Chapter 15

Macario lay out by the pool, getting himself a late morning tan. He was getting a hard-on from listening to Holly and Haley as they munched on each other for dessert. After a while, though, the twins came looking for something else to do – besides each other. 'Something else to fuck besides each other, you mean... '

"Hi, Mackie-honey," Haley greeted him, her lips scrunched together in what she thought was a sexy pout.

"Yeah, hi from me too," Holly said as they dropped down, one on either side of him.

"Yer blockin' the sun," Mac grunted, refusing to open his eyes to greet either one.

"Too bad..."

After a moment of silence, one of them began; "We decided..."

"that we're gonna go back..."

"to New Eden."

"Yeah."

"Wanna cuuum?" Holly cooed, stretching forward to caress Mac's oiled back like a cat would rub up against his legs – except for the fact that she was using her tits.

"Your choice..."

"You can cuum now..."

"or come with us."

"And cuum later."

"Or both."

"Whichever."

"So..."

"What's it gonna be, cowboy?"

"Now?"

"Or later?"

Mac held up his hands in surrender, hoping to shut them both up. "Okay, ladies, lemme find something to wear first," he told them, then clambered to his feet.

"No problem."

"We'll wait."

His body felt warm and languid from lying in the sun for the last hour or so. He didn't really begrudge the girls wanting to go home. After all, they were only here because he'd wanted to visit Frank and Tanya, and those two were currently out, guiding a hunting party. And they'd probably stay out overnight – especially if they bagged something that would require field dressing and packing for transport.

A lot of the meat from the hunts went back to New Eden, along with the skin and bones of various prehistoric creatures to be mounted in the university museum. Tanya, as well as Queen Alana, who had also gone with the group, was perfectly capable of instantaneously transporting whatever they bagged, but it took time to prepare and package giant dinosaurs so that they arrived all neat and clean at their destination. Nobody liked a large, dead animal leaking blood all over the floor.

His twins, though, easily became bored, especially if everyone was gone, like today. He smiled to himself, thinking about 'his' twins – Holly and Haley had, more or less, adopted him after Lisa had left, so perhaps he belonged to them, rather than the other way around. It didn't really matter – they went wherever he did, and he didn't seem to be able to shake them off.

Not that he minded, after all. They were both incredibly sexy, and they both, especially Haley, seemed to care for him a great deal. Also, they were the closest he'd ever get to anyone like Lisa, or at least, that's what he believed. He didn't wonder that the twins had actually initiated a move by wanting to go back to New Eden; he figured that they were missing Lisa, just like he was, and they needed a change of environment to cheer them up.

And thinking about Lisa and her fatalistic attitude toward life made him feel depressed all over again. With her unstable, manic/depressive attitude, she could have decided to dive into a volcano as easily as she could have destroyed their whole world – and maybe she had, and then gone back to stop it all from happening. That odd, irresponsible attitude of hers wouldn't prevent her from experimenting or committing rash actions, especially if she could go back in time to erase any ill effects she created.

As he packed his bag with what few clothes he'd brought with him, he felt the weight of his loneliness descend on his shoulders once again. He tried to shrug it off, knowing Haley always knew whenever he got depressed like this and would pop in any moment to try and make him feel better.

How could Lisa have been so cruel as to actually train Haley – more like, brainwash the girl – to act as her replacement in case anything happened to her? Had she really believed that Haley would make a satisfactory substitute? And why had Lisa believed that she wouldn't always be around, anyway?

Macario knew that Elaine had predicted her demise, but her vision of death had been meant for Beth, not Lisa. The problem was that Lisa still believed she was destined for an early death, even after her demise as Beth and her rebirth as Béla's daughter. And she had made plans – Murielle and Miranda would take care of Béla (or Alana, as it turned out), and Holly and Haley would take care of him. Tia and Tara had been supposed to take care of Frank and Tanya, though since they had each other, Frank and Tanya didn't need anyone to ease them through whatever upset Lisa's disappearance might cause.

Yes, Lisa had planned it all out, dozens of years ago, certain that one day she'd not be around any more – had taken care of everything except for the part where there was no one to fill the giant hole where Lisa had lived in his heart. Haley couldn't do that, though she tried her best.

The almost silent change in air pressure announced the arrival of Haley, who had, as expected, noticed Macario's mood change. He really couldn't blame her – she was only doing what she had been given to do by her mentor, Lisa, all those years ago, and she took her task very seriously. Perhaps the girl even believed she loved him, after a fashion. Mac didn't care. What was important here was that he didn't resent her for trying. He knew she'd loved Lisa, too, even as he, himself, had. They both missed her. And that mutual love for Lisa was the only thing that allowed him to tolerate Haley's efforts. 'That and the fact that she's a really great fuck... '

"You ready?" Haley asked, her voice steady and controlled as she did her best to sound casual.

"Yeah," Mac replied, and picked up his bag.

Haley reached out and touched his arm. The scene changed from his dimly lit room to a sunny meadow. Mac squinted as his eyes adjusted to the bright, noonday sun. Holly was already there, waiting. The two sisters joined hands and began to chant – the meaningless syllables enabling them to concentrate on bringing forth the wormhole that connected them to the far distant future.

The swirling phenomenon surrounded the trio almost instantly and sucked them into its dark central core. Macario always hated the gut-wrenching sensation of traveling in this fashion, but it only lasted a few seconds, then he was standing in the woods near the Phoenix Preserve. He lost his balance for a few seconds as he regained his 'space legs'.

New Eden was an artificial planetoid, hollow on the inside where everyone lived, and only along the equator could one stand exactly upright and walk like a normal human being. Everywhere else, including where he was right now, the ground was tilted – centrifical force being the only thing holding him against the inside surface. In addition, due to the slow rotation of the artificial moon, gravity was only a quarter of what everyone experienced on earth.

Here, he was light, but everything was crooked, including the landscape which, if you were standing at the equator, tilted crazily upward in every direction. In addition, the contrast between Earth's sun in the Jurassic period and that pale white, gleaming crystal located halfway up the sky was quite noticeable. The real sun was hot and filled with life-giving energy while this ... travesty ... only made that empty part of his soul cry out even more for the way things used to be.

"Let's go see what Elaine's got going these days," one of the twins suggested.

Without consulting him, one of them grabbed Mac by his shoulder and took him along on a much shorter (thankfully) journey though the blackness of short-range teleportation. Appearing in the dining hall of the Tower of the Goddess of the Land, Holly and Haley pointed Macario in the direction of the well-laid-out spread of cold meats, diced fruits and vegetables. "Enjoy, darling," Haley suggested.

"We'll be back soon."

"After we talk to Elaine."

"We promise."

"Then if you want..."

"we can take you hunting."

"Your choice of weapons, of course..."

"Okay," Mac replied, holding up his hands in what was becoming a familiar, 'Oh please, just shut up!' gesture. "Go do your thing – I'll still be here."

'Not like I have anywhere else to be... '

As the two slender twins turned away, colorful but short sarongs appeared on their bodies to cover their nudity as they walked out of the room.

Mac couldn't help but wonder what those two were up to. If it was up to him, he'd like to volunteer to go back into Earth's past where those strange children were going to be exiled. He'd heard Alana talking about it, and knew how worried the queen was regarding how many of her subjects might volunteer to escape this little utopia she'd created for the remnants of humankind.

Perhaps the queen was right to worry; after all, he couldn't really stand it here, especially without Lisa at his side. What better thing to take his mind off his self-indulgent pity than spending the rest of his life in a wild, uncontrolled environment where each and every pleasure in life had to be hacked out of stone. At least, surviving as a group member in the far distant past would be a challenge, something completely lacking in this stale, artificial paradise.

'And mankind thrives when confronted with a challenge... ' or so he believed, though that hadn't happened the last time, when the sun began this last campaign of ultimate extinction of all life on Earth. Then he thought on it again, and realized that there had been one last effort to win the day: The Second Southern Confederacy.

And perhaps there had been others. He had no idea of what had happened in other parts of the world – Europe, the British Isles, or even China. There could have been a final resurgence of civilization along the West Coast, or even at the North and South Poles and, because global communication had been permanently knocked out by solar radiation, nobody would ever know about any of it.

But of all those possibilities, no one else had built a spaceship to escape the sun's deadly radiation; only his little group hidden away in the Colorado Rockies. He thought about all the people who no longer lived on his scorched, dead world, and losing Lisa seemed to pale in significance. Everyone had lost something or someone precious, even those who had already been living here.

He looked around and realized that the twins had brought him to the first temple, where Elaine resided. As he wondered about why they were here, it occurred to him that this was exactly where he wanted to be. Elaine, after all, was in charge of organizing the transfer of that cannibalistic colony to Earth's pre-civilized past.

Unable to find an acceptable place in human history for those six charming little girls who could overpower the highly developed minds of the goddesses here, it had been decided to send them farther into the past, into mankind's pre-history. Along with many of the goddess Jolene's cannibalistic worshipers and anyone else who wanted to go.

Pioneering new, virgin land untouched by humankind interested hundreds of people all over New Eden. Apparently, Alana's concerns about 'her' people were valid; a lot of them wanted to leave and start over. This would be, after all, the one and only chance anyone would ever have to return to old Earth – the Earth that was; not the dead, scorched one that existed now. Besides, New Eden was getting pretty crowded these days, especially now that so many young girls were parading around, proud and naked.

The idea of having a central food distribution center for each town had become very popular, and food was only prepared in individual households in the outlying farm areas. Filling a plate, Mac sat down at one of the few empty stone benches lining the walls of the food center and looked around the room. All sorts of people were sitting or standing, talking with each other as they ate. Conversations ran mostly to family and friends' health, crops, new stalls displaying various arts and crafts.

A young girl came over and sat down next to him. "You're Macario," she stated, not the least bit hesitant.

Mac merely nodded, his mouth working on the piece of meat he's stuffed into it when he saw the girl approaching. His effort to avoid talking to her was completely ignored. The girl had most likely deliberately sought him, or someone like him, out.

The girl smiled, almost laughing as she watched Mac try to swallow his over-large mouthful of food with some measure of dignity. When he scowled at her, she instantly became more polite. Finally, he forced himself to look at her.

"I'm sorry," the slender brunette said when he raised his eyes to her. "You probably don't remember me. I'm Sam – Samantha."

"Mac choked, then immediately tried to apologize. "The princess? God! It's been ... years! You were just a little girl the last time I saw you."

"I've grown up a bit," the princess laughed. "I don't fly in the castle anymore – except on the balcony ... and then it's just for taking off and landing."

She explained that she'd seen him come into the temple, and decided to talk to him; see if he needed someone to talk to. She was sorry for his loss and hoped that, wherever the First Daughter was, she hoped she was alright.

"So you don't take the title, First Daughter, yourself?" Mac asked, surprised at how friendly and mature the rambunctious young princess was behaving.

"No," Samantha laughed. "Besides, Becky is four minutes older than I am, so I couldn't take the title anyway. Besides, we loved Aunt Lisa, and we miss her. We miss you, too. You haven't been around Court for ... well, since Aunt Lisa left."

Mac finished up the last bits of food on his plate, then set it down. The two sat silently for a moment or two, trying to act friendly, yet not wanting to stare at each other. "You've become a beautiful young woman," Mac complimented the princess.

"Thanks. You too," Sam replied automatically, then laughed again. "I don't mean that you're a woman, or beautiful. Even though you are. I mean..."

"It's alright," Mac assured her. He didn't want to tell her that, in the early years, Lisa used to call him, 'My Beautiful Macario.'

The sudden sadness in her eyes told him that she was just like the rest of her kind – at least as far as her mind-reading capabilities went, always eager to stick their noses in where they weren't wanted. And now he'd embarrassed her by broadcasting something that he would much rather have kept private. Well, it was her own damned fault for sitting down next to him...

"She'll come back, Uncle Mac," Sam told him, rising to her feet as she realized she'd outstayed her welcome. "She always does." She kissed him on the cheek, her delicate lips merely grazing his skin before she turned and walked away.

"Yeah," Mac said, mostly to himself now that he was alone again. "But I won't be here to see it." He got up and walked toward the majestic curved stairwell that led upstairs, determined to find Elaine and his ditzy twins. He was going to leave New Eden. He hoped the twins would decide to stay behind as he didn't want to be responsible for any misery living like cave people might cause them.

But whether they traveled with him or stayed behind, he felt lighter, and perhaps a bit younger because of his decision. He wasn't going to wait for Lisa any longer. Besides, even before she'd left for good, their relationship had been strained, mostly because of her growing enmity toward him, and her other family members, as well. She'd even alienated some of her disciples, especially Murielle and Miranda because they didn't have the drive and dedication she thought they should have to make the most of their budding Phoenix abilities.

He walked toward Elaine's third floor audience chamber, his bare feet making almost no noise. The walls were still a brilliant, pristine white, sending the light from the crystal sun into the darkest corners with ease. Although he hadn't been here at the time, he remembered from his studies of New Eden that the townspeople had built this chapel to honor Béla, the Goddess of the Land, for saving them all from that terrible plague.

As he approached the audience chamber, Mac could hear female voices, quiet and very serious as though they were trying not to attract attention to the fact that they were arguing. This was a temple, after all.

"But think of the things you'll miss, here in New Eden," Elaine was saying, sounding stressed and upset as she spoke to Holly and Haley. "There is civilization here, and you know you can't leave anything behind on Earth that might be uncovered in the future. No metal can be allowed to go through that wormhole. And everything – and I mean Everything – will have to be made by hand. Living and hunting and plowing. Carving a viable civilization out of a jungle is hard work. I know."