Chapter 23 - A Call from the Navy

The next morning found me waking up surrounded by my ladies as usual. The joyful cries of Tina and Janice when we left the hot tub the previous evening had inspired Brittany and Meiko to have a contest to see which of them could have the hardest orgasm while having sex with me. The others merrily performed as judges, eventually ruling that there was no victor since both ladies enjoyed the contest far too much.

I had just finished my morning shower and was getting dressed when the AI chimed. "Sir, you have a call from the command center. We have a fold-space communication from Commander Sykes of the Navy."

"Damn!" I shouted. "See if he can give me five minutes. And alert Yvette, Terrence, Louis and the twins. They might want to hear this first hand. Who's in the command center?"

"Linus and Fred are serving at this time," the AI reported.

Meiko had woken up and appeared in the doorway to the bedroom as I finished throwing my shirt on. She looked at me, but seeing my hurry paused. "Sorry, little one," I gasped out. "The Navy just called and I have to run to the command post. Let the others know and then you can join me if you want."

Meiko smiled and turned back to the room as I dashed out the door, running through the tunnels. Fortunately the hallways were clear and I rattled into the command post a few moments later to find Linus and Fred reviewing the sensor logs from the Sa'arm visit.

"No sir," Fred said. "I was not on duty when the Sa'arm visited, so I cannot answer that. I've given you the information that I understand. I'm afraid that I'm not experienced at this, none of us are. Linus and I are only on our fourth shift."

"That's not good enough," a gruff male voice said. "We need to know what's going on. Did the Sa'arm see the base, and why did their ship leave?"

Fred seemed about to speak, but I put a hand on his shoulder. He paused to look at me as I nodded.

"Sir," I replied. "Sorry about this, but this post has only been up for just over a week and we really only have two members who are advanced enough to answer certain parts of your question. Fortunately one was on duty at that time, and I've already asked him to come for a meeting."

"Who is this?" the voice said.

"Sorry, I'm James Rabb," I replied. "I guess you could say that I'm in charge down here. We try to work as a group though."

The voice spoke out again. "This is Commander David Sykes. I'm on the corvette Hampton Roads. The Navy received your first alert, sent by a 'Gina', but it was only the basics that a small Sa'arm ship had visited and fired on the colony. We know that they don't leave until a site is destroyed! What's going on?"

I sighed as Yvette and Louis both dashed into the command area. I pointed to the briefing room and turned back to Fred. "One moment Commander, the man who was on duty during the visit just arrived, so if you'll indulge me I'm going to have this communication routed to the briefing room and we can go over what happened."

"Do so," Commander Sykes said tersely.

I nodded to Fred who started the process of routing the call. While it went through I stepped into the briefing room. "The Navy wants a more complete report," I warned Louis. "I'll try to take the lead, but be ready for questions."

He nodded as Fred shouted. "It's routing now."

I could hear the speakers power up and spoke. "Commander Sykes, I now have with me Yvette, who helps keep all the schedules for everyone, and Louis who was in the command post and running the sensor net during the Sa'arm visit. The basics are as you heard. A small Sa'arm ship entered the system. Louis detected it in time to signal the resupply base to shut down its emissions, but the ship did detect the colony. It approached the planet, but did not enter the atmosphere, instead launching a pair of missiles. Terraforming has begun here, but the atmosphere currently is extremely corrosive, and neither missile reached the ground nor detonated. The ship then returned in the direction it came."

"You're on a Death World?" the Commander asked.

"Yes," Yvette said. "I guess you hadn't heard, but this is basically a throwaway colony. The marines didn't know what to do with us and dropped us here, thinking we'd be out of the way."

Commander Sykes sighed. "I guess that explains the recent memo about your system becoming a stopping place for resupply when we make long raids. Well let's get to basics - what kind of Sa'arm ship was it."

Louis perked up. "Our ground-based sensors suffer a lot of degradation due to the atmospheric interference. And I shut the space-based ones down a bit too quickly. The data we did collect indicates that it was about as small as Sa'arm ships come. The estimate is that the maximum crew was fifty."

"Tiny," was the reply. "And you are positive they missed the resupply base?"

"No," Louis said. "But if they did detect it, they felt the planetary colony was more important. They came straight in towards the planet once they crossed the detection threshold. Although they broke off their approach before they were inside the orbits of our moons. I'd say they knew our atmosphere was corrosive."

"So you expect them back?" the Commander asked.

"I do," I replied. "And most likely they will come in with something that they expect can enter the atmosphere and survive long enough to get a close-in missile shot. The missile tracks show that they penetrated more than halfway through the atmosphere. If they can launch from within the atmosphere, they might be able to hit the colony with an intact missile."

The commander coughed. "They haven't shown that much initiative in the past."

"True, but our colony opens up a new flank, and we are currently on a planet that they can't visit, which makes us uniquely dangerous. I expect them to try at least once to dislodge us," I said.

"Wait," Commander Sykes said. "What direction was the ship going in, and where did it come from."

Louis looked worried. "That's what I worry about. Our briefing said we'd be outside the Sa'arm incursion cone, but it appears they have branched out. If the original briefing was correct, the Sa'arm incursion zone should run from ten degrees spinward to about one hundred forty degrees spinward. This ship came in from seventy degrees upspin, nearly a full ninety degrees off the known line of their advance. We aren't quite surrounded, but they now have appeared along a two hundred and ten degree arc."

The Commander laughed. "Well, I'll pass that on, but the memo said your base wasn't going to be up for another three months. So you need to figure out a way to hold out for ninety days, and keep the base up."

The connection died just as Terrence and the twins came through the door. Yvette looked upset. "Three months? Can we last that long?"

Terrence seemed confused. "What happened?"

Louis was thoughtful, and I suddenly got an idea. "Louis, you seem to be the most knowledgeable about the resupply base. Is there a way to disperse the base sections for now? Make it so that the Sa'arm could attack a dummy base, but the portions required to perform service on visiting ships will remain intact?"

Louis stood silently. "We could, but while the pieces are moving they will be vulnerable. We need to get some kind of orbital-based defenses."

"We'll work on it," Yvette promised. "Get the pieces moving now though. See where you can hide them."

Louis left as Terrence and the twins took a seat. They waited silently as I looked over the data Louis had revealed. Finally I sighed.

"We knew the Sa'arm would likely visit, and yesterday they did, but now the news gets bad," I began. "We just heard from the navy and were told we had to hold out for ninety Earth days. I expect they'll shorten that, but depending on how far in toward us the Sa'arm are, we'll probably get a visit from them before then. As you heard, we are going to disperse the resupply base. Hopefully we can find a way to reduce its emissions and detectability. If we give the Sa'arm the planet as a target, we might be able to protect the supplies. We do need some kind of orbital defenses. Something that can fire automatically when triggered."

Terrence shook his head. "I studied the Confederacy policy on automatic weapons. The AI's programming forbids them from operating any weaponry. It took a lot of programming to get them to accept recycling of concubines and that is only because they are recognized as property and not people."

I nodded. "Yes, but I'm thinking dumb weapons. Some kind of missile mines that launch when signaled from the planet or automatic guns that fire on anything entering their interdiction zone. It will mean we have to warn the Navy about forbidden zones in the system, but with a bit of planning that could work."

The twins smiled. "Yes," one of them said. "I was talking to Gina and she said that we can develop a communications link to just about anything. If we can develop the weapons she can get the AI to allow the network for signaling."

Terrence just nodded. "Timothy has some engineering skill. It's more electronic than military, but he could help, and he needs time to rehabilitate the shoulder. Even with the healing technology his mind expects the shoulder to hurt and it's slowing him down."

Yvette laughed. "Perfect and it will allow his concubines to keep fawning over him. He needs the support right now."

I laughed. "Terrence, I know you are rediscovering love with your concubines Diana and Ingrid, but if I remember right you said they worked in your office back on earth. Can I ask that they help out these teams by serving as secretaries? We are going to need to keep track of records and ideas."

Terrence smiled. "They would love to, but they'll want a gift."

The twins giggled knowingly as I looked at Terrence. "A gift?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes," Terrence said with a smile. "We've been busy and I haven't sent them to the medical bay yet. They want to be transformed into a pair of college coeds. Can I do that before they have to start working?" He gave me a pleading look as the twins burst out laughing.

"Go ahead and set that up," I said. "Meanwhile we have one last problem. I've had Xavier, Fred, Brad and myself get fitted for battle armor and we should see the suits ready in three or four days. After that we are going to need to start drills in the laser bays. Speed will be important. We also need someone designated to handle armor removal, as it's going to be damaged by the atmosphere and probably dangerous to touch when we first descend."

Yvette just smiled. "It's already being planned. Linus has agreed to be ground staff on one side. Tyson will work the other for now, although he wants the training to operate the lasers when there is time. We can start walkthroughs anytime."

I nodded. "Good. Let's get a general meeting for everyone in four hours or so. Tamara, Tiffany, you should organize that, and work the command post during it. You can listen in through the AI."

"Awww, but we wanted to be there," the twins said in unison before smiling. One of them continued the thought by observing. "It makes sense though. Louis and I are the best on the sensors and he should be at the meeting."

I smiled and we stood up when Linus shouted from just outside the room. "What the fuck!"

We dashed out and he pointed over at the three screens showing our doors. A naked young girl was cowering in a corner of the space that stood between our first and second doors. We could not see much due to the dim lighting we kept there, but her back appeared to be one large bruise and her right arm dangled limply.

"My god!" Yvette said. "To think she had the strength to get there."

I nodded just as Mieko and Janice appeared at the command post door. "We need to go to her," I said. "She looks too hurt to crawl any farther. AI, get me Ed."

A moment later a voice called out. "Ed here, what do you need James."

"Ed, we have a small emergency," I replied. "Get to the medical bay and get a pod ready for an emergency guest, also grab a couple of concubines and have them run to the crossing with a gurney. We have a refugee at our door and she looks badly beaten."

"God! How badly?" Ed asked.

"I'm not sure, but the video shows her right arm hanging limply and her back is one large bruise. She's cowering in a corner." I said as I grabbed one of the flechette guns. Terrence nodded and grabbed a pair of rifles, throwing one to Yvette.

"We'll cover you," he said as I used the strap to secure the gun. I grabbed one of our few over-ear com-unit setups before heading to the door.

"Meiko, Janice I need you with me," I said. "This girl is going to need support and probably not from a man."

I dashed out and they followed me. The run to the crossing took several minutes during which I could hear Yvette calling out orders and organizing others over the small speaker of the com-unit. We arrived at the door to find Tyson waiting for us.

"Is it bad?" he asked.

"She didn't look too good," I replied pointing to the video screen. The girl was still cowering in the corner of the room. "We're going to move to get her inside. If someone shows up outside warn me."

The door opened and Meiko and Janice led me down the dimly lit corridor. This section was long, but the thought of the girl at the far end needing help spurred me on. We had just reached the middle door and I was about to call for it to open when I heard Yvette speak. "Damn! It's Dennis. He's at the outer door and angry. Fortunately he's armed and the door remained closed. But that must be Dennis' concubine!"

I gave a command for the door to open just as a resounding boom echoed through the corridors. I could hear a cry of fear from the cowering girl as Yvette observed. "He's pounding the door."

"Yeah, the echo here gave me just a slight clue," I replied as Meiko and Janice darted forward to look at the girl. The girl flinched back with a cry, but upon realizing that it was a young woman looking at her threw her left arm around Meiko and started wailing.

Janice looked at me. "I'm no medic, but she won't be able to walk. It looks like her left ankle has been broken and her right shoulder is just as bad. I'm surprised she made it this far."

I cursed, and tossed my gun to Janice. "We can't stay here, that pounding will just make her panic more." I carefully bent down and gathered the girl up. She gave a cry of terror, but Meiko's gentle touch on her left arm silenced the cry and other than several sobs of pain she quieted down and closed her eyes.

The pounding continued and I started to back down the hallway. Meiko and Janice followed and as soon as we were clear of the door, I ordered it to close and we started down the hallway, moving slowly as every bounce I gave the girl resulted in cries of pain. I could hear pained gasps from her as we continued and was happy to see the light indicating that the final doorway was opening.

To my surprise Shawna and David were there with the gurney. I could hear gasps of horror from Shawna and Yvette as I carefully set the girl down on the gurney. I was going to turn away when the girl used her left arm to pull me down for a kiss. "Thank you," she whispered as her strength left her and the arm released my neck.

David needed no command and as soon as the girl was resting comfortably he took off with the gurney. Shawna dashed to catch up, but I could hear her calling to Ed and alerting him to the visible injuries of the poor girl. I took a moment to catch my breath and retrieve my gun from Janice as the others continued to watch the screen.

"Should we say anything?" she asked.

I looked up and could see the largest man I had ever encountered pound on the outer door again and again. He had an assault rifle strapped over his shoulder and a rather nasty looking knife on his belt. I couldn't tell what he was shouting, but somehow I doubted it was an invitation to tea.

"AI, allow me to speak to our visitor," I said. I waited a moment and then spoke up. "Back off. The door isn't going to open no matter how much you pound. The only reason we know you are there is we can see you on a screen."

The man looked around wildly and then glared again at the door. "You have my Kitty! Give me my slave back! She's mine!"

"Not anymore," I growled. "Concubines might be property out there, but our little band still remembers that they are humans. Your treatment of her indicates that you didn't value her, and therefore, she has been taken away. I'm not sure why you care. I'm sure you have others."

The man became angrier. "She didn't break! They all break, but not her! Five weeks and she still had the energy to crawl away! But I'll get her back! And now, I'll hurt you and yours."

I was trying to understand what the man was saying as he turned and Tasha was thrown against the door. Yvette gasped as the man treated Tasha like a ragdoll and slammed her against the door twice more before standing her against it and walking away with an evil laugh. I thought he was going to leave peacefully when several shots rang out and Tasha's lifeless body slid slowly to the floor.

"Tell your mice to hide in your hole!" Dennis shouted. "Any that come out won't like the experience."

Silence reigned at the crossing until Terrence stepped forward. "Tyson and I will go and retrieve the body," he said. "Yvette, if you can command the doors?"

Yvette nodded silently as Meiko touched my hand. I sighed. "I better tell Jay and Zenita that they are moving to the concubine's dorm."

Janice came over and gave me a kiss. "You did all you could. She decided to leave home."

I nodded, but still felt down as we walked over to what had been Tasha's pod. Once outside I took a deep breath just before the door opened.

The sudden opening of the door resulted in a cry of surprise. Zenita had been sitting at the table wearing a shift and stood up in shock as Meiko and Janice preceded me into the room. I noticed a moment of fear in her eyes and then she spoke. "If you are here to arrest Tasha, she hasn't come back yet?"

I paused and then realized I was still carrying the flechette gun. I quickly slung arms to secure it and smiled. "I'm not here for that. Sadly, Tasha died minutes ago just outside our walls. Dennis killed her."

Zenita gasped but then broke into a sad smile. "I can't say I'm terribly surprised. I had heard Dennis during his calls to her and I've never met a more evil and hateful man." She turned around. "Jay! Get your black behind out here!"

Jay wandered in a few moments later, wearing the concubine's shift. On seeing Janice he started posing, but Zenita walked over and slapped him. "This is no time for that," she hissed. "Tasha is dead and I'm guessing we are moving to a new home."

Jay looked confused and I could hear Janice mutter. "I'm not interested anyway, I only want James' cock."

I tried to hide a laugh or smile and looked at the two concubines. "Zenita is correct Jay. This pod is going to lock down until a new sponsor can be found to occupy it. And you and Zenita need to find new sponsors of your own. Until then we have a small dorm area for you to stay in and work for you to do."

Jay strutted out of the room. Zenita looked around and finally shrugged. "It never felt like home," she sighed as she followed Jay out of the room.

Getting the two concubines set up in the dorm proved to be a bit more difficult than I had hope. Zenita was the model of understanding and calm, but Jay wanted to flirt with every lady who passed, and despite several warnings refused to leave Christine alone. I finally resorted to frogmarching the man into one of the rooms and having Philippe and David sit with him and attempt to drive the realities of the situation into his head. I would have stayed to listen myself, but Ed wanted me in the medical bay and then there was the group meeting planned.

Philippe had promised me that he would bring news of the talk with Jay, but I could see by his own frown that he had little expectation of success in getting the man to understand the realities. I still had to hope, as we could not tolerate a concubine who was openly hostile to sponsors. However, I had the meeting with Ed and hurried over to the medical pod where I found Ed resting in a chair with a beautiful brunette lady in his lap.

"Ah, the lovely Elle I assume," I said as I held my hand out for her to shake. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Ed laughed as Elle looked back at my concubines and me. "You must be James, but where are your other concubines?" she asked. "And how did you know it was me?"

Janice giggled. "Bethany and Tina drew school duty today, and Brittany is working with the bunnies. Some of the babies even have their eyes open now."

Elle laughed and looked at me. I shrugged. "Well, it's not too complex. Ed told me that you and he selected Tara and that she was a 'lady of color' shall we say, so I guessed."

Elle laughed harder. "Oh god! She's a riot too. Made a big deal about the "once you go black" line, but now swears that Ed is the best she's ever been in bed with."

I could see the merry look in Elle's eyes, but turned to look at Ed. "I understand you wanted a brief chat before we have the full meeting?"

He nodded sadly. "Yes. This is about the girl you just rescued."

"Rescued?" I asked. "I just retrieved her after she crawled through our outer door. I did nothing special."

Elle giggled as Ed shook his head. "That not how Kitty sees it. She found out about the door when Tasha showed up, and used the fact that Tasha all but threw herself at Dennis to sneak out before the door closed. She guesses that the two concubines who came with you are yours and felt a kinship with them."

I groaned. "Let me guess, you are saying I need to claim her as mine."

Ed nodded. "She's been brutalized to a degree I can't comprehend and I've seen the medical readings. Its going to take the medical system hours just to mend all the broken bones and remove the bruising, but that can't do a thing about the psychological issues. Kitty needs to feel safe and in that short time in your arms she felt that. Perhaps in a year or so, she'll be able to leave, but for now, she needs a master she trusts."

I frowned. "But I love my ladies and don't plan on adding another. Besides, I'm already over my limit by one."

Elle giggled again. "Care to step into the booth and retest your CAP? I'll bet you are over an eight now."

I was going to protest more when the AI spoke. "Correct, observation of sponsors on Ishtar has shown that several are scored lower than their abilities deserve. If you desire to take concubine Kitty as one of your own, it will be duly noted and approved."

I bowed my head to think, only to have Janice and Meiko pull me down.

Janice was the first to whisper. "James, my love. You know we won't complain. You have the love we all need and if she can heal because you give her some, that's only right. Besides, it means I get another pussy to lick."

Janice was still giggling as Meiko added her thoughts. "My master, my love. We love you because you care and love us. Could you think us so vain and petty to refuse to share that love and care with a young lady that desperately needs it to heal? Please, I know you want to refuse, but none of us could bear to see our master show so little trust in our love for him."

I gasped and turned to look at Meiko who actually had tears of love in her eyes. I wrapped her up and a caring hug and sighed. "AI, I'm being outvoted here. I'd like to be able to ask Kitty officially when she wakes, but right now, tentatively list Kitty as my concubine."

Janice gave a joyful cry and hugged me from behind. "I know you'd do the right thing." She said before dashing off.

I stood up and turned back to Ed who was smiling. "Sorry to do that to you, but Elle suggested it. I guess Kitty was moaning about it just before the pod put her under to start the repairs. No name, but Elle figured out it was you pretty quickly."

I was now shaking my head. "But other than briefly at the Landing Day party we have never met," I protested.

Elle laughed openly. "It wasn't too hard. You get so busy in helping everyone and dealing with issues that you aren't watching your concubines. I did. Their eyes follow you all the time, and it's with love and affection shining in them. A hug from you can have them glowing for more than an hour, and I imagine that they wake up glowing even brighter. I heard you wanted a tradition of respect and love for concubines, but from you it wasn't just words. You live that every day."

Meiko was hugging me close throughout the speech and turned my head for a kiss as she finished. I could see the love shining again in her eyes and smiled. But before I could add words to my thoughts, Ed spoke up.

"I guess you need the full damage inventory," he said. "Kitty will be fine physically, but I'm still surprised she made it as far as she did. Her left ankle, right knee, left elbow and right shoulder had all been smashed with some form of blunt force weapon, possibly a crowbar. The elbow and knee had healed some, but the ankle and shoulder were more recent. Evidence shows that four ribs were broken, and others bruised. No cuts, but lots of bruises from punches and kicks, and considerable bruising around her pussy and ass. I'm guessing the monsters don't care much for lube from the amount of bruising in that area."

"Bad?" I asked.

"Yes," Ed said emotionlessly. "At least I was able to convince the AI to lose her child. I don't think she would have been happy raising a child of rape, and that's what it was to her. I would suggest that you give her time to adjust before attempting sex."

Meiko giggled at this and I just shook my head. "Don't worry there. My harem here already has practice at taking traumatized concubines and turning them into sex-crazed sluts."

Elle looked shocked. "They what?"

Meiko smiled and winked before speaking softly. "Brittany came to us as a fourteen year old girl who had been living with one of Dennis' friends as a dependent, until he killed her mother. She didn't want sex either, but now..."

Elle looked thoughtful. "Wait, the little redhead? She's really just fourteen? But she fawns all over James. I thought she was older and just looked that way because of the cosmetic tricks pods can do."

I smiled. "No, Brittany hasn't been in a pod yet. I want her to grow naturally, since it looks like she'll be nice and tall when she grows up. The only change I'm thinking of for now is to lengthen her hair and remove the temporary sterilization the AI performed when she first tested."

Elle just shook her head in shock as Ed gave her several loving kisses. I could see the kisses start to get steamy, so with a gentle nudge to Meiko we headed to the multi-use room where the meeting was going to occur. I found Donna there, overseeing Jacques and Lindsay as they organized the chairs. Donna was smiling as I approached.

"Well, I must say it's exciting," she said. "But surprisingly I feel safe. You do that, did you realize?"

"I do what?" I asked as Bethany and Tina walked into the room.

Donna laughed as Lindsay and Jacques finished. Jacques proceeded to work on setting up some camera equipment, to record the meeting, but Lindsay strutted over to join us. Donna however decided to explain her statement. "You make us all feel safer and more comfortable. You planned out this little community, complete with places to play, places for children, and even hope for the future. You organized a defense, and have been leading us by example when danger does strike. And yet, you don't act like a lord, but more like a trusted friend who wants the best for us all."

I shrugged. "But that is all I want. I already have an embarrassment of riches. I was a nobody back on earth, with a girlfriend who got along with me, but didn't really love me and a job that I hated. Now I have beautiful, confident women throwing themselves at me and saying they are proud to be my sex slaves while I have found friends I would gladly die for. What more could I want that would truly bring me happiness?"

Bethany laughed. "God! You just don't get it. That right there is why we love you so much. You just want to give. Your love, your respect, your passion; you give it all away so freely, expecting nothing in return. Well, I'll let you know that someday, I'll manage to give it all back."

Tina just laughed and threw her arms around me. "And I hear a rumor that we have a new friend."

Donna looked puzzled, so I shrugged. "Ed recommended that I accept our little refugee as an additional concubine. I wanted to refuse but the AI approved it almost immediately."

Donna laughed. "Watch, at this meeting you admit that it happened and only Jack will complain. The rest of us will just smile and say you deserve it. We accept your leadership because you do so much for us, and none are going to argue about you having an extra concubine or two."