Amity 3 TempestChapter 7 Golden City
- 2 years ago
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I pulled Opal up and looked at the tower.
I had been surprised to learn that I owned the top of the second tower. The museum was in the fourth tower. The council chambers were in the third. The bottom floors of the second, all of the first tower and the front three wings that joined the towers together, had been rented out as offices, shops and apartments.
The towers of what was called the Citadel were originally arranged in a hexagon shape. The Citadel was located on the western side of the bay and faced east. The north and the north-western towers, and their northern connecting wings had been pulled down. Only the wing that would have led to tower five still existed and was part of the museum.
A huge central dome that touched on the top of the inner walls of the curved 30m high wings peaked with the towers at 60m. The clear dome covered a large park that was criss-crossed with paths and little streams. The missing wings and towers had been replaced with Pillars, to support the dome.
The pillars made the garden airy and a nice place to spend the day, for the people who lived and worked in the citadel. Iren, the Museum Curator, later told me that the towers had been damaged before our ancestors moved here and they had been removed rather than rebuilt.
Apparently, I had six stables and two carriage bays to the rear, and we were directed there. I found an ornate monster of a carriage in one of the bays. We had brought Greta’s horse Nelly, with us. Red was indisposed, thanks to Opal, so we had picked a grey mare for Sable that he called, Puff.
A woman informed me that I could hire someone from town to look after the lankys for us. When I asked the best way to Tower Two, she indicated it was easier to just walk through the garden. I thanked her, and we went for a walk. It was still mid-morning, and we had made good time getting into the city.
“I wonder why the androids aren’t looking after the garden,” I said to Greta as we wandered through it.
“Well once we are settled in you can go ask them,” she told me.
That made sense, so we headed into the tower. I found the elevator marked ‘Horn Residence’ and pressed the button. We stood there for a bit, but nothing seemed to happen. I knew from Ochre City these elevators were quick.
Another person saw us standing at the elevator and said, “Excuse me, but that is a private elevator.”
“Yes, I know. But for some reason it doesn’t seem to be working,” I said.
“If you’re guests of the Deputy-Mayor he should have given you a passcode to type in,” the person said not sure who we were.
“Since when has the Deputy-Mayor lived in the Horn’s residence?” I asked perturbed.
The person shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, over two years at least. I’ve never seen anyone from the Horn family in this tower, and I’ve lived here for three years.”
“Well I am Bull Bron Horn, and this is my spouse, Greta, our nanny Tina, my son Sable and daughter Bonny. Who am I addressing?” I asked more politely.
“I’m the Councillor for Parks, Senior Clerk, Vaughn Rivers,” he replied. “I’m lucky enough to have gotten one of the few apartments in this tower. The top four floors belong to the Horns. Um, sorry, you.”
“So which floor is the Deputy-Mayor living on?” I asked.
“Sorry, as far as I know the residence is the top four floors. I’ve never been invited to any of the parties,” Vaughn replied.
“Do you know where I may find a suitable place for my family to rest why I sort out what’s going on?”
“I’m in apartment 5C, they are welcome to stay with me until you return,” he said.
I looked him over and decided he was trustworthy enough.
I consulted Greta, and she smiled at me. She put her arm through Vaughn’s, and he led her, the calves and Tina to an elevator. I took note of the one he used and headed to Tower Three.
I had to halt at a receptionist’s desk in the lower foyer. She asked how she could help me. “Please tell the Deputy-Mayor that Mayor Bull Bron Horn needs to see him on urgent business.”
“May I enquire as to the nature of that business, sir?” She asked disinterestedly as if she hadn’t bothered to take in my name.
“Yes, you may. I wish to know why he is living in my residence in Tower Two and if he had my grandfather’s permission. If so, why haven’t I found a copy of the agreement in my files or any rent monies in my bank?”
She had paled to the point that I thought she was going to pass out. She gulped several times and said, “I think you need to tell him all that.”
She got up, walked over to an elevator and inserted a key. As soon as the doors opened, she scuttled back to her desk. I stepped in, and since there was only one button, I assumed that the elevator only went up one floor and back down to this one.
When the doors opened at the top, I stepped out into a large open foyer that surrounded the elevators and central stairs. In front of me were two long, double-sided desks set back from the elevator. A woman was sitting between the desks with her feet up on one of the desks and facing me. She was reading a book.
I counted ten doors feeding off of the foyer, five either side. The sixth area was a glassed off lunch room. The twelfth area held what I assumed was a restroom and a seating area suitable for about twenty to thirty people to wait to be seen.
Each door had a title on it and a name underneath. I frowned. None of the doors said Mayor or Deputy-Mayor for that matter. I sighed and walked over to the woman who ignored me until I wrapped my knuckles on the desk.
“Yeah, what?” she said not bothering to look up.
“Who are you?” I asked with irritation.
She looked up and frowned at me. I think my unhappy look and tone of voice had penetrated her indifference. A look of uncertainty came over her face. I had dressed reasonably well. My riding leathers were new and of good quality.
She dropped her legs and sat up straighter. “I’m this levels receptionist, Mabel,” she said warily.
“I am the Mayor. Where is the Deputy-Mayor?” I asked in a cool voice. I was starting to become very annoyed.
She frowned, “We don’t have a Mayor. It’s an honorary position held by some old bloke who calls himself a bull and supposedly owns this city,” she replied.
“How about I bring you up to date since apparently, you work for me. The old bloke who once owned this city died when I shoved a horn into his groin and opened him up. I have been a little preoccupied sorting out the family and Bull business since then.”
“I’m here to sort out this city. So, as Mayor Bull Bron Horn, I want to see the bloody Deputy, and I want to see him now!” I wasn’t proud that my voice had risen to a bellow, but I was getting seriously frustrated with these people.
I looked around to see five shocked people staring at me from several doorways. I heard one say, “Oh, shit!”
“Yes,” I answered. “You lot are in a whole pile of manure, and it is going to take a lot of shovelling to get your arses of it. Now, where is the fat little bastard who is living in my home?”
They all paled at this statement. The receptionist said under her breath, “He’s not just in your residence.”
“What? His office is not good enough for him, either?” I asked her frostily.
Her eyes went wide, and she slapped her hand over her mouth. She quickly got up and went to the elevator. She put a key into a slot, and the doors opened. “Just push the button again,” she said nervously.
I sighed and got back in. The elevator stopped, and I got out. I was in another receptionist’s area, but it was empty. I could hear grunting noises coming from down a short hall and followed them.
The woman was lying udders down, over the edge of the huge desk. Her skirt up over her shapely arse. Higgins had his shirt hitched up above his paunch and his trousers down around his ankle. He’s fat arse was wobbling all over the places as he thrust his hips forward into the arse of the woman.
He grunted loudly each time as if it was a great effort on his behalf. She was just lying there with her legs spread wide and her head resting on her elbows on the desk. She was staring out the window as Higgins grunted and fucked her.
I got the impression it was just part of the job to her. She had just shut down her mind. She let him fuck her until he was finished and then she went back to work. I was so appalled I grabbed Higgins by the scruff of his shirt and hauled him backwards.
As he back peddled, I smashed my fist into his face. I wanted to hit him again and barely stopped myself. I flung him backwards and he crashed onto the floor. He grabbed his face and started sobbing and moaning.
I went to the desk and gently helped the young woman off it. “Please go and clean up and I’ll talk to you soon,” I said softly to her.
She looked around dazed and then looked down at Higgins lying on the floor with a bloody face and his pants around his ankles. She pulled her skirt down and headed for a side door. I assumed it was the bathroom.
I then went and sat in a chair and pulled it forward so I could lean on my knees and look at the piece of shit on the floor. “In case you haven’t worked it out, you are fired. Using coercion on an employee to exploit sexual favours is a big no-no.”
“Even the dumb-arse herder in me knows you can’t do that. It is called rape. The Bull in me seriously wishes to fry your arse with a branding iron and hang you by your puny cock and tiny balls from the nearest tree.”
I then turned my magical items visible. “Wow, even my magical items would like to see me do it. They obviously think that what you were doing was atrocious if they agree with violence. Don’t go to the bank. You will go directly to my residence.”
“Remove what personal possessions you can carry and you will then get on the first ship to somewhere but here. Do you understand my directions?” I was so angry my voiced sound like ice cracking.
He feebly nodded a yes. “Are you married?” I asked.
“Nyes,” he said with his busted nose screwing up his speech.
“How many wives and how many did you purchase?” I then asked him.
His eyes were huge with fear. “Ahl fnor,” he blubbered at me out.
“You have four spouses, and yet you fuck you employee using force. You are one sick, poor excuse for a human. Get up and get out of my sight before I throw you out of a window,” I barked at him in disgust.
He went to scramble to his feet and put his hand out onto the arm of the chair I was sitting in, to help get his fat arse off the floor. When he did, I saw the ring and placed my hand over it. A spell came to mind, and I said it.
The ring slid off his hand into mine. He started screaming and grabbed his head. He let it go when he realised he needed to pull up his pants. He sobbed as he hauled up his pants with one hand and then he stumbled to the elevator.
He banged on the doorplate as he sobbed incoherently. Trying to hold up his pants with one hand and the other alternated between his head and his banging. The doors finally opened and he stumbled inside.
“What did you do to him?” the woman asked. She had been standing outside the bathroom door watching me as I had talked to Higgins.
I held up the ring. “It seems the ring no long wished to be owned by him. It came to me,” I offered and looked at the ring perplexed.
“He’ll go mad without it. He told me once that if a mage loses their magical items, they go mad,” she informed me as she stared at the ring in fascination. It only had a small topaz and a magical crystal on it. It was not very powerful even for a Physic Novice.
“Shit! I forgot about that. I should have put a spell on him to reduce the stress of separation,” I told her with worry.
“Nah, he deserves everything he gets from here. He was an arsehole. How long do you think he’d been raping me?” she asked me.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know that. Probably started not long after the first time, you said no,” I suggested.
“Yeah, I think it’s been that long too. The memories are fuzzy. It wasn’t so bad I guess. I don’t remember him hitting me, and his cock was so tiny I feel my own finger more,” she said with a self-mocking grin.
“What about pregnancy?” I asked concerned.
“Nah, I take the herbs to make sure I don’t come into season. My mother used to be a Hind. A family secret, she told me,” she confessed to me.
“I’ve worked for the Hinds, and you are correct. They do take herbs for that purpose. I think it’s time that family made a commercial venture out of it. I did suggest it to Cavil,” I told her.
“How about you go home for the rest of the day. In the morning, I wish to hold a meeting with the councillors, about half third hour should do. Do you think you can arrange that before you leave?”
“Yes, I’ll do that, Sir. Have I lost my job?” she asked tentatively.
“Not at the moment. I think we will need to do a reshuffle and we will see who stays and who goes after that. I won’t make any promises until I know just how bad things are,” I informed her. “Oh, shit! I forgot to find out how to get into my residence,” I groaned.
She giggled and went to her desk. She opened a drawer and rustled around in it. She then handed me the set of keys that she had retrieved.
“Thank you and I’m sorry you were treated as you were. By the way, what’s your name?” I asked her.
“Oliva, Mayor Horn,” I was politely told.
“See you tomorrow, Oliva,” I replied as I pressed the plate for the lift and avoided the blood smear that was on it.
“There is a key on the ring that will let you up to this floor. Just insert it when you first get into the lift,” she told me as the doors were closing.
I walked out of the tower and went to mine. I inserted the key when I identified the correct one, and rode the lift to my residence. I found myself in a plush foyer. “Hello, anyone home?” I called out as I walked into the next room expecting Higgins.
I then ducked instinctively and tackled the person who had just swung something at my head. She screamed as we went down. I got hold of her wrists and slammed them into the floor above her head, so she let go if the skillet.
She wiggled and struggled under me for a bit. I then looked down at her face as I lay spread across her. “Hi honey, I’m home,” I said with a grin.
She settled and looked at me confused for a moment. She then started laughing. I smiled back and then decided I had better move. To my surprise, she was having an effect on me that only three other women had managed.
My spouses said for a dominantly male persona, I didn’t react like most males or even shifters in male form. At the party when I got a bit tipsy, the women tried to get me horny. My spouses told me that I only started to get an erection when one of them kissed or touched me.
I kissed the other women when they kissed me, but I didn’t otherwise react to the attention I was getting, as most males would have done. Even Cavil said I was weird. Apparently, my kiss had given him a hard-on, but I hadn’t even twitched.
I was twitching now, and I found it disconcerting. I let go of the woman and rocked back onto my hands and knees. I looked down at her as I pushed back and got to feet. Damn, she really was a honey.
She was nicely shaped with womanly hips, and even though they were flattened, it wasn’t hard to tell she had more than a handful up top. The skirt riding up her hips showed off long lovely legs. The looking wasn’t helping me. My body was reacting with my mind for a change.
I did notice that she had long, curly, honey reddish/blonde hair, and the pale complexion and facial features more like the Genteli. But I knew as soon as my skin had touched hers that she was a shifter.
She made me think of some of Dale’s people. Many of them had the lighter hair and skin and tended to be pale cream or shades of red when in bull form. Come to think of it, she had similar looks to Dale. I had to ask her, “Are you a Roan?”
I put out my hand and pulled her to her feet. The luscious udders settled into place, and I had to lift my eyes. I was surprised that I was distracted by them. I looked into her eyes and noticed the dark purple eyes.
“Yes, the current Bull is my sire. I was such a pain in the arse that Sony told me if I didn’t behave, she would get dad to sell me. So here I am,” she said mater-of-factually.
“Can I ask what you did to upset Sony?”
“I wouldn’t fuck her,” she said as if to shock.
“Well, you don’t have that problem anymore. She had been using a spell on Dale, and I cancelled it,” I told her. When Dale found a new love, she challenged, and he won.” I frowned. “Dale has only been the Bull for ten years?”
She grinned, “True, but my mother had been screwing him for many years. Sony told me my grandfather was impotent. Dave had some sickness when Dale was about fifteen, and his seed went bad.”
“I’m not even sure if Dale knows he is my sire and that of half of his so-called sisters. Sony liked to have him screw his father’s other wives with her. I think that’s why he got pregnant because I’m not sure he liked it.”
“I think he does know,” I told her. “He told Sony to stop screwing his calves. Sony tried to make out he was the one that that was impotent. I think his problem is that he would prefer to be female. His new spouse, Gary Bay, prefers male, so they are very happy.”
“That makes a lot of sense. The two kids he has had meant he could stay female and I don’t think I ever saw him happier than when he was. Don’t be surprised if the next time you see him he is pregnant to this Gary,” she warned me.
I grinned, “If he gets home from the party we just had at the Horn Homestead in male form, I would be most surprised. He was coming into season when they left.”
“So what are you doing here and where is the esteemed Fred Higgins?” she asked me.
“Ah, yes. Ex-Deputy-Mayor Higgins left what is apparently my office, screaming. He was screwing his clerk without her consent, and I took him to task over it. He was wearing a tainted ring, and he wasn’t pleased when it came to me,” I informed her as I pulled the ring from my pocket and showed it to her.
“Hum, he tried some spell on me, but it didn’t seem to work. I’ve been here since the mid-spring festival, and since he couldn’t force me to have sex with him because I whipped his arse, he has left me alone.”
“He was screwing the others, but I don’t think he found it very satisfying. He could force them to submit to his attentions, but he couldn’t force them to like it. So they’d just lie there on him. Apparently, if he hit them too hard it would snap his control over them.”
“Well, since I have the ring, they shouldn’t be under his control anymore. Where are they by the way?” I asked as I looked around.
“Waiting upstairs. Bugger, they are probably wondering what happened to me,” she said and turned to run up a flight of stairs. “I’ll tell them it’s safe to come down,” she called over her shoulder.
I wandered around the level I was on and found another elevator in the middle of this floor that would take me up to the floors above and the roof and back to this floor. I didn’t think much of Fred’s taste in decor. I’m sure Greta would have fun fixing it.
Damn! I hurried back to the other elevator and went down. I got out at level five. I found apartment C and knocked. Vaughn answered and let me in. I happily hugged Greta and explained we couldn’t hang around as the ladies upstairs would be wondering where I went.
I asked Vaughn if he would like to come with us, as I was sure he’d enjoy the story I had to tell. Plus it would probably affect his job so he might as well be informed. He happily agreed, and we went back to the Residence.
As we stepped out of the elevator, I heard someone calling out, ‘Mayor Horn’. I answered, “Honey, I’m home.”
Greta lifted her eyebrows at me and then turned to look at the woman who walked towards us and chuckled. “You do have impeccable taste, Bron,” she said.
I blushed, and she laughed. Damn woman, how the hell she did she know that I’d reacted to this new woman. I didn’t even know her name.
“Greta, how lovely to see you again. Don’t tell me you fell for the Horn charm?” she said and happily hugged Greta.
“Honey, I see you have met my spouse. This is our daughter Bonny, and this young man is Sable, he is Bron’s son. Tina is our nanny, and Vaughn kindly kept us company whilst Bron tried to find out why we couldn’t use our residence.”
“Bron’s other two spouses, Bea and Cora, both had twins’ a week ago and they told me to take him away as he wasn’t letting them near the babies. He is a real sap for calves.”
Honey quirked an eyebrow at me and grinned. Tina giggled and Vaughn chuckled. Having had my Greta’s company for the last hour or so, I’m sure he knew the full family history by now.
“You mean her name really is, Honey?” I asked in surprise.
“I thought Fred told you my name, and that you were here to use us,” she said looking at me oddly.
Greta laughed and said, “Don’t tell me one of your jokes actually bit you back? Oh my, wait until I tell the girls this one. They are going to laugh until they pee.”
I had the good grace to look abashed. Well, I at least knew her name. I then had to know, “How do you two know each other?”
“We met when Dad and Beth took me to a festival about four years ago. I didn’t take a fancy to any of the Bulls at the time, although Dale was at least cute. But I couldn’t stand Sony, so dad took me home again,” Greta explained.
“So who are the other ladies currently residing here?” I asked Honey.
“Yes, I suppose you had better meet them. They are a bit befuddled since you took the ring from Fred. I tried to explain to them what happened to them but they don’t seem to remember parts of their time here.”
We walked into the next room to find three pretty, young women sitting at a very long table. They were all around my age I guessed. Honey said, as she pointed at the three women, “Pam has been here the longest, over two years. She was a Tanner.”
“Then he bought Peta from the Hoofs a year and a half ago and Harry a year ago from the Hearts and then me at the last festival. I think he was planning on selling Pam and me this year and trying again.”
I looked at Greta, “I think there is enough room that they can stay until we can sort out what they want to do.”
Greta kissed my cheek and hugged me, “You’re a real soft touch aren’t you, my love?”
I happily hugged her back and replied, “Well, it seems I got rid of their spouse, so it looks like I’ve inherited them.”
“So what? We are now your spouses,” Honey said as she looked me over and gave me that uncomfortable feel again. She didn’t seem to upset by this idea.
I shook my head, “No, that’s not how it works anymore. We have reinstated the laws that some of our ancestors choose to ignore.”
Greta continued, “And we fixed a few of them up that needed a bit of work. I’ll give them to you all to read later. For you, Honey, it means you are free to marry anyone you want to. You aren’t a slave anymore, and since you’re over twenty-one, you can do as you wish.”
“Can I go home?” Harry asked with a faint hope in her voice and look.
“How old are you, Harry?” I asked.
“I’m seventeen, Peta is eighteen and Pam is nineteen,” she informed me.
“I’ll send a message to your Bulls. I have a feeling they will welcome you home if you wish to go. However, you are all old enough to get a job here in Horn City and support yourselves.”
“If you wish, you can come home with us. I’m sure we can find jobs for you all. I’ll contact your Bulls and inform then that I’ve taken you on as trainees. Greta will know what we can train you for once she has had a talk to you all,” I informed them.
“What’s special about being trainees?” Pam asked with more interest.
“You get paid, and if you’re under twenty-one, you can get married with your Bulls permission, and after that, you can make a choice. But I’d still ask Bron because he knows if people are good or bad. He has really looked after us since he became the Bull. So has Greta,” Tina told them.
“We don’t know the new spouses as well, but they have been really nice to all of us. Horn homestead is an enjoyable place to live these days. Some of my sisters and aunts had a hard time leaving after the party he threw.”
I was surprised to hear the last bit. I knew some of the older shifters considered me an upstart and quite a few had only dealt directly with me if they had to. To hear that they hadn’t wanted to leave had me wondering why. It couldn’t have been because I was in charge, as Tina implied, surely not!
Harry wanted to know about the party, so Greta and Tina happily sat with them to fill them in. I went for a look around the apartment. It was huge. The floor we had entered consisted of a huge kitchen, an informal and a formal dining room. Both rooms had two long tables that could seat 12 people with ease and serving boards down each side.
There was a huge entertainment room on the eastern side. Fifty odd people could easily move around in it. It had plush seating in several clusters and even a dance floor. It had access at several points to the wide surrounding balcony.
A restroom designed for six people to use at one time was accessible from the formal dining room, the entertainment room and the wide adjoining foyer. A library, a smaller sitting room and a separate large office were accessible from the foyer.
The floor above had a large central sitting area with groups of comfortable chairs and small tables. Twelve bedrooms led off it. Each pair of rooms shared a large bathroom that had the special features of the old city.
They had the strange showers, a bathing tub four people could use at one time, two flushers, two sinks and a box that washed and dried clothes and a cupboard that held sheets and towels.
Each spacious bedroom had a very large bed, a side room for clothes and dressing in, a small sitting area for four and an area that I suppose you could call a mini-kitchen.
The little kitchen areas had a cold box, a heating box, a little sink and wall mounted cupboards with basic dishes and utensils in them and a flap that I believed was the recycle chute. I’d seen one of these in each bathroom and bigger ones in the kitchens.
The floor above also had bedrooms. It had a smaller central seating area around the elevator and the stairs. The foyer had five halls branching off. Each hallway ended with a door that led to the surrounding balcony of the tower.
Two sets of rooms tapped off either side of the hallways. The inner room was smaller than the outer room and held a single bed. The outer room held two single beds. The beds were longer and wider than our single beds at home. Two of our people could easy sleep in them.
Where the sixth hallway would have been was an open area. It was set up with a kitchen, four tables that could sit eight people and several clusters of seating off to the side. A small bathroom with two flushers, two sinks a clothes washing box was in the corner beside the kitchen.
I worked out that two sets of rooms on either side of the dividing walls of the bedrooms all shared a central bathroom. Each room had a dressing area. I guessed that these rooms were for kids and servants.
The floor above had what I would call three master bedrooms. Each room had two big beds and its own bathing room with an even bigger tub in it. The fourth area had a large family room with an area set aside with musical instruments in it.
I had noticed the replicator units in several places on each floor, mostly in the foyer areas around the central stairs and elevators. This unit had what Silver had told me was a screen for viewing your selections, and the reclaim area underneath about 60cm high and 50cm wide.
I knew at present that it wasn’t working. The units I was seeing were part of a bigger system Silver had called the replication machine. In Ochre City, I knew the screens let you select an item and then it appeared in the reclaim box.
It could make a lot of things that my people just didn’t have any more and hadn’t had for many centuries. I would have to think about how it affected our economy if it was fixed. I was glad the recyclers and sewerage systems were fixed.
I had noted the difference when we came into town. The streets were cleaner, and the bad smells had definitely reduced. It still wasn’t as clean as I would have expected. I did need to go to see what was going on with the androids and sweepers.
I headed back downstairs and found that someone had thought about lunch.
Greta kissed me when she saw me.
I happily kissed her back and hugged her to me. She told me everything was under control. The girls and Vaughn wanted to hear about what happened to Fred. I happily claimed a position at the table. I was served soup, and a big pile of sandwiches was placed on the table.
Once the others joined me, I told them what happened. Vaughn wasn’t surprised to hear that Fred was banging his clerk. He started filling us in on a lot of what he knew was happening in Tower Three. Greta had to put her hand on my arm to calm me. I was not a happy Bull.
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-- Earth time: 2078-- “Oh, fuck! Oh, fuck!” I cussed. As soon as I felt that weird feeling, I knew the damn book had sent me home. Daniel looked at me in surprise. He frowned at me. I sighed and sat up. I then picked him up, and balanced my son on my hip I walked over the Lectern. “Send me back immediately,” I demanded. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I’ve lost contact with the portal you originated from. You look familiar. Let me see. Oh! This is very strange. According to my records,...
-- Crystal -- I awoke depressed. Another day to get through. I rolled out of Kegan’s arms and moved over so I could flop back onto my back. I thought about Vaughn and Harmony. It has been nearly three months since my portal book said he had connected to a portal on another planet. He has tried to send me there, but for some reason, the portal on the other side refuses to let him send me. ‘I didn’t meet protocols’, were the replies that Vaughn got. He even connected to the portal on...
I was speechless when Crystal walked in to say that Raina and the babies were fine. She was the woman in the crystal ball. I guess Zara had known that she was to be my paramour. But I think something did change. I don’t believe Zara saw me as an Empress in the other version of our future. I drank in Crystal’s beauty and felt myself harden at the sight of her. I knew she was still to be mine in this version of reality. I had no problem with that at all. I glanced at Storm’s other three...
I looked at the camera. Seven months old, Devin stood on my right thigh, and his brother Quin stood on my left with my arms supporting them. Sky sat cross-legged across on my lap and leant against me. Kim was at my right shoulder with his right arm around Sarah. Beside him was Lindell her arm around him and Bonny. Raina fussed and finally said she had a lovely picture. Sky scrambled down to run to her big sister and see the results. Sarah bent and kissed me and claimed Devin while Bonny...
I’ve decided the last few chapters of this book should be Mikal’s summary. Of all of us, he has probably had the most interesting year. While a lot has happened to me too, I think the others have summed up my major achievements in their way. I know that I’m a very content man. Being surrounded by the huge loving family that I have managed to gather just makes me an even happier one. I find plenty to keep me occupied and having my kids has also been a major distraction, towards which I’ve...
Penny, Alexus, Kale and Selwyn blinked to Tinble City. They were sad to find that the shield had failed. The devastation suggested that it had failed many years before. When they entered the Citadel, they found it dark and quiet. They activated their wands, so they provided light and using the stairs they headed to the room that the SAI should be located in. They found that she had died. The dried out mess in the tank suggested that she had been dead for a year or possibly two. Kale...
Once were docked we spent the afternoon wandering the docks. We worked out many of the ships were from Weston. A few were from Federation, and several smaller ships were from Orient. They also had a large fishing fleet. There were plenty of taverns and other places dedicated to the entertainment of sailors. We checked out the markets, and I even found a bank and organised an account. I wandered in and out of several jewellery stores. I found some of their styles interesting, but from what I...
Tom was correct, and we did arrive in Weston just after lunch. He followed Reilly’s directions and ended up pulled up on a nice wide dock over to the southern side of the long bay. It was a little removed from the other docks, but as he explained, they were considered a higher end market area these days. The area had once been a big meat works, which was why they had the separate dock and sale pens for livestock. With the changes in population, the meatworks moved further north as it seemed...
A runner turned at the homestead. My spouses were coming home. I immediately started tossing out orders, to get the carts on the road and get the herders assembled. I was running around like a clucker with its head cut off. Greta and Edith calmly took over and told me to go. I was on Opal so fast it wasn’t funny. I was pacing the wharf waiting for Captain Hail to tie up his ship so he could drop the planks and I could board. I raced up the plank and stopped dead at the sight of Bea and...
After the fun of entering the Palace compound, we arrived at a courtyard and dismounted. We were then shown through umpteen dozen hallways and rooms, each gaudier than the last, to get to a waiting room. As we walked, I wondered if the King was related to Higgins. He had the same horrible taste in decorations. John and Tony left us in a little alcove to wait. We settled in, as I didn’t expect to be received in any hurry. I was glad we’d had something to eat before we were interrupted. I did...
“Fuck!” I said aloud. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I was still standing in a Ring. However, it wasn’t the same ring that I had been standing inside of, only moments before. I was in another cavern. This cavern also had a disused look similar to the one I had been in, but it was cleaner and better sealed. I looked up and noticed the crystals were a lot dimmer and there was not as many, as in the other cavern. I had a feeling if I wanted to go home, they would need to be a lot brighter and recharged....
David was checking out the information Carline had given him. With JJ’s help and the new satellites, they had built a comprehensive map of Federation. From what he could determine, the people had spread out around the coasts, radiating out from where the sections of the original starship had landed. Federation was the largest content on the planet. It linked into the Southern pole and then stretched up to the equator. It crossed it in a large, wide chunk of land. Several short, broader...
-- Storm - Earth time 2102-- Kim and Lindell had decided to come on the trip with Sarah and me. Sarah dropped her shuttle down onto an open paddock near the section of Torus in the old crater. As we disembarked, a man dressed in what I’d call cut down buckskins approached. He was taller than the average here, lean and fit with sable hair tied back off his face. He looked at most as if he was twenty years old. With him was a very shapely woman. She had paler, more honey coloured hair but...
-- Daniel -- I’m surprised by how well Pip and I have learnt to work together. It’s not been an easy task, and we both realise that we still have a lot of work to do and a lot to learn about running a city and a community. The people we rescued have been settling into the city and taking over a lot of the work of rebuilding their lives and new homes. I think the fact that they could spread out a bit sorted out a lot of the animosity between the different factions. Captain Dale has been of...
-- Storm - Amity - Earth time: 2102 -- We were in a right pickle. Daniel and Pip stayed a couple of extra days to help with the clean-up and burying of the dead. Even my other wizards turned up in Nickel City and then teleported to us to help. Ulu even brought Carline and Sharon with him. Carline was Leslie’s only living daughter, and Sharon was Anne’s daughter to a different shifter, called Trip. They were both pretty upset about their mothers dying like they had, as one would expect....
I woke early and crawled out of the bodies piled onto my bed. I still liked about four hours sleep, and I think I had slept so solidly due to utter exhaustion. It had been a very fulfilling night, and my loved ones had worked hard to please me. I showered and dressed and then popped down to the café and grabbed some food and a large pot of tea to get me going. I asked JJ where the ships were, near Saran and Green Island. She pointed out that the ships near Saran were just off the coast. I...
We were sad to leave Bron and his people. Sable was delighted that his dad had become a Lord Wizard. We had a good laugh about the fact that he truly was Lord Bull Bron Horn now. Silver and Rose thought it very fitting, as far as they were concerned he had always acted like a Lord Wizard anyway. I suspected that little would change on Green Island following the upgrades as, the Bulls were an exceptional group of people and led their people by example as it was. Bron said he had no plans to...
-- Philip - 2052 -- My name is Philip Carpenter, and I was born in the year 2036 to Eca Johana. My mother lived in Malaysia when she met my biological father whom she called Storm. She liked to tell me that he had the most compelling eyes and that I had inherited them. When we were happy or excited, they shone green. When we were upset or angry, they darkened to grey, and you could see the storm in them. I guess she liked my eyes. I learned later in life that many other women did as well,...
As Smithy had predicted the snowfall wasn’t that bad. It was a very chipper crowd that greeted Trixi and me at the fire the next morning. We did get a few head shakes after the night before, and I did blush. You see I tried something new. Trixi was exhausted after four days of helping me recharge and the magic she had used that day. My girls had indicated to me in the past that it wasn’t so much the sex but me channelling the magic through them when I came. I was going to try to be the...
We were packed up ready to go on our next adventure. It was late autumn, and we were looking forward to going and seeing how our new village was developing. Tara had sent me countless reports and thanked us for the power systems. Volt, one of the shifters from the City that had married into my family, was an electrician, so they didn’t need a crew to come set up the systems. I scratched Hornville, Barton and our homestead from the list of towns needing an electrical crew. Volt had planned...
We had not long rounded the Horn of Federation when we saw the storm. It was bearing down on us from the north-west. The air smelt funny and the sky to the west was dark as far as we could see. Dazzle, the first mated was very worried, and I didn’t blame him. He recommended that rather than turn out to sea as were planning, we go further down the coast and look for a cove that we could hide in. I had seen the results of one of these storms going over land and the mess it made to both the...
The next two days were very busy. Bea being an Earth mage made sure the house paddock was smooth to reduce tripping hazards. She also tidied up the drive and the area beside the new barn Greta, and I had built. The outer floor and walls of the barn are made of packed earth. We can’t really call them bricks because we used a spell to make the compacted floor and walls from earth. We also made the inner dividing walls, posts and second floor from earth, as well as the stairs. We did use more...
The next week was a lot of fun. I’d brought hard miners hats that had my crystal lamps attached to the front of them. I’d also made a heap of small crystal lamps that we used to mark intersections. Albi and I would scribe arrows and one or two words to help anyone to get to a particular feature we found, or back to the main cavern. We also marked dangerous tunnels that had sudden drops to catch the unwary. One of the cavern entrances we had climbed up to and accessed from the central tunnel...
I had never been on a long ocean voyage before. I’d travelled a couple times on ships when we had gone to visit the southern properties, but the open ocean was a whole different experience I’d not had. So far, I’d never been seasick. I think my merman genes had a lot to do with that. I had also discovered there was something new I could do with my magic. My fourth discipline was Physics. I could shape liquids and move air. I had a plan to make the voyage more pleasant. In one of the...
The trip to Ochre City was surprisingly boring. Captain Hail had set the suite aside for Sable and I. I had the master room, and Harry was bunking with Sable in his room. We even had our own little reading room between our rooms and a little bathroom. The ship was now fully lit, and they even had a better pump, so we had water for the showers. Silver had added a new water tank in the hold as part of our ballast, so we no longer carried the water barrels. She had even fitted a special...
-- Ant - 2057 -- Our team soon settled into their new lives. We didn’t get to take the first team of construction workers to the Moon. UNSEC had built a larger ship that could house thirty people. It would become the base until the construction crew got the first dome built. A lot of planning had gone into the design of these domes to reduce construction time. Once the underground bases had been constructed, the Domes would be built like giant jigsaw puzzles. They could be built with no...
We found a deserted farm about 2km down the road. The barn was barely big enough for the mothers, but it got them out of the cold. A storm was coming up from the south, and it had a decided chill to it. The herd I had collected from the mountain surrounded my young heifers to keep them warm. Big Ben took up guard duties. I had Bea and Cora touch me, and we were able to create a shield big enough to cover the small house and the barn. If anyone passing by, remembered the farm being there,...
Garson was a large city. Cora had often come here to sell their bighorns and woollies, so she knew it well. It looked like she was going to prove very useful. We had to wait for an agent to come aboard the ship before we could unload. He was a pompous arse, and I immediately took a dislike to him. The first thing he asked was what did we have on board. The Captain had docked his ship down the end of the wharf near the stock pens. The dickhead had to have heard several of our bighorns...
My people had organised activities since this was a first official day of the party. We expected everyone to be here by noon depending on where they had camped the night before. Since all of the players were here, the festivities started in earnest. I was surprised to see that several couples were already inseparable. Since my friends had arrived early, their Herds had taken to the spirit of the occasion and had been checking out who was who and who might tickle their fancy. They also...
It was a beautiful morning to set sail. With the speed of our ship, we should be in Weston late in the day on the second day. Trixi and Foxi had both been to Weston, so they were happy to be out tour guides in the city. Albi would be our guide in the mountains. I think the smoothness of the travel had them all amazed that they were on a ship at sea. We had picked up ten other passengers, a family of four, two single men and two couples. They too found our ship odd. Albi bunked in with...
Trixi took me to see the herds nearest herds to town, which were was sick. I explained my methods of overcoming the sickness to the people she introduced me to. I healed the worst animals and informed them that feeding the mash with the extra salt should get the rest back into good health along with checking that the hay didn’t have the tell-tale mould that seemed to be partially responsible. They had the mould on all three properties, and I told them of my better storage methods for the...
As I had predicted, Snort managed to get half his heifers pregnant in the first four days. Tally and I decided to split the herd into six lots before he did the rest. Five lots had ten cows in each. Half were pregnant, and the other half were not. The sixth lot included the other ten girls and Snort. If the owners of the first five lots wanted Snort to finish the job, they would have to pay his new owner. Else, they could put them to their own bulls. We considered this fair and the feedback...
-- Philip - 2061 -- Ant and I looked at the Rih drive. There was no way we were going to get that baby going again. She was Fucked with a capital ‘F’. I was still surprised the computer hadn’t shut it down. It must have failed catastrophically to melt as it had. We went and checked the other three drives. The second drive on this end was fine, giving us some hope. I suggested we might need to do a spacewalk. Theoretical we could drop the cones off and replace them. It was also possible the...
Since we were at the new wharf, I asked Ian and Robert where they wanted their cold rooms. They already had the main road and a road built behind where the other longer wharf would go. The boys also planned another jetty at the other end of the beach. They had a lovely big mound of dirt and rocks that they had created when levelling off the road and clearing an area to start building back from the beach. The road crew were due back in a week to build them a couple more roads. They were to...
It was five years later before I claimed my sixth spouse. Inx’s family had moved to Ochre from Weston. She had been born in a tiny village that was north of Unna, in Orient. They still had problems with slavers, so her family moved. Her family had moved around a lot before settling in Weston for a while. When they heard people could go to the protected city of Ochre, they had applied. They did very well in Ochre finding the people there much more accepting of them being shifters. She became...
We spent two more weeks in town. When I’d asked Rose where she found the extra organisers that I had requested I had learnt some things that I didn’t know. Rose admitted to me that Garnet and Iren had fixed a little replicator that was designed to be portable. It only made items that could fit into a 40cm square by 50cm long area. It was designed to go to new mining sites to provide basics for the miners like toiletries, bedding, small tools, work clothes and safety items like boots,...
-- Storm -- I was a happy man. While my sons were still a mystery to be solved, I had at least gotten my daughters back. I can’t believe my amazing Crystal. She had done everything in her power to save her spirit friend even from himself. In my mind, that made her an exception wizard, and I wished I could give her a box she truly deserved. As for Sable, I took great delight in contacting Bron and telling him what his amazing son had done for my daughter and me. If she wants to marry him,...
The next two weeks were uneventful. We had good weather all the way. The ship went even faster with the clean hull. I think all the damn crystals they had embedded in the ship helped as well. The food was awesome. We had fresh produce every day. The cook, Ben, excelled himself. The ship normally had sixteen crew members, but since the Captain had a feeling he was going to have a bored crew on a ship that would rarely break down, we had left six of the crew with the girls. Half of his crew...
My first meeting was with the rent collectors. I’d spent some time the night before going through the two sets of books I’d retrieved from Enders office. I was appalled by what I had found. When I compared the amounts, I guessed they had ripped off my grandfather over the years but their bank accounts would not show much of the money, which would have been spent or hidden. Going by the decor of the apartment, I could see where a lot of Higgins’ money went. Ender was a different story....
Greta and I left the Bulls to their own devices. I had a couple of meetings I had promised to attend, and the last town forum was being run that afternoon. It was the candidates’ last chance to convince the locals to vote for them. Things had been going well for the first half hour then a few people started asking strange questions of the clerks’ that were running for election and Anna and Nat. They wanted to know things like what spells I had put on them and how often they had to fuck...
The coronation went well. Four of the five Lords attended. The fifth was the one was who caused a lot of speculation. He had sent word that he was indisposed. They had an illness affecting his people, so they didn’t even send a representative. Ryan told me Lord Mark Metal owned a valley that was further away than many of the others. He was also very old and being indisposed wasn’t something new to them. While the Lords operated the Shires in a rough semi-circle around Weston, Mark’s Shire,...
Once we were packed, we headed down the passageway. The man-made features lasted longer in this tunnel. Initially, it was rectangular. After about 20m, it changed abruptly. When I investigated, I pointed out to Mica that I believed it had once ended with a spelled door. When we had flashed our lights down this tunnel, it had appeared as a dead end. It was only as we got to the end did we realise it joined a cross passageway. The new path had a lower more rounded roof and was narrower. We...
Jay turned off his cornerstone and became visible. I noted the calculating look Casey sent his way. I wished her luck. I had a feeling Harry would soon disillusion her of her aspirations. I noted the way Jay looking over Mica and Casey. While it was a look of appreciation for two fine looking women, I knew as well he did that his heart was in Harry’s hands. He was perfectly happy that it was. I suspected my little effort the night before had affected all of those in camp. Harry and Jay...
I was amused to be seated at the head of the table. Greta was on my left and Cavil had the other end of the table. The Bellows may have been wondering what was going on, but I wasn’t in any hurry to tell them. Dick had been seated beside Greta and his sons interspaced with Cavil’s three main spouses at my request. I had invited only one of my grandfather’s people to be at the main table. I was interested as to why my sister Jose had been part of his entourage. She had been seated on my...
Lady Di came out to meet us when we got to her homestead. She seemed in a good mood and pleased to see Cora and me. She gave Bea a couple of long looks, but she didn’t behave inappropriately towards her or Cora. She told me that the reports from her other properties were coming back that the sickness had gone and the herds were improving in health. We went to look at the herd she had purchased from me, and I introduced Snort to Bea. We all laughed when he gave her a big sloppy kiss. He...
On the trip home, we had an interesting discussion. I wanted to go to Weston. Goran had fired up my interest. Sable was adamant that he would be coming too. Harry said if Sable went then he went. Rose said where I went she went. Rose amused me because she seemed to relish the idea of going to visit Silver’s City, so she didn’t even attempt to talk me out of the trip. I also suspected she had a thing for Silver. They had become best buddies when they met in Horn City. I did occasionally...
Cavil’s spouses were confused when he announced that he was no longer married to them. They were not sure why he was now saying they weren’t married, as they all believed that they were now my spouses. We confused them a little more when we explained the status-quo. They weren’t my spouses either. I patiently explained to them that since Cavil had proclaimed that he had stepped down as Bull the marriages were considered null-and-void. They all nodded to this. I then explained that I didn’t...
The big family meeting went better than I expected. While I had shelved a few projects until we got the site for the new village surveyed, we still had plenty of work to keep people busy. I think the fact I wasn’t going to evict anyone also helped. They all understood that I expected them to earn the wages they would be paid. The only real bank we had on the island was in Horn City. Other than that, there was just the money in a Bull’s coin chest. I wanted to introduce a system as I had...
Leigh handed the floor over to me. I laid out some of my plans to the other Bulls. I also looked at Leigh and Bob as I included plans that they could get involved in as my nearest neighbours. I could see them all looking at each other as their minds filled with ideas. I suggest that we retired to the lunch tables so we could mingle. This suggestion was unanimously agreed upon, and the Bulls headed out with a lot of excited chatter. I collared Cavil and got him to wait for me. I had to stop...
“I still can’t believe my magic box opened for you?” I said, to Sable. “I’m as surprised as you are, daddy. I just told the box we needed to charge the crystals to help you, and it opened for me,” he replied. “You are probably the only person it would open for too, son,” I said. “My entity likes you for some obscure reason.” Sable chuckled, “It loves you, dad. I think you frightened it when you collapsed. So it was willing to trust me so Trixi and I could help you.” I looked around the...
Bea wasn’t shy by any means. I stopped and checked what the bathing arrangements were and the landlady said she had two buckets of hot water ready if I wished to carry them up to my room. The tub was already in place as were towels and bathing requirements. I went to the kitchen with her, and she filled the buckets for me. I carefully took them up the back stairs. We were in a large room near the back stairs. I put the buckets down and swung the door to our room open. Picking up the...
To say the wizards stole the show would be putting it politely. While they had arrived in the more acceptable manner by coming to the front door and waiting to be announced, that was about all they did that was mundane. Olivia, Warren and Lillian were amused as they watched them enter the ballroom. To start with, they were the tallest people there. Sarah, Zarka and Payton were breathtaking. There was more than one man in the room who wanted to bury his head in their tits. The fact that that...
The party after the election was massive. It may sound a bit anti-climactic, but I was happy with the outcome of the election. The clerks that I was happy to see promoted were. The candidates I felt would be voted in were and the candidates I felt would take Clerk jobs did. Most importantly, Vaughn shoed it in. I wonder how many people noticed the ring on Vaughn’s finger. Yeah, he got two promotions. I had found him after I’d dealt with Dale and his spouses. I also collected Anna, Nat,...
I went home to get my girls. I was so happy to be home. The family greeted me with a lot of enthusiasm. I spent the day sorting out problems with different projects and finally got to spend some time with my girls. Bea and Cora were bloody horny that night. It had been nearly three weeks since I was home and the girls planned for me to make up for my absence. I was more than happy to indulge them. They intended to get more involved in the running of the property, and both had decided to...