Early the next morning, Aaron crawled out of bed quietly and kissed Fred's cheek before heading for the shower where he met Pete and Kevin who had already started the steam cycle, "Good morning loves; you're up early."
"We wanted to know when you were going to release Xon," Pete asked, as he moved close to Aaron after lathering his hands up so he could start washing Aaron's back, while Kevin started to wash his front.
"Right before breakfast, I'm sure he will be hungry and it would be a good chance for him to listen and watch, as we interact with each other and he gets acclimated to a new environment. I would think spending two hundred Fifty years with the Kathat would leave him a little out of balance, when it comes to emotional loving displays, or at least if his version of the Kathat were anything like our books version of the Kathat," Aaron finally completely woke up and kissed Kevin as he took the soap from his hand so he could return the favor.
"So no orgies on the dining room tables this morning...damn I wonder if there is time to get a memo out to everyone," Pete sounded so serious for a moment until he giggled, "Seriously though, he's going to have a tough time of it isn't he, no one ever did move into the spare bedroom on this floor, maybe we should offer it to him."
"The one across from mine right?" Kevin thought about it, "I don't think we've ever opened the shutters is it the same as Tim's, with a balcony?"
"Yes, it should sit right below my office which has a balcony, though you can't use it after I placed plasmas over the shutters," Aaron shrugged as Kevin turned around so his back could be washed, "being able to control the whole city and med bays from home was and is more important than having a window and balcony in that room."
Finished washing and lathering up Kevin, Aaron turned around to do the same for Pete to find his three lovers that spent the night with him already taking care of it for him, "Morning loves, I take it you followed us in and heard the plans so far...what do you think?"
"I guess it depends," Mark finally stared at Aaron, "It depends on if he is related to any of us genetically, I don't think I could have a relationship, sexual that is with my son...a hot looking brother on the other hand," he trailed off laughing after being goosed by Fred.
"He's not related to any Alteran's in this reset, so that will not be a factor, in fact the two people who were his father's in the other timeline are actually younger than him in this one and I don't see them joining us any time in the future, or if they do join us, it won't be as Clan," Aaron was firm on that when he met Mark's eyes.
"Just how much of your future self's memories did he implant in you," Fred was more than curious and truthfully a little worried.
"Not many thank the stars, or I would seriously be dumping them, the problem is that the memories which he did give me, to make sure I would know who the clan was, included intense feelings, most of the members are either not born yet, or your age, so without a DNA scan, I doubt I could pick them out of a crowd if I tried. Besides, I have all of you and built an entirely new Clan, right from the start, fate seemed to want to throw us together and I have never regretted it or dwelled in what could be if I tried to find the old Clan members." Aaron smiled, reached around and pulled Mark then Fred over Pete's head to kiss them, "That one melt down I had was because the pain and loss that memory invoked was so strong, I don't think my future self intended for that to be transferred."
Laughing, Aaron pointed out "He'd better not have done that purposely, as the list of things I want to kick his ass over is starting on its third page."
Everyone thoroughly soaped up now, Brian touched the pad activating the rinse cycle so they could finish the shower, and once everyone was fully rinsed off he activated the drying cycle. Six people brushing their teeth at three sinks was more fun than a challenge and fifteen minutes of giggling later, they were back in the bedroom and getting ready for the day.
Not about to skip the morning hug parade, Aaron ported up topside and laughed as some of the youngsters, who had beat them to the barn, ran over for their morning hug, not caring who they hugged as long as they got a hug, so Mark and Kevin laughed as they found themselves full of hugging youngsters too.
"Is it just me, or are there more guys being hugged this morning," Mark asked, as he saw another group show up, made up of teens this time.
A quick count of heads caused Kevin to grin, "Oh it's definitely not you, I think our helpers doubled this morning."
One of the teens who had showed up, smiled after being hugged by Mark, "That's because we all talked at the party last night, we're going to be taking turns in each of the different area's over the next week to see what we like best, and then we can divide up the days into morning or afternoon. It's the least we can do, as you guys are growing all the food we're eating so what is an hour or so out of our days in return."
Mark looked towards Kevin and wondered if Aaron knew what was going on and grinned when he received a message back from Aaron, "Yes, it was rather obvious; I'm just glad they are no longer hiding down in the city, the fresh air and sunshine will do them good, and it tells me all of them are feeling safe enough to venture into the world a little bit again." Mark was startled as a hyper ten year old bounced into his arms.
Rob looked into the surprised face of Mark who he just bounced up on to grab his neck in a hug and smiled, "Thank you for the music, I couldn't find you last night to thank you for the birthday present," Rob leaned close and kissed Mark's cheek before grinning and letting go and bouncing over towards the tack room, today he was planning on saddling up Blondie and riding with Mark to move the herd to another pasture, he loved riding.
Pointing to a struggling and giggling hyper bundle of joy walking out of the tack room with a saddle half on and off his back "I think that is your cue to get a move on, Mr. Lazy butt," Kevin laughed before walking away, as this morning he was going to head over to the fruit groves to help pick oranges.
Porting to and from the different areas and helping out as needed, Aaron spent the morning laughing and hugging all the rescued guys as they demanded hugs too before it was time to go back to the city and release Xon, their newest and most baffling member.
Porting to the Clan Hall, Aaron noticed the rest of the Clan waiting near the med bay entry. He walked over, past the waiting faces to stop inside the entry, looking back at them with a smile on his face, "Why don't you guys go relax and work on breakfast, someone needs to cook, and I'll see about releasing Xon and answering his most pressing questions before we join you. Plan on us coming out in about forty minutes or so."
A minute later, Aaron was standing above the bio-tube gazing down through the transparent case at the enigma floating inside, he only prayed that Xon was adaptable as he reached over and inputted the command for the system to cycle towards release, while he went over and picked up the limiter from the top of the shelf and returned as the bio-tube unsealed. Placing the limiter on Xon's wrist, Aaron went about removing the breathing tube, cuff and sensors, and waited for him to open his eyes.
Xon became aware that he was awake and feeling the rounded contour of the object he was lying on, moving his hand a little, re-clarified that thought, to lying in. He opened his eyes to see the small compartment holding what looked like his medallion in it, hand going to his neck he noticed immediately the chain and medallion were no longer around his neck and looked from side to side and his eyes fell on the person standing next to him. A very naked person he noticed, as his memory brought up the events that brought him to this place, sitting up, he glanced around and noticed his scanner on the small table next to the tube he was inside of, "Fascinating."
Grinning, Aaron pulled the stool over and sat down, "I left one of the sensors connected, the one to your temple, if you tap it rapidly three times you will get an upload of information from Kenny, he spent the past couple of days in here talking to you while you were being healed, all I know about his visits is that he was introducing the rest of the Clan to you in the one visit I overheard."
Curious, Xon did as instructed and closed his eyes as information was rapidly played directly into his brain as if it were a movie. When the light on the sensor went off, Aaron reached over and removed it from Xon's temple, then sat back as the teen was still experiencing rapid REM.
Xon blinked a couple of times before looking at Aaron, "A fascinating experience, on Kathat they have been searching for the ability to link mind and machine for centuries, it is a powerful achievement."
Smiling at the teen who seemed satisfied to sit there and hold a conversation, Aaron motioned for him to join him by tapping the empty stool next to the bio-tube, "Why don't you get out of the bio-tube, then I can start its cleansing cycle while we talk?"
Once Xon was seated, Aaron let his fingers slide across the touch pad initiating the cleansing cycle before turning back to face Xon, "I'm sure you have questions, and before we go out and join the rest of the Clan and have breakfast, let me give you a quick explanation about us as a race."
"First..." Aaron got comfortable, "You will notice in some ways, we are very advanced compared to the dimension you were rescued from, in other ways, we will seem to be so far behind, you can't fathom how we do things. Things like space travel, warp drive, subspace communication are all foreign to us for the most part. That is not to say we don't have it, just not in a way you are used to. As an example, I can travel to the moon in the time it takes you to blink once, I can go to another world ninety light years away in the time it take you to blink twice, so we had no need to develop interplanetary travel like you were used to. We can go wherever we can see, and because of that, our remotes and telescopes are very advanced."
"Fascinating," Xon whispered, as he tilted his head, "The possibilities are staggering and it also explains why you were replicating parts and mining data from the dimension I was trapped in."
Laughing, Aaron nodded his head, "Very true, and if I let Pete get distracted, he would spend his time building a fleet of starships, and now that we have downloaded all available tech from that dimension and their research and development labs on Earth, I expect we will be caught up in the areas where we once were behind. Though I think it won't be long until Pete has modified the technology base you are used too, to a more advanced and reliable level."
Xon was fascinated but he dearly wanted to know things of a more personal nature, "Do you know who I am?"
Sighing, Aaron knew he was avoiding the topic initially and looked away for a moment before looking back at Xon, "To understand my answer, I need to give you some background first, after breakfast, I'll log you into the system so you can see and hear firsthand accounts of what I am going to gloss over." Once Xon nodded in understanding, he continued, "In the year 2257, my future self being the last surviving Alteran, or product of the human race, sent himself back through time to reset the timeline, we are currently in the year 2004 TR, TR standing for reset timeline 2.0. this is a true reset, not a dimensional split or an alternative universe, and this time, we are not ignoring the human race, but instead interacting and guiding it, hopefully to a better future."
Shifting his weight on the hard stool, Aaron looked over at Xon who was staring at him in fascination, "You are a product, and son of Clan Stranton of the timeline before the reset, the only way we have come up to explain you surviving, is from two things, the fact that you were so far out of this dimension's wavelength, and you traveled back in time when you arrived in that dimension, all our tests indicate that you will not fade away now that you are in the correct dimension."
Staring Xon in the eye, Aaron skimmed his very organized surface thoughts, "Even though we have the archives from timeline 1.0, and every Alteran has a full DNA map on record with the Core, you are not in the system...but both of your fathers are, so I can tell you who they are, just not what they named you. For some reason that I do not fully understand, you were never entered into the Core system, which is troubling, as the Core handles and oversees all births." Smiling sadly at Xon, "Also, those Kathat healers that found you and modified your stabilizer were geniuses, if not for the way the modified your stabilizer, you would have died from massive neural cascade failure from your injuries. That is why you spent the last two days here in the med bay, having your cellular structure repaired, unfortunately, by the time the Kathat reached you, your neural memories from your life to that point had been pretty much destroyed and the repair work and tissue regeneration you underwent here, assured the fact that you would never get those memories back...and for that, I am truly sorry."
Xon was disappointed and shifted uncomfortably on the stool, "I am experiencing very strange emotions, with my current memory I have never experienced emotions before, and do not know how to react."
Aaron stood up at the lost sound in Xon's voice, pulled him into a hug and held him, comforting him, "I expect you will be experiencing once more, the whole range of emotions possible for one of our race, as that part of your brain that handles emotions was damaged, including the part that controls your gifts like Telepathy, Telekinesis or Teleportation. It is my understanding that Kathat are crude touch telepaths unless bonded to a mate. Before I forget, I am going to give you the standard package, explaining your gifts."
Placing both hands on Xon's head, Aaron brushed his mind against Xon's and felt a surprise and welcoming, back, and quickly transferred the knowledge, "Let it assimilate into your mind on its own, don't force it, and by the time you start to learn how to use your gifts fully, the information will be there when you need it."
"You mentioned I have or had two fathers, who was she who gave me life?" Xon asked as he looked up at Aaron in hope, "And he who was my father?"
"This might be hard to understand without seeing, come with me, Xon," Aaron gently nudged the teen off the stool and led him around the corner through another arch and touched the pad by the door, bringing power online before stopping near one of the miniature duplicates of the bio-tubes in the main med bay.
Xon, very curious, walked over to the bio-tube, evidently designed for small children and looked at it and inside through the clear top and what he saw confused him slightly while outwardly it looked like a miniature version of the healing tube he was in, inside it was very different raising an eyebrow, Xon looked up at Aaron for an explanation.
"Alteran's have only one gender...male. This," Aaron patted the incubator, "This, Xon, as you put it, is she who is your mother."
Xon starred at Aaron, waiting for the punch line of the joke humans were fond of telling, before he realized he was not joking and it clicked as the words your two fathers replayed in his mind. Two hundred years of living and working with the Kathat, and learning control came crashing down, as he said the first thing that came to mind, which was a cuss word he had heard often used, amongst Earth fleet personal, "FUCK..." as he swayed in shock next to the incubator.
Kenny kept glancing at the clock and the arch to the med bay, as he fidgeted in his chair as the steam table was almost full and ready and still Aaron had not led Xon out of the med bay, he just couldn't figure out why it was taking so long, feeling a hand on his shoulder, he looked up into Fred's face.
"Relax Kenny, they should be out in a minute or so, don't forget, Xon probably asked Aaron about his fathers, if I were in his place, that would be the first thing I asked," Fred said as he sat down next to Kenny at the table, "Why are you so antsy anyway?"
Frowning, Kenny looked down at the table before looking at Fred, "Because I want to know if he is to be a son or lover and I'm not sure which he wants, I just know which I want him to be."
Fred smiled and would have laughed if Kenny were not being so serious about it and scared, the emotions Kenny was feeling were surprising when he felt it, "I can only see two things happening Kenny, as I was there when Aaron found out who his fathers were. He either joins the Clan as one of our lovers, or he decides not to join the Clan and goes to live in the city, I don't think you have to worry about being a father yet."
Relaxing a little, Kenny looked over his shoulder as the last pan was slid into its slot and he heard Pete yell out, "Come on guys, its ready."
Standing up, he looked back one more time to the med bay and was rewarded with the sight of Aaron with his arm over Xon's shoulder heading their way. Moving to the end of the line, he did not have long to wait until they were both under the roof and he walked over and hugged Xon hard not knowing what else to do.
In unknown territory, Xon looked at Aaron who grinned back and motioned for him to hug Kenny back and heard him tell him, "Relax, Xon, you're going to have to get used to intimacy with us around, a hug happens around here as much as sex does."
Kenny released Xon and glared at Aaron before giggling, "But not as much sex as we all want," he sighed dramatically, before jumping back out of the way of Aaron's hand heading to swat his butt.
"We will try to take into consideration, that for all intents and purposes, you were raised as a Kathat with their emotional control, so we will try to be understanding and supportive as you learn what it is to be Alteran," Aaron placed his hand on Xon's shoulder as they made it to the start of the food, "Eat what you are comfortable eating, just remember we have a different metabolism," Aaron pointed to the variety, as Xon watched him pile his plate higher with food. "So, if you need a replacement for meat protein, let us know and we can take it into account as we are definitely omnivorous in eating habits, and eat as much as you like."
Both eyebrows raised Xon looked around to see everyone eating massive quantities of food and to the food line with more than enough food still in the warming trays. Before he could ask, Aaron gave him the answer, "Yes, most of this will be gone, in fact I doubt if much of any of it is leftover as we burn calories at a tremendous rate, when using our gifts."
Xon filled his plate and hesitating, took samples of the different meats included, Kathat were vegetarians because they lived on a harsh planet not conducive to livestock and as such, had developed a vegetarian lifestyle cultivating species that were high in protein to offset their lack of meat. Sitting down next to Aaron, he sampled the unfamiliar dishes and found he quite enjoyed them, even after first contact with Earth, Xon had lived separate from the humans, once contact was made as they were so strange and he was disappointed that he was not one of their race.
Breakfast mostly over and glancing at the food warming area, Xon was surprised to see that the pans holding the food were empty for the most part and being removed one at a time as the family members took their plates into the kitchen. Glancing back when he heard a voice, he tentatively smiled at the person who was with Aaron the other day when he made the journey through the rift, Pete was his name, he remembered.
"Aaron, I was wondering what you were planning on doing this afternoon, could you stop by the assembler area where I've been building the replicator transporter combination, I should be ready for a test run and I would like you around, just in case," Pete nodded to Xon and smiled, "Xon, nice to have you awake and back home, let me get the answer for this out of the way and I'll take you around and introduce you to the rest of the Clan, I really want to hear about your adventures in the other dimension."
"I should be able to stop by around two, if that works for you; I've been thinking that if this device works, we might want to use the Yin Kong as molecular material, instead of selling it off. If your idea for the MDB works, we can hold that ship in reserve and take care of the fishing factory ship Joe sank, that way it does not poison the waters and it will make salvage quick and simple." Aaron Laughed, as Pete bounced up out of his chair, eager to get started, only to stop several feet away and rush back as Aaron stood up and took Xon's empty plate with him to the kitchen as he left the two alone long enough to clean the plates and for Pete to introduce Xon around to the others.
"Normally, we all wash our own plates and glasses and we all take turns cooking breakfast," Pete told Xon, as they walked over to Shoji and his brother, "This is Shoji and Ichiro, Shoji handles lunch and is cross training to combine multiple cuisines in the hopes of being a great Chef soon. Shoji also takes over cooking supper, two times a week and one of those nights, he works closely with Aaron, so he can expand his skills. Ichiro is a terrific artist and is teaching the skill of painting to others."
"Both worthwhile and honor filled professions," Xon tried smiling as he nodded his head; he had found most humans responded better to a smile.
Once away from the table, Pete lowered his voice, "Those two are human and have yet to decide to become Alteran or to remain unaltered, also, they are not Clan members and are off limits where sex is concerned, other than a hand job." Pete moved on over to Kevin and Tim.
Xon cataloged the two unfamiliar references for later study when he had terminal access, if that failed, he would go to Aaron and ask for clarification. Remembering what Kenny had told him while he was in the bio-tube, or what he had recorded for him, he nodded his head in greeting, "May your water be fresh seems inadequate, indeed I do not know if the Kathat race even exist in this dimension and I am unsure of what greeting to use."
Kevin grinned as he held out his hand to shake Xon's, "Hi, good morning or afternoon, how are you doing works, and among Clan, a smile is enough," he told him and laughed at the raised eyebrow thing he was doing.
After being introduced to everyone in turn, Xon watched as Damien and Kenny walked away with Pat and Doug to go for morning lessons, he was fascinated that Alterans were more closely related to the Kathat when it came to how they educated their youth, with most of it being self study and then small groups for practical aspects. Finding himself alone once more, he headed in the direction Pete had told him he could find Aaron, and headed into the entry of the living quarters and walked up the circular stairs to the second floor, following the hall to the small grass garden area he noticed the opening leading to a balcony, he was curious about the balcony and the view. Walking over to the railing, he stood stunned as he looked down at the sprawling city and the parks and lakes below him, finally, after several minutes of letting his gaze bask in the tropical splendor, he tore himself away from the view, crossed to the other door and went inside then he once more stopped in awe at the circular room he was looking at, it was nothing but wall to wall monitors scrolling information, with the controller sitting in the only chair in the room, swiveling around between screens as his hands flew over the terminal.
Amazing Xon thought, as he stood there and watched Aaron work, he was more efficient then the best Kathat elder, yet on the other hand, he was more human than the humans he interacted with in the other dimension, the way he multitasked was unbelievable, not even the artificial life forms he had met seemed to be this driven, no he decided that was not the word he was looking for more like they were outclassed by an organic being, he never imagined it was possible.
"Hello Xon, just to let you know, you're broadcasting," Aaron explained, as he glanced over his shoulder, before quickly going back to what he was doing, "I'll be with you in a minute as soon as I finish up these patient evaluations. It also helps that the system is designed by true telepaths, for telepaths," Aaron answered his unspoken question as the screens started to go dark as Aaron finished with each of them.
Finished, Aaron let the chair turn around and face Xon, "You are probably full of more questions by now, and I promise you, in time they will be answered, let me show you several possibilities for sleeping arrangements," Aaron stood up and held out his hand before motioning him closer. "Most of the people that get this far into the house, already know what they are getting into or are hoping to join the Clan; everyone else does not make it past this office."
Pointing out the other door, Aaron walked through it, "We have a fully stocked small kitchen, good for snacks all the way up to cooking a full meal," walking past the small dining room and then the door to the small study/ living room, Aaron entered the circular common room, "This is the common room, on this floor there are four bedrooms and at the end, a large office area," Aaron pointed out the open door less arch, across from the steps before heading downstairs.
Once he made it to the ground floor, Aaron waved his arm around the space, "Even though there are other bedrooms and apartments all around the Clan Hall that are an exact duplicate to this one, most of the guys spend their time brainstorming in this common room." Pointing straight ahead, "My bedroom and library are through there and to the right you have Tim's room, and on the other side you have Kevin's and then Pete's rooms."
Aaron sat down on the couch, facing the stairs, "The washer and dryer for clothing and linens is right there to the left of the stairs and the last room next to Tim's is empty, there are also two bedrooms..."Shaking his head as he looked upstairs, "I'll take that back Richard and Andrew claimed those, even though Andrew spends most of his time in Tyler's or someone else's." seeing Xon still standing at the bottom of the stairs, Aaron pointed to the couch across from him, "Sit, it will be several minutes before we move again, so go ahead and sit down as I try to give you a verbal map of the Clan Hall, in case you do not wish to claim the empty bedroom here for your own."
Xon sat down gingerly and looked around, "That room will be acceptable after all, it is just a place to sleep."
Laughing, Aaron thought it was cute how naïve he was, and stood up, "Our bedrooms are so much more than a place to sleep; they also double as our private offices at times, safe from all but Clan members...come on let me show you."
"You have the standard bed and through the arch over there is the closet, which leads to the bathing area and the facilities," pointing behind Xon, Aaron smiled, "But the work area with book shelves and work tables are what is special about these rooms"
Xon turned around and raised both eyebrows in surprise, seeing the monitor screen and desk, the desk looked like a touchpad that Earth Fleet was experimenting with. Moving so he was standing in front of the desk, he laid a hand on it and was rewarded when it lit up with different control areas.
"Top right hand drawer you will find both a scanner like mine and a P.A.D.D. along with Velcro pouches so they can easily be carried." Aaron smiled as Xon investigated the drawer, pulled the items out and set them on the desktop. "Pete's told me that the P.A.D.D. alone could run one of your starships...every department."
Chuckling at Xon's expression mirrored in the monitor, Aaron remembered the case of chips, "In the drawer is also a small container with full slots of empty isolinear chips for your use, and unlike the ones you are used to, these are smaller and a little more advanced, those in the case should be the one hundred terabyte chips."
Xon pulled the case out and thought to himself this had to be a mistake, opening it up he saw how tiny the chips were, the size of his thumbnail, the ones Kathat fleet services used were significantly larger, one the order of the size of his flat hand. Turning around, eyebrow raised, he examined Aaron, "I would imagine that being able to mine dimensions for technology would give you great leaps of technology over what I am used to."
"Actually, you're rescue is the result of our first attempt, up until now, I had forbidden any exploration in that direction, and now that we have mined that dimension's tech base where we found you for what we needed, it will go back on the forbidden list until our need becomes too great. " Seeing how Xon was thinking about the other timeline, Aaron held up a hand, "In the first timeline, it was even more forbidden, an automatic death sentence to even attempt it, on the first attempt, they reached a dimension with a terrible species that considered us to be a delicacy, the final solution was a terrible price to pay." Very terrible, Aaron thought, as he remembered how the other version destroyed a universe to save his people.
"Before I leave you to log into the terminal, to do your research and view the racial history, I want to touch on one last subject, Clan membership." Aaron ported in a small crystal case with Xon's medallion in it he had encased the medallion in a clear crystal. "This is yours by the way, and it has been stabilized by being encased in this crystalline case, the question I want you to keep in mind as you do your research is, that in the other timeline, both of your fathers were Clan, which would have automatically made you a son of the Clan and Clan by right of birth. Here, not only are you back in time before you would have been born, but the two people who, in the first timeline were your fathers, are not even Alteran at this point in time."
Standing up at Xon's confused stare, Aaron crossed the room, "I see three choices before you when it comes to the Clan, one you remain a son of the Clan which would mean every Clan member automatically becomes a parent to you, and there would be no sexual contact between any of us, even if you changed your mind later on and wished it." Staring intently into Xon's eyes, "The second choice is to join with the Clan, by doing so, it would in a sense be a marriage, all Clan members would become your lovers and we would in turn become yours."
Placing the crystalline box in Xon's hands, Aaron gave him the final choice, which he wished he would not consider, "The final choice is for you to decide the Clan is not part of who you are and want to be, as much as it would pain me and the rest of the Clan, if you chose that option and moved into the city and made a life for yourself and eventually found a lover, it is your choice, and we must respect your wishes. But I am not beyond telling you I want you to stay here with us where you belong."
Hugging Xon and smiling as this time Xon responded without awkwardness, Aaron tapped the desk, "I really won't ask you for your decision until you've mastered your gifts," grinning, he winked at Xon, "After all, I need to give everyone else time to tell you how they feel about the choices that you have before you, and it would give me great pleasure to give you our version of the Clan Medallion to wear, which I feel is yours by right of birth."
Moving to the door, Aaron smiled, "If you want to go down to the city or anywhere else until you've mastered the gift of teleportation, just go out in the Clan Hall to either the security office or the dining area and someone will port you where you need to go, I have a couple of hours to work on my own projects before meeting Pete to test that transport replicator combination he assembled, so I'll be in my bedroom if you need me."
"I shall of course come to you with any questions or difficulties," Xon tilted his head to the side, "Perhaps I could be of some help as I have had several hundred years experience with that technology, if you would stop in before you leave, I will go with you," Xon attempted a smile before sitting down, staring at the desktop and locating the area marked power, touched it and was pleased when the plasma wall blinked to life, "I believe I will not have much trouble with the controls, as they seem to be self explanatory."
"Good, I'll be in my room if you need me," Aaron smiled one more time before leaving Xon to his research to go dig out the battle armor from the other hidden room in the library on the opposite side of the hidden terminal room, he would need a set for Kevin and Brian as they were the two who had demanded to go with him with the others supporting their demands. Walking into the library, Aaron went to the secret panel and placed his ring against the sensor and when the book shelf clicked, he pulled it open and walked into a section that he had not had a need to go into yet and opened the cases containing the armor. Pulling out two sets and a couple of over robes, Aaron went to the end case, opened its door and stared at the armor hanging inside...his armor.
An indescribable amount of time later, Aaron stopped staring, reached in and pulled out the armor and over robes and placed them with the other two sets outside the room on one of the library tables, glancing up at the clock, he wondered how he could lose track of an hour before going back in one more time to get the last items needed for this dog and pony show he would be starring in, tomorrow. Coming back into the library with the three sets of headgear, Aaron placed them on the table next to the combat suits, and turning his head towards the noise he heard, he smiled at Xon who was looking through the books with an arched eyebrow at some of the titles.
"Feel free to read anything that takes your fancy, the only restriction is to not take any book past the common room, as most of them, as you have noticed, are from the first timeline," Aaron pulled a chair out and sat down so he could be comfortable.
"Indeed," Xon let his hand drop before joining Aaron at the table, "No intrusion was intended, but I sought clarification after viewing the history your other version left...and I was curious whether there are any photographs of my fathers, from the other timeline."
Aaron smiled, stood up and walked over to one of the terminals along the wall, and started to dig through files looking for the two pictures, "What part of the history do you need clarified?" Finding the two, Aaron put them up on the monitor, side by side, normally he would need to be in the Core to accomplish this, but he had anticipated this need would arise at some point and transferred them to his account.
Xon stared at the monitor in awe, as for the first time in his memory, he was staring at his pro-generators, and he could see the resemblance of his features to theirs, "May..." trailing off Xon did not know how to verbalize his need, he wanted those pictures badly and he was unused to dealing with strong emotions like need. "I..." Xon faced Aaron and quickly grabbed Aaron's hand and placed it against his own face at the proper Kathat linking points.
Using his hand to caress Xon's check, Aaron instead pulled him into a hug and kissed him lightly on the forehead before linking his mind to Xon's , "I'm here Xon," he told him as he helped bring order to the emotions threatening to overwhelm Xon's emotionally stunted and overly ordered mind.
Running down the steps into the common Room, Pete looked around, not seeing Xon or Aaron he looked in Aaron's bedroom and was about to leave when he noticed the door to the library open and curious, peeked in and saw Aaron holding Xon. Being quiet, Pete approached the two and felt that their minds were linked; something must have happened he thought, as he raised a hand as if he was feeling a transparent barrier. Doing as Aaron taught him, he reached out with his mind and brushed the outer edges of the link and was welcomed by Aaron, "Hello love, we'll be with you in a moment."
A minute later, Aaron moved and looked at Xon before kissing his forehead again and smiling as Xon told him, "Thank you, I now have more control over these unexpected and previously unknown emotions, Even though the Kathat have emotions; they have learned iron hard control over them, and I was always curious as I never experienced any emotions, I assumed my race did not have them." Looking up at Aaron, he smiled sadly, before looking back at the two pictures, "It was because of the damage done to my brain, wasn't it?"
Image flashing in his mind of the damage done to Xon, Aaron agreed, "Yes, yes it was and thankfully, even though your neural pathways were destroying themselves as your brain died, the healers were able to freeze the process when they fixed your stabilizer. It will take some time, but you will be able to handle emotions without thinking about it, it will become second nature to you."
Xon turned to Pete who was smiling encouragingly at him and he tilted his head, "I am not sure I could survive if I accepted you third offer, to my mind, I need to be Clan, it only then remains if it is to be as a son or lover." Eyes taking in all of Pete and then Aaron, he tilted his head to the other side, "In the two hundred fifty years I spent on Katha' and with Kathat, I never once experienced the urge of the mating season, is it safe to assume that was also the result of the brain damage, and that I will be functioning within normal parameters once more?"
Pete laughed and smirked, "If you mean will you become a normal horny Alteran, then yes and I can't wait to see your expression the first time you throw wood."
Xon raised an eyebrow questioning, "I fail to see how throwing deceased plant material equates to sexual intimacy."
Pete laughed as he sent Xon an image of Aaron lying in bed with his morning wood sticking up, and laughed harder as Xon turned red in embarrassment.
Aaron just chuckled in amusement as he went to the terminal and forwarded the pictures to Xon's account, "What did you need more information on in regards to the histories, they are pretty clear and concise?" he changed the subject to a less embarrassing one for Xon.
"Indeed they are, and I accepted the burden, I request information on how you plan to avert the future and where my skills will best be put to use," Xon sounded eager as he followed Aaron and Pete up the stairs.
"What are you trained in?" Pete asked, as he glanced over his shoulder, "I guess I mean what fields, being trained on Katha' by the Kathat before moving to Earth Fleet, you must have cross trained thoroughly."
"Indeed I did, perhaps I would best serve integrating Earth fleet's technology with Alteran in the short term," Xon offered, and was pleased when Pete smiled in glee for some reason.
Aaron laughed and swatted Pete upside the head playfully, "No starships, the Reliant should be good enough for you, besides you'll be too busy building new assembler lines."
"You don't let me have any fun," Pete pouted before laughing," Seriously though, it is only a matter of perspective, I can build an assembler that could build star ships with replicator technology, in weeks instead of years. I should be able to replicate the sub fighters in one go, just imagine fully functioning vessels in minutes instead of the month it takes now."
"How is this possible? Not even Earth Confederation technology can do what you propose," Xon was shocked, but if Pete said they could do it, he would believe it.
"The confederation treats replicators and transporters as separate technology, the one unit I studied combined the two back into one technology, to simple for what I, what we needed it to do so I took it further, the biggest hurdle the combined confederation has yet to overcome is in computer matrixes and taking things one step further, they seem to create something that works and forget about or stop researching it." Pete placed a hand on Xon, as they ported to his work area near the assemblers. "It's not separate, but the same, with a few minor changes, what I plan to do is take it one step further, I will use the transporter side of things to harvest the raw molecular material for the replicators to change and create."
Aaron looked around the area to all the cables all over the place and carefully stepping through and over them until he got to the circular stage area and the control console. Spotting a type two generator off to one side, he glanced back, after leaning his hands on the console to hold his weight as he looked over it, "And why do you need so much power, what's wrong with just hooking into the power grid?"
Pete grinned, "To do what I want, and think the system can do, I need power...lots of power, this is the best way, after all, this mess will be hidden below floor panels after the proof of concept works, that room," Pete pointed to the large circular room "Will replace the whole assembler line for the sub fighters or anything else their size." He sat down in one of the chairs, brought the system to life and pointed to the empty seat next to him, "I had the Core create a Zettabyte processor which is two levels slower than the Core's own processors, then I hooked three of them together and created the memory chain based off of the Core's schematics and we have the computer matrix to get things done as they should be done."
Xon stumbled and caught himself on the edge of the console where Aaron caught him and pulled him over to his lap, worried, and picking up the awe coming from him, pulled him close, "Okay, I suppose that what you really invited me here for was to unlock and activate the fusion generator." Feeling Xon stiffen again, Aaron finally asked, "Are you okay, Xon?"
"After thousands of years of research, Kathat scientists gave up on fusion generators as unattainable and soon after, matter anti matter generation became the power source of choice. Are you telling me that small tiny box is the fusion reactor?" Xon was amazed as he pointed to the type two generator. "How did you get them so small?"
Pete looked at the generator and shrugged as he started the initiation cycle on the generator, "That's actually one of the larger ones, now, if you want to see small, you should take a look at the type five's, those are small. Aaron, I need you to DNA unlock the generator now," Pete warned Aaron as he pointed to the sensor pad and after Aaron had unlocked the generator and it was at full power, Pete grinned. Looking over his shoulder at the three people who had helped him build this first prototype, he grinned and brought the system to full power and whooped out in joy along with their cheers as the system initiated and became fully functional.
The three quickly moved to their stations and George called out, "Systems functioning scanning and initializing quantum molecular pattern of targeted sub fighter."
Aaron watched as the monitor on the console switched to the docking bay and one of the sub fighters shimmered in its cradle as it looked like it was phasing in and out of existence, after four minutes, George whooped, "Pattern complete and locked into memory."
"Mass analyzed and now we need you to DNA unlock the system for transport acquisition of mass for replication," Frank could not keep the excitement out of his voice as he looked at Pete who was grinning as he placed his finger on the sensor pad and the monitor switched to the quarantine bay where the freighter Yin Kong was berthed and a hovering sphere shot a beam towards the freighter's cargo containers and several of them dissolved in a sparkling shimmer of the transporter beams. "Mass acquired and it's all up to you now, Tony," Frank called out as his hands flew across the console as he routed the molecular mass through the system.
Aaron, following along as the procedure progressed, looked at each person and then finally into the circular room as a shimmering light could be seen and the form of one of the sub fighters started to take shape until finally after two minutes; the only thing in the room was a complete and whole sub fighter sitting there. Staring at the vessel, Aaron ignored the celebrating going on around him, finally, setting Xon on his feet, he pulled out his scanner and making an adjustment to it, he walked around to the steps and started to run a scan on the ship going as far as opening the hatch and climbing in the vessel as he found it identical and porting out to the docks he ran a comparison scan on the template fighter.
Porting back to the assembler area, Aaron came up behind Pete and his crew as Xon was asking why they locked out part of the process to require DNA verification to unlock it. And smiled as Tony got a serious look on his face as he answered, "Because as a weapon, there would be no defense and only the Clan should have the right to make those type of decisions."
"Let's port this fighter to the docks and have Joe test it, if it works as you think it will, we can shut down the assembler line and you can cannibalize the partially finished hulls for mass and get Joe his fighters faster than he can get the pilots trained for them," Aaron glanced around for gestalt access and finding it near the steps, pulled energy and ported the ship out to the docks. Smiling, Aaron hugged each and every one of them for a job well done, "I'll let you path Joe and tell him about his new fighter that needs to be put through its paces, and I'm looking forward to reading the report and your plans for improvement and size limitations of objects that can be replicated."
"Does this mean I get to build a bigger one?" Pete grinned, riding the high over the successful test and the praise Aaron gave him.
"Talk to Tommy," Aaron told him, as he started to pull up the raw data on the screen, most of it was beyond him but he was looking for power demand and processor output, those he could read and understand.
"Tommy?" Pete sounded confused, "Why Tommy," he tilted his head so he could place it on Aaron's shoulder and see what he was looking at.
"Because he started all this and until you build him the shield fence for his pens, you can't do anything else, though I suppose as you two are working on the design that your crew could be scanning patterns on most of our tech . You might also want to come up with a super dense matter that we could store mass as well until needed, that way one of the Clan does not always need to be present during replication." Aaron stood back up after finding out what he wanted to know, "I would be interested in knowing if the fifty percent computing capacity was for any item replicated or if its size was a consideration."
"You are talking about a process to create an initial fuel source if you will for the later replication process to use in the creation of items," Xon looked at Aaron for verification then to Pete, "in the memory banks of my scanner, I have the molecular pattern of several heavy metals that are extremely dense that should fit the requirements. All future replicators could easily be altered to only except this material as mass, thus alleviating your concerns of use as a weapon, thus using this replicator here, to create the mass for the rest."
Aaron thought about it for all of a half second, "Do it, seal this room to everyone but Clan and your three researchers, Pete, we'll install shields like the EL1 lab..." Aaron stopped as he looked around and at the transparent walls to the assembler line next to this lab. "How easy would it be to move all this?"
"If it is all the same to you, your Majesty, Tony and George and I would rather not have access, once the initial scan and replication of the first item is done, all others following can be done by one person, so we prefer the Clan create this dense fuel bar, with the three of us being locked out of the area," Frank nodded, along with his two coworkers
Pete looked around, "Well, except for having to disassemble some sections, I guess it could be moved, why?"
"Good, get started. We are going to move all of this to the EL1 lab. Once it is there, set up and working, you guys can create a replicator here that can handle components for the computer system we are releasing to the world," Aaron smiled at Pete, "The EL1 lab is one of the second most secure places in the kingdom. All future replicators will have to be DNA locked so they can be used like this one, but mainly using the mass fuel and any that leave the island must be redesigned, so they cannot accept anything other than the mass fuel."
"The only exception will be the ones we build on Centauri," Aaron pathed Pete, who nodded, eyes gazing over the area, planning how best to move the prototype.
Coming up with an idea, Pete smiled, "The equipment is not the problem but the computer controls, that is the only thing we need to move, the components are the same for either version, we just need to replace the brain," Pete tapped the meter square computer matrix, "without this, the system will not be any more lethal than the original this is based on, the one in the other dimension, that, and one connection..." he trailed off as he thought about it. "The problem is not enough trained hands for the EL1 lab, I can have a new brain programmed and ready by supper tomorrow."
Pete walked over to the brain, opened a panel and pulled out a chip causing the system to go dead, "I'll just hold onto this until I get a new brain designed, the system, is useless without it."
Aaron stared at Pete before chuckling, "That's it, ten minutes of planning and discussions on moving all this shit and all it boils down to was pulling a simple chip out of the matrix to make sure it could not be used, hell, we don't need the EL1 lab for this."
Xon stared at the chip in Pete's hand, "What is the purpose of that chip?"
Looking at the chip, clueless, Pete looked up at his amused lover and Xon, "It's the matrix bridge, without this, the computer is not even much use as a storage unit, considering the Core is the storage unit...and this is something I designed specifically for this with the Core's help," Pete turned to stare at the matrix, mind racing.
Kevin, hearing the request from Pete, ported into the lab, "You needed me, Pete?" he asked as he went over and kissed Aaron, spending a moment to do it right.
Pete, taking his turn kissing Kevin also compressed and sent the past half hour to Kevin so that when they broke apart, Kevin knew what had happened. "Congratulations, so what do you need me to do?" Ah yes, it should be doable, I would think, you'll have to redesign the control console, create a whole new one with three stations instead of the four separate station one you have now, more like the med bay consoles I think, then it would be a simple matter of programming your lockouts into the bridge chip..." Kevin looked thoughtful, "Yes, I can do it with the help of the Core, I can have the limited chip and override chip to you by supper, I suggest you keep that master chip in the Core for safe keeping . Oh, and keep the DNA lockouts as they are, it will add an extra level of safety," Kevin waved to Xon before porting out to go handle the small project.
"What just happened? No information was exchanged, yet Kevin knew what was needed and left after two point three minutes to provide the solution," Xon was confused and looked to Aaron for answers.
"True telepaths," Aaron smiled at Xon, holding back his laughter at his expression, "Pete relayed the whole test and conversation during their kiss, and Kevin saw it as if he was here the whole time and left to go create the solution, Kevin's specialty is programming and design of computers."
"He'll have a new console designed along with the brain for the replicator system before supper, and he'll bring back the chips, tomorrow we'll replicate the new console and install it while I salvage the brain out of the housing and install it into the new console, then we'll just put in a new over floor and the whole system will be ready to go by supper tomorrow, I'll just need to find a place to store the dense mass fuel and install a transporter relay in that storage area," Pete was still working things out in his mind and grabbed Xon, "Come on, we need to get back to the common room; you need to get your scanner and I need to look at the assembly area plans and find an empty storage bay and..." his voice trailed off as he ported the two of them back the to the Clan hall, leaving Aaron chuckling in the empty room.
Editors section:
RadioRanchers Musings: I like the way these guys think. I always wondered why the federation never combined some of their technologies together to make some things that would have been of great usefulness. Holotechnology being what it was, always seemed very strange to me. I mean, if you can make something using holo matter, why not build it using real matter?
It looks like Xon will have a lot of loving people around him and hopefully, he will be able to accept the love and concern that everyone is trying to give him.
Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher
A/N: standard message about my mailing list applies J. Or if you want to go to my web site to read my ramblings drag your curser over to wolfsnest.n40c.net