8: It’s a Circus!

“I don’t know when or where he’ll come out,” Persephone said. “I can’t find a precedent. Whatever inspired you to give him the Hero’s ring?”

“What you said,” Cadence said. “It suddenly made sense. Female companions can’t become heroes because of the one clause about knocking up a Damsel. But you said, ‘All companions are heroes.’ It made sense to me. We have to be in good health and have a heroic nature. Otherwise, the portal wouldn’t let us accompany our hero. Chang had to be a Hero-in-waiting. He just needed a key.”

“Well, they won’t give me any information other than to say that Hero Chang is well. What we need to worry about is how you will survive when you return.”

“Lincoln? Will you have any problem with me being the boss?”

“My precious companion, our life on Earth and our life on Chaos are two completely different things. I’m just an entertainer. If you want to head up a multi-million-dollar enterprise, go right ahead. I’ll be your court jester,” I said.

“The question is, ‘Are you going to be a pig-headed demigod, like your grandfather?’ You won’t have many followers if you try to use his approach,” Lisa said. “Remember, I respected him, but I didn’t like him. He kept Cosimo and me apart. He robbed you of a childhood where you were loved by your father.”

“I understand, Mom,” Cadence said. “I’m going to depend on the two of you to help me strike a balance.”

“And you will return to Crossroads, won’t you, beloved?” Seph asked. She stroked Cadence’s hair and placed little kisses along her cheek.

“How can any of us stay away when you are here to greet us?” Cadence asked. Their relationship had gotten off to a rocky start, but in the course of our training, the adventure on Chaos, and the three weeks we’d been back on Crossroads, the two girls had developed a relationship as intense as that between Seph and Lisa. “Besides, I have a little pixie on Chaos and I promised her I’d return.”

“How soon should we expect sleeping beauty to be out?” Lisa asked, nodding toward the bedroom where Damsel Diane was still knocked out. “What did you do to her, Lincoln?”

“I made love to her,” I said.

For three weeks, Diane and I had fucked. Twice a day, religiously. Oh, she had orgasms. That wasn’t a problem. But she wanted ... needed to get right to the main event and not linger with being romanced. She’d been teased non-stop on Chaos for several months. While the healing chamber had helped her deal with her ordeal, she still bore the psychological scars caused by being kept on edge for such a long period of time. She had consciously cut her mind off from her physical reactions and that would just take time to heal.

On the other hand, it had given Persephone, Cadence, Lisa, and me time to enjoy each other. That had also meant a night of the four of us celebrating the consummation of Lisa’s and my relationship. It was soft and slow and romantic. Seph and Cadence attended us, petting and stimulating us before falling together themselves.

I entered Lisa for the first time. Soft and sweet, she took me slowly and deeply. I caught my breath as I felt our hair touch and mash together when I was fully in. Holding for a moment, I then withdrew and plunged in again. Lisa rose to meet my thrusts as we gloried in the love we had for each other. We kissed. We hugged. Our climaxes came upon us in wave after wave of pleasure.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Damsel Diane watching us.

That was the turning point for Diane. She had seen love and it woke in her more than the desire to have a child. She began, slowly, to thaw and be receptive to my soft touches and gentle words. Sex gradually became less perfunctory. She became more involved. Last night I prepared dinner for the two of us and sang to her. I had switched from the Chaosian cithara to a regular acoustic guitar and she was fascinated with the musical tones of Earth.

Music is one of the great unifying forces of the universe, but it also defines the differences from one culture to another. I knew Chaosian music and the natives there had enjoyed my strange adaptation of American music types to their unique instrumentation. I really didn’t know Cassandran music, though my first Damsel, Ariel, had taught me some as we sang together. I would have to see if Sephie could provide me with some examples on my next trip.

After dinner and music, I’d kissed Diane for the first time. You might think that kissing a woman after you’ve already had sex a few times would be less exciting, but I found it more exciting. As did Diane. I believe it was possible that it was her first kiss ever. At least with a man. Apparently, in the distorted sexuality of Cassandra, kisses were almost exclusively between women. Men were not only uninterested, but were actually turned off by such aggressive displays of affection. Diane experienced the kiss as the first sign of love she had ever been given by a man.

By the time we made it to bed that night, her lips were practically glued to mine and she moaned into my mouth. I caressed her breasts and stimulated her nipples. I made no attempt to tease, but to give her that relief she had been denied so often on Chaos. By the time I entered her, she had rolled on top of me and demanded her satisfaction as she rode. I was only too happy to give. Repeatedly. She discovered the benefits of a restorative and I rolled her to her stomach, lifting her hips in my hands. I entered her again, sliding deliciously into her grasping pussy. She came again and when I released a torrent of sperm into her, her orgasm reached such a crescendo that she passed out.

Persephone had fainted from orgasm before. I believed it was a simple result of hyperventilating during her orgasm. But Diane’s unconsciousness was not simply a temporary exhaustion. She slipped into an almost coma-like state and nothing I could do revived her. We contemplated putting her in the healing chamber, but decided to simply let her sleep it off when computer affirmed that she was sleeping deeply and peacefully.

“We should probably be sure to have our clothes waiting by the portal from now on,” I said. “And don’t forget the letter. I believe she will get pregnant now that she is truly receptive.”

“You should dress each morning,” Persephone said. “Until she tells us each morning if she has been confirmed pregnant.”

“Damn it! I shouldn’t be getting menstrual cramps on Crossroads,” Cadence moaned when we awoke one morning. A warning wave of nausea swept over me. I looked at Lisa and she nodded.

“That’s not menstrual cramps,” I said. “Come on. We need to get dressed. Quickly.”

“So soon?” Seph moaned. “You will come back to me soon, won’t you?”

“It might take us three or four weeks on Earth to get this sorted out,” I said. “Unfortunately, when we go back through the portal, people will begin to understand that if we leave by that route, we will be appearing again in fifteen minutes. It will no longer serve as an escape route. It will simply give them fifteen minutes to prepare for our return.”

“I will wait for you,” Persephone said. “I will wait for my Hero, his Companion, and my fellow Caretaker. And every minute you are gone, I will love you even more.”

We pulled our clothes on and a moment later, Diane entered from the bathroom.

“How can I thank you, Hero Lincoln?” she began. “I will tell our children of our love, of your heroism, of the deep healing you brought to me. I love you so much that I will spend the rest of my life missing you.”

“Children?”

“The healing chamber says I am pregnant with twins. Thank you, my hero.” With that she turned and used the portal back to Cassandra. The three of us felt a lurch in our stomachs. Persephone hurriedly kissed us and we linked arms, making sure we had canes and Cadence’s letter. We stepped through the portal.

Into chaos!

I don’t mean the planet. In the fifteen minutes we’d been gone, the room had erupted. There were a dozen cops in the room and Wilson and his lieutenant were bent over Big Al’s desk being searched. The capi were all cordoned off at the end other end of the room with their assistants. Only Gino and the other three senior members were standing nearby and a police detective was blocking them from the others as he asked questions.

He was the one that we stumbled into as we arrived. Our arrival sent the room into another uproar. The detective turned and reached toward his weapon, but I grabbed his hand as I appeared to fall.

“Sorry. Sorry,” I said. “I lost my balance. The canes, you know.” I slowly released his hand and kept eye-contact as I stepped away. He didn’t continue to his weapon.

“Where did you come from?” he demanded. Cadence responded.

“The restroom. Sorry, we didn’t know you were here.”

“They came through the window,” Wilson yelled. An officer went to the bank of windows and tapped on the glass of each one. Someone had closed the open window. I looked at Wilson.

“Nice try, Wilson,” I said. “How did we come through a solid sheet of glass?”

“And who are you?” the detective continued.

“I’m Cadence Pesciano, the sole heir of Big Al Pesciano. Even though the estate is still in probate, I’m here to meet with the presidents of the companies I own and I do not appreciate having my meeting interrupted.”

“And who is with you?”

“As if it is any of your business,” Cadence said, “this is my mother, Lisa Reynolds. And this is my bodyguard,” she said, turning toward me. I saw her eyes pop wide open. “And my other bodyguard. Now what do you want here? Let’s get your business out of the way so I can conduct mine.” I followed Cadence’s eyes and saw Chang as surprised as we were.

“We’re here to arrest Wilson Reynolds and his associates,” the officer said.

“Well, you’ve got them. Please get them out of here. They weren’t wanted in the first place.”

“We’ll need to question everyone in the room,” the officer said.

“Really?” Cadence responded. “How many lawyers do we have present in this room who have witnessed the police entering to make their arrest?” Eight hands went up, including Gino’s. “Now officer, which of the people gathered here for a peaceful business meeting do you want to question and on what authority?” Cadence continued. The officer contemplated the situation.

“If you have identification, I will take your word for the members of your corporation. However, we will be arresting these two gentlemen.”

“Those aren’t gentlemen. They are former employees who were terminated by Big Al over two years ago,” Cadence said. “I’d like to thank you for your arrival as I was about to call the police to have them removed myself. My identification is in my bag. As you can see, I scarcely have a place for it on my person. Ari, could you bring me my bag?” she called. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to treat the grandson of her senior corporate president like a personal servant, but I was blocked by the detective and Ari grabbed Cadence’s bag and brought it to her. The officer quickly opened the flap and looked inside long enough to be certain there were no weapons. He handed the bag to Cadence. “We’ll think about whether you had just cause to search my personal property without a warrant,” Cadence snarled. She grabbed her wallet from the bag and produced her license. The officer looked at it.

“Is there someone a little older with responsibility here?” he asked.

“That would be my executive vice president and executor of the estate,” Cadence said turning to Gino. He produced identification and the officer examined it.

“Okay,” he said, finally. “Pack those two up and let’s get out of here. The police have always had a good working relationship with the Pescianos. There’s no need to detain any of them. I’m sorry, Miss Pesciano, but you must admit your entrance was startling.”

“Detective, once we have a chance to get settled in here, you have an invitation to visit and get to know the next generation. I want you to know, by the way, that any business that man is engaged in has nothing to do with Pesciano Holdings or any of my companies. If he claims otherwise, we will press charges of fraud. If I discover any evidence against him as I review the books of the company, I will provide it to you. Please understand, I only inherited this mess yesterday.”

“You remind me of your grandfather, Miss Pesciano. I’m glad to see the company is still in good hands.”

“I’ll kill you for this!” Wilson yelled. He lunged out of the hands of the cop that was leading him and rushed at Cadence. The cane I thrust between his legs tripped him and as he fell toward Cadence, Lisa stepped in front of him and kneed his face. That brought Wilson upright and Lisa grabbed his arm and threw him halfway across the room toward the doors. Four policemen were on him in a blink. Two more had his lieutenant trapped between them.

“I will also press charges for attempted assault and a viable threat against my life,” Cadence said. “You might want to lose the key when you lock him up.”

Once the police officers cleared the room, the commotion broke out again.

“Where did you go?”

“How could you do this?”

“Who is that?”

“How did you get through the window?”

“Where have you been?”

“Gentlemen!” Gino boomed out. “What you have seen should convince you that we have a new boss. However, there was another part of the test. In the Chaos of my life, what have I left as a true legacy? Those are the words Big Al left.”

“He left a son, a daughter, and two grandchildren,” Cadence said. There was a collective gasp. “And this letter, in the care of his son,” she continued, producing the envelope.

“In the test, he left another envelope which is marked, ‘To compare. This will show that the returned envelope is genuine.’ Capi, if you will compare the contents of these two envelopes, please.” The three senior capi approached the desk and opened the envelopes. We pulled back to a quick conference.

“Chang, it is good to see you again,” I said. “I didn’t really expect it. I thought you would return to your own time.”

“It was considered. The powers that be decided that it would create too great a risk. They gave me the choice of an abandoned portal or the one the previous owner of the ring used. There was no way to know where or when the abandoned portal would lead me. I chose to come to this one to help if I could,” Chang said. “I see that Cadence needs very little help, so I’m hoping she can help me. I have no papers or documentation. I’m the age I was when I left Earth twenty-five years ago. I thought that at least here, I might find shelter for a few days while I discover all that has changed in my native world. I’m going to need a job and some papers. Do you object?”

“I offered my assistance,” Cadence said. “We’ll have Gino work on it. The man can work miracles.”

“The documents match,” the elder Ribaldi declared. “I opposed naming a woman as Boss—especially one so young. However, not only has Big Al made his intentions clear, Cadence Pesciano has shown intelligence, courage, and leadership that I can only admire. Al stressed to each of us over the past few years that our jobs were not only to run the businesses he entrusted to us, but to offer guidance and support to the boss. Well, I believe that if we do our jobs, the company will be in good hands with Cadence Pesciano at the helm. I move that we affirm her as CEO of Pesciano Holdings.”