Reunions
“He's 27, single, he enjoys Italian food and he works for the Terran Government. Specifically, Public Relations,” Cathy said quickly and without hesitation describing a young man in a business suit sitting outside a café.
She and the other three grade five TK Factor subjects were scheduled to be part of Dr. Bowen's presentation. Now, the four found themselves stuck in a café in New London waiting for Dr. Bowen to resolve her differences with the Terran Board.
“How do you do that?” David Yu asked incredulously.
“I have heightened senses when I'm all juiced up so I can practically smell what he had for lunch,” Cathy explained. “I can trace the signal of his comm-link to the Terran Government frequencies and I don't know... the rest is sort of intuitive.”
“Is he ticklish?” Sabrina asked eying him intently.
“Not a Psifont,” Cathy said scanning the person. “You might get him to laugh out loud with some effort, but unless you tie him down he's going to tickle the crap out of you, Rina.”
“Maybe that's what I want,” Sabrina said with a mysterious smile.
“You know that all of us have and would at any moment tickle the crap out of you, Sabrina,” Roman said poking her gently in the ribs. The brunette jumped in her seat and let out a sharp laugh that made many people turn towards the table where the four were seated.
“Knock it off,” Cathy said angrily. “We're supposed to keep a low profile. We don't know how long Dr. Bowen will be at the Board.”
“So much for fame and fortune,” David said regretfully. “I actually believed she was going to pull off that presentation and shock the known galaxy.”
“It's better this way,” Roman said. “We're not a circus freak show. I fell sorry for the Bowens and all their hard work, but I for one wasn't meant to be in a lab under a microscope and doing tests.”
“Well, well, well,” David said his eyes narrowing on a young woman who was just about to enter the outdoor café. “Give me the stats, Cathy.”
Cathy narrowed her eyes and concentrated on the young woman. “21. Single. Liberal. Vegetarian. Believes in traditional 21st century democracy and hates the Terran Government and all it represents.”
“Are you for real, Cathy? Or are you just making this stuff up?” David asked.
“I can scan the files she's carrying in the computer she's carrying and read the printed documents in her hands,” Cathy explained. “Besides, like I said, the rest is intuitive.”
“Ticklish?” Roman asked.
“Quite a bit,” Cathy replied, “but still a fraction of a level one psifont. She wouldn't be worth the effort.”
“She's a contrast to the government suit,” David said. “I don't see how you could get those two on the same table.”
“Oh, David, how little you believe in love,” Sabrina said smiling. “Roman, give me a hand, will you?”
Roman nodded and shrugged. “We've got nothing better to do.”
He concentrated and as the young lady passed the government official Roman with a thought nudged the papers from under her arm out and onto the floor in front of the government official.
“Okay,” Sabrina said stretching her fingers. “Let's start with just some genuine sympathy and willingness to help one's neighbor.”
The government man leaned over and picked up the papers from the ground and handed them over to the young woman.
“Now a little gratitude and a friendly demeanor,” Sabrina said concentrating on the woman now.
David yawned as he mocked Sabrina. “That could have happened with or without your empathy.”
“Cupid takes his time before letting the arrow fly,” Sabrina answered back. “He holds the arrow in the tight bow and when the time is right, he releases and the arrow does the rest.”
“Whoa!” Cathy said excitedly as she watched intently as the two looked at each other in the eyes. “Endorphin levels are spiking in both of them, pulses are racing, pupil dilation rising.”
“Love at first sight,” Sabrina said with satisfaction. “If you've ever felt it, take that and multiply it by ten. That is the arrow.”
The couple sat down together and began to small talk. Smiles were frequent and the world seemed to melt away around them.
“Impressive,” Roman said. “I could pound a person to a bloody pulp with just a thought and I still think you are the most dangerous of us.”
“Not finished yet,” Sabrina said. “The special ingredient to make this night memorable.”
“What is that?” David asked curiously.
“Lust,” Sabrina replied concentrating.
“Hormones are going off the charts,” Cathy said as she watched the two eye each other with clear sexual interest. The tension was obvious to all even without scanning abilities.
“Unless one of them is a monk, they are going to make beautiful love together,” Sabrina said considering her work done as the man asked the android waitress for the bill.
“I'm impressed,” David said. “But when they wake up in the morning they'll see that they made a big mistake.”
Sabrina shrugged. “I've seen long lasting happy marriages based on less. Let fate decide the rest.”
The couple left the café holding each other close as they walked into the streets of New London.
“Cupid's work here is complete,” Sabrina said.
“If you ever pulled a stunt like that on me...” Cathy said as a warning.
“Who's to say I haven't?” Sabrina said smiling mysteriously. “A little nudge here, a little pull there. With human emotion who can truly say what is a genuine mood swing and what is a psionic push?”
“I could,” Cathy said confidently.
There was tension and uneasiness at the table as each person looked at each other uncomfortably.
“I'll keep that in mind, Cathy.” Sabrina said cheerfully breaking the tension. “But we're friends here so no one need worry about that. Friends forever, right?”
Sabrina extended her hand to the center of the table.
“Friends forever,” David said placing is hand on top of Sabrina's.
“Friends forever,” Cathy said nodding and placing her hand on top of David's and Sabrina's.
Roman paused as the three looked at him expectantly.
“What the hell...” he said as he put his hand on top.
“Friends forever.”
* * * * *
Kali was the name of the Hindi goddess associated with death and destruction.
Alanna disliked the codename, but she would grudgingly admit it was appropriate.
Despite her innocent face and her page boy haircut, she was an extremely dangerous individual.
She held six swords in her hands. Four traditional ancient Japanese katana blades and two high tech energy blades. She was trained to use them with lethal effects. She had plasma blasters, stun blasters and several fire arms strapped to her torso, thighs and back. She wore tight leather pants and a tight spandex blouse made especially for her six arms.
She was created from conception to be a dangerous warrior. Her parents were part of a sect of inter-galactic assassins for hire known simply as the Assassin's Guild. She was genetically engineered with six arms as part of a plan to create the perfect warrior.
She rose through the ranks as a youth in training. She could somehow sense what people were about to do before they did it. It was a natural ability she could not explain. She destroyed her competition much to the satisfaction of her parents and drawing favorable attention from the Guild Masters.
That was until they discovered her one weakness.
While wrestling one of her opponents to the floor during her final test to be admitted into the Assassin's Guild, her opponent, unable to break her grip and just moments away from being chocked out, reached out and pressed a hand against her rib cage tickling gently.
She screamed and released him. Realizing that he had an advantage to exploit her opponent he tickled her many arm pits and went after her hard belly making progress punches and kicks could not. He tickled her all over her body and she laughed and screamed for mercy. At the end, once she was a laughing an tired mass of arms and legs, her opponent simply held her down with a single hand.
After a three count she was declared defeated.
The Guild Masters were shocked. Her opponent, a mediocre fighter, was granted admittance for his ingenuity and ability to react under pressure. She was denied membership for making a mockery of the event and allowing something as superfluous as tickling to distract her.
For weeks her parents tried to train her mind to eliminate the weakness called ticklishness but to no avail. There was no way she could resist even the slightest tickle. She was deemed unfit to become an assassin, and in punishment she was restrained in the main hall of the Guild ship with all six arms in the air and with her body naked. The Assassin's Guild would all tickle her with the hope that the extreme measure would cure her of her malady.
It did nothing to make her any less sensitive. For twenty-four hours, students and masters alike tickled her diligently. She would scream, but mostly laugh at the tickling which in reality was what caused the Masters to cringe in disappointment. Hour after hour the tickling continued and Alanna's pale body was covered with glistening sweat. She was beautiful; spread out like a flower with her cheerful laughter echoing helplessly throughout the chamber. Many admired the hard body but they all admitted that an assassin with such a clear fault, would be more of a liability to the Guild than an asset.
Finally, at the end of the twenty-four hours, the Elder Master of the Guild came forward and he himself tickled one of her underarms with a bony finger. She laughed despite her best efforts to resist and it was decided then. She would not only be rejected indefinitely, but since she knew secrets of the Assassin's Guild, she had to die.
Her father requested the privilege to end her life and when the opportunity arose he took his shamed daughter to the surface of a colony planet and deep in the woods he prepared to undo his life's work with the stroke of a sword.
He used an energy sword and Alanna looked down at the ground in shame as he prepared to strike.
He was a hard, hard man who had killed thousands of people under contract.
But not this one. Not this precious one.
He faltered and the sword fell to the ground.
“Run,” he said to her. “And don't look for us. You will only find death.”
That had been two years ago.
Alanna held that same energy blade in her hand right now.
Her enemies were approaching. They were Space Combat Division Marines. They were heavily armed and the squadron charged down a hill with their guns blazing. Alanna returned the blades to their sheathes and drew the pistols.
She charged the squadron with guns blazing. She could tell where each marine was aiming and she dodged with an ease and elegant simplicity that made her codename all the more appropriate. She knew where they were going and she shot accordingly. There was nowhere to hide and as the distances became less, she discarded the hand weapons and drew her swords. She was a whirlwind of death and destruction and finally at the end she stood alone on top of the hill.
The simulation ended.
Alanna was coated in sweat from the exercise and the weapons in her hands were only plastic models of the real thing. She was in a zero-g chamber which allowed her to simulate all her movements without hurting herself or anyone else. She could run, tumble or do any movement physically possible without leaving the small chamber. The rest was simulated by computer.
She stepped out and removed the small vision diadem that controlled the simulation and sent the data to her brain.
“That was an excellent workout, Codename: Kali,” the Headmaster said. He was an older man in his fifties with graying hair, but a strong and fit body. He would be a worthy opponent to even those of the Assassin's Guild. “You are using your TK ability to mind read at an exceptional level and it is complimenting well with your abilities.”
“Why the Space Marine Division?” Alanna asked.
The Headmaster shrugged. “Because they're the best? Could have been space pirates, could have been those mini tickle bots you enjoy so much.”
Alanna shuddered. “I haven't beaten those yet, but I will. I promise.”
The zero g training hall was also where Dr. Bowen was being “stored”.
Dr. Bowen was frozen in a cylinder of a hard crystal. She still had her hair in a bun and she still wore her wire rimmed glasses.
“How long is she going to be like that?” Alanna asked.
“Until the Reaper processes all those paper files,” the Headmaster said. “She's easier to transport like this in suspended animation and you don't need anyone to watch over her. Plus she's more difficult to scan in suspended animation. We don't need the jammers if she's on ice.”
“Is she really an expert in the TK Factor?” Alanna asked.
“I learned from her the little I know and I guarantee that you will not find a person who knows more about the TK Factor than Dr. Adel Bowen.”
“I'd like to talk to her,” Alanna said as she studied the woman trapped in crystal.
“You'll get your chance,” the Headmaster said. “I'll make it happen. We'll need her anyways as the excellent psifont she is. We'll all need to charge up soon.”
“I look forward to that,” Alanna said.
* * * * *
Laughter was all around as Roman, Cathy and Mirth sat with other tribesmen and women around a huge bonfire that was at the center of the Rag-nar tribe's main camp.
Young men and woman were tied to crude but practical structures that surrounded the bonfire. There were exactly twenty-one of the structures set up in a circular formation. The tribesmen and women would go from person to person tickling and laughing together with the 'victims' who laughed and howled in good faith.
“The formation symbolizes the sun,” Roman explained as he sat between Cathy and the woman from the pod in the cavern. “It is the life giver and death bringer. The tickling is part of a ritual where laughter is offered to the heavens in exchange for blessings.”
Mirth was watching intently absorbing all the information he could.
“Why don't you take a crack at tickling, Mirth?” Roman said. “I'm sure they will be honored and awed by the kind of tickling you can provide.”
“Thank you, Codename: Think Tank!” Mirth said graciously standing and approaching one of the structures.
“Roman, Mirth,” he replied. “It's just Roman. Not Think Tank.”
Cathy was wearing clothes of the Ragnar and although sewn by hand, they were actually very comfortable. She was wearing sandals and much to her surprise she was very comfortable even after her ordeal with the Kaman-za.
“The Kaman-za didn´t really mean to harm you,” Roman explained. “Centuries ago, they preyed on the humans who were marooned here. They are psionic creatures and when they discovered that some humans were actually psifonts, they started to release those and give them food and teach them how to survive and thrive on this planet. The relationship is actually symbiotic and the clubs and rescues are just part of a ritual each species is willing to respect.”
“I can feel an powerful aura,” Cathy said. “It's coming from the bound men and women who are being tickled. Are they all psi-fonts?”
“The whole tribe, Cathy,” Roman said with a smile. “We are charging psionic energy as we speak, although in minute doses. Evolution forced them in just a few generations to make the psifont an integral part of their genetic make up. It also increases the possibility of TK Factor presence. Most TK Factor positives are regarded as possessing shamanic powers. I calculate the ratio is as favorable as 1:20. Bowen would have a field day here.”
“That's what I came to tell you,” Cathy said seriously. “Dr. Bowen has been kidnapped. I can't scan her. I can only zero into the possible systems and they are all places I patrol and they are plagued with pirates.”
“And you thought that since Roman was a reformed pirate, he might be able to help you find some clues,” Roman said evenly.
“I though maybe you could help,” Cathy said. “Frank and Adel Bowen both worked their butts off for you.”
“Frank really saved my skin. That was the only real reason I stayed in the TK Factor project as long as I did. As for Adel, well I always thought science was more important to her than any of us.”
“That's not true,” Cathy said. “She abandoned the TK Factor project and did all she could to protect us.”
“That's easy for you to say. They took you under their wing.” Roman said. “But what about me? What about David and Sabrina? And the other TK Factor positives?”
“She did all she could,” Cathy said. “WE did all we could. By the time David and Sabrina had died, you had gone under and you did not want to be found. We respected that, but now she needs us. We're the only people who can help her.”
“I have my own obligations here,” he said gesturing to the woman beside him who was the woman from the pod.
“I see,” Cathy said. “It's always about a woman with you, isn't it? Why don't I help you out and tell her about the fling we had a long while back? A little jealousy can go a long way, huh?”
The woman's face darkened and she spoke to Roman in a hushed tone and in their strange language. Roman listened and didn't say anything as she walked away.
“I guess it worked,” Cathy said. “You'll have that one eating out of your hand in no time.”
“Not with Qua-lynn,” Roman said quietly.
“It's worked before. So why not her?” Cathy asked.
“Because she is my wife.”
* * * * *
The Reaper went through the documents and she cursed.
The files were not accurate. They contained deceiving and contradictory information as if the data was deliberately scrambled in a totally random manner.
Who would keep primitive written files and then make a mess of them?
Better yet, why?
She finally understood and she cursed and threw the files heavily to the ground in anger.
“Of course!” she shouted furiously aware that she had not seen the obvious. “The android! The android is the data base! The android has always been the database!”
* * * * *
“You're married?!” Cathy asked incredulously. “You? I can't believe this.”
“Qua-lynn is the chieftain's daughter and she's a pretty good low level telepath. She couldn't understand a word you said, but she gathered the meaning with no difficulty whatsoever,” Roman explained. “She thinks you are being selfish and disrupting the energy of the circle which is meant to 'assuage the rough edges of the human condition'.”
“Me!?” Cathy exclaimed. “I just came here to see if you would help me find Dr. Bowen. I've gone AWOL. If we ever get this sorted out and I'm still in one piece, I'll be looking forward to a court martial. If you're too selfish to come with me and help me find her, that's fine. Mirth and I will be out of your hair and your stupid beard tomorrow and you'll never see us again.”
“Mirth is integrating quite well,” Roman commented looking back at the android who was using all his instruments to tickle the tribesmen and women in ways they had never even imagined.
“I just want to apologize to your wife and tell her what a blockhead you are,” Cathy said standing up.
“Go and tell her yourself,” Roman said. “She can't understand the words but she can understand your thoughts.”
“Actions speak louder than words or thoughts,” Cathy said as she approached Qua-lynn who was tickling one of the women tied to the structures.
“Come on, Cathy,” Roman coaxed. “Don't do anything rash. Qua-lynn is a better fighter than most Space Combat Division officers. She'll kick your butt.”
Cathy glared back at Roman and she tapped Qua-lynn gently on the shoulder. Qua-lynn turned and regarded her harshly.
Roman could she that Qua-lynn was reading her thoughts and her hard expression melted away and she nodded with approval.
The woman on the structure was released and Cathy climbed on it and stretched her arms and legs out so they could be tied down. She pulled hard on the restraints and satisfied that she was not going anywhere she nodded back down at Qua-lynn.
The Rag-nar moved in to tickle, but Qua-lynn held them back.
Qua-lynn was indeed beautiful. Her olive colored skin was beautiful and her long dark hair was tied into a braid. Her belly was kept bare and her deep shapely navel was surrounded by a tattoo of the sun. She had a pretty face and an athletic body and she could see why Roman would be attracted to her.
She approached Cathy and studied her without saying a word or sending a thought. She gently undid the laces to Cathy's sandals and she gently but sensuously removed them leaving the tender pinkish soles for all to see.
Qua-lynn touched the soles with her the palms of her hands firmly causing anticipation but not tickling. She gently slid the palms down and as she did her nails caressed the soles of Cathy's feet. Cathy instantly began to laugh a machine gun laughter Roman was quite familiar with. It was as if every breath in was to load ammunition and every breath out was laughed as if shot out in rapid succession.
The Rag-nar laughed with her and Qua-lynn scratched the soles eagerly watching the feet twist helplessly in the restraints. Qua-lynn continued with a steady rhythm and Cathy simply laughed at Qua-lynn's command as if she were some sort of puppet.
Qua-lynn stopped for a moment and Cathy caught her breath. She then continued concentrating her nails on Cathy's heels getting excellent laughter and response. After a few minutes of that torture Qua-lynn did something totally unexpected.
She held Cathy's foot firmly with both hands and she placed the unsuspecting toes into her mouth and began to suck. Cathy screamed and laughed together. The sensations were terribly ticklish and sensuous at the same time. When Cathy though it could get no worse, Qua-lynn skillfully began to weave her hot tongue in and out of the toes in repeated sequences and with deliberate motions.
Cathy was laughing madly now. She did not enjoy getting tickled usually. She was not like Sabrina who had a passion for being tickled. But the strange and intense technique of the Rag-nar chieftain's daughter was so overwhelming and so dominating, that Cathy could not help but feel pleasure.
Before she realized it, the other Rag-nar joined in a special tickle circle all around her. She was now the center of all attention and she felt her psychic energy emanate from her like the rays of the sun. Another Rag-nar woman started to nibble her other toes while others tickled her armpits and her belly and her ribs. They would nibble on her ears and Cathy screamed out loud and felt the energy flow and glow from within like the sun.
When it finished, Cathy had no recollection of the tickling stopping. She was laughing uncontrollably without stimulus. This had certainly never happened to her. She had never been tickled within an experience such as this.
When she could finally stop laughing she looked around and noticed that the bonfire was dying and all the other structures had been dismantled. The Rag-nar were retiring for the night, but Qua-lynn and Roman remained and they untied her from the restraints.
As her feet touched the ground, Cathy felt a bit woozy, but overall she felt relaxed.
Qua-lynn hugged her close and said some words to Roman in their language before leaving.
Mirth approached and he offered his shoulder for her to lean on.
“What did she say?” Cathy asked Roman.
“She said: 'Now we are sisters',” Mirth said before Roman could answer.
“You learned Rag-nar?” Cathy asked surprised. “In one evening?”
“Is it supposed to be difficult to master?” Mirth asked. “It's actually quite simple. No irregular verbs, no gender, no complex pronoun structure.”
“Enough, Mirth,” Roman said. “Give me and Cathy a moment alone.”
Mirth obeyed and strode away.
“You didn't have to do that, Cathy,” Roman said. “It's not going to change my mind.”
“I wasn't thinking about you. But you always think it's all about you, don't you?” Cathy asked. “Tomorrow at day break, Mirth and I are headed into the systems where I think we can find clues to where Dr. Bowen is.”
“I'll prepare some useful contacts from my pirate days,” Roman said.
“If they are as useful as you are, don't bother,” Cathy said walking away leaving Roman to his own thoughts.
* * * * *
“Did you see an android?” the Reaper asked Megan and Alanna.
The two were preparing for a sparring session and were surprised to see Codename: Reaper who rarely interrupted their sessions.
“I guess,” Megan said. “One of those obsolete models that kept self destructing.”
“Are you sure?” the Reaper asked.
“Yes,” Alanna answered. “It was deactivated in back of the lab. It looked quite useless and it was probably destroyed in the fire.”
“Clever little, Mirth,” Reaper said. “Too smart and too human for his own good.”
“What do you want us to do?” Alanna asked impatiently and eager to start a sparring match with Megan.
“Nothing, yet,” the Reaper said.
“We're going to need help. We need to bring up the bigger guns.”
* * * * *
“Cathy, the doctor, his daughter and you. You have a long history,” Qua-lynn said as they slept together in a fur sleeping bag.
“Yes,” Roman replied in the Rag-nar language. “Frank, the doctor, helped me out when I was to be sent to life in prison for piracy. He helped me turn my life around.”
“If the situation were reversed and it was you who needed help,” Qua-lynn asked, “would the doctor have come looking for you?”
“I don't know about his daughter,” Roman said. “But Frank, yeah, the old man would have come for me.”
“Are you not then under obligation to help his kin?” Qua-lynn asked. “It is the Rag-nar way.”
“Yeah but it wasn't the Roman way,” he replied.
“We are who we are today and not who we were or who we could be tomorrow,” Qua-lynn said. “Sleep now, husband. And in the morning may your slumber have cleared your mind.”
Roman felt Qua-lynn's breathing become regular as she fell asleep under his arm.
He, however, could not sleep and would not sleep at all that night.
Next: “Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life For Me”
“He's 27, single, he enjoys Italian food and he works for the Terran Government. Specifically, Public Relations,” Cathy said quickly and without hesitation describing a young man in a business suit sitting outside a café.
She and the other three grade five TK Factor subjects were scheduled to be part of Dr. Bowen's presentation. Now, the four found themselves stuck in a café in New London waiting for Dr. Bowen to resolve her differences with the Terran Board.
“How do you do that?” David Yu asked incredulously.
“I have heightened senses when I'm all juiced up so I can practically smell what he had for lunch,” Cathy explained. “I can trace the signal of his comm-link to the Terran Government frequencies and I don't know... the rest is sort of intuitive.”
“Is he ticklish?” Sabrina asked eying him intently.
“Not a Psifont,” Cathy said scanning the person. “You might get him to laugh out loud with some effort, but unless you tie him down he's going to tickle the crap out of you, Rina.”
“Maybe that's what I want,” Sabrina said with a mysterious smile.
“You know that all of us have and would at any moment tickle the crap out of you, Sabrina,” Roman said poking her gently in the ribs. The brunette jumped in her seat and let out a sharp laugh that made many people turn towards the table where the four were seated.
“Knock it off,” Cathy said angrily. “We're supposed to keep a low profile. We don't know how long Dr. Bowen will be at the Board.”
“So much for fame and fortune,” David said regretfully. “I actually believed she was going to pull off that presentation and shock the known galaxy.”
“It's better this way,” Roman said. “We're not a circus freak show. I fell sorry for the Bowens and all their hard work, but I for one wasn't meant to be in a lab under a microscope and doing tests.”
“Well, well, well,” David said his eyes narrowing on a young woman who was just about to enter the outdoor café. “Give me the stats, Cathy.”
Cathy narrowed her eyes and concentrated on the young woman. “21. Single. Liberal. Vegetarian. Believes in traditional 21st century democracy and hates the Terran Government and all it represents.”
“Are you for real, Cathy? Or are you just making this stuff up?” David asked.
“I can scan the files she's carrying in the computer she's carrying and read the printed documents in her hands,” Cathy explained. “Besides, like I said, the rest is intuitive.”
“Ticklish?” Roman asked.
“Quite a bit,” Cathy replied, “but still a fraction of a level one psifont. She wouldn't be worth the effort.”
“She's a contrast to the government suit,” David said. “I don't see how you could get those two on the same table.”
“Oh, David, how little you believe in love,” Sabrina said smiling. “Roman, give me a hand, will you?”
Roman nodded and shrugged. “We've got nothing better to do.”
He concentrated and as the young lady passed the government official Roman with a thought nudged the papers from under her arm out and onto the floor in front of the government official.
“Okay,” Sabrina said stretching her fingers. “Let's start with just some genuine sympathy and willingness to help one's neighbor.”
The government man leaned over and picked up the papers from the ground and handed them over to the young woman.
“Now a little gratitude and a friendly demeanor,” Sabrina said concentrating on the woman now.
David yawned as he mocked Sabrina. “That could have happened with or without your empathy.”
“Cupid takes his time before letting the arrow fly,” Sabrina answered back. “He holds the arrow in the tight bow and when the time is right, he releases and the arrow does the rest.”
“Whoa!” Cathy said excitedly as she watched intently as the two looked at each other in the eyes. “Endorphin levels are spiking in both of them, pulses are racing, pupil dilation rising.”
“Love at first sight,” Sabrina said with satisfaction. “If you've ever felt it, take that and multiply it by ten. That is the arrow.”
The couple sat down together and began to small talk. Smiles were frequent and the world seemed to melt away around them.
“Impressive,” Roman said. “I could pound a person to a bloody pulp with just a thought and I still think you are the most dangerous of us.”
“Not finished yet,” Sabrina said. “The special ingredient to make this night memorable.”
“What is that?” David asked curiously.
“Lust,” Sabrina replied concentrating.
“Hormones are going off the charts,” Cathy said as she watched the two eye each other with clear sexual interest. The tension was obvious to all even without scanning abilities.
“Unless one of them is a monk, they are going to make beautiful love together,” Sabrina said considering her work done as the man asked the android waitress for the bill.
“I'm impressed,” David said. “But when they wake up in the morning they'll see that they made a big mistake.”
Sabrina shrugged. “I've seen long lasting happy marriages based on less. Let fate decide the rest.”
The couple left the café holding each other close as they walked into the streets of New London.
“Cupid's work here is complete,” Sabrina said.
“If you ever pulled a stunt like that on me...” Cathy said as a warning.
“Who's to say I haven't?” Sabrina said smiling mysteriously. “A little nudge here, a little pull there. With human emotion who can truly say what is a genuine mood swing and what is a psionic push?”
“I could,” Cathy said confidently.
There was tension and uneasiness at the table as each person looked at each other uncomfortably.
“I'll keep that in mind, Cathy.” Sabrina said cheerfully breaking the tension. “But we're friends here so no one need worry about that. Friends forever, right?”
Sabrina extended her hand to the center of the table.
“Friends forever,” David said placing is hand on top of Sabrina's.
“Friends forever,” Cathy said nodding and placing her hand on top of David's and Sabrina's.
Roman paused as the three looked at him expectantly.
“What the hell...” he said as he put his hand on top.
“Friends forever.”
* * * * *
Kali was the name of the Hindi goddess associated with death and destruction.
Alanna disliked the codename, but she would grudgingly admit it was appropriate.
Despite her innocent face and her page boy haircut, she was an extremely dangerous individual.
She held six swords in her hands. Four traditional ancient Japanese katana blades and two high tech energy blades. She was trained to use them with lethal effects. She had plasma blasters, stun blasters and several fire arms strapped to her torso, thighs and back. She wore tight leather pants and a tight spandex blouse made especially for her six arms.
She was created from conception to be a dangerous warrior. Her parents were part of a sect of inter-galactic assassins for hire known simply as the Assassin's Guild. She was genetically engineered with six arms as part of a plan to create the perfect warrior.
She rose through the ranks as a youth in training. She could somehow sense what people were about to do before they did it. It was a natural ability she could not explain. She destroyed her competition much to the satisfaction of her parents and drawing favorable attention from the Guild Masters.
That was until they discovered her one weakness.
While wrestling one of her opponents to the floor during her final test to be admitted into the Assassin's Guild, her opponent, unable to break her grip and just moments away from being chocked out, reached out and pressed a hand against her rib cage tickling gently.
She screamed and released him. Realizing that he had an advantage to exploit her opponent he tickled her many arm pits and went after her hard belly making progress punches and kicks could not. He tickled her all over her body and she laughed and screamed for mercy. At the end, once she was a laughing an tired mass of arms and legs, her opponent simply held her down with a single hand.
After a three count she was declared defeated.
The Guild Masters were shocked. Her opponent, a mediocre fighter, was granted admittance for his ingenuity and ability to react under pressure. She was denied membership for making a mockery of the event and allowing something as superfluous as tickling to distract her.
For weeks her parents tried to train her mind to eliminate the weakness called ticklishness but to no avail. There was no way she could resist even the slightest tickle. She was deemed unfit to become an assassin, and in punishment she was restrained in the main hall of the Guild ship with all six arms in the air and with her body naked. The Assassin's Guild would all tickle her with the hope that the extreme measure would cure her of her malady.
It did nothing to make her any less sensitive. For twenty-four hours, students and masters alike tickled her diligently. She would scream, but mostly laugh at the tickling which in reality was what caused the Masters to cringe in disappointment. Hour after hour the tickling continued and Alanna's pale body was covered with glistening sweat. She was beautiful; spread out like a flower with her cheerful laughter echoing helplessly throughout the chamber. Many admired the hard body but they all admitted that an assassin with such a clear fault, would be more of a liability to the Guild than an asset.
Finally, at the end of the twenty-four hours, the Elder Master of the Guild came forward and he himself tickled one of her underarms with a bony finger. She laughed despite her best efforts to resist and it was decided then. She would not only be rejected indefinitely, but since she knew secrets of the Assassin's Guild, she had to die.
Her father requested the privilege to end her life and when the opportunity arose he took his shamed daughter to the surface of a colony planet and deep in the woods he prepared to undo his life's work with the stroke of a sword.
He used an energy sword and Alanna looked down at the ground in shame as he prepared to strike.
He was a hard, hard man who had killed thousands of people under contract.
But not this one. Not this precious one.
He faltered and the sword fell to the ground.
“Run,” he said to her. “And don't look for us. You will only find death.”
That had been two years ago.
Alanna held that same energy blade in her hand right now.
Her enemies were approaching. They were Space Combat Division Marines. They were heavily armed and the squadron charged down a hill with their guns blazing. Alanna returned the blades to their sheathes and drew the pistols.
She charged the squadron with guns blazing. She could tell where each marine was aiming and she dodged with an ease and elegant simplicity that made her codename all the more appropriate. She knew where they were going and she shot accordingly. There was nowhere to hide and as the distances became less, she discarded the hand weapons and drew her swords. She was a whirlwind of death and destruction and finally at the end she stood alone on top of the hill.
The simulation ended.
Alanna was coated in sweat from the exercise and the weapons in her hands were only plastic models of the real thing. She was in a zero-g chamber which allowed her to simulate all her movements without hurting herself or anyone else. She could run, tumble or do any movement physically possible without leaving the small chamber. The rest was simulated by computer.
She stepped out and removed the small vision diadem that controlled the simulation and sent the data to her brain.
“That was an excellent workout, Codename: Kali,” the Headmaster said. He was an older man in his fifties with graying hair, but a strong and fit body. He would be a worthy opponent to even those of the Assassin's Guild. “You are using your TK ability to mind read at an exceptional level and it is complimenting well with your abilities.”
“Why the Space Marine Division?” Alanna asked.
The Headmaster shrugged. “Because they're the best? Could have been space pirates, could have been those mini tickle bots you enjoy so much.”
Alanna shuddered. “I haven't beaten those yet, but I will. I promise.”
The zero g training hall was also where Dr. Bowen was being “stored”.
Dr. Bowen was frozen in a cylinder of a hard crystal. She still had her hair in a bun and she still wore her wire rimmed glasses.
“How long is she going to be like that?” Alanna asked.
“Until the Reaper processes all those paper files,” the Headmaster said. “She's easier to transport like this in suspended animation and you don't need anyone to watch over her. Plus she's more difficult to scan in suspended animation. We don't need the jammers if she's on ice.”
“Is she really an expert in the TK Factor?” Alanna asked.
“I learned from her the little I know and I guarantee that you will not find a person who knows more about the TK Factor than Dr. Adel Bowen.”
“I'd like to talk to her,” Alanna said as she studied the woman trapped in crystal.
“You'll get your chance,” the Headmaster said. “I'll make it happen. We'll need her anyways as the excellent psifont she is. We'll all need to charge up soon.”
“I look forward to that,” Alanna said.
* * * * *
Laughter was all around as Roman, Cathy and Mirth sat with other tribesmen and women around a huge bonfire that was at the center of the Rag-nar tribe's main camp.
Young men and woman were tied to crude but practical structures that surrounded the bonfire. There were exactly twenty-one of the structures set up in a circular formation. The tribesmen and women would go from person to person tickling and laughing together with the 'victims' who laughed and howled in good faith.
“The formation symbolizes the sun,” Roman explained as he sat between Cathy and the woman from the pod in the cavern. “It is the life giver and death bringer. The tickling is part of a ritual where laughter is offered to the heavens in exchange for blessings.”
Mirth was watching intently absorbing all the information he could.
“Why don't you take a crack at tickling, Mirth?” Roman said. “I'm sure they will be honored and awed by the kind of tickling you can provide.”
“Thank you, Codename: Think Tank!” Mirth said graciously standing and approaching one of the structures.
“Roman, Mirth,” he replied. “It's just Roman. Not Think Tank.”
Cathy was wearing clothes of the Ragnar and although sewn by hand, they were actually very comfortable. She was wearing sandals and much to her surprise she was very comfortable even after her ordeal with the Kaman-za.
“The Kaman-za didn´t really mean to harm you,” Roman explained. “Centuries ago, they preyed on the humans who were marooned here. They are psionic creatures and when they discovered that some humans were actually psifonts, they started to release those and give them food and teach them how to survive and thrive on this planet. The relationship is actually symbiotic and the clubs and rescues are just part of a ritual each species is willing to respect.”
“I can feel an powerful aura,” Cathy said. “It's coming from the bound men and women who are being tickled. Are they all psi-fonts?”
“The whole tribe, Cathy,” Roman said with a smile. “We are charging psionic energy as we speak, although in minute doses. Evolution forced them in just a few generations to make the psifont an integral part of their genetic make up. It also increases the possibility of TK Factor presence. Most TK Factor positives are regarded as possessing shamanic powers. I calculate the ratio is as favorable as 1:20. Bowen would have a field day here.”
“That's what I came to tell you,” Cathy said seriously. “Dr. Bowen has been kidnapped. I can't scan her. I can only zero into the possible systems and they are all places I patrol and they are plagued with pirates.”
“And you thought that since Roman was a reformed pirate, he might be able to help you find some clues,” Roman said evenly.
“I though maybe you could help,” Cathy said. “Frank and Adel Bowen both worked their butts off for you.”
“Frank really saved my skin. That was the only real reason I stayed in the TK Factor project as long as I did. As for Adel, well I always thought science was more important to her than any of us.”
“That's not true,” Cathy said. “She abandoned the TK Factor project and did all she could to protect us.”
“That's easy for you to say. They took you under their wing.” Roman said. “But what about me? What about David and Sabrina? And the other TK Factor positives?”
“She did all she could,” Cathy said. “WE did all we could. By the time David and Sabrina had died, you had gone under and you did not want to be found. We respected that, but now she needs us. We're the only people who can help her.”
“I have my own obligations here,” he said gesturing to the woman beside him who was the woman from the pod.
“I see,” Cathy said. “It's always about a woman with you, isn't it? Why don't I help you out and tell her about the fling we had a long while back? A little jealousy can go a long way, huh?”
The woman's face darkened and she spoke to Roman in a hushed tone and in their strange language. Roman listened and didn't say anything as she walked away.
“I guess it worked,” Cathy said. “You'll have that one eating out of your hand in no time.”
“Not with Qua-lynn,” Roman said quietly.
“It's worked before. So why not her?” Cathy asked.
“Because she is my wife.”
* * * * *
The Reaper went through the documents and she cursed.
The files were not accurate. They contained deceiving and contradictory information as if the data was deliberately scrambled in a totally random manner.
Who would keep primitive written files and then make a mess of them?
Better yet, why?
She finally understood and she cursed and threw the files heavily to the ground in anger.
“Of course!” she shouted furiously aware that she had not seen the obvious. “The android! The android is the data base! The android has always been the database!”
* * * * *
“You're married?!” Cathy asked incredulously. “You? I can't believe this.”
“Qua-lynn is the chieftain's daughter and she's a pretty good low level telepath. She couldn't understand a word you said, but she gathered the meaning with no difficulty whatsoever,” Roman explained. “She thinks you are being selfish and disrupting the energy of the circle which is meant to 'assuage the rough edges of the human condition'.”
“Me!?” Cathy exclaimed. “I just came here to see if you would help me find Dr. Bowen. I've gone AWOL. If we ever get this sorted out and I'm still in one piece, I'll be looking forward to a court martial. If you're too selfish to come with me and help me find her, that's fine. Mirth and I will be out of your hair and your stupid beard tomorrow and you'll never see us again.”
“Mirth is integrating quite well,” Roman commented looking back at the android who was using all his instruments to tickle the tribesmen and women in ways they had never even imagined.
“I just want to apologize to your wife and tell her what a blockhead you are,” Cathy said standing up.
“Go and tell her yourself,” Roman said. “She can't understand the words but she can understand your thoughts.”
“Actions speak louder than words or thoughts,” Cathy said as she approached Qua-lynn who was tickling one of the women tied to the structures.
“Come on, Cathy,” Roman coaxed. “Don't do anything rash. Qua-lynn is a better fighter than most Space Combat Division officers. She'll kick your butt.”
Cathy glared back at Roman and she tapped Qua-lynn gently on the shoulder. Qua-lynn turned and regarded her harshly.
Roman could she that Qua-lynn was reading her thoughts and her hard expression melted away and she nodded with approval.
The woman on the structure was released and Cathy climbed on it and stretched her arms and legs out so they could be tied down. She pulled hard on the restraints and satisfied that she was not going anywhere she nodded back down at Qua-lynn.
The Rag-nar moved in to tickle, but Qua-lynn held them back.
Qua-lynn was indeed beautiful. Her olive colored skin was beautiful and her long dark hair was tied into a braid. Her belly was kept bare and her deep shapely navel was surrounded by a tattoo of the sun. She had a pretty face and an athletic body and she could see why Roman would be attracted to her.
She approached Cathy and studied her without saying a word or sending a thought. She gently undid the laces to Cathy's sandals and she gently but sensuously removed them leaving the tender pinkish soles for all to see.
Qua-lynn touched the soles with her the palms of her hands firmly causing anticipation but not tickling. She gently slid the palms down and as she did her nails caressed the soles of Cathy's feet. Cathy instantly began to laugh a machine gun laughter Roman was quite familiar with. It was as if every breath in was to load ammunition and every breath out was laughed as if shot out in rapid succession.
The Rag-nar laughed with her and Qua-lynn scratched the soles eagerly watching the feet twist helplessly in the restraints. Qua-lynn continued with a steady rhythm and Cathy simply laughed at Qua-lynn's command as if she were some sort of puppet.
Qua-lynn stopped for a moment and Cathy caught her breath. She then continued concentrating her nails on Cathy's heels getting excellent laughter and response. After a few minutes of that torture Qua-lynn did something totally unexpected.
She held Cathy's foot firmly with both hands and she placed the unsuspecting toes into her mouth and began to suck. Cathy screamed and laughed together. The sensations were terribly ticklish and sensuous at the same time. When Cathy though it could get no worse, Qua-lynn skillfully began to weave her hot tongue in and out of the toes in repeated sequences and with deliberate motions.
Cathy was laughing madly now. She did not enjoy getting tickled usually. She was not like Sabrina who had a passion for being tickled. But the strange and intense technique of the Rag-nar chieftain's daughter was so overwhelming and so dominating, that Cathy could not help but feel pleasure.
Before she realized it, the other Rag-nar joined in a special tickle circle all around her. She was now the center of all attention and she felt her psychic energy emanate from her like the rays of the sun. Another Rag-nar woman started to nibble her other toes while others tickled her armpits and her belly and her ribs. They would nibble on her ears and Cathy screamed out loud and felt the energy flow and glow from within like the sun.
When it finished, Cathy had no recollection of the tickling stopping. She was laughing uncontrollably without stimulus. This had certainly never happened to her. She had never been tickled within an experience such as this.
When she could finally stop laughing she looked around and noticed that the bonfire was dying and all the other structures had been dismantled. The Rag-nar were retiring for the night, but Qua-lynn and Roman remained and they untied her from the restraints.
As her feet touched the ground, Cathy felt a bit woozy, but overall she felt relaxed.
Qua-lynn hugged her close and said some words to Roman in their language before leaving.
Mirth approached and he offered his shoulder for her to lean on.
“What did she say?” Cathy asked Roman.
“She said: 'Now we are sisters',” Mirth said before Roman could answer.
“You learned Rag-nar?” Cathy asked surprised. “In one evening?”
“Is it supposed to be difficult to master?” Mirth asked. “It's actually quite simple. No irregular verbs, no gender, no complex pronoun structure.”
“Enough, Mirth,” Roman said. “Give me and Cathy a moment alone.”
Mirth obeyed and strode away.
“You didn't have to do that, Cathy,” Roman said. “It's not going to change my mind.”
“I wasn't thinking about you. But you always think it's all about you, don't you?” Cathy asked. “Tomorrow at day break, Mirth and I are headed into the systems where I think we can find clues to where Dr. Bowen is.”
“I'll prepare some useful contacts from my pirate days,” Roman said.
“If they are as useful as you are, don't bother,” Cathy said walking away leaving Roman to his own thoughts.
* * * * *
“Did you see an android?” the Reaper asked Megan and Alanna.
The two were preparing for a sparring session and were surprised to see Codename: Reaper who rarely interrupted their sessions.
“I guess,” Megan said. “One of those obsolete models that kept self destructing.”
“Are you sure?” the Reaper asked.
“Yes,” Alanna answered. “It was deactivated in back of the lab. It looked quite useless and it was probably destroyed in the fire.”
“Clever little, Mirth,” Reaper said. “Too smart and too human for his own good.”
“What do you want us to do?” Alanna asked impatiently and eager to start a sparring match with Megan.
“Nothing, yet,” the Reaper said.
“We're going to need help. We need to bring up the bigger guns.”
* * * * *
“Cathy, the doctor, his daughter and you. You have a long history,” Qua-lynn said as they slept together in a fur sleeping bag.
“Yes,” Roman replied in the Rag-nar language. “Frank, the doctor, helped me out when I was to be sent to life in prison for piracy. He helped me turn my life around.”
“If the situation were reversed and it was you who needed help,” Qua-lynn asked, “would the doctor have come looking for you?”
“I don't know about his daughter,” Roman said. “But Frank, yeah, the old man would have come for me.”
“Are you not then under obligation to help his kin?” Qua-lynn asked. “It is the Rag-nar way.”
“Yeah but it wasn't the Roman way,” he replied.
“We are who we are today and not who we were or who we could be tomorrow,” Qua-lynn said. “Sleep now, husband. And in the morning may your slumber have cleared your mind.”
Roman felt Qua-lynn's breathing become regular as she fell asleep under his arm.
He, however, could not sleep and would not sleep at all that night.
Next: “Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life For Me”
