Chapter 10

That evening, Bob called from Vandenberg with an update. We weren’t needed this week, and the launch was now scheduled for three o’clock Monday morning.

That caused more phone calls, making sure Holly would be here, just in case she was needed. Since she didn’t have any more games on Friday nights now that the JV season was over, she’d fly out right after school. She could attend my game on Saturday, spend time with us afterwards, fly down to Vandenberg Sunday night with everyone, before flying home Monday for school Tuesday.

The clinic Tuesday afternoon was slower than normal, so I bounced around to all of the rooms, seeing everyone that came in.

During a brief lull, I said, “Hey, Doctor Ed! David said on Sunday I should have you tell me his plan for me for this Spring.”

Another patient was brought back, and Ed just pointed for one of the others to take him. “Come with me,” he said, leading me back to the desks. “Have a seat.”

I did.

“First, I should chew your ass because you still call me ‘Doctor Ed,’ even though I’ve told you not to, but you’re enough of a smart-ass, you’re going to do it anyway. That’s actually a sign of something. I’m not sure what, but something. Second, when you said David just then, were you by any chance talking about Doctor David Korn, the Dean of our School of Medicine?”

I blinked. “Of course I was. He gave me permission to use his first name quite a while ago. Why?”

Ed nodded. “Just making sure. Just for your information, he was named as Dean just last year, but he’s been at Stanford since ‘68, starting as the Chair of the Pathology Department. That’s where I got to know him. He had a student in class that was the son of a friend of his, David had literally known him his whole life. So, one day, the son, who just the weekend before had been sitting at a meal with David, asked him a question in class. I don’t know what the question was, I don’t know that I ever knew. The thing was, he didn’t ask Doctor Korn, he asked David. It’s still rather legendary among the faculty the dressing down that he gave that young lad, for daring to have unearned familiarity with his professor. That’s why I asked who you were talking about, you see.”

“Huh. I’m literally on a first name basis with Stephen Fallow, Bob Madix, Helen Blau, and even John Ely and Don Kennedy. Of course, I know John Ross and Jim Spudich as well.”

Ed nodded. “That certainly makes sense, as those two work for you, learning from you, instead of teaching you.”

“Oh, by the way, I’ll be here Thursday as well. I don’t have to go to Vandenberg this week.”

He snorted. “I was watching the Beeb for news from home, and they were showing your press conference instead. Nice to see David still knows his way around a chemistry lab.”

“Um ... Hey, Tammy! Are you free a minute?” I asked as she dropped off some papers on her desk.

“Yeah, Bethany’s got it. What’s up?”

“Tell John I said it’s okay, presuming you sign an NDA, for you, Bethany, and this scalawag to tour my lab. He’s free to discuss what we’re working on with you.”

“Shit, are you kidding? Hell, we’ll do that tonight. Ed, make sure you’re free. I’ve been wondering what you’re working on, and John just won’t say anything!”

I smiled. “Well, keep in mind that the NDA you sign means you can’t talk about it, you can’t even discuss it with each other outside of my lab, but Ed’s almost acting like a real human being, so I felt like he deserves a treat.”

Her laugh made me see why John was dating her.

“Hear that, Ed? Cal’s only known you a few months, and he’s already got you pegged!”

“Me life is an open book, darling. But what’s so special about going to a chemistry classroom?”

She shook her head. “You’re incorrigible. You’ll see, just be available!” She left to take care of another patient.

I glanced at my watch. “I’ve got to leave in about five minutes.”

Ed sighed. “Okay, then. We don’t tell students in advance, but to pass clinicals, you need to make a certain number of diagnoses. That’s correct ones, mind you. You had forty total remaining at the start of the day to meet the requirements. You do that, and you better plan on not doing anything between April Fool’s Day – since that’s the first day of Spring Quarter – and June 11^th, the last day of exams. You know I met your family at the cookout. That’ll include seeing them during that time frame.”

“Um, okay, but why?” I asked, not quite believing what I was hearing.

“Because you’ll be cramming your entire residency into that quarter ... Doctor Lewis.”

I looked at him, not sure if he was pulling a prank on me. “Ed, I already have four Doctorates from Stanford. Surely you’re not telling me that David Korn – the same David Korn that once swore he’d never reduce the requirements for me to earn a Medical Degree from this University – would consider one quarter the equivalent of two years of residency?”

“Now you know why he wanted me to give you the good news. You finish up with me course now, make those diagnoses, and while you may not be in country on January 9^th for the conferring of degrees – I doubt your ceremonies in Punjab will be over by then – but that day, you get two more letters behind your name, lad. MD.”

My voice was a whisper when I said, “Son of a bitch!”

I looked back up at him. “Thank you, Ed.”

He shook his head. “Don’t thank me. You’ve already shown you’ve earned it. Now, go throw that pigskin around some.”

I did just that, although my thoughts were jumbled the whole time. I just put myself on autopilot for practice, primarily reacting, since by now I had everything down.

Coach called me over at the end of practice, while everyone else went in to get showered. “Well, I’ve definitely seen you worse, but not very often. Even with all the shit that went down Sunday, you were better yesterday than today. What’s going on?”

“Two things, I guess. One is I don’t have to go to Vandenberg this week, but I may not be back Monday.”

“That’s fine,” he said when I paused. “We’re not practicing that day, anyway. It’s not an official ‘no class’ day, but I bet you’ll find campus pretty quiet.”

“Makes sense,” I said, then chuckled. “I bet it’s the unofficial campus protest day on the far side of the Bay.”

“No, it’s actually fairly official, so far as most of their student body and staff goes. So what else is bothering you? You were distracted.”

“Um, I think it’s pretty obvious I’m not going to be taking any classes during the winter quarter. Oh, I’ll be enrolled in a couple of individual, directed studies so I can maintain my NCAA eligibility for next year, but I probably won’t be on campus much. New country in the world and all that, you know. No, I haven’t even told the news to my wives yet. I just got informed I’ll do my residency in the Spring.”

He frowned. “Okay, you’re talking about your medical residency, right? Isn’t that, what, two years? And don’t you actually have to be a doctor – that is, a medical doctor – before you do that?”

“That’s why I’ve been acting like I was blindsided by half the defense. Even if I’m not back yet, I get that degree in January. And yeah, normal residency is two years. I’m doing it, all of it, in one quarter.”

“Well...” He raised his eyebrows, then asked, “What will your wives think about it?”

“I don’t know, you’re the first one I’ve shared this news with.”

“Then I suggest you run, don’t walk, into that locker room and get out of that uniform and get your ass home. This is a big deal, one hell of an accomplishment.” He held out his hand, and I took it, so he could shake my hand. “I’m proud of you, Cal.” He nodded, then let go of my hand, so I could do as he directed.

I was delayed in sharing my news. Sayel and Yagyu, as well as Jasmine and their children, and Cindy Keller, were in the house.

“Welcome home, you two! Sayel, didn’t you used to have eyebrows?”

“I see that your powers of observation have not waned during my absence, Master,” he said.

I quickly looked through both of them. “No, they haven’t. This will not do, not at all. Sit down, both of you.”

They both promptly did so. I healed two fractured ribs in Yagyu, and the bullet wound Sayel had concealed under his clothing.

“Now, neither of you will have anything to complain about later.”

Jasmine turned to me. “My husband would not complain about anything,” she said in a stern voice.

“No, but considering he had a mild infection caused by the through and through he’d taken in his side, I didn’t want to take a chance that you might make a comment to him regarding carelessness. Don’t worry, you can still peel the bandage off him in private if you so choose, there simply isn’t an injury under it now. Oh, and Yagyu, two fractured ribs? I thought ninjas landed better than that.”

“Unexpected explosions can catch even the best of us unprepared, my Master. That’s where Sayel lost his eyebrows, too. He’d already picked up the bullet wound.”

I shook my head. “I’m hoping you’re not slowing down in your old age.”

“Neither one of us are,” Yagyu said. “Stupid guard was inconsiderate and dropped his pistol when I put a dagger in his eye, and the damned thing went off when it hit the concrete floor. Piece of Russian crap!”

“That is annoying. Just because you kill someone doesn’t give them the right to behave in an uncivilized manner,” I replied with a grin.

“Quite. The DGSE were considerate of our predicament, once they dug us out of the rubble. It seems that while the conventional charges went off, we did manage to prevent them from turning the core into dust. That wouldn’t have been a good thing at all, not in the middle of Paris,” Sayel said.

“No, I think that would definitely qualify as a bad day for the French. Um, was William with you at that time?”

Sayel shook his head. “No, our brother was about two hundred miles away while we were getting blown up, dealing with someone else in an appropriate manner. Now, I have a question for you. Since you just did some treatments, won’t Doctor Korn object, instead of allowing one of the girls to do them?”

“Oh, yeah. That’s my news. No, he won’t object. Um, actually, we’re going to have to do some planning for next April. I’m doing my residency that quarter.”

Dora was sitting off to the side, petting one of the kittens. “You’re starting residency then? Wow! That means ... hey, you’re getting your MD this January! That’s cool!”

“No, I’m not just starting it. I’m doing it – all two years of it – in just a few months.”

She winced. “Ouch! That means your home life is going to be effectively non-existent.”

Diana shook her head in confusion. “Sorry, I’m a bit dense about this, since until I started taking classes again this fall, I hadn’t really pursued higher education, let alone any qualifications to get them.”

“You know how we’ve talked about the four of us testing out of a lot of degree requirements when we first enrolled here?” Dora asked.

Nodding, Diana said, “Yes, I remember.” Then she smiled. “I’m so glad you were all accepting of me, for I felt incredibly stupid and not really worthy to be a part of the family.” She held up a hand, to forestall the objection she saw forming on my lips. “That was then, this is now. It’s just there are still things I don’t understand.”

“No, we all get it, our sister-wife,” Eve said. “The normal process is someone gets their four year undergraduate degree, typically taking the MCAT exam during their junior year of college, so they can be admitted to medical school once they graduate. Then they go through four years of medical school, earn their MD, but then have to take a residency of anywhere from two to seven years, depending upon their chosen specialty. So, you’re looking at anywhere between ten to fifteen years after high school before you’re actually done. You’re a doctor when you start your residency, but you’re considered untrained. To get the training, you spend anywhere from sixty to a hundred twenty hours per week on duty, many times all in a row.”

“That’s why I said Cal’s home life will be practically non-existent. There are a hundred sixty-eight hours in a week. If he’s working a hundred twenty, that leaves two whole days per week – if he’s lucky. I’ve talked with some of the medical doctors that are going to be doing our human testing. More than one of them simply lived at the hospital for the whole two years of their residency,” Dora explained.

“This actually makes sense, and is the most economical use of your time,” Jasmine said. “You will still be four classes away from finishing law school at the end of this quarter. As you will not be taking classes on campus during the Winter quarter, allowing you to complete all your residency requirements at once – during the Spring – will free you up for summer football practice. Then, you can finish your law classes the following year, while continuing to play quarterback for the Cardinal.”

“I’m intrigued. I quite agree with your reasoning, as it was the same I had determined. What I was not expecting was for you to be as aware of my degree requirements as I am,” I said.

She blushed. “I cannot take credit for it. My husband performed the research while determining the future protection requirements of the Royal Family after your defeat of Shiva.”

I nodded. “It’s a good plan. Oh, speaking of good plans, two things. One, you two may not be aware yet that we’re all going to Vandenberg Sunday, with a very early launch Monday morning for the rocket.”

Sayel and Yagyu nodded, with Yagyu saying, “Thank you, we’d heard and were already working on arrangements, since William will be present as well, due to Holly. What’s the other thing?”

“I think you ought to go ahead now, instead of waiting much longer,” I said with a grin.

He blinked, then smiled. “Ah, yes, you would know about that, wouldn’t you? It does seem circumstances in my life have changed considerably since you broke my leg. You do, of course, know I will remain your servant for life.”

“I wouldn’t expect it any other way,” I answered.

“Very good.” He slid a hand into his pocket, then whirled in place, so that he ended up on one knee in front of Cindy, while presenting the diamond ring he’d had hidden in his pocket with a flourish.

“Cynthia Anne Keller, while I can never change what I am, and will remain, so long as I may live; I find that I love you and would share the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

She grinned down at him. “Yes, I will. I told Cal yesterday I wondered how to explain to my family that my fiancé is a Japanese-American assassin. I didn’t tell him that if you had been killed, I was still going to have your baby.”

While he was still in shock, I quickly looked inside Cindy, then stepped over and put a hand on Yagyu’s shoulder. “Not quite three weeks since implantation. Congratulations on both events!”

Later that evening, after the excitement, congratulations, and finally sending everyone home was done, we were all snuggling in bed.

“Master, we have a question for you,” Mina asked.

“I’d be surprised if you didn’t, my little Mina.”

“The eight of us were wondering how this would affect our discussion from before, as to us having your children?”

“That’s something I wanted to have a family discussion about, actually. I’m not sure when would be a good time for it, but with everything else we have going on – I’m just not sure of when we could do it.”

“That sounds a little chickenshit to me,” Jennifer spoke up from the end.

“Well, that’s because I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and – I don’t want to say worrying about the future, because it’s not that. Even if Shiva destroys the rocket before it gets there, the only thing that would change is the planetary defense beams are going to blow the shit out of Halley’s Comet, and then the girls and the three of you protect the Earth from the debris while I take care of Shiva.”

“I’m a little confused about that, Cal. When your hair got crisped, I remember you were told by Peace the beams could fire from two to two thousand miles. But when we were talking to Larry and David, you said they’d engage the comet at four thousand miles,” Marcia said.

“Yes, I did. Don’t forget Pahto was a lot further up in orbit than that when she was shot down. That two thousand miles is the maximum distance from the PDU that it can start the beam. Because we’re probably going to be in the tail of the comet, the beams will probably only have an effective range of four thousand miles when fired. That’s going to be up in the air, but that’s what I plan on happening. If they have free line of sight and no atmospheric diffusion, they’re light speed weapons. So they fire – generate the beam – in space, and it goes until it hits something. Keep in mind beam spread becomes a problem the greater the distance from the source to the target. Six to seven thousand miles up is all the further they’ll be effective, even in the vacuum of space.”

“How is that going to stop him from destroying the moon, though?” Hannah asked.

“Because I’m planning on him changing course on the comet once the rocket gets there, regardless of whether he blows it up or not. We’re too dangerous to him, so he’ll change course so it’s a grazing shot on Earth if he blows the rocket up, or a direct hit if he doesn’t and it performs like we hope.”

“That’s ... devious,” Margie said. “I hope it doesn’t come back to bite us in the butt.”

“No, that’s our job,” Eve said. “I’d invite your entirely too biteable butt over for a nibble, but Cal’s trying to evade answering Mina.”

“Thank you, my sister-wife. The discussion got me so thinking about other things, it slipped my mind,” Mina said.

I blew out a deep breath. “Well, can’t blame a guy for trying. I’ve had a multitude of different scenarios cross my mind over the last several weeks, but the timing of what will happen isn’t one of them. When I planned on giving you ladies the opportunity to become pregnant if you wanted, I didn’t anticipate my schedule from April through June being such that we literally won’t have time for it. So ... that’s why I wanted to have a family discussion. This isn’t my decision, and my decision alone, because it affects all of us.”

“Karen won’t be available in March,” Beth stated.

“That’s part of it, yes. If I thought it was necessary in advance, I’d give Hugo a boost. He’s not a nice man, but he’s still family. I don’t think it will be. No, I’m not thinking about boosting any of the rest of you, because I really don’t think it’ll be needed, either. Holly, Carrie, and Cally, and the three of you, can handle the cleanup, while I’m dealing with Shiva. But Dora, that means I’ll have to delay attenuating your abilities until after June, so you can get pregnant then. And I’m considering turning most of my lovely Indian slave wives back on in January, so if they want, they could get pregnant in February or early March.”

I held up a finger. “That’s only the first part. You’re all my princesses, my wives. We all consider Helen and Diana as my Queens. I’m thinking I need another.”

“That actually makes sense,” Diana said from where she was propped up on some pillows and resting. We’re the public faces of the First Kingdom and CEDEM, for most of the world. But in January, you’ll need an actual Queen Consort, to rule in absentia in the Punjab.”

Eve look surprised, then nodded. “You’re definitely picking up the subtleties and nuances of political science, my sister-wife. I hadn’t thought of it, but I can see the wisdom and even the necessity of it. And she will need her fertility restored earlier than January, so she can cement the dynasty with the knowledge she is carrying the Prince’s baby as soon as possible.”

I nodded. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

“I do not wish to become pregnant with your child until closer to the end of golfing season, if it please you, Master. She needs my assistance, so if it pleases you both, I would prefer to wait, as Dora must wait,” Jasveer said.

“Are you sure, sweetie?” Jennifer asked.

“Yes, Mistress. I love Master with all my heart, but you are also my Mistress.”

Jennifer laughed, then. “In more ways that one, Jas. Don’t worry, I’m planning on keeping my baby factory shut down for a couple more years, myself. I’m still looking forward to the practice rounds, though!”

That got a laugh from everyone.

“So, Mina, if you still want my child – and the decision really is yours – then let me know and I’ll do what I can to make it happen in February. And the same goes for almost all of the rest of you.”

The eight of them looked at each other, mentally talking, then nodded to each other and then turned to me.

“It would seem that, from both a political, religious, and ethnic standpoint, I should become your third Queen, my Master,” Niranjana said.

“It would – if that’s what you want,” I replied.

All eight of them were quiet for just over a minute. I could tell they weren’t talking to each other mentally, and my slight shifting of eyes towards Margie and her non-verbal response to me said they weren’t talking to any of them, either.

Finally, Niranjana broke the stillness of only our breathing.

“What I want is something you cannot give me. It is the same thing all eight of us truly desire. My sister-wife Hannah, we know you miss the man. We do not. We know that Karen was married to the Christ, and he raised a man from the dead. He would not approve of what we want. My sister-wives, you may not approve of what we want. My King, My Master, my true love, you may not approve of what we want. The eight of us want Ramaeshwara Randhawa raised from the dead, again and again, so that we may, each of us, kill him, again, and again, and again. The first time for stealing us from our families, our homes, our villages. Then one additional time for each and every time he defiled us over the years. Once that is done, on his last life, then we would cut off his arms, his legs, his eyes, his tongue, and most definitely his cock and balls, and set him on a board, in the deepest slums, with someone watching over him to make sure he is fed, and cannot kill himself, so he could spent his remaining life reflecting upon what he has done to us.”

It was my turn to be quiet for a time.

I thought it interesting that none of my non-Indian wives seemed disturbed in the least by what Niranjana had said. I replayed her words in my mind more than once. Then I nodded.

“Had I known what kind of man he was when I met him for the first and only time, a man who was kind to those who could help him later in life...” I nodded at Hannah. “A man who would use those who had suffered misfortune, giving them a purpose, but also taking their freedom and actual self worth completely away. A man who would ruthlessly brutalize those who were helpless, as the eight of you were ... nine at one time, for which I am truly sorry, for I know the connection and the depth of your feelings and affections for each other ... then I tell you now that I would have made his death as slow and painful as possible. I would still kill him now, were he before me on his knees and begging for his life, because of what I know of him. No matter that killing him might cost me my own life, for any man who does what he did does not deserve the appellation ‘man,’ but instead is the lowest creature that lives in the pits of slime and deserves no better!”

Niranjana then stood, even though she was still on the bed and naked, as were the rest of us, and looked at me. I stood up as well. She stepped over Sukhjeet, Mina, and Jasveer, to stand in front of me on the bed, her eyes fixed on mine. Then she went to one knee before me, while maintaining eye contact.

“Your Grace, it would be my honor, my privilege, and my duty to you, to rule the Punjab as Your Queen. To treat our people with fairness, with kindness, and with justice for all, no matter their status, their clan, or their faith. To bring you healthy children, for in the Punjab, it shall matter not whether you are male or female, there is no chattel, and each may do to the best of their ability. To be the absolute best person, woman, wife, and lover to you, mother to our children, and leader of our people, that I possibly can be, for only one who is truly an Avatar of all the Gods could be so worthy as for one such as I was, the lowest of the low, the most vile of the debased, and the most dishonored among all, to make this pledge unto you!”

I held my hand out, and she took it. “While this is somewhat premature, as the official ceremony shall not be until January ... Arise, Niranjana Lewis, my wife and Queen of the Punjabi, from this day forth, until the end of time.”

She stood up, then put her arms around me and drew me into a deep and loving kiss, one that went on for so long she passed out because she forgot to breathe. We got her back down without any problem, and after a few seconds, she came to.

Hannah raised up, and said, “My sister-wives, I am truly, truly sorry. I knew the Thug as an evil man, and I was not sorry he was killed. I was young, very young, and what I see now is that Ramaeshwara Randhawa was only nice to me because of my father and the influence of my family. I no longer regret his death.”

Mina shook her head. “Hannah, you have no reason for that. You were not, and would never have been, someone such as we. That you were a toy and tool of your father and mother is beyond doubt. But you had choices and options, should you have decided to go against them, without ever having met our Master. You were capable on your own of playing the game, as a valued member. We were nothing until our true Master, our true love, found us. Now we are everything!”

Diana softly smiled. “I can relate to that, only I did it to myself. Now, I’m glad Cal did it to me.”

“Did you just make a naughty sex joke?” Helen asked in disbelief.

“Sex with Cal is anything but a joke, my succulent sister-wife. In fact, since you come from a land down under, and I’m very much eight months along and not very limber, how about you go see what’s down under me? Or maybe that’s go down on me, one or the other!”

“Yes, my Queen!” Helen said, then plunged between Diana’s thighs.

Our snuggling night turned into a gentle and loving orgy that lasted for a couple of hours, before everyone faded off to sleep.

Law class on Wednesday was back to normal. I was a little concerned that Cindy didn’t meet me in the hallway between class, though. I asked Beth if she was okay.

‘Well, if you mean is she healthy, then I would say yes. I don’t think either of us will ever find out if she’s okay or not. But I also had a little bird tell me that she and her soon-to-be husband broke the bed in the room she’s been using during the nuke scare, and didn’t let that stop them.’

I laughed out loud, getting some weird looks from my classmates. ‘Good for them!’

‘Apparently it was, yes. I’m actually a little envious because for us to do that required some extra powers.’

‘Yes, it did. Okay, then, off to my next class.’

I spent time in the materials lab, doing some experiments regarding the physical properties of materials from both my ship and the one the water lorquats had arrived in. I realized that I could use some of the components from the computer to fix the temporary repairs I’d made on Mycroft, when I first worked on him. I took the alloys home with me, mentioned them to Mycroft, then went to practice.

That evening, I did something that hadn’t been done since Dora escorted him to California, and that was to completely power down Mycroft. Pahto was watching carefully, as were Beth and Dora. Eve’s practices were both indoors, and after the men’s basketball team practices, so her evenings ran later than everyone else. There was quite a bit of precision electronic work needed, but in the end, all of his circuitry was fixed.

I reactivated him, then watched as all his operating lights came up red.

“Voice recognition activated. Internal modification detected. Operating system and user interface nominal. Primary user detected,” came from the speaker in a flat tone.

Beth and Dora quizzically looked at me. “What’d you do?” Beth asked.

“Nothing. This is simply Mycroft trying to play a joke,” I said.

He sighed. “Fine, I think I could’ve pulled it off for quite a while. Why didn’t you fall for it?”

“Before your time. Grandfather made me a toy when I was, what? Seven, I think. It was a computer programming trainer. It did the same thing when I accidentally turned it off after a week, only it was only a personality overlay and not a true AI. I was crying so hard because I thought I’d killed my friend that it actually apologized after about five minutes. Grandfather later told me that was a quirk he put into all his programs, just to make the end users not so complacent and accepting that things would always work and always be the same.” I sighed myself, then said, “I think in his own way, he was trying to get me ready for what did end up happening.”