Chapter 64: Chapter 63: Adding More Weight

“What do you think, Alex? It’s my first working prototype but it’s an ingenious system that’s going to perform exactly the way you wanted it to work.”

Alex studied the small device in his hands that Vitale had just given him. It had been about five days since he’d been confirmed as commander of the VDF and already Vitale had a working model for the seismograph that Alex requested.

“It looks good to me but how does it work?” asked Alex.

“I’m glad you asked,” replied Vitale with a grin. “See these sensors on the bottom? These are placed directly on the ground, and they measure changes in force application out to fifty meters away. And it has to be a major force application I might add. They’re not sensitive enough to pick up small creatures or birds that happen to land on them because they’re not meant to do that. I’m talking about something human-sized or bigger.”

“Fifty meters is a good range,” said Alex. “But how does it communicate back to us?”

“These antennas will shoot any rapid changes in local force application back to my lab,” replied Vitale, pulling back the small antenna and letting it whip forward. “If we set these far enough out and use them in a network, we can track changes around the entire colony.”

“The advanced warning system that I’ve been dreaming about,” said Alex. “Can I see it in action?”

“Nothing beats a test run!” said Vitale with a grin. He placed the sensors on the ground and then rushed over to his computer where he fired open a program. “Okay, I want you to jump up and down right now.”

Alex did as he requested, taking several good jumps.

“Did you get anything?”

Vitale smirked at him. “I didn’t turn it on yet. I just thought it would be funny if you started jumping.”

Alex did something that was called “flipping the bird” back on Earth. It was less impactful because he had to explain what it meant to Vitale.

“Such interesting customs you have! I can’t wait to hear more about them, Alex!”

“Can we just test out the machine for real now?”

“Of course. It’s turned on now. Go ahead and jump this time.”

Alex repeated his jumps once more. Even from this distance, he could see the program measuring spikes on the seismograph, which coordinated with the movement. Just to keep up the test, Alex moved to the opposite end of the lab and started jumping again to test the distance of the device.

Sure enough, the movements were measured accurately.

“This is perfect, Vitale,” said Alex, beaming with a grin. “Exactly what I wanted. How soon can we have more of them?”

“As soon as Tabby and Tammy finish programming the force and distance application protocols on the second-generation models!”

“Er, what does that mean?” asked Alex.

“Oops, sorry, Alex. I forget everyone doesn’t speak nerd. I mean that we’ll have five more for you shortly. They’ll be wrapped up soon.”

Alex chuckled. “Thanks, Vitale, you’re a godsend. We can put those first five around the mining biosphere until we have enough to line the road up to it on either side. Then we can really offer protection to our people who have to work up there.”

Vitale performed a dramatic bow. “I live but to serve, my friend.”

Alex couldn’t have been in higher spirits after leaving Vitale’s laboratory a short while later. This was the first big change that would come to the VDF in years, and it was occurring only days into his tenure as commander. It was also the first change that hadn’t been shot down by Belladonna and her minions on the Council. So far, he’d made requests to reconsider everything that he’d put up to Belladonna already, including more spaced out watchtowers and a permanent residence at the mining biosphere, and so far, they’d all been denied.

“You can ask for these things a million times, Councilor Hawthorne,” said Belladonna, shaking her haughty head. “But there’s still no budget for these upgrades. You’re just going to have to make do with what you have.”

Alex grumbled under his breath as he entered his VDF office in Biosphere Five. There was plenty of budget, it was just that Belladonna didn’t want to spend it. Even Vitale was willing to cut him a deal on the first five seismograph sensors, which Alex was able to squeeze into the minuscule VDF budget without too much notice.

But if they were truly going to stop the bear attacks, more would have to be done. And that would require more funding.

At least he was able to get in one more big change, and that was to increase the numbers of the VDF. The force was down to forty-two men by this point in time, having taken further attrition just since Alex had joined. He was able to get approval to boost the force to sixty, including having a ten-man replacement squad that could fill in for emergencies or any open spaces on the existing squad when necessary. For these eighteen spots, Alex looked first to his rifle training class and he wasn’t surprised when most of them signed up.

“Are you kidding? I’d much rather do this than stay another day on cleaning detail,” said an excited Sam as Alex offered him his enlistment commission.

“It’s still dangerous out there, Sam. Good men have died recently, including Commander Rooney. You’d be putting your life on the line every day.”

Sam didn’t seem worried. “I’ve already weighed the risks and I still want to do it. I’m in. Where do I sign?”

They went through the little details and got Sam his uniform and his rifle. He was grinning from ear to ear once it was all in his hands.

“Wait until Adela sees this,” he said with excitement. “She’s told me she’s always had a thing for guys in uniform.”

Alex couldn’t help but chuckle at that. For Sam to put his life at risk just to make Adela happy told him plenty about the kind of man Sam was. Alex was thankful that he would be joining the VDF.

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Right after Sam came Owen, who was much more serious about his enlistment with the force. Alex found that he was coming to like Owen a great deal, especially considering the fact that Owen seemed determined to make up for his time spent as Serrano’s lackey.

“I’ve been waiting to kick some bear ass for some time,” said Owen as he looked at his newly-issued rifle. “And I’m ready to do so thanks in large part because of your class.”

“You’ve come a long way since that first class,” noted Alex. “You know that I had my reservations about you at first but you’ve been proving me wrong. And I’ve never been happier to be wrong about this.”

Owen grinned. “I appreciate that, Alex. That means a lot coming to you.”

There was one more person to be enlisted in the VDF, and this one only squeaked by because Belladonna couldn’t attend that meeting. For the first time in years, Alex was able to open the enlistment ranks to the women of Vesta, and the first person to sign up was none other than his companion.

“I don’t know how you did it but I’m not complaining,” said Jenna while she signed her enlistment commission. “I imagine Belladonna is going to have a cow when she finds out.”

“She’s probably going to have the whole farm if I had to take a guess,” joked Alex.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” she asked. “I know this is dangerous. You’ve told me about the danger many times. I just want to make sure that you’re not going to regret it when you see me out there for the first time.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” said Alex. “I don’t love the idea. But I know that I couldn’t open the ranks to women without giving you a shot. And sure enough, you’re the first one to enlist. I know you just want to do the right thing because that’s who you are. You’re a great person, Jenna, and trying to keep you away from the VDF would have been a losing battle.”

Jenna beamed at him. “You’re a great person too, Alex. Probably the best person I’ve ever met. I often thought about the day when you would start getting things turned around here because I knew if anyone could make it happen, it would be you. And sure enough, look what’s happening. You’re in charge of the VDF now and we’re going to stop all these bear attacks. I just know it.”

“I’m glad you have confidence in me,” replied Alex. “Even if I don’t feel it some days.”

Jenna frowned. “You’re having doubts?”

“Not doubts. Let’s just say I feel the weight on my shoulders right now. And I want to get things the way they ought to be.”

Jenna nodded easily. “That reminds me of something actually. I’ve noticed something has been a little off about you lately.”

Alex’s stomach dropped. “You have?”

“Yeah, just little things though. It’s like you’ve been a little . . . distant lately. I know you have a lot of things going on with the Council and now the VDF but I’m worried about you, Alex. I don’t want you to get so overloaded with the responsibility.”

Alex swallowed the heavy lump in his throat. He’d feared this conversation was coming, mostly because he wasn’t making enough time for Jenna these days. He could barely look at her without seeing the face that Ellie made when she orgasmed, or remembering what Annette’s kiss felt like.

And now that Jenna had started to notice, it was a slippery slope from here. How long until she really found out what was going on?

“I’m sorry,” said Alex finally. “You’re right though. There’s just a lot on my shoulders these days. I do feel like I’ve been neglecting you.”

Jenna gave him a sad smile. “You don’t have to apologize. I understand how things are. But can you make some time for us? Not just for slipping into bed late at night and then getting out first thing in the morning. I want time with you and just you. An evening to ourselves where we just lounge around and watch the feed and have fun.”

“That actually sounds amazing,” said Alex. “And much overdue.”

The smile on her face grew. “And who knows? Maybe we can have a lot more fun. And hopefully do some very naughty and intimate things together. Things that I haven’t been ready to do until now.”

Alex gulped. Was Jenna offering what he thought he was offering? And if that was the case, why was he suddenly feeling worse?

“I still have a lot of work to do though,” said Alex, making an excuse. “Maybe sometime later?”

“Not too much later, okay?” she asked. “You’ve been so patient and you’ve been doing all these things for everyone that you’ve neglected yourself. I just want to take care of you, baby. I want to show you how much I care about you.”

Jenna pushed up from her chair and approached his desk. She sat down in his lap and threw her arms around him, kissing him deeply. Despite being conflicted, his cock still managed to rise to the occasion, poking her in the ass.

“That’s the spirit,” she teased, reaching between them to rub his cock. “And I know exactly where I’m going to put him.”

Alex was speechless, even as Jenna kissed him once more before falling off his lap. She went to the door and stopped before leaving.

“Don’t keep me waiting long, Alex,” she said, throwing a wink at him. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

Alex nodded and she slipped out of his office. He exhaled loudly once she was gone and reached over to take a long drink of water. When that wasn’t enough, he splashed a good portion of it on his face.

He never thought he could be so conflicted about having sex with Jenna. And yet here he was. The problem was that he knew he could never do so while keeping the secret about Ellie from her. That just wasn’t who he was so that meant he had to come clean first.

And if Jenna wanted to have sex soon, that didn’t leave him with a lot of time.

How did his life get so complicated?

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