Kiraling – Part 36 (Chapter 295-324)

Chapter 295

A lot has been going on. I hardly know where to start.

Summer in Bellingham is beautiful. But Xara wanted to go somewhere it was awful, and she decided on the South Pole. Or there about.

Now that we knew how to tell the suit to use whatever power it needed to maintain a comfortable temperature, Xara wanted to try it out in Antarctica. The temperature near the South Pole was about -50°F with a wind chill down to about -95°F.

I put on the suit, and she helped me into a pod and flew us down there. To make it easy to activate the suits interface, I gave it a name; the name served as a wake up word. First, I named it Suit. But then every time I said the word suit, it thought I was talking to her. It. No, I left it with a woman’s voice. I’ll go with her. So I named her Monica. I was going to call it, “the wife,” but the look Xara gave me when I suggested it was accompanied by heat vision. So I went with Monica.

On the trip down to the South Pole I instructed the suit, Monica, to maintain a comfortable internal temperature regardless of the amount of power used. Then the suit, Monica, wanted to know what a comfortable internal temperature was. So I told it to maintain the present temperature. Then it wanted me to confirm that if it was running out of power it was to shut down everything to maintain the temperature. That included filtering out CO2. So I told it to warn me when the power cells were down to 10%. Xara and I don’t

expect the power cells to ever get that low. The energy density of Kelsorian power cells is very high.

We landed near the South Pole and Xara let me out of the pod. For just a moment I started to feel cold and then the suit adjusted. The wind was blowing at 25 mph with gusts up to 50. At times I had to lean into it, but the suit handled that just fine.

Because of the wind, and the fact that I was sealed into the suit, we did all our communication via the connection.

“I want to walk a few miles, just to make sure the suit holds up,” she said. So we walked a few miles. I was just fine. Xara was wearing her flight suit, which means she wasn’t wearing much, and she was barefoot. She has boots that go with the suit, but she prefers to go barefoot. So there she was, perfectly comfortable in the freezing cold. She just had to manage her hair when the wind would make it swirl around her head.

It was dark, but between the thermal and night vision capabilities of the suit I could see just fine. With thermal imaging, Xara really stood out.

“The suit has lights, Joe.”

“Monica, turn on the lights.”

All the lights came on. The inside of my helmet lit up. The Kelsorian equivalent of LEDs lit up on each finger. Lights mounted on the outside of the helmet lit up whatever direction I was facing. Lights on the back of the suit turned on and started blinking.

“Monica, turn off the lights.”

The lights went off.

“We need to figure out how to control them better,” said Xara.

After a couple of hours, we were back at the pod. I got in it, Xara shut it, and off we went, back to the Empty Quarter in Saudi Arabia. She let me out of the pod. The sun was high, and it was hot, but the suit did just fine. And we could talk to each other, we didn’t need the connection.

“Joe, stand right there. If we go to the moon you are going to be exposed to severe temperature extremes. I don’t have a way to test the cold here on Terra, but I can simulate the heat.”

“Antarctica is cold. This place is hot. How hot and cold are we talking about, Xara?”

“250°F in daylight and -208°F at night. Or in a shadow.”

Yeah. The south pole wasn’t a good test for temperatures that extreme. Nor is the Empty Quarter.

“Stay there, darling, and let me know right away if you start to get hot.”

I stood there and she turned her heat vision on me, in a wide beam. Inside the suit, just as soon as I felt it starting to warm up the suit cooled me back down again and kept me at that same “comfortable internal temperature” throughout the test.

Everything was going fine, and then Xara said, “Oh, wow! Joe, look at the suit!”

I’d been looking at her. I raised my arm up to look at it and the skin of the suit was turning color. Or getting color. It is normally a dull shade of brown or grey, it’s hard to describe. But the skin of the suit was turning white.

“It’s reflecting the heat, Joe!

“Okay, I’m going to turn off the heat. As soon as I do, turnaround, 180° quickly. Ready, turn!”

I turned around.

“The back of the suit didn’t turn white. Only the sections that were getting heated up did.”

In a few seconds the suit was back to its dull color. Then I got back in the pod and we went home.

“We still have to get that food paste stuff from the Kelsorians,” said Xara. “There’s no way you can open your visor to eat on the moon.”

We didn’t know when we’d hear from the Kelsorians again. But we heard from medical schools. Well, Xara did. She scored 528 on her MCAT, which is a perfect score not attained by a lot of people. And that got the attention of medical schools. They reached out to WWU to find out about her and when they saw her perfect GPA and triple major (biology, physics and chemistry) they started making offers. She was in demand.

But she was unsure she wanted to pursue her dream of becoming a surgeon. At times I thought it was a lack of confidence, which, if you knew Xara, you would think would never be a problem. She’s very confident, and for good reason.

Other times I thought maybe her reason, not wanting to change our life, leave Bellingham, or commute to and from school and be away from me more, really was the root cause of her indecision.

And then there was Colonel Moore. Or rather, the United States government. Through Colonel Moore. The FBI had caught some seriously bad dudes planning an attack on the United States. Through wiretaps and surveillance, they determined these two guys were part of a group planning some terrorist attack and they were arrested. But they were refusing to talk. And they were true believers in their cause. They said they would die before they “betrayed their brothers,” and the FBI was convinced they meant it.

All the intelligence agencies were researching these guys, to see if they were ever on anyone’s radar. But other than what he FBI had found, no one knew anything about them. And since everyone was in on it, that meant military intelligence had been consulted, and it got to Colonel Moore. She came up with an idea and took it up the chain to General Rosenthal and SecDef. They approved of her idea. Enthusiastically. So Colonel Moore called me and asked to speak with Xara. She didn’t tell me why.

I called Xara down to the lair and put the Colonel on speakerphone. She told Xara about the guys and asked her if she’d interrogate them, using her special methods. Meaning trust and/or fear pheromones.

Xara agreed right away. And I was proud of her. Then I told them both, Xara and the Colonel, that I had to run it by Kara.

“I’m sure mom will agree to it,” said Xara. “If it works, and I’ sure it will, maybe the FBI would hire me to do interrogations for them full time.”

Colonel Moore said she didn’t know, but it would be worth pursuing with the FBI if that is what she really wanted to do.

I called Kara. She did not agree to it. She and Xara got into a big fight over it. Kara’s argument was that Protectors were on a planet to protect it from the Arions. And never, ever interfere with the internal operations or politics or societies of the people they were protecting. From the Arions.

Xara’s argument was that the rule didn’t apply to her, because she was born on Terra and was, in fact, a citizen of the United States of America, and therefore had a duty to help her country. Now, as a rule, Xara doesn’t think any rules apply to her. And that is a common attitude among the P1s I know. More so for Sharon than the others.

Speaking of Sharon, Kara called her to talk some sense into Xara. That didn’t go the way Kara expected it to go. Sharon was able to cite examples of Protectors who had gotten involved with internal affairs on other undisclosed planets and never been questioned about it by Velor.

Then Kara called Juliet and Bri-an. They acknowledged that Protector’s shouldn’t do this but considered Xara’s place of birth and citizenship a mitigating factor. Even Gloria and Mona sided with Xara. So Kara folded. Oh, she wasn’t happy about it. But she said she’d go along with it if certain conditions were met.

First, no one who didn’t already know about Velor and Aria would be involved. Second, the interrogation had to take place at a secure location, and Kara would have veto power over that. If she didn’t like the location, or objected to any of the people involved, the interrogation wouldn’t happen until her concerns were satisfied. Third, I had to be present. She said, “I trust Joseph’s judgement and his moral compass.”

Xara agreed to it. Then invited Kara to spend the night in our bed. With me.

In the connection she said, “Mom listens to you. Please try to make her feel better about this.”

This is the first time I ever heard anyone say Kara trusts my judgement, or my moral compass, whatever that means, or that she listens to me. Dixon and Johnson were equally puzzled.

Xara picked up on my confusion, “You don’t hear what she says about you to the rest of us when you aren’t present.”

Kara and I were up late talking about the situation. I didn’t see any problem with it. Kara was concerned about where it would go.

“Kara, remember when she decided to be a superheroine and listened to police and Coast Guard broadcasts? She had one or two successes with it before giving it up.”

“Yes,” replied Kara. “I remember that. She was discouraged once she discovered how impractical it was.”

“And there aren’t phone booths anymore, no place for her to change,” I joked.

“I heard that,” said Xara in the connection.

“Joseph, Terra is an undisclosed planet. I’ve already stretched the meaning of that beyond recognition. So many people in the military and government know about us and I don’t want Xara to make it worse.”

“I don’t think she will, Kara. And if I see that happening, I’ll talk to her about it.”

And I would. I would back Kara if it came to it. And I’ve got to be honest, I really wish the Velorians would take a more active role in the “affairs of Terrans” as they would put it. So much war in this world, so much death, they couldn’t possibly stop all of it, but they could help.

No one is going to drive their tanks across a border if they know someone would rip the treads from them before they could go more than a few miles.

But I understand Kara’s mission. And on Xanadu I saw what the Arions are willing to do, and I don’t want to see Velor put in a position where they have to withdraw Protectors from our planet. Would they, though? This thing the Arions and Velor have about the Earth being a sanctuary that should be untouched, are we like an animal reserve? I don’t know.

Kara was very gentle with me and only used her pheromones when I began to flag. She could have hit me hard with them and dominated the conversation, but she didn’t.

Chapter 296

The FBI bought us airline tickets. Xara wondered why they thought we’d need them. I told her their travel booking system probably didn’t have a selection for flying blondes.

On the flight Xara talked about how interrogation could become a career for her, with the FBI, or intelligence agencies, or even the military.

“I don’t think any Terran could resist my pheromones,” she said, in the connection, so no one seated nearby would hear.

“It’s something to think about, Xara. But it’s a big departure from becoming a surgeon. Put a lot of thought into it, and talk to people, people whose judgement you trust.”

“I trust your judgement, darling!”

“I know. But I’m just one person. Get as many perspectives as you can.”

“What would you like to see me do?”

“I want you to do what makes you happy and feel like you’re doing something meaningful.”

We were met at Dulles airport by Colonel Moore and an FBI agent who had been at the demonstration at Dugway. We drove to the FBI facility at Quantico which was as secure as you could be. Kara approved of it. It had an interrogation room with all the bells and whistles that were usually used for training. Today Xara would be in it interrogating the two would be terrorists.

Xara asked for some modifications. She wanted a small bathroom facility behind a partition within the confines of the interrogation room. She also wanted ventilation fans that could be turned on to clear the room of her pheromones. Much to my surprise, the FBI accomplished the work in the two days before we arrived.

Besides speakers and monitors so we could see and hear what was going on, there was also a two way mirror we could look through.

The interrogation was going to be video and audio recorded, and all the rules had to be followed. Xara had been given a packet of rules and had gone over them. If she had any questions she didn’t want the two prisoners to hear, she would communicate them to me in the connection. I’d pass the question to Colonel Moore who would either answer it or have the FBI guy answer it. For this exercise Phil, the FBI guy, was told that Xara had a way of communicating with me and that was it. He was given no details.

The prisoners were brought into the interrogation room together. This is unusual, but Xara assured Phil and Colonel Moore that it would be a more efficient use of their time, and the two prisoners would not attempt to coordinate lies.

“I have to see this to believe it,” said Phil.

Xara smiled at him and said, “You will.”

The table in the room was wide and had hand cuff rings welded to it. It was bolted to the floor, as were the chairs they would sit in. The prisoners were brought into the room and handcuffed to the rings. They were far

enough apart that they couldn’t touch each other by, say, reaching out with their legs.

Xara went into the room and sat down across from the prisoners. She sat and smiled at them for a minute before saying anything. She was wearing a low cut top that showed off plenty of cleavage, which obviously caught the prisoner’s attention.

After a minute she began talking.

“Hi, my name is Danni and I’m going to interrogate you today. Is that okay?”

They both smiled at her and said yes.

“Great! Now, first I have to read you your rights. I want you to know that respecting your rights is very important to me. Okay?”

They both said okay. They were very comfortable and relaxed as Xara read them their rights. When she was finished, she asked them if they understood their rights. They said they did.

“Great! We’re off to a very good start. Now, one of your rights is to have attorneys present during the interrogation. I don’t think you need them, but it’s up to you. What do you think? Do you want attorneys or should we just have a friendly talk.”

“I vote for a friendly talk,” said one.

“We don’t need attorneys,” said the other.

“Good,” said Xara. “Now, I want you two to be comfortable, so I’m going to take the handcuffs off you. But please, I need you to stay in your chairs. Will you do that for me?”

They agreed, enthusiastically. So Xara took their handcuffs off them. Xara had told Phil, the FBI guy, she was going to do that, and he didn’t like it. On the other hand, he’d seen what she could do to a tank, so he didn’t object too much.

Xara started into her interrogation using the list of questions Phil had given her.

“Let’s start with names. What are your real names?”

They told her. I’m going to call them Mutt and Jeff. They were Middle Eastern.

“Where are you from?”

They said they were from Syria.

“What organization do you belong to?”

ISIS. They were fucking ISIS.

“Your English is very good. Where did you learn it?”

They had been educated in the United Kingdom.

“Interesting, but you have American accents.”

“We worked very hard on that,” said Mutt.

“Yes,” said Jeff. “We practiced very hard. We used American TV shows and movies as our guide.”

“Well, you both are doing very well,” said Xara, with a smile. They were basking in her praise.

“I don’t fucking believe it,” said Phil.

“How did you get into this country?” asked Xara.

“We got jobs on a freighter that docked in Montreal and met contacts who had American passports for us.”

“Oh,” said Xara. “That’s very interesting, and clever, who was your contact in Montreal?”

They gave her a name.

“How would I reach him if I wanted to corroborate your answers?”

Mutt said, “Oh, you don’t need to ask him about us. We’re telling you the truth!”

“Yes,” said Jeff, “We’re being truthful.”

“Oh, I believe you,” said Xara, “but it’s a record keeping kind of thing. I have to check and double check everything you tell me. Boring really, but you know how that goes.”

They smiled and gave her details on how they would make contact if they needed to.

“Okay,” said Xara, “you have passports. How did you get into the States?”

“It was easy,” said Jeff. “We rented a car and showed our passports at the border. The rental company had cars that were registered in New York with the right license plates. No one really questioned us.”

“Where did you go once you crossed the border?” she asked.

“We went to a house in northern New York state,” said Mutt.

“Oh,” said Xara, “that’s convenient. Just across the border I bet. Will you give me the address, please?” She was smiling at them, and they were just eating up her attention. They gave her the address.

Phil picked up a phone (secure land line, mobile phones couldn’t get a signal in this part of the facility) and called someone with the address.

“Jeff,” she didn’t really call him Jeff, that’s the name I’m using, “how many people are at the house, and are they armed?”

Phil heard the question and said, “hang on a minute,” to whoever he was on the phone with.

Jeff told her how many people were at the house, their names, without being asked, and confirmed that they had weapons and bomb making equipment. He told her the kinds of weapons, without being asked.

“That’s so nice of you to give me those details. I am so very proud of both of you!”

Phil passed on the new details and ended the call. Mutt and Jeff were acting like a couple of kids who’d just been given gold stars by their favorite teacher.

“Is there anyone else you are working with?” she asked.

“No,” said Jeff.

“We meet as few people as possible for security,” volunteered Mutt.

“I see,” said Xara. “What is your mission?”

“We’re to find possible targets to attack,” said Mutt.

“What kind of targets?” asked Xara.

“Schools,” said Jeff.

“And daycare centers,” said Mutt.

“Schools and daycares,” repeated Xara, “why those?”

“ISIS follows American media very closely,” said Jeff. “Our commanders have observed that American schools are poorly defended. Often a lone attacker can kill many infidels. And when they are attacked your people argue and blame each other. It’s very divisive.

“We were tasked with finding elementary schools and daycares and assessing their vulnerability to an attack by teams of shooters armed with rifles and bombs.”

“Oh my,” said Xara. “Does the thought of attacking and killing large numbers of children bother you?”

“No, not at all,” said Mutt. “The more we can kill, the better. The more pain we bring to America the better. We have seen how upset Americans become when their children’s schools are attacked. They are excellent targets.”

Jeff added, “We don’t know the final plans, but it is our hope that multiple schools and daycares will be attacked in the same day, like the 9/11 attacks.”

“Do you know who will carry out the attacks?”

Mutt answered, “No. We don’t know if all the operatives are in the country. If any are, we don’t know who they are. We have both volunteered to wear suicide vests to blow up classrooms and schools, but we don’t know if we have been found worthy of this great honor.”

Xara followed up, “Is there anyone in the country who knows who the operatives are and where they are?”

“Yes,” answered Jeff. “The people in the house in New York know.”

Xara asked more questions and got a lot of information out of Mutt and Jeff.

“We’ve been talking for three hours now. There is a bathroom behind that partition if you need it. Would you like something to eat or drink?”

“I would,” said Mutt. “I haven’t eaten today.”

“I too am hungry,” said Jeff.

Xara pulled a menu out of her stack of papers. There was a selection of soft drinks and sandwiches. They both made selections.

“I’ll get those for you,” she said.

Xara left the room. Mutt and Jeff took turns using the bathroom. Phil brought the food orders to Xara, who sent him back for a sandwich and drink for her. When she had all the food on a large tray she went back into the interrogation room. She had warned us to stay clear of the door whenever she opened it.

She went back in and distributed the food and drinks then sat down to eat herself. While they ate, she questioned them about their upbringing and how they ended up joining ISIS.

Phil was, well, amazed isn’t a strong enough word. Maybe awestruck? He was getting more intelligence from Mutt and Jeff than he had thought possible.

“She just asks a question, and they answer it! And it’s all being done with pheromones?”

“After my medivac helicopter crashed in Afghanistan, I was afraid of flying,” I answered. “Her trust pheromones helped me get over it. They are very potent.”

Xara kept questioning them all afternoon and into early evening. She let them have a break for dinner, more sandwiches and soft drinks. At one point Phil brought maps to the door of the interrogation room. Xara waited for him to leave then brought them in and had Mutt and Jeff mark the schools and daycares they had scouted.

Finally, at about 9pm, they finished.

“Okay, thank you for being so cooperative. We’re finished now. Again, thank you, you were so cooperative and made my job so much easier!”

Mutt and Jeff were beaming.

“Stop the recording,” Xara said in the connection.

“Xara wants us to stop recording,” I told Phil and Colonel Moore.

“How do you know?” asked Phil.

“Don’t ask him,” said the Colonel, “just do it.”

Phil turned off the recorders.

“They’re off,” I said to Xara, in the connection.

“Now, I have to handcuff you boys again. Procedure, you know, I have to follow it,” Xara said, smiling to the guys.

They held their hands out for her. Xara cuffed them to the rings.

“Start the fans,” Xara said to me in the connection.

“She wants us to start the fans,” I said.

Phil started the fans. In less than a minute Mutt and Jeff started looking confused. Then they became agitated.

“What did you do to us?” demanded Mutt.

“You whore,” yelled Jeff, “you tricked us!”

There was much yelling and swearing, a fair amount in Arabic, which I understood. In two tours in Iraq, I became fluent at cussing in Arabic.

“We will find you and rape you like the whore you are and then behead you!” threatened Jeff.

I looked at Xara, sitting there with a very stern expression on her face, and I said to Phil and Colonel Moore, “They’re going to regret that.”

“Why?” asked Phil. “What will she do?”

“Just watch,” I replied.

Xara sat there with her arms crossed, looking peeved, and said, “If you didn’t like my interrogation, you’re going to hate what’s coming.”

“Turn the fans off,” she said in the connection.

I told Phil and he turned the fans off.

As Xara sat there, arms crossed watching Mutt and Jeff, their demeanor started to change. The steady stream of insults and accusations directed at Xara stopped. They started looking around. Xara stood up and leaned over the table towards them and shook her hair out, then walked around the table to stand behind them.

Mutt and Jeff started pulling at their handcuffs, trying to get away. Xara touched them, one hand on

Mutt’s shoulder, the other on Jeff’s shoulder. They screamed and jumped; or tried to jump.

“What’s happening?” asked Phil.

“Fear pheromones,” replied Colonel Moore.

She went back to her side of the table and sat down, glaring at them. They averted their eyes. They redoubled their efforts to pull free of their handcuffs. They were screaming. Their wrists were starting to bleed where they scraped against the cuffs. Then they started crying and praying. When Xara spoke, telling them to, “settle down,” they screamed again.

“Stop!” she yelled at them. They stopped and looked at her wild eyed.

“If you tell anyone what we did in here today I will come for you. If you ask for a lawyer, I will come for you. If you recant, I will come for you. If you do not cooperate fully with the authorities, I will come for you. Do you understand?”

They just stared at her, trembling and sweating.

“I asked you a question!” Xara shouted.

“Yes, I understand,” said Mutt.

“I understand,” said Jeff, “please, don’t hurt us!”

“If you ever come to my attention again,” said Xara, “I will come for you and personally escort you to hell.”

“I’ll do what you say,” sobbed Mutt.

“So will I,” said Jeff.

“I don’t believe you,” she replied.

Xara walked around the table again and yanked the handcuff rings off the table. They had been welded to it. It didn’t look to me like it would be a simple repair. The rings and table would probably have to be replaced.

“Xara, what are you doing?” I asked in the connection. She didn’t reply.

She put the ends of the rings together, the ends that a moment before had been welded to the table and welded them together with her heat vision. The handcuffs chains still went through them. Mutt and Jeff were crying and fell to their knees, then tried to kiss Xara’s feet while begging her to let them live. I think they were trying to kiss her feet. With Xara holding the rings they couldn’t get that low.

“Xara, you’re done with them. It’s time to come out and let the FBI deal with them.”

Again, no reply.

She dropped the rings to the floor then bent over and hauled the two crying men to their feet, then placing a hand around each of their throats, lifted them up as high as she could, and spread her arms out as far as the handcuffs would allow. Their feet were kicking in the air. They were having trouble breathing. Their arms and hands were restricted by the rings, all they could do was yank each other’s arms and hands around. Urine and feces were making their way down their pant legs to the floor.

She let them dangle and struggle like that for a few seconds, then must have started squeezing their throats

to cut off their air because they were turning red and kicking harder.

Phil asked, “What’s she doing?”

I reached out to her in the connection, “Xara! Don’t kill them!”

She ignored me. Mutt and Jeff’s faces started turning blue.

“Is she strangling them?” asked Colonel Moore.

“Xara don’t be like them. You’re better than this. Put them down!”

She gave no indication that she heard me.

“Xara, you’ll never forgive yourself if you kill them! Remember who you are! You’re the good guy. You’re on the side of justice; you aren’t a killer.”

She looked towards the two way mirror. I knew she could see me through it.

“Xara! Put them down now!”

She took a deep breath, let it out slowly and then dropped them. They landed in a heap, gasping and crying. She bent down and shook her hair in their faces, and they immediately started crawling away from her.

They were a mess. Their eyes were puffy from crying, their wrists were bleeding from struggling to get out of their cuffs, and their pants were soiled with their excrement.

Xara said, in the connection, “I’m coming out. Don’t turn the fans on.”

I relayed that to Colonel Moore and Phil. Phil was staring wide eyed at the two crying lumps on the floor of the interrogation room.

Xara walked up to them, by this time they were in a corner, and stood over them and spat out, “Chelb!” which means ‘dog’, a very strong insult, then turned and walked out the door.

She came into the room we were in and looked through the glass at the two men.

“Did you get everything you need?” she asked Phil.

Phil just looked at her blankly.

“Phil?”

He blinked and asked, “What did you do to them?”

“They wanted to blow themselves up in schools, Phil. I gave them a taste of the terror they wanted to inflict on others.”

Phil just looked at her for a few seconds, then said, “Yes, I think we have everything we need.”

Xara said, “If you need more from them, and they refuse to cooperate, or ask for a lawyer, tell them you’ll send for me. I think they’ll cooperate.”

“They will?” asked Phil.

“Usually, the fear pheromone is unspecific. They’re just afraid. But I associated the fear they were feeling with me. So, if you threaten them with me, they should cooperate. I don’t know for certain; I’ve never done it like this before. I guess we’ll have to see. But if not, I can interrogate them again.

“I want you to leave them in there for at least half an hour. If the pheromone hasn’t dissipated by then, turn on the fans. Wait until they are back to … I was going to say normal, but I don’t think they’ll be back to normal for a few days. Wait until they are less agitated before you go in there.”

“What happens if I go in before they settle down?” he asked.

“You’ll run out as fast as you can,” I replied.

Colonel Moore said, “He’s right.”

“For your own wellbeing,” I said, “don’t go in there before the pheromones have dissipated.”

“No,” he said, “I have to see.” And Phil went out into the hall to the door to the interrogation room. He opened the door, took two steps in, then turned and ran out slamming the door behind him.

When he calmed down enough to come back into the observation room Colonel Moore said, “You were warned.”

“Next time,” he said, “I’ll take your advice.”

Xara put her head on my shoulder and said, “I want to go home now, Joe.”

Our flight didn’t leave until the next afternoon. We had a hotel reservation.

I said, “Okay. I’ll call Kara and ask her to bring a pod.” And then, “Phil, is there a place on this campus where someone could come and go by air and not be seen?”

“Well, if they’re quiet, yes.”

“Show me on a map,” I said.

He went to an office and came back with a map of the campus and showed me the spot he was thinking of.

“That will do,” I said.

I took Xara by the hand, and we walked outside, where my cell phone would work. I called Kara’s mobile, but she didn’t pick up. So I pressed the buttons on my watch that would signal her. A few moments later the watch vibrated, indicating it would transmit sound to her.

“Xara had a hard day, Kara. She wants to go home. I’m going to send you a location where you can bring a pod.”

Then I marked the map with the location, took a picture of it and sent it to Kara in a text. We could have gone to the location and dropped her a pin, but it was summer in Virginia and even though it was night, it was hot and muggy. I don’t like hot and muggy. Xara doesn’t care. It doesn’t even make her hair frizz.

We went back inside. Phil asked, “What’s a pod?”

“It’s pretty much what it sounds like,” I answered. “It looks a little like a coffin. Xara modified it so I could ride in it. It has air tanks so I can breathe.”

“NASA helped me with it,” said Xara.

We made small talk with Phil and Colonel Moore while we waited. Or I did, Xara didn’t want to talk much, and there wasn’t anything going on in the connection. She seemed content to just sit next to me with her head on my shoulder.

After half an hour the fans were turned on and the air cleared in the interrogation room. Phil called for someone to collect the terrorists and take them to be cleaned up before going back to their cells.

After about 45 minutes Xara looked up and said, “Mom is just about here. Let’s go.”

Phil asked, “May I see?”

Xara shrugged her shoulders. I said, “Sure.” Colonel Moore came along too.

We got to a small clearing in a wooded area and found Kara waiting for us next to the pod she brought.

“Did everything go alright?” she asked.

“It did,” I said.

“It was more than alright,” said Phil, “I never would have dreamed we would get this much information from guys like these in just a single day of interrogation.”

Kara looked at him and said, “Phil, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, obviously happy that she remembered him.

“I’m glad my daughter could help. I’m sorry, I can’t stay.” And she slowly floated up about twenty feet and then was gone in a blur.

Xara opened the pod and helped me in. And then, because she didn’t have her flight suit, she stripped naked and handed me her clothes. Phil was gobsmacked. I understood, I’ve been there. Colonel Moore, on the other hand, laughed at him then poked him. That shook him out of whatever fantasy he was stuck in.

“Keep your eyes in your head, agent,” she said to him.

Xara said, “If you need me again, let Colonel Moore know. She’ll contact Joe.”

Then she closed the lid, hoisted the pod onto her back and we took off for home. We traveled in silence. Nothing from her in the connection and I figured she needed time for herself right now, so I didn’t reach out to her. I could wait until she was ready to talk about it.

Chapter 297

It was dark, so Xara landed us in the backyard instead of coming through the lake entrance. She let me out of the pod, and I handed her clothes to her.

She threw them onto the lawn and said, “They have their stink on them,” and burned them, right there. Then she said, “I’ll carry the pod down to the lair and meet you in the shower. Their stink is on me, too, I need to wash it off.”

I couldn’t smell anything, but I wasn’t going to question her about it. I opened the deck door so she could get the pod inside. I went to our bedroom and undressed and turned on the shower. I got in just as Xara came through the bathroom door and went in with me. We showered in silence. Xara was still deep in thought.

She dried us off with her heat vision, then said, “Can we go to bed?”

“I’m tired, Xara. Going to bed sounds like a great idea.”

We got under the covers, and she slid over and snuggled up to me, putting her head on my shoulder.

“Thank you for not asking me to talk about it,” she said.

“You’re welcome. If you decide you want to, I’m here for you.”

By now it was 2am local time and I fell asleep quickly. I woke up at 5am and saw Xara looking at me.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I wanted to kill them, Joe. If you hadn’t been there, telling me not to … I would have. They are so evil, Joe. The idea of killing innocent children was a thrill for them. They were gleeful about it.

“Mom’s right about you. Your moral compass points true north. You saved their lives.”

“Xara, you felt that strongly about it because you’re a good person.”

“Not as good as you, darling.”

“Has she fucking met him?” asked Johnson.

“Not if she thinks he’s a goody two shoes,” replied Dixon.

“Fuck off!” said Xara in the connection. And they did.

“Do you think you want to do this sort of thing professionally?” I asked.

“No,” she replied. “No, I’ll do it again if they need me, but I don’t want a career doing this. And I’ll only do it if you’re with me. You can keep me from going too far.”

I thought about that for a while. And then I said, “And if I think they should die?”

“If I think they should die, and you do too, then they will die, and I won’t lose any more sleep over it than if they were Arions.”

Well, I thought, that certainly puts the pressure on me. It occurred to me that I had better put some serious time into cultivating my better angels.

“I guess I’m the Xara whisperer,” I said.

She smiled, reached down under the covers and started fondling me and said, “I have something special for my whisperer.”

No pheromones. None were needed.

Xara let me sleep in, I woke up about 9am. Xara must have heard me or been monitoring me in the connection because she reached out to me, “I’ll fix breakfast darling. Mom is coming to hear about yesterday.”

“Are you going to tell her everything?”

“Yes, and I want you to fill in any details I leave out.”

She had bacon and eggs ready for us when I got to the kitchen.

“I don’t mean to rush you, darling, but if you aren’t finished before mom gets here, we’ll have to make her breakfast too.”

Sometimes I wonder if the blondes are aware of how much they love food and how much they eat. Evidently, at least one of them is.

We finished loading the dishwasher (Rosey was busy with laundry) just as Kara arrived.

“You didn’t save any bacon and eggs for me?”

“If you snooze you lose mom,” replied Xara, laughing.

“Hmm. Well, alright. You want to tell me about the interrogation?”

“Yes, mom, I do.”

And Xara told Kara about it. She didn’t leave out any details. She included some I had already forgotten, and she added her reactions to what Mutt and Jeff told her.

“And mom, I fully intended to kill them. If Joe hadn’t stopped me, I would have.”

“Really,” said Kara. “And how did Joseph stop you?”

“He reached out to me in the connection and told me not to be like them. He told me to put them down.”

“I don’t think you wanted to kill them,” said Kara.

“Yes mom, I did. I was killing them.”

“My sweet daughter, no Terran can stop you from doing anything once you’ve made up your mind.”

“Joe can,” said Xara. “If he hadn’t been there to remind me who I am I would have held them there, squeezing their throats shut, until they expired.”

“What happens, Xara, if you do this again for the government and Joseph isn’t there? If you feel strongly enough about it, will you kill?”

“I won’t agree to do an interrogation if Joe isn’t there.”

“I thought you were considering making a career of this.”

“Not anymore. I can make any Terran tell me anything. And they’ll tell me about it exactly the way they feel about it. Those men would rejoice in killing innocents. If I made it a career, I’d either become desensitized to the monstrous evil in some men’s hearts, or I’d kill them. I won’t do these interrogations on a regular basis, and I won’t do them without Joe.

“You said Joe has a strong moral compass. You’re right, he has, stronger than mine. I can rely on him to help me make the right decisions.”

Kara nodded and said, “I’m glad you didn’t kill those Terrans, and I’m glad you can trust your husband’s judgement.”

Dixon and Johnson just had to make an appearance.

“If she’s relying on Ricci, she’s in trouble,” said Dixon.

Before Johnson could answer Xara told them to fuck off again, and they disappeared. Someday I’m going to have to ask her how she does that.

Then Kara threw something new at us.

“Bri-an and Juliet both have birth certificates and California Driver licenses I obtained for them. But neither knows how to drive, and I need them to. I’d like you two to teach them.”

I figured if I could teach Gloria to drive, and no one died in the process, then teaching a Velorian should be a breeze.

“Sure, Kara.”

“I’d be happy to, mom.”

Janelle needed someone who could explain the Cartels to her. They seemed to be everywhere, and they could sense a vacuum. The Chief of Police had come to her and told her that a Cartel from hundreds of miles away had sent operatives to explore the town and determine if it could be used as a base to expand their operations.

After the Chief left, Janelle went through her business cards and found the card of the worm who was responsible for making sure her payments from the gang in the next country came through on time. She called it and told it to be in her office first thing in the morning. Yes, it would be fine if it couldn’t make it because of a conflict. But it seemed strange to her that it would be willing to die over that. It promised to meet her.

The Chief had left her with photographs his investigators had taken of the operatives he told her about.

The next morning the frail she had summoned was at the door to her clinic an hour before she arrived.

“Senor,” she began, “thank you for coming. Please, come into my office.”

When it came into her office, she invited it to sit down while she closed the door. She took her seat at her desk across from it.

“I won’t waste your time, senor,” she said, “I’ll get right to the point. Another Cartel has been poking its nose around here. Do you recognize these men?”

She gave it the photographs to look at.

“I don’t know these men,” it said, “but I recognize their tattoos.” And it gave her the name of the Cartel they belonged to, which matched what the Chief had told her.

“Do you have contacts with that Cartel,” she asked, “that you can speak to about these men? Can you give them a message to stay out of this country, and especially out of this city?”

“Our contacts with them are informal, senorita, and we are often in conflict with them. They would not listen to us.”

“I see,” said Janelle. “Can you force them to stay away?”

“They are larger than us, better funded, and more powerful. If we took any action against them the repercussions, for us, would be severe.”

“But you said you are often in conflict with them.”

“Yes, senorita, we are. But those conflicts are always quickly settled, in their favor.”

“I see,” said Janelle.

“Senorita, I caution you. If you take any action against these men, you will find that their Cartel takes offense very easily and will send more men here.”

Janelle sighed and said, “Well then, I suppose they are going to learn the same lesson your Cartel learned.”

“Senorita, if you plan to act against them, and agree to keep our involvement a … secret, we can provide you with intelligence. For a price.”

A frail seeking to negotiate with her. This, she thought, might be fun.

“Yes, I think that could work,” she said. “For every item of actionable intelligence you give me, I will refrain from killing you, your superiors and your families for a week.”

It turned white in the face. She laughed at it. That made it turn red in the face.

“Senor,” she said, “if you are going to negotiate with me, it must be from a position of strength. In our relationship, you are not the strong one. You only live because I do not care to waste the very small effort it would take to kill you. And your organization.

“But if you provide me with intelligence, good intelligence that I can use, you may gain my favor. Believe me, senor, gaining my favor would be a very good thing for you. Have I made myself clear?”

“Y .. Yes, senorita,” he stammered, “you have made yourself very clear.”

“Good,” she said. “Now, these men,” she said waving her hand at the photographs, “are dead men. I will be sure to make their deaths look like an accident.”

It sat there looking at her.

“You may go.”

It left.

The Chief had told her the men flew into the city’s small airport on a private plane. She would ask the chief to notify her of their movements and let her know, immediately, when they were leaving.

A little heat vision applied to the engines of an airplane in flight would eliminate them without raising suspicion with their Cartel. It would just be an unfortunate accident.

Or maybe she could find a more creative, and fun, way to kill them.

Chapter 298

It was a Sunday. Xara was teaching Juliet how to drive while I worked with Bri-an. Both were very attentive learners and, like Gloria, insisted on reading the Owner’s manuals and inspecting our vehicles before getting behind the wheel. And, of course, before even doing that, they memorized both the California and Washington Driver Guides.

Xara had Juliet back out of the garage first, then Brian and I followed. I had her practice stopping and starting to get the feel for it, which she picked up right away. We drove around the lake, then through town, then out to Chukanut Drive.

She was a fast learner, fast enough that I felt comfortable making small talk with her without worrying about her losing concentration.

“Did you call that soldier, the one who broke his ankle?”

“Yes,” she answered. “We talked on the phone, then we went out on a date. I wanted to go dancing, but his ankle wasn’t fully healed, so we had dinner together and saw a movie.”

“Did you have a good time?” I asked.

“I did,” she answered, “and I made sure he had a good time too.”

That meant she had sex with him. So yeah, he had a good time. He had a very good time.

“Do you think you’ll see him again?” I asked.

She didn’t answer right away. She bit her lip and as soon as she came to a place where she could safely pull off the road, she did so. And then she turned in her seat to face me.

“I might see him again, but he is not what I am looking for. I want a man who looks at me the way you look at Xara.”

“How do I look at Xara?”

“Not the way almost every other Terran man looks at us.”

“By us, you mean Velorians?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, what do I do differently?”

“I have been on several Terran populated planets. Everywhere it is the same. The men look at us with lust and desire in their eyes. Everywhere. All of them.

“But you do not look at Xara that way. You look at her with love. We can see it in your eyes. We can hear it. When you look at Xara, your heartbeat slows down. When she comes to you after you have been separated for a short while your blood pressure drops. You become more relaxed.

“That’s what I want in a … relationship. If I am to live among Terrans and not my people, I want a Terran man like you.”

“You’re looking for love,” I said.

“Yes,” she replied. “For me, this is new. On other planets my interests in Terrans were confined to

protecting them and having sex with them. I made friendships, but nothing more than that.

“Then I came here and met you and Xara, and I see that there is more. I want what Xara has. I want a man to love me like Joe Ricci loves Xara. And I want to love a man like Xara loves Joe Ricci.”

We got back on the road, and I was feeling very good. My wife loves me. And at least one other Velorian wants what Xara and I have. I was feeling pretty good. Until we got home.

Xara and Juliet were there ahead of us, and they had their flight suits on.

“Two Messengers just arrived,” said Xara, with obvious glee in her voice.

“I’ll change!” said Bri-an. In no time at all she was in her flight suit too.

“I should be back Thursday, darling,” said Xara as she kissed me goodbye. “Love ya!”

And she was gone. Until Thursday.

I thought about complaining to her in the connection. But I didn’t. It would probably come across as whining, and two things Velorians hate are whining and jealousy. And Xara doesn’t like her Messenger time being interrupted by me calling her in the connection.

She didn’t even ask me if I had anything planned for us.

I moped around the house for an hour feeling sorry for myself. Then I decided that instead of having an extended pity party I should do something useful. So I

got out my safety harness, put it on and went up on the roof to sweep it off. When we sent Kelsor the specs for the house I asked for permanent anchor points to be put along the ridgeline of the roof. I anchored myself and looked around. The roof looked clean. I was wasting my time up there. I was about to release my line from the anchor point when I noticed the air around me shimmering.

Chapter 299

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. I was lying on a bed. There was a pillow under my head. I could turn my head and see screens. They had symbols on them that I didn’t recognize, but at least one must have been a heart rate monitor. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. My heart was beating slowly and steadily.

I was groggy. I wanted to close my eyes and go back to sleep but instead I sat up. Or tried to sit up. There was a belt or something around my chest holding me down. I tried to reach for it but my arms were strapped down too. And from the light from the screens, I could see an IV going into my right arm. I couldn’t turn my head far enough to see where the IV line came from.

I looked around for Dixon and Johnson. I couldn’t find them.

Chapter 300

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. The room looked vaguely familiar. There was a heart rate monitor. And other screens with symbols on them I didn’t understand. I tried to move but I was strapped down to a bed. I wondered if I was in a hospital. I tried to call out for a nurse, but it was hard to talk. Did I fall off the roof? Xara would know. I reached out to her in the connection.

“Xara, are you there?”

“Not now Joe, I’m uh, ooh, uh, busy!”

“But Xara …”

“I’ll be home Thursday, Joe, we can talk then.”

And then she was gone. I felt so tired, and I couldn’t figure out where I was. And I couldn’t find Dixon or Johnson.

Chapter 301

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a bed and was strapped down. There were screens I could see, one of them was a heart rate monitor, but I couldn’t read the others. They had symbols on them I wasn’t familiar with. My head couldn’t move freely, but I saw there was an IV line in my arm. And then I remembered that I’d seen this room somewhere before, but I couldn’t quite place where I’d seen it. I thought I must be in a hospital, and I tried to call a nurse or an orderly, but my words came out like I had a mouth full of mush. And I was so tired. I reached out to Xara in the connection.

“Xara, are you there?”

“Damnit, Joe! Not now! I’ll be home Thursday, and we can talk then.”

“Okay, I’ll see you Thursday. Bye,” I replied. But she was gone.

I thought I saw Dixon and Johnson out of the corner of my eye, but when I turned my head, they were gone.

Chapter 302

I slowly opened my eyes. The light in the room hurt them. My vision was blurry, but I could see someone next to me working on an IV that ran into my right arm. I was blinking, because it was so bright in the room. The nurse was tall and very skinny, that I could tell, but not much else.

I tried to move, but I was strapped down. And I felt something. Two somethings. I recognized one; I had a catheter. The other sensation was in my butt. Did someone shove a tube or something up my butt?

The skinny nurse or orderly looked at me, I think, and did something with the IV and I became very tired.

Chapter 303

I slowly opened my eyes. I was in a dark room with screens around me. One was a heart rate monitor. I must be in a hospital, I thought. I was tied down; I couldn’t move my arms or legs or sit up and I could only turn my head a little. I could see there was an IV in my right arm, but I couldn’t turn my head far enough to see the bag. When I tried to move my lower body, I felt a catheter pushing against the inside of my bladder. And something was shoved up my butt. I tried to call out, but my voice was very weak. It was like I had a mouthful of sand I was trying to talk through. I needed Xara. I reached out to her in the connection.

“Xara, are you there?”

“God Damnit Joe! Are you trying to sabotage my Messenger time? Are you interrupting me because you’re jealous? I’m closing the connection now. I’ll open it Thursday when I’m on my way home. And then you can bet your ass we’re going to have a long talk!”

Xara was angry with me, I thought. I wanted to ask Dixon and Johnson what I’d done to make her mad, but they weren’t there. I decided I’d better leave her alone until Thursday. What was today? Was it still Sunday?

The lights went on and I closed my eyes. The lights were too bright, or I’d been in the dark too long. After a few seconds I could open them a little and I saw the tall, skinny nurse making some kind of adjustment at one of the screens. She, or he, I wasn’t sure, had six fingers on each hand. That didn’t seem right. I was going to ask about that when the nurse turned and left, turning the

lights off as he, or she, left the room. I called out to Xara in the connection.

“Xara, are you there?” No answer. I called two or three more times. No answer. That wasn’t like her. She always answered when I called out to her. And where were Dixon and Johnson?

I tried to sit up and look around, but I was strapped down to a bed. I could see an IV line going into my right arm, but I couldn’t tell what I was getting. Did I fall off the roof? That didn’t make sense. I had been wearing a harness. God, I felt tired. I closed my eyes.

Chapter 304

“Joe? Joe? Darling, can you hear me?”

“Xara? Is that you?”

“Yes, darling. I’m coming for you!”

“Is it Thursday?”

“It is.”

“Xara, I think I’m in a hospital.”

“No, darling, you’re not. You’re on a spaceship.”

“How did I get on a spaceship?”

“I don’t know. Can you open your eyes and look around?”

I opened my eyes. The room was dark except for some screens. There were symbols on them I didn’t recognize, but I could see one was a heart rate monitor. There was an IV line going into my right arm.

“You’re on a Scalantran ship.”

“Really?” I tried to move.

“Really, Joe. Those symbols on the monitor are Scalantran.”

“Xara, I’m strapped to a bed. And I can’t find Dixon or Johnson.”

“I’m coming for you as fast as I can. Mom and Sharon are coming too, but they’re behind me. They can’t keep up. But I’m coming, Joe.”

“When will you get here?”

“It’s going to be a while, darling. I have to make at least two wormhole transits. More if the ship you are on goes through another one.”

“A ship? I’m on a ship? How did I get on a ship? Are we on a cruise?”

“No, darling. You’re on a spaceship.”

“A spaceship? How did I get on a spaceship? Xara, what’s going on?”

The door to the room I was in slid open. Light flooded the room, and I closed my eyes against it. When I managed to open them a little, I saw the six fingered nurse.

“That’s a Scalantran, Joe.”

I tried to ask the Scalantran why I was there, but my words came out like my mouth was full of gravel.

“Don’t try to talk, darling. The drugs they’re giving you are probably affecting your ability to speak.”

Chapter 305

I opened my eyes and tried to look around. I was in a dark room strapped to a bed. There were monitors with strange symbols on them, though I did recognize a heart rate monitor. From the light provided by the monitors I could see that there was an IV in my right arm. I must have had a catheter too, and something in my butt.

“Joe, you’re awake!”

“Xara, I think I’m in a hospital. Is it Thursday? Are you coming home?”

“It’s Tuesday, darling.”

“Oh. So you won’t be home for two more days.”

“No, darling. I started home last Thursday. Do you remember our last conversation?”

“You were mad at me. I think. Are you mad at me?”

“No. I’m not mad at you darling. You didn’t do anything to make me mad, that was my fault, not yours. Do you remember being on a Scalantran ship?”

“A Scalantran ship? I’ve never been on one.”

“You’re on one now. I’m on my way to you; it should be just another day.”

I lifted my head a little, it was restrained, but I was able to see a tube going into my stomach.

“Xara, do I have a stomach tube?”

“That must be how they’re feeding you. Joe, I am so sorry I didn’t come sooner. I’ll make it up to you darling, I promise.”

“Make it up to me? Make what up to me? Xara, I think I’m in a hospital. Did I fall off the roof?”

“When were you on the roof, Joe?”

“Right after you left to meet the Messengers, I went up on the roof to clean it. I was wearing my safety harness and was tethered to an anchor point. I shouldn’t have fallen off.”

“You aren’t in a hospital Joe. You’re on a Scalantran ship.”

“I’m on a Scalantran ship? How did I get on a Scalantran ship?”

“I don’t know, Joe. But we’ll find out when I get there.”

Chapter 306

There were sirens. I heard sirens. I slowly opened my eyes and tried to look around. The room was dark, but there were monitors, and by the light they gave off I could see there was an IV going into my right arm. I tried to move but I was strapped down. I could feel a catheter, and something in my butt.

There was a heart rate monitor. I could recognize that, but there were symbols on the other monitors that I didn’t recognize.

The sirens: there were more than one. Was I in an ambulance? I couldn’t feel any movement or hear road noise. But that was probably because of the damn sirens. They were loud.

I must have fallen off the roof and someone found me and called 911. There wasn’t anyone in the back of the ambulance with me though. That seemed odd.

And then the ambulance shook. Not hard, but I felt the whole thing moving to my left. And then there was another siren, or more like an alarm bell. Was there a fire? In an ambulance? And then the ambulance shook again, and I heard yelling from outside. Outside the ambulance? That didn’t seem right. Was I in a hospital room and I felt an earthquake?

I was so tired, and I just wanted to go back to sleep, but those sirens and alarms, there were more of them now, kept blaring and it was too loud to go back to sleep.

And then I heard … tearing metal? It sounded like the door was being ripped open. And then light flooded in and there was someone in the doorway silhouetted by

the light from what must have been a hallway. And then that someone came forward and it was Xara.

“Joe!”

I tried to talk to her, but I couldn’t make my mouth form words.

“Use the connection, darling,” she said.

“Xara! What happened? Why am I in a hospital? Did I fall off the roof? What are those sirens?”

“You’re on a Scalantran ship, darling. I had to poke a few holes in the hull before they would open an airlock for me. That’s what the sirens are about. And then a couple of security officers tried to keep me from getting in here. That’s what the alarm bells are about.”

Someone came into the room from behind her and turned on the lights. Xara turned to them and said something to them, but she wasn’t speaking English or Velorian. But the person, the nurse with six fingers, came up and took the IV out of my arm. While the nurse did that, Xara broke the straps that were holding me down.

Then the nurse said something to Xara, and she took my hand and said, “The doctor is going to remove the feeding tube and bandage you up. It might hurt.”

“That’s a doctor?”

“Yes, darling, a Scalantran doctor.”

It did hurt a little, but I didn’t care. I was looking at my beautiful wife and that’s all I cared about.

Then the sirens and the alarms stopped.

“Xara, I don’t understand what’s happening. Why are we on a Scalantran ship?”

“We’re going to find out, darling.”

Chapter 307

Xara said something to the doctor, and he/she/it left and came back with another Scalantran. Xara made she/he/it sit down and started talking to it. And she wasn’t talking nicely, I could tell by the tone of her voice. I couldn’t tell a damn thing by the tone of the Scalantrans voice.

They talked for quite a while, and a couple of times Xara yelled and made a menacing move towards the Scalantran, and he/she/it would try to move away. I think she/it/he was afraid of her. I’d be afraid if an angry Velorian was talking to me that way.

She shouted at the Scalantran, and it left the room, leaving me with Xara and the Scalantran Xara called the doctor.

“You were kidnapped, Joe. The Scalantran who is the head of this trading group heard about our cat business, and that you are a soldier with a reputation as a good fighter. So the head of this trading group decided to kidnap you, enhance you, and sell you on contract to someone who is looking for mercenaries.”

“Enhance me?” I still couldn’t talk, so I had to communicate with Xara via the connection. But I could hear her words just fine.

“Yes, darling. They were going to alter your genetics to turn you into a super soldier. The drugs they were pumping into you were to keep you quiet and sedated and prep your immune system for the genetic changes they planned.”

“How do they know I’m a soldier?”

“The Scalantrans do deep dives into the background of the people they do business with. And sometimes they share that with other Tradeships.”

“So there is a dossier on me?”

“Yes.”

“The Scalantran who handled our cat business set me up?”

“No, he doesn’t know anything about the kidnapping. He’d consider it a serious breach of the Scalantran version of business ethics. This is a different trading group entirely, with a different Tradeship. We’re on a shuttle. Though shuttle doesn’t do it justice. It’s more like a well-appointed yacht.”

I tried to sit up, but I got dizzy and fell back.

“Take it easy, darling. You’ve been getting drugs for over a week now. It’s going to take a while for them to get out of your system. I’ve told the captain of this vessel to hold his position until mom and Sharon get here. He isn’t happy about it. I told him if he doesn’t want to hold position, I’ll disable his engines.”

“How would I get home if you disabled his engines?”

“He’s too rattled to ask, I’ve been pretty hard on him, and I didn’t volunteer any information. We’ll make him take us home.

“The captain is going to send food to us. You just rest until you feel stronger. I’ll stay here with you. No one is going to hurt you.”

“Do I need to worry about the effects of the drugs they gave me?”

“I don’t know; we’ll have Gloria check you when we get home.”

“Xara, it’s hard to remember … did we have a fight?”

“Oh Joe, I have so much to make up to you. You needed me when I was with a Messenger and I, I, oh Joe, I’m so sorry.”

And then she started to cry. I wasn’t sure why. The alarms and sirens had stopped, and I just wanted to go to sleep.

Chapter 308

I slowly opened my eyes. I was in a bed, and Xara was lying beside me, asleep. I tried to sit up, but I was too weak. I turned my head and looked around. This wasn’t our bedroom.

I reached out to Xara and touched her arm. She sat up and looked at me and I tried to ask her where we were, but it was very hard to talk.

“Use the connection, darling,” she said.

“Xara, where are we? Why is it so hard for me to talk. God, I feel so tired.”

“We’re on a Scalantran ship, love. You were kidnapped by the Scalantrans.”

“What! Why?”

“Darling, what do you remember?”

“You went off to visit a Messenger. I went up on the roof to sweep it off, but it didn’t need it. And then you were angry with me. Then I woke up here, next to you.”

“The Scalantrans drugged you. It’s affected your short term memory. Go back to sleep, darling, I’ll explain everything to you when you’ve recovered.”

As I closed my eyes I felt a tear drop onto my chest.

Chapter 309

My head was throbbing. I opened my eyes. I was in a bed and Xara, Kara and Sharon were standing over me. Xara sat down on the bed and took my hand in hers and asked, “How are you feeling, darling?”

“I’ve got a horrible headache. Where are we?” My voice was weak, but they heard me. Of course they heard me, they’re Velorians.

“You’re in a Scalantran ship,” answered Xara.

“Right,” I said. “I was kidnapped by Scalantrans.”

I tried to sit up, but my voice wasn’t the only part of my body that was weak. Xara helped me get up into a sitting position and arranged the pillows behind my back, so I’d be comfortable.

“Did I have a catheter? I remember feeling a catheter. Were the Scalantrans probing me? I felt something in my butt.”

“You had a catheter, darling, and a tube to handle solid waste. I removed them.”

“This isn’t the room I remember being in,” I said.

“I moved you to the captain’s cabin,” replied Xara.

“The captain gave up his cabin for me?”

“No, darling. I took it from him.”

“Is his memory improving?” asked Kara.

“Yes,” replied Xara. “Before, he couldn’t remember he was on a Scalantran ship.

“What else can you remember, darling?”

“After you left home, I went up on the roof to clean it. It didn’t need cleaning, and I was about to come down when I noticed the air around me shimmering. Then I woke up, on this ship, apparently, and I was strapped to a bed. I woke up several more times and I tried to reach out for you, but you weren’t taking my calls.”

“What do you mean by that, she wasn’t taking your calls?” asked Kara.

Before I could answer, Xara jumped in.

“He contacted me through the connection, mom, but I was so wrapped up in what I was doing with the Messengers, I shut him down.

“Joe, I am so, so sorry I did that.”

“Why did you do it,” asked Kara.

“I thought he was jealous and wanted to sabotage my pleasure,” she answered.

“Really. Has he done that before?”

“No, mom, he hasn’t.”

“But he’s complained about the Messengers?”

“No.”

“Are you two having problems?” asked Sharon.

“No,” replied Xara. “But I know what he is feeling, even when he doesn’t complain. I know he doesn’t like me having sex with Messengers.”

“You know he doesn’t like it,” said Kara, “but he never mentions it to you? He keeps his feelings to

himself, and you only know what they are because you two have this mental connection? A connection that makes it impossible for him to hide his feelings, even if he wants to?”

Xara was looking down at the floor and said, in a low voice, “Yes.”

Sharon asked, “Has he ever acted on those feelings?”

Again, in a meek voice, Xara said, “No.”

“Does he ever say or do anything about those feelings, at all?” asked Kara.

“No.”

Sharon said, “I know that Terran sexual hangups don’t make any sense to us, but Xara, you should understand that from a Terran point of view, he’s making a sacrifice for you. And it isn’t a little one.”

I wanted to point out that I was right there in the room with them, but I was feeling too tired. Before any of them could say any more, I said, “Guys, I’m so tired, can one of you help me lay back down.”

Xara helped me get flat on my back and I fell right to sleep, despite the throbbing in my head.

Sometime later I woke up. My head still hurt, but not as much. There was an IV in my arm. I started to panic, thinking I was strapped down again, but Xara was there, and she sat down next to me and said, “The IV is to keep you hydrated.

“The Scalantrans don’t really have anything to feed you, except through the stomach tube, and I wasn’t going to let them put that back in you.”

“Why does my head hurt?”

“It’s from the drugs they gave you. You got a high dose to begin preparing your body for genetic enhancements, and then they wean you off them over time. You’re in withdrawal.”

“It’s like cold turkey?” I asked. “Why am I still feeling so tired and weak?”

“It isn’t permanent,” replied Xara. “Once your system rids itself of the drugs you’ll be back to normal.”

“Are we going home?”

“Yes. Mom and Sharon have left for Terra. Mom is going to put Gloria into a pod and rendezvous with us when we get close to home. She’ll check you over and make sure you’re going to be okay, and if she needs something from the Scalantrans she’ll know what to ask for.”

I nodded. And then I nodded off.

Chapter 310

I heard a … yell. Or a shriek. It was a high pitched sound. I opened my eyes and looked in the direction the sound came from. Gloria was holding a Scalantran by the neck, several inches off the floor and was cursing he/she/it in Arion. Then she dropped the Scalantran to the floor. It fell in a heap, then got up and started scampering, that’s the best way I can describe it, scampering for the door. Xara stepped in front of it/she/he and didn’t let her/him/it out.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Gloria is unhappy with the medical treatment you received,” said Xara.

Gloria said, “You’re awake. Good. The drugs they gave you are designed to prep you for a genetic enhancement that only very strong and healthy candidates are suitable for. And one way to determine your suitability is to see if you survive the preparatory treatment.”

“They could have killed me?!”

“Yes. You only survived for as long as you did because you are very fit for a Terran.”

“That doesn’t make sense. They kidnap Terrans to sell them, then almost kill them before they can make the sale?”

“Not all the Terrans they kidnap are selected for the program they wanted to put you into,” explained Gloria. “He examined you before they gave you those drugs and

determined you were a good candidate. But being a good candidate doesn’t guarantee success.”

Well, that helped clear things up. The Scalantran doctor was a he.

Gloria said something to Xara in Arion that I think translates roughly to, “Bring the turd over here.”

Xara grabbed him by the arm and forced him over to my bed. I can’t read Scalantran facial expressions. I’m not sure they have any. But he was obviously afraid of Gloria, he kept trying to increase the distance between her and himself. Xara wouldn’t let him.

“You have quite an intimidating effect on him,” I said to Gloria.

Xara said, “Scalantrans are terrified of Arions.”

Gloria said something to him in a language I didn’t understand and then Xara let him go. He beat feet out the door.

“I told him to bring me all the records of everything they did to you.

“Are you feeling hungry, Joe?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I’m going to go over the records the Scalantran brings me, then examine you. We brought food, but I don’t want you to eat until I’m finished with my examination.”

A few minutes later the Scalantran doctor was back and gave Gloria a tablet device. She looked at the tablet and asked the Scalantran a few questions then dismissed

him. Loudly and angrily. I think she told him to get the hell out and stay out of her sight. I could be wrong, but he acted like that’s what she said.

“How are you feeling,” Gloria asked me.

“Tired. And weak.”

“Stay on your back.”

I did so while she ran one of her handheld scanners over me. I was going to make a joke about a tricorder but decided she probably wouldn’t get it.

“Let’s get him out of bed and walking,” said Gloria.

Xara pulled the covers off me and helped me sit up and swing my legs over the edge of the bed. She helped me to my feet then caught me when I collapsed.

“Xara, hold him up. Joe, try to walk. I know it’s hard, do your best.”

Xara walked me once around the room and Gloria said, “Help him back into bed.”

When I got into bed, she put an old fashioned (for her) stethoscope into her ears and listened to my heart and to my breathing.

“Xara,” she said, “help him sit up.”

While Xara helped me sit up Gloria went to the pod, which I hadn’t noticed before, and pulled something out of it. A tuna sandwich. Made with hardboiled egg and mustard, just the way I liked it.

“Eat this very slowly, Joe,” she said. “Xara, help him.”

Xara fed me bites of the sandwich. Gloria watched me eat for a few minutes, then gave me some water.

“How do you feel now?” Gloria asked me.

“Still tired and weak, but my stomach feels better.”

She had Xara feed me half the sandwich then told me to lay down and rest. I think I fell asleep just as my head hit the pillow.

Chapter 311

My eyes flew open, and I sat straight up in bed.

“What the fuck! They were going to turn me into some kind of super soldier and sell me into slavery?”

I threw the covers off and jumped out of bed.

“Where are those Scalantran mother fuckers? I’m going to kick some serious ass!”

“Get the son of bitch!” said Johnson.

“Kill the mother fucker!” shouted Dixon.

“The sedation has worn off,” said Gloria.

“How long will this last?” asked Xara.

“A day, maybe less if we’re lucky,” replied Gloria.

“What the hell are you two talking about?” I demanded to know.

“The drug cocktail they gave you amps up your aggressiveness while suppressing your impulse control,” said Gloria, “and the sedation keeps you under control until they are ready to start enhancing you.”

“Where’s that fucking Scalantran doctor? I want to see him right now!”

“We need to wait for the drugs to wear off,” said Xara, “then you can talk to him.”

“I don’t want to fucking talk to him! And where the fuck were you when I needed you?”

“Joe, I’m …” started Xara. Gloria cut her off.

“Don’t engage with him! Anything you say, anything anyone says will just increase his rage. You should leave until these drugs wear off.”

Xara nodded and left the room.

“What the fuck? Did she just turn her back and walk away from me?”

Gloria rose off the chair she was sitting on and came to me faster than I could see, then punched me in the gut. I doubled over in pain.

“I’m sorry Joe. Xara shouldn’t be around you right now and I didn’t want her to see me do this.”

I felt a jab in my arm, and everything went black.

Chapter 312

My eyes opened and I looked around. Gloria was standing over me, scanning me with her … I’m going to call it a tricorder. Sharon said, “he’s awake,” and Kara and Xara came over to me.

Xara caressed my cheek with her hand and asked, “How do you feel, darling?”

“Hungry,” I said. “And tired. Xara, did I yell at you? I’m so sorry …”

Dixon and Johnson said they were sorry too.

“Hush, darling, it wasn’t your fault.”

“Can we take him home?” asked Kara.

Gloria looked at her tricorder one more time and said, “Yes. He’ll be weak but the effects of the Scalantran drugs have worn off.”

“Where are we?” I asked.

“We’re on a Scalantran ship,” said, Xara. And she sounded worried.

“I know,” I replied. “I mean, where are we, where is the ship?”

“Oh,” she said, with a sigh of relief. “We’re just outside the moon’s orbit. As soon as the ship reaches earth orbit, we can leave. It won’t be long, darling.”

“How long has it been since I was kidnapped?”

“Three weeks,” replied Kara.

I looked at Gloria and asked, “Am I okay? Will I be okay?”

“I am not certain,” she replied. “You’ve lost weight. That will be easy to fix. And they suppressed your immune system. We’ll need to be careful that you are not exposed to any viruses until you recover. I’ll give you antibiotics that will take care of any bacterial infections.”

I’m going to interject something here. When Gloria says I’ve lost weight and it will be easy to fix, she means she’s going to force feed me until she’s satisfied with my weight. Anyway, she went on …

“I want to do some cognitive tests. There may be some short term damage to your brain. And this ship doesn’t have the proper equipment to scan your brain. I’ll do that when we get you home.”

“Gloria,” I asked, “why did they suppress my immune system?”

“Part of their genetic modification is accomplished by injecting you with a virus that rewrites your DNA. It is less effective if it triggers your immune response.”

The door to the cabin swooshed open and a Scalantran came up to Kara and handed her a thin tablet. Kara looked at the tablet and said, “You have got to be shitting me.” Not something I hear a lot from Kara.

She said something to the Scalantran, who scurried out of the room.

“What’s that?” asked Sharon.

Kara gave her the tablet.

“For the love of Skietra,” she said.

“What?” said Xara.

Sharon gave her the tablet. Xara looked at it and laughed, then turned to me.

“This is an invoice,” she said.

“An invoice for what?” I asked.

“They want to bill us for taking you from them, for taking over this cabin, for the damage I did to their ship when I was convincing them to let me in, for the time we took them off their scheduled course, and for their lost earnings from taking you out of their mercenary program.”

“The Scalantran who gave this to us is an underling. I told him to get the captain. I’m going to have words with him,” said Kara.

“I’ve got a better idea,” said Sharon.

Kara looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Let Gloria have words with him.”

Kara smiled and then laughed. “What do you think, Gloria? Do you want to put the fear of Skietra in him?”

“Yes,” she said. “What are my parameters?”

“No bodily damage. Don’t worry about property damage,” answered Kara.

“What am I missing?” I asked.

“You don’t remember, do you,” said Xara. “Scalantrans are very afraid of Arions. No one knows the whole story, but some time, years ago, the Arions got it in their heads that the Scalantrans were cheating them, and they took out their anger on an entire Scalantran Tradeship.”

The Scalantran captain showed up and stepped into the room. Xara gave Gloria the tablet. Gloria stormed up to the captain and then shoved the tablet into a wall, or bulkhead, I guess. The tablet shattered and Gloria’s hand continued into the bulkhead. She pulled her arm out with a piece of it, the bulkhead, in her hand. She threw it down and got into the captain’s face. He tried to back away, but the door of the cabin was closed.

I don’t know what Gloria said, but Xara said he apologized and said he would comp all the charges. And he wouldn’t charge us for the repair of the bulkhead.

After Gloria finished, Kara talked to him.

Xara helped me out of bed. “Mom told the captain of this shuttle to tell the leader of his Tradeship to never come into our solar system again.”

“Good,” I said. “Why do I feel weak and tired again? Didn’t I jump out of bed before?”

“That was adrenaline,” said Gloria. “Once the sedative wore off, the other drugs they gave you stimulated your adrenaline glands.”

Xara helped support me as we left the captain’s cabin. We walked down a hall, turned left, down another one, turned right and came to an airlock. The Scalantran on duty opened the inner door. Inside the airlock there were two pods, one for me and one for Gloria, and one of my space suits. The ladies helped me into the spacesuit, then into the pod.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I was feeling deceleration, I was on my back being pressed “down”.

“You’re awake! We’re about to enter Earth’s atmosphere darling. We’ll be home in no time.”

It was longer than “no time,” but not too much longer. We splashed into the lake and came up in the lake chamber under the house. Xara opened the pod and helped me out of it, and then out of the space suit. Gloria was already there and took me immediately into the lair where she hooked me up to all her scanners and gave me a thorough examination.

“There is no permanent brain damage,” she said, “but you may suffer from some short term memory loss and confusion for the next few days.”

Then she turned to Xara and said, “Pamper him. Make sure he gets plenty of rest. If you note any negative changes in his memory or behavior, call me immediately. And only Supremis in the house until his immune system recovers.”

Xara helped me upstairs and put me to bed, then lay down next to me and gave me a kiss. Then she got under the covers with me, and I fell asleep in her arms.

It was dark when I fell asleep, and it was dark when I woke up. I was alone in bed and started to get up. Xara heard me, she hears everything, and came into the room and we took a shower together.

“Xara, I think I’m hungry.”

“While you were asleep Gloria did some grocery shopping for us. I’m going to make you a T-bone steak and a baked potato.”

“That sounds good!”

After we dried off I put on a robe and went out to the living room and sat down in the La-Z-Boy recliner. Xara put a blanket over me and tilted me back. Man, it felt good. Then it occurred to me that we didn’t have a La-Z-Boy recliner.

“Xara, when did we get this?” I asked, patting the armrest of the recliner.

I wondered if this was the memory loss Gloria was worried about.

“Mom bought it, and had it delivered while you were sleeping. Do you like it?”

“I think I love it! How long was I asleep?”

“Twenty hours.”

“Whoa! That long?”

“That long. Gloria said to let you rest and sleep as long as you want then stuff you full of protein and carbs when you woke up.”

“Do I smell disinfectant?”

“Yes. I’ve had Rosey disinfect every surface in the house.”

And with that she went off to make our dinner.

Janelle was feeling quite pleased with herself. She had taken care of the two Cartel thugs in a most creative way. It was simple, really. She used their own inflated egos against them.

The chief had called her and told her which hotel the men were staying in, and when they were leaving. It was a fine hotel with a popular bar. She had gone shopping with Juanita to pick out a sexy dress. Then she wore it to the hotel the night before they were to leave and found the men in the bar. She sat where they were sure to notice her and sure enough, one of them offered to buy her a drink. It introduced itself as Mateo, it didn’t give a surname. As they talked, it revealed where it was from, and Janelle said she had always wanted to visit its city but never had the opportunity.

She flirted with Mateo, leading it to believe that she was available, but when it invited her to its room, she demurred, claiming she had a previous engagement. It tried to convince her to cancel her plans, but she was firm, while being friendly, and emitting just a tiny amount of pheromones.

She told it she was free the next night and would be happy to meet it at this bar. He told her he was leaving the next day but then offered to let her come with it to its city. She pretended to think about it for a moment and then accepted, with a smile, a giggle, and a kiss that curled Mateo’s toes.

She met Mateo and its partner at the airport the next day with her luggage, a suitcase she had thrown some papers and odds and ends in to give it a little bit of weight. She boarded the plane with the men, the two

pilots and a flight attendant, a female employee of the cartel.

The plane taxied and took off, and once they reached altitude, she unbuckled her seatbelt and sat in Mateo’s lap. She allowed it to grope her for a while, then excused herself to use the lavatory, which was just aft of the cockpit door.

She walked to the front of the plane, but instead of going into the lavatory, she broke down the cockpit door, surprising the two pilots. They were even more surprised when she began using her hands and heat vision to tear out and burn up the controls. Next, she tore up the belts securing the pilots to their seats and, using her heat vision, sliced through the heavy duty frames holding the front cockpit windows in place. She did this while bracing herself against the back of the co-pilot’s seat.

The windows blew out, followed by the pilot and the copilot. Janelle ducked down and held on, so she wasn’t blown out of the cockpit. Several loose items from the main cabin hit her, but, of course, that didn’t bother her. She was quite amused when the flight attendant went flying past her out into the sky.

Surprisingly, to Janelle at least, the plane maintained its course. Autopilot, she supposed, was responsible for that.

After the pressure equalized, she walked back into the main cabin. Oxygen masks had dropped from the ceiling and the two cartel men had theirs on. Mateo’s seat faced the rear of the plane, so even though Janelle had removed its seatbelt when she got into its lap, the air escaping the cabin pressed it into its seat, keeping it

in place. It managed to put its oxygen mask on and buckle its seatbelt. Its partner had never unfastened its seatbelt, so it wasn’t sucked out of the plane.

Janelle thought about ripping the lines that fed oxygen to the men out of the ceiling but decided instead that she wanted them to live longer, to experience more terror and prolong their suffering.

The plane’s jet engines were mounted to the back of the fuselage. This next part of her plan would require a fair amount of precision. She tore away the fuselage just in front of the starboard engine, then launched herself towards it. She used just enough force to position her body so that she would be sucked into the engine. She was invulnerable, the engine wasn’t, and it exploded around her. As she fell 30,000 feet to the ground, she saw the plane come apart and watched the bodies of the two cartel men get battered by the force of the winds.

Janelle was over a mountain range when she leapt out of the plane and she fell through the jungle canopy, which did little to break her fall, and hit the ground with enough force to create a four foot deep crater, shattering the rock that was just below the surface.

She crawled out of the crater and took stock of her surroundings. It was at that point that she identified the flaw in her plan. She was naked, covered in mud, with no phone and only a rough idea of where she was. So she started walking downhill, making a path where none had been before, until she came to a river. Then she jumped into the river and let it carry her downstream, exiting it when she came to a small village. A village that had electricity and, from what she could see, cell service.

She walked up the bank of the river towards a couple of young people, who were stunned to see her. She casually asked them if they would help her out by giving her something to wear and letting her use one of their phones.

The two just looked at her in stunned silence, until, finally, the woman took off her jacket and gave it to Janelle, then held out her cell phone to her. The cell phone was a smart phone and had a mapping app, which she used to identify the name of the village. She then called Miguel and asked him to meet her at a nearby crossroads.

“Give me your address, senorita, and I will repay you for this jacket.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she replied.

“Thank you,” said Janelle, and she walked away from them.

Chapter 313

“Alien abductions are real,” I said, to anyone who would listen. Those were Sharon, Kara and Xara.

“Yes,” said Kara, “but not the way most Terrans think of it. Abducted Terrans are very rarely returned. You are an exception.”

“Do the Scalantrans do this a lot?” I asked.

“It depends on the Tradeship,” answered Sharon. “Some trading collectives are less scrupulous than others, and very few people would use the word scrupulous in the same sentence as Scalantran.”

“They remind me of the Ferengi,” said Xara.

“Yes,” said Sharon, “you’d almost think the Ferengi were inspired by the Scalantrans.”

“What are the Ferengi?” asked Kara.

“Mom,” answered Xara, rolling her eyes, “I bought you that Star Trek DS9 collection for your birthday. Watch it.”

“I think the Scalantrans kept my phone,” I said.

“No, darling. I have it. I didn’t want you distracted by work while you recuperated.”

“Has Colonel Moore been trying to reach me?”

“Don’t worry about her,” said Kara. “I told her to leave you alone until you contacted her. You may have a few voice mails and text messages from her. Just ignore them.”

There were two screens of voicemail and three screens of text messages. All from Colonel Moore.

“How are you feeling?” Sharon asked me.

“Much better, thank you,” I answered. “I’m feeling good enough to start working out and running again. I’m starting to get cabin fever.”

“Not until Gloria clears you for that,” said Xara. “When she determines your immune system is fully recovered, we’ll go out for dinner and dancing and then you can start your workout routine again.”

“Well, since you’re confined and we’re all here,” said Sharon, “let’s talk about your marriage.”

“What about our marriage?” I asked.

“The Scalantrans held you for as long as they did because you two weren’t communicating,” she said. “We have to fix that.”

“Who’s we?” I asked. “If the communication, or lack of it, is between me and Xara, fixing it should be up to us.”

“No, Joseph,” Kara said. “You’re Kiraling to all three of us. Anything that endangers you concerns Sharon and me as well as Xara.

“Joseph, do you fight with Xara over Messengers?”

“No,” I said. “I don’t.”

“Do you voice disapproval?”

“No.”

“Xara, does he try to make you feel guilty for having sex with Messengers?”

“No,” she answered. “Never.”

“Then why did you shut him down when he reached out to you?”

“I know he doesn’t like me having sex with Messengers. He never complains, but I can tell. If I want to, I can monitor his feelings and his emotions.”

“Joseph is it true that you don’t like her going off with Messengers?” asked Kara.

“I don’t like her going off for sex with anyone,” I replied.

“Do you understand that you can’t satisfy her the way a Velorian woman needs to be satisfied?” she asked me.

“You’ve told me often enough,” I replied. “I understand it, and I consent to it, and I never complain about it,” I said, maybe a tad bit defensively.

“Xara, you said you thought he was trying to sabotage your pleasure, your time with the Messenger. Why did you think that?” asked Sharon.

“Because I know he doesn’t like it,” she replied.

“Has he ever done that?” asked Kara. “Has he ever interrupted your time with a Messenger?”

“No,” she replied. “He hasn’t.”

“But you thought he was doing it this time. Why?”

“Because I could tell how disappointed he was when I told him I was leaving for a few days. I never object to him having sex with other Velorians. I even encourage it. It doesn’t seem fair that he’d object to me doing it.”

“When have I ever approached another Velorian for sex?” I asked. “Your mother and Sharon have, oh, what’s the right word for this, raped me. They’ve never had any problem using their pheromones on me. And you’ve told me, over and over, that it is rude for me to refuse my Kiraling mates. And then you guilted me into having sex with Bri-an and Juliet in the connection. I do not seek out other Velorians for sex. Ever.”

“Joseph, do you really think we’ve raped you?” asked Kara, sounding very hurt.

“I know you don’t look at it that way,” I said. “And I know you’d never do anything to hurt me. And I wouldn’t even have brought it up if Xara hadn’t tried to draw an equivalence between what she does with a Messenger and what she expects me to do with you and Sharon.”

We discussed this for several hours. And we finally all decided that nothing would change. More specifically, they decided that nothing would change. Sharon and Kara couldn’t conceive of not having sex with a Kiraling and Xara wasn’t ever going to give up her time with Messengers. Or other Velorian males if they were available. And to be honest, I know I can’t do for her what they can. And I loved her too much to issue an ultimatum and ask that she confine her sexual activity to me. If she refused … I wasn’t in any position, emotionally, to leave her. And if she submitted to me

because of the Kiraling relationship … that seemed like an awful way to treat my wife, the woman I love.

But Sharon, surprisingly, did take my side. Sort of. In a way that pretty much left the status quo intact.

“Xara,” she said, “You have an unfair advantage over Joe. You can see into his heart like no other, and he has no defense against that. You must let him have his feelings and emotions, and you can’t punish him for it, or treat it like a betrayal. Because that betrayal is all in your head.”

And Xara got it.

“I’m sorry, Joe. You’ve never complained or objected, it wasn’t fair of me to think you were going all passive aggressive and trying to punish me.”

“Okay,” I said. “I’m not mad at you Xara. I don’t want us to fight, and I’d never try to come between you and a Messenger.”

“No, darling. You never would. But I need you know that they can’t do what you do for me; every single day you make me feel loved and cherished, just as I love and cherish you.”

And with that statement all three of them started emitting pheromones and I ended up in bed with them and by the time they were done with me I was totally wiped out and slept another sixteen hours. And they didn’t think they had raped me. And honestly, I wouldn’t have complained even if I had been capable of complaining. And I hadn’t been capable of complaining. Their pheromones saw to that.

When I woke the next day, or the day after? I’m not sure. Anyway, Gloria was there, and she ran her tricorder thingy over me and then pricked my finger and squeezed a little blood into it. It did its thing and Gloria said, “Your immune system is recovered. Joe, you are cleared of all restrictions on your activity. But please, if you start to feel sick or overly tired or weak, let me know, immediately.”

“Xara,” she said, “keep an eye on him, but I think he is fully recovered.”

That night we went out for dinner and went dancing afterwards. At dinner Xara made me eat everything I ordered, including my desert. She always eats my desert, and when I pointed that out she simply said, “Doctor’s orders.”

When we got home I opened my phone to listen to voicemails and read text messages. They were all from Colonel Moore. And they were about one subject; the government wanted Xara for another interrogation.

I showed the text messages to Xara and played the voicemails for her. Then I asked her, “Do you notice anything unusual or peculiar about these messages?"

“No.” She said, “Should I?”

“In every VM and text she’s saying the government wants you. Not the FBI. Not the Pentagon. The government. I’m going to call her and ask her about that.”

“You should,” she said. “But not tonight. I have a promise to keep. I told you I’d make up for getting angry with you when you needed my help.”

And then she put her arms around me and lifted us up and we floated into our bedroom. We made love. Then we made love again. Then we fell asleep in each other’s arms. When we woke up in the morning we made love again.

No pheromones. Just two people in love making love.

The government regulators were all over the crash of the private jet. Between this loss, and others caused, unbeknownst to the authorities, by Janelle, there was a great deal of pressure on the bureaucrats to explain what had been happening with aviation.

The government asked for, and received help from, the United States government agency responsible for investigating airplane mishaps. An agency called the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB. They recovered the black box from the airplane and found that there had been multiple instrument failures and a sudden and catastrophic loss of cabin pressure. Two bodies were found near the wreckage strapped to their seats. The bodies of the pilots and flight attendant were never found, and neither was the body of a female passenger who witnesses saw board the plane shortly before takeoff. Whoever she was, her presence hadn’t been documented. Nor did they discover the cause of a catastrophic engine failure.

Janelle, being on the City Council, was able to get copies of the communications between the NTSB and the airline regulators of her country. She was greatly amused by the amount of confusion evident in the reports. It would be fun to share this adventure with someone, but the only person she trusted enough was Miguel, and gentle as he was, this story would upset him.

What wasn’t amusing was intelligence passed to her by Near Earth Command, obtained by Arion High Command. A Scalantran Shuttle had reported to its Tradeship that a Terran candidate for their mercenary program had been stolen by two Protectors and a Scribe. The Terran was described as the mate of one of the

Protectors. There were very few details about the Terran and the Velorians. The bulk of the intelligence had to do with monetary losses caused by the incident. It was particularly amusing to discover what the Scalantrans projected the value of a Terran mercenary to be. Surely they knew that the Terrans they had enhanced were inferior to Betas.

Aria had a very low opinion of the Scalantrans. They were considered dishonorable thieves and liars. However, Scalantrans always treated financial gains and losses seriously, and based on the volume and tone of the intercepted communications, High Command believed the report of a Terran mate of a Protector was credible, at the very least the Scalantrans believed it.

Janelle had just as low an opinion of the Scalantrans as any other Arion would. And it was proof of their incompetence that this Tradeship was still using a communication encryption method that had been broken by Aria. But the evidence was mounting that Chouridgde was real and was indeed married to a Protector.

Chapter 314

It wasn’t the FBI asking for Xara. Or the Pentagon. It was the CIA. And they didn’t want to do the interrogation at Quantico. Or anywhere inside the United States. They wanted to do it at an Extraordinary Rendition site. Outside the country. They wanted Xara to conduct interrogations at a location specifically chosen because it was beyond the reach of American law.

When you are fighting a war and capturing prisoners and bring them back to your FOB and turn them over, often they are interrogated by people who are not necessarily military, though at my level, they don’t often tell you that. But if you spend enough time in the war zone in contact with the enemy you eventually see things and hear things. Things like most prisoners being eventually turned over to the local country’s government while a select few are loaded onto an airplane and taken somewhere else.

And over time you get the idea from bits and pieces of information you hear that the somewhere else is not anywhere you would want to be taken if you were a POW. And, of course, there are leaks. Everyone at home who reads the newspapers or watches the news hears about special places, like Guantanamo, where some prisoners are held. And you hear about or read about others, or rumors of others.

At Quantico, Xara used her pheromones to ‘get around’ the legal protections prisoners have, like the right to an attorney, the right to stay silent, that sort of thing, to get the information the FBI needed. Sure, the prisoners were informed of their rights, but thanks to her

trust pheromones the FBI had the video evidence that the prisoners heard their rights and voluntarily waved them. But still, there are lines, and though she was sorely tempted to cross them, when all was said and done, she didn’t cross them. She didn’t harm the prisoners, she didn’t torture them, (well maybe with her fear pheromones, but not for long) and she didn’t kill them.

But at an Extraordinary Rendition site there are no lines to blur. Everything, including torture, is on the table.

Xara asked me what I thought, so I asked her to have her mother come to the house so we could talk about it, and when Kara arrived I told them what I just described and said I had misgivings about it.

They both listened to me, they took me seriously, and after two hours of discussion Kara and Xara both agreed that Xara would decline the invitation. I thought that would be the end of it, I honestly did.

I called Colonel Moore and Kara and Xara told her that Xara would not conduct the interrogation and told her why. She asked if I had influenced their decision. They answered honestly that I had.

“Alright, I’ll pass this up the chain. Staff Seargent, be prepared for some blowback coming your way.”

“Colonel,” said Kara, and it was very rare that she addressed the colonel so formally, “let your superiors know that if any ‘blowback’, as you say, is directed at Joseph I will be very unhappy.”

“I understand,” replied Colonel Moore.

An hour later, as we were sitting down for dinner my phone rang. My secure phone. It was Colonel Moore.

“Staff Seargent, please inform Kara and Xara that the President has requested a meeting with them this weekend, at Camp David.”

I looked over at Kara, who, of course, had heard. She held out her hand for my phone. I handed it to her.

“What does he want to talk to us about?” Kara asked. She knew, of course. We all knew.

I couldn’t hear the response. Xara could. She looked at her mother and nodded.

“Very well, Xara, Joseph and I will meet with the President at Camp David Saturday morning at 10 am.”

Kara listened.

Xara shook her head.

“That is not acceptable,” said Kara.

Kara listened. Then she said, “Because as well as being my liaison with your government he is also my trusted advisor.”

She listened some more, then said, “You may view it as a conflict, I do not. Joseph attends the meeting with us or there is no meeting.”

More listening.

“Call back at this number when you hear back.”

“Um, Kara, am I in trouble with my Commander in Chief?”

“Not yet. Don’t worry about it, Joseph. Xara and I hold all the good the cards.”

“Sure,” I replied. “What game are we playing?”

“He wants to meet with me and mom about the interrogation the CIA wants me to do. He doesn't want you included in the conversation. Sarah says she thinks he doesn’t want you to be with me during the interrogation because you might influence me.”

“And he thinks I might influence you because I advised you not to do it?”

“I can’t be certain,” replied Xara, “but I think so.”

“So do I,” said Kara.

“Mom, I want to make it clear to him that I don’t do this interrogation, or any other, unless Joe is with me.”

“We’ll make it clear,” she said.

“You’ll support me on this, Joe? If he tries to pressure me to do something I don’t want to do, you’ll stand up for me?” she asked me.

“You might be discharged over this,” said Dixon.

“Fuck it,” said Johnson, “Xara is more important to us.”

“She is,” said Dixon.

“Thanks guys!” said Xara in the connection. That spooked Dixon and Johnson, and they disappeared.

“Xara, you have my support.”

“Whan Sarah calls back lets tell her to make sure the President has seen the video of our little demonstration

at the proving grounds. If he has any appreciation for our power at all, you don’t have anything to worry about, Joseph,” said Kara.

“That sounds ominous,” I said.

“Sometimes a Planetary Protector has to come across as … someone who shouldn’t be trifled with,” she replied.

“Kara, haven’t you delt with the President before?” I asked.

“Yes, several times,” she replied. “I’ve met with him in the Oval Office. And Camp David.”

“So you are on friendly terms with him?”

“Usually, but I’ve learned to never take anything for granted.”

An hour later the phone rang again. Instead of answering it I handed it to Kara.

“This is Kara,” she said.

She listened and nodded. Xara nodded too. Then Kara said, “We’ll be there at 10. Make sure the President has seen the video of our presentation at the Proving Grounds.”

She listened a little longer then said, “We’ll provide our own transportation.” Then she ended the call and handed the phone back to me.

“You are also invited,” she said to me.

I called the Colonel right back.

“What is the uniform of the day?” I asked.

“It’s an informal meeting in an informal setting,” she said. “A clean shirt and jeans are acceptable.”

We ended the call.

“Xara and I will be in our Protector uniforms,” said Kara. That meant the flight suit that leaves very little to the imagination.

“Joseph, I don’t want to show the people who will be there any alien technology. No pod, Xara will wrap you in her cape and carry you.

“Xara, I’ll provide you with breathing equipment for Joseph. It’s of Terran origin.”

“Thanks, mom,” Xara replied. And then to me, “Joe, we’ll be flying high, and it will be cold. Wear your motorcycle suit. We’ll get boots you can put on over your shoes.

“Mom, we’ll need to modify his helmet to accommodate his breathing mask.”

“No need,” she replied, I have one that’s been modified.”

“Xara, I’ve flown with you in the motorcycle suit wrapped in your cape before.”

“This will be different, Joe. Trust me. We’re going to do a quick flight test, now.”

I just shrugged. She got up and went to our room and came back wearing her flight suit. Or Protector’s uniform I should probably call it. Nope. Flight suit works for me.

She took off the cape and opened it fully. Then she started stretching it. And stretching it and stretching it. Until it was about four times the size of a King Size bed sheet. I took ahold of an end and tried to stretch it. I couldn’t make it budge.

“It takes much more strength than even the strongest Terran can muster,” said Kara.

I went down into the lair and dug out the motorcycle suit and helmet. They were in a box under other boxes, and I had to dig it out. I put them on and went upstairs where Xara was waiting for me.

Xara had me lay down on her stretched cape and started wrapping it around me. She finished by wrapping my head and legs. Then she picked me up.

“Are you warm?”

“Yes, but it’s 70° in here.”

“It will keep you warm, darling. Don’t worry.”

I wasn’t worried.

It was dark by now, so she carried me outside and we floated into the air, first slowly and then she began to accelerate.

“Are you still warm?”

“Yes,” I said.

“We’re 8,000 feet in the air. It is much cooler than 70°,” she said.

When we returned to the house Kara was gone. And my phone was ringing. It was Colonel Moore.

“Staff Seargent, the Secret Service want to understand what Kara meant when she said she’d be providing her own transportation.”

“It means what you think it means, Colonel. And they will arrive in their flight suits.”

There was silence on her end while she thought about that, then, “I’ll call you back.”

“Is there a problem, Joe?” asked Xara.

“I think Colonel Moore is processing what it will mean to have you, and your mother, show up dressed like that,” I said. She was still in her flight suit.

“Well, if it will help, tell her I’ll wear my boots.”

Xara preferred to go barefoot.

“I don’t think it will help,” I replied.

Colonel Moore called back.

“The Navy and the Secret Service want you to land at the main entrance so you can be checked for weapons and recording devices. And then you will be driven into the compound.”

“Do the Secret Service and the Navy Personnel understand what Velorians are, Colonel?” I asked.

“I don’t think they do,” she replied.

Xara said, “Make sure they understand that they are not allowed to touch us. I won’t tolerate someone trying to cop a feel and I know mom won’t either.”

“Colonel,” I said, “make sure they understand that they may not touch either Xara or Kara. It won’t end well if they do.”

“I’ll let them know, Staff Seargent. I’m sure when they see them in their flight suits they’ll figure out quickly that there is no place to hide a weapon.”

Xara said, “We could arrive in our birthday suits.”

I glared at Xara and ended the call with the Colonel.

“They wouldn’t think that was funny,” I said.

“I think it would be hilarious,” said Xara. “Maybe we could mix in a little bit of pheromones too.”

“Now you’re just messing with me,” I said.

“I’d be messing with them,” she replied.

“Xara! I have to work with …” and then she burst out laughing.

“It is so easy to push your buttons, darling,” she said.

“Please Xara, just promise me you won’t push any of the president’s buttons.”

“It might be fun,” she said.

“Not for me,” I replied.

Then she put her arms around me and hugged me and said, “Why don’t we get out of our clothes and finish this conversation in the bedroom.”

We went to our bedroom. We didn’t converse about anything.

When I woke up in the morning I was alone in bed. I could smell breakfast. I got up, put on a pair of shorts and padded into the kitchen. Kara was making huge quantities of bacon and eggs. Xara was making pancakes.

“Are we having company for breakfast?” I asked.

“No, just the three of us,” said Xara.

“Sit down Joseph,” said Kara. I did and she and Xara filled my plate with food. Then they filled their plates, then piled on more.

“I don’t think there’s gonna be any leftovers,” said Johnson.

“I never get tired of watching how much they eat,” said Dixon.

They were standing in a corner trying to stay out of Xara’s sight, hoping she wouldn’t notice them. It rattled them every time she said something to them.

“Relax guys, I don’t bite,” said Xara in the connection. They disappeared.

“Joseph, I brought a breathing apparatus for you,” said Kara, pointing over to some tanks and a mask on the living room floor. Right next to them there was something that looked like a cross between a wing and accordion doors. And a pair of boots that would go on over my shoes.

“The tanks look like what Xara uses for the pods,” I said. “What’s the other thing?”

“A stealth device,” replied Kara. “It absorbs radar, so the tanks won’t be detected. I want you two to try it out

today. I don’t want you panicking on the flight to Maryland.”

“I don’t panic anymore,” I said.

“You don’t travel this way very often anymore,” said Kara, “I want to make sure.”

I just shrugged my shoulders. When dealing with Kara it is best to choose the hill you’re willing to die on very carefully. This wasn’t one of those hills for me.

“I’ll get dressed after I’m finished with this food you’ve heaped onto my plate,” I said.

After we finished eating I dressed and put on the motorcycle suit over my clothes and the boots over my shoes. Kara helped me put the breathing mask on. Xara laid her cape down on the floor and wrapped me up in it, then put the air tanks on her back and connected the hoses to the mask and opened their valves. I couldn’t see, but from the sounds and the conversation I could tell that Kara was helping Xara attach the stealth thing.

“Can you breathe darling?” she asked me in the connection.

“Yes,” I said. “Everything is good.”

Then she picked me up and carried me outside. And then she rose into the air, accelerating hard. Hard for me, not at all hard for her. It was a little uncomfortable, but not too bad.

“We’re flying out over the Pacific,” she said, in the connection, “and we’re going high. Not so high that you have to worry about decompressing when we come down, but high enough for you to get cold.”

“Why couldn’t we take your mom’s private jet?” I asked.

“She wants to make an entrance,” was the reply.

I felt her accelerate, and as she did so my body was pushed into hers, harder and harder. Then the acceleration stopped, but I was still feeling myself being pushed into her.

“This is getting uncomfortable,” I said.

“Yes,” she answered, “I can feel that.”

She meant that she could feel, through the connection, what I was feeling. And then the pushing sensation decreased, enough so it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“What did you do?”

“I slowed down. Your body is pushing too much air in front of you, that’s what is pushing you into me. I need to make you more aerodynamic to lessen the drag.”

And then I felt another pair of hands on me.

“Mom’s helping out.”

Between the two of them they readjusted the way Xara was holding me. I couldn’t see anything, so I’m not sure what they did. But then she started accelerating again, and then the acceleration stopped. But I wasn’t pushed back into Xara as hard as before.

“Close your eyes Joe, I’m going to show you what we’re doing.”

I closed my eyes, and Xara shared with me what she was seeing.

“Why am I staring at your mother’s ass?”

“Don’t you think mom has a nice ass?” she said with a giggle. In the connection. It’s a unique experience.

“I’m flying in her slip stream. She’s breaking up the airflow, it’s sliding over and under us instead of into us. We’re going to start accelerating now, but gently, you’ll barely feel it.”

I felt it. More than barely, but I could handle it, so I didn’t complain.

“We’re going about 750mph now darling. That’s just below Mach 1. We’ll need to leave before 4am on Saturday to get to Camp David by 10am Eastern time.”

“Think we can leave a little earlier to make time for a bathroom break?” I asked.

“We will,” she replied. “We’ll have to stop at least once to refill the air tanks. Maybe twice.

“We’re going for altitude now.”

I felt our angle change.

“We’re at 30 thousand feet now, darling. How are you doing?”

“Fine. How cold is it?”

“About 40 below.”

“Shouldn’t I be freezing?”

“You would be if you weren’t wrapped in my cape.”

Dixon wondered what the R-value of the cape is. Johnson said it must be pretty high.

“Why isn’t the air I’m breathing really cold?”

“Didn’t you notice how long the air hoses are?” she asked me.

“Yeah. Does that make a difference?”

“They go under my flight suit and between my breasts before they connect to your mask.”

Dixon and Johnson started wondering what the exact path was. That made Xara giggle. In the connection. It’s a unique experience. And it scared Dixon and Johnson away. I didn’t hear from them for the rest of the day.

We flew around for a while until Xara and Kara were satisfied they could get me from point A to point B at high altitude and high (to me) speed. Then we headed home.

“We’re over the back deck now darling. We’re going to freefall for a while, then you’ll feel us slowing down.”

And then suddenly my body dropped while my stomach and lunch tried to stay at 30,000 feet. I managed to choke down the vomit until my stomach settled. We must have fallen for close to three minutes before I felt us slowing down. And then we stopped. Xara set me down on the deck and unwrapped me. She snapped her cape and it shrank down to its normal size and we went inside.

“Where’s Kara?” I asked.

“She went home,” replied Xara.

Juan was running through the jungle as fast as he could, clutching his Glock and using his small flashlight to light his way. It was his every day carry flashlight, and it didn’t provide very much illumination in the dark forest. He was running into branches and tripping over roots, and every time he did he heard a feminine giggle behind him. Or sometimes in front of him. Or above him. Or to his left or right.

Juan and Carlos had been sent to a town to investigate what had happened to their employer’s private jet and several employees who had been on the jet. They went to the airport where the jet had taken off and went over the security videos. They saw a woman approach and board the jet prior to takeoff. She wasn’t listed in the passenger manifest and her body had not been found after the crash. So they went into town to try to trace their colleagues movements hoping to find a clue to the mystery woman’s identity.

They found the hotel Mateo and Claudio had stayed in and asked to see the security video from the time they had stayed there. Unfortunately, the video had not been saved, it had been recorded over, but when they showed the bar tenders the picture of the woman from the airport video footage they recognized her as a local doctor and councilwoman everyone called, “Janelle”.

Unbeknownst to Juan and Carlos, Janelle had been told by her informant from a rival cartel that men had been sent to investigate the crash. And Janelle had anticipated that they would go to the hotel where she had met with Mateo.

She didn’t know what Juan and Carlos looked like, so she approached the bar staff and handed them each a small sum of money, gave them her name, and instructed them to tell any men who came in looking for who she was. Then she went to the hotel lobby and found a seat in the corner and waited.

There was no direct line of sight into the bar from the lobby, but of course, that didn’t bother Janelle. She could see through the walls as if they weren’t there. And she got lucky. She saw two men approach the bar tender on duty and when they showed them her picture, they told them who she was.

The men didn’t seem to be in any hurry. They ordered dinner and drinks. So Janelle called Miguel and directed him to bring the van, with blindfolds and zip ties, to an alley nearby. Twenty minutes later Miguel called Janelle and told her he and the van were in place.

Janelle had decided to play a game, but she only needed one other player. So she decided whichever man touched her first would be disqualified and she’d play with the other.

She stood up and walked into the bar and maneuvered herself into the line of sight of one of the men. She didn’t have to wait long for it to look up at her. It stared at her for a few seconds, then grabbed the arm of the other man and pointed at her. Before they could get up Janelle exited the bar and made her way to the street. She was halfway down the block when the men exited the hotel and saw her and began to pursue her.

Even in heels and a dress, Janelle could walk as fast or faster than the men could run. She turned down one street, then another, then slowed down to make sure the men saw her duck into the alley where Miguel and the van waited. The alley was perfect for her intentions. It was about fifteen feet wide. The walls of the two buildings on either side of it were brick.

Juan and Carlos were in excellent physical condition but had nearly lost sight of Janelle when they saw her turn into an alley. They both ran to the alley entrance, turned into it and there, about twenty feet in front of them, was Janelle, with her back to a van that was parked about ten feet behind her.

They stopped for just a moment to catch their breath and then approached her. She was smiling at them, which didn’t seem right. But no matter, they were going to question her.

Carlos started.

“Are you Janelle, the doctor and councilwoman?”

“I am,” she replied. “Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter, senorita,” Carlos replied. “We have questions for you.”

It pulled the picture of her boarding the plane out of its pocket, thrust it into her face and asked, “Are you the woman in this picture?"

“I am,” said Janelle. “That picture was taken just a few minutes before I killed your friends.”

“You’re coming with us,” said Juan.

“No, I’m not,” replied Janelle. “One of you is going to die here. The other one is coming with me.”

Carlos and Juan both laughed, then Carlos grabbed her arm. Less than two seconds later Juan was looking at Carlos’ remains smeared across one of the walls. Then Janelle touched its chest, and it was pushed back to the opposite wall, hit its head, and was stunned.

While Juan was trying to get its wits, Janelle opened the back door of the van. Miguel started to open the driver’s door but stopped when Janelle told him to stay in the van. She didn’t want him to see what she’d done. She didn’t want to upset or frighten him.

Janelle quickly undressed, then blindfolded and tied Juan up with zip ties and threw it into the back of the van. She told Miguel to drive out to her playroom.

While they were driving Janelle told Juan what they were going to do.

“What is your name,” she asked.

“Juan,” he replied. How … how did you do that?”

“Oh Juan,” she replied, “you need to be more concerned about what I am going to do than what I did.”

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

“I’m going to take you into the jungle,” she replied. “And we’re going to wait until it gets dark. Then I’m going to untie you and we’re going to play a game. I’ll disappear into the jungle and give you a few minutes to yourself. Then you have a task: make it back to the road. If you can make it to the road before I catch you, you will be free to go. If I catch you, then I get to do whatever I want.”

“What will you do if you catch me?” he asked.

“I haven’t decided yet. I see you have a pistol, a knife and a flashlight. I’ll let you keep them. If you can kill me, then, of course, you win. But Juan, you can’t kill me.”

“Why can’t I?”

“I don’t want to spoil the surprise. But you’ll find out.”

They arrived at the playroom. Janelle told Miguel to wait there with the van until she returned. He asked her how long she’d be. She said she’d return sometime after dark, but not too late.

Then she lifted Juan up, put it across her shoulder, and started jogging into the forest.

“Who is carrying me?” Juan demanded.

“I am,” replied Janelle, “I’m stronger than I look.”

It was a rough ride for Juan. Even though Janelle did her best to keep the jostling to a minimum, and she was very good at that, there were still times when her shoulder pressed into Juan’s abdomen and caused it discomfort. Discomfort, but not injury.

After a few minutes Juan felt himself being taken off Janelle’s shoulder and leaned up against a tree. Janelle removed its blindfold, and it gasped at the sight of Janelle’s beautiful nude body. She giggled and said, “I have that effect on men.”

“It will be dark soon,” she said. “When it is, I’ll untie you and leave you. If you make it back to the road, you win and are free to go wherever you wish. But if I catch you, you lose.”

Then she stood up and pointed. “The road is that way. If you get lost or disoriented in the dark, just head downhill. No matter which way you go, if you are going downhill you will eventually reach the road.”

Jaun was still tied up. He couldn’t reach his weapons, but she could, so he kept his mouth shut and glared at her, which made Janelle laugh.

The sun set, and being at a low latitude, it became dark very quickly.

“I’m going to untie you,” said Janelle. “You must be uncomfortable by now. Take your time and stretch out. The game will begin when you leave this place.”

Juan readied himself to strike out at Janelle the moment he was free. But she didn’t give it the chance. She rolled it over onto its stomach and in a flash broke the zip ties that bound its hands and feet, and then she was gone.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his flashlight and turned it on. Then he reached into his jacket and pulled his pistol out of its holster and checked the magazine. It was full. He had a spare magazine with him. He chambered a round and then started searching for a path with his flashlight. There was no path. So he started walking downhill.

He needed two hands to move aside the vegetation, so he set the safety of his pistol and put it back in its holster. He’d gone about ten minutes when he heard vegetation rustling on his left. He pulled out his pistol and released the safety then turned his flashlight in the direction of the sound. There was nothing there but more vegetation. Then he heard rustling behind him. He turned and heard rustling above him. He pointed his light up and heard rustling behind him again.

He turned and then felt something hit the back of his legs and he fell on his back and heard Janelle giggling. He jumped to his feet and turned around, looking for Janelle, but didn’t see her. He continued walking down the hill.

About a minute later he was again knocked off his feet from behind. He got up again and looked for Janelle, and saw her, or a part of her, through the vegetation just a few feet away. He aimed his pistol at her and fired two rounds and saw her fall backwards. He was sure if he didn’t kill her, then he must have mortally wounded her, but he was taking no chances. He slowly and carefully made his way to where he had seen her and found … nothing. No dead or wounded body. No blood. The only sign that she had been there were footprints.

And then he heard her address him, “You aren’t trying hard enough, Juan. I’m going to start hurting you now. If you don’t make this more entertaining, I’m going to kill you.”

“Where are you bitch!” he shouted. “Right here,” said Janelle. It turned and there she was, right next to It. It was raising its pistol when she struck it in the solar plexus. It staggered back and fell. It couldn’t breathe. It looked for Janelle, but didn’t see her.

It took over a minute for him to get his breath back. He started heading downhill again and had only gone a few feet when he was struck on the side of his head, and he fell down.

“Try much harder, Juan,” he heard Janelle say.

He got up again and began running, using his flashlight as best he could to light his way. He began running into branches and tripping over roots and rocks. All this was accompanied by Janelle’s laughter.

He was clutching his Glock and holding his flashlight in front of him, but he didn’t see Janelle until he ran into her and bounced back. Then she disappeared, laughing. He was out of breath and didn’t immediately get up. So it was surprised, and cried out, when Janelle was suddenly there, lifting it onto its feet and pushing it forward before she disappeared behind it. She didn’t push it very hard, but it still fell flat on its face. It scrambled to its feet and began running downhill, or what it thought was downhill, again.

This cat and mouse game continued for another fifteen minutes. Sometimes it would fall. Sometimes Janelle would be there, and she’d knock it down. She never stayed still long enough for it to get a shot off.

Finally, it heard her say, “It’s time to end our game Juan. My assistant needs to get home in time to read bedtime stories to his children. I do NOT want his youngest to get cranky. She’s a little hellion when she does.”

And then Janelle was standing fifteen feet in front of it. It raised its pistol and aimed right between her eyes and pulled the trigger. The bullet ricocheted off her. Juan couldn’t believe it, so it pulled the trigger again. Same result. Then it emptied the magazine into her as fast as it could. Then it just stood there, not knowing what to do.

“You have another magazine,” Janelle said.

This snapped Juan out of its stupor, and it changed magazines then aimed at Janelle and emptied the new one into her, this time aiming at her breasts. At one point Janelle reached out like she was catching something. When the magazine emptied she held out her open hand for Juan to see. It shined its light on her hand and saw a crushed bullet.

“It was bouncing straight back and would have hit you,” she said. “I didn’t want the fun to end that way.”

Then she approached Juan and pushed it back until it was between two closely spaced tree trunks.

“Sit down,” she said.

It sat down.

“I’d fuck you to death, but we don’t have time for that,” she said.

She leaned her back against the other tree trunk and then lifted her right leg and put the ball of her bare foot on Juan’s forehead and pushed lightly, forcing the back of its head against the tree trunk.

“Velorians can fly,” she said. “They can use their flight powers to hold themselves in place. I need to brace myself to do this.”

“What’s a Velorian,” Juan asked.

“It isn’t important,” she replied.

“Juan, I want you to know that I am a superior being. I’m on this planet to find allies for my government

to help us taking over. I’m finding that I divide the population of this planet into two groups.

“The first group are frails, that’s what we call you Terrans, who cooperate with me. These frails are treated like people. I help them. I take care of them. If someone from the other group is oppressing them, I act against the oppressors. Many of the people of this city are in this first group. My driver and aid, Miguel, belongs to this first group.

“The second group is made up of frails, like yourself, who oppose me. They think they are the ones who should run things. You aren’t people. At the very best, you are animals. At the worst, you are things, toys for me to play with. I enjoy playing with my toys. They don’t enjoy being played with. Tonight, you are my toy.

“I have been trained by my people to give medical care to frails. In your words, I would be called a doctor. But my people would not call me a doctor. They would call me a veterinarian.”

And then she began to slowly increase the pressure of her foot against its head. It tried to turn its head to the side, and to remove her foot with its hands, but it was pinned in place and much too weak to move Janelle’s foot.

“Would you like to beg?” she asked. “I enjoy listening to frails like you beg. You might last a little longer if your begging entertains me.”

“Please, spare me,” he said. “I have a wife. I have children, they depend on me. I’ll give you all my money. I’ll work for you. I’ll do anything you ask. Please!”

“That’s not very good begging,” said Janelle. “Goodbye.”

And then she slowly pushed her foot forward until its skull first cracked, then burst, and her foot hit the tree trunk its head had been pinned against. It did scream for her just before it died. So there was that.

Before returning to the van Janelle washed herself off in a stream. Then she had Miguel drive them back into town. He was home in time to put his girls to bed and read a story to them.

Chapter 315

Oh geez. I don’t know if I’m in trouble. People who think they can dictate the rules Velorians play by are clueless. Absolutely clueless. I don’t know if it is arrogance, or lack of understanding how powerful they are, or just being used to being the Alphas. Whatever it is, you don’t tell Velorians how things are. They tell you.

The Velorians I know, Kara, Xara, Sharon, Juliet and Bri-an are not bullies. They are generally very tolerant of Terrans. If they are driving over the speed limit and are pulled over they’ll accept the ticket and pay the fine. Not because they are afraid of any consequences, but because they understand how a civilized society, based on the rule of law, works. But make no mistake, they follow our societal rules and laws by choice. Their choice.

Saturday morning came and we set off from the house at about 3 am. Once we were at altitude I dozed off and on. We made two stops in remote, isolated areas so I could relieve myself and Xara could refill the air tanks. To do that she just takes a deep breath and blows into the tank. Her body is powered by Orgone, not oxygen, so what she inhales is pretty much what she exhales. Not completely, what she exhales smells nice. I don’t know what gets added to the air while in her lungs, but yeah, it smells nice.

Kara had padded the schedule, so we arrived over Camp David early. The ladies hovered above the main entrance at 30,000 feet until about 9:50 AM, local time. Xara shared what she was seeing with me. There were people on the ground, Secret Service and Navy, a few Marines, with binoculars, looking up.

“They’re trying to find us,” she said to me in the Connection. “They don’t appear to be having much success.” And then she giggled. In the connection. Honestly, I can’t explain it other than to say it is a unique experience. If you ever want to know what it feels like to hear a Velorian giggle in the connection … you’ll have to find yourself another Xara.

At about 9:50 AM Xara rearranged her hold on me, so we were both vertical, then we began to descend. Instead of freefalling immediately, she let us accelerate a little more gently. My stomach appreciated that. Then after falling for a couple of minutes, I heard people yelling and shouting.

“They’ve finally seen us,” said Xara. “And they seem surprised.”

We didn’t know this at the time, but afterward Colonel Moore told us that the Navy and Secret Service had fully expected to detect us before we entered Camp David air space. That explained what happened later. I’ll get to that.

We landed and Xara laid me on the ground and unwrapped me. I stood up and looked around, we were surrounded by at least 20 people. Secret Service and Navy personnel, a few Marines. They were armed, but all sidearms that I could see were holstered, all rifles were pointed down.

As I looked around I saw a lot of very surprised faces. I don’t know what these people were told to expect, but many, if not all, were staring at Xara and Kara. The women as well as the men.

Xara picked up her cape by a corner and snapped it and it returned to its normal size and shape, then she put it on. The capes attach to the back of their flight suits. I have no idea what holds them in place, but if you were to examine it, the point of attachment looks like the suit and cape are all one garment.

A woman and a man stepped forward. The woman approached Kara and said, “Mam, before we take you into the facility I need to check you for weapons and electronic devices. I can do that with this wand. May I proceed?”

Kara replied, “You may.”

“Mam, please raise your arms.”

Kara did so and the woman ran her scanner over her, then said, “thank you,” and repeated the procedure with Xara.

The man waited for me to get out of the motorcycle suit then asked me to empty my pockets, turn over my phone, and take off my watch. Then he went over me with his wand. Afterward he gave me my wallet, watch and keys back. He kept the phone. He said I’d get it back when we left. He also said I’d get the motorcycle suit and boots back at that time.

“Mam,” said the woman to Kara, “if you don’t mind, we’ll keep the tanks and apparatus here while you have your meeting. They will be here when you return.”

“Very well,” said Kara.

We were directed to two Suburbans.

“Ladies, if you’ll get into this car, sir if you’ll get into the other car, we’ll drive you to your meeting.”

Xara said, “I will ride with my husband.”

The woman nodded and Xara and I got into the backseat of the second car. Kara was in the backseat of the first car. Each car had a driver and a second person in front.

“They’re both armed,” said Xara to me in the connection. “That’s why I want you close.”

“It’s probably standard procedure,” I replied.

We didn’t have far to drive, but we did pass a parking lot full of cars. And Suburbans, like the one Xara and I were in. I asked the guys in the front seat, “I was expecting you to ask for our IDs. Do you let anyone in here?”

The guy in the right seat laughed and said, “We have your picture, Staff Sergeant. And we have pictures of the ladies too. You stand out, no offense, and your companion’s manner of arrival was all we needed to know who they are.

“Are you and the young lady really married?”

“We are,” said Xara. “I’m not wearing my ring; it doesn’t travel well. But Joe here is the love of my life.”

“Way to go, Staff Sergeant,” he said with a chuckle.

We were taken to a building with a sign in front that said, “Laurel Lodge.” We were escorted inside and searched again for electronics and weapons. Then we were taken into a conference room. Every person we past stopped whatever they were doing and stared at us.

Probably Xara and Kara, but I was with them, so yeah, they stared at ‘us’.

Inside the conference room a man introduced himself to us as the President’s Chief of Staff. I recognized him from pictures I’d seen in the media, and television news stories. I’m going to refer to him as Chief. He was, in his opinion, in charge.

“You flew here with air tanks. Steel air tanks, I’m told. Why couldn’t we see them on radar?” Chief asked.

“They were enclosed in a device that absorbs and deflects radar,” replied Kara.

He nodded and said, “This shouldn’t take long.” He turned to Xara and said, “Look, we have a national security situation here, and we need you to interrogate prisoners for us.”

Then he turned to me and said, “And you, son, should remember who your Commander in Chief is and stay out of the way. This is no concern of yours and the President is ordering you to stand down.”

“Now, I’m very busy. We have people waiting to brief Xara. We expect you to cooperate.”

In the connection Xara said, “Brace yourself, Joe.”

And then Kara said, “I was told we would be meeting with the President.”

“Well,” said Chief, “the President is the most powerful leader in the world and is a busy man, and something has come up. He doesn’t have time for you. I speak for him.”

Just then Xara started emitting fear pheromones. She wasn’t being too aggressive with them, but I wanted to get out of the room. Chief was turning red and looking around.

Kara said, “I’m a busy woman myself, and my daughter and I are the two most powerful beings on this planet. Tell the President if he wants any help from us he’ll take that thing that has ‘come up’ out of the redhead’s mouth and meet with us.”

In the connection Xara said, “This is what we see.”

I was looking at the Chief, then I was looking through him and into another building where the President was in an office getting a blowjob. And the young woman doing the honors was definitely much younger than the First Lady.

While I was watching I heard the Chief leave the room in a hurry, which because of the fear pheromones I wanted to do too, and then I saw the President pick up a phone, then put it down in a hurry and push away the young woman. Then I was looking at the door the Chief had exited through.

“Are you two alright?” Xara asked me and Kara. “This room has good ventilation. The pheromones should be gone soon.”

“I’m doing better,” I said. And I was.

Kara said, “I’m fine honey. That was very good timing.”

“Kara,” I asked, “have you met this guy before?”

“No,” she replied, “the president had a different chief of staff last time I met with him.”

Chief came back into the room, looked around nervously, and said, “Ladies, please come with me to meet the President. Staff Seargent Ricci, wait here.”

He held the door open for Kara and Xara. Neither of them moved.

“The President only wants to see the two of you,” he said.

“Joseph is my trusted advisor,” said Kara. “He comes with us.”

“I’m not interested in meeting the President if my husband isn’t included,” said Xara.

“All right. All three of you, please come with me.”

Chief led us out of Laurel Lodge and into a car, a Suburban, that we all piled into, and the driver drove us up a hill to another building with a sign in front that said “Aspen Lodge.”

We parked in front of the building, walked up a flight of stairs into a sunroom and through that to a living room. I would describe the place as cozy and comfortable. There were chairs and a sofa around a large coffee table. Chief told us to sit down and make ourselves comfortable while he let POTUS, that’s what he called the president, know we had arrived.

While we waited an aid asked us if we’d like anything to drink. Kara and Xara declined, then Xara said, “My husband hasn’t had anything since very early this morning. Would you please bring him a diet coke?”

Thirty seconds later I had a diet coke in front of me, in a glass, on a coaster with the Presidential Seal on one side and “Camp David” on the other. I turned it over to look. I briefly considered pocketing it as souvenir but decided against it. I was afraid of being caught.

We didn’t wait long. POTUS and Chief entered the room, and we all stood up. POTUS reached out to shake my hand and said, with a smile, “Someday I’d like to hear how you landed such a beautiful wife.”

Before I could answer, Xara said, “I wore him down.”

POTUS laughed and shook her hand. She said, “I’m not kidding, Mr. President, he resisted me for a long time.”

He didn’t know whether to laugh at that or not, so he shook Kara’s hand, then said, “Please, sit down.”

As soon as we sat down another man entered the room who was introduced to us as the Director of National Intelligence. I’m going to call him, ‘DNI’.

So it was me, Kara, Xara, Chief, POTUS and DNI in the room. And then Kara and Xara, one after the other, crossed their legs. They are beautiful women, and I, and every other man with a pulse, love looking at their legs.

But there was something about the way they did it, something about the way they were sitting there, with lots of cleavage showing and their legs crossed, that conveyed a sense of power. Like they were sending the message that they were beautiful, desirable, dominant women who were to be feared, and the men in the room would never, in their wildest dreams, be worthy of them,

and were lucky to be allowed in their presence. I felt it, and looking at the others, I could see that they felt it too.

There was a pause while the men tried to regain their composure. They were intimidated, no doubt about that. But that didn’t keep them from trying to reassert their authority.

POTUS said, “I’ll get right to the point. We have a very delicate situation on our hands, and we need your help. We need Xara’s help.” Then he motioned to DNI to continue.

“I must impress on you the delicate nature of what I am about to tell you. I need assurances that you will keep this information to yourselves. Revealing it would have major legal consequences; I’m talking about long term imprisonment.”

Kara and Xara both laughed.

“Did I say something funny?” asked DNI.

Kara said, “Have you seen the video of our demonstration at one of your military bases?”

“I have,” replied DNI.

“Tell me, how would you get us into a prison and how would you keep us there?”

He didn’t have an answer, so POTUS jumped in.

“We may not be able to put you two in prison, but your son-in-law here is a different story.”

“No,” said Xara, “he isn’t.”

“Mr. President,” said Kara, “you should consider that any threat against my son-in-law would be treated as a threat against me, personally.”

This had the potential to go south fast.

“Mr. President,” I said, “I have a security clearance, and I take my responsibilities very seriously. I can assure you that the ladies here would be discrete.”

“Thank you, Joseph,” said Kara. “Mr. President, Joseph is correct. You can trust us to be discrete.”

POTUS looked at DNI and nodded.

“After the breakup of the Soviet Union there was a scramble to account for all nuclear weapons located in the former Soviet Republics. We hoped they had all been found, but we were not sure. During the breakup records were lost or destroyed.

“In the past year we have developed intelligence that leads us to believe that a previously unknown, hostile, non-state actor has come into possession of a thermonuclear device.

“We have two persons in detention who we believe know details about this device, such as its size, yield, location and what use they intend to make of it.

“We’ve interrogated them, extensively, and haven’t learned anything.”

“Have you tortured them?” asked Xara.

“We’ve employed enhanced interrogation techniques, not torture. They have not been successful.”

“Be specific,” she replied. “What techniques.”

DNI looked at POTUS. POTUS nodded.

“Waterboarding, sleep deprivation and binding in stress positions. One of them denies knowing anything, the other one says nothing.”

“Where are they?” Xara asked.

“Outside the United States.” DNI replied.

“I’m not asking where they aren’t, I’m asking where they are,” Xara said, with irritation in her voice. Which, from looking at them, at their body language, made POTUS, Chief and DNI a little nervous.

“They are in Africa,” said DNI, “that’s all I can tell you. If you agree to interrogate them you will be taken there, and returned, but we won’t tell you the exact location.”

Xara looked at me and in the connection said, “Joe, what do you think? I hate that they tortured their prisoners, but I don’t want to see an H-bomb blow up in a Terran city.”

“The H-bomb scares me shitless, Xara. I don’t want to see one used either.”

“But I can’t let them think it’s okay to torture people, then call me when that doesn’t work.”

POTUS said, “Well, Xara, will you help us?”

Kara said, “Don’t interrupt them.”

POTUS said, “Interrupt who? What am I interrupting?”

Kara held her hand up and said, “Wait.”

“Make that clear to them Xara, get some concessions from them.”

“Like what?”

“Tell them you’ll help them this time, but to never ask you again to interrogate someone they’ve tortured.”

“Okay, I’ll do that,” she replied.

“Mr. President,” she began, “I’ll do this for you. I’ll interrogate your prisoners, and I guarantee you that if they know anything about any bombs, they will tell me.

“But don’t you ever, EVER again ask me to interrogate a human being whom you have tortured or mistreated in anyway. And if I do find that these prisoners know nothing, I expect them to be freed and returned to their homes immediately. Under my supervision.

“And in the future you are not to ask me to interrogate anyone who isn’t afforded the same rights as any other prisoner in this country.”

“Are you negotiating terms with me, young lady?” asked POTUS, with irritation in his voice.

“No,” said Kara. “She is dictating them to you.”

I didn’t recall Xara being too concerned about the rights of the potential school bombers she interrogated before, but I decided to keep that to myself.

POTUS nodded his agreement.

“Alright,” said DNI, “Xara, I’ll contact you through Colonel Moore. We’ll arrange a flight for you out of JBLM in the next few days.”

“A flight for us,” said Xara.

“Us?” asked DNI.

“Joe is going to accompany me and will witness my interrogation. I require a room set up in a specific way. I expect bathroom facilities to be available in the interrogation area and food and water to be available to the prisoners, myself and my husband. The room needs to be set up with ventilation and fans that can be used to change the air in the room quickly. Colonel Moore can fill you in on the details. And I’ll also be bringing an object with me about 30% larger than a funeral casket. Have a long van meet us at our home to take us to JBLM.”

And then in the connection, “We’re bringing a pod with us. I don’t want you dependent on them to get home.”

“Mr. President,” said DNI, “I object to Staff Seargent Ricci’s further participation in this operation. He doesn’t have a need to know, and we already know he’s advised his wife to refuse to cooperate with us. Who knows what he’ll do if he witnesses the interrogation.”

“If Joe doesn’t go, I don’t go,” said Xara.

“Staff Seargent,” said POTUS, “I’ve put up with your presence in this room out of respect for your service and because that’s what I had to do to talk to your wife. I’m starting to get tired of your wife telling me what to do. And I’ve had enough of you advising people to turn down my requests. It would be best for your career to remember that I am your Commander in Chief and explain to your wife that you take orders from me.”

That was a stupid thing to say to me in front of Xara.

Chief had been sitting quietly, listening. He decided, at this time, to speak up.

“Kara, or is it Lisa Banks? You run a business that is tightly regulated by the FDA. Can’t you ask your daughter to be a little more cooperative?”

That was a stupid thing to say to Kara. Dixon asked Johnson who he thought was the most stupid, POTUS or Chief. Johnson said it’s a tossup.

Kara’s eyes flashed in anger. I mean really flashed. The temperature in the room went up a degree or two and all three of them, Chief, POTUS and DNI, raised their hands in front of their faces when they felt the heat. I’m glad I wasn’t sitting where they were.

Kara took a deep breath, and then said, in a way that was both silky-smooth and dripping with contempt, “You should seriously consider how I could threaten you before you threaten me.”

Xara said, “If you want my help, it will be on my terms. Joe comes with me and if there is any retaliation against him, or if I think there is any retaliation against him I will take action. You won’t like it.”

POTUS replied, “Young lady, are you threatening me!”

“It isn’t a threat, Mr. President. It’s a statement of fact.”

I am so screwed. Dixon and Johnson agreed with me. Dixon wondered which prison I’d be sent to after I was court martialed. Johnson pointed out that all three of us would be sent there.

POTUS glared at me, then said, “I have no choice but to accept your terms. Your husband will accompany you.

“Now, I have work to get back to.”

“He means he wants to finish with the red head. She’s still in that room. Probably waiting for him,” said Xara in the connection.

POTUS stood up, we all stood up, and shook hands all around. Kara and Xara put a little extra into their handshakes. All three of them, POTUS, Chief and DNI winced a little.

We were led out of the building back to a Suburban and were driven back to the checkpoint where we had arrived.

At the checkpoint I was given my phone back and the motorcycle suit and boots. The tanks and the mask were there, but the stealth device for covering the tanks was not.

“Something is missing,” said Kara.

“Ma’am, the missing item has been confiscated by order of the Director of National Intelligence,” said one of the Marines.

“Return it,” said Kara.

“Sorry ma’am, I can’t do that.”

“Young man, that device is my property, and I demand that you give it back.”

“No ma’am, I won’t. Please leave now.”

“I see it mom,” said Xara as she nonchalantly walked over to the checkpoint building.

“Ma’am,” said the Marine, “You can’t go in there.”

“Are you sure about that?” she asked.

He didn’t try to stop her. He just smirked when she turned the doorknob and found it was locked. He stopped smirking when she twisted the knob, shoved on the door and pushed it through the frame. It was loud, lots of splinters. She went in, found the stealth device and walked out.

The Marine tried to stop her. She just pushed him out of the way. Not too hard, but hard enough for him to know that she was stronger than him.

He was going for his sidearm when, in a flash, Kara was standing in front of him. She grasped his wrist with her left hand and pulled the pistol out of his hand with her right hand.

“Corporal,” she said, “you seem like a very nice young man who is just trying to do his duty. I understand that and we mean you no harm. But you should understand what you are up against before you pursue this any further.”

She held up the pistol in front of his face and then squeezed the barrel shut between her thumb and forefinger.

“Bullets don’t hurt us. We are much, much stronger than you. You’ve already seen that we can fly, I could pick you up and leave you stranded in any of these trees. You’re over matched. There is no shame or embarrassment in acknowledging that and standing down.

“Can you do that for me Corporal?”

“Yes ma’am,” he replied.

Kara gave him a beautiful smile. I swear, his knees nearly buckled.

The other people there, Marines, Navy, Secret Service, just watched. None of them wanted to get into a fight they were convinced they couldn’t win.

“Good. I’m sorry about your gun. I’ve learned through experience that once I’ve done that to a barrel, there is no way to fix it other than melting it down and recasting it.”

While Kara was dealing with the Corporal Xara was stretching out her cape and I was putting on the motorcycle suit, boots and helmet. After I was breathing through the tanks, Xara wrapped me in her cape, and we took off to head home.

“You didn’t get a chance to drink that diet coke,” she said to me in the connection, “and I know you must be hungry. We’ll find a place to set down where you can get something to eat and drink.”

In a short period of time, we landed in a wooded area next to a McDonalds. The ladies gave me their orders and I went in and bought us lunch. Then we were off for the long flight home. Long because they had to keep it ‘slow’ for the Terran Xara was carrying.

Chapter 316

On the flight home Xara was in quite a mood. I gathered from our conversation, in the connection, that the events of the day left her … aroused.

“I can’t wait to get you home Joe. Mom feels the same way!”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Those men, who think they are so powerful, were afraid of us! We had them completely intimidated and sexually aroused at the same time.”

“I picked up on the intimidation. I felt it too. But aroused?”

“They had erections. Darling, you should never be afraid of us.”

“You and your mother have told me that before. It’s hard not to be when you are projecting power that way.”

“And sexuality too! Intimidating powerful men, at the same time they desire us, is such a turn on! You’re going to have to take care of me and mom when we get home.”

Dixon and Johnson were high fiving each other.

When we arrived over Bellingham Xara moved me into a vertical position and we descended to our deck. I heard Kara ask, “What happened here?”

Xara unwrapped me and I stood up and looked around. The house was in lockdown mode. When Kelsor was building our house they incorporated security features Gloria wanted us to have. And those features

had been triggered. Shutters covered all the windows and doors. The security lights were on.

Kara said, “We should do a detailed inspection of the property.”

I said, “Let’s see what the security cameras recorded first.”

The security cameras are Kelsorian technology. They provide full 360 coverage of the house, including the roof. And they are well hidden. Xara approached one of the cameras which did a retinal scan, then a piece of a shutter slid aside revealing a keypad. Xara entered a PIN, and the shutters all came down and the door unlocked.

We went down to the Lair, and I sat at a display and selected the security recordings. They can record full time or be sound or motion activated. I had them configured to be motion activated. I brought up the video that had been recorded. It showed a van from the utility that supplies power and gas to Bellingham pulling into the driveway. Three men and a woman got out and came to the door and attempted to pick the lock. At that point the security system activated, and the house was shuttered. It took the four people at the door by surprise.

They spent the next fifteen minutes going around the house trying, we assumed, to find a way in. They couldn’t, but they weren’t finished. They began installing devices around the property, in the trees, under the deck, under the eaves, front and back.

Xara looked around the house, through the walls, and located all of them. “They can’t have much range,” she said, “their batteries are small.”

Then Kara pointed and asked, “What’s that?”

“It looks like the wall and ceiling,” I said, referring to what I saw her pointing at.

“She’s pointing outside the house, darling,” said Xara. “There’s an electronic device in a tree just a little way down the road.”

“It’s an amplifier, or repeater,” said Kara. “The van is just off the main road.”

“I see it,” said Xara.

“Joseph, stay here. Xara, you gather all the bugs and the repeater, then meet me at the van.”

They both went upstairs and out the back door onto the deck. Kara took off, out of view of the cameras. Xara went around the house, and under the deck then disappeared out of view. Fifteen minutes later she came back to the house and into the Lair.

“What did you guys do?” I asked her.

“We pulled the men and the woman out of the van. I released my trust pheromones and asked them who they were and who sent them. Joe, they were sent here by the Director of National Intelligence, under direction from the President.

“After they told me that, I switched to fear pheromones and mom told them to leave the area. They tried to get into the van, and she said the van was hers now and told them to walk. They ran.” Then she giggled. Out loud. Not a unique experience at all.

“Mom is destroying all the electronics in the van and making sure any recordings they had are unrecoverable.”

“Is she coming back when she’s done?”

“Yes. After she gives the van back to the President.

“I brought a souvenir home for you darling.”

“Really?”

Xara reached into the pouch of her cape and pulled out the Camp David coaster that had been under my drink.

“I saw you looking at it and thought you might like to have it.”

“Wow!” I replied. “Thank you Xara! Where should we put it, I’d feel funny using it.”

“Well, it would be a great conversation piece, but I don’t think we want to explain to our Terran friends how we got it. Let’s keep it in the Lair.”

I found a place to display it.

Three hours later Kara was back. She came into the living room and said, “Turn on CNN.”

CNN was reporting that the airspace in a thirty mile radius around Camp David had been closed. There were reports that an object, possibly a missile, possibly an aircraft, had crashed somewhere inside the facilities security perimeter. The President was sheltering in place and was safe. There were no reports of casualties.

“What did you do, Kara?” I asked.

“I dropped the van over one of the parking lots,” she said, “from fifty thousand feet. I approached slowly enough to make sure they could track the van by radar

before I dropped it. I waited while they scrambled jets then left before they could see me.”

She had barely finished talking when my secure phone rang. I answered it. Colonel Moore said she had a message for Kara. I handed the phone to Kara, and she set it to speaker mode.

“I’m here, Colonel,” she said.

“The President says, and I quote, ‘message received.’”

“Thank you, Sarah,” said Kara. Then she turned speaker mode off and handed the phone to me.

“Is that it, Colonel?” I asked.

“That’s it,” she replied.

“Nothing about a certain Staff Seargent being court martialed?” I ask.

“Nothing about that,” she said, “Or a certain Colonel being demoted either. Next time we’re together I’d like to hear what happened. Goodbye Staff Seargent.”

She hung up. I hung up. I turned back to Xara and Kara; they were both naked.

“He’ll be more comfortable in our bed,” said Xara.

Then they carried me off, emitting their pheromones. And not just a little, they hit me hard. I remember having orgasm after orgasm, and hearing them moan and sigh, and Xara telling her mother that they were goddesses on this planet and should act like it, just before she had an orgasm.

Chapter 317

I woke up the next morning to see Xara coming into the bedroom with a tray of food.

“We worked you pretty hard last night, darling. This will help you regain your strength.”

I sat up in bed and looked over the tray. Pancakes, bacon, eggs and orange juice. The orange juice looked particularly good to me.

“I’m very thirsty,” I said as I picked up the glass of juice.”

“Drink all you want,” she said, “I made a pitcher of it for you.”

“Why did you guys hit me so hard with your pheromones?”

“We were very worked up. It wasn’t intentional, it just worked out that way. Are you feeling okay?”

I wiggled around a little bit. “I’m stiff and sore, but there don’t appear to be any broken bones.”

“There isn’t any bruising either,” said Xara.

“What was that goddess talk about?”

“You remember that? Maybe we should have hit you harder with the pheromones,” she teased.

“C’mon Xara.”

“Dominating lesser beings can be a real turn on, Joe. Especially when they suddenly realize how helpless they are in our presence. The president and his little minions

were both afraid of us and aroused by us. That marine at the check point acted brave, but his heart was beating a mile a minute. After showing him his impotence against us, using actions and words, mom nearly brought him to his knees just by smiling at him. That is so sexy!”

“Xara …”

“Let me finish, Joe. Those three were asking for our help to accomplish something they can’t. Yet they acted like they were superior to us and could order us around. And steal our stuff! They were disrespectful to you too. They need to learn their place in the universe relative to the Supremis. Mom is much more patient with them than I would be if I was the Planetary Protector.

“But I have you. You’re a good man and you help me to be a good goddess,” she said with a smile. And then she got under the covers next to me and helped herself to the bacon.

“And what is my place in the universe relative to you?” I asked.

“Your place is at my side. Always. Unless you’re between my legs.” And then there were pheromones and then we had to clean up the mess we made of breakfast.

Chapter 318

A van with Air Force markings came to the house on a Wednesday morning. We’d packed Xara’s flight suit and one of my spacesuits along with a change of clothes for both of us into a pod and put it in the driveway. Xara was wearing a halter top and shorts with sneakers. I was wearing jeans and a short sleeve shirt and a light jacket.

When the van arrived, the driver got out and opened the rear doors and asked if we needed his help getting the pod into it.

“No, I’ve got it,” said Xara as she picked the pod up and put it in the van.

“That’s a lot lighter than it looks,” said the driver.

“She’s a lot stronger than she looks,” I replied.

The van wasn’t really meant to carry three people. I sat in a jump seat behind the front seat. It was cramped but I fit in it more easily than Xara would, as she is taller than me.

The driver was dressed in civilian clothes. “Are you an airman?” I asked.

“No, I work for a company that contracts with the Air Force.

“What do you normally do for them?” I asked.

“I do this,” he said. “I pick up cargo and people and drive them from one place to another.”

“You’re an Uber driver!” Xara said with a laugh.

“Not too different,” he said laughing. “Except my passengers never tip.”

“Here’s a tip for you,” said Xara. “Buy low and sell high.”

The driver laughed out of politeness. That joke isn’t as funny as Xara thinks it is. No one ever tells her that, though. It’s easy to get lost in her laughter, even if she is laughing at her own, bad, joke.

We made small talk with the driver for the 2 ½ hour trip. When we arrived at JBLM our driver was directed to a C-17 that was waiting for us.

When we got to the aircraft the loadmaster waived Xara aside and said he’d make sure the pod was loaded and properly secured. He enlisted the driver’s help and the two of them struggled to get the pod out of the van and onto the loading ramp.

“She put this in the van by herself,” said the driver.

“No way, buddy,” said the loadmaster.

“I’m telling you; she picked it up like it weighted nothing!”

The loadmaster just shrugged. He didn’t believe the driver. Xara giggled and said, “Terrans are so cute when we confuse them.”

After he loaded and tied down the pod he showed us to our seats. Then the pilot came into the cargo area to introduce himself. We introduced ourselves as Joe and Danni Ricci. Sometimes Danni introduced us as Joe Ricci and Danni Banks, sometimes as Joe and Danni RicciBanks, but this time she just used my name. I have no idea what criteria she uses to decide what she is going to call us. It seems random to me.

“I can’t tell you our destination,” said the pilot, “but our flight time will be about 14 hours. We’ll refuel twice on the way. You’re welcome to come up to the cockpit to observe the refueling if you like, it’s very impressive to see a KC-135 flying that close to us.”

“We’d love to see that,” said Xara.

We saw it. Twice. Otherwise, it was a very boring flight. I slept when I could. There were a few magazines to read. Someone had left a worn copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. I’d read it before. But watching a refueling was exciting.

Xara kept me appraised of which direction we were flying; how high we were flying; and what she could see of the ground when we were over land.

When we started our descent she said, “We’re flying into Algeria.”

Then, a few minutes later, “We’re landing at Bordj Mokhtar Airport.”

After landing and taxing we were met by a car and a van. The loadmaster and the drivers of the car and van loaded the pod into the van, then we got into the car and the two vehicles exited the airport.

The driver said, “I can’t tell you where we are, but if you read Arabic you should be able to figure it out.”

“We’re in Bordj Mokhtar,” said Xara.

“You read Arabic?” asked the driver.

“Do you know who I am? Do you know what I am?” asked Xara.

“I’ve been briefed,” said the driver.

“I don’t need to read signs to know where I am,” she said.

“There were English signs I could read while our flight was descending,” said Xara in the connection.

“Why’d you tell them you didn’t need to read signs?” I asked.

“Because sometimes it’s fun to screw with people” she said. While giggling. In the connection. I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that.

We drove for about twenty minutes then pulled up to what looked like a warehouse from the outside. The driver pulled up to a door and we got out. We were met by several men who introduced themselves as CIA operatives, first names only. And I wasn’t sure those were really their names. There were five large SUVs, kitted out for the desert, parked outside.

“Do you know who and what I am?” asked Xara.

“We do,” said George, who appeared to be in charge.

“Just so we’re all on the same page, what do you know about me,” she asked.

“You’re some kind of Supergirl,” said George.

“Close enough,” said Xara. “I want to get my pod out of the van and take it inside,” she said.

The driver opened the van door and said, “I’ll need a couple of guys to help me with this.”

Xara said, “No need,” and she pulled the pod out of the van and carried it into the warehouse.

One of the CIA guys asked, “Why would you need help with that?”

The driver, who had an amazed look on his face, said, “You try to lift it.”

So the guy followed Xara into the warehouse and after she put the pod down he tried to lift it. And tried, and tried.

“Stop,” said Xara, “you’re going to hurt yourself. It’s too heavy for you.”

He stopped.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m the person who is going to interrogate your prisoners. I’d like to start immediately. Is everything ready?”

“Yes, follow me,” the guy said.

Xara followed the first CIA guy, and I followed her with the rest of the CIA guys. We walked through a hallway and came to a room. There was a one way window into an interrogation room. Xara went into the interrogation room with the CIA guy and checked it out. She had the fans turned on and off so she could judge how well they worked. When she came back to the outer room she said, “It has everything I asked for, Joe. I’m happy with this.”

Then she turned to the CIA guys and said, “Tell me about your prisoners.”

The first CIA guy pointed at me and said, “We’ve been told he doesn’t need to be included. I’ll brief you when he leaves.”

Xara said, “He stays. Or no interrogation.”

The CIA guy said, “He leaves.”

Xara said, “Let’s go Joe,” and started to leave the room.”

The CIA guy said, “You don’t understand. We aren’t taking you back to the airport, and you’re not getting on that plane, until you finish the interrogation. This is nonnegotiable. I’m in charge here, not you. We’ve built the facility you asked for, now get your ass in there and do your fucking job.”

“Hey!” I said, “Watch your mouth! Talk to my wife like that again and you and I are going to have a problem!” I was pissed.

CIA guy stepped towards me, and I was fucking ready for him. Dixon and Johnson were telling me to clean his ass and if he wanted a fight, that was exactly what he was going to get. But Xara stepped between us.

“Joe, darling, it’s okay.”

I don’t know what it was, but I immediately calmed down.

“Gentlemen,” she said to the CIA guys, “let’s go outside, please, and I’ll explain everything to you. Okay?”

The CIA guys all shrugged and followed her outside. I had no idea what she was going to do, but Dixon and Johnson thought she was going to clean their asses.

Once outside Xara stripped down, nude. The CIA guys just stood there with their mouths open.

“Too bad for you my mother isn’t here. She’d disapprove of what I’m about to do.

“Listen carefully. I am a goddess. You are insects. I make the rules and give the orders; you follow them. If you don’t, I will step on you.”

And then she streaked up into the sky and we were nearly knocked off our feet by the sonic boom. And then she came down, fast, went from vertical to horizontal and ran into one of the SUVs and it blew apart as she flew through it. Then she came back around and picked up one of the other SUVs, went up about 100 feet, then threw it out over the desert. It went up in a long arc and we didn’t see it come down.

Xara landed and picked up her shorts to put them on but stopped when one of the CIA guys pulled a gun on her. Xara dropped her shorts and walked up to him, one hand on a hip, putting one foot in front of the other, hips swaying … God! She was sexy. The CIA guy was trembling. His pistol was pointed at her face. She reached forward and clasped his hand in hers and maneuvered the pistol into her mouth.

She put the thumb of her other hand over the trigger finger of the CIA guy and fired three rounds, in rapid succession, into her mouth. Then she took the gun away from the guy, turned towards one of the two remaining SUVS and spit the bullets out. Only they weren’t bullets anymore, they were one chunk of lead, and it went right into the SUVs engine block and embedded itself there. Then she took the pistol out of the guy’s hand, ejected the magazine, racked the slide to eject the round that was in the chamber, held the pistol up in front of CIA

guy’s face and crushed it in her hands as easily as I could wad up a piece of paper, and gave the now useless lump of metal to him.

Then she addressed the CIA guys: “Who is in charge here?”

“You are,” stammered one of them.

“I asked you all,” she said.

“You are,” they each answered, including the guy who gave her shit.

“Who gives the orders here?” she asked.

“You do,” they each answered.

“Can my husband watch the interrogation, and get the briefing,” she asked the CIA guy who had been so obnoxious to her.

“Yes,” he said.

She smiled and said, “Great! Go on inside, my husband and I will meet you there after I get dressed.”

They immediately turned and went inside.

“Was I too harsh, darling?” she asked me.

“Was it necessary to belittle them, Xara? Calling them insects was demeaning.”

“You’re right darling,” she replied. “I shouldn’t have gone that far. But he was so rude to me, and to you too.”

“Well,” I said, “they’ll probably get over it. But don’t let them bill you for the SUVs or the gun.”

She laughed at that. But when we got back inside she said to the CIA guy who was (previously) in charge, “Don’t you dare try to bill me for the SUVs or your gun.”

“No mam,” he said. “Won’t happen.”

“Very good. Now, tell me about your prisoners.”

The two prisoners were both Egyptian and they both spoke English. The CIA had developed intelligence that they knew about a thermonuclear bomb that had disappeared from one of the former Soviet republics. They had been kidnapped from their homes in the middle of the night and brought to Algeria and had been interrogated using what the CIA called “enhanced interrogation techniques,” and what the rest of the world called torture. The younger one claimed to know nothing, the older one wouldn’t say anything.

“Bring them into the room,” said Xara, “and shackle them to the table. Once I enter the room keep the door closed. I’m going to start by introducing myself, then I’m going to remove their restraints.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said one of the CIA guys.

“Why?” she asked, “what do you think they could do?”

“Oh,” he said. “But we usually want them to be questioned separately, so they don’t coordinate their stories.”

“That won’t be a problem,” said Xara.

“If, at any point, I need you to do something, Joe will tell you,” she said.

“How will he know?” asked one of the CIA guys.

Xara smiled and said, “We have a system.”

The two guys were brought into the room and shackled to the table. One looked to be no older than 16 or 17. The other one looked like he was in his 40’s. Xara waited for the CIA guys to leave the interrogation room, then walked in and shut the door behind her.

Once the door was closed the head CIA guy asked me, “You’re married to her?”

“Yes.”

“Is she like that … with you?”

“No. Never. If you are courteous with her and respectful she treats you the same way. Her meeting with the government over this interrogation didn’t go smoothly and you pushed her buttons.”

In the interrogation room Xara sat down at the table across from the two guys and pretended to be busy writing on a notepad she carried in with her. She held it an angle so the two guys couldn’t see what she was writing. But I could. She was writing a grocery list. She had a column for Costco and a column for Fred Meyer.

After a couple of minutes, she turned the pad face down, smiled, and introduced herself.

“Hi guys! My name is Danni. I have a few questions for you. Do you think you can answer them for me?”

Both of them smiled back and said, in heavily accented English, that they would be happy to answer her questions.

She started by asking their names. I’ll call the young guy YG and the old guy OG.

OG answered first, then YG. Then she asked them where they lived. They told her. Then she asked them what their relationship was. YG was OG’s nephew.

“You look uncomfortable,” she said. “If I remove your restraints, will you promise to stay seated and not cause any trouble?”

They both said yes. Xara had a key, and she released them and put the restraints down on the floor beside her. They rubbed their wrists and thanked her.

“Now I need to ask you some more serious questions. Is that alright?”

They both said yes.

At this point the CIA guys were asking me how she does it, how she gets the guys to answer her.

“You weren’t told?” I asked them.

No, they said, they were only told that she was an expert interrogator.

“She has the ability to make people trust her,” I said.

“How does she do that?” they asked.

“She has a sparkling personality,” I said. “Watch and listen.”

Over the connection, Xara said, “Are we keeping my pheromones secret?”

“For now,” I answered, “let’s not let the CIA in on our advantages.”

“I wonder why they weren’t told,” she said.

I mentally shrugged, which apparently was communicated to her over the connection. I don’t know how. Maybe it’s like the giggling thing.

Back to the interrogation.

“I’ve been told that you two may know something about a stolen nuclear bomb, can you tell me about that?”

The two guys looked at each other, then at Xara. They were confused.

YG said, “I don’t know anything about a nuclear bomb. I’ve told the men who took me, but they don’t believe me.”

OG said, “I don’t know anything about a bomb either.”

“Did you tell them that?” asked Xara.

“No. I’ve been trained to say nothing. I didn’t tell them anything, even when they tortured me, I said nothing.”

“Who trained you?” asked Xara.

OG gave the name of a group I’d never heard of. Something Jihad Something. I’ll just call it SJS.

“Ask the CIA if they’ve heard of this group,” Xara said in the connection.

“Have you heard of this group,” I asked.

One of the CIA guys said, “They’re one of the splinter groups fighting the Assad regime in Syria. They

are Islamists. It’s a real shit show, besides fighting Assad, they are also fighting a couple of other Jihadist groups. They’re roots are in Egypt.”

“You’re both members of SJS?” asked Xara.

“I am,” said OG. “My nephew is not.”

“YG, you’re not a member of SJS?”

“No. And I didn’t know my uncle was.”

“That’s true,” said OG, “He didn’t know.”

“You’re a member of SJS, and you’re not, and neither of you know anything about a nuclear bomb?”

They both answered in the affirmative.

“Do either of you know anything about any planned attacks using any kind of weapons of mass destruction?” Xara asked.

“I don’t,” said YG.

“Yes, of course I do,” said OG.

“You do?” said Xara. “That’s wonderful, will you tell me about it?”

“Yes, certainly,” said OG. “But please, not in front of my nephew. I’m afraid of what the CIA men will do to him if he hears what I am going to tell you.”

“Of course,” said Xara. “We don’t want anything to happen to your nephew.”

“A lot has happened to him,” said OG, somewhat bitterly.

“I understand,” said Xara.

“Joe, I’m letting YG out of the room. Have the CIA guys meet him. Tell them he is not to be harmed or shackled. In fact, I want them to give him something to eat and drink. He’s completely innocent and I want him treated that way.”

I turned to the CIA guys and said, “Xara’s going to let YG out. He’s to be given food and water. He is not to be restrained in any way. He’s innocent and she wants you to treat him appropriately.”

“How do you know?” asked one of the CIA guys.

“We have a system, remember?”

The CIA guy was about to object when Xara stood up, took YG by the hand, and led him to the door. One of the CIA guys left our room and when he got to the door Xara opened it and let YG out. She went back into the interrogation room but watched until she was sure her directions were being carried out. Then she turned her attention back to OG.

“You’re nephew is being taken care of,” said Xara. “He will not be harmed, I promise you.”

OG smiled and said, “Thank you. Will he be allowed to go home? His mother must be very worried about him.”

Xara looked at me. Actually, she looked at the one way window, but I knew she could see me. I turned to the CIA guys and said, “Well?”

“Yeah, we’ll get him home.”

Xara said, “He will go home. I promise you.”

“Again,” said OG, “thank you. You should not have taken him by the hand. My nephew is a very good man. Holding the hand of a woman he does not know is very improper. Your dress is very improper. You should be covered better. You should not bare your legs and breasts so.”

“I understand, OG. My ways are different from your ways. I’m sorry if I have offended you or your nephew. It was unintentional. Can your forgive me?”

OG smiled at her and said, “Yes, of course I can forgive you!”

Xara smiled at him, then said, “Now, tell me, OG, my friend, what do you know about weapons of mass destruction?”

“When the civil war in Syria started there was much confusion. Cities were taken by the rebels and retaken by the government. We captured military sites; they recaptured them. During one of these back and forth battles we found a large supply of Novichok the Russians had given Assad to use against his people. We took it. Our leaders met with the leaders of some allied groups, and they decided this weapon should be used against the West.

“My leader wanted it to be used against the Russians, but the other leaders said no, they feared Russian retaliation.”

Xara just sat there for a moment. She looked confused. The CIA guys, on the other hand, looked like they were about to shit themselves.

“Joe, what is Novichok?”

I asked the CIA guys.

“It’s a group of very powerful nerve agents. Have you heard of VX?”

“I have.”

“It’s more potent. Much more potent. We need to know where the Novichok is, what forms it is in, how much they have and where are they going to use it.”

“Did you get that, Xara?”

“Got it.”

“The CIA guys are really worried about it.”

“OG, can you tell me, how much Novichok you have?”

“I don’t know how much. I’m told it is a lot.”

“What form is it in?”

“There are canisters of gas. There are powders. There are liquids. There are canisters of chemicals that can be mixed to form Novichok.”

“Where is it going to be used?”

“The leaders wanted to use it in the United States, but don’t think they can get it in undetected. So they are going to release it in London. In the London Underground.”

“When are they going to release it?”

“There is no date yet. The preparations are very complex. The Novichok has to be put into many small containers. Volunteers have to be recruited to release it. And it isn’t in London yet. It is in France.”

“Where is it in France?”

“Somewhere on the coast. That’s all I know.”

“OG, is there anything else you think I should know?”

“We will kill many infidels. It will be a wonderful day. The West will fear us!”

“Thank you, OG, you have been very helpful! Would you like to use the bathroom facilities? It’s right behind that curtain.”

OG smiled at her and got up and went behind the curtain.

“When he comes out I’m going to shackle him, then let him experience real fear. But I won’t hurt him, Joe, okay?”

“Is that necessary, Xara? You have all the information.”

“I want to make sure that whatever happens to him, he will never be part of a plot like this again.”

“It doesn’t sound like he’s a mover or a shaker.”

“He’ll have a story he can tell other minions. I’m going to do this, Joe. I won’t hurt him, I promise.”

“Okay.”

OG came out of the bathroom and sat down across from Xara and thanked her for being so nice to him. Jeez, if he only knew.

Xara smiled at him and said, “Well, before I turn you back over to the CIA, I have to shackle you to the table. Is that okay?”

OG said it was. The CIA guys were practically flipping out trying to figure out how Xara got him to be so cooperative.

Xara shackled him to the table then turned to the window and said, “Please turn on the fans.”

The CIA guys looked at each other and shrugged, then turned on the ventilation fans. Xara went back to making the grocery list. In about two minutes OG started looking around. Then he became angry.

“Who are you! How did you do this to me harlot!”

Xara looked at the window and said, “Please turn the fans off.” The CIA guys turned off the fans.

OG was pissed. He was yelling at Xara, cursing her, and then he stopped. His eyes got big, and he tried to get away from her. But he couldn’t, he was shackled to the table.

Xara stood up and leaned towards him and mussed her hair up, close to his face. Then said, “You insulted me. I am NOT a harlot!” OG started screaming.

“He shit himself. I thought if I sent him to the bathroom first this wouldn’t happen.”

Then Xara began talking to him, in a whisper. I couldn’t hear what she said, and the CIA guys said their microphones weren’t picking it up. But OG stopped yelling and screaming. He was trembling. He was crying. He started begging her for mercy. And then he fainted.

“Oh crap! I went too far. His heart is still beating, I’m sure he’ll be okay. I’m coming out.”

Xara opened the door and came out, shutting the door behind her quickly. One of the CIA guys tried to get passed her and into the room. She put her hand on his chest and pushed him back, gently, and said, “You really don’t want to go in there right now. What happened to him will happen to you if you do.”

I don’t know if he believed her, but he didn’t want to find out. He didn’t go in.

Xara and the CIA guy joined me and the other CIA guys in the observation room.

“Did you get what you needed?” she asked.

The CIA guy said, “Yes. The problem wasn’t what we thought it was. I don’t know if this is better or worse.”

“What does Novichok do?” she asked.

“I’ve never seen what it does,” said one of the CIA guys, “but I’ve read about it. I’ll show you.”

He opened a laptop and did a Google search. There is a lot of information about it on the internet. After reading about it, Xara and I understood why the CIA guys were so freaked out.

While we were reading about Novichok, OG came to. He started screaming and crying.

“He’s had enough,” said Xara. “Start the fans again. When he’s calmed down it will be safe for you to go in there.”

He didn’t exactly calm down, but he wasn’t in hysterics. Two of the CIA guys went into the room to get him. When they took him out of the room, Xara jumped at him from around the corner and yelled ‘Boo!’. OG screamed and tried to get away from her. The CIA guys had to really hang on to him.

The head CIA guy asked her, “What the fuck did you do to him?”

“I made sure he’ll leave terrorism and jihad behind. Forever. You’ll never have to worry about him again. If you doubt it, ask him if he’d like to see me again.

“And make sure that young man gets home to his mother. He’s innocent and you traumatized him. Badly.”

“We’ll make sure.”

“Are we done here?” I asked.

The CIA guy said we were, and said they had a room with a bed. The C-17 wouldn’t be ready to leave for another 10 or 12 hours.

“We don’t need the plane,” said Xara. “Tell the pilots they can leave without us. We have our own transportation.”

“What? How?” asked the CIA guy.

“Come and see,” said Xara.

We went out of the interrogation rooms into the warehouse. Xara opened up the pod and took out her flight suit and stripped down and got into it. Then she helped me get into my spacesuit.

“Joe rides in here. I carry it on my back. I’ll get home much sooner than the C-17 by taking a ballistic trajectory, like a missile.

“Oh, if you find the Novichok and need help retrieving it, have the government contact me through our liaison. Novichok won’t hurt me. Think about that before you go busting down doors to get it.”

Then she helped me into the pod, closed the lid, put the pod on her back and then I felt her lift off and accelerate.

On the way home she told me she made a connection with YG when she held his hand. She said he might have PTSD from his treatment by the CIA, and she felt bad for him.

Chapter 319

Colonel Moore was given an abridged and redacted copy of the final CIA report two days after we got back from Algeria.

There were different reactions. First, the government was very grateful to get the intelligence on the Novichok. They were doing an investigation to try to figure out how, based on what they knew at the time, they concluded there was a nuclear bomb.

The CIA guys who witnessed the interrogation said Danni’s techniques were very effective but not understood. And her communication with me was not understood. They strongly recommended that the CIA learn those techniques. From us.

Fat chance.

There was some grumbling about the release of YG. The CIA guys were true to their word, they got him home. And because of the tools they had, blindfolds, drugs, that sort of thing, YG had no idea where he had been, so the CIA warehouse was still secure.

The grumbling. Sending innocent teenagers who had been tortured home was not standard operating procedure. But the CIA guys in Algeria did it because Xara convinced them that, to her, they were nothing more than insects and they were afraid of her.

The CIA guys who met Xara, or Danni to them, said she was very good, and would make a great asset, but she scared the hell out of them, and they didn’t ever want to work with her again. They also recommended that if any CIA personnel were to work with her, they

should be forewarned not to provoke her in any way. There was no mention, in the copy of the report given to Colonel Moore, about destroyed vehicles or pistols.

“Wow. I knew I rattled them,” said Xara, “but I had no idea I frightened them that much.” She told me this in bed, prior to releasing her pheromones. Yeah. It turned her on.

Of course, all this information was given to Kara, who shared it with her Supremis team in the hope that a little peer pressure would reign in Xara’s behavior in the future. Peer pressure. I don’t think Xara believes she has any peers, but I wasn’t going to go there with Kara.

Regardless, it didn’t work out the way Kara hoped it would. Gloria and Mona said if a Terran talked to a Prime the way those guys talked to Xara they would have been slowly burned alive.

Juliet and Bri-an said that on disclosed worlds Terrans learn to respect Velorians, and if Xara had to put her foot down to get that respect, then so be it.

Sharon thought the whole thing was a hoot.

One thing the Velorians (definitely not the Arions) did agree on, though, was that Xara should find a way to let them know that they could sleep at night, she wasn’t going to come after them.

“You mean, like letting them know it’s all good now?” I asked.

“Exactly,” said Sharon.

“But I got the information for them,” protested Xara. “They wouldn’t know shit if it wasn’t for me. And mom,

you agreed, Joe needs to be there to keep me grounded. And he kept me grounded. Those jerks would have excluded him!”

Kara just sighed and said, “It wouldn’t hurt for you to write a nice note to them.”

“Fine!” said Xara, loudly. She even stamped her feet. Like a little girl.

“You know, Kara,” I said, “this wouldn’t have happened if the CIA guys were told that I was to be included. From the way they acted, I’m pretty sure they thought the decision was up to them, and that their superiors hoped that I would be excluded.”

“Yes!” exclaimed Xara. “Yes! That makes sense. Mom, they must have been told to keep Joe out of the loop. It was their fault!”

“Maybe so,” said Kara. “But calling them insects? I raised you to have better manners with Terrans.”

“Fine,” she replied, meekly.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m married to a grown woman or an adolescent.

Something didn’t seem right about this, so I asked Kara, “You’re okay with her destroying vehicles and eating bullets as a means to frighten Terrans into giving her the cooperation she was promised, but you draw the line at name calling?”

“It is much more than name calling, Joseph,” she replied. “Calling them insects that she, a goddess, would step on if she was displeased implies, strongly implies, that she has no regard for Terran life. That is not a

message that Velor wants its Protectors to send. It is not a message that any Velorian on this planet will send as long as I am the Planetary Protector.”

“But don’t you think her actions made them feel threatened?”

“After calling them insects? I’m sure they did feel threatened. But she could have said, instead, that she was going to show them why their threat to hold her there until she submitted to their rules was an idle and unenforceable threat and then demonstrated why that was true.”

I didn’t agree with Kara. Dixon and Johnson told me to shut up, so I did.

Xara wrote a note of apology. It was a good note, I read it. She sent it to Colonel Moore who gave it to the CIA. I don’t know if the guys we met in Algeria got the note, but Kara was satisfied.

Chapter 320

Colonel Moore did ask for a call with Kara. The government wanted to know what help she or the other Velorians could be in locating the Novichok. Yeah.

We had a meeting of the blondes.

Kara’s position was that Velorians were here to protect Terrans from Arions, not from each other. She raised the usual objection that Terra, or Earth, is an undisclosed planet. That is, the resident Terrans were not supposed to know about Velor or Velorians.

Okay. So I’ve seen her deal with enough Terrans to be of the opinion that the cat is out of the bag. But none of the other blondes were willing to go there with her. I don’t know why, but I’m sure I’m not the only one in our group to figure that out. Dixon and Johnson advised that if the blondes weren’t willing to bring it up, they probably know something I don’t and should keep my mouth shut. So I did.

They all agreed that they didn’t have enough information to find the Novichok. They can see through walls and stuff, but unless they knew what to look for, they wouldn’t recognize it if they saw it. And the coast of France is a vague description of the area to search. How far inland do you look?

But they all agreed that if the Terran authorities could locate the Novichok, one or more of them could retrieve it with a very good chance that no Terrans would be exposed to the nerve agent. And since Xara had already told the CIA that if they found it she’d get it, in

fact she recommended they let her get it, it was hard for Kara to back track and say her team would not help.

So in the end, Kara told Colonel Moore that her team could not add any value to the Terran government’s search efforts, but would be available to help retrieve the Novichok should they be asked.

Janelle was getting bored. Ever since she was a teenager on Hypha-Red-6 she had taken pride in being able to find new, inventive and sadistic ways to torture and kill frails. Her parents had been very impressed and very proud of her. They credited her desire to find ways to increase the efficiency of the operation on ‘6’, combined with the joy and satisfaction she got from killing surplus frails, as major factors in turning her from a petulant teenager into a mature adult ready to take her place in Arion society.

But on Terra things were different. Her mission, to discover if Aria could conquer Terra by winning hearts and minds, precluded the mass slaughter of frails. On ‘6’ she always had a steady supply. Her holding pen would often have a dozen or more frails waiting for her and her mother to play with. Now, since she had eliminated the local gangs, she had to wait for criminals or miscreants to come to her, or she had to hunt them.

She decided that she wasn’t going to feel sorry for herself. She was going to get busy and do something about the situation. Having a stable of condemned frails at her disposal may not be possible, but by Skietra, she could find new and interesting ways to kill the ones that did come along.

So she drew up some plans and ordered the materials and she and Miguel went out to her Playroom site and built a new structure. Next, she went to work learning how to make kettles out of iron or steel. She spent hours on that before deciding it would be easier to buy them. So she found a company willing to sell her two large kettles and ship them to the road that went to her Playroom.

The truckers who delivered them wondered what she was going to do with them at the intersection of a small tract into the mountains. She satisfied their curiosity by giving them large sums of money. They thanked her and drove off.

Next she had to get the kettles to her new building. That involved carrying and dragging the crates they were in up the road and to the building. Then she had to repair the road. Miguel helped when he could, but all he could really do was stand by while she did the work.

Once she had the kettles in place, she put water in one and mineral oil in the other. She didn’t fill them all the way; she had to experiment first. She found that she could boil the water easily with her heat vision without making a mess. For the mineral oil, she had to find the boiling point, and then the flash point. For her purposes the temperature of the oil had to be kept below the flash point. If the temperature was at or above the flash point, and she dropped an object into it, the oil would suddenly start burning. She didn’t want that.

Next, she built a system of pulleys and a hand crank so she could lower objects into the kettles, either separately or together, and raise them back up. Finally, she welded long metal rods together to make grates that would fit over the kettles. She had Miguel get into one of the kettles, then put one of the grates over it. Miguel couldn’t lift the grate.

When she was finished she had two kettles that would fit two or three frails each, grates to go over them, pulleys to lower and raise frails into and out of the kettles, and water and mineral oil she could put into

them. And she built a platform high enough to allow her to look down into the kettles. All she needed now was a couple of frails to put into the kettles and one to masturbate with.

In the meantime, she put Miguel on an exercise and diet program. He had responsibilities to her and to his family and she wanted him healthy and strong for as long as possible.

At first, he balked at this, which she found amusing. But she had observed her Terrans very closely and had discovered that Terran marriages were very much like Arion marriages: the wives were in charge. A simple five minute conversation with Jaunita was all it took.

“You two have ganged up on me,” he said to Juanita and Janelle one night when Janelle had been invited to dinner. “It isn’t fair.”

The women laughed at him, then Jaunita kissed him on the lips, Janelle kissed him on the forehead, and his wife said, “We want you to be here for us for a very long time, my husband.”

Chapter 321

We’d been back from Algeria for just over a week when a Messenger showed up. He had news, and he had time. He had news that Kelsor had finished a preliminary design for the space habitat Xara had ordered, it was on a crystal he brought us, and he had a few days to spend satisfying the blondes.

Xara was not her usual giddy self when the Messenger arrived. In fact, she was nearly, for her, subdued.

“Joe, you know I love you and you are first in my heart, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know that.”

“And you know I don’t love the Messengers.”

“Yes, I know that too.”

“And you know I need, we all need, what only another Velorian can give us.”

“If you mean a huge, harder than diamond, pulsating cock with the stamina behind it to fuck an elephant into submission, then yes, I know.”

“An elephant wouldn’t survive a minute with a Messenger, and your description is crude. But it isn’t wrong.

“And you know I’ll come back to you.”

“Yes, I know you’ll come back to me.”

“And I promise you, Joe, if you call out to me, I’ll answer you. And if you need me I’ll be at your side as fast as I can. I’ll never leave you hung out to dry again.”

“I know, Xara. And I love you for it. And I won’t call you unless it’s important.”

“I know you won’t, darling. You never have. I was a bitch, and I am so sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“I believe you, Xara.”

Xara and the other blondes had been gone for two days when I got a call from Colonel Moore.

“Staff Seargent, I shouldn’t be doing this, but I’m giving you a heads up. When the FBI saw the pod Xara took you home in, they didn’t think anything of it. But the CIA saw the pod, and saw you get into a space suit. And they’ve been thinking about it a lot. And they’ve been talking about it.

“The Director of National Intelligence wants you to turn over all items of alien origin in your possession.”

“Is the DNI aware that Kara negotiated an agreement with the government that shields that technology?”

“As I understand it, Staff Seargent, the agreement specifies that your domicile has the status of a foreign mission, with all the rights and privileges of one. I think the DNI is aware of it, but he thinks since you are a member of the United State Army he can order you to turn it over. Staff Seargent, you’re going to need a lawyer, and you’ll need one fast.

“I’m calling from the secure phone Kara gave me. I trust Kara that there is no way for this conversation to be traced back to me, and I’m only giving you this information. I will not repeat it to Kara.”

“Understood, Colonel. Thank you for the heads up. And we never had this conversation.”

Well, crap. Moore said I’ll need a lawyer fast. Kara needed to know about this. Is this important enough to interrupt Xara to get the message to Kara? Will Kara be pissed at me for interrupting her Messenger time?

Dixon and Johnson started wondering how it worked, with five Velorian women and one Messenger. Was it a big group thing?

I told them to shut up, this was serious. We all agreed that I needed to let Kara know about this immediately, and that meant contacting Xara.

“Xara, are you there? I need to talk to you.”

“I’m here, darling, what is it?”

I related the phone call to her.

“Xara, I wouldn’t have interrupted you, but the Colonel said I’d need a lawyer soon.”

“It’s okay, darling. You did the right thing. I’ll let mom know. Love you, bye.”

She ‘hung up’.

Two hours later Kara was in my living room, and she was livid. Whether it was because of the government or because her Messenger time was interrupted, I didn’t know. Dixon wanted me to ask. Johnson said he didn’t think it was a good idea. I agreed with Johnson.

“Tell me exactly what Sarah told you,” she said.

I related the conversation as best I could remember it, and I remembered it very well, nearly word for word.

“This house and this land are Velorian territory. The government knows that. I’m getting a lawyer up here.”

“Kara, do you think we should move as much alien stuff out of here as we can?”

“No, Joseph, I do not think that. We are drawing a line, and we are not retreating.”

She got on the phone and called someone, explained what was going on and told whoever it was to get up here.

“Crystal will be here with one of my lawyers before tomorrow, Joseph. If someone shows up here before they arrive, contact Xara, and then hold them off. Lock down the house if you have to. I’ll be with Xara.” And she left. “I’ll be with Xara,” meant, “I’ll be fucking a Messenger.”

Crystal is Kara’s confidential assistant, and she has been enhanced. I don’t know exactly what that means. She’s stronger than an unenhanced Terran. I know that. Do bullets bounce off her? I don’t know.

An hour later my phone rang. It was Crystal. She was calling from Kara’s private jet, and she had a lawyer with her. They’d be at the house as soon as they could. She repeated Kara’s instructions; don’t let anyone in, lock down the house if I have to.

At midnight my phone rang again. It was Crystal. She and the lawyer were just turning onto the road to the house. I turned on the outdoor lights and let them in.

Crystal introduced me to the lawyer, Jim Tooney. I showed them to their bedrooms and made sure they had clean towels so they could shower if they wanted to. They put their bags in their rooms then Jim sat down with me

and had me go over the phone call with Colonel Moore. He told me to let him do all the talking if someone showed up or called, and don’t let anyone intimidate me. After that, Crystal asked me where Skar-El would be staying.

“I didn’t know Skar-El would be staying,” I told her.

“He’s the Messenger the girls are with,” she said. “Kara wants him here when the government people show up. She thinks they’ll be more intimidated seeing him than any of the women.”

Yeah. I could see that. Skar-El is huge.

Crystal brought a suit for him and some other clothing, so I opened up another bedroom.

I set the house security system on an alert level. If anyone showed up, it would lock down immediately. I went to bed. Crystal and the lawyer went to their rooms.

About five in the morning I heard the shutters closing, the house was going into lock down. About thirty seconds later I heard the shutters opening. Meaning someone the house recognized had arrived. Then I heard the shutters closing again. Five minutes later Xara was crawling under the covers with me. She kissed me and asked me how I was. I told her I was fine. Then I heard people talking in the living room.

“Mom is talking to the lawyer. We don’t need to worry about that. Get some sleep, darling.”

“I’m sorry I interrupted you,” I said.

“Shh, it’s okay. More than okay, that is exactly what you should have done. Don’t worry about it.”

Chapter 322

I woke up about 7am alone in bed. I could smell food, so I got up. I noted that the house was no longer locked down.

Crystal and Xara were making breakfast. Jim and Kara were looking over documents, legal stuff I guess. Skar-El was wearing slacks and a white shirt trying to tie a necktie.

“Joseph, will you please help Skar-El?” asked Kara.

“Sure. Skar-El, follow me.”

He followed me into my bedroom. I grabbed a necktie out of my closet and brought him into the bathroom. Xara had the bathroom walls covered with mirrors so she could use her heat vision to dry off after a bath or shower. These were the only mirrors big enough for me and Skar-El to stand in front of, side by side.

“Do what I do,” I said.

I put the necktie around my neck, adjusted the length, then tied it, going through each step, watching to make sure Skar-El was following and doing it right. Well, of course he could follow me, and do it right. He’s Velorian.

We took the ties off and I had him put his on again. He did it perfectly. Then he asked me to wait for him while he ran out of the room to get something.

He came back and held up a pair of underpants. Tighty whities. “What do I do with these?” he asked.

“Those are underpants,” I said. “They go on under your pants”.

“Why?” he asked.

“Haven’t you ever looked through Terran men’s clothing and seen them wearing these?” I asked.

“No,” he replied. “Why would I do that? Terran men look just like Velorian men, only smaller.”

He had me there.

“You don’t have to wear them if you don’t want to. We usually wear a shirt, called an undershirt, too.”

“I’ll be back,” he said.

He came back with an undershirt.

“This is an undershirt?”

“Yes,” I answered. “You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to.”

“Do you wear undershirts and underpants?” he asked.

“Yes, I do.” I replied.

“Then I will too,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

He came back with the suit jacket. I watched him take off the pants and shirt, Christ almighty, that man is hung, then put on the underpants and undershirt, then put on the suit pants, the white dress shirt, the tie and the suit jacket.

Here’s something interesting I saw. He can put on his pants, two legs at a time. He just hovers up a bit and pulls them up.

I had him look at himself in the mirror.

“Is everything correct?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said, “everything is correct.”

Everything was more than correct. Dressed in that suit, he looked very handsome. I’m sure I could take him anywhere and he would be able to have any woman he wanted. Well, he could anyway, but the suit really made him look good.

I took him downstairs to where the others were. The ladies stopped what they were doing and stared. That made Skar-El stop in his tracks.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“No,” Kara said, “nothing is wrong. You look very handsome in that suit.”

He smiled and said, “Thank you, Protector. That is very kind of you to say.”

“You don’t need the suit now,” said Kara, “you can change into something else Crystal brought for you.”

Crystal said, “Come with me,” and Skar-El followed her. I fell in line behind her, because I just had to know.

“Crystal, where did you find a suit to fit him on such short notice?"

“Oh, Kara keeps complete wardrobes for Messengers. They don’t vary all that much in size. She has a closet full of suits. I could have brought two others that would fit him.”

She showed Skar-El the other clothes she brought for him and suggested he put on a pair of jeans and a casual long sleeve shirt. And socks and shoes.

“Do I need the under garments?” Skar-El asked me.

“Only if you want them,” I replied.

Crystal was amused.

Skar-El undressed in front of us and put on the other clothes Crystal suggested. She was mesmerized, looking at him.

“He’s hung, isn’t he?” I said.

“And his abs are amazing!” she replied.

“Are you intimidated, Joe? I sure am,” she replied. I laughed at that. Dixon and Johnson thought it was funny too.

Then we all went back into the dining room and sat down for breakfast.

While we ate, Kara explained that, if needed, Skar-El would be presented as a diplomatic representative from Velor. He would only speak Velorian and those of us who speak Velorian would translate. This way, Kara explained, that whatever questions he was asked, and however he answered the questions, we’d be able to give the answer we wanted the government to hear.

This conversation was held in English, so Skar-El didn’t understand very much of it. Kara explained to him what his part would be. Jim Tooney, who does not speak Velorian, would be presented as local council hired by Velor to represent their interests.

After breakfast, Jim asked me for a dollar. I gave it to him and he said, “You are now my client. Everything you tell me is privileged.” Then he collected dollars from Xara and Crystal. He already worked for Kara, so he didn’t need anything from her. Then Kara loaned Skar-El a dollar and he gave it to Jim.

“Why am I giving this Terran paper?” he asked.

“It’s just a formality,” replied Kara.

“Now that we’ve taken care of the formalities,” said Jim, “show me everything in this house that is of alien origin.”

I looked at Kara, and she nodded. So we went through the house, showing him everything. Most of it was in the lair, but some weren’t, and that gave Jim an idea.

“Crystal, Jim, you stay here with Joseph,” said Kara. “Joseph, if someone from the government contacts you, or comes to the house, contact Xara. We’ll be close by.”

And then she, Skar-El and Xara were in their flight suits and went out onto the back deck and left.

“We’ll be up in the Mt. Baker area,” said Xara in the connection, “so we’ll be able to get back here very quickly.”

“Where are they going?” asked Jim.

I took him out on the deck and pointed in the direction of Mt. Baker. “There.” I said. Then went back inside.

Twenty minutes later, Juliet, Bri-an and Sharon arrived.

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked.

“We’re the calvary, in case you need it,” said Sharon. “Kara and Xara are making up for lost time with Skar-El.”

“What does that mean?” asked Jim.

“Who are you?” asked Sharon.

“He’s one of Kara’s lawyers,” said Crystal.

Crystal introduced him to all the ladies. I went into the kitchen to get refreshments for our new arrivals. Juliet followed me and said, “He’s cute. But he’s wearing a wedding ring. Do you think he’s available?”

“Wasn’t Skar-El enough for you?” I asked.

“There is never enough,” she replied. “Would I be out of line if I approached him?”

“For sex? Yes, you would be out of line. He’s married.”

“Some married Terran men don’t mind being bedded by us,” said Juliet.

“Do you approach them, or do they approach you?” I asked.

“If I know they are married, I wait for them to approach me. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.”

“I think you have your answer,” I said.

“I hoped you’d say something different,” she replied.

Then, from the living room, we heard Jim exclaim, “All five of them!”

Crystal had just explained what making up for lost time meant.

“You didn’t know about this?” I asked.

“I know what Kara and Velorians are. I know what a Protector is. I know Crystal is enhanced. I know Kara’s business operations inside and out. I knew she had a daughter and son-in-law, but I’d never met them. She had never mentioned Messengers, or what she did with them.

“Why are they called Messengers?” he asked.

Sharon answered. “Their job is to travel between planets delivering news and messages from Velor to Protectors, and to take news and messages from them back to Velor. That’s their official job. The sex is an important, but unofficial, part of their duties.”

Tooney looked at me and said, “He’s with your wife. Are you okay with that?”

I was just about to open my mouth when Sharon said, “You’re new to this, Jim, so you can be forgiven. That is not an appropriate question to ask.”

“Oh,” he said, “sorry.”

“As I said, this is new to you,” said Sharon, “don’t feel bad.” Then she winked at me. Tooney didn’t see it.

My phone rang. It was General Rosenthal.

“Staff Seargent, I’m here with Secdef. Can we speak?”

“Yes sir,” I said.

“Son, there is a fight brewing among the President’s advisors and Cabinet Secretaries. The Director of National Intelligence is convinced that you have alien artifacts, technology, or just stuff, in your possession and he is trying to force you to turn it over to the country’s intelligence apparatus.”

“Sir, should I be worried?”

“I am, son. You should contact Kara and have her provide you with legal representation, and she should be prepared to defend the status of your home and land.”

“Yes sir. I’ll contact her immediately.”

“Very well son. And son, if anyone from the Army shows up, tell them to contact me. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir, I do.”

“Good. Now tell me, what do you understand?”

“Get a lawyer, get Kara involved for the diplomatic stuff, refer anyone from the Army to you.”

“You got it son. If anything starts to go sideways let me know. SecDef and I are on your side.”

“Yes sir. Should I contact Colonel Moore, sir?”

“She’s aware, Staff Seargent. It was her idea to have us contact you. Good luck, son.”

Crystal and the Velorians heard both sides of the conversation. I told Jim what Rosenthal said to me.

“That’s interesting,” said Jim. “Maybe we can turn the two sides against each other and keep you out of the middle.”

“I’d like that very much,” I said.

We didn’t hear anything from anyone for another day. Then Skar-El, Kara and Xara returned. Jim and I filled them in on the call from General Rosenthal and SecDef. Jim said he hoped they’d give him the opportunity to play one side against the other.

Later in the evening, while we were eating dinner in the dining room, my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number. I answered it.

“Staff Seargent Ricci, please hold for the President of the United States.”

The Velorians around the table had heard. So did Crystal. I put the phone on Speaker and said to Jim, “It’s the President.”

A few seconds later the President came on.

“Staff Seargent, can you get a message to Kara?” he asked.

“I’m here, Mr. President,” she said.

“Do you have a pen and paper handy?” he asked.

I left the table to get one.

“I will in a moment, Mr. President,” she said.

“I’m giving you an address,” the President said.

“Go ahead,” replied Kara.

He rattled off an address, she wrote it down.

“The DNI is acting against Staff Seargent Ricci without my knowledge. Or he thinks he is. That man has been a pain in my ass ever since I appointed him. His

appointment was a favor to a Senator whose vote I needed. I don’t like the Senator. I don’t like the DNI either, but I needed the vote.

“Kara, we got off on the wrong foot when we last met, and I’m sorry for that. I was following some bad advice. I am very grateful for the work your daughter and son-in-law did to identify the Novichok threat. And I understand that if we can locate it, you and your team stand ready to retrieve it in a way that will minimize the possibility of casualties, and I’m also grateful to you for that.

“I’m not interfering with the DNI. He doesn’t know I’m on to him, and I don’t want him to know. I have learned that operatives working under his orders will be coming to the location of the Velorian Mission to confront Staff Seargent Ricci, and they will be bringing armed men and vehicles with them. When they arrive call me,” he gave her a number to call.

“I’ll order them to leave the area. Please pick out one of their vehicles, any one of them, I don’t care which and do with it what you did with the van you dropped on Camp David.”

“At the DNI’s address,” said Kara.

“Exactly,” said the President. And then he hung up.

“I want to drop the van on him, mom,” said Xara.

“In his yard, not on the man,” said Kara.

Chapter 323

They say God works in strange and mysterious ways. So does Kara. Well, maybe not so strange or mysterious. Her plan was reasonable.

When the DNI’s people came, I wanted to be out front to meet them and tell them to get the fuck off my property. Kara pointed out that as far as the government was concerned, my house and the land it is on were the property of Velor. And if anyone was armed there was no way she was going to allow me to be in the line of fire. Xara backed her up on that.

Gone was the plan to put Skar-El in a suit. Much to his relief. He was not accustomed to wearing that much clothing. And playing the part of an ambassador, while being Kara’s puppet, didn’t appeal to him either.

Kara wanted all the Velorians to be present in their uniforms. No, no. I can’t get used to that. Uniforms should cover something up. Flight suits. She may have said be in uniform, but what she meant was in their flight suits. That included Skar-El. Jim and I would stay in the house and not come out unless summoned by Kara.

When the government people came, the Velorians would meet them outside. Skar-El would be in front, next to Kara. While the women would be intimidating in one way, Skar-El would project physical intimidation. Not by doing anything, just by standing there, all six and a half feet of him with a physique that would put a Greek god to shame.

Mona and Gloria were told to stay away. Harvey and Harold still didn’t know they were Arions, and Kara didn’t

want to risk them coming along looking for their girlfriends.

The next day three SWAT vehicles, with federal markings, came down the road to my house accompanied by four Suburbans, also with federal markings. They stopped on the street and four people, dressed in tactical gear and carrying rifles approached the house. There were seven more who stayed behind with the vehicles. The blondes (Skar-El is a blonde too), all stepped out to meet them. This confused the feds, and they stopped.

I could easily understand their confusion. Whatever they expected to see when they came to the house, five six foot women and a giant man, all dressed very briefly with capes, probably wasn’t it.

Kara said, “You are trespassing on the property of a foreign government. I am ordering you to leave.”

One of the feds said, “We are looking for Staff Sergeant Joseph Ricci. We have authorization to search these premises and remove anything we find of alien origin. Please step aside.”

“We will not step aside. You will leave.”

The fed stepped forward, followed by the other three. Skar-El stepped forward and they stopped.

“We don’t want to use force to carry out our search, but we will if we have to,” said the fed.

“That won’t end well for you,” replied Kara.

Johnson said, “Holy Shit!” Dixon said, “I don’t think this is the way it’s supposed to go down.”

I agreed with them. I pulled out my phone and dialed the number the president had given us.

“Is this Kara?” asked the voice on the other end of the call. I recognized the voice; it was the president.

“No, sir,” I replied. “This is Ricci. Sir, I think I need to get you on the phone with the guys who showed up at my house.”

“Are things getting bad, Staff Sergeant?”

“I think they are about to, sir.”

“Give the phone to whoever is in charge.”

“Yes sir.”

Kara was in charge, but he meant the fed. I walked out onto the porch and out into the driveway.

“Joseph! Get back inside!” Kara ordered.

I ignored her. I held the phone up in my right hand and held my other hand in the air.

“Sir,” I said to the head fed (that rhymes!), “Someone wants to talk to you.”

“Who?” he asked.

“It’s better if you find out for yourself,” I said.

The feds were confused and off balance. They didn’t expect the reception committee who greeted them, and they were willing to listen to me.

The fed took the phone from me, held it to his ear and said, “Who is this?”

About three seconds later he started to turn white. His hand was shaking. He said, “Yes, sir.

“The Director of National Intelligence, sir.

“No other authorization, sir.

“Yes, sir.

“Right away, sir.”

He walked up to Kara and held the phone out to her and said, “The president wishes to speak to you, ma’am.”

Kara took the phone and said, “This is Kara, Mr. President.”

She listened for a few moments, then hung up the phone and handed it to me. Then she went to the head fed, pointed at one of the SWAT vehicles and said, “I’ll take that one.”

The fed turned to the others and said, “Leave that vehicle. We’re done here.”

“Sorry to bother you ma’am.”

And they left.

I went to the SWAT vehicle they left behind and went through it. There was nothing in it I wanted.

Kara came up to me and asked, “What made you do that, Joseph? I told you to stay behind us in the house.”

“Kara,” I replied, “you were supposed to get the President on the phone with them right away. You didn’t do that. I thought someone might get hurt.”

“I was going to give them a small demonstration of a Protector’s power, Joseph, but I would not have let anyone get hurt.” And she let it go at that.

Sharon and Xara, on the other hand …

“Joe, don’t ever take a chance like that again,” said Sharon, in a very stern voice. Dixon and Johnson both warned me not to laugh at her.

“Why did you take that risk, Joe? You could have been hurt!” said Xara.

“Five P1s and a Messenger!” I retorted. “There is no way I could have been hurt. If one of them had done something, one, or all of you, would have acted. I was never in any danger, and you know it.”

“He’s right,” said Bri-an.

“The situation was escalating,” said Juliet. “He deescalated it.”

“Non-violent de-escalation is always preferred when dealing with Terrans,” said Bri-an.

“He’s Kiraling,” said Sharon.

“All the more reason to for him to trust that no harm would come to him,” said Bri-an.

“Not this time,” said Sharon, “but …”

I interrupted her. “I have a good sense for when I am in danger,” I said. “I can tell when someone is looking for a fight. These guys weren’t.”

“He is right,” said Kara. “Next time, Joseph, give us a heads up. Please.”

I shrugged and said, “If I can, I will.”

Xara said, “You don’t get to be on top for a week, Joe Ricci!”

I kept my mouth shut. If she thought that was punishment, I figured I was doing pretty well for myself.

After dark Kara went outside, tilted the front of the SWAT vehicle up, then hand walked to its balance point and lifted it up into the air. I watched her until she was out of sight, then went inside.

When Xara and I went to bed that night she rolled toward me and put her arms around me, then rolled onto her back, pulling me on top of her.

“Darling, I am so sorry! I promised myself that I would never use sex to punish you, and I won’t. You can be on top tonight.”

Then there were pheromones.

The next morning, I turned on CNN. They were reporting that the president had accepted the resignation of the DNI. No reason was given for his resignation. There were rumors, however, accompanied by pictures, that he had driven a large government vehicle into his backyard pool while in a state of inebriation. The talking heads acknowledged that could be true, but wondered, based on arial photos, how the vehicle could have gotten into the pool without breaking down a fence or leaving tracks in the landscaping.

Then they said there was breaking news. The President’s Chief of Staff also handed in his resignation.

After breakfast all our guests left, leaving me and Xara alone. Xara decided to treat me, that’s what she said, she was treating me and spent the next two days in the house with me, nude, making love to me as often as she wanted to, which was a lot.

Janelle wondered what Near Earth Command (NEC) was thinking. She wondered about that a lot these days. They generally agreed with the way she was conducting her mission, but they also, at times, made unreasonable requests, or, as Janelle saw them, demands.

NEC had decided it was time to find Chouridgde and interrogate him and use him as leverage against the Velorian Protectors on Terra. So they were sending a Capture Team to Terra to find him. Their best estimates, which Janelle considered little more than a guess, had him in the Terran country of Canada.

NEC wanted Janelle to provide intelligence regarding the country, its language and culture, and any other information she could obtain to prepare the Team for their mission.

Janelle took this assignment seriously and decided to travel to Canada to learn as much about the country as possible. This would be no easy task. NEC did not seem to appreciate the distance between her Central American country and Canada, nor the size of Canada itself.

She would go to Canada, gather as much cultural information as she could, and return to her base and transmit the information to NEC. She herself would not participate in the active search for Chouridgde. If NEC was correct, if Chouridgde was married to a Protector, and was Kiraling, and there were three or more Protectors on Terra, the Capture Team would be going on a one way suicide mission.

Chapter 324

It was late August. Xara got an email from the chair of the WWU biology department suggesting that the department should have a party on Labor Day, and wondered if Xara could host it.

An hour later she got a very similar email from the chair of the Chemistry department. While she was reading that, an email came in from the chair of the Physics department.

“I think they’re in cahoots,” said Xara.

“I think you’re right,” I replied. “Do you want to do it?”

She sighed and said, “Yes, it can’t hurt to get some departmental goodwill while Medical schools are looking at me.”

“You think you’re going to do it? Go to Medical school?” I asked.

“The government has convinced me I don’t want to work for them,” she said. “Are you okay with a party? I didn’t see any mention of doing a potluck. That puts everything on us.”

“Sure,” I said. “Maybe Harvy and Harold will help.”

“I’m sure they will,” replied Xara, “because I’m going to make their girlfriends help.”

And when the rest of the blondes heard there was going to be another party, they decided they wanted to come too. So Xara decided to put them all to work.

Xara and I planned the dinner menu. Gloria and Mona would be in charge of dessert.

“That’s going to mean chocolate everything,” I said.

Amendment: Juliet was added to the dessert team with the express mission of adding variety. That meant something that was not chocolate.

Sharon was put in charge of adult refreshments.

Bri-an was in charge of chips and dips.

Kara was in charge of children’s options.

Havery, Harold and I would get the boat and jet skis ready ahead of time. They would manage boat rides and jet ski rides. Meaning they would make sure everyone who wanted a turn got a chance to take one and only those who had experience would be driving.

On Labor Day Gloria and I would man the grill.

Everyone who needed items from a store would be responsible for procuring them. That way Xara and I wouldn’t have to do the grocery shopping for everyone.

We got some push-back on the shopping from a certain blonde who thought we should be hiring a 5 star chef to cater the event. Xara suggested I play the Kiraling card. I told I was going to save that for something much bigger. She asked me what that something was. I told her I had no idea, but I’d know it when I saw it. In the end I appealed to her vanity:

“But Sharon, no one we could hire in Bellingham would be up to your standards. Oh, and did I mention that you can bring a plus one?” That worked.

A few days later Harold and Harvey came over to help with the boat and jet skis. Xara and I had such a busy summer, what with her interrogations and my alien abduction, that we hadn’t spent much time on the lake. So there were some cobwebs to deal with, and we changed the oil and did other minor maintenance. Otherwise, we were in good shape. Then Harold and Harvey wanted to talk. They’d been talking to each other and decided between the two of them that I might be able to shed some light.

“You’ve known Gloria and Mona longer than either of us,” said Harvey.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“They have razors and tampons, but they never use them,” said Harold.

“And Gloria bought an expensive gold choker, and she puts it on every night,” said Harvey.

“And they’re both strong. I mean really strong,” said Harvey.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Gloria was looking under her car, and it looked like she was holding it up with one hand. She put it down very quickly when she heard me open the door to the garage, but I saw it,” said Harvey.

“And Mona was rearranging stuff in our storage unit, and she picked up and moved heavy boxes like they weighted nothing,” Harold added.

“Potholders!” said Harold. “Sometimes she doesn’t use them when I know she should.”

“Same with Gloria,” said Harvey.

“Huh, I’ve never noticed any of that,” I lied.

“Can you keep a secret?” asked Harold.

“Sure.”

“Next week the four of us are going to dinner. We’re going to propose to them,” he said.

I wondered what Kara would think of that. I wondered what Gloria and Mona would think of that. I wondered if I should keep the secret or tell Xara.

“I heard that,” said Xara, over the connection. “I’m going to tell mom.”

So much for keeping the secret from Xara.

“We need to go back to knocking when you want to listen in to my thoughts,” I replied, over the connection.

“I heard it with my ears. Velorian hearing, remember?”

Oh. Yeah. That made me wonder if Gloria and Mona overheard them talking about it.

“Do you think Gloria or Mona might have heard them discussing it?”

“No, They would have told mom, and she would have told me and Sharon.”

“What do you think your mom will say when you tell her?”

“I don’t know. I’ve changed my mind, let’s not tell her, let them have their moment.”

“Agreed,” I said.

“I can keep that secret,” I said.

“Thanks, Joe,” said Harold.

I was glad we decided to keep the information to ourselves. Once they propose, there will be blondes everywhere. We don’t need to start that chaos any sooner than we have to.

Labor Day. The day of the party. Xara and I were up early. The Arions and their boyfriends were there early. All the blondes were there early. Colonel Moore, who told me I could call her Sarah for the day, was Sharon’s plus one, not Deb, and she came early with Sharon. I didn’t ask Sharon about Deb. We set up tables and chairs. Got life jackets set out. Started setting out the food.

Then the guests arrived. They thought it was a potluck, and everyone brought food.

“No one told me it was a potluck,” said Xara to one of our guests.

“The department chairs sent out an email blast telling us it’s a potluck,” replied the guest. “They assigned entrees and appetizers and everything else.”

Xara checked her email. Yup. There it was, sent out right after she told the department heads we’d host the party. She’d missed it.

Xara had missed something. That was new. It was completely understandable that she would, she had gone immediately into party planning mode and hadn’t bothered to open the email announcing the party. She thought that was all it was, announcing the date and time. So she hadn’t bothered to open it and discover it was announcing a potluck.

I just shrugged my shoulders and said something about having leftovers. Then I filed it away in my memory in case I should ever need it.

“You’re a goddess??? Why didn’t you know the party at OUR HOUSE was a potluck, Xara? What kind of goddess doesn’t know that?”

Dixon and Johnson thought that was lame. I agreed with them. When you are married to a self-proclaimed goddess who looks like a goddess and has the powers of a goddess, you hang on to anything that can give you an advantage. Or reduce your manifestly obvious disadvantages. Even if it’s lame.

The party went well. The kids were well behaved and well entertained by the Supremis. The adults who drank too much were not obnoxious. And for once, no one from the Biology, Chemistry or Physics faculty was trying to get into my wife’s pants. Meaning Professor ‘cheater cheater pumpkin eater’ wasn’t there.

Yeah, there was a lot of food. And Sharon was a little bent that people didn’t appreciate the effort she had made to make sure the wine offerings were first class. Especially when they drank ‘inferior’ wines brought by other guests. But there was no drama.

Until …

Gloria and I were working the grill. There was a lull, everyone had finished eating entrees and were digging into the desserts. I thought she’d be supervising that, but instead she grabbed me by the arm, leaned down and whispered in my ear, “We have to talk to you.”

I whispered back, “Who is we?”

“Come with me.”

“Harold! Harvey!” she called out, “Joe and I are taking a break. Start cleaning the grill.” The guys came right over and began doing that.

Gloria left the grill and headed inside the house. Mona was right behind us. We went through the house, out the back door and down the road.

“I think this is secure,” she said.

“Secure from what?” I asked.

“Is Xara in your head right now?” asked Mona.

“No. Why are we still whispering?”

“We don’t want them to hear,” said Mona.

“Xara, or any of the blondes?”

“Any of them,” replied Gloria.

“Okay, I whispered. What’s the big secret?” I asked, as if I didn’t know.

“Harvey and Harold are going to ask us to marry them,” said Gloria.

“You mean like a polyamory situation? You each have two husbands and they each have two wives?” I asked.

Gloria punched me in the arm. It hurt. But I didn’t complain.

“No,” said Mona, “nothing like that at all. Harold wants to marry me, and Harvey wants to marry Gloria.”

“He knows that,” said Gloria. “He thought he was being funny.”

“That wasn’t funny, Joe,” said Mona.

“You said they’re going to ask you,” I said. “How do you know?”

“We heard them talking about it,” said Gloria.

“They don’t know about Supremis hearing,” said Mona.

“Betas can hear as well as Primes and Kella-Primes?” I asked.

“No,” replied Mona, “but we hear much better than Terrans.”

“Alright,” I said. “They are going to propose. Why are you telling me?”

“Because we want to marry them,” said Gloria. “When they propose, we want to say yes.”

“Okay. I give you permission to marry them,” I said. Gloria punched me in the arm again.

“Xara’s going to want to know how I got that bruise,” I said.

“Tell her you got it for being a smartass.”

“Why are you telling me?”

“We want you to support us when we tell Kara,” said Gloria. “Kara listens to you. She trusts you.”

“Didn’t you already discuss it with her, when Juliet and Bri-an made cheesecake and chocolate mousse?”

“We did,” said Mona, “but it was a hypothetical then, now it is real.”

“I think you’re overestimating the amount of influence I have with Kara.”

“No,” said Mona, “we are not. You underestimate the amount of influence you have with her.”

“Why do you think you need my support?” I asked.

“Because you are a Terran married to a Supremis. You’ve proven that a Terran can keep Kara’s secrets. And you’ve proven that a Supremis Terran marriage can work.”

“Kara knew that before I came along. She was married to a Terran,” I said.

“Kara thinks she is smarter than the rest of us and knows better than the rest of us. She doesn’t think that her marriage proved that any Supremis Terran marriage can work. But yours does,” said Gloria.

“Are you guys sure marrying them is the right thing to do?”

“They make us happy,” said Mona.

“And we make them happy,” said Gloria.

“You know they are going to expect you to follow Terran customs about … fidelity.”

“Terrans don’t follow Terran customs about fidelity,” said Gloria. “There is a lot of hypocrisy and infidelity.”

“Beta marriages are much like Terran marriages in that respect,” said Mona.

“There is a lot of hypocrisy and infidelity in Beta marriages?” I asked.

“No, I mean I will be faithful to Harold, and he will be faithful to me; if he knows what is good for him.”

“The same with me and Harvey,” said Gloria.

“We’ve been faithful to them,” said Mona.

“When are you going to tell Kara?”

“Today, when your guests leave. We’ll send Harvey and Harold out on the boat,” said Gloria.

“You’re going to tell her today, while the guys are out on the boat, and you think they’ll be gone long enough for you to convince Kara to allow them to marry you?”

“No,” said Gloria. “Joe, you must pay better attention. You will convince Kara to allow us to marry while our men are on the boat.”

“I can’t promise I’ll be able to do that,” I said.

“We have faith in you,” said Monica.

Dixon and Johnson didn’t think I could pull it off. Neither did I. But I agreed to try.

“Alright, I’ll try.”

Satisfied that they had my cooperation, and the (misguided) belief that I could convince Kara that they should be allowed to marry their boyfriends, we walked back to the house.

“Knock, knock.”

“Come in.”

“Why did you guys disappear?”

“I don’t think I’m supposed to tell you.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Is it what I think it is?”

“Probably. But I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

“Didn’t you just confirm it?”

“Probably, but I can neither confirm nor deny that either.”

She laughed. In the connection. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.

We got back to the party and since everyone was finished eating I took a couple of kids out on the boat while Juliet and Bri-an took a child each out on a jet ski.

By the time I got back it was getting late. Everyone pitched in on cleaning up, and it went fast. Everyone thanked us for having the party at our house and eventually it was just the Supremis, Sarah, Howard and Harold left.

“Howard! Harold! You worked hard helping Joe get the boat and jet skis ready and then helping with the party. Take some time for yourselves and go boating on the lake,” said Gloria.

“Yes,” said Mona. “You deserve it. Now go. And don’t forget to wear life jackets.”

Harvey and Harold didn’t even question them. They put on life jackets and jumped in the boat and were gone.

“Are they always like that?” I asked. “You tell them to jump, and they ask how high on the way up?”

“We don’t tell them to jump,” said Gloria.

“No, I mean, do they always take direction from you like that, without asking questions, or objecting?”

“Their obedience is always rewarded,” said Mona. “We read a book by the philosopher, B.F. Skinner. Operant conditioning with sex as a reward works very well with Terran males.”

“I don’t think he was a philosopher,” I said.

“No?” asked Gloria. “He was very wise. His techniques work very well.”

Gloria took me by the hand and practically dragged me over to where Kara was sitting, talking to Xara.

“Kara, Joe wants to discuss something with you,” said Gloria.

“Did Gloria just throw you under the bus?”

“Maybe. I may need a rescue if there is any heat vision.”

“Yes, Joseph? What do you want to talk to me about?”

“Not here,” said Gloria. “In the house, in the living room.”

“Go in the house, Joe. Now!” said Gloria.

“Am I going to get a reward?”

“Go!”

Kara had a bemused smile on her face. I walked into the house, and she followed me. We sat down in the living room.

“This sounds important, Joseph.”

Gloria and Mona didn’t follow me in. They went to the edge of the lake and looked out in the direction Harvey and Harold had gone.

“I can’t believe … they’re cowards!”

“Who are cowards, Joseph.”

“Gloria and Mona. They want me to talk to you because they’re too afraid to talk to you themselves.”

“Oh, this sounds interesting. Please, go on.”

“Okay. Harold and Harvey are planning to propose to Gloria and Mona. They don’t know the girls overheard them talking about it. They want your blessing, and they think the way to get it is to have me talk you into it.”

“Harvey and Harold want my blessing?”

“No, Mona and Gloria do.”

“And exactly how are you going to talk me into it?”

“I have no idea. This is their plan, not mine.”

“Gloria and Mona’s plan.”

“Yes. They overheard Harvey and Harold making plans to take them out to dinner and propose.”

“Are they in love?”

“They are, Kara.”

“I didn’t think we’d have to face this. I thought Gloria and Mona would tire of them and move on to someone else.”

“Why did you think that?”

“Prejudice. They’re Arions. I was raised to think that loving and caring for another wasn’t in their DNA.”

“Well, it is for these two.”

“So it would seem. Do you think getting married to Terrans is wise?”

“You married one, Kara. Your daughter did too and as I recall you were very much in favor of it.”

“Can they keep their true identities from them? Do they want to?”

“I don’t know if they can, or if they want to, but I’m afraid that’s going to be a moot point. They both have noticed that the girls don’t use any of the feminine hygiene products they bought. And they’ve seen them doing stuff, like handling hot pots and pans. Lifting a car. Moving heavy boxes.”

“I’ve been watching them,” said Kara, “and they do act like they are in love. Gloria is very considerate of Harvey. And Mona dotes on Harold.”

“And they’ve trained them too. Did you know they read up on B.F. Skinner and operant conditioning?”

“No. Really?”

“You saw them jump in the boat when the girls told them to. According to Gloria and Mona, they expect to be rewarded.”

“With sex?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. I always thought Arions only used the stick, never the carrot.

“Alright, I suppose I should talk to them. Call them in, will you please.”

I went to the door and called Gloria and Mona.

I said, “Kara wants to talk to you,” as I stepped out on the deck.

“Where are you going, Joe?” asked Gloria.

“I’ve done my part,” I said. “Now it’s up to you.”

As I stepped off the deck onto the grass I was surrounded by blondes.

“You guys heard?”

“Some of it,” said Sharon.

“I didn’t hear any of it,” said Sarah. “What’s going on?”

“Harvey and Harold are going to propose to Gloria and Mona. The guys told me when they were helping with the boat last week. They are planning to surprise the girls at dinner this week. But they don’t know about Supremis hearing. Gloria and Mona heard them talking about it.”

“What has all this got to do with you and Kara?” asked Sarah.

“Gloria and Mona wanted me to approach Kara about it for them. They think I can talk Kara into allowing it.”

“What is there for Kara to allow?” asked Sarah. “All four of them are grown ass adults. It’s none of Kara’s business.”

“No, Sarah,” said Sharon. “If it involves Arions and Terrans, it is Kara’s business, and if she says no, there will be no weddings.”

The Arions and Kara were in the house together for half an hour. Sharon gave us a running account of what was being said.

“Gloria and Mona are pleading their case. They are promising Kara that they won’t kill their respective spouses if they grow tired of them.”

“Shit,” said Sarah. “They’d do that?”

“They’re Arions,” said Bri-an. “It isn’t beyond them.”

“I think you guys are letting your anti-Arion biases cloud your judgement,” I said.

Sharon, Bri-an and Juliet turned to look at me. They didn’t look happy.

“Joe’s right,” said Xara. And then, “Mom wants us to join her.”

“All of us?” asked Sarah.

Xara shrugged and said, “She didn’t say you were excluded.”

We all went into the house. Gloria and Mona were smiling. Kara, not so much.

“I’ve given Gloria and Mona permission to marry Harvey and Harold,” Kara said. “And since the men have been noticing that Gloria and Mona are … different, I’ve decided that we should reveal ourselves to them if Mona and Gloria accept their proposals.”

“We’re going to accept,” said Mona.

“Tell them about all of us?” asked Bri-an.

“All of us,” said Kara. “They already have questions. They are going to have more. It’s better to give them all the information now, while we have control. I don’t want them discussing their freakishly strong wives in a bar over drinks with their friends.”

“We are not freaks,” said Gloria. “Harvey would never describe me that way.”

“Neither would Harold,” said Mona.

I said, “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

“Why?” asked Gloria, “What have they said to you?”

“It isn’t them; it’s just the way men talk. No, they wouldn’t call you freaks. But their descriptions may be very vivid.”

“How are we going to do this, mom?” asked Xara.

“After they propose, and Gloria and Mona accept, we’ll have a meeting here to tell them. Ladies let’s not frighten them. Joe, Sarah, you can reassure them that Supremis Terran relationships can work.”

“I’m not convinced mine is working,” replied Sarah.

“Not the time,” said Sharon.

“Can you two behave yourselves?” asked Kara.

They both nodded.

“One thing must be made very clear to them,” said Kara, “whether they want to continue their relationships with you or not, they must understand that they can

never breathe a word of what we are going to tell them to anyone outside of this room.”

“We can trust them,” said Gloria.

“We can,” said Mona.

“I hope you’re right,” said Kara.

Harvey and Harold came back. I went outside to help them secure the boat. And then they followed me into the house. They walked into the living room and saw eight women stop talking and turn and look at them and they both stopped.

“Are we in trouble?” asked Harold.

“No dear, not at all,” said Mona. “It’s getting late, let’s go home.”

“We should leave too,” said Gloria to Harvey.

Harvey, Harold and the Arions left.

“I hope we don’t regret this,” said Kara.

“I don’t think we will,” I said.

Sharon put her arm around Sarah and said, “Why don’t we spend the rest of the night here.”

Sarah agreed. “Can we help you clean up before we go to bed?” she asked Xara.

“No,” replied Xara. “Joe will turn on Rosey and get her started cleaning up.”

“Rosey?” Sarah asked.

“Like the Jetsons,” I said. “Wanna see?”

“Hell yes!”

So I took her down to the lair and showed her where Rosey was sitting on her charger. I picked up the tablet she came with and pushed a couple of virtual buttons, and she woke up and headed upstairs.

“You’ve got to watch her float up the stairs,” I said to Sarah. “It’s funny.”

Sarah agreed with me. She watched Rosey work for a while then started yawning. Sharon picked her up and carried her to one of our spare bedrooms.

“Want me to carry you off to bed?” asked Xara.

“You’ll have to if I stay up much longer.”

I turned towards the bedroom and took two steps and then was swept off my feet.