Spreading Seeds Chapter 2 –The First Day

(Author’s note- This is the second chapter of a long story. I invite comments on my work and hope you like it.)

Dawn had already broken when I was awakened by Reba’s tentative poking, I turned over, and she said gravely, “El Hefi wants you in twenty minutes, she said.” She pulled back the alcove drapes and stood there smiling and not looking for a long instant until Astral called her away.

I got dressed in my clean uniform and fresh socks, my boots had been cleaned and were left in the entry way, my field coat had been brushed and my hat too. Astral came out and handed me a cup and a plate of fried something or other, I was still lost on exotic food. It turned out they were cornmeal around meat and beans and chili peppers. The cup had hot tea of some kind with honey. I put on my boots and ate breakfast on the bench.

I put on my coat and hat, put my saddle bags over my shoulder, picked up my carbine and walked out side. The sun was up full and when I went looking for Bob and Roy, I ran into Charlotte and June walking down to the Trading Post. I got into step with them and listened to June telling Charlotte, “Well then she said I could fell her pussy anytime but…,” she stopped when she realized I was there. “Where did you come from Josh?” June asked.

Now June was in her thirties and long over girlishness but when she was with Charlotte, she was different. Charlotte was 24 and serious about the Corps, Tall and strong and serious, but she was not above girlishness.

“Oh I spent the night in the Bath house.” I said.

“Of course you did.” Charlotte said with sarcasm dripping off her chin. “No doubt you worshiped the Goddess before falling asleep.”

June raised her hands between us and said, “Now Charl, Josh was sent to do a job just like we were, his is just different.”

Charlotte nodded, “I understand but he doesn’t have take so much pleasure in it.”

“You’re just jealous,” I said, “But you got to eat dinner, take a bath and got to sleep at a decent hour. While we poor patriarchs must worship what ever goddess you pick for us. Pleasure and duty may intertwine but duty is always first in my mind.” I grinned at her and June laughed.

Our discussion ended as we entered the Trading Post. It was like most of the new Buildings in town, beehive shaped and buttressed. One of their saving graces was the ability of Barney to keep alive their cement plant. They had developed a variation of the geodesic dome using cast Concrete reinforced with hemp fiber. They generally lay over a stucco coat and with dome shape and central roof vents they were excellent shelter if a little dark.

Chief Mercer and Sue were looking over an inevitable list, Sarge was starting to unpack the mule loads and I saw he had Matt, Raule, Bob and Roy in the back. I didn’t see Able or Ginny. I walked over to Sarge and the girls migrated to Sue’s elbow.

Sarge was digging out the dining wear, 150 stainless steel mess trays we had found in the remains of an Army base in Arizona. I helped him put the trays on the shelving as we discussed the day, “Mercer said that the Villagers had poles to cut but with the Ceremony tonight, corral building’s out. They’ll put out a herd guard and will watch the mules so we can unpack and start making some trades. You get enough to eat then?”

“Well enough anyway. What were those things anyway?”

“What,” Sarge asked? He stopped what he was doing, “What was it you ate?”

I told him about the fried cornmeal things and the tea.

He looked at me in the eye and pushed me a little, testing if I’d tip over, I guess. “Well might not mean anything but let me know if you feel weird.”

“Now you are fuckin’ with me Sarge, aren’t you,” I laughed tentatively.

“No.” he said with a straight face. “These people have a very strange culture but I doubt that you’re in danger of puking, from the look of you.”

“What did you all eat this morning??” I asked.

“Cornmeal mush with goat’s milk and honey, served with cold spring water,” he said. “That is why I started with the cooking gear. We need to get our own mess started. These people use a central kitchen for everyone and rotate the cooks. I’d rather eat my own cooking.”

“Astral gave me breakfast at the Bath house, where is the mess hall?”

“Was Astral the little one you were playing with last night?”

When I nodded he smiled. “Oh that’s the plot then. She had to wait until tonight and she’s feeding you to fatten you up for the slaughter.”

“Slaughter, nobody said anything about slaughtering.”

“Just a phrase. She got so excited when Raule unrolled that tool of his, she ran back into the back room. I didn’t see her until you showed up.”

Raule was known as ‘Raule the Tool” because of the size of his dick. Sarge had told me that Mercer had specifically asked for him to come along on this trip. Sarge told me that she always had a preference for heavy equipment.

We worked unloading the Mule packs and checking inventory for a couple of hours when Chief Mercer called a break and Sarge passed out some jerky and all of us sat down while Mercer and Ginny Miller briefed us on the situation.

Chief Mercer was about 45, dark hair and generally listened instead of talked and except for her face which was a little weather beaten she was the perfect babe, tall and muscular with a tendency to ride hard. “Ladies and gents, we are in good shape. Except for the corrals everything is ready for us, which surprised me. Ginny has been talking with the Elders here and has some backup information so I’ll pass it along to her.”

Ginny was our Cultural Affairs leader. She would act as accountant for the Trading post and Historian. She was the one who had stayed behind after Mercer had negotiated the trade agreement last year so I listened to her carefully. Ginny was small and motherly. About 40 she had been in the Corps for a long time and had spent a lot of time in the field, taking the time to have only two children. She was wiry and tough; a redhead with freckles and her hair was longer than usual almost to her shoulders.

“Welcome to Barney. The people here have a class three culture, but with the memory of electricity and good plumbing. The have a small coal mine but use wood for heat. You will find they’ve extensive water canals and farm about 170 hectares. They take the water very seriously here. Hemp, Corn Beans and squash are the staples, along with goats, sheep, wild game, chickens and ducks will make up our diet. Hemp linen will be our major trade item, but wool rugs and blankets will also be offered.

I agreed to pass on our medicine and health care to everyone, so today at noon the medical staff will hold a sick call in the bath house. Make sure of your diagnosis and conserve our supplies. While I was waiting for you I found that they think most of our medicines are for fertility so be prepared to see a lot of prospective mothers for a while. I tried to give you men a chance to rest last night, but the elders wanted to make sure we wouldn’t hold back the semen to pressure them for better prices.

I’ve set up a tracking chart of menstrual cycles last winter so we will know who is eligible for impregnation. You men will have to adhere to strict control for a few weeks. No quickies behind the wood shed, OK.” She looked at Sarge who nodded and grinned.

“Tonight we will have a Ceremony for the “Bahia”, what they call their girls that will become women tonight. Since it is part of their moon calendar I wasn’t able to postpone it. Now there will be 12 Bahia in the bath house tonight so we will need every man on duty. Sue and the med team will check them out after sick call and will give Sarge the roster. They tried to get 23 into the bath house tonight but I disqualified some of them to prevent overload. Tomorrow night we convert to a normal rotation two of you on and four off.
Now as far as security, The Post will be locked; I don’t expect we’ll see any pilferage as these people consider theft a capital crime, except for men. They will watch the remuda, I picked out 10 girls to ride herd and they are all eager recruits. I promised them that as soon as they were Bahia they would be in front of the line at the bath house. “

Sarge interrupted, “Ginny, what about their men? Do they have a Kiva or anything close to it?”

Ginny nodded, “They have 20 men, but only 12 are fertile. Six of them are too old and two are just kids. They keep them closely guarded and before we came, they practiced a form of artificial insemination. The men masturbate into a bowl and then they inseminate several women. It worked less than a third the time.”

Sarge and the rest of us men shivered, AI was uncivilized. Imagine cumming into to a cup, never even seeing a pussy much less tasting one. “What about a Kiva?” Sarge asked.

“Well they built one, it is kind of small, behind the bath house, they wouldn’t let the men use it until you got here. I guess they were afraid of change. After we break up I’ll introduce you around and take you to see the Fathers, that’s what they call them. You can negotiate with them but make sure to get me in the loop so I can clear any deals you make with the Administration, Ok? We are on thin ice for a while.”

“Sure,” Sarge scratching his chin. “Do they keep them locked up, the men?”

“No but the men keep close to themselves and only the younger ones are seen around the village and then they are escorted.” Ginny had gotten to the end of her list. “Anyway we’ll meet again before the ceremony starts and discuss what you find out from the men.” Ginny handed off to Sue who discussed assignments and stuff, and then the meeting broke up.

June and I rode out to the pasture and checked the mules and horses. The village girls had kept our stock in a group and had surrounded the herd allowing them access to water and grass but kept their stock away from ours. As we approached the herd, a girl on horse back rode over to us and introduced herself as Gloria Bitterwater.

“Are you Maria’s sister,” I asked her. She had the same dark hair and smooth skin as Maria.

“No Maria is my aunt three times removed. Were you the one then last night?” She asked grinning.

“Can’t say,” I replied. “What goes on in the bath house is private.”

I gave out the stock answer and looked at her. She was mid-late teens and filling out nicely. She rode a saddle and wore chaps, boots, and a yellow shirt and seemed to have good teeth.

She nodded and smiled. “Well we kept all your animals together, if you agree we will move them to better pasture as soon as you pick out the ones you want to keep.”

“Where is this pasture?” June asked.

Gloria pointed out along the shallow river, “Down there about a mile. The grass is better and there are trees for shade. They look like they all could stand some rest.” She said looking over the herd.

“OK Josh pick out five horses and any animal you want to keep an eye on then we’ll move the herd.” June said.

I picked the five fattest horses and rode through the mules looking for a couple that had bad feet and would need some ferrier work. A couple of the girls helped me catch them and tie them to a tree stump. They could graze while we moved the herd. None of them seemed anxious to do more than rest so I didn’t worry about them, besides Gloria assigned a young girl to watch over them. She also wore a yellow shirt, like all the rest of them.

“What are the yellow shirts about? I asked Gloria when we had the herd moving.

“Ginny had them made for us so we could see each other in the brush. She said we needed a uniform since we are ‘printest Scouts now,” she said proudly.

Making some of a new population part of the corps was a way to involve them in the changes that were sure to come from our presence. Ginny had been busy all last winter it seemed.

The girls moved the herd smoothly along the river, keeping them out of the crops that were just coming up. We forded the stream and came to a small valley that opened out to the river. The steep surrounding hills were covered with pinion pine and oaks; the floor of the valley was almost flat and had thick grass. There was more than enough feed I figured.

Gloria rode out to check with her girls and came back with about half of them in a column of twos. June and I were dismounted checking the flora and generally looking around. Gloria pulled up and said, “I’m taking half the girls to rest up and eat. The rest will watch over the herd until evening, and then we’ll send out a night watch to replace them. Are you coming with us?”

June said, “Why don’t you introduce us to your team.”

Gloria smiled and looked back at her girls, “Form a Line,” she called out and waved her arm out to the left. The girls broke formation and formed a line quickly and dismounted, standing beside their horses heads looking straight ahead… Gloria and June took the lead and with me trailing behind we walked down the line. Gloria introduced each girl to June and then to me.

The girls ranged from 12 or so to 15 or 16. All of them stood at attention, only giggling after we had passed them. They all had on their yellow shirts, although since the shirts appeared all the same size, they hung on the smaller ones. They appeared to be well mounted; only the youngest rode a pony and even then the girl appeared over mounted. How many of them would really become Scout Traders was a question that only time would tell.

When we got back to our horses and had mounted, Gloria called “Mount UP” and the girls all got up and stayed in the line, as we rode off, June and I leading, with Gloria behind us, Gloria shouted, “Column of Twos,” and the girls formed up behind her.