Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Sorcerer: The Clann by BJohn
   Chapters 31 - 40 01/28/07
   ------
   Chapter 31
   PATRICK (Thursday 3/16)
   Good Probe Patrol shift!  Val, Cynthia, Doug and I formed a four-team
and went to town.
   Among us, we worked up to handling fifteen simultaneous probes but it
was intense -- and we'd run out of local transcription systems.  We decided
we'd do that only in an emergency and dropped back to a more comfortable
level at ten to twelve.
   All routine but that's fine; we'd had enough excitement for the day
already -- and the day was just beginning.
   As promised, we dragged Cynthia along with us in the morning and took a
half-hour's brisk walk; just enough to get the blood stirring well and us
breathing a little harder.
   At school, Val, Cynthia and I dropped in on Mrs.  Stroh to give her an
update.  Nice, she was popping outside every once in a while.  Let's go for
it!
   Cynthia asked her, _"Does it help to know when a student is spinning you
a story?"_
   She was pretty calm.  _"Figures you guys would know about this stuff. 
Anything remotely connected to Bob Reynolds seems to turn into magic."_
   On a VPN, I told Cynthia, _"That's you, sweetheart.  *You*'re magic!"_
   She blushed and told me, _"Flirt!  I'll show you magic when we get
alone. Anyway, we've got a newbie to handle."_
   We talked with Mrs.  Stroh a little longer, showed her a bit about
Reference Points and arranged to meet her on Saturday for an hour or so to
show her and her husband more "stuff."
   We updated her on our talent search and said we were ready to start
interviewing.  She told us she'd get a memo ready announcing our new
service and send it out that afternoon with our names listed as the key
people.
   Valerie said, "What we're thinking is we concentrate mainly on getting
students into good study habits rather than necessarily trying to raise
grades as such.  It'll take a bit longer, but it should pay off better in
the long run."
   Mrs.  Stroh said, "You're right.  Even with all the flapjaw the school
district puts out about how important middle school is, you guys know it's
just a stepping stone."
   Cynthia told her, "In talking with the McCambridge group, they tell us
colleges and other institutions put a lot more emphasis on the high-school
grades than the overall school history.  Apparently the Junior and Senior
years carry the most weight."
   Mrs.  Stroh said, "I agree.  I've talked with Mrs.  Baer at McCambridge
a lot about this.  What we'd like to end up with is a fairly low-intensity,
raise-the-study-quality program with enough help available to salvage
grades as needed.  Maybe in a few years, we'll get the overall academics up
just by improving the basics.
   "Now, when Bob and George were here, they were able to handle some, let
us say, situations.  Are you prepared to do that, too?"
   I told her, "Certainly.  We've got a hot line direct to Bob and Sherry
Stapley, and we're not too shabby ourselves."
   "Great!  Here's what I've got."
   She had several students who were frequently late and came in with their
clothes dirty or torn and sometimes had some bruises.
   "I can't really get anything out of them.  Then again I haven't tried
the last several weeks, so maybe I could now.  You wanna give it a shot to
see what's going on?"
   We told her we'd give it a shot.
   Cynthia told her, "By the way, I'm going to be leaving today before the
last class; I've got a medical appointment."
   Mrs.  Stroh looked concerned.  "Nothing serious, I hope."
   We kept our faces straight.  Cynthia told her very sincerely, "It's a
preventative thing.  I'm getting birth control so the Valkyrie here doesn't
knock me up."
   Mrs.  Stroh glanced at Valerie who looked around innocently.  Mrs. 
Stroh shook her head, rolled her eyes and groaned.  "Teach *me* to ask. 
Right.  Bring the doctor's note tomorrow."
   We interviewed several Brain Trust prospects over lunch.  Almost all
were interested in helping out and we arranged to meet with them next week
after school.
   Cynthia left for her appointment.  Val and I restrained ourselves from
peeking; we had our last class to do and also figured she'd have a good
time telling us about the GYN poking around in her pussy.
   We went home and did our homework so we wouldn't have to mess with it
later.  About 4:00, Cynthia _told_ us she was done and would be over in
fifteen or twenty minutes.
   Even though the complex had a security door, she didn't need a key to
get in.  We'd learned how to open any door with a little spirit-touch to
shove in the latch.
   She walked in a little stiffly, pushed her hips at us and waved them. 
"Behold the IUD!  Preventer of nasty sperm making my belly big!
   "I'd already talked with Mom about it, so the GYN took off my hymen.  It
was over almost the entire opening and really thick.  I figured it was time
anyway -- I'd been having a hell of a time cleaning up during my periods.
Besides, I didn't fancy you sticking yourself in me with it in the way.
   "Anyway, she gave me a little local and just cut it off with a laser. 
She said I'd be sore for several days while I healed up.
   "She could get the speculum in then, checked me out and put in the IUD.
She told me my Bartholin's glands were in great shape.  I know; I drooled
pussy juice all over."
   She felt way back between her legs.  "Numb." Further forward, "Still
numb." Almost in front, "Hmm.  Not numb!  Just the right spot *not* to be
numb.  Ya know, I've never been able to get a clear view even with a
mirror. You guys are gonna have to check me out to see if I've been
butchered too badly."
   We laughed.  I think that was a pretty good hint.  Valerie told her,
"Looks as if we didn't talk about remote perception, phantom tongues,
fingers and other stuff, eh?  Let's show you after a while.  But the first
thing I think should happen is you get some TLC to help you over the
trauma."
   We ganged up on her and cuddled.  We kissed her; I stroked her hair and
told her, "Poor baby!  We'll make it all better."
   She told us, "More!  Keep it coming!  I'm in agony!"
   Before we did anything else, though, we did an injury energy bleed on
her.  We _felt_ quite a bit of the locked up energy around her vagina blow
off.
   We put her in Dad's recliner and put it all the way back to keep the
weight off her wound.  We _linked_ lightly; I stood behind her head and
rubbed her temples and shoulders while Valerie took off her shoes and socks
and rubbed her feet.
   Cynthia purred and moaned, "More!  By the way, my boobs aren't sore at
all today; maybe we can get them sore another way.  Hint.  Hint."
   We efficiently unbuttoned and removed her blouse then moved our mouths
across her shoulders to her arms.  We kissed her all up and down her arms,
sucked on her dainty fingers and watched her nipples grow inside her sheer
bra.
   ------
   VALERIE
   We stayed _linked_ and slipped outside, leaving a solid connection to
feel our bodies' sensations.  Pat and I had to stay synchronized so we
wouldn't bump our heads.  We spent a lot of time on her sweet mouth, eyes
and face then worked down to her breasts.
   While her hips pumped slightly, I reached between her breasts and
flipped open the catch, leaving her cups in place.  I slowly pulled my side
off with my teeth then blew cold air on the swollen nipple exposed to us.
   I pulled the bra completely off my side and tucked it by her side.  Pat
pulled his side off and she was exposed to us.
   Perched high on her chest, her firm cones were probably AA to small A
and topped with swollen pink nipples almost an inch high.  We went quicker
now; I licked the left crease on the bottom then Pat licked the right. 
Back and forth we went, licking closer and closer to the high-standing
peaks waiting for us.
   We spirit-hugged, _kissed_ and _wound_ ourselves sweetly together above
as our bodies worked our pleasures below.
   Together, we breathed hotly on her nipples then lightly sucked them in.
Cynthia's hips stayed in the air and quivered, begging for enough
stimulation to release her.  We laved her sweet flesh with our tongues then
sucked hard.  She squeaked quietly and shot her hips high as her climax
flooded through us.
   We sucked harder and shook our heads together; her climax continued.  As
it died down, we milked each breast gently with our fingertips and flicked
her nipples again.  Her climax grew stronger and her stomach rippled and
rolled.
   She keened her pleasure out quietly and told us, _"Thank you.  Thank
you. I love you."_
   We pleasured her firm breasts and hard nipples for another fifteen
minutes while her climaxes rolled through us and we _merged_ and _remerged_
above, savoring the first of our love's celebrations.
   As she finally lay relaxed, I flipped the cover up to keep her warm. 
While I hung up her bra, Pat patted her wet breasts dry.  With a final
quick kiss to each still-hard nipple, he covered those too.
   Ha!  I knew I still had some; way in the back of my panty drawer I found
some older panties I'd outgrown by the time I'd worn them twice.  They
looked to be about the right size.  I brought them, a fresh panty liner and
the aloe cream back out.
   I told Cynthia, "We need to change you, sweet Star.  Somehow they got
wet."
   She grinned at me lazily.  "Wonder how that happened?"
   She picked her butt up enough I could slip a towel underneath and pull
down her saturated panties.  Yep, the liner the GYN had put in was soaked
through.  Cynthia's Bartholin's glands were in excellent shape.
   After I pulled her panties all the way off, she pulled her legs up and
spread.  I've smelled myself before and enjoyed it.  She smelled similar
but a bit sweeter, I'd say.  She glistened and her sparse blonde bush was
soaked.
   I opened her lips at the bottom and _showed_ them the
three-quarter-circle wound around her vagina.  "Yeh, sweetie, that would
have been tough to get through.  We'll doctor it up and you'll be right as
rain in a couple days."
   I wiped her crack dry and patted her dry from the top down, avoiding her
wound.  I told her, "This'll be a bit chilly and might hurt just a little,"
then spread a generous amount of aloe cream over her wound.
   Cynthia smiled and told me, "Barely a twinge with the anesthetic and all
the endorphins flowing.  It's okay."
   I put the panty liner in and pulled the panties into place.  Not a
perfect fit but okay for now.  I told her, "Tomorrow when the numbness
wears off, it'll probably be sore.  Wear a soft skirt and think of bringing
a pillow to school; you'll be sitting right on it."
   Pat had disappeared for a few minutes.  He came back from his place with
a long flannel shirt for Cynthia.  "This'll keep you warm."
   She smiled and said, "Thank you, love.  You two were so *good* to me I
could cry.  Let me at least kiss you good."
   We snogged for several minutes then she said, "What about you two?  I
can tell you got turned on by molesting innocent little me."
   "We'll handle it," I told her with a smile.
   She asked eagerly, "May I watch, please?  I need to get some first-hand
edumication."
   Pat and I looked at each other and said, "We'd be honored by your
company."
   Okay!  We had another hour before Cynthia had to be home.  She _told_
her mom she was still here and was doing fine.  Rita was doing fine too;
she'd only needed the IUD put in.
   Pat and I made slow love with me on top.  Cynthia straddled Pat's chest
and gently licked and sucked my boobs while we moaned and _shared_ our
happiness.  Near the end when I was close, she dismounted and gently licked
our joining and my clit, finally sucking it in hard.
   It was the last bit I needed to come hard on Pat; he responded by
thrusting up and leaving a generous sample of baby juice inside.
   Cynthia was ecstatic.  "You two are so sweet and wonderful together!  I
can barely wait to make each of you come so hard you pass out." Little
devil!
   We carried her home -- after all, our friend was injured -- and
deposited her safe and sound.
   ------
   KATHLEEN (Thursday evening 3/16)
   Aaron and I met with an investment advisor from Fidelity Bank, JRD's
private bank.  Hell, I had all this money running out of my ears and needed
a place to put it.
   The advisor was very nice and gave me a quick education on how
investments worked, the various securities, ways of investing and
risks/rewards associated with each.
   I told him, "I'm just a middle-class California girl.  JRD's providing a
very nice car, plenty of cash for clothes and lots of fun.  I don't need to
spend money just because it's available.  Now if Aaron says I need to spend
something or it will be lost to taxes, that's a different story.  I don't
hear that now.  Right, Aaron?"
   Aaron told me, "You're in decent tax shape right now.  You've got the
insurance trust fund which is now over $2 million.  The principle is
tax-free; it's getting about 10% which generated another $40K the last
couple months.  You can probably do better than that over the long run."
   Okay.  We looked over the investments Jarlath and Ronnad had left, about
$11 million.  The advisor looked at them and the statements over the last
couple years and said, "From the funds and amounts they had, they were
going long-term too.  A lot more volatile than a money market, agreed, but
one hell of a lot more return.  Actually, not much risk over the long run.
   "I'd recommend you leave them just as they are; Evin and Aaron will
transfer them to your name.  From what you tell me, you're after long-term
capital appreciation so there's no reason to change funds, especially since
that usually means sales charges."
   I put the insurance money in a medium-term fund so it would be more
stable if I needed it.  Aaron arranged all my checking accounts so there'd
be an automatic $40K transferred each month to my personal account from JRD
then $30K to the long-term and $10K to the medium-term a day or so later.
   I agreed to take $5K a month into my checking account for "life and
livingness" and a bit of mad money.  It was an interest-bearing account
drawing maybe 5% so at least anything in it wasn't losing just to
inflation. We figured if it got over $150K, I'd put enough in the mid-term
fund to drain it down below $100K.
   I still had the $190K in the J&R accounts; since they were
interest-bearing we left them alone for now.  Fuck.  Three months ago I was
delirious to get $600 a day.
   We spent about thirty minutes filling and signing forms.  Aaron told me
he'd get with Bob and Sherry the same way.
   ------
   PATRICK (Friday 3/17)
   Thursday night morning, we three spent an hour each on Probe Patrol;
each handled a couple routine ramontheeye requests.
   Friday morning we walked a little faster and a little longer.  Cynthia's
legs got pretty tired by the time we got back.  We _felt_ her wound twinge
a little occasionally but it wasn't at all bad.
   When we dressed for school, she wore a soft skirt and had a small
pillow. "It *is* a little sore after I sit on it a minute.  I put a whole
bunch of aloe on it; it _looks_ like it's healing fine.  Maybe I should
diddle myself all day to keep the endorphins going."
   We volunteered to help her out every ten minutes or so with a phantom
tongue or fingers.  Leer.
   To support the Irish, she'd borrowed a green blouse from her mom and her
skirt had green stripes.  She'd found a red-haired wig that fit her pretty
good and she looked great!
   The blouse was really loose on her, though.  With a wide grin, she
"inflated" it over her boobs with a spirit-touch until it was tight with a
cone-shaped bosom.  Val said, "Looks like a great D cup to me!" She felt
her up a bit and told her, "Feels great, too."
   Cynthia laughed and popped up a huge set of nipples.  I'd say she was
ready.  I'd found a green shirt and Val had green socks and a green ribbon
around her throat.  Cynthia got lots of double and triple-takes.  With her
height, it looked as if she'd topple over any moment.  When a guy (or gal)
stared at her, she'd leer, lick her lips, point her cannons at them and pop
the nipples up for a second.  The target would blush and hurried off.  Val
would pretend to scold her for teasing.
   Mr.  Caine, one of our really-conservative teachers, stopped dead and
gaped.  Cynthia grinned at him and asked, "Don't think they're real?" She
reached up and started unbuttoning her blouse at the top.  When she reached
the third button, he gulped, held up his hand and said, "Never mind." He
hurried off, but not before we noticed him sporting a good hard one.  Hmm,
maybe a bit of a fetish?
   Mrs.  Stroh took one look, laughed and told her, "Well done!  Very well
done indeed."
   Cynthia told her, "I'm just glad they're not *really* that big.  I've
already strained my arms trying to read a book."
   Janet had passed along three names of middle-schoolers who'd remembered
at one of their parties and had been _talking_ by the time they left.
   The two boys were seventh-graders so we picked them up first.  We were
very subtle about it.
   _"Hey fellas, can we get a bit of your time over lunch?"_
   We could have caught flies with their mouths.  _"Uh.  Sure, Conan."_
   They were good people.  They'd been friends for several years, good
grades, extroverted and had good people skills.  They were very interested
in learning more "mental skills," as we put it.
   They agreed readily to a meeting on Monday right after school to get
things started.  It didn't hurt to have Valerie and Cynthia sitting across
from them with their nipples up eyeing them like they were studs!  Cynthia
popped her nipples up extra-large.
   Valerie and Cynthia picked up the last one, a sixth-grade girl, after
last class.  It took maybe two minutes start to finish to convince her to
come to the Monday meeting.  Maybe the Valkyrie had something to do with
that; Cynthia didn't need to pop her nipples at her.
   So, possible start on an Inner Circle.  We'll have to keep _inspecting_
and trolling to see who we can come up with.
   During last period, Hazel (Val's mom) _asked_ if Cynthia might like to
go out to dinner with us.  She _said_ it felt like time for a family dinner
and it was looking like Cynthia was getting to be part of the family.
   Cynthia checked with her folks; no problem.  We dropped by her place,
picked up some dinner clothes and went to my place.
   Cynthia "deflated" and we spent fifteen minutes in a sweet Cynthia
sandwich showing her how much we appreciated her being with us.  She was
smiling and glowing everywhere by the time we were done.
   They got gussied up and I changed into my dinner clothes.  My ladies
looked gorgeous!
   When we came into Val's place, Jim (Val's dad) saw us first.  When he'd
seen Cynthia before, she'd been in her normal school clothes.  This time
she and Val were dressed neatly, had their hair brushed down with a touch
of makeup and were glowing.  Very nice!
   He looked again and said, "Hazel -- we've got trouble."
   Hazel came in and saw the same thing.  I noticed four hard nipples
poking out.  Hazel was definitely a "mom" and didn't miss a trick.
   "You ladies are *gorgeous*!  Now, have you figured out how to get the
three of you on a twin bed?"
   Pat and I laughed while Cynthia looked at us like our hair had turned
green.  Valerie _told_ her quickly how both sets of parents knew about our
relationship.  Cynthia caught it quickly and said, "Hazel, I know these two
can figure out anything.  Valerie is the smartest person I know -- she must
have gotten it from you."
   Hazel just laughed.  "Well, if you use our bed, you wash the sheets.  If
I find it messed up *just once*, you'll have to sleep in the hall."
   That handled a lot.  Hmm.  They'll be gone Sunday; Cynthia should be
pretty well healed up by then...
   Dinner was a great success.  We laughed, joked, grilled Cynthia about
the rest of her family and talked about progress on getting a Brain Trust
going at school.
   Jim could barely keep his eyes off the four young breasts and hard
nipples across from him.  Cynthia and Val sat very upright and made sure he
could see them very well -- neither had to "augment" themselves to give him
a great show.
   We had Cynthia in a sandwich; Val and I took turns caressing her thigh
or giving a nipple a phantom lick every several minutes.  Mean.  She damned
near raped us when we took her home later after the Clann meeting.
   ------
   BOB (Friday 3/17)
   St.  Patrick's Day at school was a huge success for those of us playing
the game.  Kat looked gloriously sensual in a green outfit that perfectly
matched her eyes.  The Fearsome Five sported their Irish pins and for
whatever reason the girls kept eyeing me; Steven and Henry kept looking at
Kat and wiggling their eyebrows.  What did they have in mind?
   Leone and Mark sported their pins too and kept eyeing us.  Oh, the
trials of being the Ceann and Ceann-Mate!
   During lunch, someone fired up a boom box and we danced Irish jigs and
other dances the entire time.
   Right after school I met with Aaron and the Fidelity Bank investment
advisor.  Aaron wanted me to take $9K a month and sock it away plus an
additional amount for living expenses.  Hell, I'll take it.
   The advisor gave me a quick education on risk/reward, various security
and savings vehicles and ran down a checklist of questions to get an
investment profile.
   We settled on the $9K to go into a long-term investment allocation.  We
agreed I'd draw $5K a month for living.  We set up an interest-bearing
checking account at JRD's Fidelity Bank so at least inflation wouldn't
totally eat me alive.
   We filled out forms, signed stuff and Aaron told me I'd get checks and a
debit card within a week.  Nice to have a few nickels to rub together.
   Aaron "forced" me to get a company car like Kat and Sherry.  I settled
on a Land Rover SUV so I'd have some cargo space and be able to get into
construction sites if needed.
   Clann Meeting time with a full house again.  Good, we've got a lot of
stuff happening.
   Blake and Louise were proudly sporting their Irish-by shamrocks and
exchanging grins with Mother and Father.  Mama and Papa Sonora wore a set
too and were sharing not-so-covert looks with Nana and Seanathair.  Somehow
I thought they'd become *much* better acquainted over the past few days!
   Pat gave us a quick rundown on the spirit-life in Redmond.  "Susan Way
and Raymond Steele appear to be quite an item now.  Raymond is single and
Susan has three children.  All three children are ones of us now as well as
around fifteen Vail employees and several Way and Steele friends.  Looks
like we've got a quiet revolution going on up there."
   Cheers and applause!  Kathleen said, "Bob and I will probably bring
Raymond and Susan down for a weekend sometime soon so they can attend a
Clann meeting and talk about starting a Clann in their area.  We've
_talked_ with them a bit now and then while outside, but they're getting to
a point they need some organization."
   Ana got put in the spotlight next.  "Okay, gang, thanks to Mario and
several others, we've got our Probe Patrol running around in a united
synchronized team.  A four-team is able to handle an average of nine to ten
probes at once, so we've got the throughput running really fast.
   "During the last couple days while we were doing the routine EverAlert
runs where we knew exactly what we were looking for and exactly from whom,
we averaged seventy fully-completed probes and dossiers per hour.
   "That's one hell of an improvement than when we did Unpleasantville and
Vail.  There, we had a prober and a transcriber handling a single probe. 
Four people could handle two probes.  At fifteen minutes a dossier we were
able to produce eight dossiers an hour under the same conditions.  Now
those same four people can do seventy.  My math may be rusty but my
calculator says that's an 8.75 times increase!"
   Lot's of applause and cheers on that!  Evin got the floor for a moment.
"So that means JRD is getting nine times more work for the same amount we
were paying at the start.  That's great for JRD, but not so great for the
consultants.  The JRD Owners got together tonight before the meeting and
decided to squeeze a few more dollars from our budget.
   "Retroactive to midnight Wednesday, routine probes like EverAlert will
earn $2,000 per person per hour; Frank and Thelma will get the same for
their analysis.  Real-time JRD probes will go at $2,500 an hour.  That's
not quite the factor the efficiency increased but you can always quit."
   Bellana called out, "Right!  Screw *that* idea."
   Evin continued, "*Everyone* comes out ahead.  Under the original $250
per hour and four per shift producing eight dossiers, it would have taken
375 hours to complete the 3,000 we did for EverAlert.  It would have cost
JRD $375,000 in service fees to the consultants.
   "With the new efficiency, it took only 40 hours to do the same number --
and that also reflects collecting fifty dossiers on a smuggling company for
ramontheeye!  JRD pays four probers times $2,000 or $8,000 per hour for a
total cost of $320,000.  JRD saved $55,000 and at least fourteen days.  We
think it's a *hell* of a deal for us.
   "Look at it another way.  Suppose we got a team of interviewing
consultants; they'd each charge us at least $50 an hour.  A set of five
could do maybe 10 interviews a day to get anywhere near the data we get in
fifteen minutes.  Some rough math says on a 40-hour week it would take a
year and cost us $500K just to get the interviews!  They wouldn't have the
depth or the accuracy we get with the probes plus we'd have to pay travel
and accommodations."
   Don was up next.  "With what resources I could get at McCambridge, I did
some more testing on the body defenses.  I took a 'trip' down to the San
Onofre nuclear plant south of here and checked some more.  My question was
neutron and gamma rays specifically.
   "Folks, what it comes down to is if something is physical universe, and
we can detect it, the body shield can stop it.  Without going into the
math, the shield can detect and react faster than an atomic explosion can
propagate.  That means if you've got your body defense on trip, you could
sit your body on top of a nuclear device and have it explode beneath you
with no effect on your body.
   "So the moral is *always* have that defense on trip.  Have it sensing
from *all* directions, not just from front, back or above.  There's no
excuse for losing a body to any sort of physical accident any more and
those who do so will be severely chastised by the Ceann -- and I don't mean
the Rod of Chastisement, either."
   Laughter and applause.  Very good news.
   Ana told us, "I'm still researching defense against biological warfare
such as viruses and germs.  If I can devise a method to prevent infection,
that's great.  I'll also work to see if we can flush a body or an area of a
specific toxin, chemical, germ or virus; I hope that could include any
cancer cells.  The DNA tracing we did the other night gave some ideas on
that so I'll get on it in my copious free time.
   "Now, not to get hopes up but since we're dealing with cells and DNA,
I'm first gonna see if I can tap into the stem cell research going on
around the world.  Perhaps we can find a way to replace scar tissue, regrow
damaged parts, repair bone damage and things like that.  It's a research
project and mainly depends on how much time I can put on it; I may call on
some of you for assistance."
   Mary volunteered immediately.
   Evin had a last bit, "The EverAlert probes are complete, *way* ahead of
schedule thanks to you folk.  Frank and Thelma are looking over the
dossiers for intelligence and hopefully will have some results by early
next week.  We also surveyed 500 EverAlert customers; Madeleine MacKenna
will go over those.
   "We'll probably do at least one in-person visit to the North Hollywood
office since it's the headquarters, but unless we really need to go in
person, we'll check out the others on an outside visit.
   "You folks are doing great!  The future for us all looks very good for
quite a while.  Thank you all for your help."
   Father got the floor and looked around.  He said, "I see most of you
heeded the warning about supporting the Irish.  However, I do see a couple
very flagrant violations!  Henry Merrill and Janet Adams, stand up!"
   They jumped up with mock looks of horror and started "running." Arms and
elbows pumping really fast but taking only a six-inch step a second.  Henry
screamed, "No!  Not the Cauldron of Fire!  NO!" and pumped harder.  Mother
was right on his tail, stepping just a bit faster.
   Janet shrieked, "Help!  The Leprechaun's Staff is gonna get me!" while
Father was catching up with her.  The Enforcers caught them both (with a
bit of help from the audience)!
   Father picked up Janet and smothered her with kisses while she moaned
and squirmed.  Henry picked up Mother (while bemoaning his fate) and
followed Father out of the room.
   For five minutes we were entertained with mock moans and shrieks of
passion from Janet and Mother.  It ended in loud screams and rapid
mocked-up bed-squeaking sounds.
   Father and Mother came back in; Father announced, "Let that be a lesson
to ya all!" Henry and Janet staggered back in with their hair totally in a
mess and their clothes all askew.
   Janet announced, "We've learned our lesson all right.  The moral is
'never dress as Irish on St.  Patrick's Day.'" The four of them got a long
round of applause for a job well-done.
   After Clann meeting, Kat and I went around helping Mother and Father
clean up.  Fortunately, everyone's pretty neat; it only took ten minutes to
cover the whole house.  Mary went to spend the night in our room at Ana's
to get an early start with her in the morning.
   I set up our room for the night then went looking for a special lady. 
Finding her in the kitchen finishing up a few dishes, I snuggled up behind
her and buried my nose in her fiery hair.
   I sniffed and told her, "Hmm.  Delicious!  Seems this sweet lady needs
some Tender Loving Care tonight.  And what better time than St.  Patrick's
Day?"
   She gasped and quivered.  I turned her around and held her.  After
nibbling her neck, I moved slowly up her jaw line to her mouth.  _"Missy
O'Reilly,"_ I asked her, _"May I have the extreme honor of sweet loving
with you tonight?"_
   She shivered again.  Her face grew warmer beneath my mouth and her
nipples grew hard against me.  _"Ceann, Bob, the honor is mine.  This night
and as many nights to come as you may desire."_
   Kissing her tenderly once more, I picked her up, _linked_ lightly and
carried her to my room.
   ------
   KATHLEEN (Friday 3/17)
   After cleanup from the Clann meeting, I tracked down a special man.  Ah!
He was in the den straightening a few chairs.
   Of course he knew I was behind him but pretended not to notice.  I
leaned lightly against his back, pushed a hard nipple and a bit of breast
into it, eased my bush against his butt (thank you, Valerie!) and stroked
down his hard arms with my fingertips.  I felt a quiver run through him. 
Nuzzling the back of his neck, I asked him, _"Mr.  Power Tool man, may I
have the extreme honor of sweet loving with you tonight?  Will you teach me
mysteries of the Leprechaun's Staff or perhaps a Journey of some sort?"_
   David turned around slowly and looked at me sternly.  _"Beware of what
you ask, Ceann-Mate.  You may end the night with all your nooks and
crannies plundered, your muscles trembling with exhaustion, unable to draw
breath and yet face more challenges ahead.  Can your heart can bear the
strain?"_
   _"David, my spirit is willing and my heart is strong.  That damned son
of yours has been working my butt off making me run every morning!  Lead
on, let loose your best upon me and cry, 'Shame,' to the first who says,
'Enough.'"_
   _"So be it, sweet Sunshine.  We begin."_
   _Linking_ with me, he picked me up and carried me into his bedroom with
my nectar dribbling a trail on the floor behind us.
   Chapter 32
   VALERIE (Saturday 3/18)
   We met with Mrs.  Stroh ("call me Vera outside of school") and her
husband Nat around 10:00 Saturday morning.  He was a very pleasant man
working as a mechanical engineer with Burbank Water and Power.
   They learned quickly.  Within two hours, they were operating outside
with Reference Points, could do good _inspections_, switch bodies and put
up decent firewalls and body defenses in a reasonable time frame.
   Pat showed them about spirit-touches, _kissing_ and phantom fingers.  We
demonstrated the phantom fingers on them, and they practiced a bit until
they got the idea.
   Pat told them, "Not that *we* do it, mind you, but some of our friends
implied a few phantom lips, fingers, tongues or other things during
intimate moments was a lot of fun."
   Vera's eyes got big suddenly and she gasped and quivered.  Yeh, Nat knew
exactly what we meant.
   Pat and I gave our Star a couple nipple-licks, and she smacked us.  We
protested innocence while Vera and Nat laughed.
   Cynthia told them, "You've got the basics.  There's communication,
motion and defense.  Play with it.  We spend most every night outside
together exploring the world; we've been to the Moon a couple times. 
Distance apparently has no effect.
   "You've got the ability, use it!  _Inspect_ everyone; this isn't a
privacy issue, it's a necessity.  If you knew Tagalog, for example and
heard two people plotting to rob and kill you in the language would you
pretend not to understand and simply ignore it?
   "As a counselor, Vera, you can dig right in and get the truth -- at
least as someone knows it.  Mrs.  Baer at McCambridge is one of us; you can
always _talk_ with her or any of us.
   "And yes, the entire McCambridge Inner Circle are ones of us.  It's
probably no surprise Bob Reynolds discovered the basics and is a driving
force behind developing all these remembered abilities.
   "You probably already know all this stuff needs to be very clandestine.
There's enough William Evil-Bottoms and hostile governments floating around
who'd literally kill without a blink to get their hands on it; keep it
quiet."
   I said, "Our help is always yours.  The entire faculty and their
families are under our protection so if you have an emergency or even need
some advice we're here for you.  Welcome to a world of freedom and
responsibility."
   We talked another half hour about the school Brain Trust.  We ensured we
had each other's email and phone numbers so we could pass on tidbits or
other information.
   All good stuff.
   ------
   At 1:00, Blake and Louise dumped the Fearsome Five and PVC at Universal
Studios.  Cynthia, of course, fit in perfectly; she could scamper with the
best of us.  Although she was shorter than the rest of us and her legs
weren't as long, she simply scampered faster.
   We stayed in smaller groups; it was easier to maneuver through the
crowds.  Pat and I ensured we got a solid half-hour each with Cynthia;
we've got a polyamourus relationship.  That means among the three of us,
there were an additional three relationships besides the "three together."
Each couple had a relationship too, sharing their interests, ideas and
dreams.
   Besides, it was nice to girl-talk with Star.  Since she had an older
sister, her this-lifetime experience was a bit broader than mine.  We
bounced a lot of ideas back and forth.
   Pat didn't tell me what they talked about; none of my business, really.
   We chased the wildlife, teased the mundane couples and taught Cynthia
the yoyo game on the rides.  Pat literally had his hands full; he had four
boobs and two butts to keep warm during the dark parts.  He sucked it up,
clenched his teeth and caressed us so lovingly we leaked tears.
   We yoyo'd back home around 4:00.  Pat's shower wasn't really big enough
for the three of us, but we crammed in anyway.  He got to be the designated
hair washer so we made girl-sandwiches while we washed and explored each
other's bodies.
   After we dried off, Pat pulled his bed away from the wall just enough to
get someone on each side.  We did another injury energy bleed for Cynthia;
when we were done we could see no more locked-up energy in her anywhere. 
Her wound was a very thin red line and only slightly tender.
   Pat and I unilaterally decided it needed at least one direct application
of the ultimate maidenhead-healing potion: pussy lube and saliva!
   It took five seconds to get a very-willing Star on the bed with a pillow
and towel under her butt and us _linked_ lightly.  It took ten minutes with
stops at her delicate toes, cute calves, the back of her knees (sensitive),
the middle inside of her thighs (she sprays pussy juice too!) and long
licks up and down her legs before my mouth touched her small slit.
   It was snugly closed but continuously wept lube and her shiny clit
pushed itself outside at the top a good half-inch.  Long nipples, long
clit, what more could one want?  She tasted rich and sweet.  Different
flavor from me and excellent for the digestion.
   I didn't open her up.  Just light licks on her outside labia and her
tiny pink rosebud with Pat's loving attention to her sweet boobs started
rich climaxes rolling through us.  An occasional flick on her wet clit gave
us a nice spike and a hot flash.
   Pat and I switched ends; can't let our tongues get too tired!  He opened
her slit and let free her inner labia.  Soaked in her lube, they expanded
outwards and shook with the blood running through them.  Pat's tongue
ensured all the lube was worked in well on her rosebud and her slightly-red
wound.
   She climaxed continuously, flooding us with hot energy.  Her stomach
roiled and we _felt_ her channel fluttering and clenching while she
squeaked in delight.
   Pat and I switched, and I got to taste her sweetness again.  I worked
more lube and saliva into her rosebud and wound then pushed my tongue deep
into her quivering hole to get more lube.  Oops!  Swallowed a mouthful.  So
rich.
   I lubed a finger and slowly slid it inside her.  She convulsed and
climaxed hard!  I stroked and the climaxes rolled on, hot and continuous.
Not quite hard enough to lock her up, but she thrashed, shook and squeaked
out her appreciation.
   We switched ends again.  Pat worked more lube and saliva into her while
I anointed her nipples with a mouthful I'd brought up.  Her nipples
puckered up so hard they had half her breasts pulled into them, and she
flushed from her hairline all the way down to them.
   Pat got two fingers in.  We stroked in unison; his fingers and my hands
and mouth on her slick stomach and breasts.
   We switched again.  I got three fingers inside, pushed them all the way
in until I felt the string from her IUD and sucked her clit *hard*!
   Our Star squeaked out her breath and locked up!  She quivered and shook
for at least two minutes while I thrashed her clit with my tongue and Pat
squeezed her breasts firmly while stretching her nipples out with his
teeth.
   I bit down gently on her clit at the same time Pat bit down on a nipple;
she convulsed so hard only the back of her head and her heels were on the
bed then flopped back down and went limp.
   _"Fuck me!  It pushed me out,"_ she told us.  _"God damned fuckin'
great! You two are so loving and wonderful!  When we're ready, I'm gonna
fuck you both til you *scream*!"_
   I put a dry towel across her crotch and we made a PVC body pile on the
bed while we popped completely outside and went exploring.
   ------
   KATHLEEN (Saturday 3/18)
   David was right.  He plundered every nook and cranny thoroughly and
delightfully; obviously I'd brought my butt lube.
   I lost count after five climaxes and didn't care.  I'd heard Don's bones
creak a few times but with Bob and David, I could grab as hard as I wanted.
   Three hours the first run.  Jaysus!  He kept me coming continuously the
last two!  We got a shower -- dayum he's so nice -- straightened the bed
and snuggled up.  He got a hand on my tit so the wild horses in Montana
wouldn't drag me away then we popped outside and went exploring together.
   We talked, chatted and had a great time.  Though we'd known each other
now for over six months, there was a lot we didn't know about each other.
Hmm.  There's another benefit from the Ceann-honoring besides love and sex;
one gets to know the people *much* better.
   We got back around 3:00 and nudged the bodies awake.  Dayum again!  I
was face-down with my ankles under my shoulders; he could pick and hold my
hips up as high as needed while he pushed my cervix around.
   Back to sleep and more exploring and _talking_.  Around 5:00 we lubed my
butt up good.  I ended up on my face with pillows under my shoulders and
lower chest so my boobs wouldn't get squished, a pillow and towel under my
hips and one leg drawn up.
   Gentle, slow entry while I shrieked, came and thrashed.  He massaged my
innards for a long time while I came again and again and soaked the towel
below my pussy.  I think the body pushed me outside that time.
   Let the bodies sleep again and explore.  Lots of interesting stuff under
the Antarctic ice!
   Around 6:00 we had a sweet half-hour gently loving each other while the
warm climaxes washed through us then we dozed off again.
   ------
   BOB (Saturday 3/18)
   Missy O'Reilly was a sexy sweet-smelling woman, full of love, tenderness
and fun.  We made long slow love for two hours before her body surrendered
and pushed her outside.
   We went exploring in the Sahara Desert for lost sand-covered cities. 
There's a bit of truth to the legend of Solomon's Mines!
   We had a wonderful talk about our lives, the Clann, Sunshine and me and
Father's and her hopes and dreams.
   Back to our bodies around 2:00.  "Okay, Bob.  How about a housewife fuck
like 90% of the women in America do?  Me on the bottom and you on the top."
   Fine with me!  I licked the Cauldron of Fire up good; while she moaned
and squirmed a lot, she didn't help.  Even when she climaxed twice as I
entered, she didn't put her legs or arms around me.  "You got it, Bob.  The
housewife lays there and lets the guy do what he wants; after all, sex is a
duty, right?"
   We laughed and went at it.  She almost lost it a few times and thrust
back but got it under control.  _"Pull my legs up on your shoulders, Bob.
Housewives can't talk like this, so we're still doing it right."_
   Yeh.  Now I was bouncing off her cervix.  She arched her back and put
her arms beneath her so she wouldn't be tempted to grab.  Non-the-less, we
screamed for twenty minutes as a long hard climax held us in its heat, and
she couldn't control her thrashing around at the end.
   I rolled us over so she was draped over me and we let the bodies
drip-dry as we popped outside and explored the Manhattan Saturday-night
happenings.
   At 5:00 we had very slow loving for another hour.  Our pressure built
and built until it finally exploded; we panted in each others arms until
the bodies dozed off again.
   About 8:00, Father and I had a quick _talk_, so I nudged her awake.  I
carried her into the bathroom; I did limit myself to kissing her sweet
mouth and breasts so her nipples came up hard.
   Shower time!  We soaped and washed each other down.  Little Bob was
still interested so she jumped up on me, held tight with her arms and legs
and I slowly lowered her down on me.
   A wonderful bouncin' and a shakin' and a screwin' oh my!  We both
shrieked several times as I let my final shot loose inside her.  Guess it
was enough to take the edge off for the morning.
   I dried her off a little then left her to finish up while I changed the
bed.  She was dry enough when I came back so I picked her up, carried her
back to bed and with a loving kiss told her, "Breakfast at 9:30.  Have a
little nap."
   Father and I got to the kitchen about the same time.  Kathleen was
showered and getting her final nap so we leisurely started the breakfast
preps.
   Father and I talked.  Business, Clann business and happenings, JRD
Recording and how sweet, loving and wonderful our women were.
   ------
   ELIZABETH
   Janey Mack!  Jaysus and all the fuckin' disciples!  I'd been dreaming of
making love with Bob for months now, but the reality was so much better.
   He and David routed us out of bed at 9:30.  I ached all over, my pussy
was sore but I felt *alive*!
   Only family was in the house so I tossed on my robe, combed my hair with
my fingers and wobbled out to the kitchen.
   David turned around and took me in his arms.  Suddenly all the love and
admiration we'd had for each other the past twenty years flooded us, and we
cried happily on each others shoulders.  We _felt_ Kathleen and Bob crying
happy-tears too.
   We were interrupted when my stomach growled loud and long!  We all
laughed and Bob said, "Breakfast for the most wonderful ladies in the
world!"
   They sat us down and fed us.  David hovered over me and Bob attended to
Kat's every whim.  Dayum I was starved!  I ate something like four eggs, a
good-sized steak, two cups of coffee and half a dozen biscuits.  Kathleen
was packing away just as much.  David and Bob kept their hands clear just
in case we mistook them for something else to eat.
   As they cleared the last dishes, Kat and I glanced at each other and
shed our robes to let our men take a gander at the goodies.  They did; they
admired us so hard our nipples perked up again!  Ouch!  It was actually a
bit painful!  Damned lying pussy, you can't be wet again so soon!
   David started, "Bring home food."
Bob: "Cook food."
   "Serve food."
   "Wash dishes."
   David sucked in my nipples with hot wet phantom mouths and milked them
with an even hotter tongue.
   "*Fuck women!*"
   Kathleen and I moaned together; her nipples were up hard and getting
attention too.  "Enough!  Beasts!  Satyrs!  Give us at least an hour!"
   Kat gave us a loud long belch and grinned while she pretended to be
embarrassed.
   We didn't cover up again though; let 'em look and enjoy.
   We talked about Clann stuff a bit then a lot about Reynolds
Construction. We'd been going six and seven days a week since the
earthquake in January and with the JRD Recording renos, we were all-hands
seven days a week.
   Kat had sold Natalie's truck with all the equipment to Papa Sonora.  He
and his crew were working out great.  He was completely trustworthy, took
all responsibility and his crews got the jobs done rapidly and well.
   Although Bob now had a JRD vehicle, he kept his reno truck ready to
roll. He told us, "It won't hurt to keep it in reserve for an emergency."
   He told us, "Based on the first look at EverAlert, there won't be any
renos there so you two are off the hook for now.  There's twenty-five more
companies though, so don't think you're gonna have a vacation!"
   The men dragged us off to their rooms and had our ways with us!  Nice
full-body massages that got Kat and me completely relaxed and all horny
again!
   Well, they handled the hornyness with gentle loving and sweet warm
orgasms, and we slept until noon.
   ------
   ANA (Saturday 3/18)
   Mary and I got together in the morning.  She told me Mrs.  Baer was
getting her transcripts and she was studying with Steven and Lucia to get
ready for her placement tests.  In the meantime, she was fully available.
   Okay!  First thing we did was sort out who was doing research on human
body regeneration, be it with stem cells, hormones or just prayers and
incantations.  Mary and I set up a two-team and went to work.
   About an hour later we broke off and looked at our results.  There were
about fifty major researchers throughout the world; most not in the U.S. 
Okay, what did they have?
   There was a lot of speculation on how the stem cell managed to grow or
transform itself into a specific cell type.  Most of the researchers simply
injected stem cells into a mass of the cell type they wanted to grow and
prayed (scientifically of course).
   As expected, some had results, some not.  Apparently the simpler the
target cell the easier the "transformation." Okay.  Let's do our own
experiments.
   Everyone's body apparently had stem cells, just not a high
concentration. The usual source for research stem cells in quantity was
newborn umbilical cord blood.  There were apparently a lot of laws,
discussions, heated debate etc.  on the ethics of even researching the
area. Apparently most of the dissenters gave out the same line as, "If God
meant for us to fly, He'd given us wings."
   Burbank being in the dense-population area it is, there were hundreds of
hospitals with maternity wards within 20 miles.  Also, since it was
Southern California with its laid-back somewhat-hippy-at-times philosophy,
there were a lot of home-birth and midwife clinics around, too.
   Checking out the home-birth clinics and the like, we found almost all of
them simply discarded the umbilical cord after birth unless the parents
wanted it (some do).  The blood was usually allowed to drain away, the cord
was patted somewhat dry and given over.  In pretty much any case, the
workers didn't really care what happened to the blood; it was simply
discarded along with the rest of the medical waste.
   Let's steal what we need!  Simple enough; with the number of births
going on in L.A.  County alone, we spotted one home-birth going on just
then.
   We popped over.  As soon as the cord was cut I teleported most of the
blood to a sterile vial in our refrigerator.  We ended up with about 10
milliliters of fresh cord blood.  I'd worked with Don enough on the live
teleporting research I could do it easily, and Mary picked it up just fine.
   Just like doing a DNA trace, we compared the stem cells' DNA to the
mother's and child's.  It was identical to the child's which made sense.
   Next step was to look over the laboratory mice Don had gotten for the
teleporting experiments.  One was perfect; it had an old healed break in
the back leg.  We picked it out and isolated it.
   Mary ported about half a cc (cubic centimeter) of the stem cell blood
into another vial.  At this point, a researcher would inject it directly
into the site they were studying, such as the bone break.  They'd usually
end up with unpredictable results; sometimes some of the damaged tissue
would regenerate, but most times nothing would happen.
   We did another step first.  We took a half-cc of the mouse's blood into
another vial, then "simply" replaced the DNA in the stem cells with the
mouse blood DNA.  We managed to get the replacement speed down to about a
tenth of a second while doing a bulk replacement of around a thousand at a
time.
   There were some misses and the target cell destroyed itself or we might
miss a couple cells; no big deal, we were getting a 90% efficiency.  It was
fairly straightforward to filter out the destroyed cells.  In around an
hour, we ended up with a human blood sample having probably 90% of the stem
cells with mouse DNA.
   *Now* I injected the stem-cell blood into several places around the bone
break.  We pet the mouse a couple times, put it back in its cage and
decided to check on it Monday.
   ------
   PATRICK (Sunday 3/19)
   Very early Sunday morning, I went with Madeleine, Dermot, Mary and
Cynthia on the volunteer DNA tracing so we'd have a full five-team. 
Valerie was more than willing to come along, but we wanted one of us to be
around when we got back.  We'd heard a couple grisly details about
Unpleasantville, but none of had handled anything nasty directly.
   Ana talked with us before we started.  "We know the DNA tracing does
okay for what we're looking for.  I realize none of you have been directly
involved in anything like this so it will probably cause a reaction.
   "*All* of us who worked Unpleasantville puked our guts out several times
after we got off duty -- both 'adults' and 'kids.' No shame on that, you
might do the same.  You've got ten minutes before we start; make sure your
bodies are close to a bathroom or have a wastebasket ready.  Get towels and
water to hand; you'll probably need them.  Go."
   Valerie, Cynthia and I got stuff ready at my place.  Cynthia'd _told_
her folks where she was so they weren't concerned.  We laid our bodies on
my bed and Valerie kept watch.
   All right, back again with Ana.  "All right guys.  You're professionals.
Keep your focus and attention where they belong, get the job done and let
the reactions happen later.
   "All the, em, 'souvenirs' are in the FBI lab at the county seat. 
There's currently thirty-some samples.  One's from Mary so just skip hers.
Let's see if we can get fifteen done in the next hour; I expect the
transcriptions to take longer than the tracing.
   "There's a main sample log with data; probably a lot of speculation. 
We'll log our data by sample number.  List every location you find with
sufficient detail for a dumb Fed to find it.  Good luck and strong
stomachs."
   We almost lost it on the first sample, a woman's nipple.  Okay, deep
spirit-breaths and hang on.  We decided to start on a sample, do the trace
and start the transcription before we went on to the next sample.
   Okay, pick up the DNA and scan with target Earth.  Shit!  Three hundred
thirty-two targets!  Even as fast as the team could transcribe it was gonna
take a while.
   Okay, use two or three machines for transcriptions with different files
then combine them together when done.  Yep, that worked.
   Next sample.  Don't think about what it was.  DNA composition and trace.
A little better, only three hundred or so hits.  Good, start the
transcription on that.
   Next sample, composition and start transcription on five hundred hits.
We had nine machines going now with transcriptions, so don't start the next
sample until the first one's completely done.
   Okay, the first sample's transcriptions were done and merged together.
Next sample, composition and trace.  Ho!  This one was an actual body
buried in a desert!  Okay, shelve that for a while and get back to it; do
the "routine" ones first.
   A sample took about fifteen minutes to complete.  The transcriptions
were easier in a way than a routine dossier probe since it was location,
description, amount all the time but there was still a lot of data.
   Working three samples at a time meant around a dozen an hour.  Let's go
until we get the first twenty.
   We kept at it with no breaks; breaks would give us time to think about
what we were tracing.
   All right.  The first nineteen samples were done, back to the body. 
Easy enough to trace the speculated name back to the original dossiers and
now the case file and lab log.  Pretty "routine," three guys bought a girl
from Johnny Fargo, got their jollies and one was delegated to take the body
to the meat-packing plant.
   Apparently he'd chickened out and buried the body instead.  Hmm. 
Looking at the case files, he'd been in a car accident that night and
killed.  So that's why no one had looked for a buried body or had gotten
the information in a probe.
   Okay, mystery solved.  Full location and description.  We built a little
teepee of sticks tied together with a white rag on top because there were
so few features around to spot the site by.  Ramon would say it was added
by "an angel of mercy."
   Now the easiest part.  There wasn't actually that much text based on
file size, so we packaged them all up in one archive file and sent it off
to two interested locations; FBI Headquarters in D.C.  and the
Unpleasantville FBI office.
   Okay, done deal for today.  Ana thanked us and we decided to meet again
for more on Monday night.
   Back to our bodies.  Fuck!  Cynthia and I barely made to the toilet. 
Valerie had put an extra wastebasket with a liner in there so at least we
didn't bump heads over the bowl.
   We puked forever it seemed.  Dry heaves, water, water, more heaves. 
Valerie was there keeping us somewhat dry and Cynthia's hair out of her
eyes.  Damn!
   Finally it ended and we could keep water down.  We put more water down
and staggered back to bed.  My stomach was sore, but Cynthia's was really
hurting; I was in better muscle condition.
   Valerie massaged Cynthia's stomach a while and helped calm it down.  We
let the bodies doze off and popped outside.
   We wouldn't let Valerie back in the bathroom.  The stench was awful; at
least as spirits we didn't have to smell it.  Cynthia and I let the fan rip
away at full speed, cleaned up and bagged all the spills tightly and pumped
air freshener.  Probably in an hour or so it would be okay.
   We stayed pretty connected in case the bodies had more reactions even if
they were asleep.
   Valerie checked on Mary, Madeleine and Dermot; they'd been really sick
too.  Fortunately, Mad and Dermot had picked the Donovans' house to lay
their bodies down so Riona and Alyssa were there helping them.  Both were
in as bad a shape as Cynthia and me but would probably be okay.  Mary was
pretty bad off, but Elizabeth was helping her out.
   Okay.  Our bodies were ready to be awake again.  We were a little queasy
but put some food down to fill up our stomachs.
   Cynthia and I cuddled up on the sofa and cried for fifteen minutes. 
That seemed to ease off the emotions quite a lot and we both felt better.
All right, gotta keep up the adolescent image: eat again.
   We popped in a stupid comedy and put our attention on something fun for
a while.  Worked out okay; Cynthia and I had a moment's twinge now and then
for an hour then everything seemed back to normal.
   Chapter 33
   VALERIE (Sunday 3/19)
   Damn my sweethearts have guts!  Glad I wasn't there!  I caught a few
fringes of what they were feeling emotionally and was almost sick myself a
few times.  I finally understood what they meant when they say some things
should *not* be shared with your loved ones.
   Reporting to Ana, I told her Pat and Cynthia were okay now.  I asked
her, _"Not that I know much about what happened in Unpleasantville, but I
have a question.  We're now tracing DNA samples, apparently 'souvenirs'
mostly of bodies they and we think went through the packing plant._
   _"Are there any cases there where the victims didn't go that route but
are not yet found?  Maybe someone vanished and they weren't connected to
someone we've probed?  No souvenir was taken?  Loose ends or missing
persons?  Maybe victims who went into the plant with no souvenirs?"_
   Ana said, _"Excellent question.  We just reported what the probes
showed. That means what the probee believed was true, not necessarily what
actually occurred.  Like the one body you found; what everyone 'believed'
wasn't what happened._
   _"Okay.  If you'd like to volunteer, I'll see if I can get an
Unpleasantville veteran who's somewhat familiar with everything to help you
out; we can probably handle it just like a skip-trace.  How about tomorrow
night when they start the next set of samples?"_
   Sounded fine to me.  I shouldn't get sick from that, I would hope, so I
could be around to help Pat and Star if they need it.
   When we finished the DVD we were feeling a *lot* better.  Since it was
nice outside, we took a brisk walk up to Brand Park and harassed some
wildlife for a while.
   Getting back, it was time for FOOD again!  Raid the fridge, raid the
cupboards.
   We took a quick shower; Cynthia's and my nipples came up nice and hard.
Hmm, what might we be interested in?
   My folks were gone for the day and we had implicit permission to use
their bed so off we went!  We peeled off Star's clothes slowly and teased
her with mouths, tongues, fingers and an occasional nipple with each patch
of skin we exposed.
   Pat and I had "protective" feelings about her as well as loving her so
hard it hurt.  Probably because her body was so much smaller than ours
because personality-wise she was a *lot* more ornery than we were.
   She told us, "I don't mind a bit.  Protect me all you want; yesterday
was great!  When I don't want to be protected, I'll let you know."
   We got Pat!  We double-teamed him and yanked his clothes off.  He
pretended to moan and complain but was smiling every second.  Cynthia
pushed him on the bed and said, "My turn to give some pleasure." As we
_linked_ lightly, I kicked my clothes off and joined them.
   She gently licked Pat from his pucker to the tip.  She was doing fine,
so I didn't figure she needed any coaching.
   While she worked below, I worked above.  I slathered kisses and nibbles
all over his face, stroked my hands down his chest and arms and rubbed my
nipples and boobs over him.
   Pat's dick wasn't *big*, probably six inches or so.  It fit everywhere
in me just fine.  Cynthia's mouth was quite small though, so she had to
stretch some to get him in.  She managed; she drew on a couple other
memories, unhinged her jaw a little and got him in.
   Pat caressed her tight little butt and slipped an occasional finger
across her dripping slit.  He got a hand on my pussy and massaged it
gently. He got a wet hand for that little trick.
   Cynthia kept telling him, _"Relax, love.  I love sucking your dick. 
You're great!  It tastes great!  Relax.  Relax.  Let me love you.  I love
pushing my tongue around your hard fat cock!"_
   He tried to relax and we tried to get him tight.  In several minutes, he
gave up, thickened up and sent his load into Cynthia's willing mouth.
   She told him, _"Got it!  Come in my mouth, Pat.  It tastes so good!  I'm
gonna drain you dry."_
   She almost choked on it but got it all with only a little leakage.  She
remembered, all right!
   We dropped atop him and snuggled up to his strength.  He caressed us
with what hands he could get free plus a few gently phantom fingertips and
kissed us gently back and forth.
   He told us, _"You are my ladies, my loves.  Sweet Woman, you fill me and
my heart and complete me.  My Cynthia, my Star, you light me up with joy
and help me know there are other goals and delights worth sharing.  I love
you, Valerie.  I love you Cynthia."_
   We relaxed, snuggled and purred against him.
   After a few minutes, Cynthia told us, "Guys, you know I'm a virgin and
I'm gonna have Pat handle that.  Can we wait until we're done with the DNA
tracing, please?
   "What we've done has been wonderful and I know we'll do more.  Right now
I'm feeling I'm using our playtime and loving here as much to purge out my
feelings from today as well as to celebrate our love."
   Pat told us, "Let's wait, my Star.  We have all of life ahead of us. 
While these trials we've gone through today have been hard, there are more
yet to come.  I for one would like our special time to be just that, with
nothing hanging ahead of us and free from as many of the past trials as we
can be."
   I put in my two cents, "Cynthia, our Star, my first time with Pat was
wonderful.  We celebrated having a long time as wonderful friends and had
just found our real love together.  Looking at it again, we had nothing
like this adding dark feelings and emotions to it, and nothing on the
horizon to consume our attention.  I agree, let us wait and celebrate our
love for you at the best time we can find."
   Pat finished up, "But we still want to lick your sweet slit and clitty
so hard you get forced out of your body..."
   I added, "And suck and squeeze your lovely boobies while you shake with
passion.  Yumm."
   Cynthia laughed, "Thank you, my lovers, for understanding.  Did I just
hear something about licking, sucking and squeezing?  If so, why are we
just laying here?  I've gotta get back home sometime this afternoon.  On
the other hand, poor Valerie's had the short end today."
   I laughed, "We're not keeping score, honey.  Pat and I can spend *all*
our nights together.  You, we lose often to the demands of the mundane
world.  Remember, we get as much pleasure giving you pleasure and getting
it ourselves.  When we're _linked_ like we are, your pleasure is ours."
   However, since she'd asked politely, we gave her a sound molesting for
another half hour before we took her back home.
   ------
   ANA (Monday 3/20)
   Mary and I got together again after she'd done her morning walk with Bob
and Kathleen; she was still a bit shaky and tired from Sunday but was okay
otherwise.  Time to look at the mouse.
   We settled back and _looked_.  We had a tremendous advantage in that we
could observe the cells in situ as they were actually doing whatever they
were going to do.
   YES!  We saw the stem cells had multiplied around the break site.  That
meant (hopefully) once we'd put in enough of them, we wouldn't have to
supply any more.
   Mary said, "Look right at the edge here, where the new-bone growth
starts."
   As we _watched_, a stem cell attached itself to the outside of a
new-bone cell and lapped over to the original-bone adjacent to it.  It took
about a half-second; it displaced the new-bone cell, moved itself into its
place and transformed into the same type of cell as the old bone next to
it.
   Wonderful!  Drawing back, we _saw_ about 10% of the new-bone growth
around the break had been regenerated into the original cell type.  Exactly
what we'd hoped for.
   Mary exclaimed, "On that insufficient data, I'd speculate in about ten
days it might all be replaced.  Is that an anywhere near-valid assumption?"
   I told her, "Why not?  It'll probably depend mainly on how fast the stem
cells can actually get to the site.  The original bone has blood vessels
scattered through it and the marrow.  As an off-the-wall hypothesis, I'd
guess the more the blood flow, the faster the stem cells could get to the
area and multiply.  Tissue density will probably be a factor; bone has a
lot of cells compared to muscle tissue.
   "Look at the regenerated bone here.  Notice the area has the same
structure as well as extending that one blood vessel.  The blood vessel's
new, too."
   "To me that says the stem cells work on an area basis.  While they
replace cells one at a time, I'll bet what it actually forms is based on
the DNA blueprint not just a blind replacement."
   "Makes sense to me.  Obviously we'll keep an eye on this experiment, but
let's start the next one."
   Mary found another mouse that had a partially-missing toe.  _Looking_
closely, we decided it had been bitten, cut or pinched off somehow rather
than being a genetic defect.  Comparing it to the same toes on other mice,
it was missing the first joint to the end.  Perfect for what we wanted.
   We separated it out, took a blood sample and replaced about a tenth of a
cc of stem cell DNA.  Not a whole lot to work with.  Not to worry, we could
micromanage it.
   It took a tiny syringe and needle to inject the stem-cell blood in three
places around the amputated toe.  Let's see what happens.
   Okay, let's start another experiment similar to the bone-break one.  We
found yet another mouse that had a scar on its back, perhaps from a bite or
scratch.
   We processed and injected another tenth cc of stem-cell blood as close
to the scar as we could without being in it.  Now time will tell.
   ------
   PATRICK (Monday 3/20)
   Yes, we got up early and made Cynthia walk with us.  Good fast walk for
a half hour so our hearts got going really good.  This time her legs
weren't near so tired as before even though we went faster for the same
time.  Getting better!
   Just as lunch started, Ana _called_ us, _"PVC, you guys available for a
few seconds."_
   _"Sure."_
   _"Dermot won't make it tonight.  He strained a stomach muscle yesterday
and I won't permit him to continue until it heals.  Mary's exhausted and I
cut her off too."_
   Valerie told her, _"No dishonor in being wounded in action.  I'll take a
place if it's okay."_
   Ana said, _"You know what will probably happen to you afterwards."_
   Valerie replied, _"I know.  Without even concentrating, I can remember
some 70,000 times waiting to go into battle, not knowing if I would live or
die.  If I lived -- which was actually a lot of the time -- I was almost
invariably sick from the reaction.  It didn't kill me._
   _"At least here there's no physical danger; it's facing the evil that's
so uncomfortable and sickening.  It's something needing to be done.  Would
5:00 be okay with Mad?  We'll leave our bodies at Pat's place, and if the
Wild Bunch could be available when we come back, it would help.  If not,
it'll just be a bit messier but we'll survive."_
Anna said, _"Thank you, Valerie.  I'll try to schedule them to be
available probably around 6:00.  Let's do a shorter run tonight, maybe
it'll be less intense."_
   We told her, _"See you then."_
   Cynthia and I told her, _"Thank you, Val."_
   She told us, _"We know we'll survive and we'll be the stronger for it.
In every group or relationship I've been in, if it's all sweetness and
light, the group didn't last a long time.  Going through a bad experience
together and surviving it, especially if it's because of the way we worked
together, always made the group stronger.  It welded us together._
   _"From what I know, this will be revolting.  When we come through it
together, we'll know little else from the outside can break us apart.  I
love you both so much I'd do it for no other reason than we'd have a common
triumph against evil we can always look back on and say, 'We conquered
it.'"_
   We pushed back our meeting with the potential Inner Circle prospects to
Tuesday; no sweat.
   Ana set up Louise and Blake to check out loose ends on missing persons
and that.  They took off together to look at FBI records and probe agents.
   She told us Dermot was doing okay, _"His body will heal fast and recover
fully, but it's really too young to put through that so soon.  Mary's okay,
her body's just not ready for that kind of stress if we can avoid it."_
   Cynthia told her, _"It's not an issue.  They were wounded in battle, and
you just sent them to rehab.  They had the courage to go in and still have
their honor."_
   ------
   CYNTHIA
   We formed our four-team, genned in Val on how we'd done it before and
picked up the samples where we left off.
   Pretty much the same as before.  Get the DNA configuration, trace and
transcribe.
   The third sample started with a set stored in the FBI lab in a separate
case.  As we _looked_ at the oldest one, Madeleine asked, _"Are those what
I think they are?"_
   I said grimly, _"I'd say they're *exactly* what you think they are.  My
breasts and vulva looked just like that three months ago.  Fuck.  There's
fifteen sets of them."_
   Valerie said, _"I *know* I'm going to be sick later.  For now, let's do
it."_
   The first sample was dated two years ago.  Get the configuration, do the
trace.  Hmm.  Huge hits on a body; it was dismembered into six parts and
buried in six different locations several miles apart.  I said, _"Looks
like they didn't want it found."_
   Okay, put it aside for the moment.  The next four samples gave us more
bodies.  Some were buried whole and others dismembered.  Set them aside.
   We traced the samples dated from about a year ago forward to animal food
so they probably went through the packing plant.  The earlier the sample
date, the fewer cans we found.  Made sense.
   The lab log had no identification against most of the samples, often
just a speculation based on time-coincidence of some young girl
disappearing.  We traced for smaller samples on each one of these.
   On about 75% we could find other targets besides the animal-food cans.
Lots were in private homes or apartments as hair, old toothbrushes, stuff
like that.  One we narrowed down to a fleck of skin on a locket in a lady's
jewelry box.
   If the people living in the area had similar DNA, we noted that; they'd
probably be able to give the FBI a lot more data.  Since they now had the
exact location of the DNA target in the place and for the lab sample, they
should be able to get a positive ID.
   If the people didn't have similar DNA, we noted that, too.  Let the FBI
do the grunt work from there; if they ran dry, let them ask ramontheeye.
   Actually it got pretty routine if we could keep from thinking about why
we were tracing the samples in the first place.  If there were traces out
there, we could find it.
   For probably some 78% of the samples from yesterday and today, we could
get either a direct link to a person or a last-known location like where
they'd lived.  We decided the FBI could finish up on those.
   We ended up with ten bodies in various locations; we pointed the FBI to
the families they'd come from.  We got actual names for nine; they'd do the
last one.
   The last sample from the special set had been dated December 15 of last
year which was just before the gang had done their probes.  Based on what
we knew from "rumors," they'd stopped the guy before he did more.  Fuck! 
The tiny wisps of pubic hair were blonde!
   All right.  Okay.  We finished the transcriptions, packaged them up and
shipped them off.  The two packages should keep the FBI and locals busy for
a while.
   We were careful not to say directly that we traced the DNA.  It probably
wouldn't take any of the agents much more than a few minutes to figure out
ramon had done just that but we wanted to keep it pretty quiet.  Ana and we
agreed ramon would just say he "felt for the essence" or blather like that
if he were asked.
   That left a half-dozen untraced samples in the lab; we decided to tackle
them another day.  Ana warned the Wild Bunch we were coming back so they
headed over to help us.
   Steven and Lucia came along, too.  With their larger bodies, they could
support Pat and Val a lot easier.  Good thing too, because we were
upchucking within ten seconds.
   ------
   VALERIE
   Cynthia and I had tied our hair back before we left so that helped some.
Still, long dry heaves fuckin' hurt!  Yeh, I'd told Ana I'd been in battles
before, but at least there'd been *some* semblance of justification for the
killings.  This had been a monstrous slaughter of innocents for someone's
"pleasure."
   I told Cynthia, _"Baby, the last one from December was from North
Hollywood.  It could have been you, honey.  I'm so glad it wasn't."_
   We threw up again just thinking of her sweet breasts and lovely cunny
floating in preservative after unimaginable mental and physical pain then
dogs eating her body.  God damn FUCK!
   Steven caught a bit of it and told us, _"Damn.  Sunshine and I probed
the fucker and knew what he'd done.  We never looked at the souvenirs
though; probably a good thing or we would've flayed him alive over several
weeks with generous doses of salt water and chlorine cleanser."_
   The entire Fearsome Five decided they had a good reason to puke too.  We
left our bodies to rest and recover while we popped over to the Clann
meeting.
   ------
   ANA (Monday 3/20)
   In the morning, I took Mary and Dermot off the probe runs; their bodies
weren't up to handling the upchucking that resulted.  Valerie was willing
to join the team, so I scheduled them for after school.
   After PVC and Madeleine came back from their DNA tracing they were sick
again.  The Fearsome Five helping them out got some fringes of it and they
were sick too.  Jaysus I was glad it wasn't me doing the runs.  Yeh, as an
R.N., I'd done and seen a lot of sick-making things, but that had been
*bad*!  I kept getting flashes of nausea from them for the next several
hours.
   Anyway, at the meeting I told the Clann, "We need to be careful how we
present our DNA tracing service to the public.  If we offer it directly,
the FBI and others will have a direct link from ramontheeye to us.  Most
everything else we can attribute to good Internet and investigative skills
but the other...  well it'll look so much like magic someone's gonna get
nosey."
   We tossed some ideas around and decide to let it simmer for a while and
treat any gig that came up on an ad hoc basis.
   Kathleen told us they were bringing Raymond, Susan and her family down
from Redmond for the weekend.  They were all ones of us so we'd have a
great time!
   Don gave us an update on the teleportation research.  "Folks, it's
looking pretty good so far for living creatures.  We've sent a lot of mice
all over the world and brought them back again.
   "The most critical area so far appears to be getting *all* the body.  If
we didn't pervade enough volume, we'd trim off fur, toenails, and end of
the tail, whiskers, that sort of stuff.  If we trimmed off a piece with
nerves, they were *very* unhappy.
   "When we dumped them directly into a vacuum and let it collapse, it
seemed to surprise them more than anything else.  What we ended up doing is
making the target shell porous as soon as the body had completely finished
getting there.  That way there was very little or no air pressure change;
most of them appeared to hardly notice anything.
   "If the source is really cramped into something like the corner of a
cage, we had to be really careful to get all of it; we'd normally take
another 250 milliseconds to ensure we'd covered it all.
   "Same with the destination.  If you're careful, you can take pretty much
anything and put it pretty much anyplace.
   "We found if the subject is in the open, we could just pick it up a
smidge off the floor or ground then extend the bubble around it.  That way
we didn't have to worry about interfacing with the ground.
   "Same at the destination; we'd build the target bubble a couple
millimeters off the ground then let the subject down when the port
completed.
   "We've gone up in size to beef cattle in the stock yards.  Size doesn't
really seem to make any difference.  We haven't tried yet to port something
that's moving or running though that's probably just a different complexity
in forming bubbles.
   "Ana and Mary have come up with a really good application; I'll let them
tell you about it."
   I prodded Mary to talk.  She told them, "Ana and I are researching stem
cells.  We find and teleport unused cord blood, apparently without any
harm.
   "The tactic we're using is to replace the stem cell DNA in the nuclei
with the target subject's DNA.  We take a blood sample from the subject and
use it for the DNA.
   "We port out the human DNA and immediately replace it with the subject's
DNA.  Since we're porting a large molecule, we don't really have to be
concerned with vacuums or the other things Don mentioned.
   "We do it in quantity.  We handle about a thousand cells at a shot; it
takes about a tenth of a second to port out the old DNA and port in the
new. Yeh, we miss sometimes, but we're getting about 90% good replacements
-- by that I mean the cell stays alive and we actually change 90-some
percent of the stem cells.
   "Results we have so far are extremely encouraging.  I'll probably start
school full-time after the break, so I'm gonna be busting my butt with Ana
in the meantime."
   ------
   SHERRY (Monday 3/20)
   Right after the meeting I asked all the student girls, "Hey, how about
we have a slumber party this weekend.  The Way girl is sixteen and that'd
be a great way to get her comfortable with us and for us to get to know
her."
   Pretty much a unanimous yes!
   Janet suggested, "Why don't we invite your sister and Cynthia's sister,
too?  Granted they're not ones of us but from what I've heard, they're
Sensitives and good people."
   Lucia said, "And it would be good public relations for them to know
we're not all nerd games and hitting the books."
   Again, we all agreed.  Sounds like a good idea.  Valerie said, "Probably
each girl should bring lounge wear for lounging, their best sexy underwear
for a fashion show and their hottest nighties for a show-and-tell."
   Bellana said, "Sounds like a good excuse for..."
   Everyone said, "SHOPPING!"
   I told them, "Okay!  I'll invite my sister Sarah.  Cynthia, you talk
with Rita.  I'll make a _call_ to the Ways and invite the daughter -- and
warn her about the fashion shows.  We should warn the guys they're gonna
have to find something else to do that night.  What, Saturday night?"
   Janet said, "And the guys'll have to find someplace else to sleep too.
The Way guys will have a hotel and Steven can rough it over at Henry's."
   Lucia asked, "So where will it be?"
   Louise butted in and said, "Sounds like our place is the best one unless
you want to go to a hotel.  We've got three full bedrooms -- I'll stay over
with Blake.  There'll be what, a dozen girls?  Plenty of room; a couple can
sack out on the sofa and floor there and the others can fit two or three to
a bed."
   Kathleen told us, "Louise has made a wonderful offer.  Tell you what;
I'll spring for pizza and goodies for the night."
   Applause!
   ------
   ANA (Tuesday 3/21)
   More stem-cell research.  Mary and I looked at the bone-break experiment
first.  Roughly another 10% of the new-bone growth had been transformed
into "original" structure.  Excellent progress!
   The scar on the second mouse had a huge bite out of it around all its
edges.  _Looking_ at the skin layers, the scar was through into the third
tissue layer.  The new/regenerated skin had extended the three layers of
the original skin into the scar area.  The stem cells were replacing the
structure just like they were in the bone break.
   Mary and I laughed and danced around a couple minutes.  High-fives and
butt bounces!  Hugs and _kisses_.  Good stuff!
   We calmed down enough to look at the mouse with the short toe.  Dayum!
It was growing outwards.  The bone had already extended a millimeter and
the tissue surrounding it had kept up with it.  It was almost like it was
being extruded!
   Jaysus that's great!  Mary's eyes glistened and I saw her rub the stump
of her thumb.  Yes, maybe!
   "It looks good but let's not get too hasty.  We need to follow these to
the conclusion; for all we know, the bone will continue to get replaced
then turn cancerous.  We just don't know yet."
   Mary sighed, "I know, Ana.  It's just that it gives so much hope."
   Chapter 34
   BOB (Tuesday 3/21)
   Kathleen and I weren't always on Probe Patrol at the same time.  I took
a couple opportunities to go spirit-shopping for what I needed.
   I combed at least ten stores for several miles around before I found
something that might work.  Now I needed to slip off sometime without Kat
getting suspicious.
   Tuesday worked perfectly.  Kat was to go on Probe Patrol at 5:00 so I
could sneak away.
   In the meantime, since we had just over a week, we'd put some serious
thought into matching up Mary at least for the Spring Dance.  We knew by
now even after everything she'd gone through, she hadn't any backoff on sex
or men.  Steven and Lucia had done a *great* job on rescuing her!
   We decided on our primary candidate and did some arranging.  Samuel
Goodman was one of our tutors in the Brain Trust.  He was almost one of us
already; only the fact most of us were working our butts off at studies and
JRD work kept us from getting with him.
   He was a Japanese/Hawaiian/Samoan mix genetically.  Not that we could
find any racial preferences in either him or Mary, but it could be a common
point of reality.  The Samoans apparently have a vast tolerance for scars
and tattoos since some put them on their own bodies for decoration. 
Besides that, as far as we could tell they were compatible.
   Kat asked Mary to come meet us after school so we could take her
somewhere.  I maneuvered Sam to meet me about the same time.
   We decided to do the meeting at one of the benches in an outside lunch
area, just in case.  Exactly on time, Kat told me, _"We're here at the
bench."_
   I brought Sam along, chatting about some tutor stuff.  He saw Kat and
Mary about thirty feet away.  Kat he knew but not Mary.
   I heard him think, _"Jeez she's gorgeous.  She's like the pinups Dad
used have only she's so *alive*."_
   Good, good.
   As we got closer to the bench, Kat and Mary looked up at us.  Sam and
Mary locked eyes and I could _feel_ them _merging_ already.  I rapidly
introduced them.
   Sam took her hand.  Both their bodies immediately collapsed as they
popped outside and took off for the sky.  Thunderstruck, just as we'd
hoped!
   We were expecting something like that to happen so Kat had already eased
Mary's body back on the bench.  I grabbed Sam and slid him around so he was
sitting by Mary.  Now all we had to do was keep them from slipping off and
wait for them to come back.
   Kat and I smiled smiled smiled at each other; well we knew what they
were finding.  A light _look_ showed us they were dancing together in the
sky, flaring brightly with a tremendous rainbow as they lost themselves in
their _merging_.
   We stood guard on their bodies and kept an eye on their antics.  It took
a good ten minutes before they came back.
   Mary coached Sam back to his body as she picked up hers again.  As soon
as their eyes opened, they grabbed each other and held tightly as if they'd
never let go.
   Kat and I stood up; I told them, "Well, I suppose it's possible you two
could tolerate each other for a while.  See you whenever."
   As soon as Kat went on Probe Patrol, I snuck off with Sherry to approve
of what I'd found earlier.
   She took one look and cried.  "It's beautiful, Bob.  She'll love it!"
She hugged me hard and cried more.  Maybe she felt it was okay.
   I paid and had them customize it while we waited.
   ------
   VALERIE (Tuesday 3/21)
   During the Tuesday-morning night we probed the students who'd been
coming to school with bruises and mess-up clothes.  There were three
eighth-graders who made a habit of waylaying them, taking their lunches and
money and roughing them up a bit.
   Okay, we did a routine probe on the lunch-bandits.  They weren't really
evil or nasty, just really self-centered and had formed a really bad habit.
We pulled some pertinent data and worked out a handling.
   PVC got to school early and hid near their favorite ambush place.  When
they jumped two of their victims, we jumped them!
   It's pretty hard to mess with someone when they're holding you in the
air with a hand in the middle of your back.  After they blustered and
threatened a little, they settled down.
   Cynthia was holding one up easily.  She told the three of them, "Guys,
no matter how big and tough you are, there's always someone bigger or
tougher.  Observe."
   We bounced them up a foot or so then caught them on the way down. 
Cynthia told them, "If it takes a bit of vigilante justice to straighten
things out, it will happen."
   I rattled off their names, their parents' names, exactly where they
lived and their phone numbers.  Cynthia continued, "I've got a good idea if
your parents knew of this, you'd be in one heap of hurt.  Now we haven't
actually hurt you -- yet.  We will if we have to.  This will be our little
secret for the moment.
   "We'll keep an eye on you.  If you shape up, great.  If you don't shape
up, corrective action will be applied.  Now scoot."
   We backed away and let them drop the last six inches to the ground. 
They looked at us with a lot more respect than when we'd started the
"interview" and took off.
   We did keep an eye on them.  Only one relapsed a few days later.
   We cornered him in the hallway at lunch time, surrounded him and just
looked at him.  He got *really* nervous for a minute before we let him go.
He got the idea right away that we *were* keeping an eye on him.
   We didn't have any trouble from them from then on out.  In fact, two of
them came through for some tutoring later.  None of us said or did a thing
to show we had any grudge against them.  They'd straightened out.
   We met with our Inner Circle prospects at my place right after school.
They knew each other from several years at the same schools so they meshed
with each other just fine.
   Dan and Art were the seventh-graders.  Dan (Daniel) Jonston was
African-American and Art (Arturo) Wilson was mostly Hispanic.  Both had
excellent grades and excellent Potential.
   Megan Foster, our sixth-grader, was a brunette WASP.  Excellent grades,
Potential and attitude.
   We went over the tutoring ideas we'd worked out with Mrs.  Stroh; they
were all for it.  They'd already been helping out other students and were
interested having things a little more organized.
   Cynthia told them, "This isn't going to be quite as hard-ass as it is in
McCambridge.  We want to get in study basics so by the time students get
into the school years that really mean something for college and the like,
they have a solid basis.
   "Just because a student may be very intelligent doesn't mean he won't
have study issues; it's a matter of knowing how to study.  It's simply
knowledge and application.
   "Kids of our age tend to be self-conscious about our public images.  For
some, having to get a tutoring session may seem to them to be a real slam
on them.  We've got to make it so that's not an issue; they'll then spread
the word around so anyone would be willing to get help from us.
   "It should be just like going to the store for some groceries.  There's
a need, we fill it.  There's no shame in shopping for food so you don't go
hungry.
   "Okay?  Good.  Now let's go over some of these mental abilities you've
discovered."
   We went over the spirit/body relationship, coached them on communication
and _talking_ with one another without leaking all over the place.  We
drilled them for fifteen minutes until they were doing fine.
   I told them, "Practice with one another and with us.  You'll find
distance doesn't really mean a thing."
   We introduced them to _inspecting_ other people.  Pat told them,
"Inspect _everyone_ you meet; do your parents, siblings, next-door
neighbors, other students, the derelict you pass by on the street.  Look
for talent, antagonism, special skills we could use and opportunities to
help.
   "We're not out to cure the world; we're mainly here to help the able
become *more* able.  As they become more able the environment becomes less
threatening to others and helps them survive better."
   We arranged to meet again on Thursday for more spirit fun and games.
   ------
   PATRICK (Tuesday 3/21)
   We met for the volunteer sample prober team about 5:00 to finish up the
last half-dozen samples or so.  Valerie, Cynthia, Madeleine and I formed up
and took off; we'd told Mary earlier we would finish up so she could rest.
   This batch was really odds and ends, so to speak.  The log listed them
as female, unknown.  A couple nipples, an eye, a nose and a clitoris.
   Pretty straightforward; we found all six bodies scattered around.  We
traced down DNA fragments to different households across the US and managed
to put highly-probable names against each one.
   Good.  We finished up the transcriptions and sent them off.  Crappy job
but someone needed to do it.
   Blake and Louise had come up with ten names of missing persons around
the area, so we skip-traced them.  We found five of them alive, healthy and
living their own lives; they'd fled abusive homes, horrible conditions or
had simply wanted out on their own.  We noted that in their dossiers and
moved on.
   Two others we had to DNA-trace.  We used hair from their homes and found
the bodies in Maryland and Utah; we marked the spots and recorded the
locations.
   The last three had been kidnapped by various slave rings.  One had been
"educated" into a sex slave in Mexico; the other two were slave labor in
the Appalachian mountains on a marijuana plantation.  We did dossiers on
them plus branched out and did about fifteen dossiers on the slave rings,
the marijuana plantation owners and the "owner" for the sex slave in
Mexico.
   Oops!  Appears rotting balls and numb fanny did a long jump into Mexico.
Maybe Lucia was right; it must be some gov'mnt experiment!
   We wrapped things up around 7:00 and came back.  This time we were just
nauseous for a while instead of being sick.  That was okay.
   Cynthia commented, "The original probers were sick many times while the
most we did was twice.  What's the difference?  I don't thinks it's because
we're so good-natured or anything."
   Valerie said, "Well, Steven, for example, probed the Pompous guy.  He
was actually getting the direct memories of the 'operations' Pompous had
done -- he was much closer to the actual evil and probably felt the evil
intentions directly.  Yeh, we dealt with the 'souvenirs' but at least we
were once-removed from the source."
   Made sense to me.
   ------
   ANA (Wednesday 3/22)
   Mary came in all starry-eyed.  She glowed and talked about meeting Sam;
they'd spent the entire night outside exploring and _talking_.  Nice.  Very
nice.
   We checked the mice.  The bone growth was continuing unabated, the scar
was about half gone and the toe had extended another millimeter.  From what
we could see, it appeared as if the bone in the toe was starting to expand
in thickness to start forming the joint.  Great!
   Mary was smiling all the way down to her toes.  She _looked_ at the
three mice for several minutes then stared at the one with the regenerating
scar.
   "Ana," she asked, "what's the usual concentration of stem cells?"
   I had to dig around for that a while.  "Since they're mainly carried in
the bloodstream, that's where the concentration's been measured.  In
humans, the ratio seems to be about 1 stem cell to 100 million red blood
cells.  Whazzup?"
   She said, "Look at the one with the scar.  Granted, we expect to see a
higher concentration of stem cells where we injected them and they're
working, but I *think* I'm seeing an overall concentration increase
throughout the entire system."
   Hot dayum!  We _looked_ for quite a while.  As a rough estimate, the
stem cell concentration in the mouse with the scar had increased around ten
times!
   To make things more interesting, the mouse with the scar had several
other tiny scars that were also being regenerated.  The concentration of
stem cells around them was the same as around the original scar where we'd
injected the modified stem cells, about 1,000 to a million.
   "Okay, Mary.  I see what you're seeing.  There's a 10 X increase
overall. How about the other two?"
   They were approximately the same, about a 10 X increase.  Mary said, "We
did the bone-break one a day before the other two yet it has the same
concentration.  And all of them are working on other regenerations, not
just the original one we intended.  It's pretty easy to _see_ where the
stem cells are concentrating.
   "I guess the next questions are a) why did the concentration increase so
dramatically and b) is there an upper level or will it run wild and
displace all the normal red and white blood cells?"
   "Let's _watch_ and see what we see for a few minutes.  Follow some of
the free stem cells around."
   Well, we didn't have anything better to do and all day to do it in.
   We sat, _observed_, took notes, gossiped and fed our faces for a couple
hours.
   We compared notes.  A free-floating stem cell had several hour's
lifespan then it died and was flushed out through the kidneys; red and
white blood cells were flushed the same way.  If it reproduced before that
hour, the new cells had the same lifespan.
   For the most part, stem cells multiplied by mitosis, simply splitting
into two genetically-identical cells.  On occasion, however, we saw two
cells meet, merge, then split into four cells!  By spreading out our
attention, we saw about one out of ten reproductions were the four-way
split.  Interesting!
   "Okay.  Now we know a little bit more -- perhaps.  Now, I said the
'normal' concentration is 1 in 100 million.  The reference didn't give any
more background than it was human blood.  We got a hell of a lot of stem
cells from the umbilical cord; what's the concentration there?"
   We checked our sample then went out and sampled ten other fresh cords.
The average concentration was 1,000 per 100 million.  This was newborn
blood.
   Checking the concentration in several newborns less than a week old, it
ran about the same 1,000 per 100 million.  Let's check older bodies.
   Spot checks for every year of age up to around ten showed a
rapidly-declining concentration.  From there to about seventeen it varied
pretty wildly.
   "Let's check ours." Mine was the "normal" 1 in 100.  Mary's was around 5
in 100.  She said, "Hmm.  I was a late-bloomer; I'm still growing, probably
for at least another couple years.  Let's see if there's any correlation
between concentration and puberty."
   We had a fairly decent range in our own group.  Getting permission, we
check all the Clann students plus several middle-schoolers.  We also
checked a range of adults from 20 on up.  Cynthia's was the highest at
about 7 in 100 while Lucia's was the lowest at around 3.
   Cynthia had started puberty about four months ago while Lucia was an
early-bloomer and had started at eleven.  To summarize the (small-sample)
deductions: Newborns had the highest concentration and the highest growth
rate.  The concentration decreased until puberty then spiked again during
the adolescent growth period.  As adolescence finished, the concentration
kept decreasing.  From a sample of 100 older people and comparing them to
their expected lifespan for the families, around 80 it had dropped to 1 in
100 million.
Mary said, "Okay.  It makes sense at least; when the body grows the most
it has the most stem cells.  Possibly like white blood cells, they're
produced as needed by the hormones.  Once a female reaches menopause, it
drops significantly; possibly one reason for the prevalence of osteoporosis
-- and why younger people tend to heal faster than older ones."
   "Looks that way so far," I said.  "By whatever mechanism, the body
produces stem cells based on age/hormone levels of some sort.  What caused
the 10 X increase in our mice?
   "One clue I see is the four-way split during reproduction.  That
requires two cells to come close enough together to do that; it implies the
higher the concentration, the higher it *could* be.  We don't have any data
that I can see on whether or not their actual use during a repair affects
the production."
   Mary said, "And perhaps it needs a certain level to do regeneration. 
The age-based concentration changes based on body-growth rate may actually
be meaningless if there's not a significant amount used in normal growth."
   I said, "Again, we may not have the correct background data.  We just
measured human stem cells in humans and we're observing mouse stem cells in
mice; I'd say once we replaced the DNA, they *were* mouse stem cells for
practical purposes."
   We checked all the remaining mice and several more at the laboratory
supply store.  At six weeks old, the age of our mice, the concentration was
about 1 in 100 million.  So, our three were 10 X the normal in any case.
   Mary said, "Look, I just noticed the stem-cells right near a
regeneration site reproduce differently.  They reproduce a much higher
percentage of the time and much sooner than the free-floating ones.  Plus,
there's a lot more four-spits.  The regeneration site itself seems to be
triggering it."
   "Yep.  Maybe...  what if the age/hormone concentrations actually have
nothing to do with what we're looking at?  One fact still remains and that
is the newborn's concentration of 1,000 to 100 doesn't appear to give
regenerative capabilities.  I've never heard of a human of any age
regenerate scar tissue, bone or a limb."
   Mary said, "We've altered a human newborn's stem cells with mouse DNA.
Let's check the rest of the cell's nucleus etc.  with what we're seeing now
-- is there a difference *besides* the DNA?"
   Shit!  We did another tiny sample of human blood and put in the mouse
DNA.  We compared the stem cells currently in the mouse to the new sample.
They started out different then somehow we were getting more and more the
same.
   Shit again!  Okay, take another human sample and replace the DNA.  This
time we watched the stem cell nuclei particularly close.  Dayum!  Within
five minutes almost 95% of the nuclei had changed.  There appeared to be
several more enzymes plus some of the other structures had changed
slightly. By replacing the DNA, we'd actually changed the stem cells'
biological structure.
   Another test.  I took a small blood sample from both Mary and me.  We
took two small samples of the newborn blood and replaced the DNA in one
with mine and the DNA in the other with Mary's.  Now sit and watch.
   Double shit!  In ten minutes both our doctored samples showed almost
identical nuclei to the ones currently running around in our three mice
which were regenerating -- except for the DNA.  We'd actually changed
something in the biological function.
   Okay.  We got two more mice with a scar or injury (Don's gonna have to
order more; maybe he'll forgive us if I jump his bones a couple times) and
injected my DNA-charged stem cells in one and Mary's in the other.  Watch.
   We saw the stem cells gather at the injury site and multiply rapidly. 
However, after they attached to an injured/healed cell, nothing happened.
Also, the overall concentration of free cells didn't seem to change.  The
injected cells died off without reproducing much at all.  The main
difference was this was human DNA.
   Right.  Two more mice.  Suck some stem cells from the regenerating mice
and put them in the new ones.  And watch.
   Same thing.  They'd multiply and congregate at a site but wouldn't
replace the cells and the concentration didn't stay the same.
   Mary said, "Okay.  So far this tells me we've gotta use DNA from the
original organism.  Let's let these sit overnight and see if there's a time
delay or something."
   Yeh.  Besides, we'd worked through lunch into the late afternoon. 
Tomorrow was another day.
   "Scoot.  Go gossip with Kat, Lucia or one of those Wild Bunch hellions
or, better yet, snuggle up with Sam later.  We'll start fresh tomorrow
morning."
   ------
   CYNTHIA (Wednesday 3/22)
   We met with our potential tutors right after school in the cafeteria. 
Mrs.  Stroh had already arranged for us to be there, so no one gave us any
hassles.
   Valerie started us off, "Thanks for coming, guys.  We've talked with
Mrs. Stroh and she's helping us start a tutoring group similar to what
they've got at McCambridge.
   "We're after study basics.  The brightest student won't really learn
anything if he doesn't know the study basics.  All he could do is memorize
something and won't really understand it.
   "Each of you has some specific areas you're best at academically, and
we'll try to get you tutoring in those areas.  But, the first thing you do
with your new student must be to ensure he knows the study basics.  If he
doesn't, get those taught first.
   "It may seem a long way around, but by the time he's gotten those basics
he's able to learn and understand.  Then all your expertise can go into
going over the specific area knowing he can learn and understand it and
isn't just memorizing.  The time spent will actually be less than if you
just tried to get him to memorize the work."
   We went over the study basic just as the Mickey C Inner Circle had
showed us; looking up and understanding words, demonstrating or seeing the
actual physical reality of something and taking the understanding step by
step.
   We drilled them on the stuff for another half hour.  By that time they
were pleased with what they'd learned and knew they could be effective
tutors.
   Cynthia told them, "One last thing.  As you've probably heard, the
Mickey C Inner Circle has had tremendous success in matching people in
relationships and in handling other life situations among the students.
   "So don't be surprised if you're a guru at Social Studies, and we send
you a student needing work in mathematics.  They've found matching
personalities is even more important than how able the tutors are.
   "We three just happen to be in puberty and were looking for
relationships.  It doesn't matter if you and others haven't gotten there
yet; there's still a lot of love and admiration in having a relationship
before the sex angle.  If you run into people who are looking, let us know
and we'll try to match them up -- and by the way, that includes all of you,
too."
   ------
   KATHLEEN (Wednesday 3/22)
   Sherry and I took the girls who didn't have driver's licenses or cars
(most all the Burbank crew) on a shopping run.  Glendale Galleria, here we
come!
   We overran Victoria's Secrets.  Including Sarah and Rita, we had eight
sexy girls who had money to spend (Sherry was popping for Sarah and Cynthia
was treating Rita).  Sarah and Rita were Sensitives, so we all got along
with them really well.
   We were looking for at least two, not necessarily mutually-exclusive,
types of stuff.  The sexiest and the trashiest; one for appeal, the other
for fun.  We'd decided to have a little contest for the most turn-on outfit
(for a guy) and for the most outrageous/trashiest.
   The saleslady raised an eyebrow when Cynthia nosed around.  At a little
over four feet tall, at first glance she looked exactly like a "little
kid." After Sherry and I gave her looks that *dared* her to say or think
anything about any of us, she backed down and became really helpful.
   Dressing rooms, modeling, whaddaya thinks, yeahs and nays, the whole
shopping bit.  Sherry and Cynthia told Sarah and Rita, "If you even *think*
you want it, get it." Everyone else had money for this sort of fun.
   We dropped a couple of hundred bucks each then headed off to Fredrick's.
Slightly different styles, different trash and an opportunity for more
whaddaya thinks.  We dropped a couple hundred there too.
   Hell, Cynthia and Valerie were probably the only ones who had a limit on
what they got.  They were still growing so fast they'd probably outgrow
what fit now within a couple of months.  They knew it and didn't care.
   Chapter 35
   ANA (Thursday 3/23)
   When we checked our mice, they had the same status as before: doing
great.  The one regenerating the toe had a perfectly-formed new joint and
was growing the claw out.  The free-cell concentration was about the same
at 10 in 100 million.
   The bone regrowth was almost done on the other one; it still had the
high concentration in the blood stream.  The one originally having the
small scar now had perfectly-formed skin and fur in place of it.  Several
other small scars and injuries had also regenerated.  The concentration was
still at the same level, however.
   Okay.  That's old stuff, how about a new injury?  I made a small
incision in that one and staunched the blood.  Ordinarily that would heal
with a small scar.
   As I _watched_, though, the stem-cells gathered at the injury site and
started regenerating the skin!  No scar tissue!  Let's see what they're
like tomorrow.
   On two of our four "dud" specimens that hadn't received their own DNA, I
made up a fresh batch of human stem cells replaced with the appropriate
owner's DNA and injected them.
   They immediately started multiplying and heading for injury sites.  They
clustered up and started regenerating.
   Fairly conclusive so far.  Replacing human stem cells with an organism's
DNA and injecting them into the original organism both changed the stem
cells' nuclear structure and enabled them to regenerate.  We were
definitely on to something.
   Looking at what we had, it was potentially great.  The remaining
question was why did it work?  Why did replacing the stem cell DNA cause a
biological change in the cell itself?
   Additionally, the concentration of the free stem cells in the "scar"
mouse stayed at about the same level of 10 X.  It had almost completely
regenerated the incision I'd made only four hours or so ago.
   We sat and batted some thoughts around for a half hour.  Mary asked, "My
human reproduction knowledge, such as it is from a week as a Freshman, is a
bit rusty.  One thing I do seem to recall from somewhere, though, is that a
fetus between a week and about five months old can receive a tremendous
amount of physical damage yet still survive and be born as 'normal.' Am I
anywhere near right on that?"
   Oh, yeh!  "I remember that too.  Most of my training's been post-natal.
Betcha we can pick a few obstetrician brains.  Let's do that."
   We went out on a half-hour probe run.  Yeh, her idea was substantially
correct.  That meant that in some stage of development, a fetus could be
regenerating itself.
   Okay!  Plenty of pregnant women in L.A.  County.  We two-teamed and went
hunting.
   First one we looked at was a month pregnant.  Since we weren't invasive
and weren't taking any samples we dove right into the fetus' bloodstream.
   Mary Mother of God!  The free stem cell concentration was up around
2,000 per 100 million, twice that of cord blood.  Let's look at the nuclei.
   Oh ho!  The nuclear structure was damned near identical to the
cord-blood samples with Mary's and my DNA!  These were regenerative stem
cells!  Jaysus!
   Now look for an older fetus.  Here's one two months along.  Yes!  2,000
per 100, regenerative nuclei.
   Ones at three, four and five months were the same.  High levels of free
stem cells with regenerative nuclei.
   Next one was six months.  Hmm.  The concentration was down to 1,700 and
maybe 75% had the regenerative nuclei; the other 25% had a nuclear
structure similar to the untouched cord blood.
   All righty, then.  Look at seven, eight and nine months.  The older the
fetus, the lower the concentration.  At nine months and ready to pop the
concentration was down around 1,000 and maybe 1 or 2% of the stem cells had
the regenerative nuclei.
   Mary asked, "Does the DNA itself change as the fetus develops?  When we
put your and my DNA into the cord stem cells, they immediately reverted, I
guess you'd call it, to the regenerative structure.
   "Or could it be during the normal cycle of fetal development the
organism itself says it's reached a certain stage and doesn't use that
structure any more."
   "Don't know if the DNA changes.  It could be worth a probe run to see if
any research's been done on that.  What I'm thinking is perhaps when we put
in the replacement DNA, the stem cell 'thinks' it's in development mode
since it just got 'new to it' DNA.  Since it's the organism's own DNA, the
body doesn't develop any more so it may not shut down."
   Mary said, "Then in a post-natal body, we could end up having a fairly
high level of regenerative stem cells pretty much permanently?"
   "Good possibility.  Let's see how our mice look in a week or so.  These
particular type only have a life span of several months so it might give us
some indication."
   Mary grinned.  "We'd better be careful with our animal experiments. 
Geeser's neutered; if we treat him his nuts might grow back."
   We laughed for a while.  I said, "If that's the case, I'm sure not
letting Ralph Long and a lot of the Unpleasantville people anywhere near
that stuff."
   Mary said firmly, "Please don't."
   She asked, "Another question.  We teleported the DNA into the stem
cells. We did, what, several million in those 0.1 cc samples?  Can the
mundanes do that in the laboratory?"
   I told her, "Hell, unless there's been a hell of a breakthrough, it
takes an expert something like ten minutes under perfect conditions to do
one cell.  We're talking a lot of minutes.
   "On a human scale, we don't know what the minimum injection should be.
We used 0.1 cc on the one mouse with the scar and it's now running the same
concentration as the one we use a full cc on.  As a SWAG, I'd say ten cc
for a human.  We have the advantage if it doesn't work we can always use a
larger injection.
   "Honey, I'd bet you're thinking deep thoughts of doing yourself."
   She looked a little chagrined but nodded.  "Yeh.  I do think of that. 
On the other hand, like you say, we don't know the longer-term effects yet
even on the mice."
   I told her, "Mary, I've got a really good idea how you feel.  If it will
help any to keep you straight, I'm sure the Clann Ceann would blister your
butt for risking it before I give even a semi-approval.  Ever given Bob or
David a hug?"
   "No, actually I've never touched either of them."
   I laughed.  "You're in for a treat.  Give Bob your hardest hug sometime.
You won't even dent him.  Something like ten months ago, he cracked a man's
wrist just by squeezing it and splintered his sternum and some ribs with
his fist.  He thinks nothing of picking up three hundred pounds or so and
walking away with it.
   "He's still growing too; he'll be like David in a couple years.  You do
*not* want his hand pounding your ass.  Besides, he knows exactly where you
live.
   "Give us a couple weeks at the very least then we'll revisit it.  Okay
Honey?"
   She rubbed her butt a few times and winced.  She agreed.
   ------
   CYNTHIA (Thursday 3/23)
   Our Inner Circle group met after school at Pat's.  This was a "safe
zone" so we could do anything needed.
   The next step was a big one; we help push/pull them outside their
bodies. They were ecstatic!  They felt the freedom to move and were able to
experience for themselves their existence as a spirit, not just being a
body.  We went over Reference Points and talked about exploring.
   We helped them set up the simple firewall and got them communicating
with VPNs.  We went over several possibilities for simple cover personae;
they had a lot of fun with that.
   Lots of drills here so they could set up a firewall and VPN as fast as
possible.  By the end of an hour, they could get them up well within a
shake.  Good progress.
   I told them, "Notice when you're fully outside, the bodies appear to be
asleep or in a coma.  When you go outside exploring, I'd recommend you
ensure the body's safe; don't leave it on the balcony balancing on the
rail.
   "After you all go to bed, why don't you three get together and come
exploring with us?  We're gonna be working together a lot, and this is
another way to get to know each other.  Besides, it's fun!"
   We agreed to get together that night about 10:00 here then go "out on
the town."
   ------
   PATRICK
   The six of us blinked over to Bob Hope airport.  We introduced them to
plane-chasing and jet-engine spinning.  We had a blast!
   After a couple hours of exploring Burbank and the school, we showed them
the merging compatibility testing.  Val and I merged while Cynthia ran
commentary.
   _"The white shows areas that harmonize and possibly reinforce; the gray
areas are conflicts -- sometimes you'll find darker gray to black depending
on how severe the conflict._
   _"The glow in the white shows highly-reinforced areas and holding it
together is admiration and the affinity we have for the other.  We think
when you get a *lot* of glow, you're getting into romantic love._
   _"Merging is very intimate, even more than sexual intercourse.  You're
exposing every part of yourself to the other, so until you're pretty tough,
you might want to take it easy."_
   We showed them Cynthia and me, Val and Cynthia then us three together.
We displayed rainbow color bands and what they meant.
   I told them, _"As Inner Circle people, we should end up with at least a
little white glow for admiration along with few or no major conflicts.  You
get too many people into a merge and it's a football pileup -- everyone's
grabbing everyone and it doesn't really mean a whole lot._
   _"While we know each other from school, we may not have worked together
long enough to get a lot of glow between any two spirits; what you should
probably look for is the white and the conflicts."_
   Dan said, _"I'm willing to give it a shot."_
   He and Art _merged_ and showed us a small glow with a few gray specks.
Art laughed and told us, _"He tickles a lot.  Better watch out for him,
Megan."_ The wash of colors flickered around as we laughed.
   Megan said, _"I'm game, but don't shoot me; it's not hunting season."_
   She and Dan _merged_; they showed a faint glow with a couple light gray
specks.  As a rainbow danced across, she laughed.  _"He's grabbing my boobs
and ass -- except I don't have any boobs yet!"_
   Val told her, _"As a spirit, you can mock up anything you want.  It's
fun and doesn't hurt anything.  You can have 18-EEEs if you want!"_
   We did round-robin _merges_.  When I _merged_ with Megan, I gave her
spirit-butt a good caressing.  She laughed, squirmed and gave me a good
spirit-hug and _kiss_.  _"I'll give you an hour to stop that, Conan!"_
   When we were done, everyone was compatible with everyone else.  Pretty
much what Val and I had anticipated.
   Dan asked, _"Are either Art or I expected to form a relationship with
Megan?  I can tell already we'll get along just fine, but is it expected or
required?"_
   I told them, _"In no way.  All you have to be is able to work together.
We will have a relationship as a group by our common goals, the natural
affinity you've already shown and by working together._
   _"A sex-and-children relationship is different.  It happens that Val and
I have one because of prior experience together; we've loved each other for
a long time.  We lucked out with Cynthia; the three of us fit together real
well._
   _"The three of you *may* find someone.  It's not required."_
   We agreed to get together physically Saturday afternoon to work on some
more stuff.  We spent the rest of the night looking over Hollywood and
teasing the ducks in McArthur Park.
   ------
   ANA (Friday 3/24)
   I kept an eye on our mice.  The original scarred one now had no scars or
injuries anywhere I could see.  The bone-break one was something like 75%
regenerated while the toe on the other one was almost down where the claw
would begin.  They all had the high stem-cell concentration in the blood.
Abso-fuckin'-lutely wonderful!
   In the afternoon, Raymond, Susan and her children flew down from
Redmond. Bob and Kathleen picked them up at Burbank Airport, took them to
their hotel then took them over to the Reynolds for dinner where Don and I
joined them.
   Raymond was a "standard" WASP about thirty.  Susan had a large dose of
oriental (Korean, she told me) and was exotically pretty, much like Mary
Shinto.  Her two boys shared her exotic looks; they were thirteen and
seventeen.  Shirley, the girl, was sixteen and as beautiful as her mom. 
And they were ones of us!
   We ate, chittered and chattered and talked about the Clann.
   Everyone showed up for the Clann meeting.  We welcomed the newcomers
with warm physical hugs, spirit-hugs, _kisses_ and _welcomes_.  I'd say
they felt at home.
   We covered a lot of material at the meeting.  We weren't concerned about
the Ways learning the other stuff we were doing since they'd probably end
up doing much the same.
   Frank told us he and Thelma would probably have the EverAlert results
ready by Monday evening.  "So far, it looks pretty good.  No problems with
the books and the probes so far gave us only a few issues to work on. 
Lookin' good."
   Mary introduced Sam Goodman.  She'd spent Wednesday and Thursday
evenings training him up in various aspects of being a free spirit
including the first firewall, VPNs and moving around completely outside. 
It was obvious to us "old hands" they were completely into each other; each
time they glanced at each other they glowed and flooded us all with
feel-great!
   Mary gave them a quick update on the stem cell research.  "Probably like
any other research, we're ending up with more questions than we had in the
beginning.  We'll keep working on it."
   ------
   VALERIE (Saturday 3/25)
   We met with Art, Dan and Megan in the early afternoon at Pat's place.  I
told them, "One thing we'll need to do is get our parents together so your
folks know who you're hangin' out with.  We'll probably get Blake and
Louise from next door because they're usually our 'supervisors' when Pat
and my folks are gone -- which is most of the time."
   We made some preliminary arrangements; Blake and Louise were more than
happy to have another dinner with good folk.
   I asked them, "By the way, any of you started puberty yet?"
   Megan told us, "I might.  I'm getting twinges in my nipples, and my
body's been feeling odd the last couple weeks."
   Cynthia said, "One advantage we have is we can _look_ and find out.  As
a spirit, we can do a lot of things in less than a second it would take a
medical laboratory several hours.  I'm about four months in, so I've got
tons of female-type hormones.  Let's just _look_, compare and see what
we've got."
   We looked at her bloodstream, ovaries and other body parts.  Pat said,
"Since the ovaries produce the hormones, in the absence of
plainly-observable secondary sexual characteristics like breasts, they
should tell the tale."
   We got so we could tell very rapidly if the ovaries were producing
puberty hormones; Megan's definitely were.  We compared hers to several
very young girls and we could easily spot the difference.
   Don and Art were the same way.  By comparing to a couple very young boys
and to Pat, they had an elevated hormone production level.  Oh, boy!  We're
gonna have a horny group here!
   Cynthia said, "Put that check into your standard _inspection_ routine.
Bob Reynolds told us a lot of the situations he and George Tanner had to
handle here were directly related to puberty issues.  We're gonna run into
it a lot; it becomes less of an issue as people get through it and settle
out.
   "Pat and Val were pretty much an exception.  They *knew* the hormones
were flowing and made every effort to contrast and compare the
hormone-driven attraction they had for each other from the spiritual
attraction.  I think they did pretty damned good."
   I told them, "You need to become experts at puberty.  Pat and I learned
most of the stuff from the Internet.  Health class at school is okay, but
the 'concerned parents' or religious groups have legislated out half the
stuff you really need to know.
   "You'll get to know the information, be able to reference it to someone
and be able to explain anything plus help them through some of the hard
times.
   "We can always go upstream.  There's something like eighteen teenagers
almost through puberty in our Clann and Ana Matthews is a Registered Nurse.
So there's no question too dumb or sacred to ask nor any subject whatsoever
we'll back off from."
   Pat said, "Megan, we'll probably go over it more later, but Louise is
great at talking parents into getting birth control for their girls."
   I put in, "And the wrong time for a girl to find she needs it is when
some guy she really adores is licking her cunny for her third orgasm and
she wants him inside with everything she's got."
   Cynthia said, "We'll get you guys trained up a bit more and possibly
introduce you to the Clann next week.  We've got a lot more going on than
just study groups and tutoring in the school."
   We trained them more on firewalls and body defenses.  In a half-hour
they could set up a three-tier firewall with the start of a public persona.
In another twenty minutes, they all had a cellular-level body defense on
trip and could activate it respectably fast.
   ------
   JANET (Saturday 3/25)
   Slumber party!  Yes!
   Since we were hosting, I drafted Steven and Henry into helping set up.
Around 1:00 we drafted Bellana and Lucia to pitch in.  We cleaned the
apartment top to bottom, made sure there was plenty of TP (with a dozen
girls drinking lots of soda, we'd need it!), and carted in the goodies
Sherry and Mario had picked up from Smart and Final.
   Girls began appearing at 6:00, right on schedule.  We kicked out all the
mere males and put on our "lounging" clothes.  Mine was a dental-floss
thong and a tee shirt.  We'd agreed to hold things way down in deference to
Sarah and Rita.
   Kathleen brought Shirley Way along from their hotel; Jaysus she's
gorgeous with those oriental genes!  Straight black hair and slender with a
touch of the almond eyes.  She willingly shared her life-story.
   Not a virgin (big smile) and had just found a guy in school who was
remembering.  She _shared_ with us how they'd fallen into each other when
they'd met.  We got a few tears ourselves when we remembered meeting our
sweeties.
   Sarah Stapley and Rita Gold weren't ones of us but were pretty sensitive
to emotions and a few communications; they were both sixteen.  Sherry'd
told us Sarah and Mario's cousin Julio were a hot item, so of course we
quizzed her pretty good.
   She wasn't at all shy about telling us how nice a gentleman Julio was.
Bellana immediately asked how good a lover he was.  They'd done the deed
last weekend...
   Rita was a virgin and didn't have a boyfriend yet.  The entire Inner
Circle said we'd make it a very high priority to get her hooked up with a
Real Nice Guy.
   Kathleen had ordered the pizza earlier and it showed up right on time at
7:00.  Neat!  The delivery "boy" was a hunky Sophomore guy from Mickey C!
His name tag said he was "Ted." Empathically he was nicely sensitive; we'd
started _inspecting_ him the moment he'd knocked.  Kat and Sherry said he
was "good folk."
Being mean nasty teenage girls, we put on a show for him as he brought
all the boxes in to the kitchen.  As a couple of us stirred around getting
plates and stuff out, there was a constant stream of very scantily-dressed
girls dashing in and out of the bedrooms.
   Rita came bouncing out and glanced our way.  Holy cow!  We felt them
reach towards each other, _merge_ a little bit and she stopped dead.  They
stared at each other for at least three minutes while the rest of us
quietly worked around them.
   Lucia came up behind Rita and unobtrusively nudged her into the kitchen
until she was standing right in front of him.  Her nipples were popped up
tight and if the scent from the other girls hadn't been so obvious, she'd
have flooded the place; her panty crotch was almost dripping by now.
   The rest of us were grinning up a storm.  Even when Kathleen's top
"happened" to fall down as she was handing Ted the money, he barely glanced
at her.
   I _peeked_ into the hallway; all clear.  We shoved the two of them out
together and told them, "Make a date!" They did.
   Score another one for the matchmakers!  Obviously we ragged Rita
unmercifully the rest of the evening.  Her nipples kept popping up and she
had to mop herself dry several times.
   We'd dashed around the last few days making recordings from the girls'
boyfriends/S.O.s.  For Rita and Shirley, we'd had Mark improvise one and
David the other as "unknown admirers."
   We rung Bob in real quick.  He'd talked with Ted many times and could
imitate his voice reasonably well so we had him do a quick recording for
Rita as "Ted." We faked Shirley's new boyfriend the same way since we now
knew his name.
   As each girl came out in their "sexy" outfit, I'd play off the recording
from my computer.  Each guy complimented his girl and made gentlemanly but
lustful remarks about how he'd like to see her in it personally.
   Rita blushed all the way down to her navel when "Ted" told her how
beautiful she was, how sexy she looked and how she "made him want to be the
best he ever could be to win her love." Got her good!
   Now I cut Bob in directly.  Kat, Sherry and I were the only ones who
knew but he was _peeking_ right then; I just pretended to play something.
He made very appropriate remarks about each girls' outfit and talked a bit
about the color or how the cut of the top made her nipples look delicious
or how her trim job (or lack of it) made his tongue quiver -- you know,
offhand stuff like that.
   Shirley had only met Bob a couple times but she lusted after him almost
as badly as the rest of us.  By the time Bob was half-way through his
"recordings" I had to open the windows to let the pheromones and pussy
fragrance out.  Hope the bottoms were washable because every girl wet hers
down thoroughly, including me.
   Our next show-and-tell was the "tacky slut" outfits.  Kathleen had a
devastating translucent green shroud from her neck to her knees -- which
hid things just enough to make our mouths water (those with that
inclination at least).  While technically "tacky" we immediately
disqualified her because it was too sexy.
   Bellana and I trotted out with our "two small band-aides and a small
cork" outfits.  We got a decent rating.
   ShirleyWay looked gloriously sluttish in an open-nipple, open-crotch
set. Rita's outfit was sluttish enough; as "Ted," several of us made very
appreciative bass-voice comments about her attributes.
   Cynthia the pixie came out glowing with her cunny glistening.  Her
nipples were popped out at least an inch and each one had a little bow made
from narrow gold ribbon tied around it.  Her clit stuck out about half an
inch and *it* had a bow, too!
   We laughed and applauded.  She bounced her really cute boobs a couple
times, bowed and turned around.  There was a tassel dangling from between
her cheeks!
   Sarah bit the bullet.  "Okay Cynthia, how's the tassel held in?"
   She grinned.  "It's tied around a little butt plug." She bent and
spread. Yep.
   When she straightened up she twisted around and tried to look behind
her. She asked us, "Do ya think it makes my butt look big?"
   I roared along with everyone else.  Rita told her, "Sister of mine,
there ain't nuttin' that would make *your* butt look big."
   Sorry, she got disqualified too.  I don't think she'd look sluttish no
matter how she dressed -- or undressed.
   Mary danced out in a high-slit transparent skirt and a translucent top
that kept flipping open.  She had no issue about showing any of her scars
including the one on the end of her breast.  She's yummie!
   We finally voted Shirley to be the "Slut of the Night" and presented her
with the prize of a life-sized pink dildo, a big tube of KY and an
illustrated Kamasutra.  We told her the dildo was a "certified replica" of
the Ceann.  She looked at us unbelievingly, and said, "Certified by who?"
   Every girl who'd been at the pool party promptly raised her hand. 
Kathleen and Sherry grabbed it and pretended to dash off with it.  "We'll
make sure; it should only take an hour or so."
   The rest of us tackled them and wrestled it away.  After all, since
Shirley was our special out-of-town guest, she should have a virgin dildo,
right?
   Kathleen and Sherry had gotten each girl a little personalized gift. 
Usually it had a small bottle of good-quality perfume that matched the
recipient's skin oils and a "naughty" pin along with a couple gag-gifts
like "instant arousal" pills for when the times *weren't* hard.
   We hung around, chattered girl-talk, stuffed our faces with pizza, soda
and other junk food, belched (Kathleen won the contest) and had a great
time!  We slept in Sunday morning until 10:00!
   Chapter 36
   ANA (Sunday 3/26)
   Late Sunday morning, Mary and I stole Bob for a conference.  We showed
him the notes we'd taken on the stem-cell study and displayed our
regenerating mice.
   He was impressed.  "You ladies have something here.  Something that
looks extremely promising."
   Bob looked over the three regenerating mice and the ones where the stem
cells didn't appear to have an effect.  He asked, "How many samples of cord
blood did you use?"
   Mary told him, "One.  We started getting results immediately and with
the quantities we use, we haven't even started to get low."
   Bob nodded.  He asked, "The three mice that are regenerating are all
female.  What was the sex of the cord blood donor?"
   Good question.  We didn't have that in our notes, so we did a quick DNA
scan and located the child.  We told him, "Female."
   Hmm.  Bob asked, "I'll tend to agree with the hypothesis that only the
original organism's DNA will work; two of the four others you tried are
female.  Are there differences in male and female cord-blood stem cells
besides the DNA?"
   Fuck, no idea.
   He looked at Mary and said, "Mary, I'll bet you're more than willing to
try this on yourself this minute.  Am I right?"
   Mary nodded and told him, "No doubt."
   Bob grinned.  "Mary, I'll betcha Ana threatened you with dire
consequences if you tried this on yourself without at least her approval."
   Mary grinned.  "Yep.  In fact, she told me the Ceann would literally
beat my ass and I would *not* enjoy it."
   Bob laughed.  "Ladies, I've never beaten a woman's bottom.  For
something like this, especially since it's not a life-saving situation, I
might well change that policy.  So beware.
   "Now, in my ignorance, here's what I'd recommend.  You've done marvelous
work here and it has awesome potential.  Find out if there appears to be
any difference between male and female stem cells.  Try both male and
female cord blood donors on both male and female recipients.
   "Are all stem cells created equal?  Except for the DNA, are stem cells
from a pig, cow, human etc.  the same?  You've shown that human cells in
mice appear to work fine.  Do they work the same on hamsters or other
animals?
   "You mentioned stem cells in early pre-natal blood had very high
concentrations.  Can you get the stem cells from there?  Does it affect the
fetus?  Do they work differently than the cord-blood cells?  Is there the
same concentration cycle among human, pig, mouse, etc.?
   "Ring Don in on this, too.  He probably has a lot more familiarity with
experiments and that sort of stuff than I do.  I'd suggest all of you look
for any other changes beside the regeneration of specific sites.
   "For example, the toe is being grown with new nerves.  That's part of a
structure being regenerated so it's not surprising it works.  How about a
nerve regenerating alone?  Sever a nerve and se if it regenerates.
   "Any other nervous system changes or brain structure changes?  Compare
to your untreated ones.  Do the treated ones appear to behave differently
like being more or less active?
   "In human blood transfusions, blood type differences can kill the
recipient.  Do mice or other animals have a blood type?  Can you use
straight plasma, synthetic plasma, an oxygenated saline solution?  Does it
matter because of the very low volume you're actually injecting?  Does
replacing the stem-cell DNA affect the blood type?
   "What are the long-term effects?  You mentioned the increased
concentration; is that more or less permanent?  Do the successfully-treated
mice have a different life span?
   "I'm not saying there are any negative side-effects; it's simply we
haven't seen any yet.  Until we have some fairly firm studies, we can only
guess.
   "Yeh, and all this research is probably totally illegal somehow.  So
keep it well under your hat.  Get Don in first thing and start those
sex-dependent studies so we can start monitoring them.  You'll probably
want a peer-review committee who's totally suspicious and cynical; include
Frank if he's willing.
   "We'll be taking off to Mexico the end of this month for a week; we'll
be back probably the 9th.  That gives you two weeks for further studies and
three weeks of longevity.  When we get back, let's discuss this again and
see where we stand.  Agreed?"
   Made plenty of sense.
   Bob smiled at Mary.  "Sweet lady, I know you have some considerations on
your appearance especially now you've met Sam.  All I can say is that Sam's
a really smart guy and now knows the difference between the spirit and
body. He doesn't mind scars or any of that stuff; that's one thing we
checked out before we even got you close to each other.
   "There's no reason to hold back; give him a chance to know you as your
body is now.  If things work out well between you and these experiments
turn out as we hope, perhaps we can give you both a pleasant surprise."
   ------
   KATHLEEN (Sunday 3/26)
   Sam had asked Mary to the Spring Dance (it hadn't taken even a hint). 
That gave Sherry and me a good excuse to take Mary shopping!  None of the
Clann girls' clothes would fit her so we had to get fresh stuff.  Too bad.
   Nordstrom's!  Robinsons-May!  Macys!  The Media Center and Glendale
Galleria managed to survive us but barely.
   We ended up with a lovely Little Black Dress that showed off her curves
just right.  A string of pearls and pearl earrings (real pearls) topped it
off.  The obligatory black shoes with heels pushed her height up so she
could kiss Sam easily and pushed her bosom and butt out just right.  Nice!
   Bob, Sherry and I sponsored nails and hair for all the girls; we set up
appointments for Saturday.  Harvard MS was having its dance the same
evening so we got Valerie, Cynthia and Megan Foster in on the deal, too.
   Bob warned all the guys to get their hair cut if needed and to get their
suits cleaned.  He sponsored corsages for the ladies; the guys could pick
them up from his house anytime Saturday.
   Elizabeth set up some "emergency" dance lessons for the new people on
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday right after school.  Sherry and I had
already decided Mary would get the Bob Seal of Approval even though she
wasn't a student yet, so Elizabeth made sure she got the slow-dance steps
down.  She dropped several hints to her and Sam that they would be more
than welcome at her place after the dance "for as long as you wish."
   Sherry and I decided we'd have our honeys take us to early dinner
Saturday afternoon so it would be settled in by dance time.  Bob made
reservations for the Castaway for 3:00; two hours for dinner and a couple
hours for dressing would get us there right on time.
   ------
   BOB (Monday 3/27)
   Frank gave us the EverAlert report.  "Pretty decent, actually.  There's
a couple illegals floating around, some licenses almost ready to lapse and
a little innocuous bribe-taking here and there.
   "The books showed it's making decent money for JRD.  Evin said they'd
make a quick run to the main office in Van Nuys this week and scope it out.
   "Of the 3,000 probes we did, none turned up anything worth getting
really concerned about.  We did find the smuggling operation so that was a
good tip to the INS and FBI; ramon came through again."
   Siobhan told us, "We'll do The Clean Place next.  Mario will get
together the books and reports tomorrow morning so the audit crew can start
Tuesday night.
   "There's around 250 people and five offices scattered around, so we'll
have it easier than with EverAlert.  Since Spring Break is next week, we'll
delay the probes until it's over.  That way we don't have to stop partying
just to work."
   ------
   ANA (Tuesday 3/28)
   Don and I chatted with Bob and Kat Tuesday evening after school.  We
discussed Clann plans and JRD plans; most were fairly tentative.
   Bob told us, "This summer, Kat and I will probably do a lot of oversight
visits.  Even at a couple a week, that'll still take most of the summer if
we decide to do them all."
   Kat said, "And it'll give us a chance to do some sight-seeing too.  Yeh,
we can blink anywhere, but we'd like a lot of the actual physical
experience.  It's like sex in a way; one can _watch_ a lot and _share_ the
sensations, but there's nothing like the first-hand experience."
   Don said, "If we get the teleporting down by then, you can save all the
time and money involved in getting wherever you want.  If you wish, you can
skip the five-hour drive across the Kansas plains or avoid the airport
hassle.  On the other hand, you can experience anything you want in that
area; at least it'll give you a choice."
   Kat laughed, "We can travel light, too.  We already know we can port
objects.  We can travel with carry-ons then simply port our luggage or
other stuff back and forth from here.  If I want a special dress or
something from the closet, it's only a moment away.  We can avoid a lot of
airport hassle by skipping baggage claims and lost luggage."
   Bob said, "If we happen onto a golf course we're interested in, we can
get our clubs and supplies in a couple seconds.  Maybe I'll get
consistently under 100."
   Kat grinned, "And maybe down in the low 90s.  In fact, why don't we plan
on doing just that on the Cabo trip?  I know they've got lots of golf
courses.  We can do the luggage bit too and bypass all sorts of hassle."
   Bob told us, "See?  I told you she was smart as well as beautiful!  You
two did great work bringing her up!"
   Don and I laughed.  It led right into something we wanted to tell them.
   I told them, "Speaking of bringing up children, Don and I decided we
want a child together.  We're both still plenty young and there's plenty of
money.  I can't see any reason not to."
   Laughing, they jumped up and hugged us.  Bob said, "Besides, in your
circumstances, just wanting a child is enough.  So, tell us the dirt on how
you plan to do this."
   Don looked at him straight-faced.  "Your father didn't have the
birds-and-the-bees talk with you?"
   We had another laugh.  I told them, "I dumped the pills before my last
period.  I calculate my fertile time should be right during Spring Break
while you guys are gone.  Maybe then we'll have some peace and quiet to do
the deed."
   Kat laughed at me.  "Bet you'll leak a little.  Knowingly making a baby
is almost too good *not* to share with the rest of us."
   I admitted, "Yeh, I know.  We'll have the advantage of knowing exactly
when the egg drops and will be able to _see_ the fertilization.  If
necessary, I suppose I could give it an assist, too; after working with the
DNA in cell nuclei, nudging things as large as sperm and eggs around is
almost trivial."
   Bob said, "Well, good on ya!  I'll bet every Clann member will be
fighting for a chance to cuddle and baby-sit."
   He thought for a few seconds then grinned.  "Knowing what we know about
the spirits, you can actually hand-pick *who* you want.  All the pickups
we've seen have been right around the birth, so if you put in a little
firewall, you can keep out the 'undesirables.' In fact, you could even hold
auditions for the right spirit; you could find one right off the bat that
matches the sexual preference of the fetus and who's got the proper smarts
and Potential."
   Kat added, "When George and I were waiting, there was no hurry.  I'll
bet any spirit that passes your scrutiny would be willing to wait several
months to pick up a baby born into the Clann."
   Don said, "And there's nothing to stop us from getting them fully
trained before the birth.  They'll come out in the best condition they can
be in."
   Bob laughed again.  "Yeh, she'll probably come out cursing in Gaelic
about how freakin' cold and bright it is outside."
   We laughed for several minutes on that one.  Kat said, "Any thoughts on
having more than one?"
   Don and I looked at each other for a moment.  "Sure.  There will still
be plenty of time."
   Kat grinned.  "With your ability, you could ripen and pop a couple eggs
and have fraternal twins or even triplets on this one.  That'd save some
time."
   Now *that* was an idea.  Twice the work but more than twice the joy,
too.
   Bob looked at Kat and told her, "No matter what, it looks like you're
gonna be evicted so they'll have a baby room.  By October or November, we'd
better be doing some serious looking for another residence.
   "Granted, we could stay at my place, but I think by then we should be
seriously thinking of getting completely independent.  Besides, as soon as
Mother hears Ana's pregnant, I'll bet she'll be having some talks with
Father.  Their last child turned out so good maybe they'll want more.
   "For the moment, Mary's in Bill's old room.  If we move out, there's
plenty of room for a nursery.  That's what they did when I was born; Bill
had his room and I eventually got moved into what is our room now."
   Kat said, "Yep.  It'll need looking into.  Besides, maybe Blake and
Louise will be in the baby-making mood, too."
   I saw Bob's nostrils fluttering; he was trying not to laugh.  He said,
"I bet in the next several years, there's gonna be a lot of babies popping
out.  We've got two probably-fertile Senior couples graduating this year
from Mickey C then every year after that there'll be more.  We've still got
a lot of adult couples that are plenty young yet like you mentioned,
including the Sonoras.  Maybe the Clann will have to set up its own
day-care center."
   We talked for another hour about babies, day care ideas and other neat
family things.  Twins.  Hmm.
   ------
   VALERIE (Wednesday 3/29)
   Don, Art and Megan were coming along great!  They'd gotten the firewall
and body defense down pat and had developed some fun personae.  Megan was a
Shirley Temple bimbo airhead (Kat coached her a little on that), Dan was a
cool Black dude and Art was the ultimate macho man.  All the personae were
designed to cover their actual depth, intelligence and other abilities. 
Their cellular-level personae were appropriately gross as only us young
kids could think of ("I *love* squishing maggots between my teeth!").
   They were able to do probes and transcriptions as well as communications
and power VPNs.  They had a permanent power-VPN to Pat and me as well as to
each other.
   We'd done dinner with their parents Tuesday.  Dan's folks were somewhat
sensitive but the other parents and siblings were mundane.  Very nice
people though.
   Louise and Blake gushed on about how nice it was to have Pat, Cynthia
and me around to be good influences on their "young devils." Of course they
smiled so they knew she was joking.
   Our spiel about the Brain Trust and what they did was well-accepted. 
All the parents had heard about the Brain Trust and Mickey C for several
years by now, and were more than eager to have their children be part of a
similar organization.
   Later that night we coached Don, Art and Megan on handling the mundane
families.  I told them, _"In only a few weeks, Cynthia had pretty much
complete permission to be with us any time.  Of course, she still spends a
lot of time with her family, but they accept her being with us a *lot*."_
   The six of us decided to go together to our Spring Dance.  Elizabeth was
giving us all emergency lessons so we wouldn't fall over our feet; my folks
were gone that weekend and the next week but Fred offered to provide
transportation if needed.
   Cynthia had gotten permission to sleep over with me that night.  She
told us her mom had tweaked an eyebrow and thought, _"Yeh, with Pat and Val
around, a lot of sleep she'll get; she'll probably be coming all night."_
But no problem.  Pat and I had *plans* for her.
   Anyway, we'd been filling the new three in on the Clann.  We'd gone over
the membership requirements, the mundane apparencies and the sexual
customs.
   Cynthia emphasized the consensual nature.  "Megan, you'll be a hit.  You
glow with happiness and life and every guy there -- and some of the girls
-- will probably flirt with you and be willing to back it up with action.
Anything you wanna do is entirely up to you.  Just remember, the Ceann has
honoring rights!"
   Bob had told us to bring them over to the Friday meeting to get
introduced and get acquainted with the people, so we scheduled them in and
cleared it with their folks.
   ------
   BOB (Friday 3/31)
   Exams went well with everyone, just as we'd expected.  From the general
feel we'd gotten from the Mickey C students, pretty much everyone thought
they'd done at least okay.  Good on ya all, guys!
   PVC brought three of their new Inner Circle to the Clann meeting.  Don,
Art and Megan were delightful!  They were powerful spirits and PVC had
trained them up very well.  More for the family!
   Ana talked with us a bit more on the DNA stem-cell research.  They were
making decent progress and had gathered a peer review committee together.
Henry, Mama Sonora, Frank, Thelma and Aileen had agreed to keep a real
close eye on them.
   Don and his gang talked to us a bit about teleporting.  "We're doin'
good!  One thing we did find, though, is if you port electronics, ensure
they're powered down unless you do a very fast port.  Seems as if the
electrons get a little lost during the transit if you do it slowly.  Other
than that, we've ported fully running laptop computers with no problems. 
That means if you need to handle any intrinsic velocity, the device should
probably be powered down or it may end up junk.
   "We're working up to porting people but don't anticipate anything
unusual.  Maybe we'll try it out first with some of our Unpleasantville
'friends' and see if they even notice it.  Most probably won't; they're
pretty much completely introverted at the moment.  Too bad."
   Right after the meeting, Kat and I each cut Ana checks for $3,000.  Kat
told her, "For the research.  Maybe you could put a lot of the den stuff in
storage and set up shop in there instead of in the kitchen.  From what
Bob's told me, you and Mary will have a *lot* of work to do and you'll need
the room."
   I told her, "Let's make a talk with Evin to see about setting up a
research company.  That way you can get money in as grants; we win on taxes
and you win by not having to declare it as income."
   Ana and Mary hugged us both.  Mary's a *hot* lady!  Sam had his work cut
out keeping up with her.
   ------
   SHERRY (Saturday 4/1)
   Dinnertime!  Bob drove us in Kat's Beemer.  We'd gotten hair, nails
(hands and feet) and preliminary makeup done in the morning and wore
semi-dress.  We'd do the dance-dressing after dinner.
   Bob had handled the dinner arrangements.  We got a quiet foursome table
and partied!
   We had a great meal; steak and seafood.  We relaxed afterwards with
sparkling cider and made toasts.
   Bob dropped his fork under his table and went in after it.  Kat looked
around very innocently and played with his butt while it stuck in the air.
   Her eyes suddenly widened a little and her nipples popped up.  I said,
"Bob, are you finding something down there other than that fork?  Or should
I say *up* there?"
   Mario and I ragged them both pretty good.  Bob got a hand back out and
latched onto Kat's left hand to help pull himself out.  He pulled himself a
little bit, got his head out and ended up on one knee, still holding her
hand.
   Mario and I abruptly stopped our ragging.  Bob looked up at her and
asked, "Sunshine; my love and Mistress of My Heart, will you marry me?"
   ------
   KATHLEEN
   The shits!  Everyone had distracted me; he'd run his hand up my leg and
turned me on then asked that?  Jaysus!
   I just gaped at him for a moment.  He raised my hand and showed me the
ring he'd slipped on while everyone had distracted me.  It sparkled and
shown!
   He simply knelt there looking at me.  Holy fuckin' Jaysus H.  Christ! 
Hot dayum!  I couldn't get my mouth to work.
   Finally I managed, "YESS!  You sneaky shit!  I *will* marry you; we know
now even death cannot part us.  Now get up here and kiss me!"
   We shared a warm, sweet loving kiss while we _merged_, wound together
and danced for joy above our bodies and the others applauded and laughed.
   ------
   ANA
   Sherry and Kat were going to dress here so I wasn't surprised to _feel_
them arrive.  What did surprise me was Kat.
   She shouted, "Mom!  Mom!  He did it!  Look!"
   I hurried out.  She held out her hand and glowed happy all over.  She
had a beautiful diamond ring!
   I grabbed her and we hugged each other hard while laughing and crying at
the same time.  When we caught our breath, I asked, "I assume it was Bob
and not Mario?"
   She rolled her eyes and said, "Mo-om!" How nice to hear that again!
   Sherry and I grabbed her for girl-talk in my bedroom; Mario and Bob
grinned at each other, shrugged and went into Kat's room with Don to dress.
   Sherry confessed, "Bob had it all picked out but he made me come along
and approve.  I thought he did good!"
   We squealed, giggled, laughed and hugged time after time until it was
really time for us to get dressed.  This was going to be a fun night for
all of us.
   ------
   MARY SHINTO
   Sam was so nice!  He introduced me around to everyone, doted on me and
treated me like a princess!  My face was hurting from smiling so much!
   Kathleen "flounced" into the dance waving her hand in front of her,
showing off her engagement ring.  We flocked around her, ooo'd, ah'd and
admired her.  She was so happy!
   Bob suddenly appeared in front of me.  He asked, "Ms.  Mary Shinto, may
I have the extreme honor of this dance with you?"
   Of course!  He snuggled me right in and we swept away.  I snuggled in
myself; Sam had already gotten my panties wet and my nipple perked up, but
now everything got harder and wetter.  Even my breast scar felt puckered
up.
   He told me, _"Mary, you've come a long way.  You've shown loyalty and
courage beyond what many people could only dream of having one day.  You're
a *very* special person."_
   We were right in front of the stage when some spotlights hit us.  I was
surprised, but Bob told me, _"Look up at me."_
   I did and he kissed me for a long time as we spun slowly.  Damn!  My
heart was going so fast I could feel it all over and I dripped down my leg.
   He spun me out in the bow-and-curtsey move Elizabeth had taught us. 
People all around us had stopped and were watching us.
   Bob gestured at me with his free hand and said loudly, "Ladies and
gentlemen, may I present Miss Mary Shinto; she will be here full-time after
Spring Break.  She embodies the highest qualities of integrity, loyalty and
courage and I bid you welcome and accept her."
   Everyone around smiled, laughed and applauded loudly.  Bob told me,
_"Mary, they applaud for *you*.  You're a McCambridge citizen now, and
everyone knows you're a *very* special person.  I'm warning you; every
eligible man will be lining up to dance with you, so rest while you can."_
   Bob handed me back to Sam, gave me a final smile and went off with
another young lady.
   Sam smiled very happily and told me about Bob's Seal of Approval.  Seems
like no one knew me but had already accepted me as worthy and honorable. 
Oh.  My.  God.
   ------
   KATHLEEN
   Nice dance!  I could tell you all about our dresses and that girl-stuff
but suffice it to say we partied!
   I showed off my ring a lot and smiled so much my face hurt.  Glad Bob
and I'd been exercising so much; I danced every dance!  Only during the
middle break did I have a chance to go to the bathroom.
   Bob gave a wonderful Approval to Mary; I put a good lip-lock on Sam to
show we approved of him.  We gave Approvals to a lot of people -- every
person who had the Potential to be one of us got a decent mouth-kiss and
every Sensitive got at least a good peck.
   Bob gave Rita a nice snog and she was glowing.  I gave Ted one too, and
they almost floated around the rest of the evening
   Bob and I managed several dances together.  Fast or slow, it didn't
matter, we had *fun*!  We shared some nice kisses in the middle of all
that; of course the dance steps made them happen!
   We spent the night in our room at Ana's; we wanted to give Mary and Sam
as much elbow-room as possible at Elizabeth's, just in case.
   Bob and I made love very slowly several times.  We had tears of joy
running most of the time while we made wonderful rainbows in the
spirit-world outside our bodies.
   We _peeked_ around between bouts; seems there was a *lot* of lovin'
going on!  The entire Clann was going at it.  We _felt_ Mary and Sam
intentionally _sharing_ with us some of the love and happiness they'd
found.
   Rita and Ted had a long, happy snogging session after the dance.  We
could _feel_ they had plans together for later during Spring Break.
   Then there was PVC...
   Chapter 37
   CYNTHIA (Saturday 4/1)
   As always, Harvard MS had its Spring Dance the same night as
McCambridge. Kathleen had sponsored hair-and-nails for Megan and me, so
that's where we spent Saturday morning.
   Val's parents were out of town for the next week or so, so Fred had made
a reservation for us at P.F.  Chang's on Magnolia for dinner; PVC sponsored
Art, Dan and Megan for dinner so their folks didn't have to pop for that.
Fred came in with us and assured the staff we were responsible people; Pat
showed them he had cash for the meal, so we were welcomed with open arms.
   Nice dinner.  The guys stared unabashedly at the gorgeous oriental
waitress and flirted with her lightly.  Pat got a light elbow and grin from
Val and me every time, but it didn't stop him.
   Near the end, Kathleen _announced_ to us what Bob had done!  We cheered
quietly, high-fived each other and mentally congratulated them with vigor!
   All right!  We'd arranged for us to get dressed at Pat and Val's places;
girls at Val's, guys at Pat's.  Megan dressed up really nice; she was
glowing and looked beautiful.  Her small nipples were up hard and poked up
every so often through her dress.
   Valerie...  she was luscious!
   None of us were wearing very high heels so we just walked the couple
blocks to Harvard.  Party time!
   During the week, we'd cleared the idea of an Inner Circle Seal of
Approval for Harvard MS with Mrs.  Stroh.  She'd known about it from Mrs.
Baer and was all for it.  She spread the word to the teachers and
chaperones so we wouldn't get busted for PDAs.
   Pat and Val had the first dance together.  When they kissed, the rest of
us _flowed_ out the idea of the Approval and what it meant to the rest of
the students and the adults.  They got the idea in a hurry.
   I got one of the early dances with Pat.  So glad we'd gotten the dancing
lessons from Elizabeth.  My searchlights were on full blast and my cunny
was already slick by the time we started.  After a few minutes, Pat
squatted a little, got his arm under my butt and picked me up while he
kissed me.
   So nice, warm and loving!  I hammed it up a little by sticking my legs
out straight and quivering my feet like I was having an orgasm; damned near
did!
   Since I was closer to their height, I got to dance with Art and Dan. 
Neither was at all hesitant about snuggling in, so I rubbed my boobs over
their chests as much as I could and wiggled my mons against a couple
stiffies which magically appeared.  I gave each of them a good long snog
which they reciprocated with enthusiasm!
   Pat got Megan out on the floor.  We told her, _"Fifty bucks if you can
make him come in his pants!"_
   She did her best.  She was even shorter than me, so she rubbed her ice
picks against Pat's stomach and rolled and rubbed her belly against his
boner.  When he picked her up to kiss her, her hips were above his.  He
told her, _"*Now* we're in the right position.  I'll let you down on it
slowly..." Leer._
   Megan blew it by having a little (first-ever!) climax of her own while
she was kissing him; of course Val and I helped out with some gentle
phantom-tongue diddles on her very-stiff clit, slit and pucker.  We had to
knock off her reward by ten bucks, but Pat *was* leaking.
   PVC got a dance with all the Brain Trust students to ensure everyone
knew we Approved of them.  They each got a little peck at least.
   From there, the entire Brain Trust branched out and ensured that every
student there got at least one dance; some were so shy we had to burrow
through several other people to get to them!
   Over the past several weeks, we'd tentatively matched up several couples
by _inspecting_ them and their personalities.  We steered them to each
other and by the time the dance was over, four new couples had agreed to
get together with each other later.  Good start!
   PVC gang-walked Megan home along with Art and Dan.  We gave Megan a nice
hug and kiss; Val and I gave Art and Dan a good squeeze and a peck.
   Off to Val's for a late-night snack!  It was only about 9:30 and we had
nowhere to be tomorrow and all day to get there!  I _told_ Mom and Rita
where I was; hot damn!  Bob and Kat had given Approvals to her and Ted and
they were ecstatic!  Good on 'em!
   We stripped each other down slowly to skivvies, panties and bras while
ensuring the exposed skin didn't get cold.  There was no problem with
seeing, Val and I had our headlights on high beam.
   We got a bit to eat while _peeking_ around at the rest of the gang. 
Yow! Looks like everyone was getting in on the action; even Rita and Ted
were having a hot snog session!
   Pat admired Val and me so hard while we ate, we left big wet spots on
the chairs.  There's *lots* of ways three people can admire each other.
   With the energy-enhancement done, we adjourned to Val's parent's
bedroom. A dozen candles lent fragrant atmosphere while several towels and
water bottles provided for later necessities.
   We _linked_ lightly to share sensations while we _entwined_ ourselves
above and through our bodies.  We sent a light _link_ out to Art, Dan and
Megan while we left a light line open to the rest of the Clann if they
wished.
   We linked to my parents very lightly, just so they'd know I was happy,
and to P&V's parents like we did the Clann.  I gave a tiny _hint_ to Mom
this was my first time; she thought, _"So young yet Pat and Val seem so
right for her.  I do hope it goes well, and she finds some of the happiness
I've found."_
   We started our _song_ of happiness, joy and rapture.  I began with an
ancient story of love sought, found, lost then regained from more than 100
million years ago.  The language, of course, was lost but the feelings and
emotions were still fresh.
   We nailed Pat!  Val and I had his skivvies off and our mouths running
all over him in thirty seconds.  Damn, he was so hard and hot!  Val and I
synchronized in running our mouths up, down, around and over his dick; I
knew where it was going to be real soon!  We shared the spoils of our
victory and deigned to give Pat a last taste.
   Val's turn!  Pat and I slowly stripped her nekkid with kisses, nuzzles
and nibbles all over.  I got the bottom end and Pat got the top; we joined
our _song_ together in a trio of passions and raptures.
   I got lots of kisses and licks in on her inner thighs before I even got
close to her wonderfully-aromatic and sloshing pussy.  When I finally
tasted her directly, it was wonderful!  All the good flavor I remembered
from millions of years yet uniquely hers.  So good!
   My head fit perfectly between her thighs though my mouth wasn't big
enough yet to cover her all at once.  Oh well, I had to improvise and
lavish my tongue and kisses on a part at a time.
   She'd lubricated all the way down below her pucker so I took advantage
of all the good tastes and wonderful textures.  She responded with
exuberant quivers, moans and bouncing hips so I guess she enjoyed it.
   I drank mouthfuls of her nectar then sucked in her delightful clit and
abused it while working several fingers into her throbbing channel.  With
Pat lavishing attention on her mouth, nipples and breasts above, we kept
her climaxing hotly for fifteen minutes or so while our _song_ spread to
those who would listen.
   Break time!  We dried ourselves off a little, laid back and put down
some water.  We _peeked_ around again; Art and Dan were practicing their
solo stress-relief exercises.
   Megan was discovering several parts of her body gave *very* pleasurable
sensations when touched and stroked.  Val and I spent a couple minutes
coaching her on various methodologies; we warned her she might be able to
do it for a *long* time at a shot.
   ------
   VALERIE
   They're SO nice!  Getting a double-team from Pat and Star was more that
twice as intense as two of us alone.  We were all careful, though, and kept
it down enough so it didn't push me out of my body.  It was wonderful and
full of love and joy.
   Megan learned in a hurry.  In a couple weeks, she'll have learned what
her body does.  It keeps changing every week or so, but learning what's new
and different is a lot of the fun.
   Pat and I nuzzled, caressed, kissed and whispered words of love and
admiration to our very special Star.  She gave back as good as she got
while her face must have gotten sore from smiling so much.
   Gradually increasing the intensity, Pat slipped downwards.  Spending a
good ten minutes teasing and tantalizing her, he finally stroked his
(very-talented!) tongue up her tight slit and flicked her
stiffly-upstanding clit while I sucked gently on a proud nipple.
   She squeaked gently and shook all over as a warm release ran through us.
She told us, _"My sweethearts, my admiration and love for you both grows
more each hour and each day.  It sometimes feels I can't contain the joy
your presence, friendship and support gives me.  I love you."_
   We smiled back and increased our attentions to her sweet body.  Pat
spread her open and let her inner lips loose to his mouth.  I ensured her
nipples were as stiff as I could get them; they'd sucked half her breasts
into them.
   Pat worked a finger into her gently; she stiffened and squeaked again as
another, warmer climax thrilled us.  We let the _song_ spread more to those
interested.
   Pat worked two more fingers in, ensuring she would stretch easily.  Her
wound had fully healed and her sweet channel expanded under his tender
care. She was climaxing hotly every minute now as we brought her up slowly
higher and higher while our _song_ grew deeper with our emotions.
   After several minutes, we got Pat on his back.  I mounted him quickly
and stroked several times to get him thoroughly wet.  Dismounting, we
helped Cynthia straddle him; she rubbed her hard nipples over his chest
several times and squeaked again as another climax washed through us.
   We shaped ourselves so we were wound through each other and our bodies.
From the side, I guided Pat's very-stiff cock to Cynthia's opening and
moved her hips around a little until her channel was at the best angle.
   She settled her weight down slowly and moaned quietly when the head
popped inside then squeaked as a fresh, hot climax engulfed us.  I kept my
hand lightly on her back and lightened up my link so I was barely connected
to the sensations.
   Star settled lower and stroked slowly up and down, driving him inside
her deeper each time with moans of contentment and happiness.  We reveled
in her _shared_ sensations of penetration, stretching and filling.  He
still had an inch outside her when he bottomed out.  Star held for a
moment, gently moved her hips in a small circle, relaxed her stomach and
pushed the last inch in, easily moving her cervix up.
   We stopped, caressed and kissed her thoroughly for a while, ensuring her
adorable breasts got the attention they deserved.  We let our _song_ ring
out a bit louder with a touch of paradise found.
   Star started rolling her hips in a well-remembered pattern so her hot
clitty rubbed against his shaft and squashed itself against him at the
bottom of the stroke.  At each compression, she squeaked, _"So *good*!"_
   I caressed her tightly-clenching bottom while Pat firmly tweaked her
nipples at the bottom of each stroke.  We went faster and faster until she
let out a loud squeal, convulsed hard and tried to pinch Pat into a pencil
as her hard climax struck.
   We _sang_ our _song_ out proudly with passion and triumph; a rapturous
paean to our celebrated love.  We _felt_ quiet warm acknowledgements from
our friends as they too celebrated our love.
   Star wasn't done yet!  She changed her motions so Pat's head was rubbing
directly across her cervix and rode him down!  She had three more hard, hot
climaxes before Pat swelled up and painted her insides.
   She finally collapsed atop him; we caressed her gently, kissed her
quietly and welcomed her again and again to our lives and our love.
   Several aftershocks in the next several minutes made her squeak and
laugh in delight.  We rolled her on her side with Pat still stiff inside
her; we sandwiched her between her and let our _song_ run on quietly,
expressing our new-found plateau of life and love.
   When Pat finally softened up and slipped out, I cleaned up Pat and her
delicious pussy with my mouth, helped wipe their bodies down a bit with
warm wet cloths and dried us off a little.  We let our bodies doze off,
popped outside and danced in the moonlight high in the sky.
   After an hour of exploring the backside of the moon (I'm gonna explore
someone else's backside!) we blinked back.  We roused the bodies, took a
quick shower and stuffed our faces in anticipation of more to come.
   And more came.  It was a good thing Pat and I were in good physical
condition because Star used us unmercifully!  She forced us to pander to
her whims and experiments while we all came time and again, always singing
our happy _song_.
   Around 5:00, she finally got worn out enough that we were able to sleep
until around 10:00.
   ------
   SIOBHAN (Sunday 4/2)
   Mad, Evin and I had our own party Saturday night; after all, we had to
hold our end up our end of all the lovin' going on in the Clann.
   She and Dermot had frequently been staying overnight; with her getting
JRD Recording and Vail up to speed in the sales area, they'd spent a lot of
time at the office.  Our place was only five minutes from the office, so
they saved almost an hour's travel time each day.
   With two guest rooms, each had their own room.  That also meant we
maintained public appearances though Mad had yet to sleep in her room.
   Dermot got along great with Alyssa and Riona, just as we'd expected.  He
flirted with them a lot, and they returned it with interest.  He was never
in the way when Colin or Doug was over and took turns helping the four of
them rag each other.
   He pulled his weight around the house, too.  He did a lot of pick up and
straightening both inside and outside and took his turn carrying the trash
out.  Even if the bags were as big as he was, a little spirit-touch handled
it.  He (and the rest of us) practiced teleporting the bags into the trash!
   They were going to stay at our place while Evin and I were in Cabo.  One
of the senior assistants at the office was handling my routine stuff, so
Mad took advantage of the lesser travel time to start looking over The
Clean Place.
   Sunday morning, the eight of us took off to Bob Hope Airport for the run
to Cabo.  As Bob and Kat had suggested, we took just a small carry-on (a
big purse for us girls) and would port our luggage and anything else we
needed back and forth from Cabo.  Made a *lot* of difference in checking
in.
   None of us had actually done a lot of traveling before, so we had as
much fun as the kids.  First class was worth every penny.  We girls
switched around to sit together; we oo'd and ah'd over Kathleen's ring,
gossiped, plotted and had a ball!
   One stopover and change in Phoenix and we were at Los Cabos
International Airport in a few hours.
   We'd all gotten our International Drivers Licenses so we could
mix-and-match excursions.  At the airport, we picked up two reserved
vehicles; we got a mid-sized sedan while the kids got a big SUV; they
thought they might do some boondocking while we were here.
   It was a quick run to Cabo San Lucas and the Villa del Palmar Resort
which was right on the Playa El Medano, the swimming beach!  We got two
suites right next to each other; one two-bedroom for the O'Banains and us
and a three-bedroom for the kids.  We figured we'd use the third bedroom
and larger living area for meetings and such.
   *Nice* place!  Restaurants, pools, spa, exercise room (for Bob and Kat)
and all the goodies.  We got to our rooms and ported our luggage in from
Burbank.  Worked like a charm!  It was a lot easier than dragging it around
and stuffing it in cars.
   We cranked up our built-in sunblock and sunglasses then checked out the
beach.  From the looks of various spots, there was a lot of tolerance for
female-topless and an occasional fully-nude male or female body for a brief
time didn't draw any hostile attention.  Actually, the Villa brochure
"warned" there was a nude beach a bit north.  Right up our alley!
   None of us had any buttons on nudity; we adults had been nude around
each other for years while I doubt any of the kids worried about it.  Mario
was new, but I figured he wouldn't mind getting an eyeful of any of the
ladies.  I knew I wouldn't mind eyeballing Bob directly all I could; I'd
heard lots of nice gossip about how *good* he looked without clothes!
   Around the pools, everyone wore suits so we figured we'd do the same. 
There were attendants running around by the score so we wouldn't go hungry
or thirsty.
   We decided to split up.  The kids would go "into town" while us old folk
would nose around the resort a little (and maybe do some playing around).
   ------
   BOB
   We hopped in the SUV and hit the Old Road (Highway 1 between Cabo San
Lucas and the airport about 25 miles northeast along the coast) about 1:00.
We found a likely-looking parking spot and tossed a young gang of kids
20-30 pesos (one U.S.  dollar is about ten Mexican pesos) to keep an eye on
it.  We put a rapid-response physical defense around it with a VPN just in
case.
   We needed a guide, someone who knew the area.  There was a ton of young
kids around all clamoring to "be of service." We did a rapid _inspection_
over everyone; there were a couple of possible Sensitives but no one hot.
   Just then a local bus pulled up and disgorged a load of passengers.  Two
we spotted immediately, a young boy and girl.  Sherry gave them a subtle
_"over there"_ to a wide spot in the sidewalk and we went that direction.
   Alejandro and Linda (Linda = pretty) were step-siblings; their parents
were both in their second marriages.  We _saw_ lots of Potential in them
which is why we called them aside.
   We _linked_ in lightly (one-way) and started picking up the local
dialect and slang.  Mario said (in their local dialect), "You two look
pretty sharp; you know this area?"
   Alejandro told us, "We were born and raised in El Tule, about half-way
up the coast to the airport.  We know every inch of every street between
here and the airport!"
   Linda grinned a little at his boasting.  Sherry told them, "We're gonna
be here about a week and need someone to show us around.  You two
interested?"
   They weren't surprised at all that Mario and Sherry spoke Spanish; after
all, they looked Spanish.  They were a little surprised and pleased,
though, that they were using the local dialect and slang.
   Linda said, "Yep.  This is our first day looking for this kind of work,
but we still know everyone and every place."
   Sherry laughed.  "I'll bet you even know the goats by name, right?"
   Alejandro smiled back, "Not *every* one, but we know the old horny
ones."
   Kat and I had been _inspecting_ them down to their toenails while they'd
been talking with Mario and Sherry.
   Sherry said, "Can you get along with a couple gringos who're pretty
slow?" She jerked her thumb at Kat and me.
   ------
   KATHLEEN
   Bob and I hadn't said a word so far and had kept our faces blank as if
we didn't understand anything.
   Alejandro and Linda glanced at us.  Linda thought, _"Hmm.  Maybe he'd be
interested in some private tutoring.  Yummy!"_ Bob wore his usual loose,
long-sleeved shirt and slacks which hid his body pretty well.  Even so, I
knew Linda could see he was built pretty good and had a nice face.
   I squeaked at Bob, _"She's *over* eleven!"_ They were both around twelve
and a half and well into puberty.  Linda deserved her name; she was cute as
a button!
   Bob just groaned, _"Lord, what did I do to piss you off?"_
   Alejandro picked up the load.  "No problem.  We've got a cousin who's
pretty slow and we get along just fine.  We'll take things slowly so they
don't have to think too hard."
   Linda said, "We don't know much English at all, just a little bit we've
picked up here and there."
   Sherry grinned evilly.  "Linda, maybe you could teach him a little
Spanish.  He's not *that* slow."
   She now had the excuse to look Bob over intensely.  She thought, _"He
doesn't look like a total cutre.  Maybe he could learn -- after loosening
his tongue up with a *lot* of hacer la sopa."_ [cutre = idiot, jerk.  Hacer
la sopa = lick the pussy] If she wasn't careful, in just a couple minutes
her hard nipples would wear a hole in the threadbare shirt she wore.
   She said, "Probably.  It'll take some work, though.  Maybe Alejandro
could tutor the red-hair; I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
   Alejandro though, _"I'd tutor her *any* time.  Gorgeous!"_
   I figured it was time to loosen up, "We girls wanna go shopping! 
Clothes, real souvenirs, neat stuff!" In the local
Spanish-with-an-Irish-accent.
   Bob put in, "A few nice lady dancers would be appreciated, too.  We're
both Irish and I hope Linda *will* hold it against me." More Spanish-Irish.
   I think Linda blushed down to her belly button.  She caught on in a
flash what he was talking about.  She said, "Somehow I think you've been
playing with us a bit.  It takes a pretty good grasp of a language to make
double meanings like that."
   Bob said, "Sorry.  Sherry tends to put us on the spot and make fun of us
a lot.  Actually she's a very nice lady despite that."
   They both caught on.  Alejandro said, "Okay, we're impressed.  I'd still
like to do some private tutoring though." He grinned at me and cocked his
eyebrow.
   Dayum!  They *are* sharp.  Anyway.  I told them, "Let's start out with
young-people clothes.  We've got lots of friends your age and want to get
some decent, somewhat dressy stuff for them.  Can do?"
   Linda thought a second then said, "Can do.  Six minutes from here."
   Bob said, "Great!  First, let's get the business set up first.  What are
your rates for guiding us?"
   They looked at each other a few seconds.  Alejandro said firmly, "Five
U.S.  Dollars a day.  For each of us." He was going way high and was
willing to get bartered down.
   We exchanged glances and pretended to think.  Mario finally said, "No.
That's way, way out of line."
   Linda said, "Make us an offer.  You're obviously not totally Norte
Americanos."
   We looked at each other again and chatted a few seconds in Irish (let
'em figure *that* out!).  Bob dug in his pocket and produced some pesos
(we'd got a bunch before we left Burbank).
   He handed them several bills and said, "I think that's a fair exchange
for a *day*.  We're here for the week." He'd given them a thousand pesos.
   I added, "And we pay *all* expenses."
   They almost peed their pants.  They looked at each other for a moment
then Linda said, "That's *way* too much.  The going rate is really around
three U.S.  Dollars."
   Mario said, "You'll be worth every centavo to us." [centavo = penny.  So
sue me if the idea doesn't translate right!]
   Fifty USD each for a day was much more than their family usually made in
a month during the best of times.  They looked at each other, thought,
_"Maybe they *are* crazy Norte Americanos.  We'd better be damned good,"_
and told us, "Agreed."
   Sherry said, "Great!  Now, young-people clothes." We went down the
street.
   They took us to a fairly large shop off a few streets and alleys.  Not
touristy, the place was neat, clean and appeared to have a wide variety of
clothes for all ages and ranged from complete-casual to quite dressy.
   We had each of them model several sets of clothes from every-day
run-around-the-house to nice-dinner, including shoes and sandals as
appropriate.  They were spotlessly clean as of that morning, but their
clothes were almost completely worn out; another day or two and they'd
simply be falling off.  And these were their dress-up clothes!
   Think of them as Janet and Henry in size with Spanish coloring.  They
were both so skinny their ribs stuck out; there wasn't a bit of padding
anywhere except for Linda's neat tidy boobs.  A little _inspection_ showed
us they'd been on very short rations the last six months; sometimes they'd
had to go a couple days without eating.  Their folks were working their
butts off so that wasn't the issue; there just wasn't that much work and
the wages were really low.
   Every other model or so, we'd set aside the outfit.  After around an
hour, we had a stack several feet high plus a pile of shoes, sandals and
other stuff like socks.
   Sherry told them, "Now pick out underwear.  Several sets each.  Linda,
get at least four bras that fit you; we know several girls just your size."
   They cooperated.  They were honest and picked out a decent quality for a
decent price (dirt cheap by U.S.  prices).  I had Linda get a couple sets
of *really* nice bras and panties.
   We kept _inspecting_ them a lot.  They were already getting stirred up
and their abilities were starting to surface.  As they were modeling the
clothes, I could detect no envy, just a determination that someday they
would be able to do this for themselves.
   Enough, finally.  I coughed up around $200 USD for something that would
have run at least $1,000 in the U.S.  The saleslady bagged, stacked and
willingly took our money.
   Now for food!  Mario said, "Take us somewhere that's decent.  Fairly
casual but good."
   Being the nice guys we were, we made Bob carry most of the loot.  They
led us to a quiet restaurant where we had a nice meal for the six of us for
around $10 USD.  Alejandro and Linda really packed it away!  That should
hold us for the afternoon.
   We'd been hammering them with deep _inspections_ and admonitions to
remember.
   Bob asked them, "How long does it take you two to get home from here?"
   Alejandro said, "About two hours.  The bus takes us to the town stop
then we walk about a hour home."
   We conferred briefly and decided on a schedule for tomorrow.  Mario
said, "Okay.  How about you meet me and Sherry tomorrow morning about 10:00
for some more running around.  These two weird gringos are gonna hit a
little white ball around a while on a golf course."
   They told us 10:00 was fine.  They thought, _"Damn, we can even sleep
after sunrise if we want."_
   Bob asked, "Know of a decent taxi service?"
   Of course.  They learned how to use a cell phone really quick and called
one they knew was at least fairly honest -- a remote cousin.
   We chatted around for a few minutes.  When the taxi got there, we
stuffed the loot into the trunk and the back seat.  Alejandro said, "We'd
better call another one or pack some of the stuff on top.  You all won't
fit in here otherwise."
   Bob told them, "We don't need to." He'd _inspected_ the driver and had
gotten a decent rate.  He told them, _"The taxi is to take you two home. 
He'll come get you tomorrow morning and bring you here.  Riding the bus is
economical, but we said we'd pay *all* the expenses."_
   Their eyes got big in one hell of a hurry.  Linda though, _"Mother of
God!"_
   Mario told them, _"Don't worry about it.  All the clothes are for *you*.
After all, we need to have well-dressed guides, don't we?"_
   Bob tossed in, _"You're learning to remember things we'd forgotten about
ages ago.  Glory in it, talk with each other tonight and your love for each
other will shine.  Tomorrow we'll help you remember more._" He'd spotted
the attraction they had for each other, just as the rest of us had.
   He paid the driver and we strolled back to the SUV.  The physical alarm
hadn't gone off once, showing no one had even touched it.  Bob and Mario
complemented the gang and handed them a couple hundred more pesos.
   ------
   BOB
   Finding a couple potential ones of us was a great start on a vacation!
   We got back to Villa del Palmar in the mid-afternoon, just right for a
lay-about session.
   We _located_ the Fab Four (Donovans and O'Banains) and arranged a meet.
We popped on our bathing suits and trooped out to the pool where they were
already being lazy.
   Kat wore a lovely green two-piece just a little more modest than the one
she'd run around in at the pool party.  She and Sherry looked good enough
to eat!  Luscious!  Mario and I stuck with the standard baggy-shorts type
swimwear.
   The four guys _admired_ the four girls and vice versa.  They were
lookin' GOOD!  I cocked an eyebrow at Siobhan and in about two seconds she
noticed and her nipples popped up.  She pushed them out at me and smiled
happily.
   Barbara was a right qweer bit of skirt herself, a lovely Irish lass with
fire in her hair and eyes -- and a generous dose of freckles like Siobhan
and Kat.  I could almost feel my tongue tracing them out.  Mmm.
   It was so strange to lie out in the sun!  We adjusted our blocks and let
the sun cook us a little.  Good test.  We snagged some sodas from the
attendants, dozed away, chatted and had the first totally quiet afternoon
we'd had in months.
   Chapter 38
   KATHLEEN (Sunday 4/2)
   Evin, Mario and Aaron were lookin' fine!  I never compared any man's
body to Bob's (except David); objectively they were fit and fine.  I felt
my nipples pop up as they _admired_ us.  Definitely studs!
   I noticed Mario gape at Bob a few seconds.  He'd never seen him without
his shirt before; I'd say he was impressed.
   We whiled away the afternoon chatting.  So much fun just to be lazy!  We
had a nice dinner in one of the Villa restaurants then gathered for a while
in our sitting room and talked a lot.
   We told the others about Alejandro and Linda.  From _inspecting_ them,
Ramon Guerrero (Alejandro's dad) was a construction worker.  His wife,
Elisa (Linda's mom) worked in a local store in El Tule.  They scrimped and
scraped to get along.
   Construction was doing only okay in the El Tule area, and wages weren't
very good anywhere.  They had a little bit set aside (maybe 5,000 pesos),
but times were getting even tougher; he'd finished his last job several
days ago with no prospects in the near future.  When they'd had to draw
from their savings yesterday just to eat, Alejandro and Linda volunteered
to come down and try to get some guide work.
   Ramon and Elisa dreamed of having their own construction business where
they could have some sort of control over what they did.  They'd discussed
it often with the kids who were more than willing to work with them.
   Some definite possibilities here.  We decided we'd let Alejandro and
Linda talk us into meeting their parents so we could check them out too.
   Bob and I decided to get up pretty early and hit the driving range.  It
would be interesting see how badly our games had deteriorated.  Mine, I had
no idea; I'd have to start almost fresh since Kathleen hadn't even known
what a golf club was.
   We got cleaned up and into bed.  Bob obligingly stroked up my boobs and
nipples nice and tingly, latched on to the top one so the desert mice
wouldn't nibble me and we dozed off.  We popped outside (as did the other
six), set up our full body defenses plus a defense around the rooms and
took off exploring.
   Lots of neat places along the coastline.  Like most resort towns, the
coast had the wealth while further inland it dwindled off into worse areas.
By the time it hit the desert or foothills, it was shacks and slums.
   After about thirty minutes, we _heard_ one hell of a racket!  Jaysus! 
Alejandro and Linda had done a bit more than remember how to _talk_ with
each other; they'd been doing that when they'd suddenly popped out of their
bodies together; they were _merging_ and playing and _shouting_ out their
happiness, joy at being free and their love for each other.  They were
strong -- even over ten miles away they were loud enough to give the
mundanes wonderful dreams!
   We blinked over to them, surrounded them and put up an all-over firewall
to keep the noise down.  They were flaring away in their _merge_ with
rainbows gliding around all over as they caressed each other.
   Mario told them, _"Hey, guys!  Looks like you've remembered quite a bit.
Good on ya!  Well done!  Now, let's teach you how to do all this without
giving everyone for miles around an orgasm."_
   They did quiet down enough to _talk_ with us.  Bob reached out, put a
defense around their bodies at home, and we dragged them out about a
hundred miles over the ocean.
   Linda told us, _"This is so wonderful!  It's like we'd dropped all our
worries and have only our love left!"_
   Alejandro said, _"We've loved each other for a long time and now I think
we know why.  It feels like we're just so made for each other."_
   Sherry told them, _"Yeh, it feels like that from here, too.  Let's show
you how to check out a few things."_
   After introducing the Fab Four, we showed them about _merging_ and
compatibility-checking.  They managed to hold still long enough to check
out any gray areas.  None really to speak of; the rest was a
wonderfully-hot glow.
   Sherry and Mario said they'd take over and teach them enough about
firewalls, VPNs and leakage so they'd be able to get by for the night. 
Since we'd been summarily dismissed, the rest of us gave them warm
spirit-hugs, _kisses_ and _welcomes_ then took off and bopped around the
rest of the night.
   ------
   CYNTHIA (Sunday 4/2)
   What a wonderful night!  The best of my memories couldn't top the
happiness and joy we'd shared, and it was just the first time!  So much
more joy and loving to anticipate!
   Both Pat's parents left late Sunday morning for ten days or so; that
meant both their places would be free.  As soon as we found that out, we
began plans for lots of sleepovers!
   PVC wandered over to my place midmorning and chatted with Mom and Dad. I
knew Valerie and I had the extremely-well-fucked glow.  Mom grinned a
little bit and thought, _"Yeh.  Maybe she didn't get much sleep, but she's
lookin' really happy.  Doesn't seem to be too sore."_ She grinned again as
she remembered how her first-time boyfriend had handled her soreness --
with several hours of delightful cunny-licking.
   We talked about our dance and how well it had gone.  We explained Bob's
Seal of Approval, what it meant and its various levels.
   Pat told them, "At the Christmas Dance last year, Bob, Natalie Shanahan
and Sherry decided the guys were being left out so they started giving
Approvals to guys the same way; Bob's then-girlfriend Natalie would do it.
   "Mrs.  Stroh at Harvard has known about the Approvals for years so she
got permission for it to start there.  By default, at least, Valerie and I
are the beginning Approvers.  Of course, shy little Cynthia got the first
one."
   Mom and Dad both laughed at the thought I was shy.  Damn right I'm shy!
I don't take my clothes off with just anyone!
   Dad asked, "I guess that means you three are the Inner Circle at Harvard
then, right?"
   Valerie said, "Yep.  There's three others we've recruited so far.  We'll
keep looking for more because next year we three are gone, and we want to
keep the momentum going.  Our fearless leader Cynthia will ensure it
happens."
   Pat and Val grinned at me.  I asked, "Since when have I been the leader?
I don't recall any elections?"
   Valerie said, "No election needed; you're the obvious choice.  Pat and I
are really too laid-back; you're so ornery you could sell stubbornness to a
mule team.  Don't give me no lip, little girl, you're the boss now."
   Shit.
   Rita wandered in with her night tee shirt and panties, obviously still
half-asleep.  Despite that, she had a nice lots-of-orgasms glow.  A quick
_inspection_ told us she and Ted had snogged a lot (he had wonderful hands
on her boobs and knew how to diddle a clit really nicely); she'd woken up
several times during the night and handled the hormone overflow quite
satisfactorily.
   After a bit of orange juice she woke up and started gushing away about
the dance.  She said, "Bob gave me a glorious Seal of Approval.  Kathleen
got Ted really good, too.  You know what that means?"
   Dad told her, "Pat just filled us in.  Sweetheart, you deserve every bit
of it.  From what I know of those folks, they don't give those out lightly.
I'm sure Ted is proud of his too."
   Valerie said, "Mrs.  Gold, thanks for letting Cynthia stay with me last
night; we had a great time girl-talking.  If it's all right, could we do
several more this week since it's Spring Break?  Rita, you're more than
welcome to join us any time you wish; you can fill me in on some of those
secrets Cynthia's been withholding from me."
   We didn't have to _push_ Rita a bit.  She immediately thought, _"Maybe
we can slip Ted in somehow."_ She smiled widely and said, "I'd like that.
Last week's slumber party at the Adams' was great!"
   Dad started to say something but Mom shot him "the look." She'd handle
this.
   She'd thought, _"Damn.  I know exactly what they'd be doing.  Even if
Rita were there, they'd manage somehow.  I wish I could have had a chance
like this when I was fourteen.  Hell, I know if she stays over, I'll be so
horny at the thought of her getting it on with those two wonderful people
I'll have to work Roger over.  Now *that's* a thought!"_
   She told us, "Cynthia, you can stay at Valerie's any time her parents
permit it.  I know the people you associate with by their excellent
reputations.  Of course, that's all contingent on your maintaining your
good grades, handling your chores here and your so-far-excellent conduct.
It's not carte blanche, we're still responsible for you."
   Despite another "look" from Mom, Dad piped up, "I called Vera Stroh last
week.  She's the Girls' Councilor at Harvard, remember?  She's also the
sister-in-law to the Women's Councilor at McCambridge so between them they
know the entire gang.
   "She told me if she had a daughter, she'd have no issue whatsoever with
sleepovers, get-togethers, whatever so long as she was with *any* of them,
male or female.  The gang's got the reputation of complete ethics and honor
and she'd trust anyone's reputation or life with any of them.  For what
it's worth, you've got my approval."
   Patrick said, "Great!  Now that the girls' gab fests can be arranged,
I'll have to set up a few sports nights or something.  I've got plenty of
video games and such; wonder if Ted would be interested if he doesn't mind
spending time with a middle-schooler.  We could always put a glass against
the wall and listen to the girls gossip."
   Rita thought, _"Holy fuck!"_ and her nipples popped up.  Mom thought,
_"They'd *both* be getting laid."_ Her nipples popped up.  Oh, my!  Val's
and mine popped up.  Four pussies got slick and pumped out pheromones.
   Pat and Dad grinned, looked around, admired the view and quietly enjoyed
the smell.
   Pat said, "By the way, Val's and my parents are gone a lot.  When
they're both gone, Louise Adams cracks the whip on us.  She's even more
strict than our folks."
   Mom said, "Remember, I work in the same building with Blake Merrill and
her.  We gossip a lot so I'm gonna ask her to keep a real close eye on
you."
   Anyway, we ducked out after a bit.  Rita had an afternoon planned with
Ted and we had plans, too.
   We went back to Val's, straightened things up, changed the bed and got
lunch.  After their folks left, we watched videos, chatted, ate and made
love many times the rest of the day.
   ------
   ANA (Monday 4/3)
   The DNA mice were going great.  With Bob and Kat's grant, Mary and I had
taken over the den (with Don's help).  We'd ordered lots of white mice,
several hamsters and small pigs and lots of the minor lab equipment Mary
and I had been making do without.
   After several days of study, Mary and I had decided there was no
difference between the genders of the human stem cell donors or the genders
of the mouse recipients.  After a lot of looking and comparing, we decided
there *was* a difference among the stem cells from mice, humans, pigs and
several other animals.
   When we replaced the DNA with the recipient's DNA, though, all of them
worked the same way; they regenerated.  We could see some small differences
in the nuclei but every experiment we ran showed they behaved the same way
in any type of recipient.
   Once we replaced the DNA in a blood sample, we could filter the viable
stem cells out and put them in a standard human blood plasma solution.  By
trickling in a sucrose and vitamin solution with a bit of oxygen, we got
the stem cells to multiply on their own until they were at the 10 in 100
million concentration.  If we added more plasma and fed it, the
concentration went down for a day but ended back up at the higher
concentration.
   It didn't matter where we got the stem cells.  Either pre-natal or from
the cord, human or otherwise, when we put the recipient's DNA in, we got
the same results.
   Good.  All we really had to do was culture a little sample, put it in
the plasma and we'd get all we needed for the recipient.  Plus, with human
recipients, there would be no issue of blood type incompatibility.
   So far, we found no other changes in the nervous systems or brain.  The
regenerated mice seemed a bit more energetic, but that we could probably
attribute to the fact they had no defects; their bodies were in the best
health possible.
   Anyway, late Monday morning, Mary and I were going over to Elizabeth's
for lunch.  On the block between our houses, there'd been a house vacant
for the last several months; apparently the occupants had died and there
had been a snarl-up in the probate.
   We'd seen the For Sale sign up for a couple weeks, then the Sold sign.
As we came by, we saw a station wagon in the drive with a moving van in
front.  Obviously we had new neighbors!
   Being the shy people we were, we walked right up.  We could tell the
movers; they had the jumpsuits.  The couple without the jumpsuits were
probably the new owners.
   Mary and I _inspected_ them, of course, and YES!  Good people with
*lots* of Potential.  They were in their late fifties, energetic and alert.
   I introduced us, "Hi!  We're pretty much neighbors.  I'm Ana Matthews
and live a block that way; this is Mary Shinto and she lives with a friend
of mine a block *that* way.  We assume you're our new neighbors."
   The lady smiled and told us, "You assume right.  I'm Karen Gold and this
is my husband Oscar.  We just came down from the North Bay area above San
Francisco."
   That name was very familiar.  After another quick _inspection_, Mary
asked, "Then you'd be Cynthia and Rita's grandparents, right?"
   They looked surprised.  Oscar said, "That we are.  I'd now make the
assumption you know them?"
   Mary grinned broadly.  "I spent a night at a slumber party with them
last week.  Rita goes to the same high school as Ana's daughter and Cynthia
is part of the Brain Trust tutoring group in the middle and high schools.
We see Cynthia several times a week.  Welcome to the neighborhood!"
   They laughed.  "It's a small world.  We've been here fifteen minutes,
and already we've run into family friends."
   We chatted a little more.  Karen showed us around while Oscar kept an
eye on where the movers were putting things.  Karen said, "The place has
been vacant for months.  I'll be a month just cleaning the dust up, much
less getting it the way we want."
   It was a nice two-bedroom place with a small yard in front and back;
both of them needed a good trash pickup, weeding and trimming just to
start. Inside was dusty and looked as if it had been neglected for quite a
while with dust all over and peeling and fading paint.
   The floors underneath the grime were hardwood, though, and the place
looked structurally sound with no evidence of rain leaks.  I thought the
neighborly thing to do would be to offer help.
   "Could you use some help?  We've got lots of friends in various
businesses who know Rita and Cynthia and would probably volunteer their
time."
   Oscar said, "It's not really a matter of money; we wouldn't know where
to look.  I figured we'd just go through the Yellow Pages."
   Mary told them, "With Ana on the job, you'll have the best at the lowest
rate possible."
   I put out a _call_, _"Elizabeth, we're at the just-sold house on Orange
Grove.  Turns out the new owners are Cynthia and Rita Gold's grandparents.
The place is a mess.  Could you contact the cleaners you used down at JRD
Recording?  We could split the cost, though they're not hurting for
money."_
   She was right there _looking_ things over.  _"Oh, yeh.  They'll need a
crew all right.  I'll give The Clean Place a call right now.  That yard
looks a mess, too, so I'll get a crew over there to handle it.  Don't worry
about the cost right now, we'll handle that later."_
   I asked the Golds, "You have utilities and phone set up yet?"
   Oscar replied, "My son arranged the gas, electric and water turnover. 
We don't have a phone yet."
   I asked, "How about I loan you my spare cell phone?  It's got unlimited
minutes and sometimes it takes a while for SBC to get service installed."
   Karen said, "That would be wonderful!"
   Mary volunteered to run home and get it and the charger.  I _showed_ her
exactly where they were and off she went.
   Karen watched her go and said, "She's a lovely girl."
   I told them, "Yes, she is.  She's got loyalty and courage beyond
anything you could imagine."
   Mary and I'd been hitting them pretty hard with the _inspections_; they
were already responding a little.
   I _felt_ Papa Sonora _peeking_ in.  _"Elizabeth said you had a place
needing some work.  My crew just finished up a gig and will be on our way.
Hmm.  Quick yard work, lots of trash and general cleanup inside and out. 
Prepare to be invaded."_
   Elizabeth came back, _"Papa Sonora's on his way with a crew.  The Clean
Place has five people on the way; should be there in 45 minutes or so."_
   I told her, _"Papa Sonora's looked around already and knows what he
needs to do.  We'll stand by for Clean Place."_
   I asked Oscar and Karen, "Does the rest of the family know you're here
yet?"
   Oscar said, "No.  They knew it would be this week, but we didn't know
when."
   I sent a _call_ out to Cynthia, _"Hey lady!  I'm talking to two
wonderful people here on Orange Grove who claim to be related to you. 
They're Oscar and Karen Gold."_
   She replied in a flash, _"Great!  PVC's on the way!  I'll let the rest
of the family know.  Rita happens to be at home right now so will probably
be there within a half hour."_
   We chatted a little more.  Within fifteen minutes, Papa Sonora rolled up
in a couple trucks with a crew.  He waved his hand around and told the
crew, "Make it look good!"
   He came over and I introduced him.  He asked, "Then you must be related
to Cynthia and Rita, yes?"
   Oscar and Karen looked surprised again.  Oscar said, "Jeez!  Does
everyone around here know them?"
   Papa Sonora grinned and said, "Well, maybe two or three don't.  My two
daughters go to school with Rita and we know Cynthia very well from the
Brain Trust.  They're both *wonderful* ladies and you can be totally proud
of them."
   One can never go wrong praising the grandchildren; Oscar and Karen ate
it up.  Papa Sonora told them, "We'll do a quick trim and trash collection
to get things under control.  Shouldn't take too long." He walked off,
grabbed a weed whacker and got to work.
   He told me, _"Good people.  Great Potential.  Go get 'em, tiger!"_
   I _felt_ Cynthia coming on the run with P&V right behind her.  She
yelled, "Grandma!  Grandpa!  You're here!"
   She jumped up on Oscar who caught her and gave her a big hug and kiss.
He pretended to stagger and said, "Who are you?  The Cynthia we knew was a
tiny, scrawny kid and here's a real lady!"
   Karen got her hug and kiss then said, "Damn!  You've grown up so fast!"
   Cynthia laughed, stuck out her chest and did a pirouette.  She laughed,
"Puberty strikes!"
   Pat and Val were there by then.  Patrick said, "And in her case, it
struck *very* well.  I'm Patrick Derman; this is Valerie Hess.  We're
Cynthia's slaves and at least one of you must be Doctor Gold."
   Karen said, "Actually, we're both retired doctors.  How did you know?"
   Valerie said, "Well, your license plate frame has caduceus..."
   Patrick finished up, "And the plate says 'DR AU' so I made a wild
guess."
   Cynthia said, "They're not really my slaves, they're just wanna be's. 
They're my *very* good friends from school."
   I added, "And they're distinguished members of the Brain Trust, too."
   PVC had hit them with hard _inspections_ themselves and were impressed
with what they'd found.  I though it was time to start putting on some
pressure.  _"You've got a gang of cleaning people due in a few minutes; you
might want to decide where you want them to start."_
   Karen said, _"We'll probably have them start in the bedroom and
bathroom; that way we'll have a relatively clean place to sleep tonight."_
   Mary showed back up with the cell phone.  _"Let me give you a quick
rundown on this.  Here's how you unlock it..."_
   Oscar said, _"Yeh.  I had one like that up north.  You push the down
arrow for the contact list?"_
   Great!  They were _talking_ already and just hadn't become aware of it!
   Cynthia told them, _"It's great to have you here!  We'll have a lot of
fun!"_
   Elizabeth joined us so I introduced her, _"Elizabeth Reynolds.  Her son
is my daughter's fiance.  Elizabeth, these are the Doctors Oscar and Karen
Gold, Cynthia's and Rita's grandparents."_
   Elizabeth told them, _"Very pleased to meet you.  You have two
*wonderful* granddaughters."_
   She told Cynthia, _"And don't you go getting a swelled head about it,
either." Grin._
   Papa Sonora chimed in from the back yard, _"There's a porch set back
here that just needs some cleanup and some paint."_ He _showed_ it to them.
_"Want us to bring it up for the front porch?"_
   Oscar and Karen _looked_ at it and said, _"Yes.  I think it'll do just
fine."_
   They caught on suddenly to what was happening.  They glanced at each
other and at us and thought, _"What the hell?"_
   Cynthia jumped up and down and laughed.  _"Oh Grandma and Grandpa! 
You're remembering abilities we all once had!  Pat and Val helped me
remember; all these people can do it and so much more!  You'll have a *lot*
of fun!"_
   The rest of us assured them it wasn't the Southern California air
getting to them.  I told them, "Elizabeth's son Bob found out how to do
most of this and taught us all.  I'm afraid the rest of Cynthia's family
aren't able to do it although Rita's what we call a Sensitive; she can do a
little bit but isn't really aware of it.  The moral is, don't try it with
them.
   "We'll have PVC here teach you all about it.  In the meantime, the
cleaning crew is here."
   Karen started the cleaning crew going where she wanted then came back to
join us again.  I _felt_ Rita coming up the block at a brisk walk and told
them, "Your other granddaughter is going to be here in a few seconds.  You
can't go wrong asking about a boyfriend."
   Rita ran the last few steps and threw herself on them.  "Wow!  It's
great you're here!  It's so *nice* to see you again."
   They returned her hug and kiss.  Karen told her, "It seems your family
friends happened by and got a lot of things going.  You must really have a
following."
   Rita laughed and told them, "They're my friends okay, but they're really
part of Cynthia's gang.  They're all Brain Trust people and you couldn't
find better friends anywhere."
   Oscar laughed.  "We're finding that out.  I see Cynthia found a couple
very close friends; how's *your* love life?"
   Rita blushed a little.  "They found me a very nice man.  He's so good to
me I think I'm in heaven all the time."
   Cynthia laughed at her, "Rita, now you have someone else to tell all
about it.  Grandma, this whole last week she's been talking my ear off
about him; now it's your turn."
   Karen grinned.  "Maybe I can manage that.  Rita, do you have classes
together with him?"
   Rita told her excitedly, "No, that's the funny part..." And they were
off.
   Elizabeth told Oscar, "You'll probably want to be with your family
tonight.  Their number's on the cell phone as well as mine and Ana's.  PVC
here will get with you tomorrow and give you some training.  Welcome to the
world of spirits!"
   She, Mary and I went on to her place for our belated lunch.  She grinned
for a second then laughed, "Looks like Bob and Kat will have *another*
couple to honor!  Bob'll probably moan and groan for a while...  then screw
her socks off like he did us!"
   ------
   BOB (Monday 4/3)
   Kat and I woke up reasonably early, around 7:30.  Dayum, where's the
sleep-in time on vacation?  The restaurant didn't open until 8:30 so Kat
and I entertained ourselves by seeing how hard a pounding the bed could
take before it squeaked.
   We decided it was solid enough after a half-hour (no squeaks at all), so
we got up, showered and dressed.  We hit the restaurant for a good
breakfast, picked up our clubs and went to the driving range.
   Kat needed golf shoes and a hat so that meant SHOPPING!  The pro shop
was more than happy to accommodate her urges to the tune of $50.  I picked
up a new hat myself.
   I was a little rusty, that was for sure.  Kathleen didn't exactly have
to start all over, but it took her a good forty-five minutes to get back
into the "swing of things."
   We were feeling pretty good so we managed to get in a nine-hole round.
Shit, Kat *still* got a better score than me!
   Around 10:30, Mario told us, _"Alejandro and Linda's parents are willing
to meet with us this afternoon.  He's still out of work; he's been looking
this morning and he'll be back home around 4."_
   We agreed they'd come to the hotel around noon to pick us up.  We'd have
lunch somewhere local then decide what to do from there.
   We got our stuff back to the room, showered and got dressed.  Right at
noon, Sherry and the rest of them came up in a squeal of tires.  Kat and I
gave the kids a good hug and greeting, and we took off.  They looked great
in their new clothes, and we told them so several times while they smiled,
laughed and thanked us.
   They steered us to a quiet little cantina up the coast a bit.  We ate,
chatted and _chatted_.
   Last night, Mario and Sherry had gotten them up to long-range
communications with no leakage, Reference Point movement, a reasonable
firewall, VPN and a decent body defense.  They had more to go but were
doing splendidly.
   We finished lunch and eased our way up the coast, seeing the sights.  El
Tule was about 18 kilometers up where it met Highway 1, so we had plenty
far to go.  We gazed out over the ocean, spotted some whales and other
interesting creatures way out and down deep and played the tourists.  We
didn't buy a lot of stuff (this time), but that was only because we had a
meeting to go to.
   At El Tule, we headed inland.  Within ten minutes of driving, both the
road and the building conditions had deteriorated noticeably.  The
Guerreros were about six kilometers inland from the highway; they had to go
that far to get to any real civilization or transportation.
   We went through an area with all the buildings collapsed for about a
half-kilo then pulled into the Guerreros' homestead right at 4:00.  It had
a small house, several sheds and buildings and, as compared to everything
we'd just passed through, was neat with no junk around.  The buildings
weren't in great shape, but all the windows were there.
   Ramon was there as he'd said.  He greeted us with a huge smile, hugged
the kids and invited us in.  He was in his early thirties, about 5' 10" and
in excellent condition -- perhaps a little too thin.
   All of us _inspected_ him thoroughly and _shook_ him a bit.  He was a
good man with as much Potential as the kids.
   He and Alejandro took us guys on a tour while Linda did the girl-stuff
tour.  Everything he showed us was neat and as clean as possible
considering we were in a desert.  His tools were old but very
well-maintained.
   He was absolutely delighted we spoke his brand of Spanish; his English
was rudimentary, but he'd gone through the equivalent of the tenth grade.
He showed us his truck, a two-ton stake-bed.  He told us, "About a month
ago I came out, and it wouldn't start.  No clicking, no starter.  The
battery's good; it shines the headlights.  Everything else seemed to get
worse from then on."
   Mario asked, "Then you had to walk to get to your job site?"
   "Ya.  Fortunately it was only an hour each way and I could lock up my
tools at night.  Now, that's done with and I've been spending at least ten
hours a day walking and looking for work.  No transportation, no work to
fix it up, it's a pain."
   I checked it over.  The tires were in good shape and inflated properly,
the oil was clean and the body was in decent shape for being twenty years
old.  I turned the starter key and traced out the energy flow.  Nada.
   I got Alejandro to work with me and _showed_ him exactly what I was
doing.  He learned rapidly to do a voltage test with a tiny spirit-touch.
   The connections on the battery, starter and solenoid were good, so the
problem was somewhere else.  Near as we could tell, the ignition switch
itself was okay.  We kept _looking_ through the wires and components.
   Sherry stuck her head in.  "Can I have the car keys?  We're gonna pick
up Elisa and get stuff for dinner." I tossed them to her and said, "Have a
great time and don't buy more than the springs will hold." She laughed and
told me, "There's lots of room on top if we need it."
   Aha!  Probable cause!  I asked Alejandro, "You have a couple meters of
insulated electrical wire?" He did.  We'd discovered the wire from the
ignition switch to the starter solenoid had broken inside the insulation. I
ported the box of electrical connectors and crimping tool from my truck in
Burbank and put it on the truck seat.
   Since he was smaller, Alejandro climbed in underneath the dash.  He cut
the old wire a couple inches from the switch, crimped on the new one and
threaded it through the firewall.  He was able to _see_ just fine so it
took about five minutes.
   Underneath the hood, he threaded the new wire along the harness.  After
connecting it to the solenoid, he was done.
   I told him, "Good for you.  You get the honor of trying it."
   He turned the key and the starter rolled the engine over a couple times
then stopped; the battery was too low.  Nothing Alejandro couldn't handle
-- I _showed_ him how to spin the starter as fast as needed with a _touch_;
I waved my hands, intoned a few words of Irish ("Start, you in-bred
bastard!"), and with a few pumps of the accelerator it was running!
   I swatted his back and said, "You are *good*!  You figured that right
out!"
   Ramon shook his head and grinned.
   We listened to the engine a bit then tweaked the timing and idle mixture
so it was running smoothly.  The plugs and points were in good shape as was
the rest of the engine.  I topped off the battery with some of the bottled
water we had.
   After _looking_ under the back, I told Ramon, "The differential's
leaking a little bit; it probably wouldn't hurt to make sure the oil
level's up." It was down about half but wasn't yet in the danger zone.
   Mario, Alejandro and I had been _inspecting_ and _rattling_ him for a
good forty-five minutes now.  We figured it was time for the test.
   _"Now that it's running, you should be able to get around better,"_ I
told him.
   His eyes got big and he grinned broadly.  _"It seems like we've got a
real magician on our hands."_
   Alejandro told him, _"Not really, Papa.  We're remembering how to do
things we'd forgotten a long time ago.  They showed Linda and me all sorts
of good things."_
   Mario told him, _"All the girls can do this too.  Probably by the time
they get back with your wife, she'll be able to talk this way too.  Women
can do a *lot* of gossiping."_
   We all went back to the house, kicked back with some cool water and
talked about the construction business in the area.
   ------
   KATHLEEN
   We girls got to Elisa's work place right at 5:00 and Linda dashed in to
get her.  It would save her a 45-minute walk.
   Elisa was in her early thirties, too.  She was a fine-looking lady, and
we could tell she was very happy with Linda.
   _Inspecting_ her, she was bright and had a lot of Potential, just like
the kids.  That being the case, we started putting the pressure on her
while we stopped at several stores for dinner stuff -- our treat.
   She was completely proud of how Linda and Alejandro had immediately
volunteered to help the family.  Though they'd never done guiding before,
it was something they could do to help.
   By the time we got back to their house around quarter to six, she was
_talking_ right along with us and marveling at the wonder.  Bob _told_ me
Ramon was "with the program" too, so we had a complete family!
   We set out dinner; we'd bought tons of stuff so they'd have plenty for
the next several days.  Even though Bob and Mario don't usually drink, they
graciously accepted a few of the local brews.
   We chowed down hard.  When someone is one of us, they don't have to stop
_talking_ to eat!
   Just as we were finishing up, we four "old timers" caught pretty much
the same thing at once.  Sherry asked Ramon and Elisa, "You know someone
called 'El Gordo Bandito'?" (The Fat Bandit)
   The entire family instantly got grim.  Ramon told us, "Luckily I've
never met him or any of his gang so I'm still alive.  My first wife and two
children weren't so lucky.  Elisa's first husband and Linda's younger
sister weren't lucky either."
   Sherry said, "Well, he and a bunch of similar-minded men are about three
kilometers out coming this way with robbery, torture, rape, murder and
other mayhem on their minds."
   They went pale under their dusky skins.  "Then we'd better get out of
here or we're dead."
   Mario asked, "Before we do that, would the local police or federals be
interested in getting hold of them."
   Ramon said, "Oh, yes.  They've been trying to catch him for years now."
   Bob said, "In that case, let's see if we can get the local sergeant a
promotion.  _Link_ with us and we'll see what we can do."
   They grabbed on to us and we started doing things.  Mario and Sherry
_looked_ for a ramontheeye email point while Bob and I went out to meet El
Gordo.  Ramon and Linda went with us while Elisa and Alejandro tagged along
with Mario and Sherry.
   El Gordo was a good name; he was at least 350 pounds of pure evil.  He
and a dozen other men were in a truck heading in from the desert; at the
rate they were going, they'd be here in about fifteen minutes.
   Oops!  The truck engine quit and the truck rolled to a stop in a cloud
of dust and profanity.  It was completely dead.  The driver tried to get
out to take a look but couldn't get the door open.  El Gordo tried his
door, and it wouldn't open either.  Beating the crap out of the windows
with a gun handle didn't seem to affect anything.
   The men in the back of the truck couldn't get out either.  Everything
was stuck and they were trapped.  No matter how hard they banged or cursed,
nothing seemed to move around them.
   Mario spotted an out-of-the-way computer terminal in the El Tule police
office.  Sherry probed around a little and found the on-duty officer; he'd
been praying for years for a chance to get his hands on El Gordo.  Several
of his family members and lots of friends had died painfully at El Gordo's
hands.
   An email from ramontheeye with a reference to the Mexico Liaison Officer
of the U.S.  FBI got him moving.  A quick phone call to the FBI agent
assured him, "If it's from ramontheeye, it's hot and right!" The day's code
was exactly correct, so the agent told him, "I'd go for it.  It's the
hottest tip around."
   In ten minutes, there was a squad of soldiers in several trucks headed
towards the desert, every one of them wanting to get their licks in on the
gang.  He was *not* popular.
   Bob and I kept working.  The rest of El Gordo's gang would be very
unhappy to find out the firing pins from all their weapons had ended up in
El Gordo's pocket.  Seems their guns, knives, brass knuckles and other
weapons were stuck in their sheaths, pockets or bags.  All they had left
were their bare hands and feet which were rapidly getting very tired of
beating on doors which wouldn't open.
   Oops!  Seems El Gordo's stereotypical long mustache just fell off.  With
the hair follicles dead on the right side, it would never grow back there.
His beard fell off too; the left side would never grow back while the right
side would have huge holes.  A three-inch strip of hair from ear to ear
across the top of his head vanished too.
   We heard the trucks go roaring by the house, heading out into the
desert. Ramontheeye kept feeding information to the dispatcher at the
police station who relayed it by radio to the soldiers.  When the
dispatcher asked him, "How do you know all this?" ramon replied, "That's
why I'm called 'the eye'."
   The soldiers found the truck exactly where they were told.  Expecting
shots from it at any moment, they slowly crept in.  There was some very
slow movement from the cab and some shouts from the back but no shots.
   Several soldiers crept up to the cab doors.  With weapons ready to fire,
they yanked the doors open.  Funny, *they* didn't have any trouble opening
them!
   The driver and El Gordo toppled out onto the ground.  They could glare,
swear and spit, but could move their arms and legs only very slowly.  And,
of course, none of their weapons worked.  Seems that El Gordo's fall caused
some damage somewhere because he voided his bladder and bowels into his
pants.
   While ten soldiers put manacles on the driver and El Gordo, others went
around back and with ready weapons yanked the doors open.  Three men
leaning against the door toppled out, cursing and twitching as their arms
and legs waved slowly around.
   It didn't take the soldiers very long to catch on to the idea that the
gang wasn't in very good shape.  In fifteen minutes, they had every one in
manacles and in their own trucks.  The driver kept swearing the truck just
stopped and they couldn't get out.
   The squad's mechanic thought he'd at least take a look.  He climbed in
the cab, turned the key, and the engine started right up.  He grinned while
the bandits cursed and howled.
   The squad headed back in to the station.  As they went by the Guerreros'
house we were all outside cheering and screaming.  Rude gestures and shouts
of scorn about El Gordo were very appropriate; if we gringos didn't know
the words or gestures, the Guerreros instructed us right quick!
   Another oops!  Seems the soldiers' trucks weren't too sanitary; every
one of the bandit gang contracted rotting balls; the entire Guerrero family
had learned to do it with wide grins of satisfaction!
   Chapter 39
   KATHLEEN (Monday 4/3)
   We seem just to fall into things.  The Guerreros then El Gordo.  Too bad
about him...  yeh, right.
   We got settled down again.  Ramon told us, "With him out of the way,
things might get a little more lively around here.  We moved here about a
year ago after Elisa and I got married only because he hadn't been seen
around here for quite a while.  By the time we got here, the area all the
way into town was deserted because his gang had been around so much.
   "Over the last several years, more and more people had moved out. 
That's why the buildings get so bad as you come this way.  They had to shut
down the school a couple months ago; Alejandro, Linda and one other child
were the only students left."
   Elisa said, "Maybe the area will build up again and we'll get work. 
Rebuilding a town takes a lot of construction.  Maybe we can get far enough
ahead finally to start the company."
   Bob and I glanced at each other.  He told them, "Hold that thought. 
Let's do a little more mental training tonight then perhaps we can come
back tomorrow with some other friends and business acquaintances and talk
some business."
   They looked curious but let it go for now.  They were very interested in
learning more about what they'd just observed.
   Since there were four of us and four of them, we paired off.  I got to
teach Linda more about the firewalls and body defenses including how to
extend the physical defense around an area like the homestead.
   Since she now had a good firewall, I taught her about the VPNs and
probes.  She caught on quickly; while she didn't know crap about computers,
she was bright and I was able to relate it to talking in an unknown
language across a phone line no one knew existed.
   Once she got that, she picked up quickly on the three-level firewall.  I
told her, "A probe is next.  That's what we used on the gang tonight. 
Usually we just listen and observe but we can _touch_, too."
   We worked on probes for fifteen or twenty minutes.  She had it down
pretty good by then, all she needed was practice.  _Inspections_ were easy
after learning a probe.
   I showed her spirit-touches.  "It lightens the load when you're carrying
or doing something.  It's so easy to use it's tempting to overdo and show
off.  When that happens, people start wondering and talking, so we keep all
this stuff really quiet."
   I whispered, "It's also really nice to caress someone with.  When you
send a sensation along with it they feel like they're getting kissed."
   She whispered back, "I'll bet if Alejandro made a spirit tongue, he'll
be doing a lot of hacer la sopa!"
   I grinned at her.  "More than he's doing now?"
   She laughed, "We've only done it once; last night.  It was the first
time we'd done anything more than share a few hugs and kisses, and it was
so wonderful...  then we got pushed outside and distracted into other
things."
   We talked about birth control, STDs and precautions.  I wasn't too
concerned about STDs with this family because they'd been so monogamous
along with Alejandro and Linda being virgins.  Bet that won't last very
long.  I told her, "You're no dummy; you know exactly how babies are made,
so take care for a while.  We'll get you fixed up as soon as we can."
   We finished up around 7:00.  I handed her a thousand pesos.  "This is
your and Alejandro's fee for the day." I handed her another two thousand.
"This is for your folks; I know your mom would love some new clothes.  It
isn't charity, it's business.  We may have a business proposition for them
tomorrow, and I'd like them to look their best in front of my business
partners.  If nothing else, tell them it was a bonus for leading us into
range of El Gordo!"
   Bob ended up by telling them all, "You guys are doing great!  Go out
tonight, move around, inspect people, probe them and practice, practice,
practice.  Keep your attention out for bad guys and for good ones, too. 
You may run into more just like you a few minutes' walk from here."
   He made arrangements for all of us to meet tomorrow around 1:00 for a
business meeting.  When Elisa asked what business it was, he just grinned.
"I think you'll be interested.  One step at a time."
   We got back to the Villa around 8:00; the night was still young. 
Siobhan had mentioned on the way in the hotel had a dance floor; the sign
said there was dancing every evening.  After a quick _look_, Bob and I
dashed up to our room.
   We took a real quick shower, ported some dancing clothes down from
Burbank and hit the floor!  All right!
   Lots of both fast and slow, all styles.  The Fab Four joined us in a few
minutes and we changed partners several times.
   As we were dancing, Ana tuned us all in.  _"I've just had two eggs drop.
They're working their way down the tubes and should be ready tomorrow about
this time.  How about you guys tune in if you wish and we can see if
fertility rites actually work!"_
   We agreed immediately.  We four girls immediately got puckered up and
slick in anticipation of baby-making!
   Evin was a good dancer, especially when we got to snuggle.  I gave him a
few extra wiggles and asked him, _"Evin, may I have the extreme honor of
sweet loving with you tonight?"_ He was more than agreeable.
   ------
   SIOBHAN
   Bob was a wonderful dancer!  Besides being so strong, he was light and
graceful.  He told me, "That's a credit to Mother.  She made me work a lot
at it so I wouldn't fall all over myself so much.  Then Natalie made me
work my butt off and now Kathleen is demanding.  Poor little me!"
   Right.  I made sure he felt my hard nipples against him and snuggled up
to a nice hard lump down lower.  He smiled, nuzzled my neck and asked,
_"Lady Siobhan, may I have the extreme honor of sweet loving with you
tonight?"_
   Be Jaysus and Janey Mack!  It was time!  From the way Evin was grinning,
plus a quick _talk_, he and Kat were getting together too.
   The four of us eased our way back to their room, if you can call my
dragging Bob along at very fast walk while my pussy juice ran down my leg
"eased." Now we found out what the third bedroom in their suite was for;
Kat and Evin slipped into it while I dragged Bob into theirs.
   ------
   BOB
   Siobhan was panting all the way back upstairs.  Somehow I got the idea
she was eager to do this.
   Getting back to the suite, Kat and I set up a sound barrier around it so
the resort detective wouldn't have to investigate reports of screaming
women; Evin had tipped me off that Siobhan was a screamer.  With two
"loudies" (Sherry screamed sometimes but nowhere near as loud and often as
Kat), we'd need it.
   Dayum Siobhan was a lovely woman!  Her hair was a different shade of red
from Kat or Missy O'Reilly, but she still had those lovely freckles running
all over.  Within ten seconds after shutting the bedroom door, her
aroused-female fragrance drenched the place; I could literally feel the
pheromones and scent molecules against my skin.  Of course I added my own
to the haze.
   I tried to quiet her down a little.  "Shi, we've got all night; we've
got no obligations until tomorrow afternoon."
   She got that predatory look I'd come to recognize in women over the past
several months.  "Ceann, since we've got all night, let's not waste it! 
Strip!"
   Who am I to discourage a lady's plans, especially when mine ran along
the same path?  Within thirty seconds we were nekkid and wrapped around
each other.
   After a few scorching kisses, she almost tossed me on the bed.  Pushing
me on my back, she gave me a three-second wet-down with her mouth, mounted,
positioned then dropped herself down with her full weight.
   Shit!  She flooded us with a *tremendous* orgasm!  She let out her first
scream, snatched my hands, put them on her breasts, grabbed my arms with
her hands and started bouncing.  I had just enough time to _link_ solidly,
numb up the head of my dick a little and get a few soft _touches_ going to
keep her from falling off.
   In five strokes, I _felt_ another one coming, so I gave her hot breasts
a firm squeeze along with a medium pinch to her steely nipples.  She
screamed, convulsed once then locked up solidly and shook violently; I kept
her going for a couple minutes with breast squeezes, nipple pinches and a
few thrusts.  She was squeezing me so hard it felt like her channel was
going to squeeze all the blood out of me.
   She finally relaxed a bit, gasped in a few breaths and started pounding
again.  Ride the pony!
   She pounded out three more climaxes, each more intense; our boiler was
lifting the relief valves.  She started going for another one even though I
could _feel_ her muscles starting to give out.  The energy we'd created
filled the room.
   Give the lady a helping hand why dontcha?  I sucked her stiff clit into
a hot, wet phantom mouth with a fluttering tongue, un-numbed myself and
diddled her backside a bit with a wet phantom finger.
   Feeling myself swell up, I pushed up hard, pinched her nipples, squeezed
her breasts and clit hard, pushed the backside finger in a little and let
myself go inside her while pulling all the orgasmic energy in the room into
us.
   The tsunami struck hard and pushed us both out of our bodies.  We let
them go entirely and rode the swell upwards as it reached for the heavens.
   It carried us higher and higher as the energy we'd built up collapsed
into us.  I think it finally peaked just this side of the Moon; we held it
there for a long time, shaking in anticipation.  I knew she wanted this
fairly private, so as we slowly slid down the face, I let the energy slowly
bleed off through us outwards so we shared it with no one else.
   We _wound_ through each other, laughing, caressing and joyously sharing
the delight we'd found with each other.  We made intricate rainbow patterns
with our _merges_ and let the solar wind carry us outwards while we
celebrated a new level of happiness with each other and the world around
us.
   We _peeked_ back at our bodies.  They'd survived, but we rolled them
around a bit so she could breath; we snuggled them up and let them rest.
   We spent a wonderful couple hours chatting, talking and sharing dreams,
ambitions and hopes for the future.
   She gave me a good update on Riona, Alyssa and their flas; they were
doing great.  She didn't know what kind of relationship the four of them
were having and was keeping her nose out of it.  They hadn't been causing a
bit of trouble anywhere, were being respectable and responsible in their
outward behavior and were going full blast at getting their Brain Trust and
Inner Circle going well at NHH.
   She told me about Mad and Dermot staying so much at their place and the
joy she and Evin had found with her.  _"Dermot does wonderfully well; he
seeks out responsibilities.  Both girls have hinted gently they wouldn't
mind at all if they simply moved in with us.  Definitely something to
ponder."_
   We slipped back to our bodies and picked them up.  She'd done almost all
the work so was a little tired, but that didn't slow her down much.  "I've
got this chance now and I'm gonna take all the advantage of it I can.  I
thank you so much for this; besides being the honor it truly is, I've been
aching for it since the day we met."
   We took a quick shower and threw the wet bedspread off on the floor.  We
spent a long time exploring each other's bodies; she was neatly fit,
delightfully curvy exactly where she should be and squirmed sensuously
around every time I touched a sensitive spot -- which was almost everywhere
on her.  We made slow love for an hour then took off outside again.
   I told her, _"Let's peek at the Guerreros.  I bet they're having a good
time."_
   They were.  Ramon and Elisa were tangled together, obviously having
finished a major lovemaking bout.  A quick _inspection_ showed they were
full of hope for the future and were delighted about meeting us and with
their children.  We almost tripped their firewall alarm, but it
"recognized" us okay.
   Alejandro and Linda had shared a room with a curtain divider down the
middle for over a year.  They'd been respectful of each other's privacy but
after they hit puberty they'd unashamedly listened to each other relieve
themselves almost every night -- and tried to finish up together.
   Tonight, they were in the same bed snuggled together asleep.  With his
mouth against her breast, they had smiles of contentment all over their
faces.
   They were outside somewhere and had left up the firewall and body
defenses just as we'd taught them.  Good on 'em!  They learned fast.
   We looked over the neighborhood around them and discussed some the ideas
Kat and I'd had about it.  We talked a bit about tomorrow and how to
present our ideas to the Guerreros.
   _"It's time for more,"_ she told me with an impudent spirit-grin.
   I gave her a huge mock groan of agony, but let her coax me back to our
room.  _Peeking_ around at our companions, from the condition of their bed
and bodies, Kat and Evin obviously had a wonderful time.  Sherry and Mario
were at it while Barbara had just woken Aaron up -- again.
   Shi and I spent the rest of the night back and forth making hard, slow,
easy, fast love and dashing about the desert and mountains chasing the
wildlife.
   ----
   (Tuesday 4/4)
   We finally got up around 9:00.  Our other four suite-mates were awake
and up so we pushed everyone into the huge shower.  Pretty hard to wash
yourself but easy to wash someone else; everyone was glowing with the
extremely-well-fucked look.
   I unabashedly took the opportunity to grab several sweet-Sherry handfuls
while she grinned at me and wiggled those handfuls around.  _"The week's
still young, Ceann.  If that's a hint of possible things to come, Mario and
I are more than willing."_
   ------
   CYNTHIA (Tuesday 4/4)
   So much fun to have Grandma and Grandpa here!  They're even more fun and
smarter than I remember!  And they're ones of us!
   They'd had dinner last night with the whole family.  Dad and Mom were
delighted they were here, too.  We talked a lot about their move and what
they had planned for the house while Rita (and my folks) rattled on about
the Brain Trust, tutoring and all that neat stuff.  I could hardly wait for
them to meet the rest of the gang, but we had to get them "presentable"
first.
   Tuesday morning, Rita and Ted were off somewhere until the afternoon so
PVC ganged up on Grandma and Grandpa to give them some training.  I told
them, "Leave the unpacking and all that stuff for a while.  The Clean Place
and Papa Sonora's crew got things plenty fine for now; let's get you some
training on using what you're remembering."
   You've all heard about the training we give new folks, so I won't bore
you with that.  After we got them fully outside with a firewall and moving
around with Reference Points, we taught them about spirit-touches along
with phantom tongues and fingers -- Grandpa knew *exactly* what to do with
a phantom tongue!
   Val told them, "Now that you know how to use the spirit-touches, you
won't have to worry about moving furniture or boxes around; just _touch_
it."
   Patrick volunteered, "And Oscar, you won't get physically tired no
matter how often Karen needs to move the dining-room table 'just another
inch'."
   Grandpa shook his head and said, "I might be able to talk her into
moving them herself while I check out the golf course."
   I told them, "The Matthews, Bob and Kathleen are golfers too, so you can
share war stories with them."
   Val, Grandma and I got together and went over important things like
curtains, color schemes and furniture arrangements while Pat and Grandpa
looked at boring things like plumbing, electric and fencing.
   Around 11:00, Pat helped Grandpa put up bookshelves for their library.
When they were up, we tackled the book boxes.  We taught them to _link_
with us as a team inside the firewalls and we put up all 5,000 plus books
in their proper place in an hour.  Not too shabby!
   At 1:00, Rita and Ted came over for their shift; they'd been snogging
all morning at our place -- and getting pretty hot at it, too!  After
warning Grandma and Grandpa about keeping their abilities out of the public
eye, PVC took off; we had plans, too!
   ------
   VALERIE
   We went to Pat's place, had a bit of lunch and did a general cleanup. 
We got the laundry from my place, started a load and popped in a DVD from
Fred and Susan's collection.
   It was "Adventures," which we'd never heard of.  It must have been from
a private collection somewhere because it was non-rated (must have been at
least XX) without fancy titles about the adventures of a group of young
people on some tropical island where they'd been stranded.  Over half of
them looked well under 18 so it was "child pornography."
   Well, we had our own version of that.  Pat and I molested Star while the
first half-hour showed them getting stranded and the first several couples
getting it on.
   We'd been exercising and stretching religiously for the last couple
weeks, and the results were showing up very nicely.  Cynthia'd grown an
inch since we'd first met her and the exercise was peeling off the remnants
of her baby fat in a hurry; she was sporting the beginnings of a lovely
band of muscle down her tummy.  Her blonde muff was fluffing up very nicely
too.
   Yeh, her boobs had grown too; Pat and I could now barely get one
completely in our mouths.  She was rapidly changing from cute to drop-dead
heart-stopper.  Combine her physical changes with her increased
responsibilities, confidence, happiness and lots of lovin', and she was
gorgeous.
   Pat and I were expanding too.  We'd added another half-inch to our
heights, Pat had added an inch or so to his chest, and I'd managed to
outgrow another bra.  Oh, well, at least now I could afford new ones if I
wished.
   We brought Cynthia up slowly and by the end of the first half-hour, she
was ready to pop.  We laughed evilly and left her high and dry (though she
was dripping down her legs) while we dashed out and put the laundry in the
driers.
   Back to the movie!  We took off our clothes and just as two sweet young
thangs were double-teaming a guy, we let Cynthia come.  As she thrashed and
squeaked, she retaliated by flooding my lap with pussy lube!
   ------
   PATRICK
   Excess pussy lube?  Not a problem.  When Cynthia had glowed down a
little, she and I attacked Valerie!  I put the DVD on pause, popped her
into the air with some spirit-touches, and we got her top and bottom and
front to back.  Amazing what you can do to someone while you have them
suspended comfortably in the air!
   As well as growing out more, Val's lovely breasts had plumped up a bit
and were even more delightfully sensuous and sensitive.  Cynthia took full
advantage of them while I ensured she got dried off below.  On the other
hand, the more I dried up, the more seemed to appear.  How did that happen?
   What's this slightly-rough spot on the inside top of her channel?  As I
stroked it gently, she shrieked, squirmed and gushed even more pussy lube.
Must have hit the (G-) spot!  Between us, we kept Val coming hotly for
another half-hour.
   Alas, it was time to get the laundry.  We left Val suspended, glowing
and quivering with aftershocks while Cynthia and I got dressed and pulled
the laundry in.  We didn't stop while we were outside; we kept licking her
gently all over with phantom tongues, caressing her with phantom fingers
and warning her of more pleasures to come.  We literally had all day.
   Chapter 40
   VALERIE (Tuesday 4/4)
   Hot, quivery and feeling loved almost to death was a great way to spend
some vacation time!  Having *two* wonderful partners to love in return was
even better.
   One thing PVC had discussed during several of our night-time
explorations was our Sensitives.  After spending the slumber party night
with Rita and Sarah, Cynthia and I had become acutely aware of how nice
they were.  Pat had done intense _inspections_ on Julio and Ted, too.  The
only thing they all lacked, so far as we could tell, was enough innate
spirit-power to get themselves outside and actually become ones of us.
   Sherry and Mario had been keeping an eye on Julio and Sarah (and their
own families), while Cynthia did the same with Rita and Ted (and their
families).  Since Mario and Sherry were down south, I'd told them I'd take
over the Julio and Sarah watch.
   Before Mario had left for Cabo San Lucas, he told us he'd given the keys
to his apartment to Julio.  He'd asked him and Sarah to keep an eye on it;
he'd alerted the landlord and immediate neighbors they'd be over.
   Well, Julio and Sarah were taking their assigned task quite seriously.
They were over at Mario's place right then ensuring the walls, floor,
ceiling and the rest of the contents were exposed to sufficient male and
female pheromones and sex-smell to keep up the previous levels.  They were
making love slowly and passionately and intended to keep it up for several
more hours!
   They were _merged_ and _linked_ as much as they could be; spirit-wise
they'd expanded so they were extended several inches outside their bodies.
They were quite aware of the _merge_ and _link_ and had been _talking_ and
_sharing_ some between themselves for several weeks; they'd been trying to
increase the _link_ every time they'd been together.  They found they had
to be physically close for it to work well, so of course they tried to get
as physically close as possible as often as possible!
   They'd done so well at it, they were _leaking_ their sensations and
emotions out a fair ways; the neighbors were even taking a little notice.
Sarah had already fainted once today from the sheer level of ecstacy they'd
generated together.  _Inspecting_ her, we noticed she'd collapsed inside
her body and disconnected from it to escape the volume of sensation.
   This called for some drastic action by the Love Police!  While we
totally invaded their privacy by _peeking_, we put in a power-VPN and set
up their cellular-level firewalls and body defenses.  We set the body
defenses to a pretty high trip level since they didn't have control of
them. That took care of the neighbors.
   I asked Pat and Cynthia, "Okay, that works.  It's no different from the
power sharing we normally do except it's one-way.  Now what?"
   Cynthia asked, "Since we're already being totally invasive, why don't we
find out what happens when we push some more power into them?  That's what
the Fearsome Five basically did to you to, right?  You seemed to have
survived it."
   Hmm.  Pat and I decided that would be a very worthwhile experiment; the
Wild Bunch *had* fed us power.  They were working on Sarah's fourth release
(this go-around) so as they got closer, we slowly pushed in more and more
power (still a very low level for us).
   That helped them expand and made their _merge_ and _link_ even stronger
and more intense which fed back to their orgasmic energy.  They were
building a wave!
   In about thirty seconds, they climaxed together!  It was so intense they
both "fainted." This time, however, instead of collapsing inwards, they
popped outside and pulled the orgasmic energy with them!
   They were so involved in the sensations and pleasure they'd given each
other they barely noticed they were outside.  They _merged_ tightly, pulled
the energy in and rode the wave to the top!  There they paused for a
wonderful moment then slid down the wave.  *Surfin'*!
   They shrieked out their joy and love -- without the firewall, everyone
for a block around would have been very much aware of it.  Down the wave
they went shedding ecstatic energy until it finally washed gently out on
the beach.  Nice, very nice!
   *Now* they noticed they were outside.  They asked each other, _"?????"_
   This was a good time to put our two-cents worth in.  Cynthia gently told
them, _"Welcome to the world of spirits.  It is real.  You yourselves as
spirits are outside your bodies."_
   Pat and I chimed in, _"Welcome.  We're Patrick, Valerie and Cynthia."_
   Cynthia said, _"Sarah, you know Valeria and me from the slumber party.
Patrick's our lover and best friend, and we're all part of the gang you
know as the Inner Circle and Clann Reynolds."_
   Sarah took it all with only a blink.  We made our full introductions to
Julio; he grinned and asked us, _"Isn't Sarah beautiful this way?"_
   We agreed totally she was beautiful both physically and spiritually.  We
explained what had happened with their _leaking_ and that we'd had to
intervene a little to avoid undue publicity.
   Sarah said, _"So that's why Sherry, Bob, Kathleen and the others are so
good.  They can operate outside and do so many things."_
   Pat said, _"That's very much a part of it.  Last September at start of
school, Bob was only slightly more advanced than you two when you met each
other.  He, Natalie Shanahan, George and Sherry researched and discovered
they were actually spirits, not just bodies.  They built it up from
there."_
   I told them, _"There's a ton of stuff that goes along with all this. 
For right now, you're both outside your bodies.  The spirit who actually
*is* the person owns and controls their body.  We've got the analogy of the
body being a bicycle and the spirit controls it with the pedals,
handlebars, brakes, etc._
   _"Let's get you back inside your bodies now.  Slowly, settle back in and
think of it as controls; contact the pedals and handlebars."_
   They did it quite easily.  Julio rolled Sarah on her back and sucked in
a lovely Sarah-nipple.  She promptly climaxed again and moaned out her
pleasure.
   We laughed.  _"Okay!  Don't make us get out the fire buckets!"_
   Cynthia: _"You two are what we refer to as Sensitives.  You innately had
the abilities you've noticed before -- merging your spirits together a
little and being able to feel each others sensations a bit and to exchange
some thoughts._
_"The rest of us can innately do more.  With just a little coaching, we
were able to be completely outside our bodies at will and do a lot of other
things.  You have the same 'talent' except to a lesser degree."_
   Sarah: _"I'd noticed for a long time now Bob and Kat would do things
like they were one person.  They were so coordinated and perfect
together."_
Julio: _"I saw the same with Mario and Sherry.  I guess Sarah and I just
didn't have that ability before."_
Me: _"That's right.  People we call 'mundanes' don't appear to have
*any* of the abilities we've just talked about -- and you've shown.  Okay.
Sarah, you've seen Bob and Kathleen dance, right?"_
Sarah: _"Oh, yeh!  At the Christmas Dance, they were totally wonderful.
What a show!  The Spring Dance was wonderful, too, especially since I got
to dance with Bob.  It felt as if we were one person; I just knew what we
were going to do next."_
Cynthia: _"Even though none of us were there, I'll bet Bob linked with
you a little so physically you both knew what was happening.  On the other
hand, did you ever see Sherry and George Tanner dance?"_
Sara laughed.  _"They danced like I do.  Shuffle on the slow dances and
jump around on the fast ones.  Couldn't they link up?"_
   Pat: _"They could and probably did.  That's why they didn't just fall
over each other and stumble a lot.  Now I know Julio doesn't know Sherry
that well, but Sarah, do you think Sherry feels inferior somehow because
she can't dance as well as Bob or Kathleen?"_
Sarah: _"Not in the least.  She's very appreciative of their talent."_
Valerie: _"I agree.  The point we're making here is the fact that you
didn't have the talent to do these spiritual things like being outside your
bodies does not make either of you inferior in any way.  It's a matter of
innate talent and what we call spirit-power.  Apparently we all have
different amounts of both talent and power._
_"This does *not* correlate to your ethics, integrity, intelligence,
manners or anything else.  Both of you -- and others we know of -- are
highly intelligent and ethical.  About the only correlation we've found so
far is that the ones with the innate spiritual talent and power to be
outside seem to be both intelligent and ethical.  Simply because you didn't
have that talent or power doesn't make you lower in our opinions."_
   Julio: _"Then how did we end up outside our bodies this time?  Our
connection was so much deeper and complete than we've ever had before and
now we're talking not only to each other but also with you three."_
Pat: _"We fed you some of our spirit power.  Inside your bodies, we set
up what we call a firewall so you wouldn't be leaking your emotions and
sensations outside to the 'normal' world.  We apologise for invading your
privacy, but we felt it was necessary to avoid the wrong kind of attention
from the outside world."_
Sarah: _"Shit, I'd screw Julio on the cafeteria table during lunch hour
if it helped us do this.  Both of us have siblings and are used to only a
little privacy.  Granted, I never expected to have sex with someone while
others watched but under the circumstances I agree your intervention was
needed.  How about you, Julio?"_
Julio: _"You betcha!  I've never been an exhibitionist myself but
circumstances change.  I don't really have an issue with it."_
Cynthia: _"Great!  Now this is the first time we've done something like
this and the results are very encouraging.  Are you willing to do some more
experimenting?"_
They both agreed enthusiastically.  While we kept feeding them the same
low power level, we helped them push/pull themselves outside.  After five
minutes or so, they could duck out and in with no effort.
   Pat: _"Now, we'll cut all the power we've been feeding you.  Try going
outside now."_
With all the support power cut, they took a second or so more to get
outside.  We worked several minutes more then found they could move out and
back in just as easily as we could.
   Me: _"Actually, most of what we do is by decision.  Just decide you're
outside.  When you commit totally that it will happen, it will."_
That made it even easier for them.  They didn't have to think about it,
they just did it.
   We had them try moving around; they had no more difficulties doing it
than any of us had the first times we'd done it.  With Reference Points,
they were able to travel just as easily as we could.  Very nice!
   When they tried long-distance communications they eventually found it
fairly easy.  They could communicate with each other from their own homes.
Yes!
   Cynthia: _"All right!  You guys are good!  Now you'll notice when you're
completely outside your bodies appear to be in a deep sleep or even a coma.
That's what happens with us, too, so don't worry about it.  Just ensure
when you do go outside adventuring your bodies are in a safe place like
locked in your bedrooms._
_"We also took the liberty of setting up cellular-level body shields
that trip extremely fast.  If the proverbial plane falls on you, it will
trip.  We normally keep what we call a power-sharing VPN up and will with
you two also.  That way whatever power you need to support the defense,
you'll have."_
   We introduced them to spirit-touches, phantom fingers and phantom
tongues.  Julio knew exactly what to do with his phantom tongue!
   We coached them on controlling the single-level firewall and introduced
them to a simple probe and _inspections_.  In about fifteen minutes they
were doing fine.
   Cynthia: _"So good on ya both!  You're doing excellent!  I'd suggest
tonight you get together and go exploring, that's what we do most nights._
_"During Spring Break, I don't doubt you'll be doing what you were doing
before as much as possible.  That's pretty much what we're doing, too.  If
it weren't for the fact my grandparents just moved into town, we'd be doing
a lot more of it ourselves."_
   Sarah: _"Thank you so much!  Not to be too personal, but you three are
together, right?"_
Me: _"That's right.  We're a troika.  It just so happens Pat and I live
right next door to each other and Cynthia's five minutes away so it's
extremely convenient.  We also go to the same school and share a lot of
classes.  The relationships you two make with others -- if you decide to do
so -- are entirely up to you.  That's an entirely different area of
discussion."_
We suggested they practice everything as much as possible and perhaps
tonight even try to talk with Sherry and Mario in Cabo.  We coached them a
bit on keeping their abilities covert and handling the rest of the mundane
families.
   Pat: _"Sometime when you come back to your bodies, try switching them.
That's a lot of fun -- and has a very practical use we can talk about
later."_
Cynthia laughed and told them, _"By the way, if you're not too busy
tonight about 8:00, two very good friends of ours are gonna try to make a
baby -- and we've all been invited.  Tune into us about five minutes to
8."_
   Well, they seemed to be well on their way, so we went back and did
several hours of warm-up exercises for the fertility rights.
   ------
   KATHLEEN (Tuesday 4/4)
   Evin was wonderful!  Being a lawyer, his attention to detail was superb;
he checked out Miss Clitty's every square nanometer -- several times!
   Glad we'd put up the sound shield; Evin made me scream so much my throat
got a bit sore.  I had to be pretty careful not to grab him too hard; as it
was, I heard his bones creak a few times.  We could tell Siobhan was
getting well-honored too by the volume and frequency of her noise.
   The shower in the morning was fun.  Mario didn't seem at all upset when
I rubbed my boobs on his back and my bush over his tight butt.  He got his
hands back on my ass and caressed it so nicely!  Hmm.  We've still got
several days here, wonder if they're ready?
   At breakfast, everyone had "the glow" and ate enough to last several
days.  Betcha it won't!
   Bob and I went to the driving range while the rest made lazy around the
pool.  Slugabouts!  The driving went pretty decent.  Bob was consistently
making over 200 yards on a drive (he was doing it correctly, not just
trying to use his strength).  Our chipping and putting were getting fairly
decent, too.  Maybe in a few years he can be a challenge!  Grin.
   We got back, took a quick shower (sorry, no whoopee) and grabbed a spot
of lunch with the others.  We took both vehicles and headed out to the
Guerreros.
   ------
   BOB
   On the way, we stopped and picked up some party goodies.  I got a fairly
detailed map of the area to use later.
   We rolled onto the homestead right at 1:00.  Alejandro and Linda were
almost delirious to see us; Ramon and Elisa were only a bit more
restrained. After introducing the Donovans and O'Banains we got down to
business.
   I asked Ramon and Elisa, "I understand from Alejandro and Linda you two
have been thinking about starting your own construction business.  Is that
right?"
   Elisa said, "Very right.  Ramon and I've been talking about that from
the first time we met.  My father was a construction worker all his life
and Ramon's been doing it a long time."
   I told them, "Great!  My parents have their own construction business.
I've been doing it since before I could walk.  Kathleen got in the action
only a few months ago but has an excellent understanding of it.
   "There's a company in Burbank, California called JR Donovan.  Kathleen's
parents created it over fifteen years ago; Kathleen is now the majority
owner, while the Donovans here, Sherry and I are the others.  Aaron and
Barbara are the company accountants.  JRD basically owns or controls other
companies that do various things and gives them direction.  Several of the
companies are construction-related.
   "Evin has lots of United States legal experience on construction issues
while Aaron and Barbara know the financial end very well.
   "All this says we have a lot of experience to back us up.  Ramon, Elisa,
if money weren't an issue, how would you go about creating and growing this
company?"
   Ramon told us with the truck back in operation they had a lot more
freedom.  "Next thing we'd do is get some more equipment; probably the
major thing would be a tractor with a front loader and back hoe.  That way
we could handle both clean up as well as initial construction a lot faster.
   "With enough money up front for materials and wages, we can hire local
people and do our own bids.  There's a fair amount of construction along
the coast in the rich areas.
   "With El Gordo gone, this area should fill in again.  There's already
sewer, gas, electric and other utilities running to within several hundred
meters of here.  I'd love to work on this area.  With all the collapsed and
run-down buildings, we'd have years of work in demolition and rebuilding.
   "There's actually plenty of labor within a reasonable driving distance.
With a small bus, we could furnish transportation; not everyone has a
reliable vehicle.  So, Bob Reynolds, what do you have in mind?"
   Aaron chimed in here.  "Actually, there are two major things we had in
mind.  The first is the ownership of the land and buildings, and the other
is your business."
   I dug the map out.  "From what I've seen on this road the abandoned area
starts around here." I drew a small mark.  "You're a lot more familiar with
the area, of course, could you draw in the extent of the 'blight'?"
   Between the four of them they drew in an area encompassing the run-down
neighborhoods.  As I'd expected, it was closest to the coast in El Tule and
was furthest inland around the airport and Cabo San Lucas.  Remember, El
Tule was about half-way between the airport and Cabo.
   Evin asked, "Any idea who actually owns this land?"
   Ramon told us, "A lot is leased from the government.  There's a fair
amount of privately-owned land closer to the coast.  By now, in this entire
area we've marked, I'd say over 90% of it has lost the lease or it has gone
back to the mortgage-holders because of non-payment.  A lot of people just
walked away."
   Evin said, "That makes sense.  What I have in mind is to get ownership
or control of the land and buildings then renovate.  Build a mixture of
residential homes and apartments along with several industrial parks and
light commercial such as service stations, stores and things like that. 
Who do you know who's either a real estate lawyer or a good realtor?  Of
course, if they're related to you, it wouldn't hurt either."
   Elisa's brother was a lawyer; he lived up near the airport.  Ramon had a
third or fourth cousin who was a realtor in El Tule.
   I said, "Good.  What we'll do is get you to introduce us and start
investigating what it will take to form a Mexican corporation and to buy up
or get control of as much of this as possible.  If we're lucky or look
hard, we'll find people like your family -- what we call 'ones of us.'
They'll have the spiritual ability to be outside and communicate like we
do.
   "Now, we have land and we can renovate.  Why would people want to move
here besides the fact El Gordo is now shitting his pants in jail?"
   I put an X about 10 kilometers further into the interior near San
Javier. "I'll bet if one drills down about 150 meters, there'll be fresh
water -- enough to supply almost the entire tip of Baja California Sur."
   I put another X to the north between San Javier and El Paraje.  "Around
500 meters down, an exploratory drill might find several hundred billion
barrels of oil.  Ever hear of Palm Springs or Las Vegas in the United
States?"
   They'd heard of Las Vegas but not Palm Springs.  I told them, "Both are
resorts built in the middle of the desert -- pretty much what you have
right here.  What you don't have here that they do is water.
   "Put the water you find together with the oil and within five years
you'll have resorts that can match Palm Springs and Las Vegas and lots of
money going into the area.  Between the mountains inland and the coastal
resorts on the coast, there'll probably be a boom you wouldn't believe.
   "Instead of a place of last resort like these places are now, the entire
area would go up in value by probably ten to a thousand times.  They'll
probably improve the road from San Jose Del Cabo through El Paraje to Cabo
San Lucas.  This homestead would probably be worth 100 million pesos --
land value alone.
   "You would be in the middle of one of the fastest-growing regions of
Baja California.  Think you could find something to do?"
   In essence they said, "Fockin' aye right!"
   Evin said, "So that's what JR Donovan would be doing, if our
investigation of the legal situations turns out okay.  Land and
development."
   Kathleen's turn.  "Now, how about you, right now?  Apart from JRD, I'm
willing to finance privately the start of a construction business.  Pretty
much any amount needed, almost any time.  Something like 6 or 7 percent
interest.  Does that sound interesting?"
   They almost fell out of their chairs.  Ramon said, "We're ready to start
tonight."
   We laughed.  I said, "We kind of figured you might be interested.  What
I'd recommend to start is tomorrow we get the permits to extend the
utilities out at least this far then fix up this place as a headquarters."
   I reached into a bag and pulled out a stack of pesos -- Kathleen had
ported it down this morning.  I handed it to Elisa and said, "Here's 100
thousand to start.  Granted it's not here legally, but I don't think many
people will ask questions when they're staring at cash.
   "This deal between Kathleen and you on the construction business is not
dependant on what JRD finds in the next several days about the land
ownership.  No matter how that turns out, you've got a viable business."
   We took a short break for some cerveza and general talk-talk.  I sent a
line up to Father.  _"You and Mother have a few minutes for some business
consulting?"_
   They did.  I told them, _"We found some new friends here Kathleen's
gonna finance in starting their own construction business.  How about you
two consult with them on our dime about getting it up and running?"_
   They were more than willing.  I introduced the Guerreros, including
Alejandro and Linda, and they were off and running.  They _chatted_ for
fifteen minutes; Father and Mother were both out at JRD Recording so they
decided to get together again and talk further that night after the
fertility rites.
   I asked Ana, _"Mind if we have a few new friends along this evening?"_
   ------
   ANA
   Jaysus!  We should sell tickets; we'd be independently wealthy!  Bob
introduced me to the Guerreros,_"...  Alejandro and Linda are *very*
interested in finding out how this stuff is done."_
   I told them, _"Why not?  I've already had the entire Clann and the
Redmond crowd say they'd be here.  That's over forty people; several more
won't be any imposition."_
   I tried to get a rise out of Don.  "There's four newbies from Cabo gonna
be here, too.  The entire Clann Way from Redmond said they'd show up. 
Think you can do it?"
   He just grinned at me.  "I've been doing show and tell in front of an
audience for years.  This is just a different subject.  How about you? 
Should I polish up your tits?"
   I didn't think my nipples could get any harder, but they did.  He
continued, "If I have any problems, David offered to dash over and help
out."
   "He would.  Thanks but no thanks for now; this is *our* baby.  That's
not to say he won't be needed in a couple months.  I was so horny when I
was pregnant with Natalie, Samuel was totally wrung out -- and I still
wasn't caught up.
   "I'll probably need David, Donal, Bob, Steven, Frank, Henry, Colin,
Douglas, Evin, Aaron, Mario, Pat, Sam, Mark, Oscar, and Papa Sonora.  I may
have to tap into Raymond Steele, the Way boys, Julio, Ted, Fred Derman, Jim
Hess, Art and Dan and maybe Dermot just to keep sane."
   No rise at all.  "Is that all?  I'd better start some heavy recruiting.
I know of at least ten other men who've looked at the Lead MILF with lots
of lust over the past several months.  Maybe Sherry or Cynthia's dads?"
   "Keep them in mind; they may be needed.  For tonight, it's only you."
   
  
Sorcerer Clann Ch 31-40