Chapter 36 - A Meeting with a Brain

It seemed to take forever to make our way to the passage that used to separate our home from the maniacs who had been dropped on Ishtar with us. When we arrived, the informal guard kiosk stood empty in front of a closed pressure door.

We paused to wait for the doors to open when a young female cried out. "Wait!"

We turned to find Lily, the ten year old daughter of Linus, pushing a double stroller. I tried to figure out what the issue was as she came to a stop in front of us.

"Esther said you probably need to feed a baby," Lily said as she stepped around the stroller and started to push the cover back. James gave me a quick pat and then moved into the guard kiosk. He sank down onto a padded bench as Lily lifted Madoka from the stroller.

"We can take a moment," James said. "We'll just blame my injuries."

I nodded, but Lily coughed. "Um, I don't think Madoka can drink through your top."

I blushed, which caused James to laugh. Then I crossed my arms and grabbed the hem of my halter top. It came off quickly after that. James held out his hands to catch it, so I tossed it to him and then reached out for my daughter.

Lily handed my daughter to me. I held her up to my right breast and she quickly started to suckle. She was hungry, but did not seem too upset by the long wait. I was looking down at her when Lily lifted another baby to my left breast.

"What?" I asked as I looked down to see Astrid's tawny hair.

"Lupe is bringing Tolwin and Joy to Janice," Lily said. "Esther thought it would be the best way to get them fed considering that Tina and Bethany were hurt. They won't be too hungry though. We took care of them all day at school and made sure they were fine."

"That makes sense," I replied. "It's nice to know that we were able to handle everything." I reached around Astrid to give her body some support as both babies worked to drain my breasts.

"It's been hard," Lily said. "Too many mothers haven't seen their children all day. Esther said we should try to get to them. I'm surprised you haven't complained about your breasts feeling full."

"I noticed, but taking care of James and the others was a bit more important," I replied. "Thanks for helping."

Lily giggled. "Oh, you gave me a bunny, so I'm happy. Now if I can convince my father to allow me to learn an instrument. I want to join in when you are playing for shows."

"We could use more players," I admitted. "But don't be in too much of a hurry to join us. Being an adult on Ishtar isn't easy."

"I know," Lily replied as Astrid lifted her lips from my breast and turned to the side. Lily moved Astrid to her hip for a moment and then turned back to the stroller. She began to strap Astrid down as Madoka also stopped feeding.

I just held Madoka for a few moments, quietly humming a tuneless melody while I watched Lily securing Astrid into the stroller. When she finished, I knelt down to place Madoka next to Astrid.

"I can do that," Lily said quickly. "You need to get James to the command post and that governor guy."

Sighing, I stood up. "Go ahead," I said mournfully. "I'm just trying to delay the meeting now. From what I've seen I really don't want to meet the guy, or to bring James to him while James is still injured."

James stood up at that and threw my top at me. "We don't get to choose what we do," he reminded me. "Now get that top on. We need to get to this meeting and find out what the hell this jerk wants."

I slipped the top over my head. As I wrestled my arms through the fabric and got the straps to lay flat, Lily vanished down one of the tunnels, pushing the stroller. Finally, I had my breasts covered and turned to James. "Does my master want more?" I asked with a smirk.

"Always," James replied. "But for now we need to get going." He stepped over and put his right hand on my shoulder. "Door," he called out.

The large pressure doors opened slowly. James waited in silence until they finished opening and then stepped forward. His right hand pressed down on me for a moment as he balanced on one leg, but I was able to scramble forward when he began shifting his weight forward. He seemed a bit more sure of his step compared to the walk from the medical bay, but it still took us several minutes to walk the short distance to the second door.

The first door had slid closed behind us, long before we completed the short walk down the passage. James did call out for the door to open when we were several steps away, and we were able to continue on our way without pausing.

I looked around as we continued through the small chamber that separated the second and third doors. If I had to work at the teleporter for ships, I now walked through this area, but I was usually in a hurry. This was the first time I had time to really look around.

The chamber looked almost deliberately austere. The walls were not only unadorned, but seemed faded and dull compared to walls inside our enclave. The lighting here was dim and flickering. James chuckled as he noticed my attention on the walls.

"Yvette's idea. She thought that having this area look inviting might attract attention. So we are pretending to live a bit poorer than we really do," he said. "Door."

The final door began to open. "I understand," I whispered as I helped James continue towards the opening doorway. As the doors opened, they revealed two marines in battle armor standing on the other side. I stumbled slightly as they turned to look at us.

"James," one spoke. "Governor Johanes sent us to find out why you were taking so long."

"Sorry," James replied tiredly. "Right now I'm not walking far or with a steady step."

"I can see you have a pretty crutch," the same marine said again. "I was beginning to think there were no concubines on this rock."

The final sentence was full of lust. I stumbled a bit in shock hearing the man, but the other one put out a hand. "Belay that corporal. You know as well as I do that another citizen's concubines are off limits unless both parties agree and I haven't heard any agreement from Private Rabb."

"You won't, either," James whispered directly into my ear. I looked over at the second marine. It was the same bald man I had seen in the teleportal room back when I was watching from the briefing room. He had a hard look on his face and was deliberately gazing over my head to watch James.

I felt James nod. "All of our female concubines gave birth recently, and have been spending most of their time with their infants. They also remain within our home area unless they have duties which take them outside."

The bald marine nodded. "Understandable. However, we don't have time to sit and chat. Governor Johanes needs to know about the running of this planet. He knew nothing of the repair station and needs to be informed so he can properly distribute resources."

"Like they have duties," the first marine snarked. "They just didn't want to greet us properly."

James sighed. He seemed about to speak, but once again the second marine raised a hand. "Corporal, you need to pay a bit more attention. I waited back in the teleporter room while you went to what I hear is a rather comfortable bunk. The citizens who stayed behind met and treated nearly two dozen wounded personnel and concubines from Mongolia. The system they have set up to get people into medical pods quickly is clearly refined from numerous incidents, and considerable practice. It's not a glamorous job, but it's clear they take it seriously."

"But what about this story of firing lasers from the planet," the corporal whined. "I've never heard of that."

"It's discontinued technology," James said. "When we were travelling here, the transport had some extra pods. Somehow the AI decided that I would be allowed to plan uses for the pods and that they would be dropped on the colony. We knew the world would be within the Sa'arm sphere of influence. When I challenged the AI to find a weapon we could fire from the planet and which could affect ships in space, the laser was the only viable option due to our atmosphere. Any other energy particle would have been disrupted by the acid in the air, and the ballistics of a solid particle would be changed as it dissolved in the acid. The AI noted that a laser avoided both issues and that there were designs in its archives."

"You hinted that several marines have been injured using the lasers," the senior marine said.

"And concubines," I whispered.

"Explain that whisper!" the marine barked at me. He had lowered his gaze and was now staring at me. I tried to slide behind James as his piercing stare continued.

James gently patted me on the head. "I'll explain it as we walk," he said. "What Meiko is mentioning is that we had a couple concubines injured while trying to get Amanda out of the remnants of her armor. Amanda's armor had a seal failure had just performed an emergency amputation of her left leg. Meiko and some other concubines rushed into the laser chamber to help strip her armor off so we could get her to medical. The acid ended up burning through Meiko's hand."

"She has both hands now," the corporal hissed.

James sighed as the older marine turned to his companion. "Are you being deliberately stupid? Confed medical technology can regenerate lost limbs."

"But she's a concubine," the marine said with a gasp. "Why waste that kind of healing on her."

"Don't worry, I didn't think it was a waste," James whispered in my ear.

"The corporal isn't very compassionate," I whispered back.

The senior marine appeared to agree because we had reached an intersection and he quickly ordered the corporal to turn left and report to the company lieutenant. "Sorry about that," the man said. "I'm afraid Governor Johanes didn't select the marines of my company for their tact."

"It's not a problem," James replied. "I don't really expect everyone to like us."

The marine nodded. "On that note, I was listening in on the reports after the explosion in the laser room. It sounds like you have no defense now. Why do you only have the one room?"

"Time," James replied, "and the priorities of the colony. We had a lot of things we needed produced so we can complete our mission of repairing ships. That took up the majority of the available replicator time. The rest went to making things like the probes that returned the artifacts the scientist is so enthusiastic for."

"That makes sense," the marine replied.

"Also, we don't have many gunners. There are only twenty-two marines on the entire planet. Six have no combat aptitude, of those, four work in medical, one acts as the head of our nursery and one backs up the twins in the command center. We also have five more citizens who specialize in working in the command post, two who serve as the ground support for the lasers and one who just recently recovered from being captured by the renegades, she has battle armor, but we haven't had time to fully train her in the lasers."

"So you have eight marines who can run the lasers?" the marine asked as we approached the command post. "I'll want to talk to you about that after your meeting with the governor."

"Donna specifically said that James needed rest," I replied fiercely. "Can't it wait a day?"

The marine looked at me for a moment. His eyes were wide, but finally he shook his head. "Do you always have your concubines giving orders?" he asked.

James barked a laugh. "No, but in this case she's merely passing on the directive from the head of our medical department. I've learned to respect Donna's medical judgment. However, we'll have to discuss that later. We are at the command post."

"So we are," the marine said as he stepped through the doorway. As he passed through I could hear him bark. "Governor, I have Private Rabb here as you directed."

"It's about time, Major Bonham," the voice of the scientist returned. "I was wondering if I would have to court martial the private on my first day here."

James staggered into the room and offered a sketchy salute before he started to collapse. I dashed forward to give him support as he swayed. "Private Rabb reporting," my master said. "Sorry for the delay, but I was released for medical and had to try to walk here."

"Is that why you have a concubine with you?" the scientist said. "I'll have you know that there is no fornication while on duty."

I smothered a gasp, but James just stood a bit straighter. "It is my understanding that I have not been declared fit for duty by our medical personnel," James replied.

"Why you!" the governor hissed. The man burst from his chair and took a step toward James.

"James Rabb is correct," the AI interrupted the governor's next thought. "Military regulations say that any personnel injured in battle can only be considered on duty after being certified as fit for duty. James was removed from a medical pod with more than an hour of repair left to go. As such, he is not fit for duty at this time."

The scientist stopped and then gazed up at the ceiling. "I won't have you quoting military regulations at me! I know what the rules are!" He paused for a moment and then returned to his chair.

While the scientist was distracted, Yvette came up and helped me maneuver James to another chair. My master dropped into the chair with an audible thud and then slouched down with his hands over his eyes.

"Look at me!" the governor hissed.

"Begging your pardon," James replied with a whisper. "I have a huge headache right now. I'll listen and respond, but I'm trying to keep the light out of my eyes. It helps with the pain."

I saw Yvette wince, but the governor did not respond for a moment. Finally, he offered a faint nod.

"Fine," the man said. "Now we were interrupted earlier by the arrival of all those ships."

"Oh, that reminds me," James asked. "How are the ships and what are the estimates for repairs?"

The governor looked upset, but Yvette immediately replied. "Louis got Mongolia towed into a dry dock, but was too tired to do more than set up the system to start an automated inspection. Sif is in better shape overall, but has seventeen damaged gunballs and lost another six. Timothy set up another dry dock to start repairing the gunballs and armor damage. Both crews are resting, but we also have fifty-four wounded citizens and concubines in our medical bay."

"Who's manning the command post?" James asked.

"Alexis came down to help Mike," Yvette replied. "The twins had to get some sleep. Hopefully we can get Brad and Linus out of medical pods in time to replace Alexis and Mike.

There was a loud cough from the governor. "Excuse me," he said. "I'm in charge here."

James turned to him. "Sorry. We do have established duties and procedures and I guess we dropped into that out of habit. What do you need?"

"First," the governor said. "What is this about the crews of the damaged ships receiving shore leave here? You told me that this is a death world with an acidic atmosphere.

James shrugged. "It is, but it's still a planet with far more space than is available on a ship. The first time it was because the ship was so damaged that it was safer for the crew to have them resting on Ishtar while the repairs were performed. Over time, we turned the visits into events and both the citizens of Ishtar and the ship crews enjoyed the interaction. We have some rooms set up just for recreation."

"And who authorized this?" the governor hissed.

"Everything we do is communicated with Admiral Himmel who is the district commander for the area," Yvette replied. "He even authorized distribution of reports to all ship commanders detailing the facilities here and the fact that landing is controlled by the planetary governor."

The new governor grinned at that, but then schooled his face to an impassive mask. "No, I don't see a reason to make changes to that right now. As long as the crews stay out of the way of my scientists, we can make do."

"I don't know Captain Johnson from Sif, but Captain Werfel has been here before," Yvette said. "She'll probably have her crew behaving in an organized fashion. We have chambers set aside for socializing and sports that are away from the labs. So far, the crews have been good about not wandering around the colony."

"Keep it that way," Governor Johanes said poisonously. "I have more important things to do than deal with a ton of lost privates looking into everything."

There was silence in the room. James remained slumped in his chair, but I could feel his hand on my shoulder. His fingers dug into my flesh for a moment and then relaxed. "There will be no problems," James promised

"Next, when can I have access to the artifacts?" the governor asked. His tone had changed from commanding to almost pleading.

James did not seem to notice the change. "You have had access to them since you landed," he replied. "The actual artifacts are far too radioactive to be teleported down to the planet, so we have them quarantined on Inanna. The laboratory we had set up for you has direct links to the labs on Inanna. From there you can investigate the items without any risk of injury."

"That doesn't work. I need to touch the artifacts if I'm to determine how they were used," The man challenged.

"All scans of the artifacts have found lethal levels of radiation present," the AI announced. "It would be a violation of the safety of the colony to teleport the artifacts down to the planet."

"Why can't you just teleport the artifact and leave the radiation behind," the scientist whined.

"It is unclear if the radiation is caused by some cataclysm or is integral to the functionality of the devices. There are some races of the Confederacy who would find the same levels of radiation promote health and growth. Removing the radiation in a teleport might prevent accurate assessment of the artifact's function," the AI insisted.

"Fuck!" the scientist growled. "Why do I keep hearing excuses?" He pointed at James. "You will provide me with additional assistants to help in the research."

"We have no one with scientific or lab training," James replied.

"I just need someone to help take notes!" the man growled. "And maybe to help give the AI instructions on adjusting the view."

James turned to look at Yvette. She seemed confused as he smiled. I felt my master sit up a bit straighter. "I think Terrence and Linus would be quite capable of helping under those circumstances," he said.

Yvette suddenly had a knowing look. "Yes," she replied as she sat up. "They definitely can help. And if they don't work out, we can always spare Louis, he'd be perfect for giving the AI instructions on how to manipulate the artifacts."

The scientist looked a bit upset. "Why them?"

James looked right at him. "Because they are available for what you want, and have the skills you described."

The scientist looked perturbed, but sat back again. "Fine," he spat. "They can help me starting tomorrow. Now, I want to see the lab and then get some sleep."

Yvette stood up. "I can show you where it is."

The scientist pointed at me. "Why can't she do it? You keep telling me that you have duties, so why not have the concubine undertake a simple task like showing me where the lab is."

James shook his head. "Perhaps because she doesn't know where it is. Meiko doesn't normally serve in this part of the colony. She also has a newborn daughter she needs to feed. Now, Donna told me to get some rest. With your permission, I'm going to return to my pod and have Meiko guide me."

The scientist frowned, but waved a hand in dismissal. I noticed a brief look of lust flash across Major Bonham's face, but the man said nothing as I helped James to his feet.

Yvette came over to support us. James took a few moments to straighten his back and stand tall. As he was bent over, Yvette put her head between the two of us. "Keep all the female concubines away from these guys. Mike heard a couple of the marines talking in the hallways; they didn't bring any concubines and believed that there would be no complaints if they forced one of us to grant permission for them to play. Tam and Tif already warned the visiting ships about the potential problem."

I was shocked by this and said nothing. Yvette did not wait for a response, but immediately made her way to the scientist, taking his head and almost dragging him from the command post. Major Bonham followed, after one last lust-filled look at me.

"Take care James," Alexis said once the visitors had left the room. "That scientist is every bit as bad as Ruth and her minions, but far more crafty. He's going to try to cause trouble."

"What about any problems between them and the ship's crews?" James asked.

"The warning from the twins should be enough," Mike replied. "Captain Johnson said the concubine dorms on her ship were intact so her concubines are staying aboard. Captain Werfel asked that the concubines from Mongolia stay on Sif until the repairs to their dorm are complete. We've put priority into those repairs."

"It's not fair that they can't visit," I moaned.

"What!" James barked out. "Shy little Meiko actually saying she'll miss someone?"

"Not someone," I said feeling my face turn hot. "But I imagine that the concubines feel rather alone. A few moments off the ship would definitely cheer them up, but now they can't get that."

"That does sound a bit unfair," Alexis admitted. "But if it protects us, we need to do it. Right now I can't imagine much good from that Governor Johanes."

"Did you realize that there isn't a single woman with them?" Mike responded.

"What?" Alexis cried. "What do you mean?"

"I happened to run into one of the younger marines while I was running here. We talked for a moment," Mike said.

"You took a break?" Alexis said. "Even with that, that Thing! Ordering us around?"

"I needed to calm down," Mike admitted. "I was shaking after helping get people out of the laser room. It was probably a good thing I did. That man ripped into me when I did arrive. But that's not important. What I was saying was I talked to the marine."

"You said that already," Alexis said with a huff.

"Spare me," Mike responded. "The marine told me that Governor Johanes hand-picked all his assistants and then requested a special marine unit. Every one of his assistants is male and had a CAP less than seven. The marine unit is also all male and most of them had to go through basic twice."

"Regular marines?" Alexis asked.

"No, well, yes they are line marines and trained to fight the Sa'arm, but they weren't in the Earth military. Instead they were civilians on Earth and struggled with basic."

"I wonder what wasn't being told to us," James mused.

"I didn't have time to ask," Mike said. "But the marine was a randy jerk. He was asking me if I'd ever had my concubines pulling train or made them airtight."

"Yuck!" Alexis said. "I was the main event at a couple of Ruth's gangbangs back when she was still trying to break me. No woman should be forced to go through that."

Mike nodded. "I agree. Worse, Michelle was a virgin when I selected her. She's still very shy about allowing Mickey and I to see her naked body. If I allowed someone like that marine to spend time with her, it might traumatize her."

James looked towards the door for a moment. "AI, can you set up a quiet alert for all concubines and female citizens warning them when any of the men who arrived on Sir Paridell are in any of the common areas. We need to be sure they can stay away, or that they have a male citizen nearby."

"Affirmative," the AI replied.

"I thought that scientist said he was governor," Alexis hissed. "But the AI still acknowledges you?"

James smiled. "Yes, interesting isn't it?" Then he put his hand on my shoulder and, using me as a crutch, we left the command post to go home and rest.