Chapter 14

That night Megan showed her mother how to hide the great majority of her aura or she would never get any peace. This was done quickly and Margaret smiled at the simplicity of it all.

For the next few days I prepared all I could for the short trip. The girls were busy for only a few hours doing projects. Most were done in a very short time at school so their teachers could see that nobody else helped. The quality was going to be high and they didn't want problems with the teachers not believing them.

Tommy simply got two spelling tests and Social Studies project where he had to write what he thought happened in his own words.

Tuesday morning the parents said goodbye. We would be gone by the time we got home. We would always be in communications though. All of the completed parts were transferred into the second depot that would soon be our base. I loaded on some elements that were not usually found in asteroids that Borin could use.

To make the departure a bit quicker and perhaps save Tommy the embarrassment of peeing his pants in excitement, I picked him up a block from his school. The girls were picked up the same way. Everybody dropped off their school clothes and put on ship's coveralls and we were off. Tommy had set the course days in advance.

Tommy told his sisters about the Mardaf Limit and the restriction on speed until we got beyond it. We did not have the same equipment the research vessels had to fly quicker through this region of space.

We all took our turns on watch but Tommy's were usually structured so that he would see more of the interesting areas.

The Captain's cabin had been enlarged. This time we had the linen we bought in China. It did make the simple vessel much more like home. Tommy's cabin had the Persian Rug and some of the things he thought should remind him of who he was.

Mostly we spent our time studying and talking about what we should learn next. Making love was short and intense as if we were on a war footing and only our accumulated knowledge would possibly save us. Tommy acted like a perfect cadet in what he did. He was going to do the best he could possibly accomplish. He had finally come to the realisation that he would be in the history books himself one day. If this were so then he was not going to have any feet of clay. I thought he was doing quite well considering that he didn't have the same mind as the rest of us.

Margaret and Tom called every day and talked for a while. Both sides said how they were doing well without the other but still wanting the other near. Margaret was becoming calmer and needed Tom a bit less. A bit less though was still a lot. I told Tom where to go to get more of the medication.

Tommy used his own sensors trying to find Borin without additional help. At the right time we started to slow down, then reverse course. Borin came into view on our screens eventually. Tommy flew around the ship a few times looking at its size and what damage that was still visible. Though the boat was quite a few metres long it was very small in comparison to Borin's size. Here to, Borin was considerably shorter than when she first started this mission. Tommy knew how the Suma had taken exception to us and seriously shortened her.

Tommy requested clearance to dock and a hatch opened for him. He went forward slowly. Borin increased gravity slowly until the boat was firmly in the cradle made for it. This section was still in a vacuum but we all had shields. Tommy did all the checks he was supposed to do and so did the girls. They knew that they would get in trouble from their captain if they didn't.

We pushed through a shield over an open hatch and I was back at my other home. Of course the others following me were now in a real spaceship for the first time. I didn't want to burst their bubble for this ship was much more like the boat than the research vessel. This brought me back to the fact that I was now alone except for my own recent family. Three centuries was not that long but many things could happen in that much time to my parents and to the ship they rode in.

Borin came out in holographic form and greeted the new crew members. The Humans were quite used to her and even knew a great deal about the hull. When I got our cargo stowed and the parts Borin made put in their place, I showed my family to my other family.

Odava and Ichom were almost like friends. So much was already known that the Gossna would feel comfortable at least with these three. Tommy was relieved a bit because Odava was even shorter than he was. Too many old movies had the alien being a powerful mindless aggressor.

Eventually we came to Consti. Tommy looked through the transparent barrier and saw a very beautiful Seffra girl. In a moment I slid beside Tommy and said, "She's very beautiful, isn't she?"

"She sure is. Nobody I know... is as pretty as she is. Ah... when do you think the rest of your crew will be awoken?"

"There are quite a few variables to consider. Foremost is the supply of heavy elements. If they come in reasonable quantities, we can make all the engines. If that happens we can revive this crew and get them to help install them and connect them to the reactors.

"If only one engine can be made right away then that one can be installed and we can fly this ship back to Earth. It will be not as fast as the boat but not that much slower. The crew can be revived in the new base but somebody has to be with them all the time. Not so much Consti but the two Gossna need somebody close to keep them calm. The time frame for the engine construction will be from four to seven months but that is if things go right.

"If I have to take material from your nuclear dump then it will take perhaps four months longer. I basically have to keep this portion of the crew busy if I wake them up. Things need to feel normal for them. You all know that Consti's sister Fera died in the attack. Consti will have to deal with that along with our main ship and family being someplace else. Mino died too and this will be mourned by all four of us. All this means that they have to establish a new family. That is where you and your family come in. With you as stable friends then they can manage to function."

I had talked much more in-depth to Sandra and Megan. Their minds were able to absorb a lot more information about this situation and ways of dealing with it.

The three investigated the ship. It was much different than what their computers could replicate. The only restricted area was the area in the back where Fera's body was stored and the reactor section that could be quite deadly even with our simple suits.

We worked on the ship for a day doing some of the things that Borin was not capable of doing on a damaged ship. The hull was not complete and the cargo I sent from the Oort could would still take months to get here.

The time came to leave and the crew said goodbye to Borin as if she were not going to stay in touch all the time with them. All of them slept while I set course for Wolf 359. The watch was uneventful and I managed to get enough sleep after I was relieved. As I wanted, Tommy was on watch as we arrived at the system. It was simply a red dwarf primary as were half of all stars in this galaxy.

This particular star had no planets but did have an asteroid belt. These were actually in highly erratic orbits because every few hours the star would flare. Matter would be ejected far from the star's surface and the illumination factor would double. Any planet in the neighbourhood would have been bathed in radioactive material and highly energetic ions.

None of the millions of planets my race had every investigated were able to protect themselves for long in this situation. Some races had tried when they found their star getting unstable. Most had simply migrated, the rest had died. The power of a star, even one as small and dim as this one was a power to be reckoned with.

Tommy led the investigation of the system. This was the thing my people had done for hundreds of millennia. We did it quite well to. Our present equipment was crude by the standards of the research vessel but the job could still be done. Probes went out and searched through the loose asteroids for anything odd.

This mission would soon be cut short because Borin could continue with the string of probes and repeaters I had dropped behind us. It was standard policy to put out thousands of probes in star systems and between them for communications and early warning. The range of one probe was short but it could transmit to the next and the next after that.

This time Tommy phoned home to give his parents a report at my encouragement. He had even waited a half hour before doing so. His mind was very active thinking of just what to say. The historical aspect was still bothering him. The descriptions were similar to what the Seffra would say. The data though was quite factual in every respect. He only hit the highlights because he was using voice. The full data of only one simple system would fill many sets of encyclopaedias if it were ever printed.

Tommy pulled longer watches on the way home. I worked with my wives on assembling some of the smaller substructures. The computer and fabricator could not handle much more than food and other necessities. The ship was designed to be safe but not with a great surplus of comfort and all the possible amenities.

I had made the trip as long as possible. The girls and Tommy would make it to school just after getting back. They had just enough time to chat for a few minutes at their home and take an automobile to their school. I stayed home this time and slept for I was the one with the long watch to give the rest a chance to rest.

After my own rest I took the new equipment to the main base. There I started assembling the finicky precision fabricator unit. An annulus just a fraction larger than two metres was constructed of small ceramic segments. When these were fused together they formed a ring with an inner diameter of a hundred and six centimetres. The small units I produced with my mind and the small fabricator were inserted in seventeen different places around the inner perimeter.

Tractors, pressors and even more test units were to be added. This would take a week to complete and would only be useful for making the parts I needed for the larger units. If a research ship were to be built then this procedure would have to progress many more times. The inner diameter would have to be a hundred and eighty three metres across. Twenty three hundred larger and much more powerful assemblies would have to be added.

I didn't go back to Victoria. The boat went back instead and picked up my adopted family. They had been here a few times in training but this time they would help. Sandra brought in the food. Megan brought over some of the dishes and things purchased in China from the first depot. Thick mats were on the floor already. We sat around in a circle on some woven pads and ate an Italian meal with chopsticks.

After cleaning up I showed what I had done so far. Margaret's training had been mainly to get this base up and running. She straightened and fused units while Megan and Sandra continued with what I was doing. Tom and his son could only study in the ship for they had not been improved.

The depot was warm for I had constructed a small reactor to provide power. At the moment it used very little but could produce ninety six megawatts if it was called to and over a hundred and six for a short period. The internal shield of the large room had not been produced yet and it would be one of the first things manufactured.

As much as Tom hated it, he would have to wait for another five weeks until Christmas break to fully join our ranks. This would be the least disruptive time. Tommy though was given a dubious pre-Christmas present by our med unit. His hormone balance had started to change. We all talked to him about how it would effect him. He was quite sure he could handle all his problems.

Tom said, "I never had the kind of talk you just got but if I did at your age I might think the same. The truth is that you will probably not be able to handle it. Tommy heard the talk about his father and was very confident that one way or another I would get a trained pilot to assist in the construction of a large ship. The idea of having a girlfriend too was far from objectionable.

I became a hermit to all intents and purposes. I lived in my high tech cave and worked. The family came when they could but even this was a strain on them for they had been a very social family before I came along. They had been busy most weekends going to various parties especially at this time of year. Megan and Sandra had forsaken their friends to help and to be with me. They were happy with the exchange but I wasn't.

I came to a decision and said, "For the next six weekends I want all of you to be at home and I will be there with you. I want to meet your friends and see how shocked they will be at being introduced." Though the girls said otherwise, they were happy with my decision.

Before we made it home though, Borin informed us that the probes had finally found their way into the royal chamber under the pyramid. They could fly for a long time covering light years and even exceed the speed of light. Fighting their way through fine dry sand was a different matter. I had compounded the problem by forcing Borin to ensure that there would be no trace of them if and when the crypt was opened.

The projected scene was exciting to me only because it brought out so much emotion in those around me. I had seen much older structures that were in a much better states of preservation. They just didn't happen to be on this planet.

I landed the ship this time because everybody wanted to see the screen. Once in the house they ran into the basement where an even larger screen had been built. It had been put here so that others would not see it. It was only eight small projectors that gave depth and colour because of its holographic nature. They watched this until Borin told them they had other duties to do. There was a party tonight that all of us were invited to. This was one of the reasons I had picked today to make my decision known.

We got dressed though the weather was much warmer than in the mountains. There was no snow on the ground and if some ever came the populous would be in shock for it was fairly rare. My clothing I found was just a bit snug so I assumed I was growing again. The girls had seen some things in a catalogue and this inspired them to experiment. All three females had worked to make an original piece and got the boat to do the work for them.

They came down the stairs in reverse order of age. They did so very slowly to build up a good bit of anticipation. Megan had a long apricot coloured dress that seemed to just wrap around her body but still leave some of the more interesting areas exposed or nearly so.

Sandra had a lavender coloured dress that had some similarities to her sister's but was more daring. She was older and could get away with it too.

Margaret had an aquamarine dress cut even lower. It was very easy to see that all three ladies were related and that all three dresses were related too but each had their own style Each of them had shoes that looked to have been made in early Greece. Thin shimmering fibres wrapped around their calves to secure the small open shoes to their feet. All of these were in complimentary colours too. Purses matched their dresses.

From their neck and ears hung diamonds. They were not that large but they were not small. From the lustre I assumed them to be perfectly clear. The earrings looked to be five carats each. The necklaces were all different but complimented them very well. Margaret had a large sapphire to match her dress. Sandra had a large topaz to match hers and Megan had even larger Sunstone that shone with a gold lustre.

It was Tom and I that looked dowdy. The girls had dressed Tommy to look like the dapper gentleman even to a small diamond stickpin. Tom and I had to stop for a while for they all looked so beautiful and I knew that they were even more beautiful inside where it counted.

The house the party was at was owned by the dean of the university. I felt from the others that our car didn't match up with the rest. There was a valet that took the car from us and he gave his own thoughts to what the ladies looked like. They even seemed to preen for him without appearing to do so.

We entered the house and conversations around us stopped as both men and women looked. When an attendant took their wraps then the silence grew even more. The girls turned as if they didn't know what their clothing, jewellery or skin were doing to others.

Margaret took her husband's arm just as the host and hostess arrived to greet them. The rest of us were introduced. I tried to act as a responsible gentleman but Tommy was doing almost as good a job. He must have been coached on what to do.

I was a very good friend of the family and an even more special one to both Sandra and Megan. The host equated this as boyfriend but the hostess saw something much deeper. Then again she was female and they usually had a better understanding of relationships.

The younger members were introduced to others of similar years while Margaret and Tom went off to explain how she looked so good. When I heard that through her ears I said, "Tell her it is good sex as many times a day as you can get."

She almost stumbled and turned around to just stare directly at me. "You keep out of this. Women have to have some secrets."

"I stand corrected. I am sorry to have disturbed you." She wasn't really upset but I pretended that I thought she was.

The younger crowd started to crowd us. Nobody was gauche enough to ask if the jewellery was made of real diamonds or other precious stones. They did see my wives' skin and this with their beautiful faces had them talking. Some females found me 'cute' in their words and came to check me out. I stayed with Tommy to let them know that we were a pair. If they wanted to talk to me they would have to talk to him too.

They asked me about where I went to school and my reply was, "I have gone to a very private school out of the country. I have a degree in Aeronautical Engineering among other things." Since the girls ignored Tommy I said, "Tom here will be going to the same school soon. His aptitude in mathematics and this has earned him a full scholarship. He has been pushing quite a few of his present educators in Physics and History."

It would be nice to say that he found some Roman coins but then word might get back to those people that knew his parents. We could still not afford too many questions.

A history major in the back of the two girls before us came forward. "What period and continents are you working on?"

Tommy got his first real chance to talk so he said, "I haven't specialized. Currently I am looking at the Ptolemaic period of Egypt back to thirty BC. In a recent dig we just came back from, my team and I found some Roman coins of the period. Not too long ago we found some bronze Aztec weapons with a surprisingly good obsidian blades. One we figure was from the priest that would go with the army to sacrifice any of the enemy they captured alive.

"I am looking to go to Greece one day and study the effects of the Roman Imperators during the Republic and then the subjugation of that country. I have found..."

All the girls were now convinced that Tommy was a prodigy. Borin was cheating for his ends and started to fill in arcane data about one of the periods and how that effected not only that area but Rome itself. This was not really right but it was not wrong either. Tommy was growing up and this could be used later to help him see the right direction to grow.

The young men were trying to separate the girls and perhaps even conquer. Megan didn't look like her tender years of thirteen.

Sandra liked the attention and accepted it for what it really was. She was free to do anything she wanted. I had no fear whatsoever of the competition.

Two of the girls abandoned Tommy and wanted to talk to me alone. The problem was that each girl saw the other as a competitor and tried different strategies to get the other to leave.

Tommy though young was able to get the young woman to follow him to the serving table where he presented her with her choices in food. The trouble again was that she had not told him. Megan had slipped him the information. He explained the selections away and made a similar plate for himself. In moments they were seated against the wall and Tommy was asking pointed question. Again it just happened to be what the girl knew the most about. She spoke at great depth and Tommy nodded his head as if agreeing with her points.

His next few questions showed that he knew this same area and perhaps even better than she did. They discussed ways of finding out which of the many possible disparities in their knowledge were more correct.

A third girl came over and soon tried to attached herself to me. The other two temporarily formed an armistice and then a coalition. They tried to rid themselves of the interloper. Sara the newest girl asked after a few minutes if I went to the same school as Sandra and Megan without mentioning the girls' names.

"No, I graduated a while ago but I went there a few times to drop off the two girls I love."

"Love!" All three girls said.

"Certainly." I gestured across the room. "The two girls standing in the group of young men. They are meeting and making new friends as Tommy and I have done. That's why we came to the party in the first place. I can't socialise in a small room. Back to mingling, you haven't told me much about yourself. Is there some career goal you are striving for or are your objectives much simpler with a job and a family?"

Sara started talking about her favourite subject and the others got to voice how they expected their lives to run. None mentioned a marriage until they were well established in a career but each one knew deep inside that they didn't have the drive necessary to go far in their chosen vocation. I asked more questions but they were only for clarification. Ten minutes later when Sandra and Megan came down on me I had hoped that the girls presently with me would work a bit more and not expect things to be given to them.