Chapter 14

As they approached the buildings, Sarah said to the lions, “Why don’t you walk along with us? I think, that would convey a better message than anything we could say or do.”

The looks on the faces of those on the patio were priceless when they saw Sarah’s group coming up the path with the lions mingling among them like friendly kittens.

Ignoring the looks when they neared the buildings Sarah asked, “Donna, how long until dinner?”

“You timed your return well. In about an hour.”

“Great. We are going to do exercises then freshen up. By the way, would you tell Ann we have six more guests for dinner? Their diet is a little different, so ask her to provide a raw meat of about 12 pounds on a plate for each.”

“Did I understand you to say a 12 pound raw meat on each plate?”

“Yes. Roasts would be a good choice but our new guests prefer their meat raw.”

“Okay...”

When they reached the exercise room, they found an additional exerciser for Alison. Jill said, “Are our needs always anticipated this well?”

“So far, it has happened a lot,” replied Sarah. “I attributed it to there being so few of us.”

When their exercises were complete, Jill, Janet, Joyce and Judy were huffing and puffing. They had to be helped to the shower. Judy said, “Maybe it was my imagination but that seemed much more strenuous than this morning.”

“The second day we were up the exercise intensity increased dramatically,” said Rusty. “Terry and Sally had a similar experience the second day they were up.”

As Joyce gasped for breath she said, “My first thought was that I was on the wrong one. So why the sudden surge?”

“Our impression is that it is done to increase our stamina, as a part of the transition to being up and around. Donna did tell us that the step change on the second day was normal and we could have it dialed back. Since the big increase, I’ve noticed small increases each day.”

“Interesting,” responded Judy. “I’ll talk to Betsy or Connie about it. Alison, how was yours?”

“It didn’t seem any different. I think it is a great way to let our milk down. It is definitely much better than where we were before.”

On their way to eat Lion Ja said, “Could you all give us a tour? We think it would help us in an emergency.”

Sarah and Rusty nodded to one another. “Sure. It is too close to meal time now, so let’s do it afterward. We will introduce you before dinner starts and there will be a group meeting after we eat”

“Is it my imagination or do you guys have a special connection to the lions?” said Alison.

“Yes,” replied Rusty with Sally nodding yes.

“Alison, we would like to keep that quiet for the time being,” said Joyce.

“Okay,” said Alison. “Erin and Tara are sort of linked with me. I don’t think it is a mind-link, but since we’ve been here, we are nearly always aware of each other’s activity, so I suspect, they’ve heard us.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” responded Ja. “Would you introduce them to us at dinner, or right afterward?”

“Sure.”

When they reached the patio, Nancy was standing near the door. Seeing them she stepped over and gave Sarah and Rusty a big hug and kiss. Alice came over to greet Terry and Judy the same way.

Sarah said, “With a welcome like this, we should go on more picnics.”

Everyone laughed as the rest of Nancy’s group came over to greet them. While greetings were being exchanged, the lions quietly observed the activity going on around them. After a few minutes, Ja stood up, put his paw on Rusty’s shoulder, then licked Nancy’s cheek, startling her. Quickly recovering, she put her arm around him, then gave him a hug. The lion purred. Their interaction was so natural it was as if she had been doing it all her life. The commotion drew others over toward them. Rusty, Sally and Terry quietly watched the response to the lions. They were surprised that no one exhibited any fear, although a couple of people were hesitant. Clearly everyone was curious.

Ann came out of the kitchen, “Well now I see why Sarah wanted 6 plates of raw meat,” causing everyone to chuckle a bit. “Dinner is ready, so as soon as the crowd moves away from the serving table so we will set it up.”

Everybody moved to the side, giving them room to set up the serving table. Sarah took the opportunity to introduce everyone to the lions. Just as she was finishing up Amy’s group arrived. Erica raised an eyebrow on seeing the lions. Both Amy and Jim gave her questioning looks.

Sarah said, “You guys look puzzled.”

“Surprised,” responded Erica, “to see them in here.”

“We met them while on our picnic today. They seem to be quite gentle and a little bit protective of us. Erica, we have the impression these are not the lions you usually work with.”

Amy said, “We generally wouldn’t have them here due to what we’ve read about Earth. The response I am seeing is not quite the response we would expect, which is good.”

Terry said, “Contrary to popular belief lions generally don’t bother humans unless provoked. There are some differences in appearance between these and the photos I’ve seen. As to being dangerous, these are quite dangerous to anyone who would threaten any of us.”

Erica said, “Now that I’ve looked closer, these aren’t the group I have here on the island. How did you say, they come to be with you?” Lil was rubbing against her leg.

“Well it was sort of strange, after lunch, we were tired, so we took a nap,” said Sally. “When we woke up, they were sitting around us watching. We were a bit startled at first but their actions made it obvious, that they were friendly. When we started back, we invited them to join us.”

“Interesting. Looks like I need to check the archives.”

“Why?” asked Janet with a puzzled expression.

“To learn more about them. My instincts are telling me that their presence is significant and that they are more capable than the ones I brought here.”

Ja and Lil slightly nodded their heads just enough for Sarah and Rusty to feel it.

Ann called out, “The food is on the table. I’ll set your friends’ plates out in a few minutes while the rest of you get your dinner.” As they moved to the serving line, several patted or stoked the lions’ heads as they passed by.

Rusty sat with Bob and Stan, then Erica joined them. While they ate they brought Rusty up to date on the security issues, they had found while he was gone. As they talked, he shared the conversation with the rest of his group.

Sarah sat with Betsy and Amy and was joined by the rest of the women in her group including Alison. “Amy you wouldn’t believe the wonderful location we found today for our picnic,” said Sarah. Everyone nodded their agreement. “In fact, we may want to go back again in the near future.”

Joyce added, “The time we spent together relaxing I think really brought all of us closer to each other.”

“That’s great,” said Amy. “The location sounds great, but I don’t know that we could relax enough to enjoy it.”

“Why?” asked Sarah.

“Mostly because Jim and I are concerned about our security. I know Erica has not been sleeping well because it.”

“What’s changed?”

“Nothing that we know about. We see it as a weakness, especially now that we know more about the people who used this island before us. We are fairly certain that there is no one else in the area, but ... nothing is perfect. Added to that are the issues Donna is having.”

Sally smiled and said, “I think, I understand the basis of your worry and agree that security is a concern. But aren’t you really concerned that the progress you’ve made in the last week will evaporate?”

“Well there is that.” She paused then added, “You are right, but after everything that has happened, then to make this much progress in such a short a time, is well, scary.”

“We’ve sensed that,” said Terry. “Earlier Erica said the lions were different than yours. What does she mean?”

“She was referring to the cats we have on the ship. They are about the size of Earth’s German Sheppards. Since we’ve been here, we sometimes bring them down so they can exercise in a natural habitat. Besides being smaller, they are different from Earth’s lions in that they have a longer jawbone. The presence of these really surprised us.” She looked over at them and added, “I believe their eyes are positioned a little differently.”

“Interesting,” responded Sally. “Initially, I thought they were the lions Erica referred to the other night. If I understand you correctly, you don’t think they are part of the group on the ship. They are definitely different than Earth’s. So that must mean there is an entity who wants us to succeed.”

“Either you know something or you are fantasizing,” said Betsy.

“Hey ... here on Earth telepathy is fantasy,” replied Sally with a smile.

Everyone chuckled as Betsy responded with, “I can’t disagree with that.”

“We would like to know more about your culture and related items,” said Jill shifting the conversation. “Where would we find the history of that?”

“It is available through the terminals in the library,” replied Betsy. “Actually, I think there are several guided studies. Donna can help you.”

Amy added, “There is that, but we would like for you to use the learning helmet first. Sarah, Rusty, Sally and Terry have already used it. Generally it is worn while you sleep. The guided studies will augment what you learn using the helmets.”

“For us to be effective in evaluating Donna’s resource issues, we need to have access to her systems and their design criteria. Is that included?”

Amy hesitated for just a moment, then said, “We can do that but we don’t have access to some of the information, however we can give you access to what’s available to us.”

“Can Donna provide training sessions tonight?”

“Okay. Who do you want to do this?”

“Our group plus Alison, Erin and Tara.”

“But Alison hasn’t had her physical yet,” responded Betsy. “Erin and Tara just had theirs. As far as I know none of them have decided what they want to do. Most importantly, we don’t know if they meet the criteria.”

“Alison, tell them how you feel,” said Sarah. “Start off verbally then switch to telepathic.”

“I told Sarah’s group today when they came back that I had really missed them,” said Alison. “I told them I had not been able to concentrate with them gone. That is primarily the reason I postponed my physical. I already know that I want to stay here and with this group. If acceptable, I would like to have the genetic treatment as soon as possible, as long as it doesn’t hurt my babies. And lastly, if they will have me I would like to join their group. I like Jean’s group and they are great friends, but I feel much closer to Sarah’s group.”

“Did Sarah put you up to that?” asked Betsy.

“Yes, for switching between speech and telepathy,” replied Alison with a grin. “I would have done it on my own but she made the suggestion before I thought of it.”

“Okay. I agree that you’ve met a prime requirement. What about the other two?”

“I don’t know their plans. I am not sure they are telepathic but we always seem to know what each other is doing.”

“We haven’t noticed them using it either.”

“I think Tara and Erin heard thoughts and attributed the result to intuition. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were listening now.” As she said the last, she felt their connection.

“Interesting.”

“Our society or race does not believe in ‘mind-link’. Knowing what I know now, I suspect those labeled as witches, and some who were considered mentally ill, were actually telepathic. In most cultures here, history is riddled with tales of people with those labels being killed off.”

“We’ve noticed that. Sarah and Rusty are what we consider to be natural or inherent telepaths. There are likely more but we don’t see Earth’s tolerance of that changing. Getting back to the issue at hand, Sarah, I don’t see any problem with including these three in the systems learning session.” She paused for a moment and then added, “We will include Alison in the history section as well.”

“Betsy,” said Alison, “can I be given the DNA blending treatment now or do I need to wait until the babies are born?”

“No, you don’t need to wait. However, the treatment will also change the babies. Additionally, after completing the incubator portion, you will need to follow a specific set of health, rest and exercise instructions for up to six months. If you can’t you will need to be sedated.”

“Oh, she will follow the instructions, because we will make sure she does,” said Judy firmly. This caused everyone to laugh. Alison shivered at the warmth and love conveyed in the comment.

“You’re planning on using the incubators?” asked Rusty.

“An extensive treatment like you all received requires the incubators. There are some treatments that can be done as an out patient. These typically only affect a small portion of the body.”

“Incubators?” said Judy.

“It is a way to treat the whole body,” responded Betsy. “Our incubator consists of a glass tube large enough to easily hold a person. The patient essentially stands inside the tube that is then filled with a green gel until they are totally immersed. Due to the gel’s density, the patient is essentially floating in an upright position. The patient is totally immersed and essentially unconscious while in the incubator. Typically the time in the incubators is two to eight weeks depending on a number of factors. After their time in the incubator the patient’s physical activity has restrictions that ease over a period of several months.”

“Interesting, when can I learn more?”

“The first step would be a learning session while you sleep this evening. After that, spending time on the interactive training terminals. You would need to go to the ship for that as Donna can’t currently support them here.”

“In that case, why not a learning session on this tomorrow night?”

“We can do that.”

“Sarah, was there something else?” asked Amy.

“Yes. We would like to become pregnant this week. Is that a problem?”

“I don’t think so. Every one of you have responded very well to the genetic virus treatment. May I ask why all at once?”

“Intuitively, I think it will be best to begin now. We would all like to do it about the same time. Betsy, do you know if there would be a problem, if we each have 3 sets of twins?”

“Oh my. That will be forty-two babies all within a couple of days of each other. We should be able to manage it; however Ann’s and Jean’s groups will also be delivering over the next eight months or so. We can manage it, but it would be better, I think, if it was just two sets a piece. In any case the first month or two will keep all of you quite busy.”

“When were you going to do this?” asked Amy.

“Well we hadn’t talked about the timing, but we probably will later. My guess is, that it would be Sally, Terry and myself as a group and then Joyce, Janet, Jill and Judy. But we haven’t gotten to those details yet.”

“Connie and I haven’t worked with that many new babies at one time before, but it is not an uncommon occurrence. Usually the only issue is milk supply, but here that should not be a problem.”

Sarah’s group was beaming. The thought of becoming pregnant and carrying their babies was really exciting.

As they began to clear the table, “Alison,” said Betsy, “based on what we found in doing your friends physicals and what we have just learned from you, it will be up to you to tell us when you want make the change. As to joining Sarah’s group, if they accept you, then you need to explain it to Jean’s group. Okay?” Her comment caused Alison’s face lite up along with a smile.

Just then Ge rubbed up against Alison distracting her. She heard him say, “Relax before you explode. The babies have had enough excitement for a while.” She bent down and hugged him. He licked her cheek and then nuzzled his head between her breasts. She shivered at the feeling of his soft hair between them.

After the tables had been cleaned, they sat back down in their family groups. Jim and Amy sat in the middle of the gathering. They all waited quietly.

Rusty and Sarah stood and began to speak at the same time. They looked at each other and giggled which caused everyone to laugh. Then together they began, “We had the good fortune to go on a picnic today and found a most wonderful location. It was in a canyon. There was a field of soft grass surrounding a small pond and waterfall. It was probably the best picnic any of us has ever experienced. Since the area was quite level and open, we took the opportunity to try out some of our new physical attributes. We were quite pleased. After that experience, we would like to again express our thanks for the care Betsy and her group gave us. However, we don’t think they will let us participate in the Olympics.” That caused everyone to laugh. “We did take a nap after lunch. When we awoke, there were 6 lions with us. At first we were shocked, as some of you were when you first saw them. It didn’t take us long to realize that they meant us no harm. I think each of you have had a chance to meet them by now. Their names are Ja, Ta, Ge, Mi, Lil and Sas.”

Amy stood, “Thank you Sarah. Seeing the lions was a definite surprise, but I have to admit I do feel very comfortable around them.” With that everyone nodded in agreement.

“Presuming no surprises, the suite renovations will be done in five days. This should make things a bit easier for everyone. Once that is done, work will begin on the conference room and enclosing the patio.”

Sam and Ann raised their hands and Amy nodded giving them the floor. “We would like to accept responsibility for providing the meals and taking care of the dining area. We would hope that all of you will assist from time to time, in particular, when we have our babies.”