Chapter 9

DAY 4:

The day began for me when Alicia woke me at five-thirty. She snuggled in bed with me for a few minutes before she told me that I would be sleeping with Phyllis every third night for the next month starting on Friday night. The frequency of my nights in Phyllis’s bed would drop every month after that until she was ready to join all of us in the same bed. That decrease seemed to me like we were almost forcing Phyllis into our bed, but Phyllis had agreed to the arrangement. Alicia said Phyllis wanted to be with the rest of us, but she needed that pseudo-coercion for us to complete the transition to a fully functioning foursome.

I made it downstairs by six-thirty. The first thing I did was to kiss all of my ladies. The second thing I did was to get a cup of coffee and take it with me into the living room, so I would be out of their way.

At seven, the breakfast club arrived without Dani and Kiara. They told us last night that they wanted to have breakfast with their families before coming to work this morning. Dani’s husband was doing okay without her presence in the morning, but they missed their morning together time. Kiara’s husband and their three kids missed having breakfast with her before she left for work. It would only be another week and a half until the meeting ended and their lives could return to normal, but Kiara told us that until the meeting ended, she planned to eat breakfast with her family every other day. I assumed she would set up a similar arrangement for the next meeting.

I added a review of our working hours to our list of things to be done. We were currently spending seven hours in the meeting and another three hours, or more, either before or after the meeting addressing meeting related items. That was okay for my ladies and me, but it was unfair to Dani and Kiara’s families. The next meeting would last for several years, so we had to change their work hours to something their families could live with.

At eight-forty-five, Madge, the breakfast club, and I headed to the meeting tent. Dani and Kiara were already there and working on the new lists of questions when we arrived. Today was another day like the two previous days with Simon at the podium. When I ended the day’s session we only had fifteen questions left on our list that hadn’t been presented. The number of questions we received tomorrow morning would determine if we were able to finish the question and answer period tomorrow or whether I had to defer a few questions to Monday. Either way, I considered us to be on schedule.

In my closing statement, I said, “We have fifteen questions remaining for me to present. Tomorrow will be the last official day of the question and answer portion of the meeting. Additional questions will not be accepted after we start tomorrow’s session. We will not meet on Saturday. If there are any unanswered questions at the close of tomorrow’s session, I will present them Monday morning, and then we will begin the polling portion of the meeting.

The breakfast club joined us for dinner after the meeting. Once we finished eating, Madge left to start presenting the JAMP offer letters to the agents of the property owners who had not accepted our offers. Since Alicia had signed the JAMP offer letters and Phyllis had signed our initial offer letters, we did not think it was appropriate for either of them to go with Madge. My association with the alliance agreement was too well known and I had to be in the meeting, so I couldn’t go.

Madge said, “Alicia going with me should be okay. When Phyllis was with me, the agents paid attention to me and ignored Phyllis. If Alicia comes to their attention, I’ll introduce her as my friend Alicia Connor. I doubt they will equate her with Alicia Creswell who signed the offer letters and checks.”

The media vehicles outside our front gate created congestion for traffic moving in the area. The county officials knew the demonstrators would create a traffic hazard if they were allowed to picket outside of our farm.

The county’s policy was to issue permits for demonstrations in public areas as long as a demonstration would not create a public hazard. We all knew the combination of the existing traffic congestion and a demonstration at our farm would create a hazard. When the demonstrators had first shown up at our gate, the Sheriff’s deputies asked the picketers for their permit to demonstrate. Since they only had a permit to demonstrate in Snohomish, the deputies told them they had to leave and go back to Snohomish to conduct their demonstration.

Dani and Kiara hadn’t stayed for dinner; and after dinner, the breakfast club left when Alicia and Madge left. It was just Phyllis and me at the house. Phyllis was horny, very horny. It started out as just a few kisses on the couch in the living room. It quickly escalated into Phyllis seducing me; I didn’t resist. In less than thirty minutes, Phyllis and I were upstairs in her bed fucking each other as hard as possible. I didn’t see our having sex as a violation of the agreement my ladies made for I would be sleeping in my bed with Alicia and Madge. We were just getting acquainted a little earlier than planned. I knew our dalliance wouldn’t be a problem for Alicia and Madge both smirked and told me to have fun as they were leaving. It sort of looked like they set up the seduction by going out to deliver the new offer letters and leaving us alone.

Phyllis and I were showered and dressed for bed when Alicia and Madge returned. Things had gone as Madge anticipated with the owner’s agents. They dealt with Madge; Alicia didn’t exist as far as they were concerned.

Madge said, “As we expected, all of the agents we visited tonight asked if Minnus wanted to increase their offer. I did what we had discussed. They returned the good-faith deposit checks Phyllis provided when I let them know the offer had been withdrawn.

“They didn’t get upset at Minnus withdrawing their offer for they had a better offer to present to their clients, but I think they were hoping for a bidding war between Minnus and JAMP.”

I asked, “What do you plan to do tomorrow, Madge?”

“I’ll visit the remaining agents and submit our new offers and then return the checks to Phyllis. Why?”

“It is Alicia’s turn to be with me tomorrow, and Phyllis will be with you. However, we decided Phyllis shouldn’t go with you in the future, since she signed the Minnus offer letters and good faith deposit checks. Since it is important for us to get those offers into the owner’s hands as soon as possible, you would have to go alone. As we discussed last night, it isn’t safe right now for any of you to leave the farm alone. That means Alicia and Phyllis will have to swap jobs tomorrow, so Alicia can go with you.”

Madge got teary-eyed, and said, “It’s wonderful to know you love and care for me so much. I can’t remember anyone being as protective of me as you have been since my parents died.”

Phyllis said, “Yeah. Jeb seems to have found the right balance between taking good care of us and protecting us from harm, while also letting us be independent individuals.”

I appreciated the compliments but didn’t know how to respond, so I said, “Thank you. I think it is time for me to get some sleep. Anyone else interested?”

I locked up the house and went to bed. Alicia and Madge were in the bathroom getting ready to bed. I was waiting for them in bed for a snuggle when I fell asleep.

Day 5:

I was the first one up today, which was unusual. I didn’t want to disturb Alicia and Madge by showering, so I went downstairs and started an urn of coffee. While I was doing that, Phyllis joined me in the kitchen. After sharing a few hugs and kisses that could have gone much further if we allowed ourselves to let go, Phyllis went upstairs to wake Alicia and Madge.

I knew enough about myself to not try to start breakfast; it would be a disaster. I’m okay in the kitchen fixing something for myself and fixing a pot of coffee. When I try to cook for a large group, I can’t seem to get things to go right and the food turns out as a tasteless mess. That is one of the main reasons I let my ladies prepare the meals we serve to the breakfast club. I only get involved when they ask me for help, which is very rare.

When Phyllis returned, she said, “That was really cute. It seems the two of them missed you and tried to get closer to you. They ended up snuggling each other happily thinking it was you. When I woke them and they realized what happened, they gave each other hugs and kisses. I could see myself doing that.”

Phyllis started cooking bacon and I kept her company. Five minutes after the first batch was done, Alicia and Madge appeared; so I got a cup of coffee and went to my office, so I would be out of the experts’ way.

The breakfast club arrived at seven, and we went through the usual routine of, us guys staying out of the way of the women. They had it down to a routine and didn’t need us getting in their way. In fact, it was a pleasure watching them work together like a well-oiled machine: efficient, smooth, and quiet. Well, there was some conversation, but I couldn’t make out much of what they were saying.

Dani and Kiara left as soon as they had finished eating. Their main focus was to get all of today’s questions entered as quickly as possible. They knew I had fifteen questions, which would last us until the start of lunch, and hopefully, they would have all of the questions entered by then.

It occurred to me after I announced yesterday that today would be the last day we would accept questions that things would go one of two ways. We would only get the few questions we were expecting, or the delegates would wake up to the fact that they had to get all of their questions submitted before the start of today’s meeting. I would learn which way things went when I arrived at the meeting tent.

Before they left the farm, I kissed Alicia and Madge and told them to have fun delivering the offer letters. I expected things to be about the same as the past three days for me. The delegates’ questions seemed to have taken on a self-centered tone to me. Self-centered in the sense of what their individual countries had to gain by an agreement, rather than what they personally might gain. I had tried to explain it to my ladies, but I wasn’t sure what I sensed, so I couldn’t put my feeling in words. Maybe it will be clearer in the next meeting.

Mary interrupted my thoughts to say, “What you sense is accurate, Jeb, but don’t worry about it. They are thinking about what their country may achieve by having an alliance agreement. Their attitudes will lead to them wanting an agreement, and at this stage, that is a plus for us.

“During the next meeting, you will find that most of the delegates will want similar things for their countries. Their differences will be focused on specific trade items, the taxes levied on their traders by other worlds, what taxes Earth can levy on traders from other worlds, and how they are to split the taxes Earth collects.”

“Mary, I don’t see how these delegates will ever be able to figure out a way to divide up the taxes Earth collects. Is that going to be a show stopper to getting the agreement ratified?”

“No, the Embassy will be built even if the agreement is not ratified. The Royal Zldat Council will see to that. In all of the alternate probabilities I have seen, the Zldat Council convinces the Empire to establish an Embassy on Earth to guide Earth, so it does not create problems for the Empire. Believe me, Jeb, no one in the Empire has a desire to destroy a peaceful trade world, and a certain degree of tolerance is shown to immature worlds like Earth. I only saw two probabilities where Earth was destroyed, and those Earths were very different from what Earth is now.”

“Thank you, I think.

“Wait a minute ... Ship Commander Shimlt implemented Directive 1495 and that directive will require her to destroy Earth if Earth doesn’t enter into an agreement. You are seeing a possibility that the agreement won’t be approved; but how can there be any possibility of the agreement not being approved, since you saw embassies in all of Earth’s futures?”

“That never occurred to me, Jeb. There does appear to be a conflict in the Time Continuum, but such a conflict is not possible on a single timeline. I am certain there is a valid reason for the conflict, but I can’t tell you what that reason is now. I will have to explore the Time Continuum further to learn the reason for the apparent conflict.”

I never knew what to think when Mary started talking about alternative futures. I could understand the different futures she described, but I didn’t understand how she could assign a probability that one future was more likely to happen than the others. I just accepted what she said, but at times, I found it to be a little disturbing. I doubt I was as disturbed by that as Mary was by what appeared to be a conflict in the Time Continuum. She had been totally flabbergasted by even the possibility the Time Continuum could display two very different futures on the same segment of a single timeline.

When I reached the meeting tent, I immediately looked for Dani and Kiara. I found Kiara first and I was glad to learn that we had not been buried in questions as I feared might happen. Kiara told me we had more questions than we expected, but not a significant number of extra questions. However, the delegates still had close to ten minutes to submit questions before I started the meeting. She told me she hadn’t read all of the questions submitted, but if the ones she had read were typical, the questions shouldn’t generate a lot of conversation, so we might get through all of them today.

I rejoined Phyllis at the Facilitator tables. I said, “Kiara said we received slightly more questions than we expected and she thinks there is a possibility we might get through all the questions today.”

“That’s good, Jeb. I really didn’t want to work tomorrow.”

“Oh, did you have plans for anything particular?”

“Well, if Madge gets all of our offers submitted to the agents today, it would be nice to take the weekend off and do something fun for a change. It’s been months since we had a fun day together.”

“You’re right. I would like to take the speedboat out on the river and go water skiing like we did three months ago, but it is too cold for that now.”

Phyllis said, “Yeah, I remember the weatherman saying, the week before the meeting started, that we would have two inches of rain this week and four for next week with temperatures in the 50’s. It didn’t happen. The storm front petered out so we only got a few rain squalls this week and they are now saying we will get an inch of rain next week and temperatures will continue to be in the low 60’s.

“That was good for the delegates, Phyllis, but I don’t think the delegates from warmer climates were pleased with the temperature being in the low 60’s. What about skiing? Didn’t the weather reports say there would be snow at the higher elevations?”

“Yes, but according to the snow reports, there isn’t enough yet to form a good base on which to ski.”

“Okay. What about Discovery Park in Seattle? Isn’t that one of the places Madge has been talking about us going to someday?”

“Yes, she has talked about it and we could pack a picnic lunch and make it into a relaxing day. She heard there is hiking, beaches, and other sights. On the way back we can stop off at the Pike Place Market for fresh vegetables. Why don’t you suggest it to us after dinner?”

Simon was moving to the podium, so I knew it must be time to start. He turned the microphone on and said, “Good morning. I’ve been told that we may be able to finish all of the outstanding questions today. Mister Facilitator, what is the next question. I presented the question and Simon answered it.

Partway through the morning session, I turned my task over to Phyllis and headed for the porta potties. There was no one waiting, so I was able to go down the line and find a porta pottie that wasn’t in use. I hope the additional units were sufficient capacity for our current needs. We would have even more people at the next meeting, so I made a mental note to scale up the number of units we would need.

We made good progress up to the lunch break. We made it through the line and got our food from the field kitchen. When we got to the house, we kicked back and relaxed as we ate lunch. Most of the conversation was about what everyone planned to do this weekend. It was nice to talk about something other than the meeting.

A traveling carnival had set up on the outskirts of Seattle. Paul, Aaron, and Mike were trying to talk Simon and Mark into going tomorrow. Mike had given himself a day off tomorrow, but he had to spend Sunday going over his platoon’s guard schedules and doing the ever-present paperwork that all military units require. Vert and Relpt also seemed to be interested in going. Once Simon realized Relpt wanted to go, he would agree to go. Phyllis caught my eye with an inquisitive look on her face. I assumed she was asking if I was interested in going, so I subtly shook my head No.

Everyone started walking to the meeting tent, while Phyllis and I locked up the house. Since we were walking back to the meeting tent by ourselves, Phyllis asked me why I didn’t want to go with the others to the carnival; it would be fun.

I said, “We have been with the breakfast club almost nonstop for several months. I think the four of us need a break from the rest of the group so we can be together by ourselves.”

When I presented the idea of going to Discovery Park, I would also mention the carnival.

We ended the afternoon session with seven unanswered questions. I estimated that we should be finished with those questions in time to break for lunch on Monday. My closing comments were short and to the point. It had been a tiring week for everyone, and we all needed a break before the polling portion of the meeting began. If the delegates got into disagreements over their opinions, that was when they might become very argumentative and possibly combative.

When I thought about how our delegates might become combative in a very emotional confrontation, I remembered the news reports I had seen from some countries that showed the fistfights their representatives had in their legislatures because of a dispute. If our delegates came to blows in the meetings, the Sergeant-at-Arms and his people would end the violence quickly.

Phyllis and I waited in the meeting tent until all of the delegates had left. While we waited a few approached us to ask us questions about next week’s polling. We explained what the polling was intended to accomplish, which seemed to satisfy them. When the last delegate left the tent, we turned everything off and went home.

I waited until the breakfast club had left before bringing up my idea of visiting Discovery Park, and I did mention the carnival as an alternative. After I had explained why I thought the park was preferable to the carnival, we discussed what would be the best for all of us. All three of my ladies wanted to go to the carnival, but they also wanted some time for the four of us to be alone. It is very hard to enjoy being alone together in the middle of a public party atmosphere, just too many people rushing around and too much noise. We agreed the park would be better for us this time.

Madge said we could fix our picnic lunch in the morning and we planned to get to the park at about ten. By then, the cold morning wind would have dissipated, and the morning walkers would be gone. We talked for a while and then locked up the house and went upstairs to bed.

Tonight was my first night with Phyllis. Our earlier dalliance had satisfied the worst of Phyllis’s need for sex. Tonight, we made love slowly, while each of us tried to give the other the ultimate in pleasure. Between bouts of lovemaking, we cuddled as we rested. The sound of Alicia and Madge’s lovemaking came through the wall clearly, and we found it stimulating enough that I was soon hard and we were involved in another bout of lovemaking. The four of us were stimulating each other, but eventually, we were too tired to continue and we fell asleep.

It was Saturday morning and the breakfast club had told us they wanted an early start and didn’t plan on stopping by for breakfast. Lately, it was a rare event for the four of us to sit down to a meal without company. They let me set the table, and then I made myself scarce until they called me to come and get it. It was enjoyable for the four of us to discuss personal matters over breakfast. I helped clear the table when we were done and made myself scarce again. Once the dishes were done, they started fixing our picnic lunch. During breakfast, we had agreed upon a loaf of wheat bread, cold cuts, condiments, pork and beans, and potato salad. We packed that into a picnic basket along with four individual frozen fruit pies, which would keep our food cool as they defrosted. I had been tasked with putting drinks and ice in a cooler. We kept several bags of crushed ice in the walk-in freezer, so I grabbed one of our large coolers from Building 2, filled it with the drinks we kept in the walk-in cooler and added a bag of ice. Since the drinks were already cold, one bag should be enough for it wasn’t hot outside.

We were ready to leave by a quarter to nine, which would let us arrive at the park well before ten. Getting there close to ten was fine with us, so we packed our lunch, cooler, coats, and two blankets in the car and hit the road.

Madge downloaded the park’s trail guide map and printed it last night. We wanted to make our first stop to be the Visitors Center, so we parked in the east parking lot. There were very few cars in the parking lot, so if the other parking lots were like this one, we had the park almost to ourselves.

We decided to have lunch on the beach somewhere near the lighthouse. Until then, we drove through the park to see what we could. We would do some hiking after lunch.

The Indian Cultural Center was an interesting stop. We mostly just drove around and looked at everything we could see from the road. There were many buildings that we could stop to look at, but we couldn’t go inside. We finally headed for the lighthouse. We saw a small parking lot on Discovery Park Boulevard just before it turned into Utah Street. We drove out to the end of Utah Street, but there was no parking, so we went back a hundred yards or so to the small parking lot we saw across from the beach. Once we parked and locked the car we walked out to the lighthouse. The lighthouse was interesting to look at, but it was fenced off and we couldn’t go inside.

When we got back to the car, we took our coats, blankets, cooler, and picnic basket, and we walked to where a foot trail intersected the road and took a narrow dirt trail down to the beach. Having grown up in Washington, I knew our beaches weren’t like the sandy southern California beaches; ours were rockier. Even so, the beach wasn’t exactly as I had envisioned it would be. The high-water portion of the beach was covered with driftwood, which consisted of tree trunks and an occasional piece of lumber and a lot of trash.

We found a good spot and spread out our blankets. Then we fixed our sandwiches and added pork and beans and potato salad to our paper plates. We each grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler and made ourselves comfortable. We talked about the portion of the park we had seen so far. Madge told us the park was nothing like her friend’s description. We all seemed to agree the park was a nice place overall, but not what we had been looking for. Maybe a pleasant hike after lunch would improve our impression.

We had just finished eating when I felt the urge to pee. I realized that there were no port potties back where we parked, but there was some high shrubbery between us and the car.

I said, “Excuse me. My bladder is complaining and I need to go relieve the pressure.”

I went and found a private place to relieve my bladder. It must have been the power of suggestion for when I got back, Alicia said, “Excuse us for we have to visit the bushes also.”

They left to find their own private places. When they returned, Alicia said let’s pack up and haul our stuff back to the car. I have to do more than pee and we have no toilet paper, so I need a toilet or porta pottie.’

Once in the car, I started for the Visitors Center at a speed higher than the posted speed limit. It was a little over a mile and we made very good time. I parked close to the Visitors Center and all of my ladies went inside; maybe the power of suggestion was at work again or it was just tradition that they go to the ladies’ room together. I went in and paid a visit to the men’s room while I had the chance.

We met back at the car when everyone was finished. I asked, “Are we going to go for a hike now?”

Phyllis said, “I don’t think so, Jeb. None of us girls are really in the mood for hiking right now. We were thinking about going to the Fisherman’s Terminal and picking up some fresh fish for dinner tonight.”

“Okay. That sounds good to me. Then we can stop for fresh produce at Pike Place Market before going home.”

We were home by three in the afternoon. The day hadn’t gone as we hoped, but we did spend a lot of time by ourselves and talking about our future as a foursome. I considered the trip to be a success.

We all pitched in to unload the car. Alicia grabbed the picnic basket and took it to the kitchen, Madge took the fish and produce to the walk-in cooler, and Phyllis took our coats and hung them up in the closet. I took the cooler into the walk-in cooler and put the drinks back on the shelves. I then took the cooler outside to empty the ice and water in the back yard. After washing and drying the cooler, I put it back in Building 2 with the rest of our sporting and camping gear.

While my ladies finished up in the kitchen, I went into my office and since the rest of this meeting was under control, I reviewed our personal plans. I would have to talk with Madge to get the latest status on the properties we were buying.

We needed to buy three large properties outside the area where we would be leasing properties that we could configure as our dairy, chicken, and hog farms, and we needed to start that effort soon. Besides constructing the buildings and installing the necessary equipment, we needed to build housing for the staff that would run our farms.

I liked the idea of building a Headquarters building here on the farm where it would be convenient for us. However, I had been reconsidering that in the past month or so. I really didn’t want to have our future employees’ parking lot in my backyard, so to speak. One of the smaller farms we buy would be a better choice as a location for our Headquarters. Mary had talked with us about using a hovercar to travel between the ranch house and the Embassy across the street. If we didn’t want to drive to our Headquarters, we could easily add an area on top of our Headquarters building for landing several hovercars.

We had also talked about importing and selling translators here on Earth. We saw a lot of technology on The Seeker that would be very popular and profitable items to sell on Earth. I would have to find the manufacturing company that produces the items and perhaps they would be interested in our company becoming their sales agent on Earth. It occurred to me that Altairian armor and non-lethal weapons might be trade commodities for us to sell, but I’m not sure if the Altairians would want us selling those items on Earth. I’ll have to ask once the agreement is approved.

I just finished writing down my various ideas for commercial ventures, when Alicia came into the office to let me know dinner was on the table. I had not heard her calling me earlier. We need to discuss our personal activities soon. If not tonight, then definitely tomorrow.