Chapter 83

Zeke turned to perform the incantation.

He muttered as he swirled his left pointer finger around and then opened his hand towards the crowd. Tiny, white, glowing dots shot from his hand. They circled over the heads of the crowd.

Every so often, one would drop and settle over someone’s head. The highest concentration was over the people near Kaylee. Mostly his family. The dots that didn’t find someone disappeared, but the others remained.

“Only we three can see the dots, sorry Donny. I didn’t wish to alarm anyone. They will disappear in an hour. As you can see, most of the people didn’t have a dot, so they aren’t a problem.”

“Why have some of the dots turned green, blue, orange or yellow?” Sean asked in amazement as he looked at the milling crowd.

Zeke grinned, “I was curious. Green means the person now has the third helix, and it is activated. See, you two have green dots.”

“But yours is blue, and so is Donny’s,” Lee replied.

“Yes, blue means we were born with the triple helix, and it is active. Orange dots are over people who were born as Shifters but can’t shift yet. Yellow dots are over people who have been affected, but the virus isn’t active. They have subconsciously blocked it.”

“Oh, wow! Zeke, I must have that spell. I can use it to answer quite a few of my genealogy questions.”

Zeke touched Lee’s Mad. “The version I did was for a crowd. You can do a modified version for an individual. While it is an invasion of privacy, I felt it was warranted in this situation.”

Lee looked at Sean’s expression and sighed. “Yes dear, I’ll ask first and only record it in my locked database that has private information in it. You are my moral compass.”

Sean grinned and hugged his wife.

“We do need to discuss the accommodations,” Zeke reminded Lee.

“It’s not a problem, Zeke. When Sean and I went to get the people from Morpheus, most of them were already on Aida. We collected the others, and then we grouped up and shifted the ship here.”

“It is parked on the other side of this section where military ships park. So, a travellator ride away. It has twenty cabins, so it can accommodate my people and those from Morpheus. The Connors’ have a compound here. Those left who don’t live here have been invited to stay there.”

“Thank you all for organising that and today. It has been fun and frustrating. I’ve discovered a few areas where I’m lacking. I gather that is the primary purpose of the day.”

“Yes. I’ll also compile a report. Since most of these people have only received their items recently, you have time to upgrade your supply of items. I’d say in six months, most would benefit by gaining full sets at the least.”

“I’ll try not to step on your toes and only hand out items if I need to. I will keep you informed if I do. A situation I’m monitoring on Terra may require my intervention soon. Today has helped me come to a decision, so it was also to my benefit.”

“I can live with that, Lee. Now, we need to have a chat with a few people. We will need to tell them how not to infect others.”

“Yes, then get the last challenge done. You will want to do it, Zeke,” Sean added with a grin.

“Sounds like fun,” Zeke grinned back.

Zeke went and sat with his family.

The first thing he did was turn off Kylee’s ability to infect others. Lee could turn it back on later if Kylee wanted her to.

While Kylee happily sat on his lap, he said, “Mum, you, Paul, Dallas, Sabrina, Carly and Lindsay have all been infected.”

“With what?” Patricia asked, alarmed.

“Well, Lee forgot to do something before she brought this little tyke here to visit us.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I should have checked,” Trisha cried.

“Don’t get stressed out, Trisha. These things happen,” Zeke soother her.

“Is it life-threatening?” Patricia worryingly asked.

“No, it’s more life-changing. Um, Mum, have you gone through menopause yet? I forgot to ask when I gave you, your medallion.”

“No, Zeke. The doctor told me a month ago that I showed no signs of starting either.”

“The medallion probably stopped it if it started. The only thing is, I’m not sure how becoming a Shifter will affect you, since you have already had children.”

“Why would I want to become a Shifter?” she asked in surprise.

“Well, you can turn into some awesome animals,” Paul told her gleefully.

“What? I’m perfectly happy being human, thank you,” she replied indignantly.

“Well, you were. Even though you can change doesn’t mean you have to. The fact that you have always had that ability contests to that.”

“What? Our mother is a shapeshifter?” Paul cried in disbelief.

“Yes. However, for some reason, the ability was turned off. Now it is on. Paul, Dallas, and I are the same. Apparently, that is common for male-born Shifters. Lindsay and Sabrina were changed by Kaylee or us; I’m not yet sure.”

“It’s possible that by simply gaining magical items, you could have turned the gene on. The babies will also be able to shift, Sabrina. You are in for some fun times.”

Zeke smiled at Sabrina’s shocked expression. He then turned to Carly.

“Carly, you are also a Shifter and have always been one. It could be why your mother tried to change you. I think she was trying to turn it off. She was probably one, too. It tends to come from the female side of the family.”