Chapter 10

The weekend was spent relaxing and getting things ready for next week. We were going to have a lot of family visiting who had never seen our home here, so we did a bit of picking up and cleaning, and making sure that some things weren’t out in public like they had been. There was also some clothes shopping for the kids, as Toby had grown some, and all three of them needed nice outfits for school Tuesday.

The first members of our family arrived Sunday afternoon.

We were just sitting down for lunch when Chuck opened the door. “Hey, Carrie! I’ve got a package here for you.”

She got up, a puzzled look on her face. “Really? What is it?”

Chuck stood back, then let Brenda and Walter Lestenkoff walk in. Carrie screamed in delight at seeing her Aunt and Uncle, running over to give them hugs. “I can’t believe you’re here!”

“We haven’t seen our little girl for months. Your school is nearly over for the year, so we came to visit with you. I hope that’s okay,” Brenda said.

“Of course! I knew we were going to have the Kansas family coming in, but I didn’t think you’d be able to get away this time of year.”

“Because it’s almost summer? This year, that doesn’t mean as much as it has in the past. Our homes are all insulated well, our larders are already stocked full for winter, and our people have never been happier,” Walter said.

Carrie frowned. “It’s only June. How can we be that far ahead for the winter?”

Brenda laughed. “Our King has made it possible. All four of our communities have power from one of his wind turbines, and as you know, the wind always blows in Alaska. We are no longer under the control of the BIA man. As a group, the Unangan now send what we have in plenty down to the mainland, while they send us what we need in return. There are two restaurants in San Francisco and one in Seattle that get shipments of our freshly caught fish every day. One of them even uses an Unangan recipe that he said came from us. His son has visited our home to learn our ways and may end up staying. He’s sweet on one of our girls. The Naval Base will remain open, as part of guarding the border between the United States and the Soviet Union, but they trade freely now with their counterparts just as all of our people are now not separated by borders and passports.”

“Sounds like I may owe the Bobsey Twins a bit of an apology,” I said.

“Are you kidding? They love to complain, but they thrive on that stuff,” Chuck said. “They’re already done in South Africa and flew from there to Nepal, to make sure we’re not seen as an invading army when we show up there.”

I watched as Carrie, with a huge grin on her face, introduced her sister and her boyfriend. There was a bit of explanation about how Cally was her sister and that their other sister would be joining us later this week. Then I introduced Brenda and Walter to my wives, as they hadn’t met all of them.

“Don’t be getting ideas, Walter Lestenkoff!”

“Why should I? He’s our King. Of course he’s going to have many wives.”

“Oh. Okay, then.”

“Aunt Brenda, how long can the two of you stay?”

“That was actually something we were going to ask you, little one. When you’re done with your classes, and the ceremony next week, do you want to come home for the summer?”

Carrie turned and looked at me. “What is thy will, my King?”

I about choked on my drink, spitting a little of it back out. “Seriously? First, you can go visit at any time. I’ve told you that, before. But you also know you’re not going to go up there without four things. Your sisters, your boyfriend, and security. That means that this entire summer is out, unfortunately. I can utilize the powers of the shivalingam pretty much anywhere on the planet, but I can’t do what you or Holly did to help Emily and Margie. That literally means there might be a two week period around the end of July to the first of August, where you could be gone. Also, in case the fecal matter hits the rotary oscillating cooling device in Nepal ... and no, none of you are going with us ... the three of you are still Planetary Guardians.”

Brenda glanced at Carrie. “Using the powers for healing, eh? We wondered about that. The Souls within Mount Moffett have been much more active lately; they’re taking more interest in what we’re doing on a daily basis.”

“That would be another reason for you to not go home until I’ve had a chance to check Mount Moffett out,” I said. I then spent a few minutes getting Brenda and Walter caught up on Mountain Guardian Alaska, and my concerns that he may simply be in hibernation mode or that his weapons could still be around. Then I brought up the alien invaders and probes. Getting them in the loop added a little time.

Lunch turned into dinner and other than the feeding of those under four years of age, none of us ended up leaving the dining room area, just simply talking, taking notes, and in general discussing both history and legends. I was pleased that my Indian wives took an active part in this as well.

The next day I had three tests, with my last one Tuesday morning. The girls were on the same schedule, which left all of us free Tuesday afternoon. The family sort of invaded Menlo School. The actual graduation ceremony for those who were finished wouldn’t be until Wednesday, but they had an advancement ceremony the day before that, in their gymnasium.

The students’ chairs were all placed on the gym floor, as was normal, with parents and family in the bleachers. The gym had a second tier of seats as well, so that area was in use, too.

“Good afternoon, everyone. For those of you who haven’t been with us before, we like to have a little ceremony to recognize the hard work of all our students, not just the ones who will be graduating tomorrow. Of course, we do have to brag upon our graduates, as we once again have a one hundred percent matriculation rate. For those of you who may have forgotten since it’s been a while since registration, I am Harold Duncan, the Menlo Middle School Administrator.”

I’d wondered why the students were all seated on one side of the gymnasium, while an equal number of chairs waited on the other side of the gymnasium. I found out as he started reading the names of students, and stating what effective grade they would be in next year. As a name was called out, the student would get up from their chair, and they were seated by grade, and then cross the floor and take an appropriate seat on the other side.

While most of the kids went up the usual one grade, there were two sixth graders that were advanced to eighth grade, one seventh grader advanced to ninth grade, and one eighth grader advanced to tenth grade. Toby was the last one seated. “Finally, we do have one student who came to us in the middle of the year. He has shown an incredible attitude in his willingness to try, to learn, and to become a part of the Menlo family. He has also shown incredible growth and maturity as well. Also, today is his eleventh birthday. I am very pleased to advance Toby Patrick to the seventh grade. Congratulations, young man, and congratulations to all of you on your new classes.”

Toby stood and solemnly nodded, as the other students had, then walked to his seat with his classmates.

Duncan handed the microphone off as the parents and visitors gave the kids a round of applause. “I also offer my congratulations to our Middle School students on their advancement. I’m Edward Wellingham, Menlo High School Administrator. As Harold mentioned, we’ve once again had one hundred percent of our graduating class accepted into colleges or universities. This is the fifth year in a row for that achievement, which is, I believe, an endorsement by you, the parents and families of our students, in the importance of continuing education beyond that of secondary school.

“We have a similar ceremony for those students in high school, with the clarification that no student can be promoted beyond the twelfth grade without actually attending the twelfth grade. That does not prevent a talented student from enrolling in college earlier. For those of you wondering why I specify that this year, one of our parents did that and has been most successful. It’s simply something we don’t necessarily recommend, as we can tailor a twelfth grade education to meet or exceed that of many junior colleges. But enough of listening to myself talk. Let me begin.”

With that, he started reading the names. Carrie and Cally were both officially placed in the tenth grade for the coming school year. When he was done with all of the names, he said, “Thank you all for attending. This concludes our ceremonies. The commencement for graduating seniors will be tomorrow, beginning at eleven. Congratulations, Menlo School students!”

All of the parents and family gave the kids a big round of applause. While we were gathering everyone up to head out for lunch, one of the teachers walked up.

“Hi, I’m Jeanette Carmichael, the girls physical education director and also coach of the girls basketball team.” She paused, then realized that we were a very large group. “Sorry, who’re Carrie and Cally’s parents?”

Mike raised his hand. “I’m Mike Douglas, Cally’s dad. Brenda and Walter are Carrie’s aunt and uncle.”

“Ah. Okay. The reason I stopped by is because I realize summer vacation for them starts now. They’ve both expressed an interest in playing on the Menlo Girls Basketball team in the fall. We have a two week sports camp that’s the last two weeks of July. It’s actually held in conjunction with all of the area high schools, to let all of the students have a chance to practice and learn from people who are professionals in their sports.”

“Where’s it held?” Mike asked.

She grinned. “That’s the nice thing about having Stanford right here. It’s held there, and with everyone local, parents don’t have to worry about trips to camps in other parts of the country.”

He looked at me. “It’s up to you, Cal.”

“Girls, if you want to participate, we’ll make it fit our calendars. A question, Miss Carmichael. We’re going to have my ... sister-in-law, staying with us this summer. She’ll be a sophomore in high school. Would she be able to attend as well, if we paid the appropriate fees?”

“Um, I don’t know why not. What sport is she interested in?”

“She’s probably going to be the starting junior varsity quarterback.”

“Oh! Um ... just a second.” She turned, and saw someone. “Dale!” She waved him over. “This is Dale Williams, he’s the boys athletic director. Dale, we have a question regarding the two week summer camp.”

“Sure, how can I help?”

“My sister-in-law will be staying with us this summer, from out of state. If we paid the fees so she could participate, would she be able to take part in the camp?”

He shrugged. “While this is primarily for local high school students, because of the nature of the camp, we’ll have out of area students. What sport is she interested in?”

“Football. She’s probably going to be the starting JV quarterback, and then when she gets to high school, same there.”

Williams grimaced. “I hope she has a thick skin. I realize that under Title IX she’s certainly allowed to play. That doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll be accepted by either her opponents or her teammates.”

Helen grinned then. “I think me sister is more than tough enough for it. She played what you Yanks call soccer at home.”

William’s eyes opened wide when Helen spoke up. “Ah, now I know who you are. I withdraw my objections regarding her teammates, Mister Lewis. To a certain extent, I almost pity her opponents. What’s your sister’s name?”

“Holly Awarai,” Helen said.

He nodded. “I’ll be certain to include her on our list that gets sent in to Stanford.”

There was a nice celebration back at home for all three of the kids. Jennifer and Eve were both proud of Toby for getting promoted like that. They’d spent too many years helping him deal with being slow to not cry and fuss over him. We combined that with Marcia’s birthday party. I’m sure the residents of Fremont thought they were under attack from the fireworks that Marcia sent flying their way. I think the Air Force guys at Moffett were impressed when she set off a two million candlepower flare that she’d ‘found.’ I know she was happy with making things blow up.

The girls had their last exams on Wednesday, while I spent nearly the entire day at home with Margie and Robert. I also played with William and Harry as well. William liked it when his bear would give him ‘rides’ around the room, courtesy of my telekinetic power. When all of the children were down for their naps, I simply sat in my recliner, holding Margie on my lap and cuddling with her. I felt very much at peace with myself.

The next day, we were invaded by relatives from Kansas. They’d had to wait this long simply to allow Elaine to get old enough to travel by air. Of course, with private jets you can do just about anything anyway, but changing air pressures with a newborn still isn’t wise.

Once everyone was unloaded, I asked, “Where are SJ and Ramona?”

Holly laughed. “She’s too sick to travel. That’s the excuse they’re using. They’re going to be making a trip to Las Vegas this weekend.”

I shrugged, a mystified look on my face. “What am I missing?”

“You’re a bad influence,” Elroy said. “They’re on their honeymoon after a civil ceremony I performed yesterday.”

Jennifer shook her head. “I thought I raised that boy right. Did Jacob get his shotgun out?”

“No, he and Elaine are fine. It’s not the disaster it would have been years ago. It’s simply that she’s a bit further along than she realized. It’s not like they weren’t going to get married, it just wasn’t going to work out well with her four months along in August,” Elroy said. “They’ll swing up here on their way home.”

I snorted. “Heck, if it weren’t for getting to see my wives rewarded for their hard work, I’d just as soon skip everything, myself.”

Harry glanced at me. “So, you’re not boyfriend and girlfriends any more?”

“Under US law, yeah. But ... and I can’t say this enough... ‘It’s good to be the King.’ The Laws of the Kingdom of the First People allow for multiple spouses. That covers the two old reprobates and the lovely mother of one of my wives, as well. The only thing is, our ceremonies have been a bit ... different.”

That got snorts from most of my wives.

“Look at the bright side, Dad. You don’t have to worry about paying for an expensive ceremony for me,” Beth said.

“But how does that work for all of us, with our relationship?” Roberto asked.

“Well, it gives me a lot more in-laws than normal. I have you and Esmeralda, Harry and Emily, and just to make things tangled a bit, Jennifer is my mother-in-law as well as my wife. Of course, I’ve got Allen and Marianne, too.” I paused. “Huh, I just realized that Elroy and Earl aren’t just my grandfathers any more, now they’re my fathers-in-law, too. Which actually means that we’re going to have a lot of grandparents to babysit and spoil all the children, since there’s ... hang on ... four now, four more by the end of summer, and one more in December.”

Harry did a double take. “What? How many women do you have pregnant?”

Elroy laughed. “It’s a generation thing. Right now, it’s Toby, Robert, William, and Harry. Then Jennifer, Marcia, Helen, and Hannah will add four, with Diana due in December.”

Diana chuckled. “Keep in mind, it’s even worse than you suspect. Her Majesty and Prince Phillip also count as grandparents, as well.”

I frowned. “They’re not coming over this weekend, are they?”

She laughed. “No, but I suspect your first home football game will have some royal visitors.”

Eve shook her head. “We’re going to sound so much like we’re from Kentucky it’s not funny. When Mom gives birth in July, not only will I get a brother, I’ll get a son.”

“I already said I’m not calling you Mom, Sis,” Toby said.

“No, but William is starting to call all of us Mommy, or Mummy, but only if he’s feeling tired. I’m still trying to figure that out, because I grew up saying Mummy, and Mum.”

Diana grinned. “That’s my fault, Hannah. My own Mum is remarried, and when Dad married ‘Acid Raine,’ one of the ways my brother Charlie and I would insult her was to call her ‘Mom,’ like we were vulgar Americans. I’m afraid that it stuck with me, because when William was born, Charles wanted William to be raised properly. That didn’t sit well with me, so it was, again, my own little rebellion.”

She shook her head, making a wry little grin. “Eve, you have no idea how close the Royal family really is to your Kentucky analogy. My sister Sarah is married to the second cousin of my step-mother. My grandmothers were ladies in waiting for the Queen Mother. Royalty married royalty, and that’s the way of it.”

“Speaking of the way of it, I hate to bring business into this reunion, but ... what the hell did you tell Hugo Sokalski?”

“What do you mean, Earl?”

“I’ve had the leaders of half a dozen African countries complaining to the Federation that he’s fomenting revolutions in their countries.”

“What’s been your response?” I asked.

“If they have proof that he is attacking their nation across a border, then we will discuss things and take action. However, whatever happens within their own nation is on them. They’re complaining because they want troops to come in and shore up their regimes, and we’re not playing that game like the UN did.”

“I bet they’re going to be really unhappy when the official requests come in for troops to come in and help clean up the drug trade going on in those nations. Oh, it won’t be those leaders that are requesting it, but I’m certain there’s going to be neighboring countries who complain about it, and ask for help,” I said.

Earl frowned. “Yes, we’ve seen a couple of those already. There’s discussion about utilizing troops from the European and Arabic nations for that, as well as something that completely surprised us, the offer of a combined Indian and Pakistani Army group. But that doesn’t answer my question.”

I leaned back in my chair a little, looking around the room to make sure everyone present already knew all of our secrets. “Allen, Marianne, you’re going to hear a few things that I’d prefer not get repeated. You’re family, all the way. I think the easiest way to consider things is, to use the military analogy, Top Secret, with a code word or two attached.”

“My rather annoying brother-in-law has already filled us in on quite a bit of the secret level things, with you being the Guardian of the Earth and the abilities you have that we didn’t already know about. We saw the video tape from the conference here. It’s ... well, amazing is too small of a superlative,” Allen said.

Marianne nodded, adding, “Exactly.”

Dora glanced at Beatrice and Patricia. Carrie took the cue. “Girls, let’s go outside, so we can show you around. We’ve got bicycles to ride, and there’s a playground nearby.”

After the five younger girls left, Roberto said, “Gracias. Joaquin has a job now, so he could not come out. Even though they all know that Esmie has some of the ‘sight,’ they all know that their grandmother is still a witch. They accept many things as normal, but those are also discussed at times with people not from the family.”

“That’s still something we don’t want to have happen,” I said.

“I do have one question for you, before we get started. When you were playing football, were you using any of your abilities as Guardian?” Allen asked.

“Only the one where normal things can’t physically harm me, like when the guys tried to hurt me with a knee in the back. Other than that ... no. Not in game play.” I paused for a second. “I take that back. I did sprint a little faster than I needed to a couple of times, early on in the season. Part of being ... me ... is that my natural skills are a hell of a lot faster, stronger, and more coordinated than all but a few athletes. That’s one reason I won’t play individual sports, only team activities.”

Sayel nodded from where he was sitting off to one side. “I have reviewed the tapes of my Master playing the game. So have Yagyu and William. We agree that even the three of us, combined, would be unable to have any confidence of winning should we have to engage him. That is without his abilities. With them, of course, there is no chance that even a fully armed tank battalion could defeat him.”

I chuckled. “Can’t hurt what you can’t hit, right?” I paused again. “William, are you and Leah going to remain here all summer?”

“You have given me the duty of training Holly Awarai, my King. It is our understanding that she will be spending the summer here with all of you. Therefore, this is where my duty to you has me.”

Leah giggled. “He’s always this formal when he talks about you, Your Majesty.” At my look, she giggled again. “I know, it’s Cal, but I had to tweak you a little. Yes, we’re planning on staying here until Holly returns to Kansas in the fall.”

“Thank you.” I glanced at Yagyu. “No rush, but if the three of you would coordinate on deciding just how to accomplish that little task you offered to do for me about a month ago, I’d appreciate it. Later this summer, no hurry.” He nodded.

“Okay, back to Earl’s question, regarding Hugo. I gave him carte blanche, so far as Africa, not counting Egypt, is concerned. As he called it, a blank check. I know that Cain and Abel spent almost a month making sure that Hugo has what he needs, so that he can do whatever it is he needs to do, so far as dealing with Africa is concerned. I had to, because he’s the only one capable of actually getting the job done. He and I are a lot alike, in more ways than one.”

This time Elroy frowned. “Okay, we didn’t really discuss just what the hell you had going on when you came home for Elaine’s birth. I’ll mention that to Walter, but you really should have asked permission from him first for that. You don’t actually own the whole planet, you know.”

The discussion that followed took up the entire rest of the day, as we explained Hugo’s history and my reasoning, the planetary defense systems, including why I really didn’t want Carrie to visit Alaska for now and Earth’s assorted alien visitations.

After breakfast Friday morning, there was a bit of an exodus from our house. The only thing happening Saturday was the Baccalaureate service, in the afternoon. The girls and I were the only ones that needed to attend that, as Commencement itself wasn’t until Sunday. That gave people that had never been to San Francisco time to go out and do some sightseeing, shopping, and dining.

Carrie wanted to take Brenda and Walter down to Fisherman’s Wharf today, to meet the restaurant owner that was buying several hundred pounds of fresh fish from the People every week and then go sightseeing. The next thing they knew, they were being joined by nearly everyone. Yagyu called Cindy to come along, and Chuck took Melissa out as well, so she’d get used to the sheer number of people in the family.

I had already decided to stick around, as neither Margie nor Emily felt like going out with the babies. Harry decided to stay, too.

Once everyone was gone and things had quieted down, Margie and Emily fed Robert and Elaine, then put them down for naps. The four of us sat in the living room, each couple in a dual recliner.

“How do you handle everything?” Emily asked. At our looks of confusion, she said, “I’m going back to work the first of next month, and I’m dreading all the meetings needed to catch back up on things. You told me you’re going to start back next week. How?”

“Oh, I have a bit of an advantage, Sis. Great benefits, meaning I have a bassinet set up in my office for Robert, so I can feed him there.”

“I’m going to do the same thing with Elaine. And I had Holly helping me with pain, and I’ve had what we call our body tune-ups.”

“Yeah, but you’re forgetting four things. One, there’s still sixteen years between us. The tune-up helped to a big extent with that. Two, I already used to exercise before I met Cal, because I didn’t want armchair spread. So I was in better physical shape than you, which makes recovery easier. Three, the physical changes.” She held up her ring that now had a shivalingam in it. “All seventeen of us have the organ that allows us to use these. When Dad asked about Cal using his abilities in a football game, Cal wasn’t kidding when he said he didn’t need to. Only Beth, Dora, and Eve have the enhanced abilities that Cal has. The rest of us don’t. But I was swimming at a slightly faster than Olympic record pace before I got too buoyant and out of shape, and I kept riding my exercise bike. You’ve heard of the ‘Tour de France?’”

Both of them nodded.

“This year’s race starts in two weeks. It varies a little in length, but last year’s race was twenty-five hundred miles. The winning time was just slightly over one hundred twenty-two hours, so each day’s ride, they averaged over twenty-two miles per hour. That includes the mountain stages. Cal won’t do individual sports. I’m giving serious consideration to completely screwing with men’s cycling next year. I figure knocking ten hours off the winning time ought to make a statement.”

I turned my head, so I could see her face. She actually was serious. “I didn’t know that. I knew you could swim at a better than Olympic speed, of course, and I knew you were faster on your exercise bike. I didn’t know you were that fast.”

She turned to me, giving me a little kiss on the lips, then turned back. “I could knock thirty hours off if I wanted. Marcia and I are both that fast and that good. But that also brings up the fourth reason I won’t have a problem going back to work. I didn’t miss any meetings while I’ve been out, so I don’t have any catching up to do. All seventeen of us are mentally linked. We’ve learned how to control what we’re sharing, so when I told our husband that I wanted to squeeze his balls as hard as I could during delivery, I wasn’t sharing. But as soon as Robert was out...” She blew out a deep breath. “Well, then I linked back up, so they could feel what I felt then. So, anyway, we tend to not even need meetings, because we can simply ask each other something and get an answer back immediately, or have a group discussion as needed, without stopping what we’re doing in the first place.”

Harry nodded. “That would make things quite a bit more efficient.”

“Of course. With no distance limitation that we’ve found, I can be here, Helen could be in Australia and need some funds wired to her for a project, and all she has to do is ask me, and I do it from here, instantly. No phone calls, no worries about missing out on an opportunity. I’m using that as an example, because we bought equipment and land down there for our factories when she was visiting there recently,” Margie explained.

Emily frowned, then her eyes got wide. “Sis, I have a question.”

Margie laughed, full of bubbles. “Yes. And it’s wonderful!”

Harry looked lost. “What is?”

“Sex while linked,” Margie said. “We don’t just necessarily experience what we’re feeling as individuals, it can seriously multiply. So not just the waves you feel when you’re having multiple orgasms, add in the waves from people you love, and it can get pretty damned explosive at times.”

“Too much information, Sis!”

“Speaking of too much information ... or in this case, not enough information ... Harry, is there anything regarding your military service that I really need to know simply because it could potentially bite us in the butt?”

“Nothing I’m particularly proud of, no. I’m guessing you know that some of the time I spent here in the Bay Area was as a guest of Uncle Sam, on the inside of the Presidio.” I nodded. “I learned from Elroy how to watch what I said. I told you I was here after my tour in the PI and that I’d been drafted in ‘63. I also told you I got out of the Army as quickly as I could, due to the way things were heating up in Vietnam. I just never told you how I got out of the Army. It shouldn’t affect us ... and by us, I mean both business and personal relationships ... Emily knows what happened, and still loves me.”

Emily shook her head as she said, “Good God, you’re being so mysterious about things, it’s almost like you want Cal to think you did something horrible. During Vietnam, the total length of time someone had to be in the military was eight years. Normally, they’d serve two years on active duty, then six in the reserves, unless they chose more active duty time. Harry did his basic and advanced training, then got sent to the Philippines. Yes, I know he had a sleeping dictionary while he was there. But he also had one year, eleven months, and three weeks of active duty time complete, and was starting paperwork to change to reserve status and come home when someone of a higher rank noticed his name, realized who his father was, and decided to get a little revenge for something from World War Two. So when Harry got here to San Francisco, thinking he was going to be getting out, he found orders to deploy to Vietnam.”

“Mind you,” Harry broke in, “my two year active enlistment was up, and I sure as fuck wasn’t going back overseas. The term is ‘missing a movement.’ It’s covered under Article 87 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and is a court-martial offense. I was arguing that I was already being transferred to the inactive reserves, because I’d finished my two years. While all of that discussion was going on, orders were cut to ship me out with the intention of getting my ass into Vietnam, and then ‘straightening’ it out once I was over there. When I knew about the shipment date, I went to Berkeley, knowing I was going to get into a fight over there and get arrested by the civilian police. I didn’t cooperate with them until after my shipment date, so it was classified as neglect and not willful. They simply court-martialed me and stuck me behind bars at the Presidio. I was supposed to serve one year, but I’d gotten in touch with Dad. I never did know what strings he pulled ... I guess he talked to Elroy. But they threw my ass out the front door with a BCD ... bad conduct discharge ... right into a peace protest. Which is where I met Elspeth, and you know the rest.”