On arrival at the Security Station she was released from the handcuffs, but warned that she must stay in the room for questioning. She was told that if she made any attempt to escape she would be immediately arrested and thrown into the detention cells.
Stef was sensible enough to know that there was no point in arguing any further so she meekly sat down in the chair offered and waited for the interrogation to begin. Fortunately for Stef, the GM Security Officer had recognized her and had contacted Zon's Washington Office to see what they should do about the situation.
Washington managed to contact Zon who, as it turned out, was on his way back to Santa Barbara following a field trip to Patagonia with Zenith. Zon, who was naturally furious with Stef for taking such a risk, sent orders for her to be kept under strict supervision and said she was not to be released until he said so.
Zon was exceedingly angry with Stef and thought he would teach her a lesson for being so arrogant as to think that she could defy the law just because she was his wife.
He took his time in returning, and when he did finally give instructions for Stef to be released he ordered them to place a strict supervision cuff to be locked around her ankle. This would indicate to her custodian exactly where she was at any particular time.
When she was finally allowed to travel back to Santa Barbara to be with Zon, Stef was livid. How could her man treat her so badly? Did he not love her at all? As soon as she arrived at their apartment, Stef lashed out at Zon, punching him with all her might.
“You are such a swine, Zon, how could you let them treat me like that? You are a bullying pig,” Stef ranted at Zon.
Zon guessed his woman would be cross, but he knew that she must curb her desires to do whatever she wanted without respecting him or the law. After letting her rant and rave for a few minutes, Zon grabbed her, then pinning her arms to her sides and looking directly into her eyes, told her that from now on she must obey the Zelite laws, and him, otherwise he would cast her aside as he could not allow such insubordination to take place ever again. He asked her what it was going to be. Was she going to toe the line from now on, or did she want to be thrown back to the wolves in the Alps? He said there were no in-between options. It had to be one or the other.
Stef realized that the hard look on Zon's face indicated that he was deadly serious and she stopped shouting. She knew that she had lost. She simply had to give up doing whatever entered into her head. From now on she would have to obey this man.
“Zon, my honey, I am really sorry for being so stupid and I promise I will do all that you ask of me, but please, please will you get them to disconnect this surveillance cuff from my ankle? It is so embarrassing!”
“No, woman, you must keep that attached to you so that I can keep on eye on you wherever you are. Remember, this is for your own benefit and safety as well as for my satisfaction. What would I have done if that eagle owl had carried you away instead of the poor horse? I would have been mortified and you know it, so no, you must be kept under strict scrutiny for the time being anyway, until I am satisfied that you won't do anything crazy again.”
CHAPTER 26
Zon and Zenith had traveled to South America together, the day after Zon's marriage. Zenith was determined that his love for Zon was going to overcome any jealousies that he felt stirring in his breast about Zon's liaison with Stef. He knew that he held a power so strong now that there was absolutely no need for him to fear Zon's desire to have sex with a female. Zenith knew that reproduction had to carry on for Zon, and this was one area in which Zenith could not oblige Zon, so he erased his jealous feelings and was just grateful that he would have Zon to himself now for a few weeks.
The men had heard that a strange sighting had occurred in a place known as Argentina, so they decided to go and search that area for themselves. What they found was simply amazing. Some of the GM scientists, who had been prodding the area for contamination, etc., had gone into the territory known as Patagonia as this spot had shown some strange movements when it had been viewed by satellite. They had sent ahead robotic machinery to take readings and samples of the area, but when they signaled the machines to return, there was no acknowledgement back from them.
The scientists had contacted Zenith to alert him as to what was happening and he had advised them to do nothing until he arrived and then he could make a decision as to what would be their next move. Zenith had discussed the findings with Zon, and the two men decided to take an aerial trip over the area to see for themselves what was causing the strange movements. Their small air machine was able to fly fairly close to the ground, but it also had the ability to fly very high immediately if the necessity arose.
Zenith was a very adept pilot and skimmed closely over the arid, sterile plateau and slowed to a hovering pace when Zon pointed out a large mound of what appeared to be a massive, brown lump of rock.
“Perhaps it is a piece of the Andes thrown out on to the elevated plateau when the meteorite hit took place,” Zon remarked. “Let's take a closer look, but be prepared to rise quickly, Zenith, you've heard all those reports of movements in this area, so let's be ready for the unexpected.” Zenith skillfully maneuvered the air machine until it was alongside the mound. Both men gasped when they saw the mound in close-up. It appeared to be a mammoth. It was alive and breathing heavily and, hearing the buzzing noise of their machine, raised its head to investigate the cause of this disturbance. Their machine was simply like an irritating fly to this mammoth beast. As it raised itself to its feet, it let out a huge bellowing cry to register its annoyance.
“Wow!” exclaimed Zon, “What on earth is it?”
“That, my buddy, is a dinosaur. Precisely, I believe, a dinosaur known as one of the Sauropoda species.”
“It must be at least 30m. long, and look at the height of it. It has got to be about 10m.tall, don't you think?” Zon asked Zenith. They flew on for a little distance and noticed quite a few of these mounds lying prostrate along the plateau. Most of the dinosaurs appeared to be resting and were reclining alongside the few rivers that threaded their way along this plateau.
“Luckily for us, they are plant eaters, not meat eaters, otherwise they would have made more of an attempt to attack us,” remarked Zenith.
After taking another investigatory flight over the dinosaurs, the men decided to return to base for consultation with the other scientists and paleontologists to decide what was the right action to take regarding these mammoth creatures. They obviously could not be allowed to wander willy-nilly throughout the continent, otherwise there would be no vegetation left for them to eat after possibly a few more years.
Most of the experts were of the opinion that these creatures had evolved from dinosaur eggs left hidden deep inside the earth's crust from the time when the mammoths had become extinct. It seemed that when the meteorite shower occurred the eggs were forced to the surface and the intense heat had caused the eggs to hatch.
How many more eggs still had to be hatched? This was the question now on everybody's lips.
The experts expressed great consternation and they all felt that extermination was the only answer to this predicament. There was no place on Planet Zero that could support such huge creatures, and transporting them to another planet was going to be almost impossible. Zon knew that it would be wrong to kill all these prehistoric creatures, and suggested that perhaps if other eggs were found they could possibly transport them to a suitable deserted planet, perhaps even taking a couple of the smaller dinosaurs with them. It was going to prove an immense headache, but it would have to be sorted out before the dinosaurs overran the whole American Continent.
Zenith left orders and instructions for the senior scientists to try and find a solution to the transportation of these creatures and, turning to Zon, reminded him that they still had some work to do in the land known as Brazil where the robots had reported other phenomena. Zon guessed that Zenith wanted to get him away from this danger zone and agreed that they should leave. However, he
suggested to Zenith that they should take some time out from scientific research to have some relaxation and enjoyment before flying on to Brazil.
The robots had built a kind of mini town on the shores of Argentina, and Zon told Zenith to head for this destination. Zenith was only too pleased to do as Zon told him and aimed their air machine directly to this special town, which had been aptly named by the experts as ‘Chill Out Town’. This title had evolved as most men headed there to relax after working on research on the plateau. Most of them appreciated the fact that there were plenty of GM females placed here to attend to their every need.
As soon as the residents of ‘Chill Out Town’ knew that the Great Leader and his head GM man were coming to town, a massive clean-up operation was carried out and by the time Zon and Zenith had arrived, most places were quite spick and span. A suite of comfortable rooms had been set aside for the two men and when they arrived they were ushered ceremoniously to their quarters where superb efforts had been made to ensure that everything they would need was provided.
Zon thanked the local GM manager and assured him that everything was to his satisfaction, and then asked for some food and drink to be delivered to his suite; he added that, as his GM companion and himself had a lot to discuss, the food and drink to be supplied should be sufficient for both of the men. He asked for some of the special intoxicating brew to be included with the drinks.
Of course, Zenith and Zon had no intention of discussing any of the day's work; they just wanted to relax with one another and enjoy each other's company. They were both feeling pretty euphoric, having drunk quite a lot of the intoxicating liquor before the food itself arrived, and when a beautiful GM girl, wearing very revealing clothes, appeared carrying some dishes of food, Zon turned to Zenith and asked him if he was up for having a bit of fun with this girl. The GM manager had obviously sent the girl to them to use, as he was completely unaware of the closeness between the two men, and Zon was beginning to feel frivolous after the drink.
Zenith was hesitant about this but, also getting a little inebriated, he said that it was okay with him. The girl was very curvaceous and had long, blonde hair flowing down to almost waist length. She had been created very beautifully and when Zon told her to strip, she did so without hesitation or inhibition. They both derived a lot of pleasure from the girl, who was an expert at satisfying the sexual demands of men, and eventually both the men fell asleep in one another's arms, leaving the girl to tidy up and take away what was left of their meal.
They spent the next couple of days in indulgence and fun and then Zenith reminded Zon that they still had to find out what was going on in Brazil. Zon agreed with his friend and they packed up and flew to Rio de Janeiro, eventually landing in a zone marked ‘OFF LIMIT—NO ENTRY’.
Zenith had received a message from the GM responsible for that area, asking them to meet him in the offices that had been established at the air landing strip. Once they were in the office, the GM explained to them that some most horrific spectacles had been observed in the Restricted Zone.
Zon asked him to be more specific and explain what type of sightings the man was talking about. Had they seen more dinosaurs or other prehistoric creatures? The man was slightly hesitant to extrapolate further at first, but Zenith demanded a full explanation.
It turned out that the area where the phenomena had appeared was a piece of land that had previously been used as a cemetery at a time when human beings had lived in that zone, before it had become too hazardous to live in due to the disease and pollution covering most of South America. It now transpired that some of the GM workers had sworn that when they were working there they had seen ghosts or spirits rising out of the ground.
The GM manager who had called Zenith confirmed that he himself had actually seen this happen. He described that when he had gone to investigate the situation himself, he had approached the zone with a Geiger counter and other metamorphic testing equipment to try and catch a sighting of a ‘ghost’. He said he had nearly had a heart attack when suddenly before his eyes an apparition had risen out of the ground and then floated gently away on the warm breeze.
As yet, nobody had managed to get a shot of any of these apparitions on film; each time somebody went to investigate they became so scared and shocked by the ‘ghosts’, they were left mesmerized into watching the spectacles until they disappeared.
Zon was highly skeptical of this and derisively accused the GM manager of drinking too much of the local intoxicating brew. However, Zenith on the other hand, believed that the GM man was not lying and made arrangements to visit the area himself. Zon assured Zenith he was wasting his time and refused to pay a visit to the cemetery himself, but agreed that if Zenith thought there was actually some inkling of substance in the story, then he was free to go and investigate for himself.
“Listen old buddy, I tell you, you are wasting your time, this is just a lot of waffle by gullible folk,” Zon cynically advised Zenith. “But feel free to do what you wish.”
Eventually it was agreed that Zenith should remain and carry out further research into the cemetery phenomena. Zon himself was going to return first to Santa Barbara to visit Stef and then he also needed to go back to Washington to discuss with his brothers the major problem regarding the transportation of the dinosaurs.
The two men said their goodbyes and agreed to meet up again as soon as possible. Zon reminded Zenith that he would be needed in the consultations that would have to take place in Washington regarding the re-opening of the South American territory for Zelite habitation. Zon had been on his way back to Santa Barbara when he received the news about Stef's hazardous fall from the horse.
CHAPTER 27
After spending some time together, Zon told Stef that he had to leave her again for a while and suggested to Stef that she could go and spend some quality time with her parents in the Outlander territory and keep in touch with what was going on there. Stef once more pleaded with Zon to release her from this surveillance anklet, but again he was adamant that she had to be kept under observation for her own safety.
“You know, honey, that nobody is going to even know that you have that ankle bracelet on except my own supervisors, who will not do anything without my instructions. But be aware that I will keep strict observation on you myself, so be very careful not to do anything foolish again as I want you safe and sound!” Zon reminded her.
After Zon's departure, Stef did as he suggested and visited her home territory, staying with her parents until the time when she would receive the expected call from Zon advising her that he was on his way back.
One day Stef was busy preparing a simple meal for her mother and father when she heard the monitor notifying her that Zon had arrived at their apartment in Santa Barbara and wanted her to join him immediately.
“Why on earth didn't he let me know that he was coming back today?” she thought to herself, “I wanted to be at his apartment, waiting for him, when he arrived. I just can't win. Whatever I try to do always seems to go wrong. Oh well it is not my fault if he doesn't let me know of his plans.”
After explaining to her parents that Zon was back Stef hurriedly packed and left to join him. When Stef arrived at their apartment in Santa Barbara, she immediately went to find Zon who had already showered and was being attended upon by his GM maid. Stef felt a tinge of jealousy when she saw how attentive this GM maid was with Zon, there and then making up her mind to get rid of the girl as soon as she had the chance.
“Sweet man of mine, why didn't you let me know you were arriving today? I would have definitely been here to meet you if I had known. How are you, my honey? I have missed you terribly. Can I get you anything?”
Zon pulled Stef down on to the bed with him and laughingly told her to be quiet and just enjoy herself with him. Stef had been longing for this moment and swiftly undressed and gave herself once more to this magnificent man who had already been prepared by the GM maid and was lying naked waiting for Stef. His glorious dark olive ski
n shone like burnished ebony in the light of the lamp directed towards their bed, and his muscles rippled as his arms wrapped around her. Stef was madly and crazily in love with this superb being. She had wanted this for weeks now and could not contain her lust for his terrific lithe body. His strong, full lips covered her with passionate kisses and his embrace became more and more demanding until their union was completed once more. After their passion had eventually subsided, they lay in one another's arms for a while until finally Zon pressed the call button for his maid to come and attend to his toiletries. Stef was taken aback by this and complained vehemently. She was aghast at the fact that this other woman would have the freedom of touching her husband's body, but the more she protested, the more Zon teased and laughed at her, telling her not to be so stupid as to be concerned by a GM female. Stef had to stifle her anger and watched the other woman bring some towels and follow Zon into the wash area. The GM female was quite used to Zon's requirements and adeptly hand-washed him, checking him and ensuring that all was well, and then left him to finish his shower himself.
The GM female approached Stef and asked if she required her services in washing, but Stef told her in no uncertain terms she was quite capable of cleaning herself. She was in the middle of ranting and raving at the GM female when Zon stepped back into the room, covered by just a small towel around his middle.
The GM maid asked him if he needed any further services, but he thanked her and said that he would call her if he needed anything further. Stef was almost purple in the face with anger at what had happened and screamed at Zon that she could not accept his obvious closeness with this other female. Zon shrugged his shoulders and said that it was one of the perks of being a Zelite, adding that it was time that Stef recognized the fact that she was also now entitled to such perks herself. Stef smoldered inside, but did not want to argue with her husband: she knew what the consequences could be if she persisted in an argument with Zon. She had already learned an uncomfortable lesson about that!
Zero Time Page 12