Chapter 41

Stephen Scott was very proud of his accomplishments. He had plenty of reason to be pleased; at age fifteen, he was indisputably the most brilliant computer scientist / electrical engineer / astrophysicist to come out of MIT in a long time, maybe ever. The fact that he was finishing his doctorate thesis at such a young age was further proof of his unique abilities. He was excited to be the one picked to intern with the U.S. Air Force for the summer term. What made it even better was the fact that he would be fine tuning his own new radar invention during that internship.

Stephen Scott had a secret, however. Her name was Alexandra.

Alex was not a bad secret; just a secret. Oh, everyone knew about his sister. Those close to them knew they were probably twins, since they were apparently the same age and had the same birthday. Apparently, everyone said, because no one knew for sure; Stephen and Alex were adopted.

No one knew for sure how old they were, nor even for certain that they were related. There was no record of who their parents were or where they came form. Everyone assumed they were twins. Stephen and Alex assured everyone they were.

The secret Stephen had was that Alex was the true genius behind his invention. A child prodigy in her own right, they took many classes together at MIT. Stephen was the brilliant theoretical genius, having an intuitive grasp of the intricacies of science that made up the known universe. The campus was replete with stories of the brilliant discussions he participated in, and the equally brilliant conclusions he arrived at from those conclusion.

No one noticed that the stunning conclusions from those discussions usually came the next day, in follow-up conversations. That was because of the insight Alex provided when he filled her in on the day's activities.

Alex's genius lie in her uncanny ability to link information and thoughts together, arriving at conclusions that no one else could understand initially, much less arrive at themselves. She often stunned herself with flashes of intuition that suddenly appeared in her mind, with no indication of where they came from.

One of those flashes of genius was the foundation of Stephen's invention. In very simplified terms, it was a new radar system that made stealth technology useless. Using a new energy source and new, complicated computer algorithms (written of course by Alex), it was able to detect objects previously undetectable. For obvious reasons, the Air Force was very interested, and agreed to pick up all of his schooling costs and development costs, including the money already paid out. Of course, Stephen insisted on the same deal for his sister, plus a substantial bonus for both of them. The Air Force was not thrilled with the deal, but when Stephen let it be known in no uncertain terms that he would not agree unless his stipulations were met, they quickly agreed. It wasn't their money, after all.

Stephen insisted that his sister be taken care of partially because he dearly loved her and would never leave her out in the cold. The other reason, however, was the guilt he felt that she shared none of the recognition for what he maintained was primarily her invention.

It wasn't as if Stephen stole his sister's ideas. He was eager, in fact, insistent that she receive the credit she was due. Alex would have none of it, and threatened to deny it and publicly call him a liar if he tried to make known her part in his work. They had many long conversations (read: arguments!) about the subject, but to no avail. Stephen eventually gave up trying to make her see reason. Once Alex set her mind on something she felt strongly about, there was no changing it. He learned the hard way that pushing her merely resulted in painful silence when she stopped talking to him.

He tried to understand her insistence on anonymity, but her reasons made no sense. She insisted that it would be better if everyone thought it was his work. He patiently explained that, in today's world, work by women was received exactly as that of men; there was no prejudice in the scientific community. She agreed, her pretty doe-like eyes wide in awe and amazement that she hadn't thought of that herself. Stephen thought he had finally broken through.

"So you'll let me announce your part in this?" he asked excitedly. He loved his sister and he wanted to help further her career also.

"No."

"But ... you said..."

"Stephen, shut up about it or you'll be sleeping alone tonight," Alex stated. That ended the discussion.

Sleeping together? Neither of them was sexually active, except for the times they stole away alone to experiment with their developing bodies and relieve their frustrations. They had simply always slept together. Their adoptive parents had been warned when they first adopted the 'twins' at age ten that all attempts to separate the two had failed. They would not go to sleep alone. The initial attempts to separate them resulted in the two of them in the same bed the next morning, cuddled up together, smiling happily in their sleep.

Eventually, ways were found to keep the two apart at night. The results were disastrous, nearly fatal.

Stephen and Alex simply stopped sleeping. They stayed awake all night, reading, watching TV, and crying in their pillows. At first it was decided that they were sleeping and just didn't remember it. Video surveillance quickly ruled that out.

The hallucinations started after a week of sleep deprivation. Lack of appetite quickly followed. Alex was only 5 foot nothing and weighed ninety-five pounds if she held rocks in her hands when she stood on the scale. It was quickly determined that she couldn't go long without eating and drinking. The decision was made to allow them to sleep together and deal with the situation later.

Later never came.

Their new parents tried to deal with the 'problem' logically and lovingly once they had adopted the pair. They explained why it was not acceptable for children of the opposite sex to be sleeping together, especially when they were brother and sister. They appealed to the intelligence of the siblings, asking if they understood the problem.

"Yes," they replied together.

"Do you have any questions?"

"No."

"Good. Which room do you want, Alex?" her mother asked. Alex pointed to the room they had been sleeping in.

"Which room do you want, Stephen?" his father asked. There were three other empty bedrooms to choose from.

"That one," Stephen replied emphatically, pointing to the same room that Alex had picked.

"But ... that's Alex's room!" the mother protested.

Stephen shrugged.

The father looked at the two, trying to keep the smile off his face. He really did think it was a bad idea for the two youngsters to sleep together, but they were just so cute when they were together, and he admired the way they handled the situation.

"You two have no intention of sleeping alone, do you?" he asked.

"No," they answered together.

"But ... what about what we talked about?" their mother asked.

"It doesn't pertain to us. We aren't having sex," Alex explained patiently, as if to a three year old.

"But what will people think?" she asked.

Alex giggled.

"We promise not to tell if you don't."

"Can you promise us you will never have sex together?" their father asked quietly. "We see how much you love each other. What happens when your hormones kick in, if they haven't already?" He knew they had; he'd seen both of them masturbating at various different times. They didn't know he'd seen them. They also didn't know how stunned he'd been when he saw Alex's body. He was sure there was no way Stephen would be able to avoid the temptation forever, especially if Alex was willing. He had no doubts Alex would be willing; he saw the adoration in her eyes when she looked at her brother.

Stephen glanced at his sister out of the corner of his eye and shrugged. Alex did the same and blushed. Neither one answered. Their reaction did not calm the fears of their mother.

The subject died, never to be brought up again. Neither parent thought ordering them to stop would work. They decided to trust their children. They weren't completely satisfied with that decision, but they couldn't see a better alternative.

Their parents were apprehensive when the two siblings decided to go to MIT together and live together in the little cottage behind their 'aunt's' house. They elected to trust their children, and the two had never given them a reason to doubt that trust since their adoption. As far as their parents could tell, and they checked frequently, Stephen and Alex did nothing more than sleep together ... literally.

As he worked on fine tuning his radar settings, Stephen remembered the day he came home and excitedly announced they had received the internship. It was something both of them had hoped for, even though it would mean they would have to relocate to the Midwest. Alex squealed with delight and launched herself into his arms, wrapping her arms and legs around him as she kissed him on the lips. This was her usual behavior when she was excited.

Something was different this time. Stephen kissed her back, holding her tightly in his arms. He didn't set her down after a second or two as he usually did. Alex was thrilled. When she brushed her tongue across his lips, he opened his mouth slightly and accepted her offering as her tongue slipped into his mouth.

Neither one knew how long they kissed; time stood still as their passion grew. When they finally broke their kiss, more due to lack of oxygen than a slaking of their desire to play with each other's tongues, they looked deep into each other's eyes, awe and amazement on their faces.

"Alex... ?" Stephen asked, his voice trembling.

"Shhh..." she whispered as she slipped out of his arms to stand on her own feet once more. "What would you like for dinner?" she asked, her calm voice belying her furiously beating heart.

Neither one said anything about the kiss the rest of the evening. Both were apprehensive as they prepared for bed. Neither knew how the other would react. The goodnight kiss they shared, as they did every night, was quick but pleasant, as always.

As they lay next to each other, Alex thought briefly of getting up to pretend to go to the bathroom. It was her usual way of masturbating without disturbing or embarrassing her brother. Just as she was about to slip out of bed, she heard a small moan from her brother's side of the bed and felt the movement as he played with himself.

This was new! He'd never done that with her in the bed before. In a flash, she decided that, if he could do it next to her, she could do it too.

For several moments the twins brought themselves closer to mutual orgasms, seemingly ignoring the person next to them. In reality, both concentrated all their senses on the sounds of the other. Then, with no conscious forethought, Alex reached out and wrapped her hand around her brother's cock at exactly the same moment that Stephen slipped his fingers between her slim legs. They gasped as one.

Alex turned to Stephen and stared into his eyes, eyes that were slitted as they stared back at her. Their eyes locked on their sibling, the world outside of that moment no longer existing for either of them. It took only moments before they both exploded together in the most powerful orgasms of their young lives.

"Stephen..." Alex whispered, overcome with love and emotion for her brother.

Stephen, being male and full of guilt, completely misunderstood her pronouncement of his name {Of course! J.}. He hid his face against her chest, trembling in fear and shame.

"I'm so sorry, Alex! I didn't mean ... I shouldn't have ... Oh God, please forgive me!" he whispered, sure he'd destroyed the relationship he had with his dearest friend.

Alex looked confused, then concerned as she realized what he thought.

"Shhh ... it's ok. I didn't mind a bit!" She giggled, then turned his face up to look into his eyes. "What the hell took you so long?" she asked in mock anger.

"What?"

"I've been waiting for you to do something like that since we were ten years old. What have you been waiting for?"

He hugged her close, overcome with feelings he wasn't sure how to describe.

"Oh Alex! I love you!" he whispered.

"I love you too, Stephen," she replied.

"W ... What do we do now?"

"I think that's obvious," she giggled as she kissed him and wrapped her hand around his hardening cock. When he didn't figure it out quite fast enough for her, she moved his hand between her legs again.

Alex and Stephen woke up in each other's arms the next morning. It was their usual position, but both knew instantly that everything was different.

"We need to talk," he said after a very pleasant good morning kiss.

"Yeah," she said, a smirk on her face and a twinkle in her eyes. Stephen knew both those looks; they could talk all they wanted, but Alex had no intentions of going back to the platonic relationship they had before.

Stephen's attention was abruptly jerked back to the present as he turned his device on for the first time after setting it up and the warning light and buzzer immediately sounded. A quick look at the screen told him it was in deep stealth detection mode. Icy fingers danced down his spine as he saw the images on the screen, too many to immediately count. He glanced at Alex, her face mirroring the shock and excitement he was sure was on his own face. They both frantically checked the settings.

"It isn't a false echo!" Alex confirmed.

"It works!" Stephen declared.

"Oh shit!" they said together as the reality of what they were seeing struck them both at the same time.

"Commander Winters, could you come here, please? We have a problem, sir," Stephen called out.

"Report, Lieutenant," the Captain ordered.

"All systems are on line, Captain. The 'Detection Blocker' and 'Location Distorter' are active," the Science Officer replied. "I don't understand why the Empress sent us in these shuttles. The Qarta class shuttle is much more up-to-date than these are."

"We're in these because Ja'a-llia would detect the Qarta class almost before we left the shuttle bay. These shuttles have been out of commission for so long she won't recognize them. With the new 'Detection Blocker' we have on board, even their vaunted computer system won't detect us. We'll have our targets and be on our way before anyone knows what's happening," the Captain explained. "Besides, have you reviewed the report of the last time we tried this with the Qarta class? They didn't fare so well."

That was the end of that conversation.

"Sir, the first shuttle has landed. Step 1 is in operation. We're hovering, waiting for instructions."

"Alert! Alert!" the computer intoned. "Radar signal detected, type unknown, classification undetermined, signal strong. Positive detection is imminent!"

"God damn it, the Cornazans aren't supposed to have anything to detect us," the Captain fumed. "Lieutenant?" he queried as he watched the Science Officer's fingers fly on the keyboard.

"It's a type unknown to us, sir. If it hasn't picked us up yet, it sure as little fishies will soon. Uh ... sir ... it's not Cornazan..."

"Don't make me ask, Lieutenant," the Captain threatened.

"It's from Earth, sir."

"Of course it is, you idiot. That's where we're headed."

"Yes, sir. I mean it's Human technology, sir. It's not Cornazan at all. The Humans are using something we haven't seen before."

"Can anything else go wrong?" the Captain muttered.

"Careful what you ask for," the Lieutenant murmured to himself.

"Yes? What is it, Stephen?" Commander Winters asked as he stepped across to the control panel. He liked the young kid, and his sister was hot as hell. Not that he got into fifteen year olds, but she was fun to look at.

"Sir, we have..." Stephen looked at his sister.

" ... fifty..." Alex had time to count the images while he was flagging down the Commander.

" ... fifty stealth contacts on the radar screen."

"FIFTY? In MY sky? Corporal, what do you have on your radar?" His voice said the Corporal was dead if he'd missed something.

"Nothing, sir. Clean as a whistle and dry as a bone, sir."

"Thank you, Corporal," he replied sardonically. Inwardly, he smiled. Nothing was ever boring with Corporal Vasquez around.

"Ensign, you remember the five ships we saw last time we had visitors? Are these the same?" the Commander asked another radar operator. "Sergeant, get every plane we have in the air."

"Similar, sir," the Ensign answered after looking at the screen. "They're obviously a different ship, but the same alien design. I'd say this radar image is caused by the same general type of swamp gas, sir."

Commander Winters wasn't sure what was so damned obvious about it, but he wasn't a radar expert either. The last 'swamp gas' had shut down his base and resulted in an uncomfortable conversation with the President. That wasn't even considering having his ass handed to him by a teenage girl.

"Sir, we have six planes in the air and seventy-five ready to begin taking off in thirty seconds."

"Let me guess ... Eagle One and Raptor One are in the air."

"Yes, sir."

It took the Commander all of two seconds to make his decision. He hated being shown up by a smart-assed little girl, but he hated getting chewed out by the President even more, particularly when the President knew the girl and didn't seem upset about her besting everyone.

"Lieutenant, get me the President on the line."

"Sir... ?"

"NOW, Lieutenant! If his advisors don't want to let you through, tell them I have evidence of an impending nuclear attack and I need to talk to him immediately."

"Yes, sir!"

"Sir? Are these about a nuclear attack?" Stephen asked, wide-eyed. Alex looked like she was going to be sick.

"Not that I know of, son. I almost wish they were. Whoever these guys are, they don't mess around with anything as wimpy as nuclear weapons. We don't have a name for what they used before. We know even less about what the Little Girl and her friends used against them."

"Leto-Paradeasal phenomenon," Alex whispered. She looked even sicker.

"Excuse me?" the Commander asked. He wished she wasn't so soft-spoken. He had to ask her to repeat half of what she said.

"Nothing," Alex said.

Stephen looked at her sharply. He was used to his sister's soft-spoken ways, so he'd had no trouble hearing her. He did have a little trouble believing what she'd said, however. Leto-Paradeasal phenomenon was a theoretical concept in physics that he hadn't decided yet if it really existed or not. He would've sworn his sister hadn't ever heard that term before. He knew damn well no one was using that energy source. He would know if someone had discovered evidence that the phenomenon was real.

"The President is on the line, sir," the Lieutenant said.

"Mr. President? Commander Winters here. Thank you for taking my call, sir."

"What's this about an impending nuclear attack, Dennis?" The President growled.

"Sorry about that, sir. I hope that isn't the case, but I needed something I knew would get through your screeners quickly. We have a problem here, a big one, but it probably doesn't involve nuclear attack. Worse, maybe."

"Go on."

"Sir, the last time we had a ... situation ... here, it involved a particular type of 'swamp gas'. I had a conversation with a young girl named Katie. Do you know how to get in touch with her? You seemed to know who she was. It's imperative we talk to her right away, sir."

"Have they returned, Commander?" the President asked.

"I believe so, sir. The ships are different, but there are many more of them."

"I haven't heard anything from NORAD about this," the President observed.

"Nor will you, sir. We only picked them up because we're testing a new anti-stealth radar. I doubt anyone else knows they're here. I'm concerned that this Katie person and her friends don't know we have visitors either. She would've interfered by now if she did. I didn't particularly like Katie or her style, but she was honest with me and she did protect my men and deal with the threat in a way we couldn't have."

"Thank you, Commander. That's a very realistic attitude, one we could use more of in our senior staff. Hold on a moment..."

There weren't many days when the Phillip's household was able to kick back and be lazy. This was one of them. Amy, Cindi, Becky and Sammi had gone shopping. That meant things were quiet for a change, Katie thought unkindly. Well, Becky was quiet, but my goodness, those other three could talk! Sometimes, she didn't know how her Daddy could stand the constant chattering all day long. Maybe that was why he loved Megan so much ... she was quiet!

Katie almost didn't look at her cell phone when it rang. She knew it was going to be Amy or Cindi wanting her advice on some silly thing they'd found. They knew she couldn't give advice over the phone without seeing it, but she was sure they'd text her a picture. She loved her sisters dearly, but she wanted to rest and vegetate today. Sammi had much better taste anyway; they could ask her. They were only calling her because they thought she should've come with them. Well, she didn't have to do everything with her twin, she thought sadly. That was obvious when it came to Peter. Now, that was something, or someone, she'd gladly do with Becky...

But Katie was nothing if not curious, so she finally glanced at the caller ID after the second ring. Sarah raised her eyebrows in question at Katie's puzzled look.

"Area code 202? Where's that? I don't know anyone in area code 202," Katie commented. Sarah glanced at the screen and her eyes opened wide.

"That's the President's cell phone number!" she exclaimed.

"Right. As if the President would be calling me," Katie said. She noticed the astonished look on Sarah's face and realized she wasn't kidding. "Why would the President be calling me?" she asked.

"Answer it and find out, dummy!" Sarah reasoned, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

Katie glared at her, then pushed the answer key.

"Hello?" she answered timidly.

"Katie, it's Jeff," the familiar voice said.

"M ... M ... Mr. President, sir! I ... um..."

"Call me Jeff!" the President snapped sharply.

"Yes, sir ... Jeff. Why ... what can I do for you, sir ... er, Jeff?" she asked.

"Katie, you remember Commander Winters? The Commander of the Air Force Base in the Midwest? The one you shut down last time we talked?"

Katie blushed; that wasn't one of her most pleasant memories. She hated being mean to other people. She was glad she didn't have a picture phone, so the President couldn't see her blush ... or see how she was dressed. Of course, she didn't know what the President's phone could do ... she hurriedly brushed her hair out of her eyes and sat up, putting her legs together. Then she thought, 'what the hell', and slumped back down in the chair, spreading her legs apart again. Let him look if he wanted to. He could do other things with her if he really wanted to, she thought, blushing even more. She loved Christopher but neither of them were exactly exclusive to each other and she knew he wouldn't mind if she ... and Jeff was so sexy. She felt sooo naughty!

"Yes, sir, I remember. Am I in trouble for that?"

"Not at all. You handled it very well. Commander Winters wants to talk to you about the situation. It seems there are more of those ships visiting us."

"What? That's not possible! Melinda!"

"I'm here, Katie," Melinda answered.

"The President tells me the Air Force says there are Qerda ships in the area!"

There was a slight pause.

"They must be mistaken. I see nothing, not even any more than usual Air Force planes in the area ... wait, several Air Force planes just took off and more appear to be preparing to scramble. This is very strange. See what you can find out."

"How is the Commander detecting these ships? We see nothing."

"Let me connect you with Commander Winters..."

"That's ok, sir ... uh, Jeff, I can talk to him directly. I'll patch you in so you can hear us."

"Commander, it's Katie. I apologize for my behavior the last time we talked. I didn't have a lot of time to resolve a stressful situation and wasn't as tactful as I could've been. I'll try to do better this time..."

"Katie!" Alex whispered to herself. The fact that Katie's voice was coming from everywhere and nowhere caught her attention. Stephen looked at her quickly, but she seemed engrossed in something else requiring all her attention.

Any tension that might have existed between Katie and himself dissolved with the Commander's chuckle.

"You're doing fine so far, young lady. I prefer this meeting already."

"Jeff tells me you have radar contact with ships in the area similar to the ones we saw before?"

"Yes, ma'am, we do. We have fifty ships showing on our radar screens. One has landed, the others are remaining stationary. They have different radar images but my radar officer says they are obviously of the same general design."

"How are you detecting those ships? The other radar we've tapped into show no signs of any ships in the area," Katie said.

The Commander smiled to himself. The girl didn't say that their own detection devices hadn't picked them up either, but why else would they tap into other radar sites? His smile disappeared as he realized what that statement meant about their abilities to monitor human activities. She probably knew what type of coffee he was drinking.

"Folgers," Katie giggled. "Have you ever tried Kona?"

The room became very quiet as the realization set in, as evidenced by Commander Winter's suddenly pale face, that the young girl had answered a question that hadn't been asked.

"I'm sorry, Commander, I'm really not trying to show off or invade your privacy, but it's important you understand we have a lot of advanced abilities. I may be a young girl to you, but I assure you I can understand the technical aspects of what you're using, and if I can't, I have access to others that can."

"We're testing a new type of stealth-detecting radar. It was developed by a fifteen year old MIT genius named Stephen Scott and his sister Alex. They're the ones that picked up the images. Perhaps I should let you talk to him - he can give you all the details. The science is a little beyond my comprehension."

Katie thought for a moment. No one was more surprised by Katie's answer than Katie herself.

"That would be a good idea, Commander, but hold on for a moment - I'll be right back," Melinda said in an exact imitation of Katie's voice. There was an audible click as they were put on hold.

"Melinda?" Katie asked.

"Sorry, Katie, but I wanted to warn you. Be careful with this Stephen Scott and his sister."

"Why?"

"Since the Commander gave you his name, I've read everything on the internet that's available on him. That Human version of an information network is primitive, but it did the job I needed. Stephen Scott and his sister Alex are fifteen years old, twins, and adopted. No one knows where they came from or who their parents were." Melinda stopped for emphasis.

"Are they Cornazans?" Katie asked excitedly.

"I don't know. Neither have been activated if they are. The boy seems to be an innocent human; if he's a Cornazan, he isn't even remotely aware of it. The girl is hiding something; she's not what she appears to be. They are far too intelligent to be simply human. Remember, even if they are Cornazan, there could be evil Cornazans also; I doubt Bandor was the only one. They could also be Qerda; the initial mind impressions are similar. Just be careful. I'd like to join you when we get back to them."

"I'm back, Commander, sorry about that. I think it'd be a good idea to talk to Stephen and his sister," Katie said.

"I thought you'd agree, so I brought them over. Stephen, Alex, the voice you hear is Katie ... I'm sorry, I don't think I ever got your last name," Commander Winters said.

"Phillips," Katie said. "I also have Melinda with me. She's very well versed in this field. Believe me, there is nothing you could present that she won't understand."

"Melinda! Oh shit!" Alex whispered to herself. Stephen touched her suddenly stiff arm.

"Do you know these two?" he whispered.

"No," was her curt response.

'The girl knows me, Katie! Get what you need, cut this short, and get out of there. I don't like this, ' Melinda said urgently into Katie's mind.

'Are you picking up signs of danger? I notice you're talking to me on a secure circuit. Can she hear us?' Katie asked.

'No danger. More like sadness and surprise. There's a lot there I can't read or understand. I'm not alarmed, I just don't like this. As far as I can tell, she doesn't hear us, but I can't be sure of that. Wrap it up, girl, ' Melinda responded.