

"Exactly," I agreed. "I've already displayed an amount of ugliness that I really didn't think myself capable of. You may want to rethink associating with me."

"You're only human," Britney insisted. "Frankly, I'm pleased to see that your detachment can be broached occasionally." She caressed my cheek again. "You said there was more?"

The phone hadn't rung and no one had disturbed us -- and frankly, I wondered why. I stood and looked out the window; several people were head down, but there were sidelong glances... "I could relate the entire tale, but I wonder if I shouldn't alert the Director, first. That would give you some of the background..." I looked away. "Some of it is extremely embarrassing..."

Britney took my hand. "Oliver, the answer is still yes. In fact, it is yes more than ever!"

"Very well. Come with me, then." We exited my office hand in hand and proceeded up the hall to the Director's office. Peggy, Dave Chambers' assistant, observed that connection with a birdlike gaze as she said, "Yes, Doctor?"

"I need to see the Director, immediately," I told her. "And you need to clear his calendar for the afternoon."

Her eyes said, 'Oh, really?' and accused me of being a self-important little martinet, but she said, "One moment," and picked up the phone. "Doctor Chambers? Doctor Hopkins wishes to see you urgently. He and Miss Shelton are here now. Apparently, it's an item of some moment..." Her voice carried some irony.

I said nothing about Peggy's attitude, well aware that she dealt with a couple of my colleagues who had inflated egos on a regular basis. On the other hand, I'd never abused the Director's time or attention... She looked up and said, "Go right in." I smiled ruefully at Britney; undoubtedly, Peggy thought that I was about to disturb the Director with a description of my love life. Well, it might keep her from discovering the truth too early...

"Oliver." Dave Chambers' eyes settled on our linked hands. "Ms. Shelton. How may I help you?"

"I felt it prudent to alert you to an issue of some importance," I said quietly. "Not this..." I indicated our linkage. "While it is important to me and to Britney, it is less than important to the Foundation."

"What is it then?"

"The Confederacy Marine detachment charged with the evacuation of the Foundation arrives at three-thirty."

Doctor Chambers rocked back in his chair, his eyes wide. "Did I hear you correctly? There will be an extraction?"

"Yes, Doctor. It is scheduled to begin at three-thirty and be completed by five. Use of our alert notification system has been specifically authorized. All personnel, records and available dependents are to be retrieved."

Dave leaned up and hit his intercom button. "Peggy, close your mouth and clear my calendar -- then get in here!"

"Yes, Doctor!" the box squeaked.

"How do you know this?"

"I helped plan it," I related. "It's an odd tale and it begins with a certain Lieutenant in the Confederacy Navy that took a shine to my eldest daughter, for reasons that are STILL unclear to most of us..."

Dave blinked. "Beth?"

"Beth," I confirmed. "This happened Monday evening, but we didn't get wind of it until Tuesday evening. In between, she took on concubine status. But these people are on the ground for an unrelated pickup -- a big one -- so she wasn't extracted. I was... recruited... Wednesday morning... (had it only been around two days?) solely based upon my CAP scores -- but when I mentioned where I worked yesterday evening, the extraction team shifted gears..."

"That's... quite a tale..." Dave Chambers scratched his brush cut.

"You've no idea," I replied. "In any case, the Foundation is a target of opportunity -- but it IS a target. I thought we might cut the corner on some things by having you be forewarned."

Dave nodded. "We can cut the corner on the whole surprise thing and move straight to the alert roster."

"Exactly."

Peggy came through the door, eyeing me almost fearfully. "Your schedule is cleared."

"Good," Dave murmured. "Emergency meeting of department heads in my office, three-fifteen sharp. Pull out the alert roster. I want the first alerts going out as soon as the Marines arrive -- but not a moment before!"

Peggy gulped. "Yes, Doctor." But she lingered...

Dave eyed her. Peggy was somewhere around thirty, divorced, and had a three-year-old boy. She was a little thick, but not what I would call fat, and she had brown hair, usually done up in a bun, and eyeglasses. The cleavage was round and soft, like Vera's (and Beth's, for that matter). She usually wore a business suit or a nice blouse and skirt and businesslike chunky heels. She was the quintessential assistant -- which meant, no doubt, that she knew more of Dave Chambers' business than was healthy -- and wanted to know more...

Dave and I went back to college, and I was willing to bet I knew something Peggy hadn't puzzled out. You see, Dave is bisexual -- and single, because that tends to be a bitter pill for a lot of women to swallow... We were never roommates, but we were fraternity buddies and I'd provided moral support on a couple of occasions when either a male or a female paramour failed to make the cut. And there had been that one embarrassing incident when one of his roommates turned out to be very, very straight...

The offer was made in silence; Dave sat back in his chair and pursed his lips. "I'm likely to be very demanding," he told her, "If you haven't done it, you will. Also, I have very broad tastes..."

"I pay your credit card bills, remember?" Peggy said softly. "I've been to the Winking Moon..." Okay, so she did know...

"And?"

"You like girls, too, right?"

"Broad-minded ones."

"I'm broad minded."

There was a long, ten-second pause. "Fine. Go take care of things." The deal was done. Dave turned to me, "That went well."

I chuckled. "I'm surprised -- and I'm not."

"I knew she loved me," Dave replied. "I didn't know she knew about the other thing."

"It's one thing to know about it -- and another to put up with it," I observed.

"This thing isn't marriage," Dave retorted. "She made her bed -- if there is an extra occupant or two, she'll HAVE to put up with it." He eyed me. "How is Vera taking all this?"

"Let's just say she's in the same boat."

Dave sat up, his interest piqued. "That doesn't sound like the Vera I know -- or the Oliver, for that matter."

This wasn't the time or place to go into it. "Vera has disappointed me. She's in the doghouse."

Dave took in my expression. "Strange days. Strange days indeed. And this?" Britney and I were still holding hands.

"We've reached a tentative agreement."

Dave nodded. The subject was closed. "Do you know anything about their plans for us?"

I related what I knew from my conversation with Major Howard. Dave took notes. "Well, it looks like we won't need that grant after all," he mused.

"Looks like it," I agreed. "I expect the new equipment will be a lot better than what we've been working with."

"Lieberman is going to be upset that his interpretive genius is no longer required."

"I suspect that we'll discover that he wasn't right nearly as often as he supposed," I replied. "If you don't mind..." I waved at the door.

"You'll be back for the meeting?" Dave asked. "Even better, if you would greet our guests..."

"I'll be available." I led Britney out.

We went back to my office -- and back to the couch. "So your daughter was picked up by this Navy man and you were picked up because you're family. Vera is a concubine. Is that it?"

"Taking you through the entire timeline might be a waste of time." I related. "Basically, we discovered Vera's dark side at a bar during something we'd set up as a training exercise for the concubines -- it seems that wives tend to make the transition poorly, so we have been challenging Vera. By the time she'd taken on three complete strangers, it was clear that she'd been holding back some. But that's an issue we can discuss at length; I think young Jack has a recording of her rather colorful confession. I have another concern -- one that you might consider a deal breaker."

Britney looked into my eyes. "What is it?"

I was unable to hold hers. "The Confederacy tends to overlook certain cultural taboos in the interest of maintaining families, among other things. As a result of that training exercise, I've developed an unhealthy sexual interest... in Beth."