The Last Of The Baraandi Part Four free porn video

LATE MARCH AT THE HOUSE... April and Kendall were cuddled together on the couch when they heard an alarm go off from inside Lana's room. They ran to Lana's room and knocked on the door. After a suitable wait April opened the door and stepped inside. When she passed through the screens she immediately sensed that Lana was mentally connected with Lydia in the other room. April sent a telepathic pulse to her sister in order to rouse her. A few seconds later Lana opened her eyes and sat up. "What is it? What's going on?" April said, "You tell me. Your computer alarm went off. Does that mean what I think it means?" Lana got off the bed and ran to her computer while Kendall came into the room. "It means that the telescopes, both here on earth and in space, have detected an abnormality within the asteroid belt. Hopefully it's just some kind of rogue comet or some such, but we have to check to make sure." "So where is this abnormality?" Lydia came into the room while Lana started hitting some keys on her keyboard. After a few seconds she said, "Straight out along the axis of our solar system's ellipse." April closed her eyes and extended her senses out into the solar system. After a few seconds she said, "It's them. It's two Larkoss headed straight towards Earth." Kendall asked, "Do we know where, yet?" "Where on earth they plan on hitting? Not exactly, they're still too far away. If they follow standard Larkoss tactics then they'll travel in a straight line right towards their target, adjusting their flight plan only to avoid threats. Once they get in the atmosphere, then they'll start moving in order to attack the greatest concentration of life that they can get their teeth on." "Okay, so we need to plot out how the Larkoss are flying and figure out where on earth they're most likely going to hit." Lana said, "Already on it," and started working out a program on her computer. Most of what she did was through direct psychic interface, and in short order she had a working program detailing a graphic of the solar system which included current positions of the planets. Lana looked up at her sister and said, "Okay, now you just need to plot out where the Larkoss are and where they're going." April touched the computer and, using her own psychic senses, entered the information she had on the Larkoss. The computer added a line to its graphic based on the information she gave it. It then extended the line to the orbit of earth. There was no surprise when the line directly intersected earth itself. The computer focused in on earth, turning it into a large globe rotating on the screen. It then stopped rotation of the globe with it showing the North American continent and drew an X over the western coast of British Columbia, Canada. Lana said, "That's where they're going to hit if they continue to travel in a straight line. However, if we assume that they are going to change direction once they hit the atmosphere, then it's possible for them to hit any space west of Saskatchewan, north of California, and south of Juneau, Alaska." Kendall said, "That's a lot of area to cover, as well as a lot of undeveloped land for them to hit." April said, "I assume we're going with the standard plan of attack that we worked out?" "Exactly." Lydia said, "I guess that means I'm up." "You and Matt. Take the cannon and fly up to the border between British Columbia and Alberta. From there you should be able to quickly get anywhere within the Larkoss's strike range." Lydia nodded, knowing that the Larkoss always stripped the planet's surface bare before heading into the seas. She then turned and left the room, went to her own room to get dressed in a totally black suit, then left the house, moving at high speed, nearly 60 miles an hour. Lana, Kendall and April formed a link together. Lana and Kendall flowed energy to April, and then, like passengers on a tour bus, rode along as she extended her senses out to where the Larkoss were and followed them on their approach to earth. When the Larkoss did hit the atmosphere, they turned in a direct line towards the forests of Oregon. Kendall uttered a brief thought of thanks, such as their decision of where to attack could be thanked (all of the group agreed that if they only had to deal with one government, namely the U.S., at least at first, it would make things immeasurably easier). April sent a brief message to Matt to let him know where the Larkoss were heading, and then returned to watching the Larkoss. The three of them watched as the Larkoss descended into a huge forested area and then started tearing up tracts of land and stuffing it into their mouths. The first response to their presence came from the U.S. Air Force. Two jet fighters zoomed in towards the Larkoss, launched a couple of missiles at each, and then went on, assuming their weapons would do the work. The Larkoss didn't even move, and all four missiles impacted dead center, for all the good it did them. The Larkoss barely tilted their bodies to look at what had attacked them. When they spotted the planes each spat a bolt of energy at the planes. One plane dodged, but the other exploded in a fiery blast. The first plane turned to start another pass, but were interrupted when Matt and Lydia flew in on their cannon. The cannon was mounted on a large round disk about the size of an 18- wheeler's cab. The cannon's barrel consisted of the large tube they had stolen from a construction site. Half of the tube extended out from the end of the disk. Sticking out of the far end was a large glass bulb made of the special Baraandi glass. At the other end of the tube was the chairs and controls, as well as the cables that connected those controls to the interior of the cannon. Matt was flying the cannon and Lydia was riding along beside him. The Larkoss ignored them at first, and Matt took advantage of that. He parked the cannon at the top of a nearby hill, interfaced with the cannon's targeting sensors, took aim at one of the Larkoss and fired. The blast hit the Larkoss dead center, causing it to travel back almost thirty yards to ram into the side of another hill. The cannon fire continued to blast into the side of the Larkoss, causing it to shriek in pain. The creature's partner jumped up and started flying towards the cannon. The link between Kendall, April and Lana nearly went down when Lana saw Lydia leap off of the cannon and start jumping towards the incoming Larkoss. The beam from the cannon continued to destroy the first Larkoss as Lydia jumped around the second beast, distracting it, and even occasionally striking it in the side. When the first Larkoss died, Matt targeted the second one, and once Lydia was clear, turned the cannon on it. With the sensors on the cannon locked in, the cannon would continue to blast the Larkoss until it was dead, so Lydia returned to the control seat. Matt disengaged a small flight system from the rest of the cannon, consisting of one chair, a small segment of disk, and some controls, and the two of them flew away, leaving the rest of the cannon for the authorities. Back at the house in D.C. Lana forcibly disengaged the link and all but threw herself away from April and Kendall. She yelled, "What was Lydia doing? You knew that she was planning to do this, I could feel it in the link, and you didn't try to stop her?" There was a long pause before Kendall said, "Having Lydia engage the Larkoss directly was my idea." Lana was shocked. "How could you?! How could you risk her life?!" "Because I had no choice! You think I liked doing that? I hated it! But we only had enough resources to build one cannon. With two Larkoss attacking somebody had to act as a distraction. With her skills in physical amplification Lydia was the best choice." "Matt or David could've handled it." "Matt, as our security officer, was needed to fly and target the cannon. Between Lydia and David, David just doesn't have the same skills that Lydia does. It's the difference between internal and external security for the ship. Lydia may not have the wide variety of skills that either Matt or David are trained in, but that makes her mastery of the skills she does have that much greater." "But you know how special she is to me. There's no way you could've kept her from being hurt or even killed by fighting the Larkoss." "I know. Losing somebody that I care for, much less someone under my command, is my greatest fear, but I have to do it. Otherwise the whole planet may die instead." Through tear-clouded eyes Lana said, "Just get out! I don't want to see either of you anymore!" Kendall seemed about to say something more, but April put her hand on Kendall's shoulder and said, "Let's go. She needs some time alone." Kendall nodded, and the two of them left together. After they were gone Lana threw herself on the bed and buried her head in her pillow. A couple of hours later Lydia came back to the house. As soon as she walked in she saw April and Kendall and said, "I can tell that Lana is still upset. Have you heard anything out of her?" Kendall said, "Not since she threw us out of the room earlier." Lydia sighed. "I guess there's no time like the present to talk to her." She walked back to Lana's room and knocked on the door. There were no shields screening the room, so she could tell that Lana was still in there, but when she tried to open the door, she met with resistance from a telekinetic force wall. "Lana, dear, even though I could, I'm not going to force my way through your force wall, and I can wait out here all day." There was a long pause as Lydia waited. Finally she felt the wall go down and she opened the door and stepped in. She asked, "Are you ready to talk?" Lana was lying face down on her bed with her arms clutched around the pillow. Without looking back she said, "What's there to talk about? You're willing to put your duty ahead of us." Lydia walked over to the edge of the bed, sat down, and rubbed Lana's back. "Is that what you think? Lana, dear, you are my duty. What do you think would've happened if I hadn't been there to confront the Larkoss?" "David could have handled it." "Maybe. But what if you're wrong? Then the Larkoss would've destroyed the cannon, and the only way we could handle it then would be for all of us to work together to destroy it. That would mean putting you at risk, and I'm not going to let that happen. Not if I can avoid it." Lana turned her head to Lydia. "Yeah, but-" Lydia put one finger over Lana's mouth. "No, no buts. You know damn well that we don't have the resources to afford to pick and choose our strategy. We need to do our best and only our best, or the Larkoss will destroy the planet." Lydia gently stroked Lana's cheek. "And that would mean that I would lose you. And I'm not going to let that happen. I'll die first." With tears in her eyes Lana said, "I don't want to lose you. I can't afford to lose you." Lydia leaned over and kissed Lana. "I feel the same way, my love." Lana turned and threw her arms around Lydia. After a long comforting hug she asked, "Would you be with me tonight, not in a simulation, but for real? I need to be with you, to declare our love to the world." Lydia nodded. "Okay. I think it's time." She then stood up and started to remove her clothes. Lana, who was wearing only the nightgown that she had been sleeping in, slipped off the edge of the bed and took the nightgown off. Lydia had a bit more to take off, but she moved quickly, and when she was naked, she took Lana in her arms and kissed her deeply, pressing their bodies together. Lana took the opportunity to wiggle up against Lydia, rubbing their nipples together, and soon, both of them were panting with desire. After a few seconds Lydia separated them enough so that she could bend down and begin to suckle Lana's breast. Lana bent her head down and began to kiss Lydia wherever she could. She was limited mostly to the top and a little of the side of Lydia's head due to the fact that Lydia wouldn't remove her lips from Lana's breast, but Lana was as profuse with her kisses as she could be. They went on like that for a little while until Lydia gently pushed Lana backwards onto the bed. Lana lay back, and Lydia finally let go of Lana's breast and climbed up to kiss her again. Lydia said, "I want to do you. Right now." Lana nuzzled Lydia's neck and said, "I know. The strap-on is in the closet." Since neither April nor Kendall needed the strap-on anymore, Kendall decided to give it to Lana, figuring that she would eventually be able to use it, even if she and Lydia didn't feel that they needed it at that exact point in time. Lydia looked over at the closet. Using her telekinetic abilities, she opened the closet, picked up the box with the strap-on, opened it, and had the dildo fly over to her. She sat up and had the strap-on secure itself around her waist. Once it was secure, she asked, "Are you ready?" Lana brought her legs up to her chest and said, "You know I am." "What about lubrication?" "I almost forgot. I had Kendall get me a bottle of jelly shortly after my birthday when I got the dildo." "You've been wanting this for a while, haven't you?" "Oh, you know I have." "So are you going to tell me where you got this bottle, or do I have to go rummaging through your memories?" Lana exerted some of her own telekinesis and opened one of her drawers, caused the bottle to fly out of it, and moved it at high speed to right in front of Lydia. Lydia plucked the bottle out of the air and squeezed out some of the K Y jelly onto the dildo. She then leaned forward and pressed the tip of the dildo into Lana's rear. Lydia asked, "Ready to lose your virginity?" All Lana could do was nod in compliance. Lydia slowly pressed into Lana, easing the dildo in order to allow her lover to get used to it. Lydia then used her arms to hold Lana's legs, and Lana slipped her hands between her legs to take Lydia's breasts in hand. They stayed together like that, moving only a little bit, taking the time to savor all the sensations of what they were doing. After a few minutes of that, they started moving faster, increasing their rate of movement by a little bit at a time. Soon, they were moving at high speed and pounding against each other in mad passion. Finally, a short time later, Lana screamed in passion and came. Lydia allowed her to settle down, and then asked, "Are you ready for more?" "Oh, yeah! So what do you want to do next?" Lydia pulled backwards out of Lana and quickly removed the strap-on. She then set Lana's legs down, and then got up and straddled her. "I want to feel you inside me." "You've never... You don't have to do this, y'know." "I know. I know you would never expect me to do this for you, but I want to do it. Because I love you, and because I'm curious to feel what a girl's dick would feel like." Lydia lowered herself onto Lana. When she was all the way down, both reached out and took the other's breasts in hand. They then begin to move together. There was no real pumping involved, just a lot of wiggling, and that was enough for both of them. After a while, they let go of each other, and Lydia leaned over. They embraced and kissed, adding nuzzling to their wiggling. This allowed them to continue on for a long time, at least in comparison to the time it took them to reach their first orgasm, but they did reach orgasm and came together in a massive explosion of physical energy. Afterwards, they just wait together, content to be in each other's arms, enjoying their post-coital afterglow. Just before they fell asleep Lana whispered, "Thank-you." AN AIRCRAFT HANGAR JUST OUTSIDE PHOENIX... President Jack Solomon strode into the hangar and walked right up to the table where the scientist who was in charge was waiting and asked, "Okay, what can you tell me about those... things?" On the other side of the hangar were the two bodies of the Larkoss that had been destroyed just the day before. With as much haste as could be managed they had been loaded on to a military transport and shipped to Phoenix for examination. "I've only had a couple of hours to look at them, but I can tell you that they're damn near indestructible, and from what I can tell, they seem to be built for combat." "That they are nearly indestructible, you didn't have to tell me. According to the pilot who survived the encounter each one of those things took two missiles and didn't even flinch." "Yeah, well, I've got news for you. If that mobile cannon hadn't showed up, I don't think there's much we could have done. I'm not sure that anything short of a multi-megaton warhead would've done anything other than annoy them, and I'm not sure the warhead would have been all that much more effective. Right now I've got two men working with highly- powered lasers to try to cut those things up." "Is it working?" "Barely. I've had both lasers working pretty much nonstop since those things arrived. We have only managed to cut a length of about one foot through their thick hides. To give you a comparison, we cut a length of about twenty feet through the toughest alloys we've got with the same amount of time with those lasers." "Damn! Okay, can you tell me where they came from?" "I wouldn't even be able to hazard a guess, not after such a short period of time." "Can you even tell me if they're part of a military force?" "I don't think they are. These things have no markings or anything else that might lead me to believe that they're part of an armed militia, but they might very well be. Did you learn anything from the cannon?" "Sorry, doctor. That's need to know." The doctor just nodded as the President left the building. The President strode across the air base to another hangar where the cannon had been shipped. The hangar that contained the cannon, unlike the one where the Larkoss were stored, seemed almost devoid of activity. There were some people present, but they were all clustered around a computer screen staring at something. Halfway across the hangar, the President yelled, "What's going on? What are you all looking at?" The scientist in charge, who was sitting right in front of the terminal, said, "The instruction manual." The President got close and said, "It's got an instruction manual?" "Yup. It was stored in a little drawer right next to the control panel. It's got rules for how to run the thing, some prohibitions against tampering with the energy system, including some warnings about it exploding if we do, and a catalog of what's on the parts of the disk we can't read here." "What you mean by 'read here'?" "This disc is basically a DVD, at least the inner half is. The outer half is coated with a thin layer of crystals. The DVD part says that it's a new technology called Digital Crystal, and we can get a reader for it from a lab in Richmond, Virginia. So I did a little checking. It turns out that the lab does have a new type of storage medium that they're calling Digital Crystal, but so far it's not even out of the alpha test stage, so where the people who built that," the scientists said pointing to the cannon, "learned about it, I have no idea." "I guess it's one more mystery that we've got to solve. So I assume that you've got one of these Digital Crystal readers on the way?" "A reader and the scientist who invented it. We were studying the instructions in the meantime, so we can make a test run of the cannon." "So what else do you need before you can test it?" "Just something to shoot. There are some controls to turn the power down on that thing, but since we have no idea what lowest power is going to do, we're not taking any chances. I've got some armor plating being shipped in as we speak, the kind of stuff you find on battle cruisers." "So when do you expect it to show up?" "Any time now. I actually ordered it before we discovered the manual, figuring we'd be doing tests eventually." Almost as if on cue the main hangar doors opened and a large plate, almost fifteen yards on a side was rolled in, along with the heavy machinery that was needed to move it. The plate was positioned on its side in front of the cannon. As soon as it was ready the scientist in charge called out, "Okay, clear the fire zone!" The scientist returned to where the President was waiting, handed him a pair of tinted goggles, and then put a pair on himself. As the President put the goggles on he asked, "Is that armor going to be able to take it?" "That thing is approximately two feet of solid steel. If it can't take it, then I don't know that we have anything that will. Okay, Mr. President, on your command..." "Do it!" The scientist nodded to the man who was that controls to the cannon. The man pressed a button, and the cannon blasted out into the plate. The plate did hold, but for only a second, whereupon the energy bored through it and the wall behind it. The cannon was immediately turned off, but not before the damage was done. Almost everyone in the hangar got to where they could see what had been done. They looked through the hole in the steel armor, through the hole in the hangar wall, and through a hangar wall a little ways down the runway. After a few seconds of staring they saw a man poke his head up in the other hangar and say, "What the hell was that?!" The President ignored the question, instead turning to the scientist and asking, "That was its lowest power setting?" The scientist, too stunned to take his eyes off the holes, replied, "Yeah. Makes me wonder what it can do on its highest setting." "Just out of curiosity, what was it set at when you got it here?" "The very highest setting it has." "Holy... Those beasts that it shot took nearly 15 seconds at its highest setting before they were killed. If two foot thick solid steel can only take a second at its lowest setting, that makes those beasts a lot more dangerous than we thought." "So what do you want us to do now?" "You're asking me? You're the expert." "Yeah, I know, but I figured to be using that metal plate for a bunch of tests. I didn't figure on it not surviving the first test." "I guess we're going to have to wait until we can see what is on the rest of that disk." "So what are you planning on doing? From the scuttlebutt I hear there's already a roomful of newspaper reporters waiting for you." The President rolled his eyes. "That's not something I'm looking forward to dealing with. Too many people have seen those beasts tearing up parts of the landscape for us to pass it off as any kind of natural phenomenon, but right now I just don't have enough data to be able to do anything other than stand there and look stupid. I think I'm just going to have to have my Press Secretary handle the vultures, at least for the time being." For the next couple of hours the President, as well as any scientists who could get a peek, went over the instruction manual, learning as much as he could. After he finished he said, "Well, it's functional, at least. Can't say much more for it, though." The scientist in charge said, "According to the table of contents for the rest of the disk, there are instructions on how to build new ones." The President just mused, "Interesting." "You think it may be some kind of set up, some kind of trap?" "I have no idea. I am wondering, however, why whoever built this thing is being so generous. They just left it where we could easily get it, included an instruction book, and are promising to just hand over the technology necessary to build new ones. It just seems too good to be true." "Maybe it's a matter of enlightened self-interest. Those beasts seem too tough for any small group to be able to handle." "That just brings up another mystery? What are those things, how did the builders of this cannon know what and where they were, and where did the technology to build this come from?" Before the scientist could begin to discuss the matter, the human door to the hangar opened and a woman walked in, escorted by a couple of Secret Service agents. She walked right over to the President, extended her hand and said, "Hello, Mr. President. My name is Tina Jones. I'm pleased to meet you." The President took her hand, shook it, and said, "The pleasure is all mine. Quite frankly, I expected someone a little... older." "I get that a lot. I graduated high school at 16, and completed my graduate degree at 21." "As well as invented this whole new data storage system. Quite impressive. Since the subject has come up, however, do you have any idea how someone could have gotten a hold of this technology far in advance of its release to the general public?" Tina shrugged. "Well, aside from military secrets in wartime, corporate secrets are about the most fleeting thing there is." "I suppose so. You brought along your most recent Digital Crystal reader?" Tina lifted a briefcase up. "That's what I'm here for." Tina set the briefcase on the table and opened it to reveal a personal laptop computer inside. She pressed a button and the Superdrive tray extended out. "There you go. I've already incorporated the technology into this computer. Just put the disk in the tray and close it up. The computer will take care of the rest." The scientist ejected the disk from his own computer and then placed it into Tina's computer. As soon as he closed the tray the computer spun the disk and immediately launched a full screen movie. The movie told the story of the Baraandi, from their first encounter with the Darkthet to their flight to earth, along with their crash and their eventual end. The movie then described what was happening in recent times. It didn't give any names, but did explain what was going on and why. After the movie finished a silhouette in black (Kendall, although there was no way to tell just by looking at it) said, "Mr. President, I know you have no reason to trust me, but we brought this threat to the planet, so we feel responsible. But we can't do it alone. Contained on this disk is the technology you need to be able to identify the Larkoss. Turn your telescopes to the asteroid belt. You'll find that there are thousands out there. We need to get the world involved, or we're all doomed. If you need to talk further, and I'm sure you do, then you will need to return to D.C. Further methods of getting hold of me will be presented to you." The movie stopped and an icon based window came up with folders labeled with titles such as "Larkoss", "Baraandi weapons", "Telescope upgrades", and a few others. The President then said, "That's quite a story. Think any of it is true?" The scientist started going through the folder marked weapons. After a little bit of that he said, "Well, all the data we had before is contained here, as well as technical specifications and building plans, so they were honest about that." "So we could build more of these things?" The scientist clicked a few more times on the files, and then said, "Not exactly. According to this, there's a special material that needs to be used for power delivery. Now this disk does include instructions on how to make that material, but those instructions say that implementation of telekinetic fields are necessary to maintain the molecular integrity of the material." Another of the scientists snorted and said, "You mean, like, magic powers?" Suddenly the scientist who had snorted floated into the air, and Tina said, "No, like telekinesis, which works on advanced principles of physics that would probably stagger your pathetic little mind." Every Secret Service agent in the room pulled out their gun and pointed it at Tina. Tina left the man floating in midair and then took a seat on the edge of the table. She looked right at the President and said, "Yes, Mr. President, I am part Baraandi, and I can personally attest to the fact that everything on that disk is true. We need to get moving, or the Larkoss will come to this planet and destroy everything." For a few seconds no one moved. Finally the President stepped up to Tina and asked, "How do I know that I can trust what you say? How do I know that this isn't all some kind of scam?" "The only real evidence I have is all contained on that disk. Everything that you verify through independent sources will prove to be true. Ultimately, however, you'll have to trust your gut." "Okay, say I trust you, or at least that I want to give you the benefit of the doubt. What is it that you want from me?" "Only your help in saving the planet. We can only do so much. We are going to need access to much more powerful industrial complexes in order to build enough cannons to even have a chance against the Larkoss. But I'll be honest. When the Baraandi first came to this system, they had a small company of fully armed, fully armored spacecraft, and it wound up not being enough. If we don't come up with something new, then nothing may be enough to defeat the Larkoss." "Okay, so are you the leader of these, what do you call them, Baraandi? The ones that bonded with humans?" "No. I'm just the one who was in the best position in order to get close to you." "So who is your leader?" "Her name is Kendall. Right now, she's taking classes at the University in D.C." "Staying incognito?" "No. She's really taking classes. Going for a degree in business management. I know it seems weird, but really, we are human. We may have a little extra, but that doesn't keep us from worrying about our jobs, our schooling, our families, and whatever else you might worry about in your day to day affairs." "Is your leader willing to meet with me?" "Anytime you'd like. Before you arrange any meetings, however, I'd suggest you get the location of the crashed Baraandi ship off of the disk. When you find the ship it will help to verify what we're saying. The land around it hasn't been disturbed in hundreds of thousands of years, and your own technology will be able to verify that." The President nodded to one of his underlings, letting him know that he should do as Tina said. "So now what? What are you going to do?" "I'm at your disposal. If you want me to, I'll go back to my job and wait for you to contact me. Preferably, though, I'll stay by your side until you're ready. That way things can go as fast as possible." "Okay, you can stay with me. Although, to be honest, it may just be so that I can keep my eye on you." "I can live with that." The President made some quick arrangements so as to avoid the press, then quickly moved with his entourage, including Tina, to Air Force One, in this case a small Lear jet. As they got close Tina stopped them and said, "Mr. President, how many people are supposed to be on board that plane?" "There are only supposed to be a couple, the pilot and my assistant." "You've got a stowaway, then. She's in one of the back closets. I'd say she's about 16 or 17, 5 ft. 7 in, medium length brown hair. I can get you more details if you'd like." The President let out an exasperated sigh. "No, I'm pretty sure I know who it is." He turned to one of the Secret Service men and said, "Jack, would you?" Jack went into the airplane. A few seconds later he stood in the door and called back, "It's your daughter." Barely loud enough to be heard the President said, "Will that girl ever learn?" As they walked towards the plane Tina remembered what she had heard in the press about the President's daughter. Apparently the girl had a strong rebellious streak. But she was constantly trying either to sneak out without supervision, or sneak into private meetings where she wasn't supposed to be present. As time progressed she was getting better and better at it, and now she had managed to sneak aboard Air Force One and follow her father across country. The President strode purposefully towards the plane, going right up the ramp and inside. Almost immediately after he went through the door he said, "Amanda! What do you think you're doing here?" "I just wanted to see what was going on. I wasn't hurting anyone." "Maybe not, but you're lucky you haven't been shot. A lot of the places I go respond to breaks in security with lethal force. You know that. We've discussed this before." "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I won't do it again." "You've told me that before. I swear one of these days I'm gonna lock you in your room with two guards on each entrance, just to make sure I can keep an eye on you." Before Amanda could respond Tina said, "She's seen the Larkoss." The President asked, "Are you reading her mind?" "Yes and no. To us surface thoughts are like facial expressions and body language to you. Unless we really try it's kind of hard not to pick up on them. Other than that there are strict prohibitions against digging in people's minds. Without permission we'll do it only if we absolutely have to. But your daughter is so fixated on what she saw and what she heard you say that I can't help but pick it up." "Damn! I was worried that with all the rushing we were going through, that there would be breaks in security. I just never figured it would be my daughter breaking security." Amanda stared at Tina and said, "Who... What are you?" Tina replied, "A friend, although I know I'm kind of freaking you out." The President said, "Amanda, this is very important. You can't tell anybody about what you saw. There'd be a mass panic." Amanda asked, "What did I see? What were those things? That man you were talking to said that they were indestructible, said that even a nuke wouldn't take them out." Seeing how scared his daughter was the President said, "Those things were really bad monsters, but we're working on a way of stopping them." Turning to Tina he said, "I don't think we can wait. How soon can you arrange a meeting with your leader?" "I can actually arrange it before you get into D.C. As soon as we get past the Rockies, longitudinally I mean, I'll be able to telepathically contact her, and she'll meet the plane when it lands." "The Rockies? Do they interfere with your telepathy?" "No. That just happens to be the range at which I can use it." "Okay, then I'll need a full name and description, so that security at the air base will know to let her through." Tina smiled. "What is it?" "Just a little flash back. Members of our group getting through security that should have held them back is what got me involved in the first place." Amanda asked, "So you weren't like this all your life?" "Oh, hardly. Up until only a few months ago I was as normal as anybody else." The President said, "If you're willing to tell the story we're willing to listen, but first I need that name and description." Tina apologized and gave him a description of Kendall and Lydia. After the President called in the description, he had the pilot take off. On the way Tina discussed how she got involved with the Baraandi quest, as well as made some small talk. They made a refueling stop in Kentucky, and while they did Tina pulled the President aside and told him, "Your daughter? She does what she does, all the sneaking around, in order to try to impress you. All the way across country she's been having visions of being the one to save you and the country. She really does want to be like you." "Well, it's nice to know she's not just being a little child, but she keeps jumping in without looking, and that's not even factoring in the security she keeps trying to break through. Now, with this whole Larkoss thing, I'm worried she's gonna do something really stupid and get herself killed." "Then maybe you ought to take the time to talk to her, not just at her. She's no longer just a little girl. She does love you. She can understand her father being a little over protective." "Well, I'll try to find the time. Right now I'm just going to have to be content with keeping her near me." "You need to at least take the time to make sure that she knows that you are keeping her nearby so that you can protect her, not just so that you can keep your secrets. Always make time for family. Just something to think about." They then flew the rest of the way to D.C., and when they got there they left the plane to find Kendall and Lydia waiting for them. After introductions were made they all went to a private room where they could talk. After most of the extraneous personnel cleared out, it was just the President, his daughter, Kendall, Lydia and three Secret Service men. Except for Kendall and the President everyone just stayed back and listened as they talked. The President reviewed what he knew about the Larkoss and the upcoming threat to the planet, and Kendall filled in where he had questions, or where a few extra details needed to be added. After most of the conversation was finished the President asked, "So what do you need from me?" "We'll need building facilities so we can build more of the cannons. We'll also need a clean room in order to build the power circuitry, preferably one where a vacuum can be established to work in. But what we really need is hosts. We need people who will be willing to shoulder the burden of taking a Baraandi soul within them." "People who you can just take over? I'm not sure I can do that." "You misunderstand. First off bonding with someone who doesn't know what they're getting into is greatly frowned upon. Secondly bonding isn't a matter of taking over or replacing in any way. The two lines become one continuous whole, and since the Baraandi died so long ago, there's no risk of conflicting time between our lives. To me it's as though I was once Baraandi and lived through that life, and then I was born as a human and am now living that life." "Well, I suppose if I saw the results on someone I knew and trusted, I could make a better, more informed choice. Maybe if one of my cabinet members was willing." "I'm afraid your cabinet members won't work, even if they're willing. The bonding process is very taxing physically. We can only do it on someone up to the age of 25, and it's even better if they're under the age of 20." "I don't think there's anyone I know under that age that I could really trust." Amanda said, "You know me." "Oh, no! There is no way that I'm going to trust my only daughter to some strange alien procedure that may wind up changing her into God knows what." "But, Dad-!" "No buts!" Amanda seemed ready to argue the point, but Kendall said, "No, Amanda, your father is right. The bonding process will change your life in ways you never thought of; some of those will be unintended consequences that come from things you intended, but some won't." The President asked, "And what category does 'Spontaneous Hormonally Induced Growth Syndrome' fall under?" "It was an intended effect, but it came with a whole truck load of unintended consequences." "I wondered if you were going to bring that up, or if you were going to try it to keep it secret." "Actually you brought it up, but I had no intention of either hiding or just volunteering it. Even if you hadn't been broadcasting the fact that you know about it in your surface thoughts from the moment we met, I figured you had me checked out (it's what I would have done), and it's right there in my medical records." "And you didn't think that this was something you should've told me about?" "I don't see that it should matter." Amanda asked, "Now wait a minute, what is this spontaneous whatever it is?" "It's the name that my doctors gave me to explain why my body changed so radically. You see, I was born a boy. When I was a teenager I decided that I wanted to be a girl, so I turned my psychic energies to the task of changing myself, and literally overnight I grew myself breasts, hips, and long hair, as well as shaping my body so that I appeared female." "What about..." Amanda pointed at Kendall's crotch. The President, with strong overtones of disapproval said, "Amanda!" Kendall said, "No, it's a fair question. In terms of my biology, I do retain full functionality of my male reproductive organ." "And yet you go around masquerading as a female." "It's not a masquerade, Mr. President. Socially, mentally and emotionally I am closer to female than I am to male." "And is this what it's like to be a Baraandi, not to see the difference between male and female?" "On the contrary, within Baraandi Society male and female roles are highly regimented and defined. However, biologically the Baraandi are hermaphrodites, so whether or not a particular role falls under male or female depends upon its purpose rather than what biology best fits the role. "Take, for instance, the job of defending the country, both from an internal and external point of view. Internally we would be talking about police, National Guard, and similar jobs; whereas externally we're basically thinking about soldiers. Now, from a human view, both of these jobs are thought of as male jobs, because male strength and aggression is what is seen as the predominant factor in the job." Amanda asked, "How would the Baraandi see them?" "For the most part, being a soldier in Baraandi culture is seen as a male job. You go out and aggressively attack the opposition. However the policeman's job is to predominantly protect the community. Since protecting and nurturing it is seen as female the Baraandi would think of a policeman's job as a female job. Although really there is quite a bit of crossover in both cases." The President said, "You said for the most part that soldiering is seen as male. What parts of it are female?" "Command positions mostly. Just as a mother will direct a house full of kids, the commanders direct platoons full of soldiers. I suppose it is part of the reason why I chose to be a female in this life, but in Baraandi culture, male or female is a matter of social construct." "But not here on earth." "Not as much as you might think. Oh, I won't deny that biology does play a role, but a lot of what people assume are intrinsically male or female aspects of life are really just social constructs. But we're really getting off subject here." Amanda said, "Yeah, we need to get back to getting me bonded!" Both the President and Kendall just stared at Amanda for a few seconds. Eventually Kendall said, "Once she gets an idea in her head, she really sticks to it, doesn't she?" The President said, "Yeah, she really does. She's like her mother like that, and it usually works, but this time, it's not going to happen." Amanda said, "Look, Dad, it's your only real choice. They can't bond anyone over the age of 25, and you already admitted that you don't know anybody under the age of 25." "No, what I said was that *I* didn't know anybody I could trust under the age of 25. That doesn't mean that someone in my cabinet or my staff won't know anyone either." "Sure, but you're talking about somebody's daughter or son. Are you really going to ask someone to commit their child when you won't commit yours?" Kendall said, "She's good. She planning on going into law?" "I don't know, but she's not going into this." Amanda said, "Dad!" "No! And that's final!" Amanda crossed her arms and pouted. The President ignored her and left the room. Kendall went with him, and when they got a little distance away she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause any problems between you." "It's not you," he said. "It's just that when Amanda gets something into her head she pursues it with the relentlessness of a pit bull with a bone. With her mother it's a little different. She's smart enough to realize that just because she wants it, it doesn't mean she needs to get it. But Amanda? It doesn't matter what it is, if she wants it, she goes after it." "At least she wants to help. A lot of people, if they saw what we were capable of, would go after the Baraandi powers just for what they could do for them." "Yeah, I know what you're talking about. I sure as hell wouldn't trust a lot of the people I know with those kind of powers. Not that I wouldn't trust them otherwise, but it seems to me that those powers would just be way too much temptation." "Believe me, they are. Sometimes I have to fight off the urge to use the powers solely for my own benefit. That's why, after about half a year of being around a bunch of college students, we still only have eight people in our little group." "Will I get to meet all of them, or are you going to keep a few hidden, just in case?" "At least you're honest about it. Most people would tell me that I need to introduce all my team for the sake of trust, then proceed to do their best to hide everything they could from me. But as to your question, I'm willing to introduce all of my team as soon as possible." "You're not afraid I'm going to try to hide something from you?" "Not really, for two reasons. One, you're not stupid. You've seen the Larkoss, and you know we don't have the time to fool around. If we don't get moving this planet is doomed to become a barren hunk of rock." "And what's your second reason?" "Quite frankly it's because I can read you like a book. I'd know in a second if you were dealing in duplicity." "Damn, how did the Baraandi keep from manipulating and dominating everyone they met?" "Believe it or not, that was never an option for the Baraandi. Any urges along that line in me come from my human half." "You make them sound like a bunch of saints." "Actually they were. It was a side effect of their telepathic and empathic powers. Baraandi culture developed with their psychic powers. There was never a time when they didn't have them. It was impossible for a Baraandi to do anything that they didn't believe would eventually help. They could hurt someone only if it served the greater good, like giving medicine to a kid." "How so? It seems to me, the Baraandi had much greater ability to hurt others." "They had the ability; they just never used it that way. Do you know the story of the Corsican Brothers?" "Not real well. Isn't that the story of the twin brothers where you could hurt both of them just by hurting one?" "That's the story. If you punch one in the shoulder, a bruise would appear on both of their arms. Now imagine being linked like that to every person you met. Yes, with my abilities, I could basically make you dance like a puppet on a string, but if I did it, you would suffer for it, and with my empathy I would know it, and I would suffer right alongside you." "And there's no way to block that empathy?" "There are ways, but the Baraandi, culturally speaking, don't use them on a regular basis." "But your human half could use those ways with no problem?" "It may be easier as a human for me to conceive of hurting and deceiving others, but my skills with using my psychic powers come from my Baraandi part. Using those shields in that way just seems so alien to me. It would be like someone who grew up only amongst nudists suddenly being thrust into the world of the clothed. I may realize that I need clothes, i.e. psychic screens, but I've still got to take the time to think about putting them on." "Didn't that get them in trouble? I mean these people who made the Larkoss can't be the first race of would be galactic conquerors that the Baraandi encountered." "Sure, it got them into plenty of trouble. The Baraandi were far too willing to accept others good intentions. Those that came to them just pretending to be good weren't too hard to detect, but in the other races, there were far too many people who were out to 'save the universe'. You know the type, people willing to burn down an entire city in the name of some of just cause." "And the Baraandi fell for this?" "As long as the scope of what was being done wasn't too big, and the person trying it was deceiving himself as well as the Baraandi, then it did happen more times then I'd like to admit." "I guess there are tradeoffs for everything. I guess your human half is far less willing to just take things like that for granted." Just then a Secret Service man came up and said, "Sir, there's a man outside the compound who says he wants to come in and talk with Tina Jones." Kendall said, "That would most likely be one of her husbands, probably Matt. Let me check." Kendall's eyes briefly went out of focus as she extended her senses out to the gate of the private airport where they were. "Yup, that's him. Better let him in. It might be about their wife. She's a couple months pregnant." "Their wife?" "Yes, their wife. We decided that when it comes to social pairings amongst our group, we're going to be using the Baraandi rules." "And the Baraandi allow group marriages?" "It's not the usual way things go, but yes, they allow group marriages." "What's the usual way things worked in a Baraandi marriage?" "Usually it's just two people. The majority of the time it was the two people who provided the genetic material for the baby, but that wasn't an absolute rule." "So the usual way things worked was for two of them to pair off and then go into your standard mother and father roles?" "Basically, although the rules as to who would do what aren't as clear- cut as you might think. In Baraandi culture, the family unit is about the children, period. In a Baraandi family one parent WILL be staying home to raise and care for the children. Usually it is the parent who gave birth to the child; however, it's also the choice of the parent who gave birth to the child as to who will be staying home and who will be going out to work; the basic thoughts being that the person who went through the task of carrying a baby gets to make the decisions as to who does what, at least initially." "The feminists are going to love that. Of course, there are those on the other side of the political aisle who are going to hate it just as much." "Maybe; maybe not. Yes, the person who carries and gives birth to baby gets to make the decisions about who does what, but once those decisions are made, that's the way things work. For instance if my girlfriend and I decide we want to have a child, then she's going to have to carry it. That's the way our human biology says it's going to happen, much as I would like to carry and raise a child within me. So, according to Baraandi culture, she gets to make the decision as to stays home with the baby. But if she decides it's going to be me, and I turn into an overly doting mother who thinks that her child needs a gold bed, silk sheets, and a diamond-encrusted baby's bottle, then, assuming we can afford it, that's what we're going to get." "And your girlfriend gets no say in the matter?" "She can sit me down and try to talk me out of it, but if she puts me in the role of primary caretaker for our child, then I get primary decision making power. Remember, to the Baraandi the children come first." "Can she decide after the fact that she wants to be the stay at home parent?" The Secret Service agent cleared his throat and said, "Sir, what about the man at the gate?" "Where are my manners? Yes, go ahead and bring him in and show him to where Tina is waiting." Kendall said, "Wait a minute. If I might make a suggestion?" "Feel free." "Let's make this a little demonstration of what we're capable of. Tell your man to give the man at the gate the message that he's to try to make it to his wife on his own. Then tell your men to use all non-lethal methods at their disposal to try to stop him. Then you'll have a record on the security cameras of what he's capable of." "And you're willing to do this, to just let me know what you can do? My not knowing that could be a pretty good advantage for you." "Mr. President, I understand that in politics who comes up with the solution as well as how it's implemented can be just as important as having a solution itself, but this isn't about politics. This is a war. It may be a war with a mindless, unthinking pack of beasts, but it's a war, nevertheless, and you need to know what your allies are capable of." "Alright, if you insist." The President turned out to the agent and said, "Do as she suggests." After a quick assenting the agent took off to do as he was instructed to do. The President then said, "Back to the discussion at hand. We were talking about Baraandi family. If your girlfriend would get pregnant, give birth, make you the primary caretaker, and then decided that she wanted to take over, would it still be her decision?" "Unilaterally? No. Remember, however, that the Baraandi are linked psychically. If I were really abusing my position, or she really needed to take the role of home parent, then I would instantly know it, and we'd both take steps to make the best solution come forth." "So there are no two income families in Baraandi culture; their economy was strong enough to support everyone like that?" "Not necessarily. The Baraandi economy was stronger than any human nation's economy, but it had its ups and downs, just like we do." "So how did they handle it if one income wasn't enough?" "That's where the group marriage comes into play. That's what happened in our case. Originally, the relationship was just between our doctor and Matt (that was the man by the gate). When the doctor got pregnant, she decided that, at least part of the time, she wanted to be the stay at home mother, but Matt's a police officer, and his income really isn't all that great, so they decided they needed someone else. "Originally, it was just going to be Matt's partner, David, but David decided he wanted to be a stay at home parent as well. So they invited Tina in." "Both your doctor and this David are going to be stay at home parents? I thought you said that only one person would be stay at home?" "One person gets assigned as the primary caretaker for any children. After that, as many people as can afford to stay home are allowed to. In a two-person marriage, that means that the other person has to go out and make a living, but in a group marriage, multiple people get to stay home. In the case of my people, our doctor, Susan, has decided to be the secondary caretaker, and will be working two or three days a week, David has decided that he will retire so that he can become the primary caretaker, and Matt and Tina will work full time to support the family." "So, according to Baraandi custom, someone HAS to stay home all the time?" "Yes. In fact, one of the hardest things for Baraandi to get used to is the concept of daycare. The idea that you would ever place your child into the care of complete strangers just mystifies them." "Wow, the Baraandi really come down and both sides of the issue, don't they? You've got the idea of dominance of the primary birth giver that a lot of liberals support, yet only if they're willing to submit to an idea of family values that conservatives support." "Yeah, but don't forget to factor in the Baraandi psychic abilities. Those allow them to sense problems long before they come up and head them off at the pass. Let's say that six months down the road, David starts to burn out on taking care of his child. The other three in the marriage will immediately know it, even if David doesn't say a thing, and they'll be able to take steps to fix it. Shall we go?" "Go where?" "To see Matt and Tina. They are already together." "Already? I figured it would take a little while longer than that." "Nope. Matt's psychic powers give him a severe advantage over your men." The group of them walked together to the waiting area to find Matt waiting with Tina in his arms. After introductions were made they used their computers to bring up the digital recording of Matt's path through the airport. They saw him move to an area where patrols around the fence were at their widest, jump right over the external fence, and then run through the place. The President's men were barely prepared for him coming over the fence where he did, and they weren't prepared for him moving at nearly 50 miles an hour to get to Tina. After the recordings finished the President said, "I am impressed." "I can tell that this means that you'd like to work with us to try to stop the Larkoss." "First I need to meet your entire team. Then I need to find someone who can act as liaison between us." Amanda cleared her throat loudly causing the President to sigh and say, "Like a bulldog with a bone." THE NEXT DAY, THE WHITE HOUSE... As Lana moved through the front door to the White House she said, "This so cool. We're going to meet the President." April said, "Yes, I know. Frankly, I'm more interested in seeing Kendall." David asked, "Are you telling me you're not the slightest bit excited to be meeting the President? I'm the old jaded cop and I'm excited." "Well, of course, but are you going to tell me that despite your excitement at seeing the President you're not more interested in seeing how Matt and Tina are doing?" "Well, I'm interested in seeing them, of course, but I know they're okay; our psychic link tells me. Are you going to try to convince me that you don't know already how Kendall is doing?" "Well, mentally, I know how she's doing, but physically, that only makes me want to be with her all the more." Lana said, "I think it's the teen thing. Only by focusing on the idea of meeting the President and on the presence of these intimidating, heavily armed men escorting us through the White House, can I keep from running off and heading straight to Lydia." David said, "Well, I guess being the old man of the group gives me a more worldly outlook." Susan, shifting to telepathy, said (broadcasting for all the telepaths to hear), {Oh, please, you're in almost as bad a shape as April is. If it weren't for the presence of so many strangers and the seriousness of the issue at hand you've already gone off running through the House, found Matt and Tina, stripped them and you naked, and screwed both of them into the ground.} David thought, {Guilty as charged, but part of that is that I'm getting tired of your old, pregnant backside,} then leaned over and kissed his wife. {Sure, and the day when I can't screw all three of you into the ground is the day hell freezes over.} Lana thought, {Quiet, here comes the President.} The President, being escorted by Kendall and bracketed by Secret Service men, walked up to the group. A soon as they got close, Kendall stepped forward and said, "Mr. President, this is the rest of our group. Going from left to right, this is April, my second in command, her sister, Lana, our ship's engineer, Susan, the ship's doctor, and David, second in command for the group's security. As I told you the other day, Susan and David are the other half of Matt and Tina's four part group marriage." The President said, "Yes, it's good to finally meet you." After pleasantries were passed around the President said, "I hate to have to bring it up, but we need to discuss the more social aspects of your inner affiliations." April said, "You're worried about how people are going to react to our private lives. You're worried that they are going to react badly." "No, I'm sure that they're going to react badly. I'm worried that it's going to cause enough delays and enough resistance that everyone gets screwed as a result." Lana asked, "If it's our private lives, why should it matter?" The President definitively said, "It shouldn't," then, after a short pause, just as definitively said, "but it will. In this town, politics are too much a part of everything to discount them altogether, and quite frankly, there are some people in the Congress would rather die under a Larkoss assault then be saved by two lesbian couples and a bunch of people in a group marriage. And please, don't tell me it's stupid, because I already know that." David said, "Wait a second." Then, after a brief telepathic discussion with all those in his marriage group, said, "If it will make things easier, you can say that we're just two couples who have decided to live together in order to save on costs. David and Susan are legally married, anyway, so you can just say that only the fact that Tina and I don't live in the same city has kept us from getting married yet." "I hate say it, but that will help things a lot." "Just so long as you don't try to keep us physically apart. I might wind up hurting somebody if I don't spend some regular time with all of my group." "Do you think you can keep yourself under control in public?" "Sure, that shouldn't be any problem." "Then as long as we don't make a big deal about anything, it should be okay. If we just leave the impression that you're two couples rather than actually saying it, that'll give us plausible deniability in case the truth of the relationship ever comes out." The President's phone rang, and when he picked it up and talked to the person on the other end, his broadcasted thoughts were picked up by the entire group. Lana whispered, "The ship." The President hung up and said, "Yes, it's just arrived in the city. Would you like to go see it?" When all of the group displayed a distinct lack of interest in the idea, he said, "What's the matter? I figured that you'd want to see this old piece of home, at least your alien half would." Kendall said, "Part of us does want to see it again, but part of us... Well, don't forget, part of us died in that ship." Lana took a deep breath and said, "Well, there's no time like the present. There probably isn't all that much that can be salvaged from the ship, but someone needs to check it out anyway, and since I'm the only one qualified to do that, I guess I'm elected." "You going to need someone else to go along with you?" "Just having Lydia along should do it." The President said, "Okay, I'll have someone tell her to meet you at the south entrance." "No need. I already told her." "Oh, right, the telepathy thing. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to that." The President waved to one of his aides. "This man will take you down to where a limo will pick you up and take you to the ship, or would you rather run?" "No, no running for me. Lydia may be able to make a cross city trip at high speeds with just her feet, but that's definitely not my thing. Besides, being alone in the back of the limo will allow me and Lydia to snuggle." "Which brings us to another sticky problem, the age difference between you and Lydia. With you being a minor that could bring down a whole truckload of problems on our heads. I'm going to have to ask you to keep your relationship totally secret, at least its more intimate aspects." Lana sighed. "I was afraid of that, but don't worry. Lydia and I are both prepared for that. Publicly you can just say that she's my good friend and bodyguard. Right now I'm the only one who can make the power distribution cables, so protecting me makes sense. But that does bring up the point that we need more engineers from the ship so that things won't be set back too much if I'm occupied with something else." Kendall said, "Agreed. But first, we're going to need a liaison for the President." Susan asked, "Any ideas who that should be?" "I think the most obvious choice would be the ship's diplomat. As for who she's going to bond with, we don't know yet." "That makes sense to me," Lana said, "but right now, I've got to go check out the ship. See you all later." Lana headed off with her escort, and David said, "Unless you two have something for me, Susan and I would like to go see Matt and Tina." Kendall said, "I don't have anything in particular. Mr. President?" The President said, "Nothing right now, thank you. I'll have an assistant take you to them." David said, "No need. I already know where they are and how to get to them, including what areas of the building to avoid." "How could you know that?" "Has Kendall explained about spatial awareness?" "Yes." "Well, of our group my spatial awareness is second only to April's. Just by thinking about it I'm instantly aware of the floor plan of the entire building. As for knowing what areas o