Chapter 7

Upon landing after our flight from Manila, our first order of business after leaving the airport was to shower and change clothes.

Sun and Jun had reported by phone from the Philippines. The consensus among the ladies of Gemini was that China would write them off now and leave them alone. Had they killed Huang, the People's Republic might have been incensed enough to keep coming after them. Having destroyed his secret weapon, and demonstrated that they could get to him easily, however, Sun and Jun, and Mei and Wei felt that his government would cut its losses and leave them alone. Also, leaving him alive when, clearly, they could have killed him, made it hard for Huang to make a case for their being out of control.

Sun and Jun drove up in a company SUV as I emerged from my front door. I climbed into the the back seat only to be greeted by a recovered Mei and an excited Wei.

My mind-mates had obviously filled them in on our new relationship.

"We are very pleased to meet you, Darren!" Mei said, extending a delicate-looking hand. I had, of course, known that the other twins were with Sun and Jun, but the warmth and excitement of their greeting surprised me a little. Mei, I noticed, now had a few scars of her own. Like Jun, she wore them proudly, having taken them in the performance of her duty.

I touched the scars respectfully. "I'm glad that you are well, Mei. It is an honor to finally meet you and your sister Wei."

It had become my habit during our trek across China to 'taste' the energy of people we met along the way. I had come to rely on this practice more and more as a way of knowing what kind of person I was dealing with. As my fingers traced Mei's scars, my chi casually reached out to hers, touched, and just like that, we were five.

With a shock like falling into icy water, Sun, Jun, Mei, Wei, and I simultaneously realized what I had done! A huge silence fell over our thoughts as the import of this hit us all at once, like the hole left in the ocean when a boulder falls from a cliff. Then, like the ocean rushing to fill the void, a cacophony of thought exploded in our shared consciousness!

Realizing the futility of trying to break in on that torrent of thought and emotion, I sort of pulled myself aside and 'watched.' I had never actually tried to disengage from my bond with Sun and Jun, but, as an experiment, I tried it now - with no result. The bond, it seemed, once formed, was permanent. Now what we had to do was figure out what to do with it.

The pairs of twins, having lived their lives in mental contact with each other, but having this intimate contact with only one other person, had felt somewhat isolated from the world. As a result, all four were ecstatic at now having the same bond with, not only the other sisters, but a whole new person - one that none of them had 'known' before a couple of months ago!

Sun and Jun were only too happy to welcome Mei and Wei into our little menage a cinq, and the feeling, apparently, was mutual. I was slightly less enthusiastic, being newer to this kind of joining, and like most people, a bit wary of change.

We must have sat there in Gemini Security's SUV for fifteen or twenty minutes while Sun and Jun shared with the other two girls their experience with me as a trio. (Yes, even the sex.) Mei and Wei, like the other two, lived and breathed security, especially security of their employer, and the possibilities of this five way, automatic, instantaneous communication network that gave immediate access to the thoughts and senses of all were as exciting to them as the sex. They didn't forget about the sex, though, and many times during that 'getting acquainted' period, I felt their lustful thoughts turning in my direction.

Sun and Jun had no possessive feelings toward me, at least where the other two were concerned, and were more than willing to share, so the idea began to grow on me as well - until the question of what to do about their current employer came up. This lead me also to thoughts of Talibah. That kind of put a damper on things. All four girls felt real affection for Steve Hastings, over and above their conditioned loyalty, and somewhere between Germany and Austria, a lifetime ago, something had begun growing between Talibah and I.

It was pretty clear that these problems didn't have easy solutions and would have to work themselves out over time.

Finally, Sun, behind the wheel, started the vehicle and pulled out of my driveway. Mei and Wei brought us up to speed on what had happened since we had gone to China.

Talibah was recovering from her wound, convalescing in the guest house of Steve Hastings' estate where her mother nursed her back to health, once she was released from the Hospital.

Frank McKenzie, the CIA agent we had questioned in Frankfurt, had decided to take the ladies up on their offer and had gone to work for Gemini Security. Since he was fluent in Farsi, he had been assigned to the detail guarding Talibah and Ifra. Their status was pretty uncertain. On the one hand they had both helped us in their own way, but it was difficult to make a case with the State Department for permanent residency for a former Al-Qaeda operative, especially one who refused to give up her former comrades.

I was impressed with the guards on duty at Hastings' estate. Even though they clearly recognized the girls, they did a thorough job of checking badges, going through a coded exchange of pleasantries, and quizzing the girls about me and my purpose for being there. During the exchange, had the girls been under some sort of duress, they would have answered with a particular phrase that would have tipped the guards to their condition. All four were mentally critiquing the guards' performance, even as their pride swelled at the professionalism their employees showed.

Steve Hastings, far from being the potbellied, soft shelled businessman that one might expect, was lean and trim. The girls were proud of the way he had taken to their training, as well. He too engaged the girls in a coded exchange, just in case the guards had missed something.

"So, these young ladies tell me you may be joining Gemini Security." Hastings said, taking my hand in a firm grip as he greeted us at the doorway to his home. Despite the impeccable tailoring of his suit, I could just make out the bulge of a weapon under his right arm. This puzzled me at first, since he was clearly right handed. All four girls harmonized on the explanation of how they had trained him to draw with his off-hand to put attackers off guard. This would also allow him to draw his weapon even when shaking hands. Their side thoughts filled in the details on how he could now shoot accurately with either hand.

"Actually," I replied, returning his grip without trying to make a contest of it, "We haven't discussed it in any detail, but I'm leaning more toward a merger. My business and theirs could each benefit from the special skills we bring to the table, but neither requires all of us, all of the time."

The girls, being centered around the security business, hadn't considered expanding into my area of expertise, but I could see that the prospect intrigued them. I could see also, in Mei/Wei's thoughts, that Hastings knew about my connection with Sun/Jun, but he could not, as yet, know that the other two had been dragged into our web. Since Mei/Wei felt it their duty to tell him, I kept my mouth shut, but cautioned them that they needed to do it before I spoke with Talibah, who, as far as anyone knew, was not in the loop at all.

Steve's lovely wife Judy joined us from a doorway off the foyer, accompanied by a bright-eyed, dark haired young lady of maybe twelve. I had touched Hastings' chi and found it strong and forthright. His wife's, though softer, had a tempered steel core. She was as honest as a woman constrained to live in modern society can be - accepting the little subterfuges of makeup and such as mildly irritating necessities while doing her best to prove that her beauty came from inside, not from the chemicals or clothing she wore. I was a little jealous of her husband.

I turned to greet the younger Hastings, and as I reached out with my hand and my chi, the girls pulled me back, mentally.

'This is Steve and Wei's daughter, Stephanie' Mei cautioned, 'We have suspected, for some time, that she could eavesdrop on our connection. If that's so, it seems to be intermittent, but with you in the mix, that might change. Let's not take a chance of bringing her permanently into this bond just yet. We have been open with her about sex, but so far she has not participated. If she is present mentally and emotionally while we have sex, though, we may not be able to suppress the urges she picks up from us."

This entire 'speech' occurred as my hand was reaching to take Stephanie's, so I held my chi in check and merely shook her hand. Her almond eyes seemed to peer into my soul. Apparently, they liked what they saw, because she tiptoed and gave me a peck on the cheek, saying, "I'm so glad that Aunt Sun and Aunt Jun have someone else to be in their heads with them. I think they were lonely before."

"They will never be lonely again, Ms. Hastings," I promised, drawing a giggle over the formality of my address.

"I only wish you could do the same thing for my Mom and..." she broke off and I turned to see what my mind had already picked up. Wei, with a subtle change of expression, was signalling 'don't go there.'

Stephanie's eyes went wide, and I could see that she had instantly realized the reason for Wei's warning. She glanced at each of us, the smile growing on her face. When her gaze turned to her Father, the smile had disappeared as if by magic. THIS was one smart cookie!

"When are you going to tell him?" she whispered so that only Wei and I could hear.

"Soon," her mother answered.

Stephanie scampered off to do whatever exceptionally intelligent twelve year old's do when their fathers have more money than they'll ever spend and their mothers can kill you without breaking a sweat. My guess was that the class of Stephanie's peers was exceedingly small.

"Come into the sitting room," Judy invited. "There's someone here you'll want to see."

My chi had already told us that there were two women there, and I was not surprised to see Talibah and her mother.

Talibah looked a little pale and thinner than she had been in Germany, but seemed to be recovering well. She stood as I came in and greeted me with tears in her eyes.

"I was so afraid you had been killed!" she said as she hugged me.

Her concern, and relief at my well-being were genuine, and she was holding something back, but I would have to wait to find out what it was. Talibah introduced me to her mother, who, for maybe the first time in her life, having had enough to eat for the last two months, did not look as old as I had pictured her. Indeed, the memory in Mei's mind of how she looked in Afghanistan was a far cry from the woman before me.

"Ifra," I said in Farsi, taking her hand and making a show of kissing the back of it. "I see now why Talibah is so beautiful."

Ifra sniffed and tossed her head at my foolishness, but didn't take her hand away, and I could swear she turned a couple of shades darker.

"I owe your daughter my life," I said seriously. "And I'm told that Mei owes hers to you, so if there is anything that either of you need..."

In my mind's eye, I saw the ladies of Gemini taking Steve and his wife aside, and, while telling the story of our trip to China at Talibah's insistence, 'listened' in on the conversation as they told him of our new relationship. It was odd how this sort of mental separation had become second nature to me, but during our trek across the People's Republic, it had been necessary for all of us. Sun and Jun taught me how they managed, and with practice, I got pretty good at it.

Hastings, thankfully, was not the jealous type. He and Judy had a healthy sex life of their own. While neither was inclined to bring a stranger into their bed, both could see the advantages for the twins in having the five way link. At the same time, they understood how passion communicated directly, mind-to-mind, would be difficult to ignore. That was okay with me. I had no desire to join them in their bed, and as long as they weren't going to be possessive, the girls thought it would be nice to have more choices in their sex lives.

"But you said there were seven of those men," Ifra interjected as my story progressed. "How were you able to defeat them all?"

"I have had a great deal of training in martial arts, both in the Military, and with Sun and Jun," I answered, unwilling, as yet to bring up my link with the ladies. "In the close quarters of the room, it was easy to use my hands and feet to strike them, but difficult for them to bring their rifles into position to fire."

I was speaking in Farsi for their benefit, while following the other conversation and tracking the movements of another body that was entering the room.

"You can believe him, Ifra." Frank Mckenzie said, also in Farsi. "I know from experience that he's good with his hands!"