The Teg Legacy

by Prudence Walker

 

Gary was two hours away from his mother ship, as he liked to call it when disaster struck. As he surveyed the damage the Mallee root had inflicted on his scouting vessel, he cursed volubly into the unrelenting heat that pervaded this desolate arid region. No, Gary wasn't some intrepid spacefarer lost among the stars. He only wished he was. No, Gary was stuck out in the sparsely populated region of Western Australia's desert, north-east of Laverton, looking at his small Enduro mini bike with its punctured front tire.

A moment's explanation here, a Mallee root is the remnants of a small local eucalyptus tree that grows widely in Australia. The tree rots away or is eaten by termites while the root section remains intact and hidden under the red ochre sand. Any unwary tire passing in the near vicinity of a root usually invites unprovoked attacks, as the shape of the root and the soft terrain cause it to flip out sharp points that will stab into the side wall of a tire and cause a puncture.

Gary's mother ship was none other than a weathered, but reliable Holden station wagon that served as kitchen, bedroom and a garage for the mini bike.

An avid science fiction fan, Gary was on a search for parts of the US Skylab space station that ended its life in the desert of Western Australia. So armed with the latest model metal detector, he'd set up a base and was bush bashing, using the mini bike to extend his rather random search pattern. So far, he'd found several old horseshoes and one gold nugget, that while fully acceptable, wasn't what he was truly after. The scattered remains of the Skylab were proving to be surprisingly elusive. He knew some of the larger sections that had made it to Earth had been recovered already, but all he wanted was a memento that wouldn't attract US government interest in what he had recovered. If he was lucky to find several pieces, he knew several people who would pay a lot of money for them, more even than for any gold he might find.

As the days of searching passed with little result, his path had wandered away from where he had planned to search. Luckily, he knew exactly where he was, or rather, his handheld Garmen GPS did and he knew which direction he had to go to get back to base camp. The only problem, he was about 30 km away from camp, with a whole lot of hot burning ground to cover, dragging or carrying his mini bike and the detector. He made a choice, given the differences in price of replacing one or the other, and stashed the mini bike in a clump of salt bush. While he was relatively fresh, he decided to use the detector until the batteries died or he did.

That brought forth a sobering thought. If he died, then there would be no one left to look after his paralyzed sister, who was currently at a home for the disabled. One of his goals was to find souvenirs that could be used to support both himself and his sister so they could stay together. Dragging his thoughts away from his personal family tragedy, he once again thought about getting out of his current situation.

Checking the GPS and then taking a bearing from the sun, he set off. Taking a direct route, instead of the wandering along the one taken with the bike, would save time, plus he wouldn't fall into the trap of following old tire marks in the desert, not that there were a lot of those in the first place.

After an hour swinging the detector, he'd had enough, and instead slung it over his shoulder after taking a drink from his canteen. The trouble with taking the direct route was that you couldn't take the changing terrain into consideration. The saltbush in the area stood around fifteen feet high and was dense enough to prevent Gary seeing the breakaways until it was too late. (A breakaway is where the land changes level, and usually means a series of cliffs that could go for kilometers.)

It was then, while he was scouting along the base of the breakaways seeking a viable route to the top, that he spotted something half buried in the scree. It was silvery in appearance and rounded like a nacelle. Gary's heart beat faster. Was this what he had been searching for? He scrambled closer, unmindful of the scrapes and bruises his ankles sustained from the sharp boulders he was going over.

He reached the object and gazed at it reverently, trying to ascertain its origin. It was about the size of one of those inflatable beach balls. Gary reached out and touched it, marveling at its silky cool surface that showed no blemish at all. He grasped it in both hands and pulled at it, expecting a heavier weight from the buried portion. Unexpectedly, it lifted with ease, and the muscle he'd applied made him tumble backwards as the object slipped free and fell from his hands.

Gary cursed as he heard it tumble with a metallic clang as he bashed his head on the rocks. He rolled over and got to his knees, wiping some blood from a gash on his cheek. The object lay a few meters down the slope, and its nature became clearer. It was some kind of helmet, but a hugely oversized one. Gary could see the inner liner of it, but it appeared pristine, something it shouldn't be, considering where it had lain in the dirt.

Gary approached it more cautiously this time, considering what kind of person it might fit, noticing that there was some kind of visor attached. As he lifted it up for a closer look, a light began to blink. Curiosity drove him to carefully place it on his head as he tried to see what else was visible.

Although he was holding the helmet, it seemed to jump out of his grasp and he felt it shrink to fit his head. Then something weird happened that sent shivers down his spine. The helmet disappeared into thin air. He felt his head with his hands, as if searching, but it was gone completely and all he could feel was his sweaty head.

"What just happened?' He thought. 'It couldn't be a hallucination brought on by the heat, I've still got water.' He shook his canteen in reassurance and then decided to take a small drink.

"Damn it, where did the bloody helmet go?" Gary shouted out in frustration.

A distorted series of weird noises, coming from a sort of disembodied voice close to Gary's ears began with, "Zzttrrfh … gyjuhjj … tyiokl," ending with an understandable "testing?"

"Who's that?" asked Gary, spinning around on the spot.

"Do you understand me?" the voice spoke again, seeming to come from inside Gary's head.

"Yes, yes, I understand, but where are you?" Gary voiced his frustrated at seeing nobody in sight.

"I am adaptation unit 4000 property of the Przotegzzyx…" the rest of the word sounded like a buzz to Gary. "I am the helmet you put on. Using your biometric field, I topped up my charge up and went from standby mode to active mode," the voice continued, answering the questions Gary had asked.

You're a sentient helmet belonging to …" Here Gary struggled to remember the name. "The Teg?" he managed.

"Przotegzzyx …" the voice corrected. Then, sensing Gary's problem with the name, relented, "Teg will suffice," it agreed. "And yes, from your point of view, I am sentient, although the Przo ... er … Teg, would disagree."

Here, Gary was sure he could hear some emotion in the mostly monotone voice. "How come I can't see you or feel you, if you're still on my head?"

"Well, I'm now point 356 degrees to the left of your plane of existence," the voice answered as if that was sufficient explanation.

"Point 356 degrees?" Gary asked to himself in wonder. "What kind of weird measurement is that? Why not a whole degree?" He laughed, thinking what a surreal conversation he was having.

"Well the Teg were paranoid about having their technology move too far away from their own plane, so they decided point 356 was just far enough away to remain invisible, while still being able to access the unit's abilities."

"What was that weird garble I first heard? And why does it sound like you're in my head?"

"My translation centers had to be recalibrated for your language, and at first, I used sonic vibration to convey my words. I am now stimulating your auditory nerve directly so no one else can hear me speak to you."

"Not that there's anyone to hear you out here," Gary pointed out.

"True, but until my power levels rose, I had no means of determining that, so I took precautions."

"Can I call you anything other than adaptation unit 4000?" Gary queried.

"Call me Ada," the helmet replied after a delay.

Gary chuckled to himself, thinking the voice sounded nothing like an Ada. This prompted Ada to ask what that noise was.

"It's just a laugh …humour?" Gary added to further explain. He told Ada that her name was female, and the discrepancy in the voice and the name was what had made him chuckle.

"Ah! Accessing now … hmmm. How is this?" Ada's voice changed, rising to a dulcet contralto.

"Nice," Gary commented, thinking it seemed familiar. "What were you accessing?"

"What you call the Internet. A fascinating system, but very open in terms of privacy," Ada answered.

"You can get into the Internet out here? Sheesh, I can hardly get a radio station unless it's after sunset," Gary complained, feeling hard done by.

"Oh, I can get all the radio, and television bands as well," Ada said smugly, further disgusting Gary.

He shook his head, trying to think of his next question rather than discussing what seemed like trivialities.

"Okay, what I want to know, is how you got here, and where is the Teg that was wearing you, plus, what is it that you do?" He finally got out.

"The Teg was killed when his craft disintegrated against these bluffs, after being attacked by a dinosaur some meaningless time ago."

"Hahaha," roared Gary, nearly falling over on the uneven ground. "The Teg was disin-Teg-rated," he mirthfully gasped out.

"You are a funny species," Ada commented. "I think I'm going to like being with you," she added with a touch of humour in her voice. "What I did was help the Teg fit into whatever environment they may find themselves, adapting their form to suit the local indigenous species."

A sudden thought quickly sobered Gary. "Are there any Teg still on Earth or likely to come to Earth?"

"No, that's unlikely. The reason a few of the Teg were exploring the universe for possible habitable planets was that their sun was about to go nova. The Teg were never a space faring race, preferring to stay within their own system of planets."

There Ada paused to access the Internet, looking for information from observatories and the current star information. From what I can determine, and the period of time that has passed, the home system is no more. Seeing that the Teg I was with was the only one visiting this system, and it died here, it's unlikely any surviving Teg would venture this far."

Gary nodded, feeling much relieved. Wiping his brow free from sweat gathered there, he noted the blood on his hand from the gash he'd sustained from his tumble. Reality intruded, reminding him of his current situation. He muttered under his breath about, 'Teg artifact or not, I still need to get back, and it is going to be harder than ever, now I've hurt myself.'

"I can help," Ada broke in.

"Huh? Oh, you can?" Gary asked, forgetting that Ada could overhear him.

Gary looked at his blood stained hand and noticed one nail was torn.

"Can you fix this nail?"

"Watch," Ada prompted.

Gary held his hand out palm down, so he could watch whatever Ada was going to do. In a second not one, but all of his nails grew out, about 10 mm in length, repairing the broken one as well. Then the ends reshaped themselves into curved points and the nails changed colour, becoming a soft red.

"Hey!" Why did you give me girl's nails?" Gary complained as he wriggled his fingers experimentally as if to check that the nails were really attached to his hand.

"I took a template from the person I borrowed this voice from," explained Ada. "Are they not attractive?"

"Sure, on a woman, but hardly practical on a man," Gary sighed. Obviously Ada needed to learn more about the difference between men and woman, and what was socially acceptable.

"Okay, I can fix that," Ada promised.

Gary thought Ada meant she would remove the nails, but what happened next proved him wrong. Instantly his body changed to match the nails, becoming female, along with a suitable change in clothing.

"Ada!!" Gary shrieked, his new voice sounding ever so shrill in "his/her" ears. "What did you do? I'm a girl! Turn me back," Gary cried, feeling very odd indeed.

"No."

"Huh? What do you mean … no?" Gary's first impulse to feel this strange body and check out his missing mate seemed oddly restricted to plucking at her blouse and making sure her skirt was straight and that she still had her handbag. The sight of her feet encased in stockings and heels didn't even send the alarm bells ringing like it should have done. The fleeting thought that they matched the rest of her apparel crossed her mind, which suddenly sent her further into panic mode, as did the change in the personal pronouns she seemed to be using.

"What have you done to my mind? It's full of girly stuff," she gasped.

"I've given you the best chance of survival I can," Ada replied, sounding rather put out.

"How?" retorted Gary instinctively cringing at the feminine voice coming from her lips.

"The body you have is physically perfect and uninjured, plus, I've tweaked it a bit. Now, you need to be a kilometer south of here when the helicopter arrives."

What helicopter? You're not making sense." Gary said exasperatedly.

"The body you wear is that of missing actress/model, Bethany Chambers. She was on location doing a suntan campaign for Coppertone when she did a runner. There is a search party out now looking for her. I contacted the film crew via the cell phone network, and gave them your location as being a kilometer south of here. They should be here in about 15 minutes."

"So how does that help me? I end up back in Laverton with no car, no motorbike and no money. Oh, and how do they know where to pick me up. In fact, why not pick me up here? Also, why does the name Bethany Chambers strike a familiar chord with me? Am I going potty?" Gary tried laughing at her weak joke, but the girlish giggle that came out of her mouth made her clamp her lips tight. Frustrated, she stamped her feet petulantly, as she started on her list of questions, not realizing how feminine she was acting.

"If you move now, I'll explain on the way," Ada prompted.

"How will I manage in these heels? They are not exactly appropriate footwear for the bush you know."

"Walk, don't talk," Ada said cryptically.

Gary, or rather, Bethany, started to move down the slope, her slender body nimbly moving between the rocks with a grace that Gary could never have achieved. Spotting the metal detector, she went to pick it up.

"Leave that," ordered Ada.

"Not on your Nelly I will. I paid 2000 dollars for this and I'm not leaving it here."

"Okay, but I could out perform it by some magnitude," Ada offered.

As soon as Gary/Bethany grasped the detector, it vanished. "What happened?" was Gary's familiar cry.

"I placed it into p space where I am. I can retrieve it anytime and anywhere, as all points in p space are co-existent. The reason we need to be far away from this spot, is because the Teg that crashed here was after the 30 metric tones of metal ore you know as gold. From historical documents, I surmise it is what was called Lassiter's reef."

"Lassiter's reef is here?"

"Yes, do I assume rightly that you wouldn't want undue attention brought here?" Ada continued.

"TOO BLOODY RIGHT, MATE!" Bethany exulted, scrambling down in a rush, still managing to hold her bag on her shoulder as if it was glued there. In her rush, she didn't question the curious fact that she had begun to identify herself as Bethany. If Ada was correct, then his financial troubles would be over, and he could get his sister every thing she needed.

"To answer your other questions, I located our position using your Garmen device."

"But my GPS is turned off," queried Bethany, as she started to run towards the spot Ada was directing her to.

"Yes, but I just accessed the non volatile memory for the way points you'd taken."

"I suppose you can do a better job than my GPS as well?" Bethany asked sarcastically.

"Of course," Ada replied, missing the point of the sarcasm entirely. "As to the benefits of masquerading as Bethany, I reported that you had been kidnapped by yourself. That is, by Gary Carstairs. And then you managed to escape while pretending a need to go to the bathroom."

"What!" Bethany screeched, pausing in her run. "How is making me a criminal going to help reunite me with my belongings?"

"If you continue, I'll explain. I reasoned that they could find your car from the GPS you stole from Gary before you escaped, and that would lead the authorities to the bike. They would then return them to Laverton for examination. Meanwhile, you can rest in ease, courtesy of the company doing the ad campaign. Then you can report that it was all a stunt to get more publicity. Later, Gary can call in and retrieve his belongings," Ada finished with a satisfied tone.

"That could go wrong in so many ways," grumbled Bethany. "What happens when the real Bethany turns up?"

"She accessed her Visa card some hours ago in Kalgoorlie, and I intercepted a cell phone call she made ten minutes ago. Apparently she's headed back to Perth because she couldn't stand the bush flies out here. But I made some slight changes in the records so nobody else will become suspicious."

"Okay fine, but tell me why the flies aren't bothering me then," Bethany pointed out.

"Well, and this is coupled with the reason you can run in heels and feel familiar referring to yourself as Bethany and comfortable as a female, I enhanced your body. Flies are attracted to salt, sweat and sugars excreted by the body. Yours doesn't excrete any of those, and to a fly or other biting insect, you're just as enticing as that piece of granite you're standing on. I've also downloaded some wetware to your brain that was extrapolated from the traits of the original Bethany."

"What? You make it sound like you can just download files to my brain like a computer. Tell me that's not possible?" Bethany pleaded, feeling like a talking, walking Barbie doll with someone pulling her strings.

"Your brain is an organic computer, and I have specialized processes that enable me to borrow traits from a subject and use them to enhance the Teg so they can act exactly the same."

"Well I don't want you doing that again without my permission," Bethany insisted, trying to get some control over her life back.

The whaap, whaap, whaap of chopper blades as a bright red helicopter hove into view, cut off Ada's response.

"Don't worry. I'll cue you with the right names and information if they ask awkward questions," Ada promised as the chopper blew up dust everywhere while it came down for a landing.

Bethany clutched her handbag and held her skirt down as the rotor blast threatened to blow her skirt up around her waist. For the first time since her change, she was grateful for Ada's foresight in giving her the ability to cope with a skirt and handbag, so she didn't end up embarrassing herself by having her panties exposed to all the world. When the choppers motor shut down, near silence returned, bar the whooshing of the rotor as it slowly windmilled to a stop.

Bethany waited, allowing those inside to make the first move. A dark haired guy in jeans and denim shirt scrambled out and ran over to Bethany. He grabbed her in a hug. "Bethany, I'm so glad to find you're alright," he rejoiced, lifting her off her feet and swinging her around.

Bethany subvocalised, "Who is this guy?"

"This is Robert Farnshaw, your agent. Don't worry, he doesn't swing that way. There's a rumor that he already has a boyfriend," Ada communicated directly to Bethany's inner ear ensuring that nothing audible could be heard by anyone else.

"Come on, girl, let's get out of this heat and dust before you lose that beauty and dry to a crisp," Robert admonished, dragging her towards the chopper. Robert's comment about her beauty made her realise that she hadn't had time to check out herself out in a mirror yet. Being beautiful wasn't something she had ever expected to have to deal with, although knowing that the original was a model come actress, it shouldn't have been surprising.

Bethany, who was still somewhat distracted about how she would deal with male attentions, allowed Robert to buckle her into a seat in the back and tried not to panic as the chopper lifted off. The flight back was both scary and exciting, as she, as Gary, had never flown before. She was still uncertain what would happen when they got back to Laverton.

Landing at the small country airport north-east of town, Bethany wondered where the film crew was staying. The town wasn't exactly booming, having just one general store, a petrol station/garage, a pub and a few other small businesses. An air-conditioned Mercedes awaited them and the change in temperature made her shiver as she was assisted inside.

The drive back to town took all of 5 minutes, while she was fussed over and generally treated like a china doll. The car drove directly to the towns only camping ground, which at this time of the year was almost deserted. At least it had been when Gary had passed though a few weeks earlier. Now, it had three large mobile home units parked there, with another tractor/trailer unit emblazoned with the Coppertone logo on its side.

Robert escorted her back to "Her" mobile home and left her to clean up and take a nap, saying there'd be a meeting later with the director.

Bethany stepped up into the air-conditioned interior of the home, marveling at the luxury contained within it. Feeling like an intruder, she scoped out all the cupboards and closets, trying to familiarize herself as to where everything was. Seeing a shower cubicle, she decided to take advantage of it. Even though her new body was only hours old, and clean as regards actual dirt, in reality, Gary hadn't had a shower or a bath in weeks. Having to get your water out of tanks supplied by windmills, which pump water from the wells dug to supply the sheep and cattle, you learn to conserve water. Although they are dotted randomly around the countryside, the quality is dependent on the terrain and how deep the well is. How much you used, depended on how much salt you can stomach in your drinking water. Some can be just palatable, while others taste like seawater. Needless to say, it makes soap almost impossible to lather, therefore you tend to use it only for cooking or hot drinks like tea or coffee. Actual drinking water that's palatable is usually best stored in 20 litre containers just for that purpose. Gary had 60 litres left in his car, courtesy of a recent run into Kalgoorlie, which has pure city water pumped uphill over 500 kilometers all the way from Perth, in two giant pipelines.

Bethany went into the bedroom which took up all of the rear section of the mobile home, and there she saw herself in a floor length mirror for the first time. She was shocked to see a reflection that moved as she moved, yet was so different from her normal reflection as Gary. She'd known she was blonde from the stray wisps of hair that she seemed to be constantly brushing out of her eyes, but that told only half the story.

Unlike the fashion for models that are usually seen modeling clothes, she wasn't boyishly thin. No; she filled out her clothes with a very sexy feminine shape. Judging by eye alone, Bethany was about 5foot 8 inches tall, with a figure Gary would have drooled over. Cupping her breasts and lifting them, she judged she was about a C cup or maybe even a D. A tiny waist which showed her exposed tanned tummy made her hips seem to jut out all the more in comparison.

"38C, 26, 38." Ada accurately informed her, obviously guessing the direction of her thoughts.

"I'm a babe," Bethany breathed softly in wonderment as she ran her hands down her form.

"Are you going to have a shower, or are you going to stand in front of the mirror for the rest of the day?" Ada prompted with an amused tone in her voice.

"Huh? Oh yes," Bethany said belatedly, dragging herself out of her reverie.

Bethany undressed slowly, trying to watch herself in the mirror as she did so. It was like a fantasy come true, watching a gorgeous strawberry blonde haired goddess strip to her every command.

As much as she hated the thought of being female, she was in love with this body reflected before her. Her skin was flawless, tanned all over without any bikini lines, obviously why she had been selected to do the suntan ad. Looking at her crotch with its neat vertically trimmed section of hair, she was suddenly struck by the oddity that she didn't feel a sense of loss at her missing manhood. Maybe it was the different feelings coming from her new sex replacing the ones she was used to that prevented her from feeling that there was something missing. It was really mind numbing to get her head around the fact that although everything felt different, it also felt normal. She wondered how much of it was due to the memory download Ada had given her.

Pulling herself together, she went into the shower cubicle and turned on the water. A quick check with some soap told her that it wasn't local bore water. So she hurried the shower, not wanting to waste the real water, which was limited by the tanks in the mobile home.

Even though her shower was brief, it was long enough to find out that woman's erogenous zones were widespread and immersed her in a whole new level of sensation. She didn't orgasm, but she came close, and if what she experienced was any gauge, she determined to go that little bit further when she had more time.

She washed her hair with the shampoo the original had used, and although it made her smell feminine, she realised she had no choice if she wished to pull off the deception. .

Later, after drying herself and wandering into the bedroom with a towel arranged around her chest, she faced her next challenge, choosing something to wear. Ada didn't have to tell her not to wear the same clothes she'd been wearing. Even though she was a novice at this girl stuff, Bethany knew better than that, even without the guide in her head.

Ada suggested some choices based on images she'd discovered online of the real Bethany. But Bethany wanted to see if she could manage on her own using the wetware in her brain. By not concentrating on specifics and allowing for the weather conditions, she managed to select a sundress that was cool, yet elegant. The part of her that was still very much Gary, cringed at the extremely feminine garment, but in keeping with her deception, she knew it was the thing to wear. Selecting appropriate underwear was less of a chore, as most of her bras were the same style, differing only in colour and material. She decided to go with an underwired one made of satin, with a tiny bow in the center. Panties were chosen for comfort, seeing they wouldn't be seen under the dress and she choose a pair of high heeled, open toed sandals that would look elegant, but allow air to circulate.

Bethany thought that it hadn't been too hard until Ada reminded her that she was only half done. "You can't go out without makeup on, plus you need perfume and jewelry," she pointed out.

"Can't you do it for me? Give me a break! Look at all those bottles and tubes of gunk. I'd need to go into a trance all afternoon to let your programming do its stuff. After all, if you can alter my body, surely a little makeup won't task your abilities," she wheedled, hoping to get Ada to show off. In truth, she didn't want to tackle makeup just yet. It was just too girly to be putting it on herself, better it be done for her, so she could make excuses to fool herself that it was all Ada's fault.

"Okay, but you'll have to spritz yourself with her perfume and I'll help select your jewelry," Ada agreed.

"There, it's all done, and I've made it smudge proof, so you won't need to redo it any time soon."

"Wow! Already?" said a surprised Bethany, as her face didn't feel any different. She checked in the mirror and confirmed it was true.

"Well, I cheated a little," admitted Ada. "I coloured your skin with the correct pigments to emulate actual makeup, not that you need a lot anyway."

"It's a great job," Bethany agreed, seeing her rosy lips and a hint of eye shadow as the more prominent features.

She picked up a bottle of perfume called Shalimar, which she applied to neck, ears and wrists, on Ada's instructions. Jewelry provided more of a challenge, which Ada helped with.

"Bethany, are you awake?" a voice outside, called warily.

"Coming," she called back cheerily, picking up her handbag without a thought. She opened the door, feeling the heat hit her like a wave. Robert was standing at the foot of the steps leading into the mobile home. His surprise at her cheery demeanor was quite evident.

Bethany stepped down, losing her balance slightly. She felt the earrings swing against her neck, something that would always remind her of her new sex. Robert reached out and steadied her until she got her balance back, then released her immediately. Obviously the original Bethany either was less polite at being "supposedly" waked up, or maybe she really was a bitch with a temper.

She followed Robert to the main trailer unit, where he opened a door for her and indicated she should enter. Inside, she found several people sitting in comfortable chairs around a table. One of them was obviously from the Australian police force; the other two were connected to the Coppertone agency, from the logos on their shirts.

'Here we go,' she thought worriedly, thinking they knew who she really was.

"Hello, Bethany. Glad to have you back unharmed. We have filled Sergeant Caruthers here in about your abduction by this Gary Carstairs character, but he'd like to go over the details and get those way points you mentioned from your GPS," one of the Coppertone men explained.

'That's Toby Arrnot, the company director of this campaign,' Ada silently informed her via the aural nerve.

'To by arr not to by,' Bethany replied sotto voce, trying not to break into a giggle.

"Miss Chambers, I'm Tom Caruthers from the Kalgoorlie police. Can I call you Bethany? I just want to get my facts straight before we start a search for your abductor."

Bethany nodded her assent for him to call her by her first name, feeling somewhat better at his friendly tone. Feeling somewhat trapped by the story already circulating about her former identity, she just reiterated the story again while being silently prompted by Ada who kept the "facts" straight.

After the officer left, promising to do his best to find her abductor, the other two men asked her if she could continue with the ad shoot, as it was almost complete. Ada prompted her to agree, even though she was unsure what was entailed and not even sure she could do it. With her agreement, the director asked her if she wanted to dine out with him in Kalgoorlie, seeing the company helicopter was on hand. Bethany agreed, much to the surprise of Ada, who thought she should lay low for a while.

'Hey, it's been weeks since I had a decent meal. You don't think I'm going to turn down the offer of a free steak dinner, do you?' Bethany retorted in a low voice that neither man could hear. 'Besides, the original probably flew out from there hours ago,' she added questioningly.

'She caught flight 34 from Kalgoorlie to Perth, departing at 2.15pm and arriving at 3.30pm, and yes, I've changed those records, too,' Ada quoted from her endless supply of information. 'So she is out of your hair, but we should still be careful,' Ada added.

"Hey, I'm not going on a date or anything. It's just a welcome back treat, plus, a few tinnies (cans of beer) would hit the spot," Bethany replied quickly, just in case Ada got the wrong idea.

"Come along, Beth. If we go now, we'll get the best selection," the director prompted in a fatherly manner, interrupting her silent dialogue.

"Am I dressed for it, or should I change?" asked Bethany, not realizing she'd said it out loud.

"You look ravishing, my dear, Doesn't she, Dennis?" he asked his assistant.

"She sure does, Mr. Arrnot," Dennis confirmed with an American twang in his voice.

'Don't worry, I'll help," Ada reassured her, reminding her that she needed more dramatic eye makeup for an evening event.

"I'll just get a wrap for the flight back," Bethany said as Toby escorted her outside.

"Of course, I'll wait outside and call the driver to come to your door," agreed the director, walking with her.

Bethany grabbed a wrap and tied it around her waist as suggested by Ada, who also changed her eye shadow to a more dramatic look suitable for an evening on the town.

Ada told her wait for a minute or two to explain the time taken to redo her makeup before allowing her to exit the mobile home. Toby was standing by the open door of the Mercedes waiting for her. She got in, managing to do it elegantly with full skirts, prompted by the all knowing Ada, who told her to get her ass on the seat first and swing her legs in. (Just not in those exact words.)

Once in the air again, she felt butterflies in her stomach, but whether it was from the flight itself, or the company she was in, she tried not to speculate. She did love seeing the ground flash past, and often saw places she'd searched over as Gary. The time flew, literally, and once they'd landed, another car was waiting, having been arranged while en route.

Kalgoorlie was like a city, compared with Laverton, even though it only boasted one set of traffic lights. The hustle and bustle seemed overwhelming to one who'd been living alone for weeks on end.

Toby had the driver take them to the Exchange Hotel, which seemed rather appropriate, given the circumstances.

Bethany did get her steak, but not the one she wanted. While Toby ordered a 450 gram T bone steak with fries and salad, Bethany ended up with a petite fillet steak, and salad with no fries, under Ada's firm insistence that the real Bethany wouldn't order something that huge or that fattening. She also dipped out on the beer she wanted for the same reason. Settling for a Shandy was the best she could do, and when Toby looked askance at her order, she said she needed something other than wine to wash the dust down. This seemed to satisfy Toby as he could certainly attest to the benefits of dust settling beer. Bethany did steal a few fries from Toby's plate, knowing this was acceptable under the rules. Toby didn't seem to mind and even gave her a piece of his steak after she mentioned it looked tasty.

It was after 8pm by the time they finished. Toby looked at his watch and sighed. "We may have to stay here overnight, as it is too late to fly back now. The pilot has a curfew for flying past 8.30pm in the helicopter as it's not fitted out for night flying. Do you want to browse in the mall? I'll book two rooms here, and we can go buy you something nice to wear in bed, my treat."

Bethany was silent for a moment, considering whether this had been planned from the start, but the look on Toby's face seemed to indicate there was no ulterior motive, so she agreed.

She excused herself, heading for the restroom, while Toby arranged for the rooms. Going to the toilet for the first time was not without sage advice from Ada, who advised her on the correct action for wiping her bottom. Bethany redid her lipstick by herself, and once again, she was good to go. She was surprised by the way other ladies at the mirror chatted to each other without the reserve shown by guys in toilets, who have an unspoken rule about talking to anyone who they don't know.

Bethany managed to buy a nightie with a matching wrap in one of the shops in the mall. True it wasn't silk, but what can you expect when you shop at K-Mart? Toby had hovered near, but gave her space to browse the racks, which suited her just fine, as she felt like an intruder there as well. Ada assisted, which meant she was saved the embarrassment of getting someone to help her pick the right size.

Toby seemed embarrassed at the necessity of shopping there, but Bethany reassured him that it was fine, which seemed to puzzle him, as he kept apologizing for not foreseeing the need to stay overnight. From this, Bethany figured out that the real Bethany wasn't so forgiving.

Back at the hotel, Toby thanked her for a lovely evening as they parted to enter their separate rooms. What had made her respond by giving Toby a chaste kiss on the cheek before turning and unlocking her door, kept her thoughts occupied till she got into bed. Maybe it was part of the profile in the files that Ada had downloaded in her brain, but then, if the real Bethany was such a bitch, surely that wouldn't be like her at all. She puzzled over it for a while until tiredness caught up with her and she fell asleep.

Ada watched over Bethany's sleeping body, while still monitoring the net and the whereabouts of the real Bethany. So far, she had used her credit card to get a taxi from the airport, so it was assumed from the amount paid and the rates from the taxi company that she had traveled about 10 kms, which would have allowed her to reach her home in the hills of Kalamunda.

What wasn't so good, was the fact that she had tried to reach Robert, her agent. Luckily, his cell phone was turned off and she'd had to leave a message for him to call her. Ada set in place a call diversion, which would automatically route any calls made to Robert's phone direct to Ada's software. Similarly, if Robert tried to call Bethany's phone it would be rerouted to the phone Ada had created for the faux Bethany. With this precaution in place, Ada resumed her scanning of the world's communication network.

Bethany woke early, and got up to watch the sun rise. This body felt really different from her old one, more energy and zing. Now she'd had time to relax and get some sleep after all that had happened, her mind felt clear and full of ideas.

One thought that prompted a question to Ada, made her hold her breath in anticipation. "Can you fix seriously injured bodies? Not just superficial stuff?" she asked, thinking of her sister Amanda back in Perth.

"How serious?"

"Spinal cord injuries. I have a sister who is paralyzed," Bethany answered, holding her breath.

"I can, but I'd have to be worn by that person," Ada informed her.

"Yes!" Bethany exulted, dancing a little jig then and there. However, thinking about her old identity, and the trouble he was in soon sobered. At least Amanda should be spared any problems with the police, having been in the home for two years. She turned her attentions to getting a shower, determined to experiment while she could.

Bethany met Toby for breakfast later that morning, as arranged the evening before. Her time in the shower with unlimited hot water meant she had explored her femininity to the ultimate degree. Experiencing female orgasms had floored her, literally. She'd collapsed in the shower, ending up sitting on the tiled floor of the cubicle as her body became awash with more than the water streaming down over her body. She wondered if the feelings were that intense every time, or had it just been because it was a new experience that she wasn't used to. Maybe it was because she hadn't had sex for a while. In any case, she promised herself another game of stink finger just to see if it was as intense the second time around.

She was rather quiet during breakfast, thinking about her sexuality and the way she'd enjoyed being female so far. Toby must have noticed a difference in her from the way the original Bethany behaved. "Is something wrong? You seem self absorbed this morning. I doubt you listened to more than half our conversation."

"Sorry, I was a million miles away," she apologized guiltily. "I was just thinking about when all this is finished," she added half truthfully.

"I'm sure Robert has you booked solid for months yet," Toby laughed at her seeming worries.

Bethany nodded silently as her thoughts went back to the subject foremost in her mind. 'Am I still Gary?' The answer should have been clear-cut, with a resounding YES! But with what she'd experienced so far, Gary's life style was looking a little shaky. Once the need to be Bethany was past and Gary sorted out how to recover the gold Ada had mentioned, there was clearly a question of which lifestyle to follow. A fabulously rich girl with everything going for her, and guys willing to fawn all over her? Or that of plain old Gary, with money to burn trying to find some happiness? There was also the problem of her sister Amanda. It wasn't an easy question with a quick solution.

It wasn't until they got back to Laverton that Ada told Bethany of the call her original had tried to make. At first, Bethany panicked and wanted to get out of this increasingly precarious situation. Ada reassured her, telling her of the redirects she'd put in place. She seemed confident of fooling the original Bethany by simulating Robert's voice and mannerisms when she tried calling Robert again.

Robert met them in the car as they got out of the helicopter, saying that he'd got her message, but her phone went straight into the recorded message.

"I'm sorry, the batteries went dead just after I called you," Bethany explained. "I just wanted to know if I could take a break after this shoot?"

"Well we do have that swimsuit campaign to do before next month, but I guess there's room for some time out. I'll explain the kidnapping to them, and say you want time to yourself," Robert suggested.

"Thanks, that will be great." Bethany sighed in relief. "So what's on for today?" she asked, trying to get some idea of the days plans.

Robert looked at Toby, who answered for him. "Actually there's not a lot left to do. We just need some closing shots to wrap it up," he told her with a smile.

What Bethany had dreaded turned out to be a piece of cake. She had worried that if and when she had to take over the real Bethany's job, she would soon be discovered as a fraud. As it was, all she had to do was rub lotion onto her skin while wearing a bikini and smiling at the camera. For this she was grateful, assuming the hard work had already been done.

That afternoon when the shooting was finished and everyone dove indoors to escape the heat, she went into Laverton to visit the local office that served as the police station. There, she was told that Tom Caruthers was due back in about 10 minutes. When asked if she wanted to wait, she said she'd come back later

Bethany decided to cool off another way and went to the local watering hole. She got more than a few looks from the locals, half of whom were aboriginals who must have got their social welfare checks that day. The women that lived in these remote towns were generally earthy types and didn't bother looking glamorous for their men folk, while Bethany was a model, whose beauty stood out like a beacon.

She ordered a Schooner of beer and sat at the bar to enjoy her drink. Gary was used to being in these places and wouldn't have worried about the clientele. As she took her first sip of beer, savouring the crisp coolness, she became aware of the gazes directed her way. They were almost like a physical touch, and the attention wasn't particularly welcomed by Bethany. Several of the bolder members of the crowd came up to her, as if checking that she was real. Make that 'drunker' than the rest, for their gazes soon turned to lustful leers as they figured she must be some high class hooker who'd just happened to breeze into town.

Bethany realised that the original must not have left the camping ground where her mobile home was parked, preferring to stay there, than mingling with the local population. Given the type of attention she was getting now, Bethany didn't blame her.

"Do you want me to provide you with a self defense package?" Ada enquired cautiously.

Despite her negative opinion about being treated like a plain old computer that need an upgrade, Bethany decided to be prudent and accept whatever help Ada could provide. She felt knowledge of martial arts slipping into her memory like a cool breeze passing over her skin. Her confidence, that had taken a sudden drop once she'd realised her new-found vulnerability, came back with a vengeance, as her awareness of what she could now do to protect herself, grew clear.

As her personal space was invaded by one of the bolder men, she finished her drink and stood up, preparing to leave. The man put his hand on hers as she placed her empty glass back on the bar, stopping her from withdrawing.

"Let me go," she hissed, trying not to lose her temper.

"Come on, Babe. I know what a Sheila like you wants," he leered, suggestively.

Her afternoon having a few quiet drinks now spoiled by this unwanted attention, caused Bethany's anger to simmer for a moment before coming to a boil. "If you want to keep that hand, you'd better remove it," she threatened.

The man laughed at her threat, turning to his mates, who just egged him on in support. In a flash, while his attention was diverted, Bethany twisted away out of his grasp and reversed the grip so that she had his hand in a hold that defied his delayed efforts to escape. With a move that turned her into his body, she put her back against his chest, and forced him to the floor, with a compelling grip that threatened to snap his wrist should he resist.

Seeing their hero fall to the ground, the rest of the gang moved forward to encircle Bethany as she crouched over the guy. Releasing the man on the ground, she stood up and assumed a martial art pose that was unmistakable. Her expression showed her confidence at protecting herself. She couldn't resist doing what she'd seen in several action movies. Her outstretched hand, which was held in a vertical blade form, twisted palm up and she used her cupped fingers to wave them on while she grinned.

The mob stopped, unprepared for this slip of a girl, who oozed the confidence of a latter day Bruce Lee.

The man by her feet scuttled outside and ran smack dab into Tom Caruthers. "Well what do we have here?" he asked, picking up the man and straightening the guys clothes.

"There's a crazy woman inside. She nearly broke my wrist for no reason," the man whined, trying to weasel out of any blame.

Just then, Bethany backed out of the place, coming to a halt when she turned and saw Tom. As her eyes flicked to the man standing by him, Tom saw the man flinch away, even though Bethany made no aggressive move at all.

Although Tom showed no expression, inside he was laughing at the sight of the heavyset man being scared by this slip of a woman, whom he outweighed two to one.

"I think you've had too many drinks. I suggest you walk home before I bring you in for drunk and disorderly," Tom ordered brusquely.

The man started to protest, but then thought better of it as the steel in Tom's eyes turned to chilled gun metal.

"Yes, Officer." The man obeyed, before turning and stumbling down the street.

"You wanted to see me?" Tom asked, looking at Bethany appraisingly.

"Yes, I was wondering what you had found out so far?' she answered, looking back towards the door where the bar crowd were hovering around.

"You have a little trouble with them?" he asked.

"A little."

"Wait here, I'll be right back." Tom strode into the bar and started reading the riot act to those inside. In the nearly deserted streets, his voice was clearly heard from inside as he tore into them, for their behaviour.

"You know, you shouldn't have gone in there alone,' Tom said to her, once he returned outside. "Some of those men have been out in the bush for weeks. Seeing a beauty like yourself is like painting yourself red before a bull."

Bethany shrugged. "I only went for a drink, and I can take care of myself… (Now)," she added under her breath.

"So I heard. I didn't know you were into martial arts?" he questioned as they made their way by to his office.

"Well, a girl's got to learn to protect herself you know?" she threw back as they entered the building.

"Hmmm. Strange it didn't come up on your profile when I first checked you out when I got the message you were missing."

"Well, a girl has to have some secrets. I wouldn't want to scare potential boyfriends away if they knew I could break their arms," Bethany retorted.

"Hey, I wasn't implying anything," Tom assured her, backing away from the subject.

Inside Bethany's head, Gary was gagging. 'What boyfriends? What am I saying?' Showing none of the internal conflict, Bethany squashed Gary's voice down. What Gary liked or disliked had to be put aside while she played this role. Tom wasn't just a country cop who could be brushed aside. He was savvy, and would be quick to find any discrepancies, should she mess up. For now, she had to be Bethany and let the personality overlay Ada had provided control her actions and words. The Gary part of her grumbled, but accepted this with only minor reservations.

"Well, I found the car and the bike, but there's no sign of this Gary character," Tom informed her, tactfully changing the subject.

"Will you be bringing them here?" she asked, trying to sound disinterested.

"No, I'm sending them to Kalgoorlie for fingerprinting and forensic examination."

This sent alarm bells ringing though Bethany. If they didn't find any evidence of her being in the car, then questions would surely be raised. At the least, there would be a delay before she could get her hands on it, and at the worst, they might start looking at his flat in Perth. His whole life as Gary would be under scrutiny. Bethany silently cursed Ada for putting her in this situation. Okay, so far it had been pretty interesting and an experience she'd treasure for life, but she could see that coming clean about her so called abduction would lead to more complications.

Ada might be powerful and all knowing, but she wasn't infallible. She needed a plan B. Returning as Gary seemed impossible at the moment. If she told them that the kidnapping was a hoax, she could end up in serious trouble, seeing how much time and resources were being used to find her supposed abductor.

Gary was the one with the prospector's license that allowed him to fossick over both crown lands and farmers holdings. Tom's voice broke into her musings. Was that all you wanted to know?" he asked.

"Um, yes thanks. I'll head back to my place," she answered distractedly, not seeing the disappointment in Tom's eyes.

She left the office and wandered down the street looking at the town with fresh insight. When she saw the survey office, an idea came to mind. Walking in, she asked about the correct procedure to stake a claim.

Although she knew some of it, from her, (Gary's) license, she needed to make sure that everything she intended to do couldn't be taken away from her once she decided to stake out the reef. She'd heard stories of claims being overstaked by aboriginals who'd got wind of a claim. The original discoverer of the claim had flown to Perth to make his claim, but the aboriginals had found the pegs and overstaked it and then gone to the local survey office. Although a big stink was made of it, the aboriginals kept the claim and found a huge gold bearing area that was worth millions.

Although she gave no details of a discovery or any location, the man in the office got the distinct impression that she had discovered a worthy prospect from the questions she asked. Bethany never saw the aboriginal who was hanging around the open doorway listening intently to the conversation. When she did eventually leave, there was nobody in sight.

Stopping off at the hardware shop, she checked out the type of stakes that were available from the information garnered from the guy from the survey office. She made her way back to the unit in the camping ground, never realizing someone had followed her movements since she'd left the survey office, nor was she aware of someone keeping her in view as she entered her unit.

The next day was spent around the camp, as the others packed up the equipment prior to heading out. Bethany refused an offer to fly her home, as she wanted to stay around so she could go stake out the gold find. Obviously she couldn't tell the director that, so she said she wanted to drive back. When an offer of going back in the Mercedes was rejected due to her interest in doing the touristy route, she decided to see if there was a hire car service in town.

"But you already hired our one and only car," said a puzzled agent attached to the local garage. "We are still waiting on the car to be delivered back from Perth," the man said.

The original Bethany must have hired the only car available, which put a crimp in her plans.

"Sorry, I had to fly back urgently, as a roll of film was bad and I had to shoot it again," Bethany lied calmly. "Is there any other vehicle available? A four wheel drive was what I was really after."

"There is one Landrover available in Leonora," the man told her after consulting his computer. "I can have it delivered to you here by this afternoon, if you like?"

 

"Yes, that will be fine," Bethany told him, knowing Leonora was a slightly larger place and roughly an hours drive away. She didn't notice that there seemed to be rather more aboriginals hanging around as she left the car rental office, one of whom visited the rental place after she was out of sight.

Later that afternoon she went back and picked up the 4 wheel drive and drove it back to the unit. She packed a few of her more practical clothes and left the rest. She figured most wouldn't be needed as she planned to return to being Gary, or at least some other male if Gary was still being actively sought. Originally, she wasn't going to bother taking any of Bethany's clothes other than what she was wearing, but as Ada pointed out, it would seem strange if all her stuff was left behind.

The rest of Bethany's belongings were going to be flown back to her home in Perth, with her agent taking care of all of that. Once she said goodbye to everyone, she drove back into town and went shopping. Along with food supplies and water, she bought some survey pegs at the hardware store.

She set off, wanting to get to the place where she, as Gary, had originally left his car. There was fresh water there in what is commonly known as a Gnamma hole, which is usually just a hole in the rock that can go down to anywhere from a meter to up to thirty meters in depth. The one Gary had found was just under a half a meter wide and went down twenty meters. It had been covered by a slab of rock of a different colour to prevent contamination by animals falling in and drowning. That had most likely been done by the aboriginals that roamed this country.

She set up camp once she reached her destination, not that it entailed much. She hadn't bothered replacing the tent Gary had used to sleep in. Things like that might have aroused suspicions. Not that she knew that it had been in vain at that point. Ada pointed out that if she remained Bethany, with her smaller body, she could sleep across the back seat of the Landrover. Never one for roughing in the ground on just a ground roll and sleeping bag, even as Gary, that seemed a good idea.

Only the fire pit remained of Gary's gear. It had two metal rods spread across a narrow trench in which a fire could be built to keep it from spreading. She made a small fire and heated an opened tin of baked beans over it, using the rods to support the can. A still cold pint carton of milk followed the beans before she got ready to doss down for the night. Wanting to get out of her restrictive clothes, she opted for a short nightie that would make her rest comfortable.

The first inklings of trouble came when a hand went over her mouth and she woke to the sickly smell of chloroform, before lapsing back to oblivion.

Ada was aware that Gary, aka Bethany, had been subdued by a substance that rendered her unconscious by persons unknown at this time. She could have changed Bethany back to Gary and having done so, rid the body of the effects of the chloroform, but since this might be observed by others, it would surely make things worse. Anyway, Ada's logic was alien, and not being alive in the same sense as humanity, she didn't have a sense of self preservation. She did, however, have a certain fondness for her activator, unlike what she had felt for her previous Teg owner.

Deciding to do nothing until circumstances changed and things became clearer, she remained dormant, watching the dark skinned men remove Bethany from the four wheel drive.

Bethany came to feeling groggy, and with the start of a headache coming on. Trying to rub her head, she found that her hands were tied together. She opened her eyes, realizing that she was in trouble as she saw the group of aboriginals gathered around her. It was near dawn, and judging by the different terrain around her, knew she was some distance from where she had camped. She couldn't talk, as a gag had been placed over her mouth. Nevertheless, she mumbled into it.

"You are approximately 15.34 kilometers due south of the campsite," Ada answered, having deciphered her garbled, "Where am I?"

In other circumstances, Bethany would have asked, "If 15.34 k's is approximately, what would an exact distance be?" Another mumbled question evoked a new response from Ada.

"Five indigenous natives used an aromatic sedative and then took you by a roundabout route to this place. No further activity occurred except one used a cell phone to call one Sam Bagalow and told him you had been captured."

Bethany dearly wanted to know why Ada hadn't done anything to help her escape or even to prevent her capture, but that would have to wait, as one of the group came over and pulled her upright.

When her gag was removed, she spat on the ground, clearing her mouth. She was about to yell at him, when an oily voice behind her spoke out, "Hello Miss Chambers, so nice to meet you in the flesh as it were."

She turned, seeing a pudgy Italian with a moustache standing there. A white van parked nearby was obviously his ride. He was short, and his once white shirt was stained with sweat under the arms. He looked out of place and uncomfortable in the already climbing heat of the day.

"What is all this, and why have you had me brought here?" she cried, starting to walk towards him.

Two men stepped forward to restrain her, but the visitor waved them off.

"We know that you are fronting for Gary Carstairs and his find. Very clever of you to stage a false kidnapping so you two could meet. Obviously, he hit pay dirt from what my friends tell me," he offered, pointing towards the group of aboriginals. "Like the police, we haven't yet located Mr. Carstairs, which is troubling my trackers. Seems he vanished into thin air. I'm prepared to give you a considerable sum for your claim. Then you won't need to soil those pretty hands of yours," he suggested with a veiled threat.

Bethany was in a quandary. Obviously, she hadn't been careful enough to hide her interest in making a claim. That is, if it was even possible in such a small town like Laverton. That they knew the kidnapping was a lie was bad enough, but they now had her isolated from help. At least they hadn't found out about Amanda.

"No price you could pay would be enough," retorted Bethany with false bravado.

"Ah! So it's that big, is it? Well, Miss Sun Tan girl, if money won't sway you, then maybe this will." With that, he waved his hand in a beckoning gesture and two men pulled a struggling woman from the van, a hood covering her head.

She was wearing a short skirt and she still had her heels on her feet. She struggled to maintain a balance on the uneven ground, as her hands were tied just like Bethany's. The men brought her nearer and Bethany began to see something familiar which filled her with dread. He fears were confirmed as the hood was lifted from the woman's face.

"When we heard that you were involved, we stopped off at your home in case we needed something other than money to convince you to sell," the Italian sneered. "We were in luck when we found your twin, so we drugged her and brought her here."

Facing Bethany was her original and the expression on her face at seeing a twin belied belief. The transformed Bethany knew she had to do something quick. Yelling internally for Ada to do something, she ran at the other Bethany's captors. The real Bethany may have been in shock, but she thought quick on her feet, as she stamped on one her guard's feet with her heel.

"Bethany? It can't be. You're dead," the girl shouted, to the faux Bethany.

"Run!" the faux Bethany shouted at her twin, trying to sort out what the real Bethany was going on about as she managed to give the other guard a shove that put him off balance.

The real Bethany didn't need her advice, having already turned and started towards the Mulga trees to her left. Ada warned the faux Bethany that the other was headed into dangerous territory as there were several abandoned mineshafts in the trees.

Bethany shouted to her twin. "This way," as she made off towards the left of where her twin was heading.

"Stay away from me you bitch, you can't be my real sister," was all she heard from her twin as she disappeared into the trees.

Bethany was too concerned about escaping herself, to worry about her twin and her strange words. A quick glance over her shoulder showed that pursuit was slow to start. The Italian seemed content to let them run, as tied up as they were, he knew they couldn't get far away, especially as his trackers were there to help.

A high pitched scream that was suddenly cut off filled Bethany with dread. She didn't stop running, though, even knowing the real Bethany could be dead.

Once out of sight of her pursuers, Ada told her to stop. "I can hide both of us where I placed the metal detector, but only for about 30 minutes. Then the power drain will force me to return to normal space."

"Is that safe?" Bethany asked cautiously, while still moving onward.

"It will be hard on your senses. I would advise you to keep your eyes closed while there."

"Is there any other option?"

"I could put you in the form of a wallaby, and then you could outpace your pursuers," Ada offered.

"Um, no thanks, I'll take option one." Bethany shuddered, thinking about the problems that might incur.

"Commencing transition," warned Ada, prompting Bethany to close her eyes.

What followed seemed to take an eternity. Being curious, and despite the warnings, Bethany peeked with one eye to experience the space she and Ada now occupied. After experiencing some mind numbing images that seemed to suck at her mind, she clamped her eyes close, determined not to risk seeing those twisting patterns of chaos again.

'Think of something to occupy your mind,' cautioned Ada, sensing from her flinch, what Bethany had done.

She tried to puzzle out what the real Bethany was on about. It was almost as if she'd had a twin sister who was now dead, but why called her Bethany, when she herself was the real Bethany? It made her head hurt thinking about it, so instead, she tried thinking about something pleasant.

Bethany tried remembering being at the beach, but somehow, the images she conjured up were decidedly wrong. Instead of them being of Gary ogling all the scantily clad babes, she saw herself as Bethany in a pale yellow bikini. Not only that, but she was the one being ogled as she lay on her towel.

The now irate Italian demanded, "Where did she go?" as he surveyed the ground Bethany had last occupied. "First you let a slip of a girl get away from you and fall to her death in that mine shaft, and now the trackers you hired can't find the other," he berated his men.

"What are they doing now?" the Italian asked as the group of aboriginals gathered in a huddle.

"I'll find out, Boss."

The Italian fumed as the aboriginals jabbered away, then started to walk away. The man sent to find out what was happening returned fearful of his boss's response to his news. "It seemed the woman is a spirit, and they don't want to anger her."

"WHAT? Get them back here! The woman is no more a spirit than I am," the man thundered angrily.

"They say they followed her to this spot and then she vanished into thin air. Her tracks end here." The guard pointed to a spot in the dust.

It was plain to even a non-tracker that the woman's tracks just stopped. There were no trees around for her to have climbed into. The Italian's wrath grew with every second as his frustration built. He stamped off to the van to call for more men.

Bethany was glad to reappear back into the heat of the Australian outback, as Ada brought them back from the limbo they had experienced. Even the threat of falling into the hands of the Italian was starting to look good.

There was no sign of the men near them, and Ada scanned the area and announced it clear. Bethany backtracked a bit, then cut across to head in the direction the original Bethany had headed. On the way, they heard voices and realised that the men hadn't left, but had withdrawn back to the van and its air conditioned comfort.

Bethany eventually found the open shaft that her twin had fallen into, almost stepping into it herself. Looking at it with dread, she could see why one could fall in so easily. The shaft was about 2 meters across and lay flush with the surface. Peering down over the edge, Bethany could see the sheer walls going down vertically for about 30 meters before darkness obscured the view.

"I detect life signs," Ada announced her bombshell news.

"She's still alive down there?" Bethany gasped incredulously.

"Apparently," Ada confirmed.

"We need to rescue her, but with those people nearby, we can't hang around," Bethany stated, feeling helpless.

"You want to rescue her, despite the fact she could expose you?" Ada asked curiously.

"Of course! What kind of person do you think I am?" Bethany asked, dumbfounded by the question.

"Obviously, one that has a higher moral character than most in your situation," Ada mused, adding this to her databank of information."

Bethany looked around for some sort of idea. The area immediately around the shaft was clear of debris, which probably was one reason for the fall, as no warning of a shaft was evident until you were on top of it. Further away, Bethany could see old steel mine ropes rusting away on the surface.

This gave her an idea. "Can you call the police and have them scare off the men and help me get her out?"

"Already done, I put a call in as soon as you told me you wanted to affect her recovery," Ada answered. "Now we need to lie low for 17 minutes, until they get the chopper here."

"I didn't know they had a helicopter available," Bethany mused, as she sort out a hiding place among the debris left by the miners.

"They don't, but the helicopter that Toby hired was delayed in leaving, due to a technical problem, so they commandeered that to fly out," Ada explained.

Once she heard the beat of the chopper blades, there was the sound of someone driving away. Obviously the Italian had heard it too, and wasn't about to risk being found in the area where a girl's body lay.

The chopper circled the area and landed nearby. Bethany ran to meet it, waving her hands in agitation.

"We flew over a 4 wheel drive vehicle several klicks back. Is that yours?" one of the officers yelled to her over the noise of the whirling blades.

Bethany ducked her head and ran to the chopper, noting that the engines hadn't been shut off.

"Yes, that's mine, but we need to get it here, pronto. My sister is hurt, and we need my vehicle to rescue her.

"What about that other van we saw? The dust cloud shows it heading away from here towards Leonora.

Bethany explained, "They are the ones that abducted my sister," not bothering to make up any fancy lies.

"Wait here! I'll drop off one of my men at your vehicle, then we'll follow the van. I'll get an ambulance here as soon as possible."

"Okay, but I'll be over there by the mineshaft my sister fell into," Bethany shouted, pointing in the direction of the shaft.

"The man nodded and signaled the pilot to lift off. Bethany just managed to catch his look as he turned away. He obviously thought her sister was dead, knowing how deep and treacherous these abandoned mines were. She crouched, then ran back, getting a blasting from the dirt stirred up by the blades as they increased thrust.

While Bethany waited for one of the officers to return with her 4x4, she looked around the mine area for things to make her plan work. Locating an oblong framework made from steel angle iron, she managed to drag it nearer to the entrance of the mine itself. There was a lifting bolt mounted on one end and it looked like it might have been part of a cage that the miners used to enter the mineshaft. It took all of her enhanced strength to move it, but finally it was in position. By the time she had checked out the lengths of discarded cable and selected which one she wanted, she could hear her Landrover coming.

Jim Collins, the officer that had been given to chore to assist her, was young and inexperienced, and Bethany had no difficulty persuading him to do her bidding. It wasn't until long after, that she realised he was in awe of her, and already half in love.

"Tie this steel cable to this frame and then tie the cable to the Landrover," she ordered, having outlined her plan.

"But, this cable has been rusting out here for over fifty years," protested Jim.

"True, but it still has most of its strength. With the low rainfall and dry air, it only has surface rust. Heck, even the old tinned cans the miners used are still intact," she pointed out.

"I should be the one to go down there. If you get hurt, they'll tear me a new one for letting you do it," Jim argued.

"Look, I know you mean well, but she's my twin sister. I'm a lot lighter than you are, and I know she's alive and where she is," Bethany half lied, knowing only the first.

Bethany donned more practical clothes for the descent, then loaded a pack from the truck with her torch, some rope, and a first aid kit, along with Jim's police radio. Jim found a frequency on the scanner that Bethany had bought that would let him monitor her progress and know when to lower or lift the frame. Once she wedged herself into the frame hanging over the edge, Jim drove forward, allowing her and the frame to descend into the shaft. At about twenty meters, she saw some blood on parts of the old timber framing that jutted out into the shaft. There was a terrible stench that told her something dead was also in the shaft. Ada turned her sense of smell down with a small change, after she complained.

Going deeper, the shaft narrowed and the light grew dimmer. Bethany hoped there was enough rope to allow her to find her twin. She spotted something reddish just below her, and she called on Jim to slow the descent. What she had spotted was a dead kangaroo, a big red, one of the largest in Australia. It had stuck on a piece of iron jutting out of hole cut into the side of the shaft. It was obviously the source of the stink, but there was no sign of Bethany, and the roo blocked the shaft completely.

"She's in the side shaft," prompted Ada.

She had Jim stop the descent as she neared the dead kangaroo. She shone her torch into the side shaft, seeing it sloped downwards on a slight angle.

Telling Jim to hold it there, she managed to get off the frame and into the side shaft. She crawled in, seeing some blood trailing forward on the bottom of the horizontal shaft. She spotted her target about 3 meters in, huddled in a ball against a curve of the shaft.

She tried telling Jim she'd found her sister, but the ground completely killed her signal. She checked Bethany's pulse, finding it steady and strong. There was a gash on her head that looked like it had happened on the way down, as there was no blood on the rocks where she lay, other than what had bled directly under her head.

She figured out that the dead roo had fallen and had stuck further up the shaft where she had seen the dried blood. When the real Bethany had fallen, she must have landed on the roo and dislodged it, falling further down until it had struck the iron bar. Her impact must have been softened by the animal's body and she had bounced off and rolled down the side shaft.

Bethany crawled back to the vertical shaft and let Jim know what was happening, and to wait till she could ascertain her sister's injuries.

After Jim's reluctant assent, she went back to the injured Bethany.

Carefully checking arms and legs for breaks, she applied a bandage to the head wound, staunching the blood loss. She could see bruising on her face which made her unrecognizable as her exact twin. She waited, hoping Bethany would recover consciousness soon.

Ada warned, "She may have some memory problems with that blow on the head."

"She will be okay?"

Ada reassured her, "I don't detect any major injuries."

While she waited for the injured Bethany to rouse, she couldn't help think of her own sister, Amanda, and the tragic circumstances of her injury. Their parents had both been killed in the accident that left Amanda crippled. Gary had found her, still crumpled in the wreck in much the same position as Bethany was in now. No one had seen the accident that took their parents lives. Only luck had saved Amanda from dying of her injuries, as Gary had followed their route up that sparsely trafficked road after them when they didn't return from their blackberry picking venture. He'd called for help and tried to make Amanda comfortable, as much as was possible without moving her body.

Tears fell from her eyes as she watched Bethany, hoping she hadn't suffered the same fate as Amanda.

There was a moan, and Bethany stirred, straightening out her body. With a weak voice "Bethany?" came from the injured girl.

"Hi, you had a fall, but I think you'll be okay," whispered the faux Bethany. "Can you recall your name?" she asked, trying to see if there was any memory loss

"Um Beth … no, it's Liz …yes my name is Elizabeth," she answered, slightly more forcefully, shocking Bethany at her side.

Bethany leaned back, trying to take in this new information. The person she thought was the real Bethany, was saying she was Elizabeth? Something was really screwy here.

"Is that you Bethany? Elizabeth asked, opening her eyes. "I didn't mean to take your place, but I thought you were dead …"

"Hush, Liz. It can wait till later after we get you out of here," Bethany insisted, trying to cope with this revelation. "Can you move? We need to crawl out of this hole."

Elizabeth stretched slowly, testing for any injuries. It seemed to Bethany that all she had were some bruises and the wound on her head. Bethany guided Elizabeth to the exit of the tunnel, where she got herself astraddle of the iron frame. She took the rope from her pack and then guided Elizabeth onto the frame so she was sitting in front of her, so she could tie the rope around the frame, and around their bodies, making a crude barrier against falling out.

Bethany radioed Jim to back the Landrover, and slowly they rose up the shaft. Bethany used her feet to keep them off the sides where they might get hung up. Nearing the top, she called a halt. The frame was just below the lip of the shaft and any more pulling might cause it to tilt and threaten them with a spill.

In what seemed seconds, Jim was there, leaning over the edge of the shaft with a relieved look on his face.

"Okay, reach up and I'll pull you up the rest of the way," he told them quickly.

With Bethany supporting her, Elizabeth was soon on the surface and Bethany followed soon after. Jim fussed over Elizabeth, doing what his training recommended, using what bandages were available in Bethany's small first aid kit.

The ambulance came 15 minutes later, and both Bethany and her sister were bundled inside. Jim stayed with the Landrover, promising to bring it back to Laverton after he did his best to cover the shaft with whatever he could salvage nearby.

The ride back in the ambulance was smoother than driving in the Landrover, for which Bethany was grateful. Being a passenger is often harder than being the driver, where you automatically anticipate the bumps. The attendant took Elizabeth's vitals and radioed them to an unseen voice. Seeing the ride was headed towards Leonora Bethany lay down on the other cot, waving off the attendant who seemed to be a mite too familiar with his hands.

Although she was burning to ask Elizabeth questions, now wasn't the time and it seemed Elizabeth was equally reluctant to start talking with the ambulance attendant in earshot. She just lay back and tried to rest, and Bethany followed suit, managing to get some sleep as the ambulance emerged from the bush tracks and hit the slightly smoother gravel roads.

In Leonora, Elizabeth was checked out and pronounced fit enough to leave after two stitches were used to close the head wound. Her nose was fractured but not broken and the sticky plaster over it contrasted with the darkening bruising around her eyes. All this coupled with the bandage around her forehead made it hard to notice that she and Bethany were identical twins. It was while Bethany was in the room as Elizabeth got dressed again, that she noticed something odd. Elizabeth had a birthmark on her left breast. Sure, it was small and normally hidden by her bra, judging by her suntan lines, but that wasn't the interesting part. If she was a copy of Elizabeth, why didn't she have a similar birthmark?

"I generated the body you're in from the pictures I gleaned from the net," Ada informed her silently, after a sub vocal query from Bethany. "Bethany didn't have a visible birthmark," she added, leaving out the obvious.

Bethany whispered a bit louder, "You mean I'm really her twin, and not a clone?"

"It would seem so, which means your double is still out there," Ada speculated.

Bethany thought back to Elizabeth's comments when they first met. Obviously she was of the opinion that her sister was dead. She queried this with Ada.

"I can't find any record of her death, or even that she is, or was, missing. Looks like Elizabeth took care of that by impersonating her." Ada cautioned. "Be careful asking questions. Don't let on that you aren't, in fact, her sister."

Getting released from the small surgery that doubled as the local doctors office was hampered by the local law, who seemed excited at having something special on their books, something other than the usual drunk drivers and domestic disputes among some of the locals. Having a bona fide abduction involving a powerful crime lord, was an excuse to pull out all the stops, especially as it might mean a promotion and a transfer out of the backwater town.

The girls finally got away about 2 hours later, after giving only the minimum information they could get away with. Bethany did have to tell them she had found gold, (the reason the mob were after her for,) but she didn't elaborate on it, which only fueled speculation by the officers taking their statements.

They did find out that those in the helicopter had caught the fleeing criminals. The driver in the van had been distracted by the chopper overhead and didn't see the small wash in front of them. Filled with soft gravel, they beached the van hub deep. They were all now in Kalgoorlie, waiting transfer to Perth.

Bethany was in a quandary. Part of her wanted to resume looking for her gold, but with everything that had happened, she knew it wasn't a good idea, as her movements would be closely watched. The other part wanted to go back to Perth with Elizabeth and find out more of what was going on.

Ada made the decision for her, telling her that going to Perth would put to rest most of the speculation, as she would be unlikely to leave if the claim was really of any major value. She could then find out about her true twin and organize a proper trip to locate and claim the gold.

After a chartered flight to Kalgoorlie in a Cessna Skyhawk, they caught a flight to Perth. Arriving late that afternoon, they were soon at the home where Bethany and Elizabeth lived.

Coming from the harsh dry landscape of the Western Australian goldfields, where the land was dotted with Saltbush, Spinifex and the occasional gum tree, the house was a pleasant change. The bright flowers of the Wattles and Bottlebrush lining the driveway contrasted and complimented each other, especially with the red flowers and verdant green of the Kangaroo Paws growing at their feet.

Bethany thought the place looked nice, but it was not as fancy as she'd expected, given the money models were supposed to earn. The house itself was tucked away on the back portion of the property, which gave it privacy, yet still allowed it to overlook Perth, with some spectacular views. Inside, the decor was very obviously feminine based, with no masculine input. Not that she wanted to go headlong into a romance with a strange guy, but Bethany was relieved, as well as curious. Where were the boyfriends these girls should have had? she asked Ada, as Elizabeth went and got two drinks from the mini bar.

"Okay, now that we're alone, I think it's time to talk," Bethany started, after accepting the drink from Elizabeth. "Why did you say that I was dead?"

"Do you remember telling me that you'd decided to leave that bastard, Samuel effing Masters, and that you were going to stop shooting up with the heroin that he and his gang were always pushing?"

"No, not really ... Things were kind of fuzzy then," Bethany ventured, playing along.

Bethany was shocked to hear her original was an addict. No wonder now where some of her earnings had gone.

She waited, hoping Elizabeth would elaborate, watching her sip her drink. Eventually she went on, "You said you needed to get your life straight, and apologized for making me sub for you when you were too spaced out to do your job. You said you were going over to Samuel's place to tell him you were finished with him and his drugs. He drove round later, accusing me for trying to turn you against him. You were in his car when I saw you last looking like you were unconscious from an overdose. Robert just gloated, saying you'd begged for it when you'd gone over. But I knew he'd given it to you, I never saw you again. Samuel told me you had killed yourself, but I figured you had died and he'd got rid of your body. That was a year ago." Here, Elizabeth broke into sobs, as she recalled those memories.

Bethany couldn't help, but reach out and hug Elizabeth. All she could think of was to say, "Hush, Sis. I'm here now."

Inside, her mind despaired. How was she going to break it to Elizabeth that her sister was in all probability dead? When she returned to being Gary, Elizabeth would lose her sister all over again.

Ada broke into her thoughts, "You may have a problem."

"What?" Bethany said aloud, unthinkingly. Luckily Elizabeth didn't react, being too caught up in her emotions.

"It seems that Gary Carstairs is being sought in connection with Elizabeth's abduction, according to the alert I got on the police channels."

"Whaaat?" Bethany hissed under her breath, remembering other ears were around.

"Checking the police computer systems, it seems that the Italian mobster has tried to shift the blame on your former identity, saying that Gary and Bethany had a falling out. The story he reported, said that Gary had approached you for some cash outlay so the claim could be worked properly, with a percentage going to you. You apparently wanted more and refused to fund it unless he gave you more. Gary then had Elizabeth kidnapped to force you change your mind. The mobster says he was just the middleman," Ada reported.

"What a load of …" Bethany didn't bother completing the rest, as Elizabeth stirred herself and looked curiously at her.

"What happened to you? Why didn't come home, or contact us? I had to be you, as well as myself for mom. It was hard juggling between the two of us for a year. Samuel threatened to implicate me with your death if I went to the police, not that I could. If I had, then it would have become common knowledge and your … my ... only source of income would be lost. I wasn't sure if you were really dead or not and if you were alive, and I'd reported it, then the drug scandal would still have killed your career. But by the time I'd given you up for dead, it had been months, and by my impersonating you in your job, I would have been jailed, as well as becoming a suspect in your death."

"I found a file on Samuel Master's computer," Ada interrupted. "There's a jpg of a body belonging to the original Bethany. He or someone must have taken it just before they buried it in a sandy grave that's shown in the picture. No telling where the location is, and there's nothing else relating to your death. I've managed to delete the file and added a search and destroy virus that will wipe any attempt to reload it."

"I'm sorry. I nearly did die. They left me in a shallow grave and covered me up. Luckily, I was face down, and had an air space." Bethany explained smoothly, giving no sign of the information Ada was feeding her.

"When I came to, I managed to struggle out and lay on the surface till the next day," Bethany lied, feeling awful while doing it. With the change in circumstances regarding her identity as Gary, she didn't want to burn her bridges to her borrowed identity just yet. If and when the police tried to confirm what the mobster had lied about, it was going to look suspicious if she denied everything and then staked a claim to gold that supposedly never existed. It looked as if staying Bethany for the foreseeable future was going to be her best option.

"I was found by some real aboriginals and taken to their camp. I was delirious, and I think they knew I was on drugs. They never went to the police, probably because it didn't occur to them, but whatever, they nursed me back to health. I must have eaten all sorts of disgusting food, Bethany explained.

"Seeing that Samuel thought he'd killed me, I decided to remain dead, figuring you'd just take my place in my modeling job. I went walkabout with the tribe until the lure of drugs was burnt out of my system." Bethany was making up the story as she went along, drawing on her experiences as Gary.

Getting another drink for herself, Bethany walked over to the window and looked out over Perth before continuing her fabrication. "Once I was able, I walked into the desert to find myself." Here, Bethany laughed, knowing that Elizabeth could never guess just how true that was.

"I ... I found something else Liz … I found gold, lots of it. But I need to give some of it to a sister of a friend who helped me out there." Bethany stopped, turned away from the window and looked at her new sister. From the tears flowing from Elizabeth's eyes it seemed like she was totally taken in by her lies. Bethany felt awful knowing it was all a lie, yet the truth wouldn't serve any good purpose and would only end up hurting everyone.

When Elizabeth ran and hugged her, something in Bethany snapped and tears flowed for her, for Elizabeth, and for Gary and Amanda.

"Robert, your agent, rang me asking for you to contact him for some promotions. With you gone, I pretended to be you and he never guessed. At least I don't think so. I was a bit standoffish and pretended to get angry easily to stop anyone wanting to get really cozy to me. I think I overdid it a bit and got a rep as a bitch, but as long as it didn't stop the work coming, I think it helped me pull it off."

"Ah!" Bethany exclaimed softly. "I wondered about that. Did you know I finished your … my Coppertone Campaign when you ran off?"

"No, I did try to ring Robert to apologize, but couldn't get through. I thought I'd blown it, but those flies were just too much. I nearly drowned in repellent and they still came and tested every bit of skin in case I'd missed a spot. I was supposed to remain still, but the camera couldn't see them on my back enjoying the shade, and I couldn't move to brush them off … argh! The last stroke was when I swallowed one and threw up trying to get rid of it."

"Been there, done that," Bethany sympathized, knowing all too well the horrors of the bush flies.

Bethany strolled around the house with Elizabeth in tow, using the get reacquainted with everything again excuse. "I kept your room exactly as it was," offered Elizabeth, opening a bedroom door to show her.

Bethany stepped in, checking out her room. It wasn't overpoweringly feminine, for which she was rather glad, but it wasn't anything like Gary had ever slept in either. She sat down on the soft bed and picked up a photo of Bethany and Elizabeth with an older woman, she assumed was their mother, going by the family resemblance.

"Mother will be glad to see us, both of us. She is always complaining that she never gets to see both of us at once. I'm just glad in a sad way that her eyes are bad enough that she never spotted the difference when I substituted for you."

"When can we see her?" Bethany asked, thinking this would be a Bethany thing to do.

"Anytime, you know she never stops us visiting."

"You have visitors," Ada warned privately, just a moment before an authoritative knocking resounding through the house.

"Sounds like the police are here," winced Bethany, moving to the door before someone outside decided to knock it down.

"Miss Chambers? Bethany Chambers?" The officer outside asked, when she opened the door.

"Yes? That is correct," she replied calmly.

"I have reason to understand that you have had dealings with one Gary Carstairs, regarding a gold claim east of Laverton, which resulted in your sister's abduction by Carlos Salvatore on his behalf."

"I had dealings with Gary, yes, but the rest is a pack of lies. Gary wasn't involved in my sister's abduction. That was all the Italian …Carlos Salvatore I take it? doings."

"That isn't what I was led to believe," the office refuted, sounding very sure of himself.

"So, you would take the word of a criminal over both mine and my sister's?" Bethany asked archly.

The officer deflated somewhat and tried to bluster. Bethany cut him off and started telling him in no uncertain terms what he could do with his accusations.

"As a matter of fact, Gary approached me and offered the claim to me, saying he didn't have the resources to develop it. If it turned out to be a significant find, then I was to give a portion to his sister and get her out of the institution where she is, and get her back into a normal life situation. He had found enough gold to live on and was going to look for alternative ways to help his sister."

"He just gave up the rights to his find for nothing more than a promise?" the officer scoffed unbelievingly.

"No, not just a promise, if the find is as big as he suspected, I'm to set up a fund to help others with special needs. If you're wondering why me, I grubstaked him for several years when he had a theory as to the whereabouts of Lassiter's Reef."

"You're trying to tell me he found …that you know where …?" the officer gasped in shock.

Bethany silently cursed her slip of the tongue. If the media got wind of this, it would be a media circus and her every move would be under a microscope.

To cover her lapse, she laughed out loud, to throw the officer off. "I wish! Gary was always a dreamer. I doubt there are more than few nuggets left, but I did promise to search, so that's what I'll do. If you thought you had found that mythical pot of gold, would you leave it unclaimed and return here?" She threw the question back in his face, telling from the expression on his face as he considered her words, that she had scored a good point.

His disappointment was clearly obvious. "No I suppose not, but it would be something if it was true," he offered wistfully.

"Yes it would, so you see, your information is incorrect. If you wish to question my sister about the abduction itself, then do so. Of course she doesn't know about my dealings with Gary, as I've been out of touch with her for some time."

The officer accepted and was led inside, where Bethany told Elizabeth what the officer wanted. Bethany got another drink, but stayed within earshot as the officer asked his questions. Elizabeth was annoyed at having to repeat herself all over again, and it showed in the shortness of her answers. Finally, the questions were over and the officer left. He didn't bother to resume any questioning with Bethany as Elizabeth saw him out, so she assumed he was satisfied with the information supplied.

Bethany excused herself, saying she was going to get a shower to refresh herself. While there, she sought solace for her decision to remain Bethany with a few self generated orgasms. When she emerged, much refreshed as well as sated, she passed Elizabeth heading for her own shower.

The grin on her sister's face told her that she hadn't been as quiet about it as she'd hoped. "Looks like you need to get a new boyfriend," Elizabeth giggled, undoing her clothes as she went.

"No, I need longer lasting batteries," Bethany threw back, hiding her repugnance at the thought of having sex with a guy.

Elizabeth's reply was another giggle as she slipped into the bathroom half naked.

Bethany hoped that the sight of a half naked woman evincing no sexual interest was the familiarity of seeing the almost identical image in a mirror, rather than that her sexual arousal might lead in a different direction.

"I called Mom while you were playing stink finger," shouted Elizabeth, from the shower. "She invited us for dinner, so you'd better look your best. The luggage from the shoot came yesterday. It's still in my bedroom. Wear the cream outfit, it was one I loved."

"Yes, Motheer," Bethany shouted back, altering course to her sister's room.

Looking at the outfit Elizabeth had suggested, she could see why her sister loved it, but something told her to look in her sister's wardrobe anyway. There, she saw a watered silk dress in lilac that would hug her curves, yet still allow her freedom of movement. Once she took it off the hanger and held it against her body, she knew what she was going to wear. Let Elizabeth wear the cream outfit, if she loved it so much.

"What am I doing?" she asked Ada quietly. "Why do I feel this is what the original Bethany would do, borrow her sister's clothes I mean?" She fingered the fabric gently wondering what it felt like to wear. "I feel …I don't know ... but it definitely isn't me, that is ... Gary," she stumbled to explain the weird way she was acting.

"It's the program I used to help you. I took all the information I could find about Bethany, from her early school days to interviews just a few months back, and condensed them into a persona generating program."

"A few months ago? But the person giving those interviews wasn't Bethany, it was Elizabeth. How was that going to help build that persona thing?" Bethany pointed out, looking in the closet for a suitable set of shoes for the dress.

"Who better? If you were a famous model …?"

"Which I am," laughed Bethany, interrupting Ada.

"Which you are," continued Ada, without a pause. "Would you tell the media all the personal details of your life that matter to you? Now I'm not talking about details that are already public knowledge. I'm talking about the stuff that maybe only your sister would know."

Seeing a glimmering of what Ada was leading to, Bethany replied, "I guess not. I'd probably gloss over that, and make up a few juicy lies to feed them."

"Exactly, but Elizabeth being interviewed, and wanting to keep up the masquerade, and trying to fit into her sisters shoes as it were …"

"Like I am," grinned Bethany, interrupting again as she looked down at the pair of borrowed shoes on her feet.

Ada chuckled at Bethany's quip. "She would be more honest, giving out details only she knew, that would convince everyone, including friends and family, that she was in fact, Bethany."

"Ah! So she might have said she borrows her sister's clothes or had a favourite dress she always borrowed?"

"Yes, so if you relax and let the persona help you, it will help you make fewer mistakes."

Bethany thought about that as she took her borrowed outfit and went to her bedroom. An army recruiting slogan echoed in her mind, only the words had changed to suit her situation. "Be all the sister you can be." Having already decided to continue her role as Bethany, she would try not to get bent out shape if she acted more like Bethany as time went on.

"I see time away hasn't changed your habits." Elizabeth grinned, as she walked into Bethany's room still clad in a towel and rubbing her hair with another. "I might have known you'd borrow something I'd just bought," she sighed.

"I'm sorry, but your wardrobe was open, and this just called to me."

"Me too, that's why I bought it. I just never thought my sister would be wearing it before I did," Elizabeth sighed wistfully.

"I can take it off if you want, I didn't mean to upset you," Bethany offered.

"NO! You can keep it on. I just realised how much I missed you borrowing my stuff." With that, Elizabeth came and hugged her long lost sister, shedding a few tears along the way.

"You can borrow my cream suit if you want," Bethany consoled, returning the hug with enthusiasm.

"Now you're talking, Sis."

The meeting with "her" mother went off without a hitch, at least she never saw through her deception. 'Mind you, that might have been because her vision wasn't what it used to be,' thought Bethany. Heather Chambers had cataracts, yet she could still see a little, and her manner was so cheerful, you would think it never bothered her at all. She welcomed both into her arms and only got them mixed up at the start because she knew that the dress that Bethany had borrowed was Elizabeth's.

Once the meal was finished, Ada dropped a private bombshell to Bethany. "I can cure her vision problem," she announced silently.

"How?" murmured Bethany behind her screen of a napkin. "We don't want to tell her about you, it would only raise more questions, and I don't want to hurt this family."

"I can send the actual occlusion into p space, leaving her lens clear, and we don't need to reveal the true nature of her cure. If I send only a portion of it each time over a period of several sessions, the body should regenerate the missing lens, and the cure will seem to be working. If you take both of her hands, I can work though you. All you need to do is say you learned some aboriginal magic while you were away on your ad campaign."

"Magic?" Bethany questioned, unsure of how that would go over.

"Look around you. Her walls are filled with mystic talismans from all over the world. Surely she must have some element of belief, if she collects all that," Ada prompted.

"Mother? I have something I want to try." Bethany started, trotting out her plan to affect a cure. Even though it sounded unbelievable to her, Heather ate it up. So it was with some props like lit candles and other esoteric items that the first treatment began.

All it took was for them both to hold their hands together, while Elizabeth looked on with an expression of disbelief and anger at the farce.

That all changed, when pleading exhaustion 15 minutes later, Bethany broke away and Heather opened her eyes and exclaimed, "It's working! I can see much more than I did. It's not completely fixed, but much of the blurriness has gone," she rejoiced, giving Bethany a hug of thanks.

"We will try again in an hour, as it might take several more treatments," Bethany cautioned.

Elizabeth couldn't believe anything so simple looking could have done any good. Her anger at her sister for giving what she thought was false hope to her mother was replaced instantly with curiosity, and not a few questions.

Bethany fielded them adroitly, saying it was a type of psychic healing with no real explanation, other than the recipient must believe. When Elizabeth persisted with her probing, Bethany stood up and told her flat out that either the ancient lore she had learned had helped, or she must have been imbued with magical power from an alien device found in the outback. This stopped all the questions, as there was no doubt which choice Elizabeth chose to believe, but being Elizabeth, she threw a parting shot.

"So, can you use this magical device for other things?" she joked.

"You'll never know, will you?" Bethany grinned evilly.

Elizabeth stuck her tongue out at her sister before turning to her mother to re-confirm this miracle.

While her sister talked to her mum, Bethany stretched her body and wandered round the room, taking note of everything.

"You took a chance then, you know," Ada's voice sounded in Bethany's head. "I can see the way you manipulated your words so the truth was ignored for a more logical, if unlikely explanation."

'People believe what they want, but given a choice, will nine times out of ten, choose the simplest answer,' Bethany whispered.

Having recovered her energy an hour later, Bethany began another treatment. This time, when Ada took a bit more of the occluding tissue and sent it away, there was nothing but a look of hope and excitement showing in Elizabeth's eyes. Ada advised Bethany to wait a week before trying another treatment, so the eye could recover the missing tissue through normal regeneration.

To say Heather was grateful would be an understatement. Even though she knew it wasn't the final treatment, she could see much better.

Bethany advised her to keep it quiet, as the cure wouldn't work for everyone and she didn't want to be the center of attention for a miracle cure that she couldn't duplicate every time.

Elizabeth was quiet on the ride home and Bethany saw her sister glancing sideways at her as she drove.

"What?" she finally asked, wondering if her makeup was smudged?

"Oh nothing," her sister blushed, seeing she'd been caught.

"Nothing, phooey! Has my mascara run?" Bethany prompted, turning to face her sister.

"I guess you have changed while you've been away. It's just I don't see it," Elizabeth finally admitted.

"Should I have grown some horns or be surrounded by some sort of mystical aura?"

"No, nothing like that. It's hard to explain, but even though we got on well together before all this, you just seem nicer now, somehow,"

"Thanks, Sis. Maybe I've grown up a little."

Elizabeth reached out one hand and took her sister's hand, and held it all the way home despite some shaky gear changes using the other hand.

 

(continued)

  

  

  

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