Chapter 27

I do not know why Carol Lawson somehow decided that her destiny was intertwined with mine, but I did not dispute her belief. Truth be told, I had a serious case of unrequited love for the woman. The only thing that had prevented me from acting on that desire was consideration of Tonya's feelings.

Carol's chronological age was forty-eight, but thanks to the rejuvimatrix, her physical age was more like twenty-eight. Carol was a tall and robust woman, just like her daughter, and she carried herself with the same natural grace. She had auburn hair and smoky grey eyes; she was attractive, but no raving beauty. She was more feminine in her demeanor than the normal woman of these times, opting for dresses instead of the usual trousers and tunics. She was a fine looking woman, but I was equally attracted to her sparkling personality. Carol had an infectious laugh, a wicked sense of humor and a flirtatious nature. She made me feel as if I was the manliest man of all time.

Carol's personality also complimented mine, in that we were both calm and easy-going. In no time at all, it was as if we had been friends for years. Carol and Sarah got along famously also, and the three of us spent the rest of the day talking, laughing and making plans for our trip back to my time. When it was time for bed, Sarah insisted that I spend the night alone with Carol.

"There will be plenty of time for the three of us," Sarah stated, "and make no mistake about it, after tonight, we'll share a bed."

The compatibility Carol and I shared spilled over into the bedroom. And from the first, there was no awkwardness between us. From the minute she stepped out of the bathroom in a long shimmering nightgown, until we fell into a sated sleep, the night was magical. Carol, for all her years, was not a skillful lover. But what she lacked in skill, she made up for in enthusiasm.

I awoke the following morning with her nestled in my arms. I tried to slip quietly out of bed, but she was already awake. She sighed contentedly and pulled me closer to her.

"Don't go," she said huskily as she pulled my head down to hers.

I started to get antsy about eleven that morning, because sitting around doing nothing was against my nature. Right after lunch, Sarah and Carol had enough of my pacing around and dragged me up to the bedroom to give me something to occupy my time. It worked and the three of us were even better together than any two of us. I found that hard to believe, but it was sure true. We were decadently lounging around on the bed, naked as the day we were born, when Sarah's vid-phone chimed.

The caller was Helena, with the good news that I could go back home the day after next. Helena also told us that Sonja needed to see me first, and could I come back a day early. I quickly agreed. My women jumped up and dressed then, but left me wallowing in bed. Take a nap they said. Take a nap I did.

I woke up at a few minutes after four in the afternoon. I dressed and moseyed down to the kitchen. It was too early for supper, but Mary Smith gave me a glass of lemonade and told me Liz wanted to see me in her office.

Most of the ground floor of Liz's residence was given over to the function of the country of New England. The dining room and kitchen only occupied about a fourth of it. Still, when compared to the Capital Building and White House in my former time, it wasn't much. Liz had a nice sized corner office at the opposite side of the building from the kitchen. A set of free standing stairs on the outside wall of her office led up to her bedroom on the second floor. Beside the office was a flag draped conference room dominated by a granite topped table and twelve padded armchairs. Next to the conference room was the communications center, a large room filled with blinking picture screens and whirring computational machines. The opposite side of the central hall held offices for Liz's staff.

A secretary announced my presence and led me into Liz's office. Liz came around her desk and gave me a hug, then pointed to a satchel resting on a side table.

"That's for you, Jeremiah."

I opened the satchel and peeked inside. Shining back at me was a jumble of poorly-formed, one pound gold ingots.

"This is a fortune," I blurted.

Liz shrugged her shoulders.

"In your time it was, but to us it is a fairly common metal with little practical use. It's a small token of our appreciation for all you've done for us. By eliminating the Juicers and neutralizing Bearclaw, you advanced our cause by many years. With Bearclaw out of the way and a legitimate Pleiad seated, I see the Valley joining the alliance we already have in place with Casadega. When that's done, we can truly look outwards. There are thousands of square miles of wilderness to explore and survey for artifacts and settlements. You are going to lead those explorations. The gold can buy you luxury and comfort in your own century to make up for the privations you experience here."

The following morning, we boarded a vehicle Carol called a 'bus' for our trip to Paradise Valley. The bus was not unlike a railroad passenger coach, only it was self-propelled. The bus had about a dozen other people on it. Lucy was one of those people. She was on her way to meet with Sonja to expedite better relations between the valley and New England. The four of us sat on a pair of padded benches that faced each other. The women peppered me about where I lived and the people of my times. Lucy also excitedly told us of the rapidly improving relations happening between the outlanders and the valley dwellers.

The trip to the valley was my third one, and it was the most pleasant by far. The coach was very comfortable, and on this trip I was neither wounded nor a hunted man. The only uncomfortable moments of the trip were when Lucy asked me to sit in another seat with her for a private conversation.

We moved to an empty section of the bus and Lucy came straight to the point.

"Jeb, I want a baby and I want it to be yours. I can wait to be artificially inseminated when we get around to that, but I'd rather do it the natural way."

Lucy was never one to beat around the bush! I looked at her for a minute, considering how I was going to answer her. See, the anonymous aspect of providing my essence for Liz's plan was the main reason I signed on to it. If I did not know the women whose eggs my sperm fertilized, I would not feel responsible for the children that resulted. If I had a child with Lucy the natural way, I would obviously know. And I had one other reason having to do with who she was.

Lucy saw my hesitation and took it the wrong way. Her hopeful look clouded over until it changed to sadness tinged with anger.

"Don't tell me that my skin color is an issue," she hissed.

I held up my hand to stop her from saying anything further.

"Listen Lucy, your skin color doesn't make the slightest difference to me. I've never been with a woman of color, but that is simply because of the lack of opportunity. One of my problems with the idea is being a part of the child's life. You already know how I feel about that from the other night. The other reason has to do with you being altered, and if you plan to alter your child the same way."

Relief washed over her face and she gave me a sweet smile.

"I'd want my child to know who their father was and I'd expect that father to take an interest in the child's life. And except for medical necessities, I want our child to be unaltered also. I think we'd make a beautiful baby, Jeb."

That being the case, I happily agreed.

Lucy was all smiles when we returned to our original seats. Sarah and Carol looked at her expectantly when she sat down. Lucy nodded her head and the three women hugged.

"I told you he'd do it," Carol stated, matter-of-factly. "We are going to have a bunch of crazy little muleskinners running around here before you know it."

The women and I separated as soon as we arrived at the university megaplex. I went to visit Sonja and they head towards Sarah's apartment. I caught up with Sonja at her office off the Pleiad's Chambers.

My meeting with Sonja went much as my meeting with Queen Elizabeth. As soon as she gave me a kiss and a hug, she pressed a satchel full of gold ingots into my hands. There had to be at least thirty pounds of gold in the bag. I again protested the gift but Sonja insisted that it was payment for services authorized by the new Pleiad.

Once again I reluctantly accepted the gold, then Sonja and I sat and talked for a few minutes. Sonja said she was sad that she wasn't going back in time with me but she was need here now more than ever what with a new Pleiad seated. I told her I would miss her but that I understood all about duty coming first. We shared a sweet kiss when I left and I promised her I would visit here every time I was in the valley.

"You better," she said with a grin, "because you owe me some loving."

I met with Helena later that afternoon. Sarah and Carol did not go with me. They were busy gathering up what they wanted to take with them for our return to my time.

With Mendez out of the picture, Helena was now the head of the time travel project, and she had a completely different idea of how to use the machine. Instead of fruitlessly trying to change the past, Helena was going to pluck things from it that were unavailable here in the future. A committee of scientist had already been formed, and was working on a list of those items. The list of ideas included everything from raw materials to plants and animals that were extinct here in the twenty-sixth century.