“The Catalyst” Series
Chapter 17: Odds and Ends – and Clara
Alex, Cate and Gail were glad to finally get out of the
city. They didn’t have any trouble getting out, but they were worried about how
close they’d come to getting into some serious trouble before they did. As it
was, they were sure that photos tagging Alex would in every paper in the country
tomorrow, along with YouTube videos of his latest miracle and interviews by
Susan, who’d claim he’d refused to help her poor helpless daughter. The
potential for trouble seemed unlimited.
However, at the moment Alex was simply trying to recover
from the exhausting attempt to heal Jennifer’s kidney. He’d succeeded, but the
strain of doing so under the time constraint he was under wore him out, and
he’d only been able to repair a single kidney. He was laid out on the back
seat, sweating and weak, while Cate leaned between the seats feeding him. An unidentified
woman had handed Cate a little bag of goodies as they’d been making their
escape. She hadn’t thought much of it at the moment, and by the time she’d
realized the woman had given her something she was already gone. It wasn’t
until they were driving away and she realized she had nothing to feed Alex that
she even looked in the bag. It had several muffins, candy, energy bars and
bottles of juice. Apparently Alex’s followers knew his history well enough to
know what he needed after an episode like this, and that encouraged Cate. It
always helped when you didn’t have to worry about someone all by yourself. Being
your brother’s protector, lover and science advisor was tough enough. Acting
like his mother was the last thing she wanted to do.
Alex, meanwhile, was busy trying to marshal his strength
again. He was well aware of the trouble they were in, as well as the threats he
now faced, but was too weak to worry about that now. Using this new technique
of supplying a constant heavy and consistent flow of energy to force someone to
regrow dead tissue was exhausting, and he knew he’d have problems every time he
did it.
He’d done it before with Rachel, healing both her kidneys at
the time, but Alex hadn’t been as stressed beforehand and he hadn’t had to work
so swiftly. That combination of events left him worn out.
It wasn’t until they were nearly out of the city before Alex
had regained enough strength to cease eating and relax. He let his mind blank
for a while, but then started thinking of what he’d left behind. Not just the
people, but the responsibilities, the friendships, and the things that needed
to be done. He left nine separate women who might end up as the mothers of his
children, each without anyone to defend and nurture them. He felt like he’d
just swept into their lives and abandoned them as soon as he’d had his way with
them.
He knew that wasn’t true. They would be protected and helped
by the community, and if he had remained he would have brought them unwanted
attention. Still, it wasn’t easy to shake the self-recriminations he felt. He
just didn’t feel comfortable leaving someone pregnant after only knowing them
for a day.
Then there were all the women hoping to get pregnant who
hadn’t had a chance to be with him yet, not to mention the multiple Seers he’d
activated but hadn’t actually spoken to. There were also many, many Watchers
that he hadn’t met, as the scene on the street had revealed, when they’d
appeared out of the woodwork to help him.
When he felt a little better he finally sat up, which relieved
Cate. She kissed him, telling him she was glad to see he was back among the
living once again. Alex could see they were already near the outskirts of the
city, so they started talking about how the streets looked and how busy the
traffic was. Simple things they could distract themselves with, but that kept
them from focusing on the issues that were bothering each of them.
‘Alex? Sorry to disturb you, I know you were pretty upset
about what happened while you were leaving the city. This is Lekesia.’
‘Hey, Lekesia. I’m always happy to speak with you. What’s
up?’ Alex replied.
‘Well, I wanted to give you an update before you left. It
turns out that most of us are, in fact, pregnant. Amanda and Becky aren’t yet,
of course, since it’s still too soon to tell. My mother, Noel, didn’t take though,
probably because it’s a little harder to get pregnant when you’re older. We’re
planning on going to Dr. Lampre for an additional sperm deposit. It’s not as enjoyable
as a direct deposit, but hopefully it’ll get the job done. Catlin didn’t catch
either.’
‘Oh, that’s too bad. Tell them I’m sorry and I wish I
could help out, but....’
‘Yeah, we know. You’re no longer available. On to the
newest recruits. Try to think of us occasionally. We’ll be thinking of you a
lot. You tend to make an a big impact on us impressionable young ladies.’
‘Well, each of you certainly made an impression on me as
well. And make sure you each take care of yourselves. As important as your
babies are to me, each of you is vital to me as well. I’d hate to see something
happen to any one of you.’
‘Thanks. I appreciate that. But none of us plan on doing
anything dangerous in the near future. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know
where we all stood before you left. I had to check on the others to be sure I
didn’t miss any. That’s why it took a little while for me to contact you. Have
a good time and take care of yourself. We’re all looking forward to seeing you
again, and we want you to come visit your children. We’ll talk to you later
with updates on our pregnancies,’ she promised before she ended the
conversation.
Alex told the others the news while they continued out of
the city and beyond. Surprisingly, they didn’t encounter many new followers. It
may have been the time of day, since most people were already at work, or it
might have just been that the three were too distracted to notice anyone else.
Alex was concerned about the possibility, but he was still too worried about
the events in New Orleans to focus on it too much.
They only met two women. Both were on the outskirts of the
city or farther out. One had heard of the famed ‘Angel of New Orleans’, but being
nonreligious she hadn’t given it much thought. The other tried to avoid the
obsessive business of the city, thus hadn’t heard anything at all about Alex.
Cate advised they visit the city to meet the others like them, but Alex doubted
the one girl would, since she disliked the city so much. You can lead a horse
to water, but you can’t make them drive into a city they feel uncomfortable in.
They drove past the Maurepas Swamp, where the highway was
elevated above the marshes providing a normally excellent view, but they paid
little attention to the scenery. They kept driving until they were well away
from Baton Rouge. They turned off at a small exit near Lake Bigeaux. A smaller
divided road, South Bayou Road, ran along a small river. They managed to find a
small motel that looked spartan, but that they felt was isolated enough it
wouldn’t have enough people to present much of a problem for Alex. They were
each ready for some time away from his followers for now. Alex told Patricia
where they’d stopped so she’d be able to join them, but she informed him that
the girl who’d been in the traffic accident had complicated things, and they’d
had to delay leaving while they helped her make arrangements for the car and
speak to the police about it. She thought they’d be leaving soon, but she
couldn’t make any promises yet.
So they checked into the plain room, unloaded their stuff,
and took a walk along the riverfront, finally unwinding from the unsettling
activity of the past several days.
Alex took Cate’s hand, glancing meaningfully into her eyes,
wordlessly thanking her for her assistance, devotion and love these past weeks,
as well as asking for her forgiveness for having to ignore her for this long.
While it was true he’d made love to them both on Saturday, and they’d fooled
around with Becky and Amanda on Sunday, they’d been unable to acknowledge how
they’d felt about each other in public, and they each had to pretend they
weren’t intimate with each other even when they were all in bed the previous
night. His look promised that he’d try to make amends today while they waited
for Patricia, but everyone was still too wound up to retreat to the hotel room
for any hanky-panky. Instead they went looking for a quiet out of the way place
to get away from anything that reminded them about what they were hoping to
escape for a little while.
Looking back, he saw Gail still silently trailing them, as
she’d been doing so much recently, so Alex stopped and motioned her closer.
“We’re no longer in the city. We’re isolated where we’re
unlikely to encounter anyone, and no one would think of looking for us here. Besides,
there’s no one here to object to a young man walking with his sister and his
lesbian lover. So consider yourself officially off duty.”
They each laughed at that, and Gail gladly took his other
hand, joining him and Cate as they each basked in the closeness of the others
after having spent the last several days in an emotional holding cell, even as
they remained so close together. They meandered along, not bothering to speak
as the three of them wandered the riverfront, until they found a nice little
spot where they could sit by the river and take in the scenery. They sat down,
able to relax for the first time in a while.
They simply sat in companionable silence, taking in their
surroundings, each thinking their own thoughts until Cate broke the silence.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about what I first surmised
after Rakeem attacked you,” she said. Apparently she was back into her science
mode again, and Alex knew better than to distract her. This was Cate’s passion,
after all, and she tended to return to it when she relaxed. Cate wasn’t the
type to find comfort in emptying her mind, but instead reveled in challenging
herself, and took great joy in doing it in such a peaceful surroundings where
she could do so uninterrupted.
“I told you I thought your primary ability lay in opening
portals between dimensions. I also explained that gap in your brain by
suggesting the gray matter had essentially been sucked out of your brain. Well,
we’ve long debated how you could manage to do something so drastic to your
brain on your very first try, and not do any significant damage.
“I’ve been reading some about the theory of quantum minds.
You know quantum theory, the one that says that an electron can be in several
different places at the same time? Well, I no longer think that portion of your
brain was removed. Instead I think it was shifted. I think you didn’t suffer
any damage because your brain is working as a single organized entity, and it
doesn’t notice any difference. I think your brain is accessing the missing grey
matter even while it’s in a different dimension.”
Alex knew better than to interrupt her. She was on a roll,
addressing an issue she’d been thinking about for a while, but had only felt
comfortable enough to address once everyone was relaxed enough to give it their
full consideration.
“The idea of a quantum mind is clearly a complex one, but I
think your brain can exist in a separate location because it’s still receiving
nutrients from your brain, plus it’s surrounded by this life energy of yours
that helps maintain it. I think that’s also how you’re communicating with your
girls. I think you created that shared quantum link in their brains. You may
each be sharing a common segment of your brain, so the thoughts of one are
shared by each. It’s a fairly well understood concept in quantum physics,
although they’ve never applied it to a situation quite like this.”
Alex and Gail simply sat quietly, contemplating the idea
without speaking. There was no pressing need, since they were removed from the stresses
of constantly having to address multiple issues at the same time. Finally Alex
addressed it, speaking aloud, as if to the passing river.
“That has a certain rationality to it. It would explain a
fair amount. It covers the hole in my head, and it explains the telepathy.”
“It actually does more than that. It could also explain your
relationship to the Watchers as well,” Cate suggested. “You seem to communicate
with the Seers through the link you’ve created in their brains, but a quantum
entanglement, a merging of matter across a wide physical space, wouldn’t
require such a specific space. You could actually be sharing a smaller segment
of your brain, or your thoughts, with the Watchers without needing that gap to
trade information. That might be why you each feel so strongly for each other.
You might also be sharing other things besides actual thoughts. You might share
emotions, feelings and connections. That might be why you feel so strongly
towards them. It’s only conjecture at this point, but it explains a lot of what
we’ve been missing so far.”
“I’m not sure I quite understand all the implications,” Gail
said, joining into the discussion, “but it sounds like it parallels Anh’s basic
theories as well. Essentially this is a mechanism for sharing Alex’s ancient
spirit. It’s like Alex has discovered a way to split his mind between here and
Anh’s spirit realm, sharing space with the other women as well. They each tap
into the common aspects of his spirit, allowing each to connect to each other.
I don’t think it requires quite so complex an explanation in physics, but I
think she’d like to hear this theory as well.”
“I think it’s a little more complex than that,” Cate said. “His
establishing a connection to his previous spiritual world wouldn’t account for
the energy he receives, so it seems clear he’s established a connection somewhere
else. But yeah, despite not being up on modern western thinking, Anh’s got an
inquisitive mind,” Cate observed, “and she grasps the ideas I present pretty
well. I’m sure she’d appreciate this one, and she’ll manage to put her own spin
on it.”
The conversation halted for a moment as they considered the
implications of this newest idea, but Cate soon broke the silence. “There was
something else I wanted to discuss, though you may not like it,” Cate said. She
waited until Alex turned to face her before she continued.
“I’ve been thinking that these kinds of connections would
take a fair amount of energy to produce. I can’t imagine they would just open
up on their own. What’s more, they probably take energy to maintain once
they’ve been created. So far we’ve been treating your symptoms as if you were
suffering from a form of radiation energy. I’d suggested it was stressing your
system, but we may be wrong about that as well.
“Now I’m thinking that each person you connect to requires
more of your own energy, not the energy that’s pouring out of your system. The
first couple of people you activated didn’t do much to you, but as you
continued to add more, you started running low on the energy you need to
maintain your body. You’re essentially trading your health for the maintenance
of these links to your girls.”
“Hmm, an interesting idea,” Alex said, once again regarding
Cate’s newest proposal.
“That makes sense as well,” Gail added. “It accounts for why
his symptoms took so long to show up. If he’d had this since he was young, then
you’d think he’d have shown symptoms of being weaker than normal before he ever
went to New Orleans.”
They each considered this newest twist, quietly
contemplating what it might entail. Cate let them alone in their thoughts.
“You know,” Gail said, getting into the idea of sharing
different thought together, “there’s something that’s been bothering me as
well. We keep talking about the energy your body is accessing hurting you. It
seems to me that if we could focus some of that energy on healing you instead,
then maybe there’d be less to harm you.”
“How so?” Cate asked.
“Well, Alex has been exercising more in order to build up
his endurance so he’ll be in better shape, which will hopefully improve his health.
As a result he’s bulked up a fair amount over the last couple of weeks. Well,
before we left home that is. But he also hasn’t had any major episodes since
then.”
“Except for that one on the treadmill, or the one at the dialysis
unit,” Cate reminded her.
“Or the one today,” Alex added.
“OK, one that we didn’t induce ourselves,” Gail corrected
herself. “What I’m suggesting is that perhaps by bulking up we can refocus the
energy on healing rather than weakening Alex. Besides, if Alex is larger, then
there’s more body area to either absorb or radiate the energy away.”
“It’s an idea,” Cate said, appearing to consider it. “But
I’m not sure the energy works like that. We use the term ‘energy’ pretty
loosely to describe several different things. The energy that Alex is bringing
in and giving off is very different than what we use ourselves to process our
food and function every day. I’m not sure you can equate one to the other.
Plus, the idea is that Alex potentially has too much energy coming into too
small of an area for it to be processed properly. My analogy was that it was
like having a major power plant located in a few millimeters of your brain.
You’d expect it to do a lot of physical damage, even as it provided a lot of
energy. I’m not sure bulking up would change any of those things. There may be
more tissue surrounding the damage, but the damage would still be occurring
internally.”
“Besides,” Alex added, “how the hell am I going to exercise
while traveling cross country?”
“I thought about that,” Gail told him. “We’re going to be
staying in hotels most of the time. I’d like to get you into the gym and the
pool each night and really work you over. Hopefully we can at least make you
strong enough so you can fend off any trouble for a little longer.”
“Well, I’m not sure you can relate one form of energy to the
other,” Cate reiterated. “It’s like trying to use an excess of whale oil to
power your iPod. But there’s nothing wrong with Alex trying to maintain his
body. That would be good for him no matter how you look at it.”
“Except for the question of logistics,” Alex argued. “Every
time I get to a new area, or check into a hotel, we head either to the lobby or
the restaurant so I’ll be easy to find. If I go from the lobby, to the room, to
the gym, to the pool, then to the room again, then finally to the restaurant,
there won’t be any central location for anyone that’s drawn to me to find.
Instead we’d end up with a bunch of people wandering around any given hotel
looking for me in the several places I’ve been. They’d be unable to separate
the various energy trails from each other.”
“There is that,” Gail conceded.
“It’s made even worse if we have to move everyone else
around. In Memphis we did well because we left you in the lobby while I was in the
room. However, if I’m walking all over the hotel, you’re going to feel
obligated to follow me, and if I’m burning up a lot of energy, then Cate’s
going to feel it necessary to follow me around checking up on me. That leaves
no one to check for anyone looking for me. We showed at the hospitals in
Memphis that it makes sense to spread out so we can watch for those that feel
attracted to me, but that are too hesitant to approach me. We can’t do that if
I’m continually on the move.”
“We would have Patricia and her other band mates,” Cate
offered. Alex simply rolled his eyes.
“They don’t have the experience yet. They might be able to
lend a hand, but would you want to have one of them guarding me, or taking care
of me if I have another crisis? And what happens if they encounter a new
follower but don’t know how to approach them?”
“OK, I’ll concede defeat. It’s looking like a largely
unworkable solution,” Gail told him.
“Not completely unworkable,” Alex relented. “We’ll just have
to be careful how we approach it. If we have the facilities in a given hotel,
we’ll have to make sure we stay in a central locale. It would be better than
traveling all over town. That’s why I haven’t toured the places we’ve visited,
to be sure that anyone that needs to can find me. I just think we’ll have to
think about it some more as we get more used to traveling.”
“Well, if I can’t get you to exercise more, then I’ll show
you some exercises you can do in the car or the hotel room while you’re
sitting. That at least will help a little.”
The conversation lagged again as they watched the river run
past and the clouds float by.
“Thinking about your theory, Cate, the one about my energy
being drained by my girls, that is,” Alex said after a short pause, “as
interesting a theory as that is, I’m not sure I can fully accept it. I’m not
saying it doesn’t have merit, and it may have some effect, but if it were the
case, then I should be really weak now. I’ve easily doubled the amount of
people I’ve activated in the last week, yet I seem to be fine at the moment. If
I was expending that much energy for each person I’d activated, then by now I’d
be overwhelmed. It probably has some effect, but I still tend to believe your
original idea.”
“Still, it accounts for why your symptoms only showed up once
you started activating people, and even then no one noticed anything until
you’d activated a fair number of people,” Gail offered. “We’ll need to see how
you progress over time. If we’re talking about stressors, then it may not show
up until you are under a certain amount of bodily stress.”
Alex didn’t respond as they once again lapsed into silence.
It was a relaxing afternoon, and no one felt the need to stress about the ideas
they were exchanging. This was a chance to think about those things they hadn’t
had time to consider yet. There was no need to rush to a decision on any of
them.
“So I’m sure you’re glad to be away from that whole ‘meet
the newest batch of women you’re supposed to impregnate today’ scene,” Cate
said, changing the subject and finally tackling the topic she knew had been
bothering her brother, now that she’d cleared her mind of her newest scientific
theories. She knew her new ideas would take time to sink in, and she was
satisfied that Alex had simply listened to them with an open mind.
“You’d better believe it. I think next time I’ll ask
Patricia to simply snip off the ends of my rubbers rather than build up each of
these women’s expectations about motherhood so much.”
“Ha, when have you ever used rubbers, Alex?” Gail
asked with a laugh.
“Hey, I use them occasionally,” he protested, even though he
knew it wasn’t very frequently. Actually, it was ironic that she’d bring the
subject up, since he’d used them with her most of the time. But Alex knew she
had a point when she made one.
“I could see how uncomfortable you were with getting so many
people you hardly knew pregnant,” Cate said. “I wanted to come in and hold you
to help get you through it, but I was afraid revealing our relationship with
each other would only complicate things. The last thing you need to tell a new
mother is that the father of her baby is in an incestuous relationship with his
sister.”
“Yeah, it really bugged me. I wasn’t sure I could get
through that first night without some major embarrassments,” he observed.
“I’m not sure I could do it myself,” Gail observed, “for
more than just the obvious reasons. I’ve had enough trouble just getting beyond
the ‘I love you’ statement from a lot of girls, but to jump from that to
impregnating them is a whole different order of magnitude difference.”
“Funny you should bring that up,” Alex commented, “since
you’re planning on having a baby with Melissa.”
“Yeah, though I suspect you’d feel more comfortable knocking
me up than you were those girls that first night,” she responded. “The look you
gave Lekesia was priceless. I thought I was going to lose it, but I knew you’d
never forgive me if I did.”
“So how are you feeling, Alex?” Cate asked. “Have you
recovered from this morning, or do you think you could use a quick massage?”
“Hey, I’m not about to refuse a massage from my second in
command and my favorite girl,” he replied.
“Well, I’ve got no problems climbing on top of my brother
and working him over, although I’m not sure what to do with all these clothes
in the way,” she teased as she started to work on him. “You’re doing better,
but you’re still pretty tense.”
“It was a stressful week,” he reminded her.
“I can think of something else that will relax him,” Gail
suggested with a friendly leer.
“We’ll get to that in a minute,” Cate informed her. “This is
called ‘build up’. As careful as Alex is to take everything slow with everyone
else, no one ever does a lot for him in return. I think he deserves a little
care and attention.”
“Even if I fall asleep as a result?” Alex asked, as he relaxed,
resting his face on the grass, listening to the quiet murmur of the river.
“We might forgive you if you fall asleep, but don’t worry,
we’ll wake you long enough to do us each a couple of times before putting you
to bed again,” she told him.
“I’ll do that if...” he started to say before he was
interrupted.
‘Alex? This is Rose. I hate to disturb you, but I’ve got
some unsettling news I figured you’d want to hear.’
Alex quickly sat up, surprising Cate and Gail, but Cate
could tell by his studious expression that he was talking to someone, so she
continued to work on his shoulders, which had just gotten much tighter.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
‘It’s Clara. I know you told her to stay away from the
media, but it seems she made a phone call which has everyone upset. You’d
better find a TV somewhere and turn on Fox news. They’re running the recording
pretty frequently now, so you can’t miss it. As you can guess, it’s a doozie,
but I don’t want to tell you how to interpret it, so I think it’s better if you
see it for yourself.’
‘Thanks for alerting me. It’ll take us a few minutes to
get back to the room. Is it anything I need to address right away?’
‘I don’t know,’ Rose responded. ‘It depends on how
you want to react to it. That’s why I didn’t want to suggest anything, and why
I think it will be better if you have some time to think about it first.’
‘Well, thanks again. I’ll let you know what I decide to
do about it. I’ll have to talk to Clara again I suppose.’
Alex stood up and helped the others to their feet. They
still held hands on the way back to the motel, but it wasn’t quite as
lighthearted and romantic as the walk to the riverfront had been. Alex filled
them in on what was happening on the way.
It took about fifteen minutes to walk back to the hotel. Gail
left them alone, heading across the small community to a nearby market to pick
up something for dinner. None of them felt like eating out where they might
encounter anyone. Cate watched nervously as Alex turned on the television in
the room and started flipping through the various channels. Frustrated, Cate
grabbed the TV guide the motel offered and took the remote from him, quickly
located the Fox network.
They had to listen for a while, since there was an ongoing
program on Fox. In the meantime, Alex took back the remote and started flipping
between the main broadcast stations again until he found what he was looking
for.
“...news. Apparently God doesn’t want anyone to listen to
Fox news. At least that’s what his angel in New Orleans has been telling people.
More on that in a moment.”
Alex groaned, but quickly changed the channel back to Fox,
knowing how long it was between the typical teaser and the actual story. It
wasn’t long until the story surfaced on Fox again.
“The Angel of New Orleans, a young man trying to get young
women to follow him by claiming he’s a ‘subangel’ led by God, has announced
that God doesn’t want anyone to watch Fox news. Not only that, but like all
good liberals, he wants them to go to the liberal bastion universities to think
like liberal socialists. But you’ll see more in the following telephone
exchange recorded earlier on a Fox call in news program.
A voice Alex instantly recognized came on while the
television showed what was being said.
“Hello, am I online?” Clara asked.
“You are caller. What do you have to say on the topic?”
“Well, I think you’re being really unfair to him. I’ve
talked to him several times, and he’s the....”
“Wait, you’ve actually met the mysterious Angel of New
Orleans?”
“Well, yes, I have, and he’s...”
“Can you describe him for us? Tell us what he looks like,
and why so many women seem to be following him so blindly?” Alex assumed this
was a local radio broadcast. Most likely from St. Louis, which is where Clara
would have heard it. The announcer was very antagonistic, not allowing Clara to
say much of anything. But that was likely just the local announcer. Alex
doubted the local affiliate had quite the credentials that the network regulars
had. They’d at least allow her to finish a single sentence before interrupting
her.
“They’re not following him blindly. He’s actually a very
wise and...”
“Can I ask if you’re a Christian yourself?” the announcer
asked.
“Yes, I am. I used to listen to Fox all the time as well.
But he told me to ignore what the church has been telling me all my life, and
to stop listening to this station, and to...”
“Wait, you mean the Angel of New Orleans told you not to
watch Fox? That seems like a pretty specific commandment. Doesn’t he want you
to have access to fair and balanced reporting?”
“No, I mean... That wasn’t his point. He told me I couldn’t
separate fact from fiction anymore and...”
“And he proves the point by getting you to join his cult?
And an Atheistic Angel tells you that the church is lying to you, and you
believe this boy over what you’ve been taught your entire life?”
“Well, you see, they tried to cast the devil out of me. But
it wasn’t the devil I was seeing, it was...” Luckily the announcer once again
cut her off before she could reveal what she was seeing.
“What did he tell you about the church? That his new
religion is better?”
“No, he doesn’t care what we believe. He’s interested in...”
“In leading young women astray with promises of miracles?
What does he have against Fox News?”
“He said that I couldn’t think clearly and that I needed to
think independently. He told me not to listen to Fox News anymore.”
“Yes, you already said that. So he thinks that watching the
other news stations will get you to think independently, when each of them tell
you the same left wing slant on the news? Doesn’t he think the truth can stand
a different opinion? Was there anything specific that Fox tells people that he
objects to?”
“No, he just told me that I wasn’t thinking clearly. But
he’s not trying to talk me into anything. In fact, he told me to go to college
and to take some courses in something I never studied before so I’d learn how
to think more clearly?”
“So he wants you to think like a liberal? Is that it?”
“No, he...”
“I can imagine what he was likely to tell you. It sounds
like this young man has a very specific agenda. One which includes cutting you
off from the one fair source of the news. It makes it easier for him to
convince you of ‘what’s right’.”
“No, it’s nothing like that. He wanted...”
“And why would you assume that some smarmy kid knows better
than 2000 years of accumulated human knowledge?” the obnoxious announcer asked.
“He’s not... You know, I really don’t like how you’re
treating me. I think I see his point now. You’re really...”
“Yeah, we can guess what you think. We have a member of a
local Church online now who’s anxious to tell us his opinion of what
this ‘Angel’ is revealing to his subjects. Let’s...” And here was where
the network terminated the audio recording.
Alex was glad to see the last of the job the local announcer
was doing on Clara, actually feeling sorry for her. She wasn’t ready for such a
grilling yet. It was no wonder she’d fallen apart. That was why he sent her
back to school, so she could think things through more carefully before she
decided what was true and what wasn’t. But she couldn’t handle this level of
attack yet.
The national broadcast networks were better. Instead of
attacking Clara, they simply laughed it off, assuring their audience that this
was clearly the work of a young man looking to gain attention by preaching a
false religion, blaspheming everything that Christians knew to be the truth. It
didn’t get much better, and they weren’t adding any additional detail, so Alex
got up and turned it off, having heard enough.
Cate nervously looked at her brother, trying to gauge how he
was reacting to the broadcast. As he turned to say something there was a knock
at the door. Cate sighed and turned to let Gail in, checking to make sure it
was her before allowing her in, following Gail’s own repeated advice.
When Gail entered she saw the TV was off, but she also saw
Alex and Cate’s reactions. “Not good, huh?” she asked.
“No, they raked Clara over the coals,” Alex informed her.
“She hardly had a chance to string a full sentence together before they attacked
her.”
“But why was she calling Fox News? I thought you’d told her
not to listen to them anymore?”
“I did, but I won’t know until I speak to her. Cate, you can
bring Gail up to speed. I’ll let you know what Clara’s position is in a few
minutes.” With that Alex spoke to her.
‘Clara?’
‘Shit, I knew you were going to be pissed. I’m sorry,
Alex. I didn’t mean to say all of that. He—’
‘Yes, I know what he did. I just finished watching it.
Now you see why I tried to talk you out of watching Fox News. Like most of the
television programs, it’s all about attack journalism. They’re more interested
in ratings than they are in educating people.’
‘I never thought so before, but this time—’ she tried
to say.
‘This time you didn’t already agree with them. That’s the
difference. As long as they are agreeing with you, you tend to not question
what they say. It’s the same problem with the other news stations. That’s why
Americans are one of the least knowledgeable people in the developed world now.
It’s not Fox, and it’s not you. It’s the whole idea of someone telling you what
to think. The news, like anyone else, is going to tell you a lot of stuff. Some
of it is worthwhile, but some of it is just junk. Some is rumor, some
hyperbole, and some is just plain wrong. You’ve got to learn to discriminate
between the two. Wild off-the-cuff claims are just that.
‘The point I was making wasn’t that you couldn’t make
your own decisions, it was that you have to evaluate what people tell you and
not just agree because it matches with what you already believe.’
‘I was trying to defend you,’ she tried to explain. ‘To
tell them they didn’t understand what you were trying to accomplish.’ Alex
sighed heavily.
‘I don’t need you to defend me, Clara. I’m trying to
avoid the press. I’m trying to reach individuals. If the press knows, then
those that don’t want me to speak will know. I’m trying to avoid ending up like
Christ did,’ he told her, hoping she’d understand it this time. ‘By the
way, why did you call them? I thought you weren’t going to listen to Fox
anymore?’
‘I didn’t really mean to,’ she said, sounding guilty,
but Alex was anxious to hear her explanation. ‘I haven’t watched Fox TV
since you told me not to. But I never reset the radio stations in my car since
they’re hard to set. I figured it wouldn’t do much if I didn’t accept what they
said. But when I was driving into school today, I heard the horrible things
they were saying about you, and I thought I had to tell them that they were
wrong.’
‘I don’t think they were interested, Clara. Like you were
doing yourself, they’d already made up their minds before they heard anything.
They’d already decided I opposed their own positions, so they were looking to
make me look bad. And the quickest way to belittle me is to make fun of those
that accept me. That way they don’t have to actually focus on the issues
themselves.’
‘Well he was mean,’ Clara insisted.
‘OK, as hard as it was on you, I consider this a learning
experience. Next time, try to find less antagonizing stations to listen to.
Remember, I don’t need you to protect me. I’m perfectly capable of taking care
of myself, but only if I don’t have people telling everyone about me. Do you
think you can do that for me?’ Alex asked.
‘Oh, yes. I’ll never call them again. Not after this.’
‘Good, I can accept that. We won’t talk about this
anymore. How’s school going?’
‘Oh, it’s going great. I’m learning all about science,
just like your sister. I can’t take the hard classes, and I’m having trouble
following it as a result of not following the math, but it’s interesting. Every
time I start thinking something isn’t true I think of what you told me, and I
listen to it and think about it before deciding what I believe.’
‘I’m proud of you, Clara. That’s precisely what I asked
you to do. While I’m not happy with what happened today, you didn’t mean to do
it. Just keep up your studies like you’re doing. You don’t have to agree with
what you’re learning, but you’ve got to be able to discuss it rationally, and
explain both sides if asked. I’ve got to go now, though, since I’ve got to
figure out how to deal with this.’
‘Thanks for not being angry with me, Alex. I really
appreciate it,’ she said.
‘Don’t worry about it. Just try to be the best person you
can,’ Alex told her. He hadn’t been expecting miracles with Clara, but he
hoped she could cast off some of her bad habits. It looked like that was
happening. He had to expect a few stumbles along the way, though.
He turned to look at Cate, and realized he was sitting down on
the bed and both girls were watching him.
“She got in over her head,” he told them. “It was a
misunderstanding on my point. It’s like making a wish with a mischievous genie;
you’ve got to watch your language carefully. But her heart was in the right
place, and I think she learned something from it. Luckily the jerk didn’t give
her a chance to reveal anything really problematic. We’ll weather this.
But the problem is, we’re now not just novelty news, we’ve got a major group
seriously opposed to us. We’re likely to gain quite a few more. Now let’s
forget about this and carry on.”
They ate the dinner that Gail had brought home. It wasn’t
anything fancy, but after all the rich foods they’d been eating in New Orleans’
fanciest restaurants they thought they deserved some plain food for a change,
simply to clear out some of the fat from their veins, if nothing else.
Afterwards they lay together on the bed and turned on the TV, but none of them
were anxious to watch anything. They were reluctant to flip through the
channels, afraid they’d encounter too many news programs talking about them.
Alex hadn’t watched much TV of late, having many better things to keep him
occupied with a house full of women fascinated with him, so they’d all gotten
used to reading, talking or playing cards together. The women and his family
had appreciated it, since it allowed them plenty of personal time with him in
the weeks before he left. But, as a result, no one was very interested in
watching anything.
Grinning at them, Cate pulled up the adult movie channel.
Even though she wasn’t legally able to access the pay-per-view channels, the
hotel had the normal HBO teaser channels. She selected one that had a well-built
gorgeous guy with a beautiful woman. It was clear from their teasing manner
where the scene was going.
“Really?” Alex asked. For as many women as he had in his
life, all he needed was to watch yet another naked woman that he didn’t
even have a connection to.
“Hey, you may not need it, but some of us like to see a
little variety occasionally,” Cate protested.
“Ugh,” Gail commented. “I just hope they don’t show any
naked male parts.”
“Don’t worry, they have strict rules what they can show on
television. It seems it’s OK to show fully naked females, but they can’t show a
guy with an erection, so they don’t show any of the guy’s junk at all,” Cate
said, speaking from an unknown reference source. “Besides, you see plenty of
Alex’s junk and that doesn’t seem to bother you.”
“You forget what it is that I’m able to see,” Gail reminded
her. “With Alex it’s like making love with an otherworldly spirit. I don’t so
much see a throbbing male penis as I see a shaft of light drawing me into its
flowing energy. Besides, you don’t really think that’s realistic?” she
asked pointing at the guy on the screen, who was already shirtless. “The only
guys that look that pretty and that built are self-obsessed gay guys. I doubt
you’d find many straight men that look like that. At least, any that you could
stand.”
“Still, I’ve never been able to watch this kind of thing at
home, and the internet porn is just plain disgusting,” Cate tried to justify
herself. “I was hoping to see something to inspire me.”
“Well, if you have to picture someone else when making love
with your brother, I can understand,” Gail teased, “I’d suggest you picture
someone like Beyoncé. That’s what I usually do. Luckily Alex has plenty of
women around I can focus on.”
“Well, as much as I like the ladies, I generally need a good
looking guy to get my motor running. The girls are just a nice side dish. They
add spice, but Alex is my main staple.”
“Now look at that,” Gail protested the latest scene on the
television. “How can anyone believe a woman being satisfied with a guy only
going down on her for 15 seconds? No wonder there are so many lesbians if all
guys are like that!”
“Well, I can’t speak for anyone else, but Alex has always
spent quite a while every time he’s allowed to,” Cate said.
“Yeah, but then again, for him it’s like a breath of fresh
air,” Gail commented. “When you’ve got to screw someone, excuse me, ‘make love’
to several people every night, you relish the opportunity to do something
different.”
“Amen to that,” Alex observed. “Say, speaking of which,
since there’s no one else around tonight that needs special attention, how
about a little oral lovemaking for a change?”
“I’ve got no objections to that,” his sister replied with a
smile.
“Well, since he can only do one of us at a time, how about
we form a daisy chain? That way you can eat me while your brother is doing
you,” Gail suggested.
“Uh, you realize a full daisy chain would involve you
munching on Alex’s dick?” Cate reminded her.
Gail couldn’t help herself and made a sour face. As much as
she loved Alex, she found she enjoyed his making love to her while she was
distracted by the other girls. While she enjoyed his reactions when she occasionally
went down on him, it was hardly one of her favorite activities as she tended to
focus more on the fact she was sucking a dick than she did on the energy she was sharing with him.
Now going down on Cate, that sounded much more attractive, she thought
to herself.
“How about if Alex does you, and you do me?” Cate asked,
seeming to pick up on Gail’s thinking.
Once again Gail made a face. “While Alex is good at what he
does, he hasn’t have enough experience with it to overcome his disadvantages.
How about he does you, then when he makes love to you, you can do me?”
“Uh, guys, isn’t this conversation getting a little off
course?” Alex observed. “Here we are, three adults watching an adult video,
talking about making love, and so far no one has taken off any of their clothes
or revealed any boobies.”
“Good point, what’s taking you so long? Let’s see your
boobies?” Cate teased.
At this point Alex growled and tackled his sister. While he
held her down and blew raspberries on her throat, Gail moved around and swiftly
pulled Cate’s jeans off. It was always impressive just how quickly Gail could
strip a woman out of her clothing when she was properly motivated.
“If you’re going to spit on my fleshy parts, at least do it
to more useful fleshy parts,” Cate advised with a laugh, causing Alex to smile.
He moved down slightly, shifting her t-shirt revealing her naked breasts. He
blew another raspberry on her breast, and then headed south once again, finally
reaching her naked crotch, where he went to work to disprove the aspersions Gail
had cast on his abilities.
As Cate lay back, enjoying what Alex was doing for her, Gail
quickly shed her own clothing. She got up and moved over Cate’s head, slowly
lowering herself down over Cate’s face. Cate was a little perturbed, since she
really did want to see someone new for a change, but she decided a live
pussy beat a 2-dimensional pretty face any day.
Soon they were going at it. Alex was licking his sister,
while Cate was sucking Gail off, while she played with both her and Cate’s
breasts, the TV completely forgotten.
Alex was delighted. He hardly got to go down on anyone any
more, despite how much he used to do it, and like Gail had said, he really
enjoyed the opportunity to do something different for a change. He loved Cate’s
aroma, as she always had her own unique scent. Alex guessed it was because she
had her own diet, generally avoiding the burgers and fries he usually ate on
the road. The women had all given up on eating Brussels sprouts long ago, based
on Gail’s recommendations, but they still ate several things that weren’t ideal
for such things. But Alex had enough experience that he found each woman’s
scent slightly different, and he could almost recognize a given woman just by
her scent alone.
Alex could hear a muffled moan, signally just how much Cate
was enjoying what he was doing, though he had to admit that Gail probably had a
good point. He really hadn’t been doing this enough to keep up his skills. He
supposed he’d have to insist on practicing more often. Unfortunately, the only
people that seemed to allow him to go down on them were Kitty and Chalise,
since they couldn’t appreciate the extra charge absorbing his energy gave his
girls. Even Cate got enough from it that she rarely gave him a chance to do
this.
But there was a method to Cate’s choice of activities for
the night. She wanted Alex to forget about his obsessively careful lovemaking
tonight. She knew he always struggled to maintain his composure, timing his
lovemaking carefully in order to give his women the maximum benefit a shared
orgasm produced. She knew he rarely let himself go, even as she knew the
dangers he faced when he did let himself do so. When he lost control, he
could fuck himself into the hospital. But having just fed him a large dinner
she felt they could give him the benefit of the doubt this time.
She was very aware of the limitations he imposed on himself
with all of his women, and she wanted him to let loose for a change. She
figured doing so would allow him to relax in a way his nightly lovemaking with
so many women hadn’t. Besides, after so long of doing without, she figured both
she and Gail would appreciate some wild sex for a change. As much as Cate had
worried when Alex had that attack the last time he let and enjoyed himself, she
had to admit it was a lot of fun.
Gail wasn’t thinking any such thoughts; instead she was
enjoying what Cate was doing for her, trying to ignore the obnoxious sounds of
male grunting still coming from the television. While she found it adorable
when Alex did it, she still found it obnoxious when she heard some stranger
doing it. While Alex had been busy the past week, she’d been forced to watch
one beautiful woman after another strip naked for him, while she maintained a professional
demeanor. She was ready to get some herself, both a royal screwing by Alex as
well as diving between Cate’s delicious thighs. As tiny as Cate was, and as
much as it bothered her knowing she was committing statutory rape every time
she made love to her, Cate always held a special place in Gail’s heart and
loins.
Alex assumed he was doing fairly well for himself, given how
well Cate was reacting to his ministrations. She’d already had a couple of
small orgasms, and Gail seemed to be enjoying herself. However he soon found
his sister pulling on his ears in the tale-tell signal that it was time to get
on with it. Glancing up at Gail, she simply nodded at him, confirming his own
thoughts. When Alex moved away and proceeded to strip, Cate pushed Gail off of
her for a moment, her own jaws beginning to tire anyway.
“OK, Alex, I want a royal fucking this time. None of this
‘lovey-dovey’ nonsense. I want you to screw me senseless. Just fuck me like
you’ve wanted to do with each of the girls you’ve been with all week. Use me
like you really want to use everyone else but are afraid to. I can handle it.
Neither Gail nor I are likely to break from a little hard riding.”
Alex glanced at his sister as he quickly jacked his cock,
trying to get it to full hardness since he’d been between Cate’s thighs for so
long. Normally Cate appreciated his slow lovemaking, so he was a little disturbed
to hear her talking like this, but he saw the hunger in her eyes, and realized
she was ready for a little more than they normally did.
Having jacked himself to full thickness, he moved up on his
sister. Since Gail was crouching over her face there wasn’t much chance of any
full body lovemaking anyway, so he simply lifted her thighs, elevating her
crotch, and shoved his way into her. She moaned, still not reconnecting with
Gail so she could fully react to the renewed connection to her brother.
As Alex started fucking his sister, Gail realized Cate was
distracted, so she climbed off of her. This gave Cate a chance to lean up on
her elbows as Alex was still holding her thighs up as he aggressively fucked
her. Now this is what each of us needs, she thought. Gail lay down beside them
and started kissing Cate, despite how much her head was moving around due to
the actions going on further south. Still close herself, Gail guided Cate’s
hand to her own crotch. Cate knew well enough what she wanted so she started
fingering her, but Gail was in a similar mood to the others, and she wanted
more.
She stopped Cate, shifting up a little more. “Use more
fingers,” she gently instructed her, and Cate took her at her word,
fingerfucking her with two fingers, then three, and finally with all four. It
seemed Gail was ready for some rough treatment of her own. However Gail stopped
Cate’s hand once more, pulling it away from herself as she closed Cate’s hand
into a fist and moved it back to where it was.
It took Cate a little bit to figure out just what was going
on. She’d never attempted this before, and she was distracted by the pounding
Alex was giving her, but she’d heard of it, she’d just never known anyone who’d
ever tried it. Luckily Cate was fairly slight, and thus had small hands. She
tried pushing her fist into Gail’s pussy, with no luck.
“Slip your fingers in first, and then close your fist inside
me,” Gail instructed, apparently having done this before. Cate did as she
instructed, slipping her four fingers into her, then once they were fully
inside her palming her thumb until her whole hand was inside her, then she
managed to close it into a fist, hoping she wasn’t hurting her friend. But Gail
moaned as she did so, so it appeared she was fine with it.
Gail knee walked closer to Cate so she had a better angle,
and Cate began fistfucking her friend. This was something she’d never have thought
of herself, but she found it strangely empowering. She thought it must be like
Alex felt when he was fucking her so wildly, almost like she had license to do
whatever she wanted to. She knew she had to be careful, but she felt so
powerful fucking her friend with her whole arm, even if the motions were in
opposition to those of Alex powering into her.
Alex watched this all taking place, not believing it even as
he watched it. He’d known that Gail had a wild side, but he hadn’t seen much of
it in the past. Sure, she loved getting everyone involved with at once, but
she’d never gotten overly physical during their lovemaking yet. But this was a
whole new side of her. As Cate’s fist continued to shove into Gail, she
shuddered. Glancing at Alex, and observing his wide-eyed fascination, she
simply winked at him and whispered, “Give it to her”.
So Alex did, letting his own inner demons loose, pounding
away into his sister, no longer mindful of who she was or what she represented
to him. He knew his other two lovers were enjoying themselves, and that neither
one had any reservations about what was happening, but their actions were so
different than his normal procedures that he had to shake his head about what
they were doing. But those doubts weren’t reflected in his cock, which felt
more alive and harder than it had felt in a while.
Soon Alex’s motions became too strong for Cate to be able to
continue with her lateral motions, so without removing Cate’s fist, Gail moved
up. Seeing what was happening, Alex stopped long enough to help Cate turn over,
all the time holding himself fully in her. They ended up with Cate on her knees
with Alex fucking her doggy style, but now Cate had free access to Gail’s cunt,
and she could apply Alex’s powerful thrusts as she fistfucked her friend.
Once again Cate couldn’t believe just how much fun it was to
do this. What she’d once shivered at the thought of, she now decided she had to
try some more. Being so small, she knew she couldn’t quite manhandle anyone,
but here she was, fucking Gail to within an inch of her life, shoving a good
portion of her arm into her every time Alex shoved home inside her. The novel
feelings of being so in control were too much for her, and aided by the fucking
she was getting, she shivered in a delightful orgasm.
Her shiver vibrated through her fist and arm, sending Gail
over the edge as well. Gail had done this a few times and had enjoyed it, but
she realized she could only do it with a select few people. She’d been tempted
to try it with Kitty before, but hadn’t wanted to risk scaring Alex’s
girlfriend off. But now she remembered why she liked it so much. While not overly
huge, Gail was a big woman, and could relatively easily handle Cate’s small
hands.
Gail’s juices were running down Cate’s hand as it moved in
and out of her pussy. No, in this case it isn’t a pussy, Cate reminded herself.
In this circumstance, it definitely rates the title of ‘cunt’. So Cate
continued to pummel Alex’s bodyguard, just as Alex was doing it to her. She
suspected they might have trouble walking in the morning, but for now she
couldn’t imagine anything hotter.
Suddenly Gail gave out a mighty cry, and she shivered around
Cate’s hand as even more cum flowed out along her forearm. Cate continued to
fuck her with her whole arm throughout Gail’s orgasm, and she felt her
brother’s thrusts become even more energetic. But as Gail finally slowed,
gently removing Cate’s hand, Alex didn’t even slow down, now fucking her full
force. Cate started to worry about her brother once more, as he kept going and
going, even after the rest of them had already cum several times.
“May... maybe you could give Gail a chance?” Cate suggested.
Alex recognized Cate was tiring, and eased up, preparing to disengage.
“No, she stretched me out pretty well,” Gail informed them.
“You wouldn’t be likely to feel much if we made love right now. You’ll have to
give me some time to recover before we can fool around.”
“Well, in that case, you’d better see if you can get Alex another
snack,” Cate said. “As I feared, Alex is going into overdrive again.”
Once that was worked out, Alex couldn’t resist thrusting
once again. He knew he was wearing Cate down, but he was close, and he’d been
working for a while, so he was anxious to finish as quickly as he could. Cate
braced herself against the headboard as Alex began to up the pace of his attack
once again. Hoping to help a little, since he seemed unable to halt his
actions, Alex started playing with Cate’s clitoris as he worked on her.
“Damn, every time someone turns you loose there’s just no
stopping you, is there?” Cate asked rhetorically, not really expecting an
answer from her brother. He merely grunted. Now that he was leaning over to
play with her while he fucked her, she could once again feel his energy
coursing into her and it gave her renewed energy to withstand his onslaught, so
she started pushing back into him. With that little bit of encouragement, Alex
returned to his previous rapid pace. By the time that Gail returned carrying a
bag containing cookies, juice and fruit, Cate had collapsed on the bed, and
Alex was screwing her as if she wasn’t even aware. Cate groaned, while Alex
growled. He finally reached his limit, shoving hard into her one last time as
he blasted time after time into her. Cate groaned again, whether in ecstasy or
pain no one was quite sure.
“So, should I be treating you or Alex?” Gail asked.
“Mrph hrm,” Cate responded, her face still buried in the
crumpled blankets.
Gain knew what that meant, so she handed Alex the juice and
began feeding him the cookies. “Man, whenever you don’t face someone directly,
you turn into a wild man,” she observed.
“I thought the same thing,” Cate observed, finally rolling
over so her face was clear of the bed sheets, “but I think it’s just because
he’s only been able to do it twice. If you had to eat Cream of Wheat two times
a day, every day, then the first time someone offered you potato chips you’re
going to eat yourself sick.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Gail conceded, as she continued feeding
Alex.
“I’m sorry, I know I get carried away,” Alex said. “I’ll try
to control myself a little more when we continue, but damn it, when you shove
my sister’s arm up your twat, you’ve got to expect things to heat up.”
Cate didn’t know about Alex, but she wasn’t about to
complain about his ‘getting carried away’. She’d always felt energized after
making love to Alex, refreshed and inspired to do better, but now, after Alex
had let loose and let his inner demons out, she felt like she was about to explode
from all the energy coursing through her. She briefly considered whether Alex
should try this with his girls, as the extra energy and the stronger emotional
connection from Alex might boost them even more, but she was afraid to mention
it for fear of what it might do to Alex if he was expected to perform like that
on a nightly basis. Instead she just smiled and nodded, agreeing with his
observations.
“Yeah, I might be expecting a bit much to think you wouldn’t
take that as encouragement,” Gail replied with a smile.
“So how are you feeling, Alex?” Cate asked, finally leaning
up on her elbow.
“Oh, I’m fine. Tired, but fine. Luckily I just ate, and Gail
brought me another snack before I got into any trouble, so there wasn’t any
problem. But how are you?” Alex asked Cate.
“Worn out. Man, when you get excited, you’re a damn fucking
machine. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade that for all the tea in China,
but it’s such a change in pace from what I’m used to, it’ll take a little while
to recover.”
Alex took that moment to get up and stretch. The thin sheen
of sweat that covered his body was starting to cool, so he grabbed an old
undershirt and tried to wipe himself down.
“While we’re recovering, you know we need to call home,
don’t you?” Cate asked him. “Everyone is sure to have seen the news accounts of
us today, and they’re likely to be worried to death.”
“Yeah, I was thinking that myself, though I’ve been a bit
distracted of late,” he added with a leer. “How about you give them a call?” he
asked.
“Call them yourself,” Cate replied. “You didn’t get yourself
fucked into oblivion. You may not have melted my mind, like you do so often,
but you certainly put me through my paces.”
“Personally, I don’t think either of you is in any kind of
shape to do anything on your own yet. Hold on and I’ll call,” Gail told them as
she reached over to retrieve her phone. She dialed the number, and when it
started ringing she handed it to Alex. Not even knowing who she’d called, Alex
took it from her and waited.
“Jennings residence?” he heard his mother answer.
“Hey, Mom, thought we’d give you a call and let you know
that we’re all still alive,” Alex told her.
“I’m glad you finally called. We’ve been listening to the
various news reports. Fox seems to be in a particular tizzy about it.”
“That’s because Clara made the mistake of calling, assuming
she could talk some sense into them. Instead they attacked her and she wasn’t
prepared for it, so she made a couple of stupid statements. Luckily they
weren’t really interested in listening to her. If she’d called one of the more
seasoned reporters, we would likely have been in a boatload of trouble.”
“Look, before we get too far along, let me just say that
Becky is anxious to talk to you. She would have called sooner, but she thought
you’d be too wrapped up in other things and didn’t want to disturb you.”
“OK, Mom, put her on and I’ll talk to her, but don’t worry,
we got out of New Orleans OK. It was close, but we didn’t suffer too much
damage. We really had to expect some exposure at one point or another.”
“Hey, stud,” Becky said as she picked up the phone. “Can’t
go anywhere without causing riots, huh?”
“No, trouble seems to always be following me. Hopefully I
won’t be around anywhere long enough to attract too much adverse attention, but
I’m not counting on it, as now everyone in the country is likely to have heard
about me,” he answered.
“Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something specific.
Something has come up, and if we’re going to act on it we need to do it pretty
soon.”
“Yeah, go on,” Alex prompted.
“Well, it seems the lab where I work is suffering from a
drop off in government funding, so they’re talking about letting some of the
researchers go. Since they have to cut back I thought this was a great
opportunity, so I went ahead and told them I might know of someone who could
help out. To cut to the chase, I told them we might be willing to lease their
equipment to do our own DNA research.”
“Gee, Becky, isn’t that a bit...” Alex started to ask.
“Now before you get upset, let me just say that I already
ironed out the details. I told them you were only interested in the equipment,
and that it would only proceed if I was officially in charge. No one else would
see any of the results, we wouldn’t ask for any analysis, and I’d zero out the
machine’s histories each night after we finished using them. No one would have
access to any of our information.”
“Wow, it sounds like you’ve really been giving this some
thought. And here I thought they just suggested this.”
“Them? They were ready to just lay everyone off,” Becky
explained. “No, I thought about it and considered all the options before
mentioning it to anyone. I told them I’d take an unpaid leave of absence, and
suggested we’d pay them for the use of their machines. Everyone comes out
ahead. However, it also means it will take a long time to examine the results.
That’s what really costs so much doing DNA research. It isn’t the machine time,
which is significant. It’s all the thousands of man-hours examining the tons of
reports they produce.”
“So what about us? Where does that leave us if we can’t
examine the results ourselves?” Alex asked.
“Well, it leaves us way ahead of where we are now. I figure
we should do a full genetic workup of all of your women, but the Seers in particular.
I figure we’ve got enough now that we should be able to do a statistical
analysis and hopefully discover which genetic markers are associated with our
abilities.”
“Our abilities?” Alex pointedly asked his sister.
However she just laughed.
“Yeah, that’s what I said. I already feel so much a part of
your organization I tend to think I’m just like the rest of your women. And I’m
not alone. I think the other girls from your high school that are helping out
this summer feel the same. They’ve really been helping out a lot. But anyway,
the main thing is to just record everything we can so we can examine it in
detail later. I’ll have to watch the lab work, just to ensure no one tries to
see what it is we’re doing, but there’s this other girl there that I trust.
I’ve hinted about you and she’s taken it pretty well, so I think we can bring
her onboard. I’d like to have her watch the machinery while I do a preliminary
analysis. We can both go over the results at night. I don’t know if we’ll come
up with anything very quickly, but at least we’ll be making an effort.”
“This sounds like you’ve already figured everything out,”
Alex told her. “What do you need from me?”
“Duh, I need you to authorize it. This is going to take a
fair amount of money and a bit of effort. Anh tells me the Foundation can probably
afford it, but it’s going to put a strain on your resources. But I think if we
could identify what differentiates the Seers from the Watchers from the
normals, we’d be a long ways ahead. Ideally, maybe someone can figure out how
to do a blood test to determine who’s a potential follower of yours?”
“That’s expecting an awful lot. You’re already talking about
a dearth of talent, and now you’re suggesting mixing researchers, chemists,
biologists and blood experts? Let’s just keep to the basics. Run your tests. Do
whatever you need to do. But make sure we keep the data secure. OK? We don’t
need to leak anything just when everyone is starting to take an interest in
us.”
“Will do, bro. I won’t let you down. I realize just how big
this is and what it represents, so I’ll watch over it personally.”
When Alex and Cate finished talking to everyone else, he
relayed what Becky had asked of him. Cate was excited, but Alex remained
guarded.
“Cate, I assume you still have Anna LeForge’s phone number? You
remember her, the Missouri policewoman we met outside of St. Louis? If Gail
could give her a call and have her do a quick check on this friend of
Becky’s, just to make sure she won’t be a potential security risk. You never
know what someone might be bringing to the table. I’d feel a lot better if we
at least pretended we were watching out for ourselves.”
“I’ll get right to it,” they both agreed, clearly excited by
this newest possibility. It was clear they were both too fascinated to focus on
any more lovemaking at the moment, so Alex called Kitty and Chalise to chat
while Gail and Cate started scheming about what this newest idea of Becky’s
might uncover.