To say we were shocked to find out Ian Williams was now an Admiral and was on a spaceship would have been an understatement. Though I didn't know Ian well when we were in school, I did know that he never intentionally lied, nor did he ever break a promise. Now he was on the television telling us that our planet was going to be attacked by aliens and he (and his people, whoever they were) was trying to make sure they didn't succeed.
When he had finished his speech, I muted the TV and turned to my wives. They all had thoughtful looks on their faces. "If that was really Ian, then we are in deep shit," I said.
"I think we have to assume that it really was him. I mean, what are the chances that someone would pick him to impersonate?" Erin said. "Besides, it felt like him. The way he acted and spoke was just like I remember him."
"Okay, so we take what we just heard at face value. What should we do about it?" I asked.
Casey frowned; "I'm sure our government is going to try to stop him; they don't like stuff like this when they aren't the ones controlling it. I'd bet this house that they've known about this for a while, and have been trying to either threaten him or sneak people into his organization. So, if we were to approach one of those construction sites and ask to speak to Ian, I doubt very much we'd be taken seriously."
"Okay, so that leaves us with hunkering down here until this blows over. I think we should get stocked up on food and move the babies' stuff, and a bed for us, down to the basement," I suggested.
Erin got a strange look on her face, got up, and almost ran to the den. When she came back out, she was carrying my high school yearbook. "I didn't mention it at the time but, at graduation, Jenny pulled me aside and said she'd written a phone number in your yearbook. She told me if something weird happened to call it. I thought she was just blowing smoke up my ass, but who knows?" she said, paging through the book. "Here it is! Over Jenny's picture, a number and the words, 'call me'." Erin fished out her cell phone and dialed the number. She frowned a little but waited. "Hi, this is Erin Weist calling for Jenny Laskar-Williams. She told me to call her if anything weird happens, so I'm calling. Please have her return my call at her earliest convenience." She hung up and looked at the rest of us; "Answering machine." Unknown to any of us at the time, Erin's message was taken by the most advanced 'answering machine' anyone could ever imagine.
Over the next couple of days we got our stuff moved downstairs and tried to get stocked up on food. We were out of luck; it seems that shortly after Ian's message, there had been a run on the local grocery stores. Barbara checked the cupboards and freezer and said we had enough for a few days, provided we didn't eat huge meals.
The next day, Erin returned home early; the college had cancelled classes until the end of the emergency so students could return home to their families. We secured everything outside we could, then did everything we could think of to protect the house. We settled in and listened to the news. It was getting pretty scary out there. I was starting to feel guilty about holing up, and was about to take Princess and go try to calm people down when there was a loud pounding on the front door.
Barbara stayed with the babies, while Casey, Erin and I went to see who it was. When I opened the door, a man and a woman were standing there. They were dressed in a strange looking uniform, but didn't seem to be a threat. "Can I help you?" I asked.
"Yes, is there an Erin Weist here?"
I indicated my sister; "This is my sister, Erin Weist."
He nodded his head, "Thank you; Miss Weist, did you place a call to Jenny Williams a couple of days ago?"
Before she could answer, I interrupted. "Excuse me; I don't mean to be rude, but before she answers, could you tell us who you are?"
"I apologize, I should have told you right off. My name is Commander Alan Carlson of the Talosian Defense Force Special Operations group," the man said. "Please allow me to introduce my mate and team member, Officer Andreya Carlson of the Raptor Poseidon." He turned to the woman beside him.
I nodded; they didn't feel like they were lying, though something about the woman wasn't exactly right. "Please come in, Commander, Andreya."
"Thank you, Mr. Weist. I was supplied with a picture of Erin to verify that the person who called was indeed her, so my asking was only a formality. Captain Williams had put you on the list to be recruited, but our recruiter had said you'd moved," the Commander said.
"Recruiter? Commander, I'm afraid we have no idea what you're talking about," Erin said.
"Jon! Erin! Casey! Come downstairs quickly! You've got to see this!" Barbara called from the steps.
With our guests following, we headed downstairs, and Barbara pointed us to the TV. The commentator was introducing a video that she claimed was given to them, outlining the history of Talos and Admiral Williams.
We sat down and watched, for two hours, the story of how Ian got to be the military commander of our sector of space. During the very vividly depicted narration, I started putting things together in my mind. Most importantly, I realized that our guests were most likely here to take us to their base.
As soon as the talking head from CNN came back on, I muted the TV. "Ladies, I don't know how much room we have, but pack our stuff as fast as you can." I turned to Commander Carlson. "I assume you are here to recruit us; can you tell me how this is going to work?"
Andreya moved to help my ladies as they started rushing around. The Commander grinned at her. "Sir, we are supposed to pick you up and get you to our base. I'm afraid once you're there, you're going to be stuck for a while unless we can get you a ride up to our base on the moon. Things are kind of busy at the moment." He snorted, "Hell, as soon as I drop you folks off, I need to get to my next assignment, so I won't be able to help you all that much, but I'll ask my other mate to stay with you to get you settled."
"Is it that bad? I got the feeling we had some time?" I asked him, making note of the 'other mate' comment.
"Well, I don't have access to long range tracking, but I've been told we don't have a lot of time; maybe two more days at most," he said.
"Can you tell me where you're going to take us?" I asked.
"Only if you promise never to reveal that information to anyone other than your wife. I should warn you we have several cultural issues you might object to. Making a promise is one of them. Oaths are considered legally binding contracts."
"I guess we'll have a lot to learn, but I should ask if that promise includes those already at the base?"
"Actually it does. Not everyone there will know exactly where it's located. We plan on using our infirmary for some of the wounded," he said.
I nodded; "I can understand that. What else should we know about?" I began packing up Goddess and Princess. The two guitars loved their temporary names, so they stayed.
"Uh, we ask that you only take personal effects; everything else can be replaced," he said, glancing at the two guitars.
"These are very personal, Commander. I won't leave them behind," I told him.
He nodded; "Please call me Alan. One of the first things you are going to notice is we view relationships differently, and personal freedoms are highly valued. If you want to bond with more than one person, that's fine, as long as they're willing. Same sex relationships have the same rights as mixed. Discrimination of any type isn't tolerated. We also allow incest, and our age of majority is roughly sixteen, dependant on the individual in question. For example, I have two mates, Andreya whom you've already met, and Mulan who is waiting out in the Raptor. Admiral Williams has seven wives: Jenny, his mother Beth, his sister Cindy, Talena, Serena, Star, and Shannon. All members of a bonded group are bonded to each other as well."
"I have no problem with that; in fact, I think that will work out just fine since I love Erin and Barbara just as much as I love Casey. It would be wonderful to finally be able to say so in public," I said.
Alan chuckled; "One other small thing; Mulan likes to call me 'master'. I don't really understand the whole thing but she considers herself to be my slave. She is also quite young."
"Oh? How young?" I asked.
"Fourteen," he said. "But most times, I think she's more mature than any of us. She's also painfully smart."
"I don't think we'll have too many problems, but it sounds like we have a lot to learn," I said, noticing the girls had come back. "We're ready, Jon. We just need to grab the kids," Casey said as she picked up our son. Erin picked up Wendy while she asked Barbara to carry her guitar.
"Okay honey." I turned to grin at Alan. "Lead on, Commander." I bent and picked up my two 'girls'. "You never did answer my question about where we're going. I promise not to pass the information on."
"Our base is located in the Atlantic Ocean, inside a sea mount we call Neptune's Massif. Welcome to a whole new world," Alan said as he led us up the stairs and out of our home. Just before we climbed up the ramp and into the small ship, I stopped and turned around. This house had been the first place our family had called home. I silently thanked the dwelling for the shelter it had given my family and said goodbye.