Chapter 22

Rita met me at the door with, “Doug, Aaron called you and he asked you to call him back.”

Bill and Sue were still at the house, so I asked everyone to stick around until I finished the call. Once the pleasantries were out of the way, Aaron said, “Doug, I wanted to discuss the President’s event with you.

“I had my assistant reserve three, two-bedroom suites for you at the Embassy Suites, and each bedroom has two queen-sized beds. I don’t know what the sleeping arrangements are for your group, so if that’s not adequate let me know and I can add additional suites to the reservation.

“I’ll have to check, but I think that will work for us.”

“Well, the second thing that I wanted to discuss was the investigation that the President initiated regarding the complaint filed by the Hendricks. The FBI Agent presented his preliminary report this morning to Aaron. The President and Aaron will review his report and decide what direction they want the subsequent investigation to take. If they decide to pursue legal action, Agent Thomas may have to gather additional evidence for a trial. At this point, it appears that the Special Agent that met with the Hendricks and his boss, Agent Tom Heitz, will be facing criminal charges. Agent Heitz ordered that the complaints that the Hendricks filed be buried, so several people at Homeland Security’s main headquarters will face disciplinary action, at a minimum.

“Senator Belton will have to appear before the Senate Ethics Committee for accepting an expensive piece of jewelry. We are also working on connecting him to the actions of the Homeland Security agents. We have the video and it implies a connection, but it does not prove Belton asked Agent Heitz’s boss to have his subordinates perform the actions. We need evidence that shows he asked Agent Heitz to perform the actions in order to charge him with a crime.”

“Can you get that evidence?”

“We suspect that Senator Belton talked with Agent Heitz’s boss. We have searched the boss’s office, computer, and files; but we found no incriminating evidence. The only way to add Senator Belton to the indictment is to offer Agent Heitz or his boss a deal.”

“What about his home? He may have kept a journal, made notes on his computer, or recorded his phone calls.”

“We had thought of that, but we need ‘probable cause’ to get a search warrant. The judges say that suspicion that evidence of wrong doing is present in his home is not adequate cause for a search warrant.”

“What about the Special Agent, Aaron? Based on his comments on the video, he knew about his boss talking with the Senator. Perhaps he knows more that will support getting a search warrant. What I would really like, is a search warrant for Senator Belton’s home, office, and safety deposit box ... if he has one. I’ll bet you would hit the mother lode of wrongdoing with that search warrant.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to add searching the boss’s safety deposit box to the warrant also, if I ever get one.”

“Well, good luck on taking down Senator Belton. Anything else that we need to discuss?”

“Yes, I have one final matter, and it’s a little sensitive.

“The President made an agreement with the head of his Secret Service detail when he took office. He agreed to allow the agent to have full control over security at the White House.

“The Agent in Charge appears to have a phobia regarding people from outer space. He doesn’t want you and your party in the White House. However, the circumstances prevent him from stopping you and your party from entering the White House grounds. He has gone on record that your bodyguards can also attend, but they will not be allowed to be armed. The President has discussed this matter with him and cannot change his stance. At this time, the President can ask for his resignation, which he does not want to do, or he must concede and forbid your bodyguards from carrying weapons.

“The President is most apologetic about the position he has been put into, and extremely angry at the head of his security detail. He hopes you will understand his position.”

“Aaron, I understand his problem, but we have a problem. My security detail is very much like the Secret Service detail that guards the President, but even more so.

“I seem to recall explaining sugar addiction to you during one of our conversations. The people who make up my security detail are all ex-police officers who became sugar addicts in the course of their duties. The Multiverse cannot cure sugar addiction, so their futures were very bleak and would end with an early death as their addiction destroyed their health. I can’t cure sugar addiction; but here on Earth, it can be treated. My security detail feels an immense depth of gratitude to me, personally. It would be insulting for me to ask them to attend this event without their weapons. I will not insult my people in that fashion.

“There is a second aspect to this matter that the President and you may want to be aware of, Aaron.

“Sto and Coral will attend this event with Officer Tatting and me. Sto would never knowingly harm someone who is not attempting to harm me. That’s also true of Coral defending Officer Tatting from harm. However, Bushbies are sometimes confused by human behavior. If Sto or Coral were to be placed in a situation that’s strange and confusing to them, their natural instinct would be to protect their bond partner from harm.

“I believe that the head of the President’s Secret Service detail sees my bodyguards as my protective detail and Sto as my pet. Actually, Sto is my first line of defense and my bodyguards are my backup team. Sto knows that my bodyguards are more than adequate to handle my defense in most cases. Therefore, he allows them to outwardly defend us, while he takes a passive role. He would only take an aggressive role, if an attacker initiated an attack that the bodyguards could not stop.

“If I were to disarm my bodyguards or leave them behind, Sto would be my only line of defense and he would protect me from anything that he views as dangerous. The same is true of Coral protecting Sereine. My bodyguards understand human behavior better than Sto and Coral. While Sto and Coral can sense a person’s emotions, they may misinterpret the way a human behaves in response to those emotions.

“With Sto and Coral as our only line of defense, something unfortunate might occur, resulting in someone getting hurt. I suppose you could say that my bodyguards protect me from other people, and their presence protects other people from Sto and Coral.

“Officer Tatting and I could talk with Sto and Coral. They would be on their best behavior, but if their instincts take control, they might act before they have analyzed the situation.”

“I see. Thank you for sharing that with me, Doug. I don’t think that the President or I fully understood the relationship between you and Sto. I think there may be far more to a Bushbie than what the President and I assumed.”

“You are correct in that, Aaron. Officer Tatting and I believe Bushbies are sentient beings with an intelligence level slightly less than that of humans. A gentleman, whom I have come to respect, told me that Bushbies are the most intelligent and lethal non-human species in the Multiverse. Other people who know Bushbies have agreed with that sentiment. However, they all also say that Bushbies make wonderful companions and friends.”

“Then you feel the President and his party would be safe from your Bushbies?”

“As long as they don’t intend to harm me or Officer Tatting, they will be safe. In fact, they will probably be safer with them there for they are empathic and they can detect any threat that may be in the vicinity. If there is time, they will warn us of the threat and allow humans to deal with it; otherwise, they will defend us.

“As far as our problem goes, Aaron, we could side step a confrontation if the Secretary General and President were to hold the event at a different location. I assume that the Embassy Suites Hotel has facilities for supporting this type of an event.

“The Secretary General, the President, and I could all attend with our respective security details. Do you have a specific time and date in mind?”

“We were planning on Tuesday evening at 6:00. I like your suggestion and will present it to the President. That may result in a delay, but I will let you know as soon as the details are finalized.”

“All right, Aaron, I had best let you get on with making the arrangements. Since it’s Thursday afternoon, you don’t have much time to get everything arranged and your guests notified.”

“True, but our guests have been pre-notified that the Secretary General and the President will host an important event on Tuesday evening of next week for an unspecified purpose. The only things they don’t know yet are where, when, and why. Rumors have been cropping up all over Capitol Hill. The media idiots are running around like crazy, responding to the rumors, and trying to find out what’s going on.

“Truth be told, I started a couple of those rumors myself. I’m having fun tweaking the media’s gullibility. I think I will talk with the President about starting a rumor tomorrow about the event being a dinner party to welcome a space alien who will land his space yacht in a downtown park and then teleport across town to where we are having the event. The media would go crazy trying to figure out if they should be at the park or at the event; they would probably be spread out between the event and all of the parks.”

“Tell you what, Aaron, if the media is going to be at this event, they will undoubtedly drive us crazy trying to get interviews. Go ahead and rent one suite instead of three. We will stay at our usual hotel before and after the event. We will use the suite you rent as an arrival/departure point, which means Sereine or I will have to visit the suite the day before. A smaller room would also be acceptable as long as the furniture was moved against the wall. I will need to visit the room before I can hop to it.”

“That sounds like a good idea. The President wants to do things in a semi-official manner in that you are to be treated as an honored guest. He has arranged for a limousine service to pick you up at your apartment in Denver at 9:00 on Sunday morning. The limousines will take you to Buckley Air Force Base where you will be met by one of the President’s fleet of Boeing C-32s. The current plan is for the Secretary of State, Ken Smythe, or me to be aboard and escort you to Washington. If things remain turbulent, it will most likely be Ken. You will be met at Andrews Air Force Base by a fleet of limousines that will take you to your hotel. I will try to be there to meet you, if I’m not on the airplane.

“The President wants to make a statement to his Secret Service detail. Normally, Secret Service personnel would be dispatched to provide for your security. For this trip, your bodyguards will be in charge of security from the time you leave your home until you reach the hotel. A police escort will be provided from Andrews to the hotel, so there should be no problem during your trip.”

“Anything else, Aaron?”

“No, not now. Whoever is on the plane with you will have a briefing package to go over with you and your people. I suspect that the President is planning something unpleasant for the head of his security detail, but I don’t know what he might have in mind. Whatever he is planning will probably never be made public.

“If anything comes up in the next day or two, I’ll call you, Doug.”

“All right, I’ll see you Sunday or Monday.”

Everyone stayed for dinner. I briefed them on what Aaron had passed on to me. Matt, Bill, and Sue were upset that the Senator might be able to get away with what he had done. Andy, Fitz, and Mac thanked me for the support. I reminded them we were family and you don’t do that sort of thing to family.

We made plans for the next day over dessert and coffee. When dinner was over and everyone had left, I gave Ken a call at the ranch to let him know we would be out around 9:30 tomorrow morning.

That evening Cindy and Rita took me to bed with the idea of wearing me out. Rita used her experience and slim body to bring me to a boil of passion that ended with my cock buried deep in her body. The way she rolled her shoulders to move her small breasts against my chest and the thrusts of her pelvis against mine were designed to arouse me even further. Rita was very skilled in the arts of sexual pleasure. After doing a superb job of draining me of my lust, it was Cindy’s turn.

Cindy had a lush body, the enthusiasm of youth, and the fresh desire of a woman who had just learned about the pleasure of sex. She had only a fraction of Rita’s knowledge and skill, but she shared Rita’s desire to give and receive pleasure. Cindy was aroused from watching her sister and I pleasure each other. She was ready, but I was not. Rita pulled Cindy’s head down to my hips and proceeded to teach her how to arouse a man with her hands and mouth. My physical exhaustion made it a challenge for the two of them to bring me back to full arousal, which by their definition was a long, hard cock. They succeeded and Cindy mounted me.

This time, under Rita’s tutelage, she slowed her normal frantic thrusts to a slow firm grinding action. Her style was similar to Betty’s, so I think Betty has also given her a few lessons on how to give yourself a great deal of pleasure while pleasing your man at the same time. With each revolution of her hips, her clit would be crushed against my cock. She lowered her mouth to mine and raped it with her tongue. My hands were squeezing the lovely firm mounds that hung from her chest. While I repetitively squeezed and released her nipples, Cindy would rotate her hips so her cunt rose up on my cock, and then slammed down to my pelvis. After a quick grind, she would repeat her pelvic thrust in time with the slow squeeze and release of her turgid nipples. As I slowly increased the rate of squeezing, I added a slight twist to coincide with her quick grind.

Our breathing had increased to panting and moaning, which ended our long passionate kisses. Our lust kept increasing until I rolled Cindy to her back and started long stroking her until we both reached orgasm. I collapsed onto her unable to move. Rita aided me with a push when I again tried to roll off Cindy. The last thing I remember was ending up on the far left side of the bed and Cindy rolling toward me. I didn’t survive long enough for her to curl up on my shoulder where I found her the next morning with Rita curled up behind her.

Breakfast was the usual bedlam. Those of us still building their tolerance to sugar went for eggs, bacon, and toast with butter. Those of us who were sugar tolerant had either cereal with milk or eggs, bacon, and toast with jam.

Everyone but Bill, Sue, and Andy was there. Matt, Fitz, and Mac were moving yesterday’s Home Depot purchases into our bus. Back when we had the closing on the ranch, I told Matt to find us a twenty-passenger van or bus. He decided that what we needed was a Coach Limousine, and he had found us a used Odyssey XL, twenty-four-passenger vehicle that would also carry an additional two wheelchair passengers. As they finished stowing our purchases, Sue arrived and parked her car on the street. Matt came inside to let everyone know that we were ready to leave.

Matt had the keys, so he decided to drive. I could have hopped us out to the ranch, but I hadn’t gone anywhere in the bus since Matt had bought it for us, so I was looking forward to the trip. Before I got in, I found Mac and reminded him to talk with Martha and the kids about Earth vehicles so they would not be scared when Matt started the engine and oncoming traffic came close to us.

Traffic was a little heavier than normal for a Friday morning, so it took us almost two hours to get to the ranch. I was sitting up front with Matt, and saw Ken sitting on the porch with a glass of iced tea when we arrived. As Matt eased past the porch, Ken yelled to us to drive into the barn.

Ken was coming to meet us as I exited the barn.

“Howdy, Doug, it looks like your group is growing and you gained a couple of kids in the process.”

“Yeah, we made a trip back to the Multiverse, and Mac looked up his old girlfriend. She had missed him, and she wanted him in her and her children’s lives.

“I didn’t want to bring kids here this early, but the circumstances made it necessary to get them away from some people who would cause them problems.”

Ken and I started to the porch as we talked, I saw Carla come out of the house, and head in our direction. Andy saw her coming, and his attention was focused on her, totally on her, and the way her hips swayed as she walked, or perhaps it was the way her unbound breasts moved beneath her loose blouse.

Ken noticed them also, “It sort of looks like Carla is about to fit your friend for a nose ring.”

“A nose ring? Why would Carla put a ring in Andy’s nose?”

“It’s just a saying, Doug. She won’t actually put a ring in his nose.

“Ya see, in the cattle industry you sometimes need to control a bull. A bull’s nose is very sensitive, so we put a ring through the bull’s nose when he is young. Attaching a rope or staff to the ring allows you to control the bull. Some people just grab onto the ring, but if the bull is ornery, he might stomp you before you can gain control. A staff is the safest way to control the bull for it allows you to keep him away from you.”

“Ah, I think I understand. You’re saying that Carla is planning to attract Andy and control him so he will do what she wants.”

“Yep, that’s pretty much what she is thinking of doing. A man needs to be careful around a woman like Carla. She’ll come up to him and bat those pretty eyes of hers, and before he realizes it, he is standing in front of a minister.”

“Yeah we have a few sayings along those lines in the Multiverse, also.”

“Do you plan to warn him, Doug?”

“Hell, No! He’s an adult man and should know what’s going on. Besides, he seems interested in her, also. He wouldn’t appreciate me stepping into the matter. Besides, if he loses interest in her, she might come after me.”

“Yeah, I remember you telling me about having three women in your bed and two who were interested in joining you.”

“Well, I was thinking of her coming after me to vent her anger on me. However, now I think it’s six in bed with me, and no one displaying any interest in joining us.”

“What do you mean by you think it’s six?”

“It’s a long story, but Cindy is from Slave World and when they first reach sexual maturity, they give off pheromones that compel those around them to have sex with them.

“That happened to Cindy about a week and a half ago. She wanted me to be her first man and I was away. She waited for my return, and she became more and more desperate. When I got back, she attacked me and her pheromones affected not only me but also the two women standing beside me. The three of them became the aggressors, and since the pheromones placed me in a cooperative but eager stupor, I didn’t resist their advances. One of those two women is the woman who planned to have a relationship with me in the future. The other woman is someone I had just recently met, and now that we have been intimate with each other, she is trying to decide if she wants to continue the relationship.”

“You seem to have some interesting problems, Doug. Anyway, you said that you wanted to stake out the buildings you plan to build. That sounds interesting. Carla and I talked about it and she would like to help. Personally, I think she sees it as an opportunity to get your friend even more interested in her.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think he could get more interested than he already is. He has been spending every spare moment that he has, studying English. Betty told me he is desperate to learn English so he can talk with Carla. It rather seems like the looks they are giving each other is all the talking they need to do. It’s very evident that they want to spend as much time together as they can.”

We watched Andy and Carla for a few moments, and I said, “I was hoping that you would take us out to the center of the ranch in your truck, where we did the photography some weeks back.”

“Sure, that’s no problem. I can take a bunch of you in the back of the truck and drop you off. It shouldn’t take more than two or three trips to haul you all out there. I’ll go get the truck.”

We headed for the barn, and on the way, I waved my hand at Matt to signal him to follow me. When we got to the bus, Matt and I transferred the roll of drawings and our purchases into the truck bed. He had picked up several cases of bottled water and sandwich fixings this morning, which also went into the truck.

“Doug, you need to warn your people to keep an eye open for snakes. This time of year we get a few rattlers outside of their dens enjoying the sun.”

“What should we do if we see one?”

“Just stay away from it and let me know. I’ve got my shotgun with me, so I can kill it.”

“Seems sort of a shame to kill it, since it’s not doing anything to harm us.”

“Yeah, but around here we have too many of them and it’s always a good idea to keep their numbers down. Besides, if it’s a big one, I’ll have Carla fix it for dinner. Fresh rattlesnake is a delicacy around here, and Carla knows the best ways to cook it.”

I had Ken stop where we were going to install the mobile homes. It took us less than an hour to stake out the location of the concrete pads. Eventually we all got out to where the Embassy was to be built. Ken told us which way was north and south, and we discussed the best way to orient the Embassy Compound. Once that was decided, we started pounding stakes, measuring off distances and making sure we kept everything squared off relative to everything else. A couple of hours later, all the building locations had been marked and all we had to do was layout the perimeter wall.

As we worked, I noticed that Andy and Carla were working together and Sandy was working with Fitz. Then gradually the two couples became a foursome. That made me smile. Sandy had wanted to be accepted for whom she was, and now she had gotten her wish. Andy and Fitz knew about Sandy and her wealth, but they had set it aside and accepted her as a person. Carla knew nothing about the other three, other than she liked Andy and wanted to spend time with him. Since Sandy was one of Andy’s friends and interested in Fitz, Carla accepted Sandy as her friend. I wondered how she would react when she learned that Sandy was a multi-trillionaire.

William and Phyllis showed up as we started on the perimeter wall. I joined them to talk. “William, it occurred to me that we don’t have to limit ourselves to single story buildings like I had been thinking of having. I forgot about the force field covering the entire compound, so the upper stories would be safe even if a marksman has a direct line of sight into a room.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Doug. I was wishing that I could go two stories above ground on the homes with an additional two stories below ground, and three stories above ground on the Embassy. I think that will be very impressive. The additional height will also allow you to set up long-range cameras for surveillance of the surrounding area. I did have a question for you about the Embassy. Do you think that you may need a basement or a below ground level for future expansion?”

“I think three stories above ground will give us adequate space. However, I find that I almost always need more space than I think I will. Since the other buildings will have two stories below ground level, add two levels below ground for the Embassy building. Design the upper of the two levels as office space and several large conference rooms. Make the bottom level secure storage and a holding area for prisoners. That may also be a good place for our security control room and workspace. A freight elevator to that level would be a good idea also. I’ll check with Sereine to see which level she wants to use as office space for the Trade Checkpoint.”

As I walked over to talk with Ken, I noticed that Sto and Coral had been enjoying themselves. They had been running around the property chasing rabbits. From the blood on their fur, it was apparent they had been successful in their hunting. Ken had sat on the roof of his truck to watch what we were doing. While watching us, he had also been keeping an eye on Sto and Coral.

“Damnedest thing I ever saw, Doug. Those two would spot a rabbit and start sneaking up on it. When it broke cover, they were after it. They coordinated their actions and ran down almost every rabbit they chased. I saw them kill and eat two of them, but the rest they let go once they ran them to ground. I would hate to have the two of them come after me; in fact, I’d hate to have either of them upset with me.

“Now I’ve watched dogs chasing rabbits. They never coordinate their actions and they would never let a rabbit they caught live. What your Bushbies were doing just wasn’t natural.”

“I thought I told you Bushbies were sentient beings, Ken. They think logically, have a moral code, and have a conscience; but their moral code is different from that of humans. I don’t recall mentioning it, but they are also telepathic in addition to being empathic.

“Bushbies are carnivores, so their eating the rabbits doesn’t surprise me. To them, chasing the rest of the rabbits was probably a game to fill in the time and to have fun.”

“Yeah, I look at them and see an animal, so I think of them as animals. I don’t think of them as sentient beings.”

“Try thinking of them as strange looking humans in fur coats.”

It took us a quarter of the time to mark the perimeter wall as it did the rest of the compound’s buildings. I stood in the bed of Ken’s truck and looked at the pink flagging tape we had run between each building’s corner stakes, and the tape that marked our inner defensive perimeter. This was going to be a very large place.

William and Phyllis were looking over our layout, so I joined them. “What does it look like to you?”

Phyllis said, “It reminds me of a plate of pink spaghetti. However, I can picture what it will look like when the buildings rise up from the ground.

“I talked with William about what he would like to be able to do with this project. I think you will be very pleased with the changes that he will be making to the design. He was telling me he wanted to landscape the area between the two parallel wings of the Embassy as a rose garden.

“William loves roses and is a member of the Denver Rose Society. Last year he and my husband planted two dozen rose bushes in our front yard. He has been showing my husband how to care for them, and this spring and summer they were absolutely gorgeous.”

“I enjoyed doing it, Phyllis. I’m happy they did as well as they did. For this project, it will probably take several hundred bushes, and I would like to put in some climbing roses near the walls. I like the medium and dark red varieties of climbing roses, so perhaps something like Don Juan or Blaze. However, Doug may prefer a different variety of rose.

“I’ve been listening to the two of you, but I am at a loss. I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, so I’m going to leave the architecture and landscaping to you.”

William was looking over the layout and over to Ken’s house. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking, so I asked, “Is there a problem, William?”

“No, it’s not a problem. That far end of the Embassy building is the front of the building. With the entrance to the property over by Ken’s house, I was looking at how to route the drive.

“I had envisioned a straight tree lined approach from the ranches gate. However, that isn’t possible with this orientation. The only way to get into the compound would be to swing wide to the right and then curve the driveway back to the left. We would have to route the drive several hundred feet to the north of the compound to make it a smooth gradual curve.”

Matt had been standing off to the side listening to us talk.

He said, “William, you also need to look at this from an aggressor–defender point of view. As the aggressor, you want to minimize your exposure time. That means a fast approach straight through the property’s entry gate and straight to the Embassy. As the defender, you want to slow the attacker down to give your people as much time as possible to respond. That would best be done by a sharp left turn as the drive reaches the gate. Then put in some impediments, maybe something like decorative boulders, between the gate and the Embassy. Make the interior driveway into a large circle of perhaps gravel with the surface slanted to the outside of the curve. With loose gravel, a fast moving car will tend to slide off the road. You may also want to put a deep ditch along the outside of the curve so a car cannot easily get back onto the road.”

I could see William thinking about what Matt had said.

I added, “I like that idea, Matt. Since the gate is on the north wall, perhaps we should angle the approach road toward the center of the east wall and then make a sharp right curve followed by two sharp left curves to get through the gate. Instead of boulders, I would like a small lake with a fountain in the center and a lighted walkway around the lake with benches, trees, and shrubbery. A couple of spotlights to light up the fountain would be nice also.”