Epilogue

Twenty-Three Years Later (10YG)

Seven year Donna Prisk looked out of the airplane window. "Mommy, look! The Golden Gate Bridge!"

Kay got out of her seat and looked out the window with her daughter. The sun was just starting to burn off the morning fog. The base of the bridge was still obscured by mist. It made the structure look like it was sitting on a cloud.

"How pretty. It has been a long time since I've been to San Francisco. I'd forgotten how lovely the city is.

"But that means we'll be landing soon. We need to sit down and strap in."

The Shiny Girl stuck out her lower lip in a pout, but knew it was no good arguing. She couldn't sweet talk her mother into getting her way, like she could most people. She plopped down on the couch and buckled up.

Kay look over at her child. Sometimes it amazed her that such a different child came out of her. Donna had light cocoa skin and black curly hair that cascaded down in ringlets. But, when you got past the surface, and looked at her oval-shaped, button nose, and narrow lips, they were all just like her mother.

She shouldn't have been surprised that she had given birth to a darker skinned child. Lord knows she had fucked enough black men, and all other races for that matter, around the time she conceived.

The flight attendant, Sonya, walked through the compartment, making sure everyone was belted in. She blushed as she looked at Kay, and hurried to the back of the plane.

Sonya and Arthur, the co-pilot, had made for a most satisfying diversion, an hour before. The couch Donna was belted in folded out into a small bed. Kay's daughter, having seen it all before, paid little attention to the goings on. She spent most of her time looking out the window at the Northern California coastline.

To mark the tenth anniversary of the Shiny Ladies. The original Ladies were doing a goodwill tour of the major cities of the world. Lupe was visiting Latin America, Australia, and the South Pacific Rim. Alice had covered Eastern North America and Europe. Angela was going to Africa, the Middle East, and Inland Asia.

That left Kay with the North Pacific Rim, and Canada and U.S., west of the Mississippi. She had started at Honolulu, then Kyoto, Tokyo, Seoul, Vladivostok, Anchorage, Vancouver, Calgary, and Seattle. After San Francisco, Kay and Donna would visit Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, Minneapolis, St Louis, then finally New Orleans.

While this may have sounded like a long grind, Kay decided, unlike Alice, to make it an extended vacation, and an educational experience for her daughter. They spent up to two weeks in some cities, seeing the sights, frolicking on the beaches, and learning the history. They had started at Honolulu in Mid-April. It was now late June.

Donna was a remarkably bright child, as were most Shiny Girls. She was studying at a fifth grade level, when she was attending the New York School for Young Goddesses in the UN Building.

Kay found out she was pregnant yet again, about a week before she was scheduled to leave on this tour. She saw no reason to cancel it. After all, it wasn't like she was pushing herself. And it was very rare for Shiny Ladies to have complications during pregnancy.

The plane landed on the private plane strip at San Francisco International.

Kay and Donna were waiting for the skyway, next to the stewardess, by the exit. Kay let out a gasp and clutched her stomach.

"Little Heather kicking again?" ask Donna.

Kay nodded. "I don't remember you being so active."

"Maybe you just forgot."

"I guess that's possible," she admitted.

As the skyway was pulling up, Kay's personal assistant, Priestess Alexandra, came up from the back, clipboard in hand. "Here's your itinerary and list of important people you'll meet, Kay."

Kay nodded and quickly scanned the page. Like most towns and cities, there were two co-mayors, a goddess and a priest. The priest made policy, and the goddess made sure it was carried out. Both were up for election every two years, though a goddess never lost an election.

This pairing was unique. Stephanie Quinn was a councilwoman before being transformed. The priestess, Annette Nakamura, had been her personal secretary, and lover. That made them a natural team for running the city.

As with most relationships, the goddess' inability to stay faithful ended the relationship, but the two stayed friends, and still had a good working relationship.

Stephanie was an avowed socialist, and would have the whole city under her direct control, if Annette hadn't been given the authority to override any of the goddess' orders. The two ended up working out compromises that kept the citizens happy.

When the skyway was finally secured against the jet, the stewardess opened the hatch, and let the two passengers out.

The mother and daughter stretched, reveling in the morning sunlight, that streamed through the doorway and onto their naked bodies.

They stepped out of the plane. At the base of the stairs stood the two mayors. Though their ages were less than a year apart, their different appearances was striking. The priestess, with her salt and pepper hair, was in excellent shape for a woman in her fifties. But the goddess looked like she was in her twenties. One would never guess her true age.

Behind the two, spread out in a wide arc, was approximately four hundred goddesses and priests, all still applauding.

By now, Kay was used to the reception. She nodded acknowledgement, and walked down the stairs.

At the bottom, the two goddesses embraced, the Kay shook hands with the priestess.

Mid-shake, Kay paused. There was something familiar about this priestess. A light came on in her head.

"Cecile?"

Annette broke into a big grin. "Katie? I knew it was you."

The two old friends hugged, and word started tumbling out of the priestess.

"But you look so different. And you always swore you'd never change your name."

"We can get caught up later. Right now, I have to greet everyone else."

Annette nodded. "Of course."

Kay waded through the crowd; shaking hands, hugging, and signing the occasional autograph book. All the time, she moved toward the limo waiting on the far side of the tarmac.

Donna, Stephanie, and Annette followed behind, in her wake.

After about a half hour, Kay finally made it to the waiting car. She managed to get the door open, slide inside.

The other three got in, undisturbed, on the far side.

"You know," said Kay, as she sank into her seat, "the first ten minutes of that is fun. After that, it becomes a chore."

Annette shrugged. "You can't blame them. How often does one get to meet one of the most influential women in the world."

The goddess sighed. "I know, I know."

After the priest limo driver, upfront, started the engine, he sped off the tarmac, and onto the barricaded off highway, leading into downtown San Francisco.

Donna darted from window to window, to see all the sights. She finally chose the right side, where she could see the container ships and tankers in the bay.

After settling down a bit, Stephanie broke the ice. "It seems that you two know each other."

Annette nodded. "I used to ... work for Katie ... I mean Kay's guardian, Heather."

"Ah yes, Heather Johnson, the fashion designer. You told me you worked for her.

"But you never said you went by the name Cecile."

The priestess blushed slightly. "It is complicated, but yes, I was known as Cecile back then."

The mayor switched her attention to Kay. "And you were called Katie."

"Katie is my real name. When I left home, to start my career, I used my initial, K, for my name. I didn't like Kate or Katherine, and Katie didn't sound professional. People naturally thought my name was Kay, the name. Instead of having to explain it every time. I let the name stick."

"I see. So all those people naming their daughters after you, aren't really giving the correct name."

"It has been over twenty years since anyone has called me Katie. I think of myself as Kay. As far as I'm concerned, Kay is my real name."

"Mommy, look!" cried Donna. "There's Candlestick Park. When are we going there?"

"Tonight.

"I thought it had another name."

Annette nodded. "A corporate one. But we both liked the original name, and so did most of the people. So we changed it back."

"Ah, the joys of unlimited power," said Kay.

Stephanie smiled. "You got that right."

"So, tell me," said Annette, changing the subject, "what is Heather up to? I completely lost touch when I left."

"She's doing fine. She lost her clientele when we Ladies took over. All the tops became bottoms. Everyone became a bottom to the Goddesses.

"But she came back, big time, with a new line of clothing. You've heard of Worship Clothes."

"Oh, sure. Those normal-looking clothes, with the hidden Velcro seams. Made for quick removal."

"Heather invented them."

"Really? She must be doing well."

"Definitely.

"Cecil is still with her. Heather finally got a clue that he was in love with her, and got married."

"You're kidding."

"No. He legally changed his name to Cecil, and took on her last name, to show his eternal devotion."

"Wow!"

As they were talking, the limo exited the cordoned off highway, onto Third Street, which was also isolated with police barriers.

Donna, still looking out the window, exclaimed, "Look at all those people fucking."

The other three looked and saw a sight unlike anything they'd ever seen before. Lining both sides of the street were naked people, at least three deep, having sex.

Kay gaped. "They're not fucking, dear. They're making love. Making love to us."

Indeed, the people copulating were not looking at each other. Their eyes were glued on the limo. As the car approached, the thrusting and gyrating increased in tempo and intensity.

The crowd consisted of people of all ages, from barely pubescent to the geriatric. They presumably came from all walks of life, but that was hard to tell. Class distinctions go away when everyone is naked. There were couple, threesomes, and larger groups, including one block-long orgy. There were even a few people masturbating by themselves.

The only contingent missing was gay men. The past ten years had not been kind to homosexual males. While there was no actual discrimination, being gay in a society that exalted female sexuality, left them outcasts; like a vegan at a Texas barbecue. They had sex with goddesses, because of the genetic imperative, but often felt distaste afterwards. As a result, most gay men stayed away from the temples.

A remarkably high number of gays, had given up the lifestyle, and gone straight. However, the researchers, who investigated the phenomenon, found that the former gays were, in fact, bisexual, still having sex with men. When they were with women, the would visualize the goddess.

Kay turned to Tony, the driver. "Slow down, but don't stop."

She then turned to the co-mayors. "Did you arrange this?"

Stephanie spread her hands. "No way. The people of San Francisco organized this by themselves."

"We did let out the route of our motorcade," said Annette.

"This is the most amazing demonstration of devotion I have ever seen."

Kay reached her decision. "All the Sisters, who were at the airport; are they following us?"

Stephanie nodded. "About a half mile back, in a fleet of buses"

"Tell them to hurry up and join us."

Annette was baffled. "Sure, but why?"

"Isn't it obvious? We have the faithful wanting the goddess. But the only goddesses here are Stephanie and me. And I don't think we can handle this many at once."

The priestess nodded, and pulled out her cell phone.

Stephanie spoke while Annette called up the buses. "I'm not sure two hundred sisters are enough to handle this mob. It's over a mile to our destination."

"You're probably right." Kay looked through the front window to Tony. "Call the temple. Tell them our situation. We need all the backup we can get. But have them loop around. We don't want to run into a street choked with people.

Annette pulled her head away from the phone. "What do you want the priests to do?"

Stephanie jumped in. "Pair off with a goddess, as protection. We don't want anyone to get crushed. You know how mobs can get."

Kay nodded in approval. "Pass that on to the temple too, Tony.

"This thing has a PA system, doesn't it?"

Stephanie nodded, pointing at a microphone.

Kay grabbed the mike, pressed the switch, while opening the sunroof, and stood up. The crowd roared in approval, even though Kay's head was all that was exposed.

Kay used a seat as a stepladder, so her whole upper body was through the hole in the roof.

The cheering got louder.

"My dear friends! Please be patient. Goddesses are on their way, for you."

More cheers.

Looking back, down Third, Kay saw two large green buses turn onto the street, side by side. A goddess got off one, a priest off the other. As soon as the line of buses had passed, the crowds overran the barricades, heading for the goddess. Fortunately, another pair was dropped off, a buslength later. They diverted part of the crowd.

Kay dropped back into the limo and closed the sunroof. "Okay. We can speed back up."

The car sped up to ten miles per hour. They turned down Kearny, losing sight of the buses.

A half mile later, when they turned right onto Merchant, there was still no sign of the buses. Annette, who was still on the phone, that they were just fine. It was a slow process unloading buses.

By the time the fleet reached Kearny, all the original buses were empty. Fortunately, in a display of impeccable timing, the buses from the temple pushed through the crowd in the street, at the turn, onto Kearny, leaving a hole for the empty buses to leave through.

By this time, the limo was parked in front of 606 Merchant Street, San Francisco's main home for goddesses. It used to be called the Trans American Pyramid, but it was now known by many names; the Love Pyramid being the most popular.

Every day, there was a hoard of goddesses who commuted from the Pyramid to the various temples around the Bay Area, most of which were former churches, mosques, or synagogues. Some traveled by bus and some by limo.

One group took a specially designated BART subway train. Each day, the goddesses would select lucky onlookers out of the crown to come along for the ride.

There was a small temple in the pyramid. And while it was used every day, its main purpose was for VIP meetings and receptions.

Coming out of the main entrance was the head priest and head goddess of San Francisco. They were Annette and Stephanie's religious counterparts. They lead the faithful, while the other two ran the city.

The head goddess, as she came gliding down the stairs, took Kay's breath away. She was one of the most exquisite creatures Kay had ever seen. She was just over six feet tall, with ringlets of pale blonde hair flowing her back and shoulders. She had full breasts and an hourglass figure. Only her small pug nose and thin lips kept her from being the embodiment of Aphrodite herself.

Kay knew all about Gloria Marnot; every goddess did. She had been a retired port star, slowly wasting away with AIDS. The coming of the Goddess changed all that. She was cured of her illness, and her body was rejuvenated to the glory of her youth. She started making instructional videos for her new sisters. They became instant hits. The DVD's even taught Kay a trick or two.

She was always smiling and gracious, in public, but was said to be a real bitch to the people under her, in private.

Her priest counterpart, Brian Nagy, was a former entertainment director on a cruise ship, and was the perfect counterbalance to the moody and demanding Gloria. He was always upbeat and smiling, and always knew the right thing to say or do, to placate Gloria.

He was in his early sixties, with just a touch of gray appearing at the temples of his brown hair. He stood five foot nine, with dimpled cheeks and twinkling brown eyes.

The priest was a seemingly effortless organizer. He was known to have lavish receptions ready, with less than an hour's notice.

As the two walked out of the building, the press corps, that was stationed behind barricades, on both sides, fell to their knees. Outside, the goddess pheromone was too dispersed to really affect anyone, from their distance. But the public was now condition to respond their goddesses, whether outside or on TV.

The cameramen already had their equipment set on auto-focus. So viewing public would be able to see the proceedings, without them being manned.