Patsy Murray

by Douglas E Roff

  The Lord viewed all of his creation as an experiment that would someday end if he wanted it to.

  His one fascination in all of his Universes were the humans on various planets in various galaxies. He found them both confounding and delightful all at the same time. And of all the planets in all the solar systems in all of the Galaxies in all of the Universes, it was this Universe that produced Adam St. James that he enjoyed the most. The adventures he got himself into were like a string of pulp fiction novels, some amazing with twists and turns; some yawners. But this free will thing made these stories come alive for him. As an Immortal, time was irrelevant and besides he could rewind old stories and watch them over again.

  He called it “God TV,” though he was not God nor were his “shows” on TV.

  With this in mind, the Lord asked Adam to help him with Liara who he should have eliminated a long time ago when he had the chance. But there was also a rebellion in his realm, and he wanted advice on how to solve and ferret out the problem beings he had no experience finding. Adam and his fellow mortals were good detectives, and he had no Immortals that could detect anything amiss. They were cold, loveless and virtual automatons when it came to creativity. The Lord needed specialized troops. Could Adam help?

  “Yes, my Lord, I believe I can. I shall need my other wives back again, however. I assume they’re lurking around here somewhere, hiding. I must say I am a little annoyed with you for not being honest about them and their true feelings for me sooner. I was very hurt when they left making me think they could not be bothered with a mere mortal like me. It was cruel.”

  “Yes, I know, but you see how inconstant we Immortals can be, and I needed them with me for counsel I cannot get from any others. They have experience in the mortal realm; I actually have very little. They howled at me, called me terrible names for separating them from you, but my needs were greater, and besides, you had Hecate most of the time.”

  “Until you needed her too.”

  “My bad. But the good news is there are now other female form Immortals that have joined the Community and wish … shall we say … to meet you. Truly, to make up for this little bump in the road, I can do much to keep your free time delightful. One of the benefits of Immortal women is they don’t mind sharing. Try that on Earth.”

  “As you wish, my Lord. I can begin Immediately, but I need to organize my Immortal wives to do our work here and on Earth. The Immortal, or Immortals, we seek must be in communication with Liara who is in hiding. I haven’t found her either, so our best bet is to find how they might be communicating then start our search for suspects who can communicate in that way. I need to understand the Immortal world, then return to Earth. We’ll catch these traitors; then they’re yours to decide their fates.”

  “Do I get an assignment too? Can I go undercover? Will I be packin’?”

  “You’re the boss, so you get the best job. You and I will work as a team to coordinate between Heaven and Earth. It’ll be a blast!”

  “We start … soon. Your wives await you at the Community. Hana is here to transport you. You have two weeks before we begin.

  Hana appeared, radiant as ever. “Husband.”

  “Wife.”

  “I have missed you. Our Lord has given me two weeks to take you to your new home in this realm until you return to Earth. I shall take you somewhere else first, a place of eternal delight that you will enjoy. All the wives have created worlds for our pleasure just with you. Please don’t be angry with us for deceiving you. It was all his fault.”

  “I am never angry with you; just confused as usual. I wish to have a very long visit with all my wives and children, and reconnect.”

  “We shall consider your request. And we have missed your strict ways. We hope you have missed ours.”

  ***

  Two weeks turned into two months, and when all the women were mostly satisfied that they had had their fair share, Adam was reluctantly given back to their Lord for his detective work on Earth. There was some flaring of tempers between who would return to Earth with Adam and who stayed behind, but the Lord determined they would rotate between realms, as would all the new female Immortals who enjoyed Adam’s mortal skills.

  The Lord said to Adam, “You have two assignments and much free time to please your new Immortals who thrill at your touch and can help with your most difficult tasks. Hecate has gotten everything arranged back home; two teams, two objectives, and no crossovers. She has given knowledge and laid down the law about who is in charge and who has access to what information, testing, and implementation. The same goes for the Liara project. Your mortal women are caught somewhere between missing you and wanting you back and petrified that you will return a harder Master than before. I do not know your mind, but I say be yourself, and things will work out just fine.”

  Chapter 32

  Hecate knew from the start that when she drew the assignment to return to Earth to organize the Islands while Adam was away, the promised two weeks of separation was a big fat lie. And, because she was correct, it was well over three months before Adam finally returned with a retinue of new female Immortals along with his current wives.

  Torii was nowhere to be found, and neither the Lord nor Adam’s wives dared speak of her. Adam suspected she was hanging upside down “under interrogation” in some Immortal dungeon somewhere, but he couldn’t be sure. For his visit, much anticipated among Immortal women, each curious female Immortal created a paradise just for him with all the rooms, scenery and female assistance and gadgets he most loved and they wished to try. They had, of course, in their minds, already been with him in mind union, but now wanted the feel, the experience of flesh on flesh. Some had visualized a soft and warm kind of romantic love they thought Adam excelled at, but some, like the warrior Immortals, followed the Misti model from which bouts of sexual pleasure were taken, not given. Adam for his part loved them all, but at the two-month mark, the Lord signaled he had two weeks to wrap it up. At three months, he departed.

  There were tears and long faces from Immortals who hadn’t gotten a “turn” yet, but Adam promised a return for them and nights of unimaginable bliss. Misti, whose reputation preceded her, and even though not a full Immortal, was nonetheless invited to the Immortal realm for short “vacations.” For some Immortals, Misti was an excellent choice as Adam’s replacement.

  As it turned out, Hecate was relieved that Adam was away for as long as he was, as it took longer for her to manage the Professionals as separate and distinct from the nerds, Alana, Saldana, and Darii. Territorial disagreements were initially common. There were ‘access to resources’ issues and constant whining about Adam. Hecate eventually recruited a wide variety of Immortals, all women, to come down, settle in and assist her with her assigned duties and a few other matters the “big boss” wanted to be done.

  The Island was promiscuous, to say the least, in Adam’s absence and that part went smoothly. All his women wanted Adam back as some things just weren’t the same without him. The newly arrived Immortals had all recently had time with Adam, so they knew what they were missing; they were getting antsy for some physical relief, Adam style. Hecate told them that the line in the other realm was long, so be patient, he would soon return, then she would be assigning playtime. She assured them they would all be happy with her calendar.

  Hecate also noticed that some of the mortals were becoming increasingly agitated, so when Adam returned, a “mortals only” meeting was scheduled right away. The topic was unpleasant, but knowing the mortal mind, it was best to get it over, have the bluffs made and the bluffs called and end whatever anger and frustration were in the air. Mortals seemed to recover quickly from heartache and could move on; Immortals seemingly could not. The few who had some experience in the emotional upset department found out the hard way that they were different than mortals in this regard.

  ***

  The meeting was held the next evening after dinner, no Immortals except Hecate present.
Adam was puzzled over the need for a meeting; he thought all the work issues had long been settled. Adam also thought that the division of labor had likewise been settled with Hecate’s firm but sensitive hands.

  Adam said, “What’s up?”

  Hecate said, “What you see in your reports are more truncated versions of the daily life here in the Islands. As more Immortals have filtered in, our mortals have begun to be increasingly agitated with me and the others. I completely understand how they feel and have told them so. But some things are best done more quickly and accurately by Immortals, while other more creative things and implementation tasks are best done by our mortals. The integration of Torii’s modifications has led to an impasse in work, so we need to decide what to do and then discuss what grievances are back on the table. We have had this problem before, and we’re having it again.”

  Adam said to his mortals, “Let’s discuss work first, then grievances. Agreeable?”

  All agreed.

  “What’s first?”

  Zoia, who appeared more agitated than most, said, “We have a problem with the design changes that Torii made. The brilliant Immortals seem to think we should implement right away and begin construction. I say that’s crazy. She betrayed us and worked for Liara.”

  Liesel, a newly arrived Immortal, said, “Liara and Torii are not your concern.”

  “Wrong, Mayor of Wrongville. This has everything to do with my project, not yours. If we don’t Beta test more, how do we know if the new modifications won’t result in catastrophic failure down the road? Glitches built into the system? This has exactly nothing to do with you Liesel. Maybe you and your Immortals can stop fucking all the time, screwing day and night, and try finding Liara and the traitors. Stay the fuck away from my engineering, about which you know nothing. Hecate sides with the Immortals one hundred percent of the time and wants to start construction immediately. If they’re in charge of what I do, then there is no reason for any mortal to be here.”

  Adam asked Hecate, “Is this correct? Do you listen to the mortals too or just the Immortals?”

  “I listen to everyone.”

  “Don’t get cute with me. How often do you do as the mortals suggest and how often do you only do what the Immortals suggest?”

  “Zoia is correct. I follow what the Immortals suggest all the time, no exceptions. They know more and see more. The mortals are limited in their thinking.”

  Adam went silent for a moment. The women had all seen this before. He was collecting his thoughts and doing his new mental exercises so he would not explode with anger and say things he did not mean.

  “Here’s what we’re going to do. After we meet today, I’m going to go back to visit with our Lord. We’re going to make some changes. I need to be here more, the rotation of Immortals to Earth will be speeded up, and there will be more of them with varying skills. I will choose which Immortals stay, which Immortals work best with our mortals and in what capacity. You couldn’t have been more wrong, Hecate, and Zoia more right. Our Lord and I agreed there has to be a defect somewhere in the work Torii did for us in the engineering that will cause failure down the line. Ninety-nine things right, one small thing wrong. There’d be tiny design flaws, hardly noticeable; neither Liara nor Torii would give us perfect tech and accurate information. There isn’t even a question about what to do, even if the tech turns out perfect. It needs to be tested and tested a thousand times. We can’t trust those two demons.”

  Hecate was shocked.

  Adam continued, “I’m in charge now. Our Lord foresaw this problem, though he did not expect it so quickly. All information and tech that Torii touched in any way must be revisited, and Beta tested. All information she gave Saldana, Darii and the nerds is to be double checked right away. To the minutest fucking detail.”

  Adam turned to Hecate. “Immortals are to check everything with me, and they have no, I repeat, zero authority to tell anyone what to do, including you, me or anyone else including, but not limited to, the nerds and the Professionals. Do this again, and I’ll send you to visit our Lord, and you can explain your disobedience to him personally. This is yet another example of your disobedience to his will and mine. Now that I think of it, you will come with me tomorrow to explain yourself and how this all came about. Let me predict something; he will not be pleased.”

  “Yes, husband.” Hecate knew she fucked up, but it was more habit than outright disobedience. She doubted she would be sleeping with her mate that night. He was angry with her again; she knew why and that he had every right to be.

  She said to him, “I did something right, didn’t I?”

  “You and your team did almost everything right. I’m amazed at our progress. Don’t think I’m angry with you. I’m not except for the one thing that was settled until you just now unsettled it. I cannot and will not turn a blind eye to your prejudices. This time it isn’t just a dispute between mates but between you and your Lord. If our Lord doesn’t send you to serve another, which you deserve, then we must find another way to work together, mortal and Immortal, as my Lord has commanded.

  “My Lord, thinking this might happen, has given me the power to direct which Immortals may be sent home for failure to cooperate and disobedience, and which shall remain. Any Immortal, no matter who it is, will be sent away immediately if I desire. Of course, my Lord shall finally decide all cases and can fashion his own remedy for failure. And don’t think he won’t decide something cruel as a warning to others. As to mortals and Cyclical Immortals, they are all under my absolute command from now on. I decide their fate, and I will direct who does what, when and in what order. Any disobedience will result in immediate termination, with exceptions that I alone shall make. Do not give me advice; I seek that only from my Lord.”

  Adam paused as if pleased with something.

  He looked at Hecate.

  “And please note I didn’t go crazy and lose my temper. I am calm as you can see, but your arrogance and that of your fellow Immortals is beyond belief. You are Immortally stupid. What saves you from immediate dismissal now are the new meditation techniques given to me by Hana; she helps me with my anger issues.”

  Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; none greater than Hecate just then. There was no way out of this. She had no explanation, no good explanation anyway, and Adam was now on the sidelines and wouldn’t intervene to protect her. Ignoring mischief was one thing; ignoring serious matters was quite another.

  It was about to get worse.

  “The work issues are now on the sidelines until I return, then we will reassess the assignments and tasks. All new Immortals shall report to me for interview and training. Any believing in Immortal superiority will be sent home immediately — no exceptions. I will not have this attitude here. My Lord has been most insightful, and my understanding of his plan is now deeper. My previous attitude was wrong, and I have humbled myself before his wisdom. He no longer believes in Immortal superiority, except perhaps his own. In that he is correct. Anything else?”

  Nothing.

  “Then we move on to grievances. What are they?”

  Zoia spoke up. “Except for Ryu, who may stay because she loves you more than life or her own pride, we other three are leaving. I don’t know about the nerds who seem to spend most of their time with Misti having sex with the Immortals. Saldana too has fallen into this habit, and Darii has herself become more interested in lasciviousness than the work assigned to her. She was, for a while, helpful, but now she shows up whenever she feels like it, does assignments that she is not assigned and disappears into the residence for liaisons with Immortals, including your mates, Hecate and Misti. Hecate has separated the tribes, brought a modicum of peace, but lost control in doing so. She seems only interested in the Immortals to the exclusion of all other matters.

  “You have known the nerds for years, and that part of the project only concerns me to the extent that my life becomes either more or less protected each day by the work they do.
Their progress, through inattention, laziness or simple lack of concern, has virtually ceased. The Immortals are Immortal so why are they concerned? Your nerds will come back again as Cyclical Immortals. We, the Professionals, trying to change the world at your behest, have been locked out at every turn, mocked even by your impudent daughter, and cast aside by both Hecate and Misti. Your choice in managers has been a fucking disaster. If this is what you really want, well I guess it’s your Island, your money and your people. But this is not what I came here for. You may wish to separately explore where Ryu is on all this, but I doubt she disagrees with my perception, only my response to such unimaginably pathetic excuse for how things ought to run. If you don’t believe me ask Hecate and Misti, if you still believe them, and ask your other wife and daughter, assuming they’re constrained to be truthful.”

  Adam was feeling again like he was about to explode.

  “We are among the last of the old St. James Mindwerks, now in tatters. We have stayed with you when it would have been far easier to take the money and run. We did not. Yes, we made mistakes, and we admitted them and have stayed the course. You have decided on a course of action we do not disagree with, in fact, we wholeheartedly support your plan, but not how it is being carried out.”

  “I see,” said Adam. “Hecate, Misti? What have you to say? Saldana and Darii?”

  One by one they all made excuses, but the core of the allegations by the Professionals was acknowledged to be accurate by all, including Hecate and Misti. The Five Islands had grown lax, and little work was being done due to the belief that they were in no danger. Even Saldana, downcast, was aware that she had lost her way. Darii was far from repentant, however.