Blame Charlie ©

by K Pelle

Chapter 5

As I lay there, my mind was awhirl.  Somehow I knew that what Donna had said was realistic, but her description of our new situation was virtually unbelievable.

A different planet?  Okay, that was possible, but one which had been terra-formed?  WOW!  First of all that implied spaceflight on a grand scale and secondly, it implied a tremendous technological base, far beyond the potential of anything I was familiar with.

Five hundred years of travel time?  Surely that meant we were now in a different galaxy, circling a different star.

Cloned bodies?  DNA modification?  Both of those facts implied that whoever had rescued us had to be experts in the field of genetic research.

There were simply too many unknowns for me to have a solid grasp on my new reality

Then my circumstances changed once more  - somehow closing my eyes and questioning my knowledge opened me to another stream of thought(?) that felt more structured, more compact in some ways.  Was it from another source, a different mind?  It certainly had a different 'feel' and a different 'pace' to what information I had 'received' from Sawish.

"You have query?" a thought flicked through my mind.

"Who is this?" I sent a tentative thought.

"Information source; Eritol.  You are of new hive; Human, yes?  Of which designation?"

"Well, I'm human.  My name is David Markham and . . ."

"Welcome, David Markham - Dave - el Patrón.  He who saved Eretol scout ship from Kalibrodzax attack, yes.  Information required of Eritol?"

"I don't think I know enough to ask an intelligent question, since I feel totally lost.  I should have died of my injuries, but I'm alive.  I know I'm old, but I look young.  My body looks strong, but I feel weak.  I'm in my house, but it doesn't feel right, almost like my home isn't sitting in the same place as it was.  I have too many questions to know what to ask."

"Entity Sawish can explain, but is slow, inefficient.  Checking medical now . . ." there was 'clicking sensation,' then "Affirmative to transfer potential, Patrón."

Another 'click' and I seemed to be enclosed in a strange 'roomy' sensation, "Sending."

For an instant my head felt a strange 'pressure,' almost as if my brain had been 'filled to overflow' and I saw a bright 'flash' behind my closed eyelids.  Then I think my brain went into overload because I blacked out.  I awakened to a recollection of a previous thought that I had 'heard' and remembered.

"Estimated lessening of major weakness . . . ten to twelve days.  Partial debilitation . . . additional sixteen to twenty days.  Full recovery . . . ninety to one-hundred days.  All times Terratoo standard."

In some way that I couldn't understand, I'd been 'educated' about what had happened to me, where I was, and why I was there.  More than that, the knowledge was meant to be available to me at any time I needed or wanted to refer to it, supposedly 'locked' in my memory.  Unfortunately that information seemed much too far-fetched to be real and I knew I'd need to experience my new surroundings to accept my new knowledge as reality.  Even then I often needed a 'guide,' who could mentally explain whatever concept I was having difficulty comprehending.

I also discovered that the Eritol are more optimistic than realistic when descibing the recovery rates of human beings.  Actually it took me two months to adapt well enough to our new world that I was able to walk even short distances on my own, but that was only after graduating from the use of a wheelchair, then a walker and finally - a cane.  Even after three months I still feel the need to use that damn cane toward the end of a busy day.   During the time I was recovering I was also being informed that not only was my body much more muscular than before, but my bones and internal organs had been modified and strengthened.  That shouldn't have been a surprise, since Terratoo's gravity was a little more than a third greater than what we'd lived with on Earth - or Terra, if you prefer using Latin-based terminology.  What did surprise me was that almost every living creature brought from Earth had been modified to accept the heavier gravity - not just humans, but all the large animals and many of the larger plants.  The only Earthly life forms which hadn't been modified in one way or another were some of the single-celled animals and plants, but only the strongest examples of each of those species had survived.

Somehow the Eritol had managed to preserve the ecology of Earth when they'd moved everything to Terratoo and they'd even improved upon it to some extent.  For one thing they had managed to achieve a 'natural' balance which hadn't existed on Earth for several centuries, but they didn't expect that balance to last.  As an example, the native plants and animals which had existed on Terratoo were extremely old genetic stocks,  millennia older than the plants and animals which were introduced from Earth.  As a result they were stolid and slow to change, but extremely well adapted to their situation, so in a competitive situation with Earthly stock, the results would have been questionable.  As a result the Eritol had been forced to virtually sterilized one continent of Terratoo, then cloned the various species from earth by the millions, and in some cases, billions.  They had seeded those various species into the newly sterilized landscape on a schedule which had allowed life to develop in a more-or-less natural manner. In fact many species had to be virtually nurtured by hand or even genetically modified to a greater extent in order to survive and prosper in their new surroundings.

Of course that made me curious about how they could have done so much, so quickly, but my 'guide' had explained that while higher life forms couldn't travel at higher multiples of the speed of light, simpler life forms could.  It took at least an hour for me to understand exactly what that meant and how it had been used to arrange our transfer and settlement, but once it was fully explained I could understand roughly what had been done.

In the first place the Eritol could send messages at thousands of times the speed of light, so when we had been discovered, a message had been sent back to Mamina.  An answer had been received by the scouts surrounding Earth within minutes, then our rescue had been instigated.  Conditions on Earth had been assessed and the planet which had become Terratoo had been selected as our new haven even though it meant cloning almost all higher life forms due to the higher gravity and other factors.  All rescued life forms had been placed in stasis and their genetics had been studied, then the DNA of each and every plant and animal had been forwarded at hundreds of times the speed of light.  That allowed the Maminai geneticists to begin work on developing cloning techniques which would allow them to develop bodies which would survive and even thrive on Terratoo.  Then in reverse order of complexity samples of almost every Earthly virus, bacteria, algae, single cell plant, lichen and so forth was forwarded at high speeds.  After that samples of the more complex entities were sent at gradually diminishing speeds in a reverse ratio to the complexity and the intelligence of the species.  In other words, the smarter the beasty in question, the slower their transport could travel.

I was stunned at the scope of the task the Eritol and Maminai had managed to perform in something like five hundred years of actual time.  That utterly sterile landmass had been transformed into a duplicate ecosystem of a somewhat idealistic Earthen landscape, but many of the more virulent pathogens had been eliminated.  None of the major plague, pox or influenza viruses had been cloned and introduced.  There was no typhus, no flu, no measles, no viral pathogens of most sorts, but not all of those had been eliminated either, for instance the cold virus was still around.  However man and his animal neighbours were all much healthier than we had been on Earth.

Actually when it came to the higher life forms, almost every fish, reptile, bird or mammal that was rescued and cloned still retained almost exactly the same brain function as the original had when on Earth.  The one major difference was that all humans now had been granted a minor form of telepathy, at least enough telepathic function to receive messages from those who had any form of initial telepathic talent.  That detail had been instigated so that all humans could be assisted by the Eritol and the Maminai, but it soon became clear that there were a few humans who emerged from that minor treatment as 'natural' telepaths.

That's when I was astonished to discover that I was one of the few humans who had a natural talent for telepathy.  In my case it had been a recessive gene, but when I had been cloned that gene had been reinforced until it was dominant, so any future child of mine would also be telepathic to some degree.  If I and a woman who also had a dominant gene for telepathy were to conceive a child, that child would be an even stronger telepath.  At the same time I discovered that it was no accident that Donna had been encouraged to remain on the ranch.  She was also a natural telepath, although not as talented as I was.  As well as that I found that we were expected to mate and produce children, but that other women would probably be involved.

"Have you set me up to be a breeding stud then?" I snapped in annoyance.

"Conceivably so, as an adjunct to other potentials," the Eritol sent, and managed to give me the impression that he/it found my annoyance to be amusing.  "Inexplicably telepathic talent expression is much more common amongst female Human subjects than for male Humans.  Thus each talented male is encouraged to mate with several females.  Under present conditions ten different telepathic mates, each bearing multiple progeny would be considered minimal optimization of breeding potential of present subject."

"Oh I'm sure that would go over well with all the women involved." I snorted.  "I can just imagine the jealous fights that would break out amongst the various women.  I don't think I want to be involved in anything of that sort."

"Jealousy is not an indicated reaction amongst those studied or now involved in multiple unions.  Indeed the reverse seems to factor into such instances.  Indeed successful impregnation of any involved subject seems to be exceptionally rewarding for genetically superior individuals.  Research with other telepathic individuals indicates that sensory stimulation between such pairings during copulation is exceptional and shared amongst all individuals within multiple linkage."

"Are you saying that if Donna and I had sex it would blow my mind?" I couldn't help breaking into laughter at that statement.  "In fact any fully involved sex I've ever had with any woman has been mind blowing, so I can't see how telepathy could make sex all that much better."

"Since subject has previous experience with sexual congress as non-telepath, would suggest comparison," my 'guide' snapped shortly. "Subject's present condition is still improving, but conducive to female superior copulation, suggest attempt be made prior to further discussion of current topic.  Mention must be made that female, designated as Donna has two female progeny.  Genetic study indicates that impregnating the full trio would be to ultimate advantage of all concerned individuals."

Then my guide simply fell silent and I felt him/it break contact.  I wasn't even able to express my distaste toward the concept of incest.  Somehow, I wasn't surprised to have Sawish walk into the room only a short time later and for some reason she looked as if she was on the verge of laughter.

"You should know not to discuss sex with one of the record keeping Eritol," she grinned, showing a set of teeth worthy of any predatory animal.  "I warned you that the Eritol are a hive society and are each specialists in one branch of endeavor.  For instance the minions who deign to speak to the likes of you or me are similar to worker bees, so they aren't involved with sex in any way.  The only individuals in the Eritol hive who have any experience with sex of any sort are the queen, the princesses and their consorts.  The queen is in overall charge of all factors of Eritol function, while the princesses control the various specialized hives.  Normal workers are only interested in doing well at their individual tasks, whatever those tasks may be.  Since your contact was someone in the records department, the only interest it would have in sex is in recording the impression of those involved as participants, or in encouraging advantageous pairings between beings of other species.  That means your contact only has hearsay evidence to go by, so it would be somewhat upset with you for arguing about its knowledge on the subject.  I only heard about what had happened ecause you induced it to break contact.  I found that surprising because of the high regard all Eritol have for you, so I checked into the reason and thought you deserved to know why it had broken off and fled."

"Well, I don't understand why the Eritol feel they owe me anything anyway.  All I was doing that day on the Dome was trying to defend my property and my life.  Anything else that happened was purely accidental," I sighed.  "I didn't mean to offend my guide either.  I suppose I should find some way to apologise, huh?"

"I doubt if that will be necessary, in fact an apology might be counter productive," Sawish twisted her head slightly downward and off to one side, then winked.  "The is one other situation which needs to be broached however, resulting in an activity which would be beneficial to many.  We all contend that it would be beneficial for you and Donna to simply have sex instead of dancing around the idea like you've been doing.  Both of you seem to find each other very attractive, but for some reason you seem to be shy about enjoying each other's company on a purely physical basis."

"Well, in the first place I'm not exactly in the best of health yet, and even though I think she's a walking wet dream, I'm trying not to rush into anything for fear of offending Donna.  Besides, I don't think I'm capable of doing a lot yet, so what would you have me do, ask her if she wants to give a 'sympathy fuck' to an invalid who still isn't capable of having normal sex?"

"Well, this is a ranch, isn't it, and aren't ranches where cowboys and cowgirls live?  Now, I have heard there is a sexual position called 'the cowgirl' or another called 'the reverse cowboy,' either of which might be suitable for your situation," Sawish's toothy grin was back, even wider than before.  "Besides, I believe you might find that you have more energy and are in much better condition than you seem to want to admit.  In fact I believe you are being quite relaxed and somewhat lazy about your rehabilitation, so sex might be of a great benefit to both you and Donna."

"Whatever!" I snapped again.  "That Eritol wasn't just on about Donna though.  It seems to think I should have sex with a whole slew of women.  That goes against the grain, especially when he, she or it, whatever it is, was saying that I should have sex with Donna's daughters. Alanna and Theresa are just kids for cripes sake, besides if I had sex with Donna it would be incest to have sex with her daughters!"

"Oh my, once more the Eritol have displayed their lack of understanding of a former North American's basic moral code and have offended you," Sawish appeared to sigh and almost to shrink.  "As a society, and even as a race, you have been brainwashed by religion for hundreds if not thousands of years to practise monogamy.  Unfortunately that practice results in very slow genetic improvement, since the few genetically superior individuals in your society are not induced to reproduce more than a minimal number of individual progeny.

"In your case you have very few genetic faults in your makeup and you have a plethora of beneficial genes which we wish to see being spread throughout your race as quickly as possible.  In the initial influx of our rescue of the individuals who would have died due to the callous actions of that Kalibrodzax rogue, you are one of fourteen hundred strongly telepathic individuals.  In fact you are amongst the strongest of all the individuals we have managed to rescue to date, which is why the Eritol are so desirous of seeing you propagate your genetic code.

"Since both the Eritol and the Maminai use telepathy as a form of communication, and since we wish to work with humans in a cooperative union, telepathy is an important factor.  As a result we would like to encourage you to spread your genes widely, since it would benefit all three races to have many more fully functioning telepaths amongst the human population."

"So you all want me to become some sort of sperm bank for the human race then?  What am I supposed to do, take on multiple wives and have a harem?" I growled at her presumption.

"Oh no, not really.  Instead the Maminai plan was to approach the problem in an altogether different manner.  You see we are aware that there is an extremely strong subliminal attraction between you and females who are also relatively strong telepaths, especially when the women in question are ovulating.  Our plan called for you to be placed in close contact with several different women over an extended period of time, then to let nature take its course.  The only problem we foresaw was that silly moral code that you have been saddled with by being raised in an ultra-religious society.  As a result of that, should you marry one woman, you would eventually find yourself breaking your vows and as a result you might be badly disturbed by your supposedly immoral actions.  Thus we feel you would be better off to take mistresses, and not have wives," she chortled and that toothy grin reappeared.  "Which brings us back to Donna, Alanna and Theresa, who are all excellent genetic matches for you.  All three of them are strong, intelligent telepaths and even within the moral code of your former country, you would not be commiting incest by impregnating all of them, just as long as you didn't marry any of them.  Instead even under your former laws all you would be guilty of would be adultery and Presidents, Prime Ministers, Kings and Princes all have set examples of how get away with that, some off them even doing it legally."

"So you're saying that I should become a womanizer and take my pleasures whereever and whenever I want?"

"Oh, no," she actually snickered in amusement.  "Instead I believe you will find that you will be seduced by various women at various times and in various situations.  I believe you will find those multiple seductions to be extremely pleasant, just as long as you don't let that asinine North American moral code interfere with your enjoyment."

Our discussion might have carried on for longer, but we were interrupted by a phone call from my cousin, Fred, the banker. 

"Hey, Moneybags, what's up?"  I answered his call.

"Actually, I'd say you should be the one with that title," Fred sighed softly.  "You see as a banker, we have a problem - our money was backed by the federal government back on Earth, only here on Terratoo, there is not federal government as such.  We need to have some form of backing for the money which is presently in circulation and we were considering going onto a gold standard.  Now all of the bankers have some reserves of gold in our vaults, but not surprisingly that gold which you were given by that Kalibrodzax crook  is actually the largest single amount of gold around.  So we were wondering if you would be willing to join us in putting our gold into a special reserve fund, then we'd have some actual backing for the bank notes that are presently circulating?"

"I don't see why not?  It's not as if I'm using it for anything.  In fact since it was just abandoned here, I'm not certain that I should even consider it to be mine."

"Oh, there's no argument about ownership.  We know that gold was left there by the Kalibrodzax, probably in an attempt to bribe you and at the same time to confuse you.  Actually we've come to believe it was done in an attempt to delude you into leaving the property unprotected while you rushed the gold to a bank and into safe keeping.  However instead, you tackled the bastard head-on and were almost killed while defeating him.  Since that resulted in all of our lives being saved, I doubt if any human on Terratoo would argue that you haven't earned that gold.  I know damn well that the Eritol feel you've earned it ten times over and the Maminai won't argue over your ownership either, so there's no need for you to worry on that score.  Oh yeah, I guess I should also mention that we are willing to pay you interest on that gold while it's in our hands, but at the same time you can use it as collateral for a loan, if you ever need one."

"Well, it's just sitting here, locked in my safe.  I even kept the original case it came in, so carrying it won't be a problem when you come and get it.  I'm not exactly in condition to bring it to you, at least not yet, but if you want to come out here for it, I'll sign it over to you."

"Politically and ethically we'd prefer to wait a week or two and have you bring it in to us, but only after we've worked out a way to store it safely.  We'll glady provide you with any special transport you'll need to bring it in at that time though."

"Well, it doesn't matter a darn to me.  I'd rather it was gone from here, but since my possession of that gold isn't common knowledge it should be safe enough, or is it still a secret?"

"Well, it is less of a secret today than it was yesterday.  I had to bring it up in a meeting with a group of bankers, so there are about fifty people who know about it.  I didn't mention what form the gold was in or who was holding it, but I did imply the amount and the fact that it was an asset of a family member.  Now just so you know, we checked with the Eritol and gold is much rarer on Terratoo than it was on Earth, so you're probably the richest individual around."

"Oh great, that's news I didn't really need!"

"Hey, not only do you have the largest individual stash of gold we know of, but you have the biggest collection of recorded music we know of, and on top of that you have a large herd of horses.  Each and every one of those items is a rarity in this world."

"Well, the horses being rare is something I can understand, but my collection of music?"

"Yeah, you still own 'Note Worthy' and it's still the largest music business in the area, probably the only music store of any size in this world.  Sidney, your manager of the store is transcribing each and every disk in the place to electronic format, then he leases it out as if he was running a lending library.  The Maminai are absolutely nuts over almost any form of music, so your store is almost printing money."

"Hold on, if Sid is copying the music, what about copyrights?  Who is collecting those and where are they going?"

"Well, you'd need to talk to Bert, or a judge about that, but we're over a thousand light years from Earth, so any copyrights on any music you have in the store will have lapsed.  Besides, at least five hundred years have passed back on Earth, so even the Disney copyrights that they managed to finagle out of the US Congress and force on our old world have run out.  The local judges, lawyers and politicians are still arguing over basic laws as well, so it will be a long time before anything as complicated as a copyright law will be established."

"Holy crow, I never even thought of that.  What do we have for a government then?"

"Well, the Maminai have recommended some basic rules to our city, town and municipal governments, but basically the cops are enforcing simple stuff like the golden rule and not a lot more.  The main tax we've been collecting is a ten percent sales-tax on everything except food and that income is funding police, schools, hospitals and so forth, but the city coffers are in better shape than ever before.  To start with the judges ruled that all mortgages held by firms that don't have direct representation on Terratoo are forgiven, so suddenly local governments weren't making payments on their former outstanding debt," Fred snorted loudly then.  "Taxes on property were dropped to a minimum, just enough to cover the basic cost of services.  As a result, everyone is better off.  Heck, unemployment is nonexistent.  The only people who aren't working are those who simply aren't able to do anything, but there are darn few of those around.  It's amazing what the Maminai can do to help mentally or physically ill people.  They're even managing to motivate those that were simply indolent."

"Jeeze, how long did it take for me recover in comparison to everyone else?"  I asked in astonishment, thinking it must have taken years.

"You were in initial recovery for about ten months longer than anyone who wasn't as badly injured.  Unfortunately in your case your injuries were so bad that they didn't have a body pattern to modify, which meant they had to clone your body from square one.  Your DNA was checked against Bert's and mine and every other living relative's, then they used memories and photos, as well as DNA and stem cells from your brainstem and spinal cord to restore you to health.  You were a special case though, along with the rest of your crew who tackled that damn Kalibrodzax crook and stopped the bastard.  At first you were a special Eritol project, but then the Maminai discovered something special about you and Donna, so at that point your recovery became top priority.  Now Bert and I both seem to be slightly telepathic and we got special treatment, so I'm betting that you're even stronger than we are.  I don't suppose you're willing to say anything about that, knowing you?"

"Well, they did tell me that I'm somewhat telepathic, but they seem to think that there's something special about the rest of my genetic makeup too.  Hell, I just got told this morning that according to them I shouldn't get married,  Instead I'm suppose to take several mistresses and have a bunch of kids with various different women." I snorted.  "I don't really have a damn clue what the Eritol and the Maminai were on about."

"Oh hell, Bert and I are in the same boat, probably since we're related to you and have some of the same genes," Fred laughed.  "Not only are both of our wives pregnant, but we've each sewn some wild oats as well.  That was at our wives' insistence though, in fact Jeannette introduced me to the two women who I've become involved with.  To start with we all had a long chat with Sawish, who seems to be an ambassador to our family and to a few others, so I think you've probably met her.  If you haven't met her yet, you probably will and when you do meet her, listen to what she has to say.  After your body is fully recovered and you meet some woman who sets off a spark, hell and high water aren't going to keep you and that new woman apart.  Well, not until the woman is pregnant, then things ease off a lot, but even then sex is almost unbelievable."

"Are you trying to tell me that Jeanette is happy with you 'tom-catting' around?"

"Hell yeah, and she's not anywhere near as jealous of all the women who work in the bank either.  It's almost as if she knows that there is no spark there for anyone but certain telepathic women.  Heck, the ones she did introduce me to are all friends now, so they get together and compare their pregnancy problems or go shopping, whatever.  It's almost as if I have three wives at times."

"Holy Cow, I don't know if I could take that!  I remember quite clearly what life with Janet was like, even at the best of times."

"Well, don't use that crooked bitch as a comparison to any other human.  Did you know that her whole family disappeared?  They never made the transition from Earth to Terratoo."

"What?"

"Actually there were several families and clans who didn't make the transition.  Sawish said there was something in their genetic makeup that blocked all attempts to keep them alive during stasis.  She seems to think it was something caused by the machine that the Kalibrodzax was using, but they haven't been able to discover what it was.  Her explanation was strange because she implied that the people who died had an addiction to criminal activities, if that makes any sense.  It doesn't seem reasonable to me though, because the Kalibrodzax who instigated the stasis was definitely a criminal and if that field killed criminals, he'd have died too."

"Maybe he stole the machine and didn't know about the side effects." I laughed.  "Actually if that was what happened it'd be a case of poetic justice.  I can't think of anyone else that I'd have rather had disappear than Janet and Charlie's family anyway.  They were all crooks."

"Well, it's a mystery.  However, I need to get back to work, but before I go, just how many Krugerrands were in that case?"

"I'm not exactly sure, since I didn't count each individual coin.  All I did was count the number of stacks.  Since I knew the thickness of an individual Krugerrand, I estimated the number of coins in each stack from the depth of the attache case.  I came up with a figure of about a hundred and fifteen coins in all, then by using the selling price of gold on the stock market, I worked out that the whole lot was worth over four million dollars."

"Well, considering the rarity of gold on this world, that hoard will be worth a lot more than that now, at least a hundred times as much.  We haven't settled on an initial price for an ounce of gold yet, so I'm not sure just how much it will eventually be worth.  However, since I know you're willing to let us use your stash as a reserve fund, I can go back to the banking group with a solid answer to that question.  We'll have to work out a date and a method of making the delivery, but I'm reasonably certain that we'll want you to be personally involved in bringing it in.  I'll make damn sure you and the gold are safe when you do transport it here, and the cost of transport and security will be covered by the banking group."

"Well, don't count on it being very soon.  I'm still feeling weak as a kitten."

"You are up and around some aren't you?"

"Yeah, walking with a pair of canes by evening though." I snorted in disgust.  "I look in the mirror and see all those damn muscles, but feel so damn weak.  It just doesn't seem reasonable."

"If you're up and around, things will improve quickly." Fred reassured me.  "I've got to go now, so I'll say thank-you and I hope your strength returns soon.  Bye for now."

I said "So long," and heard him disconnect and then leaned back and relaxed again.  I had another batch of information that I was going to have to go over and assimilate.  Right then though I heard Donna talking to one of her daughters as they approached my bedroom and I realized it must be lunchtime, so I sat up and started to stand.  I was barely able to move fast enough to stand on my own two feet before they came through the door, but I counted even that as a victory.  I was thoroughly disgusted by the fact that I was living with a constant tired feeling, but it didn't seem to matter what I tried to do, the progress of my recovery was slow.  I tried my best to keep a smile on my face though, so I did greet Donna and Alanna as pleasantly as possible.

"Hey, guys, what's up?"

"Oh, not much.  I've got a few days break from the University and I was wondering if it was okay if I spend them here with you and Mom?" Alanna winked at me.  "I haven't really had a chance to get to know Mom's special fellow, so I thought maybe I should spend some time with you two."

"Oh, so I'm your Mom's 'special fellow' now, am I?" I raised an eyebrow and tried to look a little surprised at that direct declaration.

"Oh, you bet you are," Alanna grinned and to my surprise Donna was actually blushing. "She's got a real crush on you, didn't you know?  Heck, there's a whole bunch of us have a crush on you, but then women tend to develop amorous feelings for heroes and you happen to be the biggest hero around. "

"Some hero, I can't even walk a hundred yards." I snorted.

"Well, I was talking to your buddy, Sawish, and she was telling me that you just need to do the proper exercises, the ones that involve two or more people and a bed."

"What the hell is going on?  Is everyone trying to get me involved with various women in order to induce me to have sex?"  I growled, not at all happy with the way the conversation was headed.  It didn't help that my body was reacting to the look of both women, and even more to their odour or some other indefinable factor that they both seemed to be radiating.

"Actually a lot of people probably are ready, willing and eager to have sex with you." Donna said quietly - almost in a whisper, but still sounding very alluring.  "Sawish just explained to us that sexual activity is essential to your further recovery and that without it, you might never develop your full potential as a telepath."

"We decided that just wasn't right, so we volunteered to help you solve the problem of reaching your full potential, while making sure to satisfy our needs at the same time."  Alanna grinned.

"What?" I stared at her in astonishment.

"She is right, that is what I told them, since it is the truth.  I have grown impatient with your silliness, so I decided to approach your problem from a different angle. Donna and Alanna have been instructed to seduce you," I heard Sawish's 'voice' in my head and 'saw' her smile.  "While Donna's character is somewhat shy, Alanna definitely isn't and I have warned her not to take 'No' for an answer."

"You BITCH!" I snapped at her, but she didn't answer, instead she sent me an image of her toothy grin, then faded out of my thoughts.

I have decided that descriptions of my sex life would be of little importance to this account. As a result the reader will have to be satisfied with the fact that for the first time in my life I was involved in a sexual episode which involved two sexually aggressive women.  Not only were they aggressive, but they had telepathic abilities, which was something I had never encountered before.  Working in unison they were able to drive me to a frenzy, then totally satisfy my every desire.  Yet somehow I managed to do the impossible, leaving both of them just as satisfied  At least that's what they both proclaimed loudly, but I think they were just massaging my ego.

Did that session blow my mind?

No, but it did expose me to a range of sexual activity which was far more stimulating than anything I had ever experienced previously.  I can honestly say that normal human sex pales in comparison to what happens between two functional telepaths, and the joint union of three telepaths is unbelievably stimulating.

Enough said!

Well, maybe not, because after that day I seldom slept alone and in fact that session must have helped my physical health as well.  Within a week I was able to become a fully mobile member of our new society, then suddenly I was busy as a bee in a clover patch.

As a first priority I decided to deliver that dang gold to Fred's bank, because after learning how valuable it was, as well as how much the banking system needed it, I wanted that gold off the ranch.  Mostly, I didn't want to become a possible target for thieves, and on top of that there was no way I wanted to be held responsible if it happened to be stolen.  Within two days I had called Fred and he had arranged for a 'Brinks' armoured car and a police escort from the door of my house to the entrance to his bank.  Since he wanted to be sure I was there to turn the gold over to the bank, Fred also arranged that I was to ride inside the armoured car, along with one of the police officers who would be acting as an armed guard.

Complications started the moment the RCMP escort vehicle arrived at the ranch with three police officers in the car, two were from the RCMP and one was a city police officer.  One of the two RCMP officers was a blonde woman who immediately rushed over to Donna and greeted her exceptionally warmly.  Almost instantly I knew I was in for an interesting day.  First off she was a natural blonde with a wonderful figure and a pretty face, but on top of that I had already realized that she was a functional telepath.

Then Donna winked at me.

"I won't say much now, Dave, but Marika is telepathic and she's scheduled to ride with you as your guard, so you'll have a chance to get to know each other quite well." Donna grinned over the shoulder of the tall blonde woman as they hugged.  "I think you should invite her to come visit when she gets off duty, don't you?"

"Sorry, Donna, but I have a boyfriend," a strange voice boomed in my head.

"Oh shit!" I sighed softly.  "Lady, do you know what happens when strong male and female telepaths are in close proximity for extended periods of time?"

"That won't be a problem!  I've had contact with telepathic men before and I can control myself," Marika sent strongly, turning slowly as she stared into Donna's eyes, then mine.

"Ah, but you haven't been around anyone as strong as Dave," Donna grinned at her, then turned to look at me and spoke aloud. "Dave, I'd like you to meet my former partner, Marika Khazmikov."

"Hi Marika," I held out my hand to shake hers and braced myself for the impact of her touch.

"Hello, Dave," she responded, then our hands touched.

I watched her eyes as they fluttered wide in surprise, then her face developed a distinct flush and she quickly broke the contact between our hands.

"Oh!" she gasped sharply, turning to look at Donna.  "I think I understand what you mean, Donna, and now I understand why you are here on extended assignment."

"Ladies, you should both know that I 'hear' every word you two send, but don't worry, Marika, I may look twenty, but my brain has fifty years of experience, so I can control myself quite well."

"Unless he runs into a determined woman or two and is double teamed," Donna teased, then switched to normal speech.  "You know after you people do whatever you have to do today, I really do think you should come out and visit us, Marika.  If for no other reason, I'd like to catch up on the latest gossip of what's been happening around the station."

Then Donna shifted to telepathy,  "I imagine you have a lot less trouble with petty crooks and liars when it comes time to interview any perps that you arrest."

"You're right, but at least we have several officers who have the same abilities.  Besides me, there are two other women officers and then there's Tom.  You know him, Tom Perkins," Marika smiled.  "Luckily the three women were all single, but Tommy has become involved with all three of us.  Unfortunately that isn't going over very well around the station, especially since his wife is encouraging all of us to live together."

"Well, Ladies, I know you are close friends, but gossip can wait, right now I'd like to get my cargo loaded and shifted off the ranch.  Since talking to Fred about it, I'm not happy to have it here any longer than necessary." I said loudly.

That made everyone stir their stumps and in short order the two RCMP officers had gone inside with me.  In my office we'd hurriedly repacked the gold, which had previously been taken out of that aluminum attache case and placed in the safe.  Once the gold was loaded into the case, it was quickly shifted into the back of the armoured car, but it took two people to carry the dang thing.  Then I discovered that I was supposed to ride in the locked cargo area of the armoured car with the gold, but more upsetting than that, I was to be sealed in there along with Marika.

"Oh, that's frigging great!" I frowned at Donna and Marika.  "I'm supposed to be locked inside a sealed box for an hour long trip, along with an extremely sexy woman who turns me on the way only a female telepath can?  Not only that, but I can sense that Marika is ovulating, which makes her appeal ten times as strong as normal.  What the hell is this, torture, or is it a case of police brutality?"

"Even worse, there are audio and video recording devices installed in the secure storage area of the vehicle, so the world would see if anything did happen," Marika snarled mentally.  "I'll see about this bullshit!  May I use your telephone?"

Donna just nodded and motioned her inside the house, so I was left outside with the two 'Brinks' guards who came with the armoured car and the two other police officers.  Just because I thought that I might be able to, I tried to scan each of them quickly.  It was no surprise that the two 'Brinks' guards were slightly confused and so was the RCMP officer, but the 'city' police officer was elated that both Marika and I were upset.

"If what I've heard is right, that bitch just caught on that she's in trouble for some reason, although I aint sure why.  I'm glad though, 'cause I'm fucking tired of having to watch every damn thought whenever I'm around those four Mountie 'peepers.'  There is no way we can pick up any kickbacks anymore, not with those damn meddlers around to snoop into everything we do," the guy was staring after Marika as she went inside, then his gaze shifted to me.  "Oops that big Bozo over there is watching me.  I wonder if he might be another snoopy fuckhead.  Nah, I'm on this job 'cause the boss knows that I can feel it when any of 'em tries to look into my head and I don't get anything from him.  He's just another lucky, rich bastard who was smart enough to keep his spare cash at home.  If the boss had known about that . . . Naw, doin' a snatch an' grab out here in Mountie country would have been too risky.  It's better for it to be in town where we might have a chance to get at it.  I wonder if I can get at the radio in the squad car to set something up today?  If that damn briefcase was full of gold it'd be a hell of a haul."

He switched his attention from me then, back to watching the door of the house and his thoughts wandered back to Marika, "I wonder what that bitch is doing, but she'll be back soon, then I'll have to watch myself again.  I'm so fucking tired of thinking nothing but vanilla thoughts around her and that other bunch of snoops.  We had to find a way to get rid of that Russian bitch since she's the worst of the lot, but if this deal works, then the boss can easily slow down the other three.  Oops, here comes the bitch and fuck me, she's grinning."

Marika winked at me.  "Don't take it wrong, but I'm not going to be riding with you.  I think I'll switch with a 'Brinks' guard and ride up front while he's in back with you."

"I've got a better idea.  I 'listened in' on the city cop's thoughts and found out that he's crooked and was part of the bunch that set you up to ride with me.  So instead of the 'Brinks' guard, put the cop in back with me.  He doesn't know I can 'read' him, so during the trip to town I can try to pick his brain clean and possibly find out who he's working with."

"Oh yeah, if he's dirty that's a great idea!" she answered, but kept a straight face.  "Officer Wilkins, there was a screw up.  You're the one who is supposed to ride in the back with Mr. Markham, since you're the only city officer here.  Somebody fowled up the assignments and we're lucky I caught it, or there would have been hell to pay when the politicians heard about it."

The crooked cop was definitely not happy about that idea, but he didn't argue too loudly.  In minutes he and I were locked into the back of the armoured car and trying to get comfortable on the hard bench seat.

"I ain't never ridden inside one of these things where ya can't watch the scenery go by." I drawled.  "I don't like that, besides, it's kinda small and tight feeling in here, ain't it?"

"Yeah!" he snapped and I could feel his fear of being trapped in a small place.

Oh!  Bonus!  It turned out the guy was somewhat claustrophobic, which meant I had a lever to use to pry through his crooked thought patterns, a big lever!  All I had to do was get him worrying about being sealed into a small space and it would be 'Open Sesame' to his most passionately hidden doubts, worries and apprehensions.

I sniffed loudly.  "Do they pump air into this hellhole so we can breathe, or what?"

"Oh fuck, shut up you asshole!" he thought.  "There's lots of air and it's constantly renewed."

"Funny, I can't feel a draught or anything.  I wonder if the driver forgot to turn on the ventilation fan?  I guess as a cop it probably don't bother you none though.  Only I'm a rancher, so I like bein' out in the fresh air an' sunshine.  Don't you miss havin' the sun on your face at times like this?"

"Yeah. I do, but the air in here is fine.  If there was any sort of problem the guys up front would know about it," he sounded worried though.

"Well, I guess maybe I'm just feeling a bit cramped and boxed in." I sighed.  "It's just so small in here and I feel like the walls are creeping closer all the time, don't you feel that way?"

It didn't take long before I had the guy near panic, then I switched tactics and started to talk about my childhood years, which got him talking about his past.  Like he'd implied, he kept his surface thoughts 'vanilla clean,' but he couldn't hide his true history from me and he'd been a crook from the time he'd shoplifted his first candy bar at the age of six.  He and a cousin had been lucky enough never to get caught as the years passed and their crimes grew in scope, but by the time they were in their teens they knew they weren't able to compete with the big gangs.  Their records were clean though, so they appeared to switch paths and both of them became cops, but only so they could take advantage of kickbacks and under-the-counter deals.  They even established a contact with one of the local gang leaders and began to work with him.  Eventually though they lost all semblance of control of their destiny and simply became another pair of human tools in his twisted war on legality.

In the hour that we were confined in that armoured car I managed to discover names, dates and places for crimes that stretched back almost thirty-five years.  However, while I kept him talking, I was also in mental contact with Marika, who was making notes, so by the time we pulled up to the bank the local police and the RCMP were already checking on the facts.  They didn't arrest Wilkins instantly though.  In fact I wasn't directly involved with his arrest, but I heard about it later.

Instead I asked Officer Harold Wilkins help me shift that darn attache case out of the armoured car and onto the bank's wheeled dolly, then I walked at his side as he wheeled it into the bank.  After that I asked him to stand by my side as those Krugerrands were counted, had him sign as a witness that I'd delivered the gold, then made certain he was there to watch as it was whisked off to the bank vault for safe keeping.

Okay, maybe what I'd asked him to do was slightly cruel under the circumstances.  So what?  Wilkins was a crook who cheated on his fellow cops and even more than that he reminded me of Charlie, always trying to take advantage of others, but always falling short of making that big score.  I felt it was poetic justice that he had to stand there and accept congratulations for his fine service, while his mind was raging at the thought of losing any chance of stealing a small fortune in gold.

What gave me even more satisfaction was the fact that Officer Harold Wilkins and many of his cohorts would be behind bars inside of a few days, if not a few hours.

Chapter 6