“Not a problem,” Mike said, as the lady walked up. “Lots of room.”
“And my lady wife,” Chatham said. “I believe you’ve spoken on the phone.”
“Gloria?” Mike asked. “Glad to finally be able to put a face to the name.”
“Same here,” Gloria said, shaking his hand. “But the one I really would like to meet, sorry, is…”
“Daria’s inside,” Mike said, gesturing to the entrance. “Let’s get out of the wind.”
“Winds were a bit tricky coming in,” Chatham said as they walked in the entrance. The main living quarters of the old lighthouse had been gutted more than once and were now the front entrance, a vast room filled with comfortable furniture and bric-a-brac, the back wall being mostly one large, heavily constructed, window.
“He’s going to start doing the thing with the hands again,” Gloria said, holding up both of hers palms down and twisting them back and forth. “The Zero was right on my tail—”
“It was a Mirage,” Thomas said, smiling.
“You were in the Falklands,” Mike said.
“Just before I got out,” Chatham admitted. “Harriers, of course. Went to BOAC just before it went tits up. But even for as short as I’d been there, there was a nice severance package. I’d set a bit of money aside so I bought an airplane. Well, the bank and I bought it.”
“And here you are on an estate in the Bahamas,” Mike said, smiling. “What would you like?” he added, waving to the bar on one side of the room. “Daria’s around here somewhere…”
Mike paused as Tinata, wearing only a purple and green string bikini, walked into the room.
“Tina, darling, could you ask Daria to step over here?” Mike said.
“Yes, Kildar,” the busty redhead said, dimpling prettily. “And if you want to join us, some of us were going down to the beach.”
“Love to,” Mike said. “But if you could hold off and get a couple of the girls in here for a bit, I’d appreciate it. Company.”
“Of course, Kildar,” the girl said, smiling. “We love company.”
“Nice,” Chatham said, whistling. “She looked—”
“Young,” Mike said. “Just about seventeen, she thinks. I hope that doesn’t shock you, Gloria.”
“In fact, I am unsurprised,” Gloria said with a wry smile. “Sorry.”
“The story of why I have a harem of teenaged girls, some of whom are too young for even me to bed, is a long one,” Mike said, stepping behind the bar. “And it will be shorter for some Mountain Tiger. Who’s not on call?”
Chapter Thirteen
They’d never made it to the beach. Mike had ended up trading war stories, those he could, with Thomas Chatham. Britney had turned up and sat in on that one, occasionally passing on a story she’d picked up that wasn’t classified. Daria, Anastasia and Gloria were in a colloquy in the corner, laughing rather frequently. The rest of the harem had swarmed into the room as soon as they heard there were visitors, the poor dears just didn’t get out much, and were now surrounding the other three pilots, who were looking poleaxed.
Mike looked up as Oleg stumped into the room. He was wearing shorts and a T-shirt but he still smelled like cordite.
“Kildar,” the team leader said in Keldara. “We’ve set up the shoot facility and we’re knocking off for the rest of the day. Mother Savina asks when you want dinner and where?”
“In here,” Mike said. “Ask her if buffet will work. Grab a shower and come join us along with the other team leaders. Ask Greznya as well and tell her if they’ve got the time a couple of the other girls. Oh, and the pilots.”
“Yes, Kildar,” Oleg said.
“Hey, Oleg,” Mike said, looking over the side of the bar and pulling out a bottle from a bucket of ice. “Have a Mother Lenka special. You look like you could use it.”
“Thank you, Kildar,” Oleg said, grinning and breaking the seal on the bottle. “Miller Time, yes?”
“For some,” Mike replied.
Vil looked at the things laid out in the steamer, his expression extremely unsure.
“They’re lobster tails,” Randy said, picking up two and putting them on his plate. “Grab a couple. I’ll show you how to eat them.”
The party was in full swing as Vil settled on the couch. One of the Kildar’s girls was talking to one of the pilots, her butt slid over to one side and he had to crowd the arm of the couch to avoid it. It reminded him that it had been a long time since he had “been with” Stella. Days, in fact, since he’d even seen her. His wife was carrying the Kildar’s child. He knew that and did not mind, quite the opposite. But it had been… too many days since they last were… together. The smoothly rounded butt, covered in the barest of bikinis, reminded him rather forcefully of that fact.
“Hot butter,” Randy said, setting a bowl on the coffee table. “You crack the underside and pull the meat out.”
Vil watched dubiously, then followed suit, aware that it couldn’t be any worse than combat rations. But when he tried the lobster, butter dripping down his chin, he found that it was really rather good. Very good. And after a full day of hard driving he realized he was ravenous.
Before he knew it the lobster tails, as well as the red potatoes he did recognize and the asparagus he’d at least seen before, were gone.
“Let me,” the girl said; she’d sat up shortly before and now took the plate from him. She was one of the Kildar’s younger girls, unbroached.
“Thank you… Martya,” Vil said.
“Anything in particular?”
“More lobster if there’s any left,” Vil replied.
“Is that girl as young as I think?” Randy asked as the little brunette walked towards the buffet.
“Yes,” Vil said. “Fifteen, I think.”
“And these girls are… the Kildar’s harem?”
“She is not yet…” Vil said then paused. “She is still virgin. The others… are not. For your culture they are young. For mine… Greznya,” he said, gesturing to the intel chief who was talking with Gloria Chatham, “she is what you call ‘old maid.’ ”
“She doesn’t even look twenty,” Randy said.
“Just turned,” Vil replied. “She has much trouble with getting married. She was to be promised to a boy, Brone. He is killed in fall. We have dowry system, you know this?”
“Yes,” Randy said, frowning. “I know what a dowry is, but, really?”
“Really,” Vil said, shrugging. “It is our way. Anyway, when her match is killed, dowry is spent on another girl. Not enough dowry for her. And not many men she can marry. There are more women Keldara than men. No one knows why but is happen every generation, yes? She was… Greznya has always been good on farm. She learns numbers and writing very well. She works hard. Normally, she would have been… She would have left. But she stayed. Then the Kildar came. Needed people to help with… many things. She works for Kildar.”
“Is she part of the harem?” Randy asked, confused.
“No,” Vil said, chuckling. “Good that you ask me that question and not her. Not sure I can say what she does for Kildar.”
“Got it,” Randy said, shrugging. “Hey, I’m just the instructor.”
Martya came over and sat down with two plates heaped with lobster tails.
“What are these?” she asked.
“Lobster,” Randy said nervously. The girl should have been playing with dolls, not in a harem.
But he showed her how to eat lobster and that was okay.
“You are the man who is teaching the boats, yes?” Martya said, licking some butter off her fingers.