Storiesonline.net ------- Kinetic by hammingbyrd7 Copyright© 2006 by hammingbyrd7 ------- Description: A high-school student comes to terms with some remarkable abilities, and learns that all the Newtons and Joules of the universe can not solve the problems at the frontier of the human soul. Codes: MF slow ScFi humor ESP rom 1st teen sch cons reluc in-law het oral anal mastrb pett ------- ------- Copyright© 2006 hammingbyrd7 ------- Chapter 1 Looking back, I think the first clue about my abilities occurred months before they started manifesting. It was in the first week of January in 2001. I was still sixteen at the time. It was the week my mom died. I've had classmates who've lost family members, through accidents and illnesses, so I've seen both ways, fast and slow. Before I lost my mom, I used to think that fast was better. Maybe I still do. I would have hated to watch her suffer. But the shock... Oh man, it's brutal. And the guilt... Not too much in my case, just the normal regrets of not being nicer to someone you loved while you had the chance. For my dad though, it was a different world entirely... He'd been married to my mom for more than thirty years. They both grew up in Sterling, Illinois, a small town of about fifteen thousand an hour or two west of Chicago. My parents lived there all their lives, sharing classes in primary school, becoming high- school sweethearts... My dad started working for Northwestern Steel and Wire right out of high school, just like his dad. My mom became a sales clerk. They married each other when they were both twenty-one. My dad is a union man. I'm not saying that to boast or to put down. I'm just telling you his perspective. According to my dad, there are two great opposing forces in the universe. I'm not talking about God and the Devil. I'm talking about labor and management, and my dad is on the side of truth and goodness. He's labor. My dad thinks of the USW as his family. He's also honest, a hard worker, kind, and horrified by lack of loyalty the Northwestern owners have shown for their workers. My dad has seen it all, from reneging on promises for medical care to blacklisting people who spoke out about safety violations. My dad started working the night shift in 1967 as an apprentice operator, learned the various trades of tending and casting, became a team leader... By the 1980's he was working mostly with specialty steels, and in the last decade before the accident he earned his certificates as master millwright and worked almost exclusively in maintenance and installation. He loved his work, took pride in it to the core of his being. Then in December of 2000, after 122 years in operation, Northwestern filed for Chapter 11. And a few weeks later there was the car crash. For a while everything just seemed to fall apart. It started for me in the early Monday morning of January 1, 2001, a few hours before sunrise. I was home alone fast asleep when someone started pounding on the door. It was the police... I was at Community General a half hour later, met dad in a deserted waiting room outside the surgery area. He almost didn't recognize me, and I almost didn't recognize him. He looked as if he was aged fifteen years in the last few hours. In a shell-shocked voice he told me what happened. He and mom were coming home from the union's New Year's Eve party, about two in the morning. Dad was driving. Mom had just unclicked her seatbelt to get something from her purse in the back, and suddenly there was a tremendous crash and the car went flying. Dad and the other driver were unbelievably lucky, a few pulled muscles and some minor cuts from the glass. Mom though... Mom went through the windshield, head first... For all the torture dad would put himself through in the coming months, we never could get a clear picture of what happened. Except for the driver of the other car, there were no witnesses. He claimed dad swerved wildly and struck him, but that story didn't particularly fit with the crash evidence. Both drivers had been drinking, but both were also legally sober. In the end no citations were issued. It was just one of those accidents. Maybe if the lighting or the road conditions were just a little bit better, or if either driver had been just a little more alert... maybe nothing would have happened. If... In reality, I was sitting with my dad in the living room in the late afternoon after the funeral. I asked him a couple of times whether he'd like something for dinner, but he kept shaking his head no. I just sat there in silence with him for almost an hour, not knowing quite what to do. I knew what dad's problem was. Men of his generation are not supposed to cry... I had my eyes closed, thinking of mom, hating the emptiness of the hole she left. I was angry and sad and frustrated all at the same time, and then all the emotions seemed to focus into one white-hot spark of rebellion against the universe, and I felt the brief flash of a terrific headache behind my eyes. "Eric?!" I opened my eyes. "Uh... Yeah dad?" "Did you just flick the lights on and off?" "Huh? From here?" My dad just stared at me for a while. "Yeah, I guess not. I must be seeing things. Sorry..." He closed his eyes before I could reply. I sat there feeling totally bewildered. The weirdest part was, I had seen the flash too, but it was behind my eyes, two live wires of anger and sorrow shorting against each other in my mind. How in the world could dad have picked up on that? I sat there probing my mind for the intense headache I thought was coming, but I felt fine. I finally shrugged it off as a meaningless coincidence. There was no other logical explanation. And I was right. There was nothing logical about that flash at all... ------- Chapter 2 I went back to Sterling High on January 8'th, a week after the accident. The kids were very sympathetic, that helped a lot. It's a modest sized school, just over a thousand students. The class ahead of me, the graduating seniors number about two hundred. I have some mixed feelings about the school. I like my teachers, but the drug dealing has gotten so out of hand I sometimes worry about my safety... And Melanie's... Melanie is my girlfriend. She gave me a really great hug after school that day, long and affectionate, holding me in her arms as if she never wanted to let me go. We had seen each other briefly over the past week, but there was so much family coming in from both my mom's and dad's side that we never really had much of a chance to talk. We both decided to skip the bus and walk home... I should tell you about Melanie. We're in the same AP science and math classes and have been friends since we were toddlers. She's bright, considerate, very courageous, athletic, ambitious... She is determined to become one of the world's greatest doctors... Melanie is also absolutely, positively, the most beautiful creature who ever walked the Earth. She also has one of the wackiest, most dysfunctional families I've ever heard of, let alone met. Seriously, they're one for the record books. We held hands as we walked home, not doing much talking at all. Somehow, we didn't need to. Melanie could sense how I was feeling and she thought having me talk about it would only make it worse, at least for now. She gave me a quick kiss and a warm smile as she dropped me off at my house. Her home is only three blocks away. I felt a lot better heading up to my room to study. Melanie was right. She's so perceptive. Just being with her and not having to try to verbalize all the chaos within me... It was exactly what I needed. That's where we were in our relationship, at the holding-hands stage. Well, over the last few months we've started to kiss each other goodbye too. But Melanie is genuinely shy about getting more physical, and to tell the truth so am I. We'll be going to the junior prom of course, and we both have our dreams about the future. But for now, we're still exploring how to be emotionally intimate with each other. We're holding off on the physical stuff till later. And the months passed. At the end of February, (or the first of March, take your pick when it's not a leap-year), I turned seventeen, a month ahead of Melanie. More time passed and somehow I came to terms with never seeing mom again. But for dad it was a different story. The United Steel Workers were a family to him, but somehow even the USW couldn't replace the hole mom had left in his heart. Winter turned into spring and I hadn't seen dad smile or even relax in months. And the fact that Northwestern would be shutting down the plant in May certainly wasn't helping any. I worried a lot and tried to be around for dad to talk with. There didn't seem to be much else I could do. Then on the last day in May I came home from school and found dad grinning like a Jack O' Lantern. He had been traveling over the past week, ever since the plant closed, and had just gotten back from a trip to Reading, Pennsylvania. One look at his face and I knew he had struck pay-dirt. "Carpenter Technology?" I asked grinning. He nodded happily. "I was unbelievably lucky. They have an opening that fits me perfectly! It'll actually be an increase in base pay, much better than I was hoping for. I'll be going back into operations again, specialty steels, and branching out into titanium." I gave him a beaming smile. "So when do you start?" For the first time, dad looked a bit worried. "They're anxious for me to start right now. They're offering me a nice bonus if I start this coming Monday. Eric, we have some talking to do." I'd been so happy for my dad I wasn't paying attention to the implications of all this. It suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I'd be moving with dad to eastern Pennsylvania. Melanie?!! I broke the news to her the next day, after we left the prom. We had a really nice time there for about three hours, but then some of the kids started pushing the envelope on rowdiness. The chaperones were struggling to keep things under control. A part of me wanted to stick around and help them, but my first loyalty was to Melanie. I wanted her out of there. So we drove to the Dairy Queen for some ice cream. I waited until we finished our cones, and then I told her about dad's new job. "What?! Eric! You're not joking, are you?" "About something like this? No, of course not. He's going to leave on Sunday, start the next day." "He? You're not going with him?" I shook my head and tried to smile. "No. I'll be around for the summer, hopefully for almost all of it. Dad wants me to fix up the house and sell it. He's hiring me." "Hiring you?" "Yeah, union wages too... He insisted; $16.93 per hour, plus time and a half for overtime." Melanie had to smile as this. "You're joking, right?" "No, not at all... Uh, Melanie... I'll be around for the summer... And afterwards, I don't want to lose you..." Melanie said nothing for a while. She just stared into my eyes for the longest time, and then started to cry. No sobs, just silent tears falling down her cheeks. "Eric... What you mean to me... I haven't even explained it to myself, let alone have something I can offer you, but... I don't want to lose you either..." "Melanie..." "Eric... Do you want to have..." her voice squeaked, "... with me?" "Huh?" Melanie blew a full breath of air through her cheeks, and then leaned and sank back into the car seat. I reached across and held her hand. After a while she said, "I thought we had more time; lots and lots of more time. I thought you would enjoy chasing me. I thought I could give you the pleasure of pursuing me, before I let you to capture me. And now..." She leaned over and rested her head against my shoulder. "Hold me?" I put my arm around her shoulders and my head against hers. We stayed that way for the longest time without speaking. Finally I turned and kissed her. "Melanie, nothing has changed. We're planning on being close to each other for college." "I know." "It's for one year. We can talk on the phone, and I asked my dad about the odometer on his car. It's 830 miles between Reading, PA and here. I could drive that in one day, fifteen hours maybe, no problem." Melanie sighed and nodded and just cuddled with me. She leaned up and lightly kissed me on my cheek. "A year... It seems like such a long time. Will you really wait for me?" "Count on it!" She relaxed for the first time and kissed me again. "Okay! And I will wait for you. Hell! I wish my parents liked you better! They can be so impossible sometimes! And it seems to be getting worse, not better!" I almost nodded, but didn't want to spoil the moment by turning the conversation to such an annoying topic. I drove Melanie home by the time limit her parents had set. Both her dad and mom came out and more or less glared at me as I walked Melanie to her door. Figuring what the hell, I gave her a quick peck goodnight anyway, and she smiled and did the same. Her dad looked angry, even more than I was expecting. Hell, I didn't want to get Melanie into trouble. I tried to smile politely and then left. ------- Chapter 3 The summer was an incredible educational experience for me. In three short months I picked up an unbelievable amount of experience. Dad had friends from other trade unions come in and oversee my work. The learning opportunities were priceless, and I wound up working close to eighty hours a week. I completely rebuilt the kitchen under the kind tutelage of the UBCJA, the UAPP, and IBEW. That's the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The house looked great, and I was so proud of the kitchen. I changed the floor to ceramic tile, even put in new sub-flooring before I did the mud job. I sweated in the plumbing for a new sink location and the dishwasher mom always talked about having. And I did all my own wiring, including the installation of a sub-junction box down in the basement. No more worrying now about having the toaster and the microwave on at the same time. The various city building inspectors said everything looked very professional. I also did a lot of finishing woodwork and found I loved it. I completely rebuilt the staircase to the second floor, replaced a cracked stringer, and put in new handrails and new risers and treads made out of Brazilian cherry wood. It gleamed! And by far I was most proud of the kitchen cabinets, customized solid hardwood maple complete with Hawaiian Koa wood inlay. It took a lot of time with the sanders and the routers and the table saw, but the result looked fantastic. I think it's what sold the house, even in the soft market. I saw almost nothing of Melanie that summer. She was one of a few high-school students in the entire State to be accepted in a special pre-med summer program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It's just over 200 miles by car from my house to the campus, about a three and a half hour drive. It's not a bad trip, but I only drove it once. Word got back to Melanie's parents about my first visit, and they really reamed her out about it, even to the point of threatening to withdraw their permission for her to be in the summer program. We talked on the phone the next day, and decided we wouldn't push the issue. We talk a lot on the phone, in the evenings. Gosh, I miss her. The talking does help though. Her latest struggle is trying to get her parents to sign for her driver's learning permit. They promised to do it when she turned seventeen, but somehow the paperwork never quite gets done. I don't know why her parents treat her like this. Melanie is one of the most mature and thoughtful people I know. She wouldn't abuse driving privileges. Her parents just don't seem to appreciate her. And her father's attitude towards unions is, "Bust 'em up!" For some incredibly wacky reason, somehow that got translated to "Melanie, stay away from Eric!" It's totally insane! The summer flew by. With all the work and the overtime I was struggling not to charge my dad more than $1600 a week, but I had given him my solemn word I would not under-report my time. By the end of the summer, I had grossed close to $20,000. It felt really strange, getting paid so much for doing work I found so enjoyable. Before I knew it, the summer was over. It was the last day of August, the Friday before Labor Day. Dad came to close on the house sale and pick me up. He had a tear in his eye when he saw all my work. He said he couldn't quite believe all the reports from his friends about what kind of job I was doing. His friends aren't the type to rave, and he sometimes wondered if they were joking. I never felt so proud. Then after one last look, we went to the lawyers and signed it all away. My days at Sterling had drawn to a close. Dad had bought a house in Exeter township, a few miles east of Reading. The township had a much better high school than the city. It's even smaller than the one in Sterling, only about 800 students. I started right after Labor Day. The students were mostly friendly, not too cliquish, and the drug problem wasn't quite- as bad as Illinois. 9/11 happened my second week of school, and somehow I think that helped the class accept me. I think they saw me as a fellow American, rather than some outsider from another State. My only real problem with the school is that they had this fixed policy that you had to take Advanced Placement courses as a junior IN THEIR SCHOOL before you could take AP courses as a senior. We argued and argued with the school principal and finally even petitioned the school board. No luck. Dad and I hate wasting time fighting losing battles, so in the end he bought me some college texts on calculus and physics and most of my science that year was self taught. The second time my abilities manifested was right after a phone call I had with Melanie during Thanksgiving break. It was the day my universe changed. Melanie was calling from a friend's house. The time was late Saturday afternoon. Right after I had moved to Pennsylvania, Melanie's parents had forbidden her to contact me, no phone, no e-mail, nothing. But we both feel that kind of control is way beyond their parental rights. They were even monitoring their phone bill to check on her. I guess it's not illegal, but man oh man, what an awful way to treat your child. I try not to make sarcastic comments about it. They're still her parents. For the phone call, I tried to start on a topic I knew she'd enjoy. "So how's track coming?" "Fabulous!" Gosh, it was so nice to hear her happy. "Coach Collins timed me at 35:37 on the ten kilometer run last Saturday." "Wow! Six six-minute miles?!" "Yep! Under! I'm doing a mile every 5:44." "Wow... Dreaming about the Olympics Melanie? Athens is less than three years away!" "Yeah, right! I'm still six minutes off the women's world-record pace, and probably one or two minutes away from being good enough for the Olympic team. I hope to be on the podium at the State Championships though." I took a risk. "Surely your parents must be proud of you, at least about this." Melanie gave a mirthful laugh. "Well, I must admit, they have inspired me to be the runner I am today." "Really?! Hey, that's great!" "Yeah. They still say I'm not trustworthy enough to have a driver's permit. But I figure if I can run five miles in half an hour, then I really don't need to drive." "Oh... Oh hell Melanie..." "Oh, it's not so bad Eric. And in another four months, I won't need their signature for the permit. I've got the date circled on my calendar. On Monday, April 1, 2002, the April Fool girl will have her birthday and be eighteen. I'll be emancipated." Melanie was trying to hide it, but I knew her too well. She sounded just a bit depressed. I tried to shift the topic to her older sister. "Well, better than being emaciated I guess! So how is Patricia doing?" For the first time in the call I heard Melanie giggle. "Oh, that's right! You don't know. Patty is a guest again of the Whiteside County judicial system." I must have been slow that day. It took me a moment to realize what Melanie was saying. "Yikes! What's she done now?" "Oh, just the usual, more shoplifting." "Ah... No more probation, huh?" "No, not this time. Patty even tried to lie to the judge again about what was going on. She kept insisting that the sales clerk had said it was okay for her to take the merchandise out through the loading dock. She sounded so self-righteous!" "I take it the judge wasn't buying it?" "Not this time. He added an extra sixty days for perjury. Patty was lucky it wasn't a year! The earliest she can get out is late summer." "Hell! How could she be so stupid?!" Melanie chuckled over the phone. "Yeah. My sister has two strikes against her. She has no morals telling her not to steal, and she's not smart enough to be intimidated about being caught." I sighed in agreement. "A double whammy..." Melanie made a humph noise. "It's so frustrating when I try to talk with her. She dreams up these elaborate and silly lies to explain her way out of the messes she makes, and she thinks the lies will save her. She tells me things, and I have no idea if they're true or not." I sighed. "How did your parents react? To the jail sentence I mean..." "Oh, they're still very supportive. Mom and dad reassured Patty her bedroom will be waiting for her when she gets out, and dad has promised to find her a new job." "Think he can?" Melanie was silent for a while. "This time? I'm not sure... Maybe not. There's no job on Earth where people will tolerate dishonesty. There is no job like that... Hell Eric! I feel like Cinderella sometime, and Patty is my evil step-sister! Maybe I should start breaking the law! Maybe then my parents will love me..." I nodded and sighed. "Nah. It would just give them some real ammunition to shoot you down with... Melanie, I love you... not as a parent though." "I know. I love you too... Eric, I think of you when I run. That's what makes me so fast!" "Huh?" "I push myself into high gear, and then I dream of you. I imagine you're holding me, and my body explodes with happiness. My last kilometer is usually my fastest. Not by much, but Coach Collins says that's still very unusual..." Melanie paused before continuing. "I do love you, so intensely it takes my breath away. And I miss you. Not so much in the daytime. The days are so busy. But at night, when I lie down... It's been so long since we've seen each other... Oh Eric, I want so much to hold you again, and to feel you holding me. I keep reliving my memories of you..." I trembled with my own longing and whispered, "I know. I've been reliving my memories of you too. It's been exactly half a year, Sunday, June 24'th. I keep remembering the last time I saw you, going out to dinner with you at Urbana... How you looked, your kind smile, how you cried when you kissed me goodbye..." Melanie gave a really deep sigh on the phone. "Eric, I'm so sorry about my parents... You don't know how grateful I am..." "Huh? Grateful for what?" "For you putting up with all this insane nonsense about not seeing me! For you putting up with all these stupid, secret phone calls! I know how ridiculous this must seem to you... I had a nightmare last night, a really damn awful scream-in-the-dark nightmare, where you decided that this situation is so wacky, dating me just wasn't worth the effort!" I blinked as I realized what she said, and tried to reassure her by joking. "Melanie! That's crazy talk!" Melanie seemed to hiccup over the phone, and then she laughed, a sweet musical release from her center of her heart that sounded so pretty. "Right! I must have inherited the skill from my family! You are so... SHIT!!!" "What?!" "Dad's car just pulled up outside! Goodbye my love!" and she hung up the phone before I could reply. I sat there for a few minutes, hoping she wasn't in any trouble. Her parents are her legal guardians for another four months. They could still make life hell for her if they wanted to. I decided to do some school work. I opened my desk drawer to get a pen, and noticed in the back of the drawer my old combination lock from Junior High. I pulled it out on a whim and stared idly at it. I felt hot and upset that Melanie was probably getting yelled at, 800 miles away. I pressed the back of the lock against my forehead to cool off, shrugging a bit at the thought that after four years I had completely forgotten the combination. It was the most unearthly feeling. I could imagine the cams of the lock behind the dial so clearly, imagine exactly where the slots in the cams were that released the shank. I pulled the lock away from my forehead and stared at it. In my hand, it just seemed normal. Totally dumbfounded, I returned the lock to my forehead. The details of the knowledge of the inside of the lock were both exquisite and absolute. I pulled the lock away and stared at it again. Nothing. "What the hell is this?" I muttered. It's so difficult to describe a completely new sense. Imagine trying to describe color to a blind man who has no idea of the concept of sight, or trying to describe music to a deaf person who has no idea of the concept of sound. My language just doesn't have the concepts developed to describe what this sense is like. That said, I'll try to make an analogy about what it's like. Write the number four on a piece of paper. Put it on a desk in front of you and stare at it for a while. Then cover the paper with a book. Now, try to imagine the reality of what number could possibly be under the book. It's a four. You're absolutely, positively sure of it. In your mind's eye, the knowledge is absolute, unquestioned. That's what it was like for me, but even better. I could imagine zooming down and knowing the lock in fine detail, even better than if I were using my eyes on a disassembled lock. I pulled back and stared at the lock again in my hand. Nothing. I got up and got the combination lock I was currently using for gym. I opened it and got a screwdriver, and then unscrewed the release at the bottom of the vacant shank shaft. I took the lock apart and played with it for over an hour. I taught myself exactly how it worked. Then I went back to my Junior High lock. I put it back on my forehead, and the solution seemed so obvious. I turned the dial briefly, watching with my mind's eye how the slots in the cams were lining up. I pulled the lock away from my face and pulled on the shank. It opened easily. There was nothing to it. But I still didn't know the combination. I locked the shank and put the padlock on my forehead again, spinning the first cam to the correct position. Then I reached out with my imagination and looked at the number on the dial, 27. That's all I needed. I suddenly remembered the rest of the combination. That part didn't feel like magic, just normal memory. I put the lock down and shook my head in amazement. What the hell was going on? Well, the credo of a scientist is: test and learn! I took a simple ruler and placed the origin against my forehead, sticking straight out. Then I closed my eyes and tried to find how far I could imagine seeing the markings on the ruler. It was just over two inches. It was a sharp cutoff. I began taking notes and making measurements all over my head. Then I just sat there and stared at the numbers. I began to tremble. It seems there's a point within my skull, dead center between my eyes and about three inches in. Anything within about six inches of that point I can nail with imagining what it looks like. I sat at my desk almost in a dream, exploring my own nose for a while. It was interesting, and not nearly as gross at it sounds... What to do? Did I have to do anything? Should I tell dad? Melanie? Once I tell somebody about this and demonstrate it, there's no turning back. I went and lay on my bed and thought for a long while. I finally decided I had a perfectly moral right not to tell anybody if I didn't want to. I went downstairs and had a late turkey sandwich snack with dad. We played a couple of games of chess. I lost both games. Then I sacked out for the night. I lay in bed for hours before sleep came, thinking about the lock and wondering... Finally I started dreaming about Melanie and got some rest. ------- Chapter 4 Three weeks later on December 15'th, I got a hand-written letter from Melanie. I stared at the envelope for a while. It was definitely her handwriting. But she had listed my father's name at our old house in Sterling as the return address. It suddenly occurred to me that if the post office had trouble with the postage or the primary address, the letter would still be forwarded to my dad here in Pennsylvania and not back to Melanie. Wondering why she was bothering to do this, I opened the letter. Here's what it said: Dearest Eric, I think I have less freedom now than Patty! I am super grounded. I'm off track, in fact I have no after-school activities all. I don't even have permission to leave the house! Mom threatened to sue the school if they allowed me internet access and the school admin caved in. I'm effectively under supervision 24 hours a day. Mom and dad have been spreading insane rumors about you brainwashing me to be your future slave, and some of the other parents have shown them their phone records. My parents know that we have been talking to each other. I'm penning this letter in Study Hall. At least here I'm safe. I think. Why am I capitulating to all this? I have all my college applications out and none of them requested financial assistance. With dad the managing director of the Wells Fargo branch and mom a full partner at O'Hare and Snyder, my parents earn way too much money for me to quality for aid. Both my parents are threatening to cut me off financially if they catch me communicating with you again. They say it's their final warming. Eric, I've never had a job. Lots of great summer programs and volunteer work but I've never earned anything. My parents are super-controlling my access to money and I don't have the resources to fight this battle, at least not now. I feel like I'm trapped in a fairy story gone berserk, some crazy combination of Cinderella and Romeo & Juliet. Eric darling, wait for me, please? Stop! I can't ask you a question and ask you not to respond at the same time! I say instead that I love you and I know you love me, and that I trust you will wait for me. Please, please don't write back, even through the internet or a third party. My parents are so furious with me, it's just too dangerous. I'll try to call you if I can find a completely safe way to do it. It might be few months, maybe not until April. I'll hoard up a bunch of quarters for a pay phone or something. Oh Eric, I can only imagine how crazy this must sound, but I'm not joking. You wouldn't believe how often I'm searched and how intensely I'm spied upon. Mom comes in and picks me up at the school office every day. I'm going to sneak this letter into the mailbox outside during my lunch period. Under the microscope in Illinois, offering you my love and faithfulness, Melanie I stared at Melanie's letter forever, reading it again and again. I finally decided I needed a reality check. I went and showed the letter to my dad. He just kept shaking his head as he read it. "Dad, why do they hate me so much? I've always tried to be polite with Melanie's parents. I really have." Dad nodded and then grunted. "Hell, Shakespeare! Not a bad analogy. Maybe she's right." "What?" "Romeo and Juliet. I read it with your mom in twelfth grade English, back in 1966... You want to know what this might be about? My granddad and Melanie's great grandfather had a legal dispute once, about a bank loan. Gus won, and Melanie's great granddad took it personal... real personal..." I grimaced and whined, "But that was ages ago! Why spend your life fighting your grandfather's war?" My dad sighed. "Yeah, that is the question, isn't it? Probably because they're not smart enough to find better things to do. It's as simple as that... Eric, if you want some advice, let Melanie call the shots on this. She's the one in the war zone. Let her pick the battle plan." I nodded glumly and went back to my bedroom. After a while I made another measurement of what I've decided to call my inner sense. It's growing. In the three weeks since Thanksgiving, the sphere around my internal center-point expanded from 15 cm to 24 cm. I could now scan objects six inches from the top of my nose. And the detail! I could fill my imagination with a tiny crevasse on the ruler. It's hard to quantify this, but I'm estimating I can see four times as much detail compared to Thanksgiving... I made some more experiments. I don't have to have the sense on if I don't want it. It's like opening an infinitely effective eyelid. Unless I want to scan, I feel completely normal. I sat back and wondered. Where was this all heading? And then I had to smile a bit. What would be my story if dad noticed me sticking the ruler all around my head? Christmas break arrived. My nights were filled with thoughts of Melanie, and as for the days, it was crunch time for applying to colleges. I selected Mech. E. as a major and had a big list of schools, Case Western, Perdue, Carnegie-Mellon, Boston University, U. of Penn... My SAT scores were 790 in math and 590 in verbal, not bad. My safety-valve school was Penn State, and I also had one pie-in-the-sky Hail-Mary pass in the air. I applied to M.I.T. The second Monday in January, I toured the campuses of B.U. and M.I.T. The interviews at B.U. were fun and relaxing, and I think it's an excellent school. Then I crossed the Charles River into Cambridge and spent the afternoon at M.I.T. There I was in a professor's office in Building 3, a nice view of the Great Court out the windows to my back. It was IAP on campus, the Independent Activities Period. The whole month of January is like that at M.I.T., no formal classes, just everybody playing with the sciences and nobody worrying about grades. What a great idea! Professor Hanson was seated across from me at his desk. He was polite, attentive, and I think incredibly bright. At first we hit it off very well. I described how I had spent my previous summer, and he said it sounded marvelous and how he wished he had such an opportunity when he was growing up. But as he went through my school transcripts he also started giving me thoughtful looks. I didn't find it too encouraging. I decided to level with him. "I need honest feedback, Professor Hanson. Do I have a chance of getting in here?" He nodded. "Yeah, okay. I'll give you my straight opinion as an engineer. You might make the waiting list. Eric, personally I think you might do fine here, but M.I.T. creams the country for the best students. There are just a lot of other applicants who have better qualifications." I sighed. "My SAT scores?" He shrugged. "That's minor. The 790 is excellent! The 590 in verbal... isn't bad..." I nodded. "I could have boosted it, worked on my vocabulary. It was a conscious decision to do the summer work instead." Hanson nodded and returned to my transcripts. "You were in Honors English your sophomore and junior years? Math and science too?" "Yes. Well, that's Sterling, Illinois's version of Honors classes. Any kid that was serious about studying was put into Honors. It was still a bit slow." "But you dropped out of AP courses in your senior year?" "Oh, hell!" I thought. I went on to explain Exeter's ridiculous policy. Professor Hanson seemed sympathetic, but it wasn't really his problem. We talked a little more about M.I.T., and then he asked me, "Anything else you'd like to mention?" It was crunch time! I knew if I walked out with a question like that hanging in the air, I could kiss M.I.T. goodbye. But add what? Without thinking, I told him a little about finding my Junior High padlock, and how I opened my other padlock to see if I could figure out how to open the first one. He smiled at me when I was finished and then laughed. "Yeah. I take it you learned knowing how one lock works is not the same as opening another?!" I had nothing to lose. I respected the Professor, but I was also desperate. It was time to deal him a joker straight from the bottom of the deck. "Heck no," I said, giving him this big beaming smile. "I taught myself how to pick the lock!" "Huh?! You can pick a Masterlock?" "Yeah." I tried to mention this very casually. "There's not much to it, if you know the secret." Professor Hanson was looking at me as if I were an utter charlatan from some alien planet. And then he gave me this huge devilish grin. "Well," he said, reaching into his desk drawer, "It just so happens..." A moment later I was sitting staring at the biggest, fattest, ugliest combination Masterlock in creation. It felt massive in my hands. Professor Hanson was grinning at me from ear to ear, but it was a playful grin. I've seen the Union people grin at each other like that, one professional to another, offering an impossible challenge. "Two conditions!" I grinned back. "Okay!" "Turn around. I don't want you to see how I do this!" "Protecting your trade secrets, huh? Very fair! What else?" I grinned. It was time to put my gonads on the table! "When, and I say when and not if I open this, and if I get accepted here, and if something is later stolen from a locked area, don't jump to conclusions about me. Ability is not intent!" Professor Hanson grinned back. "Oh, that first part is a proud boast lad! Let's see if you can sustain it! And as to your second part... That's a damn thoughtful point. Agreed. And to protect you from others jumping to conclusions, I solemnly promise not to tell anyone that you picked this lock..." The big smile came back. "... If you do! How much time do you think you'll need?" "Uh..." What to say? I thought I would only need a few seconds. "Five minutes?" His eyes shot up in astonishment. And then he burst out laughing. I tried to recover. "... if I'm lucky! Maybe ten?" My voice was squeaking. Damn! Hanson nodded, his eyes wide open and rolling. Then he looked at the clock, pulled out a book and turned around and started reading. It was a huge lock, almost the size of my palm. I brought it up close to my face and sensed it. I decided my first impression was wrong. The lock was indeed big and fat but it definitely wasn't ugly. It was in fact an incredibly beautiful lock, infinitely better made than my school padlock. This was a masterpiece of lock engineering. I still thought I had lots of time. I started making minor noises with it, pulling on the thick gleaming shank and spinning the dial just for audio appearances. The outside was extremely high quality chrome steel. But my mind was captivated and delighted by the mechanism within. Four disks! The structure was completely different than my old lock. I suddenly realized I would need some serious time to open it, even with my abilities. First I had to figure out how the damn thing worked! Time passed without notice. The interior engineering of the lock was magnificent, precision machined, oiled surfaces perfectly sliding against each other. I was enthralled. And all the protuberances on the disks were confusing me. My old lock just had one per disk. I finally saw the complexity of the design. Even with my inner vision, I would need time to learn how to tell the difference between the true gates and the false gates. There was also a lot of preliminary spinning to do. I finally figured out I had to turn the knob to the right past the first cam slot four complete turns to align all the true notches correctly. Then I had to pass the second true number three full turns to the left. Then two full turns to the right before the third true number. After numerous trial-and-error attempts, I finally saw I was one half turn away from opening the lock. I shuddered and breathed a sigh of relief and made the last twist. With the apertures of all four cams finally aligned, the spring-loaded bolt slid and released with a very satisfying cha-ching! "What?!" Professor Hanson whipped around and stared, partially at me but mostly at the open lock in my hands. He tore his eyes away to glance at the clock, fourteen minutes. He looked back at me and whispered in awe, "How did you do that?" I shrugged. "It's a gift..." Which was the truth, and besides, what else could I say? "That lock was made by guy named Stephan," Hanson said at last, "A grad student of mine. He got his Masters six years ago and went to work for Masterlock. That's a specialty lock. It would cost over $300 apiece to make if Masterlock ever went into production with it. But it's not sold commercially as a padlock. There's no market for such high precision in a padlock." "Yeah," I commented. "It would be just too easy to bring a plasma torch and slice through the shank." Hanson nodded. "Exactly... Stephan made a few of these on a whim, as demos for the sales channel..." "It's the most beautiful lock I've ever seen," I nodded in agreement. And then, a touch of pure bravado. "Very sophisticated... but vulnerable, if you know its weakness." Hanson blinked and frowned. "Stephan thought it would be unpickable..." Dang! Had I gone too far?! "Yeah, well... It was a challenge..." "Yeah... Eric, I just realized sometime. The other kids applying here, if they were curious about how their lock worked, they would just look at combination locks on the web and study diagrams. But not you. You reached for a screwdriver and another lock..." Professor Hanson took a deep breath. "Eric, what do you want out of life? This isn't a trade school. You'll be firmly in the camp of management if you graduate from here. Is that what you want? You told me about the Union background of your family..." "If I graduate from here?!" I thought silently. "Whoa!" I tried to collect myself as I realized Professor Hanson was asking me a very thoughtful question. "Oh, there won't be any problem there. The family ties win out. At worst I'll be their spy in an enemy's territory, unless I do something heartless." He nodded. "At what do you think?" "About labor versus management? That they need each other, that labor needs the capital market, and capital needs the labor market. The competition is fine! It's a pity though the competition can't be more symbiotic, more win-win..." Hanson nodded. "Damn Eric! I'll ask you straight. Think you can cut the physics and calculus here? The other kids will be coming in better prepared." It suddenly occurred to me that I never mentioned all the home schooling I was doing. Professor Hanson's eyes really lit up and he smiled and relaxed when I started to describe my studies. "What text did you pick?" "The Feynman lecture series." "Really?!" "Oh, I'm hooked on it. Back in my physics class at Exeter, we're still talking torque. It's so boring! Formulas out of nowhere and no explanation of where they're coming from! How can anyone learn physics like that?! You just can't see the true nature of what's happening without the calculus. But on my own, I've just covered Feynman's lecture on the principle of least action. Beautiful stuff! He has such incredibly different ways of looking at things..." We wound up chatting mechanics for over an hour. It was one of the most enjoyable conversations of my life. Well, except for Melanie of course. I drove home that night in very high spirits. ------- Chapter 5 One month later... Time: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 3:40 PM Eastern Standard Time I felt my heart leap when I came home from school a few days before my 18'th birthday. Melanie had sent me another letter! I raced upstairs to my bedroom and sat down at my desk to look at it. It had the same strange business with the return address as before. After staring at it for a moment, I opened it and saw that Melanie had sent me a handmade birthday card. The first drawing had a simple stick figure standing at the apex of a simple triangular mountain, with the title, "Today I am a man!" The second drawing had the stick figure in a sitting and thinking pose, the head-circle leaning on the line-hand, with the title, "Now, where is my woman?" Underneath the mountain far below was a tiny second figure, lying down and gazing up at the huge figure sitting on the mountain top above it. I smiled and began reading Melanie's short letter. Hi Eric, and Happy Birthday! I hope you'll forgive me for waiting so long to write. So much has been happening here. I should first tell you I am in good health, and have been accepted at Harvard! (Remember I applied for early decision?) Their package came just a few days after I mailed you my December letter. I had to pay a price of course, but all the immediate uncertainty about college is behind me. I negotiated with my parents, under an end-of-January Harvard deadline for completing all the acceptance forms and mailing in an initial deposit for the tuition. Some serious bucks! That's what convinces me all this is real. My dad and I walked everything to the post office over a month ago. I watched my future hopes go into the mailbox and breathed a huge sigh of relief. The application package even issued me a Student ID, 579040. That makes it seem real too. And my price for all this? I had to split my personality. This is Melanie #1 who is writing this letter. This is the first time she's been allowed to come out during the daytime in over two months. I'm in Study Hall again, writing you this letter on a cold Friday Illinois morning. I'm sure you'll get this in time for your birthday, probably a few days early. Eric, I won't reach majority for another five weeks. Please continue not to contact me. I'm still standing on very thin ice, still under very intense supervision. My parent's price for Harvard? That I become the daughter they've always dreamed of having. That's Melanie #2. Mom threw out all my old clothes in order to please Melanie #2, and got her/me an entirely new wardrobe. I think I'm the only senior at Sterling High going around in clothes that look straight out of Junior High, but... I decided Harvard was worth it. Remember me in Junior High? All the bright colors? You should see me now, in my canary yellow skirt and argyle knee socks! I even have my hair in pigtails again, just as mom had me do when I was in seventh grade. I even spend time (lots of time!) painting my nails. (You probably wouldn't recognize my toes!) I've been avoiding my old friends. I think the really important ones have some understanding of the true nature of what's going on and forgive me. At least I hope so. I also have a bunch of new, parent-approved friends, from some the richest families in the Sterling area. Mom's throwing me a birthday party with them when I turn eighteen, my first birthday party ever! Melanie #2 is very excited about that. Oh Eric, do you forgive me for surrendering? I know and admire your courage. I know you wouldn't have degraded yourself like this, no matter what. But when the decision was before me, I took the easy way out, the one with no yelling and a nice warm bed and meals and a great college and lots of shopping trips with my mom. My parents love me Eric! They love Melanie #2! I finally know what it feels like to have parents who love me. Poor Patricia! I never understood what a pit of dependency my parents have dug for her, and how deeply she is trapped in the quicksand at the bottom. I used to envy Patty, but I feel so differently now. I pity her. Eric, I couldn't pull this off as an act. I had to live the part. My true personality had to disappear, truly disappear, at least during the daytime. Melanie #1 comes out only late at night, and she has learned how to cry without making a sound. Amusing, in a sad sort of way. My parents accused you of brainwashing me, but it is they who are the true practitioners of mind control. I dream of you Eric, almost every night. I meet you in my dreams, and you hold me and give me strength. Thank you Eric. Thank you for waiting, thank you for holding me in my dreams, thank you for giving me strength, thank you for loving me. I sign myself The True Melanie I put down Melanie's letter and shivered, my mind overwhelmed with emotions. I leaned back in my desk chair and close my eyes, trying to calm myself. After a minute or so I started to scan the desk in front of me as a diversion. There was a loose paper clip on the desk, very near the back edge, and just within the limit of my sense-sphere. The sphere had been growing slowly but exponentially for months, doubling in radius every 31 days and 20 hours, as close as I could measure. It had a current radius of 118 cm. I was expecting it to reach four feet by my birthday. With my eyes still closed, I dived into the detail of the paper clip, tracing the three simple loops back and forth with my mind. And then my anger at Melanie's parents erupted out of me, and I hissed and PUSHED and... The paper clip disappeared! "Huh?!" I thought as I opened my eyes. I looked at my desk, no paper clip! "What the hell," I thought. "I can make things disappear too?!" After a moment I got down on my hands and knees and looked around under the desk. On the rug next to the wall in the back was a paper clip. I was relieved to think it had to be the same one. I picked it up and then sat back in my chair, just thinking for a while. Had I bumped the desk and knocked the clip off the top? Somehow I didn't think so. I put the clip on the middle of the desk and tried to remember exactly what I was doing when it disappeared. It felt like a new way of sensing... I finally went back to my anger. I stared at the paper clip and imagined it was owned by Melanie's parents and I PUSHED it and... It moved! Not very fast, but it moved, all by itself! I was in a whole new ballgame! Passively sensing within my sphere was a huge and wondrous ability, but having the ability to make changes with my mind... Wow! That was a whole new level of pure blow-off-the-socks magic! I started to practice my new skill. Once I learned the trick, it was very easy to do. I moved the paper-clip back and forth and then in slow lazy circles and spirals around the desktop, becoming more and more excited. Some caution settled in. I would have to be very, very careful. My thoughts are my own. Nobody could ever really see me using my sense-sphere, really be sure of its existence. But this?! Pushing things around?! These were physical changes, not just thoughts. This was visible! I had to be very careful... I tried to lift the paper-clip up in the air. No dice. I sat thinking for a moment. Time to do a few experiments! I got out a protractor and measured the angle the clip would start to slide down a tilted plane. With a little trig, that gave me the coefficient of static friction for sliding against a horizontal surface. I then went back to my box of clips to see if I could determine the weight of one clip. After a little time weighing small piles of clip on my postage scale, I had a few numbers about my new ability. I think one clip weighs 0.43 grams, so it should take 0.0042 Newtons of force to lift it against gravity and based on the protractor experiment 0.0003 Newtons to slide it along the desktop. I stopped and considered. It was hard to quantity, but I thought I was right at my limit for sliding it, right at one hundred percent of my maximum push. I stretched out the clip into a straight wire and got out my ruler and a wire cutter. I clipped off seven percent of the wire and put in on the desk. Then I tried to push it up. Nothing happened for a moment, and then very slowly the little piece of wire began drifting off the desktop. I smiled and released the snippet from my push. It fell back immediately. I reached for my cutter and cut the small segment in half. Then I tried again with only 3.5% of the original paper clip. It worked! It fell upward immediately. I did some timing, and found at maximum push I could get it to fall upward at the same rate it would normally fall. I was exerting a force of two-g on the little sliver of wire. My force of 0.0003 Newtons was causing a net acceleration of one-gravity upward. I sat back and shuddered. Should I throw all my physics books away? I had just violated the conservation principles of both energy and linear momentum. Energy... That's right. It takes power to do this. My current limit on force seemed to be 0.0003 Newtons. I didn't have the right setup to measure that more accurately. Was there also a limit on how much power I could generate? I started thinking about ways to measure... I pulled out my stopwatch from my desk, the one I used to time Melanie with when I helped her train for track. Pushing aside the emotions for her for now, I set up a little track of my own, a little imaginary 230 cm vertical track from the floor to the ceiling of my room. If I put my head half-way in between, I could accelerate the tiny wire for the whole trip, having it shoot passed near my nose. I started writing down a few equations. The kinetic energy as a function of time would be E(t) = .5 m v(t) v(t), where v(t) = a t, so my power into kinetic energy would be dE/dt = m a v(t) and my power into potential energy dP/dt = g m v(t). I timed the flight of my tiny wire. It went from floor to ceiling in seven tenths of a second, consistent with a constant upward acceleration of one-g. My power into kinetic and potential energy at the end of the flight was the same, about one milli-Watt each. Unfortunately my stopwatch only measured down to tenths of seconds, not very accurate for what I was trying to do... I stood there thinking about the results. Two milli-Watts? Not much power... But that was only a minimum estimate. I still had no idea of a maximum. How to test... I was so preoccupied I didn't hear dad come home and pause outside my bedroom. "Hi Eric!" I jumped. "Oh! Ah... Uh, hi dad!" My dad stared at me, wondering why I was so nervous. He glanced at the stopwatch in my hand. I smiled sheepishly. "Just thinking about a physics experiment... Sorry... Didn't hear you come in..." He gave me a brief nod and kept on going. "Phew!" I thought. "I'll have to be more careful!" After dinner I showed dad Melanie's latest letter. My dad had grunted and shook his head during Melanie's first letter, but this one he read in silence and was absolutely motionless. When he looked up at me at the end, there was a tear in his eye. He shook his head. "Talk about a pact with the devil... She made a deal with a pair of 'em... We guessed wrong... about Romeo and Juliet... Melanie and I both guessed wrong..." "Huh?" "This is more Faust than Shakespeare. Eric, think! Her parents don't really hate you particularly. They would hate anybody that would allow Melanie to be independent of them." I shrugged. "Well, they're sending her to Harvard. That's Melanie's path to independence." My dad frowned. "Yeah... Hell! That doesn't fit the pattern at all! I wonder..." He was silent for a long time. "Eric?" "Yeah?" "We never really talked about this, about Melanie. But from her letters... I don't mean to pry, but... How serious are you two about each other?" I was my turn to be silent for a while. "We love each other. I think of her as my girlfriend, and she thinks of me as her boyfriend. We haven't made any life commitments. We both feel we're not mature enough for that. And we haven't gotten physical with each other, we really haven't. We both want to be more gentle with each other first. Melanie calls it emotional intimacy. We want to develop that first... I guess that's where we are dad..." My dad nodded and gave me a kind smile. "Sounds like I should expect Melanie to be my daughter-in-law someday..." "Well... It's still uncertain of course... But yeah... Melanie and I have been dreaming about that since Junior High..." Our conversation ended soon after. Dad went back to his project of re-grouting the floor tiles in the kitchen, and I went upstairs to finish an English paper that was due the next day. We both sacked out a little after 10 PM. ------- Chapter 6 Time: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 7:40 AM Eastern Standard Time I was riding in the school bus, sitting by myself, feeling a bit tired. I didn't get much sleep the previous night, thinking about Melanie. I had a paper clip in my hand, and I began idly playing with it, stretching it out into a straight wire... I did a spot check on my sense-sphere, 1.196 meters. I've gotten very good at self- testing; I don't need a ruler anymore. Then I went back to trying to push the paper clip down into my finger, and then up. Could I feel the difference? Maybe... Well, maybe not... I tried combining my two abilities, my ability to zoom in for detail and my ability to PUSH... Things felt weird for a while, weird... then really weird... and then... I could see it! No, not see it, feel it, sense it. The paper clip wasn't just simple metal. It was made of a very rigid frame holding a light but very stiff fluid. I suddenly realized that that stiff fluid-like substance must be the free electron population in the metal. I couldn't focus on individual electrons, not even close, probably by twenty orders of magnitude, but I could feel the population. My sense for detail was now allowing me to feel the electron population as a distinct fluid, very light, much lighter than the atomic frame... Could I PUSH it? Just the fluid? I tried. It was totally impossible. It suddenly occurred to me the fluid had nowhere to go. I bent the straight wire into a circle and tried again. It worked! As I stared at the wire I could feel the effort, sense the electron fluid spinning round and round. Fascinating... "Eric my man! You on drugs or something?" I looked up. "Oh, hi Bob! No, just wool gathering. Ready for the math test today?" I spent the remainder of the trip chatting with a friend. I had a free period that morning. Our history teacher was out sick and the sub hadn't shown up either. The class was asked to go study in the library. I ran ahead and managed to get one of the computer spots. Something dad had said last night about Harvard not fitting the pattern was bugging me. I wanted to look something up. I spent part of my time looking up contact information for Harvard's Registrar Office, and another chuck of time thinking about pushing electrons in wires. About fifteen minutes before the period ended, I slipped out of the library and headed over to the deserted physics lab. I was in luck. The door was unlocked. There was a nice multi-meter on a lab bench there, locked down so nobody could walk off with it but still usable. I grabbed a 4.7 k- ohm resister and a short piece of medium-gauge copper wire. I connected the wire to both ends of the resister, and then clipped the multi-meter probes to both connection points. I turned the meter to read DC voltage. It showed 0.000 volts. Well, that made sense... I looked at the clock, 11:20 AM. I probed my sense-sphere. 1.2 meters exactly, as far as I could tell. And then I locked the electrons in the copper wire and I PUSHED, as hard as I could. I could sense them flowing. I glanced over at the multi-meter. It was registering 1.004 volts. I smiled and let go of the electron-fluid and the meter dropped to zero. I put everything back and went to my next class. I did a short calculation. Power equals voltage squared divided by resistance, so my current maximum power output was 2.15 mW. So... I must have been barely able to do my acceleration experiment last night... Rather than eat lunch I went outside the school building and got out my cell phone. It was time to verify something. I called up the Harvard Bursar Office. At first they didn't want to talk with me, even after I gave them Melanie's student ID and social security number. But then I said I wanted to pay for Melanie's tuition deposit, and the guy went to get his supervisor. "Who is this?" a woman's voice asked a short time later. I decided to play it straight. I introduced myself as a close friend of Melanie who wanted to cover any payment issues there might be with Melanie's enrollment. We talked for a minute, and then the woman decided to level with me. "We've sent so many notices! The deposit was required to be here by the end of January. There's a one-month grace period, but it's a strict cut-off after that. Melanie's enrollment is about to be terminated." I blinked. "She'll lose her option for early decision?" "No. Regular enrollment is a completely different rotation. She's about to lose her chance to come to Harvard period." "Oh my gosh," I said without thinking. "Can I wire you the money?" "Yes. It absolutely has to be here by tomorrow though, $11,984." I let out an explosive gasp. I was still thinking in terms of an application deposit. "Uh, could you break that down for me?" "Sure. The charges for the first year will be..." and then she read me a list of numbers. "$24,707 tuition, $4,461 Room, $3,945 Board, $1,082 Health Services, and $1,755 misc. fees. The first third was due in January, then two payments of $11,983 each are due the end of May and mid September. You want a breakout of the fees?" "Uh, no, that's okay..." I thanked her in a daze. Fortunately I was with it enough to get all the bank routing codes and account numbers I would need to wire the money. The Bursar also asked for my contact information. Right before I was about to hang up, I said, "May I ask? Wasn't there a payment sent in January?" There was a pause on the line and then a grunt. "I remember this one. We sent our final notice over a week ago! All the paperwork on the acceptance form was fine. But there was a stop-payment order on the check." "Ah... Will you be sending a letter to Melanie's parents about this new payment?" "Well... Normally the receipt notice just goes to the person paying the bill. Do you want one to go to Melanie's parents too?" "Uh, no actually, I guess not." "Hmmm. Okay. Then their next notice from us will be in mid April, for the May payment." "Uh, could you send that to me instead?" There was a long pause. "That's not normal... But parents putting a stop-payment order on a tuition check isn't normal either..." There was another long pause. "Done. Expect to see the bill by April 15'th." I thanked her and hung up, and spent the rest of the school day doing a lot of soul searching. I told everything to my dad that evening, as we were washing the dinner dishes. I must say, he didn't seem too surprised, at least about the lack of payment from Melanie's parents. He sighed as he dried a pot. "Now that I think about it, I seem to recall something similar happened to Patricia. There was some registration mix-up, and she missed going to college right after high school. I can't remember the particulars..." I stared at him. "I didn't know that. I don't think Patty ever did go to college." "No, I don't think she did either... Eric, after we finish here, let's sit down and talk." A short time later we were in the living room, dad was just sitting and smiling at me. I realized he wanted me to take the lead in the conversation. "Dad, do I have your permission to pay for Melanie's tuition?" "Do you need my permission?" "Well... No... But I'd like to have it just the same." "Then go to it!" My dad laughed and then thought of something. "Actually, maybe you do need my permission. I'll pick you up at school during lunch, drive you to the bank. The bank will probably consider tomorrow the day before your birthday. They might still think of you as a minor." "Thanks..." I leaned back in my chair and sighed, mentally going over my finances. Mom had a $50,000 straight term life insurance policy which she left to dad. She also had a $300,000 accidental death policy which listed dad and me as equal beneficiaries. Dad had assured me he'd pay for any undergrad program I wanted. Mom and Dad had already saved up for that. I had thought with my $150,000 and all the other money I've saved up, I would come out of college in fine shape. But four years of paying for Melanie would really take a bite out of my savings... "Well, worst case scenario, we both graduate with still a little money and no debt. That's not so bad." My dad frowned at me. "Don't jump the gun Eric." "Huh?" "Eric, Melanie needs to learn how to be independent, not jump from being dependent on her parents to being dependent on you." "But?! Didn't you and mom depend on each other?" My dad laughed. "Sure! After we were married! Son, think! How can Melanie freely decide to marry you, if she has no other option?" Dad's point left me thunderstruck. "Holy shit! I didn't think of it like that..." "Don't get me wrong Eric, I'm not trying to tell you how to spend your money. But I would think Melanie will qualify for financial aid once she can document her parents have abandoned her. You might just have to pay for the first year." My dad paused. "I'm not trying to tell you who not to marry either. What I'm trying to say is, help her stand on her own two feet first... Eric..." "Yeah dad?" "If things get tight, come and talk to me. Assuming you two stay together, medical school for Melanie might be a big expense. I'd like to help." My dad sighed. "You'll probably wind up borrowing from the bank for most of it. That would be normal, and nobody will be loaning me money to retire on. Still, I'd like to help." I nodded gratefully, and got to thinking. Even with Melanie's expenses, boy, I couldn't complain. And my new abilities, so amazing... Any way of turning them into money? I had to smile. No combination lock could withstand me. Are there legal ways of turning my abilities into money? There must be something! No, I guess I shouldn't worry about money after all... ------- Chapter 7 Time: Saturday, March 23, 2002 1:30 PM I'm riding a bus over to a service center to pick up my car. I want it to be in good shape for my trip to Illinois next weekend. I'm getting some new tires and an alignment, new front and rear brake pads and shoes and an oil change. My car is a simple 1998 Chevy Cavalier that I bought used last year. It's never given me any trouble, and I try to take good care of it. I bought myself a multi-meter a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to track the growth of my power output on a daily basis, and didn't want to risk getting caught in the High School physics lab alone. What would be my reason for being there? My power output has been growing rapidly, much faster than the expansion of my sense sphere. The force I can exert on objects is also increasing, at a rate just a bit slower than my power growth rate. At 11:30 this morning, I measured: My sense-sphere radius was 2.024 meters, still doubling every 31 days and 20 hours. My maximum power output was 19 mW. I pushed the voltage across the 4.7k-ohm resistor up to 9.45 volts. My power growth rate is a clean exponential, with a doubling time of 7 days and 15 hours. And my maximum force is about 0.0027 Newtons, as close as I can measure it, nine times stronger than when I first discovered it with the paper clip. I'm guessing it's also exponentially growing, with a doubling rate of 7 days and 23 hours. I built a torsion scale in my bedroom to measure this. A stiff steel wire with another stiff wire crossing it at the bottom. I push against the tip of the horizontal cross piece, torquing the main vertical wire, and the maximum angle of my push give me my force. Last week I indulged myself and bought a high-tech min-flashlight. It runs six high- output white LEDs with 1.4 Watts from a single AA Li-battery, providing 50 lumens of light, 250 candlepower. It's not much compared to a light-bulb. A 100 Watt light-bulb produces 1600 lumens. But for a really tiny flashlight, 250 candles isn't bad. According to my graphs, I should be able to generate 1.4 Watts in less than two months, May 9'th at 9 PM. Man, that would be so cool, lighting up the flashlight all by myself! And if not, well, I've bought myself a $60 toy... A guy with a really ugly boom-box boards the bus and sits right next to me. He had the thing blaring, and looked even uglier than the box, a real mean-looking biker dude. He was snarling and trying to make eye contact with anybody who would dare look at him. I don't back down from necessary fights, but I really don't like to fight. I thought about putting up with the noise and just letting the matter go. My stop was only about ten minutes away. But I got to thinking... The boom-box was in his lap, the speakers pointing right at me, a little less than two meters away and just within my sphere of influence. Hmmm... I started probing the box, tracing the circuitry. My ability to zoom into details is growing exponentially too, though I haven't thought of a good way to measure it. If I had to guess, I could focus down to about 300 micrograms. I isolated a single input on a chip in the boom box. I traced the wire coming out of the chip on the printed circuit board and then PUSHED 19 mW in the opposite direction. The awful rap music continued with the same volume, but it suddenly started to sound very hissy. The biker dude looked down at his box and frowned and started trying to tune the station. I let go after a moment, and the hiss went away. Another idea had occurred to me. I zoomed down with my sense as tight as I could go. At maximum magnification, it was a sphere of about 300 microns radius, and I zoomed right into a transistor-rich region of the micro-chip. And then I pushed that sphere with everything I had, 0.0027 Newtons. I felt my target area zip away from me in an instant and the boom-box went silent. The biker dude looked extremely, extremely annoyed and I turned away from him so he wouldn't see me smiling. I got to thinking about what I had just done. Holy shit! I had probably PUSHED that micro-sphere of transistors with hundreds of gravities of acceleration. Where the hell did it go?! Grateful that I didn't seem to have injured anybody, I got off the bus a few minutes later. Time: Thursday, March 28, 2002 11:47 AM I picked a quiet area outside the main cafeteria area to eat my lunch. I wanted to be able to talk in private if my cell phone started to ring... I checked my power level this morning at 6 AM, 11.73 volts on my multi-meter, 29 mW, right on track. Last Saturday night, I also did a few calculations on the boom-box micro- chip I destroyed. My best guess is I accelerated my micro-sphere for about one millisecond at about 1,000 gravities and then hit my power limit. At that time it had probably moved 2.6 mm and was moving around 16 mph relative to the rest of the chip. So, my micro bowling ball probably never left the chip. I've got to watch myself though, and think through the implications of what my capabilities are before I try new stuff... Sunday and Monday I started having a lot of second thoughts about going to Illinois this weekend. Melanie turns eighteen on Monday. I certainly don't want to drive off with her before that. Until Monday, she's still her parents' minor child, and I'm a legal adult now. I could probably be arrested. But even after Monday... I kept thinking... Melanie still needs her High School diploma. Her parents might be totally wacko, but they also have a lot of power in town. Maybe it would be better for Melanie to continue her ruse for another two months and peacefully pick up her diploma. But then again, I don't know how bearable her situation is. I kept re-reading her letters, and finally decided I needed some input from her. I decided to ignore her request not to ask for some third-party help... Greg was my closest friend at Sterling High and a good friend of Melanie's too. I swore him to secrecy and told him about Melanie's act and how her parents had almost succeeded in sabotaging her enrollment at Harvard. He was stunned, and then readily agreed to slip Melanie his cell phone if he got the chance. A few minutes after noon on the 28'th, my cell phone started to ring. My hand was shaking so badly I had trouble answering it. "Eric?" It was a whisper, Melanie's voice! "Yes! Are you safe to talk?" "Yes, for a few minutes. I'm very grateful to two old friends. Jason is usually guarding me, but Greg got his sister to make a fake pass at him, and Jason's gonads won out over the money he's getting from my dad to monitor me. Greg is nearby right now, keeping watch for him." "Jason? Oh shit, not C.J.?!" Melanie laughed. "Yes, Creep Jason! How did you guess?" "Hell... Melanie, I've got some important news to tell you..." I spent the next few minutes describing the situation with Harvard. There was silence on the line when I finished. "Melanie?" "My God... my God Eric," Melanie whispered. "I'm living with monsters! Cruel and manipulative monsters..." "No argument from me on that one..." "Eric, this changes everything! What should I do?! Wait! Eric! I can't accept you paying for Harvard!" "Sure you can. Melanie, I'll help you move out of your parents' house on Monday if you want, or do you want me to wait until you graduate?" Melanie paused, and then gave a soft whisper. "Oh Eric, I love you!" "I love you too." "... This changes everything... My gosh Eric... Uh, wait till I graduate. Can you come to my commencement?" "Count on it!" "Okay! I will! What?!" I heard her call out, probably to Greg. "Eric, I have to go! Bye!" I sat nervously for ten minutes before I got another call. It was Greg's voice. "Eric?" "Yeah. Everything cool?" "Yep. Mission accomplished." I breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Greg, thanks a million. Thank Lisa for me too." "Thank her yourself. She's right here..." "Lisa?" "Eric! You and Melanie owe me big-time! I almost had to let C.J. start pawing me to keep him distracted!" "Shit! Really?!" "Yes, really. He is a true creep! But I'm just joking about a debt. I was glad to help. Uh, my brother wants his phone back." "Greg? I can't" "Oh hell Eric, don't mention it. Really. I just wanted to let you know, Melanie got back under C.J.'s radar without being discovered. I had the chance to tell her if she ever wanted my phone again, just to make eye contact with me." "Greg, you the man." "Glad to help, ole buddy. Hell Eric, this situation is right out of a horror novel." "I agree." "Don't worry about Lisa or me. We will be tombstones about this. One more thing. Melanie had a chance to hand me her social security ID. She asked me to mail it to you." We chatted for a few more minutes and then Greg had to go. I felt incredibly relieved, and then a little foolish that I didn't try to do this earlier. Having two friends in Sterling helping us was such an enormous benefit. I stared at my cell phone and realized my hand was still shaking. ------- Chapter 8 Time: 12:03 AM Friday, May 31, 2002, DeKalb Illinois I had checked into a motel late Thursday night, shortly before 11 PM, an hour's drive east of Sterling. I had been on the road since early morning, had driven close to 800 miles, and now I was lying in bed trying to get some rest. Melanie's commencement is tomorrow, two days after mine. No, wait. It's after midnight. Her commencement is later today. I still don't know how events will play out, but I'm hoping Melanie and I will drive back to Pennsylvania. My sensing and pushing abilities have continued to grow. I can now sense things from 9 meters away, exert a force of 1.05 Newtons, and generate over 9.5 Watts of power. I found I really don't need my expensive flashlight. I can just lock 2 cubic mm of air and pour 9.5 Watts of power into it, raising the temperature to 4000C in a millisecond. The incandescence is quite brilliant. I've come to realize that I can be quite deadly to anyone within my sphere, lock and fry their heart pacemaker tissue in an instant. I've vowed to myself never to use my powers to attack anyone's body unless it were truly a life-or-death situation. I felt exhausted from the drive. I had a concern I'd be so worried about Melanie, I wouldn't be able to sleep, but I soon met her in my dreams... The commencement was unreal. Melanie was valedictorian, and had asked to speak at the very end of the program, after the diplomas were handed out. Graduation papers in hand, she went on stage and gave an incredible speech, stressing the importance of both self-esteem and love for others, the importance of both courage and consideration, and how utterly she had personally failed these ideals. She described how her parents had been manipulating her and degrading her for months, how she had allowed them to strip her of her dignity, and then she denounced them for trying to sabotage her enrollment at Harvard. Both her parents started screaming at her from their seats. Her dad was incoherent, and her mom was screaming that Melanie was committing slander. He parents then both stormed out of the hall. The rest of the auditorium remained sitting stunned and silent. Melanie finished her speech, bidding her friends goodbye and walked off the stage. She handed her graduation robe to Lisa and then came straight to me. "Eric," she said simply, "Get me out of here." We got to my car in a tie with C.J., and he started standing in front of my driver's door, glaring at me and itching for a fight. "Eric, you piece of shit! You think you can just walk in here and steal my girl?! You pervert! She's promised to me!" Melanie shook her head in pity, "C.J., let go of your delusions." C.J. whipped his head around to Melanie and seemed to notice her for the first time. He seemed astonished by what she had just said. "Don't call me that, you bitch! My name is Jason!" I was confused by his words. He hadn't said Melanie belonged to him. He said Melanie was promised to him. Promised by whom? "Let it go, Jason," I finally said, trying to be reasonable. "There's nothing you can do to stop us from leaving, short of breaking the law, and Melanie's dad isn't paying you enough for that." C.J. turned back to me and shot me a look of wild hatred, and then threw a punch at me. I was more than half expecting it, and ducked and launched my counter-attack. I had scanned C.J. a moment before and knew he had a cheap butane lighter in his pants pocket underneath the graduation gown. I melted a hole near the top of the plastic lighter in less than two seconds, and my 10-Watt incandescent power point easily ignited the butane. C.J.'s expression flashed instantly from pure hatred to stark terror as he realized his pants were on fire. As C.J. was running around desperately trying to pull his pants off in the center of the street, Melanie and I jumped into my car and drove off. "Wow, that was fortunate," said Melanie. "What an incredibly lucky break." "... Yeah..." We were both too keyed up to start talking with each other. I just drove south over the bridge on Route 40, driving through Rock Falls to pick up I-88 East. One mile from the Interstate, I was stopped at a red light at the intersection of West Rock Falls Road, and I looked up into my rear-view mirror. I could not believe my eyes, the moment seemed completely surreal. Melanie's parents were right behind us. Melanie turned and saw them too and started to whimper. "It's okay, just relax!" I said. I probed their car and waited. Just as the light was about to turn, I fried the micro-chip controlling their electronic fuel-injection, and then calmly stepped on the gas a second later. The car behind me was dead in the street and the people further behind started honking. "Wow, that was fortunate," said Melanie, looking back and seeing her father open his car hood in the distance. Her mother was also out of the car, and she seemed to be gesturing wildly at both her husband and the traffic trying to pass them. "What?!" muttered Melanie. "Another incredibly lucky break?" She looked at me with a very confused expression. "Eric? Did you cause that?" "Uh..." I had promised myself I would never, ever lie to Melanie, no matter what. "Sort of. Don't ask me how, okay?" She stared at me in pure admiration. "Okay. Wow! Very professional Eric! I feel as if I'm in the middle of a Mission Impossible movie!" We got on I-88 a moment later and started heading East. We drove 400 miles that day, stopping only for short restroom breaks. I had box lunches for us already in the car. We finally stopped in Sandusky, Ohio, at a small hotel along the banks of Lake Erie. It was very pretty, and a bit off the beaten track. I thought it would be a good place for Melanie to unwind. My first thought was to rent two rooms for the night, but Melanie didn't want to be alone and we wound up renting one room with two queen-sized beds. Melanie was delighted that I had pajamas for her and two extra day outfits. I thought about basking in more of her adoration for a moment, and then confessed the clothes were my father's idea. We both took showers after checking in. Melanie spent a long time under the steaming hot water, and commented after she got out she hadn't felt this clean in a year. She looked so pretty in her new clothes, and we strolled along the promenade for a while, holding hands after sunset and watching the water as the evening twilight turned to night. We found a nice restaurant and had a light dinner. Afterwards we walked back to our hotel room and sacked out. Our conversations for the whole day had been caring and affectionate but also a bit light. I was sure Melanie was under a terrific strain, trying to adjust from all the horrors she went through, and wasn't ready to talk about them yet. For my part, I was hiding the fact that I had abilities that made me effectively non-human. I think we both sensed we were hiding major things from each other. It made things just a bit awkward. We changed for bed. I tried not to stare at her as she came out of the bathroom in her pajamas, but... Damn! She is so incredibly, incredibly beautiful. She still had a very fit body, even being off track she somehow managed to get in lots of exercise. She looked like an angel without a bra, her pajama top falling loosely around her taut breasts. I was already in my bed. She climbed into hers and turned off the lights, lying on her back, her head face up on the pillow. "Good night Melanie," I whispered. "I love you." "Goodnight, my love," she whispered in reply. She hadn't pulled the sheet up past her hips, and I lay there silently for a while, watching the rise and fall of her breasts as she breathed, overcome with emotions of wanting to care for her. After a while I turned over to give her some privacy. An hour passed, the room silent except for the soothing rush of coolness from the air conditioner. I thought I heard the softest of a whisper. "Asleep?" Did I just imagine it? "No..." I whispered back. I heard a rustle of Melanie leaving her bed, and then I shivered as she climbed into mine, curling up around my back. She petted the side of my hip for a while, loving caresses. Then she kissed the back of my neck and pulled me to turn to her. We were soon locked in a fierce embrace, more loving than passionate at first, but the sexual desire certainly was there on both sides and it was building. Melanie started to pant and I could feel her body shiver from her arousal. We stroked each other's bodies through our pajamas. Melanie was on her back, an arm under me holding me to her, and I was lying on my side against her. I could feel my stiff penis pressing into the side of her hip, and I was delighted she didn't mind. My throat caught as I realized Melanie was welcoming my arousal. We were kissing, sweet and playful kisses drifting in and out of passion, rubbing noses and exploring each other's lips with our tongues. My hand was caressing her ribs and stomach, and in one deep kiss I was overwhelmed with desire for her and my hand came up and cupped her breast. Melanie shivered and then nodded her head fiercely. I broke our kiss with a gasp, so many emotions swirling in my mind, all the desires, so strong and so beautiful. I began stroking the softness within my hand. It was the first time I had ever felt a girl's breasts. So soft, so beautiful, so mysterious, all softness and warmth and the swollen points of her aroused nipples rubbing against the palm of my caress. "Eric?" Melanie whispered. "Yes?" "Do you want to take me? Tonight?" "... I love you..." Melanie snuggled against me. "And I love you... What would you like?" I cried. I actually gave out a cry, not loud but primal, a direct protest from the core of my soul, protesting the conflict between my overwhelming sexual desire to mount and enter Melanie and my overwhelming desire to be gentle and care for her. In a gasping breath, I replied, "We should wait... I love you... so dearly... I don't want to hurt you..." Melanie cried back and nodded, kissing me and whispering, "Thank you! I couldn't bear to deny you my body, but... Thank you for waiting..." Her body started shaking. We cuddled for a while, feeling each other shiver through our pajamas. Melanie smiled at me with tears in her eyes. "And thank you for loving me... There's so much I have to tell you... So much horror I have to tell you..." She curled against me and cooed, trying to unwind from her arousal. I suddenly realized I could smell her, smell her wet desire for me between her legs. This beautiful, most precious creature in my arms... My hand drifted down from her breasts. She is so perfect! I started to caress her stomach again while we kissed, dropping the caress to stroke the lean and fit abdominal muscles below her stomach. Melanie giggled. "Yes, right there!" she whispered. "Without you, I'd be in a lot of trouble, right there, probably right about now..." "Huh?" "Here, let me show you..." she whispered. She took my hand in hers. "Stretch out a couple of fingers..." She took my outstretched hand and slipped it underneath her pajama bottoms. I could feel the rich brush of her coarse pubic hairs sliding along the side of hand. My fingers were pressing down into her body on one side of the front of her pelvis, near her hip bone. "That's right, right there..." Melanie whispered. "Push down. Feel that? That's my left ovary. I felt it twitch yesterday. I think I'm rolling an egg, right now, along here... Feel that? Feel the Fallopian tube? Feel how it joins with the top of my uterus?" I was both aroused and fascinated. Without thinking I probed with my sense, clearly seeing in my mind and tracing with my fingers the intimate core of Melanie's reproductive system. I felt overwhelmed that she was sharing such intimacy with me. "Yes, I feel it," I whispered back. Melanie shuddered. "Eric, if it weren't for you, I'd probably be getting raped and impregnated right now." "Huh?... WHAT?!" "My parents... It was your call and my eighteenth birthday party that finally opened my eyes to the true horror of my parents..." Melanie sighed and stretched out and began caressing the back of my neck. She began opening up to me. "My birthday party was surreal. Mom and dad invited a some stuck-up couples and a whole bunch of unattached boys, none of whom I liked. The boys were shockingly rude, demanding to kiss the birthday girl and pinching my ass when they did. And then C.J., C.J. no less!, would come to my rescue and break it up." I grunted. "C.J. to the rescue, huh?" Melanie giggled. "Yes. It was no less ridiculous in real life either. And my mom and dad fawned on C.J. at the end of the party too, thanking him for taking such good care of me. I had known for months he was head coordinator of the boys who were keeping track of me at school. Everything was so fake, so pathetic. Oh, Eric! I'm so sorry I didn't write you more often last year. It's just that I was almost never free from observation." "Hey! I understand completely. Melanie, what you went through is beyond my imagination. You don't know how much respect I have for you, even to survive..." Melanie leaned up and kissed me, and then settled back in my arms and continued. "These last two months, my parents were dropping so many stupid hints, about what a fine young man Jason was, and how lucky I would be if I could somehow get him to take me as his girlfriend. At first the suggestions sounded so ridiculous I thought my parents were joking, even though that would have been way out of character. But they were serious..." Melanie sighed and was silent for a moment, reliving the memories. "Ever since my party, my mom has been keeping an inventory on my bedroom, looking through my trashcan and keeping track of my supply of maxi-pads in my desk. I finally realized what was going on. She was timing my ovulation cycle, trying to calculate when I would be fertile..." The horror of what Melanie went through finally dawned on me. I nuzzled the side of her head and gently kissed her. "My God Melanie..." "Yeah... A steady drumbeat over the last two months, how lucky I would be if I captured Jason, how happy my parents would be for me, and did I want to invite him over in the evenings to watch some movies? Such a fine young man, and I should feel so fortunate he was interested in me. My parents said they would help me if I wanted to date him. Have him come over for dinner and maybe a movie, they kept saying. I knew my parents would then find some excuse to slip out of the house for a while..." Melanie started to shiver. I held her close and kissed her. "My God Melanie... How did you survive?" "I kept saying I was very unsure about dating, how inexperienced I was with boys, how much I wanted to talk to my school counselor about the idea. That put mom off for a while, but just barely." Melanie shivered. "I finally had to negotiate. I agreed to evenings with Jason as long they started after my graduation. I think mom calculated I would be isolated from my High School friends and it also would be perfect timing with my fertility cycle. She accepted my condition..." "It was a perfect setup for my parents Eric! I suspect they were going to pay Jason to fuck me silly over the summer. He must have thought it was the perfect job! And if I had got pregnant through consensual sex, C.J. would just take off and I would stay home with my parents to have the baby. And if I resisted his advances, Jason would rape me and, well, it would have been my word against his and both my parents. And the scandal would also keep me home." "The only remaining possibility would be Jason fucking me the whole summer and not getting me pregnant. Who knows what would have happened then? Maybe my parents would have accused me of being a slut and canceled Harvard for that reason. Anyway you look at it, I would be at home next year, and it would be all my fault." "Melanie," I whispered, kissing her and stroking her abdomen. "I'm so glad we waited. It's not just not having children. Sharing our bodies without commitment... real committment..." "I know... I'm glad we're waiting too. I just didn't want to refuse you of anything. I can't tell you how happy I am, that you rescued me, and that you love me..." Melanie cooed and sighed and then was very still, falling asleep in my arms. I stared at her for a long while, an angel so infinitely precious, sleeping peacefully in my arms. ------- Chapter 9 Time: Thursday, July 4, 2002 10:43 PM I kissed Melanie goodnight and walked back to my own house. We were coming back from a fireworks display and my dad had dropped us off at her apartment. I couldn't be happier. I have a girl who loved me, an exciting future at M.I.T. starting in two months, and unbelievable kinetic powers. The world is my oyster! Melanie got a summer job at Reading Eagle, the local newspaper. She started as a part- time proof-reader, and the editorial staff was so impressed with her they also hired her as a junior reporter. She's now working 40+ hours a week and loving it. She now has her own room that's she's renting, her own bank account, and a decent set of IDs, including originals of her birth certificate and a PA driver's permit. It's been a wonderful experience for both of us, living near each other now and preparing for college together. And my kinetic abilities are growing right on schedule. My sphere of influence now has a radius of over 19 meters. I can generate a 22 Newton force and 229 Watts of power. And I just used my power tonight to commit a crime. After I got back home, I said goodnight to dad and closed the door of my room. I pulled out the dark-brown envelope and stared at it. My great accomplishment! At least, that's the way I was thinking about it when I pulled my heist. But now? My conscience was starting to bother me, and I couldn't figure out why... It was just before the finale at the fireworks display. There were a couple of tough looking guys standing against a wall sixty feet away, just inside my sphere of influence. I thought they looked like drug dealers, and I probed the duffle bag on the ground between the legs of one of them. I was right. It was filled with tiny quantities of powder wrapped in clear plastic. I was disgusted. I probed further. There was an envelope filled with cash. I didn't probe for how much exactly, but it looked like a lot. And then the fireworks finale started, and the ground was shaking from the explosions overhead. On the spur of the moment, I saw my chance. It was so simple to unzip the bag with a few Newtons of force, float the envelope up, re-zip the bag, and then float the envelope along the ground to my feet. And then, on a particularly big boom, I floated the envelope up my pants leg. So now here I was, alone in my bedroom with the fruits of my victory. I shrugged off my nagging conscience and began to count. After a few minutes I had two piles of money before me. One pile consisted of the loose bills in the envelope, two $100 bills, three $50's, eight $20's, two $10's, one $5, and two $1 bills, for a subtotal of $537. My second pile came from a stack of $20's neatly bound with rubber bands. I counted them twice. They had random serial numbers, but were all neatly stacked and sorted face up, exactly 100 bills, $2000. So, a total of $2,537, a nice pile of money, and the fact that most of it was in common twenties was also nice. I felt very confident I could spend it off gradually during the summer and dad and Melanie would never notice. And I was hurting a business that was killing people. I should feel great! And Melanie and I were going shopping in Philadelphia center city on Sunday afternoon. I could buy her a nice present! And yet... somehow... I decided to ignore my uncertainty. I got up and stood on the scale in my room, 169 lb. And then I PUSHED myself, and I weighed 164 lb, and then I changed directions and weighed 174 lb. Cool... Over the last few days, I've been doing this when I walk, lifting myself up. I like the way it feels, having a touch lighter step. If my power grows much stronger though, I'll have to be careful. I certainly don't want to have anybody see me violating gravity with my gait. I hid the money in my closet and went to bed, just lying there and thinking for a while. It was a hot night outside and I started to boost the power flowing into the central air conditioner, taking 229 Watts of load off the house's electric meter. It was so easy to do, I could do it in my sleep. And last night, I did. I had been experimenting in the end of June, trying to teach myself how to generate AC power and not just DC. I could regulate the voltage amplitude fine, but the frequency! I was all over the map at first, sliding between 40 and 90 Hertz. I finally had the brilliant idea of letting the power grid teach me how to do this. I worked on just boosting the existing power grid in the house. Within an hour, I had the Hertz problem licked. When I'm on my own, I can now stay between 59 and 61 Hertz easily, and with an external grid, it's a piece of cake to just synch to the existing sloshing rhythm of the electrons. I lay in bed tossing and turning. Sleep would not come. I glanced at the clock, forty minutes past midnight. I idly checked my power output to the house, 230 Watts. I sighed and admitted defeat. I would think about my theft of the $2,537. Why was it bothering me? Did the drug dealers deserve to keep the money? No. Did I deserve to keep the money? If not, who does? These last two questions didn't seem to have a clear moral answer, and that bothered me. I had struck a blow against drug dealers! But I was also profiting from the drug trade... Was my theft an act of justice, or just cheap advantage? Should I donate the money to charity? Would that really absolve me of what I had done? I tossed and turned and remembered another moral dilemma I struggled with a month ago. It was a couple of days after Melanie and I got to Pennsylvania, and I was wondering about my pledge not to attack anyone with my kinetic powers. In my fight with C.J., I'm sure I caused at least a minor burn on his thigh. What about my pledge? Somehow I was at peace with breaking my pledge, but why? After a long time thinking, I finally decided that clarity of moral purpose can be a surprisingly elusive concept. It's not really the acts themselves. It's the attitudes behind the facts... I looked again at the clock, 1:40 AM. Hell... Power check, 231 Watts... I sighed and thought to myself, "Eric, stop this! You have work tomorrow! Get some sleep! You need a decision about the money? Fine! Keep the money! Buy Melanie a nice present! Buy dad a nice present too! Get some gas for your car! Now go to sleep!" And that's what I did. I thought I would do a lot more thinking though, before I stole from drug dealers again. ------- Chapter 10 Time: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 7:07 AM I stayed in bed a few minutes after my alarm went off, just stretching and thinking. Today's the day! I went over and hopped on the scale before I got dressed, 167 lb. Okay... I pushed up as hard as I could. The scale looked like it went to zero. Yes! I'm still on track! According to my calculations, I should be able to push with 738 Newtons now. Just another hour to go, and I will have crossed the Rubicon. I pushed again and walked around the room playfully, enjoying the soft feel of my feet brushing lightly against the carpet with 1 lb of weight. This was so cool! This close to my "ground zero", I could already tell what being able to fly would feel like. It would not be like being a weightless balloon. I still have my full mass and inertia. Instead, I imagined my body as a 3-D car, and I would soon be able to "drive" it wherever I wanted my body to go, even straight up. So incredibly cool! I wanted this so badly, I started to fret a bit over the last few days, thinking that if fate dealt me a joker and stopped the growth of my power just below flying abilities... well, how much could I diet? But now it seemed all those worries were just idle thoughts. I was so close! Everything else is also progressing on schedule. My sphere of influence is over 46 meters, and my power output is 8.91 kW. I had just tested it before getting up. I had pushed the thermostat on our 200-liter water heater to off last night, and then spent twenty minutes heating it by 13C this morning before switching the dial back on. Hot morning showers for everybody, on the house! Courtesy of... Courtesy of what? Not of whom, of what? It was a deep problem, and one I had no idea how to explore. All this energy! Where was it coming from?! Did energy have to come from anywhere? I used to think so. All the people who write physics books think so, that energy can be transformed, but total energy can be neither created nor destroyed. ... nor destroyed... That's my latest trick, to jiggle electrons and lattices not just to add heat but to jiggle out of phase with existing jiggles and cool down. It would take more concentration, but if I wanted to, I could now pull heat out of the water heater just as fast as I pumped it in. Pull it out to... to oblivion. There was something deeply disturbing about feeling the heat had to go somewhere, yet observing that it just disappeared. I've got an interesting job this summer, helping to build homes. I was hired as temporary labor by a non-union outfit. That fact disturbed my dad a bit, but finding a summer job around here with just a high-school diploma is tough, and in the end my dad agreed. My foreman now thinks of me as absolute gold. I started the summer helping the framers. But for the last couple of weeks my new job is lugging 80-lb bags of shingles up ladders to the roofers. The crew knows I'll be leaving for M.I.T. the end of next week, and they're all telling me how they'll cry when I go. My job also raised another interesting moral issue for me. What if somebody slipped off the roof and was heading to his death or at least a horrible injury? I figured I shouldn't try to decide about this at the moment of crisis, but think the issue through beforehand. It didn't take long. The answer was blindingly obvious. There is no way I could ever live with myself if I idly watched someone die. And I'd still have a bit of cover. Nothing would tie the "miracle" to me particularly. Still, I'm so glad I haven't had to do it... Time: Sunday, September 1, 2002 11:40 AM I was sitting alone in my MIT dorm, looking over my textbook for the phys/calc course I'd soon be taking. I thought I'd do fine. I sighed and stared out the window at Boston on the other side of the river... I arrived a week ago, and was very lucky with the dorm lottery, getting a double facing the river. The freshman orientation week has been so interesting! And in a few days the classes would start for real. I couldn't wait. I felt as if I belonged here, as if I always belonged here. I felt surrounded by incredibly bright people, even my roommate Ray, a little immature but so incredibly bright... The campus seemed both magical and like a second home, and I loved it. Melanie is similarly thrilled about Harvard. We went to dinner in Boston and the theater last night, saw a live performance of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Fabulous stuff! Boston is a Mecca. You just don't get this quality of theater about Reading! We came back to Cambridge on the Redline. There's no way I'd want to keep a car around here, especially as a student. And with all the public transportation, I didn't need one. So I sold my car when... I looked back from the window and around my dorm room. "What the hell?! What was that?!" It was as if I were driving a car and hit an unexpected pothole. I got up and walked around the room, feeling queasy but not knowing why. Suddenly, I had a shock of a premonition. I confirmed it within an hour. At 11:42 AM that morning, my kinetic powers seemed to have reached their limits. Time: Sunday, 2:35 AM, December 1, 2002 It was an absolutely miserable night out, fog mixing with cold drizzle, a wonderful time to stay inside and sleep in warm, comfortable beds. And I was expecting my roommate to be away on Thanksgiving vacation for another sixteen hours. This was exactly the opportunity I'd been waiting for... I was hovering fifty meters above the roof of a building, dressed in a jet black outfit and surrounded by fog. I was in the seediest part of Cambridge and believe me, Cambridge at its worst is pretty bad. Sixty meters below me and still nine meters within my sphere of influence was my target, a vault-room off the basement of a major druggie distribution node. I had sensed it by accident over a month ago. I was on a bus and it entered my sphere. I saw some very tough looking dudes enter a building and I probed, mostly just from idle curiosity, but what I saw shocked and disgusted me. Why was I doing this now? Well, to be honest, I must admit the money is a part of it. I enjoy living off an extra supply of cash. But I don't think it's just the money. It's my abilities. I remember my words to Professor Hanson. It seems like so long ago. I said that ability is not intent. But lately I've been thinking that's not quite true... My abilities hit a brick wall exactly three months ago. They've held steady but no further progress. Lately I've been brooding about them, wondering if they might start to decrease someday or even (horrors!) suddenly evaporate. How would I feel for the rest of my life, knowing that I had an opportunity to do something truly amazing, and had never seized the moment? I remember a quote from Mark Twain: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream." The basement area was deserted, and that suited my plans perfectly. All the guys with the guns, and there were a number of them, were asleep on the floors above. My planned extraction point was a small basement window, painted over with a dark green paint and less than one foot by one foot square, heavily grated and locked from the inside. I didn't expect it to be any problem at all. I sensed and pushed the dial around on the vault-room with ease. Once I had the massive door open, I starting floating my target merchandise out of the vault, leaving the guns and all the horrible poison behind. I stopped myself from giggling half way through. It looked so stupidly amusing! A long line of money-packs wrapped in cellophane, floating through the air one after another. It reminded me of a Disney cartoon. Where was Mickey with his wand? And those ingots! Gold? I decided to go for them too. I soon had a huge pile of very expensive merchandise lying on the floor below the small window. I quietly swung the vault door and spun the dial, only starting to pour in the heat after I was sure the vault was sealed. I am not an arsonist and I didn't want to injure anyone, not even the drug dealers. My current power limit is just shy of 46.5 kW, enough to raise the air temperature of the ten cubic meters of air in the vault room by about 6.5F every second. It doesn't require any power at all to hover, and a very minor amount to float the merchandise to the window. I started pushing the pins inside the locks securing the window grate. I pulled open the locks as quietly as I could and floated them to the floor. And then I just hovered silently and cooked the vault. Five minutes later the hottest air in the center of the vault reached 2000F. The air nearest the walls was a bit cooler due to the outward heat conduction, but I had succeeded in carbonizing all the poison. I took a moment to pour some power directly into the disks of the vault lock, sensing them glow red and soften and then start to drip and bend and fuse together, ruining the opening mechanism for the massive steel shanks securing the vault door. I went back to cooking the vault air as I started to swing the heavy window grate off its anchors. I didn't know if I could do this quietly or not, and I was prepared just let it crash to the floor and smash the merchandise through the window if I had to. But that proved unnecessary. I really wasn't expecting to do this whole job silently, but I suddenly realized I had my chance. I opened the small window, and one by one my packages slipped through it and up and into the two black duffle bags I had with me. "What the hell," I thought. "Why not? A nice touch!" As I floated the last of the goodies up to me, I also took the time to close the window. I then moved the grate up from the floor. I waited until I had all the goodies zipped up in my bags before I tried to attach the grate back to its anchors. It was no problem at all. I pushed the locks and snapped them back into position. The soft clicks of the snaps were probably the loudest sounds I made. I didn't realize it would be this easy. I hovered for another few seconds and considered. Another eight minutes had gone by, and the core air temperature of the vault was approaching 4000F. What the hell was I doing hanging around?! I shut down my power flow and zipped to my touchdown point at a very isolated spot on campus. It took a little longer than I was expecting, the extra weight of the ingots slowed me down. I was back in my dorm room by 3:40 AM, less than a half hour later. I was tired, but I knew I'd never sleep until I knew what I had reeled in. With my door locked and the window shades pulled, I sat on the floor and gloated over my haul. It was huge. I was ecstatic for a while, but then nervous as I realized I had stolen more money than I could possibly ever spend. The bulk of it was in U.S. currency, but there was also a surprising amount of the new euro money, including two prize packages of 1,000 500-euro notes each. Unlike my Fourth of July heist, most of my U.S. bills were in $100's, though the numerous stacks of $20's were still huge and must have been over a hundred thousand dollars. I suddenly realized I wasn't all that interested in counting it. I did a volume estimate by bill type. About $1,500,000 in U.S. and about the same value in euros, though the euros were a much smaller pile. And the ingots... I finally realized they were platinum, 108 ingots of pure 500-gram platinum, stamped with the mark of the Bank of Belarus... Hell... This isn't walking-around money... What the hell did I do? I put a few thousand dollars in my desk, and hauled out my empty foot-locker from the back of my closet, and just dumped everything else in there. With the locker back in the closet, I undressed and sacked out. And my moral justification for all this? It goes something like this: My society spends a lot of money trying to put these guys out of business. I didn't just rob them. I think I destroyed tens of millions of dollars of poison too, effectively doing what my society pays to have done anyway. I'm not a saint, but I think the bottom line question is: Is my society better or worse off because of what I had done? I think the answer is obvious. And I'm not even that hard on the dealers. They have a second chance. Perhaps they'll see what a crappy business they're in. It's their choice. ------- Chapter 11 Thirteen months later... Time: Thursday, January 1, 2004 12:03 PM My morning flight from Philadelphia into Logan Airport got in on time and I took public transportation back to campus. I was carrying two suitcases, and the new laptop I was lugging was quite heavy too. But I'm an expert now in taking weight off things that I'm carrying. I was maintaining a very normal looking gait, and the stroll back to my dorm room was easy and uneventful... So much has happened in the last year. It's been a whirlwind of activity and change. But the most important fact is that Melanie and I are drifting apart. We still love each other, there have been no fights, but our affection for each other seems to have evolved into more of a friendship kind of love. And I'm the cause of it. Brooding... Professor Hanson once asked me what I wanted out of life. I had no idea at the time what a profound question that was. I loved my role of being Melanie's knight in shining armor, but I struggled a lot with what I wanted our adult relationship to be, especially since I seem incapable of trusting her. Looking back, I think my one chance to treat her as an equal occurred shortly after I rescued her from Sterling. If I had to do it all over again, I would have told her about my kinetic abilities right then, got it over with. But I was so uncertain, so worried that she would think of me as non-human. And once I started the trend of not telling her, I became embarrassed about how I wasn't trusting her, which made it even more difficult to talk. How do you tell someone you love that you don't trust them? We still take time to see each other, even give each other goodbye pecks when we part. In fact, we have a "date" this Saturday night. The Rover Spirit is scheduled for touchdown on the Martian surface a half hour before midnight. M.I.T. has a direct feed from JPL coming into Kresge auditorium, and Melanie and I will watch and hope together. As for Melanie herself, I couldn't be more proud of her. She's secured her own package of scholarships and loans that will see her through to graduation; she is excelling in her classes and also one of Harvard's top athletes, she's... well, she's launched! She's a beautiful, accomplished young woman. And as for my kinetic abilities, rock solid for sixteen months now. I'm beginning to think of them as permanent. There's also one aspect of them that did not stop evolving... I sat idly at my desk, staring across the river. I haven't tested in several days. Time to practice! I picked a random micro-dot of air, and then started to zoom down. Within a second, I sensed my intended target, a single H2 hydrogen molecule. I could sense the quantum roughness of its existence, sense the rough dipole nature. I could sense it, but not lock it, not push it, not by itself. My limit for minimum mass for a lock was about 9.6e-27 kg, and my elusive target was three times smaller. After all this time, still another sixteen days to go... And as for my version of the Great Train Robbery? I still have it. I try to spend cash whenever possible, something Melanie finds a bit odd but I've given up trying to hide from her. I've done a bit of snooping, very discretely. My target that night turned out to be the Russian Mafia, and they are a powerful enemy. They know nothing of me, but they know they were attacked. They never found a trace of their platinum in the incinerated vault. I rode the bus route by their site for a while, just to scan them. It took them over two weeks to open the mess up... Oh Melanie, my heart still dreams of you... Time: January 4, 2004 1:15 AM "Want to come in? I could make some tea. It'll warm you up!" I looked at Melanie and smiled. "Sure! That's sounds great! Err... I don't want to disturb Betsy though..." Melanie gave me a thin smile as she unlocked her dorm door. "Oh, Betsy won't be back till Monday. Come on in!" I soon had a large mug of steaming English Breakfast in my hands. Melanie and I sipped our tea and chatted for a while about the success of the Spirit landing, and how our classes were going. Melanie is one of the top students of her class. I'm also doing fine, but not quite at that level. It had been pretty exciting, cheering the signal of a successful landing at Kresge, but shortly after midnight we both decided we were too sleepy to stay up for the videos. I walked her back to Harvard. Melanie took a long sip of her tea and changed topics. "So, how's your dad doing?" "Just great. He sends you his love. And he's got a girlfriend!" "Really?! Wow, that's great! Did you meet her?" "Oh yeah, a few times... She's very nice..." Melanie nodded, and then looked thoughtful. "Do you think it's serious?" "Well..." I thought for a moment and then smiled. "Yeah, maybe... It's pretty obvious they love each other. And they're both... well, yeah, it's probably serious." "Wow Eric... And how do you feel? Will it be like getting a new mom?" I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes and thought. "No," I said after a while, "More like getting a mother-in-law maybe, I don't know. Maybe if I were still a minor living at home, it'd be different..." I heard the squeak of Melanie's chair, she was getting up. I sighed. I thought Melanie was signaling it was time for me to leave. But then I felt her chair bump into mine, and she sat back down. "You look tired, Eric, and it's a cold night. You really didn't have to walk me back." "Ah..." I sighed. "I really enjoyed being with you again. We saw so little of each other last semester." Melanie sighed too. "Yes, I know. Life has gotten so incredibly busy for both of us..." "Still seeing Richard?" "Ah, Eric! Don't tease me! It was only one date! And no, we're just friends..." I nodded my head. I still had my eyes closed. I was relaxed and very sleepy and profoundly at peace, more so than I had been in a very long time. I felt Melanie's hand come and touch mine. I turned my hand palm up in invitation and we were soon holding hands. I sighed in contentment. We hadn't held hands in many months... "Eric..." Melanie whispered. "Hmmm?" "You look beat, and it's cold outside, and it'll take you forever to walk back to MIT. You want to sleep here tonight? In the chair, I mean." "Hmmm?" A long time seemed to flow by, both of us just sitting and holding hands. I felt so sleepy, and so, so relaxed. All the uncertainties of the future and kinetic abilities drifted away. The moment seemed filled with a sense of belonging, that I had found a true place to be... "So Eric, how do you feel..." Melanie paused. She had meant to add, "about staying here tonight", but she was starting to wonder if I were already asleep. Her question drifted down to my soul, below all my sleeping defenses and my shame of not trusting her. "I feel... I feel like home..." I muttered. "Huh?!" Melanie stared at me. She's so smart!... and empathic. She realized what had happened, that she had gotten an answer from the core of my thoughts. "Eric... Eric..." I opened my eyes and looked at her sleepily. Being alone with her, I felt so tired, and it felt so right to be with her... So late in the night, and I was in a profound state of peace. "Eric, you mean me, don't you? Am I home to you?" I nodded and smiled at her peacefully. I tried to focus... I was so sleepy. I tried to focus, and saw tears in her eyes. "Come on," Melanie said, pulling me out of my chair. "Lie down. Let me take off your shoes..." Time: Sunday morning, 7:14 AM, January 4, 2004 Melanie's dorm room faces due east, and the first rays of the rising sun caught and sparkled on the frost outside her window. I blinked my eyes awake at the light. It took me a moment to remember where I was. Melanie! I was lying down with her. She was sleeping by my side, the both of us squeezed together on her dorm bed. I was barefoot, but otherwise still dressed in my clothes from last night. No, wait... Melanie had taken off my belt too. I turned slowly and looked at her. She was dressed in pajamas, and stirred but did not awake. I could feel a bare foot rubbing against mine under the covers. I gazed at her in silence. This was only the second time we had ever lain down with each other. My heart ached as I watched her sleep, knowing how shy she was about sex, knowing that that this was the second time she had trusted me with her body by falling asleep with me. I couldn't bear the thought of not trusting her in return. The pain of not trusting her was finally overcoming my shame of not trusting her. I bent slightly and kissed her. She wiggled and sighed in contentment, and then I felt her body stiffen and she opened her eyes and looked at me. "This isn't a dream, is it?" she asked, and then smiled at me calmly. I shook my head. "It feels as magical as one, though..." Melanie cocked an eyebrow at me and then turned to lie on her side, propping her head on one hand and resting her other on my chest. "Eric..." "Yeah?" "Last night, I remember... what you said. I know you meant it then. But what about now?" I nodded. "I do. I mean it now too. Melanie?" "Yeah?" "I've been so incredibly stupid..." "You mean about not trusting me?" "You know, huh?" Melanie rolled her eyes at me. But I know her too well. It was a playful gesture. "Duh! Yah think?! Want to talk about it?" "Yes." "Really? Great! As a Star Trek Ferengi would say, I'm all ears!" I nodded. "I'm so embarrassed Melanie." "Oh, don't worry about that... Eric! You weren't... uh, there wasn't someone else, was there?" "Huh? Oh no..." "So what'd you do? Rob a bank?" "Well, no... Not a bank exactly." "Huh?!" "But it wasn't that. I was afraid..." Melanie looked at me quietly for a long time. And then she leaned over and kissed me. It was a wonderful kiss, nothing like the pecks of friendship we were giving each other last year. This kiss was long and slow and intimate and playful, full of forgiveness and intimacy and promise. When we finally broke apart we were both panting, but it was more from the emotional intimacy of the kiss than its physical arousal. Melanie smiled at me, and it was an expression of pure love. "Still afraid?" "No." "Good! But before... What were you afraid of?" "This is it!" I thought. "Eric, don't be a fool! Trust her!" I stared straight into her eyes, so she could see my sincerity, and whispered, "I was afraid you would think me non- human." Melanie looked puzzled. "Inhumane? Did you do something cruel?" "No, not inhumane, non-human..." I took a deep breath and started to talk. I will give Melanie enormous credit, she listened to me very politely, and she didn't even pull back from lying against me on the bed, but I could see the disappointment in her eyes as I detailed the last two years of my kinetic life. "Want a demo?" I asked when I was through. "Sure," she said listlessly. I got out of bed and sat lotus-position on the floor, after checking that the window gave no good view into the room. And then I elevated myself a meter off the ground. Melanie stared at me in utter bewilderment but no shock, which astonished me. And then she started to giggle. "Oh, bravo Eric! How are you doing this?!" She got up and stood before me with a playful look on her face. "Melanie..." "Hush! I think I can figure this out!" With a laughing face she started walking behind me. There was a long pause, and then I saw a broom handle sweep the space under me and above me. Melanie made a very strange gurgling sound, as if she swallowed something wrong, and the she walked in front of me from the other side, completing her rotation. I looked into her eyes. They were filled with terror. And then she passed out. I caught her with my force, and gently laid her body back upon the bed. ------- Chapter 12 Time: Sunday morning, 7:39 AM, January 4, 2004 I pulled up a chair behind me as I stood by Melanie's bed. I wanted so much to lie down and hold her, but I sensed her stunned body and felt her tight neck arteries relaxing. I thought she would recover in just a moment, and if she were still thinking of me as a monster, well, being in my arms would not be exactly where she'd like to wake up... I sat in the chair and watched her breathe. "Oh Melanie," I thought and prayed. "I'm so glad I told you. No matter what... I'm so glad I told you..." She blinked open her eyes, looked around the room for a second and then gazed at me. "How long was I out?" she asked. I was desperately trying to read the neutral expression on her face. "Uh, not long; four minutes, maybe five..." Melanie nodded her understanding. "It wasn't a dream, was it?" I shook my head. Melanie frowned and then asked. "Another demo?" She took a pen from her nightstand, and held it in her open palm. "Take the pen?" I lifted the pen and held it in mid-air for a moment, then opened my hand and guided the pen to my fingers. After a few seconds, I let go and lifted the pen back to the nightstand. Melanie stared at me for a moment, and then blew of full load of air through her cheeks. "One more? Wait a second..." She got out of bed, got her tea mug and opened her dorm door, looking up and down the vacant hall before exiting in her pajamas. I tracked her with my sense. She was back a moment later from the water fountain with a full mug. She placed it on the nightstand and sat back down on the bed. Her knees were almost touching mine, and there was no fear in her gaze at me. I thought these were extremely hopeful signs. "Freeze it," she said simply. I stared at the mug for a second. It was an expensive, vacuum thermos mug, solid steel construction. It was part of a package of birthday presents I had given to Melanie last year. I smiled and said, "It's 552 cc of water, plus the usual traces... Current temperature is 18C. I have it scanned and locked. Give me a go to start." Melanie nodded and stared at the mug. She seemed to be mesmerized by it. "Go!" I pulled at the heat with full throttle, 46,485 Watts flowing from the water, taking the water down to 0C in nine-tenths of a second. It took me another four seconds to freeze it solid, and then I kept pulling for another twelve. I looked up at Melanie. She looked fascinated by the fractured, frosting ice, but there was no fear in her eyes. She lifted a finger as if to touch the ice. "Oh, don't touch it! I took it down to -230C!" The core of the ice was 34C below the gas/liquid transition temperature of nitrogen, and Melanie knew it. "Yes..." Melanie whispered as she stared in wonder at the frosting surface. "I can see tiny nitrogen droplets... fascinating..." Then she looked at me. "Wow!" I was overjoyed that she was smiling at me. "So I'm not a monster?" I asked. Melanie looked at me, and then briefly raised and lowered her eyebrows in a peculiar way. I let out an explosive gasp of relief. It was one of our secret eye signals, from our year before Junior High. It was our secret offer-to-play signal. From so long ago, I had almost forgotten. I gave the secret acceptance signal back. We were lying down in her bed together a moment later, holding and kissing and crying. Neither of us talked for a while, and then Melanie commented, "The day your universe changed, huh? Good way to put it. I feel as if I'm in a different universe right now! Eric, do I have to throw all my physics texts away?" "Regarding me, yeah, I think so. I think I'm violating every formula in the book! Conservation principles, Maxwell's equations for light, Einstein's equations for gravity, all sorts of quantum constraints... I'm like a sledgehammer on the structure of the universe, doing what I'm doing..." Melanie cocked her head. "And the heat from the water..." "... is nowhere at all. It's gone from the universe... or at least this universe..." I smiled. "Don't ask me what I mean by that! I've been thinking for two years, trying to think of some way to explore where these abilities are coming from. I've come up with zero." There was a moment of silence. "Can you probe your own mind? Sense your own brain, where you think ground-zero of your sense-sphere is? Does it look different from my brain?" I shook my head. "No. It's like a lens that can never bring its focal length inside the lens itself. I can scan as close as my own nose, but not any closer." Melanie nodded, and then leaned against me and rubbed her nose against mine. It felt wonderful to feel and hold her body. She gave my nose a playful kiss before backing off. "Ah, your nose... Your best feature perhaps..." "Melanie... I can't tell you, how wonderful it feels, to be forgiven..." I sighed and whispered, "Thank you!" Melanie gave me a quick smile and nodded. "You're welcome. Here, let me get dressed." She got up and pulled out a new outfit from her dresser. I lay in her bed watching and admiring her. With her back to me, she took off her pajamas and panties before starting to dress in her new clothes. I gave a soft gasp as I got my very first glimpse of her naked. Her beautiful and shapely legs and back meeting at a tight and athletic butt. And then she slipped on her panties. I caught a brief rear glimpse of pubic fur as she raised a leg to slip on her panties. The rest of the clothes soon followed. Still facing away from me as she buttoned her blouse, she said, "I don't blame you Eric. I've matured so much in the last year. I don't know how I would have reacted, if you had shown me this right after Sterling... I might have really flipped out, gone hysterical..." I smiled in gratitude. "Melanie, you're very kind... and so beautiful!" My voice caught in my throat. "Melanie..." "Yes?" "Maybe too kind... Melanie, last year... I abandoned you... Seriously, I don't deserve such quick forgiveness..." Melanie finished with her blouse and skirt. She turned and came to me and gave me a quick kiss. "Hush Eric! I'm so happy! Last year, I could feel us drifting apart... I'm so happy now! I have all my old hopes back..." Another kiss, and she went to her bed and started putting on socks and shoes. I stared at her in love, and I was thunderstruck with a thought. Melanie doesn't have a flirtatious bone in her body. She offers me her faithfulness so freely, so openly, that I had never appreciated what an incredibly precious gift it was. At that moment, I silently vowed I would never make that mistake again. Shoes on, she looked up and smiled at me. "Hungry?" I smiled back. "Yeah. Say! How about brunch at the Parker House?" She blinked and then smiled and nodded. I felt like the luckiest man on Earth. ------- Chapter 13 Time: Sunday, January 4, 2004 1:03 PM We had a wonderful morning adjusting to being a couple again, walking the streets of Boston, catching the 10 AM sitting at the Parker house, wandering back to my dorm room afterwards. We both probably overate a bit at the sumptuous brunch, but all the miles of walking burned it off. It was wonderful just walking and holding hands with her again, even through the gloves. We were alone as we walked across the Harvard bridge from Boston to Cambridge. Holding each other closely by our waists, I filled Melanie in on the details of my strike against the Russian Mafia. She was pretty quiet about it, non-judgmental... Her one comment was that she could see now why I was a "cash only" kind of guy. Melanie looked around my dorm room and smiled as we got back. It was her first time here since the summer. "So," she said, as I closed the door, "This is where you stashed the loot, huh? Aren't you worried about a random theft?" "What? Oh yeah, I didn't tell you. I moved to loot out of my footlocker two days after the heist. It's still in this room though... sort of..." I gave Melanie a playful smile. Melanie grinned back, accepting my challenge. She walked and looked around the room, touching nothing. I could see her mind working. Then she looked up at me and smiled. "The walls?" "Ah Melanie, you are good! Yeah, take a look at the radiator pipe by the window, where it enters the room." She went and knelt and examined the floor connection under the vent. "Yeah, quite a bit of room around the pipe. I can't feel anything though... Oh, of course! Your force!" "Right!" I tapped the center of the wall perpendicular to the windows. "I floated the stuff down here." Melanie batted her eyes playfully. "Can I see it?" "Sure! Let me float you up some samples." Melanie sat down at my desk. I floated three packages to her. Two were obviously money wrapped in cellophane, the third was one of the ingots. I had those individually wrapped in green velvet. Melanie unwrapped the European money first and giggled. "This is the first time I've seen Euros... They look so strange! Like Monopoly money, so colorful! So many purples... wow... and all the pretty bridges... Do they all have bridges?" "Yep." Melanie smiled at me playfully. "Spend any yet?" "The Euros? No, not one. I haven't touched it, not even to convert it." Melanie nodded. "How much to you have?" "1,680,500 euros... 2,080 of the purples, the 500-euro notes, 2,040 each of the 100 and 200 notes, those are the olive-green and yellow-brown ones, and about a 1000 notes of the smaller denominations..." Melanie nodded and re-wrapped the euro package. She stared at the ingot for a while, running her fingers across it and hefting it, and then re-wrapped that too. She finally unwrapped the third package. It was a stack of $100 bills, with a small pile of $50's and $20's at the end. "How much is this?" she asked. "That? Around fifteen thousand, I think... The total from the heist was just over $1,500,000 U.S.; $1.3 million in $100's, and about $100-K each in $50's and $20's, just those three denominations..." "And how much have you spent?" "Uh... A little less than $20K..." I gave her a very sheepish shrug. Melanie nodded, and then started re-wrapping the package. "Melanie, wait! Couldn't you use some cash?" Melanie looked uncertain, looking back and forth between me and the money. She finally let out a huge sigh. "It is tempting. I've just bought my textbooks for next semester. I have over $800 outstanding on my charge card." "Please take it. The bank is used to seeing students pay off debt in cash. It'll be no problem..." "I know... Maybe that's my problem, that it'll be no problem." Melanie sat and stared at the money. "Heck Eric. I feel like I'm crossing into new territory with my morals... Why is this decision so complex? The drug dealers don't deserve their money back..." I just nodded. I knew the struggle and didn't want to pressure her. Melanie finally separated out nine $100's and five $20's and looked at me. I smiled back in encouragement. She finally put the money in her purse and I lifted the remainder back into the wall. Melanie sighed and seemed eager to change the subject. "How do you get passed the wall joists?" "There were precut holes to pass wires through; fairly large holes in the thin steel. I did have to make them a bit larger." "Oh..." She looked faintly troubled. "You melted holes?" "No, just with force. It's very easy, just scan and double lock, with the boundary between the two locks along where I want to cut. Then I just push in opposite directions. I can set up a shear along a single plane of molecules, a precise tear in anything I want." Melanie nodded thoughtfully. "And your maximum push?" "All my forces have to be less than 3,597 Newtons, a raw lift of about 809 lb. But I can use a lever or a pulley if I need to lift something heavier." Melanie nodded again, and then suddenly her face lit up in amazement. "Eric! You could hold me and take me flying, like Superman!" I laughed. "I know! And you wouldn't believe how many times I've dreamed of doing just that! But I wouldn't have to hold you. As long as you were within my influence sphere..." I turned thoughtful for a moment. "Melanie, if we worked out some simple hand signals, I could give you a taste of what it's like to fly yourself. I could fly you anywhere you signaled... within the sphere of course." "And how big is that?" "A radius of 68.92 meters, ever since September 1, 2002." Melanie sat on my bed, nodding and looking thoughtful. "I'm trying to memorize all this, so maybe I can make useful comments or suggestions later on, but..." There was a pause and then she grimaced. "Oh Eric, my mind is rebelling! How is this possible?!" I sat down next to her, put my hand around her shoulder and hugged her. "I know. I've been shrugging my shoulders in frustration about this for two years." Melanie nodded. "Two years ago... My gosh, so much has changed! I remember our phone conversation so well, Thanksgiving of 2001. I remember being caught talking to you... All this started right after our phone call, huh?" "Well, that's when I first noticed it. I think maybe it started a lot earlier, maybe the week my mom died." Melanie looked at me and waited for me to continue. I described the strange flash my dad and I had both seen, and then went on. "Until September of 2002, my sense sphere was doubling in radius every 31 days, 19 hours, and 56 minutes. Over the same period, my maximum force would increase by a factor of 16, my maximum power output increase by a factor of 18, and my minimum mass for a lock would decrease by a factor of 9." Melanie considered. "Any idea why those numbers?" I sighed. "Nope. 2, 9, 16, and 18... Do you see a pattern? And then everything except the mass limit stopped on September 1, 2002, at 11:42 AM. I did a calculation. It was exactly nineteen doubling times of my sense-sphere, measuring from that flash in January of 2001. Exactly nineteen times, to the nearest minute, as close as I can measure." "Ah... You're thinking it's not a coincidence?" I shook my head. "I doubt it... But I don't know what to make of it either..." I kissed her. "Oh, Melanie, I should have told you, as soon as I discovered this." Melanie laughed. "Over the phone?! Without a demo, I would never have believed you, and it was so difficult for us to talk back then. Eric, trust me, I don't blame you for not telling me." She paused for a moment, and then I felt her tremble. Something was really bothering her, and I wondered if she were still worrying about taking the money, but it was nothing that simple. She finally said, "I remember that Thanksgiving phone call so well... My mom sent Susan's parents a really nasty letter the following week, threatening them with legal action if I were ever found in their house again..." She rested her head against my shoulder and sighed. I grunted. "Your parents..." Melanie spoke in the softest whisper, "I got an envelope from them... recently..." "Really?! My gosh... When?" Melanie sighed and took off her shoes. "Right before Christmas... Uh, Eric? Is Ray back yet?" I shook my head. "His plane gets in tonight." Melanie nodded and lay down on one side of my dorm bed. I was overjoyed. I took off my shoes and followed. We were soon lightly holding and petting each other. "So... What'd your parents say?" Melanie sighed again. "Nothing at all." "Well..." "No, I take that back. The empty envelope was a message in itself. I think it was meant to disturb me. It succeeded..." I was caressing the side of Melanie's head with my fingertips. And then I shivered as I realized what Melanie had said. "After all this time with no contact, they send you a completely empty envelope?!" Melanie nodded. I could see tears in her eyes. "A warning shot, I think, a signal... They're letting me know the game is not over..." "My gosh Melanie... Can you report this?" "Report what to whom? My parents are very creative in staying within the law. Mailing someone an empty envelope is not a crime. And they could always claim they sent me an innocent Christmas card. How could I ever prove the envelope was empty when they mailed it?" I frowned. "Are you sure it was empty? Any mysterious white powder?" Melanie cracked a thin smile at my joke. "No... I don't think they'd mind if I did become ill, but breaking the law like that isn't their style... They're much more subtle... but no less dangerous. Eric! My parents have sick minds, but don't under-estimate them! The amount of time they can spend planning something is..." and then she broke down in tears. I cuddled with her and tried to kiss away her tears. They tasted a bit salty. I discovered I liked them, and started lapping them with my tongue. Melanie's mood abruptly shifted from crying to sexual arousal. Her tongue came out and joined mine. We French kissed for a while, our lips and tongues brushing and dancing against each other. And then Melanie accepted my tongue into her mouth. I licked the top of the roof of her mouth. She giggled from the sensations, but then softly suckled my tongue in a gentle invitation to continue my explorations. I turned and she scooted close, lying on her back with me on my side partially pressing onto her. We kissed and petted. Melanie kept smiling and nodding as I made my advances. I soon had one leg across her thighs, my groin pressing into the side of her hip. We were kissing and petting each other's arms and heads. Melanie opened her mouth wide. It was an intensely intimate and wildly arousing offer for me to enter her body. I held her down by her ribs as I explored her mouth with my tongue. Our lips and tongues were so playful, and I could feel the beat of her heart in the palm of my hand... The arousal was intense for both of us. I could feel my own heart beating in my chest, all my longings and desires being fulfilled, having Melanie in my arms again. She started to whimper with her desire. "I will never lose her again", I thought with total conviction, so beautiful, so open for me, my beautiful, loving and eager... "Eager what," I thought? My mate? My wife?! My feelings were so intense, so demanding. I had an overwhelming desire to respond to the faithfulness Melanie had already offered me, to offer my faithfulness in return. I had to acknowledge the permanence of our bond. It became unbearable not to... I broke our kissed and whispered, "Melanie?" "Hmmm?" she muttered. She was lying still with her eyes closed, panting in the heat of her arousal, holding my caress on her stomach with her hand and eager to re-establish our kiss. "Marry me?" Her eyes popped open. "Eric?!" "Yes?" We stared into each other eyes for the longest time. It was and forever will be the most amazing and precious experience of my life. We were making pledges to each other with our eyes alone, words weren't necessary. We committed ourselves to each other, for now and forever, affirming our vows back and forth with our eyes alone until our tears finally broke the contact. Melanie was shivering and gasping in my arms. I lay by her side, stunned and bursting with joy and fulfillment. Melanie finally made the move to end the moment. "We should wait, a few years I think, for the social contract. Eric, would that be okay with you, to wait till graduation... before we make this public?" I was crying without sound by her side, overwhelmed with the emotions of Melanie accepting me as her husband. I simply nodded. "Eric, darling," Melanie continued. "Would it also be okay if we wait a little while longer, before we commit sexually? I need a little time to adjust... Not long, just a little time..." My hormones were raging with desire, but her words sliced through them. "Of course," I panted. "Oh Melanie, I love you." "And I love you, and I promise, just a little time, before I offer myself..." She softly caressed the back my neck and whispered, "My husband..." ------- Chapter 14 Four months later... Time: Friday, May 21, 2004 2:37 PM I sat at a classroom desk, immersed in a three-hour math final. I came up for air after finishing one particularly difficult problem on conformal mapping and glanced at the clock, 2:37 PM. I smiled happily. I had another fifty-three minutes to go, and I thought the three remaining problems were straightforward and would take less than ten minutes each. I'd have a little buffer time to check everything over, but I was certain everything so far was correct. This was my last test on the last day of Final Exams week, and I was acing the test. My status as sophomore at M.I.T. was drawing to a close. My only problem with the last of the test was focus. My mind wanted to drift to what was coming next. After an incredibly busy spring semester for both of us, Melanie and I were taking our first vacation together, a ten-day backpacking hike deep into the woods of northern Maine. Both of us were anticipating the trip as our honeymoon, and Melanie's eagerness was a joy to my heart. Melanie is so smart! Not just with academics, though she certainly excels there too. I'm thinking about her request to me, for us to wait before becoming sexually active. Back in early January, we pledged life commitments to each other hours after spending almost of a year drifting apart. We spent the following months rebuilding our love for each other, lots of great movies and dinners together sure, but much more important were the quiet times, showing each other our hopes and weaknesses, learning to depend on each other with unquestioned trust. I'm so glad we waited and rebuilt the love first. And my housemates are so jealous! They might be the cream of the country's brightest students, but some of the guys seem to have very limited skills and experience in dating. They would give anything to have any girlfriend at all, let alone one as nice as Melanie. It's rather amusing. So many guys in desperate pursuit of females have asked me about my technique for "bagging" Melanie, as if a girlfriend were a big-game animal! I'm so glad I'm not in that mode. There's been a little progress on the kinetic front, no major changes. From September 1, 2002 11:42 AM to April 28, 2004 6:38 AM, I crossed over another nineteen periods of what used to be my sense-sphere doubling rate. Melanie had the thought that perhaps something new would occur again when I finished that second set of nineteen. It was an interesting idea, and we took the time to be alone together when it happened. It was not uneventful. I had that strange road-bump feeling as I did in September of 2002, but nothing else changed. My minimum-mass requirement continues to decrease at the same rate and everything else is frozen. As I was taking my math test in May, I was down to 5.6e-31 kg, below the rest mass of a single electron. I can basically lock anything now. Well, I do have just a dim fleeting sense of quantum photon and neutrinos, but they zip through my sphere too fast to be studied. We did learn one new thing about my kinetics over the spring semester, something Melanie and I both find vaguely disturbing... Depending on the material, I can pull a kilogram of room-temperature matter down to a Bose-Einstein condensate in about thirty seconds. That should be it, no more heat to pull. But kinetic-wise, it still felt as if I were pulling. With my sense now able to observe at the quantum level, I could finally see what was going on. I was "popping" the quanta, my word for it, popping the leptons and bosons into oblivion. I guess Einstein would be pleased, E = m c squared stands true, even in my insane kinetic world. My ability to pull heat energy into oblivion at a rate of 46.5 kW is also my ability to destroy 44.7 micrograms of matter a day. Or create it... I can heat things up, or create a speck of dust in a day, from Einstein's perspective the equivalent act. Nothing new has come up with Melanie's parents. Let's see, anything else? Oh yeah. We're both spending about $1,500 a month of the cash. At this rate, it'll last another forty years. Melanie has a joke that after that we'll move to the north shore of the Mediterranean and start spending the Euros. And we bought a fair bit of land in northernmost Maine for a dirt cheap price, a very inaccessible mountainous plateau deep in the Allagash. Inaccessible for other people, that is... Time: Saturday, May 22, 2004 8:22 PM Melanie and I reached the base of our property ten minutes after sunset, right on schedule. We were both porting enormous backpacks, 150 kg each, but for us they were as light as feathers. We hadn't seen anyone for hours, and weren't expecting too. It was the height of the green-fly season, and those buggers are murderous. Except, of course, if they hit a repelling force when they get within a few meters... Melanie is such a nature lover. She prefers me to do it that way, rather than use power. It only takes a small fraction of a Joule to blow a bug's brains out. And power requires less concentration too, and is MUCH more satisfying! But what the heck, keep the woman happy... It had been a full day, close to twelve hours driving 411 miles from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Eagle Lake, Maine, doing a bit of sight-seeing along the way. I bought an old car that gets fantastic gas mileage. Except for quick accelerations, I just keep the engine idling for appearance sake. The car had phenomenal braking ability too. Imagine that. After reaching Eagle Lake, we drove west as far as the dirt roads would take us, and hiked the final twelve kilometers with the last of the sunlight. "What do you think Eric?" asked Melanie. "Dark enough?" "Yeah, I would think so. There is absolutely nobody around here. I'll do the packs first?" Melanie nodded as she un-slung her pack. "Take 'er away!" We were both standing at the foot of a sheer 117-meter cliff. It is by far the easiest access spot to our land. I floated half way up, pushed my pack to the top, then pushed Melanie's pack from below to the top, and then finally lifted Melanie. We joined hands and made the last of the ascent together. In a similar manner, I leap-frogged us and the packs a few times until we reached our destination, our home. It's a beautiful home, several cozy rooms carved from an original cave system and an outdoor patio area. Power is no problem. I can generate 372 Amps at 125 Volts AC. Water and sewer are a bit tricky, but there are several small lakes very near the western base of the plateau, and they are pristine. "Want to go skinny-dipping?" Melanie asked as we unloaded our gear. She didn't have to ask twice. Our honeymoon had begun! Time: Sunday, May 30, 2004 2:24 AM I was lying behind Melanie, my hands on her breasts, nibbling the back of her neck as my penis was butting her crotch, seeking re-entry. Melanie was giggling and playing a short game of hard-to-get, wiggling her vagina away just as my penis would find purchase in her slippery outer folds. Our honeymoon was everything we dreamed it would be, and more. Many delightful swims, lots of hiking in the pristine forests, a bit of recreational reading, and tons and tons of hot sex, much more than either of us were expecting. Melanie would laugh about it and say we were fucking each other silly, but she was just as eager for the sex as I was. She would start posing in lewd positions near me if we hadn't coupled in two hours, and straight-out attack me after three. I caught her! Once swift hip thrust before she could pull away, and my penis head was kissing her cervix at the far back wall of her vagina. Melanie yipped at the shock of the penetration, and then wiggled her rump into my groin in appreciation. We thrust against each other for a while, weaving our sexual urges for release into a beautiful harmony. I don't know how my nuts were doing it, but when Melanie's vagina finally began spasming around my penis, my gonads followed her once more to orgasm. I could feel myself splashing a tiny bit of semen high and tight inside my most beautiful and perfect bride... And then... I hit a pothole. "Eric? You okay?" I looked at the clock, 2:35 AM, and then told Melanie what I had felt. We sat around and chatted and waited. It didn't take long. By 3:00 AM, twenty-five minutes later, my maximum power output had increased from 46,485 Watts to 46,557 Watts. All my other abilities seemed to be holding constant. Melanie and I went to the patio area to lie down and watch the stars. We lay there a long time cuddling with each other, lots of affectionate kisses, nothing too sexy. It was all love and affection. Then lying on our backs holding hands again, watching the brilliant stars... "Eric?" "Yeah?" "What will my life be like, if I become married to a god?" I sighed. "I know... I know... My abilities are incredible now. If they continue to grow exponentially... Heck, power to rule the world? Power to destroy a world? Power to create a world? You're right, it is godlike. But I'm not a god! I don't know Melanie. I'll try to be good. I promise." "You're also human..." She thought for a long while. "I can help you, I think, as your wife, if you let me. Eric, will you accept me... accept me as part of your conscience?" I gazed in love at my bride. "I already have Melanie... I already have..." ------- Chapter 15 Two years later... Time: Friday, June 2, 2006, 8:12 PM I look out of my window at Baker House a few minutes before sunset, and I can't help but feel a wave of nostalgia. I have gotten so familiar with my room's view of the river and the majestic Boston skyline. But after four tough and magical years at M.I.T., I am one week away from Commencement and receiving my Bachelors degree. And Melanie and I will marry a day later. My time and identity as single and an M.I.T. undergrad are drawing to a close. I'm very proud of my senior thesis. I got my inspiration for it watching a NOVA program on the Chinese Rainbow Bridge of the Song Dynasty. My thesis is a really neat combination of fractal geometry and Lagrangian formalism, and it leads to a building technique I call compression/tension weaving. My thesis advisor and reader are ecstatic with my work, and I'll be staying a fifth year at M.I.T. to expand on it and get a Masters degree. At the end of April Melanie and I closed on a small condominium near Harvard Yard, only 1100 square feet of space but perfect for us. We'll both be moving out of our dorms next week, and shopping for the rest of the furniture, primarily a couch. We are both keenly looking forward to it, living together openly as a married couple. We are so ready for it! Melanie's dream has come through! The competition was incredibly tough, but she got accepted to Harvard Medical School. She hopes to one day be a pediatrician. And my kinetic powers are currently locked at constant values, have been for over four months. Have I reached my final plateau, or is this fourth rotation just "the pause that refreshes?" Melanie laughs about this when no one is watching and will hug me and call me her "god in training." It's her intuition that the party isn't over yet. The third rotation was the same temporal length as the first two, nineteen periods of 31 days, 19 hours and 56 minutes each. It lasted from May 30, 2004 2:30 AM Standard Time to January 24, 2006 9:31 PM Standard Time. Each period within the rotation would have the characteristic expansion of its attribute, a factor of 2 for sense-sphere radius, 16 for force, 18 for energy, and 9 for minimum mass. The order of progression was 9-18-16-2-9-18-16-2-9-18-16-2-9-18-16-2-9-18-16. Bottom line? My sphere of influence now has a radius of 1102.75 meters. Within it, I can generate 3.77 giga-Newtons of force, 87.7 giga-Watts of power, anywhere I want, with fantastic bifurcation if I choose. And I lock down on a single 2.99 eV photon. Locking photons is such a bizarre feeling. They don't really exist as a point or a wave. You can see that in the QED math, and it's also true when I probe the quantum reality. At the quanta level, I feel the complex wave function of the photon as a "promise", a tiny promise for interaction flying around the universe, sometimes being fulfilled and sometimes not. It's so strange... and beautiful... And I can create or destroy them, one 3 eV promise at a time. It's a wavelength of visible light, 415 nanometers, about in the middle of the violet range. My force I never use near its full potential, except perhaps in molecular joining in woodworking. Think of one of those jumbo mega-ton oil tankers. I could lift about 42% of it out of the water, but why in the world would I ever want to do such a thing? The most I've ever used the force at the macroscopic level was at our secret home in the Allagash. The floors of the rooms in the former cave are now smooth polished stone, and horizontal to optical wavelength precision. At a molecular level though, I can do so much with the force! I am a walking woodworking shop! I perfected my techniques in late winter in the Allagash, working with the local hardwoods (maple, birch, beech, and aspen). I taught myself how to make furniture from raw trees. During the month of May, I brought in huge amounts of hardwoods and some exotic accent woods into our vacant condo. Breaking the wood along optically precise lines and curves is no problem, but what I really love is my ability to join. I can plane two surfaces with my force to sub-wave optical tolerances, and then use my force to bifurcate and tie multi-trillion knots in the micro fibers between the two surfaces. Result? A joint stronger than the original wood, and absolutely seamless! I built a magnificent bedroom set in solid cherry with specialty wood inlays. The dining room set and the living room bookshelves and rocking chair are similarly made, base combinations of oak and walnut with oiled inlays of beech and aspen from the Allagash. Melanie was so happy with the results I redid the kitchen cabinets in solid maple and birch woods as a surprise for her. And then there's my power. I can create 3.52 grams of matter in an hour, of anything I want. I often run at my limit. You should see Melanie's engagement ring. Five half- carat diamonds, I guarantee the five most pure and perfect carbon-lattice diamonds in existence. Five 58-facet, brilliant-cut diamonds, and it took me less than two minutes to think up each one of them. But it's the rings I'm the most proud of. For both the wedding rings and Melanie's engagement ring, I used my own secret recipe, 3-D woven carbon nano-tubes threading a face-centered hexagonal matrix of gold and iridium, with individual atoms of silver and copper at key nexus locations. Light seems to get trapped in the nano-tubes, and creates a strange quantum resonance that appears as a flicker to the naked eye. The result is iridescent gold. Its beauty is unique, breathtaking, and Melanie and I being the Trekkies that we are, we call it gold-pressed Latinum. It's incredibly tough material. Rule of Acquisition #102: Nature decays, but Latinum lasts forever. The Ferengi would be so proud of us. Finance wise, our supply of cash is still huge, but the down-payment on the condo and our projected uncovered costs for first-year med school have tied up our legally available resources. Fortunately I've got a research grant for my grad school year. I've got a pet dream to be within a kilometer of the power-ball lottery machines when they bounce the balls. It would be so easy to "win" the mega-million jackpot. But Melanie is part of my conscience now, and she asks me simply what is our moral justification to steal from all the people who bought the other tickets? So, we're going the route of mortgages and student loans for now. Ah, Melanie... She's become the better part of who I am. Time: Saturday, June 3, 2006 4:47 PM Melanie and I spent the afternoon bringing a king mattress and springs for the new bedroom and lighting in the condo. After we made the bed up, Melanie went to take a shower while I stretched out on the bed and did a bit of reading. She returned wearing just a bathrobe and jumped on the bed next to me and started taking off my shoes. My socks soon followed and then she started massaging my feet. I sighed and lightly stroked her bare foot and calf lying near my face, playfully running my fingers under the damp robe and up her thighs. I kissed her foot. "I remember the first time seeing you in pajamas, thinking how cute your feet were." Melanie sighed. "My rescue from Sterling?" I nodded and smiled. "Yeah. You were right too. I almost didn't recognize your toes." "Ah, the smell of the acetone! It's been so long, I had forgotten how much I hate nail polish! You don't mind, do you, that my toes are au-natural?" I responded by kissing and licking her beautiful toes. Eventually I started suckling them one by one into my mouth, caressing them with my tongue as I held them gently with my lips. Melanie was quiet and still for long while, drifting in the pleasure of the oral foot caress, and then her hand came up and her fingers began dancing lightly across my groin, tracing the outline of my penis beneath my pants. The moments passed slowly, her fingers gradually becoming more insistent and my penis stiffening under her affectionate and sexy attention. A quick glance at the window shades to be sure we were private, and then Melanie pushed me flat on my back, her hands working my belt and zipper. She soon had me naked from the waist down, her hands caressing my groin and thighs, gentle taps to the inside of my thighs to signal me to spread my legs. I did and closed my eyes, drifting in the soft pleasure and the anticipation of what would come next. Gentle fingertip caresses, drifting all across my penis and sac and thighs; it felt so nice and loving. I became fully erect almost without realizing it, she was so gentle. And then I felt a warm moisture as Melanie wetted her fingertips with her mouth and then stroked the sensitive head of my cock. She is exquisite in leading me to orgasm. Wetting the cock, soft and gentle pulls on the shaft, lips playfully kissing the swollen head, fingers drifting down to caress my testes and spread my ass cheeks... I sighed and drifted, it felt so nice... She knows exactly how to push me into a wonderful state of mind, aroused and sleepy, yearning for her and content with having her, both at the same time. How is that possible?... Soft fingertips caressing and moistening my anus... as her mouth begins to take me. Other fingers exploring my sac... rolling and caressing my sensitive testicles... I drifted in the love... Eventually the sexuality becomes so intense I start to pant, my quickening desire burning through the veneer of relaxation. Melanie knows me very well and she timed me perfectly. My hips start to thrust in rhythm with her suckling and her squeezing, her hand pulsing my erection in synch with my heartbeat, my desire for release swelling in the testes between her fingers. She feels my cock begin to quiver and lengthen as she squeezes the shaft in her palms, and she knows I'm at the edge of orgasm. As she senses me reaching the point of no return, she pushes me over the edge. The wet finger at my anus suddenly becomes very insistent, pushing up into me, rotating within me, searching and finding its inner goal. I whimper as I start to pump and release, thrusting my hips, feeling my ejaculation spurt through my ducts and up my penis, my seed, thrusting it through Melanie's squeezing hand and as deeply into her moist suckling mouth as I can, her deep anal finger pumping every drop from my prostate. The intensity of my ejaculation overwhelms me, and I collapse spent and trembling as Melanie draws the last of my semen from me. I float and drift, soft kisses of gratitude and appreciation on my cock and sac. I only come back to reality as I realize Melanie is crying... "Hey... You okay?" A sniffle. "Me? Oh, I'm fine Eric. I'm so happy..." I caressed her bare foot, watched how she curled her toes in response. "Ah... My dearest wife... What can I do for you?" Melanie giggled. "Take me to dinner? I am a little hungry." She paused to add soft goodbye kisses to the head of my softening penis. "I loved your semen, but there wasn't enough of it!" "Dinner? Sure... Sounds great!" As Melanie left to get dressed, I realized something. Melanie asked me a week ago if we could abstain from intercourse until the wedding, to build up the joy and expectation. It was a little unexpected but of course I agreed. The reason it was unexpected is that Melanie is a bit of a nymphomaniac. She loves to fuck, fortunately just with me! I saw her tremble as she walked into the bathroom, and realized she was quite sexually aroused and was fighting an urge to ask me to release her. It suddenly occurred to me she is going to be an absolute firecracker on our wedding night. Time: Tuesday, June 6, 2006 11:37 AM I was sitting in my student office at M.I.T., cleaning out some papers and idly thinking how nice it would be to see my dad when he drove up tomorrow, when I got a call from Melanie. "Hi, what's up?" "Eric, we have to talk. I got a letter, from Illinois." My mind was still filled with visions of my bride walking down the aisle in four days. It took me a moment to change gears. "What? Oh hell! Your parents?!" "No, Patty, my sister. What she says... This is so strange... Eric, we have to talk." ------- Chapter 16 Time: Tuesday, June 6, 2006 12:24 PM I took the Mass Ave. bus to Harvard and met Melanie at home. She seemed okay but a little shaken. We sat down on our new couch and she handed me the envelope from her sister. Inside was a fair-sized letter, about two and a half pages of finely handwritten text. Melanie rested her head on my shoulder as I read. I sighed and kissed her head after I was finished. "There's so much here I don't understand." "You mean the allusions? Yeah, she's making a lot of references to events from our childhoods. Young childhoods, three to seven years old for me... It is obscure, even to me at first... It's almost as if she were writing in code, to get passed a censor..." "Oh..." I kissed Melanie. "She's having trouble with your parents..." "Well, that part is obvious. But the other parts... Eric, I'll have to explain some things to you, what my childhood was like." I felt her shudder in my arms. "Some of it was pretty bizarre... and embarrassing." I laid my head gently against hers and nodded. Melanie frowned. "But you can see what Patty's asking for, can't you?" "Yeah. She wants you to come and rescue her." Melanie nodded and sighed again, returning her head to my shoulder. "Oh hell Melanie! After four years of silence, think of the timing! I have a ton of relations showing up tomorrow, you have your Commencement on Thursday, I have mine on Friday, our wedding is on Saturday... And Patty asks you to drop everything and rescue her NOW?! Doesn't this smell the least bit suspicious?" "Oh, I know," Melanie whispered, and then hissed, "God, I hate being manipulated!" I stroked her arm. "So do you want to ignore this? We can, you know..." Melanie shook her head no. "If it is a trap, and I agree that's very likely, you still have to admire the artistry... Trap or no trap, this will be in my thoughts..." I stroked my bride's hair, caressing her ear with my fingertips. "Melanie... The Allagash can wait. If you want, how about after the wedding, we drive out to Illinois instead?" Melanie was silent a long time and finally nodded. "Thanks Eric. I'll write to my parents, and Patty. Tell them to expect us..." I felt her shiver. "Hey, relax pumpkin! Remember your husband to be is a god in training! We'll be okay. What could possibly happen that I can't handle?" Time: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 10:37 AM It's an 1100-mile drive from Cambridge to Sterling. Melanie and I debated whether to drive or fly. We also joked about me rocketing our car to Illinois with a few giga- Newtons. I could actually do it, but oh man, even at night, the risk of being seen! We finally decided on flying in something with real wings. Melanie felt like driving the rental car once we landed in Chicago. Driving along the highway, we both felt like spies entering an enemy's territory. We had both grown up here, but the State didn't feel like home at all. I was reading Patty's letter again as Melanie drove. "Pumpkin?" "Uh huh?" "This line here, Patty says the toy closet taught her the April Fool's joke was on her. What does that mean?" Melanie nodded. "It's something I only figured out a few days ago... Such a strange event... bizarre... I think I suppressed the memory... Dearest, I never had birthday parties when I was a girl. Patty did, I didn't. I used to think it was because of me, but I've come to realize it was my parents. They wanted me to be jealous of Patty. Can you see why?" "Well... Oh hell, this sounds so sick! If you didn't like your sister, you'd be more isolated, easier to manipulate." "Yes, exactly. If Patty and I didn't trust each other, didn't respect each other, we'd both be weaker, easier to manipulate." "My gosh... Melanie, want to turn around? We could have dinner in Boston." "Tempting... But there's a chance my sister really needs me..." I nodded and patted her leg. "Ah, my beautiful bride! It's one of the many things I admire about you, your courage." Melanie laughed, a sweet laugh filled with her playfulness and goodness. "Without a god in training by my side, I'd be scared shitless doing this!" I briefly smiled, then watched the scenery for a while as we left Chicago. "So what's with the toy closet?" Melanie sighed. "One thing you have to understand Eric, is that my mom really hates to be teased. She really, really hates it, and she'll carry a grudge forever if you cross her redlines about it." "Hmm... Okay." "When I was born, I gather my mom was teased by a bunch of her friends, about having me on April Fool's day. They laughed and said the joke was on her, to have an April Fool daughter. I found out about this my sophomore year in high school, from one of mom's former friends... I was too embarrassed to mention it to you..." "What? But... April First? It's just a meaningless date... Just a totally stupid harmless joke..." "Yeah, you would think. But my mother's grudges are a real piece of work. She took the teasing as humiliation... My sister Patty, when I was growing up, would always be on the lookout for something to tease me with. I remember when I turned five... It was a Saturday... I was coming in from playing with some friends. At least they wished me a Happy Birthday. I remember you Eric. You wished me a Happy Birthday. My parents were ignoring the occasion..." "Oh hell..." "My parents were out of the house. I found Patty alone in the living room. She was eight at the time. She looked frightened... as if she had been crying... I asked her if everything was okay..." Melanie became silent. She drove several miles without saying anything. "What happened then?" "She screamed at me. Patty screamed at me. I was so shocked I didn't even understand what she was mad about at first. I finally realized she was blaming me for having my birthday on April 1'st." I thought for a moment. "Huh? That makes no sense." "Yeah, it sure doesn't. Patty was blaming me for causing her to be locked up in her toy closet. And then she threw something at me and ran out of the house. It was just a magazine. It didn't hurt me, but Patty threw it in real anger." "My gosh..." "I was alone in the house. I wasn't allowed to go into Patty's room, ever, not without her being there, even though she was allowed to go in mine. But I went to Patty's room anyway. I stood there standing by her doorway, looking into her room. All her toys were in a big pile on the floor near her bed. It was very unusual. At that time of her life, Patty was a very neat girl, fastidious..." Melanie sighed, reliving the memories. "I stood there in the silent house, staring at the toy box. It was a bright sunny day and Patty had a corner room with lots of windows, but the room still looked dark and threatening. The toy box was huge, solid hardwood with heavy brass hinges. I started to shake, as if a monster were in the toy box. It looked evil! I was so afraid, but I couldn't leave without checking, without seeing..." Melanie gasped. "I walked in and lifted the lid. On one side of the inside of the box, I could see... I saw scuff marks, black scuff marks where Patty had kicked the walls with her new shoes... My parents gave Patty new shoes on my birthday, just to rub it in..." "My God Melanie... They locked your sister in a box? Why?" "I figured it out. I finally figured it out. My parents did more than turn a blind eye to all the teasing Patty would do to me. They actually encouraged it, in subtle sorts of ways. But on my fifth birthday, Patty guessed wrong about what my mom would accept. I think Patty was trying out new ways to tease me around the house, before I came back in from playing. I think she was thinking of teasing me that I was an April Fool's joke, calling me the April Fool girl. I think my mom heard this and flipped out, seriously flipped out..." I stared at my wife and saw tears in her eyes. "Melanie, you want me to drive?" "No, I'm okay." A quiet moment passed. "Pumpkin... How did you survive?" Melanie took a deep breath. "I had you Eric. You were my dearest and best friend, even then. I couldn't talk to you about this. I was too ashamed. But just being able to play with you... I remember how I felt, when you asked me what I got for my birthday." I sighed. "Wow... I don't remember any of this." "Well of course not! You were only five! I never told you anything! I was too ashamed. I think I told you I hadn't opened my presents yet... Oh Eric, playing with you, it was my lifeline to sanity. You were always so kind to me, so accepting, even when the older kids would mock me..." "Mock you?" "Friends of Patty... My parents selected well. Patty had a few regular friends who were always over. Patty would treat me like a doormat, in front of her friends and in full view of my parents. My parents would completely ignore the sarcasms and the putdowns... You know how kids like to imitate... Here was a chance to try being cruel to someone and get away with it." I rested my hand lightly on my wife's shoulder, just to have some physical contact with her. We drove the rest of the way in silence. Eventually Melanie exited the Interstate and we started heading north on First Avenue. We would be at her parents' house within twenty minutes. ------- Chapter 17 Time: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 11:57 AM We had promised Melanie's parents we would show up at noon, and Melanie pulled into their driveway just a few minutes early. We were astonished by what we saw. Melanie's parents had a gigantic white tent erected in their backyard and were catering a large party. The party was for us. We received warm greetings from both parents, and Patty spent a long time hugging both of us. Remarkably, the party wasn't just for the upper-crust circle of friends that Melanie's parents hang out with. Many of our true friends from Sterling High had been invited, and it was so delightful seeing them, Melanie and I actually started to relax and have a good time. In the back of my mind, I felt a distant pang of worry that I was letting my guard down, but there was no visible danger. I decided that just keeping alert was all that was necessary for the occasion. And it was so nice to see all our old friends. It was a very pleasant afternoon. A rather amusing moment occurred when a jeweler friend of Melanie's dad got a close look at Melanie's engagement ring. He was flabbergasted by the visible quality of diamonds, and I couldn't help but smile at what his reaction would be if he saw them under a microscope. He pleaded with Melanie several times to divulge from where the ring was purchased, but Melanie politely declined, saying the ring's origin was a marital secret. Our old friends congratulated me for my Bachelors from M.I.T. and my upcoming Masters program, but they were captivated with the thought of Melanie being accepted to Harvard Medical School. With her parents mixing with a large circle of friends around her, Melanie began to be peppered with questions about the program. "How long will it last?" "I'll get my M.D. in four years, and have an optional fifth year to do research before I start my internship." "Are you going into research then?" "No, my particular program is oriented around case-based care. I'll be connected with Children's Hospital in Boston. It's a pediatric teaching hospital." "Wow Melanie! Harvard Medical School! It must have been so difficult to get into!" "Oh yeah! Close to six thousand applicants this year, for a total of 165 seats; it was quite an honor being accepted." "Isn't it hugely expensive?" "Oh, gosh yes! Just the tuition and mandatory fees are about $41,000 this year. That's not including living expenses." "Wow! And your parents are paying for that?" Melanie looked over to the person asking the question. It was a person she just knew dimly from high school, and Melanie decided it was just an innocent question. She glanced at her parents. They both seemed relaxed and unconcerned that the question had been asked. Melanie thought for a moment for a diplomatic answer. "Well, my husband and I are trying to do this with our own resources. We have a combination of scholarships and student loans arranged. Eric has a research grant that covers all his expenses." "But wait!" another voice called out. "Didn't I hear you bought a condo in Cambridge too?! How could you do that?!" Melanie smiled. "Actually, the living costs aren't that much different. Some of the rooms in Vanderbilt Hall are close to $7,000 a year. Grad student housing for Eric wouldn't be quite that expensive, but when you throw in the costs of meal plans for two people, having a condo was quite competitive." Still another voice called out, "I still don't understand how you got a mortgage! What'd you two do, rob a bank?" Melanie was magnificent. She laughed good-naturedly and deflected the question. "Oh, I've guess Eric and I have been tempted!" And then she steered the conversation back to the medical program. It was a delightful afternoon, nothing what we were expecting. The party broke up shortly before dinner. Melanie and I were shown our room, Melanie's old bedroom. There was a new king-sized bed squeezed into it, the door would barely close. Melanie's dad took me aside and gave me a tour of the house as the caterers cleaned up after the party outside. Afterwards the five of us sat around in the spacious living room and heard the last of the caterer's trucks drive off. Melanie and I were both feeling a bit bewildered, wondering what would happen next. We sat around and chatted. The conversations stayed on current topics, no one appeared to want to broach the subject of what had happened four years ago. Melanie's mom even asked me politely if she could call me son. I gulped and felt very awkward, glancing at Melanie for guidance. She had an expression on her face I couldn't read, which was damn unusual. I finally smiled back and said sure. But I must say, when they served a light dinner later in the evening, I couldn't help but use my sense-sphere to scan the food for poison. It was fine. Over after-dinner brandy, Melanie's dad returned to the party's conversation about our college costs. "Eric, I wouldn't expect you to get into particulars with the public about your finances, but now that you're with family, how are you and my daughter managing?" I tried to speak in generalities, but Melanie's dad politely and skillfully pressed me for details. I looked over to Melanie for guidance. I saw a look of bewilderment in her eyes, and then she signaled me it would be okay with her if I talked. So, I cleared my throat and looked back at her father, and decided to tell the truth. "Well, right now we have about $100k outstanding in student loans." "So little? Excellent son!" said Melanie's mom. "We were afraid it would be much higher! But now you'll have more bills for Melanie's medical school, right?" "Well, the $100k includes the debt for the first year of med-school, but yeah, five years from now, it'll probably be around $200k. I plan to go to work after I get my Masters. We think we can keep the student loans manageable until Melanie begins her practice." "And your mortgage?" asked her dad. "How did you manage that?" He chuckled. "Professional curiosity! What sort of loan did you get?" Melanie looked at me. I nodded, and she began to speak. "We put down 25% and borrowed $300k, at 5.9%, 15-year fixed. Eric's dad co-signed the loan. It was part of his wedding present to us." "Ah, excellent," nodded her dad. "You kids are in better shape financially than I would have thought. But still, you're looking at a half-million in debt starting off five years from now, right?" "Yeah, about that I guess." I said. I was feeling very uncomfortable, wondering where this conversation was heading. And then Melanie's mom dropped the bombshell. "Well, we'd like to help. Benjamin and I have written to Harvard and told them we like to help pay for Melanie's tuition." "Ah, mom..." Melanie was clearly uneasy. "Be careful. You might jeopardize my loans and scholarship." "Nonsense!" said her dad. "We were just talking to the Financial Aid Office this morning. They assured us that your scholarship and loan will be reduced equally for any contribution we make. So if we contribute $10,000, your consequences will be to have $5,000 less in student loans." "And we'd like to contribute much more than $10,000, isn't that right Benjamin?" "Oh yes, much more! We want to put the past behind us, what do you say, a clean break? All we ask is that we become a family again." I looked at Melanie. Her jaw was hanging open. I didn't know what to think. Without my kinetic abilities and extra supply of cash, these offers would sound unbelievably good, a Godsend. But we really didn't need them, and what the hell was going on? "Mom, dad," said Melanie at last, "This is quite unexpected... We appreciate your kindness... But what exactly would you expect from us?" "Why, nothing at all," chuckled her father. "Just to spend some time together. For instance... How about you and Eric come boating with us on the lakes this summer? We'll pay for your tickets to fly here of course." I cleared my throat. "Well, that's a very nice offer, Mr." "Oh, just call me dad! So, what do you say?" ... And so the conversation went. Melanie and I stayed a bit noncommittal, but by the end of the evening, there was a general agreement we would try to visit for a week in August. Melanie and I retired soon afterwards. It was touching. Melanie had been so distressed over this upcoming trip, we haven't even consummated our marriage yet. And we weren't about to in a house of horrors either. But was it still a house of horrors? Melanie cuddled in my arms and shivered as I turned out the lights. She questioned me with her eyes. I knew what she was asking, and reached around with my sense sphere. "No. No bugs. You can talk," I whispered. Melanie nodded and whispered, "Not what we were expecting, is it?" "No... Get a chance to talk to your sister?" "Yeah. It's as if she never wrote her letter." "Oh... Well, that puts a damper on things, doesn't it?" "Yeah. Either we completely misinterpreted what dear Patty wrote, or she's in on the conspiracy." "Are you 100% certain there is a conspiracy? I was watching your parents' eyes. They seem genuinely happy for us." "They can be incredible actors!" Melanie hissed. "Eric! Do not let down your guard!" I sighed. "Yeah... Okay... I guess I'm just not used to dealing with people like this... Did Patty really ask for our help?" "Her plea was never stated, but always implied. It was a masterpiece of deception. This whole day has been. Eric, do not trust these people!" "Hell... I am so not used to this... What do we do?" "Play along for now... We have to let them make the next move... I'm so glad you're my god in training Eric..." We kissed for a while. Neither of us wanted to make love in the house, but the kissing and the petting did turn a bit sexy. In the quiet of the night, I unbuttoned Melanie's pajama tops and began petting and kissing her breasts. Eventually I started giving playful licks to her nipples. "Ah... You're so beautiful Melanie..." "Ah, Eric... I know you think so..." "Huh? Not just me... Any guy would think you're gorgeous!" "My sweet and darling husband..." "Melanie, I'm serious." "I know." "For instance, your breasts here..." Melanie giggled. "Yes?" "Exquisite, perfect breasts! Guaranteed to cause a raging erection in any male who would have the privilege to see them." "Really? A B-cup could do that? Freckles and all?" "Huh?! But of course! I love your freckles! You are so beautiful Melanie. My heart aches with your beauty..." I kissed and licked her breasts, trying to kiss each freckle in the dim light from the window. Eventually I felt Melanie completely relax in my arms, cooing in love and then her breathing became deep and even. I stayed awake for a long while, gently caressing her and thinking about the day. It was well past midnight before I joined her in sleep. ------- Chapter 18 Time: Saturday, June 24, 2006 2:47 AM Melanie sat on the couch in her dark living room, her stopwatch running in her hand. The glass doors to the condo's small balcony were wide open, and over the last few minutes Melanie could feel the warm, muggy air from outside begin to invade the room. She looked again at her stopwatch, and realized Eric could be arriving at any time. She focused her eyes at Eric's planned destination point and stared. "Oh!" she cried softly as Eric suddenly appeared at the spot. Melanie felt a brief rush of air and she looked down at her stopwatch. "Two seconds less than seven minutes! How far did you go?" Eric was dressed entirely in black, and he pulled off his black ski-mask before replying. "The full great-circle loop! I've just been around the world. There's not much to it, once I have the technique down. Melanie! How visible was I?" "I don't think I saw anything before you stopped. Maybe just a hint of a flicker of speed. And the rush of air this time wasn't bad either, just a breeze and almost no sound at all. Eric! Congratulations!" As Eric sat down on the couch with Melanie, the balcony door magically slid closed and locked, and the air temperature of the condo suddenly dropped from 78F to 62F." "Brrr," said Melanie. "Oh... Too cold?" "No, just leave it. It's been such a hot day, this feels kind of nice. Around the world in seven minutes, huh? My god in training gets a gold star!" Ever since getting back from Illinois, Eric felt intensely motivated to experiment with his kinetic abilities, with the goal of understanding their full value. He and Melanie had experimented with flying together in the Allagash in the early spring. The wind against their bodies had stopped Eric from pushing their speed past 100 kph. But over the past week he began to rethink the issue. His idea was to create a vacuum tube in front of where he wanted to go, and push himself and a bubble of air down the vacuum conduit. The main limitations were the length of the tube (1100 meters in front and behind), and the speed at which the tube was opened. Opening the tube too fast produced a supersonic shock wave. Over many trials, Eric decided to limit the radial expansion and collapse of the tube to 100 meters per second, well below sonic velocities. A tube radius of one meter was more than sufficient for his needs. When combined the limit of 100 m/s for the radial velocity, the result was a 10 ms lead time needed to open the tube. So his maximum speed was 1100 down the axial length of the tube every 10 ms, over a hundred kilometers per second, fast enough to circle the globe in seven minutes. It took almost a giga-Newton of force to hold the vacuum tunnel open, but that was still only a small fraction of his force capability. "You want to try it?" asked Eric. "Uh... Okay! What should I do?" "Just stand and hug me. There'll be no feeling of acceleration. Our bodies will be pushed uniformly. You'll feel weightless. Just try to hug and relax. Keep your arms and legs next to me." Melanie gulped and hugged Eric. She saw the balcony door magically sliding open again. And then her world was a rushing vortex of flashing lights. There was no apparent motion, but the visual effects and the weightlessness made her feel dizzy. Fortunately the ride ended very soon. Melanie looked around and recognized that she was standing on the Allagash plateau. "Home on the range Eric! Wow! How long did that take?" "A little less than eight seconds. I didn't quite push for maximum speed. You okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine... While we're here, mind if we pick up some cash?" "Oh, good idea, I'm about out too..." Less than a second later Eric had whipped out a few thousand dollars from their "vault", a deep crevasse accessible only through his force. With the cash in his pocket, he and Melanie returned to Cambridge. Back in their condo, Melanie walked over and closed the balcony door manually. She then yawned and joined Eric on the couch. "Want to sack out, pumpkin?" "In a bit. I'm too excited right now. Eric, can I ask you something?" "Sure. What?" "How do you keep track of where you're going, when you're traveling that fast?" "Oh... yeah... It's a little bit like writing a program, and having the computer run it much faster than you can think of all the steps being executed... Really, it's no trouble at all... As long as I have a high-level description of what I want, it's no problem." Melanie just stared at him. Eric realized he wasn't getting through. "I started thinking about this months ago, when I was joining wood. I could twist many trillions of fiber-pairs together, but I didn't have to visualize each pair. I just think of a high-level goal, and then push the high desire down to the micro level. When I'm creating the vacuum tunnel, I've got individual locks on trillions of trillions of individual air molecules, but the effort just feels like one holistic dance... I don't know how else to describe it... It actually very easy..." Melanie nodded and kissed him. "That's okay. I think I get the idea. Want to go to bed? I'll pet you... anyway you like!" "Uh... Yeah, sure... Actually, there's one more thing I should tell you about." "Oh?" Melanie waited patiently and then realized Eric seemed embarrassed about something. "What's up?" "Yeah... Maybe we should have talked about this together first, but... Oh heck! Here, I'll show you..." Eric opened his hand and their checkbook snapped into it. He handed it to his wife. Melanie opened the checkbook and saw the balance. "$13,000! Wow, what did you do, deposit some cash?" "Uh... No, not that..." Melanie leaned over and kissed him. "Sweetie, just tell me. What did you do?" Eric sighed. "I sold some coins." "Coins? What coins?" "Well, it was a combination... I went to a landfill Tuesday night, did a bit of probing. You wouldn't believe all the treasures mixed in with the mountain of trash. Old coins down the backs of decaying sofas, stuff like that..." "Oh... I see..." "A lot of the coins were over a hundred years old... the bottom of the fill is a goldmine..." "Ah... Yeah, I guess." "So I touched them up a little and took them to a coin dealer in Boston." Melanie looked puzzled. "Touched them up?" "Well, repaired damage, took away the wear, stuff like that... It's very easy to bring a coin back to uncirculated condition... I just have to think the new atoms into place..." "Ah... And the reason you didn't tell me about this beforehand?" "Well... I was worrying you'd think of this as forgery. I wanted to see if I could do it first..." "Oh... I see... How much did you sell?" Eric smiled. "Over three mortgage payments, close to $8,000!" "Really?! Wow... And it's all blue money too... Wow..." Melanie sat back in the couch and considered. Eric and Melanie had code words for their resources, green money being their huge supply of cash and blue money (from the color of their checkbook) being their assets legal and visible in financial statements. Melanie still felt faint pangs about doing this, but she and Eric combined were spending close to $40,000 a year of the green money. Clothes, books, food, entertainment, even furniture for their condo, it was so easy just to pay cash and keep their blue money for major purchases like their condo and their land in Maine. As students, they found people were very accepting to being paid in cash. But now they were both past graduation, and they felt awkward about trying to pay adult- type bills of mortgages and property taxes with cash. Until Eric had sold his coins, their blue-money balance was down to $15k, $5k in checking and $10k in a savings account. How to keep up the mortgage payments until Eric got his Masters degree and started working was a bit of an unsolved problem. The living stipend with his grant would only cover a portion of their mortgage... "Oh, Eric! You should have talked to me first!" "I know! Sorry! Really... I am sorry." Melanie thought for a moment and then kissed him. "I forgive you. Now, let's talk. You can really make this much money dumpster diving?!" "Oh yeah. The landfills, they're amazing, if you can see what's there." "I guess... But... Isn't this forgery?" "Well... I'm using original coins... I am improving them... creating atoms of the various metals to repair scratches, stuff like that... But at the quantum level, the concept of original versus fake doesn't exist. Down at the atomic level, there's no such thing as antique atoms and modern atoms... It's all just atoms..." "Well... yeah... I see what you mean... Eric, you're worrying about my parents, aren't you?" "Yeah, sure. I have to hand it to them. It was a brilliant maneuver to force themselves back into our lives. Once they agreed to become part of the equation for your financial aid, all your scholarships and loan programs disappeared." Melanie nodded. "Yeah. My parents bagged us very neatly. Harvard was very happy to hang onto their scholarship money. Once my parents made their offer, we had no say at all in the matter. My parents did deliver on their promise too. I checked with the Bursar Office. Their check for $28,000 cleared. They'll owe about another $14,000 in September, and then I'll be paid up through the year." "I don't trust them Melanie." "Well of course not!" "So I was thinking, we should build up our supply of blue-money, have at least an extra $14k around that we can use for tuition if we have to." "And you want to do this by dumpster-diving?" "Well..." Eric laughed. "It's so funny! If I could just sell my 87.7 giga-Watts of power on the open market, we'd be in fat city in a day!" "Oh yeah!" "Instead, I'm converting the energy to copper atoms and boosting the value of old coins... It's kind of stupid..." "Hey, it works! Eric, I guess I don't mind. You think we're safe creating blue-money like this?" "Well, the dealer wrote me a check. He's happy, I'm happy, the bank is happy. I don't know how much I want to do this... but an extra three mortgage payments are nice." Melanie nodded and kissed him. "Indeed... Ready for bed, oh great entrepreneur?" Melanie found herself tired but also interested in sex when she sacked out with her husband. They spent several minutes petting each other and shedding their clothes, Melanie shivering a bit in the cool air. She warmed herself by pulling Eric to lie on top of her. Melanie felt his stiff erection pressing into her thighs and then sliding through her pubic hairs. She lifted her legs and held his head, kissing him deeply and spreading her legs wide, opening herself for coitus. His penis started to butt her labia, searching for her entrance. Eric soon found her warmth and moistness, and he slowly slid inside her. Melanie cooed in appreciation and pointed her toes, arching her back to create an easy thrust angle for him. Their lovemaking drifted between fast and slow, urgent and gentle. And then Eric quickened his pace. Melanie felt the penis inside her lengthen and become super stiff, and her love for Eric and the intense pleasures of her body carried her to orgasm. She had been curling her hips and contracting her abdominal muscles in rhythm with Eric's downstrokes, forcing Eric to work to penetrate her. As her orgasm began to wash over her, Melanie cried out in primal pleasure. She arched up and suckled and bit Eric's nipple. Eric pushed down upon her, thrusting himself fully into her, offering her his breast, feeling the hardness of her bite and the wildly erotic sensation of this beautiful and precious female orgasming underneath him. He gasped and released, quick tiny thrusts spraying his seed deep inside Melanie, this most delightful and willing of creatures, his beautiful wife. They both shuddered from the sensations of the penis sliding against the vaginal walls, moist and slippery and now super-slick with Eric's ejaculation. Melanie rode her orgasm for the longest time, drifting down so slowly she was half asleep by the time her vagina quit pulsing. The warm semen began to dribble out of her vagina, across her exposed butt hole and onto the sheets. She was too far gone to care. Eric gazed down at his drifting wife in pure love, her teeth still locked on his male nipple. He slowly turned himself and Melanie on their sides, and let Melanie suckle in her sleep. ------- Chapter 19 Time: Tuesday, August 1, 2006 2:00 PM After a hectic, transition-filled June, the month of July turned out to be peaceful and relaxing. Melanie and I were both surprised to discover that being legally married has changed our relationship in subtle ways. We had thought of ourselves as secretly married even before the wedding, had pledged lifetime commitments to each other years ago, but still... I guess at the core humans are very social animals. Expressing our union to the world in our marriage made our bonds seem more real. Melanie and I both can feel it. She is my wife, I am her husband, the social roles mix in with our concept of identity. I like the change, Melanie does too. We are incredibly happy with each other. And I'm collecting a paycheck on my research stipend, $1,365 a month after taxes. It's not what I've earned in the previous summers, but it feels like free money. I have totally free tuition and am being paid extra to write my Master's thesis. It feels like a very sweet deal. And Melanie got a summer job with a bio-tech company. It started out part-time and then quickly went to full-time as Biotherapeutics realized whom they had hired. So Melanie is pulling in some impressive bucks, not for long but it's a nice boost to the checkbook and she really enjoys the work. It took a bit of shuffling for both of us to free up a week in August, but we kept our promise to spend a week boating with Melanie's family. I never realized how much fun boating can be! Their boat is a 47-foot yacht, a two-stateroom Carver 450 Voyager. It even has two bathrooms (which are called heads, I never knew that). Melanie said her parents weren't into boating at all while she was living with them. They must have developed the interest, or bitten by the bug as Benjamin puts it, while Melanie was an undergrad. Courtesy of Melanie's parents, we flew out to Minnesota on the last Friday in July and took a small chartered plane from Duluth to Silver Bay Municipal Airport. Melanie's family was waiting for us with their car, and we drove to Beaver Bay where their boat was anchored. It was the first time I had ever slept on a boat. I liked it. The rocking motion was soothing. The next morning we diesel-ed up the boat, over 500 gallons for the twin inboard engines. I gulped a bit when Benjamin wrote a check, thinking about how much it must be for. And then we were on our way. We've spent the next few days touring the north shore of Lake Superior. It's beautiful country. Melanie and I both loved Gooseberry Falls. I never realized boating could be this much fun! The yacht is opulent, though a bit cozy for five people for a week. We have camping equipment to sleep on land if we want to, and some of the deserted islands are very tempting for an overnight stay. And the water is cold! Low 50F, too cold for swimming. On our third day out, Patty dared Melanie to an endurance contest. Melanie tried to concede defeat without taking the plunge but then her parents started challenging her to do it too. It all seemed good- natured, just a friendly contest, but Melanie and I still exchanged a quiet look together, trying to figure this out. Patty is an interesting woman. She's three years older than Melanie, and like her sister has a very keen mind. I never asked her about all the shoplifting in her earlier years, but she has been out of jail for almost four years now and all of that seems behind her. It's interesting to me to look at Patty. She's like a different version of Melanie. At 5'8" Patty is an inch shorter, but still statuesque. She has slightly bigger bones and is a bit more muscular, but she doesn't have quite the exceptional grace of Melanie. Facial features and hair are very similar, and they both keep their hair in ponytails. Late last evening on deck I caught myself glancing at toes trying to decide if I was looking at Patty or Melanie. Patty's toes are painted. I could have just probed with my sense of course, but my abilities there are so awesome I'm a little embarrassed to do it with other people's bodies. I just don't want to invade their privacy. The contact feels too intimate. Patty and I have had a lot of time to talk together. The hold has two staterooms, a master stateroom with a queen-size bed, and a second stateroom almost the same size with a queen-size bed and a single. It's a bit crowded, but we only use the rooms for sleep and storage, and we try to be as considerate as possible. Once we adopted the mindset that we're all family it's fine. Earlier this morning while dad was driving the boat and mom and Melanie were preparing lunch, Patty and I cleaned the lower level together. We chatted about our lives as we cleaned. Patty works now as a legal assistant at O'Hare and Snyder. My impression of Patty is that she's bright, amiable and, if I may say this without being unfaithful to my wife, very cute, a C-cup version of Melanie. The only thing odd about her is her absolute obedience to her parents. From Patty's perspective, her mom and dad are the co-skippers of the boat, and she is the subordinate. It's a subtle thing to observe, but a good example was this morning, when her mom asked her to clean the lower level with me. Patty asked a few questions to be sure she understood exactly what was being asked, and then immediately changed her schedule to comply. She looked at me and smiled as she went below, and I knew I could either help her now or she would do all the work herself. I don't know... I really can't fault someone for being obedient. It just seems a little extreme... And then came the swimming challenge. The day itself was warm, mid 80F on deck with a gentle breeze, and we were all dressed in swimsuits, Melanie and Patty in bikinis. We had eaten lunch before noontime, and the time was approaching 2 PM. Melanie leaned out over the boat and dunked her foot in the water. "Uh, this is freezing! You sure you want to do this sis?" "Absolutely! You're a college graduate and, if I might say, managed to bag a great husband! You must allow me to still beat you in something!" Melanie looked reluctant, but then both her parents starting encouraging her to jump in too. I decided to come to my wife's rescue. "Oh, go ahead Melanie! It won't feel so cold once you're in the water!" Melanie looked at me and suddenly smiled, realizing what I had said. They started the contest a few minutes later. Patty called out a final dare, "Winner gets to be warmed by Eric first!" and then, at the stroke of 2 PM, Melanie and Patty made two graceful dives off the stern of the boat, heading in near opposite directions. Our sounding was showing more than twelve meters of water, no problem there, but the water really was too cold for swimming. The two sisters swam out about ten meters from the boat and were a dozen meters apart. And then they just trod water as dad timed them with a stopwatch. After a minute Patty's teeth started to chatter, no surprise there. But Melanie seemed quite relaxed. And she should have been. The water temperature in contact with her skin was a uniform 89F. The minutes dragged by. I experimented a bit with how I was warming my wife. I found an interesting mode of warming Melanie but not the lake. I was cooling the water 1 cm away from Melanie's body, back down to the background temperature of the lake. Pumping heat from oblivion and pushing it back to oblivion 1 cm away, after a few seconds of practice it was easy to do. And the minutes dragged by... It was a very difficult endurance contest. Melanie's parents had insisted we study the boat's safety devices and read their instructions the first night we came on board. The thoughts of those manuals were still in my mind. I thought this contest was right at the safety limit, and I think without my kinetic powers I would have raised an objection. With no PFD's (protective floatation devices), neither woman could curl into H.E.L.P. (heat escape lessening posture). But Melanie didn't need too. She and Patty did need to tread water however, and the waving arms and legs were rapidly pulling heat from Patty's body. Looking back, I should have warmed Patty too, or just signaled Melanie to come back. I think without that last dare Melanie would have conceded defeat very early, even though she had no reason to. But the thought of her bikini-clad sister stealing cuddle time with me brought out Melanie's competitive spirit. I don't know exactly how much time went by, but it must have been at least ten minutes. The parents were looking on and smiling, calling out encouragements to both their daughters. And then they started looking curious and puzzled. Melanie should have been at a physical disadvantage. She has the lean hard frame of a distance runner, and I think they were expecting her to lose body heat much more quickly than Patty. But Melanie just kept floating and treading water calmly, as Patty got more and more agitated in the water trying to stay warm. It was a hopeless battle. Patty's teeth stopped chattering, and she seemed to make some strange hand gesture to us. And then she slipped under the water. Patty's mom started screaming. Melanie saw what happened and started to swim over. I yelled at her, "MELANIE! MY JOB! YOU COME TO THE BOAT!" and I dived into the water. Melanie gasped as I lost my power lock on the water around her. Realizing how easy the rescue would be for me, she swam quickly to the boat and climbed shivering up the ladder. By that time I had reached Patty, about five meters under the surface. I had the water around the both of us raised twenty-some degrees F. I could have pushed it more, but I didn't want to heat Patty too rapidly. She fought me a bit as I tried to bring her to the surface. She was clearly disoriented and didn't seem to recognize me. Fortunately, she wasn't trying to breathe underwater. I got her into a lifesaver hold and with just a touch of force got us to the surface near the boat. Dad helped me lift her into the boat, mom was still screaming, Melanie ran up from the hold carrying a bunch of dry blankets. Patty was conscious but groggy. She clung to me as Melanie wrapped both of us in a blanket. Melanie looked at me with a pleading look and then wrapped both her sister and me in a second and then a third blanket, like a cocoon. I realized what Melanie was asking. It would be easier to disguise adding heat to the blankets if I were in there with Patty. So I guess Patty won her bet after all. We did cuddle together, with her in her bikini, for almost half an hour. I slowly added touches of heat to the air trapped in the blankets with us. Patty felt like a refrigerator against me at first. I brought her temperature back up nice and slow. Patty gave me very affectionate hugs under the blankets as she recovered, and then one quick smile when we finally separated. Time: Wednesday, August 2, 2006 The next morning we had choppy water as a squall moved through. Melanie's dad and I drove the boat east northeast up the coast while the women chatted below. Dad is an interesting guy to talk to. He has a wide variety of insights into many topics. We talked about all sorts of things, from school to science, from boating to banking. We talked about everything except Melanie's childhood, and why did he ever want to manipulate her so badly. The storm cleared by noon and the weather afterwards was delightful. We anchored off a pristine deserted island shortly after 1:00 PM, and then when down to join the women for lunch. I was feeling very confused. Does Melanie's dad still want to manipulate her? If her parents are still seeking vengeance, they are true masters at hiding it. After lunch we all pitched in lugging a barbeque grill and various items up a short hill. We would be having a picnic dinner on land this evening. Melanie's mom invited us to go hiking with her, and just as Melanie accepted dad asked Patty to go back to the boat and clean the bilge pumps. Patty nodded at once and started heading down the hill. I looked at Melanie and got a quick nod of approval. Then I excused myself from the hike and followed Patty back to our small skiff. We went back to the yacht together, Patty joking with me that with my Mechanical Engineering degree from M.I.T., she was expecting expert instructions from me about how to clean the pumps. I assured her that she would have to teach me anything that needed doing. She changed into some work clothes, a halter top, old cutoff shorts, and a pair of truly dead sneakers. I put on my own sneakers and stayed in my trunks. And then we crawled down an access port to the very bottom of the boat. Patty started giving me a lecture on the pumps as she began her work cleaning the oil drip pan under the starboard engine. I tried to duplicate her cleaning efforts on a second pan under the port engine. Two of the bilge pumps were also nearby, and another two much further forward in the boat. "All four pumps can run directly off either engine in an emergency," she said, on her hands and knees and cleaning the oil drip pan. I looked at her and had to smile. Her breasts were hanging loosely inside her halter top and jiggling as she scrubbed. "Our effective pumping rate is probably about 8000 gallons an hour..." "Wow... Sounds like a lot... Uh, effective rate?" "You want to be a good boater Eric, you have to learn how to read the numbers. The pumps are actually rated for higher flows, but that's for horizontal pumping. In practice, you have to pump the water up before you pump it out." "Oh, of course, the static head. That'll pull the flow rate way down." "That's right. Very good Eric!" And so it went. We spent over an hour cleaning and crawling together in some very tight places. Patty was very professional and proficient. It was turning into a warm day topside, but down in the bottom of the hold surrounded by the cold water it was pleasantly cool. We wound up pressing against each other a bit and sharing our warmth. I think it reminded us both of our time yesterday under the blankets. Neither of us minded the close contact. It wasn't just cleaning. Patty was checking and occasionally tightening the hose connections, inspecting the gaskets and filters on the engines and pumps, looking over everything with her expert eyes for any sign of trouble, testing and cleaning the float switches and the junction boxes. I realized she was a very proficient mechanic, an engineer in the true sense of the word. And she taught me very patiently how to do each job. I felt humbled with my Bachelor's degree, dimly remembering Professor Hanson's words that M.I.T. was not a trade school. We collected the last of the oil traces at the fourth pump and were finally finished. I looked at our accumulated set of oily rags. "Gee, this isn't much oil at all. What, a couple of ounces maybe?" Patty looked at me sadly. "Probably about right... Eric! Do you know the Federal limits for pumping oil out with the bilge water?" "Uh... Gee, no idea." "The Federal limit set by the EPA is fifteen parts per million of oil in the water pumped from a boat. So, Mr. Four Years at M.I.T., how much water would we have to pump to legally discharge one ounce of that oil?" She then pointed to the rags and smiled at me sweetly. I thought for a moment. "Yikes! Five hundred gallons! More..." "Excellent! Exactly right. Imagine ten fifty-gallon water heaters, and dumping all of them just to legally get rid of one ounce of oil. Eric, it's no joke. Even a few ounces would leave a sheen of oil on the water. If I just flipped on the engine blowers and the bilge pumps instead of doing all this cleaning, and if the Coast Guard happened to be passing by, the next thing I'd know they'd be asking me for the boat's registration papers and some personal ID. My parents would flip. Pollution fines around here are huge, as high as five thousands dollars. I'm not the Exxon Valdez, but I'm not joking either." She held up the dirty rags. "You dump this much oil into Lake Superior, you could quickly find yourself in the land of the big bucks." I nodded, properly chastised. "Got it! And I agree, I don't want to be a polluter either." And then I spent a few minutes complementing her on her proficiency. Patty seemed startled by my complements, as if receiving praise occurs so rarely in her life she had no idea how to respond. She finally looked at me and smiled. "Thanks Eric! And for a novice, you did a great job. You cut my time down here in half." She gave me a quick kiss on my cheek, and then we turned and began crawling out of the hold. We stowed the rags in the waste after taking off our dirty sneakers so as not to dirty the carpet by the staterooms. Both of us were in need of showers. I gestured with my arm to our stateroom. "Ladies first." Patty gave me a coy smile and shook her head. "Oh no, Eric. We did this job together, and aren't due back on the island for over an hour. This is definitely not the time for ladies first." And so saying, she untied her halter top, keeping her breasts covered only by holding the two ends of the untied halter together. Then she leaned over and gave me a lingering kiss on my cheek. "And I also haven't thanked you properly for saving my life yesterday..." She turned around and headed into our stateroom. With her back to me, she removed her halter. I got a clear look at her from behind wearing only a pair of cut-off shorts. My eyes traveled down her bare back, clothed butt, bare legs and feet... I felt a primal male reaction of being alone with a willing female, and then she was through the door. She left it half open. I could hear her pausing for a moment and unzipping her shorts, and then the water in the shower started running. I stood there just outside the entrance shivering. Was there any way else to interpret this? We had developed a simple rule for changing, closed door means knock first and open means just come in. The door was clearly open, and if I bent forward just a bit I was sure I would see Patty naked in the shower. Not the time for ladies first? Did she really say that, right before going first? The implication... the offer was that we shower together. But the showers on the boat were tiny, much smaller than a land shower. If I tried to squeeze behind her, I'd be humping her right up her butt... Did she really offer that? I stood there shivering, reaching down unconsciously and finding myself semi-erect, and then my love for Melanie came to my rescue. "What the hell am I thinking of?!" I shook my head and cleared it, and then went topside to wait for my turn in the shower. ------- Chapter 20 Time: Thursday, August 3, 2006 8:30 PM We spent the last couple of days camping and hiking on the small island, with several short hops back to the boat for an occasional meal or shower. Melanie has been spending a lot of time with her parents, and over the past week it's been a sea change in their relationship. Melanie's parents actually seem to be respecting her, all the interactions on this trip have been very friendly, and Melanie is astonished. I can tell she's been doing a lot of thinking about this. I've had no time along with her. We all slept in one five-person tent last night, and we were packed in like sardines, me, Melanie, Patty, mom, dad. I guess I could have forced the issue, pulled Melanie aside to talk. But I'm a little embarrassed about how to do it. I don't think I did anything wrong. Still... I weakly tried to avoid it, but I've had some time alone with Patty today. She acts as if nothing had happened yesterday, and I don't feel like opening the topic with her either. It's such a strange feeling. I actually like her, a lot too. But she's my wife's sister, and that's the relationship I want to have with her. Maybe she's accepted that. Today on the beach, she sat near me and we chatted. She was genuinely interested in my life, and shared a little of her own interests and hopes. It was all friendliness. If it weren't for the sexual overtones of yesterday, I think I would consider her a good friend. We all had a nice picnic dinner on the island this evening. The weather is currently gorgeous, a few clouds and a cool breeze and about five minutes before a picturesque sunset. But the marine channel is broadcasting a weather advisory of possible severe thunderstorms before daybreak, and Benjamin has decided we should all sleep on the boat tonight. All the camping gear is already aboard. Patty offered to take the parents to the yacht and then come back with the skiff and wait for us on the beach if Melanie and I wanted to take a twilight stroll. It would be our first time alone together since we left Cambridge. We gratefully accepted. Melanie was relaxed and happy and we strolled holding hands through the pristine landscape. We walked down the beach and then climbed a small sand dune to admire the last of the evening twilight and watch the stars come out. The moon was bright, just past first quarter, and heading towards the horizon. I knew from experience with the previous days that the moon would set in about two and a half hours, just after 11:30 PM. We sat down, still feeling faint traces of the sun's warmth in the sand. Melanie rested her head on my shoulder and sighed. "I'm happy Eric. It's astonishing, but I'm so happy. This is a beautiful vacation, and I'm actually enjoying being with my parents and sister. I'm so glad we came." I hated what I was about to do, hated to destroy the serenity and beauty of the moment. But my loyalty to Melanie was demanding that I speak up. I had made a vow to myself years ago that I would never not trust Melanie, never keep anything from her again. I told her about the incident with Patty and me on the yacht. Melanie listened quietly, stiffening as I mentioned Patty removing her halter, but remaining silent, even after I was finished. She was stiff and motionless in my arms for the longest time, and then gasped. I realized she had been crying. "Melanie... I'm sorry..." "You're sorry?! For what? Were you tempted?" She sounded quite agitated, upset, an extremely unusual condition for Melanie. She shrugged off my arm that was holding her. "Huh?! Melanie! I was faithful to you! I did nothing to dishonor our marriage!" "That's nice. But were you tempted?" I sighed heavily and lay down in the sand, hoping Melanie would follow me down and cuddle. She remained stiff and sitting. "Melanie, I was not tempted to dishonor you. I thought of my love for you, and my actions were swift and appropriate. I went straight to topside. I did the right thing." "Eric! You're not answering my question! Do I have to ask a third time?!" Her voice was quivering. "No, you don't... I want to give you a completely honest answer, but I can't sum it up in a single word. Hear me out?" "Go." I thought for a moment, my heart racing. "I like Patty, even though what she did was grossly inappropriate. She reminds me of you in some ways, and she's so different in others... The dichotomy... It's interesting..." "Uh huh... Keep this honest Eric... Real honest..." "Hey... Okay... I think she's cute, and I think... she's offering me friendship... independent of offering me sex. It's so hard to explain... I still want to be friends with her... But Melanie! You are my wife! There might have been a stray thought of thinking of Patty as sexy, but..." "Yes?" "My love for you totally defocused it. Truly, I am loyal and faithful to you." "Did you get erect?" I nodded. "Briefly... a little... when Patty walked away with her halter off. She was facing away, she could not have noticed... Maybe a little in the hold too, when she was scrubbing. Her breasts were bouncing in her halter... But it was a pure physical reaction mixing with friendship, not mixing with a desire to do anything." "Anything? What do you mean, anything? Did you fantasize about doing it with her?" "NO! Melanie, don't think like this! My reaction was natural. We're married, but hell, I'm still a guy! It was just a normal reaction, a guy seeing an attractive female..." I stopped myself. Hell! Did I really have to say that? I was only trying to be honest... "Normal, huh? Shit! Natural, huh! Shit!" There were tears in her eyes. "Eric! I had no idea you felt like this!" "Wait a minute! Felt like what?!" "I feel like SHIT!" she hissed. "I feel betrayed!" "Melanie! Stop!" "Shut up! Just shut up! I feel betrayed! Betrayed by you too!" I tried to touch her, but she batted my hand angrily away. "Oh shit Eric! How do you expect me to feel?! This happened a day and half ago, and you're telling me now?!" "Well, yeah... I'm sorry. I guess I could have... I was embarrassed... Sorry..." "Uh huh..." I tried to make eye contact with her, but she was looking out over the water. "Melanie, you are" "Wonderful! I don't want to hear this anymore! Let's just go back to the boat, shall we?!" Melanie stood up and I tried to follow. I was half-way up when I suddenly lost my balance. "Did you trip?" It was an abrupt question. "No... I felt like..." I took in a full breath of air. "I think I just hit a pothole..." "What? Oh shit! OH SHIT ERIC!" she cried in a breaking voice. "You want me to think about that now?!" Melanie turned and walked briskly away from me. "Oh hell Melanie!" I grumbled softly. "Do you think I do either?" I called out after her in a frustrated voice, asking her to wait, but she stormed off. I sat there for a long moment feeling totally upset. I had no idea this conversation would turn out so badly. I glanced at my watch and made a mental note of the time, 9:11 PM. All the power in the universe perhaps, but I felt so helpless. Melanie seemed to have collected herself by the time I got back to the skiff. She was standing silently with her sister. The two women boarded the skiff and I pushed off. Once we were under way, Patty tried to make some small talk, but then I think she realized I had told Melanie about yesterday. Patty gave me a very thoughtful look with her eyes, and we make the rest of the trip in silence. We stayed up just a bit with the family, preparing the boat for possible stormy weather, and then we all sacked out shortly after 10 PM. I was a bit queasy about sleeping in the same room with Melanie and Patty, and was wondering if I should try to sleep topside. We were in our usual routine and Patty was up there now, changing for sleep. But Melanie surprised me by jumping in and taking my side of the bed, the one against the wall. I couldn't bring myself to leave her. I climbed into her side of the bed and got under the sheets, hoping she would turn from the wall and face me. She didn't move. A few minutes later there was a polite knock on the door. Patty was coming in to sleep. I think she was a bit surprised by the new setup. She and I would be sleeping with only a two-foot aisle between us. She climbed into bed and turned out the light and wished us goodnight. And then the boat was silent, except for the gentle rocking sounds. The bright moon was low on the horizon, shining a fair bit of light into the otherwise dark cabin. I was lying flat on my back, looking at the ceiling. I didn't want to try to make eye contact with Patty, and after about a half hour I heard her breathing become deep and even. I was still wide awake, hoping Melanie might turn and cuddle with me. And she did. She turned and came close to me. I turned my head to her and tried to smile. It wasn't easy. Melanie still looked upset, and she did not smile back. I felt her hand directly on my groin, which was a little unusual. We both like some foreplay before touching each other's genitals. But I wanted to accept her, and I just sighed and tried to relax and let her take the lead. Relaxing was impossible. After a minute of working the ties on my pajama bottoms, Melanie's hand went right down through the opened fly and grabbed my penis. My cock was completely soft, but she wrapped her hand around it and started giving it quick tiny squeezes and jerks. I was so soft she couldn't really jerk me at first, but after a few moments the hand-job started to have its usual effect. I lay still, accepting the stimulation, feeling more confused than aroused. This is not how Melanie and I begin to have sex. And Patty was in the room. What did Melanie want? I remained motionless and allowed Melanie to drive me into an erection. It felt so strange. She reached my tipping point for arousal. My penis was beginning to stiffen, allowing her a have a tight grip on my shaft. I could see my cock starting to be the center-pole of a bed-sheet tent. I felt so embarrassed, aroused and embarrassed and confused all at the same time. Patty was two feet away and turned in our direction. Didn't Melanie care? Evidently not. Melanie astonished me by pulling the sheet to her and off me, exposing my growing erection to the sleeping Patty. I whimpered softly my disapproval but it went unnoticed. Melanie had me. I could feel my hips begin to thrust with the hard rhythm of her hand. Normally we like to dance into sexual arousal, frolic into it. But not this time. I was being driven. And my mind was taking the back roads. I started to imagine Patty awake and watching this. She could well be. Her breathing was still deep and even, but somehow... I tried not to make any noise. The hand-tempo on my cock increased. It was a dry hand job. Melanie's hands are always so soft and loving, but this time they felt hard. And Patty was there. Watching? My mind wanted to fantasize... I had never been an exhibitionist, certainly not with sex, it's not my nature, but Melanie was driving me into it... It began to feel sexy, dirty and sexy and sinful, showing my erection to another woman... Another sexy woman... My mind focused on Patty watching my exposed and aroused body, and then my mind jumped to focus on Patty, and how sexy she was. I started reliving my memories, feeling Patty's breasts underwater as I struggled to get her into a lifesaver's hold, cuddling with her under the blankets, watching her attractive breasts as we worked, watching her breasts bounce inside her halter, working and smiling and bumping into cute Patty in the cramped space... I started to pant and decided Melanie would probably not stop until I had orgasmed. So I surrendered to my fantasy. It allowed me to escape the embarrassment. My mind snapped back to being alone on the yacht with my sister-in-law, beautiful Patty, beautiful and sexy Patty, watching me now, watching my erection, enjoying and aroused seeing me like this... Was she awake? Yes! I could see the slight rhythmic movement of her arm under her covers. She was masturbating. Her eyes looked closed but they were probably open just a crack. It was so tempting to probe her body with my sense, just to be sure, but that would be more intimate than raping her and I held back... Was Melanie raping me?! I didn't want this! And yet, she is my wife, and I love her. I wanted to accept everything about her, the good and the bad. I tried one last time. I shook my body briefly, signaling how embarrassed I was and asking Melanie to stop. She kept on jerking me off with her dry hand. I shook my head no. She did not stop. My mind retreated back into my fantasy with Patricia. I returned to yesterday, alone with Patricia on the yacht. I'm admiring her skills and her friendliness. I'm very happy she's my friend. And then she turns and removes her halter. This time I follow her into our stateroom and hug her from behind, before she can remove her shorts. I grab her clothed hips and press them into my groin. Patty wiggles playfully, and my hands come up and cup her naked breasts. I can not see them but I can feel them. So full! Firm and taut and so full! So big! They feel so nice! Patricia laughs and wiggles playfully against me, and I hear the sound of her zipper as she prepares to take off her shorts. I bury my face in her hair and nuzzle the back of her neck and she wiggles her shorts down. And then her hands come up and pull down my swim trunks. Bliss! My erection pops from my trunks, and a warm, soft ass pushes back into my groin. I shake with desire as I feel the velvet head of my penis sliding across the smooth, silky skin of Patricia's naked rump. She's so sexy, so sexy and willing, to bare her rump for me. I lock my teeth on the back of her neck, and thrust against her rear. I feel her legs working to kick off the shorts around her ankles, and I do the same. I want no clothes between us! Patricia wiggles and butts me, and I grab her tits from behind to hold her steady. She will not escape me! She briefly holds my hands to her breasts, and then drops her arms, spreading her ass cheeks and catching my raging erection in her open butt cheeks. I start to thrust her dry butt as she returns to holding my hands to her breasts. Such beautiful breasts! So large! So sexy! Patricia bends over and I follow her, mounting her, by cock sliding up and down the dry crack in her butt... Beautiful Patricia's tight and sexy and willing butt... She laughs and wiggles, then spreads her legs even more and arches her back. I back off and stare down at her cute painted toes, admiring the arch of her feet and ankles, gazing up her sexy legs and hips. I am so eager to remount. I grab her full breasts again. Sweet and playful and sexy Patricia pushes back, her urgent needs demanding to be met. Her legs are open wide under me, her pelvis arched for penetration. She wants me, she wants me... We start dry fucking each other as we stand, practicing for coitus, practicing how to lock our thrust rhythms together... I'm mounting her up her dry butt, feeling her naked back press into my chest, feeling the head of my cock push against her dry tightness. Cute, sexy, friendly Patricia! It feels so nice, to press against her. It will feel so nice, to press inside her. We lock and synchronize our thrusting. Yes! This is it! We both silently agree this will be the tempo we'll use when I push up inside her. Cute feet, shapely calves, I gasp in my desire and her loveliness. I'm gripping her thighs as I hump her up the crack in her ass. Soft, feminine thighs, wide feminine hips, such beautiful hips... I love her curves... I try to push up into her, panting with my need. Patricia is so beautiful! Such beautiful curves on her hips, so beautiful, flowing to her waist... My hands travel up and across her ribs. Patricia laughs and pushes her butt against my groin, demanding I complete my mounting of her. No more foreplay. Fuck me now, she whispers to me. Such a sexy soft ass in my groin, such a sexy mount point. I tremble as I prepare to take her from her rear... I gasp with my desire... I move my hands up to lock her for mounting, lock her for mating. Such nice breasts! Her nipples are so large. I pull on her stiff nipples to display my ownership and domination, pull hard on her swollen nipples. Sweet Patricia gasps and cries out in her pleasure... My Patricia is so willing! I push into her dry tightness with my cock, with my raw desire... She wants me, she wants me, my beautiful Patricia. I bite her soft neck, locking her. I have her locked for mating, I feel her lift and arch for mating, so dry, so dry... Lifting and arching her vagina for mating... I have her locked... and her dry vagina is open for me. Melanie feels my cock lengthen and go absolutely rigid in her hand. She knows she has led be to the edge of release. And then she lets go. She makes a strange sound, one filled with despair and frustration, and then turns to face the wall. My penis starts to deflate rapidly. It feels tender and sore, abused with too much dry friction. The abrupt absence of stimulation shatters my fantasy. Oh Melanie! My wife! My wife... What the hell was I thinking of?! I lie deflated and whimpering, flooded with shame that I have abandoned my wife in my fantasy. I turn away from Melanie so she can't see the depth of my shame. I can't bear to have her look at me. There was the softest of sounds. It was Patricia's finger sliding back and forth in her labia, Patricia's finger for real. This was no fantasy. There was a long sigh as my sister- in-law's body began to tremble. Patricia rode her finger to orgasm. I could smell the sweetness of her sweat and moist release. I thought she smelled exactly like Melanie. I lay on my side unmoving, looking down, not caring I was naked, and not wanting to invade Patricia's privacy as she came. After a moment of quiet I looked up into Patricia's eyes. Her eyes were open, and she smiled at me. Her eyes seemed to offer kindness, perhaps even pity. I tried to respond, but failed. I felt so lost; confused and adrift. All was silent. The moon set and the room became pitch dark. I shivered, my mind unfocused, my naked body facing Patricia and not even caring. The darkness was sufficient cover. My mind drifted... In a dream I was back in Cambridge. I was alone in my bed, afraid and alone. I was feeling abandoned and confused, and I didn't know why. And the room was so dark, pitch dark, and I didn't know why. And then Melanie came to me. She came to me in the darkness. I could feel her by the side of my bed, kneeling and whispering how much she loved me. Kneeling and touching me and loving me with the most gentle of caresses. Sweet Melanie, my perfect wife, she loves me so much... and I love her so much... and all my fears faded in the warmth of her love... Such gentle caresses... Sweet, playful Melanie... Her soft hands, soft as feathers on my groin, so soft, so gentle... I feel her nose brush lightly across my penis; feel the warmth of her breath, my penis held so gently in her hands, so incredibly gently... I feel her kiss, her perfect kiss, so soft and loving, holding and cradling my penis in her hands, sweet, light kisses on my penis. Oh Melanie, I love you, I need you... You are the better part of who I am. I am not complete without you... Dearest Melanie, I could never be complete without you... So nice! Melanie is holding my penis with her lips. So soft! So incredibly soft! She wants me! I stiffen and enter her love and moisture. My dearest wife, I love you so! She takes me in her mouth. Soft as a kitten, lapping me with her kitten tongue. My stiff penis feels surrounded by love and warm, wet feathers. I slide down and penetrate, feel Melanie's love and acceptance of me, feel her lock my throbbing desire with her suckle. I swell and release almost at once, a great dam of pent-up desire and frustration bursting from my groin, one single hip thrust before the speed of my orgasm rocks the dream. I spurt twice, then again, fingers on my sac caressing my testes, a wet throat holding my penis head in the most intimate of caresses. I continue to ejaculate. I feel Melanie throat constrict and she works my orgasm, swallowing my cum, accepting my seed into her body. My faithful wife... My beautiful, faithful wife... She loves me! How is such a wonder possible?! A wave of peace and fulfillment washes over me as my orgasm ends. I sigh in contentment, and... The rustle on the bed next to me pulls me from the last of my dream. In the dimmest of light I can see Patricia turning to lie down, facing away from me and covering herself. I sigh again, trying to understand and remember... My gosh! What has just happened?! I reach down and feel my wilting penis covered with moisture, but the sheet in front of me is dry. I bring the moisture on my fingers to my nose. It's saliva, not semen, though I can taste just a touch of semen from the tip of my penis too. I really have orgasmed. I can't bear the uncertainly. I probe Melanie's body behind me. Her sleep position is strange, her body tense, but she is fast asleep. I probe Patricia... Oh my gosh... I can't resist... I probe inside her body, briefly violating her esophagus with my mind. Oh my gosh, that's me. That came from me. Oh my gosh... Melanie... Oh Melanie... ------- Chapter 21 Time: Saturday, August 5, 2006 7:47 AM I was standing quietly with Patricia in a Municipal airport, the early morning sunlight streaming through the high windows. My wife and the parents were down the corridor talking. It was time for our goodbyes. Our flight would leave in less than an hour, and we'd be in Logan Airport by evening. Of course, I could zip us home almost instantly, but Melanie and I had agreed beforehand we'd leave an audit trail and do this trip in a completely normal manner... Completely normal... This trip... Things don't feel normal. Melanie was so quiet on Friday, even her mother looked concerned and asked her if she was feeling okay. Weather-wise, it was a very stormy day. Melanie told her parents she was feeling seasick. Her dad nodded and started our trip back early. Melanie tried to rest, first in the dining / living area and then she retreated to our stateroom. She took a big nap in the afternoon, and looked a little better by evening. Melanie and I, we haven't spoken, nothing of any meaning. Late last evening though, I got Melanie to make eye contact with me. What I saw was hopeful, I think. I didn't see any more anger. She pleaded with me with her eyes to wait until we got back to Cambridge before we talked. Trying to sort this out with her parents and sister around would be impossible. I nodded my complete agreement. And last night in bed, I offered to hold hands, and Melanie accepted. No caressing, just holding hands. She took my hand at once. I'm very hopeful... "What are your thoughts Eric? Will you miss me?" Patricia was smiling at me. I blinked. Patricia's question pulled me back to the present. I tried with difficulty to return her smile. "Well... In some ways maybe..." Patricia nodded, and then looked... what? Uncertain? Caring? It was hard to tell... "Eric?" "Yah?" "This week... There's something I need to apologize for..." "You think so, huh? My gosh Patricia! The yacht!" "Yes, of course... I was so way out of line..." I stared at her. She looked sincere. "You certainly were... Oh heck Patricia. If you're really serious about apologizing, I'll forgive you." "Really?! Eric... Thank you. That means so much to me. I felt so terrible... when I woke up the next morning, and realized what I had done..." "Huh? Woke up? You mean on Thursday?" "Huh? Eric, what do you mean? I mean Friday. What are you talking about?" "I thought we were talking about apologies," I replied. I suddenly felt confused. "What do you think you're apologizing for?" Patricia looked around to make sure we were private before replying. "Why, for having oral sex with you without your permission. Eric, that was very wrong of me. Watching Melanie masturbate you... dominate you..." "Dominate me?" "Well of course, to dry jerk you like that. It must have been painful. Watching it, it excited me... drove me... Eric, please forgive me. Before that night, I haven't made out with a boy since high school. The urge to compete with Melanie... and the sight of seeing you aroused and unsatisfied... It overwhelmed me." Patricia paused to look around. We were still alone. "Eric, please, I'm so sorry. It'll never happen again, taking you without your permission. I was effectively raping you. Please forgive me. Drugging somebody and then raping them would be no different. Please forgive me." I stared at Patricia. She was completely serious. "Oh hell, Patricia. There's so much going on here I don't understand. Why in the world..." I paused and finally shrugged. "Oh, all right, I do forgive you, for taking me in my sleep I mean." "Thank you Eric," she whispered in the softest of voices. A moment passed, and she spoke more normally. "You have nothing to worry about, disease-wise. Seriously, I've done nothing in the last seven years. I'm completely clean." "Yeah, okay... Thanks... Patricia?" "Yeah?" "I take it there's nothing else you think you should apologize for?" Patricia smiled. "Oh? My shower offer? Certainly not! Eric, I think you're a wonderful person. You're smart, kind, thoughtful, and very sexy! I think we share so many interests. I'm physically attracted to you. And it's so much more than that. You respect me, treat me as an equal. No one else does, not even my parents, and especially not my sister." "Patricia, why should Melanie respect your attempts to destroy her happiness?! My wife is the person you should apologize to!" Patricia shrugged her shoulders. "My offer for sex was freely given. And as long as you are free to refuse, and I accept your refusal gracefully, I don't feel I have anything to apologize for. My offer still stands, by the way, for sex, and more, if you're ever interested..." "Patricia!" I hissed. "You took your halter off in front of me!" "Yes, I remember. I was very lonely in the shower. I had never thanked you properly for saving my life; still haven't. And for what I have in mind, we can't do it with clothes on." My jaw was hanging open. "Patricia! I'm a married man! I married your sister!" "Oh, I know. Melanie... We compete for everything, always have, always will... It's only natural for us to compete over you." "The hell it is! Patricia, I'm married!" "Yes, to my sister! And we live to compete against each other! But it's not just that. It would just be cheap sex if that's all it was. But I really like you. I want your friendship." I stared at her dumbfounded. "Patricia! You don't have to compete with Melanie. She doesn't want the competition! She hates it in fact. And... except for this one issue, I like you too. But this issue is huge!" Patricia seemed to ignore my first point but consider my second. "So, with no sex, we can be friends? I mean true friends, friends who can level with each other, friends who can share hopes and weaknesses?" "Well... Yeah, within reason, I'd like that very much. Patricia, can you also be my wife's sister to me?" Patricia paused for a long time. "I don't know... I don't like thinking about Melanie... And I still desire sex with you. BUT!" she broke in, as she saw me about to object, "I won't press for it. I owe you that. I'm very happy to be your friend, even without the sex." I stared at her in amazement, and finally shook my head. "Patricia, you're..." "Yes?" "... my friend." In the end, I had to smile. "My platonic friend." "Okay. And I won't proposition you again, I promise, not overtly." "Overtly?" "Well, no more halters coming off, unless I'm pretty sure you want them off." "Ah... Oh heck, this feels so strange Patricia! Can I ask you something?" "Of course. And I like the way you call me Patricia, by the way. Everyone else calls me Patty. I like it when you call me Patricia." "Uh..." What was I thinking of? Oh yeah! "Patricia, don't you want to try dating someone else? For instance, someone who's not married?!" Patricia was quiet for a long moment, and then her lip quivered. "As a trusted friend, I'll confide in you. I have a criminal record, and... I made the mistake of shoplifting in Indiana. It's the only State where shoplifting is a felony, regardless of the amount. I'm a convicted felon, Eric. That makes me unattractive to anybody I'd might like to date." "Oh..." "But I'm not unattractive to you, am I? I'm not talking about my body. Working in the hold with you, I could feel how you were enjoying my company. You were genuinely glad to be with me. And I was so happy, more than I've been in years maybe..." "Patricia, I like you. There's a lot I admire about you. But I hate how you treat my wife. I'll try to be your friend, but I'm asking you to try to love your sister. I'll respect you so much more if you do." Patricia look puzzled and then took a deep sigh. "Melanie? I don't know if that's possible... You don't know what it's like Eric, to be damaged goods. Nobody wants me, not as a life partner... Outside of my parents, I mean..." "I know. I see how they care for you." "They accept me... Forgive me for my past mistakes... They care for me, shelter me, provide for me... My mom had to pull a lot of strings to get me my legal assistant job. My mom and dad are the most wonderful parents on Earth..." I stood looking at Patricia in astonishment. Nobody could act this well. She was opening her heart to me, speaking with complete sincerity. "Melanie would love you too, if you stopped competing with her." "You think so?... Eric, can I give you some advice?" "Huh? Yeah, sure." "I know Melanie knows about the shower. I know you told her Thursday night. But the oral sex... You haven't told her, have you?" "Uh..." I suddenly felt I was walking on thin ice, but I couldn't quite figure out why. I wouldn't be unfaithful to Melanie if I answered that question, would I? And yet... I shrugged my shoulders and decided to answer anyway. "No, I haven't, not yet." "I didn't think so. My advice is not too. It'll just make matters worse between you and Melanie, and I don't want that any more. And as for me, I'm extremely embarrassed about what I did. I'll never tell anyone. Not my parents, not a future lover, certainly not Melanie. You have my word on this." "Ah... Oh Patricia, I can't promise that. Something like this impacts my marriage. I was planning to tell Melanie... and soon too." "It will be a mistake Eric." "No... I don't think so. Patricia, Melanie is my wife. I love her, trust her, cherish her. I can't do all that properly if I start hiding things from her." "Wow, what a different way to look at it... " Patricia took the time to consider. "Well, good luck..." We chatted just a bit more, and then Melanie and the parents returned. Our flight was about to start boarding. We spent another few minutes saying goodbyes, a last round of hugs all around, and then my wife and I boarded our plane for our puddle-jump flight to Duluth. We held hands as we walked across the tarmac. ------- Chapter 22 Time: Saturday evening, August 5, 2006 Our flight time passed slowly. We left Duluth at 11 AM, caught a connecting flight at Minneapolis, and landed at Logan just after 5 PM. It was almost 7 PM by the time we got home. Melanie gave me several deer-in-the-headlights looks as we made our flights. The planes were crowded, even the commuter flight. There really wasn't any privacy to discuss what happened on the trip. Melanie's anger of Thursday night was all gone though. I know her too well not to read her emotions. She was jumpy, afraid I was angry with her, maybe afraid of a lot more... Holding hands helped a lot, and by the time we got to Boston she was giving me lots of shy smiles. As we got home Melanie asked if she could shower first. I started preparing a light dinner while she did. She came out in her pajamas and finished setting up for the meal while I put myself through the rinse cycle. We ate and just chatted about school, did the dishes, and then by totally unspoken agreement walked off together to our bedroom and climbed under the covers. Melanie's hand came across and asked for mine. Oh, at last, it was time to repair the damage, and we were both so eager to. "I don't know where to begin Eric. Apologies, explanations, promises, confessions... I'll start anywhere you like. Tell me what to do. I don't know where to start." "I do. Let me start with an affirmation. I love you and I forgive you. Melanie, do you remember when Spirit landed, the night we got back together?" "Of course! I'll never forget that night." "Neither will I. Do you remember how you asked me to trust you so much, that all my fears would go away?" Melanie stared at me for a moment, and then nodded. "I'm asking the same thing in return. Melanie, trust me. What were you afraid of?" My wife gulped. I had never seen her look so shy... no, not shy, embarrassed. "Melanie #2 came back," she whispered, "I didn't know she still existed. Oh Eric, I was so afraid..." I reached over and hugged her. We rocked together for a while, not saying anything. "Melanie #2 Eric... It wasn't just in high school. I was doing it all my childhood, as far back as I can remember... and I never told you... I never trusted you... Oh Eric! I'm so ashamed!" I kissed her. "Melanie, true Melanie, there is no shame. Trust me now?" She nodded. "Okay." "But before, what were you ashamed of?" "Ashamed of being weak, ashamed of my lack of courage... I used Melanie #2, I used her! Melanie #1 used Melanie #2 as an escape, used her as a shield. I've been trained, Melanie #2 has been trained, so many times, that I can't win if I compete with Patty. The key to happiness and security was to lose to Patty. Only then would Melanie #2 be given love." I cradled Melanie in my arms. "My dearest wife... I think I can see this... dimly see the horror..." "Melanie #2 never laughed. She didn't know how. Patty's nickname for me back then was Melancholy. But at night, with my door closed, I used to dance Eric! As early as Junior High! Remember how we would talk of marrying, even as children?" "Sure." "I used to dance at night! Dance around the room and sing silently to myself, Eric loves me, Eric loves me! Melanie #1 defeated Melanie #2 in Junior High with that dance! No, not defeated, dominated. And it was you Eric, that allowed child Melanie #1 to be the true Melanie. And then I graduated Junior High just as Patty graduated High School. She moved out of the house then, and I was pure Melanie #1 for years, until my senior year in High School... And then I needed Melanie #2 again..." "Oh my gosh..." "I was so scared Eric! In my senior year, it became difficult for Melanie #1 to come out. Without you there, weeks would go by without Melanie #1 able to come out. Eric, what I did to you... Thursday night... It was unforgivable." "Like hell! I do forgive you! And it's so easy Melanie. You are my wife! It's so incredibly easy to forgive you. I couldn't bear not to..." Melanie started to cry. "You see why Melanie #2 feared you, don't you?" I nodded. "I think so. The true Melanie is weaker without me." "Oh Eric! Not just weaker! Defeated! Without you, Melanie #2 would be victorious. Melanie #1 would never come out again! My training! For an instant, on the dune, I thought I was in competition with Patty for you. And I let her come out! I was so stupid!" "Hey... hey... Melanie... it's okay..." "Oh, Eric! It'll never be okay!" "Sure it will! It's over! Accept my forgiveness? Please?" Melanie shuddered and finally nodded. "Yes... Okay... Forgiveness accepted..." She took a deep breath and sighed. "As a child, I couldn't bear the pain, all the yelling and mocking. It was like turning a switch, and I magically escaped my fear! I let Melanie #2 take over. And she abused you, degraded you! Or Eric, I'm so sorry!" "I love you." "Melanie #2 doesn't understand love, just how to accept being dominated. And without your love to call me back, Melanie #2 could become the True Melanie. That's why she... I... tried to destroy our marriage." "Melanie... Dearest, sweetest wife... How much of a struggle has this been for you?" "No struggle at all, after my senior year at Sterling. And when you proposed to me, that morning in my Harvard dorm, I thought my problem was over. I hoped I'd never have to show you how weak I am..." "Hey! It's not weakness! You managed to save the True Melanie through childhood. It was a brilliant strategy." Melanie nodded her head. "I've been trained, whenever I'm in competition with Patty, to lose; trained throughout my childhood. I saw you with Patty, talking with her, smiling with her, enjoying her company, even admiring her body." I sighed. "Oh... Oh my gosh... It's true... In some ways, I did get to like her, and yeah, I do think she's cute. But" "Oh, I know Eric! I know you are faithful to me! I hold you completely harmless. The fault is all mine." "Oh, I don't know. I could have been more sensitive..." Melanie reached up, crying and hugging and kissing me. She whispered in my ear, "Eric, sweet Eric, don't be ridiculous... The fault was all mine... Dearest Eric, I love you. And I will remain your true Melanie, now and forever." I nodded. We cried together. Eventually we started licking up each other's tears, and our moods turned playful. Melanie was lying flat on her back, her pajama tops unbuttoned, and I was petting her bare, flat stomach, and tracing the outline of her hip bones through her pajama bottoms. A long period of this kind of petting is one of Melanie's favorite foreplays and a way to prepare herself for sex. I looked down at her beauty and smiled. "Dearest?" Melanie kept her eyes closed but smiled back up at me. "Uh huh?" "Perhaps... Later perhaps... You might want... We might want some help with this. A councilor..." Melanie nodded. "Yes... It'll be a post-mortem analysis, but yes, it will be useful. Melanie #2 though is gone forever." "Ah..." Slow, lazy fingers tracing her bare ribs, Melanie sighing in deep contentment... "You sure?" "Yes. Melanie #2 admitted final defeat on Friday. She was astonished by your love. She saw it in your eyes, saw your forgiveness and your love for me in your eyes. She and I had our final discussion during my Friday afternoon nap. Melanie #2 was gracious in the end. She wished me all joy and happiness in my life and vowed to vanish, never to return... It's over Eric. Never fear her return... But I probably should get some counciling... It'll help me understand things... Come with me?" "Oh, of course! Sweet wife, I'm so happy I have you! I still can't believe the wonder, to have you, own you, possess you! I'm so happy!" "Yes! And I own you! We possess each other's bodies... but not our minds!" "Hmmm?" "Eric, it was so wrong of me... even Melanie #2 recognized it. Your mind is your own. I don't want to control your thoughts. That would make me like my parents. I don't want to own your fantasies." Melanie kissed my hand and held it to her naked breast. "You see a cute female, want to be friends, my gosh, that's your choice, not mine. And even if you want to fantasize, about the other cute females I mean, I don't mind. Exploring our fantasies lets us test and explore our desires..." I nodded, lightly playing with her freckles on her breast. "Yes..." "And the beauty of fantasy is we can explore without suffering the consequences of actions." "Yes, I agree... It's a beautiful gift, to be able to explore and fantasize." "Yes, exactly! Eric, hear the sincerity of my words. When you want to fantasize about getting sexy with cute females, just do it! I won't mind. But the things you learn in your dreams, they come back to my bed when you want to practice for real, okay?" "Okay! It's the same for you, of course." Melanie giggled. "Ah, we females are not as visually oriented as you males. Visualizing getting sexy with other guys doesn't appeal to me. But remember! Your body belongs to me! I own you!" "Moo! I am your steer! Moo!" "Exactly! And not a steer Eric!" Her hand came and cupped my testes as she laughed from her heart. "Look at this beautiful maleness hanging between your legs! No castration here! You are my breeding bull!" I nuzzled her neck and dropped to her breasts. "Moo! Oh Melanie, I love it when you talk cattle!" "My prize bull..." Melanie sighed in pure bliss as I started to lick her nipples, and then she giggled. "Perhaps I should brand you..." My lips let go of their hold on her left nipple. "Moo?" "Oh yes, and you should brand me. But it's my idea, so I get to go first!" Melanie laughed and sat up it bed. "Here, lie down! I want your butt facing up in my lap!" I complied. Melanie petted me in silence for a moment, and then I felt her fingers catching my waistband and pulling my pajamas down. I could feel the cool air of the room on my naked butt. I felt Melanie's fingers tracing and caressing me, all over the back of my exposed ass. Lying in submission for branding was an incredibly erotic feeling. "Searching for a good spot?" I asked. "A little. Mostly thinking of what sort of brand to make, what sort of mark. It has to be very distinctive, you know." "Oh yes. Otherwise thousands of other cute females might get confused, and get me to breed with them by mistake." "Exactly! My sweet bull! You're so smart!" The caressing continued. I was completely relaxed, floating in the playful intimacy, and then I felt Melanie pinch me low in the middle of my left ass cheek. "Found my spot! And I've decided on my brand. You ready Eric?" "I am. Brand me Melanie. Make me yours, now and forever." "Now this might hurt a bit," Melanie said playfully. "2000F at least. I'm blowing on my fingers to heat them for the branding." I wiggled in play nervousness. "Hold still now!" She maintained and tightened her pinch. "You ready?" "I'm ready!" "You sure? This is it Eric, no turning back! Once branded, you'll be branded for life. Anytime in your life, anytime at all, you can reach to your backside and feel my brand. It'll be that deep and permanent. Your body will belong to me, now and forever." "Brand me Melanie. Brand me now. My heart cries for it." Melanie cried out in a gasp, a cry that penetrated beyond our playfulness. And then I felt the nails of her other hand penetrate lightly into my pinched ass. Melanie made a loud hissing sound with her mouth, mimicking the sound of a hot branding iron on my butt. And then she released me. I sat up and smiled at her. She looked at me with tears in her eyes, and we both lay back down and cuddled with each other. "My brand..." I reached back and rubbed the spot where the red hot iron had made its mark. "What does it look like?" "Oh, it's a beautiful mark. A large capital T, with a capital M above it, the two bottoms of the M cut through the top of the T. It looks a little like a tree. You, my prize bull, are now the property of the True Melanie ranch. I own you." "Yes, now and forever, I am a True Melanie bull." We cuddled and kissed playfully for a while, then my hand caressed my wife's rump, and I cupped and squeezed a willing cheek. "My turn!" Melanie squealed with delight and immediately positioned her body in my lap. I was overcome with a wave of passionate eroticism as I pulled her pajamas down, baring her rump for the branding. Melanie giggled and shook in play fright. "Now hold still! We don't want this to be more painful than it has to be!" Melanie laughed, and then turned thoughtful. "By gosh Eric. With your power, you could brand me for real. Do you want to?" "Huh? For real? No, of course not." "You sure? I want so much to be your woman, I won't mind if you want to tattoo me." "Oh, I'm sure. Brands of the mind are the best." Melanie sighed and relaxed in my lap. "Yes... Make your mark then. Moo! Make me your heifer." I caressed Melanie's rump for the longest time. It was wildly erotic for me. Melanie knows I love anal play, and our sexual play often includes having her finger up my butt. But in reverse, Melanie is very shy about caresses on her anus, and I've never penetrated her there. Not tonight. She was cooing as I petted her butt, and gasping with pleasure as I lightly stroked her tightly closed anus. I spread her cheeks with one hand, and wetted the fingers on my other. I soon had her rear opening wet and aroused. Holding wide open her ass cheeks, her cute pink anus fully exposed, I wetted my index finger one last time. "Ready? This might sting a bit." Melanie was gasping. She nodded fiercely. I started making the branding hissing sound and drew a slow tight circle directly on her erect and quivering anus. Melanie bore down to pout her anus out for the branding. And then I dropped a line down from the circle and into her labia, crossing her open vagina and then passing it. Then I came back and drew a horizontal line through the vertical drop line, from one thigh to the other, crossing her crotch and leaving an imaginary cross directly at her vaginal opening. My branding complete, my lips dropped to kiss and suckle her anus. Melanie started to pant. "The brand of the female," she muttered. "Am I really that sexy to you?" She continued to pant. "Eric, take me. Take me now!" The last of my pajamas disappeared instantly. Melanie continued to lie on her stomach, signaling me she wanted to be mounted from the rear. I had a raging, throbbing erection, and I was shaking almost uncontrollably as I knelt between her legs. I climbed on top of her, mounting her back, my penis searching for her labia. "Eric!" gasped Melanie. "Do you want a circle mount?" "Hmmm? What?!" "You know what I mean! I know my brand! I'm branded female! Circle on my anus, cross dropping to my vagina. I know I'm in your crosshairs, but if you want, you can take me at the circle." "Melanie," I panted. "That would hurt." "Oh, I won't mind. I won't mind at all. All my shyness is gone. If you want, thrust me at my circle!" "Melanie, I... I can't hurt you..." "Eric! I know what's on the internet! Don't all guys have this fantasy, of fucking their females up their butts?!" "Well, in fantasies maybe... But for real?" I rose up on my knees and gazed down at Melanie's tight ass. I stroked her open cheeks. She reached behind and spread herself fully and pouted her abdominal muscles, pushing her anus out for penetration. I stretched out over her, lay down on her back, covering her, locking her down for mating, keeping most of my weight on my arms but also locking Melanie into position. I whispered in her ear. "Sweet wife! I could never hurt you. Let's just pretend for now..." Melanie nodded and arched her rump up. Her vagina as well as her anus were now exposed. I had never seen her look so sexy, totally open and exposed and willing and shaking with the unbearable tension of not being penetrated. There was a huge rotation in her hips, lifting herself for coitus. I reached down and pushed my cock head around her pouting anus for a moment, sliding it in my own saliva and feeling Melanie shudder from the sensations. She was completely willing for anal penetration, tightening her abdominal muscles and pouting open her tiny anus for me. I completed mounting her along her back. Her body pressing up into my chest, I let the head of my penis drop just a bit to find a sopping vagina waiting for it. I slid in, and both Melanie and I pretended that she was being butt- mounted. Our love-making that night was swift, much faster than either of us anticipated. We were both feeling the need for release almost as soon as we coupled. We were driven to it, swept away in a raging river of emotions, and the demands of the river were not to be denied. Melanie threw out her arms and began singing just a few minutes after I coupled. "Eric loves me! Eric loves me!" she sang, a sweet melody from the center of her heart. I realized it was the song from her childhood, from her years in Junior High, her secret survival song, bursting forth in true voice for the first time in her life. I felt so humbled by her love. How can such love exist? My eyes were flowing with tears. How is such love possible?! And then an orgasm began racking Melanie's body almost to convulsions. The sight and feel and smell of this most beautiful and willing female; feeling her writher underneath me, it pushed me, drove me to release, one spurt after another, each orgasming thrust a promise, a promise of love and fidelity delivered high and tight into my most perfect and precious wife. I collapsed afterwards by her side, sleepily mumbling promises of love. With both our loins sopping wet from our desires, we fell asleep in each other's arms. ------- Chapter 23 Time: Sunday afternoon, August 6, 2006 Melanie and I got back home from church about a half hour before noon. We both started working, Melanie on her Biotherapeutics project while I crunched and wrote some code for my research grant. After a couple of hours, my wife up to me from behind my desk and nibbled on my ear. "Lunch?" she whispered, and then licked my ear. "Sure... Just give me a minute to finish up..." Melanie headed off to the kitchen. "Want to watch a movie?" I called out as I shut down my laptop. "How about just some music?" she called back, the sounds of sandwich making in the background. I got up and searched around our collection, looking for something we both liked. I finally picked some ethnic music for Scottish lute and mandora. After lunch and doing a few dishes we stretched out in the living room, relaxing from the day. We had both gone out for an early morning run. Melanie laps me on the track; she flies like the wind when she kicks up her heels. I could keep up with a bit of force, but with other runners around why take the risk of blatantly displaying impossible physics? With gentle strumming melodies in the background, I cuddled with Melanie on the couch. She smiled and nestled into the side of my body and sighed. Her eyes were idly looking at our small end table by the couch. With a thoughtful look on her face, she reached over and ran a fingertip across the top and then examined her finger. It was spotless. "Amazing how clean this place stays," she commented. "I've gotten so used to it, the slight amount of dust on the yacht caught my attention, but it's really here that... Oh my gosh! Eric! Is this you?!" "Uh, yeah... I wasn't trying to hide anything. I guess I just never got around to telling you. I sense and lock all the dust on a daily basis." "Oh... Where does it go?" "Into a plastic bag, and then into the trash... It only takes a few seconds..." "Oh... Oh wow... Hey! Eric! Couldn't you wash the dishes that way too?" "Oh yeah, I suppose..." "So why are we still doing them by hand?" "Well, I do force them clean when I'm alone... I clean the air in the house too." "You do?" Melanie looked at me thoughtfully. "How far down do you lock?" "Well, except for the plants, I go down to the molecules. I just cleaned before lunch. This condo is far cleaner now than the best surgery room... I even pulled the CO2 in the air here down to zero." "What?! How do you do that?" "I pick off the carbon-12 atoms from the CO2 molecules; force the carbon atom in one direction and the oxygen molecule in the other. I leave the O2 molecules in the air, and about sixty grams of pure carbon dust goes out with the trash." Melanie stared at me. "What?! So much? From a trace gas? You're kidding!" "No, not at all. Do the math. We have 1148 square feet of interior space, ceilings over 9 feet high. I find the indoor concentration of CO2 is usually about 560 ppm, and then you have the mass ratio of the carbon-12 atom to the two oxygen-16 atoms. The end result is about sixty grams of carbon in the condo, locked up in the air's CO2." "And you can pull it out. Wow Eric! You could be humanity's answer to global warming!" "Well, at full throttle, I suppose I could put a dent in the problem. But only within my sense sphere, and the effect would drive Cambridge scientists crazy. Why would the CO2 in the city be so much lower than the rest of the planet?" "Yeah..." Melanie turned thoughtful for a moment, and then started to look troubled. "Oh Eric! How can you focus on so many molecules at the same time?!" I shrugged. "Want to know a secret? It's easy. It's like a bifurcating zoom... Difficult to describe how it feels... easy though..." "But down to single molecules?! Doesn't that... What about the uncertainty principle?" "Oh yeah, major-league violations all over the place. I am a one-man wrecking crew, as far as quantum principles are concerned." "Eric, pulling the CO2 out of the air, you never mentioned doing this..." Melanie smiled kindly and took a guess. "Don't like to boast?" "Yeah, well... I can, you can't... It's not exactly boasting, but... well, something that separates us..." "Ah..." She leaned over and kissed me. "Sweetie, you're very considerate, but really, this is so fascinating. Tell me about these things." "Okay! Actually, there are a few things I need to tell you anyway. Want to see what I'm working on now?" "Sure!" I looked around the condo. The one room without windows was the kitchen area. "Come with me to the stove. I'll show you something." A few seconds later I was standing in front of the stove at the end of the galley kitchen. Melanie was standing at the kitchen entrance watching me. "Okay. What's up?" "I'm just about to do something with the light in this room. It'll look a little weird. Don't be shocked." Melanie raised her eyebrows. "Well, forewarned is forearmed. Go ahead. AHH!" She couldn't help a small cry as I demonstrated my new trick. "Eric, what am I looking at?!" "What do you see?" "This looks so bizarre, like a double negative! I see an orange you, like you're lit up in an orange light. And I also see a bluish stove right through you!" She moved her head from side to side. "I'm maintaining binocular perspective! I really am seeing a blue stove right through a reddish you! Eric! What am I looking at?" I nodded and shut down my experiment. "Remember Thursday night, when I mentioned I hit a pothole?" Melanie's eyes lit up. "My gosh, now I do!... Oh gee... Eric, come back to the couch with me?" We were soon sitting on the couch. Melanie was all cuddles and affection. "Sweet Eric. You were so gentle with me Thursday night. I was being a bitch to you, and you had something change with your kinetics... I can only imagine how stressful that must be... And you ignored your problem and stayed caring for mine..." She kissed me. "So what happened when you hit the pothole?" "Everything started growing again at their characteristic rates. Force, Energy, sense- sphere radius, everything... I did the calculation. It was right at the start of the seventh period within this fourth rotation." Melanie nodded. "You're growing again, huh?" "Yep. Sense-sphere radius is now 1170 meters, compared to 1103 on Thursday, I can create 4.5 grams of matter an hour compared to 3.5, maximum force is 4.77 giga- Newtons compared to 3.77, and my minimum mass for a lock right now is 2.48 eV. It used to be 2.99 eV. My new wavelength limit for locking a photon is 500 nanometers. That's right at the boundary between bluish and greenish light." "Oh my gosh! The stove!" "Yes! It's the strangest feeling, sensing the photonic promises. Between the photon- electron interactions, the photons are nowhere at all, they have no spatial locations. But I can lock the promises, force them not to be fulfilled. The net effect is making anything totally transparent to any wavelength I can lock." Melanie's eyes lit up. "So if your minimum limit keeps decreasing, you'll be able to make yourself invisible?!" "Well, not just me. Anything within my sense-sphere. It takes very little power. Of course, I'd still be visible to an infrared camera, unless the limit keeps decreasing. Maybe I'll be able to nullify those promises too... Melanie?" "Uh huh?" "There's something more I should tell you about last week, about Thursday night, and my last conversation with Patricia at the airport..." Melanie listened quietly while I talked. Afterwards she rested her head on my shoulders. "Such a gift Eric," she sighed. "Your forgiveness... I think I suppressed the memory of how brutal I was, dry jerking you like that... Why didn't you stop me?" "Oh, it wasn't that painful..." "You sure? Show me now?" Melanie got up smiling and led me into our bedroom. She undressed me and laid me on the bed. She asked me to spread my legs with her hands on my inner thighs. I lay there and relaxed, feeling her gentle fingers examine my penis and sac. It was the easy familiarity of resting with a trusted mate. My penis stayed completely soft. The time passed quietly. "See?" I murmured at last. "Good as new." "Oh Eric, no it isn't. You're rough here, on the corona of your penis head. Does this hurt? Be honest." She ran her finger lightly over a sore spot. "Well, just a tiny bit. It'll pass. I did much worse as a boy sometime, wanting to masturbate, being too impatient to wait... Oh... that feels so nice Melanie..." Melanie was crying softly. "Oh, I did hurt you... Oh Eric, why didn't you stop me?" Her fingers had dropped to my anus and sac. Gentle caresses of love... My body quivered as I sighed. I kept my eyes closed and started to dream... "I didn't want to reject you," I replied, my body deeply relaxed. "There really wasn't much pain, mostly embarrassment... ah, that feels so nice... embarrassment of being jerked off with another woman watching... I escaped both by jumping into a fantasy with Patricia... I mounted Patricia in my dream... It wasn't embarrassing to be naked in front of her... not if I was dreaming of mounting her..." "And then Patty sucked you for real while you dreamed of me," Melanie whispered. "Sweet Eric... Here, dream your dream again... Dream of me taking you in my mouth... I'll be soft and gentle, I promise..." I did as she asked. This new dream was much more satisfying than the last. No marital worries, everything was peace and acceptance and wonderful physical pleasures. Melanie caressed me with her nose and cheeks for the longest time before starting to lick my penis wet with her tongue. My mind drifted in images of playing with her, laughing with her, dancing and mounting and coupling with her... Time flowed, my mind drifted, and I slowly realized my penis was sliding in and out of the most gentle and velvety mouth in the world. Pure softness and gentle warmth and moisture... I drifted for the longest time, it felt so good, so loving... I had a dreamy image of my penis inside a kitten's mouth. Warm soft lips were holding my penis gently about half way down the shaft. And a kitten tongue was lapping the head of my penis inside a wonderful mouth, full of moisture and softness. I drifted deeply into the pleasure. I felt my mind and heart rate both slow down and glide gently over a calm sea of sensual pleasure... And then I felt Melanie slip from the bed. I looked at the clock as my wife walked over to her purse on the dresser. I had been drifting for over a half hour. I glanced down and saw a full and stiff erection between my legs, rising vertically into the air. I blinked in astonishment. My mind and body were so deeply relaxed that the size and stiffness of my erection totally surprised me. Melanie returned to bed carrying a bottle with a blue cap. "Here," she said. "I bought this at the drug store this morning. I meant it for you to use on me, but... Eric! Lift your legs up! Pretend you're a female in a missionary position." I closed my eyes and smiled, lifting my legs up, curling my back. I heard the soft clicks of the bottle opening and closing as Melanie positioned herself between my legs. Then I felt an incredibly slick hand surround and pump the base of my shaft. Melanie's perfect mouth returned to my penis head, her lips caressing and suckling my head into her mouth to be licked by her eager tongue. The fingers on her other hand began adding the slickness to my anus. It felt so good! I arched up higher and whimpered to show my deep pleasure. More slickness was added, and then I felt a pressure start to build at the center of my anus. I groaned and curled, signaled Melanie I was ready. She slid her middle finger inside me, burying her finger to the hilt. And then she began to pull out. I gasped at the sensations. In the past when Melanie would blow me, as an extra treat she would often slide a finger up my butt and sometimes even pump my prostate as I came. But this was the first time she ever set up an anal fuck rhythm as she blew me, her sweet mouth sucking, one hand pumping the base of my cock, and one exquisitely slick finger sliding in and out of my butt hole. I moaned in overwhelming pleasure as Melanie sucked and fucked me off. I came in Melanie's mouth in gasping spurts, her finger rotating inside me and sliding along my rectal walls. With her mouth and other hand she worked her suck and pump motions. The last drops of my semen were drained from my body. I tried to catch my breath and looked up sleepily to my wife. "My perfect bride... I'm so happy I've caught you..." "Here Eric," Melanie smiled playfully as she handed me the bottle. "My turn!" Melanie disrobed as I woke up and took a look at the bottle. We kissed and petted each other for a while, and then she lay on her back and curled her legs, a beautiful female in a classic missionary position. She arched her butt way up to show me what she wanted. I nodded and smiled. It was an incredibly erotic experience to grease her anus for penetration. She offered me her rear entrance so sweetly, curling up and spreading her ass cheeks, exposing herself, her body quivering in expectation. After a few minutes of foreplay and sliding around her slick opening, her anus pouted. I could feel the tiny opening in the center of her anus as Melanie invited me into her back door. I came inside her, a slow full thrust with a single lubed finger. And then I set up a fuck stroke, just as she did with me. I put her legs on my shoulders, so she could relax her thigh muscles. For a while, the wet squish of my finger sliding in and out of her butt was the only sound in the room. Then Melanie began to moan, and her labia became flush and prominent. My mouth descended to her labia, kissing and rubbing and licking, holding her soft tender folds with my lips as my finger below continued to drill her up her butt. I nuzzled her clitoris, and then felt it disappear in the heat of Melanie's extreme arousal. I felt her pass her tipping point into a full-blown orgasm, and I switched to broad strokes with my tongue across her entire labia. I was pressing down with one hand on her abdominals just below her naval above her pubis, and with the other hand maintaining a fast fuck tempo up her super slippery butt. Melanie cried out in primal pleasure as her orgasm washed over her. I continued to finger-thrust her as she orgasmed. I felt strong abdominal contractions in my hand above her pubis, and then my thrust finger started bumping into something on my down-strokes into her rectum. Melanie's eyes popped open. "Oops!" she cried, and she jumped out of bed and ran for the bathroom. She returned a few minutes later looking a little sheepish. I was feeling a little sheepish too. "Oh, gee sorry Melanie..." "For what?" she asked, and she came and lay against me. "I liked it! All that rectal sliding though really stimulated my bowels. Uh, forgive me for sounding gross, but were you bumping into my shit with your finger?" "Near the end, yeah..." I blushed. "Next time we try this, uh... let me go to the bathroom first..." "Sure, sure..." I said happily, petting and cuddling with her. "It felt so intimate pumpkin, to be up inside you like that..." We kissed for a while, our noses smelling and caressing each other, our eyes closed. "Melanie?" She smiled and kept her eyes closed. "Uh huh?" "When you were inside me... Is this what it feels like to be a female?" Her eyes popped open and she giggled. "A female being fucked, you mean? Just a little. Being butt-fucked with a finger is wildly racy, and I want to do it again. But having your penis sliding in my vagina is MUCH nicer!" We hugged and kissed for a while, both of us feeling very sleepy. Both of us realized we wanted to take a nap with each other. Melanie cooed and cuddled in my arms, drifting off to sleep. "Maybe being finger-fucked in my butt," she muttered, "is a dim shadow of how nice it is when you mount me for real..." She sighed deeply and then was still. I cupped her breast and stroked her as she slept. ------- Chapter 24 Time: Saturday, August 12, 2006 8:44 AM I woke up a couple of minutes before Melanie. I turned over slowly to her and could feel the warmth of her naked body against mine. She sighed and stirred but did not awake. I watched her as she slept and thought about the past week. Our work lives have really taken off. Melanie somehow became a key person in Biotherapeutics' most critical and visible project, and they've been pressuring her for all her available time. Melanie negotiated a compromise of working very long hours weekdays but keeping her weekends free. I'm so glad to have her for the next few days! She needs time to unwind, and we also have our first counseling session this afternoon. She's so cute! Melanie will come to bed naked if she just wants to be cuddled to sleep, and dressed in pajamas if she's sexually interested. She knows how much I enjoy undressing her. This whole week though, I hadn't seen much of her after our early morning run. She comes home after 9 PM very tired. I have a light dinner prepared. We eat and chat for a bit, and then she takes a shower and then collapses into sleep. "Hi Sweetie!" smiled Melanie, as she brushed my hair. "Good Morning Pumpkin! You look ravishable!" Melanie laughed as we kissed. "Ravishable huh? What a week! I think I'd like to be ravished today! Let's definitely set aside some time for petting." "Sounds good to me..." I reached across and hugged her. It's a pleasure to watch her wake up. Her eyes are so bright and alive, and in the morning so full of curiosity and playfulness. "Eric, your kinetics! How are you doing?" "I'm right on the edge of invisibility. Want to see?" Melanie backed up a bit. "This is so scary to look at, but go ahead. AH!" She couldn't stop herself. She was suddenly lying next to an extremely faint blood-red shadow of a ghost. "Eric, you're so dim, I can't make out your features clearly! You're just a super faint reddish-black shadow. Otherwise I see right through you." I nodded. "The red band of visible color is from 610 to 750 nanometers. I'm locking everything shorter than 745 nanometers. I'm right at the edge. By lunchtime I should be completely invisible." "Would you mind shutting down? I'm still uneasy seeing you like this." We were cuddling a moment later. Melanie sighed. "What a week! My life is filled with business deadlines and my husband is learning how to become invisible! Have you done much thinking, about where all this might be heading?" "Oh yeah! Lots of thoughts..." A long moment of silence passed. "Tell me?" "Well, I've noticed you haven't called me your god-in-training lately. Melanie, the powers are growing exponentially! When would you consider I've achieved my Bachelor's of god-dom?" "Yeah, pretty soon. An awesome responsibility Eric, to have a Bachelor's of god-dom." "Exactly! I worry about the Superman syndrome. How did Superman ever find the time to chat with Lois Lane? With so much injustice in the world, shouldn't he be on call 24/7 saving people. Is that what I should be doing? My sense sphere right now is 1327 meters. I could patrol it with my mind; make it a crime-free, drug-free zone." "Eric, you can't be responsible for the universe! That's God's job, the real God! You don't have to use your power, do you?" "No, it's completely voluntary. It's just as easy not to scan as to scan. It's my choice." Melanie considered. "So, isn't Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #242 appropriate here? More is good... all is better." Melanie smiled at me. "There's no downside to more power if you don't have to use it. It just give you more options, more degrees of freedom. How can that be bad?" She lightly caressed my thigh under the covers as I thought. I finally answered, "Well, not bad maybe, but different. I think the principle involved here is: Influence Changes Perspective." "Ah..." Melanie nodded thoughtfully. "Go on." "Think of diabetes. A hundred years ago no one could influence the course of that disease. It was a death sentence. People would say, there's nothing we can do. It's God's will." I shrugged and continued. "But now it's treatable. What's changed? Has God's will changed, or has our own influence changed, which then changes our perspective of the world and what God's will is?" "I see your point Eric. With the new powers, you have to decide what to hold yourself accountable for... What an awesome job... If I may make a suggestion, perhaps don't try to solve the world's problems. We can just use your abilities to lead a wonderful but private life..." "Yeah, well... That sounds like Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #261, A wealthy man can afford anything except a conscience." Melanie looked troubled. "True, it does... But Eric, how will you decide what to be responsible for?" I sighed. "I still don't know. I've got a lot of thinking to do... How about you pumpkin? What do you spend your time thinking about?" Melanie blinked and then lay back down, resting her head on her pillow. I came and pressed lightly against her side. My hand came up and held her breast. "Me?" she said at last. "I've been doing a lot of thinking about Patty." "Ah..." "Eric, can I ask you something really personal, if I promise absolutely not to be offended by anything you say?" "Of course, shoot." "Why do you like Patty? She tried to destroy our marriage, and did not apologize for that! And yet... you accepted her offer for friendship." "Yes... that's true..." "Do you think her body is super hot?" "Huh?" I looked at Melanie closely. "Be super honest sweetie. I trust you so much now, I will completely accept any fantasies you might have about doing it with her, as long as they remain fantasies." "Oh no. Seriously pumpkin, I don't fantasize about Patricia. I guess it's a dim boost to my male ego, to have another female... well... But I don't dream of Patricia. I really don't." "So you like her... why?" I thought for a long moment. "Let me ask you a question. If you had your M.D. degree and were practicing medicine, and had a choice to be spending your next hour effectively treating a sick child, or doing clinical research that would lead to a cure for a disease, or spending a hour replacing a rotor brush on a generator that was powering your clinic, what would be your least preference?" Melanie laughed. "That's a no-brainer! I'd much rather be caring for a child or doing science, compared to mucking around with a greasy generator!" "Yes! And I'm pretty sure Patricia would pick just the opposite. And as for me, all three sound interesting. I like working with materials, woodworking or re-building engines. Patricia does too. She'd like to learn woodworking. That's what we chatted about mostly while we were cleaning the bilge pumps. We started talking about woodworking, and then she started telling me about the hopes in her life." I smiled as I thought of the memories. "Patricia has a rough exterior, especially where you're concerned, but there is also a sweetness within her, a sweetness within her heart pumpkin, and she lowered her defenses enough for me to see it." "Patty being sweet? That's hard to believe." "You should have seen her pumpkin, when she asked me to be her friend. There was a childlike innocence about it, a childlike directness..." "Wow... Okay Eric, I believe you. And I love you." She kissed me. "Melanie... Our conversations were enjoyable to both of us... But I don't want to get sexy with her! Trust me! I think she's physically attractive, but my loyalty and my desires are only for you." I smiled playfully. "You can check the brand on my rump if you want to be sure." Melanie surprised me by turning me over and examining me. I felt her lips kissing me, starting on my ass and then dropping to my thighs. I sighed in the pleasure. Melanie's hands came between my legs, caressing my inner thighs at first and then fondling my testes. I started to shiver as her lips joined her fingers and gently brushed against the sensitive scrotal skin. Gripping the testes within my scrotum to hold me absolutely still, her teeth came to my branding spot and she nailed me with a brief sharp nip. "Yikes!" "Yep! I see my brand! You are forever a True Melanie bull!" Melanie released my scrotum and patted my rump affectionately where she nipped me. I heard her sigh. "And I get your point about Patty. I'm glad in a way. I don't want to have a war with Patty either. And you keep calling her Patricia. Why?" "Because she likes it." "What? I've never noticed. She does?" "Yes. I saw it in her eyes. I did it once or twice by accident, and then I noticed her eyes brighten and she smiled when I did. I think she sees it as a sign of respect, and I think she's starving for it Melanie. Except for her parents, I don't think Patricia has many friends. She's bright and social and locked in a cage that she doesn't even see is there." "Oh... And by being friends, you're going to hand her the key to the cage?" "Well, nothing that grandiose. But she reached out to me Melanie. The sexual part of that reach was all wrong, but the desire for a relationship, for friendship, well..." "Yes, I get it. That desire is both appropriate and touching. Thanks Eric! You were completely honest, and now I understand..." We kissed for a few moments, and then got up to start a very busy day. Time: Saturday, November 25, 2006 8 AM Melanie and I drove down to Exeter PA to be with my dad and step-mom for Thanksgiving. Early Saturday morning we came down early to prepare breakfast for everybody while my parents were still sleeping upstairs. There weren't quite enough eggs for the soufflés Melanie wanted to make. She looked at me and smiled sweetly. My kinetic powers have been growing steadily since August. My mass creation rate was up to 29 grams per second. I quietly created five large eggs for Melanie in ten seconds. I've been working hard to develop my powers. It's not just the raw ability, but the control. After simple hydro-carbons and sugars, albumen was one of the first edible organic liquids I mastered for creation. The trickiest part in creating food is the DNA, such long strands of non-periodic crystals, they took me days to master. Some of my early failures were quite smelly... My skills now have gotten to a point where Melanie and I don't go food shopping anymore. An occasional restaurant is still nice though... "Oh, look at this," Melanie commented, as she looked at the morning paper. "Remember the series of robbery-murders that the parents were talking about on Thursday?" "What?!" For some reason, Melanie's words were filling me with dread. My wife didn't notice my concern. "Well, it seems very early yesterday morning, about 3 AM Friday, a man broke into a woman's apartment in Reading. The woman woke up when she heard his body hit the floor by the side of her bed. He was carrying a large carving knife. The police think he died just as he were about to stab her. Autopsy showed the man died of a massive cerebral aneurysm. Isn't that the most... Eric, what?" "Oh, hell Melanie! That was me!" "What?!" she whispered. I had a dream yesterday morning. I was drifting over Reading... I went back to my old school, and then I drifted west to Reading... I was gazing at the city from the air, and... I saw something funny... something funny in the dream. There was a man dressed in black going through a window..." "My gosh Eric..." "It felt so much like a dream! I was sleeping... I followed the man... My God, it was all real... He really was about to kill the woman... I lashed out at him! It was so easy, just a touch of force along a large artery. It was so easy to tear." Melanie came up and hugged me. "Eric... Are you sure?" I was silent for a moment. "Oh yeah, I'm sure. I'm back over the city now... I'm sensing the room now. It's empty. Oh hell... I can see the police tape... It's so easy... less than seven kilometers from here, half my sense-radius..." "You can see the room now?" Melanie whispered. "I'm moving outside... It's near the corner of Buttonwood and Church..." I felt Melanie shiver as she hugged me. "Yeah, that's what the newspaper said..." "Oh hell Melanie! I thought it was just a weird dream! I remember everything! He was positioning himself to grab her hair. I think he was going to jerk her head and cut her throat before she could even wake up! I'm sure of it!" Melanie nodded and released me and then gave me a kind smile. "So are you sorry you acted?" "... No. Of course not... Still..." We heard my parents, our parents, stirring upstairs. My wife gave me one last hug and kiss and then walked over to the new eggs. "Yeah... still... Sweetie, we'll be leaving for home after lunch. Let's talk about this in the car." She started to sing as she turned on the stove. I nodded and walked over, giving her a brief kiss on her neck and a pat on her rump as she sang. A moment later I was setting up the breakfast table. ------- Chapter 25 Time: Friday, March 23, 2007 4:23 AM !!! I woke up with a start. "Melanie, wake up!" "Hmmm? What? Huh?" Melanie reluctantly opened her eyes. "What?" "I just hit a pothole!" "Huh? Oh!" My wife sat up in bed and turned on the light. She yawned as she stared at the clock. "Well, we'd be getting up in another hour anyway. How do you feel?" "Okay, I guess..." I tested for a few moments. "Everything seems to be still here. I haven't lost anything." "Well, that's good. Come! You can think us up some breakfast!" Melanie and I chatted as we ate. By 5 AM, it was obvious what had happened. All my kinetic abilities had stopped growing again. I booted up my laptop and started doing a few calculations. After a few minutes Melanie came and put her hands on my shoulders. "Disappointed?" "Hmmm? Oh, you mean about stopping? No. I haven't learned to use what I've got yet. This is actually a relief." "Ah... Yah, you're pretty impressive now. Think this might be the last curtain call?" I shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe not... Take a look at this timeline chart. We're still in my fourth rotation. The first six periods were zero growth on everything, then the next seven periods were full growth on everything, and the fourteenth period started at 4:23 this morning, and I'm back to zero growth." "Oh, I see... So you think the last six periods in the rotation might also be zero growth?" "Yeah, I think... There's a certain symmetry to it... 31 days, 19 hours, 56 minutes per period... The fourth rotation will end in half a year, on Sunday, September 30'th, at 4:07 AM. We'll just have to see what happens then." Melanie nodded. We wound up getting an early jump on the day, watched the sunrise at the end of our morning run at the track, and then we headed off to our different schools. As I headed to M.I.T., I started thinking about the last few months. So much has happened since Thanksgiving. My kinetic abilities have been growing full throttle. At the end of my current growth spurt, my sense-sphere radius is now 169.79 kilometers, and I can lock extremely long wavelength photons (3.56 meters, 0.35 micro-eV). That's down to most of the FM and television broadcast bands. I'm still an order of magnitude from locking short-wave radio, and a factor of a hundred from locking AM radio. My maximum force limit is 2.12e18 Newtons, and my power limit is 1.16e20 Watts. That's the ability to push or pull 1293 kg per second to or from oblivion. Before we split up this morning, Melanie awarded me with a kiss my Masters of god-dom degree. And the power is awesome... On other fronts, life is evolving pleasantly. Melanie's parents, sans Patricia, arrived for a five-day visit during Christmas. They stayed with us in our condo's second bedroom. The visit was okay, they're both interesting to talk to, and we spent a lot of time showing them all the cultural and historic sites of Boston. Both parents commented at different times that they are surprised that Melanie and I are still such lovebirds with each other, but it's true. We are as overjoyed with each other as we were on our wedding day. And the parents were a bit nosey too, asking about odd details in our lives. Nothing in particular to worry about, but Melanie and I both breathed a sigh of relief when they left. My Masters thesis is effectively finished. I just need to work on the write-up a bit. My days as an M.I.T. are coming to a close. I've done a bit of interviewing in the Cambridge area, not as much as most graduating students, but with my Masters of god-dom in hand it's hard to worry about that. Melanie and I have experimented a bit with having sex at lower gravity. No gravity at all was a comic disaster. Melanie and I have a private codeword for anything ridiculously funny, ZGS, which stands for zero-gravity sex. Seriously, trying to thrust into a female without something to anchor her down is absolute buffoonery. I highly don't recommend it if you have any desire to orgasm. Melanie and I sometimes joke about trying it again, when we want to be totally silly. But sex at reduced gravity is really nice. Melanie and I have talked about our preferences, and she rates as her all-time favorite position for pure physical pleasure as something she calls point eight cowgirl. I lie flat on my back and Melanie sits on my groin facing me and rides me while I keep the effective gravity around us at 80% of standard. It gives her enough weight to hammer down into me on a down stroke, but still is enough of a change to give the feeling of floating in our lovemaking. And I love to watch her ride, she's so beautiful... My own favorite position is point six missionary. I lie on top of Melanie and thrust her while she relaxes in the gentle gravity, her athletic legs are so beautiful held up in the air. I love watching her toes curling as she approaches orgasm... Friday evening I got back home first. We haven't cooked in months. It's just so much easier for me to create a couple of gourmet dinners instantly. The refrigerator and cabinets just have some snack foods for Melanie if she's here without me. I walked around the condo for a while, thinking about my kinetic abilities. What could I do that was monumental? I felt like playing, and challenging myself. I thought for a while. I remembered chatting with Melanie months ago about global warming and getting rid of some of the excess CO2... I reached out and sensed the great dome around me. With a sense radius of 105.5 miles, I can create, destroy, and manipulate things just outside Earth's atmosphere now. I sensed and locked all the outdoor CO2 in the sphere. I hefted the weight of all the carbon atoms in my power... just over 89 million metric tons... CO2 concentration was 350 ppm... Could I bring it down? Yes. Should I? Maybe a little, just to test. Why not? How? I thought about just pushing the carbon atoms into oblivion. Destroy 1292.66 kg of carbon atoms a second... let's see... It would take me over two years to convert all the CO2 molecules in my sense sphere to oxygen molecules... New ones would diffuse in of course... Any faster way? Sure, just pull off the carbon atoms, don't destroy them... But where to put them... Hmmm... One hour later... Melanie stared at me incredulously. "You did WHAT?!" I suddenly felt very sheepish. "It wasn't that much, just a 0.0034% decrease. Really, it was nothing..." "Oh Eric! I wasn't thinking of the amount! I'm thinking of what you did with it! What were you thinking of?!" "Uh gee, I don't know. I was just playing, I guess..." Melanie stared at me. I smiled back. After a moment Melanie finally smiled back at me. "Playing at being a god, huh? Well, I guess you succeeded... How many bowling balls are we talking about?" "Uh, thirty thousand exactly..." I didn't remind her that they are a little bigger than bowling balls, more like a beach ball. The density of diamond is 3.52 grams/cc, and each one of my perfect diamond spheres weighted exactly 100 kg. Each sphere had a radius of 18.9 cm. At my power and force levels, it was incredibly easy to pull the carbon from the CO2 and fuse them into diamond spheres. I collected the carbon atoms directly above me, almost at the edge of my sense sphere. After I had formed each diamond sphere, I hit it with a force of 1.8e13 Newtons for 16.7 microseconds. In that time, it would travel 25 meters and be accelerated to 1% of the speed of light. I had a cycle going every 33.3 microseconds, half the time to fuse a perfect sphere, and the second half to accelerate it away from Earth. And I kept that up for one full second. End result? I had created a line of 30,000 100-kg diamond spheres, spaced 100 meters apart, traveling in a line 3,000 kilometers long. I had fired a one-second burst of diamonds into infinity. "Eric! What were you thinking of?!" "Oh gee pumpkin. I was just playing. I don't think anyone will notice." "You don't huh? I think I did. There was a tremendous high-level flash of lightning just about that time. I think millions probably noticed it." "Oh yeah, that... I don't think I did the electron compensation quite right. I know how to fix that. It won't happen again." "That's just great!" Melanie was still looking at me with a shocked expression. I went to her and hugged her. After a moment she turned playful and she hugged me back. "What made you do it sweetie? Why bowling balls?" "Oh, I don't know. I was thinking of a Gatling gun, I guess. It just felt so cool, opening up on the universe like that with my diamond cannon!" "I bet..." She kissed me. "Any chance of getting them back?" "Huh? No... Once they left my sense sphere, they've booked..." "Could they fall back into the sun?" "Oh, don't worry about that. The energy to lift 1 kg of matter out of Earth's gravity well from the surface is about 66 mega-Joules. The energy to lift 1 kg of matter out of the sun's gravity well from Earth's orbital position is 880 mega-Joules. These puppies are traveling at 1% of the speed of light, 4.5e12 Joules per kilogram. They have a well-paid ticket to infinity." Melanie hugged me and then started to giggle. "Well, I guess we should hope there are no Fergeni starships out there for real. One of them gets hit with a broadside of 30,000 diamond cannon balls, they are going to be royally pissed." I chuckled. "Yeah... For real though Melanie, I tested a way to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. If I had kept up my firing for one hour, I would have reduced the CO2 in my sense sphere from 350 to 308 ppm." Melanie turned very thoughtful. "Wow... You could really start cleaning the planet..." "Melanie, I can do this in my sleep. If I traveled around the globe and did this for a year non-stop, I could take Earth's CO2 down to 285 ppm, back to where it was before the industrial revolution. I could clean up the centuries of CO2 pollution. Maybe start to get rid of the other gunk too. It would only take a year... I could make the Earth beautiful again..." "Gosh... my gosh... Something to think about..." "Yeah..." ------- Chapter 26 Time: Thursday, June 28, 2007 6:40 PM Melanie gave me a beaming smile. "Ah, a great dinner sweetie, as usual. And I really liked the floral pattern on the plates tonight." I smiled and nodded. "Okay to clear then?" "Sure." A second later all the dirty dishes and utensils at our table disappeared, gone from the universe forever. Melanie asked for some music. I locked her selection from our collection and duplicated the CD in the player. Talk about instant requests! I had the music going before she finished describing it. It's brutally hot outside, the third day in a row the temperature got over 100F. Our condo is delightfully cool of course, 66F. And it would be so easy to pull some serious heat from the great outdoors. At maximum pull, I could drop the temperature of the entire dome of atmosphere in my sense-sphere, all 9e14 kg of it in my 105.5 mile radius. I could drop it 123C in a single second. Of course, that would be mass murder, but the idea of just taking the edge off the heat is tempting. Melanie talked me out of it. We still are nowhere near deciding how to interface my powers with humanity's needs, and until we do we have decided I shouldn't intervene overtly. Which isn't always the case. We've also agreed that I can use my spare power to zap pollutants in the region's aquifers, making the nasty stuff disappear at a rate of 1292 kg per second. Over the last two months, all those seconds have added up. I've removed some serious mega-tonnage of crud from the air and water table. I've got the coordinates of hundreds of landfills locked in my mind. I usually work them simultaneously, from the bottom. Less noticeable that way... My wife and I went to the living room to hear the music better. "You all packed?" I asked as we sat down on the couch. "I guess. I've got my passport and the plane tickets; that's for sure. And you can whip me up anything I've forgotten..." Melanie looked very thoughtful as we held each other. Eventually I asked, "Having second thoughts about the trip?" Melanie shook her head no and rested her head against me. But she knew the deep meaning of my question. Early tomorrow we'll be catching an overnight flight to France. It's time for our yearly trip with Melanie's parents and sister, and we'll all be spending a week together in Paris. The trip is a good fit for Melanie's schedule and a perfect fit for mine. I've got my Masters from M.I.T. a month ago, but my research grant lasted until the end of June and I've spent the extra month just playing with some interesting engineering problems with my thesis advisor and having a great time. The Paris trip will be over the Fourth of July week, and then Monday, July 9'th I start working for a small engineering firm on Glenwood Avenue in Cambridge. It's less than a mile from my old dorm and less than two miles from our home. My starting salary is $69k, a bit on the low end of the offers I got, but the work is in energy resource management, something I love, and the hours are very flexible and my boss is a really nice guy. And it's so close to home and being with Melanie! I'm very happy with the offer. It might seem odd with my abilities, but I do normal commutes. Melanie and I have decided to be very, very careful about how we use my ability to become invisible and zip around the planet. With all the surveillance cameras around, I don't want to take a chance and leaving evidence of me being in multiple places at almost the same time. So Melanie and I sometimes "cloak" and spend our evenings at our second home in the Allagash, but otherwise we keep completely normal travel arrangements. Our home in the Allagash is really nice, by the way. With the ability to create or destroy matter at a rate of 1293 kg per second, it didn't take long to create a cozy palace carved into a rock ledge, complete with fully functional power, water, and a sewer system that flushes straight into oblivion, as long as I'm on site. Melanie thought I went just a bit "over the top" with the opulence, but I figured, what the hell. The multi-media theater is really something... Over the last three months, we searched the news for any hint of a sighting of my cosmic bowling balls. I guess I lucked out. They would have crossed the orbit of Pluto three weeks after being launched, and I doubt that even the best telescopes could see them now. I had fired them after sundown, down the shadow cone of the Earth. They didn't see sunlight until they were well passed the orbit of the moon, about three seconds after launch. They are brilliantly clear and glasslike, and without facets don't have the typical sparkle of diamonds. But they do refract light like crazy, and Melanie is right. It was a totally unnecessary risk. Melanie stirred on my shoulder. "I called the Bursar Office today. The check for next year's tuition cleared." "Ah, that's good... Melanie, we really have so little to worry about. Don't go to Paris for the tuition money." "Oh, I know. Stable debt, $17,000 in blue money, more green cash than we'll ever spend, and you'll have a nice paycheck in a month. Life is good... But my mind keeps drifting though to Paris, and the yacht last year..." Melanie leaned up and kissed me. "But I think our plan is correct Eric. If I know my parents, they'll want to spend lots of time with me and leave you alone with Patricia, which will fit our plan perfectly. Dearest?" "Hmmm?" "I trust you, 100%. Never worry about the appearance of... uh... delicate situations. I really do trust you." I nodded and buried my nose in Melanie's hair, butting her gently and kissing back by her ear. "Oh! By the way, I got a peek at the report on the virus samples you substituted. Fully viable. You can do it Eric, create life." "Ah... Even the smallpox sample?" "Yep." As part of some research into infectious diseases, Harvard had received some very small samples of killer viruses. Melanie and I talked about added an experiment of our own. I locked the viruses and committed their sequences into my kinetic memory, which seems to have an unlimited ability to remember details. Then I destroyed the samples, and recreated them a few seconds later. The polio virus was the simplest. Its DNA series was only 4,741 code units long. Then there was Ebola (18,959 codes) and Marburg (19,112 codes), and a few common cold samples for controls (the corona viruses, those were just shy of 30,000 codes). The big test was the smallpox virus, 185,578 code units of DNA. It was no problem to duplicate. Melanie has asked me to promise to try with bacteria within a few months... I know what she's after. I guess I should be after it too, but I'm so afraid of playing god with life. Melanie though has a vision of her future with a child patient with incurable cancer. Incurable by normal means, that is... Time: Thursday, July 5, 2007 7 PM local time Well, it's been an interesting vacation, and extremely hot! Paris has been almost as bad as Boston, but the people here are so much less prepared for the heat. Our rooms at the Chateau we're staying don't even have air conditioning. It was over 90F in the rooms last night, and with the high humidity absolutely brutal for sleeping. No problem for Melanie and me, of course. No way I could resist locking our two bodies and setting up a slow drain for the heat. It's a strange but not unpleasant feeling. We can sense the heat at our skin, but we're delightfully cool inside. Imagine walking into a very warm room after freezing outside. My wife and I are having a wonderful time, and are just ignoring the odd looks from people who wonder why we aren't sweating. Paris is a beautiful city, is spite of the heat. And Melanie speaks much better French than I realized. We've spent two solid days at the Louvre, and my wife wants to go back for a third. I totally agree. The museum is fascinating. The city is ridiculously expensive though. Forty euros for Patricia and me to have a couple of baguettes and small bottles of water at an outdoor cafe! I argued with the proprietor for several minutes, thinking he had confused us with some other bill. But no. Ah well. I've gone back to the Allagash twice for more walking-around money. Nothing like free cash to take the sting out of being fleeced... Melanie has been super sweet about Patricia and me. Patricia has been eager to have some one-on-one time with me, both parents have been asking Melanie to come with them on side trips while leaving Patricia out, and it all suites our interests fine. Melanie has complete trust in me, and is genuinely curious and supportive of my effort to develop a friendship with her sister. This evening is a prime example. The parents invited Melanie to join them in an evening dinner cruise down the Seine on the Bateaux-Mouches. Patricia begged off, saying the heat was just too much for her, and she and I have a plan to hang around the hotel swimming pool. There was a knock at my door. I called out hello, and Patricia entered, wearing a swimsuit and sandals and carrying a large beach towel. "You're not going to believe this! They've closed the pool! There's a sign saying the bacteria content is too high." "Oh wow..." I looked at Patricia in sympathy. Her body looked really stressed out by the heat. "Want to go for a walk?" "Maybe in a bit. Could I just sit down for a moment? I'm so tired." "Sure! Here, I'll get you some ice water." Patricia laid her towel on a large couch to protect the fabric, and then just sat down and collapsed. She smiled gratefully when I gave her the drink a moment later. "Thanks! I don't know how you and Melanie always look so cool. This city is a sauna!" "Yeah, pretty brutal. It hit 40C this afternoon..." "I'm not surprised... Funny though, it doesn't feel too bad in here... definitely better than my room anyway." I was puzzled by her comment for a moment, and then I remembered a few minutes before Patricia showed up, I was so unhappy with my soggy environment that I zapped into oblivion all the water vapor in my room's air. "Uh, yeah... I had the window open. There was a bit of a breeze..." "Really? That's funny... My room faces the same direction. I got nothing... Oh hell Eric! Could we put off our walk for awhile? I'm feeling exhausted." "Sure. Want to lie down on the couch? I could put on some music." "Wow, what a great idea... Thanks..." She kicked off her sandals, repositioned her towel and lay down while I put on something light and classical. I came back and sat in a chair nearby with my own drink. Patricia gave me a kind smile. "Sorry I'm not being better company..." I made a dismissive hand gesture and looked at her. She really did look exhausted and suffering from the heat. "So Eric, how are you liking Paris?" "It's nice! Sure is different than the U.S. Too bad about the heat. The museums though are wonderful." "Yeah..." Patricia tried to say something and then stopped herself. "Oh, I am so hot," she mumbled. In a wave of compassion I reached out with my sense and locked her body. It's an incredibly intimate act, and something I've only done with Melanie and my own body before. In an instant I knew thousands of things about Patricia's physical life, her blood chemistry, how tense the muscles in her back where, the stress of the heat on her body. It all came flooding in, dental hygiene, her slight cramp from eating something at dinner she didn't like... I sensed the faint scar tissue in her uterus, and realized with a start she probably once had an abortion. I didn't mean my probe to be so nosey. Locking just automatically sets up a fantastic information flow. Once locked, I set up a slow heat drain on her body, one milli-degree C per second. I wanted her to cool off slowly. I also took pity on how tense her muscles were. "Uh, Patricia. Would you like a back rub?" She blinked her eyes wide. "Wow! Yes, I'd love one! I think... You don't think Melanie would mind?" "Oh no," I said, getting up and kneeling by the side of the couch. I used some force to take the weight off my knees, making it a very comfortable position. "Melanie and I have talked about this beforehand. She's quite happy for you and me to spend some time together." I began working the muscles in Patricia's upper back. Her back and neck were a mass of knots. This would take a while. "Really?" replied Patricia. "Gee, that was... that was nice of her. My parents thought I'd like spending some time with you too, but they thought they'd have to work to pull Melanie away from you." "Yes. We know." "You do?" "Yes, we do..." "Oh... And Melanie really doesn't mind?" "No. She really doesn't mind." Patricia was silent for a while, stirring slightly as she got comfortable on the couch. I stepped up her heat sink just a bit and worked my way up to her shoulders and neck muscles. Her swimsuit had a bare back, and I started working the vertebrae at the top of her backbone. "How's this feel?" "Hmmm?" Patricia opened her eyes. "It feels delightful. This is the very first time anyone's ever rubbed my back." "My gosh... Really?" "Yeah... My parents love me, but they don't pet me. And I haven't taken your advice yet from last year. I'm still not dating anybody. I haven't been petted..." she sighed, "my gosh... not since high school... It's been nine years..." "That's too long Patricia..." I dropped from her neck back to her shoulder blades, kneading the muscles a little more fiercely now that they started to unwind. Patricia nodded. "I'm beginning to realize that... But high school was never like this... This feels heavenly... High school was making out in back seats of cars, being pressured to produce, to have sex... It was nothing like this... This feels so gentle... Eric?" "Uh huh?" She said nothing at first. She just bent her knees back and stretched out her bare feet in the open air. I gazed at her for a while as I felt her relax. She finally sighed and said, "Don't get me wrong. I'm trying to keep my promise from last year. I'm just asking. Do you want my swimsuit to come off?" I shook my head. "No. This is just a friendly backrub. I'm trying to be affectionate but not sexy." "Yah. That's what I figured." She closed her eyes. "This is making me feel so good... I'm not even as hot as I used to be... So nice... Ouch!" "Huh? Did that hurt?" "Oh no, not you! It was a memory, from a long time ago. One boy was holding down my back, pressing down on my back, and another was pinching my ass. Just a memory..." "My gosh... Sounds pretty brutal. Were you attacked? Did you know them?" "Oh, I knew them... Melanie does too... Oh, that feels so nice... Melanie knows them too. They were at her birthday party, when she turned eighteen." "Oh..." "They were pinching her ass too, a lot. They kept insisting on kissing the birthday girl, and then pinching her ass when they caught her. I remember laughing, being glad it wasn't me and laughing at Melanie when she got her ass pinched." "My gosh Patricia..." "I saw it too, her bare ass I mean, after the party. I caught Melanie unexpectedly in her bedroom changing right after the party. Her ass was a bright pink from all the pinching..." I moved to work the muscles in her lower back. Patricia sighed in contentment and closed her eyes again. "Oh, that feels so nice Eric... I remember laughing, laughing at Melanie's pink ass. My nickname for her that year was Melanoma. I remember seeing her pink ass and calling her Melanoma..." I could feel Patricia's muscles relaxing under my massage. "That wasn't very nice." Patricia sighed. "No, it wasn't, was it?" "No, not at all." She nodded. "In fact, it was cruel. I've been cruel to Melanie all my life, haven't I?" "Patricia, she does forgive you. She wants the war to end." "Really? She has been very sweet to me this trip. Oh, that feels so nice. I thought I'd have to fight to have some alone-time with you. My parents thought I'd have to fight for it too. But Melanie's been very generous... gracious... Oh, that feels so nice... Eric?" "Yah?" "Will you massage down my coccyx? Eric, I'm not trying to ask for sex... but will you rub my tailbone?" "Sure... I'll be grabbing your hips a bit, to press with my thumbs..." "That's okay, I understand. We're not getting sexy... Oh, that feels so nice... I don't want to hurt Melanie anymore... Are you sure she's okay with this?" "Yeah. We've talked about this quite a bit, before the trip. Not backrubs I mean, but you and I spending time together. She wants us to. She asked me..." I massaged Patricia's tailbone. The minutes passed quietly, my hands sometimes slipping a bit on the smooth fabric of her swimsuit. I watched all the tension flow out of her body, watched her legs and feet becoming loose and relaxed. Patricia wiggled her massaged rump in contentment as my hands finally came up to the small of her back. "Ah, Eric... I was drifting... You mentioned... What did Melanie ask?" "My wife asked me, if I could find a quiet time with you, to give you an offer from her. Melanie wants to offer to love you." "My sister..." Patricia was quiet for a long time. "My sister said that?" "Yes." The moments turned into minutes. Neither of us spoke for a long time. The sounds of the city drifted in through the open windows. The last of the evening twilight faded into night. I had Patricia's body down to a very comfortable temperature, and I worked the last of my massage up and down her spine. All the tension had drained from her muscles. My remaining pats turned light and affectionate; the way Melanie likes her backrubs to end. It became more than a backrub, and we both knew it. We were bonding with each other, and we both knew it. I looked at Patricia. Her eyes were wide open, and she smiled at me. "I've never felt this peaceful. And I feel cool, so wonderfully cool. Eric, are you making the offer too? Are you offering to love me?" I smiled back. "Yes I am. I want to love you too, love you as my wife's sister, love you as a dear friend." I saw tears forming in Patricia's eyes. "Eric! I'm so sorry! I didn't apologize last year, but I'm apologizing now! I'm so sorry I tried to come between you and Melanie!" "I forgive you. Melanie forgives you too." Patricia nodded. "I love you. I'll love you both." We looked up at a clock and were both startled to realize we had been together for more than two hours, almost all of it with the massage. Patricia said she felt very sleepy, and didn't want to be around when Melanie came back to my room. So I walked her down the hall. She looked very shy at her door, super relaxed and loose but also shy, and then she gave me a quick peck on my cheek goodnight. I smiled and returned the peck and headed back to my room. ------- Chapter 27 Time: Sunday, July 8, 2007 6:09 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time Melanie and I got back to our condo from Logan airport in the early evening, carrying bags that felt a lot lighter than they looked. Still, we were both pretty tired, and once the door was closed Melanie smiled at me and asked for one of my patented "instanta" showers. They're a lot faster than regular showers, remove all dirt down to the quantum level, and don't waste any water. What's not to like? Melanie then surprised me by changing into a swimsuit, and asking me sweetly if she could have a demo of the backrub I gave her sister. We were both on our bed a short time later. While I massaged Melanie's back, I gave her a detailed description of my time with Patricia. "Oh, my poor sister..." Melanie gave a deep sigh. "Are you sure?" "No, but I think I'm right. It's micro scarring, I think she'll be able to have children fine. I just got the strong impression that the scar lines were caused by a scraping..." Melanie shook her head. "I was just as horrible a sister to her as she was to me. I look back at my childhood and I'm ashamed of myself." "Melanie, it's not your fault. It's one of the dangers children face when they're dependent on wacky adults. The children don't have the ability to recognize the wackiness. Your parents have been training you to compete with Patricia since you were born." "Oh, I know. One of the last things our counselor said to me was how unique she found my situation, in that she found my parent's behavior both totally shocking and totally legal. It's not against the law to manipulate people. Laws prohibit certain actions, while manipulation is the attitude behind the actions. How could you ever write a law against an attitude? Take an otherwise legal action and make it illegal because of a sick attitude associated with it? Eric..." "Yeah?" "I've been wondering. With the fantastic intimacy that you have, when you lock Patricia's or my body. Can you read our minds?" "No, not at all. Actually, I've been doing a lot of thinking about this. It might be my first clue about the origin of all this power..." I felt Melanie tense under my massage. "What?! What do you mean?" "The origin for all this power, and what's controlling its growth... It's not just my mind I can't focus back on. I can't lock anybody's mind." "Huh?" Melanie sounded perplexed. "But when you accelerate, if the rest of your body is pushed but your brain is not, why doesn't your brain get crushed?" "Oh, I don't mean the brain Melanie. I said the mind." "Huh?... Go on..." "I can lock my brain, your brain. Last week I locked Patricia's brain. They all look pretty similar. They are fantastic neural networks, full of convolutions, structures and neural activity. But all of that is just the foundation. Side by side with all the neural activity is the most amazing thing in the universe... It's some sort of self-organizing resonance of light, billions of billions of virtual photons resonating and self-organizing in the water in the brain's micro-tubular threads..." "You can see this phenomenon in your brain?" I nodded. "Very dimly; it's totally un-lockable. Fortunately it travels with the brain. I don't need to lock it before moving my body. Melanie, I see it your brain too, Patricia's too." "Oh... But do you at least see a difference in your brain?" "No, not really..." "Huh? But you are so different." "I suppose... but I can't see any difference. The resonance phenomenon is totally un- lockable, I can't sense much more than the fact it's there, but your mind and Patricia's feel just like mine." "Hmm... And what do you think the resonance is?" "Well, if I had to guess, I think it's the core of our free will. I think it's the core of our consciousness." "Virtual photons, huh?" "Yeah, a self-organizing quantum resonance of virtual photons, dancing the most intimate dance in the universe with all neurons and structures of the brain. I don't think I'd ever be able to read someone's mind or lock someone's free will without locking that quantum resonance first, and it seems impervious. I don't think it is lockable." Melanie turned quiet as I continued the backrub. She finally sighed and said, "Perhaps it's just as well, Eric. Locking someone's free will... would destroy it, or at least pervert it, the ultimate mind control. That would be monstrous." "Yeah..." I finished working the muscles of her middle and upper back. I moved my hands down to the small of her back and massaged the muscles leading into the upper part of her buttocks. Eventually I drifted lower, gripping her slippery swimsuit with my fingers and kneading my thumbs into her tailbone. Melanie sighed in the pleasure and lifted up her rump for me. It was a very sexy gesture, and it brought back a sharp memory of Patricia doing the same thing for me. "Ah, this massage on my butt feels heavenly Eric, and very sexy. You didn't do this with Patricia, did you?" "Well..." "Eric! Sweetie, you did?!" "Uh... yeah..." "Oh... Eric, I trust you, I really do. But what were your thoughts?" I stopped the back massage and started caressing Melanie's rump and the backs of her thighs. "I didn't pet her like this, of course... But about massaging her upper rump... I guess I did. We both knew it wouldn't go any further... It's kind of hard to explain..." Melanie sighed deeply. I could feel her relaxing; feel the tension leave her legs as I petted the backs of her thighs. "Eric, I really do trust you. If you want, we can drop the issue..." "No... Actually, I want to tell you. Massaging Patricia, it was more than just a backrub. We were bonding. We were both using my backrub to bond to each other. I wasn't desiring sex from Patricia, and she accepted that. And yet, we're both heterosexual. I could never have done this if she were your brother. We find each other physically attractive. The attraction helped us to bond." "Ah... I think I see... And I approve... Here, wait a second." Melanie rose up and took off her swimsuit, and then lay back down. "Please continue." Two months later... Time: Monday, August 27, 2007 5:30 PM EDT I got home to a very worried looking Melanie. "It's as bad as it gets Eric. Noel's maximum sustained winds are up to 165 mph, and are not expected to decrease. The storm is still traveling north northwest at 9 mph. All the models are predicting a direct hit around the Houston area about 4 PM tomorrow local time, right around lunar high tide. Tropical storm feeder bands are already hitting the city. There's a mandatory evacuation for the entire area." "Hell... I read of little of this on the net... Usually when these storms approach land, they slow down..." "Not this time. Surface water temperature is at 35C, an all-time record. Noel has a super high octane fuel supply right up until it hits..." "Wow... 95F... my gosh..." "Yeah... Eric, either way you decide on this, I'll stick with you..." I looked at Melanie. She came over and hugged me. We had been talking about this for days, for the last year really. I don't want to be responsible for every traffic accident in the world, but what is our moral argument for standing idly by if a great disaster is imminent, and it's something I can stop. Hurricanes were our prime examples. Our discussions reminded me a little bit of my summer job in Pennsylvania, when I was building homes. I decided that I could never stand idle and watch someone die through my inaction. And the risk of exposure with battling a far-away hurricane was much less. There'd be nothing at all to tie the "miracle" to me. Without speaking, I hugged Melanie back and kissed her. She buried her head in my chest. "I'm very proud of you. Be careful." "There's really not much to it," I whispered, and then laughed. "It'll only take a few minutes. And it'll be fun watching the evening news." Melanie nodded and walked over to our condo balcony door. She opened it and turned to me. She saw me "cloak", and then felt a breeze as I exited the condo. She left the door open and looked up at the warm muggy sky, awaiting my return. It was close to 3000 km to the hurricane's center. I took my time approaching it, pushing high into Earth's upper atmosphere to have an easier time sighting my target. In the cocoon of the air bubble from my condo, I descended into the eye of the hurricane from thirty miles up. About one minute after leaving my apartment, I was hovering about a hundred meters above the Gulf of Mexico in the very center of the eye. I was still cloaked, suppressing all photon interactions within my body, including photons interacting with my retina. So I had no actual vision, but my sense was giving me all the information I needed. The hurricane was enormous! I could feel the incredible breath of its power extending out to the limit of my sense radius, 170 kilometers. The eye-wall near me was rotating at 173 mph. The urge to see with my own eyes was irresistible. I de-cloaked my retinas, confident that two small dots floating in the storm would never be detected. I gasped at the savage beauty. A bright blue choppy sea below, a blue sky above, and intense sunlight shining on me from the roof of my great cylindrical prison. I gulped as I had a horrible thought of suddenly losing my powers. The circular ocean swells at the beginning of the eye wall looked so deadly! I calmed myself and got to work. I had a vague idea of using my force to "unwind" the hurricane, but there were several hurricane spotter planes in the area, including one currently circling in the upper levels of the eye wall. I had no idea what magnitude of atmospheric turbulence I would cause if I suddenly tried to put the brakes on the vortex. So I probed down, into the super warm water of the Gulf. The report was accurate. The temperature really was bathwater hot, 93F to 95F across the vast area of my sense sphere. I probed down. It stayed super warm for about one hundred meters, decreasing to the mid-eighties, and then plunged rapidly into the cold temperatures of the core deep water depths. So, I thought, all the hurricane's fuel heat is in the top hundred meters... I pushed and locked the great disk of water, 170 kilometers in radius and more than a hundred meters deep, and then I pulled with almost everything I had. Keeping just a little power to maintain cloaking around my vacuum shielded bubble, I began to pull more than 1e20 Watts of power from the great disk. I was dropping its temperature almost 3C per second. I'm not sure exactly why, but I kept up the power drain much longer than I had to. I wanted this hurricane dead. I wanted it down for the count, one swift knockout punch, game, set, and match. I pulled for four seconds, six, eight, ten, twelve. Maybe I wanted to show the hurricane who's boss. I threw all caution away, no half measures. I wanted this hurricane deader than the wicked witch of the west. And after battling with me for twelve seconds, it was all over except for the death spiral. The water below me was a cold grayish blue. The surface water temperature under the entire hurricane was now 33F to 35F and maintaining that temperature for more than a hundred meters below. The vast pool of heavy super cold surface water started to mix and churn with the somewhat warmer water far beneath it, but that process would take hours to mix with the surface. In the meantime the hurricane's great heat engine was running full reverse throttle, the freezing cold ocean water sucking the heat energy from the warm tropical air. The hurricane had no chance. The heat sink below it was far deeper than its own available energy stores. Noel began to implode, the eye wall collapsing towards me with breathtaking speed. Melanie blinked as I de-cloaked next to her. "I thought that breeze was you! You were gone almost ten minutes, much longer than I was anticipating. I was beginning to worry." I nodded and kissed her. "I hung around for the spotter planes. I wanted to be sure what I did wouldn't put the crews in danger." "Oh, okay. That's good. So, mission accomplished?" "Oh, yeah. Noel is history." "Slow down the rotation?" "Even better. I sent Noel into the deep six." Melanie looked at me with a very puzzled expression. "Turn on the evening news. This should be interesting." ------- Chapter 28 One month later. Time: Sunday morning, September 30, 2007 3:45 AM Melanie and I were pulling an "all nighter". My fourth rotation was due to end at 4:03 AM this morning, and we were both eager to see what the next one would be like. We had spent most of the night having sex with each other. Over the past year, I sometimes had the idle thought if Melanie's detailed training in the human body would take some away some of her raw eagerness for sex. Well, she's now in her second year of med school, and I'm happy to say that if anything the clinical training had just the opposite effect. I was currently lying down with my head between her legs, and Melanie was gasping and pressing both my ears with her muscular thighs. My eyes were closed, and I was lost in the smell and the taste and the love of her. Melanie was extremely aroused, and my tongue was playing "hide and go seek" with the cutest little button in the universe, the one at the top of her labia. It was currently hiding, and I started to lick and suckle the ridge of folded skin above it, trying to get her clit to come out and play. The moments drifted by, Melanie riding waves of sexual arousals and mini-crashes, and then she started to pant rapidly. "Please Eric," she whispered, as she released the hold of my head from her thighs and lifted her feet high in the air. Oh, her legs are so beautiful! Such shapely feet and calves held high and bent in submission, and I love watching her toes curl as the sexual pleasure rips through her body. I knew she was in the chute for an unstoppable orgasm, and as the tension built within her she put a huge curling arch in her back, her hands reaching down to spread her ass cheeks and her hips rotating her anus up for penetration. I placed a wet finger on her butt hole, which was already super slick from my previous suckling. Melanie made a strange meowing sound with her mouth, and as I felt her clit come out to play between my lips, I slid and curled my middle finger into the depths of her rectum. Melanie started to vibrate and give out tiny shrieks, her cute little button trapped between my lips. I began to lick her clit's super sensitive underside. Melanie popped into a full blown orgasm, her pelvis heaving in contractions, and I could feel a rhythmic squeeze on my finger as her rectum pulsed with her release. I went into Melanie's favorite way of floating down from an oral-sex orgasm, gentle kisses across her labia and inner thighs while my single finger slowly caressed her rectal walls. I could feel her shit moving in her bowels, and with a moment's thought relieved her of some of the pressure. As an afterthought I probed and then also drained her bladder. Melanie wiggled in appreciation. "Ah, thanks darling. That's feels so incredibly sexy, when you take me to the bathroom like that." I nodded and went back to kissing her inner thighs. Melanie sighed and wiggled her rump. "Eric, if you'd like another orgasm, why don't you slide your finger out and try slipping your dick in?" "Ah, you beautiful, sexy wife..." I pulled my finger out, licked her anus for a moment, watched Melanie pout it open and wiggle it in invitation, and then I slipped my finger back in. Melanie giggled. "Ah, that's just your finger again. Try your dick." "Sweet wife... I don't want to hurt you." "It won't hurt. I love how your finger wiggles when it's up inside me. Let me try it your dick." "Pumpkin," I said as I make a gentle tug on my finger, not enough to pull it out. "Feel what a tight grip you have on just my finger. Not just your anus; your whole rectum is hugging my finger. My dick would stretch you." "Oh, I don't mind. I know the pleasure I can give you, holding your penis in my butt. Come on Eric! What's the matter? Aren't I cute enough to be butt fucked?" "Oh my gosh! What a temptation! Seriously Pumpkin, I can't bear the thought of stretching you." I wiggled my finger inside her super tight ass. "Feel your grip! This tone is how your body was designed to be. I have visions of you having brown smears in your panties the day after I anal mount you. I'd feel terrible." Melanie nodded. "Okay. You're very sweet..." She lay relaxed and sighed as I finger stroked her for a while, and then she gave a final mournful sigh as my finger slipped out of her butt. I cleaned her rear door with some affectionate kisses and licks. Melanie held herself open for the cleaning. "You change your mind someday Sweetie, just let me know..." I nodded and came up to her. We cuddled for a while. Eventually Melanie's hand dropped to my scrotum. "Anything left in there?" I sighed. She is such a nymphomaniac sometimes! And I wouldn't want her any other way. I laughed. "Let me count! The first one in coitus, then one in your mouth, and then incredibly one more between your beautiful breasts..." Melanie smiled playfully. "Yeah, who would have thought a pair of B-cup knockers could do that..." I laughed. "I would have thought! But to answer your question, I think my nut sac is drained for the night." Melanie nodded, and our cuddling evolved from sexy to pure affectionate, lots of kisses and pets and smiles. After a while Melanie glanced at the clock. "3:53 AM, ten minutes to go." I sat up and stretched. "Yeah." There was a slip of paper on the nightstand by the clock. I picked it up and glanced at it. It was my monthly pay-stub. Melanie noticed what I was doing. "Clever, industrious husband! Bringing home such a nice paycheck for us." "Well, yeah. Three months and still feels a little funny, getting paid when I enjoy the work so much." I glanced at the amount. With all our deductions, it was over $4000 net. "Well," Melanie smiled, "Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #13: Anything worth doing is worth doing for money." I laughed, "Yes! And Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #41: Profit is its own reward!" We laughed for a moment and then Melanie turned serious. "I heard a news report today, on the latest from the Emergency Oceanic Conference." "Oh my gosh. What are they saying now?" "It's so funny! The Japanese are still pushing their negative tsunami model, even though there's no evidence of seismic activity. A lot of the Europeans are sticking with their reverse convection-roll theory, even though the other scientists are screaming at them that it violates entropy constraints. And there are a couple of fruitcakes who are saying perhaps the western Gulf was hit by a diffuse comet made of super-cold methane. Duh! As if people wouldn't be able to detect something like that?!" "What about the U.S. group?" "Totally confused. They want the final report to read Noel died due to an unexplained resonance phenomenon." I thought for a moment. "Actually, that's a pretty accurate statement." "Yeah. The good news is the cold water dropping to the Gulf depths has really stirred up the nutrients. There's an explosion of wildlife throughout the region, and the Gulf Stream is more active than it's been in years. The latest predictions are for Europe to have a warm and wet winter." I nodded and thought back over the last month. I had been so reckless in my actions; not just targeting the hurricane but ignoring the effect of pulling more than 1e21 Joules of energy out of the Gulf of Mexico. With the heat engine running in full reverse, the higher pressure air around Noel rushed inward, imploding the hurricane. There was also a huge dome of water in the center of the dying hurricane. I let it down with my force as gently as I could, absorbing the potential energy and preventing a major tsunami in the Gulf and Caribbean. I cancelled the primary shock wave almost completely. What was left was just a bit of a tsunami, caused by the gravitational instability of my cold heavy water sitting on top of the lighter, warmer water below. The imbalance created massive convection rolls, but fortunately the water was so dense the rolls were slow moving. The resulting waves were very low frequency and seldom more than two feet high. The net effect was just very unusual tides for a week, as the Gulf adjusted to the cold plug of water. Amazingly I killed surprisingly little wildlife with my stunt. The super warm water was deadly to marine life. I had chilled what was already an oceanic desert. But the huge plug of freezing water had chilled the western end of the Gulf tremendously, and also stimulated the eastern end to vigorously discharge its heat into the Gulf Stream. End result? The Gulf and Caribbean were probably cooler now than it has been for centuries, and the cold water and stirred nutrients had caused an explosion of wildlife. There are numerous indications of fish and shrimp populations making dramatic comebacks. Melanie smiled and nodded at me, guessing what I had been thinking about. "Rule of Acquisition #58 Eric: There is no substitute for success." I nodded back and replied, "And don't forget Rule #44: Never confuse wisdom with luck." And then I blinked and gulped as I felt my body jarred by a pothole. "Eric! You okay?" "Yeah, I'm okay." I tested for a moment. "Everything's still here. I haven't lost anything." "Well, that's good." One minute later, Melanie and I had our first peek at how the fifth rotation was starting. In one minute, my sense sphere radius increased from 169791.5 meters to 169794.1 meters. It was expanding again, apparently at its old exponential growth rate. Everything else seemed static. Melanie and I stayed up an extra hour, just to be sure, and then sacked out shortly after 5 AM, an hour and a half before sunrise. ------- Chapter 29 Three months later. Time: Monday, December 24, 2007 11:20 PM Melanie closed the door as she came into our bedroom. "Whacha reading?" she whispered as she climbed into bed. "Greg and Lisa sent us a Christmas letter." "Oh, really?! Great! How are they going?" "Fine. Greg's getting married in the spring." Melanie's eyes lit up in a big smile. She gently tugged the letter from my hands. I let her read while I curled up by her side, just thinking about life. The fifth rotation has been pleasant so far. My sense sphere radius keeps doubling every 31 days, 19 hours, and 56 minutes. As I lay by my wife's side, I felt the radius pass the 1100 kilometer mark. It's an enormous difference, working with such a large sphere of influence. I can sense large regions of the intense vacuum of space to the hot plastic semi-liquid rocks deep in Earth's interior. I was just starting to get the feel of the curvature of the Earth with my sphere. By sensing directly through the planet, I could reach out an extra 1.4 km along the surface. It was a very small positive difference, but that would change as the sphere kept growing. So far all the evidence supported steady growth within the nineteen periods of the major rotations. My third period would end in another ten days, January 3, 2008, at 3:52 PM. My sense sphere should be 1358 km by then, and I was assuming I had at least that much in the bag. My real hope is that the sphere doubles at least twice more. If it does, by the time the next hurricane season arrives, I should be able to protect the Caribbean and the Atlantic from hurricanes from the comfort of my home in Massachusetts or even from the Allagash in Maine. Gently starve them of heat over periods of days; no more emergency conferences puzzling over my handiwork. Melanie was petting my head as she read. She finally put down the letter and looked at me. I nodded and pushed off the lights. Melanie curled up by my side a moment later. "Have a nice chat with Patricia?" I whispered. Her sister was in our other bedroom, starting her second week of a two week visit. "Oh yes, a wonderful talk. She even gave me a backrub!" "Wow!" Melanie laughed. "Patricia says she bought a massage book. She's very good at it." Melanie kissed me. "You know, it's as if I found a sister I never knew I had. I really enjoyed being with her, maybe for the first time in my life." "Did you mention the job opening to her?" "I did. I told her the people were good friends of ours; that we could vouch that they'd be good employers. Patricia spent a long time reading the ad. It really does cover her areas of expertise. If I had to guess, I think she'll do the interview, and then talk it over with the parents once she gets back to Illinois." "Well, she'll have a lot of time to decide. The position doesn't open up till May." "Which in this case is a good thing. It'll be such a change for her Eric! She'll be truly free of the parents' direct control for the first time in her life." I nodded, and then Melanie and I turned quiet for a while, cuddling and watching the fierce snowstorm through our bedroom window. Melanie shivered at the howl of the wind and the blowing snow. "Eric?" "Yeah?" "Are we manipulating Patricia?" "Well, we're not laying all our cards on the table. That's for sure." "Yeah. The parents will probably be thrilled to have Patricia be so close to us. I think they'll still hoping that Patricia beds you." "They're certainly acting as if they are. Melanie, why do they hate you so much?" "I don't know! It's all games and mirrors when I talk to them. I spent so much time with them in Paris. They were social, talkative, very generous. We toured where I wanted to tour, chatted about medical school and my financial needs and all my likes and dislikes, all the things we never got around to talking about when I was a child. The trip could have been a great reconciliation, except for the fact they were so eager to keep me with them and give Patricia one-on-one time with you." I nodded, holding Melanie close to me and idly caressing the side of her hip. "I've talked with Patricia a little about this yesterday. Even she's a little bewildered by their actions. But she asked my advice, and I advised her not to mention her concerns to her parents. She seemed relieved. She still loves her parents pumpkin." Melanie gave a deep yawn before replying. "I know. But the love is not the problem. She still looks to them for guidance. That's the problem! And my question Eric! Are we manipulating Patricia, the way we're trying to get her out of Illinois?" I thought for a long while. "No, not with Patricia. We have no agenda, other than to love her. Maybe we're manipulating her parents though. But isn't that what you do in warfare, try to get the enemy to do what you want them to do?" I gazed down at Melanie. She was almost asleep. "Oh, enemies Eric... Why fight such a cruel and senseless war? Why?" There really was no answer I could give her. I stroked her hair in the light of the falling snow, watching in silence as my Christmas angel fell asleep. Time: Tuesday April 15, 2008 7:20 PM "Come on Eric! You promised!" "Well, there's still a little atmosphere I can't lock." "Ha! Sweetie! Quit futzing around!" "No, there really is. Besides, wouldn't you like some dessert first?" "Eric!" "Some ice-cream perhaps? Pick your favorite nut." Melanie grinned at me. "Eric, what's your current sense sphere?" "Right now? 12,837 kilometers." "Right! Now go to the farthest surface point of the planet from here..." I sighed. "Okay, I'm there. It's in the ocean, southwest of Australia." "Fine. Now how much farther can you go?" "Fifty miles." "Exactly! And you don't think you have the whole planet covered yet?!" "Well, the atmosphere is part of the planet." "Eric!" "I really could think up some tasty ice cream first, any flavor you want." Melanie burst out laughing, and pushed me down on the couch. "You're never going to earn your Doctorate of God-dom if you don't test Eric!" She settled down and lay by my side. I held her in my arm and lightly petted her ear with my fingertips. "I know." I sighed deeply. "And gods are supposed to keep their promises too, aren't they?" "Oh yes! Being a god means never having to say you're sorry. Gods should always keep their promises." I nodded. "Okay. I will honor my promise. I'll do it." "Right now?" "Yes. Right now." I scanned for a moment, focusing on Melanie's description of the lab where the cancer experiment was running... "Got it. I think. The number on the cage is NC3498-D." "Yep, that's it! You want to sit up for this?" "It makes no difference. Actually, I think I prefer lying and cuddling with you while I try this." Melanie was silent for a moment, then leaned over and kissed me. "Sweet husband! I know how hesitant you are. I guess I would be too. Can you pick a mouse?" A few seconds passed. "Have one. There's a distinctive white blaze on his nose. No, wait, her nose." "Okay. Do what you do Eric." "Scanning. I see them, the cancer cells. My gosh, they've spread throughout her body." "Yes. These are the controls. Without treatment, that's the expectation. Eric, can you make them disappear?" "Yeah, I guess. Oh Melanie, I have the animal's life in the palm of my hand." "I know Eric. I wouldn't want the responsibility either. But the power is there, the influence is there. You were right. Our perspectives have changed." I gulped and nodded and thought. "I don't want to try to pull the cancer cells into oblivion. That would fill the mouse with tiny vacuoles. There. Done." "What did you do?" "Billions of nano-bursts of energy. I ruptured the DNA chains inside the cancer cells, all of them." Melanie nodded and then was still. We lay on the couch in silence for a long time, and then she started showering me with kisses. "My darling husband. I know how difficult this was." "It's so strange Melanie. Curing a sick animal? It's nothing that any vet wouldn't be proud to do. But the responsibility! Oh, the responsibility!" Melanie held me and brushed my hair with her fingers. Eventually we started smiling at each other. Melanie gave me a quick playful lick on my nose. "Still up for making me some ice cream?" ------- Chapter 30. Three weeks later. Time: Sunday, May 4, 2008 6:20 PM Melanie and I had been spending the weekend helping Patricia move into new apartment in Back Bay. Her new job starts tomorrow. She was currently taking a shower after a hard afternoon of work with me unpacking boxes and moving furniture around. It's a one-bedroom apartment, small but in a great location for her, less than a mile from her work. I "tuned" her apartment while we worked, quietly think-cleaning the stove and refrigerator and rugs, oiling the hinges on the doors, repairing some minor cracks in the tiles and grout in the bathroom, making a bunch of nicks and scratches disappear before Patricia could see them. The apartment looks great now. Unfortunately Patricia found that the apartment AC was not working before I could get to it. While she was showering, I gave it my world-class treatment. I not only repaired the broken compressor, I improved it, upgrading the alloy of the steel, machining the tolerances of the rings. Then I strengthened the hoses and cleaned the condenser grill, recharged the depleted coolant, and made all the dirt in the air ducts disappear. Finally I turned it on. It was unusually hot outside for so early in the year, 91F and very muggy. I zapped the humidity and took a few degrees C off the temperature to give the AC a head start. And while I was working, my sense sphere radius passed the 19,400 kilometer mark. It was now greater than three Earth radii and still growing. "Oh, wow!" said Patricia, as she stepped out of the shower. "How in the world did you get that working?" She was dressed in a bathrobe and drying her hair with a large towel. I turned and smiled at her. "It was nothing, just needed a little cleaning." "Really? I was sure the compressor was shot. But you're right, it sounds fine now. Did Melanie leave?" "Yep. She left us something for dinner. She had to go back home to study for finals." "Oh, okay," said Patricia, sitting on her bed. She finished drying her hair and put it up in a ponytail, and then gave me a playful smile. "I owe both of you so much. Eric, do you have to rush back?" "Uh, no. My evening is free. Something you need?" "Well, kind of." Patricia surprised me by blushing. "I was wondering, if I could return... if I could show my appreciation." She hesitated, and then gave me a burst of a smile. "Could I give you a backrub?" "Oh wow. Really?" "Yeah. Just a simple backrub, I promise." We looked in each other's eyes. All I saw was love and affection. There was no lust at all. "Uh, sure, that sounds nice. What do you want me to do?" She patted the bed. "Thanks! Just take off your shirt and tee-shirt and lie down." I zapped my sweat before I did, got rid of my shoes and socks too. No sense dirtying a newly made bed. I was soon lying down, and felt Patricia's cool, clean hands begin to work the muscles in my shoulders and neck. "Wow Eric. Nice job. You've been working out?" I closed my eyes and sighed. "Just a little I guess." After that I simply relaxed and didn't feel like saying anything. And neither did Patricia. Her massage techniques were masterful. The time passed quietly, Patricia occasionally humming songs as she worked. I felt her hands slowly work their magic, kneading and relaxing the muscles in my back and upper arms. It felt absolutely delightful. I began to drift, acutely aware of how wonderful her hands felt and of nothing else. My thoughts turned to Melanie. And the time passed. "Here Eric. Lift up for me a bit." Patricia's hands were at both sides of my waist. I rose up without thinking, and felt her hands slide under me around my waist. She unbuckled my belt and unzipped my shorts. I felt her startle a bit, and then her fingers went to my waistband and she pulled down a bit. "I need to get to your tailbone," she whispered, pushing me lightly on my rump as a signal for me to lie back down. "Sure," I mumbled, still deeply relaxed. I had never even opened my eyes. I felt her fingers and palms working the base of my spine and massaging the top muscles of my butt. I was in heaven. It felt so nice and soothing. I felt Patricia's fingers hold me below my waist as her fingers worked my end vertebrae. I sighed and got back to drifting. Melanie, my beautiful wife... "Eric?" "Hmm?" "I didn't realize... you'd find this so sexy. Are you erect for me?" My eyes blinked open. "Huh?" I looked at the clock, and was amazed to see more than an hour had passed. My body was in an extremely relaxed state. I reached down and felt my groin. It was a rather unique feeling. I was fully erect, but I was also relaxed and floating and had no desire for sexual stimulation. Patricia's hands must have brushed against my stiff penis when she unzipped me. "My gosh, you're right. This feels super nice Patricia, but I'm as surprised as you are. I was just drifting and thinking of Melanie." "Ah, that explains it. That's good. Go back to your dream Eric." But the short conversation, and the reality of having an erection with Patricia massaging my back woke me up. I lay quietly and sighed, enjoying the feel of her delightful hands. I wiggled my rump at her in appreciation. Patricia laughed and gave me a light spank. "Don't move!" I nodded obediently. Her fingers soon returned to my middle and upper back, light kneading, very pleasant. I knew my wonderful massage was almost finished. "Eric?" "Yah?" "Thank you, for letting me do this. Now, be still and close your eyes. Keep them closed." I felt a rustle, and then felt Patricia lie down near me on the bed. Then she got up, and then another rustle. Her fingers returned to massaging me. "Hmm?", I muttered. "What was that all about?" "A stupid promise," said Patricia. "A stupid promise I made years ago, before I developed my conscience. But I'm a person who likes to keep my promises." "Oh? What sort of promise?" "I promised my mom I'd lie naked with you in my bed, if I had the opportunity." "Huh? WHAT?!" "I know! It was just after our yacht trip. I look back now, it was so bizarre! I didn't have my head screwed on straight back then. But my mom was very interested in turning you into an object of competition between Melanie and me, and at the time, I fully agreed with her." "My gosh Patricia." "Oh, I know." Her fingers turned super light, caressing my back. "You don't know how much your and Melanie's forgiveness means to me now. But at the time, I was a bitch. And my parents! My mom in particular! I think my dad was just along for the ride. But my mom! She was so eager to turn you into an object of competition. It's what I've been trained to do Eric, trained since childhood, to obey my parents and compete with Melanie." "Hmm. Melanie too?" "Oh, she was too rebellious. I was the obedient child, not her. And thus I always won. And Melanie would only be rewarded if she lost. I look back now, oh, it was so strange Eric! So bizarre, and cruel too." She sat up straight in a lotus position, right next to my hips. Her hand started idly caressing me, just above my half-pulled-down shorts. I sighed. "And it's still going on, isn't it?" "Yes, I'm ashamed to admit it, but it is. Ashamed for my parents, I mean. Eric, why do they hate Melanie so much?" "We really don't know. Any ideas on your end?" Patricia was silent for a long time, idly caressing the top half of my rump. "Let me think on that for a while. I'll have to explore a lot of memories from my childhood." "Okay." "Eric?" "Yeah?" "Thank you, thank you and Melanie both, for trusting me, for loving me. I can't tell you how excited I am about moving to Boston. I think I might spend a month or so getting familiar with my new job, but then I'm going to try to date. I can't tell you how happy I am that I have family with me, you and Melanie I mean." She leaned down and kissed below the small of my back, directly on my coccyx. And then she grabbed my shorts and pulled them up. "I should send you back now Eric. It's Melanie's bed you belong in." I wound up staying about a half hour longer, chatting and having a box dinner with my sister-in-law. We gave each other affectionate pecks as we said goodbye. I thought a lot about Patricia on my way home, traveling normally and avoiding any unnecessary risks. Time: Friday, May 9, 2008 11:23 PM "Eric, wake up!" I stirred in my troubled sleep. "Hmm? Melanie? What's up?" "Your body just shook! I've seen you do this before. Everything okay?" I was wide awake. "I think. Let me test. I think everything is still here. Wait a minute..." It only took a few minutes to confirm a change. I was in full growth mode again. After seven periods of growing just my sense sphere, I was back to growing everything again. My sense radius was over 21,700 kilometer. Melanie stared at me. "So, full blown growth again, huh? That's exciting! Eric! You have any thoughts on what's controlling the schedule?" I frowned. "A thought maybe, just a hunch. I'm thinking it's all me." "Yeah? What do you mean?" I spent a moment collecting my thoughts before responding. "I probe my mind, and it looks just like your mind. I just don't see any difference. Oh, in details of course, but nothing structural. My wild idea is, what if it's all me? What if I'm just the first person to discover how to link the quantum resonance of my mind into creating physical reality?" I leaned over and kissed my wife. "And the growth rates! They seem almost whimsical, cute patterns just for the fun of playing with numbers. What if it's my sub-conscious that's controlling the growth rates? Maybe I'm getting new abilities at the rate my desire to explore becomes greater than my subconscious fear of the capabilities." "You mean..." Melanie paused for a long moment. "Other people could do this too? I could do this to?" "Maybe, if they knew how, if you knew how. Want me to try to teach you?" "No! There's only room in reality for one god!" Melanie looked very distressed, and then looked at me with sad eyes. "Oh, I so sorry Eric. I was being flip and cruel. This is a lot to think about though. Give me some time?" I held her and nodded. We cuddled with each other, slowly falling back to sleep. ------- Chapter 31 Time: Saturday, July 12, 2008 3:32 PM I was practicing with my abilities at home when the phone rang. I did a quick planet- wide search-pulse for Melanie's DNA. There were faint traces all over the Boston area, even a few micro traces in France, and then I found the mother lode. Melanie was at Biotherapeutics as expected. I zoomed in to see her on a phone waiting for a pickup. I picked up my phone without even looking at the ID. "Hi Pumpkin!" "Hi sweetie! How's your practice coming?" I smiled. "Oh, just fine. I'll show you some neat stuff when you come home. Everything okay on your end?" "Oh, I'm fine. I just called to check. Any changes?" I took me a second to realize what Melanie was talking about. A new period was starting just as Melanie called. "No, no changes or bumps. All systems go." "Well, that's good. Eric, I'll be working late again tonight. I should be home by nine though. Will that be okay?" "Sure. Want me to pick you up?" Melanie knew what I was talking about. She giggled. "No, I'll walk." "All right. I'll have a nice dinner waiting. Lobster be okay?" "Oh boy! Thanks sweetie." We chatted for a few minutes and then hung up. I leaned back in my kitchen chair and did an inventory. At five minutes into the tenth period of my fifth rotation, my sense sphere radius was 86,940 kilometers, I could generate a force of 5.43e20 Newtons, and lock photons down to station 1039 on the AM dial. That's frequencies as low as 1.04 MHz. My mastery of the EM spectrum is almost complete. There really isn't much below AM radio, mostly just some low frequency bands used for amateur radio and navigation beacons. My biggest improvement though has been my power production. Over the last two months, my power output has grown a factor of eighteen squared. I can now create and destroy matter at a rate of 419 metric tons per second. At my current ability, it would take me about forty days to reduce the worldwide concentration of CO2 by one ppm, forty days to turn 350 ppm into 349 ppm by destroying the carbon atoms and leaving the O2 molecules behind. I might get around to doing it. I would be so ashamed of myself if my powers suddenly disappeared, and through laziness I never took the opportunity to clean the planet while I had the chance. Currently though I'm working on the world's waste dumps. I've have identified many billions of tons of crud and toxic sludge that's well deserving of my patented one-way ticket into oblivion. On a global scale, I'm just starting to make the tiniest of dents in it. But in a few local areas where my dents are, the world is a much cleaner place. And now, back to practice! I was in the kitchen, sitting at our small butcher-block table and well out of sight of any windows. I placed my hand above the table and concentrated for a moment, and then brought my hand to my side, pushing it through the table as I did. The table offered only a touch of resistance. How can I do this? Ever wonder why your body isn't pulled by gravity to the center of the Earth while you're standing? It's because the electrons at the bottom of your shoes start exchanging virtual photons with the electrons in the floor just underneath you. But I can suppress the interactions, down to AM frequencies, wavelengths 288 meters and less. These long wavelengths are ultra low-energy, 4 nano-eV and below, and the few ultra- low energy virtual photons just don't have the "ummph" to keep my hand out of the table. I haven't tried to pass my brain, my mind, through solid matter yet. I want to do some thinking before I try something like that. Time: Sunday, September 21, 2008 8:58 PM "Melanie, how about a break?" Melanie looked up from her work desk and stretched. In addition to being a third year med student, Biotherapeutics had waved some serious bucks at Melanie to remain affiliated with the company as a part-time consultant. "Oh yeah, sounds good! What do you have in mind?" "Well, right now my sense sphere radius just passed 410,000 kilometers." Melanie looked at me with a puzzled expression. "Okay..." "The Earth to moon distance varies between 356,410 kilometers and 406,740 kilometers." Melanie's eyes went wide as she realized what I was hinting at. "Eric, is this trip safe?" "Oh, absolutely," I said. "I think... Just joking!" Melanie gave me a playful glare. "Okay, I'll trust you. Is what I'm wearing okay?" "Actually, no. How about a swimsuit?" "What?! You're going to take me swimming on the moon?!" "Did I say that?! Well, actually, yes." Melanie laughed and threw out her arms high from her sides. "Do me!" It took a second's thought, and then Melanie was wearing a two-piece swimsuit. She looked at her body at smiled. "Nice! Now, what do I have to do?" "Nothing. Just relax. The whole trip will take about ten seconds. I don't want to get too close to light speed. You'll be weightless, and you won't be able to see anything. Just breathe normally and relax." "Okay." Ten seconds later Melanie and I were standing in a cavernous room in front of an Olympic size swimming pool. As Melanie stared in astonishment, I started to boast about my creation. "Full Olympic size, fifty meters by twenty-five, and it's twenty meters deep. That's 25,000 cubic meters of water." Melanie was gaping at the ceiling far above us. "My gosh Eric!" "The top platform near the roof is sixty meters above the water surface. It's the equivalent of a ten-meter platform on Earth." Melanie nodded and tried a little jump. She went several feet in the air before slowly bouncing back down. "Weeee Eric! This is so cool!" I smiled at her happiness. "Want to try diving?" "Okay!" We bounded up the stairs by the platforms laughing. Climbing stairs in one-sixth gravity is tricky, more difficult than I would have guessed. We finally made in half-way up and stopped. I smiled at my wife. "Want to try platform or springboard?" "Uh, maybe platform for my first jump. Wow! It sure looks high up here!" "This is the thirty-meter level, equivalent to a five-meter jump on Earth. That is, you'll hit the water with the same velocity as a five-meter jump on Earth, about ten meters per second." "Okay." Melanie looked out over the pool. "What's the water temperature?" "26C." "Great, perfect. Okay, here goes!" Melanie took a graceful leap, and started her long journey down. She hit the water six seconds after beginning her jump. It seemed an incredibly long time. She sliced into the water cleanly, and I looked in fascination at how high and slowly her small splash ascended into the air. After watching the splash fall back into the pool, my eyes returned to Melanie. She was still underwater, not swimming to the surface. She swam left for a while, then right, and then she surprised me by starting to swim down. Then she started to wave her arms frantically. With a touch of force I had her and me standing by the side of the pool almost instantly. Melanie was gasping for breath. "Melanie, my gosh! I'm so sorry! You okay?" "Yeah! No need to apologize! I just have to catch my breath!" Melanie took a big lungful of air, and then another. "Wow!" "What happened?" "I got disoriented. The world down there is a universe of blue light. I couldn't tell which way was up." "Oh my gosh..." I thought for a few moments and realized my error. I had made the cavern walls the same light blue color as the pool, and had very diffuse light in the room. And the real clincher was the one-sixth gravity. Immersed in water, it's very difficult to get a sense of direction in such a light gravitational field. There's just not that much of a pressure gradient descending into the deeper water. I looked at my creation with a critical eye. "Let me change this right now." I redid the bottom with a black and white checkerboard, and painted the sides in various pastel colors of triangles tapering to the surface. Melanie nodded in approval. "Thanks Eric. I don't think I'd have any problem now." I whipped up a towel for Melanie, and offered to show her the rest of my creation before we tried diving again. At the top platform was an exit leading to living quarters, complete with a nice kitchen, living and bedroom areas, even a study and library. And above all that was an observation room. Melanie spent a long time staring at the lunar surface through the large bay windows. "Is this safe?" she said at last. "Oh yeah. These windows are made of a nano-tubular composite, transparent but incredibly tough. Above us is a mountain over two kilometers high. I also added some extra lead. We're very well shielded from any radiation." Melanie nodded, walking to a window and gazing in silence. Eventually she said, "This is so beautiful... Eric, where are we exactly?" "We're at the side of a cliff face, at the bottom of the inner rim wall of crater Daedalus. It has a diameter of 93 kilometers, and is almost three kilometers deep at the center. The crater is situated almost exactly at the center of the far side of the moon. We're at 5.9S, 179.4E, very near the equator. It's last-quarter moon on Earth right now, which means it's lunar sunrise here. In another week, it'll be new moon on the Earthside, and full moon on the far side." "Sunrise on the moon... Oh Eric, this is so beautiful! And just think! We're the first ones on the moon in what, thirty-five years?!" "Yeah, just about. And the very first ones on the far side of the moon." "But what if someone finds we're not in our condo in Cambridge?" "I've got a low-level lock on the place. Someone rings the doorbell, we can be answering the door in ten seconds." Melanie nodded in approval. "Cool. And how long did it take you to make this?" I shrugged. "A few seconds. My matter creation rate is up to 270,000 metrics tons a second. All the water in the pool took less than a hundred milliseconds to produce." "So sweetie, is this project your god doctoral thesis?" "Yeah, maybe." I smiled at her. "Uh, want to try out the bedroom?" Melanie batted her eyes at me playfully. "In a bit! Can we try diving again first?" ------- Chapter 32. One month later. Time: Thursday, October 16, 2008 3:22 AM Melanie was holding my body in bed and felt me jump. "Well, right on schedule. What do you think?" "Yeah, a classic pothole feeling. Give me a minute to test." I took a couple of minutes just to be sure. "I'm back to growing only my sense sphere radius. Everything else is holding steady." "Ah, just what we were expecting." Melanie hugged me and then started petting my stomach. "Relieved?" I sighed. "Oh yeah. The power now, it's so awesome. I could use a break." Melanie nodded. I lay there quietly, enjoying the light caress of her hand on my stomach and chest and thinking of my growth. My previous rotation had a pattern of 6-7-6 in its 19 periods, 6 periods of nothing, 7 periods of full growth, and 6 periods of nothing. This fifth rotation seemed to have a pattern of 7-5-7, 7 periods of radius growth, 5 periods of full growth, and now I was at the beginning of the thirteenth period and back to growing just my sense-radius again. My radius now almost 700,000 km, I can lock photons down to 1425 Hz, down into the ultra-low frequency bands. About the only thing I can't lock now are a few ELF waves used to signal submarines. I can exert a force of 2.223e24 Newtons. The Earth weighs 6e24 kg. The net result is I can exert a force on the entire planet a factor of sixty times greater than the sun. Push it right into the sun, if I wanted to destroy it. Or away from the sun, if I wanted to destroy the planet more slowly. In two months, I could have the Earth at the orbit of Pluto. And my power output, 2.2e26 Watts, 2.44 mega-tons per second! It would take me just ten minutes to reduce the CO2 in Earth's atmosphere by one ppm. Or I could spend a day and remove over 200 billion metric tons of human garbage from the planet. That's all it would take, one day to make the Earth as clean as it was before humanity began to travel the road to civilization. Should I do it? It's tempting, but man, talk about blowing my cover! Nothing pointing back to me perhaps, but how will all that magic affect Earth's societies? Earth has so many problems with religious extremism now. What would happen if I gave the fruitcakes high octane fuel to feed their extremist insanity? Melanie brought me out of my dreaming. She had been playing with my nipples, and then her hand dropped down across my stomach and abdomen. She started giving gentle rhythmic tugs on my penis. Melanie already had me almost fully erect, just from arousing my nipples. She had done it so softly I hadn't even noticed myself getting hard. Melanie scooted up and we started kissing as her hand gradually built up the tempo and the intensity of her jerk-off. All thought of getting up for work tomorrow disappeared in the building sexuality of her hand squeezing my penis. She started to pant in her arousal, her sweet sexy breath flooding my mouth as we French-kissed. She turned and lay on top of me, our mouths locked, her taut breasts pushing into my chest, her hips searching for and finding my cock. Melanie spread her legs wide to the sides, and the rubbed her open labia up and down my shaft, rocking her hips as my hands petted her waist. We were both still kissing madly, our eyes closed and our tongues in a frantic dance, sliding and entwining with each other. So wet, so incredibly sexy... My penis was a lubricated pole of eager desire sliding between Melanie's legs. As she felt my penis head catch in the entrance to her vagina, she rose up, a straight vertical backbone, her knees coming to my sides and locking my hip position with her powerful leg muscles. And then she rotated her pelvis, aligning her angle and opening herself for coitus. She lowered herself slowly and gracefully, my penetration was so soft it felt as if I were entering a cauldron of warm, moist feathers. And then she changed tactics. She pulsed her abdominal muscles, locking my penis inside her with strong vaginal grip. My manhood up inside her to the hilt, her pubis pressing into the base of my groin around my cock, she began to ride me cowgirl style, working my erection with major rotations of her hips and legs, her knees holding me in position as she rode. She's so beautiful. I gazed at her in love, her closed eyes, her soft, silky hair falling to her shoulders and ending about her breasts, the aroused state of her nipples, her flat, quivering stomach, her delightfully full and rich pubic bush. She rode for a long while and then collapsed on top of me, gasping and almost crying in her ecstasy. Her legs kicked out and went between mine. Melanie was signaling me she wanted to be submissive. I reached with my hands and grabbed her low on her butt cheeks. I pulled and locked her hips into position, lifting her up for better penetration and separating her labia and butt cheeks. And then I began to pound her. Swift, full thrusts, exactly what both of us were yearning for. Melanie whimpered in her pleasure. She once confided to me she has a favorite fantasy in this position, being a heifer and locked into a mating pen, having an aroused bull find her and shaft her, being helpless under his thrusts and loving it. I was pounding into Melanie's back vaginal wall and cervix. I probed with my mind and sensed her uterus "tenting" under the blows, deforming under the impacts and then springing back to form during my backstrokes. Melanie cried out, trying to time her orgasm with mine but losing her hold on her body's arousal. Her orgasm took her, fast and hard, her body spasming with the intensity. I reached with my mind into the core of her womanhood, caressing with a light touch of force the inner linings of her uterus. Melanie shrieked with the pleasure. And then I began to cum myself. One final, major hip thrust to bury myself in her, and then I began to spurt my seed. My penile slit was perfectly aligned with her cervical opening, and I blasted my seed against her moist and sensitive tissue. Melanie shivered in my arms as I emptied myself into her. Both of us collapsed panting and exhausted. We both tried briefly to pet each other, to offer some sign of love and appreciation, but sleep and dreams took us almost immediately. Seven months later. Time: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 10:44 PM "Mark!" I said, "89,000,000 kilometers." Melanie nodded. "And how long to the end of the fifth rotation?" "Another fourteen minutes." We both sat around quietly in our lunar palace, waiting to see if there would be a sixth rotation, and wondering what it would be like. Over the last few months I've spruced up our "home away from home" quite a bit. Melanie asked me to install a gateway to the outside, mostly from a spirit of altruism. If we were to suddenly die, future generations would perhaps one day discover this site, and they would probably find 25,000 cubic meters of water very useful. So I have two sets of double-airlocks with a small storage area in between. There are now six airtight doors between us and the vacuum of space, and the system is set up mechanically such that for each door, the other five have to be sealed closed before the sixth door can be opened. I delighted Melanie over the Easter break by presenting her a wireless internet connection for her laptop in the lunar library. She stared at me quizzically and asked me how it was possible. I replied I was duplicating the signals of our home's wireless router in Cambridge up here in the library, and also duplicating the response of the laptop's network card back on Earth. The present led to an interesting discussion about causality and the speed of light. We did a few experiments. My sense sphere is instantaneous knowledge, another of Einstein's fundamental principles crushed by my abilities. We recently added our cordless phones to the hook-up. Melanie and I have both gotten used to talking with friends and work colleagues from here, when people call our home. And I tried an idea from an old sci-fi story I once read. I built a 100-meter radius hemisphere, and Melanie and I tried to fly with strap-on wings. No dice! We were still far too heavy. But then I added a touch of force, reducing the apparent gravity to 1% of Earth's surface. It was fabulous! And very good exercise too. But even with the exercise, Melanie and I try not to spend more than 25% of any week up here. We wonder about the effect of the low gravity on our bodies. And our lives back on Earth? Delightfully normal. We are both social animals, enjoy working with others, going out to dinners and concerts, leading normal lives. Melanie has just completed her third year of med school, one more to go before getting her M.D. I'm at a standstill with my Earth cleaning project. I can't do much more without attracting attention to my activities. I have idle dreams of terraforming the moon or Mars. Creating a planet from scratch is well beyond my abilities. At my maximum matter creation rate, it would take me over seventy million years to create an Earth. But I could re-create Earth's entire atmosphere in 25,000 days, a lifetime of work but doable. The question is; where to put it? The moon just doesn't have the gravity to hold a long-term atmosphere. Mars is a possibility I guess. Its gravity is 38% of Earth's, still not great. Any atmosphere I produce there would have a half-life of 50 to 100 million years, assuming I heated the core and spun the iron to produce a protective magnetic field. Is that good enough? Create a world that would last a hundred million years perhaps and then die? Melanie and I have chatted about this quite a bit. Of course, such a change would be visible from Earth. It would drive the scientists here crazy. No, I take that back. It would drive everyone here crazy. Mars' last closest approach to Earth occurred on December 18, 2007. The next closeout approach occurs in another eight months, on January 29, 2010. The closest approach after that is on March 3, 2012. So February of 2011, that's my target month to add a bit of atmosphere and water to Mars, assuming my sphere of influence reaches that far by then. It's the month Mars will be eclipsed by the sun, so the change itself will be hidden. Melanie's parents continue to be a real mystery. The five of us will be touring Italy this summer. That should be fun. But the parents also visited us for a few days in April. They saw what close and loving relationships Melanie, Patricia, and I have for each other. It drove Melanie's mom nuts. Her dad seemed okay with it, but her mom was trying all her old ways to get Melanie and Patricia to compete with each other, and it just wasn't working. The parents wound up leaving a day early, and mom didn't even try to hide her frustration. The parents have kept their promise regarding Melanie's tuition. They've faithfully paid for the first three years, and they said they will pay for the fourth. It's no longer a critical issue for us. My wife and I have over $80k of legal liquid assets now, and we're even talking about starting to pay off Melanie's old $100k undergrad loans. And with my abilities, it would be easy to launder cash into visible assets if I had to. Ferengi Rule of Acquisition # 22: A wise man can hear profit in the wind. I looked at my darling wife and smiled. Life is good. I gulped. Melanie looked back at me. The time was 10:58 PM. She reached over and held my hand. "Well?" After a few seconds I replied, "Everything's still here. I haven't lost anything." Melanie nodded and rested her head on my shoulders. Within a minute I knew how the sixth rotation was starting. "My gosh Melanie, I'm in full growth mode again." She blinked. "Everything?" I retested just to be sure. "Yeah, everything." Melanie was silent for a while, just holding me. And then she kissed me. "You okay with this?" I sighed. "It's not as if I have a choice. And it's not as if I'm becoming an over inflated balloon. I don't have to use the power if I don't want to." "Oh, I know." Melanie hugged me. "Still, I know your heart Eric. I think you were hoping things would slow down for a while. I think you were feeling you had enough of this." I tried to make a joke. "Yeah... Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #97 seems to be in play here. Enough is never enough." Melanie smiled, and then gave me a very affectionate and playful kiss. "Perhaps the same is true for love. Come! Let's go to bed and find out!" ------- Chapter 33 One and a half years later. Time: Friday, December 31, 2010 11:33 PM Eastern Standard Time Melanie and I and the rest of the house decided to sack out early and not wait up for New Years. I was lying with my wife in my parents' house in Exeter PA. Patricia and her boyfriend Jim are sleeping downstairs. The house became quiet a half hour ago. So much has happened this year. Melanie got her M.D. degree, and is spending a fifth year at Harvard doing genetic research. She's also applied to a three-year residency program at Boston Children's Hospital. We submitted all the paperwork in October. Melanie is very hopeful, and I'm sure the Harvard staff has written glowing references for her. I think it's in the bag. This year has been a real transition with Melanie's parents. Our trip last year to Italy was very frustrating for Melanie's mom. But this summer we all went to Hawaii, and Patricia brought along Jim, an assistant professor at Boston University. Melanie's parents, and her mom in particular, are finally resigned about the issue of Patricia dominating Melanie. At least I think they are. Finance wise we have no worries. Melanie has a full post-doc research grant for this year, and she'll get over $60k per annum as a resident starting in June. And her parents made us and interesting offer last fall. They offered to pay off 10% of our student debt if we paid off the rest. Melanie and I had been discussing paying it down anyway, and given our healthy cash flows, we decided to accept the present. So now we have about $10k in blue money, $20k in gray money (our nickname for my IRA and 401k accounts), $1.3 M in U.S. cash, and our only debt is the $233k remaining on our mortgage. Even ignoring the platinum and euros, we're in fine shape. And my kinetic abilities! This sixth rotation has been very interesting. The first period was full growth, then seventeen periods of growth only on my sense-sphere radius, and now I'm back to full growth. The last period of the sixth rotation started eleven days ago, and will end on January 21, 2011, at 5:54 PM. Currently my sense-sphere is over three light-years in radius and I can lock photons as low as 158 Hertz. My maximum force is at 9.3e25 Newtons and power output 1.08e28 Watts, 120 mega-tons of matter per second. At the end of my sixth rotation, I think I'm going to terra-form Mars. By that time I should be able to produce 791 mega-tons per second. At that rate, it will take me about fifty-six days to build up a Martian atmosphere to an Earthlike standard pressure. Mar's atmosphere will be a lot thicker than Earth's. It has to be. With a surface gravity of 38% of Earth's and its smaller radius, there has to be about 2.7 times as much air above to exert the same pressure. But the thicker atmosphere will serve a very useful purpose. I plan to push the CO2 concentrations above 400 ppm, providing a thick thermal blanket to trap the heat. I'll be spending the rest of March and April creating Martian water. I'll be able to produce 79% of a cubic kilometer of water every second, more if my power limit keeps growing. That's a minimum of two million cubic kilometers by the end of April, enough to create some shallow seas. I also plan to liquefy the iron core and spin it. I'll need a magnetic field to protect the atmosphere from being stripped by the solar wind. Melanie was dozing by my side, breathing easily and more than half asleep. We got here to Exeter yesterday evening, after spending Christmas in Sterling Illinois at a big family reunion hosted by Melanie's parents. Her parents can be so nosey sometimes, and in the strangest ways. They asked about our itinerary several times during our stay, and had even called here late this evening to be sure we had arrived okay. I kept thinking, wasn't yesterday the day to do that? The four of us will be heading back to Boston on Sunday. Melanie and I wanted to be here with my dad over New Years. It's the tenth anniversary of my mom's death, and we wanted to be here with dad and my step-mom for that. I sensed a tickle in my mind from our Harvard Square condo. I keep a permanent low- level lock on the place. In a couple of seconds I brought up a full scan, and what I saw astonished me. A man I didn't know had the keys to both locks on our entrance door, and had just let himself in. He was carrying two large suitcases. I probed the suitcases and was surprised to find them full. He was carrying stuff inside my condo?! This didn't seem like a typical burglary. I decided just to observe and see what happened. He went right to work, opening the suitcases and dispersing the contents around the condo. It looked like magazines and video tapes and disks. He put a few magazines in all the rooms, but the mother lode went into our bedroom. What the hell was this? The only things left in the suitcases were a clock radio and a large plastic bottle of, of what? I sensed inside and realized the bottle was filled with nail polish remover. The man went back for the radio and bottle after he was finished disbursing the magazines. I watched in silence. The party sounds from outside drifted in through the closed windows. It was shortly after midnight, and there were several groups of people in the halls outside leaving various parties. This one extra man had aroused no one's suspicions. The holiday was a perfect time for a break-in. He set some of the house newspapers on one of my wooden end-tables, and then dribbled a splash of the nail polish remover on the papers and wetted the label on the plastic bottle with the fluid too. Then he plugged in the radio and set everything right next to each other on the table on top of the newspapers. He spent of few moments setting the time, and then he went back across the room and silently closed his suitcases. I realized he was about leave. What the hell was he doing? I probed into the radio. One of the wires was frayed and shorting, dumping its heat into the plastic insulation of the wire above it. I realized it would take some time, maybe as much as a half hour, but when the main power wire above lost its insulation, the clock radio would have a major arcing short. And it was sitting on newspapers sprinkled with nail polish removal. Hell! Why did this man want to burn our condo?! I took a closer scan at the magazines and videos, and gasped as the recognition hit me. They were full of child pornography, spread all over my home. In a burst of insight, I saw the intent. The fire on the end-table was sure to set off the sprinkler system. The danger to the lives of the other people in the complex was actually quite low. But the fire department was sure to be breaking down the door shortly after the fire occurred. They'd find what would look like an accidental fire, in a vacant condo filled with child pornography. Melanie! My gosh, my gosh! My dear wife! The monstrous intent shocked me into action. Melanie's vocation and lifelong desire to be a pediatrician were about to be ruined. The stain of being associated with child pornography would lose her the license to practice medicine, probably even without a criminal conviction. Her dream and all her years of work to become a pediatrician were about to be destroyed. No fucking way! I locked and pushed, sending all the smut into oblivion. Then I did the same for the clock radio and bottle of nail polish remover. My anger was boiling out of me. The man picked up his suitcases and was about to walk out the door. I think if he just would have left, I would have let him go. But he took one last look at the end-table across the room, and he could no longer see the red display of the clock in the darkness. Frowning, he put down his suitcases and walked across the room. As he walked I took a close scan of him. My eyes went wide. Jason! I couldn't believe it, it was C.J., looking a bit older after nine years of life. He froze as he realized the end- table was bare, and then he started to look around the condo, becoming frantic as he discovered that all the pornography was gone. He must have thought he was losing his mind. My heart felt leaden, and then it turned to stone. In a burst of revenge, Jason followed the pornography into oblivion, followed a second later by his suitcases. My condo was now back to its original condition. But I was not back to my original condition. I was filled with righteous anger. I cloaked and pushed and was hovering above Melanie's parents' house in Illinois within seconds. They were having a private New Year's Eve party, the house filled with over two dozen guests, but the parents were currently alone together in the kitchen. Perfect! I descended and uncloaked behind them near the door leading to the outside deck. "You!" I hissed. Melanie's dad was just starting to pick up a party tray loaded with munchies and carry it out to the guests. Both parents jumped at the sound of my voice, Benjamin dropping the tray in surprise. They turned and stared at me with absolute shock. Their eyes went wide with astonishment. As far as they knew, they had both spoken to me less than two hours ago in Exeter PA. "You!" I hissed again. "He had our fucking keys! He even had our fucking keys!" "I don't know what you mean! How did you get in here?!" Melanie's mom hissed right back at me. Her dad though went a beet-red, as if he'd just been caught with his hand in a strictly forbidden cookie jar. Melanie's mom was giving me a look of pure hatred. After all these years, all the masks were finally gone. I kept glaring at them, returning the anger. "The keys! Jason had our keys! Remember that day when Melanie couldn't find her keys in Paris? What'd you creeps do? Make copies?! You pieces of absolute filth! How long have you been planning this?" Benjamin tried to bluster. "What?! Jason who?! We don't know what you're talking about! We don't know any Jason! What... What keys?!" He started to shake uncontrollably. "Benjamin, shut up! Let me handle this! Listen Eric, I don't know how or why you deceived us about being in Exeter, but how dare you slander us! You are to leave this house at once, or I'm calling the police!" I shook my head at them, my deep disgust starting to mix with pity. "Your daughter Melanie, my wife! Rita, how could you?! My gosh, how can you both?! She offers you her love! How can you hate her so much?! What kind of people are you?!" Dad took affront and he tried to put on a look of indignation. "How dare you insult us, accuse us like that! Listen to me Eric! I'm telling you we don't know what you're talking about! Isn't that right Rita?" "Benjamin! I told you to shut the fuck up!" I looked at both of them grinding my teeth. It was becoming hard for me even to see these people as human anymore. "Melanie! She's such a beautiful person, filled with such love and goodness! How is it possible for you not to see this?! How can you possibly hate her?!" Melanie's mom's eyes went pure feral. Her face was a twisted mass of hatred, and she started pointing to the exit behind me and inhaling to launch a scream. I made a snap decision, and she followed Jason into oblivion. Her husband had been standing by her side, but his eyes were locked on me. I met his gaze with infinite sadness. He seemed more confused than anything, more frightened than angry. He tried to lie his way out of his shame. He began to shout, "Key?! What key?! We have no idea what keys you're talking about! We have no knowledge whatsoever..." And then he paused and blinked in puzzlement that his wife was being quiet for so long. He turned his head, and his jaw dropped in utter bewilderment as he realized his wife was no longer in the room. "Huh?" he whispered. "Benjamin, what are you shouting about?" called a voice from the living room. A couple of the guests began approaching the kitchen door. I sensed the clock behind me. It was 11:20 PM local time. I had traveled back to 2010. In a burst of summary judgment, I cloaked and then cancelled the quantum reality of Benjamin's existence just before the kitchen door opened. It was Benjamin's sister, Melanie's aunt, plus some other man I didn't recognize. They were looking for the hosts of the party, and were very surprised not to find them in the kitchen. "Benjamin!" called the aunt. "Come out, come out! I know I heard you talking! Where are you hiding? What was that about a key?" I floated to the ceiling. The man walked over to the back door, turned on the floodlights and looked at the deck. "No footprints. Hell, this door is dead-bolted from the inside!" The aunt nodded and looked at the only other exit from the kitchen. "They've must have gone down the basement." She walked over and opened the basement door. She gave a small gasp as she realized all the lights in the basement were out. The basement stairs descended to utter blackness. She began to call out, "Benjamin! Rita! What's going on? We know you're down there!" There was no reason for me to hang around. I zipped back to my bed in Exeter while I kept a watch on the Sterling house. Within ten minutes, all the guests started a search for the parents. At first they were confused. The weather outside was terrible, a sloppy snow, and all the cars were still in the driveway. The deck outside the kitchen and the front door had no footprints leading out. The aunt told the guests about hearing Benjamin shouting something about a missing key just before she entered the kitchen. Several others agreed they heard him shouting. Others said they were sure they saw him and his wife enter the kitchen just a few minutes earlier. The group decided the parents were playing a game, trying to remain hidden until the New Year. There was a second exit from the basement, to Rita's private study on the other side of the house. From there, the parents could have used a small staircase and gone unnoticed to the second or third floors of the house. By now, they could be anywhere in the house. The search for the party hosts took on a festive and playful atmosphere, as the guests called out the parents' names in laughter. They went through the house haphazardly, looking into all the closets, under the beds, even opening all the kitchen cabinets. They started rattling their car keys as they searched, as part of the game. And I watched this all from Exeter. My heart felt leaden and full of sorrow. Did I really have to kill three people? How could I ever explain this to Melanie? My gosh, my beautiful and gentle wife! She swore a life oath to care for human life, to hold all human life in reverence. How could I ever tell my wife that I murdered both her parents? I murdered in cold blood too. They were no physical threat to me. I lay beside my sleeping wife crying silent tears. Did I really have to murder? My God... I lay there struggling to find an answer to that question. Midnight came and went in Sterling. The guests held onto their beliefs for another hour, but after 1 AM local time, they began to worry. They organized into teams and did a full, no-nonsense search of the house. Scared and bewildered, they made one final pass through all the rooms, calling out and pleading with the parents to end the game. Then they called the police. ------- Chapter 34 Time: Saturday, January 1, 2011 4:10 AM Eastern Standard Time I drifted in and out of sleep, having an awful night. I watched the police search the house in Sterling. A lot of the guests were now bone tired, and several were borderline drunk from their earlier partying. They all wanted to go home, but the police were retaining them for depositions. Everyone was still in the "very confused" stage. I forced myself to switch my thinking, from what I had done to what I should do now. Tell Melanie? Yes, a must. But when? I decided to wait until we got back to Cambridge tomorrow. Anything else? My mind drew a blank with the parents, but Jason... I scanned our condo, picking through the miniscule skin flakes in the rooms. I found Jason's DNA, and then did a world-wide scan with the pattern. Interesting. I found numerous hot spots in Illinois, including Melanie's parents' house. I scanned closer. The strongest source was the bed in the master bedroom. Oh shit. I left Illinois in disgust, and concentrated in Cambridge. I found his car a few seconds later, on a side street about a kilometer northeast of my home, Illinois plates, car registration in Jason's name. I scanned around the dark street, totally deserted, perfect. A second later the car ceased to exist. Then I zapped his DNA pattern over the whole of Massachusetts. Any bloodhound would now swear Jason had never been in the State. I lay back and closed my eyes, and collapsed into sleep a short while later. I was "out of it" the next couple of days. My dad and step-mom asked me Saturday morning if I were coming down with the flu. Melanie knew better but also was concerned. In the early afternoon we got a call from Melanie's aunt. She told us the police were still at her brother's house; investigating what they were calling a baffling "Houdini" mystery. Then the police got on the phone. They said it was all routine; but they asked for witnesses for where we all were Friday night. We gave them a large list of names of the neighbors that had seen us then. With the distances involved, we all had an airtight alibi with the police. But I did not have an airtight alibi with Melanie. She gave me a number of thoughtful looks Saturday evening. When she got me alone in bed, she asked what was going on. I asked if we could wait until we got back to Cambridge. Melanie was clearly unhappy with my request but agreed. We had a very quiet ride back to Cambridge on Sunday. Melanie drove most of the way. I quietly kept track of the police investigation. I decided the detective in Sterling was a really sharp guy, but I thought I was safe. I wasn't on his radar scope, not directly anyway, and I didn't think I ever would be. I did make the effort to lock his DNA pattern, just so I could keep an eye on him in the future. When we got back home, Melanie closed and locked the door and went straight to the couch and sat down. "Well?" she said. I sat on the other end of the couch and began to tell her everything, starting with my sensing the break-in here at our home. Melanie turned and stared at the end-table when I told her about the radio, and otherwise kept her gaze on me. Her face went stiff and wooden when I described the end of Jason, and became a mask of pain when I finished describing my encounter with her parents. She could barely talk, her voice a whisper. "You... murdered three people?" "Yes." It was the most difficult word I ever had to say. I felt my soul breaking as I spoke it. I looked at Melanie, pleading with my eyes for understanding and forgiveness. But all I was getting back was a look of shock mixed with denial and bewilderment. Melanie looked at if she were staring at a stranger, as if she were struggling and failing to recognize me as her husband. "Bring them back!" "I can't." "What do you mean, you can't?! You can both destroy and create, can't you?!" "I can't bring a person back to life Melanie. I can't. I can create simple patterns and even replicate cells, but the detail of an entire human body?! I couldn't replicate that even if I had the body for a template! The fantastic detail of a person's memory, their personality, I'm nowhere close to duplicating that. I don't think I ever will be." Melanie was in tears. "So my parents are truly dead?" "Oh Melanie, I'm so sorry!" "Sorry?! Is that all you have to say?! Eric! Did you think you had no other option?" she whispered. She was trembling and crying and absolutely miserable. "Oh, I've thought of this so many times! I had tons of options. I could have created a statin in Jason's blood, wipe out his short term memory, then just knocked him out and transported him back to his car. He would have waked up with no suitcases, no house keys, and no idea of what happened." "But you didn't do that, did you Eric?" "No. I made a mistake." "A mistake?! You murder three people, you murder both my parents and say, oh, I made a mistake?!" "Melanie, please..." "Please what?! Please shut up or I'll make you a mistake too?!" "Hey!" "My God, my God! I'm married to a monster! You have no regrets, do you?" "Hey! That's not true! I have lots of regrets!" "So are you going to turn yourself in?" I sighed and considered her question. "No, I'm not." "Would you kill me if I try to?" "Huh? Oh Melanie, please don't talk like that." "Would you?!" "No, of course not." I stared at the floor in misery. A number of moments passed before I could bear to look back at Melanie. She was shivering, backing away from me on the couch. I gasped in agony as I realized she was afraid of me. "Melanie..." She shook her head no, tears flowing from her eyes. It wasn't just fear. I could also see her beginning to grieve for her parents. After all the years of manipulation, she still had a dream of having a loving relationship with them one day, and now... "Do you want me to go?" Melanie nodded her head. "Okay. Just call me when you want me back." Melanie shook her head no, her face strained by her fear and misery. I felt so ashamed, I couldn't bear to have her look at me any longer, and I think I was scaring her greatly. An all-powerful monster was next to her, and she was helpless against it. "Good bye," I whispered, and left for the moon. And the days passed. I went back to work on Monday. It was nice to have the routine of my job to keep my mind occupied. I waited for a phone call from Melanie. A week passed and it never came. I wondered a lot if she would turn me in, go to the police with her fantastic story. Did she have any proof? Well, her engagement and wedding rings maybe. I scanned her once lightly, and realized with dismay that she had taken them off. I did a lot of serious thinking. What would my life be like if the world knew about me? I think they would try to kill me. The concept of jail would be ridiculous. The only alternative would be death, or keeping me in drug-induced coma. Not the way I want to spend the rest of my life. I think Melanie realized this too. One week turned into two and still she said nothing to the police. But she didn't call me either. I monitored her lightly. She tried to lose herself in her work, keeping very long hours and collapsing exhausted in an empty home. My lunar palace was much more opulent but just as empty. On Friday, January 21, the day my sixth rotation ended, a bombshell came out of Sterling. It seems there was a huge, three-way embezzlement scheme between Benjamin's bank, Rita's law firm, and a nearby CPA firm. They had elaborate safeguards to hide their activities, but with both Ben and Rita gone, the investigation into their disappearance uncovered all the corruption. In the following months, the Illinois courts tried to recover as much money as they could. The parents' house and yacht and possessions were sold at a sheriff's auction. The courts even demanded the $10,000 that Ben and Rita had sent us to help pay off Melanie's student loans. Melanie was rather strapped for cash, and her research grant wouldn't even cover our mortgage payments. So I sent a check to the Illinois courts, and also kept up the mortgage and property taxes of our condo, her condo I should say. I started renting a small apartment near Fresh Pond, just to have a legal address for myself. I spent almost no time there. It was just a safe entry point for my travels. I worried a bit about Melanie's other expenses, so one Friday when she came home there was a $1,000 in a stack of small bills lying on the kitchen table. Melanie looked at the bills for a moment, and then left them exactly were she found them. On Monday I took the hint and removed the stack. And the months passed. Melanie was accepted into Boston Children's Residency program. She started her intern year there in June. The Sterling police investigation went nowhere of course. They're assuming the disappearance was a brilliant act to run off with all the stolen money. There was no sign of a struggle in the kitchen, and Ben's voice was heard shouting about a lost key; seconds before the room was entered. The police are convinced it was a joke, and Benjamin and Rita are probably in Mexico or South America somewhere leading the good life. With regards to weather protection, during the summer of 2011 I decided to back off on my efforts of active hurricane management. I had protected the Gulf and Caribbean for four straight years, not against all hurricanes but I certainly took the edge off the big ones. People responded with huge housing booms along the coasts, right up to the water's edge, something I had no desire to encourage. So in August of 2011, I shut down my influence on the storms. The result was hurricane Rina and a horrific loss of life in both Cuba and Florida. I wondered what Melanie thought. And I am grateful to her. She's told no one about my abilities or how I murdered her parents, not even her sister. I'm still good friends with Patricia. In the fall of 2011, Patricia tearfully asked me not to come to her wedding, saying she knew how much it would distress her bridesmaid Melanie. I totally agreed. And the months passed. I began to find it difficult to relate to people, my issues and concerns seemed so different from everybody else's. I began to fear my humanity was slipping away from me. I came to appreciate how much Melanie had been my moral compass, as well as my wife. I pined for her, and then the time began to deaden the pain. I turned to exploration, exploring my universe, exploring my abilities, exploring my desires. What did I want, what were my goals? I kept postponing my plans for cleaning the Earth and terra-forming Mars. I did a lot of thinking about accountability, in particular my accountability. I made a commitment never to murder again, unless perhaps other people's lives were in immediate danger. Melanie was right. I had killed not just in anger. Especially in Benjamin's case, I had murdered to protect the revelation of my powers. I would not make that mistake again. Accountability! Such an infinitely fascinating and complex concept! Should I be the world's policeman? Destroy all illegal drugs, or hunt down terrorists? Should I cure all sickness? I don't know if I can do that, but should I try? What would that do to society and to population pressures? Maybe just cure all childhood illnesses then? But where do I draw the line? What's the moral argument for curing a 17-year-old with cancer but not an 18-year-old? What should I be responsible for? I decided to look to the example of the true God for guidance. He leads but does not manage. Life is dangerous and unfair, people have the freedom to be unjust and ruin their lives and the lives of others. I figured if the true God saw this as appropriate, then I with a mere doctorate of god-dom should do the same. I would not hold myself accountable for other people's decisions, and I would let them keep their liberties and their successes and failures. Sounds nice in theory, but in practice, how to implement it? I can't isolate myself from the world around me. And I don't like the Earth suffering from the consequences of humanity's pollution. So I made a decision during my Christmas visit with my parents and the end of 2011. I would use my abilities as a gift to the oceans. The atmosphere was under too much detailed observation to clean unnoticed, but the dynamics and natural cleaning cycle of the oceans were still so poorly understood, I decided I could do some major oceanic repairs without revealing my existence. And the months passed, and slowly turned into another year. I watched New Years 2013 arrive, alone in my apartment at Fresh Pond. The memory of my wife seemed like a wonderful and beautiful dream, but the dream was starting to fade. ------- Chapter 35 Time: Friday, January 18, 2013 7:13 PM I was swimming laps in my lunar pool when the phone rang through the interface with my apartment in Fresh Pond. I thought briefly around just letting the messaging system on Earth handle it, but then I pushed myself into my living room, thinking myself dry and into some clean clothes. I sat down into a chair especially designed for the low gravity and answered the call before the fourth ring. "Hello? Eric?" It was Melanie! I suddenly felt tongue-tied. "Uh, yeah. Hi Melanie! How are you?" "Me? Oh, I'm fine. Eric, I know after all this time, you're probably surprised I'm calling, but I was wondering if we could talk." "Sure! Do you mean now?" "Uh huh." My mind was flooded with painful memories, Melanie in fear of me, cringing that I was near her. "Melanie, do you want me to come over or, do you mean talk on the phone?" "Well... If you don't mind... Actually, I'd like you to come over... if you would." "Okay. I'm at Daedalus right now, but I can be in your entrance hall in a few seconds. Would that be okay?" I heard Melanie take a deep breath. "Yes. Thank you Eric." "Okay. Bye." I hung up and left immediately. I was so excited I forgot to cloak until I was almost in Earth's atmosphere. I de-cloaked while Melanie was still putting down the phone in the living room. She blinked when she saw me, and then tried to smile. "Wow, that was fast! Are you traveling at light speed now?" "Yeah, pretty close. What was two seconds for you was less than one second for me." Melanie nodded and pointed to the other side of the couch she was on. "Would you like to sit down?" I nodded and joined her, sitting only about a meter away. We stared at each other in silence for a while. I tried to smile at Melanie, and she tried to smile back. This meeting was turning out better than my fantasies of getting a call from Melanie. There was no fear in the eyes at all, and even more surprising to me no accusations. The two years of time had healed the wound of her parents' murders. The primary emotion I thought I was reading from Melanie was shyness, and I couldn't figure out why. I thought she had every right to reject me. She seemed unsure of how to start the conversation, so I thought I'd take a whack at it. "It's nice to see you again Pum... uh, Melanie. Sorry. You're looking very well." Melanie nodded, and then looked at me with great... It was hard to tell what her emotional state was. I didn't want to probe her body, certainly not without asking and I didn't want to ask. But she was clearly excited. She took a deep sigh. "Do you still think of me as Pumpkin?" It was my turn to sigh and nod. "Do you mind?" Melanie didn't answer my question directly. "You never called." "I know. You told me not to, and I couldn't bear to frighten you." "Oh." She was silent for a long moment before going on. "I was hoping that was the case. Eric, I asked you here for a favor..." More silence, and then she started to fidget on the couch. "Uh, would you like some tea?" "Sure, that'd be very nice." We both knew I could zip up some instantly, but Melanie quickly got up and headed off to the kitchen. I stayed behind on the couch. "You still like English Breakfast?" she called from the kitchen. "Yep, still my favorite." I called back. I leaned back in the couch and closed my eyes, my mind flooded with so many memories. I didn't notice Melanie return until she sat down next to me and handed me my old mug. It was filled with hot tea with a touch of honey, just the way I like it. "Thanks," I said, as I took a sip. We drank our tea in silence. Both of us were hesitant, unsure of how to start a conversation or what to talk about. I spent most of my time watching Melanie's eyes. She's very expressive with them. I was reading lots of precursors for play posturing, but she was too nervous to complete the expression. I decided to try to break the ice and start the conversation again. "So, how's your junior year as resident coming?" Melanie took a deep breath and nodded. "It's been a real transition year for me, a baptism by fire. Children's lives are in my hands. My decisions are reviewed by the senior staff, but I'm the one on the front line making the decisions. It's such an awesome responsibility Eric! And sometimes the battles are lost. When I was growing up, dreaming of being a pediatrician, I had no idea how gut wrenching losing those battles would be." Melanie drained the last of her tea in one big gulp and changed the topic. "And how about you? May I ask? Have you been all right?" She looked at me with a surprising degree of timidity. I nodded. "Last year was a transition year for me too. I spent a lot of time exploring. Uh, a couple of months ago I built some telescopes, some really big ones." "Oh yeah? On the far side of the moon?" "No, halfway across the galaxy." Melanie blinked and then nodded slowly. "Your powers... I keep thinking of you as you were two years ago, but of course you've been growing, haven't you?" "Oh yeah..." I took a deep sigh and decided to tell her how far I had evolved. "The large rotation structure seems to have disappeared after the sixth rotation ended. Just about two years ago, on January 21, 2011, I switched over to new growth rates. The period length is still the same, 31 days, 19 hours, 56 minutes. Every period I grow exponentially in my force and power abilities, and every two periods I growth exponentially in my sense-sphere radius. In my minimum lock limit too, though now it's so small it's no limit as all." I saw Melanie staring at me. I smiled back. "You know. Exponential. 2.718281828." She finally smiled back, and then that same tilt of her eyebrows, her wonderful offer to play. She was still very shy though, and I didn't think she was aware of what her eyes were expressing. She took a deep breath. "I'm familiar with the number! So how far can you reach now?" "Right now my sense sphere is over 450,000 light years. I'm just under 5e36 Newtons, and just over 6e38 Watts. That's over 6e21 kg per second. I could create the Earth in a thousand seconds if I wanted to." Melanie nodded and whispered. "Or destroy it. Eric, I want to ask your forgiveness for threatening you with the police two years ago. The concept is ridiculous! You're the only person who can decide whether to punish yourself. The concept of the police or the courts battling with you is absurd." "Melanie, I murdered three people! You were perfectly right to reject me." I took a deep sigh and decided to tell her. "But I didn't want to go to the police. I think that might have happened once before, about eight thousand years ago." "Huh?" "The end of last September my sense sphere finally spanned the galaxy. I've been exploring the galaxy. It's full of stars, and the stars are full of life! So many patterns! So many of them are using the exact same building blocks for DNA, and then there are other things so bizarre I'm still not sure whether to call them life or not." Melanie was staring at me in wonder. "And you met someone like you?" "No, not directly. I saw shapes..." "Shapes?" "Geometric shapes, prisms, cubes, dodecahedrons, his favorite I think was a pentagonal di-pyramid, if I can presume to call him a he." Melanie slowly nodded. "I think I'm getting this. Go on." "It's in the spiral arm directly opposite of us from the galactic core. There are all these shapes, these geometric shapes, flying out from a common origin point, all traveling exactly one sixteenth the speed of light." "My gosh Eric! Your diamond cannon balls!" I nodded. "I destroyed them, by the way. These shapes Melanie, I traced them back to a single star. All the thousands of trajectories are consistent with being launched from a single star location eight thousand years ago, within a seven month window." Melanie considered. "Geometric shapes, huh? Made of what?" "They range in size from a few kilograms to a few tons, made with various elements, almost always pure. Over half are made with pure osmium." "Osmium? Why osmium?" "No idea. It is the densest element; just being playful I suppose." "And you went to the star? With your mind, I mean. Is he still there?" "There's nothing there, just an angry, unstable star. Except for the solar wind, is system is a hard vacuum. I got curious and built large parabolic mirrors, super big, 100,000 kilometer radius mirrors. I built huge reflecting telescopes, 8,000 lights years from the star." Melanie gasped. "You saw what happened!" She saw my distress, and hopped over and offered to hold my hand. I gratefully accepted and shuddered. "It was a solar system just like ours. A star almost exactly the same mass. Four Earth-size planets close in, a number of gas giants much further out. It was very much like our solar system Pumpkin. And then..." "Yes?" "It stopped. In an instant, certainly within an hour, all the angular momentum of the planets disappeared." I felt Melanie's hand squeeze as the impact of my words sank in. "My God Eric..." I was silent for a while. Melanie rested her head against my shoulder. I lightly rested my head against hers. Oh, it felt so good, to touch her again, and share her closeness. I closed my eyes. So many memories came flooding back, of the times when all the power in the universe could not stand against Melanie's love for me. My mind got lost, daring to explore so many memories, memories that no longer seemed painful. Eventually, I came back to the present. I sensed a clock. We had been silent and holding each other for almost an hour. "Asleep?" I whispered. Melanie stirred. "No, just drifting, drifting in my thoughts... Eric?" "Hmmm?" "How long did they have?" "The people on planet-X? A bit more than I would have guessed. My prime candidate for my twin was a very Earthlike planet, 150 million kilometers from the star. After one Earth day, it only fell 22,000 kilometers, less than four times its radius. By that time it had an inward velocity of just over 500 meters per second. Even after ten days, it was still almost 148 million kilometers from the star, radial velocity about five kilometers per second. Everything must have appeared about the same. It still had its axial spin, still had its days and nights, about a 22 hour cycle." I took a deep sigh. "Even after thirty days, it was 129 million kilometers from the star. The weather patterns still looked about the same. But by this time the planet's inward velocity was almost 17 kilometers per second. They must have all know by then, must have all known what a hopeless position they were in." Melanie hugged me. I turned and gently kissed the side of her head. Her hair was so soft, so soft and inviting. "By day forty the planet was 111 million kilometers from the star, radial velocity of 25 kilometers per second. There were massive storm patterns across the globe." "By day fifty the distance was down to 85 million kilometers, inward radial velocity of 37 kilometers per second. There were massive amounts of particulates in the atmosphere. The planet's biosphere was burning." "On day sixty the planet was only 43 million miles from the sun. It was getting over twelve times its original heat from the star, and the atmosphere was filled with water vapor. I think the oceans were flashing to steam. I'm guessing most of the inhabitants were dead by then, though perhaps a few were holding out underground... Stellar impact occurred on day sixty-five..." I took a deep sigh. "There was a gas giant, not quite as big as Jupiter but pretty close. It took over seven years to fall. The impact almost destroyed the star..." "Why did he do it Eric?" Melanie whispered. "I'm guessing insanity. I don't know. Maybe his world found out about him and tried to kill him. Maybe they succeeded. Maybe he stopped the orbits as a doomsday threat, and they killed him anyway or before they realized what he had done. I don't think his powers grew in the same way as mine. I think his force and energy abilities grew a lot faster than his sense sphere. He stopped the orbit of a gas giant almost instantly, but never changed anything outside of his star system. I don't think..." "Eric, I abandoned you. I left you to face this alone." "Melanie, I murdered both your parents. You were right to reject me." She responded by deeply sighing and putting her arm around me. It didn't feel like rejection now. My mind was a whirlwind of emotions. I returned the hug, and she accepted my arm around her. We both sat there in silence, using our bodies to try to bridge the gulf between us. It felt so wonderful to hold her again, both strange and familiar, both at once, such a unique feeling. And the time passed. ------- Chapter 36 I was in a deep, restful sleep, more restful than I had been in years. I slowly drifted towards being awake. I felt a warm, feminine body lying next to me. I was in bed. I sighed and opened my eyes, turning to see Melanie. She was in pajamas, lying on her side, her head propped up with one hand. She looked at me and smiled. "Good morning! Remind you of anything?" I probed the outside. It was about 7:10 AM, the sun just peeking over the horizon. "Yeah, sure does. The Spirit landing on Mars, the day we got back together. I was the one to wake up first though, back then." Melanie smiled and nodded. "I've been awake for hours, thinking about you, thinking about that day too. I remember my absolute shock when you levitated. It was the day my universe changed." She reached over and stroked my head lightly with her other hand. "Eric? May I ask you a really important question?" I nodded. "I have a really important one to ask you too. But go first." Melanie didn't respond immediately. She just kept petting my head and smiling. All the nervousness and almost all the shyness of last night were gone though. She was completely relaxed, lying by my side, smiling and petting me. It felt absolutely delightful. "Eric," she whispered. "Do you remember me taking you to bed last night?" "I almost don't. I remember falling to sleep with you on the couch. Vaguely maybe. I think I remember you taking off my shoes and socks. It felt so wonderful to sleep with you again." Melanie nodded. "When I came into bed with you, you muttered something. You said you could never be complete without me. You told me that before, so long ago, and I never appreciated, not until now, how dead serious you are when you say that. Eric, do you still want me as your wife? After two years of being rejected, do you still want me?" We stared at each other, finally locking our eyes together. Finally! Words were no longer necessary. I didn't have to ask my question, not with words. Melanie understood completely. Her eyes were full of forgiveness for me, forgiveness and acceptance, and just behind that, a mind bursting to be playful. Her gaze fused with mine, intertwining with my love and unbounded desire for her. We both started crying. Melanie turned and was soon lying on me. I reached up and hugged her, intending never to let go again. We were both laughing and crying at the same time. The tears stopped first. Then we both sat up still laughing. "Breakfast?" Melanie asked playfully. "Sure! May I?" Melanie blinked. "Oh yeah! It's been so long, I'd forgotten what a great short-order cook you are!" She laughed. "Okay! Surprise me!" We were soon sitting down in her kitchen (my kitchen?!), munching on a big bowl filled with exotic iced fruits, and piping hot fish and shellfish wrapped in an assortment of light pastries. I remembered this as one of Melanie's favorite breakfasts. My wife (my wife!) dived in with gusto. "So tell me Eric, besides the awful business with planet-X, what else have you seen in the galaxy?" "The galaxy, it's so incredible! I don't know where to begin. And I've just begun to explore it. I've spent most of the last two years studying. You should see my library at Daedalus now." "Oh? Studying what?" I munched on a bite of hot lobster wrapped in a buttery pastry. "Well, my breakthrough was integrating my memory buffers for replicating objects with my cognitive understanding. I can speed read entire books in seconds now. I don't do it with recreational reading, but for learning languages, sciences, philosophy, medicine, stuff like that, it's fantastic." "Oh wow." Melanie looked very thoughtful at me as she ate a piece of fruit. "Medicine, huh? Interesting. And philosophy? Anything in particular you focused on?" I nodded. "I've been studying a lot of religions. Last year I spent a lot of time studying Buddhism." Melanie's eyes popped open and she blinked in surprise. "Are you a Buddhist now?" "No. I wanted to study the ethics though. I'm trying to decide what principles to use to guide my life. Such horrendous mistakes I made two years ago. I never want them to happen again." "Hmmm. And what did you learn?" I thought for a moment. "One of the things I've come to appreciate is how important it is to set aside time for reflection. Pick a time when life is quiet, when things aren't urgent, and then think about what principles you want to use to guide your life. Then, when you have an urgent question, don't try to answer it directly. Instead ask, what principles are involved here? Upon what principles should I make my decision? You do that, you've got your question at God's level, the real God." I munched on a steaming hot oyster wrapped in hot-pepper spinach leaves. "Identify the right principles involved, and let them guide your decision. It's really quite easy, and very effective." Melanie smiled at me as she bit into a Kiwi. "You make it sound so easy." I batted my eyes at her playfully. "Well, yeah, in practice... Difficult decisions are still difficult. Melanie?" "Uh huh?" "What's your schedule like for today?" "My resident schedule is two days on, two days off. This is my 48-hour break time between rotations, 5 PM Friday to 5 PM Sunday, the..." She smiled and took one of the pastry types I had been munching on. "The world is my oyster!" She took a large bite. "Oh! These are so good! I had forgotten how much I enjoy your spicy cooking!" I nodded back at the compliment. "And what are your break days like?" "Oh, I try to fill them with fun, mind challenging activities. The wash, clean the condo, go food shopping. The car is overdue for an oil change." I smiled. "The wash, done. Clean the condo, done. Food shopping, done." I paused for a second. "I just cleaned the interior of the car and gave it my patented super-deluxe tune-up. I'll clean the outside when it's dark." Melanie blinked as she realized all I had just done. "Thanks sweetie. That was another thing I had forgotten, how much you can open up my day." She reflected for a second and then giggled. "I remember two years ago, Patricia was visiting here just a day or two after we, well, after I had asked you to leave. Patricia was astonished there were only a few snack foods in the kitchen. She insisted on taking me food shopping. The store clerks were all greeting me as a lost friend. They hadn't seen me in years. They all thought I had moved away. Patricia was absolutely befuddled. I had to make up some lie, that you did all the food shopping, and I didn't know where you went." I grinned and smiled happily. Breakfast was almost over. "Pumpkin? Last night, when I first arrived, you mentioned needing a favor." Melanie nodded and turned serious. "Ah yes, thank you." She paused for a moment. "Eric, this really is a request. I'm sure you thought about this topic already, and the moral issues are complex. You would have valid reasons to say no." I nodded and made a hand gesture about clearing the table. Melanie nodded and the breakfast feast was gone. "What's up Pumpkin?" Melanie offered me her hand, and led me back to the couch. She was still in her pajamas. My mind was overjoyed being with her again. She took a deep breath. "His name is Jason, a wonderful and brave 8-year old boy. I've lost the battle Eric. Bone cancer, brain tumors, and yesterday I saw the new lab reports. The tumors have spread to his liver. I've lost Eric. All the treatments..." She struggled to speak and then sighed. "Eric, can you help him?" Melanie gave me some directions of how to find him, and then looked at me while I scanned her hospital's oncology ward. "Melanie, are you Jason's physician?" Melanie nodded. "One of them." "Okay. I'm scanning him... Wow, what a mess." I probed and analyzed for a few minutes. "I can eliminate the cancers." Melanie's eyes went wide. "Completely?" "Yeah." "But what about the mouse? You tried complete destruction years ago. The mouse died!" I sighed and looked at her. "Pumpkin, that was years ago. I remember the mouse. I broke all the cancer DNA chains. I didn't realize I would overload the mouse's ability to cope with all the garbage I left in its body." I paused for a moment. "My new technique is to cancel the cancer cells' reality, and then create a simple saline solution in its place. The kidneys will to a bit of work to flush the extra fluid, and that will be the end of it. With your permission?" I looked at her. She slowly nodded. "Done." "So fast?" I gave a short nod. "Melanie, do you need help with anyone else?" Melanie stared at me and then her eyes went wide. "Hell Eric! I feel like I'm playing God!" "Welcome to the club." My wife was silent for a long moment. "This is a lot to think about." "I know." "Yes, I suppose you do. All right! Fourteen-year old Janna..." Melanie gave me directions to find her. "Her GP thought she might have arthritis, but I'm suspicious it might be something else. Vague symptoms, lack of energy, dull aches, low grade fever, a slight difficulty in swallowing. Unfortunately the symptoms appear to be progressing. There are also some skin rashes. I'm afraid I'm seeing many of the beginning signs of Erythematosus." "Systemic Lupus?" I asked. Melanie was referring to a nasty but treatable auto-immune disease. Melanie nodded. "I've just started a treatment of oral steroids and auto-immune suppressants. I'm hoping for a favorable response." I scanned the hospital for a moment. "I found her. Melanie, is Janna your patient? Do I have your permission to scan her?" "Do you need my permission?" "Oh yes. I've done a lot of thinking about this, over the last two years. Locking someone's body is a fantastically intimate connection. I won't do it without permission. If she's accepted you as her doctor, your permission will do." Melanie nodded thoughtfully. "I am her doctor. Yes Eric, please." I linked to the child's body. I saw the excess of fibrous proteins immediately. The collagen was beginning to clog and impede the functions of the body's connective tissues. Janna's immune system was trying to respond with antibodies, but all that was doing was inflaming the tissues and stimulating the production of more collagen. Her immune system was in a slow spiral towards cascade failure. After a moment I finished my observations and sighed. "Scleroderma." "What?! Oh Eric, are you sure?" "Just test for the antibodies. Yeah, I'm sure. Not too much in the skin yet, but her throat tissues are hardening. That's why she's having trouble swallowing." Melanie's face was a mask of pain. I had just told her Janna had a truly horrible incurable disease, the hardening of the soft tissues of the body. "Is there anything you can do?" she whispered. "Do? Oh, quite a bit," I replied. "There! That'll make her feel better." Melanie stared at me in wonder. "What did you do?" "I purged all the excess collagen in her body. That'll eliminate the source of the inflammations. Her antibody count should return to normal." Melanie shook her head. "But Janna's auto-immune system! Won't it still be over- producing the collagen?" "I agree. But I think if I lock and purge her of the excess every week, I can keep her symptom-free forever. Isn't that the same as a cure?" "Will you do that?" "Yes. I'll also try to do some research. I probably have the power to re-program her immune system, truly cure her. I just don't know how to do that yet." Melanie trembled as the impact of what we were doing sank in. She came to me and whispered, "An awesome power Eric, an awesome and terrible power." I nodded as we hugged each other. My eyes were filled with gratitude for Melanie. I finally had someone to share my terrible decisions. Melanie and I stood and held each other and wept. ------- Chapter 37 Six hours later. Time: Saturday, January 19, 2013 2:07 PM Melanie called Patricia and Jim Saturday morning to tell them the news about us getting back together. We all wound up planning to go see an early movie and then have a late lunch and go shopping in Boston. On our way to their Brookline home, Melanie informed me that Patricia was eight weeks pregnant. The movie was fun, but as we left the theater the weather was beginning to turn ugly and Patricia was feeling fatigued. We changed our plans. Jim and Melanie went to go food shopping and I drove Patricia back to her home. We got in a little after 2 PM, just as the snow was starting to fall. Patricia burped as she took off her coat. "Oh boy. I had no idea my stomach would get so queasy from eating popcorn. I'm glad we're back! Eric, make yourself at home. What would you like for lunch?" We were soon sitting down to soup and sandwiches. Patricia was grinning at me from ear to ear. "I'm absolutely astonished how quickly you and Melanie got back together! Eric, what happened?" I gulped. "Well, it was an intensely personal issue. Uh..." I stared at Patricia for the longest time, trying to figure out what to say. She finally let me off the hook. "It's okay Eric. I've been trying for two years to get Melanie to tell me what the problem was, and she was as tight as a clam. I respect your privacy." She gave me a beaming smile. "I'm so happy to see you two together again!" I nodded, grateful that my sister-in-law didn't press for details. We chatted about our lives. Eventually the topic drifted to her pregnancy. Patricia talked as we washed the lunch dishes. "Melanie is so cute! Before the movie, she asked me if I would consider her to be my doctor, as an extra pair of eyes on me. I know it's not her specialty, and I know how busy she is in her resident program. But she really wants to take the time and keep a medical eye on me too. I agreed to call up my ob-gyn and release my records to her." I smiled. "Melanie has an incredibly sweet and caring personality." "Oh yes. Generous too, to go shopping with Jim. She knows how much I wanted to talk with you. Eric, I haven't seen you in what, a year?" "Yeah, pretty close." We chatted about me for a while. There was so much I couldn't talk about, I wound up talking mostly about my job. Patricia probably thought I was a bit of a workaholic. I finally wound up boasting about my skills as a penny stock picker. "Oh yeah? What was your best trade?" "Oh, Golden Colorado Mining, no question. I bought a million shares at 1.7 cents in March of 2011. Last year I sold it all for an average price of $3.25" "What?! You're joking!" "No, not at all. They hit a prime vein of gold a few months after I bought in, a super high quality ore. Everybody in the company got filthy rich, including me." The topic eventually drifted back to Patricia and her parents. She shrugged her shoulders. "Still no clue where they are! I spoke to the Sterling investigator last fall. He was pessimistic about finding my parents or all the money they stole. There's still over two million dollars missing. The detective is sure though that their disappearance was a deliberate act on their part." "Oh? Why's that?" "There were too many witnesses who swore they heard my dad shouting something about not knowing about a key, seconds before my aunt opened the kitchen door. She was extremely surprised to find the kitchen empty. The only possible explanation is that my dad dashed to the basement right after shouting. There was absolutely no time for a struggle that forced him out of the room. Also, whom was dad talking to?" "Huh?" Patricia laughed. "My dad never shouted at my mom! Never! He wouldn't dare! My mom was definitely the alpha-wolf of the family. So my dad was either shouting to someone else at the party, or to no one at all. But all the other guests were with each other. They weren't all lying! My dad had to be shouting at no one, as a joke. And the police tore the house apart, eventually even inspecting the eves and rafters. And you remember C.J., don't you?" I gulped. "Uh, yeah." How could I forget? "Well, get this. Last November a story appeared in the Sterling Daily Gazette. Quoting unnamed sources, they wrote the police found my parents transferred $7,000 into C.J.'s bank account on December 28, 2010, just three days before they disappeared. Jason's car and credit card were traced eastward right after that." "Oh yeah?" I tried to act nonchalant. "To where?" "The trail ends in Albany, New York, the morning of December 31, 2010. After that, nothing! The theory is Jason was my parent's agent. Maybe he set up some international flights for them, somewhere on the East Coast. They were all either brilliant or incredibly lucky covering their tracks. There's been no trace of any of them." Patricia shook her head in wonder. "My parents pulled a real Houdini! I didn't know they had it in them. Melanie didn't either. She was quite upset by what they did. And then you two had your breakup right afterwards. My poor sister!" I nodded. "I was glad that you and Melanie still had each other." Patricia nodded back. "We've spent a lot of time, over the last two years, talking about our childhoods. My God Eric, our parents were monsters, true monsters. The things they used to do to Melanie and me. Vile, awful stuff, against defenseless children! They'd probe for a weakness, a fear, and then exploit it. Use the fear as a weapon, as a means of control. I've always had a fear of being locked in pitch-dark places. My parents used my fear to control me." "That's so sick! Did you and Melanie ever figure out why? What drove them to be so cruel?" Patricia sighed and thought for a long time before responding. "Not directly. We did figure out a few things. Both my parents, but my mother in particular, knew how to be charming, knew how to influence people, knew how to be shrewd negotiators. But there was no real kindness, no warmth or concern behind their actions. They were incredibly self-centered and controlling people. They might not have been particularly smart. Pulling off their Houdini disappearance was a completely unnecessary risk, and they left a lot of money on the table when they took off. But what they did have was the ability to influence people, and a passion for manipulation." Patricia frowned. "And they manipulated me, guided me into loathing my sister. Melanie and I both realize this now. I was part of my parents' sick mind games. When Melanie would step out of line, my parents would play their Melanie-has-no-memory game. Change something in the house, and then we'd all pretend the change had always been there." "Huh?" "Oh, it was stupid stuff Eric, so horribly easy to do. Change a lamp from blue to green in Melanie's bedroom, and then just stare at her when she would ask about the change. It sounds so stupid, but we were all doing it, and it frightened Melanie greatly. I'm so ashamed of myself now, about how gleeful I was in torturing her. Melanie was to be my obedient slave, and it was okay for me to abuse her with mind-games if she resisted her slave status. Abuse her in other ways too." "Why?" I whispered. "My God Patricia, why?" "That is the question, isn't it? We don't know. Melanie and I did a bit of exploration last year. It's been an eye-opening experience for both of us. Jim has really been sweet to give us so much time together, and Eric... I must say, I think our exploration might have helped Melanie think of you differently. I'm not sure about this, but I think she blamed you somehow for our parents' disappearance. I can't imagine why. But it's only in the last month that she's finally accepted what monsters they were." Patricia shuddered. "My parents Eric, they would allow me to humiliate her. She was so defenseless! I feel so incredibly grateful that she's forgiven me now. Melanie is the most wonderful sister possible!" I nodded. "I know. Her capacity to forgive, it really is amazing. And you have no clue, either of you? About why they hated Melanie?" There was a brief period of silence followed by a deep frown. "Maybe a clue, no more than that. Melanie and I discovered that I have some suppressed memories from my early childhood, from when I was about four years old. Melanie was still an infant. She doesn't remember any of this. My mom was yelling a lot at my dad, dominating him. I remember being scared, and... something else. I just can't remember. My mom won a big argument with my dad, and I was terrified that he caved in, and... I just can't remember the details..." "Ah," I said at last. "Counseling?" My sister-in-law shrugged. "It's a thought. Melanie suggested it. But it doesn't bother me anymore, and I want to get on with my life. I have a child on the way! I want to think about the future, not spend anymore time thinking about my parents. I'm overjoyed now that they've disappeared, and given the mess they left behind, I don't think they'll ever come back to their old identities. I just want to forget about them. I think of them as dead. I'm pretty sure Melanie does too." I gulped and nodded. Shortly afterwards Jim and Melanie showed up with the groceries. We helped them unpack, and then Melanie and I left for home before the snow got too deep. Getting home was no problem of course, though I did have to use a touch of force once to keep a car from sliding into us. It was an absolutely delightful feeling being home alone with Melanie with the storm howling outside. A real Nor'easter was moving in. Melanie and I wasted little time changing into pajamas and jumping into bed with each other. My wife's face was bursting with smiles. She undressed me first, and then started inspecting my body, every square inch of it. Gentle pets, lots of stares, soft kisses and licks, absolutely everywhere, head, hands, feet, arms and legs. Then she asked me to lie on my back, and she inspected my scrotum, butt, back, shoulders and neck. She tickled me a bit inspecting my arm pits, but I just giggled and tried to relax. I turned over, and she continued her inspection at my throat and worked her way down. She kept up a constant pace, expect for long lingering suckles at my nipples and, surprise! My naval! She had never done that before. She finished off with a basketful of sweet kisses on my hard cock. "I don't think I'll ever get over it," she whispered, "how sexy you always think my body is." It was my turn. I spent the longest time petting her, tracing the outline of her body through her pajamas, caressing her with my fingertips, so many delightful curves, she is so beautiful. And outside the night wind sang to us. I undressed her and we laughed and cuddled with each other forever. The time outside of our two bodies lost all meaning. When we were finally ready for coitus, Melanie picked a very submissive posture, one we used to laugh about and call Beach Master. Melanie lay flat on her stomach, legs separated, and I entered her from above, locking her body into position with my weight and stroking down into her vagina. Melanie continued the game, cupping her fingers together into flippers and making little seal cries as I fucked her. I held her by her wrists, completing the absolute domination of her body. I started to weep as I felt myself orgasming. My beautiful wife, accepting me! Accepting me into the core of her life, accepting me into the core of her body. I wept in gratitude as I came. She wiggled and lifted her rump as I orgasmed, trying to let me penetrate as deeply as possible into her feminine depths. So beautiful. I bent down and gently bit the back of her neck as I finished the last of my thrusting. We were cuddling soon afterwards, my hand caressing her silky pubic fur. "Eric? Sweetie?" "Hmm?" "Don't go to sleep just yet. My fertility cycle, you're catching me at just the right phase. Will you check?" "Hmm? Oh! Yeah, sure." I probed Melanie's body. After a moment I placed a fingertip gently halfway between her uterus and left ovary. "You're right. Right in the center of your left Fallopian, one fully ripe egg. I'll push it?" Melanie sighed and nodded. A second later her body was one cell lighter. "Easiest form of birth control ever," she muttered. "Pumpkin, before I fall asleep, there's something I haven't told you yet. My powers, I think I might know where they come from." Melanie's eyes blinked instantly awake. "Yeah? Go on." "This past year, I've been able to see how my own mind works. It's still a bit fuzzy, but I can see my own mind's quantum resonance much better than I ever could before. I think the power comes from a gateway, when the human mind combines two emotions in just the right way. It's an incredible fluky combination to get through the gateway, a billion minds thinking for a billion years before chancing onto the right quantum combination. The fact that I did it is a stupendous piece of luck. And..." "Yes? And what?" "And I think I know how to disconnect myself from the gateway." Melanie was silent for a moment, and then shouted, "WHAT?!" "Yeah. I can return to being merely human. Once I disconnect though, there's no way to get the power back, other than waiting a billion billion years maybe, and somehow I doubt I'll live that long." Melanie was silent for a long moment. "And Janna dies if you give up the power, doesn't she?" I sighed and nodded. "My biggest fear about doing it was what if Earth really needs me for something after I disconnect? A comet hit or a nuclear war or an evil counterpart of me somewhere in the universe discovering our planet? It would be so tragic, to lose everything just because I didn't have the courage to hang onto the ride. Melanie?" "Yes?" "You're opinion is infinitely valuable to me. If you think I should let the power go, tell me." My wife was silent for a long while, considering. She finally stirred. "Eric?" "Yeah?" "You said the gateway was reached by combining two emotions in just the right way. What two emotions?" I sighed. "Anger and sorrow." "What?! Hell!" I laughed. "Yeah, that was my first thought too. I would much rather it have been love and forgiveness, or something. But that just not the way the universe operates." "Well, let's just assume God knew what He was doing, and that He designed the universe to operate the way it does for good purpose. Eric, my desire is for you to keep what you've got. I admit, some of my desires are selfish in this, but I think that's what you should do." "Okay." "Thank you. Now go to sleep sweetie." Her hand gently gripped my soft penis and she gave a playful tug. "You want to be suckled to sleep?" "Oh yeah! My all-time favorite!" I got into a very comfortable position with the pillows, partially on my back and side. My soft penis was soon inside Melanie's mouth, her lips suckling me at my base, her mouth and tongue giving soft playful licks to my shaft and penis head. Melanie would keep this up until I was deeply asleep. It felt exquisitely loving, to have my cock held and caressed in the warmth and moisture of her mouth. She played my penis like an instrument, licking the penis head when she wanted to stiffen me a bit, and gently suckling the shaft when she wanted me to drift and soften. I floated down into a peace without thought. ------- Epilogue Time: Tuesday April 22, 2014 3:42 AM "Ten minutes to go for the moon, T minus five minutes for Mars," Melanie said with a smile. "You really sure you want to go through with all this?" I grinned back. "All systems go!" I looked at the last-quarter moon outside my condo's window. It was ten minutes before the moon-Earth axis was exactly perpendicular to the Earth-sun axis. Unknown to the rest of the world, the moon had another ten minutes to exist. I checked my latest creation, a close replica of Earth's solar system in deep intergalactic space. It was at the current limit of my influence sphere, 610 million light-years away. It had taken me three minutes to create, almost all the time being spent on the 2e30 kg of the duplicate star. The duplicate Earth was a gem, wild and free. I had spent much of the last year perfecting my techniques for biological replication. I'm at the point now where I can replicate the hardwired instincts and even the learned behaviors of animals, though true memory and personality duplication will be forever beyond my reach. I'm glad. Experiences and perspectives should be unique. I've never duplicated a person, and I never intend to. I looked at my wife smiling at me in our condo in the dead of night. She's finishing up her senior resident year in another month and has offers from a number of oncology departments from across the nation. She's a world class doctor in her own right, and with a little help from me, her diagnostic skills in the Boston area are legendary. "What will you miss the most?" I asked. "Oh, the fairways under Daedalus! Playing golf is so much fun in lunar gravity!" I grinned back. "I know. I'll definitely have to replicate some of the courses on Tierra." Melanie laughed. "Think how hilarious it would be if you put them on the surface! Mankind's first mission to its sister planet, and they land on a golf course!" "There is precedent, you know. The astronauts tried to play golf on the moon." Melanie nodded and sighed. "The moon, so much poetry... It's a shame to lose it." "Oh, yeah. But the three-body orbits would be a nightmare. It's got to go." Melanie nodded and glanced at her watch. "Less than a minute until Mars substitution. Do you want a count?" "Just the time for go." I closed my eyes and prepared myself, locking the lifeless planet and its two small lifeless moons. Mars' closest approach to Earth had occurred the previous week, on April 14'th. It wasn't a particularly close encounter, over five light-minutes away, almost a hundred million kilometers. At exactly light-speed time until the last quarter moon, I cancelled Martian reality, and one millisecond later created two Earth sized planets in its place. I have no idea what Earth's population will call the distant twins, but my pet names for them are the names from Mars' old moons, Phobos and Deimos. Both planets have exactly Earth's mass and 24-hour rotation, the same atmospheric composition and pressure (except for elevated CO2 levels, 500 ppm), and similar land to ocean ratios. Their biospheres are quite different though. Phobos has a 25-degree axial tilt (compared to Earth's 23.5 degree tilt), and Earth's sub- polar and temperate ecosystem. Deimos has a 29-degree axial tilt, and is modeled on a fascinating planet I found in a galaxy about 200 million light-years from here. There are cephalopod-like creatures in its shallow equatorial oceans that have none of mankind's technology but many of our social norms. They have a complex, color-oriented language, and have even begun to express themselves in artwork. It will probably take decades, maybe even centuries, but on a cosmic scale, humanity was about to find someone to chat with. "Eric, I've just thought of something." "Yeah?" The slot for the Martian orbit now has a lot more mass in it." "Oh yeah. The two planets combined, about a factor of eighteen." "Will that disturb the binary orbit here?" "No. It'll just increase the perturbations to the level of Venus and Jupiter. At closest approach, the Martian binaries will have 90% of the pull of Jupiter at its closest approach, and 130% of the maximum pull of Venus. We'll be fine." Melanie smiled and leaned over and kissed me. "You think of everything! Come on! Let's watch outside!" We went out on our balcony and looked at the moon. It had risen two hours previously, and Melanie and I both stared at the last few seconds of its existence. "Goodbye, old friend," Melanie whispered. At T minus five seconds, I created Tierra, the twin sister planet of Earth. It's 1.66 million kilometers away, has an axial tilt of 27 degrees, and is in a perfectly circular binary orbit with Earth. Just like the binary planets at the Martian location, Tierra and Earth had a binary orbital period of 174 days, 21 hours, and 2 minutes. I picked the separation distance to make Tierra's tidal pull the same as the old moon. With 8.75e42 Newtons of force at my disposal, changing Earth's orbit to align with the desired binary motion was no trouble at all. About 3.7 seconds later, the reality wave-front of Tierra's creation reached the lunar surface. I cancelled the moon's reality then. Melanie and I took our very last gaze at the moon, watching its image pop 1.3 seconds after its demise. In its place was Tierra, slightly smaller in appearance. Its diameter was 3.7 times greater than the moon, but it was 4.3 times farther away. But the color! So beautiful! The continents and oceans and great swirling bands of clouds could be clearly seen, even with the naked eye. And I could imagine the millions of telescopes that would be trained on it in the coming hours. "The air!" whispered Melanie. "Smell the air! It's so sweet! Bravo Eric!" It had been my final act of creation. As the event horizons of the three created planets touched Earth, I had purged the Earth of humanity's thousands of years of pollution, on land, sea and sky. All of Earth's landfills and dumps were transformed into simple dirt, all the filth in the waters cancelled, all the giga-tons of atmospheric nasties now just a memory. In an instant Earth's atmosphere lost 117 ppm of CO2, dropping from almost 390 to just above 270 and matching the current value at Tierra. It won't last, not quite. Earth's power plants are still running full throttle. But there's only a dozen years left. My final act of creation was to eliminate most of the world's coal, oil, and natural gas. I made the remaining supplies super pure and sweet and easy to get at, and proportioned it to countries around the world based on their current consumption rates. I also modified the DNA of a number of Earth plants. The chemicals could still be produced synthetically, but the days of growing narcotics or hallucinogens are over. Fair? Hell no. The former drug growers and oil producing countries of the world will probably curse me into eternity for what I've done, if they ever find out whom to curse. And maybe some people could even make a valid case, for native populations using hallucinogens and opiates in religious or traditional ceremonies. But, sorry guys. The man with the Go.D. degree has spoken. Earth's lunatic days are over. Energy-wise I'm starting everybody off on an even footing. The world has twelve years to wean themselves away from fossil fuels, more if they start cutting back now. What will I do if they don't adapt? I'm not sure. But, I'm a compassionate guy. Maybe I won't do anything for a decade, but after that, I suppose I could be a bit more generous. I just hope people are almost off fossil fuels by then. Am I playing God? Sure. But influence does change perspective. Melanie and I talked about this for months, and in the end we figured, what the hell! ------- The End ------- Posted: 2006-05-26 Last Modified: 2006-07-08 / 04:06:18 pm ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------