Chapter 20 - Defending the Enclave

The next few days were relatively quiet. Yvette reported that there were a couple of tentative calls from Ruth or her minions, which the AI always seemed to route to her, no matter who was the intended target. Donna and Terrence had received three calls from the neutrals outside our colony. Each time the neutral said they wanted to work with us, but begged for rescue from the situation outside. All three were told that if they could arrive at our tunnel door without weapons the door would let them in and then they should call for someone to meet them, but all three swore that it was not possible to reach us.

The other activity that the council indulged in was checking on the progress at the various pods. The armory pod was obviously receiving priority because after just four days the command post section was usable, and we immediately set up a regular rotation. Of the sponsors we quickly discovered that only eighteen were willing to attend, and fourteen of those were dependable. Tasha and Eric outright refused to help; while Jack, Linus, Xavier and Timothy used outrageous and obvious lies to avoid serving their first shifts before wandering in after the shift was half over and a replacement was already working. The duty roster was quickly adjusted to have Terrence, Brad, Tyson, Louis or myself working the same shifts that the others were on in an effort to open dialogue. In truth we were very early in getting the command post set up, but everyone who served agreed that it was great practice and we were starting to develop a system, which we hoped would be successful in the future.

The medical bay and recreation hall also were developing quickly. Gina's concubine Michael, and Reggie's Bren both had experience in medicine and were taking sleep training classes on medical bay usage. Donna, Shawna and Ed also were taking medical training, as they were uncomfortable in the command center.

The news from outside continued to be bad. Both Manuel and Ruth had discovered ways to get the neutrals to open their doors and before five days had passed only nine of the twenty-three neutral sponsors out there were still free and alive. If being trapped in their pods and afraid for their life could be considered alive. The saddest part was that Bernard Russell, the sponsor with a seven point zero CAP among the neutrals was still alive, but had isolated himself completely, leaving his potential followers panicked and alone.

Finally, our recreation room was completed, and I informed the AI that since the command post was not required to be operational, we'd slave most of the settings and have a repeater in the recreation room to monitor the local space in case of a surprise visit by the Sa'arm. Once we had agreement I informed all the sponsors that the general party would start in about two hours.

My ladies were happy, and Brittany was almost ecstatic when a check of the nest boxes showed that nine of our pregnant does had given birth during the night and we now had thirty-nine tiny baby rabbits. There were three that I was pretty sure would not survive due to a common birth defect that occurs in dwarf rabbits, but there was a lot of hope for the future, and seven more does due to give birth in the next three days.

The news cheered up the ladies, but the kits needed to stay with their mothers, so we brought a trio of the braver young males who could be trusted to play together and set up a small run area in the recreation room for them to play in. Brittany promised to watch them and help any children who showed interest.

The party proved to be a great success, and during it Terrence and I managed to get Linus alone for a long discussion. He was dreadfully afraid that Ruth or her friends might get through the doors, but a detailed description of all the safeguards in place relaxed him. He finally came around when his daughter ran up to him and dragged him off to see the rabbits. Terrence laughed as she dragged Linus off.

"He'll come around," Terrance said. "He has three children in that pod of his, and dotes on all three. Once he's sure that we know what we are doing, he'll be fine."

"What about Timothy and Xavier?" I asked. "It would be nice to get those two back. I've given up on Eric and Jack."

Terrence laughed as the twins walked up.

"We are"

"Missing Tasha"

"Although"

"Her concubine"

"Zenita"

"Is here." They chorused.

Terrence and I laughed. "You just do that to drive Donna crazy don't you," I said with a wink.

The girls winked back, then one spoke. "True, but its fun and it reminds people of just how close we are. However, it's true we are missing four people. Tasha, her male concubine Jay, and Eric's two concubines."

I sighed. "The people I expected we might miss. What about Jack and his son? I've heard he dotes on the kid."

Donna was walking up and heard the question. "He's here, but don't ask! The kid is over-bred, under-educated and spoiled rotten. If he manages to score better than a five on the CAP when he tests in three months I'll be shocked."

I groaned, but looked around the gathered crowd who were happily enjoying the festivities for what the twins had happily dubbed "Landing Day". They had taken my twenty-seven day months and created a calendar with three nine-day weeks per month and a number of holidays to celebrate. They even proposed a concubine rest day, where one day every three months all concubines could refuse to do any work if they chose. They had earlier happily signed on to my proposed tradition of loving concubines and I smiled to see Paula fawning over Craig and visibly happy to be near him.

I was trying to socialize with everyone when the AI called out. "Alert! The first door into this area has been forced open."

"What?" I called out. "AI how did it happen?"

"Access to the armory in the colony center was forced earlier today. Due to the fighting around it, it appeared that only small arms were taken, but it now appears that Manuel managed to get his hands on some amount of explosives. They used a blast to warp the first door and allow them to force it open. Currently they are stymied by the second door," the AI reported.

"Shit!" I cried. "How many are involved?"

The AI displayed the view of the space between the first and second doors on a nearby console screen. We could see six men, all with signs of marine enhancement standing and investigating the second door.

I sighed. "What is the repair time on the first door, and do these guys have any more of that explosive?"

"Repair on the first door will take half a day. Analysis on possible inventory is inconclusive. Both Manuel and Ruth have had forces get into the armory and take some arms, and the fighting in the area has been fierce, much of the equipment has been damaged beyond repair," the AI said.

Brad looked up. "Does that mean there have been casualties?"

"Yes, its hard to be certain as some of the neutrals have been forced to fight, but it appears that Ruth's side has had at least seven fatalities and Manuel's two. Right now there are twelve confirmed sponsor deaths, but the other three appear to be neutrals. It is very hard to determine at this time," The AI said.

"Well, we can't wait for them to get more explosives, and I want to remind both sides that attacking us is a bad idea. I'm going to head to the armory and we'll show them that we mice have teeth," I said as I headed to the exit for the recreation hall. "Anyone who wants to come can join in."

"But we can't just open the main doors," Jack whined as he came up to our group. "They'll get past you."

I smiled wickedly. "Who said I'd open that door. I prepared for just this eventuality. Yvette, you'll need to stay either at the command center or the last doorway to let the others back in if I get hurt. Get our medical personnel to the medical bay and prepare a gurney or two just in case."

Yvette nodded. "Understood. Gina! Reggie! Get Bren and Michael on their way, Shawna get going as well, and take David, if someone gets hurt we'll want him on the team moving the gurney."

I headed to the door, only to be grabbed by Bethany and given a passionate kiss. "From all of us," she whispered. "I'll have Brittany get the rabbits home and then try to hold the fort here, the party will still be going when you come back." I could see Brad and Terrence getting similar kisses and then dashed off before the rest of my concubines got ideas.

We arrived at the command post and I got the arms locker open. I wanted to issue battle armor, but no one had had time to get sized so we had none to hand out. I did find a supply of tactical helmets in addition to some battle jackets. The biggest problem was weapons. Most of the arms were assault rifles that threw heavy slugs, which could cause trouble if they penetrated the walls and breached the ground, giving the toxic air access to the colony. They were formed to look much like the infamous AK-47 of twentieth century Earth, and handled much the same, although the trigger could be modified to work with the gloves worn as part of battle armor. Fortunately, there was a supply of ten flechette guns that threw needles with little chance of punching through to the surface. These were lighter and smaller weapons which relied on an electro-magnetic pulse to strip slivers of metal from a supplied cube of magnetic material and launch them forward with great velocity. I turned to issue them to find Terrence standing next to me.

"I'll take a couple of the assault rifles and back up Yvette at the entrance," he said. "Brad is trying to organize the others just outside."

"How many?" I asked.

Terrence laughed. "Louis, Timothy, Brad, Eric and Tyson are waiting. You'll have a pretty good force, but none knows what the plan is."

I snorted. "My biggest worry is giving Eric a gun and an opportunity to get behind me." I grabbed two rifles and passed them to Terrence before grabbing six of the flechette guns and heading to the entrance where Brad was helping the others get into the battle jackets.

"This sucks," Eric groaned. "We should have something heavier than these needle guns." He held the gun with an expression of disdain, but did not back out as the others took the weapons.

Terrence gave me a nod and headed to the entrance while Brad made sure that everyone was ready. I took a deep breath.

"This shouldn't be too difficult if you listen," I said. "Now, I need you to all follow me and we'll get in position, I will warn you that this route works only in one direction. Our retreat is going to be through the main passage so do not think of running away once battle is joined."

Everyone nodded and we followed a path to the southwest corner of the ring tunnel for our section of the colony. I could see everyone looking at me funny when a section of the wall moved, revealing a passage. Brad smiled.

"Of course!" he shouted. "You have a route that will allow us to appear by surprise."

I nodded. "Yes, but there will be two more doors and they are all one way. Once we pass them, they close and will not reopen from the other side. Nor will they open from this side if anyone is in the passage. Once we step into that passage we are committed to following through."

Timothy looked a bit upset, but the expressions on the faces of Louis, Tyson and Brad could be called hungry. They remembered the terror on the ship and here was a wonderful opportunity to fight back against that.

We entered the passage and were passing down it when my tactical helmet buzzed with static for a moment and then I could hear Yvette. "We've heard from our intruders. Manuel isn't there, but they claim to speak for him. They want us to give up and join their side."

"And their reason for that is?" I replied.

Yvette laughed. "The spokesman claims that the upper hand has been established, but it's pretty clear they are scared. I get a feeling that the fight has proven to be a lot more brutal than either Ruth or Manuel promised."

My strike team had reached the final section and the second doorway quietly closed behind us, leaving us in a shadowy small room. "I've got to get set up. Watch on the monitor, if this works it's going to be a short fight."

It was the twins that replied. "Give 'em hell!"

I smiled but turned back to the five frightened men who were with me. "This will be simple. On my command that wall will move suddenly. It's a concealed one-way pressure door. And it's going to open up right on top of our visitors. Brad, Louis, take the left, Eric, Tyson, take the right. Timothy you and I will lie down and be prepared to roll into the hallway once the shooting starts."

I watched as everyone moved into position. Once they were there I looked for each to get their guns ready. It took a moment but soon I could see everyone was prepared. I frowned to see that neither Eric nor Timothy appeared comfortable with their weapons, but we were committed.

"AI," I said. "Open the battle door."

Just in front of us the wall dropped into the floor seemingly instantaneously. Brad Tyson and I immediately opened fire, but the others hesitated and for a brief period that only lasted seconds but seemed like an eternity flechettes and bullets flashed back and forth in the corridor.

Only three of Manuel's minions had been directly in front of the door, but one was dropped in the initial volley and the other two only got off a single burst each before falling to the floor. I rolled into the hall and fired down the corridor, catching a fourth man low in the torso as the other two broke and ran down the hallway, one limping from a final volley from Brad and Louis.

"Cover me!" I shouted to Brad as I started to check on the minions. The first one had taken two volleys in the head and was clearly done for. I was sliding over to the other two when Tyson shouted. "Eric!" I turned to look and Eric's body slowly slid to the floor, a bright red blood trail following the path his body took down the wall.

Tyson was checking on him when Louis looked down at Timothy. "Oh god!" he shouted. "He's taken one in the shoulder!"

The blood was pooling around Tim's left shoulder and I risked a quick glance at the three bodies I had not yet checked. All lay in growing pools of blood so I made a quick decision. "Brad! Come up and help me cover the hallway. You take the right where our attack tunnel comes out; I'll set up on the left wall. Yvette! I hope you can see this, send two medical gurneys."

"Only one," Tyson said quietly. "Eric took one in the heart. He's dead."

Louis whispered. "Tim's shoulder is a wreck. I can't get the bleeding to slow down much, so give that gurney wings, cause he doesn't have much time."

"God, Tyson help Louis for now," I said as I watched down the hallway. The lights flickered and at one point several shots rang out, but the blind fire could not reach us due to a bend in the tunnel. Brad and I stayed in firing position, although as we waited we both crawled out to the remaining bodies and found no life signs.

Louis and Tyson were trying to calm Timothy and keep him prone when the door opened and David rushed out pushing the medical gurney. Terrence and the twins were with him and with the additional guns available we were able to quickly strip Manuel's former comrades of weaponry and push the body's back beyond the location of our first door. By that time David and Tyson had left pushing the medical gurney at high speed. We were ready to go when Donna appeared pushing another gurney.

She looked over at Eric's body, which we had moved to lie on the floor. "He wasn't the best of us, but he stood up for all of us when it mattered," she said. "We should bring him back and grant him a proper farewell."

The others nodded, so with Terrence and the twins providing cover we gently lifted the lifeless body on the gurney and Donna headed back to the colony center with it. The battle door then reacted to the lack of bodies within its section of the tunnel and slowly closed, once again camouflaging itself as a section of immobile wall. The AI continued to report that the outer door was going to take about twelve hours to repair, but the video feeds were good, so I asked that one of the consoles in the recreation room receive the feed for the rest of the evening. As soon as the evidence of our attack route had vanished, I called for the retreat and as a group we moved behind the middle door and watched it close before turning and heading back to the command center.