Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter 5

   I woke up when Melisa got out of bed.  The alarm clock blinked 6:30 am
at me.  I turned to watch Melisa walk naked to the closet.  Watching her do
anything naked was enjoyable.  I thought of insisting she do homework naked
in my room, maybe Doris Alex could tutor her.

   Melisa looked over her shoulder smiling as she grabbed a towel and
wrapped it around her body.  She walked back and leaned against the bed.  I
did not bother to look if my roommate, who stumbled in drunkenly at around
2 am, was awake and watching.  Melisa wanted him to see us together; it was
not quite trumpeting the change in our relationship around campus but
fairly close.

   "I'm going to shower and get dressed," she told me.  "You should get
ready."

   "Should I wear anything special?"

   "Casual," she said, gathering up her t-shirt and shorts.  "I don't know
how long the interviews will take so you should be comfortable."

   She gave me a kiss on the neck and ran her hand down my chest to the
edge of my underwear.  She kissed me again before leaving.  Melisa lived in
the building so I did not think anything of her walking around the better
part of naked.

   I stretched and yawned trying to clear the cobwebs and sexual
frustration.  The three Siblings had me surfing a wave of physical desire.
It was uncomfortable but not unpleasant.  I got out of the bed and walked
over to the closet.  I pulled a towel off the top shelf after picking out
jeans and tan summer shirt.  Melisa's sorting job made it easier.  She had
even made a pile at the bottom of the closet I was sure were the things she
thought I should not wear again.  I tossed the clothes on the bed and went
to the drawer set; underwear joined the clothing on the bed.

   I made the shower extremely cold, uncomfortable enough to wake me up and
push away the last of the lethargy.  My roommate made some grumbling noises
when I walked back in.  He would head out immediately after getting up. 
His mom and dad wanted him home every weekend as long as they were footing
the bills.

   I finished dressing and stood at the window, staring out across the
river into the next town.

   Waiting.

   ---

   Melisa walked in at 7:30.  She had chosen a tan business suit; I had to
consider if was possible she could read my mind.  She smiled widely at my
choice of shirt, probably placed in a position I would be likely to choose
it.

   I liked women in suits.  It was a pleasure to size them up and wonder if
they were the type to wear some frilly, tiny lingerie underneath or
practical, color-coordinated bra and panties.  Prior to the last couple of
days, I had Melisa pegged for the color-coordinated type.  The options had
altered; the sexy lingerie was the practical choice over wearing nothing
underneath.

   She walked over and checked to make sure I was presentable.  She reached
up to kiss my neck.  Melisa did that instead of the short, quick kisses
other women used; I preferred it.  She proceeded to straighten out imagined
wrinkles or bad positioning in my clothing, which I bore in silence.

   "Breakfast?" she asked.

   "The cafeteria isn't open this early on a weekend."

   "The Ramada will be," she said.  "That way we can't be late, and you'll
have a chance to get comfortable in the surroundings."

   "I'm not uncomfortable," I replied.  She raised a blonde eyebrow at me.
"Not that type of uncomfortable, anyway."

   She smiled and kissed my neck again.  I was not uncomfortable with my
choice.  I put a gun to an officer's head and did not question the choice.
In both situations, the alternative was clear--death.  Melisa might not
have understood, but I had no doubts of the consequences if seven Brothers
did not elect to give me the black ring.

   She led the way to the parking lot, walked to a black BMW, and opened
the passenger door for me.  I appreciated the car before I got in.  The
delay before Melisa entered the car gave me time to place the eyes watching
me.  I could have pointed to both pairs.

   "Did you have to walk behind me the whole way?" Melisa asked, not
unpleased that I had.

   "Yes," I replied.  She shook her head at me as she pulled the car out of
the lot.  I smiled out the window; the Siblings expected me to openly
appreciate their femininity.

   "Yours?" I asked running my hand on the dashboard.  The distinct smell
of new car enveloped us.

   "For now," she said turning to give me a smile.

   "Really trying, aren't they?"

   "Like I said in Dr.  Ryan's office, you need to know what denying
yourself a Brother's ring would mean," she said with a shrug.

   I sat back and enjoyed the smooth ride to my future, or not, they had
provided me.  She stopped in front of the hotel and handed the keys to the
valet.  She walked around the car, took my hand, and led me to the dining
area.  The host gave us a table by the windows where I ordered a simple
breakfast.

   "Are you nervous?" Melisa asked.

   "No."

   "How come?"

   "This has all been planned, right?" She nodded.  "The Brothers have been
waiting for the right time for years.  They would have noticed a major
fault long ago."

   She smiled.

   "You've tested me, Melisa," I said.  "How many men would have tried for
more considering what you've done?  To you, I am one of them.  This is the
easy part, just showing them reality isn't an illusion."

   "You don't think you'll fail here?" she asked.

   "No," I replied.  She stared at me.  "No matter what happens here, I've
passed the biggest obstacle on this stage."

   "What was that?" she asked.

   "You want me, as a Sibling and not Melisa Bryar, the co-ed, finally
hooking up with the guy she hung out with during her freshman year.  I have
always been one of them in your mind.  I've been thinking about the last
two years; what you feel, it's gotten stronger, hasn't it?"

   She turned to stare out the window.

   "You, Janet, even Doris Alex, though it took some thought to recognize
her signs: three Siblings who want me.  How is that Professor Ryan put
it... in the 'vernacular of the civilized world', the submissives are
already treating me like the dominant." I reached out to turn her head so
her eyes looked into mine, "You've waited years, Melisa.  I'm not going to
fail you."

   It was among the best breakfasts I ever ate.  Nothing to do with the
food; Melisa's smile made everything better than it had been since Jason's
death.

   At five minutes to nine, Melisa looked at her watch and got up.  "It's
time, David."

   I followed her out of the restaurant.  We did not pay, but no one
complained.  Each step had been carefully choreographed.  Melisa got into
the elevator and pressed the button for the seventh floor.

   Melisa got out and turned to the right.  She walked to the last door of
the hallway, opened it, and stood back.

   "I'll be called when you're done.  If there's time, I'll wait with you
for the next one," she told me.  She stopped me as I passed.  I looked down
at her, questioning.  She kissed my neck before walking to the elevator.  I
watched her before entering the lion's den.

   The woman leaned against the windows opposite the door with hands behind
her back.  She was stunning: tall, blonde, and athletically trim.  I
expected the blue eyes, but their brilliance was amazing.  She stared at me
as I approached; I could not have made her more beautiful.

   Except...

   "Do I call you, Sister?" I asked extending a hand.  She smiled for a
second before laughing.  Taking my hand, she pulled me into a hug.  She
motioned to a couch.  The black-stoned ring of a Brother was prominent on
her ring finger.

   "You expected this," she said, sitting down across from me.  "How?"

   "The Sibling ring on Melisa's hand," I said.  "The man on the ring meant
male Siblings.  The obvious leap is homosexual Brothers or Sisters.  I
liked the idea of both.  Professor Ryan and Melisa also hesitated,
stressing certain words in their explanations; they wanted me to fall into
the trap of thinking of Brothers as males."

   She smiled like I was a little brother doing her proud.

   "The test and choice are obvious at that point.  A shining example of my
preferences in women: blonde, blue-eyed, an athletic body, and even the
slight air of unreachable.  Could I look beyond the shell to see the
equal?"

   "And can you?" she asked.  I stared at her, looking inside myself as I
studied her.

   "You are very beautiful," I answered, "but not attractive.  As if I had
just been told, you're my sister."

   "Incest is best," she said, the corner of her lip turned up slightly.

   "The Siblings I know, I want to...  possess them.  You, I don't know. 
The first words out of your mouth might as well have been, 'I'm a lesbian.'
There is nothing for me to mentally latch onto."

   "Not even a little attractive," she pined in humor.

   "I am hoping you have a twin sister who isn't quite as brotherly, more
sibling-like, so to speak," I said with a laugh.  She laughed with me.

   "Actually, I have a baby sister, a junior in high school.  I think she's
better looking, and she happens to be in Sibling training," she said.

   "Better looking?" I asked doubtfully.  She nodded hard so I had to give
her the benefit of the doubt.  "Then meeting her would be bad."

   "That's a rather unfortunate way of putting it, David.  A Brother in
residence makes a college extremely attractive to young Siblings.  We were
hoping you would welcome Liz with open arms," she said with a smile of
mischief.

   "As a Brother, I have a feeling I would be willing to do the necessary
bad things," I deadpanned to which she nodded sagely.  We sat measuring
each other for a minute, long lost family members who had just met.

   I had passed my first interview.

   "You seem to know what's coming, but you must have questions," she said
finally,

   "I have a few guesses about what's coming, but I'm not sure about them."

   "Ohh?"

   "The order of the interviews." I explained.

   "What are your guesses?"

   "You were the obvious one."

   "And the next?" she asked.

   "Male, black, homosexual," I stated.

   "But why?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

   "The racial choice is easy.  A man of directly opposite sexual
preference, as flamboyant as I am private about my sexuality.  Stack
prejudice on prejudice to see if I've accepted society's imprint of them."

   She got up to and walked to the window, "And the next one?"

   "That one is tougher," I replied standing up to walk around the room. 
"If the objective is to test my reactions to different Brothers, I would
pick someone almost exactly like me but set off some classic male
insecurities.  A better-looking Latin male: taller, a physically more
attractive genotype, an extrovert.  Anything which could make me look at
him as unfavorable competition."

   I let out a short laugh, "Hell, I'd make him a Spaniard and go for
culture bias too."

   I stood next to her and leaned against the window.  She turned to look
at me before laughing freely.

   "Okay, let's go for the full passing grade," she said through the laugh.
"Three interviews on Saturday, four on Sunday; who gets thrown at you
tomorrow?"

   "The traditionalists; old, somewhat stodgy.  Each one guaranteed to have
annoyingly different views of the world than a younger man," I replied.

   "How do you that?" she asked.

   I walked over to the couch, leaned back before replying, "Would you
believe I'm psychic?"

   She smirked and sat down across from me, "No, seriously."

   I surprised myself by telling her the truth, "Foster parents come in all
shapes and perversities.  I had to know right away if it was going to be
beatings or sleeping lightly.  The beatings were tolerable, the other stuff
required immediate action if I wanted to make it out of those houses."

   She quietly stared at me.

   "I learned to watch people.  Things made more sense once I understood
the underlying system or motivations," I said.  "Disparate actions are
actually rare.  There is a lot for you to protect: thousands of Siblings,
close to two thousand Brothers whom you expect me to count as closer than
blood."

   I stared at her for a minute, "Liz is your baby sister, yet you'd hand
her over on a silver platter.  How careful would I be with my little
sister? How careful would I be if I were given the opportunity to choose my
brother or sister?  You have a file on me, but it would not be enough. 
Melisa, Janet even Doris Alex could tell you everything you wanted to know
though; there couldn't be any other reasons for the interviews, except to
hit me from unexpected sides.  After that..."

   She raised the eyebrow again.



   "The tests seem obvious after that," I finished.



   "But we didn't surprise you."

   "It's just as good," I said.

   "Really?"

   "You've spent a lot of time studying me; the surprise would have been if
I didn't figure it out."



   "But you know the answers, David," she said.



   "It doesn't really matter, does it?  Brothers can't like surprises; I
certainly don't.  You expected this, at least from me.  I know the answers,
but I'm either a really good actor or my reactions are exactly what you
want them to be."

   "And are you a good actor?" she asked.  I did not respond.



   After awhile, I asked if there was another name for black ring wearers
than Brothers.



   "No."



   "The women don't mind?" I asked.



   "Siblings tend to call us Sisters," she said.  "Brothers accepted women
as equals at a time most considered us property.  The first female Brother
was given a black ring close to a thousand years ago.  Supposedly, Brothers
found it amusing to recruit male Siblings and present them to her as gifts.
I would consider being hung up on an honorific, which clearly deserves
honoring, to be a character flaw."



   I nodded.



   "Why wasn't I approached sooner?" I asked.  "It seems you've wasted a
couple of years; Melisa probably thinks so."



   "We were not the only ones interested in you," she admitted.  "You
possess a violent skill set considered a high commodity in certain
agencies. We had to bury you to make sure no one else tried to recruit
you."



   "How did you manage that?"



   "Reports were altered to reflect the truth of what happened on your last
official mission.  In black and white, the truth is not very pretty, and
the three month detachment from your team at the end of your military
career did not reflect well either.  A flag was added to your psych
profile; seems you're dangerously capable of turning rogue.  After that, it
was a matter of waiting until the military machine spit out another class
of young, bushy-tailed killers."



   "Killers?" I asked.  She did not answer but maintained the eye contact.
"Why did you put the tails on me?"



   She nodded, "We questioned whether you would know.  The military records
state that your measurable senses test beyond normal capabilities."



   "There have been at least two people following me."

   "Why haven't you done something about it?" she asked.

   "They either belonged to you or someone who knows about you?  Either
way, they are not important for now," I said carefully.

   "They belong to us but are borrowed from other...  that's irrelevant for
now.  They are here to make sure you don't try to expose us," she said.

   "That has happened before?" I asked out of curiosity.

   "Would you take the chance?"

   I shook my head slowly.  I did not need to be told the consequences of
trying to expose the Brotherhood.  Professor Ryan was not the kind of
wordsmith who threw a word like purge around lightly.

   "You're treating me differently than other Brother candidates," I said.
The eyebrow went up again.  "Professor Ryan said you usually study a
Brother candidate for two years.  You isolate them for those two years,
don't you?"

   She nodded.

   "Why not me?"

   "You require special handling, David." She watched me for a couple of
minutes and sighed.  "You're right!  Any other candidate would be isolated
and after two years interviewed by any seven available Brothers.  We cannot
do that with you so the interviews must serve a different purpose."

   I nodded and stood up to look out the window.

   "We would prefer not to tell you why yet, David.  When the time comes, I
give you my word you will be given a choice."

   "You think I'll choose what you want, don't you?" I asked.

   "Yes," she replied honestly.

   "Even if you told me everything now, you believe I would make the same
choice."

   "I doubt it as much as Melisa doubts you deserve a Brother's ring," she
said with finality.  I nodded and sat down across from her again.

   "It's my turn to ask the questions," she said with a vicious smile.

   ----



   Samantha could have taught the military's best evasion, capture,
resistance and escape instructors a few things about interrogation.  I
resorted to skimming the truth; if she were on the clock, she would have to
pick the information she wanted most.  She smiled and nodded at my tactic.
Most of her questions were about my earliest memories and Jason.

   The remaining interviews went along the lines of my guesses.

   Robert was older than I expected and avid student of the Brotherhood's
history.  We discussed a number of Brothers who made it into the world's
historical texts.  The number of Siblings who contributed to the world was
astounding.  The Brothers dropped completely out of public life around the
time of McCarthyism.  The Brotherhood was probably served well by the
renewed vigilance in the US considering Hoover and the technological
changes in monitoring people.  Robert liked to talk, and I enjoyed
listening to people who knew what they were talking about.

   I smiled outside his door.  He used a different technique than Samantha,
asking my opinion on different things, but he made his interrogation more
tolerable with charm and wit.

   Roderigo was annoying.  I was an asshole, and he exuded the same
character strength.  The next three hours passed with the barking of one
pitbull and the other waiting for the fence between them to come down.  He
was a heterosexual woman's dream: tall, Mediterranean complexion, handsome,
and carried himself with a distinct air of confidence.



   Melisa was waiting outside the door when I stepped out; she smiled at
Roderigo over my shoulder.  I barely tasted the food at dinner.  The
Brothers had worked together to drain me, but without the desire to damage,
they could not overcome the training of foster homes and the military.

   Melissa's body almost hummed with satisfaction as she drove to the dorm.
Her obvious happiness helped bring me down from the fight reaction the
interviews triggered.  She got out of the elevator at her floor and turned
around.  I had been expecting her company for a little longer.  She put her
hand on the elevator to keep it open.

   "Do you think Roderigo's an asshole?" she asked.

   "Definitely."

   "So do I," she said with a firm nod and let the doors close.  I laughed
all the way to my floor.

   I got off the elevator thinking Melisa probably wanted to change before
she came upstairs.  I rarely spoke to anyone so the strange looks the
people in the lounge gave were confusing.

   My social contacts consisted almost completely of Melisa's sorority
since they did a fair job of isolating me in classes.  I did not remember a
single class without Melisa or one of her sorority sisters.  Few girls
could or would compete for a man's attention against a sister.  Doris Alex
had made that perfectly clear in the two logic classes she had with me.  A
kiss on the cheek accompanied by a surprising caress along my arm sent a
clearly received message that I was off-limits.  Doris Alex and I had
signed up for a formal logic seminar the next semester.  I had been looking
forward to it, but her Sibling status added a whole new dimension.  I
wondered what the appropriate waiting time was before I could have the
night with Doris Alex that was every straight male student's dream.

   I studied the people in the lounge to see if something was wrong.  I
shrugged, figuring either my roommate opened his mouth about Melisa or
someone saw her coming out of room wearing a towel.  There was no chance
Melisa would date a member of my roommate's fraternity so I was the obvious
culprit.



   The campus rumor mill would eventually grind with the activity on my
bed, but Siblings wanted to feed it had plenty of grist.

   Janet had made sure no one would fail to notice her waiting by my door.
The tight black shorts and tummy t-shirt screamed her desire for male-type
attention.  I leaned against my door and looked down at her.  She smiled so
sexily I had to step into her space.  She tilted her head back and leaned
towards me.  The kiss came close to overwhelming us.  I drove my tongue
into her mouth; she tried to wrap hers around it.  We breathed harshly as
the tide threatened us.  I grabbed fistfuls of her hair and pulled her head
back to separate our lips.  She groaned and pressed her lower body against
my groin trying to tempt me into another kiss.  I looked deep into her
brown eyes before letting her go and stepping back.

   "Melisa says you need to get used to sleeping with different Siblings,"
she whispered after catching her breath.  "With a young Brother in
residence, more Siblings will want to attend school here.  We're going to
spread you pretty thin."

   I opened the door to let us in.  She jumped up on the bed and stared at
me.

   "Professor Ryan has been here for years," I pointed out.

   "Jeremy is a professor."

   "I will be one eventually," I said walking to the window.

   "Jeremy's books put him in the public eye.  He is also one of the most
popular professors on campus," she said.  "You really can't understand yet,
David, the standard Brother/Sibling relationship is extremely sexual.  It
would not be hard to figure out he was having affairs with multiple
students if he were the focus of Siblings on campus."

   "I will have the same problem eventually."

   "Not for years; not to mention, we can mitigate the attention, just not
as easily with Jeremy," she stated.  "He also lives hours away, only
commuting in a few days a week.  You would live here...  sleep here. 
Melisa is right; there are reasons you need to get used to lots of
different Siblings in your bed, not the least of which is Sibling/Sibling
relationships."

   I gave her a look of avid curiosity.  She smiled sexily and shrugged.  I
wanted her to continue, but it was not yet time to dig further.

   "Can I ask you for something, David?" Her voice dropped down to a
whisper.

   I nodded.

   "The first time we have sex...  fuck me like you would have after the
fight." Her eyes drew me into her.  "Don't think about me or what might
make me come.  You fought for me, take what you won."

   My hard-on ached from the pressure of her words and the look in her eyes
as she spoke them.



   "I didn't see the beginning of it.  My friend said you slapped him and
when he swung, you threw him through the bus window.  I saw the rest." Her
nipples looked painfully hard pressing against her t-shirt.  "I've never
wanted anyone who wasn't a Brother, but it didn't feel wrong.  I wanted you
to throw me down right there and fuck me so hard I'd still feel it a week
later."

   I looked away from her for a second.  I adjusted myself before turning
back.  She was staring at me hungrily.

   "Take your clothes off." If there had ever been a point of no return, my
words put me beyond it.

   Janet managed a smile, peaceful and sexy at the same time.  She stood on
the bed and kicked her sneakers off.  She turned around so her back was to
me and wiggled her shorts down.  She wore purple panties, a triangle at the
top of her ass, which thinned into a thong lost between her asscheeks.  She
spun around; the front of her panties barely reached two inches above her
pussy.  She wiggled more vigorously; the t-shirt went flying.  Janet's
breasts were mouth-watering.

   "The panties?" she asked huskily.  When I shook my head, she sat down.

   She looked at my pants.  I moved towards her; she spread her legs so I
could stand between them.  I pulled her to the edge of the bed until we
touched.  The adjustments I made to the bed at the beginning of the school
year placed her crotch at my stomach.  She leaned forward and down to kiss
me.  I hooked my thumbs on her panties.

   She broke the kiss and looked at me.  "One of my high school teachers
was a Sibling.  There was something different about her--she seemed so
happy.  I watched her for months, and one day, I followed her home.  Her
crest Brother caught me spying on them.  He knew."

   She put her hands on my face and kissed me gently.

   "I'm a Sibling, David.  Everything I want to happen, every fantasy I've
had about you is going to come true.  You're going to fuck me on the floor
of that bus.  I don't give shit that Melisa slept in your arms last night,
and she is sleeping like a baby because she knows I'm with you."

   I put my forehead on her chest.  I closed my eyes so the vision of her
luscious breasts a couple of inches from my mouth would not make me do
something which was a really good idea but not quite yet.  The rings were
important to Siblings, maybe more so than Brothers.

   Janet put her chin on top of my head; we stayed in that position for a
while.  Melisa sent her to me for a very important reason.  Society taught
two people in a relationship.  I did not know how Melisa related to other
Siblings, but she needed me to understand it would never be just the two of
us.  Whatever my thoughts of other Siblings had been, Melisa handing me off
to Janet made it far more real.

   Janet pulled on my shirt.  I stepped back and took my clothing off.  She
made room for me on the bed.  I did not want to be on the bed, I wanted to
be on top of Janet.  I looked at her; I liked the smoothness of Janet's
curves.  I wanted to lick and kiss every part of her, but I needed more
time, a weekend might have been enough.  I guided Janet to her back.  I
hopped on the bed and moved between her legs.  She wrapped them around me
and pulled me down for a kiss.

   It took a while for us to get our fill.

   I turned on my back, dragging her on top of me.  It gave me access to
her ass, and I filled my hands with it.  I explored her behind as we
continued kissing.  I pulled on her panties, and she protested a little but
was not serious.  I got on top of her again and pulled them down her legs.
I lay down beside her and turned her so I could push my dick against her
ass.  She lifted a leg, and I guided my dick to her pussylips.

   "David, no!" she said with a groan.  "Melisa is your First."

   "Ssshhh," I whispered in her ear.  She moaned as my dick split her lips.
I pushed my hips forward and rubbed her clit with my crown.  She dug her
nails into my hip.  I moved forward and back, stroking her clit.  She
exposed her neck to my lips.

   Janet was right, Melisa would be the first Sibling to welcome me to the
Brotherhood, but it did not mean Janet had to go to sleep frustrated.  I
rubbed her clit with my dick some more.  She bent her knees to give me free
access to her pussy.  I kissed her neck and shoulder as I continued the
moving against her.

   She put her hand on my dick and pressed it against her pussy.  She moved
her hips to jump off the edge of her pleasure.  She gasped as her body wet
my dick.  Finally, she let me go with a sigh.

   I liked Janet's body: the roundness of her curves, the extra weight of
her feminine body parts.  Unlike Melisa, I had fantasies about Janet.  I
reached down and grabbed an asscheek in each hand.  I spread her open and
pulled back.  My dick followed the natural path of her body.  I raised my
hips until the tip of my dick touched her anus.

   "Oh my God!" she gasped when I pushed against it.  "You're too big,
David.  You can't do that."

   I took a hand off her ass and grabbed her hair.  I pulled her head back
hard.

   "What did you just say, Janet?" She moved her hips back, almost
penetrating her ass on my shaft.  Her actions belied the words she had
spoken; whatever pain might come of it, Janet wanted me however I wanted
her.

   "You're going to remember telling me I can't do something, Janet," I
whispered.  "When I have a ring that says you're mine, I'm going to fuck
your ass once a week for telling me I can't."

   She pushed hard against me, wanting me inside her.  When I let go of her
ass, her cheeks trapped my dick between them.  She grabbed my arm and
hugged herself with it.



   I spent a long time thinking about where the voice and words I used on
Janet had come from.  I had to consider whether Janet had meant to draw
them from me.

   ----

   I was awake when Melisa walked in wearing a blue business suit.  She
brought a heavier breakfast than the day before.

   Janet's restlessness woke me early in the morning.  She apologized but
neither of us could go back to sleep.  We lay together and watched the
arrival of daylight through my window.  She dragged me into the women's
bathroom and gave me a thorough shower.  Her diligence to make sure I was
sparkling clean impressed me.  Janet looked absolutely incredible wet,
which distracted from my efforts to make her body shine.  For the second
morning in a row, a woman left my room wearing only a towel.

   Melisa stared out the window while I ate.  Whatever I might have said to
her at the restaurant, she had waited a long time to open her eyes on the
morning I would receive a Brother's ring.  Ten years were words to me;
Melisa lived each day waiting.

   The silence continued on the way to the Ramada.  The eyes were on me the
entire time.  Melisa walked in and gestured to the elevator bank.  She
pressed the button for the top floor.  We watched the numbers climb as the
elevator brought me closer and closer to a destiny I never knew existed. 
When the elevator opened, she walked to the only door on the floor, opened
it, and stepped aside.

   "Good luck, Brother," she whispered as I walked by.

   The look in her eyes made it impossible to resent her part in the
invasion of my world.  Melisa did not know--whatever the interviews were
about, the decision to give me a black ring had been made before her father
showed her my profile and confirmed by allowing her matriculate to the
university I would be attending.

   The structure of my recruitment was for more than a Brother's ring.

   I stroked the line of her cheekbone before walking inside the suite. 
There were four elderly gentlemen sitting across from a lone chair.  Four
pairs of intelligent eyes watched every move as I approached and sat down
across from them.

   We studied each other for a long time before the oldest spoke.

   "Old and worn out I am.  Although I own much wealth - gold, silver, and
jewels, granaries and treasuries overflowing - I have no son."