Chapter 31(OB)
Jen was astonished.
"Blimps?" Jen asked.
Surely that couldn't be right, how could a blimp fly in high gravity?
"Yep, 5 big fat blimps, you should have seen them in flight, it was amazing," one of the men in the crowd told her.
Jen was still stuck in the infant oxygen tent and couldn't get out to look for herself without someone else entering the tent to mind the baby, and could do little to confirm what she was being told. The shed was rapidly filling with people, all of them excited. Jen then caught sight of some Wsuian soldiers entering the shed, forming up in a protective huddle around Z8C and an S99 officer.
The S99 noticed Jen immediately and ordered something in a military code language that Jen didn't understand. The huddle of Wsuian men immediately replied with "yes sir" and moved towards the tent, eyes cautious but not hostile.
Jen eyed the Wsuian group warily.
There were around 20 men in total, not counting Z8C and the S99 officer. The soldiers were all wearing the standard hydrolysis backpacks of the 302nd Wsuian light infantry regiment, but the uniforms and other equipment was very different from the platoon Jen had seen at the start of the air wars. They were not wearing camouflage face paint, their flak armour was extremely lightweight and minimal, they wore padded vehicle crew helmets rather than combat helmets, wore protective flight goggles, and carried the standard issue Imperial Guard Voss Pattern folding stock lasguns issued to vehicle crews.
Jen recognised these soldiers instantly as being S4 line "driver" model men, a soldier line specifically bred to crew and pilot a wide variety of vehicles. The S4 were generalist vehicle operators, not specialised to excel in the use of any particular vehicle but rather bred to be a basic but effective operator of almost any type of vehicle they might encounter in the field, be it land, water, or airborne. Every Wsuian regiment had at least a few squads of S4 drivers included to help with logistic tasks, such as the driving of supply trucks and other logistical vehicles.
The S4's were not meant to be infantry on foot, but were still formidable enough to gun down the entire town if ordered to. They all had basic combat training for infantry fighting and would be more than a match for the untrained civilians of the town. It was not a good idea to pick a fight with these people.
The S4's visually scanned the crowd with trained glances as they approached the tent, but mostly they were looking at the baby in Jen's arms. The S99 in particular was gazing at the baby with intense professional interest, clearly here for the express purpose of seeing this baby.
Jen's heart was pounding with fear as the group of soldiers reached the side of the tent, were they going to steal her baby?
The S99 walked right up to the transparent side of the tent, and gazed at little Christopher with intense hungry interest on his evil sociopathic face, the way that a wolf might look at a defenceless little lamb.
"Magnificent..." The S99 whispered in wonder at the sight of Christopher.
"679 line wife, I see that your reproductive system works. You have done well." The S99 said charmingly.
The S99 pulled out a handheld scanner device and held it as close as possible to the baby. The S99 fiddled with the controls of the scanner, and moved the scanner up and down in front of the baby as close as possible through the side of the tent.
"The tent is interfering with the medical readings. I'm coming inside," the S99 said calmly.
Jen was pale as a sheet as the S99 entered the airlock and began the cycle to enter the tent, she didn't want an S99 monster anywhere near her baby!
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Seth angrily demanded from outside the tent.
Suddenly 5 lasguns aimed at Seth, and the rest aimed at the crowd, awaiting the order of the S99 to open fire. Seth did not back down, and demanded to know why the S99 was entering the tent.
"My name is Dr AA3, I am a captain in the 302nd Wsuian light infantry regiment and one of the 5 medical doctors attached to the 302nd regiment. This newborn baby needs a medical checkup to ensure proper health. I also wish to check the health of the mother, and ensure that the baby is vaccinated against deadly diseases. After I check the mother and baby, I will be providing free medical treatment to the rest of the people in this settlement," the S99 said in a perfectly calming voice.
"You are a doctor?" Seth ask suspiciously.
"10 years of medical school and an additional 20 years of postgraduate medical practice treating patients on Wsuioo before being conscripted into the Imperial Guard. Here is my Imperial Guard identification papers," AA3 said, pulling out a folded up bunch of papers and holding them up unfolded for Seth to read through the transparent wall of the airlock.
Jen couldn't see the papers content from the angle it was held, but Seth was reading it and relaxing his body language.
"It's legit, at least it looks like the real thing to me. Has a commissar's signature and an authentication stamp on the papers. This guy is a medical doctor," Seth said with a sigh of relief.
Jen relaxed slightly, but not completely. S99's were scarily intelligent and easily passed medical degrees, they were superlative doctors, the best of the best, but unfortunately they were also sociopaths devoid of morality. An S99 medical doctor would either give you the best treatment possible, or would perform some sociopathic nightmare medical experiment on you, and you could never be totally sure which of these two outcomes would happen before the fact.
Jen could only pray that Dr AA3 was not going to do something horrible today, over 90 percent of the time they just did the benevolent medical treatment they were supposed to do, hopefully this was one of those times.
The airlock finished cycling far too quickly for Jen's comfort, and the burly Dr AA3 entered the tent. He already had his scanner in hand and immediately scanned Jen and the baby head to toe.
"I need to take a blood sample of both you and the baby now," Dr AA3 said in a facsimile of gentle concern.
Jen nodded unhappily and helped hold Christopher still as Dr AA3 took a drop of blood with a heel prick. Christopher screamed and bawled from the needle the way babies do, and Jen comforted him with soothing sounds and cuddles. The Doctor then took Jen's blood from her arm.
The Doctor used a portable device to test both blood samples, and Jen looked at him curiously to know what he had found out.
"I need a stool sample from the baby, a urine sample, and a physical examination to complete my diagnosis of the baby," Dr AA3 said in a calming voice.
"A dirty diaper good enough?" Jen asked.
"No..." Dr AA3 said in a sinisterly calm voice.
***...
Jen was upset as she soothed her crying baby, poor little Christopher. The physical examination and sample taking process had been unnecessarily invasive and painful for the poor little baby. The doctor had inserted scopes into holes that did not like having things inserted in them, and had comprehensively checked her baby inside and out with no regard whatsoever for the pain of the baby.
The sociopathic doctor had at least been benevolent in focus, if not totally benevolent in practice, and hadn't done anything overly sinister to her baby. The baby was now fully vaccinated with official forge world manufactured Imperial Guard issued infant vaccines and had a comprehensive medical file of his physical health. He was perfectly healthy and normal for his age, nothing was wrong with him. Jen was hugely relieved.
Jen herself had been found to be mostly healthy apart from having slight vitamin D and vitamin B12 deficiency, and she had been given free vitamin supplements. Jen however was going to perform chemical tests on the pills to be sure of what was in them before she dared to use them for fear of the pills containing something sinister.
The doctor was now back outside the tent, performing medical examinations on everyone in the town, and Jen was keeping careful watch to ensure that he did nothing harmful to the townspeople. The townsmen at least had the protection of being registered Wsuian customers to dissuade the S99 from harming them, but it was always wise to watch an S99 doctor nonetheless.
With the lingering sickness and lead poisoning from the air wars still affecting the population, free medical treatment from an actual medical doctor was desperately needed, letting the townspeople temporarily overlook the deep grievances they had against members of the 302nd Wsuian light infantry regiment. Like it or not, they NEEDED this medical treatment from a proper doctor with proper drugs and equipment.
The free medical treatment was a stroke of genius to make this hostile population more agreeable to these Wsuians, and helped make the business of Z8C go more smoothly. Clever cunning S99.
Christopher was still bawling in her arms from the painful medical examination, and she was desperately trying to calm him down. Jen herself was close to tears herself to see her little baby in pain like this, a scope inserted down every hole for a full internal examination without any anaesthetic would be painful and uncomfortable for anyone, let alone a baby. S99's really were heartless monsters.
Jen cradled Christopher desperately, rocking him back and forth trying to soothe him. After over 15 minutes he quieted down slightly, but was still far from settled. Jen wanted to be out of the tent to keep a close watch on the sociopathic doctor, but the crying baby was not calming down fast enough to be left without her right now.
Jen pensively observed the people outside the tent, feeling trapped and helpless in the tent like this.
The mood in the shed was happier than in the tent, jubilant even. The S99 had calmed everyone down by giving free medical treatment to everyone, and the presence of Z8C likewise had an extremely calming influence. Jen had hardly even said a word to Z8C so far.
Z8C was currently on the other side of the shed surrounded by eager Jen's Shed men all competing to be the first to pay the 50 thousand credits for their own 679 line wives. Z8C was ringed on all sides by S4 soldiers, who periodically carried boxes of cash outside to presumably load into these blimps they had apparently arrived in. Jen could not even see Z8C through the crowd around him, not but the occasional glimpse of him through all the people.
The S4 soldiers were mostly either standing guard or carrying boxes, but a few of them were eagerly gathered around the quad bike talking to Bobbie Plowman about it. The S4 line driver model men were always obsessed with vehicles, and would always congregate around a vehicle if left to their own devices. Bobbie seemed happy enough to talk about the quad bike, blissfully unaware that the S4's were likely to want to keep talking about the vehicle all night long if Bobbie let them, they really were vehicle obsessed in the extreme.
The townsmen came and went from the shed, apparently moving outside to look at the apparently highly impressive blimps before then returning later. The shed itself was utterly crammed full of people, and Jen had to ask several to stop leaning against the fragile sides of the tent. The sounds of talking was very loud, and it was little surprise that Christopher wouldn't settle with all the lights on and so much noise in the room.
Jen still had not been given a proper explanation of why these Wsuians had suddenly turned up in weird methods of transport without warning. Blimps were utterly bizarre things for soldiers to travel in, how would a blimp even fly in this gravity? Jen didn't know much physics outside of the physics of chemistry and biophysics, but it didn't sound right to her limited understanding of such masculine topics.
Jen was very curious but no one was being forthcoming with information, and she was stuck in the tent with the crying baby as the men all got to move freely and enjoy themselves. Jen was a woman in a man's world, doing all the childcare and staying immobile to allow mobility to Seth and the others. Jen wanted to see the blimps, wanted to talk to people, but was trapped trying to comfort a crying infant, far less free than even the lowliest of the adult men. Even the S4's currently had more freedom of movement than Jen did right now.
And so Jen waited, watching the S99 carefully and trying in vain to calm down a crying baby all by herself, locked away and largely ignored by everyone else as they had a far more fun time then she did. Jen knew that this was a woman's place, but it was still a thankless and unpleasant task.
Sometimes it's hard to be a woman.
***...
Jen waited over 3 hours before she was let out of the tent. Joe Plowman had taken pity on her and had offered to stay in the tent for a while to mind the baby to let her leave the tent. Jen almost wept with gratitude, the curiosity had been driving her mad.
Jen donned a backpack air bottle and gratefully left the tent to look outside. She walked quickly outside the shed and caught sight of 5 massive shapes out in the dark beyond the town.
Jen walked through the plastic shanty town quickly, and out the open main gate of the town earthworks, mouth open in shock. Chemical glow bottles had been set in twin lines along the ground, safely illuminating the well traveled path between the town and the massive dark shapes. Townsmen and soldiers walked in both directions along this path, and a crowd of locals had set out kit chairs to sit on as they admired the impressive dark machines.
The 5 huge things were parked over 100 meters from the town, in an area of bare rock with no plants. A massive ring of town glow bottle chemicals had been poured on the ground around each object, with the odd glowing boot print carrying the chemical glow away from the glowing ring. The rings of chemical fluorescence gave a faint blue light to the entire area around them, giving a dim but adequate view of the massive objects and people around them.
As she got closer, the massive shapes became easier to see, and there could be little doubt that they were some type of airship or blimp. Each was around 80 meters long, and about 20 meters wide. They consisted of a floating massive bulging gasbag, with a pair of small structures dangling below each gasbag on a webbing of cables. The blimps were gently anchored to the ground with ropes tied to metal rock climbing spikes hammered into the bedrock, enough to keep them from floating away in the breeze, crude but effective.
The forward of the two structures hanging from each gasbag was long and very narrow, covered in windows like a minibus or something. Each of these forward structures had an open side door guarded by a pair of soldiers, into which was carried the boxes of money for Z8C.
The rearward of the two structures below each gas bag was little more than a bulky chemical battery topped by a massive electric engine with a pair of mighty air propellers to provide thrust, with a tiny little rope bridge connecting it to a rear door on the forward structure, presumably to let the crew access the engine and battery during flight. A tiny little engineering alcove was set at the front of this rear structure to provide some shelter to the crew servicing the engines in flight during bad weather.
Jen was astonished. These blimps were crude in the extreme, like something from 1920's Terra. Even the woeful technical knowledge of Wsuioo would have no trouble building these shoddy things, the most high tech parts were probably the light bulbs and onboard radios.
The closer she got to them, the more obviously low tech and shoddy these blimps were. The gasbags were poorly shaped and lumpy, held in shape by internal gas pressure rather than structural reinforcements. The structures below them had ugly tubes connecting them to the gasbag, but were otherwise only hanging off the bag by a web of nylon ropes.
The dangling structures themselves were composed of what looked like crudely moulded plastic, with perspex for the windows, they were lightweight and looked crudely made in a great hurry. Whoever had made these had desired speed of manufacture over quality, and the blimps were quite ugly to look at.
Jen walked right up to the nearest blimp, but an S4 soldier stopped her with a warning to stay back.
Jen backed away instantly and instead asked the S4 questions about the blimp.
"What is this blimp? Where did it come from and why are you using it?" Jen asked curiously.
"I am not authorised to disseminate military information to civilians. Direct all inquiries to an officer," the S4 said apologetically but firmly.
Jen had no great desire to ask an amoral S99 for classified military information, so pressed no further with her questions about the shoddily made blimps. They were clearly the property of the 302nd Wsuian light infantry regiment, undertaking some military mission to provide medical treatment to the loyal beleaguered imperial citizens of 1D8V-44, and Z8C was presumably just along for the ride to conduct business with permission from the Wsuian Colonel.
Jen had a good look at each blimp from a safe distance, noting the ugly unpainted gasbags and equally unpainted structures. They really were a rushed and shoddy job, not at all pretty things.
Jen quickly had her fill of looking at the ugly eyesores, and returned to the town with her curiosity satisfied. They were indeed blimps, they had obviously flown here without incident despite the high gravity, and they were the property of the local Imperial Guard forces. What more did she really want to know about them?
Jen was much more eager to talk to Z8C, she had so many questions to ask him, and so much catching up to do. Z8C was far more interesting to Jen than some shoddy blimps were.
***...
Jen found Z8C in the shed still interacting with customers.
Z8C was the same as always, with a friendly pale Slavic face, pale blue eyes alert and twinkling with happiness. His ash blonde hair was shorter and better groomed than the untidy tangle it had been on the boat journey, gelled stylishly in a way that suited him. He was clean shaven as always, S41 line salesmen were bred to never grow facial hair, and his face looked young and healthy.
Z8C looked far better fed than he had on that terrible boat trip, his face was no longer gaunt the way it had been, and his previously gaunt muscular body had lost it's former gauntness. He was dressed in a brand new smart Wsuian salesman uniform, rather than the threadbare rags he had formerly worn, with new Wsuian army boots on his feet and a Wsuian military hydrolysis backpack on his back, with transparent air mask over his face to breathe.
Z8C was obviously thriving under the Wsuian occupation, his commission on the sales of 679 line wives would be very impressive Jen was sure. As he was Wsuioo's official trading agent on this planet, he would be able to boldly request the assistance of any Wsuian armed forces on the planet and would likely be granted any requests he made so long as they were for the purpose of engaging in Wsuian business.
Z8C was looking almost orgasmic with pleasure as he received money for orders and typed up paperwork for customers. A contented smile filled his face, he really looked almost like he was having an orgasm right now.
Jen was so happy for him, he was doing what he was bred to love and he clearly was doing well now for the first time in 40 years of poverty. After so long fighting off starvation, Z8C deserved to have fate smile on him for a change, he had certainly earned it.
Jen waited in line to talk to her oldest friend on the planet, her sack of money hanging on a rope over her shoulder at the ready to be a Wsuian customer for a change rather than a product. The thought made her giggle, she was a customer now, even if it was only to buy books.
Christopher was still crying in the tent, and Jen noticed that Joe Plowman had already handed the odious child minding duty off to his brother Dean. Dean was looking somewhat dismayed at his inability to calm the crying infant, and Jen giggled at the look on his face.
Jen felt so happy just being in the same room as Z8C, his presence had triggered the memories of happier times when she was meeting Seth for the first time, and Jen felt a lightheartedness that she hadn't felt since before the horrid eldar had first arrived.
Jen felt Seth's muscular arms wrap around her from behind, and she turned her head to confirm it was her husband before relaxing into the hug. Jen felt so blissfully happy.
Seth didn't say much, he didn't need to. Jen felt loved and cherished, and the cuddle from behind felt so wonderful. She was in heaven.
The line of people waiting for Z8C was still growing even after all these hours, as the shyer or lazier people had waited for the line to shrink before joining it. It took at least a few minutes for Z8C to process the paperwork for each person, and even longer to chat with each customer about their purchase. With almost 100 customers, it wasn't a fast process. At least the damn doctor had finished examining people by now, with typical S99 efficiency, that was a great relief for Jen.
Jen's place in the line gradually crept forward and she eventually was at the front of the line, finally getting her turn with Z8C.
"Mrs Renwick, by the Emperor it is good to see you again." Z8C said with genuine warmth.
Jen did not hesitate to shake his hand in warm greeting, and said that it was likewise good to see him again too.
"I have so much I want to say to you and your husband, but with your permission it will have to wait until after I finish these transactions. Captain AA3 has already agreed to stay the night here, so we will have time to talk later. In the meantime I see that you are now a registered customer," Z8C said fondly.
"You are staying the night? That's wonderful news," Jen said excitedly.
Z8C smiled warmly and typed on his sales device to bring up Jen's order.
"You placed an order for the complete 679 line wife model educational library books, all translated to common Terran low gothic?" Z8C inquired gently but happily.
"That is correct. I also want to ask about any other books that might be helpful," Jen said happily.
"Maybe wait until everyone else is done before asking about more orders," Seth said quietly.
"Yes husband, I will ask about the other books later. Just the 679 line books for now Z8C," Jen said obediently.
"Very good Mrs Renwick. The complete library of translated books comes to 5000 credits as a package deal. Will you be paying cash?" Z8C asked cheerfully.
"5000 credits?!" Seth winced at the price.
"Yes Mr Renwick, 5000 credits for the entire collection. For that price you get over 500 books, including advanced chemistry and medical textbooks. This package deal charges only around 10 credits per book as a bulk purchase, it would cost considerably more to buy the books individually at normal price," Z8C explained.
"Fair enough, damn that's a lot of books," Seth said with awe.
"Everything I ever learned is in those books husband, it will be a great help," Jen said humbly.
"I guess so, go ahead and buy them," Seth told her, calming down.
"Yes husband. Z8C I will be paying in cash," Jen said obediently.
"Wonderful, please pay me 5000 imperial credits now Mrs Renwick," Z8C said excitedly.
Jen opened up her money bag, and gazed at the reeking old notes inside. She carefully put her hand in the pile of filthy currency notes, and counted out 5000 credits worth of grimy bills. Jen handed the money to Z8C.
Z8C had an orgasmic look on his face as he counted out the money and confirmed that it was the correct amount. An S4 soldier immediately placed the money safely in a lockable carry box, and waited for Z8C to confirm the receipt of payment in the paperwork before carrying the box away to the blimps.
Z8C looked orgasmic with pleasure as he spent several minutes filling out paperwork on his device. Jen signed "J3N" with her finger, still her official signature and name in all official paperwork, and scanned her thumbprint to confirm her identity. Z8C looked blissful as he printed out a receipt and gave it to Jen as proof of payment.
Jen felt so strange being a customer, it was a nice feeling. She wanted to talk more to Z8C, but the next person in the line had business with him, so Jen reluctantly moved off with her receipt and her husband, having to wait till later to talk to Z8C more.
"We better get back to our son," Seth told her, and led her back to the tent.
"Yes husband," Jen said reluctantly, not wanting to return to being trapped in the tent but having no choice but to obey Seth.
***...