Chapter 34 - Thunderous Silence

Kitty staggered one time when a powerful contraction wracked her body, but otherwise we were able to reach the medical bay without problems. The door slid opened as we approached and Shawna dashed out.

"It's nice to have some good news," she cried as she gave Kitty a quick hug before taking my friend's right arm and offering support. "How bad are the contractions?"

"I've only had one," Kitty moaned. "At least only one I felt. Ooooh."

"Two," Brittany chirped with a giggle.

Kitty glanced over at our sister concubine. Brittany just shook her head at the expression on Kitty's face before dropping back to allow Shawna and me to assist Kitty through the doorway.

Inside, we found David waiting with one of the maternity gurneys. He scooped up Kitty and settled her on the bed. Shawna immediately began checking the displays on the bed.

Kitty moaned one more time and then sighed in relief. "Why didn't you bring this to me?" she asked.

"Didn't want to reveal the ability to our visitors," Shawna said. "Donna has been listening in on the conversation. Our new governor doesn't seem to have much respect for us."

"He's a jerk and he threatened James!" Brittany snapped. "We should do something about him!"

"Not much we can do," I observed quietly. "Somehow, I imagine that Central Command would be a bit upset if James openly defied the man they appointed as Governor."

Shawna was shaking her head. "That's what everyone is worrying about. We don't know how this will play out. Right now, the plan is to see if we can develop a healthy relationship with our visitors. I imagine they won't stay for very long."

"But what if they order us to leave?" Brittany wailed.

"I'm not sure they can," Shawna replied. "At least, not officially. James was trying to piece it together. The administration of the planet could be changed by Central Command, but transferring us requires the acceptance of our commander."

"We have a commander?" Kitty asked. She was breathing slowly as David examined some of the readouts on the gurney.

Shawna giggled. "Yup. Even though we were never formally organized, we are considered to be a marine division under the command of General Montgomery. The AI units required that all marines based here be officially tied to a command when the planet was first set up. At the time, no one in Central Command was paying attention, so our unofficial unit was placed under the command of the Sector's Marine Commandant."

"Do you think General Montgomery will protect us?" I asked.

"Most likely he will." Shawna replied.

I sighed as Kitty lay on the gurney. She gripped my hand tightly for a moment and groaned. "Sorry," she whispered. "I'm just nervous."

Donna turned to look at my sister concubine. "It's understandable. Every concubine who was giving birth for the first time was a bit nervous. We're here with you though."

"James should be here," Brittany said with a growl. "That that..." she paused for a moment. "No, I won't use the word. It fits him, but I refuse to lower myself to that level."

"We know he has one," Shawna said with a giggle. "The question is does he know how to use it."

David just shook his head. "Let's not go there. If he's really as small as he's acting, or was, he will take great offense to comments like that. And that is something we don't need."

"Sorry," Brittany whispered. Her face turned as red as her long hair as she looked down for several minutes.

Donna and Shawna were moving about the room, occasionally checking the display on Kitty's natal gurney. The overhead speaker was silent. I squeezed Kitty's hand to comfort her.

The silence seemed to stretch out, broken only by occasional groans by Kitty as a contraction rippled across her body. Finally, Donna turned to look at us. "Sorry, we're checking to make sure we have all our medical records and data current. We don't really need perfect records since the AI remembers everything, but I get a feeling our new overlord is going to demand to see them."

I nodded, "He didn't seem to be all that understanding of people."

Just then, the speaker crackled. "Medical, we've got incoming wounded." a voice growled out.

Shawna sighed. "Ed, can you get to the medical bay and prepare to meet the wounded? And can anyone report on how many we will be accepting?"

"Ten so far," Tamara called out. "The initial strike in the ambush worked, but the Sa'arm had sent out more of those stealthed mines. When Mongolia opened fire four mines detonated, and all were close enough to cause severe damage."

"Ambush? But they were just barely getting it set up when we brought Kitty here!" Brittany cried out.

Donna looked over at us. "That was over two hours ago. I'm surprised you hadn't mentioned it Meiko, your daughter must be getting hungry."

I nodded briefly. "She should be at the nursery with most of the concubines in attendance. I'm sure they have kept her fed."

"It's been that long?" Kitty asked. "I feel like only a few minutes have gone by. And I know my contractions haven't started coming faster." She groaned as another contraction rippled through her body.

"You aren't in full labor yet," Donna replied after a quick glance at the instrument panel on the gurney. "But it's not a false labor either. In a hospital, they might have you walk up and down the hallway a few times to help get the labor started, but here the gurney does a better job of helping maintain everything. Your contractions should speed up soon."

"I didn't know it could be so complicated," Brittany sad putting a hand over her own pregnant belly. "I always imagined that it was a fairly simple process."

Shawna just shook her head and turned to look at the speaker. "Ed, are you on your way to the medical bay?"

"Yes," Ed replied. "And I'm bringing Gina along to help for now. If you could send David to help move gurneys, I'd appreciate it."

"Damn!" James voice cried out. "Something's wrong with laser two!"

His voice was cut off by a strange roar that shook the entire colony.

"Explosion in laser two," the AI intoned. "Emergency seals have kept the atmosphere from entering the colony. Citizens Brad, Tyson, Linus, James and Amanda have been knocked unconscious by the pressure wave. Concubines Lisa, Christie, Bethany, Tina and Cleo are also unconscious. Citizen Barbara needs immediate medical attention. Citizen Deborah in laser one also needs immediate medical attention."

I gasped and turned to run to the door, only to have Shawna put a hand on my shoulder. "No, let the citizens handle it. The AI would let us know if it was truly life threatening."

"But!" Brittany gasped out. She turned toward the door, only to drop to the floor. Her hands wrapped around her stomach.

"Concubine Brittany has entered labor," the AI called out.

"Brit!" I cried out as I knelt down to help her.

My sister concubine moaned and rolled on the floor. I looked around and could see Donna rushing over. "What's wrong?" Donna asked as she dropped to her knees.

"She just went into labor," I cried out. "We heard the explosion and then the AI said she'd gone into labor."

"Damn!" Donna said as she bent down to check on my sister concubine. "We need to get her on a gurney quickly. Her body must be reacting to the shock of what is happening."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Donna sighed as we reached down to lift my sister concubine from the floor. Brittany was convulsing slightly, and her limp body was a dead weight as we struggled to lay her flat on a natal gurney that Tanya rushed into the room. Once Brittany was lying flat, her convulsions stopped and she seemed to drop off to sleep. Donna started checking the read out. Finally, she stood up and turned to me with a frown on her face.

"I'm not a doctor, so most of what I'm saying is based on guesswork and what I've read. There is a theory that if a pregnant woman suffers a big enough shock, she'll go into labor. That would explain what happened to Brittany," Donna said.

"Labor doesn't explain the convulsions," I said worriedly as I held my sister concubine's right hand. I could feel her pulse racing as she lay there. Her only response was an occasional grunt as her ass lifted from the gurney.

Donna was bending down to check the readouts again. "I think she's having a bit of a mental breakdown."

"What?" I cried. Both of my hands wrapped around Brittany's right hand and squeezed. "Can you help her?"

"I wish I knew what to do," Donna replied. "My only guess is that it has to do with the announcement that James was injured. Heck, I'm surprised you aren't panicking."

"I don't have time to panic," I wailed out as I pulled Brittany's hand to my face. "My sisters are giving birth and their husband isn't here. I have to be strong to support them."

"Do that," Donna replied quietly. "She turned away for a moment and looked at the speakers. "Yvette, I need a status report!" she cried.

"We're short of citizens," Yvette's voice screamed out. "Timothy, Louis, the twins and I are in the command post. We have Terrence running the teleport boards to try to bring some injured crew off of the destroyer Mongolia. Ed and Gina are in medical right now and, if you can spare Shawna, they need her there now. That only leaves Mike, Fred, Xavier, Alexis and Reggie to check on the injured in the laser rooms. Xavier and Fred were outside when the explosion occurred. They are trying to get into the laser rooms, but the explosion has jammed the doors."

"The AI reported that some of the injured need immediate medical attention," Donna replied.

"Tell me something I don't know," Yvette groaned. "And it gets worse. One of the two Sa'arm cruisers is space dust, but Mongolia took several direct hits in the final battle. She's adrift and needs a tug to tow her to a repair dock."

"Private!" a new voice called out. "I need your attention on the space battle. The other Sa'arm ship is still approaching. You have to stop it."

"We could throw you at them," I heard someone mutter from the doorway. I turned to find Patty, holding her owner Linus up. Linus was clearly dazed.

Donna screamed in surprise and then rushed over. "I thought they were all still trapped."

"Xavier and Fred managed to get the doors to Laser two opened. They need a gurney immediately for Barbara. I know the natal ones are for birthing mothers, but it might save Barbara. I thought Craig and Robert were on their way here. I volunteered to help Linus walk."

"Concubines Craig and Robert were trapped by a collapse in one of the tunnels. Vibrations from the initial explosion brought down several ceiling panels. Atmospheric integrity of the colony has not been affected. They are unconscious, but their vital signs are strong," the AI intoned.

"You didn't see that?" I asked with a gasp.

"I took Linus the long way to avoid the return of the gurneys. Now what do I do?" Patty asked.

Donna jumped forward to help Patty hold up Linus. He had some blood on his forehead and more oozing from his left ear. Donna held a finger in front of his half-closed eyes and frowned. "Sit him down on the bench," she said, pointing to one of the walls. "Patty, take a couple gurneys and you and Meiko get back to the laser room. Patty can lead the way."

"But my master!" Patty protested.

"He'll be fine," Donna snapped. "It's a bad concussion, but the pods can repair that. I'll get someone to help me in a moment. Right now we have to get those gurneys to Barbara and Deborah."

I led Patty to the alcove where the gurneys were kept. She grabbed the first one and pulled it out so fast that I had to jump back to avoid being knocked over. I had to sprint to get another and keep her in sight as she raced out of the medical bay.

Instead of turning left and heading towards the command post, which was the direct route to the laser pod, Patty turned to the right. We followed the tunnel that encircled the central area until we reached the recreation room. Then she turned right again to follow the spoke back to the center of the colony and the laser room