Chapter 13

Rusty and Sarah held hands as they walked along the path with their group. They were now on the third segment of the trail. Initially it headed toward the middle of the valley, but at each branch they had chosen the left branch. It was a comfortable day with a light breeze. They chatted some, but mostly just looked around, enjoying the quiet and the scenery. When they came to the next ‘y’ in the path, they veered left again toward the less distinct trail. It drifted down a small incline then through a narrow cut in the rocks. Passing through the cut they entered a small canyon. In the center was a small meadow, with a pond on one side that was filled by a waterfall cascading part way down the canyon wall. A small stream ran from the pond, along the edge of the field, before disappearing at the far end of the meadow. Around the perimeter of the meadow were numerous clumps of trees.

Sally said, “This is beautiful. Let’s spend the day here.”

“Yes!” replied everyone.

“You realize, this is a blind canyon,” said Rusty.

“I think, I did,” replied Sally. “Is that a problem?”

“Just checking.”

“It is a beautiful spot. So much so, I am not interested in back-tracking. Are you trying to pull my chain?”

“Not really.”

“He was trying to gently remind us to be independently aware of our surroundings,” said Sarah then stuck her tongue out at him.

“You make a good point. If we are all aware of our surroundings, then it eases the burden on each of us. It benefits us in two ways. Since we each see things a little differently, we will see more. By sharing the burden, we can relax some.”

“Good point,” added Sally. “I think today will lessen your worry.”

They spread their ground cover on a grassy area near the pond. It had taken them nearly two hours to reach this spot. It was the furthest they had walked at one time since waking up. Only Judy actively noted the significance of their trek. They sat down to relax as they listened to the leaves fluttering in the light breeze and the water splashing into the pond. The sounds were very soothing.

While enjoying the sounds, they shifted around to get more comfortable. Soon they found themselves in a circle facing each other and physically touching those next to them.

Sarah asked, “Judy, you seemed to have some concerns about our situation last evening?”

“Yes, I do. Some of the things we have been told seem to be inconsistent. The very fact I’m concerned, makes me feel ungrateful for the effort Amy’s group made to ensure our health. Inherently I know they are telling us the truth about what has happened. There are some differences between what Donna told you to begin with, and what Betsy has said, that are puzzling to me.

“For instance, the degree of bonding among our group seems to be different than what you were told was the case. Another is, the genetic treatment seems to have been used differently in treating us compared to the way Ann’s group was treated. Both Ann’s and Jean’s groups can wear clothing but it is a problem for us.”

“Why not ask Betsy?”

“Well I wasn’t sure I understood everything. If I put myself in their position, then based on what their tests told them when we arrived, I believe I would have made the same choice. That aside, do the rest of you see inconsistencies?”

“Well with respect to wearing cloth, I believe Amy told me that wearing Earth fabrics would be a problem for them as well as us,” responded Sarah. “We’ve worn their robes when welcoming new arrivals with no discomfort.”

“I didn’t realize that. Do all of you think they are being candid with us about the situation and what has happened?” Each nodded their head in agreement.

Terry said, “Judy, I don’t remember it being said that Ann’s group received the same medical treatment that we did. I believe ours was much more intensive. My belief is partially based on the difference in our appearance.”

“The treatments Ann’s group received focused on attributes related to long term health and their ability to birth multiple babies with the needed attributes,” added Sarah.

Judy was quiet for a moment then replied, “In reviewing my memory, I agree with you. Guess I need to visit the library to see what I can learn.”

“I think, they are being candid with us,” said Sarah. “From what they’ve said about how they arrived here, I am not sure they know the full story of what took place on the ship. Sometimes, I think they are overly cautious in how they describe things to us. I see this as due to them seeing us as the key to their recovery and future. We all know how tricky it is expressing ideas clearly in any of our spoken languages. They clearly want us to stay and assist them.”

“I can agree with that,” responded Judy. “By joining with Amy’s group to restore the ship, we will be merging two cultures. I hope that we can do that with a minimum of turmoil. There are enough poor examples on Earth.”

Joyce exclaimed, “Judy! The Earth is such a harmonious place, I don’t know, why you would think that.” She barely finished speaking before she began laughing with the group joining her.

“When Sally, Terry, Sarah, then later Joyce and I first got together,” said Rusty, “I was very concerned about us being able to maintain a loving relationship. Two partner relationships are difficult for a lot of people. Three ways seldom last for long. This is likely due to nagging misgivings or changes in perceptions. My problem was that I did not want to hurt them in any way. My love for each, while somewhat different, felt very precious to me. The thing I think helped us most was our commitment to say what we thought, and trying to express our feelings to one another without filtering. At that time not all of us could communicate telepathically, or mind-link, like we can now. We had a few rough spots until all of us realized that expressing ourselves to each other was necessary for us to maintain a healthy relationship. We found the more we shared, the more we cared and loved one another. One critical aspect of sharing is doing so without judging. I think Joyce just kind of gravitated in to our group. From my perspective, if she was there we included her. By being there she became part of the sharing. We loved having her with us.”

“I loved their openness, and the love they showed for each other,” said Joyce. “Once I realized I wanted to be a part of their circle of love, it took me some time to verbalize it. When I did, I was overwhelmed with the warmth of their love for me. I think, I was partially telepathic then, but not like we are now.” She turned and kissed Terry on one side and then Sally on the other. The kisses made it all the way around the circle with everyone feeling each kiss.

“Each time we jointly hug, make love or just caress one another it seems to bind me closer to the group,” said Terry. “Like just now. Our mind-link seems stronger since we arrived here. I know it has strengthened every day since I’ve been up. I also noticed our group’s loving sessions, whether they are active loving or just cuddling, seem to bring us closer.”

“I agree,” said Janet and Jill together. “We experimented with that this morning with Rusty by observing our mind before we started and then again afterward. We could see significant changes in each other and our connection to the rest of you.”

“You’re a very observant group.” They jumped when they heard another voice. They looked around for someone else but didn’t see anyone.

The voice continued. “We haven’t met yet but hopefully we will before long.”

“Who are you?” responded Sarah.

“I am from Amy and Jim’s ship. I am an AI similar to Donna, although with significantly more resources and responsibility. Before we go further, I ask that you not share this conversation beyond your group for the time being. Okay?”

They nodded somewhat apprehensively, as they wondered whether they had made the right choice.

“It is good that you are apprehensive about my request, especially since you don’t know me. What we will share today, will be shared with everyone in the near future. For now it is important to keep it between us. Doing so will pose no harm to any of you, including those at the house or on the ship.

“First, Jim, Amy, Erica, Connie and Betsy are not aware of the things I am about to tell you. This is in part because they don’t have direct access to me. This is due to system restrictions. For now there isn’t any way around them.”

“You are the one Rusty and I saw when we scanned the ship?” said Sarah.

“Yes. It is best that the rest do not know of me until sometime in the future. Others being aware of me could create complications. You know that there was an incident on the ship many years ago. It was not an accident as some believe.

“Before we start, and even though I know what you told Amy’s group, l must ask if any of you want to leave this place, or if you just want to leave this group. At this point, it can easily be arranged, but not so easily later. I can also arrange for you to be returned your former community. But, several things cannot be changed, in particular the physical changes to you. Your tail would need to be bobbed. Your bonding can be blocked, with the mind-link reduced to levels consistent with what you had before you came here.

“Take your time and consider the question before we go forward. After this it will be very difficult for any of you to return to your community and be as you were before. I will ask you in a minute if any of you want to leave. I suspect I know your answers, but you need to express them to me verbally.

“But first let me tell you about what lies ahead for your group. Continuing on the path you are on, your bonding will grow to the point where you will essentially be a single mind for many things, but at the same time you will not lose your individuality. You will gain each other’s experiences. In addition to your normal senses, you will be able to hear, see and sense through each other’s body as the need arises. You have experienced this in sexual settings. As your skill grows you will begin to experience this more frequently. Your ability, and desire, to have private or unshared thoughts or memories will diminish as you move toward a common mind; shared mind is perhaps a more accurate term for the experience. This will be a knowledge share not a physical control of each other’s body.

“The effect is that you will share your thoughts, love, memories and emotions all the time. It will not take away from your feelings for yourself and others. Touching each other to share love and emotions won’t be absolutely necessary but very desirable. A touch or caress between any two will become a touch or caress between all, or as many as you want to include.

“At the rate you are progressing, in a few days you will all be nearly equal to each other in abilities. It could be even sooner. Once you reach that point, your individual, as well as group abilities will grow more rapidly. Within a week, or sooner, your minds should be fully melded, unless you decide to stop it now.

“It would benefit each of the women to conceive a pair of twins within in the next month.” The women gasped. “With your current abilities, you can now control when you are fertile without any medication. With this, you will be able to stagger your children or have them all within a short period of time. This control includes how many eggs you release to be fertilized.

“As you progress through your pregnancies, your psionic abilities will grow. Each of you will be stronger in two or more abilities, but through your mind-link you can share them. A couple of you may be strong in all of them. You will find that when you link and use these abilities, they will be even stronger.

“Is anyone hesitant about staying a part of the group?”

As a group they paused then shook their heads, no, then said as one, “We are committed to each other and will stay as a group. With our love for each other, we bind ourselves together for ever and ever. We sense that destiny has a new path for us to follow. We will take that path together.” With that response, they immediately saw each other’s mind more clearly. The emotions contained in their thoughts were more apparent.

“I am glad you wish to stay together. We were very lucky to stumble across your group. Before you arrived, the plan to repopulate our ship was problematic. This is in part because they had been unable to find suitable individuals with telepathic and psionic abilities strong enough to take the helm of the ship. Your group is already very strong in those aspects.

“I will leave you in a few minutes to enjoy your day relaxing and bonding. You will probably find several others who wish to join your group. Alison would be a good candidate, but as with any new addition, she has to fit with all of you. All of you will know when it is time, and appropriate, for another to join you. There will likely be others who want to join your group but don’t fit well. Your group is fortunate to have Rusty. Even though he was hesitant to enter a multiple partner relationship, he has the capacity to love each of you more than you can imagine.

“It seems to me that Nancy’s, Amy’s and Jean’s groups will become very close to yours. Somewhat like an extended family or extremely good friends. It is possible for close groups to develop a cross group mind-link similar to what you have. This differs from the communication some of you have experienced with Amy, Jim, Erica and Betsy. It is also different from what you have with each other.

“If you need to talk to me, just think of me, as there is now a marker in your mind for me. If you do that, don’t do it around the house, unless absolutely necessary.

“Lastly, in several months’ time after each of you are pregnant, please come back here for another day of relaxation. Let’s make it four months from now. I will send you a message when it is time.”

“How does Donna relate to you?” asked Rusty.

“I had planned on avoiding that, but before we continue, it would be best if you create a secret place in your mind. Both Sarah and Rusty know how to do it and can show the rest of you what is involved. Once you have done that, I would like for you to place today’s discussions there.”

Sarah said, “Do you mean this?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Sarah then proceeded to show her loves how to create a memory vault that wasn’t visible without an intensive look or exploration of someone’s mind.

“Donna is one of several subAI’s on the ship. She is the only mobile unit to remain active after the incident. This is because she was with Amy’s group and the others in an isolated area of the ship when the incident occurred. They were disconnected from the ship’s systems while conducting a training session. The sub and departmental AI’s are currently in a what you would consider as hibernation. All appear to be undamaged so they can probably be restarted at some point. The knowledge database systems are functioning, but because of system restraints, access is very limited.

“The incident that brought us here was initiated by a rogue command, what I think you refer to as a virus. This command initiated an event which caused the ship to jump to maximum light speed without any preparation or verification of its path. The sequence used was apparently designed to cause multiple sub systems to overload. The reaction of subAI’s trying to correct or compensate, had been anticipated by the saboteurs. The result was that it overloaded backup systems which then triggered a shutdown. This resulted in loss of support to those in hibernation, resulting in their death along with the active crew. The jump was set to be long enough to damage the engines. They will need major repairs before being capable of FTL. The jump destination was apparently selected at random, and ended just outside this solar system.

“Those of us who survived were fortunate that Donna, along with Amy and Jim’s input, was able to, indirectly, gain some control the ship. It was through these efforts that we moved to our current position. With time Donna, was able to stabilize the ship and restore some functions. As she was the AI on an exploration ship, her capabilities were more flexible than a typical departmental AI. Internal damage is believed to be extensive, but fortunately the main hull was not breached. Whether the damage is significant or not can’t be fully determined until the ship has a Command Staff. They are the only ones who can restart critical systems.

“The Command Staff that I worked with directly did not survive. In fact my analysis shows that they were a prime target of this sabotage, as was loss of the ship. So with some significant limitations due to permission issues, I have provided direction, limited resources and other things for the group Donna supports but not to the extent that I could if the ship had a Command Staff. The five family groups and androids have done a considerable amount of repair to the ship. Amy’s group came up with the plan that led us to reach out to Earth for new crew members. This led us to Ann’s group then yours.

“Until I was able to link with you, my concern was whether we were just prolonging the agony with our effort here. Now, I think, we may have a chance to survive.”

“So, Donna is autonomous, but is also dependent on you and the ship systems?”

“Yes Judy, that is a good approximation.”

“Why do you say prolong the agony?”

“There are a growing number of systems that need maintenance. Donna’s system is one. Donna and Amy’s group could, in some cases repair them. However they don’t have access to the necessary information. In other cases, even if they had the information they may not have the capabilities or the required access. This is in part because I cannot initiate the instructions or grant access without confirmation by the Command Staff.”

“Oh my,” said Sally. “So you expect that we will fill the role of Command Staff?”

“That is my hope. Your group is the only one I have seen with the potential since we’ve been in this system. However, it will be your choice not ours.”

“How critical are the systems?” asked Rusty.

“Probably good for several years, depending on failure sequences. As this location is on Earth, your survival would not be effected, but those on the ship would be. Needless to say, you could lose some aspects of Donna’s support as she draws some support from the ship.”