"Sorry to interrupt Mr. President but there are two situations brewing that need your immediate attention," The secret service agent leaned over the Presidents shoulder and whispered into his ear.
"Excuse me dear, something has cropped up that needs my attention, don't wait up for me," the president stood and told his wife as he walked out of the room.
Seeing that they were going to the elevator that led to the situation room deep under the white house, the president started to get worried, "Agent Franklin, what's going on?"
"Sir all I know is that the Joint Chiefs are on their way in and that something was mentioned about Hawaii and California," Agent Franklin responded as the elevator doors closed and they dropped at a fast clip, thirty stories straight down.
Rushing into the situation room, "Alright, Bob what the hell is going on that has all of you looking an ant hill that has been toppled over?" the president questioned, as he sank into the chair at the end of the table.
"Forty minutes ago the Governor of Hawaii went on the air and informed the citizens of their state in a unanimous vote.Well they have seceded from the U.S. and had been granted territorial status from the Kingdom of Altare. Five minutes later, the Governor of California also made a similar statement except he told the citizens that a referendum would take place this coming Friday so that it could be voted on whether the citizens would remain independent, join as a territory to the Kingdom of Altare or stay as part of the United States." Admiral Kinsey stated as he shuffled his notes, "ten minutes ago COMSOPAC Fleet sent a coded message that he was implementing contingency Bravo Foxtrot."
"And just what the hell is Bravo Foxtrot?" The President had a sinking feeling, he was warned and he had several clues if he looked back at it now that this could be coming.
Admiral Kinsey shuffled his papers in an attempt to stall before seeing the scowl on the president's face, "It's a contingency plan left over from World War 2, it means that COMSOPAC is declaring martial law and taking military control of the Hawaiian Islands."
"You know, I think I am going to like these new toys, his majesty always seems to come up with the best toys for me to play with," Dillon laughed, "I can control the collectors with fire control, this is so cool."
"Hey what is that asshole doing?" Dillon pointed to the monitor that was recording the live feed from the fleet commander's office.
"Sedition." Admiral Hensworthy muttered to himself, "well not on my watch." Picking up the phone he dialed the number to the governor's mansion, "Get me the governor right now.listen I don't care if it is one in the morning.you tell that treasonous bastard that Admiral Hensworthy is on the phone." looking at the phone in shock hearing the dial tone Admiral Hensworthy placed his finger over the contact keeping the line open and clicking it several times for good measure he dialed another four digit number from memory, "Officer of the Watch this is Admiral Hensworthy, place the base on lockdown, sound general quarters."
"Communications, Riley here," Riley picked up on the signal coming in from the mainland, the governor's office. "Yes sir if you hold one moment I'll wake the captain." Placing the call on hold Riley looked over at Dillon and as he connected to the captains quarters he told him, "Hey Dill you better put on your watch officers cap it's about to get dirty."
"Sir, sorry to wake you, but the Governor is on the radio, also you should know that COMSOPAC just went to general quarters after trying to get through to the governor.Yes sir.Right away." Riley looked over at Dillon who was looking at him, "The captain will be up in a moment after he gets an update from the governor."
Dillon glanced up at the monitor and tried to swallow, his mouth suddenly dry as his eyes were pulled to the monitor as the Admiral bellowed over the phone, "The state of Hawaii is now under martial law, prepare the Marines to deploy to the state house to retake it from those treasonous bastards."
Shaking his head and looking around the command deck at the wide eyed stares of the dark shift, the new recruits learning their stations and jobs in the off hours, they looked scared he thought, standing up straight, he walked over to the command chair and pulled the terminal around and logged in, fingers typing in codes and passwords he finally looked down at the blinking light, "Just like in training guys, the first shift will be here in a moment but they will not displace you, just relax." Placing his finger on the touchpad the klaxons started to sound as the bridge was plunged into a deep blue, "Emergency surface, set condition red."
Sven had just finished his conversation with the governor and had finished getting into his uniform, he had not gotten further than closing his door behind him when the emergency klaxon sounded and the deep blue lights lit up the corridor, cursing all senile admirals everywhere, and one iron ass Hensworthy in particular he ran towards the bridge.
Dillon slaved his station into the command terminal and brought the drones out of hibernation and prepared to launch them as soon as they broke surface, no sooner were the upper hanger launch bays clear of the water than Dillon launched the drones and glancing over his shoulder at the sounds of footsteps, quickly transferred fire control back to his station, "Captain on the Deck."
"Designate drones forty through forty eight to protection duties around the capital, if you would Mr. Comstock," Sven ordered, as he watched the COMSOPAC office descend into chaos as the Thor rose from the deep, like Poseidon, hell bent on retribution. "Riley, connect me to Admiral Hensworthy, then if you would send my respects to Altare Command and ask for a squadron of Screaming eagles to be placed on standby, for now, if they ask, his Majesty could use the extra sleep, so no reason to wake him yet."
"Yes sir, connecting," Riley relaxed as the main communications officer stood behind him and placed a calming hand on his shoulder and whispered to him, "You're doing fine, Devon."
"Dillon, target the vehicles being loaded right now, the moment they pass the gates, activate his Majesty's new toy," Sven ordered, as he waited for Hensworthy to answer. Watching the man work himself up as he was notified about the Thor surfacing, he wondered if the man would back down or would he be foolish.
Several minutes later, Sven decided he was going to be foolish, Hensworthy was ignoring his attempts to talk with him and the first trucks full of troops were heading for the gates, "Fire control, activate the collector arrays," Seeing the tanks churning out smoke as they fired their engines, he had to hand it to the Clan, they always seemed to be cool and collected and right now, his stomach was doing flip flops on him. "Target the main battle tanks take them out at the same time as the first of the trucks passes the twenty meter mark on this side of the gate. Launch the fighters," Sven noticed the jets start to roll onto the runway, "you know, fuck this, take out those jets while you're at it and have the arrays target everything inside the fence up to the docks we'll take it out all at once."
"Mr. Riley, hack into their communications system and squawk out an alert tone over their speakers, base wide, then prepare to increase the volume of my voice once we have their attention," Sven sat up, he was pissed and the U.S. was about to lose billions of dollars in equipment if someone didn't start listening soon.
Hensworthy glanced up frowning at the alert tones coming across the speakers, and openly fumed when he heard the voice come over the speaker.
"Pearl Harbor base, COMSOPAC, you are ordered to stand down from your invasion of the Alteran Territory of Hawaii; failure to do so will lead to the loss of property and life, you are taking an illegal action against the duly elected government.stand down." Sven watched the monitor and noticed the lead troop transports pass the main gate and watched with curiosity as the collectors activated and the vehicles shimmered before disappearing, leaving behind the tangle of soldiers as they fell five feet to the pavement.
"Son of a bitch, the tanks just disappeared."
"So did the jets from the main field, they were hit by some bright light and then shimmered out of existence."
Sven sat back as he watched the collectors work as Aaron promised they would, it was flawless, so far there was no loss of life, though there were several minor injuries, and a lot of broken bones so far, his musing were interrupted by Riley.
"Sir, drone forty three reports weapons discharge," Riley reported as he pulled up the video feed from Drone forty three and placed it on the main plasma, "Captain Kohona reports navy seals attempted to infiltrate the governor's mansion and have been neutralized," Riley's voice was very quiet as he reported the loss of life.
"Well Admiral Hensworthy, people are starting to die on your side, your seal team that targeted the governor's office is dead, all over an illegal coup attempt by your command, the question is, are you going to continue or are you going to come to your senses," Sven's voice was cold as he kept the channel open, "Dillon, target Pearl Harbor, prepare the drones to destroy every person carrying a weapon."
"I'll never surrender," Hensworthy yelled out in anger as he faced the speakers.
"I never asked you to, all that you were asked to do was stay on your base and not interfere with the legal government, you took it upon yourself to try to overthrow the government, you started this dance not me.though I am going to end it, are you prepared for the thousands that will die if you don't stand down from targeting my ship? You should have left it to the politicians to haggle and decide, but you had to show everyone who was boss, didn't you? Well frankly, Admiral, I would rather be in bed sleeping, and am fully prepared to finish this once and for all, so I can get back to my warm bed." Sven tried one last time to make the man see reason.
Xon stood behind the main console as he watched the replicators create dense matter bricks, moving over to the plasma, he watched as the scene unfolded, he was alone as Pete and he had decided to split the night, they would let Aaron sleep unless Sven needed to talk to him, glancing at the digital with the time displayed, he wondered if he should wake Pete, logically the event happened during his watch time and the system woke him up, but in point two hours it would be Pete's watch, and he was unsure if he should turn it over. Deciding to wait and wake Pete if the crisis continued past two a.m. he settled into the chair and displayed the diagnostics so he could see if improvements to the system were warranted.
"Mr. President, satellite images are coming up on the screen right now.Dear God what the hell is that," the chief of staff pointed to the image of the Thor deploying the weapons drones
Admiral Kinsey sighed; maybe Hensworthy was not the best person to be in charge of Pearl Harbor right now, he was aware that Hensworthy's nickname was iron ass for a good reason, most of the time he was a good solid commander, but not when it came down to being politically sensitive.
Bob looked at the satellite feed and winced as the image of jets being scrambled showed them instead shimmering and disappearing along with the tank battalions, "Mr. President, I think the Alteran's found out that COMSOPAC declared martial law and are not happy about it."
"Ya think," Admiral Kinsey sighed, events spiraled out of control way to fast and they needed to take control quickly, "Get Iron Ass on the horn." seeing the president's expression, he shrugged, "Contact Hensworthy, I think the president wants a word with him."
"HOLY SHIT, the Chicago is disappearing one deck at a time.look."
Xon looked up as the replicator which had been silent, once again started the low pitch whine as dense matter was forming on the pad, and glancing at the time, pathed, "Pete, I need you to wake up we have a situation.Pete."
Pete bolted up and looked around as he felt Xon make mental contact, glancing down to see if Aaron noticed, he sighed quietly as he noticed he seemed to be asleep while still inside Richard, they had fun after Aaron brought Richard back from the topside hot spring, "Xon, where are you?"
"Replicator command, it seems our system is working flawlessly," Xon answered, as he looked up at the monitor and noticed that Sven had once again ordered the array's into action.
Porting out of the bed without bothering to get out from under the sheet Pete appeared behind the command console and looked up at the plasma. Of course that meant he missed Aaron open his eyes and slowly slip out of Richard, before carefully getting out of bed.
"What the hell.When did this all start?" Pete looked around the replicator suite taking in the creation of dense matter bricks and watched the system automatically move the finished bricks out of the room.
"Slightly after one, the system notified me that it had been activated, the past ten minutes the system had quieted and I erroneously thought the drama was complete, I was in error as you see," Xon replied, as Aaron ported into the room and kept to the back leaning against the wall.
"Was anyone hurt?" Pete winced as he saw the collectors dematerialize the top half of the ship. "Looks like Sven is pissed, he just took the top off of that destroyer."
"Only a navy seal team that attempted to storm the governor's mansion" Xon pointed to the plasma where the assault craft were powering up and shimmering out as the arrays took them out, "I do believe you are correct, though, Sven has not contacted Aaron for more detailed instructions; one could logically assume he is coping well and we may return to our quarters for sleep," glancing down at the half stiff member between his legs Xon added in, "or the attempt to quench the desire of Maes'byrn."
Pete glanced over to Xon at that admission and noticed the growing problem and giggled, "We tend to call it being horny, since everything is working properly without us being around, I think." turning around with a smile, Pete had looked back towards the entrance to the command room and froze as he noticed Aaron standing there, leaning against the wall watching them.
Xon turning away from the plasma when it got quiet, took in Pete staring behind them and followed his gaze and saw Aaron leaning against the wall and raised an eyebrow, "Did we wake you up by accident?"
Smiling as Pete looked down for a moment before looking back up and sighing as he saw Aarons smile, "Pete got my curiosity going when he ported out of bed, I then wondered what was so fascinating that he would come all the way over here and leave the nice warm bed." Pushing off the wall Aaron went over and lifting Pete's chin, kissed him gently at first before really getting into it, causing Pete to get aroused and breathless when he finally released him.
"Curious, I wonder how you knew where Pete was going, is there an ability to track teleportation's?" Xon asked, as he noticed Pete was very hard and he felt his body respond.
"I always know where each member of the Clan is at all times," Aaron brushed it off as he reached down and teased Pete's hard cock in an attempt to get him fully aroused as he had plans for what he was holding and they involved Xon.
Examining his body as he tried to ignore the feelings and needs his body was signaling to him, "I fail to see how you are able to make such a statement, have you implanted us with tracking technology or do you have the Core system track our every move?" Xon was getting very aroused as he took several steps closer to Pete and Aaron.
"Xon tell me where Mark is and what he is doing?" Aaron ordered as he leaned over and kissed him.
Both eyebrows shooting up in surprise Xon whispered, "Mark is sleeping with his member inside Fred as Fred is snuggled inside Damien and they are wrapped around each other in Kenny's bed." Feeling aroused to the state of not being able to pay attention any longer Xon got out, "How do I know this?"
"It's the Clan bond," Aaron told him before porting the three of them to his bedroom and grabbing the bottle of Lube of the nightstand as he pushed Xon's and Pete's faces close together so their greedy mouths could capture the others as he lubed up Pete's hole, loosening it for Xon.
Once it was sufficiently loose Aaron stood up and lubed Xon's hard six and a quarter inches and pulled Pete away from Xon by capturing his lips and turning him to face him as he kept hold of the stiff cock jutting out from Xon's body and guided him to the waiting tunnel and kept him from ramming it him, instead regulating how fast he entered Pete. Once he was safely inside Pete, Xon felt Aaron release him and started to thrust wildly, lost in the need his body had to cum, ever since his body had developed the ability to be aroused his first load was always almost animalistic, afterwards he settled down and became the gentle lover they all appreciated, that's why for the most part during sex he was sucked off first, that way he did not hurt anyone.
Releasing Pete's lips with a smile Aaron dropped slowly to his knees in front of Pete, leaving a wet trail from his tongue as he made his way from lips to neck to nipples until he got to his prize and wrapped his mouth around it, linking lightly with both of his lovers Aaron initiated a slight feedback, the guys went absolutely wild when he did this, smirking to himself this was one of the reason that he was able to tire out Andrew and Tyler so utterly. Swallowing quickly as Pete fired his offering into his mouth as Xon climaxed inside Pete, Aaron was amused as Xon started to caress and enhance Pete as he was caught in the bliss of climax until Pete went from the bliss to aroused and ready without the pause in between.
Standing up, Aaron kissed Pete and was about to move around to slide into Xon when he received a pathed message.
"Sorry to wake you Sir but there is an incoming message relayed from Davies and Associates, the president would like a moment of your time to discuss the incident he called it in Hawaii."
Lubing up his cock as his fingers entered Xon, Aaron took a moment to path back before he slid slowly inside Xon, "tell him forty five minutes and I'll contact him, I should be done by then." Aaron sent back his answer as he stopped once he had entered Xon fully and stood there as Xon moved back and forth as he gently thrust in and out of Pete.
Aaron sat down in his office chair with five minutes to spare as he adjusted the pickup so it would not show anything below mid stomach, he would be damned before he got dressed to answer a call, if the President or his staff were uncomfortable so be it. Entering the long string of numbers from the email the OOD sent over Aaron was soon connected to the White House Situation Room and glanced at the clock and noticed it was almost four in the morning. Staring at the plasma into the situation room, Aaron glared tiredly for a moment, "While I understand it is just short of eleven where you are, its four in the morning here and I have to get up in about an hour and a half, what is so important that you would brave my legendary grumpiness so early before I am normally up?"
The President sat back in his chair as if he could get farther away from the screen of the unhappy monarch on the other end, clearing his throat, he looked to his staff for a moment and was secretly thankful they for once stayed silent, "I apologize for waking you then, and evidently I roused you from bed so hopefully you won't hold it against me."
Aaron stared at him through the plasma until the moment became uncomfortable on the other end, finally he muttered, "Fine, I won't hold you responsible for contacting me thus taking me from my bed." Growling out as the President and staff started to relax, "but I will hold you accountable for your Admiral Hensworthy, or as he is referred to by his colleagues and subordinates Old Iron Ass."
Now that Aaron had their attention and had shocked them into silence, he let his fingers trace patterns on the terminal touchpad, "Would you like me to play back the moment where your Admiral decided to commit treason against his government, or how about when he found out that Hawaii had voted to remove itself from your government and became the first ever Alteran territory, how he decided to invade the country deposing it of its rightful leaders," leaning forward in the chair, Aaron let some of his anger show, "Please do let me know why you have not delivered his bleeding head to my people for in your words this so called incident?"
The President gulped in fear as the man on the other end of the monitor was totally one hundred percent frightening, every cell in his body was screaming at him right now to run and hide and pull the ground up over top of him and hope the predator would go away. "Well by calling it an incident, I was hoping you would not see it as a breach of the treaty and.well to be honest, I would hate to go down in history as the first President to surrender," he tried a little humor, hoping it would ease the tension.
"Indeed, and the only reason you are not standing in a burned out hulk of a capital is that the signed document has not had a chance to get to me yet for my counter signature making Hawaii binding as part of the treaty," Aaron sat back in his chair and sighed, "You lot are becoming more trouble than you are worth, you know." Closing his eyes for a moment, Aaron thought about things, "Your country is fracturing around you, Hawaii and California are just the start," holding up his hand to stop any comments, "I'm not looking to expand my holdings, hell, I have enough on my plate running sixty four worlds, let alone worry about your country."
"You've lost Hawaii, that is a given as the leaders of your country did not legally annex it all those years ago and your government publically announced your remorse over arranging for the downfall and what amounts to stealing the country from the people under the guise of a free vote," Aaron had their attention, "That is why Hawaii was allowed to become a territory, while California is required to vote on joining my kingdom as a territory, as long as you do not attempt to bring them under your rule by force, the war cruiser Odin which is docked at our embassy docks will stay quiet." Aaron smiled at the shock on their faces; it seems they did not know about the Odin being in California and once again the crux of the problem reared its head. "Again this goes to show that you are not in control, I think if you have any chance of staying in control of your country and to keep it from fracturing further, you need to bare all as it were with the public, put all your cards on the table and ask for help, maybe then, and this is only a maybe, you can stop the civil war that is looming in front of you, or my intervention if your government would attack me or mine again."
Sitting back in his chair thinking about the words the president looked at his chief of staff who was also looking thoughtful, "So you are saying I should go before the American people and be honest about what is going on?"
"Brutally honest, lay it all out in the light of day, the vice president's role in an assassination attempt, include the CIA and FBI links, everything, lay it all out for the American public to gaze at it. a conspiracy cannot survive the light of day, the only thing you need to ensure is that it does not become a witch hunt, and by admitting that you hired the services of telepaths, you are showing the public you are trying to gain control back to where it rightfully belongs.," Aaron glanced at the clock and sighed it was now almost five
"Mr. President, can I ask a question of his Majesty, please?"
"Go ahead Bob," the President answered, absentmindedly, lost in thought.
"Your Majesty, I was wondering if it would be possible to talk about returning all the equipment your people teleported out of Pearl Harbor, the loss of several hundred billions of dollars in equipment would be staggering to our economy," Bob was nervous and truth be told the look on Aaron's face did not do anything to relieve that anxiety.
Aaron had shut down at the request, his mind was going around in circles as he thought about what was being asked, several minutes went by and he still didn't know what to do and finally he said, "Well that might be a problem, as we never teleported the equipment out in the first place, if you go over the after action reports, you will come to the conclusion that the inorganic material was removed and the organic left behind, that is the simple reason most of your soldiers ended up naked as well."
"How in the world are we going to explain the loss, I take it that what you used was a weapon?" Bob questioned as he sat back thinking about what type of weapon it could possibly be.
Seeing the metaphorical gears turning in the man's head, Aaron shook his head slowly, "Not exactly, well to be perfectly honest we used nothing more fancy than the garbage recycler, I think Captain Stebbins was going for non lethal at the time, so he hit your troops with our version of the compost heap."
Everyone including the President stared at Aaron after that admission, finally someone in the back of the room commented, "Compost heap."
Aaron shrugged, "It worked with the minimum loss of life, a few broken bones I understand from the reports but nothing that time can't fix except for eight of your soldiers I understand, though I might be convinced to repair their spines letting them walk again, I guess it all depends on if you can get control of yourselves again. Back to your original problem, the way I see it, if you have any hope of not losing more states you need to come clean, and I do mean everything including the attempted coup your Hensworthy just failed at. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm running on about four hours sleep right now and I need to take a hot shower to help wake my body before my day starts, since I might be busy this afternoon do you want to get out of the way the petition for the return of New York now or do you want to wait, if you do it now, I'll officially recognize it at the proper forty eight hour mark, that way if I can sneak in a nap this afternoon you don't wake me up, because let me tell you now, if I end up getting a nap, I'll bomb out of existence the first person to wake me up."
The President looked at Aaron for a brief moment before, believing that he would be very cross if woken from his nap that was sorely needed, "I think I still need to think on it, with this new information, well let me say I will have an answer for you slightly after supper time your time, but not too late in case you end up going to bed early."
"Fine." Aaron disconnected the link before sitting back, why did he have this strange feeling that the President all of a sudden did not want New York back, deciding on a shower, Aaron stood up heading for the stairs, he stopped for a moment at the thought that ran through his mind.no he wouldn't, would he.
After breakfast, Aaron looked around and spotting Edward, called him over, "Hey Edward, I had a chance to really give your plan a good going over," Aaron told him with a smile as he sat down across from him.
Placing his glass on the table as he sat down, Edward almost melted into the smile that Aaron was sending his way, once again he wondered if he was going to be able to give up the Clan and marry and have children, but only very briefly as he saw Aaron looking at him questioning so he thought about the Virgin Islands deal he was working on, so his thoughts would not be picked up on, or at least he hoped so.
Aaron ignored the thought for now and instead added it to all the others and internally sighed as he smiled, "I have to say what you did in a week's time is incredible, now the only question I have is who do you get to run this company, I read between the lines and you've decided to try to bring back jobs to a section of the country on the dole, I think you call it, more so than not. The way you've written this is as if you had someone in mind for the job already."
"In a way I do, I talked to several people but the son of one of the contractors gave me the most help, he's having a rough time of it finding a job and his father is giving him a tough time, his parents are divorced and his mother has custody, and even though he knows the job, his father won't even give him a labor job to help him out. All because his father wants to hurt his mother," Edward looked sad, "It is a right shame for parents to use their children as objects to hurt one another like this. So if you can see to hire him and maybe build a flat or two for lads like him to get away from their parents to get a step up it would go a long way in helping these guys out and maybe they can make something of themselves."
Aaron tapped the table top as he thought about it, "Go give him a call and have him meet us at the airport at two, I'll give him an interview and if he's able to do the job and can live with our rules , well I'll hire him and give him a chance."
Edward beamed as he jumped up from the table, "He will not let you down, I know he's desperate for the type of support you are best at," rushing off Aaron had to wonder what type of support was Edward talking about and if that was his way of saying the guy in question was gay, hell he knew nothing about the guy other than he was a chess piece between his parents. Spotting Richard, Aaron motioned him over, "Well, you're not walking funny this morning,"
Richard stopped for a moment and thought about it before it hit him and he giggled, "Of course not, I fell asleep before you could really get started, and it is a well known fact Alteran's recover sexually faster than any other species on the planet."
Aaron blinked before he laughed, "Got me there hot stuff, can you do me a favor track Edward down and tell him if I'm to meet with this guy at the airport later this afternoon when I drop him off, it would be nice to know who the guy is." Pulling Richard into a kiss that ended with a hug Aaron patted his bare behind as he ran off. Standing up Aaron strolled into the med bay and entered the incubatory to check on the developing fetus, staring at the screen and the sixteen cell division up on the monitor, letting his eyes read the monitor reports he nodded as everything was going as planned, if nothing happened in the next week causing the cells to split then they were looking at one son instead of twins.
Changing direction Aaron went to the second workstation and read through the reports on Edward's samples and closed the station for cleansing when he saw that twelve eggs were formed and the semen samples were more than adequate and safely in stasis, stepping away from the station as a blue glow surrounded the workstation and a mist descended as the cleansing cycle started Aaron turned to see the horrified expression on Edward's face, following his gaze back, "Edward.Edward look at me, all the samples we took from you yesterday are safe in stasis." Quickly shortening the distance between the two of them Aaron captured Edward in a hug, dragged him over to the wall and traced the unlock codes on the touch panel causing the wall to become clear. Pointing to the second row of samples Aaron turned Edward so he could see for himself, "As I told you, safe and sound. Why are you all of a sudden doubting us and yourself? We love you, that is not going to change anytime soon, and as much as I want to throw you up against the incubator and flip you around so I can slip inside you to see how long it will take before I tire you out like a couple of weeks ago, what I and the others feel for you is not all physical or lust, if it was you would not keep getting invited back to our beds every night you are here."
Pulling Edward around so he was facing the monitor screen with the group of cells on it that would eventually become Andrew and Tyler's son Aaron whispered in his ear as he skimmed Edward's thoughts, "So why is the sight of that up there causing you so much heartache, what causes you to doubt not only yourself but us as well?"
Edward leaned back into Aaron's arms as he stared up at the monitor as he tried to put into words what he was feeling, not an easy task as he was having trouble figuring it out on his own.
Longing, need to belong, a hint of jealousy, these were the things flashing through Edward's mind as Aaron asked his question, the thoughts were so jumbled up he was positive that Edward would not be able to sort them out without help. "it's so jumbled up in your own mind I don't think even you understand, I sense three things overwhelming your mind, so loud it is hard to ignore, your slightly jealous of your brother, you have an intense need to belong and your feeling a longing." Holding onto Edward, Aaron ported both of them to the steps leading down into the hot spring and led the turmoil filled teen into the warm water, once he had got comfortable in his favorite spot, Aaron pulled Edward into his lap and nudged him until his head rested on his shoulder, ear next to his mouth.
"Let's start with the jealousy, maybe we can unravel these feelings you're having and put things in perspective," Aaron whispered into Edward's ear as Edward fidgeted in his lap.
"I shouldn't be and really I'm not, but Andrew gets to have something I will never be able to have," Edward sighed as he tried to put into words what he was feeling, "It goes beyond being made part of the Clan." Closing his eyes and thinking about it and examining his feelings, "I think it has to do more with knowing he will get your gifts while I will remain human, up here," Edward tapped his head, "I know why that is and I have my duty to my people, and maybe it is unreasonable for me to hope that I could have the best of all worlds and still be a king for my people and have all of you." The admission was wistful, yet heartfelt and Aaron did not think it was everything, unless.
"Edward, truth time, not the lying you have told yourself countless times over the years, so much so that for a while you believed.are you gay, not BI like you have been saying? Deep down, go past all the duty to your people bullshit and the expectations placed on you from day one and the fantasy you built up around yourself, reach around all that and pull the wall down and be truthful to yourself; are you gay?" it would explain so much, Aaron thought.
Edward sobbed and tried to pull himself into a ball as Aaron's words pulled down the walls to his carefully created fantasy and he sobbed out the pain and lies he had been telling himself the past three years.
Pulling Edward in tight, Aaron sighed, "let it out Edward, let it all out. We'll come up with something so you can be happy."
After several minutes and Edward was not calming down much, Aaron sent his mind out and ported the first aid kit and its sensors linked to the soma unit to his hand and opening the case, being careful not to drop the contents into the water he pulled the temple sensor out and applied it to Edward's temple and activated it sending the distraught teen into a deep sleep. Holding Edward as he went limp, Aaron found it easier to close the kit and then concentrating he ported both of them to med bay and maneuvering Edward's body so he was laying comfortably on the bio-bed he placed the first aid kit on the table and activated a full DNA mapping, while he was at it, he might as well do a full scan since Edward would be asleep for several hours. Staring at the monitor after activating all the scans, for a moment as the bottom left hand section of the plasma lit up with five of the eight clusters that determined a person's sexuality already green, this was going to complicate matters for Victoria, he thought.
Assured that the automatics were well and truly in control, Aaron walked out of the med bay deep in thought, not passing anyone on the way back to the house he stopped at the railing and looked down into the common room to see Mark, Brian and Tommy deep in conversation with Xon. He stared at them unseeing for several minutes as he tried to figure out a solution Edward could live with, more than that a solution that would leave him a happy and well adjusted leader.
Kevin walked out of the upper floor office area and noticing Aaron leaning on the railing looked over the edge and saw the guys talking with Xon, he had left them over an hour ago and it looked like they were still at it. Giving Aaron a second glance he walked over slowly after noticing he was not really paying attention to what was being discussed below, he looked lost in thought. Placing hand on Aaron's shoulder Kevin leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek, "Where is your mind off to love."
Startled out of his thoughts Aaron turned his head to see Kevin smiling at him, "I found out the true reason that Edward was heading for a meltdown."
Kevin sighed, "Not to be nasty about it, but someone needs to smack around his father for good measure," leaning on the rail next to Aaron and looking down to the group below them, "I know he finally came to his senses but the damage that he did, well before coming here and being involved with all the rescues and talking to those we rescued I never even realized how much abuse children are put through, gay or not parents are doing so much harm to their kids by not showing their love. And let's not even talk about all those people that are telling everyone it is harmful to hug a kid in need, those people need to be taken somewhere and shot. So what's the cause of Edward's meltdown?"
"He's gay," Aaron sighed as he stood up and looked over at Kevin who was not truly surprised, "I can assume you heard about his partial meltdown yesterday afternoon in the incubatory?"
"Yes, I started to rethink everything Edward has done and said while around all of us, he is truly and deeply in love with you, and by relation all of us. Tim, Pete and I were talking about it last night as we cuddled, we decided if he was truly Bi he would not have been so frantic to have a child with you, to the point of having a meltdown." Kevin turned sideways so he was facing Aaron, "I think most of the guys overlooked several facts in their sharing of the joy in Andrew and Tyler's son. "
"We talked and we thought it might be better if all of us spent some time giving samples so that in case something would happen we would not lose out on having kids." Kevin smiled, "Pete and Tim decided as you more than likely already knew that their first son respectively would be with each other, though each of them want their second son to be with you as the father. You've never once let on with your wishes about kids, you've never really pushed your needs on us, more than happy to fulfill our needs first and I probably know you better than any of the other guys."
Mouth inches away from Aaron's Kevin stared into his lovers eyes and whispered, "We have a date tonight in the incubatory, the two of us, Fred already did the prep work on my end so tonight the two of us will conceive a son, and there will be no putting our son is stasis, nine months from tonight the heir to the throne of Altare will be born." Sensing the argument that was coming Kevin leaned over as he turned his head and captured Aaron's lips and kissed him putting all of his love for him in that one single kiss that seemed to last forever. Releasing the kiss slowly Kevin smiled, "I don't think you realized that no one else would use the incubatory until your son was conceived, even though they desperately want to. Now we can get your needs placed first and allow the others to follow your example."
"I'm not going to win this argument am I" Aaron sighed before laughing, "Fine, you browbeat me into it." Hugging Kevin, Aaron smiled, "You do know that the chances of all of my children being a prime like I am are pretty high, which means we'll have to keep an eye out for some pretty powerful mischief."
Laughing Kevin nudged Aaron towards the stairs, "Well then they will have to be kept away from Pete and Kenny, all we need is a prime that's a prankster."
Finding the humor in his yet un-conceived son's future pranking ability Aaron made his way over to the couch and plopped down before lying back so his head was on the arm and he was looking up at the four in deep discussion, "All right what are the four of you up to and what miraculous invention are you creating now?"
Mark turned around on the back of the couch and glanced down at Aaron, "We've been talking, to ensure that the hidden valley is never discovered, and people never find the abandoned buildings we've been talking about sending the collector array over there after doing a quantum scan on the buildings, then recreating the temple complex on Centauri. That is the simple thing and would go a long way to make the Shaolin feel comfortable and I think I know the perfect place, or at least Kenny found the perfect place for the complex to be relocated to."
"What we've been discussing is do we build transporters and if it was possible to place all the groves and long term farms into the buffers with re-materialization on Centauri so we have instant farms," Brian looked over the edge of the couch, "Think about it if we could do that we could have instant fruit groves, hell here on earth we could buy several groves or properties and just beam the plants and trees away to a new location, in theory we could even apply filters to keep disease and pests from coming with the grove."
Scooting over so Kevin could lie next to him and snuggle Aaron thought about it, "I remember reading some science fiction novels about a race that traveled in space where they kept supplies and such in the buffers and it solved the long term fresh food resupply problem, and even an episode I think of the series where someone was trapped in the buffers for a couple hundred years and successfully re-materialized without a problem." Lifting his head so he could look at Xon, "The question I guess, knowing what you do about Confederation technology and using the transporters how comfortable do you feel about being successful about this project?"
Xon thought about the question for several minutes, "We have spent the past two point seven hours discussing the project, the equipment is easily created and with the computer matrix's at our disposal creating a buffer bank would not be a problem, I would need to test the theory we have come up with and could have an answer for you by Wednesday afternoon. After lunch I would like to install the replicator suite on the Reliant and start on the creation of another for the SO001 so that it could be installed on our arrival, once that project is complete I could create the buffer holding system on board the Reliant and link the transporter system into the replication suite with minimal reconfigurations and programming."
Closing his eyes as Xon explained what he would have to do Aaron though about it, "This means for testing purposes that the Reliant would have to be in near Earth orbit.I suppose once the SO001 is brought over it won't matter much in the long run if the Earth nations see him, anyways it might even cause some of them to stop and think things through. Sooner or later, one of those nations is going to attempt to do something drastic." Glancing at the clock, Aaron nudged Kevin, "What time are all of you taking off to Japan?"
Kevin glanced at the clock and sighed, "I better go get dressed, we're supposed to leave at nine thirty, that's in half an hour and I suppose the others will be hunting me down shortly. What do you plan to do while were gone?"
Glancing up at Kevin after he stood up, "After porting Xon's replications suite onto the Reliant I plan to take a nap, even if I only get a couple of hours, it will help out. Three hours of sleep is not what I would call conducive to a good mood, and I hope I got my point across to the President and his people when we talked this morning." Stretching out on the couch Aaron swung his legs over the side and stood up, "In fact, let's get that suite ported to the Reliant so I can go back to bed."
Three hours later, Fred walked in to the med bay to check on his preparations for Kevin and noticed Edward laying on the bio-bed, curious he walked over and glanced up at the monitors and wondered why a full DNA mapping had been done and eyes traveling down the information to the bottom lower part of the plasma he noticed that all eight sections of the sexuality scan were green, "Oh Edward, no wonder you're so out of sorts."
Glancing at the rest of the report from the scan, Fred stared at a section, walked over and looked closer at the report and frowned. Lightly letting his fingers input commands into the terminal, he brought up the medical tutor and asked it to clarify the readings he was seeing.
Cerebral Cortex Aneurysm
Aneurysms may result from congenital defects, preexisting conditions such as high blood pressure and atherosclerosis (the buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries), or head trauma. Cerebral aneurysms occur more commonly in adults than in children but they may occur at any age. They are slightly more common in women than in men.
Troubling, Fred thought, scrolling down to the bottom for more information and then froze as the information he was reading sunk in.
The prognosis for a patient with a ruptured cerebral aneurysm depends on the extent and location of the aneurysm, the person's age, general health, and neurological condition. Some individuals with a ruptured cerebral aneurysm die from the initial bleeding. Other individuals with cerebral aneurysm recover with little or no neurological deficit. The most significant factors in determining outcome are grade (see Hunt and Hess grade above) and age. Generally patients with Hunt and Hess grade I and II hemorrhage on admission to the emergency room and patients who are younger within the typical age range of vulnerability can anticipate a good outcome, without death or permanent disability. Older patients and those with poorer Hunt and Hess grades on admission have a poor prognosis. Generally, about two thirds of patients have a poor outcome, death, or permanent disability.
Glancing back up to the report he frantically searched for the grade of the Aneurysm, luckily it had not ruptured yet, but seeing that it had the possibility to be grade four, Fred freaked. Slapping the touchpad he transferred the information to the bio-tube and it rapidly came out of hibernation and lit up. Concentrating, Fred used kinetics to move Edward from the bio-bed to the bio-tube and slipped him inside, tapping his communicator he cleared his throat, "Main med bay respond."
In between pods after releasing several of the teens rescued the other day Carl heard the two tone whistle and tapped his headset, "Carl here, what's up," thinking it was Gordon over at Altair Trauma calling back about several of the patients being released from the bio-beds and being moved to the city.
"Carl, this is Fred I have a medical emergency at the Clan Med Bay, I have a patient ready to be intubated and need some help," placing the sensor on Edward's chest and cleaning his elbow for the IV cuff Fred looked up as the monitor over the bio-bed blanked out and the information transferred to the bio-tube monitor. Picking up the lube Fred lubed the waste tube and slowly inserted it home.
"The Clan Hall has its own med bay?" Carl was shocked over that bit of information before porting to the Clan Hall and glancing around.
"Where the hell are you," Fred shouted as he finished and looked at Edward, the only thing left was to intubate him and activate the emergency cycle.
"I'm near the dining area in the.where the hell is the med bay?" Carl wondered about Aaron, "and where the hell is Aaron?"
"Face the Clan crest and then look all the way to your left, you'll see an arch in the corner, that's the med bay." Fred ground out as he looked at the monitor and sighed as he heard footsteps running.
Catching sight of Carl as he ran around the bend, "We are so teaching me to intubate people starting tomorrow," Fred pointed to the instruments on the cart.
Taking a deep breath as he reached the equipment, Carl quickly got set to intubate and noticed who it was and glanced at the monitor and its blinking section reading Cerebral Cortex Aneurysm warning. Finished he hooked up the ventilator and had to jump back so the lid would not clamp down on his arms as it sealed as Fred slammed his hand hard against the activation switch. "Fred we really need Aaron here for this, I'm way over my head, and yours too I think."
Fred glared at Carl for a minute before sighing, closing his eyes he searched through his connection to Aaron and after a moment he opened them and pathed, "Aaron please wake up."
Turning over at the disturbance Aaron fell back to sleep as he heard a voice asking him to wake up a little more forcefully this time, looking around and hearing the voice for the third time and picking up on the distress behind the message, "I'm awake love, what's the problem?"
Blinking as he listened to Fred start to panic again, "whoa Fred, slow down, you did good, he's in the bio-tube so relax I'll be there, in the moment it takes me to port over," Aaron finished in person as he pulled Fred into a comforting hug. "Carl are you ready to learn something new."
Smiling while holding onto Fred, Aaron moved over to the other side of the bio-tube and looked across it so he could watch Carl work, "Okay, tap the blinking warning message; that should bring up the scan of the aneurysm." Seeing the monitor change, he scowled at seeing how large of an area was dissecting, it would be fatal if it blew. "First things first administer two units of nanites, then just like you would if we're going to repair a broken bone, circle the area, though tightness is not required, just try to get as much of the vessel in the highlighted area as possible. Then under procedures, you need to scroll through until you find vascular repairs and activate it."
Following along, Aaron smiled as the repairs started, "Good, now let the Autodoc deal with it, let's try to find out if this is a genetic defect or an old injury. Pull up the scan and query the genetic map by tapping query then the injury warning, if it is genetic, since we have a complete map it will display the cause in the report. This only works once a complete genetic map has been made, for emergency patients that do not have patient records in our system, this won't work, so you have to assume it is always caused by head injury when younger, though if there is time later on, run the genetic map and if there is a genetic cause, then you would eradicate the underlying genetic cause so it would not be passed on to the patient's children."
"Ok, well there is no mention of a genetic cause in the report," Carl read from the report and looked over at Aaron for an explanation.
"Well, it was a long shot anyway, most of the time a simple fall when a baby could be the cause, all's it takes is hitting just right to weaken the artery in an infant, most of the time, it will go unnoticed for decades until it finally reached critical, once they are older and high blood pressure hits and it fails." Aaron hugged Fred who had settled down, pointing to the monitor of the original image of the Aneurysm, "In the outside world, chances are, it would be several months before someone of Edward's age was actually scheduled for surgery, there would not be a rush or the surgeons would feel pretty safe in holding off. To tell you the truth, a lot of surgeons would just choose to watch it and ban the person from sports or anything where they could get hit on the head, hoping it would repair itself."
Hugging Fred again Aaron, watched Carl run through the rest of the report "Looks like the rest is pretty clear, nothing that needs to be fixed at any rate. Do you want me to hang around or are you good to go?"
"We should be fine, I'll need to go talk to Edward's father and the Queen over on Altair, but the Autodoc on this med bay is more advanced, so we should be good. Thanks for responding so quickly Carl, how goes the release of the rescued?"
"I should be finished in another hour I would think, though I imagine we will get flooded again tomorrow when it sinks in to California or Hawaii and I hope you have another miracle up your sleeve, if we get as many patients as before, we are going to be seriously in trouble." Carl locked in the treatment plan and stepped back from the terminal.
"Well fancy you mentioning that, I will be back by noon, I think, and I should have the answer to our problem." Aaron laughed as he looked at the curious expression on Carl's face, "The biggest hospital ever built, I'm going after the SO001 and bring him back to Earth orbit, it can handle twenty thousand patients at once."
Fred giggled at Carl's expression before grinning, "If you're real nice and teach me to intubate tomorrow, I might see about getting you a tour."
Lightly slapping Fred on the back of the head, Aaron laughed as he noticed the slight plumping as Carl blushed, "Go on back to the med bay, before this one decides to tease you some more.oh thanks again Carl."
Once Carl had ported out, Aaron glanced down at Fred, "Well we'd better go let Edward's father know he is not going to be going home with them in a little bit," glancing at the clock Aaron sighed, "Actually I'm supposed to be over there in five minutes, just enough time to get dressed."
Fred smiled at Aaron and ducking under his arm, he twisted and kissed Aaron deeply before dancing out of the way giggling, "Go on, I need to finish what I came in here to do anyway so have fun."
Aaron looked at Fred and he squirmed slightly, "Relax Fred, I talked to Kevin, I am a little surprised of course, but maybe you should work your way through the clan to gather samples from everyone to put in stasis." Smiling, Aaron started for his room and once around the bend ported into his closet and got dressed before porting over to Altair to meet up with Edward's family.
Spotting the royals as they were coming up the path towards the atrium, Aaron sighed as he spotted Andrew and Tyler leading the way, once the royals noticed him he waved. "Hello, I hope you've had a nice relaxing weekend and are fully recharged and raring to go."
James smiled and waved back, glancing around he noticed that Edward was nowhere to be seen and stopping next to his mother across from Aaron he mentioned it, "Edward seems to be missing, did he go on ahead then?"
"The answer is simple and yet frightening, let's walk towards the concourse and I'll tell you what happened," Aaron smiled as he waved for the others to walk towards the side of the hospital and the path leading around to the front of the hospital and the airfield. "Edward was having some problems with dealing with some old ghosts, and he was exhausted, so I placed him in a deep sleep so he would feel refreshed. And since he never did get a full physical, I thought I would let him sleep while the bio-bed scanned him."
"A simple thing really and as luck would have it, something that ended up saving his life in the long run," Smiling as they rounded the corner, Aaron glanced at each of the royals and pulled Andrew in for a hug seeing how upset he was. "Relax Andrew, Edward is going to be fine, he'll even get to come home tomorrow afternoon. The deep scan picked up on an Aneurysm that, in the future, would have become a big problem." Yeah like a dead type, Aaron thought, though he was not going to tell them how serious it was, instead he downplayed it. "We caught it before it ever became an issue, and in another six hours it will be healed and will never give him a problem."
Watching James, out of the corner of his eye, Aaron saw him pale all the while studying Victoria to make sure she would not have any problems.
"That is two grandson's we owe their lives to you now," Alfred looked at Aaron as if he knew what was not being said.
"I generally like your family, so you don't owe me anything," Aaron replied, as he noticed James had tears in his eyes and moved Andrew slightly so he could not see his father, not shielding him from the tears as he thought it was good that parents showed their children to properly display emotions, but as he picked up so much guilt from James he wanted to let the man gain some control before facing Andrew with the bone crushing hug he knew was coming.
"How did this happen, is it something we need to have you check Andrew for?" James was slightly in control as he asked the question and they stepped onto the tarmac.
"Well I can, of course, do a deep scan next time Andrew is here, but according to the DNA scans this wasn't genetic, most likely it came about from an accident when he was little, he got injured and it weakened the blood vessel and over time, it slowly grew as Edward grew," Aaron was uncomfortable with the details James wanted. "It was probably a once in a lifetime perfectly set up accident, something that a fraction of a centimeter either way would not have resulted in any damage, that is how rare the event we are talking about having happened is."
"He'll really be alright then?" Victoria stopped at the bottom of the lift and faced Aaron.
Smiling as the lift opened, Aaron waved them ahead of him, "No doubt, I think he will be more embarrassed tomorrow than anything. I expect to be able to have him brought home by noon, of course, one of the security guards will more than likely be escorting him home as several of us have to be elsewhere tomorrow for a good portion of the morning." glancing at Andrew when he said that, he saw him smirk at Tyler.
First off the lift, Aaron moved to the side so everyone could take a seat, this being one of the RJ series jets. Spotting John in the doorway, Aaron smiled, "How many going back to England with us today?"
"Sixteen others and they're already on board, so once the door is cycled shut we can get a move on, I take it you want a nice short suborbital hop?" John smiled as greeted the rest of the royal party as they boarded.
Preempting john from asking about the missing royal Aaron cycled the door after Richard and his wife stepped through, "I think that would be best for all concerned. I have a short meeting with a prospective new venture, I expect a half hour layover in Heathrow and then we can go home."
"Of course, your Majesty," John did the little nod bow he knew annoyed Aaron and smiled as he knew he could not say anything as they were in public.
Waving and greeting the patients and their families and giving out hugs to several of the young kids, causing their parents to get worried and start to scold their kids thinking they had done something wrong and causing Aaron to go into lecture mode about hugs he finally made it to a seat and sat down next to Alfred.
Alfred looked around and seeing his wife and sons busy talking to the shocked and awed passengers, "I know from long association with medical people, you downplayed the risk to Edward, how bad was it, the truth, please?"
Aaron sighed and made sure the rest of the family was busy before leaning over, "A blow to the head or a spike in his blood pressure when he was older would have killed him outright. The Aneurysm was in the worst possible location for your surgeons to deal with."
Alfred looked away and forced a smile when his wife glanced his way, when she went back to her conversation, he wiped his eyes, "Thank you. You know I think Edward was two, the first time he fell off a pony, off course, after finding out he was fine, we banned him from the stables for as long as we could, but being two, he had other ideas."
"It was probably way back then that he fell, and the damage occurred and over time the vessel wall weakened," Aaron told him, as he looked to make sure they were not being overheard.
Hearing the gasps of wonder, Aaron smiled as he looked out the window and noticed they had reached sub orbital insertion and where now on their way back down, another ten minutes and they would be landing at Heathrow.
"I could get very used to going anywhere in the world in about twenty minutes," Alfred smiled, as he noticed the view go from black to white and finally settle down into the blue he was used to. Leaning over the arm so he was closer to Aaron and hard to overhear, "though from what both my grandsons have told me, being able to travel anywhere in the world in the time it takes to blink once, must be fantastic."
"If you don't mind me saying this, I noticed that you are uncomfortable with all the pomp and ceremony that is part and parcel to someone of your station, you don't like all the praise and thanks from others for what you have done, do you?" Alfred commented now that they had to change the subject as others were paying attention to them.
"It's different back home; even those we rescue don't look at me the same way as your people do.hmmm, let's see if I can say this so you understand. Back home, we are a very touch oriented race, we give hugs a lot, which I think you've seen." Aaron smiled at the group of parents sitting nearby that was listening, "we don't have the fear over doing something wrong or touching another that you do, I guess it comes about by being telepaths, we know exactly what the person doing the touch means and wants. Take the little boys' example when I got on the plane, they wanted comfort, and they wanted to show me how grateful they were that one of their parents was going to be ok now. And giving me a hug was the only way they knew how to do it, as being hugged was, and is, the best thing they know of; it makes them feel as if everything is going to be alright or it makes them feel good."
"But from the adults perspective, they feared I would be upset with them and their son because he touched me, he did not understand their fears, so he hung on tighter turning from giving comfort and thanks to needing comfort, because he was frightened that he did something wrong and was going to be punished." Aaron sighed as he realized that most conversations had stopped and everyone was listening to him, "Your society is geared to keep the little ones safe even from their parents, so after a certain age, you tell your children you're a big boy now, big boys don't give hugs. But what you forget is that you are pushing your children away when they need the comfort the most, and then you wonder why, as they get older, they have trouble socializing or they become cold and unloving towards family. When I go down and walk through the city, I get mobbed by people and all they want to do is give me a hug or tell me about their test scores or another accomplishment, truthfully, it makes me feel grand and that I did the right thing."
Waving his had around the plane, Aaron looked at Alfred, "Here though, people are afraid of me, oh they want to thank me and really are thankful, but in the back of their minds they are afraid to show me their gratitude, a simple hug can mean so much, and yet you are frightened of it, frightened it will be taken the wrong way, frightened it will insult me. And that is what makes me uncomfortable being around what we term outsiders, the lot of you are so conflicted it is uncomfortable to be around for a telepath, as your mind screams one thing and your instincts scream another."
"That is pretty harsh thought isn't it, I mean at a certain age, our kids don't want hugs from their parents' right?" Alfred looked around to the older kids and teens in the plane and frowned when he did not get immediate nods of their heads.
"No, actually the opposite, once they reach a certain age, all teens don't want to stand out from their friends, and while the need for hugs, and a hug can show more warmth and love than the simple words, for the simple reason you can't feel words," Aaron pointed out. "The need for hugs, while not in the same quantity, is still needed, there are times in a teen's life that he or she just needs to know someone is there, and someone cares. Teens are a dynamic group and frequently do not want to stand out from the crowd as they settle into their identity and society tells them it's not cool to be hugged by their parent or guardian even though they desperately need and want that contact."
Looking around the seated adults and kids, Aaron spotted one who was fidgeting, "Your mates tell you that it is only cool to be hugged by a girl and that hugs are cool with girls because it leads to sex. But in the back of all of your minds, as you reinforce this from parent to child and the cycle starts all over again, is the simple need of wanting to be loved and shown love with more than words.and I'm not talking sex that everyone is so afraid of, or is constantly thinking and judging their actions by." Aaron sighed and pointed to the fidgeting teen and motioned him to come over. Once he hesitantly stood up and shuffled over, Aaron stood up and pulled him into a tight hug and held him close then sent waves of comfort and understanding towards him.
Freddie was nervous and shuffled his way over to stand in front of the King from the land that healed his mother, he had wondered how to say thank you to him without making a fool of himself, stopping, he was surprised and shocked when the king stood up and pulled him in tight into a hug and he stiffened in shock, after several minutes and the king saying, "In my kingdom you would not have made it very far down the street looking like you did, before someone would pull you to the side and hugged you, just like this. We don't have to read your mind, your body language itself screamed that you needed a hug and you would have gotten one, even from someone you didn't know."
Aaron looked around the cabin and smiled; "Now I'm being a little unfair to this young man as I singled him out, but he did need a hug." Sitting down and pulling the teen down into his lap Aaron pulled him in tight as he gazed at the passengers. "Some of you are uncomfortable seeing this; some of you are shocked, but let's be honest here; this is not about you, but about what this young man needs and right now he needed a hug and when I started to let go he resisted, so what harm is there in giving some comfort to someone that needs it?"
"A ruler sees a child hurt or in need of comfort and orders one of his guards or hangers on to take care of it," Andrew looked at Aaron as what he had told him sank in, "A leader sees that same person in need, and hugs them and sees to comforting them personally." Andrew tilted his head as he looked at Aaron, "I remember when you told us that and I thought, okay something to strive for and live up to." Pointing to Aaron and the teen in his lap, "But now, I know what you mean, you told us the other day, but now I know," Andrew sounded like he had made this miraculous discovery.
Nodding his head, Aaron felt the slight embarrassment from the teen in his lap, "Sorry to single you out like this, but I want you to think about it for a moment and tell me what you are feeling."
Freddie scrunched up his face and sighed, might as well, he thought, the only thing they could do was laugh at him and he did not think the king would let them, "When I walked over I was nervous, I wanted to thank you for saving mum, but I was listening and was confused I did not know how to do it without pissing you off or being girlie, not being a bloke. When you hugged me, the first thing was, I was surprised and when you did not let go, it started to feel nice, and then I felt safe and now, even though I'm embarrassed, I feel comfort and as if I matter to someone. I'm safe because I know you won't let anyone take the piss out of me. Thank you for saving mum."
Hugging him tight, Aaron smiled, "You're welcome." Releasing the hug Aaron let the teen sit or get up and after a moment he stood up and went over to his mum and cuddled in her lap and hugged her.
Smiling at the teen who shyly smiled back, Aaron looked around the cabin, "it's not manly, it's not done, I tell my kids all the time I love them, and am here for them." Aaron saw some people were thinking about it and several of the kids and teens looking longingly at their parents. "How do they know, if on the one hand you say the words, and on the physical side, you push them away. I have to wonder which you would rather teach your sons and daughters, that it is ok to love your children and spouse, or its only words."
Pointing at the teen whom he had singled out, who was cuddled with his mother, "What do you feel right now from your mother?"
Freddie smiled and without hesitation, "She loves me, I can be feeling it deep inside, she loves me."
Smiling and nodding his head, "Even without scanning her mind I can see it in her body language," pointing to one of the other teens, Aaron asked, "And how about you, a big strong bloke like you, what do you think of when you see a lad your age being hugged like that and making such a strong statement?"
Seeing he was being singled out, Dev sighed as he looked at his father before looking back, "Truth.jealous as hell, and wanting my father to hug me like you did to Freddie, to know without useless words that I'm wanted and loved," Looking away from his father to the outside at the other jets taking off and landing, his brain registered they were sitting on the ground.
Watching the teen's father, Aaron sighed and started to get up, if the lad needed a hug, he was going to get a hug and smiled as the teen's father slowly got up and went over to his son and knelt down and hugged him tight. Looking at Alfred he laughed, "See what happens with you asking simple questions around me, I turn it into a learning opportunity." Pointing at the scene of father and son bonding, "What your world needs more than anything else, I think, caring and not being afraid to give comfort, or in that lad's words, knowing without useless words that you're wanted or loved."
Aaron glanced over the passengers, "Stiff upper lip and all that rot you lot are famous for saying, well that bullshit can go right out into the bin, you all want to thank me, then don't fight yourself, don't use useless words. A simple hug that you truly mean is enough, and don't forget to hug your children and show them that a true man or woman is not afraid to show his family he loves them. That's enough for me," standing up Aaron smiled, "I think class time is over as we've been on the ground for the past five minutes, the poor guys running the airport probably think something's wrong."
Aaron's words were met with laughter and to his delight as parents stood up and collected their belongings the kids got lots of hugs. Nodding to John who opened the door, Aaron stood and smiled as he was hugged half to death by grateful parents, finally, only the royals were left and Aaron smiled. "Andrew, do me a favor; your brother arranged for someone to meet with me and I have no clue who it is and they are probably going spare, can you go find them and bring them back while I say goodbye to your family."
Nodding his head, Andrew pulled Tyler out of his chair and rushed down the gangway.
"Well, once again you are full of surprises, half of the conversation I felt like I was being singled out. That was until I watched the other parents closely; we fed on each other over time didn't we?" James asked, as he stood up and instead of shaking Aaron's hand, hugged him.
"They look at you to set the example, and as much as they would deny it, they unconsciously mimicked you lot, that is why leading your people through actions is so important," Aaron shrugged "Actions speak louder than words."
Smiling as he escorted the family off the jet, Aaron stopped at the bottom of the gangway and chuckled as Andrew dragged a nervous looking lad over by the arm, giggling through the young man's protests.
"Aaron, meet Philip.Philip, meet Aaron," Andrew was giggling madly, "Edward said he's a good bloke and the man for the job."
Throwing a swat at Andrew's head which he ducked, Aaron laughed, "Hello Philip, let's go on board and sit and chat for a moment while Tyler says his goodbyes," giving Tyler a not so subtle hint, Aaron led the young man back into the jet as Tyler started his goodbye hugs with the Queen before giving Andrew his hug and moving to the next.
Editors section:
Scott's musings:
RadioRanchers Musings: I noticed another wonderful life lesson there. Thank you Aaron. I hope some people took notice of it. I think Edward's health and well being might be better now; I certainly hope so.
This was another wonderful chapter.
Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher
A/N