“Thank you, Adam St. James. I encourage your efforts and appreciate your dedication to my pleasure. Have you a list?”
“I do. They should be transferred to my home Island for preparation and assignment. I believe the results will make this small sacrifice of useless imperfections most pleasing to your carnal desires. I am building in certain new delights you have not yet had the opportunity to experience, so this new harem shall suit you well.”
“If you need our assistance in making the modifications, let us know.”
“I shall, but a surprise isn’t a surprise unless kept secret.”
“Just so.”
“I also wish to move Hana’s new planet to a new location to avoid any infiltration by Liara and her spies.”
“Done.”
“I shall see you in no later than one month, Liara and Hanta in hand if you do not find them first; you may ready your agents to extract all that they know.”
“Good luck Adam St. James. I look forward to your next visit.”
***
Adam looked at Niona and Lia when they were back at the residence on Island One. He was surprised he got all he wanted before handing over Liara and Hanta, but such was the Lord’s desire to believe she was near capture; he wished to please Adam and reward him even if anticipatory. He needed what Adam was offering; he realized he would never find Liara on his own. This was not what he was good at.
Adam said, “That was easier than expected. We got everything.”
Lia and Niona said, “I was surprised by much of what he agreed to without any proof of need, and, more importantly, by what he didn’t ask for. He just seemed so happy to hear that he would soon have Liara in his grasp, and as new toys for his pleasure. He seems to have lost his mind when it comes to carnal desires and is using his female Immortals along with kidnapped Earth female mortals in ways he had never before contemplated. He has brought newly created female Immortals with him to earth to find the playthings he wants and to pick the women he intends to use and abuse in his realm. He then heals them after the exuberance of his new exploitation and cruelty, which he had never before been concerned about. Then when he tires of them, they are returned to wherever they came from without knowledge they had ever been with our Lord. The humans who stayed the longest were by far abused the most; the Lord is now delighting in the fear and pain engendered as they give in to his whims; he’s like an addict consuming more and more heroin to achieve the same high. His victims’ fears and anxieties of ‘what next’ intoxicates him. He now often commands his Immortal females to return to Earth and bring back the toys he enjoys the most.”
“He’s out of control; he has no idea how to control emotions that are new and intense.”
“These Immortals were used predominantly as instruments of mortal abuse; they too were subjected to horrors and, over time, learned what they had never known: that cruelty of such unimaginable proportions was hidden from the Immortal females that chose the subjects he wished to enjoy. His latest deviant erotic tastes now run to his freshly created female Immortals, properly aged and unaware of what he was about to do to them.
“Minds were erased; nobody except the most deviant of his female Immortals knew what their Lord’s new pastime was, though this ignorance was based on never having known mortal ways. His female confederates simply accepted that what their Lord was doing was what had always been done. It was not. He simply educated these Immortals in what he desired, broaching no questions or resistance. If he needed more soldiers with unquestioning loyalties, he simply created them.”
***
“We have relocated your genetic ‘twins’ and harvested their DNA, as well as yours. The new arrivals to Hana’s planet are now inseminated and will produce offspring within days, much quicker than in my case,” said Niona. “I am slower because of the manner of insemination.”
Adam looked at his woman and said, “And I am glad of it. May we have congress tonight? Do you feel up to it?”
“I do, and it is my wish. May we do a few things that I enjoy which settle me and please our child?”
“Of course, my love. I am yours to command.”
***
Adam called a meeting to update all who would fight this battle until the end. He explained that the Twins, Octavio, and his extended family would probably have little more to do in this fight and that they were no longer in danger. At least no more danger than any other mortal in any of the other Universes. He was sending them home to live out their lives and to rest in eternal peace with their loved ones at the end of this life. He wasn’t cold or indifferent toward them, but he was preoccupied with more pressing recent events. It took two days to say goodbye, and he was heartbroken that he would very likely never see any of them again. If he could, he promised he would before the end.
They knew what that meant; they had heard it before. He didn’t expect to live through this final conflagration. In past lives, sometimes he did; sometimes he didn’t. Either outcome was fine with him if the objective succeeded and his family and humanity were protected and safe. To him, his death was tragic to few, but to paraphrase Stalin, one death is a tragedy, millions are a statistic.
His family was dismissed, and the next order of business was the ever-shortening list of his team who needed to report to him daily.
Hana had relocated to a planet along with all the new female Immortals like Lia. Lia, Niona, and Noki were there too and safe from both the Lord and Liara. They would survive. The female Immortals would bear children, but the unintended consequence of a faster gestation period was a longer maturation period.
Instead of stalling the Lord for a month, it would be much longer, at least a year. Not good news. Liara at best was bluffing, and he could handle her. He now knew with certainty where she was. Her capture was next, but Adam needed to hide her away somewhere safe so that the Lord didn’t find out just how little she knew or how weak she was.
Adam said, “The object here is to leave the Lord with only his automaton Immortals, male and female, who can do much and follow orders, but who cannot fight or learn to fight for at least a year if ever at all. The only fighting Immortals of which Adam was aware were Fionna and Niona. Niona was herself only aware of maybe a dozen more. They met in convocation from time to time; none had a Sari or were resistant to its effects.
Adam asked that she set a meeting somewhere out of the way; she was to kill them all with her Sari when they arrived.
Before leaving, Adam would himself kill Fionna, but if she were impervious to his Blade, Niona would then have to kill her sister with hers. Adam was sorry for the order, but it had to be done. He hadn’t expected to wait a year for his troops to be born, taught the ways of war and the philosophy of the Way and the Balance. Nor did he wish to hold Liara and Hanta captive for long; they would bargain for their lives against the possibility of escape and later alliance with the Lord against Adam.
They were too dangerous together, so when Adam decided to visit the two women, he would strike whatever bargain was possible in the vaguest terms he could negotiate. He knew his bottom line; did the two women know theirs?”
Adam would immediately identify the top Immortal “mind surgeons” from around the RealVerse and kidnap them, hold them and force them to do his will. He knew what it was; no one else had a clue. Niona and Lia were critical to this plan and ruse.
When he explained his plan, they understood what was expected of them. They counseled that the plan should be kept only among the three of them: tight circle, no leaks.
All was now in motion. There was no turning back.
Chapter 38
“We have a much smaller chance of success now that we know that the gestation period is shorter but causes the maturation stage to become longer. We thought a week, maybe two, but eleven more months? That we never expected. I cannot say how sorry I am about this miscalculation; I guess I thought I knew more about Immortal physiology than I did, or for that matter, any o
f us. We are irrevocably on this trail now, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
Lia said, “But I do.” There are about ten thousand inseminations per day that are coming from your genetics.”
“Not sure how that helps, Lia.”
“There are fifty thousand females inseminated from DNA, but only ten thousand come from your sperm; your ‘fishies’ as someone once called them. We have found only seven other males potentially capable of doing what you do; not all of them, however, may be as compatible with our needs. Their DNA seems to work differently than yours, causing the lengthy period maturation. If we enhance your sperm production, we can inseminate tens of thousands a day and if that happens, the gestation period remains short as does the maturation period. Just like with normal Immortal/mortal pregnancies. We can layer the maturation period for the next few years. You, Adam, might be tired all the time and get tired of being poked extracting what we need. You will need rest and a lot of it. It will be a lot less fun that one at a time.”
“What about the billions of Immortals commanded by the Lord. We could be overwhelmed.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. At least not for a long time. First, they have no idea where we are. The Lord is not all-knowing; he will have to send probes to every Universe and every Galaxy in every Universe, not to mention the odd sun popping up between Galaxies with a planet like ours. In real time, it will be way more than a year unless they get lucky or someone rats us out. Nobody here will do that. Nobody left here can do that unless that somebody’s Immortal.”
“We may already have been ratted out.”
“The Lord gave us everything we wanted, and fast. Too fast. I say his failsafe is the traitors we now have in custody. They may all be Immortals in mortal guise; we just don’t know. If so, Niona should kill them all now.”
Hana said, “Adam, what were your intentions with them.”
“Keep them as prisoners forever. Give them a small part of the planet to inhabit, but never allow them off world. Wait for them to die, then capture and hold their essences. I don’t want to kill any of them. I’m sick of death and cruelty. I’ve had my fill.”
“And Liara and Hanta?”
“They can be saved. They’re not full Immortals so that we can alter their minds. We can still save them. They don’t have to die.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Hecate?”
“Same as Fionna, Kendra and the rest. If we cannot save them, then we kill them. That will be the last of it.”
“Then I say we discover the truth, take the action we must, and prepare for a war that will never come.”
“What do you mean?”
“With our Immortal soldiers, the Lord has no chance of winning, at least not at present. He may have more Immortals, but they cannot fight. Even with the numbers we currently have, we will still dominate. It’s like a billion ants raging against a million people stomping on them.”
“They can crash worlds and do a lot of bad stuff.”
“But we can stop them and prevent them from harming innocent mortals. I’m not saying this is a lock to work, but if we plan and learn more about them and their weaknesses, we can win - permanently. We’ve never looked at immortals before under a microscope; why would we? Now we can, and must.”
“How?”
“We have many of the best and brightest Immortal geneticists aboard. And, we have Niona and her Sari. If Sari meets the doctor, that’s very bad for them, and they know it. They’ll switch sides quickly, especially when we introduce them to carnal pleasures his Lordship has always denied them. You’ll see. We can win this if we think this through.”
“What’s next?”
“Adam goes to meet Liara and Hanta. If he finds them, we capture them, bring them here and start treatment. We reason with them; treatment or death. Personally, I favor death. Their only value is that the Lord thinks they’re as powerful as he is, or making progress toward the goal of creating armies of fighting Immortals. They aren’t.”
“How do you know?”
“If they were, the war would already have started. Liara is bluffing and wants to get her hands on the Immortal women we have, along with Adam. But I sincerely doubt she knows that only the two together can create the army she wants. So far, she only believes it is possible to do somehow, and only with Adam’s fishies. Niona should go with Adam, so Liara doesn’t get any wrongheaded ideas along with her psycho sidekick.”
***
Niona and Adam stood outside the grounds of a large iron fenced and electronically gated estate, guards and fierce dogs wandering the immense green lawn and tiny islands of flowers that populated the parklike setting. The only difference was that the lethality of the place seemed to be more suited to a prison yard than Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island.
Adam approached the guarded gate, the sidearm of the guard, his nightstick and cannister of some noxious substance clearly in evidence. As he began to speak, other men approached as backup while even more spread out to avoid the appearance of threatening two harmless looking souls.
“Could you ask Liara if she has time to visit with two old friends. We have come a long way to visit her.”
“No one named Liara resides here.”
“Then Hanta?”
“Neither is this name recognized. You have the wrong place, so please move on.”
“Another request, please talk to the lady of the house and mention the name “Liara’ and my name Adam St. James? Could you do that for me?”
“A moment. Please stand where you are. Don’t move.”
A voice crackled on the intercom. “Is that you, Adam? I had been expecting you, but ages ago. My dear, you are welcome in my home day or night. If you’re sweet, I’ll give you a key and the passcodes.”
“No need any longer; I’m now a full Immortal as is Niona the Huntress, of course. But it is kind of you to offer. You may wish to call off you inside men too; I am now impervious to weapons on this planet. But then there’s testosterone; you know what fools men can be when feeling the need to protect a beautiful woman.”
“I shall send them away. Hanta is with me. Shall I send her to her room?”
“Nope, I wish to speak to you both. Her habits much concern me these days, and I have some issues I would like to discuss.”
“She is edgy. She has not, you know, done what she needs to do for a few days. I’m afraid we are no longer equipped with money, which apparently is the currency of everything here on this miserable planet. Somebody got into my financial knickers and made off with my liquid assets.”
“Fortunately, I have lots so I shall settle any debts owing and provide for you all that you shall require for your further needs.”
“Always the gentleman.”
“I should be. We were wed, and I still love you, though trying to kill me is still a bit of a sore spot. Two other wives have attempted the same before we married; I guess it’s just a challenge we will have to work through.”
“Come then and do bring Niona, but is there any way she can leave that Sarii blade outside?”
“Sorry, no. She now carries two, and I one. They remain with us at all times. You may ask your lady friend to put the guns and knives away. I do not wish to harm her.”
The guard was listening the whole time and suggested that he would accompany the pair the whole time and remain in the room as they spoke to Liara.
“No thanks.”
“I must insist.”
“Then you will be dead.” Adam pushed the intercom. “Please ask your man to stand down before I kill him, all your guards and all your dogs. I am trying to be polite.”
Liara said, “Christopher, please stand down and order all the men and dogs to station. I am quite safe with Adam and his friend Niona.”
“They carry weapons,”
“Not for us. But thanks.”
Christopher turned to Adam and Niona.
“Harm them, and you will never leave these grounds alive.”
“I’ll bear that in mind.”
***
Liara was standing at the door as she let Adam and Niona in. She seemed to have no trepidation regarding their presence there; the same couldn’t be said for Hanta. Hanta thought they were safe on this estate in Virginia. Niona, as an Immortal and now carrying two blades, seemed threatening. Adam, while only carrying one, for some reason did not.
Niona walked by Liara and Adam and stood next to Hanta. Neither Liara nor Hanta could harm Adam or Niona as full Immortals anyway. Hanta wasn’t aware of Adam’s new Immortality; she was aware of Niona’s Sari blade, however.
Niona looked at Hanta and warned her that any attempt to touch the blade would result in her instantaneous death. The blade had a mind of its own and could only be handled by Niona and Adam. But if she cared to try, she was welcome to attempt wresting the blade from Niona.
Liara looked at Niona. “I wouldn’t. And you’re distracting me from my luscious man whom I have not fucked hard in years. I miss his touch as well as other body parts. Now behave and do as my guests tell you while they visit. We have much to discuss, and I need at least an hour or two of alone time with my husband.”
She looked at Adam.
“Surely you wouldn’t be so cruel as to deny me some conjugal time.”
“I would not. I recall the warmth of your embrace vividly, though trying to kill me did put a damper on my ardor for a little while. Fortunately, I have forgiven you and bear you no grudge. You are as beautiful as ever. I have come to rekindle our romance and to ask you to run away with me again. I thought we might discuss this in private.”
Hanta laughed, not yet believing Adam was Immortal. “As if she would ever consider a mere mortal as her equal.”
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