Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2008 09:11:15 -0400 From: Ron Subject: TEEP chapter 16 "Altare One, confirm ETA three minutes. Thank you Altare One for accepting our.Altare One status change.WE ARE DECLARING CODE PATIENTS.I REPEAT WE ARE DECLARING CODE PATIENTS." Aaron's heart skipped a beat before his voice carried over the ship, "Altare One confirms you are coming in CODE PATIENT times two," he got out before bolting for the elevator, "Altare One Confirms hot landing and unload." Betty looked confused for a moment at the radio traffic; she had no clue what was just said. She turned just as the bio-tube shot upwards, and grabbed Carl before he had a chance to get very far, "What does Code Patients mean?" Carl looked at her and tried to be nice as he saw that she was confused, "It means both those young boy's hearts just stopped, and now we have just minutes to get them started again, or brain damage will set in and we'll lose them, now I really have to go, Aaron's going to need a hand." Betty looked at her camera man and cleared her throat after a moment of staring, "I think that for right now, we are going to end this broadcast, as much as I want to know what is happening and you probably do as well, I am not about to interfere with, or distract the doctors as they try to get those little boys hearts working again. Please join me in praying for the well being of those two little ones, if we are not able to continue broadcasting, the least we will do is to interrupt our programming to let you know what happens with those two little boys.this is Betty Wilder for CNBC." Betty looked at Chris after Phil nodded his head that they were off the air, "If we leave all of our equipment down here, can we go up to the patient floors to talk with some of the parents and look in on some of the kids, just to check up on them, I give you my word we will not use their names or anything in our broadcast other than to state the patients they saw on camera are fine and expected to be released fully recovered and a date." Chris looked up like he was thinking about it, but pathed Aaron for permission which he gave "Follow me, please, I'll take you up to the next floor where the patients are, though knowing Aaron, the two kids being choppered in will be treated on the floor right below the helipad, two floors further up and he will bring them down after he has them stabilized." Aaron took the elevator up to the helipad, and walking out to the landing area, he saw that the two stretchers had already been released from their brackets and three people and Theo were standing there grinning at him when they saw his expression and the lead British surgeon spoke out, "What? You think we are going to let you have all the fun, besides, you look knackered. You supervise, and your residents will assist." Throwing his arm over a grinning Theo's shoulder, he looked Aaron straight in the eye, "Besides, Theo here was nice enough to show us which end of the scalpel to pick up." he was able to hold it for exactly a count of ten before losing it and doubling over in laughter. Aaron stood there shaking his head before hearing the sounds of the chopper approaching "Altare One, we have you in sight be advised we have status change we are Code Patient times one.confirm hot landing." Touching the side of his head to activate the communicator Aaron noticed they were all business now that the chopper was in sight, the joking was over, "Mercy One LZ clear acknowledge patient change."seeing the chopper hovering above the deck as it turned three hundred sixty degree's before dropping rapidly. Evidently the pilot was lining up the side door to the elevator. Knowing that too many people around a helicopter that still had the rotors going full out was not a good idea; he stood off to the side and watched the seamless action of the British surgeons. Hearing the engines high pitched whine as the pilot applied the brakes, he smiled as he overheard the pilot tell his dispatching hospital he was out of service for the next hour or so, seems that he had more curious visitors, last time he gained two people when that happened. Standing just inside the elevator as the two kids were wheeled inside, Aaron waited until everyone cleared the doors before closing them and pushing the button that would drop them one deck, in the blink of an eye the doors started to open and the first thing he saw was Carl and Gordon standing next to two of the bio-tubes, IV cuffs in their hands. Four surgeons and two residents for two patients, Aaron was beginning to feel like he was not needed, so he moved to the side and watched, ready to jump in if needed. "Damn, would you look at all this, I saw it on the television but still to see it in person," the voice of the flight nurse spoke out next to him. Grinning Aaron turned slightly so he could see him while keeping an eye on the monitors "Well these are some of my third most favorite toys." Laughing, James looked over to his partner hovering near the end of one of the bio-tubes "James.James Murphy, third year resident, I was drafted by Don over there.Don Cook when he heard there would be an extended extraction involving a couple of kids. I absolutely hate to fly and was thinking I would not be much help after needing to get my heart started when we took off." "You know those are the luckiest couple of fourth years in the history of medicine, they get to start out using all this, and it will be second nature to them long before anyone else even becomes comfortable working around it," James sounded wistful, not jealous. "We were watching CNN, when the call came in and when the boys started crashing and we realized we were only a couple of miles away, well." "Theo, this lad's liver and spleen are Bollocksed up, fractures all over the place what's your normal procedure for this, back home we would probably leave them, but have to go back in after a couple of days after they failed." William looked up from his patient towards Theo on the other side of the room. Aaron moved closer, if he was going to supervise, he might as well jump in, "Carl, what does the boy's scan report on perfusion of the Liver and Pancreas?" he asked, moving aside the flight surgeon, so he could look inside the bio-tube to see the organs in question. "Pancreas is at ten percent.no it just dropped to nine percent and the liver is at fifteen percent," Carl answered, reassured that Aaron was here, after all, he only read about using the equipment in the data base the other night. "Pancreas is toast." before remembering that the British would not understand the slang "The pancreas is a total loss, we'll have to re-grow it from scratch." Aaron reached around Carl's body and told him, "Watch closely, if one would tap the liver to make it the prominent screen, and then outline the damaged section and place an X in the middle, and then inquire to the system by tapping this icon." William glanced up at the monitor to see the results; he would get someone to show him what was tapped to get those screens to come up. But seeing that if he removed the two lower lobes perfusion increased to ninety percent, he went back to work, he had a Liver to reduce. "So by doing a reduction, the Liver perfusion goes to an acceptable level and we can regenerate the removed sections anyway.so if I have a question of how much of a damaged organ to save, I can use this diagnostic to help make the determination," Carl smiled after getting clapped on the shoulder, he remembered the dressing down he got for making a statement to Aaron on letting the machine do the thinking for him.it had not been pretty. Letting Carl go back to fusing the broken bones, Aaron walked over to the other patient and looked inside the bio-tube to see that Theo was closing up and Gordon was also working on fusing bones. "Well, I can see I'm not needed; when you're done here there is room in pod M-fourteen for them." Aaron slipped out and went to the steps leading to the lower decks, walking into the pod, he made his way to the central desk and sitting down behind the terminal, he called up each bio-tube one at a time and read through the reports, making notes in the treatment section before moving on to the next, he chuckled at the thought of what was going to happen. Returning with her tray of sandwiches, and tree ripened fruit that she would not be able to get in the states, Mandy set the tray down, and hearing the chuckling, "What's so funny," she could use a good laugh. "I was just remembering how horrified both Carl and Gordon were during their first morning rounds, how they felt totally drained.that was when they only had one shared patient, now they each have four or five. Tomorrow morning is going to be fun," he told her, laughing, mischief in his eyes. Laughing, Mandy sat down, "And being the cruel evil boss, you are going to forget to tell them about rounds until they start, aren't you?" she snorted, before sipping her Coke. Moving on to the next patient after sealing his findings, he would see if Carl picked up on the scans in morning rounds, so no sense in letting the cat out of the bag early, "I noticed you showed up right before the caravan of patients.not that I'm not very grateful for the help, but I was not expecting you until tomorrow night." Mandy swallowed and nodded her head, "True and I almost didn't make it in time before the circus arrived, but we live close by, and I saw on the news that instead of the Prince, we were expecting, that in its place was an ultra modern hospital ship, I knew something major had changed. If you just wanted to show off your equipment, you would have used the bio-tubes in the Prince's med bay. So I threw on some clothes and rushed right over, oh I should have said something earlier, but my husband and I accept the positions," and giggling, she looked over "and guess what? I can start immediately." Aaron continued to review the charts when a thought hit him, Mandy was eating sandwiches, where the hell did they come from, most of the food is still in the warehouse. "Chris," Aaron pathed "Just where did the food come from? Last time I looked, this tub only had emergency rations on board and whatever you guys took for supper with you last night." "Calling this overgrown cruise ship a tub might fit, give me the smooth streamlined lines of the Alteran Prince, any day, what Joe sees in these things I'll never know. As far as the food, John made a call this morning before we docked, his catering staff showed up a half hour ago with food. Until the kids started to arrive, he was walking around the lower decks mumbling about food and inadequate supplies," Chris sent laughter along with "it was all I could do to remind him the Asclepius would be setting sail tomorrow night and it didn't need to be fully stocked, which sent him off into another tizzy about the main kitchen not being stocked yet, he didn't calm down until he went into the warehouse and saw all the food stocks sitting there waiting to be shipped back..I swear the drama queen in him came out enough to set off every gaydar in the state." "O.K, well asking if he was gay or not did not really come up, anything else I need to know about?" Aaron finished going over the charts in this section, "Enjoy lunch, Mandy, I'm off to the next pod." "Several things, the media is down to Just Betty Wilders van, she is still wandering around, wants to have a quick word with you before they pack it in, so if you can see your way to do that quickly, security would appreciate it. And speaking of security, a lot of those scheduled for interviews tomorrow morning have shown up, they have volunteered to help out until we get around to telling them which division they will be working for, along with them are some of the people Theo invited over tomorrow, seems just like Mandy, they saw the Asclepius dock, on the news, and have come to help out which is a good thing because I just got a request from someone calling themselves Med Tac General, requesting an open bed count, it came over an open frequency used by the ambulance services, it was still active as we are waiting on three more kids from the referrals." Chris sounded confused before listening to one of the nurses say something about, this most likely was a test "Susan, one of the nurses that showed up said something about they do weekly tests of the disaster network, just in case, so what do you want me to tell them?" On his third patient chart in the new pod, Aaron thought a moment, "Tell them we have two hundred Trauma beds and one hundred and fifty general beds.but also warn them we set sail tomorrow at 21:00 hours. As soon as I finish these charts, I'll hunt down Miss Wilder." Aaron pathed back moving onto the Prince's chart as his grandmother walked in. Reading through the reports Aaron smiled; the prince was a very good looking young man and would make a full recovery, finishing his notes, and since this was his patient totally, he started to program in the treatments in the order he wanted them completed. The queen, gazing down at her grandson noticed the monitor screens scrolling information at a fast pace, so she walked over to the desk where she saw the man responsible for saving the life of her grandson and the others. Not sure on how to thank him once again, or even if he would accept the thanks, she thought back a few moments to when she sat in the dining lounge below decks, off in a corner listening to one of his Captains joking around about him with John, and not in a derogatory way either, more like affection. "I have noticed some interesting things today, did you know that your head chef is also cross trained as a medic.of course you do; are all your people cross trained in the medical field also, I noticed your Captain Banks was busy helping run these wonderful pieces of technology." Looking up as the voice of the queen interrupted his thought processes Aaron smiled in greeting, "Most of my people have the drive to be the best possible person they can be, Chris loves being in command of the Alteran Prince, and on the open sea," pushing back from the desk after locking in the treatments, "he also has a doctorate in engineering and spends his free time designing more outlandish submersible's. he's an officer and very much aware that he leads, so has worked hard to have more than a passing familiarity with every department on his ship, which includes knowing how to activate the med bay and use the bio-tubes just in case." Laughing, Aaron stood up and walked around the desk, "I stole him from the U.S. Navy.well they didn't want him, or his lover, any longer because of them being honest and true to themselves. "Shrugging, "He also lost several of his crew from not being familiar with the medical department aboard his last ship; in the U.S. it is highly discouraged for officers to cross train out of the chain of command." "The news about my grandson being here will more than likely hit the evening news broadcasts, along with the information of where we are. MI-5 sent me reports through Thomas, my grandson was not a target; he and his friends were visiting a club that was being targeted because the lads that hung out there tended to be bent or friends of lads that were." Placing her hand on the bio-tube, the queen gazed at her grandson's face "I don't suppose with all this wonderful technology you can prove if being bent.if being gay is truly genetic and if my grandson was injured because he is." "I of course could scan the DNA of any patient and find out that information, there are a series of eight genetic clusters that if you have at least six of them, you would be inclined to act on being gay, all eight and the person is definitely gay.but I won't do it just so you can know, even if I ran the scan, I would not tell you. I might tell your grandson if he asked and had a valid reason for asking," Aaron told her, as he moved over to the side of the bio-tube and glanced down the teen's outwardly healed body, making sure his eyes did not linger on the teen's crotch. The queen stared at him for a moment before sighing, "I suppose you're right, it is going to be a nightmare though. The press is like a pack of dogs sniffing for any rumor so they can print it in all the most horrific ways possible to stretch it as far from the original truth as possible for headlines." "I am prepared to deliver into your hands, several items that will ultimately be helpful in fulfilling your desire to rescue gay youth that are in danger or homeless." She turned to face him, "Title to a section of docks that were, until recently, home to a navel division, they should prove useful for docking the Asclepius or her class on our soil. I am also declaring those docks and naval base, as Alteran soil, in the hope you will convert the Navel hospital into something that resembles this hospital. In return for creating and running a hospital on the Embassy, I am willing to issue a letter of Marque giving any Alteran Diplomat the right to rescue gay youth anywhere in the commonwealth and ensuring that the horrible monsters that would purposely hurt our children because they are different are tried under your laws once they step foot on Alteran soil." Aaron was shocked; what she had suggested was something that totally circumnavigated her government. It was a slap in the face to the majority of the ruling body, making a bold statement that the crown did not trust its own governing party to do right by its citizens. "You realize that this will topple the current government, and the statements you are making by doing this, don't you?" Drawing herself up to her full height, she nodded regally, "I know exactly the statement I wish to make," pointing her finger towards the wall and the next room, "if it were not for the fact that my grandson was recognized, those boys would all be dead, as no rescue efforts by the authorities were forthcoming in any way what so ever, the shameless piss ant bullocks eating bloody fools were waiting for the moment to be too late before starting, MI-5 made it very clear in their reports, that no rescue efforts would have been made until it was too late, as there are too many poofters in the world as it is, according to the chief constable." This was the type of opportunity that shouldn't be passed up, Aaron walked away for a moment, thinking about what she offered. An official base of operations with a government mandate to do what he would have gotten around to doing anyway, "No promises, but the Asclepius will dock at that Navel base on August twenty sixth, sometime in the morning and we will tour the facilities and make the determination then, as much as I want to say yes, and just agree to this, I need to make sure this will be doable." Smiling widely, the queen held out her hand, "I do hope things work out as I hope. I will have the blueprints and plans of the naval base and facilities brought over, we can go over them when we make landfall at your wonderful hospital, and I can take the time to relax at the island hospital. as much as my advisors are against it, I will be coming along to keep my grandson company and be there for him when he is released." Aaron nodded his head as he really did not have anything against it, after all, all the other parents were expected to go along, "Can I expect your grandson's parents to show up before we set sail or will I have to send a plane after them?" Seeing her curious look, "my kingdom is surrounded by an energy field that freezes anything electrical that comes within our boundaries, unless they have a device on board to negate the field, it would be very messy if they tried to fly into our airspace and refused the warnings to turn back." Nodding her head, eyes wide in surprise, advanced technology in the medical field was not the only thing they had in their arsenal, frowning, the queen turned away as she replied to his question, "it is a good thing my grandson over there, is from my third son." she whispered," the fallout over disinheriting a son closer in line of succession would be terrible." Shaking her head, she turned back, all business once more, "I'll have a word with his cousins to see if they wish to come along, they always did get along fantastically, if so, I will have them here well before we set sail." Moving towards the door, Aaron prepared to say his goodbye for now, "Well, let Chris know for sure if I'm not around, I'll probably drop in after supper to check on them as I have quite a lot of things to take care of." Leaving the pod, Aaron ran into the reporter as she was coming out of pod M-14 "Ah Miss Wilder, Chris told me you wanted to have a word, and I have a few moments, not much as I am on a tight schedule right now with the unexpected arrivals. So how can I help you?" Smiling, she walked over, "They told me both boys are going to eventually make a full recovery and are listed in stable condition. I was even allowed to record the statement by the physicians in the room." holding up her hand as she saw his frown, "we did not broadcast that live, but recorded it, Phil is out at the van right now working on dubbing the copy that will be sent to the network making sure there is no way the boys faces or lower bodies could be seen.my word is important to me." "I just wanted to let you know that our broadcast this morning went out live over all the cable news network's and the switchboards are buzzing with calls. Brad interviewed the Stevens family alongside the initial surgeons that treated the boys and he included photos and documentation that proved without a shadow of doubt this is not an elaborate hoax in the eyes of the public." Betty smiled as she dropped the next bit of information, "our call center is logging thousands of calls an hour from people asking how to get more information and even your embassy's telephone number so they can contact you directly." Leaning forward to whisper conspiratorially Betty smirked, "A certain CEO, from one of the biggest health insurance companies faxed over a polite request to pass along to you, asking for your fee schedule so if you wish, we can place it on our web site for people to download." "I'll email it to you if you give me your address," Aaron agreed, thankful she did not want anything else as she handed him her card. "Give me an hour to get lunch and I'll have it sent to you." He secretly smiled when she thanked him and headed towards the stairs leading to the gangway, she was off his ship and she did not pry into anything non medical, some of the technology on board, he was not ready for the world to find out about yet. All in all though, this went very well, and he felt he had discredited a lot of angry reporters, which was always a good thing. "Aaron, do you have a moment?" Aaron ducked around the corner after receiving that pathed message from Pete. Smiling and sending back love along with his message, "For you or one of my guys, anytime.what do you need?" Getting back pride and love in return, along with excitement from Pete, "We want to know if you are going to be much longer; Kevin has a few things he needs to talk to you about and Rolland made a small breakthrough.well he reached out anyway. A short while ago while he and Derrick were on the beach relaxing, while David helped Tommy move a few things at the sea farm, anyway, I'm getting off track. Rolland reached out and grabbed Derrick's cock and started to stroke him and as Derrick encouraged him to continue, he actually smiled and leaned in and kissed him." "That's great, where is he now?" Aaron pathed back, "I have to talk to John about the food service for all these people, but I should be there in ten minutes." Pete giggled before pathing, "After licking up Derricks load while Derrick ran his hands through Rolland's hair, and telling him how much he enjoyed it, he curled up in Derrick's lap and went to sleep. That's why we called we thought you might want to check on him." "I do, I'll port directly to the sea farm we can all have lunch there," Aaron smiled at the good news as he entered the kitchen, looking for John. Spotting him in the far corner talking to someone that looked a lot like a younger version of John, Aaron made his way over grinning, full of mischief, "Hey Jon, I hear you were muttering vulgar threats under your breath about me in front of the queen." John blushed then paled, "but.but.no.one was." Seeing Aaron grinning and his brother laughing, he cried out indignantly, "Hey they were not vulgar." Aaron held his side as he laughed, "Good, I would hate to have to hold you down and wash your mouth out with soap." Scott smirked at his brother, "Or spank your bare ass until it is as red as your hair." Aaron really grinned as he picked up the surface thoughts from both guys, they were gay and lovers so that answered that question. "I take it we have your brother to thank for not having to order takeout.so thank you and if you ever want a job, talk to me, after all, it would be nice to keep the two of you together." He ignored their shocked looks and John's worried expression, "John, we'll load up the cargo to take back with us so the hospital kitchen is fully stocked and ready to go, so if you can make sure your brother can provide enough food for tomorrow and breakfast on Saturday for the parents of our patients, I would appreciate it. I'll take care of making meals Saturday and Sunday so you can take over come Monday morning as originally planned." Still seeing the shocked looks, "Tell you what, why don't you both take off and spend some time together until supper time, you can ride back with the food and take off after deliveries each day." Aaron was getting a lot of fear from John and a little from his brother, "Oh for heaves sake, you two.haven't either of you heard about Gaydar, evidently yours is broken after being around me or my lovers." Sensing they still were not convinced, or at least John was still worried, Aaron stepped close and pulled Scott into a passionate kiss, before doing the same to John, "The both of you are lucky, so relax, will you.and Scott, I was serious, if you want a job so you can stay with your brother, I'm offering." Shaking his head John whispered, after getting over how hot he was watching his boss kiss his brother like that, "But what about everyone else, incest is not exactly as accepted as being gay?" "Meet me in my office after supper, and we'll talk. Instead of living on Altair Minor, since you both are gay, you could live on the main Island of Altare itself, you will only get jealous looks there, I guarantee it." Aaron smirked before making his way to the door, intent on reaching the bridge before someone else needed something. Entering the bridge, Aaron made his way to the command chair and activated the gestalt pulling power from it to port out, porting himself to the sea farm near the large tanks. Looking around, Aaron spotted Tommy and David working over by the control complex "What are you guys up to?" he asked, after making his way over to their side. Tommy, hearing Aaron's voice, glanced over his shoulder, "Good, you're here and can unlock the reactor so we can get power going to the farm." He was very excited, and after handing over to Brian the plans he drew up for the truck farms and groves, he could start the Aquaponics project full time. "I should have known you would get bitten by the Aquaculture bug, you're a natural for it," Aaron laughed as he pulled Tommy off the chair and into a hug, leaning over his shoulder so he could reach his mouth for a kiss. Releasing him with a grin, Aaron swatted his bare butt before groping him and stroking him a time or two, "go let everyone know I'm back and bring lunch while I get the reactor up and running." Whispering in his ear before letting go, Aaron promised him, "Tonight, my bed, you, Kevin and my cock and your ass." Flipping around in Aaron's arms, Tommy kissed him back before jumping down and running off. Reaching out, Aaron pulled David into a hug, kissing him in greeting, "I hear that Derrick made a breakthrough of sorts with Rolland earlier." Nodding his head, "Rolland, out of the blue, turned and looked at Derrick, I had told him to watch Rolland and encourage him in anything he might try to do that would not hurt him, and he reached over and touched Derrick's cock which was half hard. Derrick said he smiled at him and told him that it felt good, which caused him to smile and start to stroke him, he kept encouraging him to stroke him as he scooted closer and then he said when he started to cum Rolland leaned in and kissed him on the lips." Stepping behind Aaron who had taken the seat in front of the terminal and logged in, David placed his arms over Aaron's shoulders so he could play with Aaron's nipples, "Derrick offered to take care of Rolland and even went so far as to start to stroke him which caused him to reach over and lick up all of Derricks cum he could find and share it with him in a kiss, afterwards, he just moved slightly so Derrick had to let his cock go and curled up in his lap nose plastered to the base of Derrick's cock and went to sleep." Rearranging himself, Aaron finished starting the warm up cycle of the fusion reactor that would power this facility, "Damn, now you've got me all hot and bothered and I still have." David leaned over Aaron's head and captured his mouth with his own, thus stopping the protest with his tongue. Reaching down, he unbuttoned Aaron's pants and started to pull his shirt up after releasing some of the confinement in Aaron's pants. Tommy, along with the rest of the guys, returned to the control center with lunch, mostly sandwiches and stuff, to find David trying his best to strip Aaron while Aaron tried to get the reactor up and running. Dropping the cooler he was carrying, he grinned and ran over to see if the reactor was up yet, and seeing the screen blinking 'warming cycle complete' and asking for DNA verification to start the reactor, he slapped David's hands away from Aaron's now shirtless chest, "Hands off.at least until he gets the reactor up and running, after that he can fuck you silly." David glared at Tommy playfully, "Hey it's not like Aaron gets as much as he needs, always putting us first." "I know, and it will only take a second to avoid having the reactor blow us all up then we can take turns feeding our loads to Aaron, I got so hot the other day when your brother fed our loads to him.but time's running out," Tommy pointed to the flashing warning box on the screen." David glanced over, not really believing Tommy, thinking it was more of get things done then play they had all been doing this morning, and saw the red flashing warning box, releasing Aaron's hands, he twisted the chair back around before placing Aaron's hands on the terminal touchpad. Chuckling, Aaron shook his head and entered the codes and commands for the reactor to be brought online, "It would not have blown up, but it would have taken a couple of days to cool down before we could try again." routing power to the breakers and pumping station, Aaron turned away and grabbed Tommy, "There, finished, now that you got your wish, and this section of the island has power, we are going to talk about this idea of yours, to feed me," Aaron pulled him close and feeling someone tugging his pants, lifted his butt off the chair enough to help out whoever was trying to get his pants off. "I'm starting with you," Aaron told him, as he picked Tommy up under the arms and placed his feet on either side of the chair so he could lean forward and swallow the stiff cock now pointed at his face. Tommy moaned out in surprise, when his mostly hard cock disappeared in Aaron's warm mouth. Moaning in pleasure, he quickly became very hard and started to gently thrust in and out of the tightly suctioning mouth. Looking around the circle of guys slowly stroking their own stiff cocks, Tommy moaned and several minutes later, stiffened and arched his back as he started to cum into Aarons mouth, groaning loudly as Aaron's tongue swirled the head of his dick, trapped there by his foreskin as he fired his load. Aaron finally released Tommy's cock after it had stopped firing its load and smiled at the glazed look in Tommy's eyes as David, who had moved behind Tommy helped him down. He was quickly replaced by Fred whom Mark lifted in place and stood behind to keep him balanced, arms around his chest so he could caress his body above where Aaron was sucking. This was the first time Aaron had touched Fred, and slowly sucking the stiff cock jutting between Fred's legs into his mouth he reached between Fred's legs to fondle the stiff cock attached to Mark's body. It did not take long before Fred was thrusting in and out of Aaron's mouth lost in the pleasurable feelings he was receiving from the mouth around his hard cock and the hands roaming his body, all to soon he was stiffening and unloading into Aaron's eager mouth. Helping the very relaxed Fred down off the chair Mark being real close stepped forward and thrust his cock towards Aaron's face telling him "I'm so close." Leaning forward Aaron closed his lips around Mark's cock and moved his tongue around the rapidly swelling head as Mark climaxed, firing his load into Aaron's mouth whole body trembling as his orgasm hit and he shot off his load. David who had started the whole thing reached over and captured the few drops of precum from Aaron's hard cock and ran the finger across his tongue, he had decided he would go last so he motioned Derrick to move forward and take Mark's place once he moved to the side. Aaron smiled up at Derrick before licking the drop of pre-cum off the tip of his cock, licking his lips, Aaron slowly moved forward over the hard cock enjoying every taste of it as it slid into his mouth. Derrick who had been stroking himself moaned with pleasure and desperately needing to cum whispered, "Please.I need.please." Taking his mouth off of Derrick long enough to order him to cum, Aaron rapidly sucked Derrick off until he felt the head of Derricks cock swell, moving back so his tongue was tasting the freely flowing pre-cum Aaron used his hand to bring Derrick's foreskin up over the top of his cock head thus trapping his tongue between the foreskin and the now spewing head as Derrick moaned and climaxed filling Aaron's mouth with his seed. David's hand was under Derrick's balls so he could feel when he stopped Cumming and was ready to explode. As soon as he felt the spasms stop and Derrick relax his body slightly, he nudged him out of the way so he could replace Derrick's cock with his, shooting his load the moment Aaron's lips met his hard cock. Leaning back in the chair Aaron pulled Tommy back over "Who's going to take care of this while I go for seconds," stroking his hard cock a couple of time for emphasis. Mark grinned and stepped forward and bent over to take Aaron in his mouth, feeling Fred slip behind him and slip a slick finger into his ass to start to loosen him up, he had whispered instructions to Fred while Derrick and David were having a turn he planned to take Aaron's load all right, but not with his mouth. Getting a feel for the size of Aaron's cock, for when he sat on it, with his mouth, Mark, slowly, oh so slowly, worked his mouth around the hard cock wanting to make him last. Feeling Fred's third finger enter him, Mark clenched his ass briefly, the signal to move with him and Lube Aaron up, before he sat down. Grinning, Mark stood up and slowly moved so he could kiss the back of Tommy's neck before feeling Fred tug him gently, telling him to sit down. Feeling Fred guide Aaron's hard cock to his stretched hole, he sat down on it slowly, tongue leaving a trail down Tommy' back until he sat down completely, all of Aaron inside him, tongue licking Tommy's tight hole, he started to ride up and down on Aaron's cock. Aaron, feeling something slick that belonged to fingers wrap around his hardness, moaned around Tommy's cock, he knew he was right a moment later when he felt something warm and tight slowly slide down his hard shaft. Thrusting up and down in time to Marks sitting down and rising up, Aaron increased is suction on Tommy and was rewarded when he felt him start to swell up once more before firing a smaller load than before. Once Tommy was truly spent and listing slightly in bliss, hands reached over and helped him down off the chair and Aaron could see clearly it was Mark riding his cock, smiling the whole time. Leaning forward, Aaron pulled Mark close and as their lips met, Aaron stood up still impaled on Mark and turned around so he could lower Mark's back onto the chair, supporting his hips in the air as he picked up where he left off with his thrusting in and out, this time with a lot more control over speed and the depth he was achieving. Five minutes later, Aaron felt the build up and if he had the time, he would have slowed time to prolong the act of making love, but instead, sped up and quickly reached his climax, only slowing down somewhat after planting his seed deep inside Mark, so he could reach over and stroke him to completion. Gently lowering Mark's spent cock, Aaron stopped thrusting, staying inside Mark, holding his hips in the air while Mark rode his high. A hand reaching out from around him, caused him to look over his shoulder to Rolland, staring at the puddles of cum his fingers were running through before he brought his fingers to his lips with a smile as he sucked them clean, glad he was close enough to touch him, Aaron sent his mind searching for the spark he had anchored earlier, hoping to find some part of the person he used to be, inside the spark. He was saddened when he could not find any personality inside Rolland at all; everything he was doing was pure instinct. Feeling himself start to wilt, as the sadness of the situation hit him, Aaron stayed still until Mark's body expelled him, that way his seed had the greatest chance of staying inside. Spotting Kevin, Pete and Tim standing and grinning at the edge of the building, he sadly pathed all three of them, "Rolland is not in there, guys, it's all instinct, a clean slate.he won't be coming back." Now that he had slipped out of Mark, Aaron picked him back up and helped him to stand, pulling the grinning teen close, he kissed him before moving over to the table where the rest of the guys had spread out the food. A few steps away from the chair, Aaron noticed Rolland was not with them, still standing where they left him, stepping back he touched his arm and pathed a visual image along with speaking the words, "Come sit down, Rolland." Feeling the blank mind grab on to the words and associate it with the image, Aaron felt a slight spark of hope, so he explained his findings and told everyone the best way to retrain Rolland's brain. "So Tommy, why the hurry to start up Sea Farm, after all, it will be several weeks before I can get fish stock," Aaron asked, after making another sandwich. Running over to the office door, Tommy went inside and came back with a book, "I found your stash of Aquaculture books, and was reading this one on land based salt water systems, it states you need to have the system up and running at least a full week before even thinking about introducing fish, plus, with the system up and running, it is going to take me a good couple of weeks to make it through this book and practice on the systems before we order the fish stock." Using a pickle spear as a pointer, Aaron looked at the gleeful face, Tommy had changed somewhat and it was not related to sex, it was as if he truly found himself. "If you truly want to do this as a future career, the tutor is not going to be able to help you much beyond helping you master biology, genetics and oceanography, you are going to end up spending an hour a day with me, learning the practical part of the course work, as I have played around with small scale systems in all three areas, I expect we will kill a great many fish together, before you master this." "I really want to do this, I've already started to go through the books and lists on the freshwater farm the past couple of days and I will hand over my notes for the truck and fruit farm to Brian when he shows up this weekend, it is more in line with what he has grown up doing and loves to do. I know he will be thrilled to be able to add all the tropical's that he was never able to grow before, we talked briefly about it last night, and when I call him tonight, I'll talk to him again about taking over that part of the farms. I think he said he would be arriving in San Francisco sometime tomorrow afternoon, his father is looking forward to the new start." Tommy grinned as he explained what he had been planning; planning sounded so much better than scheming. Aaron looked at Tommy before grinning and tapping the side of his head, which had become the universal sign for telepath here, I know what you're thinking. Then he laughed at Tommy's blush, "I agree planning sounds so much better than scheming." Looking back and spotting his pants off to one side, Aaron ported them to his hand to the awe of everyone at the table, "you'll be able to port objects after mastering porting yourself; I'll practice with you until you get the hang of it once you get the feeling of pulling power from the gestalt." Pulling his P.A.D.D. out of his pants pocket, Aaron placed it on the table and started to input commands, activating the pumping stations in reverse, causing a huge burst of bubbles out in the ocean half a mile off shore to the amazement of the others, once they saw it. "I'm just blowing out the intake's that bring ocean water to the farm, if I didn't do that, anything that had decided to make their home in the pipes would have been sucked up into the intake blades and possibly fouled them, causing a huge mess, and a lot of work," looking towards Tommy, "something that would not have been in any of the books or database material you have read." Nodding his head that he understood, Tommy sat back down across from Aaron and watched him start the systems up from his P.A.D.D. alone, "Can anyone's P.A.D.D. act as a terminal or is it just yours?" he was already thinking of the possibilities. Everyone, fully focused now on Aaron, waited for him to answer the question, "If that function is activated, any terminal you log into, your P.A.D.D. will be slaved into it. I programmed this to be a time saver for when I worked the farms, I could just enter what I wanted to happen right at tank side and the system would accept and execute the commands without me ever needing to leave the tank, very handy if all I wanted to do was add data to the records." Looking up after starting the pumps filling the sump tank, the tank farthest and highest from the ocean, all water would flow into this tank first, before hitting the filters and flowing into the others, he saw Mark's eager expression which seemed to scream out, 'Teach me', and then Tommy's turned into a frown. "I'll have to start wearing pants then, there goes my all over tan," Tommy sighed, before it set in that the tank being filled was the furthest one away, "I thought you would have filled the ones closer to the beach first, not the one way to the back." Turning and tilting his P.A.D.D. so the diagram could be easily seen, Aaron pointed out "That tank is the sump, all water to the other tanks flows from that one so any joy riders can be filtered out, and notice that it is at the highest point, as the whole system is designed to be flow through." Seeing the confusion on Tommy's face, Aaron smiled, "another thing we will go over in the first lesson Monday morning, the author of the material you've read, assumes one knows what a flow through system means and all the other piping and pumps for each tank or section is supposed to be there as an emergency backup system." "Now to answer your complaint about having to wear clothes, I'll order in some more of the Velcro thigh pouches I place on my leg when I am out and about doing chores when the sun's up, I have a smaller one for my arm for my scanner. You know, after getting your wardrobe this weekend, you might want to keep a change of clothes, at least shorts in one of the lockers in the office of each of the barns." Aaron stood up and started to get dressed. The food pretty much demolished, David and Kevin started to clean up the table while Mark followed by Tim took Rolland to the bathroom, hopefully so he could relieve himself. Fully dressed and feeling a lot more refreshed and less stressed out, Aaron plopped Tommy in front of the terminal and Plasma and told him to log into the system. After directing him to several sections of beginners salt water fish keeping, he walked over to Pete and Kevin, "I was slightly surprised to not see the three of you join in the festivities after I arrived." Pete smiled, "The other guys asked if they could do this one time as a group, before the two groups merged, my job was to keep Kenny and Damien busy down in the city and they're having a blast, acting as tour guide for the new guys. Plus, we talked about it; we did have you all to ourselves at first, so it was only fair that they got the same." "We got a lot of porting practice in this morning; we took turns helping pack and move all of Kenny and David's things from their old apartment to the Clan Hall and our apartment. David and Derrick moved into the apartment next to the recreation center, the one with six bedrooms, and Tommy and Mark moved into the six bedroom one to the right of our place, calling it farmers hall, they were talking about putting a crest above the door of a tree and a cow's head and Damien and Kenny chose the one to the left. Kenny thinks it's cool that he gets to have his own place within our place, he also hinted that maybe the other young guys that have to wait to be altered can move in there with them." Kevin smirked at the direction he felt Aaron's thought go. Aaron glared a moment before tickling the smirking bearer of bad news, "He does know I'm not running a hotel, right?" letting the giggling teen go, Aaron slowly stopped laughing, "How did lessons go for the new guys?" Kevin became all business like, "The Miami group is really starting to bond nicely, I think by Sunday, they will be ready to start teleportation practice; they spent the morning studying for two hours, then practicing for an hour with their gifts. The two rescues, on the other hand, spent an hour so far practicing pathing with Tim, but have really dug into the tutor and not learning to shield their thoughts yet, they are searching for a way to fit in. I think you might have to have a talk with them, there is a very core fear of them being rejected again." Feeling Aaron's surprise that he picked up on something so deep, he added shyly, "Pete picked up on it, he's a lot stronger than Tim or I, he's also got a design he wants your approval on to build a prototype, that boy is space happy." Hearing the dig directed towards him, "Hey, at least I'm not mad," Pete giggled. "Email me the design and why you want to build this craft and what you envision its purpose being, I'll look at it in my spare time in the next couple of days and let you know what I think," Aaron smiled when Pete grinned. "Speaking of Emails," Kevin started, "you received several strange ones this morning asking for asylum, I turned the one over to Tim to check up on, the person that wrote it seems scared and says he's fourteen and he and his brothers are in danger as the porn guy is being investigated and he is afraid the porn guy will make them disappear." "Why Tim?" Aaron was curious of his reasoning before looking around and calling out, "TIM." to get his attention. Kevin smiled feeling only curiosity not anger for overstepping themselves, and then he felt a warm mental caress of reassurance from Aaron, that he would not think that. "Well it was after our talk the other night, it became obvious that Tim's career would be rescue and security, while I would make sure they had homes to go to and computers too and Pete would make sure they were protected by technology, Mark and Tommy, and Brian if he fits in, would make sure they had food to eat and would not go hungry." "I will show them discipline and order, I am really starting to learn what it means to be a master, the right kind, the one who places their submissive first," David smiled as he hugged Derrick's waist. "I shall show them that obeying others is not a sign of weakness, but strength in the trust of the ones worthy of your trust the most, and that it does not come with pain," Derrick smiled, as he saw Aaron thinking on their words. Seeing Aaron glance around the group and stop on him, Fred smiled shyly, "You heal their bodies, and I shall heal their minds and give them a new history to be proud of." "Clan Stranton LEADS!" Kevin said proudly, while Pete ended the motto with "and the others follow our lead because we care." Aaron was heartened that they took to heart what he had mentioned, sending a burst of love strong enough that everyone could feel it, he kissed Kevin before pulling the next one closest over to be hugged and kissed also. "Make sure to tell Kenny and Damien they have one of the most important jobs of all," Aaron told them so that the other two would not feel left out, "they need to teach them it is okay to be a kid, and how to be a kid again." Surrounded by naked teens, all touching each other as they hugged, there was nothing sexual about it at all, but to a religious zealot, being naked was sin enough it seemed, let alone if they saw this scene, they would call for nuclear bombs to be dropped on them. "Alrighty, let's get David and Derrick to the med bay so we can get started on their procedures.Pete, you and Tim need to get dressed; we'll port out as soon as these two go down for their naps, "Aaron smiled at David and Derrick to let them know he was teasing. "Fred, I'll ask that you take care of Rolland for now. Tommy." "Hey, what I'd do." Tommy laughed, as he looked innocent. "Nothing yet.help Mark out with the critters that have four legs if you would, maybe make sure the orchard is fully picked through and the gardens also, I expect to send most of it to Altair Minor tomorrow, since we're open for business early, it seems, come Saturday morning there will be a lot of hungry people to feed over at the hospital, and if Brian's father works out, he will have to play catch up with planting so all of our extras will be going there for a while. If you need extra hands, grab the six new guys to help out, they probably could use the sun." Aaron set their afternoon tasks, before motioning for David and Derrick to come over, "ok you two, let's get moving." Pete and Tim moved up behind Mark and Fred," Let's get you back to the other farm," Pete whispered loud enough for them to hear, before they ported them out. Kevin, smiling, moved over to Rolland and looked at Tommy, "I'll be back in a minute to get you and the coolers, I'm going to take Rolland first, so he is not left alone." Aaron smiled and could not resist a parting shot before porting out with David and Derrick, "That means no touching the controls, you don't have time, just grab your books." Tommy turned to glare at the laughing Aaron, but the only thing still around was the sound of his laughter, after porting out. Walking into the med bay with an arm around each of the teens, Aaron searched for signs of nervousness as they entered the trauma pod on their way through to the alteration pod. Not finding any, Aaron released their waists once they arrived at the bio-tubes, and told them to hop in. hooking everything up on Derrick, Aaron kissed him gently while reaching for the switch to turn on the soma unit, pressing the switch he smiled as the passionate kiss faded as Derrick went to sleep and his tongue just kind of hung there for a moment before slipping back into his own mouth. Moving over to where David was watching, Aaron repeated the process and after David was asleep, finished prepping them and starting the cycle. Chuckling, Aaron gazed down at their erections and wondered if going into the process all hot and bothered would affect them when they came out, though a person usually came out of the process pretty horny to begin with. Making a few last minute observations on Jesse, as he skimmed the reports, Aaron walked out into the hallway to meet with Pete and Tim; they were waiting patiently in the hall near the entry. Holding his hands out for them to take, he pulled them close once they grabbed on "You guys are incredible and you make me proud to be your lover." He told them and pathed the same to Kevin before porting them to the bridge of the Asclepius. Pete, ever the sponge when it came to technology, looked around the bridge taking in all the differences in this class versus the Prince, he was the first to look outside and see all the activity around the ship, "Um, what's going on?" he made his way to the window and looked out, "there's ambulances on the dock and two choppers on the landing pad and another heading our way." "What the hell." Aaron made his way to the window and looked out, wondering where the nice orderly world he left had gone. "I think it is time to find out." he stared at the controlled confusion on the docks, barely aware of the sounds of changing, from behind him. Shaking out of his shock, he turned just as Tim and Pete finished putting their shirt tails in their long pants, having changed out of the polo and shorts they had been wearing, the Clan crest was very visible on their left breast and Tim was holding out a matching dress shirt for him. Taking the shirt, he looked at his smartly dressed lovers questioning, "Someone found an embroidery machine.I knew the city was fully stocked, but where did you find one at?" Aaron asked as he changed shirts. Giggling, Tim smirked, "I bet you didn't check out the Clan Hall all that well then, it was boxed up in the supply room by the recreation center, we unpacked the rooms there and found a small section devoted to clothes, and Kevin noticed this huge assed packing crate and the machine was inside." Aaron tried to remember what was in the recreations center, he remembered walking through, but that was it, sheepishly he told them, "I never looked, I saw the different rooms and such and pretty much blew through the whole complex in minutes, I spent most of the past six months working in the compound, planting and nurturing it so it was what I wanted it to look like." Turning serious, Aaron fastened his pants, "there is way too much activity down there to be overseen by the handful of people I left here two hours ago, so mingle, and feel free to dip into their minds as deeply as needed, make notes on your P.A.D.D.'s and at supper, we'll go over your findings together, if you find a threat, feel free to put them to sleep and call Chris or one of the guards. Once I find out what's going on, I'm going to start the interviews and vet the security force so you'll find me in the warehouse office." getting nods in return and seeing their game faces were on, he started for the door. Separating in the hallway, Aaron ported to a closed room off of the triage bay that could only be opened from the inside and walked out to be greeted by a fully functioning emergency room. In fact, the doors to the area set up with bio-beds were fully open and patients were being treated by people in medical jump suits he had never seen before. Walking over to the desk where Chris was standing watching the monitor, Aaron startled him and those around him when he asked, "What the hell is going on here? I was only gone for two hours and when I left I distinctively remember the triage bay being empty?" Chris jumped and turned, "Good, you're here, most of the staff in jumpsuits are those that Theo invited for dinner tomorrow. When we started to get a steady stream of injured, they changed and jumped in, Carl and Gordon gave them a crash course on the bio beds while Theo is doing the same for the physicians with the bio-tubes, lucky for us the system is automated and so far, we have kept well ahead of demand. There are several representatives from the insurance companies here, doing the intake paperwork while we treat the children. They have assured us there will be no problem with payment and are handling all that for us. So far, sixty percent of the patients showing up are being treated in the bio-bed section, though if you could see your way clear to cover for me, I really need to pee." Aaron needed a few minutes to digest what had been said and nodded his head without thinking, so Chris took that as a yes and high tailed it out of the room and headed for the bathroom. Aaron Looked up at the monitor and muttered, "That's the last time I talk to a damn reporter. This just negates all the stress relief I indulged in before lunch." Laughter met his statement, and he realized he had said that last part a little on the loud side, turning to face the one laughing, he tilted his head in a questioning look. "Part of this influx is my fault, and part is the fact that traditionally any hospital ship that makes port is automatically classified as a level one trauma center. I got the bright idea of classifying the Asclepius as a hospital ship for youth, hoping that for the most part, every Tom, Dick and Harry would not be beating down your gates, trying to get in.it kind of backfired, as there are no level one trauma centers on the west coast dedicated to those under eighteen." The man walked forward and offered his hand, "Governor Bill Tides, your Majesty." "Governor," Aaron shook his hand before movement on one of the monitors caught his attention; it was the last chopper taking off the pad. Seeing the king frown, Bill mistook its source, "I can assure you that all your services will be paid, even if I have to get the assembly to release the money." Aaron waved it away, "Money was never the issue, the only reason the Asclepius made port instead of the Alteran Prince was a favor from one monarch to another, with injured children involved, we're here so while we are here, it makes perfect sense to take advantage of such a resource," turning back to face the Governor, "no, I was just thinking and concerned that everyone fully understands that the Asclepius sets sail tomorrow at 21:00 hours. My concern is for those that try to get here and miss the boat, so to speak, leaving the child in jeopardy." Knowing the amount of medical flights arriving, Bill knew that was a valid concern, "What is the cutoff time? I can understand your fear and I will do everything in my power to let everyone know." "Seven p.m. your time, 19:00 hours; that gives us a grace period of two hours before he sets sail." Aaron sighed; this was doing a lot of good, and would make it very hard for the feds to attack him now, but if only this had happened next week, when they were closer to being ready. Watching the helicopter approaching in the plasma, the pilots voice came over the speakers "Asclepius control, Mercy General flight nine one seven, inbound with one ETA five minutes, patient fifteen year old male with burns to seventy percent of body surface." "Altare One to Mercy General nine one seven, you are clear for pad red green right," Aaron told him, as he switched on the flashers to the landing pad, "Confirm trauma one burn inbound five minutes." "Altare One.I thought this was the Asclepius?" Bill questioned, as Chris returned. "It is, and just like Air Force One, any vessel that his Majesty is currently aboard is reflagged Altare One," Chris told him, with a smile, placing himself back into the command net. "Theo, you have a fifteen year old burn victim ETA four minutes. Burns to seventy percent of his body landing pad red green right." Bill was handed a clipboard with the victim's information on it, the boy in question was doused with gasoline by his father, for being gay, the news media were going to be all over this one. Aaron, seeing that everything was under control, decided to leave the ship and its new crew to Pete and Tim, "Chris, if you need me, I am going to be in the warehouse office catching up on a few things." Walking down the gangway, Aaron noticed the tent set up to one side with several people taking information. A little further on was another tent set up with tables and chairs with a small buffet of simple foods and drinks. Entering the warehouse, Aaron glanced around and noticed the food stores had been removed and there was a truck unloading at the dock, it looked like more food, must be John's work, he thought. "Excuse me, this is a restricted area, we don't want anyone to get hurt by the moving equipment, patients and family should stay near the areas set up for them so we can locate you quickly," a very young sounding voice from behind caused Aaron to turn around to see a jacketed young man that had way to many guns to hide them all if the bulges in the jacket were any indication. Paling, the security guard was quick to apologize, "Sorry Sir, I did not recognize you from the back." Aaron stared at him for a moment before slowly nodding his head, accepting the apology, if he looked carefully, he could see that he was older than he looked, if he had to guess at a quick glance, he would say fifteen maybe sixteen, he might do for backup for Tim tonight. "You must be one of the ones who heard what was happening and jumped in to help out early," Aaron smiled and pointed up to the crest on his left breast, "There are two more young MEN walking around with the Clan crest on their shirt, make sure that everyone knows to watch out for them, then come into my office and we will get your placement interview out of the way." Aaron waited for him to nod his head before he walked to the office, opening the door he walked into security monitors set up and manned all around the room, making his way through them, he placed his hand on the door panel and it flashed as if scanning him and opened the door, in reality, he used a bit of kinetics to push the button to open the door. Sitting down behind his desk, he traced his fingers over the touchpad terminal, logged in, brought the system up and the plasma screens blared to life, showing every inch of the docks and warehouse and even the inside of the Asclepius. Aaron had time to look through the thumbnails of the candidates so he could find the unnamed security guard and pull up his file; here it is Friedrich Adler nationality German. Well, he speaks flawless English with no accent; he was just starting to read Joe's interview notes when he heard a knock on his door "Come in." The young man in question walked in and closed the door behind him nervously, "Sir, Friedrich Adler reporting as requested." Pointing to the chair on the other side of his desk, "Sit and relax, you've made it this far in the interview process to know you're going to be hired, we just need to find out where you will fit in best." Aaron smiled, hoping to get him to relax a little. Nodding very stiffly as he was very aware of this man not only being his employer, but a sovereign as well, Friedrich sat down, keeping his hands in sight at all times, looking around causally but quickly, he was shocked at all the information being displayed around him, it was incredible. Turning back, he felt like a trapped animal as he found piercing hazel eyes locked on him. Aaron was fascinated as he read the background report; he was highly trained and quite thorough with his duties, he had been terminated with cause it seems, for exceeding his orders of no casualties on a rescue mission, mounted four months ago. The report left a lot of information out, but the incident took place near an Israeli orphanage. Displaying the report on the plasma behind him, Aaron looked up to see Friedrich carefully scanning the room and waited for him to notice that he was waiting. And as Friedrich's eyes moved his way, they locked onto his. "You know this report left out several very important facts, that, on the surface, a prospective employer would zero in on and hesitate to hire you, especially for being discharged with cause, yet not listing the cause." Friedrich flashed back on the night in question, he was still very angry over the whole thing; he was fired because some shit decided to rape his target and he slit their throat, considering what to say, "I'm not sure what you want to hear, Sir." Aaron glared at him, "The day you tell me what you think I want to hear instead of the truth is the day I kick your ass so hard you taste shit.before slitting your throat." Aaron used that on purpose, to let him know he knew what had happened. Looking away first Friedrich sighed, he knew, he thought, "my orders were to get in and out without any contact or any injury. I was to rescue the fourteen year old daughter of a diplomat, we found them hiding in an orphanage, our target was being raped by those monsters and I had to let it happen as the team leader wanted to wait until dark so it was safer, not as easy to be spotted." Closing his eyes, he sighed, "those monsters started in on the orphans, though, once the kid, didn't matter if they were male or female, passed out, the snapped their neck. The team leader still wanted to wait, so I took it upon myself to sneak in and slit every one of those bastard's throats. I got to our target just as one of the bastard's lifted his knife to her throat. She survived, they didn't, I got fired over it." Aaron nodded, following along Friedrich's surface thoughts, he found what he was looking for he would do it again if needed, and job be dammed and he held no remorse over it, just justifiable anger to the stuffed shirts that fired him. "It is very hard to claim natural causes with a slit throat; next time, dispose of the bodies where they will not be found." Shocked and thrown off track at that statement, Friedrich almost missed the question he had been asked and tried to regroup in answering it. "What position do you feel qualified for, what are you looking to do, I see you applied for palace security? Aaron fired off the questions as he followed the thought process Friedrich was going through to answer the questions and deal with the bombshell of being told to hide the bodies better next time. "Um.to be honest, I was hoping to start with embassy security and work my way up, after proving I am loyal and could do the job.I expected I would have to prove myself to you.honestly, this interview is nothing like I expected.I never expected to be interviewed by the very man I wished to work for." Friedrich rambled, off balance. "Let me describe a scenario to you, then tell me what you would have done in this situation, hindsight is a wonderful thing, and anonymity is no defense from crazy people." Aaron sighed before remembering his promise to glance at Pete's design, pulling up his email program he looked for the email and opened it, "your charge goes shopping and you're not too concerned, as no one knows you're at that mall or even what you look like, so, thinking you're safe, your charge splits off from the main group to stop in a store, and taking his time to purchase a gift, your charge is accosted verbally by the clerk. Still wanting the software your charge shrugs it off and goes to the counter to purchase what they found and when your charge tries to pay for it, the clerk becomes abusive and when your charge tries to prove the debit card is not stolen and shows the diplomatic passport, he is physically assaulted.well let's leave the rest of the tale out and tell me what you would have done if you were actually guarding said person, instead of him being off on his own." "Anonymity is not all it is cracked up to be, even with diplomatic immunity, one person is not enough to properly cover someone in a mall. Security professionals are, by training, a very paranoid bunch, but given the scenario as only partially recounted, I would have to say after the first verbal assault, no matter how mild, we would have relocated to another store even if it meant going out of our way to another mall. And before the clerk could have started." Friedrich remembered something, he remembered a news blurb recounting an incident a week ago that the media dug up. Looking up into Aaron's curious eyes, steel in his voice, "The clerk would have been dead before her muscles could have finished moving towards my charge." Nodding his head slowly, Aaron asked the next question as he gazed back down at the 3-d image of the proposed ship and wondered what Pete was thinking, combining a sub fighter with a space ship. "If I told you someone had to die would you pull the trigger if I ordered you to?" Surprised once more, Friedrich was further thrown off balance; he thought he was applying for security not assassination, "I guess it would depend, I'm not sure I could be an assassin.but a discrete hit to protect my charge, I don't think I would have a problem with that." Saving the file to look at later, Aaron looked up to check the man's file and noted that he had not been given an disclosure at all on what the job entailed or the common abilities Alteran's possessed that would be known to their security forces, making up his mind, Aaron smiled, "Tim, one of the members of my Clan will be going out tonight to get a feel for the city and affect a rescue of a group of brothers being hunted. Consider this a test of sorts, if you pass, you are given a chance to join Clan security, the Alteran mandate is to rescue gay, in danger, and homeless youth, keep that in mind as you are out and around the city.because I can assure you, Tim will, so if he sees someone that needs to be rescued beyond the brothers, he will act. Security and numbers is totally up to you, I am not about to hamper you in some macho effort to test how deadly you are, but how well you can lead and follow orders and protect your charge." Tim and Pete didn't knock when they came in, and only one person started to stop them, but Pete pointing at the crest on his shirt shut the man up. Walking into the room, Pete noticed the person sitting in the seat across from Aaron, so did not start out the way he wanted to, instead he pathed, "we have a problem with one of the nurses." Tim, sitting down on the corner of Aaron's desk looked at the teen sitting there curiously before glancing up to the monitor and seeing his file on the screen. Pete, passing over the chip from his P.A.D.D., sat on the other corner of the desk and examined the guy sitting in the chair, Placing the chip in the slot, Aaron glanced up and introduced everyone, "Tim, Pete meet Friedrich, he will be heading up Tim's security detail tonight, and depending on how well he does, he will head up the detail tomorrow when the rest of the Clan comes over to do some shopping and picking up supplies. He will also have the task of keeping Tommy from buying out every gardening center from here to LA," Aaron laughed along with the other two who giggled at the image Aaron pathed them. Pete jumped down from the desk and started to walk around Friedrich, causing him to become slightly nervous at how intense the look he was getting was. Sensing the nervous tension building, Aaron looked up, "What are you thinking, Pete?" "I'm thinking that with a little work, he could pass for fifteen and play the role of Tim's boyfriend, that way he would be by Tim's side, the whole time." Pete was honest about his assessment, as he reached over to look at Friedrich's chest by pulling the jacket aside. Trying to ignore the hand moving his jacket, Friedrich looked at Tim, "so, where are we going and would it be helpful if most of the guys in the detail looked young?" "We're going to the burger king, over by the mall on Bayshore Boulevard, Adam and his brothers will meet us there around eight.and Pete's right we could easily make him look around fifteen, though we need to do something about hiding his guns a lot better than he is now." Tim jumped off the desk, "And for tonight, I think bigger and scary would be better, at least for backup." Looking at Aaron, he smiled, "Though tomorrow, when the others go shopping, it might be better to have them look pretty young so they fit in." "I have yet to meet any of the others, Friedrich, how many could you find that could pass for under eighteen?" Aaron, curious, wanted to know. "I saw four or five walking around, if needed, I could get a dozen more," Friedrich shrugged, thinking about who he could get on short notice if the ok was given. "How many are gay?" Aaron leaned forward, pathing Pete, "where did you stash the nurse?" Shaking his head, Friedrich replied, "Fully out of the closet, none of them, in the closet all of them most are in other companies where it wouldn't do for it to get out, or still in the service." Seeing John and his brother approaching, along with Thomas, Aaron stood up, "Give them a ring and sound them out tomorrow, and then have them contact Joe or Kevin for an interview." Looking at Friedrich who had jumped up, knowing the interview was over, "One more thing, Friedrich, take a good hard look at Tim.I expect him back tonight in the very same condition.let's just say you will not like what happens to you, if he's injured." Gulping, Friedrich nodded his head vigorously as he was escorted out by Tim, passing the three approaching the office, he noticed two of them were caterers and smiled as his gaze lingered on their crotch's as they approached. "John, Scott, right on time.Thomas a pleasure, but I am not sure why you are here?" Aaron pointed out chairs. Pete laughed, "I invited him, I think he's cute and I wanna keep him." seeing Aaron's expression, Pete giggled, "Let's try this one.he followed me home from school can I keep him, I promise to take care of him and take him for walks and feed him and stuff.really I do." Shaking his head, wondering if Pete had gone crazy, Aaron finally smiled at the shocked look on Thomas's face while Scott and John were holding their sides form laughing so hard, adding fuel to the fire, he smirked, "Only if we get him fixed, you know what they say about getting your pets spayed or neutered." Pete lost it and started to laugh so hard he fell onto the desk, where Aaron promptly tickled him before grinning, "Sorry about that, Thomas, but if you could see your face when he started to wind you up." "Now that the tension is out of the way," Aaron started, as he looked at Scott and John, "I promised a talk but before we do, I a set up a little presentation of sorts in the next room, so I'm going to take you in there and get you started; afterwards I think your questions might be a little clearer or the answers will make more sense. Showing them into the meeting room off of his office, Aaron closed the door after starting the presentation and sat back down and looked at Pete, "Well this is your show so tell me what is going on?" Editors section: RadioRanchers Musings: As seems too often be the case, we are learning new and interesting things with each new chapter. It looks like Tommy is getting his feet wet, so to speak. He looks like he will be quite happy working with the fish. I already like Friedrich. I think he will fit right in and be a very good member of the team. What did they do with that nurse? I can hardly wait for the next chapter, and as it happens, snicker, snicker, I don't have to, because I already have it right here. Excuse me please, while I open it and start work on it. Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher A/N: I believe he fed some fish on the way to the island. Another chapter done and not a cliffhanger, imagine that J. As previously stated I have a mailing list for those who wish to get the chapters early, they're in word doc format or PDF and include the embedded pictures of the tech toys I describe in my story. Drop me an email if you wish to be placed on the list.