Centaurs (Parallel Worlds)

by Aaron Pery

  "Oh, there's one more thing I need to tell you all. In my exploration through the city I found a large cache of small cellphones, which is a communication device, that I'll distribute amongst you tomorrow with instructions on how to use them. It'll be great to have these devices because you won't need to see people in order to talk to them."

  "Sounds marvelous, Marty."

  "I got a couple more points to talk about," Nick said. "And then I'll let you go home for a well deserved rest. First, I'd like to allay Sue's worry of the wellbeing of the horses by dispelling the myth of our predatory animal population since the largest we have on the island are foxes. And they only prey on small rodents which horses sure ain't."

  "Thank you for telling me, Nikki, which is quite a relief."

  "My pleasure, Sue. Anyway, I was able to open the bank doors with my personal ID after setting it up on the computer, and went in with Ben, who was anxious to get rid of all the valuables that we took off the dead Gogians and their homes. We found two sets of vaults underground, the top one was full of various coin boxes and also had a large container full of loose coins ready for sorting, into which he'd had his people dump the looted stuff. The bottom vault contained the King's treasure, mostly in gold and silver bars, and a stamping press to make more money when necessary. So we have plenty of money to distribute to our people but we need someone to run both the bank and the treasury."

  "That shouldn't be a problem," Elwood chuckled. "Because among our old group was a man by the name of Michael Rothschild. Are you familiar with the name by any chance?"

  "Of course--the famous Jewish European banking family. Can you please talk to him and have him see me, Jenny? And if he's as good as his family was in all money matters, I think he'd be perfect to serve on the board as our finance minister."

  "He is, and your suggestion is excellent."

  "Another suggestion is to offer Ben the position of chief of police."

  "Accepted as well, Nikki. Now, I like to bring up an extremely important issue, about our women. Marty said that it would be quite a hardship if all fertile women got pregnant at this juncture, with which I fully agree. So how can we prevent it from happening now that we're a free society and can't force them to abstain from sex with their husbands?"

  "I fully agree, particularly since we have so many young people. The Gogians were quite aware of the result of youthful raging hormones and were concerned about them ruining themselves as conversion specimen by getting pregnant. So they had their chemists devise an anti-ovulation pill that lasts for twelve months and all the compound girls took them starting at three months of age. So we needn't worry about them other than the yearlings for a while, but all our ladies should take them soonest."

  "That's a terrific idea. Are there enough of them available?"

  "Yes, and I brought enough of a supply with me so you should introduce them to all the ladies tomorrow and suggest that they take them."

  "And what if some of them refuse?"

  "We shouldn't force them because they'd had enough of that by now. But I'm sure they'll understand the consequences to themselves if they get pregnant at such a crucial time."

  "I guess you're right so let me have the pills and I'll talk to them at in the cafeteria first thing tomorrow morning. Anything else we need to talk about?"

  "Plenty, but not tonight."

  "Anyone else? I guess not, so the meeting is adjourned."

  Chapter 19

  During the next three months everyone was exceedingly busy setting up their new little nation in the city that was once the last refuge of the Gogians. No one complained about the results of the housing lottery since all considered it as a fair division of the properties, which were a great improvement on their communal living on the farm. To Marty's and Nick's delight, the home they won was perched near the top of the hill and overlooked the city and the beach, and must have been owned by one of the wealthiest of the converted Gogians from the way it was furnished.

  The entire board, which now included Benjamin and Michael, enjoyed watching Jenny's discomfort when she was moved, under protest, to the palace as their duly elected president with her husband Arvin. She avenged herself on them by turning it into the seat of government, using only the top floor apartment as her home. It was a good decision, all finally agreed, because the two floors below had been converted into offices for the various officials who ran the island of Minos, as they all called Crete now, chief among them Paula who thrived on administering to all their needs.

  Half of the older compound children chose to live in the old farm apartments, where Jenny insisted that they receive an official education by various older members while helping the farmers work the communal property in various fields. The others, particularly the youngest, were doing practically the same but mostly being educated in general and in specific fields.

  Susan and David were thriving as well as they ran their own and the entire land from their old home but came into town whenever the board met and stayed in one of the apartments assigned to them. On their first visit to town, a month after everyone moved into it, they were shocked to see how busy and bustling it had become and how quickly acclimated everyone had become to life as a free people. Every business that was previously owned by Gogians was taken over by a Minoan--restaurants, furniture stores, cafeterias, and clothing stores where tailors created fancy winter garb instead of the old horse blankets they used to wear when it became cold. Most amazing to them on their first night in town was the fact that many people cooked dinner at home with the ingredients purchased in various food stores.

  That night they dined with Marty and Nick, and Michael and his wife Charlene in a fancy looking restaurant that specialized in French food. David raised an eyebrow when he read the menu.

  "Where in hell did they come up with all this fancy crap when I know that the owner was born on the farm, with a Cockney Londoner for a grandmother?"

  "Apparently Peter, or Pierre as he now calls himself, had always had a knack for cooking and used to help the cafeteria cooks. So when he saw this restaurant he and his new bride bought it, then asked one of Paula's clerks to print them a stack of French cooking books and menus off the internet. Which others, in about every trade, followed suit and are now involved in bizarre businesses they always had a feeling for working at but never knew had actually existed."

  Susan agreed wholeheartedly. "The same thing happened with me once I learned to use the internet on my computer. I always had an interest in what I now know that is called animal husbandry, which was how Dave and I found each other and he taught me everything he knew. And now I discovered it's a true science, breeding and raising farm animals and keeping them healthy, which I'm teaching my farmers to do as well. But my most fascinating project became modern farm management that I follow almost to the letter. I even joined a chat room where people exchange information and advice, but I have to be careful not to let it slip where and when I am. All of which I love."

  Susan was interrupted by the owner, who served them his best wine because he knew who they were, and suggested his special dinner, which they accepted.

  "I think that the internet is probably the most important human invention of all time." Michael said. "Because not only did it reveal to me everything that took place in the past three-hundred years but like Sue just said, it's full of invaluable information about any subject one is interested in. I particularly like participating in chatting with investment bankers and finding out what's going on in the finance world of today. Gosh, the kinds of money I could make if I was living in their time period."

  Marty chuckled at his distress. "You got it here, you know, literally sitting on top of more gold that exists in the entire twenty-first century world."

  "True, but it isn't mine as you very well know. You're right, though, about the idea that I sit physically over so much gold that it sometimes makes my asshole twitch. Anyway, they can keep their money and inventions because we got it over them all by the short hai
rs now that we're rid of those animals and have seven-hundred more years to live in perfect health among people we love. And let's not forget the place where we live, practically in year-round sunshine."

  "I fully agree, Mike." Nick said. "But I want to add to it that having lived till age seventy-two and suffered all the infirmities of my advanced years, I appreciate being young practically forever in a way that you'll never know."

  They changed the subjects of conversation through dinner, which was surprisingly good, to local issues everyone was handling, until David returned it back to the internet. "Like all of you except Marty and Nick, I'm utterly fascinated not just by the internet but by the fact that I'm able to reach it from another world and through a distance in time of three-hindered years. How is it possible, Nick?"

  "It's been puzzling me from the moment Paula showed it to me," Michael said. "But I hadn't had the opportunity to ask. So how is it possible?"

  Nick chuckled. "You're talking to the wrong guy because electronics were never my bailiwick, while Marty is a genius when it comes to such things. Will you explain it to everyone, please, because I'd like to know the details of how it's possible rather than in general."

  Marty hesitated for a moment before responding. "Sorry I seemed to hesitate but please understand that in my previous life I was so deeply involved in secret issues that it's kind of embedded in my mind to keep such things under wraps. Anyway, you know how Nikki and I had arrived here because of our mental changes, but not why we came here specifically."

  "You told us that it was through a tear in the fabric of time and dimension that the Gogians had created between your Earth and this place. Was that not so?"

  "It sure was, but it took us a while to realize why our minds came specifically here. The fact is that when we'd retired our plan was to do a lot of traveling all over the world and Nikki, who loved and was utterly fascinated by world history, had asked that our next place to visit should be Crete, the birthplace of the Minoan civilization, with which I agreed wholeheartedly. Then, when our minds were released from our bodies and searched for two appropriate hosts they stumbled on the time-tunnel that the Gogians had created. And when it turned out that the other end of one tunnel reached all the way to Crete, we were thrilled to jump right into it. And you know the rest of the story of what happened to us."

  "Fantastic story, but what's it got to do with the internet?" Susan said.

  "I was coming to it, Your frigging impatient Highness."

  "Oh, fuck off, you Marine scum."

  Michael and Charlene, who did not know of the relationship between Susan and Marty, were stunned by the exchange until both burst into laughter and clapped each other's shoulders.

  "As Nikki told you, I have a great aptitude for electronic systems and all such devices, which had been enhanced considerably due to what happened to my mind. So once I discovered that the Gogians possessed computers that they let you all have for entertainment, I delved into their system by unlocking the blocks that they had installed on them. And found that they contained a highly sophisticated communication setup that worked by sending electronic beams to satellites up in space, which in turn sends it back to earth to a specific location. It's a complicated apparatus that few people even in my time understood so I won't go into specifics and only tell you that it works."

  "I think I understand some of it." David said. "Rather than use a cellphone between here and my house, you send it up to a device in space which returns it instantly to my home. And you can connect a beam through the time-tear to an Earth satellite and get into their internet. Am I right?"

  "Absolutely, Dave."

  "Sounds almost like magic." Michael said.

  "Just as much as our existence here as centaurs may sound to anyone else."

  "Very true, I guess. But weren't you concerned that one of us might be dumb enough to reveal our existence to the other side through the internet?"

  "And tell them to come right over and see all these weird creatures who look like throwbacks to Greek mythology stories? Hell, if anyone gets the information they'll think it's a hoax and disconnect. Besides, only the board members, who I trust implicitly, know about the internet and possess the intricate code that's the only way to get on it."

  "Then it's totally secure?"

  "Of course. Not only that, but it also has a tracking device that'll tell me who you or anyone else is communicating with."

  "And if you catch me contacting any Rothschild family member, for instance, you'd come over with guns blazing?"

  "Don't be silly. Of course not."

  The conversation fizzled out soon afterwards, and the Rothchilds left looking a little stunned. When they did, David and Sue burst into laughter. "I'll be a son of a bitch, Marty, if you didn't scare them to death." David said. "I hope you won't misunderstand me because I really like them, but both come from highly genteel backgrounds and can't understand the rough and tumble kind of person that you are."

  "Oh, really? How about her majesty here, isn't she from a hoity-toity background?"

  "Sue's different or she wouldn't have shacked up with a dirt farmer like me."

  "Yeah, a peasant who can understand complicated electronic concepts such as I doubt any of us have the ability to conceptualize."

  "Actually," Marty interrupted their bickering. "There's one other person here who easily understands it all--Paula."

  Susan burst into laughter. "Of course it had to be her. Don't you know who her father is?"

  "Oh, shit. Now that you brought it up I realize the resemblance. So like father like daughter, I guess. Are there any more of your progenies around, Dave?"

  "A few, I guess. Particularly three of Sue's and mine, who all remained on the farm after they were born because they were naturally drawn to the land."

  "I can understand that. Anyway, it was a great evening for us, dining with you two as friends. Actually, I also liked Mike and Charley very much as well."

  "Same here. How'd you like to come to our house next week and stay over so you can tour the farm and see all the changes that we'd made?"

  "We'd love to, Dave. How about next Monday afternoon?"

  "Sounds great."

  They left the restaurant after Marty put her palm on the scanner, which David was amazed by its ease. "Your idea of continuing the old account system was a stroke of genius, Nikki, the way it works under our new management. And even more so that we collect our produce charge on the spot when it's delivered to the merchants."

  "That was a no-brainer figuring how it'll simplify everyone's life despite having been the hated Gogian's setup."

  "There's a lot more highly useful things that we'd inherited from them, such as the telephones, the satellites, and a lot of mundane stuff such as the transportation system that we now have."

  "That's for sure."

  "I really enjoyed dining out tonight, Nikki." Marty said as they climbed up the narrow street to their home, enjoying the flower-scented breeze and the lights of the city below them.

  "Me, too. It's amazing how quickly we'd made a great life for ourselves here, and in these crazy forms to boot."

  "Yeah. Actually, truth be told, I really like being a woman, especially in this splendid body that I have."

  "Same here. Gosh, Marty, it's great to be this big and strong next to your somewhat dainty form."

  Marty burst into laughter. "Everything is relative so I guess I'm dainty next to your practically formidably built body, which I love having on top of me when we make love."

  "And do so without any chemical urging. I'm not surprised though, that you feel this way because proportionally there isn't that much difference between us of old, when you were a big hulk and I just a slip of a woman who loved to be mashed by your weight."

  "Thanks for saying it, Nikki. I really love our life here."

  Chapter 20

  They were greatly impressed by the changes they saw on the farm during their visit. The first surprise was that the milking pens were go
ne after being razed to the ground, and that just a few healthy looking mares were cropping grass in a nearby corral. Even more surprising were a bunch of rambunctious looking colts that were running around it, occasionally stopping to nurse.

  "I'm glad you'd destroyed that shameful building, Dave."

  "It was a real blight on the land, Nikki, and the horses gave it a wide berth. So Sue suggested that we break it up."

  "But where did all the mares go?"

  "Those who wished to leave did so once their udders were healed to join any free herd of their choice."

  "You mean there's more than one herd?"

  "It's the nature of the beast, so to speak, for every stallion to gather a harem that they protect, and only they can mount their mares. It took them probably two days to revert to their natural instincts and start gathering harems of about ten females each, all of whom look content to be where they are. We were concerned about them, though, because there were so many males who left, mostly from among the field workers who weren't gelded, and we're afraid they might fight each other to the death for control of the mares."

  "So you don't know what's going on out there?"

  "We were much too busy to do that."

  "Of course. But where did these happy looking colts come from?"

  "From pregnant mares who had been artificially inseminated and were due to give birth. We got quite a few of them you know, spread all over in the farmhouses that they chose to move to on their own because their inbred domestication instincts kept them from joining the wild ones. The farmers were happy to have them and care for the foals in exchange for their milk, which they extract by hand for drinking and produce cheese for sale in town."

  "An excellent arrangement all around. Anything else significant about the horses?"