Chapter 1

Alex Kramer looked out at the large, high resolution monitor that showed the launch platform. An electronic voice in the background gave a countdown, which made visiting dignitaries think of the early days of the quest for space. When the word, "Ignition," came, a large cloud of white smoke suddenly flew out the exhaust ports under the rocket. The vibrations were transferred through the bedrock to the camera mount. The rattling shook the image as the rocket seemed to be considering to fly or not. The rocket slowly rose only a few feet but it was more. It only looked that way because of the distance from the launch vehicle to the cameras. In only minutes it was out of sight and Alex reluctantly turned to the electronic representation of the rocket's position.

When the rocket reached 600 miles, a group of three satellites separated and took up new orbits. Within minutes they would be far apart and able to begin their tasks.

The Secretary of Defence, Donald H. Rumsfeld, was in the room watching the newest and most sophisticated intelligence gathering device yet placed in orbit. The engineers and executives were patting one another on the back and saying how good a job they had done. Their location in California felt like it was in Florida where the launch had actually taken place.

Alex stood away from most and kept his own council. The three satellites would soon form a phased array that could pick up the presence of a humming bird on earth. Even on an overcast day, or at night, the bird would be seen. This would be a great thing to find potential military action, but it could also be used to look at ordinary citizens of the entire earth, not just a potential enemy.

Most people knew how an eye in the sky could see them if an operator chose to view a back yard or a roof top. They did not know that a woman's areola and nipple could be seen as she sunbathed in her back yard, though. The image would even be three dimensional for the three satellites would give slightly different pictures that a computer could interpolate into a view of the woman herself.

As an ordinary man, that would not be a bad thing, but as an ethical citizen, this could lead to all sorts of abuse. The military intelligence services and even political parties could use the data found for their own agendas.

The saddest part was actually the fact that Alex's companies had been the ones to suggest this system in the first place and then manufacture the satellites themselves. His companies had grossed a fantastic sum for this work, and lots of it would make its way to the coffers after all the bills had been paid. If only this effort could have been turned to helping all of mankind find resources and predict abnormal weather patterns. Instead, it would be used to find potential problems that could be headed off with a small effort. If that was a far as it went, then it was all for a good cause. Politics had a way of turning a purse of gold into a bag of shit.

"Thank you, gentlemen. It has been a pleasure working with each of you," the tall, well-built man said. Alex was just six feet tall, but seemed to overshadow all the others at the table. His gray hair gave him a distinguished appearance. The suit and its cut told them that he was younger and very vigorous. Hands were shook, even those of some of the lawyers who looked less than incorruptible.

They stuffed the papers into expensive briefcases and they separated into groups to leave. Alex Kramer stretched when nobody was looking and let the fatigue show on his face for a moment before hiding it again. Men reacted to a person who considered himself an alpha male, even if they thought they were in their own little pond. If the slightest weakness was shown, then, like chickens, they would peck the sickly one to death. Business was sometimes like that, and on occasion very unscrupulous as well. The military and political men in the room were sometimes many times worse.

Alex took out his cell phone and speed dialled a number, "Hello, Honey. The payload is on its way. The images coming in are as good as we thought they should be."

"That's great, Dad. Will they want to exercise their option for more?"

"They will have to play with this system for a few days to come to that decision. It looks like the taxpayers are going to have to foot the bill for more toys, though."

Alex got comfortable in the Challenger's pilot seat. The seat felt good, and it was the usual place he sat when travelling. The fact that he owned quite a few companies allowed him to fly his own plane. There was nothing illegal here, for he had a licence to be just where he now was. The tower was notified and soon he was given permission to leave the naval air station in San Diego. The meeting had just netted his group of companies nearly a half a billion dollars. The navy had agreed to his terms for a better ground station to monitor the satellites just launched. The proprietary large-scale integrated chips his company made and employed would do the communications to and from space much easier.

The encryption was state of the art and could be upgraded from secure locations at any time. This was only the start, for other NATO countries would want to tie in and the U.S. would have the ability to give them this privilege. Whether the U.S. would do this was another matter. Even so-called friends spied on each other all the time.

The plane was full with employees wanting to take advantage of the direct flight to Annapolis on the east coast. Many of the more important chips were made there rather than in Silicon Valley.

Alex stayed at the controls except for a short period when he had to relieve the pressure on his bladder. He did not land at the public airport, though, but at the private one that he owned near his companies. Once the plane came to a halt, it was serviced and would not leave until late tomorrow for a short trip to Toronto. Alex was almost the last to leave, and he ensured that the log was up to date and signed it.

Two hours later he sat across from Patricia Carlson at an upscale dining establishment.

"Alex, are you going to dance with me?" the younger woman asked.

"I can't wait to get my arms around you." He stood and took a step to her chair and said, "Wouldst milady perchance wish to indulge this knave."

She readily came to his arms with a smile on her lips. With her head so close it was easy to smell her hair and body. She was pressing her breasts into him to let him know what she had to offer. His hand started to go lower, but he decided to stop half way. It was so nice to hold this beautiful, red-haired woman to him. She was not only very sophisticated, but also a very talented person.

The live band paused and they must have gauged the reaction of the audience and started to play some mood music with a lead guitar. The musician had a way with the instrument that Alex could not hope to match without a lot of effort. The next set started, and it was a much more lively. The other dancers started to show their stuff, and Alex did too. Patricia usually liked to come here so they could do the same. She was a very accomplished dancer and followed his lead. Soon they got more room as the other dancers turned to watch the athletic, gray-haired man almost throw the red-haired beauty around.

They danced for another hour. Even though Alex was in his mid sixties, he danced like Fred Astaire. Patricia found dancing nice, but with Alex it was an exciting event. The other couples looked at them, and Patricia had to keep her wits about her to keep up with her talented partner. Both were equally bushed, even though Patricia was almost thirty years younger than her handsome escort.

After a last drink they left the establishment with Patricia holding his arm close to her side and ensuring that he felt her large, firm breast on the back of his arm. The driver opened the limousine, and Alex helped his girlfriend into the back seat. Patricia had found herself aroused as the strong man led her in a very energetic dance. She wasted no time in the back and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with a passion only he could fire in her.

Alex's hand rode up her thigh and under her tight wrap. Patricia only kissed harder as the hand came to her panties. She knew she was soaking wet and soon the smell would permeate the confines of the automobile. Alex in a moment found out the truth, himself. He loved to spend time with the fiery redhead. She seemed so reserved until he dragged her across the floor like a cave man. In bed she wanted the same treatment, but wanted lots of it.

Alex's internal clock got both of them presentable by the time the car came to a stop at Patricia's flat. The woman was very bright and wrote many love stories that made her a rich woman. For the last few years, Alex had found many of his attributes in the male characters of her stories.

After the car was dismissed, Patricia gave one fairly chaste kiss and handed Alex her keys. Once the large oak door was closed, Patricia flung herself at the man who stirred her like no other. Within a minute she was undoing the clasps to her dress and then tried to assist Alex to go faster.

Alex shrugged out of the last of his clothes and placed them in a pile on the expensively upholstered chair.

Patricia looked at the exciting older man before her. His hair was going gray, but he had so much of it all over his body. He looked very strong and fit, almost with a barbaric splendour. A shiver passed through her when she saw him thus. He made her think of an older and very virile king who would, and could, take any woman who pleased him. The fact that he was all hers tonight made her shiver one more time.

He walked forward with an expression saying he owned her. He bent and quickly picked the younger woman up into his arms.

"Have you done as I told you woman?" He said with a demanding voice now.

"Yes sir, I have."

"I may keep you longer before turning you over to my officers. They appreciate choice feminine flesh, too."

Patricia closed her eyes and brought her naked legs together. Her clit throbbed at this man's choice of words. "Please don't cast me off yet, master. You will see that I am more then just dedicated to you."

"We will see. Perhaps I will breed you. My children would look very comely coming from you. You seem to have an inquisitive mind that would aid them to rule."

"Thank you, master."

"I didn't say you would. I only said perhaps."

Patricia was placed on one side of the expensive comforter on her large bed that she only shared with this one man. Her legs remained closed to make her seem shy, but she turned just a bit to him and bent her legs at the knee.

Alex walked around the bed and lay on his back and his feet close to the foot of the bed. "Come here wench. I want to taste my woman."

Patricia sat up like a good slave girl and did as her master wished. She felt his strong hands on her thighs, then his tongue as it entered her mons. She shivered again at the contact, and then settled on his hairy body. Though some were gray, it was all so masculine and she brought her own head down to her master's erection.

She took him into her mouth, and with just a few strokes he was as deep as he could go into her throat. For a moment she remembered the first time at being taught patiently what to do and how to get the most enjoyment out of it. No other man had ever taken his time like Alex had, and she was now too spoiled to even try to find others.

The next morning Alex woke up at seven after sleeping in an extra hour. He slipped out of the bed and looked at the beautiful woman with her hair in disarray on the beige pillowcase. The closet held his robe, as well as many of his other garments. Quietly leaving for the kitchen he started a pot of strong coffee and left for another bathroom to shower. He was almost done when a naked woman pulled back the glass doors and slipped in with him.

"I wondered where you were. I find you at the far end of the house trying to be quiet. You are quite a man, Alex."

"I try to please my lady."

"You certainly do a good job. Now do my back, please, kind sir."

Her back was lovingly done, and then Alex moved lower to clean some of the harder-to-reach areas. Soon the soap was washed away, and he was using his fingers and tongue to drive the woman wild. She hung tenaciously to the short stainless steel tubes that were all over the shower enclosure.

Again Patricia remembered Alex's instructions for her to hang many such bars and to their placement. When the workmen had completed their job and left, he had used handcuffs and locked her to the enclosure while he had his way with her. She had her strongest orgasms to date that time, and she had fallen in love with the man who was in all of her best books.

Alex used his phone and called the limo to pick him up. The meeting was early, because he wanted it that way. Twenty-five minutes later Alex was sitting at a large, cherry table in an equally impressive room. The minutes were read and some small business matters decided on. Alex was the majority shareholder of this pharmaceutical company since its inception almost thirty years before. He had given his money and expertise to make the company what it was today. There were 17 branches in other countries, and the company was in the top ten pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

It had got that way with Alex's grasp of the engineering and the extraordinary way he could work out a problem that seemed to baffle most others. Two drugs were coming online and would soon pass all the tests required of them. Another was one of the many duds that cost so much to pursue, but did not do as they had hoped. Another list of potential drugs was presented with information about each. Proponents of each drug came forward and talked about their pet projects. This is where they would make it or break it. Alex shot down two and gave the green light to two others. One was given different criteria to follow to see if it would work.

They broke for lunch a little after twelve. The meal in the company cafeteria was good, as expected for a company this important. With only a few things to clear up in the afternoon, Alex found himself back in the Challenger winging his way to Toronto.

Alex landed in Pickering and just looked around at his native country. He sadly saw that from his perspective it was not much different from any other airport, except that the tall buildings were in only one direction and far away. The plane was being towed into one of the company hangars to be serviced. A fairly modern Cessna stood ready to make the trip north, but the scenery would be different from two miles up. The Mercedes was parked to one side, and he called for it to be readied. While he waited, he brought forth a private number from his prodigious memory. The phone rang and an authoritative voice answered simply with, "Hello."

"Hello, Jim. This is Alex Kramer. How are you doing?"

"Just great. How about you?"

"I'm not showing my years yet. Did you get the latest proposal?"

"Yes, we did. I like this idea of yours. Has any of the schedule changed?"

"No, everything is set up for Saturday. You have any problems with that?"

"No that's fine. I will be there. I may have to bring a few others. You know how much they like to be in the papers."

When the car was ready, Alex drove north. Some building was going on, but then again, it was always booming around Toronto and its northern gateway.

Alex Kramer eventually pulled into the long, secluded driveway just east of North Bay. The property had been in the family for years, but the building and grounds had seen steady improvement as money and time became available. The drive itself was of interlocking brick that heaved each year because of the frost in this northern Ontario community. The roadway appeared to be narrow due to the tall cedar trees planted close to the boundary. As they matured, they made the boulevard smaller each year.

The house belonged to Alex, but he shared it with his family. This was a win-win situation. The house was watched and actually made use of, while Aron and his family had a great place to live at no expense to them.

The ten-year-old house was sprawling and looked in many ways like a castle it emulated. The original home that had once stood here had been photographed and a new and much larger home placed in the same position. The funds the project required came from selling a small but profitable electronics corporation. The patents the company owned would soon lapse, and competition would make the business less profitable. From the photographs, rooms were faithfully reproduced along with many of the other amenities. The rooms looked the same they did over fifty some years ago when he was first adopted into the Lowca family.

Alex's parents had died in a tragic fire in the local Polish church. They had been cleaning up after a Sunday breakfast. The dated oil furnace had caught fire and spread very quickly through the old, wooden structure, before they and the other occupants could get out. The fire had not only killed his parents, but also three others, including the priest.

The Lowca family were good people and took the lonely boy into their lives. Roch took over the job as foster mother without compelling him to change his last name. The woman was five foot six and had long, dark brown hair. When the tragedy occurred, she was a very handsome woman of just 33. Over the years her waistline bulged a bit and age took its final toll, as it did to everyone. The doctor had previously told her that she could not have more children. Her original two would have to do. This was one of the reasons she so eagerly took Alex in.

The father's name was Jozef. He was almost six feet tall and had strong arms from his work in the mines. His good-natured voice could be heard throughout the house as he talked. The man had a pleasant disposition, and he seemed to love all of his family, even the newest one. The only time a problem arose was when Joseph would bring out the potent Polish home-brew from the cellar and drink with friends. At that time the children learned that it was better to be elsewhere. He would not mean to be abusive, but that seemed to be the usual case if too much alcohol was consumed. The next day he would pretend that nothing happened.

Both adults smoked like chimneys. They were not different from any others in the community or in Canada for that matter.

The Lowcas had a daughter named Helena, or Helen, as she liked to be called. She was two and a half years older than Alex, and looked much like her mother did. They seemed to make a good team, and both girls had similar designs on the young boy. Helen was able to bring Alex out of his shell with her charm and personality. He found her not only bright, but she also had some of his interests.

The son, Aron was five years younger than the newest member of the family. Aron seemed to take after his father and had the same boisterous attitude, but he had a heart of gold and never showed a sign of the meanness that his father had when drinking. Aron was the younger child, and as such Roch was always there to protect him. This wasn't bad for Aron, but at his age it made him feel that he had no freedom like the older kids at school had. He complained that Roch treated him like a baby. This was something he had a problem with, and Alex was the one to treat him more like an adult. When Alex integrated into the family, Aron thought that his new brother caused the sun to shine. After all, Alex was smart and had been a hero of his for a long time. Now, best of all, Alex was to be his big brother. Alex was someone who would listen and treat him as a big person.

The family home also sheltered Roch's parents after their new home had been destroyed in the same fire that destroyed the church. Grandma and grandpa had sold the farm to Jozef and Roch, and they had moved into town three years earlier and gone into semi-retirement. After the fire, Jozef and Roch asked them to move back to the farm to give them some help in the form of light work. This gave the grandparents more contact with the younger members of the family. They had always helped on the family farm, and after the fire they had just decided to move back to be closer. The children worshipped the grandparents, and the feeling was returned. The home soon had an extension built, so that everyone would have some room to move.

The new grandfather was named Edward. Alex could see a bit of reticence at showing how he felt about the newest member of the family. This eventually changed, but it took quite a while. Old Polish men seemed to be this way.

The grandmother's name was Trina. She was short and very protective of all her grandchildren. She also had the patience to talk for hours with the very intelligent boy.

Alex came out of his reverie and pulling up to the front of the imposing stone structure, Alex opened the door to his Mercedes and stepped out. It had been a long trip from Toronto, and for the fifth time he kicked himself for not flying the Cessna to the local airport, instead. He got to see the sights at ground level, but had to put up with the traffic. He did not make it home very often, and he enjoyed the sights on the road trip. He reached into the back to get his jacket and a shopping bag containing different varieties of cheese that he bought just off highway 400.

Two children came out of the large front doors. The boy, Jan, was six, and his sister, Rose, was just five. They ran down the four wide stone steps and rushed the old man getting out of the car. "Uncle Alex, Uncle Alex," was heard from both exuberant children. They each took a side and hugged the man's legs to them.

Inside the home, Aron came forward and hugged his only brother with a fierce energy. His young wife, Joyce, came from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron before doing the same thing.

An hour later, over the meal, everybody had a chance to catch up on what was happening within the family. John, 32, Alex's only son, was still in the mathematics department of the University of Toronto. At present, he was off at a conference in Oxford, or he would have been here with his own family. Gloria, his other child, was in Los Angles, running the American corporations as chief executive officer. This included two more aerospace corporations and a specialized chip manufacturing operation taking advantage of the exacting specifications the American military demanded. Their components usually went into guidance controls to facilitate encrypted communications. The 34-year-old woman was just now starting her family, but was eminently capable of taking care of this portion of the Kramer Empire.

His wife Sarah had divorced him. This was due to his long absences from home and her feelings to be liberated. Sarah had remarried ten years ago and was presently living in North Dakota with her new husband. Their large ranch had almost ten thousand specially bred sheep.

Aron asked, "What are your plans? We haven't seen you for months."

"Just unwind for a while. We finished negotiating a good contract with the American military, and as usual they wanted things changed after the price was completed. They wanted us to do all the extra research for no additional compensation. If this project works out like I hope, then the British and probably NATO will want in on the deal too."

Joyce asked, "Did you hear anything about John? He seems to be keeping more to himself after starting a family."

"I talked to him on the phone recently. I don't think he is getting standoffish; it is more like they are loading him up with more work. I was the same way, if you remember, when I was his age. I just hope his marriage is stronger than his mother's and mine was."

After dinner Alex played with the children. They were a handful, but the interaction was good. At least the television was not turned on. He kept a professional eye on them for any and all physical problems. Guilt still plagued him, even after all these years.

The influential people in the 50's had seen Alex's bright, inquisitive mind early and got the school board to allow him to skip a grade. Two years later, they had to do the same thing again. His IQ was very high, and coupled with a photographic memory it was good enough to ensure that schoolwork was easy.

After entering high school, he had to work hard to develop his body to protect himself from envious bullies. This led to a more social attitude and even organized sports. His new strength and agility gave him a respectable number of awards, but he was not the jock that others were.

He had strong feelings of what was right and wrong, and that had sometimes caused him to run afoul of both adults and his peers. This not only got the seat of his pants dusted, but also a few bruises and scrapes. Some of his peers thought a lot of him and would back him up if he wanted. Girls of all ages seemed to find the skinny, bright boy attractive.

In the 50's, Helen was unexpectedly taken from him. A simple infection had been allowed to progress to a point where current antibiotics were not able to help. After her death, he realized how important the girl had been to him. He began to shun all social contacts. He again withdrew very deeply into himself and his new extracurricular studies.

He voraciously ate up any and all medical texts. Doctor Smiles had been one of the many people to assist him in school, and had also spent his time in tutoring the boy in what aspects of medicine he was not sure of. The boy developed a full-blown guilt complex, which drove him to find the answers he needed, even if it was far too late to help. Though he previously had wanted to become an engineer, the tragic death of his foster sister compelled him to go into medicine. The self-reproach at not being able to help the sister he loved so much had never left him.

His heart were not in school activities any more, but he drove himself to learn all he could, so he could one day be the doctor who could save another girl like his foster sister.

Alex turned out to be the youngest person ever to graduate from the University of Toronto and become a medical doctor. Even with the sceptical and dubious administration in a very conservative Canadian institution, he became a very competent GP.

It took only three years after finishing his internship to find out that being a physician was not his dream any more. He was very good at his chosen profession, but he knew now that this not what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Helping people piecemeal was not the same as helping a lot of people at one time: new drugs for a sick world, or improved grain yields to feed the multibillion population coming in the next century. Raw materials would be needed, and the hungry first world nations were gobbling up a lion's share, leaving little for future generations. Electronics seemed to be the wave of the future where the masses could learn from the television media.

He went back to the university and majored in two courses. Engineering was his first choice and lead to a degree in electronics. The other major was in physics, and this area helped him develop many of his companies and garner all his wealth.

Alex woke up the next morning at six and felt refreshed. He did not get to sleep in his own bed very much. This only happened a few dozen times a year. Aron and Joyce managed one of his local companies and lived in the house. This made the house a home and gave these members of his family a way to save money while watching the property.

At breakfast he took on his doctor persona and asked into the health of the two children. The parents knew what was happening, and why. They assured the kindly man that the children had more tests done on them that any other children they knew of.

The adults, too, were questioned, and Alex was quick to spot any falsehood. Joyce was still young at 39, while Aron was 61 and almost as old as Alex. Aron had devoted his life to running some of the businesses Alex owned. His first wife had proved to be barren. This put a small cloud over their union, but they stayed with it until the woman passed away in a car accident in Toronto eight years ago. It was only recently that he decided to try leaving a legacy to his family, even if he was getting on in years.

The children soon were on their way to school, and Alex went downstairs to the large, modern gym. He started slow. It was foolish to do otherwise. The only exercise he got recently was in a bed. It was satisfying, but not as strenuous as it needed to be to keep him healthy. An hour and a half later he started a shower and tried to work out the pain that the exercise produced.

The rest of the morning he visited old friends, but sadly most had passed on, and now the children were thinking of their retirement. Alex gave his advice, and most followed this to the letter. It was not often that a man who was worth billions of dollars would sit at their kitchen table and talk over old times.

That afternoon he bought some supplies and drove back to the house to make supper. It was nice to cook for somebody, other than himself. There was no need for a recipe book, for many had already been memorized years before. This time he prepared a meal from his own favourites. The children had preferences, and the meal had to partially revolve around their likes and dislikes.

Chapter 2 »