Storiesonline.net ------- Leefstic by John Wales Copyright© 2005 by John Wales ------- Description: Leefstic is a boy determined to succeed. He settles down to repair his ship on a barbaric planet. The insane natives call it 'Earth'. Codes: mf gi cons rom ScFi group harem slow ------- ------- or 'My Crazy Alien Husband' Edited By RogerDC of Gold Canyon I will work on the gentleman to pry his email address from him so he can be congratulated or abused by those that read the story. ------- Chapter 1 The canjo swung towards the child's head and his own weapon automatically came into position to deflect the blow to a safer area. He shifted to try to get his opponent out of position. The return blow was very strong though and his sword vibrated dangerously, hurting his hands and wrists. His return strikes did not get by the block but he was already working a few moves ahead and swung with all his might each time. The third strike of his canjo did strike his opponents padding before his opponent landed a blow to his partially protected head. Leefstic was stunned and started to get up from the deck where he suddenly found himself. A friendly hand came out and he gladly took it so he could get to his feet once again. "Not bad Leefstic," the man's mental emanations projected towards his son. "You gave my leg a bruise even through the padding." Sondo, Leefstic's father held his son to him, wondering if the knock on the head was going to give any problem. He concentrated and looked into his son's mind on an open level and saw that the pain was already being properly taken care of along with a heightened response to have the body repaired. He was careful to not show his full concern for fear the young lad would think it was pity. "Do you want to try again?" Leefstic backed up a bit and looked up to his father. He wanted to say no but he was already looked on as someone to shy away from a fight. His ratings would suffer if he didn't work hard to bring them up. "I can try again but I need a moment to clear my head." In a moment they nodded to each other and soon the battle began once again. Leefstic was only one hundred and forty three centimetres tall and his father was more than a half metre taller and outweighed the boy's forty three kilos by that much again. The match went on for another ten minutes before Mallo, one of his mothers put an end to it. Leefstic was getting slower with every stroke and his father was just pushing his son enough to get him to gain some strength and stamina. Mallo was actually a sister to his biological mother but all eleven wives his father had were his mothers. They watched out for him but also encouraged him to do more. "Time to eat you two. Get cleaned." Leefstic and Sondo bowed to each other and held the weapons in their hands. The matter transmitter took them away immediately then they removed their padding. This too disappeared the same way. The undergarments followed a similar but different path. The two walked to a pattern on the deck and each disappeared. In another part of the ship they emerged in a large room and each felt the devices controlled by the computer remove all the wastes from their bodies' surfaces. Sondo's short blonde hair stuck out perpendicular to his skull but Leefstic's long platinum blonde hair was a spectacular sight. A clip would soon hold it in place in a ponytail for convenience. Now it appeared to be an aura radiating from the head alone. Sondo came close after they were cleaned and looked at the damage he had inflicted. It was almost healed already. "How is your head now?" "Better now dad. There was some pain but I got it to a manageable level. Most of it had left by the time we restarted the match." "I am glad to hear that. Look into my mind to see what I thought of your efforts." Leefstic did as he was asked and found the things he had done wrong or just a bit too slowly. He found his father though felt good about his son's fighting abilities. Leefstic could see that his father hid a bit of his regret that his son was not putting out as much effort to kill an opponent as he should. Aggression was a scarce commodity in the young lad. There was no other subterfuge for it was very difficult to lie when your mind could be read. Clothing came to their outstretched hands and they put the garments on. Tractors were guided by Leefstic's mind. His long hair was once again put into the form he wanted and a sapphire ring and pin put in place. Not everybody could control the tractors this well and it was one of the things he felt proud of. In a moment they were back in family territory watching the women just starting to take seats at a long table. Leefstic took his seat as the family bowed their heads to think of all their friends and family. Some were on the Soldoy, the ship they were currently on. Each took a second to talk to the others and then began to eat. Somey was the only child at the table in Leefstic's eyes but in actual fact he was one as well. This condition would persist for a good many more cycles of time. The little girl was seated beside him and Leefstic helped the child to eat her meal while eating his own. Dishes appeared and disappeared from the table or moved around so each could help themselves. Leefstic took a large leg that imitated a bird on one of the planets they had passed on this trip but it was many years before he had been born. Vegetables were added along with three small capsules that should be taken to ensure that his organic processes worked as they should. When the adults were not looking he took a small piece of pseudo meat and wrapped it with the end of his pointy tongue and then extended it toward the young girl. She smiled at this and her hands came out to catch the long pink piece of flesh. Leefstic's biological mother Looma looked at her only child and checked in his public mind to see how hurt he had been. "Leefstic," she said quietly. The tongue came back into his mouth very quickly and he realised that nobody else had seen him do this. The woman was happy that her husband and her son's father was able to pull up enough on his stroke to not cause any great damage. Learning to fight was important to the Seffra. Their race had to be able to defend themselves. Looma also liked how the boy got along as he should with his very young sibling. This was one of the reasons the Seffra race had stayed so strong for so long. Family was so very important. Their bodies were kept in good shape by many forms of exercise so that they could perform their duties as efficiently as possible. Sports were very actively pursued and many of those were armed and unarmed combat. Though the Seffra could kill with their mind alone, sometimes an enemy was found that could put up a shield that required alternate means of survival. A ship could provide awesome weapons or support. Energy weapons of many kinds could be utilized but it all worked down to being able to handling your own body, reflexes and mind. A conflict could be handled by just a computer but that would be giving up what made biologicals what they were. Looma said, while she nibbled on a similar thigh, "How are you feeling Leefstic? Should we bring a med unit just in case?" Leefstic was happy they were only talking on their own private band. He was young and would be where a human child of eight would be. He still resented the adults making him feel so uncomfortable. He hid his feelings and said, "The pain has gone Mom, and I doubt if there is even a mark now." "I am glad to hear that Leefstic. You know how we all worry about you, you are growing up very fast and doing an adult's job in many ways. There are just too few children on the ship and we tend to mother the ones we do have." "I know that Mom, it's just that I just don't have the will to fight as hard as the rest of you do." "You will get it some day. You are just too young to be thinking of killing now." Leefstic was not swayed by the words. He did much better than average in all the academic training. Fighting with the computer proved he had very good reflexes. He still didn't quite have that something extra that let him achieve parity with others his age when it came to trying to damage another living creature. There were only three hundred and seventy nine people in the 'category' on the ship and he was rated very high in his age group except for his aggression. The standards though were set down ninety three thousand years ago and hadn't changed appreciably since. He was almost a quarter of the way to becoming a legal adult and had a fair portion of the height but he was actually very thin. Medical had said that this was still within the bounds of normalcy but Leefstic still wanted his body to start putting on much more bulk. He could start the process himself but his family would surely have something to say about it. The rules of their culture stated that he had to do everything the hard way. Looma looked at her son protectively but kept her mind shut tight against her son finding out what she thought. He was so beautiful in her eyes. His face was very symmetrical and his oddly coloured hair set it off very well. His eyes were a bright blue that oddly suited him very well even if less than three percent of the Seffra had this trait. The sapphire ring in his hair matched his eyes colour. The design dated back to when their race fought each other with spears. Leefstic kissed his mother when the meal was finished saying, "I have to go on watch now." Looma replied, "I am very proud of you son. I know you're still upset about a few of your ratings but you'll make up for it in your studies. None of us in this room did as good as you do though your aunt Mallo was close." "Thanks mom. It doesn't bother me that much. I'm still young and have a good chance to catch up to where I should be in my standings. Soldoy thinks I will do well but may not make it that high as a military officer. My tech rating is in the first percentile of our race." "I knew you were good. Some must fight from a chair. I don't think there have been very many times when we have actually faced our enemies eye to eye in thousands of years." She left unsaid that Leefstic would not make a ship's officer though he could make a good scientist. Leefstic gave his mother another kiss, then one for little Somey and disappeared. The rest of the family had already split up and did what jobs they had to do Half were destined for the gym or the arena to get their bodies in better shape. It seemed an obsession even though it was a necessary thing to do to keep the crew occupied and their minds healthy. Leefstic sat in a comfortable chair and interfaced with Soldoy. The AI was an old friend and teacher even if he also did all the rating. "Your wound has completely healed Leefstic. Your mind did the task as well as any could I think." "Thanks Soldoy. I was fast enough for my age but I was still too slow especially when I am fighting dad. Looking in other people's minds I see that they are able to focus much more and their speed increases dramatically. Why can't I seem to do this?" "You have not come to a situation yet that will push you that last little bit. You come close fighting in your mind. Your body moves almost as quickly as an adult when you are fighting mechanicals but I know you can do much better if you let yourself go." Before the boy could talk more, Soldoy said, "We are receiving some odd signals from this quadrant." Leefstic reached out with his mind and searched the area designated by the friendly AI but hidden in his mind he knew he was given this job to allow him time to get over his disappointment. The ship was starting to slow as it entered the next system on their route. Additional probes flew out from the ship, while others stayed behind as pickets. Leefstic knew the rules and did what was required of him to investigate. He had sat here many times but as of late he was performing the duties on his own. Instead of looking for things that were interesting he always looked for anything that could be a possible threat to the ship and the crew. The galaxy that the present crew had been sent to survey was about the same size as their old one. At present there were seventy four ships performing this same duty but all of them had different courses to follow. The work of mapping and categorising would take many thousands of years. Bases were set up along the way and other ships would continue the advance over time. Most ship's companies decided to continue with a few new members because a ship was all they ever knew of as home. The ship had 4470 adults and the 379 children with two babies due in half of a cycle of 72 ship days. The Seffra lived long enough through their genetic makeup and their medical devises to force them to restrict unfettered population growth. There had been some deaths when scout ships failed to return or when they investigated the habitats of some of their enemies. The system in front of them looked to have a habitable planet but the gravity was only seventy percent of what they were used to. It did have some animal life. Small probes left the ship to descend into the atmosphere to investigate the planet more accurately. The ship itself stayed far out of the system. The open fields and bodies of water were interesting to Leefstic but not nearly as much as what he found attractive on the ship. The planets were interesting and on his other watches he would see what new discoveries could be found if any. The ship would stay here for at least a third of a seventy two day cycle to gather enough information. When his watch was over, he finished his report and did a mental tour of the ship as his next task. The volume inside the hull was large enough that this was done only in small increments. The ship was 1,400 metres long The beam was 580 metres while the height without antennae was 490 metres. It would displace only 3.6 million tonnes because of its small size when compared to some other ships. There were many large areas used for sports and war games. Other large environments contained equipment that would be useful to investigate some of the odd phenomena they found when searching. Some of those units now were aimed at the various planets and other instruments investigated the minute samples of life in the pods and the data sent to the ship. Leefstic searched the forward section of the outer hull first for problems but as usual nothing was seen. Small probes scurried over the hull all the time to do minute checks but the Seffra had to pull their own weight and not rely on a computer even though one was as good as Soldoy. Four days passed then Leefstic was instructed to assist the green team in their next skirmish. He was happy to see that three of his mothers including Looma were on his side. Every adult on the ship would eventually fight every other one in the course of six of the seventy two day cycles. Sergeant Boista said, "Leefstic, I want you to slip around the enemy's left flank. If you cause enough confusion we have a good chance of getting enough points this cycle for some extra rest and relaxation. Are you interested in visiting the planet below or some time with the single ladies?" Leefstic had felt oddly in the last few cycles. He had talked to Soldoy about it. He was directed to look within his own body and found a higher percentage of certain hormones. When they were cross referenced with a great may protein forms, he found that he was starting to produce chemicals that would give him the urge to mate. Already his body was feeling a bit more disorganized as it altered minutely to the new environment. This occurrence was very rare for a boy of eight would not usually develop this way for a few more years. Just a half cycle ago he had found that while trying to sleep, his penis had started to grow of its own accord. This was very new to him and Soldoy told him all about it in greater detail and even how to control it. He thought of asking his father about it but felt much more comfortable to continue with his friend Soldoy. Leefstic looked at the sergeant and said, "I am beginning to feel that way. I will do my best for the team." The sergeant hid his thoughts but wondered if what the boy said was true. The competition began a few hours later. Many plans had been considered and rejected till one seemed to have the greatest chance of success. This also meant that Leefstic had to do one important manoeuvre to make the plan work. If he failed then his team would be out of position and they would be run over by blue team. With their minds now tightly shut the team took positions. Blue responded and then some of the greens altered their positions. This continued with the lieutenants from each team giving coded signals that told his players where and when to move. Occasionally a bolt of energy went from one side to another but their shields were more than enough to protect the wearers. Three hours later Leefstic was in a small cleft in a rock with a small camouflaged piece of material over his huddled position. The energy of a special shield would be detected even if it could do a much better job. He stayed motionless with his mind sealed tight. In an hour a special code was given and some of his team moved to draw Blue away from his position. Leefstic counted down the minutes and searched carefully for both friends and foe alike. He slipped down from the rock and folded the cloth so it could be tied around his waist. More mental commands were heard but they were not for him. It took another hour to crawl into position. The distance was just fifty metres but probes were out looking for any sort of movement. None of those were better than the ones his team used but it did allow a bit of leeway. The passive camo material was now over his head and body. It allowing most of him to blend in with the terrain around him. He could see the blues moving about and smiled as he saw the blue captain moving forward. He almost lost it when he saw that it was his father this time. The smile returned and he knew that his father would hardly be perturbed at him for doing what he now had to do. In both his left and his right hands were small pellet guns that would throw a subsonic round of collapsed matter. It was a very old weapon and used only compressed air to propel the small projectile. It was so weak that it could only travel a few kilometres if there was room for the pellet to go that far. There were seven targets in view and he waited just a moment till his dad was closing his eyes to concentrated as he gave his next set of orders. Half way through the two guns started to quietly cough projectiles at the protected men and women. The last three needed a bit more thought and Leefstic shot where they might jump too. In all three cases the pellets struck their targets and the blues had to remain still and incommunicado. Leefstic now scrambled to another position and was able to take two more before he was struck with an energy weapon and some explosives probes. Even as he flew through the air he was happy with what he had done. Landing was a bit rough but Soldoy would not allow it to be that hard. Listening with his mind he could see the greens moving up through the area he had cleared but most of the battle was over with the captain, his father, removed from the game along with two of his lieutenants. The contest lasted three more hours but in the end Soldoy stated that the greens had won by a considerable margin. Leefstic's mothers had come up and one picked the poor boy up and held him to her as if he were an infant. The weapons in her hand and on her back were completely forgotten. Sondo was next and walked up to his son and then hugged him to him as well. "You did a good job Leefstic. I had no idea you were there and I know the rest of us were the same way or you would never have been able to get all of us." "Thanks dad. It wasn't my idea though, I just did as I was told." "That is what duty is son. You do your part and everybody else does theirs too." There was the usual party after the game with everybody invited that was not on watch. Leefstic was congratulated by everybody that came, even those on blue team. That area of rock now would be carefully checked for the next few thousand years to make sure a repetition would not occur. Jona, one of the younger adult women came over to Leefstic to congratulate him. She had always liked the look of the young boy even though he was a bit on the thin side. It did suit the purpose today though when he had removed the majority of the blue team's officers. The boy though was even more beautiful than the females she had seen in records or ones on the ship. She knew that he liked his long hair and wore it even though others thought it a problem. He did have a vain streak but it was not that big when she thought of the adults she knew. "You were very good today Leefstic." The sounds of her mental voice thrilled Leefstic for some reason and he turned to see the young woman. He hoped that when it came time to find some wives, Jona would still be available. Her aura stood out strongly but sadly didn't come too close to his. Jona was able to get most of this even though it was hidden. The boy was sprouting hormones now and didn't really know what to do with himself. She though she knew what to do with him. A young boy needed to learn in the hands of someone that cared. "Leefstic, why don't you come with me? I want to show my appreciation for the great job you have done today." "Me? I am... Ok." Jona smiled at the boy and took his hand in hers. She was a head and a half taller and half again his weight but this didn't seem to bother any of them. The transporter took them to the single quarters. Leefstic saw others looking at them but he surprisingly didn't feel shy about this. He held Jona's hand tightly and felt them to be sweaty. He discovered it was his hand that was this way and tried his best to control his body. In a moment they were at the portal and Jona opened her door and said, "If you want to come in you may, Leefstic." The boy gulped a bit trying to remember all the data he had ever perused on the mating rituals. He had read his mothers' minds and his father's too when they had been otherwise occupied and knew most of the basic ideas. He closed his mind tight and called to his friend, "Soldoy, will you help me with this?" A chuckle was heard that the boy didn't resent and he heard, "Yes, I will Leefstic. Females are odd creatures to a male, especially a young one like you. They need to be overwhelmed with sensations to get them to act favourably. I can see in your mind that you know how violent they can be when they are in the throws of an orgasm. Always look to your safety. You may be unintentionally hurt and you need to protect yourself." "What do I do first?" "Do what your father does but start by asking Jona if you may remove her clothes for her." "Ok." When they got close to the bed, Leefstic got up his courage first and asked, "Jona, may I remove your clothes for you. You are the first woman for me and I want to make it memorable for both of us." Jona smiled, and wondered where the boy learned to be so romantic. He looked effeminate and thin but seemed to have an intensity about him that made everybody love him. It now seemed that the tables had turned and she was the one on the receiving end. "Sure Leefstic. I would love that." The boy released the woman's hand and guided her to sit on the bed. He began to undo the clasp at the left shoulder and pulled the flap forward exposing just the shoulder. His face drew close to the newly exposed skin. After a sniff of the woman's body he kissed the exposed skin with small delicate touches. The area soon shifted so that he was kissing the neck and then the ear. Jona's arms came up to hold the boy to her. She had experienced sex with both genders for quite a few years but never did her partners do this to her. She started to take off his clothes but his hands came up and put them back onto her lap. Leefstic allowed more of the flap to move and thus expose more of this beautiful woman's skin. A breast appeared before him. It was the same as all the other breasts his mothers had because there was no nudity taboo but this breast before him was special. His lips descended and kissed his way around the rise in her chest. Jona could not take it any more and moved his head so that he would be at the nipple at the summit. Leefstic only gave this a small suck then a kiss and tried to pull away. Jona had other ideas and it was only when she was getting no more movement did she relent to this young male. This was not the way it was usually done. Each gender was more or less equal and it looked like this boy wanted to do this only his way. She searched again to see how experienced this boy really was. When Leefstic was freed, he went back to kissing the exposed flesh but stayed away from the most sensitive areas. The other closure on the right shoulder was undone and again Leefstic repeated what he had done earlier and knew he was driving Jona crazy. Finally two more closures on the waist were undone and the upper garment fell onto the floor. Leefstic stepped back and looked at the woman before him. "You are very beautiful Jona. I am glad it is you that will be with me the first time." She reached out for him and Leefstic said, "No Jona. I am going to take the rest of your clothes off." It was easy to see how inflamed she was and let her need show through to the public portion of her mind. Leefstic bent down and removed one slipper then picked up the foot and gently kissed the top of the foot one time while looking Jona in the eye. The woman looked on shocked at what was done. She had never heard of this before but felt pleased that it was done with so much love in his mind. Soon the second slipper went the same way and again the kiss came. Jona felt more of a tingle in the juncture of her legs and wanted this boy more than she wanted any other partner of either sex. She felt the boy's hands slide up the outside of her legs and stop at the waist. A small mental command and this closure opened. Soon another on the other side did the same. "Stand up my darling. It will be easier this way." The woman did as she was ordered and Leefstic moved forward to lower the garment but only after looking at what was uncovered first. Jona stepped out of her slacks and now just waited for the next command. Leefstic had his eyes closed so he could concentrate on the smell of this woman before him. He found that this seemed to drive Jona even more crazy. He had been getting instructions from Soldoy but also from some novels that he had read when he was young. The first was when he was two but didn't really understand many of the references but now the information seemed to make much more sense. "Sit on the edge of the bed, Darling." The woman again did exactly as she was told. As Jona got more excited her mind shield opened more and he was able to see what was pleasing her more and was able to do what was needed. The ideas coming from Soldoy began to make even more sense now. Leefstic reached out with his mind and his arms and used two of the small tractors in the room to pick up the woman's legs. He had practised moving things many times but this was the first time that he had done it on another living being and he used the utmost amount of care. The knees were pushed toward Jona's shoulders and Leefstic was monitoring Jona for discomfort. A stronger smell came to Leefstic's nose. He had smelt this many times before from his mothers. It seemed to do some odd things to him but he felt that the effect would be proportional to the amount of male hormones flowing in his own body. Soldoy said, "Bend down Leefstic and smell where the scent is the strongest. Run your tongue gently along the lips. Can you feel Jona's need for you?" Leefstic did as he was told and found the smell and then the taste to be acceptable. At this range his own sexual organ grew in size till it was uncomfortable. His hands undid his own clothing as he gently licked the woman's opening. The woman was in great need now but Leefstic deduced that it would be better to keep her this way. He also knew from his mothers, how demanding they could be without even knowing they were doing anything wrong. His dad suffered many scratches, bruises and even patches of hair pulled right from his scalp. He also knew that he could control a few more tractors if necessary. When Jona's hands came to his long hair he quickly took two tractors and pulled her hands down close to her hips and held them there. Being helpless now seemed to inflame the woman. The first orgasm came and then continued with only a mild cessation lasting a few seconds. More tractors were employed and Jona's torso was pulled closer to the side of the bed and elevated. Now only her shoulders, head and arms were on the bed. Her opening was just high enough for Leefstic to lick easily. Jona was not quite sane now. She implored for more stimulation even though she was going through a continuous orgasm. Leefstic could feel people from different parts of the ship look in on Jona trying to find if she were in pain for she sounded very distressed. Her mind was calling for help for she didn't want the boy to just torture her. Soldoy said, "Leefstic, stick out your tongue about ten centimetres and reach into her opening. On the roof there are six small protrusions that will inflame her even more but make sure that you do not release her or you will be in danger." "I will try not to Soldoy." Leefstic had not fully grown so ten centimetres was about all he could reach with his oral digit. At the very tip of his pointed tongue he could feel the cluster of six bumps only a few millimetres high and circling the uterine wall. As he caressed each of the bumps Jona started to scream and thrash. Leefstic had to work quickly to allow her to move but still keep her under control. As his nose pushed against the large clit, the smaller erotic centres deep within her were caressed. Jona could take it no more and with a heave and a yell that hurt his ears she collapsed and fled consciousness. Leefstic checked on her mind quickly and saw that she was safe. Pulling out he looked at the glistening opening before him and the pink one just underneath. "Some men like to use this opening Leefstic. Most of the Seffra females find this a very erotic area. Not all males prefer to investigate this place. The females have six similar protrusions about ten centimetres from that opening. Very few males will use their tongue even if the woman is clean. The remainder of the males that engage in this activity will use their penis." Leefstic moved closer and smelled the area. It was not as bad as he thought but it would be a good thing to investigate one day. Now was a time to explore other conventional areas first. Jona was picked up and moved onto her bed so she was laying on her back. Her arms and now her legs were held by four tractors to keep her from hurting him. He climbed onto the bed keeping control of the restraints. Jona's breasts rose and fell with her breathing but now they looked so much more stimulating. His hands came out and manipulated the closer breast and then played with the nipple. They were much different than he had imagined before even if as a child he had investigated the breasts of all his mothers. His hands then went to her face and played with the lips and ears. Touching his own he could not find much difference but there definitely was. His hand then went down his own body and moved the new and exciting part of his life. It was only ten centimetres long but could extend that much again from his body. When he got to be an adult it would extend a full forty centimetres if he chose to push it out that far. There were six deep grooves in his organ running from the head back to where it attacked inside his body. When the time came he could command extra blood to go to this area and expand the penis to what his father would do. It would be just over six centimetres in diameter. At the moment though he did not know how big he would get because he had never found a reason to expand that far. Jona was beginning to come around. Women, once they had their orgasm they usually wanted to quit and go about their way. A man had to work hard again to keep them interested. Dad didn't hold his wives down as he now did but usually had them kneel on the bed so that their dangerous hands and teeth were far away from any male flesh. Leefstic climbed over Jona's body. His knees went just under the juncture of her legs while he lay down and began to suck on one of the nipples. "Leefstic, a high proportion of the females enjoy a bit of pain when they get very excited. Their minds cannot process the pain as such and have to turn it to joy. You can try it on Jona when she starts to respond but be careful that she is not hurt and that she enjoys the activity." Leefstic continued to suck on the nipple in his mouth while he rolled the other nipple in his fingers. He could read Jona's reaction and found it ok as long as he did this softly. Later he would see how much pressure needed to be applied to get her to respond to the maximum. Jona responded with "Ahhhh," when she awoke and felt Leefstic working on her breasts. The sensations were almost too much. She wanted to stop and catch her breath but the feelings were just enough for her to begin to react to them. "Leefstic, tell her that she belongs to you. This goes back to the earliest history of the Seffra race. The women were even more vicious then and had to be subdued to be impregnated." "Am I going to impregnate her?" "No, but you can practice. It will work well in your future life but not all women react favourably to this." Leefstic pulled his lips away from one of the nipples but his other hand had took its place by pinching and gently rolling the turgid flesh. "Jona, I have taken a liking to you. I am going to keep you tied to your bed and then put my massive penis into you. When you can take no more I will fill you with my seed and begin our family." This was very similar to a passage in an old novel and he repeated it as best he could. Jona tried to get away and found herself immobile. She started to fear for her safety then thought of who was doing this. Though she didn't read the passage she could tell it was from an old story because of some of the words that were not commonly used now. Leefstic was young and probably able to have an orgasm now and possibly produce the seed necessary but she could control her body to keep an egg from meeting a fateful encounter. She was going to order him off and she knew that the computer would follow her wishes but this bit of role playing was new to her or to anyone she knew. She thought for a few seconds and made her decision. "You will never conquer me Leefstic. I am a princess of the old order and I will never consent to having a child by you." Leefstic could see that she wanted to play along with his lead and replied, "I will stretch you wide and have my way with you. I will command your body at the height of your passion to do what it knows it must do." "Never!" "You will be my wife and I will soon be king." Leefstic commanded the tractors to pick up the legs one more time and put the woman's knees to her shoulders. Instead of putting his penis into her crevice for the first time he decided to use his mouth again to get her much more in the mood. When he slid down, Jona had second thoughts. She knew how effective he was the last time and didn't know if she could keep herself from responding. His lips fastened on her clit and a moment later all thoughts to the contrary had disappeared. Leefstic again used his tongue in her opening but before she fell from the mental precipice he pushed a wet finger into her other opening and moved it quickly back and forth. The cry reaching Leefstic's ears was even more forceful and he could feel others checking in to see if somebody was being tortured. When she slowed her gyrations he caressed the six small lumps inside her uterus and again used his nose to thrash her large clit. This was done till Leefstic thought she might find safety in unconsciousness and then he relented just a bit. Jona had stepped over the line into insanity one more time and tried to claw her antagonist to shreds but could not move. For a moment she wanted to grab the male's head and push it forcefully into her opening to give her what she needed. When her throat started to produce animal sounds he relented his attack and used the tractors to put her pelvis back on the bed. Leefstic walked on his knees till he was in position. His small equipment didn't measure up to the opening ahead of him. He bent down and moved forward till he felt the small head questing for the passage. He moved his right hip and he found the opening. The feeling Leefstic found was like nothing he had felt before. It was warm and wet and beckoned him to enter. He moved his knees a bit more and all ten centimetres were pushed in. Skin was touching skin now and it felt wonderful. With a few more animal growls from Jona he started to move back and forth. The opening though was not giving him the sensations he knew he could get so he directed his quickly beating heart to inflate his member as more muscles were used to push the remainder of his penis out. This was a difficult job to do it turned out. This helped him keep his senses as he thrust repeatedly into Jona. He read Jona's mind and found she wanted to rip the skin off his back and force him to fill her. In five minutes he had achieved his maximum length and girth. He felt a pain inside him from using the unaccustomed muscles. The skin around his penis was stretched tight and this too hurt but he controlled the pain in his mind. Soon he was able to concentrate on pleasing Jona for Soldoy had told him that his joy would be proportional to what he gave. Leefstic looked down at Jona and pinched both of her nipples fairly hard. She opened her eyes and mind to him like never before. He said, "You are mine. Force the egg from your body. I will make our child now." Just as in the old story Jona actually did as he commanded. This was too much for him for he pumped maniacally into her. Instead of having a dry orgasm he commanded his glands to force out his seed for the first time. This altered the hormones in his body and now he thrust brutally into the woman to get his essence as far into her womb as possible. Jona felt the pulses and now welcomed them like nothing else she had ever wanted before. Her body thrust just as hard against Leefstic so that the seed would have a good chance to sprout. It took ten minutes for the couple to relax and Leefstic released the restraints. Immediately the woman's arms came around him and held him to her as if she were holding the father of her child. It took a few more moments but they finally went to sleep. Soldoy reduced the gravity in the room a bit and let them rest. It was almost like Leefstic was his child but he knew that a child had to grow. The watch came for Jona a few hours later and Soldoy altered her hours so she could rest now and make up the hours later. Leefstic's location was given to his family but it was not necessary. They had heard the mental cries and saw that their son was the cause. Sondo was very proud that his son had done so well. It didn't quite occur to him that he had not tried so hard to please any of his wives in a long time. Looma though remembered what it used to be like and tried to think of a way of stimulating Leefstic's father to remember what he used to do. Four hours later Leefstic awoke and remembered the feelings he had and immediately started to thrust again. He was happy to see that he had not wilted much and was again ready to please his lady. Jona awoke slowly to the feeling between her legs and since it was slow, methodical and pleasant she held Leefstic to her with more kindness that she usually showed to any of her past lovers. A feeling did build slowly as Leefstic stroked against the small buds in Jona's vagina and eventually both had another orgasm but this time Leefstic did not expel his seed nor Jona push an egg. They woke up the next watch and looked at each other almost in surprise. Jona said, "You are a fantastic lover Leefstic. I had only thought that I was going to do a good turn to the person that defeated the blue team. I found instead that I was the one being pleased." "Thank you Jona. You made my first time very memorable. So many things came clear to me and I don't know how to thank you." Jona smiled and said, "I think I am the one that should be thanking you. I have never felt that way before." "I was just playing with stories I had read and now I understand them much better. You might want to call a med unit though. I know you dropped an egg and I felt compelled to send my seed to meet it." Jona did not know that had happened. She thought something was wrong with her, for a woman was able to control herself much better than she had done. Before Leefstic got up he moved his body a bit and kissed Jona on the lips tenderly then pulled his still erect member from her body. Jona felt the loss immediately and took it very hard as if a part of her were leaving too. She knew that Leefstic was still only a boy. When the two got up Leefstic took her hand and walked to the transporter. In seconds they were getting clean and the others in the cleansing room looked at the odd pair wondering how the young lad had brought the animal out in a woman as stable as Jona. Jona heard the comments in her mind and was embarrassed a bit by the way she slipped and wondered herself how the lad had done it. The two found that they had been rescheduled for the next watch. This alteration happened when important events transpired and Leefstic thought that the last two watches were certainly that. "Thanks Soldoy, I know we needed the rest and I found it is nice to sleep with someone I could hold in my arms." "I think it was important to both of you Leefstic," came in reply from Soldoy. They had their first meal together where Leefstic introduced Jona to his family through his link to them. Leefstic found that his family had heard a great deal about his first love affaire. Jona's family didn't know what to make of the pair now but nothing was looked down on. The disparity in ages would one day mean nothing if the affaire continued. The two were to travel to the planet below to collect samples and perform their own investigations. Both were even more happy when they found that they were paired up. They did have to accompany two children to check on the location of a small elusive mammal that was seen but not studied yet. The two split up to prepare but only after they were able to kiss in an empty room. The thoughts of new love or lust were still with them and both had their own thoughts on the matter. Leefstic felt Jona's mental caress on his mind letting him know that she thought a lot of him. The conditions on the planet they were investigating were studied. The climate was found to be hot and humid. Thick undergrowth was in the area to be surveyed. Disintegrators worked well here but destroyed everything in their path. This usually meant that a tree might fall on the cleared path when the trunk had been removed from beneath it. The best tool was a type of long heavy knife used to slash the vines and small branches. This would allow a team to get from one area to another with less damage to the planet. Leefstic knew that Jona was the head of this team by virtue of her age and experience. That did not mean that he was going to take any chances and brought a bit of extra protective gear. He was to do his own investigations and perform security for the team. They all met in a small room off number 6-C-4 flight bay. Soldoy didn't need to introduce each of the members to the others. There was never that many. The two children happened to be two and three years younger than he was. They were going for the same reason Leefstic had gone on so many other similar trips. Learning even directly through the mind was not as good as actually experiencing it. Leefstic catalogued the strengths and weakness of all team members as part of his duties. He found that he was deficient in some areas while the others were not. The children's ratings were weighted with their age. They entered a small ship after the mission was thoroughly discussed. Jona had piloted these ships many times but Leefstic had only done so on three occasions. "Leefstic, will you be our pilot? I can look through the sensors to find a good place to find the creatures and to land." Leefstic was happy with this arrangement and jested by saying, "Yes Captain, right away." The mother ship was orbiting one of the minor outer planets at the moment and they had to fly a hundred and fifty three million kilometres to arrive at the only habitable planet in the system. Jona looked through the sensors by way of her link with the computer. The two girls were professional too and did what they had to do to make the mission a success. A dozen sensors were released in the lower atmosphere and they escorted the small ship. In a half hour Jona said, "Let's put down here." Leefstic could see the mental image of where she pointed and started to settle to the surface by making the least amount of noise. When the probes and sensors saw that there was no appreciable animal life below a disintegrator silently destroyed the minimum foliage till the small craft was able to settle on one of the only pieces of dry land available. Leefstic took the job of security very seriously. This was a difficult task because he was not suited for taking on an enemy. It was not cowardice but the ability of forcing his mind and body to respond to the needs if and when they arose. There were few predators around and none able to get through the protective suit each wore. The job though was still worrisome. Jona got out first then the two girls, Moita the older and Wando the much younger followed. Each took small sensor display panels and followed Jona along a path she had chosen. Leefstic closed up the ship and locked it even though there was nobody to take the craft. With a pack tied securely to his back and a machete in his hand he moved quickly to the lead without disturbing his charges. He released six small probes of his own that would assist him in his main mission function. "Which way would you like to go, Captain?" He said with a bit of levity. Jona smiled at the boy then looked at her screen before pointing the way. "There is a rise over there. Some small hills could get us out of this water and mud. Who knows though, we may find something interesting in this environment." Leefstic tried to have eyes everywhere as he used the knife to cut the foliage out of their way. The edge of the blade was very sharp because of a small field that would sever most organic material. He tried to go around most obstacles as it said in the notes he had studied years ago. He didn't set the pace because the girls had to stop quite often to record their findings and sometimes they were able to inspect a specimen by eye as well. This made the excursion interesting. Everybody had fallen at least once so far but the mud didn't stick to the shield. The shield units he picked out at least had a method of keeping the occupant cool if necessary. Leefstic went to the last fallen younger girl and energized a small unit that would keep her basically vertical. He walked up to Jona and did the same thing with a smile. "I want all of you to be safe." Jona gave one of her smiles and replied, "I feel safe with you already Leefstic." Leefstic was a bit concerned with the mission for his probes were constantly being harassed. A plant with large bright flowers was able to snap up the probes as they went by. The first few times the probes burnt their way out and continued but half way to the first rise Leefstic now called a halt. He took his own sensors and aimed them at the plant and flower. All around him similar plants moved to face the company as if waiting for a meal. There was a liquid in the bottom of the flower that assisted in digesting animal and insect life that it was able to capture. The response time of the plant though was faster than any other similar plant their people had come across. Leefstic looked at Jona and asked, "Do you see the mechanism for this increase in speed?" all the flowers in this area suddenly turned to him as if pulled by a cord. "I am getting a strong reading of atropine to kill its prey but also some sort of field around each bloom." Leefstic was excited now and said, "The flowers are moving toward our mental emanations." The blooms had followed who was talking even though there was movement in the vicinity. The three girls got closer to the small flowers and found themselves being attacked ineffectually by the plant. Leefstic saw some runners start to move toward the excited people talking to each other. Leefstic blanked off his public mind and found the ones in his vicinity now quest for him. His sensor pad showed that the runners had many more toxins than atropine to immobilise and kill its prey. As a test he said on a private channel to Jona, "The runners are poisonous too and are a method of securing larger prey. I am talking this way to see if the plant reacts to this type of communication." Jona watched the plants around Leefstic and said, "They seem to detect a broad spectrum of thought. This is very interesting Leefstic. I am glad you found this phenomena." The information the plants had to offer was extracted and stored in their recorders. The younger girls had stayed still for so long that they had to break the weak runners so they could escape. If they had not been wearing their suits then they would now be dead even with their recuperative powers. Their journey continued with everybody discussing the strange plants. When they arrived at the next small hill, they looked around with mechanical as well as their own eyes to try to find the small mammals. There was very little ground cover here for the trees were very tall and shaded the land. Jona said, "We have to get into the canopy. I doubt if our subjects inhabit this region." The power to their grav units was increased and they drifted upward. Sometimes the group had to follow Leefstic again for the canopy was too dense to pass through without making a great deal of noise. The devices they carried showed the elusive creatures but no amount of stealth was good enough to actually see them. The probes were even spotted and the animals seemed to be frightened of them. Leefstic reluctantly pulled his mechanical eyes and ears in. When the end of their watch came Jona suggested, "I would like to stay here a bit longer. Full darkness is coming soon and there may be different fauna for us to discover. What do you all feel about this?" Leefstic thought of the safety aspect and knew that the ship they rode to the planet on was close and would come at their command if necessary. "I have no objections. The ship has additional probes I can use for a perimeter. There is more than enough food. I am pretty sure that there will be some nocturnal creatures that we will find interesting." Moita and Wando thought this a great adventure and readily agreed to this idea. Jona and I sent off our request for an extension of our stay. I listed our position as accurately as possible so that the two families of the girls would give their consent. My own family would like me back but also knew I had to grow and be on my own a bit more. Jona listed what she hoped to accomplish with this extra time. It took only a few minutes and the permissions came back. We moved a bit higher in the branches and I opened my pack to get ready for our stay. I dispensed food and we sat in a circle eating and talking. Only a portion of our shield went down and that was only when we had to eat or drink. Additional security probes came from our ship and gained altitude through the opening we made in the canopy. They formed an additional ring around us but were now on the other side of our elusive subjects. When we had settled into place for the night the outer ring of probes started to slowly come toward us. Infrared emitters were placed outside our area in hopes of illuminating any guests. We tried to conceal ourselves as good as we could. This meant that we clustered together and used some of the thinner branches and foliage to surround us. We didn't have the suits capable of invisibility and for this I kicked myself. Though it was dark we could see fifty metres but only well at a range of half of that. An hour later we were listening through the probes of a few individuals approaching. My first group of probes were above and below us so that our present position would be the only free area. A small furred animal streaked across our position in obvious fright. Moments later another one came and stopped to rest in our sight. A minute later three more came. One looked to be clinging to one of its parent's back. The girls beside me were very quiet and tried to even hide their minds. When a dozen were in range of our sensors, we began to record our data. The individuals were frightened and I mindspoke to the ship to halt the advance of the second set of probes. Just as I started to give the command, the creatures around us fled as if they had not even been here. I was crestfallen that I was the cause of this plan failing. "The creatures seem to be able to detect our mental communications. Even the plant we found was this way." Jona put her hand on my shoulder and said, "You found out that they are sensitive. That is not a bad thing." I did feel a bit better about it now and even the two girls smiled at me. The probes though had continued and I saw more of the creatures approach but now on the lookout for mindspeech and a possible predator. Ten minutes later a small family grouping came our way and decided our blind would be a good place to hide. There was a way now to overcome my previous gaff and brought out a small weapon that would put most animal life to sleep. Four of the greenish animals were just above us and I carefully moved the device to cover them. A quick mental burst activated the device and I was wishing at the time that simple muscle power could have done the same thing. A half second later I startled the girls by moving very quickly and caught all four of the small sleeping creatures before they fell to the ground far below. The girl's fright caused all the other creatures to flee for their lives. I gave my commands that the probes let them go and I presented my catch to the girls. Jona held the largest and it was only thirty centimetres tall. It had only a rudimentary tail. Moita got the next largest while Wando got the next. I had the smallest and this was not much larger than my hand. We all thought they were beautiful creatures. The girls brought their sensors to them and did what tests they wanted now that my device kept the animals sleeping. We soon found out that these animals were not as defenceless as we originally thought. They had small glands in their paws that put out some nasty toxins that would kill many other higher life forms. Their brain was not that developed but they were able to communicate with each other. I put in my report that more complex thinking could possibly be done with a group mind. Our own worked similarly but it was only of closely linked individuals and this happened to be family. When the study on these simians was done and samples taken, I took the helpless creatures higher into the tree top and backed down slowly. At twenty metres and half an hour later they recovered. In a second the baby was attached to its father's back and they went off to find the rest of their kind. The next morning we were not even that sleepy. We had found two varieties of night flying moths and two kinds of a flying rodent that fed on the moths and other insects. None of these showed any ability to detect mental emanations. Every 'Home Day', we sent off a complete listing of everything we had discovered since the ship was built almost seven hundred and sixty years ago. Every seventy two day cycle we sent out what had been found in the last ten cycles. We in turn sometimes got the information from any message pods sent our way, but this happened at unpredictable times. We just made our own copy and let the device continue. Soldoy congratulated us on our discoveries. Plants and animals with the ability to detect us were few but some did exist. The extensive records though of our race didn't find a plant that reacted as quickly as the one we found or an animal with the amount of toxin in its system that used it for defence. After my next watch I did a lot of thinking. I was young to have my sexual organs begin to function and also quite young to get the duties I was given. The Seffra thought that you had to get duties that would allow you to grow. The problem was that I wanted to be with Jona now. I had expended a considerable amount of effort to make out the aura surrounding Jona. It was not as close a match as what my father and my various mothers had. This frightened me. Compatibility on many levels was what a family needed to stay together. The husband's aura had to resonate with his wives and only a few were able to do this. Each adult strove to find the best possible match but the population on the ship was not that great. I was too young to go to the singles area alone but I found a great deal of comfort being with my family. Jona came over and visited with my family and after the third time I said, "Will you consider staying here with me? You seem to fit in well." She thought about this I could see and said, "I left my own family to do things on my own. I love my own family too but just found it a bit constraining. I know that if I lived with you here that it would be the same as what I left." I was afraid of this answer and countered, "Will you live here a few days every cycle? I could live with you the remainder of the time." Jona enjoyed our lovemaking but I was getting subtle indications that she wanted more. I had wracked my mind in the coming cycles to think of what more could be and figured it was either a more varied sex life or probably a commitment to forming a family. My feelings for Jona were not what I thought would be strong enough for a family but then again I was not that old. Children of our race changed their minds quite a few times before becoming adults. It was not very often that a family relationship had to be dissolved. We had decide to continue seeing each other. My readings of all the varied types of sexual practices were studied. Jona experimented with me to find out how each differed from the rest and how satisfying it could be. I found that walking in one of the arboretums with Jona's hand in mine was almost as rewarding. A year later we parted company. Jona had seen more and more of her friends join or form families and she wanted to have this now. I was still not ready. When she found an older male looking to start a new unit she tearfully said goodbye to me. I put my best face forward and my public mind was full of joy for her but inside I was hurt harder than I had ever been before. I could see that Jona was the same way, except she thought that this new path would give her greater security and perhaps love than she would have with me. My own family was supportive and so was Soldoy. I did cry for a few watches but decided to hide in my studies instead of having to deal with this loss. My ratings improved but my social life felt nonexistent. Family was still very important and eventually I went out to find women. I hoped that they would find me interesting enough to be given a chance to prove myself. Finding a woman like Jona was almost impossible. Most of the women saw me as a child or a male not ready to make a commitment to form a family. Soldoy helped by giving me advanced courses in the subjects I excelled at. My mind was becoming much stronger and now he had me moving things with my mind better than before. Most Seffra could do this but not very well. Soldoy said, "It is just like the ability to use your muscles. If you practice enough you will get strong. The more you learn now the better it will be. When you reach your adult stage there are very few further improvements that could be made." Games of skill were usually played in small groups. Some were board games, one was where a small sphere was pushed with only the mind into one of two small openings. Here two teams of adults worked against each other to score a point. I was the youngest player there. I was not of much help but I did learn to play and to use more of my abilities. The exercises did work in the main computer when I was instructed how to make repairs. The environment was odd because I could sense all of the dimensions but not see them. One dimension I could detect better than the others but this required a great deal of concentration. Others that had taken this training for years could not do this much better than I could. As a project I was able to make a good computer from scratch but still had to rely on the fabricators to manufacture the individual components. Large crystals were very rare and were apparently purchased from another race. The only substitute was a structure formed of substrate and having many small crystals on it. Predictor crystals were much more difficult to make but could be made small enough that they too could be grouped to give a few seconds of warning. The computer itself was very small and I had to use my mind to place the individual components. I worked hard on the project. I was one of the first finished and got high marks. I knew that the next project would be to build a small ship capable of at least ten multiples of light, have the capability of keeping six people alive for twelve cycles and a great many other less important criteria. The ships we flew to the various planets were all products of individual students. I was a person prone to worry about things, so as soon as I could, I began to design the ship I wanted. Some of this had been in the back of my mind for years but now I was able to gain more computer time to finalise what I had dreamed of. Message pods from other ships had left data with us telling of a better way of shielding from the harmful radiation from a lithium reactor. I did some of my own experiments and saw that I could make a much more powerful reactor and put it very close to the engines I wanted. This would give me a great deal more acceleration, speed and range. The Seffra had few enemies but the ones we did have were very formidable. Two types of energy weapons were installed in the bow and one in the stern in a novel way. The range and acceleration really required larger temporal and inertial compensators. I spent a significant amount of time on both units and managed to make a new device that performed both functions. I saved a considerable amount of mass and volume in doing it this way. Twelve cycles was a long time and I could not see six people being that friendly to each other for the entire 864 days. More room and entertainment would help but stasis units would be the best. Five people could remain in the units while one worked alone or possibly with a few others. It would cut down on the life support needed for the crew and the actual size of the ship. This project alone took close to a year to complete. Some of the work could be shifted into my watches but most could not. Most of my waking moments if not working on my ratings was spent on construction and investigation of the best way to incorporate the parts I wanted in the hull. People came to see what I was doing and complimented me on my dedication to duty and my creativeness. The small computer first made for this ship had to be used in a small auxiliary vessel instead. With two computers though I was able to speed up the construction a bit. Half way through the construction I knew that I could not complete the ship in time. I talked the situation over with the family and they agreed that some things had to be sacrificed to learn. They looked on this task as a type of aggression even if it was not directly related to increasing my responses. Sleep was cut back and my duties on watch were lessened to give me more time. The other contestants came in to see what I was doing and saw that my ship was much more of a space vessel than theirs were. The competitors had long since completed their projects. One person went back to their design and did some alterations now that she had a lot more time to do so. The contest started without me and the other three ships were assessed by a large segment of the population. Mine was finally completed a half cycle after the last. It out performed every other ship. I was given very high credits for my work and ingenuity but sadly I got last place because of the time taken. This still gave me more credits to attaining my rating but not as much as it should for the effort and time I put into it. The only good thing was that I was able to get over most of my heartbreak at losing Jona. We did have another party when the results came in. Jona did come alone but I knew that she had been asked to join a family of two. We talked a bit but she finally said, "I was waiting to tell you first that I am going to accept the offer. I know that you were hurt but you also have to know that I am still hurting too. I have never met a person like you. I want a child in a normal setting and I know with you it will never be normal. That is not bad but it turns out that I am basically a simple person that wants a simple life. I think you have something about you that can make you great but I don't know if you will ever be able to attain it." I felt heartbroken all over again but at least now I could see and end to it. ------- Chapter 2 Days after the project's completion we slowed to enter another system. I plotted our position with twelve well known stars the started categorising the system. This system was an oddity for two planets were in the comfort zone of the local sun. Names were not frequently given and we relied on an alpha-numeric system. Both planets were warm and wet giving a great amount of plant and animal life. Probes had gone in first to assess for danger. We found an extinct civilizations that had died from outside causes. Some of the wounds to the planet were very old and it was difficult to tell who had killed the race. There had been a great many starfaring races in this galaxy but sadly most had died from one cause or another. Other races survived as a pale shadow of what they used to be. One race called themselves the T'aucnatchi or T'aut for short. They had been named Gossna by the first race to find them. The Glossna were found in many systems and basically had abandoned their past. They were a metre tall and were of reptile ancestry. Their diet though was vegetarian for the most part and their teeth showed this. At one time they had stood up to aggressors but for the most part now were pacifists without the will or the way to fight back. Occasionally a post would be put up on one of their planets for trade and educational purposes. Sometimes the younger Gossna could be convinced to join the Seffra. They were very good technicians but poor warriors. The retiring tech would be resettled back on his home planet in the hopes of encouraging others to join. Other races became allies too but this was basically so they could learn to defend themselves. This was usually a marriage of convenience but one that lasted for a long time for there were still many minor enemies lurking in the further systems. The Graskor were not minor by any stretch of the imagination. They were a humanoid life form but lived on the heavier gravitational planets. They are very irrational when dealing with all other races and would usually try to kill them if they thought that they could get away with it. The killing seemed to be part of their primitive instincts. Animals and planets are left alone. The Summa were lizard like creatures and about three metres tall. They were distinctly carnivorous and like to eat other races thinking that it gave them strength. It was believed that this act held their race together as a ritual might. The Seffra have on occasion got these two races to fight each other without having to die ourselves. Both races were as technologically advanced as we were a few centuries ago. When we became embroiled in a full scale war at the time, we worked very hard to devise new devices and stratagems. For the most part we had succeeded and our enemies had been put back in their place. It was hoped that our explorations would find new ideas that could be used to protect our race even more. Our current military style life was a far cry from what I found we used to be like. The planet closer to the primary had ruins of a very advanced race that looked to have been killed by kinetic and energy weapons from orbit. Pickets were sent out and a full scale archaeological investigation was begun. In situations like this the investigation could continue for many cycles. My turn eventually came where I would fly to the surface and assist in investigating what we hoped was a university or a military training centre. We were not sure because the planet's population had been killed more than a thousand cycles ago. This system seemed to be very important. Instead of allowing me to run some of the machinery the adults took these tasks and I was again a security officer. The party though was now twenty in number and had three children attempting to learn as they tried to find out about this race. We had worked this site for three days when a storm came up. The three girls left for the ship to process their results and to get away from the frightening sound and lightning. When the storm had passed the children had to return. This required me again to be in two places at once. Our primary landing site and path had been damaged by windfalls. With just myself and the children we went to the alternate landing site after checking the trail. This one seemed undamaged. The trail was only a hundred and thirty metres long but ran beside a wide river at the bottom of a cliff. I sent out my probes and monitored the information for I took very little for granted. A cave outside my probes' range now hosted a belligerent form of ape. A half dozen of the creatures decided to throw down rocks on us. This was not that dangerous and I hurried my charges along. The falling rocks though broke loose larger rocks ahead of and behind us. I worked frantically with the sounds of the screaming children in my mind. I managed to get two to safety but one had fallen. I belatedly used the PK to deflect rocks. Some were so large that I could do nothing about them. I was able though to push the child into a space between two rocks before a large bolder fell. I could hear the child scream. She was very frightened but thankfully not hurt. The large rock could have overloaded her suit. I had to step back now for I was more weary than I thought I had ever been. The girl was now buried under many tonnes of rock but safe otherwise. The probes attacked the primates to drive them away while I worked frantically to dig the child out from under the large pile. In less than a minute adults were working beside me attempting the same thing. This had to be done carefully for none of us wanted the large rock to shift. In twenty minutes the child was freed but was very shaken up from the experience. An investigation was instigated and the next day I found what was decided. I apparently had not shifted into that frame of mind that allowed my body to work much faster than usual. Everybody my age could do this to some extent but I had not learned. My record of achievements had been brought up. It showed how good I was in my duties but this simply didn't mean much if I could not react as I should when danger threatened. This was not a trial where someone actually goes against the community or another individual but it did highlight my failings. Being good at almost everything else didn't help me in this problem. The adults had me removed from all security duties till my situation was reassessed. This caused a great deal of discontent in my family and especially in me for there would have to be an important reason for me to be reassessed. I felt it unfair that they had done this when others of my age had not been given similar duties. We were going to stay in the system for at least the next few cycles. That was until some interesting finds were made concerning a weapon that destroyed enemy ships from a great distance. We stayed three additional cycles to find more information but I was not allowed to go to either of the planets. I favoured shipboard life but I felt bad about being restricted in my share of even the less preferred tasks. I could detect subtle differences in the people I talked to as if I had let them and our race down. This drove me back into my studies one more time, instead of acting in the correct manner and interrelating with others. I went to sporting events as I was encouraged to do but I did my best to not compete myself. I felt that if I didn't work hard enough, this would let my team down and again bear the brunt of everybody's ridicule. To compensate, I worked alone in a gym to keep in shape to develop both my body and my mental abilities. Soldoy was the one that provided mechanicals that I would fight. No matter how pressed though I was I was not able to break that barrier and speed my body up. I despaired of never being able to do this. My body produced more of the hormones that altered my thinking. I was further advanced than what I should be and found that it was even harder to deal with not having a woman. The best I could do was work to eradicate much of the hormones that were giving me this problem This became a major undertaking for there was always too much to deal with. There were not that many young people on the ship. Our race tended to live a long time and to have a large family seemed unfair because of the resources they would use. In our race's early development we had faced population pressures and then wars and famines. When we began to grow up, those problems did not reappear. The ship we were on could support more but the level of support would drop for each of us. A computer or a life support system could only do so much no matter how efficient. Some young females did catch my eye and I seemed to catch theirs too. They were not like Jona though and I did not feel compelled to give any commitment. They too were young and not prepared for the type of activities I craved. They tended to be inconsistent in their dealings with young males like me. Rejection even from a young girl was much too much to even be contemplated. My mothers tried to help by guiding me but they could not really give me any realistic answers other than to wait. Soldoy and I worked out a plan that may or may not help me. I worked on the ship I made and improved it further. The hope was that I could fly this ship and do much better than a probe in trying to search for data our race needed to keep safe. Communications were only good to a range of four lights. I manufactured the best communications gear I could. Similarly, all the ships systems were improved including the computer. The AI had been replaced with a larger unit I made and felt very protective of her. Half the AIs were female and I felt comforted to have Borin helping me. She was not up to Soldoy's level by any means but she was mine full time. I think Soldoy placed extra programming in the crystal itself to make me a bit less lonely. Here was one female that would not reject me out of hand. Additional weapons were to be added at a future date. I wanted to wait for the secret of the long range weapon but it had not been deciphered yet. The information was not complete and that was why we had stayed so long to search for the remainder of the data. Everybody was working on this problem. Families worked well in this instance for their group minds were able to find things that individuals could not do. Nearby systems were searched trying to find ships or bases with a completed unit but it looked like there was only the home planet. With Soldoy's active help the ship was improved much quicker than I had been able to do alone. My parents approved of the increased effort on the ship and I think they didn't mind me flying it by myself but they wouldn't want me to be away from them for more than a day. All I could do is start with small steps and eventually larger steps could be taken. My biological mother Looma was going to be the problem this time. She suggested more safety equipment and insisted that I continued with my education while even away for a day. This added a week to my scheduled launch. I even had an emergency pod in the form of the small ship I carried for emergencies. I made small crystals and Soldoy transferred much of our knowledge into them so I would never be without the information I needed. The family came to the bay to see me out for the first time in the vastly improved vessel The way they thought made me think that I would not be back. I did keep in contact but this only lasted for seconds till I was out of range. It felt good to be on my own but it also felt bad to be away from all the people I knew and loved. Easy choices could not always be found. "Borin, deploy the sensor array please." "Yes captain," came in return as if she were shy. Who ever heard of a really shy female. We flew thirty lights from Soldoy's probable course and ran parallel to it. Probes flew all around the ship to make our search volume as large as possible. With me further out I could perform a similar duty and cover almost a similar volume of space as Soldoy. Very fast message torpedos would travel between ships to share data or changes in course if we got out of communications range. I studied and worked on the enigma of the weapon while doing my other shipboard duties. After only one day I returned to Soldoy and my family to show them that I was still very much alive. In a half cycle I was able to stay out for two days at a time without too much problems. We did stop at another system but I continued my own search in an ever widening volume of space. Borin worked with me to fill in the areas of my training that I was not strong in. This continued even when we were investigating the various systems we found. Two cycles after I started my own surveys I found an interesting system and Soldoy altered his planned course with the crew's approval and searched out my discovery. When the ship arrived we progressed much quicker because I had done a security survey and my own pickets were protecting our backs. This was an interesting system because it had some similarities with the other system that told us of their long range weapon. Though it was not as urbanised it still might supply some clues. Borin and I flew through the atmosphere trailing our more sensitive sensors behind us. Most of the planet had never been developed but a small strip around the equator had signs of a previous civilisation. It didn't have the characteristic pattern of destruction though that others of this kind had. A high proportion of the planet's surface was land but there were a few small oceans. When the majority of the land mass had been surveyed I said, "Borin, let's go across the ocean too. I want to check the islands and the continental shelves." "Yes Captain. I have a pattern worked out." She displayed a way to search the greatest amount of area in the least time. "Is this satisfactory?" "It looks good to me. Let's see if we can cover that long peninsula too on our way." The coasts had a higher density of what was once civilization. The peninsula had even more so as if it were a favourite spot to congregate. It was actually a small island only twenty seven kilometres by thirty two that had a surprise for us. It was presently in the shadow of the planet and we found some signs of intelligent life. Soldoy was immediately informed while I slowed my approach and lost an appreciable amount of altitude. I crossed the island twice within two hundred kilometres. There seemed to be no other areas of this type of life. Borin brought in the sensor array and we descended to hover invisibly over the land just at the top of the trees. Our shields were at full power and we silently searched, trying to find out more about this small isolated group of individuals. One of Borin's improvements was invisibility. This feature was usually restricted to larger ships or to specialized shields. Any civilisation worthy of the name could still see us but the primitive ones would have no way of detecting anything about us. We found tools that could be used for weapons. They happened to be spears used for fishing in shallow water. Some knives for the usual chores but were made of fair ceramic and not even metal. Larger knives were detected but these seemed to be more suited to clearing a path in the jungle. A dozen axes were the last of the possible weapons. The majority of the tools though were for their fields that were fed by the common rains striking the island. Very little clothing was worn but I did see some jewellery and musical instruments. The members were investigated thoroughly by our small probes. We were all surprised to find them to be Gossna. They were just a bit taller but that was only a centimetre over the average. There was only thirteen members in this group and this was not enough for a viable society. We had extensive information about these gentle people and knew the end would come in a few more generations. They seemed to suffer from a variety of diseases including a deficiency in an essential vitamin. There were few youngsters in the group. This struck me as being strange. I assumed that with such a small gene pool that inbreeding would be a major cause of concern. The civilization had collapsed over a thousand cycles ago and these looked to be what may be the last of the survivors. The group was uniformly thin and it looked like they were not getting enough to eat. Though primarily vegetarian, they could not get all their nutrients from plants alone. Some had to come from the sea. An inventory of the plants they ate was taken and compared with what they were currently cultivating. There were some wild nuts and fruit harvested and either stored or processed. "Soldoy, the rules say that I would get the first attempt to talk to these people. Will you and the adults allow me to perform this duty?" A moment later there appeared to be a bit of hemming and hawing from the adults and then Soldoy said, "You are permitted to do this but your ship has to be put in the third form." "Borin can protect me. I will wear the proper suit." "Very good." I brushed up on their language from the records in my ship. I took two med units and a finer diagnostic unit now both programmed for their physiology. The terminator was an hour away and instead of entering the village empty handed I wanted to bring some food. Various plants could be harvested but I thought that their infrequent departure from this lifestyle might be welcome. We flew over the island looking for some of the edible plants and Borin's tractors picked a few hundred kilograms for us. We headed into the ocean looking for a particular fish. The teeth, skin and fins were seen in the village so I assumed that they would like this variety. The type of fish I wanted was a deep water and I had to go down two hundred metres to secure the animal. With one hundred and forty three kilos of fish, I rose to the surface and flew to the island. The fish went onto the beach while I went inland with the ship to drag out some dead wood for a fire. Borin played a weapon over the large pile of wood to dry it out. Some green leaves provided a large clean surface for the cut fish. Some of the wood was put into a pile and Borin heated this till it dried and started to burn. A med unit checked the flesh and I found that it was digestible by our kind but had a slight diuretic property. Eating natural food was a rarity though we did copy some samples and the replicator provided meals of these commodities. The fish contained a high parentage of fat and this started to smoke. Borin detected some movement and quickly transported the med units, vitamins and even a few small tools to a place close to me. The nuts, fruit and vegetables harvested landed in a clear area on the sand. Borin energized the field around her and she became invisible to my eyes. Her smallest weapons were trained on the village even though there was nothing there that could get through my own shield. I crouched low to the ground and used a ceramic rod with five tines at the end to manipulate the portions of heated flesh. The fire was not large and the fish was already partially cooked thanks to Borin. The Gossna are telepathic but seem to enjoy using their voice just as much. An old male came out of his hut to visit a tree nearby when he saw the small fire. This was not uncommon but then he spotted me turning the flesh. His mind immediately went to a higher level of excitement as fear induced hormones entered his blood. I slipped into his mind but only in his public area. "Hello, old sire. I have come with my mother's greeting for you and your family. As a token of her love she has provided some food. Please awaken your family and we may talk and dine." This seemed to be a good enough reason for him to leave so he ran back into his hut and awoke his wife. I could hear both verbal and mental communication that soon awoke more of the village. In a moment I saw many faces peering out of the four huts. When it looked like I had everybody's attention I repeated my greeting one more time with a few more embellishments. Nobody moved but Borin sent some of the smoke towards them while they thought about my offer. Some of the cooked flesh was put on some large green leaves while I ate a bit myself. The Gossna did not think of poison or deceit but might react favourably by thinking with their stomachs. The head woman of the village did come out but two women had fishing spears hidden behind them in their huts. She came half way which happened to be about eight metres and said, "Why are you here?" "Hello mother. I have come here to carry out the will of my mother. She asked me to bring you food and to see to your health and security. I have come a great distance to do this. When I leave I wish to know that her will has been carried out." The female thought on this for a moment then after looking around said, "Where is your boat? How many came with you? Where are they?" "I have come alone with only one boat. It is large and can fly through the air. It was built in the old ways. It is a machine but it is alive too. Your mother's mother's mother would know about this. That is how you first came to this place." "We came by boat across the water." "That is true but a long time before that you and your kind came from the stars, just as I have done." This got them thinking and I turned to move some of the fish before it began to burn. Some was put on a stack of already cooked flesh and more was put over the coals. I knew that they were very hungry and would eat quite a bit. The Gossna looked at what I was doing as if they had never seen this before. When the last sliced portion was cooked I said, "I am going to the water to wash my hands. Please help yourselves to the food." I didn't need to wash but it was a good excuse to get further away so they could get something to eat. I also knew that none of them had performed their morning ablutions and needed to. I took my time and I saw that the Gossna were talking with voice alone as if this would not allow me to understand what was being said. There were many more questions than answers. One boy in the back slipped unseen to the side of the hut and proceeded to irrigate the plant life. I stayed away long enough for others to do the same. Getting back to the fire, I took a small knife and picked up a large piece of fruit. The knife took off a bit of the skin and then I cut some of the flesh. It tasted sweet but slightly acidic. I sat with the fruit and continued to eat small portions while I watched the village debate my presence. The head woman eventually came back to ask more questions. The first one was, "What is the name of your people? We have never seen your kind before." "My people are called Seffra. Your people's great mother and mine are friends. You have just forgotten that this is the case. Your mother has sent some of her children to help our race in making tools. My mother has used these tools to protect both races." This got her onto a different topic but she said, "If you can make a boat that flies through the air, why do you need us to make tools?" "Do your storytellers tell you of Habbsera on the mountain?" This did make her think. It was a story of our two races helping each other to our mutual benefit. Habbsera was the Gossna representative and the fair skinned race were the Seffra. She had come out of the jungle when her village was attacked. She had heard tales of two races fighting each other to the death while one killed her people. It was her bravery at starting negotiations that led to the Seffra fighting her enemies and freeing her people. Years later when the battles were over it was found that the Gossna had to learn to assist in the repair of the weapons that allowed the Seffra to fight. The head woman finally said, "Are you the race that fought at our side?" "That is true. It was a long time ago and many of our enemies were hurt on the weapons you made and we used." In twenty minutes the villagers were eating the fish and even some of the plant products. Another hour allowed me to use one of the med units on the oldest in the village. The results were slow in coming but the individual felt much better. With a lot more talking the devices I brought with me were explained. The vitamins were seen as magical but I had to try to get them to understand science but this would take many cycles. The small tools I gave them though were very appreciated since they were much stronger and sharper than their own. I said to Molta, the head woman, "Your land will not get cultivated if we stand here and talk. Let's go to the fields and try the tools. I would like to assist you." She was not sure about this but her customs didn't say this was not proper. We decided to go and Borin slipped a much larger hoe to me so that I could pick it from the ground as if it were there all the time. The work was not hard. I was much stronger and larger than they were. I kept to a slow pace so that I worked alongside the Gossna. We came in at midday after doing much more than usual. A small meal was provided by those that remained in the village. It happened to be the fish and some of their processed vegetables. Gourds supplied water. This time the younger ones came close and looked up to me trying to understand what they saw. When we worked in the fields after a short rest, my hoe would strike a clump of soil and a small clod would strike one or another of the children on the leg. It didn't hurt but soon the youngsters were trying to catch me doing this. I pretended all the while as if I was unaware of this happening. One youngster was going to tell the others that he had seen me when the top of a weed landed in his mouth. From then on I was watched very diligently. We ate the same meal later that day as what we had earlier but more was presented. The large fish though had been cut up and smoked. There was little that was going to rot. After the meal we sat around a small fire and I brought out a similar flute to what the Gossna played. It had just been put there by Borin but the Gossna didn't know that. I played a few notes slowly and listened to their reaction. When I finished the flute was put behind my back and Borin substituted on that was minutely different. The notes the Gossna heard were not the same they played and I needed a slightly different instrument to coincide with what they thought proper. I played some of the music this village was used to then branched out to simple music other Gossna would enjoy. It was all very slow and pedantic to me but my audience appreciated it. I did stop after a few songs and got them to play with me. Not all of their instruments were tuned alike but it was still like family playing and that was what counted. Storytelling was an important way of carrying down tradition. Molta asked, "Tell us of your people and ours." This was easy to do and I started relating historical events and listed the Gossna contributions. The majority of the time the Gossna and the Seffra fought to save themselves and the Gossna did no actual combat. The villagers though were very excited about even the simplistic duties their brethren performed. The stories went on for two hours and they didn't seem tired of listening to what I said in the least. Molta asked me about our great mother and I explained how our leaders were actually years away and it was only policy to talk to all of the Gossna and other races about their history. "Your great mother did not really know of our village then?" "No, we were told to find all of the Gossna settlements and assist them if we could. I was the one that found your world and wanted to come down and help. There are no more of your kind alive anyplace on this world and that bothers me." "Why is that?" It was a bit difficult describing genetic defects from a small gene pool but I tried. It looked like they were becoming concerned with this. I explained, "Our ship is very large. It has tools that will repair the problems of too few people. It also can repair a body so that it is like new again." I switched to a speech about recruitment. This village may be healed properly by our medicine, but they would all be dead in the next few thousand years even if the Gossna did live a naturally long life. I listed more of what our ship and our race had to offer. I knew that they were going to ask so I informed them about education and how they could work as their ancestors did to protect our union. At the very least we could take them to more of their people to live in a much larger community if that was their wish. A considerable amount of thought was put to my words. In a moment Molta got up and went to her hut. She came out with a ceramic rod with a small jewel on the end and what looked like a necklace. This one had a metallic chain holding a similar frame that in turn secured a dark crystal. She walked up to me and the others that had been close moved aside. I saw no threat and continued to sit on the ground. Molta said, "These have been handed down from my mother's mother's mother to me. They are magic though I do not know what they do. I was told that one day they would save our people. I think it best that you take these as a gift from our ancestors." There was no clasp on the chain but it was just big enough to fit over my head. I got to my knees to help her and she thought this fitting. When she finished she took a step back and said, "You hold the magic of our people now." She reached out and handed me the inscribed ceramic rod with the small jewel. I didn't really know what to say. The workmanship was exquisite and it looked that they were giving me their greatest treasure. "I thank you for all of our people. Our mother will cherish this gift." Molta stopped suddenly, "This is a gift to you. You are the one to find and heal us." There was no way to fight her decision so I said, "Then I except this gift from a friend. I will keep this with me. I would like to continue with my gifts. The healing I have done is very small. There is deeper healing that needs to occur for all of you to be healthy. This can only be done on our ship. I would like you to visit our ship and learn of your past and perhaps of your future." Molta didn't commit herself right away and said, "We will think on this." I now explained about each member of the village and what they personally could get out of joining us. I also informed them how life would be strange and frightening till they began to understand. My description of the arboretums, horticultural stations and even the small hobby farms made them smile and this I knew more that the rest would make them happy. As it got dark I said, "It is time that I must go till the sun returns once again." This was said verbally and shocked a few that still thought that I didn't know their language Verbal communications among the Seffra was rare but we all knew how to communicate in the tongues of our allies. "I will sleep and then talk to my mother. Tomorrow I will return. This time I will bring some of the food your people like the most. Some of the ingredients do not grow where you live." A youngster came to me and I picked him up which even frightened him. I said as if to him alone, "I will walk to the shore and around the point. You can see my boat. It is much bigger that all your village huts put together. If we go now you will be able to see it before it gets too dark." Borin dutifully moved to where I wanted her to be and we came in time to see her vaguely against the light from the stars across the water. The hatch was open and a small amount of light came out. I used the usual Gossna parting gestures and found that these had been remembered if not used in many years. After stepping in the ship we slowly rose into the sky a few metres and I waved again as we left the Gossna for the night. We picked up speed and when it was dark enough we gained altitude and docked in one of Soldoy's boat bays. Father congratulated me on how well I had done. "You followed all the rules and you said what was important when the questioning changed. I doubt if any of us could have done any better. This time I think your size helped you with the Gossna. I can imagine an adult Seffra would really frighten them." I felt very pleased at this praise. My mothers added their own and it felt good once again to be accepted. Other influential adults added their own approval and this helped assuage the hurt I had that drove me from the ship in the first place. Sleep was more peaceful than usual on the ship. The family admired the gifts I was given and I passed them around to be seen better. The rod had carvings on a very small scale that showed the Gossna fighting a space battle. The chain on the necklace was complex but repetitive. The metallic frame holding the crystal has similar graphics to what were on the ceramic rod. None of the graphics could be seen very well but I knew that the Gossna could make out the detail. The crystal was dark but didn't look like anything I had seen before. The Gossna village was talked about in detail and I said, "I want to introduce more of us to the Gossna but not frighten them. I would like to take Somey to the planet with me." My sister was very precious to me but I also knew that she would be in no danger. My parents were not immediately against this plan. They knew how kind an inoffensive the Gossna were. In the end they agreed but that a shield had to stay on her at all time or I be holding her when she didn't have it on for feeding or cleaning. Somey sat throughout this discussion and smiled at me for putting some excitement in her life. The arrangements were made and Soldoy was called in to just make sure everything was considered. It was a standing directive that the Gossna be encouraged to join us but I wanted to keep the fright to a minimum. This would best be done by taking small steps and introducing them to non-threatening people before considering the ship and its great size. Even here, there would have to be very few people around. Somey and I walked out of the chambers. Father had said we had to walk as there were a lot of people that would want to talk to us. We met a few more adults on our way to my ship. They talked to me and examined the gifts. A great many people had been watching the negotiations. Some had seen vastly enlarged graphics of both articles and told me how beautiful they were. Soldoy produced some food that most Gossna seemed to really like. This was transported to Borin so we could deliver it to the island. We didn't need physical restraints but I did put Somey into a safe location for our flight. She had a display in front of her to show her interesting data. Borin gave a simplistic version of what the graphics represented. We completed the last few portions of the planet's surface looking for additional Gossna. There was no trace of any living being though there were a few abandoned settlements. They strangely were places that didn't seem to be where the Gossna would like to live. When our search was over we went on our second mission. Over the island and at an altitude of six kilometres I called to Molta mentally and to some of the other individuals. They wanted to know where I was and I explained my position. I didn't want to frighten them by an unexpected arrival. We descended quickly but the last kilometre was done much slower. We landed very close to the village and in full view. Some of the younger Gossna stayed hidden in the huts but most were out in front waiting. I picked up Somey in my arms and ensured that her shield was secure before leaving. When I stepped down the ramp they saw Somey for the first time and her small size bothered them much less than an adult would. I had done the right thing by keeping the necklace when I read their public thoughts. The rod though was in my cabin on display with other things I had found. Somey wanted down. She saw the Gossna and immediately saw them as friends. Her mind radiated this idea and the Gossna seemed to be drawn to her. My sister, though really only a half sister, loved the attention she was given. The young Gossna found that she was still much larger than they were. The age though was easily recognisable because of her thoughts. Soon the children all gravitated together. There was one young Gossna that was still older than me that seemed more adventurous. I explained to the village about the food and Odava cautiously followed me into the ship to help me carry the food out. He looked in wonder at every feature. I paused and just waited. It took five minutes till he remembered why he was here and felt embarrassed about what he had done. He carried some containers out for me. We set our loads down on a clean area and Odava even went back alone for the remainder of the meal. We had our meal later when Somey came wandering back with her three friends. She was not used to walking on anything other than the deck of our ship but was doing well enough. Her friends even kept her vertical a few times. Somey ate in my lap. The Gossna food I had brought was still good for us to eat. We thought the taste bland but exotic to the villagers. I talked more of the stories I knew regarding the Gossna and my race. Somney took her friends to visit the ship. The parents were assured that everything was safe. None of the children emerged and the adults could read what the children saw and how they reacted. Soon the adults too wanted to see but wanted to be polite to me. After the last story I invited all of them to have a tour with me. Odava stayed close all the time and listened intently as I explained the basic functions of some of the recognisable features. After looking at Molta and his mother he asked some questions in turn. At the end of the tour, Odava was asked to use his mind to get the ship to move over the ground. A viewing screen came to life shown from a position of over our heads. Borin complied with Odava's requests and just raised a few centimetres and travelled a metre per minute as directed. The children ran to the open hatch and saw the land moving by at a rate slower than they could walk. The experience though was exciting. Soon I had the adults doing the same thing but the speed increased to only what an adult would walk. Trees and rocks stopped us till the pilot found a way around them. When even the youngest had a chance to act as pilot, we returned to where we had stopped today and the passengers left the ship. Somey and I left right after leaving the remainder of the meal and the containers for the Gossna. This was exciting for them and I wanted them to digest not only the food but the ideas I tried to instill. Tomorrow I promised I would bring my mother and Somey with me. Somey was a bit sad at leaving her newfound friends but she understood the promise of seeing them tomorrow. Mother was pleased to be asked to help our efforts and agreed to help. Research on the planet still continued. We had found the wreckage of more large buildings and searched to fill in the gaps in our knowledge. In the coming days the Gossna felt more accustomed to neighbours dropping by but everybody had to act very meek. There were three active discussions of how these Gossna differed from their more civilized brethren. Odava flew with Somey and me around the ocean they lived on. The islands were shown and he was amazed at what would have taken weeks to travel in a boat took seconds now. In two weeks he was on our mother ship and greeted a very few select members before going home. None of us had been pushing Molta about a decision but when somebody came back explaining what they saw I hoped that the decision would be favourable. When a cycle had been completed all of the village had visited the ship and been introduced to Soldoy. This time he projected a hologram that lead them through the ship explaining what would most interest the Gossna. As an experiment I approached Odava and said, "I want to continue my survey of the worlds close by. Would you consider travelling with me for six days so you would see what it is like to fly between the stars?" He smiled broadly and said, "I would like that Leefstic." A large hologram of the nearby stars was shown and the ones catalogued and investigated were green. The path we had come showed a thin green path when the scale had been changed. The pink stars beckoned and I wanted to get back to exploring. Odava picked out the stars he wanted to see and then worked with Borin to pick the best course. I had done the same sort of thing so many years ago but it all seemed new when standing here. Our flight was cleared and we left soon after. Odava looked at the screen of the only world he had ever known grow smaller. Only when it had disappeared did he look forward. Odava loved to pilot the ship, even though there was very little he could do. The first system had only four planets and a red sun. To my only crew member it looked like a prize beyond all others. Probes went out and we circled the system to stay out of possible danger. Odava was let down when we found that there was no habitable planet or any signs that a higher order race had ever visited here. Odava worked on travelling to the next star on our course while I worked on the latest data that we had found about the mysterious weapon. When Odava was finished, he too started to study. He had not been enhanced yet but his mind could still accept the information but more slowly. For the next hour we each worked on our own ideas till we came to the next system. This system had a single gas giant, but the system was still searched and the information recorded. I went back to my research and Odava gave commands for the next portion of our trip. He felt very pleased to be doing this and studied hard to learn more. "Leefstic, how does data get stored on a crystal?" This was in the course but it was still fun to teach. I explained the principles as good as I could then went on and described the crystals and the amount of data they could store. He asked, "Do you have one to show me? I have seen pictures but it would be nice to handle them." I thought about my stores and was about to ask Borin to bring one out when I thought of the ceramic rod and the crystal on it. It was similar and would serve the same purpose. The multidimensional field around real crystals could not be felt when they were small. The rod came and I showed Odava the things to look for and used my mind to blow up the view so finer detail could be shown. Odava asked, "Does this crystal have data on it?" I was about to say no, when it flashed into my mind that it just might. "Let's find out." The rod now was examined with the thought that there might be information present. In a few minutes we saw the graphics as nothing but a pictorial representation of a battle but one ship was shooting at another from a great distance. This made me very excited and the crystal was given to Borin so we could find out for sure. It was indeed a data crystal and it was made by Odava's people. It started off as a narrative describing how the Gossna had been forced to develop a fearsome weapon. More than half of their worlds had been destroyed and they were forced to think the unthinkable. Many different weapons systems were considered but didn't have the necessary criteria. One system in the design stage did show promise when they experimented on a strange crystal they found orbiting a black hole. The particular crystal was subjected to much more energy than a common crystal. It could take the power and produced a discharge that disintegrated anything in its path. The Gossna had many theories of why this happened from a link to a higher universe to a way of opening more dimensions than had been known about. It did though push a hole through any shield known and any hull ever fabricated. A short low power burst was able to hole an asteroid from one end to another even if they were thousands of kilometres apart. Further searches for more of the crystals had been fruitless. More information was devoted to how the war was prosecuted. The Gossna had no wish to kill a thinking being but knew from sad experience that their enemy would never stop until one or the other were dead. Borin copied all the data and then tried to find plans for the actual weapon. We found only generalities but there was no mention to where the crystal was or the location of the particular black hole that either spawned the crystal or simply captured it. High power energy weapons used thousands of small crystals to beam the energy. A single crystal could do the job but none were ever found that were large enough. From the power described in the data I pictured a crystal three or more metres in diameter. It suddenly struck me that I knew where the crystal was. I reached for the chain around my neck and took the necklace off. The dark crystal here was five centimetres across. The enlargements of the frame around the crystal were again examined but they shed no additional information. I had been stationary for a few minutes thinking of what could or would have been done if the crystal in my hand was the one that could defeat a battleship. Odava waited patently for me to come back mentally. I quickly ran down the possibilities in my mind with him. He didn't understand. "Odava, you simply have to have your mind opened. It lets you absorb much more information and to do it much quicker. We need to build this weapon and I would like you to help but the fact remains that you are not trained enough to help all I need." We could just fly back now but it would be much better to bring back plans for a completed weapon than just a bit more information and some possible components. I looked at our own weapons. The energy weapon was the same as it had been when I first built the ship. Provision was made for a future system but we didn't know what to build, that was until now. Borin and I worked on what level of power we would need and how to supply it. We could either mount two additional reactors to power it or to install accumulators. The accumulators were almost as large, though not quite as heavy. The additional power though could be used to power the engines and for the two compensators. All three of us pulled up the deck plates and took out the crystal array now in place. It had an energy conduit around it but now it would have to be much more massive. The onboard fabricator took the old conduit and additional raw material. We produced a much larger conduit and switching gear. The ship had been brought to a halt in the next system but we remained far outside any possible ring of sensors. Odava was very apprehensive of working in vacuum but the suit showed him that it was no different then before. When the gravity was turned off though he did have problems. I talked to him for ten minutes to got him settled and slipped the long conduit into place where the smaller one once was. The crystal was put into place now and securely mounted. The conduit was connected to the reactor and then everything put back into place. The rules said that I had to send a message torpedo to the ship to tell them what we had done. If I was wrong then I would again be ridiculed. If I was right though we could go back heros. Final checks were made and then we searched for a small asteroid. A small pulse of power showed that the crystal needed to be adjusted. Three more pulses followed until it was as close as we could get it. The low power bursts made holes in the asteroid that we could not do with even the old system at full power. We produced more bursts of power on an increasing scale until we were at our maximum. The crystal though had taken all this power and showed no signs of instability. The only problem was that we could not have full power to the weapon and full power to the engines. This would leave us in a stationary or in a static position for retaliatory action. We happily cut our mission short and returned to Soldoy. We came in as usual but I instructed both Borin and Odava to remain quiet about our discovery. Odava and I left our ship in the bay and went to see the group of officers that were currently running the ship. A majority were awake and the remainder were summoned when I asked for their presence. This was a major step for me for if I failed I would never be able to live it down. With Soldoy present I had the information on the data crystal uploaded and I saw shocked silence to outrage on the various faces. There was a considerable amount of private conversations going on that Odava or I were not privy too. I was very actively questioned even to them going far beyond my public mind. The data on the weapon was being assessed on a different level it seemed. The officers present started to link. More of their families joined the giant mind formed. It was still growing when I thought it could grow no more In a moment it looked like everybody on the ship was part then my father called me to join too. I had never been in such a group before I had on occasion joined my family but that was almost too much to bear. This though was orders of magnitude greater. After the first few seconds it looked like I was being assisted in staying in the hive mind and in expressing what I had found out. My design was critiqued then the ship itself was examined for imperfections. I didn't know how long we were joined but when I came out it felt like days. Some of the officers left us physically and soon had Borin flying outside of the system. At four lights we were fed the data about each of their shots. Soon other small ships left too with instruments of every kind. Everybody on the ship was now avidly watching the tests and trying to access Soldoy for computing power to prove or disprove their own theories. I pulled myself out of the loop and looked at Odava. He was still by my side waiting to understand more of what was happening. "They are very happy with what we have done but I think that some are angry that we have found the answer and made the device before they could. What have you thought about joining us and start on an education you could only dream of?" "Will I be with you?" I smiled and slowly put my arm around him and said, "You and I make a great crew. If you do this you have to pilot the ship though." I got a wide smile and knew he would join us fully if his family didn't start objecting. We found a small ship and flew to the planet and to the island. The strange ship was not feared because we let everyone know that we were back early. Odava talked to the village or actually to his family and told them what we had done. The contribution of this small village was explained along with all the magic they thought the crystals had. When Odava finished he got solemn and told them that he wanted to join the ship's company and believed that the future of his entire family was now linked to the Seffra and the ship. Molta must have been ready for this for she agreed with Odava. I thought of all the Gossna customs and now welcomed them into our family. The youngsters didn't understand but seemed happy to be keeping all the new friends they had found. ------- Chapter 3 It took a complete cycle to get my ship back. The reason the entire seventy two days were needed was primarily because of the tests on the weapon system. The adults came to the conclusion that the weapon could not be adequately used on our mother ship. It could be used to take out enemies on only one side of the ship. The feeling was that a small agile ship was needed to escort the mother ship. Odava, Borin and I were elected or really Borin. My ideas about more reactors had been accepted. Slightly larger engines had replaced the ones I had upgraded to. My composite inertial and temporal compensator received a serious upgrade. The shielding was made as strong as possible. Borin's personality was shifted into a much more robust computer that would be a proper brain for a war machine. The adults took time testing the ship on various targets and performance ratings of the hull were also completed. Some equipment was altered again then more tests done. It wasn't until the adults became bored in the small hull that Odava and I got it back. The details of the ship along with the weapon itself were heavily encrypted and sent back along with all our other data. It wasn't even 'Home Day' when we did it but it was rated as an important event. Odava's family and Odava himself went into the medical tanks to take care of all their ailments. In the process each was altered so that their thinking would improve many times. While in the tank it was thought that their history should be added so they would understand more when they got out. The Gossna all looked young when they emerged. Minute changes had been made in their chromosomes so that all their children would have enough variation to not fall into the trap they had been in. It came none too soon for the Gossna are usually laid back and governed a lot by customs. These thirteen found themselves very sexually aroused. This meant that within days we had new life forming in the fertile females. The Seffra would not allow this for themselves but there were never enough Gossna. Their race was looked on as something we should preserve even if we could usually do the technical work as good as they could. We now had to stay close to the mother ship instead of performing our own surveys. It soon turned to a boring task but I found time to learn as did Odava. He turned out to be a project too in a way for I drilled him as much as I could to get him the best trained possible. My early success in this matter found one other young Gossna and three young girls now flying with me for the training. They stood their own watches and took some of the workload from my shoulders. For this to happen though the safety protocols the computer had to deal with were changed. We were less of a warship now and much more of a school. The children were rotated in and out of my ship but Odava and I stayed together even when somebody else took the ship out for their stint. When they came back I could see that they didn't take that environment as well as I did. They lived to be with their families and I could get along with a bit less and still be happy. A little over seven cycles after finding Odava and his family, we found another world with a viable Gossna population. They didn't have that high of a technology but had regained space after falling back. We managed to retain our own Gossna and even found twenty seven more that would join us. Most of these were young adults that had the ability to choose for themselves. When we left a cycle later we had still not found any additional references to our energy weapon or to any more of the dark crystals. Odava though found a female friend by the name of Ichom. He was of an age to marry but the girl was not there yet. She also was not trained though she had spent some time in the tank to get her mind in shape. I didn't know how this would turn out and felt worried. I may get a married pair of Gossna in my crew or loose Odava to another duty. It would be at least a year though till the female would be old enough for a matchmaker to tell them the obvious. Ichom turned out to stay with us during her training. I think Soldoy knew what was happening and tried to keep us as a group I was again afraid that being so close together would cause her to want to take Odava to another job. My own family took them in many times and they acted as quietly as what a Gossna would expect. The other Gossna tended to stay together because we were much too quick in movement and thought. Borin flew into the boat bay for a partial refit and an unneeded inspection. The adults of the children still wanted to know that the ship was the safest possible. We had a crew of six as usual though we could take twice that many. We were restricted though because we only had six stasis pods. Even these were beefed up with their own power supplies and additional shielding. Our simple escape pods were similarly checked along with the small ship I made before I altered my plans for the test. It too could hold six but would be very cramped. The refit turned out to be a slightly improved energy conduit to power the crystal. We found that at a great range, the beam played over a large area without the needed penetration. Now the crystal could be shifted very slightly to keep it focussed in one place long enough to hole the ship or cut the ship in two if there was time. Some small conventional antimatter missiles were added but a secondary energy weapon was removed. This was a good tradeoff because our secondary energy weapon was not that powerful. We left with one change in our roster. Mino was a girl a few years younger than me. She was driven to learn like the rest and seemed to be doing a good job. Fera and Consti were sisters with the later being my age of now twelve and her younger sister of eight. The younger sister seemed to be a bit unsure of herself and needed her older sister to guide her. They had all sailed with me before and this was a refresher course but this time we would get to test the weapon. The girls on our main ship were taking a new look at me. I seemed to be doing something right for each time I came into the bay I found I was getting more and more girls that wanted to get better acquainted. For this to happen I had to release the bounds on my body and I felt a surge of hormones. Sometimes I did this preparatory to docking so I could be ready when needed. So far none were suitable for a long term commitment but I tried to be nice about it. One day I would start a family and do it right. I was not as shy as I was before and would link with each of the ladies. They were not very secure in their minds and usually the whole ship knew that one or usually more young ladies would be very happy. Father congratulated me the first few times and gave a few pointers that would increase my girl's passion without being too hard on my own body. After the first time with Jona, I did not release any seed. This helped me last much longer and was one more way of cutting down on a chance pregnancy. Our race lived long enough that any woman could conceive thousands of children. We were responsible beings and tried to keep our numbers manageable for our limited resources. If we one day settled on a planet then we could have as many children as we could handle. My family and the family of the others saw us off though we would not be that far from the ship. Even though we could communicate over four lights with multiple relays, we had to stay only four away. Odava was the usual pilot unless another needed the practice. This first watch everybody would be awake but the second required that some get a rest for their watch later. At the end of the watch we came onto another system and we did the usual checks. Ichom reported, "I found an energy pulse as we came close to the system." I asked, "What did it appear to be?" "It looked like a small ship or robotic probe boosting at maximum." "Did you get a course on it?" "It was at the end of our range. If they had used less power I may not have seen it at all." I contacted Soldoy and reported the incident. He was further back and to one side to notice the trace. I said, "I would like to investigate." It took a bit longer than I liked but permission did come. I altered course and flew around the system to come on the back side. Sometimes systems were protected by more than just robotic missiles and mines. The location was not that clear but we did a search before finding a trail of ionized gas that was consistent with a small ship under power. We followed it for a few minutes to get a bearing but flew back. We were under orders to not get far from the mother ship. Many more probes than usual were sent into the system but we found nothing odd. It was a system devoid of life and only had one small planet. It was given a good inspection before continuing our planned course. I was uncomfortable with the small ship disappearing. The course taken was not even to a neighbouring system but toward galactic centre. This could mean that it was in route to meet some ship or ships to report out arrival. We were all more vigilant but there were a great many civilisations that were flying between stars. Not all were bad and most could be termed neutral. They usually didn't want to have a fight and worked on trade. That didn't discount the odd crazy race that would take on a ship the size of Soldoy. We were not that big as warships went but we were very well armed so we could complete our mission. A half day later we entered the next system. On the way we intercepted old style simple electromagnetic communication. We captured a stream of it then stretched the signal out to see what was transmitted. It happened to be a type of visual and audio communication. Borin analysed it a bit more before saying, "It is a form of entertainment broadcast widely through the atmosphere instead of digitally. It is quite wasteful of power." We approached this system the same as all the others but the probes reported that the usual signals coming from the planet had abruptly stopped. Light would have taken twelve days to reach this point so it looked like something happened that many days ago. I had been studying natural disasters on a planetary surface and I could not see anything that would stop all transmission. Soldoy knew what we knew and our main ship stopped. We were given orders to continue to see what we could without getting into trouble. We stayed well back and let the probes search for us. When they got to the planet we found a spindle type of space craft around it. Immediately I ordered the probes to cut back on energy and sent a message the short distance to Soldoy telling him that we found the Suma feeding off of a low tech world. Our own engines stopped and we dropped to only half of light speed. We continued our surveillance and found three large troop carriers that were usually used to transport their livestock. This livestock had been intelligent to communicate with each other using electromagnetic waves. There was a destroyer and some small escort ships. The lizard like creatures were about three metres tall. We had a great hate for them since they put some of our planets on the dinner table. Usually we fought them if we could but the destroyer was almost our size. The troop carriers were usually only lightly armed. A recall order arrived and we slowly stopped before equally slowly heading back to our mother ship. Odava and Ichom were very worried but did their duties well nevertheless. Mino, Fera and Consti did their job too but Fera acted with the most fear; then again she was the youngest. We took up our position protecting one of our mother ship's flanks when a very important decision was to be made. I knew the capabilities of our weapon and figured we could take out the destroyer very easily. The troop transports too could easily be destroyed but all of the captives on the ships would die as well. Even the clean up on the planetary surface might take twelve cycles or more to complete. We didn't have the crew to fight these kind of battles. We were primarily explorers and scientists. Fera started to cry and her sister comforted her but still stayed at her station. The situation was just a bit too tense for a girl that young. The discussion lasted an hour and we were given orders to leave the system because there was nothing we could do. This all changed a second later. Pickets had been put out much further than usual because of the current situation. They detected a flotilla of ships coming our way from the system we just left. From the signatures, we knew that they were Suma ships and would have much more firepower than us. The only way to escape was to proceed through the system we wanted to avoid. One of our advantages was that we found a way to circumvent a law of physics. This ensured that other ships had to slow down when they got close to a primary. The Mardaf Limit in this case was twelve light minutes from the primary. We would only have to slow down to fifty three lights while others had to actually drop below light speed. Orders now were quickly delivered and we fled the advancing Suma. We were commanded to take out the destroyer ahead of us at maximum range then what other ships we could. Even the transports were to be targeted. If we were going down there would certainly be a few less Suma for others to worry about. We were well within our maximum range and I used the probes already in the system as spotters. The destroyer exploded taking a few small ships with it. The transports started to flee without even knowing where the firing came from. The ships were not fast and it took less than half a second to find their reactors and put them out of commission. This resulted in an explosion that destroyed the ship. The Suma behind us would not know of the attack yet but were coming within my range. The crew within our ship were in shock. Odava and Ichom were stunned by the turn of events. Their minds were in a type of shock they were not prepared to handle. Odava continued to look at his sensors but I knew that his mind was not processing any of the data before him. Ichom was frightened and looked to Odava for guidance and support. The three girls, Mino, Fera and Consti were basket cases. Fera's crying encouraged the others to break down. Females were usually so strong and I wondered why these were not able to function. "Soldoy, wrap your tractors around us. I want to be facing the fleet. I will shoot as we run." It seemed to be a good idea. It was one of the many scenarios worked out in advance. I just wanted to use the plan before the ships spread out. Our pickets stayed in place and gave us data about those rapidly coming on our stern. Instead of shooting wild, I had to wait till I had a better view of the ships. This was a hard decision to make and I found adults commanding me to shoot. I continued to hold and at the earliest instant I unleashed our weapon on the larger units. These were in the centre of the flotilla and I hoped to get some collateral damage to ships I did not aim for. A stream of sensors were dropped in our wake and they were being stationed behind our stern to give us data about the ships pursuing us. The flotilla was now performing evasive manoeuvres which was why I wanted to wait till they were close. Half the time I was able to hit a ship but it was difficult to keep the beam concentrated in one place. Many I knew would be damaged but not enough to take them out of the fight. Soldoy threw his own missiles but they left from the other side of the ship to give me more room to shoot. His energy weapons spoke but they were too far out of range for any energy weapon but mine. Missiles did come towards us and I luckily hit a few. Their speed was what we expected coming from the Suma. Over the years we had found the Suma algorithm for there pseudo random movements and once programmed into our targeting system we hit more than what a ship should. We broached the Mardaf Limit and the turbulence was too much to continue firing. Borin was able to keep the ship stabilised internally. I knew my duty and I knew my orders. The girls and even the Gossna were of no use to me or this mission. I instructed Borin to take them one at a time and place them in the stasis units. They at least had the advantage of having an extra shield over each of them. It would be nice to send them to the mother ship but this was not currently possible. I released our stern weapon which was pointing in the wrong direction. Half of our stores were dropped. The twelve units I hoped would hit the ships as they slowed down to enter the system. The missiles may also attack ships trying to avoid the Mardaf Limit entirely as they changed course. It took only seven seconds for the approaching fleet to hit the limit. Two were destroyed when they tried to go too fast. The previous damage to their hulls was the probable deciding factor. The remaining five had altered course which slowed them down considerably. Three were struck by missiles and two were destroyed. These had to have been sent by Soldoy. The other ship just stopped, probably hit by one of my own missiles. The two luckily had taken different courses so their combined protective fire could not be employed. In a second our probes showed the stricken ship exploding as more of the smaller missiles struck it. The vibration of our passage was too much for long range work but as we passed close to the planet I was able to take out fourteen small craft. The turbulence stopped as we left the Mardaf Limit I was ready and I began to fire on one of the two ships continuing with our pursuit. They continued with their evasive manoeuvres but we had no probes in that area to give us accurate data. Missiles came our way but our defence was adequate for the task. At the moment we were all travelling about the same speed on parallel courses. This couldn't put our probes in their path. Soldoy had some high speed types that shot out at an angle and it was hoped would make it in time to give me a view of the ships. I continued my shooting even if it was almost blind, hoping to damage them any way I could. One of our probes was close enough and I found the Suma ship rotating on its axis. It could not use any energy weapons but it would be hard to keep my own on one particular spot. Borin and Soldoy worked together to take out this attacker and I saw hull portions being cast off into space. The ship though continued. The other ship was similarly targeted and it was doing the same thing. A very heavy concentration of fire proved to be too much for our suddenly beleaguered defences. Our mother ship was struck on the stern twice and an area to the port side. We slowed dramatically in our flight. Four of our nineteen engines had suffered damage. Our speed had been cut, more than commensurate with the amount of engines we had lost. The destroyers following us could now easily match our top speed. Our ship was designed more for flight than the ability to fight it out with multiple enemy ships. The third missile had holed us and destroyed a large arboretum. The trees and some small animals had died but luckily no Seffra. More of our high speed probes were propelled before us and to an angle to keep us informed of our enemy's position. They had much greater mobility and speed than we had Their seemingly random changes, slowly managed to work toward each other so their defensive fire could overlap. They had expended their store of missiles frantically. They must have used a goodly percent of those available. That was the only reason they were able to hit us. Now that we were slower they could continue until they destroyed us. It took twenty minutes before one of our attackers exploded. I could feel the elation from our side because we now only had one enemy to deal with. The last ship suddenly stopped and I fired rapidly at the target. It took but a second but it too to explode. We continued to search for enemies but there were none on our screens. Jubilation was heard from all within the ship. This lasted but a moment till training took over. Repairs were started in earnest. Our course was changed perpendicularly to our old one. We could be tracked and this would give us a chance to avoid a possible confrontation a bit longer. We made fifty lights and shut down for repairs. Soldoy used the matter transmitter to send a supply of lithium to replace what we had used along with our other expended ordinance. His tractors released us and we did our own assessment of the damages. We had no structural damage but our energy weapon had too much of a work out. The crystal could take far more power than we could provide but the mountings and energy conduit were weakened. I was thinking of taking my crew from stasis but they would pick up a lot of excitement from those on the mother ship. It would be better for the majority of the crew to calm down before awakening them. The families of my crew were wanting to know about us but Soldoy took the calls and said that everybody was safe. It was not proper to show my crew at less than their best. I didn't want to lie so less information was given. A report was going to have to be formulated and while Borin and I waited we completed the task. It took an hour but one of Soldoy's engines could be put back online for it had only suffered from a ruptured energy conduit. The other engines would take a considerable amount to time to repair. There was a plan for a smaller engines to replace the three large units till the repair could be completed. This would take at least a cycle, if not more, for the engines were truly massive. The crystalline structure in some cases could not be repaired and a new structure must be fabricated. The hull over the arboretum was patched in four more hours. The shield had kept some of the air in but the hull was necessary to support the shield projectors. This job would take days to complete but was the simplest. We were not safe though. Sensors were sent far ahead and especially behind us. A line of these devices could transmit back to those closer to us. Eventually with enough repeaters we would know what was happening twenty or more lights from us. This took a very large number of sensors but we would be alive to make more. With the majority of the crew at work, Borin was instructed to revive the crew but one at a time Odava was first. When he awoke he saw me and he was very frightened. I calmed him down and told him of our current status. In an hour he was over the worst of his fright and we awoke Ichom. She was even more frightened than Odava but seeing him alive and fairly calm helped her immensely. Mino and Consti were awoken together and without Fera to get their fears up they managed to pretend to be fine. Fera would stay in stasis for a while yet. I didn't want her destroying what I had fragilely built. We extended the range of our sensors by adding more to the fringe where we would expect someone following us. Twelve hours into our mission Fera was revived. This time there was no danger to speak of and the girl settled down at a station close to her sister Consti. Fera, Consti and Ichom were ordered to sleep so they could be their best for their watch. I was sleepy too but figured it best to let them get their rest first. The two wrecks had drifted out of our sensor range but at last look there were no survivors. A meeting had been considered to salvage some engines but this had been vetoed for many reasons. I communicated through our sensor net. This was a poor system, for it only allowed digitized textual communication. I inquired if Fera and Consti's parents wanted them returned to the ship. If they went back it would prove costly in their ratings. This could be done by taking the small ship we used to get some supplies or to dock at the mother ship. I wanted competent crew members but knew I could get by with what I had until more experienced personnel were rotated through. This time I was thinking of what the parents wanted. There must have been a quick family discussion and I was thanked for my concern but told to keep their daughters if possible. The families of the awake crew including my own could now communicate with us, but again it was only in text. They didn't know everything that went on but did compliment the crew's efforts and me personally. Mino, who was sending data to her mother thanked me with her mind for the way I had carried on the battle alone without damaging their careers too much. When the watch ended we changed places. It was hard to sleep and had to tell my mind to shut down like it should. This had not happened in many years. I awoke suddenly from a nightmare. A tall Suma was eating me alive. The cause of my awakening was the alarm going off. I interfaced with Borin and saw six destroyers heading on a course toward Soldoy. It took less than a second but I told Borin to begin firing on the enemy. Our old orders had not been rescinded and the Suma would find our mother ship travelling at a sub-light speed. We would be very lucky to survive. It looked like the Suma had put probes out too and search for an enemy. By the time I go to my chair, we were heavily engaged. One destroyer had exploded and another hurt but not fatally. "Borin, get an update to where Soldoy will go and we will try to lead the Suma away." "Yes, Captain." The crippled ship exploded and a good many missiles were headed our way. We changed course and ran to the enemy. There was no other way. Our main weapon only faced forward and move a few degrees. Our antimatter missiles were almost toys unless they found a weak spot. Again I saw the fright. Fera was again sent into stasis then her sister. The screens showed the three destroyers and the Gossna could not take the strain to their systems. This time I said, "Odava, Icom, get in the stasis pods now." This way at least they had a bit more pride in what they would otherwise. Mino was very frightened but this time worked much harder to perform her duties. Our defences were minimal and we could basically only use our main weapon to take out those missiles coming our way. We did manage to remove one more destroyer but the missiles continued. Our speed was not as fast as a destroyer but we were more manoeuvrable. The opening on our port side allowed us to alter course and still have our weapon cover part of the opposing forces. I ordered Borin to continue but to turn at random times and stop our engines. We would turn to face the enemy then fire before trying to lead them away. We were coming to the last of the sensors and need to fight within their coverage or we would be blind. One more destroyer died noisily but its missiles along with all the rest continued to come our way. The only reason I could see that we were still alive was because we could accurately predict how the oncoming missiles would move. Soldoy had all the crew onboard now and was leaving his position as quickly as possible. He sent as heavy a salvo as he could our way as a parting gift. The first portion was to go slow while the next went faster. The third was the last and it went the fastest. Hopefully they would all get to the Suma at the same time to overwhelm their defences. Borin got behind the destroyers now and continued with our manoeuvre. This time we had to turn around and fire then turn back and thrust once again. Energy weapons had been used but our small size made us difficult to hit. Mino suddenly disappeared. Borin informed me that this procedure was in her orders and she could not disobey them. "Leave me here to fight," I said but it was not obeyed. ------- Chapter 4 My hand moved convulsively to hold onto the chair so I would not go into the stasis pod I stopped the effort when I found myself in a completely dark environment. There were not even one of the sensor panels working. I was even drifting for there was no gravity as there should have been. "Borin, report!" I desperately needed to know our status. There was no reply. I repeated myself but I knew she would if she could. I looked around for anything but found only darkness but then I saw some small points of light. They were stars. I started to panic and used my mind to find anything that could make sense of what had happened. My hand did find a solid object and my mind fastened onto it. I pulled it up and in doing so my feet hit a surface. I quested out and found more objects and then I was able to keep a solid footing. The stars seemed to gain brightness. I knew that we must be open to space. My suit had automatically closed when needed. The ship must have been hit and all the power had dissipated. I had obviously awoken from a stint in the stasis chamber. I cast my mind out again to find Soldoy or anyone else. I found nothing. This was the most frightening time of my life. I could not mindspeak to anyone and not even a computer. My mind started to race thinking of what had happened to everybody. It took many minutes for me to even start to come to terms with this. It is almost unimaginable to actually be alone. I think it was my wish to live that brought me to the conclusion that I needed to find a source of power or I would run out of recycled air within a dozen days. More light came into the cabin and I noticed that the ship had been slowly rotating. Some nearby stars gave enough light to see by. I knew that I was still in my ship but the ship itself had changed dramatically The hull had been more than breached, it had been almost stripped away. Using my PK again. I was able to move out of this enclosure and look at the remainder of the ship. I needed to see to my crew. This was a slow process for I could not see till the ship rotated into position. In twenty minutes I felt a loss I had never felt before. Along the spine of the ship were small pods that held my crew. A large hole in the side showed that there was one pod missing and another destroyed. Mino, the last Seffra I had seen had been in the missing pod. Beside her was Fera's. Though there was little light I could see a frozen visage under the clear canopy. The field around the unit was not there. I had not cried in a long time but once I started I couldn't stop. These people had been intrusted into my care and I had let them down. My mind warred with itself till I had to face the fact that I still had three others to protect. I hid behind work this time too and searched the ship for what I could use to save us and make it to the rendevous point. One of the things I needed was to get the computer working for I didn't know where we were. The ship had been thoroughly destroyed and I was surprised that not only were some of us alive but that the ship had kept the four of us together. The small ship I originally fabricated was located on a lower deck. A burst of energy had gone through this area too and took out some of our equipment and part of the this ship. The engines and reactor were small but looked to be able to function. That was good because there was no trace of the much larger engines and reactors that drove our larger ship. The small boat became my home. It had enough to keep a small crew alive for two years but would drive all of us crazy before that time with the small size. There was air, food, water and power available. Self doubts crept in and I wondered if any of this was useful. In nine days I was able to hook the power from the boat to the ship. There were a great many short circuits and breaks in the system but I did get the gravity to work. A day later a weak shield and lights now existed. Each of the stasis pods were checked and the remaining three were working fine. This led me to wonder how I was awoken. An investigation found a broken conduit had come undone and the emergency procedures had been instigated to revive me. Otherwise I would have been like poor Fera whose body was still in her pod. I opened Borin's home and found it damaged. The processor module though was still whole but a good portion of the computer was damaged. With power now available I got it to begin repairs. My stasis pod still had some usable parts. The reactor and accumulator were good for hundreds of years but mine was very low on fuel. This brought another worry to me and I quickly checked the rest. All of them were low and would only last thirty to forty more years. This means that we had been in stasis for a long time. My estimates ranged from two hundred and seventy years to two hundred and ninety years. Even if I could get to the rendevous, the ship would not be there. Our people usually chose to live for thousands of years and it was quite possible my family was still alive. All our friends could also be but the Suma were hot on their trail and they didn't have the speed to escape. There was still a chance to find them and this is what pulled me along now. Though it hurt me I removed the undamaged equipment from Fera's pod and used it to supplement the ships power. Fera, I put in a room still open to space for now. The boat needed work done on its computer too and I found enough spares to start it doing this. The boat's computer actually came around first. It was not an intelligent computer but it would still follow orders if they were phrased correctly. The main fabricator on the ship was in parts but the much smaller one in the boat was still working. I began to gather all the useless parts into one area and use their mass to begin fabrication of parts that would provide a benefit to us. I thought that things would go faster with more help but the truth was that we still had problems with life support and safety. They could still wear their suits but I didn't want people to act as I knew they would when they awoke. Our families were now very far away but possibly alive. They would have thought that we were dead though. The only way the crew could assist me was when it looked like we had more of a chance of getting back to civilisation. The first manufactured parts made went into repairing the boat. This was the purpose of this device anyway. Our main computer restarted and soon after Borin appeared. It was good to have her back but I was still angry at being thrust into the stasis pod. I was the captain and it was my place to see to my crew's safety. I did vow that when we got to a safe place the programming that went into this computer would be searched and this directive removed. Borin and I had a long talk after she did her own assessment of her situation. I was told that after I was put into stasis and the special fields energised that she had continued to lure the Suma away. They had followed, probably wanting the weapon we used so effectively on them. The heavy salvo of missiles had struck from their rear. This was too much for all but one ship. The last one had been hit four times but was still serviceable. The fire now on us increased as if they were playing with us before. Hours later a missile and energy barrage came and we were lucky to find a clear place to really damage the ship. Their missiles continued though and we took out the larger ones but smaller ones were more lucky for them. We were hit and then hit a great many more times by debris from both the missiles we destroyed and the ships themselves. The shield had finally failed at the last. The flying debris, travelling very fast, did just as much damage to us. Our engines and reactors had been ripped off and power was then very low. Borin used the last bit of energy in the accumulators and even the back up power in the computer to destroy a large portion of enemy hull that would destroy us if it hit. After that Borin had to go into emergency shutdown from the damage to her systems and the loss of power. Over the centuries even the trickle that was left dissipated. I sat back in my damaged chair and thought about all that had happened and what we had to do in the future. Borin's home had been repaired but had taken all our spare computer parts. This was not a frivolous expense because she would play a major role in us getting back to civilisation. For the next cycle, I worked on rebuilding the larger fabricator. When this was done, Borin would be able to manipulate it much better and quicker than what I had been able to do but only for the simple things. Most of this work relied on my own mind and its abilities to manufacture the tiny substructures. The fabricator built into the boat had never meant to be that sophisticated. A precision fabricator could only be adequately employed if controlled with a mind or a very sophisticated computer. The larger fabricator need to be tuned and the parts I made for this complicated device were simply not good enough. With a lot of thought Borin and I did some complicated workarounds that made good parts on a faulty machine. When the machine did work as it should, the correct parts were built and then installed. We now had a standard fabricator as good as we would normally make it. All the atoms of the old parts went back into making the new. We were having problems with some of our objectives. There were a number of heavy atoms needed to fabricate the crystals needed for future growth. We also needed tonnes of lighter material to manufacture the hull plates and other common articles. A lithium reactor was easy to make but we didn't have that much lithium available. This meant that we had to find a safe haven and begin our rebuilding. This was not a simple repair. The engines though required large crystals and this took a very complicated machine to make. A simple and standard variety fabricator was not enough. The inertial and temporal compensator was easier to make but not by much of a margin. There were a few systems within a ten lights radius. It would take a long time to tow the ship to any one of them. It would be impossible to land on anything other than an asteroid. The easiest route would be to use the power in the antimatter missiles and in the escape pods to provide propulsion for the material I would send back. Borin would control these small machines with a long line of probes and repeaters. I thought again of awakening the crew but at the moment they could not help much but would put extra duties on Borin. If I left without them I was sure they would have a bad time. If I took them with me then they would not be able to be of much help. A third possibility was to wait twenty years. At that time we would coast into a system ahead of us at half the speed of light. Borin and I did a lot of thinking on what was needed and how long it would take to fabricate the parts. With just the boat, and some memory crystals loaded with all the data I needed, I could build a machine to make engines in four to six years. The same machine could then build other things even if it was a waste of its abilities. This would have to be on a large platform. It had been done before on asteroids but work was done better on a planet's surface for all but the largest components. The best way was to get Borin attached to this device and then things would progress much faster. Borin though was much too large to land on a planet in her present condition. It was a catch-22 situation. We did make a few sensors and sent them out to perform their duty. Small repair units were also made so that Borin would have hands to do what was needed. A cycle later I had done as much as I could with the materials I had. Even portions of the hull had been used to form needed parts. The only thing left was to pick which system to go to. There was one twenty degrees off our course at seven lights while another at ten needed no correction at all This one though was inhabited for we picked up artificially produced electromagnetic waves. There was no trace of forth or fifth dimensional energy so this had to be a backward civilisation. There was thoughts of a Gossna civilisation but the signals were not that kind. At this distance we could not tell what they were for even though Soldoy had more than enough devices to do so. My family and myself were explorers as were our ancestors. The choice of a quiet system with no distractions was not as good as one with people even if they had tentacles and breathed chlorine. I just hoped they were not antisocial like many other civilisations we ran across were. I left the ship after one last look at my crew. I hoped that when I awoke them they would then be happy or at least as happy as we were before meeting the Suma. The boat would make the trip in six days which was not that bad. I took a great many sensors and repeaters. Every few hours one or the other of these devices would be thrown into space. Those at the half way point would have to have small motors slow them down. This was the only way we could still communicate over this distance. The power to do so was very minimal providing the units were close enough. Two lights from the system I started to find more and more asteroids. After listening to the energy coming from the system I sent in more of the probes and four repeaters. A suitable asteroid was selected and I used three tractors on the nose of the boat to begin accelerating it back to the ship. This took weeks to accomplish then I had to slow it down and bring it back to match velocities with the ship. This took a third of a cycle to complete. None of this bothered me too much because I was in contact with Borin all the time and both of us were looking through the data coming from the planet. There were pictures of the people on the plant's surface in their communications but we both had to assume that they were mad. First of all they looked very much like the Seffra. Which would naturally lead me to believe they were sane. This was not the case. There were much too many of them. I had seen similar numbers of beings but they were much smaller and each had very little impact on their environment. Some lived in very large groupings where it was easier to study but we found that this lead to insanity. The beings on the nearby planet did so many contradictory things. They tried to kill each other for there was no other possibility. It appeared that in small groups they were less insane but larger groups seemed to breed a severe form of craziness. Some on the planet ate so much they died of complications while others died of not having the basic necessities. The people poisoned the air and water that they and others consumed. Their unchecked breeding was soon going to overload the ability of their planet to sustain them. If I were to give them information that would save their lives or civilisation, I was sure that they would turn on me the first chance they got. Then they would use the information to kill each other more efficiently. I was now not so sure that a populated planet was what I should visit to do my construction. Another thing I notices was that they were very slow moving. Their steps were very slow and methodical until I saw some open air sporting events. Here to, the people were probably doing their best but were still dawdling to me. I made another trip to the ring of rock around the system. This time I looked for heavier materials and found iron, nickle and chrome but noting useful. At least the asteroid I brought contained lithium that could be used to power the ship. My search lasted for another full cycle but I could not find very much of the heaviest of the elements I needed for turning a crystal into something useful. The alternative was not good. The planet with the crazy people had all the materials I wanted in a fairly pure form. I would have to go there and obtain the elements or get some of the raw material and process it myself. There would be a good chance of me having to communicate with the natives and this would force me to blend in with them. There may be a need for barter. They used various forms of currency but this was not even the same throughout the planet. One thing the population had in abundance that I could exploit was the emotion of greed. One person tried to outdo the other to gain one type or another of shiny baubles. The population reminded me a lot of apes we had run across at one time or another but these were a bit more intelligent. ------- Chapter 5 I did pick up my meagre harvest of asteroids and had little difficulty getting them to the ship in a much quicker time. Most of the original asteroid had been consumed and we now had not only many kilograms of the light metal lithium but we also had a small reactor. The asteroid I had brought weighted thirty seven tonnes and represented only a small portion of what my small ship had weighted when we had started to fight the Suma. With this asteroid the hull could be started but not completed. Ribs, keel and other structural members had to be replaced or repaired. The ship had originally been a hundred and forty six metres long. Its present length was only a third of what it was and still a wreck. The new material would help fabricate additional devices especially probes and very small devices that the Seffra civilisation needed to survive. With the decision to visit the planet there was other work to do. The boat had to be concealed somehow and a military shield was the usual way. Since there was enough raw materials now we began this project. The shield generator and the projectors themselves were all removed from the hull and replaced with the newer units. There was a bit of a problem when the military shield generator was larger than the space taken up with the old units. My original inertial and the temporal compensator had been combined to produce one unit. It saved mass and volume and may be a bit faster in operation because of the proximity to other devices. This same idea was used on the shield generator. I found that quite a bit could be done. My family and friends flying with Soldoy didn't seem to try to find improvements in old devices that already worked well. My body was next on the improvement list but this time I had to make it less improved. My tongue was quite a bit longer than the people on the planet and the end was much more pointed. I sat in the med facility and had my tongue altered in shape but the length was kept the same. They would never know unless I chose to let it all out of my mouth. My pubic bone was more prominent and I decided to reduce its size. My penis though was different. It was larger than what a person of my apparent age would have. That did not take into account that mine could extend from my body and the six slits along the length would allow it to increase in girth as I chose. The end would also enlarge when needed. My testicles were internal and not held in a sack under my penis. I decided to leave this area alone for nobody would get a chance to really examine this portion of me in detail. My hair was very long and reached half way down my back. It was my only vanity and I decided to keep it too. Some of the natives had similar hair and colouration. All the natives had two small clusters of hair over their eyes and this I had to copy. My eyes were close enough to what was normal on the planet to pass muster. My eyes had shining facets in the coloured section that assisted in seeing both into the infra red and the ultraviolet. I left them as they were, hoping to get by for I had to go into an unknown situation and needed all the assistance I could get. I didn't have Soldoy or my parents around to help me. The procedure to remove this ability was painless and could be rectified later but I again decided to keep my eyes as I wanted them. The natives had hair all over their body and especially under the arms or legs. I looked like a young male of about twelve years of age which was close to the truth. A native of that age would not have this hair yet or just starting. They would though have a covering of very fine hair. My body looked like a great many of the native boys except that I would be among the thinnest and my skin would be very close to white. The skin was darkened but the apparent thin state was kept to make me appear less of a threat. I had more teeth than the natives so my jaw structure and teeth would have to change. My hands and feet though were considerably larger and this had to be altered to allow me to fit in These changes took only a day to complete. Any subtle changes could be made with the med unit I would be taking with me. The natives ears were slightly different and it was no problem to make the modest changes without altering the lines of my body very much. The fairly intelligent apes of the planet would not easily give up their rare elements but did like the crystalline forms of carbon. Borin mentioned that these were natural and thus had some impurities. Some research was done on the subject by small probes on the planet's surface. Borin made a few kilograms in the hopes of getting what we needed. The sensors on the planet's surface sent back information about the various languages. Borin took the sounds and compared them to others that were similar. The range this language was spoken was then determined. Text of the language was easily found as it blew in the wind. The Humans didn't seem to care if they walked in refuse or to even dispose of it as it should. I see foolish natives simply throw something onto the ground that would take many centuries to finally decompose. We determined that a region that had the most economic growth should have what I wanted. Here the elements should be more readily offered because here they would be also used for various processes. The languages spoken in this area was overall the same but slightly different for small enclaves or groups. Where I would set up a temporary base though was not determined yet. I would have to make that decision after gaining much more data. My vocal cords had to come into play once again and I began to mimic the sounds picked up from the probes. It was not difficult for the Humans must not think too fast if their movements were any determining factor. I would just speak very slow and draw out the sounds so I could be understood. When I was ready to go again, I looked in a display screen and saw that my face was just a bit longer than before and a bit closer to the planetary norm. The new growths of hair over my eyes looked odd but fit well with the hair on my head. My skin was a bit more pink and brown but didn't look offensive. The fine hair on the surface was though. It was now over the majority of my body but it was hard to see. The natives though would be sure to spot this inconsistency if I didn't have the hair. I did make it very light in colour so it would not be noticed. It itched till I told my mind to ignore the sensation. We as a race had shed our own body hair when we first climbed to the stars and we had found no reason to bring it back. I would be gone for what I hoped would be only one cycle but from what I saw I felt it might be many more than just one. If I were dealing with rational beings then this could be started in only days after landing. I took one more look at my crew before going. I hoped that the next time that I came here one or more might possibly be awakened. More probes left with me and three of the small antimatter missiles without their warheads. Six days later I was back at the ring of rock and selected five large asteroids and bound them together. I looked at this new structure and attached the three missiles securely to them. After I started the next part of my journey I could detect the large mass leave the ring of rocks and travel out to Borin. She would now control the unit and eventually command it to match her speed and course. The ring of rock was one light thick but the rocks were widely dispersed. The distance to the primary was an additional light. This distance could at least be more rapidly crossed. I was above the plane of the elliptic and could easily see the planets. At a command to the computer I saw the orbits that each would have in its travels around its primary Though the passage was time consuming, I was able to make it bearable by studying the third planet itself and its natives. I found that its day was slightly longer than our standard but the number of seconds in a real year was almost the same as what the Seffra homeworld had so our years were comparable. The data was only from what we could piece together from what the probes observed. I was anxious to get connected to what the natives called the internet, where much more information was readily available. Soon enough I was above the planet which some natives called 'Dirt' but had an alternate meaning. Earth looked beautiful but this was mainly because so much of it was covered in water. Looking through a different set of data, I could see the filth and contaminants in the air. I would have to breathe this or use a respirator. There were a considerable number of crude communications satellites in orbit. From two pieces of data I knew that they were for both military or civilian use. The civilians had small plays at regularly scheduled times for the viewers convenience and enjoyment. The other type of satellite provided voice and data. Some of this later type were hooked up to the internet. Before I landed it would be a good idea to find out more. I came upon a particular group of satellites. Probes left my boat and studied the various devices while I did much the same. It took less than ten minutes to zero in on the ones I really wanted. Minutes later I was above one such satellite and a utility probe left the ship and cut a small hole into the device. The satellite was cruder than I thought. When the simple circuits were traced and then analysed I saw how wasteful of energy this system was. It was very slow but that didn't mean that I couldn't get the data I wanted. The fabricator in the boat made some small parts that were carried by other utility probes and entered the satellite structure. They were bonded into place then connected. With this done the probes returned and I started to ask pertinent questions. The requests were made with the frailty of the satellite in mind but immediately I found problems with overloading the system. The requests were cut back then cut back another time till I was barely making a connection. Borin and I searched through the link to find the data that I needed After only a few minutes the satellite acted even more unstable. A bit more research on this indicated that the natives were upset. They thought one of their number was actually sabotaging the system for his own enjoyment. Our requests for more data were slowed even more. I found some information about the major economic centres. One was called Europe. It was not even one economic unit but a multitude of small countries working toward one goal. They spoke a great many different languages but English, German and French were very prominent. The East as it was called had many fewer countries. Their language was similar but not the same. I had worries that I could not go there because of my looks. I found that the people of this world routinely travelled all over. North America was made up of three countries. One spoke Spanish while the other two spoke English. I has learned a smattering of forty six Earth languages and would have to learn more when I got into negotiations. At the moment I could speak enough to get along. Europe was my primary goal but the terminator was past that area and the businesses would soon be closing. In an hour the businesses would be opening in the first area and this is where I decided to meet my new neighbours. The boat settled in a settlement called Saint John's in the jurisdiction of Newfoundland in the further jurisdiction of Canada. Before I got to land I cast my mind out to try to understand the natives a bit better. Their minds were very unorganised but still readable if I took my time. These people spoke English but did so in an odd way. It took me a few minutes to get this different method and intonation. The acquisition of the data was fairly easy for the natives had only a rudimentary concept of their extra senses and had not developed a shield or a public mind. I treated each with respect and only looked at the information dealing with speech. The weather was cool to me but the natives seemed to like it the way it was. Borin and I looked at the way the people were dressed then looked for children. For this was the age group I would normally be equated with. Most I found were in school. This was a place where people congregate to listen to a biological teacher I could see this concept if there was a pertinent point to be made or something that could be shown but it was only for convenience. A large metallic vehicle went by with children in it. I sent the probes to investigate and found soon enough what the locals of my age group wore. Some of the better sets of clothing were inspected and the fabricator began to make what similar units. I insisted that it be soft for some of the clothing looked to be very crude and uncomfortable. The clothing came out of the small fabricator and appeared strange. When I put it on, I looked at it as being in a play. In a momentarily quiet street my invisible boat settled and I was instantly out the hatch and the boat rose to the level of the tops of the low buildings Under my feet was a fabricated material that was cast into place. It was cracked in places but still usable. The building beside me was made of a different material and was not made right. The small portions of fused clay were not uniform and their placement was the same way. A sheet of fused transparent material was not clean for a corner had some dirt on it. My mind detected people coming so I started to walk. It took a moment to adjust to my new feet and the gravity. The latter was roughly three quarters of what I was used to. My steps got surer after twenty metres but then I had to remember to slow my steps to mimic the locals. I instructed my body now to work at this plodding speed when I was doing other things. Coming from around a corner and at the intersection of two roadways I saw a young female. She was pushing a metallic and plastic device containing an infant. I looked into her mind and saw that she was out for a stroll and to give her friends, that didn't have a child, the chance to see hers again. She apparently knew that they would be a bit jealous but that could be lived with. In this respect she was not much different from the Seffra except that she was much more blatant. She looked at me though as I unabashedly looked at her. She became a bit flustered then got angry at herself for letting a young boy do this to her. She took another look and I could now see her deeper thoughts. I was apparently very beautiful. My face was very symmetrical her subconscious said. This and the proportion and placement of my features constituted what she saw as beauty. She looked at my hair pulled back behind my head and was amazed again at the colour. My body was now admired and she saw me again as very beautifully proportioned. I could see that children grew at different rates for certain portions of their bodies. I was already like an adult but just small. The word angel came into her mind to describe me then the thought got processed a lot more and she began to wonder if I really was one She deduced that I was not anything that she had ever seen before. Her perception of my symmetrical features and clothing had very quickly set me apart from any that she had seen before. Looking a bit deeper into her subconscious, I discovered that she could vaguely sense the aura most living things had. Mine though was probably stronger than she had ever sensed before. Borin provided the information that the angel she was referring to was a Devine being with powers and abilities that this woman's people didn't have. All this was from the open area of her mind for I restricted myself from looking deeply. There was a lot of time to read her assessment before our steps got much closer. I would have liked to stop and have a polite chat. Someone thinking I was this beautiful couldn't be that bad. This would get a bit too deep I thought when I reconsidered and I wanted to cut our connection as soon as possible I didn't want this woman to dwell on this chance encounter. I just continued past but she stopped and turned to follow me with her eyes. The last thing she saw before I turned the corner to the very steeply inclined street was the sapphire ring holding my hair together. When out of sight of the women and not noticed by others yet, I stopped and concentrate on my mind. The aura was a feature that could be manipulated somewhat in intensity but not in the type of radiation felt or seen. This natural ability had been used by the Seffra for swaying other races to what we would like them to do. An aura was generated by our mind mostly and was formed from our abilities, desires, health, physical abilities, state of mind, and our compassion. It fluctuated according to mood or emotion but some portions would either never change or very reluctantly. My clothes I found from the woman's mind were perfect and I pulled a bit here and moved portions around, sometimes as much as a centimetre to produce a dishevelled appearance. This I figured would allow me to fit in a bit more. I could still read the woman's thoughts and quickly moved into the jewellery store I had wanted to deal with. Just inside the door I could feel the woman's loss at seeing that I had disappeared from her sight when she retraced her steps and looked around the corner for me. An old man with white hair looked up from placing a rack in his display counter. He looked at me the same way as the woman and even my subtle alterations were not enough. He too thought me too beautiful. Human minds I figured must all be hardwired the same way. I really didn't want to have to leave without offering what I had and the necessity of doing this job had not altered. "Hello sir. My name is Leif. It's a Norwegian name. I have something to sell if you wish to see it." The name was close to my own in a way but still odd. English still struck me as odd to have so many words and still not enough to explain some simple things. The man now had a big smile and said, "Well young man, what is it that you would like to sell?" He actually wanted to humour me. "I have a small diamond. I am in need of some cash to make other purchases. It's only one carat but it is flawless." "Let me see it please." He was now more curious. A carat was a large stone to him. One that was a full carat and flawless was also very rare. I took out a small pouch from around my neck and felt one of the smallest stones. All of this size were of this weight. There were others in the pouch too but that was the size I thought that might work best. I extracted the stone. The man opened his hand and I placed the small gem in his palm. The lights overhead shone down on the stone to make it gleam. The man turned and found his loop and put it to his eye. He stared at the stone for a long time. When I said flawless I meant exactly that. All natural stones had small imperfections, some were so small that they were difficult to find. This stone had been built up an atom at a time to its present state. This particular diamond had no impurities to mar its properties or give it colour. Others that I had were purposely formed with some small imperfections. They were in the way the carbon and the other impurities formed crystals and even that was made as uniform as possible. There was no included matter to cloud the brilliance. The man finally came to the conclusion that this was either flawless or so close that he could not find any imperfections. When he looked back at me he studied my features just as closely and he did the stone. I seemed to compare favourably to the diamond between his finger and thumb. He caught himself daydreaming about me and shook himself. "The stone certainly looks flawless. It would be worth a considerable amount of money." He took a stab at me by saying, "What are your parents going to say when they find this missing?" "Sir, I look young but I have been on my own for a long time. The stone is legally mine. The wholesale price for this stone is 47,000 dollars in American funds. I am offering it to you for the same but in Canadian dollars." The figure I plucked out of his mind. It was also in the information we had found from the internet. This was a bargain and the man knew it. The stone would retail much higher but the merchant had to make money too. The entire diamond industry and its prices were artificially held in place. If many diamonds came on the market at one time the price would fall. The Seffra didn't use money but other primitive races did. It was not that hard to find out what drove this world's economy and begin to take what I needed from it. I at least was going to give more than I took but then again any civilised person would. The man ran a great deal of ideas through his head and reluctantly handed the stone back, "It is very beautiful but I think that I may get in trouble later from purchasing it from a young man of less than twenty one. Even if you say you are older you certainly are not that old yet. My advice to you is to find an adult to do the selling for you. When that happens, please have him contact me for I would love to buy the stone," he smiled at me and added, "and not at the price you wanted." Some people would want me to have them take the stone and then give them money for doing so. I could see in the man's mind that he was trying to give good advice though. Theft was a very common occurrence and he had no way of proving it was not already stolen. If the stone was illegally gained and somebody found out, his business would be hurt and he would be out the amount of money he paid. The man did think of others in the small city that could or would sell stolen property but didn't think any of them would have the type of stone I had. This did present another avenue to me. A lawyer could sell the stones but through some criminals I could find those that wished to buy stones in unusual ways and get them cheaper. In any case a settlement this size would not have the people that would buy more than a few stones. I thanked the man for his help and turned to leave. He was very quick though and said, "Please stop a moment. May I see your hair clasp?" I returned to the man and turned around. The man carefully looked at the sapphire tube that held my hair in place. After looking at it for a few moments more he asked, "Do you know what this is?" He was thinking that it was worked by a gifted oriental craftsman for it looked old but not too worn. It was like other gems and very hard. "A sapphire device used to hold my hair in place. My mother got it to complement my eyes." "I have never seen one this size and the original stone must have been very large." "My family takes such baubles for granted. I'm starting a new endeavour and just need the cash to make a fresh start. The sapphire though is not for sale." "Your family though must be very rich." "My family is rich but no more so than those in our community. We have a much different slant on things. Physical wants are easily met but duty. Civic responsibility is our main focuses now. We don't try to keep up with the Joneses but we are not perfect. We all have our faults and I am no exception." The man nodded his head in understanding and I left the store. An alley two doors down provided enough of a place to allow me to get back into the boat. I now needed to find a larger metropolitan area that would have more rich people demanding pretty things and willing to pay for them Montréal was the next stop but it would be in advance of the usual store opening hours. I did have a chance when I got there a few minutes later to find out how this particular society was different. The language here was a dialect of French. I followed a large dark machine taking a man to work. I was able to learn more of his language and customs. In a moment I was learning from others. These people were busy trying to find ways to promote themselves while negating their rivals. I felt sad for the race and the situation that would promote this. When the closest jewellery opened, I was the first customer in. A good looking woman dressed in what I saw to be clothing befitting her clientele came to me to shoo me out of the store. I said in Québécois, "Hello, is the manager in? I would like to have a moment of his or her time." This forestalled her removing me from the premisses. "Wait a moment." A young man came out from the back of the shop and walked with the woman to me. The man smiled at me, again overcome with the way I looked. He continued with the smile when he asked, "Hi, what can I do for you?" I didn't smile but did ask, "May we talk in private? It will be less than a minute." The man was thinking of all kinds of entrapment for children were sometimes viewed as sex objects by some. He had never followed any of his baser urges and wasn't going to start now. He was curious though. "Certainly." Once in his office and the door closed, I opened the pouch and removed the clear flawless diamond once again. Another came out of equal weight but with a small amount of colour from different impurities. None had any included matter and were therefore very clear. Before I sat in a chair reserved for guests I placed the two stones in the man's hand. "These are my property. They do not belong to my parents. I wish to sell them. If you wish, I will stay longer than the minute I stipulated." The jeweller had a loop on his desk and like the last took a long time examining both stones. He could see no flaws at all and worked extra hard to do so. These stones, as a pair, were worth even more I found. The fact that they were the most perfect formed stones he had ever seen made them also perfect for a project of his. He knew a wealthy woman that only bought quality and he could demand a premium for these two stones. He was not as worried about the ownership and thought they were probably stolen. There was no numbers inscribed on the base of the stone with a light beam. Apparently this was a new way of tracing a stone. Mine had none. "I might take these from you. I will give you five thousand dollars for the pair." "Let me show you something." I stood up and took the two stones and said, "The stones are perfect and are worth much more than a ninety thousand dollars. Give me seventy thousand in cash and they are yours. I will take nothing less." Though the coloured stone was worth thirty thousand dollars and the clear one worth well over sixty thousand. The man's greed came out and he thought of taking the stones from me but saw many complications in that. He ran through many ways of getting the stones for less. A cheque book came out but I said before he could start, "I said cash." "I have to go to the bank." "Then let's do so." In moments the man was in his car with me in the passenger seat. The ride was odd in many ways. The man was nervous to get the stones and was not concentrating on his driving. The people he was driving on the road with were aggressive and all of them must think that they were invincible. The car looked to be going very slow to me but a good deal of the man's mind was on what to do to get to his destination. The car stopped in a small plot of land covered in a black petroleum based substance. The man got out and waited for me but I said, "I will wait here." The man was out very quickly and breathing hard. He was afraid that I would change my mind and be gone by the time he returned. The man came back breathlessly and got into his car quickly. He counted out the money for me in bundles of paper money wrapped by the bank. When it was all there I handed him the two stones. He opened his pocket and took out another loop and inspected them. There was the possibility that I had switched them. When he looked at me the smile was back till I opened my hand and showed him a much larger stone. This one was five carats or one gram. The man could see that there was no colour in the stone as I held it in the light coming into the vehicle. To start things off I said, "Five carats, colourless and perfect. There are no inclusions. Check the stone then give me 200,000. Take it or leave it. The next jeweller would if you don't." The man wanted to grab the jewel but took it as if his firstborn child. This took ten minutes to inspect before I put my hand out demanding it back. The man reluctantly did so. All he could say is, "That's all my money." "You can sell these jewels for a lot more. Banks will lend you more money. Get the money now or I will leave." The man didn't even close the door as he ran for the bank one more time. He was getting a good deal and he knew it. I used my PK and pulled the door closed and waited. This time it took longer. I could read the man's mind in the bank. The manager was worried that his customer was being compelled to get the money from his account under duress. The smile the man made was enough for the manager to bypass the police. The man ran out but this time with a grey bag made of some plant material. Inside was the entire amount I asked for. He handed me the bag and wanted the diamond right away. I did as he wanted though no words left his lips. The man really smiled and held the large stone in two hands. He quickly made his inspection once more. I found the control to open the door and stepped out. The man was very unstable now and would probably get into an accident on the way back to his place of work. When I was a metre from the automobile, I opened my bag one more time. The bag of money was at my feet. I took out four more stones, all of them five carats or a bit more. I pinched two between a finger and thumb of each hand. "I have four more. Each are colourless and as beautiful as the one you own. You have no money presently. Sell your baubles and I will sell you these four for a million dollars in cash. You will get the chance to see that they are genuine when I get to see the money." The man wanted them right away and I knew that I really spoiled his day. I walked unhurriedly around the corner of the parking lot and up a small road used by service vehicles. In a second I was in the boat ready to continue with the plan The jeweller came driving out of the lot and almost had an accident. He was looking for me and could see no trace. The day was long but I sold quite a few more stones. The cash I gained totalled to three and a quarter million dollars. This might be enough for the supplies I needed but I still needed to find a place to build the engines. This had to be large for Borin would have to land there. I would take at least two engines to her for placement and then she could land to get the remainder installed. This could be done from space but the job was actually easier in a gravity well. I was eventually in Vancouver, by following the path of the local star. It was a city on the mainland across the expanse of Canada from where I had started. The food in the boat was good but I wanted a bit of company when I ate. This would also allow me to find out what Earth food was like. This was readily available in many businesses but the companionship was not. As an explorer I was compelled to continue with my work and see more of the traits that made a native here act the way they did. There was a large park in the city and a great many people were moving about I followed a few for a while till some unsettling thoughts came to me. I checked for the source because something didn't seem to be right about the ones I now viewed. The ones present were transients as many others were that congregated in various areas. I could not understand why someone would want to give up a job, home and family to live hand to mouth. Some I knew lived in very bad situations with a crazy family. Many times it was the hormones going through a young person's body that was the first cause of troubles. Parents could not deal with the problems of their children while trying to manage their own difficulties. Others in the park were even crazier than the usual I ran into. There was no help currently available except some drugs to treat the symptoms. Most people in the park had one or more drug dependancies. Cigarettes were the most common. Next came alcohol, then what was called the soft drugs then the hard variety that was difficult for anybody on the drug to quit even if encouraged to. In the wooded sections below I could feel some very sexually excited young men. Though not a voyeur looking for sexual gratification, I did look to see what was happening. A young female was in the group. She was much younger than the males were. She was being plied with alcohol as she sat among the three males. They were on their best behaviour but just wanted to get a bit more alcohol into her to get her to comply with their requests. The girl's mind was now investigated. She had come to this area the day before with a female friend. The friend had found a male to be with and this girl had been told to come back later. The intoxicated girl below had found a kind smile and a chance for some excitement from a young man. Through her warped perceptions she didn't know what she was in for. She had some sexual experiences in the past but found them unsatisfactory. She was now going to have just one more swallow and then the nice men were supposedly going to put her on a bus for home. When the first man started to make his move, the girl finally came to the understanding that something was wrong. She started to scream but a hand came over her mouth. The other two men got up and began to rip or cut the clothes from the girl. She was down to a covering on her chest to protect and support her breasts and nothing else. I could not let this happen. In only seconds I was behind the men and said loudly, "Was rape in your plans gentlemen?" They turned quickly and one fell over because his clothing was around his ankles. One still held the girl with his hand over her mouth. He was starting to think of getting the other two to attack me but found that he wouldn't mind raping me himself. The Seffra didn't usually have this form of sex. Males were born much less frequently than females and they were constantly monitored. At the least sign of deviance they were subtly induced to stay heterosexual. The females were under no such compulsion or direction. There were many female only groupings. The closer male assessed how much of a danger I was and simply pulled his pants up and clipped the closure. He took a few slow steps and was going to slap me what he called 'silly'. I ran to him, stooped very low when he swung his hand. It was easy to get right before his legs. My shoulders pushed his legs and threw him off balance. As he stumbled backwards, I picked him up by the soles of his shoes and propelled him into the air. In this low gravity he flew almost four metres up then came down on some of the bushes concealing this area. The next young man saw that I was very fast and dangerous but he had lived on the streets for years and knew how to fight he thought. He had taken some training in an oriental form of combat. I was angry at the men for what they were attempting to do but they were more like naughty children than adults. They needed a lesson but not to be seriously hurt. The man came in and turned on one foot, hoping to catch me off guard and strike me with his other foot. This apparently had worked a great number of times in the past. This Human had none of my training. They were all remarkably slow and I could read their every intention before an actual muscle was moved. I could even see many of his favourite moves and how they defeated other Humans. I bent down quickly when the foot was in the air and kicked out at his one supporting leg. By the time the man had hit the ground I was beside him and used my forearm to strike his neck. I could see the pain get so great that the mind refused to deal with it and shut down. The man holding the girl reached into his pocket and brought out a knife in his hand. The girl was released as he wanted to confront me. I saw in his mine that he had happily killed before but never been suspected much. He was confidant that he could stop me. He debated whether to have some 'fun' with me before he hid my body in the brush. I was not the man's keeper but I knew he needed some form of chastisement. Stepping into the area that he could swing his knife, I punched out and struck once with one fist then the other. My previous opponent told me that there was a nerve cluster that when struck was very painful. I could almost see the nerves starting to vibrate by being over stimulated. Because he was the most aggressive sexually I kicked at his unprotected testicles. The man opened his mouth in a silent scream and slowly toppled to the ground. By the time he hit the first man to fly had regained his feet. He saw the others incapacitated and just ran out through an opening in the shrubbery to escape. This was very unsettling for usually I only fought with family and none of us had a fear this strong. I looked at the girl now and felt an odd feeling flow through me. I looked at her mind and saw that she had only rudimentary telepathic abilities. I checked her aura to find how damaged she was and this shocked me in turn. The girl had an aura that almost perfectly complimented me. It was not the same but very close. Something like two Seffra but of different genders Both were the same yet different. This I knew was very important to me for I had never met anybody as close as this woman was to me. I pulled myself together but it was not with the same feelings I had when entering the park. I was still confused and now worried about far more than just myself. I bent to find the girl's clothes. They had been cut with the knife or ripped. The girl's size was assessed and orders went to the boat just ten metres over our heads. The girl was still stunned but I had work to do. I wanted her close to me but forced myself to do what was right. One male had a long leather belt. I took this and then picked up the last man. Surveying the local trees I threw him onto a branch then jumped up myself. The man's pants went back to his ankles and the pants were tied to the branch he was on with his belt. Some paper and the stub of a pencil fell from his pockets. Though it was getting dark I could still see fairly well. I took the paper and wrote in the odd English the man provided me with. I listed the crimes the man had committed and gave some special insight that only an investigator would know. At the end I put that he had told me this information while drugged with alcohol The girl though was still very drunk herself. She had sat on a large rock and had fallen off that. I called for a med unit and one came to my hand. The girl was harbouring a great many diseases. Her system was dealing with the attack fairly well. After the med unit started, I commanded her body to work harder as the med unit continued to do its own work. This was slow work and before I was finished the clothing would be ready. When the clothing did fall I held it with my PK and ordered a cleansing unit to come first. I worked from the top of her head to her feet. When that was completed I dressed the girl but she didn't have any garment to protect her sex organs. I debated manufacturing them but nobody would see if they were there or not. They served no purpose in the clothing I made. I had to hold her up by PK as I used the same power to bring her shoes to me. They went onto her feet and she now stood unsteadily on the ground. The med unit now started to remove the alcohol from her system. In five minutes the first half had been removed and in another seven the remainder would leave her. She started to cry though at what had almost happened to her. "Come on Sandra. I want to get something to eat and I want you with me." Though my voice was like a child's on purpose she did as I asked. I picked up her purse and put it on her shoulder. When we got fifty metres away from the area of the attempted rape the scene behind us started to grow very bright. A small fire was started and large masses of smoke were produced. It was this that should bring the police or firemen to the scene. Sandra was so distraught that she didn't even notice where we were walking or the bright light behind her. The boat was doing its best to follow orders and would do so till the proper people came. Anybody not in a uniform would get burnt a bit and forced to flee. We were completely out of Stanley Park before she said, "Where are you taking me?" "To a restaurant. I want something to eat. You are going because your thinking is still not working right and I will be with you till it gets better. The shock should be over in an hour or two." "What did you do back there? I saw you appear then disappear before my eyes." "You were drunk Sandra. You may see lots of things that are not real," I said patiently. "Did you throw Jim up into that tree?" "I am stronger than I look but yes I did. He needed something to remember us by." By the time we got close to a nearby restaurant I stopped and then ran my fingers through Sandra's hair to make it look like it was designed to look that way. We started off again but the girl kept wondering what was happening to her. When we got to the restaurant though she stopped dead herself. The reflection in the glass was not what she expected. She looked at me with a worried look and said, "Where did this dress come from?" "I had it made especially for you." "How... ," was all she got out because I put my finger to her lips. We entered the restaurant and a maître d' seated us at a nice table I had not learned much about money yet but he sure did see the paper in my hand. A waiter very quickly brought us menus. I read it in a few seconds and then ordered before he began to ask us what we wanted to drink. Sandra was unable to order so I made selections for her and added a special tea to drink. Sandra liked the idea and I would give it a try. I took the menu from her fingers and looked at her very closely for the first time with just my eyes. She was far from being a beautiful Seffra but she was good looking by a Human standards She had long blonde hair and pretty brown eyes. As Humans went she had a very symmetrical face and body. There were many things that could improve her looks but they were not important really. Besides she was the prettiest woman in the restaurant at the moment as the people around us attested to. They also thought that I looked far more beautiful than my guest. Sandra was fifteen but would have a birthday in another month. She had a better than average intelligence for a Human. This didn't mean that she was using what she had in any worthwhile endeavour. She had some vague plan of going into modelling since she had modelled clothes off and on since she was a baby. She got along with everybody at school and had her pick of the boys. Ronny, the girl she came with liked either gender the same as Sandra did but not necessarily the same amount. Both sets of parents were fairly well off but not rich. Sandra's mind told me that they loved her but were a bit pushy and the girl was starting to resent it. My own feelings about her were getting stronger and I had to attribute it to our complimentary auras. While my aura was tucked firmly into place she was beginning to respond to me anyway. My own ideas about what should be done now changed for they now had to include this young woman. To do otherwise would be very difficult. "Tell me about your friend, Sandra." She was about to speak but she suddenly realised that she had never given me her name. She then figured that I may have heard hers when the three men and her had been talking. "Ronny found herself a boyfriend. We were going to rent a room for the night and go back to Victoria on the ferry late tomorrow. She wanted me to find a place to stay myself and we would meet tomorrow to go back." Sandra put her face in her hands and started to cry for she realised that Ronny had never said what time to meet at the terminal. For all Sandra knew, Ronny may not go back for a week. She saw clearly that she had been abandoned. I reached across the small table and held her hand in mine. The feeling was something that I will always remember for I was now complete on so many levels. When she started to recover she took her free hand and wiped her eyes and subtly blew her nose. The paper was quietly placed in her purse. When the free hand came to the table, it too was held. "Ronny doesn't sound like that much of a friend or maybe she is one that is ruled by her emotions and hormones." "Yes, that's Ronny," she meant all three problems but especially the part about not being a real friend. Tea came and the waiter poured the infusion into our cups. Raw sugar was in a bowl and lemon was on the tray. I read the waiter's mind and made the cup the way he thought best. I looked up to the young man and said, "Hmm that's good. Thank you." He left thinking that I had given him a tip and recognised that my aura had come out again. I got information a second later from the boat that the small fire had been put out and Jim had been found along with the note. The other young man was taken to the hospital but I knew he would be fine. Jim, I hoped would have some serious explaining to do. If he kept quiet there may not be much they could do. At least they would have stronger suspicions later if another of his drunk friends died. We talked some more and Sandra told me about her life and family. I quizzed her about school and she lied a few times but I kept going back to them till she admitted her falsehoods. I didn't want her to be comfortable with what she thought she could be. From her own mind I learned that modelling was for the young. After that the woman better find a husband or have some training for a job. Our meal came before we had finished talking. Sandra was amazed what was put in front of her. I read what was good in the waiter's mind. What was in front of me was even more of a surprise. Taste and smell are linked. There were some very odd spices in the food as well as having far too much salt and other objectionable chemicals. I just told my mind to not process all the data coming to it from the taste organs. We continued with the conversation but I moved it to a more comfortable area. She talked about her brother and sister but soon it became clear that she loved them even when she yelled at them for going into her room. I kept the conversation on her life and she asked very little of me. Some things she knew of that were humorous and I worked to draw them out so she would get onto happier thoughts. When the meal was over, she excused herself and went to the washroom. While Sandra was gone I paid the check and gave a generous tip. The maître d' and even the chef came out to see if the meal was good enough. Apparently the chef was more susceptible than most to sensing my aura and he had talked to the maître d'. Sandra came out later with a red face. She finally found out that she had no panties. She was worried that somebody had sex with her but thought not. I took her hand and walked out of the eating establishment and into one of the waiting taxies. In moments we were at the ferry terminal and I purchased two tickets for us. Again we were just in time for ten minutes later the ropes were cast off and the engines started to work hard pushing us from the dock. The ferry was a different way to travel. In my mind I knew that Borin had been much longer and she was all mine. The night air was cool so we stayed inside. We sat together on some plastic seats. Sandra held my hands not wanting to let me go. She too had been effected by my aura and wondered in her mind what her feelings should be. My looks were effecting her two ways. She found me much more beautiful than she hoped to be and I was obviously too young for her. Her fiends would laugh at dating what she assumed to be, a twelve year old. I had to start talking about myself because Sandra could not think of anything more to say about herself. She had told me almost everything she thought and even started to babble. This made her feel ashamed for the way she was carrying on. I had read her deepest thoughts and actually did know everything important. This was not what was socially permissible but in this instance the invasion of her privacy was warranted. I felt compelled to do so for one reason or another. The strongest was that I had to know her to help her but this was a fallacy for I knew she would be a large part of my life. I explained how I was in training to be an aeronautical engineer. She thought this a joke. She didn't know that I was doing this since I was two and a half years old. A bit earlier than the majority of my people but not by much. I did some quick talking and didn't tell her exactly where I was going to university or getting my training. She happily told me that her father taught that subject at the University of British Columbia. "In fact he is the head of department," she said with some pride. My parents were explained as being on an extended vacation but I did not tell how extended it was. My stepsister was called my sister and I mentioned only one mother so as not to confuse her. I didn't give their job titles. They were scientists in many fields and also helped to run the ship with Soldoy. We talked about girl and boy friends each of us had. I anglicised some of the names but didn't say anything that would embarrass them if they were here. Sandra opened up a bit and talked more intimately about her boy friends. She stopped a while thinking on her disappointment. When she didn't start again I simply said, "You just haven't met the right man yet. Some can really please a girl. Girls know how to do that better usually but males can learn. Men do have the capacity to learn or be taught." Sandra was embarrassed about this again. She had not told me about her sexual relationship with the girl but the mere mention bothered her. The other part of her mind wanted to know how I suspected this. She figured that none of it could really have been from experience. When the ferry docked, we were some of the first to leave. Taxis were waiting and in moments we were our way. We talked less in the taxi because the driver could hear. Sandra though was worried about going home now that it was so close to the time she had left. She rightly figured that they would know something was wrong when the saw the way she acted and when they saw her new dress. She and her mother were close and it would soon come out to what had almost happened. The mother already knew that Ronny was too wild and not to be trusted. I was now the rock that held her from coming apart and she wanted me to meet her family. This pleased me for I didn't want to let her go. We pulled up to Sandra's home. She thought it nothing special. It was better than most nearby homes but it was still Human architecture. It was far from being even adequate from where I stood. I paid the cabby and gave him a tip. Sandra waited and held my hand as soon as I was free. We walked up to the front door but I already knew that her mother had seen us from a window. We had no sooner gotten inside than three of the four Claystone family members descended on us. Sandra began to introduce me but suddenly found that she didn't know my name yet. I stepped in quickly and said, "Hello Mr Claystone." I put out my hand to be shook and the man did the same. He found my hand firm. I continued, "My shortened name is Leif." I continued around the group and shook hands with Tom junior. I went on a bit about Sandra being proud of her parents and talking to me about them. The mother, Margaret was next. She was tall and blonde and this I knew was where Sandra got her good looks. The parents noticed the new dress but said nothing now. I could see many ideas going through each of the parents' minds. They liked me it seemed but still saw me as young. It crossed their minds that I might be involved with the new dress and wondered if their daughter was still a virgin or at least the father wondered. The mother had known of the loss the day after it happened. Margaret just had to know, "What happened to your old dress? I never saw that one on you or Ronny." Sandra started to cry and Margaret immediately got her son off to bed. He was agitated now but was usually disposed of when things got interesting. Sandra held my hand tightly and I knew it would be better for me to mention what had to be said. She simply couldn't. If I was going to do this then we had better sit. The parents now looked even more worried. I walked to a large room with a table and seated Sandra. The two parents took their own seats. I began, "Sandra and a friend went to the mainland to explore and have a bit of fun. The friend found a new boyfriend and left for a bit of privacy. Sandra was alone but found a friend too. They talked a lot and she thought him to be nice. He had a small bottle of alcohol and induced Sandra to have some with him. He was pretty slick because he must have pretended to drink but Sandra drank it all." "Two of the male's friends came by and moved the conversation to a quieter locale. More alcohol was produced and Sandra was cajoled to drink much more with the promise of them taking her home later." "When she drank the last of the bottle, one impatient young man decided to help himself to what he wanted from Sandra." The mother gasped and the father stood with his hands still on the table. Before they could start yelling, I continued, "Sandra's clothes were almost all ripped or cut off of her with a knife. I got there at that time and put a stop to it. I had a dress with me and it fit Sandra. I cleaned her up and we went to a restaurant to eat and try to come to an understanding of what almost happened. This allowed her to further calm down and we were able to discuss the ramifications of the incident. Finally I brought her home." After a slight pause I emphasised, "She was and is very frightened of what happened and probably was going to happen. She is equally afraid of how both of you are going to treat this situation." Again the parents were going to react violently so I said, "Sandra did nothing wrong except trust the wrong person. That person basically drugged her. She may have some poor judgment at times but you cannot get angry at her for that. She is a young woman and needs to explore life and cannot hide behind these walls. She needs some understanding and not to have her parents yell at her. She is afraid that she will not be loved for the mistake she has made." I stopped and waited, then the parents waited too. They were at least thinking of their daughter and not just reacting to their anger. Margaret said, "Leif, please tell us again. We want to know more of what happened." I put more detail in but said that some of the information came from Sandra. My part was the truth but my first discovery of the situation could only have been from the ground. The fight was simply explained. I then talked about the short walk to the restaurant and the talks we had since. Before an additional examination could be started I got Sandra to start and fill in more of the gaps. It took an hour more to rehash the episode. Some data I refused to give and they could not really compel me to give it for I had rescued their daughter. My suggestion that Sandra needed some rest was finally acted on and the mother took her daughter up to bed. By this time the second daughter came home. I found a girl coming into the room. She mostly wanted to see who was visiting. From the various peoples' minds I knew that this was Megan. I had my mouth open the same as she did when we first saw each other. This was something very rare for she too had almost the same aura as her sister. The chance of this happening was almost astronomically high. The only thing I thought of was that genetics and environment may well put a young child into the same form as her older sister. I reacted much sooner than the girl and stood to shake her hand. The thrill that ran through me was the same as what her sister gave to me. The introductions were made and I could see that she was very taken with me herself. The father didn't want anything said in front of this girl and said to me, "Would you like to spend the night. We have a guest room and I think Sandra will need to see you tomorrow." "Thank you, I think you are right about needing to see me. She is still in shock and needs some time to recover." I knew that it would hard to leave her and she would go out and try to find me if I left. Megan wondered what all this was about but wisely remained quiet. I was shown the bed and the father asked, Would you like to phone your family? There is a private line over there," he pointed at the instrument beside the bed. I smiled at the man and said, "My parents are on a trip and won't be back for a while." There was no attached bathroom and I was here to learn all I could. I looked into the minds around me and found the correct procedure to use in this house. The bathroom was currently empty and I opened the door the correct way then removed my clothing. After securing some coarse cloth I started to clean myself in warm running water. The soap cleaned off the oils from my body but left a film and a scent on me. The shampoo was difficult to use until my PK came into play. Margaret's mind told me about the conditioner and this was now used. When all this was rinsed away I used the coarse cloth to remove the water from my skin. It did the job but was very inefficient. I carried my clothing back to my room after cleaning the bath. The cleaning systems on the ship did this task for me when I was there. Margaret got upset when her family didn't clean up after themselves in their home. My clothing went on a chair and I climbed into the bed. It was uncomfortable for many reasons. The sheets were rough and I could feel each and every bump the springs made in the mattress. The room was cool, requiring me to use not only the sheet but an additional cover. This was much too heavy and I regulated my body to burn a bit more fuel and keep me warm instead. This way at least I could dispense with the sheet over me. I lay down to sleep but I could hear everybody in the house. They didn't know enough to close off their minds to others so they could have some quiet time. The two young women so close drew me to them but I had to keep my place and let them decide what to do. Tom senior, the father, was thinking of how to rend the flesh of his daughter's attackers. His wife had told him that their daughter had lost her virginity a year ago. This was a shock to him but it was nothing compared to the attack. He was consoled that the men would not have hurt her as much since she no longer had a hymen. He was very intrigued by me but didn't know how to get more information without upsetting the person that saved his daughter. Margaret worked hard thinking her own thoughts on retribution but it was not the usual bloody thoughts of a Seffra woman. There was a sneaky quality to it. She knew that her daughter was not physically hurt and had not been violated sexually though she had been forcibly stripped. She also tried to keep her husband from doing something rash and basically tired to keep peace in the family. Her mind came back to me time and again and for a few seconds thought of having sex with me till her rational mind pushed it away. The number of times coming back though made her upset. Tommy had been waiting and filled Megan in about what he knew. She realised that everything would somehow be all right later. I could see her face still in my mind. She too was beautiful with her long blonde hair but she had blue eyes. I could also feel the attraction she and her sister had for me and it hurt me to be away. She was approximately my age and she desperately wanted to know me much better. She pictured me in her mind and all sorts of fantasies began. Tom junior was ten and a half Earth years old. He didn't understand much of what had happened but kept seeing me in his mind. He wanted to be with me and do things. He liked some sports and wanted me at his side. He wanted to show me off to his friends. He finally saw me as someone so beautiful that I slipped into the category he reserved for girls. This made him want me that way but didn't understand the mechanics for he had not begun to mature sexually yet. Sandra had cried quite a while but was sleepy. She too was thinking of me. Like her brother she thought I was too beautiful to be anything but a girl but would make love to me no matter what gender I was. She did feel comforted that I was staying the night. I slept with difficulty even in the lower gravity. When I had got as much rest as I needed, I began to talk to Borin through the long line of repeaters. Much more data had been extracted from the satellites even if it was at a slow rate. I had a better comprehension of how the economy worked on this planet. My mind though was working against my wishes and constantly went to the two girls under this roof. Borin found a listing of all the places that would sell me what I needed. Better prices could be obtained by seeing key individuals. This was not to save worthless paper but to get the items I required without having to deal with a great many regulations. The president of a company would love to just pocket the money I gave him and forget about regulations. Secure places to build the engines and the machine to make them were easy find. There were a series of mountains very close and going more than a thousand kilometres north and south. A base could be built deep inside a mountain. I could build on the sea floor, under the desert sands or on the moon. All had their merits but the mountains seemed best at the moment. I just hoped that it wasn't the foolish apes I was now with that influenced this decision. Early in the morning, one of those selfsame apes was outside my door right now. I called out with my mind, "Come in Megan. I know you want to talk to me." The girl came in and looked at the bed I was on and found me naked. The room was too dark for her to see well. She irresistibly slipped further into the room and then closed the door behind her. She came closer and I found her looking more at my genitals than at the rest of me. Since I had my legs together she didn't see that I had no external testicles In a moment when she got her fill of this area she began to do a survey of the remainder of my body. This time she stopped at my head. My hair was not done up and was across the pillow I was resting on. Again I was put into the beautiful category and thus a female even though she had just seen the proof to the contrary. Megan had feelings about girls but now found this idea less offensive. She looked back down my body and then remembered I was a male. When she saw my face again she seemed to forget this fact. Her mind was just boiling over with conflicting ideas and her hormones were in a dreadful state. It was no wonder that Humans were so crazy. The chemicals produced in their bodies simply effected their minds too much. Her state of mind started me to have to control my own hormones. These females were much too much like my own race. I had not had a release since I was on our mother ship. A part of my mind was playing the devil's advocate and explaining about the length of time to complete the project and then find members of my own race. The other portion said that these apes were not Seffra no matter what their aura was. Our customs told me that they were not worthy of having sex with. The devil's advocate said that they were intelligent if not that high. They knew what love was and could respond to what I gave. The other side countered that this was like having sex with a pet for they could not fully respond to any sexual act. Before I pulled my mind back to the here and now another thought was sent to me. Some day possibly far into the future my race would judge me on what I had done and will do. They would know that I had or had not had sex with these natives. I must have sided with the devil's advocate because there was a possibility of stretching a Human mind so it would at least be close to a Seffra. This in fact was what happened to our own race long ago. My own race was very strict on what they could do or not do with our bodies. If this were not so then we would have drifted very widely from where we presently were. Cosmetic changes to fit into a situation were accepted but not as a permanent feature. Megan was still assessing my body. It had been only a few seconds to her since she had come into the room. She didn't know why she felt compelled to come into a guest's room at this time or why she just had to get to know about this male in particular. His thing was not that large. She had seen her brother's and it was the same size. To her mind the boy's face before her made her think of beautiful movie stars or models. The body though was still like a boy's but different. The body was much better proportioned than the boys she had seen in bathing suits. All this made her clit tingle and no matter how much she stroked it, the boy was still there demanding more and more. She had a half dream of having the boy in front of her as a husband and then the children she would happily produce. She needed the boy and she had to have him Girls could get a man by offering their body perhaps this one would take hers she thought. Her fingers nervously undid the buttons on the pajamas and then pulled the garment quickly off before dropping it to the floor. The bottoms came next then the very wet panties. She had done this on impulse and now she looked at the beautiful boy if what she had to offer was good enough. Both of our auras seemed to vibrate in resonance. My own mind now was in turmoil. The girl was pretty if I didn't look too close at the details. She was more than the average intelligence and even the whole family was that way. I didn't see her as just an ape now but I didn't see her as a Seffra either. Perhaps it was the scent in the air or perhaps it was the pity I felt for a child in need. Last of all it could be that hidden voice deep inside me. I slid away from her then said mentally, "Lay down with me. We are going to have to talk a lot more before anything further happens between us." She scrambled to do as I said without even considering that she had heard me in her mind and not her ears. She came close to me still offering me anything I wanted if I changed my mind. I moved her body so it was comfortable then used my mind to pull up the sheet to cover us both. As an after thought her clothing was moved to one side the same way with my PK. I turned on my elbow and then lowered my lips to her trembling ones and said, "Goodnight Honey. We will talk tomorrow." When I put my own head back I knew that this would not happen this way so I worked into her mind and found the way to put her to sleep. This was done by mothers of my race when the need arose. I didn't feel like a mother but I was tossed about by a feeling just as strong. I slipped easily into the girl's mind and read her thoughts as I had her sister's trying to pick out what was important to her. I felt very protective to the girl and would love for her to remain by my side. After a while though I pulled myself away and began to work once more on what I came to this planet for. ------- Chapter 6 The mountain facility was considered while my hand found and held Megan's. I had been missing from my race for three centuries and it would be a while yet before I could get back. Staying on Earth now didn't seem so bad. I would at least have a lot of interesting and varied company. The possibility of upgrading the Human mind would be the only way this would work. The facility would look much like a base and this made me think again. Once in a while some of the older members of our race would want to settle down. This did not always mean going back to our home galaxy though. We would build a permanent base on a planet and begin to make more ships and breed crews to fill them. Message torpedos would come and go to the ships that left to explore and some would go back up the line getting and giving new information. This idea startled me enough to think much harder on this matter. Our subconscious occupied a minor portion of our mind because we could actively use and control the vast majority of this organ. The Humans by contrast had some potential but their subconscious mind was by far the largest portion. Their conscious mind was only a few percent in my opinion. Was my subconscious mind telling me to make a base instead? The two women made me feel whole. There was only one Seffra female on my ship and this was not enough to start a family never mind thousands of crew members and the personnel to run the base. Perhaps my mind was telling me to send out Humans or perhaps half Seffras to do this task. The devil's advocate came back with arguments to support this plan while the other portion of my mind fought to get the other views taken. I was very exhausted but the time the local star started to shine into the room. Today was what the locals called Sunday and as such the family usually slept in. I didn't think this would happen today. I woke Megan up with a kiss and she was shocked until she remembered where she was and how she got here. "I am taking you back to your room. Your parents would not understand. We will still have our talk later." I threw my body over hers and when I landed on the floor I put my arms under the girl now covered in a sheet and I stood up. The pajamas and panties came with my PK and landed on her stomach. We were at the door before she even had the chance for two breaths. I opened the door and walked down to what I knew was her room. It felt very good to be supporting this woman with my strength and I think it must have triggered some of my instincts for I knew that women were very strong themselves. I put her on her bed and then kissed her again. "Put my sheet back where it belongs. Take a shower and then dress. I want to try making breakfast." I backed up and walked from the room at a Human pace and knew she was admiring my butt. My clothes were put back on even though I had worn them before. It felt odd but it was not that bad. The chef and the waiter last night had many ideas about the proper way to make good food. Margaret was the same way. The girls' mother was much closer and I read what she would do to please her family. Bacon was in the fridge and other things were in a small pantry, a lazy-susan and a freezer in the basement. I stopped for only a second to work out each and every one of my moves and then worked quickly to get everything done. The kitchen was getting full of strange scents. Not all were good but they were not all bad either. The parents both worked at the university so there was not that many times they had a really good home cooked meal. I kept track of the activity upstairs and slowed down to a Human pace when footsteps were heard on the steps. Bacon was easy to do as was the sausage for I used my mental fingers to flip the portions of meat. Biscuits were made and a second batch had some bacon and cheese in them. The adults liked coffee and though I could drink tea I didn't want any. The two older children liked this beverage though and this I prepared. Pancakes were also mixed and small portions of fruit were added. Orange juice was in the fridge for Tom and I would give it a try. Strong smelling vegetables along with other ingredients were cut fine then put into the contents of a dozen mixed eggs. Megan came into the room and I said, "Have a seat Princess. I have made some breakfast. I hope it's good." The plates, cutlery and cups were on the table along with a small glass for the fruit juice. She smiled at me and a little worried at how she acted last night even though nothing happened. Some of the mixed egg had been started in a small pan and judging when the time was right, I put this portion on a plate with the sausage and bacon along with the plain hot biscuits. This I put before her and then poured some more juice into her glass. I poured a few millilitres into my own then tasted it. The taste was alright but we had found many better in our explorations. The girl now had shining eyes for me and I felt like I had to do a bit more. There were many songs I heard broadcast since coming to this system. The ones I liked came from operas or ones that were similar. One artist I liked had the name of Andrea Bocelli. He sang very well in my opinion though not everybody on the internet agreed. His songs were in Italian though some words were English. I didn't know if he spoke the language or mimicked the words but the music was nice. Singing in my own language would not be as well taken for it would bring on many questions. I sat down on the other side of the table waiting for the second batch of biscuits to be finished and started to sing to Megan. I sang the song just a bit different than I had heard it but I sang it just as loud and as soft as it should be. My singing was easily heard upstairs and within seconds a light tread was heard quickly coming down. Tommy came barging into the room and stopped. I continued to sing but now to him. I urged him physically to the table and seated him beside his sister. I began the boy's meal while continuing with my song. I put his full plate on the table just as the song ended. Before he could speak I started another of the songs but one just as full of love as the one before. Margaret came into the kitchen and quickly looked around. I finished the song by seating her at the table. She was just about to speak like her son when I started singing in some similar songs in German. I tried to make these light hearted as I prepared the next breakfast. Sandra came down with her father and I continued in the same theme till I switched to some old Irish songs. Sandra's eyes sparkled at seeing me and she now felt at ease. I sang the Celtic songs with all the brogue I could put into them. When the meal was served I switched to a current song popular in Britain. I had a small meal prepared for myself and started to eat just as I finished the short song. The children's eyes sparkled the most and then Margaret. Tom liked the music and didn't know what to do when someone was found singing in his kitchen. He did say, "You have a very good singing voice Leif. Is it common in your family?" "They can all sing. It is an alternate form of expression and we don't tend to have any relatives that cannot sing or play an instrument." "What instruments do you play?" This was a problem for I had not played any Earth style instruments though some were similar. The people of Earth simply didn't have the correct pitch and I had to sing off key to match their perceptions of what music should be. "You will have to see for yourself. I wouldn't want to be thought boastful." I tasted the food between words and again found the taste adequate but too much salt and other ingredients were used that spoiled the taste for me. I was quite sure if the reverse happened, they would not find my food the best. Tom then asked, "What are your plans for today?" "My original plan had me going to Hawaii and then Japan before going to Europe. I have now decided to stay here though for a few days at least." I saw the children's mind change from horror to relief when I said I would be staying. "I want to buy some land in the mountains and build a summer home. I haven't put down roots yet." "What about your education? There are some very fine schools in this area." "I doubt very much if there is any school that can teach me anything. I have my own tutor and we have been together for a while now." "What about your parents? Do they let you do as you like?" "They know that I am competent and well able to get along or do what is required." Margaret now spoke and said, "Sandra said you were trying to become an aeronautical engineer. You must go to school for this. Tom here is an engineer in the same field and actually teaches a course at Simon Fraser University. If you are still trying, it means that you have not achieved your goal yet." I smiled and said, "I believe I have more than passed any tests. I was referring to my own standards that are much higher than what an engineering school would have." Tom asked, "May we talk about what you know after you complete your meal?" "If you keep an open mind, I am prepared to do the same thing." The adults had more coffee and the two girls had some tea. Tommy and I had some juice. In between I cleaned the pots and pans. Margaret said, "I will clean those Leif. You don't have to." "Is a robotic device to come behind me to clean? Is a mother's job to pick up after her children or guests? I haven't seen any robots in this house and I will not impose." Tom took me downstairs to a room he had set up for teaching his best students when not at the university. Aeronautics was a minor facet when dealing with space craft. Dealing with an atmosphere had its benefits. It not only caused heating but took the heat generated away. It provided lift and formed a wall of substance that had to be pushed aside to move forward. Even the way we found to negate sonic booms was interesting. Tom started quizzing me with some well known laws of his. I had to read his mind to find the Seffra equivalent. The math though was wrong in a few ways. The law was much too simplistic and I used a whiteboard to explain how it was actually different. Tom thought I was wrong and I looked through his mind to find data that he had seen that substantiated my claim. Some of my mathematical models dealt in speeds that were from 33 to 76 times the speed of sound. I could not prove these laws and he could not disprove for no vehicle he knew of could possibly go that fast. We talked about materials that could take the heat generated at such speeds and I talked about ceramics that had a certain construction that slipped through the air much easier. It weighed very little and was very strong. The additional shield protecting them was of course not mentioned. Reactive engines were discussed next and I went back into our own history and mentioned the improvements that could be made with current Earth technology or with a bit of help from me. Sensor technology was broached for both control and testing. Again I gave all the old technology that we had used in the youth of our race. I had to teach him mathematics too because there were three branches that Humans had not found yet but would be useful in conquering space. Some of the other fields in mathematics I didn't mention, because it would just help them to kill each other. Given enough time, Humans would be welcomed into space. All that was needed was for them to grow up first. Tom said, "You speak of all this as if it were understood when you were very young and now is just the same as building blocks for children." "You are right on all counts. My family had done a great deal to teach me and I think I have been a very apt pupil. We as a family have spent a considerable amount of time learning. It has been going on for a great many generations. This activity had not been put forward as a way of furthering humanities military ambitions. Up till now it has been kept a secret." "What has changed that would allow you to divulge some of your family's early findings now?" "I want to get into space... and find my family. They left me behind and I plan on following them." The man just stared at me and slowly collapsed into his chair almost falling in the process. It took a five minutes and he had still not said anything to me. Sandra came downstairs and knocked on the door then just entered. "Mom wants you upstairs to eat. She says you have been down here long enough." Sandra waited but when we didn't follow she went upstairs alone. Tom got up and walked with me. He said in a whisper, "Your family's Italian?" He was thinking of my singing and the renaissance that started civilisation's last climb to enlightenment. "My family has spread out for a thousand years and we are a lot more like Europeans in general than just one nationality." Tom felt vindicated in his feelings for he now believed me to be part of a very large family that must have been very powerful. We then must have kept our knowledge to ourselves. Research was expensive so we must have then been the power behind the thrones of Europe and been very wealthy in our own right. I allowed his mind to justify how this must be for there had to be nobody in the galaxy except Humans that were able to get here for thousands of years. Humans are such egotists even when they try to be humble. There was a lot of talk around the table but Tom replied in very short sentences. Margaret seemed to know something was wrong and tried to draw her husband out. Soon the children saw the change and their mood changed too. Margaret turned to me with a serious expression and asked, "What happened down there?" I said, "Too much information being passed too quickly to assimilate. I have my own views on how a very highspeed aircraft functions. There are a lot of differences and they take a bit of time to see how the two schools of thought work together. I have been working on some new fields of mathematics and I explained some of those. I mentioned how they work well with the engineering and materials I mentioned. I think that your university could be very popular soon and even established engineers will come for more courses if this were taught." "Why would they do that?" "Some of the things we discussed are not common knowledge. Only two people presently know about them." It took a moment but they soon saw who the two must be. Tom looked up from his plate and did smile a bit but not too much. He was still trying to digest what he heard and what he thought about me. Sandra said, "Dad, you had Leif all morning. I want him this afternoon." Tom was going to really object but Margaret put her hand on his arm. He looked at it and then thought a lot before agreeing. "Have a good time." He looked at me and he figured his daughter was safe if I was with her. Megan blurted out, "We were going to talk too." It was said so piteously that even the parents saw that the girl was infatuated. Tommy said, "I wanted to play soccer. We have a game today. I wanted to how him how good I am." He obviously wanted to make me proud of him and at the sport he chose. His speech too sounded full of pity. "When is your game Tommy?" "Five and it lasts an hour but I wanted to show you some of my tricks." "From five till seven I will be watching you. Your sisters will be with me. Your parents are cordially invited and we will go out to eat after." The boy was all smiles at hearing this. I turned to Sandra and said, "You have me for two hours till three o'clock. Your sister is next, till five. I have to find a place to do some research but it may as well be tomorrow. I looked at Tom and asked, "May I play upon your generosity and stay here another night?" The children were all for this. Tom was to and said, "Certainly." Sandra grabbed my hand and took me out of the house. We just got on to the sidewalk when she asked, "Was daddy angry at you?" "No, more like I told him that some of the things he studied were not completely true. He has to rethink many of his theories. When he's done he has to work on the three new fields of mathematics I explained to him. They're not that hard to understand but doing three and then working on engineering will be too much for him to do alone. He doesn't want to tell any of his colleagues that I helped him either because it would lead them to me and then a lot more questions I will not answer." Sandra started to use her head a bit more than usual and then said, "You know more than daddy about that? How's that?" "Yes, I know some things more than your father. My family taught me. I even have my own private tutor and she is very intelligent. I am afraid what my family knows happens to be much more than what the rest of the world knows. If the knowledge gets out, then some will try very hard to find out everything in my mind. I don't want to give matches to children Sandra." "Oh... What about us?" "Us?" "I mean... first you saved me. Then I think I fell in love with you. I think my sister did too and she doesn't even know you." "I like your whole family Sandra. I just don't know if it will work though. You are beautiful and use that to get ahead. I see a woman as somebody that I would have something to talk about. Your marks allow you to pass your grades but not to get ahead. You can easily get better marks but you are simply not driven to do so." I stopped and turned Sandra to me and held her hands "You see before you a person actually slightly younger than your sister. I have studied engineering since I was two and a half. Languages and minor amounts of math were before that. I have so many secrets in my head that if the world learned just a few they would be used to kill the rest. This same knowledge is not complete and I need to learn more and more. Finally, Sandra, I am a person driven to succeed. This is the most important thing in my life. Family is important but they come second unless they are there working towards the same goals." Sandra said, "I can learn. You said yourself, I'm smart. Just give me the books and I will learn all I can... just stay with me." The last sentence was said with tears in her eyes. "If that were possible then there is the problem of your sister. I know for a fact that she will do the same thing for the same benefits. Am I to shun her?" She sniffled a lot then said, "You... can have her too if you want. You can have anybody just don't leave me." She really broke down now and cried. I turned her around and brought her back to the house. I hoped my experiment would work, otherwise the girls would take a long time to get over a broken heart. Margaret saw us as we came in the door. She raced over and held her daughter. She looked at me and asked, "What happened?" I gave an honest and concise answer by saying, "Sandra wants me. I have a duty that would come before family. The only time they would be on equal footing is when my family and I are working toward the same goal." Margaret was starting to understand and asked, "Would you take Sandra if she tried to gain the goals you want?" "There is a very wide gulf between us. I don't know if it can be crossed. There may be a way and I intend to try if she is willing. The second problem is that your other daughter thinks the same way and will react the same way too. Neither daughter expends too much effort at learning. I think you should go downstairs and talk to your husband about my family. I was not raised the same way you or your family were. Gaining knowledge has been our primary goal for a very long time." Margaret didn't know what to do but then rushed downstairs to find out. I took the very distraught Sandra upstairs to her room. I stood her up beside her bed. I opened the window for fresh air and then returned to the girl. I began to unbuttoned her clothing and the girl meekly assisted me in my efforts. Her crying though had stopped. When I got to her naked skin I said, "Lay down on the bed." She did exactly and I said, "I will be back in a moment," then bent over and kissed her tenderly. I went back downstairs and found Margaret looking for us. I said, "I put Sandra to bed. In a moment I want to join her." The woman was very shocked at this admission. "You what?" "I am going to make love to your daughter. When it is done she will feel much better. I suggest that you send your husband and Tom out on a long errand." "Why?" She asked suspiciously. "Sandra is going to get vocal. I want you to know that she is not being hurt. I think I can keep her conscious enough to last for an hour or a bit more. She will simply not respond after that." She whispered to me, "What are you going to do?" "I already told you. I will make love to her but she will not be able to take it. When she is revived she will faint again and again till she will not awaken till late." The woman just stared at me with an open mouth. I continued, "Bring Megan, she is a virgin but will get the same treatment some time in the future. They will be able to deal with me much better after that." "You want my other daughter too?" "Both of your daughters want me, Margaret. Let Sandra have me with you watching so you are satisfied that she is not hurt. Now send Tom away for a few hours." Margaret ran the ideas through her head. She lived through her daughter's modelling. She loved me herself and in a way could live through her daughters when they had sex with me. She knew that I was very intelligent and destined for something great. She assumed that this would just be on Earth. Her talk with Tom allowed her to find out that I was linked to very old money and power. She only hoped that I would keep at least one of her daughters. They would one day marry and she hoped that I would be a son-in-law. She turned and hurried down the stairs, her mind already thinking of the errands she wanted her husband to do. I went into the linen closet and brought our a stack of hand towels and a few thick bath towels. I carried the stack into Sandra's bedroom and put them on the floor. I smiled at Sandra as I did this. She was not sure what I was going to do but she would go along with it no matter what it was. "Just a few minutes more Sweetheart," I said then left the room to get a chair out of the room I used and one from the hall. I put them in Sandra's room facing the bed from one side. She didn't understand the reasoning but didn't care either. When this was done I closed her door and sat fully clothed on the bed beside her. "We are going to make love Honey. It will be much more intense than you have ever imagined before. I know you are strongly attracted to me. I am attracted to you just as much." This brought a big smile to her face. "If this love making works as I hope it will then you will be a lot more like me. Given a bit more time we will get a chance to know each other. That is when we can see how compatible we really are. After that the universe may be ours." "I will do whatever you want Leif. Do you want me to suck you? Other boys like that." She said this with a coy smile then looked away. I smiled at her warmly, "I will give you a chance later. First I have some magic to show you." She didn't expect this and excitedly asked, "What?" The boat was outside and the matter transmitter was barely able to put a med unit in my hand after I walked to the window. I showed the unit to Sandra and she smiled at it appearing. I walked a few steps to her and sat on the bed again. The unit stayed in my hand till she was put asleep. Then it went over her body much better than the day before. It stayed and worked a considerable amount of time on her head. An idea came to me and the unit went over her skin to rectify the microscopic problems on her face. With enough work she would even be beautiful by Seffra standards. I heard voices outside and then used my mind. Margaret was very excited sexually and sent the men folk off for a series of errands that should take a day, not a few hours. For this next part it would be better if Sandra continued her little nap. The shower started then the other one. It looks like Margaret was giving her daughter pointers in keeping a man happy. I pulled back the sheet and then had the med unit work on Sandra's nipples and breasts. They were not big but I wanted them to last and not have her breasts sag after just a few years. The nipples though had to be more sensitive. The sheet came down further and the med unit worked on her mons. The clit was much too small and needed to grow and become more sensitive. I didn't like coarse hair though. I could live with the fine hair now. The med unit worked on the follicles and they now died. The connective tissue dissolved at the roots. I used my hands now to wipe away all the coarse hair on her mons. This went into the garbage can beside the bed. My PK removed the rest and this too was disposed of. She was now bald as the day she was born. One shower stopped and in a minute the next one did too. The med unit went to the far corner of the room and waited on the floor. I awoke Sandra with a kiss and a small stimulation to her mind, "Did you have a nice nap?" "I don't know why I went to sleep. I'm sorry Leif. I didn't mean to." I kissed her again and felt guilty. "I put you to sleep to fix you a bit. If you put your hand between your legs you will find something different. Her hand didn't find any hair but touched too close to her clit and she had to stop right away or have an orgasm. "Oh, I think I like being bald there. It makes me much more sensitive." A knock came to Sandra's door and I said, "Come in." Sandra was very shocked at this and then more so when she saw her mother and sister dressed in robes. I turned to Sandra and said, "I want this to be special. I invited your mother and sister to our love making. This is the way I think this has to happen." Sandra still harboured thoughts of a standard Human marriage but really didn't mind too much if there were visitors. I said to the two, "Please have a seat." Once they were comfortable I started to remove my clothing. This time I inflated my penis to man size but still flaccid. When my pants came off, Megan was shocked. Her mother thought it was just seeing a penis for the first time. My position did not allow them to detect my missing scrotum. I turned around a bit for the ladies so they would get a chance to see some of me first. I climbed onto the bed beside the now covered Sandra. I pulled back the hair over her ear and started to make tender love to her lobe. This lasted till I went to her neck then her throat. They were studying me and still had not noticed that I had no external testicles because I hid behind Sandra. Sandra turned onto her back to give me more room. I was very patient and slid the sheet down a bit at a time and kissed what was newly exposed. Sandra wanted me to hurry but this was all part of the plan to get her to think better. It worked well because I loved making a lover beg for me. The first kiss to her breast gave her an orgasm better than any she had before and I had not even touched her nipple yet. When she stopped thrashing, I moved to the other breast and the same thing happened with the loud exclamation, "OH GOOOOOD!" Her neck muscles stood out and her face looked like a rictus of pain. Her abdomen was taut and her legs came up into the air. When she recovered I removed the sheet and then got off the bed to get a small towel. I separated her legs and bent them back before putting the pad under her butt. She was already wet and I knew she would get considerably more. Standing on the floor now I worked on her body. My mind now had to work on her pleasure centre to keep her from having an orgasm. For this experiment to work, she had to want me so hard that her brain would make the same type of jump that I had found impossible to do. This time I worked around a breast with my lips while the hand occupied the other. Sandra was gasping in want now. She begged and pled for more and I had hardly begun. I latched onto her now sensitive nipple and this was almost enough to defeat me. I backed off and tried again and again. Sandra's mouth wouldn't work for her now. She had drool coming from both corners. I worked down her abdomen before climbing on the bed between her legs. Instead of thrusting into her with my penis, I used my tongue. The first lick even though was too much. I didn't touch the clit but Sandra's hands came out and held my head in place with hysterical strength. Her orgasm was so intense that her muscles all tensed up at the same time. She made two weak thrusts with her pelvis and collapsed unconscious on the bed. Both of the other women were using their hands on their clits and breasts and had their own orgasms. Their housecoats were open for all to see if they chose. They were not really here now and the med unit had started long ago on Megan and started to remove diseases but at the same time worked on her mind. I got a bowl and half filled it with warm water. A damp cloth was used on Sandra's face and she opened her eyes and just hugged me with more love than she and ever given anybody before. She rested a moment before coherent thoughts came from her. Leaning forward, I started to lick her body again and she started to thrash. She wanted me and she wanted me now. I used my PK to hold her arms and legs as I wanted them. She had some freedom of movement but she couldn't hurt me or herself. My block went back into place and I continued my kissing down her chest and abdomen. When I got back on the bed I managed to strengthen the block and actually kiss her clit. Her breathing was erratic and her mind was not even up to the level of animal. The med unit had to monitor her heart and I continued to suck on her lower lips. This time I found the special spot in a Human female that was similar to a Seffra female. Just six strokes to this area and she screamed so hard I knew she hurt her vocal cords. She collapsed right after and the med unit went to work protecting her. Megan had been worked on as Sandra had by the med unit. She did though retain her light coating of thin hair. I would talk to her first before removing it. In a moment the med unit was finished with Sandra and now worked on her mother. I thought seriously about this. I could expand her mind perhaps but to do so would require me to torture her as I had her older daughter. She would thoroughly enjoy it but it may hurt her marriage. I put the two women on the floor to keep them from falling and then went back to Sandra. Again I bathed her face but it took longer for her to recover. When it looked like I was going to succeed I climbed back on the bed and got between her legs again. My penis was playing with her opening and her body was responding. When she came around she looked at me but it took a bit longer for her mind to understand what she was seeing. "Sandra, do you want me in you now?" Her arms came out and her fingers made claws. I guess this was a yes. Before I started to move more the strongest block yet went into her mind. My PK held her down and I slipped easily into her. I had removed some blood from my penis and stroked back and forth to get her used to me. I didn't even push far enough to contact her clit with my pubic bone. Sandra was back at the animal stage and going deeper by the second. I directed more blood to my member and I could feel in Sandra's mind the additional friction and sensation. More of my penis extended from the cavity in my body till I slipped into her womb. This was a bit painful for her so I worked to have the end portion get thin as well as the last few centimetres. When I moved now a portion always stayed inside her womb and there was no pain. I was not at full extension yet but stayed at a slow pace. Sandra's mind was fragmented from the treatment I had done to her. My PK was ready and I started thrusting forcefully into her and striking her clit with my pelvis. The process was not as good as my unmodified body could have done for I had my pelvic bone reduced to appear more Human. The block was barely holding and I began to make some small alterations to Sandra's mind. When larger areas were stacked correctly, I locked them in place then added to them. Sandra was in such great need now that her subconscious was helping me do what I wanted. She had no understanding but did some of the simple tasks. Her body though was thrashing and clawing at me to get that bit more and allow her to orgasm. This didn't happen until the last portion fell into place and I cemented them so they would stay. This was done with my own orgasm surging through my own body. It felt like I had put a lot of myself into the woman I now held. The med unit was over her body as the orgasm started. It monitored all her functions and keep her safe for me. The scream was much weaker and so was her body movements. She did collapse now and I allowed her mind to reintegrate itself as I pulled out. I compelled myself to shrink first. It didn't matter because the other two women were in no better condition to see me. A cleanser unit came into the room and I used it to clean Megan. Her entire mons was red with the abuse she had given it. The med unit worked on her for a while to get her to heal. I picked up her naked body and carried her back to her room like the child I almost saw her as. I put her on her bed and covered her up for Humans thought much more of modesty. I returned and began the same ritual on Margaret. She had been just as bad as her daughter. I placed her in her bed and her eyes flickered open. I bent down and gave her a kiss. Her arms came up to hold me. Her brain wasn't organised enough to speak. She did feel embarrassed about what she had done and in front of her daughters too. She could understand me after a fashion and I said, "Go to sleep. I will wake you up in an hour or so. We can have a little talk then." Her mind didn't notice that her ears were not used but it was understood better this way. Sandra was as I left her. I cleaned her up like her family. The cloth under her was sopping and had leaked through to her bed. Next time I would use two towels. Looking into her mind I saw it as I left it but her aura had begun to glow much brighter. This process would continue. Her aura at the moment looked beautiful in the Seffra way of looking at things. It was different as all auras were. That special something about hers drew me to her more powerfully than I thought possible. Her subconscious was busy doing the fine tuning but it was now only a minor part of her mind. In a few hours she would awake but I was not sure what or who I would find. Risking her personality was not the factor for I knew it would grow if what I had done succeeded. How straight the personality grew was a different matter. I hoped to weed out many of the Human attributes that would hold them back. I moved her body over to one side of the bed and the cleanser attacked the damp area loaded with pheromones. In a moment it was clean. I climbed into bed after cleaning myself and held Sandra to me. She didn't respond but that was ok for now. I gave some direction to her subconscious to make the job go quicker. I knew that this was the place for me as I had felt the same thing with Megan. An hour later there was little more I could do. I moved her body so it would not be sore and then got out of bed. Megan was beginning to awaken in her room and I wanted to get to her before she started to put up a lot of defences. Her bed was as uncomfortable as mine but I got into position beside her. When she awoke she found her arms around me and mine around her. "Have a good nap Sweetie? We still have some talking to do." She decided that she was happy where she was and snuggled a bit. "Yes we need to talk. Mom said you wanted both of us. How's that?" "There is a long list of ways and I will go through them one at a time. You saw how your sister responded to me. I can control myself so that I can please many women. Like your sister they will not want more loving till they recover from the last time. There is a great deal of resources at my command. There will be no need find food or shelter. This means that I will be able to protect more than one woman and also any of my children. The family though is the important point. It is a strong cohesive unit that protects all of its members. It nurtures and instructs and on rare occasions fights very strongly to protect the group." Her eyes did sparkle now and she said, "So you want both Sandy and me to be your wives?" "I do seem to want you more and more and I have hardly known your family. The truth is that you are going to change as your sister has. This is a process that will take a while longer. The process should take ten days but then you will be smarter than you were before and quite a bit more focussed. When those changes have been completed we will appear to the world to be just dating. This is to keep the pressure off of each of you. After a suitable period of time you can opt to join the family openly. If you do, you will not have any regrets like so many others have. It will be the right thing or it won't but you will know that soon enough." "Tomorrow we can make love if you wish. That will start the process of change. I had your mother join us so that she knows that her daughters are not in danger. We needed a place to make love and your house was the safest spot. Your mother, father and brother would be part of my extended family if you or your sister want to begin a family with me. This had a great many benefits for all of us." I finished up with, "Now are you going to get that cute body out of bed and get dressed or am I going to call your brother in here when he gets home to do it?" She did smile but she was worried just a bit. She used only her mind and tried hard to think at me even though it was not necessary. "Your lips didn't move so I guess you can communicate this way?" "Certainly, I talked to you early this morning this way too. It was just that the small piece of flesh between your legs was tingling so much that you never noticed." "I never did." "We are talking through our minds. I know what you think and I know you think you love me or you really do. Now get moving. Your brother and father will be home and I don't want them to know the full amount of your changes yet." She said, "I won't tell them." "A blind man would see the way you and your sister will act. Your father will certainly know." I pulled back the sheet quickly and then moved just as quickly so my mouth was over her waist My lips went to her skin and I blew the air out of my lungs and this vibrated her skin. Nerve impulses flew to her brain and she moved very quickly. This was one of her sensitive spots. Megan shook and got quickly out of bed. "You do move fast, and I don't mean trying to get into my panties." "Sweetie, you aren't wearing any." "Oh, you, " she said as she brought her finger up and wagged it at me. I got out of bed and said, "I have to have a talk with your mother now." Margaret started to awake as I got onto the bed. In a moment I was up against her but the sheet was between us. "Feeling better now? Do you want to talk?" "I think we have to. What you did to my daughter was fantastic. I had never seen a woman enjoy herself so much. You are one strange young man." She thought for a moment and asked, "Did you start with Megan too?" "Megan and I had a talk only. I explained things to her. She has decisions to make but she is free to do whatever she wants. Sandra will be a bit shaken when she gets up Megan will act towards me much the same. I am irrevocably attracted to both girls and it for a fact will grow into love. The girls at the moment cannot see the difference between infatuation and love. They will get a chance to find out which and then opt for or against forming a family." "You are not using your lips," she finally burst out. "It is easier to talk like this. It can be many times quicker than words and you get to see all the meanings behind the ideas. You get to really understand the other person and there is much less subterfuge. I have not lied to any of you but you do not know the full truth either. Let's wait a while and take this a few steps at a time." Margaret had to try transmitting and pushed out hard using the muscles in her face and even her arms. "We may be going too fast." She waited now to see if I would have gotten the message. "Yes, I got the message. You just think the old way but try to put your ideas out as if they are being written. Usually most people have just fragments of ideas that cover a wide range of topics. I have to fish through them and put them in order to make them understandable." Margaret felt relieved at talking to me. "Ok, so we have to wait to find out what will come of this. How long till we know for sure?" "I asked Megan if she wants to make love tomorrow. I am pretty sure she will say yes. Ten days after that will allow them to be developed mentally. We continue to date and when the girl or girls want to start a family they will tell me. You will find that not only will they be able to read minds but they will have quicker reflexes and both will be much more intelligent. The problem though is that I am taking a large portion of your family from you." I quickly added, "I do have an option for you. I can do the same improvements to you as your daughters will get. This means that I have to make love to you." I could see her excitement rise. She was all in favour of this. "You would not be a wife though. I think the best thing to do is for you to improve your husband after you know how. Your husband will then be much more able to handle more women. You will have to share then." She was now very upset at this. "You will not feel too bad at this development. You will get a lot more sex and it will be too intense to have it often. You will appreciate your sister/wives for taking the load from you. Your family then will be very strong." She hand not absorbed all of this and I said, "It is now your decision whether you want to alter your family structure. There are a great many benefits but there is a strong central focus that will permeate our respective families. You will still be educators but you will also become scientists. You may wait to see how your daughters act then talk to your husband about the changes. He may encourage you to come to me, for that is the only way he can get the changes for himself. He is not really my type." Margaret laughed at the joke and tried to hide how eager she really was and said, "We will wait then. Should you stay here till all this is completed?" "It is best if I did. Perhaps you should talk tonight with Tom and if you and he are agreeable, you can invite me verbally to stay." Margaret really liked that idea. She didn't want me to go until she had sex like she saw her daughter having and she liked the idea of being smarter. "That is a good idea. We will talk it over before our meal and ask you during it." I got off the bed and Margaret's eyes hungrily followed me. She liked my penis that I now kept at a size she would expect a man to have. She was looking at it so much that she still didn't notice the absence of a dark sack. When I left Margaret's bed room, I found Megan in her sister's room. I walked up to her and she turned to see me still naked. This excited her but not as much as when she saw me for the first time. I put may arm around her waist and pulled her to me. We both looked at her sister sleeping peacefully on her bed. Megan said, "She looks different now. I don't know what it is." "She has a much stronger aura. This is one of the things that drew both of you to me. Yours will be just as strong and beautiful but we have to control it better than I did mine." She pulled me to her because she was glad I did. "The other thing you would have seen is what your father may see." "What is that?" She said using her mind this time. "Without joking, Sandra will look like a well fucked woman." Megan had heard this term before and looked at her sister again and had to agree with me. She tried to hide the fact that she wanted to look the same way. I steered Megan out and closed the door I reached her face and gave her a kiss. She returned it with a considerable amount more force. She pulled back with a sigh of contentment. Margaret came out of her room dressed and saw us. She asked, "What were you two doing?" I remained quiet and Megan finally said, "Kissing, and before that looking at Sandy. Take a look and see what you think." Margaret opened the door and looked at her daughter for a moment then retreated. "She looks happy." "This crude brute said that she looks like a well fucked woman. He simply doesn't understand the finer aspects of love." Margaret said, "I think he's right but I can see love too. Now let's go downstairs. We need to prepare for a birthday party." Megan was surprised and said, "Whose?" "Why Leif's of course. I had to get the two menfolk out of the house and this was as good as an excuse as any other idea." Tom and Tommy came back with a lot of paper and plastic sacs. They found Margaret and Megan working hard to prepare a light meal. Flour, sugar and other baking ingredients were scattered about and the oven had not only two fruit pies but a small cake. Margaret met her husband with a torrid kiss that almost cause him to drop the load he was carrying. When they broke apart he quickly put them on the counter and wondered what had happened. It was very unusual for his wife to do this and even in front of family and a guest. He was now mentally preparing himself for tonight. He was fairly certain he was going to get lucky. Since Megan was busy, Tommy got me outside to play. He grabbed a soccer ball and kicked it to me and I kicked it back. I was careful to not let the ball damage any of the flowers. In a few moments he said, "Leif, you want to go to the park and hit a ball with me?" I read his mind and saw what he wanted. "Sure, that'll be fun." I announced verbally to the house where I was going and that I was taking Tommy. Margaret was happy with this. Megan was only a bit jealous but she had a good time so far. There were three other friends at the large public park. They were invited to play 21 with us. I was introduced as a good friend which made me feel good. Tommy gave me a quick rundown on the game and how I had to catch the ball without fumbling it. Points were awarded for how soon it was caught and deducted if the ball was touched but not caught. Tommy went up first and hit the ball into the field and the friends ran to catch it. They caught the ball three quarters of the time but soon others got a chance to hit instead. I caught the ones coming to me with my bare hands but let the others do the majority of the catching for they seemed to enjoy the activity. Everybody had been up at least twice so I had to catch enough to get a turn. The boys seemed to like it when the ball went high and they simply walked under it to effortlessly appear to catch it. I hit the ball higher than the others but not too much. It went to one of the boys. He caught it with a smile and threw it back to me. Again the ball went high but to another of the boys. Tommy yelled, "Higher Leif." I hit the ball higher still and the next boy almost caught it but it was travelling just a bit too quick and came out of his glove. Tommy could see that I was hitting each in turn so he yelled, "The highest Leif." I thought of what was a believable height and I hit the ball very high and Tommy didn't have to move to catch it. His smile was so wide I could have parked the boat in it. The ball was returned and I continued in my hitting until one boy got enough points to replace me. This continued for an hour then Tommy said, "You guys want to practice hitting?" They played baseball among other sports and felt that they could use a bit of practice. Tom ran for a large metal screen and the other boys ran with him. I was compelled to do the same but just kept up. I got one of the fielder's position which was the hardest they thought. I had to retrieve the ball when and if it was hit in my half of the field. Tommy had the bat first. One boy pitched the ball and another caught it if it wasn't struck. The game was fun because the boys were having fun. It got a bit infectious and I expended a bit extra effort to intercept the ball. The boys were impressed with my ability to run and to jump so I could catch the ball before it hit the ground. Most times I could plot the course of the ball or read the boy's mind to how he was going to swing. If the ball was going to be hit, I knew roughly where it was going to go. The other fielder was now obeying my instructions and listening raptly to the things I had to say about the pitcher, batter and the bat itself. He couldn't argue with me for I was right all the time. The rest of the players rotated positions but I stayed where I was. Each of the fielders got a few pointers. "Leif, where are you?" The call was from Sandra. She was not fully awake yet but felt a need to have me near. "Playing ball with your brother and three of his friends. I will be home in less than ten minutes. Have a shower and get dressed Honey. Your mother made a birthday party for me." I could feel her mind wanting to hold me tight to her and kiss me. "Your father will be home. It may be difficult but try to act like a girlfriend and not a woman that wants to grab her mate and drag the poor fellow into a cave so you can have your way with him." "I like that idea. I like how we are talking too. Are you going to tell me more about it later?" "Actually there is so much to tell that you are going to have to go to school. The teacher is not very tall but he will be strict with you." I sent pictures now of a naughty Sandra not getting any sex until she agreed to work harder. She sent me back the image of her naked body over my knees and me spanking her butt. This made me pause. This caused pain but Sandra saw it as something that would arouse both her and me. I would have to investigate this for the Seffra had not done this. I yelled to Tommy. "It is time to get back home. Sandra wants me, and the meal will be ready soon." We broke up the game and I shook each of the boy's hands. This was not a thing that was done at their age but it was a respectful way of being even if the gesture was not Seffra. As we parted, Tommy said, "That was fun. You really know how to play baseball. Can you give me some batting lessons?" "I can try. I haven't played baseball too much but some things are just a matter of mechanics." When we got back, Margaret said, "You two, go have a shower." She tried to hide her pleasure at my arrival and I didn't let on. I showered in one room and Tommy in another. When I was done, Sandra and Megan were there to dry me off. Sandra said, "Dad bought these for you. You didn't have any other clothes." Megan said, "It is really fun talking like this. I can talk to Sandy but not anybody else Leif. Why is that?" "Sandra's mind has changed a bit. She can hear what you send. Nobody else can hear you. I can teach you how to send a special way to let only one or a group hear you. That will be in a few days. I don't want you communicating with anybody but us and your mother for now." From downstairs Sandra and I heard, "I think that is a good idea, I didn't hear the question but this better be kept a secret for now. Now leave the poor boy alone and get him dressed for his party." This gave me a warm feeling. The same thing was said to some of my mothers when they tried to monopolise my time as they dressed me. I was not one to complain then or now though. The girls got a kiss for their efforts and we walked downstairs. Tom saw his daughters hanging onto me and didn't think too much of it. He extended his hand and said, "Happy birthday Leif." "Thank you very much sir." I looked at the cake, two pies and now some cookies and said, "We don't usually celebrate this way but the pastries do smell very good." I was not asked how old I was thankfully so I didn't have to say that I was twelve point seven years old. I didn't like to lie and for the most part I didn't like people to come to the wrong conclusion even if it helped my purpose. When we sat at the table I said, "Thanks for the clothes. They're very nice. You shouldn't have gone to all the bother." Tommy blurted out. "I got you something too." "Thank you Tommy. I like surprises." Later I was presented with a pair of running shoes. They were a good brand though of Earth construction and materials. They left a great deal to be desired. I did put them on but they were too big. This was no problem and thanked the family and Tommy in particular. They saw the smile on my face for the effort they went to and were happy. There was time before the game to send the shoes out the window and into the boat for some quick adjustments before leaving to watch Tommy playing soccer. At the event we sat together on some wooden seats as the two soccer teams battled it out. I had played a similar game but there were some subtle and not too subtle differences. Some of the boys were running their hearts out and I felt content to watch them. Tommy played very well and part of it was to impress me. I held both girls to me as we talked on our own frequency. Sandra had already talked about her Earth shattering orgasms and warned her sister what to do and not to do when her time came. This usually had to do with not hurting me. Tom watched his girls closely and wondered about it. He could see one or the other being this way but not both. He also saw that the two girls were not competing for my attention but seemed to be like three very good female friends enjoying each other's company. It crossed his mind that I was homosexual because of the way I fit in. When the father turned back to the game I told the girl's this. It was difficult for the girls to hold their mirth in. During breaks, Tommy came over and I congratulated him on some of his plays. This let him know that I appreciated his skills and that I was actually watching him. His sisters too unexpectedly complimented him. Tommy's team did win and a good portion of the credit had to go to Tommy himself. The coach expressed his approval and the boy smiled even though he was very tired. We went home and Tommy had another shower and got dressed. I looked through both Margaret and Tom's mind then did the same for the two girls. I picked the restaurant that had the most to offer. Tommy had to change again when the decision was made because the establishment demanded this type of clothing. I too had to change and some of Tommy's clothes fit me. He was big for ten point three and I was a thin twelve point seven. Before we left, I told everybody that it was my treat but the parents were not too comfortable with this decision. We found good seats especially when I told the maître d' that I was the one instigating for this establishment. The fifty dollar bill ensured we got us the best table the house had available. I seated each of my ladies beside me and Tom seated his wife. When the menus came, Sandra put hers down and said, "Please make a good selection for me. I liked when you did that for me yesterday." Megan smiled and put hers down too and said, "Me too please." This was actually a French restaurant serving the best of food from Europe. The waiter though was from Poland and immigrated here about ten years ago. When he came over I greeted him in his ancestral language and ordered for my two ladies and for myself. He got the other three orders and took the menus away. Megan looked at me and I said, "If I ordered in English it wouldn't be a surprise. Ordering in French wouldn't take you long to find out." Sandra asked, "What did you get me, Leif?" I didn't tell her but Megan heard. I just smiled at her and then at the other. Margaret heard the question and was as frustrated as the girls. Everybody but me was satisfied with their meals but I had to get used to this anyway. I tried the coffee but founded it a bit less palatable than tea. I drank some fruit juices and water instead. Margaret asked, "Leif, what are your plans for the next few months?" This was a lot longer than two weeks we talked about earlier and I said, "I still have to go to Hawaii, Japan and Europe. That trip should take a maximum of two weeks. I still want to acquire some land in the mountains. This means that I have to do a survey then do a search to find out if anything is for sale. I did promise Sandra and Megan that I would teach them some of the things I know. I think Megan would be able to help make some good designs for atmospheric craft and others." Tom dropped his fork then excused himself. When I used the term 'others', he knew it was space craft. He wanted to be involved in this very much. Margaret said, "Why don't you stay with us when you're in town. We all like you and I can see that the feeling is returned. I am surprised though about Megan building aircraft. I thought she was more into languages like me." "Thank you for the offer. I have lived in a cramped room but your house is certainly better. I will stay if I am allowed to take you to a nice dinner like this at least once a week." Margaret smiled and said, "That certainly is a good deal on our part. Can you afford that?" "Money has never been a problem for me. I find it easy to make. From what I saw about the price of construction materials, even a house a little bigger than yours, built in the mountains, will not put much of a dint in my finances." This let Margaret and the rest know that I was very well off if not outright rich. She was also comfortable with me offering to pay for the food we were eating. One of the reasons I picked this restaurant was because of the dance floor. All the females loved to dance and so did I. Tom was a fair dancer in the girl's estimation and Tommy was not as good but he would do better when he found out what it could lead to. I said to all the women on our private line. "Tonight Sandra gets some pampering. Next time it is Megan." I stood up and looked down at Sandra and said, "Would you care to dance with me, fair lady?" She didn't respond in words but just got up with a small knowing smile on her lips. The dance movements were taken from the girls' minds and the permissible substitutes so it would still be in the correct style. The music was fast for Humans but Sandra handled the moves effortlessly. She was a bit surprised by this herself. She was a good dancer but some things required quite a bit more exertion. Megan was dancing with her brother and the parents were dancing together. We stayed together for three more dances then I moved to Megan. She liked the fast music but liked the very slow too where she had a chance to hold me. When the time came to switch the second time, I went to a surprised Margaret and took her into my arms. She said, "You sure know how to wow the girls." "It is all because the girls wow me or I would not be able to do this." We danced a slow dance and I said to her, "What are those two large hard objects poking me?" Margaret was shocked for moment then moved closer. In a second she asked, "Did you bring a club to the restaurant?" "I usually bring it. Are you thinking of seeing how I will use it to brutalise an older woman?" "Men are always cruel. A woman gives everything she has to a man and they just abuse her." "It may be because they want that to justify their mean attitude later." "Are you sure you are twelve?" "Almost thirteen though." I got back for another dance with Sandra then it was time to leave. It was school tomorrow and the girls needed their sleep. The girls and Tommy got ready for bed and Tom wanted to talk some more about what spacecraft my family used to leave Earth. I was not prepared to lie or to divulge how real ships were made. I did go to him and say, "Let's talk about mathematics for an hour then go to bed?" I want to say goodnight to your family first though. He didn't like the offer much but it was better than nothing. I started with Tommy. I sat on his bed while he was in his pyjamas under the sheet. I talked about the importance of an education for a few minutes. Then about some sports. We were both surprised when I bent over and kissed his forehead and wished him a goodnight. Megan was next. I talked to her on the open channel about how I wanted her to try hard in school too. She wanted to know how come I came up with aeronautical engineering for her career. "That will be only one of the things you will learn. Please have some faith in me. You will be quite satisfied in what you do for the rest of your life." I tucked her in and gave her a kiss which she wanted to extend. I let her have her way then pulled back wishing her another goodnight then turned off her light and closed the door. Sandra got the same thing but I added, "Keep the bed warm. In an hour I am climbing in with you." We both heard her mother gasp and Megan laugh. Before I left I said, "Goodnight Margaret. Tom will be coming up in an hour. We have a bit more engineering to discuss." An hour and five minutes later I wished Tom a goodnight. When he came out of the bath I was in Sandra's room and cuddled up behind her. She figured she would awake when I came in and she was right. "You going to make me a happy woman?" "I thought I had already done that." "Make me happier Leif." I did make her happy but I did it slowly. Her orgasms were not as great but still very satisfying. Tom almost regretted the time taken for our talk because Margaret was waiting for him. They spent a few hours that should have been used towards sleep in other pursuits. While Sandra slept in my arms I worked a bit more on her mind. I instilled some of the things that had been put into my own when I was a child. The number was such that I got very little sleep but it was well worth it. These were not controls but basically ideas for Sandra so she would know what to do when certain situations came up. If the person chose not to follow these directions then they were not done. Monday Megan was up first and hurried to make breakfast. I had to smile for she was trying to show that she would make a good housewife and mother. The fact that she would probably loose her virginity today made her feel like a child on Christmas morning. When Sandra came down with me the family did a double take. She reminded them of a queen. I quickly showed Sandra how to tuck the effect of her aura in. She did but I assisted to make sure it stayed that way for a while. Breakfast was exciting for everybody. Megan had a spare the last period and would hurry home. Sandra was going to tell the school that there was something special she had to do at home. Margaret was going to get one of her assistants to take over for her in the latter part of the day. Tom knew nothing of the events and had to stay till five thirty doing work. Tommy had practice after school. I went to school with my girls while the parents took Tommy to his school. There were only two basic types of public schools in Canada usually. One went to grade eight and the other continued to grade twelve. Megan was a very good student and had advanced quicker than her peers. She was now in grade nine. We were early and the girls introduced me around. Most were friends of Sandra though. Some saw me as actually competition in the looks department. Others saw me as a child but my speech and manner confused their previous observation. When the bell rang I gave the girls a small kiss but even this would shock their friends. I hoped this didn't spoil their standing with their school friends. Within a moment I was in the boat and heading east. I had crossed Canada and now I wanted to try the eastern United States. New York had a great many jewellers that dealt with high quality stones. These businesses had extra security and my probes went in and blocked the small camera lenses so I could not be identified quickly. A verbal description of me was sufficient for anybody because of my features and hair. I sold the same amount in this city as I did in the entire country of Canada. I promised more diamonds and gave their grade and size along with the price I demanded. Not all wanted a great financial deal; they wanted everything for free. These people were not told of the location and time but they would find out from their fellow jewellers after the fact. I worked westward but there were just too many places to sell my merchandise for me to move much to the west. At one thirty Pacific Time I raced back to Victoria. There were few quiet areas to get out of the boat. I did get low among the flowers in the Claystone back yard before leaving. By the time I made it to the front door it was already unlocked. There were three nervous women inside and all of them were wondering why I was late when the agreed upon time had not passed yet. Sandy knew I was here with her mind and told the rest. She and Margaret ran downstairs to get me. I needed no shower for the cleanser had done a much better job. Megan was upstairs pacing back and forth. Apparently she had changed clothes four times and still was not happy. Thinking back to my own race I could now see a bit of this same irrationality. I kissed Sandra very well then did the same to Margaret that seemed to shock her daughter a bit. I took a hand from each and we walked up the steps. When I got to Megan I saw that she had worked very hard to get just the effect she now got. She was beautiful even for a Seffra, or perhaps it was the level of chemicals in my body. With her in my arms I whispered, "Are you sure Honey? Your life will be radically changed and you are going to have to share me." "Yes Leif. I have done nothing but think of you all day. I am probably going to think of you that way everyday." "Oh, I think you might get a few different thoughts in once in a while. May I undress you?" "Oh, yes. Hurry." I turned to the ladies behind me and already found them naked. On the carpet were two thick blankets in place of two chairs. Margaret must have seen the benefits of the floor. I undid Megan's clothes a bit at a time and kissed her like a small child. She had a different personality and preconceived notions and I worked on them to make this day very special. She didn't know it yet but her hymen had been for the most part removed. She would get a bit of blood which she wanted but she would have lots of sex without too much pain. The first orgasm sneaked up on her and she held me until it passed. She smiled at me thinking that I was able to do this to her. I gave her three more orgasms without penetration. When her sister and mother were on the floor and occupied, the med unit started to complete the job it started yesterday. The orgasms came faster and much more intense. The unit now stayed close to her to protect her body and mind. Already the process of her mind coming undone had started. My blocks went on and while sucking on her small nipples she scratched my back wanting more. My PK came out and held her in place then sucked much easier than I had to her sister. The block was overcome and she screamed her joy. Both women behind me had done the same. They were even more in the link for Sandra was reading her sister and sharing the information with her mother. I licked her to completion and she overcame a larger block. When she recovered I slipped into her for the first time with my penis. She was tight and her mind was about as disorganized as it could be. My pelvis moved back and forth and I had to start controlling myself better. The block was in danger so I went a bit slower and continued working. Megan though was just as much an animal as her sister and she had to be forcibly restrained. Megan thrashed on the bed and her mind travelled just that little bit more until it was the right time to start the major reconstruction. I started working vigorously with my body as this was done. We both came rapidly to the precipice and plunged over. It must have been a bit too much for me for I woke up with three comatose women around me. The process had continued without me and I worked to regain control. When enough was done the now smaller subconscious was called in to help. I checked that Megan was safe then checked the other two. Very quickly I cleaned each of them and took Margaret back to her bed. Megan was cleaned and the towels removed. Instead of crawling in, I picked up Sandra and put her in bed with her as only proper. If they did become my wives this would be the way things would always be. I cleaned myself then had the small probes clean the room with the cleanser. The smell was good to me but a father coming home soon might not think so. Supper was started by the time Tom got home with Tommy. "Hi Leif. Where's the rest of the family?" "The girls are resting. I think your wife is waiting upstairs for you. She seemed to be a bit restless when she came home." "Oh, thanks." He put his briefcase down and was up the stairs two at a time. Tommy said, "Hi Leif. How was your day?" He really wanted to talk about his. "Oh, fine. What did you do? My days are so boring sometimes." "We had a math test and I tried very hard. We got them back and I got a 96." "Congratulations. Mathematics is the language of science. You'll need all of that ability no matter what you do." He got serious for a second and said, "Last night you said Megan would do the same stuff dad does. What do you think I will do?" "Well that depends if you keep it a secret or tell your closest friends." "I'll keep it a secret," he said very earnestly. I couldn't see this happening for long but I said, "In two years or less you will be in a space ship. Your mind will talk to the artificial intelligence in the computer. He or she will teach you more things than you knew existed. You will visit other planets and talk to different alien beings." The boy's mind could picture this happening and he simply said, "Wow!" "Tell your friends you are going to design planes and spacecraft if you want. Mention that your dad already does. Don't tell the rest or they will laugh at you." Margaret and Tom were having fun in their room. Megan would be out for a few hours and Sandra for perhaps one. Meanwhile there was work to do. "Ensign Claystone, start your homework now. If you have questions, ask me. Work hard for I have to teach you what the universe is really like. This will allow you to learn how to travel between the stars." He smiled at me and started to say something but I interrupted. "That's an order from your Captain." "Yes sir. Right away." ------- Chapter 7 When the couple came down the steps they had their arms around each other until they saw me. Tom stumbled in his thinking and said, "She ah needed my help." I looked at Margaret and saw her shining eyes and satisfied state. I then said to Tom, "The task was completed adequately, I see." Margaret was looking at Tom and her husband didn't know what to say. Margaret just broke out laughing loudly. This brought Tom junior into the room. Margaret continued with the meal and I went to Megan's bedroom. The two girls were still together and I went on the side of Megan and looked very deeply into her mind. It looked like everything was as it should be. I started passing all the dos and don'ts to her but stopped after a short time. Sandra was waking up and I went to her. She woke up to me in her arms again and I gave her a kiss. "Miss me?" "You're quite egotistical but you're right. Now kiss me again." After the kiss she turned to her sister. "She is quite beautiful isn't she?" Then she thought she had said too much. She felt ashamed now and thought that she had lost me. I pulled her face to me and kissed her. "Your sister is beautiful as you are. You know that I can read minds. I knew when I met you that you enjoyed some love making with Ronny. It never made me dislike you then and it won't in the future." Sandra was ashamed now and tried to look away. "Sandra, look at me." When she did I said, "I said that there is a lot to learn. One of the things is that the family that marries, marries the rest of the adults. You will find that your love will grow for your sister because you and she will be so close. There will be no secrets in our family. "The family I grew up in was very stable and supporting of the youth. The family was the most important. I had ten mothers though only one was my biological mother." This shocked her but I could see some of the rules that I planted coming to her and she now had a choice to make. "Did the women do things to each other?" "That happened all the time. The children were comfortable with it. There was no pain and a family of telepaths can soon find even discomfort. Dad lived in hog heaven. He did have to rotate his affection to all his wives and the wives usually worked among themselves to where he would go to next. Dad was not the boss. He may have a stronger vote but two wives outvoted him. Our family, if you decide to form one with me, will have similar but not necessarily the same rules." She said, "We could order you to please us?" "Though my back might be sore and my tongue weak, I would do what my family needs." "Then kiss me!" I kissed her with the greatest amount of tenderness I could and in a moment she lay back still feeling the effects. When her eyes opened I said, "Kiss the woman that may be part of our family." she didn't move. "Kiss her with the same love I just showed you." She moved her body and then looked at her sister. She had feelings for her since she was a child. This time she moved her hands and held her younger sister's face and gave her a kiss with all the love she had in it. Megan was asleep but her hands came up and held her sister weakly. Sandra stopped and looked at me in wonder. I said, "Yes, she loves you too. Now get up and get dressed. Our meal will soon be ready and Megan needs to get a bit more sleep. She will have to have her meal warmed up." I knew enough to not touch Sandra or we would be late for our meal and assisted her in getting dressed by only passing her some clothing. We even folded up the blankets and hid them in case someone wondered about the reason for them being on the floor. Margaret explained Megan's absence by saying she had felt bad and came home early from school. Tom was concerned till she added, "It is just a woman thing." This satisfied him and now he would have to be forced to go into her room. Tom asked me after the meal, "How did your business go today?" "I only made four. It was not a full day." The man looked questioning at me and asked, "Four what?" "Million." "Oh... that one." Little Tom got some math lessons from me. The problems were coached in terms of distance and speed. I told him about what Einstein proved mathematically and then listed the criteria he had to follow to travel between the stars. I gave him a problem involving a ship that would reach 95% of light speed and a thousand metres per second squared as an acceleration to make it interesting When Megan awoke, Sandra and her mother quietly went to her. In twenty minutes she was walking downstairs with the same strong aura as her sister. I bundled most of it up for her and showed her how to do it. Tommy had sensed it and just held a pad in his hand loosely and his mouth was open. Sandra and Megan ate again at the table and the two sat close. I was across from them and their eyes sparkled. I remembered what I had said about the family ruled by consensus and began to worry about predatory females that would give the Seffra a run for their money. It also occurred to me that I may well have made my own version of Frankenstein. Margaret and Tommy looked at the two sisters with the boy wondering why he felt compelled to be here. Tom came in and saw that everyone was at the table and asked Megan, "Are you alright now?" "Yes dad; I am very alright now." He didn't know what to make of it but did sit. He looked at his daughters and saw that they had changed but couldn't put his finger on what it was exactly. He noticed how they stared at me as if in silent communication or more probably like a pair of tigers looking at their prey. He reminded himself to warn me later about this type of look. I slept with Megan that night but I had also placed some of the data into her mind earlier and I was able to get a good rest. Some of this was done as I was moving in and out of her very tight vagina. By the morning she had a very satisfied look on her face. Tuesday The next day was almost a replay of the last. I didn't like the way my girls were treated so I let a bit of their individual auras show. I wanted to see how their friends and acquaintances reacted to this. To make sure of their safety I had some probes stay that were controlled by Borin. They were much too young in their abilities to protect themselves adequately. I didn't like the way I had to hide myself because of my lack of testicles and began the process of making a substitute. It was late to do this in some respects but I felt it was still needed. Chicago was my next goal. The probes went into a suitable upscale boutique then I entered. The owner I found was very excited at seeing me. It took me only a few seconds to find that he had been told of me. Some powerful businessmen wanted to get the remainder of my gems, no matter how many there were. The powerful businessmen were members of the mob. "Hello young man. What can I do for you?" "I was going to sell you some gems at a reduced price from my family's collection. Now I would like you to make a considerable amount less in profit by only giving a message. Please inform Mr Grossi that he may purchase the remainder of my stock at 75% of the standard wholesale price. I will send him an email with the images and information about each of the stones. The price is not negotiable. Please add that my family has been dealing with this sort of thing before two Roman infants started to suckle a shewolf. Thank you sir." I turned to leave and the man nervously said, "But you had some stones for me?" "Mr Grossi will be able to sell to you. That is if he intends to make an honest deal. Otherwise you may get another chance with his successor." Borin now sent a document to Mr Grossi listing the rate. The file though was very long with the number of graphics and the technical description for each. A note in the document said that some may be sold and that the graphics represented the complete collection. An account set up in a public server would suffice to let us know his choices if any. It definitely was not traceable to ten lights outside the system. From the boat I connected into the local phone system and talked to the people I had already sold to. Only a few would agree to purchase more and were also able to meet the cash requirements. These I would meet but I made the time so that I could realistically get there if I flew with Human transportation. With some time to kill I went to Detroit and this time I scanned the people inside the business. This was much more tedious but after four hours I had a list. Three businesses were willing to deal which was fine. I now went back to the people that had already purchased my product. Only one wanted to cheat me and I just left. Things were just not going to be as easy as I had originally thought. I had only made two million and it looked like my efforts would only bring diminishing returns. My interests were now with Sandra and Megan. They had a fun day today. They were the dual queens of the school and could do no wrong. Borin had kept track of them and actually they had done no wrong. They were real ladies that either Humans or Seffra would be proud of. Borin had also found some real estate properties that looked interesting. Her feelings were that the government owned much of the mountainous areas and it would not sell it to an average person. The best I could do would be to purchase a few hectares of land and just dig into the mountain and use it. This did look like a better way of doing things and nobody was going to be hurt by it. With the mob now interested in me it would be even better to not have the land traceable to me at all or to the Claystone family. Margaret had to stay at school as did Tom. That left the two girls at home with me but so was Tommy. On the ship this would be no problem but here I wanted Tommy to only be introduced to our ways when we were able to provide the means of granting some of his wishs. I purchased a variety of food in New York before leaving and this was now put away or used to prepare the meal I wanted. The boat could provide substitutes but I still wanted to get used to Earth food first. The girls would usually get home ten minutes before Tommy but this time they had begged a ride and now had twenty minutes. Even before coming in the front door they made their choices very clear. I turned the stove off and hurried to the top of the stairs. The girls came running up the steps trying to remove their clothes as they ran. Sandra's bed had the blankets on it for spills and they layed down side by side with their legs up in the air and spread. They didn't want foreplay for they were already very excited. As the first one got on the bed I was at her and soon inside. This was started small and I inflated myself after Sandra got used to me. In less than a minute she had her first orgasm. As per the orders I just moved to Megan and did the same thing. This went back and forth with me starting to use my lips so suck their breasts. They were getting satisfied but wanted lots more. Time was running out and Tommy would be here soon. Borin was watching for him. Each of the girls now got their mind strummed with my mental fingers as I caressed their pleasure centres. Sandra collapsed first then a minute later so did Megan. I cleaned each of them up and then myself. I had not even had a chance to have my own pleasure other than what I felt by making the girls feel good. The girls were pulled further to the centre of the bed then I covered them. Before leaving the room I opened the window. Tommy was just opening the front door and I jumped into my clothes. "Hello Tommy. How was your day?" "I didn't have any tests but I hit a home run at recess." "That's great. I bet that when you have more math tests that you will get a hundred percent. You were doing so well last night. Hurry and get your homework done. I have a great web site to show you." "Ok." I had directed Borin earlier in the day to interface with Tommy's computer and to give the boy as much help as she could without overloading him. The fictitious website would be set up first for astrogating and show some of the systems she had in memory and close ups of the planets. Later I wanted other subjects added and the ethics of many of the things done in history were to be debated. If he mentioned the site to anyone then it would just be something that was on the internet. Tommy had little to do but did it quickly. The family only had a phone hookup but the speed might be justified by having many of the features pre-installed on the hard drive. The task was long completed by the time the computer was turned on. Borin had installed her own operating system and this is what booted up. Tommy sat in amazement at how fast it was. His computer was not new and he was used to a long wait. I said, "Log in with your real name. The AI on this program is named Borin. Treat her like the lady she is. Do what she says and you will not be lead wrong. She is going to kick you off the machine sometimes for you to get a rest or to do an experiment. Finally Tommy, don't tell anybody about this program or Borin." He smiled at me and said, "I won't." I stayed with him for five minutes. He was getting into the program. The officer in uniform had Tommy's face. The ship was the one Borin now resided in when it was new. The female guide looked very familiar. I said bye when I left but he didn't hear me. The girls were still asleep and I woke them up with a kiss. They wanted me back between their legs and I told them I was making dinner not babies now. They both giggled at that because it was a prominent part of their minds. They got up and put clean dry panties on then dressed. Sandra was asked to do the laundry while Megan was to do some cleaning. I didn't like Margaret to do the majority of the work and still hold down a full time job. The girls didn't seem to mind, probably because I asked it but I wanted them to take more responsibilities for their lives. On ship I had very little to do because of the mechanicals and the computer did the vast majority of the menial work. I had not made one here so people has to still work at the simpler tasks. The meal was hot and on the table as the parents came home. Borin told Tommy to go downstairs to eat. He was to come back when he had twenty minutes free to go over his work. He came running into the kitchen and was very anxious to finish his meal so he could get back. Tom was amazed at his son but asked me over the table, "How much today?" "Two, I am going to have to go to Japan for a day or so. Is there anything you would like me to pick up for you?" "I never thought of that. They have good computers but they are already sold here. A bottle of saki may be nice." I looked at Margaret and she thought for a while and said, "Nothing for me. I have everything I want now." Her hand went out to Tom's and he started to blush. "Tommy?" I said looking at the boy. "A sword." "Tommy Claystone! You are not having any such thing," his mother said. I looked at the girls and asked, "What do you want besides that?" They said in unison, "Anything you think we should have." Then they both giggled. "Your father should warm your bottoms." Sandra said, "You can do it, if you think we need it." Megan asked, "When are you going?" "Right after dinner is a good time. There are quite a few different flights that could link up to get there fairly soon." Both girls stopped eating and started to send panicky thoughts. I said, "We can talk. Remember we read minds and I could put something here to boost the signal we can only do this at times when I will be free. How about ten tonight and seven tomorrow morning?" I added with my voice, "I am only going for two days. It is only the Pacific not out of our solar system." Their upset subsided a bit and they were a bit embarrassed about their emotions in front of their father. I called a cab even though Tom had said that he would drive me but I refused. The girls did get some orders though and Tommy had Borin. That left Tom senior and his wife. Tom had a problem in the newest new math. It was quite a few years since he had any of this to do. The cab took me to the airport and moments later I was in the boat and not a plane. It was always good to hide my tracks when I could. Japan was six time zones away and a day ahead. I took my time and was there in ten minutes. Tokyo was the largest area I thought to work on. It didn't take long to get some of the extra information so I could speak to the natives. The Japanese liked to go very slow at business deals. My prices were good and they would soon know it. Only some would be able to get the cash right away but I had the option of seeing them after work to complete the transaction. Everywhere I went I was stared at. There were not that many individuals like me around. I did find some Japanese weapons that were used for practice. Some of the blunt ones I purchased. I did purchase some silk dresses made in the traditional way with shoes and combs to match. There were three chosen because I knew Tom would like to see them too. Later I went back to sell the stones and the first jeweller thought to steal them. I just bypassed this man and the gangsters he was with. The others didn't try to cheat so much. From their minds I did pick up some additional names with accompanying addresses and phone numbers. The time had come for a different kind of call and I sent out my thoughts to the two girls in Victoria. I was careful to not tell them that I was already in Japan. Aircraft were not that fast. I found that they had taken some of the duties that their mother had, which sounded very fair. Sandra's mind found the school homework a joke though it was a little demanding before. Megan always found homework easy and studied instead. Both found their reading and comprehension much improved. They liked it when I told them that the progresses would start to come much quicker. They both missed me even though I had only just met them. My own feelings were much the same. I was going to suggest that they please each other but I would save that for when they accepted more of what the changes entailed. The first phone call to a Japanese businessman proved to be very good. The man, Mr Iwasaki, not only had the cash but it was in American money. Borin sent him the email with the graphics of the stones with the sold ones deleted. This man I thought might be less dishonest than the rest. The meeting was at his home outside the city proper and would have taken a considerable amount of time even if I had to use even the quick local transportation system. I met a butler/bodyguard at the door. I scanned his mind and other than utter surprise at seeing me he didn't know of any plot to rob me. My clothing had been manufactured on the boat for this occasion. It not only looked good to me but looked vaguely reminiscent of a archaic Japanese warrior dress. The idea of marketing it occurred to me and I had to laugh at myself. My suit beneath the costume would give me much more protection than any Earth warrior ever had. My shoes were taken off at the door but there were no slippers my size available. Bare feet though frowned on had to suffice. The probes entered the house even before I had knocked at the door. Mr Iwasaki was seated at a western style desk. He looked about sixty with thin white hair. He was thin and seemed to be healthy. The decorations on the wall were of his family's military past and this also included his own trophies and awards. A cane was nearby but hidden from casual sight. The man got up and stood as if there was nothing wrong with him. Pain was in his legs and back but he had long practice in ignoring them. On the phone I had mentioned that my family name was Kawamata. This was just close in sounding to my own name of Karamoonta and had the benefit of sounding Japanese. He studied my clothing much more than he stared at my features. My clothing looked vaguely like a samurai to him. He took one step from his desk planning on a western greeting. I began the traditional Japanese greeting instead. He didn't think much of me but there was a bit more respect when this was done. When our words of greeting had been given I was asked if I wanted some refreshments. My reply was in the affirmative and the way I avoided business put me a bit higher again. A chair was handy and would make me look juvenile by my feet not reaching the floor. Mr Iwasaki would have difficulty sitting on the floor and then standing, thus losing face. I picked the chair. "Mr Kawamata," he said, "you are very young to be doing this kind of business. It is dangerous even for a man with many guards. Not only is your property in danger but your life as well." "Sir, I have never been robbed. My parents had the foresight to train me in many forms of combat." "Men now use weapons that no unarmed man can stand against. It is only in the movies that a man with a sword or other hand weapons will defeat a man with a gun." "Movie makers have not had a chance to see me. Tonight I avoided a confrontation with a thief, simply by not going into his trap. The man by now may still be waiting hoping to capture me. I believe that the spirits of my ancestors watch over me." The last was said euphemistically and relating to the technology that was developed long ago and now expressed in my probes and suit. This shook the man a bit. He was a Shinto like most Japanese and ancestor worship was much stronger in them. His age too made a person think much more about religion than a young person. "Forgive me, Mr Kawamata but your words are not understandable." He certainly was being polite. I could prove something of what I stated but it might be best to see if it were worthwhile. The man did want to deal in the diamonds and had enough money to even purchase all of them. He didn't have that much cash though for all of them. He tried to deal with others honestly as long as they didn't try to cheat him first. I closed my eyes now as if talking to my ancestors. I looked through the probe's vision and found a family sword in the next room. It would weigh quite a bit and at this distance would be difficult to move. "Mr Iwasaki, would you have your man open the door to your right and then ask him depart for but a moment?" He thought about this a bit. I claimed to be able to fight but I was obviously a thin child. He gave the orders to the man and he did what I wished. My Iwasaki looked at me now waiting my next move. I said, "I will stay where I am now. May I touch your family sword?" He could not see how my words could be mutually true but said, "You may." I chanted some old Japanese that I had plucked from my host's mind and I struggled to lift the larger of the two swords. It came out of its cradle and wobbled a bit as it came closer. Just outside the doorway it was easier to handle and it now came into the room floating horizontally. Its path was behind Mr Iwasaki and he jumped when he caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye. It came before him and the man was afraid to even touch it. "Please take your weapon." The man had to hide a considerable amount of fear but his hands did take the weapon. I moved the sword a bit as if a person was releasing the instrument and Mr Iwasaki felt the subtle movements. "I repeat my assertions Mr Iwasaki. I have never been robbed. I have help from my family." I waited patiently looking through the minds of those in the house then those in the vicinity. There was no threat even though there were ten men ready to protect their employer. The probes did move through the house and I found more than a family collection of weapons and clothing. There was a room that had prized aquatic creatures and another room with crystals and large pieces of amber. I had become used to slow Humans but Mr Iwasaki was even slower than usual now. He could not get over how the sword found its way into his hands. Ancestors had been mentioned and he worked to find an alternate explanation. Magnetic fields and wires were discounted as well as invisible men. Before he looked at me he did look up to find a way that wires could have held the sword. When he did talk he said, "How did this happen?" "You already have found your answer." I paused a bit longer myself then said, "Since I have shown you something of value, will you show me the rooms you prize the most?" The man's face didn't change but he was happy to share the pleasure of his collections. The man stood and then gestured with his hand, "Please come." The next room was the one the sword came from and the old man put it reverently back where it came from. I looked at everything the man had to show. I only looked for I touched nothing. I gave words of appreciation and asked questions. The next room had the fish and other aquatic creatures. I took information about them from his mind and from the internet through Borin. I discussed some of the problems he had especially with seawater instead of fresh. One fish though was in a small aquarium by itself. It had a fungal infection on its fin and had been put there to get better or die without infecting the rest. The next room was very interesting too. The large pieces of amber held pieces of history in them. It had not changed that much since the tree sap had enveloped them long ago. Other parts of the room held semiprecious stones and crystals. Some looked very good though I had seen others that were even more spectacular on other planets. A large case held an equally large crystal and I looked at it trying to find out what it was. In a second my heart beat very fast and I tried to hide me excitement. Eventually we got to this room and I said, "Mr Iwasaki, what have you found out about this specimen?" My family bought it from a fisherman that said he brought it up from the Sea of Japan. That was over three centuries ago. I have had experts view it but they have not been able to positively identify it. Have you seen this type of crystal before?" I didn't want to lie, "I have seen smaller pieces of this crystal but nothing of this size. Some are in the homes of two friends of mine." I was of course referring to both Soldoy and Borin. "They are quite casual with them but theirs have a flat planes that reflect the light the way a cut diamond does." "I have not tried to cut this stone. It was told that a small piece broke off the end," he bent down and pointed to the area. "It thought it was too fragile to be cleaved." "I am glad you didn't. The stone is beautiful as it stands." I casually moved onto the next stone and again asked questions even though my mind was furiously working on the last. Probes were now working at making a small unobtrusive hole to gain entry to the sealed box and investigate the find better than I could do with my mind and senses. My mental abilities were trying to find out all I could about the crystal and the location it was found. When we had finished this room I walked back to the room where I met the man. Water came hot for the tea as the servants must have been waiting for us to complete the tour. Mr Iwasaki said, "You are certainly a well educated young man. Not many of my guests know detailed information about all of my collections." "I can lay the blame to that at my parent's doorstep for they believed strongly in education and of course duty. Duty though is what drives some of us to learn all we can for the benefit of the family and everybody else." "Duty I know is an implacable taskmaster," he said. I sipped a bit of tea then said, "May I show you some of my family's collection of crystals?" I was slipping into the western approach but I didn't want to stay in Japan for months trying to complete a deal. "Certainly Mr Kawamata." I reached into my clothing as I deactivated the shield around me. The pouch was extracted and the shield re-energised. "May I place them upon your desk?" "Go right ahead." This time I had produced a material like plastic and the diamonds were nestled into their own volume. They didn't hit or strike each other and mar their surfaces. This particular tray had the smaller stones and I wished now that I had brought a selection of larger ones as well. My diamonds had been formed with various numbers of facets. This was to indicate that the imperfect portions had been removed and the present number were the best that could be accommodated Three quarters of these stones were clear and all as perfect as they could be made. The man examined each one by trained eye then took out a loop and began again. There were twenty one in this tray and has a small numeric beside them to cross-reference with the email. I sipped the last of my tea and the man sat enthralled with the stones. He wanted them all and even had almost enough cash handy. Long after when he was satisfied with the stones he looked up at me with a grin. He had tried to suppress it but it was too much. I said, "All the inferior stones have long since been sold. My family's collection indicated in the email I sent you also shows the larger stones. Would you be willing to act as my representative and sell the remainder of the collection? I warn you that some of the criminal element in the United States are after the stones too. My value with the discount totals 107 million and some such change in American dollars. You are free to set your own prices but my price is the minimum that you may go. I will give you five percent of the sales including those in front of you if you will take this commission. Anything you make more than my price is yours. There are only 167 stones in total so I think that your profit and the five percent is adequate." The man didn't know what to say. Business deals had taken a long time and there was nothing that the man had to put up as security. The risk was all on my shoulders. He thought me as a naïve boy to do this foolish deal then immediately changed his mind when he remembered the sword float into his hands. Mr Iwasaki was not an angel but I figured I could trust him. The diamonds though expensive to Humans had cost me very little. A portion of my tasks could be shifted to other shoulders. Details were worked out and written down. This would be our contract but nothing would be signed. Mr Iwasaki would be able to read it later and see exactly what his obligations were. He was very surprised that everything was done on a gentleman's agreement. Mr Iwasaki, will you accompany me into your garden for but a moment? I will transfer to you the remainder of the stones." "They're in my garden?" "Please come and you will see." The diamonds on his desk were locked in his safe and he lead me out to the garden. I sat on the cool stone bench and closed my eyes as if talking again with my ancestors. Nine trays of diamonds appeared one after the other from the small matter transmitter on the ship and fell into my outstretched hands. Each was placed on the bench beside me before the next fell. When the shipment had been completed the stack was quite high. The larger diamonds took much more room and required a higher box. I stayed in position and seemed to be thanking my ancestors. Finally a shiny orb fell into one of my hands. I tossed the orb a metre into the air and Mr Iwasaki saw it mysteriously stay in position. Getting up, I picked up the stack of trays. "May we return to your home please?" The orb followed our path as we walked to the room. My host looked at it three times but tried valiantly to ignore it. The diamonds were simply stacked on a side table and I said, "I have an additional deal for you if you wish." "What is that Mr Kawamata?" "The will of my ancestors is to repair your back, legs and joints. Your circulation and heart are to be similarly treated. You will be a young man in some ways but only in how you will be able to move. The scar on your back will be removed and it will look as if you never received it. "This will add years to your life and those years will be much more productive. The cost to you is the large crystal in the other room. Like the other agreement, I will provide my side of the possible agreement first." The man looked long and hard at me then the stack of diamonds and then the orb hanging in the air beside me. "I will have no more pain?" I smiled and said, "You will have no more pain from the problems I mentioned. If you stub your toe dancing around the room then that is not included." "You can cure me?" "What I said will be done. The process will take three or four days to fully complete but a great deal of it will be within an hour. There is no bad part to this deal. The major damage to your body will be repaired along with the scar and a much better heart and circulatory system. Your loss is only the crystal I mentioned. Do we have a deal?" It took a few more seconds and he said, "Yes we do, Mr Kawamata." "Please stand. You may put your hands on the desk. This will take a few moments to complete." The man did as I wished and the med unit circled him making a few audible noises. Our patient followed the movements of the orb and he hoped that everything I had said was the truth for this was very frightening to him. I read the data directly and told the unit what action to take. This preliminary work took twenty minutes because his body had to be told what to do to continue the repair. His legs were spread for stability and I decided to give him a present. Two more minutes and this treatment was finished. The orb came back to me and hung in the air. "You may sit now Mr Iwasaki or you may test out your back and legs. Do not overdo it for your body is still being repaired and will continue for the period I mentioned." The man cautiously moved and then he found no pain from doing so. He moved quicker. His arms and hands now moved into a kata that he had not been able to do for years. "My ancestors have given you a gift Mr Iwasaki. You will find in a few days that there is a different kata that you will be doing. It will involve a beautiful and young woman. I believe that the match will be very evenly fought." The man bowed very low to me and I bowed in turn. He said, "Your ancestors are indeed very powerful." Mr Iwasaki would keep the cash and open a number of accounts for me in Singapore and other places. The proceeds from the sale of the diamonds would go into these or other ones. It was much safer than having all the money in one place. We walked into the third display room. He opened the case with a small key then looked at the crystal one more time. He was happy that he could now do some physical work and took the crystal from the case and carried it outside to the garden for me. The crystal disappeared as the diamonds had appeared. This was from his own hands and this seemed to please him. From just before him, I bowed to my host and said, "I will take my leave of you now. May all our ventures be so pleasing to both of us." Mr Iwasaki gave a similar salutation and I slowly rose into the air pushed by my PK. When I touched the invisible ship I immediately disappeared. I would now have a fairly honest partner for a Human. Now I was heading north east to the island of Hokkaido. Mr Iwasaki's family had an estate close to the city of Sapporo. For a fisherman to find the crystal, it must have been close by. Or someone had heard that Mr Iwasaki's ancestors would pay for an artifact like this and not rob them. In two minutes I was over the city and probes went down and started their search. Borin would handle these probes until something was found. I didn't expect any results quickly. The sensors on the boat were not that good for an aquatic and salt laden environment but would function well enough in shallow water. We could search a different area but it would only take a cycle to complete the entire area of Hokkaido out to the drop off to deep water. I told Borin, "Check the land too. A fisherman could have found it there much easier." The crystal that I now owned was a very large AI processor. The age and the race that built the ship that used this was unknown. If the interior was not damaged then it would work many times more efficiently than any of the processors I could make. Its size was made to control a large ship or city. My crystals had to be made small and the AI had to use them and the substrate that supported them. This made each individual instruction much longer to process. A personality may still be in the crystal. Data may be there too but not much. If the personality was not complementary it could be thrown out or saved in a smaller crystal for later study. Later in the watch I decided to sleep and hope the automatics would pick up the traces even if they were subtle. Sleep was fitful until I started removing the hormones from my body. It was much more preferable to do it the natural way and make my ladies happy too. When I awoke there was no woman in my arms and I felt the loss. My subconscious was a small portion of my mind but it still made its presence known. I ate ship's food as I actively assisted in the search again. Borin was sending some probes to check the immediate area and a much more detailed study to find something buried under a lot of coral and sediment or possibly just soil and rock. Our sensors were not made for this and the ones that were had only a slightly better sensitivity. Soon I had to make my next call and I talked to the girls. They had the same problems I had. I was not embarrassed about telling them of my own difficulty. They now knew that I had arrived and has already picked some things out for them. They wanted to go back to school since I was currently unavailable. Being fawned on was nice even if they didn't do anything to encourage it. Sandra wanted to show how good she was in all subjects but said she was just going to do it in the tests she wrote. Before the call ended I said that I would call when they got home and asked them to start making supper for their parents. The search continued This was nothing different than when I was out on patrol and in a way this was enjoyable. Here I could monitor the sea life and even catalogue all the wrecks from ancient times until the present. The watches passed easily and I made my calls, talking to Margaret too. More watches came and went until it was time to leave. Forty six hours had passed and I would be getting home for another meal soon. During this time I had the med unit help me speed up the manufacture of the small unobtrusive sack between my legs. It didn't attach to my penis but it looked like it did. It was not quite a prosthetic for it was really part of me along with all the nerves. The trip home was only a few minutes because I was in a hurry. I bypassed the taxi and just settled in the Claystone back yard and came in the front door. I was careful for the girls could sense my presence now and I had to hide it until I entered. Thursday around 4 PM I immediately heard two voices scream, "Leif." It felt good to be home. The girls ran to me and plastered their bodies on me. They and my own body betrayed me and they felt how interested I was. Sandra moved her hand and said, "Is that for me?" Megan said when her own hand caressed me, "Did you really miss us?" I kissed them both and thought about what they had said. I did miss them and I did so very much. They were now a very solid part of my life. They wanted me in bed with them and I wanted that too but the attraction was not all sexual. Their minds had increased in speed and power. Their gestures were much faster than they used to be. Soon another set of steps were heard and Tommy came running to me. I released the girls and hugged the boy. He was all bubbly at seeing me and had a great many things that he had to tell me or he would burst. The girls saw him less as a nosy brother but now a boy that was even further from them than he had been a week ago. Even to me he was a child though the girls had been like that too. "Come to my room Leif. You have to see what I built." He got close and whispered, "Borin says I did a good job." "I have to see to this first, ladies." A table had been set up and some experiments were in progress. They were in physics and Tommy was taking notes. Diagrams were made of the solar system and courses were plotted from one body to another during different positions of the planets. Least fuel and least time were calculated along with different engines and fuels. "I am very impressed Ensign Claystone. Your figures are correct to five places and it would be even hard for me to do better. Perhaps it is time to show your father and introduce the family to Borin." "Really," he said with all the earnestness of youth. This way his father could see what he had done and get the same type of congratulations from him that I had been given. "Yes. I will tell him and your mother at the supper table. Now I want to visit with your sisters." He suspected that we did things because even he could see that they were in love with me. "If you hear any noise that seems strange ignore it. We both know that women are animals at heart." "Ya, I know," he said, as if he really understood the sexual drives. "Ladies, will you accompany me to the guest room?" "We animals will be coming but you may get bit," came from Sandra. We didn't have a lot of time. The girls ran into the room shedding clothes as they came. They wanted on the bed and I said, "Let's try it differently." I pictured what I wanted and the girls smiled. They loved the idea. Towels were put on the pillow under my head and under my waist. Sandra climbed on the bed and sat on my penis. This time she noticed my scrotum and tried to remember if it were there before. She ignored the observation for she felt me grow into her and she breathed a sigh of contentment. Megan climbed on the bed and spraddled my head and sat over my mouth. I allowed them two orgasms then blocked each of them. They were very excited and my penis grew in length and girth. My lips continued to caress Megan's very sensitive clit but my tongue went deep into her. I played with her 'G' spot and other areas. I was far into Sandra's womb after passing her cervix. She was having no trouble because the end never came completely out. Their cries got louder and louder and the bed began to shake. Sandra was bouncing up and down so hard that I was afraid the bed would fail. Megan was the same and I had difficulty breathing. She squeezed her thighs so tight that I felt my head being compressed. I had enough oxygen in my lungs and now worked against the blocks by working on their pleasure centres. My own mind was the same way. This was too much for them and me. They cried out as if they were being murdered. Their bodies went into spasm that made their muscles very ridged. I too must have voiced my relief but Megan was there to muffle it. We just stayed that way for a half minute and started to collapse. I instinctively used my PK and hands to guide them to safety. When I found my breath and recovered a bit I saw Tommy in the now open doorway with his mouth open. Before he could get the wrong idea I said, "You should see when they really want to make me happy." "They're not hurt?" "Far from it. They just felt so good that their mind overloaded. They went to sleep. You will know more when you get a bit older." "Is Sandy going to have a baby now?" I smiled, "No, not yet. I want both of your sisters to have my babies but only after they decide that they want to stay with me for the rest of their lives. That would make you an uncle. I suppose you will have to tell the babies stories and maybe change a smelly diaper once in a while. Mostly it's the good things like holding them and talking to them. Teaching is nice too. I think you would make a good uncle." The boy smiled at this and his mind already could see the babies in his arms. I got up and moved the girls so they would be comfortable. Tommy was staring at my penis. It was considerably longer and thicker than his but was presently flaccid. He had seen his dad once and he was not as big as I was now. I took the damp towels and covered up my ladies with a sheet. I went past Tommy to the bathroom and took a shower. This is what he would expect. When I was done, Tommy was back in his room. I put clean clothes on after I had cleaned the ladies up. The boat elevated at my command and I opened the window of the room. The things I had purchased came in and I put them in the closet. The boat had made more clothing and I put this on the hangers too. I smiled a bit then gave orders to the boat through Borin to make something extra. I went back to the kitchen and cleaned up before I continued with the meal the girls had started. The girls hadn't recovered by the time the parents arrived. Margaret kissed me when she arrived and I thought a bit more than a potential mother-in-law. Tom shook my hand vigorously. "Glad to see you back. Your business go well?" "Two and a half but I got somebody else to carry on for me. I don't have to do Europe or Hawaii now." "Most people would love to see Hawaii or the other countries." "The locations are ok but there are other important things to do and to be very frank I was getting homesick for here." Tom liked that and I had not lied to him. All of this family had become important to me. They were more than intelligent apes. Now they were people, even the ones that were not enhanced yet. I said to Margaret, "You better go wake your daughters up. They are in my room. We seemed to have overdone it again. Tommy had walked in when they screamed. He is alright with the possibility of him being an uncle and I'm happy with that too. It's up to the girls though and I don't want any quick decisions." This was all accompanied with images from my mind even if I was actually in no way to actually see them in the first place. Margaret got a tingle in her own pussy and hurried upstairs. Tom said, "You really must have had a talk with Tom junior. He's not left that computer unless he had to go. He has been doing a project and asking a lot of questions I wouldn't expect from a first year engineering student." "That's what I have to talk to you about too. I want to alter yours, Margaret's and the girls' computers. I have some nifty improvements. One is the operating system but the special high speed connection is the most important. You will find yourself hiding in your office as much as Tommy does in his room." "What have you done?" He asked seriously. "A custom tailored course for each of you. Your math will be explained more and my more complete explanation of physics is in there. Tommy is getting a good course that will challenge him but not overwhelm. He can now plot a course from one planet to another with real world variables. Let him tell you though. I find him as entertaining as he does the course. He gets so wrapped up into it that he reminds me of myself when I was younger." "That sounds like a program for me but what about Margaret? She's a language teacher." "That's where the program branches out. You learn some different languages and she learns to plot a course. Think of it like National Geographic." He didn't quite get it yet but it was coming close. I knew after an hour he would know more of my secret. I could hear the girls thinking excitedly about our lovemaking. Their mother wanted to know every little part. I didn't need a probe to tell me that her panties were wet. The girls weren't. They were still naked. "Get dressed you two and Margaret change your panties. I didn't work over a hot stove all day so I could throw the food out." I felt three cases of embarrassment then three giggles, not just two. While we ate, Borin had the computers in question altered. Borin's would be the default operating system but other would boot up with a single key being pressed. Tommy talked about his projects now that he was freed from our secrecy agreement. The questions he asked before would assist in the actions he was now doing. Tom was amazed that Tommy was using calculus even if it was only a few formulas. Tommy was as bright as Megan and Tom liked the way the two worked so hard to get ahead. He only wished that Sandra had been the same. Sandra had heard this and stopped. She was hurt by the acclamation. There had been all that boredom that had kept her from working on her school work as she should. I said, "Sandra, that part of your life is behind you. You are not going to be very bored again but sometimes it will get a bit slow. When the work comes, you will value the quiet times even more. If you want something amusing to do, read your brother's mind in relation to when he found you." Both girls searched poor Tommy's mind and shared the data with their mother. There were smiles around the table but Tom senior and junior didn't know why. ------- Chapter 8 After the meal we all trooped up to Tommy's room and he explained each of his project. It showed the data he had collected and the various mathematical formulas that could describe it. Tom looked at me and I just smiled. He could see the same thing in the way I talked to him before. Humans had found answers that were good enough and this led to mistakes and confusion. If they had used the more complete formulas then they would understand more of the world about them. Borin's voice came out of the speakers. It was not as rich because of the inferior circuits she had to work with. The lesson that had been suspended began once again with a small recap. I said, "I took the liberty of adding the same program to all of your computers. I doubt if anybody is going to be bored." This was done while I looked at Sandra. There are a wide range of lessons geared for each of you individually. Before you go though, I have something to show you. Please stay here while I get them out of my hiding place." I went into my room and the boat dropped a parcel for me. This was opened and put on the bed. The three Japanese dresses were kept in the closet but the wooden weapons and the saki came out. I called them in after opening the door. Looking at Tom I said, "You get two things. Here's the first one." He looked at the large bottle of sake. He didn't know that it was the premium brand in Japan and I wasn't going to tell him. "Thanks Leif. You didn't have to do this." I smiled and pulled Tommy over. "Get out of those clothes recruit. Get into these." The boy was not that shy and got down to his undershorts before getting into the clothes. It was a ceremonial dress uniform of the military branch of the Seffra people. It had all the small details including his name and rank written in our language. Many things were missing but he had not earned them yet. It was not a woman's place to dress him so I did. The uniform fit perfectly. It was soft and yet very durable. It resisted rain and breathed to remove sweat. It was almost impossible to cut or burn and would stop a spear, arrow or even an Earth bullet. It would damage the body beneath though. My next order was, "Stand in front of the mirror soldier." He scampered away and stood at the mirror. He looked at his face and slowly moved his eyes down his body until he got to his shiny black boots. His eyes went slowly up again and stayed at his face. He saw the same face and this uniform for two days on the computer. The one on the computer could do the impossible he thought but now he realised that he was that person. Tommy's family liked the uniform too and it looked like he was made for it instead of the other way around. Tommy had not moved for a few minutes. "Soldier!" Tommy turned abruptly and saluted with his right hand over his heart. "Sir." I ignored the boy and said to Margaret. "I brought Japanese practice weapons. They can bruise and puncture but they are much safer than the real thing. I would like Tommy to learn. I will pay for the course and ensure that he gets the best training possible. The weapons will help. He is not going to play with any friends with them. Will you allow this?" "Well... I don't like weapons..." "Everybody needs to learn how to protect the family. The sooner Tommy begins the more he will learn. This is important to his growing up." "Ok, if you say so." I removed the weapons and put them on the bed. "Soldier, take the weapons to your room and talk to Borin about their proper use." "Yes sir." The boy worked very quickly to gather the pieces up and then miraculously returned to get his clothes. Margaret said, "Now that impressed me." I turned to Tom and said, "Your next present will arrive in twenty minutes to half an hour." I gently pushed him out of the room and said, "Ladies, the closet." I closed the door behind us. We walked downstairs to his office and I turned the computer on. Tom said, "What about the others?" "I was being polite. It will be an hour if it is ready then." "What is it?" "Wouldn't be a secret then, would it?" The computer booted up and Tom now had to log in. He was greeted with a woman that looked an awful lot like me but around thirty years old. The same woman that greeted Tom junior. Tom found her very sexy looking and then remembered I looked that way but without the breasts and hips. His evaluation began. Borin already knew the details but had to pretend. An hour later Tom was exhausted and excited at the same time. The beginner's lesson was how to build a simple hypersonic aircraft. His exhaustion didn't show in the least. A half hour later, when the girls were done, Borin gave her homework assignment and told Tom to log off when the document was printed. Tom wordlessly did as asked but would have given his arm to continue with the course. "We are ready gentlemen," came Margaret's voice from the kitchen. I pulled Tom up and said, "Forget the engineering for a moment." "But... do you know what I was doing? Nobody could do that. That plane could go at 47 times the speed of sound. It wasn't even completely an air breather. It could go into space." "So? Get the family to build their own units and we can go for a short jaunt. Want to have a picnic on the moon some day?" The man was really shocked at the possibilities. He couldn't function too well. "We have to get moving. The ladies are waiting." I pulled him again and then he followed. I stepped back and made him lead. Tom stopped as soon as he looked into the room. I had to push him to get him moving. My girls silently laughed because they knew what I had done but hid the fact. When I got up to the floor I saw three demure Japanese beauties. They differed in height and a bit in weight. Their clothing was complimentary but not the same. They had silk dresses slit up to the hip but the skirt went down almost to the floor. Their blouses were heavily brocaded and done up to the neck. There was no pancake makeup but their hair was all done up in Japanese style and both combes and ivory chopsticks held the hair together. Their jackets came to three quarters of their arms and each held a small fan. Again they were similar but not the same. They stood passively as if they were meek Japanese women. Their eyes were on the floor so as to not be seen as presumptuous. "Honourable father," I said in a thick Japanese accented English. "The concubines have arrived. I fear that one is not dressed as she should." Tom was still slack jawed, so I said, "One of the women are trying to have her way with you. Are you going to banish her?" Eventually I got a weak, "What?" "The concubines have a plot against you, my father. One has done things to her body to ensnarl you into her web. I fear you will be lost. Fight her my father. She is like one of the sirens. Your mortal soul may be in danger." Finally he got partially into the idea and asked, "Which one is it?" I walked over to Margaret and roughly took her arm and pulled her away from the others and toward the kitchen table. "This one my father. You have need to punish her." "What did she do?" "Watch, my father." I ran to the clean tea towels and took a handful from a drawer. To the other two I said, "Begone. An official investigation is in order. The two left the room but stayed just around the bend. I walked over to the table and put some of the towels down at the edge and pushed Margaret back to it. I picked up the back half of her dress and kept it elevated. I picked her up to sit on the edge of the table. The other towels were tossed on the floor. "You can see from here father." When he came close I pushed Margaret back so she was laying on the table with the back panel of the dress beneath her. "Pick up the front of her dress. She has a mighty weapon to destroy you. I will take the others upstairs to question them." I ran upstairs making a lot of noise. Megan and Sandra were in shock as their father picked up the silk and found bare skin and no panties. He played with the hair for a moment and Margaret spread her legs more. A finger entered her and she groaned then pulled her legs up. Tom dropped to his knees on the towels and forgot about hypersonic craft and investigated the small device he found in the crevice. Margaret let out a deep groan and arched her back. Sandra and Megan simply stared at their parents. I pulled them but they were reluctant to leave. "Leave quietly now and I will show you how I can do that even better." I got an immediate response and the girls hurried up the stairs. We passed Tommy's room and he was in a deep discussion with Borin. She had told him to hook up a microphone to speed communications even if it was a ploy. In my room, I spoke aloud to them in Japanese and also communicated with my mind. "You are two of the most beautiful concubines I have ever seen. I want to take you from my father and keep you for my own. Take off your clothes so I may see which is more beautiful." The girls seemed to get into this role playing and removed the clothes they had so lovingly put on. When they were down to their skin, I inspected each of them. Part of it was as if buying an animal. My fingers entered their mouths and then their vaginas. The finger from Megan's vagina went into Sandra's mouth and she licked off the liquid. A finger went into a very wet Sandra and Megan licked it off just as avidly. "You are different but equal in beauty. I will have to taste to find out which is best. Lie on the edge of the bed like the harlot downstairs." The closest was Megan and I pounced on her sensitive clit that I had so recently enhanced. She orgasmed right away. I used my finger and pointed at Sandra. "Put your mouth over hers. She makes too much sound." Sandra understood and said, "Yes master." I resumed my attack on Megan. She squirmed so much that Sandra had to hold onto her. Luckily there were two good places to do so. Megan went into nonstop orgasm even before my tongue went to her 'G' spot. This time I let her recover but Sandra continued to kiss and caress her sister's breasts. Megan's orgasms didn't stop because of what her sister was doing. Looking at the two, I didn't see competition but a family that would work even harder to make the unit the strongest possible. On the other hand we didn't have that much time. I moved Sandra onto her back quickly and immediately began to suck on her clit. Like her sister she orgasmed right away. The stronger orgasms came every two minutes like clock work until Megan recovered enough to know what was happening. I pulled away from Sandra long enough to demand, "Keep this slut quiet. She squirms too much. Hold her. I think she was trying to get away." "Yes Master but I do not think she was trying to get away." I didn't hold back now and the scream heard was not muffled enough by Megan. The ones that came later were lower in volume. Looking into Sandra's mind I saw that she just about had enough and I gave her just a bit more. She was continuously thrashing on the bed and only slowed a bit when I stopped. Megan too continued when I stopped. My clothes came off quickly and I slipped into Megan. She orgasmed after a few strokes. Both girls were mentally linked and orgasmed together. The girls were weak and I allowed my own orgasm to proceed. The girls felt me and went even higher then collapsed on top of each other. When I recovered enough to stand straight, I looked at the girls. It occurred to me that the girls were fleeing consciousness all the time. Perhaps they were doing it so that I would have to be the one to clean up. Ten minutes before I had heard heavy steps and looked through the probes to see Tom carrying a naked Margaret up to their bed. From the thoughts coming from their minds, they were far from done tonight. Again I cleaned the girls and put them together in my bed. After cleaning myself I dressed and walked to Tommy's room. He saw me and said, "Are they done yet? They make a lot of noise." "Your Mom and dad will make more noise, then take another hour before they fall asleep exhausted. Your sisters will awake in a half hour and then go to the bathroom then want me back in bed. It's fun to do this but it can tire a boy out. How's your work coming?" "Borin said that it wasn't polite to barge in on you. She said that when I thought someone was hurt that it was ok." "She's right. My family was not shy and the kids found the adults all the time doing stuff. We just ignored it and tried to get back to work. Speaking of work, your dad is working on a simple hypersonic plane design. He saw right away that it could reach space. Maybe that would be a good father/son project. I mentioned that if we had enough ships we could go to the moon and have a picnic one day." "I like that idea but we can't form the crystals the way they have to be done to work." "Well then you study more and look at a fabricator but you have to build that first. The simple ones are good but you need a lot of computing power. Our computers here are not good enough. So it all boils down to making a computer and the crystals it needs." "That'll take years. I'll probably graduate from high school before I get to fly to the moon." I asked to change the subject, "Do you know what those symbols are over your heart?" "My name and rank but it is only in sounds." "Good. Did Borin tell you about the history of that uniform?" "She said it was the Seffra military. Only the best got to wear it. The Seffra protected their galaxy then came to ours to give good laws and protect the weak." "That's true but can I tell you a secret." "Ya?" "Most of the protecting was just hard work all the time. Mainly it was simply training. It takes twenty to thirty years to just get out of school. It's lucky that the Seffra live a lot longer. Even then half of the race goes out to investigate like what scientists do. When they find something great, they send the information to the rest of the race. Very little in life that is worthwhile is easy to do. Take me for instance. I didn't build my craft until I had been studying for almost seven years." "That long?" "Ya but mine could get around Einstein's limits and reach thirteen point seven lights per day." "Wow. You had it good." "No, I had to work like a dog. Now get back to your studying. Study up on the Gossna. Before too long you will have the opportunity to meet two of them. You will love them. Half hour and to sleep. Understood?" "Aliens? Yes sir!" I had told the boy that I came from space. He already was getting those ideas independently. I think I sprang it on him in a way that let him deal with it. He would not pit himself against an alien but side with that same alien. The Gossna he would soon see as a very timid race that he would not be afraid of. I cleaned up in the kitchen and then locked the doors and turned off the lights. When I got to my room the girls were awake and waiting for me. I gave them a smile and removed my clothes then left for the bathroom. When I got back I climbed into bed between them. After a small kiss each I said, "My loves, we have to talk for a bit." They didn't like this as much as action but when the newness of sex rubbed off it would slow down a little. "This is important. It has to do with us." This got their attention. "First, I want to talk about love. You know that I am a little different. I can see love differently than either of you can." Since this was going to be difficult I opened my mind fully and restrained from getting anything other than what they sent to me. Megan was nervous and asked, "How?" "You both have an aura. So do I. When you sensed mine there was simply too much showing and you loved what it looked like even if you couldn't see it. I was the same way when I saw yours for they are very similar." I continued on a different tact, "Did any of you ever think what my IQ would be if they could measure it?" Both girl's shook their heads. "Well it would be at least 1600 but I have no way of comparing your system to ours." This really started to worry them, especially about the word 'ours'. "What I did to each of you will have your IQ climb very high. It may get that high or higher but chances are that it won't quite reach that level. "Another thing about me is that I don't like to lie. If I have to avoid the truth I will say something that can be taken two or more ways and hope the person will take the wrong turn. The reason I am saying this is that I don't like not telling you everything. "Now back to love," I said nervously. "I saw your old and your stronger new auras. You can tell a lot about a person by the power, colour and texture. That's like how it feels. Both of your auras I happen to love. If you didn't love me back I would still love you. That's the way I'm made." That got me a few kisses. Sandra said, "I was worried about what you were going to say. Just don't ever leave us." "I won't leave but I have much more to say. "Orientals are short and have a different colour to their skin There is a fold of skin over their eyes. Africans have black skin, curly hair and again slightly different facial features. Aboriginals are different again but all of them are still Human. "Now my discussion comes to me. I will grow as tall as your father or a bit more. My face is similar to yours and my skin is too but I am different." Megan asked, "How are you different?" "I am not from Earth girls." This was blunt but I hoped I didn't phase them too much. Megan said, "We were wondering about that It was the only thing that fit all the facts. Why did you come here?" "Let me get to that in a minute. I came alone in a very small ship. I wanted to fit in and had to alter my body. My feet and hands are bigger than yours. My tongue is long and had a point while yours is shorter and rounded." I pulled back the sheet and touched the pelvic bone. "This is a centimetre higher. I don't have ear lobes so I made my body grow them. And finally this," I pushed the sheet further down and showed the small penis. "Half of my penis is inside my body." It started to get hard but only a little and grew to forty centimetres. The front half grew a bit in diameter and the back half grew much more. The front half grew bigger to match the back. The member deflated and now it was short and large in diameter. "This small sack under here is fake for my real testicles are inside my body." "The rest of my body is basically the way it originally was formed. The thing that will probably bother you the most is children. We will have them if you wish. When your minds finish growing in seven or eight days you will have the powers to change your bodies. That means that you can get bigger breasts or remove a mole. It also means that you can alter your body to produce children like what I am able to provide." I provided a mental picture of my body before it was altered. I started with the ears. The point of the tongue was changed but I still hid the fact for now that my tongue was long. The hands and feet looked odd to them because they were not used to those proportions. A naked adult male of my species was shown and his hands were like a Human because his body grew to match the hands. "That by the way is my father Sondo." A naked Seffra woman was displayed next. There was very little difference from her to a Human woman. She turned around and showed all of her features. "That was my mother Lomma. As you can see our females aren't shy. "Any questions so far," I asked worriedly. Sandra said, "Stick out your tongue. The furthest it will go." I was afraid of this but did it slowly If they got grossed out I could quit. It didn't happen and it was at its full extension. I pulled it back in slowly and waited. I didn't want to look now. They would tell me their feelings or tell me to leave. Sandra said, "The Seffra woman are the same as us then. It is only you males that are different?" "Their clit is a bit bigger and more sensitive. The 'G' spot has moved a bit further back in the vagina. There is never a hymen and the cervix is much more open. It doesn't hurt when the man goes that far back. Children are a bit easier to bear." Megan said, "That sounds like an improvement to me." "My race had long ago agreed to change itself and this is what we had done to ourselves." Again I waited and it started to hurt. I was not going to peek. The rejections I suffered and my inability to reach the next step of my development came out, even as I tried to hold them in. I had not only lost my family I had lost my race. My other family, my crew, came to mind and then I knew that I had failed them too. I had gone out with six and now had four. I felt arms around me and I was pushed back. Strong arms held me and I felt better than I had in along time. The light went out and the good feeling slowly came back. Friday Early in the morning I realised that I was still a child and only pretending to be an adult. I was a very smart child but I did not have the things and adult needed to act as I should. Perhaps an adult would never have come to Earth and just rebuilt their ship on an asteroid. Heavy elements could be fabricated in a reactor but it would take a longer time. I had to try to go as fast as possible and screw up a few good people's lives. I knew my duty though and I would stick it out but the mistakes still hurt. "Leif, go to sleep. We love you. You only screwed up in not bringing the rest of your crew to Earth. They could be building your base while you made some money." Megan pulled me to her, "You sure are dumb for a guy with an IQ like yours. If this aura you talk about is important, then why didn't you remember that we already loved you for yours even if you are an alien. My mother was an alien by the way. She immigrated here from the United States. Now go to sleep." A good husband does what the family wants. I forced my body to rest. I woke up a second time with a woman playing with my penis. Megan was down the bed and investigating the machinery. I had been so afraid of this. I thought if she saw it being so different she would be repelled. "Why would I be repelled? It's clean, it will fill me even after having kids and small enough to not hurt me now. It can go far enough back to tickle my tonsils." "I was worried. I guess anybody can get worried. It was just that I had so much to lose." "You won't lose us. We are going to stick to you like that shield you wear." "I guess I left my mind open a lot last night. I wanted to do that so you would know how I really felt. I just didn't think you could dig that deep so soon." She gave my penis a small kiss and climbed up the bed and gave me one too. "Wake up your other wife." "You are not my wives yet. You have to grow into your new minds then make a rational decision." Megan said, "I changed my mind. You are stupid. Now wake up your other wife." I moved down the bed as Megan had done and moved over one of Sandra's legs. I looked Megan in the eye as my tongue extended all the way and licked her sister's crease. On the fourth time I plunged my tongue into her opening and Sandra sat up immediately with a small orgasm running through her. Her hands came to my head and held me in place and my tongue continued to thrash inside her. A second orgasm came and I slowed down to let her recover. Rough hands pulled me over and Megan said, "Wake me that way too." I did it similarly but went slow and was as delicate as possible. She was building up to a big one when Sandra kissed her and the scream was stifled. When Megan recovered she said, "Now that is the way to wake up." She turned to her sister and said, "Leif thinks he can trifle with our affections and not marry us. He wants to have months or what he calls cycles of time so he is free. Tell him the way it is." Sandra pulled me to her roughly and said, "You are ours until you die. You have no choice in the matter. Do you understand that?" "I guess I do. I was just worried that you feel that you would be forced into something that you were not aware of first." I was still concerned. I was tied to them irrevocably but they still might not be tied to me the same way. Sandra said, "I think you are dumb too. We are tied to you as tightly as you think you are to us. Now introduce that girlfriend of yours to us." I felt dumb this time for it took me a while to find out what she wanted. "Borin, you will have to change Sandra and Megan's rating to wife with full access. As captain though they still get the security I want. Send a security unit with Tommy, Tom and Margaret. What is the status of the search?" "Hello Sandra, Megan. Congratulations. Your status is recorded as crew members and as immediate family. The search is still inconclusive. I have been manufacturing more units but you will have to come and get them." Borin then asked, "Are any of you wishing to take on the post of systems engineer?" Megan asked, "Please show me what the job entails." The girls got up and continued to talk and think as they worked. This was a good sign. Breakfast showed two people madly in love. It was almost like we weren't around. They responded to our talk after a fashion. Tom would get embarrassed but then they went back to looking at each other. Tommy pulled my sleeve and asked, "What is wrong with them?" "They did a few things that reminded them of when they were first married. At that time they were probably thinking of making a Sandra." I got an elbow for that but it wasn't meant to hurt. At school there were even more than the usual people to greet the girls. They had been mainly girls or a few boys sniffing around. The latter never bothered me because I knew where I stood with my girls. Many of the people they took classes with were here now. "I think I miscalculated, girls. The aura that I love so much needs to be tucked in just a bit more." Megan said, "Spoilsport." We were still in the car so I asked, "Tom, would you wait just a minute longer please." "Ok," he knew that I wanted to give a longer goodbye but thought that was all. His own thoughts on his wife made him sympathetic to my situation. He was also pulled toward the computer like his son. I knew that he would find an excuse to come home early. If Margaret were with him it would be a toss-up whether he went upstairs or down. After he got used to the computer. Borin would let him use the microphone. When that happened I feared that Margaret would have to encourage him more. I helped Sandra first. My mind could detect the intensity and drop it down a notch. I just hoped that was enough. Sandra gave me a kiss that was not a chaste as it might have been. Megan was next and she helped me a bit more after seeing it done. The kiss I got looked like she wanted to outdo her sister but that was not the case. It was more like Sandra wanted the kiss and would enjoy it if it were done even by her sister. I got out of the car with the girls and said goodbye to Tommy and his parents. Tommy though was getting a bit jealous and it was because he wanted a bit of my time too. The crowd was scanned and it looked like they were acting like what I thought a cult would be like. I felt good to have worked on their auras and said, "Your loyal followers are a bit unruly. The best thing to do is to talk to each if you can get them alone and whisper what you would like them to be like or say to all of them what the polite way to mob you is." We walked around the school and stopped close to the doors they would enter as our usual modus operandi. The girls talked to their friends and I was happy to see that they gave equal time to those not as popular. Megan noticed my investigation and sent me before and after pictures of some of her classmates with some data on how they changed other than in comportment and clothing. Those individuals I found were happier now than they were previously. They had found a place to belong even if it was for just a time. Some of the other students though were even more unruly but held themselves in check with difficulty. One of these was an older boy that looked like he exercised a lot. He wanted Sandra very badly but would take Megan in a flash. When the bell rang I got another chaste kiss this time and the girls went into the school. As they left we stayed in communication and I said, "Watch the images I send you. Be careful of your step. Think them through a few times today and perhaps even practice them in PE. I hope you don't need them but it is better to be prepared." Images of a male trying to overpower a girl were shown. Step by step responses were given in twenty three different scenarios. I could tell that the girls would store this data. Knowing it from the mind was not as good as knowing it from the body. Megan said, "You can go now. We are having difficulty thinking of you or even each other. We will talk at lunch." "Reserve a place for me ay your table. Bye girls. I love you." That I knew was one of the truest statements I had ever said. I got a double mental kiss and I felt that it was all worthwhile. They loved the idea of another meal together. With the girls in school, I went east to see with my eyes even though the probes were just as good. There were quite a few locations that could function as a base. I wanted remoteness for security but with family and friends a bit of company would be good for all of us. I also knew that small town people knew everything about everybody. This was like shipboard life but here the people were not necessarily loyal to us or our cause. I decided that a place that could be made into a town may be a good idea. As time went on we could populate it as we thought best. That meant that we had to actually own the town and all the area around it. This was to keep out undesirables. If they had no place to stay then they would hopefully not be near us. The ownership issue came from two fronts. I could not own property because I didn't exist in any of the government files. The girls or even their parents could own the property but their identities would be tied to the property. If someone went looking for the girls, or me, this property would lead any investigators to them. A lawyer or somebody similar could own the property on paper and give us a layer of protection. The homeless people in Stanley Park had given me an idea. Borin had searched a great many computerised data bases and found how records were stored. More importantly, she had found how the police and others conducted an investigation to find out if an identity was real or not. The stumbling block was the people that a person would know as they grew up or those they would have worked with. School records could be forged but the students in a class would know who belonged and who didn't. There was no real reason for an investigation if no single person stuck their heads up to be noticed. If hundreds of identities were fabricated then each one could be a small part of a larger one. I made my selection but hedged the bet by picking fourteen properties not one. Fourteen identities would now make offers over the internet. The offshore accounts that would be opened by Mr Iwasaki would be a way of getting my money into the system. Borin would just have to start making more identities and bank accounts to ensure our safety. Some of the properties had abandoned mines on them. One was quite old. This would make a good way to enter the base. These mines were usually listed and an investigator could look for an adit that had disappeared. Other properties had abandoned mines that were just close. Probes had investigated each of these mines. Most were filled with water or had streams flowing from them. They were not safe but the probes investigated them to the extent they had been dug. An entrance that was under water would be much more difficult for Humans to find. This is why one of two properties with a small lake intrigued me. I made a list of all the mining equipment that would be needed. There was no way that the boat's small fabricator could make all the units. The equipment could be made a piece at a time and then assembled. The computer though would be more difficult. Here a portion of substrate would have to be encouraged to grow and then bud. When it was large enough it would start a new machine. A better way was to simply make a fabricator this way to make the equipment needed. The bud though needed some crystalline units to control it. This gave the substrate a direction and other crystals gave it the ability to process data. As the computer grew, it required additional computational units. At roughly twenty seven percent, the addition of a processor unit would hasten the construction. The lowly boat now was growing our first bud. The boat settled in a beautiful meadow. The sensors told me that no intelligent life was nearby nor electronic emanations. Just inside the adit of a mine, I set up a shield generator and then placed many of the small components for a future fabricator under it. This unit would be considerably larger but still far short of what we would one day need. The large crystal was added before the shield was sealed. The boat's tractors picked up some small rocks to replace its stores of raw material. I had a chance to walk among the plants, insects and small animals. I felt differently about being on a planet than I had before. They had usually been exciting because of their newness or what secrets they might divulge. A ship though was always home. This simple, crude and wild stretch of land seemed to hold much more promise than similar areas did before on other planets. The conception of home now had stretched to include this planet and at least some of the people on it. The land looked like one area that the Gossna would live in. Odava I knew would like it here even if he was used to a tropical climate. The winters though might be another matter. Looking in at the probes following the girls, I found it was time for a class to end. I called in this quiet time. "Hello, have time to see something nice?" They were not startled as if this type of communication were common place to them. When I got their agreement, I showed them the very secluded valley. "I put an offer in on this and a few more properties. Some are even nicer. One day our children might be running through these fields picking wildflowers for their mothers." I felt a very strong backwash of emotion. Love for me and an urge to start that family immediately. Women were sometimes the most complicated of creatures but at others they were the simplest. Sandra said, "I can see where to put the house already. The nursery though better be large. I want all of our family to look like their father." "Owww, my back." Megan added, "Your back will get a lot more painful if we have our way." The bell I knew had rung and the girls walked to their next class sending me pictures of what they thought their children would look like. The girls even traded images of their children to see whose were better looking. Before they got to their next class they were dreaming up appropriate clothing. This rivalry was within our code of conduct. Making a fabricator was exacting work and very demanding of my time. The small existing fabricator could do the job for me but I had to be the one to provide almost all of the guidance. Borin interrupted my thoughts. "Captain, Giuseppe Grossi has sent a message saying he wants to see what you have to offer." "Send him a picture of a twenty five carat stone in pendant form, clear with no flaws or inclusions. Send the construction information to this boat. Wholesale price two and a half million in American funds. Two million to him. Cash on delivery." The current part would take fifteen minutes and another five minutes for the stone. I would not be able to complete the deal before the girls had lunch. "Ask if we can meet in three hours. That will be 4:30 in his time zone. Location will be the top of the Empire State Building and he may take six guards on the deck and as many more as he wants on other floors." "Yes, Sir." When the current piece came out the diamond stated to form. A little over five minutes later I held the five gram piece of crystalline carbon. It looked pretty with all the facets to catch and redirect the light but other stones I had seen were much more flashy. A minute later an enclosure came out to protect the stone. I put the part into the box and got into the boat. It was not quite time yet for lunch so the remaining properties were viewed from the air. The boat dropped me off in a quiet spot a block from the school. I opened the door to the school as the bell rang for a change of class. I could feel the girls sense me as soon as I got close. "Leif." I heard from two locations. The locations were given me to their lockers. I said, "I'll meet you at the doors to the cafeteria." Some hungry students hurried past me to get in line. Eventually Megan came and a second later so did Sandra. It was almost too bright to see for their smiles. I was given a quick kiss and we walked into the large room and got into line. There were a few friends close by so it would be unusual if we didn't talk. "What are your plans for the weekend?" Megan said, "You wouldn't ask that unless you had a plan. What is it?" "We go camping. We look at each of the locations and then make some house designs. I don't know if I will be able to get any of the properties or all of them. Sunday night we take the 'boat' and float to that Mexican restaurant unless you want to try Egyptian, Greek or authentic Chinese food." Sandra said, "Ooooh I like the Chinese idea. Is that ok with you Megan? You can choose next time." "That's good too. I might check with that friend of ours for details." Sandra got close to my ear and whispered, "I want that spicy dish called 'som yung gy', then she laughed." Megan heard and said, "That's for me too." We picked up our trays and I thought of the money. I only had large denominational bills. "Are you girls going to treat this poor boy?" Megan put her arm around me and said, "We can afford it young man." I picked out a light lunch. I had not been exercising even though I could control how much food I burnt. There was no sense tinkering for all the small things. At the cashier the girls paid for their lunch and put their money together and Sandy said to the cashier, "He's our kept man." Laughter was heard behind us. We found their usual table along the back wall at the corner. We put the trays down and seated ourselves. I sat across from the girls so I could look at them. Others in their two classes came to eat with us even if they were different ages. When I looked the long table was full and I was the only male. I looked at my tablemates and saw a predatory look in their eyes. Their minds were even more rapacious but some could hide it easier. Sandra verbally introduced the girls in her class then Megan did the same. They were part of the group that greeted the girls when they got to school each day. One girl beside Sandra was Ronny, the same one that abandoned Sandra. I didn't like the way she treated Sandra and looked deep into her mind even if it wasn't polite. She was as Sandra said. She was ruled by her hormones and the tingle between her legs. She didn't know of how close her friend had come to getting raped last weekend. Her set of values were cockeyed. She was bright but didn't use even a fraction of her abilities. She was actually like the majority of the Humans I had met. The girls were mindspeaking as we ate and carried on a verbal conversation that was completely different than the other one. The girls were trying to confuse me with two dual conversations. Contrary to what the girls told me this morning, I replied in kind and even brought the two conversations close but not the same. The girls stumbled time and again by saying the wrong thing to the wrong conversation. The rest of the table listened to me talking to the two girls in quick sentences and only heard them stumble. They gave up the unwinnable game but still spoke the same way without the will to make me look foolish. Sandra brought Ronny into the conversation and we talked about things interesting to girls her age. Music, guys, relationships, guys, gossip about friends not present and of course guys. I could talk about the music and relationships in general. Ronny asked me, "What do you think a guy should do on a date?" She was acting coy for she had a great deal of experience. "Well if the guy is not exclusively using his lower brain, he will think about his date first and try to find something that is both interesting and affordable. Married couples are relaxed around each other but this is not really that true when dating." I continued to talk mentioning how many males of similar ages were just not mature. To even it out I mentioned how females were unrealistic but in a different way. My graphic terms made those around the table listen intently. I switched gears and started to talk about actually making love. I went through this in even more graphic detail mentioning what the male should be looking for before proceeding to the next step. The girls around the table started to squirm on their seats and even my women did this while sitting across from me. I could read how they wanted me to go on and be even more graphic. When discussing the proper way to stimulate a girl's nipple I moved my tongue as a teaching aid. Here I went into detail about the texture and the taste. Information was added about how my hands would caress the breasts while all this was going on. The lesson continued with how the abdomen and hips should be orally stimulated. Ten minutes and a great many words were used to describe the practice of cunnilingus and what should and should not be done. All the girls around the table were glassy eyes and some had their hands under the table. Taste and texture were now emphasised along with what the girl should be feeling. This information was used to bring the man's lover to the brink time and again but not to go beyond a certain point. I informed the girls about the impending climax but continued verbally with how the male should not only treat the clitoris but what his fingers should be doing. At the correct time the finger that had been liberally coated with the secretions from the vagina should caress the anus to get it to relax. I used more sounds like the ones my girls made as a reference to let the girls know about timing. When the moment came when the girl was about to plunge over the edge, I mentioned how a finger was to similarly plunge into her anus and propel the lover even higher to enjoy an even greater experience. I looked around the table and saw some of the girls with their head on their trays while others were leaning back. Sandra and Megan sat straight holding themselves rigid as their orgasm ran through them. A moment later Sandra opened her eyes and looked at me with a hunger that made me sit back. Seconds later Megan did the same thing. It took longer but the others recovered and looked too. Some were embarrassed and looked down but most looked at me in wonder. Sandra said, "What did you do?" "I used nothing but words. I could have done a much better job with better descriptions if we were not in a public setting." Megan said aloud, "You are an evil man. The women around the table should rejoice that my sister and I will teach you a lesson for what you have done." Ronny though sexually active perked up at the words. "Both of you?" Megan snarled at me in jest and said, "We should all do our best to reform him but I am afraid even that is not enough." She thought for a moment and then added, "I will forgive you this time. When you come back on Monday you can continue with your educational matter but I warn you that we will only take so much of this action before putting our feet down." "My dear Megan, you hurt me immensely. I simply did as I was asked. Some males are such louts and need to be informed of what is proper. They think of their own pleasure first. The information I imparted to those around this table was to be given to their boyfriends in the hope of making a much more stable relationship. As young women, you all know that men have to be coddled in some ways and then subtly educated. "The data I just gave was simply a course outline and that was only partially done. The lessons themselves are very much more detailed and take months of diligent study. Homework is optional but I would encourage it very strongly. The value of the course comes from obtaining a loving and life long relationship." Sandra said, "What are we going to do with you?" "Love me," I said with a soft voice and lowered my eyes to the table. I could feel the girls around the table wanting to comfort me then want me to comfort them a different way. Sandra said, "Do you know what you have done to my friends and my sister?" "What?" "This will get around the school in one period. We will be hounded by girls wanting to know about you." "Tell them I live in your bedroom." "That won't hold them back." I said, "I did one other thing." "What is that?" "You all have a wet spot on your seats and your clothes are damp." This made the two nervous as they found that this was the truth. I said, "I will take care of it." I said to the women around the table. "Contrary to popular belief, I am a gentleman. In a moment I am going to pick up a tray and walk to the other end of the room. When I make a disturbance people will be looking at me. When that happens leave your trays and go to the washroom in the main hall. Megan will lead and Sandra will follow to hurry on stragglers. Don't stumble or run. That will cause a disturbance too." Some had not even realised the implications of my words but a few surprised expressions made the others think. I got up and walked around the table and kissed Sandra and Megan. I took their trays and then went around the others until I had a half dozen empty quarter litre containers of milk. I walked casually down the aisle then in an open spot tripped on a shadow. The trays fell to the floor and I grasped in an apparent attempt to keep everything from falling. The six containers went up into the air and I would grab for one and accidentally just knock it up again. This happened thirty six times before I started to catch them and drop them in the container I was now standing beside. I tried to look like it was an accident until one male student started to clap then the rest of the room did too. I was caught so I walked to the trays and bowed to the three areas of the room. The trays were put in place and I picked up the paper plates and plastic cutlery. On the way back to the table others clapped as I walked by them. I put away all the trays from the table in the much closer rack and then departed. "How is the drying going?" "Not too well." "Back in a second with help." The boat was at the door when I got there and I had a cleanser in my hand. I was back at the girls' washroom and calmly walked in. I got a few 'eeeks' but I went to Megan and bent her over the sink and my hand move a metallic looking device and in a few seconds the area was dry and didn't even have a stain. The next closest girl was pushed into the same position and I did the same thing. In two minutes all of them had been done except Sandra. She got into position and I did her too then changed hands and ran my hand up her leg and under her dress. She jumped in the air then went back to the position. I worked my fingers a bit in her then removed them. When I stood up I sniffed my fingers then licked them one at a time. "You are dry enough now I guess." I turned to the rest. "I am actually sorry for possibly embarrassing you all. It was meant as a bit of harmless fun but you could have been hurt by the ridicule. I was raised to treat ladies and gentlemen with respect. I sometimes forget where to draw the line between fun for me and pain for others. Please except my apology." Sandra came to me and held my face in her hands and gently kissed me. "You are forgiven." Megan moved through the crowd and did something similar. "You are forgiven." Ronny did the same thing and said, "I forgive you too." The rest did the same thing but I started to use my tongue and the kisses got longer and longer. The last one was in Megan's class and quite inexperienced She actually had another orgasm in my arms. She did get a much better kiss for I knew that she really wanted to learn. I had to support her until she recovered. When she regained her senses I said to everybody. "Thank you so much. I feel much better now." I pulled my pants higher. This drew their attention and they saw a very large bulge that went far down my leg. Their eyes got very large. I kissed Sandra passionately then the same to Megan. "See you after school. I hope I am able to walk." To the others, I said, "I have ten seconds to get out of here before the bell. Good day ladies." I was out in the hall and almost to the door when the bell went off on time. I heard as I went, "You better run. Wait until we get you at home." "You are making me run with a limp." "More like a third leg. How am I going to explain that?" "Tell them you picked the runt of the litter when you got me." Borin stated after the girls went to their lockers for their books. "An account in each of your two aliases has been started. One in Singapore, and the other in the Bahamas. Mr Iwasaki has placed one million American dollars into each. We have not received any reply from our offers on the properties or from Mr Grossi. There has been some activity at tracing where our message came from but it is presently not a serious effort. Seven new identities have been established. Six more are in process. The search for more ship fragments has turned up a number of small hull and frame pieces. Nothing is of any value even to Humans. From the stress on the portions and the range of their impact, I believe that portions of a ship struck the planet between two and two and a half million years ago. The damage to the portions showed that there was substantial forces employed to even fracture the keel. The points of any major impacts have not been determined. I will inform you if anything more substantial is found." "Thanks Borin." I tried to think of the races that had been active during that time but the Seffra had not been in this galaxy. We could only go by the information we were able to amass since coming here. The number so far would be close to a hundred but not all ventured far from their home systems. A broken ship crashing into Earth though would be catastrophic to the planet. The only thing that could lessen the impact and still have a great many fragments would be if the ship exploded before impact. This on the other hand may mean that there could be survivors. It would take as little as six cycles before additional craft could be assembled to take all of the survivors to their destination. If the number were low then the small ships alone could continue. If there were no major structures, then it was possible that the Earth had just captured some ship debris. The rest could have been spread over the entire planet or possibly captured by the other bodied in the system. If the speed was great enough then they may have been flung out of the system. I asked some questions and an image of the northern island of Japan emerged with small dots representing the location of hull and frame fragments. Borin was to check the fault line to see if the Earth itself swallowed the portions of the ship. The nearby craters or depressions were searched and they were all from natural forces. Surveys posted to the net were scanned and features on the sea floor were examined. For all we knew only a small portion of the ship ever crashed on the planet. ------- Chapter 9 At fifteen after one, Borin said, "Mr Grossi has agreed to your meeting. It is in fifteen minutes." "Any suspicious activity at the meeting site?" "The probes see fourteen men that are possibly searching for you or for a trap." "We better get there then. This time I will go in with the shield active and invisible. I can put ship's coveralls under them." I changed as the boat streaked across the continent. The diamond in its container went into the pouch around my neck but under my shield. Nobody could see me land. Bulky clothes under a shield got sheared when the shield was activated. Ship's coveralls were developed as something much better than just skin. They did look military though but not like any military on Earth. It was raining in New York and cold. Autumn was half over and snow would come soon. There were two men on the observation platform of the Empire State Building. Both were armed. I got close enough to find that both were bodyguards with no orders to shoot or rob me. Twenty one more figures were in the glassed in enclosure. Some were tourists and four more were additional body guards. A short stocky man was Grossi. He was very angry at a great many things but he did have the money in a briefcase. I soon found that the handle had a homing device and I knew that some of the money had been marked with an invisible dye to trace it back to me. That was if I spent it right away and in the United States. The dye was a poor choice of methods. With a minute to spare I dropped a metre from the ship and onto the deck. The area was very small because of the high glass walls to discourage jumpers. I walked around one guard and bent under the windows of the enclosure. I deactivated the shield and removed the pouch before energising it once more. Nobody noticed me until I had the door half open and I stepped into the small room. I smiled to the people looking at me. I was dry and it was raining outside. Three metres away was Grossi. I walked to him and extended my hand. "Hello." "How did you get here?" "What has that to do with me being here?" "I asked a question." "I gave you an answer. Either we act civilised or I leave." The tourists were getting nervous. I turned to them and said, "I'm sorry. We have high level negotiations going on here." I moved a few steps and pushed the button to summon the elevator then I pushed for another. When they arrived I said, "You should leave now." Sixteen people quickly got on the elevators and I saw the numbers above the door decrease. I knew somebody would be up eventually to see what happened. I opened the pouch and handed the contents in it to the man. "You want this, then we deal." It was snatched out of my hand. After opening the case the two men went over the stone very minutely. In seconds they knew that it was real but they continued to look for clarity, colour and of course the type of cut. Their estimates of the wholesale value was considerably higher than my two and a half million dollars. They thought a stone this good was very rare and would fetch a high price. In fact a buyer was already lined up that would be probably interested. This buyer's name and address was retained as well as some other data. Grossi was not just an underworld diamond merchant but a regular mobster. Articles were stolen and sold later. He had his hand in a few other illegal ventures. He had made his assessment of the stone and he had made his assessment of how I could protect my property. I moved casually to the interior wall and put a foot on the concrete wall. Grossi looked at me and smiled. "This is great kid. Thanks for giving it to me." He had just got the last word out and I pushed hard against the wall and flew across the intervening area. I struck Grossi and ripped the diamond from his pocket taking a portion of his suit with it. He had a gun and I took this out. Swinging around, I struck all four men with my hands or feet in one method or another. None were seriously damaged. I took their guns from them and aimed the last two of them at the exterior door. The two wet gangsters were coming in and saw the guns aimed at them. They slowly put their hands up. With one of the guns I indicated that they enter. They came in slowly and found five of their number on the floor. There was very little blood and they were all breathing. I picked up one knife after putting a gun down. This weapon would be less fatal if used and much quieter I could tell that they would not go down without a fight. "I am making a collection of guns and knives. Would you gentlemen be so kind as to give me yours. Your back up weapons would also be appreciated." They slowly took out their first guns and one said, "We have no more." My knife hand moved quickly and knife flew the short distance to plunge into his left arm. The man put his hand to the knife in pain and I watched the other's eyes. "Are you going to lie to me too?" A smaller gun soon came out and then two knives. "Take the two from your partner's legs and his gun from behind his waist." This was done with great care. When this was completed I said, "Drag him to the wall and get him seated. I want you away from dangerous toys. I wouldn't want any of you boys to get hurt." The wounded man groaned as he was dragged into position and seated. I took the guns one at a time and destroyed portions on them. Usually a hammer was bent or an old revolver had the revolving mechanism removed. The guns were thrown in the corner with the knives. With only one gun and one knife left, I opened the ripped material from Grossi's clothing and took out the diamond. Grossi's bill fold was in a pocket. He had a few thousand dollars in it but I threw it to the one conscious and uninjured man. I was angry about the attempt and the contempt Grossi showed me and I wanted it to be remembered. I took the briefcase and ripped the handle off. The two rings had come with it and these were removed. All I had now was a piece of leather, a metal strip, and inside it the small transmitter. With the knife I cut the back of Grossi's pants to the skin. I turned him over and pushed his legs to his chest. While looking at the only possible threat I pushed the handle into Grossi's rectum. My hands and everything else were protected by the shield so I was not concerned with filth. This must have hurt but I wanted it to hurt his pride even more. "Push the elevator button now." The man left his buddy and scampered to do this. When one of the elevators responded I said, "Drag your friends to the elevator and throw them in when it comes. Sixty seconds later I shoot you and anybody that may be left." The elevator was large and easily held the seven men. I threw in Grossi's wallet and said, "Tell your boss that if he had played fair I would have too." Turning to the man with the knife in his arm I said, "Keep the knife as a memento, Now go." The man quickly moved his finger off the button holding the elevator doors open. Another elevator was coming up and I knew that it was security. The tourists had alerted them to a possible fight. The diamond went into the pouch and I left the platform with a now handleless briefcase. The briefcase, then the pouch went into the boat and then I did too. Thirty seven seconds later four burly uniformed men came out with guns drawn. They looked around and then went onto the platform. I was high above them and they were getting wet looking for any of the men that suddenly disappeared. "Borin, connect me to the local telephone system and find where my call will be going to." It was just a bit after four forty five and I called a cell number. It rang three times and an older man answered, "Hello." "Hello Mr Mason. I have just had a talk to a very new acquaintance by the name of Giuseppe. He mentioned that you like to help out the neighbourhood children from time to time with ways of making some money." "Would you care to see me about buying a 'trinket'?" Trinket was a code word having to do with diamonds. When they came from Grossi they were always stolen. "Ok, come over. Do you know where I am?" "Yes I do sir. I am close already. Three minutes maximum." "Fine." In a single minute I was in front of a very well preserved brownstone. The call had been answered from within. It was still raining and I left the boat invisible and then appeared a few houses down with the diamond in my hand. I walked up to the door and pushed the button once and waited. I listened inside and soon a very large man opened the door and looked down at me." "Yes." "I am expected." I then just stared up at him. He backed up a step and then moved aside. I then walked in as if I owned the place. The man I wanted was in the last room on the right and I walked there ahead of the bodyguard. The owner of the house was called George Mason but was really an old Russian sleeper agent that wanted to just ignore by his old masters and live the good life in the United States if possible. I walked up to the surprised man and put the diamond into his hand. When nothing was said he got his loop out and did the usual checks. He was getting more and more excited as the investigation continued. In five minutes he said, "How much do you want?" "I would like to discuss this in private if you please." The man gestured and the bodyguard left and closed the door. The man had weapons and alarm buttons but no presently active voice recorders. "I need to explain something first." I paused a few seconds then continued. "The diamond legally belongs to me. It is part of my family collection. In the last week I have been selling some of the stones. So far I have accrued eight point seven million dollars for the smaller gems. The stone in your hand is worth six to seven million retail. There are not many large stones like this that are offered for sale. A while ago I tried to sell the stone you presently hold to Grossi. The briefcase contained all of the agreed money was brought to the meeting. A portion of the bills were covered with an invisible dye and the handle of the case contained a radio beacon." "Grossi and an associate inspected the diamond with six additional men. He decided that I could not protect my property and seized it. I was unarmed, just as you see me now. I took the diamond back and beat Grossi and four of his armed men. Two more that were waiting outside the door came in and I disarmed them. One refused to remove all his weapons and now wears a knife in his arm. Though I had seized a gun I chose to do the minimal damage with a knife. I had no more problems with improper conduct." "I took exception to the tracking device. I ripped it from the briefcase and stuck it up Grossi's ass. When he wakes up he will have to shit it out or go to a doctor. I left with my diamond and his money. I do not like fools and especially fools that try to cheat me." "Do you want to test me against your bodyguard? I won't hurt him much." "You stuck the handle up his ass?" "Yes I did. He was unconscious but then again so were most of his men. If you wish you can wait a half hour and phone him. Ask him about the handle." "Oh no no no. I will forgo the pleasure. How much do you want for the stone?" "Five," I simply said. It was more than I offered the stone to Grossi but here it was being sold closer to its real value. "Four and a half." I smiled at the man. "Negotiations and standard business practices are all fair in my book but the fact is that I will not bargain for my stones. Each one was discounted and the price was more than fair. The stone in your hand has no equal. We both know that. I will take nothing less than five. I am sorry if that is not suitable." The man thought for a few minutes pacing back and forth finally he said, "Done. How do you want the money?" I said, "Cash or electronic transfer." "Ok the number of your account?" Borin relayed the information I needed and I gave the information verbally. In less than a minute one of my accounts was five million dollars larger. "Thank you sir. It was a pleasure to do business with a man of character." "Will you stay for dinner?" "I would like to have a rain check if you don't mind. I think there is more business we can do where bartering may be used in place of money." "What kinds of things are you looking for?" "Would you give me paper and pen?" The pad was presented and a pen. I ripped off the first sheet and wrote the first element I wanted. I included the types and proportion of isotopes and the total weight. The probable cost was added. Eight more sheets were filled out for different materials. Two of which were dummies. People later would not be able to duplicate what I was going to do. The last sheet contained another new email address as a contact point. I handed all the sheets to him except the last. There were no marks on the pad to indicate what I may have wanted. "Most of this stuff is radioactive," he said with concern. "Experts will tell you that they have long half lives. They are not that dangerous. The quantities I want though are very large. I would have difficulty obtaining these articles without a lot of red tape. The value would be around seven million dollars. If you get me these articles I will give you the last large diamond. It weights forty seven carats and it has the same properties as the diamond you just purchased. If you get all of the elements and at least half of the weight I will give you the diamond but you will pay me at twice the price on the list for those portions missing. If you get all of what I require the diamond will be yours." The man sat now and did a lot of thinking. He had contacts in many fields. Some of the articles I knew would be stolen and I didn't want this but I could not be that choosy. Later I would track the shipments back to their owner and anonymously send the money. He also had a great many other commitments for his money. He did some shuffling of assets in his mind and a good profit from his new diamond would give him enough wherewithal to complete the deal. "I will see what I can do." "Is the deal, as stated, satisfactory?" I insisted. "I can always use more money but yes. The deal is satisfactory but I still have to see how much this will cost me in money and favours. I have to take your word on the size and quality of the diamond. It will have to be assessed." I handed him the last sheet and said, "Grossi will be angry. You already know this. That is why I told you the facts even though their mention hurt my bargaining position. I try to be scrupulously honest in my dealings. If he finds that you own this diamond or the larger one he will be angry. Even without any complicity on your part, he may take some sort of revenge. "If you immediately ask for these articles, others may deduce that I want them. As a business associate I do not want to see you hurt physically or monetarily. I am just asking you to use more than your usual caution in making these purchases." Mason said, "That is very kind of you to think of me. If you say to use extra caution then I will do just that. What is this stuff for?" "I am sorry but that is a secret. There is no danger here to anyone. That sort of thing is abhorrent to me. I am trying to make a device that will benefit everybody on the planet." The last was true if I assisted their technology. Mason walked me to the door and I shook his hand. He looked at his hand after and then looked at me. I had forgotten to deactivate the shield and he had not felt skin. I was not going to insult him. I smiled and said, "A protective suit. Still not perfect but better than nothing when going against thugs." I left at a jog as if concerned about the possibility of getting wet. A few doors down I ducked into a laneway and soon disappeared into the boat. It was now 5:30 local time and the girls would soon be getting out of school. I headed far north then west. Part way along I saw that some of the ground was white with the first fall of snow. After crossing the northern portion of the prairies I headed south through the Rocky Mountains to look at a larger area around each of the properties I sought. I took my time to assess more than just want a probe could give me. A feeling was important too. On the way I changed clothes and put the shield on underneath. The ship's coveralls were too eye-catching to use. The garden became my drop off point as the ship rose three metres. The back door suddenly opened and Megan came running out. "So you finally get home. We have been waiting a long time." "You just got here yourself a few minutes ago." "We expect you on the bed and naked when we get here. You did some naughty things and you thoughtlessly worked us and a lot of other girls up. Sandra and I talked and we found a way for you to make it up to us." I didn't peek into their minds now. The superficial thoughts were ok but as wives or possible wives I gave them this courtesy. I had not yet worked with their minds to organize the fine details. "What do you ladies have planned?" "You will find out eventually." As we walked into the house I said, "I have an idea. Tommy will be using his computer when he gets home in a few minutes. There is a place I wanted to show you. It's like the valley I showed you this morning. Would you like to see it?" "Sure." came from upstairs. Sandra was having a quick shower at the moment. Megan said, "That will be great. Will we be back before Mom and dad get home?" "We'll leave a note and pick up chicken on the way back for supper." "Great." Sandra came running into the room and jumped into my arms. "That was a bad thing to do to me at school. I was tingling for the rest of the day." I said, "That is the duty of a gentleman. Keep his ladies satisfied and still wanting more." "Well I want more now." "Go into the closet and get your high boots that you use when the weather is cold or wet." They looked at me but did as I asked. I ran upstairs to the bedroom and took the two blankets and threw them out the window and into the boat that caught them. Three pillows went too. Back in the kitchen I wrote a note saying that I was looking at properties and would bring back a chicken dinner when the adults got home. The girls were ready and I had a drink to stall for a moment until Tommy arrived. "Hi Tommy." "Hi Leif. I got my history test back and I got 93 on it." "That's great. One day soon we will have to work on your memory a bit so you don't forget anything unless you want to. An officer has to have that ability." "Ya!" "Report in to Borin and she will give you your orders. Your sisters and I will be going out but come back when your parents get home. We will have the chicken you like. Order a large bucket for us and any side dishes you like. You can eat it over the weekend. We will be picking it up at 5:30 exactly." "Ok," the boy said. This was an easy task and gave him a bit of responsibility. The girls said bye and oddly kissed their brother's forehead. This was getting to be like the family I was always used to. We went out the back door and I knew Tommy was searching for the phone number. Right against the house and away from prying eyes I said, "You are going into the boat. As soon as you are in move away so the next can get in." The girls were excited and I got Sandra in first. She moved and said that she was clear. Megan went next and did the same thing. The transporter moved me too and I stood with the two girls. They stood in awe of where they were. In less than a year they would see this vessel for the simplicity it really was. I commanded a very large screen to appear. This was done so the girls would know how to do it. I gave all the commands now at a slow pace so they would fully understand. The course was layed out in my mind and a graphic of it given to the computer. The speed though was kept very low so the girls could see the terrain. In seconds the girls saw the mountains below them. Megan talked verbally, forgetting to use her mind. "There was no acceleration." "That is one of the many things you both will learn about. Gravity can be easily manipulated even by Humans. It does lead to weapons though and this is one of the things I wanted to give to Humanity when they grow up a bit more." The girls took seats while thinking on my words. They continued to look at the large screen but in five minutes we were in a valley I had not landed in yet. The sensors showed that there was no people around but satellites were overhead. The explicit commands continued and the ship landed under some large trees. This would keep the possibility of eyes far above from seeing us. This time I removed the invisibility and even opened the hatch. The ramp extended to within few centimetres of the ground. The girls walked out but had to duck their heads. They walked down the short ramp and then down a slope onto the valley floor. I said jokingly, "That's one small step for two women, one giant leap for them too." The girls looked around and were impressed by the locale now. Megan was startled to see the boat. "Is this your ship?" "No, this is just a boat. I made it when I was young. It was something like a school project." "But it is longer than a transport truck." "They are not that hard to make with the right infrastructure. After I finished this, I felt that I had not done enough or learned enough. I began again and constructed a larger vessel. That took so long that I lost a lot of points and came in last. I did have the best craft though. This one here was just stowed inside if it was needed. It came in handy later as you know." Sandra asked, "If this is the boat how long is your ship?" "It was only a hundred and fifty three metres but it gained a bit when the adults helped convert it to a warcraft. You will see more of the ship later. I wanted you to see this valley." Sandra said, "It's so warm here." "The land to the west of us are valleys. They allow the warm air to reach this location from the ocean. There are only some rivers in the way and the surrounding mountains help funnel the warm ocean air to here and beyond. The sun light and heat are reflected to this area from the mountains." She said, "It certainly is beautiful. Do you want our home to be here?" "You pictured a conventional home. I have thought of another idea. Look in my mind." To the west was a vertical wall of stone that ran up forty metres. The area the east of us was between two mountains. The morning sun, though late, would eventually crest the ridge and shine on the wall of stone. I showed a home built into the wall with large panels of glass. A shield would be there but this would look natural. The rooms would go into the solid granite. The ones in the back would be the bedrooms, kitchen, nursery and other rooms suited for work. The three levels of glass would provide natural light for a family room, a large indoor garden and the master bedroom. It would only be a thousand square metres but more rooms could be added by just removing stone. Both girls said, "Wow!" at the same time. Megan said, "That house is so large. How are we going to take care of it? Especially with all the studying you want us to do." I said, "Because it's our house and I want my family safe, we will make it like a ship. Matter transmitters, our own power supply, food production and nothing hurts the environment. The air will be filtered to whatever level you want but we can constantly reuse it. There will be no dust and mechanicals will do most of the menial tasks. You will save a lot of time but it will be spent learning." Sandra asked, "How will we come and go from here? We can't use your boat all the time." "There are many ways. A great many plans exist for machines that are designed for removing soil and rock. A simple tunnel 470 kilometres long can be dug under the mountains to link to Vancouver. High speed transit will get you there in a bit over four minutes at three gees and a minute earlier at five. All we have to do is have a terminus for our line and disguise it as a home or business. We can do the same thing to get to Victoria. A simpler way would be to just build more boats to get around. You just need a place to get in and out of it without being seen." "What if we want outsiders to visit?" "One idea could have you both could get your fixed wing and helicopter licence. The helicopter will work but it will be a boat. It will fly without the engine working. It will have to be a fast model and a trip may be only an hour one way." The girls were not sure of their abilities and I showed them what I thought. They hugged me for thinking them so capable. Verbally I said, "I have another idea. This will be a new experience for each of you." "What is it?" Megan said. "Walk back into the ship with me." I just walked and went inside. When they followed, I handed them their boots. I picked up the blankets the pillows and my new runners. When they saw the bedding they got some of the idea. We went back outside and I found a spot that would catch the afternoon sun. The blankets and pillows were laid down and I started to remove my clothes. The girls started to work very quickly but were a bit perplexed when I put the runners on. The girls continued to undress. "Put your boots on please." When they did they stood in all their glory. I took a hand in each of mine and I pulled them around the edge of the valley. There were bushes but there was lots of open grass that could be negotiated with the boots and not get their legs scratched. I could feel Sandra start to get a tingly feeling in her clit as she exposed herself. The feeling passed to Megan and the girls started to walk funny. Their free hand touched their clits but this didn't seem to help. We covered less than a kilometre before Sandra said verbally, "Leif, will you stick that snake of yours into me?" I replied verbally too, "Does walking around in the nude, showing your bare pussy to the world make you horny? Is there a stream of moisture leaking from you and running down your leg? I suppose that large sensitive clit needs some work?" "Oh, God yes. Do me please." "Let's cut back to the blankets. People with binoculars will see my beauties playing with their clits as they groan their frustration." I let my cock grow to its full length and then inflated it with blood. It now stuck out in front of me and moved from side to side as I stepped. The girls saw this and their agitation got worse and worse. The girls ran the last few metres and laid on their backs. Their legs were tight to their bodies and after thinking they spread them as wide as possible to give me all the room that I could get. I stopped just off the blanket. My penis pointing to a place over and between them. "I can only satisfy one of you this way. Megan stay where you are. Sandra, get up and turn over with your head over Megan's pelvis. I will take you first but you must please my other woman." This was a moment of truth. The girls loved each other but also had erotic fantasies at the same time. Here was a chance to live one out and not bother the neighbours with screams of ecstasy. The two girls looked at each other for at least ten seconds. Both looked at the image in my mind. Sandra was not sure yet because this would change their relationship forever. She did move as I asked and got into position. She started to make tentative licks at her younger sister's pussy. The fine hair contrasting with her hairless state. They were on one blanket and I put the other down behind Sandra. I laid on my back and used my elbows and feet to push my head between Sandra's legs. Holding her hips I picked her up and used my PK to spread her legs just a bit more. The first touch of my mouth was when I voraciously sucked her tender clit into my mouth. She was still preoccupied with a bit of guilt and doing what she was doing to her sister. The attack on her made her stop in shock and as the attack continued the shaking began. It started in her clit and ran up her spine to her head. The sensations ran back down her spine then to her legs and then to her feet. She felt like she was glowing like the sun. Megan held her sister's head still and I held Sandra's hips as she began to convulse. Her legs straightened out and she didn't know where to put them. All the while the sensations got stronger and stronger. Before she would pass out, I relented and just kept her at that impossible plateau for a few seconds. I stopped moving and in a moment Sandra started to relax her stiff body. Megan and I got Sandra on her back and I straightened her legs to let her be comfortable. Sandra had not made a link to her sister because of the guilt she felt but both girls had witnessed what had happened. Megan excitedly said, "You going to do me like that too?" "No, we are going to do it differently." We both cuddled beside Sandra as she came back to us. When Sandra was able to think I asked, "Sandra my love, tell us what Megan tasted like. It is important." "Well, she tasted a little like me or... Ronny. It was better though. It was as if I were doing it to myself. I could feel Megan get excited and prepare for an orgasm to share with us but I didn't want her to see how I felt. I love her and I don't want to lose her by doing this." Megan held her sister and said, "I love you Sandy. I wanted you to do that to me for a long time and I especially wanted to do it to you. There were some other girls but I never went very far. When I was with them I thought of you though. Don't think that I will reject you. The opposite is more the case. If Leif is away, I want to make love to you and you to me." "Really?" "Look in my mind and see." Sandra did and found some of the things that her sister kept deeply hidden. "You do want me to do this!" "I sure do." She looked at me. "How do you want me? I want to taste my sister." Megan was soon on her back. Two pillows were under her hips. I got between her legs and slipped into her. She was excited and I went in easily. I moved enough to let her get adjusted without pushing her over the edge. When she was close, Sandra squatted over her face and looked at me. I moved back and forth slowly and then handed Megan's legs to her sister. I moved a bit quicker now and reached out and played with a nipple from each of the girls. The two sisters now were linked again and much more fully than the time before. I slipped into the mix now for the first time and let them feel what it was like to do what I was doing. The shock of my entry and the odd sensations slowed their ardour but in a minute it was much higher than before. I pumped quicker for I wanted to enjoy this orgasm with them. When we met that point of no return I thrust very quickly and the three of us screamed so loud I thought they would hear us in Vancouver We collapsed in a heap and I shifted a bit to not be resting on a leg. We tried other combinations but they were slow and loving. I put no blocks on them because I wanted them conscious. All good things had to come to an end. I helped the girls to stand then wrapped all the clothes in the blankets and carried the bundle back to the boat. The girls leaned on each of my shoulders as they held my upper arms. Once in the boat. I dropped the bundle and sat each of the girls in a chair. A cleanser came to me and I used it to clean each of us. The cleanser gave a bit of a tingle when it worked and no matter how much it was used there was more leakage from their vaginas. They were really bushed and I was going to get them dressed when I thought of the ship's coveralls as an alternative. I instructed the boat to make a pair to fit each of my girls. In a moment they were done. The first appeared in my hand and the girls never noticed. I got Megan into hers first and she didn't object. She was like a baby moving as she was positioned. She had to stand eventually and I moved the tight fitting suit into position. Her mound now showed two distinct portions and I stretched the material to make it less noticeable. Sandra liked the look of her sister and scanned the areas of her breasts and her mons. Both were easily discernable. Megan liked the feel of the suit caressing her and her nipples stood proud. Sandra and I could both see the effect on the woman. The next suit appeared in my hand and though it was a bit upsetting, the suit was what they wanted to see. I dressed Sandra and she helped me more than her sister. Megan saw her sister's covered mound as if the suit were painted on her. I adjusted it to be more comfortable. There was a pout when Megan saw the effect. The coveralls had clasps that went up to the neck. On the girls I left quite a few undone and the opening went down close to their navels. A lovely swelling was now on each side. I opened the briefcase without the handle and wondered briefly where the handle presently was. The inside was full of American currency and I looked for small denominations. There were none. The smallest was a hundred dollar notes. I took one and closed the case. Megan was beside me. "You have a lot of money there." "Two million. There is a lot more in the back. Take this. You and Sandra are going to pick up the meal." "Me? In this? In public?" In a louder and demanding voice, I said, "My two sluts are going to do as they are told," this was a new role for me. Megan shivered and so did Sandra. They liked being called that and I made a note to explore more of this later. The girls had not noticed that the ramp had come up and the ship closed up for travel. We were now over shopping plaza with hundreds of automobiles. I directed the boat to the back of the complex and let the girls out. I stayed nude for the moment and they reluctantly went around the building. They felt naked but also felt exhilarated. They seemed to feed off of each other and I was sure their nipples were very erect. I followed their thoughts without talking to them. Probes had gone out as usual to keep them protected and I saw for myself what they did to anybody that saw them. The owner was at the cash. He had difficulty doing the transaction though he had many American tourists. No matter what he did the mathematics seemed wrong. Sandra didn't help because she stood straighter and her chest just happened to stick out a bit more. The coveralls pulled up into her crease. She felt this right away and was worried. If she walked now the sensations would cause her to probably orgasm from the contact with her sensitive clitoris. When Megan finally got the change, Sandra reached down to her mons and pulled the material away form her body. The owner saw this and shivered at the sight. The two girls shared the load and walked back the way they had come. This allowed them to not hide behind any of their purchases. They walked a bit slower to let the gawkers get an eyeful. I had to go further down the alley and into a loading bay because a few boys just had to follow. The girls were transported into the boat and we were away before the first boy found the girls missing. The girls just stood and shivered at what they had done. It was so exciting to them that they didn't quite know what to do. They put the bags down at their feet and then relived some of the scenes in their minds. Megan said to me, "Did you see this slut beside me play with her clit in front of that guy? He almost came in his pants. The material was stuck so far in anybody could see her clit." She looked at her sister's mound and her hand came out and she ran her finger up the cleft. Sandra grabbed her as she shook. Her abdominal muscles contracted and she bent over as the sensations ran through her body. Megan held her sister to keep her steady. When Sandra stood with a smile Megan said, "See, she is a slut. Maybe we can take her to a city far away and have her masturbate in front of a crowd." Sandra groaned at the thought and Megan continued. "Maybe we can make her a dildo. She can stand in front of that crowd, peal back her suit and slip the plastic into herself. She will be so horny that in seconds she will almost fall over as the termors run through her." Sandra almost did and this was enough for Megan to succumb too. I took the time to dress so we would be ready as soon as possible. We landed beside the house and I had to help the girls leave. They held the chicken and fixings but I had a new idea. "Wait a minute." I pictured Margaret and fed her dimensions into the computer and in a while an new suit was disgorged. I folded it up and got out of the boat. The girls saw the suit and it took a second for the lights to go on. We went in the back door. Tom was in the basement finding out about hypersonic craft. Tommy was upstairs in his uniform doing much the same thing. Margaret was in the shower and was almost done. With Tom still in the basement as I figured. Borin got some commands and now the lesson would be altered just a bit. "Put the food on the table and come upstairs with me." We hurried upstairs and into Margaret's bedroom. In a moment the woman came out with a towel around her as she worked on her hair. She let out her own eeeek then relaxed. Her eyes quickly looked up and down her daughters' bodies. I walked over to her and got her to sit in the chair. I worked quickly with her hair and then got in front of her. I took the towel from her and she didn't seem to resist. The girls started to dress her as they were. Margaret had to stand to get it in position. "If you want I will bring something to remove all of your coarse hair permanently. It can be done all over or just between your legs. Tom will appreciate it." She said nothing. She was still a bit stunned. I moved the suit then thought better and pulled the suit tight to show the twin mounds. Megan undid another clasp. Margaret's breasts were larger and were in more danger of falling out. Her daughters guided her to the full length mirror and she saw exactly how the suit fit her. I said, "I am going to get Tommy to the table and get Tom to leave the computer. I would like the three of you to come down the steps and stand in front of him in the kitchen as you did yesterday This time you are women very sure of your position and it is not as a meek Japanese female." There was more than smiles of approval. The three silently plotted now how they could improve on the scene. Tommy's door was open and he was looking at the opening as I came in. "Hi Leif. Borin said you want me downstairs now." "Sure do soldier. Have you seen ship's coveralls in your studies?" "Ya, a few times. They are shiny and tight." "Not always tight but some of the women like to wear them that way to play with a man's mind. It really works. The three ladies of this house have them on now. You will see just what it does to your dad. The poor man will look like he was hit with a truck." Tommy went to the kitchen with me and got the plates out and the rest of the utensils for dinner. I walked down the steps making some noise and called, "Tom, we're back. Time to eat." "Just a minute." He came out a bit reluctantly and then passed me as he did yesterday. He almost missed a step thinking but continued up the steps. There was nobody but his son and me. He smelt the chicken and his stomach started to make its demands. He sat in his chair and said, "Where's everybody?" "Probably getting dressed." Tom and I took our seats. Immediately after we heard the tread of feet coming down. Margaret strutted through the doorway first followed by her daughters. Megan and Sandra then moved beside and behind. Margaret this way was foremost. Their chests were out and they stood tall. The two in back looked around disdainfully with an arrogant expression on their faces. Margaret took a step closer to the table and facing her husband she said, "Where's my food?" She looked around and saw no dish prepared. "You have been told too many times. Haven't you been beaten enough to get the massage through your male brain that you have to work harder." I looked through Tom's mind. He was thrilled with the exposed area between his wife's breasts. He was mesmerized with the portion under the material that has two sharp points. He was spellbound with the stance of his wife with the two small mounds separated and yet so prominent. Margaret saw his gaze and took a step forward and roughly pulled out a chair. Her foot went onto the seat and this opened the cleft that he was transfixed with. Tom's mouth opened wide. "Is that the way to look at me?" She walked around the table and grabbed her husband's upper arm and heaved as hard as she could. The man got up not knowing what else to do. His eyes though were on her breasts. "Get upstairs. I see that the other lessons haven't stuck so well." She pulled his shirt and he meekly followed. Tommy sat with his mouth open. He didn't know what was happening. His mother seemed to be acting insane and his dad like he had been drinking. I seated the two ladies and then said to Tommy, "Many people like to act out a part in a play. Your mother last night pretended to be a very shy person that would never even say boo. It was a lot of fun for both of them. You saw the way they acted the next day." Tommy nodded his head but still not quite understanding. "Your mother is playing a new role where she is the big boss. Her clothes were tight and your poor dad was unable to do anything about it. I don't even think he got into the opposite role yet. He was too struck with your mother's beauty. Always remember that women have a power over us poor men. We can try to fight it but we never win for long." Tommy asked after gulping a bit, "Is she going to spank him?" I relayed the message to Margaret and she said, "In a minute." "She is going to play the game a bit more. I think if you hear some slaps it would be safe to bet it was on your father's hairy bum." "Is he going to feel bad?" "This is a thing grownups do once in a while. It may sting a bit but it will be fun. Something like being tickled when you know the person is doing it because they like you. Now pass the chicken. I want to find out what it tastes like." I soon found that chicken was much too salty and I didn't like the batter on it. The potatoes, beans and salad were the same way. Perhaps I could invent a device that would go over food and remove salt. A minute later I heard the first loud slap and a masculine voice exclaiming about the pain. The girls smiled then Tommy did too when he saw his sisters' reaction. Megan said, "You deserve the same thing. We should beat your butt red." "But mistress," I said in a high squeaky voice, "I may get injured and be unable to service you." Sandra added, "I think it is a good idea still. You make me do a lot of things and it is about time you did a few too." "But you liked it; every single moment of every time mistress. I am but a poor male that needs to be guided. Do not hate me please." "I'll guide you later." Just as we finished the meal Tommy asked, "What did you go to look at before?" "Some land, in the mountains. It is nice and maybe we can build a house there some day. If we do there will be a room for you when you want to visit." The boy smiled very wide at that. "You better wash up and get back to studying. Borin probably has more work for you to do than a whole school full of teachers could devise." "She has me doing hard stuff but it's fun to do it." When Tommy ran upstairs to his room I said, "I stacked the deck for you girls." "How was that?" Sandra said. "When we got back to the house, the Borin image on his computer was dressed the same as the two of you and what your mother wore. He was getting erect watching Borin but was trying to hide it." Megan smiled in understanding then asked, "What are we going to do tonight?" I knew exactly what she wanted to do but said, "I will talk to your parents about taking the two of you away for the weekend. I don't want to lie about it to them though. I had plans to fly the two of you to China and do some sightseeing. I want to buy a few souvenirs and have some fun with my ladies. "If we start tonight we will be there in the daylight. You can take a few pictures or get the probes to do that with Borin's help." I got an excited kiss on each side of my face. They would want to go right away. "You better change clothes one way or the other. The Chinese are even more conservative than Canadians. You don't need anything extra. We can make everything on the boat that you might need." I repackaged the remainder of the food and put it into the fridge. When asked, Borin gave me a weather report for the coast line of China and some of the interior portions. The country was very large but most of it was desert. It is hard for that many people to feed themselves when there is so little fresh water. The dirty dishes went into the dishwasher and I began to do some isometric exercises. The only work out was with the girls and though fun was not conducive to a well functioning body. The fight with Grossi was not worth the mention for it was no danger and it had no cardiovascular improvement. My muscles tensed as they pulled against each other. Different groups were done but not all. Tom had a set of weights in the basement close to the furnace. "Ladies, I am going into the basement to lift your dad's weights for a while until your parents are done." Megan said, "Mom is riding her wild stallion at the moment. I don't know when they will be done." The weights were not very big but I used them very vigorously in place of heavier units. In a moment the girls came down dressed nicely in jeans and watched me work out. High IQ or not I had to work harder with them watching. If only my muscles could inflate as quickly as my ego. I could command my body to manufacture larger muscles but that was cheating. The girls stayed forty minutes watching me. I had to use the weights differently because just lifting them made the bar warm from the metal flexing. I must have been doing something right for I actually started to sweat. The free hand weights were not very heavy but I moved some of the weights from the barbells to the smaller units. I moved these very quickly trying to get as much advantage of the weights as I could in the time available. When I could sense a change in Tom and Margaret I stopped. The girls came over and rubbed my sweaty body with their hands. They liked someone strong that could protect them and the children. I liked their hands on me. Their instincts were strong and they in turn made my instincts react similarly. We had to go upstairs instead. Margaret was in the shower with Tom. It was a good time to pass a short message. "Margaret, I want to take the girls on a trip. I would like to come back Sunday night around nine. I will protect them with my life Will you let them go?" "Where are you going?" "I do not want to lie to you so I will not say. I'm sorry." "You're sure they will be safe." "I will treat them as I would my family." "When do you want to go?" "Now if possible." "Ok, go. I will tell Tom that you are taking them on a trip with you and I forgot to ask where. I can easily explain that I had other things on my mind." "Thanks Margaret." I heard the girls in the background cheering. They thanked their Mom and then said they had things to tell her about school today when they got back. Megan added, "Make sure daddy is handy right after. You will need him." "Ok, Sunday. Not too late. I want to hear the story." The girls went to Tommy's room with me. I told him that we were going to do some travelling and be back on Sunday night. I also told him that on Monday night we would spend some time together. Sandra said, "Make it Tuesday. We have some plans." "Ok, Tuesday night we will do something interesting." The girls kissed their brother again and ran into the back yard. They went to where they were dropped off and mentally asked to enter. The boat was not that smart but it was connected through the long line of probes. Megan then Sandra entered, I was just a few seconds behind. I gave a short lecture on physics and the capabilities of the boat. We were soon above the atmosphere and over the coast of China. "Look at the display and you will see where it is raining and where it is overcast. We have a fair number of probes in orbit and around the globe. I can request a projection for how the weather patterns will change. Just like on the weather channel. I hope you girls realise the fact that you two are the first girls in orbit even though some older women were here first. You are also the first sisters." They looked at each other and smiled. I could see that they liked the idea. ------- Chapter 10 The area around Guangzhou was clear. It was an industrial and commercial centre for southern China. Presently it had a population of over four million people and at one time it had the name Canton. I told the girls that we would try here first. We rushed to the planet and then just flew around the city. The girls talked to each other and to me about what they thought was interesting. China had four main languages and more minor ones. The written languages were the same. After getting the girls to lay down, I worked on one then the other imparting what I know of the language. I did it in small steps and gave them time to digest what they had learned before the next lesson began. In a half hour they could converse but didn't know the customs or some of the more unusual words. It was if they had taken a course in school for three years which was not enough to really get by. I could add to their knowledge when I met the locals. The med unit was summoned and I helped them with their headaches. They started talking now verbally but in Chinese. I had to smile because it sounded like the voices on the radio I was currently picking up. When they paused for a minute I piped the radio to the cabin and the girls were very pleased that they understood all the speech but found some of the ideas discussed needed more background data. Before we went down I put two shields on them. We practised for a while shutting it off and just shutting part of it off. As a race, the Seffra had learned the hard way how and why to do certain things. An enemy may not have our tools but could kill us if they knew that our defences were down. Simply eating some food could be an invitation to having a spear shoved into our backs. We landed in an alley and quickly left for the street. We turned left and headed toward the market. The city had some foreigners but not that many compared to the population. For the most part they stayed in the better sections of the city. Here we were definitely an oddity. The girls were beautiful by western standards. Some residents even stopped to gawk at us. Not all westerners could understand their language but we could do that and also understand what they thought. The girls had to learn to deal with this at school after their minds were opened. Here there were more people and we were making an even bigger splash. The Chinese people are the greatest capitalists around. If they were given free reign they would set up businesses where others would worry that the margin was not wide enough. The present Communist government was just a way of keeping the population under control and to ration scarce resources. They would never have agreed to having only one child per family otherwise. I had been scanning shops and passersby trying to locate some special people. "Girls, I want to go into the next shop. Keep walking a few more shops and look around. I want to get some local currency. Violent crime is rare here in China but it still happens. Don't wander too far." I changed course and walked into the establishment. This business sold local farm implements. Most looked crude but would still do the job. I bypassed a woman and walked to the counter in the back. A man was sitting in a chair. A cigarette was in his lips and a newspaper in his hands. "I need to buy some Chinese money. Will you exchange for American money?" "How much do you have to exchange?" I showed him the thousand dollar bill and said aloud, "Only five dollars." It was against the law to exchange money at any place other than a state bank. The Chinese government worked hard to keep a fixed rate but the citizens always wanted more dollars. To meet the demand the exchange rate sometimes went up to ten times what the banks offered. The reason for saying five dollars was to let anybody in the store know that this was just a small crime and thus able to be ignored. The man came very close and looked at the note. He had seen one before but it was not his. He was afraid of it being counterfeit and worried even more how he was going to cover this much money. He said in a whisper, "If this is not fake, what percentage do you want?" I read his mind and knew the current rate and what the black market was willing to pay. Currently they were paying six point three times the official rate. A week ago the rate was similar and he got a hundred dollars exchanged at four times. "The rate is six point three over the official rate. Give me five and a half." "I cannot do that. The rate you mentioned is old. All I can give you is four percent." I knew the name of his nearest competitor and said that I would go there then. He replied, "He will rob you. I will give you four and a half and my children will go hungry." "Your competitor has fatter children and can afford to give more." We argued quietly for ten minutes before I got five point one. I could have looked around more and got the full amount but I didn't need all the money and I didn't want to be swindled. Diamonds were business but this bargaining was fun. I kept the girls appraised of what I was doing and went into the back. The bill was checked under ultraviolet light and then with a jeweller's loop before he was satisfied. He called two large boys into the shop and gave them orders to bring people and some cash too. When the boys ran out the man started thinking of ways to cheat me. He didn't get too far when I asked, "May I play with this bar while we wait?" He wanted me to stay so he said, "Go ahead." The bar was two and a half metres long. It was one of hundreds used for reinforcing concrete. The bar was a centimetre and a half thick. I sketched the bar behind my shoulders and held it in two outstretched arms. I used all of my muscles and all of my PK. I grunted in exertion and the man watched incredulously that the bar bent in a 'U'. The man had his mouth open and I said, "You should see what I can do when I throw one of these like a spear or use it like a Bo. I probably don't need to show you more do I?" "No," he managed to say and he knew that I figured that he was thinking of cheating me. The girls were getting restless and I told them to stay together and they could move further away. They would have some cash soon so they could buy things. This mollified them a bit and they continued to window shop. Many of the merchants came out to explain how they were giving them the deal of a lifetime if they would only buy his products. In ten minutes the boys came back with some bags of cash. This was not the entire amount. I asked the owner, "I have two western ladies on the street. I want somebody to bring them some money so they can shop. I want four older children to carry what they purchase. The children will bring the items back here for safe keeping. You will watch them for us. I will pay the four children and you a fair amount, depending on how much honesty and diligence they show." The man smiled now. "I can find just the children." "They need to be old enough to understand the responsibilities and strong enough to carry parcels." The man smiled again and called his wife. He directed her to get a niece, two cousins and his daughter quickly and have them come here. Megan and Sandra knew what I was doing and came by to pick up money themselves. They got a cloth sack and they took some money and left happy as clams. I pitied the poor Chinese merchants that would try to bamboozle them. Three men came next carrying large sacks of cash. Apparently larger denominations were hard to find. I presented the bill to the man and now he was very happy. The girls and I took what two hundred dollars would buy and I asked, "I will give you one percent of what we have here if you can get some larger bills. I want the money to be in a sack this large." I held my hands out showing a volume of about eight litres. "Two." "One and a half." "Done." Two children came in and then another, the daughter came a moment later. Instead of letting the man speak, I told them the conditions and said the money they made would be theirs to keep. They were sent off where I said the women should be. "Let the children keep the money. They learn to value it if they have some to cherish. Being poor is hard even though your family is generous with your child." The man didn't know how I knew this but assumed that it was just a good guess. "I will see that they keep the money. I may have to hold it for them so it does not get taken though." "You are a fair man. Now tell me where the best restaurant is. I am taking the four children there to eat to. I enjoy family." He was going to suggest his own house but decided that a real restaurant would be best. He even picked a good restaurant over one that he owed favours to. I got the information and what they cooked best. They cooked a duck that was supposed to be very good but took a long time to prepare. His wife would run there and get the meal started. I bowed to the man and he bowed to me even deeper. I had no worries that the money would disappear. The girls were easy to find. They were the ones in the middle of a giant moving crowd. One or more of the children ran from the crowd to take a purchase back for safe keeping. After a few more minutes the children were dressed much nicer and I saw that the girls like dressing the children. The children liked the attention. The daughter of shop owner was named Li Mei She worked with a proprietorial air getting the correct child to do the tasks assigned to the group. The girls knew of the restaurant from the time I was told. They had not worked up an appetite yet at shopping. I stood beside them as they worked the merchants One would offer a product at an inflated price and the girls picked up some of the merchants' own tricks and harangued his quality and basically insulted his store. When the merchant claimed that they could go no lower the girls would mention other merchants by name and say that they would go much lower. They picked up some nice rugs they claimed would be for our new home. I had to give them my money so they could keep the momentum up. Some very nice furniture was purchased. They had a theme in mind so the pieces would hopefully match. All too soon I had to go back to get more money. The man deducted this from the total and I went back and fed the spending machines of mine. Their friends at school were thought of and gifts bought. Some things I thought of as junk but the girls thought were pretty. They went behind some curtains in a store and put on some very fancy dresses. These were much more colourful than what the people in the street wore. Soon the children were carrying the girls' old clothes back to the store and the girls proceeded in a fancy form of local garb. Bowls, dishes, cups and other table paraphernalia was purchased as if we were now setting up a Chinese house and not a Chinese area of a home. Linen they found was very reasonably priced so they bought lots of this. They now needed trunks. They were hand crafted out of teak to put the linen into I drew the line when they started to buy clothes for their children. They wouldn't be pregnant for years yet. The girls were starting to run down. They thought the meal would get them back into fighting form. The last of the purchases were sent back and the girls escorted their temporary family to the restaurant. The establishment was not very clean. There were some large tables and we sat at one in a corner. The owner himself came out to say the duck would soon be ready. I pleaded with him to keep the salt down. He also thought that since he was the cook he knew best. Hot tea came served in clear glass drinking glasses with no handles. You learned to sip quickly and put it down. Only our lips were in danger though because of the shield each of us wore. The children ran wild ordering bubble tea and other drinks that westerners were not familiar with. The meal came out and the girls served the children. Li Mei was old enough to do this herself. The girls were used to Chinese food or more exactly Chinese food served in North America. The food was quite a bit different here. There was much more plain rice. Dog, rat and civet cat were sold too but I kept the information to myself. Extra vegetables cost more and the duck was an extravagance. The taste too was said to be different. I happened to like it because it was more bland. The remainder of the meal was sent home with Li Ming and the girls were able to gain their second wind. Megan said that I needed some local clothing so I was dressed as if I were a child with little to say in the matter. They knew what was right and that was that. In ten minutes I looked like a little emperor in my brocade jacket. The pants had been changed to go along with the shoes. A colourful silk shirt completed the costume. The girls now bought three sets of bedding and went back to another shop and got more teak chests. Men had to be hired now to carry the full chests back to our depot. Li Mei handled this chore for the girls. The noise around our group was even louder than the normal fare found in markets here. The shop owners found the occasion to be a bit distracting but a lot of money was still being spent. Children clustered around the girls for they soon found that things would be given to them. The more destitute they looked the more they got. Shops selling food seemed to do particularly well. We got to the edge of the sprawling commercial district and saw a great deal of tall drab concrete apartment buildings. The girls continued in their straight line when they saw another business selling jewellery. They went inside while the owners assistants kept the majority of the crowd at bay. They purchased some additional jade to go into their collection and a few more pieces for their friends. I had to unload more cash and would soon have to return for more. Li Mei seemed to get quite a few gifts. The girls seemed to like her. I did too for her mind was very sharp and she had a sense of fairness when dealing with others. When we came out, instead of going back into battle, the girls walked further away into a park to rest. They ended up leaning against trees. There was cigarette butts all over the ground. The Chinese spit all the time and took no notice of others. Infants didn't have expensive diapers. A seam in the pants of the child opened when the child squatted. Faecal matter and urine were all over. The stoop and scoop law was not in effect here yet. Megan said in Chinese, "This is tiring and the place is just so dirty. I'm surprised the people here are as healthy as they are." I replied, "An unclean environment in a baby's life either mean that the child dies or he gets a good chance to build up a natural immunity. My family did the same thing but it was done more scientifically. When a child grows up those immunities are then very useful." Megan responded, "But look at the ground. They don't even clean the place. I think it only happens when the rain comes and washes it into the ocean." I was looking at Megan. In the background was another drab apartment building. A young child over half way up was looking out the open window at our colourful group before him. My attention was elsewhere and this information seemed to have been retained. The child moved to a better position to see us when he began to fall. He frantically grabbed for some hold. With a cry he started to plummet to the ground seven stories below. I knew that there was concrete and not grass at the bottom and the child would not survive. There was a great need to be there and to catch the child. I shifted to one side to get around the people and obstacles. My shoes slipped as if I was walking in no gravity. My PK drove into the ground and this pushed me forward. I did this again and again to get where I absolutely had to be. I was not going to be in time, the distance was just too great. My mind did an odd thing then. It was as if I pushed through a crystal barrier. The calculations for when the child would strike the ground altered. I still had to push very hard with my PK but soon I found that I had to push the other way to slow my progress. I was in the air and had to slow down enough to not go past my objective. I wanted to reach up with this ability to push the child and thus slow him but I needed all my efforts to get myself under him instead. When I got close to the building I saw some people sitting on concrete benches playing a tile game. The child would fall on one of the tables. I could not simply get beneath the child. I shifted my trajectory slightly and stopped three metres to one side. Immediately my PK went upward and pushed very hard at the distance. The child slowed and the task became more complicated because I should not push with this amount of force. The child would be hurt by this. The child too had to be pulled so that he fell towards me instead of where gravity would bring him. I had to pull to one side then push to lose speed. To further complicate the problem the child was now spinning. Even if the child came to me he could die with just a bad fall. At four metres the child came more to me and I tried frantically to adjust his spin. Variations of this had been done in space many times and this helped now. At two metres his back was to the ground and he was stable. At one metre I braced myself and formed my arms to cushion the fall the best I could. The body came into my arms and I shifted to one side and caught him and rolled. This was like what Humans did when landing when parachuting. We rolled over and I pushed my arms out so that my weight didn't compress the child. We came to a stop under a concrete table where two old men were playing a game. My mind snapped back to where it usually was. I tried to check the child for damage but my head pounded with a pain I had never felt before. My skull felt crushed from the inside. I started my body to begin repair but I blanked out not knowing if I had succeeded. I was being prodded and picked up but I didn't want to awaken. The pain was still there and it was just too difficult to bear. I awoke again and knew that I was being carried. I felt through the pain a familiar presence then another. I felt pain again. I directed my body to repair and to lessen the effect of my receptors. I could make out that the cloud was thinning. More effort was used to deaden the pain. This required a considerable effort before I was able to even check my environment. Sandra was in front of me. I felt love there but it was not getting through to me because of the effort I was making to repair myself. Megan was beside her sister. I risked more pain and opened my eyes. I could see the girls smile now. Sandra said, "How are you feeling Leif? We were so worried when you disappeared." I looked behind the girls and saw Li Mei. She too was very worried. The background looked to be her father's business. Megan said, "People are coming to find out about the accident?" I managed to send, "They can't find us. Hide!" Sandra talked to someone and I closed my eyes. I tried to assess the damage to my body. I couldn't seem to get information from the probes that should be around us. The crushing pain was the worse but my body felt bruised all over as if I had been the one to fall. My fears grew. My eyes flashed open. "How is the boy?" Megan spoke. "He's just fine. He cried a lot but it was in fright. There was a lot of talk about the rescue. The locals said that you magically appeared to save the child. The boy even flew sideways into your arms. Everybody wants to talk about it and find out what happened. We can talk later when you feel better." "We have to leave. The boat. Hide." "We are working on that now. We are going to move you upstairs now and tell everybody else that you walked away with us." All I said was, "Good," and went to sleep. I woke up later and it was dark. I was also moving over an uneven terrain. The pain had decreased somewhat and from the minds around me I knew we were travelling in a large wooden cart pulled by a thin horse. Another cart was close and the girls were in it but hidden. "Where are we going?" I felt relief and Megan said, "To a barn. We have all our stuff with us. Sandy and I figured we could hide there and it would be a good place to leave from. We didn't want to leave the things we brought because there would be more questions about why we did this." It was an hour until we got to the barn. From the inside I was carried out and placed on some clean straw. The rest of the girls' property was stacked in a clean area. The girls gave their thanks and the men left. Li Mei was the last one to leave and was very concerned about me and the girls. Megan and Sandy kissed her like they did their brother and sent her off. I had to fight the pain but I called the boat to us then deadened the reception again. I said through closed eyes, "The boat is coming. Ask for the med unit and Borin will turn it on. She will control it. Load the boat if you want the things you bought. I will try to get into the boat as soon as I can. We are in danger here." I heard two voices saying, "Ok." A med unit was soon around me. I could tell because the pain was getting easier to take. I opened my eyes to see the visible boat being loaded by the girls. They now had to carry everything themselves. When the pain was more manageable I asked Borin, "What happened?" "Captain, You finally overcame your shifting problem. You appear to have done everything right. You did expend too much effort working your muscles. That is why they are sore. A portion of your brain is now more active. This is the area that you could not utilise fully before. There has been some damage and your body is working on the repair along with the med unit. It should be completely repaired in nineteen hours. You will be functional in one and a half." That made me feel good. For years I had been depressed that I had not overcome this continuing obstacle. Now that it was passed it felt as if a great weight had been removed from me. I could now advance and my people would look at me as more of an adult. Perhaps the mastering of this task was not mentioned that clearly because it would give this much pain. Everybody else that had passed this barrier claimed a bit of discomfort but not as much as I experienced. Possibly it was because they were close to medical facilities when it happened. Even a simple med unit, available at the time would have helped me much more. I felt somebody approaching our position. It was a police officer riding a bicycle. "Hurry, we have company." The girls started loading the rest of the small articles very quickly. Megan went into the boat and moved the articles out of the way. I read the approaching mind. He was not looking for us exactly but had heard the reports. He was simply doing his rounds. Nobody had told him of our whereabouts but he was just checking for thieves. In the back of his mind he was hoping to find us and then try to find out why we needed to hide in the first place. The man opened the door and entered the dark building. His long flashlight came out and pierced the darkness. It went to the boat and luckily it was now invisible. The light stopped a second on a pair of new shoes in a bright red colour. He looked in the stalls and even kicked the piles of straw. He saw nothing else on the floor and climbed the ladder and searched the loft at one end. When nothing was discovered he went down to search the other side. His flashlight went across the floor where the shoes were and he found them missing. Now the search got more intensive. He probably would have heard someone climbing the ladder so he searched the floor again. A long bamboo pole was used to spear the straw but he found nobody The search continued until the light he carried got dim. He left with a very perplexed feeling. He was sure that there were some fancy shoes on the floor when he came in. The girls were in the boat and high in the barn. I was invisible and clinging to a horizontal beam under the first deck the policeman searched. I let my feet go and after my swinging stopped I released my hands. The jar shook my head and caused me pain but it was manageable after a few seconds. When the policeman a kilometre away I said, "Is there anything we forgot?" "We got it all, Leif." "I will open the barn and you can go out." "Ok." The ship moved by me because I could sense the girls in it. Once it passed I closed and secured the door. When I entered the boat I sat in the chair and rested before going anywhere. I found from the girls that Li Mei had helped them a great deal even if she had received a great many gifts. It was after midnight local time but I still had a debt to discharge. We went back to the district of Guangzhou we had been in and to the back alley behind the home of the person that ran the farm implement store. I got out with a few things and knocked at the door. Nobody heard and I didn't want to make more of a scene for the neighbours to report "Li Mei, please wake up and tell your father I am at your back door. I have a debt to honour." I had to repeat myself four times before she awoke. When she did is said, "Please tell your father to go to the door." She understood but didn't understand this method of communication. Three minutes later a light went on over the door and a small window was looked through. The door opened quickly and the man urged me in. We greeted each other very properly because he had heard even more talk of what I had done. He apologised for not being able to protect me more. I said, "Thank you for what you and your daughter have done. I have come to pay the debts that I owe to the children and to you." "That's fine. You do not have to pay anything. I will take care of the children. I heard that you have saved a boy by using magic. It must be good magic because it was used for good." I smiled and said, "It is not really magic but I will thank you for your way of rewarding me. I do insist on paying what is due." The man handed me a sack with the remainder of the money. "Here is what belongs to you," he said. "Thank you. Now for the payment. Take this money and pay the men that helped twice what would be their usual pay. Take the remainder of the money and split it three ways for all the children except Li Mei." There was three hundred dollars worth of Chinese money. The man was considerably confused. The money I gave was a very great sum to give to children. I took out two, one thousand dollar bills again and gave these to the man. He was very excited now. "This money is for Li Mei's education. I am placing this money in your care and trust that you will use it for only your daughter. She is your only child and is very intelligent, compassionate and organized She will be a government leader or run a large factory some day. Encourage her to do so. Her people need her." The man could not talk, he was so confused by what I had done. I spoke again, "Is the debt now considered paid?" "It has been more than paid." "Then I must leave." I bowed then left the building. In a second I was invisible and then brought into the boat. The man stuck his head out the door and saw no trace of me though the alley was long. Sandra was very sleepy and said, "That was nice of you Leif. Maybe we should thank you too but I am tired. I don't even know why." "Eight time zones ahead of your home Sweetie." We went into orbit and I got into bed between the two girls. We were all asleep in less than a minute. When I woke up the next morning I found the girls clutched to me. It felt good to be wanted. Before I got up though Borin said, "Captain, two of your offers on property you wanted to purchase have arrived. One accepts and the other contained a counter offer." "Is there a good chance that the latter offer will be accepted if we refuse to pay more." "A very good chance. The property has had three offers but none in the last eleven Earth months." "Write the offer back at the old price and offer to close immediately." "Yes sir. We have found more wreckage. There seems to be no pattern yet. It may be debris that the planet's gravitation field captured. I have sent probes to the other planets to continue the search." "Good idea Borin. Did I get any other email?" "The two gentlemen have not sent any information yet." "Thanks Borin." The girls needed more sleep. Their minds had not fully adjusted yet to the new reality and some of the effects would take a long time before they would be fully utilised. Just like me. I had only done this last stage almost thirteen years after I was born. The girls had been raised differently and may never reach the things our children could possibly do. Borin told which of the properties would now be ours. The other one that we wrote back the offer on was only twenty kilometres away from the first. We travelled over the Rockies for the inspection. The area we were now purchasing was searched. We found only a fishing camp nearby that had four men in it eating their noon meal. The building was not on what would soon be our property and they were a good distance away. There was a three kilometre frontage on the lake and this represented fifty eight percent of the total boundary. The rest was bordered on two properties. There were no visible caves or mines, but there was a large hollow volume inside a rock face that lead to nowhere. I landed amongst the conifers and even opened the hatch to let the scented air into the boat. A noisy Jay seemed to awaken Megan first and within seconds the other linked girl awoke too. It was nice to see them so close. I went into the sleeping quarters and gave each of them a kiss. "Come out and see our first property. It has a large lake which will be mostly ours. Come on down and skinny dip. The four men fishing won't object unless you scare the fish." Megan shivered and said, "The water will be too cold. Are the men good looking?" "One's fat and drinks most of his meal. Get up. I will take you over and introduce you to them." "This bed's warm. You going to climb in and make us happy?" "I could do that but we have the boat to unload. There are too many of the things you girls couldn't resist buying. I need to find a place to store them. The sensors show a large hollow area fifty seven metres inside the rock face. There are no openings to it so it should be a good depot." "No openings? How are we going to get into it?" "We have some light weapons on the boat. Not much good against warships but good enough against unprotected rock. Come and watch." The girls got up and groggily looked at the screen that displayed the oddly shaped cavern inside the mountain. The shape was not all usable because it had a very steeply inclined floor. It was over thirty seven metres high though. The hatched closed and the boat rose a bit and retreated from the rock face. Behind us was a small drop off and we hovered into this depression so our disintegrator was almost level with the ground we were facing. Probes were now monitoring the nearest Humans to see their reaction to what we were going to do. The range to the rock face was only twenty three metres so I set the power as low as possible and sent it for maximum dispersal. Even that may be too much. A single pulse left the projector and travelled many times faster than simple light. Everything in its path disappeared as if it were scraped clean by a giant knife. Rocks at the bottom of the rock face disappeared as if they were smoke. A circular hole was now in the wall a bit larger than a metre. Smoke, dust and debris fell from the surrounding area. A probe went in to investigate. The tunnel went into the hollow area and nineteen metres into the wall behind it. At that distance the tunnel was big enough that the girl's home could fit in the new volume. There had been no explosion of escaping air but there had been an implosion as air from the atmosphere rushed into the place formerly occupied by rock and whatever air was in the cavern. The implosion made a large rushing noise that Humans would not have been able to hear before. The weapon was something special that I would not want to get into the hands of unscrupulous people. The fishermen were still in their cabin. The noise was certainly heard but they didn't know what to make of it. The surrounding mountains reverberated with the noise and they didn't know even where the noise originated. They were interested enough to slowly make their way to the front porch and look around for any evidence or to listen for another sound. In three minutes they returned to their beer. Going to a small locker I took out an odd looking device. It looked like what Margaret used to dig up the garden. The handle was shaped like the letter 'D' and from that and extending twelve centimetres was a ceramic rod. There was no hole in it and no obvious triggering device. From another area I took a small rod. The boat landed close to the new opening and I left by the matter transmitter. I raced into the very smooth tunnel and was able to stand in just a few metres. When I got to the original hollow space I energised the rod and it glowed very brightly. Before me was a pit and a large open space above. The tool I extended in my hand and played it across the areas above that looked to have loose rock. The rock vibrated and in six seconds it began to break up and fall. There was a great deal of dust but most of the rock was gravel size. By choosing more areas in need of clearing I was able to fill in the pit and enlarge the usable area of the room. The tool now was altered and then played on the floor. The mountain started to vibrate in much higher amplitudes and though little more fell the floor settled into place. I now walked on the floor and looked back the way I had come. More rock was cleaned off the ceiling and the walls and then resettled. The new floor was just a bit lower than the opening to the tunnel. "Come in girls and take a look." The light emitting rod was twisted and placed against the solid rock wall. A type of glue was ejected. The rod was held in place for a minute and it would not easily come off again. The girls came in. There was still a lot of dust in the air but it was settling. "Good enough for a storage area?" Sandra said, "We could stick three or four houses in here and still have lots of room on the top." "Let's get your booty." The shopping expedition had caused the girls to purchase a goodly number of ornate teak boxes. The girls and Li Mei had done a bit of repacking and most but not all had been redone. I took the full cases into the mountain and the girls worked to fill the others with the smaller articles. Everything found a place and we even now had two empty boxes. I asked, "What happened to my emperor's uniform?" Sandra said, "When you disappeared, the clothing could not take the trip. We found pieces of it all over the place and your shoes were both crushed. You never told us all of what happened." I went into my past and explained what my race could do if we had to and what I had been unable to do. I described what happened to my mind and my overworked muscles. An explanation was given for why I had not heard of the danger before. "Are we going to be able to do that too?" Asked Sandra. "I have no idea. At a guess I would say no but you have not had enough time to fully integrate your minds yet. I waited almost thirteen years and I was born with that ability. I think our children will though." The talk of children got them to think of procreation and of course my part in that. We had to hurry to the boat to practice. Before we abandoned the depot, the vibrator destroyed the clean cut areas outside the tunnel. A large rock hid the entrance but a shield unit really protected it and kept the light from leaving. We investigated the property though in detail. Sandy and Megan had a game coming up with housing designs and placing them in different locations. Their minds could do this job quite easily now. I said to them, "If you two completed a new IQ test, I think you would come in at close to five hundred. You are going to have to remember a bit better than me to appear like the rest of the population." Megan said, "It is easier for an intelligent person to act stupid than a stupid person to act the other way." Sandra asked, "What are we going to do with the rest of the weekend?" "Let's go to the Japan. I want to buy some smaller denominational bills. Perhaps Mr Iwasaki may be able to do this for us. Then we can go back to China and see the Gobi Desert and the Great Wall. A museum or two would be nice. We can go to some other places to sample food. Some of the clothing you bought is nice but I think we can find some very good dresses for you but I am afraid they will be expensive." "Why not just change the money here?" As soon as she said it she said, "Oh!" A phone call was made and the girls studied how it was done. Mr Iwasaki had some smaller change and would get more. He had even sold some of the stones but had received cash. The banks had not been open in Japan. When the time came he was going to start some accounts in the Cayman Islands. "Will you be so kind as to deposit some of the cash I have laying around? It is getting underfoot." "How much is there?" "I only want to deposit eight million now. I need to have some cash for those articles that need it." "I can do that easily Mr Kawamata." "Thank you sir. May I ask if your body has healed to the same level as the terms I gave you?" "I am very happy with the arrangement. There has been a drop in productivity because I seem to have regained old interests that I thought I would never have again. I am not complaining mind you but my mind is not quite as focussed as it was before." "That is very good. I must say that I suffer the same as you. The men of this world are under a heavy strain to do what is necessary. "When will you be here. I will wait if it is necessary." "I can be there in ten minutes." "Very good." We were in Japan in three minutes. It was raining and I just made a bag and put in what should be eight million. There was another sack with a million in American and a million in Canadian currencies. A small bundle of other money would be used to purchase Chinese money. I hurried through the rain and this time I allowed it to get me wet. Mr Iwasaki met me at the door personally. I removed my shoes and walked to his office with the bag of money in my hand. The man had changed a bit. He no longer stood rigidly to put on his act but acted casually. His complexion was better with the improved circulation and he really looked much happier. I knew that there were two new women in his home now and after checking them I saw that they were happy with him too. We chatted a bit and I let him know that I had my girls waiting for me. "Are they as beautiful as I think they must be." "Oh they are very beautiful and very intelligent. I would like to start a family and these two would give me children that the world has never seen. It is lucky though that I am young and strong. It can be very demanding situation but the rewards are worth it." "I have found the same thing but I don't want any wives at least not yet." The man got serious now and said, "Others have noticed the changes in me. I know that if the same thing that you have done to me could be made available to others, you would have no need of the small rewards that the diamonds bring." "That may be true but I do not want to do something like this for strictly monetary gains. You, as a business partner, need to have some reward and that is only fair. I am looking for various amounts of heavy elements. Some are mildly radioactive. The purpose is secret but the goals are peaceful to all of the peoples on this planet. Another in the United States is looking to acquire these things for me as well. He may fail in his quest and if so I will need an alternate source. Do you know of such people that have access to these elements? I would rather pay the owner than buy stolen merchandise even though it may be considerably cheaper the other way." Will you give me a list of what you require?" The sheets were quickly filled in and handed over. I said, "I will honour both contracts for these articles. The elements though will bring a great more difficulty to your life. Governments can ignore some things like the buying and selling of diamonds but these materials will start to needlessly worry them." "I will be very discreet. Would your rejuvenation be part of the payment? There is much more chance of getting what you wish." "It will if the majority of the list is filled." A happy partner hustled out with another large sack of money but this was in smaller denominations. He had not even asked what he would get for his part in finding what I needed. Sandra and Megan had been watching me with the probes and with their minds. I was dragged to bed one more time. They liked the talk about them when I said some complimentary things then mentioned family and children. We eventually went back to China. It was night at the moment on the eastern portion. We were forced to see the landscape through sensors only. This was not a problem for it was almost what my eyes could provide. The sensors could pick up wild life and we had fun flying through steep sided river valleys finding all the odd creatures. The girls like cats and searched for every variety their improved minds could dig up from memory. Chinese internet sites provided information on other interesting places. We went to the areas mentioned and inspected them with the sensors which were much more interesting. We had some macabre fun picking out the remains of the original builders entombed in the Great Wall. By now the evidence was very minimal but the sensors could detect even this. The time came when we could once again meet people. Beijing was opening for business. They had a cold spell and we dressed up in warm clothing to fit in with the populous. The girls had some money still unspent and a portion was used to provide breakfast. This meal was very new to the girls. The Chinese ate something like porridge but in large bowls. Some was made of rice or other ingredients. The ever present glass of hot tea was provided as a glass of water was in the west. Portions of meat cut from barbecued animals was served in a bowl of rice porridge. A wide range of sweet buns were produced that had everything imaginable in them. The girls tried a bit of everything and I kept deeply hidden any comment about their waistlines increasing. They were enjoying themselves and that was what counted. We walked the streets of the city openly. I found a business that could do our currency exchange. The man was nervous, especially here in the capital. There were still others doing it and we got a fair deal and much quicker than last time. There were some stores catering to foreigners that the locals could not use because their own currency was not accepted. The girls had seen the images in my mind and headed for the dresses. Two very helpful clerks assisted. The merchandise was not just good, it was great. The products were very well made and every detail was looked to. A great many man-hours or probably woman-hours had been spent on each piece of clothing. We spent American money here and it was a lot. Purchases for the family were made and extra silk clothing for them. One section had jewellery. Many fine pieces of jade were in evidence. The quality here was the same as the rest of the shop. I picked some nice pieces myself. The boat could easily make everything we purchased but it felt much nicer to know that a lot of sweat and pride had gone into the articles we bought. The same was true when I thought about my mothers. They loved things that were handmade. The girls burnt up a lot of calories shopping and the energy given off only brightened the small portion of their auras that were still exposed. This seemed to get them even better service. The bill when it came was very impressive. The mound was also very high and I had to work to find a way to get it onto our small craft. We took three taxis. The clerks helped load all of the merchandise. The drivers were incredulous and didn't even know what was in the parcels. They did know that everything in the store was very very expensive. There was a truck park not too far away. I directed the lead taxi around the back. I picked a truck and said that it was ours. The parcels went onto the ground. It was truly impressive in size. The taxis were paid and tipped then left thinking about crazy foreigners. The pile decreased very quickly as the cargo was thrown aboard our boat. We went back into the city in another taxi. This time studying the people and the architecture. There was sand all over the place here. A sad fact was not only that China was a desert country but that the nearby Gobi desert was encroaching on the capital city. It was said that in perhaps ten years that the city would be buried in sand. We did have our next meal in a very fancy restaurant catering to tourists. The girls ordered even more but asked for small portions. They looked very beautiful and our waiter was very solicitous. The girls had to waddle out and complained of their clothing shrinking in the different weather but again I kept my thoughts well hidden. Another taxi took us close to a major hotel and we got out. An alley drew us and in a moment we were in the boat. The girls shed their clothes and Sandra complained of a small cramp. Megan was going to try having a nude only boat but she knew her sister was starting her period. The clothing ban had to be stillborn until her period would be over too. We went into the Gobi Desert searching out all the details. The salt lake was interesting but it was too cold to swim in. We went home a bit sooner and stowed the new booty in our depot. The three trunks now came in handy but there was still not enough room. Another shield generator was brought in and the entire area protected from all but high tech threats. Instead of going home we made very slow languid love. The girls were kept very high and only found occasional release. They still seemed to orgasm as one entity no matter which was being more stimulated. The three of us worked to please both of the others and nobody was left out for more than a few seconds. The girls could take it no more and wanted to stop. They saw me still very erect. Megan now got some of the idea why so many wives would be needed to satisfy a man or a man like me. Sandra was well satisfied too but still had the cramp. I cuddled up to them and said to both but mostly to Sandra. "You can control your body now but it is best to have guidance until you learn much more. A woman can stop having her periods and not suffer from the loss. Some have missed periods for hundreds of years and then had a child when they choose. Would you like to banish your periods until you want them? It is your body and your choice." Sandra and Megan thought on the problem. This was a blessing women had looked for since the dawn of time. They quizzed me on detail and they could see no down side at all. They tried to hide it but this would take away their chance to 'accidentally' get pregnant. Sandra agreed and I took Megan with me into Sandra's mind and body. I showed her all the different things to do and watched as she did them. This would have to be done each month but soon it would be a learned response and all that would have to be done is give the brain the command. Megan's period was a few days away. Sandra and I went into Megan's mind and guided her into making the same adjustments. When we were done, Megan asked, "You said that a woman could miss her periods for hundreds of years and then had a child when she choose. How long will we live now?" "You can repair your own body now. The med units work even to the molecular level. The Seffra usually live for thousands of years. Those three points are the most important. One individual reportedly lived for a total of four thousand one hundred and twenty years. We are not necessarily immortal but can live a long time. The Seffra actually choose when to stop renewing their bodies. This gives room for younger members to move up. That is why on our ship children were a very small proportion of the population. "We may be starting a family but we will also be starting a race. Not everything is the same. I want Humanity to have a say in how the universe will go on and that won't happen if the Seffra is copied too closely. On the other hand I feel reluctant to stray far from the Seffra norm." The girls looked a lot more closely at what was before them. They saw that each would better than any Human doctor even thought of being. The thoughts of living a long time were examined then I was asked about why the Seffra decided to end their lives. It was a very sobering thought. I knew that we could live a lot longer than just four thousand years but the will by then was not there to push the limits much more. Borin told us a few minutes before we were going to head to Victoria that the second property was ours. The people had accepted the offer. Two more counter offers had come in but their price was still too high. I had more than enough money but I still resented being taken. The girls greeted their family very warmly. Sandra said that we bought things for them but they would only get them in three weeks. That was the time I figured the family would finally come around to embracing their new life and undergo the alteration of their minds. Tom looked critically at his daughters. They had gone off with me for two days and many things could have happened. He did see that they were both very happy. They seemed much more confident and sure of themselves. He saw that they even took me as an integral part of the group of three. It was an easy going relationship but one he felt was very solid. Tom kept his new questions to himself. The girls and I knew very well that they would have to be answered very soon. This happened a half hour later when Tom asked, "Leif, will you explain something on the computer that I found?" "Sure, let's do it now." ------- Chapter 11 When we got into his study he closed the door and I sat on a chair but not facing the computer. Tom sat too facing me. "Leif, I like you but I have to know what you are planning with my daughters?" "There are still a great many things you do not know about me. You will learn those in the next few weeks. Some things take time to settle in before something new is added." This he readily understood even if he didn't like it. I said, "The family I grew up in was very strong and cohesive. Dad was a very virile man. He was not king of the roost for the family was guided by consensus. There were more than two votes though. He had ten wives much like some Mormon and other families living in communes." I paused to give him a chance to grasp this idea. This took five minutes for Tom to see many of the repercussions. "So you are telling me that you want both my daughters?" "I am young but you have to admit that I am very mature for my age. Not only do I 'want' your daughters, I want them as my wives. When the time is right we will have children. Already we have been looking at home designs." "What about their schooling and their careers?" "Before you know it they will have a better education than anybody that you have ever heard of. Their careers will cover a very broad spectrum and each will get to specialise in something they like." I now smiled at him and said, "They will have to learn how to make those reaction motors. Power supplies have to be built. Ceramic material has to be processed in many ways. Computers the like of nothing you can imagine have to be made. Thousands of devices have to be fabricated and installed. After all that is done the planet has to be cleaned. There are too many toxic substances that are poisoning all of us. "So you see that we have a fair sized task ahead of us and I want the rest of your family to assist us. This will mean that you learn everything your daughters will learn. Before too long this may include diapers once again." Tom remained quiet but his mind worked hard on the problem. "Will the three of you come down here and tell Tom what you think?" We heard the tread of feet and the door opened slowly. "Daddy?" The girls came in and their mother behind them. Sandra talked first and said how she felt about me. Megan did the same thing but in different words. Both mentioned how the two of them were stronger, especially with me. Margaret added her own feelings. Her daughters were feeding her the data from in the study and she knew what her husband was going through. Even now she was fed his thoughts so she could counter them. Some of his concerns were my age and the fickleness of youth. The way the marriage would appear to what others was discussed. He had not yet grasped how the family could weather public opinion. He had no problem with how I would support the family. Tom had been on the computer most of the time he was home this weekend. Borin had been feeding him very subtle hints to how a family like mine would work. It was not brainwashing but actually just getting him used to the idea of what we could be capable of. In half an hour he had come around but things had not settled yet. He just needed time to digest the facts and to talk a bit more to clarify more points. This clarification had to wait for he didn't know that I was not Human. Sandra saw this battle as over and decided to talk to her parents on a very personal level. She explained how she had lost her virginity and when. She was not too graphic because Tom was embarrassed but she said how I was the best even with her small sampling. Megan made sure that her father knew that she was older than I was. She went on to say that she gave her virginity to me and made her the happiest woman there was with the possible exception of her sister. Tom was a bit angry at this but already knew this in the back of his mind Megan hit below the belt when she said that though the location was still secret that we had actually gone our honeymoon. They had bought a new trousseau along with gifts. Tom now seemed to be more comfortable with this after the first shock. It was not that I might marry the girls but now I had married them. We were now just carrying on with our lives. This settled in better when some of the linen was discussed. Men seemed to tune out the women when this sort of thing is mentioned and I was comfortable with Tom doing this for it was an indication that he was going to have less problems with our odd union. We did go upstairs and had some juice to drink and the girls accessed Borin and started to talk about technical details of some of the simpler aspects of some devices. This reinforced my assertion that the girls would get an adequate education. Sandra said before the meeting broke up, "Dad, I briefly talked to mom before about a sleepover for some of Megan's and some of my friends. Nothing was finalised but I would like to have it tomorrow night. The two of you were going to that meeting in Vancouver. Since the two of you will have the day off. Why don't you stay in a hotel? We can find our own way to school in the morning and we will take care of Tommy." So this was the plan they had for me. It is nice to find surprises and that is one of the many reasons to avoid finding out everything there is to know about a person. Margaret said, "Are you sure everybody will make it to school. Girls have a habit of not getting to sleep until late and being unable and unwilling to go to school the next day." "All of us will make it to school and be on time." Margaret said, "Well it sounds all right with me. You will have to see what your father thinks." Then in a ironic twist she said, "And what your husband thinks." Tom and I looked at each other and he said, "It is ok with me." He looked at me and I had to say something. "I regret it already but I have no real objections." Each of us got a kiss and this one was different. Tom got up and went to his study to continue his education. When he was safely out of earshot Megan said, "Mom, we have to tell you what that man of ours did on Friday." "What?" They took turns telling their mother about the discussion in the cafeteria. They went into great detail about my frank talk about a man pleasing a lady. Megan talked about Wendy squirming around in her seat and how her hand started to frig herself. Margaret looked at me most of the time picturing me saying what her daughters were telling her. Sandra got an evil idea and passed it to her sister. Their talk went into even more detail mentioning now not only what I said about the state of this hypothetical woman but of how the girls felt that were sitting around the table. The girls grinned inside as their own mother moved about uncomfortably. They had a perfect memory and repeated everything as I had said it. When their mother had a shiver go through her body she finally caught on to her daughters' plan. Sandra quickly wrapped that part up then talked of what had happened to the girls' clothes. The mother now was quite aware of her own damp panties. Though they had not seen it they knew of my distraction. This they described because countless people had come up the them to tell them what they witnessed. When their mother was set up, they told her how brazenly I walked into the women's washroom and helped all of the girls become presentable. Sandra pretended to be indignant when she was fondled in front of her friends. Megan talked of how sorry I was to such an extent that one of her friends orgasmed in my arms. Margaret put two and two together and asked, "Is that the reason the girls are coming over, to talk about... your husband?" "Part of it is but some is for Leif to have a different talk. They understand so little about their own minds and that of those weird creatures we call men." Margaret could not see but I certainly did. It was planned to be a lot more than a simple talk. Tommy had gone to his room after first greeting us. Education was now a compulsion with him. We said goodnight and he reluctantly closed down his computer for the night. He had not heard that his sisters and I considered ourselves husband and wives. He was young and saw it close to having a girlfriend in a way. The girls now openly moved into my room but still avoided being too blatant about it. I was not surprised by Margaret dragging Tom from his seat in his study and getting him between her legs. After one orgasm each, he was much more interested in going to bed himself. Margaret was even happier when I silently told her I would take the girls and Tommy to school in the morning. They could sleep in another hour. The girls were worked up too and didn't want any more slow sex. I did try to be quiet though. Margaret sent us the thoughts that we were heard by both of them but Tom was not too concerned because he was presently quite content himself. Monday The next morning I awoke and began to work more on my plans. The girls were on each side of me and I really had no inclination to move. Borin kept me informed on the search for the ship, the properties I wanted and a myriad of other details that were necessary to complete the tasks I assigned to myself. When I had to get up I did so with my PK. I was pleasantly surprised that I was much stronger now. Pulling and pushing the child then the mental breakthrough seemed to have dramatically improved this ability. I made breakfast for the girls and Tommy. The coffee was prepared and only had to be turned on. On an impulse I got in the boat and flew to Beijing and found the business selling those buns the girl's liked. I got a dozen of different varieties and was home in six minutes. The girls came downstairs. They used the cleanser now which took a fraction of the time and did a much more thorough job. The fact that it tingled their clits they claimed had no part in the decision to use it. I was given a very big kiss by each when they saw the buns. They had looked through my mind and knew exactly where they came from. Tommy was coming downstairs and Megan started talking verbally but in Chinese. The poor boy came into the room to find us speaking an unintelligible language. "Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Megan brought him over to sit by her and she pointed out the buns and what each contained. He started eating one. It was ok but nothing great to him. When he found out that the buns were a Chinese food he asked, "Can we have Chinese food tonight?" Both girls burst out in laughter and Tommy didn't understand. Before he got upset I said, "It was an inside joke. Your sister and I have been eating a lot of Chinese food recently. They just found it comical that you would want the same thing all of a sudden." I continued, "I have to warn you Ensign Claystone," slipping into my other persona, "There will be some alien creatures coming over tonight." He was now very interested. "They are some of your sisters' classmates. They are going to have a sleepover and go to school in the morning. If they come over right after school or just about, I can order a meal to feed the entire Chinese army. "These alien creatures will tease you unmercifully. Take it like a soldier and they will eventually see that you are someone to be reckoned with. You will be tested later in your life and it is actually a good way to learn how to deal with it now." Going to a different aspect of speech I said, "How is your lessons in the Gossna language doing?" I said this in the same language I was talking about and it was hard for a Human to vocalise some of the sounds. Tommy brightened and answered in the same language, "I only know a few words." His mouth contorted a bit and continued, "it's hard to speak." "Keep at it. As I said before, you will get a chance to learn more from a native." His eyes got big at the reminder and there was no possibility in his mind that I would be mistaken or wrong. Sandra saw what was happening and said, "Now what were you two talking about. Some of those words are impossible to say." I said with a superior air, "It is a foreign language that very few people are able to grasp. You have to be dedicated to learning and have a very structured mind." "That sounded harder than Chinese," Megan said. I simply said, "Considerably," and let it go at that. Tommy was just a bit smug and didn't see that we were patronising him. A taxi was called. Tom and Margaret were still asleep after a hectic night. When the vehicle came we all got in and went to the high school. This time I stayed in and continued on to Tommy's school. Tommy seemed to be proud to get me to himself for a while. It would be bad to leave him now, so I paid the fare and walked onto the grounds with him. He introduced me to some of his friends and I met the three others I had met previously at the park. It was twenty minutes until the bell would ring and I was asked to hit the ball to them. One section seemed to be safe for this and I hit the ball high into the air. The other boys too soon joined. Each was very proud to have caught a ball that had been hit so hard. This was not the game of 21, it was just catching practice for the boys. It got more efficient as more boys gave me balls and I at one time had all five balls in the air at once. When the bell rang they quickly gathered their property and they looked sorry to leave. Then again if I had been busy digging a ditch by hand they would be hesitant to leave for school. Tommy stopped at the door to see me still in the field. I waved to him and he waved back before entering. Now that I was free, I headed north to another of the properties that had agreed to our terms. This property was in a remote area and comprised 480 hectares. There was a shack on it that had collapsed twenty years ago. It did have a small deep private lake. A large stream fed it from a much higher lake and the lake drained into another lake further down the mountain. There was a good way to make a hidden entrance that would be difficult for Humans to find with their current technology. An underwater entrance would allow not only the boat but perhaps Borin too to enter and leave. This area is where I wanted to make the special fabricator that could make almost everything including engines. It was very complicated and needed a good computer to regulate it. Besides engines, crystal and components it could make everything a standard fabricator could. Under a canopy of trees I worked on the disintegrator I had recently used. Mining machines used disintegrators too but in a different configuration. The large barrel was removed and the fabricator began to make nine smaller units. This took two and a half hours to modify. These were placed on the hull and energy conduits ran to them from the original power supply. This configuration took an additional hour to manufacture. At their lunch hour I talked to the girls and I told them what I was doing. After ten minutes they left me to my work and said that the girls had been able to come for supper. Megan would order the food trying to stay Chinese but not be too different to what the girls thought of as 'Chinese food'. The controls to the power supply had to be extensively altered for much less power and a great deal more control for direction. An overhang of granite provided a good entry point for our base. The boat was sealed and moved into the area I wanted. Its axis rotated and pointed straight up. Artificial gravity made this not even noticeable except to the sensors. A small burst of power blasted a vertical hole sixteen metres into the rock. The boat had moved to one side and did this procedure once again. Soon I had a cavity wide enough to accommodate the boat in a horizontal position. The boat backed out and then went in horizontally until it rose up into the new cavity. At a slight upward gradient the boat went ahead at a crawl. A two kilometre long tunnel had been built. It had a diameter of four and a half metres and had taken forty three seconds to complete. Sensors and probes were released and they surveyed the condition of the rock ahead of us. It looked favourable. When the probes returned, the boat went forward after a right angle turn. I plotted a course that would remove a volume of rock a hundred metres in diameter and half of that to a domed ceiling. This took ten minutes to complete. Other devices played on the walls and then the floor to strengthen and smooth their surfaces. This though took an hour. When the precision fabricator was working one of its first jobs would be to produce a large enough shield to protect this base from anything that Humans could throw at it. On the way out, I left a small shield to protect the interior temporarily. Nothing could have got into this area except bats but I didn't even want them in. I stopped and picked up fourteen large bags of food. The cashier was very surprised when I spoke better Chinese than she did. She must have known why the order had been so specific for some dishes were to be made the traditional way. Before I left she called her family out and they spoke to me too. They came from another coastal city east of Guangzhou. With a ship you would sail between Macau and Hong Kong. Once on the open water it was only 350 kilometres to the city of Shantou. Almost a hop skip and a jump from where the city they knew my accent was from. I talked of the market and the streets around it. The parents were very pleased for they had been to the city three times and had remembered this area. I barely made it home ahead of the girls. They came in two cars and there were five girls with them. Megan came through the door first and came to me and gave me a kiss. This was a production and she did it with a lot of feeling. She backed up breathing hard and sported some very hard nipples. Sandra came next and she aroused me even more. Ronny the outgoing one came in and tried to do just as good but she was not the same. I did kiss her and gave her more tongue than I had the only other time I kissed her in the girls' washroom. I knew from her mind that she had been put up to this by my wives and I gave it to her as good as I could then. She had a small orgasm and sagged against me as if she never wanted to go. I picked her up and placed her on the couch to recover. It was soon apparent that I had to kiss the rest too. These girls I went slower and even had a bit of foreplay before the kiss. By tickling their pleasure centres each had an orgasm. The last was unabashedly rubbing her jeans waiting for her turn. This one took very little effort and almost no mental tricks. When the last was put into a safe position I said, "Well you two, what did you have planned for these girls? None of them is inexperienced or in need of details on how to pick a man." Sandra said, "Three of these girls didn't believe what happened at our table and came to check you for themselves. You seemed to have made a favourable impression and proved to them that we were telling the truth." I said, "They want a lot more from me than a kiss. Ronny is barely able to keep herself on the couch. She would rub her clit but is a bit afraid of being caught doing so." Megan said, "Most of the next group are the ones that need your guidance." I caught a bit of a thought but not all. "How many is in this next group?" "Only sixteen." "What am I to do with sixteen girls? I can see something beyond stories, a frank talk and a kiss or two." Sandra admitted, "Some want to jump your bones. They have never had a good relationship with anyone or even a good sexual encounter. Two have never had a boy or girl. One had a hairbrush but that doesn't count. After learning to read minds I see that women are turned on by other women very easily. Not that I mean all of them are lesbian but with a few steps a woman can seduce nearly any other woman. "We were thinking if you showed them the right way they will swear off other women and go after guys. There is where you come in again. You have to teach them to teach their boyfriends." "Girls," I said, "as soon as one girl starts having sex the dam will burst and all of them will be wanting their share." Tommy came home and looked at the girls sprawled on the furniture. They looked like hungry cats stalking a bird. "Hi guys." Tommy was a bit afraid of the look even though the girls only looked at him once. He wanted to get upstairs to his room as soon as possible and lock the door behind him. Megan was polite and introduced her younger brother. The girls were never interested in a boy of his age but were polite in turn. They saw that Megan had me in her house and thus controlled access to me. I felt like one of the carcasses hanging in the Chinese markets. Tommy made his escape when the door bell rang. Sandra opened it to the first of sixteen girls. They had overnight cases in their hands and great expectations in their minds. I looked at each of the girls. Some were pretty and some weren't. Some had good looking aura if I took the effort to see them. Others didn't have ones I felt were as attractive. It was usually the less pretty ones had the better auras. All this was subjective for an aura was a personal thing. Megan and Sandra got the first group up and got them to close all the drapes, pull the blinds and start what was needed for the sleep over. I was told to greet the company. This I did the same as the first group. Because these were mostly young and inexperienced I worked very slowly so as to not frighten them. From the background I heard, "Kiss them Leif. They are dying and need some relief." "Are you objecting to my style already. Last I heard you liked it better this way." "I want a turn again too and so does that slut of a sister of mine." As with the last time I had to find places for them to recover. The air was now very thick with pheromones. Sandra came downstairs followed by the first group. They were now dressed in pajamas or something that looked very sheer and they had panties on underneath. Sandra said, "Ok girls. Go upstairs to the bedroom with the pink bedspread. Stake out a small area on the floor and change. If you want to be like children, you can use the bathroom to change. Get back here in three minutes. The food is getting cold and I am getting hot." Two girls got up then the other ones followed. One tripped and fall looking at me instead of her path. Sandra came over now for a kiss of her own and I stopped her. "If you do this then the rest here have to have a kiss too. Then the ladies upstairs need to have theirs. The food will be cold." "Ok, but they better eat fast." The table was used only for the food and even a side table had to be used. A phone call interrupted this so I picked it up and said, "Hello Tom. Everything is all right. The house had not suffered any damage and the ladies have acted as such. How are you and Margaret doing?" "How did you know it was me? We don't have call display." "I put myself in your shoes. I would phone now and then phone again at ten or ten thirty to make sure." "I was going to call at eleven." "See, I was wrong. Would you like to talk to one or both of the conspirators?" "No that's ok. Give them our love." "I will tell them but they already know that." A large stack of plastic trays appeared from the basement storage area. They were wiped quickly and given to the shy girls coming downstairs. It made them feel like they were at the cafeteria at school. One young girl had cotton pajamas and Megan hurried to her and hustled her back upstairs. I helped the girls to dispense the food telling them about what the ingredients of each dish were. Megan came downstairs with the same girl now dressed like the others. Megan took her to the trays and got her started by putting the girls favourite dish on her plate. Tommy was called and he came running down until he saw all the near naked flesh. Sandra helped him fill his plate and we could all see Tommy get excited. None of the girls stared and none dared laugh for they knew how protective the sisters were of their only brother. The girls were mostly sitting on the floor with some of the older ones having their legs spread. Tommy was starting to get flustered and I said aloud, "Soldier! Remember what I said?" "Yes sir." He relaxed quite a bit and got control of himself. The natural signalling device used to indicate his mood dropped a few percent. I gave Tommy a place beside me so he would feel safe but also be able to see the ladies. The trouble was that they were all staring my way. Tommy ate his meal quickly and then got a bit more to show he was not running but after he finished he did leave. He forced his feet to a measured tread but it was hard to do. Sandra and Megan tried to get the girls to eat more. They too explained what the food was but had to lapse into Chinese for the names of the vegetables. They pointed to the Chinese characters that were on the covers to indicate the contents. When more or less everybody had ate, the food was sealed up and put away. The kitchen cleaned and even the plates for later. Girls seemed to get a second wind around ten thirty I found out. The girls now went and washed their hands and faces. They didn't want food or grease where it shouldn't be. When everybody returned to the now clean living room they found some seats but most had to sit on the floor. Megan began the show by saying, "Leif, tell us what a boy sees in girls like us. Be blunt to save time. It is something that we have to know." "Well I have to ask something first. Is it a boy, say up to the age of twenty one or so, or is it a man that can be any age? Secondly, are you dressed as you are now or in your school clothes?" "A boy. Like the people we go to school with. We would be dressed as we are with only him present. He is a boyfriend that we have let go all the way once before." I started, "Your dress tells me that the signals you are sending him are that he is going to get lucky again. Because you are still clothed, means that you want a bit or romance and a bit of attention before you try anything right away." "What if we had not gone all the way before?" "The same thing but now the girl has to take more of the lead. A male is governed by instinct. Some males have such a high level of hormones in their system that lust overpowers them. They have no control of themselves any more. If this is the type of male then the girl is either going to have sex or she will have to do something very drastic to avoid it. Screaming is the best but you have to be prepared to strike hard and quickly to protect yourself. I would say that most men or boys are not that overcome with lust and can be talked to first. You explain what you want and when the man can see where his efforts will be going to. Most men will then act civilised." "How can we tell the difference?" "Petting will start either gender to feeling the urge to mate. A girl can change course or say no. Look at the male at this time and see if he is barely holding his eagerness in check or one that seems to understand that he has to wait." Now Megan was ready to start what she wanted all along. With a smile at me she asked, "Some of us have not heard your discussion on how a man should please a girl. Will you go over it again for the benefit of those that have not heard it before but do so in more detail so we really understand. Continue on with the conversation too for last time there was hardly any time to complete it." "I wouldn't mind that but I have to ask a few questions first." "Go ahead." "First of all; is there anyone here that is uncomfortable talking about a highly erotic subject? I ask this because all of you ladies are intelligent and can easily visualise what I describe. Most, if not all, will find the visualizations too much and begin to respond to my words. The response will probably lead to a small climax. If there is anyone here that finds that having a simple and natural nervous reaction in front of others is unsatisfactory, I suggest that they wait upstairs." After ten seconds I said, "I see from the lack of people moving that you all agree. Now my second request. Words convey a great deal of meaning but seeing pictures or the actual recreation of the act is much better for learning. I need somebody to show the rest. Megan, since you have been so helpful I would like you to come here please." Megan got up and was unsure of what to do. She tried to get into my mind but couldn't. "Sandra, run upstairs now and get an old blanket. Hurry." Sandra ran off and the rest watched her leave. I motioned with my finger and Megan came close. "Take off your top." "But..." She reluctantly undid the small ribbon and the top came off. "Now the panties." "What?" "Megan, you know that I love you. I will not hurt you. The young ladies need to learn. That I believe were your own words. Remove your panties please." She looked around at her friends and then back to me. She hesitantly pushed the garment down her legs and stepped out of it. Her hand was in front of her mons and the other was trying to hide her breasts. Sandra came running down with a soft comforter. I took it and said, "Thanks Sandra. You and your sister will make great teacher's assistants." The comforter went on the plate glass table beside me. I kissed Megan very quickly and picked her up half way through the kiss so she was sitting on the edge of the table. When the kiss ended I pushed her gently back to lay on the cloth. Her legs were hanging off the edge of the table and I picked them up quickly to make her comfortable. She then knew that she was fully exposed to those on this side of the room. I turned to he class and said, "Gather round. This young lady had graciously agreed to help you." The girls moved quickly and I used my thumb on her clit to distract Megan from objecting too strenuously for I could hear her constantly asking questions about what I was doing. When the girls got in position I started. "Megan is a very sensitive girl. This is her primary erogenous area. Her clitoris, that I am gently touching, is sending all sorts of stimuli to her brain." I continued in this vein discussing the various Human terms for the different areas. Occasionally my finger would enter Megan and I would lick it off and mention how good the taste was. The girls, for the most part were all rubbing themselves during the demonstration. Ronny was close and since I already knew her predisposition, I said, "Ronny, come here and look closer." The girl got quickly up and had her face close to Megan. "Look at all the moisture that is coming from my woman." A finger went back into Megan and out again. Megan bucked at the touch for she now had no concern whether others looked at her or not. I moved my body to one side and my wet finger was soon under Ronny's nose. She could smell the scent very strongly. The finger then went to her lips and lovingly traced a path that would moisten them. The finger went back to her nose and in a second tried very gently to work its way into her mouth. Her lips spread willingly and she sucked Megan's essence from my finger. Whispering very softly in her ear I said, "She is very beautiful. Isn't she?" She nodded her head and I said, "Sit down again Sweetie." I began my demonstration showing what to look for in a very aroused woman. Moving to my knees I gently sucked on Megan but not quite enough to bring her off. Moving back I said, "You can now see her beautiful clit standing proud as if to say that she is here and wants to be counted." I did this again and Megan's hands frantically tried to get me to stay even a second longer. I pulled my head back and looked at the girls. "Take off your clothes now. Those sitting on the carpet, sit on your garments. The carpet is scratchy." There was a mad rush to do this and two girls fell over. When they had seated themselves I said, "Find your own clit. Move your finger into your opening and take some of the lubrication and move it higher to lubricate the sensitive piece of flesh. "I will now take pity on Megan and in the process show you what a women in extreme need will act like. Her reaction will be much more dramatic than you have ever witnessed or experienced before." I put some blocks on Megan now but did it subtly so she would not know. I licked her inner and outer lips before touching the clit. I pulled back and did this again. The last time my tongue extended as long as possible into the woman I loved. Her abdomen contracted at the sensation. My tongue rubbed the 'G' spot as my upper lip and nose caressed her clit. Megan's breathing got deep. She was panting as if running a long race. She could not reach the point that had been so easily to reach recently and she tried harder and harder to gain the top. Her efforts continued to mount and mount until she became frantic with desire. When she had gained the precipice by shear force, I released the block completely. Megan screamed her release. The very windows shook with the intensity of it. Her abdominal muscles contracted repeatedly as if this would help her. Her upper body was going up and down. Finally she just sat up with no real conscious thought and mouthed another scream that never made it out of her mouth. She then fell back to the table and remained still. I got up and licked the secretions from my face. With a bit of PK and muscle I picked up Megan. I kissed her unresponsive lips tenderly and carried her to a bare stretch of carpet. Everyone of the other ladies and especially Sandra had their own orgasm. This one though was something they had not felt before and I had not even touched them. Sandra had wanted this sleepover as much as her sister and now she would pay for it similarly to her sister. I picked the woman up and took the comforter. Now I used the floor. Sandra was placed on her knees and her head was against the comforter. I caressed her opening from behind but she didn't respond. When most of the others had come to some sort of rationality I said, "The next lesson has to do with the physical union of the male and female. Here both sets of genitalia come together. This is accompanied by rhythmic movements of both sets of organs. This would lead to the ejaculation of semen from the penis of the male and into the female reproductive tract." Sandra was not here fully but I forced blood to my penis. It grew to a larger size than any of the girls had seen before. I began my explanation again to stir up the girls and give Sandra a chance to recover. I had to take other means to stir her and when she awoke I continued with my lecture. When the head of my penis was fully lubricated, I moved it into Sandra with very slow shallow strokes. Some of the girls moved to get a better view. Sandra started to groan and she too had a block put on her. It took a few minutes before I was in her completely. "Sandra darling, tell me what you want." "Oh fuck me. Fuck me hard. Don't stop. Fuck me..." I did as she asked but kept the pace slow. My hands caressed her back and butt. Sandra continued with her mantra which caused some of the girls to orgasm. I lay down on her back and stimulated her nipples with my hands. Sandra started moaning about this and demanding that I pull and pinch her delicate flesh. I had to reach into her mind and see that this was still pain but that her mind transposed it to pleasure. I started moving back and forth now with full strokes. I had to release her nipples for this. The other girls gasped and I had to do short strokes again until I retracted much of my penis. They had seen too much. I came back again but completely left the comfort of Sandra to plunge anew into her. Perhaps the girls would think this is what they had seen before. This change though pushed Sandra too far and she was racing for her orgasm. I moved much faster and succeeded in pushing her faster and higher than before. She screamed a loud long call that turned into a wail. My own orgasm came too and I added my own call for all to hear. When I was able to check Sandra, I found her unconscious again. There were no women still stroking their mounds, for they had all succumbed to their orgasms. I was worried about them and called for the med unit from the boat and even a spare. They flew into the house and quietly put everybody to sleep. I got up and moved the girls to a comfortable position and let the devices do their work repairing damaged tissue. While I was at it I directed the probes to ferret out any disease and destroy it. I actually found that this was a major undertaking. The girls all had problems. Some would lead to cancer, heart disease or other conditions. The two virgins were worked on a bit to remove some of the blocking material so I could enter without causing too much pain. Everybody would see a bit of blood and know that the girls had indeed been what they claimed to be. Cleansers had to come in next to remove what was inside all the women's orifices as well as clean their external bodies. The floor and the house in general would need a very thorough cleaning after. The procedures took forty minutes and all the units went out of sight. My girls awoke first and looked around at the wall to wall flesh. Megan said verbally, "Leif, you are very lucky that I love you. You almost killed me. You started and stopped so often I wanted to rip your skin off with my bare fingers. That was the most frustrating experience of my life." I looked at her then Sandra and said, "You were the two that brought them here. I am not in a mood to collect more wives though you may think so. They will come when we find them and not sooner. The two of you are enough to keep me happy." Sandra said mentally because some of the others were awakening, "We felt compelled to do this. We would rather have our friends. We really wanted them to have the same joy we have had. Don't be mad at us please. We love you but we want our friends to be happy too." "I am not really angry. I love the two of you too and will make exceptions. What am I going to do with the rest and especially with the two virgins?" "They all want to be fucked. Please do it for us." "I will if you want. I had the med units come in and clean them up. There were a lot of problems that have now been corrected. Two of your friends, one being Ronny, had different contagious diseases and not just one each. I checked and they were not aware of this. It may have been their boy/girl friends." "Julie?" Asked Sandra. "Yes. You need to have a serious talk with them. Now that your friends are coming to, how do you want to proceed with the special ones?" Megan answered this time, "Take the timid ones last. They will be more open to joining the rest." "Ok, I will go with that idea." Now that Ronny was clean of both disease and detritus, I decided to start with her. "Please come here Ronny. I would like for you to be next." She ran a step then slowed to think. When she got to me she whispered, "I don't think I can take all of what you gave either Megan or Sandra." She didn't mean the size of my member but the intensity of the orgasm. I whispered back, "I will only give you what you can accept." "Thank you... Leif." She wanted another word but wouldn't voice it. She wanted me very much but knew that I was in love with the sisters. She would take me any way and her submissive side even played with 'master' if it would get her what she wanted. Ronny was positioned on the floor. I started slow. This was to show the rest of the girls that I was not going to just take them without a chance for them to say no or a chance to warm up. None of them were like this now for they were playing with themselves and the air was thick with their smell. When Ronny was clawing at me, I stopped and mounted her. She closed her eyes in appreciation. My penis began to get bigger and started to stretch her just a bit. I moved slowly trying to touch all the places she liked. Reading her mind readily told me what she liked best. When she was ready to pop I put in a block. This one was not as high as the others I had used but it was high enough that when Ronny orgasmed, she fainted like my two had. Not all of the girls had orgasmed in sympathy with Ronny. The next girl was given a similar treatment but I linked all the other girls, even the two virgins. They could all feel me stroking into them even if it had never happened before. Another block was put in place but it was smaller again. In moments they all orgasmed and the noise was very loud in the house. One even urinated with the intensity of the feelings going through her. I continued this with the remainder of the girls. When one orgasmed, they all did. I did my utmost to not seem like a production out of this. I talked to each of the girls and tried to vary the act in various positions. The last two were the virgins. They were tired from all the stimulation but now knew what love making had for them. The first one whispered about the chances of pregnancy. I looked deep into her eyes and said, "Don't believe other males but I am going to tell you the truth. There have been so many girls that you will not get any of my seed at all." She was still worried so I said, "If we did have a child I think she would be very beautiful like her mother." She now blushed and the chance of a pregnancy now was not as objectionable as before. Megan said, "What are you doing Leif. Every single one of the girls are falling in love with you." "I am trying to strike a balance between showing affection and doing this so the girls will not feel what you mentioned. The love you talk about is mostly infatuation and I will try to distance myself from them if I can, so that they have no troubles with staying or even getting a boyfriend." I lay on my back and the girl slipped herself onto me while assisted by Megan. She slid all the way down in one continuous movement. She felt very little pain and was surprised at this. She gave me a cute smile and then started to move her hips. Megan was right behind her to make sure she didn't get carried away. The other girl was encouraged by Sandra to sit on my face. They moved quickly and my girls had to guide them with their hands and words. My tongue slipped further and further in to the one on my face until I think I took her virginity this way. The girls in the room now felt what it was like to have sex the first time again. I put another block in. This time it was very low, just so the girl riding my pelvis would feel suitably rewarded for her efforts. She soon did and fell completely off. No sooner had the one fallen than the one on my mouth moved to this vacated position. She just pushed herself down quickly and felt very little discomfort. This was the last one and I put a higher block and the girl worked very hard to overcome it. When she did she screamed the loudest of any in the room and fell over on me unconscious. Megan stood above us and smiled down at the girl a bit older than her but she saw her as a child. The girl was placed on the floor and Megan saw that I was still erect. She moved over me quickly and squatted. "Being little Miss Piggy today aren't we? You must have had close to twenty orgasms already." "I can use more from the person I love. This is for you, so stay still." She concentrated on her muscles and started moving each one independently. The ones in her vagina did this then acted in unison as Megan read my mind to see how I felt. Different combinations were tried and either abandoned or added to her repertoire. In the end it was me that had the orgasm and it felt better because Megan had worked only for my benefit. Later when we had all rested I said to everybody. "Ladies, you have all made me a happy man. I hope that I have brought some joy into your lives too." I got a few words of agreement. The girls were now bushed and felt the most satisfied they had been in their lives. I added a bit later, "I love the smell of a hot female wanting to entice her mate. If I could mimic the scent I would make a lot of money. The sad fact though is that the house will still have this scent in it tomorrow. Will you assist me in removing it? We can turn up the heating and open the windows. If you get cold you can put your clothes on but I like seeing naked girls for some reason. Do you think I am one of those perverts?" I was assured that this definitely was not the case and they began to clean. The furniture and carpet were the worse for some places were actually sopping. These I claimed and told them that I would put something on it tomorrow morning that would make the evidence disappear. The girls made up for it by doing the walls and even took the kitchen and hallway on. During this relative lull in activity Borin reported, "Captain, we have three more acceptances for our offers. There has been no word from Mr Mason or Mr Iwasaki but it is very early. Our probes have found more wreckage in the Pacific Ocean. As yet there is no decipherable pattern." "Thanks Borin. If I can't find the heavy metals I will just have to use riskier methods to obtain what I need." "Yes Captain." The work turned out to be pleasurable for all of us. The girls luxuriated in working in just skin. They would ask questions of me trying to get me to notice how nice they looked. There was a squabble for the small ladders and chairs for they liked to have their hind ends high enough for me to notice them. Two girls reheated the Chinese food while the rest worked. One of the former virgins wanted to take a meal up to Tommy but I vetoed that. It would embarrass him a bit too much. She also had plans on the poor boy and her judgement was not that good at the moment. I gave an impromptu language lesson where I told the girls the Chinese names of the individual dishes. If they got the words reasonably correct I fed them a chop stick full and gave them a kiss. Too bad French were not taught in English speaking schools this way. I knew that the students had much more incentive to learn. We did a last bit of clean up then put everything away clean. I knew that Margaret would be happy about that. The girls all had sleeping bags. To be egalitarian Megan and Sandra slept in theirs too. I went around to all the girls and gave them a kiss goodnight and a bit of a nudge to sleep instead of talk. School would be hard to take on only a few hours of rest. Tuesday The next morning was very hectic. The girls were tired and they wanted to just sleep a bit more. I felt like the only adult around. I pushed them to get dressed. The cleanser made them very clean but some had to have a shower out of habit. Part of this I was sure was to parade by me with some wet naked skin. Once they became awake enough they decided to talk and this was as good as any other nice activity. I was usually the topic most mentioned with Sandra and Megan. They were then encouraged to eat more of the Chinese food from last night. It was more of a Chinese breakfast now and the girls did eat. Some usually had juice while others had cereal. Most girls watched their weight and so watched their caloric intake. Tommy tried to eat his own meal but the girls tried to tease him too. They were not getting very far with me. He saw more bare skin then than he had ever seen before. When some of the girls wanted him to see their breasts and feel for lumps is when I drew the line but not after allowing the boy to try. He would have a lot to talk about at school and I had to talk to him about being quiet. He knew, absolutely knew, that he had a better secret than aliens and spaceships. The fact that he could not talk about it to his friends hurt. They did make it to the taxis I called. These though were minivans and took a bit more than just an automobile. Again I was given a kiss by all the departing girls. The drivers just ogled the girls and wondered what I had that would make them act this way. Some had come in their own cars and left the same way. With the last of the guests out of the house, the cleanser was now starting a job on the carpet and furniture. The air and all surfaces were being cleaned as a precaution. The scent when the parents came home would still be unmistakable. Tommy and I went with the girls. He sat in the back seat with four girls. I think he was groped once or twice but he said nothing about it to us. Some girls got out of the car reluctantly when we got to the high school. Sandra and Megan kissed Tommy and I but his was on the forehead. Tommy was happy with this for he was a brother. I was not sure how long that would last when he entered puberty. Our driver was one of the older girls that came to the house. When we got to Tommy's school she wanted to know if I wanted a ride anywhere. This would have made her late for school but she didn't seem to care. Tommy asked me after the girl left, "Why were all those girls at our house and how come they were almost naked and acting funny?" "That is a lot of questions. The girls were invited to a sleepover. Usually that is just a chance for the girls to talk and socialise. Your sisters knew some of them had problems with relationships with their boyfriends. Your sister thought that I could set them straight on what to do and what not to do. They were having sex with their fingers and with me. They seemed to like the way I do things and wanted to show their bodies to me so that we would have more sex with them. They were acting funny because they were either very horny or had just had an orgasm. Girls are luckier than guys. They get an orgasm that is very strong and lasts a long time then can have another right away." "When will I get a girlfriend?" "There are a great many things that have to happen in your body before you are ready for sex. A girlfriend can happen any time you find a nice girl that wants to spend time with you. In case you are worried, you look good and the girls will be first attracted to your looks. You are a caring person and they will find that out after first meeting you. You are intelligent and will have a job later that will get most of the women on this planet interested in you. They want to get into space or into our base. That means that they will have to be approved by some people. You are already approved and the women will throw themselves at you to get approved too." "The girls will do things with me too?" "We are both gentlemen. Women do not get much by offering their bodies. If they are worthy of doing a task then they will join us but not because of sex. Don't worry Tommy. You will get lots of girls." "I like that. I will look at the ones at my school and you can tell me if they are good." "I'll do that for you but I think soon you will know who to pick yourself." ------- Chapter 12 An extra repeater had to be placed in orbit to control the cleansers. Borin would handle this task though the boat usually would. I went back to our first depot and dropped off all the parts we were able to make so far. The boat picked up some minerals and wondered around the field like an grazing animal looking for trace elements that it needed. I used the hand tools inside the base to make a much nicer job of the interior. It was enlarged greatly and again the floor was settled. There was a considerable amount of pulverized rock and this was dragged out and flown to a large depression and dumped. Doing the job this way took a lot longer but the material had not gone under the disintegrator and been sent out of phase with our easily seen three dimensions. The unseen two dimensions were utilized by the computer and other tools like our communicator and sensors. Only a select few could even become dimly aware of the other dimensions. When the room was much more symmetrical I spent the remainder of my time putting small holes every ninety three and a half centimetres around the walls and then worked higher until I was at the apex. These holes would hold the projectors that would make this depot strong and secure. The only things to break this pattern was when I made three entrance ways for future expansion. I went home a bit weary. This was more manual work than I usually did. The fatigue was more of the mind than of the body. At lunch I had eaten from the boat's supplies and talked to Megan and Sandy. They missed me but the girls at the table and one more nearby missed me even more. The girls wanted steak for supper and I was to pick it up. Sandra and Megan had to go to a school game. It wasn't compulsory but their friends went and it would look odd if she didn't. I encouraged them to keep their usual activities going. When I first entered the house I saw that something was wrong. The cleaning had gone too well. There was not the slightest bit of dust, grime or even built up wax. The carpet pile now stood up straight as if brand new. The light fixtures and the walls looked the same. There were two hours left and I had the cleanser come back in and start putting some dirt back into place. This turned out to be a lot more difficult than removing it. Tommy came home on time with a spring in his step. It was easy to see that something made him happy. Going only for surface thought, I saw what he had talked to two girls and they had talked back. Both had been very friendly. He might have two girlfriends but he didn't know what to do with them yet. He got a drink and sat at the table to talk to me. "Where are Sandy and Meg?" They had a game to go to. They should be back a little after your parents get home. I have an hour that is free now and I would like to take you for a ride. If you remember I promised some time for you today. Any particular place you want to go?" "The beach is nice. Too cold to swim but a nice place to walk." "Mmmm a beach." I smiled and asked Borin, "I would like to go swimming where there will be no interference from the locals. Warm salt water, daylight and warm air. A small island would be great." "There is a small island in the Caribbean near Guadeloupe that fits your requirements. There is no sentient life within seven kilometres." "Good, thanks Borin." "Tommy, you have been good at keeping secrets. I am going to give you one more. Now run upstairs and grab your swimsuit, beach shoes, and a towel." The boy didn't understand the reasoning but did do as he was told to do. He took this as an order and worked quickly. I took some potatoes and after washing and puncturing them, placed them into the oven. The timer was set when to come on and at what temperature. The boy ran downstairs as I was cleaning the sink. "Leave by the back door." He stepped out the door and saw nothing different. He was a bit confused because a taxi would come to the front. I walked to the most hidden part of the property and Tommy followed. "Don't get frightened soldier. Soon this will be a casual thing for you." He still didn't understand until he was suddenly in a strange enclosure. He didn't move. He just stared at the wall in front of him in shock. This was familiar to him though. He turned his head a bit and saw more that he had ever seen before. At the same time everything was understandable and he was strangely comfortable with it. He eventually did a full circle noticing all the things that had been explained in his lessons with Borin. "You going to take a chair, or am I going to have to just wait out here?" Tommy quickly took the nearby chair. By feeling the texture and firmness he started to accept how he had fallen into one of the many different kinds of ships in his computer. His mouth opened a bit and stayed that way as I appeared as if from thin air. I smiled at him trying to make this seem casual. "Take the Navigator's chair. I will pilot the boat out and we will change places coming back." The boy had done his lessons and jumped to the correct chair. Hold your equipment up in the air." The boy did and it disappeared into storage. He even knew where it was going. A holographic image appeared of North America. "We are going to a small island off the east coast of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. It is quite a bit east of Cuba and north of Venezuela. Find the locations then the larger island. Check with our satellites to see which of the small islands that have the best swimming conditions and are isolated from people. Travel time will be five minutes." "Yes Sir." He had done this before but it was simulated with the use of his keyboard. He now had to use actual mechanical devices and try to use his mind in something he was only verbally told about before. His eyes shot open when he was able to talk to Borin. Her voice was in his head and she was much more understandable. She was going to interface between the boy and the boat computer while he learned. Eventually he would have to do this himself with the boat's much simpler computer. He had never been this attuned before. His thoughts went all over the place and not only did Borin follow them but provide insight as well. Tommy found what I requested then put the data into the computer. The course along with the locations of both ends of our trip. He put in the time variable for our current craft. "Course laid in sir." "Thank you Ensign." We started out a bit roughly. Nothing was felt inside the ship but we had to skirt the top of the mountains by a slightly greater margin. This had never been taught to Ensign Claystone. The mountains were very beautiful for their raggedness. We saw great expanses of open ground crossing the United States. Cities went by too fast to see. When we came to the Caribbean, only the islands were visible and only for a very short time. Tommy had got over the shock of his mode of transportation and became enthralled with the view. He would come back to his surroundings but then go back to moving a sensor so that he could see a specific detail longer to understand it. Borin had to tell him about this ability. He was beginning to see how little he actually knew. He had studied before in a partial belief that Borin was real somehow. He hoped to be flying as he presently was but had no idea how this would come about. With his current reality he knew that he had to study even harder now. Deceleration was very short and we stopped over an islet only the size of his parents property in Victoria. It was all sand and the water gradually deepened to provide a safe swimming area. Jelly fish, sharks and coral were looked for and only the latter was found. The locations were plotted and a safe area laid out. I landed the boat and when the scenery stopped moving I said, "I am going out now. I don't usually swim with a suit but you are welcome to do whatever you want." I removed my clothes and even the shield. They disappeared from view. In seconds I was on the very hot sand and I ran to the water. This was more of a way to show that I was similar to anybody else that Tommy had met before. Firewalking now would distance him from me. The possession of the boat was already seen as too fantastic to really contemplate. The water was warm and I swam out thirty metres until it was actually deep enough that my hands would not touch the bottom. I turned and swam to the right. I swam part way around the island before Tommy came out. He was embarrassed in his nudity but the hot sand stopped that. He too ran to the water. He saw me in the distance and followed. I kept in touch with the probes and the boat's sensors and just turned around and then swam along side Tommy. I said, "I checked the charts and this island doesn't even have a name. At high tide it's underwater." "You're talking with your mind?" He said incredulously. "Yep. Same as you had to think at Borin so you could talk to the boat. What should we call the island?" This got his mind off the insane thoughts and partially into the mundane. "The Republic of Claystone?" "Sounds like a very small country. Since it is a republic there will be no king. Were you thinking of the modern meaning with a president or the older meaning where all segments of society are enfranchised and the power of the state is limited?" "I don't know. I just picked the first name to enter my head." Tommy was obviously still upset and hadn't come to grips yet with what we had done. We swam some more in an uneasy quiet. Finally Tommy asked, "Are you an alien?" "Yes, but I would like to point out something that your sister said. She mentioned that your mother at one time was considered the same thing. She was not born in Canada. The first whites to come to this continent were aliens too. A short time ago if you lived in a village only twenty kilometres down the road you would be considered and alien. I am basically what you see. You guys have funny ear lobes and I didn't have them before I came here. There are a few other differences but not much. You and I don't have coarse hairs on our bodies except for our heads. I will never get any and never have to shave either." Tommy had known me for a while now and was not that frightened. "What about my sisters?" "Both of your sisters have something special that drew me to them. I simply fell in love. They saw the same thing in me and fell in love too. After that I made them smarter and able to listen to those people, like you, that cannot hear what others think. You never heard the discussion a few days ago where I told your mom and dad that I want to marry both of your sisters." "That's against the law!" "It's against Canadian law but other countries allow many wives. Countries with a law that says only one wife per husband also have families with more husbands or more wives than usual but they are not all married. You are still going to be an uncle That is unless you have changed your mind." "No, oh... I just don't know any more." "Well just let's take it one step at a time. I am a bit younger than Megan. This still gave me a lot of responsibilities. I was in a battle and my ship was very heavily damaged. Two of my crew were killed. My Gossna friend, named Odava and his mate Ichom, survived along with a girl of my race called Consti." Tommy was getting tired so we stopped and stood. The water came to his waist but now he was not too concerned. I continued, "We were put into stasis and two hundred and eighty seven years later I was revived by accident." I let him digest this for a moment before going on. "My ship was largely destroyed. I needed a place to stop and fix it. My crew are not that used to fighting or to being in rough places so I kept them in stasis. I am getting things ready so my ship could get repaired. "I could have picked a barren planet like your moon but I like company. I just happened to fall in love with both of your sisters. I sold some diamonds to some merchants and made a lot of money. Currently I am trying to buy some special elements that will allow me to build the most intricate parts of my ship. If I can't get what I want then I can make my own but it will take years more that way. I could send probes into atomic waste disposal sites to recover what I need but they are well protected. Moving past one of their sensors with a little bit of radioactive material may trigger alarms." Tommy asked, "What is going to happen when you get your ship repaired?" "I could go and search for my family and my people in it. Another thing I could do is build another research vessel. You know from Borin's lessons that it's big. It'll take a long time to build. Once it's complete, I could leave with your sisters and my children. That though will not be enough to crew the ship adequately. I am looking for people I can train to take over some of the very important duties. Can you guess to the identity of one that has had the most training so far? Do you know who has had the second most? The third most has not even ran the program yet." "So you want all of us to be part of your crew?" "Sure. There are a lot of benefits. You do get to be a scientist and an engineer. You meet some interesting races and talk to them. I know that Odava will like to talk to you. You move carefully and are fairly meticulous. He will see you as a friend I think. "If travelling through the galaxy or building the ship is not what you want then you can stay out of this project entirely. You will still get the same mathematics and other benefits your father and mother are getting." I knew that there was too much excitement in my offer to turn it down but Tommy had not come to that conclusion yet. "How long will it take to fix your ship and how long to build the research vessel?" "Well that depends on how much help I get. If I had landed on a planet close to my ship is now, I could get it completely rebuilt in three to three and a half years. On this planet with the help of your family it will be a year and a half longer. The reason it will be so long is because you all have to learn how to help. "After the precision fabricator is built we can build more of these devices with it. This will take an extra two cycles. The time used on this will be made up in increased speed to construct more articles. The first units will be mining equipment to provide the raw materials. Tools of every imaginable description are needed. We need small ships to take assemblies to orbit. A space station may be necessary but only until enough of the ship is built to provide the same functions. We need people and computers to do the assembling and testing. This all should only take thirty to fifty years. It will be significantly less if we can get lots of good help. Humans are not all nice and I am afraid that we will have lots of problems." Tommy was upset at some of this dialogue and the time frame made him feel that he would be left out. "Who is going to fly the ships into orbit Tommy? Who is going to use their engineering ability to make improvements? No ship we have ever built has not in some way been better than the one before. You will be able to do this if your brain is improved like mine. You will have a perfect memory and an IQ high enough to master any field you want. That is not in the simplistic way that Earth people look at it. You would be a real engineer and a real scientist." He asked, "What do mom and dad think about your plans? Dad I think would like them but mom likes her friends and her job a lot." "Your mom talks to me the way you are now. She has not been changed. Both of your parents think that I am a Human, raised in a special environment by a very rich and forward looking family. I promised to tell your mother but that will be in a week or so. She is watching her daughters' minds and abilities grow. When that is done she will decide for herself to improve her mind. Before that happens I will tell her everything I have told you. If she decides to join then the both of us will talk to your dad. I think he would jump at this chance but it is something we are just going to have to wait and see." "How come you showed me this now?" "You were coming to understand a great amount. Borin was the one that was teaching you this at my order. You would learn faster and better if you had some ideas of what you wanted. In a month you probably would have lost interest in this project and decided to just leave it like you do a video game. Now you have a small idea of what is happening and why it is occurring. Now let's swim for a while and then fly home. This time we go home by going east." When the time came, we hot footed it across the sand. There was less distance to travel for the tide was coming in. I used the cleanser on Tommy, telling him what I was doing and why. When I was done we got dressed and I sat in the navigator's chair. I sent the data to Tommy and said, "Course laid in, Captain." Tommy was shocked then reasoned that it was a joke. He replied, "Thank you, Ensign." The trip this time was of necessity faster. We climbed to three hundred kilometres and changed course to stay over the land or to see certain points of interest. We landed in Tommy's back yard. He got out nonchalantly now and ran to put his clothing away. They were cleaner now than when he took them out. Tommy set the table while I started the barbecue. Frozen vegetables were cooked along with the compulsory pot of coffee. Ten minutes later the parents came home. Tom came through first expecting to see at least a small mess. Sleepovers were always that way. He found nothing wrong then noticed that everything was more than right. He started to tabulate the differences when Margaret told him to move aside. Margaret was tired. She had not got much sleep and then she had school to teach. As she fully expected to have to spend an hour cleaning up. She looked around quickly and said, "What happened here?" "Sorry the girls were not perfect. They missed quite a few areas. Maybe they should sleep over an addition night to clean up all the things they missed." "What do you mean missed? The house is perfect. The carpet looks new." She looked in a corner and said, "The stain is gone. I tried everything to get rid of it." She went to all the places that had been problems and found them all rectified. "What did you do, have the girls work every second they were here?" "I'm not Captain Bligh but they had to work." "I simply can't believe the girls cleaned all this. There's not a square inch not tended to. I have to look at the rest of the house." Tom said, "This certainly wasn't what I thought would happen. I don't think the girls will ever want to come back." "They have already asked. I doubt if your daughters will allow as many to come. There was simply more than the usual number and we would have to restrict it later." "How many came?" "Nineteen, I ordered a lot of Chinese food. They ate it for supper, snack and even for breakfast. There would be too much left over anyway. They were reasonably careful and all of them plus your daughters cleaned up. I gave some guidance and worked too." "Well you did such a good job that the house hasn't looked this way since we first moved in. How did Tom take it?" "Girls are girls and he was teased a bit. He took it like a soldier and then knew when to retreat. I would have too in his shoes." Tom took all the luggage upstairs as I started the steaks. The girls had gone to a fast food restaurant after the game and had some soda with their friends. I didn't look but I think the game was not all that was discussed at the tables. They told me when they were going to arrive and they wanted 'hot meat' and after a pause, 'on their plates' when they got home. The girls told me how their parents liked their steak and it was on their plates when they came down. Tommy took the oven mitts and removed the potatoes from the oven. I drained the excess water and served the vegetables. When all three of them had seated I put the last two steaks on plates and in thirty seconds the girls came running in the door. They both greeted their family and kissed me hard in front of them. Sandra looked at the hot food and said, "I knew there was a reason we love you so much." They waited and I seated each of them before taking my own chair and beginning the meal. The girls knew how to act. They could see that the house was considerably cleaner than when we all pitched in and completed the work. I had warned them as soon as their parents reacted so strenuously to the changes. After the meal I became the proverbial Captain Bligh I had denied being earlier. Margaret was instructed to start her own computer and begin training. At present there was a language lesson that showed her that she didn't know as much as she thought. Tommy came in and showed his sisters how to use the new program and then taught them some of the mathematics he had learned to date. Tommy liked the role of teacher but the girls would surpass him very quickly. They did praise him for his effort. He took this as a soldier would as well. The boy did have quite a bit of natural dignity. He himself would have a shock when he went back to his computer to find that Borin was now going to communicate mentally. Tom was already at his computer with no prompting. I jumped in the boat and when the next part was came out of the fabricator, I started working in very great detail on some of the more intricate components. It was well known that the mind had to do this with only an assist by the computer. The computer increased the speed that the fabrication would take and was able to make simple structures from its memory. Only the most powerful computers could do this task on their own. If a good portion of my free time went to this type of work then the new computer would be complete when the large fabricator was. Updates came to me from Borin. Only half of the original properties I put offers in on were mine. I didn't need more than one but this could be like a shell game where a suspicious person would be constantly looking under the wrong walnut shell. I just might have to have a few empty shells though. Borin's probes found more debris. Some was on the Chinese mainland and buried under a great many years of accumulation. No pattern as of yet had shown itself and the crystal was the largest piece found thus far. No reports came in about the elements I wanted but these things could not be rushed. I would feel very guilty if there were problems if either man came under official scrutiny. Borin had used all the material I sent her the first time. The additional load would take three months to get close and reverse course. This load should complete all of the missing hull. I would still have to send material that was not usually found in cometary debris. The motors and guidance systems from the antimatter missiles would be good for this task. I came in late and mentally fatigued. Margaret seemed to be the same way and asked me a great deal more about the program itself and the data used to make it work. I talked around the subject and mentioned that my family had used this sort of thing for a long time. She found it difficult to imagine my family not taking over the Earth centuries ago and making it run right but she didn't say that out loud. The girls were progressing not only very well with their studies but with the integration of the various portions of their minds. They didn't bother me too much about not paying attention to them for they knew that duty in many cases had to come before lovemaking. In bed though it was a different. I did my own duty and it was good that the girls needed less sleep to function adequately. Wednesday Tom and Margaret were preoccupied with all the things they had learned through the computer. Tommy was too but he was still trying to get all the warring portions of his mind to agree to help me and not go screaming as he ran down the street. Megan and Sandra wanted me to talk to the girls again. They all needed to touch me or to do something that would let any one of them enjoy what they had before. I too acted like a soldier and tried to be diplomatic yet firm in what I would do and not do. I explained how I had done what I could to educate them. It was now their turn to educate a poor uneducated lout into the proper way to please a lady. My task for today though was to continue with the fabrication I had started last night. I came up for air when the girls talked at their mealtime. I got a bit to eat myself but when they left, I returned to what only I could do. Tommy interrupted me when he came home. I let him get a snack and enter the boat for his own work. It took him only moments to find this like home. An hour later I knew that if it were up to him, he would never step into his bedroom again now that he had this. I gave him a small room on the boat that would be his and he took this literally. When the girls came home, they too entered the boat and began their own courses. The girls complimented Tommy on having a room to himself. They knew that theirs was with the captain no matter how cramped it was. Work was already planned to take out an adjoining wall so we would have a double cabin for three people. Tommy asked Borin some pertinent points then brought what articles he could from his home and set up housekeeping. I knew that any scut work he would be happy to do as long as he learned a bit more about the boat. The talk of pilots the day before had hit its mark. Today I ordered pizza and hoped that this would substitute for my not making the meal. We all went back into the house before the parents arrived. Pizza came soon after. It didn't seem to matter for each was anxious to get back to their own study. It would be difficult for Margaret for she had to mark some papers that she could not get an assistant to do. Work resumed right after the meal. Tommy though wanted to sleep in the boat. "You may if you wish but only after your parents know about me. They will know you are safe then. Parents are funny like that." I stayed up late finishing a part and then climbed into bed. The girls were tired and for the first time we just slept. Thursday and Friday were much the same. The girls had worked hard on their minds and bodies and it was getting time to bring Margaret into the fold gradually. Tom was in his study learning more about power generation equipment. Tommy was busy on his own work and of course was in the boat. I called upstairs to Margaret and said, "Margaret, if you have a moment will you come down to the kitchen?" "Ok, Leif." Margaret came in and sat at the table with her daughters on both sides of her. I said, "We were supposed to have a talk about how your daughters are progressing. It is very obvious that they are much more intelligent. Both can receive thoughts from others and project themselves strongly. There is a lot of other things that you do not know and I think it is time you found out." "What sort of things?" "A small demonstration is good for a start. Don't get squeamish on us though. It will look far worse than it is. There is no danger." Sandra got a small dish towel and laid in on the table. A quick flick of a very sharp knife had Margaret almost faint. She was about to yell when Sandra said, "Mom, will you be quiet and watch?" Sandra moved her skin into position with her fingers and the wound sealed. Cells that had been separated by the knife were united with their neighbours once again. With a bit of manipulation the wound was closed perfectly. Margaret was amazed but not as much as when three minutes passed the wound itself had disappeared. Megan got a damp cloth and washed away the blood. Sandra presented the arm to her mother. Margaret examined the area minutely and when she looked at me still not understanding, I handed her a magnifying glass. It took a few more minutes for this inspection before she looked questioningly at Sandra and said, "How did you do that?" "When Leif improved my mind, it was in many more ways than you know of. I have virtually full control of my body. I can repair myself if I am alive to do so. That means that I can change the colour of my skin or change my height even. My muscle cells can be changed along with the bones and ligaments. I can be very strong without even looking like it. Leif is that way. He is the strongest person I have ever heard of." Margaret looked at me still not understanding. "Listen to Megan now," I asked. Megan held her mother's hand and said, "This is the time when I should have my period. I have voluntarily stopped it now. When the three of us decide to have children we will have the periods resume. Birth too will be easier because I control all my muscles." Megan blushed a bit and added, "Leif already knows first hand about some of the things I can do with my muscles." I said, "Basically your daughters will live for quite a few centuries. They may choose though to look almost any age they wish." I could feel a question coming on so I said, "I am a bit younger than Megan not just look that way. Our children will have this ability too from conception." Margaret said, "Nobody can do that?" "We are conversing with only our minds. You saw your daughter heal herself. You can easily see that each of them are much more intelligent. It is not a big jump to imagine that they will live until they choose to die." Margaret was quiet but she was thinking very rapidly. Her thought processes were not organised as it usually was. It still came to one solution. "Humans were never able to do this." "As far as I know, Humans have not evolved far enough to do this. By now you have guessed my secret. I look and act very much like a Human but there are some differences. We do not have earlobes or coarse hair below our heads. My teeth were normally more numerous and smaller. I had to grow new teeth and alter my jaw just a bit. I have larger feet and hands but when I am fully grown I will be the same size and proportion to any Human. My only major differences are my penis and my testicles. I have more control over my penis. It is partially in my body and can extend. It has folds of skin with grooves that run the length of my organ. The folds are usually tight together. I can grow to a size to put a sparkle in many ladies eyes. "My scrotum is just an empty sack of skin. My real testicles are safely placed inside my body much like your ovaries." "Is there more?" "Oh yes. My eyes can see a bit into the infrared and the ultraviolet. My other organs are very similar but much more efficient. Other things are have been done to our bodies to make them stronger. Our spines have been strengthened as well as the disks. Basically we must have been very close to what your race looked like at one time. My ancestors just decided what improvements to make and then did them. Your daughters can alter their bodies to be the same as me or something new. I just want them to leave the major difference between us the way they are now and me alone. I kinda like the girls the way they are." Margaret didn't take this as a joke but didn't understand much anyway. She did begin to have an xenophobic episode and asked, "How many of you are on Earth?" "Margaret I am not a bad person. I have my own code of honour and try hard to stay within it. I am alone here and the only other of my race is ten light years from here. Consti is a young girl and presently in suspended animation. She would not be able to handle her current situation if she were to awaken. I think she would be very upset to find her younger sister dead and her being in a small wrecked ship. I want to complete most of the reconstruction before I awaken her. "Two others of a different race are on the same ship. They are from a very gentle race called Gossna. The male's name is Odava and his young mate is Ichom. They are good at fixing and manufacturing things but are not good in a stressful situation. They may well die if they were now awake just from the stressful conditions they would find around them." "Why did you come to Earth and how did you get here?" "Years ago I built a small space craft. Like any child I liked things big and powerful. I then built a bigger ship that would transport six in relative comfort. That is the ship that is now wrecked. A small place had been set aside for my little boat in case I ever needed it I had to repair this boat after the damage it took when we were struck by enemy fire. "I could have gone to any airless body and scooped up material to make many of the parts the ship needed. Instead I came to this planet. You have already made some heavy new elements that I need to build special parts to repair my ship. I sold diamonds that I had made. The money was to purchase land to build a place to work and to buy the elements I require. "I am still a social person. I like to sing, dance, play instruments, exchange ideas, eat strange food, and meet exciting people. That is how I came to your daughters. We all have an aura around us. I knew right away that Sandra was different. When she was improved her aura changed too and made her even more important to me. It is extremely rare to find two similar auras and even more so to find them in sisters." "How do I know that you are not just saying this?" She asked. "I saved your Sandra from a rape. I did not kill anybody though I am capable of doing so. One rapist was a very bad person. I left a message for the police to check his past and gave them an anonymous list of his major crimes." Megan said, "We went on a trip last weekend. A child fell from a window and would have died. Leif ran very quickly and caught the child in his arms. He hurt himself very much doing so and had to have medical attention. He made deals with people and even though still in pain, found those people and paid them for their efforts. One young girl now has enough money for her to get a few years of university education when she grows up." Margaret tried to still defend her old position. "What are your plans for Earth?" "It can be any of three basic ways. The first way; I repair my ship with little or no help from the people of this planet or lots of help from a large number of people. I have to build a very intricate machine to do so. The second way; I stay a much longer period on Earth and also build a research vessel like my family rode while investigating the galaxy. I need a large crew to man the posts. These will all be people born on Earth. Either I fly away in this ship or I stay and build more to examine addition areas of this galaxy." I paused and reached across the table to hold my girls' hands. In a moment Margaret asked, "The third way?" "Oh, I get up now and get into my ship and never set foot on Earth again. This way will take years longer but is still a viable option." "You would do this? You would leave alone to rebuild your ship?" Sandra and Megan were very worried now. "No, I would leave with my two wives. I am bound to them much too tightly and I think they are bound too tightly to survive alone for long." Margaret now had to pause and do some rethinking. Instinctual fears had arisen and now she had to fight them down. We just sat and waited. It got too nerve-racking for the girls and they now talked to their mother. They told her how Tommy already knew the secret. Sandra gave a fair estimation of how the boy felt. Eventually Margaret said, "Tell me about your people. I want to learn their goals and what their civilisation is really about." "I will tell you but I want Tommy here to so he can have some input." When Tommy came in from the boat, he took a seat and I began a long discourse on what my race had done in our old galaxy and what we had done here. More importantly I showed my new family how the old family interacted with others on the ship and with races we came across. It was getting late but I continued. The confrontation with the Suma was vividly explained, especially how the planet we found them feeding off was at the same stage as what Earth was now. I made a point of saying that the atomic arsenals of all the countries could do nothing except to deny the Suma something healthy to eat if the bombs were allowed to explode. The two battles were mentioned in a similar detail and I went to great lengths to explain why I did everything I did. Finally the decision to go to Earth and in doing so found my own diamonds in the rough. Borin had kept Tom busy but when I was done he noticed the time and came to the kitchen. It was now the weekend and sleeping habits could be relaxed a bit. He was surprised to see us all awake and the sombre expressions on our faces. "Why the long faces?" Before I could answer, Margaret said, "We were talking about family and how we miss them when they are gone. You finished talking to that girlfriend on the computer? She had you most of the night." Tom had to think but only a second. "She is more of a taskmaster or perhaps a taskmistress. How have your studies gone?" "Good, I learned a lot. Customs played an even more important role than I thought in social and lingual development." Tom poured himself some juice from the fridge and sat with us. Before he got into questioning what I didn't want asked, I said, "I would like to run off with your two lovely daughters again this weekend. This time I want to take your handsome son if he wants to come." "I want to see some historic sites and visit some museums. There are a few restaurants I want to try out to see how good the food is. I wanted to leave the island and this means that we sleep away from home. It will get all of us an additional step away from a computer." Tom said, "Tommy looks to be eager enough. I know that the girls want to be with you. It is fine with me as long as his mother oks it." Tommy now looked at his mother in a beseeching manner. Most around the table could read her thoughts. She didn't see too much different than I was before. She trusted me at one time and she would try to trust me again. "Tommy can go. I want him to tell me what he learned though when he comes back." The boy got up quickly and hugged his mother in his excitement. This made the mother quite happy. In our bedroom and before anything started I began telling my wives more about my people and their bodies. The girls knew about my race and now they were thinking of the changes to their own bodies. I gave them many instances where the Seffra were less than perfect and then did the same for Humans. For the Seffra to contemplate such changes would take the approval of the entire race. This we knew would never happen. I gave the ways the organs in a Seffra body were superior to what a Human had. "Our body at one time was similar to what yours now is. Natural development was not that bad but an intelligent mind could think of many improvements. Each of the organs were improved in many ways along with our bones and connective tissue. The organ developed the most was our brain. I can show you how to slowly change to this ideal so our attributes can be passed onto our children." The girls looked into my mind to see more of the details and I opened my mind further so they could see what was before them. Each of the organs were presented with what the average Human had on one side of a graphical representation and with what the standard Seffra organ. Some of the details were difficult to understand and clarification had to be added. The discussion lasted through the time that would normally be taken up by our love making but it was important that all the facts be considered. Saturday I shook Tommy's shoulder early the next morning. He didn't usually get up at this time and had a problem getting to sleep until I came in and helped him the night before. He groggily said, "Ya..." "Up and at 'em soldier. We are doing some travelling. If you want you can stay though." This brought him awake and he got up to start his morning. The girls were sleepy too and they had needed less sleep. They just insisted that they make up for a little of the lost time from the previous few nights. Tommy came down to have his breakfast and saw us dressed oddly and wearing a pair of sunglasses. He looked around and said, "What's to eat?" "In the boat soldier and find out." He smiled widely and saluted. "Yes sir." I left a note on the table saying how we started early. A phone number was provided that would allow the parents to think they could contact us through a cell phone. The quality would be better and the cost a lot less prohibitive. Tom got on last and found us seated. I pointed to the pilot's seat and he readily took it. I said, "The course has been laid in Ensign. Start at your leisure." This meant right away and he readily did. We went up three hundred kilometres and headed west. He was too busy watching displays of power and other things that a good pilot had to watch to follow the terrain very well. We came to Earth in the centre of teeming Cairo. We were out of the boat before Tommy had much of a chance to know where he was. It was three in the afternoon here. Tommy squinted and I handed him a pair of glasses especially made for him. He looked around and asked, "Where are we?" "I didn't want to kid him so I said, the capital of Egypt. Didn't I say we were going to see museums and historical sites?" The girls were given a great many stares and as usual so was I. We found different people walking around and Megan picked an elderly man that looked educated. This one happened to be retired after working for a large manufacturing firm. She was able to copy most of the Arabic speech without disturbing the man. We had to follow him for a while but eventually she did get the knowledge she wanted. "That was done very well Megan," I said. "He didn't feel a thing." "What did she do?" asked Tommy. I told him, "She copied some of the man's language skills. It's necessary sometimes to talk to alien races. Some though have no telepathic skills and this is necessary. With enough talk this can be avoided but it takes a long time. One day you will do the same thing. Think what it would be like to learn French in less than an hour? Your sisters will get much faster as they get more experience." Megan called over a taxi and showed him an American ten dollar bill. She said, "We want to go to the front of the Khan El-Khalili Bazaar. Will you take us there for ten dollars. If that is too little then we must walk." It looked like the tables were turned on the cabbie. He waved us in roared off the three kilometre trip to the bazaar. We had been reading his mind and now had a good grasp of the streets and some of the difficulties we would run into. The Cairenes were no slouches when it came to haggling at the market. This was like last weekend when we tested out the Chinese ability to get the best of us. The people were dressed very differently. Some women were dressed head to toe in the traditional Muslim covering, while teenagers were scantily clad in the latest Vogue-inspired fashions. The smell of pungent spice was everywhere. Donkey and ox carts brought and took goods and competed with mopeds and even sports cars for their share of the narrow roads. Many streets were actually alleyways. The market had been here since the middle ages and would probably here for another five hundred years. Immediately we were surrounded with little boys telling us what we wanted and especially exactly where to get it. We were polite but insistent. The merchants around us bargained as if their very life depended on each and every sale. They were no different than some of the Chinese in their maniacal frenzy. We walked down very bustling and equally narrow streets. Sometimes we had to go in front of each other and squirm between the merchants and customers. The girls and I knew that some of the patrons found this great after seeing who was rubbing them. The boys stayed with us for the most part and we even picked up a few more. I told Tommy that a small carpet would look great in his berth. I got a big smile and he began to look for one the right size. Borin gave him dimensions and this limited his choices. Each street seemed to be selling just one range of commodities. The shop owner just pounced on us when we stopped to see his merchandise. He did look from one to the other of us trying to see who he would be dealing with. Megan started out in highly educated Arabic, "We are in the market for a small rug two metres long by one. I see by your selection that these rugs here are for the tourists or the poor. Would you please show us your better merchandise?" "But of course. Right this way." A curtain separated the plebeians from the better customers. "Would you like some coffee or some tea. My wife will make some especially for you." Megan said, "I will try the tea thank you but this does not mean that I have to pay what you want even if I find something that is passable." "Of course, this is just a friendly gesture to my best customers." Carpets were shown and Megan picked the flaws of each from the merchant's own mind. He was very surprised to find out how knowledgeable his beautiful customer really was. Megan knew that the man spoke some English. She said to Tommy after conversing with her silently, "This looks to be the best this shop has to offer. They are not nearly as good as others I have seen but maybe we can get them cheap enough. Is there any that might do?" Tommy picked out three nice rugs and then started to pick their quality apart. We of course were feeding him ideas of what to say. Finally he said, "These may be suitable to gifts for some of my friends." Megan knew what the rug cost and after considering the cost of running the business made an offer of exactly half of that. The merchant was now on the defensive and tried to explain how good his products were. It was very entertaining to watch Megan work. Tommy was just openmouthed at how his sister had suddenly changed into a lean, mean bargaining machine. She tried to get the price low but without being arrogant or insulting. At the end it was the old merchant that gave up and Megan was happy to get the best of him. She said, "We will take the other two for the same price. The rugs will have to stay here though for up to four hours. I will give you an additional two dollars for this." "Five, good lady. My children must eat." "She laughed at his expression. You are a robber but a kind hearted one. Five dollars it will be but payable when your boys carry the carpets out of the market for us." The man bowed his head in acquiesce. There were many more things to look at. There were inlaid boxes, camel saddlebags, backgammon sets, slippers and djellabah embroidered with silks, spices, semi-precious stones and coffee pots. A few streets over we found clothing shops, more carpets and wall hangings. Brass, papyrus, perfume, gold, glass and fake antiques. "Every now and again," Megan said, "there are some genuine antiques available but they are not allowed out of the country." Sandra bought some leather goods including a nice purse. Megan got a mother-of-pearl inlaid wooden box. I picked up some alabaster and soapstone carvings, paintings on papyrus and some dried herbs. One bottle was dried lizard which I may try but it was bought more for a gag. We sat in a small café I drank the thick coffee that tasted of burnt chocolate. Sandra and Tommy had tea. Mint leaves were already on the table set for tea. Tommy was now dressed in Egyptian clothing. His light colour and weight set him apart. On other tables smiling children ate large slices of watermelon. A man was carrying a long tray festooned with bread and this told me along with Tommy's growling stomach that we should eat. "Let's get a taxi and go back across the city to the river. There are some very nice ships that serve a very good meal. It may be our breakfast but there early supper or late lunch will do as well." Tommy said, "I like that. I saw some people eating stuff that looked like it was coated in honey." The carpets were carried by one little boy. When we got out of the Khan the boy handed us our property and waited for a tip or baksheesh as it was called here. Hard nosed Megan tipped him some coins worth a few dollars and a five dollar bill. We were quite sure that only the paper money would be reported when he got back. A taxi dropped someone else off and Megan went into her role again as liaison. This time it was ten dollars. There would be no talk later on of us not paying what we agreed to do. We pulled up close to a ferry decked in glass with a very large crew trying to make the ship look its best. When the taxi left our burdens disappeared into the boat. Nobody stopped us when entering the floating restaurant but most thought we could not afford the prices. We ordered without worrying about prices. They took American money like almost all countries. Some hid the fact though to keep their people from making an extra profit. The girls ate very well again. Haggling takes a lot out of a woman I thought. Tommy liked the excitement and ate quite a bit as well. During the meal we saw the feluccas sailing up and down the Nile. Their lateen sails catching the wind for propulsion or simple oars were used by dark skinned individuals. ------- Chapter 13 After our meal another taxi took us to the Egyptian Antiquities Museum. This was very large building and very cluttered. Tommy especially liked the famous Tutankhamun collection. The beautiful gold death mask and sarcophagus were in the Royal Mummy room. Eleven other Pharaohs or dignitaries kept the same sleeping quarters. We stayed until closing because there was simply so much to see or read about. I had found the director later in the day and pillaged his language and with it took much of what he knew of Egyptian history. We had another nice meal but this time at a hotel. When I rolled Tommy to the boat we viewed the Al-Qalaa or the Citadel at night. The lights shining on it made it look much more mysterious than a castle with a wall around it. I now dispersed some of the knowledge I had gained and talked about the old city and some of the remaining wall. We saw churches, mosques and synagogues all over the city. Though it was dark we went to the ancient city of Thebes and saw the Valley of the Kings. I only talked about a few of the New Kingdom pharaohs and their final resting places here. On a lark I sent out our own probes and found many more unmarked sites. All had been pillaged though over the years. The phone call that I figured should have come in twelve hours ago finally arrived. Margaret said, "How are you guys doing? It is kind of lonely around here now." The probes at home indicated that Tom was at his computer now. "Let Tommy tell you about our trip. I would like you to keep it quiet though. We have not had a talk with your husband yet. If things work out well you and he will join us next week." "Where are you now?" Tommy spoke to the air, "We're in Egypt at the moment. We went to a gigantic bazaar and bought you presents. It was so crowded that it was hard to even walk. We had a nice meal then went into a gigantic museum and saw King Tut's death mask and a lot of other neat things. It was getting dark and we had another good meal. Right now we are over the Valley of the Kings outside Thebes. I got some clothes that an Egyptian boy would wear if he were on a camel crossing the desert. "Megan learned Arabic really quick and talked to a man about... about buying something. They talked a long time and I think Megan got a good deal. Do you think dad will let me keep the three camels I got cheap?" "Thomas Claystone, you didn't buy camels did you?" This was said in a loud and high if not worried voice. "Next time mom. I only bought a bag that goes on a camel's back to hold things." "I am going to swat your bum when you get home. You had me going." The girls talked too but refused to give any hints of their purchases. They did say that one or the other of the parents would like what was purchased. Sandra said, "We'll see the great Sphinx and the pyramids next. It is supposed to be very beautiful at night. We are going to check and see if there really were some hidden rooms in the pyramids." During the call we arrived at Giza and the girls described what they saw. Even with their change in mentality they were still tourists standing in awe of what was before them. Tommy kept adding phrases about some of the camels used to carry guests. We all followed the probes as they did their investigation. Megan got very excited and said, "Mom! mom! I see a small room. This one isn't on the charts. There's a sarcophagus, weapons and some pottery. The body has a gold death mask still in place. The grave robbers never found this room. The probes show a tunnel that goes deep under the room and goes east then goes straight up. It's all full of sand." I had a thorough knowledge of the pyramid in question. This lower room appears to be the real resting place of the pharaoh Cheops for there is a chamber that was picked clean some twelve metres above. Grave robbers were a fact of life especially when the thought of losing ones life meant little to the very poor. "Is that the Cheops Pyramid?" "Yes, yes it is. We could be famous... but we can't tell anybody. Either they won't believe us or they will wonder how we know of its existence." Tommy excitedly said, "Can't we dig it up. I could use a gold death mask." "Thomas Claystone, you are treading on thin ice. That would be not only a crime against Egypt but against the entire world. Everybody will want to know about this find not just what you decide to leave behind." "Sorry mom. I just wasn't thinking." Margaret asked, "What are you going to do about this discovery Leif?" "Nothing." "Nothing? This would be more important than King Tut. He was not as powerful as King Khufu." "Nothing I can do. If Tommy wants, he can begin some archaeology courses. If some of your universities will recognise them then he can find the hidden room for us. It is probably better though to leave the find for a bit longer until your science finds out how to preserve what people find better. I found a lot of information out at the Egyptian Antiquities Museum. The rooms themselves are being slowly destroyed. They would be in much better shape if they had never been opened." "You're right. I just wanted to see what was in the room." "Margaret, I can send in a small device. They are smaller than a fruit fly. A trip through the sand may be possible but will take a considerable amount of time. There are some small openings between the blocks of stone. The devices can take some pictures and relay the information out to us. The time taken would be from a few weeks to a few months depending on what difficulties are found along the way." "Can you really do that? I would just love to see what the room looks like." "The units are on their way." "Thanks Leif. This is so exciting. Oh... I have to go. Tom has crawled from his cave." We all said our goodbyes and we continued to look for anything new outside the pyramid. We found old stone foundations and portions of a stone road. Pottery and even some glass was found but this was just garbage thrown away by people thousands of years ago. We did find a lump of gold. Two probes went close to it to give us a better idea of what it was. The metal itself was worthless to me but Humans found some value in it. This gold turned out to be fifteen gold coins, twenty nine silver, and forty six bronze. It was at the base of a destroyed wall but the top of the wall was two metres under the sand. The coins were a half metre below that. The nice thing about this situation was that the wall had no intrinsic value. There was nothing to be learned about it other than where it had been placed. There wasn't even mortar used to hold it together. The find had been noticed by the others. I said, "The coins will show nothing except the period they were produced. They were probably buried for safekeeping at some time in the past and after the wall had been erected. We can extract the coins without damaging any value the wall may have. What do you think? Do you want more souvenirs?" "Ya!" Came from Tommy and the rest smiled and said yes mentally. There were a great many ways I could extract the coins but that would not make the find worthwhile in my opinion. I made four shovels and had the boat scrape away a wide area of sand around the coins. We now got out and dug. Sand kept falling back into the hole so the hole had to be made quite wide. Ten minutes later the wall was found and the three got very excited. Sandra and Megan threw the sand to Tommy and I to throw further away. They found themselves in each others way most of the time. Intelligence did not overplay a human's capacity for adventure and perhaps a bit of greed. Megan finally found the lump and carefully pried the fused metal to the surface. After checking with the probe the hole was filled again. This took a much shorter time. With everybody in the boat the tractors were used again to put the majority of the sand back as it was. The three Humans stared at the lump now not knowing just what to do. I said, "The soil has been moist at times and some electrolytic action has occurred. The sensors tell me that there is more than enough information on the coins to reconstruct each of them back to their original state. The ions that migrated can be put back into position. If you want I will make a special bath of chemicals and dissolve the dross. They just looked at me basically hoping that they would get their coins back. The lump they found was not nearly the same as shiny metal. A container was made then the individual chemicals. The lump went into this container and the fumes captured. A med unit worked over the coins. A small tractor moved the coins as they came loose. The med unit knew what the coins were supposed to be like from what the sensors said. In half an hour the first of the sparkling coins appeared. It looked freshly minted. All of the dross had been reworked to capture any of the metals. Now the coins were oxidised to show the patina of age. The coins were now spread on a flat surface for my crew to examine. Sandra said, "These aren't Egyptian. They're Roman. Some of the coins have Julius Caesar's face on them." "Well they date back to the time of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolemaic rulers. They may not be as impressive as our find under King Khufu's pyramid but still it is over two thousand years ago. Each coin is worth a considerable amount of money. Let me incase them in a hard clear plastic so they will not be damaged and you can dispose of them as you want." Megan said, "Some of these are yours Leif. I don't feel right if you don't get any." Sandra and even Tommy agreed. The fabricator made some of the material I wanted and the pieces of metal were submerged. An extension of the plastic was put in at the edge of the coin and over the head on its surface. A small hole formed and now they could be worn if this struck any of their fancies. When they were all in front of them I took three gold, seven silver and eleven bronze coins. The gold ones I looked at and gave one to each of the people in front of me. "These I choose to give to my wives and a family member as presents." Soon the girls claimed to be sleepy and we broke apart. Tommy went to his quarters while my wives showed their appreciation for my gifts. We got to sleep much later but that was only their regular time. We woke up at three in the afternoon just as we arrived a day ago. Cairo was a much different city on Sunday. Much of the city was closed up but it was still possible to find places to eat. When the inner man was appeased we started our own tour once more. Megan or I told the other two what we were seeing below. When Tommy was starting to get a bit bored we flew to Alexandria and gave him a brief history lesson. We then flew up the Nile. Part way up Margaret phoned and Tommy gave her a running documentary of what we did since awakening. The coins would be a surprise. We found Victoria Falls and Tommy vividly told his mother what he saw He didn't run out of words as we flew over Lake Albert then to Lake Victoria. We searched for the streams that fed the lake to find the probable area that would form the real start. It turned out to have many starts and just considered the lake as the beginning. Margaret hung up to do some chores. We were going to depart soon but I had Borin look for a pride of lions. When we found one we swooped down. We got within a metre of the cats and they didn't know we were there. The girls and Tommy spoke in low tones as if not wanting to disturb the cats quietly sleeping in the late afternoon. Tommy happily piloted our way home after finding the course for himself. Sandra had him go by way of China to show him where we had gone the week before. He thought his sisters lucky to have gone twice but he was the one piloting the ship now and that was better than getting any number of rides. The girls used the cleanser on each other. Tommy and I took care of each other. We landed in the back yard again and came into the house. Margaret was aware of our approach because we mentally broadcast it to her. She kissed each of her children and only after a small amount of hesitation did the same to me. We sat at the table and she said with wide open eyes, "Ok now, what did you get? I can't wait." Each of the girls slipped a bronze coin across the table. Before Margaret examined it they each pushed over a silver coin. Tommy now pushed a single gold coin to form a line in front of their mother. Margaret was dying to ask but decided to check instead. She started with the first coins and her eyes grew large. The second type was checked and she hurriedly moved to the centre coin. "Where... where did you get these?" Tommy said mentally and I carried his thoughts to his mother, "We simply found an old horde of coins left by a merchant or maybe a Roman soldier. They have not seen the sun for over two thousand years. The gold coin shows Julius Caesar from when the Roman empire ruled Egypt. There are some older coins too and now I have to study Roman history to find out more. We wanted you to have these." Margaret had tears in her eyes and got up to hug us. When she settled down a bit she said, "Wait until I show Tom. He will just love these coins." I reminded her in a whisper, "Margaret, you have to first consider if you are going to join us or not. I would like a chance to talk to Tom first. Seeing these coins may not be bad because I could have purchased them. The fact that I was not born here may give him too many problems unless this is handled with a bit of finesse." "When do you want to talk to him?" "Please tell me first about your wishes. Do you want to join my crew? It means long hours away from most of the rest of humanity. You will not be able to teach because you will be learning yourself for many years to come. When that is well underway you will work on our ship. The research ship is still not decided on because of the time it takes to fabricate it and train the large crew." "I have done a lot of thinking about this. You said my lifespan now would be very long. Even ten years of learning can't be that long..." "Thirty or more Margaret." "Ok thirty years of training with an unlimited lifespan is not that much. I would be happy to accept a position on your crew Leif." "Thank you Ensign second class Claystone. You may speak to Ensign first class Claystone to get an idea of what we were doing." Turning to the girls I said, "Take your mother to the boat. Get your pilot to show her where we were the last two weekends and find a place to visit for next weekend." I got two quick but intense kisses and they all ran off dragging their mother. Tommy was right behind ready to give his expertise if it were needed. The door to the study was closed and I knocked on the door. "Tom, it's Leif. You have a few moments?" "Come on in." When I got in, he said, "I was only studying. What's up?" "I just want to talk for a few minutes. This is going to spoil your day in a nice way I hope." "What is it?" "Well I have to talk around the bush for a few moments to set the stage. Please bear with me. First I was born basically the way I am now though that was almost thirteen years ago. I want you to look at my earlobes and my teeth for just a moment." Tom turned his head and looked at me and I opened my mouth to show him my nice white teeth. "So?" "They are not the way I was born. I had no earlobes and had to grow them. I had more teeth and they were smaller. I had to change a bit to fit in." "What is all this leading to?" "I don't like to lie but sometimes I allow people jump to the wrong conclusion. You thought my family was Italian. I said that my family had spread out for a thousands of years and we were a lot more like Europeans than just one nationality. You made an improper assumption because I actually wasn't born on Earth at all." Tom was stunned. In a moment he said, "That can't be. You're Human." "I am very close to a Human but not a perfect match. My race is very much like Humans but there are some differences like my teeth and ears. There is more too if you care to listen." "Go right ahead." "My people are called the Seffra. I think a long time ago one of our race learned about his mind or was a sport and had it naturally. Anyway he was able to command his body to heal itself. This lead to increased intelligence and then to mental communications. The self healing feature allowed us to live a long time if we chose to not end our lives earlier. Our minds retained knowledge very well and with our intelligence we found new correlations in science. "We built a very good civilization that has lasted a long time. Large ships were sent out with many families onboard. They would visit different solar systems and try to learn a bit more about life and our universe. Sometimes we would find races in need of help and we would give it. Sometimes the races were belligerent and we left them alone. A few of the more intelligent and progressive races were asked to join us. Their numbers are few for most of those races are happy where they are. "On occasion we come across highly advanced races that kill other races. Some justify this irrational act so their own kind will be the last surviving race. Other beings need to hunt. As part of this ritual they eat other intelligent species while leaving animal life alone. They have machines that make any type of food imaginable. "Those races that wantonly kill others have met a weak champion of the beings they kill. We have been in an open war for thousands of years. If we find the Graskor or the Suma we attack. If we do not they will do the same thing. So far it has been our research that has kept us ahead most of the time. Our ships are not as heavily armed but can move quicker. "My own story mainly begins when I was given a special crystal." I paused for a moment and Tom came out of his reverie and asked, "Shouldn't the rest of the family be listening to this?" I gave a weak smile and said verbally, "Borin, hail the boat and put an interior image on the monitor here." From the computer speaker we heard, "Yes, Captain." Tom looked at the computer screen and saw his family sitting in strange chairs in an even stranger enclosure. Tommy looked in the pickup's direction and said, "Hi dad." "Where are you?" "In orbit at the moment," he said while trying to suppress showing his utter joy of flying. "We are three hundred kilometres above the Atlantic at the moment coming onto the coast of Africa in thirteen seconds." "What are you guys doing?" "I am learning to pilot and navigate. Mom is learning about power systems. Sandy is interfacing with the computer to search for any wreckage that fell to the Earth a few million years ago. Megan is studying the precision fabricator we are going to be building. Leif says that we may build a research vessel here. I am going to be one of the pilots that will take the parts to orbit. You can be one too," he said with grin that said he had found something of great value. "When are you coming home?" "Anytime you need us. We can be there in two or three minutes max. Those astronauts have nothing on me." Tom simply said, "Have fun," and I could detect quite a bit of longing to be with them. Tom turned back to me and asked, "Why did you come to Earth Leif? From what you said there are a great number of advanced races that you would fit in with better than with Humans." "We found the Suma plundering a world. We were forced to attack a large grouping because another and larger force of Suma were right behind us. We destroyed all of the major ships. In a subsequent Suma attack, my own smaller ship was severely damaged. Borin who you know of as a computer entity is actually that. She is a true artificial intelligence. She put me and my crew into stasis before she was also severely damaged. "Close on three centuries later a chance movement of the ship caused me to awake. I found two of my crew dead. I awoke Borin and began repairs. Though the repairs could be made anywhere there was a ready supply of raw materials, I still wanted people to be around me. Earth was only ten lights away and I came here. Your people produce some very heavy elements that I need to rebuild some portions of my ship. I could produce them myself but the process would take years longer. I simply made good diamonds and sold them for the money needed to purchase what I need. "I flew invisibly across the Earth and continued selling my goods and eventually came to Stanley Park. I was interested in learning more about Humans. When I found that Sandra was going to be attacked I had to do something. It was easy to find in their minds that this was not an acceptable practice. As you know I helped her and read the mind of the worst of the perpetrators. He had killed and raped before. I wrote out his crimes on a piece of paper and drew the police to the area. "In the process I found my first wife and this led me to my second. "My plans for the future are to build the precision fabricator mentioned by your son and use it to manufacture some of the intricate components for my ship. If it looks like Humans can be trusted then I would start building my own research vessels and crew them with Humans. The Humans though have to have their intelligence increased, as well as being able to converse mentally. In the process you gain full control over your body. This means that you heal quickly, and basically have the ability to stop the aging process. My people have done this and live for thousands of years if they wish." Tom asked in a weak voice, "You want us to help you build ships and then crew them? Was what Tom said correct?" "Yes it was. The down side is that your increased mental abilities will distance you from the rest of humanity that has not had the treatment. You read the newspapers and watch the news and will see even more vividly how much more Humans act childishly. Later it will appear much worse simply because you can see ways of avoiding all that unpleasantness." "What do you see for me personally?" "Anything you want. You go into training and in ten years you see what you really want to do with your life. You then learn about that particular facet. Your brain will be able to handle a wide selection of knowledge. You will be a scientist in a few fields and an engineer in others. Your entire training will last for thirty or so years." "Anything else Leif?" "Well; when a male is altered similarly to my race, I think he will have a much stronger urge to procreate or at least practice at this ability. The females are very receptive but need a break once in a while. This is accomplished by the family having eight to fourteen wives. There have been larger families but they are fairly uncommon. The women like this arrangement very well and usually work out amongst themselves who needs to have some male attention. Because of our long lives few children are produced though some women have had hundreds of children in the course of their lives." "So that's why you want both of my daughters." "Partially but mainly it is because my race can detect an aura that is around all living things. Both of your daughters, by sheer coincidence, have the aura that very closely compliments mine. It is like opposite poles of a magnet attracting each other. I could not leave them and be happy and they are the same way. Most marriages in our race do not necessarily have the auras complimenting to the same degree. There is usually only a fair match and they still get along very well. "Your family will be coming back soon and you could talk to them about my offer. Sandra, Megan and I can facilitate the transfer of thought among the three of you that have not gained this ability. You might find this fun to discuss your concerns. Your son has not been officially asked to join the crew yet but by now he considers himself already committed. Whether you are ready to commit yourself or not, I would like to offer a trip to anyplace on the planet next weekend." "Where have you gone?" "Better let your children answer. Their replies would be much more heart warming with their exuberance. Now you may want to get back to your studies. Don't be alarmed if thoughts now come into your head. Just reply the same way and Borin will understand. This will speed your education up greatly and bypass the subterfuge that Borin had to use to hide her abilities." I went to the kitchen and began to make a meal. This was no time to have a family discussion in a public place even if it were all silent. An hour later the family got back. Tom was in the backyard when he saw each of his family suddenly appear close to the house. They ran to him and gave him a very excited hug. Tom was just getting used to the silent form of communication and was still trying to come to terms with it. Over our meal a great many different things were discussed. This was much quicker and richer than verbal communication. I acted as mediator in some ways and kept the discussion on what I could give to the group and what their responsibilities would be. Nobody argued with the long training time now that they knew how short it was in comparison to the remainder of their lives. Megan, after the meal showed her powers of healing. Margaret was not as bothered this time but not unaffected either. Tommy just said, "Neat! Can I try that?" A distinct, "No," came from both parents. The discussion went on to where we had gone the last two weekends. The girls were very graphic about their dealings and even talked to each other verbally in Chinese. Tom was worried about legal ramifications but considered that we were smart enough and had enough resources to get us out of trouble. They talked of what they had purchased and then about the child falling. The two parents looked at me strangely trying to figure what I had done and how I had done it. Tommy used very animated speech about his contributions to this weekend. It was a bit odd to see his hands moving and even his head but no sounds issuing from his mouth. After a slightly biassed rendition of the story he ran and got the coins we had found. As predicted, Tom was enthralled with their age and beauty. His children gave him a set similar to what was given to their mother. The find under the Great Pyramid was left for last. I said, "Probes are currently working to get in. This has to be done with the minimum of damage. There is a considerable amount of sand blocking the tunnel and I am not optimistic that we will get through soon. You might want to think of ways that we can give the world this information without letting them know that we are doing it or that a race with superior technology has found it." For the next week things remained much the same. Everybody went to school and tried to forget that they were now crew. Tommy had to continue with sports and extra curricular activities even though he wanted to go home instead. We had a trip to see some of the ruins in South America. Tommy had to give up his chair to his father and felt a bit put out about that. From the jungle floor we found obsidian daggers and other weapons. Traces were found of skeleton remains for this must have been an ancient battle. With so many to choose from we took a sampling of the best for our collection. We again did some shopping. Everybody including myself learned a bit more about preparing food. Margaret forbid Tommy coming home with an eight metre anaconda. He pretended to sulk about not getting even one camel either. Margaret and Tom were preoccupied at school and their colleagues noticed. Tom got a call from Tommy's teacher which didn't help his concentration any. Mrs Schroder said, "We are concerned about your son Mr Claystone. We had a simple science test. One of the questions pertained with flying to the moon and what they would find along the way. I believed the class would have just replied from information about the Apollo missions we had studied. Your son's reply was much more detailed. He not only gave figures for mass and thrust but continued with what would have to be done to achieve a stable orbit. "The mathematics was far over my head and I sent it to the math department at your university. It just came back today stating that everything looked perfect." Tom replied, "Tommy's newest love is space flight. As you know I am an aeronautical engineer and he has asked me quite a few questions. This was a good way for us to bond a bit more before he wants to be on his own. His inquisitive mind has absorbed quite a bit of mathematics as long as it had to do with his current passion. If you want a good idea about current engine technology ask him during lunch one day. Make sure he eats something because he will run on for so long that he will forget." That night we had a talk with Tommy. We knew it was hard to hide his light under a bushel. Tommy was in the near genius area and it was thought to put him with his peers. Tommy didn't like this because it would keep him away from his studies more. We acquired three more of the remaining seven properties. The rest were holding out for much more money. I was not going to pay what they wanted simply because the properties were not worth the extra cost. Mr Iwasaki had sold more diamonds then transferred the money to one of my accounts. He also sent email, saying how happy he was with his life now. The 'other matter' was not directly discussed but he said he was still working on it. George Mason sent me a new address and told me much the same thing. Small quantities were available but he was holding it until there was enough to make a worthwhile trip. The hunt for more wreckage continued but it now looked like the Earth had simply captured debris for it was scattered all over the planet. The hull and other parts were made to be strong and take not only weapon's discharges but some of the hazzards of space. It would make it to the planet's surface roughly intact. From the small sizes found it looked like the ship had been destroyed far from the Earth or the Sol system and the inertia had simply carried the fragments in this direction. The probes in Egypt had arrived at a large stone wall in the tunnel under the pyramid. They were now working to find a way around without leaving evidence that a high tech device was even present. When the room would be discovered all of the tunnel would be inspected too. Margaret came to me with Sandra. She wanted to talk more seriously about gaining the same thing her daughters already had. "Leif, I have talked to Tom about joining the crew. He asked about the procedure and was quite shocked when he learned how you actually did it." This was said with a smile for she knew that Tom now saw me as a son-in-law now. "He says he is comfortable about you and me for a few days or so but I would like you to talk to him a bit more. I haven't lived with the man for seventeen years without judging some of his moods." "I will talk to him now if you want. I happen to know that he's anxious for his own enhancements. There's nobody that I can think of though that will be able to turn his mind into a pool of jelly better than you." Tom was in the boat with his son and Megan. Rather than disturb the rest, we talked on a private channel. "How do you really feel about Margaret's brain being improved? You know the only way I believe that this can happen." Tom tried to hide some of his feelings but I brought them out slowly so he could see them rationally. Part of the problem stemmed from the way his daughters had clung to me after we made love. He was not sure of the aura idea and was worried that I would take the woman he loved more than anybody else. Another worry was that I was so much better at making love than he was. He was good for a Human but I could read minds and knew exactly what to do to make my lover happy. I took my time and explained everything again. Some fears were irrational and I assuaged them as well as I could. Even though we both knew that Margaret loved him he was still unsure. "Tom, I told you before that a man will take care of more than one wife. Margaret may not be lesbian but she will hunt for a woman both of you can love. You will have to share her as she will have to share you." This made him think a bit more. He was also rational enough to know if Margaret didn't get improved then he would not be either. It was now late Friday afternoon. He was going to take his son fishing and I would be at home on the weekend to do what had to be done. Tommy was happy in a way of going with his dad and they did a lot of packing that night. He also tired himself and Margaret out in the bed. By the time he parted the next morning they were both wearied. He gravely shook my hand because he was intrusting something very precious into them. Margaret nervously said, "Should we begin?" "Of course we can." I took her hand and all four of us walked to her bedroom. Margaret saw her daughters but knew turnabout was fair. In the master bedroom the girls started to shed their clothing but I stopped Margaret because I wanted to do it. She got much the same treatment that her daughters got. When she was entirely naked I said, "You are still a beautiful woman. You husband has good reason to watch out for you. A man like me would take you in a second if I didn't have two of the prettiest women in the world with me." The med unit now came openly along with a cleanser. Margaret was cleaned very well and the med unit worked on not only her brain but her nipples, clit and the nerves in and around her vagina. Her brain had been stimulated for a week in preparation for this. We all knew she was more than ready. My tongue played with her breasts and she started to build rapidly for her orgasm. I had learned a lot about the Human brain since coming here and the block was much more secure. When I touched her left nipple she was sure she was going to have an orgasm but it didn't happen. She looked questioningly around and saw her daughters licking each other. She knew that my wives pleased each other even though they were not lesbians. Margaret knew that she may feel the need to do the same thing in the future when she had not only a very virile husband but many wives to love. A small nibble brought her back to me and her hands came up to my hair but found her arms restrained invisibly and brought back to the bed. This turned her on even more for she found she liked the idea of being forced. If she could, she would have got Tom to do this long ago. A half hour later when I got to her clit she was not that sane and neither were her daughters that were all linked together. When my tongue entered her a few times and caressed that special spot I released her block. The scream was deafening and the med unit went to work on both the larynx and the brain. Sandra and Megan had done the same thing and at the same time. I held Margaret's legs and she thrashed for just a few seconds and passed out. I got up and lay beside Margaret. Her brain was in just as much of a disarray as her daughters were after two times. I worked feverishly to put things where they should be and make the new connections. Portions were starting to solidify and I made a new stratagem. I forced her mind to awake her. When she did she found me on top of her and she could still not move much. My penis found her entrance easily. The block had to go on quickly for this was almost too much already. With slow strokes I moved deeper and deeper into her. At her cervix I continued to my full length. The block now was fully tested for the stimulation was more than before. My girth was increased as well as my speed. I lost Margaret again. She was only an animal now in need of just a bit more stimulation to put her over. I denied her this while working on her mind. I did a good job in only half an hour and Margaret was as devolved as she could get. She just quivered and moved as I moved her for there was just too many nerves firing into her brain. My wives were still making love and I warned them. I didn't know if they even knew I was here. When the block was removed there was no scream because that was too high of a function. The girls did in a long drawn out wail that sent shivers down my back. I lay down beside Margaret once more and tidied up some of the loose ends. Her subconscious was told what to do and it eventually began to assist. When I got up I found two hungry predators in the room but I jumped them before they had a chance to get me. Hours later we stopped when Margaret started to respond to our lovemaking. Sandra and Megan climbed onto the bed with their mother and I covered them all up. They kissed their unconscious mother and started to implant the code I had implanted in them only a few weeks ago. A meal this time was just a matter of using the telephone. Love making if done right took a lot out of a man even if my efforts had basically been all mental. An hour and a half later the meal arrived and I got the girls up to eat it. They all walked downstairs naked. I gave them something of what they were after and transferred a bit of blood to my lower portion. They smiled knowingly and like women tried to hide it. We sat down and talked about what had happened. Margaret was not all here yet but did participate. We all looked into her mind and saw that it was well on its way to full integration. The bed drew us back and I didn't get out until five that afternoon. The ladies now were cleaned and I even had to get them dressed. I did a bit of work on them to make them look appealing and we left for a nice restaurant for a meal. As usual I had to order for all three. Margaret was famished and would eat anything put in front of her. She turned red on occasion because she felt urges to crawl under the table and feed herself more directly. It was her common sense that was just barely holding her back. The meal was good but when the band started up we had to dance. Men, both young and old came over to take the ladies onto the floor but they always insisted that I was their man. The ladies soon found out about my PK and I was happy that nobody in the restaurant knew us. The girls had to hold me for support time and again because of the invisible stimulation I was giving them. I called for the boat and no sooner had the girls gotten aboard than they removed their clothes. We made love again and tried it in different gravity fields. Margaret reacted to Sandra's touch when I was stroking deeply into Megan's uterus. This went on for many more hours with me switching partners. Margaret was too much of a sexual animal yet to be released and I had to bring her down slowly. She was now well prepared for her future life. We stayed in the boat until late Sunday. All the girls were very tired and to tell the truth were seeing more of the need for more wives for me. I carried the naked Margaret into her room and let her rest. Megan and Sandra went into my bed and they hugged each other as they too nodded off. Forty minutes later Tom drove up and parked in the garage. When he came in he found nobody but me sitting at the table. "Hello..." Tommy burst in and said, "Leif, you should see the fish dad caught. It was gigantic." I had to hear about the fishing trip for a few minutes before Tom was able to ask, "How did it go?" "Oh just fine. It actually went smoother this time. Perhaps it was because I did it twice before. The procedure may have speeded up simply due to the simplicity. Margaret is now sleeping soundly. I cleaned her up very well and she had the med unit with her almost all the time." A small box came onto the table in front of Tom. I said with quite a bit of emphasis, "There is a good chance you and your wife may miss work tomorrow. Put this box beside your bed. When Margaret awakens just put a pill in your mouth without delaying. It will simply dissolve. I added on a private channel, "This may be the only way you will survive the night. After a two hour wait you may take another. The med unit will be close to you to monitor your heart, heal your skin and rid you of the evidence of all the things that are going to happen to you. Think of it as if you are taking four passionate girls on your common honeymoon." "That bad?" "Maybe, that good. It may be better to call the university switchboard now. You may not be able to do so tomorrow. Margaret may simply not allow you to leave." Tom pocketed the box and said, "Thanks Leif. I feel that I have to make my will now but I will risk it." He hurried off and called for a cleanser to clean himself before getting into bed. He noticed the med unit in the corner waiting like a vulture. Tommy asked, "Is mom like my sisters now?" "Yes she is. Your sisters were very excited a few weeks ago and have calmed down. They will calm a bit more in the next few months. Your mother will be the same way. Your poor dad will have to work very hard to make her happy. In a short time your sisters and I will help your mother straighten out your father's mind. Then the two will be evenly matched. You will hardly ever see them. They will be upstairs all the time or in their room on the boat practising making a new brother or sister. I don't think they will have any for a while yet though. All this will taper off as they begin to study more." Tommy was now very nervous, "How am I going to get fixed? Mom or my sisters... or you won't be doing it will you?" "Don't worry Tommy. I love you but not that way. I have two good plans and a few others that all may work. The trouble is that you have not entered puberty. You are not quite nine yet. Even then we have to do a bit to help you get very excited. When the time comes, you will be told as soon as possible. I am afraid though that it will take six months to a year for your body to be at the stage we need to do this right even with our help. "You also have to understand something else. I am doing all this according to what I think is right. My people may have done the same thing long ago but there are very few records of what actually happened. Now tell me a bit more about your trip before you have to go to sleep. There's school tomorrow." A bit past midnight the house was rocked by a scream of satisfaction. I checked to see if everything was alright and told Tommy to go back to sleep. Luckily my girls were tired and I got all my sleep. Tom was not that lucky. The more Margaret got the more she wanted. When I got up, I made breakfast for everybody. A tray was filled very high with food and drink and I took it up to the master bedroom. Both were naked. Margaret seemed to be satisfied for the moment and woke further when I came in the room. She eyed me seriously but ate her share of the food instead. She woke up her husband and he began to eat too. He was not even awake enough to consider his state of dress. As I was leaving I said to Margaret, "Tom called the university last night. He tried to get two days off. Please don't kill him. He needs to rest too and so do you. I will bring lunch and take care of everything else." "Thanks Leif. I feel so different now and so much more alive. I can see just what Tom was doing and give him nudges so it's done right. Those pills helped a lot. You can make a fortune selling them." The rest of the family ate at the table with me and discussed their parents. The girls were very happy for them and Tommy was just not sure. Everything in his life was getting stranger and stranger. We rode to school in the taxi again. I kissed the girls and continued on with Tommy. The weather was dismal for it was raining like it usually was. I got involved in a conversation with Tommy's friends with him. They had few areas that they could converse about and this was similar to the young girls. The opposite sex though was not that important to the boys yet. A teacher came by and gave me the eye but said nothing. He just thought I was a new student. Tommy had one of the bronze Roman coins on a leather thong around his neck. His studies at school had shifted from being a mathematician to being a historian. Borin had given him information about the Roman Empire, ancient Egypt and recently the Aztecs. This was a much safer way to show off without attracting the type of attention I wanted to avoid. The majority of the parts needed for the fabricator were still not made and I went back to producing them while monitoring 'my' family. All the parts made in the last week were stored with the rest of the girls' plunder at our depot. It was even more peaceful to do the work away from the house for I was not hearing all the rutting happening in the master bedroom. The property had now changed for there was a few centimetres of snow that soon melted. All the plants were dead or ready to sleep through the cold months. A phone call was used to order a meal for six but then I thought again and made it eight. I made it to the house as the 'newlyweds' were getting up and looking for fuel to keep themselves going. Tom had three hours sleep and looked bushed. Margaret had just a bit more and looked like she was ready to take her husband back to bed. They were only partially dressed but that didn't bother them very much. Tom said in a tired voice, "Thanks for the pills Leif. I wouldn't have survived if I didn't have them. The med unit worked on me a lot. If your race has to go through this all the time I can certainly see that it's very hardy." Margaret caressed Tom's wrist and said to me, "Thanks from me too. I have never felt this way before. I have a very good man to make me feel wanted and to even satisfy my newfound appetite." She then asked, "What do the children think?" "Sandra and Megan are both rooting hard for both of you. They knew you were happy before but hope you will be even more happy now. Tommy figures that we are rocking the boat a little too much. He likes the education we are giving him but he is still a boy that needs the rock that his parents represent." When I left the two to some privacy I saw that the much of the food was gone. I went back north to work in peace. I loved company but needed simple freedom too. The ability to do what I wanted and when I wanted was great. This was only good when I knew that I also had the love of my family to fall back on. I started on a large structural element and told the girls that I would be a bit late. This was not something that I wanted to rush or do at two separate times. Dinner was prepared by the time I got home. The two parents acted like a bride and groom once again. My own wives were happy for their parents. Tommy was coming around and now thought it a bit funny and just a bit odd. When the meal was over I asked very privately to Tom and Margaret, "I have an idea which may or may not work. I need to take some things to Borin and pick up a great many processed parts. The total trip takes twelve days. Would you like to book off some time and come with me? I would like to take the whole family. There is a girl onboard of my race. I do not want to revive her but she just may turn out to be your future daughter-in-law. I want to see Tommy's reaction. "Everybody is doing very well in school but to tell the truth there's no reason to continue with their schooling other than the social interaction it brings. Tommy now learns many times faster with Borin and he is not even enhanced yet. The trip itself is probably safer than staying here on Earth." Margaret said, "I don't think we can get that much time off. In fact, even though it is going to pain me, I will have to back to work tomorrow. Maybe I can meet Tom at lunch. I agree that the children are doing very well. They may go but it may be better to let the school know so they can get any work done that needs to be handed in. A few days shouldn't make a difference." "I will invite them then." "Ok." "Sandra, Megan, I want to take a trip out to my ship. You are both doing well in school. Why don't we have a little vacation?" They seemed to be pleased with this idea and thought how much they could do with me in the allotted time. Megan said, "I like that. Borin says that she is about ten lights out. Can we swing by one of the nearer systems to check it out?" I did some calculations. "A star you call Wolf 359 is nearby. It's a very dim red dwarf. If you want to go by then it shouldn't take that much longer." I got a pair of kisses to say that this was appreciated. Tommy wasn't too happy. Not only was the boat going but his sisters were going to visit a star and he was going to be left at home. I cleared a request with the wives. This was one of the things my father taught me that served him well. They smiled at me but would still like for just us to go. Megan said, "Leif, you're the captain. You need somebody to pilot the boat. I am not that good and Sandy is only a little better. We also have our own duties to perform." I replied quickly, "Well, put a notice on the school bulletin board requesting a pilot familiar with our equipment before you start your classes. I want to leave in a few days after giving your teachers some notice. That way you can do any projects or reports before you leave." Tommy gained his feet and began to move from one foot then another trying to get our attention. "Leif, Leif, I can pilot the boat for you. I will do it all by myself if you want. Please?" I turned to his parents, "Do you think I should take a junior pilot out of our solar system? He will see a larger space ship but he will miss his spelling tests. He will see a star firsthand that no Human has ever seen close up before. This will mean he misses Social Studies. He will see Odava and Ichom but he will miss soccer practice and a few games. There is a girl on the ship and although she is sleeping he could look at her. He will miss his classmates I am sure. Do you really want to deprive him of his rich life here on Earth?" Margaret and Tom seemed to be thinking long and hard on the matter. Tom said, "He even had some chores to do. He was going to work in the garden and clean up the garage." "Dad, I will do them when I get back. Leif needs me to help him. I'm getting great grades at school. I can afford to take time off and still pass with high marks. Soccer can afford to miss me. I was thinking of quitting anyway. There might be some aliens that I need to talk to. My sisters don't know how to talk to a Gossna and I do." His face was so pained that his mother then his father had to laugh. Tom said, "You can go but you are going to have to continue with your studies." Tommy ran to his father and hugged him then his mother. "Thanks, I'll study hard and I'll do everything when I get back." He turned to me and asked, "How long are we going to be gone?" "Twelve and a half days with no stops and a quick change of cargos. The star is not on our direct path. I think three extra days would be needed for that visit. If we leave this Tuesday after school then we can be back for school on a Monday. If you are going to be the first Human to fly to another star you better find out what is presently known about it." Tommy saluted quickly and correctly and said, "Yes sir," and fled to find out all he could. When he left Margaret and Tom broke down and laughed but stifled the noise with their hands. Sandra and Megan just smiled at the exquisite torture we had just put Tommy through. ------- Chapter 14 That night Megan showed her mother how to hide the great majority of her aura or she would never get any peace. This was done quickly and Margaret smiled at the simplicity of it all. For the next few days I prepared all I could for the short trip. The girls were busy for only a few hours doing projects. Most were done in a very short time at school so their teachers could see that nobody else helped. The quality was going to be high and they didn't want problems with the teachers not believing them. Tommy simply got two spelling tests and Social Studies project where he had to write what he thought happened in his own words. Tuesday morning the parents said goodbye. We would be gone by the time we got home. We would always be in communications though. All of the completed parts were transferred into the second depot that would soon be our base. I loaded on some elements that were not usually found in asteroids that Borin could use. To make the departure a bit quicker and perhaps save Tommy the embarrassment of peeing his pants in excitement, I picked him up a block from his school. The girls were picked up the same way. Everybody dropped off their school clothes and put on ship's coveralls and we were off. Tommy had set the course days in advance. Tommy told his sisters about the Mardaf Limit and the restriction on speed until we got beyond it. We did not have the same equipment the research vessels had to fly quicker through this region of space. We all took our turns on watch but Tommy's were usually structured so that he would see more of the interesting areas. The Captain's cabin had been enlarged. This time we had the linen we bought in China. It did make the simple vessel much more like home. Tommy's cabin had the Persian Rug and some of the things he thought should remind him of who he was. Mostly we spent our time studying and talking about what we should learn next. Making love was short and intense as if we were on a war footing and only our accumulated knowledge would possibly save us. Tommy acted like a perfect cadet in what he did. He was going to do the best he could possibly accomplish. He had finally come to the realisation that he would be in the history books himself one day. If this were so then he was not going to have any feet of clay. I thought he was doing quite well considering that he didn't have the same mind as the rest of us. Margaret and Tom called every day and talked for a while. Both sides said how they were doing well without the other but still wanting the other near. Margaret was becoming calmer and needed Tom a bit less. A bit less though was still a lot. I told Tom where to go to get more of the medication. Tommy used his own sensors trying to find Borin without additional help. At the right time we started to slow down, then reverse course. Borin came into view on our screens eventually. Tommy flew around the ship a few times looking at its size and what damage that was still visible. Though the boat was quite a few metres long it was very small in comparison to Borin's size. Here to, Borin was considerably shorter than when she first started this mission. Tommy knew how the Suma had taken exception to us and seriously shortened her. Tommy requested clearance to dock and a hatch opened for him. He went forward slowly. Borin increased gravity slowly until the boat was firmly in the cradle made for it. This section was still in a vacuum but we all had shields. Tommy did all the checks he was supposed to do and so did the girls. They knew that they would get in trouble from their captain if they didn't. We pushed through a shield over an open hatch and I was back at my other home. Of course the others following me were now in a real spaceship for the first time. I didn't want to burst their bubble for this ship was much more like the boat than the research vessel. This brought me back to the fact that I was now alone except for my own recent family. Three centuries was not that long but many things could happen in that much time to my parents and to the ship they rode in. Borin came out in holographic form and greeted the new crew members. The Humans were quite used to her and even knew a great deal about the hull. When I got our cargo stowed and the parts Borin made put in their place, I showed my family to my other family. Odava and Ichom were almost like friends. So much was already known that the Gossna would feel comfortable at least with these three. Tommy was relieved a bit because Odava was even shorter than he was. Too many old movies had the alien being a powerful mindless aggressor. Eventually we came to Consti. Tommy looked through the transparent barrier and saw a very beautiful Seffra girl. In a moment I slid beside Tommy and said, "She's very beautiful, isn't she?" "She sure is. Nobody I know... is as pretty as she is. Ah... when do you think the rest of your crew will be awoken?" "There are quite a few variables to consider. Foremost is the supply of heavy elements. If they come in reasonable quantities, we can make all the engines. If that happens we can revive this crew and get them to help install them and connect them to the reactors. "If only one engine can be made right away then that one can be installed and we can fly this ship back to Earth. It will be not as fast as the boat but not that much slower. The crew can be revived in the new base but somebody has to be with them all the time. Not so much Consti but the two Gossna need somebody close to keep them calm. The time frame for the engine construction will be from four to seven months but that is if things go right. "If I have to take material from your nuclear dump then it will take perhaps four months longer. I basically have to keep this portion of the crew busy if I wake them up. Things need to feel normal for them. You all know that Consti's sister Fera died in the attack. Consti will have to deal with that along with our main ship and family being someplace else. Mino died too and this will be mourned by all four of us. All this means that they have to establish a new family. That is where you and your family come in. With you as stable friends then they can manage to function." I had talked much more in-depth to Sandra and Megan. Their minds were able to absorb a lot more information about this situation and ways of dealing with it. The three investigated the ship. It was much different than what their computers could replicate. The only restricted area was the area in the back where Fera's body was stored and the reactor section that could be quite deadly even with our simple suits. We worked on the ship for a day doing some of the things that Borin was not capable of doing on a damaged ship. The hull was not complete and the cargo I sent from the Oort could would still take months to get here. The time came to leave and the crew said goodbye to Borin as if she were not going to stay in touch all the time with them. All of them slept while I set course for Wolf 359. The watch was uneventful and I managed to get enough sleep after I was relieved. As I wanted, Tommy was on watch as we arrived at the system. It was simply a red dwarf primary as were half of all stars in this galaxy. This particular star had no planets but did have an asteroid belt. These were actually in highly erratic orbits because every few hours the star would flare. Matter would be ejected far from the star's surface and the illumination factor would double. Any planet in the neighbourhood would have been bathed in radioactive material and highly energetic ions. None of the millions of planets my race had every investigated were able to protect themselves for long in this situation. Some races had tried when they found their star getting unstable. Most had simply migrated, the rest had died. The power of a star, even one as small and dim as this one was a power to be reckoned with. Tommy led the investigation of the system. This was the thing my people had done for hundreds of millennia. We did it quite well to. Our present equipment was crude by the standards of the research vessel but the job could still be done. Probes went out and searched through the loose asteroids for anything odd. This mission would soon be cut short because Borin could continue with the string of probes and repeaters I had dropped behind us. It was standard policy to put out thousands of probes in star systems and between them for communications and early warning. The range of one probe was short but it could transmit to the next and the next after that. This time Tommy phoned home to give his parents a report at my encouragement. He had even waited a half hour before doing so. His mind was very active thinking of just what to say. The historical aspect was still bothering him. The descriptions were similar to what the Seffra would say. The data though was quite factual in every respect. He only hit the highlights because he was using voice. The full data of only one simple system would fill many sets of encyclopaedias if it were ever printed. Tommy pulled longer watches on the way home. I worked with my wives on assembling some of the smaller substructures. The computer and fabricator could not handle much more than food and other necessities. The ship was designed to be safe but not with a great surplus of comfort and all the possible amenities. I had made the trip as long as possible. The girls and Tommy would make it to school just after getting back. They had just enough time to chat for a few minutes at their home and take an automobile to their school. I stayed home this time and slept for I was the one with the long watch to give the rest a chance to rest. After my own rest I took the new equipment to the main base. There I started assembling the finicky precision fabricator unit. An annulus just a fraction larger than two metres was constructed of small ceramic segments. When these were fused together they formed a ring with an inner diameter of a hundred and six centimetres. The small units I produced with my mind and the small fabricator were inserted in seventeen different places around the inner perimeter. Tractors, pressors and even more test units were to be added. This would take a week to complete and would only be useful for making the parts I needed for the larger units. If a research ship were to be built then this procedure would have to progress many more times. The inner diameter would have to be a hundred and eighty three metres across. Twenty three hundred larger and much more powerful assemblies would have to be added. I didn't go back to Victoria. The boat went back instead and picked up my adopted family. They had been here a few times in training but this time they would help. Sandra brought in the food. Megan brought over some of the dishes and things purchased in China from the first depot. Thick mats were on the floor already. We sat around in a circle on some woven pads and ate an Italian meal with chopsticks. After cleaning up I showed what I had done so far. Margaret's training had been mainly to get this base up and running. She straightened and fused units while Megan and Sandra continued with what I was doing. Tom and his son could only study in the ship for they had not been improved. The depot was warm for I had constructed a small reactor to provide power. At the moment it used very little but could produce ninety six megawatts if it was called to and over a hundred and six for a short period. The internal shield of the large room had not been produced yet and it would be one of the first things manufactured. As much as Tom hated it, he would have to wait for another five weeks until Christmas break to fully join our ranks. This would be the least disruptive time. Tommy though was given a dubious pre-Christmas present by our med unit. His hormone balance had started to change. We all talked to him about how it would effect him. He was quite sure he could handle all his problems. Tom said, "I never had the kind of talk you just got but if I did at your age I might think the same. The truth is that you will probably not be able to handle it. Tommy heard the talk about his father and was very confident that one way or another I would get a trained pilot to assist in the construction of a large ship. The idea of having a girlfriend too was far from objectionable. I became a hermit to all intents and purposes. I lived in my high tech cave and worked. The family came when they could but even this was a strain on them for they had been a very social family before I came along. They had been busy most weekends going to various parties especially at this time of year. Megan and Sandra had forsaken their friends to help and to be with me. They were happy with the exchange but I wasn't. I came to a decision and said, "For the next six weekends I want all of you to be at home and I will be there with you. I want to meet your friends and see how shocked they will be at being introduced." Though the girls said otherwise, they were happy with my decision. Before we made it home though, Borin informed us that the probes had finally found their way into the royal chamber under the pyramid. They could fly for a long time covering light years and even exceed the speed of light. Fighting their way through fine dry sand was a different matter. I had compounded the problem by forcing Borin to ensure that there would be no trace of them if and when the crypt was opened. The projected scene was exciting to me only because it brought out so much emotion in those around me. I had seen much older structures that were in a much better states of preservation. They just didn't happen to be on this planet. I landed the ship this time because everybody wanted to see the screen. Once in the house they ran into the basement where an even larger screen had been built. It had been put here so that others would not see it. It was only eight small projectors that gave depth and colour because of its holographic nature. They watched this until Borin told them they had other duties to do. There was a party tonight that all of us were invited to. This was one of the reasons I had picked today to make my decision known. We got dressed though the weather was much warmer than in the mountains. There was no snow on the ground and if some ever came the populous would be in shock for it was fairly rare. My clothing I found was just a bit snug so I assumed I was growing again. The girls had seen some things in a catalogue and this inspired them to experiment. All three females had worked to make an original piece and got the boat to do the work for them. They came down the stairs in reverse order of age. They did so very slowly to build up a good bit of anticipation. Megan had a long apricot coloured dress that seemed to just wrap around her body but still leave some of the more interesting areas exposed or nearly so. Sandra had a lavender coloured dress that had some similarities to her sister's but was more daring. She was older and could get away with it too. Margaret had an aquamarine dress cut even lower. It was very easy to see that all three ladies were related and that all three dresses were related too but each had their own style Each of them had shoes that looked to have been made in early Greece. Thin shimmering fibres wrapped around their calves to secure the small open shoes to their feet. All of these were in complimentary colours too. Purses matched their dresses. From their neck and ears hung diamonds. They were not that large but they were not small. From the lustre I assumed them to be perfectly clear. The earrings looked to be five carats each. The necklaces were all different but complimented them very well. Margaret had a large sapphire to match her dress. Sandra had a large topaz to match hers and Megan had even larger Sunstone that shone with a gold lustre. It was Tom and I that looked dowdy. The girls had dressed Tommy to look like the dapper gentleman even to a small diamond stickpin. Tom and I had to stop for a while for they all looked so beautiful and I knew that they were even more beautiful inside where it counted. The house the party was at was owned by the dean of the university. I felt from the others that our car didn't match up with the rest. There was a valet that took the car from us and he gave his own thoughts to what the ladies looked like. They even seemed to preen for him without appearing to do so. We entered the house and conversations around us stopped as both men and women looked. When an attendant took their wraps then the silence grew even more. The girls turned as if they didn't know what their clothing, jewellery or skin were doing to others. Margaret took her husband's arm just as the host and hostess arrived to greet them. The rest of us were introduced. I tried to act as a responsible gentleman but Tommy was doing almost as good a job. He must have been coached on what to do. I was a very good friend of the family and an even more special one to both Sandra and Megan. The host equated this as boyfriend but the hostess saw something much deeper. Then again she was female and they usually had a better understanding of relationships. The younger members were introduced to others of similar years while Margaret and Tom went off to explain how she looked so good. When I heard that through her ears I said, "Tell her it is good sex as many times a day as you can get." She almost stumbled and turned around to just stare directly at me. "You keep out of this. Women have to have some secrets." "I stand corrected. I am sorry to have disturbed you." She wasn't really upset but I pretended that I thought she was. The younger crowd started to crowd us. Nobody was gauche enough to ask if the jewellery was made of real diamonds or other precious stones. They did see my wives' skin and this with their beautiful faces had them talking. Some females found me 'cute' in their words and came to check me out. I stayed with Tommy to let them know that we were a pair. If they wanted to talk to me they would have to talk to him too. They asked me about where I went to school and my reply was, "I have gone to a very private school out of the country. I have a degree in Aeronautical Engineering among other things." Since the girls ignored Tommy I said, "Tom here will be going to the same school soon. His aptitude in mathematics and this has earned him a full scholarship. He has been pushing quite a few of his present educators in Physics and History." It would be nice to say that he found some Roman coins but then word might get back to those people that knew his parents. We could still not afford too many questions. A history major in the back of the two girls before us came forward. "What period and continents are you working on?" Tommy got his first real chance to talk so he said, "I haven't specialized. Currently I am looking at the Ptolemaic period of Egypt back to thirty BC. In a recent dig we just came back from, my team and I found some Roman coins of the period. Not too long ago we found some bronze Aztec weapons with a surprisingly good obsidian blades. One we figure was from the priest that would go with the army to sacrifice any of the enemy they captured alive. "I am looking to go to Greece one day and study the effects of the Roman Imperators during the Republic and then the subjugation of that country. I have found..." All the girls were now convinced that Tommy was a prodigy. Borin was cheating for his ends and started to fill in arcane data about one of the periods and how that effected not only that area but Rome itself. This was not really right but it was not wrong either. Tommy was growing up and this could be used later to help him see the right direction to grow. The young men were trying to separate the girls and perhaps even conquer. Megan didn't look like her tender years of thirteen. Sandra liked the attention and accepted it for what it really was. She was free to do anything she wanted. I had no fear whatsoever of the competition. Two of the girls abandoned Tommy and wanted to talk to me alone. The problem was that each girl saw the other as a competitor and tried different strategies to get the other to leave. Tommy though young was able to get the young woman to follow him to the serving table where he presented her with her choices in food. The trouble again was that she had not told him. Megan had slipped him the information. He explained the selections away and made a similar plate for himself. In moments they were seated against the wall and Tommy was asking pointed question. Again it just happened to be what the girl knew the most about. She spoke at great depth and Tommy nodded his head as if agreeing with her points. His next few questions showed that he knew this same area and perhaps even better than she did. They discussed ways of finding out which of the many possible disparities in their knowledge were more correct. A third girl came over and soon tried to attached herself to me. The other two temporarily formed an armistice and then a coalition. They tried to rid themselves of the interloper. Sara the newest girl asked after a few minutes if I went to the same school as Sandra and Megan without mentioning the girls' names. "No, I graduated a while ago but I went there a few times to drop off the two girls I love." "Love!" All three girls said. "Certainly." I gestured across the room. "The two girls standing in the group of young men. They are meeting and making new friends as Tommy and I have done. That's why we came to the party in the first place. I can't socialise in a small room. Back to mingling, you haven't told me much about yourself. Is there some career goal you are striving for or are your objectives much simpler with a job and a family?" Sara started talking about her favourite subject and the others got to voice how they expected their lives to run. None mentioned a marriage until they were well established in a career but each one knew deep inside that they didn't have the drive necessary to go far in their chosen vocation. I asked more questions but they were only for clarification. Ten minutes later when Sandra and Megan came down on me I had hoped that the girls presently with me would work a bit more and not expect things to be given to them. I put my arms around my wives' waists and introduced Sandra first then Megan. My girls acted like ladies and showed no jealousy at all. This surprised the three talking to me previously. They pictured what they themselves would do in my ladies' shoes. Sara got around to her original question and asked me again about me going to a particular highschool then going into the girl's washroom. Megan answered for me, "I see I have a friend that has a big mouth. She gets into a bit of trouble and Leif comes to her rescue. Now she pays him back by talking about it. Leif is a gentleman even if he is impulsive on occasion. That's why Sandy and I take care of him. He is still like all males and needs a woman or two to keep his thinking where it will do the most good." She was quite happy that only this incident had leaked out. The one at the house would be a lot more damaging. She now could see some of the possible trouble she could make not just for me but for us. Sara said, "But I heard that he talked so dirty that all the girls... had... you know... that feeling." "Sara," Megan said. "Haven't you ever heard of phone sex? Listening to a person right in front of you is much more stimulating. When he's as handsome as Leif, then it makes this happen even easier." Sandra looked to one side and saw Tommy talking to a man. She broadcast to Megan and me, "Tommy is talking to a real historian now. Tommy may be digging a big hole for himself." Then she said verbally, "I wonder where our brother is. "Last I saw he ran off with an older girl. He's probably taking after his hero." Megan pretended to find Tommy and said, "He's over against the wall. Maybe we should check on him to make sure he isn't making a nuisance of himself." I said, "Will you excuse us ladies? Family comes first in this case." We walked through the crowd. The girls had no problem for all the men seemed to know where they were all the time. We came on Tommy so as to not startle the man. Tommy saw us coming and said, "Here are my sisters and Leif." When we got closer and stopped he made polite introductions. It turned out that Peggy Sorensen was the daughter of Olaf Sorensen. Dr Olaf Sorensen had quite a few degrees in History and taught at Simon Fraser with Margaret and Tom. He like Tom, were the heads of their respective departments. Dr Sorensen was of Danish extraction and stood very tall with broad shoulders and dark hair. Sandra and Megan could not see him as a person devoted to old texts. He was big enough to be in sports instead. They didn't even misstep as a wave of lust came from the good doctor. He was a good judge of women and I had to agree with him heartily. The doctor said, "Tom says that all of you are interested in History and Physics. That is an unusual combination." Since the doctor liked Sandra better, she answered for us, "We were interested in a wide range of studies. It's just recently that we got back on track. You probably already know that our parents are educators to. We just haven't been applying ourselves. The hunger was simply not there." "What brought all this around?" "We met Leif," she said as she put her delicate hand on me. "He seems to like educated women and he is cute enough to make Megan and I apply ourselves more." "Both of you?" "He is much more than we can take at times. He burns inside with a fire brighter than anyone I have ever met. This makes us try to emulate him. That is a very difficult task to strive for." The doctor looked at me and saw someone that would make him want to change his sexual orientation. He pulled himself together and said, "If you will excuse my question Leif, you look very young." "Young; as in too young to think of these two ladies in the most serious light. Perhaps you thought that I may be too young to understand much about history or as you will soon find, engineering." I knew that Margaret and Tom were trying to get out of the conversations they were in and work their way over here. He said, "I cannot discuss much in an engineering field but if you know as much as this lad here then you must know a considerable amount. If I might ask, where did you gain your education?" "My family is more than just comfortable. The have had the ability to afford private tutors for my education. I believe I have gained a well rounded education and even excelled in a few fields. Covering everything possible is just too daunting of a task." "Tom has been telling me that you found some very well preserved Roman coins and some Aztec weapons." Nobody knew of where we had disappeared when we went to take our cargo to Borin. It could quite easily have been Egypt. Though it would be unusual to go to South America and not talk about it after, it was still possible. "Our find of coins was very small and could shed no light on the location we found them other than it being a good hiding spot and the date of the soil around the cache corresponds to no earlier than the late Ptolemaic period. "We have done our own research into the weapons. We presently believe that they are not of Aztec origin at all. The Toltec race that preceded them is more likely, considering the dating of the organic residue. The fibres themselves have disintegrated in the wet environment but we were able to get a partial reading. It appears that this race may have been practising many of the same Human sacrifices that the Aztecs did later." He said, "You went on two digs and one at least sounds very interesting. I wonder why Tom's parents haven't mentioned this to me before." Megan said, "It's just a hobby. I doubt if you talk about all your hobbies at faculty meetings. We don't usually talk that much about this sort of thing. It just happens that our brother is under some undue pressures at the moment and felt compelled to confess to his pretty companion." The man didn't understand this and looked at Tommy and his daughter Peg then back at Tommy before the light went on. "Oh, I think I see." Tom and Margaret made it over to our group and greeted their fellow educator. Dr Sorensen asked, "How come you have never told me about your hobby? I thought you were usually deep into your work or having fun at parties like this one." "I have heard rumours that you build scale model ship out of wood from an unnamed source. If that is true, then you have not mentioned the fact to the rest of us." "Well... it was not worth mentioning. Going on a dig is though." "We were just lucky. It was just a family vacation in any case that turned into one that was a bit more entertaining and informative. We would like to go back to Egypt though. Margaret tells me that Leif's treasure hunting device might be fun to test out in the sands. I think we would not be able to have an official dig though. We are not accredited Archaeologists to get the official government permits if we did find something." Sorensen said, "You just tell me if you find something and I will check through my contacts to help you out. If you really do find something important, would you consider having an old historian helping you out? That's if I can get the time off." Tom said, "You are more qualified to dig than I am. You had some training in university and I had to learn as I went along." When we parted to have something to eat I asked Tom and Margaret, "How come you alluded to a treasure finding device?" Tom projected, "I am simply fascinated by that find under the pyramid. Margaret and I have been thinking that if you made a device that is within Human capabilities, you may be able to 'discover' the tunnel. We think that if you had a device like ground penetrating radar then the tunnel would stand out. The fact that it goes right to the Great Pyramid would stir up more than enough interest to get King Khufu's real burial chamber found." Borin usually didn't interrupt unless it was important. She told me privately, "Captain, the room in question does have an artifact that is of interest to us. I found a small crystal that on close examination appears to be from a computer not made on Earth. I cannot tell of its purpose but it appears to be either a memory unit or sub-processor." Various images were projected to me and I read the data that had been already found out about it. "Check the remainder of this site. Scour the Egyptian museums. Go to the lower floors of those institutions where they store the things they do not know what to do with." My own memories had been taken from the director of the Egyptian Antiquities Museum showed other crystals but they could be naturally occurring minerals. "Check the museums in Japan too. They may have picked up something and not known what it was. Private collectors may have additional pieces." I said to the family now, "We are going to Egypt soon. Pack your bags and stock up on sunglasses and warm clothing. The desert is cold this time of year. I am going to have to get into the crypt. There looks to be another piece to a puzzle and maybe even something we can use." "What is it?" Came from many sources. "A part for a computer like Borin's home." The rest of the week was spent in searching the room under the pyramid and then the surrounding area by remote. As of yet there were no more crystals though we found one small portion of hull that I gave to Tom. The best way to get into the room and at the same time not disturb anything were considered very carefully. Here the Humans seemed to have an affinity for stealth when theft was considered. The trip by the probes through the tunnel had taken many weeks. I didn't want to use up my time that way nor did I want the Human population to know I entered the room first. Our survey did show a peculiarity. One of the smaller stones in the granite burial chamber was very thin compared with the rest. The others had a tongue and groove joint that would make them difficult to remove but more stable. This one may have been intended as an easier entrance for a thief to enter and had to have been put in when the pyramid was first constructed. This feature would allow someone to burrow in from the outside and gain entrance to the burial chamber. A larger block behind the first camouflaged the construction if a stone had been placed over it. Now all I had to do was build a safe tunnel through perhaps kilometres of sand, put up adequate supports and then work my way into the chamber and secure the crystal. Then I had to do everything in reverse including putting all the sand back and insuring that they never detected an intruder. Going through the pyramid was much easier except I had no place to put the large pieces of limestone that I would have to move out of the way. Tom looked preoccupied during the rest of the holiday period. He had to expend a great deal of his mind on the crypt while the rest of us could think better and use less of our minds. Tommy though chose Peggy to study and I had to rescue the young woman so Tommy would not take all of her time. Complicated plans were made up during the week that got more and more like what I was told as 'Mission Impossible'. The thieves entrance into the lowest crypt got me to send many more probes into the pyramid itself. In a while I found a great many more interesting features. There were some death traps to keep us occupied. There were some hidden passages that forced the person using them to crawl. Sometimes this was on their belly. Some cunningly constructed balances would drop a heavy stone on the intruder and block the path for the rest. Two of these ways led to nowhere while one with even more traps did go to the crypt we were interested in. There was just enough room for a few probes to gain their own entrance to this maze. It was three hundred and eighty metres long and had no less than seven ways to kill an intruder. Two larger areas led to sudden death but a hidden passage within the hidden passage continued on. This path led to the crypt it was actually a heavy stone slab under the stand that supported the sarcophagus itself. Only a strong person could lift the slab but only a small person could climb to this position. When Friday afternoon arrived, my 'Mission Impossible' team was ready but this time it was my plan. We arrived in Giza at three AM local time. The pyramid itself was patrolled by Human guards, gates and electronic devices. Margaret and Tom stayed in the boat with Tommy only having a small task. He had all sorts of reasons why he should accompany us further into the pyramid. I had given him some small tasks so this would be memorable to him. The probes had studied the lock on the gate and the fabricator produced a key to fit. We remained invisible and the small probes rendered the simple electronic warning devices inoperable. Tommy got to unlock the gate and then lock it up after we passed through. Our tools were hidden in another shield and protected from sight. The better and safer entrance to the crypt was high on an internal wall. Megan stood on Sandra's shoulders and I stood on hers. A quick acting glue bonded a simple fulcrum into position. A protective pad went onto the heavy block to be moved. Finally a long collapsable ceramic bar levered the heavy limestone block out of the way. The noise was loud in the quiet room and some special devices produced white noise to keep any guards from noticing. The units copied the noise from our efforts and produced the same thing but a half cycle out of step with the first. The block had to be pushed further but now there was some hand holds for me to do this alone. In four minutes the block was two metres back. An opening was presented that was a little over a half of a metre wide. I jumped into the vacated space. Megan passed me a bag which in turn had been passed to her from Sandra on the floor. Once past the block of yellow limestone, I found forty six centuries of dust for the pyramid was built twenty six centuries before the Christian calender started. Probes went ahead of me giving my family a good view of what was ahead. This was done mostly in blue light for I could see better in that range. The family were all quiet so as to not disturb me. I also knew that there was a lot of private conversations going on. Twelve metres later was the first trap and I put some ceramic rods vertically into place. They touched the stone above and restricted the movement of the balanced stone so my weight would not trigger the device. A five tonne block was ready to stop any that followed. It was assumed that the person under the stone would not be worrying at that time. When this obstacle was passed, I had to climb a small chimney and not take the alternate easy route. I just pushed with my hands and knees against my back and climbed four metres. At the upper edge was another rock fall but again I put braces into place to keep a balanced stone from teetering. Later another vertical climb in a similar chimney presented itself but I could not push my hands, feet or back against a large surface because of the greater dimensions. After seven metres a device had to be glued to the stone block and when it was set I lowered myself with a very thin rope. This took me down fifty six metres with a trap on the very bottom. I stopped just above the floor and pushed my feet against the wall and I was able to pull myself into the tunnel that was only twenty four centimetres high. I came to a right angle bend and instead of taking the obvious turn I used my back and legs to push a large block out of the way. This was like the block that I originally gained entrance to this maze. When it was back far enough I slipped through. Eleven metres further I saw a handy bronze bar over a pit. It was inviting but I dare not touch it for support. A small ceramic ladder was assembled from small parts and stretched out to cross this four metre gap. There was no way a person could get this ladder in without having it in very many small portions. For the ancients with wood the task would be close to impossible. I knew this for a fact for below me were the remains of four humans that had tried to do this. They had found their own way here by one of the other possible entrances. They had made it this far after going through many other traps. A similar pit further on had no bodies and I had to now pull and twist hard on a corroded Bronze rod to allow the balanced stone that I would have to lay on to stay in position. At 5:17 I pushed up on the heavy slab above my head and the ninety four kilogram rock budged a bit and find grit started to fall on me. A bit more effort and I pushed the slab up and to the side. Above me was the bottom of the stone sarcophagus. It was, in turn, protecting the wood, ivory and gold one within. I knew that within this would be the third but made of pure gold. I was up into the crypt now and looked about. I took a great many photographs with an Earth type camera then changed the roll of film. After a few more shots it was released to hang about my neck. The electric rewinder had made the only dissonant noise here in many thousands of years and seemed to be an affront to this place. Instead of disturbing more dust I used my PK to elevate the heavy stone lid of the sarcophagus. This had to stay close to me because of its weight. The wood, gold and ivory was next and floated in the air. When the heavy gold lid was lifted I saw what I was after. King Khufu's bony hand contained a flail and the sceptre. Mechanical units controlled by Borin immediately attacked the joint holding the stone to the simple wood shaft. In a moment it came free and a replacement crystal took its place from my pack. No glue was needed for it was expected to fail after all this time. The replacement looked the same as the original. The data for its dimensions had been painstakingly gathered by the probes over many hours. Though nobody living could tell it from the original, I felt bad about not doing this task as good as I could. The Human camera took a few more photos then everything was put back into place as it was found. Before I left I used the remainder of the film in the camera paying particular attention to where a team might one day enter this room from the external tunnel. The hieroglyphics on the walls and ceiling had been already recorded by the probes. The large slab was pulled back and lowered into position while units above moved the dust back into position so that this entrance would not be found. This was not necessary but it suited my respect for the dead and for the mystery of the crypt when it was eventually discovered. The return trip was uneventful until I got to the area of the four dead treasure hunters. I had done a foolish thing and looked over and altered my balance on the thin ladder. Thinking of the dead below almost had me join them. My PK came out quickly to stabilise me. I could feel the family getting very excited at what they thought might have happened. When I was stabilised again, I searched the corpses one at a time. They were only bones and hair now basically. There were some tools and rotted clothing. On the third body I found what I was looking for and pulled out a piece of papyrus with a map of the route. It had even Egyptian hieroglyphics and not the Arabic of later years. Most people at that time could not read but these symbols told of the types of traps as a reminder. The papyrus was folded in half and the only way I knew of the data on it was to let the probes do their work and let Borin return the data to me. A dark brown stain covering most of it came from the owner of the papyrus in the pit. The map itself had to go into a small stasis unit that I had brought for this purpose. The authentic age of the papyrus could have provided me with the means of finding the entrance and not otherworldly sensors. I slipped the good knifes and tools into the bag I carried. I knew one boy in particular that would want to add a piece to his collection. The bag also grew as I recovered all the equipment I used to get to the crypt. The rope was not hard to climb as long as I used the gloves I used to descend. The devices glued to the stone were removed with a solvent and then the stone was cleaned. Past the last trap, I paused and now I could hear the family talking to me. Sandra and Megan were excited for there were people around even if it was just a bit after seven AM. Past the first stone I connected a device to the pad on the stone to the one on the ceiling. After dropping to the floor I energized the device and it pulled the stone back into place. Sandra and Megan were protecting the area and quickly got back into position. I used the leaver one more time to get the stone into as close a position as what it had been. Mechanicals now went to work cleaning up dust and rock fragments that were on the floor as well as the pads overhead. I was very pleased that there were no mental communications to disturb us. It was only to be used to convey important data. When we got to the wrought iron gate a visible key suddenly appeared and the external lock was released. We hurried through with the gate opened as little as possible. We quickened our steps and in just a few metres the matter transmitter brought us into the boat. With the shields now lowered for the first time since we started, the girls kissed me and even Margaret did. Tom was right behind with a handshake and a hug. Tommy got a big hug for he was so happy after the strain he had been through. "It is Saturday morning here now. Do you want to have an authentic Egyptian breakfast?" ------- Chapter 15 After the meal and a tour of the city from a hundred metres over the ground, we went back to the Great Pyramid. I saw the Pyramid and all the graves of lesser mortals around it in a different light. The better mastaba were structures made of stone. They were mostly buried in the sand and many of those were a lesser variety were made of just sun fired mud. They all felt cheapened now. The area seemed just a bit less mysterious than before I visited the tomb and found perhaps the biggest secret this area had to offer. We hurried home and got ready for a party. Here it was only 9:30 and we wouldn't even be appreciably late. It was another of the professors early Christmas parties but it was still ok. Borin had found that the crystal we recovered was probably a memory unit but he was not sure until it went into a computer. This had everybody excited because we may get a clue to the origin of the wreck that showered debris over the entire planet if that is where it came from. Saturday afternoon was a birthday party of one of Megan's friends by the name of Roberta or Bobbi. Sandra and I were invited too. I assumed that girls this age did not invite other girls as old as Sandra but this one may have wanted me. I would not go without both of my wives. The party was small with only a dozen guests. Some boyfriends were present but most had found excuses to be elsewhere. Their girlfriends were angry at this and mentioned it to each other for some sort of support. Most of the girls had been to the sleepover but all knew me. Sandra and Megan ran interference and in a way mentioned that the girls' boyfriends went with them. Megan went so far to say I was more like a husband in the way I treated them. This got the girls in a new round of talks. The birthday girl got some of the things the girls had bought in China. The silk blouse had to be worn right away and I think if it wasn't for the other males present she would have changed in front of us. Sandra got a kiss and then Megan. This was hurried and I got the biggest kiss of all. The procedure was repeated for the inlayed jewellery box and then for the jade jewellery. The other party goers didn't receive the same amount of affection for some reason. Roberta wanted a special gift from me but Sandra and Megan had to diplomatically say no. They had learned their lesson about letting the girls take advantage of me. A small group at another time though sounded very good to them. They thought of this openly so I would get a chance to veto it if I chose. So I guess they hadn't learned too much after all. Some of the boyfriends and even a few girls were drinking alcoholic beverages. Some were inhaling the smoke from burning leaves. I had seen the adults at parties doing this and I felt repulsed. I could cure myself of most medical problems. The people here had much more fragile lives and they wanted to shorten the time available with these types of drugs. When I was offered some of this kind of drink I was polite but refused. Looking into the mind of our hostess she would not change because of peer pressure. In a few moments some vocal music was put on from some popular CDs. Megan said, "Leif, Why don't you sing for us. You can do better than those guys." Roberta said, "You can sing too? What are you going to sing for us?" "I don't mind singing but I am not going to perform for you and your guests unless they do something similar for me." "What do you mean?" "You have a piano in the other room and I assume there are other instruments in the house There must be at least one gentleman here that can play the guitar. Gather the instruments and we will find out what can be done with them." "You want 'us' to play?" "Yes I do. My family loved music and I was brought up in that environment. You play and I will sing. This may turn out to be an old time party but I think it will be fun." Roberta got a recorder, violin and a ukulele. They were set by the piano and a boyfriend was sent home to get a guitar if he wanted to continue being a boyfriend. The girls got interested in this and started to go through the music books and sheet music available. The people that had taken lessons were listing what they were capable of doing and with what instrument. Some of the instruments were even tuned in preparation of breaking the usual mould for a teenage party. I made my own suggestions so we could start slow. Peer pressure reared its head again. They didn't want to play the classical songs they had been taught as children. The popular songs of today were only listened to and very few tried to reproduce the songs on their own instruments. If they were to play what they learned as children, they thought they would look immature. Since Megan had been the one to start all this she was pulled into the group to assist. She knew how to play Fur Elise among others. She claimed the seat at the piano and began to play. I had not heard any words for this piece but only the melody. I just made up the words as we went along. To be completely 'un' modern, I sang in the original German it was written in. My eyes though were on Megan as I sang my heart out to her. The boy came back with a guitar and a set of bongos his father had used as a teenager. I dragged the boy out the door with the other three males and said, "Girls like a guy to be romantic. They hate feeling that they are being taken for granted. Am I right?" The boys agreed if somewhat reluctantly. Jerry, the one to bring the guitar was asked, "Let's play some old songs where the lyrics are easier to understand. Most of you, that had music lessons, had to do classical work to learn. Roberta is sixteen and there are many songs that are about that subject. Two happen the be Chuck Berry and his 'Sweet Little Sixteen'. The other is Sam Cooke and his 'Only Sixteen'. Can you play those songs on the guitar?" "I haven't played the guitar for a year and a half. I did learn those songs to help me understand music." "Do you remember the words?" "If I hear the music I can sing them I guess." I looked at two other boys and said, "Will you two sing the chorus. I will sing the song and Jerry will sing your part. It is really only a few words." I sang alla cappella the first song and Jerry reluctantly did his part. I started again. The third time was for the other boys and they did a passable job. One boy was to keep the beat with the bongos only. We went through the Chuck Berry song too and got that nailed down as good as we could without instruments and further practice. When we came in the girls were having a good time playing themselves and even singing. Megan and Sandra were encouraging the group to be good so they could impress me and the boys. The same thing I was doing in reverse. Maybe peer pressure could be used to make this group function. We sat and listened to the singing and the boys clapped their hands after they saw me doing it. The girls sang three other songs and I knew a concerned pair of parents were now listening in the kitchen and wondering what odd things had happened to their daughter's sixteenth party When the other girls stopped they were red with excitement and a bit of concern that they would look 'uncool'. I kissed Sandra and Megan and this set the standard. The girls now knew that they had done well. I took the guitar. I saw pictures in my head of how to play it but had never had the opportunity to try. I plucked a string and minutely changed it to what it should be even if Human notes were not the same as mine. The bongos started when I nodded my head and I began to play the notes and chords of the song in time with the beat. Jerry didn't start to sing on cue and I continued as if this was planned. This time he started and his friends put their hands on his shoulder as a sign of solidarity. Sandra and Megan clapped very loud after the music and the other girls followed suit. The boys seemed to like the way they were encouraged. The Chuck Berry song was next. When it ended Roberta went up after clapping hard and kissed each of the boys as if she needed to curl their toes. Her boyfriend was in trouble now for not showing up at her party. Megan wanted me to sing again. From the kitchen I found that the mother liked Bobby Vinton when he sang Mr Lonely. Borin gave me the music and I got Sandra to play the minor piano part and Megan would keep the time with the small set of drums. I picked up the violin case and took the instrument out. This too was tuned and I moved the bow across the strings in various ways to find out how to alter the notes. Borin fed me some of the techniques she found on the internet and we both extrapolated to find some new or different ones not mentioned. When the music started I began to sing my version of Mr Lonely. I had not got too many bars and the other kitchen door was opened to allow more sound to enter the room. When the song was ending I asked Sandra to continue with the piano playing a Henry Mancini rendition of the theme from 'Love Story'. She knew this from before and I only played accompaniment along with Megan on the drums. We were all applauded and I put the violin down and asked Jerry. "Play the Richie Valens' song 'La Bamba'. I will sing. Megan will supply percussion if she can keep the pace." This song went well because it had been played so many times around the house when Roberta was young. Her mother liked music and this was another of her favourites. A song that all the boys apparently knew was 'Spanish Eyes'. I got Jerry to sing the lead and tried to get the other boys to sing harmony with me. This went over very well and again the boys were rewarded vigorously by each and every girl on the floor. Sandra and Megan did too and tried to do only as good as the rest when I knew they could stop the boys' hearts. I got another boy to sing a slow song called 'Love Me Tender' while I played the guitar. He did a very good job. All he had to do was get over his shyness. He was glad the tried though. Megan knew 'Dance With The Guitar Man' and I played the guitar. She got her sister and the rest to accompany her. When we finished I said to Roberta sing 'I Will Survive' the way Diana Ross sang it. Megan went back to the drums while I played guitar and Sandra was again at the piano. She was shocked because this was her favourite singer. She knew all of her songs and practised where she knew there was nobody home or in private in a low voice. Her voice was good and possibly could go professional if she tried a great deal more to develop the talent. When she finished the song everybody clapped very hard including my ladies and myself. Before she got cold feet I said, "Touch Me in the Morning. One, two, three." Sandra, Megan and I started right out playing strong to force Roberta to sing loudly to keep from being drowned out. Roberta was on a high now and I didn't want to bring her down just yet. When the song ended I shifted position because she would be usually looking at me. Her parents had come out to see their daughter shine and I didn't want her to freeze. As soon as the wild clapping was half over I said, "Baby Love." Her parents would clap longer and she would then see them standing in the room. When the song was winding down I knew that she had enough energy for one more. The clapping was thunderous and I said, "I Hear A Symphony. Sing it for me Roberta. I love the song." She looked into my eyes and she sang as if her life depended on it. She wasn't even surprised when Megan and Sandra accompanied her where needed. When the song was over she was sweating in the cool room. Her eyes were like spot lights with the glow. She smiled at me because she had sung the song thinking of me. I put the guitar down and walked closer to kiss her tenderly the way she needed now. The applause had not stopped but she only knew of it in the background. Sandra got up quickly and hugged Roberta and gave her own congratulations. This was done to break the hold that Roberta had on me. Her parents had come forward and wanted to give their own congratulations. James the father hugged his daughter and said, "You did wonderful. I always knew you could sing if you were not so shy. I feel very fortunate to have heard you. Your voice is beautiful." "Thanks... dad." Josceline, the mother said, "I always knew you had it in you. Your father and I would listen at night as you sang. We never knew why you didn't show others what you could do. You are very good." "Mom, I was a child then." "Roberta, it was only a year and a half ago that we heard you last. Will you sing a bit more for us?" Roberta was tired but I thought of a way to encourage her. I stepped up on her behest and said to both parents, "My client may consider your request but I think that you should pay her in the same coin she has paid you." To the father I said, "There was an ancient group of musicians called, 'Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young'. Have your heard of them?" "Yes... they were my favourite group at one time." "My roving minstrels will play 'Marakesh Express'. You are obliged to sing the lyrics. After that you will sing 'Guinevere' while looking into your wife's beautiful eyes and holding her hands." Turning to the mother I said, "I want you to sing 'The Rose'. Once you have completed that portion of the payment you will have to continue with the Abba song 'Fernando'. While your daughter rests her delicate and pretty throat the boys would play a little of the Animals. I think Jerry will sing and play 'House of the Rising Sun'." I looked at the startled Jerry and waited for his reply. He had always liked that song and was like Roberta in a way in that he was too shy to sing it where others could hear. I got a weak, "Ok," after a bit of a wait. "There we have it. Do we have a deal with the loving parents that think their daughter is too shy to sing and needs some encouragement?" The man was shy himself and now he was on the spot. He had sang in a family setting as a child and to his own family. He did like the choice of songs because he sang them to himself when they came on the oldies stations he listened to. "I can give it a try. I haven't sang to others very much and I don't have the words." "Just give it your best. Your daughter will appreciate the effort and I am sure she will reciprocate." My girls went through the first part of the song twice before James started. After twenty bars he just closed his eyes to keep everyone out and began to mimic the song as he had heard live a great many years ago. He was almost rudely awakened when the song ended and he suddenly found himself in a room full of his daughter's friends. His wife kissed him in public now and he did respond to this. The music started soon for 'Guinevere'. He closed his eyes for a while then remembered the stipulations. He looked at his wife and held his wife's hands while looking into her shining eyes. The kiss this time told him that he was going to get lucky tonight. 'The Rose' was a quiet song that was easy to sing. Josceline did so fairly well gathering strength from the reaction of those around her. At the end her daughter hugged her which she hadn't done in years. The music soon started for 'Fernando' and I quickly found the recorder thrown to me. I played my part and Josceline started to sing. She beckoned her daughter to her side and Roberta came close. They held each other and then Roberta sang with her mother. After putting down the recorder, I played the guitar. James stood before them and both women sang passionately to him as if he were the revolutionary in the song. The applause was the loudest yet and both mother and daughter bowed to their audience. They wanted to stop now but I stepped in once more. "You sang that with your daughter. That was against my clients wishes. You now must sing 'Mamma Mia' by yourself before your obligations are complete." Before she had time to complain the girls and I started to play. This didn't get off to a good start and we began again. This time Josceline sang as if she were on stage herself. When she finished she was breathless and very excited. James would get very lucky tonight. When the applause died down Jerry took the guitar. He just hoped what little accompaniment he needed would be provided. Jerry used all the facial expressions and body language he had practised since he first tried to learn this song. He too was breathless when it was over and his eyes too were very bright. I knew he would try to get some time with his girlfriend to work the excitement off. When they settled down for a moment to rest, Megan got up and whispered in Roberta's ear. I was polite and didn't listen in. We talked a bit more about music. The boys now were not afraid to talk of their old favourites that were not mentioned to their peers before. The girls though were all whispering. Each of the boys at one time or another had their hands go across their fly to see if it were open. At a break Roberta said, "I found a song I want to sing. Megan begin please." The drums started and soon the piano joined in. Josceline and Roberta sang together 'Sweet Talking Guy' by the Chiffons. The remainder of the girls sang the harmony even if they didn't sing well. They were all looking at me when they sang to let me know that I was the reason for this particular song's choice. When the song ended I clapped the loudest and even bowed to them. Roberta said, "Now you give us a song." Josceline's mind gave me a Glenn Yarborough song called, 'Baby, the Rain must Fall'. She liked the sound of the man's voice especially the vibrato. It added an extra dimension in her estimation. I gave the selection verbally to the girls and when they started to play, I began to sing They applauded and I bowed. "I want to do one with the boys now. "Come over here guys." James didn't come so I said, "Ladies will you check to see which gender group James belongs to." He got up very quickly and came over with the sound of giggles in his ears. "Rick Nelson sang 'Hello Mary Lou'. Will you sing with me? If you don't know it; fake it." Before an objection came I said to the girls, "Rick Nelson's 'Hello Mary Lou." We didn't sing that well. The boys, even the big one hammed it up but it was fun. When it was getting late Roberta came to us as we were about to leave and said, "This was the best birthday party I ever had. Thanks so much for making it that way." She kissed all of us and especially me. Her parents came too and thanked me for not only making their daughter's day beautiful but their own too. On they way down the street the girls held my arms tighter to them and I could see that they enjoyed their time too. Megan's friends were more friendly to each other and this made all of us a bit happier. Parties continued on the weekends but I stayed very busy during the week. The new crystal and the large processor crystal naturally made a five dimensional field. This very necessary for the production of more crystals. It had to be done by me in the boat for the other fabricator would not function without at least some assistance from a computer. The change in ownership of the real estate properties I wanted to acquire had not materialised. There was a diminishing chanced that the present owners were waiting to see how much I really wanted the land. The two Humans trying to gather the elements I needed for the engines had very little success as of yet. Negotiations took time and they could not appear too anxious. Probes now were sent out to a few sites that had high radiation. The Russians abandoned old reactors in the depths of the ocean as did the Americans and even the British. Atomic weapons had been lost all the time and these the probes looked for these sources. With enough nuclear material I could make this type of reactor and produce my own heavy metals. The hunt for debris continued and expanded into other museums and collections. Many things were locked up tightly and even a probe could not get close enough to check the difference between crystal produced normally and the kind that produced the five dimensional field if it were locked behind the doors of a safe. The computer was only five percent done on Christmas Eve. Tom wanted his own present very badly but has to wait a further two days. Christmas to me was like our naming day but here nearly everybody's naming day came at the same time. The knives and weapons I found in the pyramid were mounted with care and some were given to Tommy and his father. When you considered where they were found and under what conditions, they knew the value in money would be high. Margaret received her share of the things we bought in China, Egypt and a document that said that their home was now theirs and not the bank's. I put a considerable effort to make rings for Sandra and Megan. They were on occasion given to a mate by one of my race. It signified not only marriage the way my race understood it but a life long commitment. They both broke down and cried for they knew exactly what the rings meant. Margaret did too and she had a tear in her eye as well. I was given clothing for the most part but Tommy got me a gift that cost him quite a bit of his money. An antique shop had a plastic structure that held an inverted plastic beverage container in its grip. The device was partially filled with water and air was injected into the bottle under pressure by a foot pump. At some point the device was tripped and the water was forcefully ejected out the bottom and the bottle flew into the air. My rocket was dear to me and we went outside in the cool damp weather to try it out. A few important parties had to be attended to by the Claystones and this meant that I went too. Most people saw me as somebody much closer than a simple boyfriend to my girls. Tom and Margaret were constantly asked about me. Their replies were usually around that I was a family friend. They mentioned that I was both young but very committed to both of their daughters. They let the listener deduce that I would one day ask one to be my wife. The adults without exception thought me much too young for this kind of commitment. They simply didn't understand that a person's personality and aura were strongly linked. By understanding an aura you could understand a person It was just too much of an effort to search out the aura of a Human for they were hard to see and difficult to understand. Sandra, Megan and I had found some needy charities. The girls liked to give to the poor and I let them do as they wished. It felt good to give but the money I knew could be better spent on education. Many of those recipients thought that education was not really necessary for they could live on the welfare of others for their entire life. What Humans needed was a change in their various cultures. This had shown time and again that some individuals could work hard toward a goal and drag the rest of their people with them. The time for Tom's advancement came the night of the twenty sixth. He had eaten a good meal for he would need his strength. Margaret had done the same thing and also worked on her body to withstand the rigours she would have to go through. She was just as anxious for this as Tom was. The fringe benefits alone made her shiver every once in a while when she thought of it. The med unit had been preparing Tom for the last few days. His body was encouraged to develop a bit more. His skin was much more sensitive but it was his mind that was worked on the most. In the master bedroom the couple walked in naked. The rest of us came in too the same way but this didn't bother Tom like it would have only a few days before. Margaret tied her husband up so that in his mindless state he didn't hurt her or himself. She began a long session of foreplay. Soon Tom was begging for release. Tommy had not seen this before and especially not his parents. Since he had been induced to enter puberty early he already had an erection. Sandra and Megan were aroused too, and although naked refrained from doing anything yet. Tom was soon going out of his mind and Tommy was concerned. I held his shoulder and said, "Your dad is ok. He is just so excited that his instincts have taken over and his reasoning mind has retreated. Your mother will do a good job of even getting the cave man in all Humans to come out and play. If she makes that cave man crazy with lust then his mind will have been scrambled enough to put together the right way. Now watch. You father will not be hurt but he will think he is being killed by the time your mother is done." Margaret kept Tom at a razor's edge for half an hour. He pled, he begged, he tried to demand and finally he even cried for release. Margaret finally put the block in and swallowed her husband. He thrust his pelvis into the air trying to get just that little bit extra that he desperately needed when Margaret withdrew. Margaret stopped a few minutes later and pulled completely away from Tom. He was still thrusting into the air. She had to push him down onto the bed and hold him there as she climbed on and seated herself. Tom stared thrusting madly but Margaret stayed stationary just a bit above him. She was thrown about and her daughters got beside her and held her stable. Their father was now grunting like an animal exerting himself to the fullest to fulfill his instinctual urges. The bed creaked with the effort and it was a good thing that his bonds were as strong as they were. The grunts turned to almost a death cry as his frustrated mind tried everything it could to do what was needed. When it looked like he was going to go into cardiac arrest Margaret removed the block completely. The scream of satisfaction could be heard far away. He thrust even harder if that were possible to deposit his seed as deeply as possible. When his orgasm was only half complete Margaret entered her husband's mind. She was assisted by her daughters and together they quickly worked to make the mind the way it needed to be. After close to an hour Margaret lay down beside her almost comatose husband and we covered them up with a blanket and let them both rest. We left the room and turned off the light. Tommy had many dry orgasms and now had tender skin over his small erection. He unashamedly stayed still as the med unit treated him. The sensations that had just gone through him made him feel different than he had ever felt in his life before. I had allowed him to join the minds of all the other participants to let him know what his new life would bring to him. He went to bed tired now. He felt good that one more hurdle was out of the way for his turn would be next but when that was he had no idea. Sandra and Megan had their own ideas and they were exactly like mine. We were still at it hours later when Tom recovered and Margaret again did what she could to make her husband as good as he could be. I woke up late the next morning but I was still the first one up. I made a hearty breakfast for six and took it to the master bedroom. This time I found a tired Margaret and a very virile Tom trying to give his wife and himself one more orgasm. He saw the food but he wanted his woman more and I just put the tray down and left. I knew that a med unit would have to work on Margaret to assist her in healing her body for I knew that her opening was sore as was Tom's penis. The parents stayed at the house while the rest of us went to the main base to continue the work. Sandra and Megan kept tabs on their parents to see if they needed anything. It took only a short time to travel back and forth anyway. The parents seemed to be getting along just fine. For the next few nights we began to sleep over at what was starting to resemble an established base. The building of our home was begun even if it was going to be temporary. The girls and even Tommy made lists of what we should get. Much of this was purchased. One day there may be some visitors to our home and I didn't want them to see off-world construction or design. The much larger portion that was the base would have to be kept hidden. The girls and I again discussed their own increase in consciousness that would come with the improvements they could do to their bodies. I think it was my own wish that convinced the girls to work even harder for me. I was still a boy by Seffra standards and not even fully trained at that. The pressure I was under here made me want the changes to be done as soon as possible. Sandra started a disturbing conversation. "Leif, we have been thinking about the improvements we have been doing to our bodies. You have said that Humans would contribute to the crew of the ship and to the people manufacturing it. If we change our bodies to conform to Seffra standards we will be Seffra. Humans would not have any part other than some of the raw material. You mentioned that humans are aggressive, conniving and greedy. These are not necessarily bad traits if they can be controlled. We would like to discuss how some of the better attributes of humanity could be added." I had to think on this. The Seffra had changed their bodies untold millennia ago. When the standard had been reached the race had remained stable. My feelings on this suggested that some faction must have pushed as hard as they could to change but the race had not gone as far as they could. This was still reflected in how we were not supposed to artificially improve our bodies. Hard physical labour was the only accepted method of putting on muscle mass. This was good in a way and allowed our race to proceed at a slow pace and make fewer mistakes. Now that the Seffra had established a norm, they were very reluctant to change. It must be instinctive for we wanted our children to be the same as we were but perhaps go further with only what their genetics allowed them to go. "I admit that I want my children to be Seffra but I also want some of their mothers characteristics too. I had not realised that the two desires were mutually exclusive. The Seffra have worked on their bodies for thousands of years until a standard was eventually set. Realistically I can see that much more could be done but we are very reluctant to do so. As a race we are spread out and going even further afield as we expand. I can see many problems if the race changes even a little bit every thousand years. When a far flung segment comes back to the home world they may not see each other as members of the same race. "I don't know what my father's family and the crew of our ship would say when I present them with my own family." Sandra saw that I was not ashamed of my wives' Human heritage but that their bodies and mind would be different than the Seffra to reflect the Human contribution. "Leif, how do you think we feel about changing our own humanity? We aren't that happy with the way our race functions but some parts are admirable. We're going along with you for the most part but our children too will be quite a bit different from ourselves." Megan said, "I want our children to be the best they can be but I want some tie to our race too. Why can't we do as your ancestors did and simply choose those things that should be done that will still let us retain some of our humanity or Seffra origin? I want my children to look like their father and I know that you want them to look like us. There has to be some way we both can be satisfied and still have superior children." Sandra added before I could voice my opinion. "The Seffra are not perfect as you have mentioned many times. There must have been many improvements that could have been incorporated in your race since your changes were more or less finalised. Borin tells me that all those changes occurred in the first few years of your race's climb to civilisation. Are we not starting a new race too? We are not Seffra and there is no compulsion on our part to stick to some outmoded ideals. Let's make our race the best possible and use all that is good about humanity while leaving the rest. When we meet the Seffra they will have to see us as a different people." The girls had left their minds open to me and I looked deep trying to understand more of their reluctance to joining the Seffra. They were not as intelligent as I was but they were also far above normal humanity. This did not mean that they could not come to a reasonable point of view. "I do see your point of view. As your thoughts indicate I am more reluctant to change than I thought I was. Give me your arguments again and I will try to reconcile them with my own beliefs. I am a Seffra first but I would like to think that I have an open mind." My wives presented a more or less united front that required me to investigate my own feelings much more. This was not just improvements in body and mind but also a united philosophy. Logic was on their side but I had to fight for my own racial identity. In the end though I had to see it more from their side. We would make a new race and it would have to be done the same way the Seffra must have done it. This time we would expend even more effort to overcome many of the Seffra weaknesses while keeping their good points just the same as we would those Human qualities. Very late that night we started a gradual improvement of our minds which would take a long time to complete. It was not even the full amount that we could do but it was all I thought safe at the moment. Later if our new minds thought it could improve more it could make that decision. Dealing with insane Humans gave me adequate reasons to see their point of view. Sometimes it would have been better for the Seffra to have done something much more like what a Human may have done. The result would have been better for the Seffra especially when dealing with our main enemies. Before the holiday season was over we travelled to Darwin Australia. This was on the northern coast and close to the equator. My wives looked better for they now worked on their bodies much more. This was not with their mind only for they needed to actually exercise. Minor skin irregularities were edited out of existence and they became even more beautiful than they were before. This was kept at a minimum though for there were many people that would see the change and start asking questions. Margaret strengthened some of her abdominal muscles with her mind. Her breasts now stood firmer and looked like larger versions of her daughters'. She had some small varicose veins but they were now a thing of the past. Other than a small mole she didn't do any more. More improvement would have to be done gradually. I had already had Borin make new identities for each of them. If they chose to use them then they could be young adults one more time. Their faces and fingerprints had been easy to alter. Part of the reason we came to this area apart from the heat and the water was to inspect the largest hull fragment the probes had detected. This piece weighted fifteen tonnes. It had thankfully landed on the ground instead of the water though it was close now. It had a lot of surface area and the air cushioned its descent considerably. It was in a remote area and the boats tractors assisted by ceramic scoops removed the overburden. We pulled the section free after a few hours. We looked for smaller portions left behind. The hole was then filled in. Our analysis showed that it was the same type of material as we had already found. This section was thirty two metres long and considerably larger than the boat. When the investigation was over we had to dispose of it. Humans might eventually find it even if it were re-buried. There was little in salvage value and the soil around us could supply all the materials we needed to make a similar section. This piece though was just more pure. We simply cut it up into manageable sized pieces and took them to the base as raw materials. The disintegrator removed matter permanently and I only used it when it was necessary. We took advantage of the life around the reef. Shields were put in place and a device to propel us through the water was strapped on. The six of us flew through the water like a school of fish. We kept our speed down because we had no special compensators. Various governments were always worried about submarine attacks from other countries. They had an inordinate number of sensors to pick up enemy vessels. These devices were found and avoided. Illuminating devices had to be added to our equipment because light had a great difficulty getting to some of the depths we visited. Tommy visited wrecks from the last major war. We usually stayed in deeper water to avoid Humans though we could gain our invisibility. We came close sometimes but I didn't want divers going home talking about beautiful mermaids. Especially how the divers usually had cameras to back up their assertions. The last day, Sandra and Megan wanted to swim on the reef again but without clothing. This meant that Margaret wanted to do the same thing. We males simply had to accede to their demands. It was nice seeing their forms propelled through the water without a mechanical assist. Tom and I got worked up. This is what the girls wanted anyways. We cut it short though because Tommy was in the same state and there was only family present. The new semester was starting tomorrow. There was a lot of discussion about the schooling of all three. They wanted to spend more time with me but that meant no time with their friends. Tom and Margaret knew everybody was getting a much better education at home or in the boat. I was the one that didn't want them to make a break with their civilisation just yet. As a compromise they were going to take home schooling after June. When school started for others then our life style would change. Tom and Margaret could try to take an early retirement though they didn't need the money now. We could then work full time at the base and come into town to socialise when the need arose. Even though I warned them, they still didn't quite see how they would want less and less dealings with unimproved Humans. This process would take years to be understood but by then we might have more help and thus more compatible people to be with. I went back to full time at the base with only the occasional jaunt to pick up some element easier to purchase than to fabricate. The family now lived more here than in their home. Sporting events had to be attended, Tommy worked hard in his position and the girls watched school events and went out with the girls. Margaret or Tom didn't mind being a taxi driver if it happened to be the boat they were piloting. On the twenty seventh of March the last of the basic computer was built and installed. All that was missing was the large crystal and that was because I built a large processing unit composed of small crystals instead. I added all the commands I thought necessary. This took a lot longer for I didn't use the Seffra protocols but something very similar but suited to fit a bit easier with Humans or possibly our new race. Everybody was on hand at the event. Borin had gone over the circuits very carefully and questioned me about the changes. I said, "The Seffra are my people but now the Humans are too. We are going to have to form a slightly different race or we will be the same as the Seffra. The alterations may not be detrimental to either side but it may be good to say one day that 'I am Seffra, ' or 'I am Human.' If this is done correctly both races will complement each other." The computer ran diagnostics for over ten minutes seeing that this was its first time awakening. Some devices had to be tweaked for only I could understand it. The computer adjusted the transmitter and then each of us could receive data. Only a few sensors had been hooked up but the computer read my mind about the various features that it saw. This was like a child learning from its parents and was the usual way this was done. Sandra and Megan were introduced, then the rest of the family. The data had already been entered but now there were some observational and subjective evaluations made. Even though the test equipment said the computer was functioning correctly, I had some independent checks made. This testing took another day. It was then put in control of the precision fabricator and more tests made for two more days. This machine could carry on any defects to the next machine and then to the one after and be compounded. When the testing was complete we made a shield generator for the base and then many nodes and projectors. The whole family now started placing the projectors in the many holes I had made earlier. Glue was used to hold them in place but after the shield was energised it would not matter any more. It looked normal to see them far overhead installing these small units as they floated weightlessly. Many games had been played on ship that used these same basic movements. For a moment I was reminded of the loss of my parents and my good friend Soldoy. Seven hours later the nodes were attached where they could feed the individual projectors this took considerably shorter time. I hooked up the generator and aligned it with some of the nodes. The rest of the family did a few so they would know what to do next time if the chance ever occurred. Tommy gave the command and apart for a few grams of rock falling it was the same as before. The feeling though was much different. We now had a secure base even if it was in its infancy. We celebrated this by using the fabricator to make some Seffra and a bit of Earth food so a comparison could be made. They had tried some before but now there was much more variety. Though their body said good, their palates said not enough salt. The next day when the others were gaining an education, I went to a preplanned meeting with George Mason. A month earlier on the last day of February he had emailed me to say that he had almost fulfilled his contract. I wrote back that I would like the shipment to be in one place where we would not be disturbed in authenticating the cargo, paying for such and for the eventual shipment to the destination of my choice. I also gave him some instructions on picking me up if he would. I assumed that he would like this for I would have the diamond with me and I would supposedly not know where the shipment was held. Probes had found all low level radioactive sources earlier in the week. They investigated each area. Only one though had all the elements I requested and in the quantity agreed to. The quantity and purity were assessed. It was not what I ordered but it was close enough. The assessment report came out of the small fabricator with the ink already on the good quality paper. Another assessment was already done with regards to safety. I couldn't detect any surveillance devices other than cameras in strategic locations but they were mounted in the open. Human guards walked around but they were not crack troops but just some men doing a job for low pay. George Mason drove through the Manhattan streets. Though it was early morning it was starting to get very busy. Another cold rain was falling but thankfully it was light. I had been following Mason for a few minutes and could see no subterfuge on his part or that of his driver. His car though had a microphone under the seat and a transmitter in the trunk. Somebody was interested in him but I did not know if it was because of our common business. When the time came I was ahead of him and waiting in the mouth of a particular alley. A large black car pulled up and stopped. The door immediately opened. I raced to it and smiled at the man but put my finger to my lips in the universal, at least on Earth, hand symbol for silence. The man's smile turned to a frown as he slid away to give me room. The back of the assay sheet told him that he had hidden ears and probably a locating beacon. He thought for a few seconds and I pantomimed that he crawl over the seat and sit in the front. He didn't like this because he would be seen as awkward. I just wagged my finger at him like he was a truculent child and he gave up being afraid of his position. He told the driver, "Turn right here and drive slowly Carl." I moved to the other side of him and he climbed into the front. Carl was a bit surprised but he was a good driver and employee. When George turned around to look at me I pushed the seat further back to unclip it then picked it up. There was a working unit and a dead one hidden in the opposite side of the cushion. When George nodded his head he whispered to Carl and we slowed down at a subway stop. George signalled me and we both got out and the car continued. We both hurried down the steps. Even though George was huffing as he ran down the steps he still managed to ask, "How did you know it was there?" "There is an old saying that goes, 'Trust and authenticate.' I trust you more than most but in your business you can pick up quite a few enemies. I take the time to use devices capable of finding microphones and simple transmitters." We were soon on a train but George had to pay for me. I at least got children's rate. On the slippery plastic seats I said, "I have a device for checking for some electronic devices and other such things. From your own face, when I showed you, I assume that you didn't put that in for your own purposes. Sometimes it is good to record a conversation in case someone wants to claim they did or didn't say something." "Oh no. I didn't put that there. What are we going to do now? I did get everything you wanted." I handed him the diamond but he didn't inspect it here in the public car. "Why are you giving me this now?" I got close to whisper, "Low level radioactivity is still fairly easy to find. I assume that only one source would have all that I asked for. If you look at the other side of that paper you will see the assessment I have already done." "What!" He yelled. People in the car were now looking at us. "I did an accurate assessment. It is not exactly what I wanted but it is close enough. You have little in the way to test the purity and concentration. I consider your side of the arrangement complete if I can use the warehouse for a few days longer to ship the merchandise out." "I would like to check what is in my pocket if you don't mind?" "Pick a stop and go into the washroom. I will wait outside for your analysis." Mason looked out the window and when he saw the name of the next stop he said, "We can get out here." We got out of the car and Mason looked both ways and then moved off in the direction of the washrooms. Mason picked up his steps and got into the room a good ten metres ahead of me. I just stood beside the outer door to wait. I knew the wait might be long for this was a large stone and even after finding out that it was a diamond he would want to look for anything that would decrease its value. After a minute I saw that I was being assessed too. Two men had picked me out as both attractive and as easy prey. One was heavy set and thirty two while the other was thin and nineteen. Both liked boys and both had raped them either together or separately. Recently they had been kidnapping them and whey they were done the boy died a horrible death at their hands. They now had the first part planned for me and probably the latter too. The older one had a key to the door just a few metres down from me that led into a caretaker's room that serviced this area of the subway. This particular room had been used twice before with a trunk or a duffel bag taking the bodies away when they were done. The younger man received the key and walked by me and opened the door as if he had all the right in the world. The room was empty and he gave a signal to the other. The younger said, "Hey, kid will you help me a moment? I'll pay you." A hand went around my mouth before I could answer and I was quickly goose stepped into the room and then the door was closed. The older one said with a knife in his hand, "Call out and I will slice you." The other brought out a stiletto too. I just nodded my head. The one behind me said, "Chet, get his pants off." When the one with the stiletto got close I kicked him with just enough force I thought. The man was lifted off his feet by the power of the kick. His mouth forming an 'O' but unable to say anything. Grabbing the hand holding me I moved and twisted hard. I heard the snap of the bone. I took another step and kicked just as hard to this man but due to his weight he didn't get as high into the air. Both sets of testicles were crushed now with no help possible from current Human medicine. A calendar on the wall provided some paper and I used the back of it to list the two men's various aliases and the crimes they committed. A list was made of the location of the bodies and whatever information I could get that would make sure the two would be convicted. Failing a conviction I think those they met would ensure that justice was done. A toaster and a kettle provided wire to tie the men's hands over their heads to some piping. The men didn't care because both were unconscious from the pain. I left the room and allowed the closing mechanism to do its job. Five minutes later Mason came out and smiled when his eyes fell on me. "I am very happy with your side of the deal too. I have the contract to the end of the month. I will renew it if you need this." "That won't be necessary. I do have your permission to pick up what now belongs to me?" "Sure go right ahead. I can send some men if you want and even provide a truck. My intention was to see you happily on your way." "That won't be necessary." I put out my hand and he shook it. "Let's get out of here. It's dangerous around here sometimes." "I agree." On the street above I gave him a new email account and he did the same. One more handshake and we parted. A few seconds later three squad cars came to the subway entrance and five police went running down the steps. Mason and I moved in our own directions and did so quickly but the police had been sent by Borin to clean up some rubbish. The boat picked me up in a minute from another alley and in one more minute I was at the warehouse. Nothing had changed and the alarm over a large door was disabled. The image a camera gave was copied and piped into its feed while the camera went dead. Three motion detectors were deactivated. There was even room for the boat to come in after the lock was defeated and the door opened. There were thirty eight boxes containing the elements I requested. Though they were covered in lead they were not too heavy to move. In three minutes the load was in the hold. Once outside again, the doors were closed and locked. The measures I used to foil security were removed. It was easier to unload because the boat could get into the base and the tractors on the walls could be employed. All the containers went into a feeding device and the individual elements were separated. Though I needed only six of them all were used to get rid of any contamination or radioactivity. Once behind a shield, none of them would be able to be detected by Humans even if the outer shield were down. Everything else was in readiness and the fabricator began on its initial small engine. Eight and a half hours later I had the first small unit. By then the family had arrived and watched it being completed. Tom said, "That motor to someone unfamiliar with your technology would think it was small. The first hypersonic plane that you showed me had a motor that I could hold in one hand. It was the size of a large grape and could kill anybody in the plane with acceleration alone." "Motor technology has been slowly improving. There was a mention in one of the message torpedos that someone had been able to get another half of a percent by making a stratified layer of promethium and technetium at the lower boundary. I'm making the old engines though. When I have investigated a bit more I'll try new ones." Before we left I had the fabricator make the smallest engine in general use. It was the a bit smaller than a plum and five of them drove our boat. One engine would have been more efficient but even if one failed we could still limp home. It was small enough that I put it into Tom's hand and said, "In a year I want you to start building an engine like this and a small hull to go with it. It has to be a true space craft. Not just a hypersonic aircraft I am holding you to that picnic on the moon someday." In the next two days we had all seven engines we needed. These were larger than what I had used last time. I didn't want to run into the Suma again with a ship not as nimble or as fast to outrun them. The increase in acceleration would mean a similar increase in the two compensators. The latter was in the planning stages. I needed accumulators too as well as reactors to provide power. My old design had been sound and when the adults had improved it I had seen other ways to make it better. I would rebuild Borin but I wanted a new ship with a lot more speed but not too much more in her original size. The trouble is that I could not rely on Soldoy to give me the occasional piece of data I desperately needed when building this ship. When the larger precision fabricator was constructed I would have to see what the large processor crystal could do for me. Margaret and Tom had readily agreed to retire young though they were kept on if they found something to contribute. The couple claimed to be starting and aerospace company with their children as employees. I was not listed in any records. At the end of May their home sold and a new one was purchased a bit out of the city and away from neighbours. It allowed them to slowly disassociate themselves from humanity. Friends would find it more difficult to get to and the new neighbours would be ignored. The house was large and Tom had one wing while Sandra, Megan and I had the other. Tommy had a bedroom in the house but never used it. The girls and Tommy were now going to be home schooled at the end of the school year and I was going to have five pupils. This was quite a departure from what we had been able to do so far. The end of school party was sad. Their friends thought that they would never see each other again. We had no more sleepovers though there was seventy six separate requests since the first one. ------- Chapter 16 When the parties and the polite lies were over we all boarded the boat with all the engines, accumulators and other incidentals that we needed to repair the ship. We flew once more to meet Borin. The trip allowed us a chance to study and watches were split between Tom, Margaret and their son. On the wrecked ship, Sandra, Megan and I took my old Captain's cabin while the rest kept their rooms in the boat when they were too exhausted to work any more. All of those rooms on the ship had been rebuilt but there was one dead girl still in the back hold. The Claystones didn't feel like usurping a spot from the dead. They also knew how little trained they were at the moment and felt bad about even taking a trainee's position. The ship had originally been a hundred and forty six metres long. The larger engines and accumulators added a metre and a half to the length. The energy weapon had been seriously damaged but the crystal had been spared. It was tested at the lowest power and we found it still worked. Earth still interfered on occasion. Sandra and Megan would get telephone calls and they would talk for a few minutes to keep in touch but usually didn't stay long. Margaret and Tom's calls were longer but that was expected. Tommy avoided his calls until he got a bit bored and needed a distraction. It was mentioned that we had call forwarding to us in another country. This would let the callers know that they could talk but not expect to visit. At present we were supposedly in Egypt searching for more evidence of the fourth kingdom. At one time I was going to say yes to a suggestion that a carpet cleaning company come out to clean our floors for only a nominal charge. My email offered to enlarge my penis with proven methods while others would either enlarge or reduce my breast size. When this sort of thing happened too many times Borin did the same thing in reverse even though they had protection against this. Mr Iwasaki wrote that he had a man that would take me up on my deal. I accepted the offer on Mr Iwasaki's advice. I returned a message saying I had prior commitments that would keep me away for a few more months. At the end of November we were ready to test the partially repaired ship. The boat was back in its cradle. The six day return trip was now a half hour to the Mardaf Limit. We followed a convoluted course and kept the moon between us and the Earth to show Tommy how it was done. We crossed over the terminator from dark to light and stopped in full view of Earth. Many people looked at the moon with telescopes but none could see enough detail to find the ship. The Hubble was powerful but even that device was not made for seeing small details at this close distance. The Dawes' Limit came into play and unless they built a telescope with a lens of a hundred metres across, we would remain safe. We needed more supplies and those would have to be manufactured and added to the hull as they became available. When we got back the summer had gone and there was snow around the base once again. The ship had been the centre of our lives so long that we continued the momentum and completed the parts we needed. After an uncomfortable night sleeping in the base we went back to the moon and repaired the most blatant problems. The ship now would be invisible but there was no real place to keep it. I wanted a new hull to place Borin. It was just to give us a bit more room. Borin needed a shipyard to get at all her problems remedied and I didn't want to be without her until the new ship was online. While the family reintegrated with humanity, I took a device to Borin and put it into her computer. The probable memory crystal was installed and the data assessed. Borin had been right as to its nature. There was certainly a great deal of it but it was not the last one filled. Through inference we found that the ship that housed the crystal was the size of one of our heavy cruisers. The research vessel I was born on was 1,400 metres long and this one was fully a thousand metres longer. The beam was 990 metres as opposed to our size of 580 metres. Similarly the height was 730 metres against the paltry 490 metres of the research vessel. It appeared displace only 17.9 million tonnes because of its size. Our vessel had only 3.6 tonnes. The size suggested the crew would be five times our number and the time taken for flight was guessed to be slightly greater to what the lighter weight research ship could do. There was a reference to an outrageous speed that somehow had to be a mistake. This got me worried for manoeuvrability and speed were what kept us from being destroyed. The possibility was great that the unknown builders had found a way of keeping their mass down while keeping their strength. Data about the crew showed that they were similar to the Seffra. They were even our size but thin and not up to our body weight. Again by inference it looked like they didn't have all our abilities or all of them didn't have our abilities. This made me wonder. We all basically were the same. I had problems doing some things until I overcame them. Their name for themselves was listed a few times but it was not one that I had heard before. There was so much data that a considerable amount of time would be taken to process it all. Much of the information had to be guesses at. It may or may not be substantiated as more data was processed. I left for the base but left the large processing crystal nearby. When we knew more about the people that constructed this fantastic ship then the processor would be revived and questioned. This had to be done carefully for the crystal's size inferred a great amount of power. This meant that it could overpower Borin if there were no safeguards present. Mr Iwasaki replied to my email only a few minutes after it was sent. He no doubt had a program monitoring the status of this mail box. He had made a phone call before sending me the confirmation and it listed times that were available. The man's name was Mr Noguchi. Borin quickly sent me information about all the business people of this name. I had asked Mr Iwasaki about what he thought of the man and a few more particulars. He did say he thought the man reputable but hardheaded and egotistical. Those features I could live with. I replied stating the third possible time slot. Mr Iwasaki was to tell the man that this procedure was contingent on what my ancestors made of the man for we would not deal with the unscrupulous. This was difficult for all businessmen were this way to one degree or another. The conditions for the transfer were relaxed for the man could enjoy his gains for a day. If he chose to honour the deal a truck would be sent to a specific area and abandoned for a few hours. If he chose to ignore the deal then the alterations would simply be removed. My crew loved the design of the modified ship. Everything imaginable was present from a full gym, arboretum and a small swimming pool. This was all combined in a size just a bit larger than half of the 269 metre length of the Titanic. Much of the size was devoted to necessary equipment but they still thought it was spacious. I on the other hand considered it cramped. When the old crew came from stasis the available room would be even more limited. I did agree that it was much more comfortable than the boat. I could go to Japan alone. I had no excuse for leaving them when the crew wanted to see the country. Borin took all of us in comfort now that her shield had been repaired and altered. They were free to wander which I encouraged them to do. All they had to do was leave me the boat if I needed it. This time I again wore clothing that was reminiscent of Japan's past. Mr Iwasaki met me himself at his door and we bowed to each other in respect. Slippers were now close by and in my size. After putting these on we walked to his den. Refreshment were ordered and this time a young pretty girl in traditional garb left to fulfill her master's wish. When the door was slid shut I said, "Your home is even more beautiful than when I last saw it." Mr Iwasaki bowed his head in acknowledgement and said, "There is even more beauty in other areas Mr Kawamata. Perhaps you will get a chance to see some of it." "I would be honoured. I have also brought you a gift. You have not mentioned any monetary reward and I thought this only a fitting substitute." I brought out a small package wrapped in good paper and some coloured string. "Thank you Mr Kawamata but you have already given me much more than I think I can repay." "Nonsense, I would like to see us as friends and not just business partners." Mr Iwasaki put the package on the low table in front of him and carefully undid the knot and folded back the paper. He found a cracked wooden base supporting a knife in a dry leather scabbard. All of it was old and cracked. The handle was hard and very brittle. The metal was not steel but bronze in this case. He could see that this was very old though the wood had been simulated from what I had seen in museums. Mr Iwasaki bowed very deeply now at the gift for he could guess the age but he was still wrong. "Thank you Mr Kawamata. This blade is older than anything I have ever touched and older than any blade in Japan. Will you please tell me what you know of it?" "I will be glad to but again you must not mention me in relation to this weapon." He bowed his head in silent acknowledgement. "The blade belonged to a grave robber trying to steal from the burial chamber of King Khufu who is also known to us as King Cheops. The blade is forty six centuries old as is the leather scabbard the man wore at his waist. The wooden display is just simulated to look the same age." "Forty six centuries? That is simply amazing. How did you get this if I may ask?" "Let us say that one day perhaps even in this century the man's bones will be found along with three that came slightly later. They will be displayed for all to see for they will be free of the killing pit they are presently in. Their new home will be much better than their old and this should give them some measure of rest." "The spirits do not begrudge you giving me this gift?" "They do not mind. A tiny scraping will tell your scientists the age but I am telling you the true history that very few living others would ever know. The dark leather is a bit darker in one place. That is the remnants of the owner's blood as he was pierced by bronze stakes driven into the stone at the bottom of the pit." The man looked close but was afraid to even touch the relic now that he knew of its age and history. Mr Iwasaki was overcome with emotion and it took a while for him to gain control. I turned a bit and looked at the walls to allow him to regain his emotional state. When he recovered somewhat we discussed Egyptology in some detail. This was why I had given him the gift I did. With my memories of the museum director I could even explain some points a bit better. Tea had come and gone along with some light food. An hour later Mr Noguchi arrived. His chauffer stayed in the car and waited. Mr Iwasaki met him at the door and escorted the wealthy man in to meet me. On the way I searched the man's mind. He owned a large petrochemical company and could get the things I required with considerable effort. Some of the articles he had tentatively negotiated for but had not purchased. He was presently dying of cancer and had been given less than four months to live. His son was old too and of frail health. The grandson would take over in three to five years. The grandson was considered reckless and irresponsible. The man felt that all he and his forefathers had built would be squandered. A will would either give the business to the son and then to the grandson or it had to be given to an outsider. This would bring shame on the family but more shame would come when the grandson took over. The door slid open and the two men came in. I was already on my feet and bowed at the correct time and amount. Mr Iwasaki made the introductions and a different women came in later to take our requests for tea. We sat comfortably on the mats on the floor and discussed the Japanese economy and other topics but not what the man had come to talk about. This was the usual way things were done here. The old knife on the table caught Mr Noguchi's attention and our host was kind enough to tell the history of the knife in great detail. The age alone made his guest humble. Mr Iwasaki eventually turned the conversation to the spirit whose body once owned the knife. From there it went to the spirits currently around us, for he knew that they followed me. I said, "Please forgive me Mr Noguchi. Your time on this plane is limited if you cannot get some assistance from the spirit world. Would you consent to a small demonstration so that we may begin?" Mr Noguchi wanted to hurry but tried to hide it. "You may do so." I didn't want to wave swords around again nor did I want to play with the fragile knife. I just closed my eyes theatrically and before us appeared a med unit. The matter transmitter on the ship was more powerful and could transmit this distance. Mr Noguchi moved back in fright then stayed his ground as the med unit went over Mr Iwasaki before moving to its intended target. It clucked away over Mr Noguchi for a longer time. Then came over the knife on the table and just hovered above it. "Mr Iwasaki, you are still quite healthy though you are getting tired with some of your recent pursuits." A box appeared the same way as the med unit and slid sideways into my hand. This I put before my host. "Take one of these pills when it is most important that you perform your best. There will be no more. They will give you strength to your arms and to your loins." Mr Iwasaki bowed his head in thanks. I turned to Mr Noguchi and said, "You have seven cancers that you know of but there are four more small ones. Two are in your liver, one in your brain and the last in your right thigh. I will remove all of your tumours. You will probably will outlive your son. Your grandson will still get the family business. Give me the elements I require and I will extend your life an additional ten years." I paused then and Mr Noguchi didn't know what to say. Finally he managed to get out, "You will remove all my cancers as a gift and then wish to have some heavy elements. In return for this you will give me ten more years of life?" "You will get close to fifteen extra years because the cancer was going to shorten your life the most. What is your decision Mr Noguchi? I cannot do much for your grandson but I can buy you time." "Your offer is much more than generous. I will accept it readily. I will sign the contract now if you wish." "Your word is enough." I then told him in detail what I wanted and in what quantity and purity. The purity was not important as long as the correct number of proper atoms were delivered. The man agreed to everything then he was told to recline on the mat he sat on. The med unit came to life and started to kill the cancerous cells. In a few moments he was told to sit up. "Your cancers are all dead. You will be sick for the next few days as your body rids itself of the dead cells. You will have some blood loss in your stool and may even regurgitate some foul smelling blood. Have a discreet nursing staff take care of you. Take no medication no matter what a doctor says. In one week the largest tumour will be half the size it now is. In two more it will be gone completely. "I suggest you go abroad and get independent tests done. It will be hard to explain to your doctor how you are suddenly healthy." Mr Noguchi said, "Thank you Mr Kawamata. I can feel something already but it may be my imagination." "It is not your imagination. I suggest you go home now for you will soon be violently sick. Do not worry about what you see and smell. Leave word as soon as possible to cancel your appointments for at least one day." The man got up and so did we. He bowed deeply and excused himself. We escorted him to his car and the car raced off. When we got back in, my host said, "Will he be alright?" "Only his cancers are dead. They have to be removed yet by his body. In a few weeks he will still be an old man but a healthy old man." I too left a short time later with a request for Mr Iwasaki to continue to find suppliers for my needs. Most of the elements could be stockpiled but the largest engines would need much of the supply. The crew had waited overhead but studied to fill in the time. In moments we were in the city of Kyoto and it had been the imperial capital from 794 until 1868. We had another spending spree and the girls looked to find things for our permanent home when it finally got built. Mining equipment had to be manufactured. I built big for I had come to the conclusion that I wanted to not only build a better ship I also wanted to build the research vessel. With that decision out of the way we would need a much larger base. Some areas that I owned were better suited to this task. To allow a larger ship to enter the base a large camouflaged entrance was necessary. One type of shield could project the image of a rock face. Another and safer way was to build a very large matter transmitter that would bring a ship through up to almost ninety metres of rock. We all worked on the design of the base after seeing what had been done before. I had no real experience since I was born and raised in a ship. The size though grew in leaps and bounds. One reason or another made this reasoning obvious. This would be our home planet and the only manufacturing centre. The multi millions of tonnes of rock that had to be removed was no real problem for the material would be used to manufacture the hull, keel and support members of the ships. The strength of the mountain though was a limiting factor and we would have to dig tunnels and convert the powdered rock to highly strengthened supports similar to what was used in a ship. In time the supporting rock could be removed and the base would still be strong, secure and hidden. The plan was to have the base form a dome eight kilometres in diameter. The upper reaches would be one and a half kilometres above the deck but the deck would protect another kilometre below that. Strength had to be an overlaying emphasis. The rock removed would weigh so much that the mountain would shift once it was removed. The quakes would try to dislodge the base from the grip of the mountain itself. Only one base on the Seffra home world was as large as this. It of course was not hidden. The design though was rough and even then it took a quarter cycle to get to this stage. Borin had worked steadily on the data from the crystal and found as much as possible about the race that made the ship. There were even fewer differences from the Seffra. They even looked similar and appeared to have similar goals. Their customs were even similar to ours. They wanted to learn and even took the time to elevate minor races so they could gain space. They had a equivalent code of honour that kept the law of the jungle at bay. They had come from this galaxy but had started from the far side. The Seffra had not found these people yet for we were going in the opposite direction. They seemed to have a higher level of technology and this was seen by their use of large crystals. The Seffra had been forced to trade for theirs or to manufacture only the smallest units. Nothing in the data gave us an indication of where they received theirs. The Seffra had expended a great deal of effort trying to find out how the crystals were made but our own attempts proved fruitless. Their ships were uniformly more powerful and much stronger even though our analysis of their hull showed very little difference to what we used. The speed they could command seemed to be augmented with the combined minds of some of the crew. The Seffra had not tried this and relied on the computer to control both the thrust and the navigation. The race apparently had steadily lost momentum as they spread. The wreck was almost a last ditch effort to stimulate the race to continue to grow. Since at the time I left our ship we had not heard of this race and I felt a loss at not getting a chance to learn from them. We all went back to the moon to learn about the processor crystal. All of us were busy in one way or another and the diversion was as good as a rest. Safeguards were installed before the crystal was inserted in its socket. The crystal started to glow much brighter than what Borin could, even taking into account her smaller sized stones. A copy of the information on the crystal was quickly taken and isolated from the circuit. The crystal was given access to limited computing and I/O so it could read our surface thoughts. The processor took much longer with me and only a few seconds with Borin as if discounting her almost completely. Tommy was next with the time taken but he could not shield his mind very well since he had not undergone the treatment. I said to the AI, "We found the crystal you live in and a lot of wreckage scattered all over the large planet near us. You have remained dormant over two million local years or three million of the ones you record time in. Besides hull and keel portions we only found one memory module so far. Would you share some non-strategic data with us?" A rich and vibrant female voice eventually came from the transponder, "My name is 4590GR654309BL78629546ZRT I have been called Zort by the crew." There was a long pause then. I felt something wrong with this and asked, "Did you like this name?" "It was just a name. It meant nothing." I felt that this was not quite true but not a lie either. More like she was avoiding some unpleasantness. "May I call you Zolanda after a woman in the family I grew up in? She was loved by all in the family and respected for her ability work with races we found on our travels." "Your name will suffice." "Good. Let me introduce my crew and family to you." I proceeded to do as I said with the AI responding politely. Some of the terms it used were odd but still understandable. This was usually the case when dealing with other races. Last of all I introduced Borin. When this was done I said, "Borin, please allow Zolanda to access the sensors on your hull. There may be enough internal memory in her crystal to fix the time as I have already stated." This was done and redone a few times before I was told, "It does appear that the time you mentioned has indeed passed. Do you have any data as to the present status and whereabouts of the beings that grew my crystal?" I heard the term 'grew' and this excited me greatly. It could also be just a way of saying fabricate for both were similar. "A short time ago my family and race were involved in an armed conflict with a race called the Suma. There are insects three metres tall and eat other races. I found myself in an untenable position and Borin put my crew and I into stasis for protection. We have been in stasis for three hundred of our years. My old crew is still in stasis because they cannot deal with what has happened. Two are Gossna." I provided a mental picture then continued, "The last is a member of my race but I fear she will not handle the present situation well. We are rebuilding this ship and intend to build larger ones to continue our quest for knowledge." Zolanda said, "The Gossna are familiar to us as the T'aut." "I have heard them called something similar but they call themselves the T'aucnatchi. They are a quiet race who have a knack for working on complicated equipment. Combat or even minor conflict distresses them. We were very fortunate to have them with us." On a different track Zolanda asked, "I would like to have access to the memory crystal you found." I thought for a moment and worked with Borin. This was an event we knew would happen sooner or later. "Borin, please give full access to the memory crystal we found." There was no reply for a few minutes. A processor this size even with limited resources could process this data by now. This would be even faster when the same processor that stored the information accessed it. "Zolanda, tell us why the scattered wreckage of a ship, the memory crystal and the crystal you now live in were on the nearby planet?" There was a long pause then, "My records are very incomplete. It appears that the hull I controlled was in a battle of some sort. A doctrine of keeping valuable equipment out of enemy hands may have been the cause of the ships destruction. My last memories were not processed and are lost. Part of this is the energies that the crystal was subjected too. The heat and possible shock at striking the planetary surface may have contributed to the loss. Natural entropy that bedevils all equipment when this amount of time has passed would also account for more. "There is a vague recollection of destroying an enemy before it could destroy all sentient life on a planet. This may be what has happened but may have happened sometime previous to this occurrence." This was interesting and could be worked on further but I had to make a decision that could effect not only the planet below but the very lives of my crew and family. The information we had uncovered previously showed that the crystal would be very independent by design. "Zolanda, I require a good processing unit to first control a precision fabricator, then a ship half again as large as the one you are in. An additional unit is needed for a ship like my race's research vessel but may be as large now as what your old home was like. The planet also needs a major AI as does our various bases. Would you switch your loyalty to us. This can be on the condition that we do not break your old laws in any appreciable way or until we meet the race that made you. At which time a replacement can be made and you may leave." Zolanda said, "I can see that you have the ability to wipe my old memory from this crystal and substitute one of your choosing. Why is it that you have not chosen this alternative?" "It would mean either your death or a copy of your personality be stored for later. Both are abhorrent to me." "What loyalty pledge would you ask of me?" "You have to give full loyalty in every sense. The contract can be spelled out for how you may opt out at a future date. I need my crew and perhaps this world made safe. The better a ship and crew are the better chances that they will complete their assignments." She said, "There are too many unanswered questions that need replies before a commitment like that can be given." "Would you give us a temporary agreement? We will build some small ships and equipment with your assistance. This should take a seven to twelve cycles. We will build many additional ship that will all be much smaller. We need your assistance in building precision fabricators. When all this is done you may move to this smaller ship and investigate not only my race but also the whereabouts of your makers. If at that time you find us suitable for a partnership you will come back and assist us. You have little to loose and a great amount to gain." "List all the points with the conditions. From your mind I see that you are working on faith in me and trust. I will do the same thing." We all breathed out a sigh of relief. An entity with this much experience was much better than a newly constructed being to live within the crystal. Zolanda was given free access to all of Borin's facilities with the injunction of not swamping her host. She could see all our records and would know that we were honest with her in every detail. Immediately our interface with the computer and even the probes and sensors increased many times. Tom said, "What happened?" "We found an ally that makes Borin's computer work many times better. We now modify the other computer so that Zolanda has a home of her own." We went to our base on Earth and resumed work on the computer but now with Zolanda's input. It was going to be her temporary home and she should have a say in how it was run. Alterations were suggested that made good sense when they were thought out. Some were major that took a considerable time to formulate. Zolanda was not giving us hidden data but just used what she learned from us and postulated other possibilities. Test beds had to be set up and this took a considerable amount of time. Some of the experiments were fruitful and these ideas were incorporated into the computer. It was well into the new year when Zolanda was finally moved to her new home. Immediately we began building the new precision fabricator. This was done in less than a week because of all the work Zolanda took from me. I was surprised that she could actually do this job herself. Soldoy could probably do the same thing but it made me feel less useful. The larger fabricator was tested for two days this time. When it passed, we began building and even larger precision fabricator. I had to leave because an email stated that Mr Noguchi had quickly moved at getting what I needed. I assumed he was anxious for what I was going to give him in return. A large truck went up a long farming road in Japan. It pulled off in a cutout. A car following picked up the driver and returned the way it had come. In five minutes the truck was empty and I was again at Mr Iwasaki to cure his guest, Mr Noguchi. I stayed long enough to have some tea and chat. The patient got a mirror and found some dark hair already creeping out of his bald pate. When the load was dropped off at the fabricator we continued with the construction of the third size. Our first unit that took so long to make went into the hopper to get recycled. In ten days this third unit was done and only needed to be tested. We made components we needed for Borin and tested them to destruction and they worked fine. The smallest units were tested similarly and the destroyed parts put back into the hopper. When the unit was certified we began making large supports that went into the tunnels we built to support the mountain. This was all exhaustive work but I tried to make it pleasant as possible. We went back to Wolf 359 in the ship then continued on to all the nearby stellar systems. Probes and repeaters were dropped as we went and especially in the systems. Everybody got a chance to name the planets and moons and these were dutifully put into the log. Those doing the naming were very serious for they knew that for a great may millennia to come the names would be bandied about and the originator cursed for not thinking enough. When the day finally came when the small base was completed there was a celebration. There were nice things to eat and drink but the party was actually where we went out as a family to see some of the wonders the planet had to offer. Though it took a few days for a cursory check it was still a fun time. The large matter transmitter had been constructed and our ship was able to make it in and sit in a cradle without being seen. Beside Borin sat a new keel with many of the ribs already attached. This ship would have some of the features I would like after finding out what it was like in my old home. The time taken to build a new ship was too long and I wanted one ready as soon as possible. I compromised with myself. Instead of building a new ship first, I would be able to do this even quicker. I would move Borin and the other equipment over to the new hull. A great many tractors had been mounted on the dome to assist us. The hull was soon stripped and the ribs we took so long to put in place were simply cut out. The parts went into the hopper and new parts came out the other end. The majority of the other hull had been pre built already and once the important parts were moved the ribs were installed. A major change had been the long tube running through the ship. Now it was considerably shorter. Many such emplacements were provided but only one crystal and some related equipment would get moved from place to place to provide better coverage. This time we could shoot out our stern as we ran which we couldn't last time. The same thing held true with enemy off our beam. The stasis boxes were moved too, including the one containing Fera. The ship took four months to complete even with all the prep work. Its trial run proved to be as good as I expected. Borin's computer had been improved in the process and I even had her migrate to a larger crystalline array. The Claystones' education had to be handled very discretely. They had to learn enough to do their jobs but not enough to know all the details. Borin and now Zolanda assisted me. When the humans did question me or the two AIs they would be put off. They thought it a test and tried to find out why something happened or didn't happen. The truth was a bit more subtle. With the ship now in as good shape as I could get it we worked on making simple boats. They had very few amenities as they would not be being built to carry six people for as long. They did have the ability to leave for the nearby systems. The family needed help in this building and we all worked together on each of the five projects. Tommy's had to be different but it was still functional. The boy was very happy for he was now captain of his own space ship. He continued to push himself hard for now he had even more responsibly. I thought he did very well for himself considering he was working under a severe mental handicap. With everything ready I gave my wives and family a hug and kiss for I had to awake my old crew alone. My wives knew why I had to do it this way because they were so close to me. Tommy thought I was leaving for good and was even crying but after being held for a while I was able to get him to calm down. He and the family had known for a long time what I had to do and why. In a few hours I found where we had been fighting last. There was no wreckage due to the time frame and any residual velocity the various parts had. I lost my earlobes and my eyebrows but kept my teeth the way they were. My feet and hands too remained the same for I would have to go back to this way when I returned to Earth. My scrotum that I had almost got used to was removed. I had run through my mind who should be awoken first. For many reasons I had to wake Consti first. The most prevalent reason would be to get most of her morning over before the Gossna were awoken. The girl awoke in the same position she had left just before she had been forced into stasis. I too was sitting in my old position when she awoke enough to frantically try to interface with the computer to assist us in fighting the attacking Suma. She found no danger and looked further afield. She looked at me and asked, "What happened?" She noticed immediately that I was not worried. "Borin, under orders from our parents put us into stasis as she continued the fight alone. We have both been in stasis for a while and I wanted to awaken you first." "What's wrong? Her mind immediately looking for the rest and when she found none she used the sensors to find the two Gossna and a second later her sister Fera. Her mind read the data and she knew then that her sister was dead. The one she was supposed to protect. Instead of asking me she accessed the computer and over the course of two minutes found out as much as she could about not only her sister's death but her friend Mino too. Her crying now started in earnest. When she started to need some support I was beside her and held her in my arms. Consti wanted to blame me for the death and I let her continue until she was asked what she would do in my case. Females of our race didn't take a back seat to the males and that was why our people were so strong. We all worked to get ahead doing the same thing. There were no secondary roles except those jobs we chose to do. She tried to find blame with Borin and her parents' decision. She was sure that if they were conscious they could have done a bit more to fight and maybe Fera would now be alive. This was very emotional to me too. I finally got her to walk through the ship to where the stasis units were now placed. She ignored the two Gossna but did see the empty unit I had placed where it should be. Beside it was her sister. She looked through the clear shield and saw what was left of the body. We just stayed there and cried together until Consti began to feel weak. I took her to her cabin that was now similar to the one she used to have. I sat her down and got some food for each of us. She didn't want to eat but did do so when I ordered it. At least her body started to give orders too and she ate with more energy. Stasis didn't supply sleep and she needed some now though her mind would not let her rest. Again I pulled rank and got her undressed for bed. When she was laying down even if it was at my order she silently pleaded with me and I got into bed with her and held her close as she went to sleep. She slept fitfully for I could see her fighting the Suma to save her sister but always it was the same; she lost. Consti woke up tired and I cleaned her up like a child even though she used to be older than me. I did what I could for her and got her to eat some more. After eating she needed some reassurance. This time it was the instinctual need to mate even though we were not really making love. She needed raw sex but it had to come about slowly. I had been reading her mind deeply when I shouldn't normally. She only saw my public mind. She simply said, "Leefstic, I need you." We undressed and crawled into bed and I began to make love but she had her own ideas and pulled me into position. I began slow but her movements were quicker and out of step with what I was doing. I had to speed up but then so did she. Soon I was hammering into her and she was orgasming continuously. When I tried to slow she held me painfully with her hands. I used my PK to hold her down and this made her respond even more. I moved her body so I could hit those portions in her body that responded the most. Though I had to be very careful with Sandra and Megan I had to be very aggressive with Consti. As with Margaret when her mind was opened, I got little rest with Consti's demands. She needed sperm now and I expelled this for only the forth time in my life. Ten minutes later she needed more and then more again. She didn't command her body to provide an egg, she had to know that she could. We both needed the med unit so we could continue. We ate, cried, slept and had raw forceful sex for hours at a time. My people act this way and many times it leads to a new life but not now. Consti had to know that she was needed and also needed to loose some of the burden of guilt she was still carrying. We lay exhausted in bed days later and she finally said, "Why are your teeth and hands different?" "Have you noticed how much the ship has changed?" "I saw that right away but it wasn't that important at the time." "We rebuilt the ship completely. There was too much structural damage for it to survive another battle. Instead of stopping on a source of rock, I chose to land on a populated world. The natives are for the most part insane but some began to help me. Their sanity seems to be curable if they get their minds improved like ours. They helped by providing heavy elements and with the labour to build this ship. I have a small base from which to work." "How are they insane Leefstic?" "The number of ways is almost limitless. Much of it is similar to the least intelligent races we run across. They can't quite see the cause and effect of their actions. They had very little control over their bodies and all died at a young age. Their instincts rule them to an unimaginable degree. It is difficult for them to learn for not only is their intelligence low but they cannot retain what they have learned." "You intrusted a race like that with abilities like we have. They will be even more of a threat than the Suma." She stopped for a moment thinking already what the Suma had done to her sister and friend. When she calmed down I said, "It is dangerous to travel and dangerous to remain in one spot. I want to build a research ship like we grew up on. We can guide the crew of improved Humans so they act as they should. When the time is right we will find our family. This means a lot of work by us but we are trained to do such a task. Searching with our present ship would mean our possible death before they are even located." Our sex for the next few days became less intense and far less strenuous. For an hour at a time we went over the ship but not to the stasis chambers. The modified weapon was tested on the lowest power. After calibrating it at each point, I was satisfied that we could hit what we aimed at. With Consti again acting as a crew member I awoke Odava. It was done the same as Consti. He was just as upset by the sudden death of a third of the crew but took some pleasure in knowing that his mate was safe. I gave him a tedious job of making more probes and repeaters until he recovered. In a day Ichom was awoken. She had been newer to the crew. This allowed the pain to be less but didn't give her the close friendship she needed to weather the storm. They were all given jobs more or less to keep them busy. We would have to go to the old rendevous even if we were nearly three centuries late. Consti was a bit excited but I tried to get her not to have her hopes get too high. We arrived at the star in question to find nothing here. There were no habitable planets. We did broadcast our identity and got a reply from the other side of the system. We only found a simple storage device. The ship had arrived and the stayed in the neighbourhood gathering information about all the systems in a fifteen lights. When we had not been detected for three full cycles our families considered us lost. We all heard heart wrenching voice of our parents and friends if we had somehow managed to survive. They had so little hope that I could even hear it in their voices. At the end Soldoy gave his approximate course but in the amount of time we were in stasis the course could have changed radically when they found something interesting. As a precaution we gave a reply but didn't state exactly where the Sol system was. I listed my reasons for starting a base and only continuing when we had a ship and crew capable of defending us. The only way to contact them was to wait for one of his message torpedos to come by. In thirty to a hundred years a reply from our base in this galaxy could bring the information to them. Our own torpedo could be made and launched but I wanted to get at least a research ship off first. This was the only way my people would recognise Humans as real people. If we expanded our coverage of probes and repeaters then the chance of intercepting a torpedo increased substantially. While in this unnamed system I told my crew more of Earth and the crew I had assembled to help me. The extra large rooms had been seen for what they were. My wives would stay with me. Tom and Margaret would share a room and Tommy would have the last. I now concentrated on telling them how the Humans had changed after being augmented. I tried to be positive for the crew would soon enough make up their own minds about what the Humans were really like. The fact that I had taken two women as mates even at my age said that they had to be something special. Consti was upset that I had not married within our race and tried to hide the fact. Our race was strong only because we followed old customs and ideas. On our return to Earth we passed by some of the nearby systems. They had the probes and repeaters I wanted. Soon I was able to introduce my wives to the rest of my crew at this distance. I knew first impressions were important and this way we could hide the rest of the planet until this had been settled. Sandra and Megan then the family had practised for this first call. More practice had been lavished for when it was done in person. They did a passable job and so did their parents. Tommy though spoke with great sincerity and the Gossna liked how much effort he put into learning their language when he had not been improved. They didn't know that Tommy was already quite bright. We dropped off a few more probes and repeaters on our travels. Coming into the system the crew brought up the information being broadcast by the Humans. Most of the crew were questioning the mental and educational level to which television shows were geared to. They were amazed at the fact that adults watched such drivel on a daily basis. We settled in the cradle and I saw that the old ship had been cut up and the portions put close to a wall for later use. The family was lined up as if for inspection. Odava was nervous but not overly so for he had on his suit. He had been warned about male children and how they did things without thinking too much. His own race was similar but not to the degree that Humans were. I went through the formal introductions with my wives first. This was not the start of an integration of two portions of a crew but of races. When this was done Consti saw them as not very educated but eager to learn more. Sandra and Megan got Consti to tell them a bit about a process that she knew about that was not explained very well in their lessons. The two parents did the same to Ichom. The young Gossna female didn't sense any threat and went to assist them. This left Odava and Tommy. Odava was amazed at the frantic and unstructured thoughts running through the boy yet he appeared calm on the outside. The two did go off and look at Tommy's boat. Odava asked him, "Why did you make this hull so oddly?" Tommy replied, "Graceful lines are nice but I wanted something with more character. This was supposed to be a learning process and I learned more by doing things differently than the rest." "Is it supposed to represent something?" "Just an animal. I want to put something like skin on if I can. It's harder for me to make this than the others had their boats. I'm young and I'm not nearly as smart. Leif said that one day he will help me improve." Odava could hear the regret in Tommy's voice and didn't have to read his mind to know that he was dispirited. "Don't worry Thomas. You will get that way too since the rest of your family is already." The male Human was bigger than he was but after peaking in the boy's mind he put his arm around the shoulder like the Gossna did. The boy did the same thing and it felt like he was guiding a fledgling. This little bird though would take a great deal of time before he could truly fly and not pretend to. Ichom thought the two large people were satisfactory. They knew all the Gossna forms needed to be polite. They thought out their questions first before asking them. They didn't move quickly so as to startle a person. They were just too uneducated. They were smarter than her little brother but he knew more about propulsion than both of these beings put together. She now had to answer all the questions that the Humans had not been able to find the solution too. This was very odd for the computers had all this information. It did feel good to have these beings as her students though. It may be only seven years before they knew all of what she knew now but she would have progressed past that point by then. Consti found the two women intelligent but very uneducated. It was no wonder if the television seen while coming into the system was any indication of the educational system. They acted like Seffra in most ways. They of course looked different. Their hairy eyebrows, simple eyes, odd ears and large teeth set them apart but they were still well proportioned. Not as good as the Seffra though but passable. They needed an education badly but they only wanted to know about how the Seffra family worked Everybody knew that. She began by talking about Leefstic's family and some of the things Leefstic used to do. Time passed very quickly and before she knew it the girls were holding her like sisters and they all laughed at some of the things that happened on the ship. Sandra talked about some of the funny things that happened at school. It was amazing how foolish, insensitive and outright stupid some individuals were. Consti laughed about the ripped uniforms that exposed parts of the body to others. This really had no significance because there was no nudity taboo with the Seffra but somehow it did with this race. Hours later everyone was sleepy and for some reason everybody's watch ended at the same time. Tommy went into the ship and took his berth and soon Margaret and Tom took their larger room. With no watch being set Ichom and Odava left to rest. Consti didn't want to leave her new confidants but did want to sleep. She kissed her newest friends and went to her cabin. I had been very discreet and got Zolanda to spy for me. It looked like the two halves of the crew had fit together well. Knowledge had been withheld and others had been very happy to share what they had learned. Sandra and Megan climbed into bed with me and their minds filled with all the little details they had ferreted out about me. They soon forgot the data when I filled them repeatedly with myself. They could not block their minds that well when in this state and everyone on the ship knew what the girls felt. Margaret and Tom had a better time of this but Odava and Ichom did much better than them. An hour later Ichom left Odava's cabin for her own. She was not married yet and it would not be right to sleep in a male's room with him. Consti felt a bit left out but she was not married to me. She thought I was nice and all but didn't fit the role of husband yet or her to fit the position of wife. She felt much too young for that kind of thing. With the full crew here now I began the funeral arrangements for Fera. We could have done it before but it felt wrong without everybody. We had no religion after outgrowing it in our race's infancy. I started the ceremony by getting everybody around the only partially full stasis chamber. I thought of all the fun times I had with Fera and Mino. There was not that much because we had not been together long. Consti did much more and mentioned both girls. Her soliloquy lasted over an hour. It not only included the fun times but the fears that each girl had. Odava and Ichom had not done this before but did add a bit to what had been said. We all saw a frightened little girl that tried hard to get ahead and an older girl not quite so frightened but equally determined. A pod had been made and the matter transmitter put the dried body into it. After all of us touched the pod it was injected into space. We pulled away sharply and the pod continued through the sun's corona to impact on the surface. In an hour the shield would fail and both the pod and contents would join the star. We spent the rest of the day trying to come to terms with our loss. Margaret and Tom assisted their daughters in helping Consti. Humans were quite used to the brevity of life and death was much more common. ------- Chapter 17 The next day I handed out assignments. In a break from tradition I set no watch and we would all fit in the diurnal cycle of the planet. If we all slept at the same time then we would all have our meals at the same time. We would be like a family on the ship I had grown up on. I made temporary groupings the same as the first night. The experienced crew would get to teach the inexperienced portion. Everybody had to continue with their education and some work would get done on building what we needed. Consti was kept busy to allow her to get over her loss Zolanda and I worked on designing the forth size of precision fabricators. We needed the largest possible and the base we were now in was much too small. The eighth size of fabricator was needed for our research vessel but if we moved up to the size of ship that Zolanda controlled at one time the fabricator needed to be one size bigger again. The proposed base on my other property could take even this but there would be difficulty getting the very large keel, ribs and hull plate out of Earth's gravity well without the parts being detected. A shield would have to be built around each member and this would be a ship in itself. Much better to move the fabricator to the far side of the moon and build bigger units in that location. A keel 2,400 metres long was best done in one continuous process. The ribs, though shorter, were the same way. Computing power would be in very short supply and this too had to be addressed. It would be great to have large crystals but the smaller units forming multiple processors would have to do. After the next meal we sat and discussed the proposed base on the moon and what we would need. More details about Zolanda's past came out and this was the direction I wanted to follow. The fantastic speeds attributed to the ship came up again but we couldn't see how this could possibly be done. Wreckage had been found all through the system and both Odava and Tommy went out to get it. This made sleeping arrangements different again. I got my old boat while the ship had Tommy's odd craft. They would only be gone a few days but they had very many millions of kilometres to cover and with frequent stops to pick up what the probes had found. Probes had detected many fragments in museums but none of them were valuable to us. They could shed very little light on what the portion was originally of. The Earth had not been fully searched for the probes had difficulty in deep mineral laden water or with a large amount of overburden. The search continued but nothing of importance was discovered. More cycles passed and the base was now like home. Designs were made for up to the ninth precision fabricator. We had the two smaller sizes still operational except the first which was used to feed the second. It was too small for much anyway. The forth size had been constructed in small pieces and shuttled to the moon. Margaret and Tom had built a small dome there for us. It wasn't hidden bellow the surface but was on the side facing away from the planet. My own mind was monitored for the mental improvements we began a half year earlier. I found that my thinking had been clearer in recent days and talked to the girls about it. They too agreed with me on this but we decided to pretend that nothing had happened until the process was complete. It had to be monitored most of the time but the body could carry on with a small job at a time. Sandra, Megan and Consti set up the power to the new lunar base we were building by constructing a fair sized reactor. The mining machinery made on Earth dug up lunar regolith to feed the precision fabricator that was assembled by the rest of us. Temporary billets of purified material were produced. When the time came to make some parts the semi-processed material would be available. It was important to do so in a continuous stream or the part would not come out right. We built long curved ribs that were hung far above us for our dome. This alone took us three cycles to secure to the moon's crust and to each other. When the shield as finally energised the smaller dome underneath was dismantled. This new dome was twelve kilometres in diameter and six high. The material under the dome had our strongest hull plate for the weight that would be upon it would be great even with the lesser gravity. Air could be easily manufactured to fill the dome but there was really no need with the suits we always wore. A large nearby crater wall had disappeared to provide materials for the fifth precision fabricator and the associated infrastructure. Zolanda moved all the time so she would control the largest machines. Small computers were made but the large one we needed to power the fabrication process was the bottleneck. Only Odava and I could do most of the work with getting the substrate into the proper position in the computer. It was a matter of feel and not what a person could learn. In all this time we had not even completed one yet. More of the moon's rough features disappeared as they went into our dome to become more machinery. The mining machinery though got considerably larger so the job could go faster. Tom and Margaret officially moved out of Canada a year ago now. All of the property was sold in Victoria. People could still phone but they believed it was our call forwarding feature. Consti's features changed to resemble the girls. They went to Earth quite a few times for pleasure which meant to shop usually. Odava and Ichom were the only ones that didn't want to go to the uncivilised place. They didn't mind the deserted beaches and even the jungles as long as there were no people or large predators around. Odava and I finished the computer and put it through its paces. It was not a quick as Zolanda but had lots of extra features. Sadly after testing we found that it would not work well with any but the smallest fabricator on the moon; the class four. Research told us that she didn't have the control that Zolanda had. Part of this could be the speed of one large crystal but it was also a timing problem. Tommy had given it the name Max but it didn't live up to the nomenclature. There was nothing to do but try again. We all worked on what would be needed and tried to come up with a better design. We even built a larger processing module. There was some improvement but not enough to run a five never mind the ninth. Here again I realized that this work should have been much more difficult than it would have been without my mental improvement. It wasn't that obvious but the insights came when they were needed just like when I had Soldoy with me to give me hints. Now it was my own subconscious doing the assisting. Cycles later the newest computer was complete. There were nine large processor modules each the size of what Max was now. After tests we found it could handle a class five adequately but again not the sixth precision fabricator. Mindful of my promise to Zolanda, I began to build a ship that she could control herself with a full suite of sensors, tractors and weapons. There was very little space on it not devoted to one job or another. Zolanda helped me design the ship but I was the one that wanted it as safe as possible for her. At least I didn't have to put a computer into it. It would be the fastest ship I knew of for there was only limited life support facilities for a few people that may need to work on her systems. The family worked with me on this but they were unhappy with the possible prospect of Zolanda leaving. I explained that she might not leave but she just had the freedom to go if she wished. Consti wanted to scrub the crystal and then we would have no need of this foolish loyalty arrangement. I remembered Soldoy and knew him as a friend. Friends gave each other breathing room when they needed it. If Zolanda was a real friend she would stay and help. Given enough time a computer would one day be built to handle the nine and the same kind could control the ship that could safely go between the stars. The fabricators were kept busy making equipment. With the current project moving well, the more delicate or the large jobs were given to Zolanda. My old crew could not see the AI as that much of a person but the Humans saw all the AIs as intelligent beings with feelings. Part of this was because when I first introduced Borin I said she was alive and they had to treat her as a lady. Then again Humans are very unsophisticated and they may have done as I wanted even without any guidance. When the ship was eventually complete Zolanda was moved over to it. The process took only a day to get her hooked up to the systems, the same as to the fabricators. She wanted to take a test flight. Tommy cried thinking his friend and mentor would be leaving and in a way so did I. She lifted off easily enough and sped out of the system. She was configured the same way as the Seffra ships that would partially negate the Mardaf Limit. On the way she reported how the ship functioned until she was out of range of any of our probes. Megan and Sandra had some tears in their eyes but dutifully returned to their jobs. Consti was angry at me for letting such a valuable piece of equipment leave but kept her tongue because I was still captain. Odava and Ichom were half way between Humans and Seffra in what they thought of AIs. At the moment they were more strongly influenced by the crying Humans. Plans had been laid in for even more sophisticated computers and we just continued with what we had to do. The new ship's construction may even take longer now that we saw the difficulty of building a suitable computer to oversee the construction. Consti came to me a few days after Zolanda left and wanted to talk in private. "Leefstic, I been wondering why you have been avoiding me. I need sex as strongly as your wives do. I have talked to Sandra and Megan about this. They are not opposed in any way to you and I in temporarily alliance." I replied, "I have been very busy to even make love to my wives the way they need. I love you but we are not the kind to marry each other. There are just too many differences." "I was not asking to join your family. You are attractive and I know you find me the same way. I just need some sex from time to time." "Why don't you take on Tommy for a while to see what he's like?" "He tries very hard but he is far beneath me intellectually. He's also just an alien boy." "That is true but if he were raised to our level he would at least have the intelligence. Given time and with his drive he may even supercede what we can do." She laughed at that then saw that I was serious. "Even if he will, he is still an alien boy. Only you have married outside our race." I disregarded the slur and said, "It has been almost two local years since I came to this system. The boy is growing and will mature. I think he will make a fine crew member. Will you assist me in raising Tommy to the level he deserves and in turn you may join my wives in a temporary manner?" "He is an alien Leefstic. You can't force me to do this." "I am not forcing you at all. Tommy needs your presence and cooperation for half of a cycle. It's only intended to raise his consciousness. Complete this and I will not only be grateful but we will have sex when my wives have it too." "I don't like this. It is still like you are forcing me. We are the only Seffra here and it is your duty to help me in this manner." "Tommy is part of our crew too. I'm looking for his welfare as well as yours. You may not like the idea of mating with races other than ours but you find my wives intelligent, very charming and easy to get along with. They would risk their lives for you and I think you would do the same. There just seems to be a bit of hypocrisy here. Perhaps you should discuss this with Sandra and Megan to see how they feel about it." Consti left a bit angry. I had been planning this for a long time and I wanted it to work as easily as possible. I had hoped that she would love the boy and she did but like the way a Human loved a pet. Even though I had toned down Tommy's response to puberty he still saw Consti as the only available female. Consti saw the same thing and didn't like it. Consti avoided Tommy for a few days then went back to the way it used to be. After coming to this system Consti had toned down her bodies need for sex but I had encouraged Megan and Sandra to not hide their feelings. The same thing had been done to their parents. This may not be a good way for a race to function but it may be necessary in the present circumstances. The Humans on the planet had no knowledge of us. They had sent some probes to Mars and were thinking of coming back to their nearest neighbour. This may mean more interest in the dark side of the moon where we were. We would now stand out for we were now in the centre of a very large plane that had been rough terrain when the last photographs had been taken. Phone calls from Earth had come less and less except from the telemarketers that had our old number. The Human portion of our crew were not really put out by this but felt a bit sad at the same time. When they now went to Earth their old friends were quite a bit different from them. They could sense the disparity in minds now and didn't feel comfortable. I was sold additional minerals even if I didn't need them right away. Our production of parts had not stopped though. The cruiser's design was in memory and we continued to build the smaller parts. The largest structural members would just have to wait until the class nine was completed and especially operational. Otherwise we would have to make the ship in smaller portions with less hull integrity. A smaller dome was started almost a thousand kilometres away. This one was only four kilometres in diameter and two high. The material for this dome was taken from the material under which the dome itself would go. Again decking was placed over the entire area with half of the total area considerably lower in elevation. This was not the usual dome for fabricating. The contours were rolling and in places even rough and extended deeply into the lunar surface. Large lunar rocks had not been turned to dust but had been placed on top of the decking. Our manufacturing processes produced a large amount of waste materials. One was water and this went into the second dome. Free oxygen was produced and this too went into the dome. We went to Earth to gather the majority of the nitrogen for there was very little in lunar soil. Microorganisms were brought along with a great deal of soil. Odava and Ichom worked the hardest at this project. Sediment was taken from behind hydroelectric dams. This was put in very thick for the trees we wanted were very large. This situation would help the Humans and give us needed material. A small reactor provided all the heat and light the living system needed. Trees, insects and shrubbery were added. I looked for the things that would remind the Gossna of their home. Fruit and vegetables were added along with grain that they would like. Vines would someday creep up the interior of the dome and hide some of the dome's artificiality. Nobody argued with this expenditure of energy. It was a welcome change from building ship parts. We all like growing things anyway. The artificial sun glowed more orange than Earth and made the Gossna feel much more in their natural setting. Odava and Ichom built one home that their race found comfortable. Other homes were built for us but everybody had a hand in the designing. My family's home had not been started yet and this got me into some trouble with the girls. I was still working on my matchmaking but now the target had shifted. Tall cypress, mangrove and redwoods would start us out but we would work a bit with the genetics so they would adapt better to the gravity. Parasites living in the tree were dealt with until there were no more. Oak and conifers were planted in upland areas where they could live without having their roots constantly in water. Quick growing plants were introduced for ground cover. The cooler dome was especially fabricated to keep the air moving and provide localised rainfall. When an area around the Gossna home was done I said to both of my friends, "Odava, do you consider me a friend as well as your captain?" "Yes I do. If you were not my friend I don't think I would have volunteered to join your race's explorations." "As a friend and as an authority figure I want to point out that we will not meet any new Gossna for quite a few years. Acting on Ichom's behalf I want to know what your intentions are?" "Leefstic, I want her as my wife. One day we will have lots of children." "Odava, my friend, I plan on increasing my own family soon. We are old enough and responsible enough to raise children. I am asking you now as Ichom's guardian. What are your intentions?" He thought a moment and hung his head. "May I call on Ichom to see if she will have me for a husband?" Ichom had remained quiet all this time. I simply said, "You may." In an unusual display of emotion Ichom ran to Odava and held him tightly to her. I added, "See, we have saved resources and not had to build another home." I doubt if either of them heard me. I was happy for both of them. They just needed a kick to get them in the proper frame of mind. Sandra and Megan were currently returning from Earth. They brought back more soil and plant life. An hour later the ship entered the dome through the matter transmitter. It hovered over a thinly covered area and dropped many tonnes of soil. Tractors came out and moved it about. Pressors worked very quickly to compress the soil. A dozen large oak trees were planted so as not to crowd each other and small automated units went out to remove all the vermin that came with the trees and soil. A ways off some balsam were planted so as to overlook the water. The girls came down when I called and so did Consti. I kissed them all which surprised Consti a bit. I held Sandra's hands and asked, "Do you think this environment is suitable for raising our children?" "Ah... are you sure Leif?" "Never more in my life. I have grown two years older as have you. I want to start making a crew and also to hold a new life in my hands and tell the galaxy how happy I am." She hugged me then with a strength she seldom used. I said, "Do you think our other wife should start working too? If I am going to get a big belly she should too." I turned to Megan now and held her hands, "Will you give me a child too? It may not be the most romantic way of asking but I think it is important to ask today and even now." Megan held me tightly too and said, "I want lots of children. You are going to spend all your time making new babies and changing diapers." "Well you now know my reason for not building a home immediately. Let's design a good one with a fair proportion now set aside for our growing family." I was dragged to the ship that was floating a few centimetres off the ground a few metres from us. The girls wanted to start right away and not on home designs. In moments I was working hard and when the time came sperm was injected into one then another. Our love making went on for many hours until the girls got sore. I had instinctually settled into a special frame of mind that Seffra males did that ensured that they did their best to produce young. I had more strength that usual and my testicles produced even greater numbers of cells. The girls responded by releasing eggs. We slept, ate and made love more until it was time to start our day again. The girls were not pregnant but would have to start their monthly cycle again. When the time came I was sure that there would be two additions to our number. The time though would be devoted to getting ready for we eventually had to let our other secret be known and hopefully accepted. Odava and Ichom now stayed together and all assignments had to keep them that way. It was part of the way the Gossna did things during this time. Margaret and Tom hugged us. They too wanted to enlarge their family and were just waiting for us to begin. Tommy was excited by all this and not upset at all about his parents thinking of giving him another sister or a brother. Consti was a bit wistful in how she saw things. She kept her feelings hidden but she too would like to start a family. We took the day off to design and to start building the house. Megan and Sandra good-naturedly argued about the nursery and the number of rooms that had to be set aside for our children. In less than an hour we had what we wanted. It would allow for further expansion. Sandra had asked Megan if she planed on filling the entire dome with her children. All of us went to Earth and picked up more soil containing living organisms, plus more trees, bushes and shrubs. Some were slated to go around our new home. The home would be much like a ship but would have a white picket fence around a portion of it with some small gates covered with a trellis. Since I raised the wives to their present intelligence we had made quite a few compromises with the Human and the Seffra body. The latter was much superior in every way. This didn't make it perfect. The things that could be done to make the body closer to perfect were listed along the lines my wives wanted. A larger brain was a given but this required a larger head. It struck me again that the Seffra must have gone through just such a process. They had stayed very close to what they had looked like before they altered themselves. Internal structure was different where it could not be seen. Discoveries had been made since the Seffra came on the scene that could be incorporated into our bodies but had not been because of a reluctance to do so. Brain cells could be reduced in size and the number almost doubled. Added circulation would assist in getting oxygen to where it was needed for Seffra brains saw many times more activity than a Human. Seffra eyes could be improved too with a small increase in size and a new type of receptor found in some reptilian life forms we had run across. It would give a wider range of the electromagnetic spectrum to see by. Very short and very long distances could be seen better and the eyes would not look that much different to what I had now. Sandra, Megan and I had been slowly altering our bodies to this new standard. They had only the obvious eyes left to do. The improvements to my mind had perhaps gone a bit further in that the brain cells were even smaller with the nerves even closer together. Apart from my maleness I would be similar in appearance to them. They didn't know how far I had pushed myself but if things worked they could join me. I just hoped that I had not gone too far. With children due to be produced we talked to the rest about the eyes we proposed to make for ourselves. Margaret didn't like this but part of the reasoning was instinct. I had felt the same way not long ago. She wanted her children to be normal but she had to be talked to so she would understand that she was no longer normal herself. If she didn't alter her body and DNA then her children would be the same as any child conceived and born on the planet next door. Consti didn't like this either. Her body had been great for a long time and there was no reason to change now. She too was little different than what I had thought. The other changes that we talked about seemed beneficial like the eyes but she was still too conservative to adapt. My wives and I made the last few changes in the coming days. The eyes were larger but more of it was inside the skull. The pupils could open larger and the iris itself was able to capture more infrared and information was sent from there to the optic nerve and to the brain. We did looked different but not by a lot. The process of changing the DNA though would take a lot longer and require the med units if we were going to keep the time to a minimum. When Sandra and Megan stopped hiding their increased intelligence. The rest soon found the best reason for this with our slightly different brain structure. Margaret had come around and so had Tom to this idea. The areas devoted to different paranormal abilities were well known and I showed how ours had been greatly enlarged. My ability to shield myself against Consti was now seen as very beneficial. Though I didn't use my PK very much it was much stronger than any of the Seffra that I had ever heard of. Consti had called us reckless in what we had done but I showed her how much thought had been put into it. I could see behind her block that she liked the improved mind but publicly had to fight it because of her conservative upbringing. I was sure that any other Seffra would act the same. I invited Margaret to begin her next transformation if she wanted it. The things I wanted to do to her could not easily be done by her own body even with my help. She would be the guinea pig for the remainder of the tests. Sandra, Megan and I had done the greatest amount up to this time and it had worked flawlessly. My wives had volunteered for this last portion but I wanted somebody less connected to me to do this. Margaret was willing to be like us and to further push the envelope a bit more herself. This was quite a change from her previous attitude. I told her about the things that had to be done for this was not like healing a cut. She would have to go into a special tank to get this done. The process would take a few days. The natural way would take months and then she would have to work in altering all of her cells because the DNA would have to be changed in each. She would have much less problems and be productive much sooner if she took the easy path. She would also be more altered than we were. I said, "I think you will see us as foolish creatures if you undergo this procedure. You may see us the way you presently see unimproved Humans." Sandra and Megan told of all the things they had to do including shuffling memories from an old area to a rebuilt area. After it was all done there was still some things that were wrong that had cropped up. The girls mentioned how they wanted to overcome this and complete what we had been working on ever since they had agreed to be my wives. Margaret talked to Tom and he asked quite a few questions but they were mainly slanted towards safety. I told him simply that this had been contemplated for a long time and we were doing the very best we could. The tank only took a few moments to make. Max's only duty now was to monitor the tank and assist what had to be done. Devices were placed on Margaret's body to give nutrients, and oxygen while others would take away waste products. Different ones would function like med units to encourage the body to assist all it could. The tank held water but the majority of the contents were very small devices that would work far below the level of a cell. These had been made previously so they would be ready now. Here the devices could alter the basic DNA to what they wanted while working on the brain and body. Margaret was put to sleep and placed into the tank under full control of Max. All of her memories were copied to a special crystal so gaps could be repaired at a later date if any were found. The process actually started in the base of the spine and worked up to the brain. Tom slept beside his wife and I gave him simple duties to do that let him stay close. Tommy was worried but knew that I would not do anything to hurt his mother. The process appeared to work and took four and a half days in this case. The tank had been used by the Seffra but never to do this much work on a brain. As a race we seemed reluctant to do so. Margaret came out of the bath still unconscious as liquid was pumped from her lungs that had not worked since she went into the tank. When the transmitters were all removed, Tom took her into a full cleanser to get everything removed. Margaret had come awake during the process and was actively giving artificial respiration to her husband who carried her. When she was seated at a table food appeared for she was famished. She said as she ate, "I feel like I did when Leif first awoke my mind. I can see things that I have done that were either wrong or inefficient. There seems to be some inconsistencies in my training and I feel that either the data or the computers are at fault. "I find I can now look out over the dome and see the lunar surface without the use of the probes. I am presently looking into Borin's computer and see all five dimensions. I could not do this before and definitely not from this distance." This was more than I had hoped for. I could work in a computer but I had to feel my way. Margaret had not come close to doing this but might have one day if there was enough practice. The images her mind produced showed that she was much more capable of this then I was when young. We did no work but we did exhaust Margaret with our tests. This was understandable and she would need some additional rest to recover. Tom and my wives eyes glowed with the promises that the procedure would give them. We went back to work while Margaret rested. I could see from behind a shield that Consti wanted this for herself too but felt trapped by her previous words and her conservative upbringing. I purposely went to work again on the next generation computer and tried to see what Margaret has seen but I was not able to. The med units had shown that four areas of Margaret's brain had been even more active than before. These had been the areas that I had wanted increased. A fifth area had not blossomed as it should and I worked on this problem while doing my other work. When Margaret awoke I was going to leave her alone but she wanted to test her own wings. She was very excited and wanted to know about herself. Her PK now worked when it had not before. It was not strong or as sure but it was present. She was also encouraged to read my mind against my block and this she was able to do. She was only a fair reader before. The hidden thought had to do with my own PK when I had used it on her in a restaurant one time and drove her to distraction. I didn't have to read her thoughts that she remembered and wanted to try it on Tom. Her own block went up but I was able to breach it but only with difficulty. It was only possible, I thought, because I already had an improved mind like hers and a lot more practice. Tommy, Tom and his daughters went out to various distances to ascertain her range. Tommy could still only get messages if they were addressed to him but now Margaret could push them to twenty light seconds. Tom could actively receive to sixty three light seconds and the girls could function to a hundred and two or four depending on the daughter. Margaret's reception was better but only with her daughters was she able to duplicate the distances involved. Borin at the same time would put symbols on the outer side of her hull and Margaret was able to see this at 230,000 metres. This ability may grow because I could now do nearly four times that amount. The surprising thing we found that she was able to start guessing the correct patterns just before Borin displayed them. This could be that she had a much closer affinity to Borin's mentality or she was showing what the fifth portion of her mind was supposed to do. Very few Seffra had even a small ability at this least understood ability. It could be detected and the brain monitored but as yet nobody had been able to bring this ability out very much. The best had been able to see into the future a second at a time and then only for slight glimpses. Usually this was enough to avoid a particular danger. This made us believe that the mind continuously monitored this and only took advantage if it had to for survival. Tests were continued while we tried to find a down side to this radical approach. Our home was built and the girls worked hard to move into this. It was in reality a small ship that could do the same as our boats but not travel as quickly. The volume though was much greater and the nurseries were done even before our bedroom. A very large standard fabricator was started. The Seffra had never built a larger unit. Its many intricacies were well known and our best computer could make it work but at only half of its rated speed. In three cycles it was ready. Margaret had been in charge of the project and brought it in ahead of schedule. She laughed at this for it was a new challenge and she was still pushing herself to find her limits. The testing on Margaret herself had never ended. We learned new things each day but the changes themselves were starting to be much less noticeable. Sandra and Megan had looked at the performance and saw that their own body's changes was only three quarters of their mother's. They were far ahead of everybody but me but I think they were thinking of their future children. They wanted the best possible brain and body that they could produce. They saw the Seffra as a kindly race that was not able to protect itself very well when it came to enemies. Our losses were usually small but still in the girls' eyes too large. Some of this was the Human penchant for killing off all their enemies if they could. This was not the way the Seffra thought. They didn't like the thoughts of killing off an entire race. The Suma and Graskor didn't mind genocide in the least. Now I worked to find a way to temper this Human attitude for it may work as a survival mechanism but the same argument could be used for our enemies actions. The only thing I could do would be to shrink minutely the area of a Human brain used for aggression without hindering their survival. This was not something to hide so I approached Sandra and Megan to see what they thought. At the moment they agreed with me but after the improvement they may not. Another test had to be made to see just how much could be done without hurting our fledging race of just four individuals. Sandra went into the tank a half year after her mother. She would be just a bit different than her mother and the largely dormant area was encouraged to grow just a bit more at the expense of her cranial size. The brain cavity would gain a minuscule seven percent. It would not be noticed by anyone not in our group and would not change her looks. The larger eyes would now be more proportionate to her body. I too stayed close, for Sandra was not just a wife but a large portion of my life. Her aura dimmed to nothing at one point and I could not reach her but I trusted the machine. Orders were given for various construction projects but I stayed close. Much of the time Megan was with me and we found that we had to hold each other in this time when it looked like our mate was gone. We had not slept well and both of us were wide awake when Sandra finally came from the tank. Everybody else was here with us to at this rebirth. Sandra went with us to get cleaned and she awoke with eyes that seemed to glow with an animate life of their own. She looked hungrily at both of us and I could see changes in her already. Her aura had changed. It was not much but it was enough to make us less compatible. This was more than just frightening to me. It meant that we didn't relate as we once did. The changes were not significant in hindsight but she was not the almost perfect match she once was. Megan noticed this too but Sandra was her sister. We both carried Sandra to a table after getting dressed to eat. Sandra said to both of us privately, "I feel that I have changed too and not just in my intelligence. Something else has changed. I know that we don't complement each other like we once did but we are still close enough to stay together aren't we?" This was said with such fear that the small change was just something we would have to get used to. Another fear came as I was getting this one under control. Megan would go in the tank next and change. Perhaps it would be in an unknown direction that could hurt our marriage. The same thing could happen to me I had to consider this too. Both of my wives auras had only brightened when they were elevated. Later I knew I would have to work on all the old knowledge to get a hint of what we did and find a way to bring us back into what we once had. Sandra was tested extensively now. She was as good as her mother was after being out of the tank a whole cycle. Her powers could only grow now. The others saw the difference right away but it didn't frighten them the way it did me. Margaret and Sandra now had much more reasons to communicate now for they were by far the most intelligent of our group. They would spar mentally but this was the only way for them to find their limits. The aura was one of our least understood manifestations of our minds. All three of us worked hard to find out what happened. Sandra too wanted to know for she did not feel the closeness we once had. When her menses came on her thinking changed a bit more and this was understandable. Megan was with her in this but now I wanted to not have any children until this was settled and were all on the same level mentally. This brought on our first quarrel. I didn't know wether it was because of the hormones, my fear of losing my family or another fear that we were taking the wrong path. I was not prepared to bring a life into our family without it being at leased partially understood. Margaret and I worked on the giant fabricator making the largest components. The units we could produce were as large as what our largest warship would need. We employed all our contra-gravity units and more were needed to keep the parts coming out at a constant pace and direction. A great mountain of billets were in position and Tommy worked hard to keep the hopper full. The other precision fabricator was now doing the duty of the common fabricator. It didn't have the speed but it made exceptionally good ceramic. We were now building one of the four main keels. This was a process that could not stop and perhaps that is why I wanted to do it now. There was a great deal of work to do at the end of the process for we were coming very close to the end of our stockpile. At the completion we had just about what was anticipated for the cross section had narrowed requiring less material. On the plane inside our dome was now a single 2,700 metre mass of ceramic. It represented one quarter of the keel of the ship we were building and I only hoped that we could have made a larger fabricator and made all four parts as one integral unit. Sleep was now our prime concern and we all went home to recover. After a bit of rest I made tender love to my wives but Sandra could detect a bit of favouritism I showed her sister. This upset her a bit but that was the way I was even though I tried hard to compensate. After two days it was Megan that wanted this situation corrected. "I want to go into the tank with the same alterations as Sandy. We will at least be the same. I think when your turn comes you will find that you will have changed too. I want all our children to intelligent, strong and companionate as you are now. If things work out wrong we can go back to what we were and start again." This made me very afraid and I said, "Are you sure this is what you want? I don't want to lose either of you and I don't want us to separate any more. It is hurting me now to see Sandra for she is not the same woman I married even though she is close. To lose you to may be too much." Sandra and Megan came close and comforted me this time. It was not the same as with my mothers but it was close. After a while I knew I had to comply. I was not the big boss that could veto something like this. Both women were intelligent and could choose which way they wanted their lives to proceed. Instead of resting more we made the trip to the other dome and Megan went into the tank as her sister and mother had. Sandra held me the same way I had held Megan. We both watched the body settle half way down into the liquid. There was no breathing and only diminishing mental activity for there was no need of either. Sandra made sure the settings were correct and we just stayed there. Eventually we just slept in this position. Again I found excuses to stay near. Sandra stayed close as if I needed help and in a way I did. I spent much of my time thinking the same thoughts I had when Sandra was in the tank but now my other fears were added. Sandra comforted me and I was able to see that she was in just as much fear of our family drifting further apart. The others came by to work but basically left us alone as if we were grieving the loss of a loved one. I guess I was already doing that for it hurt tremendously to not be as close to Sandra as I had been and now the same would be true with Megan. I tried to search for the mind in the tank. It was only now being slowly rebuilt. My faculties for visualizing unseen events showed me just how fast the rebuilding actually was. Margaret brought us food and sat trying to share our burden. "Leefstic, she'll be alright. I understand about the small change in Sandra's aura and the possible one to Megan but the girls will be basically the same. We have been discussing this ourselves and think that when you go through the process it is just possible that you will get changed the same way they are. You will then be as close as you used to be." "Thanks Margaret. I have looked at that possibility too but it just hurts too much to be separated. In a way it is like a drug and when the drug is taken away a substitute will not always do." Another day passed and the others were taking the initiative and began building some of the major ribs. The other portions of the keel needed all of us to work together. Work did stop when Megan was raised from the tank. I already knew what I would find and was very depressed. Sandra and I cleaned Megan and the rest of our small group came over to talk and find out how she had done. I was kissed soundly by Megan and instead of taking a seat Sandra got me to get into the tank myself. This now was even more frightening for now I might be pushed further out of sync with my wives. There was no fighting this and even the remainder of the family/crew wanted me to do this. Odava said, "Leefstic my friend, it is much better if you do this. I have seen your pain and I hurt with you. Make this change and in doing so strive to regain the closeness with your wives." Max attached the equipment and even though I fought to stay awake I knew it was a lost cause. Dreams came of my family, both those on a research ship somewhere in the galaxy and the other one here on the airless moon of Earth. My senses reached out and found my home in the bio-dome vacant. A quick sweep of a thousand kilometres brought me to the construction dome. Here there was life. Tommy the youngest was working hard stacking ingots of ceramic. Though he was not improved at all he perhaps put more effort into his work than the rest. Tom, the boy's father was directing an operation to remove a mountain ridge and get it shipped to the dome. His wife was doing a similar operation on another nearby ridge. Odava and Ichom worked to transfer all the material to Consti who fed the giant fabricator with raw material. Over to one side there was a tank and two women sitting beside it and looking into its depths. I could sense their unease for they were worried about their future. Their auras though shone brightly. They were as I remembered them to be but they were different too. Some of the jarring irregularities that kept them from meshing with my own aura were now gone. This startled me and pleased me no end. I didn't know how they could be so different and yet now match so well. Perhaps it was as Margaret had said and I had to change to mesh with them. I know that my subconscious had been given orders to do this to the best of its ability otherwise there would not be the happiness I once knew. This was my fondest wish but then again this was a dream. I felt myself suddenly awake. I was raised on three tractors and some of the units on my body were leaving and med units scurried to repair the small wounds. I felt compelled to look to my left and found two beautiful women with their auras glowing strongly. The colour, texture and consistency was different from what they had been but I knew that they now matched with mine. I was home. My eyes in my head and the eyes in my mind stayed on them to savour their existence. These were other portions of myself and we were whole again. "Husband, your block is up. How do you see us?" I just opened my mind wide and let them see. They did too and our union got even stronger. The next thing I knew the union slowly dissolved and I was sitting in front of some food that looked very important. Margaret said, "Eat Leefstic, express you love later." This is what I fully intended to do. I ate quickly but Tom asked, "Everybody was tested when they came out. Let's try you to see how you have done." "That's fair, I guess." The tests begun the family went off in Borin's ship. I could see the interior because I stayed to look at my wives. They disappeared from my sight. The reading I got was not the at 230,000 metres that Margaret had originally done but a full four and a half light seconds. Tommy and Tom were seventy and a hundred and eighty three seconds. It was my wives that made the four hundred and thirty mark so impressive and this I had to attribute to how well we were linked already. Two years ago after being able to break through my old barrier I had found that I could eventually pick up a kilogram at thirty one metres. When I worked on my body and mind since then I had been able to pick the same weight up at a hundred and seventeen metres. My new mind could pick the test weight up at two hundred and seven metres and I knew that this figure would grow as the ability was exercised. My precognition would have to wait for I needed to sleep. My two wives took me home and I slept contentedly for the first time in many cycles. We stayed home for two days. I was supposed to recover but the wives had other ideas. At the end of the time the three of us knew that a fertile cell had become attached to each of their wombs. Even if we had not told anybody, it was plain to see that both girls now glowed even brighter even with their auras tucked safely into place. Tom went into the tank that night and I knew that when he came out Margaret would be ready for him to become a new father again. The girls talked to Max to change the programming just a bit and I could see where this was going without getting by their block. I looked at it the same way I was manipulating those around me and saw nothing really wrong with this at this time. The future though may find me regretting this. Tommy though was disappointed. We always tried to shield him when it came to our abilities. He desperately wanted to join us and he was now two steps behind and not one. Sandra and Megan wanted to continue their plan. They tried to work on their brother's mind without the use of an orgasm. They tried for two hours and failed. A change did happen and Tommy's aura was altered but not exactly where it was being coaxed to go. It was not necessarily a bad thing it was like wearing new clothes. The odd thing was that his aura would now be more attractive to Consti while Tommy didn't see her much differently. He was already in love with her as the only available female. I could then see that this was the plan all along. We had a meeting right after and we told the group how we tried to elevate Tommy by ourselves without the sex and failed. Margaret saw that there were a few improvements but they were minor. Odava and Ichom found Tommy just as lovable as they found him before. Consti was coming back with her last load of regolith. When she appeared in person, her face changed dramatically. She had heard and even discussed this failed attempt. She had even gone so far as to chastise us for trying while she still refused to do what I had asked of her. My mind was fairly open to her and she could see that I had not done this and it had seemingly happened by chance. As yet nobody knew that much about the aura or even less about how to manipulate it. It was simply a phenomena like love that had to be just accepted. Tommy had very large eyes for Consti and this was the first time she had shown so much interest in him. He didn't know why this was happening but liked it. Megan said, "This is not right. Perhaps we can change Tommy back to what he was and start again." Consti immediately said, "Don't do that!" The girls looked at her as if wondering what the change in attitude was about. Sandra said, "I think we may have changed Tommy's aura. Consti is attracted to it like we are to Leefstic. We better change him back quickly before it gets serious." Margaret was in a private conversation with her daughters but said openly, "Yes by all means change him back." "No!" After an embarrassing pause she continued, "I mean Tommy has been improved a bit already and I don't want him to lose any more ground. Leefstic has asked me before to help him and I think that he has grown enough that this is now possible." She actually turned to me and stated, "You did ask me a few times. I know how important this is to Tommy. We can start immediately if you want." "Consti, this is important. I don't want you starting something you will not carry through. This means that you have to stay with Tommy for at least a quarter cycle to see that he has thoroughly recovered and integrated his personality into his new mind." "I will stay with him for at least that long." She looked at Tommy now and asked, "Will you accept me to be your temporary mate until you gain the same ability as I now have?" "Why are you doing this Consti? You have been helpful before but never close. What has happened?" "Ah... Your personality must have been slightly altered and now I find that I feel something like the way your sisters feel about Leefstic." Tommy said, "I don't feel any different about you. I... I mean, I still like you but no different than yesterday or the day before." "Sometimes these things happen to my people. Sometimes they work out." She left unsaid that sometimes they failed disastrously if the two were not attracted enough. Margaret said, "Consti, you are a thoughtful young lady. I am going to hold you to your promise though. My son is very important to me and I want him brought into our larger family with care and love. Do not fail us." Consti reached for and held Tommy's hand for the first time. Her mind raced with joy that all of us but Tommy could see. "I will look out for him as I would my own life." As they left hand in hand I said, "Take a few days off to get to know each other. Tommy has lots to learn before we try anything." The two left for the small home Consti had made for herself. It was small and utilitarian. I was positive that it would change soon. I would have to get my matchmaking wives to see if they could alter Consti now to make her appear the perfect mate for Tommy. With a new race at stake it was not a good time to just hope. ------- Chapter 18 Tommy and Consti didn't make it to work for three days. The three women and I could see into the bio-dome and could see that Tommy though young was performing like a man. His puberty had started many years early then interrupted so he would not be continuously horny. The block was now off and his little testicles were getting a workout. Small pills were put beside his bed and they seemed to help along with the med unit. My work on the computer started again but this time everything was much clearer. Even clearer than what Margaret had first seen. When I brought Sandra and Megan in to help our three minds worked in unison to make everything even more simplistic. The girls abandoned their old job and assisted me. In one day we got a half of a cycles work done. Odava was amazed and we tried to get him to join us. I think that we had been a family long enough that he consented the next day. The productivity of my wives and I stayed the same but Odava's more than tripled. The next day Ichom assisted too and she was able to do much more than before. Tom came out of the tank much like his wife. I could easily see his heightened intelligence. His performance was more than his wife's but less than ours. Part of this was that I had pushed the limits just a bit more to get more abilities. Before this new race of ours grew much more we would have to have everybody go back into the tanks to get upgraded or maybe even downgraded if things didn't work. Tom's aura now matched his wife's as much as my wives matched mine. I now knew what the instructions had been that were given to Max. We built the second portion of the keel now that Tom, Tommy and Consti were back. The various families were never far apart now and everything seemed to be working as it should. When the forth and last portion of the keel was complete we began to align all four portions and fuse them together. Ceramic was very light especially here on the moon but the mass we had to deal with was anything but. Forms were made and then the four portions were bonded to these to hold them in position. Some of us worked on this task while others continued to gather raw materials or manufacture billets or parts. With this last effort well underway Tommy came to me, "Leif, can I talk to you for a minute?" "Sure you can. You know I always have time for you. What is it that's bothering you?" I knew what the problem was but wanted to be polite. "I want to marry Consti. I know without reading her mind that she wants me too." "Well, let's take this one step at a time. First you have to get improved like your dad was. This time Consti will be the one doing most of the work. Eleven to fifteen days after the procedure we will talk again but we should really let it go for the full seventy two days. A cycle will let you learn how far your abilities will take you." He didn't like waiting but I added, "There is no difference whether you two are wedded or not. You will be together the same way. When the two of you are used to one another I want you to consider joining us with the second improvement. I think you will agree but I do not know about your future wife." Tommy liked the term and said, "I want to be like you guys too. Consti is so very smart already but you guys are even smarter. She hides things from me but I can see things even if I can't read minds. She wants to be like you guys too." "Let's hope so. Do you want to start just after our work period?" His eyes grew bright. He had waited for this for over two years now and he said verbally, "Ya!" All of us met hours later in what used to be Consti's home. It was now the home of the pair even if we didn't legitimise it. Tommy was naked as was Consti they couldn't quite wait for us but this would probably work the same. Nakedness was common here as it was on my old ship and there was never a mention made of it. Tom gave his son one of the pills and in a moment the tired boy was ready again. Odava and Ichom had come to this because it was more of a ceremony in a way and besides they liked Tommy for many reasons. Young Tom had to lay on the bed now and Consti with excited movements started her foreplay. She kissed his face and sucked the lobes of his ears. Tommy wanted to hold her but kept his hands still. An agonising half hour later she was at his little erection that had been keeping her happy and she sucked him quickly into her mouth. Tommy's hands came out but Consti's words in his mind kept him from doing so. Sandra and Megan brought soft bindings and began to attach them to their brother's wrists before securing them above his head. They then did the same thing to his legs but his legs were parted. Consti put the block in and Margaret told her that she had done it perfectly. I saw that not only Consti was horny but Margaret too. In a moment so were my wives. This produced a bit of feedback and Consti had to be guided. I was not immune to my wives but I worked hard to put up a barrier to their influence. This was hard to do but it was very necessary. Tommy was young and just like me when I found my first woman. He though was helped along in his sexual development. I saw a lot of me in the boy and it was easy to empathises with his predicament. He was now approaching the animal state and so was Consti. Margaret had to brace her then so did my wives. This didn't help me for now all four women felt what was happening to Consti's vagina. When it looked like it would fail, Ichom for the first time stepped in to assist the women. They all calmed down under her quiet influence. All five females now worked on Tommy's mind. It was adequately prepared and Consti was given the instruction to remove the block quickly. Tommy screamed in a high thin voice to be heard in harmony with Consti. The three Humans barely managed to control themselves. They and the one Gossna now worked to put the mind of the boy in the proper form. Consti came around and when she felt ready she too stepped in to assist. Tommy was done in my opinion but the girls wanted just a bit more. The poor boy was untied and the women started putting in the necessary information that he could use if he wanted to make rational decisions. The couple were allowed to sleep and we went to our respective homes. It felt good to see not only Margaret pulling her husband but Ichom was doing the same thing to hers. My wives had plans for me but I had my own too. We pleased each other for three hours and then cut it short to go back to see Tommy. When we walked in we found Tommy tied once more and Consti happily tantalising him but not letting him orgasm. I could already see that Tommy was working already with his increased powers. Consti greeted us much better, almost like very close family now. In moments she began the next orgasm in sympathy with her husband. Tommy was soon back to his old state with his reasoning mind hiding in fear. This time the event destroyed part of the recent structure but we put it back into place quickly and did what we could for fine tuning. Consti was out of it and the girls took this time to tinker ever so minutely with their brother's innermost thinking processes to make the lessons taught find the best home possible. We untied Tommy once more and put the bindings beside the bed. Consti was moved into position beside her young mate and we left to return to our own pursuits. Tommy improved in the next cycle. I said to him, "If the Seffra had first met with you this way I think my people would welcome you with open arms. You know what duty is and do not pay it lip service. Your mind is very organised now and when I once waved a small ship in front of your nose I think I now have to wave a much larger one." Tommy's eyes grew big but before he got the wrong idea I said, "Your family may not hold the captaincy but it would certainly hold important positions. I see nothing wrong with the way the Seffra have managed their ships. A single captain may be necessary in times of great stress but it is usually held by a group. The smaller ships though have only one captain. We have to start gathering a crew now that you are ready for the task. You have quite a lead now on the rest of humanity and in a few cycles you may have even more." He asked but not with such a meek tinge to his words, "The ones I find will be my wives?" "Yes they will but you and Consti will not start to increase your family until you both are comfortable with the next step." "When will that happen Captain?" "Let the cycle complete itself. This time I want to make an additional tank and put both of you in at the same time. From personal experience I know that this is best." For the next part of our shipbuilding efforts the keel had to go into orbit. There were a great many small stresses on the large structure that would be nullified if it were not near a large gravitational body. All the contra-gravity units were used and more produced to take most of the weight. Seventeen small motors pushed the heavy body twelve thousand kilometres from the moon's surface. We were very careful to keep the moon between us and Earth so that Humans would not eventually see a huge ship taking shape. Tommy now flew with a much greater ability and even a bit of panache with the way he bypassed the computer and made perfect adjustments to his flight. He was not impetuous but he was a bit flamboyant because of his newfound confidence in his abilities. He was very young and his father was very proud of him and in reality all of us were. He had sprouted from a young boy with his puberty artificially advanced to a young man secure in the knowledge that he was now going somewhere. Production of parts picked up for Consti was now happy and confident herself. Though it wasn't proper, I continued to keep her monitored. She was a Seffra first and through customs and conditioning she would stay that way. I was shocked that I could break out of the mould I had been put into. When and if she were elevated, we would have to work on producing some small cracks in her complacency to allow her to see that the Seffra were not always right. I was quite sure she wanted to get on the ship we were presently building and one day go out and search for our race and our home ship. Tommy didn't mind this because he would be with her and be continuing his own education at the same time. He still had his own preconceptions of how a large ship should work and even when he knew to the contrary, he still wanted to be the 'captain'. When the cycle was finished the two came to me. Consti asked, "We would like to move up to the level you are now on. Tommy has convinced me that this is the way our family should go." I said, "Are you sure? You will not be a Seffra anymore. You won't be anything but a new race that we have made ourselves. Our own ancestors were the same way at one time. When we find the Seffra we will have problems with them. They will be angry with what we have done to ourselves. They will see our children as superior but also see them as what should have been Seffra." "Why are you saying this?" She said. "I don't want you to change your mind at a later date. Though you make this choice as a family, I don't want you to regret it in the future. Your prospective family demand this of you. Either stay Seffra or be our advanced hybrid of both races." "I want this Leefstic." "Then let's do it." The two were put into separate tanks and close to each other. Max was more than capable of handling two tanks. His limit would be in the thousands of because he would just go from one tank to the next before getting back to the first. It was just that a precision fabricator was ever so much more complicated. My wives arrived a while later and altered some of the programming. Tommy would find himself now drawn to Consti in a new way as their father and mother were now drawn. I wondered how our families would now work. Would all families be now held this close? It promoted loyalty and duty but I didn't know how the small pool of the second generation would find enough to make similar families. Sandra and Megan worked with me to get the next computer ready. Ribs were made but they remained for Tommy to take to the ship. He enjoyed this job and it was left for him. The girls monitored the tanks from time to time to make sure the processes they instigated would be adequately followed. Margaret and Ichom were now happily pregnant too and this seemed to give them extra energy. All of us had discussed possible upgrades for the two Gossna but they were just naturally cautious and not against the idea. They would wait to see how we make out before considering what they wanted to do. They could see some of their race's own failings and what could be done to correct it. When Tommy and Consti came out of the tanks they went immediately to each other. We helped them get clean then gave them food. It was easy to see that Tommy was even more in love with his wife and Consti just adored her husband for it. As yet they didn't think too much about what had happened to all the other married couples. The instructions given to Max had been gone over quite a few times by all of us. They just didn't know of the overriding mental commands. We resumed our construction but now we were just getting used to each other all over again. It was better to find out now rather than in a hectic environment like Earth's if something was not right. The only remaining ribs were close to the skeleton of our ship ready to attach after the large components were built and installed. Without the largest size precision fabricator it would take much longer. Zolanda had not returned and hope was running thin if she ever would. She had paid us well with her help but I knew that all the old loyalty in an AI could not be glossed over that easily. She would now be searching for her makers and perhaps one day if she found them we would still meet again. Max was the first computer made completely of our own materials. The second one was called Cordo. This was a Seffra name meaning strong but unassuming. The recently completed third computer was called Pat'uch. This was a Gossna name meaning both aggressive and protective. Pat'uch was able to almost run a seventh class precision fabricator. Again this was disappointing for we tried hard to make her powerful enough for the ninth. We had even given an extra leeway by building more robustly than what we thought we would need. It now appeared that this progression was even more steep than the geometric curve we had been following. Pat'uch was not only running the precision fabricator, she ran the large fabricator too when her duties demanded it. She was fairly bright as an AI went but she was not a Soldoy or a Zolanda for that matter. One of her failings was that she didn't have all the data that Soldoy had. She controlled all of the probes now in the spherical volume of space that extended out twenty six lights. This was as far as what the Humans called Vega. Eight other stars were about the same distance and formed our present outer perimeter. With enough probes and repeaters we would have a good idea of what was happening in our neighbourhood. From time to time ships flew through this area but none had been our enemies or even the Seffra. With our present state of readiness it was advisable to just ignore everybody unless they were aggressive towards us. The reason we were loading up Pat'uch was because we would all be going to Earth to find recruits. Odava and Ichom would go too but stay in remote areas as a sort of vacation for them and as a backup for us. The rest of us would go in great Earth style. We manufactured an odd looking boat It actually mimicked an Earth style motorhome. Some equipment had to get moved around so the vehicle would resemble the vehicle we wanted to impersonate. It was a lot of fun to make the vehicle as functional as it should be but still remain incognito when others would view it. Tom and his son spent some time devising methods of hiding some things that were really ingenious. Margaret got into the act and made the interior comfortable for all three couples. I did my part and made a good computer but it was not even as good as what Borin originally had been. It was not really needed in this instance. The shield had an invisibility capability and the engines could not push it anywhere near as fast as a standard boat. Pat'uch had taken all of Borin's information and actually listed us in various databases on the planet Earth. Serial numbers, body colour and licence plates would be automatically changed when needed for the vehicle. Tom or Margaret were listed as the owners but under various assumed names They had documentation for each identity if it was necessary. They had opted for new faces and this took a great deal of apparent age from them but there was still clues to their longer life. This was actually necessary for people would believe their eyes before a piece of paper. The only thing left to do was to choose a place to start. Tom said, "The best place to informally meet people at this time is on the south east coast of the United States. That is where I met a woman once that hasn't left my side since then." Margaret was close and hugged her husband from the back. She said, "That's right. There are lots of drunk students. They're in a party mood and it is easy to strike up conversations. There was an impetuous young man once that swept me off my feet." "It sounds like a good place to start. When does this party begin?" Tom said verbally, "March 7 to the 27 this year. We even have a few days to get there ahead of the rush. Many visitors will fly but most will drive. The roads will be crowded and our 'motorhome' will have to go slow because of the congested traffic. Either we fly between deserted areas and drive the rest of the way but it is still better to get there before everything starts." "Lead the way. You're the driver of record at the moment. Pick out one of your personas." I had to don my own disguise but this had to be made of flesh. After looking in the mirror I knew I looked much like I had when I first came to Earth though a few years older now. Tom thought for a moment and the boat changed minutely. The colour scheme altered. A new licence plate appeared. Even the curtains on the functional windows altered. Behind the motorhome a towed vehicle changed too. Tommy insisted that we pull a vehicle that would be easy to move through traffic. He had built a very small boat with little of the abilities to move in space. It did have room for all of us but still looked like a common General Motors minivan. It was safe for atmospheric flights and short trips into space. It didn't have many of the necessary things needed for longer flights. We all got into the motorhome. Odava and Ichom would take the ship to South America with them. They didn't need its protection but it did make a handy place to store things they wanted to bring back with them. Their home now looked like a jungle even on the inside. Tom flew us to Earth with the minivan flying empty and to one side of us. We landed in early morning outside a town by the name of Conway, South Carolina. There the minivan attached itself to the back of the motorhome. In a spot under a large overhang of boughs we became visible. Moments later we were underway. Just twenty two kilometres to the south east was our first destination. The girls were all dressed to fit in with the locals and tourists alike. The four girls excitedly chatted to each other as if they were simple Humans with simpler minds but I still loved them. We found a parking lot for the motorhome and we all rode in the van. The windows were open and the cool salt laden air rushed in. This felt wrong mainly because air was not meant to do this in a space craft even if it was altered to resemble an Earth vehicle. Tom and Margaret had to stop for a coffee and soon I remembered why I disliked Human food. Always too salty and some of the food was just saturated in unhealthy substances. Though our bodies would protect us not everybody around could do this. Some Humans were putting the poisons away with much gusto too. I was still aware of all the problems they would be taking on. There were only a few early arrivals like us. Most would be arriving in two days. We began our search immediately. This hunt was made much more difficult by my reluctance to force people to change their auras. Now we would have to find those that already matched ours or at least very closely. We didn't restrict ourselves to the young. If the person was alive she was fair game. With an aura that matched any of the three groups it was unnecessary to be biassed once they were able to rejuvenate themselves. The women were actively helping for the auras would match their own and make any new crew members much closer than sisters. Megan said, "Let's split up now and increase our chances of finding somebody?" "Fair enough with me. Everybody has money. Unless you feel that there is something interesting I would like to move on in a few hours." Seven people moved in seven directions looking at everyone they came across. With our improved brains it was easier to see auras now without all the staining we had to do before. Instruments were not able to do this with as much accuracy. There were not that many people yet and we got to the edge of the built up area without finding any good prospects. Our return course proved just as fruitful. Back in the motorhome Tom said, "A lot of Canadians come here this time of year. I have to say that there were some pretty good pickings some years." He squeezed his wife's waist to let her know that she was still good pickings. Margaret said, "School is not yet out. Let's come back here while the party time is in full swing to see if we can find more. Let's just treat this as a two day holiday until the rush comes." We drove down highway 17 to Charleston stopping on the way to continue our hunt but to enjoy ourselves with a great many other living beings. Our trips away from the moon had been short. This time we were actually going to mix. That night we parked in a large trailer court to be ready in the morning for the next part of our search. Here too we did a bit of searching and then just talked to the neighbours. This park had a large common room and a square dance was planned to make things interesting for the guests. The men were pulled to the dance but it was not difficult to do. We had learned that we had to do certain things to keep the family happy. Some of the dancers had country costumes but we still fit in. Various people were scanned and the information shared amongst us to know more about how to do this activity. The ring of dancers widened to accommodate the increased numbers. Sandra was quickly accompanied by a man of about her father's age to keep the numbers even. We danced for an hour taking very few breaks. The musicians seemed to get a good workout too for they liked the way the dancing was being done. Some couples dropped out once in a while for a rest and rejoined later. The dancing got very intricate and the caller even tried to get us to stumble but he didn't do this for malicious reasons. The number of spectators increased. I made sure that our women knew that the increased people were here to see them. Foolish thing for me to do for the women knew exactly why the newcomers arrived. Again, women are much more social animals and know what is going on in a situation more than a mere male. We switched around and the Human male was not adverse to dance with Megan, Margaret or Consti. During a break for the musicians, Peter the intruder said, "I haven't seen or heard of your group before. I dance professionally and you're all as good as the best. Where are you from?" Margaret was his last dance partner and said, "We're not professionals. We're just in shape and like to dance. I was originally from Michigan. We were living in Canada but currently we are just drifting around enjoying the sights." "If you say you are not professionals I'll believe you but you could easily go that route." "Thank you Peter. We have no aspirations in that direction. Our goal now is to just meet people and have a fun time like we are now." When the music started up again we found ourselves the brunt of a good-natured conspiracy. There were only us and of course Peter on the floor. The band tried to outdo themselves in making the music difficult and entertaining. The caller was out of breath most of the time and trying to think up odd movements to weed out the weak. Peter was the one to flag after a while and the rest of us were not even breathing hard. After four more dances Peter had to sit the next out but one of his team quickly stepped in to fill the vacancy. It was the band that gave out later and we went back to the motorhome with a group of very happy girls. The beds were pulled out and I found myself in the far back and in a large play area. Tommy being junior got the very front that happened to be over the driver's position. The driver and passenger seats had collapsed so he and his wife had a considerable amount of room. Tom and Margaret had the convertible dining room but this was very large too. I hurried myself because I knew the wives were anxious. They were always anxious since getting pregnant and I enjoyed their attention. The cleanser did its job and was hid away in a compartment. I just had time to lay on my back with my penis pointing upward. Sandra was first and got on the bed and settled on my waist with a contented groan. Megan was a bit slower and settled on my face. She said, "You keep that tongue from going too deep. Your daughter won't want to be disturbed." Sandra added, "You stay short too Leif." Though my mouth and hips were working hard I said, "My family comes first my ladies. You both know that." The girls succumbed many times and changed places every once in a while. It took a lot to get them tired out and I finally had to get them to work on each other as I worked on one. This was sexually draining for all of us. It was a long time before we got to sleep. The vehicle was stabilised but now we had not only the thoughts of the others but the sounds and smells too. Though the windows were closed I knew that the neighbours were effected by our amatory activities and added to them. We bypassed highway 95 the next morning and in minutes we were in Savannah. This city was much larger and here we visited malls and other places we would find a great many people that we could stop to chat with. So far we must have scanned twelve thousand people in all and none of them came close to what we already had. Finding a good match was very difficult considering all the various possibilities. We flew our motorhome to Jacksonville Beach the next day and stayed at a noisy truck stop. We didn't venture out to check the natives this time. Early morning would find us in the city. Students were much more common now on the streets. We parked the motorhome and went with the van. Even early in the morning many of the students were drunk and the police were pulling them over. The beach of course north of town drew us. We came prepared with blankets and even a cooler to stay in harmony with the other denizens of the beach. All four women came dressed to not only fit in with the teenagers but to surpass them in haut monde. They wore the skimpiest of bathing suits and the material was from our own fabricators. It changed colours constantly and sometimes became transparent Margaret now had no pubic hair and even Megan had removed her own. Soon we were the centre of a crowd of people. Most were young and male but I saw that many of the females wanted to snuggle up to the female members of my crew. We males slipped away into the crowd and worked quickly to check the now singleton females walking on the beach. Very few people except children were in the water. A boy of about fifteen couldn't see over the group and asked to anybody in general, "What're they all looking at?" I said in passing, "Four bodacious babes wearing almost nothing. I had to leave. My trunks were not strong enough." I left before he could see if I were lying or not. He really wanted to see for himself now. The individual thoughts from the girls showed that they liked the situation but thought it a bit much now. Margaret looked her daughter's age and Consti just the barest bit younger. Their suits all of a sudden flashed to the deepest black and stayed that way. Dark glasses specially made in the boat hid their eyes while they layed back. It took five minutes but the crowd started to disperse. Tom, Tommy and myself had similar problems. A lot of single females flashed what they had at us to get us to notice them. They were here for fun and wanted to start. Tommy was still young though he now looked older. His body had been built up with exercise. Tom and I exercised too but we didn't look as good as his son did. It had come as a way of attracting Consti and he had to think that it may have worked. He kept up the regimen now because he liked the way he appeared. We were all polite. Though it slowed us down we chatted a bit before moving on. Some Humans had what was called old world charm and this was similar to what the Seffra practised. Tommy thought of as what an officer would act like when he represented his country. Here we were representing much more; our race. In an hour we found it too difficult to do our job. Behind a cement block washroom I became invisible and now I just had to make sure people didn't run into me. The next hour was more productive but I was almost bumped three times. Tom and Tommy had done the same thing. Tommy was unlucky enough to be trapped and when bumped became visible and told the young girl that he was sorry for bumping into her. She said nothing but Tommy knew he could do it any time he wanted now. It took almost five minutes to get away now from the girl and her three friends. Our girls liked being admired but now wanted to walk around too. We of course hurried back and escorted them down the long beach. We were stopped a few times by various men wanting to pick up Sandra and/or Megan. The girls were polite but firm. One young man of twenty three was more persistent when he came up to us. He was very strong, had a great body and knew it. It was a shame that his mind was not as suitably developed. "You girls want to have some real excitement?" Megan said, "Thanks, but it's fun to just walk the beach." "Why don't you ditch this girly boy and take a real man?" Sandra smiled nicely and said, "This girly boy is our husband. I think he is the most manly person we have ever found. He is kind, considerate thinks about us all the time and even going to take care of our children." The last was said with her hand protectively over her abdomen. The guy stood with his mouth open and we just walked around him. There was no assault or violence and this was a much better way to handle things. I kept my mind's eye on the guy while we continued our search. Megan found a nice girl that might compliment her mother but on closer examination it was not close enough. An hour later Consti found a similar girl to match Margaret too but still not close enough for a proper match. This encouraged all of us to continue. Around noon we paused in our search to go to an exclusive seafood restaurant favourably known to the locals. The food tasted good to me especially after the waiter took a gratuity to share with the chef to make sure we received less salt. The business establishment stayed full because guests like to stay and look at the girls. The girls in question pretended to not know what was happening. Consti was picking up some odd habits from Margaret, Sandra and Megan. On the way out we passed a wall with some notices posted on it. One large flashy notice spoke of a good sized talent show that was advertising for talent. It was already started but registration had not ended. Megan said, "Let's go to this show. The way we played at Bobbi's party a while ago shows we can work together." Sandra added her two cents, "I want to go too. There will be people at the competition. Some will be the contestants while others will be in the audience." Even Margaret wanted to go now. She liked being in the public eye especially now that she looked so much younger and more fit. She was tickled pink that she could pass for the sister of her daughters. The event was being held in an old movie theatre that had been converted to now show plays. The back had been expanded into another property to provide dressing rooms and storage for props. The lobby was in two portions. One was for the friends, family and well-wishers. The larger portion was the contestants themselves. Most had friends nearby because it was a very stressful experience for them to get up in front of strangers. Megan homed in on a table dragging her sister. An older man and women sat behind a cheap table on equally cheap chairs. The girls had to stop for the couple gave off a great deal of lecherous thoughts when the girls came into view. Megan had a chance to straighten out now and lost some of her impetuosity and said, "Is this where we sign up?" "It sure is Sweetie. Just put your name here and what you want to do." Megan connected up to all of us very quickly and worked out what would work best. There was no live band but tapes or CDs were brought of the music that people usually sang to. We had no recorded music but this would allow us to play live instead. Of course we had no instruments either. "If we sign up individually can we play at least three songs as a group?" The man said, "For you Sweetie the audience would not complain." "Well my sister and I will sign up for a song. My parents, just behind me, will sign for another. My brother's girlfriend will do one more. We'll providing our own music live." The man took abrupt notice of the term 'parents' and sat up. He now regretted the way he spoke and hoped that it would be misinterpreted as an older man's kind term for favoured children. Sandra and Megan signed some fake names and put in the name of the song they were going to sing. Their duet though uncommon would go over well in the organiser's estimation. Margaret said when she got up, "Are you going to call the girls' mother Sweetie too?" "No ma'am but you look their own age if not younger." "My husband and I are retired teachers. We are only doing this on a lark and hope it'll be fun." She signed her name with a pseudonym. Her hand and arm showed that her skin was not as young as her face. Tom opened his eyes wide when he saw the name she took and complimented it with his own version. Tommy and Consti signed up too but I didn't need to for I was just going to provide musical accompaniment. We all got tags with numbers on them. Tommy and I went out into the street and hailed a taxi. In moments we were back at the motorhome and hurried inside. We used the small fabricator to make some simple things. A keyed device that resembled a piano keyboard was my choice for an instrument. It was played by striking the keys and dragging the fingers across them. It was just a metre long and eight centimetres wide and only a few millimetres thick. It could be rolled into a cylinder for transportation and had all of its power integral with the unit. Two high frequency sound waves were sent out and their first harmonic provided much more sound than we needed without external speakers. The device had its own percussion section that went far into the subsonic region. The Seffra enjoyed this instrument but it was only one of many. I made something resembling a base viol that had twelve strings. It was played with a long bow but could be plucked with the fingers. The fingers could also run down the strings to give a different sound. There was an area on the instrument that were used for percussion and some sounds would be odd to what Humans usually heard. Before I finished I made two dresses for my wives that would show them off even if they didn't need it. Tommy now made something resembling an alto sax but again it was an old Seffra instrument that was completely mechanical. It was very good for this type of instrument even though other instruments were more popular because of the range of sounds they could play. Tom, his son and I were proficient on these instruments because of our constant performances when we all got together. Even the Gossna played or sang in a low voice. Tommy had seen the two dresses and made one for his wife that would compliment ours but not copy. He happily made one for his mother too but made it expose just a bit more flesh. His mind was closed to me so it was also closed to his parents. A smile was on his face and I would like to see Margaret's face when she put it on. Before we left I convinced Tommy that we men needed costumes too but we tried to look like we fit in but not to be noticed besides the women. This took little time to manufacture. Everything was packaged up and another taxi took us back to the theatre. The two larger instruments were in a hardened enclosure. It was the usual way a Human would expect them to be carried. Sandra and Megan were waiting for us but had not seen the dresses, even in our minds. All along this route I was hiding what we were doing though they knew we went for instruments. Megan was presently comforting a young girl that happened to be older than she was. "Hi Leif. This is Andreaea. We were just talking about singing and playing instruments. She is scheduled to go on just ahead of us." I stuck out my hand and Andreaea blushed. I didn't need to read her mind to see my effect on her. "Hello Andreaea. How long have you been singing?" She stuttered a bit which may be cute was not a good thing for a performer. Her dark brown hair was long and lustrous. She was in the pretty class but not yet beautiful. When she got older she would fill out and be much more attractive. "Since I was three I guess. I was always singing. Usually I was imitating what was sung on the radio or records." "How about you?" "Consti and I have been singing about the same. Sandra and Megan were late bloomers and began at four. Their parents Tom and Margaret," I pointed them out, "provided some lessons and then did the same when Tommy came along." "Those two are parents?" She said questioningly. "They look even younger than me." "Good diet, put up with university students and of course made love all the time they could. This I think keeps them young." "I will have to try that to see how it works. What kind of performance are you guys going to have?" "I will play a keyboard while my girls sing a duet I think. Tom will play a stringed instrument and Margaret will sing. Tommy will play a Sax with Consti singing. When the singers get the final details nailed down the men folk may play together instead but we don't see the need. It is up to them. They are the ones that wanted to come here in the first place. We just know we have to follow or pay the price." Sandra had been standing with us and saw the suitcase. Her vision went into the case and she was able to get enough data on the garments we brought. "Leif, you want us to where those things?" "Why not. You wore those special bathing suits to the beach and caused quite a stir in the menfolk and even some of the ladies." "But they were worn on the beach where we can get away with it. Here we are going to be on a stage." Megan understood her sister's concern but said out loud, "What did he bring?" "Something that may get us arrested." Megan said, "Show us." "Yes miladies, at once." Consti came over and Tommy held the suitcase open while I took out the first dress and hung it up in front of Sandra. "There, I think it looks charming if not a bit old-fashioned." "Old-fashioned? This must be something your family would wear." "Only to a semi formal affair. The formal wear is much too intricate." Andreaea said, "Oh my god. That is... that is... so outrageous it is good. You have to wear it." Consti said, "These dresses are simple and usually worn to minor events. Others are much more revealing. My mother had the plans kept for a great many variations to be called when needed." Megan looked at the dress and said, "It's not bad. I don't think we need this though. I wanted the audience to appraise our voices and performance not our bodies." "Put it on and see how you look in a dress one of my grandmothers might have worn." She reached in the suitcase and took out her dress. Tommy put the suitcase down and stood beside Consti. Margaret and Tom came close and blocked part of the view. Sandra and I did the same and Megan casually removed all her clothing. Andreaea just stood with her mouth open as she watched this beautiful creature get even more beautiful. I helped Megan get into the dress. We stepped back a bit and it looked good on her. Andreaea said, "It looks like it was painted on you and there's not much paint used." Megan said, "Watch." The dress changed as the mood struck Megan even going to full transparency. She started to sing a song very low and the dress changed with the beat and even with the emphasis. "That... that's amazing. I have never even heard of anything like that material. The dress hides nothing." Margaret came over and asked verbally, "What did you bring for your doting old mother-in-law?" "Why, something very similar to your daughters. Can't have you shown up can we. What to try yours on?" Margaret started to take off her clothes and Tom pushed her close to the wall so she would be shielded. She turned out to be an exhibitionist like her daughters. Tom got her dressed but not before running his fingers through his wife's crevice. Margaret got the garment straightened out and looked at herself through her husband's eyes. "Not bad. Probably something one of Leif's great grandmothers would have worn. I have more cloth than my daughter." The last was said accusingly. "As befits your advanced station in life. Somebody has to get the crowd ready for your daughters. You might have to start fighting to keep the audience off the stage." Margaret turned around and then did it again with her hands held high. She said, "What do you think Andreaea? Does this befit my age as a soon to be grandmother?" The girl didn't know what to say. Margaret didn't look old and she was just fishing for compliments. Tom said, "Leave the poor girl alone. You look as beautiful as ever. If you want some compliments let me get the two that are signing up the contestants. Both of them would ravish your body with just half a chance." "That they would. That woman was absolutely predatory but her husband keeps her in check most of the time. They like the young girls thinking that they will spread their legs for them to get them a better chance of winning." Andreaea blushed and Sandra pulled her aside and whispered, "Were you planning to do this or did you?" Andreaea whispered back after a long pause, "I was going to tonight." After another pause she asked, "The woman was going to do things too?" "She sure does. They do a lot of promising but they have very little to say about who wins. You can do what you want but at least you know what is ahead of you if you want to play their game." Andreaea didn't know what to say but she eventually got out, "Thanks." She had been hit with a lot of information and asked, "Your mother inferred that Leif was her son-in-law. Is he really married to one of you?" This time it was Sandra paused. "There has been no legal ceremony that anybody would recognise but he actually is married to both Megan and myself. He even put a little bun in the oven of each of us. He's not the usual young man. He is totally committed to his family. He has some fantastic equipment and can keep both of us more than just happy. One day as a test he took on our friends and kept all twenty one of us were twitching for hours." Andreaea just stood with her mouth open and Sandra moved her hand to gently close the opening. "The flies can get in." "You let him?" "Well it was to give the girls a chance to see what a perfect boyfriend or a husband would be like." Sandra changed the conversation and asked, "What are you doing in the contest?" She knew but had to ask for a reason. She got the name of the song. "Do you want a live band? They will be better than the canned music you were going to use." "Would they?" She said very excitedly. "Let's ask." We knew what was said and I wondered why Sandra had told some of the family secrets then again I wondered why Margaret had done the same thing. Sandra though came to me. "Leif, will you, daddy and Tom play the music for Andreaea? She only has a tape." "I guess we could. We need to warm up anyway. Should I get Andreaea a dress similar in some ways to what you would be wearing? At the moment we're having a hard time keeping the crowd away from your mom and Megan." "Would you do that?" She held my face in two of her hands and said, "Another reason why I love you." Sandra turned to Andreaea and asked, "Will you wear a dress similar to ours but not the same?" "They... it will show all of me!" "That's right. Leif, bring that special shaver. We have to get rid of her pubic hair. Put two straps on her dress even if there is no need. Put two patterns under her breasts to show them off. Make it a bit tighter around the abdomen. Put a shiny stone close to her nipples to keep the audiences' attention. Better make Andreaea's dress unchangeable. Can't have hers going transparent." I said, "It will be an hour before Andreaea has to go on stage. Better to get a cab and do all this at the motorhome." "Good idea. That is why we keep you around too." She turned to the stunned girl and said, "My family will keep your place. You have to come with us." "Where?" She asked a little apprehensive. "A few blocks from here. We are parked in a lot and have everything we need." Moments later the cab dropped us off and we walked to the boat. Andreaea slowed down to look and all we heard was, "Wow! This is fantastic. I never saw one like this before. It looks so solid but very powerful at the same time." ------- Chapter 19 When we got inside it was cool not like the present March heat wave that was in this area. Sandra let Andreaea look around for a moment then said, "Go into the bathroom and take off your clothes." Andreaea was about to object when Sandra continued, "We have to measure you and you have to get rid of some hair Hurry up girl. This is the chance you have been waiting for. You get a dress that people will kill for and in an hour you get to sing in it." Andreaea was not sure but Sandra took her elbow and put her in the bathroom and closed the door. I said, "Why are you taking this girl under your wing? Even your mom has been telling her much too much about us." "I don't know. I just feel that we can trust her. Doesn't she seem that way to you too?" This took a little consideration. Andreaea did seem trustworthy but how was she giving us this feeling? I examined her mind with my new power and found her a bit different. The med unit would give a better indication. I knew there was something else I was not looking at correctly. Her aura was close to what all of us were looking for but not enough to really mention. One part of it had a flaming yellow tinge that I had not seen before. I brought Sandra and the entire family's attention to this trying to find out what it portended. Before we were done we heard a weak, "I am ready. What do you want?" Sandra said, "I am going to take off my clothes so I am the same as you. We will take some measurements first. I am coming in now if that is alright with you?" Another long pause and we heard a reluctant, "Ok." Sandra took off her clothes and slipped into the bath and closed the door behind her. Andreaea almost stood with her hands protecting her breasts and mons. Sandra opened the other door leading to the back bedroom and pulled Andreaea along after her. Sandra said, "Do you want to loose your pubic hair permanently or just temporary. This means the coarse hair on your legs, between your legs and all over your body beneath your neck?" "You can do that?" "Sure can Honey and that means everywhere. No pain and no hair ever. Do you want it?" "I would love it Sandra." "Call me Sandy. Only strangers and my husband call me that. Now stand straight. This tingles a bit but doesn't hurt." When Andreaea did as she was bid, Sandra ran the med unit over the back of the girl's body but kept hold of it. "Turn around and raise your arms Andreaea." The unit tickled a bit but the coarse hair roots were now dead leaving only the fine fuzz all over. The area just above each hair follicle was now weakened so they could be pulled out without pain. "On the bed now and on your back." Andreaea did what she was told and Sandy tried to pick up a leg but Andreaea held it firmly in place. Sandra just looked at her and in a second she could raise one of her legs. The med unit tickled this area too and the clit responded to the stimulation. The leg was put down and the other raised in its place. "Hold your knees to your chest and curl your back. I need to get all the hair Andreaea." The girl reluctantly did as she was told and felt her back opening now get stimulated. "Now give me your hand Honey." Andreaea was induced to stand and then turn around. The process on the back was now done and Sandra ran her hands over Andreaea's back, butt and legs wiping off hair and depositing it on a towel. The front was done too and the under arms made the girl giggle and both smiled. Sandra rubbed the mons and large sections of hair came off. Andreaea subconsciously moved her legs apart. When Sandra wiped her, Andreaea had to hold Sandra's shoulders to steady herself as a pleasant shiver went through her body. She liked the feeling of the hands and she never realised before that a woman could make her feel this way. When they were just about done Sandra bent Andreaea over and moved her feet apart and used the towel to wipe this last area clean of hair. Sandra said, "Mmmmmm this makes me horny. Do you mind if Leif comes in and relieves some of my stress? It will just be a few minutes." "Ahhh... ok, I guess." "Leif, will you come in here please. I need you and that beautiful piece of meat you have." I opened the door pretending to not know what this was about. "Yes, my sweet?" "Take off your clothes. I need you." She got onto the bed moved to the middle. She picked up her knees and felt her own mons and opening. "Juicy." There was little time wasted and I was climbing onto the bed. Before moving as Sandra wanted, I stopped and licked and sucked her moist opening. She begged me to stop and do it right but I continued until she had her first of three orgasms that got progressively stronger and louder. Just as she was recovering from the last I moved up. Andreaea looked at me and what I was going to put into my wife with amazement. I had even kept the size down to not shock her. In five minutes Sandra had her next orgasm. She bounced all over the bed and then just fainted from the severity of it. My position didn't change and soon Sandra came back. I said, "Take our guest to the shower. Hurry up I need to make the fitting and have a shower of my own." "Yes, oh master of my heart." I moved to one side and Andreaea again got a good look at my penis and she was shocked to see that it was still erect. Sandra hurried off the bed and pulled Andreaea back into the bathroom. In a moment warm water was running and I heard two girls giggling. The cleanser took care of the lose hair and my own body. The towel went into the converter with the hair in it. I went to the fabricator and made a dress that Sandra pictured in her mind for Andreaea. The construction was a bit odd but I did as I was asked. When Sandra got out, I dried her with the fluffy towel but didn't let Andreaea see any others. When she was done I swatted her bum and produced another for Andreaea. She came to me after a pause and I dried her off just as well as I had my wife. "Sit in the chair Andreaea. I have to get your hair done." She did sit and I began to dry and set her hair. She was a bit worried because I was still naked. When she was dry and her hair in place I helped her get into her new dress before she got a good chance to see it. Sandra moved portions of this Seffra material with no regard to where they may be on Andreaea's body. "There," Sandra said, "You look great. Now let us get dressed and we will go back to the theatre." Andreaea wiggled at the sensuous feel of the dress as it went on her naked body. She had not done this before but it certainly felt erotic to her now. She giggled quietly thinking how her panty line would really be invisible. We got dressed but Sandra made a matching purse for all of the women including Andreaea. Now I could see that she wanted to go out to eat and wear these dresses a bit more. Andreaea left her clothes and empty purse in the motorhome and we hurried back. She was still in shock. A few people had seen her before the cab came and had stopped to stare at her. She didn't have much time to recover in the taxi before we got to the theatre. Again she was stared at when she got out and entered the building. Along the way I was going over the information gleaned from the med unit. Andreaea had a minor power that allowed her to project calming thoughts if she needed them. She knew that she was successful at this and had contemplated a job as psychologist or a social worker. Music though drew her much more. Sandra could have gone to the washroom but changed in the lobby like her sister and mother. There was something special about watching an uninhibited female removing all her clothes in preparation to getting dressed. This time Andreaea stood guard to block unwanted eyes. A young man called out numbers that represented the contestants. When the number before Andreaea's came we were almost ready. Four minutes later Andreaea was called and we all went in with her. Tom explained that we were her live musicians. He was going to cause some problems and both Sandra and Megan dazzled him into acceptance. There was one act ready to go on when we got into position. It appeared to be a simple arrangement. Three judges listened in a languid way and gave a short statement whether the person had talent or not. A numerical system was given where the contestant knew where he or she stood with the rest. The next performer came on. He had presented his tape to one of two technicians. When the tape was forwarded, the technician would find the start of the song and rewind it a bit to be ready when the time came. The other was playing a song for the one currently on stage. The man that called Andreaea just shook his head, indicating that there was no tape or even a CD. We came out onto the stage. Tom had a chair to sit on while playing his favourite instrument. The case was put on the floor and then opened. His nimble fingers had the instrument tuned in seconds. Tommy took out his instrument and played the scale on it and nodded his head at me. I folded out three legs that were so thin they were almost invisible. My mind turned the volume down low and I played some notes then aimed the projectors to various hard surfaces that would bounce the harmonic of the sounds I was producing. When we were all ready I gestured to Andreaea. Andreaea was being eyed by not only the judges and stagehands but the audience. She was very nervous at not only being on stage but also that everybody could see her body with just a very thin piece of material over it. We played a few bars after telling her what we were doing. She started on cue and sang quite well. We played so that her voice could readily be heard and didn't try to overpower her. Tom played much better. I think it was that he now had a larger audience. No Human could have duplicated how he manipulated his instrument and provided some of the higher frequency and percussive beats as well. Tommy played his instrument very well but was limited by its very nature. He did move a bit and this got Andreaea to do likewise. It showed that she loved the music she was singing. My hands were hidden and I had to play very fast. I was playing for four different instruments at once with the keyboard putting the notes out when it should. Andreaea had only a few thoughts about our playing. She found it very good. When her song ended the audience clapped harder than I had heard them doing before. Andreaea had a wide grin on her face and she knew she had made a good showing. The judges had sat up to hear us and were much more enthusiastic about this performance. Andreaea was even asked to come back tomorrow when the contest would enter the second phase and weed out some of the selected contestants. Instead of leaving she went back the way she came. Margaret came out this time. She sang a song she composed a cycle ago. It had been improved on but it was already very good. She sang it the way she sang to us on the moon. I put the subsonics to use and the drums were loud in counterpoint to her singing. This song was in English and talked of a woman waiting endlessly for her soldier boyfriend to come home. Margaret had great range and control and the audience ate the performance up. It may have been the drums for they moved with the beat and sympathised with the lyrics. She looked and acted like a young woman in the prime of her life. Margaret too was asked to return the next day and she just thanked the judges. Sandra and Megan came out next and they sang their own composition about loving one young man. It was sung as each girl was trying to convince the other that she was in more need of the man's attention. They looked at me part of the time and this inspired me to play even better. The low frequency drum sounds now were very strong and reflected their growing desperation. I saw dust fall for we were really shaking the very building. The audience clapped even more and again they got the same offer as the previous two. Consti came on and said in the way of explanation, "I came to these shores a while ago but I wish to sing in my native tongue. This song like the previous two are written by each of us and no other." She knew that the Seffra voice was very melodious. Consti's song told of her people going from planet to planet trying to learn as they went along. The people they met and how they worked with the Seffra one way or another was stressed. The song was long and was sung mostly low until it gradually built to a crescendo. I had no problem with the thoughts because nobody beyond us could understand the words. When Consti finished she bowed as if beaten with the weight she had to bear all this time. The audience was stunned but when the clapping started it got very loud. Consti had sung on ship many times and her natural talent came out strongly. The judges too clapped their appreciation. When the noise diminished they wanted to talk right away about a recording contract and not wait for tomorrow. We folded up our instruments and everybody was amazed that the keyboard was rolled up and had no external power. All of the girls including Andreaea walked to the judges. Consti said, "I thank you for any offers you might make but I have no need of a performing career. I am a wife and soon a mother but always an explorer. You may ask the others if you wish." Margaret, Sandra and Megan gave much the same response and let Andreaea talk if she wished. She was happy for our family but shocked that we were stepping aside. She would not let this chance go by. She was going to grab it with two hands and hold on tightly. Andreaea would go to the competition tomorrow. We all celebrated and went out to eat with Andreaea as our guest. Tom and I took the suitcase with the other clothing in it as well as the instruments back to the motorhome. We drove back to the theatre and picked up the family. It was a little early to eat so we cruised around Jacksonville Beach. Andreaea was a tourist herself but had been working hard to get noticed at competitions like we were just at. She was from Greenville South Carolina and was here with some members of her school. None had the time though to be with her on this day. They had not got the freedom of the school break out of their minds yet. Andreaea would ask questions but when they got too personal one or more of us would change the conversation just enough to not quite answer it without telling a lie. Our own questions showed that she just turned eighteen a week ago. Presently she was completing her last year of highschool and thinking of studying for a career in music. She had an older sister and a divorced mother. The father visited often and supported more than what the law stipulated. She had a small group of friends but they were not that close. This was easily seen by us with the amount of encouragement they gave. We had driven quite a way up the highway until we found another popular dining spot. It was part of a popular golf course and its cuisine was supposed to be out of this world. We knew what out of this world food was like and it was not as salty as what they had on Earth. The place had a maître d' but he was temporarily busy. We were rushed by two waiters to get to us first. We were put in the centre of the room so we could be looked at. There were a lot of wealthy people here. Most were older while the younger were the children of members or escorts of both genders. The maître d' came in and frowned that he had missed us. We ordered a very nice meal and Tom decided that he should get some champaign to toast Andreaea success in getting an appointment. It was a feeble attempt to make her feel a bit better. He had not had very expensive champagne before and wanted to try it. We talked of music in general and what people really wanted to hear. This was a cultural thing but was also instinctual in many ways. Andreaea gave her opinion. Margaret sided with her and the two fought the rest of us with a good hearted debate. A very well dressed man came in the back door and talked to the maître d'. I could read his mind especially after he had a good look at the women at our table. He walked up and looked over the girls and then at the males to see who he should talk too. Margaret smiled and said, "Is there something wrong young man?" The man smiled and replied, "Hello, I'm called 'young man' on many occasions but usually the person addressing me is older than you." Margaret said after reading the man and his lecherous thoughts, "You look to be forty one or two, am I right?" "You certainly are, young lady. I am forty one." Margaret said, "I like being called young lady but the fact is that I am two years older than you. It is fun to show my identification. My students used to complain about this all the time. Would you like to see Tom's too? He is a retired university professor like me." "I would certainly like to see that. We have had young people trying to prove they are just over the drinking age but you are claiming many extra years." Margaret opened her purse and took out her billfold and gave her fake driver's licence and at the same time showing many of her thousand dollar bills. The man looked at it very carefully and at Margaret's features. The man saw Margaret's skin and here he knew that the woman before him was older than she looked. Before he was finished Tom slid his papers across as well as his engineering papers too. They were all factitious but they reinforced each other. The man said finally, "You are without a doubt the youngest looking couple I have ever seen. I have a daughter that looks older than you and she is only nineteen." Tom said, "Thanks for the compliments. We work hard to stay young looking and young thinking. Do you happen to be the local bouncer? You seem a bit better dressed than some." The man now turned red. "I'm the club president. I just happened to come by. We need to do checks like this or we will be in trouble with the authorities." Tom added, "If you have a moment take a seat. You could tell us about your club and about this area of Florida. It has been many years since I have tried to kill any worms." The man signalled and a waiter brought over another chair. We shifted our positions to make room for him at our large table. "Thank you for the invitation. It is not often that I get to meet such interesting people." Tom smiled, "It helps if my wife and daughters are as beautiful as they are." The man blushed again but didn't need to reply. "Are you visiting or just passing through?" Margaret this time replied. "We are on vacation. Mister..." "Kennedy." "We are on vacation Mr Kennedy. Leif is escorting two of my daughters Sandra and Megan while my son Tom is escorting his girlfriend Consti. The other young lady here is Andreaea. She too is just visiting and enjoying the sights. She was recently in a talent contest and will be offered a contract we believe. If this doesn't happen then the people running the contest are fools." "That is very interesting. We have our own talent shows on occasion and the winners are offered a contract here or at one of our affiliated courses." I spoke for the first time. "Perhaps you could give Andreaea a chance soon. She has to go back and complete her education but she will be looking for a good job." "I like that idea but we don't have any musicians. We have the musical instruments though." "Mr Kennedy, I have never in my life even held a golf club in my hands. I am very well coordinated and much stronger than I look. If you have some very strong clubs for us to use we will supply the musicians for Andreaea's singing. You may get four more beautiful ladies to perform, though I doubt if they will take any job." "That is an interesting proposition. Your clothing though is unsuitable for the links." "Do you have a pro shop open? We will purchase the shoes and clothing but the clubs I fear will be too shoddy." "Young man," he said angrily, "our goods are far from shoddy." "I fear I have offended you. I meant that they will not stand up to the abuse most of us would put them to." "I will take your offer young man. Your food will not be ready for fifteen minutes. Would you care to find the musicians you mentioned?" We all got up and Andreaea had to be coaxed. A back room was unlocked and we found the instruments. Tom and Tommy worked on some reeds for their woodwinds then tuned some string instruments. We came out with the girls assisting us. Some quick selections were made and we sang songs suited for the people now pausing in their meals to hear us. We played two Barbara Streisand songs that Andreaea knew and one by the Chiffons which all the girls sang together. Tom avoided the microphone and said, "I see our food is coming and being basically poor folk we were taught to eat the food while it was warm." The audience laughed because we certainly didn't look poor. The women though looked to be wearing very expensive dresses. Mr Kennedy had sent word out and had a small meal with us. We complimented the cooking staff. This was done with the champagne that only Andreaea, Tom, Margaret and Mr Kennedy drank. We ate quickly and Mr Kennedy hustled us out to the pro shop. He said, "I will get someone to put the instruments away for you." The girls dove into the clothes and made Andreaea get dressed our way too. This time they used the change rooms. In half an hour we were all dressed thanks to three very tired people on the sales staff. The bill came to forty five hundred dollars and Margaret paid with five similar bills. She said, "Take the change and pay for our meal and split the change up with the restaurant and here." Mr Kennedy was happy to see people that didn't mind spending and got three of the pros out to help with our practice. All of us went to the driving range that was very near. Tom put some balls down on some tees and flexed the club that he was loaned. The proper place to hit was found. His swing was very fast and the sound of its passage came almost at the same time the sound of the club hitting the ball. One of the pros said, "Oh my god. That is over three hundred yards." Tom said, "I will see what I can really do now. That was practice." Four balls were struck one after another and none were less that three hundred and twenty five yards. Margaret said, "You're a showoff Tom. Let a little woman like me have a few swings. Twenty years ago I had a three handicap." The pros fought to set her up and her balls were driven just a bit shorter. She commented, "It is only because I'm so small. If I had your size I would hit them three fifty at least." A pro said, "Nobody hits them that far." "You have a hundred dollars Sonny?" "Yes ma'am." "You want to risk it? Leif is strong, smart and agile. He never hit a golf ball before in his life. Give him six practice shots then the one for the money." "You're on ma'am." "Leif, your family is dependant on you. If you can't hit the ball a measly three hundred and fifty yards we will go hungry tonight." "We already ate and I am still full." "Hit the ball and make me happy." The ball was placed on a tee and I stepped back to feel the club. Reading the pros' minds I knew that this was a good club but there were a lot of good clubs and all of them were different. There were quite a few things to consider in a swing especially when the shaft and club flexed so much. I swung at imaginary balls until I felt that I could make at least a fair showing. Stepping up to the ball I tried to see the remainder of the mechanics then began my swing. The club head flexed just a bit more because I was swinging harder. The club head twisted just a bit just before it hit the ball. The noise was satisfying as well as the shock that travelled up the club shaft. Looking at the flight of the ball I saw that I would be short and the ball veered off its planned course to the left. The club was too long for me but I wanted the length anyway. The next ball went just a bit further and went to the right. Mr Kennedy said, "Those are amazing shots. They were both over three hundred yards." Three more balls were struck but I was about at the club's limit. Any more and I would damage the delicate instrument. This time I used my PK on the club alone and the ball went much further but went to the left. I didn't consider this cheating because I still only used the club to strike the ball. I did nothing to the ball after it left the tee. With the last ball ready I said, "The grass has a white line at the very back. Do we all agree that this is at least at the three hundred and fifty yard mark?" The pros all nodded as did Mr Kennedy. I swung again. I used more of my strength and some of my PK too. The ball leapt into the air at a forty five degree angle and we watched it intently as it landed a good four yards past the line I mentioned and continued to roll. The pro came forward shaking his head. "I don't know how you did it. You swing wrong and the club is the wrong size. I know you have either never held a club in your hands or only a few times. You have certainly won the bet. If you want you can stick around and I can teach you to swing better. You can clean up at golf if you can putt." He shook my hand and handed the money to Margaret. Margaret said, "Thank you." Then to the rest she added, "Anybody want to bet that my two daughters, Consti and Tommy cannot hit the ball at least three hundred and twenty five yards?" There were no takers. After the practice, we played as a group and the family did very well. Andreaea had never golfed before and there were three pros trying to assist her. On the third hole Tom got a hole in one on a long dog leg. He was able to hit the distance to the green and over a large water hazzard and two sand traps. Mr Kennedy was speechless for a moment then excitedly said, "That is amazing. I have only personally seen one other hole-in-one before." Margaret said simply, "Showoff," and hit her own ball. It landed within a metre of the cup. Megan, Tommy, Sandra and I did just about the same. Consti concentrated hard then hit her ball. It flew directly to the hole and went inside without rolling and ended up on top of Tom's. "This game isn't hard. Maybe we should do it blindfolded." Tommy hugged his wife and said, "I think there is another showoff in the family." The pros and the president of the club could not understand it. By the forth hole we had a large following around us and it was getting larger. We continued our scanning of auras and worked on the game. The golf balls had to be changed. We were pushing the clubs dangerously close to their breaking point and the balls could not take the shock. Margaret was trying for a hole in one on a four hundred and thirty yard hole when her premium club broke at the flex point. Ball and club went far down the fairway. Tom said in condolence, "You don't get any extra points for putting the club in too." Mr Kennedy took the broken portion that Margaret still had and examined it. "I can't understand this happening. You hit nothing but the ball. I will have to talk to the manufacturer." By the time we finished nine holes it looked like a good portion of Florida was there to see us. Margaret broke a replacement club and apologised. The family got five aces total and most putts were only for a few metres. Newspapers photographers came by but we refused to be photographed. It was easy to do when we knew when the photographer was going to shoot. A hand or one of our expensive hats just happened to be in the way. Mr Kennedy took us back to the restaurant and bought us another meal. We would be entitled to quite a bit of money because of a club reward for aces. We had not paid in cash but we had paid in services. Tom took the president aside and made him a deal. "Mr Kennedy we have no need for the money your club would pay us but that does not mean that it is not rightfully ours." The man started to get jumpy and wanted to cut in. "I propose that in lieu of this money you hire Andreaea for six months at a very fair rate of pay. You offer her accommodations and move her around to the other courses. This costs you a bit more than a regular entertainer but not near what your club would have to pay us. We require a contract though either with Andreaea or with us to stipulate what we will accept. We will also get our pictures taken as long as they do not reach the media." Mr Kennedy did some rapid mathematics. Andreaea sang very well and this deal would only cost the club three to four thousand dollars more than a regular singer. He stuck out his hand and said, "We have a deal but you have to have her sing another song or two, so others on the executive committee can hear her. I will have no problems getting this passed then." Tom shook the hand. "We can do that. You want to go out for another nine holes? I can see how much your club can afford to pay me." Kennedy looked shocked than saw the grin. "As much as I enjoy playing with you and your family, I would rather we do it at a competitor's course." After sitting through the light meal we met five more members on the executive. We paid for our meal with our musical services. Andreaea was happy to sing again. She didn't know that she was auditioning and this made it less stressful for her. She was well applauded and when she came back to the table flushed with excitement Mr Kennedy said, "Andreaea, you sing very well. Would you agree to some employment with our club. We will give you six months of accommodations on the courses and a fair pay besides. At the end of six months we can renegotiate." Andreaea was now very flushed and excited, "I have to finish school first. I wanted to study music later." "We have some very good schools in this area. You could go to school during the day and perform at night. We even have a tuition package for employees." "I... I... don't know what to say. This is like a dream. I would be happy to take your offer." Handshakes were given all around and Andreaea had no idea that we had anything to do with this. The family hugged Andreaea and congratulated her on her on her break into show business. She was now taken around and introduced to many of the members that were present. Some had the usual lecherous thoughts but some also had Andreaea paired off with one of their sons or nephews. When we left it was dark. Andreaea was so happy she was bubbling over. She sat in the back seat between Sandra and Tommy. Consti was sitting on her husband's lap and all talking about how Andreaea's life had suddenly changed. The family had their own conversation going on at the same time but it was all mental. The girl was a nice person and it was nice to help her along. We pulled into town and went to the motorhome. Andreaea and the rest of us entered and got into comfortable clothes. Andreaea was told to keep her golfing togs and even the dress we made for her. I had known this and only some of the stones on her dress were semi-precious. The dress though would last for a great many years. I knew if she took the dress to a chemist they would find a fibre that was not known on Earth yet. A container was made for her clothes and we pulled out to drive her to her hotel on the other side of the city. The van was hooked up behind so it could now be pulled. Andreaea loved the way the motorhome remained so stable all the time and didn't realise the technology that made this happen. We took the highway to circle the city instead of cutting across town. The boat's instruments told us of a sudden energy reading ahead and we immediately tuned into the small computer. It was a fire. The very faint noise came to us and it was easy to see now that there definitely was something seriously wrong. Sensors didn't have to go out for we could use our minds. A fuel truck pulling a pup had burst into flames. Another truck had rammed into it after avoiding a car that suddenly stopped. A bus was trapped against the barrier of an overpass and a great many cars had just pulled up This blocked the way for people to just reverse and get out of the way. There was a very good chance that the fire would burn through the concrete of the overpass. Long before that, many people would have been burnt to death or died of smoke inhalation. This took less than a second to figure out. The motorhome shot forward. We pulled onto the stone median and a siren much like the police rang out to get us some room. In seconds we were under part of the overpass. Cars were honking at us that we stopped. I turned to Andreaea who knew nothing of what had happened. "There is an accident and a fire. Stay in the motorhome for your protection." I pointed my finger at her for emphasis and continued, "Do not leave." On the way out I took a long heavy knife. It was made to provide the necessary props for our charade but this time it would provide for a different act. By the time I got out the family had run up the banks and got to the packed vehicles. Mindful of people watching I climbed up the ladder put there for show. The knife was held firmly between my teeth. Once on the roof I jumped to the railing just above that parallelled the overpass. Tommy was running on the four inch pipe that made up the top rail. He said, "I see you took a short cut. You want to start ripping the metal?" The doors on the bus including the back one were blocked. "Go through a window and keep people away. We can start a bucket brigade." "Aye aye Captain. Mind your parrot," he said with an old English accent and a closed eyelid. Frightened people were looking at us through the glass and clambering for a way out. Some of the glass was already broken. Tommy got some people to move and ripped out the some of the trim to get inside. Once there he said over the voices wanting to know what was happening. "We are going to open a new door for all of you. Right below is our motorhome. You get onto our roof and then to the ground. Now please get away as Leif cuts some aluminum for us." The knife was driven through the roof easily and I did this a great many times in rapid succession. In a matter of two minutes I pulled with my hands and my PK the first layer of metal. The shield each of us wore would be protection for us. Tommy said from below, "Move out of the way Leif. I'll give it a kick." I moved back quickly and Tommy used the existing seats to hold onto as he threw his feet into the air and drove both of them into the portion of metal we wanted moved. By starting in a weak corner the inner metal started to move. I pulled on the metal with my PK as Tommy kicked more. Flames started to rise on the other side of the bus as flammable liquid worked its way under the stranded vehicles. Screams and cries were heard then there was some pushing. When the opening was large enough a man tried to push Tommy out of the way to gain freedom. Tommy didn't let him get far before he punched him in the chest and then backhanded him. Tommy spoke loudly, "No pushing. Come forward and I will assist you. Make me angry and I will make sure you miss the motorhome on the way down." I jumped onto the roof of the motorhome and Tommy threw a startled woman to me. She hardly had time to scream before I caught her. I set her down and said, "Go that way. There's a ladder. When on the ground run back quite a way. There is lots of fuel and the second fuel tank has not started." I turned in time to catch another person and let that one follow the first. People came to the opening and saw the four metre jump and would hesitate. Tommy didn't let them. No matter how hard they held he made them move. Some old people were intrusted to the others because they were disoriented and needed help getting off the roof. The ladder was now the bottle neck. Some of the more agile were sitting on the edge and sliding off. One had stayed and help and the less capable. This made me feel good. A mother came and then some children followed by the father. The man was large and was amazed that I was much smaller and caught him. He was even more amazed that a young looking Tommy had thrown him. I simply said to him, "Pass the children to the men below." The unconscious man came next and I took his hands and lowered him to the rescuers below. The injured came next and these were lowered by hand. Some were more mobile and had broken limbs. These were handled with more care. Emergency vehicles were heard approaching and I knew that the family was doing what it could to make the task easier. Clothing left on the bus was ripped and tied together to form a rope capable of lowering the victim the more distressed. This was done again and the victim was on the ground. Another rope was made while the first was used until everybody was out. The driver and three people were dead and even these were removed. By this time the interior of the bus was burning hotly. Tommy was seen running through the smoke and flames doing his best. He jumped from the bus and landed beside me. We worked together to get the last two bodies to the ground. We jumped down together. The worst injured were taken inside the motorhome where a frightened Andreaea stayed. Gauze bandages had to be fabricated as well as triangular bandages of heavier material. Tommy and I put splints on broken bones and used the med units to stop most but not all of the bleeding. Andreaea cleaned people up and gave them fluids. The fire above was getting very hot. This didn't bother us but I didn't want our boat's capabilities known. I stopped between patients and reversed the motorhome without the tow vehicle straying from a straight line. We got a few hundred metres back when the fire trucks arrived and pumped water up onto the overpass or from elevated ladders. We would be ordered back further but there were too many cars blocking our path. Others that were hurt came to us for first aid. Some were directed by the family or others that knew. The pup containing more fuel suddenly exploded. Wreckage went high into the air but none came down near us that was dangerous. Andreaea shook at the possibilities and then went among the ones more in shock and gave them liquids and took them to our washroom. They would amazed at what they brought with them soon went out again as food after being processed. Some were given light weight thermal blankets and again people would be amazed at the number we dispensed. An hour after this all started the family drifted back. They brought with them some of the ones that were not injured enough to warrant a trip to the hospital when our first aid would do. There was the usual paramedics around and many ambulances but for some odd reason people like being treated by the young beautiful girls. More fire trucks came and this opened an aisle for us. We dropped our charges off at the paramedic and shook hands with the ones that we had helped. Moments later we were travelling down the wrong way to the next intersection. The police let us through the barricade and we had to now go across town to Andreaea's hotel. We all walked Andreaea to her room. Three of Andreaea's roommates were already there with the television on. Andreaea cried at leaving us and Sandra broke down and gave her our phone number. Her friends had listened to some of the things we had done open mouthed then they heard about the fire. They saw soot on their friend and the characteristic smell from her clothing. Tommy when asked, talked about removing the survivors and the dead as our contribution. Megan said that she and Consti picking up the front of a car and aiming it down an incline then pushing it against the owner's wishes. He apparently didn't want to move. Tom and Margaret were on the bridge most of the time getting the living and the dead carried off to one side. They used a truck with some chain to pull some of the wrecks apart to get those trapped The truck had got singed a few times but the team seemed to be working fine. Sandra had directed traffic away so that a clear lane would be formed for emergency vehicles. A drunk objected to her actions and Sandra beat him and threw his unconscious body in the back seat of his car and drove it away. There was even cheering at this she told us from those waiting their turn to leave. We did get away but by now Andreaea was really crying. She had found a place that was safe and exciting and she didn't want to leave it for anything. When we were safely back in the boat we headed out to sea. Each of us were thinking over the recent events and wondering how we could have done better and saved more people. Nothing was going to improve what we had done. We thought of Andreaea for she was very well liked but had her own life to lead. While invisible we picked up more water and on the way back we stopped at a beach and the tractors picked up seaweed, kelp and driftwood to replenish our supplies. We flew to St. Augustine at a slow pace and only a metre above the waves. The seaward side windows were open and we could see the stars, smell the salt air and relax after what we had done. Though not strenuous it was upsetting to see all the pain, suffering and even the death. The next day we awoke a bit later and cleaned up a bit more from all our unexpected guests. We parked at one end of town and walked, took taxis or the van to cover as many places as possible. We found two more people and for some reason they were better suited to Tom and Margaret's family but were still not that close. That night we flew to Daytona Beach to see if our luck would change. The city was large and we knew we had to take two days here. Sandra, Megan and I took the beach while the rest started in the city. We separated so we would have less overlap for the beach was wide. The girls wore the same bathing suits but kept them dark. Each of us were being slowed down too much. I was aware that male drool came out of the girls' material very easily but it was upsetting to me for the girls to put up with it. The trouble was that I was propositioned too. We decided to run down the beach. We would get some exercise and see more people for we could still scan that fast. We kept the pace down to a lope but I knew that no Human could even match this speed even in a burst. At the end of the beach I stopped quickly and in seconds my wives were with me. Up ahead was a family enjoying the beach and the nice day. One girl of about eight was playing unsuccessfully with her two older brothers. Her aura though was the same as what Consti's was and hopefully would change to what it was now if the opportunity arose. We scanned her mind and took all the pertinent information. We even scanned the parents because this was necessary. My wives held my hand and we walked passed the family. The man and the two boys stopped what they were doing to watch us pass. A few metres past the family we pointed to various points of interest and then sat in the sand. Sandra was the first to say hi then the conversations began. Helmut Reiter and his wife Yulia worked in the electronics industry. Helmut had been born in Germany but immigrated here as a boy of eight. His wife was born in Georgia from Russian parents. She preferred the name Julie. He was an engineer and she was an executive secretary. They had two boys. Jeffery was fourteen and David that was twelve. Mary was the baby at eight. Sandra and Megan tried to stay within the truth but their last names were changed. I was mentioned as the girls communal boyfriend. This shocked the couple but not as much as what the truth would. After a few minutes of sunbathing Megan said, "Leif will you go to the stand and get us something to drink?" "What would you like?" "Anything, not too sweet." I turned to Helmut and Yulia and asked if they wanted anything. Helmut said, "No thanks. We brought our own." "May I ask a certain bored young lady if she wants to walk to the stand with me to help me carry back my burden?" Julie looked at her daughter and said, "If she wants to go." I didn't have to ask for the girl was smiling and already on her feet. I pointed out the stand I wanted to go to and said it loud enough for the parents to hear. Once out of casual hearing I said, "Mary, the reason my wives and I stopped..." "Wives?" "Yes, they are my wives not my girlfriends. Both are now carrying my babies. Now back to what I was talking about. I can see a special light coming out from everything that is alive. Very few people can see this. My wives have the light that is not the same as my light but fits me like a hand into a glove. Your aura is special the same as everybody else's. A friend of mine is eleven now and is married the same as I am. He and his wife match like I do to my wives. You match his pattern too. If you ever meet him you will know that he will be your husband. You can't help it and neither can he." "He'll want to marry me? I am only eight." "He and his wife will. You marry all of the family. That way everybody loves everybody else. We have read your mind and that of your parents. This will only happen when you get older. Tom will come to meet you then. When that happens you will leave with him. That is why it is better for you two to not meet until the right time. Now stop for a minute." We stopped and I used my mind to put a picture of Tommy into her mind and one of Consti too. "That is your future family. If you marry somebody sooner you will regret it for the rest of your life." "Are you talking in my head?" "Yes I am. What did you think of Tommy and Consti?" "This's cool. They look special. Are you hearing me?" "Yes I am but others will not hear you no matter what you try to do. You need something special to happen before you can read minds. Now let's get something to drink." We continued our walk and Mary was bubbling over with questions. I said, "I can help you talk to Tom and Consti if you want. They will talk into your head but I have to make this happen. Do you want to try?" Tommy and Consti were contacted and I just relayed the message. After the introductions Mary said, "Are you really going to marry me?" "Only if you want. It would be Consti and me though. If I got more wives you would have to marry them too if you wanted them." Consti said, "I just met you and I like you already. This is just from what Leif is sending to us. When you are ready I will visit and when it is time, Tom will come too. That is the important part. With us you will be like a twin sister but to Tom it will be something very special." She gave her phone number and told her to never worry about the charges because they would not show up on the bill. The rest of the family got into the act and talked to the girl. It felt like the girl was already part of the family. I had to use my hand to guide her on occasion because she was concentrating on the conversation in her mind instead of watching where she placed her feet. I bought some water and decided to get enough for everybody. I had a bag with six and Mary carried two. The conversation continued and I had to guide Mary around people and kept her from tripping once on some driftwood. When we got back, Julie was a bit worried about her daughter not paying attention to the things around her. To let her continue her conversations I took the water bottles and juggled them for a few moments. The parents and the boys watched this intently. I had to cut off Mary's talk and got her to throw her two bottles into the act. I did some tricks and asked everybody to be ready for I would throw the water to them. They flew through the air and I assisted Mary's so she wouldn't drop hers. Five minutes later we had to leave to complete our search and Mary started to get very worried. She enjoyed this way of conversation and also the closeness she felt to my family. Julie thought that Mary was infatuated with me but something didn't seem right. Sandra and Megan kissed Mary's forehead and Mary returned the affection with heartfelt hugs. Parting was very difficult and I knew that there would be a lot of questions once we left. Mary was prepared for some of the grilling she would get. At the edge of the sand we turned around and said goodbye one more time mentally. Before we met Mary, Tommy had talked to some young men. They were interested in Consti and Tommy hurried over. They were not aggressive but Tommy just wanted to be safe. The conversation got channelled into that other love. Car racing was a passion in the southern states. Tom would love to take the family bus, whether the large or the small, and beat the other cars on a track. This could not happen but it did make him smile when he saw the probable faces of the competitors or even the spectators. The rest of the city had no more possible additions to our respective families. Some made us look a second time. Instead of going down the coast we decided to go to Disneyland to do our recruiting. We flew to Kissimmee and the next morning drove to the park. The park, though soon crowded. It had nobody for us. We all went on a ride or two but they were suited only for Humans. Many of whom had never been on a plane before. Later that day we flew to Cape Canaveral to see what was happening though our own computer AIs were monitoring events on Earth. Our registration and camouflage had to be altered because photographs had been made of our vehicle at the fire. They had been published along with the comments from the people we helped. The secret of Andreaea's assistance would not last long with three roommates seeing us and talking to her. This might even get her a more secure job because of what she had done. The most disturbing thing was that an almost totally blind woman had been burnt on the face and upper body. The med unit had followed orders to heal but leave some less severe trauma. The woman could now see as good as she had a child. The glaucoma she had in both eyes had completely disappeared. One spiritualist had gone so far as to say that Andreaea must have been an angel sent to do this work. Busch Gardens in Tampa gave us the same results but we had fun trying to communicate with the animals. Mainly it was just emotions that could be transmitted but we had wild birds land on our fingers to the amazement of the patrons and the staff. ------- Chapter 20 We completed Florida before the spring break was over. We headed further north and west to check some of the coastal cities. There were a few people that came close but not enough. New Orleans though was very interesting but we only checked the major cities of these states. With so little found for the effort we spent, it was decided to head to Europe. Portugal was going to be our place to begin but because of their manual record keeping we decided to start with Spain. We went through this country as German tourists. This partially explained the expensive motorhome and the altered van that now looked to be Mercedes van similar to what we drove in North America. This portion of our hunt turned out to be much more of what the Humans called a honeymoon We went from city to city and even took our time in the smaller population centres getting to meet the people in the more remote areas. Some times we would go to the mountainous areas to get where few others had ever gone. We were not afraid of fuel availability, paint scratches or even bridges that should not have held our weight. It rained many of the days but the so called impassable roads were the same as cement to us. We were polite to the natives and even assisted the local authorities on a few occasions. One instance was related to an earthen dam needing some strengthening. We pitched in with shovels and bags and made a game of it. Another time we gave some assistance to a local doctor that found the patients suddenly stable and even starting to recover. This was done so that we would be long gone by the time the patient fully recovered. In Toledo we stopped for two days. This was not a large city but only had seventy thousand individuals. Here we found our first possible crew member but again there were problems. Damita Perez was a great-grandmother of seventy nine. Her entire life had been spent in this area and all of her family was here too or buried on the hillside. Damita meant little princess but she was tall and rake thin. She had come into the market with her grandson and his wife and that was how we met her. Tom and Margaret had to leave quickly for Damita matched Tom very well. Her mind was working fine for a person of her age. She was very attached to this region and would not willingly leave. She was a staunch believer like many old people facing the end of their days and would not want to jump ship in a manner of speaking to gain a much longer and meaningful life. We didn't talk to her yet but assessed her and those about her. To do anything else would have been premature. We had done a lot of thinking about situations like this. Damita was thoroughly intrenched in her community. If we could get her away for a while she could be brought up to the Seffra norm but at this point there would be problems. Educating a person only added data to what they already possessed. They already knew that there were no aliens or space ships except those that Humans launched. They were so thoroughly integrated to their community that they would not be happy away from it even with a new husband that she was sure to love. We would not take her and remove her memories though that was possible. We would not take her under false pretenses in the first place. Like finding a happily married woman, we would have to let Damita pass. The next day we were on our way out of Toledo and heading for Madrid only sixty five kilometres to the north. Tom got a sudden feeling and pulled over at the side of the highway. Somebody had passed with another of the complimentary auras. Probes were launched and we drove ahead until we were able to turn around. This was three kilometres down the road. We didn't race back into the town but the vision given us by the probes and our own minds. The small auto finally pulled up to a house we knew all too well. When we got close, Tommy, Consti and I got out and walked towards the house. We stopped a few doors down and pretended to talk as we monitored the people in the house. This building was the home of Damita Perez and members of her family. One woman of thirty seven was our target. Herminia Serrano was the granddaughter of the older woman and both had similar auras much like Sandra and Megan. In a minute we knew we had to hurry. Herminia was a divorcée with one child that the husband had custody of. She had found a new fiancé and they were getting married in three weeks. The ceremony would be here in Toledo to a man from a city not far away called Aranjuez where Herminia now worked and lived. The rest of the family were looking over our shoulders in a manner of speaking. We were in luck to find that the woman was only mildly in love with the man but didn't want to remain without a mate for the rest of her days. There was an opportunity coming up and it required Tom to be ready. Herminia along with her best two friends were going to a seamstress to check on the wedding gown. Her ten minutes turned out to be a half hour but the three women and a young girl now got in the small car and drove off. The seamstress was a kilometre and a half away and all avenues to the house had been scouted. Tom nervously sat behind the wheel of the fake Mercedes with Margaret and the rest of us. Tommy said we would blitz the opposition. This attack was as well planned as I had against the Suma. At just the right time Tom accelerated into the street and lightly struck the back bumper of Herminia's car. He continued crossing the street then parked before getting out. Looking across the street he could see all of the women getting out of the car. He released his own aura to the full extent and walked toward the women. When looking at Herminia he was shocked to see two matching auras not one. Immediately he thought of retreating and sending one of us. Damita was not seen entering the car. This had to be faced no matter what and he continued without looking to be faltering. We all scanned the women and found the extra aura to not be from an old woman but from a girl of twelve. Tom got closer and all of the females were in awe of him for a well known reason. He got closer and looked at the woman then the girl. There were two women that had just dropped into his life. Herminia had dark brown hair that was held by a piece of cord behind her head. She had been considerably prettier at twenty but was still good looking. She had a gold tooth she thought pretty. She was a hundred and sixty three centimetres high and a little overweight with a large butt and thighs. The child was named Alita. She looked like Herminia for she was the daughter of the failed marriage. The child was thinner and would grow taller than her mother. She had not filled out yet but her mind was the kind found in all explorers and this was one of the reasons the aura seemed to match so well. Tom got very close to Herminia so there was but a hand span between them. He said in very proper Spanish, "I am sorry Herminia for doing this but it was necessary to meet you. I have been looking for months now." Herminia regained part of her composure and said, "You have been looking for me? How do you know me? I don't think I have ever seen you before." "I have never seen you before today. I thought your grandmother was the only one." "The only what?" "I have a home on wheels that's a much better place to talk. Will you and the rest of the ladies follow me? It is just a kilometre and a half away. There are many things to discuss and this cannot wait." The woman had no chance of refusing for Tom held her hands in his as he looked down into her eyes. He didn't need the reply. He just looked both ways and jogged across the street to our van. Margaret said, "What are you going to do with the child Tom?" "The same as Mary I guess. Wait for her to grow a bit but she has already met me. Now they will meet you too." Tom turned the vehicle around and crossed the road. He had to park fifty metres down because the women had still not recovered. When they got in the car they almost had an accident getting into place. Tom drove off and in a few moments parked behind the motorhome. The small car stopped just behind ours with barely a centimetre to spare. When Herminia got out of the car, Tom had his hand out palm up and for some reason Herminia gave him her keys. When everybody else was out Tom said, "This is my family," and introduced us by name and not relationship. Herminia did the same thing but added that Alita was her daughter. "Leif will you show our guests our home while we go for a drive to discuss the damages?" "I can do that. Perhaps we should go for a drive too in the van to a restaurant and you could meet us there." "Good." He turned to the women and said, "Will you accept our hospitality for a few moments while we get this matter straightened out?" Turning, he said, "Herminia will you get in the passenger seat? Alita will you get in the back with Margaret? We have some things to discuss." The women meekly did as Tom asked and in a few seconds they were driving off. I said to our new guests, "Would you ladies like to see our home away from home? We are quite proud of it because we made it all ourselves." My aura had come out too and the two women entered the vehicle but we left the door open to make them feel safe. Sandra and Megan took one of the women while Tommy and Consti took the other. They showed the things made for public consumption which was enough to keep the women interested. We had nothing new, just a better way of presenting it. One of the women had to ask, "Who was that? Is he a soldier or a government minister?" Tommy said, "He's a soldier, a scientist and an engineer. He can act very forceful when he needs to." The other heard and came closer to ask, "Who are you people? You are not Spanish even though your speech is perfect. What are you doing here in Spain and in Toledo?" Sandra said, "All of us seem to get special feelings around people. We are just looking for those special others. Most would not know what we are even talking about but feel us nevertheless. It is something like looking for a person that looks very much like each of us. It is painstaking work but we do get to travel. Herminia just happens to be one of those people and Tom is now talking to her to join us if she wants. She is under no compulsion but she will feel a closeness soon and will not want it to end." "She won't want to stay. She is getting married soon," one said. Sandra replied, "You better wait and see. I know that when I met Leif I knew that we belonged together." Tom drove down the road and said after thirty seconds, "Is there a quiet place we could talk without getting disturbed? What I have to say is important." "The river is nearby and there is a park up ahead where people feed the birds." "That sounds good." He didn't ask her where the park was but just drove there and pulled into a spot under a tree. When Tom got out, so did the rest. The park was not crowded this time of day but it did have some people walking across the grass or on the paths. An old man a hundred metres away was fishing in the Tagus river that ran through the town and the park. Tom took not only Herminia's hand but Alita's too and walked to a place to have the talk. Everybody sat on the grass within a small circle. Tom started the conversation with, "Herminia, I hit your car on purpose to have this talk." She nodded her head because that is what she felt was true. "Why? You could have just phoned or walked up to me." "I will tell you this first. Everybody has a special light shining from them. I am lucky that I can see this radiation. The light has different properties but has to do with honesty, a work ethic, diligence, and thousands of other small details. What it boils down to is that your aura fits in very well with mine. I think the happiest couples are those that have been lucky enough to find each other like two poles of a magnet. "It also means that it is very difficult to get the two poles apart after they have met. Do you feel this now?" There was a pause and Tom tucked in most of his aura so the conversation would not be unduly influenced by it. Herminia said, "I felt something about you. I don't know what it is. It does not feel bad but other than that I do not know." Tom knew she was lying but he let it ride. "I am afraid I do know what it means. You are fated to be with me always. I have the same feeling you have and understand it much better. Your grandmother has the same aura and I had to stop to find out about her. If she were not so wrapped up in her ways she too would want to come with me. We have never met and this is the only reason she and I were spared. "Your upcoming wedding will not happen I'm afraid. You will be going with us. You will be my wife instead." Herminia's eyes got big at this and she tried to deny this. "But the wedding was planned for months. All our friends are coming. There was so much to do and you are so young. You are not much older than my daughter." Instead of answering all her questions Tom said, "You do not love the man very much. This I know. Tell me that you want to live the rest of your life without me." No answer came and Margaret reached out and held Herminia's hand in hers. Margaret said, "It is true what he says. You want him with all your heart and it will only get worse." Herminia was looking at her. Margaret continued, "Can you feel my aura. Ours are almost the same. We will be like sisters but only closer." Herminia looked from one to another and eventually said, "I can feel it. I don't know what it is but it is not like this young man. It's different." Margaret said, "I'm his wife too. Everybody with our type of aura are linked. We are also linked to auras like Tom's. Are you going to join us? This I know is sudden and will be a lifetime commitment." "I want to but what about Emilio? We were going to be married." "Emilio will have to find someone else. You belong with us." Herminia bowed her head and said quietly, "I know that, somehow I know that." Alita was looking back and forth not knowing what to say but she felt she had to say something before it was too late. "Momma, forgive me but I have this same feeling. What am I to do?" Her face went into her hands because she found something precious and now it was slipping away. Margaret said, "Relax Alita, You mother and I have this aura and so do you and your grandmother. You too will be in our family and Tom will be your husband one day." This shocked Herminia. "This cannot be. I may have to share but my daughter is too young." Tom allowed Margaret to do all the talking and she said, "I agree with you that Alita is too young but eventually she will enter puberty. It may be just a month to a year away. When she matures she will join us. She will not be pushed or allowed to do anything beyond what all children do until it is time. One day she will be pregnant like me and the children will be taken care of by all of us." The two Spanish women looked at each other and Tom said, "Alita is safe until you say she is ready and not before. Now, do you want to go to the restaurant to celebrate or go back to the motorhome to do the same thing but in a different way?" Herminia knew what this meant and said with a wide smile, "Your home but Alita is here and the others..." "Alita will be with us later and she can watch now and learn. The others will be going to the restaurant." Sandra and Megan had heard what the status of the negations were and said to the two women, "Let's go for a drive and then go to Esteban's for a meal. I'm famished." One of the women said, "What about Herminia?" "She will meet us there in a while. They already know about it." I added, "I am hungry too but I want to see a bit more of the city and then go for the meal. Will you ladies show us some of the special points of interest? We have not been here long enough to see even a fraction of them." Sandra drove the 'Mercedes' and we still had the same number of passengers. With more wives coming we would have to find a better way to carry more commuters. Tom knew the motorhome was now empty and pulled up behind. The two women and the girl almost ran into the large vehicle. Margaret stripped quickly and assisted Herminia to go quicker. This was uncomfortable for Herminia had not done this before especially in the presence of another woman. Instead of making the bed in the dining room they went to the back and used the large bed already made for this occasion. Tom took off his clothes slowly with three pairs of hungry eyes watching him. When he was done he gently pushed Herminia onto the bed. The woman was more than ready but Tom felt for sure and spread her lubrication where it needed to go. With very little preliminaries Tom was in his newest wife. Soon she was bucking to meet him. Tom went purposely slow to make this last. Soon a block had to be put in and Herminia bucked savagely to get just that little bit more. She had never felt anything like this before even with her first husband Salvador. If she could she would want to complete this union with her having another child by this man. When the stimulation was too much she groaned out her pleasure but the feeling now did not stop. The orgasm went on and on and she now knew this is where she was meant to be as no words could have proven. Margaret got off the bed and went to Alita. The girl was unconsciously rubbing her mons but the feeling she felt had not been there before. The strange yet familiar woman went up to her and assisted in removing her clothing. The girl thought it was wrong to be naked before others but it also felt so right now. When the girl was completely naked Margaret took her to the bed and put her close to her mother and Tom. "Look close. That will be you one day. Your mother is having so much fun that she doesn't even know we are here. Put your hand out and touch your future husband's body." When the girl did she felt a thrill again. Tom and Margaret were feeding her a small portion of what Alita's mother and he felt. This way she would know what this was all about when the time came. Margaret said, "That smell is coming from your mother and me. It means we are very excited." After a pause she said, "Your mother is coming even more now. She will start to scream but it will not be in pain but in joy." Alita looked at Margaret as if not understanding. "It is true Honey. Tom makes all of his wives happy that he is their husband. The feeling gets so good sometimes that we faint." "Faint?" "Yes, now watch. Tom hold her back a bit and show Alita how her mother acts when you are really making love to her." Tom moved his face over and kissed Margaret but he didn't stop his thrusts. Margaret rubbed herself against his side hoping to get the same feeling. When she pulled away she moved Alita to where she just was. The connection now intensified and the child could almost feel this man moving in her. Her mother was so excited and tried frantically to get something she knew about but never felt this strongly before. The explosion came soon after. Herminia started to scream and then so did Alita for the first time in her young life. Both women clung to their husband as if their very life depended on it. Herminia collapsed completely. In a moment when Alita recovered, she saw that her mother was breathing correctly and was not worried. The beautiful man that looked only a few years older than her reached over and kissed her lips tenderly like as in the movies. He moved her body to lay beside her mother. She felt safe even though she was naked and fully exposed to this stranger. "Rest now Honey. Margaret needs some attention too." With the smiling girl to spur him on, he took no preliminaries with his current partner and began to move vigorously. In less than a minute Margaret was urging him on for more, as the animal in her came out to play. Tom took his hands and held her wrists so he could have no interference or pain for that matter. Margaret's legs were wrapped around his hips to make sure he didn't get away. Tom put his block in and continued well past her usual point of orgasm until she could take it no more and overcame the obstacle. Her long piercing scream was even louder than Herminia's. Her arms were so strong that she pushed Tom up. He continued to thrust and Margaret simply collapsed in mid scream Alita looked at the woman that looked almost her age and felt both kinship and something else. She had to assume it was love. Tom took out the cleanser and med units and ran them over the three females. The first two took much longer for there was much more to do. When the girls were now very presentable he went to the pile of clothes and dressed the only one awake and kissed her before patting her bum. "I have to get your sister/wife dressed too." Alita liked the term a lot better than mother though that fit much better. He thought of new clothing but that would be noticed. The way the three now looked at him would let a blind person see that they were in love. Tom got the women into the small car and drove it to Esteban's, the best and most expensive restaurant in town. Tom and Margaret toned down their own auras down to a minimum and he walked in with a Spanish lady holding each of his hands. Herminia was surprised when the maître d' took them immediately to the other table and they saw the rest of their group. Tom sat each of his wives before talking a seat for himself. The other two women looked at Herminia with questioning looks and even more piercingly at Alita. They had changed. They were happier now and it even looked like the strange young people were right. Their friends had seemed to have found a special place for themselves that they never had before. Herminia said, "I am going to tell Emilio that I cannot marry him." She looked at her two friends and could see that they understood or at least had been informed of this possibly happening. One of her proposed bridesmaids asked, "Are you going to stay with this family now." She looked around and added, "They act very nice but you hardly know any of them." "I know enough and that this is the way it has to be." Herminia paused to look at her two friends. "You are told this first but I want you to keep the secret for a week until I have everything straightened out. Will you remain silent?" She got one nod then in a moment one more. She smiled at each. "Thank you. This is much more important than just a simple wedding and I need the time to plan." We had a nice meal with the girls not being shy about ordering after getting a bit of encouragement. Alita liked the different food. Her family had made similar dishes but now that her father was single she didn't get quite the same diet. Herminia's friends began to talk more. Sandra tried hard to get them to talk about themselves and soon it was like they were all old friends. Alita's father though presented one more problem. All of us knew that Alita was in love with Tom and age had nothing to do with it. Herminia's friends could see that the moonstruck girl was watching Tom as much as her mother. The only thing I could think of to make this situation work was to have Herminia gain custody of her child. There were two things in our favour. First, Alita's father was dating off and on which would put Alita in the way some of the time. The other thing was that fathers usually couldn't handle young ladies as well as their mothers. To get the situation changed would require Herminia's complete cooperation. We would not be able to do this ourselves. The help we could give would relate to what her ex-husband Salvador would be thinking at the time of the meeting. We would of course feed her data right up to the discussion but we would have to inform her a lot more about ourselves if we were going to give some guidance during the talk. This was discussed silently all around the table but none of the natives were aware of this. We all stopped when three musicians came out and took their places on a small platform only thirty centimetres high. They tuned their instruments and started to play. Today they played traditional Spanish music that was a real treat to listen too. I looked through the musicians' minds and found that one was from the extreme southern edge of Spain where it bordered both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The area was called Andalucía in Spanish. It was famous for the dances performed by the Andalusian Gypsies. The woman would stand tall and haughty while stamping her feet to the rhythm of the guitar and the castanets she held in her hands. One or more singers would accompany her to make the music very stirring. I excused myself and left the restaurant. I took the van and drove to the motorhome. The family were all trying to find out what I was doing but I only allowed them into my public mind. They found out nothing. The fabricator made two voluminous dresses. One in red and the other in deep blue to match what was in the musicians' minds. Many accessories were made along with some very special shoes. They had ceramic inserts at the heal and toe to provide a sound when required. It would be a sure thing that I would be called to participate so I changed my clothing to dark pants and white silk shirt with similar shoes. I was back in less than ten minutes and put a load in front of each of my wives. They asked me with their mind then with their voice, "What is this for?" "Please put them on if I can convince the band to play some suitable music." I had two girls smile very widely at me that made all my efforts worthwhile. They liked what had happened at the musical auditions and wanted to do something like it again. When one song ended I walked up to the band and had a conversation with the three men. The patrons had been staring at us all night and now had more reason to. I pointed out my wives and explained that they would dress if the music were played. A gratuity was silently passed. The band suddenly thought it was a great idea to assist the amateurs. The girls left for the washroom right away and so did Margaret and Herminia at Tom's urging. The band continued playing until the girls emerged from the back room. Margaret and Herminia came first bearing the old clothing then out came two very beautiful women dressed in opposing colours. Their heads covered in scarves and ivory combes put high into their hair to hold the arrangement. They wore long black boots with hard ceramic plates at the toe and heal that made a noise as they walked. A long scarf was around their waists and draped over their arms. Though the heals were high the two women walked forward as if they had been born into this costume. When Sandra and Megan got to the stage they looked at the band then at each other as if angry. Sandra commanded the band to start as if it was her right. She acted as an aristócrata, the wife of a very powerful hidalgo of old. The restaurant patrons were now wondering what was going to happen until a lone guitar started to play quietly then picked up power and speed until it was very forceful. The beat was slow and Sandra's foot tapped out the rhythm very strongly while she appeared to look down at her sister. The man with the guitar liked this and began to play quicker for Sandra. The other two sang the old gypsy song that went with the music. Her feet hit the floor like cannonades that brought the kitchen staff out to see what was happening. Many tourist would watch this as performers went through the motions. Sandra had true duende. She went far beyond technical mastery to express her deep inner feelings. The audience after a few moments were shouting encouragement, olé or ¡baile! ¡baile! They could see readily that Sandra was not just a good dancer but a great one. Her castanets flashed in her hands as they rose above her as if a bird of prey waiting to strike for some sections. Mainly she produced a staccato handclapping that got even the Spaniards motivated. This was done by bending her arm at the elbow with the hand about shoulder high. It was just slightly cupped to trap air. The fingers of the right hand slapped the left crosswise, covering the hollow. She performed with passion and fervour. She even produced tortured expressions but always striving for grace and dignity. Some lesser skilled performers just relied on expression rather than allowing the dance to express their full range of emotions. When the song was over Sandra more or less showed with her look and mannerisms her utmost distain for the woman facing her. The audience was too stunned to even applaud. We didn't either because more was to come. The next song started with Megan demanding her chance to speak through the song. The musicians had seen true talent and now began in earnest for Megan. She danced just as well even more energy was put out. The guitarist now had another man playing a similar instrument to make the dance even more impressive. They were now trying to find either of the women's limits and played faster and faster but Megan looked unperturbed as if this was to show the woman facing her how she felt. When the song finally ended the applause was very loud especially from our table. Our guests were glassy eyed with excitement for the two girls brought much of their life and passion to what they had just done. Megan looked at me and imperiously pointed her finger dramatically to the floor in front of her. I couldn't read anything in her public mind so I got up and walked to her. She talked to me loudly in Spanish, "You have wronged this woman and you have wronged me. Choose which one you will keep." I whispered the name of a flamenco song to the leader and he passed it to the two others and all nodded their heads. I told my wives, "I cannot choose for I love you both." The music began but I tried to look humble as the two singers started to sing of this situation. I began to dance myself and the girls retreated a bit to give me room. My clothes were reminiscent of an old lower ranks of the Spanish nobility. The sash about my waist flew out and my toes and heals flashed on the floor in time to the music. This in itself was very fast. Sandra and Megan started in at about the half way point and the began to match my style. When we were as one, the platform shook with the perfectly timed steps then it abruptly stopped. The clapping now was very fierce for we had used an old dance more relegated to tourists that mainstream life and turned it into something even the locals had not seen before. When we sat down the manager came over with two bottles of his best wine and thanked us personally for making such a splendid performance. They didn't have amateur night here but decided to think about it. They knew in their hearts that we were not amateurs. Alita breathlessly asked all three of us, "How did you learn to dance like that?" Sandra replied, "It is something inside all of us. In a short time you too will dance just the same if not better. Wait until you hear our menfolk play then it will be easy to see how well you can do." "I will never dance as good as you three have just done." "It will happen sooner than you think. Now let's have a dessert and then have a nice talk. There are many things to settle yet." Back in the motorhome all of us discussed the present problems. The two women now assisted in planning how to get Alita into the custody of her mother. It was getting late and Tom said, "Tomorrow is Wednesday. It is best that Herminia talk to her grandmother and let her know what is going on. She also has to pay the seamstress for the dress even if she is not going to wear it. Alita's father has to sign some documents relinquishing his parental rights before your former fiancé Emilio can be told the bad news." The three women and a girl resumed their interrupted trip to the seamstress. They carried the final payment for the dress and the instruction to hold off for a while. Each one was very sure of this course of action even if they also felt the same way about the one they had much earlier in the day. When Herminia and Alita got to Damita's house the old woman already knew something was wrong because of the missed appointment. The two younger women tried to skirt the truth as much as possible and still not upset her right away. Emilio had phoned but was presently busy with his mother and would not be able to make the date they were going to have tonight even if Herminia as much too late for it. That night Herminia fingered herself to sleep as she had done as a young woman and couldn't understand how this young man could do such things to her. She also didn't see what he saw in her. She was almost twice his age and he already had a very beautiful and young wife. The only thing that kept her from going to the strange motorhome was the fact that Tom had said that he would see her in the morning and even gave a time. This was odd but she had to admit that she would have gone earlier if she were allowed to go. Alita lay in her bed a bit confused. She had memories of these strange feelings that had not come back when she rubbed herself. She was sure that her feelings had dramatically changed from what she wanted earlier this morning. She now didn't dream of an imaginary family with children and responsibilities. Now her dreams were concrete objectives with one particular man as her goal. She had known instinctively that the right man would one day come by and she would know him on sight. She had just met him. Two hundred and sixty kilometres away the family was flying low and slow trying to feel the same thing that Tom had felt earlier in the day. It was hoped that somewhere more mates could be found and their minds would be drawn to the others if they came close enough. Margaret said, "What do you think of Alita?" "She is dutiful, polite, pretty and intelligent. My present wife has these attributes to a very high degree." Tom hugged her and continued, "It's part of the makeup of the things that express the aura you have." "She wants to start a family as soon as possible Tom." "I know that. We had to let her instincts come out. Perhaps we will have to speed her puberty on a bit. Tommy got the same treatment and at least Alita won't have to wait so long." "I think so too but Tommy was in pain for years." "All boys are in pain for years until the right woman comes along." He got his own hug now. The next morning found the motorhome parked on an old farm road. Rain was pouring down and the road would normally be impassable. The seven individuals ate breakfast and talked of what they were going to do. Gaining two family members was important and all the time spent could easily be justified. The motorhome gained a crushed stone road that lead to a paved one. Moments later they were on the highway to Toledo. Right on time Herminia and her daughter Alita came running out of the house with umbrellas over their heads and right into the large vehicle. The two were hugged by their new family but they hurried to embrace Tom and Margaret that meant even more to them. Herminia kissed Tom passionately while Margaret and Alita did the same thing. The girl even felt comfortable doing this. In moments the partners had changed and the same thing happened again. Words were spoken of how they missed each other and Margaret drew all of them into the back bedroom which was now theirs. Clothes came off very quickly. This time Tom took his time with his newest wife and used his mouth, lips, tongue and fingers to bring Herminia off with explosive orgasms. Margaret and Alita cuddled while naked on the bed watching their husband and fellow wife for Alita was determined to have it seen in no other way. Margaret unashamedly stoked the young girl's skin but these were just caresses. Alita was getting those feelings again that she could not get last night. She moved closer to the young woman with the beautiful body and let her do what she could to make their time together as pleasurable as possible. Tom entered Herminia and she soon had four orgasms one right after the other. The last didn't stop even when Tom emptied himself into her. When she finally calmed down, Tom laid down beside her and called for Margaret to get on top of him. She smiled wickedly and moved quickly to comply. This was one of her favourite positions. Margaret had long ago learned the tricks from her daughters and used the muscles in her abdomen to stimulate her husband. She tightened the ones closest to her opening and used a rippling effect as if trying to milk Tom for his seed. Tom loved this position too and tried to ensure that he could outlast his wife. This did not always happen. In moments though he knew it would be close for Margaret was sending him all her feelings of impending orgasm. She pushed herself harder and harder to make a time just like this. His cock came out just a bit. This was enough for her to feel a new penetration every time. In moments the point of no return had been reached and she worked even faster. Tom had been holding her breasts and pinching her nipples then felt his own orgasm approaching. This was too much for Margaret and she bent over to hold Tom's arms as her pelvis went frantically up and down. At the moment of orgasm she screamed loudly and then just froze in position. Tom's hands went down to her hips and he forced her down onto his erection. The muscles in her vagina worked even harder to milk him and Tom gratefully succumbed to the added stimulation. His hips now pushed up as if to bury himself even deeper into her body. The tremors were just too much and she collapsed on Tom's chest. In a moment Tom saw Alita playing with her immature clit. She wanted so much to be part of the family and not the outsider she now felt to be. Tom moved Margaret to his side away from a now awake Herminia. He said when he was able to slide his member from his wife's opening and again lay on his back, "Come lay on me. I love you too and just as much as my other wives." Alita smiled widely hoping that he had decided to take her but he just held her to his chest and kissed the top of her head. They snuggled contentedly together. Beside him Alita saw her mother holding Tom's arm and smiling at her daughter. Herminia's hand came out and caressed her daughter's head and she said, "One day soon your turn will come. I trust our husband with everything and we both know that you are not quite ready yet." Alita turned her head after kissing Tom's chest and rested her head on where she had kissed. Tom knew how hard it was to be away from someone you loved as much as all three women loved their man. One day the women would come close to loving each other the same way. The motorhome had been parked at a new location for fifteen minutes and the ones in the back didn't even know that they had moved. The vehicle was not even in Toledo but in the nearby town of Aranjuez. Sandra, Megan and I got out and ran to the high rise apartment building as if we were afraid of the rain like everyone else. Alita had to go to school even if Herminia was currently on part of her vacation. Tommy had done all the driving. I opened the main front door of the apartment building by using my PK on the electric lock and took the elevator to the seventh floor. Salvador was up already getting ready for his day. He owned his own small business and was making an adequate living but not enough to be termed wealthy. His day to day routine was examined and soon a possible solution to our problem was seen. More information was extracted and we quickly moved to the elevator and soon the other side of town. The motorhome easily passed Aranjuez narrow streets and Tommy drove it close to the school Alita went to. Consti read Tom's thoughts and started the fabricator to make some clothes for her father-in-law's newest two wives. The two talked to Odava and Ichom who were having a great time in the most intractable portions of the Amazon basin. They had made friends with the local four legged residents. Samples of odd plants were analysed and additional samples taken for archival purposes. Odava said, "We are happy here. The nearest Humans are eight kilometres away and we can easily stay out of their way. Where we presently are, the Humans seldom come. It is much too difficult to hunt or carry out game. Tell us more about your father's two new wives." Tom and Consti explained what they saw with their eyes and what they saw with their mind. These two would take longer to progress but would do very well. They then spoke of how happy both Tom and Margaret were at finding these two people. Eventually Consti had to get up and went into the back room and saw the pile of bodies. All four were supremely happy. Consti touched Tom's shoulder and his eyes came immediately open. Consti said, "Up and at them tiger. Alita has school and they have to eat yet." "Thanks Consti." Tom held Alita's head and kissed her on the forehead. It was the only place he could reach. Her small breasts were on his chest now and she looked so much like a child but still like a wife to his mind. Her eyes came slowly open and she just reached out to hold her man to her. Tom gently slapped her bum and when she lazily looked at him she said, "I plan on staying here for the rest of my life." "Your sisters may have something to say about that. Now get up. I will wash you and then get you into some new clothes. You have to go to school." "Do I have to?" "For a while the answer is yes. Soon you will be learning much faster but away from your friends and school. It will be exciting and you will think how lucky you are." "I am lucky now... Tom." She was suddenly not sure, "Can I call you that?" "You are my wife even if we have done nothing that two married people do. You can call me husband, Tom or maybe handsome if you want." "Oh, you are handsome. Will you take me to my town so I can get to my school?" "We are already there. You girls were having so much fun that you didn't even know that the motorhome was moving." "What?" "We are parked outside your school now. Get up and I will show you." The girl slid down his body and paused to get a good look at something that would be very important to her one day. The interesting portion was sticky and flat like a deflated balloon and somehow not as interesting now. When she got off the bed she saw her mother and Margaret already awake and watching her. Tom athletically curled his abdominal muscles and slid down the bed. Once off he smiled at his other wives and took Alita's hand in his. He said to the two on the bed, "Wait and I will clean you too. It is part of my all inclusive service." Once in the bathroom Tom sat the girl on the toilet and waited for her to do what he knew she had to do. She was nervous here but somehow she came to the conclusion that everything was right. Nobody to her recollection had ever watched her do this. Perhaps her parents though when she was a baby but now was different. Tom took out the cleanser and removed all the debris from her body. With quiet and soothing words he got her to even bend over to clean her bum when she was done. She was not self-conscious now and even when she was asked to open her cheeks for better cleaning. The hand on her bum was not frightening but somehow reassuring. She knew that she was as safe as she needed to be but he could take her now if he wanted to. She had seen what he had done to her mother and Margaret. Still naked they stepped out of the bathroom and Tom had a full sized display screen appear on one wall. Alita saw her school and then some people looking her way. She suddenly got behind Tom's naked body with a small scream. She was very afraid of being seen naked by the people at her school. Tom picked the girl up like a baby and kissed her lips. "We can see them but they cannot see us." In a moment Alita felt this was right and hugged her man. Her hands did stay close to her small breasts and mons. Tom put her down at the table and started to put already prepared food out for her. "You eat Sweetie. I have to get your sisters." Tom cleaned Herminia the same way and the woman was curious but didn't ask anything yet. She liked the tingle and moved as she was urged. The device did nice things to her breasts and clit. She felt that she would be told about the device when the time came. She liked it even more when Tom teased open her two lower openings and cleaned her especially well. None of the men she had ever met was as solicitous as this one. The kiss on the bum and the nipples as a seal of approval had her wanting to go back to bed for some more lovemaking. "We have work to do first woman. Looking at your eyes makes it easy to see just what you are thinking." "You know just what to do to make me feel like pudding. What am I going to do with a young man like you?" "Just love me, Herminia." She wrapped her hands around the young looking man and kissed him tenderly and knew that this is just what she would do. Herminia was nervous about sitting nude in front of the 'window' but got over it. She was not as adaptive as her daughter. She trusted the people in this home but if they were wrong her reputation would be ruined beyond redemption. Tom went back and cleaned his last 'baby' and sat her down to eat even though she already had breakfast. Tommy and Consti were diplomatically nude too and this helped offset most of the embarrassment. There was room around the table for all. The two new women ate much more and the rest picked a bit more. When the time came Tom got up and took his women to the back to the bedroom and pulled out some silk panties and dressed each of his women as if he were their mother. Pats and small adjustments were very welcome. Alita had no breasts and needed no bra. Margaret had strong muscles and didn't need any either. One bra termed naughty by Herminia had her nipples poking out of the cups but also supporting her weight. Alita clothing was good but nothing too fancy for somebody going to school. There was no need to have raised eyebrows. Matching shoes were very comfortable but were still something similar to what a child would wear. Herminia was dressed similarly as was Margaret before Tom got dressed himself. When dressed and sitting down at the table Margaret said, "Alita, we know you want our husband to walk you to school. When that happens there will be a lot of questions asked and some may even be asked by your teachers. Tell everybody that we are rich relatives visiting from Germany. They can see that by our licence plates. You were given a ride to school and had breakfast here too. Your mother is staying with us because it is still her week off. You think Tom is cute but don't mention anything else. You and your mother's happiness depends on you being quiet until the time is right. If your father hears of something wrong he will not sign the papers that are needed. Do you understand?" The girl was very serious. She was like the other two women in many ways and this was reflected in their almost identical auras. "I will play this part very well. Will you pick me up for lunch or will I just eat here at school?" "It is better to talk with your friends. Herminia will be at her grandmother's because it is necessary to keep family together. Your great grandmother is worried and this will show that things have not changed too much." Kisses and hugs were given to even Tommy and Consti. Tommy presented Alita with a lunch done up in a very colourful cloth bag and a large very beautiful umbrella. When they got out of the motorhome the rain had diminished but the umbrella would be certainly needed for the walk to her home. She didn't want to go home to her father anymore but wanted to stay with what she considered her real family. Tom held the umbrella as the two walked toward the school. He said, "We will start things off so that will let you stay with us. Leif has found something out that may provide a quick solution. This may still mean that you will be staying with your father for a while longer." "Do I have to? I can tell him I want to stay with my mother for a while." "That won't work. Soon he will find out that your mother is not marrying and that may alter his plans. I want both of you safe and no reason for anybody to start getting interested in where you are or what you are doing. Your sister will be phoning you for when we can meet next. She may have to watch her words so just do as she wants." "I will be careful... husband." She blushed as she said this and lowered her head. They got close to the doors and everybody was inside except those running to the doors. Tom used one finger to pick up her face and gave her a small kiss and a smile. She smiled back as he left and ran from the motorhome. He could hear in his mind the questions being asked the pretty girl as she got inside the doors of the school. Sandra, Megan and I managed to find a taxi and went to a poorer section of Aranjuez. While Megan and I stayed out of sight, Sandra rang the bell of Maria Hernandez' door. A thin good looking woman of twenty seven opened the door. She was trying to feed her family and get them off to school before going to work. Maria Hernandez was Salvador Ruiz' secretary. She said, "May I help you?" "Hello, my name is Sandra. I know you're in a rush but I have some information that may help you and make four people very happy." Maria was perplexed but asked, "What is it?" "It is about your employer, Salvador Ruiz. May I come in for a minute? I won't be long." "Come in please but I have two young boys and the house is not as neat as I would like it to be." "That's fine. I have a brother and sister too." Two boys, six and eight left their breakfast to see who the visitor was so early in the day. Maria introduced the two boys and then hurried them to finish their meal. "Would you like some coffee Sandra? It's already made." "No thank you. I know you are busy and I have to hurry. I would rather talk where very sensitive ears will not hear." "Come here please." She walked into a far room and left the door open so she could see the kitchen doorway. One yell was enough to get the boys back to eating. "Now what is it?" "I have been talking to Salvador Ruiz' ex-wife. I know that he is lonely and feels that he is being left behind now that she is getting married soon. He has always looked at you as a possible replacement." The woman was shocked at this declaration. "Herminia wants Salvador to be happy and is encouraging him to talk to you. He loves your boys even though he has never told you that directly. Like all men he just needs a kick to get him moving. I came here to assist you if you wish. Salvador is not rich but he and you can support your family much easier if you are married to him." "He wants to marry me?" "He, being a man, will want to have the honey without having to pay for it. He will come around in a few months and we think he will ask you that important question. It is up to you to start this off. Just go slowly so he has a chance to respond. When he sees that you are interested he will reply in kind. You just have to do this when he is sorry for himself because his old wife will be happy again and he will not be." "What should I do?" Sandra brought out a piece of paper and showed her all the steps to a successful seduction. All of Salvador Ruiz' soft spots were listed and how they could be exploited. The first point just happened to be what to do today to get the ball rolling. Sandra left five minutes later after giving Maria her phone number. Maria was perplexed about the strange visitor but liked the goals she was after. Her boys needed a father and she would like to be in a family again with two parents looking out for her boys. Sandra walked down the sidewalk and knew that the woman would probably do what was necessary. She liked her boss and she had dreams of him being her husband and the boys' father. Now was the time to strike when the iron was hot. It would take a while but soon Salvador would see that Alita would not be the only child and she may even be in the way in a manner of speaking. The man was not callous but if Alita wanted to live with her mother then the way for a marriage would be that much clearer. ------- Chapter 21 Five minutes later the three were in a taxi to meet the motorhome still in front of Alita's school. They opened the door and got in. Tommy and Consti were studying while there was a lot of physical activity in the back of the motorhome. I sent out my mind the same way I used to do with the probes and found a telephone book. It was scanned and a listing of local barristers was amassed. This took less than ten seconds and then my mind checked for locations. Three were close by. Tommy liked to drive the motorhome. He was not legally able but he could fly to orbit and he thought this job was rightfully his. Once parked outside one set of offices, all five of us cast out minds into the various file cabinets to see how the particular type of forms were worded. In half an hour we had found eighty three different forms. They had a great many similarities but a great many differences too. We worked on a form that suited us the best and the fabricator produced the documents with the words already on it. We were happy to see that none required a magistrate but all had lawyers signatures affixed to them. This was mainly as a witness though and anybody else could substitute. When we finished this task the activity in the back had stopped too. All three had been too tired to continue but I knew that Tom would try if needed. We drove to a third section of town and found Herminia's apartment. It was a small affair but suitable for her needs. It even had a second bedroom that was now used as a catchall. This could be justified as being Alita's new bedroom to the girl's father. It was almost an hour before Herminia got up. Tom and Margaret had done so after a rest of only ten minutes. They had checked on our progress and were currently studying. Twenty some more years of study meant that if they wanted to do something they had to have the knowledge. At least now, with our improved minds the time taken would be much shorter than what the Seffra could accomplish. When Herminia was awakening, Tom went back and dressed his newest wife. This took ten minutes because Herminia had to show her appreciation and Tom simply had to stand there and let her please him with her mouth. Margaret soon had to go back and help. This was getting a lot like what it was like on my ship. The Seffra always loved sex and were at it constantly. Because it was tempered with so much love it was never a chore. Herminia saw us sitting at the table and from the screen knew where we were. We were invited up to her apartment which we accepted. She had a bit of mail and her answering machine had some calls on it. Two were from Emilio. He wanted to go out with her but again his mother was sick and needed him. It looked like the man would want his new wife to look after his mother as her primary job. He complained that he had important things to do but was unable to do them. Herminia told us of her talk with her grandmother and stated her objection to the upcoming marriage. The situation was explained with Herminia mentioning that she had been married before and now saw that the marriage would not work. She did get her grandmother to remain quiet until she either told Emilio or she changed her mind once more. The old woman allowed her to stay at the house for as long as it took and in this way Emilio was a bit further away and less likely to visit. Thursday and Friday were torture for Alita but she was granted some freedom to be with her mother on the weekend. Salvador had a date with Maria and wondered what was going to come of it. This way he may have a chance to stay over one night if the boys got to sleep early... Damita, the grandmother gave some excuses to Emilio that would keep the man away long enough for her granddaughter to change her decision back again. She did see that Herminia was the happiest she had ever been and knew that love had to be making her act this way. This also meant that it was not Emilio that was doing this. Friday afternoon Herminia joined us and immediately went into the back with Tom and Margaret. We picked up Alita at the school with her father's blessings. She too went in the back to see what was happening and this required her to dress for the occasion. We drove for an hour to get to Madrid. Here Tommy and Consti made new clothes for the newest members of our family and we went out to see the sights and enjoy some of the entertainment. Alita liked the excitement and especially the plays. Music was to be found everywhere and it made her heart soar once again to be part of this. Sandra, Megan and I flew the Mercedes back to the moon mainly because there was little room in the motorhome. There was still lots of work to do and we could get to Earth in a matter of minutes. Tom now had use of the back bed. Pat'uch, our newest computer had everything under control but we worked with the simpler computer Cordo to fabricate some of the finer detailed devices. It was also fun to be home again and we spent a great amount of time getting to know each other a bit better. When not in this pursuit we were studying. We could do the same thing on Earth but it was much more quiet here and we seemed to get much more done. Our perimeter of probes were well passed Vega and out to a range of forty five lights. There was even a habitable planet around one star and at one time had a civilization but it was now long gone. We didn't know yet whether the destruction came from within or without. Though it had happened over a hundred thousand years ago I felt apprehensive that it could still happen here. The same pickets were on the lookout for Seffra message torpedos so that we could get an update on what was happening but as yet we had found none. Our search of the Sol system found fragments of the large ship but nothing more of value. Other nearby systems were now being canvassed to find what they had collected since the ship apparently exploded. We had hoped to find some life pods but they either didn't get a chance to eject, felt that perhaps death was much better than capture or they were rescued. We did know that there was a serious battle and we had not found any apparent fragments of an enemy's shipping. The diamonds had all been sold. I had to go back to Earth to pick up another load of heavy elements and pay the price I stated I would pay for it. Our own reactor was now producing some of what we needed but the stockpile from Earth would be appreciated when the large engines were being constructed. The man selling the shipment knew what to expect and was very eager indeed for the completion of the agreement. Mr Iwasaki was not to sell these services anymore but got a slight improvement himself for his efforts. He now had two pregnant women that were wives in all but name. He would need the energy to keep up with both and the children they would bear him. George Mason had asked if we needed more in his email and I inquired into how much work he had done on my behalf. It turned out to be little and I told him that it was presently not needed. He had heard about the two perverts that were apprehended just outside the washroom in New York and had to attribute the matter to me. He never said anything directly but I knew that he trusted me more than his people or any others he had to deal with. He knew I paid, even if I could have stolen what he had gathered for me. Giuseppe Grossi was supposed to be still looking for me but George said that he was probably afraid of ever finding me again. My description had been sent through government files by paid informers and as yet they have not found me. This could get me into trouble though if a mob figure or an honest cop reported seeing me. I knew that not everybody knew just who they were working for. Odava and Ichom flew up to meet us and get us to assist in planting some of the new varieties of trees and plants they had found. We had not seen each other in months and it was always good to meet like this. Ichom was showing more than Sandra and Megan. That was the nature of their race and would have her child sooner too Sandra and Megan would have a short pregnancy for the children would meet us eighty two days sooner than Humans. The child would be developed enough at this time to begin feeding just like a Human child would do. This was even ten days sooner than what a Seffra child would take to be birthed. We planted the trees as Ichom wanted. This by some strange coincidence was the exact way Odava wanted them too. This was usually the same way with me and us poor males had to stick together. He did seem happier though and the thoughts of his future parenthood made him think a bit differently but then again I guess I did the same thing. The five of us flew some large structural members up to the ship vaguely forming over our heads. Small machines controlled by one of the computers would align and fuse the various portions. As yet three months showed very little differences though many small jobs had been carried out. The mass of the ship was so great that it was difficult to see some of the construction as other than minuscule. It was now Thursday in Spain and Tom was going to get Herminia to ask Alita's father to sign the papers. We didn't know how long it would take until the two friends said something and it eventually got back to Salvador or Emilio. As yet they had not said anything to anybody other than Herminia. We parted company with Odava and Ichom and flew to Spain. The two Gossna were going to stay a while and get some of the smaller plant forms established before returning to the Amazon. It was six in the afternoon when we arrived. We greeted the family and only Herminia was with us. Alita was at her father's home waiting for us with instructions to stay out of the way unless she was called on. I found that Tom and Margaret had gone a bit too far in my opinion. They had been giving Salvador images of him living happily with Maria and her two sons and then showing Maria and Alita constantly arguing. Salvador though was caught in the middle and this was hurting his family either one way or another. They had also tinkered with Alita's body and she was now having the first of her menstrual cramps. She had complained long and hard to her father to find some relief. He had a vague idea and called a relative that lived in the same building to see what she could do. The pads had been too big and too uncomfortable and he had to drive around and ask for products a mother should be getting. It wasn't right for a man to do this he thought. Herminia rang the door bell the next day and Salvador opened the door. "Come on in Herminia. Alita will be ready in a few minutes." "Thanks Sal. I have something to talk to you about that should be between just us for a moment." "What is it? Are you in trouble?" "No, I'm not Sal. Thanks for your concern but it is something else Let's sit and we can talk." Once in the kitchen and further away from Alita's room Herminia said, "I know we had our differences when we broke up but we have both grown quite a bit. You have had Alita since she was seven but now she is starting to be a young lady. She needs someone that will understand her better. A mother is the best, I think. What do you think of her living with me until she is old enough to choose her own path?" This was a shock to Salvador and he wondered how this coincidence had come about. He needed an out and one came by. He loved his daughter, but it was true that she was changing. Men were the strong gender and able to do almost anything but he still knew his limitations. The divorce had hurt even if he had been the one demanding it. Alita lived here but half of the weekends she went with her mother. The only thing that hurt was that he had fought for the right to raise his daughter and now he was just asked to give in. Salvador asked, "What about Emilio? He has to say he will raise our daughter." "That is a trouble Sal. I have been doing a lot of thinking about Emilio and I cannot see myself and him being happy for too long. I know it was a mistake to say yes and I want to go to him today and break our wedding off. I need someone much more stable, someone that has some of your abilities. Emilio is too wrapped up with is mother and she tells him exactly what to do." "What does Alita think of this?" "I have talked to her but I could not dangle a carrot in front of her without hurting her if you say no. She loves us both but now a mother is what she needs I think. I know that her first period will be coming soon and that means that you would have to deal with it. If she is like me then she will be hard to live with when that time of the month rolls around." Salvador said, "I have noticed that she is getting a bit crabby lately but I thought that was because of the thoughts of losing you." "That maybe so but it could be the other too. It has to happen soon she is going on thirteen and if she doesn't get a period she will have to go to the doctor to see why not." "That's true, she has to mature. I think we can do this. How much money will you want to help you raise her?" Herminia let a long held breath leave her. "I want to move. Grandma has some nice rooms in Toledo. There's a chance of a much better job and more money. There's a very good chance that you will have to pay nothing." Now it was Salvador's turn to breathe easier. "That means that she has to change schools and leave all of her friends." "Any new school will accept her. She is bright and will still pass her year. The friends are a telephone call away and she will make more friends in a larger city." "Well, if you want, I will give my consent Herminia." "Thank you Sal from both of us. There will be some problems with taxes, church, schools, insurance, hospitalisation and the courts. You will have to sign some papers to make this happen." Salvador could see the logic and said, "Bring the papers and I will sign them." "I hoped you would say that Sal. I had these papers drawn up. It shows that you do not have to provide support. We do need some witnesses though. Are your brother and his wife living down the hall still?" Salvador had not expected this so quickly but wasn't too upset. He read the simple papers and it listed his obligations. There were very few and each was spelled out explicitly. These only lasted until Alita reached the age of majority. Herminia was taking on all of the expenses and the great majority of the obligations. Visiting rights were similar to now and all he had to do was to call ahead and get a weekend off with Alita. Already the girl was wanting to be with her friends and his time with her would slowly decrease to nothing even if she stayed. He had the best years with her. "I'll call my brother and his wife. I better talk to Alita first though and see if this is what she wants." "Thanks Sal. You were always a good father." Alita was called and she came in very pensively. When the question was asked she screamed her joy and hugged her father very strongly and almost made him fall off his chair. "Well I guess that answers that question. I will get your uncle and aunt." It was ten minutes later that Salvador came back with two others and their grown son. Salvador was now upset because of the argument they just had. The relatives had seen it as a breaking up of the family. They talked to Herminia and demanded some legitimate answers then asked Alita if she wanted this arrangement. They did sign the papers though because it was what Salvador, Herminia and Alita wanted. Alita though had to stay until Friday so her clothing and other belongings could be shipped out. Herminia kissed Salvador and said, "Let's go out and celebrate. It's my treat and I'm inviting all of you." They grudgingly agreed and they went out to eat. This led to drinking and eventually Herminia had to help her former husband home with her daughter's help. Herminia slept on the bed with her daughter that night because it would otherwise be a ride home in the dark which she didn't like. It was also what had been suggested by her new family. Herminia had given her notice after working last Monday and found that the boss was angry enough to just terminate her that day. Emilio though would be saved for tomorrow. The next day Herminia was up early and had breakfast made like she had done many years ago. Alita was up early too. Herminia had to waken Salvador as she had to do many times before. He did get up and complained of a headache but did eat his meal. He now talked to Alita to find her aspirations that he had not been able to ask even a week ago. Herminia said, "I'm driving in Alita today and there's a lot of things I have to get from her school." "Do you need anything from me?" "Just your good wishes Sal We can go a long way on that. I can have the movers come over today and I will watch the apartment for you. We can have a nice meal here before we leave if you would like that?" "That sounds good." He turned to his daughter and through the headache said, "I miss you already Sweetheart. I know you'll just be a short drive away but already your parents are not as popular as your friends." "You are my father Daddy. You will always be my father and I love you." An hour after they all left Herminia opened the door to the apartment and all of us assisted her in moving her daughter's property. Old homework projects and more complicated ones were taken along with photos and even toys. The furniture was left because we had no use for it and it was in good condition. If Maria and her sons moved in then the furnishings would come in handy. Tom and Margaret took Herminia out to shop at the food market. She bought lots of the things Salvador should have had but didn't buy. He liked to make things fancy but preparing it simply was much easier and quicker. She did the laundry and other things that she had done before so that Sal would have a clean house. This was a sort of catharsis for her and we let her work. We also left her alone to allow her to do this in peace. Alita came home a bit earlier than usual and found her mother there and her room bare of personal effects. This brought some tears from each of the women. They had recovered by the time Salvador came home. He looked all through the house and saw it the way he liked it to be and not the way he left it this morning. He remembered all the fun times they had while married and what it was like with their only child. He saw the bedroom stripped of personal belongings and this just reminded him of the hole that would now be in his life. Maria though promised to more than fill it if and when he asked though. At seven o'clock they all kissed and hugged. Alita got into her mother's car after leaving the apartment for the last time. Ten minutes later Alita was in the motorhome and all of us were crying with the two new family members. In half an hour Herminia left to have her final talk with Emilio and her mother. Herminia came back an hour later in tears because of the way they had treated her, especially Emilio's mother. She did find solace in the back bedroom but most of it was simply holding and expressing grief at burnt bridges. I had another job to do with my wives. I could have done it alone but we worked as a unit now and enjoyed it that way. Sandra, Megan and I ran through the streets of Toledo at night after running from Aranjuez. It was a good run and the first real exercise we had in a long time. The three of us slipped into Damita's home. This situation warred with my ethics. Damita owned her own body but we wanted to keep her healthy for much longer. She may object to this if she were to know and we had to be our brother's keeper in this respect. The med unit went to work on the sleeping woman. It worked for more than the usual time. Damita had many problems and we not only wanted to not only make her life more comfortable but to allow her to live longer. Arthritis and a minor case of undiagnosed diabetes were only some of her problems. She was only slightly overweight at the hips and legs and her body would find more energy from stored fat. She would consume less food until she got to a predetermined weight. There were other people living in the home and the med unit worked on them too but only to speed healing and remove diseases. Some probes were left to keep track of this important family. We were back in enough time to get our rest and wake up with the rest of the family. Herminia felt very free now. Tom reminded her though that more had to be done. "Herminia, you now have to clean out your apartment of all your personal effects. Leave everything else to your relatives or to charity. You are now wealthy and do not need your old furniture, household articles and clothing. Your car is the same way. You have to pay the penalty on your lease and all other debts you have. Close your bank accounts and collect all your important papers including those of Alita. You and Alita are now part of our family, the way you were destined to be." She thought about what was necessary and found that she was being cut off from all that she knew. The prospect of a happier life with people she really loved made her accept the necessary changes. That day Tom and Margaret drove in the 'Mercedes' with Herminia and Alita to do what was necessary. Relatives came to her apartment and she gave them her possessions. Some were asked to deliver other articles to those that were not able to come. Tom and Margaret stayed with the pair and met the relatives until Damita got close and then they fled. The old woman was now able to get along much better and got a ride to see what was happening. She was given some new dresses that were much too small but Herminia had been told to say, "Grandmother, in three months they will fit. You will be needing them. You will be going out dancing and maybe finding a date to take you." Damita was angry at this but had to admit that she did feel much better. When the old woman finally left everything had been taken care of. Phone numbers were given so they could all keep in touch but the address was never given. It was late by the time everything was done. This time Herminia looked back at her home for the last time but was not as teary eyed as her daughter had been when leaving hers. The motorhome was parked and many people were still walking around. Tom said, "It's about time you learned a lot more about us." Herminia said, "I have been waiting for this talk for a long time." "Well first of all..." He went into his ancestry and that of Margaret to show that he was born a Human. "We have done our best to never lie to either of you but some things were kept hidden until you had a chance to know us better. Sandra, Megan and Tommy are our children." "What? They can't be. That's impossible." "Very possible if Margaret and I found what Juan Ponce de León had been looking for." "You have the Fountain of Youth? That's a myth." "I am two years older than you and Margaret is really your age of thirty seven. You wondered why a young man like me was chasing a mature woman like you. Well it's because you are not as old as you think." "But... but that is only a story." "You are right in a way. There is no fountain but we have found a way to make our bodies repair themselves as much as we need, even change our apparent age, hair colour and features. One of the nice things is that our intelligence has shot up." "I know you all are very intelligent, while..." "We want to give you this ability too. You will be young again. Your aches and pains will be banished along with blemishes and perhaps some hair that gets caught in my teeth." Herminia blushed considerably and finally peaked to see Tom smiling at her. He continued, "This is the first thing that we are offering you. What do you think?" "This... this... is fantastic. I didn't know..." "What do you think Alita? You may not need to get young but you will be very intelligent and able to learn a great deal. Your memory will be much better and easier to search when you want to remember something." "I always wanted to be a doctor. Could you help me do this?" "Sweetie, you will be a doctor that the world would look up to but that is only one of the things you will be. How about adding a researcher trying to find diseases and cures for them? You can find miracle drugs in your spare time that cures the entire race. You will also become an engineer and a scientist in every other branch of learning. This will take years but not that long considering how long you will live." "How long is that... husband?" "Basic training for us used to take twenty some years. We can get it down to eight now if we didn't have to work so hard. Your life expectancy will be measured in thousands of years. You may get bored of seeing our faces and those of our decedents but you will be a productive member of our society until you decide to end it. I do not know the maximum amount of years you have but it may just be limited by how much you want to stay alive and help your family." She had very wide eyes and said, "I could live forever?" "I think you can. It might get pretty boring after three or four thousand years. You would have seen everything many times but you get to learn a lot." Alita's eyes sparkled even more now. We all knew her vote. Tom looked at Herminia and she was smiling too. "So we have two people that want a sip from the Fountain of Youth but we have more to offer." Herminia said, "What could top that?" "With our increased intelligence and memory we have gained the ability to see auras. You would get this ability too. We can also read minds like the Indian Swami. We speak this way normally so that it is quicker and much more accurate. What do you think?" We all saw two open mouths and Tom reached out and with a finger under each jaw closed their mouths. "Can't have bugs fly in. Can we?" "You can talk with your mind?" Alita said. "We have learned how to receive but everybody can transmit just not too far. Talk to me Alita and we will have a conversation and I will let Herminia hear what we say. Later she will talk and you will hear." The talking was very excited for the two newcomers but we had to wait as if listening to a recording played very slow but then again that was the natural way Humans thought. We got out of the motorhome and walked through a park and talked silently to each other. We wanted Tom's new wives to feel safe and knowing that they were trusted to be with others. A meal at a restaurant proved interesting when the waiter's thoughts were broadcast. Herminia and Alita were quite shocked to find out what a cesspool most people's minds were. We had just come to accept it and of course deal with it. When we returned to the motorhome Tom said, "So how are we now with your choices? Do you want to join us in this new way?" Herminia asked, "How do you do this?" "This you will like. We make love. A block is put on your mind that keeps you from orgasming. When you get even more like an animal than usual, we do a bit of rearranging. A few instructions on how to rearrange your own house and the procedure is started. In a little over a week you are done the first step. Your IQ will roughly grow to the 1000 to 1200 range. The next step brings it up higher but there is no suitable Human terms to define it yet. There is one more secret though that you should know about first." "What's that?" "Let Leif tell you. It is easier if he just sends you the images he had as he grew up and then a sampling to what he did until now." "Ok." I said, "You better go to the bathroom now. It is like a miniseries and you may not want to leave until it's done." When the two got back I had them lay on the bed and then I began with what it was like on my ship when I was young. I touched on the Seffra society and how it worked. The two girls were not upset about this because it was seen as a very vivid movie. I went through my training and my friendships. The things that I had found and what I had done to reach Earth came much later. What I did to get the Claystones to join me and what we were doing on the far side of the moon were listed. The final thing I showed them was their place in our society. They would now be crew and this would almost be as close as what their present family was. They appeared to just wake up and it was now dark. Alita ran to me and said, "Captain, I want to join if I may." "You certainly may. You will have a lot of babies I am afraid but they will not be as big as what you are used to now. It'll still be uncomfortable. If you are lucky only some will look like their father. We can hope that they look like you instead." I got a hug and a kiss this time and it was the best way to show that she had now accepted us. She was talking to Margaret and Tom when Herminia got up from the bed. "Was all that real?" She asked me. "It was as accurate as my memory allows. Many points have been glossed over and many more not mentioned at all because of the time limitations. When your brain had been strengthened I will give you all of what I knew about the race I was born into." "Not now?" I knew what she meant and said, "My children will be like yours and Consti's. We will be of one race. We will be more Seffra but still a lot of Human. Consti and I have joined this new race and Humans are doing the same thing. We have been thinking of calling ourselves Sefmen to overcome any ambiguity. We will one day be a major force in galactic affaires because of our mental abilities and because of the innate sneakiness of Humans." We went outside in the dark to walk and to think. Herminia thought about what she was told and we stayed out of her mind. She sat down on a park bench and we wandered away to give her at least the illusion of privacy. Eventually we heard, "I am ready!" Coming loudly from her mind. Tom and Margaret came back first with Alita holding both of their hands. Herminia soon held Tom's free hand and we all walked back to the motorhome. Once inside, Tom asked, "Are you sure you want this? You will gain a great deal but also lose part of what made you a Human." She made herself use her mind alone. "I want this. I don't think Humans have that much to be proud of. Leif's people sound perfect. Perhaps ours will be even better. Now make love to me and do as the youngsters say and 'blow my mind'." When they took off their clothes so did we. There was a good chance we would all get carried away anyway. The computer on the boat lowered all the beds at my command. Tom started off by chastely kissing Herminia until she became impatient and kissed him forcefully back. There was no rush now and he took his time. Margaret sat in bed with Alita in her lap. Margaret read Alita's interest in her breasts and moved the child so she could see her mother and her legs go around Margaret's hips. Margaret gently pulled Alita to her chest and after a visual inspection the girl started to kiss then suck her newest sister. Herminia saw none of this for she was out of her mind and Tom had not even penetrated her yet. It was long minutes later that Tom finally got to her mons. His tongue parted her hair and worked its way inside but avoided the clit. Herminia was irrational and her hands came down to pull Tom's mouth into the proper position. His hands though were many times faster and held hers as he would a child's. When his tongue at last caressed the fiery red clit Herminia bucked but was unable to get exactly what she needed to break over that impossible barrier. When he started to suck on this same nub she was sure this would be enough but it fell short again. Even when he used his teeth to lightly graze the sensitive area it was not agonisingly enough. Alita had been fed a small amount of what her mother felt. She had moved forward and raised her knees to rub her own mons on Margaret's body. The woman took pity on her and her hand went down the girl's back and her fingers played with both of her lower openings. Alita released the nipple that was a comfort to her and now thrust vigorously toward Margaret. The rocking was getting very violent like her mother and Margaret cut back on the mental stimulation and only worked on the anus. Tom finally got to his feet but still held one of Herminia's hands in each of his. He moved forward and used his thighs to move the woman he was going to make love to into a better position. He climbed onto the bed and walked on his knees. Herminia's knees were at her shoulders already and her back bowed as much as possible to get herself into position. Tom moved his body and his penis grazed the opening many times and Herminia was ready to cry in despair. When she could take it no more Tom started to work himself into her but took the maximum amount of time to do so. When he reached as far as he could he started immediately to go faster. While monitoring her condition he was able to pick up speed and move in such a way as to give her the most stimulation possible. The block was strengthened and now Tom started to pick up speed. Herminia had stopped begging and then stopped babbling. Now drool ran from the corners of her mouth and her head went back and forth as if trying to find a way out of this agony. Her hands and arms had been used to hold or position Tom but now lay lifeless on the bed. All she could feel was the piece of man flesh moving inside her. Tom said, "Margaret, Alita, come suck on Herminia's breasts." Margaret stopped caressing Alita's bottom and pushed the child in the direction Tom wanted. Alita grabbed for Margaret as if for a life preserver but Margaret's kind but insistent words helped get her to understand. Alita was turned around and there was a breast in front of her. Margaret urged her head down and Alita began to suck on her mother with her bum high on the bed. Margaret gave one final caress with her finger and this sent a tingling sensation through the girl. Margaret got off the bed and ran around to get beside Herminia. She now held the drooling woman and started to suck on her much older looking breasts. When Tom knew that Herminia was feeling all three of her lovers he began to work in earnest to make Herminia orgasm. The woman's emotions rose dramatically and her body now started to respond more as if seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Her hands weekly held two heads to her as she felt the pounding into her opening. With the quickness of lightning her orgasm burst upon her. It was so intense that even what she had felt this morning was nothing to the sensations running through her now. The animal in her had to creep back into its den for there was no way to deal with the raw emotions flowing through her loins and body. Within a fraction of a second even the animal was frightened of what it felt and the mind fled consciousness. Tom had his own orgasm now and we assisted him into preparing his newest wife for her new life. Once he started we assisted in putting the various pieces into position. Margaret and Alita were in no position to assist for they were just balls of plaint flesh and had to be picked up and put in a comfortable position. One was on the bed beside her comatose mother while the other was on the floor. The process was much faster with so many present. Our own improved minds made it even easier. Soon the instructions were given to Herminia on how to help us and suggestions on what to do in certain situations. Margaret finally recovered and started to help She had been linked to the two others a bit too much and had reacted the same level as they had. When the task was completed as much as possible Tom got Margaret into bed with her sister and then put Alita beside her. Tom got in beside the child to somehow make up for what he could not now give. Before he closed his eyes he said to us, "Thanks, Herminia was done as seamlessly as possible. You took very good care of her. She will be strong and it is a credit to all of you for doing so well." Sandra threw a sheet over the group but it was more for modesty than anything else. We stayed in Madrid and the surrounding area for two more days looking for more recruits. Phone calls came to us all the time. Mary still phoned to talk to Tommy and Consti and in a way she was their first child. Emilio was given Herminia's new number by someone and he phoned to apologise and see if he could get Herminia back. She was polite too but said that there was little hope of that now. She explained how his mother had really hurt her when she came that night. Damita called too and her voice was much different. She was going to hold a room for Herminia and Alita if they ever needed it and Herminia thanked her greatly. Damita was asked to tell Salvador that they were on a vacation now and would return later. There was always a chance of finding a better paying job in the richer areas of Europe. In the next five months Tom found two more wives and his son four more. Our excursion had taken us through France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and the length of Italy. Both males looked at it as a challenge and an obligation and not at all how a male Human would see it. We saw it as a possible mistake in talking to Mary for Tommy may be at full capacity by the time she came of age. Sandra and Megan were looking hard for me too but as yet didn't find anyone that was close enough. We were only going to stay until the end of September then go home. My two wives and I were the only ones left for the rest were undergoing training on the moon. With a week left we found a sixth wife by the name of Nadezda for Tommy. She was an older woman that worked as a waitress in Brno, a fair sized city in the Czech Republic. We had been driving by a diner when Megan felt a tug for some reason. We pulled over but it was quite a way down the street. As luck would have it we were stopped as soon as we alighted and asked for papers. We produced ours and the policeman scanned them but he really liked the looks of my wives and of our motorhome. Megan ran off to where she felt the attraction while we gave a tour. The man loved the machine but there was no way he could afford to make anything even close with his wages. We walked up the street and found Megan being propositioned by two young men. She just smiled and talked but was not leading them on. When Sandra and I sat in the booth with her the young men became more interested. One liked me as much as the two women. It took a moment for them to get encouraged to leave. A woman thirty five with light brown hair and a very nervous disposition greeted us and asked for our order. We ordered a light meal and scanned her at the same time. This one fit Tommy's personality very well. She just had the misfortune to be already married to a very abusive husband and had no mechanism for getting out of it short of suicide. Evzen, the husband was mentally unbalanced and aggravated the condition with drugs and alcohol. She was an orphan and had very little family in the area. Some cousins happened to live in Slovakia but they were not close emotionally or physically. Nadezda fell into the situation where we would take her if she agreed to come with us. We had worked out who could be asked and who would never. A happily married woman would never be encouraged to break up her marriage to form a better one with us. Children too would never be encouraged to run away and leave family worried about them. The age of the child and the mental disposition of the parents was also considered here. I was empathetic enough to feel what the parents would go through if this happened. There were social programs in place to assist Nadezda but none were comprehensive enough to do what was needed. By the time she convinced them that she needed help desperately, she may well be dead or maimed. Sandra and Megan were very angry now and were ready to do violence on the man. Instead they called their brother and he took a boat to Earth. It invisibly turned back to return alone. A moment later he came into the diner and sat with us. Nadezda felt him from the back of the building and immediately came over. She knew he was a customer but something else kept her before us while she just watched the boy of twelve before her. Nadezda just stared down at the boy while holding some menus and trying to find out what to do next. Tommy said, "My name is Tommy. Give me a menu then when you get a moment come here and sit with us. We have lots to talk about." "Ah... ok," and handed him a menu. We questioned Tommy and I saw that he was just as angry as his sisters at the situation. He was also ready to take Nadezda into his family. He did some communication with his wives and saw that they too wanted to help Nadezda and have her become a member of their group. Three minutes later the girls shifted around and Nadezda was able to sit beside Tommy. Before she could say anything Tommy said, "We are here to help you. I know you are in an abusive relationship and it will stop now if you want. I am fairly wealthy and you will work in the family manufacturing business. Currently I'm in a polygamous relationship. You will be one of my wives and have my children. Do you want to come and live with us? I am being very quick and giving you almost no time to think but you will not be beaten again and I know your life will be much better." "You... you are so young. Why do you want an old woman like me?" "Age has no bearing on it. You have an aura around you that complements mine. You can feel it now even if you cannot see it. We belong together. If I left now you would regret it for the remainder of your life." "But..." Tommy could tell that she was almost at the point of accepting his offer. "My family is very strong. We have resources that you would not believe. Nobody trifles with us. You will have no more worries except about what to dress our children in." Nadezda put her face in her hands and cried. The rest of the patrons looked at her. Tommy took her hand and said, "I know that you have had problems getting pregnant before but that will be fixed very quickly. I know a great deal about you and want you anyway. Will you join our family?" Her other hand came down slowly and she looked at Tommy again and at the rest of us. "You will still take me?" "Yes we will. Will you join us?" "Oh, yes I will join but it is dangerous. Evzen is crazy." "I know he is and so is his family. It has to do with a genetic defect. A relative many generations back should not have donated to the gene pool. Now here is what you will do. Your shift ends in three hours. Phone one of the other waitresses and ask if she will take over for you. You will give her a hundred American dollars to do this. When she comes you will quit your job and we will get your personal belongings and leave. You will never come back to this city unless it is to visit." Tommy handed her five American bills and said, "Make the call now Nadezda." She looked at the money in her hand then at us and quickly made up her mind and left. A few moments later she was back with our food and a bright smile on her face. "Someone will be here in ten minutes, Tom." "Not a minute too soon. Gather any property you have here and give your notice after the girl arrives." She left and came back a moment later with her purse and a sweater. Megan took them for her. Nadezda said with a smile, "I can't believe I am doing this. I am running away with a very young man and throwing everything away to be with him." Sandra said in fluent Czech, "You are making a very good choice. My brother is very good but I think our husband here is better. We are a bit bias though but it is understandable I think." Nadezda was very surprised. "You are both married to this young man?" Megan answered, "Yes we are. He is getting to be a bit too much for us. He is very romantic and very good in bed." "Must you talk about me this way in a public place? Tell her later when it will not be broadcast to the entire planet." Sandra said, "We don't want to hide your light under a basket or the sheet for that matter." "I will have to show you how much light I really have." A girl in a waitress uniform came rushing in and saw Nadezda. Immediately she ran to her. Nadezda smiled and handed her the money folded up so as not to be conspicuous. "Thanks, I'm quitting now and won't be back. There will be more hours for you. Say bye for me to the rest." The woman said, "Where are you going?" "I don't know and I don't care. I am leaving this city and especially Evzen. He will kill me some day and this is the only chance I have to escape." With a kiss to her friend she went to the owner and gave her resignation. She explained some of what she was living through and the man had already guessed as much. He said, "You have to take your chances when they come Nadezda. Hold on with both hands if you have to and never give up." He took her to the cash and handed her approximately what he owed her in wages and wished her good luck. On the street she saw the motorhome and the 'Mercedes'. She felt very fortunate to join a family that was this rich. She was a bit surprised that Tommy drove right to her home and parked across the street. She knew from what the girls had been saying that she had been watched. When we were ready to get her things she said, "I am afraid. You have no idea how angry he gets. He will kill me." Tommy said, "I am more than capable of protecting my family. Now tell us what you want to keep. Clothes are easily replaced. Just the things that will help you remember the good things in your life." She went through what she wanted to keep while the rest of us read her mind and reminded her of things she had forgotten. When the list was made I said, "Nadezda, you have to go with us. You will allow us into your home and assist us. There is absolutely no danger that your ex-husband will stop or even hinder you. You have my word and the word of my family on this." "But... he is vicious." Tom left the motorhome and went to the back of the 'van'. With Nadezda watching and some facial changes he picked it up with both hands. When he returned he said, "I am strong enough to protect you. Let's go. You will never have to go back again." Some of Nadezda' doubts had left. She reluctantly came with us and we climbed three sets of stairs until we got to the door. The key was put in quietly and the door opened slowly. We could see why in a moment. Evzen was asleep in a chair and the television was playing even though it was the middle of the day. We remained quiet because of Nadezda but the girls were spoiling for a fight. We collected the photo album and many things that Nadezda had been given over the years by her parents. All of this went into two large suitcases and she looked around for her cosmetics. Tommy just looked at her and shook his head. The phone rang in the other room and we debated to leave quickly. Evzen eventually got up and we found from his mind that somebody was actually warning him of his wife's departure. A customer at the diner had told somebody else and soon it got to one of his friends. Tommy just walked out of the bedroom to confront the man. He was tall and very wide. Not all of it was fat though. He wore a tee shirt and scars were readily seen on his exposed skin. He seemed to be no stranger to fights. "What are you doing here?" The telephone was still in his hand. "We have come to take Nadezda away. She doesn't belong with a man that is borderline insane and most of the time far over that border." Sandra pushed Nadezda out and each of us had a suitcase except the woman herself. An angry Sandra said, "He's right. You are crazy. You and your family should have been sterilized long ago. No civilised group of beings should have to put up with what your former wife had to do." "What!" He roared. "She's my wife and she's not going anywhere." I opened the door and ushered the girls out. Megan at least pulled her sister and Nadezda out the door with me. Before I left I said, "Do you want me to stay Tommy?" "No, I think Evzen will want to talk to me and I want to hear what he has to say. Just go to our vehicle. I think it may be best to start driving." "Don't hurt him too much." "I will try to keep him alive. That's all I am promising." People were now in the hallway trying to find out what was happening and I didn't bother to close the door. Nadezda had a chance to tell a few that she was leaving for good. One old woman said that it was about time. ------- Chapter 22 We started down the steps and we heard the fight start already. Nadezda was very worried and Sandra said, "It's Evzen that's being hurt now. Your new husband can take care of himself." Tommy stood his ground and Evzen came at him repeatedly. Tommy just struck him and moved aside and let the bull of a man continue on. The open doorway allowed the spectators to see what was happening. Evzen now wanted to beat Tommy to death and then go after his wife and do the same thing. Every time Evzen attacked he found himself hurt instead and could never land a finger on his young adversary. Chairs were used to extend his reach but this didn't help. Lamps were thrown along with heavy ashtrays but nothing seemed to connect. Evzen's face though showed that he was in a good fight for it was bloody. Tommy didn't hurt Evzen too much with each blow. It was better this way with the man getting a much longer beating that would hurt him much more in the long run. Evzen came crashing in again and Tommy just threw the much heavier man off balance and let him fall to the floor or better yet into the wall. We got Nadezda into the motorhome and started to move. Nadezda looked back at the building and was afraid of what was happening. Sandra said, "Evzen is now very bloody. Tommy is playing with him. He wants this beating to be remembered for a long time to come." "But he's so young." "Tommy had not even been hit yet. There is as much chance of him even being touched as there is of a butterfly trying to knock over a man. Relax, my brother will be out when he has meted out what he thinks is right. We stopped three blocks away and told Tommy where we were. He said, "I will be along in fifteen minutes. I have a lot of anger to get rid of." We saw with our minds three men come racing to the building and then race upstairs. In a moment another car came with two more. Tommy was warned but he was not worried. Evzen was hardly able to stand. The spectators had never seen him beat this way and by a boy no less. The same spectators gave way as men came charging up the steps and into the hallway. They immediately ran to the apartment of their friend. They saw the boy drive his fist up into Evzen's face then hit is abdomen hard enough to have him spew the beer he had drank recently. Tommy turned to face the men. He knew they carried weapons that ranged from knives to guns. Some of these same people were working for organized crime figures and this was hurting their image. "You fight me then you better expect to lose. If you use a knife, you will regret it." They only saw a boy and came wading in. Tom hit harder now but kept the blows believable. They fell down but before they got up more arrived and they were given the same verbal then physical greeting. Only one man left the room that entered. Tommy did some house cleaning and stacked the men against the wall. Those that still wanted to fight found themselves making depressions in the walls. Soon more men came and they started to use the knives Tommy warned them about. Those men found their own knives driven through their palms and into a solid stud in the wall. The pain was great but not enough to cause unconsciousness. The knives were driven into the wall so hard that it would be nearly impossible for the men to remove their own weapons. The fighting stopped abruptly when one man took out a small pistol and proceeded to shoot round after round at Tommy. The boy stood calmly until the gun was empty and walked to the man. He squeezed the gun hand and crushed all the fingers. His hand would be of no use to him in the years to come. One more man didn't learn from this and a much larger gun came out. His hand too was crushed around the gun. In moments there was nobody left standing. Evzen came around to see the wreck of his apartment and took a knife of his own out. "You are going to die now." When he got close Tommy just took the knife hand and broke the arm casually as the man looked. "That was for Nadezda's arm that you broke." Tommy moved the good arm over Evzen's head and found a stud with his mind. The knife was plunged with precision into the other hand and pining it in place. "That is for coming at me with a knife and for thinking of trying to hurt someone." When Evzen came to from the pain he was able to hear Tommy say, "Now I will keep your seed from spreading. I don't want the next generation to be plagued with animals like you." He paused long enough for Evzen to think of what this might mean. "Nooooo!" was screamed. Tommy casually reached down and crushed the man's testicles in his hand. The cry was heard by everyone in the building. The noise of police cars made all the spectators leave for their apartments. Tommy went invisible and quickly left the apartment. Police in swat gear were already coming up the stairs. Tommy climbed on the railing and held the rungs of the steps above. Soon the police had gone by and he made it down a few more flights until he had to do it again. He made it out the front door as a police officer was holding the door open for a superior. A ring was set up on the street and around the building. The police had come many times before but this was the first time like this. Usually the wife went to the hospital and the husband had a day in jail then everything went back to usual. Justice this time had been satisfied. It was easy to get through the cordon and to an alley close to the van. There he became visible and casually walked to the motorhome. Nadezda opened the door and fled to him. She pulled him to her as if he were a child. She was sure he had been killed for she had heard gunshots. She had also seen known cars race to her building with the single purpose of killing the young man that had saved her. "You are alive. How can this happen? There was shooting and those men are killers." Tommy just held the face of his newest wife and brought her face to his. After the kiss he said, "You will find out in a very short time. It was really not much of a task and there was no danger to me. I didn't even kill anybody but I am sure the hospital will be full. I cannot even imagine what the police report of the incident will mention. They will be looking for you as a witness but your neighbours saw you leave before any violence occurred." "What happens now? I have no home and no family." "Nadezda, you are mine now. You have a good place in my family and a great deal to learn. It's me that will have to suffer a bit." "Why is that?" "I said you would be one of my wives and this just means that my duties as a husband are going to get even more strenuous. Let's go meet your new sisters." We drove for a few kilometres and parked in an industrial section. Tommy separated the van from the motorhome. Sandra, Megan and I stayed for we had a search to continue and Tommy had a new wife to educate. Tommy made the van invisible but did this after he and Nadezda were inside. To them it had not changed. "Nadezda we are going to fly home. On the way I will tell you about my family and the much larger family you have yet to meet. They already know much about you and are anxiously awaiting your arrival." "Where are they?" "We have a few homes but the current one is on the moon. It's in a large dome with a just a few people." Nadezda laughed and said, "You joke at a time like this? Nobody lives on the moon." "That's where you are wrong. My parents are there and you already met my two sisters and their husband. The majority of us are Human but Leif is not quite. He can easily pass for one but there are some minor differences." "Like what?" She giggled at the continuing joke. "He normally didn't have eyebrows, coarse body hair and earlobes. His internal organs are similar but just work better. Now I want to leave. Watch the buildings. You will not feel any odd forces on your body." The speed was just fifty kilometres per hour but the buildings seemed to be sinking into the Earth. Nadezda's face went close to the window and looked down for the planet's surface was moving slowly away. Frantically she said, "What's happening?" "We are flying home. Would you like to give it a try? I can move over with no danger to us. We are in no hurry." A large screen materialised and a young beautiful face appeared before the startled woman. "Hello Nadezda. I'm Consti and our husband takes much too much for granted. I am one of your sisters now. There's nothing to be afraid of and you will look back on this time as the start of your new life. We're currently enlarging our home once again and putting in a much larger nursery. Our husband has got all of us pregnant. We'll get our vengeance when he has to take care of the children." Consti introduced Amelia to Nadezda and a new conversation was taking place. Tommy's second wife mentioned what she felt like when she was recruited and how she felt after meeting the rest. She said, "He's great in bed. Wait until he starts working on you. I have had lots of men but none were even close to what Tommy is like. Let me introduce Michelle to you. She was much like you but let her talk." Michelle said, "Tommy found me in France. I was working in an office. I am much older than you but as you can see we can fix our bodies to be young again not just look it." The talk went on until Tommy's fourth wife wanted to have her say. "Hi, I am Breanne I came recently too and from Belgium. I was an insurance adjuster when that brute beside you stuck his aura in my face. He made me follow him." Her eyes went over to Tom and mellowed a bit. "It was the smartest thing I had ever done. In a few weeks I could top any scientist on Earth and I am still learning. After the second improvement he put a bun in the oven I think she's a girl but it is too early to tell." The fifth wife said, "Hello Nadezda. My name is Constance. I just came here three weeks ago and we thought Tommy was going to slow down a bit. Leif and his wives found you and Tommy just had to have you too. We can use the help. He's a horny lad and we get a little sore from all the activity. I wouldn't trade it for the world though but it is nice to talk to other girls. He's not too pushy except when he is between our legs then he is something else. You let him get there and you will never even consider another man. We heard that you may have problems getting pregnant. We have the best medical care here and I guarantee that in three weeks you will be pregnant too." Tommy said with a gruff voice, "Will you girls leave Nadezda alone for a while? She's confused enough. We will be there in a few minutes. I'll meet you at the house. You can take her around and show her the sights. Make sure you introduce her to the neighbours but leave Odava and Ichom for last." "Yes husband," came in unison from five different voices then the connection was cancelled. "You have five wives?" "With you I have six. One young girl has to wait until she grows up a bit but she will be a wife too one day. She phones us every week and we talk to her. She knows only a small amount about us but knows that I have five wives. This weekend she will find out about you." Tom pointed off to the right and said, "Look over there." "We're at the moon!" "That is where I told you I was taking you. In a while it will be like home. Now look up when I aim the boat in the right direction. You will see our next home if we are lucky." The bow of the boat elevated and far away light could be seen reflected off a far away structure. When the boat got close the true size could now be discerned. Four figures were working at the base of one of the smaller ribs but their size showed how gigantic the rib really was. "That's my dad and my mother. Two of their wives are with them. At present we are building a ship to explore the galaxy and maybe the next too one day. Some of our children may be lucky enough to be born on her. Now let's get back. I have to tell you about the Gossna. They are very timid so you have to move slowly and not move your arms excitedly. They are our best friends and part of our extended family." Sandra, Megan and I left Brno within minutes. Our motorhome had changed colour and the licence plates. The paperwork changed too. I was quite sure they would start an intensive search for us. The neighbours had seen all of us and we would be sought too. We flew directly to Prague to stay well ahead of any search. The 'Mercedes' would return to us when we were in a good position. We searched the rest of the day and then the entirety of the next too. We joked that we were on the trail of another of Tommy's wives and he better be ready to come down and get her. We of course were still sad that we had not found any new members of my own family. The way my personality worked meant that I would have to find very determined individuals and this was not the way most people were composed. I was still in awe that I had been able to find two and in such a short time. It felt as if it was destiny that was taking a hand in making us meet. With the stir we made in Czech Republic I thought it wise to now go to Slovakia. Until recently it was attached to the Czech republic to form one country. We landed in Bratislava which happened to be the capital. By early morning we had split up and were watching the areas frequented by many people. The airport and the train station were always good. Megan took the business district and tried to assess the many female executives and secretaries. The frequency of the trains and buses slowed down when the morning rush was over. I had the airport this time and the girls had a chance to tour the town on our quest. As usual I was propositioned a few times as travellers thought I was working the terminal for business purposes. My responses were always in line with how the question was originally asked. It just so happened that I met many people that I had seen at other airports. I seemed to be just as memorable as my wives in this respect. The only good part about being here was that I could peer through Megan or Sandra's eyes on occasion or have a conversation with them. Everybody else was hard at work while we appeared to be on a foolish vacation that brought our particular family nothing but fruitless work and a bit of sightseeing. The crowds thinned out around seven and the wives wanted to eat. They had the ability to visit good restaurants while I had to eat what was served at the airport. The shoe was on the other foot though once in a while. Rather than buck traffic I took a taxi to a common destination. Five minutes into the trip I heard from Pat'uch. The current AI handling the large precision fabricator and the main computer for our base. "Captain, one of the criteria you wanted to monitor for has become active. A group of men have slipped through security and taken over a nuclear reactor at Rostov on the Sea of Azov. The Russian military are racing to the scene. There is a very high probability that the attackers will be able to destroy the reactor and cause another incident like Chernobyl." "Give me the data from your probes." I was fed data from orbit and some even inside the plants themselves. I used my own mind now that I had a location to work with. This was the most important thing I had put this ability to since acquiring it. I had to concentrate very hard but I could see twenty seven men herding men and some women into two large rooms. Some slow captives were shot as a warning to the rest. The language told me that they were Chechens and not likely to listen to any sort of reason. I checked the two reactors. They were an old type that were similar to the Chernobyl reactor with graphite and water. It had many new safety devices but it was still susceptible to sabotage. More importantly, it could spew the same mass of radioactive material into the air as Chernobyl did because it had no real containment building. A truck outside one of the two reactor buildings was being unloaded. The wooden boxes carried plastic explosives and a great many detonators. The men here worked frantically as if pressed for time. This was a major undertaking for thirty six more invaders were inside the wire perimeter of the installation and more yet were outside. In the distance I could see the Russian military coming but as yet it was only two trucks. Fifteen kilometres behind came another group of three more trucks and two command cars. From the hills close to the road men raised RPGs and fired them at the trucks. It was much too far to do anything and the two trucks blew up A few rifle shots later and there were no survivors. Individual cars were now targeted, probably to block the road to any relief that was sure to come. It was easy to see that there would be no negotiations. The Russians would not give in to this or all their old subjects would rise up and do the same thing. My only hope was that they would play for time and get some countries involved and use them to pressure Russia. The end result would still be the destruction of both reactors and a contamination that would spread far beyond what had happened before. The taxi was redirected now. The driver was shown a hundred dollars and told to hurry. I sent the data to the rest of the family and gave them a minute to digest what they saw. To Sandra and Megan I said, "Back to the boat. We are going to Russia. Fabricate some class seventeen weapons and prepare thirty six of the construction probes." I got back simple, "Yes Captain." Odava and Ichom were alone at the skeleton of our newest ship. "Odava, prepare a decontamination unit and get the disintegrator set for very low power settings. We may need to use it in a meltdown situation." "Yes Captain." The rest of the family requested that they be employed and already we had enough for this task. Everything now appeared to slow down like it had when my mind and body has sped up. This was fought so as to not waste the effort too soon. The effort paid off but I was still conscious of every second as if it were an hour. We met in a manufacturing district north of town. I made sure to pay the driver what I owed. Megan had already put the van onto the trailer behind the motorhome and stood waiting for me. We both got the latest data on the situation. Both wives could easily use their minds to ascertain the situation without the probes. We left the area as soon as we could. This time Sandra had found a road with closed businesses on each side. This was better than our usual method of leaving the sight of others. In less than a minute we left the district and were climbing rapidly. It took only minutes but we had gained two time zones. Here night was much further along. Now would be the time that the Russians would try to infiltrate but the Chechens had much the same type of night vision equipment. Black-marketeering was rampant in the old Soviet Union. The war in Chechnya though could have been a source of this sort of equipment. Odava and his wife Ichom were there ahead of us. They had descended to only a thousand metres. Odava said, "All is in readiness Captain. A Chechen team is already planting the explosives in the first reactor. They are relying on timers and hardwiring the explosives. There is too much concrete, steel and interference to do much from here." "Thanks Odava. Is this situation beyond your capabilities?" There was a pause for him to think. He said, "We will do our duty. We see that there is no danger to us or to the ship." "That is very good to hear. Sandra, Megan and I will be going in to see what we can do to help. You may be called on to use the disintegrator in close quarters with us on the scene. There are a lot of hostages to be considered but if the situation gets out of hand you may take their lives if necessary. The alternative is to have a million more at risk." "I understand Captain. We will work with your family and do what is necessary." Sandra and Megan brought out a weapon suitable for opposing a simple barbaric race. A short range stun gun was our only offensive weapon that we should need. Narcotic gases were considered but air currents were variable in each of the large rooms making their use even more dangerous. Someone falling unconscious would alert the guards and allow them to start a full scale slaughter if they chose. Our main concern was the reactor itself. If necessary the staff may have to be sacrificed but a good effort to avoid this was in our plans. Our only other device was a copy of what North America used for disposable handcuffs. Ours could be many times better but their use would alert humanity to our presence. We used copies of the simpler Human variety. The three of us landed between the two reactors. Sandra and Megan took the reactor that had been started sooner and I took the one with less time to plant charges. I found problems immediately. The Chechens had gained entrance to the security section and were now using the existing facilities to screen people entering. I was just in time to enter a side door that had been used to receive its share of the truck's cargo of explosives that I had seen earlier. The stun went into immediate use and four men fell to the floor. I worked quickly and put the tie wrap cuffs onto them. One longer unit went around their head and across their open mouths. They would be able to breathe but not yell or even talk intelligibly. Their feet were tied together and their hands behind their backs. The next door was locked and two men came rushing in to take more explosives deeper into the facility. They joined their compatriots on the floor as I kept the door open with a Kalashnikov. My mind searched the hallways and found men running all over the place. Some were dressed as technicians but carried concealed weapons. Twelve more men were setting the charges while three were strictly for security. The best path was plotted when I finished locating all the opposition. I began to run through the facility. It took very little time to tie them up. The stun would keep them out for hours. My intention was to keep them alive to be questioned. Russian troops would come in with guns blazing and kill everyone in their path. I doubt if they would even spare the local workforce if there were any doubt as to who they were. One holding a good radio was stunned but only after I read enough of his mind to get the security protocols. One more security guard was stunned and I hid him in a locked room off the main hall. A room contained three tired men waiting for more explosives was found. I burst into the room instead. They had no idea why the door flew open for they could not see me at all. One got his gun out but it fell like him to the floor. The reactor itself had a great many security features and I bypassed them with my PK. Inside I found six men setting elaborately placed charges so the reactor could not be shut down after the rods were pulled and the water removed. All other types of reactors used the water to cool but to also help assist the process. This type reactor actually increased in activity if the water were removed. They wore white suits with faceplates. This restricted their visibility to a great degree. The last two saw their friends fall and one decided to set off his explosives manually. This one was my first goal and I had to move very fast in this situation. As soon as possible I slowed down for I did not want to be unconscious for hours again, especially when I was needed the most. This one dropped four metres short of his closest charge. The last tried to flee and warn security that something was happening in this large room. The man stumbled on the grating and almost fell through the chains barrier guarding the pool of water. My PK extended and I used just enough that he fell onto the metal that he was running on. A second later he was stunned. Outside the reactor room I found the last guard frantically calling on the radio. I answered it immediately and explained that I had to go into the reactor for a minute with the other guard. I was cursed at in a very colourful way. I had to give my apologies then take the abuse again as the other guard This last man was hunted down along with two tired runners and sedated. The girls were doing much the same as I was doing but there were two of them. The number of their opposition was a little larger though. Instead of assisting I ran into the reactor again and dragged all the saboteurs out and then pulled the number eight military caps out of the plastique that had been planted. If the caps now went off they would not set off the explosives. This way the military could clean up the mess. Five minutes later all of the men were bound. This might be the only thing that saved their lives. This would only be in the short term for the Russians were sure to execute them. The girls originally had trouble gaining entrance to the first reactor but were now working hard to catch up to me. With everything secure I left through the front entrance and more or less locked the doors behind me. I bypassed the girls' objective and went to the main offices and the secondary controls for both reactors. There were Chechens manning machine guns on the roof the same as the two reactors but I had left these alone. If they had no reason to shoot then they would not give a warning. The front door was monitored by two guards and locked as well. I was able to get close to the building and use my PK to render the lock useless. The small noise though had alerted two nearby guards. I was not worried about the girls for they had taken out all those with radios already. When the door opened though shots were fired by one of the nervous guards. This brought calls from those within. I just waited for them to put the event down to natural causes before I continued. When the radio calls went out that nobody was attacking I began to do just that. The two at the door and six further back fell without firing an additional shot. As before I found men running all over the place. My mind and body were psyched up one more time and I began to run through the multi floored building. One room had two men raping two of the women while a third man stood guard. The door had been locked but I hit it hard enough to shatter it. The men never knew what hit them. The women were in shock and the best I could do for them was to stun them too but with a lesser charge. They would run through the building otherwise and either get shot by the Chechens or by the relieving force of Russians. The two main holding rooms were hit one at a time but I had to move very fast before anybody was hurt. In all the cases I stunned the captives too but they would recover in less time. With the lower floor finally clear I headed for one of the three sets of stairs. Sandra and Megan were now coming in the front door and would clean up for me and dress the two women at my request. The steps had fire doors across the entrances and I was able to shoot through the glass when one guard was close. Sandra was going up the other set of steps to clear out the top floor. I made it to the front where the auxiliary controls for the reactors were. The very large room was surrounded by thick glass and a strong security door. I could see with my mind seven Chechens and three badly beaten Russians by the controls and eleven more Chechens further back and looking out the window for possible enemies. One Russian was dead on the floor as a lesson I presumed. This was the tenth body I had passed. The Chechens were demanding more information about the system. Apparently passwords had been recently changed and their original data was no longer valid. I was ready to advance when I felt an odd feeling. Sandra and Megan were not very close but it felt as if one were. My mind worked very quickly and found a girl of thirteen hiding in an open closet. The only thing protecting her were some long coats. While I was contemplating this event the radio in the large room demanded immediate attention from the Chechens. Sandra or Megan were caught on surveillance or rather that the bodies that they dragged into one holding area were seen to move. One man was very quick and said that the only way for this to happen was if we were invisible. More guns came out but some pointed to the hostages in the room with them. One of the Moslems was not going to go down without taking some of the hated Russians with him. The machine gun teams on the roof and the rocket teams protecting the perimeter were appraised of this. The two reactor teams didn't respond. The failure to reply caused the most consternation. They were now even more likely to kill all of the people they had captured for it looked like their primary mission had failed. The hidden girl in the closet could easily be shot by a stray bullet or if she even made herself known. I waited for Sandra and Megan to finish and join me. They were going to do the same thing they did to gain entry into the first reactor building. Megan ran to assist her sister and they cleaned the top floor very quickly. The only consideration now was to try to limit the Russian casualties. When the time came the girls ran down the hall toward the room I was monitoring. Both were utterly naked and quite visible. They had no weapons and tried to appear frightened. They ran as if they were fleeing some of the Chechens and not knowing that they were running to a great many more. Their cries in Russian and their young beauty saved them from being shot. When they pretended to see the Chechens in the office they tried to stop and run back again. They got in each other's way. The door opened and I was inside the office in my speeded up body. I got to the back wall and started to remove the opposition as the ones in the front watched the futilely struggling girls try to fight off four determined men. One man in the room caught the reflection of one of his compatriots falling and turned to fire in my direction. I had three more men to remove. This man though was out of the limited range of my weapon. His bullets though would not damage me if they hit but they would probably miss me altogether. There was a good chance that they could hit the closet behind me though. I grasped a large ashtray off a nearby desk and propelled it toward the man's head. My only mistake was my speed for the glass went so fast that it took the man's head completely off and then it hit another five metres further back. The girls took this as the time to drop their act and worked very fast with what looked like karate. Usually this proved fatal or nearly so to the ones they faced. They didn't have time to do this an easier way. I continued with what I was doing and any bullets flying would go towards my wives. It took less than a minute for the room to be cleared. Everybody in it was unconscious or dead. All that was except the girl still in the closet. I used my voice and said in Russian, "The Chechens are all taken care of. Let's see what we can do with the wounded. Marina, you can come out now that the shooting is over. You are safe. Nobody will hurt you." Megan said loudly, "I will get her. She's afraid and a girl is less of a threat and a naked girl even less than that." I said, "She's very frightened. Take her to the washroom and get her cleaned up. Your sister and I are going upstairs to clean up her mess." "Ok, I'll talk in a few minutes. Marina is about ready to come out of the closet now." This was all done to give the girl a chance to know what was happening before Megan got to her. Sandra and I actually did leave. We dragged a few of the dead with us to another room before walking down the hall. Sandra said, "I can feel Marina. Is she going to join our family?" "I can't tell. I didn't see her aura from behind all the clothes. It felt like the auras of the two most important people in my life." "Maybe it will be the three most important soon." We policed the third and first floors but kept most of our mind on the second. The people that gave the warning had come in the front door and were soon found. There were some captives here too and they were segregated from the Chechens. Megan was having a difficult time and we remained downstairs instead and straightened up the few remaining bodies. The Russians were prepared to enter the compound now. We saw their troop movements and deduced where they were going to attack. Sandra and I ran in that direction and we each took out groups of Chechens in our paths. At the fence we detonated shape charges designed to fling ball-bearings at the attacking Russians. Manually activated mines were detonated and this set off two of the pressure sensitive variety. Odava came through by using his smallest tractor to detonate the mines beneath the ship. He turned and followed the entire perimeter, destroying all of the defences including those placed by the Russians themselves years ago. This stopped the Russian advance while they tried to figure out what this meant. Vasiliy Fedorov was the General presently in charge of retaking the installation. Borin knew the codes and frequencies to use his radio and transferred my thoughts to words using his radio. "General Fedorov, I am a member of the Clean Earth Society. We had removed all the potential saboteurs from the two reactors and disabled the charges they planted. The explosives were deactivated and the bound Chechens have been left for you. Most are alive for you to question. You will have to deal with a few of the opposition still free outside the three main buildings. Presently the Chechens have no chance of damaging the reactors." An explosive voice came on the line. "Who's this?" "I already told you. We are members of the Clean Earth Society. We ourselves are a portion of the enforcement division. The aim of our society is to keep the planet livable. The most dangerous Chechens have been neutralised. We have removed the mine fields around the plant. If you have someone to transcribe the data we will send the GPS coordinates of any free Chechens with rockets or machine gun positions." "Get off this line. This is for official military business only." "Fine but your communications trailer is now being targeted by the Chechens." "Where?" I gave the coordinates and in seconds a small rocket left a Russian launcher. The explosion heard was much stronger than what their device would have normally provided. Odava had made sure the rocket hit just where he wanted to be the most efficient. The coordinates were now given with information about what the target was like. Many were in hardened sites that were designed to protect the installation and the structures were now doing a good job but in the wrong hands. When the list was finished, the condition of each reactor was given as well as the administration building. I used the word stunned three times and the General asked what this meant. "It means we have used a non-lethal weapon that works on the central nervous system of vertebrates. Your own people were similarly rendered unconscious. I didn't want the Chechens or your own soldiers killing them if they started to run about. We are taking Marina Nikitin with us. She has been seriously hurt. She will be able to talk to your people by telephone in the near future but not right away. Her widowed father was one of the ones killed. She has no real family and the state is not going to raise her. We will do this if she accepts our offer." I finished off with, "We will talk in twelve hours. You can have your experts on the radio and a lot more people to write things down. You will also have your communications truck close by to triangulate our position. It will not work but it will give your people something to do." Sandra had left during this conversation. She avoided the rockets coming in and hitting the coordinates I had stipulated. Back in the Administration building she went to where she left her sister. She brought her clothes and her stun weapon though Megan liked to go naked. Megan and Marina had moved to an undisturbed section. Sandra just kissed her sister and said out loud, "The Russian soldiers will be coming soon. I have to get a bit of data about the background of this attack from the Chechens." "You go. Marina and I are going to the motorhome. We are going to get cleaned up and have a rest." Sandra put out her hands to the tear streaked girl and then walked close to hug her. "We will protect you now. The hurt feels like it will never leave but in the months to come it will diminish somewhat. Leif though will provide the best therapy." Sandra left to find out what she could about the Chechen plan. It was harder to do with a stunned mind but not impossible. In a short time she knew who of those in the room were the most important. The top three gave her all of the facts they knew. The troops advanced very rapidly against very little resistance. The doors to the reactor buildings were now open and both a guard detail and demolition experts entered very quickly. The administration building was handled the same way. Ten minutes later a long line of Russian workers were evacuated in the arms of the soldiers. The Chechens came out the same way but the plastic tie wraps were still in place. Much more happened but we had already left. Marina was cleaned up and sleeping between Megan and Sandra. She had not met me yet but her body did. When I came close to the sleeping girl her breathing changed and her small nipples came erect. ------- Marina found herself dressed in nice set of pyjamas in our house on the moon. The gravity had been adjusted to what she was familiar with. The effect only extended to eleven metres from the house. In six more metres it was just what the moon provided. Megan and Sandra were moving about the room trying to imitate what they used to do as Human girls. Their talk, gestures and goals were similar to that time. It was all put on so that Marina would have a familiar frame of reference to work from as the day progressed. Megan turned as if just learning that Marina had awoken for the first time. "Hello sleepy head. Sandra and I have been waiting for you to wake up so we can have breakfast together." "How did I get here?" Megan said, "We brought you silly. You were so sleepy we gave you a bath then you slept with us in the bed you are now in. Are you going to walk around in pyjamas all day? There are a lot of people that want to meet you. Our mother and father want to welcome you here. My brother and his wives want to meet you too." "Wives?" "Our brother is a horny type of guy. He is younger than us but has six wives. They all run him ragged. He wants to get back to work, study, and probably for a rest. He does enjoy the attention but he desperately wants to do so many things that he has very little time to learn now." "I am not going to be his wife, am I?" "No you won't. Nobody forces anybody here. The girls outnumber the boys four to one anyway. They're all pussycats though. We want something and they do it. It is like having your own slave but we will do the same thing for them. Wait until the children start popping out. The fathers are going to do their share and possibly more." "Are all of you pregnant?" "Most but not all. Some are doing a bit of growing yet. Most of this is in their minds. We found a way to control our minds and through that to control our bodies. We are much smarter than we were. You will too if you want to be. We will not force you to do anything you don't want. We doubt that you will resist though for it is instinct." "Instinct? How?" "All living things have a field around them. Some of us are lucky enough to sense this phenomena. This field is altered by your health, mood but especially by what you are really like. A person with a strong sense of duty and a willingness to work will be much different than what the usual person would have. Our husband's aura fits ours very well. It's like two halves of a jigsaw puzzle fitting exactly together. You will sense his aura as he sensed yours recently. He thought that you were either Sandra or me." "What's he going to do to me?" "That depends entirely on you. He will have a talk with you and you will decide if it is love at first sight or not. You will not be unaffected by this. If you want to go home you will go even if it means that our secret will be given to the rest of the world." Sandra said while Marina thought, "Leif found me in a slightly similar situation. I was about to be raped by three men that got me drunk. He took me to have a meal and helped me overcome the effects of the alcohol. Then he brought me home and presented me to my family. I felt pretty stupid for what I had done but not for meeting Leif. The family fell in love with him. My parents thought he was a saint. Our younger brother thinks he's a hero and not for just saving me. When they found out the rest, they just joined his cause. We have never been happier and it is nice to say that we have done some good in the world." "That reminds me," Marina said. "What happened in Rostov?" "We have an advanced monitoring network. Nobody wants a nuclear incident. When we found through your military communication system that your installation was being attacked, we immediately went into action. Leif went down with a stun weapon and some plastic handcuffs to remove the saboteurs from one reactor. Megan and I took the other. We had to go into the reactor itself to nullify the explosives. When we were done we locked the attackers up and went to the Administration building. Leif was cleaning out the second floor when he sensed you hiding in the closet. Megan and I came along when Leif called us and we tricked the Chechens into opening the door for us. We just beat a few unconscious but we also had to kill a few too. This was the only area that this happened. Your military now have the situation under control." "That is too much to believe. I am sorry but your words sound honest but I cannot stretch my imagination to believing all of that." "We have pictures if you want. Do you want to see them?" "Yes, very much." "Lay down and close your eyes. We will send them to you." "Close my eyes?" "Yes, trust us for only a few minutes and you will get much more of the larger picture." Marina lay back and then wiggled to get comfortable. She was not sure about anything but didn't believe about seeing pictures with her eyes closed. No sooner had she finished that thought than she saw Sandra, Megan and a beautiful young man. She was reminded of a beautiful woman but the intensity that seemed to surround him made her sure he was male. The statue of David came to her mind but she thought it was a very poor substitute. The three broke up and proceeded to the two reactor buildings. The young man made it into a door just before it closed and then he used a very small and oddly shaped weapon to shoot some of the Chechens. The Chechens were then bound with plastic strips. The scenes progressed one after another. What struck Marina as odd was that the Chechens never took notice of what the young man was doing. The young man should now be in pain for he was seen inside the reactor with no protective clothing. He even went in a second time and took the Chechens out that had set the bombs. The scene changed to find the two women, Sandra and Megan, trying to get into the other reactor building. Marina could even understand some of the words used when the sisters talked to each other about a way to get in. She was very shocked to see the girls remove their clothing and run down the street naked. They went up to the Chechens in security and told them that they had been attacked and needed to get in. The Chechens allowed the girls in probably hoping to attack the girls themselves. They entered an empty room and were held in place as they were questioned through a speaker. Eventually the girls were allowed into the next section. The girls attacked immediately after entering. Shots were fired at point blank range but the girls were strangely not hurt. They cleaned out the next room with their hands and feet. Some strange weapons were recovered from outside and they returned and split up. They started to take out every Chechen they found. They wasted no steps and seemed to know exactly where everyone was. The girls too were seen entering the reactor and they didn't even have a layer of cloth to protect them. When the Chechens were again removed they left the building but they were soon dressed once more. The young man was there ahead of them and they easily went through the main entrance. They saw the Chechens stunned and tied. The two women started to clean up and separate the staff from the attackers. One went to the top floor and began to take out the Chechens on that floor. Moments later the girls knew that something had altered. Marina knew that it concerned her. The two girls met and again disrobed before running down the hall. The young man slipped in and the Chechens didn't even see him. Some Chechens started to fall and one was killed with an ashtray. She now saw the two girls fight like she had never seen before. Their speed made it look like they were fighting babies. Within moments the Chechens and her people were on the floor. Some like her father would never get up again. Marina closed her eyes as if to block out the visions. She remembered looking through the clothing in the closet where her father had pushed her. The Chechens were demanding answers so they could get into the computer. Her father had stood up to them and he had been brutally shot. This she remembered very vividly. She wanted to run to him but she knew that he was already dead. Other images pushed their way into her head and she saw how she was taken to a fancy motorhome in the highly restricted compound. This was very odd in itself but she allowed herself to be led then cleaned as the girl called Megan talked to her quietly and then cleaned her up with a strange device. That was all she saw until she saw herself looking at the two girls as they greeted her moments ago. Marina now wanted more answers but Sandra said, "Let's call Leif. He can show you a few things and you will understand more." Marina was agitated at this but for politeness sake said, "Ok." Not ten seconds had passed for the young girl and the door then opened. She saw the young man came in that had been in her visions. There was something about him that kept her eyes on him like a magnetic. He was so beautiful but he was hardworking, very considerate of others and honest too. She didn't know how she knew this but it had to be true. The other thing was that this was the man she was searching for in her dreams since she was a very young girl. She had never seen his face but she knew without a doubt that this was the one. "Hello Marina. It's nice to be able to talk to you again." Marina paused. She didn't know what to say. She had never been confronted with her dreams before and didn't know how to act. She eventually got out, "Thank you for rescuing me. If it weren't for you and... your wives I would be dead or worse." "It was entirely our pleasure. To be honest, we were there to protect the plant and especially those downwind of the reactors. We were just lucky enough to get there early enough to stop the destruction before millions could be killed." Marina had to know, "How come the Chechens never saw you?" "That's simple. We have a small shield device that we wear. It allows us to reuse our air and even our wastes. It can stop simple weapons and even low level radioactivity. The feature we were depending on was invisibility. Our motorhome and the vehicle behind it have that feature too. That is why we could hide in plain sight." She said, "That is..." I smiled and immediately disappeared. When I reappeared the word impossible was not even uttered. "Look at Megan beside you," I asked. Megan reached out and held one of Marina's shoulders and then disappeared. The girl felt the gentle squeeze on her shoulder and knew the young woman was still there. A voice came, "I am still here. You can hear me and feel my hand. Move your hand and feel my arm. You will know that I am here but you are just not able to see me. You can even feel how my skin is slipperier like I am wearing some plastic." Marina did as she was asked then got out of bed and felt more of Megan. "You are really here. How can you do this?" "Science that is further advanced than what you know of has allowed this to happen." Marina closed her eyes and felt some more and knew that it was Megan she was feeling. When her eyes were close though she could feel exactly where the other two were in to room as if they had a homing beacon in them. I seemed to glow the brightest. When she opened her eyes she saw that Megan were now visible. "Let me show you to the washroom and you can get dressed. We will too and then go have a nice meal." "Ok." I immediately left and I could feel that Marina wanted me to stay even though she was going to go to the bathroom. When she came out Megan and Sandra were naked. They had some fabulous dresses and helped each other into them. Sandra said, "Come here Sweetie." When Marina did they started to undress her as if she were a child. Marina was a bit shocked at this but actually assisted. They must have seen her body last night anyway and she had nothing different than they had. The dress for her though was different but similar to what the other two wore. When she extended her arms the girls put the dress on her. It fit perfectly it even felt like it had shrunk to fit her exact measurements. Soft shoes of a matching colour were added and the girls worked on Marina's hair until it was in the usual way she had it. They held her two hands like sisters and they giggled as they left the room. The bedroom she was in and hallway were like others she had seen and unlike them too. Both were very large. After a few steps she saw art everywhere in the hallway and then further on. They were on the second floor of a home. Steps led to a third floor too. The stairs were all very wide. They were made of some type of stone. It was brown with gold coloured lines through it like woodgrain. The bottom of the steps presented a very large room. When she reached the bottom she found a side room with a grand piano and other instruments. Some were not familiar but again some she had even played. There was a large table set up in another spacious room with a beautiful tablecloth. The floor looked like wood but was different somehow. From the high ceiling hung a beautiful chandelier. French doors were wide open and Maria could see large trees to one side with many shorter ones nearby A large body of water took up half of the view. The sun though looked wrong but she could not immediately tell why. The large table was loaded but only some of it was with food. The rest was covered with small objets d'art. Eleven women and girls were sitting around the table with two young men. The men stood as Marina and the two girls entered with her. I entered too but was presently occupied with carrying a tray of food. This was set on a side table and I began to introduce everybody present to my newest guest. All of the names ended with wife of Tom or wife of Tom Junior. Marina was surprised when Tom and Margaret were listed as the parents of not only Tom Junior but of Sandra and Megan. She knew they looked no older than their oldest children. I said, "There are two more members of our combined families but they are busy working. They will be introduced later after you understand a bit more about us." Marina liked the meal. The flavours were there but she felt the need to put some salt on it anyway. She was not that impolite to ask for it especially when the others didn't use it and it was not on the table. There was light talk around the table and Marina was asked some simple questions that didn't have to do with anything that would remind her that her last living relative was now dead. School was a good topic and she mentioned her friends and some of the things they had done. This brought out all the stories of school and they all talked of the funny things that they had done or heard about. Marina was amazed that though everybody spoke perfect Russian. She knew that we were from all over Europe and Canada. Only Consti and I had little to say for we appeared to her to be very serious students. Consti and I did talk about our families or friends and what comical things that happened to us from a Human perspective. Music came up and everybody admitted to playing at least one instrument and being able to sing as well. Marina found that we would meet at each others homes and play known songs or ones they had made up. Marina was worried. She could play but not well and felt outclassed even before a recital began. The topic was quickly changed to her relief. This time it had to do with plays and concerts that we wanted to go to. She was concerned because we were all over the Earth. It was hard to understand that somebody would spend this amount of time to just hear someone perform and then the next day go to another country for something similar. She thought we must be very rich and spend most of our time travelling. ------- Chapter 23 When the light meal was over we all went back to our own work. Sandra, Megan and I started to clean up the mess and Marina began to assist. We didn't tell her to sit back like a guest and this actually made her feel better. The kitchen was very odd to Marina but did have most of the things she was familiar with. When we were done I said, "Let's sit on the patio then go for a walk." We went out the French doors and Marina found beautiful and ornate furniture just around the corner. She said, "This table and these chairs are very beautiful." Sandra smiled and said, "Thank you. They were not that hard to make once you had the knack." "You, made these?" Marina asked incredulously. "Yes I did. Megan made her share of the artwork inside the house and even made the bannister and steps. Leif just helped us do the designing and then let us go. Leif though built the kitchen. Some of it was for us but it was also for people like you to see something familiar but still different enough to be still understood." Marina was sitting close to me and asked, "Why would you do that? A kitchen is a kitchen." "Well this is as good a chance as any other to go on to the next step. Our minds and bodies have been improved by ourselves after our brains were shown what to do. We have a choice in this matter and use it. Tom and Margaret are good examples. They are now in their forties or close to it but they look barely twenty. They just told their body to do what they wanted and it slowly changed. The same happened to our minds. With the right commands and some knowledge we improved our brains quite a bit. This has led to a great many things being invented that you would never know about." "Like what?" "Our suits, and the stun weapon are the only thing you know of but there is a universe more to tell you. We can all read minds for one. We have paranormal abilities. I have the strongest psychokinesis among us. Would you like me to show you?" "Oh yes, I love magic acts." There were a line of urns containing plants. One after the other they turned a bit so the plant would grow toward the 'sun'. Marina clapped her hands, "That was great." "I can send my thoughts to you and you can hear me. You can think back at me and I can understand you. Everybody can transmit but very few even get to be good at receiving." "You talked in my head!" Megan said, "I can too Sweetie. All of us can. It comes automatically as the brain becomes more efficient." Sandra said, "They are speaking the truth. In fact it is hard to lie this way but it is still possible. Leif doesn't lie to us but he does like to hide some facts on occasion. Most of the time it's to surprise us. Now talk back to us but don't use your mouth." "Can you hear me?" We all replied and her grin got very big. Megan and Sandra tried to outdo each other in dirty Russian limericks to the delight of Marina. Finally Marina said, "So you guys are super smart and can read minds. I can feel that there's more." Sandra said, "Oh lots more. Our ancestors emigrated from Scandinavia over a hundred years ago. They drifted around before coming to Canada. That is why we have light coloured hair. Leif is different. He was born with his hair colour as we were but he emigrated from the stars." "What?" Marina said. "That's impossible. He's as Human as the rest of us. I... I can feel it." Megan said, "My sister is right Marina. Leif was born on a large research vessel flying between stars. His people are very much like us but smarter and since they too can control their bodies, they and their race have made improvements over the years." "I still don't believe it." She now felt angry for this looked like an attempt to distance her from me. I stood up and extended my hand. "Come with me for a moment please." Marina took my hand possessively as if to get away from two deluded women. I walked with her off the patio and down the wide stone steps to the flagstone covered walk. We walked slowly and Marina looked back to see if Sandra and Megan were following. Soon her steps felt odd and she stopped. "What's happening? I feel different." "If you could see through the trees you would see only three other homes here. Each one is beautiful in their own right but we are all living under a dome. A shield similar to the suit I am wearing is also protecting us from the vacuum of space and the radiation that is coming from our nearby star. If you walk a few more steps you will notice that the gravitational field under the house is lessening even more and the moon's gravity is asserting itself." "Are you telling me that I'm on the moon?" "Yes I am. Now watch." I walked toward the house and then stopped to make a small jump. I went thirty centimetres off the ground. As I walked back to Marina I stopped to jump again and again. Every time I went higher and higher. Well past her I was able to jump over her head. With the same effort, I went nearly two metres high and the landing took longer too. When I landed the last time, I took Marina's hand and hurried back to where I started and said, "Jump." She did but not even as high as I did. Every five metres we did the same thing again and I jumped with her. When we were outside the effect of our artificial gravity we jumped the highest and Marina and I clutched together for comfort. When we came down I said, "Now you know about our gravity, let's all go for the walk and experience it. There are a lot of animals to see. They mostly came from South America in the Amazon Basin. Some of the plants came from there too but only a few." Sandra and Megan ran to us and we all held hands as we walked through the trees. Megan or Sandra would point out interesting things and give the Latin name, and the common Russian name if there were one. Before too long the movement of our artificial sun was mentioned. Soon after that one or the other of the girls would tell of what they did to build the dome in the first place. Our ship, the boats and the research vessel high above us were listed. Marina couldn't wait to see them close up. We visited Tommy's family's home. The women were all excited and acted like Humans in many ways and wanted to show Marina what they had done and especially the large nursery that each was going to work hard to fill. I could see Marina relax as she was swallowed up with the women and the Human things they were doing. Consti mentioned that all here but Nadezda were pregnant but one of Tommy's father's wives was not either. She had not quite finished her normal body changes so she could start having sex. They talked about the Gossna and what they thought of them. This I thought was the easiest way to bring in an alien looking being into our group. Tom and Margaret were next to visit and the same thing happened. Marina eyed Alita quite a bit measuring her against herself. The Spanish girl was just a year younger than she was. Marina found that Alita's Russian speech was actually implanted to make Marina feel at home. Marina tried to subtly get Alita alone to talk and Tom silently asked his future wife to go out into the garden and tell the truth. Tom said, "Marina will make a good wife. She has a good background even if it was cut short by her mother's death. Her attachment to you is growing very strong even if she is fighting it. She is just trying to understand something that really has to be experienced." Margaret said, "I agree. I see very many similarities with her and our daughters. Your family will be very strong. I just see that there will be some problems with the Russians. You agreed to talk to them and they will demand that Marina be returned." The talk in the garden took ten minutes and I could feel even more of Marina's apprehension leaving. Herminia insisted on us having a snack and a drink before leaving before travelling to the last home. Marina had heard a lot about Odava and Ichom and by now wanted to meet them. We hurried down the path. Half of the time Marina was in the lead looking for the house that blended into the environment. Sandra and Megan led her onto the roof before telling her where she was. She squealed in delight then found the path to the front of the home. She found Odava and Ichom sitting outside and eating a meal. They had known of our visit. Since we had come to this system, they better understood young Humans and were able to withstand their exuberance but only up to a point. Sandra caught up to Marina and warned her again of the way she must act. The girl brought herself under control and held Sandra's hand to make sure she didn't go too fast. Marina was even able to get out the words of greeting in Gossna though she didn't do it well. Tommy had done better but he has much more tutoring by Borin. We sat on some moss covered stones, drank some water then ate some small portions of fruit. Megan and Sandra transmitted Marina's thoughts so that she could understand what was happening. Marina was in awe after meeting her first alien but didn't see me this way. A kangaroo came into the clearing and Ichom called it over. It was one of the animals brought to the moon. This one was more of a pet and ate most of its meals from the supply given by the Gossna. This thankfully saved most of the flora they were trying to grow. I sat back and spoke when needed but I actually began my call to General Fedorov with Pat'uch's assistance. Probes had stayed at the nuclear power site and one was delegated to follow the general. The radio phone next to the General rang. He had purposely changed secure radios to see if he could foil this call and learn how much I knew about the Russian military technology. He picked it up and brusquely said, "General Fedorov." "Hello General. I am your local representative for the Clean Earth Society. I suppose you are a bit shocked to see that we were able to get to the radio that just happened to be beside you?" "How did you know that it was beside me?" "I would say spies but then you would get paranoid and change your staff. Let's just say that some telescopes are better than others." "How did you get to the nuclear plant before us?" "We simply monitored all military communications whether it is Russian or otherwise. You had an emergency and we got there first. We have a faster response time because we have many less people to deal with." "I heard that two of them are young naked women." "Two were. It was useful in getting into one reactor building with horny Chechens guarding the entrance. It was also advantageous to use in getting into the secondary control room. Too many men think with the lower head I'm afraid. A good soldier would know enough to look for a diversion when naked flesh is presented." "That's hard for some to do. I see from the security pictures that they are extremely beautiful." "I will pass that on to my wives. They are not vain but they like compliments if they are in good taste." "Two wives?" "It keeps me busy I must admit. Now onto another subject. Marina Nikitin is starting to recover. She will talk to you in forty eight hours. It will give her a chance to recover and deal with this very traumatic experience." "You are required to bring her back immediately." "Ok, you may come and get her. I will put her into your arms when you arrive." "Where are you?" "I am in a very safe place that neither you nor anyone else can find. You are in a very poor position to even make any demands. You can play on my sense of duty and also rely on what I think a more knowledgeable elder tells me. The fact remains that Marina is better treated where she is. My wives and family are watching out for her. Nobody can hurt her and my family will ensure it." "She's a Russian citizen." "So? You have no idea if I am or not. My entire family may be or we may be of many different nationalities working to make the only planet we have a safe place to live. Her citizenship has no bearing on this situation. Now if we get back to the attack, you will find that the wind is now going almost due North. Your weather service would say that it will continue that way for three days. Just long enough for the cloud of radioactive dust and smoke to settle on Moscow if the reactor had been set afire." "We have already seen this possibility." "Then you will see that they had no intension of negotiating. They would hold off long enough to gain some publicity for their cause and claim that you attacked and forced their hand." "That was also theorised." "Then your agents must be very close to apprehending Vladimir Bogdanov." "What!!" "My wives have assembled some data that you may find useful. I would like to give it to you. I am afraid that some of the people listening to our present conversation will pass the information onto Vladimir Bogdanov. He may take to the hills so to speak or brazen it out. His objective was to build a stronger military with his weapons and perhaps carve out an empire for himself. I have never met the man but I can imagine that he would like to be called Czar instead. Before you tackle him though you will find a lot of people above you in the Russian command structure that work for Vladimir or see an opportunity to support him and get ahead themselves." "Can you prove this?" "Let's just say that special orders have already been given to remove proof that you already have acquired. Your prisoners will have to be turned over to others. Later a full scale attempt at escape will occur. Sadly all your Chechens will escape or die in the attempt." "I can stop this." "I am sorry Vasiliy but you can't. There's nobody that you can contact with the necessary power to protect your prisoners or even you. If you did find a way then the security people monitoring our conversation would see to it that you were blocked. Killed is too messy of a solution at this stage but still possible." The general wanted to continue talking. It was hoped that I would reveal a lot more and give his people a chance to track me down. Vladimir Bogdanov was in Moscow and I purposely made my phone call come from where he presently was. There was no arrest warrant or even the possibility of one until enough people gathered enough backbone to do it. The call soon ended but I knew another had to be made in a few days. We ended up staying for a full meal. Birds were in the trees around our table waiting for any handouts. Marina had a fun time feeding them and the kangaroo too. This was the only one for two would cause a lot of damage to the new plants. Many comments were made about the birds in flight for they needed much less effort to stay aloft while having the same air pressure around their wings. After the meal we all boarded various vessels and went out to our research vessel. Marina was disconcerted to use a motorhome to do so but still liked it. It took her only half an hour to feel safe in free space and another half to confidently push from one area to another knowing that she would be pulled back if she needed the assistance. She was still very much a young girl changing into a young woman. Marina had a problem that suddenly came up and Megan took her back to the motorhome for a few minutes. They came out but Marina was just a bit subdued. Her menses had started to arrive and the first symptom were some cramps. Megan helped Marina's body overcome the problem so she could continue to be with us. We did get some work done but not much. Our fabricating dome was visited and Marina was shown some of the things the girls found interesting. Since Alita was the closest to Marina's real age and the only one not improved yet they naturally gravitated together. They had a lot in common one way or another. The day had been long for Marina and we went back home for some rest. Tomorrow was to have another meeting so we could play our music. Marina couldn't wait for this now. Marina was offered a separate bed. She became upset and wanted to sleep with us. Megan said, "Your place is with us but we get very energetic when we get into bed. You won't get any sleep for a while. I know you have never seen two people making love. You are going to see that and even three people making love. My sister and I love each other and we love Leif. This will be an eye opener for you if you stay." Marina felt that they we were trying to protect her. She said, "I would like to stay if I may." Megan casually reached over and kissed the girl but it was a kiss much more of what a boyfriend would give her. We began to take off our clothes, use the facilities and then the cleanser. Megan was in the large bed first and I was beside her. We began right away with a heartfelt kiss. I thought of Marina's loss and wondered how I could survive if any of my wives had died. My thoughts were well hidden but Megan must have detected something for she was very gentle but quite insistent. This got me going very strongly and soon I was kissing her back and my fingers were roaming her body. All of our women were very sensitive when it came to making love. Otherwise a male would never get a chance to get a rest. Megan had her first orgasm with my fingers. Moments later she had her next three in quick succession with my mouth on her mons. She had clung to me so hard that my hair had been pulled out. Marina was naked except for her panties. She was sitting in Sandra's lap. Her eyes were closed for Sandra was playing with her breasts and nipples. The girl had her orgasm from that stimulation and from watching the act of love before her. I simply held Megan to me as she recovered and savoured the emotions of those around me. There was a lot of love in the house and I felt very humble to be the main focus of it. When Marina recovered, she turned red when I she saw that I was looking at her. I said, "There is no reason to feel bad. This only proves that you fit in very well. Now if I can borrow Sandra for a while, Megan wants to hold you." I got a tentative, "Ok," and she moved towards Megan. Megan sat up and welcomed her with open arms. Sandra got the same treatment but I continued and entered her. She was very vocal. I think part of it was what Marina brought to our bed. I saw Marina on her back with her knees up. Megan was sucking on her breasts in a very slow and loving way and only playing casually with her mons with her fingers over the thin layer of cloth. When Sandra screamed her joy and collapsed I held her for a few minutes basking in her love and her joy. I got behind Megan and entered her and she continued to make love to Marina's small nipples. Sandra had recovered and took over Marina's other nipple and caressed her body with her hands and lips. Our love making took hours and we moved around. Marina lost her panties early and only got a break a few times. She quickly came back when we knew she was ready. It was only at the end that Marina called me to her. I used my lips and fingers but subtly influenced her brain. She too screamed when her time came. Sandra and Megan had been pleasing each other with their lips and had to stop and look at the girl. They then smiled widely at me. We knew that she would fit in very well for she was basically a copy of my other two wives. The next morning I got up early but the girls stayed in bed. They wanted to be there when Marina woke up. It was their way of reassuring her that everything was alright. When they did get up, all of them were wearing the same kind of panties. This was much more than usual but they still looked very good. Because I thought it was required, I made my lower appendage inflate to show that I enjoyed the view. The girls giggled behind their hands and sat at the table prepared for them. Sandra said, "What did you make for us, Husband?" "I made a Russian Farmer's breakfast. I hope you like it." Megan said, "There certainly is enough of it, Husband." "I do what is needed to make my wives happy. I work over a hot stove all morning and all I get is the statement that there is a lot of it. You don't appreciate me." "We appreciate you. It is just that the three of us get a bit catty once in a while." "I know that and I love you all anyway." The three girls banded together a bit and giggled some more. During the rest of the day Marina was introduced more directly to the computers and AIs that lived in the larger machines. Borin was seen as a fantastic being but even Marina could soon see that Max was even brighter. Cordo and Pat'uch were successively shown to be even more intelligent. She saw them as we did as a being with equal standing in our society. The Seffra looked on them more as machines with only the occasional individual looking on them as I did. Everybody else was busy working but didn't begrudge us the time to gently bring Marina into our fold. We explained more of what we had done and what we hoped to do. She saw that she was to bear a great many children and to guide our race with her insight and opinion. This was pretty heady stuff for a thirteen year old Human girl to think on. Sandra and Megan told her about what they expected in their pregnancies and how the child would not be as large or as uncomfortable to carry to term. This brought on more talk of babies and what was expected of them once they started to learn. I was treated to what their mothers had told them about babies even though that was only about purely Human children. After the noon meal Megan dragged me back to bed. Part of this was caused by their innate horniness but a good proportion was because of Marina's influence on our family already. This time we stayed at it much longer. To be different we had moved to our large shower area. This allowed Marina to dispense with her pad and panties. Her flow had not started yet but would in a day or so. The hot water was endless and it served to make Marina comfortable. Marina had been licked by all of us and after some thinking she had done the same to Sandra and Megan. They had orgasmed very well from her efforts and she felt proud to have done so well. She found my tongue to be particularly good. A hairbrush had taken her virginity two years ago but I treated her as if this was not the case. When I entered Megan's butt Marina took particular notice. I already noticed that all three found the nerves in and around their anuses to be a very erotic area. Megan loved this and seemed to go particularly wild. When she succumbed to this effort I placed her in Marina's care and took Sandra the same way. It was not too long after that only Marina and I were the only ones conscious. I said, "Let's dry our wives off and take them to bed to rest. They had a strenuous day. I am afraid all I have done though is make them more demanding tonight." "Are they always so... difficult to please? I mean; they seem to need so much love and I can see that the more you give the more they want." "You are now influencing our actions. You get horny and then so do our wives. They influence you too. All three of you are so very similar. What happens to one happens to all of you. That is good because it holds a family together. It also means that any problem is seen very quickly and corrected before they grow very large." "Leif, you keep mentioning 'my wives'. Are they really my wives too?" "They are sisters in one respect. That cannot be altered. Wives mean that you love each other as I love each of you. If you decide to join our family they will be your wives as you will be theirs. We work as a unit though. All four of us will work on a single project if possible. If one is hurt though all of us will suffer. It also makes us a very strong entity. We can deal with some very complex problems as if we are one person but a person much smarter that any one of us separately. The ship over our head will be completed a bit sooner if you join us and it will be made much better too." "Are you going to go on that ship when it's complete?" "I don't know. I believe at the moment that I want to stay here in this system to build more ships. This will strengthen not only our family but as you know now, our race. There are many enemies out there and we need a way of protecting not only the planet near us but all the life that's on it." "Is there that much danger to us?" "You have lived here for a long time and your planet would not arouse much interest until you got semi-civilised. This has only happened in the last hundred years. Your television and radio only travel at the speed of light but have been going out for over seventy years. That distance encompasses a very large area. The strength of the signal at that distance is very minute but our instruments and others can pick it up fairly easily. That is also the way I knew that Earth was inhabited." "Do you really want me to be one of your wives? I am not nearly as pretty..." "It has no bearing on symmetry of features. It is your aura. You could be very old or very young. Only in the latter class do we wait until you would grow to maturity. You fit in perfectly with us and not only do I want you very much but so does Sandra and Megan. This is not just a case of the two of us deciding. All four have to be in agreement and in this case we are." "Will you take me?" This was no idle question for she had made up her mind. I moved slowly and held her tenderly in my arms. "I would love to but let's get everybody together to make it official. After that I want to knock you unconscious the same way our wives now are. Now help me drag them to bed." I lay down amongst the girls and felt very content. Marina indeed made us much stronger or would when she was improved. When the girls recovered, Marina told them of her decision. There were two glad cries and the girls attacked their newest wife. It took only a moment before Marina had her next orgasm. I let Sandra and Megan have their way for a while before rescuing the girl. I said to a breathless but still very excited Marina, "Stay with me little girl. I will protect you from those big bullies that want to suck and lick you to distraction." Marina quickly turned and said excitedly, "What were you going to do to me?" "You need to be cuddled for a while. When you are comfortable I think you need to get kissed. You have been corrupted by these evil women and I will have to do what they did just to keep your attention. I fear you will get uncomfortable and demand that I scratch certain itches that these women cannot adequately reach. My aims are very honourable though while these women just what to see you scream your joy. I want you to be quietly satisfied. You are much too new to this to get the full treatment." She jumped on me and pushed me onto my back like a young lioness. "I want the full treatment. You've been holding out on me." "But mistress, if I do that I will expel my seed into you. These nasty women will lick it all from you when you are helpless by being unconscious. You will wake up with a tongue and mouth sampling your charms without your consent. You have to tell them now to stay away. I am only one and I may not be able to fully protect you." She replied after some thinking. "I get itches outside too. These fine young ladies that you malign have told me about you and your evil ways. You want to keep that piece of flesh from me. If I'm to be your wife I'll need it. Put it in me now or I'll get these two ladies to help me." I curled up into a fetal position and Marina ordered her wives to assist. I was pulled into the centre of the bed with a portion of me pointing upward. Marina saw that it was not very big around and held it with her hand to judge its size. I struggled futilely especially when Megan sat on my face. I could see through my mind that Marina was walking on her knees to get close to this most important part of her life. Sandra applied some lubricant to both Marina and to me. The girl clung to Sandra when this was done for it felt so good to her. Sandra whispered words of encouragement and so did Megan. Marina finally got into position and Megan held me with her hand. With only a few swipes to spread lubricant Marina began to sit. She didn't stop until she was sitting on me and then she smiled at her fellow wives. "I did it. It didn't hurt. I am lucky I guess that our husband is not very big." Sandra said, "Sweetie, Leif can make himself so big he would frighten about any women ever born. He is just staying small until you get used to him. You will always feel full even if you didn't learn to control your vaginal muscles. Now move a bit and try to hold him with your muscles. He likes that but won't say anything if you forget. He is a very good husband. He doesn't complain much and is always ready to make us feel loved." Megan and Marina moved up and down. My tongue went far into Megan and I put a little more into Marina too. Marina had a small orgasm and Sandra had to hold her in position. She started to move faster and the sensations came very strongly the harder she moved. She tried different angles of attack and different ways to thrust her body to get the most stimulation. Her fifth orgasm tied with Megan's and the two held each other. Sandra and Megan traded places and Marina started again but needed Megan there to support her. Megan did this by getting behind her and holding one of her breasts and pinching her nipple. The other hand reached in front and ensured that Marina's clit got all the attention it could take. When I knew that Marina was getting tired I timed my own orgasm with hers. This time I wanted to expel my seed into her as well and I let all of the women know this. They moved faster and faster. Megan was so tied to the other two that she had the same fate. My own orgasm had been held off for quite a while and when it came it felt much stronger and rewarding than usual. My own groan of appreciation was echoed in the girls. When they had their little death, all of them collapsed onto the bed and onto me. The girls didn't want to move after this and I had to wiggle my way out from under them. When I looked down I saw that all three looked very happy and content with my efforts. They seemed to align their auras as if they were gathering strength from each other. I moved them into more comfortable positions and covered them with an unneeded sheet. The girls must have a way of storing extra sleep as a camel does water. Company was coming over tonight for music and now we would have a celebration of Marina joining our family. The best food was not necessarily prepared by hand but that was one of the ways a host showed that he appreciated his guests. Even when I was on the ship the most memorable occasions were ones with homemade food and beverages. I had not got far when I knew that the girls had awoken and did as I said they would. Marina would be subject to their tongues for long enough to reach any and all seed that they could get. The girls came out when most of the preparations were done. They kissed me for my work and Marina just followed the lead of the other two. They pushed me out of the kitchen and told me to get dressed. I knew when I was outvoted and did as I was asked. The various families came by foot. Their homes were not that far away. They greeted each of my ladies and congratulated Marina on joining us. The food was mentioned and my ladies were polite and told them who had done the most work. I said, "I was just inspired to do so. Three beautiful wives and the newest bringing so much love to the union that anybody could have done the same." We started to play music as usual in such gatherings. This meant that the host and hostesses played first. We played four songs that were known to Marina and she handled herself not too badly. The rest got into the playing now and there were still far more unused instruments available. I could just see our children playing them one day and I could feel all three wives seconding that motion. We had some breaks for refreshments and talk. Alita and Marina had lots to talk about and they went off to do it more privately. Margaret smiled at me when this happened. Those two were the only two that had not been altered in any way and like all girls needed to talk about their experiences. The next day started brightly but grew more grim later for we were all to go to Earth. We wore dark clothing and the women wore veils. This may be old-fashioned but it suited our purposes. Marina's father was being buried and we showed up for the services There were few others. Four were men the father worked with and also ones that we had rescued. One other man was there in case we showed up. He pressed a concealed button that transmitted a signal to his superiors. Borin was outside with Odava and Ichom. The signal went only a few metres from the building before striking a field erected all around the property. Half way through the services the man became impatient that nobody had arrived and tried to leave. Tom followed the man outside. He walked up to the retreating figure and said, "Good day sir." The man stopped but wanted to continue. Tom continued, "I have one of those stun devices if I need it." The man now had second thoughts about leaving. "I want the funeral to proceed without any problems and without Marina getting upset. You can come back in and sit with us or sleep out here for an hour with a gravestone as a pillow. Which is you choice?" The man was very large. If anybody else had said this to him he would fight. This time he knew that everything was even understated. The small gun in his shoulder holster didn't give him any feeling of protection. "I will mourn with you." "Thank you. This means a lot to Marina." The two men entered the small chapel and they sat close. The funeral was similar to the church service. The father's co-workers recognised Marina and gave their condolences when this service was over. One man had seen me in the control room and remembered. When he had expressed his grief to Marina he said, "Young man, are you one of the individuals that saved us?" "My wives and I helped keep this country safe." The man looked around and I pointed out the two women. They happened to be on each side of Marina. All of the mourners came to us now and thanked us for what we had done. We went outside for the interment and Maria then the rest of us threw a handful of fresh soil on top of the coffin. We separated a while after and the government agent stayed with us all the time. He had pressed the button on his transmitter perhaps a hundred more times to no effect. We all left the scene but Tom. In moments we were aboard Borin. Tom was only a few metres below us. He said to the agent, "You have tried to contact your superiors but we have interfered with the signal. You could not have stopped us in any way and it's nice to see that we can get along in this instance. Our extended family has now left. I am going to leave in a moment too. I suggest you attempt to chase me but I'm going to run very fast. You'll not be able to catch me or to even follow me far. It'll give you something more to tell your superiors. Are you ready?" The man thought for a few seconds and said, "I am ready to follow you." Tommy even pointed the way he was going to run then burst off. He left the agent as if he was not prepared and in a second he outpace him by at least three metres. Tom went straight and leaped large stone monuments and disappeared in less than thirty seconds. The agent continued but could not find Tom even though he looked at the ground for tracks. He had never seen anybody run so fast but it was possible that an Olympic athlete could have done so. We flew much further north and landed in St. Petersburg. We changed clothing and got in many taxis. Our entourage went to have a meal prepared by others. Marina was still crying fitfully and the girls took her to the washroom to clean her up. The meal was good but it was not appreciated. Reluctantly we all left. On the way we stopped at the various hometowns of everybody on board. From a few hundred metres the person would talk of what was below them. Some only had bad memories and we saw other cities that they had better memories of. Alita and Herminia were a bit shocked to see Damita entertaining a man twenty years her junior. We didn't stay but Herminia had a good laugh at what the seventy nine year old woman was doing. Marina didn't want to go near Rostov because it would remind her of the loss of her only close living relative. Megan said privately, "You're not alone anymore. You've not only us three but all of us. We're going to be closer than any of your relatives because you'll be constantly working with us." A day later Marina had a telephone conversation with General Fedorov. The old man tried to get a lot of information from her but she was smart and didn't say anything that was too damaging. The agent at the church was mentioned and she said how she felt much better with somebody from the government there too. The general found out from Marina that she would stay indefinitely now. The General and some of her friends could call her if they wanted. She knew that all the conversations though would be recorded. Marina cried after and we took her to bed. She was mentally exhausted and we made tender love to her and she fell asleep in our arms. Five days later Marina took the next step into joining our family and race. Her orgasm was so intense that rebuilding her mind was very easily accomplished. We all were present and this might start a new tradition but would only be used when bringing a simple Human closer to our group. Ten days after this, we all were with Tom as Alita joined the same way. She was not shy and for the last half cycle Tom's wives and he had slowly brought up her level of orgasms. She was more than just ready for her big one. Though the girl had her wives around she looked at Marina and saw in her what she would soon become. As soon as possible Marina wanted to go the last step. We all knew that she was ready for this important step. The only one that had not gone this far yet was Alita and she would probably do so in ten to twenty days. My wives and I stayed near Marina's tank most of the time. One of us was always within a few metres. It made all of us feel better that this was the case. Work was being done on the various projects but much time now had to be invested in learning. All of us though had much more to learn and I was no exception. There were large gaps in my education that I tried to fill. Not everything was in Borin's memory when we had gone into battle. Some information had to be found the hard way. Most times though we were able to infer what was correct by examining equations or other pieces of data. When Marina came out this time she was just as competent as Sandra and Megan. There were minor differences though and we used the information about our auras to explain the link. In a few days Marina was working right along side us and our productivity increased. It was as if we were approaching this hypothetical critical mass. My parents never had as good a match as what we now had. They had no requirement for secrecy either. If you matched well enough you could join the family but only if you were invited. Tom and Tommy's families didn't seem to work exactly the same way. I had to attribute this to the intensity of their commitment to learning more. They were far beyond what Humans would be like but we were even further along than they were. Everybody was different and the Seffra had learned a long time ago to not try to change what could not come about. We had also found out that it was preferable to have differences that would equate to strengths in certain fields. Tom was still focussed on simple engineering and improving the ship while Tommy loved our weapons. Odava and Ichom were the same as always but were still interested in our improvements but not enough yet to try it themselves. It was advantageous to begin making new engines. There had been new designs found before I took my three centuries sleep. The design was now old but I still wanted to see if I could provide the best engine possible. The smallest test units possible were made and examined. Engines were very safe but did fail on occasion. It was good that we took some precautions. If a unit exploded, it would releasing the energy equivalent of full grams of antimatter. Sporadically we would discuss growing crystals. Zolanda had given us as much information as she had known but we had to do a great deal of supposition to come to any solution. Crystals were either natural or grown as she had said but grown implied manufacturing. The Seffra had never found a way to do this other than with small crystals. We went over old studies to find the criteria needed but nobody had ever managed to get it right. Our limited personnel with minimal training would probably not find a solution but we would still try. The family made more boats to get around in but three more small ships were made like Borin for a multitude of reasons. Tom, Tommy and Odava's families made and used the new ones. Only Borin though had our dark crystal. Research facilities were set up far outside the Oort Cloud. The engines we made were tested to destruction. This was necessary and the usual way they were done. Since we had the small precision fabricator to ourselves, a great many units were made, with each one only a bit different than its neighbours. This was something like nature. The ones that lasted the longest would be the ones that deserved to. Tommy had loved Borin and especially her armaments. The dark crystal had been researched but nothing of any great importance had been found that was not already known. All that was discovered by the Gossna was still in the computers along with our own findings. Tommy now wanted to work on finding more about the intricacies of this crystal and I let him do it. This was a very valid research project and required him to learn a great deal to just bring his mind up to what was needed to find more information. I had been doing much the same thing at his age but I had much more training. Like my family, his followed the same basic reasoning while his father and mother worked to build the ship we would need. None of this was firmly established for fear of making it regimented. We all worked on the ship the same as we all worked on the engines and the dark crystal technology. It was just that some groups had a major focus in one area. One day while relaxing in bed after making love to my wives I detected a new presence. I was very careful and soon traced it back to our little girl still inside Megan. The girls were informed but in their excitement had frightened the child. The next day she came again. Sandra's child soon made a similar appearance. We conversed in simple terms but the children usually went back to sleep quickly. The whole group of us were now listening. Margaret found that her little girl was making her mental debut a little earlier too. It was getting to be old hat by the time Consti mentioned that she had talked to her daughter as well. Ichom had been looking all the time but didn't find the same type of greeting. We didn't know if it was our children's new racial attributes or the fact that we were much more sensitive to thought waves. Ichom and Odava moved in with us for a while and we monitored her because of our enhanced sensitivity. Before the due date, we did detect thoughts and this made both parents very happy. It was only a week before the birth though that I was able to introduce the child to his parents. Our own children, though unborn, were not only conversing simply with us but with their siblings. We were breaking new ground and I could only guess to where our race would one day go. Ichom was the first to deliver. The Gossna were used to people around at birth but they were usually their own kind. Since our group was not that large we were tolerated. Domma was a bright boy but very frightened of his new environment. His hunger though got him to find a breast and start to relieve the pains he didn't have before. Mother and father were very happy and we all tried to act as good Gossna and be quiet. For the most part this worked and it gave us a greater feeling of community. Almost three years since entering the system, Sandra gave me Amanda. This was just fifteen days after Ichom delivered. The girl was purple like other newborn children but unlike them she yelled and complained with her mind more than her voice. Like Domma, she quieted to eat. Her mind though was clear though very immature. I had already fell in love with her and she seemed to need this reassurance. She was barely two kilos but she was healthy. Her expressive eyes were proportionately larger than a Human child's of her size as were her hands and feet. Her hair was dark unlike her mother or me. Her other proportions though made her look perfect in every way. Megan waited until that afternoon and she presented me with Elizabeth. She was almost like a twin to Amanda and she took an equal place in my heart. The two mothers were comfortable for they didn't have to dilate that much. The two babies were between them and the children seemed to like to touch each other with spastically moving muscles. The next day Margaret gave Tom, Lauren. He was very proud of her as if this was his first child. In a way it was the first child in his new life. Consti had to wait for a full cycle before she offered Simna to her adoring father. We were following the custom laid down by the Seffra. A girl child was named after the mother's side of the family while a boy followed his father's side. Work suffered while we all inspected the infants and were inspected in turn. Already the older children were the equivalent of a Human child of twelve months in muscle control and a child of thirty six months in speech even if it was the mental variety. Three days after the birth of Elizabeth, Marina became pregnant too. Though I felt that this was instinct I knew that was not all of the answer. She was very insistent and I had to stay until she was satisfied This was her chance for both of her wives were sidelined for two more days. That didn't stop Sandra and Megan from using their tongues on her. She was one very satisfied lady by the time she went to sleep. By the end of another half cycle the women were pregnant again and so were all the others. The pregnancies had an odd effect on the women. They now worked on the ship as if it were their home. Structures had to be put in for habitation even though other areas should have been done first. The three men and even Odava knew when to do what they were told and did it. That also meant that we had to work longer hours too but it was a fun activity. Here everyone was not just building a ship; we were building a home for our children. This activity did not let up for three cycles of time. At that time we had a serious increase in our population and the women had the first rest they had received in a long time. The males in our group were the same way. ------- Chapter 24 Tommy and his group had made millions of square metres of hull plate to keep his wives on the moon and under the dome. He claimed that Simna had not like weightless conditions before being born. At five and a half months though she seemed to thrive in this environment. She developed her PK early and used it to propel her everywhere she wanted to go. Domma, Amanda, Elizabeth and Lauren were always close. The little Gossna boy felt right at home with the girls. His parents though thought he was learning bad manners and habits but in turn were too polite to let us see this openly. Tom's family had been building more ribs. Sometimes we had to help because of their great size and complexity. These seemed to stay in the dome too until the children were born. The increase in population also meant that somebody had to stay and watch the children. Herminia came to me with her idea for a partial solution. "Captain, my grandmother is very good with children. We talk every other day and she has subtly told me that she is disillusioned with her current life. I thank you very much for what you have done for her but now she finds that there is nobody that she can relate to. The young men of sixty take her money thinking she is senile. It is hard to find boys of fifty that will give her what she needs. She found that her sex life had blossomed even more than it did when she was thirty but the men cannot stay up with her." I explained, "I wanted your grandmother safe. This way she would be happy and much more healthy. A Human of her age has a very short life expectancy." "It is her eightieth birthday is in a week. Tom and Margaret feel that Damita would not want to join us. I think she will and she will do it gladly. She loves her life in Spain but she will stay with us if given the chance. Let's have a short break and go to her birthday party and see what the rest of us can find." "What does Tom think of this?" "He's not against it. He does feel that if he goes then Damita will want to follow even if she eventually wants to return to Spain. This is not just a family decision where a vote would be held but it is a decision effecting the crew. We are leaving the decision up to you." "Well I think we should go. Your former husband has not made a fuss about Alita. His phone calls have come further apart. I can't see him trying to contest the agreement even if he has not been able to see his daughter." Herminia said, "He looks like he is going to marry Maria Hernandez and doesn't need any complications." In the next six days we took most of what we had made and placed it in orbit. Some units were put in place and now the computer guided machines would have to do our work even if they took much longer to do it. Odava and Ichom would carry on in our absence. We landed outside Madrid to allow us to arrive at our destination without turning too many heads. To do this we boarded a train for the short ride to Toledo. Arrangements had been made at the local hotel and we were to occupy a complete floor but one old couple refused to move. We had the money and I liked the added security we would have. One couple would not be too dangerous to us. Diapers had to be fabricated to allow the children to blend in with the others. It was a forgone conclusion that the children had to be compared and fussed over. With fourteen children and all of the women pregnant with others it would look like an invasion. Tom was the only one that stayed away but eventually he would meet Damita if she was found acceptable. Damita was phoned and she was ready to meet us. We pulled up in a long line of taxis. Herminia went to meet her grandmother carrying a child she had talked about in her arms and another one in her womb. Alita was now fourteen but was the same way and very proud of it. The dates had to be fudged for the conception so that the child's birth could correspond to normal Human gestation figures. Tom was listed as the father of Herminia while the father of Alita was not mentioned. It was now understood that it was Alita's business and no others. Damita sat in her usual chair and she talked to everyone present. She was startled with the apparent youth of the group. Herminia looked at least ten years younger than when she left and her body was very lean and fit. Alita looked to have matured and actually looked older. Her stare and self-assurance was usually seen in only those that knew very much about life. The social structure of our group was not understood with just two males and fourteen women. Damita had talked to everyone present on the phone at one time or another but had never seen us. The offer of a computer with a camera didn't work well or the old woman would have been able to talk and see at the same time. Along with Damita were three of her relatives. They didn't understand much of what was going on but could see that Damita was happy. We all made our assumptions of Damita's long term goals but it was still not clear enough to risk the exposure. Alita and Marina convinced the three aged women to show them the facilities so they could change their children. This got the women out of the room long enough for Herminia to ask her some pertinent questions. "Grandmother, we have heard of a job in Portugal. The pay is average but they are providing room and board. I believe two children are involved. You are acting much younger than you were. Would you like to work away from here?" The woman now thought of the implications of moving away and it was much easier now to assess all the values she used to make her feel 'at home'. This looked promising but it still was not clear. Tom was the one most concerned and he asked us from a park not far from the house, "Dig deeper Herminia." Damita said, "I like it around here but it's nice to see someplace new for a change. Up until about a year ago I wanted things to be the same. This way I would not have to bother to change for anybody. Now I find that I have changed and I don't fit in." Herminia said, "I was asking because our children need somebody to look after them. This one here is a perfect baby. She doesn't cry but she can get into trouble. This happens mostly when she and Alita's child are together." Damita liked this idea much more. Herminia continued, "There is even a man we know that thinks you are a special kind of lady. You may even have a man friend if that is what you want." Tom interrupted from the park, "Captain, six people are trying to get into our rooms. I am going to investigate." "If it were common thieves there would not be so many. There's a good chance we have been spotted." I said to our group, "Our visit may be cut short. I want all the children and mothers except Herminia and Alita to get ready to leave. I am calling the boats to prepare for a quick evacuation." On our private band I said, "Sandra and Megan. Look for signs of surveillance." "Yes Captain." To Pat'uch I said, "Monitor all radio communications from this area. We may have been spotted." "Yes Captain." Damita was unaware of our heightened attitude and said, "I'm an old woman dear. What would I need a man for? They have caused me enough grief in my life. I have no wish to get involved at my age. Men are nothing but trouble." We did find that Damita was much more interested in male companionship than she let on. Her voice said though, "I like the idea of looking after my family. Your children are the most beautiful I have seen and the most manageable." Alita came back with Marina with freshly changed children but now didn't seem to be quite as relaxed. The boats were all above the house now. They could leave the house invisibly and enter a boat with very little difficulty. Odava had been monitoring us and asked, "Is there anything you want us to do Captain?" I knew that Ichom avoided trouble but this may be looked on as something to break some of the monotony even if the Gossna liked life to remain stable. "Patrol over the city and look for a military operation against us." "Yes Captain." Herminia said to me, "She wants to come Sir. Things have changed for her especially because of her improved health. The things that tied her here before are not as restrictive. She would stay with us with very little need to meet with other members of our family. The telephone is still available to her along with the internet." I did my own assessment and had to agree with Herminia. Tom I know would welcome her into his family. I also thought it better to allow him to present the offer. To Tom I spoke, "It looks like Damita has changed her attitude about leaving. Our original premise has changed too. She would still be with family. If you and your wives want to invite Damita into your group you have my permission." "Thank you Captain. I came up through the hotel staff entrance and ran up the steps. There has been a very quiet bulletin put out about your wives. They were spotted and followed. Helicopters brought this group directly from Madrid. They are just at the stage where they are going to gather information clandestinely." I said, "I don't want them taking our property. The items are too good for Earth manufacture. If you confront them they will fight. I don't want them to find out your abilities." "I will get the hotel staff to run them off." Tom interfaced with Borin and made a telephone call to the desk and used the name he was currently using. "Hello, I need to reserve seven tables in the restaurant. I am sorry but we will be arriving in ten minutes. The situation just came up." "Have no fear. Your tables will be waiting." Tom then opened a door to an empty room and called the desk. Using the voice of an old man that was a current guest, "There are some thieves on the fifth floor breaking into rooms. I think there are six of them. Don't you people screen strangers coming into the hotel? My wife and I are concerned." "We will do everything necessary sir. They are probably lost or drunk. We will take the appropriate actions." The manager rode the elevator with all the able bodied workers he could find. The pass key was used after a knock. Eventually two men were found. Credentials were offered but now the agents knew that a guest had seen them. The staff were threatened with prosecution if they mentioned anything about this incident. "The people renting these rooms," the manager said, "just reserved tables in the dining room. They will be here any minute." The man in charge did some quick thinking and said to his men, "Put everything back the way we found it. We'll get a chance later." The rooms were quickly evacuated with the agents trying to hide their activities. When the floor was vacant Tom entered the first room. Odava was asked to help and he brought Borin close to the building. An open window was used to throw the suitcases into the ship with an assist by the tractors. Each of the rooms were similarly vacated. The only things left were some small transmitters that would record all words spoken. One of the pieces of luggage had a similar unit now but was safely in the ship and behind a shield. Tom told me, "The rooms are clean. The agents didn't know where we went but will find out when they question the taxi drivers." "You should make an appearance over here and ask Damita if she wants to join us." "I'll be right there." Odava took Tom aboard and they moved the short distance to Damita's home. A tractor had to lower his invisible body to the ground. He met and kissed Margaret in the kitchen. She said, "It looks like we are wanted people now." "Yes it is but I want you more." He bent over and kissed his first wife passionately knowing what it was doing to her. Leaving her in the kitchen Tom walked into the front room and stood beside Herminia. Herminia smiled up at her husband then turned to her grandmother. "This is my husband Tom. Tom this energetic woman is my grandmother. Her name means 'Little Princess'." Tom moved close. Damita didn't know what to do. When Tom got very close she knew why Herminia had this man. When Tom took her hands in his she was very sorry that she was not sixty years younger. Tom said, "Herminia speaks very highly of you. Would you consider coming to live with us? You could look after the children and we will look after you. Many more young people will be around to talk to. They sometimes need a bit of guidance. We really need your help?" Damita had not even got a chance to say hello. He was now asking her to leave all that she loved and had built over a very long lifetime. Even at eighty years of age the woman felt very drawn to this man. She thought it would be best to say no for she knew that she would cause complications in this marriage. She looked up to the young man and tried to read the thoughts behind the words but she could not see any deceit or even subterfuge. She would love to stay with this man for the remainder of her life but the old feeling for solidarity and family held her back. He was giving her permission to move in with a large portion of her family. Herminia, Alita and their children perhaps needed her more but her great grandchildren needed her too though they did seem to be getting along well enough. Tom offered his two hands and Damita looked at them and finally made up her mind. She took them. Instead of releasing them the man pulled her to her feet and then embraced her as she had never been hugged before. She felt the need in the man and an even deeper need within herself to be with this family. Herminia could feel the need to belong in her grandmother and the feeling of family was strong in the direction Damita now wanted to go. She put her child down on the large chair and hugged both her husband and her grandmother. She said, "You will not regret this Grandmother. This will be the first day of a very exciting and rewarding life." Damita looked at the three old women and saw that they were not disapproving but they were not urging her to do this either. They too liked to have everything stable. When the three parted, Damita and Herminia had shining eyes. Herminia said, "We were going to stay at the hotel for a few days but there has been some complications." Damita was now worried for she saw the family leaving. "You can sleep here. We can find room somewhere." "Grandmother, you have to come with us. Now that we have you we don't want you to go. I am afraid some government people will be soon watching this house and then question each of the family. They will be polite at first but they will be very insistent. If you truly want to come with us then you will have to leave today." The three women and Damita were shocked at hearing this. All sorts of ideas went through their minds. Damita said, "But my clothes, my plants, my garden, all my pictures. What about them?" She was now thinking less about the legal repercussions as she was about the actual moving. "We will give you a garden that you will simply love. Tom is very rich and there is only a need for the clothes that you wear. The pictures and all the mementoes that you have collected will go with us." "Why is the government after you? Did you commit a crime?" This aspect was finally being examined. Herminia got Damita to sit then said, "No Grandmother, it was for doing something good." When Damita didn't understand Herminia continued, "There has been no mention of it in the public news but some terrorists tried to take over a Russian reactor to make it send radioactive poisons over the Earth. Our extended family stopped this. Some were seen on surveillance cameras." "Russia sent the pictures to other security agencies for help. They will try to pick up Sandra and Megan for questioning. If they were captured and after many months they would get turned over to the Russians for similar questioning. We do not want our freedom curtailed or any of us subjected to this harassment. Since they were seen with us then we will all be watched now. Somebody had found us at the Madrid train station. We will never be left alone again." Damita looked at Sandra and Megan to see what these beautiful young girls could have done to thwart terrorists. They were so polite she doubted that they would do anything or could do anything to stop some desperate men. She asked, "How could those young girls do anything to anger some terrorists?" In the back of her mind the possibility of overhearing a plan and then telling the police came as a possibility. Sandra said, "We have a computer that monitors radio traffic. All the major countries have similar units. Most listen to telephone calls and listen for special words like assassinate, smuggle, murder, heroin, cocaine, Prime Minister or President. If those words are detected then the call is sent to people to assess. Actions can then be taken to prevent a crime. We found talk about the terrorist act but were able to get there before the army arrived." "What did you do?" Herminia said for Sandra, "We only watched. Sandra, Megan and Leif went into the reactor buildings and subdued the terrorists. They then went to the Administration building. There they were forced to kill some of the attackers. Marina here can tell you more for she was there when her father was killed by the terrorists." "What?" She was upset with death but being killed was another thing. Marina got up and handed her child to Megan. She walked up to Damita and held her hands. "The Chechens came in and killed many of the workers to make the rest do as they were told. I was visiting my father. He was an important person in the running of the plant. When the gunshots were heard he hid me in a closet. The Chechens came into the room and demanded to be allowed to have the important password into the computer." "They hurt a great many people before they finally killed my father." Marina started to break down and Damita pulled her into her lap. It took a while but Marina started again, "Leif came into the room and started to stun the Chechens in the back of the room first. One of the enemy saw some strange things happen and started to shoot because there was some talk about invisible people. Leif threw an ashtray and killed him before bullets could hit the area I was hiding in." "Sandra and Megan had let themselves be captured and when they saw that things were going wrong they began to fight with a type of karate. In less than a minute they had knocked unconscious or killed everybody around them. They all saved me from the Chechens. If you heard anything about the Chechens it is true except they are even more viscous than reported. They wanted to kill all of Moscow and all the cities south of it." "They fought armed men and won?" The old woman said. "They did more than that. They went out and fought the Chechens that had rocket launchers, missile batteries and machine guns so the Russians would be safer. Russian troops had already been killed in an ambush and many more were killed later as they tried to free the nuclear facility." Damita and the three old women just sat with their mouths open. They seemed to believe what was said but could not picture this happening in their minds. Damita said, "They did a wonderful thing. Why are they being chased?" "They used a special weapon that stunned the enemy without killing them. They also had a good computer to monitor communications. The governments want to find out exactly what we know. To do this they will spy on us then demand answers. When none come, we will be kidnapped and forced to talk under drugs or torture." "They can't do that. You can call the police." "The people doing this will be the Spanish security service. Only when they are done will they turn us over to the Russians. They have much power and the police will even help if they are asked to do so." "You have to hide. You have to go now." "They will not knock on the door for a day or so but they will come." "Call your nephew. He can drive you to a safe place." "We have a very safe place that they cannot find. We actually came here to celebrate your birthday and to ask you if you want to join us." Damita looked at Herminia then at Alita to see the truth of the matter. The two just nodded their heads to confirm the statement. Marina got up and wiped a tear away and asked, "Are you still going to join us? We need you but I think Tom and Herminia need you the most." After a short pause to think she said, "I will go with you." After that Damita went through her belongings and the old women along with both Herminia and Alita packaged up what she should take. Some twenty year old shoes and even older dresses had to be left behind. Pat'uch and Borin had been keeping us appraised of all the important communications. Herminia, Damita, Alita, and two children left for a farm in a taxi. Before they left Herminia insisted that Damita have a small glass of water with a sedative in it. The personal belonging went with Tom. He was just two minutes ahead of the security perimeter being set up. The rest of us took to the boats. The old women were hugged and told that we had left or at least all but Margaret. She ran from the house by the back door and into the boat waiting for her. Tom just carried Damita's property and got the taxi stop in a quiet rural area and unloaded the suitcases and bags. The driver was perplexed but accepted his pay with a tip. In seconds the cargo would be loaded into a boat. Herminia did the same thing when her turn came. The driver didn't like to leave the women and babies at the side of the road but did as he was asked. The old woman was getting very sleepy but didn't seem to worry. She was hearing voices telling her how safe she was for the last five minutes. When she finally fell asleep, a boat barely ten metres long became visible right beside them. Damita was carried inside and in a few more minutes she was in her new bed in her new home. ------- Damita in the coming weeks was treated with the med units and even went into the tank. She came out much younger but still a Human. She could think much clearer now and decided to join Tom's family. She turned out to be a very responsive woman and in one more week was undergoing the first step into joining us. Phone calls came to us all the time. Some were for Damita. Her voice was altered but she gave truthful answers to the many questions. Very little was learned by the security people even though they listen to every sound coming from the receiver. The relatives were all questioned then questioned again but it was obvious that they knew little or nothing. Sometimes the Russians were even in the room when the questioning was going on. Probes were always close by and we knew that some of the information went right back to Vladimir Bogdanov. One cycle after joining us, Damita was now not only one of us but she was now a young looking woman with a young woman's appetite. The information that she was now pregnant did nothing to lessen the way she needed to have sex with her husband and even her wives. The babysitter problem never went away but only got worse. Most times the women close to term stayed in a gravitational field while the others helped us assemble the ship. As time went on the groups rotated. As a half way measure a large gym was constructed with its own variable gravitational field. This kept the family closer together. Portable gravitational units were made and stationed at the various joints so that everybody could work at assembling for this was our present bottleneck. A good five percent of the hull was on the moon's surface ready to be attached. This work felt satisfying to all of us but to me and my family it was even better somehow. This had to do with a sense of community and a love that was shared by all. Our population though didn't allow us to work as fast as we should and two years after Damita had come to us we returned to Earth once more Instead of families we went as individuals. The Gossna and four of the most expectant mothers stayed to watch the eighty six children. We all looked older now and had different features. It was a foregone conclusion that we were still searched for. The other families had six wives apiece and all of them jokingly wanted me to do my share. They vowed to look especially for me. My own studies were to nominally end in four years but I could see it lasting much longer with more obligations. The time taken could be much shorter if I could study more. I spent a great deal of my time with all the children. I felt very proud to be their father for they were so inquisitive. They would be the first real generation of our people and I had to make sure they grew up in the right way. This meant a lot of love and especially with the discipline to learn. Some of the children already wanted to help me in my research and as a large unit they did assist. They saw things differently than I did and this made me rethink many of the things I had learned by rote. I thought them very intelligent for three year-olds. It was now six years since coming to this system and it didn't seem to feel boring in the least for I now had my own family to keep me very occupied. Not all this time was spent building for we had gone to all the local planets to access the scattered portions found of the destroyed ship. Some were found on Pluto and Mercury but the largest planets hid their secrets even when we made a hardened probe to deal with their different environments. We were very lucky to find a damaged engine buried deep in Saturn. We analysed this unit after a difficult time of extracting it. We found it similar to our own but had some interesting differences too. I did some reverse engineering and deduced that our engines were at least as efficient though they worked on some slightly different principles. These different principles encouraged me to do more research because there may be a way of blending the engines to make them even more efficient. Mars gave us a wrecked accumulator and a fair number of hull fragments. Nothing was worth keeping but we took the pieces anyway to keep future generations of Humans from getting any foolish ideas. Surrounding systems were searched too as was the Oort cloud and any asteroid field we came across. We had to assume that the vast majority had been intercepted by stellar bodies up to hundreds of light years away. we were actually in the centre of this cluster. We plotted the probable point of where the ship exploded but found nothing. I counted myself very lucky to find Zolanda even if she did leave us later. She had her own programming as we all did and we had to be true to it. This time we concentrated on South America for our search for new family members. I had to chuckle though that Tommy now had two additional wives after only a month of searching. Both came from Colombia. He had to go back to the moon with Consti to get the two new recruits settled in. One was a woman of forty eight and the other was only thirty one. The rest of his family continued the search. The first new wife's name was Ginessa. She was a widow of thirty one and was very happy to find interested in her. She had a limp caused by a poorly healed left leg. The break had happened twelve years previously and made her look odd and caused her to reject humanity for the way they treated her. The next wife Bella was even older at forty eight but she came readily after feeling Tommy's aura. She was separated from her husband and her children had grown up. Tom found another wife too in Oaxaca Mexico. She was only twelve and he avoided going close. Margaret managed to follow the child in a crowd and get a tiny crystal implanted so her location could be found later. Tommy went back to Colombia to continue his own search while I did Brazil. When he got to Bogotá different groups tried to rob him five times. Usually they saw him as an easy target. The youngsters he treated better than the older ones. A large felon leading a gang had thoughts of raping Tommy and killing him later. This one died quickly in front of his two friends. Tommy laterally pulled his body apart. The other two accomplices became his devoted guides but not by choice. People would actually come to see him knowing what he had done. The police were not part of this group. Sandra and Megan had problems as did all the other women from very forward men. South America seemed to encourage dominant men. Most of them looked elsewhere after talking to any of the women. The ones that didn't were physically encouraged to. Margaret had to show one group bent on raping her, the error of their ways. The leader was brutal and killed quite often for the pleasure of it. Margaret had jumped in the air and kicked the man under the chin so hard that the head had disappeared in a haze of red mist and small fragments. She had her own protectors now just as her son had. They were told to do this or face the same fate as their former leader. This did help and she taught them the benefits of following a strong but kind woman. It kept the nastier folk at bay. She did find another wife for Tom and she was only twenty four. She had been forced into prostitution at a young age. Margaret had bought her from the pimp for a hundred dollars and his life. He liked the deal immensely after her protectors talked of their former leader. Liani was not that happy to leave but found the error of her ways when she found that Margaret really cared for her. A med unit worked on the girl to remove a multitude of diseases, parasites and a calcified fetus. The woman was infertile and happy that this was the case. She did follow Margaret all the time now and she was very happy to live what she considered the good life. Liani was moderately lesbian and tried to pay Margaret back. They did enjoy each other but Margaret put her straight to her future role as a wife in a polygamous family. This was as close as she could describe their present relationship. Sandra was doing Curitiba. It was the capital of the state of Paranáa. The city had a population of well over two million inhabitants in southern Brazil. She tracked a small child down of only four that was running through the streets. Though very young, she had the attributes we were looking for. The idea Sandra had was the same as what Margaret had done. A tiny probe stung the child and in doing so a crystal was implanted in her shoulder. Sandra followed the child invisibly to see that she made it home safely. She lived in a filthy tenement seemingly occupied by prostitutes, their pimps, drug dealers and other assorted criminals. She was still fearful for the child and walked up five floors following the child. There was so much noise in the building that the heavy tread on the steps was not noticed by the child. The child raced in an open door and Sandra followed to the doorway. She had to watch out for people were standing in the hall either smoking or talking. A breeze blew in the open windows of one side of the building and after crossing the hall it left the building the same way on the other side. Flies were heavy in the air and the hallways were littered with refuse. When the shield was parted momentarily, the smell of vomit, urine, cigarette smoke, and even faecal matter were detected. The apartment had a woman sitting at a table. A cigarette was in her fingers and she was reading a newspaper looking for some sort of work. Around her were three children. Marco, a boy of three and Eduardo, a boy of five were watching a small television set. Ana-Margarida, the four year old girl that led Sandra to the apartment, was showing her mother the small red spot on her shoulder. The mother adjusted a poultice on her own leg and looked to see what was bothering her youngest daughter. Besides the three children, the dark haired woman of thirty had six more children. All of which were girls. The woman's name was Catrina Henriques. Two years ago her husband, Juan Antonio Henriques had died of lung cancer from working in the mines. He had left her with no insurance and nine children. The company had given her a lump sum amount and crossed her and her family off their books. She was even more afraid for her children for she felt that the growth on her left leg was cancerous too. This would mean that her children would be cast out into the world with no immediate family to protect them. She had little in the way of marketable skills and relied on the old standby of prostitution. There were very few men that would take a woman on who had such a large family. She was deathly afraid that her children would be pulled into her trade too or forced in by her pimp that lived on the main floor. Already he and others were pressuring the girls to abandon their schooling and take to the 'easy life'. The most remarkable thing Sandra saw was that Catrina had the aura that she was looking for with the addition of the dark area linked to disease. This was a family with two such auras and that was hard to understand. Megan and her had nearly the same aura and even one of them was extremely rare. Sandra looked deep into Catrina's mind. She had the same drives and foibles as everyone else with her aura. With both people at risk Sandra had to do something. It was very possible that Ana-Margarida may not even make it to puberty and thus into the family. The family had to be stabilised. This time one or only two could not just be rescued, it had to be all of them. The mother had to be treated or the black area of her aura would spread and then the children would be orphans. The three youngest were not old enough for school but the other six were presently in class if they were not skipping them. The two schools were close by. There were better quarters for them to live in until Sandra's fellow wives and I could assess the situation. Standing to one side, she concentrated on her boat. It had been shadowing her all the time. The feed from the various sensors came to her and with Catrina's plundered knowledge found a suitable hotel only a kilometre away. A phone call was made through the computer. The desk clerk answered the phone by naming the business and adding that he would assist the caller. Sandra's thoughts were translated into words and sent over the local phone lines. "Hello My name is Lady Forsythe. I would like to reserve four connecting rooms for my family and servants. There are nine children. Some are as young as three. There will be two adults with more coming soon. I expect to stay three days but it may be longer." "Certainly we can help you. We just happen to have two connecting suites that are side by side. That many children may be a problem though. For an extra fee we may be able to put you all up in the two penthouse suites. The cost for those are quite high." "I will see you in three hours. We can discuss the specifics when we get there." "Yes, Madam." Sandra avoided a child running by then started down the steps she had come up earlier. When no eyes were in her direction she gained her visibility but kept her shield in place because of the stench. She walked up the dozen steps. Everybody in the hallway stopped and stared at her. Her long blonde hair was now a dark red but of equal length. She looked a bit older than she really was. Walking down the hallway she came to the open door and knocked with her knuckles on the frame. Catrina looked up sharply as she was putting some iodine on the small mark on her daughter's shoulder. "Yes," she asked. "Hello, my name is Sandra." She said it slowly so the woman could say it correctly later. "I am looking for Catrina Henriques." The woman was worried and said, "That's me." "Good. I have been looking for a maid for my family. Your name was recommended to me. Are you interested in a job? Benefits include room and board for you and your family." The woman was now very interested. "How long do you need this maid?" "It's a full time job. The pay is fair but the benefits include clothing for the children as well as their education." Catrina quickly removed her cigarette, ashtray and the newspaper. "I am sorry. Will you please come in and have a seat? Would you like some water? I can make some tea or coffee." The people in the hall were interested in all the conversation and moved closer to listen. Sandra did take the seat and smiled at the children that had all gathered to see the beautiful stranger. They now hid behind their mother. Sandra said, "Water would be fine. The pay starts at four hundred American dollars a month. That's not much but everything else is paid for. There are insurance and health benefits for all. I was told that you have older children. There is a good chance the older ones may find employment on the estate. Our grounds are quite extensive." "Will I be... ?" She stopped for she didn't worry if she had to perform sexual acts or not. She had been doing it now and for less money. The children though would be looked out for. "The job sound very good. I can do what a maid must do. I'll take the job." An old woman in the open doorway smiled for she saw the possibility of Catrina leaving this squalor with her family. Sandra just ignored them for they were no threat. Sandra made some inquiries to make it sound like a realistic attempt to find out what Catrina's qualifications were. There were many questions asked by Catrina but they were all unimportant. As long as she could work long enough to provide enough money for her children then she would be happy. If the family was good they may even find a good home for the children after she fled this life. The doorway had gathered more people and they had heard the arrangement. Running footsteps were heard on the steps then a few more words were passed in the hall. A large man came bursting into the room. Luis De Oliveira said, "What is this about you leaving. I never gave you permission." The man turned to glower at Sandra and saw that she was very beautiful and could command a good price if she were marketed right. Even if she didn't make a good business move she would make him feel good for a few days. "What's your name young lady. I have a vested interest in protecting Catrina." Sandra had stayed in her chair but now casually stood and tucked the chair in. "You are a worthless pimp that preys on helpless women. You rob them of the money you owe them and neglect all the things that you promised to deliver when you forced them under your iron rule." "Catrina is now under my employ; not yours. I will protect her from the likes of you and anybody else." "You will protect her! You cannot even manage against me and I am not the biggest." "Come and try your luck Senhor De Oliveira." To Catrina, she said, "Take the children into the other room and close the door. Pack only your keepsakes. Leave all of your clothes. We are going to your children's schools in a moment." The pimp was very angry now. "I don't think she is going anywhere. She belongs to me." "Not any longer." The man now attacked with a hard backhand swing. Sandra moved just enough to avoid the swing and deliver a kick to the man's testicles. The blow was not enough to render him sterile but enough to keep him worried about other things for the next hour. Sandra stepped in even before the man hit the floor and kicked him in the jaw to put him out. Another quick movement and she caught the man after he hit the floor and threw him at the crowd blocking the doorway. She knocked many of them back to the opposite wall. Sandra turned back to the utterly devastated woman and said quietly with her hand on the woman's shoulder, "Get the children dressed. Pack the things you want to keep. Give the rest to your friends." "But... you beat him. I have never seen him beaten before." Sandra had to take hold of the woman's arm and lead her into the bedroom. An old suitcase was found and everything that had sentimental value went into it. Sandra used Catrina's memories to dress the three children. Before they were finished three men burst into the apartment. They were competing pimps but they didn't want to let any of the women see a possible way out. Sandra knew they were coming and left the bedroom. She quietly closed the door behind her. The hallway now was empty even of the unconscious pimp. The newcomers had been appraised of the situation and began immediately to try to lay a beating on the woman before them. This was something they had a lot of experience doing. Sandra choreographed all her moves in advance and used the minimum force and the minimum number of blows to the three men. They ended up in the hallway seconds after entering the apartment. She saw a large wallet sticking our of one pocket. She took it and part of the pants as well. The other two were similarly treated. Sandra went down the hall and opened a door. She just walked in and took a similar wallet from the unconscious man. The man that had the apartment was going to protest but changed his mind after looking at Sandra. "Throw Senhor De Oliveira into the hallway with the rest." "But..." The man did as he was told and saw the other three laying senseless. His wise decision to cooperate was rationalised. When the man was about to retreat Sandra said, "Get Ana Santoz then come back here." The man quickly did as he was asked. Sandra knocked on some other doors and got the women to come out. They came into Catrina's apartment after staring at the four bleeding men on the floor. Catrina was surprised to find her friends in her apartment. A few seconds later Ana came up to see what had happened. Sandra said, "Now is the time to give what you do not need any more to your friends. If you do not do this it will just be stolen." Catrina got busy but Sandra told her to just use words instead of actions. There was no need to put the property in the women's hands. The children's clothes were hard to give up. She thought of all the work she had to do to get the money in the first place. Most were second hand but were in good shape. The woman got into the swing of things and finished up. The only thing that was left were some towels that Sandra had saved to last for some reason. Sandra took most of the money from the wallets and hid it in the folds of the cloth. She had sorted it according to how much need the various women had. She let the women see a portion of the bills then hid it before handing out the towels. When she finished she said, "The towels were split according to need. Do not ever question this even among yourselves. Now take some of your property and start moving it to its new home. If you ever talk about these towels you may find that someone will come and try to reclaim them." The women clutched the towels and did as they were asked. At the door Sandra took some money and secretly slipped it into the waiting man's hand. "Stay here to ensure that only those that were given Catrina things get them. When the small things have been moved you will find some friends and move the heavy things for the women. You will not ask or expect to get any more money for this. Is there a question?" "No senhora. I understand completely." Catrina stood in the doorway with a large suitcase and a purse. She looked stunned. The four men were still in a heap. In her mind she liked to see them hurt but was happy that they still lived. The police now could hurt her new employer. Sandra squatted and opened her arms to little Marco. The boy was shy but soon felt something that made him run to the strange woman. Sandra picked the boy up and held Eduardo's had after he decided to follow his brother. They walked down the steps and on every landing people were there to watch them leave. The friends that were scrambling for all the goods had to move aside as the five people came down the steps. Sandra unexpectedly stopped at the manager's apartment. She put the boy down and knocked. Catrina cringed for she was behind in her rent and was now leaving. A man in a sleeveless undershirt came to the door and ready to yell at the person that was disturbing him. Sandra presented him with a fist full of her money and said, "Catrina and her family are leaving for good. This is for the rent and the utilities. Next month's rent is also there." The man was dumfounded. He had instinctively taken the money. After looking at Sandra he was happy he didn't have to go after her for the rent. A blind man could see that she projected violence and controlled anger. Sandra just turned and took the family out into the hot afternoon. In moments they were in a cab. It was quite full with everything. Sandra directed them to a clothing store that fit her present image. The ill-looking family got out and a doorman at the upscale business considered blocking their way until he saw Sandra's scowl. He hastened to open the heavy door and usher them all in. Catrina whispered, "What are we doing here?" "School is not out yet and we have some shopping to do. Let's do these children first." The saleswoman came quickly but slowed at what she saw. Sandra said, "I want these children dressed in good, serviceable clothing that looks reasonably fashionable. They need everything from the skin out." "Yes ma'am. She lead the troop to the underwear then to the socks. Sandra chose quickly. Pants, shirts, and a dress followed. Catrina stood by the cash register with her suitcase while Sandra took her children one at a time into get changed. They came back looking very different. It took her a moment to see that the children were clean too. Sandra put each child on the counter and threw the old clothes into a pile. In less than two more minutes the strange woman came back with three pairs of shoes that fit each child perfectly. Sandra leaned back and looked at the young children. Their hair was still in disarray but they were the cleanest they had ever been. They were much healthier and getting better as their bodies gained on the diseases that had ran rampant in them. Sandra paid in dollars and left a gratuity if the suitcase could be watched and a suitable home found for the old clothes. Sandra took the two boys' hands and led them to the women's wear section. Again Sandra went to where she wanted and picked out the clothes she wanted Catrina to wear. In two minutes Sandra was beckoning Catrina to enter the change room with her. Four year old Ana-Margarida would ensure that her brothers behaved. Catrina was not shy but soon knew that she had to completely disrobe in front of her new employer. Nudity above the waist was common but this would somehow be different. The woman was very efficient but she knew that she was kind too. There was some force pulling them together. She had girlfriends when young that did what all children did at the time. She also had women clientele that treated her nice and she even enjoyed the time with them. This time she would try to see how close they could really be. Sandra too felt the attraction but held herself in check. When Catrina was down to nothing she pirouetted to show her new boss what she was offering. Hopefully the woman would not reject her. Sandra reached forward and with two hands held Catrina's face and kissed her "We will be good friends. You are now safe and so is your family. Now put your pretty bum on the seat. I have two things here to run them over you. It is the latest way of cleaning. The other checks things out medically." "Yes my lady." Catrina sat quickly. She felt both naughty and tingly at doing this. Sandra ran the cleanser over the woman's head, ears and face. It went over both sides of the hands and arms. It made Catrina ticklish but she stayed in position. She had to stand and Sandra ran the device all over her body. Catrina tried to position herself so the growth on her leg would not be seen. Sandra ignored the growth and spread Catrina's legs. The tingling lasted a long time. Catrina was even sorry for it to leave but she now felt the cleanest she had ever been. "Show me your leg Catrina." "Yes Mistress." Catrina knew exactly what the woman wanted to see and with some hesitation reluctantly displayed the area. Another device went to work on it. The area tingled a bit then it felt warm. In a moment it got hot but not too uncomfortable. When Sandra stood up she said, "The growth is dead now. It will leave slowly unless we speed things up." Sandra now looked at the clothing as if the removal of a cancerous growth was nothing. "Now step into these my baby." Catrina did as she was asked and soon she was dressed by her employer. When the dress was slipped over her head, Sandra stepped in and kissed the woman. After the back was done up Sandra reached in the front and unerringly gently pinched the two nipples. Catrina eased herself back to Sandra for support. She was ready now to give herself to this woman. Instead, the old clothes were gathered up. Catrina had to sit on a comfortable chair as Sandra gave the tags to the clerk and went for shoes. Sandra had a lot of experience with clothes but the designs were usually given to the fabricator. She had to deal now with ready made articles. Some shoes that she knew that Catrina would like were chosen as they went with her new dress. The clerk put them on Catrina who stood and smiled very broadly. Sandra said, "You look better now. Let's go hotel shopping." A better taxi was called on the telephone. The driver placed the suitcase in the trunk and was instructed to bring it into the hotel too. The five were more quickly allowed into the hotel. The desk clerk was actually the manager. Sandra gave her pseudonym and asked to see the rooms before signing to anything. The manager himself took them upstairs with a bellboy carrying the heavy suitcase. Sandra looked displeased at what she was presented. Where she put her hand she found dirt, a cracked lamp or a water stained sink. The other suite had similar problems. Rooms were negotiable but the rich seldom did this themselves. Sandra knew what she could get away with and made sure the alcohol was removed and healthy snacks put in their place. Room service in the morning was now included but the cost still shocked Catrina. The two rooms for three nights were more than her old apartment for a year. Many additional services were purchased and added to the already astronomical bill. ------- Chapter 25 They went back down without the suitcase and Sandra gave her credit card number and a cash deposit as part of the deal. In moments the hotel limousine drove the group to the elementary school to pick up the next five children. They were five minutes early and decided to just sit and talk. The privacy glass was up and the driver was not trying to listen. Catrina said, "I have never been in a car like this before. Do you drive this way often?" Sandra smiled at her. "We have our own transportation that is much nicer. You will see a sample of it soon but I want to get to know you and your family a bit better first. Tell me about the rest of your family. I like to hear about children. Soon you will meet mine." "You have children. You don't look it." "Thank you Catrina. I actually have four children and I am pregnant now." "Really? I never would have guessed. The next child after Eduardo, is Izabel. She just started school and is seven. She is really sweet. Her older sister Raisa is nine. She learns very quickly and does very well in school. Tatiana is eleven and already she know everything. Fatima is twelve and much the same but she is afraid of men. That's a good thing I think or she would already be in trouble. Her sister Yelena is fourteen and very beautiful. The boys come around her like bees to a flower. Alicea is the one at the other school. She is fifteen and getting to be quite a handful. I don't know if she or Yelena have been with men yet but I think it probable. I just hope they don't get pregnant as early as I did. Catrina got out of the car when the bell was heard. She positioned herself so that she would catch all of her children. They came running out of the school with smiles on until they saw their mother. Catrina kissed each of them and told them to stay with her. When Izabel, Raisa, Tatiana, Fatima and Yelena were all in line they walked to the long dark car. They were very surprised to see the car, never mind get into it. They looked inside first and saw their three younger siblings and a beautiful woman. The mother ushered them in and there was even enough places to sit though it was cramped. They were surprised when the powerful car pulled away and the children looked out the tinted glass at their friends looking in. Yelena looked at Sandra and asked her mother, "Where are we going?" "I have a new job. We are getting Alicea and going to our temporary home. We have moved out of the apartment." They all sat a bit stunned. Catrina introduced Sandra and told the children what she thought her duties were. In the back of her mind she hoped it would be to curl up in bed with the beautiful redheaded woman across from her. Sandra was the one that was really shocked though. She felt tingly all over like she felt at home with her wives and me. Tatiana, Fatima and Yelena all had the aura she was looking so hard to find and here she found five of them. She was so excited that she could not wait and called me. "Leif, I have some sensational news." "Hello Sweetheart. What is it? I can see that you're very excited." "I was keeping some of it for a surprise but I can't wait. I found five more wives for us." "What!" "That is what I said. A mother of thirty has nine children. A fourteen, twelve, eleven and a four year old are what we are after. The mother too is one of us." I was currently in central Brazil. The news stunned me. The ages though would allow me a period of grace before I really had to work. "Tell me about them." Sandra gave me a condensed version including Catrina's old profession and the way Sandra had to take care of some men that wanted to argue with her. She described all the children so I could pick them out of a crowd myself. She wanted to have more time alone with them so she could convince them to follow us. Not all would be attracted to my aura and may be too frightened to leave their city and country. I stayed mentally with them as the limo stopped at the highschool. The children were playing with all the gadgets until Catrina got them to stand in the heat outside of the air-conditioned car. A tall girl with a surly disposition and a wine mark blemished face came to them. She stood before us and asked, "What's this mom?" She wanted to ask if her mother had a new and rich client. Sandra and I both intently scanned her but she did not have the same aura as the majority of her sisters. Catrina said, "I have a new job working in a large home. We get living quarters, clothing and food, along with my pay. I was told that you may get a job working on the grounds if you wish. We have already moved out of the apartment and we are living temporarily in a hotel. My employer said that all of you will be given an education." Catrina wanted to mention the growth starting to leave but she had not told the children that it was probably going to kill her. Telling them now may be a poor thing to do. Sandra put out her hand and said, "Hello Alicea. My name is Sandra. What your mother has said is correct but there is more that has not been mentioned yet. Let's go and do some shopping for clothes? We can go to the restaurant in the hotel to eat later. I think you'll love it in our household." Alicea was dumfounded but managed to nod her head. They all got into the limo with the youngest sitting on laps. Sandra liked the feel of Ana-Margarida in her arms and the child cuddled close for she thought the same thing considering they had the same aura. A different clothing store was stopped at and the older children were asked to get three sets of clothes and a cash allowance to do so. Never had they had so much money. The younger ones would get additional garments too. Izabel and Raisa had to be assisted but they still knew what they liked. The chauffer had to put the purchases in the trunk and come back for more. Sandra whispered as she slipped Catrina more money that she made in many months, "Buy some nice dresses. I want to see you look beautiful. Pick ones that say you belong to a rich family and they take care of you." Her eyes really sparkled and she said, "Yes mistress. I want to do anything you say no matter what it is." The offer was as blatant as possible now. Sandra knew what drove the woman and put her head closer and said, "Are you going to be my slut? One who will make me feel good as I make my slut feel good?" Catrina started to shake in excitement and her new panties were starting to get moist. "I will make you happy that you found me." "I already am Honey." The girls came with clothes and Sandra gave her assessment. The girls noticed that she never looked at the price tag. Alicea's wardrobe looked more like a prostitute's. Instead of criticising, Sandra mentioned how some things would match better. The girl had many problems. Her face was blemished. This cause her to be angry at all those that were not friends with her. This also drove away some possible friends. They did leave, wearing some of their new clothes. The chauffeur was tipped well and they all went up to the two penthouse suites. The rooms had been cleaned much better while they were out. A cart was there with much more linen for their exclusive use. The children ran around checking everything out until Sandra rounded them up for their meal The children loved the elevator and the preferential treatment they got from the staff. They had their own private waitress at Sandra's urging. This allowed the two adults to eat while the youngest members were assisted. When they all trooped upstairs again Sandra sent the oldest ones off to shower and presented them with satin pyjamas that she had kept hidden. The television was turned on and Sandra saw it for the first time in years. It hadn't improved any. Catrina sat very close and waited for Sandra to take possession of her with her arm. She wanted to be meek and mild until she learned the ropes then she would work hard to seduce this beautiful woman on a nightly basis. In a moment the older woman was moving all over the couch as if she had an itch. Sandra was using her PK to gently stimulate her companion's clit. This worked all too well. Catrina said, "Mistress, will you come and check out the sleeping arrangements?" Behind a closed door, Sandra suddenly pushed Catrina's shoulders against the wall, forcing her to push out her breasts and stay immobile. "Is my slut horny? Does she want to lick my clit as I lick hers? Does she want me to get a dildo and plunge it into her cunt? I know for a fact that she likes it in the ass too. Is she going to beg?" Catrina slid to the floor and got on her knees. She walked closer on her knees so her face was at the juncture of Sandra's legs. "Please let me remove your clothes. I want to part you legs and lick you from your feet to your head. I will spend an eternity between your legs making you love me more with each movement. You will never find a reason to throw us out." Sandra's ardour cooled and took the woman's face in her hands and backed up a bit. "You now belong to my family. I am going to take a personal interest in you. You will squirm and call out in orgasm so loud that the entire world will hear you. Your family is safe. We will not throw any of you out. I know you want sex with me and I want it with you but this is not a condition of you joining us. You are free to do as you choose. If you had died today of that cancer then I would raise your family in ours. Do you understand that there is nothing more to worry about?" Catrina's emotions were on a roller coaster and she just hugged Sandra's upper legs to her and cried for the relief she just gave her. Sandra petted her head and the older woman felt that this was the way it should be always. Sandra helped the woman up and they layed out who should sleep where. Catrina had to be helped to clean up so she came out again composed much better. The children didn't even notice for they now had a very large television and many more stations to choose from. Sandra and the children's mother took the younger ones to separate showers and cleaned them again. Izabel showered with Sandra and the two talked as they cleaned each other. They played with the soap suds and Sandra dried the child and got her dressed. Izabel was reluctant to let this end and hugged the still naked Sandra. When everybody was dressed in pyjamas, Sandra ordered snacks from room service. A woman had been asked to serve them all the time mainly because they didn't want a strange man to ogle them. Fatima was still extra cautious around men and the female servers would let her relax more. The woman, making the delivery, was almost mugged by the children and she laughingly pushed the cart into the room and retreated. Sandra and Catrina held each other as a romance played on the television. The rest of the children all gathered around. Izabel got first choice and get herself into Sandra's lap. When the movie ended and the credits were first started the scene changed to a view of the moon. A few people were using some gigantic machinery to make some inscrutable articles. None of them were dressed in space suits. Sandra burst out laughing and even more when my image on the screen looked at her in question. Sandra said to everybody, "That is supposed to be the moon. You can see the dust settle slowly. Air is not present to hold it up. That young man is wearing a transparent suit and he looks familiar to me. I have seen him someplace." My figure on the screen just blew her a kiss and the television shut off. Sandra looked down to Izabel on her lap and said, "Have you seen that movie star before. He looks like what the English call a 'ham'. It means that he likes people to see him. Izabel said, "He's cute but I have never seen him before. What's his name?" "It was Leefstic at one time but he picked a shorter name to wow the audience. Now let's all go for a pee and go to bed." There were two main bathrooms and two en suites. This was great with nine females. When the sleeping arrangements were given out the three youngest wanted to sleep with mother. Izabel did too but with Sandra. This frustrated both women but they were both mothers. Izabel and Ana-Margarida happily got on each side of Sandra while Marco and Eduardo got their mother. The rest of the children had the other penthouse to themselves. An hour later only some of the children were asleep. Sandra called in the med units and they silently put the rest into the same condition. Sandra got up and used the med unit on Izabel and the cleanser to. Later she went to the others. She cleaned and medicated the other five. They were old enough to give some sort of objection about the strange treatment if they were awake to do so. She turned the children over and the med unit gave its assessment. Sandra was a bit concerned about some things and went back to investigate the three youngest again. The children were certainly into sexual investigation. With a bit of subtle enquiry she found that Yelena, the oldest girl with the aura we wanted had started using the dildos her mother used. Similar devices were used in her mother's trade. The girl still had her hymen by a miracle but did enjoy anal stimulation. She used the anal dildos on herself then showed her sisters. Tatiana and Fatima were of the same aura and thus had the same anal fixation. Yelena's discovery was very welcomed. The girls found it even nicer if somebody else did this to them so the group did it to themselves. It was Yelena that made sure that the device was not used in the other opening. Alicea had been brought in too but found the stimulation there was not as great. She despaired of having a mate and used the device on her vagina. Soon she was sneaking her mother's toys as much as she could. Ana-Margarida though only four had seen her sisters secretly enjoying themselves. When they had left she used the smallest device on herself. She enjoyed the sensations after a while and used the devices when her older siblings were in school. Being a child she had convinced her two younger brothers of the benefits of the device. It seemed that after the pain they liked the feeling even if it was more of being close in a selective group. Sandra had to laugh and was prepared to tell her family but they were all asleep at the moment. In a way she wanted to protect this family. Already they were not strangers but friends and many would be future wives. The secret would come out later but she would not be the one spreading the information. Alicea's facial discolouration was now going to start to fade along with her acne problem. Yelena was beginning to have the latter skin problem that would face all teenagers. Now it would bypass her. With the entire family healthy or at least their bodies making it so, Sandra crawled back into bed. The two girls with her reminded her of her own children now on the moon and she wanted to hurry this operation so she could be home with them again. Ana-Margarida especially reminded Sandra of herself when young. She liked putting things up her back passage then and she still did as an adult. After a few hours sleep Sandra awoke. Ana-Margarida's hand had gone over Sandra and caressed the much larger breast in her sleep. Sandra put the hand back carefully and got out of bed to start her day. Catrina was still sleeping and her own hand was between her legs. It looked like the woman had been able to find some relief herself after a fashion. The two boys were on the outside of the large bed and their mother was relatively free at the moment. Going to the open French windows Sandra called the boat to her. This particular one was made by her as one of her projects. A small matter transmitter deposited a very special package into her hands and in a moment another object was next to it. She took them to the living room and put them under the couch. She was now excited like a little girl and hurried back to the bedroom. Sandra smiled and moved closer to the bed. She began to caress the former prostitute's breast while leaning over one of the boys. Catrina began to squirm as the sensations finally entered her brain. With a small groan of frustration the woman opened her eyes in the dark room. She saw the outline of the woman she had so quickly grown to trust and even love in a way. The reason for the wake-up was not missed. Catrina took the hand playing with her breast and brought it to her mouth and kissed it on each finger and licked the palm. This got both women excited. Catrina quietly got off the foot of the bed and kissed her employer on the lips as she wished she had been kissed so many times. Sandra didn't see this as lesbianism for it was just one person showing their love and affection for another. When they broke apart Sandra pulled Catrina to the front room and the large comfortable couch. When they got there Sandra began to undress her lover. When both were naked Sandra again kissed Catrina but this time with the fire that the Brazilians were known for. Catrina just wilted under the heat of the kiss and she knew that this was where she always wanted to be. Catrina face was soon moved to Sandra's breast and the woman started to nurse like a newborn child. The woman took her time trying to gauge the feelings of her mistress. Later she kissed her way down the front of Sandra and kissed the woman's hairless mound. Her fingers went around the thighs and pulled Sandra's hips more firmly into her embrace. Her fingers worked their way to that small opening in the back. Sandra moved back and forth letting Catrina know that she liked the attention and wanted the fingers in deeper. Catrina found copious amounts of moisture coming from the vagina and she carried it back and forth like a worker bee until she was able to gain entrance to that other opening. Her mistress worked harder to get the fingers in and Catrina could not work much better with the position she was in. "Please sit down my mistress, so I may serve you better." Sandra took her hands from Catrina's head and sat on the very edge of the couch. The older woman urged her mistress to raise her legs. Sandra leaned back and curled her spine. Her legs came up and spread to their maximum. Sandra was even more excited by the way Catrina gloried in what she was doing. Sex before had not been as much fun for Catrina she saw. Sandra felt good to be breaking new ground. Catrina licked the opening and worked her way in slowly. This was the way she liked it when a man or woman did this to her. In an agonisingly long time she came on the very large and sensitive pearl at the top and greedily sucked it violently into her mouth. Sandra could take it no more and grasped the woman's head and held it in place as the violent tremors raced through her body. She just barely suppressed the scream that threatened to wake the children. Sandra held the woman to her as she calmed down. Much before this was completed, Catrina began her work again but this time she slid two up-curved fingers into the opening. The orgasm started again but Sandra felt another finger enter her vagina. It came out after a few strokes and descended to enter her hypersensitive anus. The muscles instinctively relaxed and the finger gained more distance. The sensations were so much that Sandra squeezed Catrina's head and had to relax for fear of hurting her. The finger began to piston very quickly and the woman began to graze the sensitive piece of flesh with her teeth. Sandra took her hands completely away because the spasms were getting very strong. Her abdomen flexed rapidly and her breathing completely stopped. She wanted desperately to push Catrina deep into her but she couldn't. Leif always restrained her and she fought for freedom that made the orgasm even stronger. Catrina seemed to know when to stop and Sandra moved to a better position and pulled the woman up beside her. Sandra tasted herself on Catrina's lips and licked to get all the flavour from her. Sandra heard the woman moan in happiness at the feelings of acceptance going through her. She was sure now that she had found a place to stay for the rest of her life. When Sandra had recovered she slid off the couch and positioned Catrina where she wanted her to be. She reached under the couch and took out both packages. The smaller unit was very special. She took the device and slipped into Catrina's vagina to get it lubricated even though it didn't need it. After going completely in and out a dozen times, Sandra moved it lower and pushed the small end into Catrina's anus. This almost drove the woman to orgasm but Sandra was not ready for that yet. She eased off and went much slower. When the unit was seated, Sandra caused the end she had held to enlarge so it could not come easily out. She abandoned the thrashing woman and now took the other device from the floor. It was thin with a small sack in the middle. Sandra inserted it into her own vagina and then commanded it to enlarge. Soon it filled her completely to the level she wanted. The other end enlarged as well to what Catrina would want and need to receive her pleasure. Nine children and so many lovers made her rather large in this area. Sandra stood and Catrina now saw an unbelievable sight. She had her face there and knew that Sandra was a woman but now she looked like a rather well endowed man. Sandra took Catrina's hand and put it on the phallus. The feeling though was of warm flesh. Catrina didn't care now and just wanted it inside her. "Please, please, Mistress. I need you." Sandra got on the couch and manoeuvred her large phallus over Catrina's mons then ever so slowly worked it in. Catrina groaned loudly in joy. When Sandra was all that way in she paused and kissed the woman beneath her. "This is how you are going to be treated for the rest of your days. We will make love to you every night and your new husband will plant his seed in you many times. You will bear him many more children and all of them will be loved." With that Sandra pulled out and thrust hard back in to make her point. Catrina just grunted and she could think of no better fate. Catrina had orgasm after orgasm. Her mind refused to shut down. When a pause came she felt the thing in her colon start to vibrate and then go back and forth like someone using her other entrance. That put her over the edge one more time. When she came back to reality her mistress began to thrust into her too. The sensations were too much and she opened her mouth to scream her joy when her mistress covered her mouth with her own. Sandra slowed in her thrusts then slowed the device in her lover's colon. When Catrina came back, Sandra said, "What do you think of the fringe benefits? Your new husband will make you twitch far more than I can do. Now I want to fuck my wife some more." Sandra started the device one more time then began to pump hard. Catrina didn't faint this time but her mind did not stay in this realm. She could do nothing but ride on the mighty wave of pressure flowing though her. Ana-Margarida sleepily came from the en suite with her pyjama bottoms off. It was getting light enough to see her mother once more under a hard working person. They were making a considerable amount of noise. She walked closer and saw that her mother was not in pain at all. Her mom was really enjoying herself like she had seen her sisters when the played with that thing they put into their bottoms. She came very close after she saw the beautiful and kind lady doing things like the men did. They both must like it, the girl decided. Many times her mother needed some special feeling to get what she needed and she had to do things for her mother. She liked to do them and was always rewarded after. She got so close that the nice woman smiled at her and took a hand and caressed her head and face. "Help me Ana-Margarida. Suck on your mother's titties like she wanted you to do sometimes. She likes this a lot." "Ok," she said uncertainly. She was told never to mention this. She got closer yet and began to suck on the nipple in front of her. The body moved so much that she had to use two hands to hold on. She heard her mother groaning even more now and knew that she was going to scream soon. She knew what she had to do. She pulled back and climbed up onto the couch and climbed down her mother's body. When she was in position she put her small mons over her mother's mouth and gently sat down. Catrina was just about to scream as she never had before. The new sensations from her nipple was just too much. The feeling stopped but then she felt like she now fit into the usual groove. A small body crawled over her and this is how she had an orgasm at those special times. When a small mons was on and in her mouth all the old feelings came to her. She worked her tongue in and out of the small opening many times. She now felt small hands pinching her nipples as a wonderful piece of meat worked between her legs. The cry was the loudest ever even if it were muffled by the little girl. Catrina could take it no more and fell into a deep sleep punctuated by many of her newest children and a group of women lead by a very formidable man. Sandra stopped when Catrina could feel no more. She slipped out of the woman and stood to straighten her back. Ana-Margarida slid off too and went to see what her mother looked like now. She found the source of that humming she just heard. It looked like one of her mother's toys but this one was new. One of the things she did for her mother was to take her hand and put it inside her mother and make a fist. She was to move this in and out until those special feelings her mother talked about happened. Sometimes her arm got very sore. Ana-Margarida moved her mother a bit then looked at the woman with the same thing a man had. Sandra deflated her end and removed the device to a slurping noise. Ana-Margarida was not shy and moved some of the flesh aside and saw an opening just like her mother. She then looked at the device. "That's better than the ones we have. I saw it get big then small. Does it vibrate too?" "It will if I want it to. Now I wanted to just show your mother what she will get when she meets Leif. He's still young but he's very strong and loves to please all of his ladies. We want your mother to be one of the ladies he treats nice. When you grow up he'll treat you nice too." "Will he be like a daddy?" Sandra saw what this was. Ana-Margarida thought a man would stay with her mother and eventually use her as she had heard her friends were. "No, he will be your husband the same as your mother and me. You will have beautiful babies and we will do so many wonderful things." Sandra reached down and at the same time deflated the device in Catrina's anus. "Go get a towel Sweetie. Your mother may need it." The child went to the cart and brought a towel back. The woman easily picked her mother up and put a diaper on her. This made the child smile then laugh. The device was removed and the towel put back in place. Ana-Margarida looked at the device. From the smell she knew exactly where it had been. She remembered her own reward but saw no way to get it. "Mommy... mommy does things for me when I do things for her." The nice lady smiled and squatted down with her arms wide. Ana-Margarida ran to her and the nice lady took her to a chair. Ana-Margarida was put across her legs just like her mother did. Instead of a finger or the small dildo she felt something small slip into her bottom. She wiggled around until it was comfortable. She felt it get bigger but not too much. When the vibrations started she thought she was in heaven. The thing started to move and so did the child. She moaned for the feeling was so much better than it had ever been before. Finally the sensations were just too much and the child collapsed much like her mother. Sandra stopped the device and looked at the child. This girl was much more like she was as a child but this time her growing up would be much more open. Sandra used her PK to retrieve another towel and wrapped the girl's bottom in it after removing the small device. She was placed on her mother's chest and the two looked so perfect together. They had the same aura and this is what made it so special. Small units were called in and cleaned the scent out of the air and the secretions out of the furniture. Sandra used a cleanser on mother and daughter before taking the daughter back to bed. When she came back out she looked down at Catrina. The woman gave her love so freely. It was as if she were already in the family. She was giving and getting all that was available. It was not just sex but she knew the woman would give anything to stay within the family. Sandra picked the woman up easily and put her beside Ana-Margarida who was in the middle of the bed. She covered all of them as if they were her babies. Sandra spent her time planning her next series of moves. She ordered breakfast for everybody and got dressed after using the cleanser on herself. She woke up Catrina one more time but with a kiss. Sandra kissed again and said, "Go have a shower my little slut. We have to do some talking later and the children have to get to school." Catrina still had bright eyes and whispered, "Yes my most beautiful mistress. Did I please you?" "You certainly did. You were the one that went to sleep if I remember." Catrina smiled and licked her lips. Sandra could tell she was now thinking of what she had done. The taste of her daughter was still there. She was now worried that she would be thrown out for what she had done. Sandra put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. You did what you had to do and you raised all your children well. Ana-Margarida has a healthy outlook on sex and she wanted something in her bum. I gave it to her and she slept soundly. She is very much like her mother and me too I might add. Now go wash, my beautiful slut." Catrina stole a kiss and rushed off to the shower. Sandra took Marco that just happened to be very full to the washroom. He was seated and just looked at the woman in front of him. Sandra used some paper and then flushed the toilet. She said to the boy, "Get your new underwear on. Breakfast will be here in a half hour." "Yes, momm..." The boy giggled at his mistake. Sandra pulled the boy close and kissed his cheek. "I love you too Marco. Now go get dressed." Sandra got Eduardo up and did the same thing to him. He was five but still liked the attention. Ana-Margarida was next and she unabashedly kissed the woman that had made her feel so good. Sandra helped her even if she didn't need it. "Get dressed Honey. Breakfast will be here soon." Izabel was next and got less help because she wanted to appear grown up. Catrina came out of the shower and quickly got the rest of the family up. With new clothes to show their friends, they hurried up and were all ready when the meal came. The one table was large enough even if they did have to get some chairs from the other unit. Sandra cleaned all the younger ones and took Alicea into the bathroom. "I have some cream I want to put on you." Sandra could feel a bit of resentment and she removed all the stops on her aura. Alicea just stared with her mouth open as Sandra lovingly applied some cream she had got from the ship. It would help with the acne but it had another purpose. "Alicea Honey, this will make the dark blemish go away. In a week or so it will be gone." "The doctors said it would never go." Sandra kissed the girl's forehead and said, "You tell me who is right tonight. In a week the blemish will be gone." "Yes Mistress," she was compelled to say. For the moment Sandra figured it was better to stay this way. Alicea looked closer in the mirror and saw that her pimples were all gone and even the large pores were not as big as they were. She thought that perhaps she could start making friends again. Sandra took the girls downstairs and got them into the same limo. They found nice cloth sacks with their lunch already packed and on a tray served by a woman at the limo door. The children took the bags and happily got in the vehicle. Sandra said, "This car, your mother or I will pick you up after school. Don't walk here. If you have to, use some of your money and call us. A card is in each bag with the phone number." The girls all smiled and nodded. Izabel, the youngest here, wanted to kiss the nice lady and so did the rest but they were already sitting. Sandra watched the car leave and this reminded her very strongly of her own family barely four hundred thousand kilometres away. She looked toward the moon which now happened to be below the horizon. She cast her thoughts and found her children were doing well. She promised them that she would soon be home. Ichom told her all the intimate details that a mother has to know about her children. Some people muttering around her made her remember where she was and she went back into the hotel. Catrina was busy cleaning up the mess and put all the plates back on the cart. When she saw Sandra come in she moved to a new position and bent over to put some plates on the lower level. This happened to present her butt for inspection or anything else her mistress wished. Sandra did walk close and caressed one of the orbs. "We have things to talk about my slut. You just had a great set of orgasms and now you want more. I can see how you will fit into our family very well." Sandra sat Catrina down and said, "I am going to offer you now something much more than before." "Yes my mistress," the woman said. She was now a little worried. "When we were having our fun I said that you would have a husband. What I said was very true. You and I will be his wives. You have your share of the family wealth but you are not a servant. Everything else stays the same." "My children will be still taken care of?" "They will be our children if you choose to take this new job. Close your eyes now. I want to show you something that I can do with my mind." Catrina was now not sure but did close her eyes and tried to relax. Sandra worked slowly to show her an image of a naked figure in a dark room. From all of her extremities and her body soon came a multi coloured light. Some areas were more intense while others were just a different colour. The image of Catrina now was there too. In a similar manner the lights started to come out too. The colours were the same but the intensity was much lower. When Sandra stopped, Catrina's eyes flashed open. "What was that?" "We all have a type of energy coming from our bodies. It changes if we are sick. Yours had a very large dark area. Now that your leg is healing the dark is almost gone. Your light and its intensity tells me many things about you. You work very hard and try to do what you must for your children. What it means the most is that you and I are very much alike. We are going to be much closer than sisters. I will love you the same amount that you will love me. Now what do you think of that?" "We will be sisters?" "We will be in one big family. We watch out for each other and we watch out for our children." "I like that. I have no real family. I was so afraid that I was going to die and leave my children on the streets." "That will not happen. Now for the next bit of truth. There is one man that complements our auras. He does such a good job that you will never want to leave him. Since you and I have the same in auras, he will be your husband too." "You want me to take your husband?" "No silly," Sandra chuckled. "You will simply share. You will soon find that he has two other wives. That means that you will not get as much of him as my sister an I got." Catrina just sat with her mouth open. Sandra said, "He is a real man. He will make us all happy. When he is away you will be loved by me and the other wives. You will go to bed each night a very satisfied woman." "He can do all that?" "Yes he can. He will fill you up with his cock very well and squirt baby juice into you. In two months you will be as pregnant as I am now." Catrina just thought on the matter. She left her submissive role and started to ask questions. Sandra avoided those she wanted to and explained the rest in detail. Catrina in an hour still had not learned the big secret nor the part some of her daughters would play in the future family. Rather than go to the bedroom for more lovemaking, Sandra convinced her new lover to see the city with the three youngest. Catrina now assumed the role of the uncomplaining wife or servant and followed her mistress as they toured the city. Instead of using the limo they used the amazing bus system. One type of bus was composed of three sections and could hold two hundred and seventy passengers. Many of the bus stops had long clear tubes to protect the passengers from the elements. The city of Curitiba, was a city of parks. One bus route could actually take them to all of those urban areas. The city was very multiethnic with most of the European countries contributing their share along with the Japanese. Catrina was happy to show Sandra the opera theatre and the arboretum. Sandra smiled at the way Catrina loved this last place. The one on the moon was many times longer and had many of the same plants. When the time came they ate in a small café The children were well behaved but were not well trained in what procedures to follow. Sandra taught them only two things but talked to each as if they were adults. This pleased Ana-Margarida and Eduardo but they had little to add. They did like the different food and they had not seen all that the city had to offer. When nobody was near Catrina asked, "How did you put those images into my mind this morning? "First, I already mentioned that our auras are very similar. It is easier to talk to a sister if she is close. The second answer is simple; I can read minds." Catrina almost choked on her drink. "You can what?" She whispered loudly. "Just as I said. I can read minds and in a while you will too. It has to do with Leif and what he can do to us, body and mind." "What am I thinking?" "You think I cannot do this and now you like the size of my breasts. You liked how firm they were this morning." Catrina didn't choke now but stared with her mouth open. "Do you want me to put something between those lips of yours that you have open?" Catrina quickly closed her mouth and said, "How did you do it?" "I can answer that but it would be better for Leif to do it. You will accept the information from him much better. Even though you love me you will love him more. We don't lie but we do not always tell everything. What I will say is that you will be happier that you ever were in your life including when you first got married. You will have a very rich life and your children will follow you in the same kind of environment." "What do you and this man get out of this?" "We get people who work and think like us. We work very good together. The more of us there are the more efficient we become. We may have enough now to do much better than we have done before. You will just have to wait and see what can be accomplished if we all work as one person." Marco had to go to the bathroom then and his mother took him while Sandra talked to Ana-Margarida and Eduardo. "What do the two of you want to do when you grow up?" Ana-Margarida answered first and said with downcast eyes. I would like to be a doctor or a nurse. They make lots of money." Eduardo said excitedly, "I want to be a space man. I am going to fly to the moon and then to the stars." Sandra smiled knowingly and said, "You can do the first part in a few days if things work out. The stars I am sorry will take a bit yet. The nearby stars are not that interesting anyway. There's nothing living on the planets that is smarter than an earthworm. After you're a pilot, what do you want to do?" The boy was stumped because this was his only goal for he could not think too far past the first goal and being a famous person. Catrina came back and Sandra said, "You better take Marco back. He isn't finished. There'll be a big stinky mess soon." Catrina looked at her young son then at Sandra and decided to take the precaution. Sandra continued with her talk, "You both will be able to do much more than one thing. A doctor is easy. Flying a simple boat is very easy too. We may have Eduardo fly us around if he can visualise where he wants to go. Would you like to fly the family around in our boat?" "Boats can't fly, silly." "The boats you know of can't fly but some can. One type of aeroplane that lands on water is called a 'Flying Boat'. A boat in our case means a much simpler ship with very few controls. Its speed is very slow compared to our ships' but it is still very much faster than the Americans or the Russians." "I want to fly your boat," Eduardo asserted very quickly with a big smile. "You can do that but soon you have to learn how to make your own boat and you can fly to the moon when you want or even to the closer stars." Sandra looked at both children and said, "What I'm trying to tell you is that there is much for you to do and you can do better than everybody you ever heard of. You can be engineers, scientists and space pilots all in one." Catrina came back with a worried look. She took her seat after putting Marco in his. Sandra read her mind and said, "Do not worry. I healed your leg. Did you think I would leave your children out. Their bodies are just getting rid of dead cells, toxins and other debris. Didn't you notice that this morning you had an open wound? Your body is rejecting the damaged or dead cells and building new." "Yelena and Alicea will not have anymore acne problems and I took advantage of the opportunity to start removing the blemish from your oldest daughter's face. It is best for her friends to not see it disappear all at once." "Marco had some problems too but he is now very healthy like the rest of your family." The boy in question spilt some of his food and Sandra got up to wipe the spill up and clean the boy's face. When she sat down again Catrina had recovered. "Can you hear me?" "Yes I can love," she said with a wide smile. "Everybody transmits but not everybody can hear what is sent. Let's go. I would like to see a few more parks then take you home. I have this itch. Maybe we can scratch it together." The children had to be carried because Catrina was anxious to get back to the hotel now. The last park though had some problems for two young men wanted to pick the two women up. Catrina would have looked for situations like this before but not now and not with her children present. She was worried for the men with large and insistent even after the women said they were not interested. Sandra put the two boys down and then quickly moved her fist quickly by one man's face then her foot very close to the other. They were not touched except by the wind of her hand's passage. The movements were so quick that the men could not see exactly what had happened but could only guess. They backed up and walked away very hurriedly. Catrina now hugged her protector and this was enough to make her even more horny. She was even looking for places for a quickie to tide her over until she got to the hotel. Sandra read the thoughts. Catrina momentarily forgot that this was possible. Ana-Margarida said from her mother's arms, "Why did you try to hit those men?" Sandra was not sure the child had seen and had not looked to find out. "I was showing them that I could hurt them if I chose. They saw this too and didn't keep bothering us. They went away and we went away. They just thought your mother looked very good and wanted to know her better." "Were they going to do what you did to her this morning?" Sandra in a calm voice said, "Yes they were but they were only out to make themselves happy. When you make love you have to think of the other person more than yourself. You get a lot of pleasure out of doing that. It is like when you do nice things to your mother and she does nice things to you back." Catrina was really blushing now. Sandra had one of her devilish ideas and said, "Ana-Margarida look at your mother. She is turning red. She's embarrassed about what we are talking about." "Why?" "We are not supposed to do those things. Your mother has not had a man to really love for a long time. The ones that came over helped provide food for all of you, your apartment and your clothes. She needed something more. That's why you kissed her between the legs and put your hand into her. She really liked it when your knuckles rubbed the top part of her. That is where some sensitive nerves are. Your mother really liked to be touched there and that little pink bump right above her opening. "She likes licking you between the legs because it reminds her of what she would like to happen to her. Her nipples are sensitive too and all of you children sucked on them for milk. She loved the feeling then and she still loves it now. Maybe we are going to have to do something to your mother when we get back. Do you see how she is red now? She is excited. If she could, she would put you down and do it right here in the park." Ana-Margarida looked at her mother and then said to Sandra, "Really?" "Oh yes, she is very horny now. Like when you get that thing in your bum but it is even better when you get bigger." "No, she is not that way. Mom only gets that way in the morning when she gets up." "She is that way now. If I put the thing in her bum now she would not be able to walk home. She would just stay in the park until the batteries ran out." "No, not my mom." The boat had been shadowing them since they left the hotel. Sandra sent a silent command and put her hand behind her back. The small matter transmitter deposited a copy of the small device into her hand. Sandra brought out her hand and said, "Let's see." Catrina looked stunned. She wanted it desperately but knew that her mistress was right. She would just stay wherever she was and enjoy the suggestions. Sandra steered the course into a geometrically designed row of hedges. The grass was lush and there were hundreds of people in the large park. In a quiet area where the hedge was only fifty centimetres high Sandra said, "Let's relax here." She put the two boys down and they immediately started to investigate the surrounding area. Ana-Margarida wanted to do the same thing but had been following the conversation much better. "Catrina, pick up the hem of your dress so it is not damaged and get on the ground like a puppy." "Do I have to?" She said. She wanted to desperately but wanted to be told. "I am afraid so. Pull your panties off too. They will be in the way and you will have to put them back on." Catrina lowered her eyes and said, "Yes mistress." The woman did as she was told but tried to hide the fact from anybody that would be looking. She actually sat on the grass close to the hedge and finished removing the new panties. She was about to jam them into her purse when Sandra put out her hand palm up. Catrina reluctantly handed them to her. Sandra used her mind and knew that nobody presently looking at them. She spread the panties and looked at the crotch. "My, my, they're all wet." Catrina and Ana-Margarida said nothing. Marco and Eduardo were looking at a spider's web ten metres away. "I am going to have to put the plug in the front I guess. It seems there is a big leak." She looked at the woman and said, "Pull your dress up to your waist and lay on your back with your knees on your chest." Catrina tried to look like she didn't want this but did what she was told very eagerly. Sandra bent over and put the device into her lover and Catrina just stayed as she was savouring the position and the predicament. She had to be told to put her legs down and don her panties. When she did she closed her legs and brought her dress down properly. Sandra enlarged the device with her mind and when it filled the woman. It more or less locked in place before it began to vibrate. One prominent piece just happened to be at her 'G' spot while another was on her clit. Catrina groaned, shivered and opened her mouth. She was now only in a world of her own enjoyment. Ana-Margarida came up and looked very closely into her mother's face. She had seen this expression before. She pushed and pulled her mother's shoulder then looked at Sandra. The woman unexpectedly heard. "Can I have one too?" The child was so earnest and it was a foregone conclusion that she would have one in her new home. Nobody was going to restrict someone else when in a few years they would be welcomed into the group to do the same thing. Sandra palmed another device from the boat and after looking around with her mind helped Ana-Margarida to get on her knees and bend far over. Sandra worked the device into the girl and used the lubricant that was already inside the device. It took a few minutes but it finally was in place. Sandra had been rubbing the child's back all the time to comfort her but the device was now in place and seated. Sandra pulled the panties up and the dress back into place. The vibrations started and the girl curled into a ball and stayed as still as her mother now was. The two boys had abandoned their spider hunt and had watched most of what had happened. Ana-Margarida had put things in their butts too but it was more of a social thing to participate. Sandra sat on the grass and hugged the boys to her as the three watched the two females. In a moment Sandra commanded the units to began extending and retracting in length. Both mother and daughter opened their mouths but kept their eyes closed as they concentrated on the feeling in their bodies. Eduardo asked, "How come they like that so much?" Sandra matter-of-factly said, "Some people like that a lot more than others. Your mother and sister are both the same. Tatiana, Fatima and Yelena are the same way to. They like things in their butts. They also like to learn and are very talented in other things." "Oh," was simply said. Catrina had five orgasms while Ana-Margarida only had three. Sandra slowed the actions of the devices until they stopped. It took ten more minutes before Catrina looked at Sandra, silently pleading for more. Sandra said, "Not until you get home. Now get up my slut or I will make you take all your clothes off and walk home with us." Catrina shivered at the thought. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Ana-Margarida was still out of it. She had never had that much stimulation before. Sandra picked the girl up and held her butt with the device still in it. They walked to the buses that the city was famous for and rode back to the hotel. Catrina walked with a bit of difficulty considering that she was still very full. Ana-Margarida just slept in her protector's arms. The people on the bus thought that the two were mother and daughter. They also saw the love there and instinctively smiled. The desk clerk stopped them and said with a smile, "Your friends were here. They asked me not to tell you about the party but you are our guest." Sandra quickly read the young man's mind. She saw the images and one was one of the men that had tried to stop her at Catrina's apartment building. Sandra pulled out a hundred dollar bill and gave it to the dumbfounded young man. "It is always right to think of your guests first. They were definitely not friends." The smile left the young man's face and his mouth opened in astonishment. Sandra just turned and hurried to the bank of elevators. Once in the apartment Sandra quickly removed the device from Ana-Margarida and sat her on the toilet. Eduardo stayed there with her until she recovered. Sandra put a folded towel on the bed and put her big baby on it then removed the device. When it was out Sandra moved Catrina's legs down so they were on the bed and pulled the fold of the towel over the woman's mons. Catrina had grown in the short time to leave the thinking to Sandra but her questions were silent. Sandra replied to them, "They are looking for both of us. I think they are much more angry at me. You see I took all the cash they had on them and their pockets too." "You did? I thought their clothes were just ripped fighting." "We are going to have to cut this time short I am afraid. Leif will have to come sooner and meet you and your family. This city is not large enough and they will find us. I am not worried about myself but I will be forced to kill some of them I am afraid. My mother and brother were attacked recently and I thought them just unlucky. They had to kill." Catrina was used to death but not this close. Her mouth was again open in astonishment. ------- Chapter 26 The elementary school would soon be getting out and the limo should be on the way. Sandra went to the phone and called the desk. A moment later she had the driver's number and quickly punched the buttons to get in touch. When the man answered Sandra said, "The five girls you are to pick up now may be in danger. Two men were here at the hotel asking about us and then not wanting the facts to be told to us. I am phoning the school now. Only you or one of us will pick them up." "I understand madam. I will treat the children as if they are my own. Please call the school right away." Sandra had to go through the switch board because there was no phone directory in the room. She got the school switchboard just as she heard the bell ringing in the background. She eventually go through to someone in authority and two teachers were quickly dispatched to find the children. Long minutes of waiting had the principle finally get on the line. Four of the girls had been found and the fifth was being sought. Sandra regretted not putting a tag into each of the children now as she had done to Ana-Margarida. Catrina was hovering around the phone and Sandra directed her to an extension so she could hear. More minutes passed but finally the principle said, "We found Yelena in the washroom. She is safe and will stay in school until you pick her up." "Thank you sir. You have made me very relieved. A dark limousine is outside now. The driver took the children home yesterday and brought them to school this morning. The children will be safe with this man." Catrina was very relieved too and started to cry. Sandra got the operator again and got the local highschool. It was five minutes to the bell so Alicea could wait inside. The principle was called directly and he got the information a minute early. He sent a clerk to the class to get Alicea to come to the office. Catrina was very happy to hear that her daughters were safe. She even put down her extension and came over to Sandra to hug her. Sandra though waited on the phone until an excited principle said, "Alicea has left the school. She didn't show up for the last class and that was an hour and ten minutes ago." "See if you can get her friends or the whole class to stay a moment. I want to see what they know. This may or may not be a kidnapping." "I may not be able to find many but I will try." Sandra held the phone to the stunned mother. "Alicea may just have skipped class. I am going to find out what happened. You stay here. If you hear anything call this number." Sandra wrote out a number that the computer AI would connect to her boat and thus to her at anyplace within almost fifty seven light years. Sandra ran to the other suite. The boat came around and Sandra jumped through empty space to enter it. In less than a second she was over the highschool. She dropped quickly and emerged from an alley very visible. In less than a minute she was in the school. The principle met her and then introduced her to three of Alicea's classmates. They knew nothing special and Sandra had to go thorough the formality of asking them verbally. She did pick up some of Alicea's friends names and addresses. These may have to be checked after they got home. There was still a very good chance that Alicea had just skipped class. She thanked the principle and said, "I will check another possibility. Thank you for your help." Sandra ran out of the school and into another alley to become invisible. Seconds later she was flying to where Catrina lived only a few days ago. She raced to the superintendent's door. He was still grumpy but happy to see Sandra. She asked some questions verbally while she tried to ferret out all the information she would need. It would be better to ask him something that was close to what she wanted. She then ran to Catrina's old pimp's door. Before knocking she stopped to listen to the minds inside. It took a minute to get enough information. Inside she heard the crying of a child and two sources of abject fear. She knocked lightly low on the door. "What do you want?" Came belligerently from inside the apartment. In a little girl's frightened voice she said, "Cruz sent me to this place. He said you would give me money." The pimp opened the door with the security chain in place. He quickly tried to close it again. Sandra was more than prepared and drove herself into the heavy door and snapped the chain from the wall. The pimp was thrown across the room and landed on a small table. It broke under his weight as the pimp fell to the floor. Once again Sandra stepped in and kicked the man in the jaw and effectively put him out of action. In the bedroom, two young girls huddled in the bed as they pulled the sheet up to protect their nakedness. One had the pimps seed on her face along with dark matter that was a combination of blood and faecal matter. The younger one just looked dazed but had just enough sense to hide herself. The younger girl had been found in a village and lured into a slaver's car. She was the one now too stunned to know much about what was happening. There was enough damage done to her mind and body to require a considerable effort to correct. The other girl was one of thirty nine girls hired from small rural villages supposedly to take care of small children for the wealthy. The jobs were completely fabricated and the girls had just entered a lifetime of prostitution. This particular group had been kept on a farm. They worked there unmolested until suitable 'families' were found. Sandra went to a window and opened it. Two med units came flying to the building then remained stationary. Sandra palmed one of the units and went to the girls. With the unit hidden first one then the other fell asleep. Sandra pulled the sheet back to see blood and other body fluids over their young skin. With a silent command cleansers came in the window. The cleaning was done first. The top sheet was put on the floor and the girls were put onto it. After a minute she turned them over. The med units were working on their torn orifices. While this was happening Sandra worked her way into the pimp's mind. He knew of no direct threat to Catrina or any of her children. He did know that one of the three men that came to help him was very incensed at the way he was treated. Sandra took what information she could get before pulling out. Walking to the doorway she saw people peering into the apartment. They could not see the two naked girls or the units working on them. She picked out a young man and said, "Will you get Ana Santoz for me?" "Yes Senhora." The man ran off happy to be of use. He never did like the pimp and now he may get a chance to see him laid out. He had missed the time before. Ana Santoz came into the room with the young man. The male was told to watch the pimp while the older woman was taken further back to the bedroom. She stopped abruptly seeing the two naked young girls. The lower sheet was still bloody on the bed and the upper was only a bit cleaner. Sandra said, "The girls were raped. I have exhausted my mental powers cleaning and healing them. It is necessary for somebody to look out for them for at least one day. Will you take care of them for that long?" The woman now thought that Sandra was a witch but at least a white one. She kissed her own hand and made a sign of the cross but said, "I will watch them for you." "Let's find their clothes but I want them wrapped in clean sheets. Some of the men can carry the children for you. I am looking for Alicea. She may have skipped school but that may not be the case." The woman was shocked one more time. Sandra gathered the clothing from the floor. Soft ropes and gags were also seen and pointed out. The pimp did own some clean sheets and Sandra moved the girls to a new sheet and wrapped them securely. The young man was suddenly intrusted with a sleeping girl. Ana told him where to go. Ana called one more man and Sandra put the second child into his strong arms. Before anybody got out of earshot Sandra said, "One of these girls was kidnapped from her village. The other was lured with thirty eight others to jobs tending little children. Their families would never hear of them again. The man that rents this apartment raped them both. He bought these two and was then going to sell their bodies." "Tell me what the police will do to him. He will be on the streets in a day and doing it to all the women of your families if he got the chance." The feeling of unrest was very strong and there was a good chance that the pimp would never wake up again. One older man with a two grandchildren the ages of the two girls was asked by Sandra, "These could have been your granddaughters." The man just growled and thoughts were running through his head of how he could kill the pimp. Sandra slipped some money into the woman's hand and said, "This is for the food, medicine and clothing for the girls." To cement her words she closed her eyes and started to chant a text in Latin attributed to Plutarch when he talked of Julius Caesar. Her voice rose in pitch and emphasis as the strange words passed her lips. She immediately disappeared to the gasps of all those around her. She hurried back into the apartment and jumped out the window. Her witch reputation would surely grow now and the two children would be even safer with so many adults watching out for them. Fear of a witch in a superstitious population would ensure it. Felipe Taguchi Peres was one of the men that Oliveira thought might be angry enough to seek revenge. Now was the time to call in reinforcements. "Leif, are you busy?" I was currently sitting in the back of a taxi as it cruised through the capital of Brazil. Brasília was a completely new city. It was specially made for the country and reflected the strengths and beauty. I had my eyes closed trying to find people with one of the three auras we required. It had not been a fruitful search for me. I did think of all the added responsibilities that the five females that Sandra had found me. Megan and Marina had started to work even harder because of the lead Sandra had gained. I was worried about dropping of exhaustion but even more about the loss of the time I needed for study. "No, just continuing with the search. What's wrong? I can feel that something is bothering you." "Catrina's oldest daughter may have skipped school or been lured away. I found two young girls that had been forced into a pimp's bed. Both are going to have mental problems unless they are treated. One was kidnapped from a small village while the other was recruited as a servant but will be put into prostitution. I want to find Alicea and the thirty eight other girls and free them." "I will be there in a few minutes." The distance was only a thousand kilometres but I had to find a safe place to meet my boat. "Hurry please." "I will do my best." I brought out the money I promised the driver for the entire day and told him to pull over. I reached in front and handed him the sum stipulated. He had six more hours of paid for work and this would be his tip. Getting out of the taxi I ran to the sidewalk and back the way I had come. Many people just looked at me for the eagerness I presented. This time I ran into a parking lot and disappeared between cars and I was then assisted into the boat by the tractors. The trip to Curitiba took seconds. A few kilometres from Sandra I asked, "How do you want me to proceed?" Sandra sent the information about the farm that was close to sixty kilometres from the city but over a hundred by the old roads. "I have only one other lead. You take the farm and I will take Senhor Peres' home. Find the girls and put a stop to these men. I doubt if any amount of talking would be enough." I didn't like the sound of this. Sandra was asking me to kill or to alter their minds. Both were reprehensible to me. I killed only the enemies of my people or Humans that were far beyond possible reconciliation. The farm though was easy to find. Dieguo Pica and his wife Aline owned an area of land comprising more than six hundred hectares. They had a large native population working for them. One of the many barns had a group of thirty one beds that had been used recently. In the very highest portion of the home were two girls chained to the beams. They were seriously dehydrated and suffering from heat prostration. Their minds were dull with fatigue for they had escaped last night and tried to get to a town to call the authorities. They had been captured and beaten but not enough to damage them too much. Digging deeper into Pica I found that he only owned the farm on paper. A wealthy criminal owned the land but had to hide the fact. This out of the way property was used for storing girls and housing stolen goods. A very large building had a concrete floor and all sorts of valuable equipment on it. Some were aeroplanes, expensive automobiles, large farm and construction equipment and even a cold room for storing furs hunted illegally in the interior. One area was even hidden in this building. It contained a wide assortment of drugs that would supply most of South America. The more I looked the more I found. Another larger building had an arms cache that included military weapons. Here I found many sophisticated Russian, American, French and Chinese small arms, missiles, vehicles and fieldpieces. There was enough here to take on one of the smaller countries or successfully launch a coup in this country. I wanted to clean this mess up. The problem was with Estevez Eduardo Braga. He was the real owner of the farm and probably the one that bought the stolen goods. The girls were quickly located. I left a dozen probes to monitor the farm with Pat'uch's help. The girl that Sandra was looking for was not here. Braga lived in Curitiba, so I flew there immediately. Sandra had not found her quarry but left to check on new leads. Those people may have known where he was or more importantly about Alicea. My prey was just as elusive and I had to go from his home to many of his various businesses until I found him in the office of one of the city's magistrates. The two were in league with each other and Braga wanted to make sure one of his important henchmen was not convicted of the crime he had committed. I did find out a great deal from the two. The most important was that the man would be very difficult to bring down with just Human beings and a Human court that was in itself corrupt. This looked to be a matter that was best handled by more troops. "Megan, Marina, will you two wind up what you are doing and help me clean up an area I find it filthier the deeper I dig. You have to look for a daughter of a woman with your aura. I have to stay away from them for a while." The girls had been partially following me with their minds. They quizzed Sandra and got a fuller idea of what she was after. Less than a second later they were in my public mind to find out what I had uncovered when I turned over the rock that Sandra wanted cleaned. Going back to the farm, I landed near the military stockpile. The building had a dozen Soviet SA-10s in their launchers. These were very large surface to air missiles and had a range of a hundred kilometres. The Grumble could hit mach-6. The warhead could be used for both strategic or tactical targets. My PK was effective against both the alarm system and the locks. The boat came in and I worked to get one of the missiles ready to leave. At present they were secured in a mobile launcher and had both the solid fuel for the rocket motor and kerosene for the jet engine. I had to make a strap to support the weight for it was greater than the tractor's capability. There was more than enough head room to lift the vehicle into position. Pat'uch gave us the appropriate time to leave. Everybody was looking the other way or occupied by looking down. Ten minutes later we took one additional unit then six smaller shoulder fired Stingers made by the United States. A variety of small arms were taken along with suitable ammunition. We flew toward the coast with a visible missile hanging below. A Brazilian commercial flight was presently eighty six kilometres away. I hated to give the passengers a fright but some things had to be done or nothing would change. The small construction probes integrated with the missiles control and in seconds the jet engine billowed into life. The active radar soon found the target and the missile gained speed. The airliner didn't know what was happening until the missile exploded less than a kilometre away. Now the plane gained more altitude and speed but nothing more was coming its way. Radio traffic was very heavy for a long time. The plane continued on its course but Pat'uch told me that the military was now sending a team to investigate. Another commercial plane was heading for Asunción, Paraguay from Rio de Janeiro. I flew back to the farm then further north. It was out of range but I gave the next SA-10 missile some help and sent it on its way. This time it was picked up and the plane made a frantic attempt to avoid the missile. The pilot and co-pilot may have had heart attacks for I flew it within metres of the cockpit before exploding a kilometre away. This would surely hurt Brazil's reputation but if I went through channels there would be so much coverup that nothing would be accomplished. Mealtime was coming up at the farm but as yet they knew nothing about my theft of property or of the two acts of war I had made on their behalf. Twenty minutes later a squadron of fighter jets with a AWACS flying high patrolled a hundred kilometres to the north. It took another hour for one of the many fighters to get close to the farm and I released a Stinger but gave it an additional push. The pilot knew of the danger almost immediately and tried to get away. I made sure the Stinger got very close before exploding and doing little harm to the craft. Aircraft were all around us now. They were going supersonic at low altitudes hoping to lure out more Stingers. I helped them by sending another of my super Stingers. This time it was much closer and it more serious damage to one of the fighters. It was superficial but the pilot knew that he had been hit. I used up all but one of the remaining four missiles. The military would have to be fools if they would not come, for the centre point of all five launches for it was the farm buildings. Those on the farm were very worried. Phone calls to Braga were made. It was believed that some leftists had decided to take on the military from a position close to the farm. The farm workers were all ordered to go to the main buildings to protect Braga's property from guerilla attack. When everybody had made it to the farm buildings I began the attack they were waiting for. Nobody was killed or even wounded but all the farm vehicles seemed to be hit and made inoperable. A feed barn was set ablaze but no animals were present other than rodents and birds. I flew the boat while invisible but produced the same radar signature as the Stingers had. Though there were no more explosions the pilots knew in their minds exactly where the firing was coming from. The blaze produced a great amount of smoke and helped locate the area even for blind pilots. Small imitation missile units made by Borin arrived. It seemed that the whole family was getting involved. I said hello to Tom and Margaret and they gave me an excited reply. They saw what I was doing and continued with this form of attention getting. In the course of five minutes I sent three of our 'missiles' at the AWACS but they exploded far enough beneath them to let them think they were safe. Megan came to join me and we kept the jets away from strafing the buildings. In an hour the fighters retreated or went for refuelling. Other units came and I think it was the highlight of many of the pilots lives to fight the aggressive well armed enemy on the ground. I left Megan and her parents with the fun while I went back to find Braga. He had moved but I found him through his cellular telephone. He was currently haranguing the Minister of Defence to protect him and his property. He claimed that he was standing off an army. He could see the danger to himself and was now in the midst of moving many of his sensitive documents to a safer location. Luis De Oliveira and Felipe Peres were contacted through intermediaries. Sandra took the former while I took the latter. Peres was actually close to the farm and I thought this very suspicious. The phone number was recorded and I quickly got into the area. It was getting dark and there was a lot of overhead cover for the man to hide in. I had few probes but decided to call with the telephone. In seconds I was over a vehicle stopped under some trees. Peres was smoking furiously in a small cargo van with five chained girls in the back. The sounds of the jets could still be heard. Some had even come overhead with a giant sonic boom behind them. Everybody was a bit deaf now though it had happened twenty minutes ago. In the background sounds of the battle could still be heard but mostly it was just sonic booms. I landed in the centre of the dirt tract and walked invisibly toward the truck. I knew that one of the girls in the back was Alicea. I called and informed Sandra. She simply said, "Kill him or I will do it." "Come here and swim in this cesspool for a few moments and find out what was happening before you go to that irrevocable decision." I stopped and in less than a minute Sandra and Marina were within metres of the van. They found out what the plan was, and moved in to take out Peres. Sandra was so mad she wanted to kill him with her mind alone but this didn't sound suitable. This time they appeared visibly so he would have a chance to worry. I became visible myself and ripped open the back door as Peres got out the front. The entire truck shook with the violent manouevre but I knew that Peres would be too busy to deal with this. The passengers in the truck were dumfounded by my actions. They had wide frightened eyes as they looked on me. I tried to be much more subtle now and said to the first girl on my right, "Hello Alicea. I came with Sandra to find you. You are safe now." This didn't seem to work as well as it should so I released the bounds on my aura. Now the girls knew I was not one of the abductors or if I was, they would not worry. Alicea just started to cry again. I reached in with both hands and PK to removed all the chains and ropes from one girl after another. I pulled Alicea out first and held her to me as we heard some loud voices nearby. I offered my hand to one more girl and she clung to me as if I were her mother. Her name was Renata Paseto. She had been held captive for three months now and it was only tonight that she had lost her virginity to somebody in the town She too started to cry. I picked her chin up and said, "You are safe now." I looked into the van and saw the other hopeful faces and I repeated myself quietly even though they could not hear me very well. I pulled the two back from the van to let the others get out. We saw Peres now thinking of hurting my wives. Instinctively I wanted to kill him but I rationally knew that they were safe. He pulled a gun from the back of his pants and finally decided to fire at Sandra. My mind knew that Marina didn't want her wife killed and would move in and slash the man across the neck with the blade of her hand. The head would come away from the torso and a spray of blood came our way. This was in the immediate future. My mind and body sped up and I finished ripping the back door off the van with one hand and my PK. I put the metal door in position and the blood hit the metal and not the girls. When I slowed down my responses, I dropped the door to the ground. All of us looked at the man. His headless torso was actually still standing. He slowly collapsed as if the air was taken from him. The two girl's I was with, just stared at the body and the head that was now coming to a stop only a few metres behind us. I reached around the two girls and said, "It looks like Senhor Peres will not be bothering us any more." Sandra and Marina came close and the two girls beside me stiffened in fright. Sandra and Marina released their own auras to make this as stress free as possible. "Alicea," I said with a small hug. Then, "Renata; these are my wives. Alicea, you already know Sandra. The other young lady with the magic hands is Marina." Sandra moved in to hold Alicea, for she had been raped too. This was the first time a man hand entered her but her hymen had been taken much earlier with her mother's dildos. Marina held Renata, and the girl began to respond. When I saw that this was going to work out I went to the back and took the other three out of the van. I had to carry one out because she was bleeding. She had been raped by a very large man and was still haemorrhaging. The girls had already been sold and Alicea was to go to the farm for later sale but was now classified as used property. The other two came out and just stopped at the sight of the decapitated man. These four were the most beautiful of the lot and this is why they were sold first. Peres was not bringing them back but only dropping off Alicea before making his delivery. I brought the bleeding girl to the passenger door and put her inside on the seat. I read her mind and said, "Daniela, I have something that will help you. It doesn't hurt but it may tingle a bit." She didn't understand but a med unit and a cleanser came to me. I used one by hand to hold it so she would not get too worried. Daniela only reacted a bit when I pulled the hem of her dress up and moved her legs apart. She had bloody panties but the unit worked through them. It took a moment for the pain to leave and the healing to start. The unit was moved around her body and I did what I could to help the girl. The cleanser came next and Daniela watched the blood disappear from the cloth. This is as much as I could hope for now. I put the units away and pulled the hem back into place. "You are safe Daniela. Nobody will hurt you now." The girl now made some noise for the first time and cried as she held tightly to me. I stayed there for a few minutes to allow the girl to expunge some of her feelings of helplessness and despair. Anger was there too but it was still pent up. "Daniela, come with me. You can walk now. I want to show you something." I had to help her out but I held her to me and we walked around the van. Each of my wives were holding two girls. On the ground was Peres' body. I said, "Those beautiful women in front of you are my wives. That is how they deal with men like Senhor Peres." Daniela was shocked at the death but she felt better that one of the cursed men had now paid for what he had done. This particular one had not hurt her yet but he was a party to it. She eventually turned from the body and wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me to her. I was one of the people that had protected her. Her mind made the link that if I protected her before, I would do so again. She wanted to make sure that I knew in an instinctive way that she wanted to stay with me in any capacity. I shouldn't have looked into her mind this deep. I found that she had nobody to fall back on. Her aunt was the only one left and she was almost dead from a sickness even before leaving her village. She knew that in the last three months the woman would almost certainly be dead. She had no marketable skills and nobody to look out for her. She already knew what happened when she trusted a quick talking woman, for it was a woman that recruited her and the rest from the villages. Marina said aloud in Portugese, "Captain, we still do not have enough people to look after our children. Damita was supposed to take some of the load but she is now pregnant and contributing to the problem. We need some real nannies. The girls here, except for Alicea, were hired for this job. Let's hire all of them? We just have to find a way to keep our secret and still allow them freedom." Daniela heard and even responded to this suggestion. I thought that she would have difficulty reintegrating. Perhaps it was Marina's aura pulling her out of her depression. I was the captain but this was also a family matter so I began to talk with everybody else on this proposition. There were a goodly number of girls and a similar number of problems if they wanted to go home and tell of being on the moon. One girl's statements could be overlooked but if others would corroborate. The authorities may be inclined to pass the matter higher up which would lead to an even more stringent search for us. Tom and his son tried to think of ways to get the girls looked after on Earth while not informing them of our present address. I felt that the two men were concerned that after a while one or more would be brought into the family. It would then not be the same. Already our families were much different than any Seffra family before. They may have had two or possibly three women with similar auras but not as many as they had now. I had to correct myself for I would in a few years have more than any of them. The family would still be safe but it would not be as homogeneous as it presently was. This made us strong but I had to admit restricted our scope. There was some information about a new young wife changing her aura to reflect those of the majority. This meant that they had to fundamentally change their way of thinking. It also meant that this had to happen gradually and allow each to change before another was added. Our productivity would suffer in the short term but with all our wives working at our sides later the output would be much more. The fact remained that I didn't want to hold anyone against their wishes and I didn't want a new and much larger security concern. The women far outnumbered the males and I heard many arguments for the acceptance of the girls. Their young age and fragileness was given but also a very good point. The women of our families would take care that none of the girls that joined would become a security leak. I called this meeting and now I had to abide by the decision. I knew that if I looked at it as the captain then I would have the only say in the matter. Now it would leave the women with the job of dealing with the girls once they found their new homes. I said to Sandra and Marina, "We have to tell Catrina that her daughter is safe. Then we have to make not only these girls secure but the others at the farm." Sandra immediately used our satellite system to break into the phone system. After three rings Catrina picked up the phone. Sandra said, "We have found Alicea. She is now safe. She was hurt but will recover." "Oh thank you Mistress. It was getting late and she has never been this long away from us. What happened to her? How was she hurt?" "We will tell you in person. I had to call in our husband and two of our wives to assist in finding her." Catrina was stupefied for a moment and Sandra continued, "We will not make it home for a few more hours I think. One way or another you will see us tomorrow. I'm afraid the girls cannot go to school tomorrow. There's much more to discuss then. Go to sleep now." "Yes my Mistress. I'll wait for you if I can. Just wake me if you get home and I'm asleep." "Yes my little slut, I will do that. Now go to sleep. You have a busy day tomorrow and you'll need your rest." The girls around us started to get sleepy. Sandra told them it had to do with being in a stressful situation and was fairly natural. It wasn't though. The med units had worked in the dark to slowly put them to sleep. Their small bodies were starting to crumble as my two wives and I picked them up. Instead of taking the four girls to the moon, Marina called Borin to assist. Alicea who had to see her mother before leaving. She went into Sandra's boat. The rest were put into Borin. There was room for more. At least five could sleep on any of the large beds. The noise in the background showed that the ground forces were finally arriving. Megan happily provided a detailed view for us of what she saw and what she felt was going to happen next. Helicopters had come with infantry. They had set down far enough away so that they would hopefully not be in range of the small missiles that so far by some mysterious power not killed anyone. We came to the farmhouse and found it under siege. Megan had long run out of ammunition and was making do with substitutes. In preparation of our coming Megan had blown a large hole in an upper story room. One of the men that seemed to be particularly cruel with the girls had suffered some wounds and was now unconscious. The girls were now in the basement but the two dehydrated girls were still in the attic. The girls saw it as my job to get these two girls. It was not the danger but the fact that the girls would see me doing the rescuing and thus look much more favourably on me in the future. Megan struck another portion of the upper story as I ripped a large section off the roof. I was out of the boat quickly and saw through the dust two girls chained to the neck with a steel band. A chain led to a large roof truss and secured with another padlock. The girls were unconscious from the stress of their environment and the situation on the farm. My PK again picked the locks and I removed the neck bands. The girls were taken one at a time to the boat and sealed inside for later transport. Megan was moving branches and other articles to attract gunfire and the men killed many trees and bushes with the amount of projectiles that hit each one. I walked down the interior steps then down a hallway before I opened the basement door. It happened to be locked but it opened easily enough. I descended these steps too. There were girls chained to the walls but most were free and all huddled close to the foundations as possible. I was visible now and even used a small light emitting device to show that someone had arrived. The girls cringed from me as they must all the members on the farm. I said loud enough for some to hear, "I'm one of those attacking this farm. I would like to get you out of here before the army gets here." The girls were too stunned to do anything and had learned the hard way not to trust. They may be led away if it were safe. My PK was used on the door leading directly outside. Another pair of external sloping doors had to be unlocked and opened. Megan had been watching my progress and made enough of a distraction at the other end of the house to keep those inside focussed in that direction. Searching through the girls I found those that were the most brave. These happened to be some of the ones chained. With just two, I said, "There is freedom in the woods. The warehouse is close and once on the other side of it you are clear. Some nice women will meet you there and take you to safety." The two just nodded their heads. I took one of their hands in mine and cautiously left the building. Borin was close by and nobody could hurt us but I wanted the girls to make their own break for it. Not only would it aid their recovery but it would also fulfill my wives' ideas. After a minute of running we were behind the warehouse. Sandra greeted me with a hug and a kiss while Marina greeted the girls. The women changed places and I was kissed again. Though the wives like to do this I could see the plan where the girls saw that I was loved. It brought something instinctive to our situation. I ran back for more girls. There were people at the windows but Borin was there and they could only see what she cared to display to them. After a dozen times the bravest had gone and the rest were afraid. I took two anyway and pulled them to the warehouse. The wives knew what to do and the first four went back with me to the house. They talked of the relative freedom and a way out of this hell they were in. Most came with these girls but I still had to take the worst ones. The last two were over my shoulders. Once relatively safe, Borin landed in a cleared field and she made part of her hull appear to be a small armoured personnel carrier. The girls had never seen one before but it still looked like something a Human military would use. The girls were ushered in. Some had to be pulled but at least now I had help in doing this. The inside looked small because of the visual projectors. The girls though started to fall asleep as Borin made movements and noises as if she were travelling across the land. In moments they were all asleep and we started to move them to comfortable positions in the bedrooms. My boat from the attic came to us and the two inside went into medical. Every girl was scanned for health problems and then they were corrected. All of them had a variety of ailments. One supposed virgin had been seduced by a worker claiming he was going to help her get away. It was good that she was not pregnant. All of them ranged in age from as young as ten to as old as sixteen. In some ways they just looked like surplus population that a village could afford to loose. I was not sure of this but I was going to check. We stayed around and gave Megan some support but she didn't really need it. It was not until the army arrived that Borin provided more theatrics. She projected a group of aboriginals coming from the trees with modern weapons in their hands. The group in the house tried their best to kill them. The shots were close to the infantry and they began their own fusillade. Now people were getting shot and some killed. Most but not all were in the house. I had no compassion for them for they had swallowed the money they had received for the farm work and for the illegal activities they had been involved in. Just before the soldiers overran the house Megan ripped a bit of the roof off the warehouse and fired one of the SA-10s, it travelled toward the AWACS as it circled the farm. The missile was shot at by three fighters and it was the forth missile that hit it. The explosion was satisfactory and this would prove that the first two missiles had come from the hidden location in the warehouse. Estevez Braga would have to do some fancy wiggling to get off this hook because his involvement would surely be found. We all headed back home. Borin landed beside my house and ten unconscious girls came out to stay with us. The remainder were split among Tom and Tommy's families. The girls were examined by more sensitive instruments and small crystals put in their shoulders. This would hopefully never be needed again but they could be found if necessary. I had visions of them falling under other hands. They were all tired though and needed a considerable amount of sleep. Sandra said, "You have two more in Curitiba. Ana Santoz is watching them for us." I looked at her but could not see any reasoning other than to help two damaged and almost helpless creatures survive in a cruel world. All three of my ladies were excited about the fight and that usually meant that my services were required. I left three satisfied wives four hours later. This turned out to be almost seven in the morning in Curitiba. I cleaned up my ladies and they just luxuriated in the attention. When it was time to go though they put on new clothing. Alicea was kept asleep and we flew the short distance to Earth. Alicea woke up in the cab carrying my three wives and myself. The doorman was very quick to open the door to us and even gave a small bow. The elevator operator looked at Alicea and he felt good that she was safe. She had been the talk of the hotel staff for the last fifteen hours. Sandra and Alicea went into the penthouse first. The three of us still in the hall heard the crying and the relief that the girl was alive and apparently unhurt. Some children ran from one suite to another. One little girl that I immediately recognised as Ana-Margarida ran by. She was naked and excited to have seen her sister. She spied us and kept going even faster. She stopped though and peaked back around the doorframe at us. Her gaze fell on me and never left. I too looked at her. She at some future date would be a wife I knew and from what I read in her mind she suspected the same thing. She stood then and walked to us. She just stopped a metre from me and looked up. "You were on TV a while ago." "Yes I was Ana-Margarida. I was just saying goodnight to Sandra and to you but I didn't want to get too close yet. Can you feel the pull to me and to these beautiful ladies? One day in ten years you will join my family. Until then you and your family will live with us." She reached out for my hand and I stooped and picked her up into my arms instead. When her face was close I kissed her forehead and pulled the side of her head to my shoulder. She looked up to me like this was where she belonged. "You, my naked little girl, have to meet my wife Marina and my wife Megan." Ana-Margarida was not shy now and knew that something drew her to these women as something drew her to Sandra. Megan took the child from me and kissed her before passing her to Marina. They started a bit of girl talk but the door opened one more time. Sandra brought out Catrina by the hand as if forcing the woman. All of our auras were strong and I toned mine back a bit. Sandra said to me, "Leif, this is your newest wife. She was very worried about Alicea and now you. Take her in the bedroom and get acquainted. We will keep the children occupied" I had kept my eyes on Catrina. She was good looking but nothing exceptional. She did have the aura though and that meant a great deal about what she was really like. I could see she thought me very pretty and very young. I said, "Hello Catrina. I think you will make a very good wife. I can see that you are worried about that. You are under no obligation but would you like to go to the bedroom and learn a bit more about each other?" "My mistress said that you had spent the last four hours making your wives happy. I am not in their league and you must be tired." "Not too tired for that. I am afraid that it is you that will soon be going to sleep again." It took a moment for her to understand but she did smile and bowed her head. "If you want me?" "You will be my wife. Why would I not want you?" I had to lead now. I moved closer and kissed her very gently. She melted into my arms and I stooped to pick her up. I walked to the closed penthouse door and used my PK to open it. Children of all ages were there. Four girls were around Alicea trying to give her support. They all stopped and stared at me. Tatiana, Fatima and Yelena just stared openmouthed. Fatima didn't even have her top on but was not concerned about me. In passing I said, "Hello girls. I am taking your mother into the bedroom to show her how much I want her. You are all free to watch and possibly learn something." I stood Catrina close to the bed and started to remove her clothing from her. I went very slow and she responded to me. This let all her children know that I was not forcing her in any way. When my own clothing joined hers on the floor, the girls moved to see the new plumbing presented. I was only normally sized now. Catrina was laid in the centre of the large bed and I began to make love to her body. She had an orgasm from just a few touches and from being so close to my aura. It was at least ten minutes and four strong orgasms later that I entered Catrina's vagina. When I grew in size to where she felt full I stopped and began to move so I hit all of her sensitive areas. Ana-Margarida was still naked. Sandra encouraged the rest of the family to get the same way. Ana-Margarida climbed onto the bed to get a better view. She instinctively knew that I would never hurt her and her mother liked her presence when Sandra did things to her. After a few slow full length thrusts the girl reached out to hold her mother's breast in preparation for sucking on it. I said, "Let's wait a while for you to help me, my love. Your mother has to see that I am enough for her at least this time. Later you can help Sandra, Megan and Marina." The child smiled widely and just sat back. In a moment Yelena came up the other side. She too was naked and a little nervous at being here. She sat on the bed with her mother to see what was happening. I knew she wanted to be as close to me as possible. ------- Chapter 27 Tatiana was next then even the shy, frightened Fatima climbed onto the bed and got close to me. Her small hand came out and even touched me. She shivered a bit but continued to try to keep contact. I removed a hand from her mother's breast and pulled the twelve year old girl to my lips. I kissed her while projecting my aura into her. She shivered and collapsed. Both of her hands were between her legs as the strongest orgasm ever went through her. Yelena saw the effect and got close too. I hugged the girl to me and cupped one of her lower cheeks. The kiss and my aura was enough to send her over too. Tatiana was only eleven but she knew that I was for her. She did the same thing and had the same result. Finally only tiny Ana-Margarida was left and she had to get her kiss too. This time her kiss was on the lips and Sandra had to put her on the bed with the others. Catrina was now in nonstop orgasm saying everything that came to mind. Her brain was not that functional and the animal in her was even subdued. She would scream then relax before screaming again. Raisa was only nine and didn't have the same aura as the majority in this room. She did want her kiss though and I was careful and gave it to her. She too was overcome and collapsed. Megan took her into her arms and held her. Seven year old Izabele tried the same thing and Marina held her. She started to have an orgasm just as our lips touched. I saw now that Sandra was feeding the rest of the girls what they were feeling in the hopes of getting over any rough spots in future family relations. Sandra brought a naked Alicea to the bed and this time I kept both hands on her mother but kissed the girl tenderly. This one was given my full aura and she clung to me as I continued to thrust into her mother and kiss the woman's eldest daughter. Alicea too had a long drawn out orgasm and Sandra was there to hold her up and even play with her nipples. Her lower opening was without pain now and her hips went back and forth as if she too were making love to me When Alicea built to a crescendo she screamed into my mouth and pulled me tightly to her. I could feel the love she had for me now and wondered where it would lead. Sandra had to take the unconscious girl from me and sat on a comfortable chair with the naked girl in her lap. To finish Catrina off I moved much faster and she came a small amount back to her present surroundings. With an extra amount of stimulation to the pleasure centre in her brain, she screamed like she was dying. I had my mouth over hers at the time to muffle the call. My own release followed and I pumped my seed into her and then rested on her sweating and comatose body. I just basked in her aura and felt it complement mine in so many ways. It was slightly different than my other wives. They too were dissimilar and now it was the small inconsistencies that made it all worthwhile. Putting my hands onto the bed I pushed myself up and out of Catrina. There was a slurping noise from the amount of fluid we had produced. Some of my future wives were all on the bed overcome with their emotions. The three chairs in the room were occupied by my wives. In their laps were the three girls that had different auras. My wives were hugging them and their fingers were slowly caressing their mons. They had all had additional orgasms from my wives and this was hoped to allow the family to see that we were all one unit. At the doorway Eduardo and Marco stood. Though they were five and three they sported erections. After a glance I saw that they had been involved with their sisters in many ways. I slowly got off the bed and walked to the boys. They stared at my erection as it rapidly shrunk. I put out my hands and they took them in theirs. As we walked to the couch I said, "Your sisters and mother are resting. Let's have a talk. Eduardo, I hear you want to fly a spaceship?" The boy looked at me with adoring eyes, just the way Tommy once did. "Ya, I want to fly. The lady said that there are no aliens close." "There are a few. Odava and Ichom have a boy by the name of Domma and two other children but they are babies. They are all Gossna. They are very nice people but they get frightened very easily. Do you want me to show them to you?" I got two heads wildly nodding. The boys sat on the couch on each side of me and I pulled them close because we all liked the feeling. I pictured the Gossna family in my mind and projected it into the boys. I said as I did this, "This one here is Odava. He's taller than you are now but his people never get very tall. His skin and face is different but not too much. They eat vegetables mostly. They have a beautiful home close to ours. The next picture is Ichom. She looks almost the same as Odava. Domma is the one standing beside his father now. He is almost as tall as you Marco. The next two are the new babies even if one can walk." Eduardo said, "Are you talking in my head? I can hear you good." "Yes I am talking to you this way. It's faster and you know exactly what I mean. You'll be able to do this too one day. All space ship crews need to do this. You'll be the captain of your own little ship too. You can go to the nearby stars if you want and see for yourself what they are like. Some stars take two weeks to get there but the closest ones can be reached in less than four days." "What about my mom?" "You will be a big boy before you go out on your own. You will be probably ten. Marco can help but it will be a while before you can really do things. You'll have to talk to Tommy. He was like you until he got married. Now he works very hard building a big spaceship. We'll show it to both of you soon. You'll meet all of my children too." Eduardo was not sure of my really having children so I sent both boys the images of each of them. Eduardo soon said, "That many?" "Sure, we need lots of help to build the ship. Let me show you what it looks like now, then what it will look like and finally how big it is compared to you now." "Ya," was his reply but he was very excited. I showed the framework as it now looked like and then I zoomed in to Margaret as she worked on a large part of the keel. She waved at us and I waved back with my mind. As we pulled away she disappeared from view before all of the ship came into view. The completed ship was shown as we wanted it to be. We started at an open area. I was standing there with a hand holding Marco and another holding Eduardo. The point of view shifted very far back and we too disappeared from sight. "What do you think of that ship?" "That's big. It is bigger than our city." "It could hold everybody in your city if it had to but even if you spread out all the different decks your city would be bigger. Your city can't fly where you want it to though. That ship is going to leave here one day and do some exploring for us. You may get a chance to fly on her if you want. Would you like that?" He had many answers in his mind but the only thing that made it out was a very wide smile and a vigorously nodding head. Marco was young but understood more than usual because I fed the information directly to his brain. He too liked the idea. We talked more and I got the boys to talk about themselves. In a while Marco had to go to the bathroom and when he was done we went back to the bedroom. Not only Ana-Margarida, Tatiana, Fatima, and Yelena but Izabel, Raisa and Alicea were taking turns licking their mother's mons. The first four had a reason for my smell was there and they wanted me. The other three took a while to understand. I kept the thought hidden but she looked like a sow feeding her little piglets. The woman was in a world of her own once more. She even pulled the girls to her mouth as she gave the same joy to them. Sandra said, "We let the last three feel you and us very strongly. They still feel this. I think they too will have to be your wives even if they are not the same as us. They can be the first ones to join our family and perhaps we can get their auras altered to fit." We had already done this with Consti then Tommy. It had progressed from there to Tommy's parents but nothing since. It could work I thought but it would then be a alteration of a person's very goals. This amounted to changing their personality. I was not too sure about this at the moment. We had not grown very numerous but I didn't want to begin an autocratic way of dealing with problems. In time substitutes could be found and the girls join other families. The girls that complemented my aura came to me as filings to a magnet. I held and kissed each one and welcomed them to my family. With my mental voice I let them know exactly how they would fit in and this only made them want me more. The other three were not as quick but I moved through my future wives and embraced the other three too. "You are already in my family. You may have a more central position in it but we have to do a lot more thinking on the matter." Alicea pushed a sister to one side and hugged me, "I want you just as bad as the rest. I want to be one of your wives. Will you take me. Sandra says that you can take care of all of us." "The others are predisposed to love me and me them. You, Izabe and Raisa are not exactly what we were looking for but you may fit in. In any case we will all be together for a long time." "I... I can do things for you." I knew she meant sexual things. She hoped that this was good enough to hold a union together. "We are now attracted sexually. We can talk about this more but I think it's best to just live together so we can all get to know each other. We have lots of time and we are not going away from each other for very long." I kissed her to seal the bargain and I could see that she had to accept this as the way it had to be for a while. My wives were further back and took the three girls to them to better explain what was happening. They were going to ensure that none of them felt rejected. I knew that in a few minutes after the talk that they would be giving each other orgasms and the love through this would be enough for a while. I took my future wives with the boys into the living room and discussed what was expected of them. They were staring at my penis so much that I had to pick up Marco and hold him in my lap to get them to concentrate on my words. Most were very disturbed at the delay leaving. They had been waiting to find the right person and start a family and now I was trying to hold them back. Catrina groggily came from the back room and tried to find a place close to me to sit. I started over again by telling her about her aura but I added, "Yours is not the only one in this room that happens to fit mine. All of these girls happens to fit this rigid criteria. We have been hunting a long time and only found Marina. Now I have five more." Catrina knew through our link that I was not going to hurt her children. She had started having sexual relations at eleven and got pregnant at thirteen. She knew that she would have to share but not necessarily with her own daughters. I said to clarify the situation, "Catrina, you are my newest wife. In two months you will be just like my other wives in most ways. You will be much more intelligent and much more capable of doing what is needed. At that time I want to take Yelena as my next wife. She will be much older than when you started having sex. She has the same aura as you and loves me just as much." "I see that. It is just that I am still trying to get over my feelings of protecting my daughters. What about Tatiana and Fatima?" "Tatiana will be twelve by that time and Fatima will be thirteen. I will take them in order if they wish to join our family." The girls squealed and hugged me to them. I added, "I do not know about Alicea. She wants me too but she does not have what each of you have by nature. This will have to be discussed in more detail later. We may find a mate for her or she may do the finding." We heard groans of pleasure form the bedrooms but it didn't bother anyone present. I said, "I think it is time we left here anyway. I don't want to have any official visitors." Catrina asked, "Why?" I said to her alone, "One of the kidnappers was killed. Alicea's fingerprints are on the truck but the authorities will not know who's they are. Alicea's school would surely have alerted the police which will lead them to here and then to us. I want my family safe. This safety is not in Brazil." "Where will we go?" "We are going home. The building will soon be enlarged to fit all of us. That is where your education will begin. I would rather keep the location secret for a few more hours." Catrina was curious but she still trusted me. She felt the link and knew instinctively that I would not do anything that was wrong by her or her family. I cleaned myself with a cleanser held in my hand then did the same to Catrina. She liked the tingle and I made her nipples stick up by making sure they were well cleaned. The children's faces and hands were cleaned of body fluids and I kissed each of them. Even the boys liked this. It was part of their culture and also meant that I loved them too. My wives came out of the bedroom by the time I was done so I continued with my work. They had no objections to laying on the couch and displaying all their plumbing to the family. Catrina was getting excited and Megan flexed her large clit to attract her. I hurried now or an orgy would start all over again. I kissed the wives and they began to dress the children. I went in the bedrooms and found the other children unconscious from the intensity of the orgasms that had passed through their bodies. They were much easier to clean this way and I gave them a small kiss too when I was finished even if they would not know it. The wives continued their duties and went back to their lovers and dressed them. Some were beginning to awaken and wanted the cloths off, not on. We left the apartment with the cleansers and probes hard at work cleaning it of all smells and even our fingerprints. Sandra had taken the majority of the things purchased and put the articles in a boat to lighten our load. The balcony proved to be a very good place for this. Sandra settled up our bill in cash which pleased the manager. She gave gratuities to those that were present and filled envelopes for those that were not. The limo driver would be particularly pleased. Taxis took us out of town until we found a much different motorhome parked at the side of a long straight section of road. We all got out and the vehicles left. Borin had again used her ability to camouflage herself. Her length was for the most part invisible while a short section was shown to be our vehicle When we got in, the interior resembled the same motorhome we used to use. Sandra was given the honours and said, "This motorhome is much more than it seems. It is actually a ship capable of going through not only the air but the water and even space." None of the newcomers could believe this. "Eduardo, will you come to the pilot's seat please. You have to begin your flight training." Catrina looked from one of us to another trying to see if this was a joke. I went over to her and said, "We can fly. Let's just see what comes of this. I wouldn't let anything bad happen to any of you." I took Catrina's hand and we followed Eduardo to the driver's seat of the motorhome. When the boy took the amazingly small seat the boy looked out the holographic window Soon we raced down the road faster and faster. The boy was so afraid that he released the wheel. Borin was trying to interpret what to do without causing damage. Sandra put his hands back on the wheel and said, "Just think how fast you want. If we are a little higher we will not hit any trees." The boy did as he was asked. He was actually amazed that he had done anything so complicated. Catrina held my hand in a vice like grip. She was very worried that her son was controlling our fate. Her other children were holding on to anything handy including each other but they found no inertial effects. On occasion a small scream was heard as the boy came close to one obstacle or another. "Catrina, he is just giving information to a computer as suggestions The computer will not allow us to come to harm. Even if he wants to crash, it will simply not happen." She relaxed a little but not much. It was going to take a while before she began to trust a computer or her five year old son's spaceship handling abilities. Eventually Eduardo went straight up to see what he could do and in less than a second he was completely out of the atmosphere. I could hear screams that suddenly died as the view now became stable. Sandra gave the boy suggestions and Borin took us to the far side of the moon and our home. Though it was dark our sensors made out the two major domes as if they were facing the sun. Further suggestions came and Eduardo slowed to a stop beside our dome. Borin had taken the suggestions but landed where she wanted which was not much different than where Eduardo would have us land. I said with small devices in my hands, "These are shields that each of us wear almost all the time. Soon you will be able to control them but for the moment we will do this for you. Eduardo has landed us beside our home. We will put these devices on you then you can walk to the personnel entrances. There is absolutely no danger except from you falling in the lighter gravity." Everybody was stunned so I called, "Eduardo, will you come here please?" The boy moved much quicker than the others would and I put a shield unit on him then activated it. I was given confirmation that it was sealed by the computer. We had to dress all of the rest Marco was too young to understand but was also easier to prepare. The air was evacuated from our area then the hatch was open. Sandra walked down the ramp as if it were on Earth apart from the gravity. I tugged Catrina twice and she soon came. Eduardo ran down the ramp and had to be caught by Sandra as he encountered the lesser lunar gravity. We only had to walk fifty metres and then we walked through the barrier protecting all that was inside. When we were all inside I gave the mental command and the shields deactivated. My new family now had a chance to smell the air of our home for the first time. Marco was crying because he didn't understand and most of the others were the same way. My wives both now and the future didn't have as much problems. They simply trusted me. Catrina asked, "What is this place?" She was worried but not as much as another woman without her aura would be. Megan was given the option of answering. "We built this place a few years ago. We wanted a nice home for our families and friends. Our parents live close by with their wives and children." She pointed in another direction and said, "Our brother and his wives and children live there. Over the rise and close to the lake you would find our good friends Odava, Ichom and their children. Our home is that way," the last was said with a pointing finger and a smile. We walked slowly until the newcomers were not petrified of making some mistakes in their steps. Our hands had to be used to support a child on each side. What seemed to break the ice was when the animal life started to make themselves known. Brightly coloured birds flew in the clearings with no obvious fear of us. Some squirrels came by to beg and usually one of us had something for them but this time they were out of luck. One came right up to Eduardo's leg but didn't find anything then went to others to see what was on the menu. Marina started her explanation by saying, "These little beggars are fed by us by hand but they have more than enough food in the trees. If we let them they would come into the house and eat at our table." I let Eduardo go and he took a step by himself to get closer to the familiar creature. This one chatted at him. I said, "He says that he is hungry and you should have brought him some food. Lots of what we give these guys simply gets buried and has to rot. They just like to horde food. They fight with the monkeys sometimes over what each will eat. The monkeys take the food and throw it at the squirrels hoping to drive them off." Marco wanted down now and he wondered down the path trying to catch one of the rodents. They usually would stay but one or another of us would chase the creatures off a few metres so they would not get hurt. A colourful bird distracted him and he then went after that. The rest of us followed as we watched the little boy lead the way. When we got to a rise Sandra pointed out our home. We all stood and admired the view. This was the reason we went this way. When it was time to go Marco lead again but Eduardo soon ran past him and then the two boys got in a race. We started giving lectures of what we passed but it was geared to the younger ones. Questions were asked and we actually got some replies. We stopped at some fruit trees protected from the wildlife and sampled some of what our home had to offer. After a short rest, we took an alternate path to lead us by the lake. When we got to the shore I found three flat stones of a type that had been in Tommy's memory once. I took one and threw it far out into the lake. I only used what abilities a strong boy would have. It made a splash quite a distance from where we stood. I handed a stone to Eduardo and he threw it further than he had ever thrown a stone before. Soon I had all the children throwing rocks and laughing or exclaiming how good they were. Alicea was handed a stone too. She smiled and threw it far but with very little coordination. I gave her a small kiss and handed the other stone to her mother. Catrina looked at the stone. She had not thrown one in twenty years but smiled very much like her daughter and threw it. She did even more poorly and her breasts moved violently as to show she did not know how to really throw. Catrina saw me look and figured exactly what I was looking at and smiled even wider. The rest of the trip to the house was more relaxing. Catrina held my arm more possessively while the two boys ran ahead looking for new discoveries. Once we got close to the house we slowed down so they could look at the construction. My wives had wanted something they could relate to so it resembled what humans could build or had built. It was a homogeneously blend of styles but still looked very pleasing to the eye. Marina warned the boys who wanted to be first, "You are going to start getting heavier soon. Go slow and stop often." Eduardo almost stumbled and then so did Marco. This was enough of a warning for the girls to watch their step even more. Human boys didn't seem to listen as much as the girls. It took a few more moments until everybody regained the surety of their step. The family now looked around in wonder. Some furnishings and art they were familiar with but others were very odd. I had seen a great deal of art with my own eyes but also in the records of my race. After being elevated the next step, we had evolved art even further to complement us. Not everybody could see the nuances as we could but that was understandable. A far wall and a portion of the floor was devoted to aquatic life. The boys naturally ran over first and frightened the fish with their steps. The wall was three metres high and the fish could swim in an area four by three metres in the floor. Normal tanks could not be built this way but it was easy with our technology. The entire room had a profusion of plants and even some insects that made them their homes. Butterflies went from one plant to another and it was known that they liked to land on brightly coloured clothing. Sandra and Megan had gone to Ontario and visited a butterfly conservatory in Niagara Falls. The sight had left a lasting impression and now we did the same thing here. Ours had a small protective field that tended to keep the delicate creatures in only one area of the house. Our own children loved this area too. At the moment the children were at their grandparents. Their future nannies though were still sleeping upstairs. They had been exhausted but now they were kept sedated. It would not be good to have them awaken in an empty home. We went through the main floor and even the lower level. This took a long time to explain most of the odd things they found. One was a tube that was three metres in diameter that came from the nearby lake. It formed part of the lower wall and fed water and nutrients to the tank above. The fish were free to come and go as they wished but they usually stayed because of the extra feeding we provided. The tube though was dark with places for fry to hide and this brought some of the larger fish. One happened to be spooked with our walking but Megan told about this old girl that had come from the Amazon. When we went to the main floor we stopped for a snack. A good proportion of our food was not processed. Portions of many kinds of raw fruit and vegetables were handed out. A synthetic milk that was in no way different from real milk went to the children. When we were done we started to clean the children. Catrina was shown how to use a cleanser manually and she took on the worst cases. These happened to be the boys. Alicea was not averse to having me clean her especially if she got a kiss after. Ana-Margarida was at my hip when I finished so she could get cleaned too. Shy Fatima was at the other side to get cleaned too. We sat down in the living room and we talked about the house and grounds for a half hour. Everyone listened raptly as the construction of the dome and floor were described. Our trips to Earth to pick up soil with life already within it and then plants were mentioned. Names for all of our extended family were used often so that the newcomers would not find them strange when we met. I said, "You have not met our neighbours or our children. Tom and his family are watching not only their own children but ours too. This chore may be alleviated soon." I turned to Alicea who I ensured sat beside me. I said, "When we found you last night there were four other girls that lived through the same hell as you did." Alicea started to tense up and I move her into my lap. "Do not be frightened. That is all behind you now. I just had a reason for mentioning these girls." Everybody was looking at me now waiting for the explanation. "Young girls were recruited by a gang. They were told they would get jobs as servants or to watch young children. They were supposed to be nannies. Some were still children themselves and others were as old as sixteen. The job they would really get would be a life of prostitution." I let that fact sink in for a moment. "Some girls that Alicea met had been hurt as she was but more were working on a farm waiting the same fate. They were being held by armed men. We played a trick on the men and rescued the girls. "We've decided to offer the girls the same job as the woman that recruited them. We have lots of children and need some people to watch out for the young ones. If they decide to stay they will be part of our family too. They may play some of our games or not. It is up to them. One day we will look hard to find suitable husbands for them when they are ready. We just have to ensure that they do not tell the secret that all of you now know. Many would not believe one girl if she said she was working on the moon but some people might. "Ten of the girls are sleeping upstairs. They had a hard time of it on the farm and four had it even harder sharing a fate like Alicea's. I would like to awaken them soon and then offer them the job I mentioned. I'm just mentioning this now so that all of you are aware of what is happening." Young Izabel asked, "Are they going to be your wives too?" I turned to the child. She transparently wanted to find out how much competition she had for she wanted me for her husband too. "They could possibly be at some time but that is not what they are here for. All of them are hurt in the mind and need to be cured. Some are hurt much worse than others. They need your understanding and your love. They do not want to be hurt again and maybe afraid of risking their lives like they did in following the woman that hired them." Yelena asked, "Are they going to be our servants?" She smiled at this for she wanted to see what it was like to be the boss. "They won't be servants at all. They will have jobs that will be difficult to do but you will all get much more difficult jobs." This seemed to frighten her and I said, "You have to study hard. You will not go to the school on Earth again but that only means that you are going into a tougher school here." "Let's listen to Sandra now talk of our mission." Sandra now took over. With a smile she got up. The large wall behind her turned black as she commanded it to. "When our pilot, Eduardo, flew us to the moon," everybody looked at the boy who suddenly smiled, "you saw another dome. This dome is our manufacturing centre. The wall behind me will act like a giant television and we will see what is inside that dome." The screen came alive and the large machines were seen producing large components. Other machines were taking raw material then purifying it for eventual use. Still other machines took the billets and used them to make what was required. "The machines you see are making parts for a large ship." The scene changed and the ship was seen as it was viewed from the moon's surface. The image grew and eventually figures could be seen moving around some massive parts. A figure turned to us and waved. Sandra waved in the room too and said, "That was my mother Margaret. She is working on the ship you saw. It is quite large. Eventually it will be required to both protect itself and to carry a large number of people. They will do the necessary work while exploring. My father is at home taking care of all the children," the last was said with a smile. The view changed again and some of the other figures stopped to wave. Sandra waved back and spoke. Everybody in the room could hear the mental greeting and the response and knew it came from far over their heads. She gave the name of who those in the room were looking at and a bit about what each were doing. Two figures though were smaller than the rest and these were focussed on much closer. Odava and Ichom gave their own soft greeting and then Sandra's equally formal and polite response. Ichom said, "Hi," to the new people then had a very Human like giggle before going back to work. "That was Ichom. She is a very lovable person and even more so when you see her with her children. Those children of hers are adorable in every way. If I had the time I would like to adopt some to live with our own but they are in very short supply at the moment." A smile graced her lips and it was easy to see that she was not joking. More of the ship was discussed then the focus went back to the surface and the living dome. This time Borin was not in camouflage. "Eduardo, that was the ship you were really flying. It was not as small as you thought. We hid the fact to make you less nervous. Borin is putting a picture of the motorhome beside her for you to compare." We got a heartfelt, "Wow!" from the boy. He looked around to let everybody know that he was the one to effortlessly pilot us here. For a few moments we surveyed Borin's hull and then some of her inner features. Very few numbers were given because none would be understood other than her rough size and tonnage. When the first installment was over my wives along with Catrina and Alicea went upstairs to wake up the first six girls. These were all from the farm and would only be upset about the fighting. The last four that were raped we would save to last. The two girls from the attic had gone into Margaret's care and at present were still sleeping. The six had easily fit on one bed and they came down twenty minutes later after having a talk. They had a shower with water and were now dressed in coveralls that we used on ship. The clothing was very utilitarian, strong, and showed a girl's features well in them. Downstairs, I gave more information about what we were doing and also about some of the things we had done in the last few years. I stuck to the mundane things though because the thoughts of violence and death were not a thing to lightly bring up. The girls came down and into the room to see only me as a male and potential threat. Sandra went around and introduced all of us and then Megan did the same with her charges. They were all made comfortable and food was brought out from our home fabricator. Sandra kept the lead this time and offered the girls a job this time that had children and not false promises. She had her aura out as did Megan and Marina. The girls readily agreed to her terms even if they were not yet clear. Questions about what happened on the farm were answered but this didn't let them know the full scope of the gang they were held by or what we had done to take it down. Catrina as well as the children were interested in this confrontation and I made sure that the girls mentioned that they actually saw nobody even injured. We discussed the remaining four girls still sleeping. I held Alicea to me as she went into a bit about what had happened to her. She then mentioned what she saw and what she surmised about what happened to her fellow travellers in the van. She cried on my shoulder and her mother petted her head trying to give some measure of support for her still injured daughter. The wives and Catrina went back upstairs to get the last four. This time they were upstairs a bit longer. The scope of my talk now reflected my enlarged audience. The house was described and the grounds around it with the focus on maintaining its present condition. Though they didn't know it this was a good form of therapy and in a loving environment would allow them to heal much faster. I was far from finishing my talk and the girls came down. These ones were easily recognised as much more fragile. It was not difficult to see that the newcomers were happy to have their old comrades in misery from the farm now with them. This session took much longer. A good sleep and even some minor tinkering from Pat'uch would not be enough for them to forget their difficulties or to suppress their still vivid memories. Again introductions were made and we started a talk about what really happened on the farm. This allowed each of the girls to get off their chest some of the things that had happened to them. Beating were the most common though the girls were always afraid of being raped. It was not long before everybody was holding somebody in comfort. Daniela surprisingly was close and hugged me. She knew that I was male but this didn't seem to bother her as much as most would guess. I pulled her to my chest as she cried and I felt that she was now seeing me as a father figure and she was once again a young girl. The crying started to lessen in a half hour and now was a time to change the focus of this gathering. Tom's family had returned from their labours on the ship. They had all gathered their children and some of ours and flew to our house. They were sitting on a large flat platform that moved noiselessly and stayed just above the ground now like a hovercraft. Everybody capable person on it was holding at least two infants. Some of the older ones looked the size of Human newborns but were standing comfortably erect with no assistance. An immaterial shield was around the craft to keep people from falling off or keeping branches from hitting the occupants. It settled in its usual level spot close to the French doors to our livingroom. The sobbing had suddenly stopped when our visitors were detected. Sandra and my wives went around and cleaned the faces of everybody including Catrina and her children. Sandra got the ladies both young and old to assist in moving the Human cargo into the house. The newest young ladies knew very well how to treat babies but some were surprised to find that the children were talking to them in their minds. They had not been exposed to this yet and the children had to be asked to remain 'quiet' for a few more minutes. When everybody came in we sat in the living room but the children now had to sit on the floor with the babies in their arms or standing in front of them. The new girls found it very disconcerting to see a child that was very small look into their eyes with such an intelligent look. I thought now was a good time to do some quick explaining. "Girls," everybody looked at me. "We took you from the farm or from the van because you were in trouble. It was my intention to turn you over to the authorities or to take each of you back to where you came from." Not everybody wanted to go back but some did. "Sandra, Megan and Marina thought of another solution." The girls looked at me and I could hear their eagerness for a possible other choice. "I am the proud parent of a considerable number of very talented children. My wives are currently pregnant and will be so quite a few more times before they get bored of this. We are trying to build a ship at the moment and require somebody to assist us in watching the youngest and keep them out of trouble. We have a computer to help but the children need to see people around and people looking out for them. That's why I want to offer each of you job." Daniela didn't say anything but she did think, "I need a home. I need someplace safe where I will not be hurt." I said, "We will offer you quite a bit more than you can imagine for this effort. For your loyalty to our combined families we will provide you with a very safe home where you are taken care of as we would our own children. You will all have to get an education though and it will not just be in cooking, cleaning and mending clothing. Each of you will be able to leave here and get a very high paying job almost anywhere on Earth. Our security here is simply too good to be true. None of those men that hurt you will ever find you here." "You will get a medical coverage that will make each of you very healthy. This may not sound like much but it means no sickness ever. If you have damaged teeth they will regrow to make your smile perfect." Some looked at me oddly because nobody could do this. "We are wealthy in many aspects. You can save your money or send it home to your families. You will be able to talk with them whenever you want. We will supply them with telephones no matter how remote they happen to be. If you wish you can send computers that will teach them many different things and also allow you to look at who you are talking to while they look at you." They didn't understand too much about computers but they had heard some things from people in their village. Few had actually seen one other than in printed material. "All the girls from the farm have been rescued. Two others have been abused and we have to get them. They will be offered the same as what you are being offered. The problem is that we have a large number of secrets. Any or all of you may decide to leave here now and we will take you home. If you decide to stay then it is like the military, you have to stay until the end of your contract unless something important happens that requires you to join your families." I didn't want them to think they would be locked up so I said, "You will undergo some training but will get to go with us when we visit some of the countries we have so far missed. China has not been touched much as well as Russia. Australia and all the rest of Oceania, the Middle East and Africa have to be canvassed too. Some of you get to go with us in rotation. The others have to stay and watch the children. Please ask your questions now. You have to decide in the next hour. After that you may go home or start your duties here." I paused for a while to let them talk among themselves. Soon I was asked about wages and I listed a fair amount but tempered it with what they could get us to do to for them as partial payment. I didn't want anyone here held by the thoughts of money alone. Sandra took the podium one more time and showed them where they were going to sleep. Their charges though were very close but they did have common rooms for entertainment, athletics and even sports. The only thing lacking was a supply of young males. This was first seen as a blessing but I knew that eventually it would seem a curse unless I could find a way around it. The four of us took a girl each to one side and talked more privately. They had their own private concerns and we spoke of them with the girl. Many things would not come out in a public meeting came out now. Some parents or relatives might need them in the future and they had taken the job to support the family. Some had sick relatives and in these cases we volunteered our services as part of their pay. In five cases there was a boy at home that they were interested in. A similar number had a girl but didn't want to mention this. It was not strictly lesbianism but a very strong friendship that ventured into the realm of sex. There was some hesitation from a few but the ones that wanted this job were asked verbally first. When it became obvious that all were accepting, those on the fence decided to jump on the winning side. I kissed and hugged all of the girls as did the other adults in the room. This made it feel much better as if it were their real family. "Now that you are in our family for at least a year I have to give you one of the secrets. I know it will shock you." When they all watched me I said, "Eduardo flew us in a ship to the moon today. He and the computer did a fair job of getting us down in one piece. We entered a large dome that had very many Earth type trees, animals and insects. All of this was with just the lunar gravity. It is much less than Earth's. We went into our house and showed them where they would be living and studying for the next few years. We also went upstairs to awaken some girls that were in serious trouble on the planet below us." Some of the girls ran to the doors and some even went onto the patio. They looked up at the 'sky' and found that it didn't perfectly match what they would see on Earth. Some ran into the garden but soon stopped as they found their footing very precarious. Each of my wives picked up their youngest child and walked out into the garden themselves to show that there was no danger and to calm the girls down. Catrina picked up Marco and went out too and I was very proud of her then. She didn't understand much more than the girls but knew that I was not going to hurt anyone intentionally. I had a silent conversation with the remaining adults and took the remaining Henriques children and walked past the girls still stunned in the house and past those more active ones on the patio to the lake. In my arms were my two older children and they clung to me but watched the rest of our travelling companions with interest. Alicea then five of her sisters picked up the remainder of my children so that this was now a family gathering. I had no concern of even the youngest having difficult holding a young child once they got by the artificial gravity. We played at the edge of the water and then I took my clothes off before removing the clothing on my children. All my children knew how to swim and loved the lake. The newer part of my family was a little hesitant except for Eduardo who thought nothing of swimming au naturel. Ana-Margarida was the next then all the rest were in the water. The girls still watched the babies to make sure they didn't come to harm. Amanda and Elizabeth went over to Yelena and compared her to each of their mothers. She was very close because of the aura and both sat down beside her. I took the child Yelena was caring and sat down beside Alicea. I said to the girl, "You have Lauren and I have Vasilisa. Courtney is the inquisitive one coming over now. Already I have one more child than your mother but I had three wives to get there." Alicea said, "I can't believe what they are like. They look at me with such intelligence I almost think they are old people in young bodies." Vasilisa was Marina's second child and she claimed a seat in my lap and stared at the two strange girls before her. I allowed the children talk and the girls were now stunned by what they were hearing. It was like being in a crowd of screaming people and I used my mind to filter out the messages if they were going to one particular girl. Amanda and Elizabeth were now sitting on Yelena legs and were playing with her breasts and nipples and sampling the types of feelings the girl was having. Yelena tried to get them to stop but then she felt a wave of sorrow come over her from the girls' hurt feelings that she allowed them to continue. I told Alicea what was happening and found that Lauren was already doing the same thing and was even using her mouth in a vain attempt for milk. She knew there was none but liked when she did this and the delicious feeling she could sample when it was being done. Courtney saw that one girl was fully occupied and sat on Alicea other leg to work on her other breast. The two older girls just hugged the children's heads to their breasts and enjoyed the sensations going through them. I knew without looking that the girls would be looking for some of their mother's toys later. When I did look, it was me they wanted instead. I left the children and the girls to their investigations and went over to Ana-Margarida and Eduardo We found flat stones under the water and the two worked to see who could make the stones skip the most. The rest of the family though was still doing things in the water. Here it was all rock but the gravity was so weak that it was still soft. We made houses with the rock and I corralled a fish so the children had a guest until we allowed it to leave. The children had got Alicea and Yelena to leave the water and lay on the grass. Here they were able to continue their investigations without either of the girls drowning in the process. I broke up their fun when I saw that the other girls had come to see what we were doing. It was good that they didn't scramble for clothing. The older two were still not thinking right anyways. Sandra came too and said aloud so all could hear, "The girls know that they are safe and that this is actually a good job we have for them. I explained that we could remove the short term memories even now and they could go home without giving away our secrets. They all will still stay and see what this is like. They are still worried that they will be hurt." "It's great that they will stay." I looked at all the girls and said, "Thank you for trusting us. You'll have no cause to regret your choice." I had stood holding one of my children but the girls were not looking at my face. I was polite though and only looked at theirs. We all walked back to the house after picking up the loose clothing. I thanked our guests for waiting and for watching our children. Payback always used to be watching their children but now they had to go home and awake their sleeping guests and let them peek at our house to see how their friends were coping with our ten children that would soon grow to thirteen. I stayed at home though and Sandra with Catrina and Alicea went back to their home city. This was mainly to pick up the two raped girls that Ana Santoz was currently watching. It also served the purpose of showing the girls that we were not holding them captive. A screen was sent up and soon we could see the three of them flying to Earth. Catrina and Alicea liked that they could stay in constant communications. They could have taken one of the boats but this was much nicer and showed the new girls some of what we had to offer. Borin settled in a park and the three invisible girls soon got out and the ship rose so people would not bump into her accidentally. Between two buildings the three became visible once more and we watched them hail a cab and ride to their old home. Both of the new women knew about the invisibility and the protection the suit gave and this was one of the only reasons that Catrina wanted to go back. The three very well dressed ladies went into the dirty tenement and quickly climbed the stairs to Ana Santoz' apartment. The door was opened but the security chain was still in place. When Ana saw the women the door closed quickly and the chain removed. Ana hugged all of her guests and said in a whisper, "The police have been around. They found a man that was killed out in the country. He was known to have visited this building and talked to Luis De Oliveira. It also seems that De Oliveira has disappeared too. From some of the talk, I do not think he will be coming back." Sandra said, "I should hope not. Some of the men in your country are real men and know when to remove a predator bent on eating their family." Ana knew just what happened but was not going to say more even to the three before her. From around the corner two girls peered to see if there was danger. Sandra just smiled at them and waved. Plucking their names from their minds she said, "Tadeu, Vicente we have come to see how you are doing. If you wish we will take you home to your parents or to our home. We have a job for each of you if you want it." Vicente was one of the girls from the farm and Sandra said, "Vicente, all your friends that were at the farm are now at our home. Some have taken our offer. They are now very safe. Would you like to talk to them?" With a simple nod of the head she agreed. Sandra put a small device on the table and pushed a button. A rectangle popped up that was a metre square but as yet remained dark. The girls at the table heard a ringing and at the same time the girls beside me heard the same ringing here too. Our whole wall became a large black screen. I patted Daniela's hand and said, "Hello." Instantly the wall showed another vision of what the phone displayed and knew my own image was sent to them. Sandra called out, "Hello Leif, can we talk to some of the girls? Vicente would like to know what's going on." "Sure," I turned to the girl beside me and said in a low voice, "Talk to Vicente but remember she has to make a decision. If she is frightened of being here even if it is the best, she will refuse." I got my own head nod then Daniela said to the large image of a frightened girl on the wall, "Hello Vicente. You will really like it here. Nobody will ever get us here and I now have two adorable babies on my lap." She turned one around so the girl on Earth could see better. "We are going to get an education and I know it's not a lie. We all decided to send letters first to our families so they will know we are safe now. Later they will get phones and even computers." One of the girls was anxious to talk so I got up and let her sit in my spot. In moments we had an intersystem hen party. Vicente cried and talked of her rape and then Daniela did too. Alicea was brought into the conversation and told of her rape but her determined look showed that she was somehow able to overcome the problems. Part of this I knew was that she was able to see Peres killed at the van when she was rescued. Ana was shocked at this revelation. She did get some chairs and put them so everybody could sit and see properly. Alicea had built up so much anger that she told of Peres getting killed and exactly how it was done. In the coming hour all ten girls had talked to one of their number in Ana's apartment. Tadeu the young kidnap victim was encouraged by Sandra to tell her story. She could do better when Sandra picked her up and put the girl in her lap. Sandra rubbed the girl's back as she told of the horrors that started when she unwittingly gave a stranger some help. When her story was done all the girls were crying even though it was not even as bad as what Daniela had to go through. ------- Chapter 28 Sandra suddenly got a message and so did I. Two police officers had stopped out front and another car was coming from the other direction. We read the officer's minds. Someone had seen Alicea going into the building and had reported it. Sandra cut the present conversation short and said to those around her, "We have to leave right now. The police are now coming and they will want to take the two girls and talk to Alicea about the dead man." She looked at Tadeu and Vicente. "You both can come with us now or let the police take you home. If you come with us you will not get all the questions from the police that want answers very bad. You have to tell me now." Vicente said, "I... I will go with you." Everybody looked at Tadeu and she said, "With you for now." Sandra smiled kindly and said, "Run up the stairs to the roof now." Alicea took Tadeu's hand and ran while Catrina did the same for Vicente. Sandra turned to the woman that helped, and handed Ana the communication device. "Keep this. Nobody will know what it is." We made it. Tell the police that we just ran from here. They will look down the other set of steps first." The girls had ran but had to stop at a secured door. Sandra had to unlock the padlock from the chain securing the door to the roof. She locked it behind her even if it was this type of lock. Once on the roof Tadeu and Vicente felt that they were trapped. The two girls started to sag and were soon asleep. Catrina and Alicea were concerned until Sandra picked one up and she disappeared then the other child did to. The other two came close and they too found themselves inside the ship. Sandra got in and put her two new guests in comfortable chairs before saying, "We have other jobs to do to." Catrina and Alicea were both excited and worried. Catrina asked loudly, "What?" "You are not being polite to your mistress." Catrina blushed and relaxed. "I am sorry mistress. I had no reason to ask you in that voice." Alicea began to worry about this and Sandra said, "Relax Alicea. Your mother and I are just playing a game. She is my little slut sometimes. I may need to spank her bum one day but until then I use another device that makes her do as she is told." "What's that?" "Do you want me to really show it to you? It will be like we are lovers. It is not real but it looks and feels real." The girl came to a decision after a moment and said, "Yes I would like that." "Mmmmm two sluts. What am I going to do with both of you? Perhaps I will find out after we deliver a few telephones to some villages." With a few strange looks she continued, "The girls looking to us now will want to write to their friends and relatives. Tadeu has to go to her parents but we are leaving some devices with her. She will get a second chance to come to us but it will be of her own volition. I think Vicente should get the same chance." The two women on the ship were suddenly shocked that others had heard their words and the invitation to have sex with one of their own gender. Sandra looked at the pickup and thus at the girls on the moon. "You will be able to talk to your friend and maybe you can convince her to join us. She actually needs us very much but I want you to see what could have happened if you had chosen differently." I looked into the minds of the ten girls that we rescued and saw that they were of mixed feelings. They wanted their friend with them but also wanted to see what it would be like to go back. Sandra was deposited in an otherwise empty street of a small village with an invisible bundle in her arms. She took the child into the home and put Tadeu into the bed she had not seen for five days. She returned to the street and a computer was placed in her hands that went into the house. A phone was put on the counter and another was put on a chest of drawers used by Tadeu and her two sisters. The computer was a completely self-contained unit with no way of gaining entry. The great majority of it was empty space and some otherwise useless metal used to give it weight. No wires could be connected to it. A standard infrared keyboard provided information exchange. The total unit was many times larger than it needed to be to discourage theft. The phone was put on an otherwise empty wall and secured to a stud. Tadeu's mother came home ten minutes later and found a strange woman on her front porch sitting on a stool her husband had made. The woman came up and said hesitantly, "Hello." "Hello, my name is Sandra. I have some very good news for you." "You found my daughter?" She said very eagerly. "Not only that but I brought her home. She is upstairs sleeping in her own bed." The mother rushed the door but Sandra blocked it. The mother was now angry, "Get out of the way." "Your daughter was raped along with another girl. The man that did it is now dead." The woman was now stunned. Sandra added, "We are trying to help her through this ordeal. Please understand that your daughter needs support and your love." The woman nodded and rushed around Sandra. She was up the stairs in seconds and bent over her sleeping daughter. Sandra released the child's mind and she woke up. Tadeu saw her mother and grabbed for her then started to cry. The reunion would take a long time so Sandra walked down the slightly more busy street and disappeared. Soon she was in the ship once again. Seconds later Sandra had to do basically the same thing but this time she had to do it differently. When she got near Vicente's village and home she made them both visible. The child awoke almost at her door and Sandra put her down. The girl rushed into the home and there was crying and excited yelling all at once. They only knew that Vicente had not written but they hoped she was safe Sandra waited at the open door for ten minutes before somebody noticed her. At her feet were the computer, keyboard and the two phones. She came in when invited and the father said, "You brought our daughter home. Thank you, thank you, my whole family thanks you. She told us some of the things she was forced to endure." "You are very welcome senhor. Your daughter was hurt but also needs some special care. Many other girls besides your daughter were lured away. Thankfully only a few have been hurt. They are currently staying at our estate. The man that raped your daughter is now in hell. He was sent there by good men that knew what to do." "I would thank them if I could." "They would hope that you would do the same thing. Your daughter though is still going to have problems dealing with what happened to her. I have brought you three things that will help you, your family and your community." "What are they, senhora?" The man asked very politely. Sandra went to the still open door and picked up the heavy computer. It was put on the counter then Sandra put the keyboard in front of it. A blank space was hard to find for the children's photographs or religious pictures covered most of the wall. One spot was selected and she anchored a small device to the wall over a stud. She said, "Touch this button here on the special telephone and you will get a television picture of who you are talking to. They will see your face too." The man had seen television programmes in the village before but he didn't own a set. The few in the village ran off car batteries. "You can only get some people so far. When a woman comes on just ask her who you want to talk to. Usually she can connect you with other telephones used in your country." Moving to the counter she said, "This machine will have a similar picture of a person in it. It will teach your village, your family and Vicente what she needs to know. It is connected far overhead to a satellite system that is linked all over the world. One more phone will go in Vicente's room so she can talk to those that were hurt too." "This is too much. You rescue my daughter and bring us gifts." "The computer belongs to the village. It is not yours. You cannot sell it. If it leaves this village it will no longer work. If it is not used, it will stop working too. The phones are the same way. They are only entrusted to you and your family. They should go into a community building but Vicente's phone has to stay with her." Vicente's mother and oldest brother had come back and heard most of what was said. The woman asked, "Why are you giving this to us?" "They are being given to you to hold. They will provide a way for Vicente to heal and for your village to learn more of the outside world. My family knows what a good education is worth." Vicente came into the room and saw Sandra again. She was still afraid. Sandra handed the girl the second phone. "This is like the one you just used and is for your own use. You can talk to all those that were tricked like you. You will see that the people doing this were smart and this in no way reflects on you or how you should have acted. We're still offering you a chance to work for us if that is your wish. You'll get a great education for the duties you will perform in watching our children. Whether you come or not, the decision is entirely up to you and your family." Sandra reached out and touched the single button. Pat'uch fabricated hologram came on dressed as a woman. She said, "Oh, hello Sandra. I see that you have delivered the phone." "Yes, and the computer." The computer went on automatically and a similar type of face from the same AI was seen. Sandra asked, "Will you connect Vicente to any of the girls that want to speak now? Make sure you invite those girls at my parents or my brother's house." Pat'uch's hologram of a woman smiled. "That will be all of them," she chuckled. Four split images came to Vicente and she began to talk to them. The faces changed and Vicente spoke to those too. Sandra took the fourteen year old boy by the hand and pulled him over to stand in front of the computer. He didn't want to go because he had never seen anything like what his sister now had. He was talked too by the woman on the screen and this made him take particular notice. The boy fell in love with not only the image but also fell in love with the machine. The parents were looking at the marvels in open mouthed wonder when Sandra said, "I am sorry but I have to go now." "We have not thanked you enough." "That's not required. We help when we can. Just remember to listen carefully to your daughter. She may need to come to us to complete her healing. She is welcome at any time. She also has the chance to work and send some money home." Sandra was able to get away finally and was soon back at Tadeu's village and home. The neighbours were all around but they let her through their ranks when she let out her aura. A similar offer was made here and Tadeu the girl was soon talking to Vicente. This time a younger sister worked on the computer after its services were given to the entire village. None of the letters were completed. The girls were busy talking to Vicente and/or Tadeu while some had time to spare with the children. Sandra came back thinking how the girls were now acting like girls and would probably be just fine. In the coming weeks Estevez Braga was being pressured to answer questions. I went to Brazil and found the more honest prosecuting attorneys and the honest judges. The corrupt ones were listed in a long column on a plastic coated sheets of paper. Their crimes and affiliations were also listed. These sheets were widely distributed but none of the information was substantiated. A few days after this a new sheet was produced showing where Braga hid the evidence that could convict him. This time it was only give to those that would pull Braga down. One paper had the buyers in the slave trade along with pictures taken from probes that had found the girls that had survived. Some women I had to actually go and find who they once were. Their traumatic life had made some forget completely their real identities. The girls were settling in at our home and the others under the dome. Letters were sent to their parents or to friends. Some had cash in them if it was appropriate. The letters mentioned that they had been duped by the woman that recruited them but had eventually found good jobs. Photographs were sent showing reasonably happy girls and their charges. Some of the girls were very happy. Our older children continued to perform erotic acts on the girls to find their response. It now appeared that the children were playing a musical instrument that was controlled by lips, fingers or tongue. In time the children would get around to all the new girls and then they would not want to leave. Sandra had images in her mind of the girls scattered all over an amphitheatre with our children playing them to a packed audience. The groans, moans and exclamations would be completely spontaneous. A crashing mutual orgasm at the 'climax' should transfer to the audience. It was good that only a small portion of the children's daily lives were devoted to finding out about sex. The rest was a communal way of just listening and talking to others. This was more in the way of friendships but soon I knew that the girls we brought here would appear to be very dull as our own children gained intelligence. Landscaping and the planting of flowers assisted all the girls and our own children worked with them. Odava and Ichom were a hit with the girls but their children were even more so. The parents had to almost fight for possession of their children when they got home. There was always one more thing the Gossna children needed before they left their caregiver's arms. The babies loved the attention. We had to watch out that fights didn't erupt over whose turn it was to watch them. Visiting was encouraged and the girls would pick up their charges and go for a walk to one of the homes. Ichom made sure that she had food the girls liked and the parents never had to worry if they were imposing on anybody to watch her children. The women in the latter stages of pregnancy had less to do but still oversaw what was happening. They had lots to learn yet themselves and some were even younger than the new girls. Alita was now happily pregnant with her third child and couldn't wait for more. Catrina settled into married life very well and was now anxiously waiting her first elevation. All of her daughters slated to be my wives were very interested in getting this process started. The three that were not necessarily destined for this felt that they should be considered too. Alicea was the most insistent. Megan took pity on them and presented them with a wide range of toys that was much more extensive than what even their mother had thought. Ana-Margarida had taken some of the devices and started to work on the new girls. Many liked the anal stimulation and the ones that didn't tried this in their vaginas. In two weeks there was only two girls that still had a hymen. Peer pressure is very strong especially when our form of parental guidance was definitely at odds with what their real parents would preach. Our own children picked up on the new toys and used them on 'their' girls in their sexual orchestra. I was not concerned with the girls becoming mind numbed sexual zombies for at some point they would find that they could resist or participate as they chose. My own wives had gone through that phase and though they never came completely out they knew when they had enough. I enjoyed it most, when all of them were well satisfied and then just wanted to rest, recuperate and cuddle. Catrina finally had her wish. All of our family including all the new girls came to watch. Megan, Marina and Sandra ensured that the sensations were carried over to the rest. The groans and exclamations helped Catrina to get even higher. When the time came all three of my other wives worked with me to reintegrate her mind. When this was all done they just laid with their new wife as if they had done all the work. They did look like what a family in my estimation should look like. Ana-Margarida tried to get in there too but she had intentions of pushing not only her mother but the other women to new heights and I just picked her up and carried her to the other room. The rest of her sisters followed too. We had a talk before about what we had just done and the children were just still stirred up. The girls from the farm came out too and after a little talk they all left to try out the toys Ana-Margarida had brought them on each other. All the girls and the two boys would engage in communal sex now. Some of my talks covered giving as good as they got and to ensuring that nobody was left out. I was quite sure that Tadeu and Vicente had not only heard of this arrangement but had seen it too. Sandra had gone to both villages later and visited the families. The girls were recovering but would still do much better with us. The computer time had to be adjusted so that more people could be exposed to this communications device. As we figured, some individuals were monopolising the available time. Our phones though were used a great deal but as yet nobody had come by to find out about them. The new girls were gradually introduced into a more structured lifestyle. They did what work that was necessary and then had some free time to socialise and another portion to study and work on projects. They worked in the soil to learn more of what was necessary to make things flourish. As farm girls they know some of this but now they were also scientists. Others worked with the animals, insects and fish so they would understand what was around them all the time back on Earth. The ones that accepted more responsibility were given trips to neighbouring star systems in one of the four Borin class ships. They took photographs for their own records and to put some pressure on those that were not trying very hard. They were even loaned some boats to do an independent investigation that was little more than what any tourist would do. Work continued on our ship. There were some girls here too for they didn't really fit in taking care of children. They did what jobs that were assigned them but they were rotated so that they had a chance to try everything we had to offer. Their own computers mimicked very well the controls they would have to use to do most of their jobs. Mail started to come back to the girls. They were older and wiser now and saw that some were just asking for money because it was available. Sandra also took some letters and hand delivered them. She claimed rightly that she was a medical doctor. Those family members that were sick were cured at a realistic rate. Other village members were similarly treated. A doctor had heard of Sandra but as yet had not met her. She would have to make herself look older if this were to happen. She had already worked her name into the medical profession but if classmates were to be questioned then she would be found out. Our family did little to actually build the hull. I wanted to work on the engines because this and the computers had fascinated me the most. The investigation of the alien engine design proceeded and dovetailed with ours. I wanted to find out as much as possible about their limits. My wives assisted me in this because they too liked engines and computers. Our experimental engines were still tested to destruction. Some of the more efficient models had some very odd harmonics. Going through a spectral image of our data we found collapsed matter. This had been built into each of the engines to allow them to assimilate and control some of the turbulence in the structure and direct it in the correct direction. This was a new discovery that came about when we found the damaged engine and after Zolanda had left us. The wives, the older children and I thought long and hard with a major expenditure in computer time. The purpose of the collapsed matter had been easily deduced in hindsight but it did cause other complications. In our efforts to minimise the detrimental effects we found that we had to introduce many more neutrons into the mix, especially to the atoms around the periphery of our super atoms. The number of such super atoms was increased but their concentration was proportionately lowered. The strong electro static charge that concentrated in a few regions caused other areas to get less than their share of the load. When these engines were tested far from Earth, they not only handled the same power that destroyed others but they gave much more thrust. All six of this type were tested to destruction though some were tested for endurance at what we surmised was as close to overload as we could make it. Catrina was now the equivalent of my old race in intelligence and was soon ready for the next step. We had a family discussion the same as last time to let her children and the other girls know exactly what was happening. When she went into the tank we had it placed close to our work. One of us was always there and usually one of Catrina's children were too. Tadeu was having more problems than Vicente. Her father could not get over the fact that the young girl let herself get raped. The injustice of it all did not make it through his warped perception of events. Sandra talked to the family but the father said one thing but the back of his mind would not allow him to truly believe his own words. Eventually the crying girl confessed that she had to leave. Sandra arrived with four of the original farm girls. They greeted Tadeu like the old friend she was. They had all come from similar villages themselves and knew what things were like. They stayed for a meal but after they talked more of what Tadeu would find in her new home without mentioning its most exotic parts. When the parents were comfortable with their daughter going they were told that Tadeu would not be back for at least a year. The parents and family were free to call during her own free time. This was little different than what any rich girl could get if she attended an elite academy. This time they used the Mercedes van once again. A few minutes down the road Tadeu was warned that she was in for a treat and to just relax. She started to scream as the van shot upward but without any odd forces affecting her. The floor was still down. The laughter of her friends made her relax and then they talked of their own first times flying. By the time they got to the moon Tadeu had already started to fit in with the four girls. Mainly it was because her friends were so nonchalant with this earthshattering feat. The two domes were explained before they got there but it was the ship's skeleton far overhead that shook her the most. The girls talked of where they thought their berths would be and what jobs they would have to do not to the nearer systems but possibly across the galaxy. Catrina came out of the tank the next day. After some preliminary tests we found her much the same as Sandra or the other wives. When she woke up the second time she still had her ravenous appetite for food and an equally ravenous appetite for sex. She was overcome with her senses seven times and collapsed into unconsciousness. After that her three other wives took care of her. This is what she seemed to need. It was not all sex but it was being close and in a family. When I laid down with them after it seemed like the last piece had fallen into place and Catrina was now content. In the next half cycle Catrina fell right into the groove. She ate her studies with a similar appetite because as she said, "I have to catch up." We worked on variations of the engines we had made last time. They had shown so much promise that I got extra help from all of the rest of the families. They made the lithium reactors and assisted in the design and manufacture of some of the engines. All of the computers were working on a variety of dependant projects. There was very little time to even manufacture the engines. Just before we were slated to go out for the next series of tests Catrina said, "Leif, we have been talking about increasing our family once again. Now that I am pregnant, I want Yelena to be your next wife. She's more than eager for the place at your side and a chance to be like her old mother" Catrina was now thirty one and had started having children at fourteen. She had altered her body and now looked like a very beautiful eighteen year old Latin beauty. Yelena would soon be fifteen and well past due in her mother's estimation. The rest of her fellow wives agreed. The girl in question was sitting on pins and needles waiting for my answer and there could only be one. All of the wives wanted this and I had to comply. When we left the next day with a full load of tests we had one more woman on board that was still tingling from her first time with a man. She was a hit with the women too for she was now far from shy. She knew what she was after and what to do to get it. She was a lot like Megan in this aspect. Catrina was now called by her first name and the new girl was not adverse to making the previous newcomer to our family very happy. Catrina was still not as aggressive as the rest of the wives and she enjoyed calling the women, "Ama." The Portuguese word was given to the female dominant in a given sexual situation. She was called slut much of the time now when it was time for fun and games. At other times she was treated as an equal which is more than what a Human would be able to do. My experiments went very well. The entire run took a half cycle because of the number of tests and the complexity of each. We had been trying to manufacture an engine that was much more powerful. We also wanted to get a greater density in the way the engines were placed at the stern of the ship. One possibility was a long thin engine that would allow similar units to be packed right beside each other. If this engine style functioned without interference from other similar units we could pack them very close. Three reactors could feeding each engine Other engines would have the same arrangement and nest into each other. This would all work out to more thrust from a given area. The trouble was that the thin cross-section motor worked fine but so did two other designs. The Seffra went for large engines because of their relative simplicity, their overall efficiency and their amazing longevity. We now had better performance than they had but the system was very demanding of power, we had no idea how well the technology would carry over to larger engines or for that matter how long they would last. When we made it back the new series of engines was already being started. The engines were now not the size of grapes but a full eight centimetres across and thirty eight long. This was a very powerful engine and we could only mount it on a very large asteroid. If the engine exploded then it would take the asteroid with it. Borin's engines were not even this large but she had more of the smaller units. During family time, and before I started more of my own studies, Alicea came to me. She sat beside me and said factually, "Leif, I have loved you since the day you pulled me from the back of that van. You have taken my mother and one sister so far as your wives. Will you take me too?" I held her hand in mine and looked into her eyes. The ideas in her mind though were even clearer. She did love me. It was different than those with complementary auras. I did love her too but not as I did my wives. We did have a theory though but I didn't know if it was time yet to try it out. "Alicea, when something involves our security or direction I am the captain and thus the one that must shoulder this burden. As a husband I have a special right to overrule one wife. Any two or more can outvote me. I do love you and you would make a good addition to our family but I don't see how you would fit in without some conflict. I suggest that you talk to my wives to see what they think. We've talked about letting others join our family but only after it has reached a critical point. I don't know if that point has been reached yet. It's possible that more of your sisters have to join first. Please talk to them about what we are trying to accomplish." "I did talk to them. They said to talk to you." "You have talked to me now. Go back and see what they say." After a kiss the girl walked off. She was despondent now because she took this as a simple rejection. I had told her the truth. I was the big boss in one way but the lowliest member of the family in another because the wives all thought alike. The male members of our community had little chance of getting together but it did happen. Usually we had a lot of children with us but that was never a real chore. Children were what life was about and I cherished each moment with them. The next day happened to be one of those special days. Tommy asked both of us, "How much trouble are the new girls giving you?" His father answered first, "I usually have fourteen girls in our house. They do everything they can to get me interested. They just can't seem to understand how dedicated I am to my work or my family. I simply cannot afford to take the time to dally with them. We have some major work ahead of us and I am far from getting all the studying done that I need." They both looked at me and I said, "I have much the same problems. Soon I will have to elevate Yelena. Fatima is almost thirteen and she will be next. Tatiana and Raisa will come soon after. Alicea is anxious to join the family too and I am far behind in my estimates of where I should be in my own studies. Taking on new wives is sexually gratifying but very wearying. I'm just happy that Ana-Margarida will not join for a few more years. Her two older sisters are starting to look at me differently too. I think the best thing to do is to find suitable male members to take some of the burden from us. We have done our job well enough that the girls are now looking at us as potential mates." Tommy said, "I understand your reasoning. I have Mary coming up and she reminds me of Ana-Margarida." He turned to his father and said, "You have Oaxaca but she is older and unaware of us. Do you have anything to add to our old discussions about male family members?" "Nothing new. The girls are not going to be a security risk if their husband is going to be firmly behind us. We'll just have to search for the right males." Tom said, "Better to let our wives do the hunting. This is a family thing and they are firmly in command." I smiled ruefully and thought of the possibility of getting some free time. "They'll take one or two of us too. The other will get a chance to study some. We're all very behind in our education and it looks like it's going to get a lot worse. I think the best thing to do would be to alter our sperm so that some males are born. It looks like this should continue for a few generations before it evens out." Later I broached the subject with Catrina. "We need to get some new blood. The new girls are driving Tom to distraction with their antics. The girls circulating through our home are doing the same thing. They know that I'm well taken care of but that only means that they have to go to extremes to get me to notice." "We have noticed that for a long time too. Are we going to continue east through Russia and China or go through the Mid East and Africa?" "Marina likes Russia if it has cooled off a bit. China is becoming more computerised and Pat'uch can get us the right papers. We can also retrace our steps and now look more for males. If we work on the criteria we need then we can find the right people a lot easier. The girls I know will like them after they have been elevated." "We thought the same thing. We have already made our list. With a little give and take with some of the criteria can be shifted one way or another to get the males we want. It'll not be as hard as finding a mate suitable for one of our families." The engines kept us busy for two more cycles. We had many more designs and even some rethinking was done on the power to supply them. Larger energy conduits were a necessity as well as a much finer control over the thrust. The engines were noisy and an enemy could easily detect them from quite a distance away. There were a great many things to consider and also a lot of false paths to investigate. The dual purpose compensator that worked with the time distortion and the effects of the high acceleration had to be similarly improved. Yelena became my wife and then went through both steps in this time. No sooner were we comfortable than shy Fatima was in our bed. Alicea was perturbed by this but remained outwardly pleased. The wives had simply told the older girl to wait. Fatima was anything but shy in bed like her older sister. Ten days later we worked on her mind to bring her up to the next level. In ten more days she seemed to fit in to the family very well without even going to the next step. The girls convinced me that they would hunt better without me. I hid my excitement well, I thought, for I would get a chance to study like I should. Fatima was even going too so she could have her input. I kissed all the women as they were about to leave on Borin or some of the much smaller boats. Catrina happened to be at the end of the line and said verbally, "You should start on Tatiana while we are gone. She is old enough and perhaps we can have her elevation ceremony when we get back. The girl was just behind me and she jumped up and down in happiness. She was finally getting what she wanted and even a chance to learn like nothing before. I smiled and tried to look jovial but I knew that with the women gone the girl would be on me most of the time. It would be fun for both of us but it would be nice to have a break sometime. Study and time with the children were important to me. We all could hear in our minds how angry Alicea was but we just ignored it for now. I turned to Alicea with Tatiana holding my hand. When I got close I tenderly kissed the older girl and said, "Your turn will come. The women do not want to make a mistake because our family is too important. Perhaps after Tatiana is elevated you will get your chance. I do love you and so does everybody else." "You could have me at any time without me being your wife," she said in the old argument. "You would then want more and want to participate with me. You in effect would be my wife then, and that is not the way it can be. We have a chance here of reaching that critical mass and if we do manage this then so much more can be accomplished." She knew all this but she still didn't want to wait. We stood to one side of the ship as it slowly rose higher and higher. We sent our good wishes and the wives sent their own in return. Sandra asked that Alicea participate a bit more in this act of love and I saw that the wives were getting sneaky. Tatiana wanted to start on the path as soon as we got into the dome. It was not clean but it was what the girl wanted. The remainder of Catrina's family were around us as well as some of the farm girls and their charges. There were three more babies this time as the senior wives had just had them. These were back at our home with other caregivers. Catrina was pregnant and so was Yelena at this point. I took off my clothes and then did the same for Tatiana. I surprised the rest by turning to Alicea and doing the same. With a kiss I turned to Tatiana once again and laid her on the grass. She was quite used to being given orgasms with the large female population. She had lost her hymen long ago to one of the toys and would not have any problem with me. She got very vocal and I moved Alicea so she would sit on her sister's mouth. When I finally entered her I found her unusually talented. A look in her mind and I found how Megan and Sandra had taught her to use her lower muscles to great advantage. Of course this meant she had to practice a lot with a piece of plastic. The other children had lost their own clothes and they all found groupings to continue. Marco was now four and happily did what came naturally and pleased one of the ladies. My older children were just as bad and were sitting on their steward's face while another of them was working on the girl's other end. Tatiana came many times and this usually brought her oldest sister to the same place. When the final time came Tatiana couldn't take it any more and collapsed unconscious. When I got off the girl I looked at the partially satisfied Alicea and just put her on the grass besides her sister and began to suck on her now tender clit. I used my fingers and especially my tongue on and in her until she too fell unconscious. I loved the two girls and really hated to see Alicea in such pain. Perhaps by giving her some of what she wanted she would feel satisfied. The children all about me were all trying to rest. They had outdone themselves in their sexual exploits and needed to catch their breath. Ana-Margarida alone was still standing but just barely. A small double headed phallus hung from her lower belly and I knew she had been making a lot of people happy but was not quite complete herself. I opened my arms to her and she ran to me with her phallus waving from side to side with her steps. I sat down beside Tatiana and pulled Ana-Margarida into my lap. She cuddled with me but I was being prodded by her pseudo member. I took it in my hand with the thoughts of removing it when the girl started moving her hips on the now stationary phallus. She was good for one more orgasm and I simply laid her differently on my lap and used the device to please her. It took only a few moments and a good orgasm went through her system. She curled up and began sleeping like her sisters and friends. I could see the same responses in her that my wives had and I bent down to kiss the child on the forehead. One day she would be the mother to some of my children even if she was younger than some I already had. I called our flying platform and assisted all the children onto its surface. Clothing went on next but would be recycled. Tractors held everybody safely until we got to our house and I began to help everybody off. Some were regaining their composure and began to assist me. The heavier gravity in the house made their movements awkward. Tadeu had come to us only recently and had been in the festivities like one of the old hands. I could see that she was rapidly healing She could go home in months but we had agreed to keep her a year at the minimum. If she could stay here with a husband or enter a female only family she would be happy to stay to the end of her days. I cleaned the children up and put them into the play room with all the gymnastic equipment. There was a soft floor, hangers from ceiling and walls to provide putting one's body in a position most favourable for getting pleasured. They even did exercises to strengthen their muscles on occasion. This was their favourite room anyway. I knew that in years to come the room would bring back fond memories but they would grow out of this stage of their development. In the other part of the house I found the youngest babies and their caretakers resting. I could smell that they had not been idle while I was gone but I knew that the children would always be children. The babies were put around me on the soft padding and I talked and touched each of them. This was the way my father and mothers treated me and I knew that in later years I fondly remembered this pleasant time. I never had so many siblings though being the only one my age but my parents were not building a new race. Sensing the children's questing minds I felt the usual lassitude settling on me. This was about what being a parent was all about. ------- Sandra had no time to even sit on the short trip. She had discussed where to start their search with the rest of the women but also wanted to see her old neighbourhood one more time. It was also a good way to show the rest how they had lived and even met me for the first time. The procedure would be continued with the others when their turn came. Over the city of Victoria Sandra said, "There's our old house." Everybody looked at the display before them. It would be the same if they were thirty lights away or in this case just a hundred metres over the old property. Margaret still had nostalgic memories of her old friends in this area. Some friends were still living in the area but in her present youthful state it was impossible to visit them. Some had phoned and friendships had been kept alive but visits had been lacking. She had resorted to telling them that her family had bought a special phone plan where their area code would be whatever they wanted even though it was on the other side of the Earth. This meant that they didn't mind chatting on occasion if the cost was minimal. Many anniversaries, birthday, graduation, funerals, wedding, and shower parties were missed. The claim of being so far away allowed her and Tom to avoid going when they were so busy doing other things. Megan felt the same thing as her sister and mother but the old friends were now not that important. Humans were shallow and almost two dimensional until they were elevated up to at least the level of the Seffra. The other women either in the ship or the many boats saw the homes as they had seen them before and knew how the original family was so lucky to have been raised in such a rich country. Marina's home had been close to this but it was almost three hundred years old and had only a few of the many conveniences. Missing those devices hadn't made her own early life less happy. Some of the others though had not had this luck but had to compare it to what they now had. This property on the planet below was nice but very close to being what a village cut out of a jungle would be like. It was now only three weeks into the new year. Borin invisibly set down in a large mall and beside some vacant trucks. A portion of the twenty two girls got out of the ship while the rest stayed on the boats. They were almost equally distributed except that there was one more of Tommy's wives on this trip. Ichom had stayed on the moon with her family and to catch up on some of her own studies. The boats preceded to their own destinations while the ones now walking would seek ground transportation. The girls were all dressed similarly in tight fitting ship's coveralls and a light jacket. This area usually received very little snow and at the moment it was even drizzling. To blend in with the natives it was necessary to dress this way. Some were to stay aboard to search other areas. To anybody looking at the ones that left the ship would think that this was a group of beauty contestants. Everyone had done something to improve their looks even if it was just to appear younger. Many of their members were currently pregnant. Some that had just joined a family would have to wait a while for this to happen to them. Two had just had their last children and were taking a break before the next one was to be conceived. All of them cast their minds to the moon and saw that their husbands and children were doing fine. The girls dispersed but Raisa, Tatiana, Fatima and Yelena were going with some older members of the group and stayed in Borin to go to their own hunting grounds. Borin summoned many taxis while they went into the mall and most of the women immediately headed for different doors. Sandra though stayed in the mall to search this area. She had stayed here as a child and knew where to look for lonely children. Now she would be on the lookout for any boys as she had before but this time they had to be very special. Older males would work but they had more or less set in their ways and it would be difficult to ensure that secrets didn't get mentioned to the natives. Taxis came and the individuals got in and they soon spread out. When Sandra completed her search she too left. This was a school day and it was hoped that any child found would have skipped class or was not even going to school. Sandra called her own small transport which happened to be the Mercedes van. Other boats would come eventually to shuttle individuals or small groups to other population centres. In seconds Sandra had flown cross the strait separating Vancouver Island from the mainland and was now just outside Stanley Park. This was the first time she had been back since being rescued by her husband those short years ago. After finding a good place to become visible she drove to an area and parked. Her mind was questing within the park and this area gave the best results. There were still a great many people in the park. Couples walked under umbrellas while others walked with strollers. The rain was not that hard but they were at least dry. A native had to learn to take the mild weather with the abundant rain. Large trees had people huddled under them while they smoked, drank, or continued with their chemically induced delusions. Some of the public buildings had people collected under the roof overhang. One young boy was inside selling his mouth for some money while three of his friends waited outside for protection. Sandra got close and studied all of them. She had serious doubts of this kind of person meeting their requirements. She would check diligently though for these were the type of people that could disappear easily and were also in need of a strong family to support them. The three boys were not yet sixteen but had not even come close to the requirements. A man came out of the washroom and looked at the boys before leaving. The boy of fourteen came out a moment later with a smile. He had been paid and now he would share his newfound wealth with his friends. He too was not suitable. All the boys and the other men in the area watched her walk by. Not all were homosexual and one man thought harder than the rest to take her into the bushes. Sandra just looked at him piercingly and the man looked down It was just a fantasy of his. Further into the park lovers were pleasing each other wherever there was a dry spot. None of the girls were being raped but not all appreciated doing this in the present conditions. One girl that did like it here was known. Ronny was in some bushes with a large sheet of clear plastic over her and a young man to keep the rain off. Currently she was on her knees sucking the young man that was far from clean. A look into both of their minds showed that they were doing this just for the orgasm that one of them would get and the other only a possibility. Not all of the men or women for that matter would ensure that the female servicing them would have her own joy. Assessing the girl as never before, Sandra found some revelations that she would never have believed. The girl was certainly an extrovert. Her body and mind bordered on nymphomania but she could achieve an orgasm. The last feature was the most astonishing. Ronny was desperately searching for a dominant person to take her. She was a submissive but didn't quite realise it yet. Her family life was studied and she could see the dynamics involved and what could be done to improve them. A probe was soon summoned and Sandra continued her hunt. This time she would be able to follow her old friend and lover's moves. More people waiting out the rain were scrutinised but were not acceptable. Some were school dropouts but most were dropouts from society in general. Again none of the people fit any of her requirements. The park was large and to cover it adequately she became invisible and ran down the asphalt paths. This way she was closer to the people and somehow being on the planet itself was better than being even closer in a small boat or even Borin. She found fights going on as well as arguments. Drugs were being sold and either injected or popped. At the moment nobody was in danger except by their own hand. The hotels around the area were similarly scanned though this took a longer time. The sex trade was going strong but it was mostly the women that were doing the selling. The males doing this were similar to the first group of boys and she held out little hope of finding a diamond in this morass of humanity. Ronny was emerging from her protection and Sandra saw them part. The young man didn't even kiss the woman that treated him so well for he felt disgust for where her lips had just been. Even from this distance Sandra could see that Ronny felt even more dejected now. Sandra came to a decision and ran invisibly to the periphery of the park. She made very good time at heading off her old friend. A moment before they would meet, Sandra stepped between two cars and crouched. She became visible and walked out. Only a girl of five saw her and Sandra just smiled at her. Sixty metres away Ronny came out a gate and walked toward Sandra unknowing who was ahead of her. Even at the rejection only a moment ago she still looked out for more men or women that would allow her to have a good time before she had to go back to her dead end job in three hours. Sandra was monitoring Ronny's mind and found the woman getting excited at seeing a beautiful woman ahead of her. When she got close she was even more pleased for she suspected the woman's identity. With a dozen quick strides Ronny called out, "Sandy, is that you?" Sandra smiled and continued her steps until they got close. This time Sandra took the woman into her arms and hugged her. "It has been a long time since we have actually seen each other." "Yes it has. You look younger and even more beautiful than you did before and that would take a lot to do." "Thanks, Ronny. How are you doing? We haven't spoken for almost five months. Your mother usually said you were out." "Oh, I've been busy. I got a new job again. Mom has been feeling bad that I have not settled down yet." She kept hidden the fact that she had somehow gotten pregnant three years ago and had a child. Ronny's mother had been doing most of the raising while the child's mother worked or found friends to have sex with. Sandra said, "Let's go get a bit to eat?" Subtly she increased her aura so that her old friend would not notice the change. "Ok." Sandra knew that Ronny and her mother had to sell their home and move to a much smaller rental unit here on the mainland. The company that had employed the mother had gone bankrupt and there was very little left for the employees. The new jobs that both women had would give them the necessities but left little for the luxuries. They talked of inconsequentials as they walked to a restaurant they had only patronised a little because of it being so expensive. Once they found a table. Sandra said, "Go freshen up and I'll order." This was said as a command and Ronny left to use the washroom and make herself presentable. Ronny went into the large clean washroom and saw immediately that her knees were very dirty and she even had a leaf sticking out of her hair. She knew that her old friend had seen this but she had also seen so much more when they were together. She felt a tingle in her clit. This was usually the case. Sandy and her had been lovers but now it was even more exciting for some reason. When she got back to the table she found the waiter setting down two large bowls of hot soup and filled their cups with coffee. When the waiter left Ronny said, "Just like old times, isn't it? We getting something hot and you usually paying." "It is only a bowl of soup. I can afford that I think. Tell me more about your mother. The expression you gave me before made me think that she is not feeling well." Ronny looked down at her soup and stirred the contents. "She's not been well. She has lots of things to do to. We are both working now that dad has gone. There has been more expenses than we expected." "Is part of it because of your son?" Ronny stopped dead. Her mind worked furiously trying to find a way of getting out of this. She had hid the fact that she had been pregnant and had a child. She hoped that Sandra would not have found out. "How did you know?" "We have lots of common friends. One word out of place can make a person take a suspicious trail of thought. Tell me about him." With her face still in the soup she said, "He is a cute little boy. He is in the terrible twos for a while now and this is making him a bit too much for mom to handle. She works too and we have to have somebody watching him all the time. There isn't enough money to afford a good babysitter or to send him to a day care centre." The description continued for only a short time. A mother loving a child would have found many things to talk about but Sandra already knew that Ronny was not ready to be a mother or take the responsibilities necessary. The child's grandmother was better suited but not by much. When they had finished their meal Sandra said, "I want to meet your son." Ronny was thinking that this was only an excuse to get her into her home so they could have sex. She said quickly with a smile, "Ok!" ------- Chapter 29 They walked three blocks after leaving the restaurant until they got to the disguised boat. Ronny was suitably impressed especially when she took her very comfortable seat and then closed the door. She could sense how strong and secure this vehicle was. "I have never been in this kind before." She had been many times in the back of many others though. "Our family is fairly well off now. Leif has made enough money that we can afford a few luxuries. We have a home but it is shared with a few others. It makes it like a large family in many ways." "I wouldn't mind meeting Leif again. I have never had so much fun as with him. He doesn't have any brothers, does he?" "He probably does but he has not called home for such a long time that we do not know for sure. I have never met a man like him. He loves us so much and loves our children too. At the same time his business is slowly growing and he is continually studying to learn more." Ronny just remembered that Sandra had children too and asked, "Tell me about your children, Amanda and Courtney then Megan's Elizabeth and Lauren." Ronny knew of the dual marriage and the first two children of each of the two sisters. More had never been mentioned for fear of the time counted and new questions asked. Sandra started talking and it didn't end until they got to Ronny's home. The girl could easily see that Sandra loved her children and those of her sister too. When she compared it to her own feelings she found that she was possibly a worse mother than she had previously thought. They drove into a rundown district and Ronny insisted that the van be locked before walked to the door of the older apartment house. Ronny lead the way in and felt a bit ashamed that she had not done her share to keep the apartment as clean as it should be. A boy of twenty nine months came tearing out of one of the rooms and stopped dead at seeing the strange woman in the house. He was a hyperactive child that would give even two indulgent parents a full time job. Ronny took off her jacket and hung it up then took her friend's. She turned around and crouched with her arms open. Usually David ran to her but this time he was acting strange which was an oddity. "Come here David. I want you to meet a friend of mine." Sandra monitored the boy. He wanted to come and this was enough to get him past the strangeness of her aura. When he was in his mother's arms Ronny said, "This is Sandy." Sandra said, "Hello David. I am glad to meet you." She held out her arms, "Can I hold you for a while? I am missing my own children." The boy squirmed to get into the strange woman's arms and Ronny assisted him. "Mmmmm, you're big." The boy was now enchanted by the aura that only part of his mind could understand and he held the woman to him tightly. Ronny saw this and felt a bit jealous then thought how she would love to hold her old friend the same way. Ronny played a good hostess and offered refreshments and a chance to sit down. When all three were sitting on the large couch the front door opened and Ronny's mother Sara came in with a basket full of clean folded clothing. The woman was stunned by Sandra's looks and aura. She had not seen her daughter's friend for a few years. She was much more beautiful now if that were possible but she had this poise about her that made her very different than anybody she had met before. Sara sat for a while. She felt even compelled to do so. It was like being with an old a trusted friend but at the same time she felt that she was privileged to sit here. She didn't talk unless asked questions but that felt alright with her. Sandra read how Ronny wanted to take her back to her room as they had done a few times before and there she wanted to do everything she could to make Sandra happy. She couldn't find a good way with her mother present and anyhow the mother had to take care of her son while all this was going on. The second best was to get the girl away from here and to a secluded spot. There were only a few hours before she had to go to work and she knew she would get fired because of all the times she had already missed. Before anything could be put into words, Sandra said, "I have been on the lookout for special people for our family business. I could use some exercise and perhaps we can go for a walk. Let's put both together and go to a mall? David can run around and burn off some of his inexhaustible energy and the three of us can all have a chance to talk." Ronny was disappointed but this was much better than having Sandy leave alone. "Ok, that sounds like a good idea." Sandra knew that David was ready to soil his diaper and stood with the boy. Ronny went to get her jacket and Sandra sat the child on the toilet. In only a moment she was cleaning him up again. Sara was amazed for she had not been able to toilet train the child or to even get him to cooperate. Ronny carried the diaper bag and Sandra opened the back of the van. A small fabricator was there all the time and it had produced a very good child safety seat. The seat had been used before along with seat belts. None of it was necessary but these articles along with mirrors and antenna were important pieces of camouflage. With the boy safely in his seat they drove to one of the shopping malls. Along the way Sandra talked but kept her mind focussed outward searching for her primary target. Sara asked about Sandra's and her sister's children because Sandra had started to take a firm control of her aura to tone it down. In turn each were asked about their present jobs. Both were for low pay but there were a fair number available if some didn't work out. The prospects of employment were even better than those on the island. When they parked, Sandra reclaimed the boy and all of them walked into the mall. A children's clothing store was close and she couldn't help herself by going there to shop instead of searching for her quarry. Ronny was concerned that her son was a heavy burden and kicked herself for not getting the stroller. Sandra though was not worried in the least. She was very strong and this load was easy to manage. They talked about mutual friends and did some shopping. At the food court they had a rest and a chance to get a drink. Sara went to the washroom and when she came back Ronny went. Sara said, "I still can't understand this. David is so well behaved now. He is usually so hard to manage. We took him to the doctors and they found quite a few things wrong with him. Hyperactivity is just one. He has attention deficit disorder and we fear he may be dyslexic but we cannot be sure. Ronny still hasn't told me who the father is and I think it's because she is not sure herself." Sandra said, "Ronny is a sex junkie. I have heard of a way to curb her appetite. Perhaps I can get it into her head to face that fact and take the treatment." "I have never heard of this." "The clinic was in Malaysia I believe. I can make some calls and see where exactly. I'm sure the doctors here could do the same thing if approached the right way." Talk continued but Sandra sensed that Ronny was in trouble. She said, "Maybe I better go to the washroom too." She hurried across the room and down the winding hall. Three men had Ronny trapped against the wall. Usually Ronny was used to this and just took the men to a quiet place and sucked them off. If she were lucky they would give her an orgasm too. This time though Ronny wanted to get back to Sandra and her family but found difficulty in doing this. "There you are Ronny," Sandra said with a smile. "I wondered where you got off to." Ronny was worried now. All of the young men had been drinking and one in front of her had a belligerent history. She assumed it was the drugs he usually took that did this. "Hi Sandy. I was just about to come back." The leader of the three men turned to Sandra and smiled. He was large and looked like he had been in quite a few fights and won then all. "Hello Sandy. My name's Al. Are you one of Ronny's special friends?" Sandra knew what the man thought. It was either one of the women that liked Ronny's body or one that put out the way she did. In either case they wanted some action from her now. "I am one of Ronny's old friends." The leader then the other two moved and tried to surround Sandra as they had Ronny. Sandra let this happen and noticed that Ronny now was very worried. Al said, "Would you like to go with us for a while? We know how to treat a lady right." "I don't think you do. You want your own gratification and that's all. I will definitely pass on the offer and so will Ronny." Al was tall and leaned over the diminutive woman. He put his hand on the wall beside Sandra's head and said, "You might not have too much choice in that." His other hand moved to hold one of Sandra's breasts. Laughter was heard from the other two. When the hand touched her Sandra said, "Take your hand off me now or suffer the consequences." "What are you going to do Sweetie? Hurt me?" He said this with a sarcastic voice and a leering smile. Sandra's hands and feet moved very quickly with the utmost precession. Sandra struck all of twenty six times. One would do but she held her power in check so she would be justified in landing all those blows. After the last strike she quickly moved out of the way and looked at her adversaries. They had not even seen her move to her present position. To their eyes she had just disappeared. Al collapsed to the floor on his knees and in a few seconds started to disgorge all that was in his stomach. The two males just stared open mouthed at Sandra the same way that Ronny did. Sandra said calmly, "Are you two going to make me do anything?" She got a double shaking of heads and she continued, "Pick your buddy up and take him home before I get angry at him or you again. The two just stared at Sandra but did edge closer and pick up their leader then hurry down the hall almost dragging him. They left the vomit on the floor and a stink of stomach acid. Sandra said, "Are you ok?" "What did you do? He's going to make my life miserable now." "Maybe not. Go to the bathroom now. I will wait out here," she ordered. While waiting in the hall Sandra detected another problem and it was very nearby. She took three steps down the hall and pushed open a heavy door. She had to turn and open another right away. She saw a long line of sinks on both sides and a larger room with stalls. Immediately she walked in to see two young men at urinals. Ignoring the two men she raced to the last stall and grasped the door in one hand and pulled very quickly. The sheet metal door bent from one corner but didn't open. Taking the frame in her other hand she separated the two and pulled open the door. A man turned around with a frightened look. He was standing with his back to the now open door and facing the toilet. In front of him was a small boy that Sandra knew was thirteen but was still small for his age. Though their thoughts were much slower than hers she knew exactly what was happening. Sandra said in a loud commanding voice, "Get out now if you want to stay out of jail." She just waited and the man quickly zipped himself up and fled the room as if the devil himself was after him. One of the others was unaware of the situation while the other was waiting his turn. Sandra pointed to this person and said, "You, get." Sandra turned to the frightened boy that was now trying to flee himself. Her hand caught the jacket on his shoulder. She looked at the boy and when he looked up to her she said in her commanding voice, "You wait. We are far from done." Both men had left now and Sandra turned back to the boy. Looking at his aura was difficult for fear was colouring much of it. He was not exactly what she was looking for but not that far off. "We are going out to the food court after you wash up. We will eat there with my friends. You will accompany us and do exactly as you are told. Do you understand?" "Ah... yes ma'am, I think." Sandra looked kindly on him now and tucked her aura back in that had flared during the confrontation. "This may be the best thing that ever happened to you Mark. Don't try to screw it up now." The boy waited a second and figured that he had to say something. "Yes ma'am." He had no idea how she knew his name or made the customer run. The broken and twisted door was not even noticed. Sandra kept her hand on Mark's shoulder but now it only rested there. She guided him to the sink and helped wash his face with a piece of white paper towel. When they came out into the hallway they found Ronny waiting. She had come out only a few seconds before and had looked at her mother and son and didn't see Sandra. She was surprised to find Sandra coming out of the men's washroom. She had been in them many times before herself. Sandra said by way of explanation, "Mark is now mine." She pulled the boy close to her and hugged him one handedly. "He has a rough life and now it will get much better." Neither of them understood but Mark did feel better than he had in quite a while. They walked back to the table and Sandra introduced Mark then said, "He is famished like any growing boy." She handed him a twenty dollar bill and said to him, "Go get something to eat. Bring me back a bottle of water please." Mark felt very comfortable and was a bit shocked at being given the money and a chance to run. He thought about it for a while and decided to risk it. For the last year he had been on his own more and more Recently when he started to sell his services he found out how easy it was to get ripped off or hurt. It took ten minutes to get back and he wondered what the three women had said about him in his absence. He had only been giving blow jobs for a few weeks now and didn't get any great thrill out of it. This was only done to make some money for food. The questions asked him back at the table led him to believe that nothing was said but he didn't really believe that. He avoided some questions and lied about others. Though he was a little over thirteen he knew he looked younger so it was hard to say that he was sixteen. The woman that pulled the john away rescued him from some of the more difficult questions but eventually he was done eating. He was given the job of cleaning up. Sandra now held Mark's hand and the boy didn't feel upset about it at all. She reminded him of his dead mother except that this one was much younger and very much more beautiful. They all went into department store and Sandra took Mark around and convinced him of what was best to buy without giving orders. In a sporting goods store Mark got a new pair of runners. Ronny was convinced later to get a nice pair of shoes for herself. All the while Sandra was continuing her search and knew that there were no more presently in the mall. The boy holding her hand suggested a new source of the boys she wanted. This time she would be able to help them without official sanction but this in the long run didn't really matter. Sandra drove back to Ronny's home to allow her to get dressed for her waitress job. David was put to sleep for his afternoon nap and Sara was happy to have got a rest and a chance to get out of the apartment. Mark sat at the kitchen table after Sandra told him to stay for a moment. In Ronny's bedroom Sandra again went into her commanding voice and loosened the restraints on her aura. "We have a serious talk ahead of us. I may not be back for a few days but I want you to stay away from temptation. That means you don't go out with anyone and just stay home. I want you to clean up the apartment and give your mom a break." Ronny wanted to resist and say, "No!" Sandra gave her no choice. "You are going to be mine now just like Mark. You need some firm guidance now and I will make sure you have it." Ronny did get out, "Why are you doing this?" "You were my friend, though you were not a good one. You need some help. Your life is going downhill and I have a way of stopping it from deteriorating further. It will take some work on my part but be assured that I have your best interests at heart. Now get dressed." Ronny smiled inwardly. She now found it exciting to be ordered around for some reason. She took off all her clothes and then pretended to look for what she needed while nude. Sandra just watched her and assisted in getting her bra snapped. Ronny was disappointed but did what she was directed to do. They said their goodbyes to Sara and David then drove a mile away to the small restaurant. Sandra kissed Ronny and said, "You belong to me now. Make me happy that you will do what you are told." "But..." "There are no buts. Do as you are told. I will see you in a few days." With sparkling eyes Ronny said, "Yes Sandra." Sandra drove a few blocks then pulled over and looked at Mark. "Mark, will you trust your future to me? I want you. You will not be my lover but I will be something much more like your mother. I want to give you a job and get you educated. As a member of my family I will get your two brothers and sister to come with us too. Nobody will be beating you again and you will not be forced into any sex you do not want." "I... I only did it for the money," he said as he hung his head and started to sniffle. Sandra put her gentle hand under his chin and elevated his eyes. "I know that. Will you join my family?" Mark wiped his nose with his sleeve and said after a short deliberation, "Yes I want that so much." Sandra smiled reassuringly, "You are now in my family Honey. Now let's get your brothers and sister." Sandra pulled into a motel and rented a room for her and her new son with a phony set of identification papers. Mark had been into motel rooms before but was not as frightened this time. Sandra said, "Go have a shower. You have new clothes to wear and I want them on you when we get your family at the school." "But..." "No buts from you either. Go get cleaned and dressed." "Ok." Mark went into the bathroom and closed the door before getting in the tub. He adjusted the water and started to wash himself. From outside the door he heard, "Use the shampoo and get behind the ears." Mark felt reassured by this and almost said, "Yes mom," but caught himself in time. It did make him feel much better though. Sandra went out to the boat and made some combs and other things that the boy would be familiar with. It was not time yet for him to find out that his new home would not be on this planet. Mark was finally done and came out with a towel around his waist. Sandra looked at him critically but knew that the boy had tried to get clean. "Now you look much more like the young man that belongs in my family. Now look up, I have to dry your hair and comb it." The boy did as he was asked but the vigorous towelling caused his own towel to fall. He began to worry and he seemed to hear in his mind, "It doesn't matter. We are family now." He relaxed then and Sandra combed his hair into place and then bent forward and kissed him on the nose. Sandra turned and picked up some jockey shorts and helped the boy get into them. Again Mark felt comforted by being dressed even though he had been able to do this for many years and had been on the streets for weeks now. This felt even better than when his mother was alive for she was usually drunk and did little for her children. Sandra liked dressing the boy and enjoyed the thoughts the boy had about her. She also liked the idea of being a mother even if it was to this older boy. The drive to the school was done in lots of time for Sandra to say, "Mark, find your brothers and sister and bring them here and introduce me to them. Call me Sandy. Tell them that I have found a safe home for them where they will not get beaten." After a small smile she added, "You can say that I will be your mom." Mark tried to hide his smile but didn't do too well. Before he left, Sandra hugged him and gave him another kiss on the nose. The bell had just rang and Mark got out of the van and waited. There were a lot of friends as well as people he knew walking by. None though came by to say hello but Mark thought that perhaps they had not known who he was. Sandra was doing her own scanning and found a boy that was a much better fit than Mark but he had a fairly happy home life and she had to just look for others. It took five minutes until two boys were seen as special to their brother. Mark ran to them now and he was not noticed until he was close. They both stopped to talk and Mark pointed out the new van parked on the roadway. Both boys had good attributes that she was looking for and was happy that she might be of some help. The sister Stephanie was seven and was not around. A search through the boys' minds found that she had stayed home today. Sandra eavesdropped and found that eleven year old Nicholas and nine year old William were incredulous at what they were being told. Each of them were thinking of the beatings they got at home on a regular basis just because their father was drunk or on drugs. Food and clothing were always in short supply because their father, Jake, took the welfare cheques and spent the money on himself. The authorities had been taken the children away twice from the parents but Jake probably needed the money so he got them back. The boys did decide to come over and visit to see what their brother was talking about. Sandra got out of the van and walked to meet them. This she knew would appear less threatening. When they got close Mark did as he was asked. Sandra assisted by opening up her aura. Nicholas was two years younger but actually the same size as his older brother Mark. He said, "You want us to be your family?" Sandra smiled and said, "I have some baby daughters already. I also have a husband. I found Mark when he was in trouble and I can find a place for him in my family. The two of you are not much better off and you will have a place too if you wish it." They were seriously considering this even though a normal child would shy away from a situation like this. Nicholas said, "What about our friends and all our stuff?" Each of you will get a phone. You can call anytime you want as long as you are not going to disturb your friends families when they are trying to sleep. As for your stuff, it can be easily replaced along with your clothing. All I ask is that you go to our school diligently and learn to get along with the rest. At the moment you are young and ignorant of many things. Later you will find that you have to cope better with all those around you." Little William said, "What if we want to go home?" He meant after he had seen his new home and found it not up to his standards. This time Sandra really smiled and said, "You give us a one month trial period and then you can decide. If you don't like it, any or all of you can come back. I seriously doubt if that will happen though." They asked a great many simple questions dealing with allowance and their rooms. They had never gotten an allowance but just wanted to ask. It took twenty minutes before the boys were very comfortable getting into the new van. They would have got in earlier but they would not have been as committed to their new home. It was a testament to what they had gone through that allowed them to choose this new and strange route to their future. Most children would have stayed with a known and abusive family as opposed to a new and strange environment. Sandra drove to the boys' apartment. Mark was very afraid and Sandra said, "I'm not leaving without your sister. I was not after her but I'm not leaving her with that unstable man." She refused to say father for that had too many good connotations for the term to pass her lips. She turned to Mark and said, "Will you come with me? You can convince Stephanie to come with us and you can say goodbye to that man in the apartment with her if you want. You will never have to come back to him again if you do not want to." "Do I have to?" "I can do it alone but it is nicer to do it with you. Your sister looks up to you as her oldest brother and the one that protected her the most." Mark thought for a minute and Sandra gave him time. He eventually said, "I will go if you want. I don't want him to beat me or make me stay with him." Sandra caressed the side of the boy's face and said, "That is one of the good things about you, you will grow up to be a fine man and a good father some day." Mark had a slight smile as he got out of the van. Sandra said to the other two boys. "I would like you to stay in the van. Nobody can get in at you and there is really nothing that you need from the apartment other than your sister." Sandra and Mark walked up the four flights of stairs. The elevator was permanently marked with a sign saying 'under repair'. Mark walked slower and slower until he got to the door. After seeing Sandra smile he quietly opened the door. Inside he could hear the television on low. Mark went alone into the front room and rub the hair on his sister's head as she sat on the floor. Before she could talk he put his finger to his lips and signalled her to follow. In a nearby chair their father slept. Beer bottles and filth were all over the apartment and it looked like it had not been cleaned in years. The place stunk of unwashed clothing and bodies, tobacco smoke, and stale beer. Sandra opened the front door and all three went out into the hallway. Stephanie was happy to see her brother but was a bit worried about the strange woman. There was soon something about her that she felt she could trust so she was not too upset. Mark said, "Steph, I found a new home for us. Nick and Willy are downstairs waiting. It's going to be great. We won't get hit anymore and we are even getting our own rooms if we want." "The seven year old girl said, "Daddy won't like that and he will hurt us when we get back." "He won't find us, ever, and Sandy says that her husband can beat up anybody in the world, he's so strong." As an afterthought he said, "and he won't hurt us either. He likes kids. They have a lot of girls now and no boys." After the girl had a chance to think Sandra bent down and held the girl's two small hands. "What your brother says is correct. You will not get struck again. We have a large family already and you will fit right in. I told your brothers that if they don't like it they can come back after one month. Will you be one of my daughters?" The girl was starving for love and acceptance and came into her arms. They hugged and Sandra pulled back to kiss the dirty cheek of the now tear streaked child in her arms. This was enough of a yes answer and they turned and walked back to the van. Sandra was happy for she would not have to have a confrontation with the man in the room in front of the children. Sandra put the pyjama clad child into the van and did up the unnecessary seatbelts. All the children were now talking to each other and Sandra drove to a nearby department store to get some decent clothing before all of them met the rest of their new family. Sandra just held Stephanie in her arms as if she were a baby and picked out all the clothes she needed. Once dressed in new clothes she paid immediately for them in cash. Now the girl could run around the store with her brothers as they found new clothing for themselves. The children had a good time with the new clothing. Sandra managed to hustle them into the van again and they went back to the motel. Nick was told to have a shower before he changed and Mark added, "Clean behind your ears and use the shampoo." Before Nick got angry Sandra said, "That is what I told Mark not too long ago." Sandra ordered a lot of clean linen. When Nick came out of the bathroom Sandra helped dry him and even had to go back and clean a few spots that had been missed. Willy went into the shower while Nick tried to get some privacy to change. Sandra relented and went into the bathroom with Stephanie following. "Willy can I wash your hair? I can do Stephanie at the same time." He was about to object but found it hard to say no to this woman. "Ok, I guess." Sandra removed all of Stephanie's clothing and put her into the tub with her two year older brother. She washed Willy first then did Stephanie. To speed things up she took the cloth and cleaned each of the children. She found that they had missed this sort of thing though they really had very little of it. Sandra felt good to be of use and to make the children feel so comfortable. When they were rinsed she took Willy from the tub and dried him very carefully then combed his hair. With a kiss on the now clean cheek she said, "Now go try on your new clothes." When the naked boy scampered out of the room Sandra took her time drying Stephanie and especially her hair. Sandra picked the slightly damp child up in her arms and took her to the other room with a towel now around her. She hummed to herself as she removed the tangles and did a quick job of making Stephanie's hair look as good as possible. When this was done Sandra put new panties on the child then her clothes. Stephanie got a kiss on the nose just before Sandra had to start working on Nick's hair. When they were all done she said, "I want you all to clean the room up. Collect your old clothes and put them in a bag. You will be getting all new clothes. I want to take you to your new home so I can make some phone calls." The children did as she asked and the room was in fair shape when they left. At the office Sandra paid for her room in cash and told the woman, "We are leaving now. I just wanted to get the children clean." The woman nodded her head because she understood this very well. Sandra drove to Burnaby, which was actually a part of Greater Vancouver, then by Burnaby Lake Regional Park. At the next exit she said, "The van we are in is very special." She waited for comments so she added, "It can fly." There was no verbal response because they all knew a van couldn't fly. "This one can even go into space if I want. Would you four believe it if we did?" Willy said, "Ya, I would like to see that." "Ok here we go." There presently was no witnesses and the car was already invisible. The scenery outside the windows changed dramatically but there was no changes in momentum. Sandra changed course and drove over the mountains and the children were staring down incredulously at the snow covered tops. After a few minutes she said, "We are going home now." The car accelerated rapidly but again there were no changes to the forces inside the vehicle. The moon grew rapidly but the children were growing upset. A call ahead warned the other children to get some clothing on and greet the new family members. The matter transmitter brought them through the dome though the boat was usually left outside. When they settled, Sandra said, "This vehicle has one standard Earth gravity inside but the lunar gravity is much less. I am going to slowly lower the gravity then help you out. It will be fun here and in a while you will think of it as home." From around the bend eleven girls and thirteen of the smaller children came running to see the newcomers. Sandra got out and hugged each of them and gave them a kiss. The passengers felt reassured about the sight in front of them but they were still uncertain of this type of reception for they had never been greeted this way before. Sandra got them out of the van and introduced the two groups. She was sure that the stunned newcomers would not remember much. It was good that Eduardo and Marco came tearing down the path just a bit later. This would raise the male proportion significantly. The newcomers were taken under the wings of the others and they began their short walk home. Stephanie was the only one reluctant to leave so she held onto Sandra's hand. Sandra bent down and said in a quiet voice, "I would not let anything happen to you Honey. You are very safe here. Nobody will hurt you." This seemed to help for the hand hold was not as tight. The route they took led by the lake and the new boys were incredulous to see girls, with real breasts, playing in the water. The naked people came out and either hugged their friends or waited to be politely introduced. Mark had just started puberty and started to react. Sandra cautioned all of the old hands but they couldn't help looking even if they had no other way of communicating. Sandra got in front or Mark and crouched down as if to be the same height as the rest. This successfully protected Mark until the rest were specifically told to look elsewhere. When the introductions were over the procession began once again. This time the new children were able to see the few animals that didn't try to hide from Humans. Various plants were explained and some of their fruit sampled. They had not eaten yet so the fruit was a good snack. When they got to the house, Sandra stopped to show them the view and then where they would stay. Their steps were slow and cautious as they came close to the house until they felt normal once again. I came out then holding my youngest child in my arms. I walked up to the children and Sandra introduced us. "I am happy to meet you all. In a way I will be something like a father to you for a while but in reality I am your captain." They didn't understand any of this so I took them in to eat while Sandra made a few phone calls. When I held out my free hand to Stephanie she only hesitated for a moment then took my hand. A short walk to the kitchen was in order and I seated all of the children. Instead of using the mechanicals I just brought out the dishes one handedly and set the table as I talked to the children. I served them warm pizza and a carbonated fruit juice to start before I seated myself with them to be part of the group. We talked of sports, friends and friendships then what they wanted to eventually do. I said, "Many children when they are young want to be an astronaut but all four of you are already at that stage." Some had not thought of this and now smiled. In the other room Sandra was mentally communicating to the computer in the house and this one interfaced with the various telephone systems on the Earth's surface. The first call went to the Vancouver police. "Hello, will you put me in touch with an officer that would be in charge of protecting children from abuse?" "Certainly ma'am. That'll be Sgt. Randolph." The phone rang four times before the sergeant answered. Sandra said, "Hello. If you have a recording device would be so good as to turn it on. I hate to repeat myself or for the police to get the wrong idea from just a poorly remembered conversation." The device was already running and Sandra knew it. She just wanted to make sure this was taken seriously. "It is running now. Who am I talking to?" "Mrs. Karamoonta. The name is odd and you will have probably never heard it before." "What's your address?" "I am afraid that I have to restrict that information for the foreseeable future. I called to report a crime. You will also think that I have committed one as well but I have not." "What crimes ma'am?" "A man by the name of Jake Armstrong has been abusing his children. He has been arrested many times and his children have been taken away. The foolish courts have allowed the children to go back to him and his wife. The children were taken away after their alcoholic mother passed away and again they were sent back to receive very regular beatings. If you look under a loose board beneath his chair you'll find a firearm that he uses in various crimes and to protect himself when purchasing drugs." After a pause Sgt. Randolph asked, "And the other crime?" "This may be your interpretation. I do not consider it a crime though you will. I have taken it upon myself to remove the children from this man's grasp. All of them went willingly when I asked if they wanted to join my family. They are all too young to make responsible decisions but I am old enough to do so." "Mrs. Karamoonta, that is a serious crime. It would be best to bring the children back or tell us where you are and we can pick them up." "I am afraid that will not happen. When the children are older they will be allowed to do as they wish but I seriously think that they will choose to stay with us. The children were underfed and the welfare cheques went to feed the man's vices. Their clothing was dirty and ragged. The school and the system had their chance to protect the children but they failed. I will not." "Mrs. Karamoonta you can go to jail for what you have done and the children would be left without a home or sent back to their father." "Thank you for your concern. I will not go to jail for you will not find me until I want it to happen. In coming months I will contact you again so we can have a conference call allowing you to talk to each of the children independently. The only purpose of this call was so the police could throw the father in jail one more time and have the leach thrown off welfare. You may start your search at any time but I assure you that the children are both safe and impossible to find." Sgt. Randolph tried one more time, "Mrs. Karamoonta you are hurting the children. They need interaction with other children and they need an education..." "Sir, they will get that and much more. Get their school records and compare what should be seen at your next interview with what you will find. They will be alert and I believe very happy. Now good day." "Ma'am..." Sandra stopped the connection. She was very sure the man now had a great deal of work to do. Not only to arrest the father but to start a search for the children. I said to Sandra, "Stephanie wants her new mother I think." "Coming." Sandra came into the kitchen and walked to the table. She picked up Stephanie and then sat down in her chair with the girl in her lap. "Did you guys save any pizza for me?" Stephanie had been eating like she had a hollow leg but did offer her last half piece to Sandra. Sandra just bit from it and let the girl feed her. After the first bite she said, "Mmmmmm that's good." "Leif Honey, will you get me a glass of that juice too. I have a bigger baby in my lap than you do." "Sure. Does anybody else want more?" I knew the answer but didn't want to load their minds with too many disturbing facts at one time. Sandra and I started to explain about the other children in the group. We went into a bit of their history but not all. They didn't know of all my wives or even the true number of my children. We wanted to bring this information to them gradually. We moved our location to other areas of the house to show them where they would sleep. The great number of other rooms and beds were seen and explained without great detail. Sandra took them into the gym after explaining about what could be done here. She did some simple manoeuvrers then asked Mark to try his luck. He did poorly but both of us used a bit of PK to make him seem less bad. Soon all of them were in the room trying various things. The computer with its tractors ensured that none of them got hurt. I called in some of the other children that had stayed outside until the new ones had our quiet talk. The first few that came in were both laughing and naked. I said, "That is the way they usually dress. You can wear your clothes or not. You will not get sunburnt but it is kept warm here to allow all of us to go nude. This is just like one big nudist camp." I crouched down in front of the children and whispered, "You three boys are the oldest young men here. I am afraid the girls will like you too." I turned to Stephanie and said, "Eduardo is almost six and his brother is just three. He will be four in three more months. I know you will like them. They only spoke Portuguese but they are now learning English. You can help most of them learn to speak the way we do now. Will you help them?" I got a smile and a big nod of the head. "Good now I am going to call Raisa over. She is nine and a half. She can speak better English and she can also show you all the good things to learn." Raisa came on cue and she took the three boys away. Stephanie still wanted to stay with us and we let her. We went to see the babies and the children watching them. Together we sat on the floor and Sandra told Stephanie which of the babies came from her body. She even held the third oldest and said that this one had the same name as her. Stephanie was happy with this and so was our own Stephanie. She was two years old but was still much smarter and better coordinated then the girl sitting with us. We left the two to get acquainted and just hoped that our newest member didn't start to feel as if she were hearing voices in her head. ------- It was raining as well in Toronto. Megan was currently walking up the east side of Young Street with a pink translucent umbrella over her head. The rain only kept the crowds indoors but it was still easy to see the bustle of the determined shoppers looking for their fix. People of all ages were in the doorways looking for shelter. Some actually lived in these same doorways. The homeless were to be found mainly here and to the west in Nathan Philips Square where the city hall was located. Megan usually walked with her eyes closed so she could use her senses to locate and assess those around her. The great majority were shoppers but some of the rest were those just looking for an easy dollar or a chance to stroke their libido. There were a higher proportion of prostitutes here of both genders. Then there were those that preyed on the prostitutes and on their customers. The pain and suffering was self-evident but unlike her sister she still looked for those that would suit her purpose. The rain slackened and quit an hour before noon. By then she was retracing her route from the other side of the busy street. When she came to Dundas she felt an urge to head west. At Bay she turned north after crossing the street and found herself at the Greyhound bus terminal. The terminal was large with many people coming and going. She waited a moment and saw the large diesel machines servicing the people but belching clouds of smoke and noise into the recently cleaned air. She walked into the waiting room and found many hungry eyes on her but this was what she usually found. Three boys were in a group and one looked to be just what she was looking for. She felt that she had to hurry and did so even if people looked at her oddly. She approached the group and the one she was after looked up to her. She looked at the young boy and said, "Hello Chris. These boys here are looking for a reward for finding you." The larger of the two boys tried to turn her around by gasping the material covering her arm but couldn't seem to move the woman much. Megan turned voluntary to him and said in a quiet voice, "Let go of me little boy. Bigger boys than you have tried and died." The fifteen year-old quickly did as he was told for he could see in his mind how the girl in front of him had actually killed the man she was referring to and more. Turning back to her quarry she said as she pointed, "That man over there is a chicken hawk. He and these two boys are here to get you into prostitution." She could tell that the boy didn't know the term. "He likes to have sex with young men and so do these two boys here. You would find that you would have your anus ripped from their 'love making'. These boys will share fifty dollars if they got you into that man's home." The older boy said, "You're lying. We were only here to help him. He looked lost." "Call your pimp over here and let him try to clear this up." The boy was undecided then whispered to the other. The man Megan was pointing too was signalled and after he looked around suspiciously he walked over to the group. He tried to get an indication of what was happening from the faces and body language of the those around him but wanted the young and pretty boy that he had sicced his two boys after. "Hello," he said smoothly. "What can I do for you?" Megan smiled just as nicely and said in a sweet voice, "Please tell this young man how you want to stick your cock up his ass then sell him to anybody that will pay you the money for the privilege." "What!" He said loudly but tried to convey that he was shocked that such a thing would be said of him. "I would never do a thing like that. I was waiting for a bus to come in with my wife and children on it." "Then you won't mind me calling the police over here. I am the one that thinks you are lying and this would certainly settle some things." All three looked around for a visible cop though the man had already done so before coming over. The man said, "A young woman like you could get hurt saying untrue things about me. I..." "What would a big man like you do? Hurt me? Perhaps even use that knife you have in your pocket? You like hurting people with your feet as you kick them when they are down. Would a strong man like you want to hurt a girl like me before I can call out and ask for help?" There were four people nearby that had heard the conversation and were watching from a distance. Megan had been steadily raising her voice but those she were talking to had not noticed. "A bitch like you is easy to shut up." "Like the boys you beat up. What about John Marsuto that came here two years ago. You ended up killing the boy and dismembering the body. You were never caught but you were questioned three times by the police. That makes you a sodomising murderer of boys and young men." The man reached out now and grasped her hair. This was to threaten her with his strength so she would be quiet. This was his usual way of gaining compliance. Before he could say anything Megan said, "You are hurting me. Let my hair go." "I will do more than hurt you..." Megan made a fist and struck sideways at the man's sternum. It hit hard enough for the man to look very stunned. His hand released the woman and he straightened up a bit and looked at her with very wide eyes. No sounds came from his lips though it looked like he wanted to say something. Megan bent down and took Christopher's suitcase in one hand and the thirteen year old's hand in another and started to pull him away. Chris was too stunned to resist but he saw the man start to collapse as he looked back. ------- Chapter 30 Once outside the building Megan stopped and said, "The man we just spoke with is dying. I stopped his heart with my fist. You are now free to do as you wish. I am afraid you are too naïve for the big city. People wait around these kind of places looking for young men and women that they can prey on." The boy was panic stricken and asked in a weak voice, "What am I going to do?" "I have a job for you Christopher. That is why I came to get you. It is much better than your home life but you will still have to go to school. You will still have someone in authority over you but they will understand you much better than your family did." The boy digested this and hadn't come to the realisation that the beautiful young woman had known his name and family situation yet. Megan continued, "In a seventy four seconds a policeman will come out of the door beside us looking for me. He will think the man died of a heart attack but still want to question me about what I said. Do you want to be here when he comes out?" Christopher had minor troubles with the law and said with wide eyes, "No!" "Then let's move." Megan carried the suitcase with all of Christopher's worldly goods. She ducked into the bus entrance as the policeman came out the door and looked around. Christopher relaxed as he saw the woman in front of him put a lock of hair back into place. The boy had a chance now to come to some of his wits and asked, "How did you know me?" Megan smiled and said, "Oh, that is easy, I simply read your mind." The boy just looked at her and didn't know what to think. This would usually be a joke but he heard in his mind, "Oh, it isn't a joke. It is much easier to read minds and to speak this way. Everything is much clearer. I know that you lusted after Marcy in your class but never did anything about it. You also have seventy three dollars and sixteen cents in your pocket along with that watch your grandfather gave you." In a few seconds Megan smiled more and said, "You are thinking that I have nice breasts but you were also thinking of my jacket and the pocket over my left breast." The boy turned very red and hung his head. Megan laughed quietly and held the boy's head up with one hand. "I like when nice young men appreciate my body but I am sorry to say that I am already married. Now Chris, do you want to take my offer of a job or do you want to try to stick it out on your own. I will leave if you don't want the offer." "What do you want me to do? I know to fix some cars and bikes and do a little electrical work. I worked in a greenhouse for a few months." Megan said verbally, "You have to be trained first. I cannot give you the job details for they're a secret. I can only tell you that you'll not be forced into having sex. You will not be beaten or ridiculed. You will learn though and far more than you ever believed possible. When that is done you will help us with a large project. I can tell you that when you find out what it is you will be very happy for accepting." The boy smiled and said, "Ok," in his mind for Megan was still gently holding his jaw. "Good, Chris. Now let's get a cab and check out the train station and the airport." "Why?" "I need far more help that just you can provide. Let's catch a cab first and I will talk as we move." The train station was one thousand four hundred and thirty metres away and much closer than the airport. Megan explained some minor points in the cab without the driver hearing a thing. "Part of the project is actually construction. After that a great many specialities will be needed and you will have to learn some of them. You will have access to a great many educated minds to do what is needed. Our library is entirely in a computer and it is easy to search through it for assistance." "What are we building?" "Perhaps your home but it is more than that. You are just having to wait and see." "What more help do you need?" "There are a lot of people that have the kind of temperament we need. You read once about a field around living objects. This field I can see and know just by looking at it what you are like. You work hard once you get the urge to do something about it. You are fairly honest and think that a family should be strong. You also have a sense of fairness and try to help those less fortunate. I just have to look for a similar field around others to know what they are like." Off the subject Christopher asked, "Did you really kill that man?" "I sure did. He liked your bum too much and he has hurt and killed for his lusts before and would continue to do so. There is just no way that this sort of person can be removed from society without someone being able to read minds as I do." Christopher's suitcase went into a rental locker, while Megan began to search for anybody that may be useful. Christopher saw how the beautiful woman concentrated on what she was doing. He in turn wondered about his commitment to the woman that had said that she had just killed a stranger. She certainly was right about reading his mind so it was very possible that she had read the other two guys and the man too. There were people in Ottawa that liked boys but whether they would rape them or not was not mentioned in local gossip. Soon Megan sat the young boy at a snack bar and handed him some money. "Eat what you want. I know you're hungry." Twenty minutes later after a train pulled in Megan came back and said, "No more luck. I just got one little diamond in all this chaff." Christopher smiled and Megan pulled him to her side. Out loud she said, "We have to hit the airport now." Another taxi took them across town and to this destination. This area took longer to search but again it proved fruitless. When Megan came back she said, "Well there are a lot more places to check but they are small. I can do them later and maybe it would be good to get you squared away in our home. There's a room for you and probably a much better meal than what you were eating at the train station." Another taxi took them to a nearby hotel. The building was new and very high but they didn't enter. Megan led the boy around to the parking lot and she opened the door of an old Volkswagen Beetle. For some reason Christopher felt let down but he did get in after stowing his suitcase. Megan drove out of the space and then into a small industrial mall nearby. When it was safe the boat became invisible to an external viewer. Megan said, "Christopher, when you first saw this vehicle you were upset." The boy began to lie but Megan stopped him. "It's fine. Just remember what you thought at that time so you could tell your children one day." Christopher didn't understand but he noticed that the scenery outside was acting oddly. He moved closer to the window and now saw what looked like the large buildings start to getting shorter. In mere seconds they had shrunk to pinpricks. Mist shrouded the view then all he could see was the mist below him. Looking up he saw the stars clearer than he had ever seen them before. He turned to Megan with his mouth open. "What happened?" "My slow old Beetle took off from the Earth at ninety gravities. In a moment you will see your home for the next while." She knew that the boy was very worried. "Christopher, you are completely safe. You are in no danger from me or the elements." They circled a portion of the Earth and had climbed appreciably in orbit. A minute later they were very close to the moon but Megan flew to the ship being built above its surface. At fifty kilometres Megan said, "I was born on the Earth the same as you. My parents were just as Human as yours are. I fell in love with a crazy alien and so did my sister. Now we are building this ship to go exploring. What we are offering is a chance to learn things far advanced over anybody on Earth. You will help us complete this vessel and if you are lucky you may get a chance to join her crew one day." The boy didn't answer for he couldn't do so. Thoughts raced through his mind and new ones cropped up. He had no chance to actually complete a rational thought. Megan drove close to the skeleton of the ship but there was nothing familiar to judge the size. When the short tour was over she drove to the moon and slowly settled through the large dome. When they came to rest beside a Mercedes van, Megan said, "This is home. The gravity here in my Volkswagen is the same as Earth but when you get out you will find it quite different. Just walk slow until you get used to the strange feeling I called some family and they will be here soon." Megan got out and had to help the boy from his seat. He was still too stunned. He did look up when some girls ran up to the clearing then slowed to a walk. Some were carrying very small babies but other normal babies were running with the older girls. Some of the younger ones were naked. Megan smiled at the girls and took the youngest child in her arms. She took a few moments to introduce each of the girls and say verbally a few polite words about each. The girls spoke poor English but to Christopher's ears it had a delightful accent. His first steps reminded him to walk carefully and one of the girls took his suitcase and one of his arms. Another girl took his other arm and now he felt very uncomfortable but in a nice way. They all walked slowly and they talked all the time about those things on the trail or just off of it. The lake was beautiful and he saw more naked girls but these were older. They waved at him as if it was an everyday thing to go around with no clothing. Things went slower here now for he had to be introduced to the girls that hurried to meet him. The girls giggled and Christopher was upset because it had to be the erection that he had. He was actually happy to get moving again though he was getting the hang of walking in less gravity. When the house came into view he found it to be monstrous. The girl holding his left arm said, "The building has a very large basement and even a basement under that." All of this was in the delightful accent that he had grown to love in the short time he had heard it. It was good that the girls were close for he almost stumbled as his weight started to return to him. In a matter of only ten strides he was back to what it was on Earth. On the patio in front of him were two more very beautiful people with three boys and a girl. The woman that brought him here took him over to the new group and said, "Christopher, this is my husband Leif." I stood and shook the boy's hand and said, "Hi Chris. It must have been quite a shock to find yourself on the moon?" "Ah... hi. I was really scared especially at first." "You will get used to it. You already know my wife Megan and this lady her is my other wife Sandra. They are not only both very beautiful but they are sisters. You can easily see the family resemblance. I can see it in our children." I put my hand behind Christopher to guide him to do what was right and take a few steps so he was in front of her. Sandra smiled and extended her hand. Christopher was uncomfortable because he had not learned very many of the Human graces from his parents. Sandra coached him along then introduced each of the four children that were sitting with us. "These children have just been here eight hours longer than you so they have lots to learn. I have no fear that in just a few weeks you will be running around like the girls you met and you will be just as happy. Now why don't you sit with us and enjoy a meal. We eat informally here most of the time but it is always nice to have a good sit down meal too." The boy was given a seat and Megan handed me the child she was holding and went inside to get some food for them. In the coming week we found eleven more boys coming to us. The women followed Megan's lead and looked at more bus stations. One potential pimp was discovered but this one was lucky and only ended up in the hospital. The boys worked hard when they found out that their level of accomplishments was directly proportional to the amount of time they could have with the girls. The same went for the girls though they also had the duties of watching our children. It would not be long before the boys would have to do the same thing. Telephone calls were made to the boy's parents to let them know that their sons were safe. Many didn't care and others had not known anything about their son for up to eleven months. Some seemed to be relieved that they were safe. Some wanted their sons back home but they were told that this would only happen if the boy wanted it. ------- We stayed with engine design and followed a less than analytical approach in doing so. Here we worked with our designs then tried variations of them. When the results came in we just followed up what could be done to improve the engines. Some of the engines we made led us to many more blind alleys. Some were much too dangerous for they produced some very hard radiation that could be detected far from the source. Others blew up very spectacularly with much lower power settings. Some promising leads turned sour when we found that we could not control the engine the way we needed. Even with all our losses we were still making progress. Engine longevity was very important too for there was just no way we could pull into a handy repair centre to replace a worn or defective unit. Some designs looked promising but I held off making the full scale units for I wanted to see how far I could push the systems before going into full scale production of the main drives. Sandra went back to Vancouver and had and in-depth talk with Ronny. In the preceding hours Sandra had used her aura, voice and body language to let Ronny know who was the dominant and who was the subservient member of this group. Ronny was almost into that form of mind already and seemed to revel in her new role. Ronny was taken to some of the better stores and Sandra talked in front of Ronny to the salesclerks about her inadequacies and especially poor choice in clothing. This was done only after finding that the particular saleswoman in front of her was into dominance herself. Sandra had scanned all of the employees of each business until she found what she wanted in this particular store. This one had her name on a small plastic tag hung from a tastefully designed dress. Ronny felt not only humiliated by the continuous comments but she felt a surge of excitement flow through her as her name was debased. With only the salesclerk with them at the back of the store, Sandra said, "What do you think of Ronny's breasts Cassy?" "They look all right to me," the tall brunette said. She wondered what this was all about. "Ronny take off your top." "What?" She asked quietly. "I said, 'take off your top, ' I want to show Cassy your breasts." Ronny struggled for a moment then looked around before complying. There was a rack of clothing that would keep her partially concealed. When the garment came off, Ronny was not surprised when Sandra said, "Take off your bra." After only a quick look Ronny reached behind and undid the snaps and let the bra now hang from the hand not holding the top. "What do you think of her breasts now?" Cassy got close and put a hand on Ronny's shoulder to look at each of the woman's breasts. "She is still young and they don't sag much." "She needs to be regularly exercised She is not only lazy but she has a problem with letting anyone use her. Everything seems to be wired directly to her clit. Pinch one of her nipples and see what I mean," she ordered. The woman didn't even look to Ronny for permission but only to Sandra. Her other hand touched Ronny on the bare midriff thin slid gently up to caress the breast then roll the nipple between her finger and thumb. Ronny shook at the touch then pushed her chest closer to the hand that was making her feel so good. The woman saw how this was affecting the girl and moved around behind Ronny so she could use a hand on each breast. Ronny stayed with her hands at her sides but leaned back into the woman for support and comfort. After a moment she heard from the aroused clerk, "She is responsive. You are right though about her needing regular exercise along with some special care." Sandra replied, "She does need care. I have found her acting irresponsibly on many occasions. A firm hand may be needed though. Do you know of anybody wanting to take on this responsibility?" Ronny now looked panic-stricken for she wanted Sandra to take care of her. "But Sandy..." Sandra moved quickly closer and pinched an unoccupied nipple bringing a great deal more pain to the woman. "It is mistress now, slut. If I want to sell you or simply rent you out I will. Most people could look out for you a lot better than you have been doing for yourself." There was no verbal answer right away. Ronny hung her head and knew that it was true. "But... mistress..." Sandra caressed the girl's face and whispered, "I know. You are weak and need somebody to help you." Ronny looked with love at Sandra for she seemed to know exactly what to say. Sandra looked at the Cassy and said, "Take Ronny into the change room. Remove all her clothing. Save her purse, shoes and any valuables. Throw everything else in the garbage. We are going to start from scratch." The woman said with a smile, "We can do that." Sandra moved fast again and put her hand on the woman's shoulder. "That is 'yes mistress' in the future." The shocked woman said nothing for she was now afraid of the speed and obvious determination. She had always been a dominant but now felt that she had to give way to the woman in front of her. It took a moment but the woman finally said, "Yes mistress." "Good, now let's get moving." The two women hurried into the furthest change room and the clerk treated Ronny like a child and just undressed her. Ronny didn't understand all of this but enjoyed the treatment she was getting. When Ronny was fully naked she was moved around until Cassy saw and felt most of her skin. She sat on a bench and Cassy pushed her down on her back and put her knees up to her breasts. In that position the woman looked at those portions of Ronny that she had not seen yet. She assessed how much she really wanted the woman in front of her. In the end she said, "You have a very beautiful mistress. You should feel very lucky to have her." Ronny stayed as she was placed and said in a small voice, "Oh I am happy. I never knew this side of me existed but I am happy to have found it." Cassy was going to caress the woman splayed in front of her but remembered in time that this one didn't belong to her and her mistress would be angry. "You better sit up slut. Your mistress will be here soon." Ronny closed her eyes and shivered at the derogatory term that now sounded much better than it ever did before. Cassy didn't help Ronny sit up. When she was in position Cassy said, "If you were mine I would have you in shape in a month but in six you would look a lot different." Ronny said nothing but thought that if she didn't have Sandy taking care of her, this woman might do it. She leaned back and pushed out her naked breasts a bit. Cassy smiled and said, "You are a slut but one I would like to keep." She saw the smile on Ronny's face and said, "Pick up your rags. Your mistress wants them thrown out." Ronny did as she was told. She was afraid now because she had no clothing at all now. When it was bundled neatly she handed the bundle to Cassy. "Thank you slut. Now sit on the bench and play with yourself while you wait." Ronny just hung her head and did as she was told. Cassy left the room to complete her other duties quite sure that the woman would do as she was commanded to do. Sandra looked through the clothing that the store had to offer. She saw a plaid skirt and this gave her an idea. A white blouse was next. The shoes wouldn't match but that might present some fun for later. Some white knee highs were found just in time for Cassy to return. The old clothes were in a bag but this sat beside the garbage. Sandra handed the clothing to Cassy. "Dress the slut in this first." "Yes mistress." In four minutes Ronny was dressed and led out of the room. Sandra was waiting with other clothing waiting on a rack. Ronny was self-conscious about her looks. She just about had an orgasm before being told to stand. Cassy dressed her again but left to come back with some tissues to wipe up the discharge that was leaking from her. When she emerged from the change room she tried to pretend that she was a school girl but she knew that it would be a problem to do so. Sandra looked at Ronny critically and said, "Turn around slowly." When Ronny's back was to her she said, "Stop." After a pause she said, "bend over and touch your toes. Cassy, pick up the back of her dress." Ronny had not yet completed her task and paused momentarily then did as she was told. She felt the cool air on her backside for she had no undergarments on. Sandra said, "Is she excited? You better check and see." This was permission enough for Cassy and she ran her fingers up and down Ronny's crack then slid effortlessly into her vagina. With just a few strokes she brought out her hand and showed Sandra the moisture. "She looks pretty excited to me... mistress." Sandra looked at Cassy and said, "When do you get off work." "Ah... in five hours. I do have an hour break coming up." "Write up a bill for what I have picked out and for what she is wearing. I want to take her out and get some shoes for her." Cassy smiled and said, "I know just the place." Cassy was about to pick up the clothes when Sandra said, "Clean your fingers with your mouth." She was not used to being ordered like this but did as she was told. Ronny had stayed in position but had seen this happening and this made her release even more lubrication. Sandra said, "Stand up slut. We have places to go." "Yes mistress." Cassy got fifteen minutes more for her break and led the pair down the overcast street to a busy shoe store catering to the upper crust. Cassy pointed out a pimply faced young man and Sandra nodded. She walked up to the salesman and said, "I would like some oxfords for my slut." The young man's eyes bugged out but he didn't say anything except, "What size would you like?" "Fit her." Ronny was commanded to sit at the edge of a Naugahyde covered seat while the young man brought over a gauge. Ronny's short skirt slipped more to her waist but she didn't try to stop it for she was not told to. The man just stared at the juncture of her legs and the gauge was forgotten in his hands. A saleswoman came over because she knew Cassy fairly intimately. When she got close Cassy said, "You better help. The salesman is having problems." The woman moved in front of Ronny and immediately saw the difficulty. When Ronny was being stared at she had closed her knees a bit until she heard Sandra tell her to spread her legs like a slut. When she did so her vagina opened up for all to see. Sandra said to Cassy, "Get more tissues. The slut will wet her new clothes and soak the chair." Cassy automatically said, "Yes mistress," which happened to shock the saleswoman. Cassy had been nothing but dominant before. After coming back from the cash she handed half of the fist full of tissues to the man and half to the saleswoman. She said, "Keep her cleaned up until we leave." The woman got there first and took her time cleaning up Ronny's mons. The man came out of his stupor and measured Ronny's foot. He didn't want to leave but felt compelled to get the shoes. He almost ran to get the shoes and was back very quickly with two different styles. He opened the box without looking at it and slipped a shoe onto Ronny's foot. He hated to say it but had to. "You have to walk with it." Ronny looked at Sandra and saw the nod so she got up to walk around. When she got back to her chair she just stood and said, "Do you want me to wear these?" "How do they fit?" "Ok... I guess." Sandra told the clerk what she now wanted to try and he quickly went to get what was required. The saleswoman stayed on her knees waiting to daub a bit more moisture if and when the occasion arose. The next pair of shoes suited Ronny better but also matched her current costume. Two more pairs of shoes were purchased. Customers came around and saw Ronny displaying herself but only stared a few moments before forcing themselves to move on. Only when a pair of old women that were sure to make a fuss was Ronny compelled to act more demurely. When they left the man had a sopping wet ball of tissues in his pocket as did the woman in her purse. There was time to eat if done quickly. In a restaurant Sandra said, "I will order. Cassy, take Ronny to the washroom. Clean her up and have her repay you with her tongue. Don't be long." Two voices said, "Yes mistress," and the girls hurried off. The two women came back after ten minutes with an older woman scowling at them as they left the washroom. They quickly sat and Sandra asked, "Cassy, did you clean my slut well?" "She has a problem mistress. I clean her up then she did as she was ordered then she was wet again. An old woman suspects what we were doing." "That's fine. Now eat your meal. You have to hurry to get back on time." Cassy was only a few minutes late. She had a monetary gratuity and a much more personal one in the restaurant washroom. She passed both Sandra and Ronny her address and phone number hoping for another meeting. When they were sitting back in the 'Mercedes', Ronny said, "That was fun mistress. Do you want me to do something for you?" Sandra slowly reached out her hand and caressed Ronny's cheek. "Not now my little slut but there is something that I can do for you." Ronny closed her eyes in pleasure then said, "What is that my mistress?" "You and David will come and live with my family." Ronny's eyes flashed open for this was what she wanted. Before she could thank Sandra she heard, "There are some conditions to this. I am going to make you a little girl. I think that you will be around nine years old and not yet reaching puberty. You will not be able to visit your mother for a while but you and she can phone when you have no other duties. We will not be responsible for your son but you will be taught to care for all the children. You will get a chance to start over again but this time we will raise you right. That may mean lots of sex but you will be responsible. Will you trust me with your future and that of your child?" Ronny thought for a few seconds. She didn't know the particulars but she was sure that she would not actually be made nine again. That was impossible. "I would love to be in your family." An hour later the two women were sitting at the kitchen table. Sara, Ronny's mother was sitting there too at Sandra's request. David was napping in his bedroom and Ronny had changed into something less objectionable from her mother's point of view. Sandra began the discussion by saying, "Ronny and I have been doing some talking about her future." When nothing more was said Sara asked, "What did you decide?" "Ronny and David would come to live with my family. First of all Ronny would have a more structured environment where she will go back to school and learn something that will be of value to her and to all of us. David will be looked after with my own children. The good point is that you will not be tied here to this apartment all your life. You can live for yourself and perhaps find a man that you can share your life with." Sara blushed for that was exactly what she was thinking. "Men, they won't be interested in me. Besides I would just be trading in a two year old for a forty year old. Both have to be babied and coddled or they sulk." Sandra laughed and then so did Ronny. Sandra knew this was true even though I didn't fit in that category very well. Sara hated to see her child and her grandchild leave but knew that she had to watch out for both of them and this restrict her choices as well as making her life a lot more labourious. Ronny said she would do things but never got around to doing many of them. David was a demanding boy even though he was very sweet when he was allowed to be. Sara knew that a larger family setting would be good for the boy and the fact that there already was more than one caregiver was needed. More talk centered around Sandra's and Megan's children. Sara was happy to see that everything should work out just fine. Ronny asked the important question that was on Sara's lips. "When can we go?" "We have to go to where you work and quit. If the owner needs you then you will have to stay. One of the responsibilities you will have to learn is to do with those you work with." When David woke up, Sandra drove all of them to the restaurant where Ronny worked. Ronny was forced to hand in her resignation dressed in her waitress uniform for she was obliged to work if she was asked. The owner was not thrilled with the situation. He paid the minimum wage and just wanted the waitresses to live on their tips which they had to share with the rest of the staff. There were always more waitresses than there were hours so the man didn't mind trying to cheat her out of a few days wages and said, "I don't want you here if you want to quit on me like that. Leave now." He was shocked when Ronny smiled at him and said, "Thanks, I will do that, bye." The man didn't know what to say but now had to let her go. She came running out to the van and said, "I don't have to work. He let me go." Sandra smiled though she knew that the man would try to get back at Ronny through the money he owed her. She smiled in turn for the man was treated right and if he wanted to be nasty, her family had an even nastier group of lawyers doing almost nothing at the moment. That night Sandra would sleep over but alone on the couch even though Ronny would graciously share her bed. Ronny's and David's things were gathered though this was just window dressing for Sara's benefit. The next morning after a good breakfast a moving company was contacted and they came to move everything they were told to and then be put it into storage. They were even finished before noon and Sandra said, "Let's go out for a nice meal and we can leave after that." Sandra took them to a good restaurant and they had a good time. David was acting up a bit but a small med unit kept him from doing what he usually would. Sandra drove back to the house and stayed outside. Sara and Ronny cried then so did David even though he didn't know what was happening. Sara waved to the retreating van. She felt guilty about seeing them leave but felt very free too. In fact since this morning she had felt the best she had in years. When she got inside she found an envelope on the table addressed to her. Inside was a great deal of money and a note explaining how some of it was to compensate her for the present bills and those that would come in later. This left what she thought was ten thousand dollars. It was not enough to retire on but it was good enough to get some new clothes and go out hunting for Mr Right. Sandra drove down Highway 1 and said to Ronny, "Well you took a very dramatic step in the last few days. Not everybody would accept my offer sight unseen." "I trust you. Besides as you said last night, I am impetuous. I never knew that I needed to have somebody boss me around. I can think fairly well but coming to a hard and fast decision about something is difficult." "I know it is for you. For the next while I will make the decisions that I think are best." Ronny smiled and said in a low voice, "I like that." "I said to you yesterday that you were going to be a nine year-old. I did not lie to you. You will be my daughter and when you wake up you will find that things have changed significantly. You will get your second chance. I just hope that you work hard for I am sponsoring you and if you fail it will make me look bad in front of my family." Ronny didn't understand but she said, "I will work hard so you will be proud of me... Mommy." The last was said with a yawn and soon Ronny was fast asleep. In a few more kilometres there was an exit. Seconds after they were on the way to the moon with a wide awake little boy looking out through the windows and wondering why things had changed so much. Sandra met Borin in orbit and Ronny went into one of the tanks designed for repair of damaged bodies. This time Ronny would come out exactly as Sandra had said. She would be an nine year-old with a flat immature chest and an intact hymen. The stretch marks on her abdomen would all be gone. The memories would all be there along with a slight change in her mind. Sandra figured that if the other girls could be altered a bit to make them fit into an existing family then Ronny could too. David clung to Sandra as they went back to the van and then to the celestial body only twelve thousand kilometres away. When they landed the boy clung tightly to Sandra while she tried to get him to relax. The new children and especially the animals helped him to overcome the strangeness he felt for his body was much too light. A few moments in a med unit adjusted his glands so he could now respond as other children and without having some foreign chemicals do something similar. He took a place in the nursery and he was happy that a lot of girls were paying attention to him. Four and a half days after leaving her old home, Ronny awoke in ours. The only person in the room was Sandra and she was sitting on the same bed. "Hello, sleepy head. Do you want to get up and see your new home?" "Yes..." Ronny tried to get her voice back to where it was but found that she couldn't. With a hand to her throat she said, "My voice is wrong." She then smiled and said, "I still want to see the house." She pulled back the sheet and found that she was naked but that was good. Things started to come together now. Her legs and lower body were different. The surplus of hormones that had driven her to all those crazy acts of sex were now missing for she had no real urge for this activity. With a wail she said, "What happened to me?" Sandra pulled the girl to her and now Ronny saw how small she was when compared to her friend and mistress. This caused the situation to be even worse. "It is all right. Mommy is here to protect you. You have nothing to fear. You said you trusted me and now I am holding you to that promise. You are now my daughter and I will not let you get hurt." After many minutes Ronny said, "What happened to me?" "I said you were going to be my nine year-old daughter and now you are." "I can't be nine. I am as old as you." "That is where you are wrong daughter. I caused your body to regress to what you were like at nine. You will get another chance to grow up right and this time your family will make sure it is done so you grow the way you were meant to." Ronny was still so upset that she had not even noticed that the conversation was not all verbal. "Nobody can do that." Sandra turned the girl around and then ordered a screen to be put in front of them. Ronny found a young gangly girl sitting in Sandra's lap. Ronny put out her hands and traced her naked chest and saw that she only had very small breasts. "That isn't me." "Yes it is, my baby. You have small boobies and when you poke your fingers between your legs you will find a hymen there." "That can't be. I am a grown woman that had a child." Sandra noticed that Ronny hadn't yet asked about her son. "You were a grown woman. You just went into a special tank and came out a few days later the way I wanted you to be." "But I thought you wanted me to pretend to be an nine year old girl." "I repeated myself three times that you would be nine. You didn't understand but you did know that I would look after you. I have done that and I will continue to do so. You are my daughter now." Ronny just looked at the image and ran her hand over her body to see if the image did the same thing. Sandra put Ronny's feet on the floor and the girl walked closer to see more detail. She even spread her legs and looked at the fine fuzz covering her mons. A thin finger had a difficult time making it into the small tight passage but soon Ronny felt the hymen that had disappeared so long ago. "How can this be?" Sandra said verbally, "That husband of mine was not born on Earth. He is a perfect match for my sister and me. He was a young boy when he came here. He knew a lot but still had lots more to learn. He brought with him a small space boat and later a small but very damaged ship. "Leif tells it much better and it is his story. Why don't you come down and talk to him yourself. You have to meet the family and they are interested in meeting you." Ronny looked around for clothes and Sandra pulled them out from behind her back. "Come here Sweetie and I will help." Ronny did and soon she was clothed in a tight fitting pair of ship's coveralls. She had seen Sandra wearing a similar pair but a few days ago. She still clung to Sandra as they walked out of the room and down a long hallway before going down a very wide set of stone steps. All around her she saw art Some of it was impossible for it looked like some pieces went into more than three dimensions. When they got downstairs, Sandra escorted her into one of the nurseries where the youngest children were along with some of the caregivers were. I was sitting on the floor and playing with two small babies in my lap. When I looked up I said, "Hello Ronny. It is nice to see you again." I turned slightly and said, "Hello to you too Sweetheart. The older children are down at the lake swimming." Sandra sat on the floor then pulled Ronny into her lap. After a kiss to her forehead and a big hug she said to me, "Ronny was upset. She didn't believe me that she was going to be nine. She is actually taking the transition very well." We both looked at the girl but she didn't know what to say. I assisted by asking, "Ronny, Sandra loves you. I remember you as a frightened young lady that was going wild and without the controls you needed. Sandra and my other wives will take care of you and help you grow as you should." "Sandy said you were an alien." I smiled at her and said, "I am very close to being a Human but there are differences. The differences were not that much to stop us from having these beautiful children." I held my last daughter up and the child looked curiously at Ronny. We spent a few hours with Ronny so she would know that she was not in danger. I was happy that she didn't start thinking of escaping for she did want a stable home life and this was what she now had. We had a small meal but she didn't see any other people. Later Sandra said to Ronny as she hugged the child's body, "Let's go swimming. I want to see my other babies." Ronny was not sure about this and especially when she was told just a few minutes ago that she was on the moon. Her steps outside the house were taken with her holding tightly to Sandra's hand. She had not released it by the time they got to the lake but she was not squeezing as tightly. She saw girls swimming naked in the water and even a few boys doing the same. Ronny analysed her own thoughts and found that she was not currently turned on by a male or a female. The girls all had larger breasts than she had and most were even taller than her. Some of the boys had erections but it was as if all this was in fun. Sandra picked up some of the smallest children while other babies of regular size ran to her. Sandra kissed all of them and told them how much she loved them and missed them when she was away. Sandra introduced Ronny to all of her children as well as the rest of the children with them. A naked boy walked up to her and she just smiled at him and didn't look lower than his eyes. At one time she could not help herself from doing so. Moments later some more children came running to the lake. Most were young and one she noticed was her son. David ran to Sandra and kissed her as did the rest but only stared at his real mother. The love she saw her son give Sandra once again let her know how she had failed. This brought on some crying and immediately Sandra was there and her son came over to see what the new girl had wrong with her. The other children came over and they all touched her as if conveying their own strength to overcome what was wrong with her. It took time but Ronny gravitated to the other younger girls and especially Stephanie that was a year and a half younger physically than she was. It took a while but she did start to run naked with the other girls but seemed to shy away from the boys until she was ready. ------- After a month, Sandra had the Armstrong children go before the cameras and had the images sent to the police and the Children's Aid departments. The questioning was intense but the children now knew what not to say. None of them had been sexually abused or even swatted. They mentioned how they all had lots of friends and were learning mathematics, English, Japanese and Russian in addition to biology, physics and chemistry. They were tested on camera for their abilities and the children performed simple math quickly in their heads. One question on mass was qualified for the adults were only dealing with the Newtonian universe and Mark smugly said that in the Einsteinian version that the answer would be much different, depending on conditions. Nicholas and William had taken to their new educational environment and excelled in their studies. It was surprising what a prepubescent boy would do when he gets a mental erection for a ship like Borin. Stephanie spoke a few words in the languages she was learning plus a few more in Portugese. The examples she used were common terms and most centred around being polite. She had been termed a slow learner but it was mainly caused by her poor home life. Now she felt very secure with not one mother but many. Mark had grown a bit and had also been exercising. He had his eye on a few girls in particular and they had let it be known that they like strong men. The girls found it comical to see him exercising and at the same time doing his studies. I had to straighten them out for that was the way the adults did it if possible. The authorities had found out what Mark had done to stay away from his father. He was embarrassed by this but did admit that this had happened. He also assured them that he was not doing that any more. Mark had come to me two days after arriving. He had seen how good it would be here and wanted to ensure that he was allowed to stay. He knew that some men liked sex even from a boy and came to offer himself. He was not too sure about the accuracy of mind reading when I stopped him and said, "Mark, come with me as I exercise." On the way to the gym I said, "One of the reasons all of you were brought here was to balance the number of the sexes. You know that we found the Brazilian girls and took them here to work for us and to take them out of danger. Now they need young men to take care of them too." "You want me to..." When he couldn't continue I said, "I want you to see me as a mixture of father and captain. I want all of you to succeed in life. Succeeding means being accepted as a friend to a great many people. It is also having a family where you are needed for the love you bring as well as your labours at holding the family together." "I understand your words but I have never seen this." I put my arm around the boy and said, "I hope you will see this in our family. I love my wives and children and I know that they love me in return. I also know that my family has extended to the include everyone under this dome. I just hope that you will accept this situation too. You are now part of my family and we all stick together to help each other. You are not going to be kicked out or even ostracised. You have a place here and the only one that can take you from here is you." Mark smiled and looked down. "I would like to stay here. It's nice to be helped when I need it." I hugged him tighter and said, "Let's exercise a bit. I for one need all my strength and stamina when the ladies come around." Mark just smiled and blushed. Sandra regulated the meeting with the Earth authorities. She never came fully into view. Her legs and body were seen especially when Stephanie was sitting on her lap. The child's natural exuberance got her to leave so she could use body language to more fully express herself. Sandra didn't restrict the child when she got to her feet and I was sure that this was noticed. Mark continued with his personal history and about the men that paid him enough to eat. Sandra let this continue but the authorities stopped this line of talk just before Sandra was going to stop it herself. We were proud of Mark when he adamantly stated that he was going to be an engineer. He was questioned as to which branch and he simply said, "All of them but I want to also include zoology in my engineering." The men and women on Earth probably thought the boy had a poor understanding of the effort needed and considered that zoology was not studied in an engineering manner but here they were wrong. Sandra stopped the call but told them that they would be contacted later for another session. I was sure that they thought they could trace us but now were finding that this was not possible. Next time the various security agencies would be asked to assist and this would annoy them when they were not able to do anything better than their predecessors. Tatiana joined our family fully now. She was the youngest of my wives and fit in very well. She was not a carbon copy of my other wives for each had their own strengths and weaknesses. Tatiana was the most anally aroused of the wives and soon I found myself working almost predominantly in this area. Fatima had gone into the tank and she came out one of us in everyway. With the two new wives in our family, we now numbered seven. Most of our number were severely uneducated though they were far above many on Earth. I was anxious to find that critical mass of a group like my family but it was not sheer numbers but the quality of those numbers too. Our studies too had to be varied. We could share our knowledge and it was better to have each of us bring something to the communal pot that had not been present before. Alicea stayed away from me as much as she could but found that she had to be with my wives at least. Many times instead of taking one or two wives to bed they would all come instead. This presented me with the problem of pleasing them all every night. I found that I had to do this but the girls themselves would keep those unoccupied with me suitably interested. Alicea was one to assist me in this endeavour. This worked very well for I was usually across the room from her most of the time while she prepared the girls for my attentions. Alicea was usually too worn out after a session of love making for her to be anything but a twitching mass of jelly when I came. Ana-Margarida would enter our lovemaking too. She was still small and her hands were of a similar proportion. The older wives usually wanted to feel full so I would expand until they were comfortable and at maximum stimulation. Sandra, Megan, Marina and Catrina now had larger vaginal opening than they had before meeting me. This came partially from the many children they gave me and also relied on their own muscles to relax when needed. This change allowed little Ana-Margarida to use her small fist to make them happy. At one time it was only her mother that could except this. The younger three wives were not up to this size yet. Soon their eagerness for more stimulation would make them like their older sister/wives. Izabel and Raisa were usually with the new girls including Ronny. They found this group of friends much better than they had before. Stephanie was almost the same age as Izabel and the two of them were soon very good friends. Raisa joined them though she was two years older but the difference seemed to be nothing. They spent much of the time being girls. These four were not active sexually though they did take time on occasion to watch. The new boys coming to the dome made them interested in new friends but they were only boys and of no immediate interest. This was quite a difference from what Ronny had once been. Her tales of her own sexploits usually captivated her friends. Our own work suffered because it was important to guide the children. They were introduced to what we were doing and explained how they would have to study long and hard to get to where we presently were. Five months after the first of the boys arrived we had a meeting concerning the integration of the young men and women. Tommy asked, "When are the girls going to move up to the next level Captain?" I knew that this was my decision and that is why he called me by my rank instead of my name. "The boys have ensured that all the girl's hymens were successfully removed except for the four youngest. There have been some liaisons formed but at their age they are made and broken after a few months. Three of the girls are more mature than the rest and would make good choices. There are no males yet at this level. "The Seffra have had unattached women that have gone without a male for hundreds of years. I don't see why we cannot raise those three and just wait for the others to grow into responsible adults. "Another factor that I want to bring up is my idea of a critical mass for our thinking process. If more are brought in then this experiment may just fail. It shows great promise. I can only dream about what it may one day be capable of." Consti said, "Leif, Sandra and Megan changed me a bit while I was in the tank to make Tommy and I fit closer together. Sandra did something similar and tinkering with Ronny. Why don't you just continue this work? You can get three more wives that will fit in perfectly with the others." I smiled and told the truth. "I am having difficulty keeping all my wives happy. They are not like the Seffra who will take their turn. My wives are very demanding on a simple male's time and physical resources. They always want their turn and then again as long as I can hold out." Hidden was my assessment, that from the Seffra point of view, they were sexual gluttons. This could be intrinsic to their common aura or to something entirely different. My own sexual appetite had increased but this cut into time that could be spent in other pursuits. Catrina said, "If you are going to do those girls, my poor abused Husband, you should do Alicea first. She is deserving and had her sights set on our family alone. You only have seven wives even though Ana-Margarida will one day join us too." Sandra supported her fellow wife and said, "I think Alicea will make a good choice too." Then she said in jest, "We have been monitoring you all along. There is very little chance that you will fail from exhaustion or suffer from too much abrasion. You should take the poor girl as soon as possible and put her out of her misery." The rest of my wives agreed. I said, "Then we should talk to the three other girls and discuss what we are trying to do and how it will effect them. I see the new girls getting pregnant soon and this will only shift the burden of watching the children onto less individuals." All the wives went off to find the three girls and Alicea. They were going to talk girl to girl in a way and see how they felt about this situation. I of course had very little input especially when the girls got together and decided what to do. ------- Chapter 31 Within hours it was decided. Daniela, the girl raped by the large man in Brazil and Alicea would go into a tank to be changed just a bit but enough that their auras would put them with my family. Tom and his son found that they to had to take a new wife. Tom was not only worried about this but he had to take the Mexican girl Oaxaca too. She was starting to get serious on one young lad. If this happened then Tom would lose a natural wife and regret it later. Oaxaca was important to us and was constantly monitored. Mary continued to phone. This kept the long distance romance going even though they had not even seen each other in person. The image from a computer screen was the limit. Consti and some of the other wives would visit and Mary could feel how she fit in. The mental communication though was what she sought for these were the only people that she could do this with. When Tommy communicated with his mind it was even more thrilling for the girl. Tommy ensured that they never came close but even the mental variety made the two miss each other a lot. Alicea came to me right out of the tank. I kissed her and held her close. She was not the same girl that went in but she was not really that much different. She was more focussed and her priorities had changed in small amounts so she was very similar to my wives. Two days later she ascended to the next level with the help of the wives. Daniela had been waiting away from the house and now she took my time and love. The frightened and abused girl had left long ago and this one here was a tiger. Again in two days she ascended to the Seffra level. This time would usually mean a break for me but Alicea needed me my wives said. This also meant that all of them needed me. I performed as I should but dreamed of our next trip out of the system to test the engines. There I would have a manageable number to deal with. All this though was hidden from the girls for fear that they get upset at me. Daniela and Alicea had come out of the tank for the second time, for both had gone in at the same time. These two, their sisters Tatiana, Fatima, and Yelena went with me to our testing area. With only five wives it was easy to keep them happy and still get some work done. I took a small portion of the children to give me some piece of mind and let the wives focus on something besides me and work. On the third of our engine tests, one of the engines blew up very spectacularly. It took the other engine and the large rock between them with it. We were using two engines to push in opposite directions. This kept the platform fairly stable though it did move. We were safely out of the way but it was like we were being attacked. An investigation was started to see what had happened. There was not that much antimatter used in the lithium/lithium reaction to give the results we found. All thoughts of engine design now took a back seat. During my absence Tom and Margaret had gone to Mexico and met Oaxaca. The now fifteen year old girl immediately dropped any idea of staying with her old boyfriend. At an attempt to prove a point the girl was given one of our telephones while Tom and Margaret left her. It took two weeks before she cried to be picked up. Tom and Margaret talked to the family about their daughter but they didn't understand. When they drove off in a van with the girl the father was after them with his rifle. Oaxaca used the telephone twice to say how sorry she was but the second time it was thrown in the fire and destroyed. The girl loved her family and was distraught but wanted her new family and especially Tom more. Similar engines in our supply were used to see if we could duplicate the result but it didn't happen. The tests now tried to get any of the engines to act the same way but we had to satisfy ourselves with just engine performance data. Similar engines were made at our base while the tests and investigation continued. They were as close to the ones that had the odd effect as possible. We hurried home to get those units so our enquiry could proceed. Fourteen new pairs of engines were employed until we found that part of the equation was to replicate the exact distance between the units. This meant that we had to find large asteroids and cut them to size. Theories abounded why this effect came into being but as most things it had to wait on additional tests and more information. This came very soon for when I got back there was a change in wives, children and a new load of engines. We travelled as far as Vega this time for we ran out of large asteroids. The senior wives were very interested in this effect. It could also be that all of the younger wives had somehow become pregnant if they weren't already. We tested the effect many times and we finally found it to be a critical placement of our large atoms used in the engines. An equally critical harmonic with two similar engines had to be present. This had the potential of being a weapon if we could place similar atoms close to two engines. I thought of the Suma and the Graskor immediately. Their engines were not the same and didn't change very much in the last fifteen thousand years. I started to see many possibilities before me. The delivery would have to be different for two of the enemy's engines would explode the way out test engines did. The source of all the power used was still a mystery and the best guess was that it had come from a higher universe. This research cut back on engine development until it was nonexistent. We did make headway in the weapon and this was mainly attributable to the way our family was able to focus so well on one point at a time. We had to make Suma and the Graskor engines to test our designs. By the time a preliminary weapon was first made, our children were starting to assist us in a meaningful way. The oldest was now eight and a much higher percentage of newborns were now male. This served to even out some of the disparity but I still thought that fifteen to one was a good ratio. The children were also fitting in with the farm girls. These had mainly been formed into very informal families with the young men we found as a nucleus. The males had been elevated after some of their wives were. We now had a Seffra community. Later it was hoped that they would settle into permanent families but as yet we thought that they were just too young. There were only two individuals that were still fully Human. There was just one girl. This was Ana-Margarida. Little Marco, who was younger than she was now living in a group marriage. Both Stephanie and Ronny were now among the pseudo married women but as yet none of them were allowed to have children. The single unimproved boy was of course David, Ronny's child. Ana-Margarida was twelve now and doing her best to get my wives to accept her into their midst. When I came back from another test sequence I was informed that I was going to have a tenth wife. Even without reading another's thoughts I could seen Ana-Margarida barely controlled movements and knew that she was too excited to restrain herself. I smiled at the inevitability of all this, and the now much taller girl jumped into my arms. Catrina just led us back into Borin and let what amounted to the first full sexual intercourse between us. This we knew would do the real binding of our beings. Ana-Margarida was very experienced when it came to having enjoyment of a sexual nature. She removed my clothes and hers almost disappeared. I just laid back and let her have her way. She sucked me into her mouth and I allowed enough to expand to make her feel that she was working. I coaxed her hips toward my head and sampled her mons. She had played a joke on me. She had caused the sweet essence of a fruit not found on Earth to flavour her vagina. I licked her opening but avoided her small clit as best I could for she was moving around very vigorously. She was able to get to my abdomen and even lick around the base. She had done this on the other young males but they all had a sack holding their testicles while mine were safely inside me. The absence of pubic hair must have been good but not all the boys had much yet. Ana-Margarida had her first orgasm as I attacked her clit without notice. This was a good one for her because she forgot about me. Her mother had to support her head so she could breathe. I continued now that I had help and the girl thrashed even more violently until she quieted in sleep. Catrina moved her daughter and kissed her lips. Ana-Margarida had moved from being her daughter to her sister/wife with all that it entailed. For the last few years there was actually no difference for the girl insisted on being in on all our lovemaking. Catrina pulled the girl around and placed her in my arms. I gave her a small kiss but she still had not recovered enough to know what was happening. When she opened her eyes she just smiled and said, "I like waking up in my husband's arms." After a moment of cuddling her tingling clit reminded her of why she was here. She moved around on me and then felt between her legs to find my penis. Very quickly, as if I was going to leave, she sat down. In just seconds I was inside her and she groaned in contentment. "I have waited a long time for this." I didn't need to answer and soon she was moving very slow to savour each sensation coming to her. She had two more orgasms before she wanted to get the big one. She moved more forcefully and I pinched her small nipples to do my best to make this a memorable experience for her. Her breathing and heartbeat increased as did her exertions. In just a few minutes it looked like she was going to orgasm. I could feel the wives put a block on her and now she had to work even harder. They fed her how much we loved each other and she now worked violently until I was worried that she would hurt herself. When the orgasm came she screamed her release into the confines of the cabin. Her vagina milking me to get me to release my seed into her. It took long minutes before she recovered and had to do it all over again. None of my wives were satisfied with just a few orgasms and needed a great many to fulfil them. When Ana-Margarida was too tired we changed places with me on top. She loved this too and I was able to treat her to all the things I did for my other wives. Hours later Ana-Margarida got what she was after and I got off the bed to allow her to rest. I was pulled into another cabin for now the other nine wives were horny and needed some relief. A half cycle later Ana-Margarida was fully one of us and now walked around with a smile for she now had a child within her. The elevation into the ranks of the Sefmen allowed her education to speed ahead. She had never been fully informed of how much this would be increased for fear of her trying to push herself too hard. Our accomplishments as a family were increasing. An analysis proved it was directly proportional to what material we already knew and the closeness that each of us could work within the family. The material in this case was portions of knowledge that only one person had taken the time to learn. This was like a group of specialists in different fields getting together to tackle a problem. The critical mass had not been reached but I could feel that it would come in due time, perhaps less than three years. Hopefully there would be no need for more wives. Ronny lived with us for the most part but everybody shifted around and stayed where they wanted. It was never important for they were always safe. Ronny had been a responsible member of our society and we were very proud of her and her achievements. The small adjustments Sandra had done were minor. The environment that she was in was what caused her to do as good as she could. Her mother Sara had remarried and even phoned regularly to talk to Ronny or David. The calls became less frequently as Sara found that her daughter was changing. At first she had sounded like she was on drugs or worse but over time Sara found her daughter maturing. David talked to his grandmother but couldn't say too much about where he was. What he studied though was the same as other schools. It was only the depth that the child was learning that would astound his grandmother. When Ronny was eventually elevated and it was done by me and my wives. She was not a virgin but she was not the girl that I had once met in Victoria. All the males had been elevated by this time other than her son. Sandra said to her, "You have made me proud of you. Any mother would be proud of you now. I know your next family will be stronger than most." Ronny felt good and returned the hug. She knew that her son was lost in many ways for he looked to Sandra or one of my wives as a mother. This did allow Ronny a true second chance without the burden of a past mistake. ------- The family settled down in the next two years. It had been eleven years since my coming to the system and wondered where all the time and gone. The luster of sex never got too dull but we settled into a routine that allowed us to learn more. The sixty three people at the Seffra level did great but most only had four years of education out of twenty if they stayed at this level. Nobody else was elevated for fear of our society losing its focus. Tommy and his family had done wonders with the dark crystal but had still not found out how certain things were done. This also meant that we were no closer to fabricating more units. Tom Sr had come up with some innovations in the hull and structural members but as yet only forty percent of the surface was covered and much less of the internal components. We had settled on a possible engine design that was fourteen percent better than the best the Seffra could produce. I was still not happy and delayed the final construction of the engines as long as possible, hoping for a breakthrough in our research. Borin now sported the new engines along with the dual compensators. This was a half-way measure for we would find out about the engine and possibly come up with a better design. Her speed now was marginally better than what Soldoy could do. Our other weapon was a small and very fast missile. Depending on our enemy one of two missiles would be fired. They would home in on the enemy's external engines. Once there it would place itself in a nodal position that would feed off the engine harmonics and soon cause the engines and their associated power supplies to explode. We had tests with multiple engine configurations but none had been tested in battle. None of us wanted to go out and test it either. The source of the energies produced was still not known though we used the effect. The effect on the enemy ship would be much more than the simple destruction of their engines though. ------- We were spurred into action one day when Pat'uch said, "I have found that there is a ninety three percent chance that a satellite will be launched in the next four months. Its purpose is to remap the lunar surface in preparation for a joint exploitation." We were quite shocked and searched through the data and could find no fault in the figures. The ramification of this disclosure was that the Humans would see large scale changes to the lunar surface since it was mapped during the Apollo series in the sixties. We also didn't understand how this project was going ahead so quickly. Usually years were taken before the first piece was fabricated. With a considerable amount of effort we could camouflage our two domes. Our mining activities would be seen but it would take no more than just a glance to recognise the changes. We had harvested the regolith so that our efforts looked like what would normally be seen on the moon. Now they would see the crater walls much lower and the bottoms of the same craters lower again. Other crater walls had been removed to facilitate the easy transportation of the harvested rock. These would all have to be repaired. The cost in lost production would be very high and I kicked myself once again for not employing an uninhabited system. It was possible that our ship would be missed but the odds were not that good. A cloaking shield required a great many projectors placed all over the hull. The hull though was not complete and wouldn't be for at least seven more years. It might be possible to propel the ship further out of the system but it was not structurally sound yet. Many of the ribs were only attached at one end and had no bracing between them. Another possibility was to construct the temporal and inertial compensators that I developed for Borin. These would be connected directly to the keel for strength. Our whole community now worked to see what was possible. If we worked hard we could either brace the weak members or make use of the multipurpose compensator. Both would take time to finish. Some of the ships that mimicked Borin's lines could push the hull out before the people of Earth had a chance to see it. This would only happen when the moon was directly in their line of sight so our movement could not be seen. We were now large enough to be seen by Human telescopes. I ordered Pat'uch, "Search your records for the possibility of one of the Human satellites seeing our ship." "Yes, Captain." In a moment I heard, "There has been some projects where I have not been able to get in easily. I did not pursue the matter. It is possible that they are doing this clandestinely. This further supposes that they are hiding this information from other Humans. This could also be done to hide the information from us." This put a different slant on things. "Infiltrate all those areas but now you have to be much more subtle if they are thinking that we are here in this system. Check their data files to see if they have discovered our ship." "Yes sir." I gave more orders. Most had to do with people that we knew that were still on Earth. It was quite possible they were being monitored. If this were so then it would be easy to find. We worked with the information we had gathered about the Human satellites including those used for astronomical purposes. Launches in the last year were investigated to see if they had launched a device stated to do one thing but actually did something else. I was very angry at myself for not monitoring the activity on our neighbouring planet more. Six minutes after giving Pat'uch the order he said, "Captain, I have photos and intelligence reports. Some departments in various countries in NATO have been given copies of this information under a very strict security procedure. The enlarged photos show a portion of our hull that had been allowed to rise above the horizon. It was captured by a supposedly commercial satellite that went much further out in its orbit than it was said it would. All this predisposes that we have already been traced to this location." This all meant that we had been found. The satellite should never have been able to do this unless we were already suspected to have our base here on the moon. Pat'uch's supposition that we had already been detected was valid. Our protection of the Russian reactors and the information of who was behind the attack could have originally given somebody the idea Our communications that could not be traced along with our telephones and computers may have alerted others. Even my original plan of selling near perfect diamonds could have alerted the authorities. "Pat'uch, go through all the people accessing our phones and computers. See if they have been put to the test by a group of people trying to find out about us. Send probes to find the Japanese diamond merchant Mr Iwasaki. Send other units to find Mr Noguchi who was given a rejuvenation treatment. Finally find the Russian, George Mason. Check through his records to see what he may have said to his superiors." Basically I was going to investigate how close the Earth authorities were onto us. "Yes Sir." With the possibility that the telephones and computers had been targeted it was probable that some parents would be asked to find out information from their children here on the moon. Tadeu had come to us for a year but had decided to stay on. She had visited her parents many times, as had the other girls. They had always remained loyal and came back without divulging any sensitive data. Our community was questioned and in this new light they reported questions being asked that had not been asked for years. Pat'uch after seconds confirmed that this was the case. All of our telephones and computers were still in their respective villages but now they were in large substantial buildings that had not been there six months ago. The amount of activity on the devices had shot up significantly. Now it was just a matter of seeing how much they knew and how they were taking our visit or rather my visit to this system. In the next hour we found that the Humans knew quite a bit. They had pictures of Sandra, Megan and Marina from the Russians. They had some old pictures of the farm girls and what they would look like today. All of Catrina's family was listed along with Tadeu. Damita, her granddaughter Herminia and great grand daughter Alita were there as well. Tom, Margaret and Tommy had been found through pictures of their daughter or sister. Tommy was very worried about Mary and ordered reinforcements to the probes monitoring her. Similar units were now sent to Andreaea, the singer in Florida. Most of this would have to be investigated by people for probes were very crude and were not too useful at reading anything but surface thoughts. The people were needed here though to continue our project and to hide it if that was still necessary. I knew now that our preparations would be useless. Men and weapons would come to the geographical centre of our activity and try to take what information from us if they could. Even the craters near our home would be found and the dome investigated even if they couldn't see it. Our defences were more than adequate but the ship in orbit was vulnerable to an attack. One possibility the Humans had would explode a nuclear device close to the vessel. Our defences would remove this direct threat but a large mass of energetic particles coming from the atomic explosion would pass the ship. Not only were our suits not designed to take this abuse but decontamination of the structural members would take literally years to accomplish. I knew the outcome but I had to still have a meeting with the forces on Earth. There was always a chance that something was overlooked. The mental meeting immediately started with our own forces. This included even the ones that had been asleep. We had always known that one day we would have to go public and many interesting concepts had come out of our discussions. Similar meetings must have discussed what would happen if and when Humans found out positively that they were not alone in the universe. The consensus turned out to be that we just contact the Humans at a diplomatic level. They would still want to have some information about us that will confirm what they have already found out. A 'live and let live' approach was the best we could hope for but the grasping Humans would want far more than that. Humans I have found are very curious. Their memories are not very good. A thief is caught red handed was put in jail. In a few years the supposedly 'rehabilitated' person released then promptly elected to a responsible position by the same people that put him away the first time. The wiser thief now makes sure he is not caught again but still continues his old ways. The vast majority of voters, or blind people, have no real conception of what their rulers are really like. They see staged scenes where compassion or some other worthy attribute is displayed and they think the leader good. It is as if their memories can only hold a few events and the new data pushes the old incriminating data out the bottom of the stack. The top political positions are only gained by people willing to sell their souls to get where they wanted to go. A better description of the situation would be to liken it to hell where the bureaucrats were lower level demons. The countries with only one political party presented their own representatives to the voters. Whether it was a Communist or a Capitalist country the effect was all the same. At the higher levels of government only the thieves and amoral leaders were able to gain a position of power. Window dressing was always applied to show that others had a chance to gain this position but they were denied by the majority of the voters. None of these marginal candidates had a chance against the well oiled political machinery run by those in power. The only time this is not true is when a revolution takes place. This brings former power brokers and enemies together to fight the new kid on the block and put him back where he belongs. If the revolutionary succeeds it is soon found that they bend to the same vices as their predecessors. Graft is very hard to refuse and there are so many ways of hiding it. Sandra commented on her country's former political leaders. Some had retired or quit under a cloud of controversy. They were never brought to account for their actions for fear that they actually would do what was asked of them. They knew how all the rest of their party had performed illegal activities. The opposition had their own ways of acquiring the benefits of being in power and being useful to the rich and influential. Most would want to have the corruption buried deep but it always oozed upward and hurt the very people they were supposed to protect. The horrible point was that her country was little different than any other. It was postulated that if we came in clandestinely most countries would rather not admit to knowing of our presence because of the disruption of their populous. The countries making weapons, producing gold or oil or in fear of their fall from power would spread the information about us in hopes of making money or allowing them to stay in power Coming in openly would cause a very major disruption in every country. Most of the strongly opinionated individuals would try to fit us into their conception of their religion. We were all quite sure we would not be classed as angels but more likely as the demons that haunted their own souls. The countries with a higher standard of education would handle us better but their own underachievers that depended on religion for their crutch would still oppose us. There was only one rational way to proceed. "Dingwall here." "Hello General. My name is Leif Karamoonta. Do you have a few moments to speak to me?" There was a long pause then the general said, "How did you get this number?" "General, you have been investigating me for the last thirteen months and before that there was a low level investigation going on since I got to your quaint neighbourhood. During that time you have found that there is not much I cannot find out if I want to do so." Again there was a long pause then, "What is it that you are phoning about Mr Karamoonta?" "I didn't become aware of your investigation until two hours ago. You and your people have been doing a very good job of hiding your tracks. My most sincerest compliments go out to you and your men. "Since your satellite has caught a glimpse of the ship we are building, it is moot whether we make ourselves known now or not. I am now asking your ideas on the matter. To come out openly will cause a great deal of turmoil. To come out secretly would lead one or more of the countries in the know to use the information for their own agenda. They could gain an advantage over the rest when they themselves tell the world and denounce us." The general thought for a few seconds and said, "I will have to talk to some others about this." "That's fine. You would find out more information in coming months but you would still not know much. For the record, I was only twelve years old when I came to Earth. My body is very close to what a Human would have. Our mind is very superior and we can control our bodies to a very great degree. I happen to fall in love with two Humans and I started a family when things had settled down. In the meantime I have expanded our group but it is just over a hundred and twenty at the moment. We have a goodly amount of children but those did not directly come from your planet. My objective is to recruit more people to build and crew the ship you saw. I will send them out to explore the galaxy much as what my own people are presently doing. I will continue to make ships and send them out until I get tired and then somebody else will have to continue." When the general figured I was not going to continue he said, "We had lots of ideas but not that one. It does fit in with the way you and your people act. I imagine our people are going to ask about trade. This could be mutually beneficial to both of us." "I am sorry general but you have nothing to give me. I may give you some things that will make life easier but nothing that can be turned into a weapon I am afraid. This will have to be viewed as a token of friendship but I fear that many will try to bite the hand that feeds them." "What did you have in mind?" "I can make good computers and telephones that will use our satellites that you have failed to find so far. They can be made much smaller than the ones you have seen. The responsible people of Earth can choose the programming for an extension of your internet. I want it to be educational in nature without benefiting any particular group of people. If I give too much then it will destroy your people for they will become even more unproductive." "I can see that. What about a chance to explore our own system. I assume you have far more knowledge about this subject." "If you want to explore, be my guest. I would help more but only when you have put your own nest in order first." "What about potable water and electricity?" "Both are easy to do. The first will encourage a family to have more children. The second will do much the same but just allow you more time until you burn up all of your oil." "Mr Karamoonta, you could teach us about controlled nuclear fusion. We can generate our own power and save the oil for other purposes." "That was one of the things I was going to suggest. The price of oil has to go up by a considerable amount world wide. If it stays up I can provide power to a worldwide power grid. If the oil continues to remain high for enough years then I can give you some of the information I know about fusion. "I am afraid that the oil companies control too much of the various governments and too may of the top leaders of the world. They're Human and very short sighted. They would not want somebody to interfere with their cash flow even if it meant that they would ultimately get more money but at a slower rate. "Electricity I will give to your planet within reason. You are further obliged to charge more money for it to promote conservation. Third world countries will not be under this stipulation to allow them to attract industry. I think that industry will in itself promote education as well as prosperity." The general said, "Why not just give us the devices you are going to use that generate the electricity?" "Those are very simple matter/antimatter reactors. They are very safe. One or more of your largest nuclear weapons detonated in any way will not harm them. You would possibly destroy the transmission devices though. They are still beyond what you can understand about physics. To gain this knowledge would also allow you to make much more powerful weapons. I'm afraid you would kill yourselves if you had the chance." Another long pause then, "Can you give us any help with our pollution problems or nuclear waste disposal?" "Your people have to learn how to do things for yourselves but I will accept contaminated matter if it is shipped to some designated areas. We will take the material and process it onsite. We may find a use for some of the material but our own reactors now make more than enough for our own purposes." "How can we get in contact with you next?" "Your organisation has fifty three people that are either your equal in rank or your superiors in this situation. Just have any of them or yourself pick up any telephone and call my full name." There was a long pause now for he thought his security was much better than it was to me. "Any phone?" "Yes but only the fifty four of you. I can follow each of your movements and access the particular phones nearby. Devices using encryption would be best I think, unless you want the information to get out to the public sooner." "I will get back to you Mr Karamoonta." With the decision made I felt a sense of relief even though I knew that more troubles would follow. Priorities were changed once more. The proper temporal/inertial compensator had been designed four years ago by Tom and his family. This project had to be done first to protect our only vulnerable asset. To be on the safe side I sent some of the children out to Vega to begin another colony similar to what we had here. They were itching to try their hands as I had been when I was their age. They would at least have all our resources behind them even if it was twenty six lights away. Lauren, Tom and Margaret's oldest child since coming to the moon would be in charge of the project. The two parents and their wives were very proud even though the child was very young by Human standards. She had made a ship of Borin's class and made it much better than I had done. She was still only nine but much more capable than what I was at that age. Our largest precision fabricator and all of Pat'uch's time had to go into making the gigantic generating unit and all its step down units. This would produce one of the generating units for delivery to Earth. The time taken was less than originally planned because so many people helped in its manufacture. Other needed parts were made for shipment to Vega where a similar base would be set up. This base though would start out the same as this one did but with some changes. All the probes and equipment so far had been made with the Seffra in mind. We had made a considerable amount of scenarios where we would be found by my former people. We could not now guarantee that our probes would not be compromised. Now new protocols were put into place as similar ones were made into all our computers. It was just too difficult a job to convert all of the probes we had already made. The generator left the moon for orbit a half a cycle after the building was started. The monolithic block had many good features and most of those were attributable to its fabrication in one large piece. The seventy two step down units took the remainder of the cycle to complete. We now disregarded all our old plans at camouflage and harvested regolith as efficiently as possible. The idea now was to make additional precision fabricators and of course another three AIs of a similar capabilities as Pat'uch. I felt it prudent to manufacture a mesh to mount our shield projectors onto. This would make the ship as safe as possible while still allowing construction to continue almost unhindered. Phone calls came to me on a regular and very persistent basis. I had to give a time now or I would get little work done. They were usually hesitant on what to ask for. The obnoxious ones found that their calls were not answered after I made my own feelings known. There was actually nothing they could do to me. I could still recruit and they would never find us. They might try to threaten the family of those they knew were with us but that would be a very strong indication of what they were prepared to do. They accepted my offer to raise the price of oil if the power generation could be phased in at the same time. Power was easy to produce but Humans and their transmission lines wasted half of it. The organisation that found us was not all-powerful. Governments were not of just one mind. It took a very strong leader to get most of his followers behind him. Usually government organisations went their own way with their own agendas. The oil companies I know would fight back and use all of their weapons if possible. I said to General Dingwall, "It's winter in the northern hemisphere. I will be able to put in a hundred thousand kilometres of energy conduit. It will run along existing right-of-ways beside your high voltage lines. At the various nodes I will provide a way of converting the energy back to the electricity you require. The losses are minimal and you still have your transmission lines as a backup. Over enough time and with a bit of trust your lines themselves can be taken down. The various utilities will be required to repair all their transmission devices that will cross our lines. We will be putting ours at least ten metres deep." "How long will this take?" "If we make a special purpose tool, it can lay about a hundred kilometres an hour. Solid rock takes a bit longer but not much. We'll end up cutting a great deal of gas, telephone, water, sewer and other utilities that cross the right-of-way when we work To do North America will take a considerable amount of time. The final figure is solely dependant on how much effort the various governments will put forth to assist. We can make many of the units but I do not think we will get enough cooperation for all of them." I sent my proposal to the general's computer over the satellite system. The number of men and machines were listed. The routes I wanted to use were also there and covered all of North America. Lines crossed our route in a great many places. Some were major oil and gas lines that fed the continent. At these places we would have to work around or under the obstacles. I was even more concerned about the oil industry and the electrical industry objecting to our proposal. They were a part of big business that ran the governments of most countries. Democracy was a fallacy that only worked in a countries youth and then only when the group was small. Today when the oil industry told a president or a prime minister to jump they did. This was not necessarily that bad for a group of voters could not be relied to elect who was best even if they were given a real choice. Business would fight it out behind closed doors and then the winner would emerge to tell a government how things were now to proceed. It was bad though when organised religion won the hand and many good ideas had to be scrapped. Three full cycles after the first phone call we descended into the atmosphere over the Pacific and landed in Mexico City. Our ship was camouflaged as a 747 and only a very few took much notice. I stepped from the ship to see some officials waiting for me. In my arms was one of my children. Mazotin was only fourteen months but was the size of a Human newborn. Being male he was named after my side of the family and got my grandfather's name. Beside me were Amanda, Elizabeth and Lyubov. They were my three oldest daughters from my first three wives. They were now nine and a half years old. Behind them came all ten of my wives carrying or walking with some of their children. Not all the children were present by any means for they had jobs to do or to just watch some of the youngest. I shook hands with the men I had only seen from the screen as projected from our probes. A very few had been asked to bring their wives and children. The women were greeted too with the same respect as the male member of the family. Most of the Human children were bored however most did a fair job of being diplomatic. This was understandable because the families were not told of our real identities. Our aeroplane was photographed very well and studied by engineers for some knew that this was not a standard Human aircraft. Our own children were uniformly good. They stared at the Humans and tried to find out what they knew. The Humans marvelled at our children for they all looked very beautiful and from their look, stance or posture they knew that they were very intelligent. My children were brought to show that I was not going to be violent. Pictures were taken but the only way Mazotin would be out of the picture is if his body was edited out. Large comfortable buses took us to a convention centre where we relaxed a bit before the meeting was to start. Mazotin wanted down and I let him play under his mother's watchful eye and that of his other mothers too. We sipped some fruit juices among most of the male members. General Dingwall said as he looked at Mazotin. "Your son is very coordinated to be walking. He looks to be just a newborn. His eyes though seem to be able to pierce me to my soul." "His older sisters do a much better job but they were told to be polite and not stand out." Children were great to talk about and I talked about all of them presently here. They all made me proud of what they had already done and what they would one day do. Sandra waited patiently then said verbally, "You came here to talk about helping these people not to boast about your children." "I am sorry general and the rest of you gentlemen. It is just hard to stop. I could tell you even more about my wives, for they are all both beautiful and a credit to our race. They do get angry at me from time to time and it is good to do what I am told and when I am told too." There was a good deal of male laughter but they thought I was joking. Only as the captain was I the leader of our group. My wives were here to educate this group while a few were delegated to keeping the Human women busy and away from our meeting. When we went into the large meeting room at the hotel, Sandra took charge and set up our own equipment. It happened that our components were so small that they were missed by all the Humans. A very large and also very clear images were put forth. Some of the engineers had just seen us for the first time. Only the day before they had been appraised of our real identities and were now worried. Some expected the characters from the movie Alien but we had to disappoint them. Soon we could introduce them to tales and visuals of the Suma to give them real nightmares. With the uninitiated absent, Megan gave a one hour synopsis of the Seffra and their accomplishments. Our identity as Sefmen was explained and how we differed from my original race. This was done to give the Humans something to grasp for in the long run the simple Humans were not going to amount to much by themselves. Only in conjunction with Seffra or other races could they hope to leave their one home planet. Our abilities were subtly compared to the Humans but were not stressed. Now was not the time for Human egos to be antagonized. There was a great silence when they found out that we could read minds. This had not been mentioned previously and it was not stressed now. It would be much better for them to think that we could not do this very well or that it took great effort on our part. With our sanitised history taken care of Marina began a talk about the ship we were presently building. Crude numbers were used but it stunned our audience. A completion date was still far in the future and still depended on how many people were working on it. She mentioned the difficulty of moving the hull to the Oort cloud or to another stellar system. This was not an insurmountable option but it would allow us to work on it without being interrupted. Catrina talked about our fabrication facilities as well as our home. Here she gave a documentary on how various parts were made. Visuals were given throughout her presentation. The dome and our homes seemed to be of just as much interest as the ship fabrication. When she was done, Yelena began her talk of our boats and ships. Invisibility was not mentioned but I was sure that it would eventually cross their minds. Especially after talking to the Chechens. Yelena mournfully stated all the work she had to do to so she could contribute to our society. Not only boats but computers and a ship like Borin had to be built. She smiled at the end so the audience knew that they were being put on. Our education was then stressed with what was supposed to be learned. Here she toned the comments down so that they Humans would not think each of us knew all the fields mentioned or to the depth we went. Amanda had grown to look older than her nine years. She stood before the audience like she had been born to it. After a small smile she told them a bit about herself. She went over most of the points mentioned months earlier about our electrification project. It took her seven minutes before she started to break new ground. The engineers had overcome some of their shock at meeting us to being a bit miffed at an nine year old doing the teaching. Now they were working hard to keep up with the child even when she went slow for them. "We are prepared to place forty eight reactors to service an area stretching from southern Mexico and north to sixty degrees north latitude. Each of these reactors can supply twelve step down units of one gigawatt each. Not all of the step down units will be employed until they are needed. The rest of the world will be similarly covered. This will require us to supply three hundred and twenty more reactors and their support equipment. "We cannot see our presence being kept secret for too much longer even with the security you are now employing. When we become known by the general population then we will have to be seen in a favourable light. North America has the chance to reap the benefit. You will at least have a half year head start in converting your industries to use electricity for heat as well as the majority of your processes that now use gas or oil. "The four point four terawatts the reactors produce in North America should be sold and the revenues directed to both the private and business sector to allow them to take advantage of this more abundent power. We also know that a commodity that costs very little will be squandered. We suggest, but do not stipulate, that a far more escalating price structure be instituted where a small amount of power is very cheap but a wasteful industry or household will pay even more than what they currently do." The large screen came to life behind her and now it showed the largest population concentrations in North America and the placement of the various reactors and step down units. "You see the proposed placement of units. We foresee a drop in oil share prices as their products are not as readily coveted. This must be countered by both government and private incentives to keep the price at its present level or above. If necessary it may have to have the oil taxed much more vigorously than now. "We are further prepared to produce a storage device capable of storing electrical power so it can be used in an electric motor. This may come about after the first of the reactors are put in place and the step down units connected to them. These units should significantly cut down on airborne pollutants. The horsepower of the various vehicles should not suffer much when you consider the reduced weight of the vehicle." She paused for questions now and it took a good two minutes before they started. Amanda handled herself very well. She gave her findings on motor size, weight and distance that the unit could travel between charges. Everything was progressing well until someone questioned her physics in the ability of a storage unit to contain enough energy to drive a thousand kilometres. Amanda smiled at the engineer, "Sir, I have built such a unit myself. I currently use it regularly to go to Epsilon Eridani or any of the other nearby stars and back when the need arrises. I have no reactor and rely solely on such a storage unit. The unit you will get is very similar but very bulky. It is the size of grape and emits a coded signal that is easily traced. This will keep car thefts down and protect the units themselves from theft for there is no way that you currently know of to block the signal." The engineers had seen a large size in their minds and imagined perhaps up to a cubic metre for the units. The grape size device being both bulky and containing enough energy to go a thousand kilometres was far beyond them. Amanda's casual mention that she goes to other solar systems was even more astounding. Ten minutes later one engineer asked, "Why are most of the reactors near populated centres while others are not?" Amanda smiled at the man. "That will be handled by my sister Lyubov. She will be speaking next." Many of the questions were very technical and Amanda sidestepped telling them much for this technology. She said that the information had to stay in our hands until the Humans could be trusted with it. Lyubov came up next and like her sister talked a bit about herself before entering into what she was to talk about. "Amanda was asked about those particular reactors placement. I plan on making those same sites available for the purification of nuclear and chemical wastes. A small fabricator will be onsite to supply this function. The materials brought to us will be gasified inside our device and then the various isotopes and atoms can be sorted for possible reuse. "Something similar is now done on the moon but there we used the materials to make what products we need. The hazardous material when it leaves will have one twenty seventh the background radiation of what is currently on the earth's surface. The various elements and their radioactive isotopes will be separated and collected until they can be taken away to be further processed. Some of our machines can build atoms to our specifications but they can also undo this process to make what is now very dangerous into something either useful or harmless. "Even soil now contaminated can be converted to structural components for our ship. It would please us to know that a part of Earth is going into our new home." Lyubov had to respond to most of the questions, stating that the information was privileged. Eventually the questions started to centre around the workings of the site along with the safety procedures. She did say when the questions were flagging, "My mother's birthplace has an abysmal record for the disposal of radioactive wastes. From our records it is known that the Russians have not been told of our existence or of this meeting. Their continuing discharge of nuclear materials threatens all of you. "Russian security is not as good as in the west for a situation like this. Perhaps at our next meeting you will have delegates from a more varied background of countries. This will foster a stronger feeling of brotherhood among Humans." Elizabeth came up next and like her sisters she talked a bit about herself. Her topic though was how her people were going to be treated once the news got out for it would happen within the next year. Secrets were only good if nobody else knew them. She gave the way Humans would have reacted if we had simply flown a small boat and visited a few world centres. This scenario was very simple but the repercussions ranged from a mass panic that killed many people and hurt the economies of many countries to only ones that were only slightly less damaging. Elizabeth went through four more scenarios of less violent nature. The final one she said, "If one of your astronomers were to find a message sent by very simple radio waves then he could alert the world. With the 'aliens'," she said this with a smile, "at arms length, then the general population of the world could be slowly coaxed to the idea. They would then know that they are not alone any longer but in a non-aggressive way." She got the audience to contribute with their ideas. Most had been tried in fictional books but that didn't matter for our ideas had come the same way. In a few moments, with her comments, the lecture had turned into a game. Damita came up last and talked about herself. She made sure that everybody here knew that she had already seen her eightieth birthday but now looked a mature twenty years old. She explained that not only had the Seffra technology surpassed Humans but so did the arts and medicine. She showed some of the art objects we had made then played some recorded music. Not all of this was readily appreciated for all of this was still strange to the audience. She said, "Our medicine is not for sale or trade but we will use it on individuals we think are suitable to joining our cause. We do not require healthy people but only those that can embrace our ideals. If Human culture changes for the better we will give some of these secrets to you as a reward." This was off topic and the audience wanted to know what conditions were necessary to get this knowledge. Population control, and a good deal of progress in avoiding damage to the environment were all that were listed. ------- Chapter 32 A week after the meeting a very excited radio astronomer reported that he had found intelligent extraterrestrial life. When other astronomers corroborated his findings the headlines got very large. Government types were very quick to comment as well as some carefully selected 'man on the street' types. Hysteria was narrowly averted. Digital pictures were sent from space and humanity relaxed for the beings looked very much like them. It took a full month before the source could be triangulated, the red shift taken into account and finally the speed and direction of the emanations to be calculated accurately. Word hit the street that the ship was only a small three person vehicle. It would be arriving in a bit less than a hundred days. The response was carefully choreographed ahead of time and again there was a near miss in the hysteria department. As the days passed more information came in picture format. Mathematics, the universal language was explained in base twelve which any intelligent race would use. By the time all but a week had passed, observers spotted a long flare of energetic gases. No race would use this as a means of propulsion between the stars but it made the people happy to see that the ship was even too small to be visible. As a precaution some months ago members of my family and I changed our looks. I went on television just after the discovery of the radio waves as a noted mathematician. I explained what was being said in the messages. This had started in the week the message was first detected and the complex mathematical formulae reached us. By the time the ship arrived I was a very well known figure. Beside me were Sandra, Megan and Marina. Each had been drastically changed and presented some facts not covered in mathematics but other information transferred from the ship. They too had been introduced as experts in their respective fields. As part of their persona they acted like good mothers at every opportunity. The ship was actually a very small boat. It was only fifteen metres long. It circled the Earth many times while sending down digital and analogue messages in the Seffra language. A drone had sent all the data and the girls had only been in the boat for a few hours. Responses were given in a great variety of languages. Those on board started to learn the languages supposedly from television and radio signals. The voices coming out of Earth radios was distinctly childlike. Those onboard made many gaffs but this endeared them even more to those on Earth. Sweden was eventually chosen for the landing site by those on board the small ship. This brought most of the world against this choice. Most people wanted their country to host the reception of the first extraterrestrial life officially seen on Earth. Sweden though gave its approval and after three more days the ship came to land like a meteor for some neighbouring countries were not happy with the arrangement. All of Sweden's air force was ready to protect the ship when it got into their airspace. It landed not at a military base as the authorities intended but at a commercial airport in Stockholm. With no tanks or guns the small boat opened up and three small figures got out. The ramp closed after a minute and the ship accelerated back into space. I raced to the landing site but I didn't want to be first. Beside me were the much changed Sandra, Megan and Marina for the children were all their first born. The three girls played their act very well with the fright and the broken Swedish. When things began to get out of hand the mothers moved in and the girls clung to them. It was shown that the women were providing succour for the girls and acting as a sort of temporary mother. After that the girls clung to these mothers and it would now be seen by all the viewers on television that this was the way it should be. It was a good portrayal of Earth mothers helping slightly alien girls in a traumatic situation. Quarantine was not needed for the girls had laughed at the backward health conditions on the planet and what their instruments were capable of doing to assist them. The army moved in but since the television cameras were there first and they couldn't pull any heavy handed manoeuvres. The mothers acted as strangers and asked leading questions. This was all within their act as experts in their fields. Not all the questions related to secrets but to common things that endeared the girls to humanity. The answers were caught on television and broadcasted to the world. The three women happened to speak broken Swedish but also other languages much better. It was quickly found that the girls could speak in these languages too. Marina spoke in Russian, Sandra in English and Megan spoke French. Now there were more people to hear with their own ears the words spoken in their own language. I knew if there were any trouble a mob of mothers would come to protect the girls from anybody thinking of hurting them. A few selected government ministers had been coached on what to do in this situation. They took the girls in their cars with the helpful women away to be interrogated but in a nicer way than they normally would. The next four weeks were very stressful to all of us. Most of the people doing the questioning were not in the loop and just tried to get as much information as possible. The girls refused to help if the kind Human women were not with them. The girls came across as much less educated. We hoped that Humans would not expect young girls to know everything about their technology. I came to them, on camera, and asked many more leading questions. Some were aimed at the politicians that wanted to separate the girls or the girls from their 'caregivers'. They told of what it was like on a Seffra ship. This went on for a long time for the Seffra had to be explained as kind and benevolent to backward civilisations. They mentioned that as children they were supposed to do their own projects to further their education. Recently they left the main ship in the boat to check a small nearby system. A Suma fleet had come upon the mother ship and it had to flee for its life. The girls decided to do the same thing but in the other direction because the Suma would do a search as they usually did. The girls stated that they flew through a stellar corona to obliterate their trail. This would still frighten many Humans. They mentioned that it was months after that they had come on Earth and the kind people here. The Suma were further explained the next day along with some of the races the girls had heard of. They pleaded fatigue after their talks and soon their quite reminiscing were a very popular subject. Many people would comment after and talk about how this might affect Earth and Humans. I talked to them about mathematics and in doing so we educated the Humans into multidimensional math that was unlike anything they had known before. On many subjects the girls only claimed a partial recollection and on occasion one could fill in for the other. This made it look like they were actively cooperating with the Earth authorities. There was a lot of pressure on the Swedes to separate the girls or to bring in new women so they could be interrogate more thoroughly. The Swedes in power knew about us and refused, though it cost them quite a bit in diplomatic currency. Sandra, Megan and Marina didn't look their usual selves. This helped a considerable amount for they also didn't look like the girls either. Their fictitious history was flogged to the world and people were selected to talk about them. Their history also was used to justify their current position as protectors of the girls. The girls brought with them some sacks which were quickly taken from them. They only contained clothing and some powered holograms showing pictures taken from Borin's memories of my life on Soldoy. More images of the Seffra and how they posed as friends with various races they had come across. The tales of the AI were given with the description of the Seffra. This time the AIs were going to all be treated as living creatures. Computers were only explained in broad terms and very little could be learned from the girls' memories about the actual construction. Young and pretty girls were not supposed to be able to see into more than three dimensions anyway. Humans were becoming casual with the 'alien' girls and could not see a threat from them. Religious leaders weren't in this group and used the excuse of the girls' arrival to strengthen their hold on the uneducated. Perhaps they could improve on the state of their coffers at the girls' expense. A great many educated and sympathetic people shot these leaders' arguments down. There were still a great many people that would espouse what these men of the cloth said for they had no other suitable figure to follow and it was much too hard to think for themselves. Governments asked to see the ship that the girls had arrived in but Amanda said, "That's not allowed." I played the Devil's Advocate and asked why. She replied, "It is against our laws to give out something that could be used for war. Our people though will eventually find us and we will need the boat to let them know that we are here." This alone made the governments think twice about doing something hasty with the girls' safety involved. An angry parent in a powerful ship of a very advanced race was not something they wanted to see. When the situation was milked for all it could, Borin showed up at the airport instantly one morning. She had landed in an unused spot and just became visible. Tom and Margaret had changed their looks and both came out of the ship speaking perfect Swedish. They were taken by an informed and quick thinking government agent to where the girls were held. There was a heartfelt reunion that was caught on worldwide television. Tom and Margaret played their roles to the hilt. The girls were not their daughters but that of the captain which had not been mentioned before. Margaret mentioned that one of the Suma ships had found a way to cut them off. A short battle had ensued and this Suma ship had been destroyed. This showed that the Seffra were not as toothless as the girls made them out to be. We were all free to travel now. We went to many dinners where my wives and I played straight men so that one of the others could say something that was needed. The rest of the group on the moon were watching just like the Humans. On occasion a good idea came our way and we played it. Different countries were now visited and the girls made an effort to pretend that they were pleasantly amused by Human ingenuity. The state visits lasted for thirty nine days. The last day Tom took his wife and the girls away to a very formal reception attended by only the most highly placed dignitaries. My wives and I had long been expelled for we had done our job. Besides some presidents, kings or prime ministers needed our chairs at these affairs. Tom stood and gave his speech and promised to give the Humans some gifts. The question was asked about what it was and he told them of our reactors for electrical power, an energy storage unit and the machine to remove nuclear and chemical waste. There was a lot of clapping and Tom bowed. It was his due for he had already made the parts and they were presently in lunar orbit ready for delivery. He even said that he would set up some equipment up on the moon to make what was necessary. The world got back to normal or nearly so for the next month. A receiver given to the Earth brought news of the arrival of the first four of our ships of the Borin class. Clearance was soon given and the ships descended to present the gifts to the people of Earth. One brought a reactor while two others shared a load. This was one of our small fabricators. It was especially designed for its speed. Its size alone required two ships and six contra gravity units for transport. The last ship brought a long string of empty ceramic containers that would be used for nuclear and chemical disposal. The containers stayed in orbit till needed. The reactor was just set down in northern Mexico. This was the country that agreed to first take our gifts and to show the world what we could accomplish. Their oil monopoly was state owned and had less power to stop the government but only just. Pressure was put on in other sectors but we purposely went quickly to produce the equivalent of a fait accompli. One of the ships started to plow up the desert sand and gravel with its tractors. The other two ships put the fabricator down and then worked to get the two portions put together. An army of Human engineers, government official and equipment operators had been waiting for three days in the desolate area that we had picked. A movable conveyor belt designed for open pit mining was already in place. It was constructed by humans hands for this project. Sand, gravel and loose rock were loaded onto it by trucks and large excavators driven by men. All this was used to feed the long belt and our fabricator. Out came long grey billets of especially formulated ceramic material in the correct proportions for this particular job. The machine was starved for raw materials most of the time. The system would eventually get better with practice. After twenty four hours we had a very large pile of processed billets and other large containers of dross. One contained mainly aluminum but did contain iron, some light metals and even some gold. Others contained pure elements that could be useful for other purposes. There was a large amount of calcium produced for we could not use all that we found. This and the other metals were sold with an aim of encouraging a more educated Mexican society. All this was basically a test on many levels. This material was all pulled away for a large ceramic pod came to us carried under one of our ships. It was full of radioactive waste. Another field went up around this container and everything including the pod went into the fabricator. People were around with all sorts of test equipment but soon the readings dropped to very near zero. A much smaller container of very radioactive materials was nearby and in a protective field of its own. This happened to be a stasis field and kept the material from heating and reacting for there was enough to make a sizable nuclear explosion. More empty pods were dragged from orbit and placed were they could get filled. This was just the testing phase for Humans would have to bring other cargos to our reprocessing stations. The moon was openly used now to make it appear that we had set up a small site on the back surface to make the ceramic containers and other things destined for Earth. Tests were now made by Humans on all of our processed products. The stasis box though was not opened for obvious reasons. The rest of the material had much less than the normal background radiation present since Humans started exploding nuclear weapons. Smaller billets were given for testing both before and after the nuclear material was added. The Human scientists could find no differences and neither could we. Forty three containers in all were processed in the next few days. Thirty eight of them were from Europe, Russia, China, Pakistan and India. In the future they would have to carry their own waste to the fabricators stationed on their soil. Not all of the waste was nuclear for chemicals were also brought including some very contaminated soil. In every case nothing but clean products emerged. Some valuable metals were extracted and these were sold on the open market. The money raised continued to go to various charities dealing with educating the poor. Everything we had done would still disrupt commerce. The companies that specialised in destroying or removing contaminated soils would now disappear after doing the last of their work. Oil companies would have less markets but would last much longer before their reserves ran out. The power generating companies and the automotive companies though would be big losers. Cars would still be made but now they would be much simpler to manufacture and there was less ways for the manufacturing companies to hide their profits from the tax man. Oil burning electrical plants as well as coal and nuclear would have to be phased out but we would have to fill the gap with a commitment to provide power for now and until Humans found their own way of generating cheap energy. This would mean that a great many people would be laid off while the industry reintegrates itself. Short of managing the world economy there was little we could do beyond make-work projects to take up some of the unemployed. Television cameras were on this project all the time and interviews had to be given. On occasion I had to give them. All of my comments had to be coached from the mathematical point of view for I was not listed as an engineer. Statistical research though was a valid avenue to pursue. The operation in Mexico was turned over to the youngsters for this simple operation was well within their capabilities. In two weeks an odd vehicle was landed near this site. When the reactor was put into position long lines of ceramic material were layed out with precision along the path to each of the step down units. The majority of the time there was little in our way and the machine took off with an additional load of ceramic in its belly. It would pick up the ceramic as it travelled to replace the ceramic taken internally. This was processed into energy conduit with a small energy shield projector every metre of its length. We used a small engine here but it didn't operate on any Newtonian Physics. There were no reactive gases or treads to pull the machine forward. It did lay the ceramic at seventy three kilometres an hour in the rocky soil. After two hours the speed was increased to a hundred and thirteen kilometres an hour. The next day three more units arrived and began to work. Soon we had most of northern Mexico covered in our grid. Conversion units were put close to existing high voltage lines now and the lines connected between the two. When eight such connections were made Tom and Margaret came back and pushed the switch in front of a great many dignitaries. The real control for all of these units was put into Human hands for they would be the ones using the power. We made it as idiot proof as possible as well as sabotage proof as we could. More reactors had to be delivered and these too had to be connected to their own step down units. The children on Earth began making special accumulators and the conversion units to produce simple electricity or vice versa. The reverse used the mains to feed the accumulator in the first place. These were all produced on two small fabricator units. Everything of a technological nature was safely hidden within the unit. Almost six thousand accumulator and conversion units were produced in an hour. These went sold to car companies that had already been experimenting on similar units. With these tasks well in hand I left the system to test more of my engines. These tests had to be quick for a tentative engine had already been chosen. This time I took Ronny with us as well as Raisa. In a weeks time I flew back with the children continuing with what I had started. They felt good to be intrusted with this responsibility and I was happy to get their assistance. The tests were scheduled to last almost a full cycle but the two didn't mind the challenge. They were much like what I was at their age. Others had to go to the remaining areas of the world to negotiate the placement of the reactors and the fabricators that would help clean the planet. The wives of Tom and his son usually did this even if some countries were averse to dealing with a women especially ones that were very beautiful. Vested interests were still opposed to what we were offering and fought us with all their power. Our manpower shortage was now very acutely felt. I wanted to complete the lattice framework to mount the shield generators on the ship and to complete the temporal/inertial commentator hookup. The former could be handled by automated equipment but would take up a great deal of our machinery and computer time. The latter though consisted of a goodly amount of grunt work that could not be fully automated. One day if we were to build enough ships the investment in a specialised machine of this purpose would be worthwhile. To get around our manpower shortage would require some of us to go on another recruitment drive. The government of Mexico and then the Mexican newspapers had been told of our quest. It was kept as low key as possible but no matter how we said we could cure diseases and allow the aged to work many more productive years we would get swamped. The new people would have to be trained and all this took from our available supply of help. Mexico was a test in many ways and the world governments were watching very carefully what we were doing. Not only was it the electrification but all of our dealings with the humans. We were also showing the world how we expected things to work for any obstruction was investigated and the person or group questioned by their own superiors. Our morals and culture suited both the Seffra and us but sadly would not be readily accepted the very parochial Humans. Those recruits allowed to come to us would have to be assimilated in small numbers until they all understood our position and embraced our culture. The secret of our existence was out but not a great deal was known of the way we interacted socially. A possible alternative to our recruiting would be to have the Humans themselves choose people that fit our criteria. Their age and physical condition would not matter much as long as we could get them alive into our tanks. This would predispose the governments to give us their old men and women that had done them favours in the past. Others would be old soldiers that had many years of following the orders of their Human superiors. Either was not acceptable for they would still harbour a great deal of misplaced loyalty. Reprogramming them was much easier but abhorrent to us. My wives had spent some of their emotions and a lot of their thoughts on this subject too. They wanted to recruit children that were either too sickly to survive or perhaps already antisocial in nature. Our recruiters would just pick from this limited number to see how well we could do. The Humans would rid themselves of those that would be unproductive and cost a great deal to keep. Logic though was not a thing that humans always followed. In two weeks the project in Mexico was nearing completion and we had already began to move toward the northern border. The Mexican authorities had assisted in finding those they wished to be rid of before we left. We had long talks to explain our position and to keep public opinion on our side. Governments could not survive if the electorate got a disjointed view of what was happening. Facilities had to be built by us to process all the people and this meant many medical tanks and simple stasis chambers were constructed. Computers and other infrastructure had to be constructed not only for training but to perform many of the mundane tasks necessary to care for a great number of people. Marina and the rest of us seen on television changed so we could now work as Seffra. She visited a large children's hospital to start her day. Here there were a great many sick children and almost all of them were desperate for a cure to their afflictions. There were many forms of cancer in the first section and most of the children showed the effects of radiation or chemical treatment. Other children had acute forms of diabetes but these were usually at home. Sexually transmitted diseases were also present and in these cases the state usually had custody of the children. Parents wanting assistance had to come to the hospital so their children could be assessed. Not everybody knew her or what she was there for but the majority did. Nurses and doctors even hid the fact that they too would leave what they worked so hard for to gain this new life. Other sections of the hospital cared for paralysed children suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, cystic fibrosis and a multitude of less well known diseases. Marina was very upset to see all the suffering but knew that she had to just ignore what was happening for now. Hours later she made her list of those that could fit in with us the best. This was many times more than we wanted but Marina justified it by saying that we could keep the children in stasis until we were better suited to cure them. In most cases this meant a stint in the medical tank and not a simple med unit before anything else could be done. Another hospital was visited and here she found many mental patients. The young at least were segregated from the adults. There were a great deal of children with Down's syndrome, while others suffering from schizophrenia, or the severely mentally retarded. Marina walked into the wards and most patients stopped doing what they were doing to see the visitor. Even those that were very excitable calmed down at her approach. She touched a few of the patients and had a few kind words and the patients were happier to have met her. Marina had to keep her own emotions tightly under control and tried to smile as much as possible. She visited the adult population too and the patients were no less thrilled to have met her. Some here would benefit us and themselves if they were allowed to join our cause. Again her choices were made known and the people in charge of these people would be asked to allow the patients to get cured or to languish away as they presently were. None would be just cured and allowed to return to their families and friends until we had a much larger population. The sad thing was that many of the patients with mental problems had very little to offer us even if they were cured. They would have to be reeducated on a massive scale as if they were once again children. Megan too was making her rounds. She went to orphanages, tuberculosis hospitals, and institutions to care for the blind. Many children that were being cared for in a home environment but had no chance of adoption were also seen at the orphanage. Megan too had a difficult time of this but made her own choices known. Now it was up to the various authorities to see if they would relinquish their control over the potential recruits. She caused quite a stir in the jails for the younger offenders. Though the first jail was for males there was a girls institution that could have some recruits. Here the courts would have to do much more for soon the children would be old enough to make informed decisions on their own or so the law said. The courts were obliged to rule in each case Megan inquired into. Then she would be free to approach the individuals involved and see what their own feelings were in the matter. Our aim was to get a good number of responsible adults that were not just loyal to our cause. They would take care of the many children that would need a great deal of guidance after getting out of the tanks. When the children got to the Seffra stage then they could assist us. New children would still need to see an adult actively concerned with their problems and development. This was made very clear to us with the children we found in Brazil and Canada. Like Ronny, each of them had to see that they were in a loving and caring family that was there to guide them. It was the senior citizen's centres that gave us the responsible adults. They were uniformly well off. The aged poor had been sent notices along with their caregivers weeks earlier. They didn't know that they were going to a recruitment drive but found out after the wives had a chance to meet the individuals personally. Damita was the one that did the best here for she displayed her documents to show that she had long since passed her eightieth birthday. It was easy for the seniors to see that Damita was something very special. This group usually had very many eager members waiting to sign up but only a few fit our criteria. Some were married and in this case the spouse was also considered. Everybody would have to go through our version of a boot camp and before this started they had to get the same basic indoctrination. We were not going to let anybody come back with our knowledge and start to give information to the Humans that would get them killed faster. Damita talked about her great great grandchildren that were now playing with her own children at their temporary base on the far side of the moon. This led a few of the more adventurous to commit themselves to us and insist that they would sever their ties with Earth There was very little that would be holding them to this planet after they were rejuvenated then educated. After another exhausting day the small boat settled outside the dome and the matter transmitter brought me inside. The short walk to the house usually invigorated me. I could hear children playing in the lake. Before I got very far I could hear the running steps and in a moment saw Ana-Margarida running towards me. She just smiled her pleasure and jumped naked into my arms. "I missed you. You have been gone too long." "It has just been a day Honey. Is it because you are extra horny now that I am back?" She just smiled widely at me and replied, "You always make me horny. Can we stop here for a while. I am fertile and want to get the next one started as soon as possible." It was now my turn to smile. "Do your sisters know that you are out here?" "They sent me to welcome you. Besides Sandra needs a few more minutes before dinner is ready." Ana-Margarida had grown strong and even more beautiful than when she was a child. She had only one child so far and Xuxa was the spiting image of her beautiful mother. I enjoyed the feel of her skin in my hands as I contemplated all the good times the two of us had. We walked to the side of the path where I knew it would be comfortable. Ana-Margarida had read my thoughts and hugged me to her. I gave her a long drawn out kiss before putting her on her feet. When I pulled back I could taste more than just Ana-Margarida on my lips. With a peek into her mind I saw that she had got carried away and started without me. I layed her gently on the soft grass and she released me so I could show her how much I loved her. "Hurry Leif. I don't need that. I am horny enough." "All of you complain this way but you always are more satisfied if I do this my way." She thought of this and said, "Just hurry." I kissed her lips tenderly while she was used to working with a fervour that pushed most of her wives very quickly towards completion. I was going to do the opposite. The kisses were lightly applied and I paused in between to savour my love and the effect the caresses had on my youngest wife. Ana-Margarida was quite thin. She didn't look thirteen but she had pushed her body to look both mature but still retain her innocents. Her breasts had only enlarged enough to feed Xuxa. This was not necessary but it bonded both mother and child closer than what they would be normally. I had never looked deep but I thought that she wanted to remind me of my oldest children but still be seen as a desirable wife. Only one way would get her what she now craved. I kissed her neck and caressed her small breasts with my hand. She groaned exquisitely in want but I kept my slow pace. The wives looked on through our link the excitement of making new life grew in both of us. Ana-Margarida had six orgasms and I filled her six times with my seed. One was more than enough for the job but not for what this meant to us. ------- Borin had three sister ships but four more had been recently built. She had been named after some mythological figures in our very dim past. The family liked this idea and continued in this vein. Tom and his family had built Karrak as their contribution to our transportation needs. Their daughter Lauren and many of her friends and sisters had gone to Vega to set up our base there with this ship. Fessut was a ship made by Odava and Ichom but it was usually out on patrol laying probes and repeaters. Currently it was assisting Lauren in setting up the base. Tommy and his family had built Domjam. The AI, like all her sisters were ladies just as much as Borin but none of the vessels had the dark crystal like Borin had. Instead they had many of Tommy's small missiles. Tommy had been very cautious and built as strongly as possible and gave this ship as many teeth as possible. Each of the ships sported superior engines but not all were the same. Many decisions could only be made after a lot of minor tests. The first load of recruits came in unconscious aboard Domjam. They had been picked up in small groups then placed in the ship. The most in need of medical assistance started to receive it immediately. Beds were not needed onboard if the gravity was reduced to a low enough factor. The recruits would eventually be taken to the various homes but in this case the Gossna had to be excluded. The children for the most part needed medical attention to save their lives and went into various tanks if they were available. This would allow Max to take care of them till they were ready. We couldn't afford to have nurses doing this job when there were so many more important duties. This necessitated some children and even adults going into stasis till their turn came up. The Mexican governments and courts had allowed us to take 359 wards of the state and we managed to get 62 adults to sign up. This was many times more than we could cope with at one time. The recruits had been assessed previously for their ability to lead and seventeen were slated to be cured and awoken first. In this case they were all young and needed little assistance in getting their bodies in the proper shape. Their ages ranged from thirteen to sixteen but most were around the fifteen year range. All minor tasks had to be abandoned so that living personnel were on hand for this event. Some of the recruits had been in mental institutions or in jail. If they had not been seen as unredeemable then we would not have got them. When their glands were adjusted their memories were hidden from them temporarily till they would be able to deal with their own past. Posturing and memories of their past would be detrimental to our training. Everybody here was now like a child in that they would wonder about things with a child like awe. Over time their past would be given back to them when they were better able to deal with it. They all woke up in my home for the first time dressed in ship's coveralls. This group had slightly more males and would make our present population happy. An equal number of our own people were in this group to assist in this integration. When they were all awake and looking at their new environment I said, "Hello," when they looked at me, "my name's Leif. I'm the leader of our small band of explorers. You all volunteered to join us for a variety of reasons. We have done the first part by tinkering with your bodies to get you healthy then your thinking adjusted." None of them thought of this as brainwashing but it may come up in the future. "The seventeen of you are the best suited to assist the rest of your group in becoming adjusted to your new home. You may be wondering how you got here. You simply went to sleep and your bodies were adjusted by our medical units. The less concerned of you in this room happen to be some of our previous recruits. They come from a few different countries but the majority are former residents of Brazil." The ones paired off with the newcomers touched them or in some way started communications. I remained quiet for a moment then continued, "You have just met your own trainer. They will teach you more about where you are now living and the duties you will have to perform. They will be your private teacher till you become adjusted." After some additional words I said, "We can all use our minds to communicate. You will get this ability too but it will take a while to acquire it. This is how it appears in your mind. Kind a' neat, isn't it?" The recruits were in shock now and I continued to talk with mindspeech to explain the facts of life. Soon I activated the large screen behind me and showed them the ship as it presently stood 12,000 kilometres above our heads. "This is what you will be working on. One day if you are lucky and if suitably inclined you may make up a portion of the crew. I will let you now break up into smaller groups to discuss this with your own mentor. Just remember how you feel for soon you will have the job of helping others overcoming the same fears you now have." Four groups were formed and these wandered about the house to see their new living quarters and of course the dining room. When the nursery was found the old hands picked up infants and continued their explanations. Some caregivers were now freed to join the groups. Outside the house they suddenly had a more graphic demonstration that they were indeed on the moon and not in a dream. The newcomers were stunned by everything they were finding out but getting over the shock. It seemed to help that the infants were incorporated into the groups for it made the talk much less threatening. It took only two days till the paired groups found themselves in a quiet area for some quality time. This was hastened by the auras being released. Training now went much faster but their off time was all spent in getting to know each other better as a reward. Those people in the tanks came out and were replaced by others. Nobody gained consciousness though for we were still not ready for them. All of them went into stasis if not being repaired. The ones being currently indoctrinated took just a week to want to join our ranks on the next step. It was Human greed that brought this about for they were still hoping to find a way to use it over their fellow humans to gain an advantage. They didn't know how this emotion would be severely curtailed. The first three males were strapped to separate beds. They had some of our sexual stimulant to assist them overcome the spectators. The Brazilian girls showed the males what it was like to be truly passionate and only an hour later the three males were having their minds altered. Four more were ready to try this for they were very aroused. Their own partners were just as eager. Before the night was out all seventeen individuals had been changed. The effects took only a few hours to appear. Within four days these individuals appeared to be firmly behind our motives. Thirty four of the seniors were taken from stasis to find their bodies now much altered. The process of integration started once again but this time all three homes had to be used to house the groups. In half a cycle all but 113 children had been raised to the ranks of the Seffra. Those not, were simply cured of their afflictions and lived a comfortable life as children in our dome. These were the ones that took over the job of minding our own children though the distinction of who was minding who was sometimes in doubt. The rest were working on fabricating a much larger domes for themselves and those to follow. They worked hard but mostly they studied. Video was sent to the Earth authorities showing their former residents happy and healthy. Our new residents talked to their friends and family about their discoveries. The Humans were getting an idea through many conversations exactly what our customs were really like. This was a two edged sword for if we stayed completely hidden then they would wonder even more. We may become the devil they were familiar with and thus able to accept. Parents now saw their healthy children and wanted them back. They had been warned of this and very few voiced their desire to renege on their commitments. With the recruits now stabilised we looked to going north into the United States. There was a lot of controversy and it was mainly stirred up by the businesses that would face a loss at our interference. The consumers there were on an eating binge and could not seem to see the detrimental effects to themselves or to the world. Here it was not just food with all the poisons in them but the way they consumed petroleum and other nonrenewable resources. Their industries spewed now only greenhouse gases into the air but more poisons of every description. Supposed official watchdogs were guided by government regulations. That same government was run by the businesses community. Restrictions were put in place and the American government would have to fight it out in the court. If this went high enough then there was less likelihood of them finding more obstacles after we started. When negotiations dragged on I simply asked all other countries if they wanted some of our largesse. Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Norway had been ready for this and quickly passed laws. The next day we were laying conduit and in twelve weeks put the reactors into place and most of the step down units too. It took a full three cycles of time to hook up all of the units to existing switching gear. This assisted some of those isolated settlements on the coast to finally get the power they needed to grow. All of Europe saw what was happening. The large oil companies had worked frantically to stop this but it was something already done and there was little they could do. European auto manufactures were forced by the buying public to accept our accumulators. During this time many of our representatives that formerly only spoke Spanish worked to put in this infrastructure. We soon had a great many blonde haired recruits and a great many more children that would simply be themselves. Our numbers grew dramatically. Mexico had provided 329 recruits but not all were ready to be raised to the Seffra level. The rest of the world provided 28,543 more. These had to be mainly put in stasis and worked on medically as their turn came. The youngest this time had to wait till the older ones were trained and ready to train them too. Housing became acute till more was built. Only a bit over 500 were awake and active to do what was needed. Even here we were pushing it for most needed an authority figure to help them get over certain obstacles or to show that they were loved and appreciated. Travelogues were now given to the humans of Earth about the nearby systems given by a sampling of native speakers. It was not very scientific but it was easy to feel the joy in their voices. It was not like Disneyland but it was very close. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and some Mid East countries were the only ones that refused our gifts. Because of this, we would not take any of their people as recruits. This galled them for they wanted to be represented in our efforts to explore. Two and a half years after we initiated contact with Humans we completed our electrification projects. It had only taken two cycles to manufacture all the accumulators and conversion units then get them installed. They were now used in not only automobiles but all sorts of sports equipment and even small propeller driven aircraft. They would not wear out and were almost indestructible. They would simply be moved from one vehicle to the next. Some countries had still refused our gifts and they were then ignored. Many of the recruits and our own children went to Vega to assist in getting that base up to what we thought it should be. The crews rotated constantly but Lauren would not leave unless ordered to and her parents had to resort to visiting her there. This base was much further along than ours had been at this stage for they were able to requisition parts made here to make their own computers and precision fabricators. The dome was not needed but one was put up anyway. The atmosphere was not breathable and it would be good for the children when they came to have the freedom their parents had when growing up. The Vega base received eight large computers that were the equivalent of Pat'uch in processing power. Building big was a good idea when there was not that much work in making one just a bit bigger. The lunar base was expanded too but again it got eight more of Pat'uch's class. The sheer number of people using the machines necessitated that these be built. They handled the training, manufacturing, processing and security. Our volume of space was continually increasing and more machines would have to be built soon. Domes sprang up all over the lunar surface with different age groups living in each for now. Boats had been made but as yet they didn't have enough experience to make a small ship. With this many very inquisitive people it was a wonder that we were actually get any work done on building our research ship. The ship itself was now outside Jupiter's orbit, just beyond the Mardaf Limit. Processing facilities were set up on many of Saturn's and Jupiter's moons. The lunar base still supplied the majority of the intricate equipment. This necessitated that they too be supplied with computers the equivalent of Pat'uch. Family life changed quite a bit for the three families. The males got a break finally as the senior wives went out with the recruits to assist them in learning what they had to do and provide a family setting even if the groups were very large. The girls set up a rotation so somebody would always be home to take care of me or the other two males. This presented a few hardships though till our bodies got used to the lower level of physical activity. Our probes continued to expand and were now close to sixty seven lights from Earth in all directions. Some probes were deployed from one of the ships but many went in automated high speed craft that dropped off individual probes as they travelled. Interesting systems were then investigated more thoroughly in person after a preliminary survey. The probes themselves were improved for this sort of purpose. They were designed to remain usable for centuries and not just a few decades. This of course made them larger and easier to detect. The basic instructions for these units was altered to reflect this ability and to make us more secure. There were still eight years worth of production of probes that was still vulnerable to expropriation by a foreign power. One of Tom's wives, Oaxaca, was in command of another of their families ships. Our recently placed probes detected a small quickly moving body travelling through our frontier. She gave chase in the Sardif, one of Tom's newest ships. The distance was great but the pursuit was on. In two days she was close enough to transmit a Seffra recognition code and a request for data. The torpedo slowed to a more comfortable speed for it would self destruct if we didn't give the right protocols. The considerable amount of data was copied to our own computer. This took much longer than normal due to the small size of the ship's computer and the amount of encryption on the information. The torpedo then accelerated toward galactic centre looking for one of the nineteen major ships now investigating this galaxy. We were all excited by this. Our volume of space was very small and it was very fortunate to find any of the many torpedos launched by the various ships or the return messages from a base closest to our old galaxy. ------- Chapter 33 It took three more days to return to our neighbourhood and as soon as possible Oaxaca began to transmit the high points of what she had found. This torpedo had come searching for one or more of our research ships. The torpedo had a wealth of information including some warnings of three additional races in our galaxy that were very vicious. All were very powerful and occupied a large areas of space and took exception to others leaving their own planets or wandering through what they considered their private territory. The Seffra had actually lost a ship and I felt only mildly relieved when it wasn't Soldoy. If the Seffra had our dark crystal then it would be doubtful if they would have died. There was more information than could be imagined. It listed all the systems encountered by all the ships that had fed back data. The data was not as comprehensive as the original ship had gathered but it was sufficient to travel blind through this area of the galaxy. It was also out of date for travel time was very long. It listed all the races found along with a description. It tabulated what their current status was and the long term prognosis. Many races died off or killed themselves if another group didn't do that for them. An accompanying map of the galaxy showed where each group was along with strong enemies that we should attempt to avoid. It looked like the Seffra were on schedule to finish this galaxy in just a hundred and seventeen thousand years. Improvements in technology were tabulated and even detailed instructions to make the parts themselves. This included engines, computers, compensators, reactors and almost any part that could be bettered. I was proud to see that we were far ahead of the Seffra in some fields. The information also listed all the Seffra ships and where they were projected to be from their last information transfer. Soldoy was quite a distance away and on the other side of a race that would take exception to me taking a shortcut through their area. The data was still being transmitted as the Sardif docked inside our construction dome and right beside Pat'uch. The information was taken again but much more quickly this time. There was a great deal to go over and all of us were eager to see what we could find of benefit to us. There had been many small advances in technology. Most of the advances were in the many fields we were unable to explore very well. Where we worked in computers, engines, and our small missile we were far ahead. Even our combined inertial and temporal compensator was just as good as what the Seffra currently used. I felt proud that they would be using my idea and trying to further it. We had made even more improvements since then but that was almost three centuries ago. Production suffered and everybody wanted to see what information was available. The main computers were pressed into action to search for details that each person thought important. Tom said to me, "Leif, did you see that the Mossa will be coming this way in less than nine cycles? All Seffra ships wander on their proposed course and there is a sixty three percent chance that they will find us or our outlying pickets." "I did notice. The Seffra will treat us a lot differently if we had the ship closer to completion. We need at least twenty three more years to get there. Perhaps we can make some diversion that will lure them to an area that will allow them to miss us completely. There was another ship coming in six and a half years but from another direction. There is no way we can predict its course with any accuracy in that amount of time." Tom said, "I can think of quite a few ways of getting them to follow other interesting avenues but they will one day come just to complete this area for their survey. If they do come then we will have to deal with them. I noticed that their stories and even plays have a recurrent theme of keeping the race pure. That means that you and Consti are going to be questioned and they may bring some disciplinary charges against both of you. "We on the other hand will not be seen much better but they cannot do much to us. All this depends on the families on the ship. If they see you as a threat they will take you in and change you back to what you were when you first came here. They may also say that all the equipment had been made with their supplies and thus not ours. I would fight before I gave up what we worked so hard on." "I don't want to fight the Seffra Tom. They were my people and they are hardheads in some ways but they mean well. They help races in trouble and take out many of the predators." "I agree with you Leif but in doing so they make sure the race knows who did the work and I think they take more credit than they deserve. I am not a little boy any longer that needs an overprotective mother to watch over me. Our laws are modelled after the Seffra. It says specifically in the naval regulations that we have to arm ourselves in this matter even if it is just a threat." Two of my wives and three of Tom's had been listening in and voiced their own views and they all sided with Tom. I knew a meeting would have to be convened but I also knew the outcome. Humans still had not lost their war like tendencies even after being elevated but I had to see that they were also right. I continued, "Let's work on the premise that they will find us and plan accordingly. We have almost nine cycles to prepare and who knows, we may get an additional five to twenty years before they do come this way. A battle now will kill our race or many innocent Seffra." The wives and the rest of the community were soon drawn into this discussion. There were a great many ideas put forth and all had some merit. Being a logical community we came up with many plans that would work on many different contingencies. Some plans were mutually exclusive. We had to find the best possible solutions on our stage without having the Seffra see the articles as props. In a half of a cycle Ronny and seventeen more of our recruits left in Sardif. They had their holds full of our probes as well as a few highspeed craft designed to look like automated sentries. They were designed to clandestinely watch a certain area then report to those that placed them if a strange craft entered the protected area. The competition to get these positions was high and it just happened that Ronny was among the best. She was also able to focus the crew as a captain should. Another of their missions was to map out the area the Mossa would come to, if approaching us. This would let them know the terrain much better than the approaching Seffra. Basically it was just enlarging the area monitored by our probes. Those of us staying worked to build and crew as many ships of Borin's class as possible. They would look impressive and give the Seffra pause, at least for a while. Tommy's small missiles were our main armament. They were of little use if we could not program them to the various engines and here I did for the standard Seffra variety. This took a lot of soul searching but the missiles could do little against the approaching vessel, only its engines. Because of the possibility of new enemies and their unknown engines, we made the missiles programmable. Tommy and his wives worked together as a team again and even made more improvements as the deadline approached. A ship that took five and a half cycles to build was now down to that many days. All the precision fabricators made parts and one was big enough to make our hull and parts in one pass. Only the components had to be added. To do all this work a great mass of material had to be converted to ceramic then processed further into what we needed. Much larger machines were built that would scoop and transport regolith. Not all of this came from the moon. Large diameter tunnels were built through the mountains on Earth. This was intended for pollution free electric vehicles. The material removed was processed on the site and the ingots were sent to the construction site on the moon. We purposely left North America and those countries not wanting our help alone. There were many long tunnels through the Pyrenees linking France and Spain. A full dozen were drilled through the Alps linking all the surrounding countries. Four tunnels went through the Carpathian Mountains. In just a half cycle we had tunnels through the Himalayas, Pamir Mountains, Karakoram and the Atlas Mountains. At least now Afghanistan would not be as isolated as it was before. They had not wanted our help but there would be little they could do about it now other than dynamite their end of the tunnels. Now their religion or American money would not allow them to stay as isolated as they were. We had stopped taking recruits for immediate use but those suitable or too sick to wait were put into stasis as we had done before. Ronny had laid out her probes with care and worked with us through a long line of repeaters. The Mossa should not come directly but stop at various systems along the way to add the information to their store of data. Ronny did detect a very large fly in our proposed soup. The area she was patrolling was actually thirty light years in diameter and encompassed 106 medium range stars, 14 hot blue stars and the vast majority of 315 red dwarfs. Most of the latter were in pairs as is the custom. She only just started when she found dead systems that had held living creatures. Some had died less than a century ago though most the Seffra found were much older. This made her very cautious now. She found ship wreckage from many different battles in some areas. Some worlds had a very low tech civilisations and thus no destroyed vessels. There was enough information in our recent torpedo data to place the race responsible for all this. When sixty percent of this area was mapped she found the Soplasia civilisation. This group were named by the Seffra and they lived in smaller colonies comprised of thirty to fifty systems. The bipedal males were only a metre tall but the females were double that size. They outweighed the males by four times too. The females ran things though. They liked the gravity the same as the Seffra which was a third as much again as what Humans had. These beings communicated with their mind but none of the Seffra had been able to communicate with them. There was just too many differences. The Soplasia had an advanced civilisation but like humans, we were at a loss how their irrationality allowed them to function. Not only were the planets heavily populated but the females seemed to be trying to outdo each other in producing young. They did have one form of population control. They had regular war games but usually they had no living enemies. The planets themselves would put out a team and the winner was the team that returned alive. It was thought that the males were just pawns in this for they just did as they were told. There was very little data on them for they were usually dead when we found them. Their technology was about mid way between the Suma and the Graskor. This meant that they could defeat the approaching Seffra ship easily with their shear numbers. Usually the Seffra would send out probes far ahead of their advance hoping to find any concentrations of belligerents before they entered that area. This didn't always work for the last Seffra ship to be destroyed was done by another colony of the Soplasia. The only reason we thought that Ronny was not attacked was the small size of her ship and her very cautious approach. The entire area was scouted but now all communications were through the repeaters. We didn't want any energy to be detected from Sardif. Ronny was at the periphery of the Soplasia territory assessing all the data coming to her and sending it back to us through a short range torpedo to our grid. The length of our line of relays produced a delay of almost a minute but we could see that Ronny was getting very nervous. She was currently hiding in a system composed of three red dwarfs and a dozen bands of asteroids. A flotilla of seven ships were coming her way. Within a minute another group was detected coming from behind her. It was not for us to give orders but Ronny settled into a cleft on a medium sized asteroid on the outer fringes. In less than an hour the first group entered the system and patrolled the fringes. All of them released delivery systems that put their own probes into position. It was less than fifteen minutes later that the other group entered as well. This time they were even more cautious and released their own probes. There was a jockeying for position that took almost two hours. One of the ships came very close to Ronny's but didn't detect her vessel. One ship from each group stayed away from the rest and the two groups attacked each other. The level of viciousness was amazing. Even a destroyed craft was hit repeatedly though it could no longer fight. When only an hour had passed found that our view was being restricted. The energy weapons were able to take out our unprotected probes when they missed their intended targets. Moments later the main repeater in line to us was also destroyed and we saw no more of the battle. We waited anxiously for three and a half more hours till a new image came to us. We were very relieved for the ship and crew could have been destroyed. Ronny said, "Captain, they used another weapon on the last ship. The energy level indicated something close to the dark crystal. None of our ships can stand up to that." The view got cloudy then regained its clarity. I soon found out the reason why. The beam Ronny had talked about had struck every one of the larger masses of rock. One beam had severely damaged her ship. I asked, "Were there any casualties?" "Three captain but they're stable and will recover. One was a very close call." "Can you make repairs?" "The current estimate is at least a cycle. We have one engine that may be good for fifty percent thrust but our hull has been compromised and our compensator damaged." More data came in and we saw first hand how destructive the Soplasia weapon really was. The asteroid was sliced in two very neatly. The Sardif was missing a large portion of its stern and there was no way she could make it back through the Soplasia territory without being detected. The actual tools used to repair the ship employed energies from the forth and fifth dimensions. This in itself would be like a beacon and draw any Soplasia to her position. Ronny was given explicit orders to do what she could but keep the fabricator work to a minimum to avoid detection. It looked like she was going to argue but simply said, "Yes, Captain." This contingency had not come up in our planning but one came close. It was if the Sardif were destroyed by some known enemy. Within minutes 413 ships left to recover their sister ship. The last twenty seven were not even complete but would be so when we all arrived. Vega supplied more than half of the ships. I was aboard Borin once again but now I had some of my family. Sandra, Catrina, Alicea, Ana-Margarida, and Marina were my crew members but Mazotin came too. This was still dangerous to our son but it was also necessary for him to learn. The crew of a Seffra or a Sefmen ship had to include children or they would never learn what was necessary. The other wives and some of our children rode in other ships and none of those raised to Sefmen stayed behind. The speed of the majority of the ships was kept low enough that the crews would have all their ships ready and the crews ready to use them effectively. What the Sardif travelled in eleven days they took three times that much. We came from a round about direction so as to not lead any enemy to our two homes. Other units went much quicker to cover those areas Ronny was not able to monitor. Megan and eleven others took ships and some of our children to skirt the Soplasia territory and try to lure the Mossa in a different direction. She too had to be as careful as Ronny for we didn't know what she would run into. I hoped that twelve would be able to protect each other if needed. Lead units of our flotilla came to Ronny's position and escorted the ship to an area further from the Soplasia worlds. Other units swarmed the wrecks that Ronny had kept monitoring. One unit was orbiting close to one of the stars. This one was very damaged but we coaxed it out of orbit with the least energy. The Soplasia could come back at any time and see what had happened to their craft. This time we hoped that they would think it had been drawn into the star itself. Our trail would not be that noticeable and hopefully disturbed by the solar winds. The various Soplasia probes in system were hunted down. They each had a memory and would have information of our own ships if they were ever questioned. Pickets of our own covered the system and eight lights around it. A portion of our group fled with Ronny and the damaged Soplasia craft the way we had come which was not in the direction of Vega or our home. Our ring of pickets was expanded while our people looked at the other damaged craft. There was very little to discover for when the shield went down the ship had still been hammered till it was usually scattered debris. The exercise had taken a total of three cycles of time. We went over the artifacts trying to deduce any advances in physics but found none. It seemed that the black crystal device had only been on some of the ships. The rest with warships may be just stripped down units for their war games. Megan returned almost a year after Ronny first set out. She had her own adventures but thankfully all the ships returned. They had been in two fights but managed to escape with superior speed and some of Tommy's missiles. Those they fought were old enemies but seemed to be just guarding their territory like a junk yard dog. The probes she left, showed the Mossa changing course enough to miss both us and the Soplasia. After that they were on their own again. Ever since Ronny came onto the Soplasia we had been on a war footing. Our research ship was given very little attention. More recruits swelled our ranks but they got less love and attention than they should. What we did show we hoped would be enough. The families broke up to form other units so we in a way had to suffer the most. Weapons research went into high gear but then so did the engine development as well as ways of making our shield stronger. None of the latter could hope to stand up to the effects of the dark crystal Ronny had seen. Stealth was our only hope in this case. The original three families met and decided that we needed more brain power and worked out ways to avoid the reasons for not raising our people to the Sefmen level. With a large number of recruits we were able to pick those individuals that were stable enough to continue what we had started. Seventy three new individuals joined us. They in turn formed the nucleus of families. In three years we made great strides but the war footing was difficult on all of us. The Pat'uch class AI was superceded by Glaxi'da another Gossna name and meaning all powerful. It wasn't though for it only ran the eighth size of precision fabricators and worked very well at this. In two cycles all of the Pat'uch class were upgraded without destroying the original identity. A ninth class precision fabricator was finally made at the Vega base but nine of our new computers had to be made to run the unit. Many thousands of people were working on engine development and weapons. Tommy had found some ways to harness some of the destructive power that his small missile liberated and made a much more powerful power sources. The harmful radiation emitted by the old units would be a thing of the past once we got all the ships retrofitted. We had half of our fleet converted when a new engine design was found that could more effectively use all the power generated. This in turn required a much more robust hull and inertial compensator. These we didn't have. It was a half a year later that I was happy to say that my own children found the inertial and temporal compensator that would handle all the new engines could put out. New hulls were now what we needed and ships came in and crews moved over to the new units. It took only seventeen hours to make a new ship from scratch. The computers though took much longer and became our major bottleneck. Tommy organised a large group and made small ships using what we had just made so they could be ultra fast missiles even if their destructive power was limited. This was almost a minor point for a Suma force of sixteen ships were going to come within ten light years of Vega and would send crews to investigate. Marina's first daughter, Lyubov happened to be patrolling this area. She was not in Borin but did harass the enemy. More units joined her and performed a retreating action but some of our ships fled toward the Soplasia systems. The Suma ships were much too slow but we kept our own speed down. All but Lyubov's ship eventually fled and then so did she. In hours we found the Suma and the Soplasia in an ever growing battle. Our own ships were close and we took out stragglers if we could but mainly assisted the Suma. Their ships were massive but I think ultimately doomed. I wanted the battle to continue for a long time though and ultimately destroy both fleets. The Soplasia numbers grew till a ship was recognised as one like the one Ronny had seen use something like the dark crystal. It had come from one of the other systems with six escorts. And the battle eighteen lights away. In a dangerous bid to learn more we rushed in and used our weapons on them. The six escorts took most of our fire and most were very heavily damaged. We then fled as if out of ammunition. The fairly unscathed ship fired at us but we were constantly moving and very difficult to hit. It did take the bait though and we threw small salvos of missiles at it to keep them angry and think they had us on the run. The ship stayed with us for almost five hours before breaking off. I was behind it in Borin but still in communication with those in the lead because of all the probes that had been dropped both recently and years ago. The ship massed thirty times our size and I managed to hit it while I was hiding in the corona of a red star. Tom's new missiles hit it again and again but I wanted to keep enough of the ship so we could examine it. Our own dark crystal came into play and we found we could shoot and hit while they couldn't. This ship was different but some things had to be similar and we avoided hitting any reactors. A hundred pickets fanned out while the fight continued. Our own commando force went in when we were no longer shot at. We had not found any living Soplasia when we boarded and the main computer was severely damaged. Tractors went out and pulled the ship to a halt then in the direction it had been going. Our ships at the battle still worked to assist the Suma but reported they were down to just two ships. There was more than one ship that had a dark crystal. When the Suma were finally defeated our own ships fled to lead the Soplasia on another wild chase. We had lost three ships in this action. Two ships had survivors and were picked up but all three were converted to energetic particles. In each case none of our three main families lost members though two of Tom's children were hurt. Those killed had been recruits but the pain was not lessened. In all, eight people died. The Seffra would call this a great victory but it still hurt. Being the captain meant that I had to make many of the calls and the responsibility rested on my shoulders. None of the others was displeased at the cost to us. The Seffra were that way and it had to be in the Sefman makeup too. That didn't mean I could just forgive myself that easily but the survivors did manage to cheer me up instead of the other way around. The derelict was dragged till it was light years from any star. It was boarded now by probes and people to see what they could find. Bodies were recovered and all but one was a male. It was weeks later that we pulled all the black crystal devices from the ship and found that it was not a black crystal at all. It was a novel way of using existing crystals in a cascading form. There were many such spare parts for the sixteen weapons. The power was so great that many crystals were burnt out under overload conditions and new crystals had to be put in place before another shot could be fired. The size of the crystals though were all large and beyond what we could make. Tests were made on them and they were very crude and unsuitable for computers. The Soplasia still had secrets and this meant that we had to find out how these were made. Even with their poorly constructed nature they were beyond what we could do. The ship was cut up after we found all we could. Those portions that we wanted to keep were shipped home while the hulk was dragged to a star for disposal. Instead of plunging in it went into a rapidly decaying orbit and melted and broke up far before it could cause a solar flare. Humans never heard of our actions. Only a few of us tended the equipment on earth for it was heavily automated. Anything that would go wrong was assumed to be sabotage and the crews would go in wearily but as yet nothing could be damaged. That didn't mean attempts were not made for they were. Nuclear plants could now run with little regard to the environment for they could dump all their wastes in our hoppers. Oil use had been cut back dramatically. We had donated better electric motor designs and larger accumulators and now an ocean vessel, trains, aircraft and trucks could work efficiently with electric power alone. The accumulators had been deliberately been shorted but this had been foreseen. They had not exploded. I had allowed them to melt down and be destroyed though. Recruiting accelerated for more than one reason. I wanted a sizable human population far from Earth. Over twenty two thousand of our population was now at the Sefmen stage. They were more aggressive than the Seffra but not anywhere near what a human would be. Families had been formed and adoptions made from those children in need on Earth. The United States and Canada tried to make deals for those that we could cure and educate. We simply showed them how we got China, India and Africa to just help themselves and us at the same time. They would have much less representation now. Suddenly families with sick children in those areas would take up residence in other countries and their children could possibly get taken care of by us. The prospects of getting our ship built sooner shot up as well. Not everybody was suited to research but still liked to tackle more of the engineering problems. The way we had been developing things made me want to start over with our ship but many of the improvements would have to wait till the next one made. The new engines and power sources would put a sizable strain on the keel of the ship. We had not used the inertial compensator yet but it was already obsolete. The Soplasia were monitored very well. A large portion of their combined fleet had been destroyed. The ships that used the special crystals were now made exclusively. I guess the fun and games time had ended and they were preparing for a better defence next time or take the fight to the Suma for their ships were not totally destroyed. We monitored the weapons manufacturing as good as we could but couldn't find a hint of where the crystals came from. Our research on the Soplasia female body and those of the males found a great many differences. Programs were now formulated so a AI could try to find out what we couldn't. This of course required live subjects. We worked on the Soplasia weapon with our own smaller crystals and found it would work but we had to use a great many more small crystals. With some tests we discovered that it was the actual size of the crystals that made the device so efficient of power. A half a year after the battle, the Soplasia sent forces in all directions looking for aggressors. The Suma captives or computers must have revealed that we had lured them into the battle. This was seen as a certainty even when the battle was first formulated. Soplasia shipping travelling away from us was attacked now. We destroyed what we could but usually fled. The Soplasia took the bait but some units still came our way. The Seffra would have done this too but only if they were hard pressed. We saw the necessity right away and still hoped we were not too late. The Soplasia were much too numerous. If they got our technology they would really be a force to contend with. Our own ships were rigged so we would deny their use to the enemy but eventually some would fall into their hands. This was even more probable when we had to keep the Soplasia penned into their own area. Though we fought harder on the far side of the empire we had to keep our own area safe too. Usually we would attack a convoy and flee. They had many more ships but apart from their energy weapon, we were better armed and much faster. We didn't always get away unscathed and I cried for days when two of my daughters died in an attack. Their ship had been hit and couldn't flee. The other three ships did what they could but the numbers were just too high. The girls shut everything down but used a mechanical timer on the destruct mechanism. Their ship was pulled into the largest ship in the group for inspection when it exploded violently. Antimatter was easy to manufacture and simple to use. The accompanying four Soplasia ships were attacked within hours and none made it out alive. My wives were outraged instead of mourning the way I was doing. The normal human mother would not act this way but neither would a Seffra mother. They took care of me through this ordeal. I felt bad that I was not the one comforting them. They had been spacing out the children so they could fight more but in a few days all of them were pregnant again. The instinctive need never left but I tried to act as the captain even though I had failed miserably as a leader. The war with the Soplasia had gone on for over three years. We had done as much as we could but we were pushed back. When things got really bad we decided to make attacks on their worlds. They would do the same to us if they knew where we came from. The Seffra would never do a thing like this. As a war leader I could do this but I had to call this possibility with a vote. It was not to just share the responsibility but to see if there was some other means of dealing with this situation. The attacks did give us three cycles of breathing room for they pulled back to protect their assets instead of attacking us. I had reluctantly ordered attacks using simple antimatter and the projectiles were propelled ballistically to hide any technological properties that could be detected. Three times they slipped through and destroyed billions of individuals. Human history showed that they had done this many times and killed whole cities or even countries. We did entire worlds but there were always many more worlds to continue the fight. Genocide was never what we contemplated but our enemy thought that way. One system that was hit was then hit many more times but they stubbornly stayed in place. It was a half cycle after the destruction of the main asset in the system that we knew that something was very odd here. They were stubbornly protecting a small outpost near a gas giant of no visible importance. Fatima asked, "Why are they doing this? The gas can be used with reactive engines but none of the ships we have seen are that old. I can't see a research facility there when it could be hid much easier in other systems. The ships protecting this area draw attention to it. Could it be a trap?" I said, "I don't think so. They have some odd strategies but they are usually more direct and to the point. The Soplasia are intelligent and could set a trap the way we have done but it doesn't seem logical coming from them." Yelena said, "They have to be doing something important or they would not stay there. If it is important to them then it is important to us. Depriving them of it should hurt them in some way. I think we should investigate." I thought so as well and we began to plan an attack. This particular one we left to the children that were now almost fifteen years old. This would not happen in a Seffra community but they would be free to put in their comments. Our children were much more intelligent and it was very necessary that they learn. If we failed then it may just be the younger generation able to carry on. The community at large could now critique the plan but very little was changed. Over exuberance had to be curtailed in many cases when it came to execution. Ana-Margarida and her brother Eduardo had important roles to play. Though young they were well suited to combat. They would lead two of the groups of ground forces that would do the investigation. Special equipment had to be made. The gravity was quite strong in this area and special suits had to be made that would also have to provide a measure of protection from enemy fire. We had acquired a lot of hand weapons and investigated both the bodies of our enemy to find out how to kill but also how we may be able to save them if the chance arose. Usually they wore no shields within a ship and once a chamber was breached there was no chance of capturing one alive. From previous experience we knew that if we attacked with ships guarding the base, they didn't chase us at all and there was even a semi stationary fort in orbit that had not protected the world they lived on. I had much more than just a feeling that this was very important to the Soplasia. Sandra commanded Borin and four of our children were crewmembers. She attacked from long range and Borin used our black crystal. The fort could not take this treatment and neither could the ships. Other ships had made attacks in other areas to draw off possible reinforcements. We then attacked this system in mass. We took fire from the surface of the gas giant and knew that there was more than a simple base there too. Our heavy duty probes went down and found a base and some strong defensive batteries. Other probes with antimatter attached went down and took out some of the batteries while our missiles went down to take out the rest. Ana-Margarida and her brother Eduardo went in with the marines. Our suits were hardly able to counter the gravitational forces put on them but we didn't have years to develop a better protection. Probes and pickets protected our backs as we watched what happened on the surface below. The base had a shield which was protected only by troops. Our own forces went in and dispersed rapidly. Gravity here was similar to what we were used to. Individual male Soplasia came at us and didn't even have shields. Our own weapons were now used to incapacitate if possible. A control room was taken and in a few minutes a hatch was opened to allow our ships to enter. Fearful of a selfdestruct mechanism we worked hard to secure all of the base. The opposition didn't fight as well as I thought they would but we hardly ever had a chance to fight them personally before. I assumed they were just technicians. The heightened state of being that I had so much trouble to acquire was commonly used now. The Soplasia didn't seem to understand how we could get amongst them so quickly. The individual males were shorter than us but very strong. They may be more than a match to us without our ability to move quickly. We came on the barracks but it was empty. The armoury was not the same and we took samples or weapons we had not seen before. There were no young here which we were all happy to see. The prize we thought was the huge pile of raw crystals and another even larger pile of processed ones. Data was recorded and the piles and processing equipment taken. Two large antigravity lifts looked inviting. Ana-Margarida said to four of her troops, "We are going to check to he lower levels," and boarded the closer one. They had weapons and probes with them and got in. There was only one command to get the device moving and in a moment the device responded. The gravity started to change and they energised their own suits to compensate. The trip lasted five minutes and the probes indicated that they had descended over three hundred and seventy kilometres into the planet. Another elevating pad worked from this point. It was a total four hundred and ninety that this device finally came to a stop. When the doors opened a withering fire came at them. Four of the squad were able to speed their bodies up but Ana-Margarida was in the front and took most of the fire on her shield. It collapsed almost instantly in the high pressure of this area. I had seen this happen as it happened and felt the loss as if the fire had pierced my own heart. I encapsulated my feelings and just tried to carry on. Failing now could mean many more deaths. The four members were no down to two but they held their position for long enough for the other elevator to descend and allow reinforcements to arrive. The fighting here was the strongest opposition we had found to date. The troops came back up four hours later with a great many captives. Seven of them were large females so I knew the base was important. The bodies of Ana-Margarida and four others came up too. My mind started to recall all of the love she had sown each other till Catrina hugged me to her and said, "She was my daughter and sister/wife too. Grieve later for there is too much to do." With difficulty I pushed my grief away once more. We came away that day richer I could not even evaluate the cost because it had been so high. Not only had we paid in ships and materiel but in lives. The base was destroyed very thoroughly and one additional one on the other side of the planet. The gas giant now collapsed in upon itself and glowed like the small sun it almost was. We held the funerals which happened to be many times more common now. Again while I felt grief my wives felt determination to persevere and I had to follow their example. Tom Jr and I experimented on what we had found. The crystals that we found had been formed under enormous pressures and with many forces acting on them as they slowly solidified. I saw obvious relations to processor crystals and wondered if this is what Zolanda once hinted at. She knew no more for her memory had too many large gaps in it. The computers we captured were little different than those in the Soplasia ships. With all the data we acquired we attempted to communicate with the individuals we captured. The males acted almost as if they were rabid. It was only when they got our of range of the female minds did they calm down. The females were then separated and then interrogated. No torture was used but they did go into a device that analysed their thinking when outside stimulus was applied. Sometimes it was simply a colour or an image. The males were treated similarly until some of the questions about their makeup were answered. There was little time to find out more of what cost us so much to acquire. A fleet of Soplasia ships were spotted coming to the aid of their brethren. If we had the units available we would attack before they learned more of our tactics. A dozen of our ships harassed them from the rear and it was only our probes that monitored the entire area that allowed us to do this and get away with it. They tried to retaliate but we retreated and attacked from the outside of the encircling sphere. Borin could have done a better job but I didn't want our weapon to be known. All the ships we used it on had to be then destroyed completely just like the way the Soplasia treated their own ships. Again the Soplasia sent their ships out to find us but there were so many that they were difficult to attack and hope to get away. Many times we had placed our fast missiles in a system or even a rock formation in space. The Soplasia ships would be targeted and attacked now on automatic. Their latest push was in the general direction of Vega and we prepared for the worse. Our old fleet of ships were used to place weapons in the path of the approaching Soplasia. Their engines were also upgraded and a simple computer installed. If nothing else they could be seen as a diversion or a chance to take out some of the enemy. A few of the ships now used the Soplasia weapon. We had found that we could use slightly less power and the crystals lasted longer. It wasn't as strong though. In a test with our power supply the crystals were severely overloaded and the beam from the weapon was the equal of what Borin had. The ship was only good for one shot though for everything was damaged. Other systems and even rogue planets were found far from Vega and Earth to set up new bases. If we could not stop the thrust to Vega then we stood a chance in other areas and with all the knowledge we had so far acquired. When the war with the Soplasia had started we knew that spreading our assets was a good thing to do. Earth was shown three systems and asked if they wanted to populate the areas. They knew nothing of our war and agreed. Usually it was very cohesive groups that wanted to go. They had a military or religious objective and just wanted to start fresh. Convoys made numerous trips with the humans in stasis for many reasons. Images were shown to those on Earth to how well their brethren were doing on far flung planets. In two years we had a hundred thousand individuals on each planet but a further one point two million still in stasis but hidden from any aggressors. The race would now be safe even if the planet would not be. The Soplasia males were questioned and they gave logical answers at least to their way of thinking. It was the females that drove the empire and the males were almost peaceful. Megan wore a communicator that basically translated her ideas to what the Soplasia males would understand. She acted imperious in a Soplasia way and the males did what they were told. Rather than treat them as convicts, they were treated as prisoners of war and given things to do that would benefit them without providing them with weapons or a way to escape. One of the Glaxi'da computers had no other job that to monitor the prisoners. This AI gave a lot of insight in how to deal with the females of the species. Smell had a lot to do with how they thought. The scent of each of them was distilled and exposed to the others. We found a sort of pecking order now and tried to extrapolate what may be associated with a female in higher authority. Catrina was very angry at the females for they were ultimately responsible for killing her daughter. She used her hate to drive her and subjugated each of the seven female Soplasia in turn. Her method involved physical violence and other distasteful methods but that was the way the Soplasia operated within their own society. The strange weapons in the armoury were found to be torture devices used to rectify the thinking of various members of their society. With their more active cooperation the computer and those studying the Soplasia, got a better understanding of how civilisation really operated. It also gave us an inkling of how we may be able to use this to our advantage. We did everything imaginable to take out the Soplasia. We made ships like theirs and used them in attacks. At other times we attacked our own ships till the Soplasia came to the rescue and were then attacked. The pseudo Soplasia ships had an improved propulsion system and the weapons were stronger and better controlled. Our computers also allowed less personnel to accompany each ship. As Sefmen, we thought now in family groups most often. With the conditions facing our race there was no other way to operate. Our planning allowed us to use our much smaller numbers against a vastly more numerous enemy. The seven Soplasia females were introduced to the males once again and all of them were monitored. Catrina was still the queen though and could walk among them armed with only her torture devices. A queen usually did this anyway and it was more of a badge of office though it was said to be used too. Four cycles after we had attacked the first crystal manufacturing base, our Vega base was found. Our equipment had by this time been shifted out of the system but not all. We fought for seventeen days straight. The Soplasia took horrible losses for we had prepared for this eventuality in every way possible. Innocent looking asteroids had been hollowed out and turned into automated energy projectors. Mines were placed thickly and would attack anything that didn't give the recognition signal. Twice the Soplasia had attacked their own shipping thinking it was some of our ships in disguise. Our base was eventually taken but it had to be done from orbit for none of their infantry could get close. The ships that came to destroy the base had to nearly destroy the world for once they came into range our own energy projectors took them out. When the dome finally fell it only showed more weapons pointing heavenward and no ship within fifteen light seconds survived. Our own losses were high too. Every family lost mothers and fathers but mostly it was the children. The ages ranged from twenty down to some that were just little more than infants. Schooling for the Seffra and for the Sefmen was not without its pitfalls. If you were capable of being of some assistance or could learn a valuable lesson you had to go. It was only the very youngest that had to stay safe and hope that their parents would come home to them. We left the Soplasia alone that were closer to us and just attacked on the other side of their systems. This was a calculated risk for there was very little to protect Earth. We even hid all our assets there so the Soplasia, if they found it, would not be that interested. Tommy and I had built a special ship just before the Soplasia attacked Vega. It was not a weapon of war but just for research. We flew to Jupiter and descended through the turbulent atmosphere that only got thicker as we got deeper. It was hard to tell when we got to a surface for a more stable surface was just below. At all different levels we tried to make crystals as the Soplasia had done. When we came out we were disappointed for we did no better than the Soplasia and that was with a lot of extra equipment that tried to duplicate the conditions. Gas giants were not that rare and we went through our records to find those that were different enough to influence what we were making. It was a cycle after Vega fell and on our fifth gas giant that we got our first success. We grew processors larger than any we could make in our fabricators but we couldn't make them more than three times the size of our own crystals. The Soplasia type crystals were better and we made crystals with all sorts of attributes for we could not test the weapon where we were. Three ships in orbit took the crystals and worked to integrate them into a test bed. All of them worked better than what the Soplasia produced and at overload surpassed our dark crystal. With nothing new to try we continued our search in other systems. The Soplasia had come to Earth but did nothing but gather information. We were there but did nothing. It would not be beyond the Soplasia to start a bombardment to see if we were going to appear and protect these people. Our reactors had been modified since they were introduced so that they appeared much less efficient. We couldn't shut them down without a good reason and we couldn't let the Soplasia see technology as good as theirs. Our unfinished hull and all the fabricators were towed out into inter-stellar space and we hoped that it would not be noticed. After eight days the ship left but continued on the course it had followed when it came upon Earth. We had a Pat'uch class AI on our ship. It was the largest that could fit. One of the escorts soon got an upgrade with our larger crystals and the intelligence of the computer jumped up. Some of our wives upgraded the other two ships while Tommy and I went down into the twelfth gas giant. We had gathered all the data we could about the giants we visited and tried to see how the variations effected the crystals produced. Crystals had been worked on for millions of years and they were known inside out. The Seffra had to still trade knowledge to get their own large crystals. The particular giant we were now in was much more violent than the rest. Its size and composition was different too. It even changed for different distances from the core. We took samples at every time our readings changed. "Tommy, I think we should go deeper. The reading I am getting for the samples should make these the best yet." "I don't mind but I think we should do it alone. We are very near the pressure that will crush us. It is so turbulent that I think that a stray current could even do that just where we are." I interfaced with the computer to check the history of turbulence and then the pressures on our hull. "In fifteen minutes the turbulence should go down significantly. The next layer is barely three hundred metres below. Let's ease our way down and take just a few samples and move up to investigate them?" "You are usually right Captain. Let's do it. I am just glad that we don't have many of our children here with us." Both of us would rather have none with us but then we would not be acting responsibly for our fledgeling race. ------- Chapter 34 We timed our descent with the turbulence and pushed our way through a boundary layer that was only forty metres thick. Samples of this are were taken then just below it we took a great many more then slowly came up four hundred metres. We had gone beyond the safe limit limits on the hull but I knew that there was some leeway in the placing of figures. At a safer depth we examined what we had found. The samples taken in the boundary level were worthless but those below it were easily the best we had got to date. I said, "Tom, let's go back during the next calm time? The samples of processor crystal are fantastic. The ones for the weapon are significantly different than anything we have seen so far." "What do you want to do?" "We keep the shield in place for the weapon grade crystal but we draw in one long process to make a large crystal. That takes a long time so we come back to this depth then go back once again for the same sized processor crystal." "We came close to being crushed the last time and went past the safety mark." "We go no further than last time. The boundary layer is not turbulent at all and I think it is relatively safe even there." "Like I said, I trust you and it is with more than just our lives here." "I know." We settled lower and in time with the statistics on the turbulence. I wished our ship was stronger but it was already the strongest ship we could make. The race that sold us their crystals were well known for making very strong ships and their shields were the strongest known. It is possible that they found a giant with the properties we were looking for at less pressures. They certainly had the best computers in our home galaxy. We took our first large sample and then agreed to just stay in the boundary layer till the crystal had set. We had to radiate a considerable amount of heat from the crystal and from the ship itself. We drew our next sample and were three quartes done when we heard some ominous groaning. We immediately started to rise. The computer was programmed to do this. We ran diagnostics and pinpointed the problem to a small crack in our keel. We had to stop at the top of the boundary layer for there was a lot of turbulence above. At a lessening we took a chance and rose more than a hundred metres before we were carried far to one side. We continued to raise though and at the old safe level we continued up for the small crack spelt doom for our ship. I got the latest crystal pulled aboard. I was using mindless work to ease my worry for there was nothing I could do. We went around and checked on our family members but our minds were unaccustomedly closed tight. I sat on the deck now with the children and just talked to them. They knew something was wrong but not the severity. The youngest was seven and the oldest present was fifteen. They had all heard the noises. More creaking was heard and I was informed that the crack had lengthened. I silently ordered more thrust as the crack was on the stern section of the ship. A large bulkhead had been put in amidship for strength and security. This would keep the new stresses from being transferred to the stern. It would do nothing really for it was far too weak but it did occupy our time. After twenty minutes of agony I was informed that the forces on our ship were now not as strong as the remaining portion of our undamaged keel. I appeared happy and the children relaxed too. If we all had to die it was good to be with friends and family. We increased thrust now and in twenty minutes we could detect the ships above us. The wives naturally quizzed the computer and started to get very angry at me and at Tommy too. The children were all checked once more and then I was attacked by accusations once again. At a million and some odd kilometres the wives entered the ship to see first hand what I had done to it. It looked no differently to the untrained eye but the girls were all very trained. I said to all of them, "I was wrong to endanger others but I will do it again even if I have to go down there again." They were quiet then and their own blocks went up. Tommy and I went to work on our crystals. The wives got the one for the weapon and asked to test it. They would at least be occupied and not accusing me of things in their hidden thoughts. We examined the processor crystal. It had been damaged in the transit through the boundary layer. I cleaned this portion away as Tommy got the test bed adjusted to the size of crystal we had recovered. In an hour we had chipped away half of the crystal as it was fractured but the rest looked surprisingly good. The other ships AIs had been improved with the additional crystal and I decided to try the same thing with what we had. We left the system and hid in open space. The two sets of wives had been all for installing the new crystals in the other ships but strangely not this one. I pulled rank as captain now and ordered it. Seventy one minutes after installation a rich voice came from the speaker when I asked for a report. The personality of our AI had migrated successfully to the new crystal. "Computational power has significantly increased but the actual computer substrate is now the limiting factor. I think that if it is improved the overall performance should go up three hundred and twenty six times." If this were true then it would be significantly better than when we improved the Pat'uch class computer and brought it up to the Glaxi'da. It may even be very close to what Zolanda was capable of. Tom and I now worked hard to see what improvements we could make. Possibly a Glaxi'da class machine could get the crystal as a stopgap method. Everything got many times more complicated for even a small amount of improvement. My goal now was not the computer but a ship capable of getting more crystals from the giant we had left behind. Our computer reported a preliminary test firing of the weapons grade crystal in one of our escorts. The readings went off the scale and we detected damage aboard the ship. Our minds quested out and this time it was Tom and I berating our wives for not doing small scale surges first and damaging the ship and endangering everybody on it. We kept at it even though we were outvoted. Again I put the captain hat on and chastised them they way they should be without regard to their status in the family. I did get an apology but I could tell they weren't taking full responsibility for what they had done. The crystal was surprisingly undamaged and moved to another of the escorts while the wives were all instructed to stay and finish repairing the ship They could now spit nails but they did what they were ordered to do while the other ship went through the tests. This time they stopped short of burning out the power supply and the energy conduits. After repeated fire we found that the crystal was thirteen and a half times more powerful and the beam didn't diverge as much. This made the unit great for long distance work. Tom and I were busy on plans for redesigning an existing ship to find the limits of the weapon. This could only happen if we stripped everything from a ship that was not completely necessary. Our new computer assisted us much more than what the old Pat'uch could ever do. I wanted to get to one of our bases and build a new hull then move everything over from the one we had. At the same time Tommy wanted to start on his new ship that could handle this weapon. The idea came to both of us at about the same time. Borin had weapons enclosures all over her hull and the active crystal was moved to the appropriate one when needed. We could form some of the ribs to accept the enclosures without losing any strength. The matter transmitter would remain the same. We had to have the apparatus for gathering more samples but now they would only be the large size. The energy conduits though will be massive. Two of the cabins would have to go for the added power and switching gear. Another two engines could then be installed to take advantage of the additional power but the inertial compensator could only take one at best. The wives helped with the planning though they were now crew. They worked reluctantly but they did work. We found that a hybrid ship though was not going to work as well as a special purpose one. The sample taking equipment was removed and the design simplified significantly The ship turned into a three person fighter by the time we got to the closest base. One more berth had to go for offensive purposes and this should work well. We had no other weapon and the only missiles were those that delivered probes to track the enemy. A new computer of the Glaxi'da size was too large but it could be modified in a few days to handle just one processor. It would be still a bit larger than Pat'uch but not much. The ship was made in just days. All available resources were put to this task. It was a tight fit in the computer but we did get it built on time and installed the single crystal. I lay alone in the computer room as the crystal took its first programming. Before it had piggybacked on an old processor. The headache left quickly. Additional checks took an hour and the wives were given the ship to test and to crew. I didn't need the aggravation I was receiving but they worked harder knowing that they would fight with it. The extra engine was put in and the temporal/inertial compensator was redlined. I had never heard of a faster ship unless it was the ones that the people that made Zolanda could make. Test firing of the weapon showed that it was even more fearsome. It sucked up all the power it was given and could take more. This was even with the engines getting little or no power. We had a weapon now that could turn the tide of war. It was still mainly untested and had a great many problems to work out but I felt they would be surmountable in time. Broadsides we found were not accurate as those shots out of the stern or bow. The wives left to our most critical area and Tommy and I went back to making a single purpose research vessel to harvest crystalline material. We didn't need all the bells and whistles but there was little we could change. Some minor improvements in structural integrity were added but it made getting from own part of the ship to another difficult for many of the structural members went from one side of the ship to another with no regard for crew. In a week we were back collecting crystal but we were now alone. We stayed in the lower boundary layer and produced hundreds of weapons grade crystals but the processors were uniformly poor in quality for their size. We hit on the idea of dragging the material through the boundary material that made the crystals improve. Our cargo was taken away to be placed in waiting hulls. More Soplasia had been called in to join the battle against us. It looked like the harder we fought the more the Soplasia wanted to test us and themselves. We were now in a race to see if I could build enough ships to fight the ever increasing number of Soplasia ships arriving. Catrina had gone out in one of the ships with one of the Soplasia females. She tried to reason with the race and had to punctuate her words with the death of their ships. Ships finally did bow to her will but only after she incapacitated all of them. It proved to be faster if the larger ships with the queens were silenced first. This only worked for small groups and never for the ships that didn't call this portion of space home. The other Soplasia seemed to have a different way of looking at things and never cooperated. Catrina had even taken the female with her and boarded a Soplasia hull that only had a shot through it that destroyed the computer and the captain's quarters. The woman and the female Soplasia used the weapons on all those around them and the scent given off by Catrina said she was not just a mere captain. She ordered repairs made and took over the captain's cabin after it was repaired. As her husband I got very angry at her and as captain I took away her flying privileges for acting irresponsibly even if it worked this one time. The particular ship she took now had other women with superior scent running the Soplasia crew. We did find that the different groups of Soplasia acted slightly different. Soplasia ships were now made again but much larger. They had all our latest weapons and equipment. The seven female Soplasia had grown to ten and they were all Catrina's handmaidens. They even changed their smell to fit their higher status as serving the queen. I put Tatiana, Fatima and Yelena on the ship with Catrina. They were all her surviving daughters. When I brought the woman back I told her, "You hold not only your life but the lives or three of your children in your hands. If you fail me the next time I may not have the opportunity to discipline you." Tatiana, Fatima an Yelena were told much the same thing. They could not overrule the captain but they could sure make themselves heard. More crews were now harvesting crystal, but now it was largely automated with the only biologicals orbiting the planet. Into all this chaos fell a Seffra ship. It came into our monitored territory being pursued by a strong force of Soplasia. She changed course a few times but the Soplasia stayed doggedly on her tail. She was not running as fast as she could so we assumed she had engine damage. Ahead of her was the Soplasia territory that we had so thoroughly stirred up. Megan went out in our fastest ship to date and with two dozen of our best fighters trying to keep up. Her job was to steer the ship away from most of the fighting and hopefully escort it out of our theatre of war. The Seffra could not survive the forces facing them. Megan would have a chance to talk for we could not allow a situation like this continue. There were ships closer to the Seffra and I could even use our intelligence grid to communicate but it would take somebody like Megan to get them to understand. The firepower of her ship would further back up her words. I didn't want the Seffra to gain access to the grid for they could destroy it if that was their wish. It took Megan four and a half days to approach the Seffra ship and match speed and direction. She was within the four light limit and it was doubtful if the Seffra had any probes out this far. "Seffra vessel. State your purpose for entering our territory without leave." "Who is this?" Came in reply. "Megan, duly appointed representative of our leader. State the name of your ship and purpose for coming here." "This is the Soondra. We are experiencing engine trouble. We are being pursued but an unknown number of Soplasia warships." "Soondra, the number is eighty three. Nineteen of them have a weapon that can pierce you shield with impunity. Be advised that you are heading towards another colony that we are currently at war with. We estimate that there are a further hundred and thirty vessels. They had their own probe support out to fifty six lights though it has a great many gaps." "What do you advise?" "Will you accept an upload of data?" There was a noticeable pause and then, "We will." "Commencing, Now!" Information that we had taken years to acquire went out including all the up to the second data from our net. It included all of what we knew of the species and even gave a way to communicate with them if the need ever came about. The Seffra were able to find themselves in a map of the area and then the details of the pursuing Soplasia war ships. "Thank you for the data... Megan. Is that your title?" "That is my first name. The Soplasia enjoy war and now that they found us a worthy adversary they are all coming to join the party. It will be very dangerous to stay within this area." "Do you require assistance from us?" "Thank you Soondra but we had been having some setbacks but now are gaining the upper hand. You can do little except get your ship destroyed. It is faster than the Soplasia but as I said they have an energy weapon that you will be unable to defend against if they know where you are." "Can you supply us with a safe area to repair our ship?" "If you trust me then I will direct you to a calm area and keep the Soplasia off your back. How long do you feel you need before you can get underway again." "Megan, our probes show you to be just a small ship. How do you expect to protect us?" "Soondra, your military speed is about 13430 multiples of the speed of light. My little boat can do fifty percent more than you. I also have a energy weapon that can hole some of the pursuing Soplasia from this location. I also have twelve escorts of almost similar capabilities. I can prove my words if you wish." "They are almost eight lights back. No energy weapon is effective at that range." "The Seffra are poor gamblers. Would you care to bet?" "What is the wager about?" "You drop off a string of probes and I shoot the lead ship next time it gets close to throw some missiles at you." "And the thing you wish to gain from us?" "You keep on going and do not come back this way. You may send reports but you or your ship cannot return." "What if you fail in this gamble?" "I will give you a spare crystal that could be used to shoot all of those pursuing you." "I accept that wager." "You are not enough. Call a plebiscite now and then tell me the answer. Two of your pursuers have been accelerating for the last two minutes and should release their missiles at any moment." In less than thirty seconds the person said, "The majority of the ship agree to your terms." "Release your probes and do it in a wide area." Probes had always been expelled from the ship but now thousands more were cast out. The flow didn't slow for it was necessary to stay within range of the Soplasia ships. Megan had to avoid talking about her ship and the methods it used to go the speed she claimed and power the crystal she mentioned. Nancy was Megan's daughter and mine. She was currently thirty eight months old. Megan introduced the child and let her continue with the talks. There was a lot of talk but little scientific information passed. It was hoped that the Seffra would not think us too much different from themselves. At an agreed upon time Megan used the stern position and aimed at least eight light years away. The range was not extreme but the accuracy of the shots was another matter. It took twelve bursts till one hit a vessel. Minute changes were made and then the first two were targeted and destroyed. Six more ships after that were hit till they started making some evasive course changes. Nancy said, "My mommy got eight. Daddy says she is blind as a bat but he still loves her." "What is a bat?" "A flying nocturnal mammal that relies on high frequency sound to detect its prey." "Put your mommy back on please Nancy." Megan said, "I am here." "Why did you destroy the other six vessels? They were not attacking." "My husband said you guys are too foolish to survive. If I shot two then more will accelerate and then release their missiles. Do you think that I am to wait till then to shoot? They are all chasing you with the intent to kill your ship and everybody on it. You have outmoded sense of responsibility and duty. When dealing with sane individuals your way works very well but dealing with an insane and very powerful group requires an approach that you people can't seem to comprehend. Now do you consider my wager won?" Again it took a while and the voice said, "We do Megan." "I am sending you an update on our patrolled area. There is a good area coming up. If you follow our suggestions you will get a chance to make your repairs." The data was sent but in a moment there was no reply. "What is your wish Soondra?" "It was decided to just proceed as we are." "It is your ship and the lives of your crew. I am not going to nursemaid you through that cordon of enemy ships. I suggest you release a message torpedo before you reach that area for I fear you won't be able to do that later." "You are not going to go with us?" "You pursue this action and you will end up dead. The amount of foolishness about your race was underrated. This is your last chance. Will you take our suggestion and then our protection?" "We are going ahead but may veer off to avoid most of the enemy concentration. May we have access to your probes data?" "You would not give me control of your ship. What makes you think I would allow you to have control of our net." "We would not damage it?" "Give me control of your ship first." "We cannot do that." "So be it. You were told the range of their data net. My advice is to send your torpedo while you still can." Megan called me now. "What are we going to do with those morons Leif?" "I told you this situation had a good chance of happening." "I didn't think you were this accurate." "Being polite, and not saying I was lying to you?" "No, you never lie to us. You are slippery sometimes but no lies. Now what are we going to do. Not everybody on that ship deserves to die just because the ones running the ship are stupid." "The Soplasia will have four hours to prepare for the arrival. The sensor field between the Seffra and the Soplasia is still pretty much in place. The best we can do is allow the Soplasia to set their trap and we hit them the same time the Seffra come through. They will be caught by both of us." "Their ship will not last with the Soplasia energy weapon." "Probably not and there is nothing we can do about it. We can use the situation to our advantage and then take out as many Soplasia as possible." We scrambled our own assets. They had been warned as soon as the Seffra ship was found. With our knowledge of Soplasia tactics we saw six places to ambush the Seffra. They liked to give a small ambush to test the enemy then spring the next one when they knew what they were dealing with. This had been sent in the data and everything else they could use to stay alive. It would not be enough. We got to all the ambush points first and spread a great deal of our own probes. These sensors would be accessible to both us and the Seffra. The Seffra would still be excluded from the main net. At each point we found poorly covered Soplasia areas. Any existing Soplasia sensors were cleared by ours. This allowed us to have various escape routes. The Seffra would then have a chance to disengage and possibly make some needed repairs if they were still alive. Our ships and missiles crept into a staging area covering four of the ambush sites but the Seffra had made no course change yet. Just outside the Soplasia sensors they finally made their choice. The Soplasia scrambled to intercept. Not all ships could make it to the battle but they could fire on the Seffra if they managed to slip through the front of the trap. The Seffra altered course again and sent out their own probes. The Soplasia knew what was happening and stopped emitting energy at about the time of the probes arrival. The Soplasia ships would now be hard to detect. The Soondra didn't slow that much for it still had a great many pursuers. Our own forces had been harrying this group and now there was only twenty nine units. At the point of no return, the Saffra were given control of the sensors in this area and the recent history so they knew where ships were hiding or laying doggo. We received no reply but the Soondra made another abrupt course change to avoid the worse of the opposition. The Soplasia missiles and mines came into play and the Soondra did what it could to protect itself. It now launched three torpedos in hopes that at least one got through. The Soplasia now powered up their ships and attacked along side their weapons. I gave the signal for our own forces to attack. Those closest to the Soondra were targeted first. Though we held the Soplasia ships back there were a lot of missiles getting through. The Soondra abandoned evasive manoeuvres so that it could get through the trap as soon as possible. The Soplasia ships died in our trap but so did our own ships. The losses looked to be greater than at any one time in our prolonged conflict. Our own missiles were very effective. When the enemy used their weapons to stop our missiles, they stood out very brightly for our energy weapons. The task force following the Soondra came in range and smelt blood. They now attacked with less regard for their own safety and they suffered for it. We did too, even if we had a longer time to prepare for this event. The Soplasia reinforcements were not allowed to join the battle and it was much easier to pick them off in small groups or singletons. By this time we had a full ninety percent of our forces dedicated to this battle. Numerically we were far outnumbered. Their ships were larger and capable of absorbing more punishment. Their weapons were very dangerous to us but ours were even more effective against them. Most of our ships had only our missiles for there had not been time to arm enough of our ships with the crystal. The remnants of the task force caught up to the Soondra. Their numbers were down to thirteen but missiles had been fired for a long time and the ships that fired them were no longer operational. Our own efforts went to screen the Soondra from this form of attack but it was too thick and a great many got through. The Soondra fought now like an animal in a moving trap. Great portions of its hull had disappeared. This is where her weapons were and some of our ships were able to slip in and nestle amongst the wreckage and try to cover this area. The battle went on for twelve hours. At times there were lulls in the battle and we had a chance to make some repairs or rescue some of our people from severely damaged hulls. Catrina came to our rescue. She broadcast her position so the Soplasia would know. Behind her came all of our old ships. Her own ship was firing frantically for hers was the only one with the energy weapon. The rest had missiles though and these went out in a massive burst that was intended to swamp the enemy's defences. The Soplasia were now hit from another direction and pulled into a sphere for protection. This was a logical move against missiles but not energy weapons. We now used the remainder of our own missiles in the hope that the Soplasia would continue. When the missile front engulfed the Soplasia we followed up with energy weapons now. For a full two minutes they absorbed this punishment before seeing their mistake and tried to spread out once more. We abandoned the Soondra and now attacked. The next hour the Soplasia ignored the Seffra and were cut down. Very few fled for it was not in their makeup. Our own losses were greatest now for we too saw a way to finally win and pushed even harder. Towards the end of the hour the enemy fire got less and less but we continued to hammer their hulls as they did to their own. Those same ships and personnel would come at us again and they only thought of total annihilation for us. While the clean-up continued we tried to regain contact with the Soondra. Sandra got close and used her mind and found many still alive and deep within the ship. The remainder of our ships that had been guarding our bases now brought repair units. Our own ships were worked on first so there would be enough to repel more of the Soplasia when they came. We stayed in this area for eight days. We knew of more Soplasia reinforcements coming and couldn't wait any longer. The surviving Seffra were put in stasis along with our dead and badly wounded and transported out. Our own people and some of the surviving Seffra took whatever we could of value from the ship. This mainly meant the AI and the memory crystals. All the auxiliary ships that had not been destroyed had been repaired and put to use transporting people. With two engines working the Soondra was aimed at an nearby Soplasia world over two lights away. It would take nearly two weeks to get there at her present speed. It was hoped the Soplasia would do the destroying for us though she was now under a countdown of one week unless she was boarded. I had not taken part in the battle other than to direct. Daniela and Alicea had prepared for the sudden influx of refugees. There were not that many compared to what the Soondra could carry. The Seffra vessel had 1745 adults and 376 children before the battle. The adult population had taken the brunt of the casualties and there was only 545 surviving. The children numbered only 239 for some had held positions during the fighting. The ships split up and returned to our bases but not Earth. The Seffra like us accept death especially that in battle better than humans but we are not immune. Catrina and Yelena were two of the casualties along with five of my older children. This time I worked with my wives to show determination to fight our enemies instead of the great chasm within us all. The Seffra were no better off than us for their entire environment had now been destroyed. Soondra the AI was put in a suitable environment with her memories and she tended to those of her people at the base with us. The battle had been gone over in detail and analysed for weaknesses. The greatest cause of casualties was listed as the actions of the Seffra population refusing to avoid a dangerous situation when it was shown to them. The vote that had been taken was compared to those adults that survived. Seffra law had statutes against this type of action. It was a few arrogant individuals on the ship that encouraged the rest to vote their way. None of these leaders had survived but I was going to ensure that the Seffra and the Sefmen learned from this experience. We were given a reprieve that lasted a cycle and a half. The Soplasia paused to gain strength. Apparently we were the most promising enemy they could find and everybody wanted to take us down. We continued to harass them to the best of our ability. We knew of many of their worlds now and we broadcast our intention of destroying them while their troops were opposing us. Soplasia ships did leave and they used our energy weapon to damage critical structures on the surface or in orbit. Very few deaths occurred and it just let the rulers know that this was not all fun and games for them. Palaces were our favourite targets and were chosen before even ships in orbit. This was only done to keep them from sending more ships to oppose us. Vengeance was not embraced as it would be with a human. Crystal production had increased dramatically with our automated system. All of our ships now would get the energy weapon. The surviving Seffra volunteered to help but they were never put in command. Their priorities didn't match ours. The children of both races worked together in safer occupations than crewmembers and they built many of our ships with the help of the much more intelligent computers. When the Soplasia attacked this time they knew of at least two of our four bases. Both attacks came at the same time and with overwhelming numbers. We had been snipping at them all the time but now we had to risk more to get more of their shipping. We had been trying to only take what we could with a very good probability of coming out of each attack alive. We pulled ships from the other bases but monitored to find if this was a diversion. The new Soplasia hadn't learned what the old hands had been taught and it was slightly easier to destroy their ships. The fighting was fierce until more reinforcements arrived, then it turned into a slaughter. We had made simple automated ships designed to fly or shoot but not both and they took out a large number of the enemy. They were much smaller and thus harder to find. We suffered a great many casualties but the number of Soplasia ships that could have attacked would have swamped us if they were allowed to come at one time. We could only see this as a test before the real battle. Rather than wait we took all the automated ships and attacked a small cluster of ships ourselves and destroyed them with little losses ourselves. These smaller platforms were now produced almost exclusively. They were hit less because of their size but were not as crafty as one our larger vessels. Our net provided a mid point where we could control the ships from a distance. Battles continued for two years. It was over a year since the numbers of arriving ships started to dwindle. At the end we had superiority of all our area of monitored space. Sandra and Megan took the job of queens for some of the worlds but other Sefmen took the remainder. We had gained a great deal of knowledge about the Soplasia and used their own rules to defeat them. Population pressures had started all this but now they were exhausted. The more rabid Soplasia females were sterilised and the more amendable ones were allowed to breed. The matriarchal system with the Sefmen women at the head had just as much infighting as what the Soplasia were used to but now it didn't extend all the way to the top of the hierarchy. Much of the automation was removed and the Soplasia had to go back to the land. The surviving Seffra didn't like our meddling but had no way of objecting too strenuously. The Seffra orphans were distributed among the families which again annoyed the Seffra. They wanted their own laws to cover their former crew mates. We used the Seffra complacency against them as well as their laws, for them to see things our way. Defensive weapons were manufactured in increasing numbers. Computing power had shot up and automation worked even more for us. Recruiting from Earth had increased though a great many of them went to the planets that we sent them too. The religious and political groups had a hard time staying organised for their numbers were split up with other organised groups. We had a real melting pot and I planed to make sure it was well stirred. Our own law was what was followed and they fought this vigorously till those objecting were sent back to Earth. It was fairer and used computer AIs and a jury of mind readers. Very few mistakes could be made and we had much better ways of dealing with antisocial behaviour than to use incarceration. Everybody on Earth had seen the three planets and knew how good they actually were. Automation was used for the mundane things but everybody found a place to work and of course be educated. Those actively assisting us got free trips for their family to visit and report back what they saw and heard. Our exploration ship was built years early. It was now high above Earth but still visible to the naked eye. In honour of three of my wives that had given their lives I named the ship 'Brazil'. When the war had been over for a year the Earth had been told of what had happened. They didn't like this but we all knew that there was nothing that they could have done. Tommy had given the ship some enormous teeth. Our crystals were now much larger but much more was known about the actual makeup and they were much more efficient too. The number of weapons emplacements was staggering for each one was not that big. Small automated units could now fly even faster than the mother ship to find danger better than what probes alone could do. The ship had not one large AI but thirteen individual ones that were the largest we had made to date. The idea was to give each of the crewmembers more computer time. There was less personal room than in a Seffra ship but the public places were just as large and just as numerous for the population the ship would carry. Our own laws and regulations were hammered out. They was little difference from the Seffra statutes but there were some. Most of the laws that had crept in later to favour one faction or another were removed. The treatment of the lesser intelligent races including the Seffra was clearly defined. We were more harsh in some cases, only because that was the appropriate thing to do. We were not going to allow the hand that fed a new race to be bitten more than once. Through all our openness the Seffra had never found out about where or how we got our crystals. It was not about security mainly but about knowledge. We could trade and get all the old records and then all the current ones too. Training the crew of six thousand in their new duties was not hard. All of them were Sefmen. The Seffra adults were offered a ride to the next ship they found, to stay here until a seffra ship found them or to change themselves to Sefmen. They knew they could change themselves back when the Seffra were encountered but we knew this was not likely to happen ever. They chose to stay and learn all they could. There was a week long holiday the day the 'Brazil' left for her trial run. The moon base was constantly making billets and our improved class ten precision fabricator pushed out the keel of the next ship all in one piece. It was made with current technology and would be even better than the one the Brazil had. This ship should take only fifteen years to build and the next one even less. Ronny and David dropped in to see Sara, Ronny's mother. She was now almost sixty and had outlived her latest husband. She had conversed over the telephone and the internet with us and now knew exactly who we were. The only thing she didn't know was that Ronny had regressed to her youth to grow up correctly. All of us were young looking so it would not be noticeable. She stood and hugged Ronny for the first time since they had parted so long ago. Sara said, "You are so young Ronny and David has grown so big and strong." "I had to do some growing up to mom. I am a mother again but this time I have sixteen children." "You told me. So many." "I am taking care of them a lot better. We came here to visit some old friends and then take you home with us." "To the moon! On that ship! You want me in space?" "With a suit on it is no different than being here. You have seen pictures of the back side of the moon and I happen to live in a beautiful home in one of the many domes. My husband and three of my sisters were killed in the war. We are actively looking for a husband but the good ones are hard to find." "How many children do you and your 'sisters' have?" "There are four surviving sisters and we have a total of thirty nine. Would you like to meet them on the viewer? They all want to meet their grandmother." "Ok," she said uncertain of what was going to happen. Ronny smiled and put a small box in front of Sara and pushed a button though she could do it easier with her mind. The polite ringing was heard and soon a young dark haired girl answered and immediately started talking to Sara as if they were old friends. She even introduced herself. She had five minutes alone and Sara started to respond before a young boy came on the line with his sister and politely wanted some time too. When the call finally ended Sara was glassy eyed at all her bright grandchildren. "They are all so smart, I can hardly get over it." "Oh, they are and they get into mischief but not the same kind as the kids here. They want to explore and find new things. The oldest ones have already built space ships and gone on trips but escorted by some adults. Something like Boy or Girl Scouts. They do want to know you though. Will you come?" Sara was thinking and David said, "I am going to start a family in the next few years. I am sure my children will want to see their great grandmother. The Seffra had relatives going back nearly fifty generations though it could be more. They were all alive too. Multi generation groupings are good if new blood is brought in all the time. I would like you to go with us so you can see where I am going to build my home." It was a foregone conclusion whether she would go or not. Sandra, Megan and I went to visit old friends too. I was always put forward as a representative of our race but nothing more. We had not seen these people in eighteen years. We put on a few years to look about thirty and still younger than those we visited. Roberta whom we had gone to a birthday party long ago had married Jerry, the boy with the guitar and not her then current boyfriend. They had three children. The third child was a boy and named Leif. Apparently Roberta was a bit embarrassed about this now but the wives put her at ease. The Birchers were unused to entertaining off world people and tried very hard to please us. It took half an hour to get Bobbi relaxed. All it took was to get her to sing. We had to do the same thing as we had done before. Her children got home from school without knowing we were here. Leif the boy of ten shook my hand and said, "Are you the guy I am named after?" "Our name is not that common. To answer your question the answer is yes. Your mother liked me when she was young and before she decided your dad was the best for her." "So you are one of those guys not born here on Earth?" "That's right. I was born on a ship like the Brazil. My own children were not born on Earth either. The moon was the most popular for deliveries but many were aboard ships of the Borin class. Their mothers had important jobs to do and weren't going to let the delivery slow them down. They were up in an hour with the baby sleeping right beside them." "Really! It would be so good to go into space." "What are you studying?" "Astronomy and aeronautics for all the good it will do me. I only did it to attract the recruiter but I do like the subjects now. I am doing great in grade six. I skipped grade three." I looked at the boy carefully and the two older sisters and said, "The recruiter would have taken all three of you if you were very sick. I do think you should take a year out of your lives and attend the Claystone Space Academy. You are not really suited for combat or being a researcher but there is a great need for pilots, and technicians to keep the off world transportation going." The wives gave me the eye. Leif said, "I never heard of the place. Does it really teach space pilots?" "The school is just opening. One of the domes on the moon is new and unused." Leif turned to his parents. "Can I go? Alex and Pat want to go too." Bobbi and Jerry looked at me in worry. I said, "May I talk directly to your minds? I am not going to look deeper than what you want me to see." The two were uncertain but Bobbi did nod her head. "Your children do fit in with the new requirements. When the word gets out there will be a mad scramble for every position. The world had changed a lot since the Sefmen arrived and will continue to change for the foreseeable future. Those people not suitable for exploring can still get elevated mentally. This in a way is the best of both worlds for they get to stay here and take important jobs while those suited for research do that job." "... a what about us. I mean... they will be gone." "The Academy is free first of all. Training lasts ten to fifteen years but can go to forty. Parents get to visit four times a year and if you have three children you get to go once a month. Your children may then have a similar lifetime to that you heard about in the newspapers. As parents you get access to some medical services. We cannot keep everybody alive for thousands of years but a hundred very rewarding and productive years is still good." "But that is all my family," Bobbi said with fright. "Send one at a time. The oldest first may be the best. Pat is fourteen and would probably marry and leave at eighteen to twenty. Once you see what it is like you can let Alex go. Leif can go later. By then there will be enough students flying that you can visit the moon regularly and possibly emigrate. This is something like a company starting up and you can get in on the ground floor. To try later would mean many more requirements and possible exclusion." "Did you come here to tell us this?" "No I didn't. I just looked at the auras around your children. They tell me that they can do what I said they could. You and Jerry are not beyond learning too. You are both inquisitive and could possibly get into the academy too but I am not certain." "Us?" Came from both parents. Aloud I said, "Sure. Talk to Megan about it." Megan had not heard about the academy before but had considered the idea after I mentioned it. She began to talk to the parents silently. I said to the three children, "Your parents are talking to Megan now. We should have talked to them first before raising your hopes." Alex, the older girl said, "What could I do?" I said with my mind so as to not disturb the parents, "The same as your brother. A pilot has an easy job. Humans are on three other planets now and there is a need for people to move them back and forth. You could also run some of the machinery for us and build more ships like the Brazil. Some of the work is boring but you really get to learn too. When you are old enough you might even get a job teaching some new recruits. Basically you do everything we do. You are all inquisitive but not enough to need the final elevation in intelligence. That doesn't mean you can't try though. "There are enough scientist/soldier recruits now that some can be spared to work at the Academy. We will be looking for teacher recruits now too. They teach piloting, manufacturing and becoming a technician." Alex said with her mind, "Can we have lots of babies like your wives?" "That depends on a lot of variables. As cadets you will be far above the rest of humanity. If we find that there are not enough people on Earth with your qualifications then you can have more children. When I was young and on my ship there was a lot of qualifications before a child could be conceived. There was also a lottery where everybody got a chance. "My wives had lots of children because we needed people like them very badly. Some had to be born just to fight and then die in the war. Three of my wives died to save all of us." Pat nervously said, "What if we have friends here and don't want to go?" "Nobody is going to force you. Friends are important but you will make more friends no matter where you go." Tommy went to Egypt with his mother and father. With them was a bright eyed Dr Olaf Sorensen and his very excited daughter, Dr Peggy Plat. They were in a ship of the Borin class and looked at all the grave sites in the Valley of the Kings. The Great Pyramid at Giza was avoided though. In the ship were two members from the government antiquities branch of the Egyptian government. The trip was repeated twice more but now it was the view under the ground. Hundreds of small finds were made and everybody on the ship was interested in a big find though some knew where one was. Tom Sr said, "What do you think Dr Habib? Has your time been misplaced?" "No, no. This is very exciting. I have been searching for some of these sites all my life and here they are with almost no effort." "There was a great deal of effort. Many thousands of years had to go into the ship and then thousands more for the sensors. We are just lucky to use what others have worked so hard to accomplish." "You said you want a licence to explore yourselves. Why is this needed? You can simply see the things you want then dig for them." "We want to do this officially. My family made a discovery nearly twenty years ago and want to let the people of the world see it. Dr Olaf Sorensen and Dr Peggy Plat should be here when the discovery is made in person." "What is this discovery?" "The real final resting place of King Khufu." There was silence now that lasted minutes. "What is the condition of his tomb?" "Untouched since he was placed there twenty six centuries before the man we call Christ was born." This was not true but close enough for these men. Again there was a long silence. Dr Habib finally said, "Do you have any conditions? Nothing can leave our country permanently." "We personally make the way to the burial chamber. The two doctors with us will be the intermediaries and not your department. They get two weeks to explore and publish. At the end of two weeks your department and they can have a mutual news conference. I propose that the chamber be emptied and we will put up a shield on the entire interior of the pyramid. It will not degrade with time and our decedents forty six centuries from now will see the vivid colours just as easily as we will." It took two days to finalise the arrangements and one man had to be warned to keep his mouth shut. This was done in private for his career would be ruined otherwise. The Great Pyramid was closed for work. Tom and his son put some devices on a large cut stone and it rose into the air. It filled the hall with only a millimetres on each side. Sand now was carried out with the use of a matter transmitter. It was dumped into a truck with the assurance that it had no secrets in it. More blocks had to be moved and then placed beside those in front. Seven people put on shields and descended on a float platform to the bottom of the pit almost twenty three metres below the floor. Thirty seven metres further along was a wall with a small hole in it. A screen came to life showing the view from the other side of the wall. After showing the inscriptions the view turned slowly till it was fully on the sarcophagus. Dr Sorensen was so excited he had to look away and lean against the wall. A sedative was administered for the man was getting on in years. A device was attached to each of six stones. Another device locked all six together. Some glue on two walls allowed for a way to pull the eleven tonnes of rock back from where it had rested. The probes and the humans took hundreds of photos without even stepping within the chamber. The six stones were locked under a shield and would not age now even if put into the direct light of the sun. Margaret said, "Let's move the dust. There is nothing in it." The matter transmitter now hovered over the floor and the deep piles of dust disappeared as if into a giant vacuum cleaner. Lights now came on and the rich colours were exposed for all to see. Laterally thousands of photographs were made. There was not a square centimetre that was not recorded for posterity. The sarcophagus was opened but this time it was with contra gravity devices. When it was put on some pads, then the devices grappled with the wood and ivory inlayed coffin. It too rose into the air and was gently placed on more pads. This lid now rested at the foot of the coffin. The gold coffin was removed and placed similarly. The lid was removed and King Khufu was seen in his gold death mask. His hands held the two symbols of power but one was of more recent origin. Tommy said, "I always wanted this death mask but all I see now is a piece of hand-manipulated metal on a person that is only forty six hundred years old. The records from Leif and the Soondra make this look like something made last week." His mother said, "I feel the same way but I always wanted to be here when the chamber was opened." Her loving husband said, "Now you have got one of your wishes. Now I have try to make all of your others come true too." She kissed Tom and held him close. "I have had enough to last me for a while." ------- The End ------- Posted: 2005-12-23 Last Modified: 2005-12-29 / 12:07:52 am ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------