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Castle In The Sand [66-70]
Copyright 1996 by D. J. Pedersen
By: "thaumaturge" (Deana Johns) <Deana.Johns@softcom.net>
(M/f, ff, MF)

All rights reserved. Limited permission to post is granted providing
this header remains intact. May not be posted to any pay sites. May be
offered as part of a collection, also provided this header remains
intact. Permission to archive is also granted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 66

John was working on the scanner when Amy found him, bringing him a cup
of coffee.

"Got a minute?" she asked, setting it down.

"Thanks for the coffee. Sure... just a sec...... Okay, what's on your
mind?" he asked, taking the cup and moving to the sofa, patting the
seat next to him. She moved to his side and leaned against him while he
sipped. He slipped his arm around her, took a sip of coffee and then
shared an extra warm kiss with her. She snuggled to him.

"I was just wondering... how you felt about last night?" she asked.

"Ooh, tough question... Last night was probably the most incredible
experience of my life..." he said.

"But?" she asked, when he didn't continue.

"But, I wouldn't want to do it again," he said. She nodded against him.

"Kind of what I was thinking," she said, "But *why* wouldn't you?"

"Well, don't get me wrong. As much as I love you all... It was the
first time I've loved you *all* at the same *instant*. I think I prefer
the intimacy of just two people face to face. Three at the most, for
lovemaking. I don't mind more... as the extras seem to be free to share
their own intimacy. I personally like to be able to focus myself on one
person at a time. Last night was fantastic. I got to experience things
from a different point of view. I never knew before what you girls saw
in men in general... or me for that matter. I like that. But now I know
it, I don't *need* to know it again. Somehow it was almost too
personal, while not being too intimate... I don't know, kind of hard to
explain," he said.

"We thought you would feel that way... we felt it last night. But we
were already into it. And... well, we agree. But it may not matter. I
don't think we *could* do it again," she said, cryptically.

"I'm still not certain just what you did. But I got the feeling it was
a Gestalt," John said. Amy nodded.

"It was, we learned the meaning of the word from you. I'm afraid we
rummaged around in you a lot, before we let you know we were there,"
Amy said.

"I don't mind... not that it would matter, but I don't have any secrets
from you," John said.

"Oh, we would never tell anybody *all* that we saw in each of you....
In a way it changed us.... We could feel what it was like to be an
adult. Each of you had a different feeling, but... the one thing we saw
in everybody, was respect. They all felt it for you.. and you felt it
for all of us. Respect... and love.

"So much love, it was almost unbearable all at once. Like it was a
power that was too dangerous to play with..... We saw that too..
Something guided us away from things we shouldn't do or know. It wasn't
us. It was something ......bigger," Amy said.

"God?" John asked.

"I don't know... Once I would have said so... but now I'm not sure what
that means.... More like the whole universe was aware of what we were
doing, not just one thing," Amy said, shivering and snuggling to him.
John set his coffee aside and pulled her into his lap. She smiled and
snuggled closer.

"Could you have gotten that from me? I mean, I've told Theresa and
Cindy that I believed the universe was aware of itself before. You
could have gotten the idea from any one of us, I guess," John said.

Amy shook her head, "No, we felt it *before* we looked into any of you.
That was one of the things we looked at in you. It sort of explained
what we felt, but not quite. Closer than anything else we saw in
anybody... but still not quite right... I don't know. It's kind of hard
to explain with words," she said. John nodded.

"So, why don't you think you could do it again?" he asked.

"Because what we felt... wouldn't *like* it. It was like we knew that
this was the only time. That's why we continued even after we felt how
you felt. We were trying to give a gift to everybody that you loved...
but it was like we were *all* granted a gift from ... that bigger
*something* .... and it was the only time...," Amy said.

"Then I guess that we'd better not fool with it.... but what exactly
did you girls feel, I mean with each other?" John asked.

"We were..... *one*... Like we were just one person... only we weren't.
All the things we shared together.... good and bad.. were there. But we
could also feel the differences in us. They were greater than we
thought. All the years... like when we'd go out hiking together. Each
of us stepped in different places. One would almost turn her ankle on a
rock.. another would catch a glimpse of a Black Faced Ferret that the
others missed. Yet another would see an eagle as it went behind a hill.
All those things added up over the years. So while we're of a like mind
on some things... we were totally different in others," she said.

"I can tell it's changed you.... Your speech is even different," John
said.

"Ya mean I don't stammer like I use ta?" she giggled.

"Well... that, and more... you're like... grown up," he said.

"You helped a lot of that...when you made us women... but no, I know
what you mean... we learned a lot. Maybe so much it will take us a
while to figure it all out..... if'n we ever do. But one of the things
you all taught us, was grammar structure and how you think to phrase
things. We could tell from all of you how the world felt about that. We
don't want to appear... backwards.. or .....*unsophisticated*, to steal
one of your words...." she chuckled.

"Oh... don't worry so much about that. I think those people who care
most about that, are backwards in their own way. They equate a person's
worth to their social status... and I don't think that's true at all.
Besides.. there's a certain charm to being a little backwards," he
said. Amy nodded, then lifted her head to look into his eyes. She moved
her hand to pull his head down into a kiss. The kiss wasn't just a
casual one.

"My, my. You did learn a lot," John said, hoarsely.

"I just wanted you to know how *I* felt. Not *us*, but *me*. I guess
that's what I wanted to talk to you about..... as much as I enjoyed
sharing you.... Well, the different part of me that I talked about.. It
wants to *know* that deep intimacy that we felt in you. Like you and
Cindy share, when you make love alone. I want to know that, without
sharing it. Maybe it's selfish... but I don't think so. All my life
I've shared everything I had... now I just want to know one thing
alone," she said.

"Well, I have no objection to that... but could you? I mean, wouldn't
Andrea and Alice feel it too?" John asked.

"No, that's one of the things we learned... that we could shut it off
and just be ourselves," Amy said.

"You don't think they'd mind?" John asked, concerned.

"No, 'cause I know each of them feels the same way. We all want to try
it. I think Alice is going to do it tonight with Sheila and Andrea's
going to try it with Cindy. I want to try it with you.... If you want
to?" she asked, sheepishly.

"Anytime you'd like," John said.

"Now, please," she said. John looked into the girl's eyes. He shared a
deep look with her. She seemed to twitch and then her focus got better.
He softly drew his fingertips up her side and just as softly under her
shirt and over her breast. She moaned softly and they melted into a
deep, satisfying kiss. Somehow she was more passionate than she had
ever been before. Without *the sharing*, her focus became keen. She
felt deeper and gave back more. Her hunger was her own, not shared. It
was sufficient unto itself.

John responded honestly. His own hunger driving him. They each felt
every little brush of a curl of hair or touch of a fingertip or tongue.
They made love face to face, eyes open, moving slowly and inexorably to
their body wracking orgasm. She felt him burst inside her like liquid
fire. Feeling 100% a woman, alone and deeply in love. Afterwards they
kissed softly as they stroked each other's body gently.

"Thank you," she said, "I had to know... and I'm thankful to you."

"My distinct pleasure... and I mean that," he said.

"I know... it wouldn't have felt like that if you didn't," she said,
snuggling to him.

That night Alice experienced the same depth of feeling with Sheila.
Andrea the same with Cindy. Candice with Mae and Sally with Jean. Amy
shared the bed with Theresa and John. Nobody was disappointed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 67

Time passed quickly. Sheila and Alice returned just in time for
Theresa's birthday party. Very little work got done that day as they
all celebrated it by attacking her. Various gifts seemed to come out of
the woodwork. Sheila brought her a large collection of comfortable,
high fashion shoes. Cindy presented her with a modified version of the
toy John had made for her. With custom fit attachments for every other
woman in the silo. They all tried it out, much to Theresa's demise.
When she finally slipped into sleep, she was exhausted and literally
bombed on endorphins. Surrounded with warm, firm bodies and snuggled to
John's side.

To John's amazement, the government agreed to his idea. Howdy made
plans for a second, and last trip to the silo. He had to hand deliver
many of the items he carried in the small, specialized briefcase.
Should he be involved in any incident such as a crash or hijacking, the
contents of the case would be turned to ash before anyone could even
catch a glimpse of them. He also carried a long tube, similarly
equipped.

Seemingly on a whim he requested the same helicopter pilot as before.
It was a good security practice as well, as it limited the number of
people who got to see the silo or know of its existence. Kevin greeted
him when he landed at Hill AFB. He was grinning ear to ear at the
prospect of seeing Theresa once more.

This time he bypassed Dougway. He had no desire to get near the place
ever again. Kevin hummed to himself quietly as he flew a few scant feet
off the ground, just above fence line, scanning the sky for power
lines. (Which he now had a map of anyway.) Theresa, warned by John of
Kevin's visit, preened herself and made up a special outfit; A body
suit with coloration resembling Camouflaged Combat fatigues. It hugged
every hair on her body.

"Damn girl, you could win wars all by yourself... or start them," Cindy
chuckled when she saw her in it. Theresa nodded absently as she
examined her backside in a double mirror. She even spun a set of mock
combat boots to go with the outfit. The thump, thump of the helicopter
sent her scurrying up to the entryway.

Once again Howdy had Kevin shut down completely. Cindy and the triplets
scrambled to tarp over the machine, again. Kevin wondering where
Theresa was. When John came out to greet Howdy, Theresa was on his arm,
wearing a field Jacket like Kevin's and a regular pair of fatigue
pants. She looked very much like she was in the military, except the
boots looked somehow wrong. Kevin wondered whether or not to salute
her, as she wore no rank insignia. John greeted Howdy and they shook
hands. Then he guided him off into the silo.

Kevin and Theresa stood looking at each other. Each feeling a close
feeling of love that was unexplained by their brief previous encounter.
Kevin worried slightly about her uniform. Fraternization was against
the rules. The military was quite strict about that.

"Hello, Kevin," Theresa said.

"Hello, Theresa," he stammered, "I didn't know you were in the
military."

"I'm... not really. I just put this on special for you," she chuckled.

"For me? I think I prefer that last outfit you had on," he chuckled.

"Oh, I think you might be surprised by this one.... aren't you going to
kiss me?" she asked. He looked uncomfortable. She solved his inaction
by moving into his arms. Their first kiss was warm and deep. Theresa
quivering in his strong arms. "That's better," she said, flushing. He
nodded. Theresa took his arm and led him inside. She took his jacket
and hung it up, then removed her own and Kevin's jaw dropped. She
chuckled and stripped off the outer pants. Kevin's reaction was
apparent inside his own.

"I suppose that outfit keeps you warm too... although not too warm
from... outward indications," he chuckled.

"Oh, I'm toasty warm... I think those indications are caused by you,"
she demurred. He blushed.

"Theresa, I don't know how to explain it... but I had sort of a dream..
about *us*," he said.

"I think I shared that dream.. but come on. I've got you all to myself
for a whole day. We can talk all about it," she said.

"A whole day?" he questioned.

"That's what John promised me, and I'm gonna hold him to it," she said,
taking his arm and leading him to the elevator.

John and Howdy moved to the Com room. Howdy worked the specialized
combinations to open the cases. The briefcase held a sheaf of papers
and what looked like a small calculator. He handed the papers to John.

"Everything you asked for. Full title to the land and papers for all
the girls. Also a presidential pardon for your previous actions *and*
all actions related to project: *Shit For Brains*. Additionally,
there's an authorization for government funds... from an untraceable
black budget, just to get you started on the housing project. I don't
think you realized the cost of a water and sewer system to handle such
a project. Or of the costs involved in electrical and phone utilities,"
Howdy explained.

"A presidential pardon? That means he knows about all this?" John
asked.

"Oh... not officially. Uh.. you shut down the recorders?" Howdy asked.

"As per your request. The top two floors are out of the circuit. The
system is still tracking the lower portion...." John said.

"Why not shut it all down?" Howdy asked.

"History.... Theresa's first time with Kevin alone.... I'll shut it all
down before we move downstairs," John replied. Howdy giggled.

"Okay... good. 'Cause the other stuff I've brought you... I don't want
recorded... ever," Howdy said.

"Other stuff?" John asked.

"Sign here. Your clearance has been reinstated... upgraded to Special
projects, need to know class. You could probably walk into any defense
contractor in America and gain access to anything they've got. But we'd
grind your balls into powder if you tried," Howdy chuckled.

"I have no desire to know the nation's secrets," John said, reading the
document and signing it.

"You don't have much choice.. as you're one of the biggest. And I think
you'll be very much interested in what I have to show you," Howdy said.
Removing the silo plans from their tube. He laid them out on the table.
John bent to study them. It only took him a moment to spot a
discrepancy.

"You sure you want me to see these? I don't have this hallway or any of
this area over here," John said. Howdy chuckled.

"That's what you think. If you'll just shut down the surveillance above
four down, then I'll show you," he said. John moved to the intercom he
had installed.

"Theresa?" he asked, his voice echoing throughout the silo.

"Yes, John?" her voice echoed back, only on the Com room unit.

"Where are you?" he asked. His voice now only going to her area.

"Showing Kevin the pool. Why?" she asked.

"I need you girls to stay below four for a while. Do you know where the
others are?" he asked.

"In the gym, working out... want me to tell them?" she asked.

"If it's not too much trouble," he said.

"No... I think Kevin's heart can take it," Theresa said.

"Heart?" he asked.

"You know what they wear when they work out," she giggled.

"Oh... Yeah. Thanks. I'll let you know when you can come up," he said.

"Okay, bye," she said.

"Good enough?" John asked Howdy.

"Yeah... and the surveillance system?" he asked. John moved to his
computer.

"I installed a LAN system just last week," John explained, as he called
up a program and entered a private code. A map of the silo came up. Not
including the sections drawn on the plans. He clicked on a few
sections. Leaving only the kitchen and library active above four. Howdy
watched.

"We could use that software and your tracking system in our other
installations. Probably save us all that money we're going to be
spending here," Howdy said.

"You're welcome to them," John said. Howdy studied the drawing... the
Com room and entry had indeed been turned off when he arrived. The only
record of their presence, would be the recording of Kevin's appearance
on the lower levels. He smiled, his trust in John's ethics verified.

"Excellent, now if you'll just follow me," he said. He rolled up the
plans and put them back in their container. John put the papers in his
safe and locked the plans up in a large horizontal file. "That will do
for now. I'll make more secure provisions for them later," he said.

"Fine by me. They're yours. That paper you signed said we could
castrate you if you if you revealed them to anybody who didn't need to
know," Howdy said, chuckling.

"Must have been in the small print. I think I'd prefer the fifteen
years in jail and seizure of all my assets the large print mentioned,"
John chuckled. Howdy retained the small calculator device, slipping it
into his pocket. They rode in silence down to the fourth level.

Theresa guided Kevin by the arm into the gym. The girls were all clad
in the barest spandex shorts and tops. Kevin couldn't help noticing
them all. But trying to look at nothing in particular whenever Theresa
looked at him.

She giggled, "It's okay. I don't mind a bit if you look.. I'll be doing
my own share of that." He seemed uncomfortable, but let his eyes
wander, none the less. "Ladies, our fearless leader has requested that
we stay in the dungeon while he does some spook stuff with ... that
fellow," she told Sheila, Cindy and the triplets.

"What's he up to now?" Cindy asked, breathless from the tread mill.

"Haven't got a clue... don't think we're supposed to know," Theresa
replied.

"Welcome, Kevin. Has Theresa been treating you right?" Sheila asked
from a weight machine.

"No complaints. Some place you've got here.... what little I've seen of
it," he said, eyeing her svelte form.

"Sorry Hon, rules ya know," Cindy giggled, catching the direction of
Kevin's eyes.

"No need to apologize. I'm quite used to them, being in the military,"
he replied, eyeing the triplets on various machines.

"Any grub in the kitchen here? We could use a snack," Theresa asked.

"Just some crackers and cheese... and coffee and orange juice, of
course," Cindy replied.

"Keeps us in the dungeon and feeds us crackers," Theresa muttered.
"Come on Hon, before you break your eyes trying to look five directions
at once." She guided him into the small kitchen. Sitting him at the
table. "What to drink?" she asked.

"Coffee's fine," he said. She poured two mugs and set them on the
table. Then she moved to sit in his lap. She pulled him into a deep
kiss, quivering slightly from his touch.

"So what do you think of our little harem?" she giggled.

"They're incredible... you really didn't mind my looking?" he asked.
She gave him *that* exasperated look she was famous for.

"Not in the least... What about you, how do you feel about *my*
looking?" she asked, sheepishly.

"Fine by me.... as long as it doesn't interfere with.... *us*," he
said.

"So...... you want there to be an *Us?*" she asked, softly.

"Very much so... I've never known a woman quite like you," he said,
kissing her. She melted under his touch.

John and Howdy stepped off the elevator. The stop looked just like
every other one; a cement cubical with a hatch on either side leading
into the circular maintenance tunnel, a small box room directly in
front of them. A seemingly wasted space to one side of it, about six
feet wide. Around the corner, what used to be the hatchway into the
silo, now an open archway.

"Like I said, no hallway," John said. Howdy chuckled. He walked into
the wasted space area. Before him a blank cement wall. He punched
something into the calculator and held it about three and a half feet
off the floor, one foot from the wall. He pushed one last button,
nothing happened. Howdy frowned.

"What were you expecting?" John asked.

"Have you got power to all the silo circuits?" he asked, ignoring
John's question.

"Not all of them. Only the ones I know the purpose of," he replied.
Howdy pulled a notebook from his pocket and looked in it.

"Circuit 4SB12?" he asked. John took out a key and opened the
maintenance closet. He turned on the light and opened a panel. He found
a separate breaker, isolated from the rest. Circuit 4SB12. He flipped
the breaker on. They went back to the cement wall and Howdy repeated
his previous actions. This time there was an audible click and a whoosh
when he pushed the last button. The whole wall moved on the right side
out about six inches. Howdy reached around the edge and found a hand
indent, pulling on the massive slab.

John stood speechless as Howdy swung the massive wall open. Beyond lay
a long, dark hallway. Howdy looked in his notebook, punched a different
code into the calculator and held it on the wall just inside the
massive door. The hallway flickered into illumination.

"My god, it must run back for another hundred feet," John said.

"One hundred and twelve," Howdy chuckled, stepping into the corridor.
John followed him. Ten seconds later, the door swung slowly shut behind
them. It was chilly, the area isolated from John's solar heat system.
John looked at it. It now appeared to be the same blank wall it had
from the other side.

"I imagine that could be a problem, if you were in here and that
breaker was off," he said.

"There's an emergency release in here," Howdy said, opening the first
door on the right. It was an almost empty room, about twenty feet
square. Howdy moved to the wall and opened a small access hatch,
showing John the release lever. In the room was a large oak desk, a
comfortable looking ergonomic chair and several large filing cabinets.
Howdy opened all the drawers of the desk and the filing cabinets,
checking that they were all empty. Not a scrap of paper or a pencil was
left. He nodded in satisfaction. John queried his actions with a look.

"One of the things I'm doing here, is to check that they didn't leave
anything they shouldn't have when they packed up the place.... probably
left the furniture because it would have seemed out of place when they
hauled the other stuff out. ... nice desk," he said.

"Certainly is.... I love oak," John said.

"Keep it. You can keep most anything we run across... furniture wise,
that is," Howdy chuckled. They entered an inner office. It contained a
slightly larger desk and a large impressive looking metal door. The
door had no handle. Howdy looked in his book and punched another code
into the calculator. The door clicked open. This room huge, only it
contained an arsenal of weapons.

"Good god!" John exclaimed.

"Precisely... gonna have to remove some of this stuff. Don't think
you'll have any need for LAWS rockets or grenade launchers. I don't
know *why* they left this stuff here," he said.

"Some of the stuff? Why not all?" John asked.

"Oh... I think you might enjoy the match grade weapons... The C-4 might
come in handy while you're working on your housing project. You have
any explosives training?" Howdy asked.

"Enough.. in the army I was with the Engineers... but you knew that,"
John said.

"Yeah, I just forgot. I've looked at a bunch of information since this
thing started," Howdy chuckled. They moved on, the door clicking shut
behind them. They left the offices. The next room contained rows of
bunks, twenty of them.

"God, this brings back memories I didn't ever hope to remember," John
chuckled.

"Yeah, for me too," Howdy said. They made a complete search of the
room. Finding nothing in the lockers. The next room was a large
recreation room. One area held several sofa's. There was a ping pong
table, card tables, a pool table and shelves of books around the walls.
Several cabinets were found to contain cards, poker chips and about
every board game known to man. John took possession of a Monopoly game.
Then studied the books. There was a large selection of classics, and
then just about every popular book from the sixties in hard back.

"Nice addition to my library," John commented. Howdy nodded and checked
all the cabinets for classified material. Next came a large workshop.
It contained a lathe and a horizontal milling machine. Scattered around
elsewhere were sheet metal tools and worktables. On one end was a small
foundry pot and welding equipment. Cabinets on the walls held a large
selection of hand tools. There was even a spot welder for the sheet
metal.

"God, nice complement for my other workshop. I've been lacking in metal
working equipment," John commented.

"Keep it all," Howdy said. Moving across the hall to the next one, they
found a long storage room of some sort. It was stacked mostly full with
cases of C-rations, stacked to the ceiling.

"Good god, must be enough here to feed an army," John said.

"Or twenty guys for two years, in case they got stuck down here from a
war," Howdy replied, shivering. John looked at the dates on the C-
rations; 1969.

"Hell, still good for another century... " he chuckled.

"Keep it. We've got better rations now," Howdy said. They walked down
the narrow isle left by the cases. All they found were more C-rations.

"Hell, pretty monotonous food for two years," John chuckled.

"I thought maybe they had left some specialty rations... but I guess
not," Howdy said, turning at the end of the row. A doorway led into a
substantial sized kitchen. Complete with stoves and refrigerators. The
refrigerators were now humming softly. John opened one. He was met by
the aroma of old refrigerator, but they were all empty. A search of the
cupboards yielded dishes, pans and canned goods. Nothing perishable.

"Hell, wish I'd known about this place when I first moved in here. I
could have used this kitchen when I was cooking my first meals on a
camp stove before I got the gym apartment completed," John said. The
next room was a large communal latrine and shower.

"This should solve all your plumbing problems. It has separate systems
from the silo. A large water tank that's fed from the second well. It
automatically isolates itself in case the silo was hit by an attack,"
Howdy explained.

"Jesus, two years water supply for twenty men? That's some reservoir.
That explains the second leech field.. I never could find where it tied
into the silo system," John said. Howdy nodded. "Attack? You mean this
could take a direct nuclear hit?" John asked, incredulously.

"No... not a direct hit. We're only sixty feet down here. I can't tell
you how close a hit it would take, but close enough the silo and this
bunker would remain intact, but the shock wave would turn all the
personnel into jelly," Howdy said, shivering a bit. Moving on, they
came to another room that opened to Howdy's magic calculator. It
contained many rack consoles full of obscure electronics equipment.

"You can retain most of this...except this unit," Howdy said, twisting
the retainers on an exotic looking piece of gear. He pulled it out of
the rack and disconnected several Ampenol multi-connectors.

"What is this stuff?" John asked.

"Communications equipment, all bands...It's mostly out of date, but I
wouldn't try selling it. Much of it is still classified, don't know
why. We don't use much tube equipment anymore," Howdy said, finishing
his removal.

"And that unit you're removing?" John asked.

"I don't think you'll be needing to send launch codes to other silos,"
Howdy said. John shivered.

"No.. you can take all that kind of stuff you want.... I shiver just
thinking what my arc welder probably did when I first bought the
place," John said.

"Arc Welder?" Howdy asked.

"When I was welding on the girders, hanging the floors. Just think what
that looked like to a launch detector? I figure that's when the
Russians started watching me," John said.

"Makes sense... probably scared the piss out of them. A good thing it
didn't happen during a world crisis.. Come to think of it, I'd better
report that. We've sold other surplus silos. I wouldn't want that sort
of thing to start a war," Howdy said. John nodded. He was studying the
electronics.

"God, I sold better stuff than this to startup companies in Silicon
Valley," he said.

"The government equipment is usually a few generations behind... but
remember, construction on this place probably began in the early
sixties. This was hot shit then," Howdy said. John nodded. One last
room opened to Howdy's magic key. It contained two cots, a sofa, a desk
and a large double console. With key switches and guarded toggle
switches. A second large console contained television monitors and an
array of switches. Two safes sat in opposite walls. Howdy shivered.

"I'm going to have to make a separate trip," he said.

"What for?" John asked.

"Because I can't transport this unit and the contents of those safes at
the same time," he said. John shivered and nodded.

"I take it that this was a secondary launch control?" John asked. Howdy
nodded.

"Yeah, we probably should disassemble those consoles. You wouldn't mind
a specialized squad one time for that, would you?" Howdy asked.

"No.. get this shit out of here. I'm glad to be rid of it," John said.

"We'll leave you that second console," Howdy said, moving to it. He
flipped a few switches and the monitors came up. He poked a few buttons
and finally located the gym. The girls were moving towards the hot tub,
stripping off their outfits. "Oops! Sorry!" Howdy said, punching up
another view. This showed Theresa sitting on Kevin's lap. The two were
quite involved in some very serious kissing. Howdy changed the view
again. This time he got an underwater view of the pool. He punched up a
switch from the top row. He got a failure alarm.

"That's odd," he said.

"My fault. Probably one of the circuits you said to disable. My circuit
lays a virtual short on those lines I select to block," John said.

"Oh... good work. Sorry about that little slip with the girls," Howdy
said.

"No problem... you're welcome to join them if you'd like," John said.
Howdy looked at him.

"You wouldn't mind?" he asked, surprised.

"No.. I'd have to clear it with them first, as it's their decision. But
no, I wouldn't mind," John said.

"I'd be green with jealousy," Howdy said.

"Over what? Theresa's well on her way to a new husband, as you saw. I
don't think you could tempt Sheila or Cindy.. but you might. That would
be okay, I guess. If that's what they wanted. The triplets have
actually expressed an interest in you," John said.

"They have!? Good god... ... how can you be so carefree?" Howdy asked.
John reached over and punched up the circuit with Theresa and Kevin on
it.

"That's how! You take a look at Theresa. She's a happy woman. Kevin's a
good man for her. I know you checked him out, or you wouldn't have
returned with him, or allowed him to fly you here the first time.
Anyway, Theresa's happiness is what I care most about. That applies to
every one of them. Besides... I've got a spare available even if you
were to seduce every one of them away from me," John chuckled. Howdy
nodded, looking at the screen. Kevin was getting brave enough that his
hands were starting to wander over Theresa's firm body. John punched up
another circuit. This one was the kitchen.

"I didn't want to eaves drop on them... just to give you an idea of
what I meant. But to watch further would be an invasion of their
privacy," John said. Howdy nodded. He shut down the console and they
moved on.

"You weren't supposed to know about this at all. I'm going to have to
instigate an investigation into the other silos we've sold. We can't
have the kind of stuff I found here floating around in the world,
uncontrolled. God, all we'd need would be a bunch of Arab terrorists
getting their hands on launch codes, and encoder sending units. Let
alone the LAWS rockets. I think I'd better stay here until I can muster
a squad to disassemble that launch room and cart off the munitions,"
Howdy said.

"You're very welcome to stay as long as you need. Interested in the
triplets while you're here? I don't know your marital status," John
said.

"I'm divorced... a victim of my career. God, the triplets? Are they
really interested in me?" he asked.

"Yeah, sort of. I think they just want to see what other men are like.
Theresa would probably skin them alive if they got near Kevin. You'd
have to use protection though, none of the girls are on birth control.
They haven't needed it because of my vasectomy. No sense fooling with
their hormones unnecessarily," John said.

"God, I don't have any. Maybe it's just as well. I don't know if I'd be
up to performing with three," Howdy said.

"There's only one way to find out. I have a theory about that. I think
that men just lose their ability because they live with women who lose
their interest after they pass their child bearing years. I regularly
outperform what I was able to when I was in my twenties. And I've got
plenty of condoms left over from when I had my vasectomy. I wanted to
be very sure I was shooting blanks before I went unprotected," John
said.

"And you wouldn't mind?" Howdy asked.

"Naw, I want them to get a little experience before they go out into
the world. I figure that you're about as safe as anybody, a lot safer
than most that they'll encounter. Besides, it makes the sleeping
arrangements simpler. I figure that Theresa and Kevin can use the bed
off the gym. If you take the guest room with the triplets, then I can
spend a little quality time with Cindy and Sheila," John said.

"God, it has been a long time," Howdy said.

"Then why not... Just a few things to consider though; One: if they
change their minds I expect you'll be honorable about it. No matter how
horny you get. And second... You should know in advance that their Bi
inclinations extend to each other. I wouldn't want you to spoil that
for them. If you don't feel comfortable with that, then we should make
other sleeping arrangements for you.... Hell, what am I thinking?
There's twenty beds just down the hall," John chuckled.

"Sister incest? God, I don't know... " Howdy said.

"Then maybe you'd better sleep in here. We just got them comfortable
with enjoying sex. I don't want anybody spoiling that for them....
Think about what your objections are though. The taboo against incest
is based upon the fact that blood relations mating reinforce recessive
genes. It increases the likelihood of a birth defect to at least one
out of eight. That taboo probably got extended to all family members
because of the stigma over same sex relationships. But it doesn't
really protect anybody from anybody. Society's just carried on the
taboo.

"Removing the danger of a deformed child, most the actual damage
arising from incest is probably the stigma that society places upon it.
That's not a problem for the triplets. They can't impregnate each
other. Personally, I can see no problem with them making love to each
other. They probably have a relationship unique in the whole world.....
Much more unique than you could even imagine... But that would be their
business to share with you if the so desired. Anyway, they share
something very special with each other. I don't want somebody messing
that up. The most damage they could suffer from their relationship, is
having somebody make them feel guilty over rules made up thousands of
years ago to avoid birth defects and cater to homophobia," John said.
Howdy nodded.

"Makes sense.. I never thought of it in those terms before... " he
said.

"Few people ever do question *tribe taboos*, they just accept them. I
*had* to think about them in relation to the relationships I found
myself involved in," John said. Again Howdy nodded. "Well, no need to
decide now. I imagine that the others are getting hungry and muttering
about life in the dungeon. But if you do decide to sleep with them, and
they decide they actually want you to, then I expect you to honor their
freedom to pick their own lifestyle. That's one of the few rules we
have around here. We let others make their own decisions, without
making judgments against them," John said, seriously.

"I can promise you that much. I'll honor that rule.. I think that it's
a good one. I guess I'm just not very comfortable yet about same sex
relationships. For some reason, females don't bother me near as much as
men," Howdy admitted.

"I can understand that. I'm straight myself. I think it's because it
makes us have to face up to our own selves. Few are comfortable when
confronted with a question of their own sexuality. Myself, I can
intellectually reason that a warm tongue probably feels as good no
matter who's it is. But I have no desire to become involved with the
life style that gay men seem to live. Besides, no man ever affected me
like women do. I don't know how I'd feel if they did," John admitted.

They walked back down the hallway, Howdy carrying the launch code
encrypter. John, his monopoly game. Howdy triggered the door mechanism
and they pushed the cement slab out of the way. Once they stepped clear
of it, it slowly swung back into position. There was no evidence that a
door had ever existed there.

"Damn fine bit of engineering, that," John said, examining the area. He
got down on his stomach by the elevator and looked at the floor, it
tilted just enough to give the door clearance once it opened. He
reasoned that the ceiling did the same. "Damn fine!" he repeated. Howdy
chuckled. They rode up the elevator to the Com room. Howdy had John
lock the encrypter in his safe. He asked if he could use a phone line.
John pulled one out of the back of his computer.

"I brought my own *secure encrypted* lap top this time," Howdy said.

"Can I release the girls?" John asked.

"Sure, I just didn't want them to see the bunker until it was checked
out. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell them about it till I can
get a team in here. Not that I believe... them to be a threat, but I
wasn't able to obtain the necessary level of clearance for them before
I came here. It's in the works. Those who grant them don't deal well
with people who've never been in *the system*. There's no record that
the triplets or Candice even exist. That threw up all kinds of red
flags. Protection against moles, I guess," Howdy explained. John
nodded. He moved to the intercom.

"All clear!" his voice echoed throughout the silo.

"About damn time. The triplets have been eyeing Cindy hungrily,"
Sheila's voice sounded back.

"They've been doing that since they arrived," John chuckled back. "They
can go ahead and start dinner, you can tell them that we will be having
two overnight guests."

"Ooh! Does that mean that Cindy and I get you all to ourselves
tonight?" she asked.

"Possibly. We'll have to see how the chemistry works out," John
replied.

"Understood. Bye," Sheila said. Howdy had been typing on his laptop all
the time. John didn't read over his shoulder. He moved to the bar and
poured two scotch rocks. He set one next to Howdy and moved away to
give him privacy. Howdy thanked him. John sat back on the triple
chaise, thinking about what had been discussed and he had seen.

"So you don't object to my revealing the bunker to the girls, once it's
clear?" he asked.

"No, I'd rather that the information of what it contained stayed within
this group though. We have other active silo's which have similar
facilities. The knowledge of their existence could, conceivably
compromise national security, but the codes themselves are certainly
out of date. It's the methodology and format I'm mainly concerned with
protecting," Howdy said.

"Then maybe you'd better not spend the night with the triplets. They
might just extract national secrets out of you. If they tortured you
with their tongues, you might just break. I doubt any man could stand
up to them," John chuckled. Howdy grinned as he finished his report. He
set it to transmit and turned to his scotch. The laptop emitted a
series of beeps, squeals, boops and gongs while the secure modem
negotiated connection. Transmission was painfully slow considering the
amount of information sent and the state of the art of modems, but it
was secure.

First the data was scrambled using a 24 bit algorithm, much like PGP,
only better. Then as it was transmitted, random characters were added
at random intervals based upon a time synced look up table. The whole
thing coordinated by a built in GPS receiver locking the laptop to a
master clock. To decode, you had to be in exact sync, subtract which
characters came by at whatever millisecond the table told you to, then
unscramble the key code. This made the message virtually unbreakable.

"Have to get you one of these modems," Howdy mused.

"PGP is almost as good, especially if you double or triple encode,"
John mused.

"You seem to know a lot about cipher technology," Howdy said, a bit
suspicious.

"No secrets there. There's been a running battle on the Internet
between the NSA and the scrambler nerds for some time now. I just
download whichever technology shows up as the latest," John said.

"Yeah, it's a changing world. God, it's damn near impossible to keep
information in the country nowadays," Howdy said.

"I'll bet. You could lay a message in an open book next to a nude woman
on a high res. graphic file. Nobody'd notice shit. You could easily
blow the image up enough to read the message in the book," John said.

"Have to remember that one.... That is my job, you know. Stopping that
sort of stuff from leaving the country," Howdy mused.

"Not an easy thing to do, for sure... especially when the government
leaves this kind of shit laying around. How the hell could they have
overlooked this?" John asked.

"It was probably caused because some order fell through the cracks at
some military command," Howdy said easily.

"Fell through the cracks? Jesus, think about what you're saying. Right
now, between the two of us, we could send launch codes to an active
ICBM site! You and I could start a nuclear war!" John said. Howdy shook
his head.

"The launch codes are undoubtedly out of date, but I know neither you
or I has the inclination to do so," he said.

"Maybe not, but there are lots of people in the world who would love to
do it. Myself, it makes me so nervous having that around, I'd feel
better taking a chunk of that C-4 and blowing that little box into its
composite atoms. Or at least putting a bullet through its circuit
board," John said.

"Can't do that. This has to be returned in a functional condition. That
insures against a mutilated substitute being turned into the system
while a real one gets out," Howdy said, soberly. John nodded.

"That makes sense, I guess.... " he said. Cindy walked in, wearing a
terry robe. She bent to John and kissed him. Howdy had to look away as
the robe lifted.

"About time for dinner. You guys through with your spook shit?" she
asked.

"Just about. Just some loose ends to tie up," John said, pulling her
onto his lap. "You have something for this young *adult* to sign?" John
asked Howdy. Howdy nodded and opened his case once more. He took out a
smaller sheaf of paper and handed it to Cindy.

"What's this?" she said.

"Your freedom. You just aged a year," Howdy said.

"Huh?" she said, looking at the papers.

"Those papers establish that your birth date, as listed on your birth
certificate, was incorrectly stated by one year. They correct this
error and establish that you are eighteen years of age. Holding the
government faultless over the error. Then as an adult, the second
section covers your *Top Secret* security clearance, so you can know
what we've been talking about," Howdy said. Cindy read the pages, one
by one in silence. Then she took a pen from John's pocket, which had
been poking her anyway, and signed both sections. She handed the stack
back to Howdy.

"Thank you, and welcome to the world of adulthood. You are now free to
travel anywhere you want and pretty much do anything you want to. Don't
forget to register for the draft," Howdy said.

"Draft?" she asked.

"Yes, selective service. Currently not used, but it's the law that all
eighteen year olds must register," Howdy said.

"No shit. So what the fuck have you guys been up to? Now that I'm
deemed honorable to know our nations secrets," Cindy asked.

"Best you know as little as possible, really," John said.

"I know zip now. How little can you get?" she said, exasperated.

"You know most of it, actually. Guess I'd better explain so that you'll
know what you can't talk about," John mused.

"If you don't tell me something, and soon, I'm going to bite your
tongue off and you won't be able to tell me anything!" Cindy said in
exasperation.

"You wouldn't do that. I know for a fact that you're quite fond of that
tongue," John chuckled.

"Yes, I am," she said, proving it with a kiss. "Now what the fuck is
going on?"

"Okay, you know, dear heart, that little scheme you and I cooked up to
tease the Russians?" he asked. She nodded. "Well, we're actually doing
it. Only we're serious about it. We're going to do our best to convince
them that this is an underground research lab," he told her. She looked
at him.

"That's all? ... I mean, I knew that," she said.

"Most of it. Not all. Bill here has the job of.... " John stopped and
looked to Howdy for permission to proceed. Howdy nodded. "Has the job
of watching over the Russians, or whoever else might choose to spy on
the United States. He thinks that our idea was a pip of a good one. You
see, if they are watching us, then that ties up some of their assets,
which they could be using to find out *real* secret stuff," John
explained. Cindy nodded.

"Makes sense... but what do you get out of it? I mean, if they really
think that about this place, won't that expose us to all kinds of
shit?" Cindy said.

"Smart girl," Howdy smirked.

"Smart woman!" Cindy smirked back.

"Smart ass is more like it!" John chuckled, "Okay, smarty. First off,
I'd do it anyway. As corny as it may sound to some people, I love this
country. I've done damn little to prove it up to now. I feel I owe
whatever I can do to insure that our freedom is secure. This lets me
help protect that freedom. But, I'm not all that magnanimous. I do get
something in return, which, by coincidence helps us with the ruse. Bill
here has just made me a land baron. I have free title to 250 square
miles of land in a strip starting at the road and running five miles
wide past the silo out another twenty miles," John said.

"No shit? Whatever for?" Cindy asked.

"No shit! On which I will build a modern living community, using the
assets your little company is going to supply me," John said.

"Actually, it's bigger than that, to keep consistent with the way the
government does things. The strip is six miles wide and extends to the
ridge line on the mountains. Almost sixty miles.... So almost 360
square miles. And tax free. Which is something you forgot about that
could have raped your budget royally," Bill interjected. John nodded
his thanks.

"But who's going to live in this modern community?" Cindy asked.

"You remember what I said about wanting to help the homeless? Well, my
little community will supply free housing while they study and receive
job training," John said.

"But that's wonderful! What kind of job training? Who will hire these
folks?" she asked, enthusiastically.

"I'm hoping that *you* will hire some of them," John chuckled.

"Me? What for?" she asked.

"To run your salons. You know, *Miss corporate mega-millionairess*,"
John chuckled.

"Oh... sure. I guess," Cindy said.

"Due to be even richer than you think. With John listing you girls as
his heirs when he passes on, the land will go to you, as he has free
title to it. The tax free status lasts as long as the land isn't used
for commercial enterprise.. and then only that portion which is so used
will be taxed," Howdy added. Cindy sat back, flabbergasted. Tears
trying to form in her eyes. Her robe slipped open below her waist and
Bill looked uncomfortably away, taking a pull on his scotch. John
chuckled to himself and slid his hand over, closing the robe.

"God, I had no idea," Cindy said. John chuckled to himself some more.
"What's so funny?" Cindy asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking; the hardest part for you, is that you can't
tell anybody about this," he smirked.

"Can't tell anybody? Not even the girls?" she asked.

"Not yet," John said.

"When?" she asked. John looked at Howdy.

"Theresa and Sheila, after they sign their agreements. They've both
been cleared. But not the triplets or Candice for a while yet," he
said. Howdy's computer beeped and he turned to it. Punching in an
authorization code. A message came up on the screen, which he read, and
then deleted. "A team will be here tomorrow afternoon. I am instructed
that with Kevin's assistance, I am to secure the silo and remain on the
premise until that time. The information about the silo that I revealed
to you, may not be revealed to the triplets until the team has left,"
Howdy informed them.

"What information?" Cindy asked.

"I can't tell you, yet," John said.

"You're cleared enough to know that you just got a large addition to
your residence. There was a secret bunker that John was unaware of,"
Howdy told her.

"Secret bunker? How big?" Cindy asked.

"Big enough to solve any space problems for a long time," John mused.

"So what's the big secret?" Cindy asked.

"That's what I can't tell you," John chuckled. Cindy looked
exasperated.

"The secret is that the government left some things it shouldn't have
in it. I can't tell you what. The team coming in tomorrow will remove
these things. That's all I can tell you. And more than I should. I'll
have to ask you not to talk about this, even to Theresa and Sheila, for
the time being," Howdy said. Cindy nodded.

"Can I see it?" she asked.

"No, not yet. But I can show you the plans," Howdy said, moving to the
file. It was locked and John fished into his pocket for the key,
handing it to Howdy. Howdy removed the plans and laid them out on the
counter. Cindy came over and looked at them.

"My god! It's huge!" she gasped as she looked over the plans.

"What's huge?" Sheila asked, walking in.

"My ego," John said, waylaying her while Howdy put the plans away. He
wrapped her into his arms and gave her a giant kiss.

"With good reason," Sheila mused when he released her.

"Sign this," Howdy told her, handing her some pages.

"What's this?" she asked, beginning to read.

"Your security clearance agreement," Howdy answered. Sheila nodded and
carefully read the pages before signing them.

"Okay, mind telling me why *I* need a *Top Secret* clearance?" she
asked, once she had signed.

"We can't. It's a secret," Cindy chuckled.

"Why don't we save all this until everybody is cleared? Then I'll brief
you all on what you can know and what you can and can't say. That will
save on explanations while keeping Bill's hair from getting gray," John
said.

"Thank you... it's getting there fast enough," Bill said.

"The triplets think it's cute," Sheila giggled. Bill blushed.

"Oh, my. I haven't seen a man blush for a long time. If that made you
blush I can't wait for what they've got in mind for you. They're
plotting as we speak," Sheila chuckled.

"I blush," John objected.

"Yeah, when you get that allergic reaction to vinegar," Cindy chuckled.

"Actually, I just came to tell you that dinner's ready," Sheila said.
Howdy locked up the plans and handed the key back to John.

"Keep it for tonight," John suggested. Howdy nodded. He put it in his
briefcase and locked it. Then typed a lock code into his laptop.

"Can I leave this connected..? I'm supposed to stay on line," he asked
John.

"No problem. Leave the dime on the counter if it's long distance," John
chuckled.

"We'll cover that. Budget item #1286," Howdy chuckled, "Now if we can
check that the silo is secure?" John moved to his computer and called
up the sensor control. He activated all road and personnel sensors and
then they checked the dogs on the entry hatch. Howdy nodded in
satisfaction. They adjourned to the kitchen. John whispered something
in Cindy's ear. She giggled and detoured Sheila with her down to dress
for dinner.

The triplets all wore skintight body suits with tight, white terry
shorts on the bottom. Howdy's mouth watered over them, while somehow
feeling dry. They seated him across from where they were going to sit.
John sat at the head of the table, as was tradition when company was in
the silo.

Cindy and Sheila returned, clothed, but sexier than ever. One sat to
either side of John. Theresa came in leading a much ruffled Kevin. His
lips looked red and his eyes were glazed. He looked ecstatically happy
except for the bulge in his pants he was trying to hide.

"Have you been fraternizing with the natives?" Howdy asked, harshly.

Kevin straightened up, then catching the gleam in Howdy's eyes replied,
"Yes, SIR. Guilty as charged." Howdy chuckled.

"Good. I'm glad I made a good choice. I wouldn't want my liaison
officer not to get along with the people he's going to be interfacing
with," Howdy chuckled.

"Liaison *OFFICER?*" Kevin asked.

"Congratulations, *Lieutenant*. You've been granted a field commission.
As of this moment you are on permanent duty as my liaison with these
people. That is if you don't object, John?" Howdy said.

"Not in the slightest. I think it's a great idea. I don't think Theresa
will mind either. Congratulations, Lieutenant," John chuckled. Kevin
was speechless. He stood there stuttering. Theresa jumped up and down
and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. When she
finally let him breathe, he disengaged himself. Holding her slightly at
bay.

"Thank you, Sir. May I ask, sir? What exactly my duties will be?" Kevin
asked.

"You will be briefed tomorrow. For tonight, your duty will be to sleep
in the Com room and guard it against outside intruders. It contains Top
Secret items relating to the defense of your country. You may only
admit myself, John, Cindy, Sheila and when she signs her clearance,
Theresa. I'm sorry, but the triplets' clearances haven't been processed
yet.

"Don't take it as an insult, girls. The folks at the defense department
are just slow dealing with people who have never officially existed.
You don't have birth certificates or a drivers license or even a social
security number. They don't believe... that you really exist. But I can
certainly vouch for the fact that you *really* exist," Howdy chuckled.

"Sir? I'm sorry, but I only have a Secret clearance myself. And my tour
of duty is due to expire in three months," Kevin said.

"That's been remedied. Your Top Secret is in my briefcase. As for your
tour of duty, are you going to walk away from an officer's commission?
I also have your re-enlistment papers. But don't sweat it. You won't
ever see a war zone. The terms state that you are only active as long
as this project is active. Then you are released with full retirement
benefits. Okay?" Howdy asked.

"Yes, Sir. I'm just puzzled. That's quite a lot to digest in a minute,"
Kevin said. Howdy chuckled.

"Don't worry. You don't have to sign up until I brief you. Then I'm
sure you'll be interested. I would have thought you'd jump at the
chance to get to see Theresa regularly," Howdy chuckled.

"Yes, sir. I'm thrilled about that part. It's just that... well, I
don't really trust the military. I just know that if I sign anything
that I'll end up in a hot zone," Kevin said.

"I knew I was picking the right man, Lieutenant. And knowing what I do
now, your objections are the best recommendation I could hear. But for
now, we're celebrating your promotion. You are ordered to have a good
time. Should you choose to have company tonight, from the list of those
so cleared, that is within the bounds of your duty assignment.
Understood?" Howdy chuckled.

"Yes, Sir," Kevin said, eyeing Theresa and grinning broadly.

"If all this military mumbo jumbo is through, can we eat?" Cindy asked.

"That we may," John said. "Girls, what have you made us?" The triplets
served the food. Which was terrific. Chicken Malibu. John served Kevin
non-alcoholic wine, as he was on duty. Theresa stayed at his side, they
touched hands regularly.

"How much does a Lieutenant make?" Theresa asked.

"Much less than you will be. But his commission will be back dated to
his first visit here, and he'll receive a nice bonus to boot," Howdy
said, savoring his wine.

"Pretty good catch, Theresa. An *officer* who gets paid to guard your
body," Cindy chuckled.

"Who's going to guard his? From the look in her eye, he's the one who
needs protection," John chuckled. Kevin blushed bright red.

"Leave the poor boy alone," Theresa said.

"Yes, dear. Just trying to protect the innocent," John said.

"For your information, Kevin has asked me to marry him... and I
accepted," Theresa said. Howdy winced. The girls all jumped up and
hugged and kissed Theresa and Kevin. He got brighter red as the girls
all *really* kissed him. John was looking at Howdy.

"A problem?" he queried. The girls all stopped what they were doing and
looked at him.

"A small one. Conflict of interest. Kevin can't be married to a
civilian contractor he's assigned to interface with. And actually, he
needs to get permission from his commanding officer to get married.
That would be me, now," Howdy said.

"No problem... Theresa, you're fired," John said.

"Huh? Does that mean that I can get married?" Theresa asked. Howdy
nodded. The girls were back to hugging and kissing. John looked at his
wine, sipping at it. A tear forming in his eye. He was wishing for a
fireplace to smash the glass in. Theresa, as a project was now
complete. She was a free woman. Her life changed substantially from the
night when John bumped her into the ditch. He reflected on the many
moments they had shared together. Theresa caught his look and slid away
from the girls. She came and sat on John's lap, kissing him deeply.

"Happy for me?" she asked, with trepidation.

"I'm ecstatically happy for you, Love. All I ever wanted was your
happiness. I was just remembering the past year. God, just thirteen
months, really. You've grown into a fine woman in that time. I'm so
proud of you I could bust," he said, getting misty eyed.

"I'll always be grateful to you. And you're not through with me yet.
I've talked to Kevin about it and he doesn't object to my continuing
relationship with you, or the girls. I'll always love you. More than I
could ever begin to show you," she said, kissing him softly. Kevin
didn't have a chance to get jealous. The girls were still kissing him.
Howdy felt like a fifth wheel, until Andrea moved and plunked herself
into his lap.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he blushed, crimson red.

"I heard that you'll be staying the night," she said. He nodded. "So
you'll be needing a place to sleep?" Andrea asked suggestively. He
nodded, looking into her deep blue eyes. Andrea wasn't about to waste
time. She bent and kissed him. She pushed it much farther than he felt
comfortable with. When she was through, he knew he'd been kissed.

"So... problem solved. You won't mind if my sisters join us?" she
asked. He smiled and blushed again. Then shook his head. "Good.. you
sure don't say much... but I hope you're not too tired," Andrea
chuckled. Bill looked at her.

"Do you know how old I am?" he asked.

"Nope... younger than John, I think. Why?" she asked. He didn't have a
reasonable answer for her, or himself.

"And you really *want* me to sleep with you girls?" he asked her. She
got *that* exasperated look, she had learned from Theresa.

"Yes. *We* do. If *you* do," she replied. He nodded and pulled her back
into a kiss. Theresa kissed John once more, hugging him fiercely. Then
moved to save Kevin. Alice and Amy moved into line for their turn with
Bill. Cindy and Sheila each moved onto one of John's legs. He hugged
them and kissed each one.

"I don't suppose any body's interested in a game of monopoly?" he
chuckled. They all looked at him with *that* look. Howdy managed to
disengage himself long enough to get Theresa's signature on her
clearance and adjusted age papers. Explaining to her what it meant. The
triplets wouldn't let him out of their sight. He shrugged and had them
sign their adjusted age papers. Somehow he felt better that they were
all now *legally* eighteen. John stopped by and handed Theresa a box.
She looked at it and giggled. He handed Bill another one. He blushed
and thanked him.

They left Kevin and Theresa alone in the Com room. The triplets
dragging Bill to the guest room and Cindy and Sheila taking John in tow
to the master bedroom. John stripped off his clothes, used the bathroom
and brushed his teeth. He stepped into the shower. A bit later Sheila
and Cindy slipped in with him. They soaped each other and slid around
together. John remained amazingly unresponsive, almost melancholy. The
girls shared a look and led him out, drying him. He climbed into the
bed and one slid up on either side of him.

"So talk to us. Theresa?" Cindy asked. John nodded.

"Having second thoughts about losing her?" Sheila asked.

"No, just remembering the past year. I'm thrilled about her and Kevin.
He's a good man. The triplets agree. They... *scanned* him that night
when they... whatever it was. He'll be good for her. Just what she
always wanted," he said.

"She always wanted you," Cindy said. He nodded.

"So, if you're so happy with it, then how come you're so unresponsive
when you have two adorable women here who are just dying to make love
to you?" Sheila asked. He looked at their sleek, nude bodies, and
suddenly grinned. They moved into his arms. Sharing a three way kiss to
start things. He moved Sheila onto his hips and literally slapped at
the spot in his mind that the triplets had shown him.

Theresa lay Kevin back on the triple chaise. She moved blissfully into
his arms. His fingers shook as he sought for the closures on her body
suit. She giggled and showed him. He trembled as he peeled it down,
revealing her magnificent body. Theresa was tugging at his uniform.
Fighting the buttons on his shirt as his hands moved to her breasts and
cupped them softly. She kissed him deeply and then giggled and moved to
remove their combat boots. Hers came off easier.

Then she stripped off his trousers and shirt. Leaving him in his boxer
shorts. She giggled. She stepped back and slowly peeled the rest of her
outfit off her like a banana peel. He groaned as she revealed her
trimmed, blonde tuft of pubic hair. He slid his boxers down. Theresa
smiled in satisfaction at his exposed manhood. She moved into his arms.
Both reveling in the feel of the nude body next to theirs.

"You sure?" he asked.

"I've never been so sure in my life," she replied, "What about you? You
sure you want to get involved with a bisexual woman?" she asked. He
nodded and grinned.

"It does seem to have some interesting side benefits... Those girls all
checked my tonsils with their tongues. But I'm mostly interested in the
main course," he chuckled. She melted into his kiss as she moved into
his lap. She groaned and suddenly moved off his lap and grabbed the box
John had given her. Later they caressed each other softly to sleep,
Theresa blissfully content.

The triplets stripped Bill's clothing off without mercy. They pushed
him into the bathroom and handed him a new toothbrush and told him to
shower. Then they left him alone. When they heard the shower running,
they each slipped in one at a time and used the toilet and brushed
their teeth. When he finally came out, wearing a Terry robe they had
left for him, he found them laying on the bed, nude and smiling. Three
of the loveliest women he had ever seen. He dropped the robe and
crawled onto the bed.

It wasn't a night he would soon forget. None of the girls was
disappointed. He put a serious dent into the contents of the box John
had given him. When he finally slipped into sleep, one of the girls was
still atop him. One snuggled to either side. The worries of a nation
temporarily forgotten.

"Not a bad performance for an old man," Sheila panted, snuggled
blissfully to John's side.

"I'll say. Twice each. Not bad at all for an old fart," Cindy giggled
from his other side.

"Old man? I'll show you. I hope you don't have any plans of sleeping
tonight, either of you," John said. He kissed Sheila hard and then
rolled onto Cindy. He was inside her again before she realized he was
serious. She gasped at the speed with which he grew to full hardness.
He barely caught his breath before he rolled onto Sheila. She too was
amazed, but delighted. Neither girl got much sleep that night. Neither
was silly enough to complain. The last time John made slow and special
with each of them. He suspected that he could have done each at least
twice more using the trick that the triplets had shown him. They
caressed each other to sleep as a gray light began to glow from the
tracking mirror shaft. The girls couldn't have talked if they'd wanted
to.

* * *

Candice had found true love in the past few days. Mae seemed blissfully
content with her new love. She'd asked Candice to stay on permanently.
Candice had gladly accepted. Now they lay snuggled together, sleeping
peacefully. Their hair still slightly damp from their perspiration.

Sally awoke snuggled to Jean. She kissed her softly on the forehead.
Jean lifted her head and they shared a brief, intimate kiss. They
savored the feel of each other a moment longer before they rolled out
of bed to shower together. Their passions flared in the shower and they
left each other groggy with endorphins, but happy as they headed out
the door for their respective jobs.

The Russian team following Sally and Jean split and shadowed them to
work. Waiting for their next contact. Recording every person that they
met and talked to. The job was getting harder. Jean didn't make it
easy, being a waitress. Sally wasn't much better as she met with a long
line of customers, learning their needs and incorporating it into her
software. The agents sighed and recorded it all. There was definitely
*something* going on at the silo. They had orders to find out what.

The triplets awoke almost simultaneously. They smiled at each other and
stretched like cats. Then each slipped out and used the bathroom. Then
they snuggled back against Bill.

"So who's going to cook breakfast?" Alice whispered.

"I don't think that there will be anybody to cook breakfast *for*, for
a while," Amy giggled.

"I'll go. He did me first and last. But one of you come spell me after
he does you again," Andrea giggled. She kissed Bill gently on the
forehead and then shared a deep kiss with each of her sisters before
slipping out of bed and into some shorts and a T-shirt. She could feel
her sisters watching her and she wiggled her butt as she left, grinning
broadly. She started the biscuits, now a tradition at the silo. They
were almost done before Amy relieved her. Andrea scurried back down to
the guest room. She found Bill and Alice locked together on the bed.
She slipped off her clothes and joined them. Sharing a deep kiss with
Bill, tasting of her sisters, before she moved to the other end to help
with Alice.

Theresa awoke snuggled to her man. She grinned and stretched,
luxuriating in the feel of him next to her. He stirred and she rolled
into his arms.

"Good morning, dear heart. Sleep well?" she asked.

"Mmm. Pretty much. Some hot woman kept waking me up and demanding sex.
I did my best to fend her off," he chuckled.

"Mmm, your best was pretty damn good. Five times! And if I recall,
twice it was you who woke *me* up," she giggled, playing her fingers in
his chest hair.

"Mmm.. you're right... So I guess we're evenly matched. Will you marry
me?" he asked.

"Yes! I'd be delighted. But I told you that last night," she giggled,
but a tear forming in her eyes. He rolled her on top of him and kissed
her deeply. This started things responding nicely. Theresa giggled and
reached for the much depleted box. They finally showed up in the
kitchen over an hour later. They found a much shell shocked, but
pleasantly smiling Bill sitting at the table with a triplet in his lap.
Feeding him bacon and biscuits alternated with sips of coffee.

Theresa bent to kiss the girl and then turned to kiss Bill. Who
accepted it as somehow natural. Kevin didn't seem to notice as the
other two triplets were keeping him occupied. Amy moved to change
places with Andrea on Bill's lap, Andrea moved to greet Kevin good
morning.

"So, Report, Lieutenant," Howdy chuckled. Kevin snapped to attention.

"Sir. No unknown persons entered the Com room as of five minutes ago.
This officer was awake a good portion of the night and can vouch for
this," he said.

"At ease, Lieutenant. Sit down and have some breakfast. You checked the
hatch dogs?" Bill asked.

Kevin nodded, "Yes, Sir. All Secure." He sat down and Alice placed a
cup of coffee before him. Theresa followed with a plate of biscuits,
and bacon.

"How do you like your eggs, love?" she asked, kissing his cheek.

"Over easy, please," he said.

"Coming right up," she said, drawing her fingers through his hair.

"Young lady. How was the Lieutenant's performance last night? Did he
serve well?" Bill asked Theresa.

"Exceptionally well. He should get a medal for his performance,"
Theresa chuckled. Kevin blushed brightly.

"I don't think they give medals for that, but I'll see if I can swing a
commendation. I'm glad you were pleased. Well done, Lieutenant," Bill
chuckled.

"And how about you? Did he perform well last night, girls?" Theresa
asked.

"Quite well, this morning too," Andrea answered.

"Couldn't be happier," Alice said.

"Ditto," Amy added.

"I'm impressed. I *know* how hungry those three are," Theresa chuckled.
Now it was Bill's turn to blush. Amy solved this by sharing a piece of
bacon between her teeth.

"Sir, can we get court marshaled for this?" Kevin asked.

"I doubt it. I have presidential pardons for all involved," Bill
answered.

"Pre-pardons! ... Sir, may I speak with you alone?" Kevin asked.

"What about?" Bill asked.

"Sir, I think you'd better brief me on what this is about. The presence
of non-cleared personnel prohibits that here," Kevin said, seriously.

"After breakfast," Bill replied. Kevin nodded, in a gray mood. Bill
looked at him. "Theresa, can you keep his breakfast warm? I think I'd
better go set your man's mind at ease. Or he won't enjoy it. Sorry
girls, in private," Bill said. He eased Amy off his lap, kissing her in
the process. "Come on, Lieutenant," Bill said, heading for the Com
room. Kevin followed. "Okay, Lieutenant. Speak your mind," Bill told
him.

"Sir, I feel I must notify you of my feelings in this matter. As they
may affect my performance," Kevin said.

"Continue," Bill said.

"Sir, I have reason to believe... that there is biological or chemical
warfare research being conducted here. Specifically; The case you
transferred from Dougway Proving grounds, a known repository of such
items, to this location on our last visit. This is partially verified
by Top Secret Clearances, Presidential Pre-pardons and out of chain
rapid promotions. Not to mention the reference to items related to the
national defense," Kevin said.

"And if that were true?" Bill asked.

"Then Sir, I must respectfully decline my promotion and duty
assignment. As much as I love Theresa, I cannot in good conscience
allow myself to participate in actions now deemed illegal under
international law," Kevin said, standing at attention.

"At ease, Lieutenant. That's what you were supposed to think. I'd be
disappointed in you if you didn't feel that way. I can put your mind at
rest. There is *no* biological or chemical warfare research being
conducted here. That information is *above* Top Secret, need to know.
And if you ever whisper a word of it I'll have you in the darkest shit
hole on the planet for the rest of your life," Howdy told him.

"So what is going on here?" Kevin asked.

"What is going on here, is a golden opportunity. If you will just sit
back there, I will explain it to you," Bill said. Kevin sat back and
listened while Bill explained the whole thing. His grin grew ear to
ear. Then he carefully read over his re-enlistment papers. They did
indeed state that his only duty would be in direct connection to this
project. In triplicate! He signed happily. Bill also explained what all
the security precautions were about the previous evening.

"They just left it here?" Kevin asked, astonished. Howdy nodded. Kevin
shivered and nodded in understanding. They moved back to the kitchen,
Kevin much relieved. Theresa smiled that her man was relieved, but
wished that somebody would tell her what the hell was going on.

"So you'll be staying then?" she asked Kevin.

"Yup, Mr. Howdy has me for as long as you want me around," Kevin said,
suddenly puzzled.

"Then he's got you for a long, long time. 'Cause I intend to keep you
forever," Theresa said, wrapping her arms around his neck after setting
his eggs down.

"I'm sorry, Sir. It just occurred to me that I don't know your rank,"
Kevin said.

"Technically, I'm a civilian. But my GS rating would put me equivalent
to.. Oh, I guess at least an Admiral. I answer directly to the White
House," Howdy told him.

"So it's proper to call you *Mr*. Howdy?" Kevin asked.

"Bill.. Unless there's other military personnel around. Then address me
as Sir," Bill said.

"Yes Sir.... Uh, Bill," Kevin said, awkwardly.

"You're an Admiral?" Andrea exclaimed.

"You answer to the White House.. That means the President?" Amy gasped.

"Have you met him?" Alice asked. Bill chuckled as they mobbed around
him. Kissing and hugging him.

"No, I'm not exactly an Admiral. If I was in the military, that's what
I would be. Yes, I answer to the President's staff, and yes, I have met
him. The last time just two days ago," Howdy answered their questions
as best he could.

"You met with the President?" Theresa asked. Bill nodded. "Will
somebody please tell *me* what the fuck is going on?" Theresa asked in
exasperation.

"I think that Kevin should brief you. Kevin, you are authorized to
brief her on the operation, only. Not the other stuff. Understood? And
Theresa, I think after breakfast you should give Kevin a *complete*
tour of the silo, including your *lab*. It's about time he learned what
you're really doing here," Howdy said. Kevin nodded his understanding,
Theresa, her assignment. Somehow she didn't feel comfortable knowing
that her man could be ordered about by Bill, or how he seemed
comfortable ordering her about. She didn't say anything.

After breakfast, she guided Kevin around the areas of the silo he
hadn't seen, ending with the lab. Kevin was shocked when he first
stepped in the room. At first glance it looked like a row of bodies
hung from a beam across the room. Then he noticed that two of them
looked identical to Theresa, who was standing at his side, smirking.

"Alright. What we do here, is make clothes. We start by making
duplicates of people. It's about time you got some decent clothes, so
alley oop yourself onto that table after you get those clothes off,"
she chuckled. Reluctantly he stripped off his clothes and let Theresa
strap him down.

"Okay, dear. Don't fight it, no matter how personal it gets. I wouldn't
want it to rip off that lovely, wonderful goodie you've got. I've got
plans for it," she said. She started the scan. He looked nervous. He
took it like a man. Theresa's eyes glowed with pride. She was tempted
to subject him to the advanced scanning, but that could wait.

Cindy and Sheila stirred within moments of each other. They grinned
broadly at each other and stretched, almost purring. Then shared a kiss
over John's chest. He opened his eyes to the sight.

"My, that's a pretty sight," he mused.

"Keep him away from me. He tried to kill me with that *thing* of his
last night," Cindy cried in mock fear. Sheila giggled.

"Hey, you were the one who once told me she wanted her own marathon,"
John chuckled, pulling her up into a kiss. Next in line was Sheila.
Whom he greeted equally.

"I tell you, he was bewitched," Cindy chuckled.

"Bothered and bewildered...." John sang, "Yup, that's me."

"Darling. When I signed up for this, I was looking forward to, at best,
once a week and lots of make up love with the girls. They told me you
were an *old man*. Now I want to know where that lovable old man is?
You've stolen his body, but I know that you're really a horny teenager
in disguise. Nobody else could have acted like that," Sheila giggled.

"Old man? Horny Teenager? Which is it? Make up your mind. Did I act
like either last night?" John asked.

"Nope. Too skilled for a teenager... too much for an old man. I'm not
sure what you are, but I know I love you," Cindy said, melting in his
arms. John tagged the spot the triplets had shown him. He began to grow
immediately.

"Look at that!" Sheila gasped, "Oh, god. Have mercy on my sore pussy."

"Look, you don't have to use it," John said.

"Yeah, right," Cindy chuckled, climbing on top of him. Sheila kissed
him deeply as Cindy began to move her hips. She sighed to her fate as
John guided her hips over his head. He didn't let either of them loose
for another hour.

"Oh, god. Where's Candice when we need her?" Cindy moaned.

"I think, that we might not get to see her very much. It looked to me
like serious chemistry between her and Mae when I last saw her," Sheila
moaned.

"Then get that Trollop in New York on the phone. We need
reinforcements!" Cindy chuckled.

"Maybe the triplets are through with Bill and will lend a hand," Sheila
giggled.

"If Theresa can walk, send her down too," Cindy giggled.

"Bring them on. I'll take all comers," John giggled. Himself hardly
able to talk.

"Yeah, and leave them cumming," Sheila giggled.

"Come on, love stud. Time to get up," Cindy said.

"See if the trap is clear," John said, "I need reviving."

"*You* need reviving? God," Cindy said, rolling her eyes. She rolled
off the bed and opened the trap. The pool was empty for the moment.
"All clear," she slurred.

"If I can make it to the bathroom first," John said.

"We'd better help him, Sheila," Cindy said.

"Who's going to help us?" Sheila giggled, making her way to her feet.
The girls reached back and puled John up. All leaning on each other for
support. They made their way to the bathroom and deposited John on the
toilet. Cindy started the shower and Sheila joined her. A bit later,
John stepped in.

"Stay away from me, you beast," Cindy mocked, pulling him into a kiss.
John began to grow again.

"No, I refuse. I've had enough and I *never* thought I'd hear myself
say *that*," Sheila said, stepping out of the shower.

"Well, I'm game," Cindy said, pulling him between her legs.

The triplets guided Bill to the pool. They stripped off their clothes
and then his. They were just about to jump in when there was a splash
in the middle of the pool. Sheila surfaced and swam to the side. Bill
tried to cover up, but the girls had hold of his arms. They giggled and
pushed him in, jumping in beside him. When they surfaced, Sheila waved
at them from the submerged seat she sat on. Her breasts hanging
pendulously before her. Bill did his best not to look. The triplets all
swam to her and kissed her deeply, then waved Bill over to them.

"I'd stay away from the middle. When that *beast* John is through with
Cindy, I expect them to drop in. I wouldn't want you to get landed on,"
Sheila giggled.

"Beast?" Bill asked.

"Beast," Sheila replied, "Five times each last night and twice this
morning. Hell, he's working on his eighth time with Cindy right now."
Bill looked at her disbelieving.

"Fifteen times in one day? That's impossible," he said.

"Not for our John. Hell, his record is ... oh god, what was it? Thirty
times in thirty-four hours. Worse than that, he made it forty-eight
times in as many hours," Sheila said. The triplets sat giggling amongst
themselves. They weren't about to spoil John's fun. A mighty splash
announced John and Cindy's arrival into the pool. They were surprised
when they surfaced to find the triplets and Bill in the water. They
didn't mind. John helped Cindy into a floating chair and then swam
towards the crowd.

"Keep him away from me. He's possessed!" Sheila giggled.

"Uh... " Cindy said profoundly from her chair.

"Morning, folks. Sleep well?" John asked.

"Not much. Every time you made one of these women cry out, one of the
triplets would start feeling amorous again," Bill said.

"So you had an enjoyable evening then?" John chuckled.

"Probably the most enjoyable evening I ever had. Wish I didn't have to
leave," Howdy said. The girls swam to meet John and each kissed him
deeply.

"Careful, girls. That thing's loaded," Sheila called to them.

"Reinforcements!" Cindy called from her chair, then slumped back. John
shared a special look between the triplets and they all giggled.

"I'll say this for you, Stevens. You certainly seem to keep your women
happy," Bill said.

"Uh..." Cindy said.

"I think you broke her, John," Sheila giggled.

"She looks fine to me," Bill said, blushing.

"That she does," Sheila mused. Kevin's reaction to the scanning was not
unlike the women's. Theresa guided him to the sofa. Later they lay
panting in each other's arms. Their sweat mingling and running onto the
sofa.

"Care for a swim?" Theresa asked. Kevin nodded. Theresa handed him a
robe. She donned one herself. They left their clothes and helped each
other to the elevator. They found the pool crowded. Theresa shrugged.
She tossed her robe aside and dove in. Kevin noticed everybody was
nude, so he did the same.

"Theresa! Save us from this beast!" Sheila cried.

"Reinforcements!" Cindy cried again from her chair, then slumping back.

"What's wrong with her?" Theresa asked.

"I think John broke her. If New York was the gold medal, he did the
silver last night," Sheila chuckled. She bent to kiss Theresa as she
swam up. Bill and Kevin watching, still a bit unsure of themselves.
Bill less so after his night with the triplets. Bill caught Kevin's
eye.

"Consider yourself honored. You're in the presence of a champion stud.
If what Sheila says is true... and Cindy's condition seems to confirm..
Fifteen times since last night," Bill said. Kevin looked at John
dubiously.

"They forced me into it. They called me an *old man*," John said.

"Will you help us, Theresa? He's possessed I tell you," Sheila giggled.

"Sorry, I have my own beast to deal with. I'm dead even with whichever
of you got shorted," Theresa giggled.

"That would be me. That's the only reason I can still talk," Sheila
said. Bill made a gesture of tipping his non-existent hat to Kevin. The
triplets caught it.

"Hey, Bill was no slouch himself. He got all three of us twice last
night and again this morning," Andrea giggled. Kevin returned the
gesture to Bill.

"So we're all agreed, everybody had a good time last night and again
this morning," John said. Everybody nodded. "Okay, then I don't have to
worry about the safety of that team coming in this afternoon," he
chuckled.

"Only because you're straight," Sheila giggled.

"Uh... " said Cindy. The triplets swam to her and did their best to
revive her. It didn't work. They unhitched the chair and towed it to
the side. Then helped Cindy out and onto a chaise. "Feed me," she
slurred.

"Good idea, any food left?" John asked.

"Biscuits still warm in the oven. We ate all the cooked bacon," Amy
giggled.

"Oh... and I fired my head cook last night. Her assistant is
incapacitated and her substitute is on paid vacation with some oriental
vixen. Guess I'll have to cook myself," John said.

"I'll be glad to cook for you," Alice volunteered.

"Careful, I tell you he's possessed," Sheila warned.

"That's just fine by me," Alice said.

"Uh... " Cindy said.

"I'd better help. This woman needs nourishment," Amy volunteered.

"Okay, just stay out of range," Sheila warned. Andrea jumped back in
and swam over to Bill, guiding him into the floating chair Cindy had
vacated. She towed it back and tethered it, then climbed up into his
lap.

"How come the rope?" Bill asked, Andrea snuggled to his chest.

"So we don't land on them when we use the trap door," Sheila replied.
Theresa motioned Kevin to the second floating chair and then climbed
into his lap. The girls each kissed their respective partners.

"Not bad duty. I must admit," Kevin said to Bill. Sheila climbed out
and all eyes watched her ascend the ladder. Theresa caught Kevin's
eyes.

"I swear, you men are as bad as us women. Everyone of us is bombed on
endorphins and we still find the need to watch a lovely blonde climb
out of the pool," she chuckled.

"Human nature, I guess. I must say I like it. This is the first time
I've felt comfortable even looking at another woman while I'm with
one," Kevin admitted to her.

"Only because I was looking myself," Theresa giggled. "Want me to ask
her if she's interested?" she whispered in his ear. He looked at her,
to see if she was serious. She was. He shook his head.

"Not yet. Give me a little time to get used to the idea first. It's all
pretty new to me," he said.

"You don't have to do anything. I just wanted you to know that it was
okay if you wanted to," she said, softly.

"I appreciate that. I must be the luckiest man on earth. My new
fianc�e's trying to line me up with her girlfriend," he mused. Bill and
Andrea were having their own conversation.

"God... fifteen times? How does he do it?" Bill mused.

"I wouldn't let it bother you, You did just fine for an un-augmented
man. Nine times is outstanding."

"Augmented?" Bill asked. Andrea sighed and snuggled to him.

"Yes. Us girls.. the three of us, had an interesting experience one
night. We sort of merged personalities. You know what a Gestalt is?"
she asked.

He nodded, "I know what the word means. I don't know if anybody's
actually ever done it."

"Well, we did. Even with Alice being in San Francisco. We were *one*...
and well, we gave John a little present. A spot he could mentally touch
to trigger an erection," she told him. He looked at her dubiously.

"Seriously? John said you girls were psychic. I wasn't sure I believed
him," he said.

"It's true, only we can't do that anymore. I sort of wished we could...
for you," Andrea said.

"Oh, that's okay. I think I did alright," he said.

"That you did. But you couldn't do that every night. John probably
could.. maybe not fifteen times... but at least five... every night.
After that the body's limits would kick in. But if we ever get to do it
again, we'll do the same for you. 'Cause... well, we like you. We'd
like to see more of you. And well, I know that there are three of
us.... so if we don't ever get to do that again... well, anyway, we'll
be happy with whatever you're able to give us," Andrea told him.

"Thank you, Andrea. I'm not sure what you're talking about. But I can
assure you I had a wonderful time last night. I was probably able to do
it that much because it has been a long time for me since I did it
last. That and the fact that you three excited the hell out of me. I'd
love to be able to do that with you every time I come here.. but I
don't know if I can," he said.

"You remembered my name," Andrea giggled and hugged him.

"Anyway... That's just what I was talking about. See, we didn't really
give John anything. Just the thought that he could do it... and the
excuse that if he couldn't, that it was the body's natural limit that
was stopping him. I think that any man could do it at least four or
five times a day, if he only believed he could. You didn't have any of
that help last night and this morning, but you were able to do it nine
times. But the simple fact is, that we'd be thrilled if you could only
do it once with each of us, whenever you came here," she said.

"I can't promise anything... but it might be seldom enough that I get
back here that I could probably do that," Bill said.

"Well, that's fine with us... except the seldom enough part," Andrea
giggled.

Sheila cradled Cindy in her arms. She was still groggy, but getting
better.

"I don't know how the hell he does it... but I'm ready to call Sally if
he's going to make this a habit," Cindy murmured.

"I think you just want to get your hands on her," Sheila giggled.

"Can't deny that.... Did you see her picture?" Cindy asked.

"No, but if she inspired John to those lengths, I'll believe she's
beautiful," Sheila said.

"I'll show you her picture, if they ever let us out of the dungeon,"
Cindy said.

"What is going on?" Sheila asked.

"Oh, that's right. John didn't tell you. Listen.. help me up. Let's go
shower and I'll tell you all about it," Cindy said. Sheila nodded and
helped Cindy to her feet.

"The dead live!" Theresa called from Kevin's lap.

"Barely. I'm going to hold her up in a cold shower and then get her
some food," Sheila called back. All eyes watched the two women depart.
Theresa caught Kevin looking again and kissed him deeply, giggling. A
while later the trap door to the master bedroom closed. Mostly so one
of them wouldn't absently walk into it.

"Well, Lieutenant. I think we'd better get dressed before the marines
arrive," Howdy said.

"Yes Sir.... Bill," Kevin said. The girls wouldn't let either of them
out of their chairs until they'd been properly kissed once more. Bill
retrieved his clothes from the chaise where the triplets had thrown
them. Kevin put on the terry robe while he headed back up stairs to get
his out of the lab. The girls waited until they were both gone, then
swam together and kissed deeply.

They each had shared the experience of another man the night before.
The camaraderie of the experience made them somehow hot for each other.
Theresa led them out of the pool and onto a chaise. There, they made
love.

"You know, you shouldn't be so cruel to Cindy and Sheila, that's not
what we gave you that for," Amy teased.

"Cruel? They will tell their grandkids about it. They're both hams.
They both loved it," John chuckled.

"What grandkids?" Alice asked, from the stove.

"Oh... Guess they won't have any as long as they're with me," he said.

"Well, the next time you feel like being cruel... just look us up," Amy
said, kissing him. Alice finished cooking his eggs while the bacon
drained on a paper towel. She'd prepared a whole pound of bacon in
preparation for Cindy and Sheila. Suddenly, both girls closed their
eyes and groaned slightly, shivering a bit.

"What...or who was that?" John asked.

"Andrea and Theresa," Amy answered from his lap.

"That's my girls," John mused. Sheila and Cindy soaped up and rubbed
together while Cindy related the whole story to Sheila. She was
flabbergasted. She didn't understand the housing part until Cindy told
her about her early morning conversation with John when he'd got back
from New York.

"You know. He really is one *stellar* human being," Sheila mused.

"My *hero*, for certain," Cindy said.

"Mine too. You know, this whole thing is really amazing. Russian spies,
high fashion, gun fights, Olympic love fests... quite the star we've
hitched our wagon to. It's like a real live James Bond. I wouldn't
believe it if it were a story in a book," Sheila said.

"I probably wouldn't either," Cindy said, "but he's definitely spoiled
me for other men."

"Speaking of which, Theresa didn't do so badly," Sheila mused.

"Like him?" Cindy asked.

"Not like John... but yeah, he's kind of cute," Sheila giggled.

"I'm just tickled that Theresa's happy," Cindy said.

"So, where are you girls going first?" Sheila asked.

"Huh? Going?" Cindy asked.

"Yes, going. You said that Bill had given you your freedom, in the form
of altered ID's. You are free to go anywhere. So where do you want to
go first?" Sheila said.

"Actually, I didn't intend to go anywhere... Maybe to town to take my
GED test and get my drivers license," Cindy mused.

"Well, I think Theresa will be going places soon. I expect her to be
racing off to college first chance she gets," Sheila said.

"Wouldn't surprise me a bit.... I'm gonna miss her," Cindy said.

"Don't forget to tell her that," Sheila said, hugging Cindy to her.
They hugged for a long time under the hot water. Then they shared a
gentle kiss before they stepped out to dry. They found John in the
kitchen, Alice on his lap as Amy finished up the cooking. She'd
prepared their eggs already, keeping them warm in the oven with the
biscuits.

"Thought you two decided to take a nap," John chuckled.

"Don't you dare tease us about being slow today. You did it to us,"
Cindy chuckled. She stopped and kissed him nonetheless. Hugging him
with what little strength she had. She turned her head to give Alice a
kiss and the girl winked at her. Cindy winked back when she pulled
away. They sat and ate, Cindy eating like she had never seen food
before. She polished off three biscuits besides her eggs and five
strips of bacon. John watched in amusement. Cindy caught his smirk.

"What?" she asked.

"Oh.. I was just thinking what your figure would look like if I didn't
give you all this loving," he chuckled.

"I'd probably look like an ox and be as grumpy as a badger," she
chuckled. Sheila grinned ear to ear as she ate, slower.

"And what about you, dear heart? The girls thought I was being cruel to
you two last night. You ready for me to let up on you?" he asked her.

"Nope.. I seem to recall telling you 'don't you dare!', when you asked
me that before," she giggled.

"Well, there you go, girls. Two happy women. I wasn't being cruel. So
it's back to bed for all of you after breakfast," John chuckled. Cindy
stopped eating, Sheila looked up sharply.

"He is joking, isn't he? Tell me he's joking," Sheila said.

"I don't have a clue anymore," Cindy said, studying him.

"Yes, loves. I'm joking," John said softly.

"Phew! Scared me," Sheila said.

"I wasn't ascared. I was twitterpated," Cindy chuckled.

"I was joking... we can wait till the troops arrive this afternoon. I
can keep you all out of their way," John said.

"What's twitterpated?" Alice asked.

"You've got to get some more video's in here," Sheila teased.

"It means *in love*," Cindy told Alice.

"I guess we're all twitterpated, then," Alice said, turning to kiss
John again.

"That we are, doll, that we are," Sheila said. Bill and Kevin showed
up, now fully dressed. They looked a bit dazed though. That was
understandable.

"Okay, folks. When the troops arrive, could I ask you all but John to
stay below the fourth level? I'm afraid we'll tie the elevator up for
quite a while too," Bill said.

"I have a better idea. Why not open the traps and use the winch to haul
the stuff up? Save a bunch of time. You can lift it all the way to the
first level and then jig pole it to the surface," John said.

"Terrific idea," Bill said.

"I thought you were going to keep us occupied while they were here?"
Amy said. Cindy and Sheila rolled their eyes.

"I intend to. I'll just get them started. Really, all I have to do is
show them where things are. Then they're on their own," John said.

"That would probably be best," Bill admitted.

"Girls, why don't you take some study materials down with you now? That
way we won't have to worry who's where when they arrive," John
suggested.

"I think Sheila and I are going to do some work in the lab. Theresa
too, if I can find her," Cindy said.

"Yeah, we really need to have a planning session, too," Sheila
suggested. "How's the redesign coming?" she asked John.

"Well, I need to test a few things and make a trip to town. I need some
ultrasound transducers," John said.

"What redesign is that? May I ask?" Bill asked.

"Sure, the scanner table. The girls thought it a bit too personal for
commercial usage. I'm going to try to substitute ultra-sound for the
fine scan resolvers. I expect to lose some resolution, but what I had
was really overkill anyway. Way beyond the tolerance I can hold in the
spinning," John said.

"I don't know exactly what you're talking about," Bill said.

"I do. That scan *is* a bit too personal," Kevin moaned.

"Theresa did that to you? Good god. No wonder she looked dazed," Sheila
giggled.

"The clothing scanner," John explained for Bill.

"Oh... All you told me was that you could spin dynamite outfits...
cheap. You never told me how you did it," Bill said.

"How much time before the troops arrive?" Cindy asked. Bill checked his
watch.

"Three and a half hours, at least," he replied.

"Let's see, figuring recovery time... " Cindy said.

"That cuts it close, but I think he'll live. Come on, girls. Get your
study material. I think Bill is going to need you later," Sheila
giggled.

"What?" Bill asked.

"I think you'll find out. It's time to pay your dues for last night. I
think the triplets would appreciate a stand in if you're not going to
be around," John chuckled. Amy and Alice nodded. Bill allowed himself
to be led, like a lamb to the slaughter.

"Come on, Kevin. I'll show you all about the winch and the Jig pole,"
John said.

"Probably won't need the Jig pole. If you have an open shot to the
surface from the utility room and they send a big enough chopper, then
they can lift right out of the utility area," Kevin said.

"Won't that be dangerous? For the chopper crew, I mean," John asked.

"Depends on the wind. I'm going to have to move mine anyway so they can
set down. How deep is the snow off the side?" Kevin asked.

"Two and a half feet, give or take six inches," John replied.

"How heavy is it?" Kevin asked.

"Oh, I don't think very heavy. It's got a crust on it though," John
said.

"If we can bust up the crust, Maybe I can blow enough away to set
down," Kevin replied.

"Good idea. We'd better get to it," John said. They found an area off
to the side that wasn't too deep and fairly flat. They trounced around
breaking the crust up into pieces in a grid pattern. Then John helped
Kevin untarp the helicopter.

"I'd better go tell Bill what we're doing so he doesn't try sitting up
on the scanner when you start up," John said.

"Good Idea. I'll wait a bit before I spin up," Kevin said. Theresa came
out wearing a snowmobile suit.

"Keep him company till I get back?" John asked.

"Gladly," she said.

"Come see my bird," Kevin invited. Theresa kissed him and let him show
off his machine. Her eyes dazzled with love. John informed Bill what
they were doing. He was in no position to argue. Feeling quite
uncomfortable as the machine probed his nude body while five women
looked on.

"I hadn't thought about that..." he managed between his teeth.

"We'll take care of it, you just have fun," John chuckled. Bill shot
daggers into the back of John's head as he left. John suited up
completely before going out, including his visored helmet. The
helicopter was just starting to spin up when he walked out. Theresa was
strapped into the passenger seat, grinning ear to ear.

"Can you tune.... 49.850 MHz?" John called into Kevin. Kevin nodded and
tuned his radio. "Can you hear me?" John's voice sounded in Kevin's
headphones.

"Loud and clear," Kevin's voice boomed back.

"Can you cut your transmit power back to a half-watt or so?" John
asked. Kevin made an adjustment, and cut back his microphone gain.

"How's that.. 1,2,3," Kevin asked.

"Better, thanks. I'll stay on the ground and see how you do," John
said. He climbed off the pad and moved to the side while the rotor
gained speed. When it was fast enough, Kevin checked the wind sock and
lightly lifted off. He rose up a good fifty feet and let the machine
drift towards the area they had broken up. A virtual blizzard erupted
from the area. Kevin hovered over the spot until it started to clear
and then moved off to circle around. John moved in to check the area.
It was virtually barren, except where they had walked to bust up the
crust.

"Just about. Let me grab a rake and bust up the part where we walked,"
John transmitted.

"Take your time. I'm going to give Theresa a little tour of your
property," Kevin replied.

"About four miles back up the road there's a buried snowmobile. See if
you can clear it a bit for me," John requested.

"Ten-four, can do," Kevin replied. The helicopter angled off. John got
the rake and broke up the lines. He could see the helicopter hovering
over the area, four miles away. Then it moved off towards the main
road. It came back over and Kevin stopped to hover over the area again.
This time it blew virtually clean. Then he angled off and flew towards
the mountain.

About twenty minutes later he flew back. This time he settled easily
onto the cleaned off area. A blizzard of snow still swirled around the
machine until it wound down. Finally Kevin and Theresa climbed out. The
blade barely turning. About an inch of snow had swirled in and carpeted
the area when it settled.

"Nice job. Did you have a nice tour?" John asked.

"Quite nice. There's a nice little spot up against the foot hills I
wouldn't mind owning myself," Kevin said.

"Oh, John. It's beautiful!" Theresa bubbled. John bit his tongue to
keep from giving it to him right then. They would need a wedding
present.

"Have to get you to fly me around and show me my new estate," John
said.

"Sure, anytime. I don't know if they'll let me keep the helicopter or
how it will work," Kevin said.

"Come on. we'd better get set up," John said. They unsuited and moved
to the Utility room. John showed Kevin the controls on the winch and
how to start it up. Next they moved down, opening the hatchways. They
left the kitchen closed for the time being. No sense someone stumbling
into the gaping hole by accident.

"Theresa, could you rustle us up some soup and sandwiches for lunch?
I'll see if I can send you up some help," John asked.

"I'll help. Gladly," Kevin volunteered.

"Thanks. That would be nice," John said.

"What kind of each?" Theresa asked.

"Oh, how about cream of mushroom and roast beef?" John asked.

"Sure, sounds good," she said.

"Thanks love," he said. John kissed her and moved off. Kevin moved in
and she turned into his arms. They shared a deep kiss.

"If you'll open two of the large cans and get them going, I'll do the
sandwiches," she finally said. He nodded. She directed him up the
stairs to the pantry. He almost stepped through the hole back into the
kitchen. "Grab another loaf of wheat bread out of the freezer while
you're up there," Theresa called up through the hole. A minute later a
kind of shaken, Kevin came down the stairs carrying two large cans an a
loaf of bread. Kevin looked up through the hole and shuddered. Then
down at the hatch he was standing on.

"You know. That John's one smart fellow," he said.

"Yeah, I know," Theresa mused, taking the loaf and putting it into the
microwave to thaw. Kevin opened the soup and found a large pan. He set
it on the stove and mixed in the water. Then turned on the heat.
Theresa moved down the counter flipping bread out like cards on a 21
table.

"That's a lot of sandwiches," Kevin mused.

"Three girls, me, Cindy, Sheila, John, Bill and you. I count nine. I
figure two a piece. That's eighteen sandwiches," Theresa giggled.

"You know. I've been thinking," Kevin said.

"About what?" Theresa asked.

"About you and John... "

"Oh," Theresa said, stopping her work and turning to him.

"Yeah... I've decided I don't mind."

"Mind what?"

"That you want to keep making love with him."

"You sure?"

"Yup."

"And what about the girls?"

"I don't think I ever did mind that." She moved to him and kissed him
deeply.

"Okay," she said, "Just remember you said that over the next twenty
years or so."

"I will."

"Just one thing."

"What's that?" he asked.

"Just that while I'm making love with John... I expect you'll be making
the girls happy," she giggled. He looked at her a moment.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yup!" she replied giggling.

"God, it's going to be an interesting twenty years," he said.

"That's just the minimum I expect to be making love to John. I expect a
good fifty or sixty out of you," she said.

"God, I'll be eighty-six," he said.

"Just about the time I expect you to start slowing down some," she
said, pulling him back into a deep kiss. John found Cindy and Sheila in
the lab.

"Where's Bill?" he asked.

"Coward wanted some privacy. Took the triplets to the guest room,"
Cindy chuckled.

"You know, you could cut him a little slack. This *is* all new to him.
Before yesterday he was a frustrated divorced man. A man's prone to
stage fright. Especially in front of two gorgeous women he hasn't
bedded yet," John chuckled. Cindy was quiet for a moment.

"Yet? You expect us to?" she asked.

"No, I don't expect anything," he replied.

"Would you mind?" she asked.

"Nope. No more than you did when I bedded Sally," John replied.

"So you'd hate it then," Cindy chuckled.

"No, dear heart. I wouldn't. I asked myself *that* question every time
a new woman came into my life. Including you. You don't see me upset
over Theresa, do you?" he asked.

"Not much," she replied.

"What about me?" Sheila asked.

"Same thing," John replied.

"So you wouldn't mind any of us making love to another man?" Sheila
asked.

"Guess it really boils down to who the man is. Same as it was with you
girls. I think that Theresa will want you girls to keep Kevin company
whenever she comes back to visit. As long as you practice birth control
and don't expose us to disease then I figure who you girls bed is your
business," John said.

"I wondered about that... because of the triplets and Bill," Cindy
said.

"Oh, in some ways, maybe that was a little easier, because they haven't
been here long. But they're such little sweethearts that in many ways I
feel the same level of affection for them that I do for you," John
replied.

"And me?" Sheila asked.

"I was referring to a collective 'you'. Yes, of course you. Look, each
of you touches a different part of me. Some things we all have in
common, some things are totally different between you all. I like it
that way. I know you do too. The questions you're asking me now, I've
asked myself many times. Beginning when I discovered Theresa's and
Cindy's relationship. If the question is; how do I feel about you
making love with someone you care for? Then I think I've answered that
thousands of times before. I answer it every time one of you makes love
with someone else besides me.

"Sheila, you have two lovers in San Francisco. You had them when I met
you. I didn't expect you to give them up when you became involved with
us. Theresa has stated her intention all along that she expects to make
love to me after she's married. It wouldn't be right of me to not give
the same freedom her husband gives to her, to the women in my life. Not
while I expected them to give me the freedom to accept that
relationship from her.

"I do care about pregnancy. I don't want to be a father again. My live
is full enough. I don't feel the need to raise children anymore. And to
have them around me now, I would have to worry about a whole bunch of
things I'm not set up to worry about, either emotionally, or
physically. Like the fact that right now there's a good sixty foot drop
open to anybody who happened to step through the open hatch on the
first floor. It would be farther, but I left the kitchen hatch closed
until we've finished lunch. Anyway, I really don't want kids around. Or
not very often. Certainly not to live with me.

"The other thing I care about is disease. I wouldn't want any of you to
go out and indulge in a bunch of casual sex. As I expect you wouldn't
want me to do either. As a close group, we're fairly well protected
against disease. But AIDS is a fact of life out there. Other than that,
you are all free to indulge yourselves any way you wish. With Bill's
fancy paperwork, all you girls are now officially legal. That basically
makes *me* a free man too. That means that whatever relationship we
have, we do so by free choice, as adults. There *is* no rule book. Only
the rules that we make up to apply to ourselves. That's just exactly
how I wanted to live all along," John said.

"I love you, John Stevens," Cindy said, moving into his arms.

"Ditto," Sheila said, moving next in line.

"Lunch is ready," Theresa's voice sounded throughout the silo.

"Damn handy that," John told Sheila. They moved off to the kitchen. A
little while later, a much more dazed Bill and three blissfully giggly
girls entered the kitchen. Cindy giggled as she set a mug of coffee
before him. He looked at it.

"I've been through this before. Just tell your arm that you'd like a
sip. Try it, it works," Sheila giggled. Bill's arm slowly lifted and
grasped the cup. "That's it. Now tell it to raise it to your lips.
Carefully, it's hot," Sheila instructed. Bill raised the cup and took a
sip. He looked at her gratefully. "Very good. Now don't start searching
for food. Someone will place it before you," Sheila giggled. Theresa
did. He looked at her gratefully too.

"Wish I had video of this. It might make great blackmail material
should the government decide to send me to a war zone later," Kevin
chuckled.

"Works both ways. You didn't look much different a few hours ago," John
chuckled. Bill managed to get hold of a sandwich half and take a bite.
He had to remind himself to chew. Everyone else dug in. The triplets
had gained a penchant for Cream of Mushroom, once Cindy had convinced
them that they always used safe mushrooms to make it. They did their
best not to slurp.

Eventually, Bill got most of a sandwich down and talked his arm into
another sip of coffee. He took a detour on the way back to the sandwich
and took a spoonful of soup. This turned into a habit and it was
halfway gone before he remembered his sandwich again. He was saved much
of his dilemma when he noticed the triplets dipping their sandwiches
into their soup. While messy, this got everything into his mouth he
desired... except the coffee, which still required a detour. After a
time Amy moved around the table and dabbed his lip with a napkin for
him. He nodded his thanks and went back to directing his arms.

"Gosh, I'm not sure even *I* was that bad," Sheila giggled.

"Yes you were. You thought I was a mannequin, come to life, trying to
trade food for sex.... You told me you had nothing left to give,"
Theresa chuckled.

"I didn't have," Sheila said.

"Theresa, have you and Kevin set a date, or thought about it?" John
asked.

"Sort of. Right after I graduate college," she said. John nodded and
smiled.

"Have you thought about where you want to go for that?" he asked.

"Not really. I was just thinking on going to the nearest one," she
said.

"The best way to pick one, is to decide what you want to study, then
pick one based on that. So what do you want to study?" John asked.

"Well, if I'm gonna be so flipping rich, I guess I'd better take
business," she chuckled.

"That wouldn't be such a bad idea. And the local college has a fair
business program. I think you can get credit for work, too. So you've
already got a head start on that," John said.

"As a cook?" she asked.

"No, as an investment analyst. I'll give you references for that.
Several of your picks did quite well for me. I'm sure you'll get extra
credit for being an officer of Second Skin, too," John said.

"But I'm not an officer," she said. ("I am," Kevin chuckled to
himself.)

"Weren't, until your eighteenth birthday... which seems to have
miraculously come and gone," John chuckled.

"You mean that we're in business?" Cindy asked.

"Yup! Just as soon as I transmit the changes to the lawyers, your cute
little fannies are just in front of the grinder. We're burning money as
we speak. So get the lead out," he said.

"Hey! I just realized, you fired me last night! And then I made the
lunch today.. with Kevin's help of course.. " Theresa said.

"Oh.. I meant to say: you're fired, the instant you get married. That
should cover the conflict of interest thing. Right, Bill?" John asked.

"Uh..." Bill said.

"I'll take that as an affirmative," John said. The triplets finished
their lunch and Amy took pity on Bill, moving around she pulled a chair
up next to him and began to feed him. He seemed eternally grateful, but
eyed her warily. Fearful of any sign the girls weren't yet pleased
enough.

"Actually, I guess I'd better make a trip into town and get you some
course and registration material, Theresa. Hey, you girls can take your
GED's and driving tests, now. Guess I'm going to need another two
Landcruisers for myself," John mused.

"So what's the status of Second Skin, anyway?" he asked Sheila.

"Mae's lined up, dying to be your first outlet. The girls have been
whipping outfits out left and right for the triplets and Candice. I
guess the biggest hold up is you," she replied.

"Me?" John asked.

"Your redesign of the scanner. Testing and then the logistics of
getting lots of units made," Sheila told him.

"The redesign... I was going to go into town anyway to get some parts
for that... Damn, I wish we had another engineer around. Too damn much
to do for one person. Especially with seven hungry sets of lips around
to be kissed," John said.

"Six, Candice will likely be staying with Mae for a while," Sheila
corrected him.

"Six, Seven. What's the difference... time wise?" John said.

"I could maybe help you, John," Kevin said.

"How's that?" John asked.

"With the kissing?" Theresa giggled.

"I have a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in
electronics," he said, ignoring Theresa's dig.

"That would do. College man, huh? Well, I won't hold that against you,"
John chuckled.

"Hold it against him? After all you told us about wanting us to go to
college?" Cindy asked.

"Not the same in engineering.... *studying* isn't the same as *doing*,"
John said.

"Isn't that kind of a bigoted attitude?" Theresa asked, indignantly.
(Coming to her man's defense.)

"He's right. I've been around both. On the job training wins every
time," Kevin said.

"Not always. Best is book learning coupled with experience," John said.

"Anyway, I'd love to help. I assume, as Liaison Officer, that I'll be
stationed here, or at least be here often," Kevin said. Bill managed to
nod. "As delightful as making love to Theresa is, man does not live on
love alone. I'd rather be doing something useful... when I'm not making
love that is," Kevin concluded. (The last, just in time to save his
butt.)

"As long as there isn't a problem with conflict of interest?" John
asked Bill. Bill managed to shake his head. "Then I'd be grateful for
the help," John said.

"Great. Just as soon as I get my official assignment. I guess I have to
fly Bill back and then I don't know."

"Swas....is... can.. start when get back.. Orders in case," Bill
mumbled.

"I think he means that your orders are in his briefcase, and that you
can return here and start after you drop him off," John said. Bill
nodded.

"But what about the helicopter? The military's kind of partial to
keeping track of them," Kevin asked.

"Abscond...approppp... isport o deal," Bill mumbled.

"You got a helicopter permanently assigned here.. or to me!?" Kevin
asked. Bill smiled and nodded.

"Big strings...pull," he mumbled.

"Good god... what about fuel?" Kevin asked.

"Hill fill, charge proj," Bill said... sort of.

"I fill up at Hill and charge it to... the project.. Same name as last
trip?" Kevin asked. Bill nodded. "How much is allotted?" Kevin asked.

"Cat blink."

"Huh?"

"Cart blink."

"I think he means: Carte Blanche," Sheila said. Bill nodded.

"What the hell for?" Kevin asked. Bill took his index finger and
flipped it around, back and forth and then sort of pointed to Sheila,
John, the girls and himself. "You mean you've authorized military
transport for our use, to fly to civilian airports or where ever?" John
asked. Bill nodded.

"Is that a good idea?" John asked. Bill just looked at him. Then John
got it. "Oh... I see." he nodded.

"I don't," Cindy said.

"I'll explain it all later," John said, "Girls, you'd better start
force feeding that coffee into Bill. The troops will be here any time."
Bill nodded. Most of his lunch was consumed, much by Amy's darling
hand. Now she worked on getting coffee into him. "Pour him another cup
and toss an ice cube in it," John suggested. Alice moved to comply.

Cindy and Sheila helped clean up and then came by and kissed John. They
headed back to the lab.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 68

Amy managed to get several cups of coffee into Bill before the beating
sound of a rotor was heard.

"If you'll just get them started.. I'll be along shortly," Bill now
managed to say to Kevin.

"Springs back real quick. We might have a real trooper here," Theresa
chuckled.

"Okay, Amy, Alice and Andrea. Grab your study stuff and head on down.
I'll be down shortly. Ah... You too Theresa," John said. They nodded.
Theresa waylaid Kevin long enough to let him know he'd be missed, then
herded the girls downstairs.

"Quite an interesting 24 hours," Bill mused, looking at his last half
cup of coffee.

"How do you think I feel? I've been at this sort of thing for a year
now," John chuckled.

"You're a credit to the human race... males in particular," Bill
toasted him with his coffee. He downed it and then managed to stand up.

"You ain't so bad yourself," John toasted back. John opened the kitchen
hatch and they made their way to the surface. Bill was all business
now. It appeared Kevin had them deployed. One armed soldier in each
corner of the compound. The others he had split into work teams. He was
directing one team to the winch when Bill and John showed up. Bill
showed his credentials. And the officer showed him his. Bill checked
them closely.

"Who is this man?" an officer asked of John. Bill retrieved John's and
Kevin's clearance papers from his briefcase. The officer nodded and
then asked for orders. Two *armed* men were placed on station at the
entry to the Com room. Bill directed a squad to the elevator, with
directions for a second to follow them down to the fourth level. None
of the men missed the halter tops and shorts hanging in the entryway as
they passed by.

Bill had the squad wait while he opened the access. Then he directed
the first squad back to the launch room. Having them wait in the
corridor while he worked the lock. Then they were all business as they
began to disconnect the double launch console. Bill led the second
squad by the armory. He entered and directed them what, and what not to
take. Assigning a squad leader to keep an inventory of each.

For the next two hours, the squads were all business. A furniture dolly
John retrieved made the task of moving the consoles intact much easier.
One armed soldier stood keeping the large cement door open. Sensors
read his presence. The winch served well, but one soldier had to stand
on each level and guide the consoles through. The pantry, kitchen and
library were quite an enigma. The workshop, every man's dream. When the
first unit was hoisted to the utility area, boards were placed under it
and it was tarped tightly. The munitions were already loaded.

The helicopter lifted and dropped a cable through the open launch door.
Kevin guided topside operations. Keeping an eye on the windsock and a
dozen other things. It was winched up to cargo height, and then the
bird tipped and departed. A few minutes later, a second one set down on
the open launch roof after lowering a crate into the Utility area.
Several soldiers set about opening the crate and moving the contents to
the Com room.

The second console was removed and lifted, then tarped as the first and
hoisted by the second helicopter. It also tipped and departed. A third
machine set down a short time later. Bill's aid stepped out and was met
by Kevin. He inquired about Bill's whereabouts. Kevin directed him to
wait just inside the entryway as Bill was about through. The aid
flushed, but waited. He stood looking at the halter tops and shorts.

Bill came up, herding the soldiers out. He carried one lock box from a
safe. The officer, keeping distant, carried the second. Armed soldiers
separated them. Bill's aid saluted. Bill returned it and his aid handed
him a sealed envelope and a box. Bill signed for receipt. Bill stepped
well aside and the officer directed the squads out into the first
helicopter.

"We need two more *secure* independent carriers," Bill called to him.
The officer nodded. The troops boarded the third chopper along with the
officer, keeping his lock box close to him. It lifted and was gone,
save ten armed guards. Four outer perimeter, four inner and two on
Bill, who casually waited.

Ten minutes passed and another helicopter came in to set down. Another
officer stepped out. Bill met him and they each checked each other's
credentials. Then Bill passed the lock box to his custody. He accepted
it and immediately boarded and lifted off. Five minutes later another
chopper set down. Another officer stepped out. He carried an aluminum
case. Credentials were exchanged once more.

Bill moved with John to the Com room and John opened his safe, handing
the encrypter to Bill, who transferred custody to the officer, who
locked it in the case and set the safeties. Then he moved back to the
bird. The two guards keeping station around him. Howdy conversed with
his aid and dismissed him. He boarded the helicopter. The two guards
held close perimeter while he boarded, then stayed on station while
first the outer perimeter boarded and then the inner. The two then
backed into the helicopter and it lifted, turned and left. A deafening
silence settled over the silo.

"Fuck! I'm glad that's over with," John said.

"I'll be glad when I receive notice that they're all separately
secure," Howdy said, soberly. The soldiers had been nice enough to
close the hatches after the second console was lifted. John checked
them all just in case. Kevin tagged along.

"Incredible efficiency for military.... god, did you see their
insignia?" he asked John.

"Special forces. Nice deploy job you did," John said, simply.

"Fuck. It wasn't me. Those four were out of the bird and into the
corners before I could blink. Then I was basically guarded until you
and Bill showed up," Kevin said.

"Well, if you think about what they were transporting. It was done
almost correctly. I wouldn't be surprised if they had fully armed air
cover we weren't aware of," John said.

"Almost?" Kevin asked.

"I'm surprised that they didn't secure the entire silo, scaring the
piss out of our little lovelies in the process," John chuckled.

"They were told that below four was off limits. The soldiers on each
floor served double duty, guiding the consoles up and making sure
nobody came up the elevator or stairs. I heard Bill tell the first
Captain," Kevin said.

"Oh.. then it was all done correctly." John said.

"You seem to know a lot about the military," Kevin said.

"Just how many days it took me to get out," John said.

"Don't go making me sorry I re-upped," Kevin chuckled. They rejoined
Howdy in the Com room. John eyed the new addition to his Com room.

"A real *secure* safe for your plans and papers," Howdy said from his
laptop. John noticed his surveillance program on the screen of his
computer. Howdy glanced at him. "Couldn't resist, could you?" he
chuckled.

"A bit of silo history," John admitted.

"I trust the tape will be secured along with the plans?" Howdy asked.
John nodded. "I shouldn't let you keep it. But... I never saw this,"
Howdy said, nodding to John's computer.

"What's that?" Kevin asked.

"Proof of our performance," Howdy chuckled.

"I don't understand," Kevin admitted.

"You know when you mused earlier, about having a video of my dazed
state? John could probably supply you with one," Howdy said, still
chuckling.

"We're under surveillance?" Kevin asked.

"The silo is. I've never watched them. Invasion of privacy. But a hell
of a legacy for the girls when I'm gone," John said.

"I guess I don't mind.. if you've never watched them," Kevin said.

"Kevin, Theresa's lived with me for over a year. Whatever you did, I
have no interest in. My only concern is her happiness. If you were
stupid enough to mess that up, then you would discover a *very*
unpleasant side to me," John said.

"I can understand that," Kevin said.

"Good," John said, "Enough said then."

"John, would you call the triplets up? Their clearances finally came
through," Howdy said.

"Jesus, you're kidding. My first one took almost a year," John said.

"Rank hath its privilege. Besides, an order coming down gets processed
a whole shit load faster than a request coming up," Howdy said, "Add to
that the fact that they were already resident on the project. and
well... you get the idea."

"Yeah," John nodded. He called the triplets up.

"May as well call them all up and brief them, and show them your new
addition," Howdy said. John returned to the intercom and called a
general meeting in the Com room. The girls straggled in.

"I thought you were going to keep us company," Alice moped.

"I was having too much fun watching," John chuckled, hugging her. She
snuggled to him. He moved back onto the triple chaise and the other two
triplets joined him.

"Sounded like a regular war up here," Cindy said.

"Well, now you all get to know what all the fuss was about. Just as
soon as the triplets sign these," Howdy said, handing the girls a sheaf
of papers.

"What's this?" Andrea asked.

"Your Top Secret clearance," John told her.

"Top Secret!?" the girls cried in unison.

"Yes dears, read the pages and then sign them," John said. The girls
sat back and tried to fathom the wording. John helped them. "What this
says, is that if you tell anybody you shouldn't - which is just about
everybody not here now - anything about what we're going to tell you,
then the government can put you in jail for a long, long time," John
explained.

"We wouldn't tell!" they said, again in unison.

"I know you wouldn't. Just go ahead and sign them. I did and so did the
other women," John said. The three of them signed. They handed them
back to Howdy.

"Okay, folks. All the hubbub that just occurred, was because the
government left a few things it shouldn't have when it sold the silo.
John was unaware of this fact. He was also unaware of the place where
they were, which was a hidden bunker off the silo on level four. Now
that those things are gone, he can use the bunker any way he sees fit.
Except giving public tours through it. We'd appreciate...your *not*
revealing the bunker to outside parties. That translates to *It's a
National Security Secret!!* We have other silo's which are still active
that have similar facilities. That's why we don't want anybody else to
know about it.

"But the reason for your security clearances, is mainly because of a
wonderful idea John had. He figured, with some of you peoples help,
that the Russians were spying on the silo. They probably think that it
is a secret underground research lab. We'd like them to keep thinking
that. The main reason is that it makes the Russians... and any other
foreign nation who takes an interest, use manpower to keep track or
your comings and goings. This manpower otherwise could be directed at
area's that we really *don't* want them to know about.

"In exchange, the government has granted John title to a large area of
land around the silo. He's going to use his own funds to build a
housing community on this land that will be directed at helping the
homeless. That's his business. Ours, is keeping national security.
Kevin is assigned as your Liaison officer. That means, that anything
having to do with the silo and the community John builds, will be
reported to me by him.

"John, you asked that there be no government interference in your
lives. Kevin was the best I could think of that would give us a
communications channel, while being as inoffensive as possible. If you
can find him a cot -I know where twenty are- then he will try to stay
out of everybody's way. He's not here to spy. In fact his presence will
help considerably with the deception. That's why you've had a
government helicopter assigned to you as well.

"If you use it to transport yourselves to the airport, then the
Russians will stay interested in whoever is flying. This means a little
loss of freedom on your parts. Whenever you go to another city, or even
just into town you will undoubtedly be tailed. Don't worry about it.
Those folks are there to watch you, not harm you. In fact they will
probably make it safer for you at times. Russian agents have been known
to come to the aid of diplomats they were tailing, being mugged in New
York. This should especially be of interest to you, John. With Sally
being tailed now in New York, and Sheila and now Mae and Candice in San
Francisco.

"This is a great service you are performing for your country. You will
save the government millions of dollars. And you just might save a few
real secrets that could conceivably affect the whole world's security
and the lives of millions of people. None of you is being forced to
participate in this project. With the papers I have brought with me,
you are all certified free *adults*.

"If you do not wish to participate in this project, then the government
will gladly help any of you establish yourselves elsewhere. John has
chosen to particip