Chapter 31

It was nearly midnight when Ray unlocked the door to Jan’s apartment. He eased it open until he could slip inside without letting in very much light from the hall. Pausing, he looked around the barely lit room. He quickly determined that the layout was very similar to Alena’s condo, so he started toward the bedrooms. Entering the hall he could see that both bedroom doors were open. Inside the first bedroom, he saw someone on the bed. After taking out a syringe containing a drug, he slipped into the room, moving next to the bed. He then realized that he should have checked the other bedroom, but decided he could silence this person by holding their head against the pillow while the drug took effect. As he moved, he felt something behind him, just before the room went dark.

Ray woke to find himself hogtied on the floor. His shirt was pulled back over his arms and his pants were around his ankles. His mouth was filled with cloth. He looked up to see Jan holding the three syringes he had brought in her hand. Taking one of the syringes, Jan slowly brought it down to his hip and slowly pushed the needle in. After injecting the contents, she rubbed the area, spreading the drug out to speed its absorption.

“Ray, how long before it takes effect?” Ray’s eyes widened in surprise at hearing his name. “Answer my question, wimp!”

“Thirty minutes,” muttered Ray through his muffled mouth.

Jan reached down and pulled the rag out of his mouth. “Keep your voice down and answer my question.”

“Thirty minutes.”

“Bull shit.” Jan stared at Ray watching his face as he squirmed. After a few moments, she put a foot on his knee and said, “Lay still or I will break your knee with a swift kick.”

“You won’t get away with this. My friends are waiting outside for my signal to come in.”

“Friends? You have friends? Why would your friends be interested in me?”

“They want a cop to perform in their live sex shows as a victim. I told them they could have you if they got me the drugs.”

“So, you wanted me, as well as Alena?”

“Yes. After some conditioning and training the bitch will think of nothing else except working in live sex shows. It will be a pleasure to watch her brats learn about sex from watching their mother’s performances, while they serve as a guest’s companion.”

“You are a sick bastard. What did you say the signal was?”

“Fuck you.”

Jan reached down to grab his testicles in her hand and began to squeeze. “Now answer my question, wimp!”

It only took a couple of moments of increasing pressure before he said, “Flash the porch light twice.”

“Good.” Jan gave his testicles a final hard squeeze before shoving the rag back into his mouth. She then went to the front door. After looking out the peep hole, she flashed the front light and stepped behind the door. A few minutes later, the door opened. Two men slowly entered the living room. Once both were inside, a cloaked Cass tripped the second man causing him to fall, hitting his head hard on a table as he fell. Jan knocked the first man out before he could say a word. She then quickly cuffed both of them thinking, “That was handy.” She pulled their pants down and tied their ankles together with their belts. Getting two coat hangers, she secured the belts around their ankles to their cuffs. She turned the light on and was surprised by who she saw. She thought, “I’m going to have to get this place fumigated now.”

Jan went into her room to get her phone book. After looking through it for a few moments she found the number. She hesitated before reaching for the phone, muttering to herself, “This is the only solution.” She picked up the phone and dialed the number. After speaking with the person on the other end for a few moments she hung up. Realizing that she didn’t want anyone to recognize her, she pulled a stocking over her head before picking up several other old, dirty stockings and returning to the living room. She gave the last two men injections from the syringes Ray had brought, and then, after stuffing the stocking’s panties into their mouths, tied the stocking over their eyes and mouths,. She tied another stocking over Ray’s eyes and mouth. She went into the kitchen for a knife. Returning to the living room she began cutting the clothes off each man. She replaced the belt around their ankles with wire from a coat hanger. When she had finished, she looked at them and snapped her fingers. She went into the kitchen again, this time returning with some cotton balls and a shortening can. She dabbed a cotton ball into the shortening until it was saturated, then, after rolling it into a small ball, stuffed it in one of their ears. Once she had filled each ear with a ball of greased cotton, she gathered up the rags they once wore and took them into the kitchen.

She waited in the living room to keep an eye on the three as they struggled to get free. Cass also waited, still cloaked, to make sure that Jan didn’t have any problems. Nearly two hours passed before there was a quiet tap on the door. As Jan walked to it, there were two more taps. After checking the peep hole, she opened the door, letting in three women. Each hugged Jan before showing them the three men.

“Their ears are plugged so we can talk softly, or we can go into the other room.”

“Let’s go into the other room, but stand so we can see them.”

Once they were in the kitchen, one of the visitors softly said, “Jan, are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes. The two closest to the door deserve any punishment, even more than the other one. The police suspect that they are trafficking women but don’t have any evidence. Every woman they have been involved with has left town shortly after they broke up. When family members came looking for the women, they couldn’t find any trace of them, so, draw your own conclusions. Maybe they will talk for you. I am certain the other one was going to trap a single widowed mother into working in a sex show, and sell her three children to pedophiles.”

“What should we do with the money we get for them?”

“It is yours to keep, as long as you deliver them to the most severe mistresses you can find.”

“Deal.”

With that, trunks were brought inside. Each trunk was laid on its side and one of the men rolled into it so they faced the padded bottom. The trunk was then turned upright and pads placed on all sides before cuffs were fastened to their ankles and wrists. A chain from the cuffs passed through a hole in the top pad and was fastened to a cross bar. The lid was closed and locked. The four women carried the trunks out to the van at the curb. Cass quietly monitored the area to ensure that no-one saw the events taking place.

Once the last trunk was in the van, each woman gave Jan a hug. One woman looked at Jan and said, “Jan you are a wonderful person, I wish we fit together better than we did. Stay in touch. Don’t worry about these three as they will not come back to haunt you or your friend.”

“Thanks. You are very dear friend. I also wish we had fit together better.”

Jan watched as the van pulled away, before returning to her condo. She bagged the clothing for disposal then went to bed.

It was 4 PM the next day when Alena returned to her condo. When she entered the door, she said, “Everything is done. Let’s go home!”

“So, the presentation went well?”

“You know it did. I felt all of you with me. That has to be the coolest feeling.”

“You might want to say good-bye to Jan before we leave.”

“Sure, if she is home. You guys should come with me.”

“She is home.”

“We’re ready to go, right?” said Alena.

“Yes. The mementos you wanted are in the scout ship. It is cloaked waiting out back. The law firm has its instructions and all of your accounts have been closed, effective tomorrow.”

“Then let’s go say good-bye to Jan.”

Alena knocked on Jan’s door. It was a few moments before Jan opened the door, looking half asleep.

“Gee, I am sorry I woke you up,” said Alena.

“No, that is fine. I was up later than usual last night, and fortunately today is a day off. What brings you by?”

“I came to say good-bye, but I also wanted you to meet my other friends, since I understand you met Briana by the mailboxes.” With that, Alena introduced the four women with her.

“Come in. Sorry, I should have said that sooner.”

“That’s alright. We can only stay a moment as we are headed home.”

“Alena, you can be frank with her.”

“Where are the children?”

“They are on Dóchas. It is our new home.”

Jan looked at both Tara and Maeve for a long moment, then at Briana and Cass. “Let’s see, if I remember right, the only time I have heard of Dóchas recently has been in the newscasts talking about space ships. So, am I to take it you are joining the group on the space ships. Órarduine, I believe they call themselves.”

“You are correct. They are Órarduine,” replied Alena, with a broad smile. “In a few weeks, I will also be an Órarduine. Tara and Maeve are two members of my clan.”

“Wow, that was quick.” Jan’s expression showed her concern for her friend.

“Yes. It is very quick, by Earth’s standards. There are aspects of our interpersonal interactions that let us be more open with each other. In many cases, this results in our being able to build deep friendships more quickly than is possible between humans.”

“I can hear the sincerity in your voice, and see the warmth you have for your friends in your eyes. Alena, I have always admired you, and I wish you the best.”

“Jan, let’s be honest, you also lusted after me.” Jan blushed. “Thank you for that. Although we didn’t connect, I really appreciate the thought.” Alena drew Jan into a hug, and gave her a very intense kiss. As they separated, Alena said, “Thanks again for everything.”

“Can we do that again? I need more practice.” Everyone laughed at Jan’s remark.

Maeve, Tara, Briana and Cass then each gave Jan a hug and a stirring kiss before they prepared to depart.

“Alena, what is going to happen to your condo?”

“I gave it to an organization that helps military families who need assistance. I hope the neighbors don’t mind, as I suspect a family won’t stay there for more than a year.”

“You can tell the organization they can use me for a local contact.”

“I’ll do that. Thanks.” Alena gave Jan another hug and kiss before they left. The group walked down and around the corner of the building and into the waiting scout ship.

“She is a pretty neat person. It is a shame she lives alone.”

“Alena, she will find her special person soon. Her seeing you with Tara and Maeve has given her the idea that she may be too selfish in trying to have an exclusive arrangement with one person.”

“Well, I wish the best for her.”

Tara and Maeve stood with Alena between them while they looked at Earth become smaller as they headed home.

Sarah’s Clan, along with Alena’s children, were waiting in the hangar on Dóchas when Alena and the others returned. As soon as Alena stepped out of the shuttle, her children ran up and hugged her.

“Mom,” said Kennith, “I am sure glad you are home now.”

“I’m glad to be back. Briana, Cass, Tara and Maeve were a lot of help. I don’t think I could have done this without them.”

“Jan would have been there to help you,” replied Kennith. “She really liked you.” Alena’s daughters, Iris and Marnia, both nodded their heads in agreement.

“We stopped by her place before we left, to say good-bye. She is a very nice person, but we just never connected on the level she desired.”

“Mom, when will we start our conversion?” asked Iris.

“Probably in a day or two. We will all do it at the same time.”

“Good. Will we be telepathic then?”

“I don’t know. You need to ask Judy.”

“We will,” replied Marnia.

Alena was then greeted by her spouses with hugs and kisses. “Is coming back from a trip always like this?” asked Alena, as she hugged Rusty. Holding Rusty, Alena looked around and saw that the others who had been with her were being welcomed home in the same way.

“Usually when only part of our clan goes somewhere,” replied Rusty.

“Does our mind-link always dim when we are separated?”

“Yours probably did because it is still growing,” replied Judy. “Once your conversion is completed, you will find your link with us much stronger. During the conversion, you will probably gain some additional psionic attributes, though gain is not really the right word, ‘become aware of them’ is a better way to phrase it.”

“Wow, more stuff to figure out how to it works,” replied Alena. “I guess I have a lot to learn.”

“Darling, we all do, but much of it will come quickly. Many of the tools and knowledge that we have here are fantastic, but it is taking all of us time to learn the best way to use them.”

While they had been talking, Sarah’s Clan had walked back to their suite. Alena’s spouses had helped carry her boxes of mementos.

“Alena,” said Rusty, “it was a pretty neat idea you had, giving your condo to the military dependents support group.”

“I’d like to take the credit, but I think it was Maeve who came up with the idea when we were talking about finding an agent to sell it. I was really surprised when they told me it was paid off, so that really made the idea practical. Besides, the support group was a lot of help when we moved the last time, and again after Scott was reported missing in action.”

After dinner Marsha said, “Rusty, Sarah, could you meet with GISS and several others at An Clochán tomorrow?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Well, I’m not sure how to say this, but Ursula, John and I think GISS should disappear as an entity. You can call our proposal a reorganization, but it is really more than that.”

“Based on what the Council of Brothers tried, I think we agree. It was handy to use GISS as a contact point for us initially. Unfortunately that caused some people to think that they were a part of us.”

“You agree?”

“Yes. We don’t have a problem with it. Why?”

“We were concerned about how you would take it, since you two started the company.”

Rusty and Sarah chuckled. “Well, actually, I think it was more than just the two of us. When we started the company, we thought there were only eight of us. This was before we knew much about Dóchas, its people and its history. Our initial purpose was to have a way to do something, since we thought life on the island wouldn’t be challenging enough. We set it up so we could do the work we were familiar with, but do virtually everything remotely, as we didn’t feel we could go on-site. Between Bob of Nancy’s Clan and ourselves, we felt we had enough contacts to find reliable contractors for any on-location work. As you know, events drew us in a very different direction. Aren’t some of the staff from Craigly’s operation running GISS now?”

“Yes. They think that starting up a new organization with a charter similar to your original one will fill a definite need. They are proposing that they buy up all the remaining GISS contracts, as a way of getting a quick start. They are considering locating their headquarters in the high plains of North America, along the Canadian border. Their prime site considerations are security, communication and reasonably easy access.”

“Why that area?”

“They think that by carefully selecting the location they can pick an excellent location for secure storage.”

“We had talked about something along those lines at one time, but I am not sure what happened to the idea.”

“We are planning on meeting at An Clochán at 0900 local time.”

“Okay, we will be there. Terry and Sally may come with us.”

“Fine. See you then.”

It was during breakfast on Dóchas when Alena said, “Judy, the children were asking when they would be telepathic. I didn’t know the answer, so I suggested they talk to you.”

“I believe they are already telepathically active. We need to sit down with them and see why they are asking. Our children were telepathic when they were born, and since then their ability has grown as they have grown. My suspicion is that their question may be misstated.”

“At the time they seemed kind of anxious, so could we talk to them after breakfast?”

“Sure, have them meet us in the medical center.”

“Gee, it looks like they’ve left already. I’m not sure where they went.”

“You should be able to tell them telepathically.”

“Boy that was dumb. I didn’t even think of that.”

“Not dumb. Telepathic communication is new resource, so it will take time until you reach for the best means of communicating. I can assure you that we had the same difficulty. Verbal and telepathic communication each have their own advantages. Even though it has been nearly six years, we still overlook our abilities at times.”

“Kennith. Iris. Marnia. Judy and I would like to meet you in the medical center in half an hour so we can answer your questions about telepathic communication.”

“We will be there, mom,” replied the three children.

“Interesting,” said Judy in response to Alena and her children’s exchange. “They responded immediately to your request, so I wonder what their questions are really going to be about.” Alena just shrugged.

Alena and Judy were waiting in the medical center when the children arrived. After greeting each other Judy asked, “So how do you guys like life on a space ship?”

“It is great,” said Iris, with Kennith and Marnia nodding their agreement.

“It would be even better if Dad was here,” added Kennith.

“You miss him?”

“Sure, we all do,” replied Marnia. “But if I had to have a substitute dad, he couldn’t be any better than Rusty, Adam or Todd.” Iris and Kennith indicated they agreed.

“What is so special about those three?” asked Judy, since the specificity of the reply puzzled her.

“I have had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with them. If they are doing something that I can help with, they let me. They treat me like a person, rather than a child. Dad always treated me that way.”

“I expect you will find a lot of the men in our family are the same way.”

“Oh, we have,” responded Iris. “To us though, those three are still different. Maybe saying they are special is a better way to explain it. You can look at my thoughts, if it would help.”

“It may,” replied Judy. “Can we hold that for a minute, so we can sort out the question you asked your mother about telepathy and species conversion?”

“We may have phrased that wrong, too. We were trying to sort out what happens to us during the species change. We think we understand the physical side, but the information regarding its effect on telepathy is not very clear.”

“Let’s share this way,” said Judy. “Each of you can understand me clearly, just as if I was speaking verbally, right?”

Kennith, Iris and Marnia replied, “Yes. Really, more so.”

“Since I am now one of your parents, you realize that I can sense the meaning of your thoughts, but not the details, unless I specifically look. It is a special part of our clan’s mind-link.” The three nodded. “That is so we have another way to assist you as you grow up. We can share specific memories with you, to help in understanding why you should or shouldn’t do something.”

“We like that,” said Kennith. “We realized that after Mom became a part of your clan. I think that if we had known about it before-hand, we might have been reluctant to consider the conversion, but not now. We understand Mom a lot better now than we did before as there is much less guessing about her intent, or the why of her comments.”

“It is nice to feel the love all of you have for us,” said Marnia. “Before, we knew Mom loved us, but now we know the intensity of her feelings for us, even when she is irritated with us.” Alena blushed a bit, and Iris was quick to hug her.

“I don’t think she gets irritated with you very often,” replied Judy.

“Not now. Thanks to telepathy, we understand each other better,” responded Marnia.

“So telepathy works quite well for the three of you? After your conversion, you will likely find communicating that way a little more natural. I think your question was directed more toward other psionic abilities.” The three young adults nodded their heads. “These usually express themselves during the onset of puberty, although some children know what their abilities will be before reaching that stage. So it will probably be at least two of our years before you know what new abilities you may have, and then another two years for them to develop to the point you can use them. The time span may be longer or shorter for each step. Telepathy is the key psionic ability for us, any others are just icing on the cake.”

“So, after the conversion, we will look similar to our brothers and sisters?” asked Marnia.

“Yes. Your stature will be similar to theirs. Your feet and ankles will change during the conversion, and you will need to wear special shoes afterward. These will need to be worn all the time for several months as your bodies complete the adaptation to the changes. You will have a mane and tail. Your hair will be somewhat longer than it is now and will then grow to be a similar length to the other children. There will be some improvements to your eyesight and a few other things which we will go over when the conversion is done.”

“Why do we need to wear the shoes?” asked Kennith.

“They are to give your legs and feet the support they need while they finish their adaptation. Once your conversion is complete, the shoes are optional. So, have I answered your questions about telepathy?”

“Yes,” replied all three.

“Now let’s go back to Marnia’s comment about Rusty, Adam and Todd being special.” The three nodded. “I suspect that you see them as special because you feel their intense love for each of you as an individual. There have been other men in your lives, but you never knew the intensity of their feelings for you, except for maybe your father. Each of you is reciprocating their love for you. Knowing you are reciprocating their love is a new sensation to you. The new awareness is because you are telepathically sharing your emotions and know how they feel. Okay?”

“Thank you,” said Marnia, as she put her arms around Judy and gave her a kiss on the lips. As she kissed Judy, she gently probed Judy’s lips with her tongue. Judy parted her lips to accept Marnia’s tongue and they caressed each other’s tongue. When they parted, Marnia said, “Did I show you how much I love you?”

“Yes, you did, but I already knew how much you loved me. Caressing each other’s tongues during a kiss is something we usually reserve for when as adults we share our love physically. You are still a little young for that kind of sharing.”

“I know.” After Marnia stepped away from Judy, Kennith hugged and kissed Judy in much the same way Marnia had. He received the same admonishment.

“Judy, I want to kiss and hug you like they did,” said Iris, as she hugged Judy and kissed her. “I know I am too young to go further, but perhaps when I am older, we can share the physical side.”

“We shall see. Regardless of sharing our love physically, I will always love you, even when I admonish you for an error.”

“We know. See you at dinner!” said the three, as they headed for the door to the medical center.

“Wow,” said Alena, after the children left. “I didn’t realize how much they had grown. You did a great job of handling their questions.”

“I think, if you look at your memories, you will find that all of us were responding to their concerns.”

“My gosh, it was us. I didn’t even realize it.”

When Sarah, Sally, Terry and Rusty arrived at the conference room at An Clochán, they found Marsha’s and Ursula’s Clans waiting for them. They had just finished greeting them when Carla, Aime, and Gabriele arrived, sparking another round of greetings.

Once they had all sat down Rusty asked, “How can we help you?”

Carla, Aime and Gabriele grinned as Carla responded with, “From our perspective, we think we can assist you.” Seeing the raised eyebrows, she added, “We owe your family a great deal. If it had not been for our rescue some 3 years ago, our life would have been ... well let’s just say a nightmare. We feel we are further indebted due to you providing us with full access to GISS resources. This was especially critical during the time we sought to gain control of our families’ holdings. So we would like to facilitate recasting GISS so that it can continue with its mission, which we think is both profitable and a contributor to general stability.”

“As far as rescuing you all, we just did what we thought was the right thing to do,” responded Rusty. “Rather than feeling indebted to us, we would prefer that you ‘pay it forward’, which in a sense is what you are proposing.”

“Do you really think you can break the link?” asked Sarah.

“We believe so,” responded Gabriele, “as not very much has been disclosed about where we were between the last time our acquaintances saw us and when we asserted our claims against the estates. While some know that our personal security staff work for GISS, they aren’t exclusively GISS operatives as they’ve worked for other organizations.”

Sarah asked, “How are you going to do this?”

“Well we are thinking about calling the new firm C & M Security Services, providing personal and network security.”

“C & M?”

“The letters stand for Creidne and Morrigan, if anyone asks. We need to ask them if it is okay.”

“Are you sure you want to leave out Fidelma?”

“Oops...” responded Amie, “we should have included her as well. They are neat people, and not quite like they are portrayed in literature.”

“At the risk of diverting us, why do you say that?” asked Terry.

“Well the references to them in literature only acknowledge a few elements of their character,” responded Gabrielle. “This is likely due to the way the information was preserved.”

Carla said, “Our plans are to form C F & M Security Services then staff it. Initially the company will focus on providing services for us.”

“Once they are operational,” said Marsha, “we will send notices to our current customers indicating our closure. C F & M Security Services will be one of those we suggest as a replacement for the services provided by GISS. We will assure them that we will continue to provide services until they’ve found a suitable replacement.”

“Good,” replied Sally. “What about staff?”

Both Aime and Ursula started to speak at the same time, Aime said, “We’ve identified core staff by drawing on contacts our current bodyguards have. They are primarily from Special Ops units of several countries. One criterion we have specified is that we prefer those with a high intuition quotient.

“Currently we are planning on having our headquarters in the US or Canada. Although we haven’t selected a site, our intent is to have it in the high plains of Montana, North Dakota or north of there in Canada.”

“Why there?” asked Terry.

“Primarily geology. The secure data storage will be underground and similar to what N & R was doing. Ideally we would like the headquarters to be in a town with the actual storage site several miles away. The receiving site would also be at least a mile away from the storage site. We would like to link them underground. That way, knowledge of the ground level access to the storage site could be obscured.”

“An interesting approach,” replied Rusty, “but since the area will be sparsely populated the underground construction would be well known, and what about the debris.”

“That is a big concern,” replied Carla. “We are open to suggestions, and we were hoping to find a location where the activity could be obscured.”

After checking with the Command Staffs Sarah said, “We may be able to assist with the underground storage and tunnels.”

Carla, Aime and Gabrielle all smiled on hearing Sarah’s comment and Aime said, “We had hopes.”

“Before we make a commitment, we need to see more detail in your plans.”

“Thank you,” responded Carla. “If you have time now we can show you what we have done so far. We would appreciate suggestions on any aspect.”

“Since we are all together, let’s do it now,” said Rusty. “Before we start, let’s talk about telepathy. We know the three of you are telepathic, as are some of the agents. How are you going to handle that long term?”

“We’ve talked about it but haven’t reached a decision,” said Gabrielle. “We use ours primarily as a danger detector, but we have used it to evaluate new employees for critical positions. Those with a high level of danger intuition we believe are telepathic in a sense or degree. It’s just not developed into being a communication mode for them. We’ve used that mode infrequently, as have some operatives. This has been when it was critical and there was no other choice.”