Chapter 8 - Planning the Colony

The door had barely finished opening when a dark haired missile charged me and pulled me inside, checking every inch of me for bruises as she did so. Meiko was so attentive and vigorous in her probing that I could not get a word in edgewise and soon was laughing as her light touches started to tickle me.

My other ladies came over and I offered them all a group hug as Meiko started to calm down. "I'm fine," I said.

"Well, you scared us," Bethany said. "And why did it take so long to make it back?"

I laughed. "Sergeant Powell came along and I talked to him. He had a girl he'd rescued from one of the other sponsors and needed to put her someplace, so we stopped at the rabbit pod."

"A girl?" Tina asked.

"Yes, she's not fourteen yet, but the sponsor who selected her mother decided that he wasn't interested in waiting I guess. Sergeant Powell pulled the girl out and needed a place to let her stay until she turns fourteen and can take the CAP test," I answered.

There was a moment of silence and then Janice jumped on my lap. "So, do you like my new look?" she asked as she threw her ponytail around my neck.

Everyone laughed at this as I gave Janice a loving kiss. "You all look so good," I said with a sigh.

"We won't look this way to too much longer though," Bethany said with a wink. "The medbay must have done something during our first visits."

"You mean..." I started to ask only to be silenced by a passionate and forceful kiss from Meiko.

Tina laughed. "I guess she wants to thank the father of her baby and announce it her own way."

I looked over at Janice and Bethany to see both had little smiles on their faces. "Well then, we should celebrate." I said as I got to my feet.

Meiko and Tina turned towards the replicator, but instead I quickly removed my uniform and pulled Bethany in for a kiss. She resisted for a moment, but then smiled and kissed back. "You're right," she sighed. "This announcement needs to be celebrated in bed."

Tina and Meiko turned back at that announcement only to find that Bethany was already lying in the bed on her back as I lined my cock up with her pussy. Janice was kneeling over Bethany's mouth and before the other two could move the three of us began to fuck.

Of course, Meiko and Tina then joined in, and demanded their share of attention, so we spent the next hour kissing and loving one another until I was too tired to continue, and the ladies were all glowing with pleasure.

"Damn," Tina sighed as we all lay and recovered. "This is just so good, and so much better than I imagined."

"What is?" I asked as I tried to find the energy to sit back up.

"Being the sex slave of a man who cares far too much for me," she replied, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek.

"I'm the one who found paradise," I countered. "It's only special because you hold nothing back and turn every moment together into a celebration."

"Well, that's what it is," Janice said with a giggle. "I knew about the Sa'arm and that being selected in a pickup was the only way to escape. But the horror stories of the pickups and the uncertainty of what kind of man or woman would select me left me paralyzed back in that concert hall, even as I realized that I had an opportunity to escape. You asked for nothing more than trust and respect, and offered all of us everything that you are. You never asked for love, but you have it."

"From all of us," Bethany said.

I looked at Meiko who only smiled for a moment, but then kissed me with tear covered lips. "James, I never knew that any man could mean so much to me, or that I would find three women who are more than sisters to me. Today you proved again just how great a man you are. You didn't run or cower when that monster appeared. You calmly guaranteed our safety and then stood up to him. I knew then that I wanted to raise our child with the love and devotion you already give all of us."

"Wow, long speech little one," I said with a laugh as I finally sat up, causing everyone else to jump up as well. "Now, it's a bit late, but we can either all go to sleep for the night, or we can open a discussion on what we'll do once we reach Ishtar."

I expected the ladies to want to talk, but Meiko pushed me back down and immediately snuggled up next to me. The others also arrange themselves around me and the AI darkened the room somewhat naturally. Just before I descended into sleep I heard Bethany mutter. "Tomorrow. We'll deal in troubles tomorrow."

The next morning dawned and once again I found myself in a pile of naked females. I wanted to crawl out, but instead contented myself with kisses and gentle touches until everyone woke up and got out of bed.

I asked Bethany to use the main replicator to create breakfast for everyone as I quietly asked the AI to produce four sets of clothing for my ladies. I stepped into the main open area with the clothing just as Bethany finished setting a number of pancake platters on the table we'd had the pod grow while I was in the meeting the night before.

The ladies quickly sat down, only to stand up in joy as I handed them the outfits. "We each have a small wardrobe in the bedroom. You can store these there, and hopefully a few others," I told them.

Tina was the first to get the outfit spread out on her chair, quickly realizing that the outfit consisted of a black mini-skirt, halter-top, and thong panties. "Cute, I think that someone plans to enjoy my wearing this," she said as she bent down to pull the panties on.

She deliberately turned so that her ass was facing me, and wiggled it suggestively before pulling the panties into place. I laughed at her antics and sat down, wearing the shorts and shirt I had the replicators make me.

The others quickly joined in getting dressed, and it was barely a moment later that we returned to the meal Bethany had prepared. Bethany squirmed a little at first before becoming comfortable. "To be dressed like this at my age," she muttered.

Janice laughed. "You look barely old enough to drink, and I know that your pussy is nice and sweet."

Everyone laughed as Bethany blushed. The banter continued as we ate and relaxed. Finally, the food was done and the remnants put away and I found myself ready to speak.

"Well, the briefing yesterday was short, and I'll be honest, the news isn't very good," I started. "We are going to be stuck with few options, no real chance of rescue if the Sa'arm attack, and what looks like a colony made up of the dregs of the six point five CAP crowd."

Tina looked puzzled but Janice seemed to understand. "This colony has people who scored the six point five CAP necessary to volunteer, but aren't the types the military really wants," she observed.

I nodded. "Right now it looks like we might have twenty families who would want to work towards making the colony a success, plus an uncertain number up in the front of the ship who we don't know about. It's pretty clear that of the fifty sponsors in the back, thirty are not going to be active in building up a community."

"So people like that Big Larry are common," Tina said sadly. "I've known men like him, and most had problems with their self-image."

Bethany laughed. "From what little I've seen, that's the problem. I peeked at them during the first briefing. So many of the sponsors were trying to humiliate their concubines, and it wasn't like Yvette was doing. They were doing it to prove to themselves that they deserved the position they held."

Janice looked confused still, but Tina decided to explain it. "Janice, it's not all that complex. A lot of people with high CAP aren't the kids that grew up as the stars of their school. Often they're the misfits, they were smart and did well in school, but lacked the looks or the athletic ability to star. And when they grew up, high school pecking orders were based on looks and sports skills."

Bethany took over. "So these kids became favored targets of bullies and the in-crowd on campuses. They were picked on because of who they were, and they resented it. Now because they scored a six point five, people have been throwing themselves at them. I remember one teacher at my last school. He was an older English teacher, but testing gave him a CAP of seven point three. The girls attending his class would remove their skirts before entering the classroom, hoping to get his attention. It started to go to his head and the principal finally had to fire him to protect the students and provide a good atmosphere for learning."

Janice was looking a bit sick and Meiko reached out to hug me. "But James isn't like that," she whispered.

"Oh, really?" I said laughingly.

Meiko gave me a kiss. "I'd do anything for you, but not just because I am your concubine. Everyone here feels that way," she said with authority. The others were smiling and I just held Meiko close for a moment.

"Either way, what it means is that we are going to want to isolate the homes of our little band from Ruth and her cohorts," I said. "I asked the AI and it said we do have some ability to plan the placement of everything."

Tina sighed. "Like that would matter, they could just walk on over to a home once we are on the ground."

"No they can't!" I replied. "AI can you display the hologram of Ishtar that was shown at the briefing?"

The hologram of Ishtar appeared in front of us, once again displaying a ball covered in yellow and green clouds. Everyone looked at it for a moment when Bethany gasped. "Those clouds aren't water vapor are they?" she asked me.

I nodded. "We weren't told the actual composition, only that the air is highly corrosive and the water toxic. Terraforming will take about twenty months to get the atmosphere to something that environment suits can tolerate if I understood the news correctly."

"Corrosive?" Tina asked.

Janice looked almost afraid. "The air is like acid. It destroys what it touches," she said with a shiver.

Tina looked confused, but the AI switched to a picture that obviously had been taken by a probe in the high atmosphere, it tracked another probe descending into the cloud layer. As the camera filmed you could see the probe melt away in the lower atmosphere. The picture only shut off after the probe's engines failed and it plunged into the cloud and vanished.

"Oh!" Tina said, as we all watched the picture fade away and the camera position appear to return to space. "I guess kite flying is going to be out of the question. But how will we live?"

"The pods will land and burrow into the soil, the ground apparently can provide some protection and the pods themselves are resistant to the corrosion," I replied.

"So we'll be in a city of tunnels to start," Bethany mused. "I guess you could easily make it so only one tunnel led to the homes of a group of us, but why again are we going here?"

"The official word is to run a resupply post, but I'm guessing that the resupply is going to be automated and on one of the other planets. We are much more likely to be a listening post, and a dumping ground for the military rejects," I replied.

Tina groaned. "More monsters. Just what we'll need."

I shrugged. "I'm pretty sure that won't end up happening. The military is under pressure to use its resources wisely, and throwing soldiers away just because you think they are going to be too contrary and stubborn isn't going to be well received. The military might be able to justify that once, but in the end they are going to be expected to turn those men to soldiers. And I expect that we'll have enough trouble with the ones that they are giving us; more would only create a lawless disaster. No, we are far more likely to be forgotten than given more people."

Janice was obviously thinking. "Do you think we'll be used to provide rest and relaxation for ships passing through for resupply?"

Meiko laughed. "I can just see it, Ishtar, tourist hotspot for the military."

"Well, we will be the only planet with rabbits," Bethany quipped.

I fell silent for a moment, thinking upon what Bethany had just said. "AI, can you set it up so that this pod and the pod with the rabbits have a mutual tunnel termination, and that just a short distance down the tunnel is an additional door? The idea would be to combine the two pods just behind the doors."

"Yes, the two pods will be dropped to meet that plan," the AI replied.

The ladies seemed to remember the rabbits then and wanted to go for a visit. I checked with the AI to find that the threatened lockdown had not occurred yet, so after I checked out a stinger we all made the short walk over to green seven.

Once inside we found Brenda showing Brittany how to hold a rabbit and tell her a bit about how to care for one. Brittany seemed to be in a world of her own, paying attention only to the young rabbit she was holding. Brenda however, noticed us arriving and smiled.

"The rabbits all have food and water," she said as she walked up to us as the door closed. "I was just showing Brit how to handle a rabbit. It's helped her calm down a lot. Apparently Larry wasn't very gentle with anyone."

I had stopped to say hello to one of my old bunnies and pulled her out, holding her gently as my ladies wandered the rooms. "I just wanted to stop by and help, and give everyone a few moments with the rabbits. Since this is the crew that will be helping care for them on Ishtar I thought they should all meet each other."

Brenda gave me a huge smile. "I know," she said. "At least I get to keep my girls. But that will still leave you with fifty-six adults and most of the litters."

I counted quickly. "You aren't getting to keep all of them?"

Brenda nodded. "Matt told me only one black female, so Abigail has to stay, and with Berta having the problem with her teeth, she stays as well, I only get eight, the two old girls, three breeding females and the three boys."

"Well, we'll try to let you foster a couple of babies, to give you a bit more diversity," I said as I watched my ladies pet and caress the bunnies.

In the end we spent perhaps two hours with the rabbits, watching them play as we relaxed. I did see Bethany and later Janice pull Brit aside to talk to her privately, but I avoided asking about it. Brit seemed a bit frightened of me, and I did not want to scare her.

We were returning to our own pod when Bethany whispered to me. "If Brit fails to score six point five, you should claim her."

"Can't," I replied. "I only get four, and I would never let one of you go."

The AI interrupted. "Under certain circumstances volunteers are allowed to select one additional concubine. You would be approved for this should the need arise."

I found myself cursing as the door to our pod opened. "See!" Bethany said with a laugh. "Besides if you don't take her, what do you think would happen."

I sighed, and spoke up. "AI, how many volunteers are currently below their max allotment for concubines?"

The response was immediate. "Three, volunteers Ruth, Dennis and Larry have all lost one concubine since their pickups."

I groaned. "We saw Ruth throw her concubine out, and Larry killed Brittany's mother, so that's a bad idea. If I remember rightly, Sergeant Powell said Dennis killed his because she got upset about anal sex. I just hate to ruin what we have."

Meiko grabbed me and hugged me close as Janice and Tina laughed. "Ruin it? After the dirty stories I told Brit about your wonderful cock and tongue?" Janice said. "She wants you to select her."

I watched as Tina and Bethany smiled and nodded. Bethany spoke up. "She knows she won't score six point five. That's why she is scared; she expects Larry or someone like him to claim her as soon as she's done testing. So, she already likes you, and we know that you can be patient with her."

I groaned but my ladies were all smiling, so I kept my concerns to myself. We talked about the future colony, and with the AI's help established that the seventeen volunteers in the blue and green rings as well as Terrence and his two neighbors from the red ring would drop to the west of the colony center, and together would only have a single passage leading into the center. The passage would contact the center squarely, but have an oblique turn about ten yards in with three pressure doors just beyond the bend. It provided the maximum amount of protection against any attempt to storm our enclave.

The design also had the advantage that once the water and air were clean, we would be set up near a small river which could provide opportunities to swim with a little work. Janice and Tina promised me that if I did set up a swim area they would happily take me skinny dipping one night.

We were chatting about the future when the AI chimed in. "James, volunteer Yvette is wondering if she might visit you with her concubines."

I looked over the room and only saw curiosity in the faces of my ladies so I responded. "She may, as long as wandering the hallways is still allowed."

"It is," the AI reported. "For now the only action was to warn the Black, White and Grey ring occupants that any further problems would result in a lockdown. They have stopped causing trouble at this time."

It sounded like even the AI was pretty sure that more trouble was coming, but before anyone could talk about it, the door chimed and then opened, revealing Yvette and her four concubines.