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From: J R D <jrdss@pobox.alaska.net>
Subject: {ASSM} My top ten (tg) #2 (7/14)
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2003 15:10:08 -0400
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-------------------------

DISCLAIMERS

-------------------------

This story contains scenes of an erotic and/or controversial nature, 
and is not intended for the perusal of minors.  Further if perusal of 
such material is considered illegal in your area or immoral by your 
religion or personal beliefs, you should likewise bypass this story.

This story remains the property of the author.  Permission is granted 
to download, photocopy, copy and repost so long as any such action 
contains these disclaimers, and no attempt is made to profit from 
this story.

All characters in this story are the creation of the author, and any 
resemblance to real persons, alive or dead, are purely coincidental.

This story may contain aspects of fantastic science or magic.  The 
parameters of what this science/magic can accomplish are completely 
at the discretion of me, the author, and, as such, I make no 
apologies for any rules of "real" physics, chemistry, biology, or 
magic that may be broken within the story.

-------------------------

Now onto the fun stuff

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CHANGE OF POWER pt 7
------------

Lancaster reviewed the reports that they had gotten from the various 
attacks on the Sisterhood by the mercenaries they hired.  They had 
gotten a lot of information, but ultimately, none of the mercs had 
stood a chance.

He told the doctor, "We're going to have to arrange some attacks with 
lesser members of the Brotherhood.  We need to put greater stress on 
finding out more of their capabilities in combat.  We know they're 
incapable of killing, but, as we have found out, that doesn't mean 
they are ineffective in combat."

"Agreed.  But we may not have to risk members of the Brotherhood."

"Explain."

"Unlike the members of the Sisterhood, we recognize that there are 
other paths of power.  Other ways to gain mystic skills then by 
following the Goddess or the Dark One."

Lancaster shook his head dismissively.  "Lesser paths.  Some of these 
people barely have more power than an average man."

"Agreed.  But if we inform these lesser workers that they will be 
facing magic users, they will be prepared where the Sisters will not. 
They may actually take out a few Sisters.  And if they don't," the 
doctor shrugged, "who cares.  Yes, eventually the Brotherhood and the 
Sisterhood will have to engage in direct confrontation, but knowledge 
is power, and the more knowledge we have before that confrontation, 
the more power we have."

Lancaster considered it.  "Agreed.  Make it so."

After Lancaster left, the doctor nearly broke out laughing.  This was 
too easy.  With the help of the Brotherhood, he would start a war 
amongst the lesser paths that would result in chaos to feed his dark 
master.  And he would be able to give the leaders of the Technocracy, 
who were becoming suspicious of his activities with the Brotherhood, 
something to work with.

------------
************

Bronwyn walked into Laurie's house.  Laurie was waiting at her usual 
place at the table.  She asked, "Are you ready to talk now?" 
Bronwyn, seeming to be in a stunned state, sat down without saying a 
word.  Laurie's healer's senses told her of Bronwyn's confusion, and, 
although still upset at her friend's actions, her concern took over. 
"Bron, you okay?"

Bronwyn just sat there for a few seconds before saying, "Laurie, I 
think you were right.  I think I should just confess who I am to... 
Jack, and then fade out for a while.  Handle some stuff going on with 
Sisters in other states."

"Alright, now I know something is going on.  What happened yesterday?"

"I...  I don't know what you mean."

"Yeah, right.  Yesterday you were convinced that I should just let 
you play out your hand.  Now, you come in here tongue-tied and 
stunned and tell me you just want to fade away?  What happened?" 
Laurie dropped her voice.  "He didn't... do anything to you, did he?"

"No.  Yes.  I don't know!"

Laurie placed her hand on Bronwyn's.  "What happened, love?"

Bronwyn took a deep breath, clenched Laurie's hand, and started her 
story.  "After we left here we went to that coffee shop down by the 
mall.  We talked.  We laughed.  We ate muffins.  Before we knew what 
happened it was closing time.  Jack took me home, and walked me to my 
door, to the apartment I set up as Nita.  We stood there like two 
kids, not quite sure what to do or say.  Then I figured I'd give him 
a good-bye kiss.  Nothing special.  Just a light peck on the cheek. 
But somehow our lips met.

"Oh, Goddess, Laurie, it was so fantastic!  I just melted into his 
arms.  He made me feel so safe... protected.  But without making me 
feel small."

"Sounds great.  What's the problem?"

"Laurie, I can deal with the fact that I may have fallen for him, but 
the fact is I have NO idea who this man really is!  Have I fallen for 
him or have I fallen for his image of Jack?  Besides I was trying to 
get him to fall for me, not the other way around."

"So?  It seems to me you achieved your goal.  If he hadn't fallen for 
you, I doubt the kiss would've been as intense as you describe."

"But-"

"No buts, Bron.  You're confused by your feelings for him.  The last 
thing you should be considering is running away.  Besides, I thought 
about it and you were right.  If Nita suddenly disappears out of his 
life, he may get upset, particularly if, as I suspect, he's fallen 
for you."

"But-"

"No, Bronwyn, as your friend, as your healer, and as the woman who 
you directly disobeyed to do this, I am prescribing a healthy dose of 
time as Nita."

"You can't be serious."

"Very.  Bron, your confusion isn't going to go away if you run away. 
You need this."

Bronwyn slumped into her chair.  "Bitch."

Laurie just smiled.  She asked, "Do you really mean that?" already 
knowing the answer.

Bronwyn gave a small grin.  "Of course not."

"Then kiss me to apologize for it."  Bronwyn and Laurie leaned 
together and kissed.  "You know, if nothing else, your kiss with Jack 
has brought us back together."

"We haven't been together since before Jacqui left.  Doesn't Jack 
have practice today?"

"For the next few hours."

"Good."  Bronwyn grabbed Laurie by the hand and dragged her upstairs. 
Three hours of giggling and fun later, Bronwyn lay beside a satiated 
Laurie, gently stroking her breast.

The phone rang and Laurie picked it up.  "Hello?  Yeah, wait a 
second."  She handed the receiver to Bronwyn.  "It's for you."

"Hello?"  After a few seconds, Laurie felt Bronwyn's concern and fear 
suddenly spike.  "Yeah, okay, keep me informed."

"What's wrong?"

"In the last twenty-four hours four Sisters have been attacked."

"More mercenaries?"

"Not standard ones.  Laurie, the people who attacked us this time 
were wielding magic."

"Members of the Brotherhood?"

"Three of those attacked said that the magic used didn't have the 
dark feel to it."

"And the fourth?"

Bronwyn swallowed, having problems getting it out.  "Dana is missing. 
Whoever attacked her overpowered her and took her hostage.  Both her 
mother and daughter are sure she's still alive, but they can't locate 
her.  Something is blocking their attempts."

"Goddess protect us."

************

Excerpt from the journal of Miss Jacqui Donovan, Vol. II

Day 52

Over the last four weeks, granny and I have talked a lot.  I followed 
her suggestion and told Marcus how I felt, then let him work things 
out on his own.  I wasn't sure how he was doing, but the other day 
I'm pretty sure I caught him staring at me when he thought I wasn't 
looking.  It's a small victory, but right now, I'll take anything I 
can get.

Granny has suggested that I might want to join one of the groups.  I 
think I haven't chosen one so far because I felt it might be like 
betraying the Sisterhood.  Granny says I'm being foolish.  She says 
the Sisterhood loves me, and they would've had to have degenerated to 
the point where they were no longer worthy of the Goddess's power 
before they'd throw me out for wanting to maximize my training 
potential.  She also says that if I join one of the groups, I might 
be able to talk them into letting mom come here for my baby's birth.

I guess the question now is which one.  I briefly considered joining 
the Euthanatos to be close to Marcus, but that group really isn't for 
me.  Besides what happens if Marcus decides we should just be 
friends?  Or worse yet, decides

No, don't even think that, Jacqui.  Trust that your love for him is true.

I've pretty much ruled out the Verbena and Choristers.  They tell me 
that most of the Sisters who have Awakened have joined one of these 
two groups, but they're really not for me, and Granny says (and I 
agree) that I need to choose a group I feel comfortable with.  Which 
likewise leaves the Dreamspeakers and Cultists out.  In the two 
months I've been here, I've gotten to know a lot of each group, and 
although both groups aren't as out there as I first thought, neither 
do I feel I can really do their world views.

Which leaves the Hermetic Guild, the Akashics, the Virtual Adepts, 
and the Sons of Ether.

Like I said, I don't think I'll be joining the Hermetics, but for 
some reason, they've been courting me pretty heavily to join.  At 
first I thought it was because everyone says I am an incredibly 
powerful Mage (am I destined to always be too powerful for my own 
good?), but recently I've gotten the nagging suspicion there's 
something more to it.  Of course, when I ask, they won't tell me a 
thing, saying that if I want to find out I should join up.

You know, I really like the discipline of the Akashics, but the 
martial aspects kind of intimidate me.  Not only for the fighting 
skills but for the fact that the Akashics seem to have the greatest 
responsibility for fighting enemies of the Traditions.  Besides, with 
my pregnancy, learning that martial art of theirs would be a real 
hassle.

Which leaves the Sons or the Virtual Adepts.  I think I'll probably 
be going with the Adepts, but I've really had to revise my opinions 
of the Sons.  At first I thought they were just a bunch of wacky 
scientists, but they really seem to make learning fun.  They have a 
joy of discovering new things that I've rarely seen in anyone.  I 
suppose I still have time to decide.

I still haven't been able to get to the archives and check out what 
they have on the Sisterhood.  I'll try to find the time to get there 
soon.

************

Laurie had just returned from shopping for some new clothes.  With 
Jack getting all her food her budget had expanded tremendously and 
she had decided to take advantage of it at the clothes' store.

She did this partly to do something other than sit around the house, 
partly to take her mind off the problems of the Sisterhood.  In the 
last two weeks there had been no less than a dozen attacks on Sisters 
across the face of the globe.  And they were still no closer to 
finding out who was behind these attacks.

And worse yet, Dana was still missing.  Her daughter and mother had 
spent long hours trying to pierce the wall between them, but, so far, 
to no avail.

She was thinking of calling to find out if they had made any recent 
gains when she heard a knock on the door.  She checked the peephole 
and saw a delivery man.  She was wondering what was being delivered 
when she felt a tap on her shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise. 
She felt a hand over her mouth.  Not restraining, but blocking, to 
keep her from crying out.  She looked to the other end of the arm and 
saw Jack's face and relaxed.

Jack removed his hand from her mouth, leaned in, and whispered, "That 
man is a magic worker.  Apparently you have become the next target 
for these attacks."  Laurie got a concerned look on her face, but 
Jack continued, "Don't worry.  With me here, there's no way he can 
break in and hurt you.  But if you invite him in, I can neutralize 
him and we might be able to learn the true source of these attacks. 
The risk in that is that he might be able to move fast enough to hurt 
you before I can stop him.  I doubt it, but anything is possible. 
I'll leave it up to you."

Laurie thought about it for a few seconds and said, "Let's take a chance."

Jack nodded, and placed himself where he'd be behind the door when it 
opened.  He nodded and Laurie opened the door.  The man outside said, 
"Package, ma'am.  Requires signature and ID."

"Ok, come on inside."

Laurie turned her back and walked towards her purse sitting on a 
table.  In a mirror, she saw the man step inside and pull something 
out of his back pocket.  But before he could use it, Jack kicked it 
out of his hand, then grasped the man in a Sleeper hold.  Laurie 
turned, and felt him struggle with his magics, but nothing he did 
accomplished anything.  She felt his magics squelched like a match 
dropped in water.  It was only a few seconds before consciousness 
left the man.

"Quite humane," she commented.

"Mom, you will tend to find that those who are really the best at 
fighting are those who like to use it the least."  Jack lowered the 
man to the floor.

"Yeah, but that was almost anti-climactic."

"Had to keep him in relatively good shape in order to scan him." 
Jack placed his hand on the man's forehead.

"I'm not sure scanning him is going to do any good.  Some of the 
Sisters have scanned men who have attacked them and found nothing."

"Well, no offense, but your senses are not as well developed as my own."

Laurie was about to say something, but Jack held his hand up while he 
scanned the man's mind.  Finally, he looked up and said, "He was 
hired by one of the Brotherhood."

"Are you sure?"

Jack nodded.  "You can't have ever felt that power without being able 
to identify it again.  You never noticed it because the people being 
hired never identified the feeling of the power, so it wasn't part of 
their conscious remembrances."

"Then it looks like we have another war on our hands."

************

Excerpt from the journal of Miss Jacqui Donovan, Vol. II

Day 73

I finally got a chance to see the base's archives on the Sisterhood. 
All I can say is, mom, I am so sorry for all the hate I had for you 
after my Transformation.  You were as much a victim as I was.

************

Bronwyn, Laurie, and five of the best and most powerful were sitting 
in her kitchen discussing the developing situation.  Bronwyn asked 
Laurie, "Are you sure that this is a plot by the Brotherhood?"

"Jack was sure.  Not having the ability to go as deeply as he could, 
I couldn't sense the presence of the Dark One's power through 
second-hand contact."

Julie, one of the other Sisters, a good friend of Laurie's from 
before she got pregnant with Jack, asked, "Can we trust this man? 
Being male, his power must be more closely aligned with the Dark One."

Bronwyn said, "Trust me, if this man wanted to do us harm, he could 
do it in a lot more effective ways than feeding us false information. 
I think we can trust it."

"Where is he?  Perhaps we should interview him ourselves."

"He's at practice at school.  He's said that if we want to interview 
him, he will be available so long as we don't expect him to modify 
his schedule, or in any way interfere with his personal life."

"Just like a man."

Laurie said, "Julie, he didn't have to be there to protect me.  I 
wouldn't have even known that this man was a magic user if he had not 
skipped class and warned me."

Bronwyn said, "I think it's pretty safe to assume that we are now in 
the middle of another war with the Brotherhood.  Each of you, when 
you return to your homes, needs to warn all the Sisters anywhere near 
you to be on the lookout for possible attacks."

After that the meeting broke up with an agreement to meet tomorrow to 
personally interview the man.  Everybody except for Julie left to get 
some sleep.  After they had gone, Laurie asked, "Okay, Julie, what's 
wrong?"

"Wrong?  Why do you think something's wrong?"

"I'd have to be a pretty poor healer not to feel the pain resounding 
off of you.  Come on, spill the beans."

"It's nothing, really."

Laurie tried to form a link between them, but Julie had every shield 
up, making it impossible.  Looking into Julie's eyes, Laurie decided 
to play a hunch.  "So how is your daughter?  Wasn't Joanie the name 
you planned to give her after her Transformation?"

Julie started, "She's..." but then crumbled into tears.  Laurie 
quickly got beside Julie and wrapped her arms around the sobbing 
woman.

After Julie settled down, she said, "Okay, Julie, what's wrong?"

Julie sniffled a bit and asked, "Laurie, I hear your daughter had 
problems adjusting, but eventually decided to stay a girl.  How did 
you manage to convince her?"

"I didn't.  I let the decision remain hers up to the end.  In fact, 
she hadn't decided to remain a woman until shortly after she got 
pregnant.  In fact, I was so sure that she would've been happier as 
Jack, that I almost gave up my life to give that back to him.  Does 
this have something to do with Joanie?  Is she unhappy as a girl? 
Why didn't she Transform back?"

"She's...  She did.  Only two years after her Transformation."

"And you never let anyone know?  Julie, her Transformation was 
eighteen years ago!"

"Bronwyn knows she changed back, but she doesn't know..."

"Know what?"

"Nothing."

"Julie, please don't shut me out."

"After she Transformed back, she... she left me.  She took her child, 
and left the house, saying that if I ever came after her or her child 
again, she'd kill me!"

Laurie sat there, shocked.  "I'm...  I'm sure she was just angry. 
I'm sure that now that... he's," Laurie saw Julie cringe visibly at 
the mention of her child's return to masculinity, "had a chance to 
cool down, he'll be willing to talk.  Haven't you made any attempt to 
contact him?"

"That's just it, I have no idea where she is!"

"You didn't follow her... his aura?"

"Of course I did!  But about a week after she left me, something 
happened.  Her aura changed so radically in such a short period of 
time that I lost track of her.  And nothing I have done since then 
has allowed me to find her!"

Laurie was stunned.  Nothing she understood of the way magic worked 
should've explained what Julie was saying.  "Why didn't you tell us? 
We could've gotten together, worked together to find him."

"My problems with my daughter are my own.  I didn't want to bother 
anybody else."

"Julie, that is NONSENSE!  The Sisterhood isn't just a group of 
girls, Julie.  We're a family.  We're here for you in pain and in 
joy."

Julie looked into Laurie's eyes, then leaned over and rested her head 
on the healer's chest.  Laurie held her while she felt silent tears 
stream from Julie's eyes.

After a few minutes, Julie pulled herself together and said, "Thanks, 
Laurie, you're still the best."

"Julie, I know you're not big on asking for help, but maybe we could 
ask Jack for help.  He's very powerful and very skilled."

"No, Laurie, absolutely not.  I feel bad enough involving the other 
Sisters in my problems.  You have to promise me not to involve 
outsiders."

"Alright, if that's what you want.  But I think you should at least 
meet him.  You sure you can't stay?  He'll be back later tonight."

"I wish I could.  For some reason, the only flights I could get were 
today.  The flights are so loaded for the upcoming Thanksgiving 
holiday, I almost didn't make it today.  Short of making a magical 
plague to knock dozens of people off a flight, I'm stuck."

"Okay."

The two ladies hugged and relaxed for a while before Julie had to go. 
After she was gone, Laurie had a chance to sit and think.  After the 
attacks had begun on the Sisterhood, she hadn't spent much time 
working on Jack's clues, feeling that it wasn't time to work on what 
she thought was a personal matter, but clearly this went a lot deeper 
than she thought.  She spent the next couple hours pouring over the 
records she had of the Sisters.

When Jack came home, Laurie asked, "Can we talk?"

"Sure."  He slid into the chair beside her.  "What's up?"

"I have spent the last few hours going over my records in depth and, 
for the life of me, I can't find a single reason why Jacqui and a few 
others have reacted so badly."

"I told you, you're looking at the wrong question."

"What do you mean?  Jacqui and a small percentage of others were 
unable to handle their Transformations and reacted badly.  All the 
other Sisters were fine with it."

"And that doesn't strike you as odd?"

"What?"

"Think about it for a second.  There have been approximately 150,000 
Sisters throughout history.  Out of that number, 30,000 reacted badly 
to the Transformation.  That leaves 120,000 individual Sisters who 
had exactly the same reaction to the Transformation."

"So?"

"Look, if more people had reacted like Jacqui, upset, or maybe even 
just mystified about their Transformation, but grew to accept and 
love their femininity, that would be understandable.  But did you 
feel anything like that?"

Laurie thought about her own Transformation.  After she had 
Transformed, she had been mystified, but over how it had been done, 
but not what had been done.  Thinking about it, it hadn't made sense. 
Her entire life had been turned upside down.  Guys who had been her 
friends were now suitors, and girls she had wanted to be more than 
friends with were now interested in nothing more than friendship. 
But even from the beginning, it had just seemed so... right.

"I... I don't get it."

"And when you do, then you will have solved a major step towards your goal."

Jack then went upstairs to his room, leaving Laurie to wonder what was next.
-- 
"This is reality, not T.V.  Can't you tell the difference?"
"Sure, I just like T.V. better."

jrdss@alaska.net
ICQ#37222294
J R D

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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