Chapter 44 - Controlled Chaos Erupts

I ran from the command post. Behind me, I could hear that the conversations had definitely calmed down. Ahead, the hallways were silent. My progress to my home was uninterrupted as I rushed to Janice and Bethany.

I arrived to find Janice laying Madoka on the couch. My sister concubine looked at me and laughed. "Great timing. I just changed Madoka and was going to bring her to you so you could feed her."

"Where are Kitty, Brittany and Bethany?" I asked as I walked over to pick up my daughter.

"Bethany was showing them a bit about taking care of babies and took them upstairs to the nursery. Kitty is having a bit of trouble feeding both of her children. I think Bethany was going to feed Kristi," Janice replied.

"That makes sense," I said as I pulled my top up and tossed it on the couch next to Madoka. My daughter was watching me as I sat down on the couch. She cooed as I picked her up and held her to my breast.

"James wants you and Bethany," I told my sister concubine. "We have many ships visiting and he could use the help."

"Is it urgent?" Janice asked as she sat next to me. Her right hand reached out to caress my knee.

"It sounds like the first ship won't arrive for a few hours. But in about an hour Alexis will be using a transporter to go to one of the ships. The ship has had a major engineering failure."

"Which ship? Do we know how many people died?" Janice asked, Her body stiffened. I noticed her hand had frozen on my leg.

"Pebble Beach," I said. "But I can't say how many casualties they suffered. The only message we received was from the Captain, and since then we've had no contact. The scans indicated that the ship had lost most of its communications arrays."

"No!' Janice cried. "I liked most of the crew of that ship. Why is it always the good ships that get beat up?"

"Because the ships with good commanders are also going to be the ones that fight bravely," Bethany's voice rang out. My sister concubine and I turned to find Bethany walking out of the corridor leading to the lift in the pod. "And while we always want to believe that someone fighting bravely will never lose, the truth is that we are going to see friends die in this fight."

"It's still hard," I said quietly. "And the other two ships are also returning ships. Cancun and Cabo San Lucas just jumped in as well. Cancun has no casualties, but Cabo has reported four crewmembers have been killed."

Bethany nodded. "Sounds like it isn't too bad."

Just then there was a knock at the door. We all turned to look at the door. "Who?" Janice asked.

There was a moment of silence and then Bethany looked up. "Um... AI, is this someone you can open the door for, or do we need to let James know?"

The door slid open. I found myself staring at a young woman I did not recognize. She had a hand up to knock on the door again, but jumped back as she noticed the door.

"Sorry," she said in a near whisper. "I just...I needed to ask a question."

"Why did you need to ask us a question?" I asked.

"Well, you know the citizens better, and you know James," the woman said. I had a chance to look more closely and realized she had short curly black hair and a European cast to her features. I guessed she was slender, but it was impossible to tell. She was wearing a shapeless sweater that fell down below her knees. I was puzzling who she could be.

"I thought you were trying to avoid all of the citizens, Monique," Bethany said. "Which is completely understandable after what happened to you."

Monique blushed and mumbled something. It was indistinct. Janice leaned forward beside me. "What was that?" my sister concubine asked.

Monique took a deep breath. "Alexis. I was wondering if I could become the concubine of Alexis."

I could see Bethany nod. "Well, she'd have to decide she wanted you as a concubine," Bethany responded. "And I can't make her do that."

"No, but you can whisper in James' ear. And Alexis respects him. I've listened to her quite a bit. She would listen to him if he suggested it," Monique said. She was fidgeting with her hands as she stood in the doorway.

Janice jumped up from the couch and made her way to the door. Monique froze for a moment, but did not run away. She complied meekly as Janice collected her and coaxed her into the room. "That we can do," Janice said. "But are you sure?"

Monique blushed again and nodded. "Manuel he kept insisting that we were doing absolutely nothing on this planet. He would promise his men that once Ruth was defeated they would have a celebration that would last forever. Then I found out that the citizens dropped here could really make a difference. I want to help."

Janice frowned. "But Alexis isn't exactly the most helpful..."

I put a hand out and waved at Janice. "Actually, Alexis just volunteered to transport to Pebble Beach and, from what I hear, it's a very dangerous mission. She's trying."

"She's a proud young woman," Bethany said. "Monique, I can't promise anything, but if there is a chance, I'll mention it to James."

I could see Monique start to smile when the speakers burst into life. "James!" I heard Major Bonham cry out. "Where is the marine I stationed in the transporter room? He's not there."

"I'm sure he's just taking a short break," James replied. "And right now, the only people who will be moving through the transporter are the crew of Pebble Beach. From what I'm hearing, they are all going to be too injured to disrupt Colonel Johanes and his research."

"That's not the point!" the major cried out. "Proper security demands that a marine be in the transporter room when it is active. I shouldn't even allow that kid of yours to run the machine."

"Brad is thirty-nine," James replied. "And he's been the primary transporter operator for Ishtar since the beginning. He can handle the duty."

"I don't care if he's three hundred!" the major shouted. "My men are supposed to operate the transporter."

"Why?" James asked.

"What do you mean, why? I am the second in command on this planet and it's my job to handle the operations."

"Actually, I'm not sure how accurate that is," James said. "Colonel Johanes did have orders making him acting governor, but none saying that anyone stationed on Ishtar was being put under his command. If that is true, I still report directly to General Montgomery on Borneo."

"Private, you report to whoever Colonel Johanes tells you to report to," Major Bonham growled. "Now I want to know where my marine is."

"He's pining for the fjords," I whispered to Janice. My sister concubine giggled at this, but Bethany was frowning.

"James is taking a big risk," Bethany said. "He's testing the major's authority rather openly."

I nodded as James responded. "I believe your marine is currently recovering from an altercation. He will be fine once he is released from the medical pod."

"How did he end up in a medical pod?" the major hissed. "Was it you?"

"From where I am?" James asked. "I'm not that good or vengeful. Your man got in the way when we started our standard procedures to recover crewmen on damaged ships."

"So your man in the transporter room caused it. I will be arresting him then," the major growled.

"If you want to be court martialed for causing the deaths of all the crew on Pebble Beach, go right ahead."

"What?"

"Do any of your marines have extensive training on running a transporter platform?"

"They are marines, not some specialist technical grunt who runs a supply post!"

"I thought as much," James replied disdainfully. Bethany was motioning me to halt Madoka's feeding and stand up. I gently moved Madoka away from my breast. My daughter gave a single grunt of annoyance, but quickly settled down. I could see her eyes start to close and laid her down next to Astrid. Janice was pulling my halter top over my head by the time I stood up.

"Major Bonham," James continued. "You might think that what we do is simple, but it does take training. Right now, we have a ship approaching that has had a major engineering failure. If we don't get the crew off the ship, they might die. From what you are telling me, none of your marines would have a clue on how to handle a transport from two stable stations. In this case, Brad is going to have to operate both stations from his platform and do that without a solid communications link with the mobile unit that is about to arrive at Pebble Beach. It's difficult to do and a mistake could cost lives. If you arrest him, then you are claiming responsibility for running the transporter and for rescuing those crewmen. Each death that occurs will be your fault and I assure you that I will make sure that Admiral Himmel has you up on charges immediately."

"I can't allow an attack on one of my marines to go unchallenged!" the major spat out.

"Fine, as soon as we are done with this rescue, Brad will be placed under house arrest and confined to his pod."

"Where Candi and Randi will try their best to get pregnant again," Janice said with a giggle as she finished pulling my halter top over my breasts. "Let's go give our man a hug and a kiss."

"You do the hug and kiss," Bethany said. "I'll give him the blow job he deserves."

"No fair," Monique growled as we all started rushing to the door. "I don't have someone to do that with."

"Yet," I replied as I playfully slapped her ass and dashed out the door. Janice and Bethany laughed loudly as I led them down the passageway.

I reached the first intersection and stopped for a moment. As Janice ran up, I waved her to stop. "Tina hasn't fed Tolwin," I commented.

"I did that," Janice admitted. "Bethany suggested that when we started to hear all of the reports. She knew that Tina would likely end up running a tug or the transporter pod we have."

I glanced at Bethany, who was walking up the corridor with Monique. Bethany was teasing Monique about something if the bright blush spreading on the face of the young woman was an indication. Bethany noticed me watching and waved at us. "Go ahead," she called out. "I'll catch up in a short while. Right now I'm taking Monique to see Edith."

I turned with Janice. "Not sure how Edith will help," Janice observed. "She hasn't had an official owner since Jack died."

I shrugged. "Bethany knows what to do," I said. "Did you notice that she encouraged Monique the whole time? Hopefully, it will work out."

We were approaching the command post when new voice called out. "Major, I've arrived at the transporter room, but there is no way I can relieve the man here."

"What do you mean?" thundered Major Bonham. "You informed me that you were well versed in transporter technology. You spent a tour on the teams handling pickups from Earth. How can you not know how to run the transporter?"

"Those were static systems largely run by the AI," the first voice replied. "The transporters would be setup by a remote that laid the pad down, and then we just had to open up a one way connection. This is a dynamic unit that appears to be inside a specially designed airlock."

"An airlock?" the major shouted.

Janice took off in a run and I hurried after her. Overhead, the speakers carried James' reply. My master sounded almost bored. "If a ship is heavily damaged, we'll connect a transporter pad that is inside an airlock to one of the ship's airlocks. The unit mounts thrusters and can be sent anywhere in the system."

"Confed technology doesn"t have unlimited range!" the major shouted.

"True," James replied. "But in this case, by the time we can dock with the ship, it will have drifted into range. Now, could you ask your marine to back away from the controls? I've been informed that the remote unit is about to dock with Pebble Beach."

"Are you telling me that my marines are untrained?" the major snapped.

"No," James replied. I expected to hear more, but my master refrained from adding to his curt comment. Ahead of me, I saw Janice vanish through the command post doorway.

I followed my best friend. When I reached the doorway and looked in, I found her wrapped around James. He had her arms around his neck while her legs circled his waist. James had put his left arm out to steady Janice as he continued to talk with Xavier.

"Cancun is in great shape overall," Xavier was saying. "The armor is a battered wreck, but from what I can see, it's all glancing hits. None of the probes have found any deep damage, and the scans of the engine show no problems. We can turn her in about four hours."

"That fast?" James asked.

"Armor replacement is quick," Xavier said with a smile.

"What about reloads?" James asked. "Captain Gates says they have run out of ammunition."

"No problem," Xavier said. "We have plenty of reloads and can fill the magazines while replacing the plating. It will be a short visit for Captain Gates."

"James," Ulla called out. "Captain Travis is asking for you. She has some questions."

"Tamara, can you try to get in touch with Captain Gates, let her know we believe her ship can be repaired quickly. Ulla, put Captain Travis through."

I saw Ulla turn back to her controls, but before she could say anything, Colonel Johanes' voice crackled out of the speakers. "James, why do I have Major Bonham here claiming that one of your people assaulted one of his marines?"

"That marine was impeding the good running of this colony," James snapped. "We explained to you that we have a duty to act when a Confederacy ship arrives."

"I decide what is impeding the good running of this colony!" Colonel Johanes spat out. "Worse, I understand that you refused to immediately discipline the citizen guilty of the assault."

"I don't exactly have the time to train someone to do what Brad is doing," James shouted back. "Now, I have a ship captain who wants to talk to me, and I need to keep a channel clear so that Brad can contact me the moment Alexis starts bringing survivors from Pebble Beach through the transporter. I thought you had some new artifacts to review?"

"James," I heard Captain Travis call out. "What's going on?"

James was shaking his head when a new voice cried out. "Dawn! Is that really you?"

The voice had come through the communications system. I could see Tamara hitting switches on her control and frowning. James was walking over to her when Captain Travis spoke again. "Jen? What is a deputy director of DECO doing here?"

"It is you!" Captain Gates cried out. "I've been transferred. Now I am the captain of Cancun. How are you doing?"

"Ladies, Captains, while it seems like a endearing moment, can we put a pause on the reunion?" James said. "We need to get your ships to the repair docks safely."

"James!" Brad called out. "Can we start the transport?"

"The transporter is docked!" Tina shouted in reply. "I just got all green for the seal. But the power is out on Pebble Beach's airlock. Anyone you teleport is going to have to force the door open."

"You can't do that!" Major Bonham interrupted. "These ships can't be boarded that easily."

"Says the man who obviously has never worked on ships before," Janice muttered.

"Alexis," Xavier called out. "There will be a manual override for the airlock. You can find it down at the base of the unit. It will appear to be a pale blue light. Push it down and up towards the top of the door and a panel will open. In there will be a handcrank that will open the airlock. It will take a few minutes though."

"Understood," Alexis replied. Her voice had a very formal tone to it. "Brad, I'm ready to transport."

"Damn," James muttered. "Captain Travis, you needed my attention?"

"Is it always this busy?" the captain replied back. "I'm almost afraid to ask for anything."

"You were here before and it wasn't this bad. However, this time we have three ships appearing and all have damage," James replied. "Don't worry; we can definitely take care of your ship. Right now we have a tug heading out to collect you."

"I just wanted to make sure that you have medical pods reserved for some of my crew. We have three crew who won't last twelve more hours without one," Captain Travis replied.

"Ed?" James called out.

"You know this medical bay," Ed replied. "We can take fifty people total. But if Pebble Beach is as bad as it could be, they might fill every pod. How many do I have to keep free?"

"Four critical was what was reported earlier," James said. "Cabo has a total of seven injured on board."

"I'll be ready," Ed replied. "When will I see them?"

"Paula!" James called out toward the briefing room. "Can I get a status on the tug you are running?"

"Thirty more minutes before I have Cabo in tow," the young woman called back. "After that, I might be able to bring her into the dock in eighty minutes. Call it two hours to give me time to handle any problems."

"I heard," Ed immediately called back. "Just let me keep Tom and David here and we'll rush the crew into medical pods when Cabo is docked."

"Good," James finished. "Captain Travis, we have the pods reserved for your critically injured crew. It sounds like we'll start transporting them in two hours."

"Understood," Captain Travis replied. "For now, I'll have my crew continue some of the repairs we can perform."

"James?" I heard Bethany call out. I turned to see her standing in the doorway to the command post. She was pointing to the repeater screens that showed what was going on in front of the doors separating our homes from the rest of the colony.

The first screen just showed the hallway, but the second and third revealed that the four marines stationed in the hallway had advanced forward when Major Bonham had left the chamber. Two were standing in the third doorway and the other two were now only a few feet away from the second doorway.

"Great," Tamara said with a huff. "We have all sorts of other problems and now we have our visiting marines trying to sneak into the enclave. James, what do we do?"

"What do we do about that?" Tiffany asked.

"Nothing," James said. "We already have seen that Colonel Johanes won't take our side in any dispute. Just make sure that all travel to that side of the colony is done through the other rooms. And try not to talk too much about the rooms in front of the marines. From what I've seen, they haven't shown much interest in visiting them."

Everyone in the room turned back to their controls. I saw a moment to act and pulled James' head down until I could force his lips to mine. "Just remember we love you."