by Jay Toney
Demeter placed her hand over Jewel's belly. "She is without a child. Who has dared to impregnate Amber? She is protected by the council. There will be hell to pay!"
"I do not know. The baby is shielded. It can be almost anyone of the gods, even my father. The only thing I can be sure of is that it wasn't Ares, Hades, or Nathaniel."
"Zeus is the head of the council, he wouldn't do it, at least while she was under his protection. I'll check myself. You have yet to regain your full powers, and Nathaniel has only just started to learn." Demeter vanished leaving us alone with Jewel.
"We have been so busy, she hasn't had time to be with anyone else. Amber has been with me when she was not with the two of you."
That was not entirely true. Amber had two nights a week when she slept alone. She had to get pregnant in the past few weeks and Persephone, and I were spending a lot of time talking and plotting our next move with Nugget and Astrea. We were also busy trying to find a way to keep her mother busy with a companion. Some nights Amber stayed with us, others she left presumably to be with Jewel.
Demeter reappeared, "The protection of the baby is too powerful. It definitely came from a god. I will have to inform the Grand Council. A protector will need to be assigned to watch over Jewel and Amber full time." She vanished again.
Moments later Demeter reappeared, "The council will be investigating this breach. Don't get your hopes up. It is unlikely the guilty god will be identified or that he will freely admit to getting her pregnant. A protector has been assigned."
"That was fast. Usually, it takes the council years to decide on anything."
"I volunteered. That means I will be moving in and I will have more time to spend with my grandchildren." She made a simple gesture with her hands, and two doors appeared. "That should do."
She opened the first door. It led into a huge set of rooms. "It's your house," Jewel said, immediately recognizing Demeter's home. "The other door must lead to your bath."
"Of course it does. You don't expect me to confine myself to one of your ships small rooms, do you?"
"No, of course not, but how did you move your house and bath here?"
"I didn't. I just created portals that would take me there so I can stay close to all of you. Persephone, you and Nathaniel both smell of dead things. You both need a bath. I suggest you take one now. You can use my bath if you wish."
Persephone led me through the door into her mothers bath. It was identical to Persephone's. "We do not smell like the dead. Mother just wants us away while she talks to Amber and Jewel. She must know something she isn't telling us and doesn't want us to know."
"Do you have any idea what she is keeping hidden from us?"
"Probably the father of the child, but why?"
"Maybe Amber can tell us more when we see her."
Persephone and I undressed and waded into the water. Every time I entered the healing waters, I felt more human. I checked, and my cybernetic limbs were not changing back into my old legs and arms. Instead, they were becoming a mesh of both flesh and machinery, a hybrid. I still had all of the advantages of them being machine. I was also regaining the things I missed from my biological limbs. Sensor data was still available if I cared to look at it. I could still read the temperature and atmospheric pressure. I could also analyze the mineral contents in the water I was swimming in. Most importantly, I could feel the cool water against my skin and the tingling sensation I felt as it worked its healing magic.
We didn't waste much time in the lagoon or under its waterfall. There was plenty of time to dally later. After bathing for perhaps 45 minutes we got out of the water, dried off and dressed. Time was much slower in the bath, so when we stepped out, only minutes should have passed.
We were wrong. "Mother tricked us. I should have known. She rarely shares her bath. That is why she made me my own."
Almost two days had passed while we were in the bath. Demeter laughed when we finally stepped out. "It took the two of you long enough to bathe. Amber and Jewel are sleeping together in their own chambers."
"Do you know who the father is?"
"Not yet, but I have my suspicions."
"How did he trick Amber?"
"You haven't figured that out? He appeared in your likeness."
"Nugget! He is a changeling."
"Don't be ridiculous. Nugget may be able to take your form, but he is no god."
"Then who?"
"There is only one god who could pull it off. My ex-husband, Zeus."
"But he is supposed to be protecting her."
"How better to get close to her?"
"If father did this to Amber, there will be hell to pay."
"He doesn't care. Zeus enjoys his mini conquests. He gets around even more than Nathaniel. Pray that Hera doesn't find out. She will make life difficult for Amber at the very least, and will probably kill her. That is why it must remain a secret. Rumor will be spread that it is Nathaniel's baby. Amber doesn't know who the father is. She believes it is Nathaniel. I went to a lot of trouble changing the medical records to prove it and altering Miranda's memories."
It was late at night the next day, after our bath. Persephone and I went to bed. There wasn't anything else we could do. We were laying comfortably under the bed covers. "Nathaniel quit it. That tickles."
"I'm not doing anything." I felt it too now. Something or many somethings were scurrying under the blanket. I pulled back the covers, and Persephone screamed, "They didn't! Not in my bed!" At least a dozen rats were scurrying across our bed. We would have to think of something vile to retaliate with. Persephone waved her hands and made the rats vanish.
"I think we should transform them into spiders and let Astrea eat Nugget."
"We can't. It's against the rules. We can not cause permanent harm to each other or the other players. Nugget can not regenerate so eating him would be permanent. We will have to think of something else."
"How about transforming them into slugs or snails and teleporting them to the Sequoia?"
"They may come in contact with poison or be eaten by other animals."
"I know just the thing."
We stared into the small aquarium. Two guppies, one male, and one female swam happily in the water. I sprinkled a little food into the water. They would need it to keep their strength up. "I hope Astrea doesn't mind getting pregnant." We both laughed. It was allowed according to the rules of the game. Neither one of us ever saw an adult female guppy that wasn't pregnant. She was bound to have at least three or four babies.
****
The Falcon and the Griffin were the first ships to dock with the Prometheus. The two captains would be sharing command of our new ship. Next, the Victory and Trident docked with the ship. The crewmen from all four ships spent the next two days inventorying supplies, disposing of the dead bodies, making needed repairs, and performing long overdue servicing.
Our course was set to the Beta Equulei System. It would take three jumps to get there with our new ship. It would take a month and a half to reach the star system with the need to decelerate and fly to distant jump points. Hopefully, there would be a space station or repair facility that would be capable of upgrading our new ship.
"Damn your luck! You must be the luckiest person in the galaxy. You've claimed more salvage than I imagined possible. The carrier is a beaut, and it has all of its teeth yet," Red exclaimed over our comms. He only had a few hours to explore the ship. It was missing most of its riders, but it still had five and our smaller ships fit into its docking cradles.
"Guppies? Is that the best you and Persephone can do? I can think of a whole lot worse than that," Nugget said. He and his girlfriend, Astrea, finally made it to the bridge.
"I can think of a lot worse, but most of what I can think of would violate the rules. It may be fun watching Astrea devour you, but you can't regenerate and neither can I. You can forget about spiders."
"Persephone didn't eat you the last time."
"The thought was there, and if
we remained spiders for any longer, she would have."
"Not every spider eats its mate."
"Most of them do, and they all die hours after mating."
Nugget and Astrea hadn't figured out why Persephone and I changed them into guppies. They would soon find out why. I was sure Astrea had a few little wigglers growing in her belly.
"If you're ready, let's get out of here. We will continue our game later."
Little Horse
We ended up traveling through three star systems instead of the two that we originally planned on, before reaching Beta Equulei. Two of the star systems had red dwarf suns, and one was a black dwarf. None of the star systems had any habitable planets or moons. I was glad to be in the Equulei constellation after two months of travel.
Nugget wasn't looking very happy. In the last two months, neither he or Astrea retaliated for being transformed into fish. He had other things on his mind. "Nugget, what is with all the doom and gloom?"
"It's Astrea. If I didn't know better, I would swear that she was pregnant. She can't be though. For her to get pregnant, the fates would have to bring me my string of life and place it within me. Then we would have to merge our bodies together. You should know that. Persephone is a goddess, one that you managed to knock up."
It was an accident and not my fault. Persephone got careless while helping me regain my memory and humanity. For the most part, Nugget was right, but there are loopholes, and I managed to find one. Past a certain age of maturity, all female guppies quickly became pregnant. One male guppy could impregnate an entire school of guppies and Nugget had Astrea all to himself.
"You should have Doc or Miranda do a physical exam on her. It can't hurt. They may be able to find something to help her. At the very least they can ease your concerns."
"Maybe you're right. It can't hurt."
"Go ahead and take her. The ship will be okay on autopilot. We are a week and a half away from the space station. There is nothing to run into."
Nugget left to take Astrea to sickbay. I had worries of my own. Amber getting pregnant was playing havoc with our sleep schedule. She was spending all of her time in bed with Jewel. Jewel was leery about sleeping with me, after all, supposedly I got Amber pregnant even with her birth control active.
Doc and Miranda both examined Jewels and Amber's implants and ran various tests on Amber. There was no way she could have gotten pregnant. Yet, she did and all tests showed that I was the father, thanks to Demeter.
Until Doc and Miranda could figure out what went wrong and be able to assure Jewel that I couldn't get her pregnant again, I was cut off. No sex with either one of them, Jewel wouldn't and Amber couldn't. Amber lost her sex drive when she became pregnant. I had a nine-month wait before she would have sex with me again.
We still got along, and we loved each other very much. We just didn't sleep with each other. Demeter found my frustration very entertaining. I begged her to tell Amber and Jewel the truth about how she got pregnant. She said she couldn't. If even a whisper made it to Hera, Amber's life and the life of the unborn baby would be in jeopardy. She bound both Persephone and me to keep the secret by blood oath.
The look on her face as she sliced our palms with her dagger still frightened me. She was beautiful, of smaller stature than her daughter, and didn't look a day over eighteen. Of course, she was over 14,000 years old. Persephone didn't know her exact age or her birthday and Demeter refused to answer saying, "You are only as old as you look and feel." I must be a lot older than Doc. I've been through a lot lately and felt it.
It seemed that Demeter was always present when Persephone and I went to bed. "By the gods, the two of you are disgusting. I can't believe the two of you are still at it."
"Even the king of the gods..." I cut my answer short. It was too close to revealing what happened to Amber. Demeter smiled, leaving us to continue what we were doing, but the mood was spoiled.
We had to do something about Persephone's mother. She was starting to get on my nerves. She was constantly watching over us, and not Jewel and Amber. I was beginning to think her purpose in life was to make my life hell, not to keep the girls safe.
"Persephone, it's past time we give Athena a push to get her more involved with your mother. Demeter needs a companion. I'd prefer it to be a man so she could experience our goat like behavior but there aren't any who meet her criteria and are available. Another woman will have to do."
"Let's start with lunch. They can share a meal with lots of wine, in a lovely garden. Daphne and Tammy can help by making sure their wine glasses stay full."
"How will we get Demeter to leave?"
"We can't. Lunch will have to take place here."
"How?"
"I"ll have engineering install a 100 more holographic emitters in the playroom, then project a simulation of our old garden. Mother will love it."
"How will we get Athena here?"
"We will send her an invitation. She will not refuse a request from my mother."
Persephone concentrated and summoned a messenger. She didn't just summon any messenger, she invoked the most trustworthy messenger of the gods. Bright light filled the room with every color of the rainbow. Iris stepped forward out of the light. She looked younger than Persephone or her mother, appearing in her mid-teens. She had long chestnut brown hair worn in a single braid. Her dress, one of Athena's creations, was made of every color imaginable. The colors and geometric patterns continuously changed as I stared at her. On her back was a pair of what could only be described as gold angel wings.
"Nathaniel, quit staring! It isn't polite."
"I can't help it. She is beautiful." I was reminded of similar words spoken by my wife, Amber, not long ago, when she bought the entertainment contracts from her friend Sally.
"Iris I need you to deliver a message to Athena. Let her know that she is invited to lunch with my mother and she would like her company for the rest of the day."
Demeter held out her hand, and Persephone placed a large gold coin in it. Iris vanished behind a shimmering rainbow, then the rainbow faded away. "The price of postage has certainly gone up since I last used her services. It seems like only yesterday that her price was only a single silver drachma. Now it is a full ounce of gold. "Iris will convey the message and the desire behind it. Athena will be here soon."
Workmen began installing holographic emitters according to Persephone's instructions. The playroom was converted into a smaller version of our simulation rooms. As soon as they were finished, Persephone began the simulation. Instead of an open area used as a nursery or playroom, the room was filled with a manicured garden full of flowers of every type, color, and fragrance. A banquet table appeared with a platter of roast lamb, freshly baked bread, cheese, assorted fruits, and vegetables. Daphne and Tammy came in, each carrying pitchers of chilled wine. They placed goblets on one side of the table and filled them for Athena and Demeter.
"Mother."
Demeter entered the room from her chambers. "What is it?"
"Nathaniel and I invited a guest for lunch. Something has come up, and we cannot be here to entertain our guest. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind hosting in our place?"
Demeter took notice of the change in the room and the banquet table with its two settings. "It must be someone special to go to such troubles, and you have prepared one of my favorite meals. I would be delighted to entertain your guest. Who is it?"
Persephone took my hand, and we vanished, before answering. We reappeared on the bridge. Somehow she managed to change our attire during the teleport from casual wear into our uniforms.
I Looked at the main viewscreen, not much had changed. The inner planets were still just tiny distant points of light. Our course would take us to the third planet and its space station. The space station still had not detected our presence.
Jewel and Amber were absent from the bridge. Usually, at least one of them was here for their shift, with the Nymphs helping to take care of our children. Today they were b
oth watching the children, while Daphne and Tammy made sure Demeter and Athena got drunk.
Nugget was looking nervous and paler than usual. He wasn't paying any attention to his console. He was busy looking at wedding rings, searching for the right one for Astrea.
"Nugget, your pale. What is wrong?"
"It's Astrea. Somehow the impossible has happened. She is pregnant. Not only is she pregnant, she is pregnant with quintuplets. According to Miranda, I'm responsible. If that's not bad enough, Astrea is demanding that I marry her. She won't have the babies without marrying me, and she is determined to have them. I've done it again. I didn't learn anything from my last five wives."
"Maybe this time you found the right person to spend your life with."
"I hope so."
He didn't figure it out, at least not yet and I wasn't going to be the one to break the news. From the way he took the news about Astrea becoming pregnant, there was no telling what he might do to retaliate. It didn't sound like Astrea figured out the loophole we used on them either.
Navigation satellites broadcast their information giving us our own traffic lanes to follow to the space station and we were given the same speed restrictions as the other systems we visited. Our sensors did not show enough traffic to merit any safety restrictions until we got much closer where interplanetary spacecraft and shuttle flights filled the space lanes.
Our ships coasted at the maximum speed the satellites allowed. We were nearly invisible without our drive plumes. Persephone called ahead to let the station know that our small fleet was inbound for repairs. The carrier needed to be completely upgraded. Its computer systems were slower than its engines. The remaining patrol ships were even worse, our Marauders could do circles around them, had better weapons, better sensors, and could carry as many people and as much cargo.
The carrier wasn't without its advantages. It had three times the number of guns as Red's ship and was more heavily armored. The ships it carried were invisible for all practical purposes, hidden inside the carriers own sensor shadow. They wouldn't become visible until after launching, and by then it would be too late.
