Teep

Chapter 53

Standing in the dark along with Mark and Tommy, Aaron saw the sparkles of the transporter, meaning the horse herd was being beamed down, finally out of the buffers where they had been held the past hour during the transporting up of the livestock, then the trip over to the farm planet. Reaching out with his mind he brushed up against Thunder, calling her to him.

Thunder seeing her rider let out a loud neigh that calmed the rest of the herd down, seeing her human she knew everything was alright, even if her nose told her something had changed, trotting over she threw her backside around so her human could scratch that certain spot she could never reach and whinnied, letting out the horse version of a moan of delight as he scratched her withers.

Chuckling Aaron watched the rest of the herd move close and sniff the watering trough and splash in the water as they settled down, "Alright Xon, time for the cattle herd to be beamed down, the horses settled in just fine once they caught our voices."

"Energizing now Aaron," Xon pathed as he started to rapidly beam down the stored cattle from the buffers, after five minutes, instead of the Confederation's hour to do the same thing, the only thing left in the buffers was the poultry; they had decided to do the aquaculture facilities first thing in the morning.

Hearing the horses whiney and neigh in response to the panicked mooing of the Angus soon had them calm enough Aaron and the others could move over to the chicken tractors to make sure the last part went as smoothly as the others. Smiling as the squawks of the chickens soon settled down into the normal night time chirps as the chickens settled back onto their nightly roosts Aaron grinned, "job well done, time to go up to the Reliant for the trip back, I will see you guys tomorrow late morning most likely as we bring over the complete aquaculture facilities, after that, well tomorrow night I expect we will be sleeping over in the new compound for the first time."

"I can't wait; actually it is going to be weird sleeping back behind the command center in a small replica of the Clan Hall, I take it that all the empty space in there is for the jungle from the Clan Hall?" Mark grinned as he pulled Tommy close, "I saw the greenhouses on the other side so I expect Tommy's collection is going there...how come?"

Placing a hand on each of their shoulders from behind as they walked towards the sleeping quarters, "Well, the simple reason is, when timeline 1.0 moved over to Altare Prime they did not have any of the flora from earth with them, so I can't guarantee that there would not be problems, so we'll take it slow introducing the two planetary species together, I built a special greenhouse off the compound for that."

Hugging them tight, Aaron kissed each one before letting them go, "You guys sleep well and I will see you in the morning, I need to head on back now before the Reliant leaves." One last hug and Aaron ported up to the replication center and smiled at Pete and Xon and their crew.

"Joe, I'm back aboard, so any time you are ready to port back to Earth go for it," Aaron informed him as he went over and sat down at the work table across from Pete and Xon.

"Well done, all of you, now before we break up for the night, I have a question that I need all of you to brainstorm and try to hopefully come up with a solution to," Aaron motioned for Xon's crew to join them, when everyone was sitting around the table Aaron looked up, "I need something made, and for the most part Xon, it is very similar to the defense system you used in Hawaii, only I need this to be on a bigger scale."

Facing them, Aaron smiled, "I've been thinking, that little operation not only gave us dense matter to utilize for our own needs during replication, it safely and non lethally took out the enemy, what I would like all of you to come up with is a way to do this on a country wide scale." Thinking for a moment what he wanted them to accomplish, "I want this to do the same thing, everything inorganic would be dematerialized and removed. I know you can do it on a small scale, but I would like you to be able to remove everything in under an hour for a country say the size of Iraq, or any of the other larger Middle Eastern countries."

"So you really want to send them back to the Stone Age in one fell swoop, so to speak," Pete thought about it, "While we can do it, we'll have to talk about it to get it down to under an hour if we can." Pete looked at Xon for ideas before glancing at the rest of the team.

"When do you need this by?" Tony asked as he started to pull up schematics of the collector arrays.

"Frankly, I have no clue, as soon as possible if you think it can be done, as it stands now, if I have to, I can make very nice deep lakes out of the countries that attack us, but it would be nice to have a non lethal means to punish them among my options," Aaron shrugged, "if it can't be done, at least I tried, and with a clean conscience I can make a lake out of their country if it comes down to it."

"The difference between justice and vengeance, a worthy project," Xon started to formulate ideas, "I shall give you an update on our...brainstorming, I think you call it, tomorrow at supper. It is late as it is and I think we would be better if we met tomorrow before beaming up the aquaculture facilities, and had our first session after they have been relocated to the Farm, that should give us time to think on the problem."

"Agreed," Aaron smiled as he felt the power build and then release, "Well, it seems we're back in Earth orbit, time to go back down to the city for a good night's rest," smiling at his two lovers, Aaron stood and ported out and into the Clan Hall.

The next morning waking up at the usual time, not being able to sleep in, Aaron frowned as he woke up alone in bed, this was the first time in months where he woke up and no one was around, going through his normal shower routine, Aaron walked out of his bedroom to see the overturned ant hill activity as his lovers were busy packing everything in sight. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw several large crates appear in the middle of the room, feeling warm hands caressing his chest, he looked back towards the common room and smiled as his lips were captured by Kevin.

"Morning Love, I was wondering if you were going to sleep all day," Kevin giggled as the others stopped what they were doing and gathered around for their morning hug and kiss, especially the kiss.

Laughing, Aaron shook his head as he gazed at all his Lovers, "I suppose while I slept, the rest of you spent the night packing up your rooms and the rest of the Hall?"

"Not the whole night, we went to bed after packing up our rooms, that didn't take too long, and we got up an hour ago," Tim pulled Aaron towards his bedroom, "Let's get you all packed up so we are ready to go."

Glancing up at Richard and Andrew who were happily packing, with Edward's help, he allowed himself to be pulled into his bedroom, hearing a noise coming from his closet, he peaked in and grinned as he saw Kenny and Doug busy moving all his clothes to the boxes. Chuckling, he walked over to the library and stepped inside, "Alright guys, let's do this the easy way, everyone to my side and out of the way."

Waiting until Kevin and Tim had moved back Aaron ported boxes around the room and then grinning he ported the books from the shelves into the boxes.

Kevin, blinking in shock and feeling silly, looked at Tim and then grinned as they followed Aaron's example and started to port the books from the shelves into boxes. Sooner than they realized was possible, the library was empty and Aaron, still chuckling, walked over to the hidden room and opened the door and started to pack the contents of the Clan Armor, after floating the contents out of the room in their sealed crates, he closed the door and kinetically sealed the room.

Turning to leave the library, Aaron felt someone bump into his chest and ruffled Kenny's hair up, "Hey there hot stuff, we're done in here, why don't we go upstairs and pack the kitchen after grabbing something to eat." Nudging Kenny to go ahead of him, Aaron took a quick peek in the other bedrooms downstairs and found everyone had packed and the beds were stripped, waving at the others looking down at him worriedly as he stood there looking around, he said goodbye to his home for the past year, before shaking off the melancholy feelings and starting up the stairs.

Listening to the others' excited chatter Aaron stopped long enough in his office to log onto the system and initiate the data transfer to Altare Prime; everything on their personal terminals would be waiting for them at their new home. Glancing through his email's as the system started the transfer, he noticed one from Roger in California asking for him to contact him. Logging out as the system started to go dark Aaron figured he would call from the dining hall.

Entering the kitchen he spotted Xon, "Good morning Love, I think for the most part, the main house is all packed up and ready to be ported to the Reliant or you can use your transporters if you want. After I port the gene bank and Pat along with the two incubators I will be pretty much tapped out for the day."

Opening the freezer, Aaron pulled out three of the red boxes of donuts and placed them on the counter to the wide eyed stares of his Lovers, opening the lid of the top box Aaron grabbed the donut and started to munch, seeing the wide eyed stares he grinned, "WHAT? I think before the day is out, all of you will be digging into the donuts too."

"What do you have planned for the day that you would need eighteen of those things?" Kevin looked at Aaron as he picked up and started to eat his second one.

"Well, besides the portation of the gene banks, the children and Pat, I have a meeting in Elswick this morning with some reporters," Aaron shuddered at the mention of the reporters, "After that, I need to take Andrew and Edward back and sit down and have a long talk with their grandmother, on the way back, I need to stop by Altair Minor then Sol Station to make sure everything is being handled, then I hope to sit down to supper with all of you in our new home." Thinking about it as he ate the fourth donut he had picked up, "That is, if nothing goes wrong to throw me off schedule."

Finishing the fourth donut rather fast, Aaron looked down at the box wistfully before closing the lid, glancing around the group who were munching on whatever they found for breakfast, "David, if you and Derrick would gather the hunters and make your way to the Clan Compound so that when I arrive with Pat, he is not all alone," seeing him nod his head, Aaron smiled, "thank you Love. Xon, if you and Brian would handle transporting the Aquaculture facilities while I'm gone this morning, I'll catch up with you in a couple of hours," seeing that the ones he gave their morning chores to were leaving, he let his eyes travel around to see who was left, "Kevin, if you would make sure all our belongings are removed and Tim, if you would make sure the Security section is packed up and ready to move." Leaving the Lee brothers and the royals, Aaron smiled, "Ichiro, I want you to make sure all the food is packed and out of all the kitchens, leave the red energy containers in the freezer if there are any in there, everything else needs to be moved so it does not spoil, get your brother to help you please."

Motioning for the royals to gather round, Aaron hugged them, "Richard, you are in charge of your cousins today, I left all three of you free so this morning you could pitch in where needed, once I'm back and the Reliant is ready to return to Centauri, we will go to Elswick and deal with the reporters before going to the palace, one of the things I want you to do is start to move things over to your rooms that you want, so they are yours, Andrew, you need to start moving all your belongings anyway, so start thinking about what you need to do, Edward, I've had a couple of thoughts about your situation and I need to do some more checking to see if it will work out. Plan to see me Tuesday, the two of us will sit down and talk things out, but I think you will be happy with what we discuss."

Grabbing the top box from the stack, "Ichiro, if you would leave these two boxes right here where I can find them, I will see you all in half an hour or so." Aaron kissed all three before walking towards the med bay. Entering the med bay, he went over to the bio-tube and pulling some power from the gestalt, searched for Pat's mind and found it still in a deep sleep, checking the monitor, he saw the drugs had been flushed out of his system, so maybe, or at least he told himself, he would stay in a deep sleep until time to be released.

Entering a long command into the terminal, a long thin chip popped up out of the console and hissing could be heard as the bio-tube started to be released from its clamps, the hissing from the system disengaging from the support systems for transport. Since there was no lift or crawler around Aaron kinetically lifted the bio-tube and made his way to the gestalt point, making sure he kept contact with the bio-tube at all times. Once there, he hit a hidden switch and started to pull power as the generator hit one hundred and ten percent output, if anyone had been looking his way, they would have seen he and the bio-tube had become engulfed in a small electrical storm as his mind searched for the Clan Compound med bay one hundred and thirty seven light years away and once he found it, looking like a Tesla generator he ported them across the distance to arrive two blinks later on Altare prime and the Clan Med Bay.

Wobbling a bit, as he was just a tad disoriented, Aaron shook off the effects and moved the bio-tube into the med bay, looking for an empty slot, finding one, he moved the bio-tube into the proper place and smiled in satisfaction as the automatics kicked in and started to make the connections to the bio-tube, slotting the slender chip home the monitor screen blinked to life and off to one side, a status check started to scroll through, as the systems connected and did a self test. Watching carefully every line passed the self test until the system was fully online, grinning Aaron heard voices and turned around as they got closer.

"How they hell did you beat us here, we left before you did," David exclaimed, as Kenny rushed past his side in a rush to get over to Pat's bio-tube.

Grinning like a madman, Aaron opened the donut box and grabbed one of the two remaining donuts, "Well, I came here direct, the upside of being a prime."

Aaron was chuckling as David figured it out first and looked at him in surprise, "One port all the way from Earth, how?"

Finishing the second donut, Aaron grinned, "One of the treats of being a Prime TEEP, I can go anywhere my mind can reach, if I have enough power at my disposal," placing his hand on the bio-tube and double checking, it seemed Pat was still asleep. Pulling Kenny into a hug, he leaned over and whispered, "No more nightmares from Pat, as he sleeps?"

Kenny nodded slowly as he glanced up at the monitor and saw that the monitor was showing Pat was breathing and his heart was beating, "No more nightmares, if I try really hard, I get back the feeling that he is deep asleep."

"Good, if that changes, let me know right away, so I can check up on him, "Aaron hugged him before letting him go, "Alright, I need to get back, so I can bring the children next." Waving, Aaron ported to Centauri Station and then over to Sol Station, startling the ready gestalt crews on both stations as he popped in and out, before porting down to the med bay.

Walking into the incubatory, Aaron smiled as Edward pulled him into a hug and offered him one of his donuts, smiling as he took one, he started to munch on it as he looked at Edward and skimmed his thoughts. Finding nothing but contentment, he was pleased, "Well one down and two to go, I'm going to take the children first, then the gene bank, how goes the rest of the crew?"

Watching Aaron tap commands into the terminal, Edward looked up at his brother's son, a small mass of cells that did not look like much, "It's amazing at seeing Andrew's and Tyler's son up there, does not look like much now, but soon in another couple of weeks, it will look like a baby." Realizing what he had been asked, Edward looked over his shoulder and grinned, "They are about done for the most part, even the Clan Hall, Xon beamed out the jungle and it looks pretty bare in there right now."

Activating the sequence to move the incubators, Aaron waited until the hissing stopped and the screens went dark before collecting the incubators with Kinetics and walking out with one on each side of him, "One day soon, Edward, you will be standing in front of your own son and watching in amazement as he develops and grows into a handsome young man, I don't doubt that for a minute." Reaching the gestalt point, Aaron leaned forward and kissed Edward as he backed away, grinning in happiness, backing into the gestalt point so he could use his back to make contact Aaron pulled power until he started to glow once again, then closing his eyes, he ported to the med bay and was met by a worried looking Kevin, who rushed over to check on the incubators before smiling in relief.

"let's go Daddy, they are both fine and made the trip without a problem," Aaron laughed, as he walked down the corridor and around the bend into the incubatory, and kinetically slotted the two units into the empty slots and grinned as Kevin hovered over both of them until the screens lit up and he could tell which was their son. Placing his arms around Kevin he whispered in his ear, "Worry wart, I would not have done anything to endanger our son, Love, relax, he's safe," releasing Kevin, who turned and kissed him with a sheepish expression on his face, he returned it with passion.

"I know it was illogical as Xon likes to say, but it worried me until I could see with my own eyes that everything was fine," Kevin had picked up the donut box from the top of the incubator where Edward had placed it and fed Aaron a donut with a giggle, as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Okay, you win, I'll not say another thing about your worry," leaning forward so their foreheads were touching, he looked deep in Kevin's eyes, "I would have been worried too if they did not make the trip with me, that's why I did not rely on the transporters or the Reliant even though there would have been plenty of time to move them without worry."

Finishing the donut and taking another, Aaron grinned before he grabbed the container and waved before porting out. Arriving at one of the unused stations so he did not startle the on duty crew again, Aaron made his way back to Sol Station and then to the Clan Hall, appearing to see a worried Tyler and Andrew glaring at him, he smiled as he grabbed the last donut from the box, "Relax, you two, our sons are perfectly fine and there were no problems." Seeing their relief, Aaron took a moment to hug them tight until they settled down, spotting Richard hanging onto Edward and grinning at them, he smiled back, "Next time I'm back, we can go over to Elswick, so be dressed if you would, so we can take off as soon as I arrive."

The moving of the gene bank was just as easy and without problems, and ten minutes later Aaron arrived back at the dining hall, and placing his clothes down on the table he looked out sorrowfully at his carefully tended gardens that were no longer there. Feeling a hand touch his arm, he smiled, even though it was a poor attempt and saw Edward holding an energy drink and the last box of donuts for him, "Thanks Edward, in a way it is very hard to see all the years of hard work gone in the blink of an eye, even though I know it is already planted and ready for me to look at again over at the farm planet, it is still hard."

Sipping the drink as he moved back to the table, Aaron set it down as he started to get dressed; fastening his belt in place Aaron picked up the outer robes and secured them as he saw Edward and Andrew looking at his crown with a funny expression on their faces.

Edward seeing Aaron was watching them, grinned before pointing to the large red diamond in the center of his battle crown, "I thought our crown was the only one that had red diamonds in it, well the one that came down from grandfather's side of the family that is," handing it over, Edward watched Aaron as he was deep in thought as he took the crown and placed it on his head, he could have sworn the diamonds around the crown, the red ones shimmered and got brighter. "The one we have in the family collection has seven red diamonds around the edge, well, six as the one in the center is about the size of the small ones around yours, I don't think anyone has worn it for several generations, at least."

Putting that tidbit of information on the back burner to mull it over, Aaron smiled as he gazed at the four of them fully dressed, "I have one last thing I need to do before we can leave, I have a call to make before I forget about it." Walking over to the plasma, Aaron entered the long number into the terminal and waited for someone to pick up on the other end, glancing at the clock, he noticed it was only a little before nine in the morning.

Roger rolled over and picked up the phone and glanced at the clock, who in the hell would be calling him on this number on a Sunday morning, foggy brain clearing as he nudged Stephan, his lover and partner he picked up the phone, "Roger here...speak or be cursed to the nine levels of hell for interrupting my sex play." Grinning at Stephan, Roger almost dropped the phone when he heard a voice he never expected on the other end; he had thought it was his brother calling.

"Well Alrighty...but I'm just returning your email asking me to call you, I suppose I can call back later, as I know how you outsiders have no stamina when it comes to sex, I mean really being exhausted and falling asleep after a measly five times," Aaron grinned as he looked at Andrew and Edward, who blushed.

Spluttering in shock and almost dropping the phone, Roger sat up so fast he almost fell off the bed, "Your Majesty...I'm...Sorry sir I thought you were my brother." Stephan, who had started to laugh at Roger's antics, paled and pulled his lover closer so he was no longer in danger of falling off the bed.

Mind going off in different directions, Roger finally remembered he had emailed Aaron last night before going to bed, after talking with Bill, "Sorry sir, I am a little behind this morning, up too late," he instantly blushed at hearing laughter on the other end of the phone before dropping his head, shaking is sadly, "I'm not going to live this down, am I? oh well I originally emailed you to tell you Governor Tides needs to talk to you, I'm not sure If you've been keeping up with the election results from Friday or not, but the people voted overwhelmingly to become a territory. The senate and government branch spent yesterday going over Alteran law and signing them into law, he wants to get with you to go over the particulars."

Aaron sat back on top of the table heavily, he never imagined the vote would go in that direction, speechless, he looked over at the guys watching him with surprised looks, "Well, I never thought it..." clearing his throat, Aaron finally told him, "Pass a message along would you, I'll meet with the governor on Monday morning, around eleven, do me a favor and plan to have someone from your office meet us at ten thirty at the airport would you, I'll let you get back to your fun and hope things haven't gone south on you."

Hanging up, Aaron looked over at Edward, "Son of a bitch, I never imagined the vote would go my way and they would want to become a territory."

Edward looked at Aaron like he was stupid, "You really have no idea, do you? I think every country would jump at the chance to ally themselves with you, and there are going to be so many that are jealous of the fact that several states became territories and instantly went from nothing to everything they could think of being laid out for their use."

Aaron looked at Edward and filed it away as he motioned for them to follow him, stopping at the gestalt point he smiled as Tyler and Andrew paired up, while Richard was hugging Edward, "Right, the Asclepius should still be at the dock and we can arrive at the triage deck and we can walk over from there." Grinning as Tyler ported away with Andrew, Aaron brushed his mind against Richard's to give him the boost of confidence needed to port someone with him for the first time, letting his mind ride along, Aaron ported out when he felt Richard arrive. Pulling Richard close he whispered, "Good job, I knew you could do it."

Richard, feeling proud of his accomplishments, practically strutted out of the dead hulk that was the Asclepius as Aaron followed, silently chuckling. Glancing around, Aaron spotted Friedrich catching sight of them and heading their way, he wondered where he had gotten off to this morning, now he knew as he spotted several other of the security contingent move out from the buildings, by the time they made it to the main entrance of the hospital, they had a full ten man detail surrounding them, "Friedrich, ten guards don't you think that is just a little bit overboard..."

"NO," Edward spat out as he looked over his shoulder at Aaron, "it is not overboard at all, so deal with it."

Shocked, Aaron stared at Edward, taking in the chuckling his guards were doing he shook his head, and his Lovers thought he was overprotective. "Yes well, none of us have been shot have we," Richard had picked up on Aaron's thoughts and agreed with his cousin.

Laughing softly Friedrich smirked when Aaron glanced his way, "Sorry your Majesty, this is one battle you won't win, I have a feeling if you order us away Edward and Andrew would just have Thomas send his people around, so you will be guarded no matter what."

Seeing the steeled determination in Friedrich's eyes, he thought if he ordered them away they would just follow anyway from the shadows, sighing, he nodded once as he entered the hospital proper and looked around.

Commander Billings, one of William Alexander's Coremen looked up from the reception desk and saw the royal party walk in, growing up in England, he of course knew all the royals by sight, seeing the other person with them though, and staring for a moment at the crown on his head, he realized this must be the mysterious King of Altare everyone was talking about, before spotting the freakily scary security guards that looked like they could take on the Ghurkhas without blinking. Standing up, he moved around the side of the desk and bowed, "Your Majesty...Highnesses, do you need me to call the duty officer or the chief resident?"

"No, this is a walk through, to make sure everything is being taken care of, I'm sure I'll pass a few of my residents in the hall and treatment area, if you tell them I'm here they'll get all nervous thinking I'm going to put them through morning rounds early," Aaron laughed at the commander's expression and started down the hall towards the triage area, behind his back, one of his guards informed the commander that he was the chief of staff of all the hospitals, being a doctor.

Walking into the triage deck, Aaron glanced around, seeing his residents freeze before continuing on as they worked, "Relax guys, I'm not here to look over your shoulder, I have the unfortunate duty to meet with reporters in half an hour, unless I'm lucky and something comes up in here making me miss it."

Trevor laughed as he looked back up at Aaron, "I know you would rather be here beside us or back home than dealing with all that bull, I don't envy you Aaron."

Moving over, Aaron stopped by Trevor who was lounging around the desk, "Hey Trevor, how goes the new hospital and the crew William provided to help out?"

Glancing out the clear wall to the ambulance entrance, Trevor smiled as the WD758 flew past, "Now that we are fully protected around here, it's a lot better, William has been great getting us set up and making sure we have everything we could hope for, including transportation back and forth to London for anyone that wants it, he has fully staffed this place with Royal Air Marines, those he knows are beyond reproach." Grinning, he leaned closer to Aaron, "I dipped in some minds, being nervous and all, but the people he brought over are very loyal to the Queen and want us to succeed." Standing back up as he looked around at the forth years who were busy treating patients, "for the most part, this is a nice relaxing difference to working the Sol Station center or even Altair Trauma."

Looking up at Aaron he smiled as he placed a hand over Aaron's and squeezed it, "All in all, I made the best choice of my life when I signed on with you guys," he whispered so no one would overhear.

"I'm glad Trevor, I need to sit down with everyone at some point, I'm going to change the rotations slightly, in another week I can really start to take advantage of the move and take a greater hand in everyone's education, I think I'm going to go to a rotation that does Sol Station followed by Elswick then Altair Trauma and then a week at Prime medical where I can work intensely with each of you before starting the rotation again." Aaron glanced up at the clock and then over to the wall as he saw several ambulances back up, one of them had the lights still flashing.

"I can't wait for that, the things I can learn, even with your brain draining question and answer sessions, I'm glad I took Carl's advice all those weeks ago, I have more confidence now." Trevor watched as several of the nurses moved over to the doors and rushed out to see what was in the back of the ambulances.

Frowning in thought, Aaron watched as the nurses triaged the patients, "I think we need to institute a notification system, like the med channel in the states, this arriving without notice and being triaged once they get here is not going to work once the services look to us as a first line trauma center."

Seeing one of the nurse's wave at him, "I'll tell William to get a hold of you tomorrow to talk about it, your right we need something better than what I'm seeing now...well, I have to go to work and I suppose you have to deal with the backstabbing crowd." Trevor rushed over to one of the bio-tubes as the patient was being placed inside heavily bleeding.

Watching for a moment, Aaron sighed and made for the door leading outside, with luck he could arrive late to the meeting, but he had a feeling he would be early.

Edward looked at his brother as he spotted Aaron give a wistful look back at the hospital and sadly realized what Aaron gave up so he could lead his people.

Not paying attention, Edward started down the wrong path and split off from the group until one of the guards gently nudged him in the right direction, looking around, he realized Aaron was heading for the hostel, catching up, he looked around, "I thought you would be having the meeting at the press room."

"Derrick dismantled it, the press were never there and he planted grass and installed a football pitch over there instead," Aaron smiled as he entered the embassy offices and saw Philip, in the end, they decided for safety sake to run the company from the embassy side of Elswick and use several of the warehouses on the other side of the fence as the distribution center, the upper floors now housed some of the other main offices for his business's with the warehouses being elsewhere, they just set up portation area's in each of the warehouses around the country so the staff could still live at home without relocating and still get to work. "I'm going to hold the meeting in the pub this time around, that way we can get something good to eat, have to have equal time after all, I did spend the afternoon the other day testing new dishes in the restaurant."

Stopping outside the door to the pub, Edward looked back, "Should we go in separate then, so as not to give them more fuel for their rubbish."

Sensing the fear of the press in the forefront of Edward's mind Aaron thought quickly, "If the four of you want to go into the dining room and get something to eat, I'm sure Hans would love to have you stop by and try his latest concoction out on you," feeling the relief, Aaron walked down the hall, "in fact, that sounds like a good idea, I can leave the four of you somewhere safe away from those vultures and leave several of Friedrich's men with you," Aaron glared at Friedrich who nodded.

Leaving the four in Hans and his wife Marge's capable hands Aaron waved as he retraced his steps, opened the door to the pub and went inside, stepping to one side, he let Friedrich go through into the pub proper, that way he could do his job and search the place for dangers. Getting the all clear, Aaron walked out of the shadows and shocked several of the patrons when they caught sight of him, he waved them back to their seats as he passed as they tried to rise up, waving at the barkeep who had been scowling at the group of reporters, Aaron sat down with his back to the bar and hid his distaste at the two reporters, "Shall we get started."

"I suppose, as we only have an hour," Aaron nodded noncommittally, wondering if they would break the rules laid down on this interview or not.

"Thank you, your Majesty, my first question would be if you would be willing to confirm the rumors that California voted to become your third territory on Friday?" the woman started off.

"They did vote overwhelmingly from what I understand to petition to become a territory, and I was informed this morning that all branches of the government have signed our laws as the law of the land, I will be meeting with Governor Bill Tides tomorrow morning. As soon as I have the paperwork in my hands, then yes, they will be the third successful applicant to become an Alteran territory," Aaron chose his words with care.

"Your Majesty, one of the most asked questions of my viewers when they were informed they could write in their questions, was, what is the next invention you would be releasing to the world and if it would create jobs for our countrymen?" the man asked, referring back to the list of questions he had compiled.

"Well that one is one of the trickier ones, the next scheduled release is a new type of motor for the automobile, in a sense it could drive thousands of jobs to the dole, but that is not the intention. The new motor is electrical and has a fuel cell that needs to be replaced every five or ten thousand kilometers, that means a person would get about a month's worth of heavy driving out of one fuel cell for a cost of one hundred pounds. The other thing to remember when we are talking about these new engines is that they are a no emission engine, none. Will a few people lose their jobs over this new engine, the possibility exists if the company they work for is not smart, if they do not take the classes on the proper way to install one of the new fuel cells." Aaron smiled as he looked in the camera, "That is on the local level of the gasoline refueling station, on the larger end of the picture you have the refineries and such that if the company is not willing to retool the lines to something more productive."

"And the lorry haulers, the ones that travel back and forth with the gasoline from the refineries or storage depots?" he followed up to the question by asking.

"I expect the depots will be replaced by fuel cell depots and the lorry drivers will instead of hauling around flammable liquid will be hauling around fuel cells," Aaron smiled, "I expect it to take almost a full year before the refineries have to slow down, in that time, there will be other discoveries or needs that they can switch to if they are willing, I never planned to kill all the jobs in the industry."

Glancing over at the woman reporter, he noticed she was scribbling furiously before looking up, "I understand that the workers are in the clean up phase and will be doing the last walk through tomorrow morning, so the question is, when will you be ready to open the trauma center at full capacity?"

"Wednesday at noon; this hospital will be fully functional in two and half days." Aaron smiled at her shocked look and seeing she was about to ask something further hoped he beat her to it. "As Kevin told the site foreman, if we had not wanted to invest in your country, we would have come in here and built this place in two days; instead, Edward and Andrew made a good showing and told me that they could prove your people could do things to our standards and on time." Grinning, Aaron waved his hand around the room, "Well, not only did they do it on budget; they pulled it off a full five weeks early, and top notch to boot."

"Granted we provided a lot of the materials in the construction, but your people proved they were open to new ideas and were willing to do the job, and do it right," Aaron smiled again as he looked at the man for the next question.

"I understand you are opening one of your academies in London and that Prince Edward will be attending, while his brother and cousin will be attending the academy back in your kingdom, can you give a brief overview of how the two academics differ?"

"Well, the first thing that is different is that lessons or the tutor as our students call it, are about four hours in length, each student learns at their own rate and ends up pushing themselves, Kenny, one of the youngest members of my Clan last Thursday passed all of his exams with high marks, his exams would be equivalent to your HE exam years. He plans to have his first of many masters under his belt in the next year or so according to him, and under our system, he will easily gain that degree," Aaron smiled at the shocked look on the reporter's face.

"How...how old is this lad?" the man asked when he could find his voice.

"Kenny will turn eleven in three months," Aaron grinned at the stunned reporter.

It was near the end of the interview when the question came that was more of a personal nature, digging into the relationship between the ruling family and his Clan. Seeing their time was short she asked, "What would it take to have closer ties and some of the benefits that your territories are currently garnering? It seems that we must buy everything and your territories are getting items no one else could possibly buy just handed to them, and that does not even count the training or the ability to go into space."

Chuckling, Aaron watched the two reporters out of the corner of his eye, "I'm not sure your people would stand for your royals marrying into my family. Even with our ability and technology of artificial wombs, I don't think your people would stand for it."

"And why is that, your Majesty, in the olden days it was a very acceptable form of cementing ties between kingdoms," She asked, confused over the answer.

"Simple really, how would your people react to having your king or his brother married into my kingdom, to one of my Clan when there are no females in my kingdom at all, I mean sure they could have a son the same way we do, using one of the incubators and all, but your people don't seem to be that forward thinking, not really; would they really accept their king marrying another male even if they could have children to carry on the line," Aaron snorted, "I don't think so, and that does not even take in account the two royals in question would be willing to entertain the idea, after all any royal that even entertained feelings for one of the same sex would bury it so deep no one would ever know the way you all jump on the speculation lorry if they shake a girls hand, hell, some of your newspapers the next day report that he is in love or proposed to the girl."

Shaking his head, Aaron pushed back from the table, "No, even if by marrying into my family it would open up the other colony worlds for you to freely visit, or move to, I doubt any of the royals would consider it, knowing the way they would be treated and the scorn sent their way.

"I thought that was a nasty rumor started by the disgruntled reporters, after they paid their fines, you mean you truly do not have women in your kingdom?" the man asked, as he glanced down at the questions he had steered clear off.

Until Altair Trauma opened up when the Queen and the other families came with their injured children to our kingdom," Aaron started, as he stood up, "The island that houses the hospital is the farthest one from the central section of the kingdom and the only one in our whole history that women were ever allowed on, and it has been over four hundred years since a female stepped foot on that island."

"But how?" the woman asked, stunned at the revelation.

Shrugging, Aaron smiled slightly, "over four hundred years ago, we developed the first of the artificial wombs or incubators, of course, what we use today is much improved, having children between two men is very simple, as simple as it is between a mixed sex couple." Starting to walk away, Aaron thought he could add to her confusion, "Well maybe not as simple after all, we don't get cramps or morning sickness by using an incubator."

Giving one last wave at the barkeep, Aaron walked out into the hallway, making his way into the restaurant he looked around and spotted the four, over in the corner enjoying something chocolate by the looks of it. Getting close enough to see it was chocolate, he growled out, "Hand over the chocolate and no one gets hurt." Seeing the stunned looks he got, he grinned as those closest to him started to laugh.

Hans was laughing as he came out of the kitchen with a larger portion of the desert he had fed the princes and their Alteran friend, he had secretly been watching and as soon as he saw Aaron walk in, he threw together the desert, "We can't have that, your majesty, after all blood stains are terrible to get out of the carpet, so I guess you will have to settle for your own portion."

Glancing over his shoulder, Aaron grinned and rushed over and carefully took the plate with the chocolate on it, "Well, you just saved your carpets then Hans, bless you." Looking at the dish carefully, he grinned as he leaned over, "Rather on the small side, isn't it." laughing at leaving Hans standing their stunned Aaron used his leg to pull out one of the chairs, he sat down and started to dig in to all the giggles, "What...this is chocolate we are talking about, this is nectar of the gods type stuff, we don't laugh when eating chocolate," he grinned as he winked at his guys.

Finished, Aaron stood up and smiled and winked at several of the staff, popping his head in the door to the kitchen he laughed as Hans was staring at the desert plate, "It really was well done Hans, very tasty, but did you forget already about our unique metabolisms, or the fact I normally skip lunch."

Chuckling, Hans looked up, "I did forget on both counts, I thought you were going to eat lunch at McGiven's pub today."

Laughing, Aaron started to close the door as it was time to leave, "And exactly how many meals did I sit down and eat all of, the other day during your testing."

Hans stared at the closed door for a moment before he laughed as he realized that Aaron had eaten a full seven meals at one go and left, munching a biscuit.

Smiling, Aaron led everyone into a little used area, "We can port out from here," Looking at Friedrich as he thought over several things, "Edward, this crown you mentioned earlier, the one with the red diamonds in it, where is it kept?"

Distracted from his conversation with Richard, Edward looked over his shoulder, "The Tower of London with the rest of the crown jewels," seeing Aaron was deep in thought he turned back to the conversation on what he should pack to make his room in the Clan Compound reflect that he lived there.

Aaron actually was not in thought but using his mind to search for the Tower of London to see if he could port there, he needed to check that crown out, "I'll be taking the Queen to the tower for our talk," he pathed to Friedrich before smiling, "Let's avoid the public stairs right now, port into the family living room when you're ready."

Giving the four teens a few moments to greet their grandmother alone, Aaron started to change his plans once more, after all, just because it had never been done before did not mean it never could, and in a way it might make things better. Taking a few steps to the center of the room as he thought things over, he snorted, with his luck lately, it would make things more difficult, still no clear cut decision in mind, Aaron ported to the palace living room and smiled in greeting."

Laughing at the image that greeted him, Aaron walked around the playful group, "Tyler...Richard, I'll only be here an hour, so if you want to stay longer, which is perfectly fine with me, you will need to make your way home on your own later, go make like bunny's while I talk to your father and grandparents loves," he pathed the last to Tyler and Richard who, grinning, pulled the brothers out of the room, racing down the hall for the elevator to the private basement.

"Edward seems happier, and the last few days he seems more mature...thank you," Victoria smiled at Aaron as he went around to the empty couch so he could sit down. "I see you are dressed formally and I must say you cut a smashing image on the telly," seeing the shocked expression on Aaron's face she chuckled, "I see they forgot to mention to you it was going out live."

Sitting back, deeper into the couch, she examined Aaron's face and noticed he seemed to be lost in thought, "I must say, it was brilliant the way you nudged them into thinking about a solution for Andrew that the people will accept, in a few months, I can see public outcry over having one of my grandsons marry into your Clan, bent or not."

Smiling, Aaron nodded, "I had hoped someone would give me the opportunity to plant that seed," he was still examining the group, staring at them and finally at least came to one conclusion, he needed to see that crown, "Victoria, Edward mentioned something this morning while I was dressing in this frippery," Aaron pointed at his over cloak and crown, "I'm afraid the three of you and I need to take a trip to the Tower, I need to see one of the crowns Edward mentioned."

Curious, Victoria was not able to read Aaron's expression as he had closed himself off for the most part, thinking this had to be serious, she nodded and picked up the phone to order a car around.

"We'll port over, just give the security there a heads up if you will, I might need to actually touch one of the crowns that passed into your family from Alfred's side." Aaron warned her as he stood up and motioned to Friedrich who ported out.

Curious, but doing as she was asked, Victoria made the call and held out her hand for her husband to help her up.

Once all three were standing, Aaron moved over from the window and held out an arm, "You have to be touching me to be teleported over, if you would." Aaron waited until three sets of hands touched his arm before closing his eyes and porting to the Tower, in fact, they appeared in the room that held the glass cases holding the crown jewels. Glancing around, Aaron went over to the section holding the crowns, "Edward mentioned this morning when he picked up my battle crown that you had one that had the same red diamonds in it, although on a smaller scale than mine."

"Yes it has been in my family for as long as we can remember, it was left to me, even though I renounced my claim to the throne when I married Victoria," Alfred walked over to another case and pointed at the crown Aaron was looking for.

Moving over, Aaron felt an echo as he brushed his mind against the crown, "May I?" he pointed to the crown not really wanting to confirm his suspicions as it would complicate things further.

"Of course," Alfred pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and inserted one into the lock and released the side of the case with a loud hissing.

"What is so special about the red diamonds in that crown, besides the fact that a red diamond is one of the rarest gems on the planet," James asked, as he moved over next to his mother as his father picked up the crown and handed it to Aaron.

Taking the crown that was being offered to him, Aaron glanced over his shoulder towards James and his mother, "Because red diamonds are not native to this planet, and properly tuned they act as a link for our mental powers." Keeping the crown in his shadow Aaron placed a hand on the jeweled center and the red diamonds glowed briefly as he touched the center one.

"Oh dear..." Victoria whispered as she watched the crown glow briefly in Aaron's hands.

"Agreed," Aaron answered that comment, as he handed the crown back to a very stunned Duke. Leaning up against the wall, Aaron glanced at the Duke then at James, "I have a full genetic map from Edward, I never really looked at it beyond checking for a genetic reason for his aneurism, I think I need to have both James and you, Alfred, in my medical bay for a full mapping." Launching himself off the wall Aaron started to pace, "Alfred, when was the last time a girl child was born in your family line?"

"Never as far as I know," Alfred looked at Aaron before picking up on what he was saying, "Now don't get me wrong, but I definitely like women."

"Yes I'm sure you do," Aaron stopped pacing as he pulled his P.A.D.D. out and synched it to Sol Station to see when the MRB's were scheduled to be done at Elswick, logging off and returning his P.A.D.D. to its pouch he looked up, "If possible, I would like all three of you to be at Elswick at ten on Wednesday morning, I can get the scans out for the way without anyone being the wiser and I should be able to tell you if what I am thinking might be possible is in fact probable. The cover story will be that you are there for the official opening of the trauma center at noon," seeing the concerned looks on everyone's faces, Aaron smiled, "I can assure you it is nothing bad or even life shattering, if in fact my suspicions are correct, it just means another option will open for Edward in the future, one that might make him a very happy young man."

Grinning, Aaron placed the revelations on the back burner for now, "So, how is everything else coming along, I was thinking of having a meeting up on Sol Station on Wednesday afternoon with several people, the governors of the three new territories and the emperor of Japan and the king of Denmark, and of course one of you." Chuckling as he looked at James, "Yes you are a rather fast bugger aren't you; and you were very correct in your assumption as you explained to Edward and Andrew, I will be opening up four of the empty planets waiting to be colonized to your people if the meeting goes well."

Holding out his hand, laughing at their expression on the sudden jump in conversation, "Tim came back from their trip to Japan shocked, after meeting the emperor and his slight dropping the hint that his brother's son is of marriageable age and they would be interested in talking about marriage with us." Arriving back in the living room at the palace Aaron shook his head, "An innocent comment made to the king of Denmark as he was broadcasting his thoughts of trying to marry one of his daughters to Kevin, had me making a flippant remark to let him know it was not possible has come back to bite me in the ass it seems."

"Tyler, Richard, I need to cut short my visit and do some research, are both of you going to be okay with finding your own way back via the Sol Station gestalt team or should I make arrangements to come after you?" Aaron pathed as the queen sat back down, getting a visual of Richard having fun with Edward who was bent over the table at the moment along with the answer they would be fine, Aaron chuckled again confusing everyone, "Sorry about that I was talking to Richard, they will eventually make their way home later, I would tempt them if I were you with dinner. I need to go do some serious research in the archives and must say goodbye until Wednesday." Waving, Aaron ported out after everyone had a chance to say goodbye.

"Fascinating," Xon commented, as they entered the Clan refuge and Core area, swiveling his head from side to side, he took in the expansive area, it was when he was going to ask Brian a question that he noticed he had moved to the top of the platform, walking up the steps to join him he wondered why the gestalt recliners were different.

Brain sat back and made himself comfortable on the recliner, smiling at Xon who looked like he had trouble deciding what to examine first; he snuggled back into the egg shaped back, "Since Aaron has not introduced you to the Core yet, it might not be a good idea to sit on one of the recliners...IDENTIFY."

Unlike the previous version of DNA identification in the Earth based Core, the light shot out from the sides of the half egg shaped back of the recliner and engulfed Brian in one go, when the light faded a different voice than he was used to hearing echoed through the area.

"Identity confirmed...Brian Woods Stranton...Command Level authorization acknowledged..."

"Activate Jeeves program," Brian spoke as he looked at Xon and saw him blink and step back as the hologram shimmered into existence in front of him.

"Young Master how may I be of assistance today?" Jeeves asked with a slight bow as he gazed around the room, or appeared to.

"Xon do you have Kathat's coordinates," Brian smiled as he watched Xon torn over examining the base.

"40 Eridani A, point six one Au from the primary, according to Earth based cartography," Xon told Jeeves as the hologram gazed on him dispassionately.

"Jeeves is that system one that was investigated by the others and rejected?" Brian asked watching Xon walk over to the plasma screens examining the terminal.

The hologram blinked and was now facing Brian, "What system would that be young master?" Jeeves asked looking slightly confused.

"The one Xon just told you about 40 Eridani A," Brian sounded exasperated with the system as Xon turned and walked over intrigued by the hologram's behavior.

Blinking in and out Jeeves still looked confused, "The system mentioned indeed was examined with long range sensors and skipped as being unsuitable," the hologram tilted his head sideways and gazed at Brian, "Query, identify the term Xon."

"Since I have not been introduced to the system it must not recognize that I am here," Xon theorized as he moved next to the hologram and studied it.

"I don't think that's it, when the hunters were down here it recognized them with a smile, the hologram smiled at them even, you it looked at and seemed to act confused," Brian wondered what was going on, "Corry are you active at this System Core?"

Another voice came out of the speakers, "I am active and integrated, how may the Core system help you today Brian Woods Stranton?"

Frowning Brian looked at Jeeves, "Why does the Jeeves tutor program not recognize Xon of Clan Stranton standing on this platform?" He was going to get to the bottom of this if it took getting Kevin down here to fix it.

"Null Data...anomalous life form DNA reading error, the life form DNA profile can not exist in this timeline," Corry answered which caused Xon to stand up straight and raise both eyebrows in shock.

"Corry, Xon is alive and standing right here; you should find his DNA profile in the archives from the Earth dump to this system Core, why are you identifying Xon as an anomalous life form?" Brian looked at Xon to see if he had any suggestions.

"Null data, the two data sources for DNA identification do not match to the name of the life form present in the chamber," Corry told them and Xon's head snapped around in shock.

Brian thought about it, was the core saying that Xon was not Xon, but then if...sitting up straight, "Corry Identify Altare Prime Core's version of DNA of anomalous life form?"

"DNA profile matches Shawn Escobar-Wilcott of Clan Stranton, lost in dimensional search accident on July 1st 2301 OT, system recognizes two separate names for same DNA profile in two separate timelines...NULL DATA."

Brain stared at Xon who was standing there with tears running down his face as he finally had a name to go with his fathers, a name his fathers had given him.

That was how Aaron found them several minutes later when he ported in and saw the shocked look on Brian's face and the tears streaming down Xon's, rushing over he grabbed Xon up in a tight hug and looked at Brian, "What happened?"

Brian shook his head as he fell back into the recliner, "The system would not recognize he existed so I asked Corry why and he told us there was a conflict between Xon's identity you entered and his real one, and the fact he was listed as lost in a dimensional accident."

Aaron blinked several times before pulling Xon's head into his chest, "CORE SYSTEM OVERRIDE...IDENTIFY AND CONFIRM..."

An intense beam of light flashed around Aaron, "Identity confirmed...Aaron Stranton...Prime of Clan Stranton...King of the Alteran Empire...Emperor of the Sixty Five worlds of humanity..."

Aaron glared up at the system as once again it had changed his titles for some odd reason, "MERGE and CONSOLIDATE records pertaining to DNA profile of person resulting in null data anomaly..."

"Working...Merge Complete...Data Error...Query identity error rectify..."

Aaron looked down at Xon curious, "Xon what name would you like to be known as or would you like to be both?" sensing Xon was having trouble deciding, Aaron smiled as he kissed him gently, "DNA profile is to be known by both identification strings, command authorization shall be known by version 1.0 name."

"Error rectified...Xon Stranton of Clan Stranton acknowledged as Shawn Escobar-Wilcott Stranton..."

Aaron kissed Xon passionately at finding out his birth name, "Initiate reclassification DNA profile Shawn Escobar-Wilcott Stranton..."

"Reclassification commencing...holding for tier level authorization..." the Core's voice echoed around the stage.

"Reclassification...Omega tier one...level Bravo Omega One," Aaron proudly stated as he pushed Xon towards one of the recliners and lay him down on it, "I need you to identify yourself exactly as the Core does Xon."

Once Xon was snuggled back in the recliner a similar light like the one that had scanned Brian shot out form the back edge of the recliner and scanned Xon, "Identity confirmed...Shawn Escobar-Wilcott Stranton..."

Nodded at Xon to go ahead Aaron watched as Xon attempted to gather his hard sought after emotional control and spoke, "Shawn Escobar-Wilcott Stranton," before sobbing quietly once more.

"Reclassification complete, Omega Tier One...Level Bravo Omega one granted..."

Smiling, Aaron looked at Brian and then Jeeves, "I tell you three times...DNA profile Shawn Escobar-Wilcott Stranton has the same value as Xon Stranton..."

Silence for a moment before the systems voice echoed once more, "I hear you three times Shawn Escobar-Wilcott Stranton is also known as Xon Stranton..."

Nodding happily, Aaron climbed on top of the recliner and pushed Xon over slightly so he was on his side so Aaron could get under him and pull him on top of him and hug him tight to his body. After a few minutes where Xon finally won back his control, Aaron kissed him and looked at Jeeves, "Corry search for any pictures of the Escobar-Wilcott family that has their son in them please."

"Searching...Searching...ten point nine gigabytes of files found waiting for further instructions," Corry told them.

Aaron, feeling Xon's surprise laughed, "Transfer files to terminal station belonging to Xon Stranton," Kissing Xon once more as he saw Brian grinning at them he told him softly, "They're in your terminal and you can look at them when you wish, when you're ready." Hugging Xon once more he looked at Brian, "So why were the two of you in the Core in the first place?"

Looking blankly at Aaron for a moment Brian grinned, "Oh yeah, we both had a free moment and Xon wanted to check up on the Kathat home world, to see if it had been explored or not, I kind of forgot, but the answer was yes and it was rejected as being unsuitable, we never did find out why as the other thing came up."

Thinking about it for a moment, Aaron smiled at Xon, "Why don't we table that search for a week or so at least, to give you a chance to deal with this new discovery," hugging Xon tight he released him so he could stand up if he wanted and he did.

"Why don't the two of you go up to the hot spring, I'll join you in a moment as soon as I start my own search and tie the results into my terminal, we can discuss the Crèche and how it is going and when we can expect some of the other replication suites to be installed on the different station, I need to get started on rebuilding the Asclepius as soon as possible, plus the defensive response weapon that Xon and Pete's team is working on," Aaron sighed before grinning, "I'm thinking of pizza for supper, then unpacking afterwards."

Grinning like a madman, Brian pulled Xon into a hug and kissed him before porting the two of them out of the Core pathing out, "Clan meeting and orgy at the hot springs in twenty minutes."

Laughing at some of the responses being pathed back loudly, Aaron quickly set up his search by using the terminal and tied the results into his terminal at the compound before gazing at Jeeves, I wonder what other secrets you hold deep in your Isolinear biotic's, leaving that thought for a time when he had nothing to do, Aaron ported out.

Editors' ramblings

RadioRanchers note: Hey we are finding out new stuff again. As I said to WolfWalker in a recent conversation, I have totally fallen in love with these people. When I first started reading this story, I was very interested in the way the story was going and what was happening to the characters, I wanted to know more about them, but I hadn't really totally connected with them. I think it was chapter 2 or 3 that I got hooked and hooked tightly. Once I get hooked on a story and am drawn in completely, the people can become real. They are no longer just characters, they are people. As of now, I don't think I could ever get unhooked, even if the story comes to an end, there must be sequels. That is an absolute.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

A/N