Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:07:27 -0400
From: Ron <wolfwalker2@verizon.net>
Subject: TEEP chapter 30

Smiling as he slipped out of bed, Aaron had a busy morning planned, but
after lunch he planned to go for a long ride and do some mindless work he
decided, first things first, a nice shower and then chores. Glancing back at
the bed he noticed Derrick was no longer on the other side of the bed but he
had been replaced by Kevin and Pete who had joined them in the middle of the
night, looking to be held. Planting a kiss on Kevin's mouth, causing him to
stir, Aaron grinned and went to start the shower.

Standing in the steam filled shower, Aaron held his arms above his head so
the powerful jets would massage his whole body, lowering his arms when the
jets turned off as two sets of hands soaped up his back, "Good morning
loves," he smiled as he glanced over his shoulder to see Pete and Kevin
standing there. Relaxing as the hands kneaded the soap into his body, Kevin,
had moved to the front and was about to kneel down in front of Aaron when he
felt the warm air escaping as the shower door opened again and four more
bodies waltzed in.

Aaron glanced over his shoulder as he saw the young set walk in, all four of
them sporting morning wood and was about to ask them what they needed when
he felt Kevin's mouth engulf the end of his hardness. Sighing in pleasure,
he let the sensations rush over him for a moment before ignoring Kevin,
"Good morning guys, what's up?"

"Nothing important," Kenny smiled as he grabbed the soap from Pete and
started to wash Pete's back, "It's just your turn."

"Just doing the rounds, is that it?" Aaron shot his load into Kevin's mouth
instead of trying to hold back, if they were going to be hosting, it was
better if the play was over so no one was tempted to help him other than
Kevin. Moving to one side, he smiled as Damien moved to the front of Kevin
and lathered up and started to wash him, all four of the younger guys very
aware that sex play with the older guys was not welcome, stayed to the safe
areas and washed each other, bonding in the closeness brought about by not
crossing the line as they all knew what was allowed with whom, just wanting
to be included as far as possible.

Everyone washed and ready for the day, Kenny went over to the touch panel
and gave his trademark warning before activating the drying cycle while
giggling madly, "hold on to something."

Aaron laughed as Pat and Doug joined in the giggles as the air surrounded
them, creating a cyclone as it dried them, the highlight of Kenny's morning
shower was the drying cycle.

Walking into the Clan Hall, Aaron was joined by the rest of the Clan on the
way to the med bay and they fell back so he could enter first, walking in,
Aaron noticed right away the two Lee brothers curled up on one of the spare
bio-beds, "Didn't anyone show those two to one of the spare bedrooms last
night?"

"I left them in a spare bedroom last night," Kevin told the group, as he
went over to Aaron's side to look up at the monitor, not that he knew what
he was looking at, but he wanted to be close to Tim.

Seeing that Tim's endorphin levels had normalized, Aaron went ahead and
removed the chest sensor and turned off the soma unit before leaning over
and kissing Tim, standing up, he smiled as he moved to the side so Kevin
could kiss Tim. it was soon after Pete had moved to the side so Mark could
kiss Tim, that he woke up and grinned as each of the clan showed their love
for him by kissing him, though when it was Kenny's turn he stared at Tim as
if examining him through his eyes before relenting and kissing him, "Love
you," he whispered as he moved to his brother's side so Pat could take his
place.

Ichiro and Shoji woke up and sitting on the bio-bed, watched in awe as each
member of the Clan showed their love for one of their own. Tears were
running down both their faces as they not only witnessed but felt the love
between all of the Clan, and realized what they had missed growing up.

As the group broke up to do morning chores, Aaron went back to the bio-bed
and sat down, "I'm proud of you Tim, you accomplished a very good thing
yesterday in true Stranton stubbornness, but do me a favor, and ask for help
next time, okay?" he asked, as he placed his forehead against Tim's and
looked in his eyes, pathing the conversation he had with the Lee brothers
yesterday, so he would know what had happened. "No chores for the next week
and no using your gifts for two days," placing a finger against Tim's lips
he shook his head, "non negotiable, Love, this is to give you a chance to
heal and not burn out."

Seeing his point had gotten across, Aaron smiled, "you're not confined to
bed, so I will see you as soon as we get our chores done, then we can plan
out the rest of the day after breakfast, and maybe at lunch while the rest
of the guys are buying a horse or twelve, we can go riding."

Tim perked up and was eager for lunch to come now, as he got up and winced
in pain as his muscles protested, seeing the pain in Tim's face, Aaron
reached over and tapped the sensor on Tim's temple activating the pain
killer function, "Please be very gentle and precise when dealing with the
Lee brothers, consider them on suicide watch, or at least the young one as
you explain why you are refusing his offer," Aaron pathed before leaving.

Tim waited until Aaron was truly gone before angrily glaring at Shoji, "What
is Seppuku and why did Aaron have to make both of you promise not to perform
it?"

"When one has lost all honor, and wishes to retain honor for their family
name, they perform a ritual disembowelment called Seppuku," Ichiro said
stiffly, as he looked sadly at his brother.

Angered, Tim stumbled over to the two brothers and got into their faces, "If
you ever do something so stupid, I will shove you into one of those
bio-tubes, bring you back to life and kick your ass." pushing his finger
into the shocked boys chest, "Aaron was right telling you that I did not
rescue you so you could trade one master for another."

"I am not a slaver and to even assume I would take up your offer to satisfy
your honor, violates my own, and makes me the slaver I saved you from," Tim
saw his point hit home as Shoji looked up in shock.

"But how do we repay you for saving my brother?" Ichiro was close to tears
as his whole value system seemed to have crashed with that one statement.

Tim looked at him for a moment before sighing, "Did I ask for payment when I
agreed to save your brother?"  When the teen shook his head no, Tim placed a
hand on his shoulder to steady himself and used his other to lift Ichiro's
chin so he could look him in the face. "You are gay.you needed rescued, that
is what we do. Your brother is gay," he smiled at Ichiro's surprise, "he
needed rescuing, that is what we do."

Not really needing help, Tim nevertheless stumbled towards the exit, "Help
me to the dining area please," secretly smiling at how quickly the two
jumped to help him, he had gotten them thinking outside their upbringing,
now he needed to think of a way to redirect their sense of owing him an
honor debt into something productive. Aaron did not think like that, but
every one of the guys felt at one time the same way as these two, they were
just better equipped in channeling it into something acceptable.

Halfway to the dining hall, Shoji struggling with his upbringing finally
asked, "What do the others that you rescue do once you bring them here?"

Sensing an opening Tim smiled, "Most of them are given a choice once they
are healed, they can go anywhere in the world if they wish to leave us, most
chose to stay here, and then the only choice they have to decide is if they
truly join us or not, if they join us, then they have a chance to help
rescue others, and pass it along as Aaron told you."

"I do not understand this concept I am not Shogun I could not rescue others,
how do I pay the debt I feel I owe you even though you say I do not?" Ichiro
struggled, "I see now how Shoji was incorrect thinking the debt of being
saved fell on him, he is freed of debt with his honor intact." Shoji looked
surprised at that, and looked at his brother and would have argued but his
brother was not finished, "I have no money and only have myself, I have
already been told by every Clan member including those that are too young to
enjoy pleasure with those older than themselves that they will not accept my
body, how may I join your Clan so I may repay my way."

Tim felt like banging his head against the table or better yet maybe
Ichiro's would be better he thought, sitting down, he looked away in thought
for several moments, "It would not work like you think, joining the Clan is
like getting married.  You see us having sex with each other but you forget
we truly love one another, you were there this morning and you saw every
member of the Clan show me they love me, and those that have yet to have
their gifts break out not only showed me that they loved me, they told me
with their words." Pointing his finger at Ichiro, "every single person that
would ever join the Clan would have to be able to love each of us as we
would them, and even if you convinced everyone else which, as we are
telepaths and can read your mind if necessary, I would veto it. You want to
join us for the wrong reason out of a sense of thanking us, not out of
love."

Tim finally understood something Aaron had said to them in the beginning, he
had offered to save them, regardless of them ever sleeping with him and he
understood why now and that he could share himself with Aaron in the most
intimate ways became more precious to him. Seeing that Ichiro was still
struggling with the concept, he decided to change the subject, "What were
your dreams, what were you working towards?"

"I do not understand, I was training to be a chef as was my father and his
father before him," Ichiro looked away, still trying to come to terms with
Tim's words.

"But is that what you wanted to do, or was that your father's dreams for
you?" Tim asked curious maybe they found the help needed and he could nudge
the teen that way instead of sex.

"It does not matter in the long run if it was not my dream my father chose
for me, and I will be a chef," Ichiro stared at the lush gardens.

"Bullshit." Tim told him forcefully, "your father no longer has any say in
your life, remember, you and Shoji, as long as you are here, will follow
YOUR dreams not your father's. Now, what is it that you do that you love,
what sets your heart to racing thinking about it and when you finally get to
do it you find yourself fulfilled and relaxed?"

Answering his own question, Tim sat up as the answer for him was security
and saving others he was driven, but at the end of the day lying in the arms
of one of his lovers, he felt fulfilled. "And you Shoji what is your
desire.your dream?"

"Cooking, true cooking and being allowed to create new tastes and dishes,"
Shoji had been quiet until now and then he looked at his big brother, "and
you are wrong on one important thing, Brother, mother and father did not
sell me for money that they needed, they sold me because mother walked in on
me at Hiroshi's house, we were kissing.it was my first kiss." He looked
away, "Father did not want such a stain for a useless extra around, he told
me so as he sold me to Kim."

Flipping his mic down Tim activated it with a tap, "Security.Terry, please
come to the Clan Hall I have something I need to ask you."

"Shoji, your dreams can come true if you stay here and the Clan has been
looking to hire a chef that can be versatile and cook traditional Asian
cuisine as Aaron loves it so. The other good thing is, you will be working
with Aaron, as a Chef, Aaron would be fought over by every five star
restaurant in the world; a better mentor you could not find anywhere else."
Tim's smile turned cloudy as Terry appeared at the portation point and
walked over.

"You need me, young lord," Terry said formally as there were outsiders
present.

Looking at Terry with a serious expression, "Terry, you are being tested.do
you accept the test?" Tim said, as Terry stood up straighter if possible.

Terry knew only those being considered as Clan security were tested, and
they only tested the very best, wanting to shout yes and jump in joy he
thought about it, Friedrich had told the security officers that if they were
ever to be offered to be tested, to think twice about it as it would demand
the ultimate physically and morally from them. After what felt like hours
but was only minutes, he nodded as he came to a decision, knowing that
someone would more than likely die by his hands, "Yes, I accept the test."

"Assemble an eight man team fully armed, we will leave at half past nine,"
Tim looked at him before glancing over his shoulder at the brothers, "Your
parents are guilty of one of the worst crimes possible, and justice will be
done this day."

"Thank you Terry, this is not going to be easy on either of us, I'll see you
right here after breakfast." Tim dismissed him and looked through the spot
he had left from for several long minutes before turning back to Ichiro,
when he whispered, "Painting.painting was always my passion."

"And he is very good at it," Shoji smiled as he remembered the country scene
on his bedroom wall painted by his brother. "I wish I could get the painting
you painted for me off my wall big brother."

Andrew and Richard came walking out of the kitchen and smiled at Tim,
"Tim.your awake, that's grand," Andrew told them, as he sat down and after
Richard nudged him he asked, "By the way, Richard and I are on breakfast
duty and we were wondering where you keep the cereal and stuff."

Tim looked at them in confusion as they looked at him sheepishly, "We both
volunteered to take turns cooking but we never figured that we would be put
together, we were actually hoping to be taught to cook." Andrew smiled
sheepishly at his admission.

"We were both surprised to walk into the kitchen expecting to help out
cooking along with who invited us only to find we were it," Richard sounded
perplexed.

Tim laughed, even though he tried hard to hold it in, he couldn't help
himself, "It would serve them right to eat cereal or toast, come on, let's
get into the kitchen and I'll talk you through a basic breakfast."

Moving to the kitchen counter, Tim sat down on one of the stools and started
to direct the two newbie's to the world of cooking, "Bacon and sausage
patties are in the refrigerator, take them out and place them on the griddle
and turn it on about halfway between medium and high just flip them every
few minutes until they're done. Andrew, grab the large mixing bowl by the
blender."

"Right, that's the one, Andrew you need to break open five dozen eggs into
the bowl before we can get started," Tim started his impromptu cooking
lessons.

By the time the rest of the Clan had returned, the steam table was filled
and ready to go and the two princes were quite proud of themselves as they
sat down eating the first breakfast they had ever cooked with their own
hands.

Aaron winked at Tim, "Congratulations you two, on a fine breakfast," looking
around the table he saw two surprised faces, "though in the future, until
you get a few more skills under your belt, I think we'll make sure you're
teamed up with someone else.but still, well done."

Holding back his laughter, Aaron glanced around the table, "Who's doing what
his morning, besides these four that is?" Aaron pointed to Kenny and
company.

Kenny looked confused and quickly glanced at Damien to see if he knew what
Aaron was talking about and smiled when Damien mouthed horses to him.

"Well, I scheduled the appointment at the pony club for nine, thinking that
we could be back by lunch, and I had hoped Edward would go with us to pave
the way in case of problems," Richard stood up to take his dishes back, only
to have them taken by Kevin who pushed him back down in his chair.

"You said about a dozen horses, right?" Tommy asked, as he pulled out his
P.A.D.D. and pulled up his list. To the laughter and cat calls from the rest
of his lovers. "Yeah, yeah keep it up and the only one getting in my pants
this week is Aaron," he giggled.

"Seriously, I think with the mares you have now, we should only get maybe
four more mares along with a strong stallion and ten geldings," Tommy looked
at his list, "A couple of mares with foals over on Altair would be something
for the families to look at and we can keep all the geldings over there for
people to ride."

"Just where did you get that list from," Aaron was curious, as he held out
his hand so he could take a look.

"Some of the breeders emailed over a list of pedigrees and summaries of the
horses they were bringing this morning, one of the farms mentioned they were
bringing several stallion prospects," Tommy told them as he handed over his
list of the ones he wanted to look at.

Looking over the list which included notes on all the horses by Tommy, Aaron
made his way through to the end where the stallions were listed, the one
that had caught Tommy's eye was eight years old, old enough to be well
trained or ruined, depending on the handler, "Yes to the geldings, if the
mares are as advertised, then go ahead, but you might find a few better ones
and NO to the stallion, not right now; none of the ones listed are young
enough and I don't want to inherit other people's troubled studs."

Tapping the entry on the P.A.D.D., Aaron looked at Tommy, If you can find a
three or even two year old with these kind of bloodlines, that has the
confirmation and qualities to match our mares, buy them, and yes I mean
them," he grinned at Tommy's smile, "but not more than three, we'll narrow
it down to the best two and geld the other. All of them will have a chance
to stud, and we'll do the choosing by which ones produce the best offspring.
I am perfectly satisfied to use AI for a while, so don't jump to buy
anything as there will be other sales."

Passing the P.A.D.D. back, "Okay, Tommy, Richard with Edward for moral
support, who else?" Aaron glanced around the table.

"Me," Mark called out, "besides Tommy or you, I'm the best rider in the
Clan, so it makes sense for me to go, so we aren't there all day."

"Alrighty, do you need a port over to the palace, since it is almost eight
thirty, or do you have it covered," Aaron looked at Mark and Tommy. "And
does anyone else need to be ported anywhere before I go to the office to
catch up on some plans?"

"We have it covered, and Kevin agreed to port us back when we are finished,
though I am not sure where to have the horses delivered, if we buy them,"
Mark stood up and motioned for the four to join them as it was time to get
moving.

"I need a port to China town and back," Tim hesitated for a moment, and
looked at the head of the table where Aaron was sitting, "I have unfinished
business and need a lift for me and my team of eight, there, and back at
nine thirty."

Aaron stared at Tim until Tim fidgeted, "And what did you forget to do while
in China town, that can't wait?"

Looking over at the Lee brothers, Tim replied with one word before looking
back at Aaron, "Justice."

"I see," was all Aaron said, as he sat there thinking, finally he saw the
need for closure for the two boys, "You and your team meet me in my office
and we'll port from there. I will be on hand, only to ensure, as I did with
Kevin and Pete, no lasting damage is done to you."

"Agreed," Tim said, not so much happy, as what he had to do was distasteful,
but more of the fact that Aaron was treating him as he did all the others
that passed their ordeal.

Almost an hour later, Aaron was sitting in his office going over schedules
and trying to get a handle on just how, and the best way, to get all the new
candidates for interviews to Altair, as it would be too time consuming to go
all over the world, if things panned out, he would have another four hundred
people to interview and resequence, and applications were coming in at the
rate of fifty an hour just from Russia alone. Sending several email messages
for meetings on Tuesday, Aaron closed down the program as he heard footsteps
coming towards the office, turning his chair so he was facing the door Tim
and his team came through, he noticed the oldest Lee brother was following
them.

"Ichiro, did you need to say something, you have to know we would not let
you go along?" Aaron asked as the team split apart so that he could approach
the throne like chair, or at least to Ichiro's mind the room did not have
anything in it but a chair and the walls were covered in monitors, so like
the stories of the emperor's throne room he thought.

"Yes please.I understand what will happen, and while it saddens me, I see no
other choice. No, I come to ask to be able to go to my home and remove my
brothers and my belongings to bring them back here," Ichiro bowed and
waited.

"Where do you plan to send you message from?" Aaron finally looked at Tim as
Ichiro waited for an answer and he noticed that the team he had chosen were
heavily armed, Tim evidently planned to send a very strong message.

"Market Square, this time of day all the business leaders and influential
people will have gathered there and no better place to have justice served,"
Tim adjusted his shirt so he would look his best.

Looking back at Ichiro, Aaron sighed but relented, "You may go, Ichiro, you
will pack up anything of your brother's or things  that belong to you while
we deal with what needs to be done, two guards will stay with you, and once
we are finished, we will rejoin you and all of us will return home."

"Is it permissible to make a call to see if my brother's first kiss is
alright and if so to give him the means to contact us, I give you my word, I
shall not leave the house to even go downstairs to the restaurant," Ichiro
looked at Aaron so he could see he was sincere.

"Yes that will be more than fine, if he needs rescued, have him meet us at
your place before we leave," Aaron pointed at two of the guards and then to
Ichiro so they knew who was assigned to him."Your show, Love, run with it."

Tim looked at Terry," Terry, you have the visualization correct?" seeing the
nod, Tim moved over so Aaron could see him clearly.

"This is where we need to go, your majesty," Terry pushed the visualization
to the front of his mind and towards Aaron, once he felt Aaron's mind touch
his.

Taking the visualization and the one of Market square, Aaron warned them as
the strike team moved back to back in a triangle, "Porting in three." at his
mental countdown of one he ported them and waited for five minutes, before
he received a message back that they had captured their targets and had
moved them downstairs. After receiving a new visualization, Aaron looked
towards Ichiro and the two guards, "The coast is clear, porting in three."
he told them, as they moved closer together and as his mental voice hit one
he ported them out.

Standing up he motioned for Tim to come closer, "Which leaves just us, and
make sure our LSB's are turned on for this," Aaron concentrated and ported
them into the center of the Market scaring some of the women and children
with their appearance.

Tim, pulling his P.A.D.D. from his pocket and stood in the center of the
square, all eyes one him.

"On July 23rd 2004 TR, the Yin Kong set sail from the New York harbor with
two hundred and fifty children on board who had been either outright sold
into slavery, or kidnapped. The Yin Kong was intercepted by his Majesties
War Cruiser Ares and boarded, and at that time, the captain and crew were
taken prisoner and stood trial in front of the Kingdom of Altare's King's
Bench for their crimes." Tim scanned the crowd before continuing. "The
freighter Yin Kong was seized and it, along with its cargo condemned for the
act of slavery and contraband, slightly before that happened Yon Kim, from
the produce Market here in China Town was taken into custody by Alteran
Security."

"Yon Kim was found guilty of crimes against humanity, and sentenced to
death, sentence was carried out after telepathic examination, the captain
and crew of the Yin Kong were also found guilty of crimes against humanity
and sentenced to death," Tim glared at the crowd most of who were pale, and
some of the older people trembling in fear. "To most of you, the Kingdom of
Altare is shrouded in myth.well we are no myth, and those who would traffic
in children have awakened a dragon. We once more patrol the ocean and we
will scan all vessels we come across, those that traffic in sentient beings
will be tried and when found guilty executed."

Catching the light show out of the corner of his eye, Tim glared daggers,
"As will those who would traffic in children, Wu Lee, Chan Lee you stand
accused of selling your second born son to slavers for the reason he was
gay, when you, Wu Lee caught him kissing another boy." Tim pointed to the
ground in front of him.

Terry pulled Chan Lee around and forced him to the ground as another member
of his team did the same for Wu Lee, and he waited for the order he knew was
to come.

Glancing over his shoulder for approval, Tim placed a hand on each of their
heads and closed his eyes, from the mother, he sought confirmation and found
it. From the father, he sought confirmations and found more than he was
looking for. Stepping back, he raised his voice as several Shaolin monks
came onto the street from the building where they had watched the
proceedings so far.

"Wu Lee, upon telepathic examination, you have been found guilty of selling
sentient beings, your crime is upgraded to crimes against humanity, by the
selling of your own flesh and blood; I sentence you to death to be carried
out immediately." Tim looked aged as he glared at the father and ignored the
sound of the mother's neck being snapped. "Chan Lee, you not only have been
found guilty of crimes against your own flesh and blood, but you stand
guilty of the deaths of your third born son, after he was born imperfect in
your eyes, missing one toe and for your role in the deaths of numerous
nieces."

Looking at the ground and letting the tears flow freely, Tim took a deep
breath and tried to control the hate, his struggle visible to the keen eyes
of the Shaolin and no one else. Emotions under control, he looked back up,
"Chan Lee, I sentence you to death.I sentence you to death of DNA your DNA
will be removed from the gene pool, may your gods show you mercy, for I
cannot, I condemn you to hell for your crimes," Tim looked at Terry and
nodded.

Ignoring the electric whine, Tim glared at the crowd, "From this day forward
the same fate awaits those who abuse children, let word travel near and far
that we are back and we are not pleased by what we have found.we are
watching you." Tim turned his back on the crowd and made his way to Aaron,
and placed Aaron's hands on either side of his head and closed his eyes,
seeking healing and understanding out of what he saw.

Aaron, feeling his lover's pain, closed his eyes and sought out the images
and removed them from Tim's mind and left him at peace with the knowledge he
had found terrible things and asked them to be removed. Ten minutes later,
he opened his eyes and reached over and rubbed the tear stains away as he
kissed Tim's forehead and smiled.

The Shaolin monks who had been brave enough to come as close as they dared,
knelt before the group as the citizens of China town closed ranks so that
the outsiders including the police were excluded. Hearing the taller one
referred to as his majesty they prostrated themselves, bearing their arms
with their tattoos of the dragon outstretched, as if the dragon found on
their arms could get closer to its master.

"Shaolin, why do you prostrate yourselves before me?" Aaron asked, as Tim,
feeling balanced with what he had to do, walked over to Terry, "You have met
you test well and have passed."

"This humble servant beseeches the great one to hear our plea," the eldest
monk, or at least Aaron assumed it was the eldest monk, spoke.

Aaron closed his eyes and inwardly groaned, trust Tim to spend the hour
coming up with a speech that would hit every one in the area with the myths
of the Dragon Lords, in one move, he had brought those stories to life and
if he was not careful, this game of creating mystery around them would
become a game of one-upmanship amongst the Clan. "Stand Shaolin.stand and
face me as a learned man of faith."

Once the Shaolin were standing, the elder, the one who had spoken, looked at
Aaron as the others still gazed at the ground, Aaron, stepping forward,
looked at the ground and quietly commented, "The pattern on the ground must
be more interesting than I thought, is it preferred to looking at the beauty
of the earth or those who you ask for help." Smiling, when the rest of the
monks looked up at him hesitantly, "Tell me Shaolin, what plea you wish me
to hear."

"An illness strikes amongst our boy children, an illness we cannot treat and
they sicken further and all that is left is to pray as it is beyond our
pitiful skills to heal," the eldest monk showed emotion, which caused Aaron
to worry, as it had to be very serious for them to lose their stoicism.

Ichiro and his two guards appeared, and lucky for his peace of mind, the
Shaolin had already removed the bodies, though it did not go unnoticed by
the crowd the one Tim condemned to hell was never touched, instead a rope
was looped around an arm and he was dragged off the street.

"Where are they?" Aaron asked, as he pulled his scanner out of his pocket
preparing to examine the children.

Clapping his hands the elder monk turned and his voice carried, "Quickly,
bring the children."

Aaron would have been perfectly happy with going to the kids, but as the
monks and it looked like parents or volunteers rushed the litters out of the
building, he went to work scanning the one closest to him. Glancing over his
shoulder at the intake of breath, he noticed Ichiro paling, "You recognize
him Ichiro?"

"He is the one I asked permission to contact; this is Shoji's first kiss."
Ichiro moved closer to the guards that brought him there without asking,
frightened that he would be yelled at.

Gazing back at the scanner, Aaron was surprised at how many of the teens
systems had already shut down, but what was causing it he wondered, until he
scrolled down the screen, "Poison." he looked up and moved to the next boy
and set the scanner to detect poison, "Poison."

"Kevin how many of the Clan are around that can use the gestalt?" Aaron
pathed as he stood up and closed his eyes.

An image of Kevin sitting in the command chair in his office met his search
and Kevin sent back several moments later, "I alerted everyone to find a
gestalt chair, we can man four stations what do you need?"

Feeling Derrick, David and Pete join in, "I have fifteen teens that have
been poisoned, I need them ported to the Altair med bay and I will spread
the guards around so their LSB's take effect." Motioning for the guard team
to spread out around the sick teens, he pathed to the four of them, "then
get John in the air to come pick up the parents from New York Airport if you
would, port when ready leave me to last please."

"One of my jets will land at New York Airport in four hours, the parents of
these boys can board for a ride to the healers hall, while we heal their
sons, and they will need to pack for at least a week. A week is all the time
you have to bring me those responsible or I will tear through every mind in
China town searching for those guilty myself," Aaron glared at the crowd as
he felt the gestalt touch him porting him to the med bay.

The street was quiet as they left in a shimmer of light and the Shaolin
turned to the crowd and the elder looked at the leaders of the community
that were known to be on the other side of the law, "Your greed and
disregard for life has woken the Great Dragon, pray that he does not destroy
us all, you have until tomorrow night to hand over those responsible alive
and not badly damaged." He left them staring at him as he turned and waved
his monks to proceed him into the building so he could gather the parents.

Arriving at the trauma pod, Aaron looked around at the teens on the floor,
"Strip them and get them into one of the bio-tubes." Reaching the desk, he
logged in and brought the emergency systems online, pulling his mic down he
tapped his communicator and uncovered a sealed button and pressed it, "CODE
PATIENTS.FIFTEEN CODE PATIENTS ARRIVING," before quickly going to the first
bio-tube and prepping the teen.

He had prepped his third patient when the first of the residents ran into
the trauma pod and skidded to halt by one of the open bio-tubes and rushed
to prep the teen inside, soon each of the teens were being prepped and Aaron
looked around, "I hope someone is with the other three across the hall,
they've all been poisoned," he informed them as he noticed his teens liver
had started to go necrotic, slipping on the servo gloves he sighed in
frustration as he quickly went about removing the dead organ and glancing
around saw the other monitor flashing red.

That was the last of them, Aaron sighed in relief as his Clan surrounded him
to comfort him by massaging his shoulders or arms while the other two fed
him a donut and Derrick held a straw to his lips. Thinking about it, Aaron
laughed, breaking the tension as he thanked each one by kissing them and
walking to the desk, "You know you're loved when they give you the roman god
treatment," he chuckled, as he leaned over the desk to double check the
residents treatment plans.

Larry looked up, "Go on Aaron, we know you have to deal with two hundred and
some kids waiting for you outside, Miguel and I will finish up here."

"Thanks, just think four more days and this place goes live," Aaron sounded
sarcastic before laughing.

"Yes about that, I think we found another twenty or so residents, most are
British or German, but they all have a good grasp of English," Miguel smiled
at Aaron as he hinted, "most of them are like Carl and Gordon, Emergency
specialists not single track specialists.so that means their yours."

Laughing, Larry slapped his leg at Aaron's expression, "We are also starting
to get tons of emails from schools wanting to know our procedures for
applying, they are already thinking about next year and their forth years."

Grinning evilly as he made his way to the door, "Forward the mail to Theo,
now isn't it a very good thing he is so well versed in this bullshit."
Laughter followed Aaron down the hall, as he and his five lovers walked
towards the atrium. "Let's get these kids settled and then back home for
nice relaxing ride topside."

Tim grinning walked next to Aaron as they entered the Atrium the grin
quickly left his face though as two hundred sets of eyes turned to meet
theirs. Walking through the silence, Aaron noticed the steam table being
filled and once he made his way to the front of the room, he stopped in
front of the table where Drew and Eric sat, along with the Graves brothers
and their father. "Drew, how far did you get into explaining life on Altare
with them?" Aaron pathed as he waited for his lovers to walk around the
table to stand behind the group sitting there, content to let Aaron be the
focus for the stares.

"The same full pre disclosure you gave us, and some of the ones that wanted
to leave have changed their minds, actually, some of the straight guys have
said they wanted to talk to you too." Drew replied, secretly smirking until
Aaron sent back, "I heard that, just remember you're a block parent."

"Before we get into any questions or an answer session, and before you tell
me what you want to do, I see lunch is ready and while I can feel most of
you want to talk and feel this is more important, how about you all eat and
I'll give a quick overview and hit the high points." Aaron pointed towards
the food line and sighed in relief when the teens started to get up and get
in line for lunch, he thought it bought him half an hour before he had to
deal with talking things through, he could use that time to review the logs
Eric had sent him when he mentioned that most of the teens had taken their
placement tests.

Reviewing the overall scores, most scored average to above average for their
age level not bad, Aaron thought, let's see if changing the parameters will
give me.what the hell, how did I get over two hundred personal emails in the
past two hours, looking at the originating headers every one of them
originated here on Altair. Showing the screen to Kevin, who stared at the
P.A.D.D. in horror trying to figure out how his filters failed, that was
until he noticed Aaron pointing to the room.

"Drew, how many of the original fourteen now want to go home?" Aaron asked,
without turning around as he studied the email list.

"Four and those four are the only ones who have families to go back to that
are straight, all total, of the forty four identified as straight by the
scans, forty of them want to stay and they planned to send you an email to
ask for a face to face talk," Drew wondered why Aaron wanted to know this,
as it was almost time to get in line for food.

Turning his P.A.D.D. around so Drew could see the pending email messages,
Drew paled at seeing two hundred and sixteen of them, "I had no idea."

"Let's get something to eat while we can, they'll be going up to get
seconds, soon," Aaron motioned for them to go ahead of him. Seeing John at
the kitchen door, Aaron went over to talk to him as they saw some of the
teens who were about to get up to come get seconds sit back down, "Go ahead
and get in line if you want more; don't wait for me, I can always sneak into
the kitchen and grab my food from the other side," smiling as he saw
grinning teens get back up he focused once more on John.

"How goes your search for help, I need to warn you the dining hall back at
Altare is going to need to get up and running like tonight," Aaron sighed,
"Two hundred and thirty six of these kids want to stay, a hundred and ninety
six of them are gay and will be moving over to Altare after lunch, so tell
me you have good news."

"Well mom and dad agreed to move," John told him before laughing at Aaron's
expression. "Relax, we have it covered at least until we can hire more help,
the kitchen here will cook extra and we will port it over and place it in
the steam tables there, it will work long enough until I head out for
interviews tomorrow, I've lined up six in Brisbane of all places in the
morning and then working with the time zones I have another twenty, ending
with four in New York at the CIA."

Before Aaron could get angry he calmed down after John explained in this
instance, CIA stood for Culinary Institute of America. "Here you go boss,
just what you need," Scott walked up with a large hot fudge brownie Sunday
and a spoon, "Kevin warned me about your chocoholic tendencies and this is a
perfect snack to hold you over until dinner."

Thanking Scott with a smile, Aaron started to dig in and rolled his eyes
with pleasure as he started walking back up to the front with his treat.

"What the hell, Aaron hasn't even had his lunch yet and you go and give him
desert," John glared at his brother.

"Don't look at me like that, it seems not one but all five of the Clan came
to me and told me most of the time Aaron does not like to eat lunch, and you
can see as well as I can, that his hotness is way too skinny to be skipping
meals." Scott replied, after hitting his brother in the back of the head.

"His hotness? What the hell," John whispered as some of the teens started to
line up near them instead of the buffet.

Scott nodded as he pointed to the window that was staring to open up with
the dessert items on it, "Help yourselves, guys." Whispering back to his
brother and lover Scott giggled, "It's what his lovers, all the guys in the
Clan call him, makes one wonder doesn't it."

Kevin elbowed Pete and Tim gently as he spotted Aaron walking towards them
with a huge hot brownie Sunday and grinned, their plan had worked and Aaron
was enjoying a high calorie treat.

Once he had finished feeding his face, Aaron smiled as he placed the bowl on
the conveyor to the kitchen so it could be washed. Going back to the front
of the room, he saw that almost everyone else was eating dessert, "Alrighty,
let me start this a different way, as it seems each and every one of you
wrote me an email, and I will personally answer each one tonight and set up
appointments tomorrow to see all of those that asked for them and hopefully
answer any questions I come across in your emails."

"Now not to single anyone out, but the forty of you that are straight, those
that have emailed me asking for a meeting face to face, I'll ask that you
remain here after lunch is over while the other one hundred and ninety six
are transported and get settled back on Altare, we'll see how much of this
can be done group wise to separate you down into more reasonable groups
before tomorrow morning first thing, when I'll see each of you one on one."
Aaron stood up and walked around to the front of the table.

"If your email is about something you consider important enough that it
can't wait until morning, get with Drew, Eric or one of the Clan and tell
them about it so I can get with you tonight right after supper, today is
supposed to be a day of rest with my lovers, but I will interrupt it if
someone needs saved, long enough to send people out to rescue those in
trouble."Aaron smiled as Kevin and Pete came around the table and kissed him
before porting out, Kevin going to Aaron's office Gestalt, and Pete going to
the one at the sea farm, a moment later they both pathed that they were
ready.

"Since Kevin and Pete are ready to transport you over in groups of ten, you
can use the gazebo there and the square right outside the doors by the
garden, once you're ready, go on over to either spot and you'll be
transported over to Altare. Derrick and Drew along with Eric and David will
meet you at the arrival point outside the main med bay and show you how to
get to the dining hall and which of the empty apartments you can spend the
next couple of days in before finding a more permanent one, in the city
itself." Aaron waited for his kiss by the last of his three lovers and
watched the five port out.

Twenty minutes later, there was only forty left and they moved to the front
of the tables, glancing over those left, "Let's take this is reverse order,
I'm not going to pull up your medical records and DNA scans right now, but
of those of you left, how many are interested in chasing your dreams while
living and eventually working on Altair Minor with no thought of wanting our
gifts or what it will take to get them?" Again, Aaron was surprised when
only six raised their hands, "do any of you need to talk to me about
anything that cannot wait until morning?"

Getting a no from all of them "If you would resend me an email with the
subject of first and you name I will see you first thing after breakfast,
the rooms you spent the night in are of course available still, and you have
the run of the island for the most part just the same as you had last
night," Aaron smiled as he watched all but one wave and walk out.

"Which begs the question for the rest of you, is there any here that are not
entertaining the idea of asking what it would take to become Alteran and get
our gifts?" Aaron asked as he looked at each of them in turn, thought so he
told himself, as he settled back in the chair against Tim. "Now another
embarrassing question, how many of you have NOT entered puberty to the point
where you are producing sperm?" well that leaves sixteen, not bad, "Okay,
each of you not producing sperm yet send me another email with second as the
subject and make sure I have your name, so I can check the records before
meeting with you in the morning."

Waiting until there was only sixteen left, Aaron pointed to the closest
table, "Come up where we can talk more comfortably, Guys." Aaron told them
as he picked up a chair and came around the table so he was sitting with his
back to the head table, "One of two things, either you are BI or straight,
those that are BI won't have a problem with adjusting, and we are a small
enough group that it does not matter."

"So the possibility of gaining the abilities Alteran's have, outweighs the
discomfort you feel over thinking about having sex with a guy, I want you to
seriously think about this, as once I start to resequence your DNA, there
will be no turning back, the only reason I even am considering this is the
fact that none of you are over fourteen and if I adjust your DNA so you're
gay physically, mentally and emotionally you will adjust," Aaron looked each
square in the eye and held it for a moment, "Think about it, and if your
mind is made up by nine tonight, send me an email with last as the subject,
and I will spend as much time as is needed with each of you so you can make
the most informed choice possible, once you go in the bio-tube, there is no
turning back, you will wake up with all our abilities but also one hundred
percent gay."

"Which is not a bad thing, as no one makes it past this island to the
kingdom unless they are gay," Tim told them, as he stood up, "being straight
is the oddity in our world."

"Now before we leave, are there any questions that you can think of that
would help you think things over?" Aaron closed his eyes and ported in a
couple of bananas from his experimental grove to munch on.

"If all of you are gay how come you haven't died out?"

"Artificial wombs," Tim giggled, as he remembered the conversation Pete had
with Thomas, "we can have all the sons we want, easily."

"If you can change our DNA so we are gay can you change it so we don't look
like we do now?"

"Depending on what is available in your current DNA, yes, both Eric and Drew
altered their looks, Drew to the point he even grew three inches taller than
he would have, before being changed," Aaron searched out the teen in
question, "If for instance, your family genetics allowed for every eye color
except blue there is no way to make your eyes blue during resequencing, but
if green is a possibility and your eyes are brown now, then we could change
them to green."

"One of the things we can do is to show you what you would look like fully
grown and work on changes to your DNA by showing you a simulation up on the
monitor before locking them in, you would see what you would look like if
you changed your eye color or hair color or the shape of your face." Aaron
saw the smile and was curious why he had asked and luckily the teen
volunteered the answer.

"My father sold me like a bag of apples so he could buy more drugs, I would
prefer not to look anything like that bastard, even going so far as changing
my name if possible."

Aaron thought about it for a moment, "I don't see a problem with that; I
would need to link your new name in the system to your old one, otherwise
all your placement testing would have to be done over again. We rely on DNA
locks and such to keep track of people, so names are not as important as
they are in the U.S."

"Is it true my body will be repaired even to the point of getting my
foreskin back?"

"Another good question and the answer is yes, you will get your foreskin
back and all the scars and such you have accumulated over your life so far
will be erased outwardly and inwardly you will be as if your were reborn in
a sense," Aaron smiled before turning to another teen who had his hand
raised.

"Eric and Drew suggested to everyone that they should find someone to pair
up with to get through the change, they said it was easier that way, what I
want to know is why?"

"The simple answer is the process leaves you so horny the slightest movement
can cause you to explode, and once is not enough," Aaron smirked at the
thought of Carl and Gordon surrounded by horny teens in a few days time.
"The long involved answer is that once your DNA is changed, your body wants
to get rid of the old DNA that it stored as unaltered sperm, now I don't
know how experienced any of you are, but you will have larger orgasms and
more intense ones if someone helps you, even if it is only a hand job."

Aaron really wanted to laugh at their wide eyed expressions, but he held off
and picked up a disturbing thought from one of the oldest teens, "Once your
body gets rid of all the old sperm you will settle down to normal, or as
normal as a horny teenager can ever be," he laughed.

"When you whittled down the group, you let a bunch of the straight guys go
because they had not started puberty, how come?"

"Because it is easier to introduce the changes to their DNA if puberty has
not happened yet, and on top of that, they would not be eligible for
alteration for becoming Alteran until they hit puberty, the change can
happen slowly over the period of a month without guidance, where in your
cases, it will be controlled and then alteration to the Alteran form will
happen at the same time. For those lucky enough to be given the opportunity
to become Alteran, the process can take from forty to forty eight hours
depending on how much damage to your body needs to be repaired, in your
cases, if you decide to go through with the procedure, it will take twice as
long at around eighty hours or three and a half days." Aaron caught the
stray thought and narrowed it down to the teen in the back, the one off to
one side by himself he wanted the gifts so he could erase the minds of his
victims, seems that they rescued a rapist.

Placing a hand on Tim's thigh he pathed the information to him and asked him
to help by talking to the kid and suggesting a walk outside, taking him
through the kitchens to the exit where the haulers where stored, John would
take him out as soon as they entered the kitchen. Aaron then pathed John,
"John can you and Scott do me a favor?"

"Sure thing boss man, need another Brownie?" John's laughter came back over
the pathed link.

"That sounds like a good idea, but I am sending Tim back through the
kitchens, the kid that follows him needs to be taken out quietly, he's a
rapist and is trying to pull the wool over our eyes so he can get our gifts
to have more of his type of fun. " Aaron added, "but a brownie before I go
would be good too."

"Consider it done Aaron," John's mental voice changed to become very dark
and menacing.

Glancing Tim's way, Aaron nodded as most of the teens looked like they were
talking things over between themselves, Tim got up and stopped and talked
with the different teens until he got to the one in question and he asked if
he wanted to go for a ride with a smile. Aaron watched him follow Tim to the
kitchen and hearing quiet from the others who were looking at him curiously,
he sighed when Tim came back a moment later alone.

"Um not to be nosy or anything, but where did you take that dude, he's bad
news."

"The Brig," Tim told them as he sat back down next to Aaron and placed the
plate of brownies in his lap.

Taking the top most brownie, Aaron passed the plate over to the closest teen
so they all could share, after taking a bite and smiling as the chocolate
hit his system, he answered, "Bad news does not even begin to start with
that one," he sighed. "I felt something wrong about him and he was thinking
too loudly, and I found out he's a rapist that only wanted to join us long
enough to get our gifts, after that, he planned to take off and go back to
the U.S. and have his kind of fun, this time, not leaving behind kids that
could remember him."

"What are you going to do with him?" the teen asked darkly, as he smacked
his fist into his hand.

"Our mind healers will modify his memory and then implant controls, so he
can no longer give in to his impulses and he will be returned to the U.S.
with no memory of this place or being rescued," Aaron wished he could do
more.

"It does not seem like it's enough though."

"The problem is he has not broken our laws, and if I started to look at each
person that came to us or we rescued to judge them on what they had to do to
survive, no one would be given a fresh start," Aaron told him but silently
made a note to make sure all those rescued were screened before given the
chance of joining them. "Any more immediate questions, or do you have enough
to think about so you can come up with some really good ones tomorrow," he
laughed.

Sensing they were done, Aaron stood and held his hand out for Tim, "Then
until tomorrow, and don't forget the terminal can answer some of your
questions if you only query it." Pulling Tim into his favorite position he
ported them to the topside farm and kissed Tim, releasing him, he smiled and
pointed at the two horses saddled and ready for them. Laughing, Tim rushed
over to his horse and climbed into the saddle before Aaron made it to his
mount.

Climbing up into the saddle, he pointed to the summit in the distance, "the
rest of the guys are up there waiting for us," Aaron laughed again, as Tim
held on for dear life as his horse twisted around and started a nice
leisurely ground eating pace. Relaxing as he rode, Aaron pushed all thoughts
of duty and future plans to the back of his mind and enjoyed the wind in his
face as the sun warmed him and Tim's giggles carried back to him as they
climbed the trail.

Editors section:



RadioRanchers Musings:  It looks like most all of them are going to stay. I
think if I were young enough even if I were straight, I would want to give
it a try, given what they have to offer, and I don't even mean the
technology and special gifts, just the wonderful loving caring family that
they are offering, although the extras would be awfully cool too.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

A/N: I am still posting on my back up account, mainly because my secondary
computer at home is not finished being configured yet. If you are part of
the mailing list and did not get a chapter on Wednesday drop me a note. I do
try to make sure my laptop and the main computer are in synch weekly so it
is possible to have missed a name or two.