Identikit

by Prudence Walker

Chapter Six

 

"No peeking, of either kind," Christine's voice said, obviously attached to the hand.

I nodded my agreement, wondering what the surprise was. I was happy to be the willing victim in whatever game they were playing. It meant I was involved and not standing on the outside. They led me to the bed, and then a scarf was slipped around my head, acting as a blindfold. I felt them undoing my clothes, and pulling them off my body. Then they started dressing me, I felt the silky coolness of satin undergarments sliding up my body and around my chest. I heard them giggling as they opened bags and I smiled, knowing that they had thought enough of me, to buy me something and plan this.

I felt them slip a dress over my head and they guided my arms through and pulled it down my body. I heard them zipping up the back, and I felt the clinging embrace as it closed snug against me. They slipped some high-heeled shoes on my feet and then led me gingerly towards the full-length mirror. Slipping the scarf off my head, with a warning to keep my eyes closed, I felt them wipe my lipstick off and re-do it.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now," Misty giggled.

I looked in the mirror. I knew then that not only was I beautiful, I had two people that cared deeply about me. To bother getting something that exquisite for another person, that shouted out 'ME,' took talent and love. They had both truly outdone themselves.

I couldn't see the bra or panties, but I knew instinctively they matched the gown they had selected. It was a deep blue sequin covered sheath dress that shimmered like a mermaids body. The cool satin lining slid sensually over my body as I twisted to check myself out from all angles. Matching shoes with a 4-inch heel set off my legs wonderfully. I turned to the girls with my arms out in invitation, as tears started leaking from my eyes. They gathered me into a double embrace, as I gasped out my thanks. I stepped back and looked them over, checking out their new outfits. Both looked good enough to eat and I made the mistake of saying so. They pounced on me and I was enveloped with two hot bodies as they vied with each other to kiss me.

We started giggling like schoolgirl's and I felt really happy to have these two with me, despite the reasons that threw us together. I swished into the kitchen in my new gown, revelling in the way the gown felt on my body. I finished making the drink I'd started half an hour ago and took the three cups into the lounge. Misty explained that they had bought clothes for me in my absence, knowing I wouldn't be able to do it, what with seeing the lawyers. We talked for a while, discussing the pros and cons of certain types of clothes and then we wandered off to bed, our bed, all three of us.

=======

"We have to talk," I said, after breakfast. "We have to decide what we are going to do," I continued, getting the girl's attention.

"I suggest we buy a king sized bed," Misty interrupted laughingly. "You two pulled the sheets off me last night."

"What? Then how come I had to keep pulling them back over me in the night?" accused Christine, looking at me.

"Um… I didn't mean our sleeping arrangements," I countered, blushing at the memories of last night's tug of war. "I'm talking about the risks we maybe getting into. I want to visit this Bob Arnold character, but it could be dangerous if he turns hostile. I don't want to risk your safety… I care too much for you."

"We care for you too," the girls chorused.

"At the moment, you can walk away from this and start a new life. You both have money in the bank and Misty has the beginnings of a relationship with Alan. Now is the time for serious decisions to be made. Let me take this quest if you want to call it, on my own. Maybe it's because I was a cop, but I have this urge to find out the truth for my own piece of mind. Look, I won't think any the less of you for getting out now, in fact, I think it's the best thing."

I turned away and left them standing there, as I walked outside so they wouldn't see any of the tears threatening to fall. I could feel them stinging under my eyelids, as I thought of the possibilities of both of them leaving. I walked down to the boat, which was still moored to the jetty and I stood there listening to the water gently lapping at the hull, in the placid waters of the lake. I heard the pair of them walking towards me, so I turned and waited, dreading their decision. I didn't peek, and their expressions gave nothing away so I couldn't tell what they had decided.

"We have decided," they both said together. I nodded, not trusting my voice and started to turn away again to shed a tear, as my stomach did a flip-flop. "To stick with you to the end, whatever the cost," they continued, with just a momentary pause. My head whipped back to see their faces, bright with smiles. I can't describe the feelings I had at that instant, but surprise coupled with relief and joy come close. I ran to them and hugged the living daylights out them until they squealed for air. My joy seemed to burst out of my body and envelop them as I whooped out loud. Tears fell unashamedly and I knew my makeup must have looked a mess at that moment. Something struck me then. I had this weird thing in my head going on, that here I was, worried about how my makeup looked like, just like a woman. I started to giggle at the incongruity of it all, and I was sure the girls both thought I'd flipped my wig.

I hung on the two, half crying and giggling, as I tried to explain. Somehow, explanations didn't seem to matter, they just hugged me and took me back inside. After repairing my face, we talked.

"Jan, we couldn't let you face the unknown without us. Besides, we make a great team. Without you, I could be dead like Brian, if I hadn't been with you at the time, and Christine would still be someone trapped in a body she hated. We could be like the three musketeers, all for one and all that," Misty suggested.

"Do you think you can handle a sword?" I asked, pointedly.

"Well, I do have a rapier wit," giggled Misty.

"I think I'll have an epee," I riposted.

"But you were just in the bathroom, you should have had a slash then," Misty fought back more giggles.

"Cut it out you two," Christine chided, but then realised what she had said, and dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"We'll sabre it for later," Misty gasped out between breaths.

"Watch out. If you're that sharp, you may cut yourself," I added, before turning serious.

"Before we start anything, I need to ask you both, why you're really sticking with me. Misty, you first."

Misty thought a minute, and then began speaking. "I guess I've always tried to avoid conflict with others, bending to others desires and wishes. At work, it was easier to dress down… to be less distracting, than be myself and wear what I wanted." She laughed, "I did want to wear my favourite colour pink, but I know how that would go down," she added wryly. My car was my only way of proclaiming my preferences, being in my favourite colour. I've been a follower not a leader, and I guess I still am." She laughed. "But now my life has been turned upside down, I want to do what I want and not be told what's best for me." She concluded.

"Okay, fair enough, now Christine? What's your excuse to be following a crazy woman into danger?"

"Curiosity." Was her short reply.

"Just that?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well… that and the fact that I'm partly to blame for all this."

"Huh?" I grunted in surprise. "How are you to blame?" I asked, puzzled.

"I got you stuck in that body. If I hadn't fiddled with the computer and found those other options, you could still have been able to be a guy again, even if it wasn't your original body. I feel somewhat to blame for the loss of the identikit by packing it in the delivery truck." She held up her hand as I started to protest that it wasn't her fault. "I know you don't think so, but I've always been the one to push on regardless, not worrying about consequences. Take my hacking for instance; I just did it for kicks, not for any good reason. My only real contribution was uncovering a political plot in my wilder days. I want to see this through to the end and make up for my indiscretions of the past. Think of it as a sort of personal atonement."

I looked at them both for a minute, seeing their determination to continue on with this quest.

"Welcome aboard girls, I can't promise anything, but hopefully things will turn out for the best. I just hope nothing happens to us on the way." I turned away and wiped a tear forming in my eye, at the joy of their willingness to follow me on the journey, no matter where it led.

"Look okay then, if we are all going to see this Bob guy, we'd better have a plan, just in case."

=======

I checked with Misty to see we had the correct address. The ramshackle looking building could hardly be described as a house; it looked more like a building on its last legs. Unpainted wooden weather boarding walls with a corrugated roof the colour of rust, which showed a definite lack of maintenance. The gate leading to this real estate nightmare was broken and hanging open, so we drove slowly though the gate and up the drive to the 'house.' I checked the scanner gizmo, but it didn't pick up any indications of aliens as I was expecting. I felt something was wrong and nervously held the alien weapon. As backup, I had my trusty .357 magnum revolver, not that put much faith in it doing much damage, but it felt nice to have it with me.

We exited the car, looking and listening for any signs of life. I took the lead, my hand in my shoulder bag containing the weapon. I knocked on the door. I didn't hear any approaching footsteps, so the sudden opening of the door came as a surprise.

"Bob Arnold?" I asked, as the man opened the door and stepped forth.

"Yes, that's me, what can I help you with?" he answered, in a rather light musical voice.

It sent shivers down my back, his eerie voice sounding so at odds with his generous build. For a man standing 6 foot 3 inches and weighing approximately 450lbs, his voice was almost devoid of sexual identity. I pushed aside my fright as the girls gathered behind me.

"You built and supplied Fred Parson some electronic hardware, and installed it at his home, did you not?" I challenged.

"And you are?" He questioned, looking at each of us in turn.

"We are the new owners of Fred's place," Christine answered.

"Ah… of course and you found the equipment room?" He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, and we were wondering if you could shed some light of the purpose for all of it. Seeing you were in the NSA, we figured the equipment was ex government modified by you." I explained.

Bob sighed, "you'd better come in and sit down. Would you like a drink of tea or coffee?" he offered, as he stepped inside and indicated for us to follow him.

We followed him indoors rather warily, checking out the décor, what there was of it. A table and four chairs seemed the only thing in the room we entered. Bob repeated his offer of a drink, which we politely refused. He sat at the table and indicated for us to sit.

"It's true I was in the NSA, now I'm retired. I did get some ex surveillance equipment, and yes, I did install it at Mr Parsons home. The computers were a later addition his friend wanted."

"Freda Parton?" I asked.

"Yes, she was most insistent that the communications were all linked through to the computer. Why are you so interested? I'd have expected three young ladies to be out dating, not delving into business that doesn't concern them."

"I does concern us, in fact, it concerns everyone on earth if my suppositions are correct," I argued.

I took out my 'compact' and made like I was checking my makeup as I scanned Bob directly. I snapped it shut and put it away, giving Misty, the all-clear signal. Darn, Bob fitted all my preconceived ideas of an alien. He didn't look old enough to have retired from the NSA, if one ever does from an organisation like that.

"I'm going to ask you to leave, but I will say this. Come back if you find "the enigma engine,'" and with that, Bob stood and waited, while we filed outside. "Be careful, things aren't always as they seem," Bob finished cryptically.

======

We discussed the way Bob had acted on the drive home. Misty asked us if we had noticed something odd about him. I'd snorted and had replied that everything was odd about him. Misty had laughed, but had insisted that Bob had definite feminine mannerisms.

"You're not suggesting he's another Freda?"

"Jan, you of all people, should know, that isn't impossible anymore. Besides, remember his parting words?"

"But Misty, the scanner showed him to be clean as a whistle." I argued half-heartedly.

I too, felt something was amiss. From the moment I was asked to test that damned hybrid machine, to right this minute, I felt that someone or something had been leading us on. There were too many convenient coincidences. I felt like a pawn in a game where the rules were still being written. I wondered if some intelligence had been subtly nudging us into coming here, maybe it could influence thoughts. I shuddered, was my calm acceptance of becoming female just a simple fatalism on my part. To make the best of the situation, or was it due to some outside influence, that was grooming me to eventually replace Freda in whatever role she had.

"We didn't exactly get a lot of information from Bob, did we?" Misty snorted.

"I think we were somehow intimidated or influenced into not asking more questions." I countered. "But I think you're wrong about us not getting any info. Remember the words 'the enigma engine,' I think that's a clue to something here, in this house."

"Talking of hints, I'm going to try linking the laptop, to the main computer downstairs. Bob mentioned Freda's insistence on having everything linked up. Maybe something in the laptop will act like a key and open something in the main computer." Christine interjected.

Christine, tell me something," I said, sounding puzzled. "You know a hell of a lot about computers, even for a self professed nerd. You're not telling us everything are you? All that decryption stuff, you took to it like a duck to water. I tailed off, looking at her pained expression.

"You're right, there is more to me than I told you…I…" she paused, as if gathering her thoughts." I got into trouble with the FBI when I was only 15years old. I was the hacker that sent the Trasker cover-up to the newspapers."

"The Trasker incident?" I asked, surprise in my voice. At her nod, I thought, no wonder the FBI had been after her. I remembered the fuss that had caused. Several politicians had been charged over that and several key members of the FBI had been jailed.

"The Trasker incident?" Misty enquired.

"I was hacking into the FBI computer systems, when I uncovered a secret file showing that the FBI had covered up the activities of two prominent politicians. It was all about dealing with mafia money laundering, thinly disguised as campaign funding. I sent the files direct to the newspapers, and they had a field day with them." Christine explained. "Of course, the FBI were pissed, and I had to curtail my activities, fortunately they failed to trace the hacker."

"Wow!" Misty echoed my thoughts.

"I'm one of those people who just seem to be able to crack codes and enjoy doing it. It's like a challenge I can't resist. I managed to control my hacking to more mundane stuff as I grew up, but I still dabbled to keep my hand in." Christine continued.

"Well I don't care about your past, you were a different person then," I pointed out, with a grin and a glance at her body. "I'm glad you're working for us."

"I'm going to try something okay, let me know when it's lunch time, okay?" said Christine as she picked up the laptop and headed for the basement.

Looking at the time, I decided to do something with the Chinese we hadn't managed to finish off the other night. I made some fresh fried rice and added a few vegetables to a hot wok to pad out the leftovers. In half an hour it was ready I dished out a selection for Christine into a bowl added a fork and took it down to her. She was oblivious to my presence, until I waved the bowl under her nose. She smiled and grabbed it and started eating it without stopping her fiddling. I snorted, thinking, 'so much for that. I'll bet she hardly tastes it,' involved as she was with her toys, I went up to eat with Misty in the dinning room, where we talked more on our impressions of Bob.

"I've got it," came wafting faintly from below, and we heard Christine call us down.

We hurried down to see what she'd discovered. Christine was looking at the main computer at a flashing icon.

"When I linked everything up and rebooted, the main computer started to download some files out of the laptop. It wanted a password, but I got past that with my usual skill and Walla!" she smirked, unashamedly to us. I haven't opened it yet until you got here."

"Go ahead, seeing you did the work," I grinned back.

Christine hit the keyboard and we suddenly heard a low whine and a section of the floor opened up, luckily, no one was standing on that particular spot. A circle of the concrete floor slid away to reveal a grey metallic plate. The plate had a circle marked out in a darker shade of grey. The circle dropped away, then with a twisting motion it rotated and… well melted, would be a good description. The metal looked like it turned to mercury, as it flowed into the side of the opening. It reminded me of a morphing program, the silence of its change just added to the unreality of it all.

Using my energy sense, I could see power flowing though the floor to the opening, but no further. I couldn't sense any energy below the opening. We gathered round to see a vertical tube with a metal ladder dropping to another level, maybe 15 feet further down. It reminded me a bit of a submarines conning tower. There was subdued lighting in the tube so I started to climb down.

"Wait, do you think its safe?" Asked a worried Misty.

"Only one way to find out," I replied. "Besides it was built for a purpose, and we obviously gave the correct responses to it to open." I reassured her. Inwardly I hoped I was right and that there were no traps below. The rungs were cold and my shoes weren't the best for a vertical descent, but I wasn't about to change them now. The walls were made of the same metallic substance as the hatch and as I stepped off the ladder, I saw another grey circle outlined on the floor.

There was a luminous panel next to the opening. The girls had followed me down, and when I touched the panel cautiously, it blinked and the light from the room above dimmed and went out. As we looked up, we saw the hatch had closed, cutting us off, leaving us entombed in the tube. I tried using my energy-sensing gift, but it was as if nothing existed past the walls. I could only sense a trickle of energy at the panel I'd touched.

I comforted the girl's rising panic, saying it was probably some sort of airlock. And that the top hatch had to be closed before the bottom one would open. Inwardly I prayed I was right. Just then, the hatch at our feet opened replicating the actions of the one above. As the hatch opened, I felt my senses overload as my body reacted to the flood of energy that surged up out of the room below. I could see another set of stairs led to a small-darkened room. We climbed down, uncertain of what was in the room. I managed to shut down my senses to the noise that was coming from somewhere in the room.

Lights flickered on, uncertainly, before steadying into a stable glow. I looked around. The room was about ten feet square, with an 8-foot ceiling. In one corner, I saw another computer... or was it? What I took for a monitor at first glance, seemed more at home on a movie set, a space movie set. The walls and floor were all made of the same metallic material as the tube. One wall had an oval circle indicating a door.

I looked at the only other thing in the room. A grey ovoid sat on a round base, looking like an egg, but an egg that was 6 feet tall and about 3 feet across at its widest point. The scary thing about it, was its translucency, and what was dimly showing through the 'shell.'

I moved nearer, but Misty beat me to it and touched it before I could warn her not too.

"Oh! It's warm, do you think it's alive?...Yikes!"

Her yelp of surprise had been my use of my TK abilities to jerk her hand off the egg. I was amazed that I done it so easily. I knew I wanted her hand off that egg, not liking the way the patterns of light reacted to her touch and so I'd instinctively acted.

"It's not life as we know it," I warned, as I probed the egg carefully with my extra abilities. The source of the energy noise was coming from the egg. The interior seemed to be filled with energy streams, pulsing in ways that made me ill. There was a black sphere in the centre that felt cold and terrifying, it seemed to suck at my soul and it was resistant to my probe in that I couldn't sense anything in it just a energy less void.

"Interesting," murmured Christine, sounding like Spock from Star Trek.

"I think it's a weapon or something," I guessed. "Let's look at the monitor thing, it may tell us something."

We moved over to the display, it showed a series of spirals that had blocks of different colours showing. One of the blocks of colour was flashing, as we watched it went dark and another block of colour nearer the centre of the spiral began flashing. I got a sick feeling of impending doom, which made me want to vomit. Misty saw my face blanch and looked from me to the display. I saw her start to slump and grabbed her, as she realised what it was, a countdown.

Christine put her finger on the surface, over the flashing icon as she too realised what it meant and sought somehow to stop it. As her finger contacted the surface, the display altered. Now, it displayed the egg slowly rotating, but this egg looked different. There was a small protrusion sticking out of the top of it. It looked similar in size to the cigar weapon we had found. I realized that it was the very same thing as the egg rotated more I could see the small button on the side of the weapon come into view.

"Can we destroy it, like we did with the tree stump?" Misty asked desperately.

"I don't think that's a good idea. What if it only destroys the containment field, and not the entire thing? We don't know what we're dealing with here, we could destroy the earth if it happens to be a black hole." I demurred.

"What about the weapon thing, can we insert it?" asked Misty hopefully.

"And do what? We don't know if that will detonate or activate whatever it is. No! We don't touch it, till we know more." I stated emphatically.

I walked over to the oval door that was fitted flush with the wall. There seemed to be no way of opening it, and my senses couldn't locate any energy around it. It seemed to be totally sealed. I banged my fist on it, in frustration.

"Christine, how long do you think that countdown will take to reach completion?" I asked angrily.

"It's hard to tell, Freda has been dead… what, two months? If she has been resetting the thing regularly, I'd guess not too much longer." From what I remember her times away where around two months on her longest trips, so allowing for unexpected delays I'd guess that every three months it would need to be reset."

"So, we have about a month or less to solve either the reset, or how to destroy the whole thing completely," I speculated.

"Bob said to come to him if we found the enigma engine," Misty spoke up. "Do you think this is it?"

"Well the enigma part is certainly a fit description. I guess it could be an engine." I mused. "But can we trust Bob?" I added.

"Can we afford not too?" Christine asked, shrugging her shoulders.

I didn't have an answer for her; something about Bob didn't sit right with either of my instincts gained in my years in the police, or my new female intuition. I suggested we sleep on it and started to climb back up into the tube. Both of them followed quickly, not wanting to stay any longer in there. Soon, we were back upstairs. We prepared dinner in silence, each of us deep in our own thoughts. I was thinking why would Freda need an airlock to the room with the egg. Something was niggling at edge of my mind, then it came to me. Only submarines and space ships require airlocks, we were sitting on Freda's spaceship.

I decided not to tell the girls, at least not till the morning. The ship would still be there and I didn't want them staying awake worrying, and keeping me awake too. I needed to get a good night's sleep, and it was distraction enough, to have them sleeping next to me. How ironic, here I was, sleeping with two women, when as a man, this would be a dream come true. Now, there wasn't a dick between us. I chuckled at the whims of fate.

========

Another night of "who's got the blanket now" made me more determined to order a king-sized bed that morning. After breakfast, I asked Christine to open the airlock to see if the countdown had advanced anymore. When we finally cycled though the airlock, we were somewhat relieved to see the same coloured block still flashing. At least we could get a rough time frame based on a ten-hour minimum per block. Using that, we calculated we had two weeks before zero hour. Not long enough for us. Time we visited Bob.

I checked over my revolver and handed it to Christine. I showed her how to fire it, should it be necessary, but I hoped I was just being over cautious. I of course, had the alien weapon and scanner in my bag in the lipstick, compact form. Christine had my gun in her open bag with one hand resting innocently at the opening, as we knocked on the door of Bob's ramshackle abode. Again, the door opened without any of us hearing approaching footsteps. It was as if Bob was already standing behind the door, just waiting for us to knock.

He ushered us inside without a word, and we walked to the same table as before. We sat, and waited, keeping a wary eye on Bob, as he sat down opposite us.

"You found it then, I must say that was quick. Will you tell me where it is?" Bob asked in that weird voice of his.

"Well, we found something, it's on a sort of countdown as far as we can tell, but why do you want to know, and how do you know, is one of our questions." I spoke for the three of us.

"It is? Oh no, I was hoping she wouldn't go that far." Bob sounded shocked. "You do know, that should it reach that countdown, the resulting reaction could annihilate this segment of the galaxy?" Bob continued, sounding very agitated.

"F#$%!" Was my one word comment. This was big, much bigger than I'd thought. I still had no reason to trust Bob, but somehow I believed we were in deep doo-doo.

"You didn't answer my questions either," I replied in a calm manner, (fighting the urge to run screaming.)

He sighed, and looked sadly at us, then took a big breath.

"We can do it two ways, either tell me the location of the device now and I'll dispose of it safely without harm to this planet or galaxy. Or demand answers that may give you culture shock that affect you personally for the rest of your lives." He continued.

"As long as the knowledge doesn't mean we end up being conveniently disposed of, then I want to hear it," I demanded, hating being belittled.

"Okay, on your heads, be it." He replied.

"I'm an alien…not like Freda. She was a member of the Kernog race that is well steeped in interstellar travel, using antimatter transfinite drives. I'm a Cyterician, and I took on this body form soon after Freda landed on earth."

"So that's why I couldn't detect you," I murmured under my breath.

"Yes, my body chemistry is different to that of a Kernog's." Bob replied, overhearing me. "That detector you have, only works on her own race, and for any persons altered by their technology."

"So what does your real body look like, is it female?" Misty asked.

"I can be if I want, sex isn't an issue, when you can alter it at will. We are considered omni sexual, becoming whatever is needed in a group to maintain the balance of sexual compatibility."

Suddenly Bob's form shimmered briefly then settled into a rather ethereal form. Taller and slender, she looked like an angel without halo or the wings. Even her clothes had transformed with her form change. Her eyes were purple and her form, although distinctly humanoid, would draw too much unwanted attention from the rest of humanity. She moved with a fluid grace and when she spoke, her voice sounded just a little more feminine.

"Wow Bob, that's some disguise." I said, staring openly at her.

"We can't call you Bob now," Christine joined in.

"My title is Kooselgie the seventh, but you can call me Koos7 or just Koos if you want."

"Okay, but why are you here and why was Freda attacking and destroying her own people?" I asked, getting exasperated. For some reason, I couldn't pick up her thoughts; maybe she processed them another way. Whatever the reason, I had to wait for her to tell me.

"It started a very long time ago, in your terms. We are a long-lived race, as are the Kernog's. From our observations of their race we determined that they had developed a new form of star drive."

"You were observing them?" I asked, trying to get this clear in my mind.

"Our race is older and more advanced in most aspects than theirs, it was deemed wise to keep them under a covert surveillance. We are not a warlike race, proffering more artistic pursuits. Theirs, while mostly peaceful, are not afraid to disregard other races, if it is in their own interests. We can pass as native Kernog's just as we pass for Terran's. This way we learned of Freda's brainchild, the enigma engine."

"Freda invented that thing we have in…" Misty exclaimed in amazement, not realising she was about to reveal the whereabouts of the egg.

"MISTY!" I called, managing to interrupt her, before she said too much.

"Oop's, sorry, I didn't think," she apologised, blushing.

"S'okay," I said. "So why is the engine here? On earth?" I asked Koos, trying to get back to the explanation.

"Did you know earth is the brightest noise in the galaxy?" Koos asked us, throwing a new subject into the conversation. "It puts quasars to shame, Terran's have been pumping radio and microwave transmissions out, for all to hear and see, what with your television signals. Unlike most worlds, who use beamed energy transmissions and optical cable. This amount of noise is generally thought of as coming from a vast, but young technological civilisation, for it to be coming from just one planet, amazes those who visit here."

"And the point?" I asked.

"Just that it may have been the reason for Freda to head this way with the engine. Maybe she thought she could lose her pursuers here. I bet she was disappointed to find only one planet instead of the thousands she was expecting. We found out that the engine she had built, had the potential to become a weapon, a weapon capable of destroying half a galaxy. We also learned that Freda had discovered that her military was about to remove the engine and use it to wipe out a whole race of people in the epsilon galaxy, just because they were Amorphans."

"Amorphans?" I queried, curious despite my growing need for her to get to the nitty-gritty.

"A culture of people, able to change shape, sex, or duplicate another race."

"You mean, like your race, or the Kernog's?" Christine asked sounding perplexed.

"Freda's race can change form, but only by the use of the macrophalites… um, I think Nanites is your term for them. This form of change can be detected either by the use of some enhanced abilities given by the Nanites themselves or by a scanner of energy. The Amorphans cannot be detected this way. A scan shows them to be a perfect copy of a Kernog. We on the other hand can duplicate the outer form of a Kernog, but not the inner as that scanner of yours showed. This makes it harder for us to impersonate a Kernog, but not impossible. We do have mental abilities that have been used to circumvent the scanners use. Where a scan showed us up, we manipulated the mind of the person using it into thinking the readings were correct.

I didn't like the idea of having ones mind manipulated; I did get the feeling that this may have accounted for some of the, oh so, convenient co-incidences in our near past.

"So this race needed to be wiped out for that reason?" I asked.

"The Kernog's saw them as a threat, this race could pass themselves off as Kernog's, and to the military minds, that was just unacceptable. Of course if they knew we were already passing our observers as Kernog's, then we would become a threat as well."

"So Freda objected then… to this mass genocide?"

"Well we think so, either that or the sense her work was down graded to the role of a weapon. Personally, I think it was the genocide. From my interactions with her as Bob, she seemed to accept that all life was precious."

"Yeah, so that didn't stop her killing her own people, or leaving a time bomb that will wipe us all out." I snorted.

"One inhabited planet instead of thousands of inhabited ones… tough choice. And in her view, those others that followed her deserved all they got. The countdown was probably to ensure that nobody got their hands on it."

"What is it exactly? I couldn't sense much about it, apart from the energy." I offered.

"As far as we could determine, it is a black hole/white hole nexus capable of producing virtually limitless power and could send a space craft using quantum point wormholes to anywhere in the universe. Unfortunately, it looks as if she has set it to implode on itself in case she was caught. I don't think she could have disabled it without the proper lab, and there's no place on this world where it can be done."

"Can you disable it?" I asked hopefully.

"We do have a small working knowledge of this type of nexus, although we don't have a working model. I'm sure our people can disable the countdown without destroying it totally."

"Then what? That just means you have the weapon in your hands. What's to stop you using it on us or anyone else for that matter?" I snorted, feeling like I was between a rock and a hard place.

"We are not warlike, we could have destroyed the earth long ago with the level of technology we have. No, it would be a shame to lose Freda's brilliant brainchild."

"I still don't understand who killed Freda and what happened to her body," Misty added.

"Yea, and did you have anything to do with our being here and my being stuck as Jan?" I asked.

"When I took on my Bob Arnold body, shortly after arriving here, I joined the NSA. I needed to be male, as your society is very male dominated. Being in such an organisation, I was able to gather much useful intelligence. I know from my time as a member in the NSA, where I was privy to a great many secret files, that there is an organisation known as the MIB. They look into and cover up any physical evidence of extraterrestrials. A former member of that organisation set off on a private feud, after a failed pursuit of alien tech, which some person or persons found on a downed craft. I think it turned him into a fanatic. I'm sure it was he that killed Freda. Don't worry about Freda's body being examined. I found her body on one of my regular visits; unfortunately, the police and the press got wind of it and turned up shortly after. I assumed he'd shot her and told the police to find her body. I took on the guise of a MIB and took possession of the body."

"And the rest, what about the lab and the killing of Brian and the chief?" I reiterated.

"Well, when Brian told his people he wanted to test the machine on a subject, they informed your Chief and involved you. It also alerted the NSA and the MIB. I was contacted though an old associate and I tried to help. It's possible that Brian's death and the Chief's may have been due to an attempt to locate the aliens by the same MIB that killed Freda, either that, or it was some of Freda's people."

"You tried to help? What help?" Christine joined in.

"Well I arrived just in time to set up the places for you to stay and influenced Misty to buy more than a few days worth of clothes. I was the one that gave Christine the information that led to her coming here. "

"Influenced?'' I queried.

"Yes I did invade the mental sanctity of your friends minds, but it was a necessary evil for which I'm sorry."

"Are you doing it now?" I asked, dreading the answer. "Are you controlling the way I feel about being female?"

"Oh no! I don't do it much, just in special cases. I'm not controlling you at all, especially since you added the Nanites to your body. They make it impossible for me to influence you at all, unlike the Kernog's; it must be something in your human DNA coupled with the alien Nanites."

"I was hoping you might locate the one thing I hadn't been able to find, namely, the enigma engine. Later, when I found out you had discovered the full list of options; I hoped one of you would take a chance and enhance yourself with them. After the incident with those louts on the wreck of the sea vessel, I found I could only access two of your minds, when I checked Christine's mind, I found out just what options you had opted for." Koos said, looking at me. "You were then unreadable, from that point on."

"You meddled with our minds?" protested Misty, angrily.

"I just pushed an idea or two, into your head. I didn't change or alter anything else, that's the greatest crime there is," Koos offered by way of apology. "Please, I did it for your own good, I couldn't come out in the open then."

"Harrumph!" Misty grunted, partly mollified.

I pondered on what to do. Should I show Koos the egg and risk all, or try and insert the weapon into the egg, and hope it reset or stopped the countdown. In the end, I saw there was really only one choice, so I stood up.

"Well, I guess it's time for you to see the egg."

"Egg?" Koos questioned.

"Sorry, it just looks like one," I explained.

I looked at the girls to see their reaction to my decision, but they seemed happy to get moving, and didn't seem unduly bothered. Koos reverted to her Bob body, and followed us is a rusty old ford flat bed truck. In no time, we were back at our home and had opened the basement for Bob/Koos to enter.

"I thought we were where going to the engine."

"It's here, don't worry." I reassured him/her.

"I don't sense it anywhere near here," Bob/Koos insisted. "I have been looking for the device since her death, knowing the possible dangers of it being found by anybody."

"Trust me, it is here. I insisted. I motioned to Christine to set up the sequence. At the opening of the hatch in the floor, Bob/Koos eyes widened and realisation filled his/her eyes.

"Ah… no wonder," he/she said, as we descended the tube. " This is made from Sorbinium."

At our blank looks, he/she explained that one quarter inch of Sorbinium, had screening properties equivalent to 6 feet of lead, but had the weight of magnesium, and had the combined qualities of both tungsten carbide and ceramic. This made an ideal combination, for use in space vehicles. Upon entering the second room, Bob/Koos explained the airlock had prevented and leakage of the radiation from the engine. We looked alarmed at the mention of radiation, but our alien guest assured us, it wasn't that sort of radiation, more an energy with a particular flavour. (Cistercian's detected energy forms as tastes.)

Bob's body flowed into that of Koos as she examined the egg. She held her hand near the surface as if warming it from some unseen heat. I noticed she didn't miss the opening at the top and I felt nervous, as she frowned, before she turned and walked to the monitor display. She seemed to know what she was doing as she activated a menu we hadn't seen before. It opened another picture of the egg, this time; there were symbols on the screen. They looked like a type of text, obviously in Freda's language. Koos ran her finger down the screen, following the text, and then she straightened and looked at us worriedly.

"I don't suppose you have a quantum singularity emitter in your purse?" She asked wryly. "The engine can be shut down by placing one in the top, but I suppose Freda would have hidden that away." She explained dispiritedly. "Without that, we'd need to send it to the nearest research centre, some 100 light years away. That cuts down the time window for shutting down the countdown."

I was torn with indecision; I knew that the weapon was most likely the QSE, but that meant giving up the only weapon capable of fending off Freda's people from doing what they wanted on earth. Giving it up meant leaving the earth defenceless, to the possibilities of further Kernog incursions. I looked at the girl's faces and saw their unspoken agreement to my raised eyebrow.

"Is this what you're looking for?" I offered slowly. Taking the weapon from my purse and holding it out to Koos.

A movement from Christine told me she had grasped my pistol with the hand that was in the purse she was holding. It made me feel good that she was still wary of the seeming friendliness of Koos and was alert to the danger of handing her the weapon.

"Wonderful, obviously you three make a great team, now let's see what we can do." Koos looked at the weapon in its original form and walked over the egg and pushed it gently into the opening at the top. The display flashed and blinked a red symbol, we couldn't understand. I guessed it was some kind of warning. Koos touched the screen, brought up another window, and touched certain parts in rapid succession. She muttered under her breath as the countdown resumed.

"I can't get the emitter to activate," she spoke, sounding rather frustrated. "At least not from here, anyway. There must be some other way to do it," she continued.

"Maybe I can help," I suggested. Thinking of my telekinesis. "Is activating it all we need to do?" I asked.

"Yes, but I can't see how you can do it when I can't," she retorted.

"Ah! But Freda may have the same gift I do," I replied.

I focused my mind on the weapon sitting inside the egg and manipulated the switch. I felt the energy surge build to enormous proportions before I felt my consciousness fade to black as my mind was overloaded.

I woke to silence; my aching head was resting on someone's lap… Misty's guessing from the perfume I could smell. I could tell I was lying on the floor of the chamber with the egg, so I guessed only a few minutes had passed since I'd blacked out. I wondered what had happened, the noise that was normally present in the room, was gone. I groaned and struggled to rise.

Are you okay?" Misty's concerned voice asked, as she helped me to my feet.

"Did you get the number of that truck?" I quipped, and then winced as my head throbbed as I moved my head too suddenly. "I feel a little delicate, but no bruises I think. Well… did it work? Is the egg disabled?"

"You're lucky that Koos can move quickly, she caught you as you fainted, which saved you from hurting yourself." Misty replied.

"The infinity engine is safe and stable, so this galaxy is safe from annihilation." Koos informed me. "I can have it moved shortly, if that is your wish. This is too dangerous to remain here on your planet with so little protection, better it was taken where it could be studied and eventually put into use for the original intentions."

"But what about us?" I asked as my head started to clear. "I mean won't the Kernog's be still looking for it here? I guess you get the benefits and we are left holding the bag." I said disgustedly.

"I think we can solve that problem," she replied. We won't allow harm to come to the peoples of earth. We do have more of us on earth you know, when we suspected Freda had headed here we also sent people to this planet." At the moment, they are observers only unless I ask them to intervene for special cases, yours being one of them. Now we can set up a diversion, a very public one that will attract the attention of any remaining Kernog's."

"How will you do that without exposing yourself?" asked Christine, who up to now, had been just listening.

"By a public demonstration of the engine, a test run, if you will." Continued Koos, "but it will demand a sacrifice on your safety."

"Huh? How will that help?" asked Christine, nervously.

"It will get any Kernog on the planet in the one spot when the engine fails to work." Explained Koos, "then they will stop looking for it knowing it was destroyed."

"Destroyed?" I queried, not liking the sound of this.

"We will set up a duplicate that will look exactly like the engine but will include a small nuclear device of our making, which will demolish the engine and signal its failure."

" I don't like the sound of that, what of the fallout and who's going to demonstrate it." I argued.

Don't worry, there will be no fall out, it's a clean bomb. It will be around the 1-ton mark on your scale of destructive power. As to who will test it? Well I was thinking of you three."

"Us?" we chorused in alarm.

"With some help from me and my people," Koos said trying to ease our concern. "We will set the thing up and you announce it. I know you downloaded all the advanced settings on the morphonic resembler." Koos confirmed. "Sorry I meant the identikit? That means you can adopt another body form, am I right?"

"Yes I can," I replied. "Can you undo those changes?" I wondered out loud.

"Sorry, I'm unable to reverse those changes. Did you want them removed?" Koos questioned, looking surprised.

If I was given the choice? I must admit my decision wasn't an immediate "yes." I had never felt so alive since my first change to female. This body was great to live in, I had become comfortable in it, and it wasn't just the added powers that made the choice simple. No, I loved this body…I was young, strong, and attractive. The last did not hold the fear I once had about being attracted to men. The way this body reacted to the presence of an attractive male, only made me want to indulge in my curiosity of what sex is like for a woman.

I looked up from my reverie, to see the girls' looking at me with concerned looks, to see whether I regretted becoming a woman.

"NO!" I said emphatically. "I'm happy being me." I said simply. It was true, I realised. For the first time in my life, despite everything that had happened, I was truly happy. Make of that what you will, but I didn't regret a thing now I had got used to being female.

The girl's ran to me, enveloping me in a combined hug. I smiled and wiped a tear from my eye, as my emotions bubbled to the surface.

We could use it to give the girl's different forms too… just on a temporary basis… what?" She asked, as she saw the looks on Christine and Misty's faces.

"Hmmm, that's not good having a wild card like that running loose," she murmured, after we explained the loss.

"Okay… we will need your gift of telekinesis, to move the egg," said Koos, moving on. "Jarring it will be unwise, do you think you can do it? I know your powers are new, so please don't say yes if you don't think you can do it."

"Is it heavy?" I asked, thinking of the vase I'd lifted.

"It's not an issue of weight, more your belief in your abilities," Koos replied. It has infinite mass and some inertia, but the apparent weight is negligible, as it's not being supported by only this universe, but by all of them. The fact is it exists here only in potentiality. You could say this is only the physical aspect of the engine. The rest is elsewhere, linked by the nexus within to all the potential universes."

"I'll take your word for it," I conceded, feeling my head reel. "I suppose it's a dumb question to ask what would happen if I dropped it… yeah, I thought so," as I looked at Koos expression. "That bad huh?"

I looked at the girth of the egg and mentally compared it with the airlock dimensions. "I suppose it will fit up through the airlocks?" I asked rhetorically. "Well, I'm going to practice first if you don't mind. Then I'll do it in the morning, when I'm fresh."

"What about this door, here?" Enquired Misty, looking at the outline in the wall of the room. "Do you think the rest of the spaceship is through there?" She added, looking at Koos.

"I rather doubt it," laughed Koos. "Freda destroyed her ship soon after landing, I detected the energy burst from my ship just before I landed. I must say, she must have isolated this portion first and then carved out the hole for it to sit in, so the house could be built over it. I thought it was totally destroyed, but she fooled me as well."

"You mean there's no ship. Just dirt though there?" Misty indicated the door, sounding disappointed.

"Sorry," shrugged Koos. "I can't even show you mine, as its been piloted out again after dropping me and my other people off."

"Let's get out of here," suggested Christine. "We can get something to drink and eat, I'm in need of something now."

As everyone started climbing up the ladder, I followed, waiting at the bottom while they climbed one after another. Just as Misty was half way up, she slipped and lost her grip. She screeched as she plummeted down towards me. Somehow, instinctively it seems in retrospect, I caught her not with my arms, but with my TK gift and held her suspended in midair, as she wriggled and yelped in surprise.

Before she could protest more, I gently wafted her up the tube, still held safely in my gift, and set her back on her feet next to the open hatch. I hadn't felt her weight, and realised what Koos had meant about the egg. A line from an old movie I'd seen as a kid was a perfect example of what I'd done. "Do or do not… there is no try." Thinking about weight and whether I could do it or not, was defeatist. I just needed to think about where I was going to put it after I had it in my grasp. I looked up at Misty and levitated myself up to her, she gasped and stumbled back in astonishment.

She grasped me to her and planted a pair of ruby lips to mine in thanks for saving her from the fall. 'Boy, did Christine have the right idea, in wanting to be lesbian.' I thought to myself. Misty had the stuff to turn anyone's head, male or female.

"You can fly," she said in awe.

To be continued.

  

  

  

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