Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:51:53 -0500
From: Ron <wolfwalker2@verizon.net>
Subject: TEEP ch 49

Feeling the warmth snuggling in front of him, Aaron opened his eyes, pulling
Kenny closer to him as he glanced over at the clock and glared as if it was
the most horrendous thing on the planet, deciding he'd better go to the
bathroom and start his day, he carefully disentangled himself from the arms
and legs of Doug and Pat as he wiggled out of the covers. Finished Aaron
carefully rearranged the covers over the sleeping threesome, headed out of
his bedroom and peaked into Xon's room to see that he and Ichiro were curled
up together, it had been touch and go for a while after releasing Ichiro,
but in the end, they had gotten through to him. Leaving the two sleeping
peacefully, he decided to go up to his office and get the day started

Staring at the plasma as he read the email for the third time, he tried to
figure out what the hell was wrong with these people, how many times did he
have to tell them that he was not interested, for that matter, why were they
not understanding him when he told them Alteran's only had one sex and there
was no such thing as a female, and he was not really interested in getting
married, now how to tell this princess to bugger off. Creating a filter that
would dispose of any further marriage offers without them being delivered,
he realized that this marriage offer was not for him or one of his guys, but
for Edward, quickly catching the email reply before it was sent, Aaron
deleted it and changed the filter so all marriage proposals would go into a
folder, the only question was, who could he stick with this job. No that
wouldn't work would it? He thought, but the more he thought about it the
more it seemed fitting. Grinning evilly, Aaron typed out a quick message
asking Kenny to handle this for him, and after sending it chuckled, let the
chaos begin.

Going through the rest of his emails, Aaron stopped at another, having to
read it again from the beginning; it was a request for aid, from Brazil of
all places. Their local president was asking for help in fixing their broken
economy, the thing that made this different was the list of released
technology they had investigated and what they planned to do with it to fix
their problems. Scrolling to the next page, he saw the figures laid out in
neat rows, for every item bought at a wholesale price and resold, there were
several columns telling him exactly what the income would be funding. This
whole thing boiled down to a business plan that would fund their government
and revitalize the economy, or at least on paper it looked that way.

Staring at the world map on the side plasma screen he brought up, if he made
inroads into South America, the only place lacking a presence was Australia,
which was surprising he had thought they would be one of the first ones to
approach him with something like this. Making a decision, Aaron replied to
the email and congratulated them on being thorough and letting them know he
would be available tomorrow at one for a meeting. Altare One would touch
down at quarter till one promptly, and he would need a guide for any of the
Clan that decided to accompany him, they would wander around the city and
country side while they met.

"I woke up and you were gone," Kenny told him, as he rubbed the sleep out of
his eyes as he entered the office, stopping in front of the map of South
America, and trying to get his tired brain to work, "Are we going to..."
looking closer to the map, "Brazil?" Kenny asked, as he turned around to
face Aaron.

"Tomorrow afternoon, they sent in a proposal that looks promising, they want
our help, yet at the same time, they don't want us to do the work just let
them buy our technology wholesale so they can resell it and use the money to
help their people. Want to go along?" Aaron smiled as Kenny brightened at
the thought then he saw him frown and look sad.

"I really want to, but I have testing tomorrow and I can't miss any of it,"
Kenny sounded really down, he wanted to go, but tomorrow was to important to
his plans and he had worked so hard to get this far.

Pulling up the tutor program, Aaron brought up logs and looked through
Kenny's work and testing schedule, blinking back in surprise when he saw
that the tests scheduled for tomorrow where his high school graduation
tests, for all his courses, "Damn Kenny, you've done real well in your
studies, I'm very proud of you." Thinking about it for a moment, "Okay, you
deserve this for all the hard work, I'm willing to override the test day
either letting you take them today or Saturday, giving you an extra day if
you promise not to touch the tutor tomorrow."

"Really!" Kenny brightened as he thought about it, not sure he could keep
the promise not to log into the tutor, he took a deep breath and puffed his
chest out, "Today please, otherwise I don't think I can keep from logging in
tomorrow." He grinned as he had become addicted to learning and, "I need to
call Jason and ask him to cover for me today, I need to go get ready."
Reaching up to activate his communicator, he realized it was not in his ear
and looked horror struck for a moment before running out of the office to
get it. Laughter followed him out of the office and down the hall as he ran
back to the bedroom.

Walking in and leaning over to kiss Aaron, David looked back towards the
common room, "Was that my brother, and why is he so excited?"

Smiling, Aaron did as promised and rescheduled Kenny's tests for today,
"He's so psyched over taking his high school graduation tests, when he
passes this series of tests; he will be ready to start college courses."

"Holy Shit, that's fantastic," David was proud of his little brother, "I
think I'd better buckle down this week and deal with chemistry, after I pass
that, I'll be at the same point as Kenny." Smirking, he glanced back at
Aaron, "It just won't do to let him get too far ahead of me, being the older
brother and all." After he finished laughing he sat on the arm of the chair,
"Actually I think most of us are ready to graduate at the high school level
and move on, I know Derrick could if he would work a little on the biology
section."

"I heard my name, what's this about biology," Derrick entered the room
frowning, as much as he loved the business courses and working with numbers,
he just did not get the rush out of the biology section as some of the
others.

"Kenny is sitting his high school graduation exams today, which means I need
to buckle down and finish up chemistry this week," smirking at Derrick, who
was looking at him nervously, "And it means you need to buckle down and pass
biology, so Kenny does not shame us, it's bad enough he will graduate before
I do."

Gulping and nodding his head, Derrick hastily agreed, much to Aaron's
amusement, "Okay."

Not seeing anything worth reading email wise, Aaron quickly fired off and
email telling Edward and Andrew he would be at Elswick this morning, before
closing the program and standing. Just in time as the rest of the Clan
started to gather in the room ready to start their day.

Arriving at the vet barn, Aaron went straight to the tack room, today he was
going to do some riding and look over the grounds so he could decide the
best way to move everything come the weekend.  Slipping his tight leather
shorts on, buckling his chaps at his waist before wrapping the rest of his
legs in the black leather and zipping the sides up, he picked up his saddle
and bridle and mind called for his horse, after straightening the bunched up
leather in his crotch.

Hearing cheers from behind him, Aaron turned with a smile as the group
taking their turn at being cowboys saw how he was dressed. Holding his
saddle on one shoulder he laughed as he started hug duty on his way to the
fence, propping his saddle on the top rail he scratched his mare's withers
as he finished giving hugs and congratulations to the excited youngsters who
were proudly telling him about their latest accomplishments. Twenty minutes
later he placed his foot in the stirrup and swung up into the saddle,
standing up in the stirrups as he tested his seat Aaron smiled as this
morning's set of cowboys hooped and hollered as they warmed up in
preparation for Marks herd roundup.

"We are going to need a lot more horses before this weekend is out, we have
twenty four, which does not include our two horses, but we have fifty riders
and several more wanting to learn," Mark had ridden over and then giggled
when he saw what Aaron was wearing, "Gods above they're all going to want to
wear leather now after seeing you in that outfit." Leaning over for his
morning kiss Mark released Aaron's lips with, "You are so hot in that
getup."

"Stop that," Aaron chuckled, "This is not the getup to be popping wood in."
watching the impromptu races for a moment, "So what's your solution and what
breed are your thinking of," he asked as he nudged his mount into a walk
towards the group of cowboys.

"You know me too well; I was thinking of Quarter Horses, they would be the
best choice for our inexperienced riders. I was checking out a couple of
breeding farms in the States and I found one that has what we need, well
trained mares and geldings," Mark told him before he whistled to get
everyone's attention and gave the signal to move out.

Aaron watched the youngsters gather together and double check their
equipment as he thought things through, "Go ahead and get...let's get fifty
horses, that will give us a couple of dozen extra mounts, we'll have to get
some more in the future more than likely, try to get a third of them already
bred and order enough semen that we have some good choices to breed the rest
with."

"I might have to go to several places then," Mark didn't expect to get to
buy that many at one time, "I'll send an email later, after breakfast, to
set up an appointment with the one farm, I might be able to sneak a look
today and get the first group bought and home before supper."

Passing the fence line nearest the tractors, Aaron spotted Doug standing up
on his hauler and waving his arms, "I'll talk to you later," Aaron told
Thunder mentally to turn towards the fence and several steps later he ported
both of them next to Doug and stopped.

"Alright I'll give you mentally commanding your horse by a light link to her
mind, but how the hell did you manage to port mid step?" Mark sent in wonder
and confusion.

"Because we are lightly linked she trusts me, as I don't react to the sudden
shift of location, try linking for a while, lightly with Broke Back and
start with small ports of four feet or so, then change to a different
direction while standing then moving, it won't take long to train him up."
Aaron replied, as he looked over at Doug, "Hello, Love, what can I help you
with this morning?"

Doug, shocked that Aaron and his horse appeared next to the hauler noticed
the horse did not have a bridle and eyed her warily while speaking, "I did a
little research last night, what I want to know is can we raise some sheep
when we move, I kind of miss having them around."

Reaching over and snagging Doug from the hauler, Aaron pulled him into the
saddle with him, "Of course you can, what type of sheep are you thinking
about, I'm not sure we need the wool, but we can certainly use the meat, I
like lamb chops," he giggled as his mare turned and looked at them. "See,
Thunder even likes the idea."

"You're silly," Doug giggled before seeing Thunder stare at him with those
big eyes and wink at him, causing his eyes to bug out in shock as she shook
her head and neighed. "She...She...She just winked at me," he whispered in
shock.

"I told you she liked the idea," Aaron laughed, as Thunder stomped a hoof
and neighed again having picked up on his amusement. Hugging Doug close, "If
you want some sheep, go for it, just do the research and find the farms you
can buy stock from, Tommy will help you make a list, I'm sure."

Giggling, Doug nodded his head before squirming his way back down, standing
on the seat of his hauler he smiled, "Thank you, I know Tommy sure likes to
make lists."

"That he does, Love, that he does," Aaron waved as he nudged his mount on
and took off down the path towards the grove, porting to the beach near the
sea farm after thunder broke into a gallop.

Letting the salt spray whip up around them as Thunder galloped through the
surf snorting and neighing in fun, Aaron spotted Tommy and a few of the
youngsters hauling feed from the sea farm up the hill to the fresh water
farm, waving at them, Aaron laughed at the cheers and shouts from the
youngsters vying for his attention. Mentally nudging Thunder towards the
hill by the sea farm, he had her slow down as the youngsters crowded around
wanting their hugs. Slipping out of the saddle he laughed as thunder was
getting as many hugs as he was.

Tommy did a double take as he saw Aaron dismount dressed in tight leather
and blushed as his mind went into the gutter and wondered how it would feel
to rub up against him and all that leather. Shaking out of those thoughts
before his body had much more of a chance to react, Tommy waved and smiled
as his lover made his way through the youngsters to his side, "That was a
very neat trick porting at a run, we saw you appear from up here." Laughing
Tommy stared at the ocean for a moment, "A hundred years ago, what we do
would be called magic and I wonder if others traveled into the past to set
up our myths, maybe longer than that."

"I hope not, most of the survivors of that war were cyborg's without access
to their gifts, something about being part machine interfered with the use
of their gifts," Aaron snorted as he pulled Tommy close, "I actually stopped
by to ask you to help create a list for Doug, he wants to raise a few sheep
when we get moved."

Laughing, Tommy lightly punched Aaron on the arm as he spun out of his hug,
"Sure make fun of my list making skills until you need them." Dancing back
to his hauler he called back, "I'll be happy to help him out."

Thunder walked over and placed her head over Aaron's shoulder and pulled him
close to her body and snorted as Tommy zoomed away. Scratching between her
eyes Aaron got lost in thought for several moments before porting to
Thunder's back and settling in the saddle before giving her a gentle kick to
get her started, hitting a gallop Aaron ported the two of them back to the
other side of the island near the fruit groves, receiving the excitement
from Thunder as she ran up the beach and into the rows of orange trees.

Finished giving Thunder a good wash down from their morning run, Aaron felt
recharged and ready to go, patting Thunder on the neck he gave her a mental
nudge and laughed as she took off running and kicking up like a yearling as
he went back into the barn. Starting the shower, Aaron let the hot water
soak his sweaty body for a moment before turning at the sound coming from
the doorway, searching through the steam he spotted someone, looking closer,
he recognized the tear streaked face, "Donny, what in the world, what's
wrong...come here," he motioned the teen over and pulled him into a hug as
Donny stood there sobbing.

When the teen was reduced to hiccups and shivering in the heat and steam,
Aaron reached over and grabbed the shampoo, squirting some in his hand he
started to wash Donny's hair surprising him as he was washed like a child,
"I have no clue why you had this meltdown, but I am willing to listen and
help you, all you have to do is tell me what is wrong."

`I'm being a baby...sorry, I didn't mean to cry like that," Donny whispered
sadly.

"Well I can tell you needed to let it out, and even I have my meltdowns from
time to time as painful memories get out of control," Aaron whispered in
Donny's ear as he massaged the soap into the teen's shoulders before moving
down his back. "I sometimes wonder what parents are teaching their kids when
they tell them a man does not cry, sometimes a guy needs a good cry just as
much as a woman does, it doesn't make you any less of a man if you do."

"You'll think I'm silly and make fun of me if I tell you?" Donny whispered,
as he looked out the door wondering what to do. On one hand he wanted to run
and hide, embarrassed for breaking down in front of Aaron and on the other
hand the comfort he was receiving was making him want to melt into those
safe arms.

"So, you want to make love to a grapefruit all day long, I have to agree
that is pretty silly, especially when the real thing is all around you,"
Aaron smirked in amusement.

"WHAT!!!" Donny stood up straight staring in shock as he tried to figure out
where the hell that came from.

"Well," Aaron drawled as he kept his laughter in check while he turned the
stunned teen around and started to wash his chest. "You said I would think
it was silly, and that is the silliest thing I could think of," he told him
as he knelt down so he could soap up Donny's legs, glancing up he chuckled
at the deep blush on Donny's face.

"Um...NO," Donny said slowly, as Aaron stood up and he realized that he had
been washed all over, and he meant all over without realizing it. Sighing as
he was pushed under the water so the soap could be rinsed off, he decided to
just blurt it out and take the laughter he knew was coming, "Of all the
things I miss the most is my morning runs with Buster and I miss our walks
in the woods."

Pulling Donny out of the water as he traded places, Aaron tried to remember
if he knew what Donny was talking about, and he had no idea, shutting the
water off, Aaron pulled the teen into a small chamber with him and hit the
drying cycle, "I guess I really don't know how you lost Buster, and I don't
want to bring back bad memories, but will you tell me what happened, I know
it will be hard at first, but after a while the good things you and Buster
did will overwhelm the pain."

Sighing Donny looked out the glass walls, "Buster was my German Sheppard,
and he was the best friend I ever had or could want. He was killed when the
CPS workers came to tell me my parents had been killed, they startled me
when they broke the door down and he attacked. He was protecting me and she
had the officer shoot him," he sobbed in pain,

Aaron pulled him close and pathed Bruce, "Bruce, I'm on my way to the Clan
Hall and I have Donny, one of the rescues with me, he is in a lot of
emotional pain right now, his dog and companion died to protect him, could
you meet me at the dining area, I think he could use a little of `the
peoples' perspective and a friend." Smiling down at the teen in his arms,
Aaron ported the two of them to the dining hall, after they appeared the
hall grew silent as the Clan saw Aaron with someone crying in his arms,
"Donny come sit with me, with us, I don't think it's silly or any of the
other crap you probably told yourself that people would make fun of you, I
think half the people we rescued would cry with you after finding out why
you were upset, the other half would just hold you because they don't know
what to do about your loss and how to make you feel better. What that case
worker did was wrong and she should be punished for having buster shot for
doing his job, you have every right to miss him and cry over his loss."

Seeing Bruce running up the path by the wall, Aaron tightened his hug, "I
have someone I want you to meet, Bruce is part of Clan Security, and he is
Apache, I hope he can help you by giving you perspective, and maybe the two
of you can talk things through as you explore the forests of the farm world,
or even our new home World." Pushing the teen away slightly Aaron pointed to
the ground, "I think you've been taught how to recognize portation points so
take a good look at that one, this one leads to the Clan Hall, at any time
you need to talk, you come here and someone will talk with you."

Turning Donny around so he was facing Bruce in all his glory, all six feet
five inches of him with a long braid down one side with several long
feathers in his braid Aaron felt the surprise in Donny, from body contact,
"Donny...meet Bruce, Bruce meet Donny." Chuckling as the shy teen that
materialized where the distraught one stood a moment before, "Both of you
grab some food before it is all gone then Bruce will take you for a long
walk and help you, Donny."

Bruce reaching out, pulled Donny into a hug and steered him towards the food
table as Aaron went over to his guys and sat down, giving them a chance to
bond before going for his own breakfast.

"Is that Donny?" Tim asked, as he finally placed a name to the face, he had
left unsaid who was Buster, as he glanced back to Aaron and frowned as he
was sitting there without food.

"Yes, and relax I'm letting those two bond slightly, I'll be getting my food
in a minute, once they step away from the steam tables." Looking at Tim,
Aaron pathed him so he would know the truth, "I have no intention of not
eating this morning." Seeing the two walk away from the steam tables, Aaron
stood and quickly made his way over and filled his plate before returning to
the table.

Aaron had just finished his breakfast and was sipping his juice; he had
heated it slightly as a trial to see if he liked it that way and found it
was an interesting experience, he felt it added something different to the
experience, glancing up from the last piece of toast he was munching on, he
noticed Xon sit down, followed by Ichiro who stood to the side, nervously.
Motioning him over, Aaron pulled him into his lap and fondled him briefly,
not enough to get him hard, more to rearrange his equipment for him as he
whispered in Ichiro's ear. Grinning as Ichiro blushed and jumped up and ran
off, he turned back to see Xon looking at him with a raised eyebrow, "Yes..."
he drawled with a grin.

"What did you tell him? After waking this morning and showering, he seemed
to not want to leave my side." Xon asked curiously, as he thought over what
he had read, "I might have researched the wrong data sets as Ichiro does not
act as the texts explained."

Laughing, Aaron shook his head; leave it to Xon, he thought, "Welcome to
real life; the problem with books is that unlike scientific texts, A plus B
does not always lead to C." leaning across the table, "I told Ichiro that he
needed to do his tutor session and this afternoon he needed to hold his
painting class like normal, and if he did well, he would get to be drained
until he could not cum any more as he did his best to feed me everyone's
loads tonight."

Grinning in glee at Xon's reaction and surprise, "He's a submissive bottom
boy, and he will respond to training in assertiveness the best by using sex
as a reward, the more he stands up and on his own, the more sex he gets, the
more submissive the less sex he gets." Shrugging, Aaron grinned at Derrick,
"He'll learn quickly and without being punished or thinking he is being
rejected."

"Enough about sex, and my lack of nookie this morning," Aaron piled his
dishes up, "I know you have the Crèche to start replicating this morning,
how much of your attention will that take up? I was inspecting the groves
this morning and I think I would like to start putting the orchards into the
buffers and transplanting them to the farm planet, if we can get everything
transplanted except for the livestock by Saturday, we can move the livestock
over come Saturday night after it gets dark, when they go down for the
night."

Waving Mark and Brian over, "Tomorrow afternoon, after my meeting in Brazil,
I want to go back to the farm planet and set up some of the buildings and
things like the chicken tractors so that Saturday night when we take the
livestock after they go to sleep for the night, come Sunday morning, they
will wake up none the wiser in their new homes." Aaron smiled at Kevin and
Pete, "Tomorrow night, I will not be around for supper, as I plan to finish
a few projects using the replication centers over there, I have a list of
projects I want to have done and ready before we move over."

Pointing to Mark, "Our herds will be transplanted to the tropical station,
the island that would be Puerto Rico in this world, I am going to install
weather shields around the island so we won't have to worry about hurricanes
or the like, so I plan to build our main base there, including a small
village, some of the younger guys will want to spend the night from time to
time, and I'm sure we will too. Come to think of it, I might port over there
this morning to get some things set into motion, ready for the groves to be
transplanted there." Aaron spotted Tommy dressed and ready to go, waiting
for Friedrich to get here, "Tommy..." getting his attention he smiled, "I hope
you weren't planning on leaving without giving me a kiss goodbye."

Blinking in surprise, Tommy rushed over, "Sorry, I forgot being all excited,
I can't wait the Aquaponics Short course starts this morning and I can't
wait to get over there and start learning." Kissing Aaron soundly, Tommy
broke the kiss and smiled in apology before rushing back when he heard
Friedrich's voice as he walked down the path, seems he was giving orders
left and right to make sure that in his absence things would be covered.

Once Tommy and Friedrich had left, Aaron looked back to Xon for the answer
to his question, "Once the design is locked in, the replication process only
needs to be monitored, the crews are capable of doing other tasks," Xon
informed him.

Closing his eyes for a second as he thought about it, "Okay, target your
collectors at one of the several landfills for mass retrieval, and start
building the Crèche, use all three sets of MRB's from the Sol Station and
lock the construction in, then have the Reliant team start to beam out, I
think the Confederation calls it, all of our groves, leave the experimental
grove alone I have other plans for where my experimental grove should go.
I'll path the coordinates to you when I return; either that or I'll set up
several beacons, more than likely both, so this afternoon the Reliant knows
where to transport the groves." Aaron smiled as the group broke up, "This
afternoon, I'll be checking up with Elswick and the Asclepius."

Picking up his dishes, Aaron started for the kitchen as everyone started
going their own way, "I'm only a thought away, for Pete at least, while I'm
off planet."

Appearing on the Sol Station gestalt deck, Aaron was slightly surprised to
find it fully manned and that they were talking over the hyper spatial
channel with a team onboard the Centauri Station, "Good morning, don't mind
me, I'm only here to borrow some power and then I'm  off again." grinning as
he pulled power from the gestalt generator, Aaron ported himself to the
other station and waved at the crew he had just left before he greeted the
new crew and ported himself down to the command and control center.

Walking into the new replication control center, Aaron smiled as he gazed at
the console and cracked his fingers in preparation of using it for the first
time, sitting down behind the center console he looked over the controls
briefly before logging in and powering the system up, first things first he
told himself. Sensing the gestalt links in his chair, he activated them
before porting all eighteen MRB's to the spot where the live video feed from
the SE110 on tropical station was originating, opening the side wall, he let
the collector arrays out, then thinking things through, he ported one over
to the island and set the array to start dematerializing mass for the sub
basement. Choosing a quick design for the tropical control station, Aaron
designed the power vault while the collector dug the hole, a type one mark
nine reactor should do it he thought, as he dug through the quantum scans
for power reactors, Xon and Pete's teams had been busy scanning everything
they could get their hands on, it looked like.

Finished with the control station, he locked it in and smiled as the MRB's
took off, creating the new station. After watching for a few minutes to make
sure the program was being followed, Aaron started searching through the
data base for scans of several different types of barns, he needed one for
the horses and several for the poultry, not to mention the one for their
cattle. Finally deciding on several types that would work, he set the
designs up and chose locations for them to be built before locking them into
the program. Last but not least, Aaron slid down and linked into the
mainframe system and looked for the harvesters and ground tilling machines;
finding them in one of the storage buildings somewhere over on the west
coast, he ported them to the island in the area where he was planning to
place the citrus groves and set them to work. He programmed the harvesters
to mow the fields and remove the tall clippings while he programmed the
tillers to dig thirty foot wide rows every thirty feet.

Setting the controls to mow the fields followed by the tillers turning
everything under, Aaron started them and then programmed the mowers to mow
the open swaths last and dump their clippings into the newly tilled ground
where the tillers would go back over the area once the mowers powered down.
Assured the instructions were locked into the system; Aaron stood up and
stretched, walking over to the plasma screen to watch the MRB's quickly
construct the tiered open sided building that when finished would house the
vet barn and small replication suite. Finished for now, Aaron pulled power
from the gestalt and ported to Centauri station before returning to Sol
Station, the rest of the work he needed to do could be done tomorrow, step
one for the great move had been started.

Activating his LSB, Aaron appeared outside the Asclepius in a shimmer of
sparkles, deciding to inspect the Asclepius first, he walked across the
gangway, stopping just inside the door as he gazed at the triage bay and
frowned when he saw the long line of people and patients standing in front
of the desk, letting his eyes roam the deck, he did not see one of his
people anywhere. Moving along the wall, he noticed several security type
people and they were not Alteran's, just what the hell was going on here? He
thought, as he extended his mic. Stopping at the corner of the triage desk,
Aaron let his fingers trace a pattern on the touch screen.

"Get back in line and get your health card out, there will be no jumping the
queue on my watch," The man spat out without looking up as he told the woman
in front of him, "I want to see your referral form, there will be no
treatment without a proper referral form."

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing on my ship?" Aaron spat out, as
he saw the young boy with the woman hacking and coughing and obviously
having trouble breathing.

"Sir, if you will move away from there and get back in line like you were
asked," one of the security guards placed a hand on Aarons shoulder and
tried to pull him away.

Feeling the hand on his shoulder, Aaron went from mad to enraged and waved
his hand throwing the man across the deck using kinetics, glaring at the man
as the rest of the security forces rushed over with weapons in their hands,
Aaron's eyes narrowed in rage. Tapping the side of his communicator, he let
his finger fall on the flashing part of the touch screen, "Security to the
triage deck, action stations."

As alarms starting ringing throughout the ship, Aaron ignored the drawn guns
and stared at the officious little man, "I will not repeat myself what the
hell are you doing on my ship?"

Cringing in fright as this was evidently one of the doctors from that
kingdom, he squeaked out, "Guards."

Head turning quickly when he heard the sound of a gun being chambered behind
him, Aaron glared at the offending man letting his finger trace another
pattern on the touch screen, "You are creating an international incident
here, and I'm not sure your queen would be happy with you."

Seeing that the man actually could use the equipment and he was activating
something, he poked his head over the top of the desk, "STOP HIM!!! Stop Him
before he completes what he is doing!"

There screams of panic as a gunshot rang out, one of the guards had taken
the instructions literally, and fired his gun intending to kill Aaron.

Aaron swore as he felt something hot on his shoulder and was enraged that he
let his guard down like he had, eying up the guards with hate filled eyes,
every gun toting intruder ended up on the floor with both arms broken in
several places, as Aaron kinetically disabled them, a moment later, he had
the officious little man by the throat and shoved up on the wall. "You are
on Alteran Soil...You are on my Embassy." Rage built up as high as it could
go, Aaron let it out as he invaded the man's mind, ignoring the countdown on
the plasma as he sought answers it hit zero as the man screamed in agony
from having his mind bashed through.

"CODE 99...ASCLEPIUS DECLARING CODE 99..."

Alarms sounded throughout the ship as all open hatches sealed as the
computer had not been contacted by any of the crew so it followed invasion
protocols, the Asclepius pulled away from the dock and started to submerge.

The officer of the watch jumped up out of his chair he had been reclining in
a moment before when the alarms started sounding and the speakers started
blaring out, "CODE 99...ASCLEPIUS DECLARING CODE 99..."

Slamming his hand down on the condition red button he tied the situation
room monitors into the Asclepius's internal security net, finding the bridge
empty the OOD started switching views and he went cold as he looked on the
scene of the triage deck, there was Aaron bleeding from the shoulder and
holding someone by the neck up on the wall. Swearing, he went over to the
alert button and slammed his hand against it two more times for good
measure.

"CAG...Screaming Eagles to Elswick, release and drop...CODE 99 confirmed,"
Frank, was only supposed to be the OOD, not brass who should make these type
of decisions, yelled over the intercom, "I need someone from Clan Stranton
in here, now!!!"

"Thomas what the bloody hell is going on?" Edward yelled out as they
approached the docks after parking near the old naval hospital , Edward
looked over in shock as the Asclepius was submerging with three large
helicopters on the landing pads still, a moment later the helicopters
started to slip sideways as the water rushed over the landing pads and the
Asclepius disappeared from sight. Looking at Thomas who was just as shocked,
he called out as he took off for the foreman's trailers, "Come on we better
contact grandmother."

Having been visiting some friends, some of them helped him every morning
doing chores Pat was shocked and scared when Stanley ran over and grabbed
him before porting him to the military docks without saying anything,
"Sorry, but the military is calling for someone from the Clan, and it's an
emergency." Stanley told him as he pulled on Pat's arm and dragged him into
the office area and past the officers working there who pointed towards the
situation room.

Finally being released, Pat looked around and wondered what the hell was
going on as Frank caught sight of Pat and ran over, "Sir, I need you to
speak for Clan Stranton right now," taking a deep breath he pointed up at
the monitor, "His majesty has been attacked and is bleeding, the Asclepius
has squawked CODE 99."

Pat froze in fright as he looked up at the plasma monitor and saw the person
who meant the most to him covered in blood and people running towards him
with guns. He felt like his chest was on fire as he sobbed in terror a
moment before his head was on fire as he yelled out at the top of his voice,
"NO...AARON, BEHIND YOU." Right then with the extreme fright sending powerful
waves of hormones and adrenalin through his system, Pat started to
experience breakthrough, several years way to early as the stress induced by
seeing his world in danger over powered his system. "STOP THEM," Pat
screamed out in his head and his abilities broke through, the OOD winced in
pain as the mental command reverberated through his brain and every Alteran
on the island.

Wincing, trying to clear his vision he caught the tail end of a flicker and
looked up to see Pat was gone and glancing up at the sound of an indrawn
breath, he saw Pat on the monitor angry and in the path of the people with
guns. "Gods above...Everyone drop what you're doing and port to the Asclepius
before it's too late." Frank screamed out at the Marines who had rushed
through the door, and ported himself to the triage deck. The Marines taking
one look at the monitor paled and followed the OOD, weapons drawn.

Not knowing what he was doing, or how he appeared behind Aaron, Pat threw up
his hands at the approaching men and yelled out "NO..." as he willed with
every fiber of his being for them to be gone before they hurt Aaron.

Aaron registered a loud no, before he heard several sickening crunches,
glancing behind him he saw Pat wobbling about and just past him against the
bulkhead were several more security guards, releasing his hold on the puppet
he rushed over and scooped Pat up as the triage deck was flooded with his
Marines. Holding Pat tight to his chest as Pat sobbed in pain and fear Aaron
glared at the men screaming in pain on the floor, his people should have
been here by now, and what the hell,  he heard the computer sounding the
code 99, "Secure this ship..Deck by deck find our people," he yelled out as
Frank came over, he was very shaken and began to talk to him.

"Sir, Pat he ported all by himself, and he pathed so loud it took me several
moments to see again." Frank whispered in awe and concern, as he saw Pat was
shaking in Aaron's arms.

Holding Pat tight so he did not drop him, Aaron gently pushed Pat's head up
and noticed he was almost seizing and his eyes where only showing the
whites, "Son of a Bitch...take command here Frank," Aaron ordered as he pulled
a massive amount of power from the desk console causing it to short out as
he ported his precious one to the Clan Med Bay and ran to an empty bio-tube
and slid him inside.

Light headed and all of a sudden dizzy, Aaron finally noticed all the blood,
catching the edge of the console so he did not fall, he grabbed the sensors
and stuck them to Pat as quickly as his shaking hands could, it took three
attempts to place the breathing tube in Pat before he hooked up the
ventilator and hit the cover so hard it shattered over the emergency cycle
button activating it and embedding plastic into his hand.

Falling to the floor from blood loss and the end of his adrenalin rush,
Aaron crawled over to one of the bio-tubes and pulled himself up after
pressing a hidden panel on the underside dropping the bio-tube to floor
level, after it stopped moving he pulled himself up to the edge, crawling
into the tube as he lost consciousness.

Having been activated in emergency protocol mode the bio-tube slowly dropped
the inside floor eighteen inches causing Aaron to fully tumble inside as the
lid sealed and the regen fluid rushed in. computer control initiated
protocols not known to Aaron took control as nanites flooded the regen fluid
dissolving his clothing and the servo flexed as the computer took control
and started to apply the IV cuff.

Finally, Kenny thought, as he walked into the Hall, the tests were over and
he could get something to eat, skipping lunch to finish the tests was not
sounding like a good idea right now, as his stomach rumbled loudly again as
he walked towards the kitchen. Stopping and looking around, what was that he
thought, not seeing anything he started his trek again only to see the flash
of red out of the corner of his eye again. This is silly he thought to
himself, as he frowned, staring towards the corner he saw it clearly this
time a red flash of light coming from the med bay, curious, he walked over
that way and saw it again, it reminded him of one of those... Running now,
as he realized the flashing reminded him of those light bars on cop cars, he
skidded across the med bay floor and landed on his butt as he hit a slick
spot, picking himself up off the floor, he froze in fright as he saw the
blood on his hands. Thinking he had hurt himself pretty bad, he jerked his
head around looking at his body and noticed right away all the blood on the
floor.

Bloody hands forgotten, he carefully walked through the blood and gazed into
the first bio-tube and saw Pat there which frightened him and glancing over
at the other one he screamed in fright when he saw Aaron, all the blood was
coming from Aaron.

"NO...No...NO..." Kenny started to hyperventilate, as he tapped the side of his
head and activated the communicator, "help me...Help...NO...No...No..."

Xon stood up straight, then tilting his head, "Kenny?" closing his eyes Xon
tried to do what he had seen Aaron do many times before and found where
Kenny was by thinking about it. Getting an impression of him being in the
Med Bay at the Clan Hall, Xon ported off the Sol Station leaving a stunned
crew behind who had turned to him after he shouted out Kenny's name.

Sliding as he appeared in the med bay Xon quickly pulled Kenny close, Once
Kenny felt someone hold him, he broke down in tears and started sobbing.
Glancing around, Xon raised both eyebrows in concern at the amount of blood
on the floor and the two bio-tubes. Concentrating really hard he called out,
"All Clan Members return to the Med Bay this is an Emergency. Fred we need
you now."

Tommy was having fun, he was learning a lot of neat things, grinning as once
again the instructors stared at them in shock over one of their questions,
his grin faded just as quickly when he noticed Friedrich grab his arm and
fall to the floor in pain. Jumping over the table he rushed to Friedrich's
side, "Tell me...tell me what you see!"

"Aaron's...been shot, He's taking out the attackers but...but he does not
realize he's been shot," Friedrich panted in pain and stumbled over the
words trying to tell Tommy what he saw. A minute later as he felt Tommy slap
him to get his attention he felt the pain go away, so whatever happened it
was either too late or going to be okay, he decided to keep telling himself
that and maybe he would believe it. He was just getting up to a sitting
position when Tommy stiffened as he heard a pathed message and ported out.

Holding a sobbing Kenny, Xon felt several people appear near them and
looking over his shoulder he felt relief as he saw Fred appear behind him
and rush into the room.

"So you don't have any idea either, this is worrying grandmother,
something's wrong, I can feel it, the Asclepius would not submerge like that
with helicopters on the landing pad unless things have gone horribly wrong."
Edward sighed into the phone as he looked at the site foreman. Hearing
screams from outside, "Hold one moment grandmother, something is happening."
Placing the phone down, Edward moved to the window and saw that the
Asclepius was starting to rise out of the water, rushing back to the phone,
"Grandmother the Asclepius is starting to surface, I shall call you back
shortly as soon as I know what is going on...yes, I agree...alright if you
haven't heard from me in half an hour go ahead." Hanging up the phone,
Edward rushed outside Thomas at his heels as he ran across the docks.

Waiting impatiently for the door to the triage deck to open, Edward tried to
think of things that could have caused the Asclepius to submerge, not
thinking of anything that would have him submerging for a short period of
time, he squeezed through the door as it opened and stopped and stared,
"Bloody Hell."

Taking in the frightened people being worked on and the group of Marines
with weapons pointed to a group of people grouped on the floor with their
arms tied behind their backs, Edward got a cold chill up and down his spine,
as if someone had taken ice and dropped it down his shirt. Being careful of
the nervous Marines, he slowly walked into the room and looked around, "What
the Bloody Hell happened here and where is Aaron?"

 "Aaron Left with Pat, though one of these scumbags shot Aaron, I don't know
how bad it is, but there is a lot of blood behind the desk," Frank told him
as he motioned for the Marines to lower their weapons, he recognized Edward
from all the time he spent on the Island and with the Clan.

Upset and trying to come to grips with what he had just heard, Edward walked
over to the desk and looked behind it and saw all the blood on the floor,
pale and shaken, he looked over at Thomas before walking to the open door to
the bio-bed section and asking, "What happened here today, who are those
people and...and...bullocks," Edward sat down on the edge of one of the beds.

"The blighter shaking in his boots behind the desk came on board this
morning right after morning rounds your highness," William walked in, "he
and his goons landed in those three choppers that were on the landing pads
and he barged into the conference room flashing his id as if it was a badge
and proclaimed that health services had sent him over to take charge."

"His goons kept us prisoner on the treatment decks as he moved on, even his
Majesty's residents were kept under guard and when they prepared to leave
those despicable men threatened to shoot the children if they transported
out," William sighed as he stared at the suffering patients in the room.

"Commander, why aren't you doing something to help these people, some of
them don't look too good," Edward asked as he finally glanced around the
room.

"We can't, the whole system is locked down, security protocols don't you
know, in the event of a hostile takeover, the systems lock down and for all
I know melts down into puddles of goo, those still in the bio-tubes are
being treated just fine, but the residents warned me that unless Aaron logs
in and overrides the self destruct order, they will destroy themselves as
soon as the patient is released." William patted Edward's leg to get his
attention, "Can you contact his majesty and ask him to pop over and unlock
the system, then maybe his residents will pop back also and we can treat
those poor souls huddled over there.

Shaking his head sadly, Edward sighed, "I wish that was possible, Aaron was
shot, or at least that is what they told me when I came aboard." Standing up
with a lost look on his face, Edward started for the triage deck, "let me
see if I can get someone to take the patients to the trauma center on Altair
minor, at least."

Stopping next to one of the Marine sentries, Edward got his attention, "Can
I ask that...can we get those sick people to Altair Minor before the kids end
up dying, they don't look too good right now."

Frank, hearing the request, moved over and looked in the room, "I think that
could be arranged, I'll have a couple of the sentries take them over as soon
as we figure out what to do with all the prisoners."

Blinking, Edward tilted his head, "Do with them? Whatever do you mean, kill
them and be done with it," he told him, confused, before moving closer to
the desk and pointing to the plasma screen, "Can we contact my grandmother
with this equipment, I need to update her on what we've found out and make
arrangements to take into custody everyone from the health services
department until you lot can scan their minds."

"Afraid not, when his majesty ported out with Pat he pulled so much power,
so fast it overloaded the circuits frying half of them," the Marine Sergeant
told him, apologizing for not being able to help.

"I see, Edward replied emotionlessly, all he could think of was someone had
shot Aaron, he needed to find out what was going on, looking at the head of
his team, eyes dead, no expression on his face,  "Thomas hand me your
service pistol."

Thomas stared at Edward, "Excuse me, what did you just say?"

Staring at Thomas intently, "I said hand over your service pistol," Edward
was starting to feel something finally and it was anger built on top of fear
of losing Aaron.

"Edward, you know I can't do that..." Thomas started before Edward glaring at
him interrupted him.

"Leftenant Thomas Jones, this was not a request, but a direct order from the
Prince of Wales, Heir to the Throne, and you will obey or be taken into
custody, Sir!" Edward stepped forward to punctuate his words.

Gulping at the rage in those eyes, Thomas slowly pulled his pistol out of
its holster and handed it over, under the watchful eyes of the Marine
Sergeant.

Taking the gun, Edward glanced down before pushing the small lever that
would disengage the safety, walking over to the prisoner closest to them, he
held the gun at his side, "I want answers. Let us start with who shot Aaron
shall we?"

"Torrey Bastard! I not be telling ya anything." The man spat at Edward who
didn't even flinch as the spit hit his leg.

Quickly pointing the gun at the man's head, Edward pulled the trigger,
"Wrong answer." Glancing down at the man on the floor as he moved over to
the next prisoner who was babbling something about his rights and he
couldn't do this after all it was England. "It seems you miscalculated just
a tad, this is an embassy, and as such Alteran soil, and the punishment for
what you lot did is death, I have no problem with performing the sentence.
Now would you like a chance to answer the question, which one of you shot
Aaron?" he asked as he raised the pistol and aimed.

Looking around frantically for someone to come to his aid, he cried out, "I
wasn't even here, me mates an I were upstairs guarding the medics, ask the
bloke on the ground with the broken arms."

Placing the barrel of the gun against the man's head, Edward looked down at
the man on the ground moaning in pain, "I'll be right back, I think we might
have more questions for you in a moment," Edward pushed the man backwards
with the still warm barrel if his gun and stepped over to one of the
slightly moaning guards on the floor. Kicking the man's leg to get his
attention, "I want to know who shot Aaron and you're going to tell me."

"Go to hell," the man was defiant in his pain as he glared at Edward.

Nodding his head, Edward glanced over to the man sobbing on his knees before
lifting the gun and shooting the man in the head, "Once again, not the
answer I was looking for."

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph...Edward, don't do this," Thomas pleaded for him to
see reason.

"Well, since I'm not a telepath I have to get the answers the old fashioned
way," Edward told him as the rage in him at almost losing the future father
of his son was still in control.

Pointing the gun at the next man on the floor Edward stared at him in
curiosity as he blubbered about being in pain.

Frank, hearing Edward's thoughts and feeling the rage, glanced at the
Marines and noticed that most of them were satisfied and horrified at the
same time, stepping between Edward and the man on the floor, Frank spoke
carefully and slowly, "Your ordeal is over Edward, I will read their minds
for you, so you don't have this on your conscious, torture is not what Aaron
would want you to do, even he does not torture people, this needs to be
about justice not vengeance?"

Edward just stepped to the next one over so he would not hit the officer
raised his gun again and stopped and listened as a plea was put forth.

"You're right Edward, under Alteran law all of them will be put to death,
after telepathic scans confirm their actions and we get the names of all
involved, they will be put to death, so even if the shooter is still alive,
he won't be for long," Frank pleaded with Edward as he held out his hand for
the gun. "You should not have to do this, and Aaron is not here right now to
help you mentally. To make sure you will be okay with what you had to do,
you've been around the Clan enough to know they are ruthless when needed,
but above all, JUSTICE must be served."

Sighing only slightly as Edward turned to face him, though the gun was still
pointed at the prisoner on the floor, Frank screamed for Colin, the only
shrink he knew and trusted. "COLIN I need you on the Asclepius right now."

Seeing a dripping wet Colin appear behind Edward, Frank tried once more,
"Justice...Edward, Justice is what the Clan stands for, not vengeance, leave
them to me, I can promise you they will stand trial for what happened
today."

Edward stared at the officer who was pleading with him and thought things
through, lowering the pistol he heard sighs of relief from behind him and
sensed a sudden lunge towards him from one side and brought the pistol up in
time to see one of the prisoners get hit upside the head in mid lunge.
Reason overruled rage as he stepped back, "He seems awful eager to be shot,
doesn't he?" Edward told Frank as he handed the pistol over.

Colin waited until Frank had a good hold of the pistol before moving close,
"Edward, let me help make sure you will not have any problems from this, let
me help you." He asked softly as he moved forward, making sure he radiated
he was not a threat.

Editors section:



RadioRanchers Musings: Do you think it is possible that Edward is a bit more
than miffed? Could he be slightly agitated or unhappy, or even a trifle
distraught. I can't say for sure, but I think there is a slight possibility
that he is not in a very good mood at the moment. I wonder how Aaron is
doing. I sure hope he will be alright. Is there something about being a
political hack that makes them a total idiot and makes them do such stupid
things?

 Just because they have some kind of political hack job doesn't mean they
have the right to take over a ship that is there to save lives and keep it
from doing so.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

A/N: thus cycle one ends with a bang. See you in December