Chapter 14

The media had gotten word that my entourage was staying at the Trinity Hotel in Cinnity. They had staked out the hotel’s ground-level entrance and the landing pad on the roof. The only way my people could come and go undetected was for Sereine to hop them in and out of the hotel. Since her ability to hop was limited by her recovery time, it was very inconvenient for all of my people.

My bodyguards decided that the media representatives needed to be taught a lesson; namely, do not harass the people they are protecting. They decided on running a series of ‘bait and trap’ operations. To make things even more interesting, they turned the situation into a game. They had been playing the game for most of the day. By the time I returned to the hotel, the media representatives would not approach the members of my entourage, so Cindy and Tammy were declared the winners of the contest.

The three single bodyguards had rejoined us at the hotel, so each of the four married bodyguards was paired with one of my ladies to form four two-person teams. The four teams rolled a pair of dice to decide the order in which they would conduct the operations. Cindy and Tammy won the right to conduct the first ‘bait and trap’ operation.

When I asked, Cindy said, “We went down in the elevator and approached the front desk. When the receptionist ask if she could help us, I said, ‘I am Cindy Smith and Doug Smith is my guardian. I understand that ‘Janine’s Shoes’ is within walking distance. Could you tell me how to get there?’

“The receptionist said to me, “Yes, Ma’am, turn right as you leave the hotel. Go two blocks and turn right again. Janine’s is on the left side about a block and a half down the street.”

“As Tammy and I left the hotel, we could see that we had a small group of what appeared to be media representatives following us. Behind them were three of our bodyguards.

“From behind us, I heard, “Miss Smith, Miss Smith please wait we have some questions for you.”

“As we walked, Tammy asked if I wanted to answer questions, and I said No. She said, ‘Let’s stop here for a moment so I can warn them to leave us alone.”

“We stopped, and Tammy got between the media representatives and me. In a loud voice, she said, ‘I am Miss Smith’s bodyguard, Tammy Charles. Miss Smith told me she does not want to answer any questions. We are leaving. Do not follow us and do not ask Miss Smith any further questions. Let’s go, Miss Smith.”

“We turned and started walking away. The media representatives continued to follow us, and they were shouting out questions. I could see Tammy talking on her comm unit. She ended her call, pulled me into a doorway, and got between the media and me. I could see our three bodyguards ready to move in if they were needed.

“Three police units arrived in less than a minute. It was as if they were in the area waiting for Tammy’s comm.”

I glanced at Sereine when Cindy said that, and she was staring at the ceiling avoiding my stare. She knew something and didn’t want to admit it.

“Anyway, the next thing I knew, Tammy shouted, ‘these men are following us and harassing us. I am Miss Smith’s bodyguard and I warned them to leave us alone, but they kept following and verbally harassing us.”

“The police arrested the media representatives, and secured them in the police units. They took statements from Tammy and me, and then left. I was ready to go back to the hotel, but Tammy told me we had to continue on to ‘Janine’s Shoes’.

“I bought this pair of shoes, and then we came back here and I told everyone about our experience. After that, the next team left for their operation. We have been doing this for most of yesterday, but during our last three operations today, no one followed us.”

I smiled at Cindy’s story for I knew what would happen to the media representatives after the police took their statements. They were booked at the police station and taken directly to the courthouse. Each representative was tried separately. If any of them wanted a lawyer, they would be held in the courthouse until the lawyer arrived.

When the media representative was ready to proceed, the complainant’s statement was read into the record. The media representative was then asked if the statement was true. The courtroom’s veracity equipment confirmed whether they answered the question truthfully or lied.

Veracity equipment is used in all Multiverse courts to determine if a witness is lying or telling the truth. In all the tests and studies performed in the Multiverse, no one has ever been able to lie without the veracity equipment detecting the lie.

Multiverse citizens know that the equipment will be used in the courtroom, and if they lie, they will be caught. Most people either make no statement or just tell the truth, and if they know they are guilty, they hope the Judge will be merciful. Occasionally, someone will attempt to fool the veracity equipment. When that happens, they are caught and punished for lying in court.

If the media representative said the bodyguard’s statement was true, then they were guilty of misdemeanor harassment and sentenced to three days of imprisonment. If they said the statement was false, they were given an opportunity to tell what actually happened.

If the media representative lied in their statement, the bodyguard’s version was accepted as the truth. The media representative was then sentenced to ninety-three days of imprisonment: ninety days for lying in court and three days for harassment. If the veracity equipment indicated they were telling the truth, the bodyguard would be interviewed to determine if they filed a false police report. Since my bodyguards were all ex-police officers, I doubted if anyone would be questioning them. They had set up the media representatives in a way that the representatives had not been expecting, and the representatives were guilty of the charges.

The team of Cindy and Tammy was winning the contest of who could get the most media representatives arrested. When the representatives caught on to what was happening, they stopped following them. The other team members claimed that a team of two attractive women going out on the first operation gave them an unfair advantage. Cindy and Tammy just smiled and let them complain about losing.

I was a little upset about this game for it placed my ladies at risk and it was taking up the police officers’ time. They might be needed elsewhere on a more critical call.

Sereine took me aside and said, “Don’t worry about it, Doug. When one of your ladies left, they had four well-trained bodyguards watching them. They were never at risk of being hurt.

“I talked with a little bird that I know, about what was planned. That little bird told me the police in this area were having a very slow day, and would appreciate having a little excitement to help pass the time. They were having a contest of their own to see which team of officers arrested the most misdemeanor-harassment perpetrators during their shift.”

I never did learn who that little bird was, or how Sereine made contact with said little bird. She told me it was best for everyone if I didn’t know. I decided she was probably right. No one had been hurt, and perhaps we would be subjected to less media harassment in the future.

I convened a meeting to determine if we were ready to depart for home.

“All right, everyone, we need to determine what else needs to be done before we leave for Earth. Cindy, will you please make a list of the items we mention.

“To start off with; I need to check with my parents, to ensure everything is okay with them, and to see what they may need from me. I assume that everyone has been storing their purchases in the storage shelter, so we need to get that before we leave. The three bodyguards going with us will need energy rifles, so we need to stop off at the weapons training school to get three energy rifles and accessories for them. I also need to pick up the additional weapons and accessories I ordered. I will want to make a large purchase of bullion to take with us to sell. We need to purchase some prepackaged food, if Betty hasn’t done so already. I’m not going to eat any more of those MREs. We will also need to get Sandy some traveling clothes and equipment, but no weapons for this trip.

“That’s all I can think of for the moment. Let’s go around the room. Each of you can let us know what you have done, and what you think needs doing. Sereine let’s start with you.”

Sereine said, “I have purchased enough dry food for Coral and Sto to last six months, and stored it in the shelter. We can supplement that with fresh meat when needed. They will eat anything as long as it’s red meat, cooked or raw. Coral doesn’t seem to care for fish, but she will eat it when she is hungry. We also need to contact Sergei to inform him of when we are leaving; but other than that, I can’t think of anything outstanding that needs to be done.”

Sereine glanced at the head of the single bodyguards, and he said, “The three of us have closed down our apartments, packed a travel bag, and placed everything else in storage. Other than weapons, we’re ready to go.”

He glanced at the head of the married bodyguards who said, “All we need to do is pack our bags, pick up our families, and we will be ready to go home.”

“Cindy, add ‘hire D-Hoppers to take Kendrick and our bodyguards home’ to our list, and add ‘contact Sergei to have his people here tomorrow’. Start a new list for things to be done next trip, and add ‘transport single bodyguard’s’ belongings to Earth’ to it.”

I looked at Sandy and she said, “My bags are still packed, so I’m ready to go.”

My ladies had been whispering amongst themselves, so I looked over at Rita and she said, “We have finished our shopping and other things that we needed to do, Master, and Sereine stored all our purchases in the shelter. Betty didn’t have time to buy the prepackaged meals.

“Cindy, add ‘get prepackaged meals’ to the list.”

I looked around the room at my people, and no one had anything to add, so I said, “Okay. It looks like we will be ready to leave by tomorrow afternoon.

“Sereine, I will contact the weapons school today and order three of the energy rifles I ordered, the rest of the weapons, and all of the accessories should be ready for pick up tomorrow. Tomorrow I want you to take one of our three bodyguards to the weapons school and pick up the weapons. Hop to First Stop and wait there for us.

“Kendrick, make arrangements to have D-Hoppers take you and the married bodyguards and their families to your respective homes, sometime tomorrow. Later today I will have a credit chip prepared for you to cover the costs.

“Cindy, add ‘get credit chip for Kendrick’ to our list.

“It sounds as if we will be ready to leave around one in the afternoon.

“Today, I will get the credit chip for Kendrick, and arrange for a limousine to take our seven married bodyguards back to the hotel where their families are staying. Then I’ll arrange for an early appointment on Metal World with my agent, so he will have the bullion ready to go. I will also contact Sergei and let him know when we will be leaving from the hotel.

“I assume the storage shelter is at my family’s place of business, so tomorrow I’ll purchase the bullion and transport it there. I can check with my folks about what they may need at that time.

“Cindy, has everything on the first list been assigned to someone?”

“Everything but picking up the shelter, and buying the prepackaged food.”

“Betty, I want you and Carol to buy us a large supply of prepackaged meals. Get enough for ten people to make six round trips. Plan on two days each way. Oh, yes, be sure to get a selection of different items for the breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals.

“All right, after Sergei’s D-Hopper and photographer join us, we will hop to Willibald to pick up the shelter. From there we will go to First Stop.”

I looked around and no one seemed to want to add anything, so I ended our meeting with, “Okay, that’s it for now. Let’s go downstairs so I can get a couple of limousines to take you folks to your hotel and families. Kendrick, I need to talk with you when I get back.

“If anyone thinks of something we overlooked, have Cindy add it to our list. Cindy, either take care of it yourself, or assign it to someone else.”

My seven married bodyguards picked up their bags and with two of my single bodyguards, Sto and I left for the hotel lobby. I arranged for two limousines and said goodbye to my married bodyguards. The concierge made a credit chip for me, to give to Kendrick.

Before going back to the room, I twixted my Metal World agent for an early morning appointment, and let him know what I needed to purchase. I then commed Sergei to let him know when we would be leaving. I also let him know that if his D-Hopper, Dan Staffer, and landscape photographer, Tim Hart, were here early, they could have lunch with us before we left.

I needed to talk with Kendrick and I wanted it to be a private meeting, so Kendrick and I sat down in a bedroom by ourselves. Handing the credit chip to Kendrick, I said, “There is a million dollars on this credit chip. It should cover all of the costs you incur on my behalf until I return.

“Kendrick, you are the only person that I know and trust in the Multiverse, who is capable of representing my interests with the Board of Directors of the Archer Conglomerate. While I’m gone, I want you to consider accepting that position. If you are interested, then when I return, we can discuss salary and benefits.”

The look on Kendrick’s face told me he had not been expecting me to offer him that position. He knew that I would be looking for someone to fill the position, but I don’t think he believed that he would even be considered.

“I don’t know what to say, Doug. I would certainly like the position, but I don’t know if I have the necessary experience. I figured you would want someone a bit older, more mature, and more experienced in high finance. I will certainly do the best job possible for you if you want me.”

The look on his face reminded me of me when Kevin offered me the position of Ambassador. I wonder if Kevin had felt the same way as I felt right now.

“Kendrick, we will work through this, together. You will certainly do a better job at this than I would, alone. You may not have much experience in high finance, but you do have both the background and knowledge necessary to do the job. Experience will come with time. Besides, I don’t think Harry is going to let you do something really stupid. He would fight you tooth and nail to prevent you from damaging the conglomerate. That’s his baby.

“As soon as I can get a Twixt system installed, we will be able to communicate about anything that you feel uncertain about.”

That night my three ladies joined me in bed. We had been away from each other for too long. Our lovemaking started off languorously. As our passions built, the pace of our activities increased until we were all sexual satisfied. Then we returned to the slow, languorous pace of sated lovemaking. Eventually we slept.

We finished an early breakfast by six the next morning. After breakfast, we went our separate ways. Kendrick left to join our married bodyguards at their hotel so they could all be hopped back to their home worlds. Sereine and one of my bodyguards waited until the weapon school was open, and then left to pick up the energy rifles and equipment I had ordered from the school. I hopped my two bodyguards and myself to Metal World. The rest of my entourage returned to our rooms to finish packing. They would wait there for Sergei’s people to arrive and for me to return.

I had arranged to buy two thousand pounds of gold and two thousand pounds of platinum. When I finished the purchase, I hopped it and us to Willibald. We planned to load the bullion into the shelter, but the shelter was almost full. My Dad pointed to a larger shelter, so we loaded the bullion into that shelter, and then we moved everything from the smaller shelter to the larger shelter. I thanked my Dad and the warehouse workers who helped us transfer everything into the larger shelter.

Dan Staffer, Tim Hart, and I arrived at the hotel room a little before eleven and my ladies, Cindy, and Sereine were waiting for us, and all of us went downstairs for lunch. After lunch, I checked us all out of the hotel, and thanked Tom for the excellent service we received. We returned to our rooms for our belongings, and I hopped us to Willibald. We packed a few more items into the shelter. We said goodbye to my parents, and then I hopped everyone and the shelter to First Stop.

Once we arrived on First Stop, everyone rushed around changing into their traveling clothes, locating their equipment carts, and collecting their weapons. Once everyone was ready, Dan and Sereine linked to me and she hopped us to our next stop while I guided her to my normal arrival point on the planet while Dan monitored the hop. Then I hopped us to our second stop, while Dan and Sereine were linked to me, so they could learn the route between First Stop and Earth.

Once we arrived at our second stop, I sat down with Dan and gave him the coordinates of Earth’s universe and the universes we would hop to in traveling to Earth; I had already provided this information to Sereine. As I listed them, he recorded them in his hopping journal. Dan and Sereine would be able to help me with some of the hopping. They would make their hops with me guiding them to the arrival point on the Standard Arrival Planets of the Universes. I had filed the normal paperwork to report these universes and planets to the Guild, but Guild Master Moore and I agreed that the paperwork should remain under Guild Seal until Earth was ready to receive commercial traders. I made this known to Sereine and Dan, so they wouldn’t submit paperwork for these universes and planets.

Note: A universe’s Standard Arrival Planet is the planet closest to the intersection of the Fourth Dimension’s X, Y, and Z axes that is safe for human occupancy. If the planet is not safe for humans, an alternative planet is selected.

During the first part of our journey, we went to the Standard Arrival Planets of known universes. All Dan and Sereine had to do was be linked to me, so they would know the normal arrival point on those planets. For hops to the unexplored universes, Dan or Sereine would make the hop, while I would guide them to the arrival point of what I had selected as the Standard Arrival Planet. For us, the early part of our path consisted of known worlds with few if any threats. Hopping to such a world was far safer than hopping to an unknown world.

As soon as we finished, Sereine linked with him as he hopped us to the next stop. Sereine and I would guide Dan to our usual arrival point on each of the planets he hopped us to. Since he was linked to us when we hopped, he learned the arrival points without our guidance.

Dan’s recovery time was the same as mine. So with the three of us performing hops, it should take us less than twelve hours to get to Wayside. I made a note to myself to explore the universes we just passed through. Knowing which worlds were hazardous would allow us to use Sereine’s longer hop distance in the future, which would shorten our overall travel time.

Once we started hopping to the unexplored universes and planets, we created what we would come to call our standard defensive formation for making a hop. I had been on these planets many times, but I had never explored the planets and did not know what dangers may be present. The formation was a circle with all of us facing outward with our weapons ready to respond to any danger that may be present. During our rest time on the planet, we would usually maintain this formation in a more relaxed state.

While we traveled, I made plans for what I should do after arriving on Earth. I decided that my first task would be to help Tim with photographing the land I was buying. I would then begin the process of presenting my credentials. While working on that task, there would be many occasions when I would be waiting for a response. During those wait periods, I could meet with Ken and have the closing on the property, go over the specifications with HRD, install mobile homes, and do anything else that needed to be done.

Sereine and I had a private discussion during one of our rest periods. I was confused about the communication between Sto and me. I motioned for Sereine to join me away from the others, and I asked, “Sereine, everyone keeps saying that Bushbies are empathic. I’m not sure of the difference between empathic and telepathic communication. My communication with Sto is more than empathic communication, but it also seems different from telepathy. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes, I do. After I bonded with Coral, I had a very similar question. I was living on Toomby, so I contacted the scientists who were on Toomby to study Bushbie communications.

“They told me that Bushbie are empathic communicators in the sense that they can sense the emotional state of those who are around them. They don’t seem to project emotions, but they definitely receive emotions.

Their study of how Bushbies communicate over their bond with a human has shown that Bushbie are more than empathic communicators. They know that communication takes place due to the link, but they can’t explain how it happens. The scientists used Thought Technology to prove that it isn’t telepathic communication.

“When I first talked with them, they had formed a hypothesis of how the communication worked. According to their hypothesis, Coral modified my brain in a way that effectively tied a portion of my brain to her brain. They know the link is not physical, so they are calling it a Thought Merge Link.

They have no idea of how to prove that their hypothesis is correct, but their studies have shown that when a thought image appears in the Bushbie’s mind or the human’s mind, it appears in the other’s mind at the same time regardless of who is initiating the image. According to the scientists, a rapid series of these thought images appear in a human’s mind like a movie film with emotion and sound.

“I think of it as mind sharing. Coral’s link merged our minds and we share the merged section. Instead of sending thoughts or words back and forth, as in telepathy, either of us can create a series of thought images that contain a picture, emotion, and sound, and the series of thought images appears to both of us at the same time.

“The problem, Doug, is that most people have never heard of a Thought Merge Link. To simplify things when I talk with other people, I just use the term telepathy. It saves me a lot of trouble, and the people I am talking with don’t care about the technical differences between the two methods of communication.”

“Thanks, Sereine, that helps. I’ll have to think about the hypothesis and the way you view it. Once I grasp what you said and fit it into my experiences, I may want to discuss it further. Like you, I think I’ll just use the term telepathy. It sure beats trying to explain an unproven concept.”

When we got to Wayside, we were all tired and ready for bed. We had decided that I would leave the storage shelter on Wayside until I had room for it on Earth. We stored our equipment in the shelters, and then I hopped us to my home. We would worry about dirty clothes, food, merchandise, and the other things tomorrow.

Sleeping space was a problem. Rita, Betty, and Carol moved into the master bedroom with me. Sandy and Sereine moved into a bedroom with Cindy. My three bodyguards took Betty and Carol’s bedroom. Sergei’s people said they would make themselves comfortable on my living room floor. They had brought two days of prepackaged food with them from Wayside. I reminded them about sugar, and cautioned them to not drink anything other than tap water.

It was early evening, but we were all tired. So I showed my bodyguards, Sergei’s men, and Sandy how to operate the light switches, toilet, and shower. Then we went to bed to sleep. My three bedmates were asleep by the time I finished explaining things to everyone. I slid into bed and Sto curled up at the foot of the bed. I’m not sure but I think Coral slept in the bedroom with Sereine.

The next morning, we all went back onto the low sugar diet to make it easier on Betty. However, my ladies did cheat from time-to-time, for they were very close to being desensitized to sugar. Carol had helped herself to some cake that had been left in the refrigerator. One of my bodyguards made the mistake of helping himself to a slice of the cake that Carol was eating. One bite of that cake’s frosting was enough to put him into sugar shock. He hadn’t noticed that Carol had been eating the cake, but avoiding the frosting. The three of them and Sandy were careful about what went into their mouths after that incident. The cake thief was already a sugar addict, so no real harm had been done.

After my bodyguard regained consciousness, I went through the same set of instructions with the three of them that I had given my ladies when they first got here. I also started them on a weak sugar solution. In six weeks, they should be able to eat anything that appealed to them. My ladies continued to drink their stronger sugar solution. It seemed as if they would be ready to eat anything they wanted to eat in another week. Carol would even be able to eat her cake’s frosting.

I decided to call Bill at HS to find out how Ken, Tom, and he had been doing on the property sale. That was how I learned that Bill no longer worked for HS. So I called his home.

“Bill Hendricks, how can I help you?”

“Morning, Bill, Doug here. I called HS and they told me you no longer work there. How are things for you and Sue?”

“We are okay for now, but we have been bored to death since we left HS. How did your trip go? Anything interesting happen?”

When I stopped laughing, I said, “Well, I was adopted by a pet that you will have to meet to believe. I formed a wholesale marketing group for trade between Earth and the Multiverse. I brought back five people who are the initial members of my Embassy staff. Oh, yes, I also inherited a business that’s valued at four hundred and thirty one trillion dollars, and provides me with an annual income of over fifteen trillion dollars. There were a few other interesting things, but I’m still tired from traveling. They will come to me later.”

There was silence on the line. Finally, Bill said, “Did you say trillion?”

“Yes, I did. The business is the seventh largest in the Multiverse.

“Since you are no longer employed by HS, I assume that you and Sue now work for me and the Multiverse Embassy.”

“Yes, if you will have us.”

“Have you, hell I have wanted to hire you and Sue since we got back from the Multiverse. If you hadn’t quit, I was going to do a hard sell to get the two of you to resign. I really need you, now. What happened? Did they let you go or did you quit?”

“That’s a long story. Why don’t Sue and I stop by and talk with you. I don’t think I will be able to keep Sue away, once she hears about the inheritance. She will want all the details.”

“Good, get over here as soon as you can. We have a lot to do in the next couple of days. Is Tom ready for finalizing the sale of Ken’s ranch?”

“They are all ready for the closing. We have to clean up and dress, but we will be there as soon as possible.

“Doug, Matt is home and we told him about what happened. He is still on leave, and he is talking about resigning after he returns to work.”

Once Bill hung up, I checked the clock. I decided to call Matt and Mary. The phone only rang twice when Mary answered, “Good Morning, this is Mary.”

“Morning, Mary, Doug here. We got back late yesterday. I wasn’t sure if you and Matt were back, so I called Bill at HS, and found out he and Sue no longer worked there. I talked with Bill and he and Sue will be heading over here shortly, so I think you and Matt need to get over here also, so we can all find out what has been going on since we left.”

“Matt just got out of the shower and we had breakfast earlier, so we should be ready to leave in fifteen minutes. Don’t let Bill and Sue start their story until we get there.”

“Betty, we are about to have visitors. Matt, Mary, Bill, and Sue will be on their way shortly. Put on an urn of coffee. We need to discuss a number of things and make some plans.”

Checking the number, I placed a call to Ken Johnson. “Morning, Ken, Doug Smith here. I just got back from my business trip late last night and this morning I talked with Bill. He tells me everything is ready to finalize the sale of the ranch.”

“Yep, everything is ready to go. I was wondering when I would hear from you. Bill told me he would let me know when you got back. He told me that we couldn’t get a message to you for you were unreachable.”

“Yes, that was true. Bill had no way to contact me.

“The main reason I called, Ken, is to arrange for some people to photograph the ranch. As I told you, the facility I will be building is for an Embassy. These people represent the security firm that I hired to design a defensive system for the Embassy. Would it be possible for us to come by early this afternoon so they can do their photography?