Opening Earth Part 1Chapter 6
- 2 years ago
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The Reyes and Rivera families remained at the clinic for the remainder of the day and well into the evening. Misty would periodically check her patients with her analyzer. By early evening, it was apparent that their condition was improving. After Misty informed the families, they returned home except for the mothers, who stayed with their sons for the night. They didn’t want a bed in which to sleep, so we provided them with a couple of our comfortable office chairs. They talked until the early morning hours, until first one and then the other fell asleep. The young men regained consciousness the next day, and their condition improved rapidly after that. Misty’s prognosis was they would make a full recovery, but would need physical therapy; which we wouldn’t provide.
Sue returned to the ranch two days later, and Misty told her to rest and to not exert herself for a few days and she would evaluate Sue’s condition in two days. Two days later, Sue wanted to go back to work. Misty said to wait for another week. Misty later told me all Sue needed was a minimum of four days of rest. By saying seven days, she was able to negotiate with Sue for a total of four days, which is what she wanted her to have as a rest period. Sue was happy that she was able to cut her seven-day rest period back to just four days.
Twice while Juan and Carlo were with us, their lawyer paid our two guests a visit. While the lawyer was with them, the Deputy stepped out of the mobile home that housed the clinic. He informed us that under local law a lawyer and their client had the right to privacy to discuss the defense they would use to get the accused a not guilty verdict. We let him know that the Multiverse was different. In the Multiverse, the court system was not about winning and losing, the court was interested in determining the truth and seeing that justice was done.
They had been with us for a little over a week, when Carlo’s sister passed them a message. The two gangs were going to raid the Embassy Clinic at noon tomorrow, rescue Carlo and Juan, and see they got across the border into Mexico.
The gangs had scouted our facility. They knew the locations of the Sheriff’s Deputy, our Security Guards, and where Carlo and Juan were kept. What they did not know was that we had a force field and the amount of firepower we had available to use in our defense. The force field was deactivated whenever Carlo and Juan had company and during shift change for the Deputy. The rest of the time, it was active. As a result, the presence of the field was not noticeable for all of our people had splinters and there was a visitor’s badge, with an imbedded splinter the officers wore. The force field recognized the splinters, and that allowed our people and the Deputies to pass through the field unimpeded.
The perimeter detection system and our force field were the first things I had Sergei’s people install after we had completed construction of the concrete pads for the mobile homes and portables. We had made a few improvements to our data storage capacity, since the assassin attempted to kill me, which allowed us to use a higher resolution setting for our outer perimeter cameras. We could monitor the ranch’s entire perimeter in more detail now, and we used the low-resolution setting for the cameras that covered the area around the mobile homes and portables; that setting was more than adequate for most purposes.
It was true that our main competitor outsold the Archer Conglomerate in the field of detection and force field equipment by a ratio of over three to one, but that was due to their equipment being much lower in price. Their equipment was of good quality and it had good features, but the Archer Equipment was far more sophisticated, had a higher level of quality, and allowed a much greater flexibility in its use. That was why the price was higher, but price wasn’t what had limited our data storage capability; heat was our problem. When I had returned from my last trip, I had brought back a high-efficiency, high-capacity cooling system for the portable and additional disk storage devices.
Sergei had selected the Archer Conglomerates’ latest line of force field, detection systems, rovers, weapons, and other equipment for my use. The equipment included a few models that were new and had just completed R&D testing. Our living area was one of their Beta test sites for this equipment.
The evening before the expected attack, I had Bill and his people check the settings of the detection system and force field, and then test the two systems. In particular, I had them make sure that the force field’s Friendly Fire feature was set to ON and the force field was manually set to its Level 1 Alert setting.
The Friendly Fire feature was a brand new feature that had just been incorporated into force field technology by Archer’s R&D Division. When enabled, the feature allowed the force field to determine if projectiles and energy fields were incoming or outgoing ‘fire’. The force field could be set to block all of an attacker’s incoming ‘fire’, while allowing the defender’s outgoing ‘fire’ to pass through the field unimpeded. Prior to the development of this feature, the defender had to position their weapons outside the force field in order to remotely ‘fire’ on the attacker. Unfortunately, being outside of the force field made the defender’s weapons vulnerable to incoming ‘fire’.
Matt and I had discussed jurisdiction last night. We were all busy and we didn’t need the extra work that a trial would cause. The time to conduct the trial wouldn’t be that much, but the reaction from the religious community, the Black Activists Coalition, and The Pure Earth Society may cause us major problems.
Despite the extra work, we wanted to retain jurisdiction. I would discuss jurisdiction with the appropriate Federal, State, and County authorities based on us having jurisdiction, but if they really wanted jurisdiction we would allow them to incur the costs and responsibility of charging, trying, and imprisoning our attackers. My view of the situation was, nobody would want to incur the costs that jurisdiction would bring in order to deal with a situation that was tantamount to a group of US Citizens attacking a foreign power. Matt agreed that if I presented things in that way, it was unlikely anybody would dispute our claim of jurisdiction.
Before sunrise the next morning, Bill had extra Security Guards in the Security Portable. He designated key positions around the perimeter of the mobile homes and portables to which the guards would deploy when the attackers were detected. The approach of the gang would mean the attack was imminent, and at that time, the guards would arm themselves with stunner rifles and energy rifles and deploy to their positions.
The outer perimeter detection system indicated that we had no visitors moving toward the ranch. Just to be on the safe side, Bill had Ken and Carla join us within the force field. With the force field set for Level 1 Alert, our non-security personnel would be blocked from moving outside of the force field. The perimeter detection system was recording video of the perimeter. Since the system extended to outside our fence line, we should have a recording of the attackers’ arrival at the ranch and everything they did while on Embassy property. We also aimed our buildings’ security cameras toward their most likely path of attack.
I had suggested that we raise the arm of our gate so it wouldn’t be damaged. Bill said that was a bad idea, if someone wanted jurisdiction, for it would indicate to an Earth court that we knew they were coming and we laid an ambush for them. He said a new gate arm wasn’t that expensive, so I agreed to leave it down.
Noon came and went. The gangs weren’t coming or they were just running late. Around one o’clock, we could hear motorcycles and cars approaching the ranch. In the Security Portable, the operator could see eight cars and fourteen motorcycles approaching the ranch’s entrance. The security system’s operator alerted his comrades informing them of the attacking force’s makeup. As the noise level increased, Bill’s people armed themselves for what was to come and moved to their assigned positions.
Inside the clinic, Carlo and Juan could hear their friends coming to get them. The Deputy was distracted by the noise, so they staged an altercation. When the Deputy moved to break up their shoving match, they attacked him knocking him unconscious. Before they could do anything else, Tammy shot them with her stunner, and used restraints to bind their hands and feet together. She then checked on the Deputy and notified Misty that he was bleeding from a cut on his head and in need of medical attention.
As Bill and I left the Security Portable, Bill got on his radio and reminded all of his people to stay on our side of the force field until the attackers were stunned or incapable of resistance. Bill’s people were professionals and didn’t really need the reminder. However, his people had splinters and the force field would allow them to pass through the force field, so it never hurt to remind people who might forget things in the heat of battle. Bill and I took up our positions in front of the portable. Standing there in plain view, we watched the attackers approach. It may seem to be a dangerous thing to do, but we were inside the force field and we knew the attackers could not harm anyone on our side of the field.
The gangs broke the gate arm as their cars came roaring onto the ranch. The motorcycles surged to the front of the cars after passing through the gate, and outdistanced the cars. We could see that seven of the motorcycles carried a second person; the riders and their passengers drew their handguns. In each of the eight cars that followed the motorcycles down our road, the drivers and three passengers pushed handguns, rifles, and shotguns out of the windows. Some of the cars had a fifth passenger, but that person didn’t have access to a window. So they stood on the seat with their upper torso through the sunroof so they could aim their weapon. As they headed toward our compound, the fourteen motorcycles spread out to form a seven-man front with four motorcycles in the second row and three in the third row.
While charging down the road toward our living area, the first row of motorcycles hit the force field at about fifty miles per hour. The second and third rows swerved to avoid whatever their comrades had hit. A few where successful, but most of them hit the force field at an angle and went down to the ground. Crumpled bikes and bodies lay scattered in front of the force field with their riders and passengers screaming in pain from broken limbs, smashed faces, and other injuries; then there were those that lay silent and unmoving. The first car’s driver slammed on his brakes skidding to a stop. Before the driver could turn around and escape, the cars behind him rear-ended him and each other. The drivers and passengers tried to flee from their cars.
Bill’s marksmen opened up with energy rifles to disable all of the cars and motorcycles that might be capable of being moved. When the riders, drivers, and passengers tried to flee on foot, Bill’s people cut them down with their stun rifles.
The shooting only lasted two minutes. After that, all that remained was the mopping up. The construction crew that was building the Embassy Compound had heard the sounds of the battle. They were now arriving to do what they could to assist us. They had also dialed 9-1-1 and reported the incident.
Last night, we prepared one of our storage portables for use as a temporary jail. With the help of the construction workers, Bill’s people secured the stunned gang members who had not been injured with plastic tie straps, and moved them to our jail.
A motorcycle hitting what is essentially a brick wall at fifty miles per hour is not conducive to survival; especially, when you aren’t wearing a helmet. Seven gang members were dead, so they were set off to the side until the County Coroner could remove their bodies.
Close to a third of the motorcycle drivers and passengers, eight people, were injured. Five people had been injured when the cars rear ended each other. Misty’s assistants sedated the injured until Misty could treat them. Misty was still treating the gang members’ injuries, by the time Bill’s people had finished clearing the field of the stunned gang members. By then, the local police, paramedics, and media had arrived.
As soon as I could, I had called Sheriff Hank Devon and I told him about the attack and about his Deputy’s injuries, which amounted to a few cuts, bruises, and a mild concussion. I also informed him about the Deputies who had arrived and wanted to treat the area as their crime scene. I put the senior Deputy on the phone with Hank, so he could let the Deputy know that the Embassy had jurisdiction over this incident. Once things were clarified, the Deputy and other emergency personnel assisted Bill’s people and Misty with the cleanup. Hank headed our way to check on his injured Deputy and bring us a replacement for the Deputy.
The media was a different type of problem that needed an immediate response. Our security guards had stopped them from entering the ranch, but I knew that they would not go away. I would need to give them a brief statement, so while driving over to the gate, I decided on the content of the statement.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am Ambassador Doug Smith.
“As you can see from here, my Embassy was attacked today by close to fifty, armed attackers. My security personnel were able to stop the attackers without inflicting any serious injury on the attackers.
“At the head of the attacking force were a small number of motorcycle riders who were firing their handguns at us as they approached our compound. My personnel are protected by a force field, and in their eagerness to assault my personnel, the motorcycle riders hit the force field head-on at a very high speed. That impact killed about a third of the riders. Those that were able to swerve before they hit the field head-on were injured when they grazed the field. Most of my people were armed with what we call stunners. These are non-lethal weapons that can render a person unconscious. My people stunned all of the attackers who were able to offer resistance. A few of those attackers may have suffered minor injuries when stunned due to their falling to the ground unconscious.
“One of the things that few Americans are aware of is that the treaty between the US Government and the Multiverse Government grants the Multiverse jurisdiction over any illegal acts committed on this ranch. As authorized by that provision, the Embassy’s security personnel have detained the attackers. In the near future, I will talk with the Federal, State, and County authorities to determine if any of them want to claim jurisdiction. If no agency wants to take responsibility for charging and trying the attackers in a court of law, they will be charged and prosecuted here on my ranch according to the laws and customs of the Multiverse legal system.
“Please excuse me ladies and gentlemen, but my staff and I are extremely busy with this situation, so I need to get back to work. However, the Embassy will host a press conference in the near future at a time and place that will be announced shortly.”
I refused to answer questions. After returning to the area of the portables, I reminded Bill that Sereine would be in charge of the prisoners, but due to her lack of manpower, she would need the support of him and his people.
While Misty and her staff, Bill’s people, and Sereine had been cleaning up the mess, Abby was on the phone to her boss, Charles Boyd. She informed him that our compound had just been attacked. The attackers were defeated and all of the survivors had been detained by my security force. She asked if the State Department wanted to intervene and claim jurisdiction over the attackers. After a few moments of thought, Charlie said, “Abby, the Department of Justice would be the agency to bring charges and try the people who attacked the Embassy. However, the crimes they committed are not Federal offenses, so tell Doug you caught them, you clean them.”
Bill had to explain the idiom to me. I understood it to mean that he didn’t want to get the US involved in a jurisdictional dispute. I think my friends have fun with me by using Earth slang and idioms to confuse me.
When the Sheriff arrived at the ranch, he told me he had called and explained the situation to the Weld County District Attorney before leaving his office. In particular, he explained what the treaty meant concerning the District Attorney not having jurisdiction. The District Attorney let Hank know that he had enough problems on his plate and wasn’t looking for more; especially a problem that might easily turn into an intergalactic incident.
It was clear the fate of the two gangs’ members had been dropped into my hands. Of course, I would have to confirm that conclusion by contacting the State Attorney General’s office to determine if the State of Colorado wanted jurisdiction.
Carlo and Juan injuring Sue was a different matter. From what I had been told, they would only get a smack on the hand for the injuries they caused Sue. That didn’t seem right to me, but we didn’t have jurisdiction in that case. But now they had committed a serious crime on Embassy property and I did have jurisdiction. That was the main reason I wanted to retain jurisdiction.
I told the Sheriff that I was pressing charges for the crime they had committed here on the ranch; namely assaulting a law enforcement officer on property controlled by the Multiverse. The Sheriff acknowledged my right to charge and try the two men for the attack on his Deputy. However, he claimed prior jurisdiction over them, since they were already his prisoners and they had to face charges stemming from the accident that injured Sue. Misty said the two of them were ready to travel, so I surrendered them into the custody of the Sheriff who had decided to simplify matters for us by incarcerating them in the county jail. Once the Sheriff was done with them, they would be returned to the ranch to face charges for the crimes they committed while they were our guests. After the Sheriff left with his prisoners and deputies, Matt and I got together in my office.
“Matt, this situation is the type of thing we have anticipated happening, but I had hoped that it wouldn’t happen this soon. We have discussed and planned on how to deal with such a situation. We need to adapt our plan to meet the current situation. What do you think?”
“I agree, Doug. I’ve been thinking the same thing since yesterday, when we learned about the gangs’ plan to attack us. We have jurisdiction over Reyes and Rivera, and if Colorado doesn’t want jurisdiction, then we will also have jurisdiction over the gang members who attacked us. I think we need to implement our plan now and the sooner the better.”
Meanwhile at the United Nations Building in New York...
“Bashira, did you hear the news report about the attack on Doug’s ranch?”
“Yes, I was taking my afternoon break when it came on the breakroom’s TV.”
“I think this may be the event we have been looking for, Bashira.”
“I’m not sure I understand, Amir.”
“We orchestrated a few minor events to evaluate Doug the man and Doug the Ambassador. But this is far greater than anything we have arranged. Think about it, Bashira. Doug has jurisdiction. If they are smart, the US Government, State of Colorado, and County Government won’t challenge Doug’s claim of jurisdiction. If that happens, this will be the first time a citizen of Earth has been tried for a crime on Earth by the legal authorities of another planet. Politically, this is not only an unheard of event; it is also a political bombshell. We will have to be very careful in how we handle the situation.”
“Handle the situation? Do you have something in mind, Amir?”
“I have an idea and we need to discuss it. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations, I feel that I should not express any support for or against Doug’s intended actions. However as his friend, I need to call Doug and express my concerns and explain my position to him.”
“It is not clear to me what you think your position should be, Amir.”
“I suppose one could say that since the United Nations accepted his Ambassadorial Credentials there is a political tie between him and the UN. However, this attack had nothing to do with his Ambassadorship. It appears to have been a group making a criminal attack in an effort to free their comrades from the local police.
“Since the attack was not political in nature, it would not be proper for the United Nations to take a position. Although there is the issue of the attack being conducted on his Embassy’s property. Since the United State agreed to host his Embassy and since the United States negotiated a treaty with the Multiverse, I feel that my official position should be that it is an internal matter that needs to be addressed by Doug and the respective authorities of the United States.
“Since his treaty provides Doug with the authority to do what it seems like he will do, I can officially take a stance that supports him as Ambassador Smith without having to take a position of whether it is right or wrong for US citizens to be judged by an extraterrestrial judicial system.
“As his friend, I will discuss the matter and find out from him if there is anything that I can do as an individual to assist him. I will let him know that I will send you out to his ranch today, so you can keep me informed of what is happening.”
“Amir, we both know that there is little or nothing that I can do to aid Doug. I think your real reason for having me there is to assess how he handles the situation as a man and as the Ambassadorial representative of the Multiverse.”
“Yes, you’re right that is my main reason for sending you out there, Bashira. But, I do consider him to be a friend and I will expect you to unofficially aid him if and however you can. For now, let us discuss the types of attitudes, behaviors, and other things you should be looking for regarding Doug the man and Doug the Ambassador. When we finish, I will call Doug, and you should go pack for a trip of at least four weeks.”
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Reaching across my desk, I picked up my phone and speed dialed Bill’s cellphone number.
“Bill, Doug here. I know you are busy cleaning up the mess, but as soon as you can, turn everything over to your lieutenant. I am calling a meeting to deal with the current situation and we need you as soon as you can get here.”
After ending my call to Bill, I called Cindy. “Cindy, we need to have a meeting to deal with the current situation and I need you here. Before you join us, find Sereine, Abby, Sue, Sandy, and Kim. Tell them to get to my office as soon as possible.
The six of them joined Matt and me in the office five minutes later. I don’t know why but they arrived as a group. I had expected them to sort of straggle in individually like they usually did. Bill hadn’t arrived, and since I didn’t know when he would be able to get here, I started the meeting without him.
“Kim, when we first met, Matt and I discussed the possibility of having you join my staff. Before we made you an offer, we wanted to see if you would fit in with the position that Matt suggested you fill. For the past year, you have been writing some very good articles about the Multiverse. Based on those articles, I think you are an excellent candidate for the position. Would you be interested in becoming our Public Relations Officer?
“Before you answer, let me say that Matt and I see you wearing three hats. The first hat is that of our PR Officer, and in that position, we expect you to put a positive spin on anything related to the Multiverse. The second hat is that of the Embassy Press Secretary. In that role, you will handle all Embassy communication with the media. The third hat is that of an independent investigative reporter. You will be free to write stories about the Multiverse describing its positive and negative characteristics. You can also address the issues that you handle in your PR and Press Secretary positions. If you wish, you can address any negative aspects of the issues at that time. Are you interested in the position?”
“Yes, I accept, assuming of course that salary and benefits are acceptable. I have the feeling that now is not the time to go into those details. I’m also not sure how wearing three hats will work out, but I am definitely interested in both Embassy positions.”
“Good, you’re hired; we will do the paperwork and everything else, later.
“By now, I believe everyone here is familiar with most of the current situation. The part that you may not be aware of is that yesterday, Bill’s security group recorded a discussion between Carlo Rivera and his sister. The sister told him about the two gangs’ plan to free him and Juan today. Last night, we started preparing in case they actually attacked us. Early this morning, we put additional security personnel on standby to deal with the attack if it occurred. As you all know, the attack took place with a number of the attackers being killed and the remainder being taken prisoner. We now have to determine what we are going to do with our prisoners.
“So far, Abby talked with her boss Charlie at the State Department, and I talked to Sheriff Hank Devon. Neither the State Department nor the Weld County Prosecutor’s Office want to assume jurisdiction for dealing with the attack on our Embassy. I still need to check with the State of Colorado, but I don’t think they will want to get involved in this mess, either. If that is true, and I think it is, then there will be no opposition to our dealing with the attackers ourselves. I’ll contact the Attorney General’s office tomorrow to explain that we have jurisdiction, but are willing to hand our prisoners over to the State if they want jurisdiction. If the Governor doesn’t want jurisdiction, then it is my intent to see justice is done – Multiverse Justice.
“Sereine, since you are the senior Multiverse Police Officer here on Earth, the prisoners are your responsibility. I talked with Bill and let him know that he and his people are to support you, but you are in charge while the prisoners are on Embassy grounds.”
My cell phone ringing interrupted our meeting.
“Good afternoon, Ambassador Smith speaking ... Oh yes, Amir, the attack was a horrible thing. No, none of my people were injured ... Yes, I agree with you that this is not a matter that should concern the United Nations ... Yes, thank you for your personal support, Amir, and yes we will make arraignments for Bashira to stay with us for a few days ... Why thank you, Amir, and I wish you and your family the same. Bye.
“Cindy, Amir is having Bashira join us until this matter is settled in case there is anything that Amir or Bashira can do to support us on a personal level. He should be here late tonight, so we need to prepare a room for him and someone will need to pick him up at the airport.
“Now where were we? Ah yes, Matt and I were aware that a situation would eventually occur and we prepared a plan as to how we should respond. This particular situation is not what we expected, and it is something that we will need to deal with very carefully.
“To start with, even though the details of the treaty between the Multiverse and the United State were widely published, most Americans are not aware that the treaty establishes this ranch as an independent enclave that is governed by the laws of the Multiverse. The first thing we need to do is, make that aspect of the situation clear to everyone. The second thing we need to do is, make sure that Americans are aware that the Federal, State, and County governments acknowledged that the Multiverse has jurisdiction over all criminal acts committed on this ranch and they don’t want to assume jurisdiction.
“The media was at our entry gate earlier today and they wanted a statement. I gave them a brief statement informing them we had been attacked and we had stopped the attackers. I informed them that we had jurisdiction, and if the Federal, State, and County authorities didn’t wanted jurisdiction, we would prosecute the attackers. I mentioned that we would host a press conference shortly.
“Kim, your first task will be to prepare a press release announcing when we will conduct the press conference. I may want you to put together a flyer also that can be handed out at the conference, but I haven’t decided on the content.
“Matt and I decided that the best way to proceed is to host an informal meeting of the three levels of government agency officials, or their designees. A press conference seems like the best forum to accomplish our intent. My statement today opens the door for that press conference and lays the groundwork for what needs to be said during the conference. The primary points we need to make are the attack took place on Embassy property, the Embassy has jurisdiction, none of the three agencies is contesting jurisdiction, the Embassy will try the attackers, and the trial will be conducted according to Multiverse laws and customs.
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The next morning Abby, Sereine, Mac, and I were ready to leave. Unfortunately, Cindy was sick. My ladies told me that she would be fine in a couple of days, so I should go ahead without her. I hopped us to Wayside and we got our traveling equipment, then Sereine hopped us to our next stop. As usual, the trip was uneventful. Abby was excited at first, but then her excitement turned to boredom. We did have one dismal event on the way to First Stop. I had hopped us to our next stop, and when...
I had Twixted ahead to reserve a room at the Timson Luxury Hotel, as we usually did when I visited Maribel in Timson before leaving the estate. Maribel currently had a moderately light schedule; well, light relative to how busy she seemed to be during my previous visits to Timson. A light schedule was good for we had a number of things that needed to be discussed, and there were a few items that were important to me. Most of this visit would be dedicated to our discussing specific topics, but...
Matt and I were up early the next morning for we knew Yarl and his crew were eager to complete the installation and get back to Vora. I think they were worried that their food would somehow become contaminated by sugar and turn them into sugar addicts. Things didn’t work that way, but many fears are often totally unreasonable. We needed more drivers than I thought, so Matt, Mary, Bill, Sue, and I went into Greely and picked up the rental equipment that Matt had reserved. With Carla and Ken’s...
We had just arrived, and I felt my link with Sto reestablish itself. All I heard was, “Doug back. Go talk.” The idea of Sto having to be face-to-face with me in order for us to talk over our mental link seemed funny to me. “Hello, Sto. How was Toomby?” “Shots hurt. No go Vet. Sto no need shots.” “Shots? Was there something wrong?” “Vet say need. Sto good. No need shots.” By then Sereine and the rest of my people made it out of the house and had walked over to greet us. “Hello, Sereine....
Cindy was right about us needing a bank. My idea of, me becoming a middleman for my people making deposits to and withdrawals from their Multiverse banks was a stopgap measure that would suffice, but only for a short time. The more I thought about things, it was very evident that the Banking Guild would not establish a bank on Earth in the near future, and we needed one now. By the time I got to my office portable, I had formed a rough plan to handle this issue. My first step would be to...
It had been a long and tiring trip back to Earth. The seasons were changing on our layover planets, so we had rain, snow, and temperature extremes to contend with on the different planets. We all agreed that we didn’t care for sitting on a planet in a hundred and two degree heat, and then hopping to our next layover and arriving in the middle of a blizzard and minus twelve-degree cold; the wind chill factor made it worse. I really needed to get a travel shelter. Harry had told me the...
Before my wives and I left on our honeymoon, Sandy and I had hired two lawyers, Grant Baker and Kenny Natron, to help us start our new business. They set up an appointment with us for today to discuss their progress and to ask us questions. It was ten minutes to two in the afternoon when Cindy called to let me know our two lawyers had arrived and they and Sandy were waiting for me in our conference room. We were starting to get really busy, so I definitely needed to find someone to be my...
Sereine and I getting stuck in a quarantine shelter for almost a week didn’t really affect my overall schedule. I didn’t have much to do before I had to leave for Shilling, so there was a lot of available time in my schedule. The only impact the delay caused me, was my having to reschedule a few minor things that I wanted to do before I left for Vora. Overall, I would be able to finish all of my outstanding tasks before my departure date. One of the good things that happened while I sat in...
While returning to Earth, I had a great deal of time to think about my past activities on Earth, and the changes that my new position would require in regard to my relations with the people of Earth. I had been telling lies of omission to many people since my arrival on Earth. I don’t like lying, but most of Earth’s people were not ready to learn the truth about my being an alien from outer space or about some aspects of my being a D-Hopper. When a D-Hopper opens a planet, they can choose...
By the time Sereine and I got to Wayside, we were both tired. We had let our egos control our actions, by hopping eight shipping containers to Wayside. Their combined mass and volume was more than the utility equipment we had hopped to Earth some months before, and we had been pushing our limits to hop that much equipment. We decided to leave the shipping containers on Wayside, and hop them to the ranch, later. As soon as we had stored our travel equipment and rested, we hopped home. Since...
Turning back to Kim I could see that she had endured all the culture shock that she could handle at this time. “Kim, I think we should set this subject aside, for now. Once you have had a chance to think about it, we can talk about it again if you wish. “I’m curious about whom you work for, and what prompted you to become a reporter. Would you care to talk about that instead?” “Yeah, I would. I think I got in over my head, and you are right. From what your friends have said, I do need to...
A strong pungent odor burned Zax's respiratory system through his nostrils and rose to his brain, the body organ which contained the soul. Zax woke up from the smell, but when his eyes opened what he saw was foreign. All he could see as he stared above was the ground as the ceiling and a dim light illuminating from somewhere. The last imagery that Zax could remember was the earth he was lying on splitting and a black shadow, like a long and thick whip, moving quickly out of the cracks,...
The trip to First Stop was the usual boring event. When we had arrived on Wayside, it occurred to me, this was the first trip I had made to the Multiverse with no trade goods. On our way to First Stop, Sereine and I briefed everyone on our plans for what each of our two groups would be doing during this trip. We had been talking during the trip, while we rested. During our discussions, it occurred to me that in the future, we might need two penal planets in Earth’s Universe. For the interim...
The first thing in the morning, Edgar called Kendrick to let him know I was back. Me ... I was lying between two lovely pregnant women, and I had no plans for getting out of bed until it was absolutely necessary. As usual, my bladder told me it was necessary and I reluctantly got out of bed. When I made it out into the dining room for coffee, Edgar let me know Kendrick had commed, and he had returned the comm to let him know I was out of bed. Kendrick showed up an hour later, and at the...
Matt, Bill, Sue, and I were waiting for Aaron when we heard a knock at the door. Rita answered the door. “Good afternoon, I’m Aaron McCaul. Is Doug Smith available?” “Yes, please come in.” Rita’s English was getting better, especially the standard phrases we use in our interpersonal communications. Aaron and a woman in her mid-thirties came into the room. “Doug, this is Miss Abby White. Abby, this is Mister Doug Smith. “It’s nice to meet you, Mister Smith.” “And it’s my pleasure to meet...
I timed our departure from Timson so we would arrive at Mister Tam’s home on Halpern late in the morning. I did so for I knew we had to be at the Tam home before mid-afternoon to confirm our hotel reservations and we didn’t want to arrive too early. We arrived in the portion of his backyard that he had previously designated as our arrival area. It didn’t take the Tam family long to usher all of us into their home. Our party was too large for them to accommodate us in their six-bedroom house,...
“Those are the main points that Maribel and I discussed, Kevin, and here are your copies of my replies to the questions that her committee sent you over the past year or so,” I said. “Maribel said that for the next year or two, she will have future questions routed to you, and will expect me to reply through you. That will change once I have a Twixt System in place. Maribel and I did this first set of responses to her questions this way, so we could work out any problems between the two of...
For Alma Walcott it was all in a day’s job as a freelance stringer. She started her day on the phone by calling her normal news sources, but it was an unusually unproductive day for news. Then she called her contact in the Sheriff’s office. To ensure confidentiality, she never used her real name when dealing with someone she had registered with her paper as a confidential informant. She was always Sheila and her informant was either Bob or Babs. Her contacts were aware of this duplicity, but...
From Vora it was only one hop to First Stop. Since we were now based on Slave World, we needed to consider a different planet as our point of arrival and departure. It didn’t make much sense to make three hops to and from Slave World when that would be our first stop. A planet along the route we used to travel between Slave World and Vora would be a better First Stop planet, as it was not commonly used as a rest stop by other D-Hoppers. I would discuss that with Sereine during our return to...
Arriving at the Archer home, Doug rang the doorbell. “Good morning, I’m Doug Smith. This is my Administrative Assistant Cindy Smith, and my lawyer, Kendrick Jones. We have an appointment with Mrs. Archer. Is she available?” “Yes, sir. Mrs. Archer is expecting you. Please come in and I will show you to the sitting room, and let Mrs. Archer know you are here.” The sitting room was a nicely furnished and pleasant place to meet with someone. I decided that I would like to have a small meeting...
Kendrick and I were talking and he said, “The Judge outsmarted the media. The case number and parties associated with the case, have to be posted for at least one hour prior to a hearing. Normally, the case number and all of the main parties are listed in the posting. He listed the case number and your name followed by the phrase ‘and others’, which satisfied the requirement of the law. The media expected the Archer family’s name to be listed. Since it wasn’t, the majority of the media missed...
“Are you ready to go, Doug?” “Go where, Bill?” “To put in another order for vehicles. You were going to put me on your calendar for a vehicle shopping trip.” “Sorry, Bill, I forgot to tell Cindy. I can’t think of anyone I was to meet with today. Let me check my calendar ah, yes, I have the rest of today clear; except for my regular tasks, which I can put off until later. I was talking with Matt about this, so will we need him and when did you want to go?” “Matt told me that as far as...
I was awakened at two in the morning by the siren alert of my comm unit. Someone had sent me a Twixt, and had flagged it as urgent. By the time I got to my comm unit, my eyes were open far enough for me to read the message. The message read, ‘Urgent you and Abby return to my office at once, Kevin Moore.’ I went down the hall and knocked on Abby’s bedroom door. When she said to come in, I opened the door, and said, “You need to get up and dress. We need to leave for Vora as soon as we can. I...
I needed to talk with Matt, Bill, and Sue about presenting my credentials and a few other things. “Matt? Doug, here.” “Hi, Doug, what’s up?” “I’ve finished the immediate things that I had to do. Do you have time to go over the arrangements for my presenting my credentials?” “Yes, when do you want to do it?” “I’m still at the ranch. We should be back at my home, shortly. Let’s meet there in two hours.” “See you then, Doug. Bye.” “Hello, Sue, Doug. Matt is going to be at my place in two...
The media had gotten word that my entourage was staying at the Trinity Hotel in Cinnity. They had staked out the hotel’s ground-level entrance and the landing pad on the roof. The only way my people could come and go undetected was for Sereine to hop them in and out of the hotel. Since her ability to hop was limited by her recovery time, it was very inconvenient for all of my people. My bodyguards decided that the media representatives needed to be taught a lesson; namely, do not harass the...
My wives said I needed a new wardrobe for the office. Rita was the most insistent, and she had arranged for an appointment with a tailor at a men’s specialty store that Charlie had recommended. Charlie always looked good in the office while he had been with HS, so I accepted his suggestion. Rita knew exactly what I needed as office casual and my other wives agreed, but Charlie had said that whatever I got as off-the-shelf clothing had to be tailored to fit me properly. Cindy had some work to...
During breakfast the next morning, I talked with Betty about her translation efforts. She said she needed an office in which to work. I suggested she get with Misty and set something up in the Hospital portable. Then the conversation took a turn that I wasn’t expecting. Rita said, “Carol and I have been talking to Betty and Cindy about your trip to visit with Harry at his office at the Archer Conglomerate. “Betty and Cindy think you are interested in the receptionist at the front desk and...
Within a sealed cavern, encompassed by blackness, sitting crossed legs, Zax prepared himself to tackle the fifth bottleneck of insight. Smell, touch, taste, sight ... These were the four bottlenecks of insight Zax already perceived and proceeded to comprehend. Zax was not oblivious. By now he could tell that the bottlenecks of insight have something to do with the five senses. The issue was with him unable to figure out if the remaining sense, sense of hearing, which will probably make him...
Our status meeting went well. Matt was making progress on getting a building permit for our temporary facilities and William was finalizing the supporting drawings. I let Matt know that we would have to install the utility equipment at what would be their permanent location, since Chairman Smart had bought me the equipment I would use for the Embassy Compound. I let him know I would get the equipment’s technical details for him when I had a chance and we would get with William to give him...
I arrived a little early for my appointment with Sergei, and was immediately ushered into his office. “Yarl Wilson, who is my installation foreman, Tim, and I, were reviewing the pictures that Tim Hart took at your ranch. Tim told us that you plan to set up a temporary Embassy Compound on your ranch, and live in it for a year or two. Is that right?” “Yes, but we hope it will only be a little over a year from the time we move in, until we can move into the Embassy.” “Yarl mentioned that you...
It took a bit longer than I had planned before we were ready to depart. Sereine hopped us to our first intermediary stop just as the sun was rising above the horizon. Three hops later, we arrived in the backyard of Mister Tam’s home. They had started to worry about whether we would get there for the wedding. Mister Tam said they had expected us to arrive three days ago so there would be plenty of time to make any final arrangements that may be necessary, and the wedding was scheduled for...
The four security people traveling with us were new to me. I had just a few minutes to introduce myself before we left Slave World, and I was having trouble recalling their names. Edgar said they were four of the better people that he’d had assigned to him by Kendrick. I would make a point of getting to know them better as I rested between hops. Our first stop on Vora was at my parent’s home. I had timed our departure so we would arrive early enough to have lunch with my Mom and Dad before...
Kendrick wanted to know when I would hold my media conference. The media was in a frenzy to find me. They wanted to know everything about me. My task during the interview was to limit my answers to my public life. He also wanted to set a date for me to meet my Board of Directors. He had contacted the Chairman of the Board and explained how I had inherited the conglomerate. The Chairman wanted at least a week to finalize their presentation. Kendrick and I settled on dates and times for my...
My wives woke me early the next morning. They enjoyed playing in bed yesterday morning, and were thinking of another romp in our bed. We had just started our usual sex play, when Carol made a mad dash for the bathroom. We could hear the sound of her retching, so Rita went to check on her. When Rita returned, she said, “It’s time for Carol to be checked out by Misty. I think she’s pregnant.” “Pregnant!” I exclaimed. “Didn’t she just finish her ovulation period? I didn’t think morning...
Alpha males vs earth sissies revolution part 1 "Pink or blue?" "Or should i say light pink or powder blue, we cant make you think blue is a boys color, it can be feminine also... or a sissy yellow... hmm." the deep alpha manly voice asked his soon to be sissy prisoners as he and the other alpha men laughed. the captured "men" were asked. "It doesn't matter soon to be sissies," the tall, huge super alpha man said grinning as the captured men of earth struggled. "You'll look...
Alpha Males Vs Earth sissies; part 2 A few weeks later.... "Stacy... are you ready to come out and show your new feminine self to me your new master?" The strong alpha male called from outside her girly room. Jack/Stacy stared at slender self in the mirror still not quite believing what had come of herself.. The servants had taken their time get "her" ready... slowly stripping away the earth masculinity and showing the inner girlishness all earth men naturally have, but has...
Alpha Males with earth girl sissys part 4 final. John tried to get away, but it was hopeless, as she looked down at his new feminized body, the restive pink skirts did nothing to help with getting away as he tried to escape. The nightly ritual of letting the now conquered earth sissies try to escape from their manly super alpha males, now their strong boyfriends/husbands. They never got that far, with their girly clothes always giving them away, the light pink yellow pastel colors...
“Morning, Betty, are you feeling any better this morning?” “Yeah, knowing that you really care about me as a person helps a lot. The way my parents and friends treated me is going to bother me for some time to come. I’ll get over it, but it will take time.” “That’s good ... at least, the getting better part is. Rita, Cindy, and Carol should be back tonight, unless they comm and extend their visit for another day. “I think we should plan on getting back to Vora tomorrow or at the latest the...
Matt and his wife Mary were to join my ladies and me for dinner at my home. We had to discuss the trading hop and to make plans for outfitting Matt and Mary for the trip to Vora. Mary turned out to be a moderately attractive redhead in her mid-forties, with the lithe muscular tone of an athlete. Betty had been in her element all day for she had been busy preparing our meal. My ladies tolerance to sugar had increased, so I had cleared them for eating a wider variety of foods. Betty was making...
Rita met me at the door with, “Doug, Aaron called you and he asked you to call him back.” Bill and Sue were still at the house, so I asked everyone to stick around until I finished the call. Once the pleasantries were out of the way, Aaron said, “Doug, I wanted to discuss the President’s event with you. “I had my assistant reserve three, two-bedroom suites for you at the Embassy Suites, and each bedroom has two queen-sized beds. I don’t know what the sleeping arrangements are for your...
As I said, we arrived at Wayside two hours later than I had expected. During one of our rest stops, Mac and Martha’s son Timmy wandered around the clearing. He was tired, so he stretched out on a comfy looking bed of leaves and fell asleep. Unfortunately, the leaves were on the far side of a boulder. So, when Dan prepared to hop us to our next stop, no one noticed him behind the boulder. Mac and Martha each thought the other was holding his hand. Martha knew Timmy wasn’t holding her hand,...
The first thing I did was to call William on his direct line at HRD. “HRD Architects, William Chambers speaking.” “Hello, William. Doug Smith here. I was able to complete my business on the East Coast sooner than expected. I would like to arrange an appointment with you for tomorrow morning.” “No problem, Doug, would nine be alright?” “That will be good. I will be bringing Matt Crane and his wife Mary with me. “Matt will be setting up mobile homes, portable buildings, and utility...
Days 4 & 5: It was Day 4 and Sereine was to make her presentation to our attackers and the lawyers they had retained. Yesterday, Sto, Coral, and the kits had moved back to their home with Sereine. The kits were doing fine. Aunts Sereine, Misty, Betty, Carol, Rita, and Cindy were taking turns making sure they had everything they needed. Sereine started her presentation with a detailed description of the laws pertaining to the commission of an act of violence against another party and the...
“Hello, Bashira, it’s Doug. How are things going with you and Amir?” “Good, Doug. Are you and your wives starting to settle in as married people?” “Well, not yet Bashira. The honeymoon trip has ended and we just got home yesterday, but our honeymoon is continuing. If I’m lucky it will continue for some time to come. I’ll have to wait to see if married life is different from just living with my ladies. What is Amir doing?” “He is busy with a number of issues, Doug. Canceling your visit was...