Chapter 13



The 'Black Room', if you really wanted to call it that, was simply a dark room with a large display table in it. John told Ben that this was where most of their strategic planning sessions took place.

John walked in escorting a sadly smiling Susan, followed by his other two wives. Ben's ladies were already in the room, and Susan took a place next to Ben at the table. "I want to thank you for what you did for me. It was like I could see what was going on but couldn't do anything about it. I was horrified every time I had to report in," she said softly to him. "I love John, as well as Renee and Jenny; I would never do anything to willingly betray them or this team. I hope, when the time comes, these bastards die a slow and very painful death."

"I'm glad I could help, Susan. Even though I have the power to do the same thing these assholes did to you, I hope I never have to use it. I can't think of anything worse I could do to someone than to remove their free will. Unfortunately, I think I'm going to be forced to before all this is over, though I'd rather kill them outright than make them a slave. I'm sorry you had to go through that," Ben answered.

"Well, at least you caught me, and fixed the problem. I owe you my life for that. John and his wives feel like they are at least partially responsible for what happened to me, because they were going to ask me to join them as a wife before I started acting strangely. They believe if they had, I wouldn't have been able to be programmed like that," she replied. "Well, they have asked now, but I wanted to talk to you and your wives before I agree to become their wife. I owe you a debt, and I would like to at least partially repay it."

"Susan, you owe me nothing. I've been in your mind; I know what kind of person you are. All I can ask of you is to love your mates and be the best for them that you can be. There is no debt between us," Ben said taking her hand. "Though I am flattered and greatly tempted to accept what you're offering, I can't accept it as payment of a debt that doesn't exist. If you truly want to make love to me, or any of my wives, you only need to ask them and your own mates if you can." Ben chuckled. "But I think your dance card is going to be full for quite a few days by the look on your lovers' faces!"

Susan kissed him lightly on the lips. "Thank you, Ben. Once the hubbub has settled, you can count on you and me spending some quality time in bed together, though I think I might have to get in line there myself if most of our troops are going to follow through on their desires."

"Well, I don't think that's going to be possible, but I also think my ladies might be up to something in regards to that. If I survive, I'll let you know," Ben replied, chuckling.

John took his spot at the head of the table and got everyone's attention. "Okay folks, the attack last night was ordered by one Senator Andrew Forsyth. Ben did a little background on this guy and, combined with some knowledge not in our computers, he managed to bring up a couple good questions I feel we need the answers to." John typed a command on his keyboard, and the display in the table and on one of the walls held a picture of the two 'nieces'. "Ben thinks the senator's 'nieces' are really the sex toys we think they are, but also serve as highly trained, very lethal, and very loyal, bodyguards. He believes that they were trained at this school." He typed another command and a picture of the school appeared in the displays. Susan drew in a sharp breath. "That's the place they took me to!"

John nodded; "That's what led Ben to want to have a look at the school records and the sponsors list for the students. If this is what he and I think it is, we've just uncovered a training and programming center for assassins. If none of you have yet caught up on all the reading on this, we have a new and very bad enemy. This one is for all the chips, ladies and gentlemen. If we fail, none of us will survive. We'll need to institute case brown as of the end of this meeting.

"I want our computer section to get to work on getting those records from the school and also try to get Andrew Forsyth's personal files. This is a very high priority, so if a mission is required, it will be considered. Under no circumstances is anyone to attack any of these students without the presence of either Ben or Kathryn. They have special abilities that can counter most of the programming these kids have received."

John turned to a small woman at the opposite end of the table. "Justine, are you still working on that special project you had a while back?"

The woman jerked her head up and looked back at him. "The election thing?" When John nodded, she continued, "Yeah, in my spare time; there is a hell of a lot of data to compile."

"It's an official project now. I think we are going to need that information very soon, and I'm also sure it has a bearing on the big picture here. Use what resources you need. As usual, don't get caught."

"Sir, I mean no offence to you or any one else, but I get the distinct impression that you all have a source of information we don't have access to. May I ask what it is? If this is that important, perhaps it's time we knew exactly what was going on," Jenna Hastings, the Alpha Team leader, said.

John: "How about it folks? Do we trust these people with our secret or not? If we don't, they will think, at least subconsciously, that we don't trust them, and it'll affect how they perform."

Ben: "I agree; it will affect how they treat us, as well as how well they do their jobs. However, how will they react to the knowledge? Will it scare them away, or make them more loyal because we trusted them? When we told Diane and the girls, Chris thought I might be controlling her. She figured out I wasn't, but the thought was still there."

Kathryn: "Security is an issue, but if we expect these people to put their lives on the line for us, I think they deserve to know what they are doing it for. I vote we tell them.

Diane: "Tell them, or they will never fully trust us."

Amanda: "We've scanned every one of them; we know they are all good people. I think we can trust them with this. I vote to tell them."

The rest of the ladies agreed and finally Ben nodded his agreement to John. "Secure the room."

No one said a word as the only sound that could be heard was the dead bolts slapping closed on the doors, and the soft thrumming of the seals being applied to the doors. John took his seat, and addressed everyone. "I know you've all sworn oaths to the company, but I need to ask you for more than that now. What you've asked to know is the most closely guarded secret we have, and could very well mean death for myself, my wives, and Ben's family as well. So I need to ask each and every one of you to swear absolute silence about what you are about to learn."

Going around the table, everyone present agreed, but felt a little uncomfortable doing so. When everyone at the table had agreed as individuals, John began again. "For some of this tale, Diane or Amanda will tell it. However, I want you to know, you have nothing to fear from anyone here. I swear that to you." He glanced around, making eye contact with each person. "For some time now, you've all wondered how I could have known some of the things I've known. Most of you have laughingly played it off saying some thing like, 'He's physic, ' or something along those lines. The correct term for it is telepathic, and yes I am. So are my wives as well as Ben and his family. Before any of you ask, no — Ben isn't related to me as far as I know."

Jenna held up her hand again. Ben grinned, and when John nodded to her, she smiled. "Again, no offence, Sir, but... bullshit! This kind of stuff just doesn't exist. There have been thousands of studies both overt and covert and nothing became of any of them. That stuff just doesn't exist."

While she had been speaking, everyone at the table that wasn't part of John's or Ben's family started to strip down to their underwear... provided they were wearing any, which Ms. Hastings wasn't. No one seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary either, until John answered her.

"Jenna, if such things don't exist, why and how are you at this table naked? Nice Ranger tat by the way."

Jenna had a Ranger tattoo that said death from above about three inches above her cleanly shaved pussy. "Thanks, I... holy shit! How did you do that?"

The entire table burst out in chaos while people scrambled to get their clothes back on. Ben noticed that Jenna didn't actually hurry, she just calmly pulled her jump suit back up, but didn't bother to zip it. "Okay, I think you've convinced us. But what has that to do with anything?"

Ben replied this time. "Jenna, think of something so secret, you've never told anyone before. That'll do. When you were eleven, you hid in your brother's bedroom and watched him and his girlfriend on the bed... Have I said enough?"

"Uh, yeah, that's enough. So, you can read peoples minds as well as make them do things," Jenna said, blushing.

"That's right; it doesn't have to be something you're thinking of either, but I refuse to invade anyone's privacy to that degree without cause, and I apologize for the invasion of yours just now, Jenna." The woman nodded but blushed deeper. Since she was smiling, Ben didn't feel like he needed to apologize further for it. "So, we can glean information from those that attack us without actually interrogating them."

"I was wondering how you found out it was Forsyth that ordered the attack. But I didn't think that a senator could issue those kinds of orders?" Tabitha Crandall, Bravo Team's leader asked.

"You're aware of a very small part of a much bigger puzzle, Tabby." John turned to Diane "You're on."

Amanda stepped up and put her hand on Diane's arm. "I'll do it this time, love. There is something I want to try." She silently linked with her other wives, and Ben and placed her hands palm down on the table. As she began speaking, the images in her mind slowly took form on the display table. The early images were of things she had been shown as a child in historical holograms, but soon the images became clearer as she was remembering the scenes and events as they happened to her. She told the same tale of the history of the Atlantian people that had been told to Ben and Kathryn, and the same tale that Diane had told to John and his wives, but this time, the images from her memory were displayed, and Ben relayed her emotions of the events being displayed. With her soft voice, it was almost like all of them were there as well. She held nothing back, and no one interrupted her. When she finished, she looked up at the group of people she was trusting her soul too, and with tears in her eyes, she finished her presentation: "I am Aloya Alba Shalmori Solms. I was born in the year twelve hundred thirty-two BC, and I am the full biological daughter of our mortal enemy, the self proclaimed 'Emperor of Earth', Isaac Solms."

Ben moved over to his lover and took her in his arms and held her. She dropped her head to his shoulder and cried.

At the other end of the table, Tabitha Crandall wiped her own eyes. "That was..."

"That was damned irrefutable proof of something completely unbelievable. But it does seem to explain a lot of the weird shit we've seen over the last few years, if you stop and think about it," Jenna said.

"I agree, Jen," Tabitha said as she turned back to the head of the table. "Please don't take this the wrong way or anything, but what happens when we help you kill your father-in-law/grandfather and you turn out to be just as insane as he is?"

"If that ever happens I expect one of you beautiful, sweet ladies to put a bullet through my head at your earliest opportunity. We also want you to know that we do not intend to replace Solms. We want to remove him, and let the planet get back to taking its own course through history. Once Solms is gone, we'll become normal citizens just like the rest of you. We'll just happen to have a few more gifts than the average person," Ben replied. "Maybe we can use them to help people, subtly."

"Uhm, the only problem with that, handsome, is you and your wives are going to live a very long time. People are going to notice that," Jenna said.

"No, they won't," Diane replied. "We also have the ability to change how we look at any given time. But, again, this is a problem for another day. We need to deal with Solms first."

John cleared his throat and stood. "So now you all know. As I promised before, you have nothing to fear from any of us. We will do our best to protect you, and keep you alive. Which, by the way, is a hell of a lot better than you might think. I take it you all heard Ben's call for medical last night?" When everyone nodded he continued. "What you didn't know was that the wounds little Melissa suffered were fatal. The bullet passed through her arm and into her chest, collapsing her lung and nicking her aorta. Even if our folks had gotten to her in time, she would have died before they could have gotten her back down to the infirmary. Ben used his ability to heal most of the damage to her, only leaving the wound she now has. He also used his ability to heal himself, mostly. He had to hold off from healing everything or it would have raised too many questions we weren't prepared to answer at the time."

"Not only that; there are limits to what we can do. Last night, I was at the limit of what I could do. However, Diane and Amanda used their powers on those that made it to the infirmary to help stabilize them, and I know of at least one woman that will not lose her leg because of Amanda's assistance. As John has said, we'll help wherever we can," Ben said. "I also got the name of Senator Andrew Forsyth out of the operational commander's mind before he died. Whether or not Senators have the authority to order that kind of attack, it was clear that this one did."

"So, we are in intelligence and surveillance mode for now. We need the information I pointed out earlier and we need to try to find out the Senator's upcoming schedule. We also need to institute case brown as soon as we can. I'm sure you will all have more questions for us about what was said here today, so feel free to ask if it won't violate security. Let's get to work, people," John said as he dismissed the group. "Unseal the room."

Master Tohie joined the group in John's den later that evening. "Amanda, it was a very brave thing you did in the meeting today. It is not easy to admit such things, even to oneself."

"Thank you, Sensei. I honestly do believe that these people deserve to know the truth," Amanda replied. "I had been denying that truth even in myself for many years. Being old has little to do with being wise, Sensei."

"Wisdom has never been a matter of age. Wisdom is nothing more than a person's ability to recognize the limits of their universe, and to realize that their universe may not be the same one as everyone else's," Tohie said. "I would again like to thank you for restoring my health. It feels good to be active again."

"Sensei, it was my honor to assist you. If you would like to regress farther, please let me know, and we can make the arrangements. The world would be a darker place without you in it," Amanda replied to him.

Tohie smiled. "Perhaps I will. I've always wanted to father a child and pass on my knowledge to them. I was impressed by your people's ability to do that."

"Sensei, the human race on this planet is already, or at least was, moving in that direction. The potential for mental abilities is already in your genetic coding, which is why some people here naturally have them, such as John and our daughter Lizzy. Eventually, your race will develop the same abilities we have."

"So you are saying that as an Atlantian, you are simply more genetically advanced than we Earth borne humans are?" Tohie asked.

"Essentially yes, though that sounds a bit more pompous than I thought it would. Simply put, the race of humans that I belong to is just older than yours. Genetically we are the same, only ours is more evolved. That's not to say we are any better then you, just slightly more evolved. I mean, if we were any better, you'd think we wouldn't have the problem of my father in the first place," Amanda said.

"Human nature doesn't evolve at the same speed humans do. Even when we become super-human, we will still be barbarians. It is a shameful thing to see. Humans could do so much more if only we could overcome our baser instincts."

"Sensei, we," she indicated the group, "are not even typical Atlantians anymore. What I did to my children's genetic make-up was considered criminal by my own people. Both Ben and Kathryn would be destroyed as abominations, and I would be put to death for attempting to alter our natural evolution. Diane, Chris and Melissa would also be put to death because they have been altered. What I did to my children would normally be unthinkable, but the situation we've found ourselves in here has called for drastic measures. If, once this is all over, we find that our planet still exists, and there is some kind of government, I will consider surrendering myself to justice. But only after I make sure this planet is safe."

"So if you are not typical of an Atlantian, then what is? Do they have mental powers as well?" Tohie asked.

"A normal human of Atlantis does have some mental abilities, but they are mostly strictly limited in effect to their own body. We have the ability to heal ourselves, and control reproduction. We can pass on our knowledge and experiences to our children, but only if the child is open and assisting in the transfer. Other than a more advanced tech base, that's pretty much it," Amanda said. "Our mission here was archeological observation. Your society so closely matched our own at that stage, it was like looking directly into our own history."

"How long was the mission to last?"

"Honestly, I don't know, Sensei. I do know such missions were long term, several thousand years in most cases, but I don't know how long ours was scheduled for."

They were interrupted by the arrival of an excited looking Lois. "Excuse me, Miss, but Paula is awake and would like to talk to you."

"Lois, please call me Amanda! You're making me feel like I'm some kind of royalty," Amanda said.

The woman smiled at her and Amanda took her hand and let her lead her away. She sent a quick mental message to Ben telling him what was going on.

Amanda: "Lois is taking me to Paula who is awake and asking to see me. How much do I tell her?"

Ben: "I'd say play it by ear. She'll eventually have to know everything, but I'd take it easy on her until she can handle it. Her body is still really weak, but she IS hungry. Do you think she could have some broth or something?"

Amanda: "I'll see when we get there. I wonder what she wants to see me about."

Ben: "Isn't it obvious? She expected to be dead; now that she isn't, she wants to know why. She doesn't remember talking to you when you started the healing process. From what I can tell of her surface thoughts she has no idea of her heritage. Right now though, she is mostly hungry."

Amanda: "Okay, I'll have Florence or Olivia make up some broth for her. If she can keep that down, I'll see about pulling the feeding tube. As for answers, I'll try to break it to her as easily as I can."

Diane: "Do you want me to come with you, Love?"

Amanda: "No, not this time. I don't want her to think we're ganging up on her. I'm sure she'll want to meet all of us, eventually."

Amanda had Lois detour through the kitchen to see if some broth could be made for Paula, and Florence smiled. "Just give me about five minutes, and I'll have a nice warm cup of chicken broth for her. I'll make sure there is some made up all the time for a while too."

Paula turned her head at the sound of the door opening, and smiled when she saw Lois and a strange woman she didn't remember meeting. Lois hurried over and took her hand again. She was such a wonderful friend. If only things had gone differently for them, maybe she could have returned all the love Lois had been giving her.

Paula turned back to the other woman. "Lois tells me you're the new doctor in town."

"In a manner of speaking; I'm actually a geneticist. My name is Amanda," Amanda replied.

"Well, thank you for relieving the pain for a while. But I sure hope you support euthanasia. I don't think I can do that again," Paula said, and Lois burst into tears.

"Paula, I know this is going to be very hard for you to understand, but you shouldn't have to go through it again. I removed the HIV from your body, and taught your body how to fight off the rest of the stuff wrong with you. You should get steadily stronger from now on. You're cured," Amanda said.

Paula chuckled; "I love these new drugs, Doc. I could have sworn you just said I'm cured."

Lois was staring at Amanda like she was an alien with two heads. Well, she didn't have two heads, but...

"I did say you were cured, because you are. There is a very long story here, and I promise you'll hear it all, but you are special. You and I are members of a special race of humans that live here on Earth. Your body has the ability to heal itself, and should have been totally resistant to most of the common diseases. The only problem is, no one ever taught your body how to fight them off," Amanda explained.

"Hold it doc, you are totally losing me here. Do you think it would be possible for me to get something to eat? I'm starving!" Paula asked as the door opened to admit Florence, who was still smiling but was carrying a cup of warm broth.

"It's just chicken broth, dear, but if Amanda says you can have more, I'll make sure it's available for you," the cook said.

"Drink it slowly, Paula. Your chart says you haven't had any solid food for a while, so we need to get your stomach used to it again. If you start to feel nauseous, stop drinking it," Amanda said.

"Thank you," Paula said as Florence quietly left. "Now, care to start at the top again?"

Amanda grinned. "Most of the explanation can wait until later, when you're stronger. But for now, just trust me that you're cured. You will need a lot of food, and a lot of sleep while your body repairs itself. What I need you to do, and I know this will sound as hokey as can be, but picture in your mind how you want to look when this is finished. Keep that image in your mind all the time. Once we see how well you hold down this broth and maybe some breakfast, we'll see about pulling out these feeding tubes and IVs."

"You honestly believe I'm cured, don't you?" Paula asked.

"As I said, I know you are. We have special abilities, and healing our bodies is one of them. The only reason you didn't, from what I can tell, is that no one taught yours how to do it."

"Does John know he has a crazy woman running loose in the house?" Paula asked Lois.

"John knows all about it, Paula. But I don't think she's crazy. I think there is a lot more going on here that we don't know about. Just wait until you meet her handsome husband and her other wives. You'll see what I mean, there is just something... special about them, something different. Like they're aliens or something," Lois said, causing Paula to chuckle weakly.

Amanda smiled slightly at the other woman. "We are aliens, Lois. So is Paula. That's what I meant by special. We're just as human as you are, but we don't originate on this planet. Now, since our girl here has finished her broth, and she looks a bit sleepy, I think we should let her rest. I promise you Paula, we'll explain everything to you once you get stronger. And you will get stronger now."

"Well, if you're an alien, you're one of the prettiest I've ever seen. Lois, please go take a long hot shower and get a good night's rest. I'll be here in the morning. If the alien here is right, I'll be joining you in that shower soon enough. I love you," Paula said to her friend.

Lois had tears in her eyes again, and she kissed Paula's hand. "I love you too, Paula."

Amanda took Lois by the hand and led her out of the room. "I think you should take her advice, Lois. She's getting better now, so you need to keep up your health too."

"Just please don't take her away from me. I knew she was dying, but I didn't know what I would have done if she had. I need her," Lois begged.

"Whoa girl, we're not taking anyone anywhere. We live here too. Don't worry sweetie, your lover will be here for you for a very long time," Amanda said hugging the woman. "I have a feeling we're going to need to work some magic on you as well! Go and relax! Get a good night's sleep; come back down here and see her in the morning. She'll still be here."

Lois smiled happily and climbed the stairs to her room, as Amanda returned to the den and her family.

"How's Paula?" John asked as she when she reentered the den.

"Curious, but getting stronger. She seemed to hold down the broth Florence made for her. We'll see how tomorrow goes before we start thinking about pulling some of those IVs," Amanda replied. "She did tire quickly, but for now, that's only to be expected."

"How about Lois?" Jenny asked from her husbands lap.

"She is actually upstairs in the shower. Paula told her to go take a nice long hot shower, then have a good night's sleep. They would talk more in the morning."

"That's good. Lois has been sleeping in the spare bed in there and hasn't really been taking care of herself as well as she should have. Maybe now she will," Jenny said.

"We may have different problems now though," Ben said. "The funeral for Phillip DeWitt is the day after tomorrow, and Helen Michaels has filed a missing persons report on her daughter Asia."

Sir Winston

Chapter 14