Date: Sun, 24 May 2009 19:49:21 -0400
From: ron <wolfwalker2@windstream.net>
Subject: TEEP 67

                                    Chapter 67


Hug patrol over, Aaron ported over to the Beastmaster compound so he could
check up on them one last time as after today Donny and his new clan could
be considered fully moved in. Walking through the dining area he spotted
several people working in the flight greenhouse and entered through the
double screened doors.  Seeing Donny and Ru working in the far corner he
made his way over smiling. Stopping to greet happy clan members sporting
their new tattoos with pride, "Hello Donny, Ru.I see you retrieved your
birds, how did they take the trip?"

"Greetings Prime," Donny smiled as he turned around and snickered at Aaron's
expression, "I know Aaron," chuckling Donny smiled as he hugged Aaron, "I
actually need you to put on your Prime's hat though, or should it be the
King's crown," Donny grinned as he pointed to all the empty perches and
cages they had installed. "We need to find some chicks or eggs so we can
build up our aviary the problem is no one wants to sell to us, and most of
the species we want to use are protected."

Aaron leaned against the wall of the cage and wondered about using the
artificial wombs, "I might have an idea, the question is could we get access
to enough birds to take cell samples from them." Thinking about it for a
moment longer, "I have a meeting with the leaders involved in colonization
this afternoon around one, why don't the two of you come with me and we'll
see if I can get the cooperation from the world leaders to harvest some
cells, and we'll hatch our own chicks." Aaron considered what all would be
involved, "I'll just need to know what size eggs we need, then get some
fertile ones and replace the embryos with the ones we create from the cell
samples. Once I train someone up it won't take long to replace a couple of
hundred embryos."

Donny and Ru kissed Aaron's cheeks in glee before Donny looked at Ru with a
smirk, "Clan leathers all around, our first official outing as
Beastmasters."

"Glad to be of help, how goes the rabbit breeding project so you have food
for you birds?" Aaron pulled out his P.A.D.D. and brought up the information
about the procedure he needed to do to replace the embryos, it did not look
too difficult.

"Mark sent over information to that Gen Corp place, we should be able to
pick up breeding stock this week," Ru smiled as he closed the run door and
moved away from his hawk, "Until then he has given us culls from the quail
project.  He said to let you know he would be buying up a large amount of
breeding stock, building the barns on Mirkwood to start with, and then we
could have our own hutches here so we have live ones on hand."

"I've not had fried rabbit in a long time or, better yet, Hasenpfeffer,"
Aaron mused as he thought about tweaking the recipe or better yet one of the
South American dishes, rabbit with coconut, "I need to go eat something or
my brain is going to keep going into recipe mode," Aaron groaned before
hugging both teens, "Meet me in my office at quarter past one and we'll get
some answer to the problem you're having." Waving back at several people who
saw him and waved at him Aaron ported out, back to the Clan compound and
food.

Taking his full plate over to one of the free tables Aaron activated the
terminal function and brought up the embryo exchange data and started
reading and brushing up on the procedure.  Smiling he looked up at his
lovers as they kissed him good morning, but kept looking down and reading
the information until Kevin frustrated by Aaron's actions started reading
over Aaron's shoulder and pathed Mark asking him what the information he was
reading meant, since it had Aaron so distracted.

Leaving his food Mark rushed over and stared at the tabletop before breaking
the silence and Aaron's musings, "Where the hell did that come from and
where is it so I can read up on it and practice? This would solve a lot of
problems of being able to get adequate breeding stock of certain varieties
of poultry."

Looking up Aaron blinked as he refocused and then replayed what Mark asked
him, grinning he traced several commands on the terminal, "I released the
information to your tutor program." Stretching his neck Aaron tapped the
tabletop near the active terminal, "Donny and Ru brought a problem to my
attention this morning, they can't get their hands on any of the eagles or
hawks they want as no one is willing to sell any to us, so I thought about
using our technology to create our own breeding flocks, setting their aviary
up so they can breed all the animals in house." Chuckling, Aaron cheated and
glanced at the steam table and ported seconds directly to his plate, "I
invited them to come to Sol Station and my meeting with the world leaders so
we can get permission to harvest cells from the birds they want to use; they
plan to come to the meeting dressed in uniform, using this as their first
official outing, so it should be interesting."

Kevin snorted as he sat down with his plate, "Interesting is putting it
mildly, I think I want to come along to watch." Glancing out of the corner
of his eye at Aaron, "You do know it's your fault their uniform is leather
don't you?  Donny and some of the others watched you ride in that hot
leather outfit of yours."

Grinning Aaron nodded, "Well I know Fred will be there this morning, feel
free to come with me, or  watch it from here, I'll turn the recorders on."

Mark looked at the information on the terminal and understanding it, which
surprised him, "How come I not only understand what this is all about, but I
went from high school to college in weeks?  It can't be all because of the
way we are being taught?"

Seeing that Mark's question gained everyone's attention Aaron thought for a
moment and then remembered he had not told them everything he had found out
in the system Core, "The simple answer is genetics." Placing his empty glass
down Aaron looked around, "I forgot all about some of the things I learned
in the Core, being too intent on finding out why we, all of a sudden, could
convert energy to plasma and cause it to take shape in dragon form.  Aaron
1.0 tweaked the Alteran genetics somewhat, he wanted to give a helping hand
to all those we rescued so they could quickly catch up and grab for their
dreams; one of the things he did was to increase the intelligence and
cognition aspects of our genome.  I think you will find if you look at the
tutor logs for all of our people that they are flying through the lessons at
an incredible rate." Seeing the prospectives listening he sighed, "Some of
what you are going to hear is considered Clan secrets." Seeing Edward was
confused he stared at him; he would have to alter him tonight, the time of
waiting was over.  Sending a message to Tim on a tight band he told him that
as soon as they were finished he needed to show Edward the racial secrets,
then this afternoon they would re-sequence him or, if he could not handle
it, remove his memory of what he heard.

"We truly are a separate and distinct species.  While we can interbreed with
the humans on Earth, we're no longer human, not anymore, 1.0 designed us
that way," Aaron saw Tim move over and whisper in Edward's ear and the two
of them get up and go towards Tim's rooms, that would make it easier, "Our
gifts are tied into the gene clusters that determine if we are gay or not;
if you don't have them you cannot access our gifts.  What most people don't
know, and I never knew until I went to the Core and asked, was that there
are other things he tied into the genetics of our race; increased cognition
and intelligence is one, though he tweaked it more than a bit to include a
photographic memory when he tied Clan specific gifts to the Clan genome set.
The ability to pass knowledge on how to use Clan specific traits and gifts
during sex was another, that's why most of you know how to take energy and
kinetically transform it into plasma at the instinctive level and it will
always take the shape of a dragon.  He used to amuse the kids by bringing
mythical creatures to life in plasma; his favorite one to create was a
dragon."

"This is one of the reasons you do not allow sex outside the Clan, this
sharing of knowledge at a new level," Rolph looked surprised as he looked
around the room and noticed very few looked surprised.

"One of them," Aaron agreed, "You won't suddenly come out of the bio-tube
and re-sequencing as a genius, but over two weeks your brain in a sense
wakes up, a slow process so it is not as noticeable. One other thing;  the
Clan modifications were taken one step further, to tell the truth I never
did let the Core finish telling me all the Clan specific traits we have I
was too distracted by the ability to manipulate plasma tied to our
emotions.like anger, to pay attention or let that damn Jeeves program rattle
on."

Spotting Kevin over to one side Aaron stared at him for a moment, "Kevin, is
there a way to merge Corry with Jeeves and get rid of the annoying thing; it
is not as interactive as it could or should be, and truthfully I would
prefer no hologram, not to mention the fake accent."

Chuckling Kevin smirked evilly, "I'll look into it sometime soon and let you
know."



Tim sat Edward down on the edge of his bed and moved over to the terminal
after logging in he faced Edward, "I know you are more than slightly
confused, especially with what you've overheard in bits and pieces.  Aaron
told me to let you view the racial secrets as he plans to bring you back
after your meeting and place you in one of the bio-tubes for re-sequencing.
You would normally see this after you've been altered." Tim trailed off as
he looked at the terminal options and saw the racial history section as
locked out, confused he scrolled through different options before breaking
down and pathing Aaron, "Aaron, I can't find the option to let me show
Edward the secrets; it's there but locked out, do you know why?"

Aaron looked up as he put his shorts on, free balling it as he had banished
every set of underwear to the recycler section of the replicators,
"Tim?.Well Shit, I forgot for a moment that Edward is not Alteran, the
system must have picked up unaltered DNA in the room.FUCK." Aaron ported
into Tim's bedroom and grabbed Edward, pulled power and ported him to Sol
Station, his office, startling both Tim and Edward. "I'll explain in a
minute, Edward.  Someone will be here shortly with your clothes, I need to
go back and reset something before the hunter seekers rip the compound apart
looking for you..how stupid can I get," he muttered as he ported out after
pulling from the gestalt.

Arriving in the Core, Aaron micro ported to the platform, "Identify."

"Identity confirmed.Aaron Stranton.Prime of Clan Stranton.King of the
Alteran Empire.leader of Humanity."

Shaking his head at another change in his titles, he would have Kevin have a
long talk with the Core later, "Disengage.Intruder sensor report.Clan
compound.Ignore response protocols."

"Termination sequence disengaged.Hunter Seekers recalled."

"FUCK.how stupid can I be to forget something that vital," Aaron swore as he
sat down and rubbed his head, "Tim, can you send someone with some of
Edward's clothes to Sol Station?  I kind of left him naked in my office to
come back to reset the hunter seekers that were dispatched to kill Edward
when the system scanned the occupants of your room as you tried to view the
racial secrets."

Tim stared into space for a moment trying to figure out why it mattered then
realized, "Oh.we really screwed up on that, didn't we! I'll bring some of
his clothes to your office."

Pulling power from the gestalt, Aaron ported back to his office and smiled
at Edward who had moved to the couch.  Sliding over the back so he could
spoon up behind Edward he sighed, "Sorry Edward, I forgot that you have not
been altered yet, or the fact that the scan would ignore the masking device
on your wrist setting the security system after you." Glad he had ported out
of his shorts Aaron reached down and slid a finger between Edward's cheeks.

"If you are ready we will re-sequence you as soon as the meeting and
interview is over, then you can learn our races secrets and finally make
sense of what you've heard in bits and pieces," Aaron slid a finger inside
Edward and whispered in his ear, "We have time for you to shag me and quick
shower before we have to be dressed; or we can just shower, get dressed and
cuddle."

Turning to face Aaron, Edward kissed him, "I'm not sure I've anything left
after this morning," grinning he looked into Aaron's smiling face, "I left
part of me in Richard, Andrew, Pat and I think Kenny and Doug shared a
drink," reaching down and caressing the hard willie he found Edward thought
he might still be up for a shag or two.  Seeing the bottle of lube in
Aaron's hands he gently took it from him and lubed Aaron up before turning
back, "I do think I might like you inside me right now, it's been at least a
day since anyone has been inside me, I spent all day yesterday on top."

Lifting Edward's leg to open his cheeks slightly Aaron slid slowly past the
tight inner ring, waiting for Edward to move back when  he was ready Aaron
started to thrust in and out, the sounds of flesh slapping flesh was louder
than the quiet moans of pleasure from Edward.

Tim ported into Aaron's office with clothes for both Aaron and Edward and
immediately heard the sounds of sex; moving over to the couch and placing
the pile on the corner of the table he smiled as he grew stiff and moved
forward, well within reach of Edwards mouth.  Once Edward spotted Tim he did
his best to swallow Tim's hard willie. Edward was really good at this, he
thought, as he stiffened a few minutes later and filled his eager mouth.
Kneeling down in front of Edward's crotch, Tim took a good look at the small
puddle in front of the leaking erection and decided to do his part in
keeping the rest of the couch dry by licking the tip of Edward's cock before
slipping it past his lips.

Feeling Edward spasm around his shaft Aaron let himself go and shot his load
deep inside him, knowing that they did not have time to do things properly
he stopped moving and hugged Edward close to him so he could slowly go limp
and be expelled when Edward's body was ready. "So, Edward, you never
answered me; are you ready to become Alteran, to join us in all things?"

Edward was quiet for a few minutes as he thought about it, feeling Aaron
start to go limp he squeezed his butt tightly and felt him slip out, smiling
he rolled over so he could face Aaron, "We need to shower.and truthfully I
want nothing more than to join you, but all of a sudden I'm scared."

Tim helped Edward stand so they could take a shower together, picking up the
bundle of clothes he led the way to the shower, "Why are you scared?"

"I am afraid that when it comes time to face my ordeal I will let my dark
side rule and it will not be justice just revenge or worse," Edward said
quietly as he felt Aaron sandwich him between Tim and Aaron's body as they
entered the shower.

"Then we will make sure that until then we will help you deal with your dark
side and, when the time does come, you do know you never have to go through
with it to belong, or by yourself," Aaron whispered as he soaped Edward's
back while Tim did his front.

Sighing as he stared down at the hard cock that would not go away Tim looked
at Aaron who smiled back and nodded as he turned holding onto Edward so he
could have access to his butt. Grinning in relief Tim grabbed the lube from
the shelf and made sure he was nice and slick before slowly sliding into his
lover as Edward chuckled.

Seeing Tim enter Aaron, Edward chuckled, "Satyrs, all of you!"

Grinning through his frantic thrusting Tim picked up the pace until he
buried himself deep inside Aaron as his load left his body, coming down
slightly, "Just think shortly you will be one of those Satyrs you keep
teasing us about."

"I know," Edward grinned, "And just think I won't be tired out like I am now
after a measly six times."

Reaching around Aaron hefted Edward's ball sack and felt them, they were
pretty empty he thought, "It will be grand being able to truly not shag you
into unconsciousness, I look forward to that happening.

Kissing Aaron, Edward smiled, "You're not the only one.  Andrew already
warned me about 'THE NEED' hitting and how I'd likely cum about a dozen
times before being able to think of things other than sex.  He told me he
plans for my first and last load to be inside him when the time comes."

Slipping out of Aaron, Tim grinned, "Sounds very hot, so are you okay with
doing this, this afternoon?"

"I think so," Edward paused as the water started to rinse their bodies
before the drying cycle started, "Waiting any longer will just drive me
crazy with worry, or bonkers trying to fit all the pieces of the puzzle
together that I have overheard you lot talking about."

"I'm truly sorry about that Edward, but I think we all think of you as
belonging to us in every way possible and we forget ourselves," Aaron
apologized to be interrupted by the hug and kiss from Edward.

Hugging Aaron and kissing him Edward smiled, "That is the nicest thing you
could ever say to me.  It shows me how all of you feel about me; so let me
get dressed and get through this damn interview so you can undress me and
place me in one of those lovely bio-tubes of yours."

Dry now Aaron smiled as Tim passed out their clothes and went over to the
cupboard looking for a set that would fit him, getting dressed Aaron slipped
his shirt into his shorts before buttoning them up, slipping his deck shoes
on he looked on last time in the mirror before grinning as he went around
the partition and into his office. Opening his door he settled behind his
desk as Kevin and Fred walked in with smirks on their faces, "I'm almost
afraid to ask."

Pointing to Edward and Tim coming out of the bathroom Kevin grinned, "I
think Edward should be nice and relaxed for the interview.  We wanted to
warn you that everyone is waiting for you in the lounge."

Fred Nodded, "I'll go talk to the Shaolin healers.  I think the prospective
healers and families are being ported up to the park, we should be ready for
you to talk to them in an hour. Tyler said something about coming over to
talk to the five leaders and your governors about costs of some of our
services while you were busy, that way you didn't need to cover it.  He
suggested we use the conference room that way when the reporters are here we
can still work without having to move." Fred smiled as he got his greeting
kiss and hug, even though he had one a short time before.  Glancing Edward's
way he tilted his head and examined him, "So this afternoon you're ours,
right?"

"Yes," Edward sounded breathless as he grinned like a fool.

"Good, I can't wait until you are truly ours in all ways," Fred walked over
and kissed him deeply before moving back slightly, arms still around Edward
he looked into his eyes, "I should warn you we plan to see if we can't drain
you dry after your altered, we have a bet going to see how many times you
can cum before you stop shooting your load. I picked twenty one, so don't
disappoint me love."

Aaron chuckled at Edward's expression before moving into the hall, "Okay I'm
going to escort the group to my conference room; if you want to go through
and set up we'll be there in a minute."

Chuckling Aaron walked down the hall and reached the visitors lounge and
smiled in greeting, "Welcome, it is good to see all of you again, and today
we are going to move the meeting to my conference room so when the vultures,
I mean reporters, show up you can still get some work done while we go play
nice."

Victoria laughed softly, "Why Aaron, one would think you don't have much use
for the media."

"Well then you would be about right, our way is so much easier, we just
record it all and post it to the system.  If someone wants to know they pull
it up," Aaron shrugged as he waved for them to follow him, "Bill, Clyde,
good of you to join us, being territories you missed a large amount of the
negotiations but I know you've been kept abreast.  Paul, if you fall behind
or get confused with what is going on let us know so we can get you up to
speed;  being the administrator for the kingdom's new holdings, those states
we seized as prizes of war, well I can see how you might be a bit behind."

Paul laughed, "It's a good thing my other half, Hal, is so good with
administrative duties," Paul smirked remembering some of the religious
leaders' expressions when they were introduced as the administrators for the
new section of the kingdom.

Picking up on Paul's thoughts Aaron smiled. It was a glorious day, he
thought, when the religious right was proven so wrong and found themselves
out of power and influence, and running for another state.

Waving everyone to a seat Aaron sat on the small loveseat in front of the
plasma, "I think I am not going to tempt that outsider god called Murphy by
mentioning schedules and time in the same sentence," Aaron grinned at the
laughs as he sat back and looked at the plasma "Fred told me he would be
ready for me to show up in about an hour to talk to the healer candidates;
until then I have one item to ask about and will leave the rest of the time
to go over anything you feel we need to cover before Tyler gets here to talk
about services and pricing."

Glancing out the side window Aaron thought how to best word what he wanted,
"A situation was brought to my attention this morning, and before anyone
becomes worried, I have a solution that is more than fair." Aaron smiled as
Donny and Ru walked through the door with their pups at their sides,
following them were the other three Clan members also with their pups.

Donny smiled as he noticed the shocked looks on the dignitaries' faces as he
and his clan walked into Aaron's office, smiling and nodding at Aaron,
"Prime."

"Ah Beastmaster.right on time; I was just getting to the part of the
conversation where I would tell our guests about your denial of gaining
access to predatory birds," Aaron wanted to smirk at the expression of
wonder on Chairman Woo's face, but he held off, "As I was saying the
Beastmaster here told me this morning that all attempts to purchase hawk or
eagle chicks has been denied and he asked me if I had a solution, which I
do." Smiling at Victoria's curiosity and several of the others thoughts of
confusion, "By now our medical technology has firmly set in your minds, and
the fact we have and use incubators to have children.  What I propose is
this."

Aaron activated the terminal and changed the plasma to show the hatcheries,
"What I am proposing is to use our technology to harvest cells from healthy
birds held in your national or private zoos.  We will then create embryos
and hatch our own chicks and Ru, and several of the other Beastmasters, will
raise our own breeding stock for our future needs."

Bill looked at Aaron in confusion; his brother was the director of the San
Francisco zoo and they were working intensely to breed several bald eagle
pairs to help increase the population in the wild, "Are you telling me you
can take some cells and create fertile eggs? How many eggs can you create at
once?"

"Yes I am," Aaron thought about it a moment longer as he picked up
excitement from Bill and several others, "it's a painless procedure to take
samples from the birds, though it might be a little more involved taking
sperm samples from them, but even then we will be able to get two types of
samples from them, both for egg production and sperm.  Hmm. from one
extraction of the donor cells we should easily get fifty fertile eggs for
hatching, and using our hatching chambers we should have almost one hundred
percent hatching.  One of the things we won't have to deal with is the
buildup of toxic chemicals as we will implant the embryo into a turkey, or
other appropriately sized, egg."

"Can you do this for any animal, including those needing something like your
female analogs to gestate?" Jens asked with a grin, he remembered all too
well the overheard conversation about 'The Talk'.

Replacing the image on the plasma with one of several artificial wombs
showing both unborn calves and pigs inside he smiled, "Yes, it is a simple
matter as you can see.  Some of our artificial wombs are used to bring in
prized livestock bloodlines."

"So, many species on the verge of being lost, we.you could take cells and
build up and replace what was lost through greed," Gorbivonovich muttered as
he looked up at the screen, "Is this one of the services that will be
available to us?"

Looking over at Donny, Aaron smiled, "I'm sure Tyler would be happy to
negotiate the services of the Beastmasters for you." Feeling the surprise
and shock Aaron brushed his mind against Donny's, "I think this falls under
your jurisdiction, wild animals and all. And to tell the truth, it is an
excellent way to expand your members and have the support staff you will
need."

Pleased Donny smiled and stood taller, "Thank you Aaron, I'll post a message
on the system as soon as we get back about some of the new projects, and
this one."

Woo looked at Ru, his eyes narrowing in concentration, "Grand Nephew, I am
intrigued by the symbol on your temple, can you explain?" Seeing Ru stiffen
and look at his Majesty for permission after looking at his clan leader, Woo
nodded as Ru no longer acknowledged his right to rule.as it should be he
thought, as he leaned back.

"This mark, cannot be counterfeited. This is the symbol of my clan, it marks
me as a Beastmaster," Ru pointed to the symbol on the leather shirt he wore,
"This symbol denotes which beasts I am teamed with." Ru left off eagle, dog
and horse in his explanation as he broadcast his thoughts.

 Woo looked around and noticed the medallion on several of the clan members'
necks had the house symbol of a dragon holding a crown; spotting the signet
on Aaron's hand of the dragon wearing a crown he remembered the Shaolin with
his two tattoos.

Jens had a thought, he was not sure Rolph's parents would be pleased to see
him sporting a tattoo, "Do all clans tattoo the clan symbol on their body?"

Picking up on the man's thoughts Aaron grinned, "No, in fact my Clan uses a
medallion; ours is a medallion on a chain that cannot be removed.  Each clan
chooses how they wish to wear their symbol, either a tattoo or medallion
only the Clan leader can place or remove .  If it is a tattoo to be
inscribed in their skin then the location is chosen to where is can be
quickly visible."

Morimoto glanced at Ru before thinking back, "The Shaolin have two tattoos;
can one assume the clan tattoo is the one of the tiger? Which means the one
of the dragon." Eyes widening as he remembered that day, he whispered, "The
left hand of the dragon."

"Yes indeed," Aaron glanced back at the dignitaries, "To get back on track,
I will agree to offering twenty newly hatched chicks for every fifty chicks
hatched, for the rights of our teams to collect genetic and cell samples
from the birds of prey.  The Beastmasters will visit each Zoo that agrees to
this, collect the samples, and return the chicks after they are hatched and
certified healthy."

"I think that is very fair," Victoria smiled as she watched her counterparts
nod in agreement.

"I will train all five of you in collecting samples with the equipment, and
both Mark and I will help you create the embryos until you find your own
people," Aaron pathed, the message caused all five Beastmasters to smile.

"Thank you Prime," Donny slightly bowed his head as he motioned with his
hand for Dante to touch him before porting out to the park so Dante could
visit a bush. A moment later his four lovers and their pups ported out
following him.

"Back to the Immigration plans before I have to leave," Aaron smiled as
Tyler walked into the room holding a box of chips.



Getting up as Tyler started by introducing some of the services they would
hire out for, such as teleportation of people and objects, including mail,
to the new colony worlds Aaron stopped at the door, "Tyler, we touched
briefly on hiring the Beastmasters to work with creating and restocking
endangered species.  I'm sure after they explain what they want you will be
able to eventually work up a fee schedule," Smiling at Edward and James,
"I'll meet both of you in my office for the interview in an hour."

Winking at Kevin and Edward before walking out into the hall Aaron thought
about Fred and where he was before porting over to the park.  Appearing a
short distance away Aaron stood and watched the crowd listening to Fred
talk, and catching sight of Lady and Dante chasing each other, he grinned as
he felt one of his lovers approach, "Hello Love, Hey Donny."

"I've seen you do that before it and it still amazes me," Donny looked at
Aaron in awe.

Grinning as he pulled Damien into a kiss Aaron looked over at Donny, "Do
something for me; I want you to think about Ru and tell me what he is doing
right now."

Without thinking about it Donny fired off, "Ru is talking to Matt down at."
eyes wide in shock Donny thought about Running Bear and knew he was talking
to three new recruits over in the med bay, "How?"

"It's your bond," Aaron smiled at Donny before pulling him into a hug, "You
will always know where your lovers are at all times, and they will always
know where you are.  After you talk with some of your new clan mind to mind,
and you learn to let your mind wander, you can start freaking people out
like I do."

Donny laughed wondering how long it would take to learn to do that and
thinking about the pranks he could pull, "When we left the conference room
Damien pulled me into your office so I would not forget to post the new job
postings to the system; I never did give it much thought about support staff
beyond finding a vet and healer." Staring into Aaron's eyes Donny smiled,
"Thank you for making my dream come true, even beyond my wildest dreams."

"Your more than welcome Donny, I can't wait until you are fully running as a
clan and I can send your people out on training missions to some of the
other worlds in our empire.  I expect I will be more than impressed.  Which
leads me to this," Aaron pulled a small chip case out of his pocket, "I
modified the list of areas your clan will cover this morning after we were
asked about the conservation aspect.  Now I'm not telling you that you have
to adopt this, but as I was going over this some of the things I added made
sense; things like having all your people trained in first aid to the medic
level, for both people and animals."  Handing the chip over Aaron smiled,
"it made sense to me if your clan was going to be used in search and rescue,
that it probably might be a good idea to be able to administer stabilizing
treatment to those you are rescuing. The biggest change is in the new
section added about conservation of species. I included my thoughts from the
conversation this morning; it probably will need to be fleshed out some, and
we will have to find a place to build your new facility."

Donny was slightly confused, "New facility?" before it sank in, if they were
going to be asked to bring species back from the edge of extinction they
would need a place to do it, "Oh.Can we just build it under the compound,
deep underground, we can port in and out and not worry about any of the
animals escaping into Middle Earth?"

"That might make things easier all around," Aaron thought before hugging
Donny one more time, "if you need help designing the facility ask Derrick to
help. After it is designed he is the one who will program the replicators to
build it for you.  Now, I better go over and talk to the colony healers."

Making his way over to the front near Fred, Aaron smiled as he pulled him
into a hug before addressing the crowd, "I've thought about the best way to
hold classes for all of you so you can get used to the new technology you
will use, and learn about the new laws you will be living under.  For the
most part everything is common sense.  I'm sure you will find the classes on
our laws interesting; I want to make sure you know what our laws are as,
unlike some of the other countries that kept passing laws and no one knew
what was the law or not until they were arrested, our laws never change."
Gazing out at the crowd Aaron grinned, "I'm sure most of you have already
made the choice on which of the new worlds you want to move to; well,
starting tomorrow, you'll show up at nine in the morning with your families
and be ported to the station orbiting the planet you will be moving to.  I
thought it might be nice to have your lessons in the system you will
eventually be living in."

Glancing down at Fred as he pathed him what he planned to do next which
included a tour of the med bays Aaron kissed the top of his head, "Fred is
going to take you on a tour of the med bays next, after that he will take
you to the transfer bays so you can familiarize yourselves with the carriers
and the safety procedures.  Starting tomorrow they are what you are going to
use as you travel back and forth to Sol Station from the station at your
soon to be new home."

Seeing the excitement in their faces Aaron chuckled, spotting a large group
of youngsters with a few young teens walk into the park he noticed right
away the limiters on their wrists, "I'm going to leave you in Fred's capable
hands, he will show you the med bay and then match you up with the healers
who will be training you on our equipment." Moving off to one side Aaron
waited for the group to leave on their tour, head tilted to the side as he
tasted the broadcast thoughts from the nervous teens.

Motioning them over he smiled as he sat down on the ground so he could be
comfortable, "Hello, I think you are looking for me; why don't you sit down
and we can talk." Sending out comfort at the nervous teens and youngsters he
quickly counted heads and saw about thirty in this group and he wondered
what was bothering them.

Seeing the lost expression on their faces Aaron tried to break the ice
pointed to the clear ceiling and the distant red planet, "How do you guys
like being in space so far?"

"It is a wonder to be here Prime."

Uh oh, Aaron thought, something was not right here.  He actively skimmed
their surface thoughts looking for answers, and he found they were those who
could be considered Lost Ones; those that did not fit in as they were raised
like Ichiro.  He stiffened as he made the connection.  They had been raised
like Ichiro had been, their lives completely ordered and controlled.  Seeing
the hopeful expressions on their faces Aaron felt like crying, holding it in
he asked, "I take it you don't feel a connection with the Shaolin? How about
any siblings, do any of you have brothers that can look after you?"

Watching all of them shake their heads no Aaron's hope died.  Glancing over
at Damien and Donny who had come back after making the circuit of the park
as they talked, he smiled as Lady and Dante saw him on the ground and took
off in play attack mode eager to get their bellies rubbed.  Lap full of
excited puppies, Aaron tried to think of a solution that would work;
scratching and rubbing bellies he was not finding one that was working,
"Colin." Aaron concentrated as he pathed for his head mind healer.

Damien grinned as he saw lady and Dante mock attack Aaron as he sat on the
ground with a group of youngsters.  Giggling as the two puppies fell all
over themselves, literally, to be first to get their bellies rubbed he
nudged Donny, "I swear those two act like Aaron is the best thing next to a
chew toy."

"I wonder if it is because he is a prime that he has a closer connection to
the teams, even the ones he never met before seem to want his attention as
if they crave it," Donny smiled as he pointed to the group of youngsters and
teens, "just like them."

"What do you mean." Damien trailed off as he looked at the faces of the
group sitting around Aaron and their lost and hopeful expression, "Oh Shit."
reaching out with his mind he brushed near Aaron's and found him deep in a
mental conversation. Stopping near the edge of the group Damien smiled down
at the teen, "Hello, did you come to talk to Aaron about something?"

Looking up and seeing the Clan medallion and the strange symbol on the other
boys temple he smiled, "He is our prime; we have come to find out what he
wants us to do; we are his now."

Damien looked at the confused look on Donny's face and sent his mind looking
for Pete, not finding him he searched and found Kevin instead, "Kevin what
are we going to do with thirty more Ichiro's?"

Kevin stopped midstride, foot still in the air as he looked off to the side
in the direction of the park causing everyone to notice him, and Tyler to go
silent as he stared and reached out with his mind to see who was contacting
Kevin with news that could cause him to freeze. "WHAT." Kevin screamed in
his mind, "What do you mean thirty more Ichiro's; like he is now or before
Aaron fixed his brain?"

Letting Kevin look through his eyes Damien shrugged mentally, "If I had to
guess I would say like Ichiro was before Aaron fixed him."

Kevin looked at Tyler with horror on his face, as he pulled energy from the
gestalt and sent a message to Pete to get the Clan to the Sol Station Park
as quickly as he could, "Something has come up Clan related and we need to
leave for a few minutes, if you will excuse us we'll return shortly and
continue."

Edward watched Tyler and Kevin port out; frowning in thought he wondered
what happened now.  At least they did not look pissed, and glancing at the
monitors he saw they were still showing the information Tyler was going over
so it did not look like another attack.

Finished discussing options with Colin, Aaron needed to talk to Derrick and
focusing on him felt him looking at him.  Opening his eyes he noticed that
his lovers had gathered and were staring between the youngsters and teens
and him. Reaching out he linked with each of them so he could show them what
he had found out and what Colin and he had discussed.

Thinking of the compound floor plan Derrick pointed out, "I can build
another hall like ours on the other side of the greenhouse.  I can connect
the entry to the greenhouse which connects to the compound near the visitors
lodge.  Maybe Darren and a few of the prospectives can help us take care of
them until you and Colin can see how much of their brains you can
reconfigure."

"I think I can finally understand how in the other timeline they could field
an army when they took over; if they spent a generation raising kids to be
like this they had an instant obedient army of followers that would not
hesitate to do what was ordered," Tim sighed as he looked at Pete and Kevin,
"I always wondered how they could have so many fanatical followers that
couldn't be reasoned with, according to the racial histories."

"Just think how many more there could have been if Aaron 1.0 did not arrange
all those accidents!  Look at them;  most of them are young, only maybe five
with limiters, most of the others are youngsters," Kevin sighed as he felt
Aaron's sadness. "Derrick can build them a safe place to live with bedrooms
and such; we'll eventually be able to help them, the younger ones will be
easier to raise up and get over their brainwashing I think."

Kenny had been walking and moving between the youngsters reading them with
his empathy, staring at Aaron he smiled, "If we treat them as our sons, be
the fathers they should have had, they will heal and be happy without you
having to change their brains."

Aaron blinked several times in thought as he looked at Kenny wondering if he
had to worry about the precog gift showing up.  Looking at the rest of his
lovers he felt their minds thinking about what Kenny told them.  He watched
the group of youngsters fidgeting nervously; they felt like they were afraid
to hope, yearning for fathers to love them. All this Kenny picked up and
shared with the rest of them and Aaron looked at each of his lovers in turn
and waited for their vote, even though he knew what they would say, their
minds linked as they were.

The last one to agree, Aaron finally nodded as he looked at the youngsters,
"The Clan is in agreement, you are to be our sons and we shall be fathers to
all of you and show you the love you yearn for.  If you need to pack
anything now is the time to do it.  You will be going home shortly," eyes
going over to David and Xon before settling on Derrick, "Derrick, if you
would expand the dining area first, then if you open up the file named
expansion one in the replicator suite you will find the plans to expand off
of our hall.  These are the plans I've been playing around with as
eventually I was going to build the new section once our children were
older.  Set the replicators to build those; if we are going to bring them in
as our sons they need to be closer than at the other end of the compound."

"I will need volunteers to help with supper tonight; I'll probably do pizza
as that will be the easiest thing I guess," Aaron sighed as he stood up and
brushed his shorts off. Kissing Kevin he went around and kissed his lovers
before working through the lost ones; their new sons, lost no more, hugging
each of them he kissed their foreheads and felt their minds screaming out in
joy. Ending back at Kevin, Aaron shook his head, "I need to get the vultures
out of the way, they should be on station by now to do background footage
most likely.  I'll get this over with as quick as I can, pop Edward into a
bio-tube here on station and come home."

"It'll be alright, Aaron, Kenny's gift of empathy has been spot on so far. I
think with some positive reinforcement it will turn out alright in the end,"
Laughing as he hugged Aaron one more time, "I always wondered why there was
that big empty section across from the dining hall. Now I know, you planned
to build another section and fill it with our kids. You horny.horny Satyr
you," giggling he danced out of Aaron's reach as he shooed him away with his
hands to get on with the interview.

Shaking his head Aaron watched his lovers move in amongst the youngsters
talking to them before following Tyler out of the park.

Deep in thought Aaron made his way to his office.  Hearing voices he peaked
in and saw several people setting up equipment and continued to the
conference room.

Victoria seeing Aaron walk in distracted asked, "I hope the problem was not
something that is going to cause you more problems, Aaron," they had briefly
discussed possibilities after both Kevin and Tyler had left, but as no
alarms had sounded they relaxed hoping it was something minor.

Glancing around the room Aaron smiled and shook his head, "I don't think so,
nothing earth shattering at any rate; just a minor housing problem that
reared its head that we needed to get on top of immediately.  Edward, James,
the reporters are setting up next door; shall we make our way over and get
this over with?" Grinning he looked behind him and then whispered, "The
sooner we get this over with the sooner the vultures are off my station."

Edward laughed as he stood up and smoothed out his pants and glanced over at
his father with a smile on his face, "Right you are, I have to agree with
you in private; in public, of course, I have no idea who you could be
referring to."

Chuckling James stood and moved to the door where Aaron was standing, "Why
Edward, already taking after the politicians; that was positively perfect
double speak."

Aaron laughed as Edward frowned trying to decide if he had been insulted;
deciding he had, he glared at his father for a moment before wiping the
expression off his face as they entered Aaron's office.

Taking the middle chair Aaron stared at the Earth for a moment before
sitting down, it would make a good backdrop he thought.  Glancing at the
Shaolin around the room he wondered when the reporters would finally show
up.  He only had to wait a few minutes before Friedrich escorted a group of
four reporters, including Hilde, into his office, "Good morning," Aaron
greeted them while inwardly he sighed, all he needed was four of them asking
questions.

"Thank you, your Majesty, for inviting us up and for allowing us to transmit
this Earthside," Hilde took one of the chairs across from them, "Are there
any ground rules you wish us to follow?"

Surprised, Aaron noticed the other three reporters hastily cover up their
dismay, "I appreciate you asking me that, Hilde," he looked up for a moment,
"I think as long as the questions are respectful, and if you do stray into
an area I am not willing to answer any of the questions about I can at least
tell you the reason why, but I would ask that you then drop it and move on.
Oh, and let's try to be very careful on the personal questions;  while my
people have a different definition of privacy we do value our personal
privacy."

"I can understand that Sir," Hilde smiled as her fellow reporters sat down
and pulled out their notebooks, already filled with questions, "Can I ask if
you've heard the news on the vote yet?"

An easy one Aaron thought, a good way to start off, "I have, and to say I'm
surprised is an understatement.  I would ask how you determined how many of
those eligible have voted?"

"It was easier than you would think.  Using the postal registry and the
school registry we were able to identify ninety percent of the population,"
Hilde smiled, "it helped that we used the polling places already set up to
cross reference the records."

Brushing up against Edwards mind Aaron asked, "Is that doable? would you get
accurate data that way?"

Thinking about it real hard Edward answered that under the old regime it was
more than doable, if the crown had not taken back control they soon would
have been living in a police state.

"I see." Aaron nodded as he thought, "Which brings us to this point in time
then; Edward and I have been in talks ever since you started this voting, we
have even discussed children and how we create them."

"I thought you would just collect some cells and do in-vitro and implant it
into your female analogs?"

Aaron stared at the camera man that made that comment a moment, "Just like
you would outside our kingdom, a son is created by an act of love, physical
love.  While we may use different techniques than you would, naturally, a
child should still be created through an act of love." Seeing the man blush
and hide behind the camera Aaron silently chalked one up from his side.

"I guess we really should be asking if you are agreeable to it, Prince
Edward," Hilde slowly asked, "I know both your brother and cousin have
married into his Majesty's Clan; Prince Andrew's marriage securing our right
to colonize the universe with the other countries."

"In a way I could understand your hesitation, your family has already given
so much, and here we are asking you to go and give up so much more," the
only male reporter commented, he felt funny with Hilde's demands on the
crown.

Falling back on the conversation he had with Aaron last night Edward sighed,
"Am I comfortable with this, well it does not bother me really, not all that
much. But what you do not realize is some of the cultural aspects that this
would entail," Edward glanced at Hilde and was pleased she was embarrassed.
"One of the things we take for granted in our society is the option of
divorce.  In Alteran society there is no divorce.ever!  There would also be
no sex outside of marriage to the Clan; being surrounded by telepaths sort
of precludes one from getting away with that quirk that some people indulge
in."

"Not to mention that, if I were to marry into the Clan, steps would need to
be taken to make sure my throne is not absorbed by the Alteran throne,"
Edward sighed as he looked at Hilde, "Though there have been talks of
creating a son between the two of us, thus ensuring the continuation of my
line, and garnering the ties most people want so we as a people can get the
benefits of those close ties."

"I am not sure I understand," Tillie glanced at Edward, "Are you saying if
you would marry into the Clan we would become part of the Alteran kingdom?"

"If we are not careful on how we approach this, that is if it does happen,
it could be a possibility if we rush into things," James interjected,
"Aaron.His Majesty has given us some relief as we are in talks about doing
this, and he has agreed to release the personal shields to our constables.
But, make no mistake, if this does happen it will be after careful
consideration and planning."

"Should parents fear that those you have healed in the beginning may lose
their sons like Richard's parents lost him to you after being healed?"

"Whatever gave you that idea," Aaron looked scandalized, "Richard asked to
join us! The other children that were healed are not under any obligation."

"I can truthfully say that my cousin, Richard, wanted what was offered by
Aaron and his people; the life they live and the possibility of doing what
he always dreamed of.  Heavens, he's stepped foot on dozens of planets that
we could only dream about.  What young child has not lain in the backyard
gazing up at the stars and dreaming about what it would be like to explore
those planets?  Well, for Richard, he does not have to imagine it anymore;
he is living that dream, and I am happy for him," Edward was forceful as he
stared at the reporter.

 Ruddy gazed at his colleagues, "Dozens?"

"Being King of an Empire of sixty five worlds in not some fancy wishful
title," Aaron looked at the man, "Not only that, there are twenty seven more
worlds under testing.  When they all eventually pass it will mean my Empire
has a total of ninety two worlds, and that does not take into consideration
that we are discovering more."

Seeing her fellow were stunned Hilde asked, "I understand Betty Wilder will
be broadcasting from one of the new colony worlds, and you are somehow going
to broadcast this live; my question is, how is this possible?"

"Well, the short answer is that we have real time communications with all
planets in the empire by means of stable hyper spatial rifts. Hmmm, let's
see if I can make this easier on you if I told you we travel on our ships by
folding space. The ability to say travel the length of a rope from one end
to the other by folding, or bringing the two ends together, and what was
light years apart is now centimeters apart. We do this by controlled hyper
spatial travel, or folding of space; we also communicate this way." Aaron
chuckled, "I've gone and used two terms your physicists have kept separate
and built different complex equations and theories around; in truth you
can't fold space without traveling through hyperspace."

Leaning forward and staring in the camera Aaron smiled, "Some of them will
call me a liar, others will say it is impossible and I'm deliberately
confusing the issue; to answer those scientists I have this to say, build
your own star drive and prove me wrong!  Mine works, and has for well over
three hundred years."

"If I can ask, if you are opening these five planets up for us to colonize,
how many do you have that are awaiting colonists?" Ruddy asked.

"These five worlds, Wolf 359, Ross 248, Procyon, Ross 128 and Wolf 287 have
all passed their tests in the past five years as habitable and ready to
colonize; they are part of the ten recent planets released, as far as the
others, well, they all have my citizens living on them." Aaron side stepped
the question neatly.

"Do your people have a new capital planet, and if so where is it located?"
Hilde looked down at her notes, "That would explain so much, especially your
comments when the Iraqi government attacked you."

"No non-Alteran will ever set foot in our new capital system; the defenses
we have emplaced will automatically destroy anything that gets within
several light years of our system. As far as where it is located, I will not
tell anyone that; frankly it is none of your business," Aaron stared at her
voice cold as ice.

Ruddy saw his Majesty's temper flash and quickly asked, "I understand a
young German schoolboy was taken on a tour of the Reliant I believe it is
called.  How did that come about?"

Allowing the distraction Aaron smiled at the reporter, "I, of course, had
several hundred reporters email me with requests for a tour and their
reasons but the one that stood out was a single thirteen year old that
emailed me asking for permission to visit the Reliant. He explained that his
father had worked in the aerospace industry until his accident.  It had been
his father's dream to go into space and he wished to bring a video recorder
and record his trip so he could show his father what he had always dreamed
about in the hopes he would find some happiness. The ship's captain even
asked for permission for a trip outside this system and he visited Sigma
Alpha Seven with the lad."

"I understand you offered the father a chance at one of your hospital to
have the nerve damage repaired," Ruddy smiled as he mentioned this.

"I did," Aaron smiled, "but he is a stubborn man.  He told me that until all
the children that are waiting for treatment in his country have had a chance
to be healed he will wait.  He said he can wait a year or so, after all, he
told me he had gotten used to being in the wheelchair."

"I also understand the family has been reluctant to share the recording with
the press  Is there any way we might see it?  What I am really asking is, do
you have your own copy we may see?" Ruddy asked eager to get his hands on
the tape.

"As far as the lad and his family sharing the tape, that is up to them.  I
understand he only did this trip for his dad, so I would hope people would
respect their rights to keep it private," Aaron warned.

Edward leaned forward, towards Aaron, "Is that the world Kenny showed us,
with those green monkey flying things he called them?"

"I don't know why he is so fascinated with those insects, but yes, that is
the world," Aaron told him smiling at the shocked looked on the reporters'
faces.

Hilde fearing they were getting off track asked, "Prince Edward are you
contemplating marrying into his Majesty's Clan?"

Edward sighed and glanced at Aaron out of the corner of his eye, "I am
considering it; the possibilities that would open for me personally, besides
what would open up for my people, are very attractive and worth
considering."

"And which way are you leaning right now, Prince Edward?" one of the other
female reports asked as she looked at her notebook, "And would you consider
perhaps siring a child our way with a girl before you would join with one of
his Majesty's family members?"

"I am leaning towards joining the Clan," Edward sighed as he looked at the
woman, "And no, I would not have a child out of wedlock. One, the church
would not allow it, and for the other, Alteran law would not allow it.  If I
had a child by a girl, it automatically excludes me from consideration; it
is considered an automatic assumption of intent of marriage in their kingdom
to have a child with someone."

"Surely you could ask his Majesty for a special dispensation," the woman
asked slyly as she looked at Aaron.

"The law is the law and I will not undermine the very fabric of our family
structure," Aaron stared at the woman and decided she was fair game and
skimmed her thoughts. Not liking what he found there he glanced at Edward;
he would have to warn him that she, along with a few others, were planning
on a way to get a sperm sample from him.

"The world was riveted to their television sets last week as you invaded and
destroyed the United States; can you tell us what led to the invasion? I
realize several things had been hinted at"

Aaron had wondered if someone would ask this type of question, "The first
thing you have to realize is that at the time I demanded the unconditional
surrender of the United States Government it had already been replaced,
though at the time I did not know that it had already happened.  A religious
government that was intolerant to everyone but those few that professed
their beliefs, their strict definition of what was right.  Everyone else was
to be cleansed, in their words.  But their actions told everyone that
cleansing was death; even the president's wife was part of that shadow
government. They had already tried to assassinate me twice by that time, to
gain control of our technology."

"They had secret hidden bases and labs, and in several of these labs they
had developed bio-weapons that if released, once combined, would have
mutated and killed off everything that breathed; and this super virus would
not have been destroyed by the hard vacuum of space," Aaron sighed as he
stared at the camera, "I had two choices when I was confronted with the
proof and video of their tests on human subjects. I could either destroy
every lab and base, and demand the surrender of the U.S. government so I
could go in and ferret out every man, woman and child that belonged to this
Army of God and the shadow government, or I could cause the sun in this
system to go super nova and sterilize this system so that plague could never
leave your planet."

The reporters were stunned and Aaron drove his point home and hoped people
would listen and consider his words, "Before I met Edward and his family my
choice would not have been the one I did take!" sitting back Aaron waited
until the reporters asked a question, he was already tired of this and
wanted it over and the female captured and drained of information.

Hilde looked at Edward and felt ashamed that her own agenda had pushed them
to this; she had let her emotions over her brother's death cloud her
judgment.  They had already given so much and she demanded more; she would
apologize later, she owed Edward a heartfelt apology. Sensing that any more
questions would have to be jump started from their end Hilde asked, "You
mentioned that the shield technology would be released, do you have a date
in mind?"

"Currently Palace security is being upgraded to the same standards of our
own security forces," Aaron smiled at her shock, "After they have completed
their training we will let them train the rest of the forces and start to
release the shielding technology to your police forces" thinking about it
and comparing dates, "Sometime in the next ten days I would think, it all
depends on how quickly palace security finishes their training."

"Does that have to do with the attack on Prince Andrew?  Is that why you are
upgrading the security around the royal family," the reporter that had not
asked anything yet asked.

"Yes," Aaron replied as he turned to look at her, not bothering to elaborate
further.

"I was wondering something," Ruddy asked as smiled as his Majesty looked his
way, "with the obvious advanced technology at your disposal it is clear that
you advanced at a faster rate than the rest of the world; is there a reason
for this?"

"I suppose there is," Aaron sat back in his chair and thought about the best
way to say this, "I suppose if I told you that a few weeks ago I listened to
voice recordings that are over four thousand years old it might give you an
idea.  We developed a technological civilization a long time before those of
you outside our kingdom did  It was not until the rest of the world started
to make war on each other that we looked to the stars, and leaving the world
of our birth.  I believe the first of our probes left the Earth about the
times of the crusades; we knew what was coming and prepared."

Thinking about it Ruddy quickly asked, "Then you must have records on the
normal cycle of weather? Can you tell us which of the differing scientific
groups are correct when it comes to the debate surrounding global warming?"

Aaron looked at the man for a minute and skimmed his thoughts and found out
he normally was a science reporter, "None of them." Seeing he was going to
interrupt Aaron raised a hand, "Let me start off by saying first off there
has not been a rise in global water temperatures, so that theory is out.
Then we have the theory of the damaged ozone layer and the greenhouse
effect; those are both valid points but both of them do not fit in with the
observed phenomena with the glaciers, we are actually entering a cooling
cycle as far as global cycles go.  Let me ask you this in return to see if
you can come to the correct conclusion; what happens if you place salt on
ice?"

"Excuse me," Ruddy sat back and looked at his Majesty, "I am not sure I
understand fully what that has to do with global warming or the glaciers
breaking up?"

"Edward?" Aaron asked causing him to lean forward.

"Well we use salt to melt ice all the time, we place it on our roads and
around our buildings in winter time," Edward was curious where this was
going himself.

"Correct, and if I told you the glaciers breaking up were caused by
increased salinity around the arctic," Aaron told him ignoring the
reporters.

"I can understand that," Edward looked at Aaron as he thought about what had
been said so far, "So the question remains what is causing the ocean to get
saltier causing the ice to break up so the water can equalize?" Edward
mused, "I'm not sure what could cause that though."

"And if I told you the average person has forty liters of water in their
body, just over ten gallons? This is not salt water, mind you, but fresh
water," Aaron told him and saw the realization set in.

"Oh bugger," Edward swore as he looked at his father to see if he had
figured it out yet.

"I don't follow, not really.  What do those two things have in common that
would affect the global warming debate?" Ruddy was confused.

"Because," Edward looked at him, "there is no global warming.the cause of
the glaciers melting is overpopulation.  If each person born and reaching
adult size takes forty liters of fresh water out of the environment until
death, then the ocean gets saltier as there is less fresh water returning to
it."

Horrified as the realization dawned on him Ruddy looked over at his Majesty,
"But if we allow people to leave the planet we lose the water forever."

"Well considering that I have access to a frozen pure water source off
world, not really," Aaron smirked, "Granted, once immigration starts, I will
have to increase the semi-annual deposits to a more frequent rate."

Glaring at the camera, "I would look unfavorably on any group or government
that advocated drastic population control by the artificial means of
shortening a person's lifespan," Aaron looked at the reporters, "We've
strayed from the original line of questioning."

Aaron silently groaned as the next hour seemed to drag on.  Finally he sat
back as the female reporter he had been actively skimming her thoughts asked
a leading question, "Edward, how do you think all your past girlfriends are
going to feel if you marry into his Majesty's clan? They will feel pretty
betrayed, don't you think?"

Edward blinked and frowned, "I've never had a girlfriend; in fact I've never
dated, so I am unsure where you even got that idea."

"Oh come on, Prince Edward, everyone knows of your exploits, after all it
has been in the papers for years," she oozed sweetness.

"You're crossing the line," Aaron frowned before glaring at her, "as a
telepath I can tell you he is not lying when he tells you he has never dated
or had a girlfriend; unlike you when you mention his girlfriends.  Most
people know not to believe in the crap that is printed, not all of it is
accurate."

"But we have the pictures of our dear Edward in compromising positions," she
returned the glare, intent on stopping the possibility of a marriage between
the two; there was no way she would accept the Prince marrying a male.

Skimming her thoughts Aaron felt how upset Edward was becoming, "Well, it is
too bad that we both know they are fakes, isn't it?  You want the
possibility of marriage between the two kingdoms to fail; the question is
why?" he asked as he pushed at her mind slightly.

"Because his Holiness, the Pope, condemns the union," she sat up feeling
free to talk for some reason, "he has issued a warning that what you do is
an abomination before the eyes of god, and all that associate with you are
sinners in the eyes of god and are going to hell."

"You do know Edward and his family are not catholic; what gives your Pope
the right to dictate to those not of your faith or church?" Aaron watched as
the two reporters sitting next to her got up and moved away, as if sitting
next to her would taint them somehow.

"He is our spiritual leader, "She looked at him, "Soon others will learn
that they are following sinners and will flock to the true faith." Blinking
as she suddenly paled, "what did you do to me? You put something in the air
to make me speak freely."

"Afraid it was all you," Aaron sighed as he looked at the camera, "I just
invaded and destroyed a country because religious extremists took over and
planned to kill off anyone that did not follow their one true faith.  I
think I have shown I have no problem doing that, and will not hesitate to
take out Rome and the Vatican.this interview is over." Aaron stood up, "Why
is it every time I turn around some religion is calling my people
abominations or calling for the death of others? Why can't they let others
believe what they want and live and let live?"

Friedrich waited until Aaron finished his statement before motioning the
cameras to be turned off as his men moved in to take control of the woman;
they planned to get her off the station as fast as possible.

"You have to believe me, your Majesty, we did not know about Sarah.  We had
no idea she was that fanatical," Hilde pleaded.

"I don't hold any of you responsible," Aaron sighed, "I just wish all of you
would learn to let others do as they please if they are not bothering anyone
else or hurting anyone."

Aaron watched as it was a somber group that left his office. Finally, Aaron
walked over to his desk and entered a few notes for the spook squad to
follow up on and logging out of the system he motioned Edward and his father
to follow him out.  Leading them to the situation room Aaron made sure the
pickups were off, "That could have gone better," Sighing he looked at
Edward, "I was going to warn you I picked up on her intention to trick you
or steal sperm from you to inseminate a girl, now though."

"Mother is going to be furious," James looked at his son who looked beyond
angry.

Maybe it was time to wait, "Edward, the choice is yours you know; do you
want to be altered like I suggested today or wait?" Aaron sat on one of the
desks and waited as Edward thought things over.

"I was looking forward to being altered today, but I think I need to wait
until the weekend so the two days I'm gone won't be missed," Edward cursed,
"Bloody Arses, why won't they leave me the hell alone."

"I'm sorry Edward," Aaron sighed as he moved over and hugged him, "we'll
wait as long as it takes; just make sure Thomas is warned about the
attempt," he looked at James as he said that. Once he nodded Aaron pulled
Edward tight again.  After a few minutes Aaron looked at Edward, "shall we
go back and see if they have been confused by Tyler and his gross national
product explanations yet?"

Chuckling Edward gave Aaron a tired smile and a hug back before moving to
the door, making his way back to the conference room.

Aaron sighed as he and Tyler ported to his office on Centauri Station.  Pete
and Xon had done a good job of recreating an identical counterpart of his
office on Sol Station on each of the other stations.  Smiling after kissing
Tyler one more time at his accomplishments today, they ported down to the
compound.  He had just enough time to make the dough for the pizza's he
planned to cook tonight.

Ichiro, spotting Aaron walk into the kitchen, quickly rushed over so he
could help him. He had watched in amazement when the MRB's floated into the
compound and enlarged the kitchen, and then created the new door into the
new wing.   Seeing his prime over at the mixer he moved closer, "May I
assist you, Prime?"

Dumping the bag of flour into the big mixing bowl Aaron smiled at the offer,
"Of course you can, Ichiro.  Why don't you measure out the warm water for me
and mix the block of yeast into it?" Adding the other dry ingredients into
the bowl Aaron turned the beater on slow and added the oil, and when Ichiro
finished, he poured the mixture into the flour, watching the forming dough
to see if it needed more water.

Handing the measuring pitcher back Aaron smiled, "Grab another two blocks of
yeast; once this batch is finished I'll let you cut it into the right sizes
so it can rise while I start the next batch." Feeling the pleasure rolling
off Ichiro, Aaron waited until the dough pulled together before turning the
mixer off and rolling the mixing bowl over to the end of the table and into
the lift arms.  He hit the button to lift it up to the table top and swung
the edge of the bowl so it dumped the dough onto the table, "Okay Ichiro, I
think we'll do sheet pans tonight so measure out forty two ounces of dough
per pan if you would; after you've filled the pans we can slide the pan
filled rack into the proofer."

Going back and grabbing another sack of flour Aaron left Ichiro to dough
cutting duty, "Hello Loves," Aaron dumped the flour into the bowl as Pat and
Damien walked in to help.

"What should we do?" Pat asked as he grinned before sneaking a kiss from
Aaron, ducking under the flour covered hands reaching for him.

"How about you guys get the sauce ready for me," Aaron smiled as he kissed
Damien and smirked as he walked away with a white streak in his hair.

Half an hour later Aaron had a production line going as more of his lovers
had come into the kitchen to help him create the pizzas.  They made quick
work of the twenty five full sheet pizzas as Aaron slid them into the ovens
as each was finished. "Thanks guys, this made it a lot easier on me. How are
the youngsters settling in?"

"The new wing is really cool looking, but we don't know how to help them
decorate their rooms; they acted all lost and stuff," Kenny told him as he
washed his hands, and then grinned as he felt someone grab his butt.

"So, did you assigned them rooms and get a list of who they are and their
ages," Aaron washed down the stainless steel table; finished he sighed as he
shrugged out of his clothes and ported them to his closet and the laundry
bag.

"The youngest are seven and the oldest are thirteen," Kevin entered
sniffing, "I have a list in the system for you to look at.  I thought we
could run them through placement testing tomorrow and go from there."
Remembering the question Aaron asked as he came in looking for him, "the
teens we put on the second floor, well anyone entering puberty that is;
there are a couple of twelve year olds in the bunch."

Hugging Aaron and kissing him Kevin grinned, "Right after we got home with
all of them Foma took one look and moved over to the youngsters wing; he
took one of the ground floor bedrooms so he could be closer to the
youngsters if they need him."

Aaron stopped and stared at Kevin for a moment before pulling the pizza
cutter out of one of the drawers; pulling the first of the pizzas out of the
oven Aaron sliced it before placing it in the warmer just as Kevin brought
him the next one. "Hello Donny, what brings you here? Would you like to stay
for supper, its pizza?"

"Well, my clan and I have come on search," Donny grinned as he watched Aaron
cut the pizza up.

Gazing at Donny for a moment Aaron thought about what he said and what he
could be."Ah someone has been reading another of those popular series of
books."

Giggling Donny nodded, "But it wasn't me, one of the replies I got back from
the posting I did on the system referred to us searching, and after it was
explained it made sense of what Dante and a couple of the other pups were
doing.  They were searching among the new kids for recruits; several of
those that you've brought home with you have sat and watched us every day
we've been on station, and they stare from the sidelines with longing on
their faces." Donny moved over so Aaron could place the first of the many
pizzas through the slot on the wall and into the steam table, "We also
brought over some of the youngster's cousins; you called them the lost ones,
well ten of them are found, and several more of them have homes with us."

Kevin gently took the pizza cutter from Aaron and pushed him towards the
door, "I'll finish this; you go see about the youngsters."

Giving Kevin a kiss in thanks Aaron walked out of the kitchen and noticed
all the extra people around the new youngsters.  He also noticed several of
the Beastmaster clan were there with their animals.  Ru had even had brought
his Eagle along with Fang, and one of the panthers was moving through the
kids.  More than slightly surprised he watched the panther cub gently butt
one of the youngsters over towards his Alteran team leader.  "Donny, the
bonded seem to know who they are looking for; is this something you did or
is it all them?"

Donny smiled, "It's all them, they are looking for a spark I guess.  I'm
still linked with Dante and I get an impression of what he sees in them.  He
is hunting a burst of joy as he touches them, then I tell him to bring them
over to us." Looking at Aaron he was not able to read what he was thinking,
"We had Colin come over and talk to us.  We know what we are getting into
and he promised to help us with them.  He told us you did not think they
were Ukeru, just brainwashed and needing positive reinforcement to bloom,"
pointing at several of the teens Donny smiled, "I can't think of a better
way to get them to come out of their shells and bloom than those smiles as
they work with Fang and Dante than to make them Beastmasters."

Letting his mind wander over and touch those interacting with the animals
Aaron had to agree, "It seems your right.do you have enough pups or even
cubs?" Aaron saw two of the youngsters were playing with the panther with
smiles on their faces.

"We will after tomorrow morning; the panthers are the hard ones.  For the
pups we'll need to go shopping," Donny grinned before looking over at Aaron,
"Do you know how weird it is having a clan card and finding the balance is
that high?"

Chuckling Aaron yelled out, "Pizza's ready, come get as much as you can
eat," watching the Clan move in with some of the youngsters and noticing
several that had come to collect their cousins stay back and move over to
the side he smiled, "There's more than enough for everyone to eat so come
get some.do you want to stay or are you going to gather your new recruits
and leave," Aaron hugged Donny close as he felt Donny shake his head no.

"Afraid not, we have a big dinner planned.  We wanted the new guys to feel
welcome," Donny hugged Aaron back, more confident when his plan to take some
of the youngsters from the Clan was not shot down.

"You're going to make a wonderful clan leader Donny, and a good father
too.as far as the clan card goes, that is to buy things for the clan.  As
you take on more missions part of all the money collected will go into the
clan's accounts and the rest to the clan member who is earning it.  It's a
way to make your clan self sufficient," Aaron kissed Donny's cheek as he
spotted Foma leading some of the youngest ones to the food line, "I'll make
sure everyone that you brought over gets back home.  All your new recruits
had nothing when they came here, so go on and take them home and get them
fed.  Stop by in the morning and I think some of us will want to go with you
when you go pup shopping; a few Newfie's around here might be a good thing
now that we have youngsters."

Donny gave Aaron another hug and whistled shrilly as he moved off towards
the compound arch.

Aaron watched Donny and the others herd the group of eleven towards the
exit, noticing a lot of smiles on the youngsters' faces he was extremely
pleased with what Donny's clan had done.



A/N: just in case something would happen with this story on Nifty. I do have
a web site http://wolfsnest.n40c.net