CAMP – Ron’s Journey
Chapter 32
Rectification of the Problem
Although the bright flash of the nuclear explosion passed
in seconds, it was several minutes before anyone in the clearing could
open their eyes, or stand up, so disorienting had it been.
Nikki, who had remained beside her brother throughout the –
rather pointless and stupid, she thought – fight, was the first to
realize that something was amiss. She looked around quickly. Her
sister was sitting, arms over her head, still hunkered down. The other
two women were still unconscious, lying in a heap about fifty yards
away. So, what was it that was raising the hairs on her neck?
Another quick look around, and she thought she had it. She
still had Kim’s small satchel, and from it she withdrew a large red
light-stick. She broke the capsule inside, and shook it vigorously.
It seemed a mediocre light, compared to what she had just been exposed
to, but it would do its job.
Nicole tossed the stick high into the air, watching it
twirl lazily above her.
The troops emerged before it came back down.
She couldn’t count their number, but estimated that several
dozen PPA soldiers emerged from the treeline surrounding their
position. Their leader came directly to her, and she remembered that
he was Jeff Durant, a friend of Ron’s.
“Jeff! Am I glad to see you!”
“Are you all right, Miss Nikki?” Everyone in the PPA
called her that, as a matter of respect for all the effort she put
forth herself, normal though she was.
“I’m fine, more or less, but Ron isn’t.”
“Aw, shit,” Jeff said. “We’ll get him some help.”
“Those two twits over there probably need some attention,
too.”
Jeff looked at the prone forms of the two ladies. “What
the hell happened with those two?”
“Turf fight,” Nikki said sourly.
“Well, could be a good thing. It was their fighting that
caught our scouts’ attention. They sensed the fight, and called us all
in, just in case it was a recon unit or something being attacked by the
Russkies. We got here just as that damned flash went off.”
“What the hell was that, anyway?” she inquired.
“Nuclear blast. Good distance away, too. Must’ve been a
high air-burst, ‘cause we didn’t get any shockwaves or even a boom.”
“Who the fuck launched first?”
“I don’t know, Miss Nikki. I’m sure the guys back at HQ
could answer that.”
By now, the two women had been roused by other PPA
soldiers, and had been given spare clothing to cover themselves up
with. Kimberly walked, a little shakily, over to where they were
standing.
“I’ve never been so glad to see that uniform, Major,” she
said.
“Yes, ma’am. Well, we need to get going. We’ll take the
general to the MASH, and-“
“No!” Nikki nearly shouted. “We’re taking him home, where
he belongs!”
Jeff looked to the colonel for backup, and Kim just shook
her head. “She’s already put me in my place where he’s concerned,
Major. I think you’d best do as she says.”
“Very well, ma’am. We have just become the general’s
escort unit.” He turned to his men, “Saddle up! We’ve got a long
flight ahead!” He appointed four people to carry Ron, though one would
have been sufficient.
Dawn put up a major ruckus about being flown, until Nikki
yelled her down again. Kimberly was fascinated at the sudden surge of
outright command Nicole had taken. It astounded her that so many
people could be railroaded by an angry fourteen-year-old girl.
Everybody formed up, and the unit took off, keeping low to
the ground and heading southeast, for home.
Ron was horribly shocked by the blast, and sat down for
several minutes to let his vision recover. He never heard any thunder,
but the world had grown eerily silent, except for the rain, which was
his only cue that he had not been suddenly deafened.
Once the spots ceased swirling before his eyes, he looked
back to the house, which looked even uglier and more ominous than
before. The rays of sunlight that had played across its face earlier
were gone. They were replaced with a dull, dingy gray light that
illuminated the house in such a fashion as to make any observer think
of death itself.
*Do I have to go in there?* Ron thought to himself.
*>>You don’t *have* to do anything. Remember? You’re the
all-powerful Ron Chaffey, King of the Psionics!<<*
Resolutely, he rose and walked toward the front gate. It
creaked appropriately when he pushed against it, sending chills up his
spine. The sound was worse than a fork across a chalkboard. The stone
pathway set in the yard was in disrepair, and grass was growing up
around each rock.
Ron examined the house. If this house had ever held paint,
it had long ago been weathered off, and the house bore the dull gray
exterior of aged and cracked wood. The front porch leaned ominously,
and one of the steps was cracked. The front door hung loose in its
hinges, and the windows were black; whether from dark curtains, or
something else, he couldn’t tell.
The yard, although green, was more weed than lawn. Crab
grass and goatheads were the main plant life. A willow tree rested
wearily at the corner of the house, as if the very act of living tired
it. The chimney of the house sat at an outward slant, apparently ready
to topple at the slightest provocation.
Ron moved forward.
Lars was still having a very bad time trying to adjust to
his role as acting commander of this large and ungainly gang of
disparate peoples. The military personnel barely respected his
authority, and the normally-civilian population wanted their *real*
leader back.
When it came right down to it, so did Lars, but he saw no
way to get that to happen just now. No one had bothered to report to
him that Ron had, in fact, been located, and was off on a mission
already. Had he known this, perhaps his thoughts would have been less
cluttered. Not that it would have mattered.
He was working out another plan with the generals when a
Marine captain entered the tent. He stood at rigid attention until he
was acknowledged, and then he approached the planning table.
“Sir! We have a report from HQ.”
“Let’s have it, soldier,” said a former Navy admiral,
gruffly.
“Sir, it would appear that General Chaffey has been
located.”
“Where, and when, Captain?” Lars asked.
“Uh… sir, that’s a little complicated. If I may begin at
the beginning?”
“Carry on.”
“Sir, Colonel Kimberly left to locate the General nearly
two weeks ago. Apparently, she found him a week ago, and they returned
to HQ. We were never given this information until now, sir.”
Lars waved the soldier on.
“Sir, apparently… General, I barely believe this, but
apparently the General asked the white cat where his sisters were, and
the cat *told him*. Sir, I can’t verify the reliability of that
report.”
“It’s not entirely accurate, but close enough, Captain.
Now, go on.”
“Yes, sir. Anyway, the General and Colonel Kimberly left
immediately to rescue his sisters. Apparently, once they had managed
that task, they were ambushed by a Filitov Death Squad. Although all
five are still alive, the General was severely injured in the fight.
He has been unconscious for at least three days now. Delta Company
found them, and is now returning them to headquarters.”
“Why not the MASH unit?” one of the generals inquired.
“Miss Nikki’s orders, sir.” No one questioned that: they
knew the power she wielded.
“Wait a minute. You said *five* people? There should only
have been four.”
“The remaining person is a female, sir. I was not given a
name. Her reliability has also been vouched for by Miss Nikki. That
is all I know, sir.”
“Very well. Dismissed.” Once the soldier left, he turned
to the generals. “I feel I need to be there, to be instantly updated
on Ron’s condition. We will return the planning staff to HQ. Prepare
to move out immediately.”
“Sir, if the FC attacks again…”
“We’ll be in no greater danger there than here. And I
think they already achieved their goal with the attack on the house.
They are unlikely to repeat it. Now, get moving!”
The generals snapped to, and left the tent to bark orders
at other soldiers, while Lars contacted Karen, via their special
connection, with the news, as well as his plan. Karen was currently
with the MASH operation, and she had some news of her own.
Ron walked slowly up to the house, and climbed the steps
with care, avoiding the broken tread. His first footstep onto the
porch was accompanied by an ominous groan of protesting wood. He moved
gingerly to a window, and attempted to peer in. He saw nothing.
He didn’t consider it terribly odd that he couldn’t see
in. Perhaps the curtains were simply dark and heavy, and let no light
penetrate. But then, it occurred to him. Not only could he not see
through the window, but he didn’t have a reflection in the glass! His
hand shook as he raised it to touch the window pane. It wasn’t painted
over: the surface was as smooth as it should have been. A chill wind
blew up his spine as he considered the symbolic meaning of a missing
reflection.
*Only the undead can’t be seen in a mirror.*
He moved with great trepidation to the front door. With
care, he pulled on the knob, and the door swung open, groaning as only
a door can. Ron stepped into the entry of the house, and the door
began to swing shut behind him.
*Click*.
It was odd that the door should slide so neatly into
place. After all, it had been nearly off its hinges…
Ron was unnerved rather badly when he turned to look at the
door, and found it missing. Not that there was no door in the doorway,
but there was no longer a doorway! Only a blank wall faced him where
he had just passed through a portal.
Ron turned around, and looked down the hallway before him.
He could see no doors or openings on either side of the long, narrow
passageway. At the far end of the passageway, Ron noted a table with a
large array of candles on it, burning brightly. He could not judge the
distance: it could have been twenty feet, or a hundred.
Ron crept forward, his interest in continuing this endeavor
waning fast. *What the hell am I doing? I can’t be here, stuck in
some weird haunted house! How can my world have become as messed up as
this?*
* >>It could only be this way if you made it this way.
After all, this is all in your head, remember?<<*
* *That voice was the most unnerving thing about the entire
experience. Ron cursed it, his footsteps, and his own fear as he moved
forward at a snail’s pace. It seemed as if the candles were not, in
fact, getting closer.
*This is nuts! I shouldn’t be here! I should never have
set foot in this house! What the hell did I think I was doing? I
can’t resolve my problems in here! This is nothing but a trap!*
At those words, the floor disappeared from beneath him.
Ron plummeted downward, falling down a long, narrow shaft. Twice his
head scraped the sides of the duct, but he remained conscious.
He fell for a very long time. It was unclear just how far
he plunged into the depths. When he landed, his knees collapsed, and
he fell. His head once again struck something hard, and the deeper
blackness of complete oblivion engulfed him again.
There was utter commotion when Delta Company, led by
Jeffrey Durant, arrived at the house with Ron unconscious, his two
sisters unhurt, and two more women who were, to say the least,
unfriendly.
It was a greater shock to the family to find Michelle among
them.
“Michelle? But I thought you were? What kind of trick is
this!” Sandra cried upon seeing her.
“Hello, Mrs. Chaffey. Zinaida isn’t me, she was just
pretending to be me, to throw Ron off, I guess.”
“It’s her, Mom,” Nikki said. “She’s a bitch, but it’s
definitely Michelle.”
“Nicole Catherine! Apologize!” her mother said, astonished
at her daughter’s remark.
“Not in this life-time! If you knew what these two were
doing while Ron was lying hurt…” she looked at Michelle and Kimberly.
“Damn you both!” She stomped off in the direction they had taken Ron.
Sandra looked embarrassed, but Kimberly was the first to
speak. “Do not think badly of her: she’s right. Our behavior was
shameful.”
“If you’d just butt out, things could get back to normal,”
Michelle said.
“Michelle, I am willing to let Ron make the final decision
on this matter. Are you?” The question came out as a challenge.
“Fine. When he wakes up, we’ll see what he has to say
about it.”
The two walked off in opposite directions, leaving Sandra
to wonder just what had happened in the last week, and why all of this
had to dump on her son.
While she was standing there, a group of PPA medical
officers arrived. They landed on the parade grounds, and walked toward
the shelter. When they got closer, Sandra could tell who was among
them.
“Susan! We’d heard you disappeared.”
“Yes, ma’am. I, uh… went a little berserk for a while.
Until someone reminded me of my duty. I’d rather not talk about it, if
you don’t mind.”
“That’s fine, I’m just glad you’re all right! And it’s
good to see you, too, Karen.”
“Hi, Sandra. Where did they take Ron?”
“This way.”
Ron approached consciousness cautiously. He knew he was
still in his dream world, and waking up was rarely a pleasant thing
here. He lay for a moment, his body still, trying to determine whether
he had been hurt by *this* fall. It appeared that he had not.
Next, he opened his eyes to slits, just in case something
unpleasant was there to greet them. The place where he was laying was
lit by candles, and he could see someone laying several feet away, but
nothing else.
When he opened his eyes fully, he could tell that the
“other person” was actually his own reflection in a mirror. He sat up
and dusted himself off, and then rose to his feet, a little shakily,
but he figured he was just stiff.
*I wonder how long I’ve been out.*
* >>Would it make any difference to know? In this world of
yours, time has less meaning than it does in the Spirit Realms.<<*
* Oh, shut up. Damned subconscious, or whatever the hell
you are.*
* *Ron almost giggled at the thought of telling himself to
shut up, but the seriousness of what he was enduring prevented it.
Instead, he moved toward the mirror, for it was the only other object
in the room. He stepped up to it, and looked himself over. He was
scratched and bruised, but nothing serious. But he was filthy. He
could use about fifty showers. It took him fully a minute before he
realized that, though there were candles behind him, they did not
appear in the mirror.
As he watched, the image in the mirror seemed to zoom in.
The image of his head enlarged until it was the size of the mirror, and
then beyond. Soon the pupils of his image’s eyes were bigger than his
own head.
*>>It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul.
Let us see what lies in yours…<<*
>>><<<
Sandra was screaming in pain, while her ex-husband plunged
his dick in and out of her painfully. She could feel the tearing that
was occurring, and the pain was awful.
*“NO!”* *Ron screamed from his location on the other side
of the mirror.*
“You turned my son against me, you bitch! You are going to
pay for that!”
“God… Mike… don’t… do… this!” Sandra gasped out between
cries of pain.
“Why the fuck not? You’ve tortured me for years! Why
shouldn’t I get a little payback?”
“Mike… I… never… meant…”
Mike reared back and slapped her with all his weight.
*Ron turned his face from the mirror, unable to watch the
horror which he had been unable to prevent, nearly four years ago.*
The vision faded…
>>><<<
Ron had no time to recover from the horror of seeing his
mother being raped by his father, for it was quickly replaced with
another image. This one was a face, just a pleasant, pretty face. Ron
stared at it, and couldn’t place it.
Then the face was attached to a body. A body that was
grabbed roughly and tossed into a van. Ron watched as the van drove
away, and the scene cut to the same van pulling into the facility,
*his* facility, where the pretty face would be assigned a new life.
Ron watched, his heart in his throat, as the pretty girl
was dragged from the van and dumped, somewhat unceremoniously, in the
reception area of the facility. Then, the scene faded back to the face.
But not for long. Soon, that face was replaced with
another face. And another, and then another replaced those. Ron
staggered backwards as the parade of faces sped up, flipping by faster
than he could actually see. He closed his eyes to shut out the images,
but the tears flowed anyway.
When he opened his eyes again, the girls were gone.
>>><<<
Ron saw a bathroom. It appeared to be a school bathroom,
or some other institutional-style restroom. He saw a couple. The boy
was obviously having sex with the girl, who was wearing a beautiful
knee-length white dress. The dress, and the dirty-blonde short hair,
told Ron that the girl was his sister, and that this was her Sophomore
Hop. That meant that the boy was him.
Sure enough, as the image rotated before him, he saw that
it was, indeed, him. They were just concluding their intimate act, and
Ron wondered why the mirror would show him this…
The scene immediately changed. This time, it was obvious
they were in a hospital. It was still him and Dawn. But they were
hardly having sex. Dawn was in labor with Nathan, struggling slightly,
due to her age, and it being her first child. She screamed out in pain
as the child was born.
Ron began to understand where this was going, and he didn’t
want to see the rest. Still, his eyes were glued to the mirror, as if
he were incapable of turning his head.
The scene shifted one more time. It showed a battle inside
Ron’s house. It showed a wall being blown out of the back of the
house. It showed a man clutching at Nathan.
And it showed Jessica, lying dead on the ground.
Ron watched as the image-Ron approached her, and there were
tears in both of their eyes. The real Ron wept openly, falling to his
knees, not seeing any more of the image as it faded away.
>>><<<
The mirror waited only until Ron arose from the floor,
before it immersed him again in images of his past.
He immediately recognized the city of Philadelphia, as it
had been. He watched as the battle broke out. He watched as buildings
collapsed and people died. He watched as friends fought – without him
– the horrible enemy before them. He watched them lose.
The scene shifted abruptly. He was in Los Angeles,
watching Parker Center being destroyed. He watched people dying in
pain and agony, unable to help them or even to ease their suffering.
He watched as the Russians toyed with the civilians who had remained.
Again and again, the images shifted. He witnessed, in
fast-forward, all of the major battles he had fought. He watched, time
and time again, as the PPA was routed, defeated, and run off of
American soil.
Then he was in Miami. He watched as the building began to
topple. He watched as the image-Ron tried to stop it. He watched as
Kim tried to help.
He could not watch as the building collapsed on top of
her. He closed his eyes, and saw the scene anyway, his dream – his
*nightmare *– coming back to him anew.
“STOP!” the real Ron screamed, as he wrenched himself away
from the mirror, throwing himself to the ground and covering his face.
The image faded.
>>><<<
The mirror waited as Ron collected himself. It sat, silent
and patient, until the tormented returned, as he must, to witness the
remainder of his trnsgressions.
Ron arose after about an hour of dream-time. He pulled
himself together. *What*, he wondered, *could possibly be worse than
what I have already seen?*
The images returned.
He stood upon a hill. Thankfully, it was not the hill of
skulls. No, this was a pleasant hill above a peaceful valley lit from
a warm and friendly sun. Mists hung here and there in the valley, but
it was a pleasant scene.
Ron heard the flapping of giant wings.
*Oh, God, no. Not this.*
The scenes flew by rapidly, blurring together, but being
completely clear, nonetheless. Ron absorbed every detail of it, tears
streaming down his face, for he knew what was at the end of this.
He witnessed scenes he had not seen, but could easily
imagine. The capture of his Spirit friends, and their imprisonment in
Mordreon’s fortress. He witnessed the terrible horrors he knew they
had to have undergone.
He saw Minerva, standing before her window for an entire
year, unmoving, unfeeling. He saw Kumiko, in pain and filled with
fear, writhing on her bed, trying to fight back and failing.
Ron watched as the final battle unfolded. He watched as
the Guardians bravely fought Mordreon. He watched as the image-Ron
defied Mordreon, and had freed Kumiko from her shackles.
And he watched as Mordreon, in his rage, destroyed the
loveliest soul that Ron had ever known.
“NO!” the real Ron screamed in terror and loathing at
himself. He turned away from the mirror.
That was a mistake.
Before him stood Kumiko: battered and torn. Far more
desolate than the body of her he had seen in the forest. He averted
his gaze.
Dawn stood before him, her face purple and lifeless, as he
had seen it in the marsh. One eye opened to look at him, and it was
filled with blood. Ron spun around to look away.
Sandra faced him, her body bruised and battered, her blood
leaking from her, as it had the night of Marinda’s attack. Ron could
not face this image, either.
Each direction he turned, another face confronted him,
beaten and worried and accusing. Jessica, Megan, Cindy, Peter,
countless others damned him for his crimes. Ron spun around, trying to
avoid their gazes, until he could take no more.
Ron collapsed to the ground, threw his hands over his head,
and howled until he ran out of breath. He took a quick break to take
in air, and then he howled again.
“What the hell was that?” Karen asked. She was with Susan,
who was monitoring Ron’s condition.
“I don’t know, but it can’t be good.” Ron’s body was
sweating, and it had convulsed repeatedly. She wanted to try to access
his mind again, but the first and only time anyone had tried that, they
had been hurled across the room, and only a quick save by another
psionic had prevented Karen from getting injured rather badly.
“What do we do?”
“I don’t know. But I think that, one way or another, this
is going to be resolved soon. I don’t think even Ron’s body could take
very many more of those kinds of seizures.”
“Is there anything that might help?”
“I don’t know. Dammit, I’ve only dealt with one other coma
before. Well, hell, it worked then… Go get Nikki.”
“Not Kim?”
“That might start their personal war all over again. Ron
doesn’t need that around him. Nikki is a safe bet, and he knows she
loves him. Go get her.”
“Gotcha.”
Ron screamed for what seemed like hours. His voice was
very nearly gone when he stopped. He gasped for breath, but didn’t
move from his position. He couldn’t hear anyone around him, but he
didn’t dare look up, after what he had already seen.
A soft hand rested on his shoulder. It should have
startled him, since he didn’t know anyone was there, but it didn’t. A
soft voice said, “Ron?”
He didn’t move.
The voice called again, “Ron? You’ve got to get up now.”
*Who is that? The voice is familiar, but I can’t place it.*
* >>Only way to find out is to look, shithead.<<*
* Fuck off.*
* >>Coward!<<*
* Go to hell.*
* >>Fraidy-cat, fraidy-cat!<<*
* *Only his sister had ever taunted him that way, once when
he was six. It had infuriated him then. It infuriated him now. He
looked up.
“Jenna?” The person before him nodded. He uncurled
himself, but didn’t rise. “What in the hell are you doing here?”
Jenna knelt, for she didn’t want to be talking down at
him. “I’m here as a representative only. You have witnessed what you
consider to be the worst mistakes of your life. In the past hours, you
have seen the things you hate worst about yourself.”
“Yeah, life sucks, and I’m an asshole.”
“Ron, has it ever occurred to you that if that were true,
people would not follow you as they do?”
“Hitler was an asshole, and people followed him.”
Jenna frowned momentarily. This was not going according to
her plan.
Ron found this immensely amusing. He was arguing with…
himself. And winning. Of course, that also meant he was losing, but
he wasn’t representing the losing side of his psyche.
“What am I supposed to do, Ron? Show you what life would
be like if you hadn’t been born? This isn’t a fucking Christmas
special. So, according to what you’ve seen over the last hours, your
worst crime is being selfish and short-sighted. What if I can prove to
you that you are neither of those things?”
“Good luck,” Ron retorted sourly.
“I said I am a representative. The group I represent are
the people you have helped selflessly, without thought of reward,
compensation, or even thanks. I am going to show you every face in
this group.”
“Shouldn’t take too long.”
“Watch the mirror.”
As Ron turned hesitantly to the mirror, a parade of faces,
similar to the earlier one, began. Only, these were faces of friends.
It started with Jenna. It moved out to encompass the people at the
shelter. After that, the faces grew less and less familiar, until they
were moving by so quickly, and there were so many of them, that he
could hardly recollect ever seeing them before.
Without taking his eyes off the display, he said, “I’ve
never met these people!”
“Correct. You never have. Probably never will.”
“Who the hell are they, then?”
“The people of Philadelphia.”
Ron swallowed hard. “I didn’t help them. Their city is
completely gone.”
“They’re still alive. Things can be replaced. Lives
cannot. Many thousands of people died, yes. Many, many more, didn’t.”
“The latest estimates-“ he began, referring to a government
report about estimated casualties of the war.
“Millions of people are dead. It is likely that millions
more will die before the war is over. You cannot be responsible for
each individual life on the planet. You know better.”
“But I am the leader!”
“Of what?”
“Of the army, goddammit!”
“Ron, what do armies *do*?”
“Huh?”
“What do armies do?”
“They fight wars!”
“Exactly. How is it possible for you to keep people from
dying when it is your job to kill people and break things? That *is*
what an army does, is it not?”
The thought was completely new to him. Well, obviously not
*completely* new. He was, after all, only talking to himself. But he
had never consciously considered it. But he had lingering doubts.
“Who *is* responsible for saving those lives, then?”
“In this war, nobody. The only way to save lives is to end
the war.”
“But, we’re losing the war.”
“No, you’re not.”
This last comment did not come from Jenna, but from a deep,
resonant male voice that was behind him. He turned abruptly.
Before him stood a knight in shining armor. No, shining
was not the right term. The armor *glimmered*. It looked almost as if
it were chrome-plated. And yet, it moved smoothly with the knight as
he walked. He held in his one hand a helmet, and his other hand rested
on the handle of his sword. The helmet bore the crest of the
Provisional Psionic Army of the United States of America.
Nikki sat beside Ron for hours, holding his hand,
occasionally talking to him, and generally being near if he needed
anything. Jill sat in for a while as Nikki took a walk around, got
something to eat, and generally rested from the strain of being in the
room with Ron. It was as if an electrical current ran through the
room, centering on him and drawing all energy into it. She moved
topside to look at the stars coming out.
“Without the lights of the city, the sky is quite beautiful
here.” Kimberly had taken the opportunity of her walk to find Nikki
alone.
“Yeah.”
“Nikki, you and I need to talk. There is no way for me to
properly apologize for my actions in the forest.”
“Nope.”
“I can only tell you that I was not thinking clearly, and
Michelle… she sets off something in the woman in me. I don’t
understand it myself. I have never felt for a man what I feel for your
brother.”
“What do you mean?”
“Linda did not tell you? No, I suppose she might have felt
that was sensitive information. Before I fell in love with your
brother, I was a lesbian. I had never had sex with a man before.”
Nikki stared at her in wonder. The story was so similar,
she felt a stirring within herself. “I was that way, too.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Four years ago, I first had sex with Ron. He was the
first boy I’d ever done it with. But my sister and I had been doing it
for several months. He caught us in the shower together, and… well, he
kind of blackmailed us, but it didn’t really take much convincing.”
She blushed slightly at the admission.
Kimberly was long past the shock of Ron sleeping with his
family, for she had grown to love them as much as he had. But to learn
this about him was somewhat surprising. “So… he doesn’t… control you?”
“No, I guess not. I mean, I don’t think so. I mean, how
would I know for sure?” She laughed easily. “If he does, he’s doing a
pretty damned good job, because I can’t tell. All I know is that I
love my brother.”
“Yes. As do I. But I promised Michelle that I would abide
by his word when he wakes up. I fear he will pick her. She was before
me, after all.”
Nikki just shook her head. “I was never sure about
Michelle. She seemed a little pushy to me. The way she acted in the
forest… I don’t know. What I do know is that I’ve seen the way Ron
looks at you. He never looked at her like that. I don’t think you
have anything to worry about.”
“Except you.”
“I’m not your enemy, Kim. As long as you remember that my
*only* loyalty is to Ron, you and I will get along just fine.”
“I am forgiven, then?” she asked with some trepidation.
Nikki took on a mock-stern expression, and waggled her
finger in an over-dramatic way. “Don’t *ever* let it happen again!”
Then she burst out laughing, and the two hugged. “Come on,” she said,
wrapping her arm around Kim’s shoulder. “Let’s go back in. I don’t
like leaving Ron alone.”
“Jill is with him, is she not?”
“Kim, if I’m not with him, and you’re not with him, he’s
alone.”
It was a lot for her to say, and Kimberly, aware of just
exactly what Nikki meant, had no reply. She merely held her friend
tighter, and they walked back underground.
“Who the hell are you?” Ron queried of the knight.
“I am the *real* General Ronald Chaffey, of the Provisional
Psionic Army.” His voice was strident and resonated in the small
space. He neither looked nor sounded anything like Ron himself.
“Um, look, chum, *I’m* Ron Chaffey. And, as soon as I can
get out of this little hell-hole, I’ll be the leader of the PPA again.”
“You may be Ron Chaffey, high-school student. You may be
Ron Chaffey, CAMP field agent. And once, you *were* General Chaffey.
But you are not now the true leader of the PPA. Come, let us leave
this place.” With a wave of his hand, the knight changed the scene
around them. Jenna and the mirror were gone, as was the room. They
were back outside. Only now, the house was bathed in sunshine, it was
renewed with strength and splendor, and it shone from a gleaming coat
of white paint.
“This,” the knight said, “is, of course, merely a
representation. What the house represented when you arrived was your
current state of mind. What it represents now is your potential.”
“Yeah, my potential. Sure. I haven’t done so hot, in case
you haven’t noticed.”
“You have not been leading the PPA since the military
personnel arrived. Why did you stop going into battle?”
“They said it was better to command from headquarters.”
“Do you believe that?”
“Well…”
“Why do you fight them at every turn? That was not your
original plan.”
“The generals and admirals said-“
“Ah, but the ultimate decision isn’t theirs to make, now is
it? Why did you attack the fake headquarters of the Filitov Council?”
“Hey! That *was* my plan! I felt we needed to strike at
the heart of the FC!”
“Precisely. A perfectly planned and executed mission. The
only thing wrong with it was that you had faulty intelligence. The
only successful mission of this war was one *you* planned, one *you*
led. The generals have not shown themselves to be worthy of command,
let alone leadership. Why do you persist in listening to them?”
“Um…” Ron temporized. “What would you have had me do? I’m
a seventeen-year-old kid! I know nothing about war.”
“You are wrong. You have fought more battles *of the right
type* than all of your generals put together. You are a *psionic*
fighter. They fight with guns, tanks, and missiles. Such weapons are
completely ineffectual against the Russian psionic forces. Yet, you
rely on these people to lay out battle plans. Have you yet noticed
that the plans they lay out are typical, *conventional* warfare plans?
They do not make use of their special skills except on a
person-to-person level! Do you not understand this?”
The light began to dawn in Ron’s mind, and he now
understood something that he had not before. He had been holding on to
some battle plans that he had made up before the war even started.
They went completely against the doctrines he had been given by his
planners, which is why they had never been put into use. Now, he
understood that he had been trying to tell himself that these plans
were the kind of thing that would work. It had taken seven months and
a coma to do it, not to mention endless deaths, but he finally
understood.
“I see you do understand,” the knight said.
“What else am I missing?”
“Come, and we will discuss it.”
Ron slowly opened his eyes, and his blurry world began to
focus. He saw a sleeping person beside him, but was still too groggy
to put a name to the form. He turned his eyes to the ceiling, waiting
for his head to clear. He wondered just how long he had been out.
Slowly, his vision cleared, and he looked again to see that
it was Nikki asleep in the chair beside him. Although his head hurt,
his body had long since recovered from its ordeal. He sat up, and felt
only slightly dizzy from it. He paused, and his head cleared.
The movement caused Nikki to stir, and she awakened. Her
jaw dropped open as she saw Ron sitting up in his bed, looking around
and trying to get his bearings. Her hand reached out slowly to touch
him, as if to make sure it wasn’t a dream.
“Is that the best you can do for your long-lost brother,
Nik?” Ron said. It was his way of letting her know instantly that he
was okay. She leapt from the chair and strangled him with a hug that
brought tears to his eyes. He tolerated it for a long moment, as it
felt so good to be touching someone that had not been made up by his
own imagination. Finally, he disentangled himself and said, “Careful,
or you’ll put me back under!”
She smiled broadly at him, and then she got up. “I need to
go get Susan… or Karen… or whoever’s awake.” She backed her way out of
the room, bumping into things and tripping twice before she made it to
the hallway, and then made a mad dash to find the nearest medical
personnel.
Meanwhile, Ron moved his feet to the floor, and hoped he
hadn’t lost too much muscle tone in the time he was in bed. To his
surprise, he found his legs to be quite steady, and they felt nearly as
strong as when he had last stepped on them. *Maybe I’ve only been out
for a day or two.*
Susan came into the room, and was astonished to see her
patient actually walking around. She took several moments to recover
from her shock, during which time Ron just sort of stared at her.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, General.”
“Thank you,” he said hoarsely. She handed him a glass of
water, which he drank slowly, but completely. “Whew, that’s better,”
he said, his voice much stronger. “How long have I been laying here?”
“Well, *here*, you’ve only been laying for four days.
However, you have been unconscious for seven days.”
“Shit! I lost *another* week? Dammit.”
Just then, the family descended on the room. Sandra walked
in just as he made that pronouncement. “Well, you seem to be back to
your normal self,” she said cheerily, and gave him a strong hug. He
went the rounds, giving and receiving hugs from everyone. He noticed
the conspicuous absence of both Michelle and Kimberly, but let it
ride. He would find out what was up soon enough, he was sure.
“Okay, okay, everyone. I know you are glad to have him
back, but he is still a very sick individual, and-“
“I’m fine, Susan. Run your scans, but I need to talk to
people. I haven’t been in on the events of the last few days, and I
need to get caught up quickly.”
“Yes, sir,” Susan said resignedly. She began her tests as
Ron chatted with the family, finding out about small family details.
Once the pleasantries were out of the way, Ron got down to it.
“Okay, someone want to tell me why Kim and Michelle aren’t
here?”
There was a lot of hemming and hawing over that question,
and then Nikki said, “They’re not getting along with each other, and
they didn’t want to upset you just after you woke up.”
“Oh.” That subdued the atmosphere sufficiently that Susan
was able to finish up her scanning without undue troubles. She
pronounced him quite fit, but ordered him a full day’s bed rest, just
to be safe.
“Yes, mother,” Ron said jokingly. Sandra laughed before
Susan did. “Now, I need to see Lars and Jeff. How long will it take
them to get here?”
“About thirty seconds. They’re waiting down the hall.
Jeff’s unit is the one that brought us back here after you decided to
take a nap, and Lars came back when he found out you were hurt,” Nikki
answered. “The entire headquarters unit has been moved back here.”
“Okay, I need to talk with them, then. Guys, we’ll have
time to get reacquainted, but I need to deal with some military issues
quickly. There is little time to lose.”
The family shuffled out, and Susan made to leave when Ron
asked her to stay. “You’re just as much a part of the military as we
are,” Ron said by way of explanation.
The command staff filed in, along with Jeffrey Durant.
Kimberly was there by way of her position as division commander, and
had to control her urge to run to his side.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he began, sitting on the edge of
the bed, as he did still feel tired, though not weak. “We have been
screwing the pooch big time for the last seven months. It is time that
we change that.”
“How do we do that, sir?” one of the generals asked.
“*We* don’t. *I* do. First thing’s first: you’re all
fired.” This received shocked and perplexed responses. “You have
given me shitty advice from the beginning, and it’s high time we start
using a battle plan that works.”
“Sir, you can’t mean that! Between us we have over a
century of-“
“Name me a single battle you’ve planned that was a
success.” This statement was followed up by complete silence. “The
simple fact that you can’t even recommend *one* means you aren’t the
people for the job. Now then, Lars, you will remain second in
command. Where are the troops?”
“We have them scattered in about eighty separate units, of
roughly-“
“Call them all back here. We can’t be divided like that,
it’s too easy to beat us. I want the PPA to stand as a solid unit.
How long will that take?”
“Probably about one day for the furthest units to rest up
and return, sir.”
“Very well. That will take care of that one day of bed
rest that she wants me to get,” he said, indicating Susan. “Next
item: we will not be protecting any further cities, with the
exceptions of New York and Washington.” Further protests were silenced
by a look from Ron.
“This was stupidity on our part. We were playing right
into their hands. We helped them kill not only millions of Americans,
but thousands of psionics! This was their *goal*, and we helped them
achieve it! We will not do this again.”
“Then why defend those two cities?”
“Because New York contains the Statue of Liberty, and
Washington contains the White House. The two most recognizable symbols
of the United States. Liberty, and Power. As long as those monuments
stand, America still exists. They’ve been waiting on these two cities
because they *knew* I’d demand a full-blown all-army battle to protect
them. And that is exactly what we’re going to do. They’ve been hoping
to whittle down our numbers before those battles take place, and we’ve
helped them do that, too. No longer. We’ve been fighting by their
rules for far too long. Now we fight by *mine*.”
“Yes, sir!” the generals responded.
“Further, I need you, Karen, to find that trunk I packed
up, with my stuff in it. When you find it, bring it to my quarters
down here. I assume those still exist?”
“Yes, sir. They’ve been untouched.”
“Hmph. Very well. Now, someone want to brief me on what
the hell happened while I was asleep?”
Lars began the briefing, which took about a half an hour.
He finished it off by talking about the nuclear attack.
“So, the Russians have been pretty quiet since then?”
“Yes, sir. No major assaults.”
“Okay. I’d expect the battle of New York to happen soon,
then.”
“Why?” one of the generals asked.
“Because now they’re worried we’ll use all of the nasty
weapons we own. They don’t want to rule a barren and desolate
wasteland. So, they’ll want to conclude this as soon as possible.
Now, where can I find the President?”
“Sir,” said Shelly, “This has not been publicized, but the
President was killed during the nuclear attack. Apparently the
protections on Kneecap against EMP were not as good as we thought they
were.”
“I see. So, the electro-magnetic pulse from the nuclear
blast fused the circuitry onboard the plane, and it crashed?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Serves the fucknuts right. And the Veep?”
“He’s in the White House Situation Room.”
“Very good. I’m going to rest up for a day or two, but the
first order of business is to show that little prick just what I think
of his tactics. That is all. Dismissed!”
As the people filed out, Ron rose and started out the
doorway. Michelle stopped him before he got out the door, and she
said, “We need to talk.”
Nikki stood with Kim down the hall from Ron’s recovery
room. They had seen Michelle enter. The time it was taking grew heavy
upon their minds and hearts, and soon their silence was more than Nikki
could take.
“What the hell are they doing in there?”
“Talking.”
“How do you know? Did you peep on them?”
Kimberly was astonished that Nikki would suggest such a
thing, until she caught the impish grin on her face. “I made a vow to
myself that I would never eavesdrop on Ron that way.”
“You could always forgive yourself later,” Nikki said with
a chuckle.
Kimberly smiled. “No. I will have to wait just like you
to find out what he has decided.”
It was only a few minutes more before Ron emerged from the
room, but without Michelle. They couldn’t draw a conclusion about that
as Ron walked down the hall toward his room, which would take him right
past them. As he came up to the two girls, the look in Kim’s eyes was
one of utter fright.
“Something wrong, Kim?” Ron asked, in what appeared to be
genuine concern.
“It’s just…” she tried, but couldn’t finish it.
“Ron, stop being a meanie! Tell her who you picked!”
“Picked? Huh, oh! You mean whether I’m going to go back
to Michelle or not. Yeah, she wanted to know the same thing. I take
it there was some rather nasty trouble in the forest, hmm?”
“I’m afraid I behaved rather poorly in a time of crisis. I
seem to have a habit of doing so.”
“Yeah, well, I ain’t winning any awards lately, either.
What happened?”
“Michelle became territorial over you, and attacked her,”
Nikki said quickly. Ron was surprised at Nikki’s attitude toward
Michelle, but realized that, although Michelle had spent quite a bit of
time at the house, she and Nikki had never really spent much time
together, and so there was no real connection between them.
“I see. Hmm. Well, I also hear that a certain little
sister who shall remain nameless sort of went off and read them the
riot act.” He enjoyed watching Nikki blush. “I love you, too, Nik.”
“Damn you, Ron Chaffey, you’re still not answering her
question!” Nikki said, just to help recover her composure.
“Oh, what was that question again?”
“Whether you’re going back to Michelle!” Nikki was getting
overly frustrated, even though she should have known better.
“Kimberly, I’m surprised at you. Don’t you remember what I
told you in that little town where you found me?” She stared at him
blankly. “I told you that we were just going to have to face it. We
loved each other and there was *nothing* we could do about it. Case
closed, end of story.” He leaned over and kissed her warmly on the
cheek. “What I had with Michelle,” he went on more seriously, “did not
even begin to approach the love I feel for you. That night we had…
well, we shared more in one hour than Michelle and I ever shared in
months.” He straightened back up and said, “Now, the doc wants me to
get some sleep, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll see you guys in
the morning. G’night.”
As he walked away, the two girls looked at each other in
stunned silence.
Ron awoke the next morning to feel two very soft hands on
his bare chest. He didn’t want to open his eyes: he wanted merely to
enjoy the sensation, but he felt it would be good if he knew who was
making him feel so good. His eyelids parted to find not one person,
but two.
“You told us you’d see us in the morning, Big Brother,”
Nikki said with a smile, right before she kissed him warmly on the
mouth.
“I thought I was supposed to be getting bed rest today,” he
half-heartedly protested. Then Nikki moved her hand, and found that
there was no heart at all in his words.
“You are in bed,” Kimberly cooed in his ear.
“And we’ll do the rest.” Nikki finished. As she finished,
her small hand wrapped around Ron’s cock inside his briefs. As Kim
pulled the covers off him, Nikki quickly but carefully maneuvered his
briefs off. He could hear her humming softly to herself as her hunger
for him built inside her.
Her lips quickly engulfed his hardening prick, and Ron
groaned as he felt her mouth encase him. It had been a few months
since Nikki had performed her magic on him, and he wondered at the
ecstasy of it.
Kim moved back up beside him, and kissed him hotly on the
mouth. As their tongues began to duel, Nikki’s tongue was doing
wondrous things to his cock. He felt her shift, and he broke his kiss
with Kim to see her straddling him, her hand holding his dick in
place. He saw Kim nod slightly, and then he saw stars as Nikki plunged
herself down onto him. She was still very tight, but she was also
sopping wet. She grunted loudly with the feel of him filling her small
hole, and he grunted at the almost-pain of her vise-like grip on his
shaft.
Kim was massaging his chest now. “I told Nikki she could
have you first. Since she was nice enough to forgive me for my
stupidity.”
“Uh-huh,” was all Ron could manage. Nikki was rutting on
top of him like a wild animal, and he was having all he could do to
control himself. Kim’s hand on his chest wasn’t helping any, and
watching as Nikki’s tits bounced merrily on her chest was *really*
pushing it.
He couldn’t stand it any longer, and finally, he just had
to blow. He felt his cum spurting up into her, and she slowed her
pace, to massage the fluid from his dick, finally just rocking herself
gently back and forth on his cock. It was just enough to keep him
semi-stiff.
“Good gravy, Nik, that was… Wow!”
“We’re not nearly done with you yet, Big Brother. We’ve
got a whole day to kill!”
“Please!” he moaned jokingly, “Don’t use that word! At
this rate, you just might!” They all had a good laugh, but Nikki
didn’t stop rocking back and forth above him.
Soon, Kimberly resumed kissing him, and he felt Nikki reach
down and begin fondling his balls. Kimberly’s tongue was wrestling
his, and Nikki’s hands were doing marvelous things, and Ron was
surprised at just how quickly he began to rise from his slump.
As Ron’s dick came back to hardness, Nikki continued to
rock back and forth, her hands continuing to manipulate him and bring
him back to full arousal. Once she had succeeded, she moved off him,
gently touching Kim’s leg as she did so.
Kimberly moved astride Ron’s waist while continuing to kiss
him. She sat upright as Nikki used her small hands to position Ron’s
dick at Kim’s entrance. As Kimberly slowly edged her way down onto
Ron, Nikki sat up, and the two girls kissed hotly. Ron enjoyed the
show, as he watched his girlfriend frenching his sister, and starting
to ride him. It was definitely a great thing to wake up to.
Once she had fully impaled herself on his cock, Kimberly
leaned forward, placing her hands just above Ron’s shoulders. Her long
blonde hair cascaded down on either side of her head, and shut out the
world. Their eyes met, and the world seemed to stop. Ron noticed the
serene smile on Kim’s face, and she saw the joy and love in his eyes.
It couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, but for the two lovers,
the moment lasted an eternity.
Not breaking eye contact, Kim began to move slowly on Ron’s
shaft. She moved her hips back and forth, forming small circles as she
went. Nikki assisted them both with her tongue, which she moved from
Kim’s pussy to Ron’s dick and back again. All three were highly
aroused, but no one was in a hurry for this to end.
Ron moved his hands up to cup Kim’s breasts, gently
fondling the flesh and softly tweaking her nipples. Kimberly moaned
softly and finally closed her eyes, allowing her body to succumb to the
sensations. Her pace quickened as her moans increased in intensity.
Ron was beginning to thrust back into her as his own
passion increased. It was mesmerizing to have this wonderful girl
making love to him, and he focused on her face as he pushed up with
each of her down-thrusts, to get as deeply into her as possible. Her
body was soon coated in a thin sheen of sweat, and her face contorted
into that special look of pleasurable torture that meant she absolutely
did not want him to stop.
He thrust into her harder, his hands molding her tits more
forcefully, tweaking the nipples more frequently. Her cries of ecstasy
told him he was on the right track, and he kept up this attention.
Nikki, meanwhile, had gotten her hands to join her tongue, and she was
stroking Ron’s balls while caressing Kim’s ass. It was an altogether
amazing sensation, and Ron was quickly reaching his limit.
Kimberly got there first, and she screamed out her passions
as her pussy clamped down on his dick. The rippling of her internal
muscles sent him over the edge, and he came inside her. They both
gasped out their pleasures, and Kimberly collapsed on top of him, her
arms not able to support her anymore.
Ron had truly enjoyed the experience, but he was still in
need of some more entertainment. It would be a while before his cock
was ready for more action, though.
He rolled over, holding Kim, so that she was now lying on
the bed. Nikki moved into a position beside her at Ron’s mental
request. She looked up at her brother and smiled. He leaned over and
kissed his sister, his tongue engaging hers as his hand softly caressed
her tit. His other hand was busy doing the same thing to Kim.
His sister had recovered fully from her experience, and was
still extremely horny. Ron was not yet physically ready to satisfy
her. But the nice thing about being a psionic is that one’s body is
not the only tool available.
Ron formed his extension, and he slipped it gently into his
sister’s waiting cunt. She sighed deeply as she felt it begin to grow
inside her. Ron stopped at just the right point where she felt very
full, but not pained. Then he began short, quick movements in and out,
letting his extension do things his cock could never manage. Nikki was
quickly squirming on the bed.
Kimberly looked over at her friend, and then up at Ron.
“What am I, chopped liver?” she asked in jest.
In response, Ron quickly slipped another portion of his
extension inside her, and began a duplicate treatment. It was somewhat
difficult to concentrate on two beautiful women at once, but Ron was
well-practiced in this art. His hands continued to fondle breasts as
his extension moved in and out of pussies. The two girls started to
moan and squirm with the pleasure.
At Nikki’s signal, Ron moved himself up between the two
girls’ shoulders, while keeping his extension working inside them. The
ladies rolled toward him, and began to lick his cock. Ron closed his
eyes and enjoyed the chills going up and down his spine. He was
starting to regain his hardness, even after two good orgasms already.
He felt a tongue leave his dick, and a shifting on the
bed. Nikki leaned into his ear and whispered something. Ron smiled as
she lay back down. He opened his eyes, and looked at her with a
mischievous grin.
“It’s a good idea, Nik,” he said, while Kim looked at them
both in confusion. “But you get it too!”
With that, Ron pushed an addition to his extension into
Nikki’s ass. Although she hadn’t been expecting this, she knew how to
handle it, and she relaxed herself and enjoyed the feeling. She had
enough presence of mind to return to Ron’s dick, which Kim had also
begun to lick and caress again.
When Kim felt Ron’s extension pressing against her ass, she
paused, unsure if she was ready for this kind of treatment. As Ron’s
extension slipped in, without much in the way of force, and little in
the way of discomfort, she accepted it, and returned to her
ministrations. When it began to grow inside her, she had to gasp with
the sensation, and when it pulsed with energy, a long, low moan escaped
her lips.
Ron continued to manipulate the two women, his extension
plying their four holes in synch while their tongues wormed their way
along his dick. The room was filled with moaning and grunting as they
each rose toward their climax.
Kim was the first to go, her orgasm blasting through her
senses and sending her mind reeling. She screamed in wonderful bliss,
her body rocking with the sensations. Ron kept up his thrusting
throughout her orgasm, and she writhed and wriggled on the bed for
quite some time. When she came down from her high, Ron let his
extension diminish, but he did not remove it from her. He did stop
thrusting though. He concentrated on bringing his sister to her peak.
It wasn’t long before she, too, was rising toward her
summit, her screams becoming more frequent, and her body squirming
under his attentions. Just as Kimberly managed to return to sucking on
his dick, Nikki came in a loud and fantastic orgasm that was exciting
to watch as her body contorted and then froze, a scream caught in her
throat.
As Nikki’s orgasm passed, she had just enough sense left to
know that Ron hadn’t come yet, and so she returned to licking his cock,
helping Kim to bring him nearer to his final climax.
Finally, it hit, and Ron’s cum splashed out, hitting both
girls in the face and then dribbling down onto their lips and chins.
Ron leaned back as the two girls started to lick each other’s faces.
Finally, after they had gathered all of his seed, they locked their
lips together, to share it with each other. Ron watched as his two
lovers kissed deeply, and knew it was a good day.
The remainder of Ron’s day was spent in bed with these two
young ladies, who insisted that he rest. Of course, part of resting
apparently included screwing these two silly every couple of hours, but
Ron didn’t mind. They brought dinner to him in bed, telling the rest
of the family that “he needed to take it easy”. It was perhaps the
best day he had spent since the war started. He went to sleep that
night with a female on each side of him. He slept dreamlessly and well.
Ron awoke the next morning extraordinarily refreshed. He
noticed that one of the girls had already left, and it took him a
moment to unravel the covers to see which one was still with him. It
turned out to be Nikki, who hummed lovingly when he kissed her, but
didn’t wake up.
He slipped out of bed without waking her, and went to the
bathroom. When he came back, he noticed that a new uniform had been
left for him, that his boots were shined, his beret was starched and
his sunglasses were sparklingly clean. As he dressed he wondered who
had done all this for him, and had the sinking suspicion it was
Kimberly. He didn’t want her serving him like that, she was supposed
to be his equal now. Doing the job that would, if this were real
military, have been done by a private was just way beneath her, in his
opinion.
He finished dressing and left his quarters to enter the far
dingier areas of the shelter. There were only a few nice quarters
here, and they were strictly reserved for his family.
He said good morning to his mother and Linda on his way to
the cafeteria. He found Kim sitting at a table drinking her morning
tea. He sat down beside her after giving her a kiss.
“I see you found your new uniform,” she said for a start.
“Yes, but…”
“I asked Jill to make sure you had a nice clean one for
your first day back. She seems to be very good at those kinds of
things.”
Ron sighed to himself. She was so perfect. “Yes, Jill has
done extraordinarily well. She seems to be an even better housekeeper
than she was an actress.”
The two chatted lazily about this and that, and Ron caught
up on a few more personal issues that had gone on while he was away.
None of it was really important, just the sort of day-to-day events
that are nice to know about if you’re a member of a family.
Their meal was interrupted by a corporal coming to their
table and snapping to attention.
*Oh, well. Back to the military life,* Ron thought.
“Stand at ease, corporal. What is it?”
“Sir, there are some… er… well, sir, there are some people
upstairs wearing robes and… requesting to see the leader of the PPA,
sir.”
“What color robes?” Kim asked quietly.
“Dark red, ma’am.”
Ron and Kim looked at each other, and Kim nodded. So, the
SkuggDrakarna had come to him at last. *A little late, the bastards.*
“Very well. I will be up there shortly. Go and tell them
to wait.”
“Yes sir!” the corporal spun on his heel and marched off
while Ron rose to take care of his dishes, and then went off to find
Lars.
It had taken a few minutes to find Lars, who had been
taking a shower. A few minutes after that, Ron, Lars, and Kim walked
topside to meet with the Dragon’s Heart.
The leader of the group stepped forward as Ron approached
and began speaking in Swedish. Ron just glared at him. When the man
had finished, Ron said,
“Now, would you care to repeat that in English?”
Lars began, “Sir, he said-“
“Hush!” Ron barked. “I will not be a sideline to a
conversation aimed at me. We all know you are perfectly capable of
speaking English, and that I am *not* perfectly capable of speaking
Swedish. Now, either speak English, or go home!”
The robed man was taken aback by the brashness of what he
perceived to be an insolent teen, but realized that the reason they had
come was more important. He could teach this young one a lesson later.
“I and my colleagues have come because the Russian threat
you brought to our attention is becoming more of an inconvenience than
we are prepared to live with.”
“So, now that the chips are *really* down, you’re willing
to fight on our side, hmm?” Ron said.
“We will fight against the Russian threat. Now, the first
thing we must do is to establish a new chain of command.”
“Yeah. Right. Okay, here’s the new chain of command: you
take orders from me. Disobey those orders, and you will be punished.
Disobey those orders in the middle of a battle, and you will be
killed. Understood?”
This was more than the man was willing to tolerate. “Now,
listen here, *boy*! I was practicing the psionic arts before you were
born! I will not take orders from the likes of you!”
Ron simply flicked his hand, as if shooing away a fly. The
man went flying forty feet into a pile of rubble. The man was very
stunned to have been so affected by someone so young. The remainder of
the Dragon’s Heart tensed for an attack on Ron.
Suddenly, they found themselves surrounded by nearly fifty
people, at least a dozen of whom were former Hunters for the
ShadowDragon. The Dragon’s Heart could feel the energy quivering in
the air.
“Go ahead,” Ron said quietly. “Take your best shot. But
you’d better kill me on the first try, because they’re not going to
give you a second shot. *I* run the show here. Not because I say so,
but because *they* say so. I am the strongest psionic in this army,
and if you wish to challenge me to competition to prove otherwise, you
may do so. However, until you can prove that you are in some way
qualified to lead a group of *soldiers*, you will be mere foot soldiers
in this fighting force. *Is that understood*?”
Even the dumbest of people know when they are faced with
immediate danger. This group had the feeling that even without the
surrounding psionics, they were no match for Ron. They had not
encountered this level of power before. Each of them, in turn, lowered
the hood of their robe and bowed their head to him.
The one he had thrown, however, did not.
“I will never *serve* like a common man! I am a ruler, not
a follower!”
“Then go rule somewhere else,” Ron said. “I have no need
of dissenters. The rest of you may come inside. How many people do
you bring with you?”
“Four hundred eighty-two… er, eighty-one, now.”
Very well. Find quarters for them in the barracks over
there.” Ron gestured at a huge complex of buildings about five hundred
yards away. “But first, have them all line up, and we will get you all
signed in and cataloged.”
The day passed quickly as the people were registered and
assigned rank and position. Many complained about their placement
below people they had previously had authority over, but Ron brooked no
argument: his placement procedures were based on knowledge and ability,
not politics.
The next day, Ron decided it was time he dealt with one
last little issue. He used the Gulfstream VI jet that he had bought
for the PPA’s use to take him, Kimberly, and Nikki to Washington. He
brought Nikki mainly because she had never been there, and just because
he felt like it. Besides, he figured it was time his little sister
started to see some of what his “other side” was like. He worried a
little about her not liking what she saw, but he thought it was better
that she know the truth than for him to live some kind of fiction for
her.
They got off the plane at Andrews Air Force Base and a
military vehicle drove them to the White House. They walked in past
all the armed guards and metal detectors and other security apparatus,
because Ron felt no need to announce his presence.
They moved down into the sub-levels of the White House, and
came to the situation room. Ron strolled into the room, in complete
command of the situation. He brought himself to rigid attention before
announcing to the room that he was there, as if they hadn’t already
noticed that.
“Where’s the dickless wonder that started a nuclear war on
my watch!”
The room grew silent as the Vice President, now Acting
President, of the United States, stepped forward.
“I did. The strategy was a sound one in light of-“ the
man’s voice was cut off as Ron began to rummage through his mind.
“You little son of a bitch. If there was one thing the
world did *not* need, it was somebody dicking around with nuclear
arms. You’ve caused major hell in the mid-west, and Guardians know
what you’ve caused in Russia.” Everybody looked at him funny because
of his choice of expression, but Ron didn’t care to explain to everyone
what he meant.
“Wh-what… are… you… do… ing…?” the man finally managed to
say. Ron didn’t answer, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw a
young secretary-type lady who had a curious expression on her face. He
kept control of the VP while he scanned her quickly, and a devious
smile crossed his face.
“So, you turned the lady down, did you? And all because
she wasn’t career-enhancing. Tsk, tsk. Very bad form. Very un-PC of
you. I think she deserves to have a little fun with you. And you
deserve to pay for what you’ve done to the world.”
Ron spent five minutes reworking the man’s thoughts, and
then he turned to the woman. He quickly adjusted the thinking of the
people in the room, so that his words were accepted as a matter of
course.
“Sheila, is it? Well, Sheila, I know how he’s treated you
over the years. I know he rejected you. Now, it’s time for payback.
I’ve just made him your slave. He will do anything and everything you
tell him to. When you’re done playing with him, feel free to pass him
on to someone else. He’s hardly worth the trouble of upkeep, but I
hope he brings you some enjoyment for a little while.”
Ron left the stunned lady standing there, with the
former-VP standing at her side, head down and fully cowed. The room
was silent as the trio left.
It never occurred to Ron that he had done, in a stroke,
what most military enemies would try to do: he had beheaded the
government of the United States.
Not that it would matter.
They spent a little time looking around Washington, but Ron
was too caught up in other things he had to do for them to stay too
long. They got back on the plane, and arrived home just after dinner.
One of the rules Ron had established for the military personnel who
were working or living in the shelter was that they did not have to
come to attention when he entered a room. Therefore, he found it
strange that several people did rise to attention when he came into the
cafeteria to grab a bite.
Ron walked over to them, a little curious, Kim and Nikki by
his side. When they got close enough, the person that the group was
centered on turned around, and the trio stopped in their tracks. Kim
and Nikki quickly dropped to one knee, but the woman stepped forward
and put her hands lightly on Ron’s shoulders to prevent him from doing
so, as he had started to.
“No, please don’t ever do that for me,” Queen Melissa said
to him. “You are far my superior in personage, if not in rank.”
Ron bowed his head respectfully, and let it go at that. As
the group relaxed and dispersed, he realized that they had merely been
guarding her and waiting for him.
“What are you doing here, Your Majesty?”
“Ron, that’s going to get a little old. Can’t you please
just call me Melissa? I’m still only 16.”
“Sorry. I’m used to protocol with people in your
position. So, why are you here?”
“Well, you told me to find a psionic I trusted to protect
me. You’re the only one I trust.”
“Your… I mean, Melissa, I can’t… I mean-“
“Here. This letter is from the Prime Minister”
Ron opened it and read it quickly. “Is all this true?”
“Yes. I’m sorry to say that England has fallen to the
Filitov Council. Nothing is left of the government. The PM felt it
wasn’t safe for me to remain. So, in essence, he sent me here. You’re
not going to turn me away, are you?” There was just the slightest
quiver in her voice, for, although she knew that he felt something for
her, she also knew there were more important people in his life. One
of them was standing quite close behind him.
“Of course not. How could I? This is just a little
sudden. We’ll have to find you decent quarters, and I’ll have to
assign you a few guards… down here, I don’t expect trouble, but then,
every time I’ve felt that way, it’s bitten me in the ass. Try to make
yourself comfortable, and we’ll see what we can do.”
He wasn’t sure if he should, but he gave her a hug, and she
hugged him back tightly. He could *feel* the two ladies behind him
smiling, and so he felt it was okay. He was still a little skittish
about Kimberly and his other relationships. He’d have to talk to her
about it eventually. But not right now.
“Thank you very much, Ron,” Queen Melissa said after he had
broken their embrace. “I’ll try not to be too much trouble.”
“Trust me. Compared to what’s out there, nothing you could
do could be considered real trouble. Welcome to the group.”