Chapter 9

If we should have to fight, we should be prepared to do so from the neck up instead of from the neck down.

General James H. Doolittle

Hawk jerked the stick to the left and then quickly back to the right, trying to shake his pursuer and throw off their targeting. The pursuing Swift stuck to him like glue and began to close the gap, bringing her deadly guns into range.

"Get ready down there," Hawk said into the comm, "I'm going to try the chute maneuver we modeled."

"Roger, we'll be ready," Kitten replied.

"AI, chute routine on my mark," Hawk said.

"Roger," the AI replied.

Hawk began another left turn but slipped it into a roll, an obvious mistake that the trailing Swift was quick to take advantage of. Two balls of blue lightning shot forth, striking the shield of Hawk's aircraft.

"Shield down," Viper said. "Twenty seconds to reboot."

"Mark!" shouted Hawk as he killed all forward thrust. The AI immediately implemented a maneuvering routine too advanced for a single pilot to accomplish. The nose of the Swift came up while the wings and tail of the plane flared and curved down to cup the air. In effect the Swift became almost a parachute, decelerating at an enormous rate. Hawk, Viper and Kitten were thrown forward against their restraints at a force of 14 G's. The Swift on their tail was caught completely by surprise, and before it could react, shot past them.

"Release!" Hawk told the AI as he slammed the throttle back to full. The AI gave full flight control back to Hawk who moved to pursue the other Swift. "Get 'em!" he said into the comm at the same time that Viper and Kitten fired. The enemy Swift exploded, not having had time to switch its shield from front to rear.

"Woo hoo!" Viper shouted. "What a move!"

"Just a little sumthin' sumthin' I cooked up," Hawk replied. "We're bugging out. Twenty minutes to rendezvous and docking, get a little shut eye."

Within minutes Hawk could hear the even breathing of his sleeping gunners. Eventually the carrier came into view and Hawk got in line for docking. When it was his turn, the tractor beam took control of his Swift and guided it gently into its berth on the ship. Viper and Kitten woke up upon feeling the gentle bump of the Swift coming to rest.

"Wake up sleepy heads," Hawk chided, "We're home."

The cockpit doors on the simulator opened and the three of them stepped out into the simulator room. A few crews were in sight, heading toward the flight center. Most of the simulators were displaying green safe lights, but a few were still red indicating that they were under gravity manipulation. If you got too close to a simulator under gravity you could be pulled into it or thrown outward by the changing gravity fields. Sore muscles and joints caused by riding inside the flight simulators were testament to the power and effectiveness of the gravity manipulators.

Hawk, Viper and Kitten stayed within the safety zones and soon arrived at the flight center for debriefing. Within ten minutes the rest of the crews from the mission arrived and Major Jones began the debriefing. Their morning mission had been one-on-one dog fights, something that they had studied intensely in sleep learning although they had only been implementing it in the simulators for a couple of days. The crews took extensive notes on the various maneuvers and tactics used that morning and broke each flight down and analyzed it. Some were better than others and all were critiqued to make them better.

"And finally," Major Jones said, "we come to the 'maneuver of the day.' This is a new one developed by Lt. Sperry and his crew. Let's watch."

The crews all watched the dog fight on a large screen at the front of the room. The screen gave them four views of the fight: one from each pilot, from the side and from above and behind. When Hawk's Swift performed the chute maneuver, the rest of the crews gawked in astonishment, and then applauded. Except, that is, for Dragon and his crew who had been Hawk's unfortunate opponent. Major Jones invited Hawk, Viper and Kitten up to the podium to explain how they developed the maneuver.

Major Jones moved a step stool up to the podium for Kitten to stand on. Kitten stepped up and explained how they had modeled the maneuver using the AI and a terminal in their pod. With the help of the AI, they had perfected the movements necessary to get the aircraft to perform the maneuver and how the AI was given temporary control of the aircraft in order to make it happen.

"Excuse me!" A Japanese gunner yelled from the back of the room. "We were told that the AI could not fight. How can it do this?"

"My programming will not allow me to directly cause the destruction of life in any form." The AI responded to the room in general. "It says nothing about navigation, weapons development, or aiding in combat. As long as I do not actively fire a weapon I may be helpful."

"That is correct." Major Jones replied. "The AI will become very helpful to you in combat. Some of the functions that it will take on during flight or combat are autopilot, navigator, target identification, damage assessment and shield operation. You have not been given this information until now so that you would learn to be self-sufficient. Lieutenants Sperry, Santini, and Carson discovered this because they were inquisitive and sneaky. They were looking for an advantage. This kind of behavior is exactly what we want out of all of you. Colonel Walker has designed this program around the best people he can find. We want new and innovative ideas. No idea is too small or too stupid to be ignored. We need new tactics, weapons and strategies. If you have an idea, bring it to your commander or tell the AI. If it has merit it will be forwarded to command, or to the technicians, for study and implementation."

Major Jones continued, "As you all know, the prize for the 'maneuver of the day' is to pick tonight's sporting event. What will it be?" he asked Hawk, Reggie and Kitten.

It was discovered that soon after the volunteers had finished augmentation they were growing bored with routine training methods. With their newly developed bodies and high metabolisms, the pilots and gunners needed some other outlet for their extra energy. One of the Brazilians had replicated a soccer ball and started an ad hoc soccer game in the hallways. This nearly started a riot as some of the people wanted to join in and others were mad at the noise and confusion. Colonel Walker, always looking to find a positive, recognized the potential of the situation.

The transport ship had two large hangers used for holding Swifts. During the transit between Earth and the colony, one hanger was used as the simulator room and the other was used to train the technicians on Swift repair and maintenance. Colonel Walker ordered that the Swifts in the repair hanger be parked at one end with their wings folded back. This left enough room for a good size playing field in the remainder of the hanger. With a couple of hour's notice, the AI could create a reasonable facsimile of Astroturf for soccer, football or other field games. Nightly sporting events had quickly become a tradition aboard ship, with a majority of the off-duty personnel coming to watch, or play, in the games. Swift pilots and gunners played evening games during the week, the full-sized (or extra-full sized) Marines and the ship's crew played on Saturday and the concubines and children had games on Sunday.

"American Football!" Hawk exclaimed, to cheers from the Americans in the room and groans from the most of the others.

"Give me a break!" Major Jones said to the crowd with a grin. "You know as well as I do that there are always more non-Americans that show up to play football than Americans, so can it. Besides, we've had soccer three days in a row and cricket on Monday, for Christ's sake."

The mention of cricket brought a cheer from a half-dozen Brits in the corner.

"Football tonight at 19:00 hours. 18:30 if you want to play. Class dismissed." The Major barked.

Aaron, Reggie and Sophia started toward the door and were quickly joined by Tiffany, Tim and Corey.

"Sweet maneuver, guys." Tiffany said.

"Thanks." Aaron replied. "Are you going to play football tonight?"

"Not me." Tiffany replied. "Volleyball and soccer are more my style."

"We are." Tim said. "I owe Hans one for that cheap shot he gave me last time."

"Let's hit the showers boys," Tiffany said. "We've still got to make up the basic maintenance class you bozos caused us to miss before dinner."

"Yes ma'am." The gunners replied, looking abashed. With a wave goodbye, Tiffany and her crew headed for the maintenance hangar.

"She sure has gotten them in line lately," Aaron remarked. "That's a switch."

"Haven't you heard what happened?" Sophia said.

"No. What?"

"How could you have missed it?" Reggie replied. "Everyone was talking about it."

"I guess I didn't pay attention. What happened?" Aaron asked again.

"It seems that Tim and Corey had the replicator produce some tequila and they started playing drinking games with their concubines. Somehow it ended up as a contest with the girls vying for bigger and better augmentations." Sophia told him. "Apparently it deteriorated into a 6-way cat fight. The pod was trashed and two concubines ended up in medical. It took 3 marines to break it up and the whole time Tim and Corey were lying around egging them on."

Reggie continued, "The next day Tim, Corey and Tiffany were hauled into Walker's office for an ass chewing. That's why they missed basic maintenance class. Tiffany was pissed."

Sophia picked the story back up. "According to the concubine grapevine, Tiffany proceeded to chew their asses up and down as soon as she got them back to their pod. I'm not sure exactly what she said, but I do know that she established Ben and Lisa, her married concubines, as the household leaders. She also forced Tim and Corey to listen to each of their concubines concerning their augmentations. Apparently all six of them have been back to medical for breast reductions. "

"Good for her," Aaron replied. "I like those boys, but they needed to grow up. Looks like they have."

"Are either of you going to play football tonight?" Aaron asked.

"I am," Reggie said.

"Not me. I'm going to a take a voluntary class with Sensei Yamato," Sophia replied.

"What about?" Reggie asked

"He is trying to determine what hand weapons and attacks will be most effective against the Sa'arm. Several of us are helping him out," she replied.

"What good is that going to do? There are too many of those things to fight hand-to-hand," Reggie replied.

"This training is designed for survival situations. What if you have to eject and the only weapon you have is a stick or a knife? How would you even fight off one dickhead? Could you fight off a group of unarmed locals if they attacked you? This isn't meant for offence, it's meant to be a last-ditch defense," she said.

"I see your point," Reggie conceded.

"Excuse me." The AI interrupted their conversation.

"Yes," Aaron replied.

"I thought that you would like to know that concubine Ann is pregnant with a boy. She was impregnated by concubine Marty three days ago."

"Awesome!" Sophia said. "They're going to be so happy."

"Have you informed Ann yet?" Aaron asked the AI.

"No. Do you want me to?"

"No. We'll tell them. Would you please invite Tiffany to dine with us at five o'clock?" Aaron requested.

A few seconds later the AI replied, "Lieutenant Carter has accepted your invitation."

Tiffany arrived for dinner promptly at 5 o'clock and the whole group was eating by 5:15. Ann and Tammy had worked closely with the AI in designing the pod so that they could quickly convert the den into a dining room with a huge table and seats for 30. Everyone had finished their meal and were drinking coffee or eating dessert when Aaron, Sophia, and Reggie stood up on their chairs. Aaron tapped his fork on a glass to get everyone's attention.

When it was quiet Aaron spoke. "We wanted to have a big dinner with everyone today to celebrate some things. We have all had to go through some tough adjustments since meeting in Orlando and I think we need to celebrate the way in which we have come together as a family. It's not November, but it sure feels like Thanksgiving."

"Here, here," Marty said, raising his glass to his sponsors and family.

"We also need to celebrate the incredible beauty and grace that are our concubines, our lovers," Reggie said. "As each of you returned from medical with your augmentations, we just could not believe our eyes. Each of you seemed more beautiful or handsome than the one before. And we are also celebrating the fact that Tammy's children have finally figured out that the stunning beauty sitting here at the table is really their mommy."

Everyone chuckled at the memory of the children's confusion at seeing a woman they didn't recognize speaking with their mother's voice. It took a few days, but they finally accepted that mommy looked different now.

Sophia looked down at Tiffany who was sitting next to her. "Tiffany, I have come to love you like a sister, which is more than fitting because I live with your parents. I hope you feel the same way about me and all of us."

Tiffany nodded.

"That's good because soon there will be another one of us to love, someone who will be special to you."

Tiffany looked at Sophia with a confused expression on her face. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

Aaron spoke again. "The real reason for celebration is that there will soon be a new member of our family."

Aaron, Sophia and Reggie all raised their glasses in Ann and Marty's direction as Aaron said, "Congratulations Ann and Marty, you're going to have a baby boy!"

Tiffany and the women concubines jumped up and down, screaming for joy. Marty sat at the table with a look of utter disbelief on his face. Ann fainted.

Aaron, Reggie, Marty, Kyle and Darren sat in the living room drinking beer. Ann had quickly been revived and after many tears, hugs and kisses the girls had dragged Ann off to one of the bedrooms to plan for showers, nurseries and other baby related things. The men were quiet, sipping their beer and enjoying the peace.

Marty finally spoke in a soft voice. "Aaron and Reggie, I want you to know that I'll do anything for you for what you've given me and Ann.'

"That's not necessary," Aaron replied.

"Yes it is," Marty continued. "It means more to us than you can possibly imagine. You don't know this but I have always been infertile. Ann and I tried everything but I could never produce viable sperm. We eventually had to opt for a sperm donor in order to have Tiffany. We've had a good life, Ann and I, but I could never give her the one thing she really wanted, our own child. Don't get me wrong, we love Tiffany with all our hearts, but trying and trying for so long left a hollow place in us. You have filled that hollow place today."

Quiet returned to the room. There was nothing left to say.

Sophia returned to the pod after her class with Sensei Yamato. The class had spent several hours watching video of Sa'arm movement and attacks, making comments about potential vulnerabilities and weaknesses. There weren't many. They then entered the dojo to work on techniques. Sensei Yamato had the AI create a life sized replica of a Sa'arm warrior. It stood a touch over seven feet tall, almost twice the size of Sophia and her classmates.

They spent the better part of an hour assessing the best open-handed techniques for disabling a Sa'arm. Most of the effective techniques involved strikes to the eyes or gaps in their armor and sweeps or other attacks intended to topple the three-legged aliens. None of these techniques, however, had much of a chance of killing, or even, seriously hurting a Sa'arm.

Next they assessed the weapons. They quickly ruled out the bo, the short staff, and thrown weapons. Pikes and spears could be used to keep a dickhead away from you, or to jab at the eyes, but it could easily be taken away if grabbed by the strong arms of the aliens. Eventually, they were forced to admit that only edged weapons could be used effectively. They spent the rest of the class working on sword and knife techniques designed to strike effectively at the less protected arm, leg and neck joints of the Sa'arm.

Sophia arrived back at the pod to find it dark and quiet. She went into her room and stripped on her way to the shower. She had just started to wet her hair when she heard the shower door open. She opened her eyes expecting to find Kyle or Reggie but was shocked to see Marty standing naked in the door.

"Can I help you wash?" he asked.

"Come in," she said, eyeing his already erect cock. "What about Ann?"

"Ann is with Aaron and Reggie," he said to her as he began to lather up his hands with the bar of soap.

Marty got down on one knee to be at eye level with her as he began to soap her body. Sophia closed her eyes as Marty's gentle hands rubbed the soap into her skin, washing away the sweat of her workout. When he finished, Marty stood and then surprised her by picking her up by the back of her legs and pinning her against the wall of the shower. Marty's ten inch cock was poised at the entrance to her pussy.

Sophia looked up into his eyes. "Are you sure?" she asked.

Marty nodded. "By giving us a child, you have given Ann and me the last thing we needed as a married couple. We can join the family now. I have seven wives and Ann has five husbands from today forward."

Marty kissed her deeply as he lowered her onto his cock.

Ann was waiting for Reggie and Aaron when they returned from the football game.

"Can I speak to you two?" she asked them.

"Sure," Aaron said. "What's up?"

"In private?"

"Uh, OK," Aaron said and led them to his bedroom. As the door closed behind them Ann dropped the robe she was wearing exposing her nude body.

"I want you to make love to me," Ann told them.

Reggie and Aaron watched Ann as she slowly walked toward them. The nannites had done an amazing job on her. Her flawless skin glowed in the subdued lighting of the room. Her ample breasts swayed enticingly as she moved and the fullness of her pubic hair lent her an air of mature sensuality. As she neared them she reached out and ran her fingers through their hair. Gently she drew them forward until each had a hard nipple in their face. Neither man hesitated, they each took one of her nipples and began to suck on them.

Ann's knees grew weak just from the feeling of two mouths on her tits. Soon she felt the men's hands caressing her back and kneading the flesh of her ass. A finger was soon sliding up and down in the groove of her pussy, spreading her flowing wetness to all parts of her sex. Every time that finger slid past her clit, a small whimper escaped her lips from the sheer pleasure of the feeling. Finally, she could take no more.

"I want you to fuck me now," she told them.

"What about Marty?" Aaron asked.

"He's waiting for Sophia to get home. We're ready for this," Ann said, beckoning them to get in the bed with her.

Aaron and Reggie stripped and climbed onto the bed with her. Ann got her first really good look at them nude since they finished augmentation. If they had been of normal height, they would have been huge men with bulging muscles. Even as short as they were, they were impressively muscled with thick legs, arms and necks. Their most noticeable feature was their penises. Ann knew that they were only eight inches long, shorter than Marty's by a couple of inches. But on Aaron and Reggie's four and a half foot tall bodies, their cocks looked absolutely huge. For a brief moment Ann believed that she would not be able to take their cocks into her body.

Aaron gently lay Ann back on the pillows and began to kiss her mouth, ears and neck. Aaron's ministrations would have been heavenly by themselves but Ann could also feel Reggie kissing his way down her stomach toward her groin. As he got closer to her pussy she spread her legs, inviting him to please her. Reggie began to lick his way around her shaved lips, slowly working his way inward, always avoiding her clit. Before long she was thrusting her pelvis at his mouth trying to force him to suck her clit. Reggie, however, continued to tease her, bringing her level of excitement, and frustration, ever higher.

Perhaps by coincidence, or some unspoken signal, Reggie sucked her clit into his mouth at the same time that Aaron first sucked and tweaked her nipples. From out of nowhere, a massive orgasm hit Ann. For several seconds she could not breathe as the muscles in her legs, groin and stomach all contracted. When she did get her breath back she let out a scream through clenched teeth. She remained tense as wave after wave of pleasure hit her, beginning in her pelvis and radiating throughout her body. As her body began to relax she said, "Fuck me Reggie, I need you in me."

Reggie wasted no time. He knelt between her legs and put his hands under her ass. He easily lifted her off of the bed and slid his cock into her sloppy wet tunnel. Reggie knew that she needed it hard and fast and he obliged her with long deep strokes. As soon as Reggie entered her, another orgasm hit her. This one was not as strong, but it felt like it was coming from deeper in her pussy. This orgasm seemed like it would never quit, it just kept sending warm waves of pleasure throughout her.

Reggie did his best to hold off his release, but Ann's rhythmically pulsating pussy brought him to the brink after a few minutes. With a groan, Reggie flooded Ann with jet after jet of hot cum. As soon as Reggie pulled out, Ann turned over on her hands and knees.

"Your turn, Aaron. Fuck me hard!" Ann said, her ass in the air and Reggie's cum leaking from her swollen lips. Aaron wasted no time and soon had his cock buried in her.

Ann felt the bulbous head of Aaron's cock pass her pussy lips and travel the length of her vagina. Even though his cock wasn't curved like Marty's, she felt the head of his cock stoke her G-spot.

"OH yeah, baby. Give it to me like that," she moaned.

Aaron began to fuck her hard. The sound of his balls slapping her pussy echoing off the walls of the bedroom in time to Ann's grunts and whimpers.

Reggie was soon hard again; inspired by the sight of Ann's large breasts swinging back and forth beneath her as Aaron pounded her. Reggie sat in front of her and scooted his cock up to her face. She wasted no time, taking Reggie's cock deep into her throat. It wasn't long before Reggie as ready to cum again. Ann beat him to it though.

She had felt the orgasm building for several minutes. Every one of Aaron's strokes had brought her closer and closer. Finally it overtook her, a strong orgasm that caused her muscles to clamp down hard on Aaron's cock. When he felt her cum, Aaron did too, adding his semen to Reggie's in her cunt.

Ann cried out when Aaron filled her with his cream, taking Reggie's cock out of her mouth. Reggie was so close that he unconsciously grabbed his dick and began to stroke it. Before he knew it, he was shooting spurt after spurt of hot cum all over her face and hair. When Reggie came to his senses, he looked down at Ann, who was looking back at him with an amused look on her face.

"I'm sorry," he said to her.

"That's OK honey," she replied, "I kind of enjoyed it. You've given me my first facial." She giggled and then reached out with her tongue to lick a glob of cum off of her cheek. "Mmmm, this is good."

Aaron withdrew his cock from her pussy, his large cockhead making an audible 'plop' as it popped out. The three lovers crawled under the covers and snuggled, Ann sandwiched between them. As Ann drifted off to sleep, she thought to herself that if she had known how much fun a threesome would be she would have talked Marty into swinging a long time ago.