Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Crystal - by Deacon Blues

   Fourteen - Are We Mice or Men?

   The morning came to me with a soft feeling.  Crystal had obviously risen
earlier than me, and was gently starting my day.  I looked down to see her
pretty face, and her mouth distended with me stiffening in it.  She slurped
as she pulled away for a moment.  "Good morning, Nathaniel." She said, and
went back to it.  Her tongue traced circles around the glans, and then
tickled the opening.  I felt both her hands sliding on my belly.  She was
kneeling low between my legs and watched my face intently with those
glorious eyes.

   It was an amazingly leisurely action this morning.  She had no speed, or
urgency.  She was going to do what she wanted here, at her own pace.  It
reminded me of the very first time she went down on me, when she thought I
was asleep on the couch.  She had taken a very long time that time, and it
seemed she was going to this morning as well.  I watched as her lips slid
over the skin, moving it a tiny bit with their pressure.  I could feel her
hot breath on my shaft as she exhaled, and then the cooling feeling of her
inhaling over moist skin.

   I wondered at how much she looked like her mother.  I marveled at her
skill with lips and hands and tongue.  I basked in the heat of her passion,
and shivered in the cool of her gaze.  This girl, not even fully a woman
yet, owned me totally, and she knew it.  To be fair, though, I seemed to
own her just as completely.  She had her special needs that must be
fulfilled, but I had no doubt that if I demanded that she stop, stop she
would, and wither and die, to obey my wish.  I would never make such a
demand on her, she was too precious to me.

   I felt the tingling at the base of my spine that signaled the beginning
of my orgasm.  I must have tensed up a bit, as Crystal suddenly burst with
speed.  Sliding her head up and down rapidly and her lips tightened to
increase the friction.  Her cheeks collapsed with the suction she was
applying, causing me a little pain, but a lot of pleasure.  The tingling
grew into a spark, then a arc of energy between my spine and my swollen
member.  Finally the spark jumped, and a bolt of energy shot up my spine,
forcing me to thrust uncontrollably.

   My semen poured out of me, in great pulsations.  Her soft, hot, and
hungry mouth consumed my seed in great gulps, even with that, some ran down
my shaft to my scrotum and into my pubic hair.  Finally the pulsations
subsided and I relaxed.  She reverted to her leisurely pace of slowly
moving her pretty head, then slipped her mouth off my cock.  She licked the
shaft free of juices, then my scrotum, sending new sparks of pleasure
through me.  She sucked one testicle into her mouth, then released it, then
she sucked the other in, rolling it around with her talented tongue before
turning it, too, loose.  Finally, she gently ran her tongue through my
pubic hair, carefully to avoid getting any loose ends, and cleaned the
semen from between the strands.

   After cleaning up, she laid her head down on my thigh, and idly played
with me, running her fingers over my shaft, and tickling the head, then
fondling and squeezing the testicles gently.  She looked up at me.  "Dad,
did you think we would win yesterday?" She asked.  Her face was not exactly
emotionless, but was neutral, like she was just thinking and that came out.

   I put my hands behind my head, and looked down at her.  "Honestly, no."
I said.  "I figured we'd all get killed, but we had to try." I explained.
"Marcie and Sarah are your `people.' And, besides, they're good kids." I
sat up slowly, and petted her head as she laid there.  "They didn't deserve
to be used as pawns, much less killed, which, I'll bet, was the next step."

   She nodded slowly.  "Yet you brought me." She said.  "Why did you risk
me being there?"

   I shrugged a little.  "I knew you wouldn't stand for being left behind,
and I'm getting the distinct feeling that you were the lesser in danger of
us two."

   Crystal grinned at that.  "Maybe so." She half agreed.  "I'm sorry I
took your pistol, dad." She stopped fondling me and sat up.  "It was wrong
of me to change the plan and not let you in on it," She explained, "but I
was afraid you'd say we couldn't do it."

   I kissed her forehead.  "You're right, I would have." I said.  "And I
would have been wrong." I looked into her luminous eyes, felt them studying
me, analyzing me.  "I realized something out there yesterday." I paused a
moment to gather that thought up.  "I watched you fight and kill and be
brave, and I know something now.  That is what you were made for."

   Her face registered mild confusion.  "Made for?  Me?"

   I kissed her again, on her lips.  "Not you, specifically, but your
kind." I made a hand gesture encompassing the world.  "Chimeras were made
for combat, for war." I held down my hands and took hers.  "Like any
warrior, you don't seek out war, but when it comes to you, you act." I got
off the bed and stood beside her, she stood with me.  "Kurz was a utter
bastard, but he, like a lot of Germans, was meticulous.  You were designed
to be the perfect warrior." I hugged her to me.  "And you are."

   Crystal snorted a little.  "I half suspect we were being made as
playthings for the high-ranking Nazis." She said.  "Or else explain our
twisted needs and tendencies."

   "Limitations on the system." I said.  "Kurz didn't want you being too
independent, so he built in a couple of safeguards." She looked even more
confused.  "The `slurry' was one, he held the only source for the stuff,
making it impossible to live away from the creche once you were an adult."
I chuckled dryly.  "Only he never suspected that the `slurry' occurred in
nature, and in abundant quantities.  The other safeguard," I went on, "was
the imprinting.  When you got a mate, you became loyal to them because no
other man could impregnate you, and your drive to reproduce is high."

   "Hmm." She said.  "What about the genetic matching?"

   "That was just a hurdle." I pointed out.  "If he could have gotten
around it, he would have." I shrugged.  "I suppose that it comes from
having all that additional RNA in your chains, it limits the variety of
male DNA that will work with yours." I came to my final bit of revelation.
"Finally, the only real mistake he made." I concluded.  "Low birth numbers
of males.  The whole reason he decided that the experiment was a failure.
That one was sheer accident."

   "Which is just as well, I assure you." She said.  "They're not always
pleasant guys."

   I nodded, having read up on the mules, they could be amazingly
unpleasant, as Crystal put it.

   "It all boils down to `you were made for this." I said, pointing to the
guns on my night stand.  "You're a fighter, and a killer, and a lover, and
a mother." I held my palms up.  "I won't stand in your way again or
question your decision on what and when to do something in a fight." I
grinned.  "Neither of us is terribly experienced, but one of us was built
for it from the genes up."

   She giggled.  "Well, I'll try to be less...impulsive...from here on."
She said wisely.  "My doing something unexpected might get someone hurt."
She looked at me earnestly.  "I don't want anyone I care about hurt."

   I hugged her to me, and she conformed to my body.  These were deadly and
powerful predators, but they were also little girls, and needed comforting,
and love.  How many of the men who had `bought' Chimeras from the mob
actually loved them?  I suppose most grew to do so, it was hard not to,
they were wonderful.  But how many just used them as sex toys, as whores,
or as trophies?

   The bitch was that the Chimeras couldn't not love them.  They were wired
to love their first partner, period.  They couldn't not do it.  They could
hate them, but they also loved them.  It probably drove some of them
completely insane, with diametrically opposed emotions tearing through
their brains.  This was what kept them in servitude, more than threats from
the mob.  The mob they could deal with, as my daughter and two friends
showed last night.  The Mafia held the trump.  They could, at any time,
kill any of the Chimeras' one and only mate.

   "Lets get something to eat." I said.  "Hangover?"

   Crystal shook her head and smiled widely.  "Just took the `hair of the
dog.'"

   We entered into a crowded living area.  Marcus, as usual, was up early,
pounding on his keyboard like Mozart.  Sarah was watching him adoringly,
perched on a stool beside him.  Apparently, they had gotten along
swimmingly, which gladdened my heart.  Lance was parked on the long sofa,
watching the news about what we did last night.  `Gang war' was the phrase
of choice.  Good, the mob didn't try to get more mileage out of our
fugitive status.  The Mafia probably didn't want to face the embarrassment
of having their asses handed to them by a bunch of little girls.

   Marcie was making eggs and bacon.  When we entered, she asked if we
wanted some, which both of us heartily assented.  After reading about the
territoriality of Chimeras, I was rather surprised at how well the girls
got along, then realized it was because they were mated sets.  Well, two
were, and maybe the third, depending on how swimmingly Marcus and Sarah had
hit it off.

   Marcus leaned back from his task and Sarah grabbed his head and kissed
him hard and deeply.  Make that three pairs, one mated as far as it could
be.  I felt sorry for her, she was fated to not be able to fulfill that one
desire they all shared.  She seemed happy enough to just stick to Marcus
for now, but ultimately, their relationship would be limited.  It saddened
me.

   Crystal and Sarah went upstairs for a while.  Crystal wanted to show
Sarah the fast-draw tricks.  I decided I needed to go out again today, and
get more equipment.  There were more people to arm and prepare for war now.
I went to the same pawn shop, and the owner was rather startled to see me
again.  He didn't even pretend to fuss, just led me to the toy chest and
let me pick my poison.  I grabbed some more pistols from his counter and
three more vests.  I also got another hunting rifle.  Lance would have to
learn to use it, but he could do sniping.  Finishing out my smaller spree
were three more vox headsets.

   Back in the `house.' Things were moving apace.  The journals were done,
and just needed to be read now.  But that would have to wait.  "Woohoo!"
Shouted Marcus, holding both hands up high.  "We are golden."

   He spun in the little swivel chair.  "I found the son of a bitch." He
said triumphantly.  "The Don of that particular familia." He stood up and
pointed to a map he had taped to the wall.  "Seems our Chimeras growing
restless caused him to relocate temporarily nearer to Atlanta from his
normal digs in New York."

   "Damn Yankees." Muttered Lance, as he looked on with interest.

   He's on his yacht, the `Sicilian Princess." He said.  "Parked in the bay
in Savannah, Georgia." He looked at the map.  "He has a private helicopter
to shuttle soldiers and Chimeras from the ship to Atlanta."

   Schematics appeared on the computer screen.  So-called secret blueprints
of the Princess.  We looked at them.  "Big yacht." I said.  It was two
hundred feet long and could house half that many people.  It was a damn
floating mansion.  A two-helicopter landing pad, swimming pool, even a
two-lane bowling alley and ballroom.

   "You got that right." Marcus said.  "Sixty million worth of boat." He
confirmed.  "And all the goons you can shake a stick at."

   I whistled.  Crystal said.  "Nothing to him." Her eyes focused
distantly. "That only cost him six Chimeras to buy." She explained.  "He
sells breeding rights for about ten million a pop, plus a million a year
for maintenance."

   It finally dawned on me to ask.  "How many Chimeras are there, honey?"

   She thought for a moment.  "About four hundred, all told.  Give or take
a few."

   "And how many have Mafia-selected men?" I further questioned.

   She shrugged.  "I don't know exactly, but probably two-thirds of them."

   I was stunned.  "Three hundred million a year from just maintenance." I
said.  "No wonder they want to keep their market share."

   "Actually, more like six hundred million." Lance said, his face
reddening.  "I should know."

   "You bought Marcie?" I asked, I tried to, but was unable to keep a bit
of hostility out of my tone.

   "No." He said.  "I bought her mother." He said.  "But listen." He
defended himself from the four hostile sets of eyes around the room.  "I
loved her, I was giving all I could to keep her." He held out his hands. 
"I had a trust fund, from a rich grandparent." He smiled weakly.  "I gave
every penny of my allotment to them to keep her, and a few bucks of my
own."

   "She decided I was a good man, and instructed Marcie to take over the
family and moved out." His face was downturned.  "I was shattered.  I
wanted Kerry." He shrugged.  "But she said it was their way when the man
was good, to keep him in the lineage." So the mob cut me a deal to just
make the payments on Marcie, since I was a `good customer.'"

   Marcie chimed in.  "The deal was that when I was out of breeding age,
Mom would come back to him, and I would move on." Lance nodded.

   "Why did you buy Kerry in the first place?" I asked, thinking this might
be important.  "Because I met her at a party and fell in love with her. 
She was magnificent, and I wanted to worship her." He looked at the floor.
"The mob approached me and told me I could have her for ten million, then
two million a year, and that she would love me." He cast his sad eyes on
me. "They told the truth.  She did, and does."

   I nodded, and put my hand on his shoulder in sympathy.  "I understand.
If I had been told to, I would have given ten million for Jennifer, and for
Crystal, now."

   "Don't forget," Sarah said.  "They also like to rent us out on piece
work." Her face grimaced.  All the girls nodded.  All three of them had
made the Mafia money by giving blowjobs to pedophiles and freaks that
wanted a young one who really like to do it.  "After were mated, they like
to rent us out for more `personal' services." Her face twisted horribly. 
"They sure have been me."

   "All right, I want everyone up early tomorrow, we have road to cover." I
said.  "We're going to Savannah, and we're going to take this asshole down,
and anything that gets in our way."

   "What about revenge?" Crystal asked.  "If we kill him, surely his goons
in Atlanta will waste the husbands, louses that they are, and leave us with
no way to reproduce.  Most of us will become dead end lines."

   "On our way through Atlanta, we're going to fix that." I said
confidently.  "We have the cure."

   Everyone looked at me like my brain had just fallen out.  "What?" Marcie
finally said.

   "I have more than enough antidote to `reset' every member of the
Chimeras so that they can not only take a new mate, but can take ANY mate
they choose.  I also have the formula.

   "You'll notice that the first generation didn't need specially selected
genetic partners?" The girls nodded.  "Well, that's because the good doctor
gave them a chemical cocktail that made their eggs receptive to any man's
DNA, and also turned off the protein blockers that stopped other men's
semen.  Marcus, what does `Verbendung Vorbereiten' mean?

   Marcus pounded on his keyboard for a moment.  "It means `binding
restart.'" He paused, looking at the monitor.

   I held out a glass jar from my grandfather's doctor's bag.  "Or `reset
binding.'" The gray-white powder filled the bottle.  "This stuff is the
chemical he used to reset their protein blockers to accept any man's DNA."

   The girls all looked at it like it was radioactive, or solid platinum.
It was hard to tell which.  It was a mix of terror and desire.  It would
allow them to control their own lives, and give them freedom from the mob,
from bad men, from anything.

   "Is it still good?" Sarah asked, the one with the most to gain from it.

   I shrugged.  "According to the journals, it is a non-organic compound."
I said, looking at the powder through the brown glass.  "So I wouldn't
think it should break down naturally." I held up a hardcopy of the journal.
"His notes said that it lasts a very long time in the body and has no side
effects, its such a tiny quantity."

   Sarah said.  "Then try it on me." She looked at the other girls.  "I
volunteer to test it."

   I shook my head.  "I can't do that, darling.  It's injected, and has to
be liquified." I looked at the bottle again.  "I don't know how to
reliquify it."

   "Then read the notes on it, or his stuff, or whatever!" She screamed. 
"Please." I nodded and went back to my room with the journal, and the
bottle.

   Crystal followed me.  "You think it will really work?"

   "Yes." I said absently.  "It will work.  And its actually easy, despite
what I just told Sarah."

   "Then why don't you give it to her?" She asked me, somewhat incredulous.

   I looked at her, and felt the tears well up a bit.  "Because I will
probably loose you." I said.

   She sat down.  "Why do you think that?" She asked, taking my hand.

   "Um.  Freedom." I said, tapping the bottle.  "You can choose any man you
want now, you can get away from the pawing dirty old man."

   Crystal giggled and then stopped quickly.  "I could, couldn't I?" She
said, eyeing the bottle.  "But I won't." She said, giving me a hard stare.

   "Why wouldn't you?" I asked.  "You can get a man who isn't your dad, and
who is younger, and all that stuff."

   She shrugged.  "Because I love you." She said.  She picked up the
bottle. "It doesn't say anywhere on here, breaks love." She tapped me on
the breast.  "Only you can do that, break my love." Then she sat on my lap
and wriggled into a comfortable spot.  "And, somehow, I don't think that
will happen." She let the bottle fall from her fingers onto the pillow.  "I
refuse to take it." She said firmly.  "You gave me your heart, despite your
misgivings, and you trusted me with it." She rubbed my chest over my heart.
"I can't break it, it's mine now." She finally said quietly.  She took my
hand gently and put it over her heart.  "This one's yours." I felt it
pumping, powerful and full of life.

   "But..." I said, and was interrupted by her lips covering mine.  Her
tongue prowled into my mouth and her hands grabbed the back of my head. 
She explored my mouth for a while with her tongue, then coaxed mine to
return the favor.  I felt gentle suction on it when I entered her mouth,
and her teeth gently played with it.  Her hot breath on my cheek was like
fire on my skin.  I could now feel her heart through my chest, beating
alongside my own.

   After a long while, she broke the kiss, and said.  "No buts.  You took
me and you promised me, now you're stuck with me, you silly man." She
looked at me coyly, one of the Brownings had appeared in her tiny hand. 
"Only one way out for you, stud of mine." She said, flipping the safety and
grinning like she was about to sit down to cheesecake.

   "Okay, I get the message." I said, pushing her hand down to the bed. 
She fingered the safety and dropped it onto the small night stand again.  I
kissed her back now, with all the passion I could muster.

   I bit her neck several times, very hard, she gasped with each one, and
said "Playing rough tonight, are we?"

   I chuckled until I felt iron-hard talons on my back, dragging down my
spine, and felt like they were flaying the flesh from me.  I arched my back
to get away from them, but they followed my moves, and kept digging.  She
never noticed me putting the slim needle into her neck and injecting the
solution, her skin was still stinging from the bites.  As I said, it was
used in tiny amounts, and the carrier was simple saline solution.  She was
now free of me, should she want it.

   We kissed and played rough for a while, I slid the hypodermic under the
mattress.  After a while, I plead that I had a splitting headache, and
would like to just sleep tonight.  She nodded and smiled, promising me that
she would collect on this bit of rough and tumble another time.  Whether
she wanted it or not, she was free of the `binding' and would stay free for
at least ten years, which was longer than their fertile period.

   I held her close, and we drifted off to sleep.  I would tell her
tomorrow, she had to know for it to work.  I laid with my eyes open for a
good while, wondering if she really would stay with me.  I wondered if she
would forgive me for injecting her with the serum.  Time would tell.  But
for now, I wasn't going to have my mate bound to me by her genes, rather
than her love.

   As she pressed her slight body to me in the night, I could still feel
that strong heartbeat.  I hoped that it truly was mine, and feared it
wasn't.  I put my arms around her, held her tight, and prayed.  I didn't
pray for a specific outcome.  I asked the universe for what every father
hopes for.  I wanted her to make the choice that would result in her
happiness.  I started to drift off to sleep, and felt her shift again, and
sigh, then I slept too.  I wonder if we dreamed the same dream?