Chapter 26

When Rusty and Alison entered their room they were greeted by Sarah, Sally, Terry, Joyce, Tara, Erin and Claudette. Both sighed as they slipped off their uniforms and Alison said, “These are comfortable but it is surprising how much they restrain your movement.”

“Well it has been quite a while since we wore anything, so we are likely more aware of that,” said Rusty. “I agree that they are comfortable.”

Sarah said, “Judy, Janet and Jill will be back from the ship shortly.”

They quickly joined together on the bed in a group cuddle. Being together always brought them a sense of peacefulness and contentment. Today was the first time since their bond had formed that they were apart for an extended time.

“We are just about to depart,” said Judy. “Jean’s Clan is going to spend the night here with Briana’s friends and possibly several more days. They seem to be responding well and appear to be comfortable with the environment.”

“We couldn’t wait for y’all.”

“We noticed, so we’re going follow your example and cuddle on our way back. Star and Alpha1 can handle the shuttle. You know we haven’t cuddled as two separate groups before, so this will be an interesting experience.” Judy and Jill sat side by side while Janet sat across their laps. It felt good to relax in each other’s arms. Letting their thoughts drift out, as they linked to rest of their clan. Together they relaxed contentedly, enjoying the shared sensations.

A chorus of twelve voices softly said, “I am so blessed to be joined with each of you in body and mind.” They shivered as the emotions associated with the statement swept over them. During the last few months, they had come to realize that their mind-link was the keystone to their deeply shared love. Their thoughts and sensations of love for each other reverberated between them.

Star came into the link quietly. “Judy, Janet, and Jill, we are at the resort.” They slowly stood then stretched before heading to their room. Every one they passed were drawn to watch them as they gracefully strode across the grounds. Nearby both Siobhan and Maureen were walking on intersecting paths when they saw the three pass by. They were so focused on watching trio that they collided, just as the group disappeared from sight.

Siobhan and Maureen reached for each other, as they sought to keep from falling. Once they recovered, they looked at one another, then quickly back toward where the three had disappeared. Turning back to each other again, they stared for a moment then together said, “Those must be the other members of Sarah’s Clan.” They busted out laughing when they realized they had both said the same thing.

When they settled down, they looked carefully at each other as their minds began to touch. Siobhan said, “I think, I will enjoy working with them and you wherever we go. I have never seen such a lovely group of people.”

“Why do you think you will work with me?” asked Maureen.

“Are you telling me you haven’t decided?”

“Yes, I have,” she replied with a smile. “And seriously, I think I will like working with you. No, let me change that, I know I will like working with you, and them. I agree with you about the character of that group. If you have the time, we could sit and chat.”

“Yes,” replied Siobhan. “Why not here? It looks like a great spot.”

“Suits me.”

“Our group coming here seems to fit a dream I’ve had from time to time. The things that took place in the dream were so amazing that I didn’t put much store in them, as it didn’t seem possible. Although some of my dreams have turned out to be a preview of reality. Maybe not exactly as dreamed, but close enough.” Siobhan felt comfortable sitting next to Maureen enjoying the fresh air and sun.

“Does that bother you?”

“Not really. To be honest, I usually don’t really remember a lot of the details until the event takes place. The ones I did remember were general in nature and without a strong time base. Usually it was only snippets so when they did come together the details were a surprise. This dream was different. Today I’ve seen several people and events that seem to fit the dream. Sarah’s Clan was one, you were another but there were others I haven’t seen yet. The sequence of events in the dream was exciting, challenging and with some scary moments.”

“Wow, I can sense your impressions. This communication is great but in a way it is unsettling. Rusty and Alison showed me how to enable it earlier today. Besides them, you are the first person I’ve exercised it with. Brandan, my closest male friend, is not as sure of his direction yet. I think several women in our group are leaning toward choosing this opportunity. Brandan and I are very close, but also somewhat afraid of being closer.”

“Conan is the same way. Our group consists of about 20 people. We basically hang out and do stuff together. Of course, we shared a lot of the same classes since we are all science majors. Nine of us shared a house off campus. During the first year, it basically turned into our gathering place. I suspect we would have shared one house if there had been one large enough and close to campus.”

“Well if you look like the rest of your group, then you must be similar to us, as in good looking geeky nerds.”

“You got it,” she replied laughing. “As a group, we don’t mind letting it show either, as you can see by the way I’m dressed. I wasn’t sure about being naked yet, but I guess in certain lighting this dress makes it look like I am. Nancy had one on earlier that at times seemed almost transparent.”

“You look delectable. There are six girls and one guy in our core group. Is that a pattern, more women than men?”

“Hmm. Could be...” Siobhan sat thoughtfully thinking about Maureen’s comment. “Ours is like that.”

“I love flying and the trip here was fantastic, except for a little incident on the flight coming here. I didn’t get to see very much of the view so Rusty and Alison let me go with them on the next two trips to pick up more guests. In all the groups we picked up, the girls outnumbered the guys by at least six to one.”

“In some ways that doesn’t surprise me. Conan and the other two guys in our group started out as fellow class mates who were more interested in doing things with us than trying to get into bed with us. You know the ones at the top end of the bell curve. We have been together for more than three years now and the thought of splitting up bothers us. You know, thinking about it, all of us would like to be closer to the guys. I think our fear is that if we try they will leave, or we will lose them to someone else. That isn’t to say that each of us haven’t hooked up with them from time to time.”

“We kind of have the same issue. Brandan and I eased into a sexual relationship with each other and we really enjoyed it. In the beginning of that relationship, we started just being a pair separate from the group, but when we did that we felt lost something. So we backed off on being exclusive while still maintaining our closeness and spent more time with the group. We feel more comfortable now, even though we adore each other. We adore everyone else in the group as well. Complex, eh?”

“That is kind of the way it is with Conan and me. We have gone a bit further in that several of us are very close and we have been intimate with each other at times. Over the last year we have shared more and more with each other both emotionally and physically. With the approach of graduation, there is a strain on all of us in that we want to stay together. I can sense at least seven of us would like to share our lives completely, but it seems like everyone is afraid to bring it up. I know I am. A complication is that not all of us are graduating. I can’t believe I am telling you all this.”

“Yes, it is an interesting discussion considering we just met.”

“I know but I feel like we have known each other for a long time. I wonder how Sarah’s Clan got together and where they came from. Maybe we will find out tonight.”

“I hope so, anyway I’m off to meet my group at the pool. See you later.”

“Let me know if you have a solution on getting our feelings out in the open in your group.”

“I will. See you later Siobhan.”

“Bye, Maureen.” Saying Maureen’s name startled Siobhan. She was sure certain that this was the first time she had met or talked to Maureen, yet she knew her name. She couldn’t recall exchanging names, but they had conversed telepathically. She walked off deep in thought to find her friends.

The chime sounded in the room rousing Sarah’s Clan from their meditation. Seeing the time, they quickly went through their exercises then freshened up. These showers were smaller than those at the Enclave so they showered in pairs. When they were ready, they slipped on light robes and shoes.

Approaching the dining hall, they met Amy’s Clan and went in with them. Their entrance caused a break in the lively chatter. Once they had some refreshments, they split up into pairs and began to mingle with their guests while waiting for everyone to arrive.

When Briana saw Sally enter she headed straight for her. Without a word she wrapped her in a hug, her eyes were filled with tears. Seeing the tears, the group waited for her to relax. Briana looked up to see them around her so she pulled back from Sally, she gave each of the others a hug and thanked them.

After the greetings and emotions eased Briana said, “I want to thank all of you for the kindness you have shown me and the effort you’ve put into helping my friends. I only hope it is enough. When I took a nap this afternoon, nearly all of them were in my dream. They looked much better than before and it was like they were in a different place. They appeared to be very relaxed and so different than they were in my visions last night or over the last few months.”

Sarah’s Clan nodded, then Judy said, “Briana, Janet, Jill and I met your friends earlier today.” Briana gasped. “They are on our space ship receiving a medical evaluation and resting. We will offer them any treatments they need in order to fully recover from their injuries. Earlier today several people from our island, Comrie, went with us to meet them. These are people, who we think have had similar experiences.” Tears of happiness ran down Briana’s face. “That group, Jean’s Clan, is staying with them tonight on the ship.”

“When can I go see them?”

“One possibility would be this evening. Though, we think it would be better if you let them recover some more before you visit them. It shouldn’t be very long. Considering what they have gone through, they are doing very well.” Briana’s face showed her feelings. Siobhan had walked over as they were talking. Briana seeing her, grabbed her in a tight hug and gave her a very emotional kiss.

“Thank you,” said Briana to Siobhan when they broke the kiss.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Oh yes, you most certainly did. You listened to me when others didn’t. When I approached you with the warning, rather than telling me to go stuff it, you listened. After that, somehow, your friends here became involved and jumped in to rescue my friends. God, this is such a great group.” She was beaming so much she literally lit up the room. Even her tears seemed to glitter. “Oh, God. I love you all, so much.”

“I am glad I was able to do something. Sarah and spouses, can I ask what will be on tonight’s agenda?”

“You can,” responded Jill with a smile as they all nodded affirmatively.

There was a pause before Siobhan asked, “Were you going to tell us how you came to be together?”

“Yes,” said Jill. “First my apologies for being so literal, it is something I have trouble resisting. First let me help you with names for the faces in this group.” After she had, she continued with, “We feel you need to know a lot of our history and the background of the ship before we discuss the opportunities on it in any detail. So after dinner, Amy’s Clan and ours will give a rather detailed presentation and then answer questions. We will endeavor to answer all your questions, but if we don’t know the answer we will say so.”

Siobhan looked at each of them for a moment. Her curiosity about the group was evident on her face. Sensing her interest Joyce said, “Siobhan, we grew into our group relationship. At first it was Rusty, Sarah, Sally and Terry and after a short time it grew to include me. When we woke up on our island, we were eight as it included three close friends and it has grown to twelve. Each growth step occurred a little differently, but at every turn there was no question that being together felt right to all of us.” All of Sarah’s Clan nodded indicating their agreement with Joyce. Several of Siobhan’s group had joined her soon after Joyce started talking.

Joyce looked around then said, “I can sense a feeling of closeness among those in your group here with us and it may include others. From what I can sense, your feelings for each other are near what they were between us when our group first began to form. We think that all of you desire to be closer but have some reluctance or reservations that are holding you back. From my perspective, in order to accomplish that you need to open up and share your feelings and thoughts. When we first began to form our group, we did not have a mind-link like we do now. The ability to mind-link makes it much easier to share with each other. Start slowly so you can equally share thoughts, emotions, experiences and other events.”

“Did you read my mind?”

“No. That’s not polite without asking; besides it is written all over your faces so I didn’t need to. It is obvious that you love one another very deeply. Each of you is probably a bit hesitant due to past experiences, which is why I suggested going slowly. Follow your instincts and do it telepathically. The advantage telepathy provides is that now you can see the emotions associated with the thought so the intent is much clearer. Like all personal interactions there are differences in depth of sharing. The members of a clan have the deepest level of sharing. I think all of you will find your feelings, thoughts and concerns are quite similar.”

Sarah said, “There are aspects of the Earth society that tend to inhibit open, honest relationships. This inhibition greatly increases when more than two people are in love with each other. Add to that religious and political dictates, then it really makes it a tall barrier. I hope you can sort out the interrelationships in your group soon, because it will make your future much more enjoyable and rewarding.”

“Thank you. I think at least one other group is at a similar cross roads.”

“Okay,” said Rusty. “We will make sure we touch on this issue tonight. Also, as Joyce alluded to, we expect lots of questions about what is said this evening. We will have a question and answer session after breakfast as well. Actually, we have been doing that nearly as long as we’ve lived on Comrie and I suspect we will continue.”

“Comrie?” said Briana.

“That is the name of the island east of here where we live on Earth,” responded Erin.

“Why are you taking so long before you give us the details on the opportunity regarding the space ship?” asked Conan.

Sarah said, “Simply because, we want you to be sure you are comfortable with us and this society before you are confounded or overwhelmed by the desire to work in space. The opportunity to fulfill your dream of working in space may cause you to overlook critical personal issues. Life on a space ship is quite a bit different from what you have grown up with. This society is also quite different from what you have experienced. You should have a much better understanding by tomorrow evening.”

“All the guests have arrived,” said Star.

“Are you in a position to be here for the introductions after dinner?” asked Terry. “Donna, is your visual construct ready for this evening?” Sarah, Rusty and Sally had surprised looks on their faces. “We determined that the systems could easily support two visual constructs at times with a careful allocation of resources.”

“Yes,” responded Star and Donna. “Ann is indicating dinner is nearly ready to start as well.”

Nancy and Julia went over to, then stepped up onto, a low riser. A light chime sounded in the room causing the crowd to become quiet. “Good evening. We hope you have settled in without any problems and have found everything you need for your stay. Dinner is nearly ready but before we begin, we would like to make a few introductions.” She began with Alison and Rusty then the rest of Sarah’s Clan then the other clans. “You probably won’t remember all their names but you now have a face to put with the name when you hear it. After dinner, we will give a presentation that covers our background and what to expect this week.”

Julia began, “Nancy has introduced the people that are here this evening. There is also a group back where we normally live taking care of our children. It is an island we’ve named Comrie and is a little ways east of this location. Also there are currently about 90 people on the space ship. To be a bit more explicit about the presentations: The first will cover the ship’s history and its crew. This will be presented by Amy’s Clan. Following that Sarah’s Clan will tell you more about how they joined us and our current situation. The society represented by those on the ship has different customs, physical attributes and interpersonal relationships than those you are familiar. Betsy will take this part of the presentations. Our last presenter will be Erica. She will review security here as we have some rather unique assistants. We hope you have enjoyed the day. For this evening and every evening, we are going to spread out so we have the opportunity to sit at each table. All our meals will be served buffet style. If you get hungry between meals there are snacks available. So, if you will find a place to sit then we will have each table go through the line. You can have seconds, but please wait until after everyone has made it through the line.” That brought several chuckles.

Dinner went very smoothly. When everyone was seated, there was at least one host at each table. Conversation was lively as they shared their common interests and backgrounds. Donna and Star noticed several guests seemed to be a bit uncomfortable and alerted Sarah and Amy’s Clans to their location.

After dessert and coffee were finished and conversations had started to die down Amy and Jim went up to the podium. “Good evening. To start, we would like for you to introduce you to the rest of our Clan.” As they were introduced each spouse stood. “Notice we said Clan. We’ve recently started using the term Clan to refer to a family group. In our society, it was normal for us to communicate solely using telepathy. Telepathic communication provides clear mental cues and visual objects associated with the message being shared, which can be difficult to verbally. Since Sarah’s Clan has joined us, we’ve chosen to make verbal communication easier by giving a name to a group or family. Clan names used so far are the same as one of the clan’s members, which can initially cause some confusion about who is being addressed. An alternative to using a member’s name is for the clan to choose a unique name. If you form a Clan, you need to inform Star of the family name and who its members are.”

They then gave a lengthy review of where they came from and the accident that happened to the ship to bring them to this galaxy and solar system. It was noted that one of the side effects resulting from the accident was that the crew were sterile. They explained that once it was clear that the medical staff could not find a solution within their own resources, they felt the only option was to find people to join the ship’s crew.

Since Earth was the closest inhabited planet, this was initially seen as problematic because need for crew members to communicate telepathically. Further evaluation determined that humans had the potential for communicating telepathically, but there was no evidence of them using it. Why the concern about the lack of telepathic communication. For some crew positions, telepathy and other unique attributes were desirable and for some roles they were a necessity. This led them to consider seeking women to be surrogate mothers. With some adjustment in their genes, it was thought that their babies would have the attributes needed to become fully capable crew members. Using their knowledge of genetics, they identified women and men on Earth who had a high probability of producing offspring with the needed traits. Once the babies grew to be teens, they would be approached and offered spots in the ship’s crew.

When they finished, the room was very quiet. Jim asked if there were any questions. Two hands went up immediately. Jim nodded.

Both Brandan and Conan stood, Brandan said, “We’ve heard your ship mentioned many times but we haven’t seen it. Can you show it to us?”

“Where is it now?” asked Conan.

Jim said, “Okay, last question first. The ship is now at the Sol – Mars L5 position. This is sometimes referred to as the trailing Trojan position or L5 Lagrangian point. For a view of the ship, we have video that was made during Sarah Clan’s first trip there. Following this will be a time lapse series of images showing the changes since then.”

As he was speaking the lights dimmed. The show began with a view from a shuttle as it lifted away from Comrie with Donna narrating. As the shuttle passed the moon, it showed a view back toward Earth which included the moon. The view then turned back in the direction of the ship. Both Mars and a green circle showing the ship’s location were noted in the view. When they passed Mars, it was near enough to be seen clearly. There was a collective gasp when the ship became recognizable then quickly filled the screen. The soft sounds of whispering grew as it increased in size. In some respects, the ship looked like a large decrepit object floating in a black void with Saturn just barely visible behind and off to one side.

“This was the way the ship looked when Sarah’s Clan visited some five months ago. To be honest, it hasn’t looked much different for the last 200 years its been in this solar system. The only changes during that time were the addition of a few more nicks and bangs from small meteorites. This trip was completed in 10 minutes. A normal trip takes between 30 and 60 minutes depending on orbital positions.”

Donna waited until all sides of the ship had been seen then said, “Next are the changes that have taken place since then.” The second video consisted of several sets of images which showed the exterior at about 4 week intervals. As each set was shown, the progress of the repairs became more apparent. In the most recent view the ship looked to be in much better condition than in the initial video. Even so it was clear that much more needed to be done.” During the show there was nary a sound in the room except for Donna’s voice.

“We know that computer aided graphics on Earth could create what you have just seen,” stated Amy. “But remember the plane you rode in coming here today and the sights you saw during that trip.”

Conan raised his hand and Amy nodded. “I can tell you that the jet we flew in today was not made on Earth. I have a pilot’s license as a few of you know and I have never read about or seen anything like it. Sure it looked like a normal executive jet when we entered it, but did you see a runway where it landed here? Well don’t bother to look because there wasn’t one. Did you notice it vanish soon after departing?” Several people nodded their agreement.

“Thank you.”

“Where is Donna? She sounded cute,” said a male voice from the back. A smack was heard followed by, “Why did you do that?” This was followed by laughter.

“Donna, would you join us.” With that there was a shimmering of blue light and a female shape took form standing next to Amy.

“Hi,” said Donna prompting the group to applaud on hearing her familiar voice.

As the clapping died down, the same male voice was heard to say, “Wow, what a fox!” His comment was followed by another smack, and more laughs.

“This is a new form for me so I will stand here next to Amy and Jim so they can catch me if I start to fall,” continued Donna. “What do I mean by new form? My fundamental entity is what you probably think of as a computer. This is a visual construct as we thought it would aid our interaction. This is something new being offered by our new Command Staff to those AIs with a high degree of self-awareness. My contribution is to oversee the site where this group normally lives on Earth to ensure that it functions as it is supposed to. Currently, I perform the same function here but with more support. Thanks for asking about me.” And she stood back a bit.

“Are there any more questions for Donna, as she needs to return to focusing on her tasks?” asked Amy. “Hearing none, let me turn this over to Sarah’s Clan so they can make the next part of the presentation. First will be Judy.” With that Jim and Amy sat down, while Sarah’s Clan gathered at the front as their guests applauded.

Judy began, “Amy’s Clan did find some people willing to have babies for them and they did so for about ten years. That group consisted of seven women and one man. During that time they had some 185 children.” There was a gasp. “Yes, they usually had twins, roughly every ten to eleven months. About a fourth of the children went to the ship to be raised by the crew there. The others were carefully placed with families that had the resources and love to raise them. Why do I say resources? For one, the children have a very high IQ’s. It was anticipated that they would become tall geeky nerds based on their birth parents, which appears to be the case. The women and man were rewarded nicely for their contributions to the program. What were those? Lifetime medical care and elimination of any chronic or hereditary diseases. For the women, no lingering effects from being pregnant for most of ten years. Their aging process was altered so they look nearly the same now as they did when they started. In addition to this, they received a chunk of money to start a new life. Not surprisingly after ten years together, they decided to stay together. They bought a farm in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US.

“Today we know them as Ann’s Clan. They came to join us on the island about five months ago. They are taking care of food preparation this week and helping around the resort in other ways. Not all of them are here at any one time, due to things that need to be done on Comrie. Also, there is a group of young women there caring for our babies.

“Getting back to the story, with Ann’s Clan’s contract expiring, Amy’s Clan began to look for another group. Shortly after beginning their search, Betsy received an offer in assisting them with acquiring a group. After sorting out the requirements, the acquisition appeared to be successful. A new group arrived shortly after Ann’s Clan departed. However, it wasn’t long before Amy’s Clan realized that this new group wasn’t suitable. They informed their agent and gave the participants the early termination package as agreed to.

“About the time Ann’s Clan departed perhaps a little before, Sarah’s Clan began to take form. It began with Sarah coming to live at Nancy and Bob’s home. When she arrived at their home she met Rusty, Sally and Terry ... After living there for a short time, Sarah went to work for N&R Security. In doing so she joined her friends Sally, Terry, and Rusty who already worked there. Due to their feelings for each other, they opted to share an apartment at the estate. With time their relationship evolved into a family group. During this time, Joyce was in her 3^rd and 4^th year of high school. As the weeks passed Joyce spent more and more time with them, eventually becoming the fifth member. They were together for about a year before coming here, but let’s hear about it from them.”

Sarah, Rusty, Sally, Terry and Joyce then took turns telling of how they became a family. It began with Sarah meeting Rusty at Nancy and Bob’s house when she moved there. They described how their group began and how they dealt with the fact that not all of them were telepathic at the time. It included how they were brought to the island and a brief description of the medical issues that Amy’s Clan had to resolve. Sarah closed with, “We think that our telepathic connection greatly aided us in our adjustment to the situation in which we found ourselves. Yes, waking up was definitely a shock, but we were with people we loved. An aspect we believe helped was that except for Joyce, none of us have any living relatives. So in some respects, we woke up with our family. Shortly after that, Alison, Tara, Erin and Claudette arrived at Comrie. They can tell you about that.”

Alison, Tara, Claudette and Erin briefly told of their experiences before arriving on Comrie and how they came to be part of Sarah’s Clan. When they finished Tara said, “As you can see, we now look similar to our spouses. This is because we asked to receive genetic treatments similar to those they were given. Why? We were given some body modification treatments before our arrival there. After our physical, Betsy told us that while those treatments did what they were supposed to, some aspects weren’t done correctly. She described how this would impact our future health. It was scary as we had seen other people with those problems and it hadn’t taken long for them to develop. After discussing it, we had one of two choices. It didn’t take the four of us very long to decide that the smartest thing to do was to ask for the genetic treatments. We recognized that this could cause some difficulties if we chose to leave the Comrie and return to Earth society. We knew that this was very unlikely. We’ve shared this short summary with you so you know how, and why, we went from looking similar to you to our current appearance. If you want more details, they are available in our library. Rusty.”