Chapter 14

The team went after the other centaur in exactly the same manner and made a successful kidnapping and pickup. They went home and waited for GPD to evaluate the situation on the centaur planet. Seven said that, with the time travel capability, they would hear withing a few minutes if they needed to make another kidnapping run. They didn't hear anything for 3 hours, so they figured that they were through with this particular job.

The next day, Ann and Jeff went to school as they normally did. However, this time they acted differently when they got home. As usual, Ann was home first; she shed her clothes and headed for the pool. Judy was there in the pool, floating about 6 inches below the surface! Ann panicked for a moment, then laughed at herself—if you don't need to breathe, you can't drown!

Ann dove into the pool and began to swim laps. She swam faster and faster until she was cutting through the water so fast that she stirred up the water in the whole pool. Judy had shut out the world and was meditating with her vision and hearing shut down. She found this thoroughly relaxing and enjoyed doing it for some time every day whenever she had the chance. However, for safety's sake, Judy did not shut down, completely, so she was roused by Ann's frantic swimming.

"Ann, what's wrong, honey?"

"Mom, I am so damned aggravated with my so-called friends at school. There's a new girl in our class who has a skin problem that really makes her look unusual. About half her face is so dark that it is almost black, and the other half is so light that it is almost milk-white. The dividing line is not straight and it doesn't divide her face equally, but it is certainly disquieting to look at. The problem is that the girl, Shirley, tried to sit down by me at lunch, but the other girls made such hateful remarks about her looks that she ran off in tears. I got up and looked for her, but I couldn't find her before I had to go to my next class. What am I going to do about this?"

"That is a weird situation! Of course I don't agree with the other girls making nasty remarks about Shirley, but I don't know what we could do about it. I am curious, is Shirley's skin color naturally white or naturally black?"

"I'm not sure, but I think that it is naturally black. Let's ask Seven if she knows of something that might be done to make Shirley's skin all one color."

"That's a good idea, honey. We'll ask Jase to call her when he gets home from the grocery store. Meanwhile, just try to relax. Would a snack or a drink help?"

"It sure couldn't hurt. I... here comes Jase. <Jase, it's Ann. Please call Seven. I have a question to ask her.>

<Sure, Sis. I'll call her as soon as I put these drinks in the refrigerator.>

A few minutes later, Jase and Seven walked into the pool room. Seven said, "Hello, ladies. Ann, you have a question for me?"

"Yes. There is a girl at my school who has a skin condition which makes her face half black and half white. I wondered if you knew of any way to fix her problem? She is constantly taunted for something she can't do anything about."

"Is her name Shirley Tarkis?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"She was another of the candidates we looked at when we chose Jase. I didn't realize that her skin color was a problem, though I did notice that it was different from the people around her. If the skin color problem is caused by an illness, the treatment you got will fix it. I suggest that you invite her to visit here to see if she would be compatible with the rest of you. If she is, we could try to recruit her for the team. What do you think?"

Ann was thrilled. "I like her and would like for her to join us. Does anybody mind if I invite her to visit us tomorrow after school? I'll check with Jo and Jeff later." Nobody objected, so Ann smiled and went back to swimming normally.

The next morning, Ann intercepted Shirley as soon as she got off the bus. "Shirley, I'm so sorry for what happened at lunch, yesterday. I hope you don't blame me for the stupid actions of those girls. I jumped up to follow you, but I lost you in the crowd."

"Yeah, they really got to me, but I don't blame you for their actions. Look, you better not be seen talking to me, or they might start treating you the same way."

"I don't care. I'd had about all I could take of them and was getting ready to dump them, anyway. I told my family what happened at lunch, yesterday, and they said that they would like to meet you. Can you come by my house after school, today?"

"Sure, I guess so, but why would they want to meet me. I'm not anything special."

"One of my very good friends thinks that you are something special! That's why the others want to meet you. Plan on staying for supper."

"Well, OK, but I'll have to tell my foster mother that I will be late getting back. I'll give her a cell call during the lunch break."

"That'll be great. Oops, there's the bell. We better get to class."

Ann called Judy to tell her that Shirley was coming around, so Judy drove to school to pick them up. "There she is... Mom, this is Shirley Tarkis. Shirley, meet my mom, she likes to be called Judy."

"Hello, Shirley, I'm pleased to meet you. Please get in, and we can be on our way."

"Hello, Mrs... , sorry, Judy. Thank you for inviting me to your house. I don't get many invitations."

"Well, don't worry about it with us. We are glad that you can visit."

Judy drove them home, and Ann led the way into the house. "JEFF! Go put a robe on. You don't want to embarrass Shirley before you've even been introduced."

"Does that mean that I can embarrass her after we've been introduced?"

"JEFF! GET OUT OF HERE! Sorry about that, Shirley. I forgot to mention that we like to go around the house nude, except when there are visitors."

"Really? I've always wanted to go to a naturist park, but I have never had the money. I don't mind if you all go around naked. Do you mind if I take my clothes off, too?"

"Sure, if that's the way you feel, come on to my room, and we'll get naked! We have an indoor swimming pool that we spend most of our time in. Would you like to swim?"

"Oh, yes. I love to swim, but I have never had the opportunity to do it without a suit. I can't wait."

The two girls went to Ann's room and took off their clothes. Once they were naked, Ann whistled and said, "My God, Shirley, you are beautiful!"

Shirley started to cry. "I'm not beautiful! These white splotches all over my body make me look like a freak! I hate them, but the doctors say that there's nothing that can be done about them."

"Shirley, please don't cry. I didn't mean to upset you. Dry you eyes on this tissue, and we'll go down to the pool."

When they reached the pool, everybody was already splashing around and no suits were in sight. Shirley was a bit startled to see Jo, but hid it well. Ann performed the introductions and led Shirley into the water. Ann noticed that Jeff was sporting his usual big boner and said to Shirley, "Please don't let my younger brother embarrass you, he's at the age where he's sexed up most of the time. Mom and I even turn him on."

Shirley laughed and said, "I take it as a compliment. Thank you, Jeff."

He said, "No, I should be the one thanking you. You are one hot number! Besides, look, you're having the same effect on my brother."

Everybody laughed at that and the last vestige of tension was broken. They talked and played in the water for a couple of hours. About 5:30 PM, Jase said, "It looks to me like our compatibility questions are answered. I think its time to call Seven. Any objections?" Nobody objected, so Jase went to his room and returned within 5 minutes with Seven.

Shirley had her back to the door when Jase and Seven came in, so Jase said, "Shirley, I want you to meet our special friend. We call her Seven."

Shirley turned around, did a double-take, and nearly fainted. Judy grabbed her before she went under the water and helped her to sit on the steps leading out of the pool. Shirley sat there for a few moments, gathering herself, and said, "No wonder you accepted my looks so easily. I'm nothing compared to a 71⁄2-foot tall goddess with blue skin and green hair! Who are you, Seven. I can't believe that you are human."