Eagle tells Ferdie that he is okay after being abducted by aliens. While he was initially scared of being abducted, he no longer has any bad feelings about the aliens. He wishes he could remember what the aliens told him, as he senses it was important, but is unsure if he wants to remember in case he does not like what they said. Ferdie understands Eagle's perspective of feeling singled out by the aliens to do something important.

1. You Can't Always Get What You Want (part two)

2. Welcome back to Familiar Faces!
Chapter Thirty Six (You Can't Always Get What You Want) part two.
I'm sorry for the long delay in getting parts two and three of this chapter out. Real life
got in the way of my simming for a time.
Please note that there may be some inconsistencies in the next few chapters. I
switched default skins and eyes recently and while they are very similar you may notice
some differences

4. “You're saying that the doof actually managed to get abducted!? Here, I thought that noise
earlier was a sonic boom. It musta just been Eagle screaming from space.” Elan Langerak
laughed at his own joke.
“Mom! Chill okay? Yeah, yeah I'm sure it's traumatic for him. Come on though, changing his
shoes traumatizes him for an hour. He worries that the ones he took off might think he doesn't
like them any more. The kid hates to hurt somethings feelings. He's such a dweeb.”
“No Mom, I don't call him that to his face, at least not very often.” Elan knew when it was time
to get serious, even if he didn't always respond to that knowledge. “I am nice to him Mom.
Does Dad think we should come home?”
“Okay, we'll call you later.”

6. “So he's okay right?” A follow up phone call was held between Elm and the boys father, Ted.
“Well yes, as well as he could be, being Eagle and all. I guess that's good no physical after
effects, not that they'd be expected. How's he reacting?” He asked with a wince.
“Ahh you drugged him, I guess that's good.” Elm nodded as if his father could see him. “No
Dad, I don't think anyone would blame you for that. He's your kid, you KNOW how he's gonna
react, and if you can tone it down some, well I think that's wise.”
“I'm sure that Mom doesn't agree, but you're the doctor, right? You gotta do what you think is
best.”

7. Eva Langerak watched over her youngest son while he slept, and seethed. Of her three sons
he was the most fragile, the one most likely to be adversely effect by this type of experience.
Since the abduction of his best friend, Ferdie, Eagle had fretted over aliens. He had been
extremely reluctant to use the telescope for his school assignment. Her husband had given
their son what had turned out to be false assurance. Ted had talked with Eagle of
percentages and the rarity of alien abduction. And now Eva had both husband and son to
worry over.
Why would the aliens choose such an inappropriate target to be a part of their plans? Do they
know nothing of the sims they choose? Don't they care?

8. “Eva, Eagle goes to private school. As minister of Education my policies only effect the public
schools. Beyond that, it would be rather silly to have astronomy classes without telescopic
practicals.”
On the morning following Eagles abduction, Eva had stormed over to her sisters house first
thing. There had to be someone she could blame for all of this, might as well start with Emma.
“But they're dangerous!”
“There's nothing in the class assignment that stipulates the usage of a more powerful scope.
After Ferdie was taken, I spoke to the instructor; not as a policy maker, but as a concerned
parent. He assured me that all of the locations in his assignments could be located with a
basic scope.”

9. “The more powerful scopes have warning labels. Big bold red letters that warn of the unlikely
chance of abductions. We tend to ignore warning labels. We like to believe that those types
of things just can't happen to us. We're wrong, they can happen to anyone. We buy the
scopes, and we use them,” Emma reminded her sister.
“You're blaming Eagle for being abducted!! He didn't want to do the assignment until Ted
convinced him that it would be okay and that he wouldn't end up like Ferdie!” Eva was
indignant.

10. “I'm certainly not placing the blame on Eagle, and I know how worried you are about him. I
don't know if there is anyone or anything to blame. It's a combination of timing and
circumstances.” Emma sighed, “I also think you're jumping the gun. Eagle could surprise you
and handle this much better than you are expecting. Everyone has a different reaction.”
Eva snorted, “Do you expect him to handle this better than Ferd?”
“Well not really,” Emma said apologetically. “But Ferdie's mostly okay with it. I think he'll be
fine once he absorbs everything. Eagle will too.”
“Why would the aliens take children though?!? They have no use for kids.” Eva wasn't ready to
let it drop. “Do they?”

11. “We have to assume that there is a purpose behind every abduction. They can't be purely
random.” Emma shrugged, and looked defeated. “Evie, I don't know any more about these
things than you do. I know you're worried about Eagle, I'm worried about Ferd. We need to
watch them, listen to them, and talk to them. They're gonna be okay, you know. They aren't
the first to be abducted and I'm assuming that they won't be the last.”
“Why don't we stop it?”
“I don't know if we really want to.”

12. “How can you say that?”
“Fairly easily. We've gotten so much from the aliens in the past and we can't ignore all of the
advances that we've made because of them. Life would be very different without their
influence.”
Eva snorted in disagreement.
“You do know that if it wasn't for the alien technology, there wouldn't be plant sims. If Daddy
hadn't been a plant sim, we wouldn't have you. Personally, I'm not willing to give up a sister.”
~-~-~-~

13. Stella adjusted the scope to the proper co-ordinates; ten degrees south, 15 degrees west.
Checking the location, she was able to find the rendezvous ship nestled between this planet's
twin moons. With a quick flash of her transmitter, she was able to get the attention of the the
Ensign on signal duty. Attaching the data capsule to the transmitter Stella began the process
of transmitting her weekly report.
“Hey, your dorm mates said I might find you out here. What are you doing, Stella?”

14. “Hello, Frankie” Stella replied, recognizing his voice without having to look to see who it was.
“My parent requires a report of my weekly activities. I am transmitting to a vessel located in
this quadrant and once received the crew will forward it to my parent.”
“Weekly report? So, like you're phoning home?” Frankie asked with a grin. “I guess parents
are the same every where. They always want to know what you're up to huh? What happens
if you miss a call? Do they storm down here looking for you?”
“That would not be possible,” Stella replied with a slight frown. “Missing one might be
understood, many things could cause unexpected delays. When a rendezvous is impossible at
the appointed time there is always an alternate notated.”

15. “That's not really what I meant but it's good to know that you have a backup plan.” Frankie
replied and then continued in his normal incessant manner, “What type of things to you
'report' on to your parents? I'm guessing you don't talk about schoolwork all that much huh?”
“My parent requires a status update on my current assignment.” Stella replied as she picked
up a new instrament.
“What exactly is your assignment? I figure that you're here to watch us, but what are you
watching for?”
“It would be too complicated to explain the full assignment.” Said Stella, dismissing the
question, “ the basis is to examine current Sim life patterns.”

16. “Life patterns?”
“We need to know how far your race has advanced since we left this world. In some ways
your world is very advanced, but in other aspects your people have much work to do. There
are some areas that we can assist your development, however introducing advanced
technologies and concepts takes much time and must be done with great fore-planning. It
would be unwise to introduce certain principals before your people are ready for them.”
“Doesn't the prime directive forbids interference? And what if we don't want assistance? Why
do your people interfere?”

17. Stella made a noise that was halfway between a sigh and a snort, “The prime directive is a
primitive concept. It was refuted more than a millennium ago. All cultures desire
advancement. Your people have been making use of our assistance since before the first
apocalypse. Many of the technologies, that you are so proud of developing, came about
only through our influence.”
“Why do your people care about our world? Why not let us live or die as we would? It can't
just be altruism.”
“Your world's proximity to the source coincides with my people's need for that which the
source provides in order to survive. The more advanced your people are at the time the
source is re-opened the smoother our integration will be.”

18. “How much of it will be integration and how much of it will be subjugation? The one thing we
don't need are dictators.”
“We've come in peace,” replied Stella forcefully. “We have no desire to over run your world.
We have our own, the development of the source is critical to our continuation but we do not
need to re-locate our entire populace in order to utilize what is here. Set your mind at ease on
that Frankie, you have my word that if you assist us it will not harm you or yours.”
“I'm not sure if your people understand what can cause harm. My brother has nightmares,
and memories of his time in your gentle hands haunt him. It's hard to know what effect your
people had on Eagle, he was always high strung. I am sure that the abduction hasn't helped
him.”

19. “Are you so positive of that? I have seen reports on all abductions in this quadrant. I regret
that your sibling may be having after effects. While it is generally considered best for that the
test subject have no immediate memories, in his case they were necessary. As for your cousin,
once he overcomes the initial shock, I believe you will begin to notice some changes in his
demeanor.”
“Why were they necessary for Ferdie? Eagle was fine the way he was, he doesn't need to
change and who made you Wright to decide that he did?” Frankie had become heated.
“Frankie, I will not speak to you of this if it angers you. There are things that I can not tell you.
However, if you would like to discuss this at a later time; I would ,perhaps, be willing to answer
some questions.”
~-~-~-~-~

20. "Sis, I need your signature on these documents. Trust funds need to be transferred over to the
new graduates so they can start building their homes. Also if you could look over the figures, I
think there needs to be a few adjustments made." Elle Familiar walked into her sisters kitchen
and tossed the file onto the island bar.

21. Emma turned from the coffee pot, mug in hand. "You too?"
"Me what?" Elle asked.
"So far this week I've had Ted wanting my backing for additional blood tests, Dane needing my
input on the kid's sports program and the Mayor, the Mayor, wanting to take a meeting
regarding rezoning. Then there's Uncle Bob wanting my input on the Foundation's Budget for
next year, Eva demanding I do something about the aliens who abducted Eagle and some
townie petitioning me for private school scholarships." Emma took a breath, "When did all of
this suddenly become my responsibility?"

22. "When Daddy died." Elle squeezed her sister's shoulder. "Emma you're head of the family now,
everyone's going to be looking at you to lead the way."
"But, I don't know anything about building zones, or budgets for additional scientists, and why
aren't the public schools good enough for the townie children? That at least I do know
something about, as Minister of Education I can assure you that the public schools are every
bit as good as the private one is." Emma launched into one of her favorite lectures as she slid
onto one of the bar stools.

23. "Then why did you send the boys to the Academy?" Asked Elle as she helped herself to a cup
of coffee.
"Because. . ."
"Because, that's where we went and where Daddy went, and Grandpa and everyone else. But
don't you see, what the family does leads the way for everyone in town. When we send our
kids to private school, then the townies want to send theirs as well." Elle replied as she turned
towards the bar to sit beside her sister. "The larger the family becomes the more influence we
have, which is why the Mayor wants your opinion. He's afraid of you."
"Of me? Why would he be afraid of me? I don't even know him." Emma was shocked.

24. "Don't you realize how much power you have as head of the family? If you wanted to you
could get him removed from office in a heartbeat. Just say the word to a couple of the cousins
and he'd be buried by scandal and forced out. Why do you think Daddy never needed to
hide his business activities?"
"Elle, Daddy didn't do anything that didn't need doing."
"He was still a criminal. Maybe he never really broke the law, but who do you think made the
law?"
"Oh,” said Emma.

25. "Yeah, oh. Do you get it now?"
Emma nodded. "So, I guess I need to start learning about budgets and kid's sports programs
huh? Did Daddy really do all of this? When did he have time?"
"He never slept, that helped."

26. "Me, I need my sleep. But, if this week was any indication, that's a thing of the past." Emma
stood and walked towards the dishwasher with her coffee mug. Half way there she stopped
and turned back to her sister "Elle? Why didn't Daddy tell me that I was going to need to know
all of this stuff? He always took care of everything. I have a son in college, and yet I feel as if
I've just recently become an adult. I never had to take responsibility for anything. Daddy was
always there to do the dirty work and clean up the messes."
"That's what parents do." Her sister said with a shrug.

27. "Parents should teach responsibility, not shield their children from it." Emma waved away her
sister's protests, "I know that whatever he did for us it was with the best intentions. But, I can't
help feeling that with him gone I'm floundering. I still need his help, maybe more now than ever
before.”
“I can help with some stuff, but unlike college you're going to have to actually study.”
“I guess it's time for the teacher to go back to school.” Emma rinsed rinsed her hands in the sink
and wiped them on a towel. “I'll tell you one thing Elle, Frankie's gonna learn right along beside
me. He's going to know what he's up against before it lands in his lap.”
~-~-~-~-~

28. “Ya know, I called you like twenty times yesterday and you never answered your phone. And
because I was worried that you were holed up in your room I came over to see if you wanted
to talk,” Ferdie said as he joined Eagle in the back yard of the Langerak's house. “But when I
got here, your Dad told me you'd gone to Erin's. Guess I shouldn't have worried. I'm glad
you're okay but next time answer your phone.”
“I turned it off cause Edge kept calling and spouting inane Sim Trek quotes.” Eagle shrugged
letting go of the jungle gym. “And I only went to Erin's cause she made me.”
“You mean cause she asked you? And cause you'd do anything Erin asked?” Ferdie replied
grinning while Eagle ducked his head and blushed.

29. “So what'd you do at Erin's?”
“Mainly played video games. She thought that playing Space Invaders would be therapeutic
The blasting of aliens and all.”
“Huh, do you want to blast them?” Ferdie asked, “I don't”
“No,” Eagle said with a lopsided grin. “But, Erin did. She was trying to find ways to keep me
distracted. Since she normally tries to find ways to ignore me, I wasn't about to tell her I didn't
need distracting.”

30. “So you're okay?” Ferdie asked, “about everything?”
“Well there's the ozone levels, the potential of satellites crashing to the earth and landing on
unsuspecting puppies, the constant rise of crime, poverty and disease,” Eagle took a breath
“But, you're okay with the aliens?”
“Well, it's like you said when you got back, I just don't have any bad vibes about them. I was
more scared of being abducted before I was abducted.” Eagle cocked his head, “I wish I
knew what they told me though, cause I know it was important and I can't remember. I don't
know if I want to remember. Maybe if I remembered I wouldn't like it.”

31. “Maybe it's the drugs Dad gave me so that I wouldn't freak, but I actually think being
abducted was kinda neat. Nobody ever singled me out to do something important before,
but it's like the aliens have. Do you get that?”
“Yeah, kinda. I just wish I remembered what it is that we're supposed to do.” Ferdie was
surprised that Eagle seemed to be handling being abducted so well. He had expected to find
his friend curled into a ball. “So what else did you and Erin do?”

32. Eagle turned beet red while blushing and began stammering “Sh..she KISSED me!”
“Go Eagle!”
Eagle blushed again. “Yeah, but then she whacked me. She was only trying to get my mind
off aliens.”
“As if your mind's ever on aliens when Erin's around.” Ferdie said derisively.
Eagle sighed. “I have no chance with her do I?”

33. Ferdie had it on good authority that Eagle was correct with that assumption. Erin had advised
Ferdie's girlfriend, Tina, that Eagle Langerak was about as far from her type as possible. When
he considered that Erin's last boyfriend had been adorned in piercings and leather from head
to toe, Ferdie believed it.
And yet he believed that Erin might be swayed, eventually. Eagle just didn't have a forceful
personality, and Erin tended to lean towards the obvious. Things could change though.
“Well, Tina and I were gonna go to the movies tomorrow. If you want we can all go bowling
instead. I'll talk Erin into it.”
~-~-~-~-~

34. What is it about a Doctor's office that brings out the desire to read magazines from previous
decades? The nervous anticipation of the wait makes us chuckle over celebrity news even
though we know already know that the happy couple had a messy divorce and current new
places their children in counseling.
For Frances and Egeus Worthington, the need for distractions during the wait was particularly
high this time. Today they would begin their journey towards fatherhood.

35. “Worthington?” came the call from across the waiting room. “Dr. Langerak is ready for you, if
you'd just follow me.”
Frances and Egeus closed their magazines, and stood up. Egeus grabbed Fran's hand and
gave it a quick squeeze. “It'll be alright,” he promised for the hundredth time since they'd
began discussing the procedures.

36. Ted Langerak greeted his nephew with a cheery grin. Ted had always enjoyed the maternity
and pediatrics portion of his practice the best and this was a couple he was going to be
particularly happy to see as parents.
“Uncle Ted! I didn't expect you to be seeing us yourself, especially now. How's Eagle doing?”
“Surprisingly well Ege, he's thankfully handling things much better than we anticipated. In fact
I'd say he's handling it handling it better than Ferdinand did.” Ted looked thoughtful, “Actually,
I just had a thought. I don't believe I'd be breaking patient confidentiality if I suggested that
Ferdie could use a friendly ear from someone that might understand his situation.”

37. “If you think it would help him I'll go see him this afternoon.” Egeus replied with a smile.
“I think it might help him, but I'd put the visit off for a day or so. I want you to rest this
afternoon.” Ted continued in an attempt to forestall any concern, “Not that I expect you to
have any difficulties, but we want to play things safe.”
“Of course, if you think it's best.”
“I'll make sure he does Ted,” Frances assured.
“Will you be needing me further Doctor? Mrs. Smith should be ready to leave and I should
check in on her before she does.” Felica Love briefly interrupted the discussion.
“I'm sure I can handle this Felica, thank you.” Ted said with a smile to his head nurse.

38. Ted sat the couple down for a procedure review, he liked to ensure that everything was fully
understood before it was too late.
“I know that we've been through this but I like to review at this time so that I can answer any
questions or concerns. As you both know what we will be doing today is a fairly uncommon
procedure, but it is rather simple. We've taken a sampling of each of your DNA and combined
it in our lab so that your child will be a genetic mixture of the two of you. Following that the
genetic material was prepared along with a donated egg in a manner similar to standard
artificial insemination.”
“Conception in a petri dish,” stated Egeus.

39. “But it will be ours right? Unknown traits from a donor, isn't that a bit risky?” asked Frances. “I
don't want to sound ungrateful, but we want a child of our own.”
“We do everything possible to screen donors and to match compatible DNA. Egeus' future
brother in law, Nicholas, has been a huge asset to our labs and has refined the process to such
a degree that only minimal genetic information remains in the donor tissue.”
“So, it's gonna have my nose right?” Asked Frances with a chuckle, “poor kid.”
“I like your nose,” interjected Egeus.

40. “Just like with any other child, we won't know till it's born.” Replied Ted with a smile, “The
genetic lottery is always an interesting guessing game.”
Having answered that question Dr. Langerak proceeded with his review.
“At this point everything that needs to be done in the lab has already been done. What we
are going to do today is place the embryo within Egeus.”
“And it has to be Egeus, right?” Frances asked as he nodded, he already knew the answer but
it never hurt to ask again. “I don't have the proper interior.”

41. “Correct, one of the side effects of alien heritage is a small modification that allows males to
nurture a child. I liken it more to a marsupial pouch than to a womb.”
“I'm a kangaroo?” Egeus exclaimed, then he shrugged “I guess you didn't reckon on that
when we got married did you Fran?”
Frances just shook his head at his husband's humor.
“No, of course not but well it's a bit similar. Obviously, the aliens make this modification when
men are abducted and it's a genetic modification. It's not a noticeable modification, in that it
has no effect on the sims system. But since it's there we can make us of it. Any questions?” Ted
asked the couple.

42. Any questions that they might have had, had previously been asked, answered and debated.
The doubts and fears that all potential parents have, had been discussed, calmed or put aside
during the time the two men had been together.
“Well then hop up on the table Egeus and let's make a baby!”
~-~-~-~

43. It hadn't been easy, telling her parents she was pregnant. She'd worked up her nerve, sat
them down and spelled it all out. She'd told them everything, and answered all their questions.
When it was over, their reactions had been fairly close to what she had believed that they
would be.
Her mother had taken it seemingly in stride, but then Della Familiar often appeared to be
unflappable. When Uncle Dean, had become a plantsim she'd barely blinked. Elani's
decision to have a child out of wedlock was apparently only surprising in it's timing. What had
left Della flabbergasted was the declaration that Erasmus Goth wasn't the father of her future
grandchild. Once she'd gotten over that hurdle, Della had put her boundless energy into
preparing nursery space and making sure Elani was taking care of herself.

44. Elani's father was a different story. Dannon had stood in her room at the communal housing
with his arms crossed, never saying a word, while Elani had packed everything up. It hadn't
taken long to pack, she'd barely gotten moved in. Dannon had silently loaded boxes into the
truck and just as closed mouthed he'd driven them back across town.
Since moving home, Dannon had continued to give Elani the silent treatment. Oh, he spoke to
her occasionally, if grunts of acknowledgment were considered talking. They hadn't had a
real conversation though, in all the time she'd been home. It was discomforting, and Elani
didn't know what it would take to tear down the wall that had appeared between herself and
her father. To get past his anger.

45. Elani's father wasn't angry with her, he was angry at the situation that she had found herself in.
While Dannon had held very few illusions regarding the lifestyle that his daughter had chosen,
he had hoped that she would be more careful with herself. It was disappointing to find that
she hadn't. It wasn't that she was pregnant, a child without the benefit of marriage wasn't so
unusual after all; it happened, even in the best of families.
Elani had claimed that the father of her child, was some island swashbuckler she'd met on
vacation. A one night stand, a mistake. She'd said that he wasn't important, and she didn't
even know his last name. Dannon wasn't sure what to think about that story. He'd bet almost
anything on the baby being Erasmus Goth's. But if it was Erasmus' child then why was she
protecting him? Then again, if she was telling the truth and it wasn't his, then why the hell was
'Ras still hanging around?

46. It seemed like every time Dannon Familiar turned around, Erasmus Goth was there; under foot, just
like he'd been back when Elani was in high school. Hanging around the house, eating their food
and flirting with his daughter.

47. Well, 'Ras was being helpful as well, Dannon grudgingly admitted. Elani shouldn't have taken
on the garden. She told her mother that she needed to stay active, and that the garden
would provide a needed distraction. Dannon didn't think she should be lifting those bags or
doing all that bending, but if anyone besides Erasmus tried to help she'd wave them away.

48. It'd taken a bunch of cajoling but 'Ras had finally convinced Elani to go lay down for a bit.
She'd been out in the garden all day and it had been apparent that she was pushing herself
too much. While the garden was much less strenuous than dancing, it was still a lot of hard
work. Elani had mostly, much to her regret had to put aside her dancing for the remainder of
her pregnancy. She still got every morning and did warm up stretches, insisting that if she
didn't she'd never get it back. Fouettes, Jetes, Piles and all those other terms that he'd never
quite gotten straight had to be put aside for now. Her balance was different now, she might
hurt herself trying to compensate for the difference.
Erasmus heard the crunch of an additional hoe hitting the earth. Looking up he saw that
Elani's father had joined him in the planting.

49. Great, thought Erasmus, just what the evening needed, a confrontation with Mr. Familiar.
Erasmus was well aware that Dannon had never much liked him to begin with and that since
Elani's pregnancy, Dannon's dislike had multiplied. Erasmus revised his thoughts Mr. Familiar
didn't like him very much. Calling him Dannon was reserved for people he liked; people such
as 'Ras' brother, Euclid. Erasmus could remember when he'd become aware that Euc had
been encouraged to call Mr. Familiar by his given name and the envy 'Ras had felt over that
simple gesture.
Erasmus looked over his shoulder at Mr. Familiar and said, “I can handle this sir, no need to get
yourself dirty.”

50. “My garden, I should be allowed to put some time into it shouldn't I?” Dannon asked.
“Like you say, it's your garden,” replied Erasmus with a shrug. Turning he began to dig a small
hole for the next seedling. “Elani's being pretty territorial over this bit of dirt at the moment. It
took quite a bit for her to agree to let me put my paws on it.”
“You seem to have a way with getting her to allow you to put your paws wherever you want,”
retorted Dannon sardonically. “Are you intending to be around to tend this garden that
you're being so helpful in planting? Or will you be leaving it to wilt and wither?”

51. “Well now, you're speaking metaphorically aren't you? That's fine, I'll play along. It's like this Mr.
Familiar, I try to finish what I start. I take care of what's mine.” Erasmus stated with a nod. “But
it's like you said before, this isn't my garden. I'll do what I can to help out, as much as Elani lets
me. Maybe, I'll be able to make some small claim to the quality of the harvest but the layout
of the garden has already been done by someone besides myself.”
“If that's true, then why are you sticking around for the harvest at all?”
“The harvest will happen whether I'm here or not. It's not the garden that I love, it's the
gardener.”
~-~-~-~-~

52. “Is this how you study us? Are your reports based on laboratory facts?” Frankie asked as he
approached.
“We can learn much from lab testings,” was Stella's reply.
“Sure you can, but you can't learn everything this way.”

53. “Wouldn't it be better to see how we live, what we do?”
“My assignment does not include current trends or fads, as you call them. These things are
incidental to your development.”
“That's not true, how a people live is extremely important to their development.” Frankie
shrugged, “Okay so genetic versus environment is still up for debate but everyone agrees that
both play a part. We just don't all agree on how large a part.”

54. Frankie had an idea, “okay here's a plan. I bet that I can teach you more about how we live
in one afternoon than you've learned the entire time you've been in this lab.”
“That is not possible.”
“That's why it's a bet. All you have to do is spend the afternoon with me,” Frankie said with
assurance. “If when the day's done you still believe that lab work is better than true
experience I'll sign up as a lab rat.”
The opportunity to study this particular sim would be a boon to her research. “I agree.”
~-~-~-~-~

55. Egeus tracked Ferdie down in the backyard, up in the old that had been his favorite haunt as
a child. As he pulled himself up the ladder he said, “Your Mom thought I might find you here.”
Ferdie glanced over, “Hey Ege, did she send you to fetch me? Did I forget to take out the
trash?”
“I don't know, did you?” Egeus replied as he climbed into the fort and sat down. “I just
thought I'd come over and see if you wanted to talk.”

56. “About what?” Ferdie asked warily. He liked Egeus, everyone liked Egeus, but due to the
differences in their ages the two had never been all that close.
“Being abducted can be kinda scary and sometimes it's easier to talk about things with other
people that have been there.”
Ferdie sighed, “I'm fine really. It's no big deal.”
Egeus looked shocked, “No big deal? It's a huge deal Ferd, you got to experience this hugely
awesome thing that very few others do. I know that after it happened to me, I felt kinda weird
about everything. I wanted to tell people what it was like, but I didn't know what to say
because I didn't remember enough to really explain it.”

57. “Do you remember more now than you did when it happened?” Was he always going to
have these holes in his memory?
“Some, I'm not always sure if it's real memories or just my imagination though.” “Some nights I'll
wake up from a dream and wonder if it was really a dream. Are you having strange dreams?”
“Yeah, sometimes.” Ferdie said hesitantly, “do you think they're real?”
Egeus nodded, “I hope they are. I think that the aliens suppress our memories so that we won't
be immediately overwhelmed. It's an act of kindness, really.”

58. “So you think they're good?” Ferdie questioned, it was the question he constantly asked
himself.
“I want them to be good.” Egeus said seriously, “I don't believe that they are evil, but that isn't
the same thing as good, is it? I believe that we are necessary to them and that they see
themselves as benevolent in their usage of us. But, I don't believe that they truly understand us.
If they did, then they would know that true kindness would be proper communication.”
Ferdie tilted his head, “don't you think they've tried that? It seems as if they believe we have
an agreement, maybe we just don't remember it?”

59. “They were here before, that conclave in the mountains that Grandpa found. It was theirs
right? We didn't remember it being there, but there are people who knew. My grandparents
knew, I mean my Dad's people.”
“That's probably true, and maybe if we knew more about them then we would know more
about the aliens. I know that your brother is very interested in knowing more, maybe you
should talk to him,” advised Egeus.
Ferdie sighed, “Yeah like that's gonna happen. Frankie doesn't like to talk to me about that
stuff. Like, just because he knew Uncle Almeric and I didn't, they belong to him. He's the same
way about the aliens, when I ask him about Stella he gets really closed mouthed.”

60. “Did you ever consider that maybe Frankie is jealous of you?”
Ferdie just stared at Egues.
“Look, Ferd; Frankie feels as if all that CIGAM stuff is his responsibility. He also knows that he's
the heir and that adds to his feeling of being responsible. He thinks that he's the one that has
to do everything. He has to open the source, he has to solve the mystery, he has to marry
correctly; he has to be THE HERO that saves the world.”
“But that's stupid, he can't do everything by himself.” Not even if you're Frankie.

61. “Of course not, but he thinks he should.” Egeus considered whether or not he should continue.
Might as well get it out in the open, someone had to be the one to spell it all out. Egeus took a
breath and continued. “And then you come along: you start dating Tina who would be a
perfectly legitimate wife for legacy heir, and you follow that up by being abducted so you
could very likely have an alien child if you choose to do so. All these things that Frankie thinks
he's supposed to do, you've already done. And you managed to do it without even really
trying. Can you see why that might upset him?”

62. “Wow, he must hate me.”
“He doesn't hate you. He envies you which if Frankie was a different type of person could be
just as bad.” Egeus continued quickly so as not to worry Ferdie. “It's more in Frankie's nature to
try and protect you than it would be to hurt you. He doesn't talk to you about CIGAM because
he thinks he's protecting you from it. The less you know the less likely you will feel the need to
act. And now that I've told you, you'll have to decide how or if to respond to his protective
nature.”

63. When Frankie had suggested that they spend a day together, Stella had not imagined that
they would be leaving the campus. She rarely ventured away from the University, the bus
system was so archaic. But Frankie had seemed to know exactly how to get where he wanted
to go. “You take the blue line to Parkston, then transfer to the express (that's the orange line).
Once you're in the city it depends what your destination is but really there's just two basic
routes. We're going to take the green one now, it goes east-west.” He had said as he drug her
from one bus to another.
When they had arrived at his planned destination Stella had been even more confused. It
seemed to be an open recreation facility. Frankie had called it a park.
“Why are we in a park?” Stella asked turning the new word around her mouth.

64. “The kids!” Frankie said as he pointed to the playground. “Look everything you need to know
about us, you can learn from watching children. Childhood dynamics are a huge part of how
we relate to each other. There's an old saying 'all I really need to know, I learned in
kindergarten'. It's extremely simplistic but it's true. Simanity in it's most basic form is abundant
at a playground”

65. Stella did as he asked and watched the children for awhile. It was all very confusing, some of
them seemed to be playing a sport of some type that involved lots of running and chasing,
ending only when one child hit another and yelled the phrase “you're it!” And then they would
reverse positions and start again.
“Why do their keepers allow physical violence? Among my people the young ones are taught
to avoid harming each other.” Stella asked, “And why are they so . . so boisterous?”

66. “They aren't hurting each other, if they did their parents would probably stop it.” Frankie
shrugged, “but usually they try to let the kids work it out. Kids don't like to play with kids that
hurt them. That's what I meant by basic simantics, we learn early the type of behavior that is
acceptable. Kids that play too rough find that they don't have many other kids to play with, so
they either change or they have a hard time. They're loud because they are having a good
time. They're outside so they're allowed to run and yell and wear themselves out. When they
go home they'll be ready to eat and go to bed.”
“Is that not counter productive to their learning? I understood that children had 'homework'
that they were required to do in the evenings.”

67. “It's summertime, no school during the summer.” Frankie looked around “Hey kid when does
school start?”
A little girl turned away from the swing, “I'm not allowed to talk to strangers, don't you know
anything Mister?”
Frankie grinned, then shrugged at Stella. “Another life lesson, protect yourself from people you
don't know.”
“Why would they need to protect themselves?”

68. “The side effect of being the playground bully is that there are some people that never learn
to get along with others. And because there's no way to know who those people are kids are
taught to be wary.” Frankie frowned, “that's one area we need to advance in I guess, there's
still bad people in the world.”
Stella nodded, “we have noted that you still lock up your criminals. Behavior modification is
the preferred method at this time. However there are very few deviants when selective
breeding is applied properly.”
Selective breeding, thought Frankie, I'll save that one for later. “Come on, lets go get a dog.”
“I do not wish a canine companion, but I thank you for the offer,” Stella replied as Frankie
laughing pulled her up and over the bridge.

69. “Next lesson,” Frankie said as he set a plate in front of Stella, “the best food is the simplest.
There's nothing in the world like a grilled hot dog, it brings back memories of ballgames and
picnics in the park.”
Stella stared at what he had put in front of her, “how does one consume such a thing? Are
there eating utensils? “
“Nope, you just pick it up with your hands and take a bite. Like I said simplistic is what makes it
good.”

70. And it was good, thought Stella as she chewed. In fact it was very good.
“It is much better than the nourishment provided by servants at the dormitories.”
Frankie choked on his dog, “well dorm food isn't considered to be an epicurean delight. The
food the school serves, is selected to be filling and to provide proper nutrition. Also I hope that
you don't call them servants to their faces.”
“Is that not what they are?”
“Well, they do provide a service I suppose, but they'd probably prefer their proper titles.”
~-~-~-~

71. “Anyone doing anything exciting today?” Elijah asked those that had gathered for lunch at
the Greek House. “We've only got two more days of break gotta use them wisely.”
“Practice this afternoon, we gotta start getting in shape for the season.” Euclid said as he
shoved half a sandwich into his mouth. “After practice Amin and I are taking the girls to a
movie.”

72. “You takin my sister to a movie?” Elijah asked as he turned towards his sister's boyfriend with a
stern look.
“Uh yeah.” Came the hesitant reply. Amin still was sure how seriously to take Elijah's protective
brother stance.
“Better make it a good one,” Elijah said with a mock frown. “I'll most likely kill you in the
morning.”
“Wait till the season's over okay? He's the only decent point guard I've got.” Euclid injected,
“Come on Amin let's get going, don't wanna be late and have to do the bleacher run.”

73. “What about you two? Patty's got a thing tonight, she and the roommate are doing girls night
and I am not invited. Thinking of heading over to the U for a bit to harass incoming freshmen.
You two wanna tag along?”
“Well you aren't really a girl Elijah,” Ezekiel Capp laughed. “Umm I think Corey's coming over
after work, I better text her and check. Ever since she picked out her dress she's been all over
me to choose the tuxes.”
“Instead of her coming here I could drop you there on my way to see Elsie. Share gas money,
no need to have cars going both directions.” Zeke's twin, Ezra, offered.

74. “I thought Else was cramming for that promotion?” Zeke asked with a frown.
“Gotta take a break sometime right? I figure I'll show up and surprise her and then hang out till
she's got some free time” Came Ezra's reply with a smile.
“Good luck with that, whenever Cor's in work mode she about bites my head off for being
underfoot.”
“Yeah well, Elsie's different” Ezra was always optimistic.
“Not that different.” Zeke replied with a frown.
~-~-~-~-

75. “What is this place?”
Frankie and Stella had walked from the park up and down the various city streets. As they'd
walked Frankie had repeatedly pulled Stella in and out of various shops, making her listen to
music or talk to the book seller. Along the route he'd pointed out what he considered to be
interesting views and unique people. At one point he'd stopped to talk to a man that was
dressed in rags and sitting in a doorway. When they'd left he'd handed the man some bills,
“the first ones to get food, the second ones to make sure you get food with the first one.” As
they'd walked away Frankie had stated “he'll probably drink it all, but you gotta try.” In all they
had seen an interesting cross section of the population.
“Art Museum.”

76. “Why was this avian creature encased in metal? Is it for preservation?” Stella asked as they
stood looking at the peacock.
“It's not a real bird, it's a sculpture. It's art, created by someone that wanted to preserve it's
image and shared for the enjoyment of others.” Frankie tried to explain.
“This is allowed?” Stella questioned somewhat confused. “Is it not a waste of resources?”
“It's encouraged, the materials are common enough, I doubt there's much waste involved.
Some people might see it as a waste of time, but generally art is appreciated. Or at least
everyone pretends to appreciate it.” Frankie grinned, “Sometimes it's hard to tell what the art is
supposed to be. It can be fairly subjective.”

77. “Like this one. I don't know what it's supposed to be. I mean it's called the Poisonous Forest,
and you can see that there are trees. Trees aren't pink though so is it poisonous because it's
pink or is the pink an after effect of Poison? Or is the forest a metaphor?”
“Art is not a true representation?” Asked Stella, confused.
“Not always but sometimes. There's another Art Museum on the other side of town that's full of
Modern Art. Some of that stuff is really weird” Frankie said as he rolled his eyes. “Flaming
toilets, metal looped into shapes that no one recognizes paint splattered as if it was just thrown
onto the canvas. Thing is, even if you recognize what art is you don't always know what it
means. Like that toilet, is it supposed to represent the world going to hell, or was the artist
describing his hemorrhoids?”

78. “There's a saying about art. We have a lot of sayings don't we? Err well the saying goes 'I don't
know much, but I know what I like'. That's pretty much art in a nutshell. Everyone interprets art
differently.” Frankie looked at the next canvas on the wall. “This one I know something about
cause we studied it in class. It's called 'The Lady of Shalott'.”
“It is very lovely?” Stella questioned wondering if that was the right word.
“Yeah but it's sad too, if you know the story. See that lady on the boat will is about to die. She'll
never make it to the other shore. But in this painting you just see her beauty and maybe her
despair. So see even though art can tell a story, it can't tell the whole story.”
~-~-~-~-~

79. See Elsie is different than Encore, thought Ezra to himself. Elsie liked being surprised, she'd been
happy to see him when he'd showed up. Ezra had talked her into taking a bit of a break and
then they'd had a late (second in his case) lunch with her parents. Now she was back to
studying and he was keeping her company.
So what if he was a bit bored just sitting there, he was spending quality time with his fiance.
Maybe I'll just see what's on television

80. Not long after the television had clicked on Elsie sighed. Closing her book, she looked at Ezra
and said, “You know I think I could concentrate better if I was upstairs. You go ahead and
watch your program. When I'm done I'll come down and join you.”
Elsie stood up, gave Ezra a quick kiss on his forehead and walked towards the stairs.
Ezra frowned and followed her with his eyes. The point of coming over was to spend time
together.

81. About half an hour later when the show was over and Elsie hadn't reappeared Ezra went
looking for her. He found her in her bedroom, stretched out comfortably with her book.
Correction, he thought with a smile, it's our bedroom; or will be once the school term was over.
That couldn't come soon enough as far as Ezra was concerned. It won't be much longer.

82. “Show's over, I thought I'd come keep you company.” Ezra said as he joined his fiance on the
bed, “still reading?”
“Mmmhmm,” was Elsie's mumbled reply.
“You know I was thinking, maybe we should go out to eat tonight.” Ezra said looking at Elsie,
“between your work and my classes we're going to be pretty busy the next few weeks. There
won't be many chances for us to see each other. Why don't we go over the bistro and have
some of that shrimp you like so much?”

83. Elsie closed her book and put it away. “I love you Ezra,” she began. “But I really don't have
time to go out to eat tonight.”
“Well that's okay I guess, we can do it tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow I'm going to be working all day and then I'm sure I'll have more things to study.”

84. Elsie stood up and looked at her fiance. “Ezra, I really need to concentrate on this today. Can
we make plans for the weekend maybe?”
“Well sure, I just thought that since I had a few days we could spend some time together. But
it's alright, we don't have to go out tonight, we can just hang out here.” Ezra replied getting up
himself.

85. “Ezra sweetie,” Elsie said with a pained smile. “I really would love to spend some time with you
tonight.”
“Well good that's why I'm here.” Ezra smiled in agreement.
“But..” Elsie continued, “I absolutely have to get this finished. I have a hard time concentrating
when you're here. It's just a quirk I have, I've never really been able to study with other people
around.”
“Sooo, you want me to leave?”
“Yeah.”

86. “Okay, but it's really boring at school without you.”
“It's only for a little while, and the more I get done before the wedding the more time we'll
have together once you've graduated. And,” Elsie slid in the kicker, “if I can get these
promotions conquered then I'll be more than ready to start our family.”
“Well then I guess I can't fault you for thinking ahead. I'll leave you alone tonight.” Ezra gave
his fiance a lingering kiss. “Can we do something tomorrow?”
“Maybe, we'll see how swamped I am. I'll call you if I can manage it.”
~-~-~-~-~

87. “Hi” Ferdie said as he kissed his girlfriend, Tina Traveller, hello.
“Hi, yourself.” Was the delayed reply.
“You ready for our last date as teenagers?”
“Completely ready, where are we going?”
“White's for dinner; then meeting Eagle and Erin for bowling.”

88. “Bowling?” asked Tina. “I thought we were gonna go to a movie? And why are Eagle and Erin
coming? It's our last night before college, we were going to spend it together. Alone
together.”
“Well you know how Eagle wants to date Erin?” Asked Ferdie as he pulled out of the drive.
“Yeah and Erin doesn't want to date Eagle.” Tina happened to agree with Erin. Eagle was the
nicest guy, but he wasn't the type of guy you dated. “Are you meddling?”
“It's just an outing,” sulked Ferdie. “Erin agreed to drive Eagle in so that we could have dinner
alone.”

89. “Well hello Ms Nova” Eagle said as he opened the door for Erin Nova. In an attempt to be
suave he grabbed her hand and planted a kiss on the backside.
“Oo La La charmed I'm sure Mr. Langerak,” replied Erin playing along momentarily. “Now, let
go of my hand. You idiot.”
“I was just,” Eagle dropped her hand.
“This isn't a date, so don't get any ideas.”

90. Eagle sighed and scuffed his feet, “How come you won't go out with me Erin? You kissed me
remember?”
“Eagle, it would never work out, I'd end up stomping on you and I don't want to do that to
you.” Erin shook her head. “I like you, I don't want to hurt you. And I would guaranteed.”
“But,”
“No buts Eagle, we're friends, be happy with that. Okay?” Erin turned towards the door, “Now
let's blow this joint and go bowling. Did you pick bowling, cause for the record, bowling is
boring.”
~-~-~-~-~-~

91. “So now that the kids are out of the way, why did you really come over? Deanna cooks
amazingly well, but not so well as to draw you across town for left overs.”
“Well, I don't know about that, Ferdie's with Tina and Aldric is working late; it was either your
leftovers or mine.” Emma smiled at her brother , “but you're right. I've been reminded rather
forcefully a few times this week that I'm now head of the family; and that as such I'm supposed
to know way more than I do about everything.”
Elliot nodded, “Being heiress isn't all about vacation homes is it? That's what people think
about, the privileges, not the responsibility”

92. “I never thought much about it till Daddy died. All of a sudden I have people asking me
questions and I don't know the answers. And since it's time for me to learn I'm going to be
asking questions, too.” Emma turned towards her brother, “Eli, I need to know about the Aliens.
You're a bit more approachable to me than Bob. He expects me to know more about
everything than I do. He's used to dealing with Daddy I guess.”
“He's been around for so long that I think he forgets that normal people don't remember things
that happened generations ago.” Elliot commiserated with his sister, “I've had a few
encounters with him where I've walked away a bit blistered due to non existent memories on
my part.”

93. “I remember a conversation we had when you first joined the Space Pirate commission and
you talked about alien activity in the region. Are you all still watching that?”
“Of course we are, it's one of our primary responsibilities. They watch us, we watch them.”
“They don't just watch though. There have been three abductions this summer Eli.”
“Three in this sector Em, that's actually a fairly low number when it comes to blatant alien
activity. There are sectors that have reported as many as twenty in a season.”
“Twenty?” Emma exclaimed, “How can you shrug that off Elliot?”

94. “I'm not shrugging it off Em, believe me I understand your personal concern in the matter. I'm
just telling you what the commission has observed elsewhere. In those sectors that alien
activity has reached such high levels the commission has stepped forward to communicate
with the alien ships.”
“Communicate? You mean you've talked to them?”
“I haven't no but there has been communication in the past. The commission has not, at this
time, labeled abduction as a hostile act. From what we've gathered the aliens consider their
abductions to be research and as there appears to be no harm done to those that volunteer
for abduction, it's allowed to continue.“

95. “No harm? My son is has nightmares, that's when he sleeps. Since he doesn't want to have
nightmares he tries not to sleep. He tries to hide it, but I know that he's awake, and when we
ask him about it he just shrugs and says that he's fine.”
“Teenagers generally don't like to talk about their problems. Evonne never did, that's for sure.”
Elliot sighed, “It's tough, you don't know when to press and when to back off. All you can do is
be there and hope that they'll be ready to talk eventually. And when they don't talk to you,
you can hope that they are talking to someone.”
“Well Egeus talked to him this afternoon and I think it helped some. I worry about him going off
to college with conflicting feelings. In part he's thrilled by the experience, but then there's a
part of him that's scared of what it might mean.”

96. “And I really didn't come over here to unload about Ferdie.” Emma shook her head, “Thanks
for listening anyway. I really do want to know what the commission thinks about the recent
activity. I need to be prepared for the next time someone like Eva confronts me and demands
action.”
“Can anyone ever really be prepared for tropical storm Evie?” Elliot asked with a chuckle.
“Probably not,” Emma replied with a grin, “but being informed would help.”
“That I can help with, at least somewhat.” Elliot agreed nodding.

97. “I'll get you clearance to the website where you can read all of the reports that are available
to officials, I think you count as one. What's on the site isn't everything, of course, but it's a
good overview. Documented reports of alien activity in all sectors and what we think it means.
What you should know is that yes, at this time this sector is under higher levels of watch due to
increased activity over the past generation. We're only on code yellow status so that's really
not too distressing at this point. In fact it's fairly normal for certain sectors to have increased
activity for historically short periods of time. We believe that the aliens come into an area and
take 'samplings' of the population. After they have whatever information they need they
generally leave that sector relatively untouched for several generations before returning to the
area. It's like they are doing spot checks, testing our developmental progress.“
“And they leave presents behind.” Said Emma wryly, “they don't just take samplings.”

98. “Pregnancy does occur in some cases,” Elliot agreed. “The commission feels that when there
is an impregnation to one of the men or women abducted it's because the aliens believe that
they have found something in our genetics that needs to be adjusted. And not to start a
debate but it is always the abductees choice to decide whether or not they wish to have the
child.”
Elliot continued, “due to the code yellow, the commission has increased the televised warnings
regarding alien abduction. Of course no one much listens to the warnings. Or they listen and
get curious and decide to check things out for themselves. There's not a whole lot we can do
about that.”
“Historically, have the aliens focused as much attention on the teen population in other areas
as they seem to be doing here? I know that there have been a few adult abductions recently
as well but three teens just in our immediate family. What does that signify, if anything?”

99. “There have been teens abducted in the past. I don't know if you remember hearing about it
but Bob's son Benjamin was abducted as a teen as well as an adult. There are indications that
teen abductions lead to a higher chance of adult abductions but that hasn't ever really been
proven. Some that are abducted as teens try harder to be abducted again while others will
try to avoid additional abductions. Depends on the sim and how they feel about their
experience. Again it's personal choice,” Elliot concluded.
“So you really think that Ferdie can avoid it if he wants to?” Emma asked hopefully.
“You have to remember that as far as the aliens are concerned those that are abducted have
volunteered. They've never abducted anyone that wasn't using the telescope.”

100. Emma and Elliot continued to talk until there were calls from upstairs that the kids were done
with their homework and ready for good nights to be given. Heading upstairs the youngest
Capp twins were found not at all ready to be told that it was bed time.
“So much energy,” “After nine o'clock and they're still bouncing.”
“Nothing much slows these two down,” was their father's response. “Except maybe
STORYTIME!”
The announcement that Daddy was ready to read stopped the bouncing. Ethan and Ethel
were quickly reminded that jammies needed to be on if they wanted a book. With very few
protests, the twins headed towards their bedroom.

101. “They're getting so big Eli,” remarked Emma, once the twins were in their jammies. “What are
you going to do when they turn teens?”
“Remind myself and Deanna that we said no more babies.” Elliot said with a smile, “not that it's
all that possible at this point. I will say though that having these two makes me forget how old I
really am. My sons are getting married this year, soon even. That means grandchildren, you
know.”
“Don't remind me, I'm right behind you remember?” Emma replied with a wary smile. “I do
wish Frankie was a bit more settled than he seems to be, I'm not sure I approve of his current
direction. Worse I'm not sure he does either. He has to make his own choices, we know what
that leads to.”
Before Elliot could respond there were calls from the kids bedroom “Dad come read.”
~-~-~-~-~-~-~

102. “You're in a really good mood tonight,” Tina said with a smile for her boyfriend. “Are you
feeling better about things then?”
“Yeah, I guess I am.” Ferdie realized that he was, indeed feeling better. “Egeus came by this
afternoon, and we talked about stuff. I guess Mom asked him to but still it was pretty cool of
him. He made me feel better.”
“He's the one that was abducted a few years ago right?” Tina was never quite sure which of
Ferdie's many cousins were which.
“Yeah,” Ferdie nodded. “Back when he was a teenager, now he's married and everything.”

103. “He's actually pretty cool, for an older dude.” Ferdie announced with a grin. Then he frowned,
“He's got this weird idea that Frankie is jealous of me though, I don't know what to think about
that.”
“Well, if he is then that's not your problem.” Tina had never much liked Frankie, but then he
didn't like her did he?
“Guess not, but it makes me wonder, that's all.” Ferdie took a bite of his chili, “I mean I always
thought Frankie had it all going for him. He's always seemed real I dunno, relaxed about
himself. Lots of friends, girls were always calling the house for him, always got good grades –
he's made the deans list a few times. Sometimes he gets moopy but everyone does right?”

104. “You're all those things too. Except the girls, you better not have girls calling you all the time.”
Tina kicked him playfully under the table. “Plus you're smarter than he is, your more talented.”
“I am not, Frankie's smart. And he just doesn't like really like making stuff, if he wanted to I'm
sure he could.”
Tina rolled her eyes, “you've always worshiped him because he's older than you. I won't put
him down. I'm sure he's smart, but so are you and you're focused. You know what you want to
do and you know how you want to do it. Frankie just sorta drifts.”
~-~-~-~-~

105. By the time they got to the last stop on his agenda, Frankie was feeling pretty good about the
day. He really thought he was making progress with Stella Terrano. He'd gotten her to loosen
up and though he wasn't positive he could swear that he'd heard a laugh at some point
during the day. He was hoping that now that Stella was a bit less wary he could get her to talk
about herself. Frankie had been storing up little tidbits all day that he hoped she would
expand on.
“So what do you do for fun where you're from? Do you have restaurants and stuff?”

106. “Most nutrition is consumed in a commissary, and though there are a variety of commissaries
they are nothing like your restaurants. They are something like the cafeteria's at the school,
however there is a much larger variety available and the servants rarely char a dish.”
“What's the punishment for serving burnt food?” asked Frankie facetiously “The stocks? Or
would they just be gassed?”
Stella considered this seriously, “I do not know. I might depend upon whose food was charred.
If it were for one of the councilors I am sure that the punishment would be most severe. All
know how particular the councilors can be regarding protocol. However, the use of stocks is
archaic, so I highly doubt they would be used in this age. ”

107. “Are you serious?”
“All must strive to do their best. As every individual is assigned to duties well within their
capabilities. Failure to perform adequately is unacceptable.” Stella looked down at her
hands, “when one fails to carry out their duty there is no other recourse but to use them as an
example for others.”
Frankie put down his drink, “is that why you're here? As an example for others? What did you
do that was so wrong?”
“It is enough that I failed to carry out my assigned duty correctly.” Stella looked grave, “the
enormity of my error, I am fortunate.”

108. “But if you err perform well here, you'll be allowed to go home?”
“That is correct, but more importantly my parent will be redeemed.”
“Redeemed how?”
“I am young, my parent endangered himself for me. He, he went before the council on my
behalf. Due to his status and reputation I was given this chance. I must succeed Do you
understand?”
“He loves you.” Frankie said with a comforting smile, “I'd wondered.”
~-~-~-~-~-~

109. Why did we go bowling?
Sports are not my forte. Give me a chess board any day over a bowling alley.
At least the girls aren't much better than I am so I'm not loosing too much face in front of Tina.
Of course she's barely looked at me since we started. Afraid she'll laugh in my face I'm sure.
Why the heck did we go bowling?

110. Oh yeah, that's why we went bowling!
Eagle couldn't catch a football or hit a baseball, things flying at him made him flinch. When
he danced he had a tendency to trip over his own feet or to step on the feet of his partner.
Public speaking obviously wasn't his forte, his tongue got twisted and he'd start to stutter.
There were very few things that the group could have done that would have given Eagle a
chance to show off a bit for Erin. When it came to bowling though, nobody had a better eye
than Eagle. It wouldn't make Erin Nova fall in love with him, but it made her look twice.
~-~-~-~-~

111. “What about your Mom? How does she fit in?”
“It is different.” “Here the norm seems to be two parental units, correct?”
“Pretty much yeah, I mean sometimes stuff happens and there's only one; or only one doing
the raising. It takes two to tango though, so there's always another one someplace.” Frankie
looked up, “you all don't like err reproduce asexually do you?”
“No,” Stella almost smiled, Frankie looked so uncomfortable with that thought. “Physiologically
our races are very similar, but we have advanced past sexual reproduction.”
“You don't have sex?!?” He said that louder than he'd planned and he was sure that the other
patrons in the restaurant were now staring at them.

112. “I mean umm how do you reproduce then?” This could put a dent in his plans.
“Sexual reproduction is, of course, possible. However, it is generally not considered to be very
practical.” In some ways the people here were so very backwards. “Those that are
compatible on a sexual level or that have ties of partiality, may not be compatible
genetically. It is in the best interest of all to separate such things.”
“So how does it work?”
“All are expected to assist in the continuation of the race. Even those that are considered to
be unacceptable genetically can still be useful as surrogates. I do know who my other
genetic parent is but it would not be acceptable to name them as such.”

113. “So you were raised by just one parent?”
“Children are raised as a collective, all are responsible for their development. My parent
broke many traditions by taking an interest in my rearing.” Stella looked almost sad, “it would
have been better if he had conformed.”
“I'm sure that he doesn't regret it, Stella.” Frankie replied thoughtfully, “would you ever
consider . . .”
“Everything okay over here?” the waitress barged in and the moment was lost. “Can I get you
fine people anything else, maybe some desert? We have an excellent crème brulee this
evening, I highly recommend it.”
~-~-~-~

114. “Remind me to never recommend bowling again.”
“You are a complete and utter klutz on the lane. How many face plants did you manage?”
“How many did you see?”
“Enough,” Tina laughed. “How did Eagle get so good?”
“He used to go to the lanes with Grandpa.” Ferdie smiled with memory, “Grandpa always
tried to find something special to do with each of us, and Eagle was scared of most of his
'normal' kid distraction activities. But with bowling the ball was going away from him so it was
okay I guess.”

115. “What did he do with you?”
“Fishing,” said Ferdie with a grin. “Sunday mornings at the park. We have that little pond at
the house, but we'd go to the park instead. Mainly to get me out of Mom and Dad's hair, I'm
sure but still it was an adventure.”
“I remember fishing in Takemizu with my Dad. Part of my living is learning, home schooling for
the wandering homeless,” said Tina sarcastically. “It was the only schooling considered
important. Obviously graduating high school isn't nearly as impressive as naming twenty-five
species of Koi.”
“I'm sure he wanted to be here. That island is pretty remote, right?”

116. “Oh, I'm sure that he wanted to be here,” replied Tina wistfully. “He wanted to be here for the
piano recitals and the brownie bake sales too. He just never is, something always comes up.
There's always some exotic location or undiscovered treasure that keeps him away.”
“Has he called recently?” Ferdie guessed that he hadn't called. Anytime Trent Traveller called
Tina seemed to forget any bad feelings about her father and get caught up in his plans and
finds.
“Not for a few weeks, that island doesn't have very good communication. You'd think in this
day and age there would be wireless everywhere.”
“He'll call soon, he's got your number at the dorm right?” Ferdie reminded Tina.

117. “Yeah, I gave it to him last time we talked.” Tina nodded.
“Then he'll call, he always does right?”
“I guess so.” Tina added sadly, “I just miss him.”
Ferdie nodded, “Yeah.”
After a little time had passed Ferdie changed the subject. “You're all packed right?
Everything ready for when we pick you up in the morning?”
“Sure, it's been ready for a week. I am so ready to get out of here.” Tina announced then
continued quietly, “At least for awhile.”

118. “We'll be back.”
“Yeah, but it will be totally different.” Tina nodded affirmatively, “No more townie quarters, no
more Mom treating me like I'm five.”
“She'll still treat you like you're five.” Ferdie grinned, “from what I've seen we're always five to
our parents.”
“Probably, but I won't have to listen.”
“So I'll see you in the morning?”
“Early.”
~-~-~-~-~