Chapter 10 - The Council Meets

Dinner was completed quickly, although clean up suffered, as both Bethany and Janice demanded their fair share of kisses and caresses. I did sneak out long enough to have the replicator produce the schoolteacher outfit for Bethany and a cheerleader vest and skirt for Janice. Meiko seemed disappointed until I pulled out the schoolgirl blouse and skirt that she put on while blushing, immediately receiving cries of approval from the others.

I had to laugh, but wanted to sneak in another hour of instruction, so after having the girls get naked to protect their outfits, I gave them permission to have fun within the pod while I studied.

My second hour of the day was a martial arts class, specializing in handling a larger opponent in close quarters. After my run in with Larry, I wanted more and better memorized options than the two I had used earlier. Fortunately, I found a class on crane form maneuvers, which used distraction and speed to disable an opponent.

When I woke up Bethany had gathered the ladies in the other room and was running them through hands of bridge and basic bidding. Tina was the most cutthroat at bidding but her play tending to be a bit wild. I watched a couple hands and then suggested that I pair with Meiko while Bethany partnered with Tina, and Janice would swap in after a game.

The idea met with approval, and the games started. At first Tina's aggressive play worked, but over time it was Meiko who seemed to pick up some of the subtler plays faster, often surprising her opponents with delayed trump draws. Janice quickly picked up the card play, but the bidding confused her a bit, especially many of the unusual conventions that I only imperfectly remembered.

The games lasted several hours before everyone's yawns suggested that it might be time to call it a night. After an instruction to the AI to wake us all in six hours, we headed to the bed and collapsed in a pile, too tired to do more than cuddle.

The next morning, I woke with the AI, and quickly got the sleep trainer set up for another round of lessons. I hoped to sneak in two hours before the day started, and I found myself swamped with dealing with the process of setting up the new colony, or at least my little corner of it.

My first hour was a lesson on the use of some of the heavy lasers the confederacy produced. I had to smile as the lesson ended, because one of my early concerns was using any kind of projectile in the corrosive atmosphere. Even a fast moving bullet would be passing through a mist of acid and I could see that having a negative effect on accuracy and range. A laser would avoid that problem.

Unfortunately, it appeared that confederacy lasers used a system wherein a crystal was excited by a blast of high-energy particles and would emit a short pulse of coherent light. It was incredibly destructive, but also meant that replacement crystals were needed after each shot. I found myself trying to come up with a way of using these lasers for planetary defense, which would be especially vital for the first few years.

The second lesson was a primer on Sa'arm ground forces and tactics. It was clear that individually they were not dangerous, but the hive mind and their sheer size they shared made them dangerous, especially as all Sa'arm in an area could sense what one could. Hit and run tactics would be the only way to fight them if we were outnumbered.

I exited the second lesson a bit depressed to find Meiko waiting for me and holding a tray with breakfast. She smiled shyly and then indicated that she was ready for her martial arts lesson, so I quickly got the system set up and sent her for her sleep training before looking for the others.

At least they didn't surprise me, as Bethany and Janice were sitting with Tina and working on her reading. Trying to read over Tina's shoulder pained me. I had thought that no one had worse handwriting than me, but I was proved wrong by that quick glance. It did appear that Tina was having much less trouble recognizing how letters matched sounds, although I could imagine her struggling with all the exceptions English seems to have accumulated.

Bethany waved and I would have asked her a question when the AI chimed. "James, you have a request from Tiffany Jenkins to allow her and her twin over for a meeting."

"Just them?" I asked in response.

"No," the AI replied. "I understand that Yvette is attempting to retrieve Terrence from the red ring and requested one of the marines to help by escorting Donna from the blue ring."

I sighed. "Has it been getting worse out there?"

"Volunteer Ellen killed her female concubine during the night," the AI replied.

"Shit! How many deaths is that now?" I cried out.

"There have been four concubines who have died since boarding," the AI tonelessly replied.

"You'd better go," Bethany said. "We'll clean up a bit."

I nodded and went to the master bedroom where I retrieved the stinger I had placed in my wardrobe. Bethany and the others followed to get dressed in their mini-skirts, with Janice joking that it would be 'uniforms' for the day. I had to laugh, but quickly headed to the door and down the hallway for the pods where the twins resided.

I found green four first and called out for the AI to alert the occupant that I was outside. When the door opened a young woman of about twenty-five met me, clearly the young teacher the twins had mentioned a couple days before.

"Oh, excuse me," she said as I tried not to look up and down her naked body. "Tamara didn't say that she expected a visitor."

I tried not to laugh. "That's because I'm just the escort service to a meeting." I leaned inside the doorway, and shouted. "You ready to go, or should I check on your twin and then return?"

I could hear a giggle from somewhere deep in the pod, and the woman shook her head. "I think that might be wise," she said with a sigh.

The door closed as I walked further down the hall to reach green three. Once there I again had to wait for the AI to alert those inside that I was waiting.

This time the door opened to reveal a young black lady who screamed in surprise and dashed naked back into the pod. Her scream brought a middle-aged but athletic man running to the front, but he stopped when he saw my upraised hand.

"You do know that concubines who attack sponsors tend to get in a lot of trouble," I said quietly.

"You aren't going to hurt Tiffany or Jillian," he growled as he stood just inside the doorway and glared at me.

I laughed. "Why would I? I'm just here because a message was passed to me about a meeting at my pod, and I was asked to come escort Tiffany and her sister Tamara. As you've probably heard, we have a few problems with the wildlife on board."

The man glared at me for a moment, but did nothing as Tiffany appeared from the back, dressed in a schoolgirl's uniform of black skirt and white blouse. It was surprisingly modest compared to what many girls were wearing back on Earth and I smiled as she approached.

She reached out and touched the man on the arm. "Craig, its ok. He's just here to take me to a meeting on what to do once we are at Ishtar."

Craig glowered at me, but stood aside to allow Tiffany to pass. I saw the look in his eyes and sighed.

"AI, is Yvette still in her pod, or is she already on her way to the red ring?" I asked.

"Yvette is at Red six and in discussion with Terrence, should I interrupt them?" the AI's voice replied.

I silently cursed. "No, I can ask her my question at the meeting."

Tiffany seemed a bit puzzled. "What question?"

I looked at her. "Your concubine needs someone to talk to him about the realities of being a male concubine and I thought that Philippe, one of Yvette's concubines would be a good one to give it."

"A talk!" the man fumed.

Tiffany just looked more perplexed. "Why? Craig is a nice man and would never hurt anyone."

"The problem is that he still thinks of himself as a free man. He was growling at me, despite the fact that he has no rights anymore," I replied. "Its not a problem if he growls at me, but many of the other sponsors will smack him down for it, and he cannot respond."

"What!" Craig shouted as Tiffany just shook her head.

"I don't understand," she whined.

I sighed. "Tiffany, did you have any briefing after pickup?" I asked.

She looked puzzled. "Tamara and I were picked up by the ship Foxfire, but as soon as they sent us to our pods, we were informed that the pods were going to be transferred and told to remain inside as the pod would be transferring. The first briefing we went to was the one where we met you."

"God," I muttered. "No wonder you don't understand." I paused to take a breath and then spoke very clearly. "Tiffany, you seem to not quite understand how the Confederacy works. Concubines are not considered people according to the laws. They are property. Craig only has the rights you grant him, and that is only as long as he belongs to you. If you tire of him, you can trade him away, or even demand that he be killed. The confederacy doesn't really care."

"They wouldn't!" Craig shouted.

Tiffany stared at him, and then looked back at me. "I can't believe that."

I shook my head. "The first breakfast I had on this ship, one of the sponsors, Ruth, was subjected to a torrent of abusive language from one of her concubines. He was quickly stunned by one of the nearby marines. She told them to get rid of him, and the AI now reports him as dead."

Craig was continuing to mutter, as Tiffany looked thoughtful. "AI, can you confirm that?" she called out.

The AI immediately responded. "Sponsor Ruth did repudiate one of her concubines at the breakfast briefing three days ago. Said concubine was terminated at her request. There have been three other concubine deaths, all at the hands of their sponsors."

Tiffany was clearly a bit shocked. "What action was taken with the sponsors?" she asked.

"None," I replied before the AI could answer. "The only action has been to pass around warnings to the other sponsors about the incidents. The laws don't allow any other action by the marines, although they did remove a thirteen year old girl from a pod when the sponsor in the room indicated he did not want to wait for her fourteenth birthday."

I could see Tiffany thinking again, but Craig jumped right in front of me to scream in my face. "What's that got to do with me?" he demanded.

I sighed and looked over at Tiffany. "Do I have your permission to damage your property just a bit?" I asked.

Tiffany gave me wave and went back to thinking. Immediately, I grabbed Craig's arm and twisted it behind him, forcing him up against the wall. He gasped out in pain and Tiffany looked up in shock. "I thought you said my property!"

"He is your property. That's what I'm trying to get through to both of you," I replied. "That's why I want him to talk to Philippe. Philippe had a similar issue until Yvette showed him how it was going to work."

"But?" Tiffany said.

I sighed again, still holding Craig against the wall, but reducing the pressure a bit. "Tiffany, I'm trying to help you and him. I wasn't there, but Yvette saw one of the sponsors pound a concubine to the ground as the marines watched, and the concubine wasn't his. We do have some nice people on board, but some are not so nice, and I do not want to see Craig hurt because he forgets that many sponsors aren't going to worry about hurting him."

Craig was futilely fighting me, but Tiffany looked at him and shook her head. "Craig, stop for a moment. I don't think James is trying to hurt you. And think, doesn't it match all that we hear about in school and on TV?"

I could feel Craig stop fighting as he tried to analyze what was said. "But why doesn't he talk to me?" he whined.

Tiffany turned to me silently. I waited for her to speak and the silence extended for a moment until she seemed to realize the problem. "You are waiting for me to acknowledge the comment to you, aren't you?" she asked.

I nodded. "Its one of the more effective ways to remind any concubine of the fact that they aren't considered citizens," I said. "Normally I wouldn't do it, but it was clear that Craig doesn't understand yet, so I was being a bit of a jerk about it. Others won't be as forgiving of a concubine who talks out of place."

Craig seemed thoughtful. "But that's unfair. And hard! How do I know when I can talk and when I can't?"

"Tiffany will decide that for you," I said. "She has the power over you, up to deciding if you live or die, from now, until she decides that you are no longer part of her household."

I could see a bit of fear in his eyes, but Tiffany surprised me by giving the man a gentle hug. "Be a father to my sister and me, and love all of us. We'll need you for a long time, especially to help raise the kids."

I laughed. "AI, are Tiffany and Tamara set up at a mutual tunnel termination so that they get a combined household?"

"Not at this time," the AI responded.

"Well, how about they get one down the corridor from mine. They are going to need it," I said

I could see Tiffany look at me in shock. "That's allowed?" she asked.

I shrugged. "The AI appears to be accepting my requests as long as it decides they are reasonable." I felt the problems with Craig were about over and I released him carefully. He took a moment to shake out his arm and return some feeling before holding his hand out to shake.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I guess I didn't understand."

I looked down at the hand and then turned to give Tiffany's a shake. "You still don't understand it all," I said. "But we can help you learn."

I could see Craig blush, but Tiffany merely waved him back into her pod and ordered the door to close as I walked down the hallway towards her sister's pod.

"I hated to do that," I said to Tiffany as we walked away. "But I could see he wanted to get physical, and that would be a death sentence if he pulls that with most of the sponsors."

Tiffany just smiled and gave me a hug. "You cared enough to try. And you were careful not to really hurt him. His pride is probably a bit bruised, but I think he's smart enough to calm down and realize it."

I nodded as we reached Tamara's pod. "I hope so," I said as the pod door opened and Tamara rushed out, blushing.

"Sorry about your first stop," she said looking down. "I was..."

"Checking your property to make sure it was properly cleaned?" I asked with a wink at Tiffany, who blushed and then giggled.

"What?" Tamara asked.

"Later," her sister responded, taking her by the hand. She quickly started walking down the corridor towards my pod.

We arrived to see Corporal Mattingly escorting Donna Dixon. He appeared a bit upset by something so I spoke to him. "What's the problem?"

The Corporal groaned. "Everything. The entire populations of the black, white and grey rings are ignoring the training, demanding immediate and fast upgrades to bodies and showing no compassion towards anyone. The Sergeant and I have been making runs between those rings and the medical bay bringing in injured concubines. Honestly I'm surprised the death rate isn't higher."

I could feel the twins stiffen behind me, but indicated that the AI should open the door to my pod. "You've set it so only you can open it?" the Corporal asked.

"Well, the Sergeant or Captain still can, I think. But my concubines can't. Not with all the monsters around," I replied.

He nodded as Donna and the twins entered. "Good idea, well, I want to go visit Brenda before the next crisis." The corporal waved and walked down the corridor as I followed the others into my pod.

Meiko must have still been in the training chamber with Janice watching over her because only Tina and Bethany were waiting inside. They helped guide the new ladies to chairs with the practiced efficiency of professional butlers. I could see confusion in the twins' faces, but Donna actually smiled at me. "Wow, I'm impressed by your ladies," she said.

I smiled over at Bethany who was asking the twins what they wanted to eat. "I was very lucky in my selections," I replied. "But we aren't here to admire their grace and beauty. We were supposed to be having a meeting once Yvette and Terrence arrive."

There was a high pitch chirp just outside the door to my pod, and I pulled my stinger out. "Yvette and Terrence are outside," the AI said. "Sensors indicate that three others are just down the hall."

"Damn," I muttered. "Everyone back up and clear the doorway." I said as I moved to cover the entrance. "AI, open the door to let Yvette and Terrence in."

The door opened and Terrence dived through the opening, followed a moment later by Yvette who had a huge bruise on one cheek. I could see two very large men some distance down the corridor, but the door slid shut before they could react and pursue.

"This is insane," Yvette moaned. "Now you need a SWAT team to go for a walk."

"What happened?" I asked.

Terrence groaned as he stood up. "Roger, Carl and Clifford, three of the sadists in the red ring tried to ambush us as we reached the center ring."

"What did they want?" Donna asked.

"I don't know, they didn't exactly stop their beating on us to demand anything," Terrence said.

I was looking at Yvette who seemed a bit sore, but did not appear to have any major broken bones. "Well, that definitely answers the question on having only one entrance into our little enclave. Something with a strong pressure door," I said. "And we need our own armory. Because I don't want to have to rush to the colony center to get weapons should we have a caveman invasion."

Unanimous approval for that idea was voiced and I spoke up. "AI, are we allowed to turn one of the empty pods into a fully stocked armory and have it within our section of the colony."

There was a long pause. Finally the AI replied. "Heavy weapons would not be advisable for use in the tunnels, especially before the terraforming is complete. Battle armor and small arms can be provided as well as the maintenance facilities necessary to maintain the armor. This will use up one pod."

Donna replied. "God, I took that intro sleep training on the battle armor. I know it's powerful, but I struggled with it all through the simulations."

The twins immediately added their thoughts.

"We haven't"

"Tried that"

"Lesson yet."

"We wanted"

"To understand"

"How we"

"Use guns."

Bethany covered her mouth and snuck out of the room as the twins finished. Tina just walked over to me looking a bit confused. "What should we do?" she whispered.

I smiled. "This meeting needs to be for sponsors only for now. Wait for Meiko to wake and try to remain quiet. I'd recommend going upstairs to play cards or think up some trade goods we need, or might be able to supply."

Tina nodded and after peeking into the training room, followed Bethany's path deeper into the pod.

Yvette had gotten back to her feet and staggered a bit over to the table, sinking into one of the chairs. "Our fellow colonists are starting to upgrade to marine bodies," she said.

I looked over at Terrence who nodded. "All three were heavily muscled and at least two meters tall. The only advantage we had was they tried to attack as a group and got in each other's way enough for us to run. But it wasn't until we reached here that Yvette could use her stinger."

"On wide dispersion it was useless," she muttered.

I held up a hand. "I guess we need to start with a decision on meetings. Terrence, we might have to have you use the AI to conference in. Heck, we might all have to do that soon. If your three friends from the red ring were out stalking new prey, I'm sure that we'll see the nastier members of the other rings wandering around soon."

Yvette nodded, as did Donna. "I hate to be confined to just a pod for weeks," Yvette said. "But I really don't want more fights with pond scum."

The twins looked confused, but I smiled. I waited for everyone to take their seats and then began. "Meanwhile, I'm sure we are trying to come up with thoughts about the colony and what to do when we get there. I have a basic plan that can isolate our pods from the others, merely by having only one passage entering the colony center and having it exit at an angle to prevent anyone from firing down its length should the pressure doors be open."

Donna nodded. "And you want more than one set of doors, so that any attack will have to fight its way in, and give us time to set a defense."

Terrence smiled. "That's a good idea. But do we even know where we will be?"

"AI, can you display the current layout map you have?" I asked.

Obediently the AI displayed a hologram of the colony layout. The colony center was placed on a large peninsula, with water to the north, south and east, and the west was broken ground with a river coming out of the hills before turning south to the sea. It looked like the perfect setting for a small village. As we watched, the AI expanded the colony map to show the majority of the pods clustering in three separate groups around the north east, south east and south sections, while a single passage appeared in the north west corner and travelled towards the river.

"Nice," the twins said in unison.

I was impressed, but did notice one item of concern. "We know the water is unsafe. Is there any risk of ground saturation?" I asked.

"Negative," the AI replied. "The river is relatively new and appears to have been redirected in the last twenty years, possibly due to a volcanic eruption in the interior. The gully it runs through after exiting the hills is bedrock, and allows little seepage."

"That's a relief," Yvette said. "Good eye there, James." She looked at the map a bit more closely. The colony was not going to be large, but did command a respectable portion of the available land. "What about trade ship landing? Or any kind of trade pod?"

There was a pause, and then the AI responded. "Provisions for creating a small trade pod depot directly north of the colony center are in place. Due to atmospheric issues it will not be made operational for fourteen months."

Donna groaned. "Fourteen months of no contact once we are there? This is going to be a disaster."

"There is the transporter technology, but I agree its not going to be very good. I'm beginning to hope our 'friends' forget the dangers and breech a few tunnels in their own areas," I replied. "This is going to be dangerous enough without their undisciplined rears wandering all over."

"What about"

"Where we"

"Handle the"

"Supplies and"

"Repairs?" the twins said.

I was confused but Yvette caught it. "Good point, we are supposed to be handling resupply and repair for the naval ships that reach us. Obviously the main work is off-planet, but it must be commanded from the ground somehow."

"The colony center will have a command post," The AI replied.

"Not good," I said. "AI, can our armory have a mirror station? Basically a command post of its own which can be used instead of the one in the colony center."

"Not advisable," the AI replied. "Confusion might result."

Yvette scoffed. "Ruth and Hector aren't going to ever sit in the command post. And after meeting Terrence's three neighbors, I doubt they will be up for it either. That place would simply be a beacon for the sadists to find new victims. Make it the auxiliary and we'll cover the command post."

The silence was lengthy, but the AI finally spoke. "The armory will come equipped with a command post. Minimum personnel of two must man the station at all times or the main command post will again become the primary."

"We can"

"Do it," the twins immediately chimed in.

Donna laughed, but then looked thoughtful. "I haven't gotten to meet my neighbors, but I'd hope that some would be willing."

Terrence laughed. "I did manage to meet my neighbors yesterday. Brad will be ok, if he can bring one of his concubines with him; he's got it bad for his concubines. Ed might need a bit of persuasion, but as long as he doesn't have to fight, he'll be ok."

I shook my head. "I get a feeling that not fighting is going to be a huge issue for us. I'm sure part of why some of us are here is a lack of aggressive tendencies."

Yvette just nodded. "AI, how many hours of training are required for command post duty?"

"Three hours are the minimum. One hour of general study and then two hours of instruction on either reading the tracking information, or coordinating communications," was the AI's answer.

"We'll do"

"That next," the twins chimed in, causing Donna to bash her head on the table.

Donna looked over at the twins and shook her head. "I know its natural to you, but it just drives me crazy. I know its wrong for me to ask you to stop, but..."

One of the twins just smiled. "Sorry, we know it gets frustrating for others, we just are used to it."

Yvette coughed into her hand. "Well, at least we have a start on the command post. I'm guessing that for now we are assuming that only sponsors will serve the duty."

I nodded. "I expect that it won't be difficult work and concubines can be trained, but every little change we try to sneak in will anger the others more. I want to limit the amount of animosity we create by our actions. If we can lay low and make them think we are all doing the work, they just might decide to fight amongst themselves and leave us alone."

"I feel sorry for any of them who don't want to stay with the more sadistic groups," Terrence said. "We aren't going to leave much opportunity to switch over."

"No," I agreed. "We won't give them much chance, but my ladies are too important to me."

Just then Meiko emerged from the room with the training chamber. She had dressed in her mini-skirt. She could have followed the others, but came over to give me a hug and sit on my lap.

"Wait, weren't the other two ladies who went upstairs yours?" Donna asked as Meiko looked on.

Yvette burst into laughter. "They were, but James has four. This is Meiko, the others you saw were Tina and Bethany I think. The only one you haven't seen is Janice."

Meiko pointed back to the room she just left and mimed sleeping and reading.

I laughed. "Janice must be in the sleep trainer. I asked the AI to allow each of my concubines to get a couple hours of martial arts training. I hope they never need it, but it might allow them to escape from our resident cavemen."

I could see the twins look thoughtful and then one said. "Good idea!"

Terrence burst out laughing. "I wish I thought of it. The first night I spent on the ship, Roger accosted Diana, my concubine. He wanted a bit more than a hug. Since then my ladies have been trapped in the pod."

Meiko kept her arms around me and seemed half asleep as she listened in on the conversation. I realized we need perhaps to wrap up the issues, but one more thing suddenly jumped into my head. "AI, are there any ground based lasers which can be effective against Sa'arm landing ships?"

The AI answered. "Lasers do not function at peek efficiency in atmosphere."

I nodded. "I understand, but with the acidic air, projectile weapons will be worse. I'm wondering if we can set up some kind of pop-up planetary defenses as part of the colony. Basically have a pod with a couple heavy weapons that could ascend to the surface to fire if we are attacked. Until the air is less acidic, lasers would appear to be the most effective."

Yvette seemed concerned. "But if the acid is there, won't it hurt the ones manning the guns?"

"Battle armor will hold out for about five minutes. So the gun operators can mount the guns, ascend to the surface with the guns to take two or three shots and then descend back into the pod before the atmosphere does too much damage to their suits. But I expect the units will need repair after we use them," I said. "At least that's what I picked up from the sleep lessons."

"The armor would require full replacement if exposed for more than three minutes, but will protect fully for five and partially for about eight minutes," the AI interjected. "Quad mount lasers could be used, and would be convertible to standard projectiles once the atmosphere is safe. Due to the size and requirements for pod renewal and atmospheric protection, one pod can only contain two lasers."

Donna's eyes lit up. "Do it. I took the primer on Sa'arm landings and we need something to take out any landing craft. It might not be enough, but it's something."

The others were nodding and I smiled. "Ok, so everyone now has some classes they have to take and we need to find ways to contact the other pods and see about getting them involved."

Agreement spread around the table and everyone stood up, to get ready to leave. As they did, I whispered into Yvette's ear my concern about Tiffany's male concubine and she promised to see about having Craig and Philippe spend some time in conversation. She backed that up by offering to escort the twins back to their pods.

Terrence wanted to go alone, he felt that he needed to stand up for himself, and was hoping that the others had gotten bored, as we had spent well over an hour in conversation. I could see Donna shiver, and immediately offered to escort her.