Part 6

The CH-47 eased in and touched down on the concrete runway, rolling forward just a little as the forward motion of the aircraft died off. The pilot shut it down and the flucka-flucka of the twin rotors died away. While his assistants, a pair of staff sergeants, unloaded the static lines and the rest of the gear; Master Sergeant Paul Martin went over the paperwork for the jump one last time, and filled out the evaluations on the students. The current PL, the student acting as the Patrol Leader, had fucked up the operations order for the mission. He wasn't a bad kid, but he needed to pay more attention to detail.

There would be more like him too, but that wasn't entirely bad. The kid had a qualifying CAP score, but had enlisted anyway. There were more of those entering the military than Martin had expected. He'd thought that since active duty military weren't eligible for extraction there would be a drop-off in enlistments, but there hadn't been. All the services were turning recruits away. The new force levels were being met without relaxing the standards. That applied to the Special Warfare school too. They'd increased the class sizes by forty percent, and had rejected candidates who were better than some who had graduated just a few years before.

Martin had considered getting out, so he could volunteer for the Confederacy. He had a wife and two little kids at home, plus two more under fourteen who lived with his ex-wife. The odds of getting picked up didn't look good though. The way he figured it, the best thing he could do to save his kids was exactly what he was doing. He was training the guys who would train the rest of the country, the ones who would still here when the Swarm arrived. He'd seen the projections. If the Darjee hadn't shown up, they'd been have able to keep fighting for ten years, at most, after the first of the aliens landed. Now they had advance notice of the Swarm's arrival and depending on how things went, they'd have two, three, maybe even four years extra to prepare before the Swarm arrived. Between that and the new technologies, they stood a chance to fight them off.

It was going to be a hard fight though, worse than he'd ever seen; worse than anyone had ever seen probably. There shouldn't be any problem with dehumanizing the enemy. Fighting humans took its toll, but he didn't think shooting three legged lizards would add to his nightmares.

He tucked the paperwork into his map case, a green canvas bag with a shoulder strap, known as a 'fag bag'; picked up his chute and walked down the rear ramp headed for the Rigging Hangar. On the way across the field he pulled out his cell phone to see who had called him during the jump. There had been two calls, one while he was checking their equipment, and then again just as he'd given the 'Go' command. There'd been no way he could have answered either one, and he was a little embarrassed that he'd forgotten to turn it off. At least he'd only had it on vibrate.

The caller ID read 'Confed FltAux - AP073'. Why in the hell would the confederacy call him? That meant more fucking paperwork to fill out. He turned in the parachute, then went to double check that the riggers would have everything ready for a daylight jump the next day. The Chinook would fly out, pick up the team that had jumped tonight, and fly them to another drop zone on the other side of the training area. They'd have to rig up in flight, and wouldn't be told where they were jumping in. He'd be on the ground waiting for them. He'd watch them to see how they handled it, and what they'd do when they realized they were twelve klicks from where they were supposed to be.

He was going over the last of the details when a female voice interrupted. "Sergeant Martin?" One of the riggers, a cute blue-eyed Spec-4 came out of the office at the back of the room. She pushed past the green silk chutes hanging from the ceiling and came around the table. "Sergeant Martin, there's a girl on the phone, she says she's your daughter...."

He looked from her to the officer in charge. "Sorry sir, my daughter is six, I have no idea how she got the number here, my wife doesn't even have it."

Fortunately the lieutenant had the new rubbed off his butter-bar already, he didn't say anything about 'personal calls', just "I guess you better see if anything's wrong. We'll have everything ready here by eleven hundred."

Martin headed for the office. Behind him, the specialist said, "I wonder how she managed to get on the secure line?" but he didn't hear her.

Martin wondered what she was doing awake, it was way past her bedtime. He pushed his way past the parachutes and into the office, and then picked up the phone. "This is Sergeant Martin."

"Daddy?" He didn't recognize the voice, but it sounded familiar.

"Who is this?"

"Daddy, it's me, Chrissy." It sounded like her, but he hadn't seen or heard from her in seven years, so he couldn't be sure. "Why didn't you come see us?"

Martin's throat felt tight. "Chrissy-Baby?"

"Oh Daddy," her voice broke. "I've missed you so much."

Martin blinked away tears, glad no one was in the office. "I've missed you too Chrissy-Baby. I couldn't come see you, the judge wouldn't even let me call." He remembered the calls to his cell phone. "How did you find me?"

"Daddy, I've been picked up. The ship AI found you for me."

His gut twisted at the thought of his baby girl as someone's slave. Still most of the concubines didn't get to contact their families, much less phone them from orbit. "He's a good man?"

"He's the best Daddy, I'm glad I picked him. He's a sponsor now too. He retested here on the ship and talked the AI into bringing everyone; Mom and the other kids, even Aunt Heather and Megan. We're going to have a joint household, it's like being married."

That was something entirely different. He was supposed to be the one keeping her safe, not saying goodbye as she went into harm's way. "I hope you'll be happy together. I always wanted to be the one to give you away, but at least I get to tell you I love you and always will. Did you two join the Marines or the Navy?"

"I know we'll be happy Daddy. Freddie is sooo nice, and he joined the Fleet Auxiliary with me. We're going to build starships together."

"You tell him to take good care of my little girl."

A man's voice answered, he sounded in his late teens or early twenties. "I will sir, you can count on that. I hope you don't mind me asking, but how often did you write Chrissy? Did you ever answer any of her letters?"

Martin hadn't realized how far his ex-wife had gone until he heard the question, but it was instantly clear what she'd done. He tried his best to keep his anger under control, poisoning Molly's relationship with her children wouldn't help anything. "I got two letters from you Chrissy-Baby, I answered both of them and sent you a bunch more. I sent all you kids presents on your birthdays and for Christmas every year."

"AI, is that true?" Chrissy's voice was flat but Martin heard the anger and despair in it anyway. There was a pause and she started to cry. "I'm gonna kill her. AI, get her down here now."

Martin didn't know if she really meant it or not. When she was eight, she'd in all seriousness told him to kill all the bad guys so he could come home. "No!" he shouted, "Don't do it."

Freddie said the same thing. "Wait Baby," he continued, "Don't do anything while you're angry. Think about Paul and Wanda, you don't want to hurt them. She made your dad go away, I understand that. They probably don't really remember him but they'll remember what you do to their mom."

Chrissy didn't say anything, but Martin heard her crying softly.

"Listen Chrissy-Baby," he said, his words coming out in a rush.. "I know your mom can be difficult. I loved her for ten years and stayed for four more trying to bring back what we'd had. I lost you because I couldn't make it work. Don't try to get even, life is too short for revenge, especially against someone you love. I know you love her or you wouldn't be hurting so much right now."

"Don't do anything you'll regret later. You're responsible for her now. It's like you are the parent now, it's your job to take care of her. Help her, she needs you now more than ever. Your husband's right, if you can't do it for you or her, do it for Paul and Wanda. I know about the Confederacy. If she can't change the way she behaves, she's going to die. I know her too, if you don't do something, you'll have to live with what happens. Help her, Chrissy-Baby, help her please."

"I'll... I'll try Daddy, I wish you could come with us."

"I've got a job to do here. You can help with that though, the more ships you build, the longer we'll have to get ready. It's going to be a long hard fight, but we can beat those lizards."

They talked for another twenty minutes, catching up, and exchanged email addresses. He told her about Jocelyn, how he met her in the NCO club not long after the divorce, how they got married when they found out she was pregnant. He told her about their daughter Felicity and little Joe, and promised to send pictures before Chrissy's ship left orbit. He didn't think it was a good idea to bring her mother up again, and Chrissy didn't mention her either.

The lieutenant in charge of the riggers stuck his head in the door and gestured, politely but unmistakably. Martin took the hint. "Look, I'm still on duty, I gotta go. I love you, and I always will. Freddie, you treat my little girl right, or I'll find you."

"You don't need to worry about that," the boy answered.

There was the sound of a kiss before Chrissy answered. "I love you Daddy, goodbye."

"Everything all right at home?" the lieutenant asked.

"My daughter got picked up."

"I thought you said she's six?"

"From a previous marriage sir, she's seventeen. She called from the ship."

One of the riggers muttered something about slavery. "At ease with that shit." Martin snapped. "She's a sponsor. She took her mom, her older sister and two more of my kids. They're going to be safely away from here, and I don't want to hear any more fucking comments from you." He turned back to the officer. "Sorry sir."

The lieutenant shook his head. "Not a problem. Just double-check these and we can all go home for the night."

He was thoughtful on the ride home from the airfield. Hearing that Chrissy and the others were going to be safe felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. His little Chrissy was a sponsor. Despite what he'd said in the hangar, he felt the same way about the way concubines were treated. It wasn't what he'd wanted for his kids, and even with the alternative being death, he wasn't sure which was worse. Despite that, he'd signed the paperwork allowing the younger kids to be picked up. Because he was active duty, he wasn't eligible to be picked up, and his children couldn't be picked up without his permission.

He didn't have to worry about that anymore though. Chrissy would take care of them. She didn't volunteer as a Marine or for the Navy so she wouldn't see combat. He'd heard about what happened to concubines who lost their sponsors. The Confederacy would keep their shipyards safe, they needed them. That meant they would keep his children safe too.

He pulled his motorcycle up the driveway past Jocelyn's jeep, and backed it onto the sidewalk in front of his quarters. The townhouse was dark, and he had to use his key to open the front door. It wasn't quite midnight yet, so he'd half expected his wife to still be up. He stopped to check on the kids in their room.

Only Felicity was there. She was nearly six now and her blonde hair was getting long like her mother's. It spread out on her pillow like a halo. He brushed it out, and then touched her cheek with the backs of his fingers, before leaving the room. As he expected, Little Joe was snuggled up to his mom on the queen sized bed she shared with Martin. He picked up his youngest son and carried him to his crib. He paused on his way out the door, hand on the knob and took a last look at their sleeping form before closing the door behind him.

Jocelyn lay on the bed, one milk-swollen breast exposed from when he'd moved the sheet to take Joe. He loved that about her. She never wore a bra to bed, and never pushed him away if he touched her while she was asleep. He slowly pulled the sheet back, so that the light from the street lamps outside could shine directly on her. Her breasts were firm D-cups now, where they'd been C-cups before. She wore only a pair of plain cotton panties, the kind that provided good protection from the rough seams of her uniforms. He thought they were sexier on her than lace or silk. He'd been hard since before he'd picked Joe up. Seeing her lying there snuggled with their baby boy had done it to him.

He watched her while he undressed. Jocelyn was blonde, like his ex-wife, but taller and much more athletic. She was also younger, ten years younger than Molly, only twenty-eight to his thirty-nine. Naked, he climbed in bed with her and eased her panties off. She murmured incoherently and spread her legs for him when he moved between them. He slipped in gently, but didn't have to be too careful, Joe had been born just eight months ago, and despite all the PT she'd done she was still a little loose. She was a little wet already too.

"Yes, Paul, yes." she moaned.

He froze. Molly had responded just like that the last time he'd made love to her. He'd woken Molly up just like this. She'd enjoyed it, she'd even cum twice. It wasn't until he'd cum in her that she'd started screaming about rape. She'd called the police and started hitting and clawing at him until he'd had to grab her arms so she couldn't hurt him. Since it was a domestic call, they'd had to arrest somebody. Because he was six-foot-two and she was five-four, he'd spent the night in jail.

There'd been a hearing the next morning. He'd thought he was done for when he saw the look in Molly's eyes. She'd spent the night coaching Gina, who had just turned thirteen, in exactly what to say; but once on the stand, Gina had only embellished the truth a little, and not in the way her mother had expected.

"Yes, Paul, Yes! Fuck me, fuck me hard!" Gina'd screamed out, right there in the courtroom, when she was asked what she had heard the night before. "That's what mom was yelling. She woke me up. The door was open, so I peeked and they were really going at it, it sure looked like fun."

Molly had screamed for her to be quiet, and the DA had dropped the charges, but that had been the final blow that killed their marriage. He'd moved out and the divorce hadn't taken long at all.

Jocelyn reached up and touched his face, bringing him back to the present. "What's the matter Paul? Why'd you stop?"

He started moving again, slowly. "Bad memory."

His wife made a face, "Oh, her. Ahhh" He'd flicked one of her nipples with his thumb. "Oh, yeah. That's good. What made you think of her tonight?"

He moved faster, and rubbed a drop of milk into the skin of her nipple. "She got picked up tonight."

"Good, I hope her sponsor beats the stupid bitch every day." She knew all about it, he'd been half in the bag that first night at the NCO club, and had told her the whole story. She grabbed him and pulled him down to her. "Why are we talking about her? Shut up and fuck me. Give me another baby. If we wait too long it might be too late, I heard another rumor about mandatory implants today." He slipped his hands under her legs and lifted them, bending her double. He'd love to see her belly full one more time. They'd talked about another baby, and she hadn't been sure. It looked like she'd decided to take the chance.

"Going to have my baby again, Jo?" He pumped her hard. He could tell by her eyes that she was close. "Will it be a boy or a girl?"

"Both, give me twins this time. It might be my last chance." Her pussy sucked at him greedily as she started to cum. "Oh Paul, oh Paul." she moaned as she thrashed and clawed at his back. He came soon after, pumping spurt after spurt into her womb.

After, he lay on his side, half on top of her, with one arm under her head and his other hand cupping one leaking breast until they both fell asleep.