The previous parts of this story were not rated PG15. Part 3 is, and has a violence caution. While some chapters may not fit these ratings, it is for all of Part 3.

To Not Let Go

Part 3 Chapter 1

For three months, we had tried to figure out what was allowing Amos to make such incredible changes and a possible way of stopping him. What we found was strange, to say the least.

We were seated in John's and my living room. Also present were my family and Rashda Smythe, who was now the commander of the ship. Rashda, like all of us except Pearl, was bonded and married. His wife, however, was downstairs in the area controlled by Amos.

We knew Amos had to be aware that she was there, and why he had demanded that Rashda be placed in command was beyond me. Rashda definitely had problems with Amos. Since Amos took control of the downstairs and the command center, we had not spoken to any of our friends. Rachel, my counselor, was also caught below.

We had no way of knowing what Amos was doing to those below. Marc and John had sealed the doors to the DMZs with codes that only they knew. Marc had demanded that he be allowed to continue to work, and he was doing so like a man possessed. Not that any of us blamed him.

We were determined to know what was happening, and although we had sealed off the access, we were working as hard as could be.

Dad was working on the nanobots, trying to figure out what made them work. How they could make him change so fast was still a mystery.

Before long, it was hoped that we would find a way to get into the downstairs without endangering ourselves. At present, we weren't sure if Amos had booby-trapped the way down.

I was sitting in my home office, playing some very melancholy music. I was still feeling useless. It was as if I was a third wheel. Amos had all but made me useless. I felt like I had no real purpose on the ship.

There was a knock on the front door. Even though I didn't feel like talking to anyone, I opened it, and Dad and Mom stood there.

“Come in,” I told them almost lifelessly.

“You don’t sound like you’re doing very good, Rose,” Dad said as they entered.

“I’m not, Dad. I’ve been removed from command of my own ship by that ass downstairs.”

He nodded, then told me. “We’ve figured something out, Baby.”

I really wasn’t sure if I wanted to be called Baby, but I didn’t say anything. He was my dad, and I loved him very much. He could call me whatever he wanted. I wasn’t going to argue with him.

“What’s that?”

“I've found a way to turn off the bots' ability to be controlled by an outside influence."

I stared. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Why would I kid about this?” he asked.

“Dad, that’s incredible! What do we do?”

He grinned. “It’s so simple, I’m surprised we didn’t realize it.”

“Okay?”

“I suppose we weren’t supposed to know…”

I couldn’t take it anymore. “Dad!”

He laughed, then told me, “There’s a switch in the case for your memory crystals. That switch turns on or off the wireless connection between your crystals and the computers.“

“The crystals resonate on a frequency that the bots are tuned to. That frequency is the only one that the bots in your body can react to. By turning that switch off, your crystals would have to be plugged into the computers to have the programming changed."

Wordlessly, I removed my necklace and opened the back. With my little fingernail, I moved the switch inside, then closed it and put it back on.

“What if I’m infected by some other bots?” I asked.

“Those bots will be destroyed by the bots already in your body.”

“Why would Amos leave that weakness in the bots?” I wondered.

“He programmed the bots to not let us think about it. My guess is he never thought we’d figure it out.”

I shook my head. “I think it’s a great idea to switch off the wireless link, but I can’t believe he never made a fail-safe on this.”

He nodded. “I know what you mean. He did everything else redundantly. Why not this?”

“Exactly, Dad. Was this some kind of trap for us to fall into?”

“We've checked everything we can think of, Rose," Mom told me. "We don't see any other way they could be controlled."

“Mom, I know you and Dad have really covered a lot of ground, but it just seems too easy. You know?”

“I know, Sweetheart. I’m just telling you what we’ve found.”

I understood, but I was very uneasy. It just didn’t seem to make any sense to me.

“Have you turned yours off?” I asked.

“Yes,” Mom answered. “Both of us have.”

“Have you told Rashda?”

“Not yet,” said Dad.

“We’d better, then,” I told them.

We arrived at the auxiliary bridge, and John gave me a dirty look. I wasn't even supposed to be on the bridge. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

“I just told her that I’ve found a way to turn off the bots.”

“Turn off the bots?” Rashda asked. “I thought we had no immune system without them.”

“You’re right,” Mom told him. “However, we’re not talking about shutting the bots down completely. Only turning off their wireless connection to the computers.”

John stared at us. “You’re saying you have a way to beat Amos?”

“No,” Dad told him. “Not that, but he can’t control us anymore.”

We met in the briefing room. Usually, I wasn't allowed in the command center at all. We had no idea what Amos would do if he found me there, but it was a good test of what he could do to us now. John didn't like the idea, but my parents and I figured it was the best thing we could do. We had turned off the connection to our bots, and if Amos noticed, he might do anything. What surprised me, however, was that nothing had been done yet. If Amos was going to, or even could, respond, why had he not? Another mystery to solve.

Rashda sat at the head of the table, and he seemed to be uncomfortable with me sitting at the table as well. At first, I thought he felt like John, but he quickly dispelled that theory.

“I must admit, Rose, it feels strange to be in command with you sitting here as well. I am so sorry that I need to be sitting in this chair right now. I hope to change that as soon as possible.”

“We might be able to sooner rather than later,” Dad told him.

“I agree,” Rashda said, then looked at Doctors Jack and Sylvia. ”The Richards have figured out how to block us from the manipulation of Amos.”

Mom told the same story they had to those in the auxiliary control center, and Sylvia looked at the locket she always wore. It was a different design than my necklace. Her crystals were in her rooms, and the locket controlled them, via the crystal frequency. She opened the locket, and I saw a picture of her and Jack before her transformation inside it. She rubbed her finger along the surface of the image, and it momentarily vanished, replaced by some words. Then the picture was back.

Other people removed their crystals or controllers and opened them. John couldn't get his finger inside to flip the switch, so he handed it to me. I turned the connection off and gave it back.

A moment later, Jack asked my mom. “Are we sure?”

“We’re sure it will protect us now, but we’re not sure if Amos will retaliate.”

Paula nodded. "We've cocked the gun now." She hadn't changed her watchband yet, but she took it off. There were several crystals in it that pulsed in the same color as mine. She opened the back of the watch and put her fingernail inside. A moment later, she closed it and put it back on.

“We need to get everyone to do this,” Rashda said.

He flipped a switch beside him and spoke loudly and clearly. He told them what Mom and Dad had found and how to sever the connection.

Marc turned on a screen beside him, and he watched as lights started turning off all over our half of the ship.

It wasn’t immediate, but after about fifteen minutes, the last of the lights went out.

We were free.

It took us about two more weeks before we came up with an idea that sounded good for getting into the downstairs. Nothing seemed like it would work, but we desperately wanted to see what Amos had done. We had no way to track the people below. We were able to track the people on the upstairs side because we were able to program their crystal vibrations into our computers. It took some time, but we were able to make it work.

Finally, we were able to come up with a way we thought might work for getting downstairs. We were able to make a handheld scanner that would detect the vibration frequency of anyone's’ crystals. It was decided that we would send a team of six into the downstairs to scope things out.

I was entering the briefing room and was shocked when I saw Rashda sitting in my usual chair. The head of the table was empty. Everyone stood when Rashda said, "Welcome back, Commander."

I didn’t know what to say. My mouth dropped open, and I said, “Why are you giving it back to me right now? We don’t know if this is what Amos is waiting for. He might be waiting to see if I take command back!”

“While I doubt that, Rose, I will concede for now.” He got up and walked back to the head, and I sat down in the chair he had vacated. I have to admit, there was a part of me that wanted to regain command, but I didn’t dare yet.

Rashda called the meeting to order, and we talked about how we were going to get a party down. We weren't sure who the people should be, but as we spoke, I became more and more convinced that I should be one of them.

John was dead set against it. “Absolutely not!” he almost bellowed when I suggested it.

“Why, John? Why not?" I was yelling almost as loud as him now.

We shouted at each other for quite some time, and I could see that people were getting very uncomfortable, but I had to make my point. What it came down to was I was going. Plain and simple.

Rashda listened quietly, then finally broke into our argument. “Rose, I will make you a deal."

Six of us were waiting to enter the DMZ. I stood waiting as Marc unlocked the door. John was standing on the other side of the door from me and was glaring. I tried to look away, but I couldn't. He was concerned for me, and that was touching, but at the same time, this was my ship, and I'd be damned if I was going to let some sicko dictate how I ran it.

Paula was beside me, and in reality, I don't think she was any happier with me that John was. Marc stepped back when he opened the door, then he glanced at John and me. He shook his head and then stepped through the doorway himself. I took one look at my scanner and stepped through. As I did, I heard John say, "She is so stubborn!"

As I did my best to melt into the shadows, Paula said, “You married her,” then stepped through herself.

Paula was a gutsy woman. She never made her people go first. Her two security men, Bob and Shane, came through next, followed by John. He glanced at me, shook his head, and closed the door, spinning the wheel to lock it.

We were committed.

We worked our way through the large corridor to the J shaped channel, which led to the command center. Whether anyone would be in there was anybody's guess. The ship had several centuries before anything would be crossing its path, so there was really no need.

Just in case, however, we slipped through to the command ring. We split up, and three of us went one way, while three went the other. No surprise, John accompanied me, along with Bob. Paula, Marc, and Shane went to the left.

I held the scanner while we made our way around the ring. It was dark, and the scanner would show if any bots were in the area. It was programmed to let me know if any of our team was near. It would recognize the frequency that they used, but it would locate the signal of any other bots as well. I kept a close eye on it.

About a third of the way to the other side, I whispered, "Wait!" John and Bob both froze in their tracks. Over the years, John and I had learned sign language as a hobby, and we were very fluent in it. I doubted that Bob knew it, but when I signed what I saw on the scanner to John, Bob nodded as well. He hurried across the corridor and waited there. He signed for John and me to position ourselves on either side of the door, and he would trip it. When whoever was in the room came out, we were to incapacitate them.

I looked at John, and he shrugged, then moved to the right side of the door. I moved to the left, and Bob slowly moved to withing range.

We heard the chime of the door as it warned anyone on the inside that it was going to open, and we braced ourselves.

The door swung slowly inward then stopped. A moment later, some kind of nightmare rushed out of the opening.

I had never seen anything like it and hoped never to again. It moved with superhuman speed toward Bob, who reflexively jumped out of the way.

I screamed. I tried not to, but this thing scared the crap out of me! It stopped almost immediately and turned it's head completely around and stared at me. Its eyes were incredibly large and unblinking. I saw that it appeared to be covered by chitin, or something to make up an armored shell around it. It wore no clothes, and its hands swung up backwards. They had claws that looked as sharp as a knife blade, and they were flexing as it seemed to consider cutting me to ribbons.

It jumped. I don't know how it could do it, but it seemed to be able to move whichever way its head was facing equally well. It flew through the air at me, and I ducked, hoping to at least get out of the way of its blades.

I heard a gun go off multiple times, and as I hit the floor, I thought, "Well, so much for stealth," then I felt a crushing weight on me, and I blacked out.

I woke up a few minutes later. I was hurting, but even as I lay there, I could feel a couple of broken ribs mending. About ten minutes later, I was able to stand up. I thought the creature might have cracked a couple of vertebrae, but there was no pain now.

“Let’s go,” John said as he started down the corridor.

“Wrong way!” I called after him.

“No, it's not. You're going back upstairs."

I ran to catch up and planted myself right in front of him. "I. Am. Not."

“Rose, would you stop trying to be the leader? Let others do their jobs?”

“Really! And who put me in command on N21 all those years ago? It was you! I didn’t want command back then, but you said I was the only one you trusted! So why won’t you trust me now!?”

He stood there, and I saw his face go through multiple contortions. He was obviously trying to figure out something to say, but it just wasn’t coming to him. Finally, he turned around and started walking. “Come on.”

I was glad he was looking away because I broke into a wide smile.

We didn't encounter any more creatures, but as we got closer to the bridge, I heard what sounded like someone crying. Suddenly, I realized who it was. "That's Paula!" I cried and started running.

“Dammit!” I heard John say, as he and Bob started running too. We rounded the corner into the Bridge access tunnel, and I stopped. I could just see Paula inside the bridge. She was sitting on the floor, her knees drawn up to her chest, weeping. Marc was standing outside the doorway, looking in, and he was absolutely white.

Shane stepped in front of us, holding out his hand to stop us. “Please, don’t go in there,” he implored. “It’s horrible.”

“What is it?” John asked.

“Fred’s head is sitting in the security position.”

“Where’s his body?” I asked.

“We don’t know.” Shane started turning gray. “Uh… Kari’s head is sitting on Marc’s console. We don’t know where her body is either.”

I stared at my sister, then pushed by Shane. I stopped and gave Marc a hug and told him I was so sorry, then moved to my sister.

I knelt down and pulled her to me, cradling her in my arms. I heard John speaking softly to Marc. “We’re gonna get this bastard, Marc,” he said. “You can count on that. He is not going to get away with this shit.”

“Bob, would you please escort Marc and Paula back to the upstairs?” he asked.

“No!” Marc shouted it. “I am going to personally kill that son of a bitch!”

“I’m going to help,” Paula said as she sat up. She looked me square in the eye. “I am going to cut his head off and feed it into the recycle bin, bit by bit.”

John looked back and forth from one to the other. “As stubborn as Rose,” he muttered.

“You’re damned right, Marc said as he pushed off from the wall.

“Fair enough.”

“Paula?” I gave her another hug.

She nodded once, then rose unsteadily to her feet. "I want Amos dead," she growled. "I want him completely and irreversibly dead."

She walked over to Marc and stood in front of him. “Whoever finds him first kills him. The other one gets to destroy his memory crystals. Deal?”

He shook her hand. “Deal.”

She turned to her officers. “If one of you has the opportunity to destroy that bastard, you will not do it. You will detain him for either Marc or myself. Is that clear?”

They both nodded, and she turned to John and me. “The same goes for you.”

“Wait a minute!” John began.

“I MEAN IT, JOHN!" I had never heard her so mad. "I had him killed once, and apparently the guy didn't do it properly. Well, that's not going to happen again! He took my baby sister, and he killed my husband and my best friend. He doesn't get to live, DO YOU UNDERSTAND, JOHN? ROSE?” We both nodded.

There was little else we could do.

To Not Let Go

Chapter 3.2

As we approached the door to the downstairs, we began to hear what sounded like excited shouting. It was like people were watching a sport of some kind. We arrived behind a line of men cheering and stomping their feet. They were dressed in what looked like simple white togas like I had seen in pictures of Ancient Rome.

We stood there for a moment, then one of the men turned a bit and caught sight of us. “My friends!” he exclaimed, almost musically. “You appear to be new here!” He spoke animatedly until he caught sight of me. "Child! What are you doing dressed so shamefully?"

A centurion must have heard because he turned and looked at us. "What!?" He hurried toward us, followed by several more, and grabbed my arm roughly. Another saw Paula and caught her in the same way. A third pulled his sword when it appeared that John was going to fight.

"You allow your women to dress like this?" the one with the sword was shocked. "Take these to the cells."

They led Paula and me away, while the men went in another direction. As we were dragged, I caught sight of a chariot. An honest to God chariot! It was black with gold trim, and it was moving swiftly. What was strange, however, was that four women were pulling it! They were naked, except for some kind of hat with feathers, and odd boots that looked like horse hooves. They had bits in their mouths, and each was wearing a bridle. Their arms were tied together behind their backs, and they were running all out. The chariot driver was using a whip and yelling for them to go faster.

Paula and I looked at each other, our eyes wide.

We were led to a room where there was a post and a man with a whip. I was scared. They fastened Paula to a ring on top of the post and ripped her clothes off. A guard who could see her front gasped. "It's a pony!"

“I’m not a pony!” Paula yelled at the guard.

The man with the whip walked around and saw her pubic area. "This is some kind of trick," he said. "It can't talk."

“What about that one?” asked the guard.

Two of the men grabbed my arms and pulled them around the front of their bodies. Then they leaned me forward, so I couldn't fight them. Another man ripped my clothes off from behind, then I was pulled straight up.

“Another pony!”

I tried to argue with them, but something was fastened around my head, and a bit shoved into my mouth. My arms were tied behind my head, and the strange horse hoof shoes clamped onto my feet.

While they were doing this to me, I saw Paula receiving the same treatment. Once they were done, We were led off to what appeared to be an auction block.

Sure enough, they were auctioning off several 'animals' They were obviously all women. Still, some had extra breasts and were referred to as cows. Others were covered in some kind of 'wool' and were sheep. There was a wide variety, but the ponies were the only ones that looked like normal women. It was no wonder they thought of us that way. What I couldn't figure out were the women we had seen on our way here. They were obviously women, but.

It suddenly hit me. Amos liked men. He was offended when I turned out to be a real woman. The boy he had taken to be his nighttime toy was made to be as feminine as possible. They called us ponies when they saw us naked. All the 'women' we had seen were males that Amos had feminized!

I was led up to the platform, and I wondered what the ‘women’ thought of the situation. I looked around but received a lash on the back with the whip. "Straight ahead, you damned beast!” the man with the whip commanded. He didn’t have to tell me twice.

“This pony," the auctioneer yelled, "was found with its previous owner as he was watching the races. He has been taken to the circus where he will fight the lions. He had his pony wearing male clothing!"

The crowd roared their displeasure. “What am I bid?” the auctioneer shouted.

The bidding started in earnest, and it seemed to go on a long time. Finally, it settled between two men who appeared to be quite wealthy. They went up and up, and then one was forced to drop out. The other one motioned for a servant to go and collect me, apparently, and I was led off the platform to him.

As I was led down, I heard the same story being told. Obviously, Paula was being sold. I was not able to tell who 'bought' her, though, as some kind of blinders were fixed to my face, which didn't allow me any peripheral vision, then I was led off.

We passed through the connecting tunnels between several bays. Eventually, we went through the U corridor, which took us through to the outside section of a bay. We were upside down from where he had been, but the gravity made it impossible to tell. As I was led into a stable, I heard men shouting commands, and whinnies, interspersed with the occasional crack of a whip. I hated to think that those whinnies were women, just like me.

I was backed into a cramped stall, and a rope was fastened to the halter I was wearing. It was then wrapped around a hook above me and out of my reach. The gate was shut, and I was left alone.

I took stock of my situation and saw that it was terrible. My arms were still uncomfortably fastened together behind my back, so I couldn't reach anything to release myself. My feet were incredibly sore in the boots. The stall wasn't big enough for me to sit down, let alone lay. Also, the rope that fastened me to the ceiling was only sufficiently short for me to get a mouthful of hay or some of the filthy water in the trough.

I guess it was nearly two hours later that my ‘new owner’ arrived. He had a bucket of something that he set down on the floor, then he opened the gate.

I tried to tell him that I wasn’t a horse, but I couldn’t speak clearly around the bit that was still in my mouth. I received a slap on the backside for my efforts.

“I’ve been told that you somehow speak. I’ve never seen a pony that speaks, nor do I need one. The next time you try, you will receive the whip. Is that clear?” Then he laughed. “Look at me, thinking that you can understand me.”

Once more, I tried. I didn't want the whip, but I did want free. True to his word, the man disappeared for a moment and came back with a strap. There was not much room in the stall, but somehow, when the thing touched my backside, it was excruciating. As he clipped it to the railing just within my vision, I saw that it had electric contacts and some kind of triggering mechanism on the handle.

“Don’t make my turn it up,” he told me. “You’re a valuable Buckskin, and I don’t want to do any lasting damage to your hide.”

“That wasn't the highest setting? Shit! I really didn't want to feel it any more powerful. I decided that when this asshole was near, I would do my best to act like the other 'ponies.'

To try it out, I gave a little whinny, and he laughed. “Good pony,” he said. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an apple and knife. He sliced the apple into sections and held it up to my face. It was hard to eat with the bit in my mouth, but I tried.

“Oh! I'm gonna have to talk to my stable boy. He was supposed to take that bit out." He reached up and unhooked it from the bridle, and set it on the stall railing, then gave me some more apple. I felt ridiculous standing there naked, eating an apple from the hand of someone who thought I was a pony, but I had to do it.

When I had finished it, he poured something from the pail into the hay trough. Oats. He shut and locked the gate, took his equipment, and left. Once more, I was alone except for the 'ponies' around me.

I looked around, but I didn't see anyone familiar. There were some women in another section that looked odd. They were quite large and seemed to be bent over at the waist. I wondered what they were supposed to be, but I couldn't get a good look, and it was getting dark anyway. It seemed cruel to me, as the owner had come in wearing a jacket, and here we were, standing naked.

I was very sore the next morning. My arms were numb from being in their position for so long, and my feet were killing me. I desperately wanted to lie down so I could sleep, but it didn’t look like any of the ponies were allowed that.

Apparently, the other women had gotten used to it. They seemed energetic when the owner came in, followed by some other men.

“They’re frisky today,” one of the newcomers commented. “Must be the new one. Have you decided what You’re going to call it, Hal?”

“Rose, I think.”

“That’s an odd name for a pony.”

“I had a dream last night. There was a woman in it who looked remarkably like this pony, named Rose.” He laughed. She was in some position of authority.”

The others laughed as well.

So there is something of their real selves left, I thought to myself. I wonder if we can get through to them.

One man disappeared for a moment, and he brought back what looked like some calipers. He measured my arms and my waist at various angles, then left.

“You’ll find that I’m a nice owner, Rose.” He patted my cheek. “I use Irons on my expensive ponies. Much more humane than the binders.”

He walked away, and I wondered what the hell irons were.

I didn’t have much time to wonder, however. A few minutes later, a man came in. He pulled the rope fastened to my halter tight, and then put a stool on the ground in front of me. He took a tool and removed the clamp from my boot, which promptly fell off my foot.

“What the hell?" he murmured. "Oh well. Have to fasten it the other way." He looked up at me and said, "Sorry about this, Rose."

He clamped the boot back on, then took out what looked like a drill. It was. I screamed as he drilled through my lower leg and then jammed a bolt through it. "Sorry," he mumbled as he drilled another hole through my foot and fastened a bolt. Then he brought out a wire feed welder and proceeded to weld the bolts and nuts into place. I passed out.

When I awoke, both feet were throbbing, but at least it was bearable. My bots must be working on healing them.

I fell asleep again and woke up when I heard someone opening the gate. I looked to see what was in store for me now and saw something new, which scared me more than anything I had been through already. They were holding some time of metal corset with attachments for my arms to be fixed behind me.

They removed the bindings from my arms, which were too numb to fend them off, then I heard them put some clamps over them. What scared me most, however, was when I saw the same drill. My arms were numb, but I still felt the drill bit go through. Once more, I passed out from the pain

When I awoke, I knew I was welded into the corset. My sides felt burnt, and I couldn’t bend my waist. So this was the Irons., It was more humane than the bindings? Really?

I didn’t know how long I had been here now. Was it hours? Days? There was no way I could be sure. A man came in and hooked a lead up to one of the bigger women. “Come on, Belinda,” He said. She moved forward, and he told her, “Good horse.”

So she was what they considered a horse. Wait a minute. He called her Belinda. Was this the same Belinda I knew? I looked at her face, and I felt sick. It was! This was Rashda’s wife!

Her arms were longer than they should be, and they were fastened into boots as were her feet. She had a metal corset welded on as well, At the base of her spine, a tail was hanging.

The stable hand led her to a spot near my stall and brought out a saddle. He placed it on her back and fastened it around her middle, then led her out.

I felt sick. This was the first person I recognized here, and she was transformed into something non-human.

I had been a pony for a long time, of that I’m sure. I had been trained as a pony, and even took part in a couple of chariot races. My owner was happy with the way I was working out and rewarded me well. I was given oats whenever I behaved appropriately.

Whenever he called me Rose, something triggered in my mind, but it was getting less and less each time. I was coming to believe that I had always been a pony.

Then, one day I was led out of my stall and hitched to a single pony buggy. My owner took me a long way, through winding city streets, and eventually to some enormous building. He unhitched me from the carriage and tried to lead me up the steps to the building. I balked. I had never climbed stairs before. He reached into his jacket pocket, where he kept an abundant supply of apples and sugar cubes and held one of the cubes up to my mouth. I eagerly ate it, and he backed up a step. This time, I followed, and we eventually made it up.

When we got to the massive doors, the centurion there exclaimed, “You can’t bring that thing in here!”

“I’ve got orders from the emperor himself.”

“I doubt that!”

“Are you calling me a liar?” My owner’s hand went to his sword.

The centurion placed his hand around the pommel of his sword as well.

“And what are you going to tell the Emperor when he finds that you didn’t let me follow my orders?” My owner asked the centurion.

The bigger man looked confused for a moment, then thought better of fighting. “Go ahead. If the Emperor doesn’t like you taking the ‘thing’ in there, it’s up to you to explain things to him.” He looked at me with a disgusted expression. “And if it makes a mess on the floor, I will have roasted pony for dinner.”

My owner led me in, and the guards posted at the door to the throne room opened them without question. Apparently, they had heard that I was to come in. I was led to a place standing beside three men. One of them cried out my name as I stopped. I think it was the one beside me.

I heard the crack of a whip, and I shook. I hadn’t felt one for a long time, and I didn’t want to now.

I stood there, nervously for several minutes. Finally, I heard another pony's shoes clicking as it walked up beside me. I tried to turn my head to see it, but my owner wouldn't let me.

I was confused. I recognized the voice of the man who had called my name. Why?

A moment later, everything flooded back to my mind. A man white as quartz entered the room. He turned to look at us, with disdain on his face.

Amos!

I knew who was beside me now, on both sides. Paula was on my left, and John, my husband, was on my right. I had been a pony for so long that I forgot reality!

Amos looked at me and smiled. “So, Rose, how do you like being a pony?” He turned slightly to take in Paula. “Did you like my present for you, Paul?”

Neither of us could speak with the bits in our mouths.

Amos turned and moved back to the throne. The legs were designed to look like four women, carved out of wood, with the seat positioned on their heads.

“Is this your pony, my Lord?" my owner asked the bastard as he sat on the throne. I was sure I heard one of the wooden women moan as he sat.

They were real women, I realized.

“It is now,” Amos told him. “The other one too.”

“My Lord,” cried Paula’s owner, “I paid good money for this pony.”

“And I’m taking it for tribute!” Amos responded angrily. “You’re damned lucky I don’t demand your life for insubordination!”

He stood and walked to the edge of the dais. “Begone! Both of you!”

Hal, as I remembered his name to be, didn’t challenge Amos at all. The other man bowed stiffly and left.

The self-proclaimed Emperor turned and walked back to his throne. As he sat, the woman moaned again. Amos stood and looked down at her. He clapped his hands, and someone came in quickly. "This leg is defective. Replace it, then put the old one in the incinerator. There is no need for a leg on my throne to make noise like this."

The man exited, and a few minutes later, he led out a girl who looked about thirteen years old. He had her kneel in the same posture as the others and touched a control on a remote. The girl quickly transformed into wood like the rest of them.

I watched as he removed a very long bolt from the chair that had obviously gone into the girl's wooden head, then exchanged them. He put the bolt in the new one, and Amos sat down.

“As you have probably noticed, I have very little respect for women. I see no reason for them at all as I can make any obedient person with my bots. Women are superfluous.

“You, John, are who I always hated. You and your smug manner." He looked back at me. "You were so easy to manipulate, Gene. I always knew you would be. You always seemed to care when we were children. You being female now, just made things easier. Your emotions on your sleeve could be used so easily."

“All of you present a challenge to me. You have disabled your connection to my nanobots. I applaud you. However, sheer force can overcome you.”

He clapped his hands again, and the man who had replaced the girl as a chair leg returned. Take the ponies and turn them into…. Let's see. It has to be something where they are restrained. Ah, yes. Put Rose into the new chandelier and Paula. Let's see. What to do with Paula." He eyed her for several minutes. Finally, he said, "Surprise me but make sure she cannot move. I don't want any still life decorations moving."

With that, he stood, and shouted, "Return the men to the games."

Then Paula and I were out of the throne room.

To Not Let Go

Chapter 3.3

Paula and I were quickly separated again. I was taken into an outbuilding behind the palace. I have no idea where they took Paula or if I would ever see her again.

I was locked in a stable once again, as a pony. This time, all I got was hay and disgusting water. I had no time to get out of the stall and move around. Nobody talked to me. In fact, I saw no one except the person who brought me the hay and water.

The bit was left in my mouth as well, so I had to try to eat around it, which was not easy. It was nineteen days until someone came in and let me out of the stall. I was walked into another building, which felt like a chamber of horrors.

I watched, thunderstruck, as a woman I knew walked in, disrobed, put on some leather catsuit, and positioned herself to be bolted into a chandelier. I saw that there would be one spot left, which I assumed was for me when she was 'installed.'

I could quickly run, but I had no way of removing the metal corset or the hoof boots I was wearing, let alone the bit and bridle.

I knew if I escaped, someone would find me and bring me back. I was a captive animal. At least until I had more flexibility.

I waited for several minutes while the corset was removed from my body and arms. I felt an enormous pain where the bolts had gripped gone through my arms, and I smelled burning flesh. I was reeling from the cauterization, but I had no time to waste.. My arms were like rubber and virtually useless, but I knew they would be repaired by my bots in a few hours.

My legs, however, were entirely different. They were still fit, and I had the hoof boots on. John and I had developed a fighting style that we used to hone our skills and strength. I kicked behind me at what I estimated would be the right height for male genitalia. I felt the connection, then spun around, using my other leg to take out the person on my right. I landed in a crouch as the third man tried to grab one of my useless, flapping arms, but he left his rib-cage exposed. I still had that silly helmet with the red plumes on my head. When the spike that the plumes were fixed to hit his chest, I heard a rib crack, then felt a warm fluid spray onto me.

I knew I had probably killed him, as the spray probably came directly from his heart. The bots couldn’t fix that wound before he died.

As I was running out, I wondered if his death bots would be like other ones, and trigger some program changes.

I didn't know where to go, so I went into the barn and hid behind some haystacks. I was worried that my escape might affect the others, but if I had been put in that chandelier, I might have been there forever.

That being said, I was anxious about everyone. Paula was especially vulnerable.

I heard people yelling, and someone running by outside the barn. It was quiet for a while, and then I heard someone calling my name. I almost responded when I realized that I wasn’t one of my team.

“Rose! The Emperor has your friends in the palace. If you don’t come out, they will die!”

I tried to flex my fingers, and amazingly, I could move them. They were still somewhat numb, but at least my arms wouldn’t flap uselessly at my sides.

I reached up and, after several tries, found the buckle for the halter and bridle. Gratefully I took them off and threw them to the floor.

It felt so good to be able to remove them myself rather than waiting for someone else to do it. I didn’t have the tools to remove the boots, but I reasoned that I had been trained to run in them, and they could be used as formidable weapons.

For the first time in who knew how long, I felt exposed in my nakedness. I stood up carefully and stepped out of the building. A guard spotted me almost immediately and came running. My arms weren't strong enough to fight with yet, so I resorted to hooves. I hit him hard, and I'm afraid the horseshoe built onto the bottom injured him severely.

Two more guards started toward me, and I think I surprised them by running at them. When I estimated I was close enough, I jumped, catching both of them in the throat with my feet. They went down hard. As I was picking myself off the ground, I felt someone grab my arm. It was Hal!

“Are you really Rose Carlson?” he asked me.

I didn’t know what to say, but I was tired of all this. I nodded while preparing to fight.

“Come on! We haven’t any time to waste!”

He started running, holding my arm, but I faltered. He stopped and told me, “Fine. You need to come, but do it willingly.”

“Where are we going?” I asked. “Back to your stable?”

“To rescue the others.” He started running toward the palace again, this time without pulling me.

What the hell, I thought, and followed him.

We stopped at a side door, and I watched as he carefully opened a door. “The guards don’t know how to think for themselves anymore. They’re almost as dumb as the women that I care for.”

“What is going on?” I demanded.

“Rose, we don’t have time. I’ll explain everything as soon as we rescue the others, I promise.”

I sighed but followed him into the building. I didn't like the situation, but I was prepared if something went wrong.

We wound through the building, and eventually went up some stairs and came to an opening. I could hear Amos speaking, then another voice. It was John!

Hal grabbed my arm. “Please trust me.”

“For the moment,” I told him.

He nodded. “Good enough.” He took my arm and told me, “Just go with it.”

He led me out of our hiding place and tensed his hand muscles, so it appeared that he had a tight grip. "I found this pony, my Lord."

Amos turned to look at us. “And what were you doing on the grounds?” he asked accusingly. “Guards!”

“Oh well," Hal said as he let go of my arm. He grabbed a spear from one of the centurions who still hadn't figured out what was going on and used the butt end to hit him between the legs. I, meanwhile, had rushed to the throne with a sword. I grabbed Amos by the shirt front, and happily, my arms were working now. I stood him up and prepared to separate his head from his body.

“Rose, No!” It was John, who ran up behind me and grabbed it before I could swing.

“Right,” I said. “This is Marc’s job.”

“It's no ones right now," Marc said as he walked up behind John. I looked around and saw that all the guards had been taken care of. They were simply too slow-witted and clumsy—no match for men who had survived in the circus.

“What do you mean?” I asked Marc.

Hal walked up and said, “We need his knowledge to restore the rest of the people.”

I released my grip on the sword, and John took it away from me. I started to shake, probably going into shock. If John hadn't stopped me, we could very well have lost any way of turning people back.

“You should have let her,” Amos said.

“And lose your knowledge?” Bob asked. “Not likely!”

“But you see, little child, I’m not really here.” His body started to change. He became a man that I found vaguely familiar, then his head separated from his body and fell to the floor.

I still had hold of his shirt, but I promptly released my grip. I felt like throwing up, but John turned me to the door. “Come on, Hal,” he yelled.

“I can’t! I have to care for the women at my ranch!”

John stopped. "You've been seen here. These people might be slow-witted, but they'll be able to recognize you."

Then Hal did something I hated but understood. He took the spear and put it through the heart of every guard in the room. "There lives as payment for the safety of the women in my care."

I was in shock, and I saw that Marc was green as well. John grabbed our arms, and we ran like hell.

We left the throne room, heading toward the door, but Marc turned right. He charged a guard with his head down and hit the man in the chest. With a whooshing sound, the air left the mans lungs, and he fell, gasping for breath. Without even seeming to pause, Marc grabbed the man’s spear and thrust it into his right chest.

“I hope you don't have dextrocardia," he said just before he ran to a statue. I knew it was a real woman, but she was covered with a form-fitting blue velvet fabric.

“Bob!” Marc yelled as he reached behind the woman and appeared to rip something from her body. “It’s Paula! Come on!”

Bob grabbed her feet, and Marc her legs, and we went in search of a place to hide until it was dark.

We had found a storeroom in some kind of temple and were trying to be quiet.

The men were attempting to free Paula, but it was proving difficult. The material looked like velvet but didn't want to rip. The position she was in made it difficult, but they finally turned her onto her side. The seam was tiny, but I saw finally found it. I carefully inserted a knife underneath the threads and started slicing them one by one.

It took over an hour, but eventually, I had the covering opened from her head to her backside. I pulled it off her face, but we found another problem. It looked like she was encased in some kind of lightweight metal. I started working on her left arm, and John started on her right.

It took nearly an hour, but we had her free of the material. But, now we had the metal to worry about. Again, I looked for a seam, but even if I found one, I didn't see how I could get it off of her. I was going to need a saw for this.

I finally found a seam starting at her wrist and going to her shoulder. There was a seam going all the way around her wrist as well. I took her hand and wiggled it back and forth. A moment later, it came loose in my grasp.

I screamed and dropped it! John quickly put his hand over my mouth to silence me. He was looking at the hand with revulsion as well. The arm, metal had slid out of the shoulders, and we could see her arm, just without a hand.

Without the arms there, several more seams became apparent. There were catches that the arm pieces hooked onto, which allowed the torso to come loose. Once that was off, we were able to release Paula's head and legs.

She was awake and gave me a huge hug, then I gently pulled out the feeding and waste tubes.

She tried to talk, but her throat was too dry. I hurried over to a janitorial sink. There wasn’t anything to put water in, so I asked John to turn on the cold water.

I did my best not to spill the water as I moved to my sister. She was still weak, and the hug had sapped her strength. Marc helped her lift her head, and I trickled the water into her mouth. It took a couple of times to get her enough water. Despite my best efforts, I spilled plenty.

She would need food for her bots to manufacture new hands for her, but at least we had her alive.

Late that night, we made our way to the corridors, which would take us upstairs to our own side of the ship. They were unguarded. We slipped in and cautiously made our way past the J tubes for the command level, then on to the sealed doors into our ring. Marc punched in the access code and turned the wheel. We could hear the seal release, and then it was open. We stepped through.

I was in the hospital, with my feet freshly removed from my hoof boots, when Rashda came by. He and John sat down by my bed, and we discussed things. Apparently, we had been gone for almost six months. I had known I had been a pony for a long time, but that just sounded impossible.

“You were starting to believe that you’d always been one, Rose,” John gently reminded me.

“I wasn’t starting to, John. I had gotten to where I completely believed it. The only thing keeping me halfway sane was the fact that Hal called me Rose.”

“Why is that?” Rashda asked.

“Something clicked whenever he did. It was like a feeling that not everything was right.”

“That’s probably why Hal called you that. So you had something to hold onto during the time.”

“If he wanted to give me something to hold onto, why was there any time as a pony at all?” I knew my voice was rising, but at the moment, I really didn’t care..

The fact that I’d been brainwashed into thinking I was a pony made me think of the other women in that stable. Perhaps Hal was benevolent, but he was still keeping women against their will.

I said as much to Rashda.

“What will do they have?” He asked. “They don’t know any better. From what you and John have told me, they have no idea that they are not what they have always been.”

I suddenly remembered Belinda, Rashda’s wife. She was there, in that stable as well. I wondered what he would think of that.

We talked about more things that happened, and then Rashda surprised me by saying that as soon as I was up and around, he was returning command to me. What?

“I don’t think so, Rashda,” I objected.

“Why not,” he asked me.

“For six months, I’ve been a pony, and you think I’m ready to go back to command?”

“We’ll see.”

That night, I had a terrible dream.

I was once again in my tack, unable to move my arms, and fastened to a hitching post. John was standing just a few feet away, negotiating a price with someone who was hidden in shadows.

I couldn’t see who it was, but the voice was a man’s. After a few minutes, I heard John tell him, “That sounds acceptable.” He turned away from the person, patted my cheek, said, “Bye, Rosie,” and walked away.

The person moved out of the shadows, and it was Kari! As she moved toward me, her skin seemed to slough off, and it became Amos!

I jerked awake, screaming. John was sitting beside me, and pulled me over to him. I pushed him away. “What’s wrong, Rosie?”

“No!” I yelled. “Don’t call me that!”

He backed up, a shocked look on his face.

“I’m sorry,” I told him. “I just had a nightma… a horrible dream.”

He sat for a moment. “I think I understand.” He held out his arms, without touching me, and he had a questioning look on his face.

I nodded, and he lowered the rail on the side of the bed, and sat down. He pulled me close, and this time, though I flinched at first, I was able to snuggle in.

I fell asleep sometime later, and I awoke with my head laying on his chest. He had leaned back, and his legs and neck had to have been killing him, because he hadn’t really moved from his seated position, but was fast asleep.

“John,” I said, shaking him gently.

“Wha…?” He looked around, and then sat up. I could hear his back cracking as he did. “That’s gonna leave a mark,” He joked.

“I’m not done sleeping, John, but I seem to feel a lot better with you to hold onto. Would you mind…” I gave him the best doe eyes I could.

“Move over,” he told me with a grin. I was happy to, but I gasped when I did. For some reason, my arms and feet were still sore. I’d have to talk to Dr. Jack or Sylvia about it in the morning. “Still sore?” He asked me.

“Yeah. It’s strange. I’d have thought the bots would have fixed everything by now.”

He reached over and pushed the button to call one of the doctors.

Sylvia came in, and I explained the situation to her.

She nodded gravely. “John, I’m sorry to ask, but can you move to the chair for a few minutes?”

John complied, with a worried look on his face. I know mine had to have mirrored his. What was going on?

She uncovered my arms and peeled back the bandages. She grimaced and shook her head slightly.

“Doc?” John asked her.

She sighed. “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen here, so I didn’t say anything.”

Now, I was really getting scared. For her to not say anything to me about something, it had to be bad.

She uncovered my feet and legs, then removed the bandages. She winced, then said. “I’m going to get Jack. Just relax, okay?”

“Uh… Okay. Easy for you to say,” I told her.

She hurried out, and John got up and took a look at the wounds. He stared for a long moment, then sat down without a word.

“What is it?” I asked him.

“I don’t know, Hon,” he told me. “Medicine isn’t my specialty.”

“But it isn’t healing, obviously.”

He shook his head.

“Does it look like anything has healed there?”

“I don’t know.”

I moved my feet a bit, and the pain returned, bringing tears to my eyes. I tried to keep a good face on it and said, “I won’t be doing that again.” I tried to laugh a bit, but it came out more of a gasp.

Jack and Sylvia entered the room. Jack did a very thorough inspection of my feet and legs, even touching one of the wounds.

“Uh, Doctor,” I said through gritted teeth. “Please don’t do that again.”

Sylvia had been working on a tablet, and she looked up when I said it. “It shouldn’t take me long, Dear,” she told Jack. “I’ll be back pretty quick.”

John looked at Jack quizzically. “Where’s she going?”

“She’s a wiz in the lab, John. We’re going to make some good, old fashioned, acetaminophen for you, Rose.”

“What’s that?” John asked, suspiciously. He was always very protective of me. He had been as a child, and nothing had changed in the millennium plus that we’d been married.

“It’s a drug that reduces pain and swelling. We’ve just never needed it with the bots.”

“So why do you need it now?”

“There’s something wrong with Rose’ bots. They’re numbers are shrinking.”

I felt my stomach go cold. Without them, I wouldn’t have any immune system. I said as much to Jack.

“Well, Rose, you’re in luck there. The bots are quite powerful, and we have a feeling that any disease aboard the ship has been eradicated a long time ago.”

“What about….” John paused searching for the word. “What did they call it. An infraction?”

Jack chuckled. “No. I think you mean an infection. We’re working on that.”

“We’ve got to keep the wounds clean, and reduce contamination.”

"Why are my bots disappearing?” I wanted to know.

Jack sighed. “If your bots were eradicated, a new supply, resonating on a different frequency could be put in their place.”

“And I could be controlled again,” I finished.

Jack just nodded.

---

I'd like to give a special thanks to Malady and Monica Rose for helping with beta reading. :-)

To Not Let Go

Chapter 3.4

I looked at my arms and legs. “Did Amos put something in me that stops the bots from continuing?”

“Your parents are on the way. They know more about bots than anyone,” Jack told me.

A moment later, Sylvia entered the room and gave me a glass of something to drink. It tasted horrible, and I barely got it down. After I drank the wretched stuff, I closed my eyes. I think I heard the doctors leave, then I felt John get on the bed with me again. I leaned into him as best I could without making my limbs hurt more, and tried to sleep.

Whether I did or not is anyone's guess. I just knew I heard John's voice very quickly, and opened my eyes. My Dad and Mom were standing in the doorway, and a few minutes later, Jack and Sylvia came into the room as well. I sat up as best I could, and John swung his legs over the edge of the bed, offering to help prop me up, as leaning on my arms would be uncomfortable.

“Well, Rosie,” Dad said, “This is a bit of a problem.” My stomach did a flip-flop at his words. Much as I knew none of us was immortal, I still didn’t want to die anytime soon.

“How?”

“I've checked out the metal used in your boots. The boots were coated inside with an alloy that would stop the reproduction of your bots. The normal cycle of a bot is about nine months, so the only bots you had left were the ones made within the three months before you went downstairs."

“That couldn't have been a regular alloy. That was a normal thing for a pony. Some of the horses like Belinda had…" I realized what I had just said.

“Belinda?” John asked. “As in Belinda Smythe?”

My throat was suddenly dry. I nodded.

“You didn’t say anything,” Mom commented.

“How could I tell Rashda that her body has been changed. Enlarged and made to be a quadruped, so that she can hold a saddle big enough to carry a man?”

Mom paused for a few moments. “Does she know who she is?”

I shook my head. “She’s a horse. That’s it. I don’t know if there’s anything left of those people downstairs to try to restore them.”

I wasn’t really interested in talking after that, but I still heard what my parents had to say. Dad told me that he was going to inject me with new nanobots tuned to my crystals. I would need to be in isolation for a little while as they slowly built my supply up.

It appeared that Amos was planning on putting a new set of bots in me that was tuned to a different frequency.

Before Daddy left, he turned back. “Each person down there has their memories stored in their crystals. Unless those have been destroyed, we should be able to bring them back. The one problem is returning their bodies to normal, although if I can find copies of their DNA, that won’t be a problem.”

”Rose.” My name was whispered. “Rose.” A little louder that time.

“Hmmm," I said as I snuggled into my pillow a little deeper.

“Rose.” Paula spoke that time, and I sat up.

“Owww!" I felt like screaming, but I held back. Sitting up had put a bit of pressure on the holes in my arms. I think the cauterization had broken loose in one spot.

“Sorry, Sis,” Paula told me as she put some pressure on the now bleeding spot on my arm.

“Ow!” This time, I did yell, and poor John, who was in his chair asleep, with his head leaning against the wall, sat forward.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“Well, as long as you're awake, would you call a doctor?" Paula asked.

He didn't question it but just did.

A couple of minutes later, Sylvia entered. When she saw what Paula was doing, she hurried out of my room, then back in, carrying a tray with some supplies.

"What happened?"

"I jumped, and I think I injured my arm, " I told her.

"Uh, huh." I watched as she pulled a small curved needle out of her kit and some black thread.

"Uh, Doctor?" Not since I was very young had I had any of the treatments I was getting now. I was slightly nervous.

"It's going to take a few months before your bots can take on the task of keeping you healthy, not to mention healing any trauma. This will hopefully help you heal." She poured something on my arm, which stung at first, but then the wound went numb. I sighed in relief as she started to sew something.

She removed the bandages from my leg and looked closely. She took a magnifier and placed it over her eyes, then bent close. She had sewn the wounds when they removed the boots, and now, she took a pair of tweezers and touched the edge of the injury. I jumped! It hurt like hell!

"I thought that stuff was supposed to help kill the pain?"

"Be glad I gave it to you, " she told me.

"Oh."

She straightened. "I'll be right back."

She didn't come back immediately, but Daddy did enter.

"Sylvia said you needed to see me."

"Well, I didn't know that, but you're always welcome," I told him.

He pulled up a chair to the end of my bed and looked at my legs under a scope just like Sylvia had. He shook his head, then asked Paula to roll up her sleeves.

He looked at her the same way, then asked John if he could see his hand.

John held out a hand, and Daddy brought out a scalpel. John pulled his hand back quickly. "Now wait a minute, Dad. What's going on?"

"I can definitely tell you that Paula and Rosie have no granulation of new tissue in their wounds."

Sylvia walked in, along with Jack, at that moment.

"We knew that the bots replaced the immune system. They handle the healing also. Apparently, our bodies don't have that mechanism on their own anymore, " Daddy explained.

"You think they might have sabotaged my bots as well?"

"When was the last circus fight you were in?"

"It's been a while, " John admitted. Probably four months ago. We were in prison for a while, though."

"Uh, huh. Can I see your hand?"

Reluctantly, John held out his hand. Daddy simply pricked it with the scalpel, and then looked through the scope at the wound. He started for a few moments, then said, "There is a bit of granulation, but nowhere near what should be there."

He paused, then his teaching mode seemed to get the better of him. "The bots are mainly organic in nature. Think of them as a white blood cell with jaws. With these jaws, they can pull a cell from its normal place and modify it. Then they can put it in a completely different place. When they modify the cell, they can even change it's DNA." He paused for a moment. "It sounds impossible, but that's it." He gestured at Paula and me." I've injected new bots in you two and looking at the sample that Sylvia took to the lab, they are there, but there's not enough to fix these wounds. Oh, over time, they would, but I doubt you want to wait a couple of months, do you?"

"No, " Paula answered. I just shook my head.

He held up a couple of vials. They contained what looked like blood. "These are bots that I've tuned to your bodies already. I'm going to inject a new supply right into the wounds. They should start working almost immediately." He watched as Sylvia took a drop of John's blood and left the room, then turned to Jack. We should get Marc and Bob in here to check on them too."

"I've already called them Vern."

Daddy nodded, then turned back to us. "Paula, I think you'd better lay back down. I'm not sure if you're going to feel this or not. You could be exhausted for a bit. They're going to need some tissue to build more."

Jack stepped to my side and took one of the syringes from my father. He injected it into my arm, then opened a small case, lifted out something little and black with a pair of tweezers, and placed it in my arm. "Ferrous sulfate, " he explained. "There's no reason to make the bots pull iron from hemoglobin to reproduce."

He looked at my arm again and gave a thumbs up to Daddy. I was getting tired fast, so I leaned back. I couldn't keep my eyes open, so I closed them. I must have gone to sleep because when I opened them again, it was just me and John laying down. I was still tired, so I closed my eyes and was back out.

It was a week after I had received the shots of surplus bots, and I was home. We were at a loss as to how to deal with Amos now. Risking our people to the possibility of losing their bots was not a great idea, as far as we were concerned.

I was sitting at the dining room table, going over what had happened. I had absolutely refused command. Until we knew that Amos had no way to beat us, Rashda would keep the ship. I got up and moved to the kitchen. I knew John would be back soon. He had gone to talk to Marc about some ideas. He hadn't explained it to me, and when I asked, he refused, saying, "There is no way in hell, you are going downstairs again. I caved once, Rose, but not again."

I was pissed! How dare he tell me I couldn't go back!? I was an adult! I didn't need anyone, let alone my husband telling me I wasn't allowed to do something!

While he was gone, Rashda called me and said there seemed to be some confusion as to who was in command. Now, I was furious. I yelled at Rashda, called him every name I could think of, and then some. I screamed at him some more, and then realized I was making a fool of myself, and, in fact, showing why I was too close to the situation to be in charge.

I stopped my tirade, and after a moment of silence, I apologized.

"No problem, Rose."

I knew he meant that, and I felt two inches tall.

John came in as I was making some dinner. He entered the kitchen and watched for a while. Finally, he commented, "Rashda called, didn't he?"

"Why do you say that?" I asked him.

He watched as I continued making some dinner.

"You usually don't put chocolate sauce in pulled pork," he told me.

I looked at what I was doing and then started giggling. I couldn't help it. Even though I had apologized to Rashda, I was still furious both at him and John. I was determined not to let my husband know how mad I was, but I guess I hadn't been successful.

"Would you believe I was experimenting?" I asked through my giggling.

He gave me his lopsided grin. "Might be good, " he said matter of factly.

Pearl walked into the kitchen at that moment. "Whatcha making, Mom?" she asked me and stuck her finger into the 'bbq' pork I had been trying to make, and then into her mouth. "Gross!" she exclaimed.

"Then again, " John said, deadpan.

My giggling became full-fledged laughter, and I leaned back against the counter behind me. I laughed so hard that tears came to my eyes. John joined in, and Pearl must have thought we'd lost our minds, but it felt good. I hadn't laughed in a while, and I needed it.

Strangely, I hadn’t been working in my restaurant for quite some time. After my fiasco with the dinner at home, I felt the need to get out and do something I enjoyed. I had been relaxing with music for quite a while, but it just didn’t seem to be enough.

Even before we were married, John always had a standing invite to dinner, as did our friend Perl. Now, at Heaven’s Rose, John still had his meals there when I was cooking working in the kitchen, as did our daughter, Pearl.

It was several days later that I felt up to my normal level in a kitchen, and I worked up a dinner of prime rib and several different complementary vegetables. I had our meals brought to my private table, above the rest of the dining room.

We sat down to eat, and I looked down at the dining room. Lots of people seemed happy that I had reopened the restaurant, but the amount of people here was much less than usual. I suppose the proximity to the DMZ stood in the way of many people attending. I didn't know what to do regarding that. It seemed that sitting, terrified of what could happen, was no way to spend your time.

Something strange happened below soon after we were done eating. A woman entered, and she looked familiar, but something bothered me. I wasn't sure what, but it was nagging at me. I observed as she was brought to a private booth across the way from us. It was eerie. I wasn't sure why, but I was even more unsettled now. My husband and daughter seemed to catch a bit of my unease, and John looked across the way. He stood up. "What the hell?"

Then I realized what was going on. "It's Belinda!" She stood and looked directly at us, then started walking around the upper level. A moment later, she was standing into the doorway of our private booth.

"May I sit?" She asked.

"I don't think that would be a good idea, " John said.

"Why not? How many times did Rose ask me to join you? I'm now accepting that invitation."

Pearl stood. "You're Amos, aren't you?"

"Very astute, young lady. You get an A."

Our daughter looked at us both, then said, "I don't think my parents want you here. I suggest you leave."

"But I've already asked Rashda to come here. Do you want to disappoint him?" She gestured at the floor of the dining room. "There he is."

I looked down, and sure enough, there he was. He had caught sight of 'Belinda' and was standing motionless, starting up at her. He hurried to the ramp and came up to our level and hurried to the door. Amos sat down. John made room for Pearl, and she sat down.

"What's going on?" Rashda asked. "How are you up here?"

Amos turned to me. "I know you had to have seen me, Rose. Didn't you tell little Pookie what happened to me?"

"I saw Belinda, Amos. And no, I didn't tell Rashda what happened to her."

"But why? Don't you think he deserves to know?" She, or rather he turned to Rashda, and the voice became Amos'. "Sit down, Commander."

"No!" I almost shouted.

"Rose, how many times do I have to tell you that you are no longer in command?" Amos asked, mildly.

"If he sits down, all bets are off. I resume command."

"And why is that?"

"Somehow, you can destroy the bots in a person. You tried to do it with me."

He laughed as he changed shape. He became Amos once more. "Did you think I had no recourse? That you could lock me away from my bots?"

"We took that chance, " I said. "It appears that we may have been wrong?"

A childish giggle escaped him. "May have been?"

"I'm not convinced yet."

"Should I convince you?"

I weighed the risks. I didn't think he had much more he could do to us, but he had those people downstairs, and I didn't want to risk them.

"What do you want, Amos?"

"I'm just here for a visit, John."ⁿ

My husband shook his head. "No. You're not."

Again, the giggle. "You're right. Rashda is coming with me. I have a little horsey down there who misses her husband."

“Why didn’t you tell me, Rose?”

I shook my head. “She’s not the same as me, Rashda.”

He turned to face me. “What do you mean?”

“I was made into a pony. She has been changed into a horse.”

He didn’t understand, and I didn’t want to have to explain.

I glanced at John, but he didn’t know how to explain. Amos was grinning from ear to ear, enjoying my discomfort.

“Don’t you think Rashda should know, Rose?”

I felt trapped. I knew what Belinda was, but I didn’t want to be the one to tell my friend. I opened my mouth, and no sound came out.

I watched, horrified as the commander turned to Amos. “Take me to her,” he told the madman.

“No!” I exclaimed.

“Rose. This isn’t your fight. This is personal. I’m giving control of the station back to you.”

“You’ll be changed! You will probably never see her!” John told him.

“I’ll take that chance. What would you do if it were Rose down there?”

John didn’t say any more. I didn’t either. I couldn’t.

Amos stood up. “Well, this is very interesting, wouldn’t you say? I probably shouldn’t agree to this, but… My heart… I feel so giving right now.”

He turned to me. “I will allow you to resume your command. I keep control of the command areas of the ship, however. All that you command, are your people. Rashda comes with me.”

“I want him back here tomorrow,” I told Amos.

He seemed to consider it, then nodded. “Alright.”

“Alive,” John interjected.

“I give my word, that when I bring Rashda up here tomorrow, he will be alive.” He started walking away, leading the former commander. He stopped and turned. “Until tomorrow. Same time, same place.” Then they left Heaven’s Rose.

I didn’t get much sleep that night. Rashda had asked what John would do if it were me down there. I know what John would do. The same thing that Rashda was doing. And, if the positions were reversed, I knew that I would move heaven and earth to get John back.

I couldn’t fault Rashda. He and Belinda had a special relationship, and I knew it had to be killing him to leave her downstairs with Amos. The problem was, I was afraid that going downstairs would kill him as well.

When I got up, I didn’t want to face the day. I felt that it would be grim, and I knew John did as well. The doctors and my family had already discussed the possible outcomes for Rashda, and Daddy was hoping that he could stop whatever Amos had come up with for the bots inside our friend.

John and I went to the restaurant, everyone was standing by to do whatever they could.

True to his word, Amos showed up with Rashda, at the appointed time. They sat down across the table from us. Amos obviously saw the security that I had all over the dining room, but he smirked. “Are you ready for whatever horrible things I might do today, Rose?”

I simply glared at him.

“Not to worry, My Dear. As promised, Mr. Smythe is returned to you, physically unharmed.”

I looked at Rashda, and while he did appear to be physically unharmed, that was not to speak for his mental well being. He looked haggard. I know what I saw in the six months that I was down there, and I wondered what he had seen in just one day.

Amos stood. “If you will excuse me, I have some discipline to attend to.”

He stood and made his way out of the restaurant. John stared at Rashda, then asked, “What happened down there?”

Rashda was shaking in his seat, but he didn’t respond.

“Was she alright?”

“She was a horse.”

I reached out to his hand, sitting on the table. “I’m so sorry, Rashda,” I started.

Suddenly, he was furious. “Why didn’t you tell me to begin with? When I could have done something?”

I stared at him, not knowing what to say. “You love those old shows, Rosie.” The way he said my name was filled with venom. “You ever watched The Godfather?”

With that, he stood up and stormed off. I didn’t know what to say. Yes, I had, and if what happened in the movie happened to Rashda, it would be a very long time before he was anywhere approaching normal.

Chapter 3.5

It had been three weeks since Rashda had gone downstairs to see what happened to Belinda. He had never confirmed what I thought occurred to her, but his statement referencing The Godfather made it seem likely.

I had spoken to John about it, and he agreed with me. We had watched the movie a few times, but now I felt like removing it from the ship’s archives. I didn’t think I could ever watch it again.

I was sitting in my office at my own home, as there was virtually nothing I could do actually to run the ship, however. My role now was more of a mayor or a governor. I heard the front door of our house slam, and Pearl stormed in and dropped into the chair across the desk from me. 

“Come in,” I said without looking up from what I was doing.

She didn’t say anything, so eventually, I finished the forms I was looking at, touched a corner of my screen, and the top of my desk became wood grain again. I looked up. Pearl was staring out the window at nothing in particular. I waited for a few moments, then asked, “What’s up, sweetheart?”

She shook her head, still looking at nothing. Finally, she looked at me. “This is bullshit, Mom.”

“I think I know what you mean, but would you like to elucidate?”

“That bastard gets control of this ship, and free run of it all, and we just have to sit up here and take it with our heads up our asses. Is that clear enough, Mom?”

Usually, my daughter didn’t speak to me that way, so I was a bit taken aback. “Uh… Yeah. I would say it’s pretty clear.” She continued to look at me like I should have some inspired ideas to fix it. I really didn’t. Finally, I decided to gauge her attitude a bit clearer. “Do you think your dad and I are just sitting with our heads up our asses?”

“No, Mom.” She sounded absolutely frustrated. “I just…” She sighed as if she was looking for the correct words.

I knew she had been friends with Belinda. They shared a lot of the same interests and were roughly the same age, although Pearl was born considerably earlier. The wonders of travel approaching light speed.

“What would you have me do?” I pressed.

“Nothing!”

I started to say something more, but she interrupted. “Do you know what Amos did to Belinda?”

“I have a rough idea,” I said very cautiously.

“And what do you think he did?” Now, it was her pressing me. 

I squeezed my eyes shut, and I tried not to think of the scene in the movie where the horse’s head is found in a man’s bed. “He removed her head.” I had seen this happen so many times to so many friends, that it shouldn’t have fazed me. It did.

“And then he cooked her, Mom! Rashda was already shaken by finding her head, and Amos mocked him. ‘I’m so sorry you have to go, Rashda. We have a delicacy tonight. My chef probably isn’t as good as Rose, but I understand horse-meat was once a delicacy on Earth.’”

I stared at her. “How do you know this?”

“Rashda told me. He was sitting by the lake last night, contemplating jumping in. ‘It wouldn’t do any good, though Pearl. The bots won’t let you drown.’ That’s what he said to me.”

“Did you alert anyone?”

“Of course, Mom. Did you really think I wouldn’t? Although, after what he told me, I wouldn’t have blamed him if he had followed through.”

Neither would I.

I wondered if my daughter was getting too close to Rashda after something happened to Belinda. I doubt she meant anything by it, as she and Belinda were such good friends, but I wondered if Rashda might think Pearl was rushing things.

At the same time, maybe he could use a friend -- someone who was a good friend of Belinda as well. Perhaps they could help each other with the loss of his wife and her friend.

We had little to do but wait. John and Marc were working with another brilliant man, Winston Reese, to come up with some kind of holographic cloak. It reminded me of something out of Star Trek, or Harry Potter. The idea was to use a camera and a projector system. I wasn’t entirely sure how they were trying to do it, but I figured that they were two of the best people for the job.

Winston had been with us since we were taken aboard N21. He was born in one of the last holdouts of Britain and spoke with a distinct British accent.

Winston understood photons like no other. He was responsible for our holographic technology that made the area John and my house was in, look like it was sitting in the country. Winston worked with Trent Carr, another of our brilliant scientists. He had worked for many years with shaped force fields. My understanding was that he was trying to use them in conjunction with Winston’s holograms to make them feel real as well.

I wasn’t sure how far they had come, but I knew that they were thrilled to work together. When Amos’ ‘fun’ started, Winston was touched by Trent. Winston had been straight before that incident, but Trent was gay. Winston’s body didn’t change in the slightest, but his sexual orientation did to match Trent’s. When the next stage started, they were bonded almost as quickly as Marc and Kari.

I walked into Johns lab, which was quite large. All four of them were present and working intently. I was surprised to see my sister present, as well. She and Marc had seemed to be getting interested in each other. I wasn't worried about that, but it seemed too early. I knew that both had been devoted to their spouses, and had no idea how they could be interested in someone else so quickly. I wondered if Rashda would be similar. There was a possibility that he and Paula might bond as well.

Bonding was an offshoot from stage two. When the nanites from a dead person started to affect others, they killed the change between the first compatible person you touched. That’s how John and I bonded, as well as Marc and Kari. After that first touch, you were drawn to kiss each other. It seemed innocent at the time, but once it was done, you would be compelled to have sex, and gender swaps would occur with you hating being the opposite gender.

In retrospect, it was interesting to see what John would have turned out like had be been born female, but I was just as glad that we were who we were now. Looking in the mirror during that time was an utterly horrendous experience.

The bonding, however, was something I was happy remained. No matter how much we loved each other, I wondered if we would have grown weary in the time we'd been together. John was a couple of months older than me, and we had been married for almost fifteen hundred years now. Kids had been born in the time after Amos' play and were not bonded. Some of their relationships hadn't lasted. However, none of the bonded couples had ever split apart. Some of us weren't married but had remained faithful anyway. There had been very few couplings between someone bonded and someone born after the fact. The result was a bond, but weaker. I suppose it was half that of a first-generation one. Mom and Dad had been trying to find a gene that might be responsible for the bond but hadn't had any luck. I secretly hoped that they wouldn't. I didn't want any possibility of destroying what John and I had.

Pearl had not gone through our time dealing with Amos’ atrocities. Consequently, she had never been bonded. I suspected that she was now, however.

It was roughly four months after we had returned from downstairs. Paula and I were sitting in her home, discussing Marc and John. There was no doubt that she and Marc were firmly bonded now. As with all bonds, she hated to be away from him for any length of time.

Surprisingly, they hadn't slept together yet. It was too early.

"How can you resist the bond?" I asked her.

"It's strange. I love Marc, and I know we will consummate our relationship at some point, but now isn't the time."

"I don't understand, Paula. Doesn't the new bond cancel the old one? I mean..." My question sounded callous, but I felt that I needed to understand the way it worked.

"I've thought about this, and I think it was a mistake on Amos' part. I think he wanted us to feel guilty about the compulsion to have sex with our new bond-mate. What it has done now that the pressure isn't present is give us the ability to hold off. Actually, I feel it would be a complete betrayal of the bond I had with Fred to consummate the one with Marc right now."

"Are you sure it will fade?"

"It has. I certainly hope it does entirely, otherwise Marc and I are going to have a tough time with our own bond."

"I would think so, Sis."

My phone chose that moment to ring. I glanced at it and saw that John was trying to reach me. I excused myself and stepped out onto the front porch.

“Hi," I chirped.

“Rose, can you and Paula come over to my workroom?”

“Sure," I replied. I could feel my bond to him, causing both a physical and emotional reaction in me. Like Paula and Marc, being separated for too long hurt. I suspected that was why seeing him in Amos' throne room pulled me completely back to being myself.

I went back into Paula's house and told her what John asked. She had absolutely no argument, and we hurried around the lake to my home.

When we arrived, we went straight to John's lab. He had never gotten used to having a lab, so he called it a workroom. He was an absolutely brilliant man but tried to avoid showing that to others. But, then again, I was hardly impartial. In fact, I was in awe of his engineering skills.

We entered quietly so we wouldn't disturb them. They were very busy, and I'm sure they didn't notice us at first, but finally, John glanced up. He saw us there, smiled, and beckoned us over.

We walked over, and as much as I didn’t want to flaunt my marriage in front of Paula, I simply couldn't resist giving John a kiss. I glanced at her guiltily, but she just smiled.

I looked around and saw my dad, Carter, and Winston, but Marc wasn't there. "I thought Marc was helping you," I commented.

“He is,” John told me.

“How come he’s not here?” I asked.

“He is,” Paula told me.

I looked around the room. “Where?” I looked at her strangely.

“Maybe you don’t notice it, Rose. You’re probably very used to it by now, but I knew when Fred died. I felt it. The bond just wasn’t there anymore.”

“Sounds very Vulcan,” John commented.

I couldn’t resist. “Fascinating.”

“It is, isn’t it,” came Marc’s voice from somewhere in the room. “I felt the same way when Kari died. I knew it had happened.”

I looked around and still didn't see Marc. I decided to ignore the fact that his voice seemed to be coming from the middle of the room, where no one was standing.

“So their lives have ended. Are they still alive in their crystals?”

“I really don’t know,” Marc said.

I turned to Paula. “Paula?”

“I don’t think so,” she answered.

“How would you know?” Daddy asked, stepping up to us.

Paula stared at him. “What do you mean, Dad?”

"Baby, I'm not arguing with you, but if there is no longer the organic body, how would you know?"

Marc's head suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He seemed to be pulling some kind of hood off. "I'm sorry, Vern. I'm not sure I understand what you're asking."

"I do," Paula said. "I believe that the bonding happens through the memory crystals. When the ..." She trailed off as Daddy was shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, Baby, but you didn't think it all the way through."

Daddy and Paula didn't often argue, and they weren't right now, but he was correcting her publicly. She never enjoyed that. I saw her clench her jaw, and I figured her tongue was probably very sore.

He saw too, and he said, “It's a good thought, but we turned off the wireless to the crystals. I've found that the bond has to do with the frequencies of the bots. Somehow, when a bonding occurs, they become secondarily tuned to the frequency of the bond-mates crystals."

"Then why don't I feel Fred's crystals?"

I answered. "You do, Paula. Remember? It's not the right you said the feelings we're lessening, but you would feel like you're betraying the bond with him if you acted on your bond with Marc."

Uh oh. I suddenly realized what I had said. We had an understanding that there were things we said to each other that we're strictly between us. "Sorry, Sis, " I said, barely above a whisper. She hugged me. "That's okay, Rosie. You're right. I hadn't thought about that."

Marc was now seated and was pulling off some strange, gray jumpsuit. I was very curious about it, but I didn't want to steer them away from where we were now.

“Why don't they occur with two kids?" asked Marc as he pulled his boots off. He stood up and was wearing only a pair of shorts. As I've said before, he was a very handsome man, and I had to avert my eyes. I glanced at Paula, and she had no inhibitions in taking in all of his physique. I giggled at her, and she glanced my way. There was no trace of a blush on her face. She knew what she was doing and didn't try to hide it.

“Hey!” John hollered over to him. “Put some clothes on! You’re turning everyone on!”

“You?” Marc asked, tongue in cheek.

“Well, the women anyway.”

I pulled John’s head down where I could whisper in his ear. “Okay,” he corrected himself once again. “You’re turning Paula on.”

“I don’t mind,” she said, still eyeing Marc. “You could lose the rest if you’d like.”

Suddenly, Marc was blushing furiously. “Maybe later,” he told her.

“So,” my dad said, clearing his throat, "Wanna explain Marc's outfit to the girls, John?" He paused. "I mean his invisible one."

“I like it,” Paula said, probably to derail Daddy more than anything.

“You know what I mean!”

“The jumpsuit," John shouted in an attempt to stop Paula from winding up our father even more, "uses micro-fiber optics to bend the light from one side to another, thereby rendering the person invisible¹.”

“Sounds somewhat far-fetched, wouldn’t you say?” Daddy commented.

“Yet it works.”

“What happens, John,” I wondered, “if any of the fibers get damaged.

“Very little, until several are damaged, and even then, they have to be in roughly the same place."

“What happens then?” Paula asked.

“We’re really not sure,” Marc said as he joined us, buttoning up his shirt. “I suspect that the subconscious mind might notice if before the conscious does.”

“So someone might be bothered, perhaps uncomfortable, but not know why?” I surmised.

“That’s my suspicion. Of course, if it’s big enough to be seen, we’re kinda out of luck.”

“What about sound?” It would be up to me if anyone used this to go downstairs, and I wanted to make sure any decision I made was an informed one.

My husband looked me in the eye. “We’ll have to be quiet.”

Clearly, he intended to be one in the expedition.

Two days later, John and I were in my office. This was one decision I did not want to have to make.

I debated staying behind my desk. I had always hated the damned thing, especially in what I had always wanted to be a music room, not the office of the commander of Neo22.

Finally, I sat down beside John, and we waited for people to arrive. I had told him what my decision would be. A privilege of being married to the commander. No, not a privilege. I didn’t have any secrets from John. It was his right to know. He, however, was not happy. He would not be going on this test run.

There was a knock on the door to my office. “Come in.”

Marc and Paula entered, along with my parents, Doctors Jack and Sylvia, and three security men, led by Bob.

I took a deep breath. "Bob, I would like you to take a group of your security men and Sylvia downstairs." I looked at Paula. "There are two reasons you won't be going with them. Number one, your bots aren't quite restocked, and two, we know what will happen to you if you go down. We're both considered ponies or furniture.”

“What about Doc Sylvia?” Bob asked.

“If I was caught, I would be considered a woman,” she told him.

“Oh," Bob seemed surprised but said no more about it.

“Why don’t I do with them?” Marc wondered.

“If I may, Rosie?” Daddy asked.

I nodded.

“They have already had your bots down there, and knowing Amos, he has undoubtedly scanned them. It’s best if we don’t give them your bots again.”

“Pardon me, Sir, but that doesn’t make sense. Bob has been down there as well. They’ve studied his bots as well.”

“I’m more expendable,” the security man said.

“I’m sorry, Bob, but that’s bullshit. None of us are expendable!”

“That may be true, Sir, but I’m more expendable than you. Correct Commander?” he asked me.

I couldn't speak. I only nodded as tears flooded my eyes. We needed someone who had been there and knew the way to the palace. It was a test run, yes, but if they could accomplish the mission without any problems, they were to do it. We were risking one of our possibilities with this incursion, but I had another idea. Finally, I felt I could speak.

“While they go down, I… I want…”

“Please, Commander. Let us leave first. I don’t want any information that they may extract.”

Jack and Sylvia stood and had a long, passionate kiss before she followed the three security men out the door.

“The rest of us,” I said after I turned on the recently installed soundproofing screen, “will work on a contingency if this doesn’t work. I hate the thought of resorting to this, but it may be our only hope. We’re going to prepare to blow ourselves free from the command center and downstairs.

“Sounds like a great idea, but won’t he be monitoring the computers?” Marc asked.

“We're not going to use the built-in charges in the event we actually resort to this," I told him. "We'll use them as a feint, however. I'm counting on Amos' arrogance for this to work. Since we have built-in charges, and only command staff was told about them, Carla didn't, or shouldn't have known they were there."

“So, what do we do instead?" Mom asked.

“John, Marc, and Paula will go outside and set charges there, while we try to arm the others.”

“Won’t Amos notice people on the hull?”

“It’s a possibility, Mom. But I don’t think he’ll have people watching. He’s simply too arrogant. Plus, we didn’t have EVA suits when he took over. John and Marc have made them while we supposedly sat on our backsides doing nothing.”

A couple of days later, the group was once again gathered in my office. We were going to try to help the four who were ready to "descend into Hell."

Daddy had developed a method of hooking us to other’s bots. Their memory crystals were actually in my office, and the vibrations would travel throughout the superstructure of the ship, allowing us to connect to their nanobots. John and I intended to connect with Doctor Sylvia, while Paula and Marc were connecting to Bob. Mom and Daddy were set to help another of the security men, and Doctor Jack and Rachel, our ship shrink, were ready with the other.

Normally, I would have let Doctor Jack connect to Sylvia, but I didn’t think his bond with her would be a benefit. If something were to happen, it could be too distracting. Surprisingly, he concurred.

We connected and watched as they made their way down the u corridor to the command level.

Bob and Paula had determined that they would recheck the command level to make sure they wouldn't have some creature at their backs as they continued.

This time, there were no surprises, although Bob flinched when they entered the command center. Whether it was from his own memories or those of Marc and Paula, I wasn't sure.

They hurried back to the U corridor to continue down when I asked them to pause. Everyone in my office heard me, so they stopped moving. "Does anyone else notice the shimmering in the air?"

Sylvia and John could tell where I was looking through the link, and though the link, I heard Sylvia think, as John said out loud, "Behind us."

“I see it now. What is it?” Paula wondered.

“Another of Amos tricks?” This came from Daddy.

“Let’s get out of here.” Jack sounded nervous.

Sylvia started hurrying toward the U corridor, and the disturbance followed us. I kept watching behind, as John announced, “They’re surrounding us.”

All of a sudden, I saw something near the floor. "Ouch!" exclaimed one of the security men. Mom cried out at the same time.

“What the?” It was Jack. “It’s into your suit! It looks like something is crawling up and down your leg!”

Mom screamed, and the security man yelled out, but his voice ended in a gurgle.

Daddy yelled, “Let go, Bernie!”

“Help her!” John told me. “I’ll stay with Sylvia!”

“Get the hell out of here,” Paula shouted.

I pulled myself away from the crystals and looked over at my mother. She was gripping the watch of the security man, while Daddy was trying to pull her hands away. I was horrified to see her skin pulsing randomly as her bots seemed to be trying to follow Daddy's orders, and make her let go as well. Suddenly, her hand opened as if it was spring-loaded, and the watch flew out of her grasp and cracked against the wall. Daddy was staring at her hand. I looked back and saw that a literal tentacle of silver was retracting back into her skin.

A moment later, she collapsed onto the floor. Daddy picked her up and headed out the door, presumably to the hospital. Jack followed, leaving Rachel to watch out for her guard.

“What the hell just happened?” I asked no one in particular.

“He’s gone,” Paula responded as she continued watching out for Bob. “It was as if they consumed him.”

“What were they?” I wondered. “Were they bots?”

“Who the hell knows?” Marc said. “We’ve got to get our people out of here, though.”

The remaining members of the team started back but stopped as they came upon more shimmering ahead. Slowly, it advanced on them, leaving the only alternative to being 'eaten' a descent to Amos' hell below.

Chapter 3.6

I rejoined John in observing Sylvia. Our people were being forced downstairs, and we were helpless to stop it. We watched as they came were herded to the palace, and then the throne room. I gasped as the shimmering air coalesced into a man.

"Here they are, my Lord, " he told Amos, who was sitting, once again on his throne.

“Excellent, Freddie. You may leave now,” the self-proclaimed monarch told him. He turned to us. “Well, now. You may as well remove your invisibility things. I know that you are here. Also, I will want to inspect them.”

“No!" John said quickly. "Don't remove them."

"Oh, come now," Amos said after a moment. "There is no fooling me. I know that you are there. There is no reason to try to hide from me."

I had an idea. "As slowly and quietly as you can, move to either side of the door."

"Do I need to bring Freddie back to show me where you are?"

"Perfect. As soon as Freddie comes in, move out the door, then split up. See if you can find Amos' memory crystals."

We watched as the three moved away. Amos' eyes remained fixed where he thought they were. There was just enough time for them to reach the back of the hall before Amos called for Freddie. When the door opened, the three quietly slipped outside.

They moved away from the throne room quickly, and I verified that they were going in different directions. We watched Sylvia ascended some stairs, and crept slowly down a passageway. There was no one around, and she carefully opened doors and looked into the rooms as she advanced.

In one of the doors, she saw what looked like a harem, and someone stood up and turned to look at the door. "What is going on?" she said, in what was obviously my voice. I gasped as the woman got closer to the door, and moved out of the shadows. She looked exactly like me! Amos had transformed one of the women – no! Probably a man, into a copy of me, except, knowing Amos, the girl probably had extra bits downstairs.

“That bastard is going to die,” John muttered.

Sylvia backed away from the door, and the girl shut it. I shuddered, knowing that the person had been one of our men.

Sylvia kept moving and didn't run into anyone else, although a couple of people passed her in the hall. Finally, after many pauses, she descended a staircase at the other end of the corridor.

When she reached the bottom, she started to turn right, but then heard voices to her left. One was Amos, While the other sounded like Bob! She quickly turned and headed toward the sound.

I relayed what she was doing out loud.

“No, Sylvia!” It was Paula. Although she couldn’t hear her directly, she heard her through our link. “Stay away. The buckle is where I hid it in a closet under the stairs. Hurry, they’re trying to get the information out of me!”

I heard Paula gasp as Bob was hit, over and over. I felt Sylvia react to the sound as well, but she hurried to a door she had seen when she turned. She opened it and slipped inside, but couldn't see the thing until she closed the door and saw a red glow on an upper shelf.

She grabbed it with her hand still gloved, then found a flap over a pocket. She carefully pulled the Velcro™ apart and slipped the buckle into the pocket. After she had smoothed the flap down and made sure nothing underneath it was showing, she slipped out of the closet again, soundlessly shutting the door. She started down when she heard someone moving down the hall in front of her. They turned the corner, and she saw that it was Bob, Amos, and Freddie.

Bob looked terrible, and she relayed that to us. I told her, “Paula says the signal is getting weaker and weaker. Bob was injected with something by Amos as soon as Freddie caught him. We’re not sure why, but Freddie can’t change into… whatever it is for another couple of hours.”

“She wants to know what to do about Bob?”

“Leave me. Let me allow you to get out,” Paula relayed.

“I don’t see it, Bob,” Amos growled.

“I swear, that’s where I put it!”

“Freddie, teach him some manners for a guest.”

Freddie pulled his fist back and hit Bob in the face, saying, “Never steal from your host!” I could hear the sound of Bob’s nose and cheek breaking from the blow.

“That’s rule number one,” Amos announced solemnly.

“Never lie to your host!” Freddie announced as he landed a blow in Bob’s gut.

The door to the outside opened at that moment, and Sylvia was able to slip outside before she heard more.

She hated to continue to sneak around. She wanted to break into a run, but she feared that she would be treated much worse than Bob if she were caught with the buckle in her pocket. She continued by stealth, toward the U ramps, and relative safety.

It took her close to three hours to get the short distance to the U ramp. On the downside, there was no wall up, or a door to block entrance to the walkway. She observed many people near the edge of the ring, where a marketplace was set up. They didn’t seem to notice the opening behind them, although it was large enough to drive several trucks through at once. One man walked soundly into the wall, and then turned, not even seeming to notice it.

Thinking about it, she doubted the people even realized that they were on a spaceship. The buildings, like all of them, were in the bays, which seemed to be wide open. I hated to say it, but someone had an interesting idea. The walls of each bay showed what was going on in the next one. When I had been a ‘pony,’ I had not thought of it, but I never saw any walls. The inside could be made to appear to be whatever we wanted, and it was almost indistinguishable from the real thing. I dearly wished that Winston or Carter had thought of it.

Sylvia carefully maneuvered around the sales booths and up to the ramp. She hoped that there would be no sudden perception of it when she started to make her way up. She took one more look around and then started moving up.

There were no incidents this time, and she arrived at the open door, silhouetting a grinning Jack.

It was the next day that everyone gathered in Daddy's and Mom's laboratory. Once again, Daddy assumed the role of a teacher. "This is fascinating. I've discovered some of the mechanics of Amos' tricks. Some of them, but certainly not all."

"Have you figured out how he can possess someone the way he does?" Jack wondered.

"I've found some things that suggest how it's done."

I was inquisitive. In retrospect, I saw that Amos had not let me understand the way this was done.

"There is a fluid on the outside of these crystals. It doesn't evaporate as long as it remains there. Don't ask, because I have no idea how that's managed. When it touches the skin, however, it disappears quickly. This leaves bots that we're suspended in the fluid to make their way in through the skin."

"But how can they take over that persons bots?" I asked.

"They use the same basic function as a bonding does. Amos' bots program those of another person to respond to his frequency."

"And his is given precedence?"

"Exactly, Rosie."

I sat down on one of his benches. "So what can we do? It sounds like he should be able to take over anyone. Possess them, anyway."

"Well, that's where things get interesting," Mom took up the teaching. "When we monitored those going below," as she said this, she got pale, "we could connect because of the physical connection to their memory crystals. Since he doesn't have the radio to use, he would need the physical connection to be able to control. With his frequencies being tapped in, he can watch what the person sees. Even talk like we were able to, but he can't control. There is no way to reprogram all the bots to his control."

"Yes, there is, Bernie," Daddy argued.

"He hasn't set it up yet, and it would leave the person entirely out of his control while programming was done," Mom replied.

“But once the programming was done, it the person would be completely under his control,” I said.

“Without his control, would a person’s mind revert back to normal?” John asked.

“We would have to examine the mind of someone under his control,” Sylvia said.

“No, I don’t think so,” I wasn’t an expert, but I think they were missing something. “I still hate the thought of returning to my male self.”

“That's hardly conclusive, Rosie," Daddy laughed. "You never liked being male."

“It may not be conclusive for Rose, but it is for me,” Rachel said.

“And for me,” said my older sister. “I was never like Rose, but I can’t stomach the thought of being male. I haven’t been able to since I was changed in the situation room.”

“I was a man before, but I’m trans now. I had surgery, and I’m happy with myself,” Rachel told us.

“So some things remain. But most of those people down there have been changed so drastically. I don’t think anything of them remains.”

Rachel shook her head. “I don’t think you can change anything in their crystals. Once a memory matrix has been written, it’s there to stay.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I’ve studied the crystals extensively in my work, and I’ve regressed through my own. I can see the point where I enjoyed being a man, but it turns my stomach to even consider going back now. The point is, however, Those memories are not colored by what I am now.”

“So, in theory, we could bring a person back to who they were before?”

She nodded.

“Could you reconfigure their bodies back to themselves?” I asked my parents.

“In theory, certainly.”

“Now, we just need to figure out how this thing can benefit us," I sighed, looking down at the horrible crystals.

Paula placed a dozen guards at each of the connecting tunnels between the two halves of the ship. Many volunteers were stationed where they could see the outside of each bay from the outer ring.

Marc arranged for an alarm system triggered by some cameras. He stressed that the camera was no replacement for the human eye, and the volunteers remained in place along with the cameras, watching for an incursion from below.

Daddy grabbed Marc and enlisted his aid in some kind of system. I had no idea what it was and demanded to be brought into the loop. Daddy wouldn't budge.

Finally, he and Marc showed me a device that might help against a beast like Freddie. "It is a simple EM pulse generator," Marc explained. "It's limited to a minimal area, but we might lose a few lights and maybe hologram projectors, but hopefully we'll be able to break him apart if he makes an appearance."

“You’ll kill him,” I said quietly.

“I understand your reluctance, Rosie, but I’m afraid this is a case of better him than us.”

“He’s one of us, Daddy!”

“I know it, Sweetie, but right now, he’s trying to kill us.”

I thought about it and then came up with an idea. "I have an idea for you two to work on."

“What is it?” Marc asked.

I told them.

We entered my parent's bot lab a few days later. Mom was preparing to lecture on her project when we heard an alarm! Paula made a call, listened, then told us, "Come on!"

We ran into the town square and to the entrance to the connecting tunnel. I looked around, shocked. “Where are the guards?” I asked.

“We’re here,” someone said. I watched as several people pulled off invisibility hoods.

“Okay," I said, glaring at my sister. "Someone didn't feel It was necessary to tell me that you were invisible."

“Sorry, Ma’am,” the guard said. “I didn’t mean to shock you.”

“Don't worry, George. I was just surprised. Now, what happened?"

He led us down the ramp. The floor of the ramp seemed to be covered with grease. "Ivan noticed some kind of disturbance in the air, so he set off his EM pulse." Ivan stepped forward, and I noticed that I could see the outlines of his body, even though he was still wearing his suit from the neck down. It had the same greasy appearance as the floor.

“Are you telling me that this is the remains of Freddie?" I asked, sickened.

“Or someone like him,” Ivan told me.

I felt faint.

“John, can we get someone here to clean this up?” I asked.

“Wait!” Daddy said. “Let’s see if we can come up with a way to get this to my lab. I want to study it.”

We headed back, which was a relief to my stomach. I imagined I could smell rotting flesh in the tunnel, although I knew it was purely psychological. Getting out of the tunnel and breathing fresh air was bliss for me.

Entering Mom’s lab, I was interested to hear what she had to say. “I’ve come up with a way of infiltrating Amos’ crystals, hopefully without him knowing.

“You’ve what?!” Daddy was surprised. He had been working on his own project with Marc.

“You disagree, Dad?” Paula asked.

“No. If Bernie says it will work, I’m sure it will. I’d just like to look at her figures.”

“You look at her figure all the time, Dad,” Paula said, trying to wind him up.

“You're sure it will work, Mom?" I asked, trying to deflect the winding-up, once again.

“Well, no, but I think it will.”

“I’ll try it,” I said quickly.

“No!” cried my knight in shining armor. “You will not.”

“I’ve been there, John.”

“Yes. All the more reason to keep you out of there.”

“How are you doing it?” Daddy asked.

“It’s actually using a lot of what we discovered earlier. I’m ready to add Amos’ frequency to one of us’s bots.”

“Since you’re not sure, we could potentially be sacrificing someone on our side to Amos,” Jack said bluntly.

Mom turned to glare at Jack. "I know you weren't happy about Sylvia going down there, Jack, but everyone down there right now is sacrificed to Amos. We are trying to gain redemption for them. I don't know if this will work or not, but I'm willing to give it a try!"

With that, I watched in horror as Mom took a syringe and jammed it into her arm, and pressed the plunger.

Mom was lying down in the hospital. Daddy and Jack were discussing what she had done in the other room. They were looking over her notes on the bots she had injected into herself.

Paula was busy with Marc, Rashda, and John, preparing our charges to separate the two halves of the ship, if it became necessary. The problem is, what Mom had done, might make it essential.

I was not an electrician. I was not a doctor. At that point, I was a daughter furious with her mother.

“What the hell were you thinking, Mom?!”

“I...”

“Or should I rephrase that? Were you thinking?!”

“Rose...”

“It was a completely stupid thing to do! Are you trying to get yourself killed? Get us all killed?" I paused in my tirade. Mom just pushed the button, raising her bed up, so she was in a sitting position. I grabbed the control and shouted, "You're s'posed to rest!"

“Don’t touch that control. You may be the commander of this ship, and I respect your abilities there, but I’m still your mother. Do not take that tone with me, and don’t treat me like I’m stupid. I knew exactly what I was doing.”

I brought my head up quickly. I was somewhat surprised. She hadn't talked to me that way since I was a child. I dropped the bed control and almost fell into the chair behind me. I felt like I'd been slapped. She definitely hadn't lost her touch as a mother.

I sat there and worked to regain my composure. Finally, in a small voice, I asked, “What were you intending? Why did you do that?”

She smiled. “What question would you like me to answer first?”

“They’re the same thing, Mother,” I said sternly.

"No, dear. They're not exactly the same. What I intended was to make myself able to pick up the frequency that Amos crystals vibrate at. Why? Because I want this to end. He has killed my granddaughter, possibly my daughter, and my son-in-law. I want him dead."

"And are you picking up the frequencies, Mother?"

"Please, Rosie. I'm still your mom."

"Yes, Mom, you are. But I am furious with you right now!"

"Why?"

"I don't want to lose you! I lost Carla! I lost Ronda before I ever got to know her. Fred was a wonderful man, and we lost him. Belinda was a friend who, and I saw her as a horse, Mom! I know they're dead, but we don't know about Carla. I can't let go of her. If there's any chance, I can't let go! And I can't let you go! How could I?"

She reached out and pulled me down to her. I cuddled up to her like I hadn't since I was a small child. It felt good to be held by her in that way.

After a while, Daddy entered the room. I looked up at him and sat up. I started to get up, but he held out a hand. "It's okay, Baby. Stay there."

"Daddy, Paula is Baby. I'm Rosie."

"Not right now. You're our baby."

"Okay," I said, sniffling. I had always been secretly jealous of Paula for having that pet name anyway, so I enjoyed Daddy calling me that.

"Bernie, I've gone over your figures. I can't find a fault in them. I'm still furious at you."

"Like father, like daughter."

"I can imagine. This was reckless."

"We were going to argue about who dove into his memories until the cows came home. I simply solved that problem."

He shook his head. "You put yourself at risk, Bernice."

Mom's eyes may as well have shot Daddy with fire. "Vernon, I did what was right!"

"We don't know if you will be pulled in!"

"You know damned well that it is unlikely. Rosie was pulled in because she was touching the crystals. I won't be." Mom was getting angrier by the moment. I got up and secretly moved to the chair. Usually, I would have left the room, but I needed to hear what the risks were.

"Because I will be interfacing directly with the crystals, I will not be drawn in." I will not be utilizing Amos' buckle computer."

"What's the difference, Mom?"

"I don't think he'll notice me because I'm not sending anything to his crystals. My bots should be programmed to only receive from them."

I looked at Daddy for confirmation. "They should be," he said, "but we don't know for sure."

She sounded exasperated. "Now, Vernon, we don't know for sure, but you said you couldn't find any faults in my figures."

He pulled up a chair beside mine and sat down with a sigh. "No, Bernie, I can't. It looks like you're right. I sure hope you are."

"I do too, Vern. I really do."

Daddy turned to me. "Commander, I'd like your permission to do something."

"Do you really need my permission?"

"In this case, Baby, I do."

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to turn off the radio frequencies to Amos' crystals."

"If you do that..."

"He can't directly control people anymore."

I saw benefits, but I also saw detriments. "He might try to attack us faster."

"There is that."

"He also may try to set up his frequency controlling of people."

"I don't think that will work. Amos is brilliant, but he needs the computer to control them, and he won't have that."

I thought about it, trying to turn it this way and that in my mind. I knew my parents were just as brilliant as Amos but in different ways. I sighed. I didn't want to risk our people downstairs, but we needed his control lessened in any way.

"Okay, Daddy. You have my permission. But only after we are certain we can separate from downstairs. We won't risk our lives as well as those down there. I mean it."

"I agree, Rosie."

I guess I wasn't Baby anymore. Oh well.

Chapter 3.7

”No!” I shouted at Mom. “I won’t!”

“Rosie! Yes, you will. You have to.”

“Why?!” I asked, still unable to lower my voice.

Mom gave me a half-smile. “Sweetheart, we don’t know if I can be overpowered by Amos or not.”

“So you want me to lock you up, just in case? I can’t do that, Mom!”

“Rose, if I became violent, what could happen to all these people?”

“What if you give false information?”

“There is that too, but that doesn’t necessitate my being locked up.”

“You can be restrained.”

“And possibly hurt, or worse yet, change the person who is trying to restrain me. No. I need to be locked in a room where I can’t do that.”

I thought about it, and I knew she was right. It was horrible to make that decision, and worse yet, do it. I figured that house arrest would be sufficient, and Daddy said he would sleep in his lab for the time being. Anything to get this over with as quickly as possible.

I couldn't order Paula to lock Mom away. I had to do it myself. Once it was done, I hurried to my home and contacted her. "Are you sensing anything, Mom?"

"Very faintly, Rosie. I don't think I'm fully equipped with all the bots I need yet."

"I'll let you out, Mom."

"No!" It was John at the door to my office. He came over and sat down beside me. "Rose, I know you don't like your Mom locked up. Shit! I don't like it either. Your family was always a second one to me." He paused for a moment, and I saw something that no one, besides me, was ever allowed to see -- raw emotion on his face. Sure, he allowed people to see him laugh, but sorrow and hurt were reserved for me alone. This time, he let Mom see it, and I think she was stunned. He turned to her, and the pain was evident in his voice. "Mom, we're going to end this, and you will be released, I swear."

"I know it. I'm not worried about that." She smiled, but I knew it was forced. She knew she was in a precarious position.

It was late the next day that she told me she was starting to see his memories. It was still only fragments, but it was definitely there. Pearl and I waited for it to be clear enough for her to describe what she was seeing. It took another day, and then she cried out. "I'm in!"

Pearl grabbed my hand, and I was happy that she was there. I couldn't take this alone.

"This doesn't make sense! He's not worried about us having his crystals. It seems that he wants us to have them. He wants us to discover... Oh, my God!"

"What?! Mom!" She was quiet.

"Grandma!"

"Mom!"

Slowly, she focused on me. "Amos told you lots of lies, Sweetie. Yes, he found you attractive, but that's not why he hated John so much."

I wasn't upset about that. I couldn't believe he thought John had brainwashed Perl and me. That just didn't make sense. "Why did he hate him then?"

Mom shook her head, and for a moment, I thought she wasn't going to tell me. "Pearl, would you let me talk to your mother privately for a moment?"

I nodded to Pearl, and she stood uncertainly. I was uncertain too, but I thought this might be important.

As soon as the door shut, Mom asked me, "Rosie, do you know what super-fecundation twins are?"

I shook my head. What did this have to do with anything?

"Melody Carlson had a set of twins. But she was cheating on George. Super-fecundation twins have different fathers. George was one of the fathers, and Ron Goodwin was the other father."

"You're saying that Amos and John are brothers?!"

"Half brothers, Rosie. Yes." I didn't say anything as it was plain she wanted to say more.

She didn't speak for several minutes, and I couldn't take it anymore. "What aren't you telling me, Mom?"

"Amos did some genealogical work when he was younger. He traced his genes. There was no way Ron Goodwin could be his father. Amos felt, and rightly so that his 'parents' didn't like him very much. I dove through those memories. Even from my perspective as an adult, there was no love shown to him."

"He felt he got the short end of the stick by not going with his father. And he was probably right, although right now, I'm not impressed with George and Melody Carlson."

"Did they know?"

Mom nodded. "He confronted them before he killed them. They knew. The Goodwins didn't."

"Why?" I was having a hard time keeping my voice under control.

"Amos was an albino. They thought he was sickly and didn't want him."

"That can't be right! John wasn't raised that way, Mom! He's not like that!"

"I know he's not, Rosie. Remember that time John got to our house early, and you had to rush up and change?"

I nodded. Of course, I did. You didn't forget things with the crystals.

"While you were upstairs, he told me that you liked Amos, and so did he, but his parents said Amos wasn't a good boy, and not worth a friendship. He said he didn't like his parents saying that, and he would be friends with who he wanted to be. I didn't think much of it. In fact, you were both so young that I pretty much ignored it."

"So you're telling me that Amos was justified? That's what Carla told me! Or rather Amos as Carla!". Suddenly I was glad Mom had me lock her up.

"No, Rosie. I'm not saying that at all."

I eyed her suspiciously. "Then what are you saying?"

"He feels John had the life he would have had. Should have had. You are essential to Amos because he can hurt John by hurting you. You and John both need to keep your distance. Let the others do the work: delegate, Sweetie."

I stood up. I simply had no idea how to deal with this. I needed to talk to someone. I didn't dare speak to John. Not yet. How could I tell my beloved husband that he wasn't the person he thought he was? I didn't consider for a moment that he knew. That didn't fit his character, and he would have told me by now.

I felt horrible. I didn't feel I had anyone to talk to. Finally, I thought of one person I thought I could speak with. I excused myself and left the room. Pearl was waiting in the living room. "Ready for me to come back?" She chirped.

"No, sweetheart, and for the moment, no one enters my office except me."

Pearls eyes got wide, but she didn't argue.

I made my way to Daddy's lab, Marc was busy working on some electronic doohickey when I entered, and I asked him where Daddy was.

“He’s getting some sleep. He’s been working on this almost nonstop.”

“Oh, no!" I exclaimed. "I really needed to talk to him."

“It’s okay, Rosie,” I heard his voice as he stepped out of the back room. He looked very bedraggled. I was sure he wasn’t sleeping very well without Mom. “What’s up?” he asked as he tried to wipe some sleep out of his eyes.

I didn’t really know what to say. I collapsed onto a chair in the corner where Daddy and Mom frequently took breaks when they were working on something together.

“Is it your mom? Is she alright?”

He was starting to get concerned, and I guess my frustration wasn’t helping anything. “She’s alright, Daddy, but she told me something that she’d found in Amos’ memories that is disturbing.”

“I’ll make myself scarce,” Marc said as he exited the lab.

Daddy watched as Marc exited, then asked, “What did she say?”

It came out a garbled mess. “Mom says that John’s mom had twins, and one was Amos, and one was John, but John’s father was actually Amos’ father, and Amos’ father was actually John’s.”

I figured I’d have to repeat myself, but apparently, he was able to decipher what I was saying.

“So the two of them were switched at birth? Was it a hospital mistake, or something else?”

“Mom says that John’s parents knew about it, but that Amos’ parents didn’t.”

He sat down beside me, leaned back, and pulled me into him, something he had done many times when I was a child. For some reason, Daddy never had a problem thinking of me as his daughter instead of a son. "It seems to me, Rosie, that this is the type of thing you'd normally go to your mom about."

“It would depend on what type of counseling I needed,” I told him.

“And what type do you need right now?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Is this the truth? Has she lost control to Amos? If it’s true, how does this affect me?” I paused for a moment as I realized the real question was, “How does it affect John?”

Daddy pulled me in close again. “Is it true? I don’t know, but I can tell you this. It doesn’t matter.”

“Why not?”

“Oh, come on, Rosie. You’re smarter than that."

I stared at him, and he laughed. "Don't get your tail in a curl, my dear. Let me put it another way. If this is true, is he still the same John you married?"

"Well, of course, but..."

He held up a hand that stopped me. "But what?"

I think I was going on inertia when I said, but. He was right. But what?

I had actually been planning on saying something about who his parents would then be. Why? It made no difference in who John was. I had been married to him for over a millennium and a half. I had been bonded to him for that time. So what difference did it make who his parents were?

I spent the rest of the day wandering around the bays on the upper side. I went over how I had felt regarding my initial feelings about my mother's revelation. Then, I mulled over what Daddy said.

I had been married to John for over a millennium and a half. So what did it matter that knowledge of his parents had changed? He hadn’t -- not in the slightest. So what was I worried about?

I wondered what kind of relationship John would have had with the Goodwins, or for that matter, Amos with the Carlsons. Maybe, if Melody Carlson had not given the wrong child to the Goodwins, none of this would ever have happened.

Then again, maybe this wasn't her fault. Maybe George Carlson was to blame. Perhaps it was him who decided he didn't want his own child. Maybe Melody would have kept Amos, and given up John to Ron Goodwin. A mother's love is something not a lot of men understand. No. I didnt' think that was the case. I think a father's love for a boy is shown in his pride. As a man, he doesn’t dare show the same form of love he would show a girl. I saw what my own father showed to Paul. It was so different than what he showed to Carla and me, but it was clear that he loved Paul as well.

I also saw the love, the pride, that George had for John. It was difficult, if not impossible, to relate that to what Mom had said. Maybe, this confusion on my part was what Amos was intending. Perhaps he wasn't related to John in any way, except through the twists and turns of marriage.

I was back at my home, sitting on the grassy bank by the lake. I had kicked my shoes off and had my feet hanging into the icy water. I kept pulling handfuls of grass and throwing them into the water. The little lake had the appearance of being a mountain stream that formed the lake, then took off from a little creek, so its water was freezing.

I knew that I didn’t want to tell John what Mom had said. At least not right now. That just seemed like it would be more stress than he needed at the moment.

While I was sitting there, I heard footsteps behind me. It was John. He took off his shoes and sat beside me, his feet dangling in the water. He picked up a small, one-handed fishing pole, and handed it to me, then picked up one and cast across the lake. I looked at my rod. It was already baited, as was his custom. He knew I’d be willing to fish, but ever since that time we were kids, he always baited the hook for me.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I’d been so worried, and here was John, still being John.

We were the perfect pair fishing together. He was right-handed, and I was left, so we could sit right beside each other and cast without any problem. I sent my line zinging across the water, almost to the other side of the lake. It landed with a plop. The little red and white float bobbed up and down for a couple of minutes.

I didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, John broke the silence. “I hear I have a half brother.” Well, so much for not telling him. Damn you, Daddy!

Again, I didn't answer. “Do you think it’s true?” He asked after a bit.

“I don’t know,” I finally answered.

“Does it matter, Hon?” He asked.

“No,” I told him. “I’ve been thinking about how horrible it must be for you to be related to him that closely,” I lied.

He eyed me for a moment. “That’s pretty good. You’re getting better at lying, but I can still see it.”

I blushed, naturally, as I never could lie to him. I think he knew I was a girl all that time we were growing up. “Okay. Would you believe I was wondering if we’d have gotten together if you’d been raised by the Goodwins?”

“Yeah, I'd believe it." He cast again. "And the answer's yes."

”How can you say that, John? Things would have been so different."

“Sure, they would, but I’d have still loved you.”

“Would you? I wasn’t a girl back then.”

He laughed. “Yes, you were. I wouldn’t have dated you all those years if you hadn’t been.”

I started to laugh, then stopped as I wondered if he really did consider all those outings to be dates. If he did, he got my attention!

“Does it change anything for you, if what Mom said was true?”

“No,” he said simply. “Even if he’s my brother, or rather, half brother, it doesn’t change the fact that he needs to go.”

“But he’s your brother!” I said.

“So, you believe it?" His tone wasn't accusative. I think he really just wondered.

“I really don’t know. Mom didn’t sound like she was lying, but then again, that hardly sounds like your parents.”

He chuckled. “You didn’t live with ‘em.”

I forgot about reeling and turned to look at him. “What do you mean?”

“Dad was always opinionated, and Mom wasn’t the most loving person in the world.”

“That’s not what I saw.”

“Like I said. You didn't live with 'em. You saw what they wanted you to see. I told your mom once that I didn't want to be like 'em. That turned me off just slightly, ya know?"

“Mom told me about that. I was dressed as me, and you got there early. I had to run to change into 'boy mode'."

“Yeah. Saw you hurry away through the window. I liked your hair that way. I almost told you that I knew that day, but I didn’t want to scare you away.”

I stared at him. “You realize that there will be dire consequences if you’re lying!”

He cast once more, then said, "How about we compromise. I'm lying when I say I'm lying."

I giggled and punched his shoulder, then I felt my rod pull. What? “I thought there weren’t fish in this lake!” I exclaimed as I jerked the rod to set the hook.

“There weren’t, but I thought I’d stock it to make things more interesting. Besides, I’ve missed the way you always cooked our ‘date fish’.”

“I would have done something more fancy if I’d known they were ‘date fish’.”

“Well, then I'm glad I didn't tell you."

“Uh-huh," I said as I pulled the trout out of the water. It was a nice looking rainbow trout, about fifteen inches long. I almost hated to cook it. It was the first fish I’d caught in a very long time.

“What’s the limit on this lake?” I asked.

“As many as you can catch, plus one,” he quipped.

“So right now, it's two?" He jerked his line as it pulled away. "Uh, three, I mean?" I quickly amended.

“I’ve re-baited your line. Let's see what it is."

We stayed there, fishing, and just enjoying each other's company for a long time that afternoon and into the evening. I cooked the fish in the simple way I had long ago, and he paid the consequences later that night. Wow! Did he pay!

Chapter 3.8

John and I had a fantastic night. I got up in the morning and sat down at my piano. I hadn’t played in some time, and just let my fingers go, regarding all the feelings I had been experiencing with this crazy situation we found ourselves in.

I felt terrified for my husband. Amos had already killed one half brother. What was to stop him from destroying the other?

Daddy had turned off the radio contact for the computers to control Amos’ memory unit. I wasn’t sure what that would mean for the ability to change himself into something else, either.

After I had played for a long time, I stopped and was surprised when John came into my studio and sat down beside me. “That sounded great, Hon.”

With fifteen hundred years together, John knew all of my repertoire by heart, so it was no surprise when he asked, “Emotions?”

I nodded.

“Last night?” He asked.

Immediately, I jumped into a lively, happy song.

“Yeah. That's about how I figured it too.”

I stopped playing and gave him a big smile. “Okay, buster. We never did settle whether you were being truthful when you said all those things we did when we were kids were dates.”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“I guess I have trouble with it because I knew you were straight.”

“And I will always wonder why you never transitioned when you were a teen.”

“Because I didn't know how you’d react. I decided that I would rather remain a male friend rather than risk losing you completely.”

“You never would have lost me.”

I nodded, and he pulled me up. We went out to the porch swing again, and I leaned against him as we gazed out to the water. It was perfect. An absence of the tension we had both been feeling for so long.

Until Amos walked around the side of the house again.

”Well, I suppose I’ve given you enough time.”

“Time for what?” I asked.

“Be quiet, Eugene. I want to speak to my brother.” My old name was spat out as if it was something vile.

“You killed Fredrik,” John told him. “Also, I don’t take kindly to your speaking to my wife that way.”

“I don’t give a damn what you think of my way of speaking to your wife, and you know perfectly well that you’re the brother I’m speaking of.”

“Say what?” John acted utterly shocked.

“You are my brother. My birth mother was your mother, as well. Not that she gave a thought to what happened to me after I was born.”

“Where the hell have you come up with this fantasy?” I asked, taking my cue from John.

Amos was up the steps and ready to swing at me in a heartbeat, but his fist never moved from being cocked. John’s hand was holding his in place.

“If you hit her, I swear, I will take you apart piece by piece, and your precious bots won’t be able to put you back together.” John let go of Amos’ hand and patted his right cheek. “Besides, Amos. I still owe you for all you did to us downstairs, so get your carcass off this porch, state your business, then leave, or I’m gonna kick your lousy ass all the way back to Earth. Got that?”

I couldn’t define what emotion flitted across Amos’ face, but it seemed to have an element of fear in it. Then, it was gone, and he laughed. “Very well, John. I’ll let you have your fun for now,” he said lightly as he moved onto the grass.

“As to my business, it is, as I stated. You have my crystals, and I think you have had time for someone to go into my memories and see what happened when we were infants.”

Once more, I challenged him. “And you expect us to believe this?” I was curious if I’d see more of his emotions. I wanted to know if he was afraid.

“I would never expect someone of your feminine persuasion to understand what I’m saying. Perhaps I should explain a little more. Your husband’s mother fucked my father the same time she was fucking his. When she went into labor with me, she gave birth to him as well. Why she wanted his inferior genetic makeup in her son is beyond me, but she sent me to live with his father while he got to stay with our mother and my father. He got my place in life.” His loathing for me was apparent, but he didn’t try to strike me again. That was something, at least.

He turned to John. “It is your fault that this has happened to all those people down there. You and your taking my place.”

“Assuming we were to believe you, which is a huge stretch,” I said, “None of this would be John’s fault. You have always had a choice how you treat others. You have made your choice. You have to live with it. Not John.”

“Wrong, dear sister-in-law. You, and everyone else, has to live with my choice.”

“No, Amos. We will beat you. You will be the one who cannot live with my choice. I will not allow it.” I stood up and moved to the edge of the porch and gazed down at him. Even on the same level, I was taller than him. Standing on the porch, I towered over him. “And then, you son of a bitch, right before I kill you for hurting my people, I will show you that a woman has beaten you. And I will laugh as I kill you for the last time.”

I knelt, so my head was almost down to his level. “Now,” I said sweetly, “Get your lousy ass out of our yard before John kicks you all the way back to Earth.”

“Just one second, Amos,” John said as he descended the steps. Without even a hesitation, he gave the smaller man such a powerful blow to the chin that Amos was lifted entirely off the ground and landed sprawled on the ground a few feet away. “Wow. I don’t know what happened. I must have slipped on that last step. Oops.”

He turned his back on the ‘emperor’, climbed back up the steps, took my arm, and we walked inside.

We sat down in my office and turned on the direct feed from our security system to my screen. We watched as Amos lay there, on the ground, for several minutes, unmoving.

"Do you think I killed him?" John wondered.

"I don't think so," I answered. "He's breathing."

It took another few minutes, but finally, he stood up and walked back to the door, which led to Heaven's Rose and downstairs.

I turned the screen off, then turned to my husband. "That felt good."

He nodded but said, "I wish I had killed him."

"It would have been nice, but do you really think it would have accomplished much? We would still have all those people downstairs who need to be returned to themselves."

"Rose, you don't think he's gonna change them back, do you? He isn't that cordial. Or smart."

"I suppose not. John, I want him to change. I know he won't, and maybe I'm still holding out some hope that he was telling me some truth when I dove into his memories. I felt those emotions in there, and they seemed real. It was devastating!"

He gave me a sympathetic look and nodded. "But you know he's gonna have to die."

"I know, but that doesn't make it any easier."

He moved his chair right beside mine and put an arm around me. "I don't want to sound like I don't trust you, Rosie, but do you want me to take over this operation?"

I shook my head. "I appreciate the offer, John. I really do, but I don't think I would forgive myself if I backed out now."

"Fair enough, " he told me.

Later that night, we were in my office, with the same command staff we usually worked with. We showed them our security system’s recordings of the incident.

While we were watching, Paula asked me to pause the video and then back up. I did and then stepped one frame at a time until that emotion flitted across his face.

“There!” she exclaimed in triumph, and I left it sitting on that frame.

“He’s scared,” Daddy said.

“Very,” Marc agreed.

John stared at the screen for a while. Finally, he asked, “Why?”

I wasn’t sure what response we’d get, but Mom was watching on her screen at home. “Mom?” I asked.

“I’m checking into it now. Very interesting. He doesn’t seem to know about me. He was bluffing. He also isn’t sure we have the belt buckle.”

“That’s if you’re telling the truth," I stated, needlessly.

Mom didn’t answer. I know she was upset, but I had to say it. She had pointed out that I needed to run with my gut instincts while in command, and I was taking her advice.

Finally, she said, "This is something that we haven't had to deal with before. When we left Earth, we ended up in a horrible situation. It was a war, but with a computer. Not with a real person. Now, we are dealing with someone who can think for himself, not a machine that has no free will."

"What are you getting at, Mom?" Paula asked.

Mom looked at me in sympathy. "When I injected these bots, I was trying to spare you the burden of command. I'm sorry, Rosie. I shouldn't have done that. It wasn't my call."

I nodded. "But you're right, Mom. We've never had to deal with this type of thing. I've never commanded in this type of situation. For fourteen hundred years, we've had an almost paradise here. No crime, people getting along. I wasn't prepared. I'm still not."

"What are you saying? You're not stepping down, are you?" Daddy asked.

I nodded. "Earlier, John asked me if I wanted him to lead this operation, I said 'no,' but the more I think about it, the more I think he's right. Even through all the things that have happened to me, I still can't seem to let go of the hope that Amos will change."

"That's a commendable attitude, " Paula said, "but you know he won't."

"I know, Sis. But because of that... irrational hope, I think there might come a time when I can't make the right decision. For this reason, I think I should give command to someone else."

No one said anything for a long while. Finally, Marc asked, "Who? No one else is any more prepared than you."

"You're wrong, Marc. Paula is. She beat him once. She can beat him again."

I saw Paula's head snap up at my declaration; then, she shook it. "No, Sis. It's your ship now. I gave it to you a century ago. I don't want it back. I would run the operation, and no offense, John, but I think I'm better qualified than you for that, but I won't take command. I just lost Fred to that asshole. I'm not qualified to lead."

"We've all lost someone to him, " John said.

"You haven't," said Rashda.

"Yes, I have. I just lost my parents. Again."

"You believe Mom," Paula said as a statement rather than a question.

"Yes, I do."

Mom gave a sad smile.

"I'll do it, " Daddy suddenly said.

"You want to take command?" Paula was incredulous.

"Why not? I've lost several people, but I think I'm pretty level headed." He turned to look at Mom. "Bernie, I was mad before, but I know why you did it. You saw what none of us did. We may end up sacrificing many more of our friends before this is through, but we could be the last remnants of our people. Amos has to be stopped whatever the cost."

Now was my most significant command ever. I thought about it, and he was right. "Okay, Daddy. You are in control until you choose to give it to someone else."

"Now wait a minute, Rosie..."

"I'm tired, Daddy. I want to cook. To play music. I'm done being in charge of, as you said, 'the last remnants of our people.'"

He sat, staring at me for several minutes, then finally said, "Alright."

For several weeks now, Mom reported that Amos had been searching all over the downstairs for his memory crystals. He wasn’t convinced that we didn’t have them, but he wanted to cover any bases. It was conceivable that Bob had left them somewhere downstairs, and resisted the persuasion of Freddie. As unlikely as that seemed, it was possible. What was more likely was that Bob had handed off the item to one of his friends, and that person made it back upstairs. He knew it was somewhere on board, because he could still access it, but he couldn’t tap into the computer.

"Vern," Mom alerted Daddy in a meeting one day. "I'm afraid the time has come to act."

"What's wrong, Bernie?"

"Amos has decided to adapt a computer to interface with his crystals in a similar way to his buckle computer."

Daddy snapped his head around. "Are you sure?" he asked, but I could tell he already knew the answer.

She nodded, and when he turned his head to face us, he looked much older than just a few moments ago.

"Okay, everyone. It's time. What are our options?"

"We're not finished, " Winston told him. "It's not even usable yet."

"Why isn't it usable?"

"It takes a power supply the size of the generator in this bay to run it!" Trent was aghast.

"Hold that thought," Daddy told them.

"Paula, can you have some of your people in invisibility suits at the ready?"

"How many?"

"This is it, people—all of them."

He went on to explain his plan, and I don't think any of us were thrilled, but he was our commander, and we had all been ready for this, just in case.

We worked hard for the next four days. So many of the population helped. Most of us helped Winston and Trent with their invention. Every access tube to the other side of the ship was covered by it.

I spent hours in my kitchen, preparing food for the workers, as Heaven's Rose was cleared out. As the last of my tools were removed and taken to the bay, I took one last look at what had been my favorite hangout for centuries. I started up to my house where I knew I was going to have a good cry.

Once everything was ready, we met in the center of the town near our house beyond the lake and the woods. We had talked about it, and the town was now referred to as Freeman City. It wasn’t a city, as the population was just a little more than two thousand. The total population of Neo22 was approximately five times that many. About two thirds of that were downstairs, in the part ‘owned’ by Amos. We were about to make a proposition to the self made emperor of the ‘underworld’ as it were. I was there for two reasons. One, I had been the commander of the ship for several years previously, and two, I was the daughter of the new commander. I had taken myself out of the chain of command – well, not really out of the chain, but a few links down. The chances of me becoming the commander again, were about as much as the secretary of Education suddenly finding herself President. Not impossible, but very unlikely.

Paula was second only to Daddy, now. Our confrontation with Amos was Daddy’s plan, but Paula was responsible for its execution.

We moved to the passageway down, and made sure that the field Winston and Trent had built was in operation, then we made our way to the giant opening into the center ring.

We had had an ace that no-one but four security men and Doctor Jack knew about. I told Daddy right after he took command, and he had now made use of it. When Doctor Sylvia, Bob, and two other security men went downstairs, Bob and one of the security men had died. Sylvia returned with Amos’ belt buckle, but the last security man had remained behind, keeping an eye on things, while we, in turn, had two people keeping an eye on him at all times.

Now, he had made his presence known to Amos, and was extending our invitation to come upstairs via the command center.

We waited. Mom had come out of her home for this final ‘showdown’ and stood beside me. She announced that Amos and Ralph, the security man, were on their way up, through the command center. She kept us informed of their progress. When they were almost to the access point into our inner ring, she told me, then stepped forward to Daddy's side. John took my hand, and we watched as the absolutely white-skinned Amos stepped into the ring across the way from us. That ring was nearly a quarter mile across, and he and Ralph started crossing. Partway to us, Ralph turned to his left, and made his way toward the next bay, and then through the door into it.

Amos stopped walking, and looked somewhat surprised, as a sound like a horrible windstorm erupted behind him, and then to the sides. Finally, it sounded between us, and stopped. He was at the opening, and he started to move again.

“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” Daddy told him.

“You’ve managed a force field,” Amos said, nodding his head appreciatively. “Impressive.” He reached up. “Can I touch it?” He asked. He honestly sounded curious.

“Well, you can, but I’m not responsible for what it does to you.”

Amos chuckled. “That bad, is it?”

“I don’t know. No human has touched one. We tested it with a cow. It walked right into the field, and flew back fifty meters. We didn’t even have to grind the hamburger.”

Amos withdrew his hand a bit. “Is that why I feel a breeze near it?”

Daddy nodded.

“So it would appear that the larger the mass, the harder it is repelled.”

“So it would seem,” Daddy agreed.

“Is this what you wanted to show me, Mister Richards?”

Mom held up her hand, in which she held the buckle.

“It appears you have me in check,” Amos observed.”

“Not mate?”

“No. I still have a few aces up my sleeve.”

“Chess, poker. Why don’t you stop with the metaphors,” Paula said disgustedly.”

“It’s alright, Baby,” Daddy told her.

“Baby,” Amos laughed. “The man who had me tortured and killed is called ‘Baby’. How ironic.”

“In thirty seconds, this half of the station will be blown loose, from the rest. We will sacrifice those in the downstairs section, but we will survive. You, however, will not, as the field behind you will release and you will be ejected.” Daddy showed no emotion at all as he informed Amos of his near future.

Amos showed no surprise or fear, as he turned to Mom. “Mrs, Richards, I suggest that you search my memories of when I was using Carla’s body. When I first came aboard this ship.”

Mom dove, and when she came out of it, she told us, “He has placed a fail-safe device in the command center. If he gets more than approximately ten and a half miles from it, the command center will explode, taking the entire downstairs, and probably us with it.”

“Checkmate,” Amos said to Paula.

“No, Amos. it’s not.” Once again, Daddy showed no emotion. “At this point, I don’t give a damn. You can blow up the command center if you want. We may live, or we may not. I don’t care.”

I believe Amos could see that Daddy was dead serious.

“Very well. I’ll make you a counter proposal. My life, and freedom from you, for your daughter, Carla.”

I gasped in hope, and I think Mom did as well.

“Where are her crystals?”

“Very intuitive, Mister Richards. They are buried in the bottom of the lake. Their computer is turned off. Turn it back on, and she’s all yours.”

“You know this isn’t over, Amos,” Daddy told him.

“I wouldn’t expect it to be,” Amos replied and turned to walk toward the command center. The field opened and closed, then he was gone.

Five minutes later, Daddy quietly told John, “Do it.”

John gripped my hand tightly, and pulled a remote out of his pocket with his other hand. He turned it on, then pressed the single button.

BOOM!

The sound was like six thousand souls crying out to us for our betrayal.

I agreed.

The End

---

Author's Note: This is the end of the first book. The second is in the works.
The station is now split into two sections, and flying side by side. Now what?