Greenies

'No shit,' said Jeff, who had put away two full plates of food himself. After a week of eating nothing but food paste and drinking water, his stomach wasn't quite sure how to handle real food.

The three of them were off in a corner of the cafeteria by themselves, having drifted there by unspoken consent. Drogan, who had been briefed on the crazy-ass plan by Jeff over the last few days ('no fuckin' way somethin' like that can work long-term,' she'd opined, 'but it's a premo way for both of you to score a little X- pussy') had elected to go sit with the rest of her squad instead, knowing they would want to be alone with her. Belinda and Jeff had taken turns explaining their thoughts, feelings, and hopeful plans to Xenia as they'd eaten. She had listened, sometimes with surprise, sometimes with anger, sometimes with arousal. And then she had changed the subject, refusing to speak of triads and love any longer.

Xenia popped the last of her artichoke heart into her mouth, drained the last of her soda, and then let fly a trumpeting, unladylike belch that actually echoed off the nearby wall. She did not excuse herself, of course. On Mars, one never excused one's self for either burping or farting. 'So,' she said, 'are we ready to blow this scene and go hit the hospital?'

Jeff and Belinda looked at each other. They looked back at Xenia.

'Don't you think we should maybe talk about... you know... what we were talking about?' Belinda asked.

'No,' Xenia said, standing up. 'I think we should go visit our friends in the hospital. Maybe we'll talk later.'

'Xenia...' Jeff started.

'Or maybe we won't,' she said firmly, her expression not amused. She turned and began walking toward the main base corridor.

Jeff and Belinda stared after her for a moment, watching as she walked away from them.

'Did we piss her off, you think?' Jeff asked.

'I'm not sure,' Belinda said. 'Maybe we just gave her too much to think about right now. Maybe this was the wrong time to bring up the whole triad thing.'

'Maybe,' Jeff said. 'Come on. We'd better catch up with her.'

They trotted to catch up and fell in behind her just as she made it to the main access corridor.

'Look, Xenia,' Jeff said. 'We're sorry. We thought it was a good idea. We didn't know...'

'You're still talking about it,' Xenia said, not slowing her pace. 'Right now we're going to the hospital. This is not the time.'

'Sorry,' Jeff muttered. He said no more on the subject. Neither did Belinda.

They reached the security checkpoint and the sound of laughter and hundreds of ecstatic voices could be heard coming from just beyond it. Jeff saw that instead of the usual four MP's standing watch there was now a reinforced platoon, all of them armed with police tanners. Beyond them, out on Macarthur Avenue, he could see hundreds of civilians milling about, apparently in the process of partying their asses off. There were women, men, old people, children, many carrying signs that said things like FREE AT LAST! or THANK YOU MPG!! WE WON'T FORGET!! The smell of marijuana smoke was very heavy in the air.

'What the hell's going on?' Jeff asked one of the MPs, a woman in her late twenties whose ID tag on her armor vest identified her as Corporal Twister.

'A celebration of victory, that's what's going on,' Twister told him with a smile. 'They've been partying out there ever since the official cease fire was announced. They're mobbing everyone who walks out in an MPG uniform.'

'Mobbing?' Belinda asked.

Twister grinned. 'Not in a bad way,' she said. 'I think you'll enjoy their gratitude. A lot of the troops that went out are still out there. I've never seen anything like this.'

'Anything like what?' Jeff asked.

'Let's just say that a lot of people are exercising their newly won freedom.'

Jeff looked a little closer and was surprised to see that acts of open sexuality were taking place all over the place out there. There was a man and a woman lying on the corner of one of the planters, both completely naked, the woman's legs spread wide, the man thrusting enthusiastically between them. Closer to the gate three women, all of them naked, were engaged in a twisted tangle of arms and legs, their faces all licking and sucking various parts of each other's bodies. Just behind them two men were engaged in a lustful sixty-nine with each other while a group of female MPG soldiers cheered them on while kissing on each other. All of this was going on and nobody was trying to put a stop to it. A few groups of Eden Police officers were standing around the fringes just watching with amusement.

'This has been going on for five days now?' Jeff asked.

'Yep,' she confirmed. 'It's actually pretty sedate at the moment. You should see it at night.'

'Damn,' he said, his eyes trying to take everything in at once.

'And before you go out,' Twister said, 'allow me to be the first.'

'The first?'

She grabbed his shoulders and turned him toward her. Her head came forward and she planted a huge kiss on him, her tongue sliding deep into his mouth. A cheer from outside accompanied this act. She pulled away and reached down to give his crotch a gentle squeeze. 'Thank you for freeing us,' she told him. 'Now go out and enjoy the fruits of your labor.'

'Uh... you're welcome,' Jeff stammered.

Belinda and Xenia were each kissed and groped as well — Xenia by one of the female MPs, Belinda by one of the males. When they were released they walked out through the front entrance onto Macarthur Avenue. Immediately all three of them were surrounded by scantily clad Martians and more than a few naked ones.

'Jesus,' Jeff said as two women pushed their bodies against his and stuck their tongues in his ears. A third — one of the naked ones — grabbed him from the front and jammed her tongue in his mouth while taking his hand and putting it on her left breast. He dutifully squeezed it. All three of the women thanked him over and over for freeing Mars. A man stepped forward and put a marijuana pipe in Jeff's free hand.

'There you go, my ass buddy!' he yelled over the noise. 'The finest AgriCorp green there is. I work in the fields and I picked it myself just for this occasion! Take a hit!'

Jeff put the pipe to his mouth and three more people shoved laser lighters forward to light it for him. Meanwhile, the naked girl who had kissed him had dropped to her knees and was pulling his shorts down. Jeff coughed out the hit as he felt her mouth upon his manhood, slurping at him.

'She's such a cheap slut,' one of the other girls said with a laugh. 'Don't you just love her?'

'Fuckin' aye,' Jeff agreed, letting his head fall back on his shoulders. The two girls took this as an invitation to start kissing and sucking on his neck. He let them work on him for about a minute before gently disentangling himself, explaining that he had to get to the hospital. They pouted a little but let him go. He pulled his shorts back up, covering a turgid and wet erection and didn't make it more than two steps before another woman, this one in her forties, grabbed him and stuck her tongue in his mouth as well, her hands squeezing at his ass.

'Thank you,' she told him between kisses. 'Thank you for making us free!'

'You're welcome, baby,' he said, unable to help but give a few squeezes to her tremendous breasts.

Xenia and Belinda were both getting mobbed as well. Xenia's shirt had been pulled up and a man and a woman were suckling on her breasts. Belinda was tongue kissing with one woman while a man was down on his knees before her, orally servicing her. They finally disentangled themselves as well and put their clothing back in order.

'Now that's what we were fuckin' fighting for!' Belinda said happily as another woman stepped forward and kissed her on the mouth.

'Fuckin' aye,' Xenia agreed, giving a squeeze to the crotch of someone who was offering her a marijuana pipe.

They began to work their way toward the MarsTrans station on the next block. It took them almost twenty minutes to reach it because people kept stopping them, kissing them, groping them, allowing them to grope them back, and giving them hits off pipes and joints and even the occasional bong. Every one of them thanked them profoundly and sincerely for what they had done. By the time their train pulled into the station all three of them were stoned out of their minds and brimming with sexual arousal.

The train was about half full. They made their way to the back of one of the cars and every person they