Chapter 70

"Jonathan, I was born not fifty miles from here and slightly over 79 years ago. Mike and I have been to the moon and out as far as Pluto. Get up, open the front door and look up, if you can get through the crowd that is."

The boy did not know what to think but did as he was asked. A few seconds later he ran back talking loudly, "There's a space ship out there."

"Jonathan, not so loud. Yes there is. Soon you will be in it. If you want you can fly us back to the moon base."

The dark boy blanched and said in a tiny voice, "Me?"

"Yes you. You will be a pilot like us. Why don't you go get washed up now. Your meal won't be ready for a few minutes yet."

When the boy was gone Mike said, "He does seem eager. Do you think his older brother will be the same?"

When the boy came back he looked cleaner but worried. "How can I go with you? My dad would never allow it and what about Jerome? He needs me."

"There are a lot of other things to consider too," Mike said. "Your father agreed to letting you train, and the trouble you had with the law will be dropped. BeBop and Fixer will not though. You were not thinking when you got mixed up with those two."

Jonathan wondered how all this would end. He had lost a lot of drugs he was forced to deliver. Even though they belonged to the others, he had been arrested. His dad was hardly ever home and took little interest in his two sons but the men said his dad had agreed.

The restaurant filled to capacity and they all stared at the people in the centre of the room. Antipasto, stracciatella soup, hand rolled cheese cavatelli in a wild mushroom sauce, veal scallopine with roasted Parisian potatoes, baby greens with arugula salad and then a seafood platter. Mike and Moses ate with gusto. Jonathan watched the older men and tried to do the same. Soon he was too full to continue and more dishes were still coming.

At the end of the meal coffee, fresh fruit, and homemade pastries came to the table. When the meal was over both men were even bigger and seemed very satisfied. Mario came out frequently to ask if everything was satisfactory and both men complemented him on his creations, making sure the other patrons heard their words.

When it was time to go, the check was denied them and Mario only wanted a photo to go on the wall of celebrities.

Moses, said in a voice just loud enough for all to hear, "I thank you Mario for your generous offer but I think Jonathan needs to have a change of clothes first. Would you excuse us while this happens?"

Moses and Jonathan went to the back door and the ship travelled around the building but could not make it down the narrow alley. Mike strayed in the kitchen to see where all the good food had been prepared. Moses and Jonathan walked out into the alley. Moses floated up almost forty metres and into the opening in the ship while Mike looked unconscerned.

Jonathan stared open mouthed and rose with a tiny scream himself. Inside the ship he was again open mouthed. TV, showed lots of pictures of the interior but never in his wildest dreams did he believe he would ever be in one. Moses opened a small drawer and brought out a silver suit, much like their brown ones.

"Well Jonathan, you better get out of your clothes and get into this. That is, if you want to join us."

The boy looked at the shiny suit then for someplace to change but saw no place. After a bit of contemplation he started to remove his shoes and clothes. When he embarrassingly got down to his dingy underwear, Moses said, "I am afraid it has to be all Jonathan."

Jonathan stood on one foot and dropped his last garment reluctantly and before he could get the new clothing, Moses said, "Stay still, Jonathan. I need to use this."

A hand cleanser came out and he ran it over the embarrassed boy as he held his genitals with his hands. "Don't be worried here. I have seen my own boys and then my grandchildren. Some don't even have the equipment you have."

When the hands reluctantly went aside the wand went over the area and the tingle made the boy become erect. When Moses was done cleaning the boy, he held his hand with one of his own while the boy slipped the marvellous suit on. "There, you almost look as handsome as me." A brush moved the hair to the right place and some dark boots form fitted to his feet were finally put on.

The boy did look good with dark extremities and a silver centre. Moses took the boy's hand and said, "Close you eyes sweety. I feel like I am taking one of my boys to get his picture taken." Jonathan was not even upset by the choice of words, and found himself trusting the man that looked so young but was supposed to be close to 80.

They descended with Jonathan's arm around Moses's waist. They walked back through the kitchen to find the appraising looks of the staff. They posed against the wall and Mario joined them for many pictures.

With a final shaking of hands on the crowded street in front of the business, one, then the others, rose into the air and entered the ship. Seconds later they were flying over the city. They were looking for Jerome, Jonathan's older brother. He hung out with his friends in a large mall on the other side of the city.

After the ship landed at the front doors of the mall, they all got out, and Jonathan asked, "Why are we here?"

Startled customers looked on as Moses said, "Your brother is invited to the academy too. Mom wanted you two out of harms way."

"Mom knows us?" He said with as much incredulity as a 13 year old could muster.

"Yup. The big boss came through here once and could see a lot of possibilities in your brother."

"You mean, that Buchanan guy?"

"That's him; now let's try to find your brother." Before the boy was able to go far, Moses stopped the boy and placed a small white box below the child's stomach and activated the shield. The excited boy only looked at it and wanted to run ahead.

The crowded mall seemed to hush as they watched the odd trio walk down the main concourse. Most of the women and even some of the men were appraising the larger two. Mike and Moses kept a vigilant look out for the boy and their charge. Their subliminal training gave them more than a good grasp of the English language. Later they were taught the best ways of dealing with their fellow humans. By far the best way was to be polite and attentive, without going overboard.

A few minutes later they came to the food court. Jonathan ran forward and talked to a slightly older boy that was in the hallway to the offices and the washrooms. Both disappeared down the hall quickly but followed by the men.

Two older boys, about 16, let the two younger boys in. When Moses and Mike came up the boys wanted to stop the men but didn't see a way of doing it easily. "You can't go in there, they are doing some painting."

Their minds were read and both Moses and Mike knew that there was trouble inside. Moses closed his eyes and thanked God that he had placed the box on Jonathan. Pushing the boys gently aside they entered the room to see two young men, BeBop and Fixer, coming at Jonathan with intent to hurt him. The larger one, Fixer, said to the new arrivals, "Get the fuck out of here if you know what is good for you." Behind them they knew the two young men had entered the room.

Mike looked around the room like they were in training and assessed all the odds. Seven young men and two boys, had been beating a young man in the corner. Blood was spread all over the place. The male was alive but suffered a lot of cuts and bruises as well as a lot of internal pain.

Moses had fought in WWII and Korea. Oddly the urge to kill was not present, though he knew it would be a good thing to remove these two from society. While Mike was relaying specific instructions to the ship and then to local police, Moses advanced on the two. Knives came out and they jabbed at Moses. He swerved and slapped each hard in the face. More slashes came and Moses continued to slap the young men. Fixer reached behind his waist and brought out a gun. "I'll get you now muffo'."

Moses stepped in quickly and squeezed the gun and the young man's fist in his own hand. Fixer screamed a high pitched wail as his hand was crushed beyond recognition. The mangled gun, covered in blood and gore, fell to the floor and soon after Fixer did too, cradling the remnants of his hand.

BeBop was frightened now by the large man's speed and strength. Knowing he was overmatched he called, "Get him you guys."

They looked around the room and then at Mike, who did nothing but block the door. Mike said to them, "Go ahead, I won't do anything but stay here." The older ones pulled out knives and two advanced on Moses. Waiting till the two were close, Moses reached in a squeezed each of their knife hands and broke almost every bone.

As they screamed on the floor, Moses turned to BeBop and said, "You are next." BeBop threw the knife on the floor and said in a hysterical voice, "I am unarmed, I am unarmed. I wasn't going to hurt nobody."

Moses asked Mike a few questions in mindspeak and said to Bebop and the rest, "Get over on the floor and kneel down with your hands behind your heads. If you move after that I will rip an arm off."

When they all did as they were told, Jonathan ran over to the bloody body. He knew from Fixer that it was his brother. Mike went to see and knew that Jerome was hurt bad. He would live, especially when he gained treatment in the ship and then on the moon.

Jonathan cried and implored Moses to help. "Jonathan, in thirty seconds the police will be here. Jerome will live and I just want them to see what these animals have done. On schedule, three police officers raced in with drawn guns and a policeman in the rear with a camera, video taping all that happened.

When Mike and Moses were told to raise their hand, they complied. It took a moment till Mike was able to say that it was he that had called. It didn't seem to matter to the police and in a moment, two more police came in the door. No matter how much they talked, it didn't seem to change the stance of the police.

Moses said to Jonathan, "I want you to watch Uncle Mike now." As the police turned to Moses's voice, Jonathan saw Mike jump up as if by magic. He pulled all the guns from the policemen's hands. Then taking the cop with the highest authority in his other hand picked him up and said, "You are one stupid cop. Now do you want your toys back or do you want me to break them? I know who will have to pay for them. Now what is it, cooperation or do I bend the barrels of your guns?"

All but the senior policeman seemed to find Mike's idea appealing but the leader, a Sergeant Bindle. Putting the Sergeant down, he threw all the guns in the far corner except one. It was a Glock, and fairly expensive. "One last chance. I give you the gun back and we all cooperate or I bend it into a pretzel."

"Sure, I will cooperate," his voice said as he planned to shoot Mike if necessary.

"Like I said before, you are one stupid cop. I can read minds and you have little to read." Mikes hands went to the gun gave it a twist one way then another and finally handed the weapon back to the owner. "Now shoot me. You just lost a thousand dollars." He turned to the other cops that had not moved, and said, "Pick up the guns and finish cuffing the others. If Moses rips you apart now, you just have your own stupidity to blame." Grabbing the Sergeant he said, "We are going to the ship and then come right back. Now move it quick or I will drag you through the mall."

Taking the cop by the collar anyway, he dragged the man to the nearest exit and the ship was there waiting. Mike released the man as he went in and picked up a portable stasis unit. Back outside the ship he said to the Sergeant, "You going back now or just staying here?"

Running back to the washroom alone, he placed the device over Jerome and everybody got back as it was activated. The police and the gang saw Jerome freeze into position. Moses was just finishing explaining to Jonathan what was happening to his brother. Holding the 13 year old in his arms like a baby he looked at the camera and went into detail about each of the crimes the individual gang members were involved in.

He also knew that either now or in the future the fools would enact a law to make this type of exposure rendered illegal, something along the lines of illegal search and seizure.

In a half hour they were done and regardless of what the police wanted, the men and the two boys boarded the ship. Mike flew to the moon base. Jonathan was too upset to pilot or to appreciate the event.

Medical looked frightening to the boy. He could see men and women suspended in tanks. His own brother had odd things attached to him and he too was lowered into an empty tank. Moses said, "Don't worry little one, he would end up in the tank anyway. He needs to get his muscles and bones repaired then strengthened. His brain need to be straightened out so he can think better. You and he are going into the Academy and one day you will be officers.

The crying child just held tighter to the kind man. In a moment he was asleep and he too went into the tank to be improved. On the way out Moses turned to the sleeping figure and said, "See you in a while, son. We will all watch out for you."

Three days later, Jerome was standing in his birthday suit and looking down at his wet and equally naked brother. Eyes blinked then stayed open, "Jerome, you are ok?"

"I sure am. Now get your sorry ass out of bed, we have a meal to eat and courses to start."

"Courses?"

"Yes, you are lucky you have me for a big brother. We all take the same courses; they go as fast as we can understand." Jerome helped his brother up and took him to the cleanser. Jerome had already found out how they worked but stayed with his brother anyway. Stepping out, they picked up their new silver garments and put them on. Over the heart were some odd symbols that both knew from TV; they knew somehow that it was their name in Tandra.

They rushed to the large cafeteria with a few other boys and girls. They started to pick out food that they wanted just like the others were doing. Interspersed in the room were Tandra their size, talking to humans. Both Jonathan and Jerome stopped in the unfamiliar gravity and those behind them had to move around quickly or get bumped into. They felt curses being said somehow but no sounds rent the air.

Jerome had the presence of mind to mumble apologies for himself and his brother. They pulled out of the way and watched the aliens throughout the room. Both Jerome and his brother fervently wished that they too could talk to them.

They saw how the cafeteria worked and soon tried to find seating. They sat down at an empty table and started to investigate the food and found it delicious. While they ate, Jerome told of a man coming in and waking him up, before Jonathan was supposed to be awakened. He was shown what to do and given a simple explanation of what was expected of them. Jonathan told of all the things he had seen before finding his brother; then in a much quieter voice, told of what they did. The last few remarks let Jerome know that his little brother found a strong protector. He just hoped it would not be needed here on the moon.

Jerome had time to look up as an adult Tandra came walking their way with a tray in her hands. He knew somehow that this one was a she, because of the larger breasts. For a second, Jerome wondered what it would be like to suck on them. The female slowed down and placed her tray on the table and sat beside the boys. "Hello Jerome, and you too Jonathan. It is nice to see you in the flesh this time."

The voice was rich and cultured. The woman herself was very beautiful, as beautiful as all Tandra were, and much like the Tandra on the television.

"Hello," Jerome said. Jonathan was a little tongue-tied to say anything.

"My name is Kitten, I came over to see you with my own eyes. My family once saw you in a mall and we knew you would make good recruits, if you could keep out of trouble. It is nice to see that at least one of you did."

Jerome tried to rake his mind and then came up with the Chinese woman, in the silver suit, that looked so beautiful.

"Yes, that one. She and Henry were doing some shopping when you almost ran into them."

Jerome was shocked again. The woman had read his mind. Did she know about all the things he thought about her?

Kitten stretched out her long fingered hand and laid it on Jerome's. "Do not be concerned, many people feel that way about each other. We all think of it as a complement, as does the rest of my family. I know you are embarrassed now, but do not worry. Soon you will be taught how to hide your thoughts if you wish to."

Jerome was still embarrassed and tried to hide it as best he could. Jonathan felt more than just flustered, for he had entered puberty and had the same types of urges as his older brother had. What worried him more was the rebuke he was given about not being able to stay out of trouble. Kitten, with her big liquid eyes, looked across the table at him and the feelings of guilt came to him more strongly. He wanted to do lots of things with her and she could read his mind with ease. There was no way to hide it. He got up to run away when a gentle hand pulled him back.

"Do not be concerned about your thoughts. I think you both are very cute too. I would have had some fun with both of you before I met my husband but now he is the only adult male that I allow to have sex with me."

Both boys were a little shocked at the frank discussion of sex with an adult. Neither were not virgins but were not very experienced either.

"Com'on you two. Eat up. You both have to take your first orientation class in half of an hour."

The boys and the woman finished their food and took the trays to one of the disposal locations. Each tray instantly disappeared with everything on it after it was set down. The woman reached down with both her hands and grasped the ones of her partners. Neither boy was embarrassed this time. Jonathan felt like he did when Moses held his hand. The word to describe it was 'safe'.

After a minute they stopped at a special circle on the floor and were instantly in another part of the base. Jonathan said, "How... ," then shut up for he knew there were a lots of new things to learn.

Kitten looked at all the children and young adults that had come in from various institutions all over Earth. Some of the young people but by no means all, came with specific individuals. Kitten remembered very vividly how Yuri Mecholov was captured and his obscene criminal organization taken apart at the seams. In the process many damaged people were rescued but Earth authorities had not been able to fix them properly. A very few had the benefit of family to assist in their recovery, while most were from dysfunctional families at the best.

Walking down the rows of tanks, she took note of all she passed. Most had imbalances in their minds and bodies that made them unsuitable for mainstream Earth society. This was now being remedied and suitable memories being implanted to cover some of their previous life, to give each individual hope of even better things to happen in the future.

Some, like the people rescued, were traumatized by what they had to live through. These received the same treatment that Moesha, Kimberly, Michelle, and Clarice had been given when they first came to live as part of Henry's family.

This particular group would be broken up into smaller groupings so they could be watched by Tandra and Humans alike. It was not uncommon for some of the subjects to have painful flashbacks. When Mom had few duties she would spend more of her time monitoring the four girls. Now that she had many more duties and even a new AI ready to be born, the jobs would be too much. Many more construction projects were being monitored and soon four million recruits would come through the system. Another four million would come three weeks later. The objective was to completely crew all the ships, both large and small, and then take up the mining work again to build new and stronger defences.

The 24 in question, were sorted by to age. The Human brain became very set in its teenage years. Mom took the children and brought all of them back to approximately what a 9 years old would be like in almost every aspect. The changes that were programmed into each of the tanks would allow them to look more like what the Tandra/Human hybrid would be like. The young males were originally 11 and 12, 17 and two were 18 years of age. The females, 18 in all, ranged from 13 to a maximum of 26 with most around 15 to 17 years of age. All would look, feel and actually be young children again. This time it was hoped that parents and peers would help them grow up right.

Some had been in the tank for almost three days now and the younger ones were almost finished. Some would not all be done for another two weeks because of all the work that had to be completed. Mom had developed each of their minds, locking locked away all of their old hurtful memories. Their individual personalities were kept as intact as possible but not all of it could be saved. Some new memories were being substituted so they could grow up as productive members of society.

The large room on the other side of the base had almost 300 people in it. Some were children but all looked less than 25 years old or so. All of them had originally looked old beyond their years. The younger adults huddled by themselves while the children huddled together as if a group would protect them from some danger.

Kitten brought the boys to this group and then over to some other boys. Only six or so were black like them but they all looked as if they were going to be attacked. The girls all looked the same way and Jerome was actually afraid to go near them because they looked so fragile.

From mid air, one after another, people just appeared and stepped out of a ring on the floor. The last was Moses. Jonathan ran to his friend and miraculously the man turned around as if he had eyes in the back of his head. He picked up the boy in his arm and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Hello Jonathan. It is good to see you." He put the boy on his feet and went over to greet Jerome. "Hello Jerome. My name is Moses. I was part of the team that recruited you and your brother."

Jerome looked up into the man's face. He looked only a year or two older than he was. His voice was so rich and sure that he instantly took a liking to him.

"Thanks. I figured I would be lucky to wake up in a hospital but never one like this. Thanks for getting Jonathan out as well. He was forced to make deliveries for Fixer and BeBop till he was caught."

"I know all about it. I have to do some work now and we can talk later."

They all stopped as Mom made her appearance and started to welcome every person here to a new life. Everybody was shocked when the message went directly into their minds. She explained how most, but not all, had some major problems even at their young age. She set up a group of tutors who were going to put a face to all of the new things that they would have to deal with. The groups were divided as to gender, and the ten tutors would take a group of about 30 each and show them the way things were now done.

One thing did stick in their minds, was when Mom said, "You are not going to be regular recruits, but stay in training longer to become officers and future leaders of your race. At the moment you see yourselves as Oriental, Black, Caucasian, Indian and others. All that will fall by the wayside. You all speak different languages, but each will easily learn Tandra and the ability to communicate with the mind, as I do now. You may have a low opinion of your abilities but soon you will not be able to remember what you were like before. New happy memories will push the bad old ones back."

Later, with 29 boys in tow, Moses lead them to a smaller room. "Hello, as you heard my name is Moses. For the first little bit I will use my voice but later it will all be mindspeak. If you look around, you will see a lot of small doors in the wall. The Japanese were not the first to make accommodations like this. Inside you will find a bed more comfortable that any you have ever slept on before. It is hooked up to entertainment and tutors that make anything you remember from school seem like it was from the Stone Age."

Turning to Jonathan, he said, "Jonathan go to the third from the left there and two up, touch the small pad on the bottom and think 'open' to the door just like Ali Baba said."

Jonathan was unsure of himself but not unsure of his friend Moses. He walked quickly to the correct door and touched the pad. In about 20 seconds the door opened and a light went on inside. There was nothing inside at all and somehow this was a letdown. The boy turned around in question and Moses said, "Get you butt in there soldier; it's only an elevator. Just think 'up' but also 'stop' or you will go all the way up. By the way, they go all the way to 144 in our arithmetic but only a hundred in the simplest Tandra way of counting."

The group was all male and the oldest was about 18. All the black boys were here, as well as a mixture of other races, but all spoke at least a little English. Jonathan rose about 30 centimetres but was so shocked he demanded the process to stop. A few seconds later he began again and he was able to stop at the correct level. From his invisible elevator, he used his mind to open a small door and climbed into the small room.

The bed was so soft and his hands sank into the invisible padding. He sank down and rolled onto his back. The bed seemed to conform to him and Moses's words were completely true. Thinking about his head being too low brought an insubstantial pillow under his head that rose till it felt high enough. He heard from in the large room, "Get out of there lazy bones, you get to sleep after you do some learning."

Jonathan happily got out and commanded 'down' and 'stop' to get him back to where he first started. Thinking the next step on his own, he thought the word 'close' and the door did as it was asked.

When he ran back to his brother, Moses grabbed him and rubbed his knuckles across the short black hair and said, "Smart Alec," and let him go with a smile on each of their faces.

"The lower berths are yours. Just touch them to get a lock that will only open to you. When you get to be big boys and not afraid of heights, you will get those places near the top where it is quieter. The next thing I have to teach you is both easy and hard. Follow me to the next room."

The procession went into a small room with holes in the floor and raised pads. Moses undid his brown coveralls and threw them into the air to have them instantly disappear. His naked body glistened with perfect skin and muscles on his muscles. Taking his penis in his hand he propelled a stream of urine at a hole in the floor. It hit the floor slower than it would on Earth and flowed into the hole. When he finished he squatted and had a dump that went down the hole while he stood on the raised pads.

With a raised hand and a silent command a small device fell into his hand. He put it behind him and unashamedly grinned as it came near his anus. Holding up the small wand it disappeared into thin air from which it came. He got up and walked over to a small circle on the floor and all could see a slight distortion in his body as forces none here could understand, cleaned all detritus from his body. Walking out from the circle he raised his hand and his garment came back to him. It was quickly donned and he addressed his class.

"Well that is how to do the basics. The suit by the way is completely new and fabricated just for me. The holes in the floor are more for emergencies. A computer cleans most up even before it hits the floor. It cleans your bum too even better than your momma did for you. It gives a kind of tingle that most of you will appreciate later. Now, all of you undo your coveralls and take a whiz in the holes. This is a test of eye, dick, hand coordination and I want to see who the best shot is. The winner gets to be the first to fly a ship.

Most of the boys complied and pissed into the holes. Moses walked up and down the line making comments like, 'good form', 'great hand action', 'big dick', 'great accuracy' and 'good pattern'. Some of the boys were too uncomfortable to even try this in public.

When they finished and did themselves up, Moses walked up to an East Indian boy and clapped him on the shoulder. "I think you cheated. Your dick was longer than the rest and you could aim better, but you did win." The boy grinned at the complement and even felt the large black man liking him but not for anything sexual. Mind reading was completely new to him but he had a good feeling about this man.

In nine other rooms, more or less the same thing was going on. The sick people had been helped with a body that now did not force them to do things that should not be done in a civilized society. A lot of new ideas had to be encompassed and new ways of dealing with the results.

Soon everybody came to smaller rooms with chairs where their education would begin. At this time, all the teacher had to say was to put on the band and the computer would place knowledge in the spaces previously made for it.