Chapter 4: Las Vegas, Nevada - Part 1

I waited in the plane, strapped in my seat in the passenger cabin, while dad made a quick pre-flight check. Dad's mechanic had already given the plane a thorough check and fueled it before we got to the airport. During takeoff and just after, dad was busy with the controls and radio communications. After we reached cruising altitude, he called me to sit with him up front, in the copilot's seat.

After a while I said, "Dad, Bobbi and Claudia want to be my girlfriends. What do you think about that?"

"I know you've been having a good time with them," he said. "But you might want to find out if you have anything else in common besides sex. Do you know what kinds of things they're interested in?"

"I guess just fashions, and modeling, and having a good time are pretty much all they care about. To tell the truth, we haven't talked that much, but we all seem to get along together pretty well. But what about Candace? What do you have in common with her?"

Dad looked at me, "Haven't you seen the photographs she's taken? Candace is an excellent photographer. She's had pictures published in leading magazines. She has an excellent eye and has had her work exhibited in some first rate galleries. That was one of the things that first attracted me to her. I like to be able to see things through the eyes of others.

"After she did the Playboy centerfold, she decided she needed something more permanent than modeling and that she enjoyed doing. She studied photography and was able to use the contacts she made modeling to help with her career as a photographer. Now, she's concentrating on her photography. She hasn't done any modeling in over two years.

"Of course, there's no reason why you can't keep Claudia and Bobbi as your girlfriends for a while and see how it works out. If you decide it's not working, I can always help you break up with either, or both of them, if that's what you decide you want to do."

"I guess I need to think about it some more. I don't want to hurt them. I mean, how can I just leave them after everything that's happened."

"Don't worry about that," he said, "Whatever happens, they'll get over it. And don't forget, through you they've been introduced to a depth of sexual pleasure most women never find. I think they'll be able to bring that with them to future relationships, helping create stronger relationships with their partners."

I didn't understand how that happened... how I was able to do that, but wasn't prepared to question my dad any more. I was still tired from last night. "I guess so," I replied, nodding off to sleep.

I woke up as we started our descent. When I asked if I should go back to the cabin, thinking dad would be busy with radio communications and other aeronautical matters during the landing, he said I should stay where I was.

As we descended, I was surprised that I didn't see the skyline of Las Vegas that I expected. Instead of Las Vegas, we were landing at a vacant airstrip in the middle of the desert. From what I could see, there was just one decayed runway with some decrepit metal buildings to the side.

We landed, then taxied over next to one of the buildings. Dad shut down the engines, then turned to me.

"Is this where you tell me the secret?" I asked.

Instead of answering, "How old do you think I am?" he asked.

I knew my mom was 40, and he was older than her - I knew that. I looked at his dark hair peppered with white, his body seemed like it was still in pretty good shape, and I knew he was still sexually active, I said, "I don't know... maybe 45 or 50."

"I'm 69 years old," he said. "I've been married seven times, and I have almost a hundred children, of which you, Rob, are one. Now, I'm going to tell you my story. I want you to pay attention.

"More than 40 years ago, I was a graduate student. I was an only child. While I was an undergraduate, my father and mother were killed in an automobile accident. I was an ideal candidate for the aliens."

When he mentioned aliens I started with surprise, but didn't interrupt.

"There must have been millions of candidates who met their requirements, but they picked me, partly, they told me, because they believed I was a decent person, a good person, who wouldn't abuse the power they gave me.

"Up there, in space," pointing at the sky through the windscreen, "a great war is being fought. We're not part of that war. The earth is on the sidelines... for now. During World War II, there were areas the war didn't spread to, like Switzerland, or South America, and then there were other areas that no one ever guessed would be involved in the war but that couldn't escape it, like Burma or Guadalcanal.

"My aliens, the aliens who recruited me, want the earth to be ready to help them if the war spreads to this sector of the galaxy. They want an earth as united as possible. They want a peaceful, prosperous earth. That's what I've been doing for the last 40 years. That's why I ended the Cold War."

"You ended the Cold War?" I asked. "What about Reagan? What about Gorbechev?"

"They helped, but I did most of it, and it took a lot of work and a long time. And there's a multitude of other things I've done to benefit the aliens, and the earth too, that are not as obvious.

"I do it with telepathy. They gave me the ability to read and control the minds and emotions of others. That's my secret for getting women. That's how I made your two playmates crazy about you. And, in addition to the mind control, as part of the bargain they made with me, to reward me, they uh... augmented and gave me control of my sexual organs, increased my capacity for sexual pleasure, and gave me the ability to control the fertility of my sperm. To extend my longevity, they made me immune to all diseases and made my body as perfect as possible, given my genetic background. That's why at 69 I look like I'm 50 years old." He stopped speaking and looked into my eyes.

I believed him, and I thought I could guess why he was telling me all this, but I had to ask anyway. "Thanks for giving me Bobbi and Claudia, but what does this have to do with me?"

"A while ago, I received an order from the aliens to make arrangements for my succession. There was no explanation. As far as I know, I can expect to live a full, vigorous life for many more years. So, they must know something, or fear something, I don't know about.