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 Glancing back at the bed he noticed Derrick was no longer on the other side of the bed but he had been replaced by Kevin and Pete who had joined them in the middle of the night, looking to be held.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.