Chapter 55 - Tensions Rising

"Wow!" Brittany replied. "The AI just shot him down hard. I didn't know the AI could do that."

Kitty just giggled. "Well are we going skating then?"

"Actually," James said, "I thought we could play some three on three hockey, or at least practice for it."

"Hockey! You have duties and you are going to play a kid's game?" we heard Colonel Johanes snap. "I'll be adding dereliction of duty to the charges at your court martial."

"Really?" Yvette snapped. "How do you figure that? Do you even understand how we rotate people through the various duties?"

"If he's playing hockey, he's clearly not attending to any duties he might have," Colonel Johanes growled.

James leaned back for a moment. I was surprised by this and looked at him. He had an amused smirk on his face. "Well, why don't we walk you through all the duties? AI, the primary duty of this colony is to monitor local space, correct?"

"Affirmative," the AI stated.

"And right now Lily and Madison are in the command post, at the duty stations with Tamara and Tiffany backing them up and training them, correct?"

"Affirmative."

"Our next duty is to repair visiting Confederacy Navy ships, correct?"

"Affirmative."

"And none are here to repair."

"Affirmative."

"And right now, we do not have any repair docks or system defense units requiring attention and maintenance, correct?"

"Affirmative."

"So at this moment the only duty posts are the command post ones, correct?"

"Affirmative."

James nodded. "Well Colonel, you heard it from the AI, right now the only duty posts are the command post stations and they are covered. I am still going to be ready should there be a problem."

"It's still dereliction of duty," Colonel Johanes growled.

"Oh, get over yourself," we heard Alexis snap. "The AI has already told you off. James is the reason this colony is even alive. He started planning before we arrived and made sure that we had a way of surviving the war that broke out the instant we landed."

The only response was a loud sniff from the speakers. James waited for a moment and then hugged Tina with his left arm. "Time to go," he said.

We all started to get off the bed. I remembered that they had started out eating breakfast and glanced around. Janice was quietly stacking empty trays as the rest of my sister concubines got up and dashed over to the closets to find clothing.

I gave James a hug as he followed the others. "Thank you for last night," I whispered.

James laughed. "You surprised me," he admitted. "Now why don't you rush out and start getting all the babies ready. We should have them near the ice so we can watch them."

"I can do that," I said. With that, I dashed out of the bedroom. There I found Bethany had already pulled out several strollers. She had Astrid sitting in one and was heading to the cribs.

I followed her to the cribs and watched as she picked up Madoka and held my daughter in her arms. She turned and noticed me standing there.

"I hope you don't mind if I put Madoka and Astrid together," she said with a smile.

"Why would I? Madoka appears to enjoy being near Astrid," I said as I reached down to pick up Joy. "I'll put Joy with Tolwin, and the newborns can all go together."

Bethany giggled girlishly. "And we will all go together when we go."

"Oh please," we heard Brittany comment. "Nothing morbid today. Not even that song. We need to be cheerful, it's our first family outing in a long time."

I was strapping Joy into a stroller. Tina stopped by with Tolwin, putting him next to Joy. We worked together to prepare the babies. Once they were comfortable, I looked up and found that the rest of the family was ready to go.

We left the pod and started out through the tunnels. At first the tunnels seemed abnormally quiet, but once we passed Yvette's home we found a few others were awake and moving. James always stopped to chat with the others, so our progress was a bit slow. We were finally passing the main blast doors that separated us from Colonel Johanes when we heard a voice.

"Umm... James? I'm sorry, this is Lily. Um... Well, Colonel Johanes has a new complaint," the timid and young woman said.

James snorted. "What does his Excellency want from me now? He's already tried to take me for far more than he deserves."

"It's far less than I deserve," Colonel Johanes snarled. His hostility was clear even through the speakers, but James just kept us walking toward the entrance to the ice rink.

"We've already decided to permanently disagree on that," James said calmly. "Now what is your latest complaint?"

"Why aren't you working to repair the lasers?" Colonel Johanes asked. "After all your earlier comments about them and their importance to the colony, I'd have expected you to put a lot more concern now that they are destroyed."

"Well... " James said slowly. We had arrived at the door and he signaled that my sister concubines and I should proceed him into the room. I stayed next to him as Janice approached the doorway. "There is a simple reason why we are not repairing the lasers. After an earlier incident with them and some other colony improvements, Yvette and I realized that having the lasers in the middle of the colony was not a good idea. New stations are being brought online and should be ready in about three weeks. At that time, we were going to shut down the laser room anyways."

"I demand to see the new emplacements," Major Bonham shouted.

"Certainly," James replied. "All you'll need is acid proof skin and the ability to breathe in a vacuum. The new sites are some distance from here. We will have tunnels to them and a special subway that can take gunners to their stations, but nothing is finished. The first priority was to get the new emplacements ready, so the AI started by sending out power couplings and some replicator modules along with construction units. The new lasers don't exist. Right now the emplacements are hollow caverns in the rocks on the bluff to our north."

"Are we safe?" Colonel Johanes sputtered.

"We still have all the space based defenses, and those are solid, even if they are limited due to the restrictions on computerized targeting," James replied reasonably. My sister concubines had all entered the doorway, so I followed, tugging on James' arm to make sure he did not stay behind.

Once inside I found that my sister concubines were looking around in confusion. The locker room with its padded seats and colorful boxes was no different from the previous time I had visited. Ignoring their confusion, I stepped around them and tapped the door to my locker. It slid open, revealing the skates I had tried on previously along with a selection of pads and clothing.

"Meiko! How did you know what to do?" Janice asked from my shoulder. She was looking down at my locker and its contents. "And what's all this?"

I reached in to pick up one bundle of blue and gold cloth. I shook it out and discovered that it was a blue hockey jersey. As I spread it out the front opened up revealing the icon of a rabbit standing on its hind legs.

"Oh cute, I guess you play for the Rabbits," Kitty said with a giggle. "But is that really yours?"

I spun the jersey around to view the back. The outfit had a large number five on the back. Above the number, my name was written in gold. I showed this to the others. "I guess it's mine."

"Wow," Brittany said from just in front of me. I looked over and she had reached into my locker and was looking at the items. "Padded uniform pants, skates with built in socks, a pair of hockey sticks and a couple of pucks. You have everything you need."

"Yes, and I should take it to the bench so I can get dressed," I said. I moved over to the nearest bench and set down the jersey before returning to the locker. I used my next trip to take the skates and stick to the bench. On my next trip, I paused to remove my skirt and put it into the locker before claiming the pants. As I turned away, the locker slid closed.

"How?" Janice asked. "And what about the rest of us?"

I pointed at the wall. "We all have boxes under the one for James. It's set up that way for all the citizens and concubines."

My sister concubines all gasped in surprise and then ran over to check the wall and start opening lockers. As they did, I stepped into the uniform pants and pulled them up. They fit comfortably, despite having thick pads for my hips and thighs.

Once the pants were on, I slipped into the jersey. Like the pants, it appeared to have built in pads. I had to wiggle around a bit, as the chest protection started out pinching me, but soon was pulling my hair up so it was not trapped under the collar.

I was bending down to put my right foot into my skate when I heard James speak. "No helmets?"

"Helmets can be provided," the AI spoke. "However, as this is a practice session, it was felt that going without helmets might be beneficial."

I looked up to see James nod. "I guess with our medical technology, concussions are a bit less of a concern. However, I believe we should require them for games, just as a precaution, especially if we have people with hard shots."

Brittany giggled. "Do we go with blue or gold helmets? Since our jerseys are blue with gold trim?"

"White," Bethany said. "That way the helmets work no matter which jersey we wear. And James, are you happy with us having rabbits as a mascot?"

I had finished tying my right skate and was working on the left one. "Sure," James replied. "It fits us. I wonder what the AI has planned for everyone else?"

My left skate was tied so I stood up and picked up the hockey stick I had found in the locker. "I'll see you on the ice," I said.

Walking on the skates was no easier than I had been the previous time and I stumbled a bit as I walked down the passage leading to the ice. At the end of the hall, I noticed that a door had opened to reveal a pair of hockey goals.

I stepped past the doors and onto the ice. This time I remembered to keep a slight bend to my knees. The hockey stick also helped me keep my balance. Nervously, I started making a slow circuit around the rink.

I was halfway around the rink and starting to skate faster when I heard a shout. I looked up to see Janice standing on the edge of the ice. I waved to her and sped up a bit more as I continued my circle.

I was making a turn at the edge of the ice when Janice stepped out. She had her legs straight and was starting to fall backwards when I completed the run and glided up behind her. Without thinking about it, I slid in behind her and grabbed around her chest. She fell back into me, but kept her skates on the ice as I pushed her forward.

"Keep your knees bent just a little," I said. "That's what I got told the last time I was here, and it works."

"And if it doesn't, can I rely on you to keep me from falling on my butt?" Janice asked as she pulled her feet back. She straightened up and the pushed away from me.

This time Janice kept her feet. I swung by on a second lap and she started a first one, moving slowly as she got used to balancing.

I kept on, and by the time I finished my second lap the rest of my family had arrived. Bethany had brought the baby strollers down the hall, so that the babies were close enough to be heard. This allowed all of my sister concubines to enjoy being on the ice.

James and my sisters were still struggling a little, but I decided that I could deal with one of the goals. I slid to a stop in front of the one next to the ice and put my stick on it before trying to pull it on the ice.

The goal slid so easily I nearly fell backwards. I lunged forward to regain my balance as it glided onto the ice. Once I had my balance, I glared at the ceiling.

"The goals use a grav system to stay in place. You will require little effort to move it into position," the AI informed me.

The AI was correct. The goal offered no resistance and even adjusted its path as I guided it to one end of the ice. Two circles lit up in the ice to show where to place it. They seemed to attract the goal itself, so only a moment later I was able to retrieve my stick from the top of the goal and skate to the middle of the ice.

Kitty skated over to join me. She had been the most confident of my sister concubines as they all warmed up. "You forgot to bring a puck," she told me.

I turned to her and out of the corner of my eye saw something small and black drop from the ceiling. I turned to look and found a hockey puck hovering over the center of the rink at knee height. "The AI can provide one," I said with a giggle.

Kitty stared at the hovering puck for a moment. "I guess we faceoff for it," she said as she skated over in front of it.

"What?" I asked. At that moment, I noticed that the others had stopped skating and were watching Kitty and me.

Kitty pointed to a spot near the puck, but opposite her on the ice. "Stand there and then put your hockey stick opposite mine so that the puck will fall between the sticks," she said as she put the blade of her hockey stick on the ice. From her position, it was to the right of the puck.

I skated around Kitty and then approached the point she had indicated. Kitty was shifting on her skates and I noticed that she had positioned her feet to allow a quick turn to the left. Just then, I realized that her goal would be to use her body to push me away from the puck when it dropped.

I slid into position and set the blade of my hockey stick down near the puck. At that time, I turned my left ankle and pressed the blade of my skate into the ice.

The Ai must have detected that we were ready because the puck dropped to the ice. In a snap, I brought my stick over the puck and then backhanded it forward as I thrust my left leg back. The puck skittered past Kitty and I followed as she spun in reaction to the puck falling.

My initial sweep of the puck had given it a bit of speed and it took a moment before I caught up to it. Once I did, I used the blade of the hockey stick to angle it toward the goal. It did not want to stay on the blade of the stick and I slowed my skating as I concentrated on keeping the puck moving toward the goal.

I had covered about half the distance from the drop point to the goal when I looked down and saw the blade of another hockey stick appear between my legs and bat at the puck. My left knee bumped the stick and I started to lose my balance. In desperation, I flicked my wrists, trying to give the puck more momentum toward the goal. The puck sped away as my right ankle caught on the blade of the hockey stick and I tumbled to the ice. A loud grunt from behind me was testament that the owner of the stick had also fallen.

We slid to a stop on the ice. I had twisted around and was looking up at the ceiling when a foghorn thundered in the rink.

"Goal!!!!!" Janice shouted from the side.

"Damn," the other body on the ice said. It was Kitty's voice and I looked over to see the young brunette crawling to her feet.

"Good job Meiko!" James shouted. "I didn't know you could play hockey."

I blushed as I got to my knees and brushed ice from my top. "I've never played before."

"It still looked good," Bethany said.

I heard someone skating toward me. Looking up, I found that Tina and Janice had come over. They offered me shaky hugs. Kitty joined them, holding out a hand to shake.

"No hard feelings?" she asked. It was clear she was a bit nervous.

"Why?" I asked. "I expect in a real match my opponent might try the same thing."

Kitty shook her head. "Not quite like that. I expect a referee would have awarded a penalty shot if the goal hadn't gone in. You aren't supposed to trip your opponent with your stick."

I giggled. "You've played?"

Kitty sighed. "No. But my father loved watching hockey, so I have some idea of how to play. I didn't expect your trick at the faceoff though."

"What trick? It was just you and me so I needed to move the puck to a place I could get it."

Brittany announced that she had joined the group with a giggle. She circled our group. "I've got the puck!" she sang.

I looked up to see Brittany moving the puck around us. She was moving counter-clockwise and was about to head towards the goal when Bethany reached out with her stick and poked the puck away. Brittany tried to stop, but overran the puck as Bethany started moving the puck.

"Get her!" Kitty called out.

After that, the ice became a strange free-for-all. We never officially divided into two teams, but played offense or defense as we choose. Goals by anyone where cheered and spills laughed at. Brittany raised the stakes a little, by suggesting that anyone scoring a goal should be able to claim a passionate kiss from someone.

Of course that just meant that we all kept trying to set up James to score and then begging that he should kiss the one who helped him. He took it all in with a smile, often finding interesting ways to pass the puck back rather than shooting.

We had been there about an hour when James held up a hand. I looked at him as he waved towards the entrance.