# Note to Readers
This story has a surprise ending. I am posting it for you to read in the hope some of you will be willing to help. I need you to guess who/what the swarm is in order for me to determine if I have given enough clues so you'll feel you should have guessed, but not enough to give away the ending. Please send your guesses to gnilgdelf@gmail.com.

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# Prologue

# A Virgin to Lie in Thy Bosom

Something Is Wrong Here!
The Other Side of the Story
First Contact
Master the Tempest is Raging
My Soul’s Mate
Is Willing-Slave an Oxymoron?
Insight of a Superior Mind
Rescue

Unwilling Master, Willing Slave

A Life of Betrayal
With the Help of Angels
The Best Defense is a Good Offense
Shock and Awe

    Key Words

And the Wall Came Tumbling Down

Chapter 17

JOINING

A5CD2 was happy. The essence, which was necessary for the nest to propagate, had saved the carrier from being lost and was close enough for the continual exchange of information directly between gametes and segments. The two seemed to become contiguous, almost as if they were overlapping images.

That continuity was almost always a prelude to propagation, so the gametes were unleashing a flood of chemical signals designed to encourage the carrier to maintain it. Even though it was unclear exactly what the effects of chemical messengers would be, the instructions that regulated the gamete’s behavior made it clear that they would increase the probability of propagation.

So whenever A5CD2 sensed the physical presence, it began searching for the presence of foreign messengers, those originating from outside. It was time to open communications on a new and deeper level.

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

Back at the restaurant, George asked Jake to work with Agent Thomas to track the phone number the doctor had given and suggested that they get a warrant for a wire tap. The number should be monitored for a while before doctor’s message was called in. While they planned that, George began quizzing Marcus to find out how to acquire a Court Order to control the FBI and its agents.

At first, Marcus didn’t think it was possible to get a Judge to sign an order before the next morning, but after discussing the people they could bring to support the order, he agreed to call a Judge and try before the day was over. Minutes later, all 4 men rushed off, leaving George and Courtney by themselves. “Shall we have that lunch we didn’t have time for?” George asked with a smile.

Now that they could relax, George and Courtney engaged in one of their favorite activities, feeding each other from their own plates with fingers. A very pleasant hour passed before they were interrupted by a call from Marcus. He’d gotten a temporary injunction until a hearing could be held the next day and all 4 of them were coming back.

The time passed so quickly that George was startled by a touch on his shoulder. His friends had seen the intimate game he was absorbed in and didn’t want to embarrass him.

When they were seated, George asked Marcus if he could get by on a $5000 retainer with half now and half on Friday. With a smile, Marcus answered, “I have a feeling I should be paying you, not that I could afford to. This is almost certain to hit the national media when it breaks. Yeah, pay me what you can.”

The talk of the retainer turned the conversation to the subject of how George was suddenly able to generate that much surplus income, so while they ate, George and Courtney spun a tale of their success at the swap meet. The glow on her face as she described the way the girls opened the boxes and played with the fascinating toys kept the men spellbound.

George began explaining how they were planning booths in 2 swap meets for 4 days, how they’d have preferred space and ushers to control the customers. He thought it a good probability they’d take in $100K by Monday.

He finally returned the conversation back to their problems by asking Agent Thomas how and when he’d serve the injunction on the captive agents. With a smirk, the Agent informed him that the Judge had allowed him to continue holding them until the hearing tomorrow afternoon and if the injunction were made permanent, to continue holding them indefinitely.

“When can we go back to search Doctor Van Bergs home and office,” Courtney asked. “I can’t bear to think of the other girls he’s enslaved.” George could feel her concern, because she hadn’t said a word in conversation with the others all day. He wondered if there was something specific she was worried about. Could she be aware of one of the other girls?

“George, you seem to have an uncanny sense of timing. Do you think we should jump on it tonight?” Jake jumped in before anyone else could speak. “Where are the doctor’s personal effects? Were the computers from his home and office picked up in the search? Did he have a computer with him when he was arrested?” George asked.

Jake answered, “We have them in our evidence locker, whenever you need access to them. I’ve been told by both my technical people and the FBI’s, that breaking the encryption will be expensive and time consuming. We’ll keep working on them, but don’t count on quick results.”

“I’m convinced that anything of significance to us will be behind that encryption, so push as hard as you can. What I’d
like you to do, is to contact the banks he used both for personal and business purposes and see if he had a safety deposit
box. If you find one, get a search warrant.”

Thoughtfully, George concluded, “We do want to search the doctor’s personal space, but as long as we have secured the items our enemies might try to remove, I don’t believe its urgent.” With a sudden inspiration, he asked, “John, is it possible there’s more than one Dr. Van Berg? Could you check and see if he has a brother, father, or even a cousin. Have you come up with any leads that would help identify who the doctor treating Courtney was?”

“We’re hoping to get her together with a sketch artist tomorrow. The difficulty of finding pictures of all the practicing psychiatrists is going to make that a long term, low probability investigation, but we’ll do what we can. Finding out if the doctor has family won’t be hard, though.”

“Can you get a list of all the male Van Bergs in the state? Dr. Van Berg is a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit yet. There are too many things we don’t understand. Agent Thomas, can you run a background check and see if he has a record?”

Before anyone could answer, George’s cell phone buzzed. <“Hello, may I speak to George Marshal?”> … “This is George.” … <“My name is Travis Altman. Sheriff Dansie filled me in on Courtney’s situation and asked me to call you. I did a little checking and if you and Courtney are available to meet, we could resolve her inheritance by the end of the week.”> … “Where could we meet?” … <“I had to drive down in for Court this afternoon, so I am at the Courthouse downtown,”> … “We’re meeting with a number of other people trying to resolve some of the threats Courtney faced, at a restaurant out towards Nellis. It’s on your way home, so it’d probably be easiest if you could stop by,” George offered.

After giving directions, George looked up to the stares of everyone else. “Marcus, have you ever heard of a transfer of an inheritance being completed in less than a week?” he asked.

“Well, it would have to be a single beneficiary, uncontested and a friend of the Judge, but it could happen. Are we talking about Courtney?”

“Yeah, the Sheriff and Judge up in Lincoln County referred us to an attorney who will be here in a few minutes to explain it all. Courtney, it looks like some of your worries are over. At least the ones that involve money.”

In an interesting twist, the conversation shifted to the subject of Courtney’s conditioning. Even George was fascinated by her description of the way physical contact with him produced a sense of security.

Someone asked if she still had free will or whether the conditioning forced her to obey. The explanation of the happiness her obedience produced juxtaposed against the depression caused by even the thought

of George’s displeasure left them astonished.

When George expressed his concern that the emotions Courtney described were outside human norms and were more akin to religious fervor, a debate ensued as to whether that was good or bad. Finally, George suggested that it would probably be good if the object to which the emotions were directed was good, bad if the object were evil and everyone else wholeheartedly agreed. “You know there are hundreds of conditioned slaves out there that will all need someone to tell them what to do, don’t you?” George asked, getting only adamant stares in return.

Just then Travis Altman arrived and everyone but George and Courtney decided that a 6 hour lunch was long enough. After promising to be in touch first thing in the morning, they left.

“Miss Dobson, I persuaded Judge Adams to urge the bank to cooperate and even though you hadn’t yet retained me, I was able to find out that in spite of your mother’s pecuniary circumstance, the estate you’ll inherit will be substantial. Sometime in the last few days, your mother deposited about $50,000. In addition to that, she had the house and property with a heavy mortgage, but carried mortgage insurance. That means that the property comes to you free and clear.”

“A rough estimate places the total value of the estate at well over $300,000. I understand there’s also a safety deposit box that can’t be opened until you can return and be present in person. Judge Adams has assured me that if you retain my services to draw up the papers, he’ll sign them immediately. Do you want me to take care of this for you?” the attorney concluded.

Courtney turned to George with a smile that could only be described as beatific. “My Master, now I have something of worth to offer. All that I have, all that I am, is yours to command. Tell me what you want me to do.”

The attorney turned to George with a look of angst. “Master? Is this some kind of game?”

“Definitely not a game,” George answered, “but it is a very involved story. If you really want to understand, please ask Sheriff Dansie and tell him he has our permission to relate the whole story. Please believe me, you’ll have less heartburn if it comes from someone that you know is giving you the hard cold facts. Of course, we’ll retain you. Do you have a retainer prepared?”

“I’ve heard some of the story and have a fair idea what you’re talking about. It’s just that hearing about it and seeing it first hand aren’t the same. The one thing I can’t understand though, is why they had all those people involved just to condition one girl.” With a trace of worry, the attorney presented George with the agreement and after reading it, George set it down and ordered Courtney to sign it. The look of ecstasy on her face as she obeyed made the attorney’s head spin.

Handing a copy back, George asked, “Is it possible to access the box on Wednesday? If not, it’ll have wait until next week. I have a feeling that there’s something in it we should know about sooner, rather than later.”

“I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll do my best to expedite it and call you tomorrow,” the attorney answered. “I’m afraid I must be on my way. It’s still a long drive. It’s been an interesting experience meeting you both. Until tomorrow.”

As the attorney was leaving, his comment finally dropped into place in the puzzle. Without the slightest doubt, George knew why there had been so many people to cover the bases and help enslave his Angel, and the knowledge filled him with dread. It was all he could do to hide his fear as he took his Angel home.

When they finally arrived home, Cary was in bed asleep. George was dead tired, so seeing his drooping eyelids, Courtney began stripping the minute the door was closed. Then in a voice packed with all the love she could load into it, she turned towards the bed and asked, “A little help please?” She wasn’t even disappointed when she realized that George was gone seconds after his hand cupped her breast.

George was happy that the transition to The Engineers world was instantaneous. He had so many questions, he couldn’t decide what to ask first. Finally, his scientific curiosity triumphed and he wished for the mental movie they’d showed him of the way Cary’s dog had been impregnated. The idea that sperm could be encapsulated, sucked up by a mosquito, injected back into another body and delivered to fertilize an egg seemed preposterous.

The specifics of the hormones and enzymes used was just barely familiar enough to overcome his doubts. But then the
problem became one of logistics. How did they move the encapsulated sperm to the spot of the mosquito bite? How did they control the mosquito? How could they make the dog’s body act the way they wanted? Each question was answered by technical data that was so far beyond George’s expertise, he couldn’t even begin to guess if it was possible.

What he did understand was that The Engineers were asserting the ability to communicate with all life on a cellular level. It wasn’t in an intelligent way, like a conversation, but in a biological way. It was a technique that allowed them to understand the state of an individual cell’s life processes and to influence them. The whole concept was so alien to his experience that George could barely make any sense of it.

To help him picture it, The Engineers showed him an analogy of a car engine with a sensor to read the temperature, timing, battery charge, oil pressure and vacuum. Their ability to communicate was similar, except it involved thousands of variables. George wondered where the city could be to allow The Engineers to communicate with his family who were scattered all over the country.

In keeping with their policy to tell him nothing about themselves, he was left to wonder. Was it possible they existed in another dimension? When nothing further was offered, he mentally asked for a clarification on exactly what they’d promised Cary. The answer was so convoluted, he wasn’t sure it actually answered his question. The Engineers were apparently concerned with a goal they didn’t expect to reach in his lifetime. They tried to give him the impression that his actions would shift the time required to reach the goal forward or back depending upon how well he followed their suggestions.

The existence of his and Cary’s child would advance the probability of achieving the goal into the potential range of his own lifetime. Focusing on the goal, George got a picture of peace on earth, the lamb and the lion side by side and swords beaten into plowshares. Before he had time to think, his original question was answered by comparison.

The promise to Cary was in the same form as their promise to him. Not allowing him time to think, The Engineers showed him an image of a brick wall between him and the promise they’d just made. Each brick was labeled with one of the reasons he had for not fulfilling their promise to Cary. The list was complete, even beyond the reasons he was consciously aware of. The label of each raised the issues it represented in his mind.

1. Incest

2. To young

3. To old

4. Not fair to child

5. Dangerous world

6. Loose respect of friends

7. Breaking the law

8. Outside Society’s conventions

Without the need of a hint, George knew they were going to tear down his wall. They started with his incest hang-up. The concept of an engineered taboo designed into the brain was presented. It came with a myriad of conditions and details that made it obvious that it matched real life observations. The taboo was balanced against the need to have children on one side and the need to succeed, (experience pleasure) on the other.

The way it was presented left no doubt it was simply a restraint and not a biological mandate.Its purpose was to give each person the highest chance of a proper set of genes for a healthy life without sacrificing the opportunity the have children when no potential non-family mates were available. Once he accepted that premise, George was assured that The Engineers were capable of selecting the best set of genes from his and Cary’s with no chance of the recessives that created genetic anomalies.

Once George was prepared to see his objections dealt with, The Engineers battered half the wall apart in a single blow and in a way that left him astonished. They offered to have Courtney host the embryo. Too stunned to think, he rode a mental merry-go-round, flitting from one half formed idea to the next. Before he could recover, the next blow was delivered. They offered to repair his body and assure him of another 40 years of healthy life so he’d be there for his children.

If he’d been given time, George would have resisted being manipulated. To prevent him from creating new reasons, The Engineers focused his attentions on each of the bricks lying scattered before him and showed how the plan obliterated each. The bricks exploded into dust as they were dealt with. At the end, he was dismayed to find that he could nolonger perceive any of them as a reason not to cooperate. Finally, he seized upon the only thing he could find as a futile attempt to resist being manipulated.

Picturing it as a speed bump he wouldn’t cross, he wanted to know if they’d shown Cary that the baby wouldn’t be one she’d carry. He instantly knew they hadn’t and felt a perverse pleasure in dropping the monkey wrench into the polished machinery. Instead of acknowledging defeat, they accepted his objection and agreed it would have to be dealt with. Then they attempted to instill some measure of their own motivation in him by playing a mental overview of three thousand years of history.

Side by side with the rise and fall of each of the great civilizations, they played a mental movie of a scientific experiment in which a colony of rats was allowed to expand in a closed habitat with limited space and food. At the end, they showed his own country at the verge of collapse. All the symptoms were there, rape, robbery, murder, corruption and slavery. The collapse was inevitable, but it wouldn’t be the same as other collapses, because technology had given his culture the resources to destroy freedom permanently.

Expecting their pitch to end, George was surprised when the overview of history was expanded instead. In a single diorama, the influence of two opposing outside forces was added to the picture. In opposition to The Engineers, another group was working to take away mankind’s freedom. The march of armies, the rise of conquerors, the desire to rule the world was not an accident, it was the effect of a cunning plan.

The Engineers had always been a balancing force, taking action to restore freedom without taking it away. But now, the march of history had reached a point where balance was no longer possible. Either mankind would be enslaved or the forces of freedom would prevail.

George couldn’t prevent the collapse, but he could lay the foundation for a new civilization that would rise from the ashes.

The story reminded George of something he’d read;

From the viewpoint of the 5th century Christian tradition, Lucifer is seen as having been second in command to God himself; he was the highest archangel in heaven, but he was motivated by pride and greed to rebel against God and was cast out of heaven, followed by a third of the host of heaven. In later Christian tradition and folklore, Lucifer was identified explicitly with Satan.

Abraham 22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the
intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among
all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in
the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood
among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he
said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before
thou wast born.

24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said
unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there,
and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon
these may dwell;

25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things
whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they
who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the samekingdom
with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second
estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.

27 And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto

the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said:

Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.

28 And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that
day, many followed after him.

An alien feeling of great satisfaction filled him when he asked if The Engineers were GOD. In response, he was made to understand that most of the receivers throughout history had perceived them as “GOD”,but that it would be a disadvantage for George to do so. Before he could follow up, he was filled with a warning. His Angel was in danger. Not Courtney, but still his Angel. He must save her and to do so, he must wake and go to Lincoln County. And they added that he and Cary must continue taking doses of the drug every ten minutes so they’d be there to help when needed. Then he was asleep and dreaming with a song ringing in the background.

You can talk about ye' man ob Gideon
you can talk about ye' man ob Saul
not a man like good ol' Joshua
an' he was de best man of all 'dat mornin'.
Joshua ...
When the chillun of Israel begin to march
Seven times roun' an' roun'
Ol' Joshua commanded de sun to stan' still
An' de sun did never go down 'dat mornin'
Joshua ...
Den de lamram sheep horns begin to blow
Trumpets begin to soun'
Ol' Joshua commanded de Chillun to shout
An' de walls came tumblin' down 'dat mornin'
Chapter 18 Unintended Consequences
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Reader's guesses about the story's surprise ending.
Great story, very interesting. Cannot guess where itds going, but can't wait.
Would like to be notified when new chapters are available.
_____________
i am guessing that the engineers are going to repair George. If so, will this also give
him a new hand? Courtney seems to be as much a communications device as a salve.
I wonder if Courtney is related to George. Something with the girls is causing people to
gather, spend money and in general be happy. Is this fermones?
____________
Very difficult to give you my idea of ending as I don't know how many more
chapters there are. This story could continue in many ways. The Swarm could
become more prominent as we now know that there are at least 2 and the other
one may also have a carrier on Earth. We have already been informed that the
self repair system has malfunctioned in George but is being repaired so we
can expect that at some time he will be whole.
We then need to consider whether he is immortal (long lived) and will be
able to counter the proposed threat to both Earth and the Swarm. This may
become clearer when the threat is identified.
So as I say too many possibilities at this time to make a sensible guess.
_______________
Interesting story. The Swarm and the Nest ARE the people, pretty much:
the "carriers" with intermediate time perception. The 23/46 reference early on is
obviously to genes, for example. So far it appears that the Swarm is males
(exemplified in George) and the Nest is females (exemplified in Courtney and Cary);
this would also fit with the nature of a swarm and a nest, and also fit with the political
anti-feminist theme running through the story. Oh, and "best receiver for 2000 years" is
obviously suggesting that Jesus was a super-receiver too. As a guess, the quantum
entanglement involving Courtney-Nest or Cary-Nest could be with Jesus' mother Mary;
this would fit with the various religious references in the story so far.
______________
I made one "guess", to expand on it, our hero will rejuvenate [completely]/some type,style
of harem/blossome[never could spell] to a man of power [good man]... the cause???
his own hind [subconsious?] brain/the way all brains should work,but misplaced that function...
would enjoy to help in any way I can..
____________
Hmm, the clue below only strengthens my belief in a swarm of nano-computers (like used by
Michael Crighton in his novel "Prey"). The carriers are obviously the humans. I cannot see any
role for the nests. Any new thoughts I have about the ending I will let you know, as I have read
only the clue yet, the rest of the chapter I'll read later today.

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