Opening Earth Part 1Chapter 6
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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 people they are protecting. They decided on running a series of ‘bait and trap’ operations. To make things even more interesting, they turned the situation into a game. They had been playing the game for most of the day. By the time I arrived at the hotel, the media representatives would not approach the members of my entourage, so Cindy and Tammy were declared the winners of the contest.
The three single bodyguards had rejoined us at the hotel, so each of the four married bodyguards was paired with one of my ladies to form four two-person teams. The four teams rolled a pair of dice to decide the order in which they would conduct the operations. Cindy and Tammy won the right to conduct the first ‘bait and trap’ operation.
When I asked, Cindy said, “We went down in the elevator and approached the front desk. When the receptionist ask if she could help us, I said, ‘I am Cindy Smith and Doug Smith is my guardian. I understand that ‘Janine’s Shoes’ is within walking distance. Could you tell me how to get there?’
“The receptionist said to me, “Yes, Ma’am, turn right as you leave the hotel. Go two blocks and turn right again. Janine’s is on the left side about a block and a half down the street.”
“As Tammy and I left the hotel, we could see that we had a small group of what appeared to be media representatives following us. Behind them were three of our bodyguards.
“From behind us, I heard, “Miss Smith, Miss Smith please wait we have some questions for you.”
“As we walked, Tammy asked if I wanted to answer questions, and I said No. She said, ‘Let’s stop here for a moment so I can warn them to leave us alone.”
“We stopped, and Tammy got between the media representatives and me. In a loud voice, she said, ‘I am Miss Smith’s bodyguard, Tammy Charles. Miss Smith told me she does not want to answer any questions. We are leaving. Do not follow us and do not ask Miss Smith any further questions. Let’s go, Miss Smith.”
“We turned and started walking away. The media representatives continued to follow us, and they were shouting out questions. I could see Tammy talking on her comm unit. She ended her call, pulled me into a doorway, and got between the media and me. I could see our three bodyguards ready to move in if they were needed.
“Three police units arrived in less than a minute. It was as if they were in the area waiting for Tammy’s comm.”
I glanced at Sereine when Cindy said that, and she was staring at the ceiling avoiding my stare. She knew something and didn’t want to admit it.
“Anyway, the next thing I knew, Tammy shouted, ‘these men are following us and harassing us. I am Miss Smith’s bodyguard and I warned them to leave us alone, but they kept following and verbally harassing us.”
“The police arrested the media representatives, and secured them in the police units. They took statements from Tammy and me, and then left. I was ready to go back to the hotel, but Tammy told me we had to continue on to ‘Janine’s Shoes’.
“I bought this pair of shoes, and then we came back here and I told everyone about our experience. After that, the next team left for their operation. We have been doing this for most of yesterday, but during our last three operations today, no one followed us.”
I smiled at Cindy’s story for I knew what would happen to the media representatives after the police took their statements. They were booked at the police station and taken directly to the courthouse. Each representative was tried separately. If any of them wanted a lawyer, they would be held in the courthouse until the lawyer arrived.
When the media representative was ready to proceed, the complainant’s statement was read into the record. The media representative was then asked if the statement was true. The courtroom’s veracity equipment confirmed whether they answered the question truthfully or lied.
Veracity equipment is used in all Multiverse courts to determine if a witness is lying or telling the truth. In all the tests and studies performed in the Multiverse, no one has ever been able to lie without the veracity equipment detecting the lie.
Multiverse citizens know that the equipment will be used in the courtroom, and if they lie, they will be caught. Most people either make no statement or just tell the truth, and if they know they are guilty, they hope the Judge will be merciful. Occasionally, someone will attempt to fool the veracity equipment. When that happens, they are caught and punished for lying in court.
If the media representative said the bodyguard’s statement was true, then they were guilty of misdemeanor harassment and sentenced to three days of imprisonment. If they said the statement was false, they were given an opportunity to tell what actually happened.
If the media representative lied in their statement, the bodyguard’s version was accepted as the truth. The media representative was then sentenced to ninety-three days of imprisonment: ninety days for lying in court and three days for harassment. If the veracity equipment indicated they were telling the truth, the bodyguard would be interviewed to determine if they filed a false police report. Since my bodyguards were all ex-police officers, I doubted if anyone would be questioning them. They had set up the media representatives in a way that the representatives had not been expecting, and the representatives were guilty of the charges.
The team of Cindy and Tammy was winning the contest of who could get the most media representatives arrested, when the representatives caught on to what was happening and stopped following them. The other team members claimed that a team of two attractive women going out on the first operation gave them an unfair advantage. Cindy and Tammy just smiled and let them complain about losing.
I was a little upset about this game for it placed my ladies at risk and it was taking up the police officers’ time. They might be needed elsewhere on a more critical call.
Sereine took me aside and said, “Don’t worry about it, Doug. When one of your ladies left, they had four well-trained bodyguards watching them. They were never at risk of being hurt.
“I talked with a little bird that I know, about what was planned. That little bird told me the police in this area were having a very slow day, and would appreciate having a little excitement to help pass the time. They were having a contest of their own to see which team of officers arrested the most misdemeanor-harassment perpetrators during their shift.”
I never did learn who that little bird was, or how Sereine made contact with said little bird. She told me it was best for everyone if I didn’t know. I decided she was probably right. No one had been hurt, and perhaps we would be subjected to less media harassment in the future.
I convened a meeting to determine if we were ready to depart for home.
“Alright, everyone, we need to determine what else needs to be done before we leave for Earth. Cindy, will you please make a list of the items we mention.
“To start off with; I need to check with my parents, to ensure everything is okay with them, and to see what they may need from me. I assume that everyone has been storing their purchases in their storage shelter, so we need to get that before we leave. The three bodyguards going with us will need energy rifles, so we need to stop off at the weapons training school to get three energy rifles and accessories for them; I also need to pick up the additional weapons and accessories I ordered. I will want to make a large purchase of bullion to take with us to sell. We need to purchase some prepackaged food, if Betty hasn’t done so already. I’m not going to eat any more of those MREs. We will also need to get Sandy some traveling clothes and equipment, but no weapons for this trip.
“That’s all I can think of for the moment. Let’s go around the room. Each of you can let us know what you have done, and what you think needs doing. Sereine let’s start with you.”
Sereine said, “I have purchased enough dry food for Coral and Sto to last six months, and stored it in the shelter. We can supplement that with fresh meat when needed. They will eat anything as long as it’s red meat, cooked or raw. Coral doesn’t seem to care for fish, but she will eat it when she is hungry. We also need to contact Sergei to inform him of when we are leaving; but other than that, I can’t think of anything outstanding that needs to be done.”
Sereine glanced at the head of the single bodyguards, and he said, “The three of us have closed down our apartments, packed a travel bag, and placed everything else in storage. Other than weapons, we’re ready to go.”
He glanced at the head of the married bodyguards who said, “All we need to do is pack our bags, pick up our families, and we will be ready to go home.”
“Cindy, add ‘hire D-Hoppers to take Kendrick and our bodyguards home’ to our list, and add ‘contact Sergei to have his people here tomorrow’. Start a new list for things to be done next trip, and add ‘transport single bodyguard’s’ belongings to Earth’ to it.”
I looked at Sandy and she said, “My bags are still packed, so I’m ready to go.”
My ladies had been whispering amongst themselves, so I looked over at Rita and she said, “We have finished our shopping and other things that we needed to do, Master, and Sereine stored all our purchases in the shelter. Betty didn’t have time to buy the prepackaged meals.
“Cindy, add ‘get prepackaged meals’ to the list.”
I looked around the room at my people, and no one had anything to add, so I said, “Okay. It looks like we will be ready to leave by tomorrow afternoon.
“Sereine, I will contact the weapons school today and order three of the energy rifles I ordered, the rest of the weapons, and all of the accessories to be ready for pick up tomorrow. Tomorrow I want you to take one of our three bodyguards to the weapons school and pick up the weapons. Hop to First Stop and wait there for us.
“Kendrick, make arrangements to have D-Hoppers take you and the married bodyguards and their families to your respective homes, sometime tomorrow. I will have a credit chip prepared for you to cover the costs, later today.
“Cindy, add ‘get credit chip for Kendrick’ to our list.
“It sounds as if we will be ready to leave around one in the afternoon.
“Today, I will get the credit chip for Kendrick, and arrange for a limousine to take our seven married bodyguards back to the hotel where their families are staying. Then I’ll arrange for an early appointment on Metal World with my agent, so he will have the bullion ready to go. I will also contact Sergei and let him know when we will be leaving from the hotel.
“I assume the storage shelter is at my family’s place of business, so tomorrow I’ll purchase the bullion and transport it there. I can check with my folks about what they may need at that time.
“Cindy, has everything on the first list been assigned to someone?”
“Everything but picking up the shelter, and buying the prepackaged food.”
“Betty, I want you and Carol to buy us a large supply of prepackaged meals. Get enough for ten people to make six round trips. Plan on two days each way. Oh, yes, be sure to get a selection of different items for the breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals.
“Alright, after Sergei’s D-Hopper and photographer join us, we will hop to Willibald to pick up the shelter. From there we will go to First Stop.”
I looked around and no one seemed to want to add anything, so I ended our meeting with, “Okay, that’s it for now. Let’s go downstairs so I can get a couple of limousines to take you folks to your hotel and families. Kendrick, I need to talk with you when I get back.
“If anyone thinks of something we overlooked, have Cindy add it to our list. Cindy, either take care of it yourself, or assign it to someone else.”
My seven married bodyguards picked up their bags and with two of my single bodyguards, Sto and I left for the hotel lobby. I arranged for two limousines and said goodbye to my married bodyguards. The concierge made a credit chip for me, to give to Kendrick.
Before going back to the room, I twixted my Metal World agent for an early morning appointment, and let him know what I needed to purchase. I then commed Sergei to let him know when we would be leaving. I also let him know that if his D-Hopper, Dan Staffer, and landscape photographer, Tim Hart, were here early, they could have lunch with us before we left.
I needed to talk with Kendrick and I wanted it to be a private meeting, so Kendrick and I sat down in a bedroom by ourselves. Handing the credit chip to Kendrick, I said, “There is a million dollars on this credit chip. It should cover all of the costs you incur on my behalf until I return.
“Kendrick, you are the only person that I know and trust in the Multiverse, who is capable of representing my interests with the Board of Directors of the Archer Conglomerate. While I’m gone, I want you to consider accepting that position. If you are interested, then when I return, we can discuss salary and benefits.”
The look on Kendrick’s face told me he had not been expecting me to offer him that position. He knew that I would be looking for someone to fill the position, but I don’t think he believed that he would even be considered.
“I don’t know what to say, Doug. I would certainly like the position, but I don’t know if I have the necessary experience. I figured you would want someone a bit older, more mature, and more experienced in high finance. I will certainly do the best job possible for you if you want me.”
The look on his face reminded me of me when Kevin offered me the position of Ambassador. I wonder if Kevin had felt the same way as I felt right now.
“Kendrick, we will work through this, together. You will certainly do a better job at this than I would, alone. You may not have much experience in high finance, but you do have both the background and knowledge necessary to do the job. Experience will come with time. Besides, I don’t think Harry is going to let you do something really stupid. He would fight you tooth and nail to prevent you from damaging the conglomerate. That’s his baby.
“As soon as I can get a Twixt System installed, we will be able to communicate about anything that you feel uncertain about.”
That night my three ladies joined me in bed. We had been away from each other for too long. Our lovemaking started off languorously. As our passions built, the pace of our activities increased until we were all sexual satisfied. Then we returned to the slow, languorous pace of sated lovemaking. Eventually we slept.
We finished an early breakfast by six the next morning. After breakfast, we went our separate ways. Kendrick left to join our married bodyguards at their hotel so they could all be hopped back to their home worlds. Sereine and one of my bodyguards waited until the weapon school was open, and then left to pick up the energy rifles and equipment I had ordered from the school. I hopped my two bodyguards and myself to Metal World. The rest of my entourage returned to our rooms to finish packing. They would wait there for Sergei’s people to arrive and for me to return.
I had arranged to buy two thousand pounds of gold and two thousand pounds of platinum. When I finished the purchase, I hopped it and us to Willibald. We planned to load it into the shelter, but the shelter was almost full. My Dad pointed to a larger shelter, so we loaded the bullion into that shelter, and then we moved everything from the smaller shelter to the larger shelter. I thanked my Dad and the warehouse workers who helped us transfer everything into the larger shelter.
Dan Staffer, Tim Hart, and I arrived at the hotel room a little before eleven and my ladies, Cindy, and Sereine were waiting for us, and all of us went downstairs for lunch. After lunch, I checked us all out of the hotel, and thanked Tom for the excellent service we received. We returned to our rooms for our belongings, and I hopped us to Willibald. We packed a few more items into the shelter. I said goodbye to my parents, and then hopped everyone and the shelter to First Stop.
Once we arrived on First Stop, everyone rushed around changing into their traveling clothes, locating their equipment carts, and collecting their weapons. Once everyone was ready, Dan and Sereine linked to me and she hopped us to our next stop while I guided her to my normal arrival point on the planet while Dan monitor the hop. Then I hopped us to our second stop, while Dan and Sereine were linked to me, so they could learn the route between First Stop and Earth.
Once we arrived at our second stop, I sat down with Dan and gave him the coordinates of Earth’s universe and the universes we would hop to in traveling to Earth; I had already provided this information to Sereine. As I listed them, he recorded them in his hopping journal. Dan and Sereine would be able to help me with some of the hopping. They would make their hops with me guiding them to the arrival point on the Standard Arrival Planets of the Universes. I had filed the normal paperwork to report these universes and planets to the Guild, but Guild Master Moore and I agreed that the paperwork should remain under Guild Seal until Earth was ready to receive commercial traders. I made this known to Sereine and Dan, so they wouldn’t submit paperwork for these universes and planets.
Note: A universe’s Standard Arrival Planet is the planet closest to the intersection of the X, Y, and Z axes that is safe for human occupancy. If the planet is not safe for humans, an alternative planet is selected.
During the first part of our journey, we went to the Standard Arrival Planets of known universes. All Dan and Sereine had to do was be linked to me, so they would know the normal arrival point on those planets. For hops to the unexplored universes, Dan or Sereine would make the hop, while I would guide them to the arrival point of what I had selected as the Standard Arrival Planet. For us, the early part of our path consisted of known worlds with few if any threats. Hopping to such a world was far safer than hopping to an unknown world.
As soon as we finished, Sereine linked with him as he hopped us to the next stop. Sereine and I would guide Dan to our usual arrival point on each of the planets he hopped us to. Since he was linked to us when we hopped, he learned the arrival points without our guidance.
Dan’s recovery time was the same as mine; so with the three of us performing hops, it should take us less than twelve hours to get to Wayside. I made a note to myself to explore the universes we just passed through. Knowing which worlds were hazardous would allow us to use Sereine’s longer hop distance in the future, which would shorten our overall travel time.
Once we started hopping to the unexplored universes and planets, we created what we would come to call our standard defensive formation for making a hop. I had been on these planets many times, but I had never explored the planets and did not know what dangers may be present. The formation was a circle with all of us facing outward with our weapons ready to respond to any danger that may be present. During our rest time on the planet, we would usually maintain this formation.
While we traveled, I made plans for what I should do after arriving on Earth. I decided that my first task would be to help Tim with photographing the land I was buying. I would then begin the process of presenting my credentials. While working on that task, there would be many occasions when I would be waiting for a response. During those wait periods, I could meet with Ken and have the closing on the property, go over the specifications with HRD, install mobile homes, and do anything else that needed to be done.
Sereine and I had a private discussion during one of our rest periods. I was confused about the communication between Sto and me. I motioned for Sereine to join me away from the others, and I asked, “Sereine, everyone keeps saying that Bushbies are empathic. I’m not sure of the difference between empathic and telepathic communication. My communication with Sto is more than empathic communication, but it also seems different from telepathy. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Yes, I do. After I bonded with Coral, I had a very similar question. I was living on Toomby, so I contacted the scientists who were on Toomby to study Bushbie communications.
“They told me that Bushbie are empathic communicators in the sense that they can sense the emotional state of those who are around them. They don’t seem to project emotions, but they definitely receive emotions.
Their study of how Bushbies communicate over their bond with a human has shown that Bushbie are more than empathic communicators. They know that communication takes place due to the link, but they can’t explain how it happens. The scientists used Thought Technology to prove that it isn’t telepathic communication.
“When I first talked with them, they had formed a hypothesis of how the communication worked. According to their hypothesis, Coral modified my brain in a way that effectively tied a portion of my brain to her brain. They know the link is not physical, so they are calling it a Thought Merge Link. They have no idea of how to prove their hypothesis is correct, but their studies have shown that when a thought image appears in the human’s mind, it appears in the Bushbie’s mind at the same time regardless of who is initiating the image.
“I think of it as mind sharing. Coral’s link merged our minds and we share the merged section. Instead of sending thoughts or words back and forth, as in telepathy, either of us can create a thought and it appears to both of us at the same time. For me, my thoughts are translated into one or more brief sentences that are then translated into thought images. I suspect Coral thinks in thought images, so it doesn’t need to be translated for her. It seems to me that these short images are like word pictures that when linked with each other form a thought.
“The problem, Doug, is that most people have never heard of a Thought Merge Link. To simplify things when I talk with other people, I just use the term telepathy. It saves me a lot of trouble, and the people I am talking with don’t care about the technical differences between the two methods of communication.”
“Thanks, Sereine, that helps. I’ll have to think about the hypothesis and the way you view it. Once I grasp what you said and fit it into my experiences, I may want to discuss it further. Like you, I think I’ll just use the term telepathy. It sure beats trying to explain an unproven concept.”
When we got to Wayside, we were all tired and ready for bed. We had decided that I would leave the storage shelter on Wayside until I had room for it on Earth. We stored our equipment in the shelters, and then I hopped us to my home. We would worry about dirty clothes, food, merchandise, and the other things tomorrow.
Sleeping space was a problem. Rita, Betty, and Carol moved into the master bedroom with me. Sandy and Sereine moved into a bedroom with Cindy. My three bodyguards took Betty and Carol’s bedroom. Sergei’s people said they would make themselves comfortable on my living room floor. They had brought two days of prepackaged food with them from Wayside. I reminded them about sugar, and cautioned them to not drink anything other than tap water.
It was early evening. I showed my bodyguards, Sergei’s men, and Sandy how to operate the light switches, toilet, and shower. Then we went to bed to sleep. My three bedmates were asleep by the time I finished explaining things to the men and Sandy. I slid into bed and Sto curled up at the foot of the bed. I’m not sure but I think Coral slept in the bedroom with Sereine.
The next morning, we all went back onto the low sugar diet to make it easier on Betty. However, my ladies did cheat from time-to-time, for they were very close to being desensitized to sugar. Carol had helped herself to some cake that had been left in the refrigerator. One of my bodyguards made the mistake of helping himself to a slice of the cake that Carol was eating. One bite of that cake’s frosting was enough to put him into sugar shock. He hadn’t noticed that Carol had been eating the cake, but avoiding the frosting. The three of them and Sandy were careful about what went into their mouths after that incident. The cake thief was already a sugar addict, so no real harm had been done.
After my bodyguard regained consciousness, I went through the same set of instructions with the three of them that I had given my ladies when they first got here. I also started them on a weak sugar solution. In six weeks, they should be able to eat anything that appealed to them. My ladies continued to drink their stronger sugar solution. It seemed as if they would be ready to eat anything they wanted to eat in another week. Carol would even be able to eat her cake’s frosting.
I decided to call Bill at HS to find out how Ken, Tom, and he had been doing on the property sale. That was how I learned that Bill no longer worked for HS. So I called his home.
“Bill Hendricks, how can I help you?”
“Morning, Bill, Doug here. I called HS and they told me you no longer work there. How are things for you and Sue?”
“We are okay for now, but we have been bored to death since we left HS. How did your trip go? Anything interesting happen?”
When I stopped laughing, I said, “Well, I was adopted by a pet that you will have to meet to believe. I formed a wholesale marketing group for trade between Earth and the Multiverse. I brought back five people who are the initial members of my Embassy staff. Oh, yes, I also inherited a business that’s valued at 431 trillion dollars, and provides me with an annual income of over fifteen trillion dollars. There were a few other interesting things, but I’m still tired from traveling. They will come to me later.”
There was silence on the line. Finally, Bill said, “Did you say trillion?”
“Yes, I did. The business is the seventh largest in the Multiverse.
“Since you are no longer employed by HS, I assume that you and Sue now work for me and the Multiverse Embassy.”
“Yes, if you will have us.”
“Have you, hell I have wanted to hire you and Sue since we got back from the Multiverse. If you hadn’t quit, I was going to do a hard sell to get the two of you to resign. I really need you, now. What happened? Did they let you go or did you quit?”
“That’s a long story. Why don’t Sue and I stop by and talk with you. I don’t think I will be able to keep Sue away, once she hears about the inheritance. She will want all the details.”
“Good, get over here as soon as you can. We have a lot to do in the next couple of days. Is Tom ready for finalizing the sale of Ken’s ranch?”
“They are all ready for the closing. We have to clean up and dress, but we will be there as soon as possible.
“Doug, Matt is home and we told him about what happened. He is still on leave, and he is talking about resigning after he returns to work.”
Once Bill hung up, I checked the clock. I decided to call Matt and Mary. The phone only rang twice when Mary answered, “Good Morning, this is Mary.”
“Morning, Mary, Doug here. We got back late yesterday. I wasn’t sure if you and Matt were back, so I called Bill at HS, and found out he no longer worked there. I talked with Bill and he and Sue will be heading over here shortly, so I think you and Matt need to get over here also, so we can all find out what has been going on since we left.”
“Matt just got out of the shower and we had breakfast earlier, so we should be ready to leave in fifteen minutes. Don’t let Bill and Sue start their story until we get there.”
“Betty, we are about to have visitors. Matt, Mary, Bill, and Sue will be on their way shortly. Put on an urn of coffee. We need to discuss a number of things and make some plans.”
Checking the number, I placed a call to Ken Johnson. “Morning, Ken, Doug Smith here. I just got back from my business trip and talked with my friend Bill. He tells me everything is ready to finalize the sale of the ranch.”
“Yep, everything is ready to go. I was wondering when I would hear from you. Bill told me he would let me know when you got back. He told me that we couldn’t get a message to you for you were unreachable.”
“Yes, that was true. Bill had no way to contact me.
“The main reason I called, Ken, is to arrange for some people to photograph the ranch. As I told you, the facility I will be building is for an Embassy. These people represent the security firm that I hired to design a defensive system for the Embassy. Would it be possible for us to come by early this afternoon so they can do their photography?
After a leisurely breakfast the next morning, Betty, Misty, and their helpers set up an area to work on the translation. While they were busy doing that, Cindy, Kendrick, I, and our bodyguards left to go to the Guild Office. We only had a short trip to get to our destination, and when we arrived, we went directly to the reception area of Guild Master Kevin Moore’s office. My bodyguards insisted on checking the area before I entered, which alerted Ann Tinny, Kevin’s secretary, to my arrival....
I was expecting Bill to arrive early the next morning, so I left the door ajar. When I heard a knock on my hotel room door, I called out, “Come on in, Bill.” Bill walked into my room with an attractive woman by his side, and she seemed a little uneasy. Bill said, “Doug, this is my wife Susan. Sue, this is Doug.” Sue offered her hand to me and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Doug. Yesterday, Matt and Bill told me about you and since you are going house hunting today, Matt thought that a...
After leaving Guild Master Moore’s office and returning to the hotel, Matt and I learned that our ladies weren’t back yet. We left them a note, so they would know we had gone to the hotel’s swimming pool and the note suggested that they join us. The pool was nice. The only problem was the large number of kids made it difficult to swim laps. Matt and I decided to just relax and enjoy the water. We also participated in that male bonding activity commonly known as girl watching, until our...
During our ride to the Archer Conglomerate Headquarters, I noticed that Sandy turned her comm unit off. It had chimed three times, so turning it off seemed to be a wise move. I didn’t comment on it as it was evident she didn’t want to speak with her mother. Our driver dropped us off at the front entry and he went to park the limousine in the visitor parking area. The line at the front desk was short, and our driver had rejoined us by the time it was our turn to obtain help from the...
I knocked on the doorframe of Abby’s office. She looked up and motioned me in. As I pulled one of her visitor’s chairs to the front of her desk, I thought we needed to get something more comfortable to sit in. Then I recalled the staff meeting where Sue suggested plain metal chairs for visitors. They were okay for short visits, but sitting in one for too long was uncomfortable. Sue said that she found the uncomfortable chairs got rid of visitors quickly, so she could get back to her work. We...
Acknowledgments: I decided to locate Doug’s Embassy about halfway between Greeley and Fort Morgan, Colorado. The site I selected for the story’s fictitious ranch has the property’s southern boarder overlapping the northern portion of the Riverside Reservoir. I know nothing about the property or the surrounding area. Some of the information contained in this story may appear to be accurate, but any resemblance to reality is pure chance. To the best of my knowledge, the information herein is...
After breakfast the next morning, we said our goodbyes to Sereine, Coral, and Sto. Sereine would deliver her report to Carl on Vora and check on the availability of police officers, who could staff the checkpoint on Earth. Then she would be taking Coral to Toomby for a prenatal checkup; Sto was going to support Coral. Sereine expected to return in a week, but she told us to not hold our breaths. It’s nice to see I am not the only one who is learning and using Earth slang. However, it must...
The estate was not equipped to handle the number of people in my party. So, once we arrived, Edgar made a call to a local hotel that was owned by the Archer Conglomerate. He finalized his prior room arrangements for my bodyguards and their family members. He also arranged for D-Hoppers to take a number of my people to their home planets, so they could visit with their friends and other family members. He made the arrangements to get them to Vora for the wedding at the same time. While Edgar...
During the remainder of the week, and the weekend, I dealt with the various matters that my staff brought to my attention. I skim read the procedure for determining a currency exchange rate. Most of it addressed financial considerations that were not familiar to me, and I was definitely not qualified to address those considerations. I would have to turn it over to Kendrick and my financial support group. Once I finished that familiarization process, I decided to begin writing the document...
After breakfast the next day, I rode the transit tube to Cinnity to meet with Sereine instead of hopping. I needed time to get my thoughts in order prior to my meeting with Sergei. I also needed to give the meeting with my future security team some consideration. Most people objected to the minor sensation of bouncing and swaying that was induced into the tube by its high-speed passage through minor air turbulence. Personally, I enjoyed it and found it to be relaxing. So sitting on the tube...
The family meeting was scheduled to start at ten. So the next morning, we all had a late breakfast and I hopped us back to my parents’ home. When we arrived, everyone was there except for one of my uncles. He wasn’t responding to Dad’s comms, so we weren’t sure if he was coming. Mom was chairing the meeting and she said we should start without him. Mom started the meeting by defining its purpose. She then had Dad present the status of the new company that the family had formed to do business...
“This obstacle called the Gentic Belt”. Benni explained to Zax, “It encircles the planet, like a very long belt, and can only be safely crossed through the Emerald Cross, on an equipped vessel. Imagined it as the sole punch hole on this large belt”. The girl was very patient and the closeness she maintained to Zax signaled the development of a certain interest. “The buckle is where we’re heading, the Earthly Crater, there- Eh, look! The eruption is finally over”. She pointed at the wall of...
Day 1: When Doug finally woke up at the ranch, the morning started out with breakfast. Bashira, who had a long day yesterday, slept through breakfast. After thanking Betty for a wonderful breakfast, Doug called Secretary of State Charles Boyd. “Good morning, Doug. I let the President’s Chief of Staff Aaron McCaul know about what happened yesterday, and he said he would inform the President. Aaron and I decided you would be busy so we should wait until you contacted us to see if you needed...
I am now the Multiverse’s Ambassador to Earth. It is my responsibility and mission to ensure Earth joins the Multiverse with a minimum of difficulties. Now, all I have to do is figure out how to accomplish that mission! I like the people of Earth, and do not want them harmed by the Multiverse taking over their planet. I doubt the Multiverse Government would force itself on Earth, but, I suspect the Guilds will push to open trade with Earth at too fast of a pace, and I will need to resist...
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...
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...
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...
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...