Chapter 24

John didn’t really get even a moment to reflect on what Paulie had said, because he had two women trying to talk to him at once. All they were managing, was to talk over one another, which made it impossible for John to make out anything.

As if on cue, they both stopped and looked at one another. It was Sandra that made a gesture for Julie to go ahead.

“John, I’m sorry about coming to you with this. I didn’t realize that you had other more pressing things to deal with, but I really had no one else to turn to. Brian being missing seems insignificant compared to what you are dealing with.”

“Don’t worry about it Julie, I brought you all up here, and therefore I feel responsible for you. I will see what I can do to find Brian. Once I find him, I will do everything in my power to bring him back. I won’t force him, but I will tell him of the things he has left behind.”

With this, he smiled at Julie, letting her know that he was going to remind Brian about her and the baby.

There was a definite look of relief on her face. Sandra, on the other hand looked like she was going to rupture herself if she didn’t get a chance to speak soon. So John nodded in her direction.

“John, you can’t possibly be entertaining the idea of allowing an unknown alien race anywhere near Earth. There is absolutely no way you can know their intentions. They could be coming here for a new source of food, for all you know.”

Sandra had never struck John as a xenophobe, so this sudden aversion to an alien presence was a revelation. It was something that would have to be watched. Her interactions with Kiri had never been strained or forced. The only thing that he could think of was the sheer size of the newcomers ship. Perhaps it had to do with them not being humanoid. It was enough to give him pause, but he trusted Paulie. Why, exactly, he wasn’t sure; but he did.

“Sandra, I don’t know what I’m going to do about the new ship. Before any decision is made I will have a meeting of the group I consider my advisers, and I will see what their opinions are. I trust Paulie’s assessment, but that doesn’t mean I will offer an open-ended invitation to the newcomers, either. They will also need to be aware of the approaching Hruth. So at the moment, I’m not ready to make any kind of decision.”

This didn’t seem to pacify her, but if she had any further comments to make, she kept them to herself. John had to wonder if she was saving them for the meeting. Honestly, John knew he had too many other things on his plate right now. Sandra’s worries about the Ketosi were the least of them. If her fears couldn’t be allayed in the upcoming meeting, well she would have to learn how to deal with it.

Sam chose that moment to break in. and let him know that she had the signal from Brian’s implant isolated. She told him that Brian wasn’t far away from the point where they had first met the family. That really had his curiosity stirred up, but he held his face passive.

John was able to push away his desire to immediately go to where Brian was. Instead he focused on the two ladies and passed some small talk. Both women seemed to be much calmer by the time they left. John used his implant to let his wives know about the delay, and that he was going to check on Brian before he came home. He felt a wave of love and support coming from his wives.

John had a feeling of foreboding when it came to his meeting with Brian. It was nothing concrete, just one of those feelings you get in the pit of your stomach. It was one of those things he knew better than to ignore.

John put all the notations he had left for Martha on the top of the desk, including the request for her to set a time for him to meet with his advisers. With Ray it would have to be more like video conferencing. Damn the time lag was going to be a royal pain in the ass.

Although John walked purposely to the Valkyrie, that didn’t mean that he ignored anyone. He stopped several times along the way to pass a moment or two with people who wanted to share more than a simple hello. When he finally got to the docking bay, he sent a video message to Ray while Sam handled permission to launch.

Getting a flight control set up was something he was proud of, even if it was a pain sometimes. There was simply too much traffic coming and going now. To take any chances with accidents was asinine. Most of it was computerized, but each system had to be monitored by ... John stopped himself. He had almost said by a human. That was the first step down a path he didn’t want to follow.

Sam got the satellite repositioned for John. He claimed it was to verify where Brian was. Sam got the feeling from John’s actions, that there was more to it than that. She knew better than to press him on the matter. If he felt like sharing, he would.

If Sam didn’t know before that John was preoccupied, the flight down was very telling. He didn’t take the controls of the ship, instead opting for Sam to pilot them down. John at first sat, looking thoughtful. Then he stood and began pacing. A cup of Earl Gray would be all it would take for John to be as worried or as contemplative as he got. Sam had only finished that thought when John went to the replicator.

That was all it took for Sam to break her silence.

“John, I can see that something is bothering you. I’m sure your wives are feeling it as well. Is there anything that you would be willing to share?”

John sat back down, took a sip of tea, and sighed.

“Yes. Sam, something is bothering me. The problem is that there is nothing to base my unease on. Ever since I knew that I was going to be meeting with Brian ... It’s hard to explain. I suddenly felt like something bad was going to happen. So I considered not going to find him, but the feeling didn’t go away. Its as if whatever ‘it’ is has been set in motion, ‘it’ is going to happen, regardless of my actions now.”

When John became quiet she allowed him to remain so.

“Sam, I think Brian means to kill himself,” John blurted out, “and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to stop him.”

Sam didn’t have any words of comfort to offer John. Emotions were still fairly new to her. She did the only thing she could think of. She opened a channel to Kiri, Penny, and Mora, and sent them an audio/video clip starting from the time they had left the moon. She left the channel open, she didn’t know what else to do. For a moment she was sure she was sure she had felt something. It was input that was an awful lot like her own emotions, but they were very comforting. This was something new, but she was too focused on John’s needs to worry about the new sensations.

John did his best to give a smile, but only partially succeeded.

“Thanks, Sam, I needed that extra support. I know it was more than my wives feeling my upset that caused them to send that wave of emotional support.”

Sam said nothing, but felt stronger input than she had ever felt before coming from her processors. It was a very confusing type of input yet she maneuvered the ship through the atmosphere being careful not to leave a plasma trail that could be detected. When they were over the area where Brian was, she searched for a discrete landing spot. In the end, she landed beside the shuttle, even though it would mean John would have to walk a short distance.

The direction he would have to travel led John through a wooded area. It reminded him a lot of home, and of growing up in a rural area of Illinois. He himself had spent a lot of time in a wooded area not far from the farm, simply wiling away the hours. Doing everything and nothing, not being able to make an accounting of your day even if asked, yet knowing that you had enjoyed it immensely.

John came out of the wooded strip and found himself in a meadow like area. On a nearby rise he could make out the sitting form of Brian. Brian was facing away from the direction he was coming so John tried to be as quiet as he could, as he approached. He thought he was doing quite well.

Then he heard, “That’s close enough John.”

“How did you know it was me, Brian?”

“John, I knew it would be you who would come looking for me.”

As he said this he moved so he was facing John. Brian was sitting in a lotus position with something resting in his lap.

“John, you take your leadership responsibilities too seriously. You can’t save everyone, no matter how hard you try. I would bet that you do better than most, though. Still there are those who were lost, before you ever found them. And John, it is those people that you will not be able to save.”

John was worried. What Brian was saying sounded less like the rambling of a disturbed person, and more like a statement by a person who had already weighed all their options and chosen their path.

“The woods you passed through to get here,” Brian continued. “That is where I met Allen for the first time.”

Brian gave a half-laugh and continued.

“Those woods saw a lot of firsts. Most people would have looked at what Allen, and later the two of us did, as something sick, but Allen showed me the beauty of it, John. We didn’t cause them pain, we showed them love, the ultimate love. I didn’t understand at first. At first it was just my fascination with the things that Allen did to the animals that we would trap.

“You see, John, certain secrets cause a bond to form. Some bonds can never be broken. I didn’t understand that ‘till recently. Sorry, I was sharing my past and digressed, but parts of it you will need to know. You see, Allen showed me the beauty of what lies within us all. He started with small things, like bugs and mice. By the time his parents moved away we were capturing cats and dogs.”

Brian stopped and stared off into the distance. John considered taking advantage of Brian’s distraction, but Brian refocused on John.

“He showed me about love, you know. He showed me that pain was the only path to true love. He opened my eyes, and revealed that what my parents and sister gave me was only a shadow of real love. You see, during my personal introduction to pain, I thought I hated him. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to make him hurt the same way he was hurting me. Then it stopped. It stopped and he held me. He held me, and showed me a love I had never had before. A love I will never have again.”

John noticed that there were tears running down his face. So he took a step toward Brian in hopes of offering comfort. Brian picked the object that was setting in his lap and said, “Don’t move, John.”

“I don’t want to injure you. I know my sister loves you very much. To hurt you would be to cause her pain, the type of pain that does not lead to love. Please don’t make me do that.”

John didn’t know what the device was. Knowing Brian and his creative mind, it could be anything. He did the only thing he could. He stepped back to his original position.

“John, I know that your word is your bond. I need you to promise me a couple of things.”

John looked at Brian skeptically. He was afraid that agreeing to anything would bring this meeting to a close. Something he feared. The longer he kept Brian talking, well he thought his best chance at getting Brian to rethink his position was to keep him talking.

“John, you can agree, or not agree. You can stand there and remain silent. But believe me when I say that your actions in this matter affect nothing. Well, unless you attempt to approach closer than you already are.”

John’s shoulders slumped. His hand was being forced on this one, but he saw no other way to proceed than to agree to Brian’s request. Then again maybe he could draw it out a little longer.

“Brian, as you said, my word IS my bond. I cannot agree to something blindly. I have to know what it is that you want me to do, before I will agree with it.”

“Fair enough,” Brian said with the same tone of voice as someone bartering for a carpet at a flea market.

“John, in the shuttle is a modified log cube for my family. I would like for you to make sure they get it.”

“Come on, Brian,” John said thinking furiously trying to come up with a way to derail this, “don’t you think it would be better if you gave it to them yourself.”

“John, this is going to end. Today. I can see by looking in your eyes that you sense that, too. I can also see that you are trying to come up with a way of dissuading me. Let me ask you this, John. Can you bring Allen back? If you can bring Allen back, then I will stop this right now.”

John dropped his head slightly, though he didn’t take his eyes off of Brian hoping for that opening.

“You see, John, you can’t give me the one thing that would make me rethink my position. Therefore you have no bargaining chips. So again I will ask if you will see that the log cube gets to my family?”

John heaved a sigh, “Yes, Brian, I will see that your family gets the cube.”

John wasn’t certain, but he thought he saw a bit of relief on Brian’s face.

John winced when Penny’s voice screamed into his head, ‘John, you have to stop this, you can’t let him do this.’

‘Honey’, John sent back, ‘I’m doing what I can. If you can think of something else to try, I’m more than willing to try it.’

‘But he’s my bother!’

Brian looked intently at John.

“I take it my sister knows what’s going on. I bet you have a satellite overhead right now. Isn’t that what you did to Allen. Station a satellite over him to monitor his every movement?”

“Brian I don’t deny that after we talked, and I looked over the information on Allen. that I ordered a satellite to monitor him. In addition, Brian, there was a drone put on site when it was determined that Allen was working on an explosive device.”

Brian seemed surprised by the admission.

“What was the drone doing there, John?” Brian asked while eying John suspiciously.

“Does it really matter, Brian? Whatever its purpose may or may not have been, it only just got on site and had just begun monitoring, when Allen connected the power to the device and it exploded. Neither the satellite nor the drone were monitoring close enough to know if it was a spark, a faulty circuit, or a bad triggering mechanism. The end result was the death of your friend.”

“And you’re just now telling me this?”

“After I told you of your friends death, you didn’t seem to be interested in knowing more. I figured you went off to find your own answers. When you went missing, I was determined to tell you, before you had a chance to do anything foolish. I give you my word, that even though I was monitoring Allen, neither I nor anyone else under my command had anything to do with his death. It was an accident.”

Brian was thoughtful for several minutes and John hoped that Brian was really reconsidering.

“You know, John, I thank you for that. You really didn’t have to tell me, but it makes my next request much easier. You see, I want you to look after Julie for me. She thinks she loves me. I suppose in her pitiful inadequate way she does. But I have experienced true love and though I care about Julie a great deal, I have come to realize that I never really loved her. Not the way we could have loved one another, but she was too afraid to open herself up like that.

“I chose you because Julie respects you. She sees you as a role model. If she’s honest with herself, I think she even has feelings of lust toward you. I’m not telling you that to encourage you to take her. I just thought you ought to know. If you take her in, she may eventually look for a place in your bed.”

“Brian, have you forgotten that I already have three wives. It would be more up to them than to me, as to whether we take Julie in. Besides the person that should be there for her is the one she loves. The father of the child you both created.”

“Julie was a nice diversion, John. She will always be special to me. She and I shared many firsts. She was my first female lover, and she was the reason I stood up to Allen for the first time. You see, he wanted her. Oh, not for what you might think. He wanted her to be the first human subject that we showed our type of love to. The first we set free from the pain and suffering of this world. Yet I wouldn’t do it.

“He told me after that, three days later, he had bought a hooker who believed she would be taking his cherry. By the time he had snapped the wrist restraints on her it was too late. He described to me step by step what he had done and what it felt like. John, I wanted to be there, I wanted to feel what he felt. It was a month later before Allen and I actually lured someone else into our trap.

“I used to think there was something wrong with me. According to most people, I should have been feeling guilt about the things I was doing. But I didn’t, John, I didn’t. Does that make me a sociopath? I’m sure that if Allen or I had been caught, we would have been put away for life. We were too young to be tried as adults.

“You know, you didn’t answer my question John.”

After what Brian had just admitted to, John was caught off guard by the sudden change of directions. So he asked, “Which question?”

Brian chuckled and then said, “If you would take Julie in?”

The message from his wives was that they would, but that he really needed to stop this somehow. That last, of course, came from Penny. He felt the other two sharing his feelings of helplessness.

“John, whether you answer or not, I’m going to do this. I will rest easier if I know she and our child will be cared for.”

“Then,” John said with a sigh, “I will take her in and I will care for the two of them as long as they wish to stay with me.”

“Thank you,” said Brian and touched the thing in his lap.

The next thing John knew he was flying backward. Fortunately his personal shield held, and buffered the impact with the ground. John was still disoriented and confused. Finding Sam kneeling beside him didn’t help matters.

“Your wives and I were worried about you John. The satellite showed the flash and you being thrown clear, but we couldn’t contact you. Penny said she could touch your mind mentally, but that you were unconscious. I have done scans and your implant will have to be replaced. I’m not sure what kind of blast that was. It not only reduced Brian to molecular dust, but it fried your implant. If that wasn’t odd enough, the device itself still seems to be intact. My guess is that it is Brian’s final gift to us.”

John shook his head and tried to sit up. His head began to swim but he managed to stay in a sitting position.

He heard, faintly, in the back of his head,

‘John, my love! Are you okay?’

‘Penny? Is that you?’

‘It is all of us. Sam is there and has convinced us that you were alive, but we had to know ourselves that you were okay.’

‘I’m not sure about the okay part, but I’m alive. As soon as I can stand and walk, I’ll be on my way home to you.’

A few moments later John was fairly steady on his feet. He walked over to where Brian had been sitting. There was now a large hollow as though someone had scooped the earth away. Apparently the radius of the device was larger than Brian had calculated. It was the only explanation for him being thrown like he was.

Sam stopped John before he picked up the device. Instead she had a drone create a force field around it, and used anti-gravs to move it to the ship. It was going to take some study. Sam hoped that Brian had left some notes on its operation, somewhere. Perhaps in the shuttle?

Traveling in regular space was a group of Hruth ships that had separated themselves from The Main Body. The ships were neither the newest nor the oldest of the Body, but a compilation of every type that made up the Body. Not a single Hruth was there against their will. Every Hruth of consenting age had been given the opportunity to leave the ships before they separated from The Main Body. In the confusion after the announcement of Lord Mitz Hron, not only had many gotten off, but given the chance many more had boarded the departing ships.

They didn’t have accurate numbers, even so, it was believed that they had more almost all of the human slaves with them. Surprisingly, all of them had been freed; but as it is with all new things, the former slaves had so far been hesitant to believe their new freedom was anything more than another ploy by which to torment them. Watching their former masters go through the physical changes that made the Hruth more like themselves, made it easier for the former human slaves to accept their new lot in life.

Chief among the Hruth, easing the transition for both the Hruth and the Humans, was the couple who had been led to the AI/computer. Bkrek Lis and Wurdet Ne walked among them all, always sharing a kind word or encouragement wherever needed. The couple wasn’t the first to undergo the transition back to human, but they had accepted it more readily than any of the previous couples. Therefore, the couple found themselves in a leadership role.

Bkrek Lis climbed off the resting dais and stretched out his muscles. He looked back at the dais at the still reclining form of Wurdet Ne. He was certain that there was no creature anywhere that could match her beauty. The odd thing was, that a lunar cycle previously, he would have found the form before him quite revolting. But both he and Wurdet had gone through the changes together. Their bond, if anything, had strengthened as their bodies changed to what could only be called a human form.

The smooth supple skin of Wurdet’s new form, affected him in ways that could never have happened in their old form. Granted ... it had taken a lot of getting used to, and much trial and error to discover how to express themselves in a sexual manner. External male genitalia were something that although they were aware of them because of the slaves, they had no idea how to use, themselves. Fortunately the computer had records of humans mating. After that nature found a way and they had come together, they found a release like no other. In fact they had repeated the cycle until both of them were exhausted.

Albabert was the name the AI/computer had informed them that their ancestor had given him, back when he was still planet bound, before they had uploaded the Albabert’s personality to one of the captured ships. It was such an odd name to Bkrek. Still, Albabert had become a friend. Actually he was more than that. He had become their leader for all intents and purposes. He was leading a large group of ships. Many, like he and Wurdet, had been separated from the general population early on. They too, had already begun the regression process. Then of course there were the ship crews that had separated themselves from the Main Body and had joined Albabert.

All were now either completely regressed or nearly there. It was difficult to become accustomed to being human ... and there was really no other description for what they had become. Even now it was strange to admit to being something you had spent your entire life being taught to despise.

That’s not to say that the transition was easy or painless. Though most of the pain was emotional. That not to say that the physical side wasn’t difficult. Learning to walk on only two legs, and without the aid of the swiveling hip joint was extremely frustrating.

In the beginning Albabert had had to invest much of his processing capacity in counseling and physical therapy sessions. At least that’s what Albabert called the physical part of the training. He and Wurdet and the other early starters were kept busy as well, since they had already been through the counseling and therapy. They did what they could to help the others as much as possible in person or via com links.

Wurdet eased off the dais, and stretched her nubile new form. Bkrek went to her and pulled her into his arms. The two of them now knew the significance of the touching of mouths, and did it as often as they had the time. It stimulated their bodies and intensified their bonding. Who wouldn’t want to do that, and often?

The two of them broke apart, and began to get dressed. Another new thing. Before, they only needed outer garments if the temperature became extremely cold. Something that was very rare when one is onboard a ship for most of one’s life. Now, however, it seemed that their new bodies were more susceptible to injury. The skins of these human forms was susceptible to rips and tears. Being newly bipedal added to the number of minor injuries. Wearing sturdy outer garments helped reduce the number and severity of these injuries.

Neither Bkrek nor Wurdet were really needed since the message had been sent, but Albabert had put them in a leadership position. Something he insisted that their personalities made them both well suited for, though neither of them had ever sought out such notoriety. That reluctance, Albabert insisted, was a good quality for a leader to have.

Albabert was in the process of having all the small ships first to be connected, and then reformed into a single ship. They had to drop out of hyper for these modifications to take place. The ships that he had built had taken a long time because of the limited drones he had. He had even fewer now due to over stressing the drones he had. There were still the ships that had joined then that had their own ships. It was a small armada he was leading to sanctuary.

Spending the day in an environmental suit while following Albabert’s exact plans was exhausting, but rewarding. The drones available to Albabert were limited to maintenance, so everyone took their turn working on the ships new outer hull. As the ships were joined, Bkrek and Wurdet had been introduced to fourteen new couples already. It was amazing how well they interacted together. It was something that would have never happened before the regression.

Albabert was both relieved and amazed.

He was relieved when all could breath the same atmosphere. I meant that the fourteen smaller ships he had created were now being joined into a single ship. Once the final details on the outside were finished they could re-enter hyper. All internal modifications could be completed while in-route. He was hoping that they could then have the time to build some construction drones to help.

There was little chance that the Main Body would catch up with them, but that didn’t mean that a detachment from the Body couldn’t chase them down. It was unlikely that a group of ships large enough to overcome them would be sent. That would leave The Main Body virtually unguarded. Still, a small group could cause damage. He didn’t want to lose any of the lives he had so successfully saved. He was glad that they were back to traveling in hyper.

He was amazed because when Program Alpha-Iota four twenty-two had initiated, he was driven to ensure the Hruth’s survival. He had no idea where it would lead, or how successful he might be. All he was aware of, was that he had to save the race, even if it was from themselves.

Now, not only did he have over two million willing volunteers, he found himself in charge. He didn’t know if it was because they were used to being led, or that they understood he was acting in their best interests. Regardless, they were following his lead. So he was going to lead them on the path he thought best.

Secrets, that’s what Hruth existence was all about. This worked in Albabert’s favor, because some secrets that were supposed to be known by only the Lord and the Primes, never made it to the attention of the Lord or the Primes. Albabert had intercepted some of them. and had erased any evidence of their existence. Some of them would be used in the near future, to ensure that the Hruth survived.

In fact, extricating himself from the Hruth control was one of the things he hoped would give his plan a more acceptable chance of succeeding. He, by extracting himself from the Lord’s ship, had damaged The Main Body severely. Not only had he left the Command ship without a control system to operate it, he held in his data storage, all the information and technology they had stolen since that day which they now celebrate as First Planet Fall. The secondary storage unit could be enlarged to take over the control systems, but that would take time. Especially since they no longer had any drones. At any rate he intended to use the time he had bought, to hide their trail as well as possible.

As for the information he had stolen, bits and pieces of that knowledge were scattered within the storage banks of other computers, but it wouldn’t help them right away. The Hruth’s natural distrust of everyone, especially their underlings, caused them to scatter the knowledge all throughout the fleet. Even so some of it had never been shared, and he had the only copy of that knowledge, unless there were hard copies somewhere. Again, this was something he doubted. It came back to the Hruth’s distrust. If they had ever suspected that he was anything more than what he pretended to be, he would have been disassembled him æons ago. Yes, even AI’s are capable of exaggerations and sarcasm.

At any rate, he had the newly joined ships headed toward an uncharted area of space. He wasn’t searching blindly. Albabert was acting on one of those bits of information that had been secreted away in his massive memory storage. It was actually this bit of information that had caused him to aid Wurdet and Bkrek to release the truth. The last human ship The Main Body had encountered, had been coming out of uncharted space. Several ships had been sent to explore the ship’s back trail. It had brought them to a completely undeveloped planet. Granted, it was rich with natural resources, but it was simply filed away for later exploration. After all, where was the fun if there was no general population in which to flaunt their superiority?