Waking up rested, slightly earlier than five in the morning, Aaron rolled over and snuggled closer to Mark and Fred before kissing the back of Fred's neck and reaching around to tap Mark on the shoulder before sighing and getting out of bed. A shower and juice in that order, hot water and sugar he chuckled.
Smiling after taking his shower to find both Mark and Fred still asleep Aaron grabbed his clothes for the trip to Altair and headed for the Clan kitchen and his morning blend of juice, pouring a large glass full and taking a gulp before refilling the glass to the top Aaron wandered out of the kitchen to head back to his office to get a jump start on his emails, only to come across Tyler wandering around, "Morning Tyler, you're up early any particular reason or just couldn't sleep?"
Tyler lost in thought jumped from being startled before sheepishly smiling, "Yes, well no.I don't know." He sighed in frustration before walking over and sitting down on the bench where Aaron was standing.
"Well that is very definite answer, not sure it gets any clearer than that," Aaron laughed, before joining him on the bench and throwing an arm around him pulling him into a hug. "What has your mind going off in so many directions?"
"Being here, Andrew coming tomorrow, all the wicked things I've seen and done while here.Andrew coming tomorrow for the whole weekend," Tyler started to ramble, "what if he doesn't like me like I like him, what if he already has a boyfriend.what am I saying I don't even know if he's gay," he moaned.
Chuckling and glancing down at Tyler's crotch, yep he thought, hormones. "Tyler first of all no one can get past Altair without being gay.or at least very seriously BI," Aaron told him and watched him smile. "And in a way, he has a boyfriend, but you still have a chance."
"How can I have a chance if he has a boyfriend, I won't try to break him up if he's seeing someone," Tyler sounded indignant at the suggestion.
"Whoa, calm down there, Tyler, he has the Clan as does Richard. Andrew is one of four people the clan will have sex with, outside of them joining us permanently, though we expect Andrew and Richard to join us on a permanent basis, Richard, more than likely before Andrew." Aaron calmed him down but confused him further.
"Andrew and Richard are two, who are the other two," Tyler wanted to know who else was off limits, if he was not so attracted to Andrew he might have given thought of doing something with that Ichiro, he was pretty cute.
"Well for a short time Edward will be included, at least until he has to do his duty and start dating and produce a family and take over as King," Aaron smiled, seeing the gears turning in Tyler's expression, so expressive.
"That's only three, who is number four, and Edward really is going to go against nature to get married and have kids just so he can be king?" Tyler was shocked all three of the hot princes like blokes.
"Edward thinks he can handle being with a girl just fine, he knows, when the time comes, what he is giving up, but it is his choice and he made it freely," Aaron wondered though if Edward truly would be happy with his choice, maybe a couple of whispers in Victoria's ear tomorrow to set her thinking. "The fourth person, well, the fourth person is someone we don't know yet, he has to be someone the Clan can get along with and love with all their hearts, and yet he has to be someone that Andrew brings to us. Victoria and I have an agreement," sensing his confusion, "that would be the Queen."
"Anyway we have an agreement; Andrew will find someone to love outside of the Clan, as they cannot be Alteran as our DNA would override Andrew's. The agreement is he will meet someone who he can love and the Clan can love, and they will have a son together, after their son is born, he can undergo the alteration process to become Alteran, as can his lover. When that happens they both will become Clan members, and we will happily welcome that day." Aaron smiled, as he looked at the early morning blooming flowering vines, "once Edward's second heir is born, Andrew and whoever he chose to have a son with, well their son will be given the choice to become Alteran if he turns out gay."
"Isn't that a given, with both fathers being gay" Tyler asked, as he thought about the possibilities being mentioned here, maybe he did have a chance after all.
"If one of them is Alteran, then yes our DNA is dominant and would replace any other DNA in certain areas and any child born would only be male and be gay." Aaron turned to stare at Tyler, "that is why for the first child born using Andrew as one of the fathers it has to be with someone outside the clan, and if he cares enough about the person to have a son with him there is no way we would ever deny them both entrance to the Clan." Standing up and leaning over to Kiss Tyler gently on the forehead, "And that is why when he finds that person, they will become the fourth member of those allowed to join with the Clan in everything like Andrew and Richard.and to a limited extent, Edward."
Looking up with hope in his face Tyler had to ask, "Is that why everyone is being so nice to me, because you think I am going to be number four?"
"We are being so nice to you because that is what we do, and as far as you being number four, well both the Queen and Kevin think the two of you would make nice babies together so I'm willing to give you the chance by letting you stay here to see if the two of you are more than lust at first sight." Aaron reached out with his hand to pull Tyler to his feet, "Besides, even if you don't click like Kevin thinks, you are a nice guy and after everything that happened to you, you are not a bitter hateful person, so if Andrew does not ask you to join us, one of the others just might." He did have several things going for him by helping out so much yesterday without being asked, and having fun while doing so, several people have already said if Andrew does not do the right thing, they wanted to keep him.
Following Aaron to his office, Tyler stood there trying to make his willie back down and was starting to feel a little sore when it would not go back to sleep. Aaron, sensing the pain and seeing the problem, decided to head it off before he had another Ichiro on his hands, "Let's head for the shower, I'll give you a hand if you want, or you can go shower by yourself. But if you don't take care of that now, the slight soreness you are feeling is going to get worse, trust me it's not fun."
Leading Tyler into the common room, they stopped inside his bedroom as Mark and Fred where making love to each other, Tyler thought his eyes were going to pop out as he watched Mark slide in and out of Fred. Without thinking about it, he started to stroke his own hard erection and about the time he saw Fred spurt without being touched, he groaned as he leaned back into Aaron and started to shoot his own load.
Entering his bedroom, Aaron almost bumped into Tyler who was staring at Mark and Fred, smiling at the two he felt Tyler bump into him and felt him jerking off, moving his hand around he cupped it and waited with a smile as Tyler stiffened and started to fill his cupped hand. Once Tyler slumped back finished, he brought his hand up and was slightly surprised by the more than several mouthfuls in his hand and was startled when Tyler leaned forward capturing his hand and quickly drinking the contents, licking his hand clean at the end before leaning back against him in satisfaction.
Looking at his suddenly empty hand wistfully, he grinned, one had to be fast with Tyler around it seems. Pushing Tyler in front of him he gave Fred and Mark their good morning kiss and placed Tyler in their arms, or at least on the bed next to them, "Why don't you guys show Tyler here how to work the shower, I'll meet you topside," Aaron grinned when Mark pulled Tyler down on top of Fred before sandwiching him between his and Fred's bodies as he leaned over and kissed Fred long and hard, oh boy good thing the shower has a drain.
Glancing at his hand as he walked out of the bedroom he finally decided to wash it and headed out to meet the hunters and port topside.
Porting another group of volunteer's topside for chores, Aaron smiled and relaxed as he watched them all play as they got ready to do their chores; they were all playful until Kenny stomped on the gas of his hauler and then they became all business until chores were over. It used to take a good hour and a half to do their chores; now watching the youngsters helping out, it might still take an hour but the amount of livestock they were handling had tripled.
"What's got you so happy this morning?" Mark threw his arms around Aaron's neck after porting up with his crew who were busy saddling the horses for rounding up the cattle and moving them to the next pasture, after herding the five last cows due soon out of the herd and to the vet barn.
Pointing to the monitor showing the city square with laughing and frolicking teens and Alteran's teaching them about their gifts, and then to the pasture outside, "This is what it should be like, granted we are taking the best and giving them the tools to grab their dreams. Seeing this makes all the bullshit more than worth it," Aaron told his lover as he accepted another kiss on the cheek by one of the youngsters as they walked past, smiling when he returned the kiss with a hug.
Looking around, Mark had to agree, "They've found a home and someone to look up to and love, they're loved for who and what they are. I don't think we're perfect, but you know what, we are damn close." Mark kissed Aaron as one of his twelve year old crew members, wearing nothing but boxers brought in his horse. "Well, time to get to work, we're baling hay this afternoon, doing real work while you're off tending to sick people, you know, building up muscles and stamina." Giggling madly he swung into the saddle and galloped out of the barn before Aaron could retaliate with the water he was gazing at.
Laughing, Aaron settled back and paid attention to one of the youngsters proud of his placement testing results, hugging him and congratulating him on a job well done, he marveled at how well these kids who, five days ago had given up hope after being sold into slavery, were rebounding under a little bit of attention and love.
Aaron stood outside the barn, morning chores done, it was bedlam, pure chaos; it was the beginnings of a party, or at least the notification of a cookout and beach party. Staring into the grinning faces of Mark and the main instigators, Tommy and Brian, "Fine, but you have to invite everyone from the city, get Drew and Eric to put together a list of numbers so I know how many we need to cook for, hamburgers and hotdogs it is." He smiled at the cheering, and laughed as the jubilant cheers did not seem to want to die down any time soon.
"Thanks for doing this for them; it means a lot to them, look how excited they are," Tommy grinned as he hugged Aaron while Brian hugged his other side.
"Not a problem, though I'll need help setting up later on, we'll use the beach past the orange groves, the waters over there are protected in case some of them want to swim where the river meets the ocean. I think it's about four feet at its deepest there, so it will be safe, if you get a minute, get with the crew of the Ares and ask for volunteers to help with lifeguarding duties." Aaron grinned as he planned the menu, "I'll be seeing Scott and John this morning, so I'll handle food, they can sneak off and get a hundred pounds of hotdogs, burgers and buns. Mark if later on you hook up the tractor and haul down the huge barbeque grills and a few tables and all the usual things. Plan on eating at six and I'll be back by five I think at the latest and I'll start grilling soon after I get things set up."
Standing there for a moment, Mark his head beside Aaron's as he hugged him from behind and one of his lovers on each side in a group hug when Aaron noticed it was pretty quiet and noticed they were being watched by the munchkins led by Kenny and the Hunters, "YES." Aaron drawled as he grinned.
"Well, it's still strange in a way to see how love is supposed to be."
Aaron tried to find the speaker but they were lost in the crowd, "Yes well this IS how love is supposed to be and one day you will find it and then you'll know how we feel, now how about getting back to the city you guys have some people to invite," he squeezed Brian and Tommy tighter and he leaned back into Mark before breaking up the group hug.
"ALL ABOARD," Aaron laughed as he walked back into the barn, "teleporter's leaving for Altare city on platform." looking around Aaron laughed again, "Well hell let's call it platform VB and first group to the park step up." Chuckling at the giggling and laughter Aaron sat down and powered up the gestalt and started to port the excited groups back to the city.
Aaron watched Tyler walking back towards the house deep in thought once he was out of sight he glanced around, "Was anyone with Tyler this morning, he didn't go topside with us for chores and he looks pensive."
"I talked to him not that long ago, even showed him how to create an account and log into the tutor," Derrick stepped forward, "I didn't scan him but he seemed determined to take the placement tests for some reason." Thinking about it he added, "not sure it means anything, but we talked about what each of us does in our free time and then I went on to explain what areas each of us were interested in and some of the things we do, he asked what things we were relying on others to do we really wanted to handle ourselves."
Pulling polo shirt over his head and tucking it in his pants Aaron thought for a moment putting the pieces together, "So he's decided what he wants and now is going to find out if he can get it."
Grinning, Kevin straightened his own shirt, "And what is it he wants?" wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Us and Andrew, as you well know, "Aaron smirked back, glancing around to see who was not dressed for going to Altair this morning. Spotting Derrick naked and chatting with David as he listened to them talk, he went over and pulled him into a hug and kissed him soundly as he reached down and fondled him to hardness, "Derrick, go inside and wait until Tyler is finished with the section of testing he's doing then drag him away from the terminal if you have to, give him a long slow and intense hand job and cuddle with him afterwards for at least two hours before you let him back near any terminal. If he gives you any problems tell him you are under my orders, if he is still on it at noon doing placement testing, drag him away again and repeat the hand jobs." Aaron stroked Derrick slowly as he held his nose against Derricks.
Gulping, Derrick, eyes glazed, nodded as Aaron kissed him one more time then let him go and smirked as he rushed off to do as asked, seeing David staring at him funny, as if he was putting pieces of a puzzle together, "Now Tyler won't make himself sick with worry or think he is doing something wrong, and the upside is, he backs off from trying too hard to prove he is worthy of us and Andrew."
Walking around Aaron kissed everyone staying behind, smiling as he got to Patrick and glanced to the side to see those going with him this morning doing the same, grinning to each other; they ported to the atrium at Altair trauma.
Seeing the CAG standing looking out the window, Aaron walked over to him, "Morning CAG what has you so thoughtful this morning?"
Startled, Dylan glanced over his shoulder, "Sorry Sir, I shouldn't be daydreaming.are we starting already."
"We still have a few minutes, so if you need to talk, we have the time," Aaron moved up next to him, "I have no clue on how you're feeling, well I do in a way, but not enough to be able to glibly say I do. All three of your sons will be released around lunch time tomorrow, and I know they are ecstatic to have you with them.and that you did not reject them."
"How could I do something like that, they're my sons," Shaking his head as he returned to gazing at the gardens through the window, "I know parents reject their sons over being gay every day and they disgust me, I just missed so much time of them growing up and I guess in a way, I am second guessing if I had been around if Lauren would still be around."
"Not healthy Dylan, not healthy at all, let me set your mind at ease right now, I skimmed through the files with my operatives, trying to track down all the connections that piece of filth had all over the world, granted it has not even been two weeks, more like twelve days. It's of no comfort for you, but when we capture those responsible, and we will capture them, you shall have the right of seeing to their death personally, if that is what you wish," Aaron looked at the man's reflection in the glass as he laid a comforting hand on the CAG's shoulder.
"I think we are ready to start now," Aaron turned and took the seat at the head of the table. Once the CAG sat down, he glanced around the table and then to the residents off to one side at the closest tables, "CAG, are we running on time?"
Dylan cleared his throat and stood up, "We have jets landed and loading in Berlin, Italy, Japan and Australia with no problems, in fact latest reports have them almost loaded and ready for departure and will be arriving right on time starting at ten, and every half hour afterwards. The jets landing in Canada and Greenland should be landing momentarily." Glancing at his P.A.D.D. briefly for an update, "The jets landing in California and New York are down without problems and reported they have made the concourse and are ready to take on passengers, the last jet landed in Kansas, thirty minutes late as airport officials gave them the run around and per the protocols we've established, a security team was ported on board, fully armed and combat ready."
"We expect the last jet with patients to touch down at fourteen thirty local time," noticing a blinking on his P.A.D.D., Dylan touched the icon and opened the update screen, "RJ109 is reporting fully loaded and Enroute back, ahead of schedule I might add. Revised ETA is now forty five minutes from now and they are reporting a green board."
Sitting back down, he glanced around before settling on Tim, "not sure what you guys did in security, but as soon as they touched down Australian forces had the patients ready and triaged, they had the jet loaded in record time, your guys took one look at the groups of patients and families and pointed out loading order and the locals jumped." Dylan smiled as Tim frowned when he pulled up the assignments and noticed Terry listed as in command and then he smiled.
"Alright, since we are going to be starting early," 'again', Aaron thought, "let's hit medical next."
Theo stood up, "We split the patients fifty- fifty on today's arrivals one hundred and fifty for the bio-beds and the same for bio-tubes, since Australia is incoming early, you have fifteen walking , or at least needing wheelchairs and fifteen that are scheduled for treatments in bio-tubes, five critical transplant patients, three of whom are children."
"My teams need to prepare for arrival, you guys are up first." Aaron looked at his residents, "there is a triage area in the landing concourse, run all the patients through it and if they are unstable, there are several bio-tubes on site, all walking or wheelchair patients are to be escorted to the appropriate wings and will be prepped and treatment will commence in their pod."
"Now the question is, do we have enough people to escort patients and families to the right areas?" Aaron looked around the room, "I would hate to have sick people wandering around trying to find where to go."
"If I may great one," the Shaolin monk elder stepped forward from the doorway and bowed low, "May we pay some small debt of thanks by taking this duty from those who should be spending their time healing."
Motioning them forward into the room, Aaron skimmed their minds and found they felt they knew their way around the hospital well enough, and wished to do this for some reason, waving his hand at the empty chair at the end of the table, "Thank you for the offer, and it is accepted, with our gratitude, Elder, please sit, I sense your need to speak with me and as soon as we finish here, we can talk."
"With my gratitude, the Shaolin will act as patient escorts and will make sure the families and patients get to the proper pods," Aaron smiled at the line of monks and apprentices before glancing back to his people, "problems or expected problems?"
"RJ107 has reported green and lifting off, so if all the others follow, we are running an hour earlier than expected," Dylan looked up from his P.A.D.D. before asking, "C deck on the jets has been locked off, is there a reason for it and is there room there for more patients, while not a problem, once we ramp up to full capacity, the extra room would be helpful."
"And on the medical end the only problem seems to be with some rumbles of disgruntlement over our demands of patients being at least four hours stable; from the States, that is, I think they are remembering the Asclepius and how easily we handled emergencies with him." Larry threw the news on the table.
"Both question and comment tie in with each other and have the same answer, once my teams get a little familiarity under their belts, deck C will be opened and all the ram jets will be staffed by at least one resident, as C deck is designed so it can handle bio-tube patients," Aaron glanced at his teams to see they were pleased hearing that news, "Right now, CAG your jets are glorified buses, no offense to the damn things.well." he looked thoughtful for a moment before grinning, "hell yes, offense meant." The table with the Clan members and department heads laughed, while the others looked bemused as if they were missing something important.
"Aaron hates flying with a passion that borders on loathing," Kevin giggled.
"Don't look at me like that, at least if a ship sinks, I can swim, those things drop like a rock," He laughed, as the tension was broken.
"David, if you would work with the Shaolin, acting as a greeter and to smooth the way," Aaron started to move the meeting forward, since there did not seem to be any problems, famous last words and all. "Tim, time to go ahead and drag the CAG back with Kyle to his office; please keep on top of things and keep me in the loop."
"Fred, stick with me if you would, if you're going to kick me out of my job one day, at least you need to know how to cut through all the bull, and Kevin, float around and help out where needed for now," Aaron packed up his P.A.D.D. and glanced at John and Scott, "I assume the kitchens are ready?" getting their enthusiastic hell yes he smirked, "Good, because I plan to throw a monkey wrench into your well oiled machine."
Laughing at their crestfallen expression, "I need about a hundred pounds of hotdogs, with buns and a couple of hundred hamburgers with buns, and all the fixings for a cookout. I promised the youngsters rescued from the slavers the other day, a cookout tonight, or at least Tommy and Brian conned me into it. If you could pick up all the makings for Smores I think most of those kids would enjoy a treat they only have dreamed of." Aaron saw their smiles and watched John hand over a Cubit. "You bet on me holding a cookout?" he sounded incredulous.
Scott, all smug, grinned, "The bet was for you throwing some off the wall request at us this morning.and I won."
"Alrighty people, the 109 will be here in fifteen minutes, let's get to our stations," Aaron stood up as they broke into groups and started to file out of the atrium. Walking the few steps to the end of the table, after everyone but Friedrich and Fred had left, Aaron sat down across from the elder Shaolin, "You wished to speak with me?"
"Yes great one, I have been in contact with my counterparts in Los Angeles and we have a request of you and a proposition. I am to also inform you all four tong members and the ringleader of the poisoning are ready to be handed over for your judgment." The elder Shaolin was calm as he watched the great one become still.
"Friedrich, take a team and retrieve those prisoners then take them to Elswick, I'll examine them tomorrow and deal with them then," Aaron did not even glance over his shoulder to the head of Clan security, as Friedrich had not let him out of his sight since this morning, "double check their minds to make sure that we have all those involved in the poisoning before you leave, and if there are any missing, hand over their names to the Shaolin if you come up with any more that need to be captured."
Stepping forward, Friedrich looked to the elderly monk, "Are they in the same building the poisoned teens were in the other day?"
Seeing a cold fire in the man's eyes, the elder nodded his head, "Yes, they are being held in the downstairs training room, Chen Li awaits your arrival, Dragon warrior."
"And the proposal of the Shaolin?" Aaron was curious about that, and looked to the elder as he felt Friedrich leave and the elder turn his attention to him.
"We wish to serve as we once did in ancient times, as you know, there are no females among the Shaolin, most of us find comfort of the flesh from amongst ourselves, or on the rare occasion marry and have children. A good number of new apprentices are what is referred to as gay, in this day and age and they seek a life that is fulfilling on more than one level, where society condemns them and shuns them they now join us. We have trained long and hard for the day we can once more serve the Great Dragon and we now number the largest ever population of Shaolin since the founding, " The Shaolin elder gave the background information and stopped as he saw the great one sit back and look out the window, so he waited.
After a few minutes, Aaron returned to looking at the Shaolin elder, "How many are we talking about coming here, and how do they wish to serve, and I'm sure you are talking about sending older Shaolin to help mentor them?"
"One master, with four Shaolin and forty apprentices, they shall work as they do today, helping escort people to the places they need to go and help in your gardens and farms. In return, we ask that they be given a safe place to learn our ways alongside your teachings, in the future, if we prove ourselves to you, we would ask your help setting up a temple in a safe place where we may practice and learn as we did in times past before we left our lands to found the temple with your ancestors' help." The Shaolin elder was eager to start building what they saw as a safe home, finally.
"What the hell, what did the future Aaron do, he never mentioned how far back in the past he went, did he," Fred pathed confused but noticing the time was short and they needed to get moving.
"I never fully read through the Clan secrets, but it would not surprise me if he did jump time several times to ensure the world turned out differently, if I had to go back, I sure would," Aaron returned the message along with a mental kiss.
"I must meditate on this for a while, I will have an answer for you by the time I need to leave at five, for now, those already here are welcome to stay as long as they like, as are those ten aboard the jet from New York," Aaron stood, as it was time to get a move one. "My gratitude once again Shaolin, you have given me much to think on."
Walking out of the atrium hand on Fred's shoulder, holding a mental conversation Aaron and Fred listened to the Shaolin's thoughts as they walked down the hall, he was worried that if they did not find a place for a new temple soon, the hidden Shaolin temple in China would be overrun by communists when they finally ventured out of hiding, and soon no Shaolin would exist outside their two small bands in the U.S., he saw them as the last hope of his order.
As they entered the trauma wing and walked down the hall to the end which opened on the airfield, Fred had an idea, "Can't we just move them all to one of the forty eight planets on the list the future you discarded as being habitable but not what they wanted, that way they can survive."
"Possibly, it would depend on several things, one of them being, accepting our laws which I don't think they would have a problem with, it's hard enough bringing in new prospects for our people, let alone dealing with setting up a new world for another's, we'll help them somehow, but I'm not sure how yet, maybe a shield or a new island near our borders," Aaron bounced around ideas as they looked up and noticed the jet landing, "Show time."
Everything was running too smoothly, and finally after two hours, it happened, RJ103 in Kansas finally contacted security after waiting an hour to be cleared to approach the terminal, to pick up patients, Tim, moving over to the monitor so he could be seen clearly, "launch a couple of SE110's to take a look in the terminal to see if there are actually any patients waiting and then tie me in to the tower so I can talk to them."
"Young Lord, your communicator is tied into air traffic control," The pilot confirmed the CAG's statement.
Lowering the mic in his communicator, Tim glanced at the scenes being transmitted back from the SE110's, the terminal they were supposed to connect to was swarming with soldiers, heavily armed soldiers. "Put an SE110 in the control tower I want to see who we are dealing with."
"RJ103 as per standing order 13, you are to go to Z plus 50 and hold for portation," The CAG ordered, after seeing the soldiers.
"Roger CAG, I confirm our LZ is hot and order 13 is now I effect, hovering to Z plus fifty."
"Hey, that plane is lifting off, who gave them the authority to hover.tell them to get back on the ground," the man in dark sunglasses and FBI jacket ordered, as he looked out the window with binoculars.
"Kansas Tower.Alteran Kingdom Med Evac flight RJ103 requesting confirmation of clear airspace for VTOL to forty thousand feet," The pilot of the ram jet contacted the tower.
"Med Evac RJ103 negative you are not cleared to taxi you are ordered to land your plane and await further orders," the air traffic control officer looked over his shoulder, "Sir, you realize there is nothing we can do if she takes off, right."
All the occupants of the air traffic control tower glanced out of the window when a new younger voice came over the radio.
"Kansas tower, be advised we are past the scheduled time allowed at this location, and are returning to base, please advise the families and patients that are not in the concourse waiting as they should be, we are sorry but we have other responsibilities and patients to consider." Tim told them, as he watched and recorded the spilt screen monitor.
"Play the sympathy card Governor, my men were not informed that all the patients were supposed to be kids, we need to wait until I can find some kids to use as a screen," the man in dark glasses and an FBI jacket ordered.
"This is Governor Townsend, if you leave now, some of these kids won't make it on the ride back to the hospital and it will be your fault for leaving them behind, the press won't like that when we tell them about what you did, all because of a schedule."
"Feed this into CNN, lets really embarrass them before I call embargo, and someone go get Aaron to port the jet back to the island," Tim ordered, as he watched the screen and a minute later CNN came on with live breaking news, "We both know, Governor Townsend, that there are no children waiting in the concourse terminal, like there was supposed to be, the only thing it's full of is soldiers, if the children were there like they were supposed to be, we would already be on the way back to the hospital with them, ten minutes ago. So cut the crap and the lies, you are the ones endangering kids' lives like this, as you search for even more kids to put in harm's way to act as a smokescreen so your people can storm our jet"
"We arrived ten minutes early and you have kept us waiting out here in the middle of the airport for over an hour, refusing to give us a reason, instead, telling us to standby. Since our scans show that there are no sick or injured children and families waiting in the terminal, we are leaving, as it is very clear you never were going to let the kids get treatment, any attempt to stop us is an act of war, and will be treated as such." Tim was calm and collected but inside he was simmering in fear and anger over being so far off in their predictions of problems.
"This is Special Agent in charge, Briggs, you are ordered to set that jet down and to power down your engines and prepare to be boarded, you are in violation of FAA regulations and your plane will be seized."
"And you, Agent Briggs, are in violation of the Alteran Treaty of 1941 that the United States signed, breaching said treaty is an act of war.I will not tell you again to clear airspace to forty thousand feet, we are leaving." Tim felt relief, as Aaron came into the control room, sat down and activated the gestalt, "we are a diplomatic plane on a mission of mercy, and all those on board hold diplomatic passports; by whose authority do you break the treaty?"
"I act on the orders of the President of the United States, if you do not land that craft now, you will be fired upon," Special Agent in Charge Briggs ordered into the microphone, while pulling out his cell phone.
"You leave me no choice then Special Agent Briggs, I suppose the President gave you these orders in person, the orders to endanger children and seize foreign property and declare war?" Tim was fed the question by Aaron pathing it to him so he could ask the man.
"Of course not, I'm not high up enough to meet with the president, my superiors have assured me that it was on his orders, and entirely legal." Special Agent Briggs sounded superior, though secretly, he was beginning to wonder when his promised military back up would get here.
"I see," Tim said, as he sighed and looked over his shoulder at Aaron, "Then I have no choice in the matter, and might suggest you turn on CNN so you can hear the same words the world is about to, and have been hearing all along."
Once he saw the panicked governor switch on the TV set, he started, "From this day forth an embargo exists between the Kingdom of Altare, and the state and government of Kansas in the country of the United States of America, from now on, all passengers and patients boarding Alteran vessels will be checked for ID and all such persons carrying Kansas identification will be denied transit and treatment at any Alteran Facility from this day forth." Tim announced, as he listened to the Governor cuss out the FBI man, screaming at him that he had assured him they would not retaliate. "An investigation shall be conducted, and if your allegations of the President ordering the treaty to be violated, is found to be valid, a state of war will exist between the Kingdom of Altare and the United States of America, and you will be destroyed."
"What the fuck? where did the jet go?" the agent in charge screamed as Aaron ported the RJ103 out of Kansas and over the ocean near Altair Minor in the middle of the emergency landing approach lane near the island.
"That, Special Agent Briggs, is the reason why none of our vessels will ever be taken hostage or seized," Tim watched amused as sheriff's deputies swarmed the control tower weapons drawn.
"By order of the President of the United States, and the Attorney General, I place you under arrest Special Agent Briggs and Governor Townsend, on multiple counts of treason and attempted murder," the sheriff spat out in anger, as he stalked into the room behind his men.
"You don't have the authority to arrest me," Agent Briggs blustered, as the sheriff held up a phone silencing him.
"Well son, the president on the other end of this here phone, telling me he knew nothing about this and did not order this, tells me otherwise," the Sheriff handed the phone to one of his deputies and stalked over to the special agent, balled up his fist and sucker punched him before taking the agent's gun, "My nephew is a brittle diabetic, you asshole, and now he is denied a cure.take them away Boys."
Reaching over and cutting the feed to CNN, Tim glanced at the Sheriff on the monitor, not only did he look angry, he looked like his last hope had been taken away, "I truly am sorry Sheriff, but we did try to settle this peacefully without having to resort to an embargo and Aaron was very clear on what to do if someone tried to pull something like this."
"So am I son, so am I. Is there any chance the King might listen to reason, maybe if the two of us explained to him," the Sheriff did not know how his voice was being picked up and was looking around to the controllers microphones, so he could talk into the pickup.
"Aaron.Aaron is the one to make all these decisions, and he is Aaron Stranton, Prime of Clan Stranton, King of the Kingdom of Altare," Tim sounded apologetic and saw the man's hope crash, "But let me remind you once more, and listen carefully Sheriff, to all my words, all those asking to receive treatment from now on in the United States or being transported to one of our facilities from the United States, will be checked for Valid ID, and all those who posses Kansas identification will be denied help or treatment."
The sheriff looked like he was going over the sentence several times before he smiled and nodded, "I understand son, and I suppose you are going to be a stickler for detail from now on."
"Those were Aaron's exact words, Sheriff," Tim laughed, "this ends the recording of incident RJ103 dash one, on this date July 28th 2004 TR, Timothy Stranton standing in judgment. Good luck with your nephew, Sheriff." Cutting the transmission, Tim returned his communicator mic to the standby position and crawled into Aarons lap to be held.
"We try to do the right thing, and all they want to do is.I don't want to understand the people who would put kids in danger just to steal our technology," Tim looked up into Aaron's face, "I need a hug."
Holding Tim tight, Aaron smiled, "Anytime love, anytime."
"A terrible price to be paid for the greed of those who are supposed to be looking out for their people," the Shaolin elder was saddened as he listened in to the harsh sentence being laid down, and thought of all those who would now suffer.
"Not really," Tim mumbled, before looking around Aaron's arms, "In an hour, every person that was on the list to be picked up, will be on their way to another state so they can get new ID, and then they will be contacting us to reschedule, we'll make sure they are on the next pick up from either New York or Los Angeles, tomorrow, even if they can't get that done in time."
"The government and those in charge will suffer, but those who need us and the children will not be made to suffer for the sins of the adults." Aaron smiled over his shoulder at the shocked Shaolin, "In time, a month maybe two, as the local government falls and is replaced with people who care for those they are supposed to serve, they will contact us to find out what they have to do to prove they are different and not deserving of the embargo, if they are truly leaders for their people, and not in it for themselves, the embargo will have done what it is intended to do, and the lesson will have been taught."
"The only reason we did not go further and declare the treaty broken, is because we met with the President last week, and he is trying to track down the people in his government who are acting independently, acting as rulers even though they were never elected to lead. We've verified this by telepathic scans on the president and several governors in attendance at that meeting," Kyle told the elder, as he closed down the tracking monitors as the last jet was on final approach.
"Well the RJ108 is here, so that is the last of the Med Evac jets for today, let's go greet them and I need to check my residents and go over their treatment plans for the new patients before I can go home, or do you need to stay here for anything else," Aaron asked as Tim hopped off his lap, recharged and ready to go.
"Nope, good to go now that all the jets are home," Tim smiled as he walked past the Shaolin, they might get home early after all, he thought of the possibilities and who would be free to help Aaron relax, okay, he told himself help see how many times Aaron could get off.
Stopping near the Shaolin elder, Aaron sighed and did not look at him, though he knew he was being watched carefully. "I have thought about your offer, and tentatively the answer is yes, all those that come here will need to submit to a telepathic scan to answer three questions to prove they are no danger to us or others and that they will be loyal. I will have to think further on a suitable place to relocate your temple to, so it may be several days before I am ready to talk about locations with you."
Aaron leaned back on the beach and watched the several hundred strong, beach party wind down, it had been a success, more than that, some of these teens had never had a Smore before and Scott was giggling madly as he taught the youngsters the proper Smore building techniques, having the time of his life.
All too soon, the moon was rising, the area had been policed for trash and groups were starting to head back to the city, talking animatedly, looking up at the almost full moon in the sky Aaron thought about the day and some of things that had happened, head lying back in the sand as he stared at the night sky while he turned over in his mind the puzzle of the Shaolin.
"What are you thinking about?" Kevin sat down and picked Aaron's head up off the sand, only to place it in his lap, after scooting forward so he could run his hands through his lover's hair.
"Something that Fred said to me on Altair earlier in the day, I've been trying to fit the puzzle pieces together with something the Shaolin elder said," Aaron, glancing up and back, smiling at Kevin as the rest of the Clan came over and sat around them now that everyone had left, so they could listen in.
Fred thought back to the conversation he had with Aaron during the day, "You mean when I asked what your future self was thinking by going back so far in the past, before coming forward in time? What about it?"
"That's the thing, none of you know this, as it really was not important, but time travel is a one shot trip, meaning once you go back, you're stuck there, it's not like in the books or movies . It took me thinking about it and digging into my memories the other me gave me, before that popped up, when you go back and at the point you change the timeline sufficiently, the traveler fades away, that is why it was not done in large groups to rescue the few who were left, they would have eventually died or faded away so what was the point. In their minds, it was better to stop the madness from happening in the first place, thus saving their lives," Aaron explained as he glanced around at their faces in the moonlight.
Pete thought about it for a while as everyone was silent, "Well, in a way it would make sense I guess, but all those scientists theorizing about time travel assumed it would be different, and the only reason it makes sense instead of what I was raised believing, and being brought up watching TV and reading books is because of how much I have absorbed the Alteran theories that are proven through the teachings of the Core system. But what does that have to do with the Shaolin?"
"They shouldn't exist," Aaron looked over at him, still trying to piece the pieces together, "or not at least in their present form or with their history of Alteran ideals and mythos."
"I really did not spend much time talking with him, not like you did, as I've not learned to split my attention like you can. What was said that makes you think Alteran's influenced their history?" Fred was very curious and scooted closer, eager to hear history.
"Well, first and foremost, they are warriors, well trained warriors in the art of hand to hand combat, and while very spiritual, they are not religious. They are all male and do not and will not except females in their temples, and while they have learned to deal with outsiders, they prefer to be left alone." Aaron closed his eyes as he concentrated on listing their traits and what ones matched with Alteran's , "in the beginning, it was one or two every generation that would seek the comforts of a female for having children, most prefer finding release with their fellow Shaolin or going without sex at all, living the life of a celibate monk."
"Most, once they pass their apprenticeship and take the mark of the Shaolin, could easily fall into the role of leader, and while they do not seek it, the life they lead draws others to put them in that role," Aaron opened his eyes and sat up, having come to a decision. "The most damning evidence is their history and stories of the Shaolin masters from before, that had some of our gifts including limited teleportation, telepathy and telekinesis, and enough of them have appeared through their history, to lead me to believe it was genetic and untrained use of their gifts that brought on those feats. And the final piece of the puzzle is that they call me the Great Dragon," he told them, as he placed a finger on Kevin's Clan crest of the rearing Dragon holding a crown and pointed to his crest of the rearing dragon wearing a crown.
Standing up and brushing the sand off of him, as he stripped out of his clothes, I think I need to have a chat with the Core and look through the Clan secret Histories. Don't wait up for me, as I think I might be a while," Aaron went around kissing each and every one of them before porting out.
Fred, sitting there thinking, stood up, "Not wait up? How can we not stay up waiting, after hearing what he just said?"
Walking into the system core, Aaron sat down and swung his legs over and onto the recliner, "Identify and verify."
"Confirm.Identity Aaron Stranton.Prime Clan Stranton.King of the Alteran Empire."
What the fuck, that's new since the last time, thought Aaron, "Seal the core.Query.open Clan Secret Archives.Search.Shaolin."
A picture appeared on the ceiling, a picture of the Clan crest and a voice started to talk and it was surprising to him that it was not his like all the other recordings and video's he had listened to or watched.
"In a unanimous vote, the surviving clan members of Clan Stranton have agreed to send twelve of the Shaolin fighters back in time without Aaron's knowledge, their mission is to reestablish and modify the present Shaolin, with the past Shaolin creating a waiting army of fighters for our leader and lover to have at his side if things start to go horribly wrong in the restart.
Even though all twelve are gay and Alteran, they will gladly sire as many children as possible during the first year or two, as they build the hidden temple, creating a small city outside the temples wall where the females will be kept and their families will grow and hopefully flourish, it is our hope that over time, these children will sire other children creating a waiting source of trusted warriors to be later altered once Altare is reestablished if genetic drift occurs."
Another voice took over the narration at this point.
"We know that we must buy breeding age females or to kidnap them if needed, and as distasteful as this is to us, we shall do so to ensure our plans come to fruition. Each of us have pledged to sire fifty sons, which leads to our small planned village becoming a town, as well we will bring whole families into the new enclave and alter minds when needed so that some of those females with husbands shall bear our sons instead of children by their husbands' seed."
A third voice entered the conversation.
"We have created a recording device that shall chronicle our achievements and failures; it is a seal with the Alteran Dragon rearing on both sides and my descendants shall carry this on them until it can be returned to you, our king. This seal is both the fruition of our sacrifice and our damnation.
Do not hold our crimes against humanity against our descendants, we know what we do will ensure our race survives, but the cost is so great that once the Shaolin are established and thriving, we twelve shall pay for our crimes against humanity in the only way we are able."
Aaron lay there stunned as the recording finished, he had lost all track of time as he wondered what hellish nightmare would ever cause any Alteran to compromise themselves to such a point that they would willingly rape someone to sire offspring. His voice cracked as he controlled his sorrow and the loss he was feeling, he had recognized one of the voices, or the part of him that had his future self's memories recognized the voice. "Query.Identify project name and file this recording is from."
"Project name Clan Sealed.Project Identity Never Again.File Identity.For Evan."
Aaron curled up on the recliner, sobbing as his heart broke, as the memories from his future self threatened to overwhelm him, pain that was not his, yet strangely was his, ripped through him.and he sobbed as he relived his other self's pain of losing his cherished lover in the quiet sealed room that nothing could enter or leave the security field including thought.
After an eternity, Aaron woke up and noticed three hours had passed, "Query.Identify functions and primary duty of system Core," his voice sounded strained and foreign to his own ears at first.
"System Core Function.Ensure the survival of Clan Stranton at all costs.Authority to create restart authorized to ensure Clan Survival."
What the hell, Aaron rolled over onto his back and tried to think of a way to phrase the question to get the answer he wanted.and feared. "Query.Identify current Timeline in relation to original."
"Timeline Restart Version two point one."
Aaron wracked his brain thinking about what he had studied, there should not be any possibility of having a point one timeline; if it had changed, it should be version three not two point one. "Clarify..clarify current timeline point one."
"Core programming initiated in defense of Clan Stranton protocol on July 20th 2004 TR after death of Clan Stranton head of security Friedrich Adler due to uncontrolled emergence of precognition abilities, analysis determined waveform for limiter creation and core imperative created limiter to prevent cerebral shutdown and destabilization of Friedrich Adler, thus ensuring prime precognition abilities not lost to service of Clan Stranton."
"Reseal Clan Secret Archives.Unseal room."Aaron ordered, this was too much to take in right now, the time travel shit could be pushed back in his mind. Pacing back and forth around the room, Aaron tried to fight the feelings the new information gave him and figure out what the hell to do now, stopping in the center of the room, he realized something. This single act hidden by his Clan from his other self was the single greatest fact in changing the timeline permanently, course now clear, he left the Core, impatient for the door to cycle open so he could port out.
Arriving outside the rooms the Shaolin had taken for their own, Aaron walked into the house through the open front door, eyes roaming around the dark interior as they adjusted to the darkness; finally he spotted the flickering candle light in the distance and headed for the light. Briefly examining the blanket across the doorframe, he reached for the edge and pulled it back, his search had ended; all eight of the adult Shaolin were sitting meditating in this room.
Entering the room, Aaron locked his eyes with the elder as all of the Shaolin sensed his presence, opened their eyes and turned towards him, "I have spent the last four hours listening to the voices of the twelve Alteran's who left our people to found the Shaolin and thinking about what I learned," well, that and living through agony, he thought.
He felt a presence appear and enter their dwelling, being careful not to wake his fellow apprentices, he sighed, his burden would soon be over and the crimes of his ancestors finally erased. Being very quiet, he went to his belongings and removed a very special and old dagger and made his way to where he felt the presence.
Aaron ignored their shocked looks, "Something has been bothering me ever since I met the Shaolin, and after Fred mentioned something to me, I locked myself in the archives and searched and finally found the answers to my questions. The Shaolin were founded by Alteran's all those thousands of years ago. Those that left us all those years ago, took something with them in the hopes that it would make a difference in this time, this time of need. This object is small and resembles a seal, this seal recorded your history after the twelve left here, and it is imperative that I talk to the keeper of the seal, so I know what they planned for the Shaolin as the archive recordings they left never mention fully what they planned."
The Shaolin elders looked at each other in sorrow, "The keeper and the seal disappeared some time ago when the communists seized control of our country, the keeper went into hiding from all the world, even us, and now we have no way to find him. We fear the seal and keeper are lost to time or destroyed."
"No," Aaron shook his head, "there would have been mention made in the archives if the seal was not with the keeper or destroyed, he is still around, and he is close so he can perform his duty as chronicler of the Shaolin."
Aaron jerked around, pain an intense physical pain from somewhere close by, taking a step towards the door, the blanket was ripped from the frame and one of the apprentices staggered in. catching the teen as he fell, Aaron noticed all the blood.
Shoving the blood covered seal into Aaron's hands he felt vindicated and smiled, "My king, the seal is now home in its rightful place, my burden is lifted.
"Foolish boy, hold on, I'll get you to the trauma pod," Aaron closed his eyes as he concentrated, but before he could complete the port, he felt a hand grab him.
"NO, I FORBID IT," the teen coughed and when Aaron looked at him he whispered, "I tell you three times."he coughed up some blood this time, and wheezed as his eyes pleaded with Aaron to listen to him.
"I.I can save you," Aaron pleaded, before relenting at the plea in the teens stare, "I.I hear you three times son of my clan," he let the tears flow freely as the teen spilled his life blood around them on the tile floor.
Leaning over, Aaron kissed him gently, hoping that with the passion and love he was showing, he could convey enough so the teen would change his mind, but as the teen's breath faltered he knew in his heart he would not relent.
"I am the." the teen coughed and gasped mid sentence, "last.our crimes are avenged." wheezing and voice faltering Aaron had to lean forward to hear him, "your army awaits you Aaron.my beloved King."
Rocking the teen gently, as his chest stopped moving, "Your home, love." Carefully lifting the teen in his arms, Aaron stood, tears threatening to turn into sobs of grief, "Your spirit now rides the wind.and soon.soon your body shall join the wind."
Making his way slowly out of the house, into the bright moon lit night, Aaron looked to the sky and cried out physically and mentally in anguish and pain before porting to the highest point on Altare he had a son of the Clan to send home to the wind.
Editors section:
RadioRanchers Musings: Hey You didn't warn us that this chapter had a two box of Kleenex ending. That was not fair, not fair at all. I protest. I think I am going to go lie down and cry for a while, while I mourn the death of that teen. Yeah I know, I haven't commented on any of the rest of this chapter, well, compared to the last scene, there is no comparison, so you will just have to suffer without my comments on the other parts, except for me thinking they should have taken that jerk special agent into Alteran custody and dealt him some proper punishment.
Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher
A/N: not everyone can be saved or even wants to be saved
If you want the advanced copies which have pictures embedded in them from time to time drop me a note or go to wolfsenst.n40c.net