Chapter 17

"So how am I supposed to address a Wizard?" Angelina asked with a bit of apprehension.

"I imagine you would address him just as you have been addressing me," Dale replied.

"But that was before I knew you were a Wizard. Now that I know, isn't it a bit disrespectful to not use some formal title or something?" she questioned.

"Look at it this way: I'm still Dale to you Angelina, and if I wanted just anyone to know that I am a wizard or mage or whatever other name defines my capabilities, I suppose that I'd go by some grandiose title that would tell them; but I don't want everyone to know. Though there are few, I do have some enemies out there I am sure and it doesn't make sense to tip my hand in advance.

On the other hand there is my growing family, I want them to know me well and my magic is a part of me. Those I love and care deeply for have my affection, my protection, and my wealth. I asked you to become a part of my life, and while I wouldn't force someone I love to be with me, I also don't want to be forced to hide who and what I am from my family. I'm hoping you will accept me the way I am and even come to enjoy and benefit from my magic," Dale said as he smiled warmly at the two women.

Angelina was thinking silently to herself; but her eyes were focused on Dale's and in them she saw the same warmth, love, and acceptance that had been there the whole time she had known him. Of course she also saw the humor, mischief, and fun that made him lively and exciting to be around. She thought about how enjoyable her day to day existence in a family that accepts her and spends time doing things with her had become and then she voiced the main thought that seemingly kept repeating itself in her mind: "How could I do anything but accept the man I love."

Lizzy looked at both of them and said "Ditto for me to."

"Well I love my Angel and my Little Darling to!" Dale told them both with strong tones of affection in his voice.

"I don't mean to interrupt what appears to be a special moment; but I think we are about to have company Master," Fang announced. "With your permission Sir, I'd like to go hide in the woods."

"Go. Not too far away though Fang," Dale told him.

"Who is it Fang?" Dale queried as the great wolf ran for the cover of the trees.

"Vyagar said that Melody and John were headed this way Dale."

"Oh, Thanks."

"I'd appreciate it if both of you could keep this our little secret for now. I'll be telling everyone soon enough; but if it hadn't been for Fang, both of you would have thought that I was nuts. This is one of those 'timing is everything' situations," Dale informed them.

"Don't worry about me Sir! I'm not to keen on trying to break the news on this one anyway," Angelina replied as Lizzy nodded in agreement.

The pickup rounded the last turn and pulled into the clearing. Melody seemed very happy and pleased about something. She had her door opened and was stepping out of the truck almost before John was able to bring it to a stop. She ran over to where the trio of runners was standing and stood on tip toe to give Dale a kiss on the cheek. Then her words began to spill out quite quickly due to her excitement, "The plans and drawings for the two new buildings and the modifications to the house are here and have already been checked for structural integrity and compliance with all local ordinances. I can't wait to show them to you."

"I hope you enjoyed your run Sir," John said as he reached them. "Melody was very excited after the Fed Ex truck made its deliveries this morning. She didn't want to drive the truck down the dirt track to find you so she shanghaied me into it."

Dale looked at the excited woman who was seemingly ready to burst with held in excitement, "I'm guessing you want us to go back to the house right away Melody."

"It shows pretty bad doesn't it?" Melody asked looking at the others.

"Like a neon sign babe!" Angelina told her.

"Well we're ready to go; but later today I have some news to share with all of my family as well," Dale replied as he aimed a wink at Angelina and Lizzy.

"Now you've got me curious," Melody stated.

"Fair is fair," Angelina said, "you get your show and tell time and then he gets his."

"Oh boy! Duh, I always liked show and tell," John said in his best idiot voice while hopping up and down with pretend excitement.

Melody just slugged him and said, "Just for that, you can ride back by yourself John. I'm going to ride with them."

At this John hung his head and began whimpering like a whipped puppy dog. Much to his surprise an answering note came from quite close by: the howl of a wolf!

"That sounds pretty close!" Melody exclaimed in panic.

"I have spotted a wolf or two nearby from time to time; but I doubt they would hurt you," Dale told her. "I think that was probably just a critique on John's attempted canine impersonation."

The nearness of the wolf caused Melody to forget her threat to make John ride back alone. John and Melody hustled to get into the truck while Dale, Angelina, and Lizzy headed for the hummer at a more leisurely pace.

"Dale, can we have a barbecue for dinner tonight?" Lizzy asked.

"Sure, that sounds like fun. I'd like to invite a few friends over as well," Dale replied.

Lizzy frowned just a bit and asked, "Does that me I'll have to stay dressed all evening?"

"Not at all, I'm quite sure my guests will feel right at home with our dress code Little Darling."

"Don't you mean Little Darling with the big titties?" Angelina said to tease Lizzy a bit.

"No bigger than yours! You milk cow you!" Lizzy shot back.

"If you are both fishing for compliments you have caught some," Dale said. "I think you both have lovely titties!"

When they arrived back at the house they found that Louisa had come down from the second story loft she was using for her artist's studio and prepared a large pitcher of lemonade with sliced limes for everyone. She and Tina had cleared off the large table in the dining room and inserted the extra leaves correctly anticipating that Melody would need the space to spread things out.

Melody had done a marvelous job as had John. The two were really quite good at their respective trades and it clearly showed. John and Melody had thrown themselves into this project in a special way since they were talking about their new home and not just another money project.

The sketches of the proposed pool building's interior showed a lush tropical theme in both architecture and interior plantings, while the exterior used several of the same types of stone that the main house did to give the two buildings a sense of unity. The upper story of the large building was split into suites of living quarters, a recreation room, and several multi-purpose rooms that could be used as classrooms when necessary.

The second building was to serve an equally large number of purposes. It featured two basements largely devoted to underground parking. The upper two levels were to be utilized for office space, Louisa's studio, a health club, complete with a gymnasium and racquetball court, and a large childcare suite where small children could enjoy themselves and be looked after while other family members were busy with work, working out, or were playing themselves.

Both of the buildings were quite a bit larger than the main house and Melody had been careful to situate them on the mesa in such a way that they would compliment the main house and not overwhelm it or block any of the more spectacular views it offered. In addition she had engaged the talents of a landscape designer to develop a landscape that would serve to soften the impact of the large buildings.

Something that was important to Dale had been carefully guarded by Melody in all of her efforts: the beautiful home that Ezra had designed himself must not be overshadowed by the new buildings; instead it should be complimented by them. Looking at the sketches, Dale realized that she had taken great care to project the character of his Uncle's design onto the exterior of the other two buildings. When he asked her how it was possible to have the high sixteen foot ceilings on the first floor of both buildings without making them any higher than the house, he learned a bit more about the house his Uncle had built. Ezra had utilized twelve foot ceilings on the first floor and ten foot ceilings on the second giving the whole place a very roomy and spacious feeling. The additional height of the attic observatory made the octagonal center of the home quite tall. In addition the two proposed buildings would have their first floors sunk down about three feet below ground level and since they had no attic, this would place the top of their roofs even with that of the house.

"This is very impressive Melody and you too John! I can see that this has been thought out to the nth degree. Thank you so much for your hard work!" Dale praised the two.

"Yes! It's very beautiful!" Louisa added.

As Melody saw the other women looking excitedly and approvingly at the designs, sketches, and notes, the tension she had been feeling was replaced with a deep sense of satisfaction. John and Brittany both came up and hugged her. "Good show little sister!" Brittany whispered with affection.

After he had thoroughly reviewed their work and observed that the other members of his family were still quite engaged in doing so, Dale excused himself and retired to his Den where he called Rob Matthews. "Hi Rob! This is Dale Young. How are you and your family doing Rob?"

"Quite well Sir. To what do I owe the honor of this call?" Rob replied seeming genuinely pleased to hear from Dale.

"I was wondering if you, Georgette, Pamela, and Jason would care to be my guests this evening for a cookout. I realize that this is very short notice; however, with it being summer and the kids out of school, I was hoping that it might be enough notice. How about it Rob, can you make it?" Dale inquired.

"I'm sure that everyone will be delighted Sir! What time would you like us there?" Rob replied in response.

Dale made his plans with Rob and then returned to his excited family in the dining room. Nodding to Melody and John, Dale said "You've been working quite hard and your excellent work calls for a bit of a celebration. Lizzy and Angelina have proposed that we have another barbeque tonight. I'd like to have it down by the lakeside again. Do we have everything we need to feed this crew and about another six or seven as well? Or, do we need to head to the store?"

Instead of an immediate answer, the women swarmed to the kitchen to check the refrigerator and the pantry. Lizzy and Tina broke off from the rest of the group and checked the large chest freezer in the garage to see what meat cuts were stored there. While the women were checking on the food, John checked the grill to see if he needed more fuel.

"Vyagar, with your probes you must be seeing this. They seem to move like a well oiled machine. Everyone has immediately assumed tasks that are necessary with no arguing, or bickering, and only minimal discussion. How is this possible?" Dale inquired.

"I'll have to look into it more Dale; but yes, I have been noticing it and the effect seems to have increased a bit over the last few weeks since they have mostly all been in your physical presence. Though only a theory at this point, I'm guessing that it may be an extended effect of your pheromones and aura," Vyagar postulated.

"Please let me know what you discover. As you are probably aware from the episode down at the lake with Angelina and Lizzy, I'm getting ready to introduce the whole family to the concept of my 'magic'. I haven't been able to come up with any problems with this approach, or any better idea that would allow me to integrate the Hyranthi technology into my life. Have you any better plan?" Dale queried the highly intelligent AI.

"None that would be any better than yours is Dale. I believe that your plan has quite a bit of merit, especially since I have followed up on some of the intelligence agencies that you were concerned about. Using the cover of magic and the dual 'wizard' identity allows your family to enjoy the benefits and use of the technology without actually needing to understand any of it. The concept of a Wizard wanting to protect his identity should serve to stop them from letting anything slip. With your permission I would like to offer the protection of a cloaked probe to each of your family members," Vyagar replied.

"As long as that's feasible I think that it's probably a good idea. I'd like to use some special effects to cover up the actual technology, somewhat like you did in the dungeon setting. I'll come visit you for a while when the others are making their run to the store and we can refine our plans," Dale told him.

There was a happy buzz of activity as everyone made preparations for the barbeque. In fact there were quite a few things they needed to get and so the truck and the Hummer were pressed into service as John and the women headed off to do some shopping. As promised, Dale made a visit to Vyagar and Fang.

As the shimmering blue light of the transporter faded, Dale found himself inside the spaceship. "Hello Dale. It's good to see you again," Vyagar said.

"Likewise my friend," Dale replied.

"You mentioned using some special effects to cover up the use of the Hyranthi technology and I've pulled a few things together that I believe might be of use to you," Vyagar told him. "Would you care to see them now?"

"Yes please."

Vyagar showed him what looked like a large free standing archway. Looking more closely, Dale saw that the opening of the archway was filled completely by a mirror.

"I'm assuming that this is not just a mirror. What's it for?" Dale asked.

"I thought we could use it to cover up the transporter effect. I've made a few adjustments to the beam so that the shimmering you've observed would no longer be visible to the human eye," Vyagar began and then delved into a lengthy explanation of the science behind the device. At the end of his dialogue he summed things up. "Basically it would appear to any observer that you've walked into the mirror. Our satellite based transporter network can deposit you anywhere you would like; however, I would suggest placing some form of these mirrors in any location you might frequently visit. If you would like, we could plant a small crystal in each of your family members that would enable them to use the transporter via the mirrors once you show them how and setup any rules or pass phrases that you'd like them to utilize. The crystals could also be utilized to monitor their health and to get an exact transporter lock in the event that they need to be removed from a dangerous situation."

"That sounds like a good plan. Do you have any other ideas?" Dale asked his curiosity thoroughly peaked.

"Only two more that I think is ready for use. I've noted that in many of the stories about magic that have been told down through the ages, a wand is often used. Even in some of the more recent movies wands have been utilized. I've created one for you to use as a prop," Vyagar said as he gestured to a long and slender wand on a nearby table. It appeared to be made of some fairly dark substance that didn't reflect much light. Next to it was what looked like a folded black sheet that Vyager pointed to next. "In addition, this cloth can be used to make almost anything disappear. Basically I will just transport whatever you cover with it to one of the storerooms here in the spaceship; however to any observer it will appear to have vanished without a trace."