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 A World of My Choosing   An Out-of-this-World Story by Gil Gamesh   Chapter
Fifty-Nine

   In the play party bedchamber, Michael again assumed the duty of master
of ceremonies.  He waited near the door until most of us, male and female
pairs, had sat down on one of the three bed alcoves.

   Anna and I were sitting on the side of one with Mother and Aiden.  Matt
and Jean-Nicole were paired on another with Iain and Caitlyn.  On still
another, the older Musketeers, James and Sam were sitting with Toby and
Renée.  The two sets of twins were standing near the door on each side of
Michael, paired Brianne with Pyotr and Brian with Petra.

   The old farts, as Toby called us, had at least a small patch of pubic
hair showing.  Anna's dark curls were trimmed short because that was the
way I liked them and I had recently trimmed her mound for her.  She says
she can't even see it now.  And, of course, my pubic patch was short
because Anna had made me stand between her spread knees while she trimmed
it.  She giggled when my penis stood up and got in the way.  Still, she
didn't have to say that she was glad there was still life in the old boy
yet.

   Iain and Caitlyn also had well-manicured pubic areas, Aiden and Mother
were a little more prominent, but Matt's dark jungle won the prize. 
Jean-Nicole's looked untrimmed too.  Maybe they had all decided what the
liked on their partners.

   But the nine Mouseketeers were as smooth and hairless as ten-year olds,
five with stiff penises and four with little virginal clefts.  I suppose I
could have fussed about them wasting a precious resource, our depilatory
cream, but the result was worth it.  Why do hairless dicks and pussies look
so cute and erotic?  Maybe there's a little bit of a pedophile in me.

   "Thank you for coming," Michael started, and was rudely interrupted by
Toby.

   "I haven't come yet but I'm going to," he said and giggled.

   Renée promptly slapped him behind his head and of course Toby protested,
"WhaDidIDo?" Michael waited for the laughter to stop and then continued.

   "I was going to say that it's time to come again but now I won't,"
Michael said.  "I'll just explain the first game we're going to play.  It's
a variation of something you've done before, called let's all strip naked
and get in a pile."

   He paused and waited until the naughty comments stopped and he had
everybody's attention.

   "We will play in this bed chamber in the dark.  The floor is covered
with mattresses and that's where all play will take place.  Everybody will
be free to make up their own mind which of three groups they want to join."

   He gave us a rather long-winded explanation of their game but it was
really very simple.  The three groups were backers who lay flat on their
back and did nothing, crawlers who crawled around searching for an
unattended backer and sitters who sat and could join the game at any time
as a backer or a crawler.  The crawlers roamed around on hands and knees
and then kissed, licked, or sucked a backer's private parts.

   Brian helped Michael to make sure all we all understood.

   "You mean, if I'm a crawler, and I find a backer, I may have to lick a
bouchi or a tianga, or maybe kiss it, or I guess suck a tianga and lick a
bouchi."

   Michael grinned and nodded.  "Yeah, it's just goooood ol' oral sex."

   "Tell them about the bell, Michael," Petra said.

   "OK, can't forget that," he said.  "At random intervals, Aimee is going
to ring a bell.  The backers and the crawlers must immediately swap
places."

   "And Toby is going to fart like the little drummer boy, a
ratta-tat-tat," James said.

   When the laughter finally stopped, Michael held up one finger and then
pointed at Anna.

   "One more thing," he said.  "Anna wants to play so everybody must be
very careful and gentle.  OK?"

   He waited until everybody had nodded or said something in the
affirmative.

   "OK, it's time to decide what you're going to be when we start.  Sitters
can stay where you are.  Backers and crawlers please stand up.  Aimee's
going to choose some backers at random.  As soon as they are in position,
she will turn out the lights and the crawlers can go looking for something
to do.  I mean someone.  After the lights are turned out, I'll make up my
mind which I want to be."

   The alcove sitters immediately stood, all of us, including Anna.  I
wasn't surprised that all seventeen of us wanted to play.

   Aimee did her bit.  "The male backers will initially be David, James,
Pyotr, and Aiden.  The female backers will be Caitlyn, Renée, Brianne, and
Mother.  The rest of you will be crawlers."

   Michael gave us his final instruction.  "Would all backers please walk
out on the mattresses in a moving circle?  Aimee will gradually lower the
lights and, when the room is completely dark, you will lie down on your
backs."

   Four grinning guys with hard-ons started walking in a circle with four
giggling gals.  When the lights were completely out, I laid down on my
back, spread my legs, and raised my knees.

   While we played, I was either a backer or a sitter and I suppose
everyone else was too.  I crawled up between lots of spread legs and did my
best at licking a bouchi or sucking a tianga, trying to make someone squeal
or groan in pleasure.  I knew hairless bouchis or tiangas belonged to
Mouseketeers and the others had at least some pubic hair and sometimes I
could tell which one it was.  Anna, with her rounded belly, was the easiest
to identify.  Regardless, I gave them my best effort trying to lick or suck
a clit or a dick.

   Of course, every time I was a backer, someone was kissing or licking or
sucking my tianga.  I knew some were female and some male but I usually
couldn't tell which.  Once I felt almost ready to give a crawler a mouth
full of something but the damn bell rang too soon.  In fact, Aimee rang the
bell all too often but I suppose that just made the game more fun.

   The temperature had been comfortable when we started but with all the
back flopping and crawling around the room soon grew warm.  Laughing and
giggling and squealing and lots of choice cuss words were constant. 
"Ooohh, fuck that's good," seemed to be the most used.

   Then the lights came back on and the alcove sitters returned to their
seats while the twin `teers simply sat down around Michael.  I looked
around at the crowd and saw the same thing on everybody: wild tangled hair,
sweaty bodies, stiff dicks on the guys, and who knows about the women. 
Michael stood in the center of the room, displaying a terrifying tianga at
least four inches long and swollen low-hanging tolos.

   "Does anybody need a pit stop?" he asked.  There were some obscene
responses but nobody said yes.

   "Brian, Pyotr, James, Toby, would you go get us something to drink," he
said.  "You'll find some bottles of juice in the kitchen cooler."

   They were back in seconds and passed out a bottle to each couple.  I let
Anna go first and she wet her whistle and passed it to me.  We sat there
together, sipping the drink, and slowly cooled off.

   Michael became MC again.  "Now for the part I've been looking forward
to. Perhaps you've been wondering whether I was going to choose Sam or
Renée for my initiation," he said.  "Well, I still can't make up my mind so
I'm not going to choose."

   He looked at James and Toby, nodded, and they stood up and walked over
to him.  Both were holding a strip of dark green cloth in their hands.  The
three of them were different but in one way they were the same: three
rampant penises stiff and hugging their stomachs.  James' penis was the
largest and Michael's the smallest but all three looked ready to please a
lady.

   James and Toby tied both strips around his head, completely covering his
eyes, and then Sam and Renée stood and joined the guys on the mattresses.
They had pulled their hair back and tied cloth strips around their heads.
Sweat bands, maybe, but why now?

   Michael held out his hand and Sam took it, placed it for just a second
on her breast, and then stepped back.  James and Toby put their hands on
Michael's shoulders and turned him around a couple of times.  Again,
Michael held out his hand and, this time, Renée took it, placed it on her
breast for just a few seconds, and then stepped back.  Was he familiar
enough with Sam's and Renée's breasts to be able to identify them?  I felt
sure I could.  Sam's little breasts were just smooth and rounded like most
women's.  Renée's were about the same small size but with a pronounced
distension under the areola.

   Renée stepped forward again, swiftly kissed Michel on the mouth, tongue
probing between lips, and retreated.  The boys turned him around and
around. Sam kissed him next and I saw her tongue teasing him too.  The boys
turned Michael again and then both put a hand on his shoulders and pressed
down.  Michael knelt, sat, and rolled to his back.  James and Toby stuffed
a pillow under his neck, spread his legs, placed his hands on his belly,
and stepped away.

   Sam knelt between Michael's spread legs, held his penis straight up, and
lowered her head.  I understood why her hair was tied back, so it didn't
obstruct our view of her sucking his dick.  She was slow and gentle with
him, just licking from his balls up the shaft, sucking on the head,
stroking a few times with her hand, and then repeating.

   Renée straddled Michael's head, put her knees on each side, and slowly
lowered her fanny so that my view was obstructed.  I knew what was
happening anyway.  She was settling her pussy on Michael's face like a hen
settling down on her nest of eggs.  I saw the top of Michael's head moving
up and down and I wanted to swap places with my son.

   James and Toby stood there for a minute or so, just watching Sam and
Renée with Michael.  I saw James nod at Toby and they both put their hands
on Sam's and Renée's shoulders, and gave them a thumbs up.

   The two girls switched places, Renée sucking Michael's dick, Sam getting
her pussy licked.  I knew they had carefully orchestrated all of their play
and it was certainly as erotic as anything I'd ever seen.  I glanced at
Anna and saw that she was sitting on the edge of the cubicle, smiling, legs
spread, one hand between them, and absorbed in the show.  I looked at
Mother and she was smiling too.  She and Aiden both had their legs spread,
her hands on his upright penis, his with fingers buried between her legs. I
looked at the others and saw the guys sitting like I was, legs spread,
balls hanging down, dick standing up.  More than one guy had a hand on his
dick stroking it.  Some were letting a girl's hand do the job.  A few of
the girls were sitting with legs closed but most had them open and either
their own hand or a guy's was playing between.

   After a minute or so, James and Toby stopped Sam and Renée and the girls
stood again.  This time, the boys took Michael's hands in theirs and helped
him to stand.  They stood there for a moment, the five of them, Michael in
the middle of the others, and then the guys and girls started turning
Michael around again and again.  They stopped and immediately the four
started walking in a circle around Michael.  He let them parade for a few
turns and then held out his hand to stop one.

   He didn't get what he wanted.  He got Toby.  He felt for breasts, didn't
find any, felt down below, found a dick, and shook his head.  The four
giggled or laughed, started walking again and Michael reached out to one.
This time, he found Sam.  He nodded and I understood that he had found his
first female.

   James led Sam to the center of the mattresses and helped her lie down on
her back.  She smiled up at him, spread her legs, and lifted her knees.  He
kissed his fingers, patted her pussy, and stepped away.  Toby led Michael
to where Sam was waiting, whispered in his ear, and stepped back.  Michael
gingerly felt downward, found Sam's knee, and then knelt between her legs.

   He lowered his body very carefully until it was on top of Sam's with no
effort to find her pussy with his dick.  Instead he felt for Sam's face
with his hand, found it, and lowered his head so they were cheek to cheek.
I heard some indistinguishable whispering and then he sought out her mouth
with his and kissed her, just a lips to lips kiss at first and then an
open-mouth kiss.

   He lifted his hips and Sam put her hand between their bodies.  I
couldn't see but I knew what she was doing, positioning the head of
Michael's penis so it was ready to penetrate her.  He slowly lowered his
hips and I knew he was experiencing that wonderful moment when he learns
firsthand what it feels like to pierce a woman's pussy with his penis.  In
the absolute silence, I heard a quick intake of breath and a slow
exhalation, sort of like saying wow.

   So I sat there and watched the beautiful couple as my son had sex with a
girl, his cheek next to hers or his mouth on hers, his little ass cheeks
pinching in as he thrust, becoming rounded when he withdrew.  Sam had him
all wrapped up with her arms around his chest and her ankles hooked over
the crack of his little ass.  All I could do was shake my head in wonder at
their combined beauty.

   I had debated with myself for a while whether or not to let him enjoy
his sexuality at such a young age, as soon as puberty started.  In my old
world, I knew enjoyment of sex was typically discouraged until some
maturity was reached and all too often little guidance in sex was given. 
In our new world, I wanted sex to be something we joyfully celebrated but
how soon?  I wanted all of us to be honest about watching and doing
something that was so central to our very existence.

   Was Michael old enough to enter the adult world of sex?  I knew he
wanted to, that he had a few dark curls around his penis, at least for a
while, and that he had squirted at least some semen perhaps with sperm in
it.  His testicles were certainly beginning to pump out the testosterone to
make him into a man.  I knew he had played at sex with various couples
since his arrival and wanted to experience the ultimate act.  So after long
thought, I had decided to let him play sexual games with us.  I suppose I
was establishing a precedent for all the children yet to come, something
more like Iain's old world rather than mine.

   As I watched, his slow thrusts gradually became faster and faster and
more forceful.  In the silence, I heard the faint slaps of body against
body and an occasional moan from at least one of them.  It was evident that
he was about to come.  After a few more strokes, he shoved his terrifying
tianga into Sam's bouchi and then froze, ass cheeks caved in with his
tension, and I knew he was, for the first time, feeling the wonder of
emptying himself in a woman.

   Neither moved for a while and I don't suppose any of their audience did
either.  The sight of the young couple locked in such a primal embrace was
mesmerizing.  Finally, Michael lifted up, gave Sam a simple kiss, and
rolled off her.

   I was surprised.  He still had an erection.  At least it seemed erect,
lying flat against his belly, glistening wetly in the light.  He breathed
deeply a few times, raised his head and looked round and smiled.  Perhaps
he was proud of what he had done.

   Renée knelt beside him, lay down next to him, and kissed him on the
cheek.  More whispering.  Sam rolled over on her side and kissed him on the
other cheek and whispered.  For a while, they simply cuddled him, touching
his face and chest but not below the waist.  I saw his penis lift once and
I knew that was a sign of a stiffening penis.  Mine always just flopped hen
it was soft and it had to be really hard for it to lift its head.  More
whispering and giggling.

   Then Renée's hand ventured below his naval and found something ready for
use again.  The elapsed time since his first orgasm might have been three
or four minutes but I knew what I had been capable of when I first started.
Occasionally I had stroked my hard-on to orgasm twice without stopping.

   I expected Renée to assume the position for Michael to mount her but
that wasn't what she did.  She rolled on top of him, spread her legs on
side of his hips, reached down, held his penis up, settled down on it, and
went for a ride.  At first Michael laid there, hands behind his head, and
watched the action.  Then Renée stopped moving, poised with just the head
of his penis in her, and Michael started fucking up into her.  From our
angle, I could see his penis flashing in and out of Renée and I knew Mother
could too.  Perhaps Michael had planned it that way.  Maybe they'd planned
it but, damn, it was unbelievably erotic to watch them fuck.  When Michael
groaned and pushed her down on his penis, Renée squealed and wiggled her
little ass.  Could she have felt him squirting inside her?

   When she rolled off, the three lay there in a row until Michael raised
his head and motioned to James and Toby.  Seconds later, Sam and Renée were
impaled again by James and Toby.  They got sloppy seconds but they didn't
seem to mind.  Michael lay there between the two fucking couples for a
while, looking at first one and then the other.  Then he stood up, looked
down at two humping asses and smiled.  A second later, surprise, he walked
over to me and Anna, took our hands, and led us out on the mattresses.

   I couldn't get on top of Anna so far along in her pregnancy but I knew
what she liked and what I could do.  I spooned up to her, tucked my penis
between her thighs, and gently stroked back and forth.  I knew she would
press just under the head when she was ready to tuck it into her vagina.

   Another surprise.  Michael went to Mother and Aiden and led them out on
the mattresses near Anna and me.  Anna and I were still for a moment,
watching them assume the old-fashioned missionary position with her arms
and legs around him and his hard-on hidden somewhere.  She looked in our
direction and grinned.  I threw her a kiss.

   Matt and Jean-Nicole were standing, waiting for Michael to lead them out
to join the fun.  Michael waited until they were settled, Jean-Nicole on
top of Matt, and then led Iain and Caitlyn out to play too.  Caitlyn also
wanted to be on top.  She held Iain's dick straight up and groaned loudly
as she slid down on it.

   The two sets of twins didn't wait for Michael to invite them.  They
joined the rest of us on the mattresses, both with the girls on their backs
and the boys on top of them.  I didn't know how Aiden felt about fucking
Mother while his son and daughter were busy with Petra and Pyotr.  Just a
few feet away.  He seemed too busy with Mother to be concerned about them.

   When eight couples were arrayed around a standing young boy, Michael
looked around at everyone and nodded at each couple.  He looked at me,
smiled, and nodded.  I nodded back and gave him a thumbs up.

   Anna finally tucked the head of my penis in her hot juicy pussy and I
closed my eyes and began gently thrusting into her.

   Still another surprise.  A couple of minutes or so later, I felt a hand
on my shoulder and looked up.  Matt and Jean-Nicole were standing next to
Anna and me.  They both jerked their thumbs to tell me to get up but I
protested until Anna told me she and Jean-Nicole had already decided that I
should be able to let my beast loose tonight.  I gave Anna a good-bye
thrust or two and swapped.

   Jean-Nicole welcomed me on her back, I mounted her, she showed my dick
where to go and wrapped me up in her arms and legs, and I started awakening
the beast in me.  For the next few minutes, I don't know what anyone else
did but I let the beast loose and ravaged a groaning Jean-Nicole.

   <><><>

   The morning after our sex play party, I climbed up to the small terrace,
my thinking spot, to reflect on what we had done.  When play was finally
over, we had slowly ambled to the showers, everybody in their usual
mixed-sex pairs, and joined in another happy communal shower.

   Mother had helped Anna while Aiden and I swapped back scrubs and the
others all seemed to enjoy the loving atmosphere in the shower.  Afterwards
I was content be in bed with Anna and to cuddle up to her while she cuddled
up to a pillow against her swollen belly.  I kept my hand on her tummy for
a while but the twins didn't want to do their gymnastics for a change.

   Now, breakfast over, I sneaked off to my favorite spot to think and
reflect and plan.  Actually, I probably didn't sneak because everybody knew
what I did when I climbed up to the thinking seat.

   I thought about what we had done the night before at our sex play party,
wondering again if we had done the right thing or perhaps I should have led
the group in some different direction.  Everyone had certainly seemed to
enjoy the night's entertainment and seemed more than usual loving and
content to go to bed in their usual pairs and bedchambers.

   I tried to remember what Iain had once said in presenting ideas about
love and sex and how the continuum varied at different ages.  I had my
tablet with me but I hesitated to ask Aimee to repeat it for me.  Maybe
later.  Our love and sex lives were certainly not like they would have been
in our old world.

   Homosexuality had long been taboo in our old world and punishable by
death in some cases.  Still it existed even though it was usually hidden.
Now it was becoming more accepted.  But I suppose there was no such thing
in our world.  I had not heard the words gay or lesbian or queer or
anything like that for months.

   I knew that James and Sam lived in the same bedchamber with Toby and
Renée.  I also knew that sometimes they swapped partners, occasionally in
same sex pairs.  I had no real idea what they did then, whether James
fucked Toby or vice versa or if they just had oral sex.  They knew anal sex
didn't appeal to me, whether with a woman or especially a man, but they
also knew I didn't judge what they did.

   The two sets of twins also slept in the same bedchamber but I wasn't as
sure that they swapped the same way.  Pyotr said he still had sex with
Petra on occasion while Brian and Brianne did the same.  He had also hinted
that sometimes he paired with Brian while the girls played together.  What
they did wasn't my business.  What did it hurt?  Maybe it simply
strengthened the loving bonds between others of the same sex.

   Then when we got naked and got in a pile and everybody was fair game for
oral sex, I hadn't hesitated in playing whether I found a male or a female
backer.  There were nine guys and I may have had my mouth on nine different
penises, including Michael's.  Of course, he might have had his mouth on
the same nine penises, including mine.  And, of course, I may have had my
mouth on eight pussies, including Mother's but it wasn't the first time. 
She might have had her mouth on any of nine penises, including mine and
Michael's.  Regardless of who did what with whom, I felt it was all just
another variation of sex play, pleasurable to the recipient, fun for both
males and females, and harmless to everyone.

   Was it good for us to be so relaxed about sex and love with each other?
Were we causing any problems or did our play draw us closer together in
love?  I might be their leader but I wasn't the one who had led them into
the sex play parties.  I felt they had led themselves, that it was just
another form of play, maybe a little like hopscotch or volley ball or naked
twister.

   My conclusion?  I didn't want to change the things we did.  I could see
no harm in them.  In fact, I saw something good in the way they drew us all
together in loving companionship.  Maybe this was what I really wanted in a
world of my choosing.

   <><><>

   A couple of days later, rain was falling outside and we were all in the
lounge chamber, clustered in two bunches, the old farts' group and the
young Mouseketeers group.  The old farts were sitting in couches and
love-seats, the males slouched down with long legs spread and straight, the
females sitting rather sedately with their legs closed and crossed at the
ankles.

   The nine Mouseketeers were sprawled on the floor or on the furniture,
right-side up, up-side down, sitting or lying, wiggling and squirming, and
of course giggling and laughing at their own antics.

   They quieted down for a short while, serious faces, occasionally looking
at my group, especially at me.  I expected them to have something to
question me about.  They sent Michael as an emissary.

   "Dad, we want to be able to practice archery in the hallway when the
weather's bad like this.  I know you said we couldn't do it anymore because
we were damaging the walls but it would make a good archery range, shooting
toward the end of the hallway.  Isn't there some way we can do it?"

   I looked at Aiden, our mechanic or engineer, and raised my eyebrows.  He
smiled and said, "There is.  Ask Aimee."

   I asked her.

   "David, may I chide you for a moment.  You must learn to think for
yourself occasionally.  You should know how it can be done."

   I shrugged my shoulders.

   "David, you know I maintain a shield over the entire mountain to protect
all of you from wild animals; do you not?"

   "Yes, Aimee."

   "And you know I provide another shield over your garden areas to protect
one source of your food and over the terraces to protect you from insects."

   `Yes, ma'am."

   "When you wanted me to keep Samantha from coming in the kitchen, you
asked me to block the door to her without closing it."

   "Yes, she said it was like walking into a sponge."

   "Now, think, David.  You should be able to reason from what you know to
what you wish me to do to enable you to practice archery in the hallway."

   I know what she was getting at but I pretended stupidity one more time.
"Oh, come on, Aimee, tell me."

   "Very well, David.  At the end of the hallway next to the utility
chamber, when you wish to practice, I will provide a shield across the
entire hallway.  I will also provide a target for you to aim, for example,
a round ball about one foot in diameter.  The ball will be still or moving,
as you wish.  If you shoot into the shield, it will stop the forward
momentum of the arrows and drop them harmlessly to the floor.  If you hit
the ball, I will ring a bell or some other sound.  Do you approve?"

   "Yeah, Aimee, that sounds great."

   "Honestly, David, you should be able to do simple things like this by
yourself."

   That threw me.  "You mean I can do what you are going to do for us?"

   "I have been thinking about that, David," she said.  "I am learning a
great deal about all of you and I have concluded that you use only some
small part of your intellect and your capabilities.  Do you wish me to
ponder this question further, to see if you can learn to do some simple
things like this for yourself?"

   "Please do, Aimee," I said.

   "Come on, `teers," Michael squealed.  "Let's go practice archery."

   For the rest of that rainy day, that was about all they did.  I watched
when the five Mouseketeer males were competing.  Aimee made a basketball
circle swing back and forth in the shield while the guys took turns
rapid-firing arrows at it.  They were practicing with simple bows and
cross-bows and the new air-powered bows we had found in the hidden room and
their success was impressive.

   Using the simple bows, Michael's scores were more than impressive.  With
the ball target swinging back and forth, he hit it four out of five times.
The best effort of the other four male Mouseketeers was two times out of
five.  Again, I could not help but wonder about Michael's abilities.  He
certainly seemed to have inherited the cool response from me and perhaps
the strong immune system.  What else was he capable of doing?

   One way to find out was to take them hunting.  Using simple bows, we
organized into three hunting parties: James and Michael with me, Brian and
Toby with Aiden, and Pyotr and Iain with Matt.

   Michael brought down a young buck but it lay there trying to get up.  I
ran to the deer, grabbed its small horns, wrapped my legs around his chest,
and held it down.  I had let James wear the boys so I yelled for him to cut
its throat.  He didn't.  He handed Little Boy to Michael and pointed to the
deer.  Michael didn't hesitate.  When he straightened up from his gory task
and looked at James and me, his grin was from ear to ear.  James painted
blood stripes on his cheeks.

   Brian also was successful.  He killed a young doe, Aiden cut its throat
to let it bleed out, and Toby painted the stripes on Brian's cheeks. 
Again, Brian was proud of what he had done and bragged at his success.

   Pyotr wasn't successful but we were all proud of him anyway.  The small
herd of deer bounded away down the mountain and left a young fawn that was
almost mystical in its beauty.  It was the usual spotted brown on its back
but it was white on its head and undercarriage and legs.  Its nose was pink
and its eyes were blue.  The fawn stood there unafraid, looked at the
hunting party for a moment, and then slowly awkwardly walked downhill
toward where the others had fled.  Pyotr said he just couldn't help it,
that he couldn't kill something so beautiful.

   <><><>

   One morning, I again climbed the stairs to the highest of the terraces
so I could sit and contemplate, mostly wondering about Michael.  I had just
seen him with the two sets of twins playing hopscotch, naked as usual, and
had stood and watched in wonder at the youthful perfection of their bodies.
Pyotr was a beautiful fair-skinned blond boy, hair now as long as his
sister's.  She was just as fair, already developing a woman's shape.  Brian
and Brianne were brunettes but just as beautiful, just beginning the
journey from childhood to adulthood.

   But Michael, to me, seemed even more beautiful that the others.  At just
barely eleven, he was already beginning the long journey to maturity. 
Perhaps all parents think their child is more beautiful than those of
others and I certainly did.  I liked to watch all of the youngsters in play
but especially Michael.  I believed in no religion but his beauty and
perfection seemed like a miracle and I wondered how I could have ever
helped to create someone so wonderful.

   He seems to have inherited my ability to be cool in a crisis.  I
questioned him about the incident when Mother was walking him home from
school after baseball practice, particularly about the way he felt when the
dog charged him and Mother and he swung for a home run and killed the dog.
He assured me he wasn't afraid, that he was calm, he knew what he had to do
to protect Mother, he knew he could do it, and so he did it.  He said she
seemed horrified so he took her hand, smiled at her, and led her on home.

   He described another incident which involved a school bully.  The bully
told Michael to give him his weekly lunch money or he would hurt him. 
Michael refused.  The bully grabbed him, twisted his arm behind his back,
and again told him to give him the money.  Michael twisted loose, grabbed
the bully's arm, twisted it behind his back, and, at the same time, knocked
him down.  He jumped on the bully's back, twisted his arm higher, and told
the bully to eat dirt.  The bully screamed in pain but Michael made him eat
dirt before he would let him go.

   He said he seemed to have more strength than he'd ever realized, almost
like he could have torn the bully's arm off.  He told the bully that if he
ever tried that again, he would really hurt him.  The bully had his arm in
a sling for a couple of weeks afterwards.  The incident was seen by other
kids and the word quickly spread around the school.  When the bully tried
anything afterwards, all the other kids just asked him if he wanted to eat
dirt again.

   When I asked Mother if he had been blessed with an immune system like
mine, with no childhood illnesses, she thought for a moment and said he had
never had even a common cold.  She knew that I had never been sick for the
first fourteen years of my life but she had assumed that it was simply
something that occasionally happened.  Now, thinking of Michael, she agreed
that he seemed to be as resistant to common illnesses as I was and she
wondered, as I did, if there could be some genetic and inheritable basis
for the immunity.

   I thought about what Mother had told me about Michael for a couple of
days afterward, wondering about our shared ability.  I had no knowledge
that Father had the ability so maybe I was the first with it.  Perhaps it
was a genetic mutation, a greatly-enhanced flight or fight reaction, or
maybe simply a curious combined effect from the mix of Mother's and
Father's genes.  Either way, it seemed possible that the ability to be cool
in crisis was a genetically-transmissible trait and that all my children
might have it or maybe, if it was a sex-linked trait, only my sons might
have it.  Perhaps the ones who sent me here knew about my ability and chose
me, in part, because of it.  When we begin to move off the mountain and
onto the mainland, I hoped it would be enough to help me kill a big cat if
we ever encountered one.

   I wondered what would be Michael's role in this new world of ours.  As
the first arrival, I had been accepted by Aimee as the leader of the others
and each new arrival seemed to accept me as well.  Would Michael, in his
maturity, be able to command the love and respect of the others and then
become the leader?  Should I now start shaping him to become a leader some
day?

   Females may instinctively want their children to be fathered by a male
who has traits which will help the child to live.  However, I was reluctant
to give anyone except Anna a child since I did not want to incur the
jealousy and hatred of a male if I fathered a child with his mate.  Except
for that, I would have been happy to give all the females a little input.

   Someday, Michael will find a mate, perhaps one from Iain's world, and
then carry on our common genetic traits.  Perhaps my other children, the
unborn twins, would as well.  I see no need to be in a hurry to spread our
traits.  It will happen in future generations and perhaps everyone in our
world will one day share those traits.

   I stood up and looked around for my tablet but it wasn't on the rock
where I usually put it.  I tried to remember where I'd left it and, in my
confusion, I thought, "Aimee, where's my tablet?" For a split second, a
shimmering image of Aimee appeared before me and her voice said, "You left
it in the kitchen, David." I said, "Thank you, Aimee," and then I realized
that my lips had not moved and I had heard her voice only in my mind, not
with my ears.  I looked around but there was no one else on the top terrace
with me.

   I climbed back down the stairs to the lower terraces.  I could not
believe what had just happened but somehow I knew where I'd find my tablet.
I shook my head, trying to clear away the impossibility of what had
occurred and then thought of Michael again.

   I knew one thing and I was determined to do it.  I was going to do my
best to teach Michael to be a good leader in hopes that one day he would
succeed me.

   <><><>

   Finally, thirty-nine days after the arrival of Mother and Michael, Aimee
reported that a young man had just arrived in her chair.  I had become more
concerned with each day past thirty so her report relieved that worry.  She
said his vital signs were close to normal so there was no need to be
concerned for him.

   I was in our bedchamber, putting the finishing touches on a big changing
table for Anna, big enough for two babies at once.  With Matt's and Aiden's
help, we had used the laser saws to make planks for the table, something
like one by sixes, and we had assembled them into a heavy and sturdy
waist-high table with two shelves underneath.

   On my way to Aimee's room, I saw no one else but I heard laughter in the
kitchen and I knew the others were helping with lunch preparations or
sitting and talking.  I decided to greet the arrival by myself and then
surprise the others by taking him to lunch.  Then I remembered that we ate
meals wearing loincloths and I detoured through the clothing storeroom and
picked up one for him and one for me.

   As usual, the arrival was in Aimee's chair.  She was watching from her
monitor and she smile at me and waved.  He was on his back, one long leg
bent and raised, the other stretched slightly beyond the end of the lounge
chair, one arm over his eyes, the other on his chest.  Since Aimee and I
had adopted my height as exactly two meters, I guessed his as about the
same.  He was slimmer than me, not skinny, just very tall and very slim.  I
knew my growth pattern had been to grow upwards to full height first and
then to fill out afterwards.  Perhaps his would be the same.

   His arm bent back over his eyes told me that he was probably conscious
and was covering his eyes from the bright lights in Aimee's room.  His hair
was long and tousled and light brown like James' hair.  On his face below
his arm, I saw slightly pink cheeks, smooth clear skin, and no sign of
facial hair.  I guessed his age at perhaps twenty.

   On his body, I saw very fair skin with no white band around his hips and
very little body hair.  He had the beautiful body of a young man in his
prime, broad and slightly muscular shoulders, well-developed pectorals, a
faint-six pack in his muscular abdomen, narrow waist and hips, and long,
long legs.  I had felt that all the other arrivals were beautiful but he
was exceptionally perfect and beautiful, not male-model pretty but young
masculine beautiful.

   His erect penis was suspended over his lower abdomen and over a neat
patch of pubic hair.  His testicles were resting together on his thighs.  I
assumed his erection was a piss-hard, like most males when they arrived.

   I gently put my hand on his chest and whispered, "Welcome to your new
world." He moved his forearm from his face, opened his eyes, looked
inquisitively at me, and croaked, "David?"

   "Yes, I'm David Gurriere," I said.  "Who are you?"

   `I'm Jon Stewart," he said.  "I need to pee."

   "The toilet is close by," I said.  "Let's see if you can walk with your
arm over my shoulders.  If not, I can carry you."

   He moved to the end of the lounge chair, took my offered hand, and stood
up.  I put his arm over my shoulders, my arm around his waist, and we
shuffled to the toilet.  He used his right hand to aim his penis, I used my
left, and we both pissed.  I thought he was never going to stop.

   "How do you feel?" I asked on the way back to Aimee's room.  "We can
offer you medications to help you feel better if you need."

   "Tired and achy," he replied.  "The journey wasn't too bad this time."

   Aimee appeared on her screen and Jon smiled at her.

   "Hello, Jon," she said.

   "Hello, Aimee," he said.  "Are you taking good care of everybody here?"

   "Yes, Jon, I have learned a great deal about them and I enjoy helping
them in any way I can."

   "That's good, Aimee," he said.  "Please recognize their limitations and
do your best for them."

   "I will, Jon.  The journey has left most of the others slightly
dehydrated and achy.  If David will retrieve them, I have a bottle of cold
drink for you and a mild analgesic.  The drink is something like orange
juice and is an energy drink.  Please drink as much as you can."

   I retrieved the juice and pills and gave them to Jon.  He swallowed the
pills, gulped most of the juice, said "That's good stuff," and drank the
rest.  Then he breathed deeply a few times and looked at me with a serious
expression on his face.

   "David, I have information which must be given to you alone.  After you
hear it, you must then decide what to tell the others.  It is extremely
important information.  It concerns your old world and the future of this
colony."

   "Aimee, please close the door and secure it.  If someone comes looking
for me, tell them you and I are talking and you will tell me lunch is
ready."

   "Where are the others?" he asked.

   "In the kitchen, I think.  It's almost lunch time.  We have a marvelous
chef here and the young boys are always ready to eat."

   "I would like to give you a condensed version of my message and perhaps
we can talk together later," he said.  "Would you hold most of your
questions until then?"

   I nodded.

   "David, the conclusion has been reached that everyone in your old world
who came from my original world is in danger.  Somehow a world-wide rumor
has arisen of aliens from another world who are hidden among the population
and who want to take over the world.  Everyone seems to be searching for
aliens and there have been assaults and murders of innocent people.  We
have decided that as many as possible should return to my old world, that
those who remain must blend in with your earth's population, and that all
centers with transporters except one must be destroyed or hidden.  If
effect, all our groups must be dismantled.  There will perhaps be no
further communication and assistance from your old world to this one. 
There will be assistance from my original world to this one but it will
take some unknown time to establish."

   "But they sent you and you're from Iain's and Aiden's old world?  Are
you the last?

   "No, David, I'm from the same world as they.  Two others will be sent
within a day or two, a young woman of nineteen and a young girl of eleven.
We had three transporters in your old world: in your old country, in
Ireland, and in Switzerland.  The three of us are all being sent from
different locations.  The two girls are both from my old world.  They came
to your world with their parents as a family but their parents are now
dead, killed in an avalanche while skiing in Austria.  The older girl and I
are mates.  The younger girl is intended to be a mate for Michael.

   "Will they be the last from my old world?"

   "I don't know, David," he said.  "I am told there are now twelve of you
from your old world and there will be eight from my old world when the
sisters arrive.  They hoped to send more from both my old world and yours
but that will now depend on what happens in your old world.  In the alien
frenzy and unrest, nothing is certain.

   "Aiden and his London group killed the group of jihadists who were
responsible for the underground bombing," I said.  "Could that have caused
the witch hunt?"

   "We don't think so, David," he said.  "Our disinformation service
planted the story that that a group of British citizens did that as an act
of revenge.  Even the fantastic story about the disappearing turtle-man has
been dismissed as lies by the two Jihadist women who survived.  The witch
hunt seems to have started in the Southeast of your old country with a
religious leader who pushed it on his television program."

   "Yeah, they were always good at pushing shit like that.  Pardon my
French."

   "I do not understand, David," he said.  "I do not know French but those
words were all English words."

   "Call it shit, garbage, crazy stuff: all those words would be fine."

   "We have decided that the ones from my old world should not assemble in
groups, especially not at any of the places where transporters are located.
You cannot imagine the insane frenzy which the evil alien rumor has caused.
After all who wish to return have done so, the transporters will all be
destroyed except for one."

   "Will there be any more shipments of supplies?  I suppose we can manage
with our own food but we can't grow medicines."

   "Yes, David, in a few days, the first of many shipments of medicines and
foodstuffs and supplies will arrive," he said.  "It is not known how many
will come from your old world.  You should assemble lists of what you want
and send it immediately.  After some period of time, shipments from my old
world will begin so you will not be abandoned.

   "That's good," I said.  "We can survive without them but they certainly
make life easier."

   "Do you understand that the effect of all this will be to shut down all
contact with humanity from your old Earth."

   "Yes, but there's nothing I can do about it."

   "David, Michael says lunch is ready," Aimee said.

   "Thank you, Aimee," I responded.  "Tell him I will be right there."

   I explained to Jon that Aimee wanted his measurements in order to give
him access to everything in our home.  He went through the Vitruvian Man
positions, grinning at Aimee's usual naughty comments.

   When Aimee was finished with him, I handed him a loincloth.  He looked
at it, at me, and raised his eyebrows.  I tied my loincloth around my hips
and watched him do the same.

   "We dress for meals," I said.  "Are you ready?"

   "No, but it must be done," he said.

   TO BE CONTINUED





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