0 comments/ 8663 views/ 5 favorites Gifts of the Future Ch. 01 By: surober1 Megan Richards was in the middle of a dream... at least she thought it was a dream. She was soaring through clouds like a bird; only she couldn't feel the wind nor see the ground... nothing but clouds and blue, blue sky. Then a haunting guitar melody that she vaguely recognized began to play and she saw scenes from her life being reflected in the clouds. And as they flashed past her, she heard a male voice begin singing with the melody... I close my eyes... only for a moment and the moment's gone. All my dreams, pass before my eyes with curiosity... Dust in the wind... all they are is dust in the wind... Megan tried to sigh as she felt a certain truth in those lyrics. What was her life in the grand scheme of things? What good did it do to have dreams when they could so easily be shattered to fall to the ground and blow away just like dust in the wind... Same old song... just a drop of water in an endless sea. All we do crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see... Dust in the wind... all we are is dust in the wind... ohhhh ohh ohhhh She tried to laugh... the lyrics just seemed to keep proving that she had nothing worth holding onto. She was just another drop of water in an endless sea of talented people with useless dreams. Her life was meaningless... Now, don't hang on... nothin' lasts forever but the earth and sky. It slips away, and all your money won't another minute buy... Dust in the wind... all we are is dust in the wind... Dust in the wind... everything is dust in the wind... the wind... Megan felt free as she saw the last scenes of her life flashing by... Jonnie yelling at her, screaming how much she'd hurt him, but she didn't feel the pain of that any more and she didn't want to. She was soaring toward the sun, feeling absolutely nothing but peace... when a gust of wind suddenly threw her aside from her course and she heard Jonnie's voice again... MEGAN... DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE!!! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW!!! She tried to turn around but was finding it difficult to alter her course toward the sun. Then she suddenly heard another voice she didn't recognize at all. "Megan... do you really want to go back?" She looked around trying to see who was speaking to her, but she didn't see anyone. She tried to say yes, but she couldn't figure out how to make her voice work, so she screamed it inside her head. The voice spoke again, sounding like it was coming from the sun, and it said more loudly, "Good... because your destiny has not been fulfilled. You have to teach Jonathan how to handle his gifts. Teach him wisely and he will help to save your world..." She almost wanted to laugh, but she still couldn't figure out how to make any sounds with her voice. So she let her thoughts speak for her. What are you talking about?!! How to handle what gifts?!! The voice sounded again but was fainter as if whoever was speaking was moving away from her. "This is not for you to question. You will know when it is time... just remember what I have told you..." Her confusion was causing her to lose concentration on soaring through the clouds and she suddenly realized she was falling. As she picked up speed, she started to become aware of feeling a lot of pain and being very frightened as she saw the ground rushing up to meet her. She opened her mouth to scream but still no sound came out... there was only a rush of air into her lungs that hurt worse than anything she'd ever felt... ********** "CLEAR!!!" the emergency technician yelled as he placed the paddles on Megan's chest once more and set off the shock mechanism of the defibrillator. Her chest heaved upward and her eyes popped wide open as she gasped in pain, but everyone heaved a sigh of relief when they heard the machine beep, indicating that her heart had started again. Megan immediately passed out again from the pain, but her heart continued to beat erratically and she was breathing. The paramedics prepped her as quickly as possible to be transported to the hospital. They had determined that the bullet had nicked a major artery and she was in danger of bleeding out if they couldn't get more blood into her quickly enough and into surgery as soon as possible. The hospital had already been called and they would be ready to take her as soon as the ambulance arrived. Jonnie North was upset that he couldn't go with her. He had to stay behind to talk to the police and give them the details of what happened. His father arrived just after Megan was taken down and loaded into the ambulance. Jon, Sr. immediately got on the phone and called Tom and Lynda Seldon to tell them what had happened and asked them to go to Megan's parents, Charles and Diana, and take them to UCLA Medical Center where their daughter was being transported for surgery. Jonnie gave a very clear account of the incident and his father and the other officers on the scene assured him that he had handled everything very calmly and professionally. The whole thing had lasted less than five minutes and, in the space of that short period of time, it had become crystal clear to Jonnie that Megan was his life... she loved him more than she did herself and she trusted him. And he trusted her... he'd trust her with his life... He broke down sobbing as he realized she'd proved that to him without him even asking. He'd tried to protect her because he couldn't stand the thought of losing her and then she'd turned around to do the same thing with him! Kris was going to kill him just because she didn't want Megan to have him and Megan had valued his life above her own. There was no greater love than what they shared... that they'd give up their lives for each other... Jonnie went into the bathroom of the hotel room and washed Megan's blood from his hands and face as he tried to calm down. He watched as a couple police officers escorted a practically catatonic Kristina Davidson from the room in handcuffs and he felt sick. How could he not have noticed how sick she was?!! What could possibly have happened to the girl to make her behave so irrationally?!! His need to know the answers to those questions just reinforced his belief that he was destined to work toward hunting down and stopping people like her. He tried to convince himself that it was a good thing the first time she had a breakdown had been with him so he could stop her. If she'd pulled this on some other guy, they might not have been so lucky and she might have gotten away with it. At least now she wouldn't... ********** Megan was in surgery for a couple hours, during which she had to be given three units of blood before the doctors could repair her artery. Tom and Brad Seldon, as her biological father and half-brother who were both the same blood type as her, had immediately gone down to the hospital's blood unit and donated as much as they were allowed and instructed them it was for Megan. Tom even went so far as to follow the hospital technician all the way to the OR entrance to make sure it got to her. The OR waiting room was packed full by everyone who'd been having Thanksgiving dinner with Megan and Jonnie earlier that evening... except, of course, Kristina Davidson. No one mentioned her, but questions were still floating around in Jonnie's mind and he was determined that he was going to bug the cops about checking into her background because he was sure there had to be something in her past that had triggered this incident... But he was wrong. He had no way of knowing that Kris had simply been a helpless pawn in an attempt to separate and then get rid of both him and Megan because of the threat their very existences posed to dark forces that were trying to manipulate the fate of the world... The surgeon finally came out to tell them it had gone well and that they'd even been able to remove the bullet from where it had lodged against her shoulder blade. The doctor said it was a good thing the bullet had entered at the angle it did because, other than nicking her artery, it had done very little other internal damage. He even mentioned that if the bullet had not been stopped by the thickest part of her scapula, it might have gone right through her... And into Jonnie. Everyone turned to look at him when he sat down sobbing as he felt that Megan must be his guardian angel as well as his soul mate... Barbara went to him and held him as she silently prayed for and thanked Megan yet again for saving her son. Everyone waited around until the OR recovery personnel notified them that Megan was stable and was being moved to a room. Then most of the group went home... the only people who stayed were Jonnie, her parents... and Tom. They took turns sitting with her during the night... no one wanted her to wake up alone. At about three o'clock, Tom was sitting next to her bed when he heard a faint moan. He looked up and saw her wincing as she tried to move her arms. "Megan, sweetie... don't try to move. You're OK, but it's going to hurt like a son-of-a-bitch for a while." She frowned and spoke without opening her eyes. "Daddy? Is that you?" she asked weakly. Tom hesitated as a lump formed in his throat, and then he cleared it and replied, "No, sweetie... it's Uncle Tom." Tears sprang to his eyes when she smiled slightly and opened her eyes to look at him as she murmured, "No, not uncle... Dad. You're my Dad... but I'll keep calling you Uncle if you want me to. And my father will always be my Daddy... But how lucky could a girl get to have two Dads?" Then she winced and moaned, "Ohhhh... you weren't kidding about this hurting like a son-of-a-bitch! How did you know?" He blinked the tears out of his eyes and chuckled slightly as he stretched the opening of his polo shirt across his left chest and pointed to a scar he thought she'd noticed vaguely at times over the years when she'd seen him shirtless. "I took a bullet during the war in pretty much the same way you did... trying to save someone else's life. I never realized how alike we are... And I'm proud of you, Meggie... so damn proud..." he whispered hoarsely as tears gathered in his eyes and ran down his cheeks. Tom wiped the tears from his cheeks when he saw her tear up. He didn't want to start her crying... that would just make her hurt worse. So he grinned at her and said jovially, "Hey... do you feel up to seeing anyone else? There's three other people outside who've been here all night waiting for you to wake up!" Megan nodded slightly as she winced again, so Tom went to the door and opened it and looked down the hallway to the chairs where Charles, Diana and Jonnie were leaned back trying to rest. Charles looked up first and Tom smiled widely at his best friend and long-time FBI partner and waved for them to come. He saw Charles nudge his wife and Jonnie and they all jumped up and headed his way. Megan smiled softly as she saw the tears of relief in her parents' eyes when they both leaned down to kiss her forehead. Then her father put his hand over her right one laying next her and squeezed it gently as he tried to make a joke to relieve his leftover fear. "Megan, sweetie... promise your Dad that you're not going to go jumping in front of any more bullets any time soon!" She looked at her soul mate and grinned as she replied, "I don't plan to... as long as I never see anyone point a gun at Jonnie ever again!" Jonnie wanted to cry... again, but he didn't want to upset her, so he expanded on the joke, but then he realized he wasn't joking. "You won't need to jump in front of any more bullets because I'm going to make sure you always have a gun on you so you can just shoot whoever points a gun at me instead!!" Megan tried to chuckle at the serious look on Jonnie's face but it made her flinch and moan in pain just as a nurse came in. The woman looked around and said, "I'm sorry... but I'll have to ask all of you to leave soon. The patient needs her rest and I'm going to give her some pain medication that will probably put her out again for a while. So now would be a good time to tell her good night and for all of you to go home and get some rest yourselves!" Then she busied herself with readying the dose of pain medication to be introduced into Megan's IV tube. Tom left first, after kissing her forehead and saying he'd be back from time to time to check on her. Then her parents kissed her cheeks and told her they'd be back sometime in the morning with some personal items for her. Then Jonnie moved up next to her and stared at her, his intense aqua eyes swimming with so many emotions, but only one thought still in his mind... My God, Megan... I don't know what I would've done if I'd lost you... She smiled softly as she heard his voice inside her head and felt the effects of the pain medication kicking in, giving her a floating feeling, and she vividly recalled the strange dream she'd had. She murmured sleepily, "I couldn't leave, Jonnie... you said you'd never forgive me. And besides... I have to teach you how to... handle your gifts..." Jonnie stood staring down at her as he realized she'd fallen asleep, wondering what on earth her last statement had meant. Handle my gifts... What gifts? He thought perhaps the pain medication was just messing with her head, but he'd understood clearly what her first comment had meant... she'd heard his desperate plea to her while her heart was stopped. He'd called to her in his mind and she had heard him... even though she'd been at death's door. Her heart had been stopped for over three minutes before they'd been able to revive her. And he couldn't help but wonder what happened inside her head during those three and a half minutes... Was there just nothingness or was she still aware? She must've been aware... she'd heard him call to her. Jonnie leaned down and kissed her lips gently for a moment, feeling no response from her, which was utterly strange to him. Then he lifted his head and stared at her pale but beautiful and peaceful face as he whispered, "Yes, I would've forgiven you, Megan... but if that's what brought you back to me, then I'm glad you believed it..." The hardest thing he'd ever had to do was to leave her at that moment. He never wanted to be away from her again... ********** Megan recovered more quickly than the doctors had expected and she was out of the hospital by the end of November. Jonnie had spent every minute of every day with her, making sure she ate properly and got plenty of fluids as well as vitamin supplements. And he'd gotten the nurse to show him how to gently remove the bandage from her surgical wound, make sure it was clear and cleaned with antiseptic, apply some healing ointment and replace the dressing. He continued to do all that for her every day after she was released from the hospital... He was bound and determined to have her completely healed by Christmas Eve. He'd asked her to marry him and she'd said yes... and he was arranging, with the help of all their family and friends, to surprise her by marrying her on Christmas Eve. It was going to be a simple ceremony held at sunset on a beach near Palos Verdes with a reception at a nearby country club afterward. And then he was going to whisk her away to their home... a new oceanfront condominium in Santa Monica that he'd just purchased. Megan was kept busy contacting Northwestern University making arrangements to close out the first semester of her junior year without losing credit for the courses she'd taken. Once the school officials heard about what had happened, all her professors and advisers agreed that, as good as her grades had always been, she deserved full credit with the grades she'd already earned that semester. But they were saddened to hear that she would not be returning to Northwestern... she asked them to forward her transcripts to UCLA. Then she was busy contacting UCLA and applying for a transfer to finish her undergraduate studies in communications. The only thing that made Megan feel uncomfortable was all the national media attention she was getting because they'd learned about the album she'd made the previous summer and that it had just been released... and the public was hailing her as a hero after they'd heard the whole story. Needless to say, the record company was thrilled with all the publicity... her records were flying off the shelves! And her song Forever Yours became an instant hit because of her poignant lyrics and melody and the fact that it was about her love for the man whose life she'd saved. But the song Jonnie kept hearing Megan humming and singing off and on during the weeks leading up to Christmas was not one of her own... it was a song he'd never heard before. He asked her about it one day when he caught her singing it because the words haunted him... they made life sound so empty and hopeless... and meaningless... and he refused to believe that. "Megan... what is this sad song you keep singing about how everything is just... 'dust in the wind'? I don't remember ever hearing it before." She frowned as she thought she must've heard it somewhere in order to know it so well. "Are you sure you've never heard it before? Because I know I have... I heard it in a dream the night I was shot and it seemed familiar to me then." Jonnie looked surprised and asked, "You had a dream when you were shot? Do you still remember it?" She smiled softly as a far away look came into her eyes and she replied, "Oh, yes... vividly!" Then she proceeded to tell him the whole thing as it unfolded along with the song lyrics... including her own thoughts. Jonnie put his hand over his mouth when she told him how it ended and that the next thing she was aware of was the worst pain she'd ever felt in her life. He felt stunned to realize this was something she'd experienced during the time her heart had stopped. But what he was most thrown by was the voice she'd heard telling her that she had to "teach Jonathan how to handle his gifts..." Then he remembered that she'd mumbled something like that at the hospital that night... As far as he knew, he didn't have any... "gifts"... not like she did. He couldn't hear her thoughts like she could hear his... he wasn't talented in any way, which some people also consider a "gift." And why had the voice called him "Jonathan?" He'd never gone by his formal name... all his life he'd been Jonnie or Jon, Jr. It didn't seem to make any sense to him... But he did possess a "gift" of which he was completely unaware because he so rarely used it... and when he did, he didn't realize he was using it. His mind had the capability to compel another person to do something... like when he'd compelled Kris to drop the gun, and when he'd compelled Megan to come back to him. But he had no clue that it had been the force of his mind that had caused those things to happen... he had believed it was just some force of nature granting his fervent wish... Jonnie didn't want to scare Megan by reminding her that "technically" she'd been dead during that experience and it was very possibly not a dream at all, but a vision of something most people never get to see... a glimpse of the future. Not a glimpse really... but a hint of something that was meant to be that would never have been if her life had ended. Jonnie shook his head as his own thoughts were making him nervous. He was getting the feeling that the woman he loved was something far greater than just his soul mate and guardian angel... that she somehow played a vital role in some future event... and he just hoped nothing he would ever do would get in the way of whatever it was. He chuckled nervously as he thought how crazy everyone would think he was if he told them any of this! Jonnie's fears were washed away when he remembered the lyrics of Forever Yours... the song she'd written for him... Gifts of the Future Ch. 01 Forever your dreams had you wishing for the day When I would look into your eyes and finally say... It was you all along. But I had thought there was too high a price to pay Until the night you kissed me and I heard you say... I'd be forever yours... I've been forever yours... Ever since the night a miracle created me... Ever since the heavens deemed that I was born to be... Forever yours... forever yours. Forevermore I dreamed that we would never part Until the day I let a damn lie break my heart... And I pushed you away. I had forgotten that you're the one who made me see That destiny somehow already fated me... To be forever yours. I'll be forever yours... Until the day I can no longer recall your face so sweet... Until the end of time or my heart can no longer beat... I'll be forever yours... forever yours. ********** On Saturday, December 24, 1977 at 5:30 in the evening, Jonnie almost thought he was dreaming as he stood on a platform not far from the edge of the waves when he saw his soul mate coming toward him down the walkway on the arm of her father... She was wearing a simple, elegant white gown with a fitted, strapless satin bodice that showed just a hint of her cleavage through the thin layer of chiffon mesh sewn over the bodice that covered the her chest, shoulders, arms and back, helping to hide the scar that went from the middle to the right side of her upper chest. The full skirt fell loosely and billowed behind her in the soft ocean breeze. Her thick golden brown hair was curly and loose, but pulled back from her face and adorned with baby's breath to go with the single white poinsettia bloom she carried. And her makeup was very subtle... just enough to enhance her natural beauty. When Charles handed Megan over to Jonnie, they faced each other and stared into each other's eyes during the entire brief ceremony. Barbie Estevez and Brad Seldon, serving as maid of honor and best man, also stared at each other the whole time. In their hearts they were married during that ceremony as well... mouthing the "I do's" and the vows right along with their best friends, pursing their lips at each other when Megan and Jonnie kissed. God was kind to them in keeping the weather mild for late December... the breeze off the ocean that evening was out of the southwest and carried with it the moist warmth of the tropics. The air had been perfect for long dresses and suits in the glow of the setting sun, but they knew that the temperature would probably start to drop once the sun was down, which was why the reception was at a nearby country club. While only family and close friends had attended the ceremony on the beach, they had invited a lot of their other friends and acquaintances to the reception. Many of their parent's co-workers and other old friends were there and they were treating it like it was a Christmas party as well as a wedding reception. The food was fabulous and the drinks were flowing... especially lots of champagne. Megan and Jonnie kept watching each other throughout the reception as people separated them at times to talk to each of them. But they'd excuse themselves as quickly as they could to get back to one another. When Jonnie took Megan onto the dance floor, he had to let her lean against the right side of his body with her arms around his waist as they swayed together. Megan still couldn't lift her arms very comfortably due to her wound, but she was working on it every day. While they were swaying slowly, holding each other with their eyes closed, they both froze and looked up when they heard a familiar voice. "I hope the groom will pardon me for interrupting... but I'd be highly honored if the bride would share a brief dance with this old man before I have to go!" Megan smiled warmly at John Wayne as Jonnie continued to stare at him in surprise. Then she laughed softly as she said, "You seem to have caught my husband off guard, Mr. Wayne, so please let me introduce you to him. This is my soul mate, Jonathan Christopher North, Jr. Jonnie... will you shake John Wayne's hand and let him know if you're willing to give me up for brief dance with him?!!" Jonnie grinned nervously as he shook hands with The Duke and said, "I'm sorry sir... it's an honor to finally meet you. Megan's family and my parents have always talked about what a nice man you are and I've always enjoyed watching your movies with them! And I know Megan would love to dance with you... just be careful of her arms. She still can't lift them very well because of her injury," he said gravely as he handed her over the older man. Wayne carefully put his arm around Megan as she settled against his right side and he held her small right hand in his left palm as he moved them slowly around the dance floor. When she looked up at him and smiled happily, he stated seriously, "Well, young lady... you are quite the heroine! Getting yourself shot to save the man you love... writing and singing a hit song about your love for him and now you've married him! I thought most young women liked to play hard to get!" he finished teasingly. Megan chuckled with him as she replied, "Well I did for years while we were growing up! But he persisted until he finally wore me down! Now I'm just making up for all those years I pushed him away and I wasn't about to lose him when we'd finally both realized we were meant to be! I never thought I could love someone so much..." she stated softly as her gaze drifted from his to where her husband was watching them with a huge smile on his face. The Duke looked over and watched the smile fade from Jonnie's face as he and Megan stared at each other. He fully recognized the flames that came up in the young man's striking aqua blue eyes as he watched his wife dancing with him. It was the same look he'd given Megan's mother years back... the same look that Megan's father still gave her after over 20 years together... If there was one thing he'd discovered about Diana Richards and all her friends over the years... they had a knack for finding their one true love and they knew how to love them without reservations! He sighed heavily as he wished he could've learned more from them... He had no doubt that Megan and Jonnie would have a long, happy life together... John Wayne danced Megan over to her husband and kissed her cheek gently before he handed her back to her one true love. He smiled sadly at them as he put his hands on their shoulders and said, "I envy you two... I don't think I've ever shared a love as deep as what you two have. But I think I came close... once," he said quietly as he looked over to where Megan's mother was watching them. Then he looked back and smiled genuinely as he stated, "I wish you all the happiness in the world! I know you two will love wisely and well and be sure to also pass that ability on to your children! They will be your greatest joy! Good bye... until we meet again!" The Duke bowed his head to them and turned to make his way over to where Megan's mother and father were to say good-bye to them as well and then he left... his looming presence still felt by much of the group of friends who'd so admired him for years. Megan and Jonnie stayed at the reception for a little while longer. They didn't do the traditional bouquet and garter toss... everyone already knew who was getting married next! But they did cut their wedding cake together and very civilly fed each other a bite as they stared lovingly into each other's eyes... Both of them were starting to remember that they'd managed not to fully consummate their love before their wedding night... Jonnie would finally be taking Megan's body for the first time... and as her husband! He was having a hard time controlling his excitement at that thought. He'd never shared that intimacy before... other than the night he'd woken up to find Kris about to impale herself on him! But he'd stopped her before his body even had a chance to feel any pleasure... And he was also beginning to worry whether he'd be able to control himself enough with Megan to give her pleasure... Megan was thinking about how dreamy Aunt Dawn's face looked every time she told her and Barbie how awesome it had been between her and Uncle Rick on their wedding night because they'd waited to share that ultimate intimacy as husband and wife! Then Dawn would giggle girlishly as she admitted that it was all Rick's idea... If she'd had her way, they'd have been fucking like minks every night! That last bit had just recently been admitted to Barbie by her mother when Barbie had asked her if she was disappointed that she and Brad were already so sexually active. Dawn had hugged her daughter and told her that she'd have gone crazy if her father had told her they had to wait four years before they could get married! She didn't blame Barbie in the least, especially since she was on birth control. Barbie and Brad were planning to spend the night together making love in his bed. Barbie had told her Mom and Dad that she was spending the night with Brad's sister Didi since everyone was going to be coming over to Tom and Lynda's for Christmas Day any way... but they knew better! Brad and Barbie would both wish that night that they could get married right away, but the forces of destiny had made them aware that they were headed where they needed to go... Megan's twin half-brother Charlie and his secret girlfriend Lily Wilson would also begin to believe that night that their destiny was to be together and they would know when the time was right to make it permanent... And Megan and Jonnie North would conceive a child on their wedding night... a son whose "gifts" would one day allow him to join with others in saving the world... ********** Author's Note: In case no one figured it out, this is a continuation of my last series that was entitled "Price of Past Miracles"... And the song published here, "Forever Yours," is an original song that I wrote myself and I retain the rights to it. It may not be printed or used in any way without my express permission. Gifts of the Future Ch. 02 The Supreme Power of the universe was making sure the final phase of the last hope for humans to finally realize their full evolutionary potential was set in motion the night of December 24, 1977. Only those humans who were "pure of heart" and "strong of mind" had been given "gifts" that would strengthen as they were passed to each generation. And those "gifts" would be necessary in order to combat the dark forces of the universe that were threatening the future of their world... The Guardians had been doing everything possible to keep the dark forces unaware of what the Supreme Power was up to. But somehow the dark forces had rooted out a particular group of "chosen ones" who were crucial to the plan and they'd been doing everything in their power to tear apart or eliminate those who were most important. But The Guardians had been keeping watch over them and they were confident the "chosen ones" would one day prevail over the dark forces... ********* Jonnie North carried his bride Megan over the threshold of their new condo in Santa Monica and straight back to their bedroom that had been prepared especially for that night. The curtains on the sliding glass door that led out to their private balcony overlooking the beach and the ocean were open and soft moonlight illuminated the room. Jonnie kissed his wife for a moment before he set her down and then moved around the room lighting candles until they were bathed in a golden glow. He stood several feet away from her and watched her eyes fill with desire as he slowly undressed himself down to the sexy black underwear that he'd bought just for her. The tight briefs could barely contain his huge, stiff cock... He felt a jolt of something akin to electricity sizzle through his body when Megan closed her eyes and moaned sexily, her head falling back a little after she'd stared at his crotch. Jonnie moved to her and stared down at her face, watching her lush, parted lips move as she panted excitedly. Then her deep-set hazel eyes slit open and she watched him through her lashes when he put his hands around her back to lower the zipper of her gown. He lifted her long golden brown curls with his left hand as his right one worked it slowly down to her hips, then he gently pulled the sleeves and bodice of her gown down her arms and away from her body and helped her step out of it. He stood back for a moment and admired the sexy white lingerie that Megan told him her mother had bought for her to wear under her wedding dress. A strapless white bustier with little bikini panties and a lacy white garter belt and stockings... and she still had on her white satin high heeled shoes. Jonnie had seen plenty of tall, skinny, leggy models dressed... or rather "undressed"... that way. But none of them had ever made his knees suddenly feel weak because of a fire raging in his gut and groin from the need to possess their body the way he did Megan's!!! In fact, no other girl had ever made Jonnie react with such desire and raw lust... She was so beautiful and sexy... not even the angry-looking red streak of the scar running across the right side of her chest could detract from his desire for her. It only served to remind him how much she loved him... and how close he'd come to losing her. His eyes suddenly filled with tears at that realization, but not even his tears could dampen the fire burning inside him. A fire that was driving him to finally take the girl he'd loved all his life and make her his woman by claiming her body with his as a man... her man... by making love to her as her husband... what he'd been dreaming of his whole life. Jonnie could scarcely breath from the strong emotions filling his chest and his gut and from the aching of his cock. He wanted Megan so badly but fear of losing control made him hesitate and he just stood staring at her as a couple tears slid down his cheeks. He watched as she moved in front of him, wincing slightly as she lifted her hands to his cheeks to wipe the tears away and then kissed him gently, her soft lips gradually easing his fear. Then she stepped back and turned around as she said softly, "You're going to have to help me with the bustier... Mama had to help me put it on because my chest and shoulder are still too sore. So... would you mind?" she asked as she twisted slightly to look over her shoulder at him with an innocently sexy expression. Jonnie's gut tightened and his groin sizzled. With the baby's breath still adorning her hair and the look on her face as she stared at him, she looked like she was only about 15 years old... the age they'd been when his dreams of her had turned from innocent, romantic visions of love to ragingly torrid scenes of lust and desire! He growled softly as he reached down and undid the hooks of the bustier. Then he surprised both of them when he suddenly reached around with his hands, ripping the bustier away from her and hauling her body back against his when his hands grabbed her breasts as his growl turned feral. He continued to knead her breasts firmly as he pressed their bodies together, still growling like an animal as he nipped at her neck and she gasped and moaned while writhing against him. Megan's initial gasp had been from slight pain as he pushed her breasts upward while gripping them, but her body's instantaneous reaction to his sudden display of lust made the pain all but disappear. Jonnie was squeezing her breasts and rubbing his palms on her nipples causing them to harden, begging for more attention. And she nearly collapsed when he gave them what they were begging for... Jonnie's growl turned to a deep groan as he softened his grip to brush his fingertips over the stiff peaks of her nipples and then squeezed and gently pulled on them until he felt Megan sagging against him. He released her breasts, bent down and picked her up and carried her over to the bed... their bed... where he was about to claim her as his wife. He paused to remove her shoes while she undid the straps of the garter belt and removed it, then he peeled the stockings down her legs and then finally her panties. He froze on his knees between her bent, spread legs as his eyes traveled from her face down to her wet curls. She was as anxious for him to take her as he was... His eyes traveled back up to her face and he watched her desire deepen as he pushed his black briefs from his hips and ass and removed them. Then he crawled over top of his soul mate and watched in awe as her eyes told him that she was as awed as he at the amazing sensation of his cock filling her so completely. "Oh, my God, Jonnie!!!" she breathed raggedly when he started moving inside her. Jonnie couldn't get over how tight and slick she was around his thick shaft. He felt a slight pang as he suddenly remembered that Megan was not a virgin. She'd given herself to Brad over two years earlier... before any of them had known he was her half-brother. But she'd not been with anyone else since... so she was close enough to a virgin bride for him. He was almost glad that Brad had done the honor... since Jonnie would probably have caused Megan quite a bit of pain the first time, as huge as he was. Megan couldn't stop from lifting her legs, wanting to feel him as deeply inside her as possible. When he encircled her with his arms and pressed their bodies tightly together as he kept thrusting slowly and deeply, her moans of pleasure grew hoarse as deep emotions clutched at her chest and tightened her throat as tears filled her eyes. When her husband lifted his head to look down at her, she saw tears swimming in his deep aqua eyes as well. They both whimpered softly as he dove down to claim her mouth and kiss her passionately as his thrusts grew faster and deeper. Their mouths slid apart to kiss across each other's cheeks and they could both feel the wetness and taste the saltiness of their tears. The right sides of their faces were plastered together as Jonnie began to take Megan hard... wanting to drive his cock so deeply into her that he would feel like he was leaving a part of himself inside her. Which, of course, he did as soon as he felt her flesh clench on his as she cried out, causing him to yell and freeze, buried, deeply until the throbbing of her flesh had him pumping a massive load of his seed inside her. He hadn't had an orgasm in over a month... since the night before Thanksgiving when he and Megan had last stroked each other off. And this orgasm was nothing like he'd ever experienced with her before... it was so explosive both physically and emotionally that he couldn't do anything but gasp raggedly through his tight throat as tears flowed from his eyes. When their bodies finally stopped jerking from the force of their climaxes, Jonnie lifted his head to stare down at his wife and saw that she was just as blown away by their lovemaking. Her eyeliner and mascara were leaving streaks under her eyes and down her temples where her tears were washing them away... but she'd never looked more beautiful to him than at that moment. He lay his forehead against hers as they struggled to control their lungs, their hot breaths mingling. Their panting slowed to the point where they could breath through their noses again so they could join their mouths in the most deeply passionate and tender kiss they'd ever shared. A kiss that instantly told them they finally knew everything they'd ever needed to know... there were no more doubts and there never would be again... They were meant for each other... something greater than themselves had made sure that they would realize this and commit to each other for some reason. But both of them were still unsure of what that reason might be... until right around midnight just as they were making love again and they both exploded with even more intense orgasms. Jonnie was praying for his most fervent wish and Megan felt compelled to tell him what she wanted but was afraid he'd want to put off for a while. "OH GOD, JONNIE!!! I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABY! GIVE ME YOUR SEED AND MAKE ME PREGNANT!!!" Jonnie yelled loudly as he drove deep inside his wife and stayed still, feeling her body squeeze his cock, milking a little more of his seed from him as he groaned softly, "Take it, baby!!! Take as much as you can... I want you pregnant, Meg... I want to watch my baby grow inside you! I want a son, Megan... please try to give me a son," he whispered softly as he collapsed on top of her. Jonnie needn't have worried... destiny had already determined that. He would be their only child... Jonathan Christopher North, III... and they'd call him... Jonathan. ********** Also around midnight on Christmas Eve 1977 at the Seldon residence in Brentwood, Brad and Barbie were in the middle of a torrid lovemaking session. Brad had spent nearly an hour pleasuring Barbie with his hands and mouth until she'd begged him to make love to her. Barbie had been wishing for months that something would go wrong with those damn birth control pills she was taking so she would "accidentally" get pregnant. She couldn't stand the thought that she had another year and a half to wait before Brad would graduate from the Air Force Academy... she wanted to be his wife, even though they would still be separated a lot of the time until then. If she could wind up pregnant, it would be the excuse she'd need to get him to marry her sooner... even if it had to be kept secret... she didn't care! But she couldn't do that to him... a dream she'd shared with him recently had only reinforced his belief that he was doing what he was meant to do... Brad was staring down at Barbie and marveling again over how beautiful she was, and even more so while he was making love to her. Her dark Bambi eyes glowed with love for him and her long, dark hair was fanned out over his pillow, feeling like strands of silk as he brushed his fingers over it. Then he put his hand to her cheek and ran his thumb over her lush lips, smiling when she pursed them, kissing his thumb softly. Then he closed his light hazel eyes and moaned when she parted her lips and ran the tip of her tongue up the rough flesh, noting how surprisingly erotic it felt when a tingle traveled straight from his thumb to his groin. He could feel an orgasm building and it triggered a longing that he'd been feeling ever since they'd reconciled back in May. Every time he looked into her eyes, he'd seen a longing in hers as well and he wondered if she was longing for the same thing as he... He wanted to marry her now... but he COULDN'T... legally... until he graduated from The Academy, and he'd known that going in. He knew how hard it was for her to be separated from him for so long during the academic terms... it was hard for him, too! But he knew in his soul that he was destined to be in the Air Force and part of the space program one day... as sure as he knew Barbie was meant to be his wife... and the mother of his son. She'd told him about a dream she'd had recently... one in which she'd seen their group of friends and siblings... her and Brad, Megan and Jonnie, Charlie and Lily, and even Brad's sister Didi and Barbie's brother Rickie with a couple of Brad's friends from The Academy, Jay and Karen... several years in the future... and all of them with children. But there was something strange about her dream... Barbie said she'd gotten the feeling when she woke up, that the dream was showing her something very important but she had no idea what. She had no real idea what was going on... it had been like watching an old home movie with no sound. She could see the adults talking and the children looked like they were laughing and playing, but it was silent. The only significant thing she had remembered from the dream was that Brad was in uniform... Brad looked down at Barbie again as his mind drifted back to what they were sharing at the moment and he saw the slight sadness and longing still in her eyes. He bent down and kissed her briefly as he kept stroking slowly inside her body. He caressed her cheek with his hand as he said tenderly, "Just because we have to wait another eighteen months before we can stand in front of a minister and get a piece of paper saying that the state declares us legally wed and we can actually live together does not mean anything. In my heart and mind, you are already my wife! I love you Barbara Maria Estevez-Seldon... I meant those vows we mouthed with Jonnie and Megan earlier this evening... except I disagree with one statement..." When she frowned in confusion, he continued, his voice growing ever more tender and passionate as his body sought to prove his earnest belief in what he was about to tell her. He was pulling back slowly as he said, "Those wedding vows ended with the words 'until death us do part'..." Brad suddenly thrust back inside Barbie with passionate intensity, grunting softly as she moaned deeply, her body arching in pleasure as he ground his cock inside her for a moment. As he started to slowly pull back from inside her again, he waited until her eyes slit open to say what he needed her to believe. "I won't have that statement in our vows, Barbie... because I will love you even beyond death... I believe in an existence beyond what we know and you and I will be together forever when we've left this world! Tell me you believe that as well..." he whispered hoarsely, tears welling in his eyes as he slowly filled her body with his cock again. Barbie nodded solemnly as her breathing became ragged from strong emotions that were choking her; Brad had said exactly what she'd needed to hear to get her through the next year and a half. She had always believed in the existence of a "heaven" in some form... and that people who truly loved each other would also be together after their lives here were ended. Her parents were also convinced that heaven could exist right here on earth when two people loved each other as much as they did... and Barbie was beginning to believe they were right. Even when she was growing up and she knew Brad didn't yet feel the same way she did, he still had the capability to make her feel like she'd died and gone to heaven just by smiling at her. And she'd felt like she was floating in the heavens with him when they'd spent so many nights together in their teens staring at the stars with him excitedly talking about his dreams of becoming an astronaut. Brad was sure the key to proving to all the angry people and races of their planet that they needed wake up and see how petty their hatred for anyone who was different or didn't think the way they did was to prove how insignificant this world was in terms of the vastness of the universe. He'd always said that if people really believed in a God who could create this world, then why couldn't they also see that He was The Creator of the entire universe and was bound to have created other worlds besides this one! He believed God had created thousands of them and was sitting back to see if mortals... that He'd made in His image... had the capability to discover for themselves the secrets to the universe and eventually evolve into beings as intelligent, benevolent and powerful as God himself... And that it must pain God greatly to be watching what was happening on this planet even after He'd tried to teach humans nearly two thousand years ago, the very basics of that which they needed to know in order to live and thrive in peace on this world until they reached His level of evolution. Brad refused to believe that God would completely abandon this world... he was sure He would eventually step in again and try to do SOMETHING else that would convince the angry majority it was time to see the light before they brought about the Armageddon that the ancient prophets had said was inevitable... Brad was right... although he was still completely unaware of his significant role in the Supreme Power's plan to help human's prevent Armageddon... Barbie had cried the night Brad first explained his beliefs to her, and she'd told him it was the first time she'd ever felt like she understood what real "truth" was. Everything he'd told her made perfect sense to her... every ill there was in the world could be fixed if everyone could see that "truth"... She had hoped telling him that would finally make him see they belonged together... until he'd told her that he and Megan talked about it all the time and they'd always believed the same. When Brad had finally realized Barbie was meant to be his soul mate and had claimed her body as his, he'd been taking her to heaven every time he touched her... kissed her... loved her. And she wanted to be his heaven... she prayed that he could lose himself to his feelings for her and that he was floating among the stars with her... searching for their own piece of heaven on earth. Barbie wrapped herself around Brad as he molded her body to his with his strong arms and started stroking inside her with passionate intensity as he whispered in her ear. "I love you, my wife! Come with me, Barbie... soar into heaven with me, my love! I won't be able to take you with me to the stars, but I so want to take you to heaven with me! I'll always be with you, my love... even when you can't see me, I'm always with you! Oh God, Barbie... I love you... Aaaahhhhh!!!" he moaned hoarsely. Barbie burst into simultaneous moans and sobs as she climaxed both physically and emotionally. She felt as if Brad had been reading her heart and mind as well as he was reading her body because he also came at the same moment she did. Everything he'd whispered to her had just reflected every thought and memory that had drifted through her mind in the last few minutes while they were making love. She briefly wondered if his ability to read Megan's thoughts had suddenly transferred over to her... But that wasn't the case. Brad and Megan could still communicate telepathically, but it wasn't as strong or as easy for them as it used to be... mainly because they weren't practicing it as they didn't feel it necessary any longer. But that would change one day... when Brad would suddenly discover another ability he never knew he possessed but which would be passed to his son along with a very significant gift from his mother as well ... Gifts of the Future Ch. 02 ********** It was the only way the Supreme Power could fight the dark forces of the universe that had managed to evolve and become almost as powerful as He. And the dark forces were on the brink of causing one of His worlds to be destroyed because they'd been allowed to run amok for too long before He realized the humans of that world were still ill-equipped to fight the dark forces even though there were so many who were trying... The Supreme Power began to think maybe it was His fault that the dark forces had become so powerful... but it couldn't be His fault because HE was never wrong. So He did the only thing He could to correct the situation... all He could do now was sit back, watch and HOPE that He wasn't wrong. Otherwise, the entire universe was at risk of being destroyed... even the dark forces themselves... But they didn't care... they cared about nothing. Nothingness would be better than the constant turmoil and rage that surrounded them... that fueled their very existence. The dark forces were convinced that the Supreme Power had created them on purpose as a means of siphoning off all the negative influences from His perfect worlds so humans could flourish and just exist as "happy, ignorant creatures." But that was not the original purpose for the creation of dark as well as light... It was always intended for there to be a "balance" to the universe and the dark forces were created and intended to help maintain that balance. That way, humans would learn the purpose of "free will"... they'd always have a choice so they could evolve over the centuries and millennia as they learned to choose light instead of dark, good instead of evil, love instead of indifference... Most humans still thought of hate as the opposite of love. But hate had no balance... Hate was an emotion that had been created by the dark forces in order to manipulate humans... it was how they were able to influence humans to destroy that which they also loved. And to combat indifference, they created fear... they used fear to make humans want to destroy that which they did not understand. Hate and fear. The dark forces had been using them for centuries to make humans wage wars... even in the name of "God"... which was what most humans who believed in the Supreme Power had been taught He was called. Jaweh... Allah... Dios... Gud... Gott... just to name a few. He had so many different names on just that one world... He had finally decided it was time to give the humans of that world the ability to fight the dark forces... because they had messed with "free will." The dark forces had humans believing they had to kill each other just because they didn't agree over how to believe in His existence. And because they'd created these so-called "religious leaders" who were still pounding it into the minds of millions that they had to "worship" Him in ways that had nothing to do with the reasons for the creation of that world... The dark forces were unfairly gaining too much power... Too many evil things had come about over the centuries because the dark forces had been manipulating the free will of humans who would have chosen a path of light so there was no longer a balance. And it was time to make them stop before they destroyed everything... The Supreme Power had given The Guardians permission to use whatever means they had to help the "chosen ones" realize their destinies and how to most wisely use their "gifts" to preserve the future existence of their world... And, in turn, the very existence of the universe and the Supreme Power as well... He had faith in the "chosen ones" for he knew their hearts were pure. They were not perfect but they would fight and they would be willing to die to protect and preserve everything that was good about their world. So He made sure The Guardians knew to preserve the lives of the "chosen ones" whenever they faced danger in their fight against the dark forces... ********** Around the middle of January 1978, Megan Richards North was surprised to learn that her song Forever Yours had finally been knocked out of the number one spot on the charts by a song called... Dust In The Wind. It had just been released by a band named Kansas and as she was listening to it on her car radio one day on her way to classes at UCLA, she suddenly realized why she knew the song. She'd heard the band recording it at the same studio in Nashville where her album had been produced the previous summer. That was why it had seemed familiar in her dream. But she had started to get the sense that what she'd experienced hadn't been a dream at all... and it had happened for a reason. She was also getting the sense that some force had actually been trying to make her want to die because it knew that song had haunted her and it had almost made her want to give up... if not for Jonnie. By the end of January, Megan knew she was pregnant. She actually knew she had conceived on their wedding night, and she had told Jonnie, thinking he wouldn't believe her... but he did. He said he'd heard a voice that night as they were drifting off to sleep just after midnight after the last time they'd made love that had said pretty much the same thing Megan had heard when her heart had stopped... "You will have a son... give him your name and call him Jonathan. Show him how to love wisely and teach him well... he is one who will help to lead your world out of darkness..." Megan soon began to discover that the baby she was carrying was no ordinary human. She could sense his feelings from her womb. By the time she was five months pregnant and she could feel Jonathan's movements, he was already letting her know what he wanted her to eat. She finally understood why some pregnant women said they had cravings for things they usually never ate. Apparently, Jonathan loved cheese. He was making Megan eat all the things she had always tried to avoid growing up because she had to keep tabs on her weight. Cheeseburgers, pizza with extra cheese, macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches... she couldn't get enough of them!!! But luckily, she wasn't getting fat... hopefully little Jonathan was manipulating his Mama's metabolism so the calories went to him instead of to her! Megan chuckled to herself as she realized how silly it was to think her child had any power like that! But still... she was amazed at how well she could sense exactly what he was feeling. Most of the time, he was very calm... as long as she was eating what he wanted! And Megan loved the sense she got from the baby whenever Jonnie was talking to him. Jonathan trusted his father absolutely... he was absorbing everything his Dad said. Jonnie would tell his son how much he loved him and that Jonathan would have an infinite capacity for love... that he would know how to help those who had never known the joy of pure love and kindness. Jonnie also told his son there was still a lot of darkness in the world but that he didn't want him to be afraid because Jonathan would know how to recognize it and how to lead someone from darkness into the light... ********** Megan and Jonnie were taking as many classes as they could to finish their degrees as quickly as possible because they knew they'd have to cut back once Jonathan was born. Jonnie had changed his plans somewhat; he earned an Associate's degree in psychology over the summer of 1978 and was going to go into Federal Law Enforcement instead of the L.A.P.D. like his father. His father, Special Agent Charles Richards and his partner, Agent Thomas Seldon, Megan's biological father, had arranged for Jonnie to travel to Quantico, Virginia to attend The Bureau's Behavioral Sciences training facility. It would take 20 weeks for his training to be complete and he would be leaving soon after his son was due to be born. He wasn't looking forward to spending so much time away from his wife and new son, but he knew they both understood it was what he had to do. Jonathan Christopher North, III was born on September 18, 1978... about a week early... he was anxious to become more familiar with the world he was supposed to help save. His Mama was most grateful that he'd made the labor and delivery as easy as possible and he was glad to finally see what he was going to look like... Jonathan had known that he would look almost exactly like his Dad... handsome masculine features with raven hair and the same aqua blue eyes, but they were deep-set... like his Mama's... making them seem to pierce even further into someone's soul when he stared at them. Which he would eventually learn how to do... he would be able to see into the very soul of a person and know their true nature... He was also well aware that he had his father's gift to be able to compel a person to do something with his mind... just like he'd been doing with his mother ever since his brain had developed to the point that he was aware of his surroundings. But the food-craving thing had seemed benign enough that he didn't think it would hurt... besides, she was his Mama... she loved him and she'd do anything for him... within reason, he knew. Because his father had been talking to him all along, Jonathan was already well aware of what they intended to show him and teach him as he matured. So he spent the majority of his formative time as an infant concentrating on getting the proper nutrition and making his body as healthy as possible, and his mother gave him a very healthy head-start by breastfeeding him until he was six months old. When his Dad came home for the holidays during his FBI training, he would sit and watch Jonathan suckling on his mother's breast and then stare at her with a look in his eyes that Jonathan didn't quite understand. But he could feel the emotions passing between his parents and he would pause in his sucking to smile and giggle softly as it was a wonderful sensation that made him feel warm and protected and loved... The first time he did that, Jonnie and Megan looked down at their son and smiled hugely at the angelic grin on his face. They knew he could sense what was going on between them and the fact that it tickled him amused them as well. They had both burst out laughing and bent down to kiss their son's soft, dark hair and watch him lovingly as he continued with his feeding. Later that night, Christmas Eve 1978, Jonathan lay in his crib listening to the soothing sounds of the ocean waves outside his bedroom window and also heard the sighs and moans of his parents in the room next to his. He couldn't imagine what they were doing, but those same strong emotions he'd felt earlier as his father had watched him feeding were emanating throughout their home. Jonathan smiled softly and gave a contented sigh as he drifted off to sleep... ********** The first half of 1979 was a very busy time. Jonnie was finishing his last two months of Behavioral Science training in Quantico and Megan was finishing her B.A. in Communications with a minor in English at UCLA. Barbie and her mother were working with Uncle Bob and Aunt Lisa to make arrangements for her and Brad's wedding to be held at the Clark's Bel Air mansion on Saturday, June 2nd. When Jonnie graduated from the FBI's program at the beginning of March, Megan and Jonathan, his parents, Jon, Sr. and Barbara, and Megan's parents, Charles and Diana, had all flown to Virginia to attend the ceremony. Everyone was so proud that Jonnie had earned a couple awards of merit for certain aspects of the program in which he had excelled. Most of the other graduates were men who were several years older than Jonnie and had already been doing police work or some type of military service before they'd entered the program. He'd had to work hard at first to earn the respect of those men. They saw him as nothing more than a young "pretty boy" who fancied himself to be a police detective just because his Daddy was. Some of them had recognized him because of his stint as a model and because he had made a commercial for a men's cologne which he had contracted to be the spokesman for over the next three years. He had agreed to that only because they had put it in his contract that his schedule with them would not interfere in his pursuit of getting into police work. The cologne company had readily agreed because they had also asked for and gotten Megan's and the recording company's permissions... for a small percentage of the profits... to use Forever Yours as the name of the cologne and part of the song for their commercials. It turned out to be another lucrative deal for the Norths... Jonnie's fellow graduates in Quantico were very impressed when they met his beautiful wife and adorable son. Five-month old Jonathan had every single person who came near him instantly charmed by his ready smile and hearty giggle. Everyone was amazed at what a happy baby he was... Jonathan was so happy because he recognized that he was amongst a group of people whose lives had been dedicated to protecting people from the evils of the world. Just like he was destined to protect them from the dark forces of the universe... ********** Brad had been contacting Barbie every chance he got during his last academic term to keep up with the plans for the wedding. And he also made sure that she'd remembered to quit taking her birth control pills when he'd left to return to The Academy after the holiday break! He wanted to knock her up on their wedding night just like Jonnie had done with Megan... Time had seemed to drag for Brad and Barbie... they had thought that June 2, 1979 would never arrive. But it finally did, and God was once again kind in cooperating with making it a perfect day for an outdoor wedding. It was a warm, sunny day with just a light breeze stirring over the grounds of the Clark's beautifully landscaped Bel Air property. There were nearly 80 people attending the ceremony. Brad and Barbie had tried to keep the guest list limited to only their families and close friends as well as some of Barbie and Jonnie's friends from the modeling industry and Brad's friends from the Air Force Academy. Megan and Jonnie served as their best friends' matron of honor and best man and also stared lovingly at each other during the entire ceremony. True to his word, Brad had made the minister leave out the part about "until death us do part" and had asked him to phrase it as "... and forsaking all others, I have pledged myself to thee for all time..." Brad had been unable to take his eyes off his wife when he saw her coming down the cream-colored runner on the lawn escorted by her father. She was wearing a long, off-white, halter-style gown that hugged her curvy body and showed off the creamy caramel skin of her arms, shoulders and back. Her long, dark hair was curly and piled in a mass on top of her head, encircled by a wreath of flowers that matched her bouquet. Brad and Barbie had chuckled when Rick Estevez handed his daughter over to Brad and muttered quietly, "It's about damn time you made an honest woman of my baby girl, Lt. Seldon!" Then he'd flashed his thousand-watt smile that his daughter had inherited and kissed her cheek before he turned to sit with his wife and watch as their daughter finally "legally" became Mrs. Barbara Maria Estevez-Seldon. Brad's only other contribution to the plans for the wedding had been to ask some of his fellow graduates and close friends from The Academy to act as an Honor Guard and form the "Arch of Swords" at the end of the center walkway when the ceremony was over. Barbie felt so honored to be on the arm of her handsome husband in his full mess dress uniform as they walked under the arch. When they reached the last two sword bearers, Lt. Jay Hanson and fourth-year Cadet Karen Moss, their swords were lowered and crossed, blocking their path. So Brad bent down and kissed his wife tenderly and then the swords were lifted. As they started forward again, Barbie was prepared when Jay brought his sword down behind her and lightly swatted her ass as he stated, "Welcome to the Air Force, Ma'am!" Rickie Estevez was laughing softly as he watched his older sister get swatted on the ass by Jay's sword. Then his breath almost caught in his throat when the female cadet standing across from Jay glanced at him and broke into a quick, wide grin before she steeled her face again and tore her emerald green eyes away from his shocked gaze. He'd thought she was very pretty when they were briefly introduced before the ceremony, but he'd gotten the feeling that Cadet Karen Moss had instantly disliked him for some reason when she jerked her hand out of his grip as they greeted each other. And the smile she'd given him had disappeared just as quickly and was replaced by a slight frown as her face flushed. Which had really disappointed him because her smile had warmed him and the touch of her hand in his had sent a jolt through him that had made his pulse race... Karen Moss tried to steady her breathing as she held the sword aloft, staring across at Lt. Hanson and doing her best not to cut her eyes over and sneak another look at Barbie's hunky brother, Enrique Estevez, Jr... or Rickie, as she was told everyone called him. Karen had long before gotten over her attraction to Brad after she'd realized he was completely in love with Barbie. But the fact that he was as honorable as he was handsome hadn't made it easy for her to let go of that attraction... but she'd known that she wanted to remain friends with him because he was a good person. And Brad had readily forgiven her for her attempted seduction of him when he learned that she had been ordered to test some of the male cadets and she told him that the reason she'd picked him was because she had known he would pass the test. Brad was the first guy Karen had felt an instant physical attraction to, but it had been nothing like what she'd felt the moment Rickie had clasped her hand in his palm... The dazzling smile he'd flashed at her had given her slight tingles... like she'd felt when she first saw Brad. But the touch of their hands had ignited those tingles into a blaze that she was afraid was going to burn her uniform right off her body! Karen was deathly afraid that Rickie Estevez might be the one man who could make her want to give up the goals she'd set for herself. She would do her best to avoid having any further contact with him during the reception... ********** The Supreme Power was pleased when The Guardians reported that they had made sure it was a wonderful day for the celebration of the complete union of another pair of "chosen ones." They also reported that another pair had moved a step closer to their union, two other pairs that had been separated all of their lives had finally found each other and yet another pair who'd grown up together finally noticed each other... Gifts of the Future Ch. 03 June 2, 1979 had turned out to be a wonderful day for the outdoor wedding and reception for Brad and Barbie Seldon on the grounds of Robert and Lisa Clark's Bel Air mansion. Everyone was having a wonderful time under the big tent, listening to the band, munching on heavy hors d'oeuvres and sipping champagne or other drinks from the open bar. Charlie Richards and Lily Wilson had been celebrating heartily, downing champagne like it was going out of style! Not only were they happy for their good friends Brad and Barbie, but they had also recently graduated with honors from UCLA's pre-med program and would be starting medical school soon... and they were secretly engaged. Charlie had formally proposed to Lily and she had accepted. They figured it was time to finally tell their parents... They separated briefly to go find their parents and get them together so they could tell them the happy news. When they started looking around, they were surprised at first when they found Larry and Maria Wilson and Charles and Diana Richards already at the same table... along with all their other friends. Charlie and Lily looked at each other and snorted with laughter as they realized they should've known they'd already find them together! Larry and Maria and Charles and Diana all glanced at each other and smirked... they knew what was coming. But they didn't want to spoil what their children thought would be a surprise to them, so they waited until Charlie and Lily stopped their tipsy laughter and sobered for their announcement. Charlie cleared his throat and took Lily's hand as he faced their parents. "Mom, Dad... Uncle Larry, Aunt Maria... you know Lily and I have been best friends for years, but... we've also been in love. I've asked Lily to marry me and she's said yes! So I hope this isn't a problem for any of you..." Larry Wilson stood up and walked over to Charlie and put his hand on his shoulder as he said, "Son, the only problem I'd have is if you didn't marry my daughter since you've been bedding her for over four years now!" Lily gasped and her face flushed as she stared wide-eyed at her father. Charlie glanced nervously back and forth between his fiancée and his future father, noticing how their eyes were the same sparkling ocean blue color, though Larry's held a twinkle of amusement at the moment. But Lily's eyes had always struck him as so beautiful because her olive toned skin and dark hair from her mother made the blue of her eyes seem even deeper than Larry's with his fair skin and blonde hair. Charlie chuckled sheepishly as he looked Larry in the eyes and replied, "Well... it's not like we've been doing it every day or every week! Sometimes we go a month or two before we can find time to spend together! You know, our class loads have been pretty stressful and it's only going to get worse once we get into med school! If we didn't have each other to relieve our stress in some way, we'd go crazy!!!" he ended emphatically as he realized just how much he and Lily needed each other. Larry chuckled as he heard the other adults behind him snickering at how serious Charlie had grown while trying to explain why he needed his daughter so badly. Then he grew serious as he stared into the young man's wary gray blue eyes. "Son, I don't doubt that you and Lily are perfect for each other. Just promise me that you'll love her and support her in whatever way she needs and you and I will never have a problem." Charlie nodded solemnly, so Larry looked over at his beautiful daughter and said, "My lovely spring Lily... if you truly love this young man, then marry him soon so you two can start spending more time together relieving each other's stress!" he said jokingly with a huge smile. Lily chuckled and threw her arms around her father's neck and shared a hug with him for a moment. All the other adults got up and came over to congratulate the youngsters. Charles and Diana both hugged Lily tightly and told her how happy they were to be getting such a wonderful daughter. And Maria Wilson hugged Charlie and told him that she'd always known they were perfect for each other and was glad they were finally going to make it permanent. Word soon spread among all their friends and siblings so that Charlie and Lily spent another half hour or so being sidelined by people wanting to congratulate them. Megan North was especially happy for her twin half-brother... Charlie had always looked after Megan when they were little until Brad had taken over that job when they turned thirteen. Megan had always known Charlie loved her and she'd found it so strange that he seemed to know when she was starting to get sick. Even before she would feel any symptoms, Charlie would know when she was about to come down with a cold or the flu. Even when she contracted chicken pox and the mumps, he'd known she'd been exposed... and he'd always taken such good care of her while she was sick. That's why it was no surprise to Megan when Charlie had said he wanted to become a doctor... it seemed as though it was what he was born to be. And Lily Wilson seemed to have been born to be his soul mate... Who could better understand the dedication it takes to become a doctor than someone whose life was also dedicated to the same purpose? Yes... they were perfect for each other... ********** Cadet Karen Moss was grateful when Lt. Hanson and the other Air Force Academy graduates allowed her to sit at the table with them. She was doing her best to avoid the bride's brother, Rickie Estevez, and she was hoping he'd be too intimidated to approach a table full of men in uniform just to talk to her. It seemed to work... every time she glanced his way he was ignoring her. Rickie finally gave up hoping that Karen Moss had changed her initial opinion of him just because she'd smiled at him when he laughed at Barbie getting swatted on the ass by Jay Hanson's sword. She was seated with a table full of young, good-looking Air Force officers in uniform and he never could catch her eye. Why would she be interested him any way?!! He was just a lowly L.A.P.D. cop... the only reason he caught most girl's eyes was because he rode a motorcycle. He just wished he could forget how excited he'd felt the moment he'd touched her hand... ********** Lt. Jay Hanson was watching a beautiful young woman who looked to be a younger version of the groom's mother. He guessed correctly that she was his good friend Brad's younger sister Didi... and he frowned slightly as he remembered Brad had always complained what a brat she was! She didn't look anything like a brat to him... but he knew Brad had always used the term endearingly. Jay couldn't take his eyes off of her... she was so tall and shapely with gorgeous wavy brown hair and the most naturally lovely face he'd ever seen. He kept trying to work up the nerve to approach her, but every time he tried to catch her eye, she'd look away from him... Didi Seldon swallowed nervously when she saw one her brother's friends from The Academy staring at her again. She'd noticed him from the moment she'd spotted him at the graduation ceremony at The Academy just over a week earlier... he was the most striking man she'd ever seen in a uniform. She'd always admired how good Brad looked in uniform, but this man... Lt. Jay Hanson... From afar, she'd noticed right away that he was an imposing figure... so tall and broad... anyone would be crazy to question his authority because he looked as though he could squash someone like a bug. She'd always had a thing for big men... like her father and brothers, because they'd always given her a sense of feeling protected... and Jay was even bigger than them! She never got to meet him after the graduation ceremony because he'd had to leave with his parents to go home for several days before he could come to Los Angeles for Brad and Barbie's wedding. He'd only arrived the previous day for the rehearsal and Didi had been unable to attend the rehearsal dinner that evening because she had to work. She hadn't gotten to see him up close until she'd arrived for the wedding earlier that day... As soon as she'd gotten a good closer view of him, her nerves had tingled in ways she'd never felt before... he was the first man who'd ever made her feel so nervous... and yet safe at the same time. He wasn't the most handsome man she'd ever seen, but his face was very masculine and stern with a heavy brow line and deep-set eyes, and a strong, square chin. Didi tried not to visibly tremble as she snuck another look at him when she noticed him stand up and move away from the table he'd been sitting at. He had to be at least six and half feet tall, and he appeared every inch... a man. His mess dress uniform showed off the fact that he was well built... broad shoulders, a huge chest, flat stomach and lean hips. She nearly moaned when she saw how his uniform trousers molded to his shapely ass. She quickly looked away when she saw his head start to turn in her direction, hoping he hadn't caught her staring at his backside. Then she jumped when she heard a deep male voice beside her and jerked her head around to find her eyes level with Jay Hanson's strong chin. Her gaze flew up to his and she was startled to be staring into the most piercing set of golden brown eyes she'd ever seen... Jay's breath caught in his chest when she lifted her eyes to his. He was mesmerized by her wide-eyed gaze... her eyes seemed to shine line newly minted silver coins with a few flecks of hazel adding just a hint of color. He noticed her blink nervously a few times and realized that he had startled her. "Pardon me, Miss Seldon... I didn't mean to scare you, but I've been hoping for the opportunity to meet you. And since I didn't want to take your brother away from his bride to do the honors, I decided I would be bold and introduce myself. I'm Lt. Jay Alan Hanson at your service. Would you care to dance with me or could I get us drinks and we could sit and talk for a while?" He paused for a moment to see how she was going to respond and he noticed that she appeared to grow more nervous, so he thought she was just afraid to say that she wasn't interested in him. He knew he tended to intimidate some women because he was so huge, but he had really hoped Didi wouldn't be afraid of him because she wasn't exactly a small woman. Smaller than him, yes... but not so small that he was afraid of crushing her as she lay beneath him... Jay almost growled when the image of her staring up at him with desire as he lay over top of her popped into his head. Whoa there, Lt. Hanson... you're movin' pretty fast! You've just introduced yourself to the young lady and already you've got her in your bed... She doesn't even seem to be interested in you... Jay took a deep breath and said, "It's OK, Miss Seldon... if you're not interested, I'll leave you alone." He started to turn away and then halted when he felt her hand on his arm and he looked back at her and was surprised to see that she still looked nervous, but she was smiling. "No, please, Lt. Hanson... don't go. I am... interested... I just... I don't know why you make me feel so nervous!" She laughed slightly as she admitted that, but she was lying... she knew exactly why he made her so nervous... because of the things she'd imagined while staring into his golden eyes! Wondering what he looked like beneath that uniform... wondering how it would feel to be held in his strong arms... kissed by his sexy, masculine lips... lying beneath his massive, hard body... her legs wrapped around him... the images went on and on... and she was starting to pant nervously. Jay noticed her breathing becoming ragged and that she kept glancing at his mouth... she wanted him to kiss her! He clenched his jaw and stifled a growl as his cock stirred in his fitted trousers and his own breathing started to become labored. He'd found her attractive from afar... up close, she was downright intoxicating to him! He was ready to grab her and go find a nice quiet room in that mansion somewhere and just take her... Hanson... get a hold of yourself! This is Brad's younger sister! What do you think he'd do to you if he knew you were already having thoughts like this about her? Not to mention their father! He's an FBI agent for crying out loud!!! What do you think HE'D do to you if he found you compromising his only daughter like that?!! Jay took a deep breath and blew it out slowly and then grinned nervously at Didi as he said, "Well, I must admit, Miss Seldon, that you make me nervous, too! Why don't I get us some cold drinks and we'll sit down and get to know each other a little, OK?" Didi smiled and nodded, so he told her to wait while he went over to the bar and asked for a couple soft drinks... he didn't think alcoholic beverages would be a good idea when he already felt intoxicated by her. He walked back to her and handed her one of the drinks and then escorted her to an empty out of the way table. When they sat down, Didi's curiosity got to her and she had to ask him, "How on earth could I make you nervous, Lt. Hanson?" Jay looked down for a moment to hide the flames he knew had roared in his eyes when he, again, pictured her lying beneath him. He snorted shortly and then looked back up at her as he answered honestly, "Because, Miss Seldon... I just met you and I keep imagining doing very inappropriate things to you..." He tried to make it sound like a joke, but her reaction was anything but funny. He watched her face flush and her silver eyes deepen with what he knew instinctively was her look of desire... exactly how he'd been imagining she'd look. The flames roared in his eyes again and his cock hardened. "Ohhh hell..." he whispered as they both started panting again. Didi picked up her glass to take a sip of her soda to wet her suddenly dry mouth and they both noticed her hand shaking. She smiled nervously and took a long drink, nearly draining it, and then placed the cold glass against her flushed cheek. Jay picked up his drink and drained it and then stood quickly, taking her glass from her shaking hand and said quickly, "I'll be right back with refills! Don't go anywhere!" he ordered softly. Didi couldn't have gone anywhere if she'd wanted to... she was sure her legs would be as shaky as her hand! It was bad enough just knowing that she was instantaneously attracted to him... and he had to go and tell her it was the same for him!!! What the hell was she supposed to do now?!! She knew her Mom and Dad had attacked each other the day they met, but they were in their 30's when that happened and they'd both been with other people before! She was almost 20 and still a virgin and Lt. Hanson... Jay... was just a little older than Brad... but she had no clue if he was sexually experienced or not. He had to be... no 23-year-old man who looked like he did could still be a virgin... and she'd prefer that at least one of them know what they were doing! Didi shook her head... her thoughts kept returning to the same thing... she wanted Jay... and he wanted her. What were they going to do? They knew nothing about each other... other than the basics... names, ages, general backgrounds, where they grew up, etc. But she knew nothing about his true personality, nor did he have any clue about who she really was or what she wanted to do with her life... She frowned as she realized she still wasn't sure about that herself... her Mom and Dad had been trying to talk to her about that recently but she hadn't been able to come up with anything. She'd been feeling as if she was adrift ever since she graduated from high school, with nothing steering her in any particular direction. She kept hoping that one day she'd see something or do something that would just be one of those "a ha!" moments that told her, "This is what you're meant to do!" But, so far... nothing... Looking into Jay's gorgeous golden eyes had been the closest thing she'd ever experienced to a jolt that had made her want something instantaneously... Was that an "a ha" moment?!! Had she been drifting around looking for "something" to do with her life when all she really wanted was "someone" in her life?!! She saw Jay headed back from the bar with their drinks and he was watching her, his eyes still smoldering at her, but then he smiled... and her heart felt like it wanted to hammer right out of her chest. She had a sudden longing to see him smile at her like that every day... for the rest of her life. She slowly smiled back at him... Jay nearly stopped in his tracks when Didi smiled back. She was so heart-stoppingly beautiful and he suddenly wished that he would see her every day... for the rest of his life. He set their drinks on the table and moved his chair to face her before he sat down. "Didi... Do you mind if I call you Didi, Miss Seldon?" he asked when he realized he'd used her familiar name. She blushed as she realized her childhood nickname sounded like such a "little girl" name when spoken by his deep, masculine voice. "Actually, Lt. Hanson... or may I call you Jay?" she asked tentatively and then continued when he smiled and nodded. "Actually, Jay, I think I'd prefer you to call me by my given name... Diana." "Very well... Diana," he said softly. "That's a very beautiful name for a very beautiful woman... your parents chose your name wisely." Didi smiled and admitted, "Well, my parents named me after my Mom's best friend... and my Dad's dead first wife. I have a very unusual middle name. My full name is Diana Yakira Seldon." Jay raised his eyebrows. "That is very unusual. Where was your Dad's first wife from to have had such a name?" Didi proceeded to tell Jay the whole story about how her father had met and fallen in love with his first wife while on a mission on Okinawa toward the end of World War II and how she was killed by a Japanese sniper just as he'd returned to take her from the island during the main invasion at the end of the war. "He lost his wife and their unborn child and he thought he'd never love again... until the day he met my Mom," she ended softly. Jay frowned sadly as he could suddenly imagine the pain her father must've experienced if he felt about his first wife the way he was starting to feel for Didi... Diana...he did like that her given name sounded more like a woman's name. Then his eyes widened as he realized he really did feel slightly panicked at the thought of anything ever happening to Didi... "What's wrong, Jay?" she asked softly as she saw something clouding his golden eyes. She couldn't tell what he was thinking... but she almost thought... she could feel what he was feeling. She'd felt sadness washing over her for a moment and then it had changed to slight fear. Those were not emotions she was experiencing, so they had to be coming from him... But how on earth was she able to feel what he was feeling?!! Jay shook his head slightly and took a deep breath to clear his head and his emotions and saw Didi staring at him with concern and confusion. "It's nothing really, Diana," he said softly, not wanting to tell her that he was already feeling slightly possessive of her. "I was just imagining how hard it must've been for your father to lose a woman he loved so tragically. I can't imagine what it would do to me..." he trailed off, his gut twisting as he stared into her silver eyes... Then he nearly jumped out of his skin when Didi quietly said, "Oh... but I think you're imagining just that and it has your insides twisted in a knot... Are you feeling that because of me?" she asked incredulously. Jay felt like she had just taken out some magic key, inserted it into his heart, opened it and was looking into his very soul... she could feel his emotions. He'd learned the hard way that a man should never show his emotions. He could feel whatever he wanted to feel but he should never show it... it would only cause pain. Gifts of the Future Ch. 03 The only emotion he'd ever felt comfortable sharing with others was happiness... he had a great sense of humor and he loved sharing that with his friends and anyone else who looked like they needed a laugh. But he had a lot of deeper emotions over things from his past that had wounded him and he'd never felt he could open up to anyone and share his pain... his fears... his hopes... his dreams... The few girls he'd dated in high school and during his summer breaks from The Academy had all seen him as this "big, strong man" who wouldn't be interested in discussing anything deep. All they'd wanted was to hang out with him and have a lot of laughs... and some great sex. Both of which he was good at and enjoyed doing... but he'd always hoped to be able to find someone who wanted to share more than just that... And there she was... right in front of him... staring at him with her amazing silver eyes... Didi was locked in Jay's golden gaze and she couldn't tell if the emotions she was feeling at that moment were his... or hers! All she knew was that she felt overwhelmed with the urge to throw herself against him and never let him go! Or was it the desire to have him wrap her in his arms and never let her go! She dropped her eyes as she frowned in confusion trying to sort out which emotions were whose... but she realized it didn't matter... they both wanted the same thing!!! Jay and Didi stood up at the same moment and attacked each other nearly the same way her parents had done... only they weren't pulling each other's clothes off!! But they were kissing just as fiercely. Lynda Seldon glanced to the other side of the reception tent when she saw her daughter suddenly stand up at the same moment as one of Brad's friends from The Academy. Then she gasped when Didi and Jay Hanson attacked each other; she grabbed her husband's arm and pointed as she exclaimed, "Oh, my God, Tom... does that remind you of anything?!!" Tom's eyes flew open wide and he growled, "A little... they'd just better not take it any further!!!" He continued to watch them closely and after a couple minutes, he began to wonder if they were ever going to stop kissing... Didi had grasped Jay's face as they crushed their lips together, and then moaned deeply and slid her hands around his neck and up into his thick, light brown hair as their lips parted and their tongues stroked together. Jay's hands kept wandering over her back in between the times his arms were crushing her body to his. Neither one of them wanted that kiss to end... And it wouldn't have until Brad snuck up beside them and barked loudly, "LT. HANSON!!!" Jay's military training automatically kicked in and he released Didi suddenly and snapped to attention as the whole tent went quiet. Brad almost snorted with laughter as he saw his poor sister struggling to regain her senses, then he turned to Jay again. "Lt. Hanson... that was conduct unbecoming of an officer in the United States Air Force! Mauling a fellow officer's sister like that in public! What has gotten into you, Lt. Hanson?!! Just what are your intentions toward my sister?!!" Jay opened his mouth and barked just as loudly, "LOVE, LT. SELDON!!! THAT'S WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO ME... LOVE!!! AND I INTEND TO MARRY YOUR SISTER!!! If she'll have me..." he finished quietly as he turned to look at Didi, expecting to see shock written all over her face. But all he saw was a huge smile and her head nodding as tears sparkled in her silver eyes. Brad was the one with shock written all over his face... he'd meant the whole thing as a joke, thinking he was just going to embarrass the hell out of Jay and Didi. He didn't think they would actually fall in love at first sight even though he had known all along that they would be perfect for each other. He thought all he had to do was make sure they met and nature would eventually take its course... he just hadn't expected it to happen this quickly!!! Then Brad snorted a sarcastic laugh and shook his head when he saw his parents approaching. How did he always manage to forget the fact that his own Mom and Dad had fallen in love the second they'd laid eyes on each other?!!! Then he laughed harder when he remembered that they'd done a whole lot more than just lay "eyes" on each other... they'd ended up in bed together before they even knew each other's names!!! Brad's laughter got even harder when he saw the look on his father's face as he stopped right in front of Jay and stared up at him like a Marine drill sergeant until Jay snapped back to attention. Brad clamped his mouth shut and tried to quit laughing when his father started barking orders at Jay. "LT. HANSON! I DO NOT RECALL YOU ASKING FOR MY PERMISSION TO MARRY MY DAUGHTER! YOU'D BETTER REMEDY THAT PDQ, LEIUTENANT!!!" Jay started to bark back, "SIR! YES SIR!!! Agent Seldon..." Tom cut him off. "YOU EYEBALL ME FOR THIS, LT. HANSON!!! I WANT TO SEE YOUR EYES AS YOU ASK FOR MY LITTLE GIRL'S HAND!!!" Jay looked down at him with an unwavering gaze and Tom felt almost struck by force at the sense of honor and duty that seemed to radiate from the young man. Jay reminded him of how he'd felt as young Marine Intelligence officer during the war and how caught off guard he'd been when he'd rescued Yakira from those Japanese soldiers about to rape her and fallen in love with her the moment he saw her... Jay spoke clearly and forcefully, "Agent Seldon, sir... may I have permission to marry your daughter?" Tom stepped back from Jay and snapped a crisp salute as he said sincerely, "Permission granted... wholeheartedly, Lt. Hanson!" He held the salute until Jay returned it and then smiled widely at him as he offered his hand and they shook firmly. Then he added, "Just promise me one thing, son... you don't take my daughter to bed until your wedding night. Is that clear?!!" he growled quietly with a menacing grin on his face so that only Jay could hear him. Jay swallowed nervously and replied, "Understood, sir. How quickly do you think we could arrange to have the wedding?!!" he asked with a nervous laugh. Tom Seldon threw back his head and roared with laughter, then he turned around and slapped his arm across Jay's shoulders as he exclaimed, "Damn, son... you're a man after my own heart!" Then he looked over at his wife and daughter and exclaimed laughingly, "Lynda, sweetheart... how quickly do you think you can throw a wedding together? Young Jay, here, is most anxious to get our precious Didi into bed and I've made him promise not to touch her until their wedding night!" Didi stared in horror at her mother, father, brother and new sister as they roared with laughter along with everyone else who'd gathered around. Then she looked at Jay whose face was as red as hers felt, but his golden eyes seemed to both sparkle with amusement and smolder with passion as he stared at her. She rushed to him and he picked her up in his arms and held her excitedly, raining kisses all over her face as she laughed with joy! Then she felt something that turned into the most wonderful sound she'd ever heard. She felt Jay's hard chest begin to rumble against her breasts as she was crushed to him and then his head fell back from kissing her as his laughter burst forth... it was so deep and masculine... and sexy. Didi moaned softly and her own head fell back as the tingles she'd been feeling ever since she'd spotted Jay earlier suddenly turned to liquid heat that pooled directly between her thighs and she felt a throb of excitement inside her like she'd never felt before. She knew instantly it was her body telling her that Jay was the man she was meant for... and he'd give her pleasure that she would never experience with any other man. Didi lifted her head and stared at Jay as his laughter was subsiding. He sobered and his golden eyes instantly roared with flames as he recognized the look on her face. She noticed that it had quieted and she continued to stare at him as she said seriously, "Mom, Dad... I don't want a wedding. Brad... can Jay and I borrow your plane so we can fly to Vegas tonight? You can fly, can't you, Jay?" she asked nervously when she realized she didn't know if he could or not! Jay nodded absently, indicating that he did fly, and then they both turned to look at her family as they all stared at them in shock. Didi burst into laughter again as she exclaimed, "Oh, for crying out loud! Mom, Dad... have you two forgotten that you ran off to Vegas to get married as soon as Mom's background check had been completed?!! Well... I AM your daughter... don't look so shocked that I'm following in your footsteps! Just because I've found my soul mate a lot sooner than you two did, don't hold that against me!!! I want to marry Jay tonight!!! I'm over eighteen and you can't stop me!" she finished adamantly when they still looked skeptical. Jay set her down as he started to protest. "Now, Didi... maybe your Mom would like to give you a nice wedding and your Dad would like the privilege of giving you away..." She turned her face back up to his, put her hands behind his neck and pulled his head down to whisper seductively in his ear. "Jay... if you don't marry me tonight, I'm not going to let you keep that promise you made to my Dad! I want you... no man I've ever met or dated has ever made me feel this way! Please, Jay... I love you and I want you to make love to me... I wish you could take me right now... right here! I need you... so badly!!!" she pleaded desperately as she kissed and nipped his ear lobe and then dragged her lips to his neck and swirled her tongue just under his ear. Tom and Lynda Seldon wondered what on earth their daughter was whispering to the man she wanted to marry. They watched Lt. Jay Hanson's face go from concern... to alarm... to nervousness... to desire... then to downright lust as his hands at her waist started to inch downward. Tom's eyes widened as he realized what his daughter was doing and he finally spoke up. "All right, Didi... that's enough! Stop torturing poor Jay!" He paused as they broke apart and looked over at them. "We'll make you a deal... you can fly to Vegas tonight and get married, but your mother and I are going with you! No arguments, young lady!" he added when Didi opened her mouth to say something. "I would like the privilege of giving my only daughter away and I don't trust you to be alone with Jay in a plane for over two hours! You might cause a crash!" Everyone at the reception busted out laughing again and then the bandleader made an announcement. "Ladies and gentleman... if the matter of the groom's sister's marriage is now settled, it's about time we got back to celebrating the marriage of Lt. Thomas Bradley Seldon of the United States Air Force and his beautiful bride, Barbara Maria Estevez-Seldon! Please clear the dance floor so the bride and groom can share their first dance as husband and wife!" The music started up again and everyone got back to celebrating and toasting to Brad and Barbie's future happiness... including Brad's younger brother, Robbie, who stated what a miracle it was that they had fallen so deeply in love despite having grown up together and knowing each other so well! Robbie was rather pleased that his whole group of friends and siblings cracked up laughing at his joke... Especially when he saw Crystal North smiling so beautifully at him as she shook her head, pushing back strands of her long blonde hair as it fell across her face. Robbie was startled when he suddenly found it difficult to breathe as he saw her aqua eyes twinkling at him with amusement. He took a deep breath and worked up the courage to go ask her for a dance. Crystal had always thought Robbie had a "goofy" sense of humor when they were kids. And he had always tried to pick on her because she had a "stick" figure as a young girl... but she had always been able to make him stop. When they were thirteen, he'd started to notice girls, but she was a "late bloomer" once they'd hit puberty and he never noticed her... even though she had secretly wished he would. She knew she probably could've have influenced him to with her mind... the same way she'd gotten him to stop picking on her, but what would that have gotten her? It would mean nothing to her to have Robbie because she'd made him want her... she wanted him to want her of his own free will. And, all of a sudden, he looked as if he'd finally noticed her... ********** The Supreme Power was most gratified when he checked up on what The Guardians had reported to Him about the celebration for those "chosen ones." Not only was everything progressing as He had hoped, but those "chosen ones" were overjoyed with the soul mates He'd paired them with and they were truly thankful for having found them! The Creator wished He could still sigh as he remembered well the pleasures of the flesh that He'd bestowed upon mortals... especially the pleasures that could be achieved only by those who truly shared their hearts and souls with one another. But only true soul mates could achieve a realm of spiritual pleasure that would follow them into the afterlife if they were lucky enough to have found each other during their mortal existence... And He had made sure that all of the "chosen ones" on this world would have their chances to find their true soul mates so that their rewards for the ordeals they'd have to endure in saving their world would continue once they crossed over into the afterlife. But The Guardians would have to remain vigilant as the dark forces were continuing with their unfair interferences with "free will"... Gifts of the Future Ch. 04 June 2, 1979 had seemed to take forever to arrive for Brad and Barbie Seldon. And then, with all the happy news and events that had happened, the day didn't seem to want to end... Jonnie and Megan North surprised their best friends, Brad and Barbie, with a weeklong honeymoon in Hawaii. They had bought the plane tickets and paid for the honeymoon suite at a luxury hotel on the beach of one of the less populated islands... so they'd have more privacy if they wanted some outdoor adventures! Brad and Barbie were so excited... they'd planned to head up the coast to a nice Bed & Breakfast and disappear for the week... something like Hawaii was a bit out of their budget! But they knew their best friends were very generous and truly wanted them to be happy, so they eagerly accepted and hugged them warmly as they thanked them. Brad and Megan had been overjoyed to discover that their affection for each other as half-brother and sister was completely genuine... nothing of their previous emotional attachment and physical relationship remained to taint their happiness with their true soul mates. After Brad and Barbie had changed into their traveling clothes, Barbie approached Brad's younger sister Didi, handed her the wreath of flowers from her hair and her bouquet, hugged her and wished her and Jay much happiness; then Barbie and Brad departed in a limo for LAX to catch their flight to Hawaii. Tom and Lynda Seldon drove Lt. Jay Hanson to his hotel to change out of his mess dress uniform into a more casual suit, pick up his bags and check out. Then they met Didi back at their house in Brentwood where she was packing an overnight bag for herself. Tom and Lynda also packed a bag for themselves and then they all headed to the airfield in Santa Monica to ready Brad's Cessna 172 Skyhawk and filed their flight plan with the airfield's control tower. By six o'clock in the evening, they were on their way to Las Vegas. Jay was a very competent pilot and he took advantage of a tailwind that put them at a small airfield outside of Vegas in just under two hours. By 8:30, they were all standing in the lobby of a small chapel just off the Vegas strip, waiting for Jay and Didi's turn after two other couples ahead of them. Didi started to feel a little nervous when she suddenly remembered that she was still a virgin and she was afraid she'd be a disappointment to Jay... in bed. She really had no clue as to what sorts of things men and women could share together... she knew the very basics of sex but Barbie had hinted at some very intimate things she and Brad had shared together but she wouldn't go into details. Barbie knew Brad would be very uncomfortable to think that his younger sister knew any details about their sex life so Barbie had told Didi that she should talk to her Mom. Didi cleared her throat nervously and said, "Daddy... Jay... would you please excuse Mom and me for a few minutes? I just need to talk to her... OK?!!" Jay frowned worriedly and asked, "You're not having second thoughts are you, Didi?" She shook her head quickly. "No... not at all!!! I just need... to talk to her... that's all! We'll be right back!" Didi took her mother's arm and led her to the ladies' room. As soon as the door was shut, she turned her wide eyes to her mother. "Mama... I love Jay... I'm certain of that. And I... want him... more than any guy I've ever met!!! I've been feeling some things with him that I've never felt before! But, other than what I know about how the sexual act is performed, I don't know about anything else!! Barbie has hinted that there are a lot of things that a man and woman can share that I don't know if I'll know how to do! And I don't want to disappoint Jay... if he makes me feel how I think he's going to, then I want to do the same for him!!! But I don't know what to do!!!" she exclaimed in a panic. Lynda Seldon smiled and then chuckled softly as she wrapped her arms around her nervous daughter. "Oh, Didi... sweetheart... you have nothing to worry about. I can tell from how Jay looks at you that he's well experienced in how to please a woman!" She shushed Didi when she started to interrupt and then continued, "I know you're nervous that you won't be able to please him, but sweetheart, one of the things that a man like Jay usually finds irresistible about a woman is the knowledge that he is the only man who could ever give you such pleasure. As long as you let him know that, you will never be a disappointment to him." "But Mama... I want to please HIM, too!!!" she cried desperately as she looked into her mother's eyes. "How will I know what to do?!!" she asked worriedly. Lynda just smiled knowingly and replied, "Your husband will teach you, Didi. Another thing a man like him finds irresistible in a woman is her eagerness to please him and her willingness to let him teach her what he enjoys! Trust me, my sweetheart... and trust your husband!" Then she turned serious for a moment. "Didi... you are aware that... being a virgin, the first time your husband... enters your body..." Didi put her hand up and closed her eyes as she said, "Yes, Mama... I have been warned about that!" Then Lynda added carefully, "The only thing you might have to really worry about there is if Jay's penis is as big as the rest of him..." "MAMA!!!" Didi exclaimed as her face went crimson. "What are you saying?!! Are you saying he might not be able to fit inside me?!! Oh, my God... what if that's true?!! Then what do I do?!!" Lynda started chuckling again. "Sweetheart... calm down!!! That's not what I meant! If your husband knows what he's doing, and I'm sure he does, then he'll get inside you... no matter how big he is! All I meant to do was to warn you that the bigger he is, the more pain you're likely to experience that first time, so I just wanted you to be prepared!" Didi took a deep breath and exhaled as she said, "Oh... OK, I got it. I need to go to the restroom and splash some water on my face, and then I'll be fine!" Lynda waited for her daughter and then they went out to join Tom and Jay... who'd had their own discussion while the women were gone... ********* Jay nervously watched his bride-to-be dragging her mother inside the ladies' room door. Then he turned to look at his soon-to-be father and noticed a slight smirk on his face. "Do you think she's really ready for this, sir? I mean... we did just meet and I am a few years older... and a pretty big guy... I don't want her be afraid of me! Do you think she's afraid of me, sir?" Tom chuckled slightly as he replied, "Well, Lt. Hanson, she may very well be afraid of you... but not how you think. Jay... you are aware that my daughter is a virgin, aren't you?" He paused as he saw realization widen Jay's eyes and then he nodded that he'd known, so Tom added, "She's probably just asking her mother if there's anything else she might need to know in order to be a good... wife... if you get what I mean!" Jay looked down and tried to hide the pleased and amused smile that widened his lips as he tried to imagine the conversation going on between Didi and her mother. Then he looked back up at her father and asked jokingly, "And will your wife have some good advice for her?" Tom raised his eyebrows at the young man's audacity to ask such a question, but the humor on his face told him Jay was only joking, so he played along. "Son... my wife could write a book about how to please a man and it'd be an instant best seller!!" They chuckled together for a moment and then Tom grew serious again. "But if I know my wife, she's telling our daughter that the best way for her to please you is to just let you know when you're pleasing her and to let you teach her the ways you want to be pleased." Jay's face flushed as the thought of Didi following that advice had his loins tingling. He swallowed nervously and tried to keep his breathing under control from the images that were flooding his brain. Then he stared into the eyes of the man whose virgin daughter he would soon be claiming as his as he said quietly, "Your wife is a very wise woman, indeed, sir. There's nothing else I could wish for from my wife..." Tom recognized the passionate intensity in Jay's golden brown eyes and knew he was probably imagining the moment when he'd take his wife for the first time. Tom clenched his jaw as the image also invaded his mind and then he shook his head forcefully because the image of Jay naked that his mind created had given him a monster cock! Tom's face reddened and he snorted in embarrassment. Jay shook his thoughts away and looked at Tom as he asked him, "What's so funny, sir?" "Nothing, son. I just... promise me that you'll be gentle with my daughter! Try not to... hurt her... too badly... the first time... You know?!!" Jay's eyes widened and his face flushed further as he turned away from the older man for a moment, suddenly remembering his disastrous first time when both he and the girl had been virgins. He hadn't realized at the time that his cock was considerably larger than average and even as gentle as he'd tried to be, the poor girl had screamed in pain after she'd told him to just force his way inside her because his gentle probing hadn't worked. He couldn't stand the thought of causing Didi such pain... He turned back around and faced her father nervously as he said, "Uh... sir... the last thing I'd ever want to do is hurt Didi, but..." He paused as he looked away in utter embarrassment and fear as he tried to finish explaining. "But... you see... I don't know if I can promise that. I... that is my..." Jay continued to wince as he looked Tom in the face again and said quietly, "I'm... kind of on the... large size... and my first time was... pretty bad... for the girl." He paused for a moment as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Didi will be the only other virgin I've been with and I've learned a little more since that first time, so I'll do my best to be gentle with her... that I will promise!" Tom chuckled softly at the young man's embarrassed discomfort and he couldn't stand the thought of sending his daughter and her new husband off on their wedding night with him feeling so self-conscious that he might not be able to bring his new wife pleasure. He put his arm around Jay's shoulders and asked him quietly, "Jay... answer me honestly... does my daughter turn you on?" Jay glanced sideways at him and nodded as he replied, "Yes sir... very much." "And you'll know if my daughter is also turned on by you... correct?" Jay frowned slightly in confusion as he answered, "Uh... yes sir... I believe so." Tom raised his eyebrows. "You believe so? Jay... did you know if that first girl you were with was turned on enough?" Jay frowned harder as he tried to dig up more about that painful memory. He suddenly remembered when he'd probed the girl with his fingers before attempting to enter her, she had not felt nearly as wet and ready as the girls he'd been with since... but none of them had been virgins. "Come to think of it, sir... I don't believe she was. But I had thought that was something that couldn't happen for a girl until she was no longer a virgin because her fear of the initial pain just prevents her from relaxing enough to let it happen." Tom asked him quietly, "Was that first girl in love with you?" Jay reluctantly shook his head, so Tom made the point he needed to. "Son... that girl probably was nervous just because it was her first time and that's why she wasn't ready. My daughter is in love with you and she wants you and if you feel the same way about her... trust me... she'll be plenty ready!!!" He gave Jay's shoulders a momentary squeeze just before he dropped his arm. Lynda and Didi came out of the ladies' room and over to join them just as the chapel receptionist came out to say that the justice was ready for them. Lynda went up and took her place as witness for her daughter while Jay stood in front of the justice and watched his bride being escorted down the short aisle by her smiling father while a lady at a small organ played the traditional Here Comes The Bride. Tom and Lynda couldn't help but notice that Jay and Didi couldn't tear their eyes away from each other. They quietly murmured the "I do's" when prompted, but when they repeated the vows, the justice looked surprised when both Jay and Didi changed the last line to the same thing they'd heard earlier at Brad and Barbie's wedding... "I, Jay Alan Hanson, take thee, Diana Yakira Seldon, to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor and cherish, forsaking all others, I pledge myself to thee for all time." "I, Diana Yakira Seldon, take thee, Lt. Jay Alan Hanson, to be my husband. To have and to hold from this day forward, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in heath, to love, honor and cherish, forsaking all others, I pledge myself to thee for all time." They waited anxiously for the justice to finally pronounce them husband and wife. They were dying to kiss each other again as they realized they hadn't since Brad had interrupted their first magnificent assault on each other. When the justice finally said the magic words, Jay took his time... slowly lowering his head as Didi stared at him with her head tilted up and her lips slightly parted. It started softly... their lips molding together perfectly as their eyes closed... their mouths parting slowly to allow their tongues to mingle tentatively. Then it deepened... Didi moaned as Jay's tongue rhythmically stroked hers, and she instantly pictured herself lying beneath him, feeling his body stroking hers in the same way... Didi groaned gutturally and her knees weakened as she felt a throb between her legs and a rush of hot liquid that dampened her panties. She sagged against Jay and he caught her in his arms and picked her up as he broke their kiss. "Are you OK, my love?" he asked quietly and then smiled when he saw the look in her silver eyes as they drifted open and she slowly and sexily returned his smile. Jay knew... she was more than OK... she was ready. ********* The honeymoon suite was bathed in a soft glow; the glare of the bright lights of Las Vegas was filtered through the sheer curtains on the window. Lt. Jay Hanson and his new bride, Diana Seldon-Hanson, were standing beside the bed and he was carefully undressing her. She was wearing a simple dress with a zipper down the back and she trembled nervously as she felt his large, warm hands slowly lowering the zipper. She jerked involuntarily when his hands slid inside the parted material and caressed her back. "Diana..." he said gently in his low, masculine voice, "Am I scaring you, my love? I can feel you trembling and you jumped when I touched you... Please tell me you're not afraid of me." She brought her hands up to his shirt and started unbuttoning it as she stared into his eyes. "No, Jay... I'm not afraid of you," she said softly. "I'm trembling in anticipation... I've never known how it would feel to want a man this way, and I can't help how my body is reacting to you. All I know is that if I don't soon feel you inside me, I'm afraid I'll go crazy!!!" she ended urgently as she hurriedly finished opening his shirt and pushing it off of him. Jay took over, dropping his arms from around her to finish pushing his shirt off and then yanking his tee shirt up over his head to bare his torso. He growled when he saw Didi's silver eyes widen as she stared at the broad expanse of his chest liberally sprinkled with soft brown hair that trailed down the middle of his abdomen and disappeared into his trousers... Didi's hands came up and slid over his chest hair as her fingers kneaded the hard flesh of his pectoral muscles. She moaned as the sensation of her hands on his hard body made the flesh between her thighs throb again. Then she shuddered involuntarily when Jay grasped the back of her dress and pulled it forward and pushed down until it slid to the floor. She froze when she felt his hands on her bra, unhooking it, then she trembled again and closed her eyes as he dragged his palms on her skin from her back up to her shoulders to push the straps down her arms. Then his hands slid back up to her shoulders and down her chest, pulling the silky material away from her breasts. Didi gasped and moaned when she felt his large, warm hands cupping her bare breasts. Jay didn't think his cock could get any harder until he saw his wife's breasts for the first time... he couldn't have imagined how gorgeous they were!!! So full and firm with dark rosy tips... and her nipples were just right... large and poking out proudly. He loved to take time during foreplay to suck on a woman's nipples... to fill his mouth and stroke his tongue on her firm flesh. He'd always secretly wished he could make a woman climax just from sucking on her nipples... Jay started stroking Didi's breasts softly just to see how she responded and was pleased when her back arched in pleasure as he ran his thumbs over her firm nipples. He took advantage of her breasts being thrust slightly upward by bending down and laving her left nipple with his tongue and then gently sucked the tip of her breast into his mouth. He groaned as Didi's hands and arms came up to clutch at his head and hold him in place as her body began to writhe with pleasure. "Oh God, Jay... DON'T STOP!!!" Didi yelled as she felt the throbbing between her legs growing in intensity. She felt Jay intensify the pressure of his sucking and his tongue was swirling on her nipple. She suddenly yelped and then moaned continuously when she felt like her insides had exploded, sending waves of tingling pleasure throughout her body. She nearly collapsed until Jay slid his hands from her breasts around to her back to hold her while he dragged his mouth from her nipple and kissed his way up her body to her neck and then just held her against him until she stopped trembling as the tingles subsided. Didi's arms had dropped from his head to dangle limply at her sides until she dragged her hands up his arms and wrapped hers around his shoulders as she started to laugh from the realization that she'd just experienced her first orgasm. Jay straightened up and looked at his beautiful bride, wondering why she was laughing. "What's so funny, Diana?" Didi smiled widely and replied, "Nothing's funny! I'm just... happy! I had no idea what to expect the first time I... climaxed... and it was way better than I could've imagined!!! My God, Jay... I had no idea you could do that to me so easily!!!" He smiled crookedly as he admitted, "Neither did I, my love... and you've already pleased me more than any woman I've ever been with! I love your breasts and I've always wished I could make a woman come that way... I'm so glad I can do that for my wife! And I hope you'll let me do that whenever I want!" he ended with a sexy smile, his voice low and husky. Didi smiled back just as sexily and then they froze for a moment as flames roared in their eyes and they both felt the sudden urgency to complete their union. They released each other and hurriedly stripped out of their remaining clothes, shoes and undergarments. Didi froze again when she looked down and saw the size of Jay's cock. She gasped and breathed raggedly, "Oh, my God... it is as big as the rest of you!" She guessed him to be at least eight and a half inches long and as big around as... she couldn't think of what to compare it to... all she knew was that he looked HUGE! And she was suddenly nervous again... Jay saw fear creep into her silver eyes... the flames were still there as well; she wanted him but she was nervous about his size... and he couldn't blame her! He turned and threw the bedcovers back, piled a bunch of pillows against the headboard and then turned to his trembling bride. "Put your arms around my shoulders, Didi, and when I lift you, wrap your legs around my waist... trust me," he said gently and placed a kiss on her nose when he saw her frown in confusion. Gifts of the Future Ch. 04 She did as he said and then he sat on the bed and scooted toward the pillows until he could lean back on them still sitting mostly upright. He helped Didi position herself on her knees and lower legs, straddling him with his cock standing straight up behind her. He fondled her breasts as he told her what to do. "Now, my love... You can move however you want while I pleasure your breasts, and when you feel comfortable enough, you can lift up and lower yourself onto me. This way, you can control how fast or slow I enter your body and maybe control any pain you might feel. Understand?" Didi smiled softly as she nodded at her thoughtful husband and leaned forward to kiss him passionately for a few moments until she backed away, signaling that she was ready. She moaned and clung to Jay's shoulders as he kissed his way down her neck and across her shoulders, arching her back as his lips and tongue slowly blazed a trail on the sensitive skin above her breasts until he locked his mouth on the tip of her right breast. As before, she felt the tingles between her legs turn to a throb and she groaned deeply both from the sensation of his mouth suckling her breast and the feeling of his hard cock rubbing against her backside. Didi's hips began to undulate against Jay's body, rubbing her pussy on his crotch just above the base of his thick shaft. Jay moaned deeply as he could feel her heat and her wetness. He released her breast and she whimpered as he slid his right hand down her abdomen. "Lift your body, Didi," he instructed gently and stared into her wanton silver gaze as his fingers dragged through her dark, dripping curls and slid inside her hot, wet flesh. He smiled sexily when she moaned loudly and tried to thrust herself onto his fingers. "I think you're ready, my love. I know you want to feel my cock inside you, Diana..." he whispered huskily as he withdrew his fingers from her slick, relaxed entrance. "Ohh yessssss..." she breathed hotly when he wrapped his lips around the tip of her breast again. Jay maintained his lip-lock on her breast as she carefully lifted higher on her knees until she could feel his hot, hard shaft teasing between her legs. Didi tentatively moved her hips, feeling the head of his cock part her wet folds and she moaned deeply as her flesh throbbed harder. She felt as if her inner flesh was throbbing with the need to be filled... filled by him! She braced herself and pushed downward, hissing slightly as she felt herself stretching around his cock. Then she paused for a moment until all she could feel was her body still throbbing with pleasure. Jay moaned and restrained himself from grabbing his virgin wife's hips and shoving her down onto his cock and from thrusting upward. He knew he had to let her control this first entry in order to minimize the pain for her. She was so tight... but she was also hot and very, very wet. And he was hoping he could make her come again at the moment she lost her virginity... maybe then the pain wouldn't matter. Didi could feel another orgasm building as Jay started to lavish attention to both her breasts, but then he latched onto her right breast, releasing her left one, and moved his hand downward to her crotch again. She gasped and jerked slightly when she felt his fingers massaging at the top of her wet slit and her hips began to rock as her thighs slowly lowered and she felt his cock sliding further inside her with almost no resistance... Then she felt a sudden sharp pain that instantly disappeared when her body exploded into a forceful climax. Didi gasped and then screamed as she came, continuing to raise and lower her body as she felt Jay's hips countering her moves... thrusting upward to meet her as her body lowered onto him. "Oh, my God... JAY! OH, JAY... THAT FEELS SO GOOD! DON'T STOP... DON'T EVER STOP LOVING ME!!!" she wailed loudly as she continued to ride his awesome cock. Jay Hanson was lost... he never wanted to stop loving his wife, either, but her body was driving him beyond his control. He grabbed Didi and lifted her off of him suddenly, throwing her sideways on the bed and then scrambled over top of her, parting her thighs and thrusting as deeply inside her as he could, growling softly at her wanton moan as he took her so passionately. He loved the way her body was responding to his... she was so wet for him, she writhed with pleasure whenever he touched her and he loved that she was so vocal about how he made her feel. He wondered if she'd also enjoy knowing just how much pleasure she was giving him... "Ohhh, my beautiful Diana... your body is so gorgeous! I can't believe how easily you took my cock! It feels so good to be inside you, my love! It's never felt like this before... you're so... hot... and such a passionate woman for a virgin! You have no idea how special I feel to be the only man who will ever know what a wonderful lover you are! You belong only to me... Diana... Yakira... Seldon... Hanson. You are mine... forever... I love you, my wife!" he whispered just before he covered her lips and filled her mouth with his tongue the same way his cock was filling her body. Didi whimpered desperately and wrapped herself around her husband's huge body as he kissed her and fucked her passionately as she came again. She never knew the sex act would be just as emotional as it was physical. She'd known Jay less than nine hours and already she felt she knew him better than anyone in her own family! And he certainly seemed to know her... everything he'd said to her had been exactly what she'd needed to hear to know that she was in no way a disappointment to him! Jay stroked Didi to climax twice more, coming with her on the last one. He was amazed that he'd been able to hold on, but both of Didi's orgasms had happened within ten minutes, so it wasn't like he'd had to hold off for very long! The thing that had made it most difficult for him was feeling her body throbbing on his huge shaft... she was so tight and he could feel every pulse of her flesh on his. It was the most amazing thing he'd ever felt... ********** Jay and Didi stayed in Vegas for only one night, checking out Sunday afternoon and flying back to Los Angeles. Didi's parents had made arrangements to take a commercial flight back to L.A. Saturday night after the wedding ceremony because they didn't want Didi and Jay feeling nervous knowing they were hovering nearby. They'd paid for the night in the nice honeymoon suite as their wedding present to them and then left. Tom and Lynda met Jay and Didi at the Santa Monica airfield late Sunday afternoon and they could tell that the wedding night had gone well, but they weren't about to ask any questions. Instead, they thought it would be better to find out from their new son where he'd been stationed after his graduation from the Air Force Academy. They were delighted to learn that he, like Brad, would be doing his jet fighter training at Edwards Air Force Base just north of L.A. for at least the next year or so. Didi was also happy to hear that, as her spur-of-the-moment decision to marry Jay had caused her to forget that he could've been assigned to a base on the other side of the country and she would've suddenly been separated from her family completely. Jay was also glad they would be staying around L.A. for a while... for Didi's sake. It would give her more time to get used to the idea of having to move away when he was reassigned to another base. He didn't really care where they ended up, as he wasn't that close to his parents... the less he saw of them the better, as far as he was concerned. His father had been an abusive alcoholic most of his life and his mother was an emotionally fragile woman incapable of standing up to him. Luckily, he was an only child, so he'd only had to worry about his mother and himself. That was how Jay had learned never to display his emotions so as not to trigger his father's anger. He had talked his mother into hiding with him in a locked room until his father would calm down or pass out. They got away with that for several years until one time when Jay was about 13 and he'd come home to find his father screaming at his cowering mother and he'd made the mistake of trying to stop him. Jay's father had beaten him severely and that was when he'd vowed if he managed to grow bigger than his father, he'd never let him lay a hand on him again... Jay had stayed away from home as much as possible after that, playing school sports, working part-time jobs and studying to get himself into a position to get away from his father as soon as he could. One of his high school coaches was a retired Air Force Major and he'd been impressed with Jay's drive and discipline. He'd learned of Jay's home life when his father showed up at football practice one afternoon trying to browbeat Jay into giving him some money because there wasn't any liquor at the house. Jay kept trying to get rid of it as fast as his father would buy it... It was his coach who'd influenced him to apply to The Academy and had helped him get the needed recommendations and a football scholarship... which was how he and Brad had met. Jay did end up bigger than his father... much bigger... and one night just before he left for his first year at The Academy, Jay had proven to his father that he would never lay a hand on him ever again. Jay had gone home with his parents right after the graduation ceremony only to try to convince his mother that she needed to get away from his father. She wouldn't listen... she'd been so emotionally belittled over the years that she was convinced she'd never be able to survive by herself. Jay had tried to tell her that he'd look after her, move her with him to wherever he was stationed, but she had refused, saying he'd already spent years looking after her. But she had told him that his father had not been nearly as mean to her during the last four years he was at The Academy and he wasn't drinking as often any more... she was convinced things had improved. Jay had warned his father before he left again, that if anything ever happened to his mother that was not from natural causes, he'd rip the man limb from limb. It was the first time he'd ever seen fear in his father's eyes. Jay had emotionally related his whole life's story to his new wife that morning after they'd woken up and he'd shown her other pleasures he could give her body with his lips and tongue and then cried joyfully with her as she rode his cock until they both came forcefully. She had collapsed onto his heaving chest and breathlessly asked him to tell her everything about him. Then she'd held him and cried softly with him as every painful memory had poured from his soul... He squeezed Didi's hand when her father asked him to tell them more about himself as they were driving back to the Seldon residence in Brentwood, and she spoke up. "Oh, Dad... Jay's told me everything about himself. We did manage to do some talking as well! What did your instincts tell you about Jay when you first met him, Dad?" Tom replied, "I got the impression that he is very driven by duty and honor... but he does have a sense of humor that I find remarkable for someone who didn't seem to have a very happy childhood..." Tom's voice trailed off when he glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the stark expression on Jay's face and he knew that Charles' instincts had been right on target... as usual. He'd called late the night before to let Charles and Diana know that he and Lynda had returned from Vegas. His partner and best friend told him that he'd observed Jay closely during their exchange at the reception earlier that day and that Jay had developed into quite a remarkable young man despite a mostly painful childhood. Tom had appreciated Charles' insight, especially when he added that Jay would probably be a wonderful husband and father and he suspected it was because he'd had the opposite as a role model. Tom changed the subject by asking Jay when he was supposed to report for duty at Edwards. He watched carefully as the young man lifted his wife's hand and kissed it gently, closing his eyes and swallowing hard before he answered. "I report for duty the beginning of next week, sir. So, I'll have time to notify the base of my change in marital status and then Didi and I can look around for a place to live. I hope it's no trouble for us to stay with you until then, sir." Lynda answered, "Of course it's no trouble, Jay! You're family now... so stop being so formal with all this 'sir' and 'ma'am' talk! Please call us Tom and Lynda... or if you prefer, you can even refer to us as... Mom and Dad," she said softly as she turned her head and smiled warmly at him. Jay squeezed Didi's hand again and cleared the lump that kept trying to form in his throat. "I appreciate you welcoming me into your family so warmly, Lynda... Mom," he grinned nervously as he tested the sound of the word shyly. Then he returned Lynda's genuine smile and looked over at his beaming wife. Later that night, they were in the room Didi had grown up in all her life and they were laughing softly from her comment that it felt so strange to her to be sharing her childhood bed with her husband. Then Jay had grown somber thinking about how he would never want to take Didi to his childhood room... not even to the house he'd grown up in. He never wanted to go back... Didi recognized the distant look in his eyes and she could feel the slight pain emanating from him... surely there must've been something good about his childhood. She rested her chin on his chest and smiled sadly at him as she asked softly, "Jay... do you have... any happy childhood memories at all?" He furrowed his brows in concentration and there was only one thing he could come up with that had always made him wonder how he'd been that lucky... especially after being locked out in a backyard shed during the coldest part of winter some nights. He snorted a short laugh as he grinned sarcastically. "Well... I was never sick a day in my life! I cannot ever remember having a cold or the flu or any of the normal childhood sicknesses... I've always been as healthy as an ox!" Didi frowned sadly and shook her head as tears welled in her eyes. "That's the nicest thing you can remember? That you were never sick?!! Oh God, Jay..." He took a deep breath and tightened his arms around her. "I'm sorry, my love. That's the only constant thing I can remember that always made me wonder why I was so lucky that way. There are little snippets here and there of nice things my mother did for me to try to make up for everything else. I do know she loves me... she was just never strong enough to protect me, so I had to try to protect her. And now I have you to protect me... just like I'll always protect you. I love you, Didi, and I promise I'll never let anything happen to us or any of our children..." Didi blinked the tears from her eyes and lifted up to kiss her husband tenderly. The kiss turned more passionate and before long, they were making quiet, tender love in her childhood bed... no words were spoken, no moans or groans of hot desire were uttered. Their breathing was heavy and ragged as deep emotions clutched at their chests. Tears kept filling their eyes as they stared at each other in between their tenderly passionate kisses when he raised his head to watch her as she came; he marveled at the sheer beauty of her face and the emotions behind their lovemaking. Jay took Didi's body slowly and deeply, wanting the tender emotions they were sharing to be drawn out for as long as possible... he'd never believed he would ever be able love someone so deeply. Nor did he ever dare to dream that they'd love him back just as deeply. He had always wanted to believe that love like that existed, but he'd never believed it would be possible for him... that would've taken a miracle. And he'd stopped believing in miracles long ago. Hell... he'd stopped believing in the existence of any kind of... God... How could a "God" who was supposed to love all mankind allow innocent children to be beaten and abused by their own parents?!! And he knew there were a lot of other people who were caught up in circumstances way worse than his... Why would God allow things like that to continue?!! Where was HE when he'd needed Him most?!! Where was God when the whole damn world was needing Him?!! Jay looked down into his beautiful new wife's shimmering silver eyes, noting the tears trickling from the corners as she stared back at him, and then she whispered something that sent shockwaves rippling through him. He shuddered as he felt an orgasm building listening to the truth of her words. "There is a God, my love... He sent you to me! You are my miracle... my main purpose in life is just to love you! I can sense your feelings... you can never lie to me about how you feel... and if that's not a miracle, I'd like to know what is!" Didi held Jay tightly as he came; his whole body trembled when he began to cry softly as his orgasm waned. She stroked his hair and his back, turning her head to kiss his neck softly every so often as she soothed him gently. He sobbed quietly as he clung to his "miracle"... his wife... the only person who could've helped him to believe in the existence of God again. He said a silent a prayer and asked God to forgive him for doubting His existence and thanked Him for finally sending his soul mate to him... ********** The Supreme Power heard the prayer and felt the pain of one the "chosen ones" who'd been subjected to a life of torment by the dark forces and yet had managed not to succumb to darkness himself. The worst he'd done was to have doubted His existence for a long while and to question why He seemed to have abandoned their world... But it had only been because of the unfair interference with free will again by the dark forces... The young man's mother and his real father had also been "chosen ones" but the dark forces had managed to cause the death of his biological father before The Guardians had been able to stop it. And once his mother had married another man who was not a "chosen one," it had been easy for the dark forces to mess with his free will and make their lives miserable... The Guardians had done their best to try to help the young man's mother stay strong but, once she'd lost her true soul mate, she'd lost her will to live. Her son was the only reason she'd stayed alive as long as she did, and now that he was no longer with her, The Guardians worried how much longer she'd want to continue the struggle. The Guardians would have to do whatever they could to make sure this "chosen one" learned the truth of his existence one day... ***** Author's Note: OK... here we go again! What is with the fucking bastards who like to give nothing but low votes!!! Leave me the fuck alone! If you don't like my stories... then don't read them!!! What don't you get about that?!!! Are you a fucking moron?!!! I wish I knew who the hell you were... Should I bother to continue at all?!!! Is there anyone left out there who is not just bored to death with my stories?!! I'm feeling just a tad unappreciated at the moment... in case you couldn't tell... Positive comments and feedback are always greatly appreciated... Gifts of the Future Ch. 05 Rickie Estevez tracked down Cadet Karen Moss a few days after Brad and Barbie Seldon's wedding and reception when Jay Hanson told him that Karen's family lived somewhere in Pasadena. He looked up her driver's license information, found her address and rode his new Harley out to the valley to hunt her down. He just had to know if she'd felt the same thing he did when they'd first touched and, if so, why she had avoided him the rest of that day... Her family owned a modest middle class home in a neighborhood not far from Eaton Canyon Park. Rickie pulled up in front of the house, stopped his bike and let it idle as he worked up his courage to go knock on the door and find out if she was even home. While he was looking toward the house, the front door opened and Karen came out with a smile on her face as she approached him. His breath caught in his chest again as he watched her walking toward him... her long, well-toned legs bared by the workout shorts she was wearing. Her breasts were small, but perky, and it was obvious she was not wearing a bra, as her firm nipples were clearly visible under her tight tee shirt. And her emerald green eyes were alight with excitement... Did he dare to hope that she was glad to see him? Her shoulder length hair was pulled back in a short ponytail. He had originally thought she was a brunette; her dark hair had been covered by her uniform hat at the wedding and reception most of the time, but he was surprised to discover it was actually a deep, rich auburn with the sun highlighting it. He continued to stare at her behind his sunglasses and it took him a moment to realize she was saying something but he couldn't hear her over the low rumble of his Harley, so he killed the engine... ********** Karen Moss was in her bedroom doing part of her usual exercise workout routine when she heard the sound of a motorcycle coming down the road and her longtime fascination made her peek out the blinds on her window to watch as it rode past. Her eyes widened when she saw it come to a stop out front as the driver sat looking toward her house. She had no idea who the man was... maybe he was lost and she could get a better look at his bike as she gave him directions. She bounded out of her room to the front door and went out to greet whoever it was and see if they needed her assistance. The driver was looking toward her, but she couldn't see his eyes for the mirrored shades he had on and she wondered if he was perusing her body they way she wished she could his... from what she could tell, he obviously had a great physique! "Can I help you with something?" she asked when she stopped a few feet away. She noticed the man shake his head slightly and then cut the engine of his bike, killing the low rumble that had always given Karen tingles whenever she was close to one of those powerful machines. She almost frowned in disappointment when she no longer felt the heady vibrations from the Harley's engine until the driver returned her smile... The tingles in her body roared to flames when she instantly recognized that dazzling smile... Rickie Estevez. Oh, hell... she was in serious danger. Why the hell did the guy have to be so damn gorgeous AND ride a motorcycle?!! When he took his sunglasses off and she saw the heat in his large, dark hazel eyes, she froze, unable to tear her gaze away from him. She struggled to keep her breathing smooth and even... though she wanted to pant with excitement! Rickie watched the smile slowly disappear from Karen's face when he removed his sunglasses. Then he realized that she'd had no idea who he was until that moment... and she didn't look glad to see him. He took a deep breath and sighed heavily as he said, "Well... I guess it was a mistake to track you down. Look... I don't know what I did to give you such a bad first impression, but I was hoping you'd give me another chance. But it doesn't look as though that's going to happen, so I'll just leave..." He went to put his shades back on and then stopped when she reached out and put her hand on his and he felt that same crackle of electricity tingle through his hand and up his arm. He also noticed that Karen's body jerked slightly, but she didn't take her hand away this time. Instead, she moved closer, taking his sunglasses from him and replacing them with her other hand as if they were greeting each other again. Then she said softly, "I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I didn't like you when we first met, but you... intimidated me. I... I'd never had quite this reaction to a guy the first moment he smiled at me... and then you touched my hand. It scared me... I... wasn't sure what had happened between us..." she finished quietly and then swallowed nervously. Rickie's dazzling smile slowly returned when he realized she was admitting that she'd felt the same thing as he. Then he said teasingly, "Karen... it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's happening between us. This is simple chemistry... very real chemistry... and I want to find out if there could be more to it than just chemistry. Don't you?" Karen smiled back at him, shyly at first, and then chuckled when she realized he must've asked someone for more information about her and had learned that her double major at The Academy was in Systems Engineering and Astronautics with minors in Physics and Bioengineering. She could, quite literally, be considered a "rocket scientist!" Then she smiled even wider when she further realized that he was in no way intimidated by her genius level IQ... in fact, he seemed genuinely intrigued with her as a person. Yes, there was the initial rush of a physical attraction between them, but he was looking into her eyes like he wanted to see beyond the flames of her desire for him... he was hoping for more than just desire... Rickie felt Karen's hand tremble in his and he frowned questioningly at her, wondering why she was so nervous with him... why he intimidated her so. She was the one who was smart... what could she ever see in him other than his moderate good looks? He wasn't quite as handsome as his dark skinned Latino father, though he did have his dark brown hair, his bright smile... and his thicker than average cock. His skin was fairer like his mother's and he'd also inherited her large hazel eyes, but his were a little deeper in color. He was also somewhat short for a man, only five feet, nine inches tall. So he was grateful to see that Karen seemed to be a little shorter than him... she appeared to be around five – seven or so... but she was looking down at him as he was still sitting on his bike. Rickie extracted his hand from hers and removed his helmet, hanging it on one of the hooks beside the buddy seat behind him as he set the kickstand and then swung his leg over the seat to stand up facing Karen. He'd guessed correctly... she was only a couple of inches shorter than him. He grinned when he saw her eyes slide quickly down his body and back up to his face... his cock stirred when he could tell from the flames in her eyes that she liked what she saw. He tried to keep his eyes glued to her face, but he couldn't resist the urge to do the same with her... he nearly groaned when he noticed that her nipples had hardened even further, looking almost like slightly worn pencil erasers poking through the fabric of her tee shirt. Her chest was heaving slightly and he was having a hard time not imagining what her naked breasts looked like... and how his hands would look grasping their round firmness... Rickie growled softly as his thick cock hardened inside his tight, faded Levis... making it painfully obvious to him that he'd made a mistake in not wearing his under shorts. His eyes lifted to her smoldering emerald gaze and he had to literally hold himself back from grabbing her and kissing her, clenching his hands at his sides from the effort. OK... they wanted each other... that much was obvious. But would they be good together? He had no doubt the sex would be good... but would they be good for each other?!! How would he be good for her... other than the sex?!! He was nowhere near as smart as she... what else could he possibly offer her other than great sex?!! He had no idea... he just prayed that would be enough for her. Karen recognized the full-blown desire in Rickie's blazing hazel eyes, but the clenching of his jaw gave away his hesitation and she wondered what was causing it. Then she realized that he might very well be intimidated by her intelligence... worried that he'd have nothing to offer her in the way of stimulating conversation. She had no doubt that he'd be able to stimulate her physically... but she'd have to prove to him that she had other interests beyond the scientific that they could share together. Starting with that magnificent machine he'd rode up on, and she wondered how good it must feel rumbling between his powerful thighs... "That looks like a brand new Electra Glide... that must've cost you a pretty penny! What on earth made you splurge on such a magnificent machine?!!" she asked excitedly. Rickie grinned at her enthusiasm. "Well... I've been with the L.A.P.D. motorcycle patrol for just over a year now, and this is the type of bike they issued me to ride and I just fell in love with it. So... I saved some money for the down payment and I just got this baby about a month ago. I... uh... take it you have a thing for motorcycles?" he asked provocatively with a sexy grin. Karen grinned widely as she replied just as provocatively, "Ohhh... I have waaay more than just a 'thing' for them... I've been fascinated by them my whole life!!! Riding gives me such a feeling of freedom! It's almost like... I can just let go and forget about all the... 'stuff' that's constantly crowding my brain and making me think all the time!!! Sometimes... I just need to stop thinking and there's only one way I've ever been able to just relax and be me... and that's when I'm on a motorcycle! Even SEX has never been able to make be stop thinking like I do when I'm riding!!!" she blurted before she even realized what she was saying as she stared in awe at the big, shining black and silver Harley. Rickie snorted quickly and then chuckled softly when her face snapped toward his and flushed crimson when she realized what she'd said. He moved toward her until the front of their bodies were just barely touching, his smile faded and he said huskily, "I bet I could make you stop thinking, Karen... even during sex. You want to find out? You wanna... go for a ride?" Karen Moss' brain had ceased to function as soon as she'd felt the heat of his body touching hers. She was staring into his deep hazel eyes, feeling the flames roaring in them singeing her body all over. His lips were moving and the sound of his sexy voice was vibrating through her soul but she was incapable of comprehending his words. The only thought in her genius level brain was, "Take me... I'm yours!" Rickie Estevez knew in that moment that Karen was his. Her eyes were reflecting her soul and it was crying to him that she needed to know how he could make her feel... she was no longer thinking at that moment... she just needed to feel. He slid his arms around her and molded their bodies together as his lips sought hers. Karen whimpered softly and sagged against Rickie's solid body as he crushed her against him and parted her lips. Then she moaned desperately when she felt his tongue coaxing hers to life... and in the next moment, her whole body roared to life! She groaned wildly as her arms wrapped around his shoulders and back and one of her legs lifted to wrap around his ass and press their hips together. Before she even realized what was happening, her head was falling back and she was moaning from an orgasm as she rubbed her crotch against his hard cock through his jeans. She felt like she was never going to stop coming when Rickie continued to thrust his crotch against hers with slow, hard strokes. His cock felt huge and Karen kept imagining how he would feel inside her... Rickie forced himself to stop rubbing against her when he realized he was about to come as well... he didn't want to have to ride all the way home with the crotch of his Levis soaked. He held her tightly against him, stroking her back and whispering soothingly in her ear until he felt the trembling of her body subside. "My God, Karen... you're so beautiful... so sensual... I know we'll be so good together... I love you!" He released her slowly when he felt her body suddenly go stiff in his arms. She warily backed away a couple of steps and he frowned as he asked with concern, "What's the matter, Karen?" She swallowed nervously and replied uncertainly, "Rickie... I, uhh... I know, too, that we'll be good together, but... I can't let myself get caught up in a relationship right now. I have just one more year at The Academy and I have a very full schedule because of all the extra classes I'm taking. I cannot allow myself to lose my concentration at this point. I'm afraid if I let myself fall for you now that I won't be able to concentrate and finish this last year!" she whispered hoarsely as fear constricted her vocal chords. Rickie smiled softly and reached out his hand to stroke her cheek as he said, "Karen... my beautiful rocket scientist... I'm afraid it's too late. You've already fallen for me... just like I have for you. But I think you'll find that when we're separated, your genius brain will still function just as well as it always has! I think it's only when we're together and I'm touching you that your brain ceases to function. I told you I could make you stop thinking!" he finished with a sexy grin. Karen frowned in confusion at first, but then she grinned with him as she realized he was absolutely right... she had already fallen for him... it was too late to try to deny that. She would just have to pray that he was right and that she'd still be able to focus on her studies when she was back at The Academy and away from him. And she also had all summer to spend with him... maybe the newness of their relationship would wear off by then and it would be a little easier for her to be separated from him. But she seriously doubted that a little while later when Rickie took her for a ride on his Harley and they ended up in a secluded area of Eaton Canyon Park... Karen had been on the verge of an orgasm the whole time she was perched on the buddy seat clinging to Rickie's solid torso with her breasts flattened against his muscular back. The rumble of the Harley's engine vibrating beneath her was keeping her stimulated and nearly driving her insane! Her hands kept wandering down Rickie's body to fondle his stiff cock and she was nearly driving him insane! He finally drove to a dark area and parked the motorcycle, killing the engine and ordering Karen off of it while he pulled his helmet off and dropped it on the ground. Then he climbed off, turned around and tugged her helmet off, also dropping it. Then he immediately grabbed the front of her jeans, undoing them and forcing them and her panties down her hips and legs until she could pull her feet free after she nudged her shoes off. Meanwhile, he was throwing his boots off, unbuttoning and also carefully unzipping his jeans and forcing them down and off of him, freeing his throbbing cock. The vibrations from the Harley usually kept him at half-mast, but the feel of Karen's body plastered against his back had put him at full salute and her hands fondling his erection had made him ache with need... Rickie turned around and straddled his bike, loving the feel of his bare balls resting on the warm leather seat. He pulled Karen to him and helped her also straddle the motorcycle... facing him. She was wriggling her hips, rubbing her sopping pussy on the head of his thick cock and trying to force herself down onto him. He was holding her hips, stopping her at the last moment as he remembered a fairly important factor... "Hold on, Karen... what about birth control?!! I have a condom... in my wallet... if you can reach down... and get it out of the pocket of my jeans!" he breathed raggedly from trying to control his lust and desire. Karen groaned in frustration as she arched her back and once again tried to force her body onto his awesome cock. She straightened up again and grasped his face and neck and gritted through her teeth, "No need for that... I'm on the pill!!!" Then she crushed her mouth to his and they both groaned deeply as he forced her hips downward while thrusting his up to meet her. They both broke apart at the same time, moaning loudly as their backs arched in pleasure, driving his cock even further inside her. He braced his hands on the seat behind him and continued to thrust upward while she leaned toward him, pushing his shirt up and kissing his smooth torso while she rode him to her first of several climaxes. After that first one, Rickie sat up straight again, pushed her tee shirt up to expose her breasts and leaned her back until she braced her hands on the gas tank cover and her feet on the rear turn signal light bars. Then he was able to lean down and suck on her taut, pink nipples and fondle her small, firm breasts as he stroked her through a few more mind-numbing orgasms. Then he did what he'd been dying to do ever since he'd first straddled a Harley... he reached forward and hit the electric start on the handlebar and they both moaned as they instantly felt the vibrations when the powerful engine roared to life. Karen sat up with his cock buried fully inside her, wrapping her legs around him and her arms over his shoulders while Rickie grasped her ass. They just barely moved together, feeling the vibrations from the engine further stimulating their genital areas. When Rickie felt his orgasm beginning to build, he reached forward, grasped the accelerator and revved the engine slightly, watching with excitement as Karen moaned loudly and arched against him, grinding her pussy even harder on his cock. He revved the engine again and moaned with her when he felt her flesh clench on his, signaling another orgasm for her and triggering his. He didn't even realize that his hand was still clutching the accelerator... revving the engine in rhythm with their climax... His hand finally fell away from the handlebar a few moments after the last spasm of his cock inside her. Karen had been clutching his shoulders as her body had arched away from him when she came, but then she collapsed against him with her head on his shoulder and was clinging to him as they both gasped for air. Rickie reached forward again, killed the engine and then wrapped his arms around the woman he knew he had to spend the rest of his life with. He knew her brain was still not functioning properly, so he figured this was the best time to get her to agree to that. "I'm not letting you go until you tell me that you're going to marry me, Karen. Say it..." he whispered urgently in her ear. For Karen, it was a no-brainer. This was a decision that she was more than happy to make without her brain being involved. She lifted her head and stared into his eyes that she could see were still blazing even in the darkness. "You're damn right I'm going to marry you, Enrique Emanuel Estevez... Junior." She'd almost forgotten he was named after his father... she chuckled slightly as it just struck her as odd that he had such a Hispanic sounding name and yet he looked so dissimilar to his sexy Latino father. But Rickie was still gorgeous... he had his own special kind of sex appeal... and a truly awesome cock, which she could feel slipping out of her. She whimpered softly when it did. Rickie leaned forward and kissed her tenderly and then helped her to stand. Then he was curious as to what she'd just laughed about. "What was it that amused you a moment ago?" Gifts of the Future Ch. 05 Karen grinned as she watched him pull his tee shirt down from where she'd stuffed it up under his arms and use the bottom to wipe some of the wetness from his crotch. She explained what she'd thought as she picked up her jeans and underwear from the ground and put them back on, asking, "Are you sure he's really your father? Because you don't look that much like him! And, by the way... you have a totally awesome cock!" she added as she stared at his crotch again. Rickie grinned sexily as he bent down and picked up his jeans and pulled them on, pausing with his fly open and his awesome cock still hanging out as Karen eyed him lustily. "Well... I may not look much like my Dad... but I definitely inherited his cock!" He chuckled when Karen burst out laughing as he thrust his hips a couple of times, flinging his limp shaft toward her before he stuffed it into his jeans and carefully closed the zipper. As it turned out, both he and Karen had quite ribald senses of humor! She was a mild-mannered rocket scientist with everyone else, but when she and Rickie were alone, she could tease and turn him on as fast as he could her! But they could also make each other laugh about almost anything... something they'd both unconsciously been looking for because they'd both felt their lives were entirely too serious at times. Karen was so tenacious in her drive to become one of the top scientists working in the Air Force's rocketry division some day. And Rickie had always felt compelled to be on the lookout for any type of emergency... it seemed he could always sense when a dangerous situation was about to arise. They would spend the rest of the summer making love and making each other laugh as often as they could... and Karen would return to The Academy with a formal proposal and a diamond on her left ring finger. ********** On Monday evening, June 11, 1979, Diana Richards received a phone call that she'd been expecting, but dreading, to get for the last several weeks... The Duke was dead. She'd known that cancer had returned to his body after he'd been free of it for over 13 years. She went to see him when he was first admitted to the hospital that last time, and he'd basically made her say good bye to him then... he did not want her to keep coming back just to watch him wasting away... And, truth be known, she didn't want that, either. Whenever she remembered him or dreamed about him, he still looked to her the way he did that magical weekend they'd spent together so many years ago... She hung up the phone quietly and turned to Charles with tears in her eyes. "He's gone," she stated quietly. She broke down sobbing when her husband immediately came to her and held her tightly. Charles had known she'd always loved John Wayne... he'd always held a special piece of her heart and had been such a looming background presence in their lives. He'd never really felt threatened... his jealousy only came into play whenever he let himself imagine what they'd shared together during that weekend and the fact that The Duke had nearly as much intimate knowledge of his wife's body as he did! But that had been so long ago... Charles also knew all that had remained of their brief, intense relationship was the knowledge that they'd loved a lifetime's worth in that one weekend and they'd never forgotten that love... Nor had it hindered Diana's ability to give her whole heart to him... even the piece that belonged to The Duke. Diana had shared everything with Charles about that weekend... she'd held nothing back. For their 2nd Anniversary in 1958, she had rented a hotel room and borrowed Ward's beach house in Malibu one weekend in April and re-created the whole thing for Charles. From the moment they'd met at the studio lot until Ward had driven them home from his beach house to her old apartment on Sunday night. Of course, they'd had to drive themselves home at the end of their weekend. Diana had tried to persuade Tom to play the part of Ward and sneak out to the house in Malibu to catch them fucking on the beach! But Tom had refused, saying he already knew way more about their sex life than he'd ever wanted... referring to their infamous New Year's Eve adventure and experiment in conception! He did, however, play Ward's part in bringing around a boat that Diana had also rented on that Sunday for the sexy halibut-fishing trip! Charles tried not to laugh as he remembered all the stories and things she'd shared with him that weekend... especially the conversation she'd had with Ward and The Duke when they'd returned from their fishing trip after the big man had told her about Ward watching them having sex on the beach. He could just picture the look on Ward's face as Diana had scolded him and threatened him! Diana felt her husband shaking with quiet laughter and she pulled back to look up at him in confusion. "I hope you have a good reason for laughing, because I don't see what you could possibly find amusing at this moment!" she sniffed tearfully. Charles put his hands on her face and stroked his thumbs on her cheeks to wipe away her tears... just like John Wayne had done every time he'd said good-bye to her. "I was just remembering our weekend together in Malibu, little girl... it was the time of our lives! For all of us... you... me... the big man... and Ward! I doubt he ever forgot it, either! You know he and The Duke are probably up there laughing about it even now! He may be gone, pretty lady... but he'll never be forgotten... especially by us," he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers as his eyes misted slightly. Diana clung to her soul mate and cried again as he cried softly with her... amazed that he was so easily able to understand how important another man had been to her and was able to grieve with her over him. She and Charles grieved together so well that they didn't even feel it necessary to attend the funeral service... they knew it was going to be a media circus and they just didn't want to be there to see it. They and all their friends and their kids got together the night after he died and held their own version of a "wake." They had good food, lots of drinks and they toasted to the memory of a good man who'd been there for some of them when they'd needed him. And they all laughed as they talked about their favorite movies or their favorite lines and remembered what a great sense of humor The Duke had. He would be missed... especially by Diana. ********** After the wake at the Richards' home in Brentwood, Brad and Barbie Seldon went home with their best friends, Jonnie and Megan North, to their condo in Santa Monica. They needed to get nine-month old Jonathan into bed, but they were anxious to hear how Brad and Barbie's honeymoon in Hawaii had gone... they'd just returned two days before. Jonnie and Brad played with Jonathan for a few minutes while Megan and Barbie got his bath ready. The women paused at the living room entrance and laughed silently together as they watched their two sexy husbands making total goofballs of themselves while entertaining a loudly giggling Jonathan. Finally, Jonnie and Brad could no longer contain their own humor and they burst out laughing, rolling on the floor on either side of Jonathan, who was glancing back and forth at them as he continued to giggle heartily. Megan swooped in and scooped up their beautiful boy, swaying him exuberantly in her arms as she sang out, "It's bath time for you, my sweet boy! Tell Daddy and Uncle Brad good night so Aunt Barbie and I can get you all nice and clean and tucked into bed!" She paused for a moment as Jonnie came over to kiss his son on the head and then was surprised when Jonathan held his arms toward Brad as if asking for a hug. Megan smiled softly as Brad came over and took Jonathan from her and held him up so he could wrap his little arms around Brad's neck. She couldn't help but notice the slightly sad expression on her half-brother's face as her son held onto him for a moment. Then Jonathan released Brad and kissed his cheek just like he usually did with his Daddy. Then he turned to Barbie and held his arms toward her, as if he wanted her to take him back for his bath. Megan smiled at Barbie and said, "It looks like you get the honors tonight!" Barbie looked slightly worried... she'd never given a baby a bath before, so Megan laughed and added, "Don't worry... I'll be with you the whole time! It's really not that hard. Besides... you're going to have to learn how soon enough... I thought Brad had been hoping to knock you up on the honeymoon!" She turned and looked at him as she asked, "Was your mission accomplished, Lt. Seldon?!!" Brad smirked as he replied, "Well... let's just say that I, uh... sent as many of my 'little fighter pilots' into action as possible and now we'll just have to wait and see if any of them were able to complete the mission!" The young adults all snorted quietly at Brad's joking response; then they burst out laughing when little Jonathan let loose with another hearty giggle... as if he'd also understood the joke! Megan and Barbie were still laughing as they carried Jonathan down the hallway to the bathroom. Jonnie and Brad chuckled quietly together as they fixed themselves drinks and went out onto the balcony to listen to the ocean waves and relax in the soft breeze while they talked. Brad smiled softly and shook his head as he told Jonnie, "Man... that is one great kid you have there. I just hope Barbie and I are blessed with a child as loving and good-natured as he is. He seems to have this... way about him that lets you know exactly how he feels about you. When he hugged me just now, it was like I could feel a real sense of... compassion and love coming from him... but he's just a baby! Boy... I must sound like I'm losing it, huh?!!" he snorted self-consciously. Jonnie smiled at his best friend. "No, Brad... you're not 'losing it.' Jonathan is very special... Megan has known since before he was born that Jonathan can communicate his emotions telepathically. So far, he's loved everyone he's met... I just have no clue how he'll react if he ever meets someone he doesn't like! We are so lucky to have him... he is such a gift to us. But I have a feeling he was meant for something greater... he was given to us for a reason. I just wish I knew why..." He frowned as his voice trailed off, once again trying to figure out what was in store for his son in the future. Then he shook his head as he forced the slight feeling of unease from his mind and grinned at Brad again. "So... I take it you and Barbie had a good time on your honeymoon! I hope that hotel was as nice as it looked in the brochures. Was it?" he asked sincerely. Brad smiled widely. "Oh... the hotel was great! We had a very nice oceanfront room with a balcony and a spectacular view!" His grin turned sexy as his eyes grew distant for a moment. "Yeah... there's nothing like a beautiful tropical beach as the backdrop for my beautiful naked wife!" He looked back at Jonnie and chuckled softly with him as he added, "Seriously, man... we can't thank you enough for that trip! We had the best time... and we want to show you some of the pictures we took! I took a few of Barbie that I can't show you, though... they're for my own personal photo album! But I got some amazing shots of her at this waterfall we found when we went hiking one day... Oh man, Jonnie... if you and Megan ever happen upon a waterfall, make the most of it! It was soooo... beautiful and... erotic..." "And romantic!" Barbie added enthusiastically as she and Megan came out onto the balcony. Then she walked over and sat down in her new husband's lap and draped her arms over his shoulders as she kissed him tenderly. Then she laid her head on his shoulder and purred, "We'll be forever grateful to you guys... it was a honeymoon we'll never forget! But now... I'm ready to play housewife and mommy! My fertile body is ready, Lt. Seldon, whenever you're ready to send more of your 'little fighter pilots' into action! And I hope I can give you a son as sweet and loving as little Jonathan!" The four friends sat around and had a few drinks while they looked at pictures from Brad and Barbie's honeymoon... the ones in which they were clothed! There were several they had to pull out before they handed them over to Jonnie and Megan. They all laughed together at some of the pictures where Brad had made goofy faces while Barbie snapped away with her camera when her photographic instincts were clicking. She'd taken some breathtaking scenic shots when they'd gone on their hike... and Brad had taken an absolutely stunning shot of a bikini-clad Barbie relaxing on the waterfall. She looked just like a tropical island beauty with her long, dark wet hair flowing over her shoulders as she arched back against a large rock that the water was flowing around. Brad had told her to pose sexily... and she'd certainly accomplished that! Megan snorted a laugh when she saw Jonnie eyeing the photo appreciatively. Then she felt self-conscious when she realized that Barbie still had her perfect, slim figure but Megan's body had rounded somewhat while she was pregnant with Jonathan. She'd gotten rid of most of the extra pounds she'd gained by breastfeeding their son, but her breasts now sagged more than they used to and the skin on her lower abdomen was loose from having been stretched. Not to mention the ugly scar that still marred her... She frowned slightly as her left hand unconsciously drifted up to rub over her right upper chest through her shirt. She didn't notice her husband watching her... When they were getting ready for bed after Brad and Barbie had left, Jonnie undressed and then stopped Megan from putting on her nightgown by taking it out of her hands and tossing it aside. Then he picked her up and carried her to their bed, laying her down and removing her panties. Megan cried softly as Jonnie placed worshipful kisses on every part of her body that she'd been so self-conscious about and told her how beautiful she was... "I've always loved your, large full breasts, Meg... they're such perfect vessels for bearing milk and you never looked sexier than when you were feeding our son! Your beautiful body was also perfect when you were carrying our son inside you... It made me hard every time I saw your naked, perfectly pregnant body! It saddens me sometimes to see your abdomen flat again... but the soft flesh is a wonderful reminder that you bore my child inside you!" he said tenderly as he bent down and placed a lingering kiss on her lower abdomen. Then he moved up her body and traced the scar on her chest... first with his lips... then just barely with his fingertips as he watched while tears filled his eyes. "And this... this is the most beautiful mark of all! This is who you are, Megan... a woman who would've died for me! You could have scars all over your body... gain two hundred pounds and your breasts hang to your knees and you'd still be the most beautiful woman in the world to me!!!" He gathered her in his arms as she sobbed softly. "God... how I love you, Meg!" he whispered hoarsely as he slid his aching cock inside her and made love to her as she clung to him. Her soft sobs gradually turned to sighs and moans as he stroked her body with his, tenderly reminding her that he'd always want her. She came twice as he stroked slowly and deeply inside her, and then he lifted up and took her hands in his, locking their fingers together and forcing them above her head as he drove forcefully into her, savagely reminding her that he'd always need her as well... Little Jonathan stirred from sleeping when he heard his parents making those same loud noises that he'd heard from time to time that made him wonder what it was they were doing... The underlying love that always surrounded them was still there, but at times he felt this other emotion mixed with it that he still couldn't identify. He sighed and drifted back to sleep again... Gifts of the Future Ch. 06 The summer of 1979 had most of the "chosen ones" on the paths that they were destined to follow. Robbie Seldon and Crystal North were dating and realized there was something building between them as they started college that summer. Brad Seldon and Jay Hanson were starting their jet fighter training at Edwards Air Force base... and both their wives were pregnant and due on the same date! Cadet Karen Moss had returned to the Air Force Academy in Colorado for her senior year and she and Rickie Estevez had already set their wedding date for the following June! Bob and Lisa Clark once again graciously offered their Bel Air property for the ceremony and Barbie Seldon had agreed to help her brother make all the arrangements! Charlie Richards and Lily Wilson were spending many hectic hours at UCLA Medical Center studying and learning the ropes as they did rounds with the residents. They had both already changed their minds about the fields of medicine they wanted to eventually specialize in... Charlie was going to concentrate on diagnosing and treating diseases and Lily wanted to specialize as a surgeon. Jonnie North was settling into his job with the FBI, poring over dozens of unsolved cases to see if he could pick up on anything new or that might have been missed before. He'd also delved into the background of Kristina Davidson, who'd been confined in a mental institution ever since she'd been deemed incapable of standing trial. She'd been in a semi-catatonic state ever since the night she'd tried to shoot him. Jonnie shook his head in confusion every time he went back over Kris' file. Nothing from her past would have led him to believe her capable of doing what she'd done. She'd had a happy childhood... her parents were still overwrought that their seemingly perfect daughter had just so totally snapped. Even the story she'd told him about how she'd been stalked and raped by some man had been a complete lie! Her life had been idyllic up until the point she'd met him... So what had caused her to go completely off the deep end over him?!! He felt nervous at times when he thought back over his relationship with Kris and tried to figure out if he'd done anything at all that had led her to be so obsessed with him, but he couldn't come up with anything. But he still felt bad as he feared that it was somehow his fault that she had lost her grip on reality... Megan, on the other hand, suddenly became obsessed with reality. She had been concerned ever since the early 70's when the country had gone through an "energy crisis" when oil prices had spiked and there was a gasoline shortage. Her father Charles had been pissed during that time, constantly muttering about how OPEC and the United States government were keeping the country dependent on oil when there were plenty of alternative energy sources available that were not being explored! But because of his job with the FBI, Charles was prevented from going any further with his "mutterings." And here it was, 1979, and the country was once again facing rising gasoline prices because a little "piss ant" country like Iran was going through some political turmoil and it was affecting OPEC's oil output... or so that was the excuse they gave for hiking prices again! Megan became intrigued with how something so seemingly insignificant happening in a little country on the other side of the world could cause such headaches for a country as powerful as the United States. She saw an ad in one of the Los Angeles papers where one of the major networks was holding open auditions for news reporters and had openings for writers and camera operators for a weekly investigative news show they were putting together, so she auditioned and they hired her on the spot. Megan spent the rest of that year investigating and following stories on the situation in Iran and its link to gas prices in the U.S. Jonnie did not like it when the network sent her to Iran at the beginning of November when there were rumors flying that a group of militants were trying to pull off a major coup. Megan called Jonnie from her hotel room in Tehran the night of November 3rd to tell him that she had an appointment the next day to interview some officials at the U.S. Embassy, but she didn't get that interview... The next morning, November 4, 1979, the U.S. Embassy was invaded by student militants who took it over and were holding everyone there hostage. Jonnie was floored when he turned on the TV that morning as he was getting ready to fix breakfast for him and thirteen-month old Jonathan to see his wife doing a live broadcast from Tehran outside the Embassy as excited Iranians were shouting encouragements to the hostage-takers. Megan was doing her best to stay focused and deliver her report, but some irate Iranians started shouting at the American news crews who were documenting what was happening. Jonnie dropped onto a chair beside Jonathan's highchair as he watched his wife glancing about nervously as she was describing the chaos going on around her. "Mommie come home." Jonnie turned his head to see his son staring intently at the TV screen, and then he noticed that Megan had stopped talking so he looked back at the television again. His wife was just staring into the camera with her eyes wide and her hand holding the microphone was shaking... then she started speaking again. "This will be my last broadcast from here as it is apparent it's becoming way too dangerous for any Americans to remain in this country. We can only hope the Iranian government will soon bring this situation back under control and that the hostages will be freed quickly... if the government can withstand the pressure being exerted by the Ayatollah, who is bending the minds of most Iranians toward his view of the U.S. as 'an evil Satan!' Until this situation is resolved, our prayers will be with the hostages and their families. Reporting live from Tehran, this is Megan Richards-North signing off for US and the World News This Week. Mommie is coming home, Jonathan..." she ended quietly with a slight smile before the camera was turned off. Jonnie stared at the TV screen for a stunned moment as it returned to the studio broadcast and then turned to look at his smiling son who looked at him and repeated happily, "Mommie come home!" He smiled widely back at his angelic boy as he stood and leaned down to kiss the top of his head. Then he bent down in front of him and said, "Thank you, son! Now... how would you like your eggs this morning?" He chuckled and shook his head as he straightened up, wondering why he'd asked such a silly question when Jonathan wrinkled his nose and cheeks into an exaggerated grin and squealed, "Cheeeeeese!!!" ********** Megan and her news crew were finally able to get a flight out of Tehran, but it was only going as far as Riyadh, Saudi Arabia... they'd have to get another flight out from there once they landed. But at least they were able to get the hell out of Iran! As soon as they landed in Riyadh, they were dismayed to discover that they'd have to wait several hours for the next flight with available seats and it was to London... at least from there they would be able to get a direct flight to the U.S.! Megan called Jonnie and he was relieved to hear that she'd made it safely out of Iran, but irritated that it would probably take her two more days to finally get home! He said gruffly, "You wouldn't listen to me about not going over there in the first damn place... but at least you paid attention when our son told you to come home!!!" She was silent for a moment and then asked, "You and Jonathan were watching my last broadcast, weren't you?" When Jonnie confirmed that, she admitted, "I heard his little voice inside my head so clearly... 'Mommie come home.' Jonnie... I'm on the other side of the world! How did he project his thoughts so far?!!" "Megan... that anyone can do that at all is a miracle! What difference should it make whether you're standing right in front of him or ten thousand miles away! He has a special connection to us... he can communicate to us no matter where we are. We just have to realize that he's got abilities that are far beyond yours and we have to teach him to be mindful of how he uses those abilities. But I'm sure his innate goodness will also temper him from abusing his abilities. Like Peter Parker's Uncle Ben told him, we have to teach Jonathan that with great power comes great responsibility..." "What the hell are you talking about, Jonnie?" Megan laughed through the phone. "Didn't you ever read any of the Spider Man comics when we were kids? You know... Peter Parker was raised by his Aunt and Uncle and he became Spider Man after getting bit by a radioactive spider... he acquired all these cool powers and turned into a superhero, fighting crime in... whatever they called the city he was living in!" Megan was laughing even harder. "Jonnie... our son is not Spider Man! Or Superman... or Batman... or even Captain America! He is not going to turn into a superhero stamping out crime wherever he sees it!" Then her laughter died. "That's your job, Mr. FBI Agent! Don't you dare go putting any foolish notions into our son's head as he grows up making him think he's any more 'special' or 'powerful' than anyone else! All we need to make him understand is that it's inappropriate for him to invade people's minds unless there is a very compelling reason for him to do so! Now... be sure and kiss our sweet boy good night for me and I'll keep calling to let you know as I get closer to home. Good night, my love... I can't wait to be in your arms again!" she said as she sighed heavily. Jonnie growled, "Then don't take any more goddamned foreign assignments! I don't like it that my wife ended up in a very dangerous situation and I couldn't be there to protect you! Please, Megan... promise me you'll be more cautious about where they send you in the future. All right?!!" "Yes, Jonnie... I promise... no more dangerous assignments! Goodbye, love... I'll be home as soon as possible!!" She hung up after he said he loved her and she heard the line go dead. Then she turned away from the pay phone and jumped when she saw a man standing just a few feet from her and staring at her. He was obviously Middle Eastern from his appearance... olive toned skin, dark hair and eyes but he was dressed like an American in jeans and a polo shirt. He didn't look to be much older than her... middle to upper twenties... and he was regarding her carefully, but there was no disdain in his eyes at the fact she was an American woman, unescorted and with no regard for Saudi customs where their women were concerned. She'd been making herself ignore the black looks from some of the Saudi men she'd encountered at the airport. Then she jumped again when the man said, "You are Megan Richards-North... the reporter from 'US and the World News this Week.' Yes?" The man had just a slight accent, but his English was very good. When she swallowed and nodded, he indicated with his arm as he said, "Could we please go somewhere and talk privately? I have some information that may be of interest to you because of the topic you've been investigating. Please... will you come with me?" he asked politely. "Uhh... sure. Just give me a moment to let my crew know so they won't worry about me, OK?" She excused herself from him and quickly went to where the guys were sitting watching her to make sure no one tried to bother her. They didn't like it, but they agreed and then one of them followed her and the man until he saw them step into a crowded airport café and sit at a table in a corner. The man was brief and to the point. His name was Yosef and he was born in Saudi Arabia but he'd been sent to college in the U.S. to study investing and high finance. His father had worked all his life for one of the rich OPEC oil Sheiks as a bodyguard and the Sheik had noticed that Yosef was very smart, so he'd paid for his education and made Yosef promise to come work for him after college, managing his assets. Yosef was in charge of making sure the Sheiks billions were well invested and he was paid very good bonuses when those investments did well. But he'd begun to notice in the last couple of years that the Sheik had pulled out of a few investments and Yosef had no clue where those millions were going. That was something he was not privy to, but he did know that the Sheik was not making any large purchases. He already owned four homes, a half a dozen cars, a yacht and an airplane... what else could he have needed?!! Then he told her about a conversation he'd accidentally overheard between the Sheik and one of the other OPEC ministers. They were saying that the funds for their training camps were getting low again and that the American capitalist pigs were once again squealing that they couldn't keep their angry constituents from questioning why the price of gas was going up again. The Sheik had said he could take care of the funding and they would have to call a meeting with the other ministers to talk about stabilizing oil production again so the Americans would stop squealing. Yosef leaned toward Megan and stated quietly, "It sounds like the Sheik has the cooperation of some U.S. politicians in keeping your country dependent on OPEC oil. That in itself is not that alarming, but the training camps they were referring to are for tens of thousands of young Muslim males who are being recruited and brainwashed to believe that America is evil and they are training them to commit acts of violence whenever they see an opportunity. These training camps are spread all over the Middle East... it is not just Saudi Arabia and OPEC involved in this." His voice got even lower as he continued. "I know this because I spent some time in one of those camps when I was younger. I was sent to one in Iraq and I was there long enough to see how some governments and religious leaders are systematically twisting the Islamic faith. Muslims haven't even been able to agree amongst ourselves for centuries how to practice our own faith, but some of the ones in power have found another way to try and unite Islam... by teaching all young Islamic males to hate America and everything it stands for! "Fortunately for your country, there are still many of the Islamic faith who are not buying into this brainwashing and most of the countries in this area of the world are still not willing to unite for a common cause... especially to try and make an enemy of the United States... they are not that stupid. But there are still plenty of radicals out there... just waiting for a time and any excuse to rally thousands more to their hateful cause. Believe me, Mrs. North, things will get much worse in the future... and we have no way to fight radicals who have been brainwashed to believe it is an honor to die and take as many infidels with them as they can in the name of Allah! Everything I was told at that camp was so opposite of everything I learned as a boy..." He sat back with a sad look on his face. Then he shook his head and stared into Megan's concerned eyes. "You won't hear about any of this on the news in America. That's because it is not talked about here, either. The radicals want to keep this quiet, but the more they recruit and the larger their numbers grow, it is bound to come to light at some point. But I have noticed over the last few years that it seems to be getting easier and easier for so many young minds to be twisted... and it worries me. It's as though... some dark force is running rampant in this part of the world and we've no way to stop it! I pray that my own young son will stay strong and away from such darkness," he said sadly as he looked down. Yosef put his hand on Megan's where it was resting on the table between them. "I am telling all of this to you because I hoped you would believe me and keep this in mind as you conduct your investigations. But you must be careful... some people in your own government are cooperating with OPEC... even if they aren't aware of what OPEC has been supporting. If you get too close to the truth, your life could be in danger... be especially careful who you trust." He squeezed her hand and stood abruptly, saying, "I wish you luck, Mrs. North. You will need it if you decide to continue digging into this." Then he released her hand and strode away quickly as Megan just stared at his retreating form, her brain whirling from his warnings. Her father was right... their own government WAS cooperating with OPEC... but they couldn't possibly know that they were funding those "training camps!" What the hell was she supposed to do with this information?!! She had only Yosef's word about any of it... but he'd seemed so sincere. He'd known she was digging into the U.S. government's dealings with OPEC because of her news stories over the last few months. She'd hinted it seemed strange that so much of the country's supply of oil came strictly from OPEC nations and questioned the rationale behind that since so many countries in that area of the world were still politically unstable and it didn't seem to take much to affect OPEC production and supply. And Yosef had told her that OPEC was conspiring to turn that whole region into a collection of millions of angry young Muslims who hated America and everything about it! And the U.S. was dependent upon those nations for the one product that was needed and consumed the most in their country?!! She knew the government was already well aware of that fact, so why wasn't anyone looking into alternatives?!! Megan shook her head as she stood up and made her way out of the café and back toward her waiting crew. So many thoughts kept drifting through her mind... No one in the government was going to do anything about this because too many people were making too much money by letting OPEC control the price of oil... like the American oil companies! They could just sit back and keep their prices for a barrel of oil at the same high levels... and it wasn't costing them nearly that much to pump it out of the ground! She frowned as another thought popped into her head. Why hadn't anyone been looking into alternative energy sources for transportation? Why were all vehicles manufactured with only gas or diesel engines? Why hadn't someone figured out how to mass produce an electric/battery-operated vehicle... or even one that utilized solar power? Why?!!! She snorted a short laugh as a cynical thought crossed her mind. Probably because all the American automakers were in cahoots with the oil companies and the government... keeping the country dependent on oil!!! And it would never change as long as they were making all that money... Megan shook her head as she realized she was sounding like a cynical conspiracy theorist! How would she ever get proof on any of that?!! Well... she was an investigative journalist; it was her job to look into questions like those!!! She clenched her jaw as she made her way back to where her crew was waiting for her and she spent the remainder of their time at the Riyadh airport making notes on all her questions and thinking of where to start in her search for the truth... ********** Jonnie was happy that for the next several months... the furthest Megan traveled from home was to Washington, D.C. But he was still worried that she was going to anger some of the wrong people with her "snooping" into a topic that many politicians didn't seem to want to discuss. He'd felt disturbed by what the Middle Eastern man, Yosef, had told her when she'd returned from Iran and related the story. Several weeks later, she'd received an envelope at the network studio from Yosef that had contained a photocopy of a personal note that he'd found on the Sheik's desk from a United States' senator jokingly asking when he could inform his constituents that gas prices were going to go back down or at least stabilize. Megan had gone to D.C. to try to meet with that senator, but he'd refused to talk to her. She had wisely not told him about the copy of his memo she had... Gifts of the Future Ch. 06 Megan continued to pursue many members of Congress with that same line of questioning, and in early 1980, she was informed by one of them that they were in the process of forming a government funded program to look into the very question of alternative fuels... they called it the Synthetic Fuels Corporation Act. Its sole purpose was to work with the energy industry in exploring and developing non-petroleum based fuels. Many people believed this was an act of good faith and that the government was finally beginning to see that the country needed to reduce its dependency on oil. Megan tried to take it as a good sign and she backed off on her tenacious pursuit of that subject. But she still had her doubts about the government's sincerity in actually pursuing alternative energy sources... ********** On Sunday, March 9, 1980, both Brad Seldon and Jay Hanson were rushing Barbie and Didi to the hospital... both of them had gone into labor on the same day, even though they were about a week past their due dates! They had called Tom and Lynda to tell them they were about to become grandparents and Tom and Lynda called all their friends to let them know they were on their way to the hospital. There was quite a crowd gathered in the waiting area, jokingly making bets on which baby would arrive first! Barbie delivered first... a healthy boy weighing right at eight pounds with a head full of dark hair. Brad and Barbie chuckled together at how loudly he protested while being cleaned up and then Brad held his son for a few moments, talking to him while the doctor checked Barbie over and made sure her body was recovering well from the birth process. "Well, my boy... it's so great to finally meet you! I hope you haven't thought me too 'corny' for talking to you all this time... like you could understand a word I was saying! But, any way, we're going to have great fun, you and me... I hope you like to play sports! And I guess you'd like to know your name, huh? Well... we're naming you for your grandfathers and your Mama's brother, your Uncle Rickie. You'll get to meet them soon! So we hope you like your name Thomas Enrique Seldon... and we'll call you Tommy! Your Granddaddy Tom will love that!" Cheers went up all around when Brad went out to the waiting area and announced the birth of his son. Tom, Rick and Rickie all beamed when he told them the name they'd chosen. Then everyone headed down to the nursery to see Brad and Barbie's handsome boy and then went to visit with Barbie for a little while until they headed back to the waiting area to await news from Jay and Didi. A little while later, a very upset Jay came out and told everyone that Didi was being rushed in for an emergency C-section. Her labor had progressed quickly, but when she got to the pushing stage, she labored with that for over an hour before they realized the baby was simply too large and she was not making any progress. Then they noted on the fetal monitor that the baby was showing signs of distress, so the decision was quickly made to perform a Cesarean. Everyone tried to keep Jay calm as they waited. About thirty minutes later, a nurse came out to tell Jay that he had a healthy, nine pound, ten ounce son and he'd be able to see him soon. Then Jay asked about Didi. The nurse looked nervous as she informed him that his wife had suffered some complications and was still in surgery and the doctor would come to him and explain as soon as he could. Lynda went to her son and put her arms around him when he broke down crying. "Oh, God... please let Didi be OK!!! I couldn't bear to lose my wife... my soul mate! Oh, Mom... I'm so sorry! I didn't think that having my child would endanger her life! I didn't realize he'd grow so big..." Lynda pulled back and took Jay's face in her hands. "Stop this, son. This is not that baby's fault! And it's not your fault, either! Things like this just happen sometimes. And Didi is a strong and healthy... she'll pull through this just fine! I know my daughter... she's a fighter! So don't you dare think the worst!" Didi was a fighter, but the dark forces tried their damnedest to make her forfeit her life when her son was born and she was close to dying. Only a last second intervention by The Guardians once again kept another one of the "chosen ones" from dying before their destiny was fulfilled... The doctor came out a couple of hours later with a grim expression, then he smiled faintly. "Your wife is in critical condition but it looks like she'll pull through. She had us worried for a minute... we were afraid we might lose her when she said something strange about being willing to die..." The doctor frowned, shook his head and then continued. "When the placenta separated from her uterus after the baby was removed, some of the veins in her uterus were damaged and she started to bleed out. Luckily, we were able to cauterize the tissue and stop the bleeding before we closed her up. The only problem is... the scarred tissue in her uterus might prevent her from getting pregnant or being able to carry any more pregnancies to full term. I'm sorry for that, but she is strong and healthy and I believe she'll be fine otherwise." Jay nodded his head that he understood and then demanded that the doctor take him to his wife... he wanted to see her and be with her when she woke up. He stayed by her side, holding her hand and resting his head on the bed beside her... he fell asleep and woke up a little while later when he felt a hand stroking through his hair. He lifted up quickly to see Didi smiling softly at him. "Hey, my big, handsome man," she said weakly. "How is our boy?" she then asked worriedly. Jay lifted her hand and kissed it before he answered. "He's fine, my love. Everyone's insisting that he be named after me... they all think he's going to grow up to be just as big as me... maybe even bigger! Is that all right with you?" Didi smiled even wider and tried to chuckle and then winced as she replied, "Of course he should be named after his Daddy... because he's also going to be as strong and sensitive and loving as you!" Then her smile faded. "Oh, Jay... for a few moments, I was so afraid he was going to die! When I saw them lift him out of my body, he was blue and he wasn't moving! And there were all these angry voices shouting at me... asking me if I would die for him! And I screamed 'YES... I would die for him!' So I let go and felt as if I was floating away... until I heard him cry. His cry was pleading for me not to leave you and him because you both needed me, so I fought my way back... for both of you! Where is our son? I need to see him!" she pleaded desperately. Jay's eyes were filled with tears as he stood and kissed his wife's forehead and told her he'd be right back. He went out to the waiting area to tell everyone that Didi was awake and was doing well; then he went to the nursery and demanded that they give him his son because his Mama wanted to see him. He kissed his son's soft head as he took him in his arms for the first time and told him, "I owe you, J.J. Thank you for making your Mama stay with us!" he said gently as he carried him to his mother. Didi cried softly as her husband carefully placed their son in her arms. "Jay Alan Hanson, Jr., this is your wonderful mother... who would've given up her life for you, so don't you ever forget that!" When she lifted her head to look up at him as tears leaked from her eyes, he kissed her tenderly and then said quietly, "I love you so much! Thank you for such a strong, healthy son! And I'm calling him J.J." When she frowned in mild confusion, he added, "It's short for Jay, Jr.!" Then he smiled with her and their hearts nearly burst with joy when their son sighed contentedly as if approving of his name... ********** On Saturday, June 7, 1980, everyone once again gathered at the Clark's mansion in Bel Air to celebrate the marriage of Rickie Estevez and Lt. Karen Moss. Lieutenants Brad Seldon and Jay Hanson led the Honor Guard in forming the "Arch of Swords" for Mr. and Mrs. Enrique Estevez, Jr. as they retreated down the center aisle at the end of the ceremony. They paused and kissed when Brad and Jay crossed their swords, blocking their path; and then everyone got a huge laugh as Brad swatted Rickie's ass when they started forward again and said, "Welcome to the Air Force, sir!" Their reception wasn't quite as eventful as Brad and Barbie's had been the previous year. Everyone already knew that Charlie Richards and Lily Wilson were engaged... they were just wondering when they were finally going to set the date! And the Seldon and North families were getting a kick out of watching Robbie and Crystal together... it was obvious they were likely to be the next couple to get engaged! When it came time to throw the bouquet, Karen walked over to where Lily and Crystal were standing next to each other and kept moving her hand back and forth in front of them. "OK... which one of you wants this?!!!" she asked teasingly. Lily glanced at the hopeful expression on Charlie's face, but she swallowed and stepped back. Crystal saw a grin forming on Robbie's face so she snatched the flowers out of Karen's hand and laughed gleefully as Robbie whistled and then clapped his hands with everyone else. Charlie and Lily stared at each other for a few moments and then she smiled tentatively at him until he smiled back. He just wished he knew why she was still scared to make their relationship legal... They both knew they belonged together... so what was holding her back?!! He sighed heavily as he went to her and took her in his arms for another dance. At the end of the wedding reception, the bride and groom surprised everyone when they emerged from the Clark's mansion dressed in matching leather outfits. They had long ago decided that their honeymoon was going to be a motorcycle road trip down to San Diego. They had reservations at a seaside Inn... they just hoped they'd be able to make it there without having to stop too many times to have sex! Being on the Harley together still drove them wild... They did finally make it to the Inn... after stopping twice at secluded areas off of I-5 to ravage each other! The first time, they cursed their choice of leather outfits, realizing too late what a bad idea that was and then laughed hysterically together as they pictured themselves fighting to get out of their clothes! After that, they changed into much cooler and comfortable jeans and tee shirts for the remainder of the trip. While at the Inn in San Diego, they discovered something else that drove them wild... having sex on the beach! They snuck out several times late at night to find a quiet spot to make love. The moon was waning so there were plenty of dark, secluded places among the sand and rocks. They spread a blanket and lay down under the stars, listening to the surf pounding in rhythm with the beat of their hearts... Karen had never felt so free to just enjoy being alive! Rickie would always be able to give her the escape she needed whenever her brain felt like it was on overload. All he had to do was touch her... and he'd been an expert at that ever since the very first moment. But when he stroked her body with his lips and tongue, she was transported to a place where time ceased to exist... All she could do was lie back and pray that she wouldn't die from the pleasure that wracked her body as he sucked her nipples into his mouth and laved them with his tongue. Then she was floating among the stars that were hovering over them when he moved down and invaded her pussy with his soft, wet flesh. Karen writhed and moaned deeply, her legs twitching involuntarily as Rickie stroked her clit softly. Then she cried out loudly and stars exploded behind her eyelids when her body spasmed into a forceful climax. The next thing she was aware of, her husband was over top of her and she was spreading her thighs to take his cock inside her as he smiled down at her and whispered, "Welcome back to earth, my beautiful rocket scientist!" Karen smiled as she wrapped her arms around him and replied, "Only for a moment, my love... because you know I'll be blasting off again as soon as you launch that awesome cock rocket inside me!" Rickie grinned sexily as he poised with the head of his cock teasing her wet flesh. "Well... engines have been test fired, all systems are a go... are you ready for blast off?" They both chuckled softly as she began the countdown, her voice low and sexy... "Ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one..." She was panting in anticipation by that time, and then suddenly, time ceased to exist again... for a moment... Rickie grunted softly as he drove forcefully into her, causing her to arch and moan in pleasure. He groaned softly as he paused buried inside her, "And we have lift off of the Awesome Cock Rocket!" Suddenly they were laughing and rolling together on the blanket as they made love joyously for the rest of the night. They didn't stop until they saw the sky starting to lighten as the sun was beginning to rise. It was the first time Karen could ever remember spending so many hours not having one scientific thought float through her mind... not even when they'd joked about his awesome cock rocket! ********** Lt. Karen Moss-Estevez thoroughly enjoyed every moment of her honeymoon, but she was excited to return home. She'd been happy to learn that she was staying in the L.A. area as she had been assigned to the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) at Los Angeles AFB, headquarters of Space Command for the Air Force. She would be working with their top scientists developing weapons systems for missiles and some new experimental aircraft being developed and manufactured at nearby Plant 42 in Palmdale. Motorcycle Patrol Officer Enrique Estevez, Jr. was also glad to hear that his wife was stationed in L.A. He hadn't wanted to leave his job with the L.A.P.D., but he'd been prepared to apply for a job as a cop wherever his wife was stationed. He was even more pleased when Karen had basically been told by the Air Force that her current assignment would most likely be permanent... they were both happy to know that they'd always be close to their families! Lieutenants Seldon and Hanson were both progressing rapidly in their jet pilot training... they were always earning the highest scores in their flight tests. They were always joking with each other over who was going to outscore whom. But they didn't take their rivalry seriously... Jay knew Brad's ultimate goal was to get into the STS program as a shuttle pilot. Jay had no such aspirations... he just loved flying! Megan kept her eyes and her ears open as she surreptitiously followed the government's handling of the oil crisis. It became clear to her that President Carter was doing only what he had to in order to make the country think he had a handle on the problem. In January, he had issued a doctrine in which he'd stated that any interference with U.S. oil interests in the Persian Gulf area would be considered an attack on the vital interests of the country... like anyone really believed he'd follow through on that! Then he proposed a phase out of the price controls on U.S. oil that had been imposed by Nixon back in 1973 when the first energy crisis had occurred when they were attempting to stabilize gas cost at the pumps. It was no wonder the American oil companies weren't willing to sell too many barrels of oil when they were being held to six dollars a barrel when in the worldwide market, the price for a barrel of oil was thirty dollars... they weren't stupid! And Carter should've just repealed the price controls instead of attempting to phase them out! All that and Carter's ineffectiveness in trying to remedy the Iranian hostage situation that was still going on just led to his downfall. It seemed that once the November 1980 presidential election was over and Ronald Regan had won by a landslide because of his promise to launch an attack against Iran in order to free the hostages they'd been holding for over a year, the country was beginning to feel safe again and everything seemed to stabilize for a while... The ever-expanding group of families and friends spent the holidays celebrating together as often as they could at different homes. Jonnie and Megan North had sold their oceanfront condo in Santa Monica and bought a larger house in Beverly Hills, closer to her job at the network studio. Jonathan was over two years old and was the most charming and loving little boy anyone could have imagined! His parents and grandparents and all their friends just loved to watch as he sat with six-month olds Tommy and J.J. and talked to them like they were all best pals! Jonathan would make silly faces and then laugh when Tommy and J.J. would burst into giggles! It looked as though the boys were going to grow up to be just as good friends as their fathers were... Gifts of the Future Ch. 07 The dark forces were getting even more desperate to stop the "chosen ones" from foiling their attempts to destroy the universe. They had set their own dark master plan in motion and it was progressing without them constantly having to manipulate the free will of some uncooperative humans. They had discovered enough dark human souls to carry on the plan for them... they only had to pop in every once in a while to make an evil suggestion if the humans were unsure what to do... So the dark forces turned the majority of their attention toward the one group of "chosen ones" who represented the biggest threat to their plan. But the only time the "chosen ones" were ever vulnerable to their influence was when they were close to death. And it took a lot of their power whenever they tried to cause harm to any of the "chosen ones" because they had to combat The Guardians in order to do so... But The Guardians were spending the majority of their time watching over the last two generations of those "chosen ones" and were seemingly unconcerned with the first one. The dark forces saw a way to interfere that they hoped would send ripple effects down through the generations... ********** The year 1981 started off very badly for Lily Wilson... As part of their medical internship at UCLA, she and Charlie Richards had been assigned a rotation in the Emergency Room on New Year's Eve. Just after midnight, they were contacted by a Rescue Squad and advised that they were coming in with victims from an auto accident. An older middle-aged couple had been struck; the woman was DOA and the man was in critical condition and not expected to survive. Lily's nerves tingled when she remembered a phone call she'd received from Barbie Seldon earlier that day after she'd been unable to reach Lily's parents... Lily and Charlie were waiting with a couple of the attending physicians when the first ambulance arrived. She nearly went into hysterics when she saw it was her father. Barbie's dream had become her nightmare. "Oh, my God! Daddy!! Where's Mama?!!" she cried as she grabbed his hand and hurried alongside as they wheeled him into an examination room. He grasped desperately onto his daughter's hand as he spoke brokenly. "Ohhh, Lily... my beautiful spring Lily... it's not good, baby. I couldn't get your Mama to talk to me... after the crash. I tried to avoid it... but the other car still came at us and smashed right into us... the impact threw your mother onto me. I held her in my arms... and kept talking to her until police and the ambulances arrived... but she never responded. I'm so afraid she's gone..." he grated hoarsely as he started to cry. "Daddy... please!!! Don't think like that!" she pleaded desperately as tears filled her eyes. She was trying to calm her father when Charlie laid his left hand on her father's chest and closed his eyes for a few moments. He frowned and then looked straight into her eyes and shook his head gravely. She wanted to go into hysterics... her father wasn't going to make it. The ambulance transporting her mother arrived a few minutes later. The crew had already pronounced her dead at the scene but her father had refused to let them take him until they promised to try to revive his wife. It didn't work... Maria Wilson was killed when her neck had been snapped at the moment of impact. Her last thought when she saw the headlights coming right at her had been that if she was going to die, she hoped it would be in the arms of the man she loved as she turned toward her husband at the last second... Larry Wilson looked at his daughter and asked if her mother had survived, but he already knew the answer. "I'm so sorry, my Lily... but I can't make it without your mother. I love you, but she was my life!" Then he looked at Charlie, "You take care of my Lily, young man... Love her the way I love my Maria..." he whispered before he closed his eyes and took his last breath. ********** Charlie and Lily were given a week off to take care of personal matters. Lily was in shock, operating on automatic pilot as Charlie and his family and Rick and Dawn Estevez helped her with the funeral arrangements for her parents. Lily thought how ironic it was that she was just a little older than her mother had been when she'd lost her parents in an auto accident. That had been the night Maria had fallen in love with Larry when he and Rick had been the officers assigned to inform her that her parents had been killed. Lily still recalled the strange expression on her mother's face when she'd told her the sad story of that night, three years before the night Lily had been conceived. Her mother had looked so lost... and yet hopeful at the same time when she'd described how safe she'd felt in her future husband's arms even as she'd realized that she was all alone in the world... It had taken Maria three years to work up the courage to try to make Larry see that they were meant for each other. She had known it the moment he'd taken her in his arms... she'd always been able to tell by just a touch if a person was trustworthy or not... and Lily had inherited her mother's "gift." Maria had been confused by Larry's womanizing ways when she'd followed him from time to time during those years... he never "dated" women... he and Rick had only wanted them for sex. She didn't learn until Larry tracked her down nearly nine months after their one night of passion when she'd shared herself with him and Rick that he was simply afraid of having his heart broken the way his mother had broken his father's heart. But when he'd witnessed the love between Rick and Dawn Estevez the night Rick shared Dawn with him just to fulfill a fantasy for her, he'd realized that true love was possible... Maria Delgado had been all alone in trying to deal with the aftermath of her parents' deaths, but Lily Wilson was surrounded by her father's family and friends... people she'd also considered family all of her life. But the only person who really mattered was Charlie... he was her rock. He never strayed from her side during those first days, holding her as she cried herself to sleep each night and during the funeral service on Saturday morning, January 3, 1981. That day, during the gathering after the funeral at the Wilson's home in Brentwood Heights, Lily took Charlie aside. "I don't want to wait any longer... marry me now... please?!!" He put his hands on her face and stared into her ocean blue eyes swimming with tears. "Are you sure, Lily? I don't want you to feel you have to do this just because you're afraid of losing me. I'll always be here for you... whether you marry me or not! I love you, Lily... you know I've always wanted you to be my wife, but you're the one who wanted to wait until we were through med school because you were afraid we wouldn't be able to handle the pressures and that it would tear us apart! If you marry me, I'm not going to let you go... ever!!! So you'd better be sure this is what you really want!" he stated earnestly. When Lily nodded and threw herself against him, Charlie held her tightly for a moment, silently thanking the heavens for finally making Lily realize that she'd only been postponing the inevitable! She'd heard too many horror stories from doctors and other med students who'd talked about how their hectic lives had torn their marriages apart. Charlie had tried to make her see that those others had obviously not found and married their soul mates... if they had, they'd still be married no matter how hectic their lives were! He and Lily had been living together in a small apartment since they'd started med school... they might as well have been married... and they were still together and in love! Lily had realized that Charlie was right... in their hearts and minds, they were already married and she was finally ready to make it legal! A little while later, Brad Seldon was flying himself and Megan North with Charlie and Lily to Las Vegas. By seven o'clock, they were all on their way back to L.A., Brad and Megan having served as witnesses to her twin half-brother's marriage to his high school sweetheart. Charlie and Lily spent their wedding night in her parents' home... which was now their home... in the bed they'd first shared together. But this time, there was no urgency to their lovemaking. They were not worried about anyone catching them together or rushing through it because there was studying that needed to be done. Charlie took his time exploring Lily's body... kissing and nipping at her neck and shoulders as he worked his way down to her lovely breasts. He lingered for long moments, caressing her full, firm breasts, laving his tongue on her large brown nipples before sucking them into his mouth as she writhed and moaned in pleasure, clutching his head with her hands. Charlie's cock throbbed as he felt and listened to how Lily was responding to his touch. Never before during their frenzied couplings had she responded to him so ardently. His right hand moved down her body to slide between her legs and stroke her wet flesh. Her hips had been undulating and he knew she was dying to have him inside her. But he wanted to give her as much pleasure as he could that night... to make her forget her sadness for a while. She was his wife now... and he wanted to give her whatever she needed... he'd promised her father that long ago. He lifted his head and watched her as he stroked his fingers inside her, loving the expression of pure pleasure on her face as she writhed and moaned beside him. Then he slid his fingers up to circle her engorged clit making her hips writhe even more. She bucked and cried out, clutching at his head again when he leaned down and drew her right nipple into his mouth and laved it with his tongue. Charlie continued to stroke Lily through her orgasm, moaning softly at how sexy and erotic she was. He found it hard to believe that he'd been having sex with her for the past six years and every time still felt like it was the first time for him! He would never tire of caressing her curvy, womanly body and staring into her deep ocean blue eyes as he made love to her. Her father had been wrong... she was even more beautiful than a spring lily! There was nothing in the world more beautiful than she... other than the magic they created when they were joined together. Charlie moved over top of his wife and stared into her eyes when she opened them as she reached down to place his cock at her entrance, lifting her legs to take him deeply as he slowly slid inside her... They both moaned as they felt his long, hard shaft filling her hot, wet body. This was a luxury they'd rarely experienced; most of their harried sessions were nothing but quick tension-relieving sex. Charlie wrapped his arms up under Lily and held her tightly as he kept stroking slowly and deeply inside her. Lily had her arms wrapped around his shoulders with her hands dug into his thick, brown hair and her thighs were spread wide. Her back arched in pleasure every time she felt his long, steely shaft inching inside her... it seemed to take forever before she would feel their mounds rubbing together again as he slowly buried himself to the hilt. She moaned loudly when he rotated his hips, rubbing the head of his cock deep inside her. It never ceased to amaze her how quickly he could make her come just by pounding his cock into her! He was able to stimulate a place inside her that quickly gave her the most amazing orgasms! She had tried to keep count one time during one of their fifteen-minute quickies to see how many times she came... she lost count after the fourth one! But Charlie had laughingly told her when she regained her senses that she'd come at least three more times... with his encouragement! She'd joked with him early on, saying she felt guilty at times that she was able to come more than he could! But Charlie had just laughed and hugged her as he told her that he loved doing that for her and watching her as she came! He said he got more pleasure from watching and listening to her than he did from his own orgasms! And she began to believe him when he started talking to her as she climaxed... "Ahhhh fuck, Lily! Your pussy feels so good squeezin' my dick, baby!!! Yeah... keep comin', baby!!! Oh baby... you're so goddamn gorgeous and that feels so fuckin' good!!!" Her childhood sweetheart that she'd seduced when they were just seventeen... her "gifted doctor" with the heart of gold... had turned into a fucking hot sexy man by the time he was twenty!!! And ever since he'd noticed how explosive her orgasms were whenever he talked dirty to her, he'd done it every chance he got... when they knew no one was around... she tended to scream from the pleasure! But this was not a night for that... Charlie knew Lily needed to feel the connection of their souls. She'd lost the only two people in the world that were most directly connected to her by flesh and he had to show her that the connection of their souls was just as tangible... He fully encircled her in his arms and kept his cock buried deep inside her. "Feel how connected we are, Lily..." he whispered next to her ear. "Wrap your legs around me, my love, and imprint this sensation in your heart and mind. We are one, Lily... I'm holding you so tightly that your body feels like it's a part of mine! Can you feel it, my love?" "Yes, Charlie... I do!" she whispered hoarsely as tears filled her eyes. He lifted his head to stare into the shimmering blue depths of her eyes with his lips brushing hers as he began to move inside her again. In less than a minute, Lily was moaning as her body writhed against his even as she clung tightly to him while her pussy throbbed on his cock. Charlie dragged his lips from hers to lift his head and watch as he continued to stab into her hard. If he could keep her coming, it would trigger an amazing orgasm for him as well... and he could feel one building quickly. "Now feel the connection of our souls..." He groaned as he parted her lips and stroked her tongue with his, thrusting hard and deep as his cock throbbed, shooting pulse after pulse of his seed inside her. She moaned with him as she felt his hot semen filling her. Lily felt a sudden longing to have Charlie's baby. The time she'd spent recently watching little Jonathan and holding the babies Tommy and J.J. had made her yearn for motherhood! She'd figure out later how to juggle motherhood and med school... When Charlie finally released her lips as his orgasm ended, he leaned his forehead against hers, his ragged breaths mingling with hers. "I want to have your baby!" she gasped as she suddenly remembered that she was in the fertile cycle of her period. Charlie wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly as he lifted his head and stared into her eyes. He panted at her, "What did you say, Lily?" She took a deep breath and repeated slowly, "I... want... to have... your baby!" Charlie couldn't stop the grin that lit his face, but then he frowned in confusion. "You mean now?!!" He grinned again when she nodded. "Really?!! You're absolutely sure?!!" he asked excitedly as she continued to nod. His grin turned sexy as he asked, "When will you be fertile?" She grinned just as sexily as she brought her hand down to trace her finger on the dimple in his right cheek that she'd always loved to see. "Right now!" she purred as she slid her hand to the back of his head again and pulled him down to kiss him. They spent the rest of the night making love, feeling their souls connect every time they came together as they both fervently wished for Lily to conceive. When they'd finally exhausted themselves, they lay on their sides with Lily's back nestled against the front of Charlie's body, his left arm encircling her protectively. As Lily was drifting off to sleep she murmured, "I hope you gave me a baby tonight..." Charlie's hand drifted down and pressed against her soft, flat abdomen just below her navel for a moment as he closed his eyes. A soft smile slowly curved his lips... ********** Rick and Rickie Estevez were disturbed by the information they found out when they checked into the investigation of the accident that had killed Larry and Maria Wilson. According to the evidence at the scene, it was no accident. Rick did not want to have to tell Lily that her parents had been murdered, but he had to question her and find out if she knew of any reason why anyone would want them dead. He showed up at the Wilson home around lunchtime on the Wednesday after the funeral and knocked on the door. Charlie Richards answered and greeted him warmly, until he noticed the look on Sgt. Estevez's face. "What's going on, Uncle Rick?" he asked worriedly. "Hey, Charlie... I'm sorry to bother you kids, but I need to talk to Lily... it's very important." Charlie stood back and let him in. "Sure. Come on in. Lily's in the kitchen... we were just about to have lunch. Will you join us?" "Thanks, son, but I've already eaten. I just need to talk to you and Lily about the accident. I hope this isn't a bad time, but we need to get some information as soon as possible." They were entering the kitchen and Lily looked up and smiled at them as she was making sandwiches. "Hey, Uncle Rick! We're just about to have lunch. Can I make you a sandwich?" she asked happily. She picked up a couple of plates that she'd just finished for her and Charlie and carried them to the table. "No thanks, sweetie. Charlie already asked me and I was just telling him that I've already eaten. You two sit down and eat and we'll chat until you're finished... OK?" he said smoothly as he sat at the table with them. He kept their conversation light by talking about his grandson Tommy and how much he loved watching him with the other boys. Then he noticed a look that passed between Charlie and Lily as they were munching. He narrowed his eyes as he watched them and asked, "OK... what was with that look?" Lily grinned widely and spoke before she thought because she couldn't contain her happiness. "I'm pregnant, Uncle Rick!" Then she looked wide-eyed at her husband when he loudly cleared his throat and she stammered, "Uh... I mean... we're trying to have a baby!" Rick frowned. "No... you said you were pregnant. That was a statement and there was no hesitation. I've been a cop for thirty years, young lady... don't try to lie to me! So, when did this happen?" he asked curiously. Charlie sighed and realized it was time to let some of their family and friends in on his and Lily's secrets. "This past Saturday night... on our wedding night," he said quietly. Rick looked confused. "Uh... that was only four days ago. How would you already know?" He watched as the two young people glanced and nodded at each other. Then Charlie looked at him and told him something his parents had mentioned years back that they'd suspected. "I have this... ability... to know what's going on with someone's body... regarding their health. I can put my left hand on someone, and my gut tells me if there's a problem. If they're healthy, I know it, but if they're sick or injured, I can usually figure out what's wrong. I know Lily's pregnant." Charlie watched the older man carefully to see his reaction as he explained. He was surprised when Rick DIDN'T look surprised... or skeptical! "Well," Rick mumbled as he leaned back in his chair. "I guess that's an ability that comes in real handy for a doctor... Don't you think?!!" he asked as he flashed his bright smile at the surprised young man. When Charlie frowned in confusion, he added, "Your parents told us years ago that they were sure you could do something like that when they watched you taking care of Meggie. As a matter of fact, all of us have been watching you kids over the years and we've noticed that most of you seem to have... 'gifts' of some kind... that are even more enhanced than what some of us can do!" Rick leaned forward and watched them to see if they grasped what he'd just said. Gifts of the Future Ch. 07 Charlie and Lily both frowned for a moment and then looked at each other. Then their eyes widened and their mouths dropped open slightly. He grinned and looked at Lily as he continued. "And I believe you inherited your mother's ability to touch someone and know if they're trustworthy or not... right?" Lily nodded and then said, "It's actually a little more than that. I can seem to sense their true nature... even if someone is basically good natured, they'll still tell little white lies. And there are some people I've touched who acted like pious church-going saints, but their souls felt evil! But a few times, I felt confused. Those people were surrounded by a blackness that felt so dark and angry I wondered how they managed to function as a person! Kristina Davidson was one of them... and I don't remember who the others were." Rick shook his head as he said, "Well... we've just been keeping our eyes on you kids to make sure you weren't having any problems dealing with these 'gifts.' I think we need to get everyone together soon and have a big discussion and get all of this out in the open. Because I think our grandchildren are also inheriting these abilities and they seem even more enhanced in them! So, we'll be in touch about that... but right now, I need to talk to you about what happened to your Mom and Dad, Lily. I'm afraid I have some disturbing news." Charlie and Lily leaned forward as Rick sat back to explain. "According to the accident scene, your Dad did go off the side of the road to avoid the other vehicle and... it actually accelerated before deliberately running into them, just like your Dad had said. There were no witnesses and the other vehicle left the scene before anyone else showed up. The tire marks and the damage to your parents' sedan seem to indicate the vehicle that ran into them was at least the size of a large pick-up truck or van. But, other than the bits of glass and chrome that were left by the impact, we have no way to identify the other vehicle." Rick paused; Lily was frowning as she realized what he was telling her. "The L.A.P.D. is upset that one of our own has been killed by a mysterious deliberate hit and run, so we're putting every bit of effort we can into trying to find that phantom vehicle and driver. We've put the word out to every body shop within a 50-mile radius to notify us if any trucks, vans or larger size vehicles come in with front end damage. We'll do everything we can, Lily, to find out who killed your Mom and Dad... but we need you to try and help us with the why. Do you know of anyone or any reason why someone would want them dead?" he asked gently. Lily started to pant from the pain in her chest as she shook her head. Tears filled her eyes and her voice cracked as she cried, "No! Mom and Dad never did anything to anyone! You know that as well as I do, Uncle Rick! You tell me why you think someone would want them dead!!! You're the cop!" She stopped as she started to sob. Charlie stood up and pulled his wife into his arms. He held her and spoke soothingly. "Shh, my baby... you know Uncle Rick is only trying to find out if there was something you might've seen or heard at any time that he wouldn't have known about that could lead to figuring out why this happened! Try to think, baby... do you ever remember anyone being mad at either one of them for any reason? Do you ever remember any kind of confrontation with a stranger or anyone at all?" Lily held onto her husband as she calmed down and tried to think back over the years and see if anything like that stuck out in her mind... but there was nothing. She remembered her mother telling her a few times that she deliberately avoided shopping in certain places because she knew the owner wasn't trustworthy, but she never let those people know what she thought of them. And her father was a police officer, but she didn't recall ever seeing anyone confront him when they were out together as a family... they had always been happy, helpful people! She straightened up and wiped her eyes as she looked at her father's long-time best friend and partner on the force until they'd both been promoted to sergeants. "I'm afraid I can't help you, Uncle Rick. As far as I can remember, no one ever threatened Mom or Dad when I was around and if it ever happened to them, they never told me about it!" Rick nodded his head sadly... he'd always known that Larry would've told him if he'd ever run into trouble with anyone... he and Larry had shared everything about their lives. Hell... they'd even shared their wives with each other at times!!! Rick looked down for a moment as his face flushed from the memories of those wild nights of passion. His body tingled as he recalled the explosive orgasms he and Larry had experienced while fucking each other's wives from behind as they watched Dawn and Maria kissing and touching each other... He and Larry had always reminded each other what lucky bastards they were to have two such loving, sensual and adventurous wives as Dawn and Maria! Then he choked up as the realization struck him again that he'd lost two of the best friends he'd ever had... He looked up into the sad face of the beautiful daughter they'd left behind and noticed how she was a perfect combination of her parents' handsomeness and beauty. Tears trickled from his eyes when he stood up as she came toward him around the table. Rick took Lily in his arms and held her, both of them bursting into sobs as they once again mourned their loss. After a minute or so, they both stopped crying and released each other, and Charlie was next to them with a box of tissues as he also wiped his eyes. Rick patted Lily's cheek and said, "I promise you, sweetie, we'll do everything we can to try to find out why this happened and who did it... but with so little to go on, we may never figure it out!" Then he held his hand out to Charlie and they shook as he smiled softly and added, "Congratulations, young man! I'm just glad you made an honest woman of her before you knocked her up!" Charlie chuckled with him and replied, "Thanks, Uncle Rick! But promise me you won't tell anyone else until we get everyone together for that discussion you mentioned, OK?" he asked as he placed his left hand on the older man's shoulder. Then he paused for a moment as his eyes closed and his hand continued to grip and move over Rick's shoulder. Then he opened his eyes and said, "Hey... it's not too bad yet, but you may want to have a specialist take a look at your shoulder soon. I think you'll have some joint problems crop up if you don't take care of it!" Then he dropped his hand and smiled at him. Rick chuckled as he touched his shoulder and rotated it a few times. "You know... I've just recently started to feel some twinges when it rains! Thanks, Dr. Richards... I'll have my doctor take a look at it as soon as possible!" Then he looked at both of the youngsters and said, "I'll keep you posted on anything we find out and we'll be in touch about that discussion! You two take care, and I'll see myself out!" ********** Several weeks later, the entire group assembled and everyone was excited to hear that Charlie and Lily were going to have a baby. Then Rick announced why they had called for that gathering and everyone was astounded as each family revealed things they'd held back because they weren't sure anyone would believe them. When Charles and Diana's "gift" of telepathic communication with each other had been revealed so long ago, everyone had thought it was just a fluke that had been granted to them at a time when they'd needed it to save her life. But now that all these different "gifts" were being revealed, they started to wonder if they'd all been brought together for some even greater reason... and if that reason would ever be revealed to them... ********** The Guardians had fulfilled their first assignment when they'd made sure that the first generation of "chosen ones" had met and married their true soul mates in order to create the next generation with the enhanced "gifts" that they would need. The worst problem that had arisen was when they'd discovered that the dark forces had damaged Charles Richards' ability to procreate... That had forced The Guardians to come up with a very "creative" suggestion in order to make sure that Charles and Diana created a son together. Megan had been an extra "bonus" The Guardians had added in order to make certain that Charles and Tom understood what true friendship, trust and loyalty were so they would pass those qualities on to their children... as well as their "gifts"... Tom and Lynda Seldon's instinctual ability to sense each other's emotions had passed only to Didi. And her husband Jay had inherited from his parents an immune system that prevented him from contracting any illness or disease or being affected by any toxin... The two youngest Seldon boys, Robbie and Wayne, did not possess any "gifts" other than the innate honor and goodness of their parents. And Brad had been given the ability to communicate with Megan because the dark forces had interfered... They had unfairly enhanced their natural bond to fool them into believing they were made to love each other... Brad and Megan hadn't been able to recognize what was wrong because love was an emotion of light, not darkness, and yet they had still done their best to resist the pull for as long as they could. The Supreme Power had been surprised when he'd discovered what the dark forces had done to two of the most important of the "chosen ones"... That was why he'd given Brad an even more important "gift" to be enhanced when it was passed along to his son... Rick Estevez had always known that he would recognize his soul mate when she appeared... but he had felt so lost and alone for so long, waiting to find her. That was why he'd succumbed to all those attractive women who'd thrown themselves at him... hoping to drown his disappointment over the fact that none of them were his soul mate... Rick's guilt over his behavior had made him unaware that the reason he'd become a cop was because he knew instinctively how to handle any dangerous situation... which his son inherited. But Rickie's ability had been enhanced to give him a sense of when danger was about to occur. And his wife Karen had been blessed with the ability to use more of her brain capacity than most humans could handle... Dawn, as well, never realized that she also had a "gift"... her dreams, if she could remember any of them, had given her glimpses of her future life. But the only ones she'd vividly recalled were her dreams about having hot sex with Hispanic men... which she'd never connected to the fact that her soul mate was a sexy Latino man! But Barbie had realized that her dreams sometimes revealed future events to her, and that "gift" had passed to her son, along with his father's as yet unrealized ability... And Maria Wilson had passed her "gift" on to her daughter. Larry's only purpose had been that he was the "chosen one" that had been "chosen" especially for Maria to create their special daughter. The Supreme Power had been disappointed when Larry's life was turned upside down because the dark forces had messed with his mother's free will... And He was surprised at what it had taken to finally get Larry back on his true path... The Guardians had come up with some very unconventional ways in which to fulfill their task of seeing that those soul mates had ended up together in order to procreate! And then He'd been astounded when those "chosen ones" had taken The Guardians' suggestions to heart and continued to share themselves with each other... Larry and Maria had been most thankful for not being condemned for the pleasures they'd shared with Rick and Dawn. The Supreme Power knew that their intentions had been pure and what they'd shared had in no way tainted their ability to love each other or their good friends. The Supreme Power was most gratified when Larry and Maria asked to join with The Guardians to keep watch over all their friends... Jon and Barbara North were the only exceptions... they were the only pair of "chosen ones" who were not given any "gifts." But their hearts were the purest... they knew how to love unconditionally... they were never judgmental... they were never jealous... Their sole purpose was to create a son and a daughter with those same qualities and they were both given the most important "gift" of all to be enhanced and passed to their children... The Supreme Power was pleased that everything was still progressing as He had hoped. But He was unable to prevent the dark forces from their attempts to frighten the "chosen ones" into not following the paths they were meant for. The Guardians were doing their best to keep watch, but they were greatly outnumbered. But the dark forces would soon realize that their plan was backfiring... Gifts of the Future Ch. 08 On the morning of March 30, 1981, Second Lieutenants Brad Seldon and Jay Hanson reported to Edwards AFB for another series of flight tests. When they were completed and the men returned to the base and reported to their Commanding Officer, they were given some stunning news. Due to their extreme proficiencies in their flight tests, both of them had been promoted to First Lieutenants. Then Brad was informed that he was scheduled within the next several weeks to be transferred to Houston to begin with the shuttle training aircraft (STA) for NASA. Then Jay was told that he had been slated for transfer to the Air Force's facility at Plant 42 to be a test pilot for some new experimental aircraft they'd been developing. The CO congratulated both of them as he handed them their new insignias, but their celebration was short-lived. The television outside the office they were in cut to a Special News Bulletin. Brad and Jay jerked around when they heard Megan's voice. Then a group gathered around the TV when they heard what she was saying. "This is Megan Richards-North reporting for KLAC news. We have just received reports from our affiliates in Washington, D.C. that President Reagan has been shot. He was leaving a Washington hotel after a speaking engagement, waving to a crowd, and then was pushed into his limousine when Secret Service agents heard shots fired. Police and Secret Service quickly subdued the gunman, but three other men were also shot. It was initially thought that the President was unharmed but it was soon discovered that he had been hit and he was immediately driven to George Washington University Hospital. We've been told that he is currently in surgery to remove a bullet that pierced one of his lungs, but his prognosis is good. The other men wounded have been identified as President Reagan's Press Secretary, James Brady, a Secret Service agent and a D.C. police officer whose names have not yet been released. This is all the information we have at this time, but we will bring you more news about this attempted assassination of the President as we learn more. Megan Richards-North for KLAC news, this has been a special news report about the shooting of President Reagan with more news to follow on our regular midday news broadcast. Thank you." Jay looked at Brad and asked, "Since when has Megan been a regular news broadcaster?" Brad raised his eyebrows and replied, "I didn't know she was! As far as I knew, she only does her investigative reports for her weekly news show. Maybe she just happened to be at the studio when this story broke and she was the only person they had available to go on the air." Some of the others standing around heard them and asked how they knew Megan. Brad answered, "I've known Meggie all my life... we grew up together. She's my half-sister." When he saw the questioning looks on some of their faces, he shook his head as he said, "It's a long story and I'm not going into it!" Then he got back to the news she'd just reported. "There's more important things to think about here, people... someone tried to kill the President! I'm just glad to hear they caught the bastard! I can't wait to hear if he confesses why he did it," he mumbled as he shook his head in disbelief. Then a call came in to the CO's office for Jay. Brad watched as Jay's face reflected that whatever the call was about, it was not good news. Jay hung up the phone and approached the CO and Brad heard him requesting a few days of personal leave because he'd just found out that his mother had been involved in an auto accident. Jay was granted leave and he started making arrangements as soon as he got home. A couple of hours later, Jay was arguing with his wife over the fact that he never wanted her to be directly exposed to his past. "I'm coming with you, Jay!" Didi exclaimed firmly. "I'm your wife and I should be with you at a time like this! I can tell you're angry for some other reason and I don't want you doing anything foolish! So stop fighting me on this!" "All right... FINE!" Jay yelled. "YOU can come with me, but J.J. CANNOT! THAT I will NOT agree to! So, if you can't find anyone to take care of him for a few days, YOU are not coming, either! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!!" he barked, using his commanding voice as his wife stared defiantly at him. "Loud and clear, Lieutenant Hanson," she stated more calmly. "I've already made arrangements with Barbie and Brad. They're more than happy to have J.J. come stay with them since he and Tommy get along so well together. Barbie's on her way over now to pick him and us up and drive us to the Santa Monica airport. Brad's letting us take his plane; he's already called and asked them to get it ready and my bag is already packed and J.J.'s things are ready to go! So we can leave as soon as she gets here." Jay slumped in resignation. He should've known better than to argue with Didi over something like this. She was always so protective of him whenever he had to deal with anything from his past. His mother had called him out of the blue one night several weeks back, crying, saying that she was sorry for everything he'd suffered as a boy. Jay had asked her if there was anything going on that she wasn't telling him, but she had denied it, saying she'd just been missing him and had wanted to hear his voice... Then she'd apologized for disturbing him and had told him not to worry about her, that she was feeling much better after talking to him. Didi had held Jay for a moment after he hung up because she could feel his sadness and his worry. She'd taken his mind off of it by leading him to their bedroom, undressing him and then kneeling in front of him. She just loved to watch and feel his large, limp dick lengthen and harden into its full, monstrous size as she licked, stroked and sucked his cock and balls. It drove Jay wild when she sucked his entire shaft into her mouth and throat while he was still soft, but she couldn't keep doing that once he started to get hard! Her mouth was simply not big enough to handle his monster dick! But he still loved the way she sucked and tongued him... He'd moaned loudly as he came in her mouth that night, "Ahhh fuck, baby... God you give such good head!!!" as he'd caressed her hair with his hands. Didi had smiled up at him after she released his softening shaft and kissed his crotch. Then she stated, "Well, you know I had a very good teacher! I was just following your instructions, my love!" She'd grinned impishly as she stood up and kissed him deeply, letting him taste his own semen in her mouth. Then she'd pulled back to stare into his blazing golden eyes and purred, "And now I'm hoping that you'll return the favor... my pussy is all messy! Think you can clean me up?!!" Jay had chuckled sexily as he moved to the bed and lay down as he replied, "Oh, baby... you know how I love to lick your pretty pussy! Get over here and sit on my face, you gorgeous woman!!!" Then he'd stared heatedly as he watched her undress slowly and sensuously. Didi's pussy had been almost dripping from the look in his eyes... Then she screamed while Jay had tongue fucked her like never before that night... then they'd fucked like animals until they were both exhausted. As they lay holding each other afterward, Didi had prompted Jay to tell her what had worried him about his mother's phone call earlier that evening, and he'd been surprised at how easy it was for him to talk about it. Jay realized that she'd figured out how to let him talk about his emotions without feeling too emotional. He didn't like talking about the pain of his past when he was already upset... he felt foolish at times that a huge, strong man like himself could be reduced to weeping like a little girl! Even though he knew Didi understood him like no one else ever had, it still embarrassed him somewhat when he'd occasionally find himself wallowing in pain, sobbing as he clung to his wife... who always ended up sobbing with him... after they'd made love. But his wonderful, caring wife had figured out that wild, animalistic sex took him away from the pain so that he could talk about his feelings rationally. ********** They arrived at United Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota late that evening. They went directly to the ICU to check on his mother's status and the ICU staff let them sit with her for a little while. But Jay made Didi wait outside while he went in to see his father in his room. He was adamant that he did not want his wife to meet him. The accident had been his father's fault... he'd deliberately run their car off the road and smashed it into a tree. He'd claimed that he was trying to avoid hitting someone, but witnesses who'd stopped to help had told the police there was no one in the road! Didi put her hand on his cheek as she cautioned him, "Jay... don't do anything you'll regret. He's a sick man and he's also injured... don't let your anger make you forget how strong you are! Just be careful, my love... OK?" He closed his eyes and nodded briefly before he turned and opened the door to the room. Jay stopped just inside the door and took a deep cleansing breath before he approached his father's bedside. As he moved closer, his father must've heard him because he opened his eyes and looked straight toward him. Jay watched his father's eyes widen with fear as he got closer. "What the hell did you think you were doing, old man? Didn't I warn you that if anything happened to Mom that was not of natural causes that I'd tear you apart with my bare hands?!! What part of that threat did you not understand?!!" Jay growled quietly. Louis Hanson rolled his head back and forth on the pillow in confusion as he muttered, "But I didn't mean to do it! We were on our way home from having lunch and I glanced at your mother when she said something, and then all of a sudden I heard a voice yelling that I was about to hit someone, so I just swerved!" Jay snorted sarcastically, "Just how many Martinis did you have with lunch... Dad?!!" The older man closed his eyes and frowned painfully as he whined, "I wasn't drinking!!! I haven't touched a drop in almost two years now! You can even ask your mother!!!" Jay gritted his teeth and grated, "I can't ask Mom a goddamned thing!!! She hasn't regained consciousness since you slammed her head into the windshield! I swear to you, old man... if she dies, I will see to it that you pay for it somehow!" Louis Hanson put his hands to his face as he grimaced in pain and confusion. Then he cried miserably, "I don't want your mother to die!!! This is the first time in over twenty-five years that I've been able to love her the way I've always wanted to! I know I've made her life a living hell... and yours, too. I drank because it was the only way I could stop the voices!!! When I was sober, I kept hearing all these angry voices screaming inside my head telling me to do all these awful things!!! When I was drunk, they were quieter, but they still kept egging me on..." He paused as he sobbed quietly for a few moments. Jay stood back and watched with a frown as he saw his father expressing genuine regret for the first time in his life. But he was blaming his behavior on hearing "angry" voices in his head... maybe he really was sick! His father seemed to calm down a little and started to speak again. "Just after you informed your mother that you had married, I noticed that the voices had stopped... it was like... all of a sudden, they were just... gone!!! They'd started right after your mother had told me she was pregnant, and they never left me alone until you'd made it clear that you were out of our lives!!!" His eyes filled with tears again as he stated hoarsely, "I know you'll probably never believe this, son... but I was overjoyed when your mother told me about you... I had always hoped to have children! But then those damn voices started up and they kept screaming at me that you weren't my child!!! That you were the spawn of Satan and that I should kill you because you were evil!!! And I started to believe that maybe the voices were right! I swear to GOD... that's what I lived with inside my head for over twenty years!!! But I couldn't kill you... even if you weren't my son... but I blamed you for the voices... I'm sorry, Jay... I'm so goddamn sorry!!!" he cried as he burst into louder sobs. Jay was silent, just watching as the man who'd abused him practically his whole life cried painfully as he poured out his excuses for treating him the way he did. The man was obviously sick... to be making up such a story to explain away his abusive behavior, but then the story got even weirder... Louis Hanson controlled his sobbing again and looked pitifully at the man who had every reason in the world to hate him. He figured he owed him the truth... He sniffed deeply and cleared his throat as he started again. "The voices were right, Jay... you're not my son. I married your mother because I was in love with her... but she didn't love me. Your mother was in love with and engaged to marry my best friend, Jay Howard. You were named for him. He was killed in an auto accident just three months before they were to be married. Your mother was heartbroken and so was I." He looked away and took a deep, ragged breath before he continued. "We comforted each other, and one night just a couple of weeks after the accident... your mother let me make love to her. Then a month later she was telling me she was pregnant and that she wanted to marry me." He looked back at Jay. "Like I said, I was overjoyed, but then those damn voices started and, ever since then, I never felt in control of my actions until they just suddenly stopped..." He paused as he saw Jay frowning at him in disbelief. "I swear to you, Jay... what I am telling you is the God's honest truth. Your mother just recently confessed to me that she and Jay had been making love ever since he'd proposed to her and she found out a couple of weeks after he was killed that she was pregnant... which was why she'd let me comfort her, so she could convince me that I was the father so I'd marry her. She had thought I would be a good father for her and Jay's son..." His voice grew hoarse as tears, once again, filled his eyes. "And I swear to God... I wanted to be a good father... but those voices... I wish to God, now... after seeing clearly for the first time what I had become, that I had been the one killed in that accident instead of Jay! And I would have if he'd been the one driving... but a vehicle smashed right into the passenger side of the car, killing Jay instantly! Your mother was sitting between us and she was OK because we'd both braced her against the seat with our arms. I wasn't injured too badly... just banged my head on the side window... some bruises and scratches... but Jay was gone!" The man was wracked by sobs again and Jay could feel his chest tightening as he started to believe the man was telling him the truth. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he waited for him to calm down again. When the man he'd grown up believing was his father resumed speaking, a feeling of unease started to settle in the pit of Jay's stomach. His eyes stared into space. "To this day, I still have no idea why Jay was killed... the accident had seemed so deliberate. I saw headlights coming right at us, so I beeped the horn, but they just kept coming, so I swerved off the road to avoid it, but the other vehicle swerved right into the side of the car even though it had plenty of time to avoid us!!! Then it took off before I could even tell what kind of vehicle it was... and the police were never able to find it." The older man turned his sad eyes toward Jay again. "I felt so guilty after the accident... thinking that if I had just swerved off the right side of the road, the vehicle would've hit me instead of Jay. I should've been the one killed... not your father... he was such a good man. You look a little like him, Jay... he was a big man... just like you... and you obviously inherited his goodness for being able to put up with what I put you through and not killing me." Then he closed his eyes and frowned as he tried to apologize again. "I'll never understand what happened to me. I know I acted horribly and I wondered at times why I didn't just go insane and give in to those voices... I wish now I had told some doctor what I was going through, but I was afraid they'd lock me up in an insane asylum! It was easier for people to accept my behavior when they believed it was just because I was an alcoholic. But I should've let them lock me up... you and your mother did not deserve what I put you through... and I'll never be able to make up for that. I'm so sorry, Jay..." he ended as tears swam in his eyes. Jay stared at Louis Hanson... suddenly realizing that he was relieved to know that the man who'd tortured him his entire childhood was not his father. He was just a sick man who'd had the misfortune of losing his best friend, who was to have married a woman he was in love with, in an auto accident... that seemed eerily similar to the one that had killed Larry and Maria Wilson just recently... over 25 years ago! How much of a coincidence could something like that be?!! Jay's slight feeling of relief was short-lived as a decided knot of unease clenched in his gut. Just then, there was a soft knock on the hospital room door and then Jay saw his wife peeking her head around the door with a look of sadness in her eyes. Didi frowned as she gathered her strength. She pushed the door open further and went over to stand beside her husband as she stared at the pitiful looking man lying in the bed. She swallowed a lump in her throat and grasped her husband's arm as she started to speak. "Mr. Hanson... I'm Didi... Jay's wife. I'm sorry to tell both of you, but an ICU nurse just came up to say that... Mrs. Hanson didn't make it. She died about fifteen minutes ago." She saw her father start to sob silently and then she looked up into her husband's shimmering golden eyes. "I'm so sorry about your mother, Jay! They said she never regained consciousness... her heart just stopped beating. They said it was very peaceful... like she just... drifted away." Didi looked back at her husband's father again and noted that he seemed genuinely brokenhearted. Louis Hanson looked up at Jay and spoke brokenly. "I don't... care now... what you... do to me, son..." Jay interrupted him softly, "Don't call me that... I am not your son, remember?" The older man whimpered painfully and started again. "You're right, Jay... I'm sorry... but you can... let them... do... whatever they want... to me. Nothing matters... any more... I've lost... the only woman... I've ever loved..." His voice trailed off as his sobs grew harder. Didi glanced back and forth between her husband and his father, wondering why Jay had told him not to call him "son"... and that he wasn't his son... What the hell had they been talking about before she came in? She didn't feel it was the right time to question him about that as she felt deep sadness pouring from her husband... In their hotel room later that night, Didi was sobbing with Jay, holding him after they'd made love slowly and tenderly. It was almost midnight and they both jerked slightly when the phone in their hotel room rang. Jay lifted his head from his wife's shoulder and pushed up on his forearms to brace himself so he could wipe his face and pick up the phone. Didi felt some of his sadness replaced with concern; he frowned as he listened for a minute or so. "I understand. We'll be in tomorrow morning and we'll take care of the arrangements for both of them at the same time. Thank you for letting me know..." ********** Three days later, Jay and Didi Hanson were surrounded by most of their family and some of their friends in a cold early April drizzle at Riverview Cemetary in St. Paul, Minnesota. They had just buried Jay's mother and her husband. Evidently, Louis Hanson had lost the will to live after learning of his wife's death. The hospital had surmised that he must've suffered a heart attack... he'd cried himself to sleep after Jay and Didi had left that night and then simply passed away... Gifts of the Future Ch. 08 After the graveside service, everyone was surprised when Jay pointed to the block of granite next to where his mother had just been lowered into the ground and said softly, "Does anyone notice anything unusual about this gravestone?" Everyone turned startled eyes toward him when they saw the name Jay Alan Howard engraved on it. The date of his death was just less than nine months before Jay had been born. Then they were all fascinated as Jay told them everything Louis Hanson had revealed to him that he'd confirmed through research into old newspaper stories. Jay thought it fitting that his mother, Sylvia Edberg Hanson, was laid to rest between the two men who'd loved her. His real father and the man who claimed to wish that he could've been a good father to him... Jay had wrestled with the thought of changing his surname to Howard, but when he thought of all the legal hassles that could arise, he decided against it. He was trying in his heart to believe that Louis Hanson had been sincere in his wish that he hadn't been so sick... so tortured by "angry" voices... and that he would've been a good father otherwise. So, he kept the man's name as a token of forgiveness. ********** The Supreme Power was satisfied that one of the "chosen ones" had been granted a little peace of mind upon learning the truth of his existence. Louis Hanson had been granted forgiveness because the Supreme Power knew that the dark forces had usurped his free will and still he'd been able to resist doing what they'd really wanted... he'd still tried to follow a path of light... Jay Howard and Sylvia Edberg were overjoyed to be reunited when she learned that he had joined with The Guardians and she asked to serve so they could watch over their son and his new family and friends. Then they both greeted Louis Hanson with joy when he asked for the honor to serve as well... He had a personal grudge against the dark forces and he was going to fight with every bit of the strength left in his soul... It was the least he could do for the "chosen one" that he knew would've been a loving son to him if not for what the dark forces had done... ********** A few days after everyone had returned to the Los Angeles area from St. Paul, Jay called another gathering to show them the disturbing information he'd dug up about the car accident that had killed his real father all those years ago. They also thought it strange that Louis Hanson had claimed to hear a voice telling him he was about to hit someone when he'd taken his eyes off the road for a moment, causing him to crash by running off the road because he didn't want to kill anyone... They all joked about it, but they were beginning to wonder if they were safer flying than they were driving vehicles... It made all of them become much safer drivers... constantly on the lookout for any potential accidents. Of course, Rickie Estevez had an advantage... he always seemed to know when an accident was about to occur when he was on the road! And Barbie Seldon was certain she'd continue to have dreams whenever anything bad was about to happen to any of them... On Tuesday evening, April 14th, Brad and Barbie and Jay and Didi, along with thirteen-month olds Tommy and J.J., were joined by most of their family and friends as they all gathered in the observation area near runway 23 at Edwards AFB to watch the landing of Space Shuttle Columbia, STS-1. It had been the very first launch of the Space Shuttle program, for which Brad was about to begin training as a pilot as soon as his transfer to Houston was confirmed. Barbie nervously watched Brad's face reflecting his absolute excitement and enthusiasm as he watched the spacecraft glide in for a smooth landing. He was holding Tommy and they both were gleefully bouncing up and down as Brad excitedly told his son that someday he'd be watching his Daddy land one of the shuttles! Brad had never felt closer to realizing his dream than at that moment. He thought it awesome that the ungainly-looking craft that was speeding down the runway trailing what looked like three parachutes to help slow it down, had less than an hour before been orbiting the earth at an altitude of roughly 150 miles! He could not wait to experience the sensations of the g-force pressures during liftoff and the weightlessness of zero gravity in orbit! But most of all... he wanted to see what the stars would look like when not distorted by the lower atmosphere of the earth. He wanted to search the heavens... he just knew there had to be other worlds out there... somewhere. He glanced up at the sky for a moment in wonder, and then laughed as he held tighter to his son when he squealed "Weeeee!!!" and clapped his hands as he watched the shuttle rolling past them at a distance as it finally started to slow down. Later that evening, Lieutenants Seldon and Hanson and their families were attending a reception to welcome back the two astronauts from the mission. Brad was honored to meet both of them and they congratulated him on being selected for the shuttle pilot training program. The pilot told Brad to remember his glider training while attending the Air Force Academy because the shuttles were basically "overgrown" gliders! Then he amended that description to say that all the pilots referred to the shuttle as a "flying brick!" Brad laughed with him and it instantly gave him a sense of everything he needed to know while learning how to pilot the craft... In May, everyone was a sad when Brad, Barbie and little Tommy moved to Houston for Brad to begin his training. But he was excited, and he promised that he'd be flying them back to L.A. as often as possible for visits... Toward the end of May, Megan learned from Charlie and Lily that UCLA Medical Center had been treating some people with a rare form of pneumonia that they'd developed because their immune systems had been weakened dramatically. When the doctors tried to detect what had caused such deficiencies in their immune systems, the only commonality they had discovered was that all of the patients were gay men. At the beginning of June, the Centers for Disease Control made an announcement about the finding and gave the disease a name... AIDS. Megan knew there was going to be a backlash. People panicked over the idea that all homosexuals were responsible for this horrible new disease. Suddenly, it seemed as if it was no longer safe for anyone to "come out of the closet!" While none of their family or friends had ever been gay, they'd all worked with or known people who were. They'd never felt threatened at the thought that someone could love another person who happened to be the same gender as them... you couldn't tell people who they could or couldn't love! And none of them pretended not to understand why or how two people of the same sex found each other attractive and enjoyed sharing each other's bodies! Even though they'd had a discussion regarding sexual preference and both of them had admitted that they were decidedly heterosexual, Megan nearly drove Jonnie insane one night when she told him about a vivid fantasy she'd created involving them and Brad and Barbie. Megan said it fascinated her to imagine the four of them all having sex together... she and Barbie tasting each other and watching him and Brad suck each other! Jonnie almost lost interest at that point... "SHUT UP, MEGAN!!!" he gritted through his teeth as he was pounding her pussy from behind. "Are you trying to make me lose my hard-on?!!" Megan giggled at first and then her laugh turned sexy as she purred, "Now, Jonnie... you were getin' off listening to me describe how it would look to have my face between Barbie's thighs... my lips on her pussy with my tongue licking up and down and all around her clit... "Ahhhh fuck yeah, baby..." Jonnie moaned as he closed his eyes and slowed his pumping for a moment to enjoy the hard throbs of excitement in his groin that her erotic imagery induced for him. "Ooooo yeah, Jonnie... that feels so good... your dick is soooo big and nice and hard, baby! I'd just love to watch you feed that monster to Brad... watch him lick your cock all over and suck on it... damn, baby! That image is so fuckin' hot to me! Watching two hot, sexy men with nice dicks getin' each other off... Ohhhhh, fuck baby!!! THAT'S IT... FUCK ME HARD!!!!" she screamed as Jonnie slammed into her harder and faster. When he exploded into an intense orgasm, Jonnie yelled, "AH FUUUUUCKK..." Then he groaned, "Damn, Megan..." as it finally subsided while he continued slide in and out of her dripping pussy. Then he collapsed onto their bed beside her, panting raggedly... wondering why the hell he'd just come so hard from listening to her describe how turned on she was by the image of Brad sucking his dick!!! Jonnie had done his best to keep the image from invading his mind, but he couldn't help it... And he was initially bothered that it didn't turn him off, but then he realized... it was just a fantasy! It didn't mean he actually wanted it to happen! It was just a fucking hot image... the same type of thing that had turned him on when he and Megan had watched a porn flick together once. He had actually gotten hard while watching some guy get his dick sucked by another guy. He figured most men would probably be great cocksuckers... men already knew what felt good so they'd know exactly what to do!!! But he wasn't interested in testing his theory... Jonnie still preferred to look down and find Megan's lips wrapped around his dick! And he knew he wasn't gay when watching the guys fuck each other had made him lose his erection... Even Megan had looked a little uncomfortable during that scene. She'd told him it was because she felt a little jealous when she started to imagine him stuffing his huge cock up some man's ass who could take his size when her ass couldn't! She had wanted to share that taboo intimacy with him because she'd overheard her mother telling her father once how much she loved having his dick up her ass... Megan had been shocked at first, but then she'd laughed when she remembered how sexual her parents had always been and she realized that nothing should surprise her where their sex life was concerned! So she'd asked Jonnie to try that with her, but he couldn't even get the head of his cock into her before she screamed that her ass felt like it was being ripped open... She and Jonnie had almost died laughing when he backed away from her and said that she hadn't done anything to deserve for him to "rip her a new one!" After they'd managed to stop rolling on the bed, Jonnie had let Megan suck him hard again and then watched in awe as she impaled herself on him and rode him with wild abandon while he told her he didn't need her ass... he was perfectly happy with her tight, wet cunt! The first time Brad and Barbie came back for a weekend visit from Houston, Jonnie and Megan would look at each other from time to time, smiling and chuckling. Brad got curious and asked them what was so funny. Both of them had looked right at each other and echoed, "Nothing!!!" Then Jonnie had stated, "It's just a private joke that we haven't been able to stop thinking about. We're sorry... we're being very rude, so we'll stop now!" Later that evening, Megan and Barbie were talking as they watched over two-and-a-half-year old Jonathan and nineteen-month old Tommy playing in the bathtub. Barbie asked her about the "private joke," but Megan said she couldn't tell her... especially not with little ears listening! Barbie was even more curious and she was determined not to let it go! After they'd tucked Jonathan and Tommy into bed, Barbie followed Megan into the kitchen and cornered her. "OK, Meg... now tell me about this private joke! I caught the looks on your faces... this joke has something to do with Brad and me! It's like you think we've done something stupid and you're laughing behind our backs! We're supposed to be your best friends!" Megan held up her hand. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! We're not laughing behind your backs at anything YOU'VE done! We're laughing because I planted a very naughty fantasy in Jonnie's mind involving you guys... and now that you're here, we keep thinking about it and we're laughing in embarrassment! OK?!!! Damn, you leave us for a few months and all of a sudden, you're paranoid that we're mad at you! God... I miss you guys!!!" she exclaimed as she hugged Barbie tightly. At that moment, Jonnie and Brad walked into the kitchen and stopped short to see their wives holding each other. The men glanced at each other and grinned wolfishly. "Mmmmm... too bad you girls are still fully clothed!" Brad growled softly. The women broke apart and Megan's cheeks flushed crimson as her eyes flew to her husband's grinning face. "JONNIE!!! You told him?!!! How could you do that?!!" she exclaimed shrilly. The men chuckled softly as Brad spoke again, his voice soft and sexy. "Don't be embarrassed, sis! Barbie and I have played out some pretty hot fantasies involving you guys, too! Jonnie and I were just wondering if you girls wanted to have some hot fun?!!" Megan glanced at Barbie and saw surprise on her face, but not horror. Then she stared back and forth between her husband and her half-brother, noting the interest in both of their eyes. She shook her head slowly as she said quietly, "Brad... you of all people should know that I can't go down that road again..." Jonnie held his hand up and interrupted her. "No, baby... I don't want you going down that road, either. All we were wondering is if you and Barbie would be open to all of us sharing a bed together. You and I will do whatever we want and so will they... and if you and Barbie want to experiment together, feel free! But we're not switching partners... that's one thing Brad and I agree on." Then Brad added, "I don't mind if Jonnie and Barbie see each other naked... I know he already touched her once a few years back. And you and I have already seen each other naked, you know," he said quietly as he stared into Meg's nervous hazel eyes. Megan looked back at her husband and frowned in confusion. "Was this really your idea, Jonnie? You don't think something like this will make things awkward between all of us?!! I couldn't stand it if this comes between any of us..." Barbie finally jumped in. "Just hold on a minute here!!! Nobody has bothered to ask what I think about this!!!" When she had their attention, she turned to her best friend and asked, "Meg... would you trust all of us with your life?" She saw her frown for a mere second before she nodded her head. "Then you can trust all of us not to do anything that would make you or any of us uncomfortable. So why are you worried that all of us sharing love and intimacy will come between us?!! I think it will make us even closer..." She paused as she pulled Megan to her for another hug and whispered in her ear, "You know what this is really about... our husband's want to see if we'll have the guts to put on a show for them!" She felt Megan nod her head slightly. "Are you up for that, girlfriend?" she asked softly and felt her nodding again. "Then let's go!" The two women grabbed hands, shrieked with laughter and took off running past their startled husbands as Barbie called out, "Catch us if you can!!!" as they tore through the North's house toward the master bedroom suite. It was going to be a wild night of passion... Gifts of the Future Ch. 09 Jonnie North and Brad Seldon moaned in unison. Brad's head fell back as his wife Barbie sucked his cock all the way into her mouth and down her throat as she moaned from what Megan was doing to her pussy with her lips and tongue. Megan was groaning while her husband kept slowly pumping as he knelt behind her. The men stared at each other for a moment... the looks in their eyes clearly reflecting how turned on they were by watching their wives pleasure each other. Barbie and Megan had surprised the hell out of them by sexily undressing each other and then crawling into the middle of Jonnie and Megan's huge king-sized bed, kissing and stimulating each other to orgasms with their fingers. From there, they'd progressed to going down on each other, kissing and tonguing their pussies until they'd both come again. Then they'd finally looked at their transfixed husbands whose cocks were straining inside their pants and asked them if they planned to join in! Jonnie and Brad had immediately started stripping... The men didn't even think about the fact that neither one of them had seen each other naked in years! Brad's eyes widened slightly when he got his first glimpse of Jonnie's impressively thick cock... it was the first time he'd ever seen his best friend with a hard-on! He briefly thought it was no wonder Megan had easily been able to forget how good the sex they'd shared had been... it obviously felt quite different for her with Jonnie... and he thought that was a good thing. Megan's head was still between Barbie's thighs when their husbands joined them on the bed. Jonnie had immediately moved up behind his wife and slid his cock inside her and Barbie had motioned for Brad to move up beside her head so she could suck him. Both of the men were groaning loudly as they came just a few minutes later... When they flopped down onto the bed on either side of their wives, Megan took one last swipe of her tongue up Barbie's dripping flesh and then crawled on top of her husband and kissed him deeply. Jonnie moaned softly as he tasted Barbie's pussy in his wife's mouth. Then she lifted her head and smiled sexily as she purred, "Now you're even with Brad. He's tasted my pussy before, and now you know how his wife's tastes!" Jonnie grinned impishly and glanced at Brad and Barbie lying next to them as he confessed, "Well... to be honest, I already know how her pussy tastes." When everyone else's eyebrows went up, he chuckled, "I licked my fingers after I made you come that night!" he said to her as he chuckled softly. Barbie mockingly gasped in shock and then clucked her tongue on the roof of her mouth as she said, "And you'd said that you wanted Meg's pussy to be the first one you tasted! Shame on you, Jonnie!!!" The four of them laughed together for a moment and then realized that they were all lying in bed, completely naked, and they'd just had sex together... and no one was the least uncomfortable! The two couples turned their attentions to their partners and started making out, not caring what it would lead to next... A little while later, both couples were on their knees, facing each other, as the men were fucking their wives from behind. Jonnie and Brad moaned together again when Megan and Barbie leaned forward and kissed each other softly. Then they broke the kiss and Megan took Jonnie's right hand from her breast and placed it on her best friend's. Barbie moaned softly and smiled as Jonnie lightly pinched her nipple and then ran his thumb over it. Brad didn't wait for Barbie to reciprocate, reaching his left hand over to lightly trace the scar on Megan's upper chest as he smiled sadly at his half-sister and her husband at being reminded of their deep devotion to each other. Then his smile faded as he trailed his hand down to cup Megan's full breast and then caressed her stiff nipple with his fingers, causing her to moan and arch slightly. The men smiled sexily at how erotic it looked to have their hands on each other's wives! Both couples were inspired at the same moment... all four of them scooted toward each other on their knees until the front of Megan and Barbie's bodies were just barely touching. For the next several minutes, kisses were exchanged between the couples and the women, and four sets of hands were exploring the women's bodies... nobody caring whose hands went where! Megan and Barbie both came a few times as their breasts and clits were lovingly caressed and massaged as their husband's continued to stroke inside them. Finally, Brad and Jonnie could no longer hold back from the pure eroticism as both of their wives again cried out and arched back against them, their bodies throbbing with pleasure... They spent a few hours sharing such pleasures together, and then fell asleep fully sated... the two women snuggled against their husbands in the middle of the big bed. They woke up the next morning stretching, yawning and smiling sleepily. The two couples unabashedly watched each other as they shared foreplay and then began to make love. After a few minutes, the other couple was forgotten as the spouses lost themselves to their deep love and passion for each other... The bonds that had always existed between Jonnie and Megan and Brad and Barbie were strengthened that night. It was that much harder for the friends to say goodbye when the Seldons left that Labor Day weekend. But they all thought it was probably a good thing they weren't living close together any more... what they'd shared that weekend could become habit forming if they weren't careful! A few days after they returned to Houston, Barbie noticed some strange things happen with Tommy... She was in the kitchen one day fixing lunch; he was in his booster chair at the table, and when she turned around to take him his sandwich and fruit, she noticed that he was already sipping on his cup of juice. She paused for moment... she hadn't remembered giving it to him yet. Barbie shook her head and figured that she must've been distracted when she did that. But then a little while later, when she was putting him down for his nap, she turned around to glance at him before she shut the door and he had his plastic toy space shuttle that his Daddy had given him... again! Barbie frowned as she went back to him, gently taking it out of his hands as she said, "Now, Tommy... I don't know how you managed to scamper out of that bed so quickly to get this you little rascal! But Mommy has told you that if you fall asleep with your shuttle, you might get hurt if you roll over on it because it's too hard and poky! And Mommy doesn't her boy to get hurt! So let's leave this on the shelf while you take your nap... OK?!!" Her boy grinned and nodded his head, so she leaned down and kissed his forehead before she stood up and placed the toy shuttle on the shelf across the room as she headed back toward his bedroom door. Barbie glanced back at her son once more and smiled as she closed the door on her way out. Tommy Seldon looked at his favorite toy and held his arms toward it as the shuttle quickly glided across the room into his waiting hands... ********** On Sunday, October 4, 1981, Charlie and Lily Richards became the proud parents of a seven pound, ten ounce baby girl they named Jasmine Layla. She had fairer skin like her Daddy and a thin layer of soft, dark brown hair. Her eyes were large and dark, but they would eventually turn out to be the same sparkling ocean blue color as her mother's. Charles and Diana were overjoyed to be grandparents again... they showered their daughter and new granddaughter with love and attention... trying to make up for the absence of Lily's parents. They knew Larry and Maria would've done the same with their only daughter! Rick and Dawn Estevez also fawned over the new mother and baby, taking lots of pictures to send to Barbie and Brad. All the rest of their family and friends stopped in to see them and everyone commented about what a beautiful baby Jasmine was... ********** Megan was continuing to keep track of world events and she had been noticing more outbreaks of violence in the Middle East, as well as other areas of the world, that were committed by members of radical Islamic groups. Then she was surprised when she was contacted in December by the man who'd approached her at the airport in Riyadh the year before. He'd been in touch with her a few times since to let her know that he was still keeping his eyes and ears open and that she should do the same. He was going to be in the U.S. during the holidays, visiting with some friends from college and some distant relatives who happened to live in California and he was hoping to visit with Megan and her family while they were there. She told him that she would be happy to see him again and that he was welcome to stay with them if he came to L.A. He had tried to decline, advising her that he would not be traveling alone and he did not want to be a burden to her and her family. Megan had told him it would be no trouble at all and had insisted that they stay with them when they were in town. New Year's Eve, the Norths were having a party at their house in Beverly Hills with all of their family and friends, including Bob and Lisa Clark and their new friends, Yosef Madani and his three-year old son Nuri. Jonathan, Tommy and J.J. had immediately accepted a reserved Nuri, who had gradually come out of his shell; after just a couple of hours together, he was laughing and playing with the other boys like they'd been friends all of their lives. When Lily came out of one of the guestrooms after nursing two-month old Jasmine, she brought the baby with her because everyone had been asking to see her when she woke up from her nap. Naturally, Jasmine was being passed around so everyone could "ooh" and "aah" over her as usual. Yosef was admiring the baby as her daddy Charlie cradled her in his arms. Nuri came over to them and asked to see the baby. "What do you think of my little Jasmine Layla, Nuri?" Charlie asked as he knelt down so the boy could see her. Yosef watched his son staring at the baby as if in awe; his eyes widened in surprise when Nuri softly said, "Hasna' habibah... my hessa," and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on the baby's head. Charlie and Yosef glanced at each other and chuckled softly when baby Jasmine looked at Nuri and smiled for a moment, looking like an angel. Nuri smiled back and then ran to join the other boys to continue with their playing. As Charlie stood up, he asked Yosef what his son had said. Yosef chuckled again as he replied, "Oh, he was just repeating something he's heard me say to his mother. Hasna' habibah is Arabic for beautiful beloved." Then Yosef frowned slightly as he added, "I don't know where he heard the other word... hessa means destiny... I don't think Nuri even knows the meaning of that word! He's just a boy! I think he was just reacting to the fact that Jasmine is a beautiful baby and he's never seen a baby this young before," he said as he gently caressed the newborn's soft hair. Then Yosef smiled warmly at the proud and surprised father. "You're probably going to have to beat the boys away with a stick when she grows up! I have a feeling your little girl is going to live up to her name. In Arabic, Layla means dark beauty... and, of course, Jasmine is a lovely, fragrant white flower. So she will be beautiful and full of contrasts! Just like most American women usually are!" The men laughed together for a moment. Then Charlie looked over at his wife when he saw Yosef's eyes grow distant and sad as his laughter faded, and Charlie said, "I used to think my Lily was full of contradictions, but ever since we married, she's been nothing but a loving wife and mother and a hard-working intern." Then he looked back at the other man's pensive face. "Why isn't your wife traveling with you... may I ask?" Yosef looked up and saw curiosity and concern in the younger man's eyes. "Of course... because my Salihah has always lived up to her name as far as her family's will and Saudi customs go. She is always 'correct' and 'agreeable' in cowing to her domineering father and those damn archaic customs regarding the rights of women!" he muttered bitterly. Megan heard what her friend said and wandered over to ask more about it. "You seem awfully angry about your own country's attitude toward women, Yosef. Just how bad is it?" He frowned darkly as he replied, "I was born there so I am a citizen. But my father is a Jordanian-born Christian Muslim who moved to Saudi Arabia when he met and fell in love with my mother, also a Saudi, because she wouldn't leave her family. In order to marry her, he had to convince her family that he was strictly Muslim so he took up practicing the Islamic faith, but he held onto his Christian beliefs as well. So, I have been exposed to both sides all my life. And when I came to America to attend college and saw firsthand the vast differences in the way women were regarded by our societies, I became angered because I realized the Saudi government has been using the Shari'a, the religious laws of Islam, to purposely keep women oppressed!" More of the adults gathered around as Yosef explained the plight of women in his country... The first thing he brought up, most of them were already aware of, but they didn't understand why. Whenever women were in public, they were required to be draped from head to foot in a heavy black covering called an "abaya." It was high at the neck and draped all the way to their feet and their hair and usually their faces were also required to be covered... there were no exceptions to this law. If a woman was caught with her head uncovered, she would be ordered by police to cover up and made to do so! The only reason some women objected to that custom was because they were required to wear those heavy, black robes and veils in a country that sits in the middle of a desert region! This was because of a law that had been handed down from Allah over 1400 years ago that had been meant for the protection of Muslim women during a time when they were in danger of being attacked by non-Muslims... that was no longer an issue. But the Saudi government still pushed it as a religious aspect of modesty... if a woman dared to show any part of herself in public, she was likely to be molested by a man unable to control his sexual urges at seeing a woman exposed like that! And Allah-forbid if a woman was caught having sex with any man who was not her husband or if she was unmarried... her husband, father or male guardian had the right to kill her without fear of punishment! Women had no rights in their marriage save whatever their husband granted to them... and they did not have their choice in a husband... their father or male guardian had the final say in who they married! And if a man wanted to divorce his wife, all he had to do was say it three times and it was a done deal! A woman could never divorce her husband, no matter how badly he treated her... They had only recently started to allow Saudi women to pursue higher forms of education, but they were limited to degrees in fields more suited toward women, such as teaching and nursing and so forth. They were not allowed to vote, they were not allowed to enter government buildings... nor to drive cars! And they were not allowed to travel without the permission of their husband or male guardian nor permitted to travel or go out in public unescorted by a male family member! "In other words... the women of your country cannot do a damn thing without a man's permission! Is that it? Are they allowed to go to the bathroom without having to ask for permission?!!" Megan exclaimed indignantly. She had been pacing agitatedly while Yosef was talking, realizing why she'd gotten so many horrible looks at the Riyadh airport the previous year... things were even worse than she'd thought! Yosef then explained to all his new friends that he was involved in an underground Middle Eastern network of Muslims searching for a way to lead the opposing factions to unite peacefully and agree to bring the religious laws of Islam more into the 20th century. It would be the only way to rid the nations of Islam of the radical government and religious leaders who were shouting for all of Islam to denounce the rest of the world, and in particular the U.S., as infidels and evil capitalist pigs and to end the oppression of all Muslim women! Bob Clark, Tom Seldon, Charles Richards and Jonnie North all glanced at each other. Yosef was well aware that Bob was about to retire from the CIA and that Tom, Charles and Jonnie were with the FBI. They were all wondering if he was imparting this information to them on purpose... "We are called the Islamic Organization for Peace and Freedom... or IOPF... and we are keeping our existence even more secret than the radicals are keeping their recruiting for those training camps. We have to work very carefully in recruiting for our organization because we must be sure that a person's heart is pure in their desire to see peace and freedom prevail. And this is no easy task in that part of the world now. We're just getting started... our numbers are few compared to the hundreds of thousands that the radicals have already twisted to their cause." Yosef scanned the group, intently eyeing the four men most in a position to either help or hurt his cause as he stated quietly, "I trust all of you understand that what I have just told you cannot be made public knowledge. The only reason I have told you is because I feel that all of you are trustworthy and I want you to be aware of my intentions." Lily Wilson-Richards went to Yosef and took his hand, smiling at him as she said, "We're very glad to hear this, Yosef... and we all believe in your good intentions. And we wish you success in your endeavors with your organization and hope that you will continue to keep in touch with us." Then Megan moved to him. "Yes... please stay in touch... especially if there is anything we can do to help you in that regard! And I'm still hoping you can help me keep an eye on whatever our government and OPEC are up to!" Yosef assured her he would let her know if he ever heard or discovered anything that would help in her investigation or give her any proof of a conspiracy... At midnight, all of the adults toasted joyfully but quietly so as not to wake the sleeping children just up the stairs. Husbands and wives exchanged tender kisses and then hugged everyone else... that took a while... ********** The year 1982 passed unusually uneventfully for the group. Brad's shuttle pilot training was progressing smoothly... he was quickly proving to be one of the most proficient trainees they'd ever had. Jay was glad to see Karen Moss-Estevez every so often as they met occasionally at Plant 42 when she would report on modifications to the weapons systems for the new F117 stealth fighter jet that Jay was test piloting for the Air Force. Charlie and Lily were happily able to continue with med school... his parents, Megan and Jonnie and Dawn and Rick Estevez took turns caring for baby Jasmine during their sometimes-long hours. And when they weren't on duty or studying, they spent every moment with their little girl while she was awake. And when she was asleep, they were making love. Sessions of quick stress-relieving sex took place only when they were on breaks at the hospital... Robbie Seldon and Crystal North were continuing with their studies as they dated steadily, both planning to go on to law school after they graduated. Robbie had set his sights on eventually getting into politics; he felt there were too few honest politicians and he was determined to prove that honest men could still make a difference somehow... Crystal was utterly in love with Robbie and his naïve dream of influencing people to do the right thing just because it was the right thing to do! If she could stay by his side as he followed his dream, she vowed to herself that she'd do everything she could to see that he got the chance to make a difference someday... Gifts of the Future Ch. 09 Bob Clark retired from the CIA as soon as he could. He had become increasingly angry with some of the activities he'd learned the organization had been backing over the years. He knew he had to get out when he learned what they'd orchestrated and were involved in between arms sales to Iran and supplying the Contra rebels in fighting the Nicaragua Sandanistan government. He applied for retirement, turned in his badge and lambasted the sub-director, telling him there was going to be hell to pay when these activities came to light and that they'd better get out of it soon! And he made sure that happened when it was apparent the CIA was not cleaning up their act... The U.S. intelligence community was feeling rather proud of themselves when a joint effort by the CIA and the FBI resulted in the halt of stolen technology from the U.S. by the Soviet Union through a network of KGB spies that had been operating since the early 70's. In 1981, the President of France had provided the U.S. government with proof of the USSR's activities from an ex-KGB "Directorate T" general and engineer who had defected and said he was disclosing the information in the interests of "goodwill." The CIA immediately came up with a plan to thwart the Soviets and, through cooperation with the FBI and U.S. manufacturers, started supplying the Russians with faulty technological products. Some of the products supplied were used on a new Soviet natural gas pipeline, which they were beginning to make quite a profit on by providing natural gas to parts of Eastern Europe. Those faulty products included bad turbine parts and software that had been programmed to push the pipeline beyond its capabilities. The result was a huge explosion in June in the middle of the Siberian wilderness that was witnessed only by American satellites. But it was enough of a blow to set in motion the complete downfall of the Russian economy and would eventually lead to the end of the Cold War... Gas prices in the U.S. had been slowly declining and the whole country was, once again, complacent with following the status quo. Megan was keeping tabs on what was going on with the Synthetic Fuels Corp., but they were not very forthcoming with their findings. She also learned the only businesses taking advantage of that government-funded program were the American oil companies! How could they be trusted to come up with alternative fuels?!!! She knew it was only a matter of time before that government ruse was abandoned... Megan and Yosef talked by phone occasionally, but he didn't have anything to report. He was worried that the radicals were keeping their ultimate goal even more secretive because of all the media attention in that region of the world from recent outbreaks of violence. There were attacks in Syria by the Muslim Brotherhood... Syria had finally had enough and launched a massive bombing on the village of Hama in February where the Brotherhood had led a major insurrection. Then Megan's producer made her concentrate most of her stories on the Falklands War for a while but allowed her to turn her attention back to the Middle East when conflicts broke out in June between Israel and Lebanon because of attacks launched on Israel by the PLO from inside Lebanon. On September 18, 1982, she was startled to hear of some horrific events from one of the crews of her news show that had traveled to Lebanon to cover the war... They called to tell her that Lebanese Christian militia forces had invaded two Palestinian refugee camps in West Beirut and massacred hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of suspected PLO militants as well as civilians. To make matters worse, they were aided by the Israeli Defense Force in violation of existing treaties that had stated Israeli forces were to stay out of West Beirut. And this was perpetrated in retaliation for the recent massacres of Lebanese Christians by Palestinians and the assassination of the Lebanese president-elect, Bachir Geymayel, who had rejected signing a peace treaty with Israel supposedly because of developing relations with Syria, a country still militarily hostile with Israel. And the person who confessed to planting the bomb at Geymayel's headquarters turned out to be a Syrian intelligence agent... Megan plopped down onto a chair after the phone call, shaking her head, as feelings of confusion and shock washed over her. She realized Yosef was right... most Muslims couldn't seem to achieve peace amongst themselves, even to try to defeat a common enemy! That might be the only aspect that would keep them from turning the full force of their hatred toward the U.S. ... If all of Islam were to ever unite toward that one purpose... How would they ever be able to combat such hatred?!! She was startled out of her fearful thoughts when her young son walked over to her, climbed on her lap and stared at her with his deep aqua eyes and said softly, "So sad, Mommie... so dark..." She was horrified to realize that he'd been listening to her phone conversation. Then he leaned against her, laying his head on her shoulder and asked, "Why did this happen on my birthday?" Megan wrapped her arms around him and leaned her cheek against his forehead. "I don't know, sweetie. But you don't need to think about such darkness and hatred... I don't want you facing that yet. You only need to see everything that's good and wonderful about our world! So, just put anything you heard Mommie talking about out of your mind... we're going to have a great time at our birthday party at Granddaddy Charles and Grandma Didi's house this afternoon. OK?!!!" she stated happily as she lifted her head to smile down at him. She swallowed a lump in her throat. The sadness in his eyes was slower to fade than it should've been for a four-year old boy. But then she watched the sparkle return as he ran around playing with Tommy and J.J. at the birthday pool party with all their family and friends to celebrate both Charlie and Megan's 24th birthdays 5 days earlier as well as Jonathan's 4th birthday. Everyone was so glad that Brad, Barbie and Tommy had been able to make a quick trip out from Houston to be at the party, but they had to return the next day. They stayed the night at Megan and Jonnie's house, and spent the evening visiting with some of their friends and siblings. Didi and Jay dropped in for a little while with J.J., as well as Charlie, Lily and little Jasmine, and Rickie and Karen also came by. They reminisced about their wonderful childhoods while Jay and Karen listened and laughed with them. Didi would glance at her husband occasionally when she felt his gut tighten with sadness... knowing he was recalling his unhappy youth. Then he would take a deep breath and release his pain as he exhaled and returned her soft smile. Their conversation turned to all the unrest and violence that seemed to be increasing around the world... and they turned their eyes toward the boys playing on the other side of the family room. Most of them worried what their children would be facing when they got to be their age... Later that night, Rickie and Karen Estevez held each other tightly as they made love, both of them wondering if they wanted to risk bringing a child into a world that seemed to be teetering on the brink of being destroyed by hatred. Karen had stopped taking her birth control pills a few months earlier and, on the advice of her doctor, she and Rickie had been using condoms before attempting to conceive in order to let any potential ill effects of the pills work out of her system. It bothered Karen that her work on military weapons systems kept her reminded that what she was doing was a necessary evil in order to protect the world against radical hate-mongers. But she was heartened by the fact that her husband was a good soul who did his damnedest to protect civilians from dangerous situations. He was constantly reminding her that their jobs were very similar... they both worked toward protecting people and they both wanted to see the world survive... So why should they worry what their children might face when they grew up? If they wanted the world to survive, then it would take more good souls in order to accomplish that... Karen slid her hands down her husband's sexy back to his hips and gripped him gently, pushing him off of her as she said softly, "Pull out for a moment, my love." Rickie lifted up and looked down into his lovely wife's emerald eyes, frowning in confusion as he backed away from inside her. Then he smiled slowly when he felt her hands gripping his shaft and rolling the condom off of him. Karen tossed the condom off the side of the bed with one hand as she guided her husband's thick cock inside her again, smiling as he groaned sensually, enjoying the feel of her tight flesh welcoming his without that annoying layer of latex separating them any longer. She wrapped herself around him and relished his deep moans of pleasure and satisfaction, knowing he'd not gotten nearly as much enjoyment from their fucking while he'd worn the damn "cock socks" as he'd called them! She moved her body with his, wanting to feel every deep stroke of his awesome cock inside her... but it was time... She held him tightly and whispered in his ear, "Don't hold back, my love... I want you to come inside me... fill me with your seed! I want to have your baby... my body is ready and it's time... Ohhhh, yes... that's it, baby... harder!!! I'm gonna come, too!!! Ohhhh, yes, yess, yesss!!!" she moaned as she felt his cock pulsing inside her as her flesh throbbed. They both laughed softly when Rickie reached into their nightstand drawer and pulled out the last of the condoms and joyously tossed them into the trashcan. Rickie and Karen made love several more times that night. By the end of October, Karen knew she was pregnant and everyone was overjoyed when they announced it at Thanksgiving. It was one of the few pieces of good news the group had received that year... For the remainder of the year, everyone did their best to ignore what was going wrong in the rest of the world as they began to realize that they had enough things to worry about in their own country... ********* The year 1983 didn't start off very well for Jonnie North. He was plagued by doubt in his abilities. He was having trouble trying to identify the exact personality profile of a killer who'd been leaving the bodies of strangled young men along the roadways of Southern California since the early 1970's. The FBI had originally thought they'd caught the killer in 1980 when they arrested a man after a tip from one of his victims who'd survived. He was put under surveillance and then arrested when he attempted to assault a teenaged boy, but when he confessed, he claimed to have been killing only since 1979... and when more bodies kept turning up after his arrest, police and FBI knew they were dealing with more than just one sick bastard. Jonnie was spending the majority of his time going through the files and sorting out the victims of the man they had in custody so he could try again to get a clearer picture of the sick bastard... or bastards... that were still out there! He felt so frustrated that he was dealing in such an inexact science and forensic technology was not yet advanced enough to help him get that clearer picture. It was only by sheer coincidence in May that a California Highway Patrol officer pulled a man over in Mission Viejo on suspected drunk driving and found the strangled body of a young Marine in the front seat. Jonnie was relatively certain they'd found the other sick bastard... at least he hoped he was the only other one. But he began to wonder about that when some of the forensic evidence pointed to the involvement of at least one other person. Jonnie sometimes hated his job... Just like Megan sometimes hated hers... The violence in Lebanon was getting worse. In April, the U.S. embassy in Beruit was bombed, killing 63 people. The perpetrators claimed to be a group calling themselves the Islamic Jihad Organization... but no one had ever heard of them before. Intelligence gathered on that organization seemed to indicate that it was an arm of an emerging Lebanese Islamic paramilitary group called Hezbollah. It was believed they orchestrated the bombing in retaliation for U.S. involvement in the Lebanese Civil War. And it was no surprise to Megan to learn that this group had been inspired by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini. In fact, it was believed that Hezbollah had been organized and trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Megan's nerves tingled to see such cooperation among Muslims from two different countries until she realized it was because they were all Shiites... Even so, it still made her nervous. In May, an effort was made to end the hostilities when Lebanon, Israel and the U.S. signed an agreement outlining Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, but unfortunately, it didn't happen fast enough. In October, bombs exploded in the U. S. and French Marine barracks in West Beirut killing hundreds of U.S. soldiers and dozens of French paratroopers and other civilians... It seemed the radicals would not give up until all Israeli and other foreign troops were completely out of Lebanon. At least one interesting and progressive event happened in the U.S. In June of 1983, Brad, Barbie and Tommy had gone to Cape Canaveral to watch the launch of STS-7, Space Shuttle Challenger, carrying the first American woman into space, Sally Ride. Brad and Tommy had been enthralled while watching the huge main fuel tank flanked by the SRB's rocketing the shuttle out of the earth's atmosphere and into the lower reaches of space to orbit the planet... Just after that, the young family traveled to L.A. to congratulate their friends, Rickie and Karen, on the birth of their daughter and to welcome the newest member of their group, Sophia Dawn Estevez! She'd been named for her grandmothers, and Rickie was hoping she would be like her Mama and live up to her name... Sophia meant "wisdom." And they were celebrating with Jay and Didi and everyone else because both Brad and Jay had recently been promoted to the ranks of Captain! Barbie and Didi were making their husbands laugh, responding to their every request by saluting and purring sexily, "Aye, Aye, Captain!" Brad and Jay had told each other they should take advantage of their wives' apparent sexual responses to their newly gained positions of authority. Later that night when crawling into their beds, they had both growled at their wives, "Get over here and fuck me, you sexy woman! That's an order!" Both of the women had happily followed their husbands' orders... After October, the rest of the year seemed to pass a little more peacefully as everyone continued with their lives. Robbie Seldon and Crystal North had graduated in May with honors from USC with degrees in Political Science and both had been accepted to the Stanford Law School. Crystal was planning to pursue environmental law and Robbie was going to concentrate on international law. He figured if he wasn't able to get into politics because he was too honest, then perhaps he could become a diplomat... They wanted to live together while attending law school, so Robbie had proposed to Crystal in June. They had asked Jonnie and Megan if they would mind sharing their anniversary with them and were planning a Christmas Eve wedding since the Norths had happily agreed... Gifts of the Future Ch. 10 Saturday, December 24, 1983 had everyone celebrating at another huge party and wedding reception after the marriage of Robert Michael Seldon and Crystal Dawn North. All of their family and friends chipped in to send them on a cruise down the Mexican coast over the New Year's holiday, but the ship wasn't to set sail until Friday, the 30th of December and then would return the following Thursday, the 5th of January, 1984; then they would resume classes at Stanford Law School the following week. That gave the newlyweds almost a whole week to finish setting up their new apartment not far from the campus near Menlo Park. Their families had helped them move their belongings up to Palo Alto the week before the wedding and the only room they'd had time to set up was their bedroom. Which was a good thing since they would be spending their wedding night there... Brad's wedding present to his younger brother would be to fly them back up to Palo Alto that evening after the reception. The young Norths paid for the afternoon party and reception at a downtown L.A. hotel as their wedding present to Jonnie's younger sister and in celebration of their 6th wedding anniversary. Megan and Jonnie could hardly believe that they'd already spent 6 years together and that their baby boy was already 5 years old! Time just seemed to have slipped away when they thought about how happy they were... Jonnie and Megan went home that night and reminisced about their wedding night, both of them hoping that Robbie and Crystal would have as wonderful a night as they'd had. But Crystal was worried that she should've confessed something to her new husband before their wedding... she didn't know how to tell him that she'd been hiding a "gift" from him and everyone else... and she didn't know if he'd even believe her! But she had to tell him... "Robbie... I have something I need to tell you..." she began softly. "It's something I should've told everyone when we had that big 'meeting' a couple of years ago and everyone was telling about all those special abilities they have. But I was afraid to... because I didn't want anyone to be afraid of ME! I... I can... make people do things... with my mind. I can make them say things and do things that they wouldn't have done on their own. But, I swear to you... I've never done anything like that to you... except when we were younger..." Robbie smirked and moved to stand in front of his beautiful, nervous bride, putting his hand on her cheek as he interrupted her. "I know, Crystal. I know when I was being a stupid jerk and picking on you when we were kids that you yelled at me to make me stop... I could hear your voice in my head and I wondered how you were able to do that! But the funny part is... I didn't feel compelled by you to stop... I stopped because I could hear in your voice how hurt you were... and I was sorry for doing that, but I couldn't let my stupid jerky friends know that!" They chuckled together for a moment, Crystal not realizing what he'd just told her, so he continued. "But it did make me nervous that I was able to hear you like that, so that's why I avoided you for years... I wasn't sure what that meant. But when Brent Braswell backed down from fighting me at the end of our senior year in high school, I knew you had made him do that... I was watching your face... and I wondered why you hadn't tried it on me any more. The only thing I could come up with was that you didn't want to try to influence me... and maybe I'm also immune to your ability... your 'charm' won't work on me..." he teased softly as he grinned sexily, cupping her face with his hands. Crystal's eyebrows rose over her cat-like sparkling aqua eyes for a moment and then she narrowed them as she stared straight into Robbie's smoldering gray-green eyes through her thick lashes. She growled heatedly inside her head KISS ME, YOU SEXY JERK!!! She only had time to grin for a second as her husband swooped down and crushed their mouths together, savagely grinding his lips on hers and then parting them to plunder her with his tongue... what she was dying to finally have him do to her body! Robbie slowly broke the brutal kiss and lifted his head to stare down at his wife. He smirked again at the smug smile on her face. "Uh, uh, my beautiful temptress... you only told me to do what I'd already been wanting to do! Don't go thinking you've got any kind of control over me! If you don't believe me, then just try to make me do something I wouldn't want to do! And DON'T EVER call me a jerk again!" he growled softly. Crystal frowned in confusion for a moment and then narrowed her eyes, boring them into her husband's again. GO SLAM YOUR HEAD INTO THE WALL!!! She jerked in surprise when Robbie busted out laughing. "That's a good one, babe!!! But I don't think the landlord would appreciate me putting holes in the walls already! And besides... I don't want to knock myself out when I'm just about to finally get my beautiful, sexy new wife into bed for the first time..." he finished softly as he swung her up in his arms and headed for their bedroom. Robbie laid his wife on their bed and undressed her as he kissed and caressed her, trying to go as slowly as he could... he'd been dying to make love to her but she had convinced him that it would mean so much more to them if they waited until they were married. But she had relented to them exploring their bodies with their hands, caressing and stroking each other to fantastic orgasms whenever they were desperate... which was usually whenever they were together! And now he was finally free to explore her entire body with his hands and his mouth before he took her virginity... his cock throbbed at that thought. When she was fully naked, he stood up and disrobed, loving the way she was staring at his body as each piece of his clothing was removed. Her cat-like aqua eyes were blazing with desire as she watched him. He growled softly when he saw her tiny pink nipples harden, poking out even further as she moaned when he dropped his trousers and shorts and his hard dick sprang up. Robbie swallowed hard and resisted the urge to dive onto his wife and plunge his aching shaft inside her... he wanted their first time to be as pleasurable for her as he knew it would be for him! He crawled onto the bed and moved between her thighs glancing back and forth between her lustful eyes and her damp soft brown curls. She hadn't wanted to share that intimacy with him until now, either, telling him that she knew if she allowed him to go down on her, she'd be begging him to fuck her as well! And he had stupidly told her that he would never be able to resist if she begged him... What he should've done was promise her that he would resist for her sake if she would just let him have a taste of her! What he'd tasted on his fingers every time he got her off had been driving him wild and now he was finally going to get his tongue into her... He dove down and raked his warm, wet flesh up hers, moaning as her unique aroma and flavor invaded his senses. Crystal's hands clutched at the sheet under her and she groaned deeply as her hips bucked from her husband's first invasion of her pussy with something other than his fingers. She had always known that Robbie would instinctively know how to drive her wild with his tongue and his cock... and she was never so happy to be proven right! She was incapable of controlling the writhing of her body as he deliciously assaulted her throbbing cunt. The aching between her legs from wanting to have him inside her, she knew could not possibly be worse than the pain she'd feel when he finally did fill her. She could feel a powerful orgasm building... "Robbie..." she gasped. "I'm getting ready to come! I want you to take me when I do! Please, my love... fill me with your cock as soon as I come, OK?!!" She heard him grunt in response and felt him intensify his attention on her clit with his tongue and his fingers inside her. "Oh God... Ohhhh God... OH MY GOOOOOOOD!!!" she screamed as her insides spasmed. The next thing she was aware of was opening her eyes to see Robbie over top of her, driving his cock inside her like a mad man and her body feeling like it was about to explode again! And then it did... she was grasping at her husband's hairy chest, convulsing and screaming like a banshee as he plunged himself to the hilt and froze, roaring at the top of his lungs!!! About thirty seconds later they were collapsing in gales of laughter as they heard pounding on the wall behind their heads and a man's voice yelling, "OH FOR GOD'S SAKE!!! I HOPE I'M NOT GONNA HAFTA LISTEN TO THAT EVERY FUCKIN' NIGHT!!! KEEP IN DOWN IN THERE... WOULD YA?!!" Robbie wrapped his beautiful blonde wife in his arms as they rolled with laughter, kissing her desperately as their laughter started to fade. Then he lifted his head and stared at her with absolute passion and undying love. "God, how I love you, Mrs. Robert Michael Seldon! We are going to have the most wonderful life together... I've known that ever since I realized how long you've loved me and yet you waited for me to realize on my own that we were meant to be together... without any nudges from you! That's why I know I can trust you... and I know you'll never use your ability dishonestly... even to help me," he finished seriously and kissed her deeply when she nodded in agreement. Crystal North-Seldon was relieved to learn that her husband had definitely fallen in love with her of his own free will! She had been somewhat afraid that her desperate feelings for and thoughts of him had somehow leaked from her brain to his and gradually influenced him over the years. It was true as far as Robbie was concerned... his feelings for her had developed of his own free will. But there were limits to her ability that she was as yet unaware of... ********** The year 1984 seemed to fly by with not many differences from the previous year. Israel and Lebanon were still in conflict, even as the U.S. Marines pulled out in February. Iran and Iraq were still at war with Iran accusing Iraq of using chemical weapons, prompting President Reagan to call for an international ban on them... like that would stop radicals from using them! A deadly famine was ravaging the nation of Ethiopia in Africa, killing over a million people by the end of the year... and a plague was also starting to ravage L.A. as well... an even more lethal form of cocaine called crack. Los Angeles was even more of a traffic nightmare and the L.A.P.D. was worked overtime for a few weeks during July and August as they hosted the Summer Olympics. Jon North and Rick and Rickie Estevez were ready to take vacations by the time it was over! Which was exactly what the two families did... they rented a large beach house in Mexico toward the end of August. Jon, Sr. and Barbara and Rick and Dawn were joined by their kids and grandchildren. Jonnie, Megan and Jonathan as well as newlyweds Crystal and Robbie Seldon; and Rickie, Karen and baby Sophia were there and even Barbie, Brad and Tommy flew down for a few days to join them. The young adults were so grateful that their parents were such devoted grandparents and were happy to watch over their grandchildren whenever they wanted to go out for a while. Most of the time it was just because the young couples wanted to sneak out and do naughty things together! Rickie and Karen would take off on their motorcycle for a little while to share some wild sex, and then at night, they'd sneak out to the beach for some tender moments of passion. Megan and Jonnie spent most of their days playing with Jonathan on the beach or taking hikes with him to show him all the beauty of nature. When Brad and Barbie arrived for the last few days, they put Jonathan and Tommy in a room together and the four adults shared a room... and each other... quietly. Little did they know that their parents had also shared sex openly that week... after they'd gotten over their embarrassment at both of the couples catching each other having sex at the same time when they thought they were being sneaky about it! Jon and Rick had both snuggled up behind their wives with morning wood, slid their hands down and started stroking their wives clits. Then they quietly slid their cocks inside them when Barbara and Dawn spread their thighs willingly. Each time the couples had peeked at the bed across from them, the other couple had appeared to be sleeping. It wasn't until the women both moaned softly when their husbands entered them that all of their eyes popped open and they chuckled quietly when they realized what was going on! But by then they didn't care any more, so Jon and Rick had moved on top of their wives and fucked them hotly under the sheets while the couples watched each other. By the end of the week, they were no longer modest; they were all sleeping naked, the older couples enjoying feeling young and erotic again from watching each other fuck... especially since they all still looked damn good for their ages! Crystal and Robbie hardly ever left their bedroom. When they emerged, it was just to get something to eat or take a leisurely swim in the ocean together... then they'd take a quick shower outside, wrap themselves in towels and race each other back to their room... squealing with laughter! Everyone else would chuckle and shake their heads, knowing how hot for each other those two were... it was hard not to when they could hear them moaning, groaning and screaming together when they thought no one else was in the house! It was no surprise to any of the others when Crystal and Robbie announced a month later that she was pregnant... Toward the end of 1984, Captain Jay Hanson and Lt. Karen Moss-Estevez were expressing their frustrations to each other, and their fellow colleagues on the project, over the delays in the B-2 Spirit, Flying Wing program... also called the Stealth Bomber. Jay had advanced from his test piloting of the Stealth Fighter jets to the larger aircraft because of his uncanny ability to proficiently handle any type of aircraft. They were surprised to learn that the program had been delayed because a Northrop employee from the Pico Rivera plant that had built the prototype had been arrested for trying to sell classified information on the project to the Soviet Union... Before the end of the year, more violence erupted in the Middle East; the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut was once again bombed by Hezbollah and India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards... two worshippers of Sikhism, a blended form of the Islamic and Hindu faiths. It definitely seemed as though some dark force was spreading throughout the Islamic world... ********** And 1985 only brought more of the same... in February, Israel began withdrawing troops from Lebanon, but it hadn't taken long to prove that would solve nothing... and then the CIA made matters worse! In March, rogue operatives attempted to assassinate an Islamic cleric believed to be associated with Hezbollah and who had supported the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut back in 1983. It was also in retaliation for the kidnapping of the Beirut CIA station chief the year before, who was still being held captive. Hezbollah was further enraged when it was suggested that Saudi Arabia had paid the CIA to carry out the assassination attempt! And then things seemed even more confusing when information from other sources indicated that Saudi Arabia had also paid money to Hezbollah as an enticement not to launch any attacks on Saudi interests... Megan couldn't help but wonder what all these confusing events were leading to?!! The first bright spot for that year came toward the end of May with the birth of Lana Aurora Seldon. Only her grandparents, Tom and Lynda and Jon and Barbara North, were able to fly up to Stanford Medical Center to see her. Robbie had called them as soon as Crystal went into labor, but they weren't able to get a flight quick enough to arrive before she was born. The rest of their family and friends got to meet her when they came down to L.A. for a 4th of July celebration... She was beautiful, just like her Mama, and Robbie told everyone he had picked the name Lana for his baby girl, hoping she'd be a beautiful blonde like her Mama and Grandma Barb... and one of his favorite old movie actresses, Lana Turner! Crystal had chosen Aurora since it was another word for Dawn... like her middle name. Little Lana would turn out to be towheaded blonde with the most gorgeous aqua-green eyes... Megan also learned that her suspicions were correct when she heard that the U.S. government's Synthetic Fuels Corporation Act had been abolished... and no one else even noticed or paid attention. She was upset when her producer allowed her to only mention it in passing as she reported that gasoline prices were expected to dip below a dollar again within the next year. She briefly wondered where her producer had gotten that information... Megan and Yosef Madani were keeping in touch as often as they could, but being careful not to raise any suspicion from his boss. Yosef called her the day after her show aired and she was surprised when he said he'd wondered how she'd found out that gas prices were going to drop when he'd just caught a conversation between the Sheikh and one of the OPEC ministers on that very subject! Megan again wondered about her producer's source... Then they talked excitedly about the news that a member of the Saudi royal family was selected to take part in one of the STS missions for NASA. He was to oversee the deployment of a Saudi communications satellite as well as to assist with other onboard experiments. Megan told Yosef that Brad would have the opportunity to meet him briefly before the mission, and Yosef advised her that the prince deserved their utmost respect... he was a man of high integrity and great faithfulness. Yosef's last statement gave Megan tingles of hope. "He has only the best intentions and highest hopes for the future..." Soon after that mission was completed, NASA announced that they had selected a schoolteacher from New Hampshire to be the first "Teacher in Space" the following year aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. At about the same time, Brad was excited to learn that he'd been selected as an alternate for that mission in case the assigned pilot experienced any last minute health issues, which was a rarity but not unheard of. Barbie's initial excitement for her husband gradually ebbed when 5-year-old Tommy started doing something bizarre toward the end of the year. He would be playing with his toy shuttle, pretending like it was lifting off during launch and then he'd loudly shout, "BOOM!!!" and throw his arms wide, dropping his toy to the ground. She brought this to Brad's attention one afternoon in early December when she saw him doing it again. Brad went out presumably to play with his son, but more out of curiosity. "Hey, buddy! What are you playing?" Tommy looked at him seriously and stated, "It's not a game, Daddy. It's what I see at night." "What do you mean, Son? What do you see at night?" he asked carefully, trying to keep his voice light so as not to scare his boy. Tommy frowned slightly. "Like when I saw monsters chasing me... and you heard me and came in and woke me up and told me it was only a dream... the monsters weren't real. And after that, the monsters didn't scare me any more because I knew they weren't real! Now, sometimes at night I see us at a shuttle launch and we're clapping as we watch it blasting off and then there's this boom and lots of white stuff and then the shuttle is gone! But it's not real... right, Daddy? Not when I see it at night..." he asked as he fidgeted with his toy and then stared up at his father with his large, innocent brown-green eyes. Gifts of the Future Ch. 10 Brad picked his son up and smiled at him as he stated, "Of course not, Tommy. It's just a dream... and dreams aren't real. They're just pictures we see in our head while we sleep... that's all. So don't let it worry you, OK?!!" Tommy smiled and nodded and hugged his father around the neck before he put him down. Brad smiled even wider, hiding his nervousness from his son, and watched him playing again for a moment before he went back into their house. Then he turned to look into his wife's wide eyes and he couldn't hide his fear from her. "I think he might be like you, Barbie... he said he's been having dreams about seeing a shuttle blow up. Have you had any dreams like that?!!" he asked her suddenly. She shook her head, "No!!! You know you'd be the first one I'd tell if I did! But you know I usually don't have a dream like that until just before something happens! Maybe Tommy's dreams start further in advance... or maybe this is nothing more than the active imagination of a five-year-old boy! Let's not try to read too much into this right now. OK?!!!" she said softly as she went to her husband and wrapped her arms around him. Brad swallowed his slight fear as he watched his son playing in the back yard, running around with the shuttle in his hand and making noises like it was a jet streaking across the sky! Barbie was right... maybe Tommy's dream meant nothing. Maybe he'd seen something blow up in one of the cartoons they let him watch sometimes and that had just carried over into his imagination... Besides, there was another STS mission scheduled in January before the one to which he was assigned as an alternate. If Tommy was seeing the future, maybe that was the one he saw exploding! Damn... what if it was?!! What should he do?!! What COULD he do?!! No one would listen to him... not if he tried to explain why he was concerned! "Umm... my five-year-old son is having this dream..." Brad snorted a harsh laugh... it sounded ridiculous even to him! But he just could not discount the fact that his wife... the mother of his son... saw impending danger in her dreams! He closed his eyes and prayed for more proof one way or the other... The Seldons did not get to spend the holidays with their families. Brad was kept busy with all the training that he had to endure along with the crew and the other alternates. They also did not want to alarm any of their family members with Tommy's continual playing out of his dream that he said he was having almost every night... They all intensely watched the launch of STS-61-C, Space Shuttle Columbia on January 12, 1986 on closed circuit TV from Johnson Space Center in Houston. Brad did not realize he was holding his breath until Tommy smiled up at him a little over a minute after liftoff and said happily, "See, Daddy... the shuttle didn't go BOOM!!! It's not real!" Brad left for Kennedy Space Center several days before the originally scheduled launch of STS-51-L, Space Shuttle Challenger, on January 22, in order to be available in case he was needed as the alternate. But after several delays in the launch date, just 48 hours before the new scheduled launch, the doctor pronounced pilot Mike Smith in perfect health, so Brad was advised that he could leave. He unconsciously heaved a sigh of relief and then asked for permission to stay and watch the launch and if his wife and son could join him for that, which was granted. Barbie and Tommy arrived the afternoon of January 24th but were disappointed when they learned that evening the launch had been delayed again because the forecast had called for rain. Then they heard the next day that the pilot had expressed his concerns to NASA officials that the launch shouldn't have been delayed for rain because a cold front was also fast approaching and he worried the cold weather would cause other problems. Sure enough, on January 26th, a cold front came through the area, delaying the launch for another day. On January 27th, there was yet another delay due to a servicing equipment latch that couldn't be detached from a shuttle exterior hatch. The cold front was also still lingering and it brought a chilling nightmare for Barbie... She sat upright in the bed in their quarters, gasping for air as she shook her husband awake. "Brad... Brad!!! Wake up!!!" When he opened his eyes and saw her panic, he instantly snapped to attention and sat up beside her. "Oh God, Brad... I just saw it, too!!! Tommy's been right all along! That shuttle is going to blow up if it launches tomorrow!!! We've got to stop it!!!" Brad got up and dressed, telling Barbie to wake Tommy in a few hours and get both of them out of there and somewhere she could prevent their son from watching the launch. He drove directly to Kennedy and asked to speak to someone regarding the status of the launch, but he was told they were busy with final checks and preparations and they could not be disturbed. He was directed to the visiting VIP's area and told that they would ask one of the mission ground crew to come speak to him when they could. That didn't happen until after 9:00am when it had already been announced that the launch was proceeding and was scheduled for sometime around 11:30am. Brad did his best to convince the ground crew technician that they needed to do some closer inspections. He tried to make it sound like he was worried that the prolonged exposure to cold air may have had unknown effects on some of the fuel tank or SRB external components... it was the only logical argument he could think of! They'd never believe his real reason for concern... Brad thought he was getting through when he saw the man's eyes widen for a second and then he frowned as he said, "Captain Seldon... I appreciate your concern, but please... rest assured we have already checked and re-checked all of those external components and we could find no evidence of anything wrong. Now if you'll please excuse me..." he muttered politely as he scurried away. Brad spent the next two hours pacing around the VIP observation area, his stomach churning... praying that, for once, his wife was wrong... that their son was also wrong!!! He felt his heart pounding as he watched and listened to the final countdown... At 11:38 EST, liftoff commenced and it appeared to go as smoothly as the ones he'd watched before... for about the first minute. Then suddenly, a chill raced through his body as his worst fear was realized when his son's and his wife's nightmares came true as he watched the trails of white smoke and steam billowing out from where the shuttle had disintegrated, little bits of debris still falling away... Brad sat down and burst into tears... mourning the loss of people he'd known and come to like as he'd trained with them... grieving for their families who were feeling the pain of their loss even more than he. Feeling sick at the fact that his wife and son had seen this disaster and there was nothing he could do to stop it... He looked up toward the clear blue sky, away from the trails of smoke and steam that he was afraid had just signaled the end of his dream... ********** NASA did suspend operation of the STS program when the President appointed a commission to investigate the disaster and determine what went wrong. Violence in the rest of the world seemed to be slack the first half of 1986. But Brad wasn't paying any attention... he was only interested in knowing what had caused the Challenger disaster. The Rogers Commission released its report in June, and Brad was startled by the findings... The explosion had been caused by a faulty O-ring on the right Solid Rocket Booster because of exposure to temperature extremes! And what was worse, officials at NASA had been warned by Morton Thiokol, the manufacturer of the O-rings, that they were unsure of the possibility of failure by the O-rings due to extreme changes in temperature. NASA engineers were also aware of this problem, but somehow, NASA managers failed to be made aware of the engineers concerns! The commission also stated in their findings that the problem with the SRB O-rings had to be resolved and that NASA had to make some extreme adjustments in their communication policies before resuming shuttle launches. Captain Brad Seldon of the U.S. Air Force was transferred back to Edwards AFB in July 1986 but continued to travel to Houston from time to time to keep up his skills with the Shuttle Training Aircraft. He believed that NASA would work out their problems and eventually resume launches... and he wanted to be ready when they did! Everyone was so happy to have Brad and Barbie and Tommy back in the L.A. area, even if it was only temporarily! The young adults got together as often as they could by having potluck dinners at different homes each week. Then they'd all sit around playing cards or games and the boys, Jonathan, Tommy and J.J. played together while Jasmine and little Sophia watched and laughed; baby Lana was usually asleep by then. The second half of 1986 seemed to be progressing just as quietly as the first half in terms of worldwide violence... until September. Terrorists with the Abu Nidal Organization hijacked a Pan American flight at Karachi International Airport which resulted in the deaths of 22 people and more than 150 injured. And the very next day, two more ANO terrorists opened fire on a synagogue in Istanbul during Sabbath services, killing another 22 people. Megan realized that a number of terrorist organizations seemed to be getting more active and their favored activities seemed to be either bombings or hijacking airplanes. And their acts of violence were starting to spread beyond the Middle East... European countries were also being targeted. It was getting more and more dangerous for anyone to travel to those areas, especially Americans. She was feeling guilty every time she urged the news show to send a crew anywhere in that region to cover terrorist activities. She couldn't keep risking their lives so she decided to concentrate her efforts on investigating her OPEC / U.S. government / American oil companies / American automakers conspiracy domestically. The government was already aware of her nosiness in regard to their dealings with OPEC, so no one was willing to talk to her any more. Ditto with the American oil companies... so at the end of 1986, she started digging into the American car manufacturers. None of them were very anxious to talk to her either, but a man who claimed to be associated with GM called her one day and gave her the name of another man who briefly worked with GM in the early 70's on the idea of engineering an electric/battery operated vehicle. When she tried to question him further, he cut her off. "Do not try to find out who I am... we never talked... I've never met you. You understand?" He didn't hang up until she promised. The last thing he said before he hung up was, "Good luck finding him... no one has heard from him since he left." Then the line went dead. Megan immediately went to work on researching the name she was given, but it was no easy task... she really had no clue where to start. She tried searching old records for residents of Detroit and it's suburbs during the early 70's, but that much information was not easy to dig through and she was not as computer savvy as she would like... Then she remembered that Wayne Seldon, her youngest half-brother, was somewhat of a computer "geek." He was 24 years old and had graduated from UCLA with a degree in computer science and he was working for some company as the manager of their operation's database. She remembered hearing him claim that, with his personal home computer, he could "hack" into any company's records that were stored in a computer if it was networked for communication with other computers. And he'd said most major companies had jumped on that idea because of the ease of data sharing... even if it was data they didn't want to share!!! Megan went to visit Wayne at his apartment one evening to enlist his help. She knocked on his door and it was answered by a younger guy she'd never met, but he sure knew who she was. His face registered total awe and she laughed at his comments. "Oh MAN!!! You're Megan Richards-North... from that news show!!! OH GOD... I watch you all the time!! You're like the hottest news chick I've ever seen!!! And the way you're always pokin' at the government and tryin' to tell everybody to wake up and smell what's been goin' on with gas prices and that OPEC is like... keepin' us 'over a barrel' and we're just takin' it up the ass... You're like... one of my heroes!!! What are you doin' HERE?!!!" Then he turned his head and yelled back into the apartment, "WAYNE... DUDE!!! You're never gonna believe who's knockin' on your door, man!!! You gotta come here and see this, dude!!!" Megan was standing in the hallway laughing softly when she saw Wayne approaching the door. "Geez, Lizard! Stop blocking the doorway and leering at my friend and let Meggie in!" he said exasperatedly at the guy who looked even more shocked to realize Wayne knew her personally. She continued to chuckle as she walked passed the stunned "Lizard" and put her arms around Wayne as he hugged her. "Hey, little Duke!" she murmured as he squeezed her tightly for a moment, calling him by his childhood nickname that she hadn't used in years! Then it struck her as funny that they'd always called him "little Duke" and he'd actually grown up to be almost as big as his namesake! Wayne grimaced as he released Megan when he heard Lizard ask curiously, "Little Duke?!!! Why did she call you that, Dude?" He chuckled when Megan looked at him and winced, putting her hand to her mouth, like she hadn't meant to embarrass or offend him. "That's OK... I know it just slipped out!" he told her gently. Then he looked at his friend and explained, "That was what Meggie and my brothers and sister and friends used to call me when we were kids." Lizard rolled his eyes. "Yeah... I sorta figured that part out, Dude. WHY were you called little DUKE?" Wayne sighed heavily. "Because... I was named after The Duke. My full name is John Wayne Seldon... OK?!!! And if you tell ANYONE else about this, I'll tell everyone what YOUR real name is... LESLIE!!!" he growled and then chuckled when his friend looked scared shitless for a moment and then sheepishly nodded his agreement. He turned back to Megan and asked, "So... to what do I owe the honor of this visit out of the blue?!!" She took a deep breath and gave him her most serious look. "I'm hoping you can live up to the legacy of your namesake and be the cavalry to ride in and save the day. I need you to try to find someone who supposedly disappeared almost fifteen years ago... Do you think you can help me?" she asked hopefully. Wayne looked intrigued. "Does this have anything to do with your investigation into that conspiracy you've been hinting at on your show?" he asked with a devilish grin on his face. When she grinned in response and nodded, he added, "The government is rife with dirty politicians... I think it's time for The Duke's legend to ride in, kick some ass and get this country headed in the right direction again!" Gifts of the Future Ch. 11 Wayne Seldon warned Megan North that, with just the little bit of information she had, it might take him a while to discover the whereabouts of the person who'd supposedly worked with GM back in the 70's... if they were even still alive... or ever really existed at all! He mentioned to her the possibility that the phone call she'd received had been from some crackpot who just wanted to send her off on a wild goose chase! Megan told him she'd already thought about that, but it was the only lead she'd gotten and she just had to check it out any way... if for no other reason than her own peace of mind. She promised Wayne that she'd pay him whatever he thought his time and effort were worth, whether he turned up any information or not. He thanked her and told her that wasn't necessary... he liked to do this sort of thing just for fun... especially if it was something that might shed some light on dirty dealings! Wayne said he'd get to work on it as soon as he could and be in touch with her when he was able to find anything. When they saw each other again at their New Year's Eve party the following week, Megan asked Wayne how things were going. "Well, I'm accessing all information that's legally available to me first, to see what I can come up with." Megan's eyes widened. "Wayne... what do you mean by 'legally' available? Are you telling me there are 'illegal' ways that you can get information?!! I don't want you doing anything that's going to get us into trouble!!! Especially if it can get YOU into trouble! That's not why I asked for your help!" Wayne laughed softly and put his arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, Meggie. I won't get into any trouble. I know how to access networked computer files in ways so that no one even knows I've done it." When he saw her worried expression deepen, he added, "Just forget that I said anything. I'll keep this above board... if nothing turns up from the search I'm doing now, I'll just let it go. I don't want you worrying that I'll get into trouble... OK?!!" he assured as he hugged her. The doorbell rang and Wayne saw Jonnie opening the front door. In walked Megan's friend from Saudi Arabia that he'd met a few years back, Yosef Madani, followed by his son Nuri and a young woman whose exotic beauty immediately caught his attention. He released Megan as he asked dazedly, "Who is THAT?" Then he shook his head as he realized she must be Yosef's wife... Megan turned around to see who'd arrived, and then she faced Wayne again, chuckling slightly at the expression on his face. He looked like a starving man sitting in front of a sumptuous meal... that he'd just been told he couldn't have! "Well, of course you know Yosef and Nuri. The woman is Jada Madani... Yosef's younger sister." She smiled widely when Wayne's wide eyes shot to hers and he smiled broadly. "Yosef's sister?!!!" he exclaimed happily. "What is she doing here? I mean... why did he bring her with him? Any special reason?" He could hardly contain his curiosity about the beautiful young woman... he'd never seen a woman who so instantly captured his attention and fascination. He looked back and watched as their family and friends greeted her. Her face was so delicate... her features perfectly proportioned... she was a... "perfect" example of symmetrical beauty. Her long, dark hair hung straight down her back to her waist, which he instantly noticed was tiny from the colorful skirt that hugged her hips and waist. His eyes traveled back up her body, lingering momentarily on the swell of her breasts in the tight white top that was tucked into her skirt. When his gaze returned to her face, he watched in fascination as she smiled at someone, showing off her luscious lips and perfect, white teeth. But he noticed that her large, dark eyes did not reflect happiness... in fact, they seemed sad and he thought he also detected a hint of... fear. Wayne wondered why until he heard what Megan was saying... "Jada has been here in the U.S. attending college on a student visa. But she's graduated and her visa is about to expire, so Yosef has come to escort her home... back to Saudi Arabia. But she doesn't want to go. She's gotten used to not being treated like a second-class citizen. Her family had hoped she'd meet a nice American man to fall in love with and marry so she could stay in this country. But Yosef said she had promised herself that she would not entrap a man into marrying her just so she could stay. She would marry only if she fell in love... and sadly, she hadn't been lucky enough to find her soul mate..." At that moment, Jada looked straight into Wayne's eyes... they both froze. Time seemed to halt for them... all of the people around them disappeared... there was no sound... except for the pounding of their hearts in their ears. They walked toward each other, their eyes never wavering, not stopping until they were right in front of each other... ********** Jada Madani had cried on her older brother's shoulder earlier that day as she begged him not to make her go with him to the New Year's Eve party at his friends' house in Beverly Hills. She hadn't understood why he'd dragged her with him from Boston to L.A. the day before... she just wanted to get it over with and return to Saudi Arabia... she'd resigned herself to accept her fate of living a life of oppression. She was grateful that her family had gone against the wishes of the government. Yosef had proven to his boss, the Sheikh, that Jada had an innate aptitude with computers. It was the Sheikh who'd finally persuaded the government to allow her family to send her to M.I.T. if the school felt she was smart enough to attend their prestigious institution. M.I.T. had allowed Jada to take an entrance exam to demonstrate her knowledge and had offered her admission as soon as they'd received the results. Jada had fit right in with life on an American college campus, having heard from her older brother what it was like to live in such a free environment. She hadn't started college until she was nineteen, and now she was twenty-three and facing a fate worse than death after having lived four years having more fun than she'd ever thought possible while hoping she'd also find her true soul mate... Boston was a big city... M.I.T. was full of students from all over the U.S. and the world! Surely she'd cross paths with that special someone... somewhere... some time... in those four years. She'd even traveled with her friends to some of the bigger cities during the summer breaks... New York... Chicago... Washington D.C. But she'd never made it to L.A.! Until now... "Why, Yosef?!!! Why did you drag me all the way out here when you know I have to leave in only four days?!! Why do I have to go to a party and meet these friends of yours only to turn around and go home to a life where I'll never get to party again?!! Do you realize how cruel you're being to me?!!" she'd cried as he hugged her and tried to comfort her. "Jada... I know you don't want to go home, and I can't blame you! It was all our hopes that you would fall in love and marry so you could stay here... even though we will face a backlash when the government realizes that you aren't returning! But we want what's best for you... and, who knows? Maybe you will find Mr. Right at this party!" he'd teased her gently. Jada had wanted to cry... what were the chances that she'd finally look into some man's eyes and know immediately he was the other half of her soul! She had always believed that was all it would take... just one look. But as time passed, she realized the only looks she was ever seeing in men's eyes were desire... lust. She began to feel vaguely uncomfortable at the thought that maybe those damned Saudi customs weren't so far wrong! Maybe the only way a woman could find a man who would truly love her was to hide her physical beauty and hope to find love from a man who could see only the beauty of her soul in her eyes... She'd refused to give in to that fear, and in trying to make certain that she hadn't overlooked something, she'd stupidly given herself to a guy who hadn't treated her like the only reason he was interested was because he wanted to get her into bed. But she'd known it was a mistake right away... the sex had been awkward and awful... and she'd realized it was because she didn't love the guy. Even he had admitted that, as beautiful and sexy as she was, it wasn't that good for him, either... but they had parted friends. That was the one thing that scared her the most about having to go home. If she was ever forced to marry a Saudi man, she was liable to be killed on her wedding night when he discovered she was no longer a virgin. She just hoped her family would be able to shield her from ever having to marry... Jada followed her brother to the large house where they were greeted by their handsome, friendly host. She did her best to be polite as she was introduced to more of their family and friends, but she was saddened to know this would probably be the only time she'd ever see any of these nice people before she left to face her fate. She finally noticed a tall, fairly handsome man with shaggy brown hair and intense gray eyes staring at her through his silver-rimmed glasses. There was no lust... there was only longing... and a slight glimmer of wonder... as if he were dreaming. Of her... Everything and everyone else fell away... there was only him... and the beating of her heart telling her he was the one... the other half of her soul. And she had to tell him... He moved toward her at the same moment she started toward him... Jada lifted her delicate hand to his face, placing her warm palm on his cheek as she said softly, "Here you are... I've been looking everywhere for you. I was so afraid I'd never find you..." she ended in a whisper. The touch of her hand and the soft accent of her voice sent chills down Wayne's spine that tingled in his groin... his cock stirred as his heart beat harder. Her voice called to him from a dream... he'd heard her voice before... in his dreams. She'd spoken words he didn't understand but somehow he'd known their meaning... the tone of her voice had told him they were words of deep passion and love. And her voice had stirred him even more than what he'd been doing to her... He'd had that same dream off and on over the last several years... He'd felt a slender woman's body in his arms as she lay beneath him while he was making love to her. The exquisite sensations he'd experienced had prevented him from being able to lift his head and open his eyes to look at his dream lover. He could only feel the softness of her skin, her arms holding him tightly, her legs wrapped around his waist as he drove slowly and deeply inside her, feeling like he never wanted to stop... Wayne had to stifle a groan as his cock hardened from recalling those intense sensations! The dream had caused him to wake up, grasp his throbbing shaft and pull on it as the impending orgasms had erupted! And then afterward, he'd lain in his bed, his chest heaving... cursing under his breath that he still had no clue who the woman was... only what her voice sounded like. Megan and Yosef grinned widely at each other... it looked as though their hopes were panning out. Yosef had told her recently of his sister's disappointment and the Seldons had also worried that Wayne had never shown an interest in settling down. He'd had girlfriends, but none of them were serious. There weren't that many girls or women who were attracted to a computer "geek," as he'd always referred to himself. The few women he'd met in college and that he worked with were also "geeks"... even more so than he was... and beyond their common interests, there were none that had stirred him physically or emotionally... only intellectually. Then he'd started having that dream, and he found himself listening to women's voices... searching for his dream lover... wondering how he'd ever find her when he was holed up in a computer lab all day and his apartment most nights! He had just recently started to think that he might have to move or start traveling if he ever hoped to find her... In fact, he'd been toying with the idea to sell off a few shares of his Microsoft stock and take a trip after the first of the year... after he'd finished the search for that missing former GM employee for Megan. He'd been paying attention to the accents of some women he'd overheard talking at the mall or when he was commuting back and forth to work... they'd sounded similar to his dream lover... and they were all Middle Eastern. But he knew from watching Megan's news show every week that it was not safe to travel in that area of the world any more, and he was afraid he wouldn't have the guts to make a trip anywhere in that region. And he suddenly realized that he wouldn't have to... his dream lover had come to him! Wayne put his hand over Jada's on his cheek as he continued to stare into her shimmering dark brown eyes... eyes so dark he couldn't make out if her pupils were dilated... a sure sign that she was attracted to him. But then, she was the one who'd said she'd been searching for him... it was a pretty sure bet she felt the same about him as he did about her. And she needed his help... "I'm so happy you found me, too, Jada. I feel as if you've given me a gift by searching for me all those years and not giving up, so now I want to give you one. You are the woman of my dreams... marry me, Jada, and stay here with me..." he said softly. The whole crowd of Wayne's family and friends were standing around, stunned to be witnessing yet another case of love at first sight between true soul mates who'd been searching for each other. Even Megan and Yosef were surprised at how quickly they'd connected... not even knowing how much they had in common! Yosef moved beside his sister and put his arm around her protectively. He steeled his face into a typical Saudi man's scowl of disapproval and stated mockingly in a loud voice, "Jada... you know better than to approach a strange man and offer yourself so willingly. Have you no shame?!! And you cannot marry this man without my permission! You know the laws of Islam! If you marry this man, you will no longer be welcome in our country. Are you willing to turn your back on your family and your homeland for this... this infidel?!!" He glanced around at everyone else and smirked with them. They were all about to crack up, knowing he was putting on a show in case anyone ever tried to track her down and find out whether her brother really had objected to her marriage. There'd be plenty of witnesses to the fact that he had and that he was outnumbered by the "infidels" so there was nothing he could do to stop it... Jada spoke loudly and clearly. "Yes, dear brother... I know what I am doing! And we are not in our homeland, so you cannot stop me. I want to marry this man." A loud cheer rang out when Wayne pulled Jada into his arms and kissed her, both of them absolutely assured that they were true soul mates as soon as their lips met... On January 1, 1987, Capt. Brad Seldon flew his wife and his youngest brother, along with his soul mate, to Las Vegas. He and Barbie smiled at each other as they served as witnesses for the legal joining of Wayne and Jada in marriage. The next day, they'd have to begin the arduous process of filing for her permanent residence status. But they weren't about to worry about it that night... They returned to L.A. that afternoon to find that their families and friends had reserved a honeymoon suite for them at a posh downtown hotel. A limousine met them at the Santa Monica airfield to whisk them away to the hotel. Jada could hardly believe how much her life had turned around. Just 24 hours earlier, her heart had hardly wanted to beat any longer from the dreaded future she was facing, and now, here she was in the back of a limo with her new husband... her soul mate... who looked like he wanted to devour her... and she could hardly control the pounding of her heart! Then she suddenly feared he might not appreciate the fact that she wasn't pure... "Wayne... I feel I should tell you that... I'm not..." She was silenced when he put his fingers to her lips and shushed her... and then she melted at what he said. "Jada... I think I know what you're trying to tell me and I don't care. I'm not exactly innocent, either, so I can't hold that against you. All that matters is that we've found each other. I've been making love to you in my dreams for the past four years! I feel as though I'm the man who took your virginity... so why don't you just pretend the same..." Jada whimpered passionately and dove onto her husband's lap, planting kisses all over his face, but his glasses were in the way so she paused to remove them, staring straight into his eyes. She felt a powerful throb in her womb as his steely gray eyes lit with wild flames of passion and desire and she felt his cock harden against her hip. She moaned desperately as liquid heat coursed between her thighs when he crushed his mouth to hers, parting her lips and coaxing her tongue to mingle with his. Wayne groaned as his aching cock stiffened even harder as she writhed against him. The next thing he knew, Jada was straddling his lap on her knees with her hand between them at his crotch, stroking him. He groaned even louder as their lips parted when his head flopped back against the leather seat. He wanted her so desperately that he almost wished she would open his pants and impale herself upon him... Then he almost thought he was dreaming again when he felt her soft hand firmly stroking his hard flesh and heard her voice saying words he did not know but could almost understand their meaning... She tugged wantonly on his throbbing shaft as she groaned sexily, "Jasim... kasib... kadar kahil! Baha, Hana!!!" It sounded as though she was expressing her delight at his long, hard cock... The last two words were moaned desperately before she plastered her mouth to his in an erotically intimate kiss. Wayne could no longer hold back... he had to have her! His hands went down to reach up under her skirt, sliding up her silken thighs to grasp her panties at her hips and tugged them down. She broke their kiss and stared heatedly at him as she helped by moving beside him so he could work her panties all the way off of her. She crouched over him as he pushed his slacks low enough to free his cock completely, then he grasped her hips as she knelt over him again. They both moaned softly as they felt the tip of his shaft just barely parting her wet flesh. He almost shoved her hips downward to impale her upon him forcefully, but he wanted to be sure he'd fully understood what she'd said to him... "Jada... what was it you were saying when you touched me?" She smiled sexily at him as she barely moved her hips, rubbing their hot, slick flesh together. "I was saying how big you are, how huge you felt in my hand... how fertile I hoped you'd be... what a powerful lover I believe you will be... my beautiful, magnificent John!" she moaned desperately, kissing him erotically again as she lowered herself, continuing to moan at the exquisite sensation of his cock slowly filling her completely. They both moaned together as Jada rode him slowly and sensuously... Wayne was recalling every exquisite sensation from his dreams! Her body felt exactly like what he'd experienced... so soft and slender in his arms... so tight and wet around his cock! Every moan and sigh was exactly what he'd heard next to his ear... And here she was... in front of him... on top of him... impaled on him... in his arms... no longer just in his dreams... ********** "Ajib kahil... kamal habib... hassan, Hana... mahir kahil, my khaled fu'ad..." Jada purred while staring into her husband's blazing silvery eyes as he fucked her slowly and deeply. Gifts of the Future Ch. 11 Wayne Seldon could almost believe he was dreaming again... if not for the fact that he was finally looking into the eyes of his dream lover as he held her in his arms. And she was telling him what a wonderful lover he was... beautiful, perfect beloved... a handsome, skilled lover... and she wanted his heart forever... He wasn't sure of the literal translations, but that was what he saw in her deep, dark eyes. Then he recalled what she had done to him when they first got to their honeymoon suite... He groaned loudly, his head collapsing to her shoulder as he plunged deep inside her and held still for a moment, struggling to stave off an orgasm that threatened every time he recalled the image of her lips wrapped around his cock... They had just barely had time to make themselves presentable after their session in the backseat of the limo when they'd arrived at the hotel. He'd picked her up in his arms and carried her into the lobby and over to the front desk to get the key card for their suite. There were no bags to be carried; the limo driver informed them that their family had already delivered their clothes to the hotel. That was a laugh... there were only one change of clothes for each of them and a note stating that they doubted they'd need any other clothes during the long weekend! It was a Thursday evening and Wayne's company had already given everyone the Friday after New Year's Day off as well. They had chuckled at the note and then she had attacked him ferociously... tearing at his clothes and then pushing him toward the bed until he fell back onto it. He'd scooted back with his head on the pillows while she'd quickly disrobed and then crawled onto the bed staring at him like a... man-eater! Which, to his delight, was exactly what she'd turned out to be... and a very good one at that! She'd practically sucked him dry... massaging every last drop of cum out of him as she moaned, "Shihad... shihad..." between every swipe of her tongue on the tip of his softening cock. He'd been able to do nothing but lay back and moan and groan loudly, his body writhing as she'd skillfully and lovingly sucked, stroked and massaged him... it was the first blowjob he'd ever had and it had surpassed anything he could possibly have dreamed! Wayne had chuckled slightly when she'd moved up to lie beside him afterward, thinking how strange it was that he'd never dreamed of getting a blowjob before. All his dreams had been only of making slow, passionate love to her... Jada glanced up at her husband when he chuckled, smiling softly as she asked, "What's so funny? You know... if I were caught doing that to you at home, I would be in a lot of trouble! Muslim women are not supposed to like the taste of semen... but yours tastes like honey! I'll do that for you whenever you want, my husband!" she'd purred as she fondled his tingling groin. Wayne had smiled widely at her and said teasingly, "Well... I didn't know I'd married such a naughty girl! And how much trouble would you be in if I lick your pussy until you come on my tongue?!!" He'd growled softly and kissed his wife deeply before working his way down her body to bury his tongue and his fingers inside all of her orifices after she'd replied, "I wouldn't get into any trouble as long as it's what you want, my husband! I'd only be in trouble if I tried to stop you... I'm supposed to follow all of my husband's wishes! I'm just glad that my husband is not Muslim... you'd have been raised to believe that it is forbidden for you to stimulate my ass in any way... but I think I'd like to find out how that feels!" Wayne's thoughts came rushing back to the present as he found himself panting with his throbbing cock still buried inside his wife's tight, wet cunt. The way she'd moaned and screamed while he'd eaten her pussy and finger fucked her ass had given him the hardest erection he'd ever experienced and now his balls were tingling, threatening to cause his cock to explode inside her at any moment... He lifted up and stared down at her when she moaned, "Don't stop, Wayne! I'm about to come and I know you are, too!!! Fuck me, my kadar Hana! Fuck me hard and fill me, my kasib kahil! I want to give you many strong, handsome sons... just like you... OHHHH YESSSSS!!!" she cried as he slammed into her a few times and then froze, buried to the hilt, roaring loudly as his orgasm exploded inside her... It was a long weekend... and when they weren't sleeping, they were screwing each other every way and everywhere possible or rolling on the bed making slow, passionate love. Their family was right... any other clothes would've been a waste! The only time they ever put anything on was to don the terrycloth robes that came with their suite to answer the door for room service when they called down for food. They had laughed joyously together while feeding each other or eating something served on each other's bodies that humans would probably have been content for centuries to survive on nothing but love, sex... and food... in that order! They'd both agreed that sex was no good without love and food was only needed in order to give them the strength to continue making love... or having sex... lots and lots of sex... ********** Sunday afternoon, Yosef Madani arrived at the hotel to pick up his sister and her new husband and take them home. He grinned widely and then laughed out loud when he saw them hobbling off the elevator... it was obvious they'd worn themselves out from too much sex! Yosef thought it was a good thing they'd have a comfortable place to rest when they got home... Wayne's family and friends had prepared another surprise... his sparse bachelor's quarters had been transformed into a cozy home for him and his new bride. Everyone else who'd been waiting to welcome them home also got a good laugh at the stiff way the newlyweds walked in the door. They pointed out the food that had been prepared and left in the fridge and quickly said goodbye as it was obvious the couple needed to rest! Jada Seldon hugged her older brother tightly as he was leaving, knowing that he was on his way back to Saudi Arabia the next day. "I don't know how to thank you, brother, for helping me find my soul mate! Please tell mother and father that I will miss them and hope they will come visit me soon. And tell them what a good man my husband is... I know he will take very good care of me and love me like no one else ever could... the same way I love him! I now know what you and Salihah and mother and father have always shared... I now know how wonderful the world was meant to be! I, too, dear brother, now have hope for the future..." she told him with tears in her eyes as she hugged him one last time... ********** That evening, Megan and Jonnie had a going away dinner for Yosef and Nuri as they would be leaving the next morning. Most of their family and friends were there... except for Wayne and Jada who were still recovering from their honeymoon! Charlie, Lily and five-year-old Jasmine were there, and the adults thought it was so cute the way Nuri acted so solicitous toward her... making sure she sat next to him at the table, helping her into and out of her chair and smiling at her often. Charlie and Lily smiled and chuckled at the adoring look on Jasmine's face as she watched Nuri's every move, especially as she sat on a chair in the den after dinner watching him playing with Jonathan, Tommy and J.J., just as the boys had always done whenever they were together. The adults had found it amazing how four boys, one of whom they'd met only a couple of times and spent a few days with, could get along so well together... never fighting over who got which toys or which games to play... Before he left that night, Nuri hugged Jasmine and kissed her cheek gently, causing Jasmine to cry when her Mama and Daddy explained to her that Nuri had to go back to his home country with his father and that she wouldn't see him again for a while. Jasmine didn't stop crying until Yosef assured her that he and Nuri would come back for visits as often as they could... ********** The year 1987 started out mostly quiet... Wayne and Jada had joined forces in their search of computer records for the missing former GM employee that Megan was hoping to find. Unfortunately, the man had a rather common name, so there were a lot of records they'd have to sift through in order to try to correctly identify the man they were searching for! Especially when they started to delve into files they weren't meant to search... As the year progressed, Megan was embarrassed when some of the major problems facing the U.S. turned out to be political and sex scandals! And there were just as many reports of international violence, with even more captures of Americans by terrorists. And then the weather worldwide seemed strange... a strong tornado in Canada... hurricane-force winds that battered southern England... It seemed as if a dark force was trying to see if making nature wreak havoc on humans would have more of an effect than turning humans on themselves! But, of course, humans had long been aiding in the ease of the dark forces to manipulate the weather by creating industries that had been harming the planet's environment for decades before scientists discovered the damage that was being done. The dark forces were just making sure that the humans most in positions to change that course kept quiet and did nothing... And there were also the horrible airline disasters that happened both in the U.S. and abroad... one of which was a Korean Air flight that was blown up in November, believed to have been perpetrated by North Korean agents. Megan shook her head when she heard about that... as if she didn't worry enough about the hatred being spread by radical Islamic terrorists, she sometimes forgot about the damned communists who'd do anything to stop the spread of democracy! She'd been noticing the spread of communist-based terrorist groups throughout Southeast Asia and a few in South America as well... Also toward the end of the year, Megan, Wayne and Jada were frustrated that they were having so much trouble trying to identify that missing former GM employee. Megan had been upset at first when her two "computer spies" admitted that they'd finally broken down and "hacked" into some computer files at GM in an attempt to find anything that might help. They didn't find anything on the person they were looking for, but they did turn up a copy of a brief memo written by a recently retired employee to some manager referencing "the destruction of all information pertaining to the development of an electric vehicle back in the early 1970's." The memo cited the reason as being that GM's Research & Development team had determined that production costs would not be feasible in light of the retail market price they'd have to charge for a vehicle of that type... When they were able to locate a current address and phone number for that retired employee, Megan decided to contact him and see if he would talk to her. As soon as she got him on the phone and identified herself, he cut her off. "I know who you are... I do not wish to talk to you and don't you ever dare mention my name on your show, or I'll sue you for invasion of privacy. Do you understand? Leave me out of this!" he'd stated forcefully, sounding almost scared as he hung up on her. Megan was more sure than ever that something had been deliberately covered up, although she doubted that she'd ever be able to prove it... On, Monday, December 7, 1987, Tom and Lynda Seldon were at LAX waiting for the boarding call for their flight to San Francisco. They were going up to visit with Robbie and Crystal for a few days and help take care of little Lana so her Mama and Daddy could study and then take the bar exam. Just after they heard the call for their flight, Pacific Southwest Airlines flight 1771, they heard a P.A. asking for them to pick-up one of the white courtesy phones. Tom and Lynda frowned worriedly at each other and then looked for the nearest phone. When Tom picked it up, he heard Barbie's anxious voice. "Dad?!! Thank God I caught you in time! Look... don't get on that plane, OK?!! I had a dream last night about a plane crashing and I was confused at first because I'd forgotten all about you and Mom telling us that you were going up to stay with Robbie and Crystal for a few days! I just remembered when Tommy told me he'd had a dream, too, and that he was worried about his Grams and Gramps! And you know he sees these things more clearly than me..." Tom interrupted her, "Barbie... did Tommy give you any specifics about how the crash happens?" "Only that he heard gunshots... evidently somebody gets on that plane with a gun with the intent of killing someone and ends up causing the plane to crash... killing everyone!!! So, please... promise me you guys will not get on that plane!" she cried worriedly. Tom spoke quietly. "If I can figure out who has the gun, maybe I can stop this from happening! But I promise you, if I can't figure it out... we won't get on. We'll just rent a car and drive up to Palo Alto instead. We'll call you as soon as we can to confirm what's happened, OK? Thanks, Barbie... and give Tommy hugs and kisses from us and tell him Grams and Gramps will be fine! Talk to you soon... Bye!" Tom and Lynda were dismayed to find that most of the passengers had already boarded the plane by the time they arrived at the gate. Tom went over to a security guard, identified himself as a retired FBI agent and told the guard he had information indicating that a passenger had managed to get by security with a gun and was reportedly boarding that flight. The security guard was skeptical, but Tom finally convinced the man that it would be more prudent for him to at least check into it rather than to ignore the possibility that it was true. Naturally, Tom was the first one the guard asked to check for weapons... then he made Tom and Lynda wait while he asked the remaining passengers who had not yet boarded to show him their carry-ons and checked their pockets. The guard rolled his eyes and headed onto the plane, knowing that the pilots and flight crew would probably not allow him to delay their schedule for something like this, and sure enough, they turned him back, laughingly telling him they'd keep their eyes out for anyone acting "suspicious!" Unfortunately, the person they should've been keeping an eye out for was one of their own former co-workers... Tom and Lynda canceled their tickets and told the security guard that he'd better let Southwest Pacific Airlines know that they were soon going to have a disaster on their hands... They went to a pay phone, called Barbie and let her know that they'd been unable to prevent whatever was going to happen and that she might want to keep her eyes on the news channels in the next hour or so. Then they called Robbie and Crystal and told them of their change in plans and that they'd be several hours later getting there. Tom hoped to have one more chance at stopping a tragedy when he insisted that the airline hold that flight until they retrieved their baggage, making sure it did not get loaded on the plane. He tried to convince the ticket agent to let him speak to one of their officials and convince them that they needed to heed his information. But the man just scowled and told him the company was in turmoil because of a recent takeover by USAir, and he wasn't even sure whom to report something like that to... Tom and Lynda were listening to the radio in their rental vehicle over an hour later as they drove north and west along Route 101 just past Santa Barbara when they heard about a plane crash near the Santa Lucia Mountains up around Paso Robles. They looked at each other grimly and were not at all surprised when they announced it was the Southwest Pacific flight... it had slammed into the ground so hard that the plane had basically disintegrated! Tom took Lynda's hand when he glanced at her and saw her crying. "We did everything we could to stop it, sweetheart. Yes... it's awful to know when something like that is about to happen and we still can't do anything to stop it! It doesn't seem fair... We can only hope our children and grandchildren will figure out how to do better..." Gifts of the Future Ch. 12 Former FBI agents Thomas Seldon and Charles Richards checked into the investigation of the crash of the Southwest Pacific Airlines flight that Tom and Lynda were supposed to have been on the week before. Special Agent Jonnie North had gone to the crash site to aid in the search for clues. It was soon learned that the man who'd caused the crash was a former employee of the airline who'd been fired for petty theft of in-flight beverage sales. The man had gone to his former supervisor to ask for his job back and his supervisor had refused to reinstate him. He'd taken that flight because his former supervisor at LAX lived in San Francisco and was also taking the flight home. The man had managed to sneak a .44 Magnum revolver that he'd borrowed from a co-worker past security using his USAir credentials. Investigators found a note among the rubble at the crash site that the man had written on an airsickness bag; it was absolutely chilling. Hi Ray. I think it's sort of ironical that we ended up like this. I asked for some leniency for my family. Remember? Well, I got none and you'll get none. What had seemed even more ironic to the investigators was that 43 people died because a man had been fired for stealing $69... The dark forces had descended upon that despondent man as soon as they'd learned that two of the "chosen ones" had reserved tickets on that flight. And, yet again, their lives had been spared, but this time because other "chosen ones" had intervened... without any help from The Guardians... While interviewing the ticket agent that Tom had tried to convince to let him speak to someone in charge and tell them of the possible danger, Jonnie had noticed that he seemed very nervous. During further questioning, the man confessed to having been the one who'd loaned the perpetrator the gun! That was why he hadn't wanted to let Tom talk to anyone else, because he knew it was true... The year 1987 ended with yet another airline disaster in Peru the day after the Southwest Pacific crash that killed the same number of people, some new advances in technology and the introduction of a drug that would lead to a big break for the dark forces of the universe... Prozac. All of a sudden, along came this "happy pill" that took all worries away and left even more humans extremely vulnerable to having their "free will" manipulated... Millions of Americans who struggled every day to follow paths of light were being bombarded by the facts that government corruption, crimes of hate, worldwide violence and natural disasters seemed to be increasing. Prozac was supposed to help them "not worry" about those troubling facts... what it actually did was make them "not care." And it didn't take long for the dark forces to figure that out... ********** In early 1988, Jada Seldon was growing worried that she had, as yet, been unable to conceive. Wayne kept telling his wife that he was in no hurry for them to have children. He loved her and his love was not conditional on her ability to produce sons for him... as most Saudi men prized in a wife! But Jada couldn't let it go... she wanted to share children with her husband... she wanted to be a mother! Wayne had told Jada about all of his family and friends' special abilities and she'd told him that her brother Yosef had said Nuri also had an ability akin to Lily Richards' "gift"... he could see into a person's heart. She was worried that something was wrong with her, so she asked Dr. Charlie Richards when they were gathered at Megan and Jonnie's house one night to see if he could sense anything. Lily urged her husband to go ahead, so Charlie placed his left hand on Jada's lower abdomen and closed his eyes. He frowned and then looked worriedly at Jada as he said softly, "Something is definitely not right... I don't sense anything specifically wrong... but something is just not right. I'm sorry... I know this doesn't sound like it makes any sense! There is nothing seriously wrong physically... your overall health is good... there doesn't seem to be any medical reason why you can't conceive. But there is something wrong... I just can't tell what it is. Go to a gynecologist and have it checked out... OK?" he advised her gravely. She asked Megan to help her get an appointment with her gynecologist and then asked Megan to come with her, as she did not want to be alone with the doctor. She still had a faint fear of doctors due to an experience she had just before she'd left Saudi Arabia and come to the U.S. to attend M.I.T. Megan's doctor could find nothing wrong during a physical examination and was intrigued by some small scars on her abdomen. When he asked her about them, she told him that a Saudi doctor had discovered what he'd called some benign cysts on her ovaries when they'd forced her to submit to a complete physical before allowing her to leave the country. The doctor had insisted that the cysts be removed before she was allowed to travel, so she'd been required to have the surgery before they let her leave. The doctor frowned, as something didn't sound right to him. He asked Jada if she'd allow him to have some X-rays done on her abdomen so he could verify what she'd been told. A few days later, Jada and Megan were back in the doctor's office after he'd had a chance to review her X-rays with a technician. Jada was stunned by what they'd found... "Mrs. Seldon... I don't know how to tell you this... but, when that surgery was performed, your fallopian tubes were tied. And, I hate to add that, your ovaries do not show any evidence of scarring to indicate the removal of any cysts... I daresay that whole story was a ruse just to get you to submit to surgery so they could render you unable to conceive." "Oh, my God," Megan whispered as her hand covered her mouth. She turned to look at her friend, who was just staring blindly into space. "Jada, honey... are you all right?" she asked gently as she reached over to take the younger woman's hand. Jada sprang out her chair, spouting a litany of Arabic curses that made both Megan and the doctor flinch and then stare at her wide-eyed as she continued shouting in Arabic, pacing back and forth in front of the windows. Then she finally broke down sobbing, bending over as if in pain. Megan jumped up and rushed over to her. She held Jada until she could stop crying, rocking her gently as she soothed her calmly. That night, Wayne held his sobbing wife and cried with her as she told him what had been done to her. The only thing that had kept Jada from losing all hope was the doctor telling her after she'd calmed down that they'd likely be able to reverse the surgery, giving her a 50/50 chance at being able to conceive. However... it would be considered an elective procedure and, therefore, not covered by insurance... it would be costly... and it wouldn't guarantee that she'd actually conceive. Wayne assured her if she wanted to go through with it, he didn't care what it would cost. But he made her promise that whatever she decided, whether she was able to get pregnant or not, she was not to blame herself for his sake! "I mean it, Jada... YOU are the most important person in the world to me! If we were meant to have children, then it will happen... and if not... then it was not your fault! It was your damn government's fault... just remember that!" he growled and watched as an angry fire built in her eyes as her sobs faded... Jada stared at her husband and stated a decision from her anger over the betrayal... she'd been toying with the idea ever since they'd married but had hesitated because of an obviously misguided sense of loyalty to her homeland. "As soon as I'm eligible, I'm going to apply for U.S. citizenship... I owe no loyalty to a country that would deliberately deceive me in such a personal matter! How dare they?!! In fact... I would like to offer my services to the U.S. in any manner that I can to help bring to light whatever the Saudi government and OPEC are up to!!!" Wayne went to his wife and tried to calm her. "Now Jada... as much as I understand your anger and your desire to get back at them, you have to remember that your family is still in that country and your brother is already doing everything he can toward that end! If you get involved, too, and the Saudi government discovers that, it could put your brother and your whole family in danger. I'm sure that if Yosef needs our help with something, he will let us know. All right?!!" She glared at him for a moment and then closed her eyes, nodding that he was right, so he continued, "Now... just take some time and think about what you want to do... about what was done to you. We'll have to do a lot of checking and find out about risks, costs, etcetera... and I want to be involved in the process... to tell you what I think and how I feel about it... hoping that you'll take those into consideration. But the ultimate decision will be yours and I'll support whatever you decide. Do you understand?" Jada's eyes filled with tears as she moved to her husband and clung to him as he embraced her. She realized how lucky she was to have such an understanding man... And she realized that she'd never have been given the right or the freedom to make a decision regarding her own life... her own body... in the country of her birth! But her loving husband was leaving the decision of how to right the wrong that had been done to her completely in her hands... Why was she suddenly frightened that she might make the wrong decision?!! ********** Megan North's producer wasn't allowing her as much leeway in her coverage of all the violence in the Middle East. She was relegated to following only those stories that also happened to make it on the major network news coverages in 1988. Violence that broke out in Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians in January; a bomb that exploded outside of a major South African bank branch in the town of Oshakati in the northern region known as Namibia in February that no one claimed responsibility for. Megan suspected it had something to do with apartheid, but she was not allowed to pursue it... even though soon afterward, hostilites continued to increase in South Africa and elsewhere in the world because of apartheid! In March, a chemical weapons attack was launched on a northern Iraqi Kurdish town that Iraq immediately blamed on Iran, which was backed up by information from U.S. intelligence sources. Megan didn't buy it. Back in 1984, Iran had claimed that Iraq had been using chemical weapons all along, supported by photos of casualties obtained after Iraqi attacks on Iranian border towns. There had been no previous evidence of chemical attacks in Iraq, and it was widely known that the Kurds had been trying to overthrow the Iraqi government under President Saddam Hussein, a member of the revolutionary Ba'ath Party. Megan's research had revealed that organization was seeking to unite the people and nations of the Arab world and that it strongly opposed any Western political involvement... exactly what she was hoping no one in that region would be able to accomplish!!! Megan had felt chills roll down her spine... She'd realized that Saddam Hussein likely posed more of a threat than the Ayatollah... and the U.S. had been aiding that man's country in their invasion of Iran! She fully believed he would launch a chemical weapons attack in his own country if it was against any group who'd opposed him! Megan was almost afraid to keep digging into why the U.S. government was aiding Iraq... She fervently hoped it was for the only reason that would make any sense... in order to keep the nations of Islam in constant conflict so they wouldn't band together! But then... how long would it take the Arab world to wake up and realize that "Western political involvement" was keeping them from achieving something they'd all love to do! U.S. involvement could be making matters worse! Megan could only hope the stupid Iran-Iraq war would end soon, and it appeared to be losing steam... But the U.S. had also been aiding Afghanistan in their fight against the Soviet invasion since 1979. They'd been supplying munitions to the Islamist Mujahideen Resistance in their fight against the Soviet Red Army that had moved in at the request of the Marxist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Tragically, in April, a large stockpile of munitions stored at a camp near Islamabad and Rawalpindi in Pakistan was sabotaged and the explosion killed more than a thousand people... A month later, the Soviet Union started pulling their troops out of Afghanistan. They were more than likely giving up because the economy of the USSR was in a steady decline and they could no longer afford to fund a war they'd been fighting for over eight years with no progress having been made! Just when it started to look like things might settle down in that region for a bit, the U.S. Navy made a mistake that further damaged the country's already bad reputation in the Middle East... On July 3rd, a civilian Iranian Air flight was shot down over the Straits of Hormuz by the USS Vincennes, killing all 299 passengers and crew aboard. There was no excuse... the Navy should've been able to identify that it was a civilian aircraft, but it had been mistakenly labeled as an attacking F-14 Tomcat. Iran and all the rest of the Islamic world had yet another reason to proclaim the U.S. as a nation of "infidels!" ********** In June 1988, Captain Brad Seldon was promoted to Major, called back to Houston and informed that he'd been selected as the pilot for an STS mission toward the end of the year. The first mission since the Challenger disaster was scheduled to launch in September, and if everything went as smoothly as they hoped, another mission was planned during the last quarter of the year. At the end of September, the whole country breathed a sigh of relief when the Space Shuttle Discovery launched successfully. Major Thomas Bradley Seldon smiled widely as he picked up his eight-year-old son Tommy as they cheered while watching the launch on television at Johnson Space Center. Then Brad pulled his wife to him, hugging both of them as he declared excitedly, "Well... I'm next, you guys! The next time, my family and friends will be watching me get launched into orbit! I can hardly wait!" Barbie closed her eyes and swallowed her fear for her husband's sake... she did not want to dampen his excitement when he was about to realize his dream... In November, the Seldons made a quick trip out to the L.A. area to visit with Didi and Jay, who'd also recently been promoted to the rank of Major. Jay had invited Brad to come see what he and Capt. Karen Moss-Estevez had been involved with at Plant 42... they were holding a ceremony to unveil the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. Brad was impressed to learn that his good friend, Major Jay Alan Hanson, had been named as the lead trainer for the first group of pilots assigned when the planes rolled out of production the following year. Two days later, all of the families gathered for Thanksgiving at Bob and Lisa Clark's Bel Air mansion again and they could hardly believe how large their group had grown! The Seldon family was, by far, the largest group with thirteen... even though their daughters, Barbie and Crystal, and their grandchildren, Tommy and Lana, belonged to other family groups as well! The Richards, the Norths and the Estevezes all totaled eight members, including the ones shared by the other family units. But all together, there were thirty adults and children crowded around two separate tables in the the Clark's huge dining room! Jada Seldon was still wrestling with the decision on whether to have surgery to reverse her forced sterility, and the more she watched how happy her sisters and friends were with their children that day, the more she longed for her own child. She made up her mind and was going to tell Wayne that night that she wanted to go through with it... but not until after the busy holidays were over. ********** Immediately after Thanksgiving, Brad had to report to Kennedy Space Center. He was not allowed to discuss the mission with anyone as it was a classified Department of Defense mission. Barbie accompanied her husband... she wanted to spend as much time as she could with him until he and the crew were sequestered. Their families had agreed to keep Tommy and bring him with them when they arrived the day before the scheduled launch. Brad and Barbie spent most of the night before the crew was sequestered making love. Brad ended up taking his wife forcefully several times until they both came loudly in order to stop the tears that kept creeping into her eyes. He rose up and slammed into her hard and deep as he growled, "Stop it, Barbie!!! Nothing's going to happen to me! The only thing that's going to happen is that I'm finally going to fulfill the only dream that YOU couldn't fulfill for me! I want this... I've wanted this my whole life... you've always known that!!! I want it almost as much as I've wanted YOU! Please don't be afraid... just be happy for me... and know that I'll be wishing every second I'm up there that you were there to share it with me..." His voice softened as he stared into her eyes. Barbie sniffled and wiped the last of her tears away. "Well... maybe if you told me about the mission I'd feel better... instead of wondering if what you're doing for the DoD is just as dangerous as getting launched into orbit by what is supposedly a 'controlled explosion!'" She barked a laugh as she tried to make a joke. Brad grinned sexily as he started moving inside her again. "Well... I could tell you," he replied huskily as he withdrew slowly. "But then I'd have to... kill you!" he growled savagely as he slammed inside her, causing her to moan loudly. "And I'm sorry, my love... but I'm nowhere near through with you yet..." he murmured as his strokes grew deeper and harder, as did her moans... The next morning, after the crew members had kissed their wives goodbye and were being transported to their pre-launch quarters, the other men, who were all several years older, were smirking at Brad. He frowned in confusion, lifting his shoulders and holding his hands palms up as he asked exasperatedly, WHAT?!! Why are you all looking at me like that?" They all chuckled as the commander spoke. "After catching a good look at your sexy little wife this morning, we uh... know now why you were making so much noise last night!!! That was a hell of a performance, buddy! Didn't anybody tell you how thin the walls are in the crew quarters, Seldon?!!" The crew busted out laughing as Brad's face reddened and then he was laughing with them as he replied, "Sorry about the noise, guys, I hope we didn't keep you up too late! But it was the only way I could keep my sexy little wife from worrying too much!" A couple of days later, Barbie and a very excited Tommy watched with most of their family and friends as the Space Shuttle Atlantis rocketed out of the earth's atmosphere carrying Major Thomas Bradley Seldon on what would be his first, and only, STS mission. His accidental witnessing of something peculiar while in orbit would alter his fascination with space and turn his focus back toward the planet he inhabited... On the last day of the mission, Brad was staring as if mesmerized out of the cockpit windows at the huge beautiful blue, green, white and beige globe that looked like it was slowly spinning above him. As fascinated as he had been by looking out into the black vastness of space and seeing the billions and billions of stars that were invisible through the earth's hazy atmosphere, he was even more enthralled by his first glimpse of Earth from a distance. He kept remembering hearing a song sung by a woman at a nightclub in Houston not too long back about how from a distance, the world looked peaceful... there was harmony... no guns... no bombs... no diseases... and no hungry mouths to feed. From a distance, it looked like a beautiful, peaceful planet... he almost didn't want to go back and have to face the reality of what was going on down on the surface again! Except the only things that really made his life worth living were still down there on the surface... waiting for him to return... his friends... his family... his amazing son... and his beautiful, loving wife... Gifts of the Future Ch. 12 Brad didn't hear one of the other crew members gliding up behind him. He jerked slightly when he heard, "Damn, Seldon... is that all you're ever good for? Staring out those windows and mooning over that sexy little wife of yours?!!" He snorted, "Hey... if you want to run all the checks on the OMS thrusters and the ME's, be my guest! I'll even sit back and let you try to land this flying brick if you think I'm so useless!!!" he ended, growling sarcastically. Then he turned back toward the windows when he caught a quick flash in the sky that looked like an explosion in the lower atmosphere. "Did you see that?" he asked as the commander floated up beside him. "See what?" he asked as they both peered out. A few seconds later there was another quick flash that looked like it was several hundred miles from where the last one was and a little higher in the atmosphere. "I saw that!" he exclaimed as he frowned slightly. "That looked like a missile detonation of some kind. I don't remember seeing in any of the reports from Houston that anyone was supposed to be test firing missiles over the Indian Ocean," he added as he took note of their position in orbit. Just before he moved away from the window, there was yet another flash not too far from the first two that looked to be even a little higher from the brightness of the quick flash compared to the previous ones. "OK... there is something going on. We'd better notify Houston to get NORAD or somebody to check this out! Be sure to contact them on one of the scrambled channels." Brad nodded and moved to the communications console and put on one of the headsets. "Houston... this is Atlantis. Do you read us? Over." A few seconds later, they answered. "Houston... we were just passing over the Indian Ocean, and we witnessed at least three quick explosions in the lower atmosphere that appeared to have been the result of missile detonations. Did we miss something in the reports on any test fires in that area? Over." They waited while Houston confirmed from the reports that they were unaware of anything that was supposed to take place that day. "Affirmative, Houston. You might want to get on the horn to NORAD and have them check into this... you might suggest that they get a satellite to scan that area and see if those missiles might've been scattering something they shouldn't... just a suggestion! We'll keep our eyes open and see if we spot any more." Brad listened as they replied that they'd do what was suggested. "Roger, Houston. We'll be back in contact after this last phase of our mission has been completed. Atlantis out," he ended, removing the headset and gliding over to the windows again. Then he glanced at his camera where it was floating from the hook its strap was attached to next to his cockpit station and he frowned, really wishing he'd had it in his hands when he'd seen those flashes and could've caught pictures of them. Brad froze and his eyes widened when his floating camera moved of its own volition toward him until the strap stopped it... He closed his eyes and shook his head... he did not just see an inanimate object move of its own free will! THINGS... DO NOT move by themselves... even when nearly weightless... THINGS could not move on their own! So... WHAT... HOW?!! His eyes widened again as an outlandish thought popped into his head... He snorted a quick laugh at the ridiculousness of the idea! But a little bit later, when he was alone in the cockpit again, he tested his outlandish idea. Brad felt frozen as he pushed a pen away from him and then watched as it reversed course when he stared at it and wished it to come back to him... "Holy shit..." he muttered quietly. Then he remembered some of the strange things he and Barbie had noticed about Tommy at times... how he'd managed to get his hands on some things he'd wanted as a toddler when they thought they'd put them out of his reach! Is that how his son had gotten them... he'd wished to have them and they just went to him?!! What was that ability called... telekinetics... telekenesis... something like that... Brad swiped his hand down his face to get rid of the dumbfounded look he knew had frozen his features when one of the other crew members entered the cockpit. "Hey Seldon... the chief says you're to get some rest while we finish this last phase. As soon as it's done, we'll be notifying Houston that we're ready to head home and he wants you rested and alert so you don't kill us all during re-entry!" "Yeah... ha ha, asshole! You know damn well the computers control everything until the landing gear drops... I'm just along for the ride and to make sure this flying brick makes a smooth landing! So you go tell the chief and the rest of those guys if I hear anymore lame-ass jokes I'm gonna bounce the shit out of all of you when we touchdown at Edwards!" Brad ended as he and the other guy chuckled. Then his crewmate laughed harder as he replied, "Hey, yeah! You go ahead and botch the landing while your sexy, little wife is watching... and maybe it'll give me a chance to charm her while she's laughing at you!" He laughed harder as he watched Brad's face go from amusement to irritation, his eyes narrowing. "OWW!!!" the guy yelled when a big tech manual flew out of a holder behind him and smacked into the back of his head. The guy tried to spin around and see who'd thrown it toward him, but there was no one. He turned back toward a smirking Brad. "All right... who the hell did that, Seldon?" Brad just chuckled and replied, "I'll never tell!!!" ********* That evening, Major Bradley Seldon made a textbook smooth landing of the Space Shuttle Atlantis at Edwards AFB as his wife, son and most of their family and friends cheered joyously for the safe return of him and his crewmates. About 20 minutes later, they watched and cheered again as the crew exited the orbiter into the Astronaut Transporter Van. It was basically a modified mobile home where a doctor could check the men out as they were transported to post-mission quarters at Edwards, where they'd stay until they were debriefed and cleared to return home. A few hours later, the tired but happy and healthy astronauts were greeted at a quick reception by their families. Brad's crewmates were astounded at the number of people who'd shown up to welcome him home, but then they remembered that all of his family and friends lived in the L.A. area so it was understandable. They all watched with smiles as Major Seldon knelt down to receive a welcoming hug from his handsome son, knowing his arm muscles probably still felt shaky and he didn't want to risk picking the eight-year-old boy up. Then the guys smirked again as they watched his sexy little wife cling to him when he stood and took her in his arms for a deep kiss... After the reception, Brad and the rest of the crew went in for the formal debriefing and he was surprised to see Karen Moss-Estevez sitting in on the meeting. He soon learned she was present because of what he'd seen and reported. One of the Generals asked her to report on what had been discovered. Karen stood and faced everyone, glancing grimly at Brad before she spoke. "Gentlemen... I'm sure all of you have read the report about what Major Seldon witnessed earlier today while in orbit. When NORAD was unable to detect any further missile firings, they contacted us at SMC and had us coordinate with other U.S. agencies to scan the area over the Indian Ocean using various satellite technologies. We did not detect the presence of any toxins or pathogens, however, we did detect an alarmingly large amount of CFC's in the upper ozone layer seeming to indicate that may have been what was released by those missiles." When she saw a few of the men looking confused, she explained further. "In case some of you are not aware, CFC's are manmade organohalogen compounds... chlorofluorocarbons... a product of the industrial revolution, most often in the form of freon, that was used for decades in air conditioning and cooling units and as the main propellant in aerosol cans. Scientists in the sixties and early seventies started to realize that CFC's were one of the primary culprits causing the growing depletion of the Earth's ozone layer. Use of CFC's in the U.S. has been regulated since 1978 and just last year the production of them for industrial and commercial uses has been severely limited and will be phased out completely within a decade." One of the Generals asked, "So... what is the significance of someone deliberately firing missiles into the atmosphere and releasing huge amounts of these... CFC's?" Karen took a deep breath and continued. "Well... there are many studies and a lot of debate going on in the scientific community on this. There are many who believe that if the Earth's ozone layer is significantly depleted, it could wreak all sorts of havoc! Ozone is what blocks UVB radiation from the sun... if more UVB is allowed to reach the surface, some doctors and scientists say it could lead to increases in skin cancer and other health problems. "Others say the ozone layer also plays a role in helping to regulate the Earth's surface temperature, and in turn, the climate and weather patterns... so significant depletion could lead to more severe weather phenomena, faster global warming... or another Ice Age! We've only really just started to try to study the impact of what humans have been doing to our environment and the effects on the Earth's climate... and we just don't have enough evidence yet to prove one way or the other what might result from depletion of the ozone layer. But it seems as though somebody wants to find that out as soon as possible! This is not something that can be allowed to continue... there are too many unknown variables that could lead to a possible catastrophe!" she stated carefully. The Generals all glanced at each other. It was obvious that some of them didn't think the situation was that serious, so Karen tried to convince them further. "Sirs... I know I have made this sound like it might or it might not happen. But we have to operate on the basis that, if it were to happen, we could end up faced with a 'worst-case' scenario that could cause the complete destruction of life on this planet! This is not something we want to gamble on! I recommend that this be fully investigated to discover who was behind it and try to stop any further occurrences before possible irrepairable damage occurs!" Her voice rose in alarm as they stared at her skeptically. She sighed deeply and added, "And before any of you ask... I am not one of the scientists who was anxious to jump on the 'worst-case' scenario theory! But... like I said... no one has been able to disprove that theory yet, so... I just think it would be more prudent to err on the side of caution in this case. After all, many of the leading industrial nations of this world have agreed to sign the Montreal Protocol stating they recognize that CFC's are contributing to environmental problems and that they will work toward reducing and eliminating their use. Whoever perpetrated those missile firings did just the opposite with a substance whose use is now being heavily regulated... not just in this country but all over the world! This... has got... to be... stopped," she ended quietly, punctuating each word gravely. One of the Generals cleared his throat and spoke after they'd listened to her argument. "Thank you, Capt. Moss-Estevez... you made your point very clear. We'll notify the Joint Chiefs so they can bring this to the President's attention." Then he eyed each of the astronauts. "Thank you, gentlemen, for another successful mission on behalf of the DoD. We'll look forward to receiving your full report." After they exited the debriefing room, Karen met up with Brad and she hugged him warmly after briefly saluting him. "Welcome back, Major Seldon! Rickie and I and Jay and Didi were hoping to get to visit with you guys before you return to Houston. Our little Sophia has been asking when she'd get to see her cousin Tommy again! And did you notice how she followed J.J. around like a puppy at Thanksgiving... she does it all the time! It's so cute..." Brad chuckled with her as he recalled watching Karen and Rickie's pretty little dark-haired, green-eyed girl gazing adoringly at his nephew! And the way J.J. had grinned at her shyly when he thought nobody was watching... but he was too shy to talk to her! But they were cute to watch... He told Karen, "We'll be staying with Megan and Jonnie for a couple of days before we leave... I'm sure they'll be having a crowd over for dinner those nights so we can visit with everyone. But I want to talk to you some more about what you reported in there. I think this is something we ought to make sure Yosef is aware of... since those missiles were fired from somewhere in the Middle East! He may be able to help us figure this out." "That's a good idea. We'll ask Megan to get in touch with him soon..." ********** As it happened, Yosef Madani had another holiday trip planned to the U.S. to see his friends and check up on his younger sister. He had been appalled when Jada told him what had been done to her, and it had taken all of his strength not to go after the doctor who had done it! But Yosef realized that the doctor had been forced by the government, and to reveal he was aware of it and that it angered him would throw suspicion on him. And he could not afford to blow his reputation as a loyal Saudi citizen and lose face with the Sheikh when he felt he was getting closer to learning OPEC's true intentions. Not to mention that his organization, the IOPF, was growing... slowly... but steadily! Yosef was sure as his son matured and his confidence in his ability grew, it'd get even easier for him to recognize a person's true intentions... whether their heart was truly pure or not. That was why he'd taken Nuri with him on his first visit to L.A. to meet Megan and her family and friends. He knew Nuri would let him know if there was anyone among them he did not trust... or did not feel comfortable with. But Nuri had happily told him that all of those people were full of light and also felt the same way about them! Nuri and Jonathan North were ten years old and becoming great pals... they'd secretly revealed to each other the special "gifts" they both possessed. Jonathan had known as well that Nuri's heart was pure, but he was pleased when he learned that his friend was not affected by his ability to "compel" a person's actions and "influence" their thoughts and feelings. Nuri had been further impressed when he learned that Jonathan also knew when he encountered a person whose heart was pure, but they were being unduly influenced by a darkness that had invaded their minds. Jonathan was sure as he got older and encountered more people afflicted that way, he'd be able to help them fight it to drive the darkness from them so they could feel at peace... Yosef was concerned when he learned about the result of the those missile firings. He'd heard reports from a few people through the IOPF that an unknown radical group had gotten hold of some type of mostly short-range missiles that they planned to test-fire for an experimental purpose, but no information had been leaked as to what they were experimenting with! He advised everyone that he would put the word out through his organization to keep their eyes and ears open on anything having to do with CFC's! That year had ended with a myriad of disturbing events besides just those missiles! Natural disasters had struck, including a cyclone in Bangladesh that killed thousands and left millions homeless... an earthquake in Armenia killed nearly 25,000... injured 15,000 and left hundreds of thousands also homeless... Not to mention that terrorists struck another blow to the aviation industry when a bomb exploded on a PanAm flight bound from London's Heathrow Airport to JFK in New York as it reached cruising altitude over southern Scotland. It plunged 36,000 feet in pieces, part of it slamming into the peaceful town of Lockerbie, killing 11 people on the ground when the fuel ignited and set a whole neighborhood on fire, as well at all 243 passengers and 16 crew members... but none of the usual suspects were rushing to claim responsibility... The families and friends did their best to celebrate the holidays... they all prayed for the ability to help end the spread of hatred and violence and to restore a sense of hope and peace for the future. They believed there was a chance for that, but they knew things would get way worse before they'd get better... Gifts of the Future Ch. 13 After the first of the year in 1989, Jada Seldon had surgery to restore her ability to conceive. Lily Richards assisted at the request of her friend and they did the best they could but, once they cut her open, they knew they weren't going to be able to offer Jada much hope. The Saudi doctors had removed more tissue than was necessary... Lily and the other surgeons were forced to splice a section from one of her tubes so they could reattach the other one... she would have only one functioning fallopian tube that would be riddled with scarred tissue. Lily sadly informed Jada after she woke up that her chances to conceive were even less than 50/50 because of what they'd had to do. Jada once again cursed the country she no longer considered her homeland... she was more determined than ever to become a U.S. citizen! She wished that she could pray for a plague to descend upon the evil government that had robbed her of her ability to have children with the man she loved... ********** The years continued to march on in much the same manner. Natural disasters and severe weather patterns seemed to worsen. The price of oil had started to creep up again in 1989 and the Cold War came to an end. However, the break-up of the Soviet Union sparked outbreaks of violence in southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe as the former Soviet Republics struggled to gain freedom and establish their own forms of government. The region was riddled with malicious dictators and religious unrest... The Chinese tried to express dissatisfaction with their communist government. Thousands of protesters, mostly students and intellectuals, gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in June of '89. While the demonstration was broadcast on television, the People's Liberation Army moved in with tanks and forcefully drove the protestors away. Hundreds were killed, but no official number was ever reported... the Chinese government didn't want to admit it had even happened. When Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini died, Megan North had hoped it would quiet some of the unrest in that country... but Yosef Madani had warned her it would change nothing. In fact, he'd told her that the one they should be keeping an eye on for the time being was President Saddam Hussein of Iraq... he'd heard through the IOPF that Hussein was planning something... Sure enough, in August of 1990, Iraqi forces invaded the country of Kuwait to the south. Saddam Hussein claimed it was because Kuwait had been exceeding OPEC quotas keeping the price of oil lower for several years causing Iraq to nearly go bankrupt while waging war with Iran. Iraq owed large debts to both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia because of the war. Hussein was pissed when both countries had refused to forgive the debts when he argued that they had given him the money because they were happy to sit back and let him take out Iran for them! The U.S. immediately sent military aid to Saudi Arabia to prevent any of Iraq's forces from attacking the Saudi oil fields, which were within striking distance from Kuwait. The U.N. issued sanctions against Iraq and then finally threatened to authorize military action if Hussein did not withdraw troops from Kuwait and release all hostages. He released a few Western hostages but refused to withdraw... In January 1991, Operation Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm when the U.S. Congress passed a resolution to authorize military force to liberate Kuwait. Unknown to the public and most of the government, Kuwait had hired a U.S. public relations firm to spread sympathetic propaganda to garner support for the plight of the Kuwaiti people being tortured by Iraqi troops... but not all of the reports were true. Major Jay Hanson had been bitterly disappointed when his request to be assigned to an F-117A stealth fighter squadron that was being deployed to the Middle East was denied. He had known the B-2 bomber pilots were not yet trained well enough for missions, and his request had been denied because they'd needed him to stay and continue training in case Desert Storm lasted longer than they expected... Which it didn't. By March, it was over... except for the hundreds of Kuwaiti oil wells that were set afire by the retreating Iraqi troops at the end of February. U.S., British and French ground forces pursued the Iraqi troops and most people were of the opinion that the conflict shouldn't end until Baghdad was captured and Hussein surrendered. But President Bush declined to pursue that end, and called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. That decision and other missteps by Bush caused him to lose his bid for reelection in November 1992... Then, in February 1993, the unthinkable happened... a bomb exploded in the underground parking area of the World Trade Center in New York. Radical Islamic terrorists had finally gotten around to pulling off an attack on U.S. soil! Yosef had also warned Megan that it was only a matter of time... Luckily, the bomb did not do as much damage as the terrorists had hoped but 11 people were killed and thousands were injured. And it also startled most Americans into waking up and finally taking notice that living in a free country did not mean they were free from danger... Later that year, Brad Seldon and Jay Hanson, both still Air Force Majors, resigned their commissions and joined the FBI to work with Jonnie North. By that time, Jonnie was spending more time in Washington working to try to identify suspected terrorists. Brad and Jay were pleased when their request to be assigned as partners was approved and they took up the task of working with Major Karen Moss-Estevez and the CIA in trying to track down the group responsible for firing the missiles laden with CFC compounds into the ozone layer. It had happened only a few more times over the previous years but they were determined to make sure it was stopped completely. The only things that seemed to be going well during the 90's were the leaps in technology. Personal computers became more and more available and affordable and innovative... the Internet and the World Wide Web gave people access to more information about almost everything in the world! Cellular phones increased in popularity as they got smaller and more technologically advanced. It was strange that technology in the auto industry didn't seem to be advancing as quickly as everything else... It was getting easier and easier for people to communicate and stay in touch... but it was doing nothing to help humans "connect" to each other! There were so many people who were trying, but there seemed no way to stop the forces of hate and violence throughout the world... In 1996, Megan was surprised when the U.S. government began to acknowledge the existence of more radical terrorist groups that were expressing increased anger at U.S. involvement anywhere in the Middle East. The U.S. was embroiled in a no-win situation... some Arab nations were just as dependent upon us for military protection as we were on their oil! That was why Megan and Jonnie were one of the first couples to jump on a new GM vehicle that came out in '96... the EV-1... an all electric/battery powered automobile. They had wanted to buy two of the cars outright and were confused when they were told that it was only available with a lease agreement and they were only allowed to lease one per household... GM came out with the EV-1 because the California government, at the urging of environmental activists Senator Robbie Seldon and his wife Crystal, had passed legislation to mandate strict vehicle emission controls to help alleviate the smog problem so prevalent around Los Angeles and other larger cities. Wayne and Jada had finally located that former GM employee in the early 90's when they found some information on a web site about how to convert a gasoline powered vehicle into a gasoline/battery hybrid... it had been posted anonymously. Wayne and Jada had tracked the post to its source and given Megan the information. The man had refused to talk to her at first, saying that he'd been paid to keep his mouth shut and his life threatened if he ever talked. But guilt had gnawed at him over the years knowing the technology existed to produce non-combustible power sources for vehicles and that it was deliberately being withheld. That was why he'd come up with a design so people could do it themselves and at least reduce their need for gas and help cut back on emissions. Megan had promised the man she would not reveal his identity, but she did pass along the information about the web site with the do-it-yourself instructions. He had contacted her about a year later to say that GM had called him to come work for them again when they'd heard that California was talking about imposing stricter emission laws. So Megan had known the EV-1 was coming, but what she hadn't known was that it was only going to be a temporary thing... Jonathan graduated high school in 1996 and they leased the EV-1 for him and Nuri to drive while they attended UCLA. The boys were studying philosophy and international diplomacy. They needed to fully understand how to communicate with people without using their "gifts." It was an unfair advantage and they had promised their parents that they would be wise and fair in utilizing their abilities. Tommy Seldon and J.J. Hanson graduated in 1998 and also decided to attend UCLA so they could spend more time hanging out with Jonathan and Nuri. Tommy was also studying philosophy as well as environmental science. J.J. was in pre-med; he wanted to be a doctor like Charlie and Lily Richards. He'd always known his body had a special ability to heal itself and he wanted to work with them in researching what it was about his genetics that made that possible... especially after some incidents with Nuri and Jada that Jasmine had sparked... ********** Near Year's Eve 1996, Yosef Madani was at Megan and Jonnie North's for a visit to celebrate Jada and Wayne's 10th anniversary the next day. Nuri was living with the Norths while attending UCLA on a student visa. During the party that evening, Charlie noticed that eighteen-year-old Nuri seemed weary and was complaining of a headache, so he went to him. "You look tired, Nuri... do you need to go rest for a while?" he asked gently. When Nuri shook his head and tightened his arm around Jasmine, Charlie looked at his daughter and said, "Jasmine, my sweet girl... I think you need to convince your boyfriend to go get some rest. You can even stay with him if you promise to be good!" Nuri smiled slightly and shook his head as he replied, "That's not a good idea, Uncle Charlie. Jasmine is a good girl... but she's also very beautiful and I'm the one who can't promise to be good! I'll be OK soon. I've been getting these headaches off and on for a little while now. They usually don't last very long." Charlie frowned slightly as he said, "I don't like the sound of that, Nuri... headaches are usually a symptom of something else that's wrong. Have you seen a doctor about this yet?" When the young man shook his head, he crooked his finger at him. "Come here... let's see if I can figure out what's going on." Nuri obediently moved in front of the man he knew would be his father someday. He stood still while the man closed his eyes and placed his left hand on his head, frowning slightly as he moved it to different areas. Dr. Charlie Richards froze and winced when he discovered the source of Nuri's headaches. He opened his eyes slowly and stared into the young man's weary dark brown eyes. "Son... we need to get you to the hospital this evening and get an MRI. You and Jasmine go find your father and tell him while I call the medical center and get it scheduled. Go on..." he urged them gently. A couple of hours later, doctors Charlie and Lily Richards were consulting with a friend of theirs who was a neurologist on Nuri's MRI results. They were staring at a tumor that had tendrils spread throughout his brain tissue. The neurologist was shaking his head slowly as he explained that it was inoperable because it would be impossible to not cause damage to his brain while trying to remove it. Charlie and Lily watched their daughter while the doctors explained possible treatments they could try to shrink the tumor or at least stop it from growing, including radiation and chemotherapy. Her eyes swam with tears while listening to all of the possible side effects that might occur... and there was no guarantee that the treatments would work. Yosef and Nuri told the doctors they had a lot to think about before they could make a decision. When they got back to Megan and Jonnie's house, Jasmine made a decision for them. Charlie and Lily once again watched their daughter as she took her soul mate by the hand and led him upstairs to the room he'd been occupying and shut the door. They looked at each other and smiled softly... Yosef also watched with concern, wondering why Jasmine's parents were allowing their young daughter to go into a bedroom alone with his son... a young man in his prime who was saving himself for their beautiful girl. He walked over to the Richards and asked quietly, "Uhh... I know Nuri and Jasmine love each other, but don't you think she's a little young yet to allow what might very well happen between them if they're left alone for too long?!!" Charlie and Lily smiled at him as Charlie answered softly, "Don't worry, Yosef... we trust our daughter to do the right thing. And we know Nuri would never force Jasmine to do something she wasn't ready for. She just wants to help... just give them a little time." Jasmine flipped the light switch on, lay down on his bed and held her arms up to him. She shushed him when he started to protest, "Shut up, Nuri, and just lay down with me. I want you to lay your head on my chest and hold on to me. Do you think you can restrain yourself enough to do that?" she asked him teasingly. Nuri frowned, fighting the slight headache he still had that was rapidly being replaced by an ache in his groin as the blood drained from his brain to his cock. Every time he was alone with Jasmine it was getting more and more difficult for him to remember she was still only fifteen years old... she had a woman's body and the face of an angel. He'd been dreaming for years of drowning in the depths of her ocean blue eyes while making love to her... And she wanted him to lay with her and hold her with his head on her full breasts and restrain himself from doing anything else?!! Did she think he was not yet a man?!! Then he noticed her eyes widen slightly when she glanced at the bulge in his pants. He took a deep breath when she moaned softly as her lush lashes lowered and then he stifled a groan when he saw desire glittering in her eyes when she stared into his again. Her breasts were heaving as she dragged air into her lungs, but her arms were still beckoning for him to come to her... Nuri carefully moved beside the girl he'd always known he was destined to marry... trying to remind himself that she was still too young to be his wife. But that didn't stop his cock from throbbing as soon as he felt the softness of her breasts under his cheek. He groaned as he wrapped his arms around her and then hissed through his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut as she slid her hands into his dark, wavy hair, holding him tightly to her. Jasmine took a deep breath and closed her eyes as her hands firmly caressed Nuri's head. She frowned and her breathing became labored after a minute or so and lasted for about ten seconds. She dug her fingers tighter into his hair when she felt him struggling to pull away, thinking he was hurting her. "I'm OK, Nuri!" she gritted hoarsely. "Just don't let go! Keep holding onto me!" Nuri relaxed but wrapped his arms even tighter around her, feeling the warmth of her hands on his head as she caressed him. He sighed when he noticed that his headache was completely gone, but then groaned again when her leg brushed against his stiff cock causing it to ache and making him wish she had her warm hands wrapped around that head instead... When he felt her hand move to his cheek and caress him softly, he lifted his head to see tears swimming in her eyes. His heart pounded when she whispered, "I love you, Nuri... I've always loved you! And I'll love you forever..." It was the first time he didn't stop her from saying it because it was the first time he'd seen the true depth of her feelings for him. He'd wanted to be sure she knew what that meant... not the lingering feelings of her lifelong "little girl" crush on him, but a deep love that could only exist in a woman's heart... He moved up completely on top of her, staring into her eyes as he noted how natural it felt to cradle his pelvis to hers as she lifted her skirt and spread her legs. She gasped and arched against him when he slowly rubbed his hard cock against the silky material of the panties covering her crotch... he knew she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. But she was still too young. His promise to wait until she was eighteen nearly shattered when she spoke again. "Ohhhh Nuri... make love to me... please!!!" she moaned desperately as she continued to writhe against him. Her full breasts were crushed to his hard chest and her hips moved provocatively with his... it was almost impossible for him to believe that she was still a virgin! But... he was still a virgin as well and the movements were coming just as naturally to him... He kissed her deeply for a moment before breaking it and leaning his forehead against hers as he sighed regretfully, "We can't do that, Jasmine... not yet. You're still too young." She whimpered softly and he lifted his head to stare into her desperate eyes. "We don't need to go that far to give each other pleasure, my habibah," he groaned as he continued to slowly grind the full length of his hard cock against her, feeling an orgasm building quickly. Suddenly he could no longer hold back. Nuri gritted his teeth and hissed as his cock erupted in his pants. He groaned miserably as he collapsed over top of Jasmine, realizing that he'd not been able to last long enough to give her the same pleasure. But there were other ways he could help her... She whimpered again when he lifted off of her and moved beside her on the bed. He leaned down and kissed her softly and then asked, "You do trust me, don't you?" His heart constricted when she looked so sincere as she quickly nodded her head. He rested his head on his left hand and watched her reaction as he slid his right hand up under her skirt and then down inside her panties. He groaned and his groin tingled when he felt how hot and wet she was. He'd never touched a girl that intimately before and he hoped he'd be able to figure out what to do to make her come. That was why he wanted to watch her face as he touched her, hoping her expressions would tell him when he was doing something right... He'd learned from some of his friends who were older and had married that one of the most sensitive parts of a woman's nether region was her clit and they'd explained to him where it was located. He moved his fingertips near the top of her wet folds and felt for the nub of flesh, hoping to get some indication from her when he found it and if he was stimulating her properly. Nuri smiled when Jasmine moaned softly as her hips jerked and her thighs spread wider when he rubbed over what he was sure was her clit. He continued to watch her face flush and her lips deepen in color as she panted and writhed herself erotically against his fingers... he just held his fingers still and watched as she got herself off! He dove down and ran his tongue over her parted lips as she moaned deeply when she started to come. He thrust his middle finger inside her pulsing, wet flesh. Nuri groaned hotly, his shaft instantly stiffening again as he pictured her devouring his cock when she groaned and sucked his tongue inside her mouth... Gifts of the Future Ch. 13 He didn't break the kiss until he felt her flesh stop pulsing on his finger. And then he groaned miserably again and flopped onto his back beside her as he realized he wanted her worse than ever. He lay there taking deep breaths, willing his cock to stop throbbing when there was a knock on the door and they heard his father's voice. "My son... are you feeling all right and are you two behaving yourselves?" Nuri and Jasmine looked at each other as they sat up quickly and moved to the side of the bed. She blushed and giggled when she glanced at his crotch and saw that his cock was bulging again... and there was a wet spot on the front of his khaki slacks. She jumped up and went to the door while he stayed sitting on the edge of the bed. The door opened and Yosef stared down at Jasmine's flushed face. She appeared fully clothed... that was a good sign... but her hair was mussed and her lips looked slightly swollen. He tried not to smile as she stammered, "Yes, Uncle Yoey... we're... behaving ourselves!" Translation... they hadn't gone "all the way" but... they hadn't exactly "behaved" themselves, either! Jasmine felt herself blushing further when she saw the knowing smirk on the older man's face as he moved aside so she could exit the bedroom. She paused and looked back at Nuri and smiled softly and then faced his father once again saying, "And Nuri is feeling better... in fact, he's going to be just fine!" Yosef frowned slightly as he watched her head into a hallway bathroom and shut the door; then he looked at Nuri and asked, "Do you know what she meant by that, son?" He shook his head as he remembered how she'd reacted as she'd held him to her chest and murmured quietly, "Not exactly, father..." They found out the next day when Charlie and Lily arranged to have an X-ray done of Nuri's head. They knew from the location of the tumor that it would also be visible in an X-ray image... but there was no evidence of the tumor... it was gone! Dr. Charlie Richards secretly collected all of Nuri's records from UCLA Medical Center and asked Yosef and Nuri if he could destroy them... At Wayne and Jada's anniversary party that afternoon, everyone was amazed to discover that Jasmine had quite an extraordinary "gift" of healing... As long she knew what was wrong with a person and knew what needed to be done to fix or cure them, she could touch them and "will" it to happen. What none of them were aware of, though, was that if she felt threatened, she could do just the opposite... She went to Jada and said softly, "I know you've been so sad over the years that you haven't been able to have a baby, Aunt Jada. Now that I know how it works and Mama explained to me what the main problem is, I can fix that and improve your chances... if you want me to..." Jada hugged her. "I'd do anything for the chance to have a baby! Yes, please... do what you can!" As everyone watched, Jasmine moved behind her and put her arms around her, hugging her tightly with her hands on Jada's lower left abdomen. Jasmine's eyes closed for a moment and she frowned slightly as she concentrated... willing the scarred tissue to regenerate making a nice smooth passage inside the tube... That night, Wayne and Jada made love like they hadn't in a while... their renewed hope giving them more energy and reawakening their deep desire for one another. Wayne kept reminding his wife how much he loved her and that she'd never been a disappointment to him. He'd secretly longed to have a child with her, too, but he'd been too afraid over the years to voice it... her own disappointment was sometimes more than she could bear... Two months later, everyone cheered at a celebration when Jada announced she was pregnant. In October 1997, Wayne and Jada both cried at the birth of their healthy son, Thomas Michael Seldon, II. He was named for his paternal grandfather and they called him Michael. ********** Yosef had identified a radical who was becoming one of the most outspoken, urging all Islamic extremists to commit any acts of terror against all infidels... especially Americans! Osama bin Laden was a native of Saudi Arabia who was reportedly no longer welcome in his homeland because of his outspokenness against a supposed Saudi ally. And bin Laden had been linked with an emerging group of terrorists calling themselves al-Qaeda... Yosef had warned his friends that the U.S. was an ally only as long as they were buying up OPEC oil in huge quantities. If that ever changed, there were those in the Saudi government and OPEC who were stockpiling wealth in order to fund radicals to plan and carry out strategic and high profile acts of terror within the U.S. They wanted to strike at the heart of the biggest free capitalist nation just to prove that it could be done! They wanted to convince all of Islam that Allah wanted them to know that capitalism only made people morally repugnant and led them to lives of debauchery! At least that was the message some of the radicals were spreading to the hundreds of thousands of angry young Muslim males who'd been taught democracy was just another word for "evil"... there was no such thing as "democratic freedom." Allah had handed down laws for a reason... And the U.S. had no business always stepping into matters in defense of Israel... that had always and would always be the biggest bone of contention for every Arab nation! The Muslim world simply could not accept the existence of a Judaic nation in their midst... even though Judaism pre-dated the Islamic religion by centuries! Why was it so cut and dried among millions of Muslims that, "if you do not share my beliefs... then you must die?!!" There was only one answer; radicals... extremists... whatever you wanted to call them... had to be under some evil influence because there were Muslims who did not share that view. But the radicals argued that they were the ones who'd been influenced by "evil" capitalism... Would it ever end?!! Terrorists continued to strike at U.S. targets in the Middle East. In August of 1998, the U.S. Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya were bombed almost simultaneously on the same day. A little over a week later, the U.S. Military retaliated by launching cruise missile attacks on what were reported to be al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and a chemical plant in Sudan. U.S. Intelligence information had linked Osama bin Laden to the planning of those acts as he'd been living in Sudan just prior to the events and then he'd managed to disappear... It was damn frustrating to the U.S. Intelligence community that there was almost too much information to try to sift through! There were so many known and unknown terrorist organizations spread throughout the world... it was getting almost impossible to figure out which ones posed the most threat. The CIA and the FBI were doing their best to stay on top of things, but it also didn't help that they still had no protocols for the sharing of information... During 1999, the U.S. seemed more worried about a rumor that all computers were going to go haywire on New Year's Eve when the internal calendars built into the machines flipped over to 00 at midnight! Wayne and Jada laughed every time they heard someone worrying over such a stupid idea. They hated the fact that there were unscrupulous businesses bilking millions of dollars out of consumers. Some were selling "patch" programs that were supposed to "fix" the internal calendar problem and other businesses were arguing that it couldn't be fixed and that people had better stockpile everything they could because all computers were going to just "shut down" and nothing was going to work... On New Year's Eve, everyone was at Megan and Jonnie's huge house in Beverly Hills... they were blasting the old Prince song Party Like It's 1999! They were watching the broadcast from Times Square in New York on the big screen TV, waiting to see if all of New York went black when it struck midnight... and surprise, surprise... nothing happened!!! But something big happened between Nuri and Jasmine that evening... they disappeared for a little while to the apartment he was sharing with Jonathan, Tommy and J.J. They didn't tell anyone they were leaving, hoping no one would notice their absence for just an hour or so. No one noticed they were gone, but they sure as hell noticed the kiss they shared when it struck midnight in Los Angeles... Nuri's hands slid down Jasmine's body, plastering her against him. Her hands dug into his thick, dark brown hair as they kissed deeply... and very... very... sensuously. They were recalling the torrid way in which they'd first taken each other up against the door of Nuri's bedroom. Jasmine had been so desperate to finally feel his cock inside her that she'd stripped her panties off, grabbed the waist of his pants, clawed at his zipper and pushed his pants and shorts down until she could wrap her hand around him! She'd chewed on his lower lip and growled frustratedly when he made her wait while he rolled a condom onto his straining cock... Then he'd lifted her ass, parted her thighs and slammed her against the door as he slammed his cock inside her! Jasmine screamed as he'd taken her virginity, but then she'd immediately moaned loudly for him to continue taking her hard! Nuri had been astonished at how his virgin angel had suddenly transformed into a sensual vixen... They'd been making love without actually copulating for the past three years. Nuri had touched her, tasted her and penetrated her with every possible part of him except his cock... even though Jasmine had been begging him for it! But he'd promised her father when he was only thirteen that he'd wait until she was legal before he finally made her his woman... Uncle Charlie had told him that he knew his daughter loved him and that he loved her... but they were worried that Jasmine would be unable to control her emotions for Nuri. And he'd realized they were right the night she'd saved his life... the night she'd first begged him to make love to her. What they'd been sharing ever since had cemented their deep commitment to each other... sharing the actual physical act together for the first time also cemented their deep desire for one another. Nuri had known the moment he entered her his lifelong instinct that she was tied to his destiny was true. And Jasmine had realized that her desire to save his life had not been just because she loved him... They'd been destined to love each other... their eyes had reflected that knowledge as their bodies succumbed to the passionate truth... there was no one else in the world who'd ever give them such pleasure! Their hot and wild fuck up against the door had slowly turned into the most passionate lovemaking they'd ever shared... angels had wept and the earth had moved... The Guardians had wished they could actually shed tears as they watched those two "chosen ones" unite fully in body, mind and spirit... until they'd had to go and stop the dark forces from causing yet another earthquake... The Earth itself had seemed to be rebelling against humans... there'd been record numbers of earthquakes during 1999 and they continued into 2001 spread out all over the globe! Some of the "chosen ones" were beginning to wonder if nature itself HAD fallen under the influence of some dark force intent on destroying mankind... ********** Toward the end of 2000, Yosef Madani called Jonnie North at home to tell him about a phone conversation he'd overheard between his boss, the Sheikh, and someone he could only assume was with the U.S. government. The Sheikh was threatening whomever it was that they'd better see to it that GM killed the EV1 program as soon as possible or there would be a devastating demonstration of OPEC's dissatisfaction... GM had been attempting to sue the California Air Resources Board for the zero emission regulations that they were implementing, claiming they were "unfair" in light of the fact that the EV1 was not turning out to be a profitable venture for them. Which was bullshit... GM had waiting lists... tens of thousands of people who were willing to purchase the vehicles not even caring what they would cost! But GM was under pressure from the oil companies and the government... which was under pressure from OPEC... to get rid of the EV1 permanently. During early 2001, FBI Agents Jonnie North, Brad Seldon and Jay Hanson were busy flying back and forth from L.A. to Washington working on identifying which of the hundreds of terrorist groups had been attempting to seed the ozone layer with CFC's. With help on the sly from Yosef and the IOPF, they had stopped a number of missile firings and even identified and destroyed a plant in Iraq that was manufacturing the source compound containing the CFC's. But they had to stay vigilant to make sure there were no other manufacturing plants and that terrorist groups were not getting their hands on any more missiles! In June, Yosef made a trip to L.A. to meet with Jonnie, Brad and Jay regarding some disturbing rumors he'd heard. The Sheikh had been notified by his U.S. government contact that a California judge had ruled in favor of GM's lawsuit to halt the mandates on Zero Emissions Vehicles. So the Sheikh had contacted the OPEC ministers to tell them that the U.S. was cooperating and that they should call a halt on their plan for retaliation, but Osama bin Laden had refused to follow orders... What Yosef told them wasn't news to the FBI... they'd been hearing the same stories. Supposedly, al-Qaeda had already recruited members to pull off some scheme involving the hijacking of planes in the U.S. The problems were that no one knew the identities of any of the terrorists or when they might have entered the country... and there were no clues as to the timetable for the planned attack! There were thousands of Middle Eastern men with valid visas in the U.S. at that time... they couldn't just label them all as potential terrorists and start dragging them in for questioning! There was no way to identify them... no way to know exactly what they were up to... and no idea when they'd attempt something. The CIA had unknowingly identified at least two of them but they failed to share that information with the FBI. The U.S. Intelligence community knew something was going to happen... they just had no idea what or when... Gifts of the Future Ch. 14 At the beginning of August 2001, Tommy Seldon woke up one night in a sweat. He was panting from the images of another horrible nightmare... then he jerked when he heard a woman screaming. It was coming from the other side of his bedroom wall in the apartment he was sharing with Jonathan, Nuri and J.J. It was coming from the apartment next door... He jumped from his bed wearing nothing but his boxers and raced out of the apartment to their neighbors' door... hoping nothing was happening to HER... He didn't even know her name... he'd wanted to meet her but he still felt so shy at times. His cousin Sophia Estevez had stayed close to him all through the years, constantly trying to boost his self-confidence where girls were concerned. But he hadn't really needed that confidence until he was able to find HER... the one who'd been watching his nightmares with him as they unfolded... When he had learned that his dreams were showing him tragic future events and he was never able to figure out how to prevent them, it had been a major blow to his confidence in his ability to keep those he loved safe. He could see the future and he could move objects with his mind, but he couldn't stop shuttles from blowing up or planes from crashing, nor control the laws or the forces of nature... His nightmare was temporarily forgotten as he pounded on the neighbors' door and yelled, "HEY!!! IS EVERYTHING OK IN THERE?!! I COULD HEAR SCREAMING... ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!!" He stopped pounding and listened for a moment... the screaming had stopped. He called again, "Hey... could you at least let me know if you're OK?" A moment later, the door cracked open with the safety chain attached. A deep green almond-shaped eye stared widely at him from half of a pale face. It was her... he'd know that eye anywhere... it blinked at him nervously. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry if I frightened you... but you scared me first. I could hear you screaming... or someone screaming. Was that you?" he asked, suddenly feeling foolish that he'd automatically assumed it was her when she had two other roommates. He could see she was nodding her head, then she spoke softly with no trace of an accent. "I'm so sorry I woke you up... I had an awful nightmare! They're just so real sometimes..." The green eye squeezed shut for a moment as the accompanying black eyebrow furrowed over it. Tommy took another heavy breath and murmured, "Yeah... I know what you mean. You didn't wake me up, by the way... I'd just had my own bad dream! And mine always turn out really bad..." His eyes grew distant for a moment as he recalled the horrid images that had awoken him. Then his eyes refocused when the door suddenly shut. He was about to walk away when he heard the safety chain being fumbled with and then the door was flung open. He was staring at his beautiful new neighbor who looked to be of Asian descent... he'd guessed her to be Japanese. He couldn't stop his eyes from wandering down her slim body clad only in a white satin camisole and loose shorts. The dark nipples of her firm, full breasts were clearly visible poking through the thin material and her long, shapely legs seemed to go on forever... His wide eyes snapped up to her face when she whispered, "It's you... isn't it?!! You're the one who's been sharing my nightmares!" "Excuse me?!!" he exclaimed quietly as she stared expectantly at him. "I... I... don't believe I heard you right. Did you... just say that... I've been sharing your nightmares?!!" He tried to act confused, not wanting to reveal something that might scare her away... She gasped and looked very nervous, shaking her hands as she exclaimed quietly, "Oh shit! Just forget I said anything!!! As you can see, I'm fine! Sorry to disturb you! Good night!" She started to shut the door as she mumbled, "I'm always opening my big mouth..." Tommy blocked the door from closing as he said quickly, "No... wait!!! Am I to understand that you've seen me in dreams that came true, too?!!" She looked up at him wide-eyed again and then slowly nodded her head. "What was it you saw tonight?" he asked, wanting confirmation that it was she... She took a deep breath. "I saw planes crashing... into the..." "World Trade Center... the Pentagon... and the Capitol..." Their eyes rounded further as they finished the statement together. She opened the door and held her hand toward him. "My name is Kira... and I think we need to talk... but not here," she said nervously as she glanced back into her apartment. "My roommates don't know anything about this and I don't want them to!" Tommy took her hand and led her to his apartment. Kira Tamaki glanced around nervously when her neighbor opened the door to his apartment and she saw three other very good-looking, half-naked men sitting around. She'd seen all four of them coming and going at different times of the day. One of them smiled warmly and she instantly felt at ease from the way his deep aqua eyes pierced into her... it was as if she could very clearly feel that their intentions were nothing but honorable. She had nothing to fear from them... even though they eyed her body appreciatively! But she could hardly blame them... they were young, healthy males and she was very scantily clad! She laughed with them and blushed prettily when aqua eyes said, "Damn, Tommy! The next time I'm in the mood for female companionship in the middle of the night, I'll send you out to find someone for me... you've got great taste!" Tommy called over his shoulder as he led her from the living room to his bedroom. "Well... thanks for the compliment... but I didn't bring her here for 'female companionship!' I heard her scream and I was trying to rescue her!" He quickly slipped into a pair of shorts, hoping she hadn't noticed the tent forming in the front of his boxers! Kira frowned slightly and was startled to realize she was disappointed when her "rescuer" stated that he wasn't interested in her for "companionship"... she'd known what they meant! She'd caught him looking at her several times after she'd moved in, but he'd always turned away nervously before she'd had a chance to smile at him and let him know she recognized him from her dreams and found him attractive... Hell... he was more than just attractive! He was a smokin' hot babe magnet... but he sure as hell didn't act like one!!! His body was buffed to the max with a sexy mat of hair on his chest. He had such a manly face... so chiseled and rugged-looking... with large, expressive brownish green eyes. The only thing she could've wished for was that he had a mustache... she'd had a thing for rugged-looking men with mustaches ever since she'd seen an old picture of her great aunt's husband... He handed her one of his dress shirts to put on and then led her back out to the living room. "Guys... this is Kira..." He paused and looked at her. "You didn't tell me your last name." She told them and he continued with the introductions. She knew they were all attending UCLA... the two older guys, who were introduced as Jonathan North and Nuri Madani, were graduate students and Tommy said he and J.J. Hanson were rising seniors. Kira looked up at him and frowned as she chuckled and said teasingly, "You didn't tell me YOUR name!" He shook his head in embarrassment and muttered, "Oh, man... I'm such a moron sometimes! I'm Tommy Seldon." Kira frowned slightly... his name even sounded familiar. She let it go when Tommy told the other guys that they'd both been having the same dreams. Obviously his friends knew all about his "gift" and it didn't bother them. She, on the other hand, had been urged by her parents all of her life never to tell anyone about her dreams... She learned that all of them had "gifts" that they didn't share with everyone, but Jonathan had seen into her soul and knew she was like them so they revealed their secrets. Tommy asked her if she was thirsty; Kira nodded and then watched in amazement when he stared at a glass of water on the kitchen counter... it lifted and floated across the room and into her hands! She was a little skeptical when Jonathan said he could influence people's minds and actions. Then she felt a gentle nudge to pour the glass of water on herself but it went away as he chuckled just before she did it! Kira looked at Jonathan and laughed with him as she shook her head. J.J. startled her when he picked up a knife and sliced his palm... then she stared in wonder as she watched the cut heal before her eyes! They were obviously men not to be messed with but she felt completely at ease with the guys. She'd been living next door to them for only a few weeks and already she knew she could trust them with her life... especially Tommy. She would trust him with her life, but his eyes told her that her heart and her body were not safe from him... he wanted to possess her but he was too afraid to admit it. She'd have to make him admit it... Kira moved in front of Tommy and raised her hands to his face. "Thank you for coming to my rescue, Tommy Seldon. I hope you'll let me reward you..." she said quietly before kissing him softly. His hands moved to her waist and she could feel them shaking slightly. She slid her hands from his face to his neck as she trailed her lips across his cheek to his ear. "I hope you want more than just a kiss for a reward... because I'd love to fuck your brains out!" she whispered hotly as she nibbled on his ear lobe. Kira gasped in surprise when Tommy suddenly set her away from him and then grabbed her arm to drag her from the room as he growled at his friends, "Excuse me, guys... but I need to set some things straight with this woman!" She could hear his friends chuckling as he pulled her to his bedroom and shoved her toward the bed, slamming the door shut. Then he faced her with his hands planted on his hips as he glared at her for a moment before he spoke. "Now, look... you're gorgeous and I know you've had plenty of boyfriends and probably lost your virginity by the time you were fifteen! But I don't want to think about that!" He started pacing agitatedly. "As much as I'd love to let you fuck my brains out, I have to warn you... I'm... a virgin. I don't have any experience with women... so I... don't want to disappoint you if I... don't seem to know what I'm doing or... I lose control too soon... " he stated quietly as he turned away in embarrassment. Kira was staring at his back, amazed again... he had to be at least twenty-one years old... and he was still a virgin?!! She'd never had sex with a virgin... she'd been with only two other guys and both of them had sworn that they loved her before she gave in... only to find out they'd lied just because they wanted to fuck her! She'd sworn to herself the last time that she would have sex with a guy only if he turned HER on... not just because he wanted her! She'd learned that guys would say anything to get into her pants and she couldn't believe anything they said! She knew Tommy wanted her but he'd never lie just to get her into bed... He wouldn't say he loved her unless he meant it... Kira suddenly found herself wishing he would say it... She moved to him and touched his shoulder... he jerked slightly as he tensed nervously. She spoke quietly. "You would never be a disappoint to me, Tommy. But I've changed my mind... I don't want to fuck your brains out." He turned his head to stare at her... he was the one disappointed! She watched his frown disappear and his eyes deepen with desire as she told him what she really wanted while she shrugged his shirt off of her shoulders. "I want you to make love to me... lay me on your bed and do whatever you want with me! Just make it last all night... I don't want to share that nightmare again! And I don't think you do, either..." Tommy held his breath as he watched her remove the silky camisole over her head and push the shorts until they slid down her long legs. She was so gorgeously sexy... both slim and voluptuous. Her body fit perfectly against his when he pulled her to him after she'd pushed his shorts and boxers down until they fell at his ankles. He stepped out of them as he kissed her deeply for a moment, tasting the sweetness of her mouth as he ran his hands through her long, silky black hair. He groaned when she ground her pelvis against his, rubbing her soft bush against the underside of his throbbing stiff cock. "Oh God, Kira..." he moaned as he crushed her body against his with his arms. "I want you so badly!!!" he whispered hoarsely. "Then take me..." she whispered back, lifting one leg and then the other to wrap them around him as he supported her. He walked over and carefully crawled onto his bed as she clung to him, loving the feel of his strong body pressing her into the mattress as he settled over top of her. She reached down and grasped his cock to guide him... She held the tip of his cock poised at her wet flesh and whispered in his ear next to her face. "Lift your head, Tommy... I want to watch your face as you slide your cock inside a woman for the first time. I want to remember this moment..." she said softly when he was staring into her eyes. Kira couldn't stop the tears that filled her eyes as she watched him while he smoothly slid all nine inches of his cock inside her. She had been afraid at first that she might not be able to take his full length until he was buried to the hilt. She moaned at the exquisite sensation of feeling him so deeply inside her. Tommy paused and stared at her in awe before closing his eyes and exhaling raggedly as he relished the first experience of burying his dick inside a woman. Not that he'd had his dick inside anything else... except his right hand! Damn... Jonathan, Nuri and J.J. had been right... there couldn't be anything better than feeling a hot, wet pussy wrapped around his cock! But there was a lot more to this than just his first fuck... He opened his eyes and saw tears leaking from the corners of Kira's. She was overcome with emotions the same way he was as he'd entered her body. He wasn't just taking her body... he was taking her heart and soul as well. Tommy had known from the moment he saw her that Kira was his soul mate... he just hadn't had the guts to tell her... until now. "I want you to remember this moment, too, Kira... my face is the only one you'll see from now on when you're taken... or made love to... screwed... fucked... whatever. My dick is the only one you'll ever have inside you again... so, I hope you like it! Do you like my cock, Kira?" he asked sensuously as he tentatively stroked inside her a few times. She nodded and moaned as she arched against him, her eyes closing as her head bent backward while he slowly slid inside her again. Tommy smiled sexily, instantly recognizing that the look on her face, the writhing of her body and her moans meant that he was pleasuring her... a lot! He'd heard the same moans when Jasmine and Sophia were with Nuri and J.J. and when Jonathan was with girls who'd left saying they hoped he'd call them whenever he needed a good lay! Tommy asked Sophia if J.J. had hurt her when he'd heard her scream once... Sophia had giggled and said that she'd screamed from intense pleasure... not pain! Tommy just hoped he'd be able to make Kira come before he did... he was getting there fast just from watching her! He groaned and closed his eyes as he laid his head on her shoulder and held her tightly as his thrusts got harder and deeper. He hissed and gritted his teeth when she wrapped her legs around his waist and cried out loudly as he pounded into her forcefully. He was caught off guard and roared as his cock exploded inside her when her flesh clenched on his as her arms and legs clenched around him. He kept thrusting deeply in rhythm with the pulsing of their flesh, groaning softly and speaking what was in his heart and soul. "Oh God, Kira... I love you... I've been hoping to find you... and I'm never letting you go!" He lifted his head and stared down at the tears leaking from the corners of Kira Tamaki's eyes. She smiled tremulously as she studied his face through her watery green gaze and with her fingertips, brushing her thumb over his lips as he kissed it softly. "I love you, too, Tommy Seldon. And I don't want you to ever let me go!" She smiled wider as she traced her thumb over his upper lip. "Has anyone ever told you how hot you'd look with a mustache?" she purred sexily. Tommy grinned and shook his head, forgetting that his Gramps had worn a mustache when he was younger and that he'd heard Grams tell him how she'd missed his sexy mustache after he'd shaved it off when it had gone gray. Grams had been commenting to him recently how much he looked like his Gramps since he'd matured into a man. Kira and Tommy spent the rest of the night getting to know each other better... talking and making love. They did fall asleep from sheer exhaustion for a few hours after the sun came up, but neither one of them had that dream again... That day, Tommy took Kira to his parents' house for Sunday afternoon dinner with his family, which they tried to do at least once a month just so everyone could keep up with what was going on in their busy lives! Everyone had been surprised when Tommy walked in with a girl... but his Gramps' surprise turned to shock when he thought he was staring at a ghost... Lynda Seldon watched the color drain from her 83-year-old husband's face and she was suddenly afraid he was having a heart attack or stroke. He dropped back down onto the couch he'd just stood up from to greet the newcomer, placing his hand on his chest as he mumbled hoarsely, "My God... Yakira..." Lynda sat down next to her husband and murmured softly, "What did you say, Tom?" as she looked up at the young Oriental woman, who looked perplexed, standing beside her grandson. Kira looked back and forth between her newfound soul mate and his grandparents as she asked in confusion, "Hey... how did your grandfather know my real name?" When Tommy frowned in confusion, she added, "He called me Yakira... that's my full name. I shortened it to Kira when some kid tried to nickname me Yaki!" she explained with a slight chuckle. Tom Seldon stood up carefully and faced the apparition of his long-dead first wife. He reached out and touched her face carefully, wondering if she was actually real. "What is your full name, young lady, and where are you from?" he asked gently. She stared at the older man and could see that Tommy bore a slight resemblance to how he must've looked when he was younger. "My name is Yakira Tamaki..." she hesitated when the old man's eyes widened. Then she finished, "I grew up in San Francisco, but I've just moved here to attend UCLA." Tom frowned in confusion. "How long has your family been in The States?" he asked. Kira's eyebrows rose as she realized what he really wanted to know. "Oh. My family was originally from Okinawa, but my grandfather immigrated here just before the war ended. He was the only one from his family who survived. He said he'd had a sister who he'd hoped had made it off the island with her husband when he came back for her after the invasion started... but he had no idea where she would've ended up. He searched for her when he got to The States and he finally tracked her husband down a few years later, but he'd sadly informed my grandfather that she'd been killed before he could get her off the island. I remember he mentioned the man's name once... it was..." Kira frowned as she searched her memory for a moment. Then she noticed the tears in the old man's eyes. She gasped as she glanced at Tommy and then back at his grandfather. "It was Seldon... Thomas Seldon!!! Oh my, God..." she breathed. "It was you... you were my great aunt's American husband!!!" The Guardians had been unable to save Tom Seldon's original soul mate. The dark forces had sent the Japanese sniper to that secluded beach near Yonobaru hoping to take out an important pair of "chosen ones." Tom had been spared and The Guardians had searched for other female "chosen ones" to find another mate for him... it hadn't been easy... Gifts of the Future Ch. 14 The dark forces had taken out Lynda Curtis' original soul mate before she'd ever gotten a chance to meet him. The Guardians regretted that they'd had to influence Donald Price to marry her in order to make sure she'd recognize Tom when they met... it was the only way they could think of to get them together... and it had taken 8 years to finally accomplish that... The Supreme Power had transferred the "gift" that was supposed to have gone to the child of Tom Seldon and the original Yakira Tamaki to her only living relative... her younger brother, Kira's grandfather. Kira's father had also seen some of his dreams regarding danger to his loved ones almost come to pass in real life and was alarmed that his daughter had nightmares about disasters and tragedies all over the world almost constantly... Brad Seldon congratulated his son on finally finding his soul mate and was amazed that she was the niece of the woman who was supposed to have been his father's soul mate. Brad thought it ironic that if his father's first wife had not been killed, he nor none of his siblings or their children would have ever existed... He almost wanted to thank the heavens that things had worked out the way they did, but he shook his head as he realized nothing heavenly could've caused that twist of fate... Tommy and Kira told his father about the disturbing nightmare they'd shared. They promised him that if they learned anything more from the dream that would help to identify who was planning to hijack the planes or when it was supposed to happen, they'd let him know right away. They stayed together almost every night so they could comfort each other when the disturbing images jolted them awake. They started trying to help each other self-direct the nightmare... hoping to get more of the beforehand information instead of coming into it at the moment the first plane struck one of the WTC towers... but it didn't work. Tommy and Kira were getting frustrated that they couldn't force the dream to reveal any further information... The reason they couldn't was because the hijackers' thoughts were clear on only one thing... their ultimate goals! Up until just a few days beforehand, most of the hijackers still hadn't been able to attain plane tickets! They weren't sure themselves what day they would be able to carry out the planned attack... but they finally were able to coordinate the flights they needed for the morning of September 11, 2001... Some of the hijackers joked the night before at the irony of the date... 9-11... the same numbers the U.S. used nationally as a telephone "emergency" number! Yes... they were going to cause the biggest "emergency" that nation of capitalist infidel pigs had ever seen... Soon after they fell asleep around midnight on September 11, Tommy and Kira jolted awake from their same nightmare that had been occurring every night for the past week. They both looked at each other, panting with horror, and gasped at the same time, "Nine-one-one..." They frowned for a moment trying to figure out what that meant. Tommy grabbed his digital watch off the nightstand and looked at the date. "Ohhh fuck..." he breathed and then looked at Kira as he scrambled out of bed. "It's TODAY! September 11th... it's gonna fuckin' happen TODAY!!!" he exclaimed as he rushed out to the telephone. He immediately dialed his Dad's emergency number. At four o'clock in the morning, Brad Seldon and Jay Hanson were awakened in their Washington D.C. hotel room by Brad's cell phone. He jumped up and grabbed it, knowing it was Tommy. "What is it son?" he asked gravely. "It's goin' down today, Dad!!! Kira and I just woke up from that nightmare again, but this time we kept hearing the numbers nine-one-one repeated over and over!!! Today is September 11th... nine-eleven... nine-one-one!!! It's going to happen today but we still don't know WHO or HOW!!! This isn't fuckin' fair, Dad!!! Why can't I figure out how to stop this shit from happening?!!" Tommy cried into the phone. Brad frowned sadly, hearing how upset his son was. "Tommy... it's not your fault! You can only see what's revealed to you and you have no control over how or why. Don't blame yourself, son... you've done everything you could! All we can do now is pray and hope that we can try to get some warnings out fast enough to either stop this or keep casualties to a minimum. I'll be back in touch with you as soon as I can, son! I love you... give my best to Kira and you two try to stay calm. OK?!! Bye, son." Before he could hang up, Tommy stopped him. "DAD... WAIT!!! Just remember, whatever you do... don't go to the Pentagon today!!!" Brad sighed heavily. "That can't be helped, son. Once I tell someone at headquarters that we've got a developing situation, we'll have to go to the Pentagon to coordinate with the DoD. But we'll be in the basement... if a plane does manage to hit that building, I should be fine down there. Don't worry... I'll keep in touch to let everyone know we're OK!" Brad and Jay dressed hurriedly, called Jonnie North and rushed to meet him at FBI headquarters. The three of them were trying to figure out how to convince the other investigators they had valid information that the attacks were imminent. But they didn't have to worry about that... their emergency pagers went off at the same time on the way to HQ. Other agents and senior staff also started pouring in during the early morning hours after HQ had received an anonymous call from someone saying they knew hijacked planes were going to target the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and the Capitol building sometime in the next several hours. Following SOP, the FBI switchboard operator had contacted all senior personnel to respond and report in ASAP!!! Even though most of the FBI believed it was just another prank call, they still relayed the information to the DoD and the Joint Chiefs. Brad and Jay volunteered to go to the Pentagon and were there by seven o'clock. They were appalled when the decision was made not to create a panic by trying to warn everyone that something "might" happen... Brad stood up and exclaimed, "Oh COME ON!!! We've received information regarding specific potential targets... one of which is the very building we're standing in right now!!! And you're worried about creating a panic?!! Call the World Trade Center and the Capitol and advise their security to make up some story about a bomb threat and that they can't let anyone into the buildings until a bomb squad checks them out!! We can do the same thing here!!! At the very least, we disrupt a day's work for thousands of people for no reason... but so what!!! If the worst does happens... then we've saved thousands of lives!!! Come on... we cannot just ignore this..." he grated hoarsely. One of the Generals sat back and stated, "Agent Seldon... you're talking like you absolutely believe something IS going to happen today. Do you have some specific information that you're withholding from us? Is there something else that the FBI is not telling us?!!" he asked suspiciously. Brad growled in frustration and dropped his head for a moment to think. "No, sir. The FBI would never withhold information regarding a potential threat to national security! But we have to look at the information we DO have and act on it as if it IS a REAL THREAT!" He started to pace as he laid out the facts. "We just found out a few days ago that the CIA has identified at least two men who are known al-Qaeda associates and that they entered this country in June and no one knows where they are! We've received information from numerous intelligence sources that al-Qaeda has been planning to hijack planes in the U.S. for some purpose. And now we get this phone call saying that hijacked planes are going to be flown into some very high profile targets!" Brad stopped pacing and faced the Generals squarely. "It makes perfect sense if you look at it from a Muslim extremist's view... they've been brainwashed to believe that there is no higher honor than to martyr themselves while taking out as many of the enemy infidels as they can! The World Trade Center represents world capitalism... the Pentagon is the heart of our military and national defense and the Capitol represents the U.S. government! EVERYTHING THEY HATE!!! If they can pull this off, they'll be sending a huge message to the rest of the Islamic world... the U.S. is as vulnerable as anyone else and you can bet that more and more terrorists will be lining up to take a whack at us!" He turned his back on the Generals as he muttered, "The only drawback to their plan is that Congress probably isn't in session today... which is really too bad..." "What was that last bit, Agent Seldon?" one of the Generals growled quietly. Brad just shook his head as he muttered, "Nothing, sir." The Generals all glanced at each other and some shrugged as if indicating that they couldn't just ignore what he'd pointed out. Then one of them inclined his head toward Brad and stated, "Very well, Agent Seldon... you go ahead and make calls to the WTC and Capitol security forces and tell them to start evacuating anyone in the buildings and allow no further entries. And we'll start evacuating all non-essential personnel from here. I just hope we don't end up causing a Wall Street collapse if nothing happens!" Brad rushed out to a communications office and had an operator call up the numbers for the Capitol and WTC security offices. At about 8:45 am, he was on the phone with the head of WTC security explaining the situation. About a minute into the phone call, he heard a low boom in the background on the phone and the head of security exclaimed loudly, "What the fuck was THAT?!!" Brad broke into a sweat. "I just told you what that was... it was a fuckin' plane slamming into one of the towers!!! Get everyone out of those buildings NOW!!! You understand?!!! JUST DO IT!!!" he yelled as he slammed the phone down and then punched in the number for the Capitol security office to advise them to do the same. But the head of security as not in yet and the person who took the message thought it was a prank call... they got threats like that all the time... A few minutes later, Brad, Jay and Jonnie were all in a basement office with a television tuned in to CNN, which was broadcasting a live view of the World Trade Center, a plume of smoke billowing from the north tower. They were reporting that a plane had "accidentally" flown into the tower... At 9:03 am, just seventeen minutes after the first one, they watched in horror as a second plane flew into view on the TV screen and slammed into the south tower... The three men all looked at each other with tears in their eyes. Brad murmured huskily, "I think everyone is going to figure out now that was no accident..." The Generals had finally realized it was not a "prank" and were getting ready to call for the evacuation of the Pentagon at around 9:30 am. Just before word went out to everyone, at 9:37 am there was the sound of a tremendous explosion coming from the western side of the building... far away from where they were located. Jonnie, Brad and Jay had to ignore their instincts to rush to the crash site and try to aid any survivors. They had to return to FBI headquarters and contact the FAA and the NTSB to ground all flights... there could've been more than just what Tommy and Kira had seen! A little after ten o'clock, Brad received a call from Tommy on his cell phone. "Dad... the plane that's supposed to hit the Capitol building might not make it! Kira dozed off on the couch while we were watching the news coverage and she saw people on a plane who were talking about rushing the cockpit! She said it sounded like the passengers on that plane know what's been going on they're trying to stop the hijackers!" Brad took a deep breath. "I've been in touch with the FAA, son. All flights are being ordered to land immediately. They did inform us that air traffic controllers had lost touch with a United Airlines flight over northeastern Ohio about thirty minutes ago. The transponder was turned off a little while later but they tracked it while it turned to head southeast... it's headed back toward Washington. We're trying to get the military to send a jet to intercept it before it gets here. Maybe we'll get lucky and the passengers will regain control of the aircraft so we don't have to shoot it down! I'll relay this information to the military so they don't take any action until absolutely necessary. Thanks, son... and give Kira a kiss for me!" Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. "Will do, Dad! I just hope those brave passengers don't all end up dead in the process. Those hijackers are just as liable to slam that plane into the ground rather than give up! Don't you think so?!!" he asked worriedly. Brad answered quietly, "I'm afraid so, son. But it's heartening to think that a bunch of civilians are willing to risk their lives to stop terrorists from killing others. Don't you think so?" he asked comfortingly. Before he ended the call with Tommy, Brad saw Jay approaching him with a somber look. He spoke into the phone, "Hold on for a second, son." He pressed the phone to his chest as Jay quietly delivered some sad news. Brad closed his eyes and shook his head and then put the cell phone to his ear again. "Son... we just got a call from the FAA. They lost radar contact with that United Airlines flight just after ten o'clock... and there have been reports of a large plane slamming into the ground somewhere in southern Pennsylvania. I guess those brave passengers at least stopped the hijackers from reaching their target." Brad heard Kira burst into tears in the background over the phone when Tommy relayed the information to her. "I have to go, son. As you can guess, Jay and Jonnie and I will be quite busy for a while. We'll try to take a break for a visit as soon as we can... but I don't know when that will be. You and Kira comfort each other and remember that you two did all you could! I love you, son... we'll be home as soon as we can! Call your Mom and everyone and tell them we're fine and we'll be in touch!" ********** "From everyone here at KCLA news, we wish to extend our sincere condolences to everyone who lost family or loved ones at the World Trade Center or the Pentagon or who were passengers or crew on American Airlines Flights 11 and 77 and United Airlines Flights 175 and 93. We especially respect the bravery of the passengers and crew of Flight 93 for preventing any further tragedy." Megan paused as she struggled not to burst out crying. She ignored the teleprompter as she spoke her heart. "This has been the worst day this country has ever seen... God willing, we will never face something like this again. But it is not just up to God's will... we humans have to learn that petty differences mean nothing! We were not put on this earth to hate everyone who seems different or thinks differently! Because NO ONE is different!!! We are all HUMAN... we are all made of flesh and blood... all the same elements that make up our bodies and this world exist all through the universe! WE ARE ALL THE SAME!!!" she cried and then stopped, staring at the camera as she saw the producer shaking his head warningly at her beside the camera. She took a deep ragged breath and started again. "I'm sorry... the day's events have taken a toll on everyone... even me. Our regular news broadcasts will resume at six AM with continuing coverage on this tragedy. This is Megan North, signing off for KCLA Los Angeles." Megan sat back as confusing thoughts swirled through her brain after she'd spent all day reporting on the horrible events. Hell... had no one noticed that acts of violence in the U.S. had been on a steady increase over the past century?!! But then, violence had always existed... the advent of mass communication had just made the news of it easier to spread. Yes... some people were paying attention... but even in our own country, no one seemed to have any real solutions to the base problems that caused violent acts to be committed. The Welfare system that had been created to help the poor and unemployable was being abused... and there was no way to stop crimes of passion! And it seemed the government's only answer to solve those problems was to raise taxes and try to enact more gun control laws! All that would do was force more people into the Welfare system and make law-abiding citizens unable to defend themselves against crazies and criminals! A sickening thought made Megan lay her head on the desk as she burst into tears. There were no solutions... you cannot help people who won't help themselves... you cannot cure people who are mentally unstable... No matter how hard the able majority worked toward trying to help their fellow man, it would never work until EVERYONE saw and understood the real truth... That every last human on the planet would have to care more about the welfare of everyone else in the world than themselves... only then would EVERYONE be willing to work together for the good of all mankind... Like THAT would ever happen... Gifts of the Future Ch. 15 The aftermath of September 11, 2001 sent shockwaves worldwide... but even more so throughout the U.S. than anywhere else. There were almost immediate backlashes against Muslims... even ones who'd been living in the country all of their lives! Various Islamic organizations in the U.S. denounced the tragedy as acts of violence perpetrated by evil-minded individuals, but that did little to ease everyone else's minds... all Muslims were being perceived as evil-minded... Nuri Madani and other young Middle Eastern males around L.A. were being stared at with open fear and hatred by a great number of people... guilty simply because of their race and religion! Most of America was ready to forget that the U.S. Justice system was based on the premise "innocent until proven guilty" and that the forefathers had fled the country of their birth seeking freedom from persecution because of their religious beliefs. And we were still learning the hard way that everyone deserved to be "free"... no matter what their race... and free to express themselves... no matter what their OPINION... Nuri was forced a few times when confronted with someone who was succumbing irrationally to fear to use his "gift." He stared deeply into their eyes and watched as they calmed down... This is just your fear talking... you have nothing to fear from him... He is not a threat to you or anyone else... He does not know you but he knows there is goodness in your heart... You do not want to harm him... it is only fear that is clouding your mind... Release your fear... he is not your enemy... Each one of them had frowned in confusion as they'd apologized for ranting at him. Then they'd thanked him before they'd walked away for understanding that they'd just been using him to vent their fears... A few nights after 9/11, Nuri was out with Jasmine when three very angry men suddenly confronted them outside of a restaurant. Nuri very quickly looked into their hearts and saw that they were too consumed by anger and hatred... his good intentions would mean nothing to them. He moved Jasmine behind him to protect her as he said, "Get back inside... and call for help!" Jasmine saw the angry glares in the men's eyes. "No... I'm not leaving you, Nuri!" She moved back around in front of him and glared up at a man in his late 40's who appeared to be the ringleader. "If these barbarians want to get to you, they'll have to go through me!" The ringleader sneered nastily, "Well, well... it appears the little cunt has a thing for this towelhead! It'll be my pleasure to go through you, girlie! I'll teach your bastard Muslim boyfriend how we treat enemies on our own soil and then I'll remind your little traitorous cunt how it feels to be fucked by an American!" Nuri growled angrily and grasped Jasmine's upper arms to push her aside just as the older man lunged toward her. She screamed and threw her hands up and shoved them toward the attacking man's chest... he gasped and collapsed down onto his knees, grasping at his chest and then fell over sideways. He died almost instantly... Jasmine and Nuri stood still, shaking and looking down at their would-be attacker. Jasmine glanced apprehensively at her hands as she still had them poised defensively in front of her. They moved back when the man's two friends came rushing over and started trying to perform CPR while another bystander called 911 again. The police arrived first, as an on-looker among the crowd that gathered had already called to report the trouble brewing. When an ambulance arrived, the paramedics determined that the man had died from a heart attack. Witnesses corroborated Jasmine and Nuri's story... the man had approached menacingly and she had only attempted to defend herself. Sergeant Rickie Estevez arrived as things were winding down when he'd heard the names of the victims of the attempted assault. He took Jasmine and Nuri aside and spoke to them quietly. "Are you sure this is the whole story? Jasmine... honey... I know you have the ability to heal. Is there any way you might have caused his death?" Tears filled her eyes as she shook her head uncertainly. "I don't know, Uncle Rickie. I... uh... was afraid the man was going to hurt us and when he lunged at me, I just reacted! All I felt was fear for my life and Nuri's and I didn't know what to do! I could feel how evil his thoughts were and it scared me terribly... I didn't mean to kill him if I am the reason he's dead! I swear... I didn't mean to kill him!" she whispered desperately as tears ran down her cheeks. Nuri pulled her against him and held her as she cried. Rickie patted her shoulder and soothed quietly, "I know you never would've intended that, Jasmine. But we may need to have your Mom and Dad look into this and see if it was possible. This is something that you need to know, sweetie... something about yourself that you may need to learn how to control. You understand?" he asked gently and she nodded her head sadly. "Oh God, Nuri... WHY?!!! Why did that man have to die?!! I didn't mean to do it... I don't even know HOW!!!" Jasmine cried as she wept uncontrollably in Nuri's arms later that night. He tightened his hold as he soothed her. "Shhh, my love... you can't blame yourself. We don't know that it WAS you! It may have been strictly natural causes. Let's not think the worst until there is proof otherwise. Besides, I don't want you ever putting yourself in danger again because of me. I swear, Jasmine... I'll wring your neck if you ever do that again!" he grated teasingly as he put his hands around her neck and shook her gently. She sniffed loudly and stared at him sadly. "Maybe I should be destroyed before I kill again. But I don't think that would work," she said softly, frowning worriedly as her eyes grew distant. "I think my instinctual fear for my life would kick in and I might not be able to control what happens..." She looked up into Nuri's concerned dark brown eyes. "What if fear turns me into some kind of... killing machine?!!" Nuri could see that she was deathly afraid at the prospect that her "gift" could be a "curse" as well. He cupped her face in his hands as he asked gently, "Would you ever be afraid of me, Jasmine?" Tears leaked from her eyes and she slowly shook her head. He lowered his lips to hers as he murmured, "And you need never be afraid when you're WITH me, either. I'd die before I'd let anything happen to you." Jasmine whimpered as he kissed her softly, her fears suddenly clarifying. When he lifted his head again, she whispered hoarsely, "That's what I'm most afraid of, Nuri... I can't bear the thought of losing you! I was more afraid of that man killing you than anything he could've done to me! I think I killed him to protect you! What am I going to do, Nuri? I don't know if I can live with this!!!" she cried sickly. He picked her up in his arms and carried her to his bed, grating forcefully, "Stop this, Jasmine!!! We don't know that you killed that man! And even if you did, it was an accident!!! You said yourself that you didn't mean to!!! Let it go... and just love me, Jasmine!" he whispered as he pushed her dress up and slid her panties off of her legs. He stood beside the bed, staring down at her as he removed his slacks and shorts, saying, "I couldn't bear the thought of losing you, either! And if I had to kill to protect you, I would!!! So, you see... I'm no better than you. We're the same... we belong together..." he whispered as he crawled over top of her. "Marry me, Jasmine... say you'll marry me," he groaned as he slid his cock inside her, watching the sad frown on her face fade into an expression of passion and pleasure as he continued thrusting. "Say it, my habibah..." he whispered against her lips. "Yessss..." she hissed quietly. "I'll marry..." the rest was swallowed up by his mouth parting her lips and thrusting his tongue in rhythm with their bodies. They came together quickly, both of them needing to feel the life-affirming sensation of climaxing together after facing the ugly stark reality of death... Doctors Charlie and Lily Richards were granted permission to observe the autopsy performed by the L.A. County Medical Examiner. It was noted that the man's heart tissue showed signs of weakness and he was suffering from overall poor cardiovascular health. But the M.E. was a little surprised at the amount of damage inside the heart and wondered aloud how it was that it looked like the internal tissues of the heart had literally "exploded" and what could possibly have caused it to happen... Charlie and Lily glanced at each other and frowned grimly... They realized it was very likely that Jasmine had the ability to exploit a person's poor health as well as heal them. Her instinctual fear caused her body to react by turning her "gift" around to protect herself and Nuri. But would she be able to learn how to control that aspect? Jasmine was terrified at the prospect of trying to answer that question... but she felt a little stronger to face it when she and Nuri were married at City Hall a few days later. Charlie and Lily served as witnesses for their daughter and Nuri and helped to move her things from their house to Nuri's apartment. Jonathan, Tommy and J.J. weren't upset to have her living with them on a permanent basis. She'd spent many nights there before and usually fixed dinner for them... and her cooking was way better than theirs! Tommy's girlfriend Kira was becoming great friends with Jasmine and Sophia, who was secretly engaged to J.J. The three young women noticed that Jonathan stopped bringing girls home with him. More often than not, he'd get caught sneaking in the next morning after spending the night somewhere else... His friends all shook their heads and wondered sadly if he'd ever settle down... ********** Soon after 9/11, the United States was forced to face the fact that, even though the country had grown and prospered on the bases of democracy and capitalism, it was by no means perfect. There was a growing number of the population living at or below the poverty level with no means to pay for things like health care, much less support themselves. But there was more opportunity here for anyone to improve their life if they weren't happy with it than anywhere else, but too many people couldn't seem to see a way out of poverty... or they just didn't want to try. But the problems of poverty and health care were forgotten for a while as everyone cried out for the need to feel safe again... our national security had been breached. And the government's only answer to that was to tighten security... which meant infringing on everyone's rights when it came to air travel! A week after regular airline flights resumed in the U.S., Megan, Barbie and Didi flew to Washington to spend a little time with their husbands, who were working overtime for the FBI. The three women had managed to get another room in the hotel where their husbands had been residing, so for a few nights, the couples all had rooms to themselves. The women spent their days wandering around D.C. trying to remember everything that was still good about the country. If their husbands managed to get away from HQ early enough, they all went out to dinner together. And the rest of the night, the couples spent as much time as they could making love, reminding each other how deep their love and commitment were to each other... Megan and Jonnie North held each other tightly as they stroked together deeply and tenderly. They cried softly afterward as they wished their son would be lucky enough to finally find someone to love the way they'd always loved each other... Barbie and Brad Seldon made love hotly and desperately. They were still amazed at the coincidences surrounding their son's soul mate and the fact that all of their lives could've turned out so differently... some of them would not have existed at all! Didi and Jay Hanson went at each other as wildly and passionately as they always had! They were wondering how long it would be until J.J. admitted that he and Sophia Estevez were having sex. They'd known the two had been crazy for each other since they were kids and they were amazed their son had been able to hold back as long as he did! The men drove their wives to the airport the day they were scheduled to return to L.A. They had to arrive over an hour before the scheduled departure in order to have time to comply with all the new security requirements. They flashed their badges at the security checkpoint so they were allowed to accompany their wives to the departure gate. The three couples found a nearby quiet corner and spent the last fifteen minutes before the women boarded the plane making out like they were teenagers again! The men growled in frustration as they realized their wives were going to have to leave them with raging hard-ons and the women weren't very happy about that, either! Jonnie, Brad and Jay returned to FBI headquarters and tried to take their minds off the lingering tingles in their groins... but a quick image from the past few nights with their wives would have them, once again, erect in seconds! That night, they were relegated to sharing phone sex with their wives so they could get back to concentrating on the most important investigation ever... ********** Back in L.A., Megan had everyone over for dinner so she and Barbie and Didi could tell about their trip to Washington. Jonathan stayed near his mother all evening as he could sense how much she already missed his father again and that his parents were both worried about him. After everyone else left, he stayed a while longer to keep her company. They ended up passing out as he held her on the couch after they'd cried together about their fears over the fate of the world after they'd finished a bottle of wine. The dark forces wasted no time in taking advantage of their clouded minds through their dreams... ********** Megan was in Jonnie's arms again... where she dreamed of being every night. She snuggled into him as he groaned and wrapped his strong arms even tighter around her. She didn't like that she couldn't rub her cheek against his skin, so she brought her hand up and unbuttoned his shirt. He sighed contentedly when she pushed his shirt open and laid her head on his firm chest as he slid his hands around her back and held her tighter. He was so warm and she wanted to feel the warmth of their bodies pressed together. Megan pulled back just far enough to unzip her workout jacket and shrug it from her shoulders. Then she groaned softly when she felt Jonnie's hands on her bra, unfastening the hooks and pulling it from her body. They both sighed as they rolled toward each other, plastering the front of their torsos together. Megan moaned deeply when she felt Jonnie force his thigh between hers and rubbed firmly against her crotch. Her hips undulated on his thigh as her pussy flooded with wetness and throbbed with need. Her hormones lately had been making her feel as horny as she'd been when they were teenagers! And spending so much time away from him lately had made her need him even more... And apparently, he needed her just as badly! She gasped and groaned when she felt his hard cock rubbing against her lower abdomen. She slid her hand from his back to his ass, pulling his body against hers as she groaned, "I need you, Jonnie! Oh God... how I've needed you!!!" ********** Jonathan couldn't remember where he'd fallen asleep. He'd been sleeping with so many different women lately that he'd lost count. He'd been chiding himself derisively that he was "single-handedly" keeping the condom industry in business! He couldn't help it that women kept throwing themselves at him... And he wasn't using his "gift!" Women just seemed to pick up on the fact that he was a "good guy" who also happened to enjoy being "bad!" And when he was "bad" he was "very, verrrry good!" Or so he'd been told by dozens of women! They'd all been delighted that he was so nice, good looking, well hung... and he knew what to do with it! He'd also been up front with every woman who came on to him that he was not looking for a relationship. He knew his soul mate was far away and that he'd have to search for her because she was unable to come to him. He'd first have to learn how to fight for her... he would literally have to rescue her from certain death. And Nuri would have to help him... And, here he was... again losing himself in the arms of another "needy" woman... another older woman from the feel of her full hanging breast as he cupped one gently. He grinned sexily... older women were such hot and generous lovers! And he could tell this woman was desperate for him... Jonathan dropped his head to kiss the woman's neck, inhaling her familiar scent... he must've been with her before. He liked it... it was so... comforting and inviting at the same time. She moaned as he dragged his lips across her left shoulder and then down to her breast. His cock throbbed with need when she hissed and arched against him as he sucked her nipple into his mouth. For some reason, it really turned him on the way she reacted to feeling his mouth on her breast. It reminded him of how his mother had reacted at times when his father had reached down and stroked her other breast while he'd been nursing as a baby. He hadn't understood then the hot emotions that had sizzled between them, but he sure as hell understood them now! It was pure lust... adrenaline pumping, heart pounding... cock throbbing lust! He envied the fact that his mother and father also shared a love deeper than anything he'd ever felt... their friends' and families' marriages and relationships came close, but not quite the devotion they shared. And he was starting to long for that as well... And this woman was reacting to him the way his mother had always done with his father. He wanted to feel that way... he wanted to feel like a woman was sharing her heart and soul with him... not just her body! He wanted to make sure he'd recognize those emotions when he finally found his soul mate... ********** Megan was writhing beneath Jonnie as he laved her, reminding her how he'd always been turned on by her full breasts. She groaned loudly and arched even further as his soft moans and his tongue swirling around her erect nipples caused her pussy to throb again. When he growled and nibbled softly on one of her firm peaks, she cried out and came hard. She needed him in the worst way... "Jonnie, Pleeeease!!! I need to feel you inside me! I've missed you, darling... I've been waiting for you to come back to me! Love me, Jonnie... love me!!!" she moaned desperately. Then she sighed with excited relief when he lifted up in the dark on his knees to pull her workout slacks and panties off. She spread her thighs in anticipation as he shrugged his shirt off his shoulders and removed his pants and underwear. When he lowered over top of her, she grasped his hot, stiff cock and pulled him to her core. Megan moaned and sobbed at the same time as she felt Jonnie's thick shaft filling her. She clung to him, still moaning and crying softly as she welcomed him inside her... ********** Jonathan couldn't make out the woman's face in the darkness... all he knew was that she was as eager to have him inside her as he was to be there. He groaned hotly as she lifted her thighs and took him deeply. He buried his face into her neck and shoulder as he wrapped his arms up under her and kept driving his cock as deep inside her as he could... He felt like he was searching for a place where he belonged... inside the body of a woman who loved him... whose arms would cradle him when he needed comfort... but he sensed her heart did not belong only to him. Jonathan would like to have believed he'd found that woman... except for the fact that he knew his true soul mate was still far away... Gifts of the Future Ch. 15 He could tell the woman was about to come again from the way she was moaning and writhing beneath him. He drove into her hard and deep until she cried out and he felt her cunt clench around him. He groaned softly, loving how hard her flesh was gripping his cock... older women seemed to have such intense orgasms! Jonathan smiled when she started begging him to come with her. He lifted up and stared down at the outline of her face in the shadows as he continued to drive into her forcefully. He gritted his teeth and grunted loudly, determined to make her come again... She was getting close... her body was arching upward and she was clutching at his chest as her moans increased in volume. A shaft of moonlight suddenly slanted over the arm of the couch and briefly shone across her arched torso. He frowned when he caught a glimpse of a scar on her chest... Jonathan froze in shock, his cock still buried in the body beneath him as she screamed from another orgasm. As soon as her flesh released his, he jerked back just in time to keep from coming inside his mother. He groaned miserably and turned away from her, grasping for the nearest piece of clothing to cover his pulsing shaft. Megan lay on the couch panting for a few moments, wondering why her husband had suddenly pulled away from her. She struggled to sit up and put her hand on his shoulder as she asked in confusion, "Jonnie?!! What's wrong?" When he flinched away from her, she turned to the lamp on the sofa table behind the couch and switched it on. Without turning toward her, he pulled at the throw blanket over the back of the couch and shoved it toward her. She wordlessly took it from his hand and covered herself with it and then asked nervously, "What is wrong?" As he slowly turned around, her realization of where she was and the memory of what had happened earlier that evening suddenly focused in her mind... he wasn't her husband... he was her son! "Oh my God... oh my God... oh God... nooooo..." she gasped as tears filled her eyes when he faced her looking as horrified as she. Megan's body was shaking from head to toe until a sickening dread overtook her. She was sick. She mumbled, "Oh God... I've done it again!!" as she sprang from the couch clutching the blanket around her with one hand and the other one pressed to her mouth as she rushed toward the bathroom. She slammed the door shut and barely made it to the toilet before heaving violently. Jonathan frowned in guilt and confusion. He searched around and found his clothes, putting them on as he tried to figure out what his mother had meant. She'd done it again... Done what again?!! She'd never seduced him... What the hell was she talking about?!! It was his fault... she'd called him Jonnie... she'd thought all along he was his father! But some women he'd been with recently had also called him Jonnie, so... he was confused, too! He vaguely remembered holding her on the couch earlier as she'd cried in his arms, telling him that she and his father just wanted him to be happy... they wanted him to know the beauty and awe of loving someone else so completely that he'd gladly die for them... Jonathan had wanted to tell her that he'd gladly kill for his soul mate but he'd not die for her... In fact, he was certain that he was not destined to die for anyone... He was destined to protect those who were willing to die to preserve the world and all of mankind from destruction by an evil darkness invading the hearts and minds of humans... He wasn't exactly sure HOW yet, but he was determined to follow his destiny... At the moment, however, he would be willing to die to take away the utter pain he felt engulfing his mother's heart and soul. He went to the bathroom door and heard her weeping bitterly in between the sounds of retching. When it sounded like she had emptied her stomach, he knocked softly. "Mom? Mom, please... open the door. We need to talk. This isn't your fault... I don't know what you think you've done, but this was not your fault! I know you thought I was Dad! And... I don't have much of an excuse, either, but I swear... I did not do this on purpose... I don't know how it happened!!! But I'm so sorry, Mom! Please open the door so we can talk!!! We need to talk!" he pleaded desperately, tears filling his eyes as the implication of what had happened between them started to sink in. "I just can't face you right now, son..." she muttered weakly on the other side of the door. "Please... don't blame yourself. I know that, somehow... this WAS my fault! I'm being haunted by the past... there are ghosts of the past that keep popping up to make me keep paying for the price of past miracles! We've not lived a perfect life... your father and I... but we've always loved each other. I just don't think there's any way he'll ever understand this..." she ended as she began to sob again. Jonathan sank down onto the floor outside the bathroom door, crying as he tried to understand. "Mom... why would Dad even need to know about this? There's no reason to tell him!!! We didn't intend for this to happen... it was an accident! We were drunk... you thought I was him... I thought you were supposed to be my soul mate... we couldn't see each other... it was dark..." He paused as he flashed on the beginning of the dream he was having earlier... He was trying to picture his soul mate again... her image always seemed to elude him in dreams. Just as her face would start to form in his mind, the image would grow dark and all he could see was an outline of her in the darkness. Then he'd very clearly heard a voice telling him what he'd wanted to hear... Jonathan slammed his head back against the door as he instantly recognized he'd succumbed to the same dark force he'd seen controlling other people! But this time, the voice had tricked him and he hadn't realized it until it was too late... He turned and knocked on the bathroom door again. "Mom? Mom... listen to me... this really wasn't your fault!!! I was tricked! You know how I've always told you that I could sense some people who were being influenced by this 'dark force' controlling their minds or hearts? Well... I've just realized that I'm vulnerable to it, too! When I've had too much to drink, I hear voices sometimes trying to urge me to do things I know are wrong. But this time, a voice was telling me the woman in my arms was my soul mate. That she'd been waiting for me... she preferred to call me Jonnie... it urged me to... well..." Jonathan paused as he listened to see if she was paying attention. He could hear her sniffling on the other side of the door, so he continued. "But the point is... I now recognize how tricky this dark force can be! I know what to watch out for! This never would've happened and it never will again... you know that, Mom! Neither one of us would ever have done this of our own free will... I don't doubt for one second that you were tricked, too! Don't you see?!! This was just a sick attempt to make us doubt ourselves... they used our love for each other against us! It's the only trick they have where our family is concerned!" He heard her crying softly again. "Mom... pleeease!!! Come out of there so we can discuss this logically. We can get past this... and we will tell Dad... eventually. But now is not the right time. I'm pretty sure that is exactly what this dark force wants... its hoping that our love and honor for each other will force us to tell him right away when he is not in a position to understand how it could've happened..." But Jonathan was wrong... The Guardians had seen what the dark forces were up to and they'd given Jonnie North another version of those dreams... Jonathan jumped when the phone in his parents' home in L.A. started ringing at four o'clock in the morning. Something told him it was important, so he told his mother he was going to answer it and got up to take the call. "Hello?" he answered uncertainly. "It's me, son. And I think you know why I'm calling at this hour..." Jonnie said carefully when he heard his son take a quick, deep breath and it sounded like he was holding it. "Jonathan... something's happened between you and your mother, hasn't it?" When he got no response, he continued. "I know this sounds strange, but I had a dream a little while ago that scared the hell out of me. It started out with me and your mother together... and then I felt myself ripped away from her and held prisoner while she was blinded and you were forced to take my place! I know that's not what actually happened, but I know somehow that whatever happened was not intended by either one of you... that you were coerced or tricked somehow! I just want you to know that I'm not blaming you... or your mother. Would you put her on the phone, son, so I can explain that to her, please?" he grated hoarsely, emotions constricting his throat as he could hear his son struggling not to cry. Jonathan sniffed loudly and cleared his throat. "Sure, Dad... hold on and I'll try to get Mom to come out." He took the cordless phone to the bathroom door and knocked softly. "Mom? Dad's on the phone. He had a dream... he knows. He's not mad, Mom... but he needs to talk to you!" The bathroom door cracked open and Megan stuck her hand out to take the phone. She shut it again and put the phone to her ear as she sank down onto the floor again. "Jonnie?!!" she squeaked sadly. "Yes, baby..." he croaked. "It's OK, Meggie. Whatever it was, it's over and I know it'll never happen again. It seems like the damned forces of darkness will do whatever they can to rip you from me! They keep using your love for me against you, baby... I just know that! And I love you so much, Meggie, never forget that!!! Now... whatever happened, just let it go... and you make sure our son doesn't blame himself. I know it wasn't his fault, either! I love you both more than life itself... and I promise you, I'll be home soon! Only when we're together can we truly fight those damned dark forces! That's the one thing I'm beginning to see most clearly..." ********** Jonnie, Brad and Jay finished as much as they could of their part of the investigation into identifying the terrorists involved in the 9/11 hijackings. It was sickening to them, once they'd actually looked into the lives those men had been leading in the U.S., how easy it could've been for anyone who'd been paying attention to what the men were doing to figure out that they had been up to no good. But they got the same statements from most of the people they'd interviewed who'd come in contact with them: they kept to themselves, they didn't socialize at all, and they were quiet... they didn't act like criminals. They were the smartest and most dangerous type of criminals... they kept their mouths shut and didn't let anyone know they were up to anything! Soon after Jonnie returned home to Los Angeles at the end of 2001, Jonathan told his parents that he was going to be gone for a while training with the CIA. He told them he knew that his soul mate was not in the U.S. She was trapped somewhere in Africa or the Middle East and he would have to go there in order to find her... Jonathan North moved to Langley, Virginia and spent close to a year training as an undercover operative. His college degrees in philosophy and international diplomacy made him a skilled negotiator. The physical training they subjected him to was rigorous and toned his muscular body into a tough fighting machine. His weapons knowledge and skills were rated as superior and his "gift" gave him a psychological edge beyond any other agents' capabilities. Tommy Seldon and J.J. Hanson graduated from UCLA in May of 2002. J.J. immediately went into UCLA's medical program and Tommy went to work as an analyst for his Uncle Robbie's environmental task group that he'd assembled to try to fight the lawsuits against the California Air Resources Board and try to uphold the mandate he'd helped to instigate on vehicle emissions. But they had known that mandate was on its last legs... all EV-1 lessees had been notified in early 2002 that their leases would not be renewed when they were up. Jonnie had turned the lease on their EV-1 over to Nuri before he'd left for Langley. And Megan and Jonnie had finally managed to lease one of their own after the boys had moved out and taken over the original lease. They'd also been notified their lease would not be renewed... Then, in late 2003, GM started rounding up every single EV-1 that was on the road... no explanation as to what they intended to do with them, they just took them away... Megan was pissed as hell... she'd known all along it was a deliberate act on the part of the automakers, the oil companies, the government and OPEC! They'd been forced into making another grandiose gesture of good faith when oil prices had been on the rise again, and all of a sudden, OPEC was stepping in to regulate the price back down to a reasonable level so American consumers would, once again, become complacently dependent upon consumption of foreign oil! What was it going to take to wake the rest of the country up and make them see how the U.S. had become nothing but a pawn to OPEC... helping them to achieve their game plan of acquiring massive wealth and power on their way to world dominance?!! And if the U.S. ever did try to tell OPEC, "Screw you... we don't need your stinking oil any longer," they'd better be able to defend the country against whatever retaliations they were planning... Because it would probably be way worse than a couple dozen angry young Muslim men hijacking a few planes and ramming them into buildings... Gifts of the Future Ch. 16 No one in the U.S., other than the people who'd leased the EV-1's and other environmentalists, were even aware that a viable, marketable electric vehicle was deliberately and systematically removed from availability. During 2002 and 2003, everyone's attentions had been focused on taking down Saddam Hussein and attempting to liberate Iraq. The Bush administration misconstrued numerous intelligence reports of possible links between Saddam and al-Qaeda and convinced the nation and the U.N. that he'd been a possible collaborator in the 9/11 attacks. The intelligence reports were only allegations based on unconfirmed reports that there had been meetings between Saddam and al-Qaeda operatives. CIA Operative Jonathan North had been sent to the Middle East at the end of 2002 to assist in following up on the Iraq/al-Qaeda connection, and by early 2003, he was pretty sure there wasn't one. He'd met with members of the Islamic Organization for Peace and Freedom with whom Nuri and Uncle Yosef had put him in contact. The IOPF had been carefully infiltrating various Muslim extremist and terrorist organizations and a few of them were among the groups who were closest to Saddam and Osama bin Laden. According to the IOPF operatives, Saddam and bin Laden hated each other... their views on the future of the Arab world differed widely. Bin Laden was dead set on following traditional Islamic law at all costs where Saddam was in favor of leading the Arab nations into the modern world. The only thing the two seemed to agree on was the fact that they loathed U.S. involvement in any Middle Eastern affairs, but that was not enough to make them want to collaborate. Saddam had been content just to let bin Laden do whatever he wanted as long as it didn't get in his way, and he'd not offered any assistance or asylum to anyone associated with al-Qaeda. Jonathan had traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet with U.S. military officials who were in the final planning phase of the Iraq invasion to inform them of his findings. He'd tried to get them to convince the Joint Chiefs that, at the very least, the President and Congress should be made aware of the fact that their main reason for making the decision to invade was based on false allegations. Little did he know that the military had already been informed by their Commander In Chief that, even if the allegations weren't true, they were to go ahead with the invasion. The government wanted to keep the nation's focus on Saddam Hussein and Iraq in order to bolster national pride because the U.S. had actually retaliated against "someone" for the 9/11 attacks. Besides, they also had the claims that Saddam was hiding weapons of mass destruction, was capable of genocide and he just needed to be taken out... The government was also hoping no one would pay attention to that pesky EV-1 debacle they were attempting to get rid of quietly. Nuri had informed Jonathan that the EV-1's were going to be taken off the road without any logical explanations as to why and they decided it was time to start looking into what was really going on... ********** By the end of 2003, most of the families had migrated to living around the Washington, D.C. area. Senior FBI specialists Jonnie North, Tommy Seldon and Jay Hanson had all been transferred to positions at headquarters in Washington. Megan was a senior Washington correspondent with a major network that was not being influenced politically in any way, Barbie was working as a free-lance photojournalist for some Washington papers and Didi was doing volunteer work for various charitable organizations. Colonel Karen Moss-Estevez had been promoted to a position with the DoD, which also required her to work at the Pentagon, so Rickie had applied and gotten a job with the DC Metro Police as a detective. Wayne and Jada Seldon had started their own computer technology development firm by selling off a chunk of his Microsoft stock before the price had dipped in the late 90's and they had moved their base of operations to Northern Virginia. Doctors Charlie and Lily Richards had accepted positions at a prestigious Washington area teaching hospital. Charlie was serving as the head of the Research Department and Lily had been named their Chief of Surgery. Intern J.J. Hanson had transferred from UCLA's medical program to be at the same hospital with them and his wife Sophia had transferred from UCLA to Georgetown University... which also put both of them near their parents again. Nuri and Jasmine Madani had transferred to Washington at the beginning of 2003. The CIA had recruited both of them into their Professional Trainee program when they learned that Nuri was being forced to return to Saudi Arabia in early 2004. Jonathan had suggested it to his superiors at the Agency and they'd agreed because of Nuri's connection to the IOPF, which had been cooperating with CIA Operations Officers on missions all over the Middle East ever since 9/11. Jasmine was happy when her parents had moved to be near them again before they had to leave the country. The elders had also decided to sell their homes and moved to an upscale retirement community just a few hours from Washington so they could be near their children and most of their grandchildren. Tom and Lynda Seldon, Jon and Barbara North and Rick and Dawn Estevez were slowly adjusting to life on the east coast. At least there they didn't have to deal with sporadic power outages and minor earthquakes any more like they had in California! Charles and Diana Richards were happy to be back in their old stomping grounds in Virginia! They were living in the same area where they'd spotted each other at that carnival so long ago... they would get misty-eyed every time they remembered the miracle of finding each other again. And they were delighted to learn that the nearby small town still held that carnival every summer... California State Senator Robbie Seldon was living most of the time in Washington with his wife Crystal, who was the head of their non-profit environmental research organization called Earth Friendly Futures. Their nephew Tommy was one of the environmental scientists traveling around the country doing studies for their organization, accompanied by his wife Kira, serving as his research assistant. And Robbie and Crystal's eighteen-year-old daughter Lana was with them in Washington and also attending Georgetown University studying political science with her friend Sophia Estevez-Hanson. Senator Seldon had asked to form a new Congressional Subcommittee to more closely assess the progress that was being made on environmental issues the EPA had already attempted to address. He was in the process of recruiting committee members who were genuinely concerned with those issues. It would have been an almost impossible task if Crystal and Jasmine Madani had not assisted him... They sat in on his meetings with various Senators so that Crystal could answer any questions they had about how the funding that would go to their EFF organization would be spent. She could tell by the types of questions they asked whether they were truly interested in serving on the subcommittee, and Jasmine could tell if they had ulterior motives. A few of the Senators had agreed to meet with Robbie solely for the purpose of hoping to be appointed in order to keep tabs on the research information that EFF would be submitting to the committee on their findings. What was most interesting was the fact that those Senators were from states that would've had a keen interest in more closely studying environmental impact issues such as the long-term effects of coal mining and emissions from fossil fuels. But Jasmine had recognized the coldness in their eyes and the darkness clouding their minds when she shook their hands at the ends of the meetings. After they'd left, she'd informed Robbie and Crystal that they couldn't be trusted. A few of the Senators she'd touched as they were leaving had warmth in their eyes but were wrestling with their feelings. They wanted to do what was best, but she figured they were skeptical that the committee would be able to affect any real changes that might be needed... When they'd turned around to shake hands with Robbie, Jasmine looked at Crystal over their shoulder, raised her eyebrows and nodded... indicating for Crystal to give them a "mental" nudge. So, as she'd taken their hand to say goodbye, she'd stared into their eyes with her piercing aqua-green gaze. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us Senator. I know you have your doubts, but I'm sure, just like us, you want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to preserve the future of our world for our children and generations to come. I know you want to do the right thing," she'd stated solemnly and then smiled when they had trouble tearing their gaze from hers. One of the men had shaken his head slightly as she'd released his stare, looked at Robbie and muttered, "Your wife has the most... stunning eyes, Senator Seldon. I'll bet you have trouble resisting whatever she wants if she looks at you like that when she's asking for something! She probably has you wrapped around her little finger!" Then he'd chuckled as he left when Robbie replied, "You've got that right, sir. My wife is a very persuasive woman!" Later that night, he'd reminded her just how persuasive he could be. She was sitting on their bed, hunched in front of her computer going over some of the documents Wayne and Jada had downloaded for her from various EPA test reports over the years. Robbie ran his hand through her shoulder-length blonde hair, moving it aside and bent down to kiss the curve of her neck and shoulder softly. He smiled when he felt goose bumps form across her shoulder and down her arm as she trembled slightly. "Mmm... I'm glad your body still pays attention to me even when I can't seem to claim the attention of your mind!" he chided softly. Crystal dropped her head to the side and turned to peer up at him guiltily. "I'm sorry, love... it's just that all this data is pouring in and it's going to take weeks or months to sort it all out so we can put it into a format that Tommy and the other scientists can use for comparisons after they've gathered their own data and samples for testing." She looked back and gestured at the endless list of documents on the computer screen. "I just didn't realize the enormous amount of data the EPA has to try and keep track of... it's no wonder it sometimes seems like they've not been able to really accomplish anything when you look at everything they're trying to deal with! And having to fight the various industries they're trying to regulate every step of the way doesn't make their mission any easier, either. That's why we need to help..." She sighed resignedly and leaned back against her husband as he stood behind her at the side of their bed. "I'm just starting to realize the monumental size of the task we're about to undertake." She paused and grinned when she felt a hard lump on the middle of her back. "Well, Senator... it seems you're presenting me with another task of monumental size to tackle," she purred with a soft laugh as she closed her laptop and set it on a bedside table. Then she rose up on her knees, facing him, and stroked the long bulge in the front of his tight under shorts, watching his gray-green eyes deepen with even more desire. Robbie growled softly, "Yes I am, Mrs. Seldon... and this is a task that you will have to continue to perform if you expect my committee to approve funding for your organization's research. Do we understand each other?" he asked slyly as he slid his hands around to caress her ass. Crystal's eyes widened for a moment as she exclaimed with mock indignity, "Senator! Are you telling me I have to bribe you with sexual favors?!!" "That's exactly what I'm telling you. If you get so wrapped up in your work that you can't take the time to satisfy this demand, then I will see to it that your funding is cut off. Have I made myself 'Crystal' clear, Mrs. Seldon?" he replied silkily and then kissed her softly. She slid her hands into the waist of his under shorts and pushed them down his hips and thighs until they fell to his ankles as she replied, "Indeed you have, Senator. Just promise me one thing..." she purred as she grasped his hard cock and tugged him onto the bed with her. She laid him back, lifted her nightie over her head, slipped her panties off and straddled his hips, rubbing the tip of his cock on her hot, wet flesh as she stared at him. "Don't tell my husband," she groaned as she sank down onto his long shaft. ********** In early 2004, everyone gathered for a huge party the day before Nuri and Jasmine were leaving to take up residence with the Madani family in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Even Jonathan made a special trip back to The States so he could visit with his family and friends that he hadn't seen in a while. Everyone was surprised at how his look had changed... Jonathan had let his dark brown hair grow shaggier, his skin was tanned and he sported scruffy whiskers. He could easily pass as being Middle Eastern himself... except for his aqua blue eyes. That was why he usually wore whatever clothing was the norm in any region he traveled to and sunglasses when out in public so as not to call attention to himself. And when he was meeting with anyone he didn't know, he wore brown contact lenses. One of his cover identities was that of a Saudi citizen. One of the IOPF operatives who worked in the immigration department of the Saudi government had been able to provide authentic documents, as well as documents for Jasmine's cover identity, which he was delivering to her. As far as the immigration officials at the Riyadh airport would know the next day, they'd be welcoming home a couple of their citizens who'd been studying in the U.S. for several years. And the Madani family was fully prepared to back up the story. As far as they knew, Jasmine was a natural born citizen whose Saudi father had died when she was little while they were living in the U.S. for a time and her American mother had stayed in The States to raise her, but she'd wanted to return to the country of her birth and learn about her father's homeland... That would easily explain her blue eyes and her lack of proficiency in the Arabic language, which she'd been studying with Jada and Nuri's help. She'd also been making herself get used to wearing the dreaded "abaya" and "hijab" which Jada had given her and shown her how to wear properly. Nuri had hated it at first when she'd started wearing them out in public around Washington just to see how she'd handle people's reactions to seeing her dressed that way. She realized she was more likely to get stared at here than she would once they were in Saudi Arabia, but she found herself paying attention to the way men looked at her. They would frown as they quickly scanned the long, loose drapes of material and then scowl before glancing at her face. But all they could see were her eyes... and the scowls would suddenly disappear as they looked startled to be staring into a deep, ocean blue gaze framed by thick, curly lashes. She would just stare back, unblinking, as she felt their wary, confused emotions fade away... Most of them would then look away in embarrassment once they realized they'd been gawking at her. But a few of them threw black scowls at Nuri, thinking he was making her dress like that and a couple of men had run their eyes down her body again like they were trying to imagine what was hiding beneath all that dark material! But when they'd noticed Nuri scowling darkly at them, they'd quickly turned and left. Jasmine hadn't been able to stop herself from chuckling as he'd growled softly while watching those men scurry away... He'd turned to face her in exasperation and said harshly, "At least that's one thing I won't have to worry about seeing once we get back to Saudi Arabia! The men there know better than to eye another man's woman like that! And you, my wife, should not find it amusing because it will be within my rights as well as my duty to punish you for such impertinence! Do not ever give me reason to have to rebuke you in public, Jasmine. I don't think I could bring myself to do it, and that would blow our cover! Do you understand, my love?" he'd asked her earnestly. She'd lowered her eyes and spoken quietly. "As you will, my hasan, adham malik. I am your amatu-mukhlisah, my husband." When she raised her gaze to his eyes again, they were glittering with dark passion and she'd felt her breathing begin to deepen as tingles had fluttered between her legs. She'd started to feel like she was suffocating behind the material draped across the lower half of her face... Until Nuri had grabbed her, yanking it away to kiss her hard and deeply for a moment, knowing such a public display of affection would be mostly frowned upon in Saudi Arabia. But if he were seen roughly dragging her into an alley to take her in a dark corner, forcing his will on her... as he longed to do at that moment... he'd be seen as a man just doing what he wanted with his wife... his property! And she'd said herself that she was his devoted servant... that he was her handsome, dark master... But here, she could have him arrested for rape... although he knew Jasmine would never fight him when it came to sex... she wanted him just as badly! And she'd proved that the way she'd kissed him back and clung to him desperately. When he realized she was wearing nothing but panties under the abaya, he'd been ready to find a quiet, dark alley somewhere nearby and slam her up against a wall to relish the sensation of feeling nothing but his cock ramming inside her and seeing nothing but the look of pure lust and desire in her eyes as he fucked her hard... But they might've ended up getting arrested for that... so he'd dragged her to their car, driven as quickly as he could to their Georgetown apartment and attacked her just inside their front door! Not a word was spoken as he'd reached up under the abaya and ripped her panties away as she'd fumbled with the fly of his pants, opening them and grasping his rigid cock. Nuri had growled ferally as he'd grasped her ass and thighs, lifting her and slamming her against the door as he'd slammed his cock inside her... just like the first time he'd taken her. Only this time, he didn't stop to don a condom... he and Jasmine had agreed that in order to maintain their cover, she'd have to start performing all of her "wifely" duties... including bearing his children. They'd put off having children until they were through with their college degrees and then they'd been recruited by the CIA, and they didn't want to have children while they were in training. The Agency had fast-tracked them into their Core Collector training so that they'd both be Operations Officers once they were established in Riyadh. Nuri was going to be serving as a liaison between his father's boss, the OPEC Sheikh, and other foreign businessmen and dignitaries. The Sheikh liked the idea that he had someone he trusted who was highly skilled in diplomacy and had easily adapted to Western cultural mannerisms without being unduly influenced by them... The Sheikh had informed Nuri that he needed no further education and that it was time to come home. Nuri had logically convinced the Sheikh that one more year working in a diplomatic capacity in Washington would help him complete the façade of his adaptation to Western and world cultural experiences. So the CIA had helped him with the diplomatic contacts during their year or so of training. Jasmine's family did not like her having to live in Saudi Arabia and for her protection, her family and friends were told the story that had been fabricated for the Saudi government, but they were not told that both she and Nuri were working with the CIA. They were told it was only to facilitate her ease of being accepted into the country without suspicion being cast on either one of them... Gifts of the Future Ch. 16 They all understood and knew that if they were ever approached and questioned about Nuri and Jasmine to stick with the story. The CIA had even set up false records of her life in U.S. computer files in case anyone ever got suspicious and dug into her background... and they had effectively "erased" the existence of Jasmine Layla Richards... According to school, medical and motor vehicle records, she was Jasmine Haddad, born in Saudi Arabia as Yasmeen Bint Hana Ibn Yahya al-Haddad... Jasmine, daughter of "John, son of (the prophet) John, the Smith"... a dual citizen of both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. And once she returned to the country of her birth, she'd apply for new identification records honoring her husband's wishes that she bear his name... ********** Jasmine stood nervously behind her husband peering through the slightly sheer black fabric of her full veil as he explained to his new boss, the Sheikh, why he'd married her. They were speaking in Arabic and she could only catch words and phrases here and there. Father and mother dead... no family... home... beloved... beautiful... love. Those last words she knew well, having heard them often. The Sheikh scowled at her as he peered around Nuri, looking as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Nuri stepped aside and gestured at his wife to come forward... she approached slowly and stopped beside him, but just slightly behind him. Nuri reached back and put his arm at her shoulders and brought her up beside him. He spoke in English. "Your Eminence... this is my wife, Yasmeen. Her knowledge of our language is limited, but she is learning quickly. If you would do me the favor of speaking to her in English I would be most grateful," he stated as he bowed his head in deference. The Sheikh crossed his arms over his barreled chest under his fancy robe and long tunic and eyed her shapeless form under the drapes of her abaya and hajib. Then he spoke boomingly. "MASA ALKHAIR!" Jasmine managed not to flinch from his loud, unexpected greeting. "Masa alnur," she said softly, thankful she remembered the correct reply to "Good Evening." His eyebrows softened slightly from the severe scowl as he asked, "Kaif halik?" She almost smiled as she realized he was testing her knowledge of the usual pleasantries exchanged when first meeting someone. She decided to be honest with him, so instead of the usual reply, "Ana bekhair... I am fine," she answered, "Ana la a'arif, your Eminence. I fear you are displeased in some way and I do not wish to cause trouble for my husband with his employer. Please... if I have offended you... Ana asif," she said sincerely as she lowered her head. She kept her head down as she heard the Sheikh snort softly, and then looked up when he spoke in English. "Well, Nuri... it appears Allah may have well blessed you with an honorable, obedient wife. And if she is as beautiful as you claim, then she may be deserving of your heart as well. Tell your wife to show her face so that I may judge for myself," he commanded. Nuri turned his head to nod at Jasmine and then watched the Sheikh's face as she pulled her veil aside. The older man's eyes widened and his mouth fell open slightly as he muttered, "Azrak... so blue... eyes like the deepest sea..." When Jasmine lowered her eyes modestly, he took in the rest of her features, noting that she wore no makeup at all... and she didn't need to. Her natural eyelashes perfectly framed her mesmerizing blue orbs and her obvious modesty colored her cheeks naturally... she was a stunning beauty, just as Nuri had said. It was no wonder he'd been anxious to take her as his wife! The Sheikh was a little disappointed that the young man had not thought to bring her home and present her to him as a gift! He would've jumped at the chance to add her to his collection... his "harem of wives!" It was obvious from the size of her that she was not a skinny little waif, nor was she a huge woman... she probably had a body that would make any man hard and ready to plant his seed inside her! The Sheikh shook his head to clear his mind of those sinful thoughts as the young woman lowered her veil. He cleared his throat and spoke gruffly. "You are wise indeed, young man, to insist your lovely wife be fully covered at all times! She could likely entice the most devout Imam into thoughts of wickedness." Nuri spoke plainly, but respectfully. "No, your Eminence... it was not at my insistence. My wife made that choice on her own." The Sheikh looked skeptical for a moment and stared intently at Jasmine as he asked, "And how is it that a woman raised in such a freely hedonistic society so easily made such a choice as this?" She spoke clearly and calmly. "My mother continued to raise me in the knowledge and ways of Islam in honor of my father. I am a devout believer that it is my honor and duty to serve Allah by being a faithful lover to my husband and the mother of his children. I have no wish to tempt any other man into doing that which would bring shame on me in the eyes of Allah, your Eminence." The Sheikh nodded his head and addressed Nuri respectfully. "You chose wisely, young man. She is obviously a good and honorable wife deserving of your love. You should treasure her." Nuri looked at his wife as she turned her head toward him... he could just barely see her eyes glittering at him through the opaque fabric. "Oh, I do, your Eminence. She is my most treasured possession..." he stated sincerely. The Sheikh could see from the intense look of possessiveness in the young man's eyes that he meant every word. And for a man to love and desire a woman that intensely would mean that he'd most likely kill her if she ever dared to tempt another man and his wise wife had recognized how lucky she was to have such a man... Jasmine had felt no fear in telling the Sheikh a little white lie about being raised in the ways of Islam. That part of their laws she could almost agree with... it was her honor and duty to be Nuri's faithful wife, lover and mother of his children. And she did not wish to be a temptress... she just wished Islamic law did not place ALL blame for Muslim men's weaknesses on the temptations of women! The Madani family had welcomed Jasmine with open arms. They had a lavish family compound a few miles outside of Riyadh that was surrounded by walls and gates with the highest tech security system and each family unit had their own private wing. The grounds around the house were well maintained, looking like an oasis surrounded by acres of arid desert thanks to an underground cistern system, and their power was mainly supplied by a vast solar array on the southern side of the property. Yosef's father had saved his money while working as the Sheikh's body guard and had bought the property and built the main part of the house while Yosef had been attending college in the U.S. Yosef's mother's family had been happy to see them leave since they finally believed he was a devout Muslim fully capable of affording to take care of his wife and children. When he'd returned home to take over the Sheikh's financial matters, Yosef had also invested some of his bonuses and his parent's money and his family was soon highly regarded as one of the wealthiest in the capitol that were not of royal descent. That was why the family had been able to shield Jada from being married off to just any man and the government had allowed her to attend college in the U.S. The family had been surprised that the government hadn't asked many questions about why she hadn't returned... until they'd learned about her forced sterilization. They realized the government had been wary that her main reason for going was so she wouldn't be forced into marrying a Saudi, so they'd tried to "fix" her to make her unwanted by any man... That was purely ideological Islamic Shari'a law at its worst... if a woman could not bear children she was worthless. According to Mohammed, Allah had decreed a woman's sole purpose was for procreation. She was nothing more than a possession... an object of his lust in order to drive his will to procreate... the vessel in which to deposit his seed and bear his children, especially sons... and to nourish them after birth... The Saudi government had not taken Western ideology into question when they'd come up with that plan. They believed Jada would be shunned and sent home in disgrace if any man agreed to take her for wife and then discovered she could produce no children. The concept of some man wanting her and loving her despite that made absolutely no sense to them... Yosef and his father had added a wing onto the main house for his family and while Nuri had been in America, they had built another wing for when he returned with his wife. Nuri had been telling them since he was a boy that he was going to marry Jasmine some day... that she was his destiny. The only excuse his family had been able to give his mother's family for not arranging a marriage between Nuri and one of his cousins was that he wanted a wife that would better suit his family's wealthy status. His mother's family was only anxious to try to get rid of another female they had to house, feed and clothe. But they couldn't very well force a family as wealthy and powerful as the Madanis had become to take another female off their hands. Despite wishing she could give a female relative a better life, Salihah was adamant that the inbreeding among Saudi families needed to stop. She'd been lucky that, being her parent's eldest daughter, she'd turned out healthy and beautiful even though they were first cousins. Her oldest brother was also normal, and her next two sisters had been all right, but her youngest sister had not been normal. Her parents had feared they'd never find a husband to take her... until they'd pawned her off on a male cousin who was not quite right in the head, either! And the children they'd produced were even worse... That was why Salihah was so thankful that Yosef Madani had spotted her glancing shyly at him in the marketplace that day when she'd first noticed him and was instantly attracted to him. And, luckily, it had been the same for him, so he'd approached her father on the spot and told him he wanted to marry his daughter. As soon as her father had learned that Yosef had a good job and the potential to earn a lot of money, he'd demanded the highest price possible for a marriage contract and all sorts of unreasonable conditions that Yosef hadn't been in a position to argue at the time. So he'd agreed to them... he'd have agreed to sell his soul to Satan to have Salihah if her father had demanded it! When Yosef had amassed his fortune and added the lavish living quarters for him and his wife at his family's compound, he'd taken her away and shielded her from her domineering father. But that hadn't helped to make her feel any freer. She was at ease with him and his family inside their home, but she still feared going out in public and traveling because she'd been able to produce only one child for Yosef and the doctor had told her it was miracle she'd had Nuri. Salihah would not leave Saudi Arabia for any reason... Not even to visit her only son in America. That was why she was so glad he was back home... and that she had a lovely daughter as well. She was a little perplexed at first... knowing that Nuri and Jasmine had been married for two and a half years and were still childless until they explained they'd wanted to wait until they were settled in their new home before having children. They told her at breakfast the morning she had asked that they were "vigorously" working at getting Jasmine pregnant. Yosef and Salihah had chuckled as she replied, "Ahhh... that would explain all the loud moans I heard coming from your side of the house last night then!" Nuri and Jasmine had gasped and reddened when his grandparents had busted out laughing. Then they'd all burst into laughter when his grandfather said, "Don't be so sure, Salihah... that might've been us you heard making all that noise!" To protect the rest of the family, only Yosef was aware that Nuri and Jasmine would be working with the CIA. He was also the only one who knew of his son and daughter's special "gifts." She and Nuri had worked together to develop their abilities to see into the true nature of people's hearts and minds. And Jasmine had also learned to somewhat "control" her instinct to kill when threatened. The only problem Jasmine was having was in trying to distinguish between the people who truly were evil and the ones who were just confused because they'd been so literally "blinded by faith" that they couldn't even distinguish what was just common human decency. But as she and Nuri traveled around the city together and encountered many different souls, he helped her to see the difference. The blackness that initially appeared around someone who was just "blind" would eventually fade to gray. If their heart was truly evil, the blackness persisted. Jasmine was amazed to find that the majority of Saudis were surrounded by shades of gray even though in their hearts and minds everything was black and white. Shari'a laws were to be followed... there were no exceptions. That was all they knew... ********** A few weeks after Nuri and Jasmine had settled into their new lives, Jonathan came for a visit to give them information on things the CIA wanted to check into. While he was there, Yosef received a phone call from a friend of his through the IOPF who needed help. The daughter of the IOPF operative's friend had gone to Saudi Arabia to search for the father who didn't even know she existed. The girl's name was Karida Barak and her life had been spent going in circles trying to figure out where she belonged... Karida Barak's stepfather was an Israeli citizen who'd fallen in love with and married a South African woman who was half black. Karida's grandmother was a Norwegian woman working for DeBeers who'd fallen in love and married a black man when they were both protesting apartheid during the 1950's. Karida's mother had told her since she was a little girl that her real father was a Saudi man she'd met and they'd fallen in love. They'd had a brief affair while both were on vacation in Egypt, but his unwillingness to leave his family and his country caused them to part... she knew she'd never be accepted by either because of her ethnicity. She didn't realize until a couple of months after that vacation that she was pregnant. Her parents had been able to support her because they'd both had good jobs with DeBeers. Karida's mother had met her stepfather when Karida was only a baby. Her stepfather had traveled from Israel to meet with some people at DeBeers to discuss new diamond cutting and polishing techniques they were working on. Joseph Barak had been instantly taken with Belana Arrowsmith's exotic beauty. She was darker skinned like her father, but her hair was a light golden brown color and waved softly like her mother's. But her most remarkable features were her eyes... she'd also inherited her mother's ice blue eyes. And her daughter Karida's eyes were the most remarkable shade of aqua blue he'd ever seen... As soon as Jonathan North had seen the photo of Karida Barak that her stepfather e-mailed to Yosef, he knew he had to find her. She was the one... Gifts of the Future Ch. 17 Karida Barak cowered in the dark corner of the Riyadh prison cell that she'd been thrown into weeks before... she couldn't recall exactly how long she'd been there. The whole experience had just turned into some horribly surreal nightmare that she couldn't seem to wake up from... She was numb for the moment... her body was no longer suffering the hunger pangs she'd endured after the first week or so when she kept throwing up every time she tried to eat whatever horrid thing they'd tossed at her through the bars. It wasn't so much the food that made her sick... it was the stench that filled every corner of the prison from the pits in the dirt floors of the cells that passed for toilets and were swimming with human waste. But she'd gradually grown accustomed to the putrid smell so that she could eat and keep what little strength she had so her mind could continue to function. If she'd allowed herself to lose her mind, she would be dead already... her "gift" was the only thing keeping her alive. She'd managed to sneak into Saudi Arabia by acquiring an abaya and hajib through one of her IOPF contacts as well as some false travel documents. But she'd made the mistake of not having a male escort traveling with her and they'd grown suspicious right away and took her in for questioning. When they realized her Arabic was not so good and she couldn't answer their questions, she'd grown nervous and started trying to influence their minds to think she wasn't doing anything wrong, but it hadn't worked. In their minds, she was a lone female, who'd traveled without a male family member and she couldn't even communicate properly... she was a stupid, sinful woman... She'd panicked when they'd dragged her to that prison and when they'd stripped the veil and abaya off of her and gotten a good look at her, her "gift" had kicked into high gear. The guards had ogled her and she could feel the lust radiating from them in waves... they were going to gang rape her! Her initial scream of fear when they'd grabbed her was choked off when one of them slapped her hard. She'd closed her eyes, summoned all of her strength and roared like a feral beast inside her head. The resulting mental "blast" of ferocity had so startled the guards that they'd yelped and leapt back from her as if they'd all been electrocuted... They'd stood staring at her as she cowered in a ball on the floor, and then they'd come at her again, not believing it could have been anything she'd done! So she'd done it again... and they'd jumped back again... their fear growing. She'd fed off of that as she stood up and faced them fearlessly and "blasted" them yet again, even stronger than before... The guards had all turned and fled the cell... unfortunately the last one had remembered to pull the door closed so that she was locked inside. Karida had dropped to the dirt floor... her energy sapped from her efforts. She could do that only so many times before she was drained... thank God the guards had not hung around long enough to figure that out! And then the reality of where she was and the horrible conditions surrounding her had sunk in and she'd spent that first week or so sick all of the time. Thank God none of them had attempted to come near her during that time, either... she'd been so weak there was no way she could've fought off even a lone man much less a whole gang of guards! Someone had come close enough only to toss in some kind of food or a container of water once or twice a day, so they hadn't seen her weakly cowering in the darkest corner. They hadn't attempted to approach her again until she'd been strong enough to feel their fear and had used it against any of them who'd tried to come near her until they'd realized there was something... frightening about her. They weren't about to let her go, but they were also afraid not to feed her... she'd picked up on enough of their fears to understand that they thought she might be able to retaliate somehow if they tried to kill her. She couldn't do that... unless she could "scare" them to death... She'd taken to crying herself to sleep every night, wondering how long it would be before anyone realized that something had gone wrong and came looking for her. But the only person who knew where she'd gone was her IOPF contact because she'd sworn her to secrecy. She could only pray her friend would alert her family and the network soon and that they'd be able to find her... But here she was... still there another night after weeks of waiting and hoping and her numbness was fading into fear again. The only thing that had helped to keep her fear under control was the dream she'd been having every night since she'd been thrown into this hell on earth. Another pair of aqua blue eyes staring into hers and the greatest sense of comfort she'd ever felt... But during the past week, the comfort had been accompanied by other emotions as well... deeper emotions... almost like... love. And that morning, she'd woken up with a start when those aqua eyes had conveyed what felt like a wave of passion and desire as well... It was the first time those feelings had not felt unwelcome to her... ********** Jonathan North had been staring at the printed out photo of Karida Barak for a week... she was his soul mate... there was no doubt in his mind. As soon as he'd seen her eyes he'd known... she was the other half of his soul. Just like his father had always known when he'd first looked into his mother's eyes... even when they were kids. But Jonathan had always known he'd have to search for her and he'd find her at a time when her life was in danger... because it was the only way she'd recognize him instantly. According to her stepfather, Karida had spent the majority of her life in Israel struggling to figure out with other IOPF members how to bring about peace between Israel and the surrounding Arab world... while fighting off terrorist attacks. Most Israelis only tolerated her because her stepfather had legally adopted her... but she was not Jewish. Her skin tone was more like her Saudi father... a dark caramel color and her hair was a dark golden brown. The only saving grace that kept people from thinking she was Islamic were her aqua eyes. According to her mother, her Saudi father had deep brownish green eyes, which had evidently blended with her mother's ice blue eyes to give hers the same distinctive shade of aqua as Jonathan's. Karida's blended ethnicity had enhanced her beauty beyond anything Jonathan had ever seen... or could have imagined. But her confusion over who or what she was supposed to be had haunted her most of her life and she still tended to distrust most people... especially men. She'd never been able to trust any man enough to let them love her... and she was still a virgin at the age of twenty-five. Or at least Jonathan hoped so... he'd heard horror stories of what happened to women in Saudi prisons. He closed his eyes for a moment and clenched his jaw and then looked out the passenger window of Nuri's Mercedes as they traveled toward the prison on the outskirts of Riyadh. An IOPF contact had dug up some information on a woman who'd been incarcerated for about a month for traveling without authority and was under suspicion of being a spy. Jonathan was praying it was her as they pulled up to the main gate of the prison. Nuri spoke to the guard while Jonathan influenced his mind to let them in and to erase the security tape of their vehicle entering the gate... They drove through the gate and parked directly in front of the main entrance. Every prison official and guard they encountered waved them through... not even wondering why they weren't questioning who the two men were and what they wanted. By the time Jonathan was through, none of those people would even remember they'd been there or realize that they were missing a prisoner... ********** Karida's head snapped up from resting on her knees when she heard someone approaching... no one had ever come to her cell at that time of night. She stood up in the darkened corner and flattened herself against the wall. Two men stopped at her cell door and one of them started to unlock it... She felt no fear radiating from them... she felt only a sense of calm... just like in her dream. She moved forward out of the shadows as the door swung open and stared at the dark outline of the man moving toward her. When she could see him in the dim light, she saw his aqua eyes glittering at her... Jonathan caught Karida as she started to sink... hoping she'd fainted from the shock of seeing him and not just from relief or malnourishment! He picked her up in his arms and carried her out of the hellhole she'd managed to survive in for over a month. Every man they passed just ignored them as Jonathan used every bit of his power to implant his parting command in Arabic... You did not see anything... we were never here... And they didn't have to worry about being caught by security cameras... there were none. The Saudi government would not want to risk anyone getting their hands on videos of the conditions of their prisons and the inhumane treatment of the prisoners... Nuri put the key to the cells back on the desk he'd grabbed it from and followed Jonathan out the door to his car. He opened the back door for Jonathan, shutting it after he'd climbed in with Karida on his lap, then he'd jumped in the front seat and they'd taken off. The guard at the gate would not remember them ever having been there and he didn't turn the gate's security camera back on until they were gone... ********** Karida came to when she felt herself being undressed. She slit her eyes open to see that familiar aqua gaze staring back at her, so she didn't resist... even when she felt herself being lifted against his naked body and moved into a warm spray of water. She moaned softly at the welcomed feel of warm water rushing over her naked body, and gentle, soapy hands washing away the lingering stench of hell from every part of her body... She leaned her head back and clung to her savior as he rinsed her matted hair, applying some softening conditioner and gently untangling it with his fingers, and then shampooed it thoroughly and conditioned it again. She had barely enough strength to sit on the side of a tub after he moved them out of the shower and while he dried her and himself with soft, fluffy towels. She was beginning to feel as if she'd died and gone to heaven when he helped her up and handed her a toothbrush with some toothpaste on it. She slowly scraped every bit of the rancid taste from her mouth, scouring her teeth and tongue until all she could taste was fresh mint. Then she swished with several mouthfuls of a strong, antiseptic mouthwash, hoping her teeth hadn't been ruined from so many weeks of neglect when water was all she had to rinse her mouth. Then he wrapped her wet hair in a towel, picked her up and carried her out to a bedroom, laid her on a soft bed and pulled the covers over her, telling her to rest as long as she wanted. When he started to back away, she whimpered and pleaded, "Please don't leave me alone!" while reaching for him like a child afraid of the dark. Jonathan's heart beat painfully in his chest. He'd never felt so protective of anyone before in his life, but his desire for her was just as strong. He was torn... he didn't know if he could trust himself to just hold her and make her feel safe without also showing her how much he wanted her. He took a deep breath and pushed his desire aside as he slid under the covers with her, letting her snuggle to his side and cling to him. Her trembles faded after a minute or so and he could hear her deep even breaths, signaling that she was asleep. He watched her for a while... marveling at the classic beauty of her features. She reminded him of someone else... except her skin was darker and she was taller by several inches. He drew the towel from her wet hair and noted that it was almost the same golden brown shade. Except for the color of her skin and her eyes, she bore a remarkable likeness to his mother... ********** Karida awoke pleasantly for the first time in weeks... even though she'd never woken up next to another warm, naked body before. She lifted up carefully and looked at the handsome man laying next to her... her rescuer... her savior. She thought it ironic that the man she'd come to Saudi Arabia to search for, her father, had a name that was fit for this stranger... only he was no longer a stranger... "Habib Hassan..." she said quietly as she softly caressed the backs of her fingers over his scruffy cheek. She gasped and jerked her hand back when he opened his eyes and spoke. "How do you know my name?" Jonathan asked sleepily, blinking his eyes open and noticing her startled expression, wondering how she could've known his assumed Saudi cover identity. Karida blinked in confusion. "YOUR name?!! I wasn't calling you by name... I was just musing that the meaning of my real father's name seems to describe you!" Jonathan smiled sexily. "Well... I'm flattered that you find me handsome. But beloved? You don't even know me. What makes you think you could trust me enough to love me?" They stared into each other's eyes as she replied, "But I do know you... I know everything about you... just like you know everything about me. I can feel your soul inside me... and my body is crying out for you to make that connection physical as well!!!" she cried as she dove down to kiss him fiercely. Jonathan was already hard... he woke up that way almost every morning. But feeling her naked body against him had kept him hard most of the night... and aching with need. He almost forgot she was a virgin because she sure as hell wasn't acting like one! He grasped her face and gradually slowed the kiss until he could break it gently. He caressed his thumbs on her cheeks as he watched her eyes slowly open. "Karida, my love... I'm assuming your name still describes you as well. You are still 'untouched'... aren't you?" he asked gently, already knowing the answer, and then sighed heavily as she nodded hesitantly. He released her face and closed his eyes for a moment, and then rolled away from her as he sat up on the side of the bed with his back to her. She deserved to know the truth about him before he could touch her... He flinched slightly when he felt her hand on his shoulder. Then he turned to stare at her in mild shock as she spoke. "I told you I know everything about you... Jonathan Christopher North, the third... undercover operative for the CIA. I know about all those other women... even the one time with your mother... you thought she was me." His eyes were wide. "How could you possibly...?!!" he started but she cut him off by pressing her fingers to his lips. "It's all there in your mind, Jonathan. I can hear every thought in your head... see every memory. I know everything you know... just like you do with me. Only I don't have anywhere near your ability to influence other people's thoughts, actions and memories and you are the only person whose mind I can read so clearly. But I do have the ability to use other people's fear against them... it's the only thing that kept me alive for the last month..." she said starkly as her eyes grew distantly haunted for a moment. Then she stared into his deeply intense aqua gaze. "That... and seeing your eyes in my dreams every night..." she said softly as she leaned toward him and then kissed him passionately from the images she was seeing in his mind of what he wanted to do to her. But he was holding back... She drew back suddenly and exclaimed, "Jonathan... you are not going to make me wait until we're married!!! I've been waiting twenty-five years for you!!! I don't need some fucking piece of paper to tell me that you're my husband! And I know you don't buy that bullshit, either! Stop thinking like your father! And I am NOT your mother... no matter how much I may look like her! And I am not going to get in the way of your missions... I've done quite a bit of reconnaissance myself! And yes... I should've known better... I just got stupid this time because I had a tip on where I might find my real father and I didn't think things through clearly..." She stopped and shook her head slightly. "Damn... do you always have this many questions floating around in your mind?!! I think you need me if for no other reason than to help you figure out how to stop worrying about everything in the world..." Karida was cut off when Jonathan suddenly dove on top of her and her mind was flooded with images of what he wanted to do, but there was only one thought still in his mind... Shut up and just love me... It's what I was born to do... was the last thought in her mind for a while. For the next hour, they acted out the images in his head. Jonathan caressed her entire body with his hands and mouth, doing what he'd envisioned the night before while he'd washed her in the shower. Her slim body writhed and arched as she both saw in his mind what he wanted and felt it as he did it... it was like watching herself in an erotic video... while it was being taped! If she'd ever wondered whether a man found her sexy, she didn't have wonder with Jonathan... just the way he was picturing it made her look like the most beautiful and erotic woman in the world! She didn't even realize that what she saw in his mind was exactly how they looked... Karida was responding to him exactly how he'd imagined. The amazing thing was that she was feeding off of his image of what he wanted to do to her without projecting any of her own. And what was even better, he could actually feel the waves of pleasure radiating through her body... intensifying his own. Relax and let it happen, my love... Jonathan could feel her tense slightly the first time he took one of her taut brown nipples in his mouth, sucking it softly and laving it with his tongue. Her pleasure had suddenly intensified to the point of climax and she hadn't been prepared for that... it was her first time. When he felt her relax and let the wave wash over her, he prepared her for what was coming next before he did it... Karida saw the image of Jonathan sliding his hand down between her legs before his hand even moved. She moaned loudly as just the image was enough to keep her coming... her thighs opened wider in anticipation. When his fingers slid inside her and stroked her pulsing flesh, she cried out and grasped his head at her breast, her entire body tingling from head to toe. Jonathan moaned... feeling her orgasm with his nerve endings without even having a release of his own! He'd known when other women were getting pleasure from being with him, but he'd never actually felt what they experienced! He and Karida were actually sharing what each of them were feeling physically... He slowly moved down her body, trailing his lips and tongue over as much of her soft, dark caramel-colored skin as he could cover. He tried to keep the image of his ultimate goal in check, but he gave up from the way she gasped and moaned at the jolt of excitement that shot through her and into him the first time it slipped out. Karida could not have imagined how erotic it was to be so tortured by anticipation. Watching the image of Jonathan with his head between her thighs... his mouth on her pussy... while he was slowly working his way there was keeping her on the verge of sensual overload! Her pleasure was building and building and the dam was sure to burst soon... Jonathan didn't know how she could stand it... his cock was about to explode from what SHE was feeling! He knew the moment he placed his mouth on her flesh they were both going to come! The image in his head suddenly changed... "OH, GOD... YES!!!" Karida cried as her eyes popped open to grasp Jonathan's face and pull him down to kiss her as he crawled over top of her. She whimpered as he kissed her desperately, poised with the tip of his cock rubbing her wet flesh. I'm ready, my love... Gifts of the Future Ch. 17 Jonathan grunted softly, forcing his thick cock inside her with one hard thrust. He winced slightly at the same moment she whimpered, feeling the slight sting at the rupturing of her hymen. I'm so sorry, my love... He stayed buried in her until he could feel her pain was gone as he kissed her tenderly. As soon as he started to move inside her, he raised his head and stared at her in awe... He could feel exactly how his cock moving inside of her felt to her... and she could feel how it felt for him, too. It wasn't just "double" the pleasure... it enhanced the experience exponentially! They truly felt as "one"... They quickly learned together that they could control exactly the level of stimulation they wanted to achieve and maintain... they could make each other come whenever they wanted. The only thing they had to do was decide how long they wanted to make it last... Jonathan discovered that he could make Karida come over and over by projecting images of things he still wanted to do to her while driving inside her slowly and deeply and kissing her the same way. And she learned that she could drive him almost to the point of orgasm by projecting images of the things she wanted to do to him... and then shutting them off before he lost control. They had wanted to just keep going forever... until Jonathan heard Karida's stomach rumble and he realized she hadn't had a decent meal in over a month! And here they were using each other as their own personal sex objects... Make me come, Karida... we need to feed you, baby... I don't want you dyin' on me now... You are feeding me, Jonathan... this is wonderful nourishment for my soul... They both snorted with laughter when her stomach rumbled again. OK, OK... will this work, my love? She projected an image of her kneeling in front of him laving and sucking on his awesome cock... Ah God, baby... I can feel how much that image turns you on, too!!! Damn, baby... it's comin... for both of us! Yes, Jonathan... I can feel it... ohhh, my God... They clung to each other as they wailed loudly from the force of both of their orgasms... their flesh pulsated in such perfect rhythm that their bodies felt as if they were fused. They lay trembling in each other's arms in the aftermath of the most explosive physical and emotional release either of them had ever experienced. For Karida and Jonathan both, it was a revelation. She'd had no idea what sex was like, never having gone any further than just kissing a man, and not even that passionately. It was an even bigger deal to Jonathan... having bedded dozens of erotically sexual women, and none of them had ever been anywhere close to this experience... He couldn't stop the tears that filled his eyes. He finally understood what it was his parents truly shared... Karida held him as tightly as she could when she felt the depth of his love for her. "I know, Jonathan... I never dreamed it could be like this. My mother and my stepfather love and care about each other, but not like this! And you grew up knowing it was possible and had to wait all this time to find me... I can feel how hard that was for you! But I'm here now... you've finally found me... and I'm not going anywhere..." ********** Hours later after the Madanis had provided a nourishing meal for them, they were sitting with Yosef, Nuri and Jasmine in Yosef's study at the compound as they explained the amazing coincidence that had led Karida and Jonathan to find each other. Karida spoke first. "I came to Saudi Arabia when one of my contacts said they knew of a man named Habib Hassan who traveled in and out of Riyadh frequently, but they never could quite pin down when he'd show up. So, I decided to come and was going to stay with one of our other contacts posing as a visiting relative until he showed up. I was hoping he'd be my father. But then I was thrown in that horrid prison because I'd acted too hastily... I'll never do that again!" Jonathan took over. "As you know, Habib Hassan was the name the IOPF contact set up for me as my Saudi cover because the real Habib Hassan had been killed during an IOPF covert operation and the Saudi government was unaware of his death. They just changed the records to make him a younger man and replaced his photos with mine... I may have taken over the identity of Karida's real father. How strange is that?" Jonathan ended with an ironic shake of his head. Yosef spoke up. "Well... we'll know as soon as our contact faxes over the information and photo of the real Habib Hassan." At that moment, the fax machine rang. "Speaking of coincidences... that's probably it now!" He turned around to take the papers as the machine spit them out and passed them over to Jonathan... except for the last one that was taking a little longer. Karida scanned the documents for the birth date of the man who'd been killed. He and her mother had told each other everything about themselves, including birth dates... tears filled her eyes when she realized it was her father. She looked up at Jonathan and nodded her head and he hugged her to him. Jonathan glanced at Yosef and saw him staring wide-eyed at the last piece of paper that had come out of the fax machine. "You're not going to believe this..." the older man said as he stared at Jonathan while handing him the photo. Karida gasped audibly when she saw the picture and stared at Jonathan as if she was seeing a ghost. Nuri and Jasmine came over and looked at the photo and also reacted with surprise. Jonathan frowned as he muttered, "There's got to be some kind of mistake... they must've faxed over one of my own head shots! They took more than one for my documents! Call him, Yosef... and tell him he sent the wrong photo." Yosef dialed their IOPF associate and spoke to him for a couple of minutes in Arabic. Jonathan could only hear Yosef's end of the conversation but he got enough to figure out that the other man was insistent that he'd sent the photo of the real Habib Hassan... That's when Jonathan started to notice there were a few differences in the man staring back from the black and white faxed photo. His eyes were not quite as deep set as Jonathan's, his face was a little rounder and he appeared several years older. But otherwise, they could pass for brothers... Habib Hassan had not wanted to leave Saudi Arabia because he was one of the original members of the IOPF... one of the ones in charge of recruiting. Like Nuri, he could sense people's feelings and also read some of their thoughts... "gifts" that had been passed to his daughter. Yosef had heard of him but they'd never met. Leading IOPF members who didn't know each other met only if necessary and only then with great caution in order to preserve the secrecy of the organization. They didn't want to risk too many of them being connected together in any way that would raise suspicion of how they knew each other when they had no other legitimate connections. Karida broke down sobbing when Yosef told her that her father had been a great man... and that she should be proud of the fact that she'd ended up working with the same organization he'd helped to create. She would be carrying on his work and Yosef was sure her father was very proud of her... wherever he was... Habib Hassan was proud of his daughter. He'd joined with The Guardians and was the one who'd planted the idea in his former IOPF associate's head to assign Jonathan his identity so her soul mate would finally find her... ********** Jonathan and Karida married a few weeks later. The CIA assigned him to stay in Saudi Arabia to start working secretly with Nuri and Jasmine on digging into the real interests of OPEC. Jonathan had finally convinced his superiors that OPEC was likely behind the funding of much of the terrorist activity that was going on and he wanted the chance to prove it. Yosef and Nuri's boss put the word out that he was looking for a new, younger bodyguard to replace another one of his older, trusted ones. The IOPF conveniently inserted background information into Jonathan's cover identity to show that he'd served in the military and as a bodyguard. The Sheikh had been impressed with the demonstration of Jonathan's skills when he'd told one of his other bodyguards to attack him by surprise when he'd arrived for his interview. The man had snuck up from behind, but Jonathan had been expecting it because Yosef had warned him of the Sheikh's "interviews." Jonathan had grabbed the guard, who outweighed him by about twenty pounds, thrown him over his shoulder, taken the man's gun... since he was unarmed... and pointed it at the startled man yelling in Arabic, "If this is a test, tell me now before I shoot you!!!" The man had nodded quickly, so Jonathan had lowered the gun while uncocking it and handed it back to the guard as he stood up. The Sheikh had hired Jonathan immediately and was pleased that Yosef and Nuri seemed impressed with his newest bodyguard. Especially when Nuri and Habib discovered that they had a lot in common... they were the same age... both had new wives... and babies on the way. Whenever the Sheikh and Nuri traveled out of the country, he requested Habib to accompany them. Habib Hassan quickly became a trusted member of the Sheikh's inner circle when Habib saved his life from a terrorist attack while they were traveling to visit with the other OPEC ministers in Qatar. They had just come out of the hotel after the meeting and were headed to their limousines when Jonathan spotted a man opening the overcoat he was wearing to reveal the explosives strapped around his torso. Jonathan pushed Nuri and the Sheikh into the limo, diving in after them and shouting at the driver in Arabic to GO, GO, GO... as the terrorist was shouting, "DEATH TO THE CAPITALIST INFIDEL OPEC PIGS!!!" also in Arabic. Their limo was rocked violently as it sped away from the explosion, but none of them were hurt. OPEC, on the other hand, lost a couple of their ministers... The Sheikh was astounded that he'd found himself under attack by someone who may very well have been trained at one of the camps HE'D been funding!!! He wondered to himself if perhaps things were getting too out of control... After that incident, the Sheikh would frequently invite the Madani family and the Hassans for lavish dinners at his home. He was impressed with the Madani men... they'd chosen only one wife each, but they'd chosen well... and so had Habib. Their wives efficiently waited on them, seeing to their every need... and their beauty was beyond compare. He almost envied those men... During the month of December 2004, both Jasmine and Karida gave birth to handsome healthy boys. Nuri and Jasmine named their son Michael... his official Saudi name was Mika'il Ibn Nuri Ibn Yosef al-Madani. Jonathan and Karida named their son after her father and grandfather... Asim Ibn Habib Ibn Asim al-Hassan. The name Asim meant protector or defender... in their case, they would teach him to be a defender of peace and freedom... just like his parents and grandparents. Nuri and Jonathan were beginning to learn more about the side dealings of the Sheikh and the OPEC ministers. Yosef had informed them that a portion of the Sheikh's investment income was no longer being "siphoned off" for some reason... they assumed correctly that he had withdrawn his support of those "training camps" after almost being killed by one of their own recruits. In fact, that incident had unnerved a number of the OPEC ministers and there was quite a shakeup going on in their ranks. Over half of them were ready to abandon their master plan. They were beginning to believe there was no way to control the dark forces that were taking over what they'd been planting into the minds of hundreds of thousands of young Muslim males that they'd hoped would one day be their "army of enlightenment" to enforce the laws of Islam throughout the world... That one incident had been the most impact the IOPF had ever been able to achieve against OPEC... ********** And some U.S. government officials were getting worried that their cooperation with OPEC would soon come to light. Especially since Senator Robbie Seldon's subcommittee was about to discover that someone in the government had been paying off someone else at the EPA to falsify test results regarding the impacts of fossil fuel emissions. They figured the only way to discredit any information presented by Earth Friendly Futures was to find some way to discredit Senator Seldon and his wife. They had to be making a killing off the funding that was being sent to their organization... Gifts of the Future Ch. 18 "I'm tellin' ya... Seldon is squeaky clean! We've dug into everything about him and we can't find one damn thing to use against him! He's never even gotten a fucking parking or speeding ticket in his life!" the EPA rep exclaimed in frustration. The Congressman from Texas leaned forward and said, "What about the bug that was planted in his office. Didn't one of you say we'd gotten a recording that sounded like he was having sex with some woman in his office?!!" The Oil Industry lobbyist replied sarcastically, "Oh yeah... there was no mistakin' that he was having sex. We thought for sure we had him then because the woman kept calling him 'Senator Seldon' and was asking him if she was bribing him well enough to continue getting her funding! But when we asked around to find out who the woman was, we realized it was no good because it turned out to be his wife! Ya can't very well bribe a man with a recording of him fuckin' his own wife!!!" The EPA rep spoke again. "And we've gone over the financial statements and records of that Earth Friendly Futures organization that his wife runs and there is not one cent unaccounted for! She doesn't even draw a salary for all her work administering that organization! Every fucking dime they get goes strictly toward paying for the research equipment, travel expenses and nominal salaries for their scientists! And their scientists are not living like kings while traveling... they stay in modest hotels. The only things they splurged on were some expensive, imported foreign fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles for their scientists to drive! The worst we could accuse them of is trying to undermine the American automakers and the oil industry!" The Auto Industry lobbyist snorted and snarled at the oil lobbyist and the Texas Congressman, "Your fuckin' deal with those damn OPEC towel heads is gonna be the downfall of this country! If the auto industry here hadn't been in such a downward spiral because of all the foreign automakers who moved in and started pumpin' out millions of smaller, more fuel-efficient cars while OPEC was fuckin' with the price of gas all those years, the American automakers would've told ya all to go fuck yourselves! They were on the verge of comin' out with a viable electric car in the seventies but the battery technology wasn't there yet, and by the time that caught up in the mid eighties, the automakers were just scrambling to stay afloat! If they hadn't needed your damn 'hush money' just to stay in business, they'd have never gotten into bed with you fuckers! Megan Richards would just love to learn that she's been right all along... America has been takin' it up the ass by OPEC for over thirty years now and you fuckers are our goddamned greedy pimps!" The Texas Congressman finally got over his shock at the barrage of insults hurled at him and growled as he jumped to his feet, "Now you just see here, you little bastard! Oil companies are not the only greedy industry leading to the downfall of this country! Even Wall Street and the goddamn banking industry are jumpin' into the fray! They're drivin' the price of stocks back up so high and so fast since 9/11 that they've got everybody believin' the U.S. economy is in the best shape it's ever been even though we're trillions of dollars in debt! And the goddamn banks are takin' over more and more loans for people who can't really afford the high priced housing that's out there right now! And they damn well know that bubble is gonna burst! So don't you keep pointin' your goddamned finger at us! The oil companies may well be the only ones left with enough money to bail this country out when that bubble finally bursts! Hell... they may just buy up all the U.S. government's debts that they've sold to China and take over the country themselves! They've even hinted that I'd make a good president!" he finished smugly as he sat back down. "Gentlemen... gentlemen!" the Senator from Michigan said as he sat forward, trying to calm the situation. "We are not here to blame each other for everyone's greed. We are ALL greedy bastards... there's no denying that! Otherwise, we wouldn't be sitting here trying to figure out how keep an honest man from finding out what we've been up to! And that's the point... we have to figure out how to stop Seldon and his subcommittee from taking any action once they start getting those reports from the EFF scientists." He glanced around as everyone grudgingly nodded their heads in agreement. "Now... since we haven't been able to dig up anything on Seldon and his wife, start digging into their families. There's got to be someone with some deep, dark secret that they wouldn't want to come out... no family can be that perfect! And if that doesn't work, then we'll have to come up with something else!" One of the other Senators added, "Maybe we should try to take care of the source. Maybe we could do something to put the EFF organization out of commission..." she stated darkly. "Like what?" the EPA rep asked with concern as he and the others sat forward. She shrugged noncommittally. "Like... make sure their scientists don't get around to finishing their research," she suggested. "And how would we do that?" another Senator asked. "It's not like they have a single research facility where all of their scientists work. They're spread out all over the country and we don't even know exactly how many and who's working for them!" The New York Senator's eyes narrowed as she replied, "That's even better. I'm sure EFF keeps a list of their employees and their whereabouts in their computer files. I've got someone who can access that information and I've got some contacts that I'm sure would be happy to help... if the price is right. Shall I contact them, gentlemen?" she asked gravely as she quirked an eyebrow and glanced around. Everyone sat back as they each gave her a solemn nod, so she added, "I suggest we also look into some alternatives that aren't quite this drastic. This will probably be expensive and take a little time to coordinate and accomplish. If we can find some other means, then we won't have to go through with this one... this will be our back-up plan. Agreed?" she asked and saw the others nodding. The Senator from Michigan spoke up again. "Very well. And I think I have an idea..." ********** Several weeks after that clandestine meeting in early 2005, Robbie and Crystal were very publicly approached by police officers and asked to accompany them in for questioning while having dinner with family and friends at a Georgetown restaurant. Everyone was in shock, most of all Senator and Mrs. Robert Seldon as they had no clue what on earth they had done! They discovered the police were questioning them on evidence they had received anonymously that Crystal had been embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars of the government funding for EFF into a personal Swiss bank account set up in both their names! The police questioned them separately and got the same dumbfounded reaction from both of them... neither one of them seemed the least bit nervous and remained steadfastly calm in their denial that they had done anything like that. They cooperated fully in the investigation, giving the police complete access to her home office and her computer. Crystal was frustrated that she couldn't work... the EFF scientists were without any funds when they needed them, as Congress had been quick to freeze any further funding. And she was denied access to any of the funds that were still pending in their accounts as all of their assets had been frozen pending the outcome of the investigation. Their first break in the case came when a forensic computer technician determined from a full analysis of her computer's hard drive that the date the files had been altered was just a day before the police had received the anonymous tip. Coincidentally, it happened the night the Seldons had thrown a huge dinner party attended by many Congressional bigwigs as well Wayne and Jada Seldon and some of their colleagues from WJS Computer Technologies, who'd made a presentation to another Congressional Subcommittee earlier that day on the importance of maintaining computer security access codes! But, it proved that her computer files had been tampered with deliberately... the new data referenced banking transactions dating back several months that there were no previous records of in her accounting software program. And any number of people could've gained access to her computer that night... Not to mention the fact that every bit of the government funding they'd received was all accounted for by their paper expense records and what was still in the EFF accounts! The FBI had contacted all six of EFF's regional scientific teams, tracked them down, questioned them and investigated their expense records to confirm everything with them as well. The several hundred thousand dollars of money in that "private" Swiss bank account had to have come from somewhere else... The FBI tried to trace the internet source of the on-line Swiss bank account that was set up in the Seldons names... but whoever had done it had been smart enough to cover their tracks. The FBI and police speculated as to whether the same person... or persons... that had tampered with their computer files had also set up the account. It was unlikely... someone smart enough to cover their internet tracks should've also been smart enough to erase or change the date code on the altered financial data! Senior FBI Agent Brad Seldon as well as his partner, Senior Agent Jay Hanson and their good friend, Senior Special Agent Jonnie North had been barred from any information regarding the investigation into his brother and sister. Because of their close associations with Robbie and Crystal, none of the Agents involved were allowed to even discuss it with them. And everyone understood that... they wanted there to be no question of Senator and Mrs. Seldon's innocence and all their family and friends knew it would be proven that it was merely a conspiracy to frame them for some reason... That's when Brad, Jay and Jonnie were allowed to participate... when the investigation turned into trying to determine who and why. After a few months, the Seldons and EFF were cleared of any charges and the government "unfroze" their accounts... including giving them access to the money in that "mysterious" Swiss bank account. Crystal Seldon advised her husband's Senate Subcommittee that EFF considered the money an "anonymous" donation and would operate from those funds before requesting any further funding from Congress... When the Congressman from Texas heard about that, he bit his tongue and growled angrily that his money was going to be used to operate the very organization he'd conspired to destroy! He wanted to kill whomever the idiot was that New York bitch had hired to plant the phony financial data in Crystal Seldon's laptop!!! They were going to have to resort to their "back-up" plan... and that was going to cost way more than the $650,000 he'd "donated" for that phony Swiss account... He had no clue that person had left the date code on those files purposely... ********** Wayne and Jada Seldon were poring over some schematics for a new type of electronic security chip they were developing through their firm, WJS Computer Technologies. One of their colleagues poked his head in the door and interrupted them. "Uh... sorry to bother you guys, but I've found something here you should know," the young Hispanic man said carefully. "No problem, Juan," Wayne said as he looked up and smiled at one of their brightest young computer geniuses. "What do ya have?" he asked when he noted the look of concern on Juan's face. "Well... I was going back over the functions performed on Mrs. Seldon's computer to see if any other data had been accessed or compromised and I noticed that the only information that was downloaded was a copy of her personnel files. All the contact information and travel itineraries of EFF's scientific research teams. I'm not sure if that's significant or not, but I thought I'd bring it to your attention... just in case. It just seemed strange to me... I mean... why would anyone else want or need that information?" he asked curiously. Wayne frowned with concern when he noted that Juan seemed nervous. But then, everyone was a bit on edge lately at being interrogated about the night Crystal's computer had been tampered with... people at WJS who'd been there... and Juan was one of them, but he was yet to be questioned. Wayne shook his head as he replied, "I'm not sure... but, you're right... it does seem strange. I'll bring this to Brad's attention... just in case. Maybe it means nothing, but maybe not..." he muttered quietly. The next day, Agents Brad Seldon and Jay Hanson had taken Juan Gutierrez to FBI headquarters for questioning after he'd shown them the evidence of how the personnel data had been copied onto a flash drive. "I appreciate you bringing this to our attention, Juan. Someone else might have missed this altogether or not thought it important enough to mention. But you did... and why is that, Juan?" Brad asked curiously. The young man looked down nervously. "I... uh... I don't know, Agent Seldon. I guess I just wanted to make sure that every possible lead is checked out. I hate that someone tried to do this to your brother and Mrs. Seldon. They're good people and they didn't deserve this..." he stated earnestly as he looked up into Brad's kind eyes. "I know you mean that, Juan," Brad replied gently. "And I think I know why you wanted this lead followed, too," he added, watching as the young man grew more nervous. "You knew to check the personnel files because you're the one who downloaded them... aren't you?" he asked quietly. He started to shake his head quickly, so Brad continued. "Juan... we know you were at the party that night and your fingerprints were found in Mrs. Seldon's office. She's told us that, as far as she knew, you'd never been inside her office before. She said whenever she needed you to work on her computer, she took it to you at WJS. And, as smart as you are, you would never have made the mistake of not changing the date code on those altered financial records that you downloaded onto her laptop... but you knew an analysis of the hard drive would reveal that and they'd be cleared. What we're not sure of is why you downloaded the personnel files and what you did with that information. But we have a theory. Would you like to hear it, Juan?" he asked compassionately. Brad glanced at Jay and nodded for him to take over when Juan's eyes grew sad as he nodded his head slowly. Jay pulled out a folder and opened it as he began. "You came to the U.S. from Guatemala on a student visa when you were seventeen to live with some relatives and attend a technical school to get your Electronics Engineering degree. You got this job with WJS and applied for legal resident status and it was approved. As soon as you saved up enough money, you sent for your mother and sister to come live with you here... but their paperwork filed with the INS disappeared somehow. You didn't realize this until just several months ago and you've been scrambling to try to prove that they aren't here illegally while trying to get the paperwork straightened out." Jay paused and looked into Juan's eyes. "This much we've confirmed from INS records and travel visas. This next part is speculation, so you'll have to let us know if we've got it right. We have a feeling that someone contacted you and threatened to make sure that your mother and sister were deported unless you cooperated with them. Is that right?" he asked quietly. Juan shook his head slowly as tears gathered in his eyes. "It was more than that... they threatened to KILL them if I didn't do what they said. They had pictures of Mama and Rosita proving that they had someone following them. They gave me the flash drive, told me to make sure the data got into Mrs. Seldon's laptop and to download those personnel files and had me drop the flash drive in an envelope in the mailbox of a house on Dogwood Drive in Congress Heights the next day. So I did what they said and when they found out that I hadn't erased that date code, they grabbed me again and threatened to kill all of us if I ever talked! But I don't know what they think I could tell you! Both times I was abducted by surprise by a couple of men whose faces were covered and I couldn't recognize their voices because they spoke in these harsh whispers... I have no idea who they are or why they did this!" he cried in frustration. He paused as angry tears slid down his face, his breathing growing ragged as fear clutched at his gut. "All I'm afraid of now is that they'll come after me again and my family if they find out I've talked to you! Please... is there any way you can keep this from coming out?!!" he pleaded desperately. Brad answered, "We'll see what we can do, Juan. And if you've been telling us the truth, we'll protect your identity and see to it that your mother's and sister's immigration status is cleared. But if we find anything in your story that does not add up, we'll see that all three of you are sent back to Guatemala. Do you understand, son?" he asked seriously. The young man nodded his head quickly. "Yes... of course, but I swear to you... everything happened just as I said. And if they ever find out that I talked, I'll be asking you to send us back home... we'd probably be safer there!" When they released Juan Gutierrez, Lily Richards was waiting in the lobby at FBI headquarters and was briefly introduced to him. She shook his hand and smiled comfortingly at him before he left with Wayne Seldon to head back to the WJS building. Brad and Jay looked at her as Brad said, "Thanks for coming down, Lily. What did you get from him?" She frowned slightly as she replied, "He's trustworthy... and he's scared to death. Will what he told you help in the investigation?" Both men sighed heavily as they shook their heads. "Probably not," Jay responded. "Whoever has been threatening Juan and his family are probably only hired thugs by whoever is actually behind this and those thugs probably don't even know who hired them! Every new piece of information leads to nothing but dead ends. These are people who obviously know how to cover their tracks..." ********** That consortium of greedy government officials stepped up their efforts to terrorize anyone associated with the Seldons and EFF. The FBI had contacted EFF's scientists to be wary and on the lookout for anyone who appeared to be following them. They all changed their previous travel itineraries so they would not be easy to track and they were all trained in the use of a firearm, issued concealed carry permits and registered handguns for their protection. But somehow, in June, Tommy and Kira Seldon were traced to a small town in New Mexico. They were staying at a local motel while doing their air quality tests and collecting soil and water samples. Late one night, they were making love, unable to get to sleep because they knew what was coming... He kissed her softly and then said quietly, "Just remember... go for the head..." She nodded nervously. Tommy stared into Kira's deep green eyes as he fucked her slowly and deeply, noting that even as nervous as she was, she couldn't help responding to the feel of his cock inside her. Every nerve ending in his body was on alert... and it added to his excitement... the thought that in the midst of their tender lovemaking, their lives were about to be in danger... He could feel an orgasm building and he could see the fear in Kira's eyes being replaced by excitement as well. He prayed it would happen soon, before they both lost control... Then suddenly, everything happened exactly as they'd seen it in their dreams... Gifts of the Future Ch. 18 Kira's head turned toward the window of their motel room when she saw a shadow move outside. Their door was suddenly splintered by bullets and busted open as a dark figure burst through the doorway to the foot of their bed and pointed a machine gun straight at them. Their attacker froze for a moment, stunned at the fact that his victims were fucking away as if they hadn't even noticed his forceful entry... Tommy froze, his cock still buried inside his wife as he concentrated his mind elsewhere for a moment... The machine gun was suddenly ripped out of the man's hands by an unseen force as the woman on the bed started firing a .38 revolver she had clutched in her hand. His last thought as the first bullet struck his head was, "How did she know I'm wearing body armor?!!!" The gun dropped from Kira's hand and hit the floor by their bed; she was clinging to her husband's torso as he started fucking her hard and fast. The dark figure slid down the wall behind him to the floor leaving a horrible bloody smear. Tommy couldn't stop... both of them were about to come... the excitement of the life and death situation had driven them mad with passion! This was the only part they hadn't seen in their dreams... They both roared loudly as their orgasms exploded forcefully. They barely had time to recover before other patrons of the motel as well as the night manager started to show up, wondering what had happened... The FBI informed the local Sheriff that Tommy and Kira Seldon were not to be questioned once they'd given their statements of the incident. The Sheriff wouldn't have questioned them any way... other than the fact that the woman had managed to hit their attacker in the head with every shot when it was highly unlikely she could've realized the man was wearing body armor. That and the fact that the machine gun he'd been carrying was found all the way across the room from his body... This was the first dream in which Tommy and Kira had been able to see what went wrong and change the outcome before it came to pass. The first time, Kira didn't have the gun in her hand, it was in one of their bags and she'd barely had time to get to it before the man had fought Tommy off, recovered his machine gun and riddled their bodies with bullets! They'd both woken up screaming at seeing themselves killed... The next time, Kira had the gun in her hand and was able to fire a shot at their attacker, which knocked him back against the wall, but she'd made the mistake of firing only one shot. Again... they'd woken up screaming. The next night, she'd emptied the gun into the dark figure and that's when they'd realized their attacker was wearing body armor... But throughout all those dreams, the sex had never seemed as exciting as what they'd experienced when it actually happened. They were afraid to admit to anyone that they'd had the best sex of their lives while knowing they were about to kill another human being... that had to be evil in some way... ********** The government consortium's hired killers, who were under the direct influence of the dark forces, were nervous that the first couple of EFF scientists they'd managed to track down had taken out one of them as if they'd known he was coming! They refused to go after any more of the EFF scientists when they learned that they'd all been warned their lives might be in danger and had been armed by the FBI. So they turned their attentions to friends and family of the Seldons. They refused to go after any of the FBI agents or their families... that would've been just stupid. So they concentrated their efforts toward their family and friends in the private sector and chose their first victims who were likely the most vulnerable... But this time the government consortium decided to see if a direct message as to what they wanted would work without having to kill anyone... ********** Less than a week after Tommy and Kira had been attacked, he woke up from an evening nap, panting from another nightmare. He immediately grabbed his cell phone to call his cousin Lana, and when it went to her voice mail, he left a message asking her to call him back as soon as possible... Lana Seldon was leaving her nighttime job in an upscale D.C. restaurant and was headed for her car parked on a side street a few blocks away. She paused beside her car to answer her cell phone, but the ringing phone hit the pavement at her feet as she was grabbed from behind. The chloroformed rag shoved over her mouth and nose muffled her scream, and within a few seconds, her limp body was picked up and tossed into a dark van that casually drove away, crushing her cell phone under its wheels. They took her to an abandoned warehouse and dumped her on an old couch to wait for her to come around. The three men knew they were just supposed to scare her to death and deliver the message that she was to relay to her parents, but when they'd gotten a good look at her picture, they'd already decided that they were going to do more than just scare her... When Lana came to, she was wincing at the bright light shining directly in her face and the nasty chemical-like taste in her mouth. Then she became aware that her hands and feet were bound, her clothes were torn, she was partially naked... and her body was throbbing with pain between her legs. Even before she had time to be scared about where she was and what else was going to happen to her, she became enraged at realizing she'd been raped. She heard the noise of footsteps in the darkness all around her. "Who's there?!!" she grated angrily. "Who are you fuckin' bastards and what the hell do you want with me?!!" she spat bitterly. She growled when she heard them chuckling evilly and then one of them whispered harshly, "Oh, baby... how did you know that we wanted more than just that hot little virgin cunt of yours... heh, heh, heh..." he chuckled again. Lana was frustrated that she couldn't see any of their faces... they kept themselves hidden in the dark. If they would move just close enough so that she could look into their eyes, she might have a chance to figure out exactly what they wanted and get out of there with the knowledge of how to find them and the evidence to convict them... But they remained out of her sight. "Just tell me what the hell you want and let me go. I know you don't want me dead or I'd be dead already! So just say whatever the fuck it is you're supposed to tell me and let me get the hell away from you evil bastards!!! The smell of you is making me sick..." she grated. The same one whispered harshly again, "Yer a feisty little bitch, aren't ya?!! All right then... take this message back to your Mama and Daddy. They shut down EFF and destroy all test results or we start killin' off all their family and friends starting with you... You got that, bitch?" he growled quietly. She snorted angrily as she nodded her head, and before she realized it, one of them snuck up behind her and slapped a chloroformed rag over her face again. Lana struggled as hard as she could, but with her feet bound and her hands tied behind her, there was nothing she could do. The next thing she was aware of was waking up, lying on the ground in the backyard of a house in a neighborhood that appeared to be mostly abandoned. She wandered around until she saw an old black lady coming out of a house who very kindly let her use the phone to call the police and her parents and waited with her until they arrived. The police combed the neighborhood for evidence, but, as always, there were no traces. Even when Lana went to the hospital so they could gather DNA evidence from her body, there was nothing. The only consolation she'd gotten out of that was the fact that her attackers had used condoms so she wouldn't end up pregnant... Lana had told the police and the FBI the message that she was to deliver to her parents... that had not been a surprise. They'd already surmised that was the reason someone had tried to frame them for embezzlement in the first place and why they'd gone after Tommy and Kira! But they were attempting to kick it up a notch by showing the Seldons they could terrorize their family or friends at any time... All that did was piss everyone off... especially when they went after another family member and were nearly successful in killing her... A few days later, Sophia Estevez-Hanson was walking to her car parked near the Georgetown University campus. She was waving goodbye to some fellow classmates when they noticed her body suddenly jerk and fall backward. Her classmates rushed over to see blood spreading on the front of her shirt and they realized that she'd been shot... but none of them even heard a gunshot! They quickly dialed 911 and advised the operator to send an ambulance. Luckily, the nearest hospital was the one at which Charlie and Lily Richards and her husband J.J. worked. One of her classmates knew her husband was an intern at the hospital, so she dug Sophia's cell phone out of her purse, called up her list of phone numbers and dialed his cell. J.J. Hanson was just going on a break when his cell phone rang. He glanced at the caller I.D. and smiled when he saw it was his wife. "Hey, baby! I'm on break... wanna come join me for a little afternoon nookie?!!" he chuckled softly, and then sobered quickly when the voice that spoke wasn't Sophia's. "Dr. Hanson... I'm so sorry, but I'm one of Sophia's classmates here at Georgetown and I just wanted to let you know that... oh, gosh... this is so hard... Sophia's been shot! We don't even know how or by whom... but we've called for an ambulance and they'll be here as soon as possible, but... since you're a doctor, do you know of anything we should be doing to help her until they arrive?" J.J. had dropped onto a bench in the outside courtyard area and was trying to shake off his shocked daze and think about his wife's well being. He started asking questions to determine her condition. She was shot in the abdomen in the vicinity of her liver... which was bad... she had the potential for lots of internal bleeding as well as her liver having been damaged by the bullet. The bleeding from the bullet hole was slow... which was good. She was unconscious, so her heart was not beating too fast and pumping more blood than was necessary to fill her abdominal cavity too quickly. He told her classmate to just keep her calm if she regained consciousness and to keep a check on her pulse. If it started to speed up, she should let the ambulance crew know as soon as they arrived to check for internal bleeding and do whatever they could. J.J. was relieved when he heard sirens in the background on the phone, and he told her to have the EMT's transport her as quickly as possible. Then he paged Charlie and Lily to meet him at the ER ambulance entrance and called her parents and his to let them know what had happened. He and the Doctors Richards were waiting when she arrived about fifteen minutes later. Lily had already cleared an operating room and the surgical team was standing by. Lily and her team worked for several hours removing the bullet and trying to repair the damage to Sophia's liver, but she was afraid it was too severe and that within hours or days, her non-functioning liver would cause her other bodily systems to start shutting down. Lily and her surgical team did the best they could and then closed Sophia up... most of them thought all that was left to do was to notify her husband and her parents that they didn't expect her to survive... When Lily advised J.J., Didi, Jay, Rickie, Karen and Charlie that Sophia's prognosis was not good, J.J. glanced at Rickie and Karen, who nodded solemnly at him, so he looked at Charlie and held out his hand. Charlie pulled a capped syringe with some clear liquid in it out of his white coat pocket and handed to his young friend and colleague asking quietly, "Are you sure about this? We haven't tested this on any humans yet. We don't know if we'll get the same results and this formula is the only one that seems to be lasting so far and it's only been a month since we first tested it!" J.J. stared at him with tears in his eyes. I know... I've been going over all the research as you've done it. You heard what Lily said... she may have only hours or days and there's nothing else that can be done! I have to try... I'm not going to lose her if there is even the remotest possibility that this will work! Now... you're sure this is the human serum and not the one that was altered for rodent DNA?" he asked seriously. Charlie stared at him for a moment. "Of course it's the human formula... I wouldn't be stupid enough to make a mistake like that, knowing you'd kill me with your bare hands! So, if you're still sure, all you have to do is inject it into her IV... her circulatory system will distribute it throughout her body over the next few hours and we'll know within several hours whether it's working or not. And if it does, we'll have to convince everyone that we all prayed for a miracle and it was granted..." ********** Late that night, Sophia woke up to find her husband sitting next to her, hunched over with his head resting beside her left hand, which was clutched in his right hand. She lay there, blinking in confusion as she looked around trying to figure out how she'd ended up in the hospital when she didn't feel like anything was wrong with her... in fact, she felt downright healthy as a horse... and hungry as one as well! She frowned as she tried to recall what the last thing she remembered was... leaving class and heading for her car, waving to some of her friends and then... waking up here... at her husband's hospital?! She pulled her hand out of his tight grip and ran it through his tousled brown hair. "Hey... big man," she purred softly as she straightened his wild hair. "J.J., you rugged sleeping beauty... wake up!" she said a little louder, tugging on some strands. She chuckled when his head shot upward and he looked around sleepily for a moment until realization dawned. J.J. smiled slowly when he saw the grin on his wife's face. Her dark auburn hair was mussed slightly but she looked gorgeous... and there was no mistaking the twinkle of passion in her deep green eyes! She didn't look the least bit injured or sick... He jumped up and threw the blanket and sheet down to her feet and pulled her hospital gown up, staring at her naked torso... the first time that sight had not given him an instant hard-on! He gently removed the large bandage from her abdomen and stared at her perfect body in complete shock... there was not a scar anywhere on her!!! Sophia laughed softly and said, "Is that why you dragged me here to the hospital... because you wanted to play 'doctor' with me... Dr. Hanson?" she purred sexily. "All you had to do was ask... I don't know why you felt it necessary to knock me out somehow..." she ended with another laugh as she spread her legs invitingly. Then she noted the studious expression on her husband's face as his hands clinically roamed over her abdomen, kneading and prodding her gently, not even paying attention to the fact that her pussy and breasts were completely bared! She grew slightly irritated that he was staring at her as if she was one of his patients rather than his wife... whose body normally drove him wild whenever he saw her naked! "HEY J.J.!!!" she exclaimed in frustration, "Would you mind explaining to your wife exactly what's going on here?!" she cried as she pushed his hands away and covered herself with the ugly hospital gown as she sat up and tried to slide off the bed. She frowned at him when he wouldn't let her get up and kept her sitting on the edge. That's when she noticed the IV needle in her arm and she looked back at him in confusion again. He spoke gently so as not to scare her and watched her face as she struggled to recall anything of what he explained to her... it was obvious she had no recollection whatsoever. When he got to the part about using the experimental serum, her eyes widened when she realized she'd been right all along... Her classes in biology and chemistry had taught her the basics she'd needed to know and her superior brain had taken Charlie Richards' DNA research and concocted a way of taking the components of her husband's blood to formulate a serum containing his advanced DNA that would imbue other humans with his regenerative capabilities. The only problems had been in trying to figure out how to make the serum strong enough to repair very severe damage quickly enough and to continue working once introduced, rather than as just a one-time dose to repair someone who'd been injured... Sophia Estevez-Hanson agreed to stay at the hospital and "act" like she was recovering for several days. She was released when it was obvious to everyone that she was healing very well... her appetite had returned to normal and a nurse had very nearly caught she and J.J. about to have sex in her hospital bed! Dr. Hanson figured it was time for them to stop "playing" doctor... she was not his "naughty" patient, she was his very seductive wife and she was driving him insane with desire!!! He was going to find out just how well she'd recovered and another amazing side effect of the serum they'd developed... Gifts of the Future Ch. 19 "Perfect..." J.J. Hanson muttered as he trailed his lips over the creamy globes of his wife's breasts. They had always been so lusciously full but now they seemed even firmer... almost like she'd gotten breast implants only they still felt completely natural. Sophia writhed and cried out when he sucked her firm pink nipples into his mouth... she'd never reacted quite so forcefully to such stimulation before! "Oh God, J.J. ..." she breathed. "That feels so wonderful! Yes... keep doing that... it feels so good! Ohhhh my God!" she moaned, her back bowing upward... her hands slamming outward to the mattress on either side of her as he locked his lips around the tip of her breast and laved her nipple firmly. She came suddenly when he sucked hard as he slowly released her nipple from his mouth. J.J. watched Sophia's face as he slid his hand down and massaged her clit as her hips rocked from a deeply intense orgasm. Her head was thrown back and her mouth was wide open but no sounds were escaping other than a few tiny squeaks with her ragged breaths. Then she finally managed another breathy, "Ohhh my God..." as her climax ebbed. She felt her husband caressing her cheek as she struggled to breathe normally. Sophia could not remember ever having such an intense orgasm before... J.J. had always been able to get her off pretty quickly but they had always been more "localized" sensations. Clitoral orgasms made her whole pelvic area tingle nicely and when J.J. drove his huge cock against her g-spot... But never had her whole body felt like it was flowing with electric current... waves of tingling pleasure had radiated throughout her body... from sucking on her nipple!!! She'd never come from that before... except while she was straddling his lap riding his awesome dick... but she'd been about to come then any way! Sophia looked up at J.J. and smiled as he said huskily, "Boy... I don't think I've ever gotten you off quite that quickly before! What was so different about that?" he asked curiously. She shook her head slowly as she replied, "I don't know... everything just seems to feel a little more intense now. My breasts seem way more sensitive than they've been and I felt that orgasm all through my body! It was the most incredible thing I've ever felt!" she exclaimed softly, not remembering that was what she'd said the first time he'd made love to her... J.J. frowned. "Well gee... I'm sorry if I was a disappointment to you before..." he began sarcastically. "Damn it, J.J.!!! That's not what I meant!" she cried as she lifted up on her elbow to face him as he leaned next to her. "You know damn well I've never been disappointed... I'm just saying that all of a sudden, my body seems to feel everything even more intensely than I ever have! And if you think you've had a hard time keeping me from attacking you before..." She paused as she chuckled, "Heh, heh, heh... you're in BIG trouble now, mister!!!" she growled as she shoved him backward onto the bed and climbed on top of him. "You'd better hope that superior stamina of yours can keep up with me now, Dr. Hanson... if you've given me all your capabilities, we may never make it out of this bed!!!" J.J. growled as Sophia kissed her way down his body to lick, suck and stroke his superior shaft... she knew that sucking and stroking him almost to the point of orgasm and then backing off several times helped him to maintain his erection longer. And J.J. just loved to relish the feel of her mouth on him... She couldn't deep throat his enormous cock, but he loved watching the pleasure on her face as she dragged her tongue up all ten inches of his thick pole to wrap her lips over the huge head, swirl her tongue on it and then suck softly until he groaned with pleasure! J.J. was just like his Dad... he'd let his wife play with and suck his dick as long as she wanted... as long as he got her pussy, too! J.J., Tommy and Jonathan had joked all through their teen years about how often they'd caught their parents having sex! The only scary part had been that none of them were turned off by the thought of that... in fact, all of them had confessed to secretly watching their parents a few times and they'd actually gotten quite turned on... But all of them had admitted that they'd also witnessed the extraordinary emotions their parents shared when making love... that was how all of them had learned how sex was performed as well as the true joy of sharing it with their soul mate. J.J. had known since the moment Sophia started following him around like a puppy when they were little that she was meant for him. The only thing J.J. had felt guilty about was the fact that Sophia had managed to seduce him into taking her virginity when she was only sixteen! And it was all Nuri and Jasmine's fault! After they'd shared the story of their wild New Year's Eve at the beginning of 2000, Sophia had been all over him every time they were alone... Just how much was a nineteen-year-old extremely healthy and virile young man supposed to be able to withstand from a young gorgeous, voluptuous redhead with seductive deep green eyes?!! He'd tried pleading with her to be reasonable because he'd wanted to wait until she was of legal age before fully claiming her body... but she'd argued away his reason... "J.J. ...do you love me?" "You know I do!" "And you plan on marrying me, right?" "When the time is right... yes! But that won't be until..." She'd cut him off. "Do you believe that I love you?" "Yes... of course! But what does this have to do with..." "Just shut up and answer my questions! Do you want me? Forget I asked that... I can tell you want me..." she'd purred as she stroked his huge, hard cock through his slacks as she was straddling his lap on her knees. Then she'd taken his hand and guided it up under her skirt and into her panties... he'd groaned and hissed as his cock throbbed when his fingers delved into her hot, wet flesh... eliciting a soft moan from her as well. "And I don't need to convince you any further that I want you... now do I?" she'd murmured huskily as she pumped herself on his fingers. "I'm on birth control pills... Mom put me on them last year when I told her that I was going to wear you down until you finally realized that my age has nothing to do with my level of maturity, responsibility and intelligence! So I outscored you on an IQ test... I'm sorry if that was a blow to your ego! We've seen each other completely naked... you've had your mouth and hands all over my body... I've had my mouth and hands all over yours!!! What on earth makes it seem so much more different to put your cock up my pussy and fuck me until you come rather than let me do that with my mouth and hands?!!" she'd asked in exasperation. And that's when he'd fallen right into her trap... J.J. had gotten angry with her for using such explicit language and making it sound like it was nothing but sex... "DAMN IT, SOPHIA!!!" he'd roared at her as he'd pulled his hand away from her crotch and grasped her upper arms to shake her slightly. "This is NOT just about sex for me!!! I WANT to make love to you! I LOVE YOU AND I DO NOT WANT TO USE YOU JUST FOR SEX!!!" He'd stopped abruptly when he saw tears gather in her eyes. She'd grasped his face in her hands and cried, "But isn't that exactly what you've been doing... what WE'VE been doing? That is just SEX... I'm tired of just having sex with you! I want you... no... I NEED you to make love to me..." she'd whispered desperately and then kissed him tenderly, deepening it as she'd felt his last shred of resistance crumble in the face of her logical argument. He'd been so afraid of hurting her when he took her virginity. Sophia looked so small in comparison to him... she was only five feet, five inches tall with a small frame even though she was curvaceous. J.J. was over a foot taller, solidly built and muscular, weighing over twice as much as she! He'd been afraid of crushing her as well as ripping her apart... he'd been convinced there was no way she could handle all of his monster cock! But when he realized that she'd taken over half of his thick shaft before he'd encountered her maiden barrier, he was pretty sure she'd be able to take all of him. She'd grabbed his ass and helped him thrust his way past her hymen to bury his huge cock fully inside her. They'd both groaned... he with pleasure... she from the initial pain that had gradually turned to throbs of pleasure as he'd held her and kissed her deeply while still buried inside her. A thrill of pure excitement filled Sophia every time she recalled the way her cunt had molded to J.J.'s huge cock the first time he entered her! And when he started to move inside her, she could feel every part of her being stimulated by every thick inch of his magnificent cock! She did have to be careful at what angles he fucked her... if she lifted her legs too high, she could feel him pounding on her cervix and that wasn't very comfortable! But when he took her from behind, slamming that big pole against her g-spot... she couldn't help but scream from the intensity! Their first time had been the tenderest lovemaking they'd shared... both of them had shed tears over how surprisingly awesome it had felt to have their bodies so intimately connected. From then on, their wild desire for each other had driven their passion higher and higher each time they'd shared themselves. Sophia had done her best to wear J.J. out every time, but his physical stamina made him a tireless sex machine. It didn't matter how many times she was able to make him come... no more than fifteen minutes later, he could be up and ready for action again! And now Sophia was threatening that she felt as though she'd acquired his stamina through the serum they'd developed from his DNA... and it was true!!! The two of them went at each other like animals for hours... she could come whenever she wanted and he could last as long as he wanted! A few minutes of rest and a drink of water after his orgasms and they were good to go... But after a while, it became less and less about the intense sex and more about sharing themselves again... their hearts and souls... something they'd almost forgotten how to do since that first time. And since the serum had also heightened Sophia's physical responses, she realized that slow, intimate lovemaking added even more to her emotional response... Which triggered even more of an emotional response for J.J. He did not like feeling as though he was nothing but a sex machine... but as busy as both of them had been while in college and his first years of med school, they hadn't had much time to share anything more than quick, hot, lustful fucks! The times they were able to share intimate foreplay and slow, sweet lovemaking were few and far between... They made a real effort to change that when they faced the reality that someone had attempted to murder Sophia right after Lana had been raped and threatened and the attempted murders of Tommy and Kira. Everyone started to realize that whoever was behind all of this was probably not going to stop until they achieved their goal... ********** At the beginning of July 2005, Crystal Seldon announced to her husband's Senate Subcommittee that EFF was shutting down its operations since most of their scientific research thus far was proving inconclusive. The subcommittee members knew the real reason... they had agreed it was for the protection of Senator Seldon and his family and friends that they go along with the ruse. The reality was that the Earth Friendly Futures organization was going underground. All of the scientists had agreed that they wanted to continue their research but they didn't want everyone's lives to be in danger, either. They'd been able to collect all the samples they'd needed during their year and a half or so of traveling in their regions... all they needed now was the testing equipment Crystal had already purchased and a secure facility in which to conduct the tests. Wayne and Jada Seldon had some unused space in the WJS building, so all of the equipment was secretly brought in and the scientists gradually started to arrive during the next several weeks. The FBI had placed security and surveillance equipment all around WJS to monitor whether anyone got nosy about what was going on. The FBI was convinced that there was a conspiracy to halt EFF's efforts for whatever reason but they simply hadn't the resources to do a full investigation while trying to protect the Seldons and their family and friends. That was why they'd agreed to Tommy and Jay's suggestion that they make it look like EFF was dissolved while helping them set up secret funding and facilities. Everyone began to breathe a little easier during the rest of that summer as EFF got on with their research when there were no further attacks or attempts on anyone's lives. And the scientists had noted during the summer of 2005 that the climate seemed to be on a wild swing... the Atlantic was having one of it's most active hurricane seasons ever! At the end of August, disaster struck the Gulf Coast of the U.S. Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans and much of the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coasts... giving OPEC just the excuse they needed to force the U.S. to drive the price of gas higher than it had ever been! OPEC had been telling the government all along that they would not be happy until Americans were content to pay at least $3 or more per gallon... Not long after Katrina hit, the Norths and the Madanis made a surprise trip from Saudi Arabia to visit with their families and friends so everyone could finally meet Karida and the newest additions... nine-month-olds Asim and Michael. Jonnie and Megan North felt an instant kinship with their daughter and especially with their grandson! Little Asim was just like his Daddy... the happiest and most loving little boy! And Charlie and Lily Richards couldn't stop fawning all over their grandson... baby Michael knew just how to wrap them around his tiny fingers! Charles and Diana Richards couldn't get over the fact that they now had two great-grandchildren... although they were gently reminded that little Asim was technically Tom Seldon's great-grandson as well. All of the older generation had also come to visit for a few days. Jonnie North, Brad Seldon and Jay Hanson had called a "special meeting"... because of the main reason Nuri and Jasmine and Jonathan and Karida had made the trip. Nuri and Jonathan had learned from the Sheikh that there had not been enough dissenters among the ranks of the OPEC ministers to give up their "master plan." They were going to continue pressuring the U.S. government and oil companies to cooperate in driving up the price of gas. They were actively supporting terrorist activities whenever and wherever possible and they were amassing and stockpiling as much gold as they could. Their goal was to ruin the economies of all the leading world powers, move in, take over those countries and turn the whole planet into the United Islamic World... they actually believed it could be done. Their Army of Enlightenment would be told to slaughter everyone who would not swear to convert and uphold the Shari'a laws of Islam. Children would not need to be slaughtered... their minds could easily be turned to see that, according to Muhammad, it was what Allah had intended all along... Islam was the one and only true religion... all others were to be abolished! The OPEC ministers were setting themselves up as the protectors of Shari'a law... many of them were Ulema and they intended to be both the Religious and Governmental leader in whatever region of their United Islamic World they chose. Whatever they decreed would be done... faithful followers of Shari'a law would never dare to question an Ulema or Imam... whatever they said was sure to have come from the Qu'ran... the true words of Allah! But the OPEC ministers could care less about the true words of Allah... all they wanted was to control all of the power in the world... the rest of the inhabitants of the planet would merely be their slaves to do whatever they bid! As long as they could continue to enforce the belief that their words were law... no one could question them! That was why they were busy gathering up people they knew they could trust to support them when the time came to put their plan into action... And everything OPEC had been forcing for the last thirty years was playing right into the plan of the dark forces... which was why those environmental research tests had to be stopped. The dark forces knew that the end was closer than the humans could've possibly realized... Except for the "chosen ones"... ********** By the end of 2005, the Islamic Organization for Peace and Freedom had spread the word through millions of peaceful Muslims and the rest of the world that was seeking peace what OPEC was planning. That news had swelled the ranks of the IOPF to include so many people of different nationalities and religions that they had changed their name to the "International" Organization for Peace and Freedom! They had thousands of gatherings at least once a month in just about every country in the world so they could pass along news of known terrorist activities. All communication was either by cell phone, satellite phone, encrypted e-mails and secret messages on some benign "blog" sites that Wayne and Jada had created regarding computer technologies. But the organization had managed to remain even more secretive than the Free Masons! Everyone understood that the key to their success or failure depended solely upon the element of surprise they would need when the time came to halt the destructive path down which OPEC was leading their world... And the IOPF also knew that another key element to their success were the thousands among their ranks who possessed certain "abilities"... others had started to refer to them as the "Mustafa"... or "chosen ones." Those members were among the most trusted... they'd demonstrated time and again over the years that they'd never abuse their special "gifts"... ********** At the beginning of 2006, thousands of devout Muslim pilgrims began to wonder if their traditional ideology was at odds with what Allah had originally intended. Every year during the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar, Dhu-al-Hijjah, millions of Islamic faithful would converge on the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca in order to perform the "hajj"... the holy pilgrimage expected of every able-bodied Muslim who could afford to do it at least once in their lifetime. In order to keep up appearances, Yosef and Nuri Madani and Jonathan North, alias Habib Hassan, had made plans to travel to Mecca to participate in the pilgrimage. Little did they know the potential dangers they were facing until Jonathan received a call from Tommy and Kira Seldon. They called to warn their friends it was not a good year to perform the hajj, so they canceled their trip... Near the beginning of the pilgrimage, a hotel in Mecca collapsed killing 76 pilgrims and a week later, a stampede in the city of Mina a few miles from Mecca during the "Stoning of the devil" ritual killed another 362 pilgrims. And things like that happened almost every year during the holy pilgrimage... some began to wonder if it was Allah expressing displeasure for some reason... But the radicals proclaimed the "accidents" that kept occurring over the centuries of the hajj were the work of Satan. Only the truly obedient followers of Islam would risk their lives to undertake the holy pilgrimage in honor of Muhammad and in worship of Allah. To be killed while performing the rituals of the hajj was as high an honor as hijacking a plane and crashing it... strapping on a bomb or driving a bomb-laden vehicle into a highly crowded area to take out as many enemy infidels as possible. The rewards in the afterlife would be well worth forfeiting their mortal existence... Gifts of the Future Ch. 19 ********** It wasn't until they were dead that those faithful "radical" Muslims learned there was no automatic entrance into a paradise where 72 beautiful virgins were waiting for them... They were sucked into the black void that was the barrier between the dark forces and the realm of light where The Guardians existed... the void where they waged their battles over the destruction of that world and the universe... Every soul was transported to that void upon death. Those souls who'd always followed paths of light were allowed whenever they were ready to go on to a place of peace where they would exist however they wished as long as the universe existed... It was a place of great wonder where there was no need for rules or laws because there was no violence... there was no need for violence. Every being had the same powers and capabilities... they could go wherever they wanted... be whatever they wanted... do whatever they wanted... Paradise was however each soul defined it... and they could change it at will... Those souls that had been under the direct influence of the dark forces were given the chance to see the truth. If they accepted the challenge to stand alone against the dark forces and were victorious once they understood how they'd succumbed to their influence, they were offered the chance to join The Guardians... It was not a requirement for souls to join The Guardians if they survived their battle with the dark forces. If they were victorious, they were given the choice to join The Guardians or to return to a mortal existence. If they chose to return to their world, it was with the understanding that they would not retain anything they had learned in their previous life or in the afterlife. As long as they were able to improve upon their previous life, their soul was allowed to continue to return as many times as they wished... Those souls that lost their battle with the dark forces were consumed by them... for they had not seen the simple truth of how to defeat them... The truth was so simple that even children understood and were easily able to defeat the dark forces... nor did it require physical strength... The ones who refused to battle the dark forces had to remain in that void and try to survive on their own during the frequent but brief violent battles... They could change their decision at any time whenever they believed they were ready... but they could not leave that void until they proved one way or the other whether or not they understood that ultimate, simple truth... ********** Not long after the disasters during the hajj in Mecca, Jasmine Madani and Karida North-Hassan found themselves in a dangerous situation... Yosef, Nuri and Jonathan were traveling with their boss and the women needed to do some shopping in Riyadh, so Yosef's father agreed to escort them into the city while Nuri's mother and grandmother watched the boys, Michael and Asim. It was a relief to the ladies to retreat to their section of the mall and discard their abayas and veils for a while to mingle with other women as they did their shopping. At the appointed time, they met up with the elder Madani so he could escort them to the vehicle and drive them home. When they turned onto the road off of the main highway that led to the Madani compound, they didn't notice that a vehicle was following them... until they got further out of the city where there was less traffic. Fu'ad Madani kept watching the vehicle behind him and he didn't like that it was staying so close. He started to breathe a little easier when the vehicle pulled out to pass him, but then he almost panicked when it pulled in front of him and the driver suddenly slammed on brakes... he had no choice but to do the same. Before they realized what was happening, two men were out of the vehicle, one opened the driver's door and slammed the butt of a rifle into Fu'ad's head, knocking him unconscious. Then he moved to the back door, opened it and grabbed Karida as the other man was dragging Jasmine out of the passenger side back seat. The women were so stunned and scared for Fu'ad that they didn't know how to react... Jasmine and Karida were forced into the other vehicle at gunpoint and told in Arabic to cooperate or their family would suffer the consequences. The two women huddled together as they could both feel the evil thoughts and deeds that were swirling in the minds of the three men in the vehicle. They were all wishing to have their way with the two women but Karida could tell that some minor fear was holding them back... She and Jasmine discovered what that fear was when the vehicle pulled up to an elaborate palace on the other side of the city. They were forced out of the vehicle and taken into one of the lavish private suites inside and presented to the host... Their "host" turned out to be one of the newer OPEC ministers, a wealthy younger Sheikh whom they'd briefly met once several months back at a dinner with their husbands' boss. This Sheikh had instantly fallen under the spell of lust as soon as he'd seen Jasmine and Karida and he'd had some of his men watching them whenever he knew their husbands were gone. He had "stolen" the women and was going to force them to become his concubines. Their husbands would no longer want them once they were presented with evidence showing how their wives had submitted to another man... And the Sheikh was sure it would be easy to seduce the women... he was, after all, a very handsome, virile and rich man... Two of the Sheikh's guards remained in the suite to witness the debauchery... one of them was armed with a digital video camera. Jasmine and Karida glanced about nervously as they tried to figure out what to do. It was not immediately apparent to them what was happening... until the Sheikh stood up and dropped the robe he was wearing, standing in front of them completely naked, proudly displaying his hard cock as he smiled and said, "Welcome, beautiful women. Do you like what you see?" The two women gasped and jerked in surprise when the situation suddenly became clear. They stared at each other and quickly formulated a plan. Jasmine would have to make the first move... She and Karida removed their hijabs and veils, uncovering their heads completely. The Sheikh smiled wider at the looks of feigned interest on their faces while his guards gasped at the boldness of the women. Jasmine slowly moved toward the Sheikh, staring into his eyes and trying not to shudder at the waves of lust she felt radiating from him. He was not a purely evil man, but his heart was filled with lust... and she needed to fill him with another more powerful emotion. She stopped right in front of him and watched the lust deepen in his eyes when she carefully wrapped her hand around his hard cock... Then she suddenly sprang into action. The Sheikh's eyes nearly bulged out of his head and a thick fog of fear dissipated his lust when Jasmine tightly gripped both his cock and the front of his neck, using her mental ability to completely cut off his airway and threaten his manhood. Karida fed off of the Sheikh's fear and directed her mental blasts at the two guards until they fled, but not before dropping their guns and the video camera as she mentally suggested. She had heightened their own fears to the point that they were about to wet themselves... Then she turned the full force of his fear back on the Sheikh as she joined Jasmine in front of him with the guns and the camera, which had been recording the whole time. The man was trembling, barely able to breathe and was sure that he was about to be castrated... Jasmine hissed quietly in Arabic, "No, we do not like what we see, you evil pig!!! And when our husbands learn of this, you will be a dead man!!! Unless you want us to kill you right here and now..." The man's head shook with terrified spasms. It hadn't taken him long at all to realize that he'd lusted after the wrong two women! He quickly confessed to the whole thing and that his men had lied when they'd told them their family was in danger if they didn't cooperate. He agreed to return them to their home and they kept the recording of the incident... threatening him that they'd make it public if he tried anything like that ever again... on any woman! Jasmine and Karida were thankful that Fu'ad was not seriously injured. Their neighbors on the same road had found him just before they got back and one of them had kindly driven his car home and helped him inside. Fu'ad and his wife Fatima and daughter Salihah were just about to call the Saudi police when the two young women returned. They were all so happy to see them alive that they almost forgot to ask them what had happened. Jasmine and Karida told them that someone else on the road had witnessed the incident, followed them and rescued them nearly the same way... by forcing the vehicle to run into them. In the confusion of the accident, they managed to escape and one of their "mysterious" rescuers escorted them home... Yosef, Nuri and Jonathan were fit to be tied when the women called and told them what had happened. The older Sheikh cut their trip short when he learned that the younger men's wives had been threatened. Their boss had been confiding with them about OPEC's dealings, but he did not know that Nuri and Jonathan... or Habib... and their wives were CIA operatives. Their boss no longer wanted to go along with OPEC's plans, but if he expressed his open disagreement, his life would be in danger and they all knew it. So he was only pretending to go with the flow... of oil... and money... and power... but he was frightened of the course they were on. And the Madanis and Habib had sworn to protect him and get him out of it if anything ever went wrong... ********** Nuri and Jonathan got a kick out of watching the video of their wives rescuing themselves! It was perfectly shot... their faces were never seen even after they'd removed their head coverings. However, there was a perfect shot of the full frontal nudity of the Sheikh, so there was no mistaking his identity. And when Jasmine had grasped his cock, it was not apparent what she was doing... the Sheikh's eyes had been full of lust the whole time! So when his eyes bulged, it looked like it was only because she was choking him... And nothing was shown of Karida's face when she'd turned on the guards. They had been so stunned by sudden fear that the one with the camera had immediately dropped it... all that was seen for a few moments after that was scurrying feet! Then Karida had aimed the camera directly at the Sheikh's face when Jasmine had threatened him and he'd confessed to the whole thing... The men had busted out laughing when the Sheikh whimpered as Jasmine released his throat and the camera lowered to focus on the urine dripping from his limp cock... Nuri and Jonathan told their wives how proud they were... even they'd had to admit that the Sheikh was a fine specimen of a man. Handsome... well built... well hung... very powerful and very, very rich! And he'd wanted their wives... but they had turned him down in no uncertain terms! Jasmine and Karida glanced at each other and smirked. They both walked up to their husbands and kissed them softly and then Jasmine said matter-of-factly, "Well... it was the only way we could handle the situation since it was being recorded!" The two women chuckled when they glanced at each other again and Karida said, "Yeah... it's too bad, too." She paused and they chuckled harder when their husbands looked confused for a moment and she added sexily, "If that man had only wanted a private threesome, we might've gone for that!" Jasmine and Karida shrieked with laughter when their husbands looked indignant for a moment until they realized it was a joke! Then the men smirked as they bent down and threw their wives over their shoulders, spanked their asses soundly and carried them off to their bedrooms... Nuri and Jonathan had no trouble reminding their wives that no other man would ever be able to satisfy them the way they could... And their wives had no trouble proving to them that it was because there was no other man they could ever love... ********** Jasmine and Karida had unknowingly been tested. Some of the OPEC ministers were suspicious that the two women just seemed too "perfect"... They were too beautiful and too smart and they seemed too chaste... not at all like typical... women. They had to be flawed in some way... they were women! They were sure if they were enticed in the right way, by the right man... they'd give in to their naturally sinful natures... That Sheikh had eagerly volunteered for that mission... fully believing that he'd prove irresistible to those sensual creatures. He could tell by the way they interacted with their husbands that they were very sexual... constantly enticing their men with "come hither" looks. It had been the biggest shock of his life to suddenly find himself at their mercy... and having no idea how they'd done it! He wasn't about to admit to the other ministers that two women had almost castrated him and killed him... and scared the piss out of him... literally... He informed the other ministers that the two women were beyond reproach... they'd kill themselves before they'd let any man other than their husbands touch them. He convinced the ministers that he'd actually had to stop them from committing suicide when they believed they were about to be raped... It convinced all of them that the women's beliefs must be strong within them and that Allah had blessed them... They had just done Allah a great service... by proving that He'd truly blessed two women who actually deserved His blessings... The OPEC ministers were actually starting to believe that perhaps Allah WAS blessing their vision, even though they had not hatched it because they truly believed Islam was the one and only true religion... they just wanted that feeling of absolute power over the entire planet... And dark forces figured at the rate they were going, they might have that power for about... two days... Gifts of the Future Ch. 20 The scientists of Earth Friendly Futures were working as fast as they could to complete tests on the soil and water samples they'd gathered from around the U.S. during 2004 and 2005. Then they started on samples that were being sent to them from other environmentalists around the world through the IOPF. Most of the next few years would be spent doing nothing but testing and analyzing and comparing the results of the analyses with test results from as far back as they could find records. The initial findings were not good... the results the EPA had hoped to achieve with the regulations they had imposed on industrial chemical and fossil fuel emissions over the last thirty years had not been realized. Air, soil and water quality in areas heavily populated and surrounded by industrial emissions and runoff was even worse than when EPA regulations had been imposed. Nothing had improved... everything was worse. Which must've meant that either none of the EPA's regulations had been enforced or were just ineffective and the test results they'd gotten over the years had to have been falsified... And the test results from other parts of the world were no better. All of the scientists and all of the environmentalists who'd been pushing for years to make everyone understand that they were literally "killing" the planet, were shocked to find that almost everything they'd tried to do had been undermined. Most of their work and their suggestions for halting the destruction of the environment had been thwarted... It was no wonder the climate changes were getting worse and worse every year... including volcanic and seismic activity! The planet itself was probably trying to destroy this infestation of human parasites... We were sucking it dry... killing all the vegetation by contaminating the ground with nuclear waste and non-degradable petroleum by-products... clogging the air with toxic chemicals and carbon emissions and poisoning the waters with industrial waste. The Garden of Eden would not be restored... ********** By the end of 2006, so many environmentalists were pushing the issue that the U.S. government finally had to act like it was paying attention. All of a sudden, they made it sound like they were ready to jump on the "green technology" bandwagon and they were going to push whatever they could to start saving the environment. They started talking about looking more into the possibility of investing federal funds in solar and wind power technology. There was talk of setting up huge solar arrays in desert regions and erecting wind turbine farms in many areas, especially coastal areas that benefited from steady ocean breezes... until some rich, snotty bastards started yelling nimby... not in my back yard!!! And some filmmaker had made an independent expose' on what had happened to the EV-1 electric vehicle, posing the question, Who Killed The Electric Car? Megan Richards-North had so wanted to be involved with that film, but she could not in light of her husband's position with the FBI. But she had made sure to anonymously pass along all the information she had dug up over the years... Interestingly enough, no automakers even brought up the idea of bringing back an all-electric vehicle. They were only coming out with hybrids... gasoline engines with electric/battery back-up power sources, which gave slightly better fuel-efficiency and slightly less emissions. Megan still smelled the putrid, oily fumes of OPEC's control... Over the next few years, the IOPF continued to thwart as many of the planned major terrorist activities they could without tipping off OPEC that most of their terrorist cells were being monitored from the inside. The only thing that was frustrating OPEC was the fact that every single major strike they tried to plan against U.S. and other major world targets were always discovered before they could pull them off... And that's when they made their most crucial mistake... they pressured their U.S. government contacts to start leaking intelligence from the various investigative branches. That way OPEC figured they would be able to learn how the CIA and the FBI were discovering their plans and how they were being thwarted. The first few times some Senators and Congressmen requested intel information, no one thought anything about it. But when some IOPF members reported to their CIA contacts that the information was being discussed among some terrorist cells several weeks later, the Agencies sat up and paid attention. It had alerted the U.S. intelligence community to the fact that some government officials may have leaked the information... Anyone who had requested the intel reports were immediately put under surveillance by the FBI. Phones were tapped, cell phones were traced, calls were recorded and many of them were followed. By the end of 2008, there were at least 12 known U.S. Senators and Congressmen who were in direct contact with members of OPEC from time to time. But the requests for further digging into other means of communications between them were denied. There was no apparent cause for alarm... most of those U.S. government officials had participated in many talks and negotiations with the members of OPEC over the years. There were any number of reasons why they would still be in touch... keeping the lines of communication open in order to ensure friendly relations, for one. However, a couple of the Senators had no known reasons to be in contact with anyone from OPEC... So why were they? The Senator from New York claimed that she'd met one of the ministers on a diplomatic tour of Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion had ended in 2003 and they'd been in friendly contact ever since. The Senator from Michigan had a similar plausible explanation. And none of the phone calls between the U.S. officials and their OPEC contacts had included any discussions of the intel information. They'd just sounded like friendly conversations in which they'd all joked about how it was time for OPEC to stabilize the price of gas again... which they did during 2009 when the U.S. and several other large national economies were on the verge of collapse due to a banking industry crisis. But OPEC had done that only to lull the U.S. and other world leaders into trusting them. The price of oil had been so high ever since Hurricane Katrina had struck that OPEC was raking in billions and they had managed to amass over half of the world's supply of gold as well as some of the massive debts of the U.S. and other first-world nations whose economies were in turmoil. While the cost of oil dropped again and stabilized during 2009, the cost of gold was spiking and the ministers were advising those governments suffering massive deficits to put their cash reserves into gold in order to recoup their country's monetary value. Once those countries started trying to amass gold reserves again, it would drive the price even higher and that's when OPEC would flood the market with their huge stockpile, causing the value of gold to tumble and virtually bankrupt most of the world's leading economic nations... When Yosef, Nuri and Jonathan learned of this from the Sheikh, they decided it was time to alert the U.S. government and the other leading nations as to OPEC's "master plan"... At the end of 2009, the IOPF was planning a massive coordinated worldwide covert operation. They were going to "visit" the leaders of the major world nations and "enlighten" them as to how naïve they'd been for far too long... ********** The weeks leading up to December 28th were busy for all of the "chosen ones," for they would be the leaders of these covert operations. Their special "abilities" would be instrumental in ensuring the success of the missions and ninja-style uniforms with head coverings and the special dark night-vision glasses that the IOPF had acquired would protect their identities. Senior FBI Coordinator and Instructors Jonnie North, Brad Seldon and Jay Hanson had gathered up the necessary information to formulate the plan for intercepting the President while he was in Hawaii for the holidays. They had accessed the security details for the location of the home where the President and his family would be staying. The North, Seldon, Hanson and Richards families had rented a large estate near that property for the holidays from which to launch the mission. Jonnie and Megan, Brad and Barbie, Jay and Didi and Charlie and Lily would stay on the estate premises only as back ups if anything went wrong. Their kids would be carrying out the mission but they would be monitoring everything that happened. Everyone had agreed that Robbie, Crystal and Lana and Wayne and Jada Seldon would not be involved in any way for their protection and that of EFF. Lana had been upset that she was held back. She'd been in training ever since she was raped... to learn how to fight with her body as well as her mind. She was involved with IOPF like everyone else and had wanted to help with the mission. A few nights before everyone was scheduled to leave for Hawaii, she was having another one-on-one session with the man who'd been teaching her combat fighting techniques for the past four years. He was a former Navy SEAL but had been working as one of the physical training instructors at the FBI Academy for the past several years and was great friends with her Uncle Brad, also an Academy instructor. He was a very compassionate and understanding man and he'd offered his services to Lana when he'd seen how angry, frightened and confused she'd felt after her abduction and rape. He'd helped her to channel her feelings into her physical training... he'd helped her to heal... and he'd made her feel safe again. He was about 40 and had never been married... and Lana had been in love with him for the past three years... but too afraid to tell him because she didn't think he felt the same. She'd tried to compel him to show her how he felt but he either didn't feel the same way about her or his mind was too strong for her to penetrate. Most of the time, she could not read his thoughts and he never acted upon her "nudges" to kiss her or touch her when she thought she saw what looked like desire in his dark eyes... Lana let her disappointment and anger over both her instructor's disinterest and her inability to be involved in the upcoming mission rage through her fighting exercise. He came at her in a full frontal assault and at the last second, she bent down and used his own momentum to flip him over flat on his back and then dropped right on top of him, landing a hard blow to his solar plexus with her elbow. Alex Jones was stunned momentarily when his beautiful blonde student with the slight frame but well-toned muscles knocked the wind out of him. He always tended to forget how strong she was when he was staring into those gorgeous aqua green eyes. Especially when he kept imagining that he could hear her voice inside his head saying things that he'd wished she would say for real... I know you want to... why won't you kiss me? I've wanted you for so long... don't you want me, too? Please... kiss me... touch me... make love to me... I love you, Alex... I need you... But the only words that came out of her mouth were words of teasing seduction as she'd grown to trust him and to be comfortable with him... "Oops... I've made your cock hard again, teach... What's the matter... not getting laid enough? I could help you out... I haven't had a good fuck in a while either! But then... I wouldn't know what a good fuck is... the only time I ever got fucked I was out cold... but the bastards told me I had a nice tight pussy... wanna find out for yourself, teach? Come on... I know you want me..." It was getting harder and harder to ignore his feelings for her. In the beginning it had been easy... it had been only an instant physical attraction for him. But she was so young and had been through such a traumatic experience... he could not have taken advantage of her that way. But over the years, she'd shown him what a strong person she was, both physically and emotionally... and his physical attraction had grown into a deep respect and love for her. But there was another consideration that held him back. He was a man in love with a much younger woman... even though most people accepted that as perfectly normal, he felt uncomfortable for some reason. Because of what she'd been through, he was afraid that her crush on him was just because he was the first man outside of her family and close friends that she'd been able to trust. He just couldn't take advantage of such a young, vulnerable woman... He'd had plenty of relationships with women his own age during his life... girlfriends from his old neighborhood as he was growing up... female military personnel and officers during his time as a SEAL... professional career women over the last several years. They'd all had their own strengths and weaknesses and he'd admired them for their beauty or their brains or their drive or their sheer lust for life. But none of them had made him feel as if they needed him... and he needed to be... needed. And Lana Seldon didn't exactly "need" him either... she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She'd just proven that by throwing him on his ass and knocking the wind out of him! He was still gasping for breath when she scrambled up and then noticed that he really was in pain. She knelt down beside him with a stricken expression as she cried, "Oh God, Alex! I'm sorry... I didn't mean to hurt you!" I love you! Why can't I make you see that?!! I know you want me... why won't you just admit it?!! He felt slightly dizzy as he imagined hearing her voice inside his head again. He stared into her concerned eyes and grasped her right hand on his cheek as he felt his diaphragm relaxing so that he could suck air into his lungs again. As soon as he started to recover, he reminded her that she'd let her guard down... Lana gasped when Alex pulled her on top of him and then immediately flipped them over to pin her beneath him... her wrists trapped by his strong hands and his hard body completely on top of hers. She was at his mercy... exactly where she wanted to be. She managed to wriggle her legs outside of his by thrusting her pelvis against his... trying not to smile when he jerked his hips back and hissed quietly. His cock had hardened and he was trying to hide that from her. She wrapped her legs around his and ground her mound against the hard bulge in his sweat pants. "What's the matter, teach?" she teased seductively. "Haven't been getting laid enough lately?!! I'm sorry that your body can't help responding to mine. You know... if you're that hard up to get laid, I could use a good fuck myself... what d'ya say, teach? Aren't you getin' tired of whackin' off in the shower after our workouts?!! I can't tell you how many times I've fantasized about suckin' that big cock for you while watching you jerk off..." "DAMN IT, LANA!!!" he roared as he rolled off of her, stood up and stalked away, still panting heavily. The workout had increased his flow of endorphins, which had heightened his desire for her. She'd stated that she wanted to experience sex with someone she trusted and she'd asked that of him... she'd been trying to seduce him ever since and he wanted her to stop... He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, and then whirled around, moved swiftly toward her and captured her left hand, pressing it firmly to his throbbing dick confined in the jockstrap inside his sweat pants. He scowled down into her aqua green eyes that were wide with a mixture of surprise and lust. "I know what you want, Lana," he growled quietly. "You've just been dyin' to find out how hot it would make you feel to suck my big cock and to watch your tight little pussy get fucked by my big dick... is that it?!! Isn't that what you've been wanting, my little warrior princess?!!" he spat out the endearment, pissed as he was at her for making him force her to admit that was all she wanted from him. Lana gasped at the anger in his voice... but the expression in his dark eyes held more than just anger. There was another emotion she couldn't quite recognize... it almost looked like... regret. But he still wanted her, too. Her desire responded to that and her hand on his crotch tightened as she slid it down and cupped his tightly confined balls with her fingers. She moaned softly when he closed his eyes and elicited another controlled hiss. When his eyes opened again, the regret was more pronounced as he removed her hand from his crotch and backed away. "I'm sorry, Lana... I shouldn't have done that. But you've got to stop teasing me, baby girl. I can't take but so much and I won't take inappropriate liberties with one of my students. Now... promise me that you will stop this teasing, because if you don't, I will have no choice but to terminate our sessions. So... what's it gonna be, baby girl?" he asked as he stared at her. Tears filled Lana's eyes as she realized the only thing he felt for her was lust. He was attracted to her, but he was too honorable a man to take advantage of that fact just because he knew she wanted him, too. "I'm sorry, teach..." she choked out. "I haven't meant to be such a tease. I really do want you! But I guess I wanted too much. I feel foolish now... hoping for something more that just isn't there. I promise... I won't tease you any more. You've made your feelings perfectly clear. I'm sorry..." she whispered just before she turned away to head for the women's locker room. Alex didn't realize he was holding his breath until she turned and started to walk away. He was praying he hadn't misinterpreted what she'd said... She'd made it sound like she was hoping for something more than just lust and desire... But he HADN'T made his feelings perfectly clear... "Lana... WAIT!!!" he blurted and watched as she halted in her tracks and turned to face him. "I... I don't think I have made my feelings perfectly clear, baby girl," he said softly as he walked up to her. He cupped his hands on her cheeks and stared into her watery aqua gaze... and it hit him like a tidal wave... she loved him. All the teasing looks of lust and desire as they'd worked out together had masked their deeper feelings. And whenever they'd socialized together, he'd kept his distance from her... he was afraid of letting down his guard... everyone would've seen how he felt about her. And he had been worried that her family and friends would not accept a relationship between the two of them. But looking into her shimmering aqua eyes, so full of love and longing for him, he suddenly didn't care any more whether anyone else would object to their relationship... How could anyone object to two people loving each other? It didn't matter what anyone thought... all that mattered was how the two of them felt... "I love you, Lana... and I can see now that you love me, too," he stated softly as he slowly lowered his lips to hers. She was holding her breath as he held her gaze. They hesitated for a mere second as they saw in each other eyes that they'd both been longing for this moment... Lana whimpered softly as her lips molded to his, parting ever so slightly to allow their breaths to mingle. Taste me, Alex... He groaned deeply as he parted her lips and thrust his tongue into the hot, sweet moistness of her mouth, knowing that her whole body would taste of such sweetness. She moaned desperately when his hands left her face and blazed a trail down her back to cup her ass and press her against his straining cock. God... he prayed she needed him as desperately as he needed her... I need you, Alex... I've needed you for so long... Love me, Alex... make love to me now... Her body straining against his and her mouth devouring his almost made him believe that her voice in his head was real... that she was telling him what she wanted... what she needed. Especially when he lifted her and she wrapped her legs around him and molded her body to his. Gifts of the Future Ch. 20 He carried her into the empty men's shower room and set her down only long enough for both of them to strip out of their sweaty workout clothes. Then he led her over to one of the showerheads and turned on the water, adjusting the temperature until it was just right and stepped into the spray, pulling her to him. He soaped up his hands and then turned her around to wash her thoroughly, taking his time with her breasts and pussy. Alex had been dreaming of this very scenario for the last three years... having accidentally walked in on her taking a shower once... and had guiltily continued to watch. Then he'd taken his own cold shower... and still had to jerk off in order to get rid of the steely hard-on that wouldn't go away because he couldn't get the image of her wet body out of his mind! And now Lana's wet body was writhing against his as he stroked her through a powerful orgasm that came on so much easier and quicker than he ever could've thought possible... causing his throbbing dick to coat the small of her back with his cum. Well... at least he hadn't washed her there, yet... Alex groaned in embarrassment when she giggled as she felt his semen dripping down her ass. "What's the matter, teach?" she teased sexily as she turned to peer at him over her shoulder. "Don't tell me you've got problems with premature ejaculation at your age!!!" Alex growled as he backed away, putting her lower back and his crotch in the shower spray to rinse them off. "I'm sorry... you just have no idea how many times I've fantasized about this very thing while showering after our workouts! This is just so much hotter than my fantasies... you're so much more sensual than I imagined, Lana... you're just so damn sexy, baby girl!" he groaned hotly. She smiled widely at him, loving the fact that he wanted her so badly. But now his dick was limp... what would be the quickest way to get him hard again?!! She chewed on her lower lip for a moment as she contemplated what to do. She smiled sexily as she leaned toward him and then kissed him deeply while taking his hand and pulling it toward her pussy. Taste me, Alex... taste all of me... He groaned desperately as he delved his fingers inside her hot, wet cunt. She wanted his tongue... she wanted him to lick her pussy... to taste all of her. He growled hotly as he broke their kiss, pushing her against the concrete wall and went down on one knee in front of her. He lifted her left leg and propped it on his raised right knee, spreading her pink flesh for him... Lana gasped and cried out as he buried his tongue inside her and then raked it over her sensitive clit. Her hands grasped at his wet hair... her hips tilted to give his mouth easier access to taste every part of her. Before she knew it, her left thigh was draped over his shoulder and his face was buried in her... She wondered how he was breathing... then she vaguely thought that he must've been sucking the air out of her lungs from inside of her because she was having trouble breathing herself. Lana's back and shoulders were plastered against the cold concrete wall behind her but all she could feel was his hot tongue spearing inside her... his soft lips nibbling her flesh, rubbing over her clit... Her nerve endings were sizzling from the fuse he'd lit inside her body... she was about to explode. All she needed was that final trigger... I want your cock, Alex... I want your cock inside me... NOW... Alex growled. He knew she was on the verge of a massive orgasm. His instinct was telling him not to abandon her too soon, but he kept hearing her desperate whimpers and imagining her voice again telling him to ignore his instinct... He backed off just far enough to lightly suck on her clit one last time, causing her body to convulse and her lungs to gulp in a loud, deep breath as he quickly stood up and impaled her with his dick, her left leg still draped over his forearm. Her right leg nearly collapsed as she screamed... her arms grabbing around his shoulders to hold on for dear life as her pussy convulsed on his aching shaft. "Hhhooooly... fffuckin... shhhhit..." he moaned as her cunt squeezed his cock like a vise. Alex had no choice but to stay buried inside her until he felt her flesh and muscles relax. He tilted his head back and stared at her flushed face. "Are you OK, baby girl?" he asked gently. Her head immediately started to nod, even before she opened her eyes... I'm more than just OK... I've needed this for so long... God... how I've needed you, Alex... As soon as he was locked in her simmering aqua gaze, he could see that she was fine. And when he started to thrust inside her, he knew she was the woman he'd needed his whole life... because she needed him. "I love you, Alex..." she moaned in his ear as she clung to him with her arms and legs wrapped around him as drove up into her hot body pressed against that cold concrete wall. She didn't deserve such savage treatment or stark surroundings... but he couldn't stop... he was a man possessed. Alex Jones was no longer afraid that he was taking advantage of Lana Seldon... he was suddenly afraid that she might take advantage of him... she owned him. Now that he knew the sweetness of her body, he could never give it up. Now that he knew the depth of his love for her... he would not be able to live without her... ********** Thursday evening, December 24, 2009, Lana Seldon married Alex Jones in a simple ceremony during a party that was also celebrating Jonnie and Megan North's 32nd and Robbie and Crystal Seldon's 26th wedding anniversaries. Saturday, December 26th, the group of families and friends that were involved in the mission to intercept the President took off for Hawaii. An extremely happy Lana was thrilled to be accompanying her new husband... Alex had insisted that both of them should be there in case they were needed. They weren't expecting any physical confrontations during the mission... they hoped most of it would be handled non-violently through the various mental abilities of the "chosen ones"... Sunday the 27th was spent setting up everything at the estate in preparation for the following night. That evening, everyone had dinner together and went over everything that was to be revealed to the President along with their evidence... digital recordings of some enlightening discussions during dinners with the OPEC ministers at his palace that the Sheikh had secretly made. That night, the older couples held each other tightly as they tried to get some sleep. They also prayed for the safety and wisdom of their children as well as all the other IOPF members around the world who were about to carry out the most important missions they'd ever undertaken. The younger couples spent a good deal of the night making love, knowing the next day would be spent in final contemplation and preparation. This would be the one mission during which they could make no mistakes... any mistake would lead people to believe that the IOPF was no better than the power-hungry people they were trying to stop. The reality was that the "chosen ones" could stop that madness at any time they wanted... by exerting their will over anyone they wished. But that was not their purpose... their purpose was to guide those who were under the influence of the dark forces to see through that darkness... to restore their free will... to lead them back to the light of truth again... During the day on the 28th, Jonnie, Brad and Jay monitored various blog sites as IOPF members from around the world reported in on the success of their missions. There had been no mistakes thus far, and their encounter with the President would be the last one. If all went as planned, the IOPF would have the full backing of all the leading nations to deal with the OPEC ministers on their behalf. At around 10pm, the four couples donned their loose black uniforms, mini cams and earpieces, gathered up their evidence and headed toward one of the final missions in fulfillment of their destinies. Jonathan and Nuri disabled the external security devices momentarily at their point of entry onto the property and then restored them once they were inside. Each time they approached a camera or a laser motion sensor, they disabled it until they were past it. Once they got closer to the house, it became a matter of Jonathan using his mental ability to make the Secret Service guards on watch unaware of their presence. They slipped inside and made their way toward the study where they believed the President would be spending most of his time working while away from the Oval Office... and he was. He looked up and jumped in surprise to see eight people dressed like ninjas with dark glasses coving their eyes standing in front of the desk he was seated behind. There had been no sounds to alert him to their presence... Had they silently killed all of his security personnel on their way in?!! The President stared at them wide eyed as he keyed a communication device on his desk and called to one of his Secret Service men, "Johnson... do you copy?" A voice answered back that he was there. "Has there been any trouble outside? Has anyone reported seeing anything unusual? Is everyone still at their posts?" he asked quickly. He frowned in confusion as everyone started to report in that nothing was amiss and everyone was still in place. When one of them asked him if there was anything wrong, he jumped again when he heard a voice inside his head... You have nothing to fear from us... we are here to help. Please... just give us a few minutes and we will explain everything... Hell... if these... people... could completely slip past a highly secured perimeter and over a dozen Secret Service agents without anyone even knowing they were there and without harming anyone, then maybe they weren't lying. If they'd wanted to kill him, he'd already be dead and no one would've known how... He might as well listen to what they had to say... "Nothing's wrong, folks... I was just checking." He switched off the communication device and laid it down. Then he sat back and glanced at the group standing in front of the desk. It was obvious that half of them were women... they were smaller and there was no hiding the breasts, even in their loose fitting jackets. "OK... you have my undivided attention. So what is this all about?" he asked curiously and then jerked when the voice spoke inside his head again. We're glad to see that you're not afraid of us, Mr. President... we mean no harm. Listen carefully... Jonathan mentally outlined the details of OPEC's plot and gave him the digital recordings. In less than five minutes they convinced the President it was true and that they could halt OPEC from carrying out their plans. When the President asked them how, they each gave a brief demonstration of their abilities... except for Tommy and Kira. Jonathan could only explain mentally that they'd been having nightmares of an apocalyptic event that would happen not long afterward if OPEC was successful in their takeover. The President was astounded that they seemed to know every thought in his head. He felt a slight rush of fear when one of the men pulled out a knife, leaned down and grabbed his hand as he heard the voice inside his head say, We're sorry for this, but we have to show you everything that we are capable of in order to convince you that we mean no harm... He flinched and hissed in pain as the knife sliced his palm. Then he watched in astonishment as one of the women took his hand, held it in hers and healed the cut before his eyes within just a few seconds. Then he felt slight fear again when she leaned across the desk, put her hand at his throat and felt his airway constrict to where he couldn't breathe for a few seconds... then she released him. One of the other men took the knife, sliced his own palm and held it toward him so he could watch as the wound healed itself. He stared up at all of them in utter confusion as he stammered, "How... why...?!!" Then he sat back and listened as Jonathan explained... I'm sure you understand by now, Mr. President, that we could do pretty much whatever we want... but all we want is mankind's continued existence. We were created for a reason... humans have been learning and evolving over the centuries... some not as much as others because of a dark force that is intent upon destroying humans and this world. We were given these abilities in order to fight that dark force... which has been the driving force behind OPEC's plan. Everything they've been controlling for the last 30 years is leading to the destruction of the environment, which will destroy this planet if not halted soon. All OPEC wants is power... to rule over this world and use everyone else as their slaves. That is why they've been convincing millions of devout Muslims that Islam is the only true religion... the only one God intended to exist. But the truth of the matter is... God never intended for there to be "organized" religious entities. Humans over the centuries have twisted the stories of how He came to this world in the guise of His Son to teach all that we needed to know... the simple truths.... The Christians are close but the ideals pushed by all these different "churches" are a bunch of bullshit. The Christmas holiday itself has become nothing but a marketing scheme propelled by greedy commercialism. The idea of tithing has been twisted into a way of "guilting" money out of people... And religions spend billions of dollars building fancy "churches" for people to congregate in once a week and repent for the sins they continue to commit... The term "church" was never meant as a noun... a building... a place... a thing... the world is His church. It was more an "idea"... that all people who believed in what God had taught would spread the word by congregating everywhere and teaching everyone His simple truths by words and deeds.... That if every person loved their fellow man as they loved themselves, they would be filled with the light of truth and every thought and wish in their hearts would be for the benefit of all mankind. Every burden of this world would be shared by all... working together would make those burdens lighter for everyone... And everyone would share in the joys and rewards... And this cannot be done by manipulating people's minds... they have to see the light of truth for themselves... But the dark forces of the universe have been fighting to hide the light of this truth from everyone who is not strong enough to resist them and even unfairly influencing some who would have resisted them... We've been sent to stop them before this world is destroyed... If this world dies, the universe itself will cease to exist... as well as our Creator. We are here to protect the very existence of God, Mr. President. And if we fail, He can do nothing to stop this world or the universe from being destroyed... because it will mean that He was wrong to have created it in the first place. Do you want to take a chance on that happening, Mr. President? We didn't think so... that's why we're here asking for your cooperation. We will be confronting OPEC on New Year's Eve and the world will see and hear how it goes down. You might want to wish us luck... The President sat back and muttered, "I don't think you'll need it..." as he stared at the unblemished palm of his hand and recalled the sting of the blade slicing into it. If he had questioned God's existence before that night, he no longer did. How could he not believe people who possessed the abilities they had just demonstrated, claiming they were protecting the very existence of God?!! They could just as easily have proclaimed themselves "gods"... but they didn't. So... just who the hell were they... he thought as he watched them leaving. The one who must've been speaking inside his head the whole time paused and turned his obscured face back toward him for a moment. We are called chosen ones, Mr. President... but we are here to make everyone understand that we are ALL chosen ones... God chose to create us all and now He's sent us to protect His creation... and we will do whatever we can to accomplish that and drive the dark forces back to where they belong... We are here to fight the forces of hell... and you'd better hope we succeed or this world will become hell for a very short period until everything just vanishes in the blink of an eye... and if we don't succeed soon in our attempts to save the environment from what OPEC has caused, we're afraid there will not be very many holidays left to celebrate... We hope you had a Merry Christmas...