Waking up early, Aaron smiled as he let his gaze roam around the large nest built in the middle of the common room floor, being extra careful not to wake anyone as he made his way to the side, he sighed in relief as he accomplished his goal, he had not stepped on anyone or disturbed anyone so they woke up. Noticing the clock near his empty bed frame as he passed there was still an hour before he had to be up, a hot shower sounded good right now.
Interrupting the shower program so it provided a hot steam bath, Aaron settled onto one of the ledges and laid back against the wall, letting his mind go over events as he relaxed into the steam, for this morning at least, this was as close as he was going to get to his coveted hot springs. Sweat rolling down his face and body, he opened his eyes at the blast of cool air hitting him, when the steam parted he smiled as Xon appeared in the momentary lifting of the steam by the cold air, patting the bench next to him, "you're up early, Xon, did you find it difficult to sleep in that huge pile?" Aaron laughed softly as Xon sat down next to him.
"I found it rather refreshing, interestingly enough," Xon smiled as the heat started to make him sweat, "I also noted you rose earlier than expected, was there a reason for this?"
"I have a lot of things to do today, the easiest being to eat breakfast," Aaron chuckled before saying, "Actually, I need to go to the construction yards to see if they can be converted for your replication builders, sometime tomorrow after the last patient is released the Asclepius will self destruct, meaning we will be without a hospital ship unless we build another, the original one took the assemblers a year to build, if we are going to rebuild it, I would want to redesign it slightly anyway, it really did not hold enough bio-tubes or bio-beds, we could double the treatment capacity if we did away with family housing. I suppose keeping the dining facility should be a priority, the whole concept was to send the hospital ship out to disaster areas so being able to prepare food for the survivors would be a good thing," Aaron was verbally sounding out idea's to avoid his other thoughts.
Picking up on the hesitancy to talk about the morning, Xon asked, "The California vote will not be finished until this evening, and you will be off planet by then and you have your meeting with Brazil's leaders after lunch, what happens this morning that has you hesitating to talk about it?"
"Besides the fact that I will be holding court this morning and most of the guards that were involved in shooting me will be tried you mean, I have no clue what to do about them. If I sit in judgment, it could be taken as vindictive; the same could be said if any of the Clan stood in judgment." Aaron glanced sideways at Xon, "so what the hell do I do with them?"
"I see your dilemma," Xon stated before getting to his feet and resuming the shower cycle, once the steam had been banished, replaced by warm water, Xon nudged Aaron to his feet and started to lather up his back, "I believe after consideration, I have a solution for you, if they are agreeable that is, I shall leave shortly and go to the Shaolin and ask on your behalf."
"I suppose that will be workable," Aaron considered Xon's solution for several moments and when the dry cycle started he finally agreed, "I don't see any other way, and at least they won't be in limbo, it would infuriate me if we had to feed them and keep them locked up until we found a solution."
Moving to the set of sinks, Xon ported his toothbrush to his hand, "I shall leave shortly then."
Leaving Aaron in his office to catch up with last minute emails and status checks, Xon headed out of the Clan house and over to the gestalt point before porting to the section of the city that the Shaolin had taken for their own, spotting a young apprentice walking by, he stopped them, "Excuse me, I have need to see the elder Shaolin Masters, please direct me to their location."
The apprentice stopped and looked at Xon for a moment before recognizing him as belonging to the Clan, "Follow this humble one, please."
Five minutes later, the apprentice bowed to Xon as he pulled open the curtain covering the door so Xon could enter. Thinking it was curious that they would use cloth as a door Xon walked in and looked around; this was the common room area and had been refurnished to resemble the temple structure he had scanned two days ago.
"Young Dragon Lord, how may we serve you," one of the elder masters interrupted Xon's inspection of the room.
Giving a head nod of recognition, Xon faced the twelve elders, "Prime Aaron will be standing in judgment today of those being held for wrongdoing, there is a group being held that were involved in the attack on Aaron directly, after discussions this morning, it was brought to light that it would not be seen as justice if he or any member of the Clan stood in judgment of those who committed the crimes against him." Xon had their attention and now gave his solution to the problem he exposed for them, "it is my hope, and Aaron agrees, that the Shaolin masters would stand in judgment of those who have attacked him," finished, Xon stood waiting as they digested his purpose here this morning.
After several moments of silence when no more information was spoken of, the elders looked at one another and using their newly returned gifts, discussed it amongst themselves telepathically, coming to a decision, four of the elders stood up, "We shall take this burden from the Prime's shoulders and justice shall be done," the Shaolin bowed deeply to Xon.
"The Clan gives gratitude for your service to our Prime, the Court shall convene at nine this morning at Elswick, and there are seven cases that shall be judged first before the group you shall stand judgment over appears." Xon half bowed his head and ported out while sending a message to Aaron that it was arranged, he had just enough time to update himself with the Crèche work, so he could report on the project's status.
Aaron was slightly shocked; the email plea for help from Israel was worrying. Placing the call while aligning the video pickup to cover his upper body only, Aaron waited for the call to be answered. Staring at the image that appeared on the plasma as the call was answered, Aaron noticed right away the drawn haggard look on the Prime Minister's face, "I have received your request, Prime Minister," Aaron told him as his hands opened a channel to the CAG's office, interrupting the man's morning coffee and quiet contemplation.
"I will dispatch four of our medical transport jets in fifteen minutes, they will be instructed to make an atmospheric insertion, so expect them at your hospital forty five minutes from now, they shall evacuate the school children injured in the attack," Aaron saw the relief on the man's face and on the other screen noticed the CAG's nod that he heard. "Your solution to the problem is unique, I have to admit."
Sighing, the Prime Minister ran his hands through his hair, "I realize that, your Majesty, but every time we retaliate, with just cause mind you, the world condemns our actions. And when we are attacked they ignore the actions of those that attack us, and they target our children, I...we don't know what else to do." Reading a piece of paper that had been handed to him the Prime Minister sighed in frustration, "the Palestinians have attacked again, I cannot guarantee the safety of your medical relief jets, not until this attack is over."
"I understand, Prime Minster, we shall provide an armed escort for our Jets," Aaron turned to the side so he was facing the CAG, "CAG, I want you to send two squadrons of Screaming Eagles to provide protection of our people, in fact, send the ready Squadron now, and if your people want a little target practice go ahead and let them have some fun."
Facing the Prime Minster once more, Aaron had a thought, "I think, Prime Minister, that it is past time to shake up the world," chuckling, "Or maybe I should say it is time to shake them up again, I will send transport so that you may attend court today, where you will make a formal plea for the record in front of the whole world, let's throw their failings into their faces, shall we?"
Aaron smiled evilly, "By the time I accept your plea, the interdiction barrier will have been modified and ready to be erected, ten minutes later, your whole country will be inside the barrier, what you do to the terrorists inside the barrier is up to you, as long as your government does not turn oppressive, I don't see that happening any time soon, to tell the truth, not with your country's history." Aaron started to turn away to close the connection, but had another thought, "Before I forget, our jets are VTOL, so clear an area near the hospital, a large parking lot should do the job."
The Prime Minister smiled for the first time, "I thank you, your Majesty for the help and I will look forward to seeing you later this morning, Shalom," he bowed his head slightly and signed off.
Looking at the forwarded email, Dylon brought up a satellite image of the area and chose several spots close to the hospital and the school and sent the coordinates to the ready Squadron before uploading the information for his pilots who were just coming into the briefing room, "Aaron, I can flip around the schedule and be able to handle our pickups without a problem, by putting some of the drop offs back by a couple of hours."
"Go ahead and do it that way, CAG, I'll let Theo know and have my residents get ready to receive all those patients, go ahead and load the jets up with every kid you can get your hands on, if they look sick or injured get them onboard, we'll run them all through the scanners to make sure they are physically in perfect condition," Aaron glanced at the CAG in a way to make it known he wanted every kid they could get their hands on, to get them out of the line of fire.
"Understood Aaron," Dylon smiled grimly, even the part you left unsaid, he thought as he disconnected.
"Good morning, Love, how did you sleep?" Aaron asked Kevin, without turning around as he opened another connection this time to the trauma center.
Coming up from behind Aaron and kissing him, Kevin smiled, "I slept very well, thank you, and I see you're up early and already causing problems," grinning he sat on the arm of the chair as the connection went through and he watched along with Aaron as the plasma came to life showing a room full of people.
"Excuse my interruption," Aaron smiled, when the residents noticed him on the large monitor behind Theo, "But I thought I would give you a heads up."
Theo crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue causing the first row of residents to break up laughing before composing himself and turning to look at the pickup and Aaron, "Well, good morning to you, your Majesty, decided to come back and do some real work, or are you still going to hide at that mini clinic you call a hospital," Theo grinned, to show he was teasing him as he waved.
"Hmm, don't tempt me, Theo; this mini clinic gets rough at times, having twenty thousand patient beds, after all it's not like I only had to deal with a four thousand bed hospital now is it," Aaron smirked, before laughing at Theo's expression. "What I am calling about though, is that it is about to get very busy over on your end, I know you were expecting a routine day," Aaron looked off to the side for a moment, "Well, I'm going to have to rain on your parade, I need you to gear up to accept emergency trauma patients, it seems one of the larger schools in Israel was attacked this morning, well their morning anyway, the terrorists waited until school was in session before firing off their missiles."
Giving them a moment to take in what he told them, Aaron sat up straight, "Get ready folks, in another hour or so, you will start getting hundreds of patients I expect, gestalt teams on the jets will most likely start porting patients to the triage room well before the jets return." Seeing the shocked looks on their faces turn to determination, he smiled sadly, "I won't be there to help like I normally would, I have court in a couple of hours, and I am going to be involved in making sure this can't happen again, BUT..." Aaron held up his hand, "the needs of the children will come first, if I am needed, call me, I have no idea about the type of injuries you are going to receive, so if I need to push back my schedule, don't hesitate to let me know as soon as possible, not later when your ass deep in alligators," Aaron directed the last to Theo and stared at him until he nodded. "Alright, I just wanted to give you the heads up, the alarms will go off as soon as RJ101 lands, so be ready."
"Do you think they can handle it on their own?" Fred said from the back of the office, the rest of the Clan had watched from the doorway.
"I have no idea, if the injuries are minor or simple, then yes they should be able to handle it, if they are mostly surgical, they won't be able to cope without help. I just have to plan to be fluid this morning and hope they can handle it." Standing up, Aaron turned to smile at his loves, `I'm going to get hug patrol out of the way real quick this morning, just in case."
Leading his lovers towards the gestalt point so they could go topside, Aaron missed the contemplative look on Fred's face as he turned in the other direction, he never really missed him, as Fred did not always go topside for chores fist thing in the morning.
Fred thought long and hard, if those kids were not that badly hurt, the staff could handle it on their own, but knowing how the Palestinians had vowed to cleanse the land of Jews, starting with the children, he felt it was worse than they could imagine. Dressing in his formal Clan Uniform, he had come to a decision, picking up his scanner, he ported to the Clan security office, "Bruce, you're elected, since you're dressed," Fred motioned him over to the gestalt point someone had installed in the office, after Friedrich had proposed the addition, "Where's Friedrich, by the way?"
"He is over at Elswick, making sure nothing can go wrong this time, what are we doing, or should I say where are we going?" Bruce secured his weapon belt and came over to Fred's side.
Placing a hand on the gestalt point, Fred used the other to touch Bruce, "We are going to the RJ101 to see for ourselves what damage was done to the schoolchildren." Porting them to the command deck behind the pilot, before Bruce could question him, Fred nodded to Carl in greeting.
"What school, what children, what are you talking about, Fred?" Bruce glared back at his charge and saw the grim expressions on the faces of the crew.
"A boys' school in Israel, Hamas led terrorists launched missiles into the school in an attempt to cleanse the land of those of a different religion, the Israeli Prime Minister contacted Aaron this morning, asking for help, this will be the first medical evacuation jet on the ground, and I need to see if Altair Trauma can handle the patient load or if Aaron will have to reschedule his morning and if the Shaolin will have to respond with their surgical healers. Aaron is trying to be in too many places at once this morning, instead of waiting to hear if the others are needed, I'll take a look around myself and take the decision out of Theo's hands, I'm sure he would mean well, but I doubt he would call for help until he was hip deep in patients they could no longer keep up with." Fred moved behind the pilot and looked out of the window.
"We'll be landing in five minutes, Young Lord," Johan told him, as he started searching for a landing area now that they were in Israeli air space.
"You know, if something happens to you, Aaron will have my balls nailed to the wall, don't you?" Bruce sighed; some of the Clan were so hard headed at times, taking after Aaron, how the hell were they supposed to do their jobs when they continued to put themselves in danger like this.
Fred smiled at Bruce, having picked up on his thoughts, "And how can we do our jobs being the leaders needed, if we are cocooned and kept under wraps in case we might get hurt?"
Bruce sighed as he looked away, and then thought better of it as Carl just stared and smirked at him, "There has to be a balance though, Fred, taking us into a war zone is dangerous, more than that, it is foolhardy."
"I know, but a squadron of Screaming Eagles was sent ahead, and if you look out the window you will see two of them escorting each of the jets, I don't plan to stay, just take a quick look and port back to Altair Trauma after finding out what kind of damage we are talking about with these kids, the people in danger are those staying after we go." Fred shook his head in disgust as they approached the hospital, the big white building with a red cross on the roof made a huge target.
The jet safely down on the ground, Fred watched the soldiers rush over, take up positions and look up towards the hatch high above their heads, "Lower the lift please, let the Marines out first and then when they call back the all clear, I'll take a quick tour of the hospital while Carl preps the triage bay, Aaron said to make sure that the worst cases are ported directly to Altair Trauma receiving."
Glaring out the window as one of the Eagles fired off the plasma canons and seeing something blow up in the distance followed by one of the Eagles take off in the direction its wing mate fired, Bruce paled, "I think we need to do this as quickly as possible." Looking around, he caught sight of Fred walking down the stairs, cursing as he ran to catch up.
On the ground finally, Fred looked around and frowned, paying attention as he was introduced to the ground force commander as they were escorted into the hospital, seeing the horror surrounding him, and the screams of pain from some of the kids still waiting to be seen, Fred extended his mic and activated the communicator, "Altair Trauma, set condition Red, standby to receive injured." Twisting the dial, Fred spoke again, "Sol Station...all off duty healers to Altair Trauma, set condition Red." Lastly Fred sent a message to Aaron, "Aaron get to Altair Trauma, incoming multiple trauma ones, incoming, near code patients."
Aaron stiffened and glanced around, "Fred where the hell are you?" getting a picture from Fred, seeing what he was seeing, Aaron swore, "What the hell are you doing over in Israel?"
"What needs to be done," Fred snapped back, as he went further into the hall and saw more children, "I've seen enough, get these kids onboard the RJ101 as quickly as you can," Fred ordered, as he saw several officials moving their way.
"Who are you and what are you doing here, these children are going nowhere..." the army officer started before an aide informed him that this was the group the Prime Minster said was coming to their aid.
"I am Fred Stranton of Clan Stranton of the Kingdom of Altare," Fred stiffened in anger, as he stood up straight and glared the man down, seeing some of the soldiers pick up the injured kids Fred yelled out, "NO GUNS, our security system will shoot you if you enter our plane with weapons," Nodding as several people moved to disarm those carrying the injured children, Fred eyed the man in white, "Prepare to transport all surgical patients as quickly as you can make them stable, Frag that," Fred swore. "How many children are in surgery right now?"
"Easily a dozen, and we have more that will not make it without surgical intervention," the doctor answered, as he closed the distance with the young teen who was giving orders.
"Aaron this is not going to work like you planned, we need gestalt teams over here or you might as well forget half the kids, they won't make it," Fred pathed, as he moved out of the way of several soldiers who were busy picking up the stretchers and rushing out of the hospital, "Show me where the most severe children are being kept."
Following the doctor, Fred was near tears as he saw the kids near death, entering the large room where several tables were set up with doctors frantically working, he noticed the several dozen waiting their turn.
"I need a visualization, Fred, show me where you want the teams to port too," Kevin contacted him and gave him a mental hug.
Finding a spot not occupied by stretchers, Fred sent the picture and felt the mental kiss and was bolstered by it, he smiled when the officers started to swear as Alteran's started to port in and rush to the patients waiting their turn for surgical intervention, they grabbed ahold of them and ported out, the shimmering sparkles were a sight that gave him hope.
"What the...how?" the Doctor exclaimed as dozens of people were porting in and running around porting people out.
"RJ102, 103 and 104 return to base, this is now a gestalt evacuation," Fred ordered, as more people started to port in and rush back down the hall he had come from. Facing the stunned officers, Fred turned to Bruce after smiling in amusement at their faces, "I need to get back to the trauma center to help out, Aaron's orders...if the child or teen looks sick or injured they are to be evacuated for treatment."
Moving over to the table where the surgeons were frantically trying to control the bleeding, "Can you understand and speak English?" Fred asked, as he moved close to the table and started to use his scanner to determine how extensive the boy's injuries were.
"Yes I can understand English just fine, why do you ask," the surgeon was intrigued as he saw the young teen using unfamiliar equipment to look inside the chest cavity of the boy he was working on and saw the slow leakage of fluid into the lungs.
"Good, we are leaving with this kid in thirty seconds, you continue to work as I get everything unhooked," Fred ordered as he pulled the wires off the boys chest and removed the IV, closing his eyes and concentrating he felt someone offering their eyes for his use and kinetically lifting the boy he had time to warn the surgeon, "porting...now."
Appearing in front of one of the triage bio-tubes, Fred kinetically slid the boy into the bio-tube and fastened the ventilator to the breathing tube before glancing up as one of the residents started to apply the sensors and IV cuff, "Hands and instruments out," he warned the surgeon as he watched the man back away in frustration as the lid sealed. "You need to change out of your gloves and put on the black servo gloves," Fred tried to tell the man as he stared stunned as the bio-tube flushed with regen fluid, `great, he's having a shocked moment.' Leaning over after attaching the surgical frame, Fred slapped the man hard across the face. "Melt down later; right now you have work to do."
Theo, hearing the loud smack, saw Fred hit someone and moved over, "Fred I'll take over," glancing at the man and the blood and latex gloves he smiled, "Doctor, if you would assist me with your patient, I can explain our instruments to you and then I can put you to work."
Nodding his head, the surgeon watched Fred warily move away, "Is he always that forceful?"
Smirking as he picked up the servo gloves and started to tell the nurse what to concentrate on first, Theo smiled at the surgeon who had pulled the bloody gloves off and dropped them on the cart, "Yes, well, he comes by it naturally I'm afraid. Now the first thing you need to realize is..."
Leaving the triage area, Fred moved over to the area set up for the bio-bed patients, or the walking wounded as Aaron called them and started to work, he could at least fuse broken bones and heal minor cuts.
Ephraim looked up as he was placed on one of the strange beds after his clothes had been cut off, he was embarrassed but took solace in the fact that there were no woman around, glancing around, he felt something cold and wet being rubbed into his skin and looked at the person who was working on him, he was his age, "Who are you?"
Fred looked over after applying the chest and temple sensor on the boy who spoke to him, "I'm Fred, I'll be your healer this morning, you're lucky, you mostly have just broken bones and a few minor cuts, all easily fixed," he smiled at the teen, hoping to put him at ease as he activated the sensors pain control function as he administered the first two units of nanites. "I need you to lie back and try to lie still, the break in your arm is nasty, if you feel any pain, I want you to tell me immediately so I can increase the pain meds."
"How can you be a healer, you're my age?" Ephraim wondered, as he felt all the pain disappear, leaving him pain free for the first time in hours.
"Simple really, we don't age like you do," Fred fell back on the old standard reply, as he patted the boy's arm, "lie back now it will make my job easier if you relax." Facing the monitor once more, Fred decided to start with the arm, after programming the system Autodoc to take care of the fracture's around the boy's ribs, so he could concentrate on the more tricky ones, the ones in the arm and leg.
Lying back like he was asked, Ephraim was confused, how does someone age differently? Turning his head, he was astonished to see his body on the large screen next to the bed and watched in interest, as the boy circled things and tapped other places on the screen before finally watching the bone in his arm start to move on the screen. Glancing down at his arm, he watched in sick fascination as what he saw up on the screen he could see happen under his skin.
"If you're going to be sick, I can put you to sleep if you want," Fred told him, as he saw the boy pale and turn slightly gray as he looked at his arm. Sending another couple of units of nanites into the boy, Fred concentrated on lining up the two sections of bones, without trapping the blood vessels or nerves, remembering Aaron's words, `that this is what made a doctor necessary, instead of leaving it to the Autodoc' he almost missed the boy's response.
Ephraim tore his eyes away from his arm and looked back at the monitor, "No, I must be strong, if I wish to be a doctor someday; I cannot let this bother me."
"A good profession to be in," Fred smiled, as the bone had been lined up and he let the system start to fuse it while he started to close some of the long gashes, after squirting some sterilizing gel into the wounds. "Being a healer is something you can be proud of at the end of the day, going home knowing someone will walk again or even play in the yard tomorrow because of something you were skilled enough to do is an indescribable feeling."
Ephraim was awed at the teen's words, he watched the monitor closely as he saw the bones come together and slowly become seamless once more, this was what he dreamed of doing one day, and the tools they used were something out of fantasy novels. A serious case of hero worship was starting, as Fred worked on him, he wondered what he had to do to stay here and learn from them.
Fred smiled as the young boy was broadcasting; pulling up the medication menu he chose a general purpose gamma globulin to offset any infection, before it had a chance to set in and brought up the image of the boy's leg, wincing slightly, he noticed the three separate pieces, that had to hurt, he thought. "The next part looks rather nasty, a right mess, actually, so I want you to not try to be brave, if it hurts, tell me so I can give you something for the pain, if you don't, I'll knock you out." Looking at the boy, Fred stared into his eyes looking for pain.
"I promise," Ephraim whispered, as he looked into those eyes and tried to smile, "it does ache a bit, but nothing like it did before you did whatever you did, before starting on my arm."
Administering a mild pain killer and muscle relaxant, Fred glanced back, "How's that, any better?" seeing the nod and smile, Fred went to work lining up the free floating piece of bone with one end. Fifteen minutes later, Fred had the last half of the bone in place and being fused, ordering a deeper full scan of the boy, he stood up and smiled down at the awed boy, "you still need to stay still until someone tells you that you can get up, the system is finishing fusing your bone and checking you over, I need to move on to the next patient, once you're released ask for directions to the atrium and you can get something to eat there." Patting the boy on the uninjured leg Fred moved across the aisle and started to work on the young boy lying there.
Ephraim glanced at the monitor in awe before looking across towards where the teen had gone, seeing the screen flare to life behind Daniel, he wondered if he dared move closer so he could see better.
"Absolutely not," Fred glanced back over his shoulder, "You stay still until the system finishes or I'll knock you out, if I have to redo all that work before it's finished..." Smirking as the boy laid back down in wonder, Fred seeing the injuries to this boy were more complicated than originally thought, ordered the system to dispatch a bio-tube; this kid needed more advanced treatment.
Aaron tiredly washed away the blood, he decided since he was two hours late anyways, he could take a few moments and shower so he at least looked like he had not been through a war, quickly drying himself, he got dressed and placed the crown on his head before porting directly to the brig office.
Shen bowed his head briefly as Aaron appeared, "I hope all is well with the injured children, Prime?"
Aaron sighed as he pulled his over cloak on, "It is still touch and go with several of them, but for the most part, they will all survive." Settling his cloak around him he glanced over at Friedrich and nodded, he was ready.
Waiting until he heard the three ceremonial thumps, Aaron strode through the door, stood in the center of the room and let his eyes roam around, taking in all the people and the few camera's that had been allowed in to witness and transmit the proceedings at the Queen's request.
Looking up at the SE110 which was recording this trial, Aaron started, "On this 14th day of August of the year 2004 TR...the King's Bench is now in session, Aaron Stranton Prime of Clan Stranton, King of the Kingdom of Altare and leader of the sixty five worlds of the Empire...I stand in judgment."
Pointing to one of the Marine guards Aaron nodded his head and waited as the hospital administrator was dragged before him and pushed to his knees, glaring down at the man, "The Accusation?"
The Marine behind the prisoner looked at Aaron, body stiff as he went to attention, "Your Majesty, I accuse the prisoner of knowingly committing torture of minors, of knowingly and maliciously burning alive those his religion tells him are different from him. I accuse him of covering up of multiple murders, and finally the attempted murder of the two youths we rescued on August 12th of the year 2004 TR, upon revue of neural image procured by order of Xon of Clan Stranton during intervention, I further accuse the prisoner of ordering the incinerations of the two rescued youths while still alive."
Aaron noticed several winces amongst the audience, including one who was in the uniform of a state trooper, reaching forward with his arm, yet not touching the man he started to scan the man's mind, ignoring the cries of pain as the prisoner fell to the floor. Dropping his hand, Aaron looked up at the ceiling for a moment before glaring back down at the man on the ground, "Alfred Tarrant, I find you guilty of all counts against you, your mind itself confirmed that your crimes go much farther than the ones listed today, as such, I sentence you to death...sentence to be carried out immediately."
Friedrich stepped forward and pulled the trigger, the crowd, hearing the electrical discharge, winced, and recoiling at the violence they had just witnessed.
Once the man had been dragged out of the room, four youths were brought in and pushed to their knees, Aaron, seeing how young they were looked at the guards in confusion, "the Accusation?"
Before anyone could tell him the crimes they were accused of, one of the men in suits in the back row stood up, "Excuse me, but my clients cannot be tried in your court for crimes committed in the United States, if they are to be tried they have to be tried in their country of origin, as such, this is an illegal court, so stipulated under international law."
Aaron stared at the man for several moments, "The Kingdom of Altare does not recognize any laws but our own, and, as such, we are not a signatory to any international treaties or agree with them. While we may from time to time agree with the principal being discussed, we will never agree to anything because some international organization we do not recognize states it is so."
Expecting some trouble, Aaron held out his hand and accepted the copy of the Alteran Treaty of 1941 with the signature of the president, "Are you familiar with the treaty of 1941 between the United States and the kingdom of Altare?"
Nervous, Kenneth shook his head no, he had a bad feeling about this, "No your Majesty, I am not."
"Mr. Lopez, I see you are in attendance today, as a representative from the United States State Department, would you like to enlighten this gentleman," Aaron held up the treaty.
"Yes sir, under the Alteran treaty of 1941, the United States recognizes the rights of representatives of the Kingdom of Altare to hold trials on United States citizens for crimes against humanity, specifically included are crimes against children or teens." Josh stood up and sighed, as he had attempted to tell the fool this earlier.
"You are correct, and as the crimes were committed against two fifteen year olds, I believe your posturing is out of order, I will repeat myself this once...the accusation?" Aaron continued, and once again was surprised as two sets of adults stood and moved to the Shaolin's side.
"Great Dragon, these four are accused separately," the Shaolin moved behind the two males, "The Shaolin have spent the last two days with these four. I accuse Paul Watkins and Vince Blanco of attempted murder, they willfully attempted to beat to death two of their fellow youths, for the perceived crime of being gay and looking at them, in their words, perving on them, this was not witnessed by them, but brought to their attention by the next set of accused. They are without remorse for their actions, and would gladly commit the crime again as their upbringing glorifies the hurting of others as an acceptable part of growing up. Even after the truth of the matter was brought to their attention, they felt no remorse, just the need to find another gay person to beat to death."
Staring at the two sets of parents, Aaron wondered if they would dare speak up, finally the one woman stepped forward, "May I say something?"
Tilting his head as he looked at the woman, Aaron finally, after a moment of uncomfortable silence for her, nodded his head, "Yes, you may speak."
"Thank you. I'm Justin's mother, one of the boys who was almost killed by these two boys," she had tears in her eyes, "understandably, I'm upset, but I am not sure Justin would want any of them executed, or he would not have, before this happened, is there any other punishment except death, they are only fifteen after all."
So she would speak for leniency, even though they were not her boys, interesting, Aaron thought, "We shall see," was all he said as he glanced to the other couple and looked at them curiously.
Seeing that they were not about to say anything, Aaron stepped forward and placed his hand on the teens head, the one called Vince, and entered his mind, slowly and carefully at first not intending to cause pain, digging deeper in search of answers, the teen started to sweat in pain before whimpering and then finally screaming in pain. Finding what he was looking for, Aaron moved over to the next teen, Paul was his name and as he reached for him he threw himself backwards and had to be brought back to a kneeling position by one of the Marines.
Placing his hand on the teen's head, Aaron followed the same procedure, only Paul started to fight back and was screaming in pain a lot sooner than Vince had. Finding several years worth of victims, Aaron pushed the teen back in disgust and spat out, "Paul Watkins, I find you guilty of crimes against humanity, I find you guilty of seventeen counts of torture to the point of death of innocent children. I find you guilty of rape against children, thirty seven counts... I sentence you to death, I sentence you to death of DNA, your genetic material shall be removed from the gene pool." Kinetically stopping the teen's heart, Aaron gazed down at the slumped body on the floor, "Sentence has been carried out."
Shaking his head in disgust, Aaron faced the crowd, "Every time I have hope for your race, I meet one who would doom you all," looking at the two trembling girls, "The accusation?"
The Shaolin stared at the still living prisoners for several seconds before stating for the record, "The accused Susan Walker, Francine Flemings stand accused of willfully conspiring to murder, to commit murder for having her affections spurned for another, or she presumed for another. I accuse these two of planning revenge and murder, for attempted murder without remorse, and for the further planning on Susan Walker's part of a further murder of a suspected gay youth, so she can once again feel sexual satisfaction from witnessing the deed."
The man from the other couple stepped forward, "May I add to that list of accusations?"
Raising an eyebrow, Aaron nodded his head, "Be careful what you accuse them of, only state facts as facts, if you speculate, it must be noted or you can and will suffer the fate of those accused."
Gulping and nodding his head, he shrugged off his wife's hand, "So be it. I accuse Susan Walker of the death of our child, while I cannot prove it, I always wondered if the reason I found Chad unconscious in his bed naked with his privates wet and smelling of sex was her doing. He died shortly after arriving at the hospital where her uncle was the director, the same man you sentenced to death here today."
Glancing at the girl in question, Aaron saw the defiant look on her face, he stepped in front of her and placed his hand on her head and feeling a spike in emotions kinetically froze her in place. Glancing down, he noticed her hand frozen in mid motion towards the underside of his crotch. Not bothering to be gentle Aaron dove into her mind like a bulldozer and soon found what he was looking for. Tired of her screaming, Aaron severed her vocal cords kinetically before stepping back, and in front of the other girl, and started the examination of her mind.
Shaking his head, Aaron stepped back and thought about what he had learned and how much of it to share with the grieving family, "Susan Walker, I find you guilty of crimes against humanity, I find you guilty of all charges laid against you today," Aaron said that, while looking at the grieving father, "I sentence you to death...to be carried out immediately."
Waiting for the quiet of the electrical discharge to be finished, Aaron watched impassively as the second set of parents supported each other as they went back to their seats, "I have to wonder what your world has come to when you have children torturing and killing other children, for their enjoyment, it is so rare for a child to be born with the genetic faults that would predispose them to be violent, once, in several generations."
Pointing at Francine, "the behavior must be taught and encouraged at home, there are the rare occasions where the behavior is taught by those outside the home, you are accused of crimes that would, if you are found guilty, send you to your death. You are a follower and while you are guilty of some of the accusations, none of them led me to the conclusion that your crimes are against humanity." Aaron saw the girl, tears in her eyes, slump in relief and made her relief short lived, "Francine Flemings, I find you partially guilty of the accusations, even though you did not wish to commit the crimes, you still went along, I sentence you to death of personality. Your mind shall be reset to the age of six, and all other memories since that age shall be permanently removed, you shall then be given a new identity and placed with caring parents who will raise you properly to be a beneficial member of humanity."
Flicking his finger at the girl, Aaron watched as the Marines dragged the crying and screaming girl from the room, sighing loudly Aaron gazed at the last prisoner, "Being driven by fear is not a reason to cause others damage, but in your defense, you never really struck any blows to the two victims, why do you not feel remorse?"
Vincent looked up with tears in his eyes, "I can't take back what happened and I don't deserve mercy or to live for what I did."
The Shaolin moved over behind the teen as Aaron started to speak and hearing the words his hands were like a snake striking and he was holding the teen's head as he linked their minds before Aaron could say anything.
Tilting his head, Aaron smiled inside as the Shaolin deftly slipped his mind inside the teen's and examined it in detail, letting his mind hover near, just in case, he smiled in truth as the Shaolin looked at him, "Great Dragon, I ask that this boy be handed over into our care, what I took as no remorse is in fact a desire to see his life end, I must humbly beg of you to rescind my accusations to this troubled child, he is not guilty of what I accused him of, amends must be made and I shall personally see to his healing and upbringing from this point on. I offer myself as his parole."
"So be it, Vincent Blanco, I herby sever all ties to your birth parents and the United States, I herby remand you into the custody of Clan Shaolin, until such time as you turn twenty one years old or the Clan releases you as fully healed," Aaron smiled as the Shaolin escorted the teen away and faced the camera, "some may condemn us this day for what was done," Aaron looked at the lawyer, "But today was about justice, not vengeance, if it was not justice, all four would now be dead instead of the two monsters currently awaiting return of their bodies. One became a victimizer so they would fit in and will require relearning and teaching, and one was so horrified by what he was part of, he would rather die than live any longer with the knowledge of what was done to others, and what part he played in the attack, out of fear."
"Before I let Clan Shaolin stand in my place, stand in judgment of those who attacked and injured me, I must ask if there is any new business that needs to be brought to the attention of the court," Aaron looked at the Prime Minister and kept the smile off his face as he saw on the of the Marines nudge him.
Standing up and being more nervous than he ever remembered in his life, Prime Minister Benjamin Dupuis made his way to where several people lost their life a short time ago, clearing his throat, he stood tall, "I have new business, your Majesty, I am the Israeli Prime Minister and I ask..." trying to remember what the Marine had told him he continued, "I ask for this court to grant my country relief. I ask that you erect an interdiction barrier around Israel to protect us from further attacks against our children by the Hamas led Palestinian government. The same government that has vowed to see every Israeli dead starting with the children, I..." too choked up to continue, Benjamin instead pleaded with his eyes.
Aaron looked up at the ceiling, or the SE110 that was recording these proceedings, "I heard your plea for help this morning. In fact, the reason we started over two hours late this morning was for the very reason every healer we had, including myself, worked at a frantic pace to rescue and heal as many of the children that were sent to our hospital, all those sent to us will live." Hearing the indrawn breaths from the state department people, Aaron faced the camera crews, "Is this going out live to the world, as requested?"
Gulping, the producer moved out from behind the camera, "Yes it is your Majesty, though there is no guarantee the other stations are picking it up."
"I am sure they will replay my words to the world," Aaron faced the Prime Minister once again, as he extended the mic and tapped the communicator, "Reliant, ready firing sequence."
"This is Xon Stranton of Clan Stranton of the Kingdom of Altare; I stand ready to deploy the interdiction barrier," sounded from the speakers around the room.
"I grant your sought after relief, from this point on, the country and lands of Israel are protected and sealed under an Alteran interdiction barrier. There will be two entry points left in the barrier to allow travel under controlled circumstances." Seeing the Prime Minister smile, Aaron held up his hand, "Be warned, the distance of one kilometer on either side of the barrier is a weapons free zone and will be enforced by our technology, those that breach the barrier shall suffer death...Reliant, deploy interdiction barrier...Fire."
"Acknowledged, Prime, deploying barrier now," Xon calmly announced over the speakers as his finger touched the blinking section of the touch screen and the Reliant started to fire missile after missile towards the ground.
Pointing his hand at the plasma to one side, Aaron turned it on kinetically and let them watch the split screen as missile after missile fired from the Reliant, burning their way through the atmosphere before impacting the ground. Burying themselves halfway into the ground before the housing fell away, energy flickering to life between each pylon as the barrier started to form. Twenty minutes later, the last missile streaked earthward and soon after it hit ground, the energy barrier flicked to full life, encasing a nation behind an impenetrable wall of energy.
"It is done, any attacks against the interdiction barrier will bring swift and harsh punishment," pulling out a chip from his pocket, Aaron handed it over, "The only safe passages into Israel are listed on this chip, they can easily be changed if unscrupulous nations would take advantage of the safe zone." Staring at the camera with an 'I dare you to defy me' look, Aaron waited until the Prime Minister thanked him before adding, "The children we evacuated this morning are to be considered stable, although the re-growth of limbs will be a slow process. The parents may make their way to the international airport in two day's time to be taken to the hospital where their children are being treated."
"Any other business that needs to go before the court?" Aaron asked, as he let his eyes travel around the room. "It is time," he pathed to the Shaolin elders and stood watching those assembled as the four Shaolin walked in, dressed in their traditional combat attire.
Splitting into two groups, the Shaolin elders walked around Aaron before stopping in front of him in one line once more, "I am Shen of Clan Shaolin, I stand ready to stand in your stead. I stand in judgment for those who transgressed on Clan Stranton and your honorable personage," he bowed as the elder to his right bowed.
"I am Li of Clan Shaolin I stand ready to stand in your stead, I shall stand in judgment of those who attacked Clan Stranton," bowing once more the third Shaolin bowed.
"I am Tao of Clan Shaolin I stand as arbiter, I stand ready to serve," he bowed as the fourth Shaolin stepped aside.
"I stand for Clan Shaolin, I bring the accusation to the light of day so that the truth may be found," Kwan bowed from his place apart from the other three.
"The crown recognizes the service clan Shaolin offers, and steps aside as the wounded party, may justice be done this day," Aaron bowed his head slightly as he stepped three steps back before turning and leaving the room, he did not need to be here for this to proceed, and he did not need the reminder of his foolishness.
Leaving the brig through the security office, Aaron crossed the courtyard towards the old naval hospital turned hostel, entering the building, Aaron made his way to the pub and peaked inside and saw that it had turned out rather well, waving at the women behind the bar polishing glasses who curtsied as he entered, he walked the half dozen steps further down the hall and looked in the dining room, bowing his head in acknowledgment to the maître D' after being bowed to, Aaron walked further into the restaurant to get a good look, smiling at how nice it looked inside, now that it was done; Aaron glanced towards the person approaching with a glass in his hand.
"Fruit juice, your Majesty; it looks like you've had hard morning so far," Hans smiled as Aaron took the drink and cautiously sipped it. "Please, if you would, I have several items that I would like you to test your palette on, I don't imagine you will have eaten lunch otherwise."
Chuckling softly, Aaron looked at the chef, "And which of my Clan dropped by to ask you to sidetrack me into eating lunch for a change?"
Smiling, Hans waved Aaron towards the kitchen where he had set up a small table, "Truth be told, all of them, including one or two of our own Royals, it seems."
Entering the kitchen, the staff looked up and quickly stopped what they were doing so they could bow or curtsy as Aaron was led to the small table to one side. Sighing quietly, as he realized that the British did love their pomp and ceremony, plus he was still in official garb including his crown he accepted the welcoming with grace and a gentle return bow of his head.
"Now your majesty, I want your honest and brutal opinion on these dishes," Hans told him, as he poured what looked like wine into a glass and leaned over and whispered, "All of these are fruit juice blends, I know better than to serve alcohol to you, sir, it was rather fun trying to create blends to compliment the dishes."
Taking a sip and laughing, Aaron rolled it around in his mouth before nodding his head, "Very good, and I will give you my honest opinion since you asked for it."
Nervous after seeing the challenging grin on his Majesty's face, Hans went over to the prep counter and brought the first dish over and placed it on front of Aaron.
Hmm, a beef dish, Aaron thought, as he pulled the pad of paper and pen over so he could make notes, looking the plating over, he waved his hand over the food to see if there was any aroma. Picking up the fork and knife, Aaron cut the beef and looked at it before placing it in his mouth and tasting it before chewing. Cutting another piece, this time with the grain, he tried it once more and noticed it did not change much, so it was a prime cut of beef, sampling the sides served with it, he had finished half of it before speaking, "the beef itself is very nicely done, aged with care, as you saw with cutting it the wrong way it still is tender and I don't think anyone would notice a difference, a touch more pepper in the sauce to even out the port. If I were doing this dish as part of a state dinner, I would add twenty five percent more pepper, and depending on how fresh they are, two or three drops of litchi juice per serving in the sauce. Depending on the number of courses, you can lose up to two ounces on the size of the beef, or decrease the courses and keep it as is."
Smiling, Aaron waved his hand at Hans before laughing, "Next..."
Getting nudged from behind by Marge, Hans nodded quickly, took the next dish and placed it in front of Aaron.
A pork dish, Aaron thought, as he went through the same routine as the first dish, seeing the confused look on Hans' face he pointed at the empty chair, "Have a seat, Hans let one of your capable people serve the dishes and come close so you can see why I'm doing things, eyes nose and then mouth." Aaron told him, as he placed the plate in front of Hans and motioned him to do what he did, "tell me what you smell compared to what your eyes tell you."
Curious and still confused, Hans copied Aaron's movements and looked at the plate and then waved his hand moving the air across the food towards his nose and wrinkled his nose in disgust, it did not smell right, pushing it to one side, he motioned for Marge to take it away without it being tasted. "What went wrong with that one, I wonder?"
Aaron finished the beef dish while waiting for the next dish to be served, "If I had to guess," Aaron looked over at the dish again, "Your walnut oil is going off on you, either that or the walnuts you used were not carefully screened. Switch to pecans next time."
Marge placed the next dish in front of Aaron, and he looked at it before smelling it, a chicken dish and it smelled spicy, tasting it, he nodded as the flavors hit his tongue. Half an hour later Hans was staring at the sheer amount of food Aaron went through and the plates lined up in a row, he had expected him to at most take several bites and move to the next dish, but the skinny as a rail king ate each and every bite of a good portion of them.
Marge who sat down, now that the tasting was over, made notes as Aaron pointed to each plate that represented a finished dish, "The beef as it is, dress it up for state dinners, definitely a go, this one we won't comment on, this one, make the chicken thicker and add a bland side to let the customer balance out the spice, forget this one, and this one too. And lastly, we get to this one, interesting concept, but the only way you are going to pull this off as a five star, is to rethink your breading, try rice flour with a cream dip between and..." looking up and thinking, "blue crab salt."
"Blue Crab salt, where in the world do you get that?" Hans tried to think of what the bloody hell it was, let alone what one would use it for.
Scooting back from the table, Aaron stood ready to leave, "You make it, steam blue crabs until done, and after removing the meat, place the shells in a bowl and pour liquid nitrogen on them, leave them until it mostly boils away and then grind it into a fine salt like grit. Sprinkle it on between coats of the rice flour for the best melding of the flavors.
Pushing his chair under the table, Aaron smiled, "Thank you for a filling lunch, now if you will excuse me, I have to be in Brazil in a few minutes time." Waving at the rest of the staff as he walked out, Aaron once again left Hans in a frustrated and confused stupor.
Tim glanced up at the tall building, the FBI building was a tall imposing structure taking a deep breath, he straightened out his shirt, making sure his Clan medallion was prominent on the midnight black silk shirt, as if anyone could miss the Clan crest he thought before motioning several of the Marines he had brought along with him for guards to enter. Entering the building, Tim looked both ways around the lobby as he saw it was not made to be friendly, stark and imposing from the get go was not the way to inspire cooperation. Glancing back at Chris and Otto who had both decided they were coming along to help scan the minds of the agents wanting to stay, Tim shook his head, "Well this lobby certainly screams torture me," he told them in disgust.
Spotting several people walking their way from the elevators, they were hit by an intense wave of hate, as if one person all the Marines had their weapons up and trained on the approaching group that froze in their tracks.
"How was he missed during the scans," Tim asked, rather on the loud side, causing several of the FBI agents to back away from one certain person.
The bureau chief looked over at the special agent in disgust, "He was out of town on assignment until yesterday."
Not replying, Tim watched as the Marines moved in and took charge of the prisoner, after he had been secured and ported out, Tim glanced back up at the group that had initially started to approach them, "I am Tim Stranton of Clan Stranton of the Kingdom of Altare...how many others are there here that have avoided the mental scans because they were gone?"
Paling at the implications, Bureau Chief Rogers looked back at the elevators, "Four and one of them is a demolitions expert, I left them on the thirty fourth floor, with the rest of the transition team."
Staring at the ceiling for more than a minute Tim finally looked down and reached into the belt pouch Aaron had given him, pulling out one of the small syringes he held it up, "Painkiller, I hate to ask this of you but I need to see the thirty fourth floor to get a location to transport there, and as you know, mental contact can be painful."
Rolling up his sleeve Roger's stepped forward, presenting his bared arm he did not even wince as Tim plunged the needle into his upper arm before capping it and placing it upside down in the pouch it came from, reaching up, Tim placed his hand on the man's head, "Think very clearly of walking off the elevators onto that floor and remember as much detail as you can of the layout."
Pulling up several locations Tim fed them to Otto and Chris and let them choose the best places to port in as he had decided to port into the man's office with the three men who had accompanied the bureau chief down to meet them. "LSB's off, we're going in quietly just in case."
Grabbing the bureau chief's arm, Tim ported them to the man's office, the bureau chief blinked in surprise and then with questioning eyes, he looked at Tim, "Some of this technology you have at your disposal, how soon are you going to be handing it out to your hired security forces?"
Smirking, after picking up that he was one of the ones wanting to stay, "I have a lot of neat toys to hand out to those being hired on today," peaking out the blinds on the window at the gathered agents in the room, Pete's smirk was hidden from sight, "Are you a SCIFI fan?"
"Hell most of what you guys do is in the realm of science fiction, why, are you going to give us transporters and phazers," Rogers laughed, stopping when he saw the smirk on Tim's face when he turned around.
Moving towards the door, Tim paused before opening it, "Something like that, Aaron gave me free reign to develop weapons and such to outfit you guys with, and Pete is one of the top SCIFI geeks according to those outside the kingdom, if he can imagine it, he can build it," he placed a lot of pride in his voice at Pete's accomplishments as he opened to door, "It's clear we can go out and start now."
"Young Lord, the latecomers have been scanned and cleared," Chris smiled and Tim thought it was more of a smirk though.
"Thank you Commodore," Tim decided two could play this game, and was pleased to see Chris's expression. "As Aaron likes to say Alrighty."
Standing in the conference room with the forty odd people who were the heads of their departments, Tim smiled as he ported his surprises in, to the top of the table. "I had a talk with Otto and Friedrich, the commanding general of the Marine forces and head of Clan security; you'll have the unfortunate experience of meeting them as all of you go through two weeks of training, Tim giggled, as the men looked around nervously, "What? You thought I would just hand out the new toys without making sure everyone knows how to use them effectively...not on my watch."
Picking up the first object which happened to be the communicator Tim smiled, "Let's start with the simple things and move onto the section commander's joking wish list of phazers and transporters." Letting the laughter die down, "This is probably the most advanced cell phone you could ever think of owning, it will work anywhere in the world and has a tracking function built in, just in case you happen to activate the panic button," passing it around the table, Tim picked up the next object, a chest harness.
"I had Pete design this for you, it is more effective than your standard bullet proof vests that don't always work, these harnesses create an energy field that will stop all metallic projectiles, I think you will find them a lot more comfortable to wear than what you do now, it's effective range is half a meter. Which means if you let someone get close enough to you to put their pistol next to your skin they will not work, so try not to let the bad guys get that close, and I'll be happy?" Tim passed it down and picked up the round object. "One of our spy eyes, as you can see it is about the size of a tennis ball and when activated it hovers and can act like a chameleon blending into its surroundings, beside the video feed, it can also act as a recorder."
Passing it down, Tim picked up a box and opened the lid, "now, getting to your wish list Section Commander," opening up the case Tim pulled out the phased stunner, half again as long as the standard issue nine millimeter and twice as wide with the double barrel, one over top the other . "The difficult thing in creating these, was, of all things, the energy source, or the battery if you will, it is a lot lighter than it looks and it is DNA locked, meaning it can't be used against you. This one is quite safe to touch as it is inert right now," Tim smiled as he passed it down the table, "I would like to introduce you to the new standard issue phased stunner, non lethal, and at your present level of non Alteran technology, it has no known defense."
Hefting the gun in his hand, Jim sighted down the barrel before passing it on, "if this is an energy weapon, how many shots is the battery good for?"
"I wanted it to be good for one hundred shots, but Pete could only make it so that it had forty shots before you had to change the energy pack," Tim grinned at the man's expression, "You should be able to exchange the energy source in ten seconds, overall it is a pretty nifty bit of technology," he told them, as he turned the case around and passed it down so they could see the extra energy pack.
"There are a lot of neat little toys left that you will get during training, but before we get into current caseloads and investigations that I need to know about, I want to reveal the last of your Station Commander's wish list, we will be installing a transporter system and of course new vehicles." Tim sat down and looked out the window before continuing, "in a sense, this is a test of sorts, we of course own several security firms that employ at most, one hundred people, I think, this is the first time we are attempting to build an actual investigative and civilian law enforcement branch of our security forces, and with outsiders."
"Up until now..." Tim stared out the window as everyone looked at him, "we have relied on our military forces, our Marines or naval personnel. Having a territory is a new experience for us, and as such over the next few months, we will be feeling our way into the situation and creating protocols as we go along, as I don't think the military way is the best way to get things done in this instance." Facing everyone at the table, piercing them with an intense stare, "And all of you are going to prove it for me."
Pointing to the last few items on the table, "You should all recognize the isolinear chip and even the P.A.D.D., though these have more capabilities than the ones being marketed to the public, the last one is a scanner, and you'll get training on how to use them over the next couple of weeks. The pile of green striped chips contains all of our laws, and for the most part it is a very short list, we expect you to use common sense. You were the primary federal law enforcement agency dealing with things that crossed state lines, well you still will deal with that but your mandate will always be to protect the kids," Tim stood and walked around the table towards the door, "I'll leave you in Otto and Chris's hands for a few minutes something has come up,"
Pulling the door open, Tim walked out to see a nervous teen fearfully looking around the room, this was the person he had felt a moment before, he looked like he was ready to bolt at any moment he thought, "Hi...are you looking for someone, maybe I can help?"
"There is supposed to be some guys around here from the kingdom that is now in charge...I really need to see one of them, it's important!" Jordy rushed out as he frantically looked around, panic setting in as he did not see anyone around.
Sitting down on the edge of the closest desk so he would not add to the panic the teen was feeling, Tim smiled, "I think we can do that, why don't you tell me who you are. I'm Tim Stranton by the way." Seeing the teen suddenly stare at him he added, "Of Clan Stranton from the Kingdom of Altare."
Sobbing, Jordy rushed over, wrapped his arms around Tim and cried, sobbing as the terror was over finally, all the hurt and pain he had endured ran through his mind.
Picking up on some of the pain, Tim hugged the teen and let him cry, glancing over his shoulder to see the blinds up and the group staring at him, he hugged the teen tighter when he heard him mumble something, "Can you say that again?" Tim smiled as the teen lifted his head, "I missed it, as you told my chest."
Jordy stared at him before shaking his head, as if he did not hear what was said correctly, "My...My name is Jordy Fellows and I need help."
Tim was stunned, but smiled, "Well Jordy, we have been looking for you, Adam told us about you and we've been searching everywhere for you," Tim pulled him tight again as he pathed and spoke at the same time, pulling his mic down to simulate a conversation. "Adam...Are you free to port to my location we found Jordy, or I should say he found us..." laughing, Tim shook his head causing Jordy to look up at him like he was crazy, "No need to get dressed, you're not going to be here long, just long enough to pick up Jordy and take him to Sol Station Med Central to make sure he is alright...DUDE, you have got to get over this shyness," Tim laughed again as he pulled Jordy's face around so he could see the light show fade away into Adam Graves, his friend and film lover."
Jordy stared as the shimmer dissolved into Adam, jumping up he rushed over to his friend and blushed when he noticed Adam was naked.
Laughing and crying at the same time, Adam waved at Tim as he ported them both out, heading for Sol Station with his friend.
Staring into the empty space, Tim smiled and thought how it was nice to have a happy ending for once, several minutes later, he stood and straightened his shoulders; it was time to get back to work.
Aaron decided he was having fun, this merged technology invention of Xon's and Pete's allowed him to build anything he wanted, the added 3D modeling aspect let him see exactly what he was designing. Humming softly to himself, he stood in the middle of the poultry house while the MRB's created the cages and nesting boxes for tomorrow's arrivals, directing the next set of cages with his P.A.D.D. Aaron walked out into the field and examined the chicken tractors another set of MRB's had finished. Giving the empty tractor a push and feeling it move slightly he ported to the sea farms, still humming happily.
Checking the progress of the MRB's over here, Aaron started to sing `wish they could all be California boys' as he walked around checking out the new structures waiting to be filled.
Kevin ducked back behind the building and stared at Mark still able to hear Aaron singing, "He's really happy, I don't ever remember hearing him sing before."
"Let's sneak back to Altare Prime, before he finds us spying on him, let him have his fun," Mark listened a moment longer before smiling, "He does have a great voice I wonder why he hides it."
"Not sure, and not sure how to bring it up to ask him without letting him know we heard him, I'll meet you there," Kevin smiled before porting out.
Shaking his head in amusement as he felt his lovers leave, Aaron went back to checking out the tanks and pumps.
An hour later, Aaron was satisfied everything was ready, glancing up at the setting sun, he ported to the Clan Compound to modify it to his liking.
Editors' ramblings
RadioRanchers note: Oh well, I can't do the note thing again. That was "A Funny Once, not a funny always." From "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein. I recommend it highly. It looks as if Justice was done at least to some extent. And that is a good thing. It looks like Aaron is finally having some fun.
Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher