The Great Escape Chapter 24, Part 1 of 10

The Great Escape
Chapter 24, Part 1 of 10

On a bright sunny morning, the Samothea Project's hyperspace shuttlecraft, CSS Petticoat I, landed in Cloner City on Samothea. Yael was the first one out of the spacecraft. She wore her white air suit. With her innocent beauty and long golden hair, she would have looked like an angel, except that compressed air tanks on her hips spoiled her sleek lines and a backpack full of physics books replaced her wings.

Yael charged the air tanks from the ship's compressor and turned on her air suit. A ghostly purple aura soon surrounded her as the squeezed-up air shimmered and whistled around her.

She looked longingly at the Council Hall, where her girlfriend, Carlin, was still a Junior. Sighing, Yael put on her helmet and, with a muffled shout of "Thanks" to the Petticoat crew, took a few skips, leaped daintily into the air, and released the compressed air jets. She shot straight up and made a graceful backward arc as she flew southeast toward the forest.

Yael landed at the Woodlanders' Forest Camp in less than an hour. Shouting "Hello" to everyone and "Where's Mum?", she threw her backpack into her mother's hut and stripped off the air suit. Straightening out a short skirt and a tee shirt as she put them on, Yael ran to the pool where Eloise and Adarna were drying off after a cooling bath.

"Mum! Mum! I'm back!" Yael yelled, pouncing on Eloise and hugging her wildly.

"Yael! I can see you're back. Stop being so silly. Let me breathe!"

"No, I won't! I love you so much, Mum!" Yael cried. "I missed you every minute!"

"Yes, yes, dear. I miss you, too. Now kiss your aunt Adarna, and let's sit down. Then you can tell us everything you did on Celetaris."

Yael reluctantly released her mother and jumped on Adarna to hug her tightly.

"Welcome back, Sweetie!" Adarna said, enthusiastically returning the excited girl's stifling embrace.

Finally satisfied, Yael sat by the clothesline bench, where the women usually dried off after a dip. She picked up Adarna's daughter, Tomi, who was crawling about on the ground, and held her on her lap, making faces to amuse the infant while Eloise and Adarna dressed.

Although Eloise loved her daughter more than anything in the world, she was also the least demonstrative woman in the Woodlander Camp. She kissed Yael on the forehead and sat by her, occasionally stroking her long, golden hair, listening patiently while Yael told her everything she had done on Celetaris. The girl jabbered nonstop for a whole hour, when Eloise and Adarna were thoroughly exhausted.

They were impressed that Yael had learned so much and were happy she had thoroughly enjoyed herself. They passed no comment on the story of Ryan, which Yael told with innocent enthusiasm, sparing no details, though they shared a look to indicate that this was something to discuss later between them.

Yael told her story again to the whole tribe at the feast that night, commanding everyone's attention from the moment they sat down until the night rain started, and they gratefully retired to their huts. Many things had happened in the forest while Yael was away, and many women also had stories to tell, but they were all sidelined by the juggernaut of Yael's breathless romance.

No one minded that Yael hijacked the conversation. Instead, they were pleased that a daughter of the tribe had learned so much and that she was bringing two friends to visit them.

The next day, Yael flew in her air suit to the Herders' midway camp to see Judith, her Herder mother. Now she told the Herder tribe everything she had done on Celetaris, with a special emphasis on the exploits of Wildchild, who had been born a Herder. It was a pity Wildchild's mother, Galatea, was in Cloner City. She would have rejoiced to hear the news.

Yael's visit enchanted Judith, though she wasn't entirely sure about Ryan and wanted to know whether his intentions were honorable, who his family was, and what his prospects were. Yael delighted in the contrast between her cool, natural mother and her overprotective Herder mother. She slept in Judith's bed that night and, the next morning, finally flew to Cloner City to see her girlfriend, Carlin.

Carlin was the most senior of the Juniors now. She remained in her role beyond her nineteenth birthday because Jane Bradford, the Petticoats' doctor, revolutionized medicine on Samothea in Cloner City. Most of what Carlin learned from Madam Medic was now redundant; so Carlin and anyone who could be spared, including Madam Medic herself, took daily medical lessons from Doctor Bradford.

The Petticoats brought medical equipment, thickly shielded from the cosmic rays, to rebuild the clinic. Jane Bradford showed her students how the various instruments worked and the modern nursing techniques they made possible. There was a lot to learn, and Carlin took her duties seriously as a Junior and a medical student.

Two years before, Solange had suggested that Gloria accept Wildchild as a Junior, expanding the intake of girls to the outer tribes. Wildchild had been such an unexpected success that no one afterward questioned Solange's ideas regarding the Juniors.

Now there were seven Juniors, more than ever before. Besides, Carlin was Odette, the skilled Mariner sculptress, the second-most senior of the Juniors. She was the first Mariner to become a Junior. The others were a Herder girl, two Farmers, and a Cloner girl.

The Cloner girl was Crystal, the serious-minded geek who had been Madam Scientist's assistant since she was a teenager. Later, she helped as a part-time teacher in the nursery school. Skinny with dirty blonde hair that tended toward the wiry and pale because she spent too much time indoors as a girl, Crystal sported a scar on her temple from when Belena Mariner went nuts and vandalized the Cloning Lab, accidentally striking Crystal, who bravely confronted her. Now she was just eighteen. Crystal was the newest Junior.

Still a geek, Crystal had lost her serious manner and, instead, gained unexpected cheekiness.

She also fancied Carlin something rotten and didn't try to hide her infatuation.

Extra Juniors meant more work because Carlin didn't merely give orders but got her hands dirty, helping the girls with their duties and showing them how to make unpleasant chores more palatable. On this hot afternoon, she sacrificed some of her free time to give the girls a pep-talk and hear their complaints, leaving Odette alone on duty to look after any of the Councilors’ needs and answer the front door.

Yael, a blonde whirlwind, landed at the Cloner City on a sultry day, when almost everyone was resting after lunch. She stripped off her air suit and folded it away. The grey mini-skirt and short yellow slip top she pulled out of her backpack were sadly crumpled. Yael tried shaking them out but decided they would have to do as they were. She put on the clothes, hefted the backpack over her shoulders, and ran to the Council Hall to knock excitedly at the door.

It took a minute of impatient rapping before Odette responded to the summons.

"Hello, Miss Junior," Yael spurted excitedly, without looking at who greeted her. "I'm Yael Eloise, daughter of Woodlander. I'm here to see Carlin Erin's daughter. Can I see her, please? Where is she?"

"Yael. It's me, Odette."

"Odette!" Yael cried, leaping up to hug the Mariner girl. "I didn't recognize you with your clothes on!"

This odd statement was because the Mariners generally wore short leather skirts and jackets, but they worked naked and were often unclothed around the camp. Now Odette was in a very fetching mid-length blue dress with bare arms.

"Here, give me your pack," Odette said. "Carlin's with the Juniors in the dormitory. I'll show you the way."

"Thanks. I know it!"

Leaving her pack with Odette, Yael sprinted up the stairs, three at a time, shouting "Carlin, Carlin!"

The commotion alerted Madam Gloria, Prefect of Samothea, who had been reading in her room. She went to the balcony to see Yael bouncing upstairs.

"Good afternoon, Yael," she called out across the corridor.

"Hi, Gloria," Yael cried happily, but she didn't stop talking.

Odette followed at a more respectable pace. At the top of the stairs, she dropped a more profound curtsey than normal to Gloria, as if to make up for Yael's lack of manners, but Gloria only smiled and waved her on. She knew what drove Yael and would never put her dignity before young love.

Yael crashed into the Junior dormitory, interrupting the meeting, crying: "Carlin: I'm back, I'm back!"

Surprised but happy, her girlfriend raced to the door to greet her.

"Yael! I'm glad you're here!"

They hugged tightly. Carlin let Yael kiss her for a full minute before releasing her excited girlfriend. She knew all the Juniors were staring at them. Carlin began to go pink but wouldn't let embarrassment deflect her.

"Give me ten minutes to sort these girls out," she said, "then we can have a good chat."

"But I've so much to tell you!" Yael protested, vibrating with excitement. "And I've missed you ever so much! And I'm eighteen now! And, and, and everything!"

To the amusement of the Juniors, Yael held Carlin tightly around the waist, kissing her neck and cheeks from the back, as her girlfriend turned to address the Juniors and continue her work. Girls less inquisitive than the Juniors, or people on any planet other than Samothea - where consideration for privacy existed only in theory - might have left the two lovers alone.

But everyone wanted to stay and watch, happy for Carlin and keen to see how the girls made love.

"Stop it, Yael!" Carlin said firmly, shrugging a shoulder, trying to shake off her grabby girlfriend.

"Behave yourself! I'll attend to you when I'm done with my duties!"

"But I."

Carlin turned and held Yael's cheeks in her hands. She planted a firm kiss on Yael's lips and then said:

"Now, that's enough. I've got work to do. Why don't you go and annoy someone else?"

"Ooh," Yael protested, smiling at her forthright friend.

This was a new Carlin. Despite her flushed cheeks, a reflex she couldn't control, she was no
longer a demure, silent girl, shy and reserved.

This was a young woman with responsibilities and a will.

"Can't I stay here?" Yael pleaded. "I'll be quiet, I promise."

"You can't be quiet for two minutes."

"Of course, I can!"

Carlin raised a finger again, and Yael went silent.

"But I'll let you stay."

Yael was delighted at the change in her girlfriend. Carlin showed more assertiveness than she had ever seen before. The delicate forest flower who rarely spoke publicly was bold enough to tell her voluble girlfriend to shut up. Yael made the 'button my lips' gesture and sat happily on a bed, knees modestly together, with big brown eyes focusing on her girlfriend and love shining on her face. Carlin attended to the various problems of the Juniors.

The main thing Yael noticed was that Solange had done more than extend the age range and increase the number of Juniors. She also taught me about her leadership style. Carlin led the Juniors in the same way that Solange once led the Herders.

Carlin gave no orders and told no one off publicly. She listened and asked questions. She took every problem seriously, however trite or exaggerated, as might be expected from many teenage girls. She heard each Junior's complaint patiently and offered careful advice.

Her approach taught the Juniors a sense of perspective. What seemed like an overwhelming disaster to a girl only an hour ago now seemed simple or even petty. It was amazing how the Juniors also managed to think up the solutions themselves, so they would have something constructive to tell Carlin and not just burden her with their gripes.

One change Carlin had to make was when the Herder Junior moaned that she was the only one who tended to the horses. This was a fair complaint, now that Solange and Ash were permanently in Cloner City, Galatea, Chief of the Herder Tribe, visited so often. It had been a simple solution to get the Herder Junior to care for the horses, but there was no joy in working alone for a Junior. A job took only half the time when it was shared. It felt like it took even less time when there was someone to talk to.

Carlin quickly reorganized the work schedule so that another Junior would help tend the horses.

Having checked that the Juniors understood the various rosters for cleaning, making beds, clearing the table, cleaning the bathroom, pumping fresh water, doing the washing, stacking the towels, and assisting the cooks, Carlin ended by saying:

"I'm preparing a spare bedroom now for Yael and me. We are not to be disturbed by any of you, not for any reason, nor at any time!"

The Juniors passed knowing smiles between themselves. The girls had started learning about sex when they became Juniors, but Carlin never joined in their experiments because she was waiting for her girlfriend to return, which is right now. They couldn't have been happier for her.

"You can stop smiling at me like that," Carlin said sternly. "What I'd like to see while I'm busy is that, for once in your lazy lives, you wenches clean up the unwholesome mess you've made of this dormitory!"

The Juniors protested the injustice of this accusation, while the guilty evidence was strewn on the floor around their feet, spread over their beds, and on every spare surface.

"Go on, off with you," Carlin said, ignoring their protests. "Go and be useful!"

The Juniors loved Carlin and regretted that she didn't want to be bedmates with them. The next best thing was to help her and Yael. They fetched Carlin's belongings, Yael's pack, some bed sheets, a blanket, and pillows, and took them to the spare bedroom. The bedroom was prepared within minutes, and the girls waited around the bed for Carlin's inspection.

All the while, Yael remained amazingly quiet, following the action into the corridor and the nearby bedroom, pleased that the Juniors liked Carlin so much.

"Thank you, girls," Carlin said, but still the Juniors stayed.

"What is it?" Carlin asked.

"We want to stay and watch," said Crystal, with her characteristic cheekiness.

Yael laughed, but Carlin wasn't having any of it.

"Under no circumstances."

"But we love you, Carlin, and want to see you happy," Crystal protested.

"I don't care. Now off with you all!"

"Not unless you kiss us first."

"Oh, God!"

"Yes, yes, yes," they all agreed. "Just a kiss."

"Useless wenches!" Carlin complained, but they lined up by the door to be kissed.

Odette was first, and she hugged Carlin, whispering to her:

"You don't mind?"

"Keep them busy for a couple of hours, will you?" Carlin said.

Carlin kissed Odette, and then the others ended up with Crystal. Unlike the other Juniors, who took their kisses and skipped off into the corridor, Crystal stayed put and stuck her bottom out, inviting a spank.

Yael was again impressed by the good wallop Carlin gave the girl's perky buttocks, a resounding slap that made the Junior jump and cry out "Ooh!"

Giggling, Crystal winked at Yael and skipped happily away to her chores, leaving Carlin and Yael alone.

Carlin shut the door. The two girls stood on either side of the bedroom, looking at each other, their gazes fixed. Love shone from their faces, and desire burned in their eyes.

"I love you, Yael," Carlin said. "I've missed you every day, dreamed about you every day, and longed for you to be back."

"I love you, Carlin," Yael said, more relieved than she could imagine that Carlin's feelings hadn't changed during their separation. "I'm sorry I was away so long."

"You're here now. That's all that matters. You've grown."

"So have you."

"An inch, barely. You look six inches taller."

"Do you mind?"

"Do I mind that my bedmate is the most beautiful girl on Samothea? Yes, I mind very much."

"'Bedmate,' you said."



To be continued