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Subject: {ASSM} Dream State 16 (MF FF Mult fant rom cons mc Mdom oral) by JiMC
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JiMC is only a pseudonym.  Respect my privacy and I'll respect yours.

_________________________________________________________________
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<1st attachment, "DreamState-16.txt" begin>

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Copyright

    This work is copyright (c) 2000-2004 with all rights
reserved by its author.  The author specifically states that
this work may be redistributed, without charge, as long as it
is published with the same the story name ("Dream State"),
author ("JimC"), and that the story is distributed in its
entirety, including the disclaimer and all chapters.  You may
also modify this story by partitioning this into multiple
parts, as long as this disclaimer is included on each part.
I specifically do NOT permit this story to be published on
any site that charges any mandatory membership fees.

    The web sites StoriesOnline (http://storiesonline.net)
and ASSTR (http://asstr-mirror.org) have explicit permission to
archive this story.

    The following is a work of fiction (actually, "FANTASY").
Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely
coincidental and rather far fetched, if you ask me.

    This is a story that describes some sexually explicit
situations in a fictional (remember fiction?) setting.  The
target audience is adults (people over the age of eighteen)
with broad minds.  This audience is getting harder and harder
to find each year.

    Final disclaimer--I doubt that any of the people would
act in the way described herein, or even if things described
herein are even possible.  This is just fantasy, and should
be treated as such.  This fantasy takes place in the mid
1970s to late 1980s, without any fear from AIDS or any other
sexually transmitted diseases, so don't try this at home.

[Author's note: The first two parts to this story were
written as a setup for the rest of the story.  As such, they
are trying to convey a rather unique experience and don't
convey much (or even any!) sexual debauchery.  But you really
should read them if you wish to enjoy or understand the rest
of the story.]

Title: Dream State

Author: JiMC

Version: $Revision: 1.11 $ $Date: 2004/07/31 03:07:16 $

Chapter 16--"Sweet love's showin' us a heavenly light, never
seen such a beautiful sight!"

    We woke up and Aimee ordered room service for breakfast.
When she put down the phone, Aimee told me that there was a
package for Patricia James, her alias, at the front desk and
that it would be delivered with our meal.

    I wondered what present our friend Mr. Voder had for us
today.  I idly wondered if he might have our room bugged,
since he obviously knew where we were staying.  It was a
paranoid thought, but I was taught well that one doesn't
survive in the military if one is an unnecessary optimist.  I
thought back to the conversations that we had since we
arrived, and realized that nothing had been said that would
have revealed anything that would jeopardize us, except the
obvious fact that all three women considered me their
husband.  Even when Mary and I made our amazing discovery, I
realized that Mary and I were communicating on two levels:
our words alone might not make sense to anybody listening.
Of course, it all depended on how much whoever was listening
already knew or suspected.

    Despite that, I decided that we would wait for a better
venue that gave less opportunity for eavesdropping.

    Room service arrived with a complimentary newspaper and
Patricia's package.  Aimee took the large padded mailer and I
grabbed the newspaper.

    Normally, newspapers didn't interest me much.  The
novelty of having an actor as president had worn off.  In
addition, the upcoming political election didn't appeal to
me, since I only knew George Bush as the ex-CIA chief, and
had no idea who Michael Dukkakis was.  Even most of the names
in the sports section were totally foreign to me.  The world
had changed while I had slept, and I found that I had little
taste in being reminded about what I had lost.  This lack of
desire would eventually diminish as I got reacquainted to the
world as it now existed, but it would take time before this
happened.

    On this day, however, I was interested in checking out
the weather forecast--the day seemed nice, but I just wanted
a second opinion.  The forecast for that day, and the next
few days as well, was for clear and mild weather.  I smiled.
It would be perfect weather to enjoy Washington, DC. There
were plenty of public places to visit and opportunities to
hold a quiet family conversation.

    The girls were sitting around eating breakfast when I
joined them.  The coffee was delicious and removed any
vestiges of fatigue that I had from our workout last night.

    "So where did you find those awesome gowns, Debbie?" I
asked, trying to make small talk.

    "We found a place in our travels yesterday," Debbie
shrugged.  "For some extra cash, we had them tailored on the
spot.  The place probably has a lot of important clients who
need outfits at the last minute.  Aimee loved hers, and I
preferred the color pink."

    Aimee smiled.  "How did you know the color for my
corsage?"

    "I didn't know what you'd be wearing, Precious," I
smiled.  "I just knew that purple orchids have always been
your favorite.  I felt that I needed to apologize to you for
not telling you that I loved you when you called.  Red roses
say 'I love you,' but I thought that orchids would say it
just a bit louder, if only to you, Precious.  Mary told me
that I had been remiss after the call."

    Aimee's response was a simple nod with a big smile.

    "We should do some shopping when we're done with our
breakfast and showers," I suggested.

    This was greeted by nods.

    "Our friend has some gifts for everybody today," Aimee
announced cryptically.  She passed some envelopes around the
table.

    I opened mine, which contained a driver's license and an
American Express card.  Debbie's had the same, plus close to
two thousand dollars in twenty and fifty dollar bills.  Mary
had a Visa card and a license.

    Debbie's license was from New York.  Mine and Mary's was
from the state of California, and Aimee already had one from
Vermont.  All of these looked quite legitimate to me.  I
wondered what would happen if any of us were stopped by a
highway patrolman and the licenses were checked.  Somehow, I
figured that they would pass any type of scrutiny.

    Before we used the credit cards, though, I figured it
would be a good idea to discuss it with Aimee, who was the
one that knew Mr. Voder the best, and Mary, who I had now
suspected was more than a little familiar with intelligence
affairs.

    I put my credit card and the new license in my wallet,
hiding my prized Hawaiian license that Aimee had procured for
me.  The girls, seeing what I had done, each did the same.

    Excusing myself from breakfast, I showered with Mary, and
Debbie and Aimee showered together afterward.  Unfortunately,
there was no way to logistically fit four adults into the
shower stall without creating a major accident hazard.

    I kissed Mary after she left the bathroom, where Aimee
and Debbie were doing an enthusiastic job of getting each
other clean.  I was already dressed in some dress slacks and
a short sleeve shirt.

    I heard the two girls exit their shower, and Aimee was
the first out of the bathroom.  I met her with a kiss, and
she returned it lovingly.

    Debbie came out of the bathroom soon afterward, and I
kissed her as well.  Her mouth tasted minty of mouthwash, and
I think my breath would be very fresh as well, since Debbie's
tongue made sure that it reached just about everywhere
possible inside my mouth.

    "Get a room, you two!" Mary laughed as she witnessed our
kiss.

    Debbie and I broke off our kiss at that, grinning at
Mary.  I was pleasantly amazed at Mary's transformation from
a person that doubted her role in our relationship to one
that understood that she was an equal and very important
partner for the four of us.

    Aimee had an outfit picked out for Debbie, and
apparently, Debbie approved.  Debbie nodded at her co-wife,
and she put on the suit.  I watched her dress, of course.
Debbie is a knockout and every movement she made, even when
doing the most mundane things, emanated her eroticism.  I
found myself joined by Mary, who also seemed to like watching
Debbie dress.

    When Debbie was finished, she grinned at Mary and I,
knowing that we had been watching her.  I pulled the two of
us into a three-way kiss, and we were soon joined by Aimee,
making the kiss most satisfactory.

    After leaving the hotel, Mary surprised me by telling me
that she had already scouted the address that Mr. Voder had
given us.  It was an office building on a major thoroughfare
through Falls Church near I-66 and across the street from a
shopping center.  There was a bank of elevators inside the
building, as well as two fire escapes that were locked from
the outside, but weren't locked from the stairways to each
floor.

    I was happy that I had this extra information and smiled
at my having realized that Mary did seem to have a head for
intelligence work.

    We took a cab to the shopping mall, and then walked as
two couples into the shopping center opposite the building.
Our initial plan was to slowly wind our way through the
shopping center and toward the office building, meeting
eventually near the back of the building.

    Mary got a strange feeling and sent me a silent message
that somebody was watching us.  She slightly changed her
direction to appear as if we were going back toward the
stores to see if the person would follow us.  We didn't want
to be discovered so close to the office where this Colonel
was headquartered.

    The man that Mary had spotted appeared to be near a brown
sedan when he looked up and visibly noticed Debbie and Aimee.

    "Patricia!" the man said loudly and enthusiastically,
looking straight at Aimee.

    Years of training put Mary and me into immediate alert.
I was about to try to deflect this person from Aimee by
putting myself between him and my wife.

    Then I heard Debbie gasp.  "Uncle William!" Debbie
shouted, completely surprised.  She ran up and actually
kissed the man.

* * *

    "Uncle William" addressed each of us by our aliases from
our new licenses, confirming to me that this person was
Aimee's Mr. Voder.  Aimee didn't seem to recognize the man,
though.  The fact that Debbie recognized him as an uncle was
another interesting twist in the situation.

    Mary looked at this person with suspicion clearly evident
in her eyes.  He immediately introduced himself as "William
Voder," calling Mary once again by her own alias.  He handed
me a business card with the name that he gave us.

    "I work for Debbie," Mr. Voder said.  "And, by extension,
this means that I am working for all of you."

    I looked at my wives, trying to get a feel for this
person.  I knew that Debbie recognized this person as an
uncle, but Debbie was also a very trusting person.  Of my
other two wives, Aimee gave me a slight nod and Mary still
seemed undecided.

    "Let's find some place a little more private for our
family reunion," Uncle William said.  "There's a MetroRail
station over there." William was pointing toward an orange
sign indicating the Washington DC subway system.

    "Where do you suggest we go?" I asked.

    "There are a lot of nice places in Foggy Bottom," William
said.  "It's near George Washington University, and you can
find a lot of places around there that are pretty private.
Another idea is the Smithsonian Institute."

    "OK."

    We took the subway inbound toward central Washington, DC.

    After looking at the station map, I decided that L'Enfant
Plaza might be even better than the places that William
suggested, and I suggested that.  William shrugged and
readily agreed.

    We rode silently into the station and after we exited, I
silently led our party.  I knew that there was a hotel at the
Plaza, and it had a few lobbies within.  Mary was looking at
me expectantly.  I entered her mind and silently said, "Yes?"

    "Things seem pretty safe here," Mary said.

    "How do you know?" I asked.

    "Just a feeling."

    There were hundreds of questions that I had running
through my head.  Was this really Debbie's uncle?  What was
his relationship to the Department of Defense and/or various
intelligence agencies?  How much did he know about us?  How
many people did he have monitoring us?

    After about five minutes after entering the hotel, I
found an area that was pretty secluded.  We sat on
comfortable chairs.

    "So, Captain Montgomery," William finally said to me.
"I'm sure you're treating my niece appropriately.  I'm sorry
that I wasn't invited to the wedding."

    William was telling me that he had been keeping tabs on
us.  "There wasn't any official ceremony," I said.

    William nodded.  "It appears that only fair Aimee had any
sort of ceremony.  Am I correct?"

    That confirmed that he had been investigating us.  "It
was informal." I didn't want to give this man too much
information until I knew exactly whose side he was on.

    "Aimee is a wonderful and very mysterious person,"
William said to me.  He turned to her and said, "It has been
a real privilege working for you and with you, my dear."

    "The feeling is mutual," Aimee said.  I could see from
her eyes that she was still appraising this person, although
she seemed generally in favor of him.  This raised my own
opinion of him, since I really valued Aimee's feelings about
whether a person is "good" or "bad."

    "And this is the faithful and devoted Lieutenant Cadley,"
Voder said, indicating Mary.

    "As you know, I resigned my commission quite a while
ago," Mary said, a little stiffly.

    William nodded.  "May I have your permission to refer to
you by your given name, then, Ms. Cadley?"

    "Mary would be fine."

    William took Mary's hand, and said "Pleasure to meet you
again, Mary."

    "Again?" Mary asked, a bit surprised.

    "I met you in the hospital seven years ago."

    This was interesting.  William seemed to be implying that
he had been investigating me before I had even come out of my
coma!

    "In what capacity?" Mary asked, instantly suspicious.

    "I had a temporary job as an administrator at the
hospital where Jim was residing."

    "Why?" I asked.

    "It was the best place to access his records, of course,"
William said.

    "Under whose orders?"

    "James Malen."

    Ahh, how the road twists and turns.

    "Your brother was investigating me?"

    "Normally, I don't comment on investigations except to
the party that hires me.  However, since you are 'married' to
the only surviving daughter of my client, I will make an
exception.  Yes, you were being investigated."

    "Why?"

    "That is a good question," William said.

    "Is Colonel DiPietro involved in that investigation?"
Aimee asked.

    "He was not," William answered.  "His investigation is
more recent, based on some information that I thought had
been destroyed."

    "What information was destroyed?"

    "Some medical and non-service related information on
Captain James Montgomery, especially any information that
relates to a certain Doctor Larson."

    I turned to Mary.

    Without me asking the question, Mary said, "I met a
Doctor Larson a few years ago at the hospital.  I only saw
him once or twice.  The last time I heard from him, he told
me that he was going to interview me and give me an update on
your condition.  I showed up for the meeting, but he didn't.
I never heard from him again."

    "Doctor Larson probably died very soon after you met
him," William said.

    "He died?" Mary asked.  "I had been hoping he could have
given me some more detailed information about Jim's
condition.  I asked about him afterward, and somebody told me
he had just been a visiting doctor and that he had already
left."

    "Actually, Mary, it was probably for the best that you
didn't meet with him for that interview.  You probably
wouldn't be here now."

    "Why?"

    "With one exception, all of Larson's surgical patients
died under the experimental treatment that he had advocated.
He probably would have found a reason to treat you as well."

    "Jim was the exception," Aimee stated.

    "Indeed."

    "Why would I have been treated?" Mary asked.

    "I thought you'd know that answer," William said.  He
looked at me and saw me nod my head very slightly.

    "It's not general knowledge in our family yet.  Only Mary
and I know for sure right now, although I also suspect that
Aimee knows.  We were going to update Aimee and Debbie today."

    Debbie and Aimee seemed surprised by my statement.

    William sighed.  "I am unarmed, Captain Montgomery..."

    "Jim."

    "Jim," William continued.  "And my knowledge of
self-defense would probably not match the abilities of three
of you."

    "Four," Debbie said, her voice steady and her eyes
shooting fire.

    "All four of you," William corrected.  "I do know your
secret.  Shall I explain it to your other two wives?"

    "I'm interested in hearing how much you know."

    William took a deep breath.  "Your ability was discovered
by Larson.  Your quick promotion to Captain didn't go
unnoticed.  The Zulu Squad was a fiction.  You would have
been part of the Larson Project, and you would most likely
have died as a result of Larson's experimentation."

    "This is news to me," I said.

    "Do you want the rest of the story?" William asked.

    "Yes," answered our four voices as if they were one.

    Mr. Voder told us the story.

* * *

    Doctor Larson was a loner that worked in a special unit
within the Defense Intelligence Agency (DoDIA).  He was a
certified genius, although his methods were quite unusual.

    Most of Larson's colleagues thought that Larson's
research on telepathy and telekinesis was hogwash, but Larson
had actually found that some people seemed to have what he
called an inherent "psi-potential," or ability to communicate
from person to person without any physical means of
communicating.  For most people, it was very faint, such as a
mother that could sense that her child was in danger without
seeing or hearing anything.  For a few people, it was a bit
more distinct, like the ability to sense emotions or other
vague concepts.  So far, nobody had ever been able to
provably transmit or receive concrete thoughts, such as a
"blue Chevy Nova."

    Nevertheless, Larson created a file of people in the
military that he classified as "Empaths." These were people
that can pick up the emotions of others without any sensory
clues.  He checked the various tests that the military tended
to issue, and suggested some others until he found a quite
remarkable, simple, and non-intrusive test that could predict
if a certain person had this Empathic psi-potential.  He had
arranged that this test be administered at a few military
bases, and he managed to find a couple of dozen of these
Empaths.  He monitored these people surreptitiously,
following their careers without interference.

    During the late 1960's, the Vietnam war resulted in many
American casualties.  Among these casualties were a few
people that were on Larson's lists.  Using his medical
credentials, he managed to get himself assigned to perform
unnecessary autopsies on these Empaths, a morbid practice
that was not officially sanctioned by the military, but his
superiors in the Agency looked the other way.

    It is not exactly known what Larson discovered during
these autopsies, but he seemed to find some common deviations
in the brains belonging to the late Empaths that he examined.

    Apparently, one of the Empaths that he tested showed
deviations more pronounced than the others.  Since the
patient was dead, there was no way to determine if the
patient had a higher psi-potential than the others, other
than by the initial testing that Larson had done earlier,
which didn't indicate the amount of psi-potential, but rather
just the presence of it.  However, the fact that the patient
was returning home as a fallen hero, having been awarded many
distinctive medals including the silver star posthumously,
Larson thought that it was quite possible that this person
may have had a stronger ability than the others.

    It was also apparent that the deviations that Larson
discovered could be found with a mere brain scan, which was
much less invasive than cutting into a person's brain during
an autopsy.

    Larson returned to his list of Empaths and now monitored
them more closely.  If any of them fell ill, he would
reassign himself to the hospital where they were staying in
order to get brain scans and perform additional tests.

    At the same time Larson was testing his Empaths, he was
working on experiments with mice to find any with the
"Empathic deviations" and, finding success, he tried breeding
them to see if the deviations were hereditary.  It turned out
that deviations could possibly be an extremely recessive
trait, as certain lines of mice seemed to be more prone to
express the deviation, but there wasn't any provable cause
and effect.

    Another field of research that Larson tried was
performing live surgery to try to enhance the deviation in
the mice.  The results were dismal: most of the mice died.
Larson studied his successes and his failures, and eventually
developed a "treatment" that had a much higher incidence of
success with the rodents.

    By the mid-1970's, Larson had a list of three or four of
his Empaths that had higher psi-potentials, and altered his
non-intrusive tests to help isolate these "Super Empaths." He
decided to create the Zulu Squad to collect them into a
single place where they could be observed interacting with
one another.

    Tragedy struck before the Zulu Squad was put together
when the selected leader, Captain James Montgomery, was
accidentally hit by a jeep, and his situation wasn't well.
He was in a coma, and after a few weeks, it was obvious that
his condition wasn't going to improve.

    The Zulu Squad was abandoned before it even began, a
decision made due to budget cuts as well as to the
questionable nature of its inception, which caused Larson a
setback.

    Larson had wanted to see if he could apply his
"treatment" to Montgomery, but since the captain had already
had most of his broken bones and head injuries treated,
Larson was too late.

    Larson resumed his monitoring of all his Empaths, not
just the "super Empaths" and within two years, there were a
couple of other incidents of head injuries.  On each
occasion, Larson prescribed his "treatment" to be performed
on the Empath during surgery as a "way to treat concussions."
During both attempts, the Empath had died.

    Investigation of these two deaths resulted in the
discovery that modified procedures were at fault, and worse,
nobody could find out where the orders for the modified
treatment had come from, since Larson had covered his tracks
very well.  Of course, the Agency knew about it, but desired
to keep their involvement in the possible death of American
soldiers secret.

    This resulted in a crackdown in the hospitals and
stricter safeguards were issued to prevent modification of
procedures in the future.

    Things were turning desperate for Larson.  Even people in
the Agency were now starting to question the research he was
doing.

    Instead of laying low, Larson reassigned himself to work
as head of neurosurgery at the hospital where Captain
Montgomery was still in a coma.  It was an act of desperation
for Larson.  He actually forged an impressive resume showing
outstanding success in coma research, and was easily assigned
to Montgomery's case.  He would be able to perform the
surgery for the "treatment" on Montgomery himself, since he
had felt that the incompetent surgeons at the other hospitals
had been responsible for the deaths of the two other Empaths.

    The Agency was catching up with Larson, and during the
surgery, two M.P.s showed up with orders for Larson's arrest.
The surgery was halted and the doctor was escorted out of the
hospital for interrogation by the army.  Unfortunately, as he
was escorted out of the hospital, Larson tried to escape.
 From somewhere, he produced a weapon and aimed at one of the
M.P.s. The other one immediately shot the doctor in self
defense, killing Larson instantly.

    The hospital was told to make sure that Captain
Montgomery was closely monitored for any reaction to the
surgery, and his brain wave activity was compared from before
and after the surgery.  The biggest and most alarming change
was that the simple and normal deviations in brain activity,
usually associated with patients dreaming, were no longer
happening to the captain.  It was as if the captain had just
stopped dreaming.  The doctors wondered what this meant, and
whether this was a foreshadow of bad news for the captain's
condition.

    Most of the Agency's records involving Doctor Larson's
research were ordered destroyed.  There is no longer any
official information on how Doctor Larson had been caught,
nor who had been responsible for the destruction of his
research.

    While the captain was in a coma, both of his parents had
passed away.  The only "family" he had was the former
Lieutenant Mary Cadley who visited the captain every day.
The lieutenant was the person who was driving the jeep that
hit the captain, and her visits were attributed to massive
feelings of guilt at nearly killing the captain, although
nobody in the hospital had ever heard of somebody as devoted
as the lieutenant was seen to be.  She seemed to visit the
captain nearly every day including holidays, talking with
him, and reading to him.  The nurses' hearts went out to Ms.
Cadley, and allowed her extended visiting hours, hoping for
her sake that the captain's condition, despite the negative
outlook, would improve.

    Captain Montgomery spent twelve years in a coma, and
actually came out of his coma while being visited by the
former lieutenant.  The hospital staff had been starting to
get concerned when Cadley kept insisting that the captain was
coming out of his coma for a couple of weeks before he
actually did, seemingly against all evidence to the contrary.
They were about to recommend a therapist for the lieutenant
when, during one remarkable visit, the captain actually did
come out of his coma!

    A large battery of tests were performed on the captain.
He was told what had happened, and that his awakening was
indeed astonishing.  After a few months, the captain starting
getting more and more restless as time wore on, since he was
now quite healthy and didn't want to spend his whole life in
a hospital.  Finally he was discharged and put on disability,
mostly due to notes added to his file by Intelligence that
the captain had been put in harm's way when some unauthorized
treatment may have been performed on him, although the
captain was never informed of this unnecessary operation.

    At about the same time that Montgomery was being
discharged from the hospital, databases within the military
were being upgraded.  Some new cross checks in the software
discovered an anomaly in some records, all referring to a
mysterious "Doctor Larson," although there was no correlation
to the actual work that he did, who he worked for, or
anything else, for that matter.

* * *

    "Fascinating," I said, hearing the story.

    "Wow!" exclaimed Aimee and Debbie together.

    Mary was silent, and continued staring at Mr. Voder.

    "There's more," William said.

* * *

    Not too long ago, during a computer system upgrade, the
new software discovered some discrepancies concerning a
Doctor Larson.  It appeared that some important records had
been destroyed.  Since operations was being closely monitored
due to some recent intelligence SNAFU's, such as the arms for
hostages scandal, the destruction of records was investigated.

    Some backup tapes revealed some of the information that
had been lost, and it wasn't pretty.  Apparently, somebody
had been running unauthorized experiments on three American
soldiers who had been injured, and two of the three cases
were fatal.  The only survivor was a Captain James
Montgomery, who had been in a coma for nearly twelve years.

    This information was dutifully reported to the Senate
armed services committee, and a senator ordered a complete
investigation.  Doctor Larson's name came up, he became the
focus for the new investigation.

    Colonel DiPietro was assigned the task to find out more
about Doctor Larson, and he assembled a small intelligence
team, as well as a number of field investigators.

    As details were coming in about Doctor Larson, Captain
Montgomery woke up from his coma.

    As he was the only living link to Doctor Larson, a
dossier was compiled about the captain and his illness and
treatments.  The captain was now apparently living with the
lieutenant that had been visiting with him at the hospital.
It was suggested that both people be followed, to see what
interest this mysterious Doctor Larson had in the former
captain.

    Montgomery and Cadley were living together at her
apartment.  Although he had purchased and paid two months'
rent on another apartment, it was never used.  Montgomery and
Cadley were sometimes spotted in the company of her
apartment's landlord, Debbie Malen and/or her associate, Miss
Aimee Porter.

    There was one report of a weird incident that happened in
a park involving James Montgomery, Mary Cadley, and Debbie
Malen involving a person named Jeff Parker, who is currently
in basic training, stationed at Fort Benning.  An
investigation is currently underway on that person, but
nothing of any importance has yet been found.

    Soon after the incident in the park, there is a report of
a wedding reception for Montgomery and Porter, and attended
by Cadley and Malen.  No further details on this reception
are available.  This reception shows as an anomaly, since up
until this time, it had been suggested that Montgomery and
Cadley had been romantically involved.  No marriage licenses
have ever been issued for Montgomery and any of his three
companions.

    Almost immediately after this reception, the four flew to
Hawaii to a location that was owned by Malen near Big and
Little Makena Beach on the island of Maui, Hawaii.  It was
suggested that since Porter was born in Hawaii, this might be
a honeymoon trip, although the presence of the other two
companions makes this suggestion questionable.

    There is a report that a driver's license was issued to
James Montgomery, giving the location of Debbie Malen's house
as his residence, further confusing the investigation.

    An investigative team was assembled in Hawaii to
ascertain what these four people were doing when the four
subjects unexpectedly split up.  Montgomery and Cadley left
for the big island, leaving open the question of whether
Montgomery and Porter had actually gotten married.  Malen and
Porter remained behind.  Suggestion was made that a domestic
argument between Montgomery and Porter had him leaving her
and her employer behind.

    On the big island, Montgomery and Cadley were reportedly
acting as if they were on honeymoon together, renting hotel
rooms together, and eating at romantic restaurants.  The only
military place of interest visited was the memorial at Pearl
Harbor.  The investigation of the four, up until this point,
was strictly low-key, and it was decided to perhaps follow
everybody more closely.

    At the time this decision was made, the two couples met
up together unexpectedly at the airport in Honolulu.  They
departed on Malen's private jet with a flight plan to take
them to Texas.  Witnesses said that the four parties seemed
worried, although there was no evidence of any domestic
disturbance.  A team was quickly assembled in Texas, but when
the plane landed at its destination, the only people aboard
were two employees of Debbie Malen, and none of the four
principals were on board.

    The plane's flight was backtracked, and it was discovered
that they had stopped en route on two occasions, both times
reportedly to obtain fuel.  It was suggested that one of
these stops was where the four people had exited, using
standard evasive maneuvers to prevent people from tracking
them.  Suggestion was made that they had discovered people
tracking them, or that the four might be engaged in some
illegal activity.  No concrete suggestion of motive at this
time.

    It was discovered that Miss Malen had properties that
were close to both airports where refueling had been done,
and teams were being set up to investigate them.  It was
found that they rented a car in Salt Lake City, and the focus
was shifted to a ranch owned by Miss Malen, which was a short
drive from that location.  Before contact could be made, the
car was reportedly returned at the airport, but there were no
records of any flights departing that had the names of any of
the four people being tracked.  It is suggested that they
used assumed names, and no activity was seen on any of the
credit cards belonging to any of the people being followed
has been found.  Suggestion was made that the four have a
hoard of cash and are using that to evade paper trails, which
further indicates either an attempt to avoid being tracked or
possible illegal activity.

    There is a report that a person matching Mary Cadley's
description had been spotted at Newark Airport, and the
greater New York/New Jersey area is being investigated for
people answering to the four people's descriptions.  No leads
have turned up yet.  Since the person that spotted Miss
Cadley said she was alone, it is suggested that the four have
split up again and may be in four different places in the
country.  Another suggestion was that Cadley was using Newark
as an intermediary point as a way to confuse the real point
of arrival.  Based on that suggestion, a more thorough search
of Cadley's past indicates that she has extensive training in
espionage, intelligence, and counter-intelligence and was
being recommended for a position in the DoDIA.  Why this
information hadn't been discovered sooner is currently being
investigated, although the Agency denies any cover-up.

    A new suggestion is that the four have probably went on
separate itineraries to meet at some common location, away
from any of Malen's properties.  Suggestions include Toronto,
Montreal, Vancouver, and Mexico City as a way of escaping
local US intelligence teams, making tracking more difficult.
Toronto and Vancouver are the current focus points, and
Canadian assets are in the process of being procured.

    Suggestion of any other foreign country is doubtful,
since only Porter and Cadley have active passports.

* * *

    "That's quite a lot of information," I admitted.

    "It is, indeed.  Do you want me to add my interpretation
of certain events?" William asked.

    "Interpretation?" Aimee asked.

    Mary answered.  "William classifies his intelligence as
facts and interpretation of facts.  Facts are things that
cannot be disputed.  Interpretations can sometimes be in
error, but are helpful to fill in the holes and possibly lead
to additional facts if the interpretations are correct.  Most
of what we just heard were the facts, although if most of
Doctor Larson's research had been destroyed, there's the
question of how William here happens to know about it."

    "Superb!" smiled William.

    Neither I nor any of my wives commented at that.

    William shrugged and said, "My first interpretation: From
the information that I have, Jim is one of Larson's Super
Empaths, by Larson's assignment of him to head the Zulu
Squad."

    Of course, I would neither confirm nor deny that
interpretation.  I pointedly did not answer the man.

    The next statement from Mr. Voder startled most of the
others.  "Mary might be an Empath, but she appeared on none
of Larson's lists."

    "Interesting," I said, the only member of my "family"
that didn't seem startled.

    "The next couple aren't interpretations, but are based on
information other than what I had given you," William
explained.  He turned to Aimee and said, "Aimee, here, is
definitely a Super Empath, as I have investigated her before
she worked for James Malen."

    He turned to his niece and said, "Debbie is an anomaly
and cannot be classified by Larson's definitions," William
added.  "Your father, by the way, was an Empath."

    "How do you know Debbie is not an Empath?" I asked.

    "First, Jim, can you answer me a question?"

    "It depends on the question," I answered, narrowing my
eyes.

    "How would you classify me?" William asked.

    I studied William.  I knew better than to try to probe
his mind.  I decided to answer honestly.  "I have no way of
knowing."

    William raised his eyebrows at that answer.  "What if I
assure you that I am not an Empath?"

    "I'll accept that for now," I said.

    This earned me a slight smile from William.

    "James Malen was, by Larson's definition, an Empath,
although Larson never knew that.  He told me that he could
occasionally feel people's emotions, but very infrequently,
he could also get a feeling of colors from another person,
although he never had a way of testing his 'powers' without
arousing suspicion."

    "When did I get tested to see if I was an Empath?" Debbie
asked.

    "Your father recognized your ability, once he understood
the concept.  He described you as a reverse-Empath, a term
that your father coined, but that Larson apparently never
classified nor suspected."

    "What's that?"

    "You project your emotions, my dear," William said.
"That's sort of the opposite of an Empath, who would feel
other people's emotions.  When you are near, people start to
feel the way you do.  It's usually very faint, but even I
have felt it once.  When you are sad, people feel a slight
feeling of sadness themselves.  Your father's funeral was a
difficult time for some people that attended because of that."

    I felt Debbie's sadness at the mention of her father's
funeral.

    "I rest my case," William said, mostly to himself.

    "How did James Malen get involved?" I asked, suspecting
the answer.

    Mr. Voder smiled.  "Your suspicion is correct, Jim.
Debbie's father and I both worked for the Defense
Intelligence Agency, and were both familiar with Larson.
When we left, we continued to investigate Larson, especially
when we thought he might have been responsible for the deaths
of two soldiers.  I was the intelligence part of the
investigation, James provided the financial resources.
Records of our work at the DoDIA have been destroyed."

    "Daddy was a spy?" Debbie asked.

    "Not everybody that works in intelligence is a spy,
Debbie," William answered.  "Your father was more of an
accountant, although he had intelligence training.  He had a
rather unique ability to spot financial trends, and he left
the agency soon right before your mother died to work on Wall
Street.  He had a marvelous sense of ethics, and people who
let him handle their investments made a lot of money,
although he maintained his ties with the DoDIA, unofficially,
of course, and with myself."

    "I'm still finding out the extent of my father's
fortune," Debbie said, projecting a bit of melancholy around.

    Once I had been alerted to Debbie's powers, it was very
obvious to me to now spot her projecting her emotions!  How
had I missed it before?

    William continued.  "Aimee, being an Empath, naturally
preferred being around James Malen, and later, his daughter,
and then, apparently, Jim.  This was something else James
Malen noticed--Empaths tend to orbit around one another.
Larson was so much focused on what caused them that he really
didn't do the research on their behavior.  James, being one
himself, was more interested in that aspect of them."

    I found myself nodding.  Everything William had said made
sense.

    William continued.  "Another interpretation, and
something that James never finished investigating.  Debbie
acts like an Empath, based on the fact of her devotion to her
father, and later to Aimee, and then Jim.  Of course, the
four of you know your own relationship better than I do.  I
just give you this information in case you case to pursue the
line of research that James had started."

    Aimee, at this point, got up.  I briefly reached out into
her mind, and found that she was simply going to get some
coffee for the four of us.  Mr. Voder watched her leave.
"Aimee seems definitely uninterested in this line of
research."

    "Aimee has her own interpretation of things," I
suggested.  "Her interpretation may not completely agree with
your own, William, but she has been thinking about this since
she was quite young."

    William nodded.  "Do you mind if I continue my
interpretation, Jim?"

    "Not at all."

    "From some details that were revealed in the
investigation of the four of you, it seems to me that you
might have rejected Aimee at first for some reason.  I figure
that the 'wedding reception' that was noted in the
intelligence was a celebration of Jim's change of mind."

    I didn't confirm nor deny this, but his idea stood merit.
I rejected Aimee at first because I didn't know if Mary's and
Debbie's relationship with me was due to some influence I had
over them.  Since Aimee seemed to have the same gift, I
didn't want to interfere with her at all.  That wasn't
something that needed to be discussed now, though.

    Aimee returned with our coffees, and William saw that
Aimee had provided his black, but included some cream and
sugars.  She put the tray down on the table in front of us
and we all took sips.

    William looked around.  "I expected to find you at the
office yesterday, Jim.  I saw Mary the day before scouting
around, and since I knew her history, I immediately moved as
far away from her as possible, especially when I saw that she
was simply scouting the location.  I waited, and decided if
you didn't show up at the office today, I'd find another way
to contact you."

    "We were in no hurry," I answered.  "Mistakes are made
when haste is used inappropriately."

    William smiled.  "Your O.C.S. training fits you well.
You would have made a wonderful leader."

    I shrugged.  "It wasn't meant to be," I sighed.

    "If Larson hadn't intervened and assigned you to Zulu
Squad, you probably would have been reassigned back to the
75th at Fort Stewart."

    "The Rangers," I nodded.  "I had heard the 82nd."

    William simply nodded.  "I think your profile fit more
with the 75th.  You still would have worn the black beret."

    "That was just happening when I had enlisted," I said,
remembering.  "There were a lot of jokes about the berets."

    "The Rangers have, and continue, to serve the country
well.  You would have been an outstanding leader."

    "Of course, this Zulu Squad thing came up.  I was sent to
the base in San Diego, and I had no idea what the Zulu Squad
was.  I was supposed to be briefed the day after the party.
I never attended that briefing.  I guess it was never meant
to be."

    There was no use crying over spilled milk.  After hearing
what happened to me in the army, I no longer had a taste for
the military.  Life moves on.

    Nobody else said anything for a few minutes as we sipped
our coffee.

    William stood up, stretching his legs.  I could hear the
joints crack as he stretched.

    I looked at my wives.  Debbie and Aimee nodded their
heads, indicating that they all trusted William, while Mary
was still noncommittal.

    I stood up and looked at William, and finally offered him
a handshake.  "I'm sorry that I didn't trust you fully," I
said.

    "I know a place that is a lot more appropriate for a
discussion like this.  We can also have a nice meal at the
same time."

    "That sounds fine, William," I said.  "Lead the way."

    We left the rest of our coffee unfinished as we followed
Mr. Voder outside the hotel.

* * *

    William took us by cab to a lovely country club where he
was apparently a member.  He was greeted by name from a
number of people there, so it was obvious that he was well
known, or at least that the name he had given us was well
established.

    At the restaurant, William asked for a table with some
privacy, and we were led into the mostly empty dining room to
a round table near the back.

    "Give us a few minutes, Manuel.  I'll signal you when
we're ready to order," William said after we were seated.

    William turned to Mary and said, "The seafood here is
excellent, my dear.  I heartily recommend the crab cakes."

    "Thank you," Mary forced a smile.  She still looked
apprehensive.

    Turning to Aimee, he suggested the duckling, and the
Chicken Pad Thai for Debbie.

    "I'm sorry, Jim," William said, turning to me.  "I'm not
sure of your food preferences other than a saline drip."

    "I'm your typical military steak and potatoes guy," I
laughed.

    "The Steak Diane is excellent," William said.

    Not once had William even glanced at the menu.

    "May I ask you if your name is William Voder or William
Malen?" I asked.

    William smiled.  "Voder.  I'm only Debbie's honorary
uncle.  I'm actually more like her godfather.  I had promised
to take care of Debbie if anything would happen to James, but
I see that she now has the three of you, all of whom her
father would approve, and all of you more eminently qualified
to take care of her."

    I felt a bit of Debbie-inspired melancholy and ignored it.

    "Despite the fact that I was one of Doctor Larson's
so-called experiments, why have you been so interested in
me?" I asked.

    "You scored the highest in Doctor Larson's tests,"
William answered.  "You've used your ability, even if you
weren't aware of it.  It's extremely rare that an O.C.S. grad
comes out as a first lieutenant.  You seemed to figure out
the secrets to success in O.C.S. quickly, and before that, in
all your studies, if you could call what you did in school
'study.'"

    I laughed.  Tests had always been rather easy for me.
"Touche."

    "Anyway, you were also unusual in that you survived
Larson's treatment, despite the fact that it was never
completed on you," William said.  "In addition, I actually
had somebody run a test on you after you awoke, using
Larson's own non-invasive tests.  Your score couldn't be
determined, which was strange in and of itself.  In other
words, Larson's treatment not only didn't kill you, but it
could have changed things.  Of course, this is just an
interpretation of data.  Larson's studies were never very
rigorous and he never did any study on how potential varies
with age, and such.  I think that was supposed to be the
function of the Zulu Squad: to get more data on Empaths."

    "Do you still monitor the Empaths in the military?" I
asked.

    "No."

    "The doctor that gave me the test would be Doctor Farren,
I presume."

    William frowned at my statement.  "May I ask where you
got that name?"

    "You may ask," I said evenly.  "I will not give you an
answer."

    William continued to frown.  "I told you that I have
absolutely no psi-potential.  That was the God's honest
truth."

    I responded using a flat voice free of emotion.  "I
accept your statement."

    William broke his glance at me and looked at Aimee, and
then at Debbie.

    Aimee looked at me as if she were asking permission to
speak.  I simply nodded.

    "Mr. Voder... William," Aimee said, softly.  "Jim had
suspected there was something unusual about that particular
doctor before I brought you into the picture.  I knew that
name while we were at the ranch."

    "I'll accept that, my dear." William still had a
suspicious look, but his frown had lessened.

    "William," I said.  "I am still evaluating you.  You have
offered me quite a lot of information, but you have left out
some.  I am not completely sure of your motives, and who you
are working for, despite the fact that Debbie's paying you."

    "That's fair."

    I felt a wave of worry and I smiled at Debbie and the
wave went softer.

    "It might be a good time to order," I suggested.

    "Indeed," William said.  He glanced over to where Manuel
had been standing, and he arrived at the table.

    I felt a tiny tendril of a thought and recognized Aimee's
presence.  I opened up and received a message: "Suggest that
Mr. Voder order our meals."

    I had thought the same thing, but didn't know how to poll
the girls.  Aimee had found a great solution.  I realized
that Aimee had already done so.

    William was looking at me expectantly, and I just
shrugged.  "You know what's good, William.  We'll let you
order."

    William smiled brightly.  "Manuel, who is in the kitchen
today?"

    "Ramon," the waiter answered.

    "Most excellent," William grinned.  He nodded at Aimee
and said, "Aimee will have the duck.  Please tell Ramon that
Aimee prefers her skin extra crisp."

    Nodding toward Debbie, he said, "My niece will have the
Chicken Pad Thai.  Have Ramon add a couple of those little
green Thai chilies on top.  Can Ramon fix up a Tom Yum Gai
soup?"

    "It may take a few minutes," Manuel smiled.

    "We have all the time in the world," William said.  He
nodded toward Mary and said, "Mary will have the crab cakes.
Tell Ramon that she is my guest and I expect her cakes will
be as good as the ones he makes for me."

    "Of course."

    "The gentleman to my right will have the Steak Diane,"
William continued.  He then looked at me.  "Medium rare?"

    I nodded.  I usually wasn't particular about how done a
steak is.

    "Medium rare.  I'll have the same as well."

    "Very well," the waiter said.

    "Jim doesn't drink," William said.

    "Excuse me," I corrected William for the first time.
"The women have been corrupting me."

    This earned me a laugh from William.  "Excellent.  Do you
enjoy wine?"

    I only knew the basics of wine, like red meat goes with
red wine.  I saw two different cuisines.  I shrugged and
answered, "Whatever you want, William."

    "How about a bottle of the Taittinger Champagne, Manuel?"

    "Any particular year?" Manuel asked.

    William shook his head.  "Have the steward decide.  Tell
him it's me, and that I'm trying to impress my friends.  I
will send it back if I don't like it."

    "I will do so."

    Manuel left.

    "Our champagne should arrive in ten minutes," William
said.

    We all nodded.

    William sat back and said, "Now, for the evaluation, Jim.
My motives for helping you are purely out of the goodness of
my heart.  I am working for myself, now.  I have people that
work for me, but funding is not an issue.  I have a lot of
money, almost as much as Debbie.  Her father was quite
successful, and I was one of his clients, just as he was one
of mine."

    I didn't answer this statement.

    "James Malen and I were part of the group that hired
Doctor Larson," William said.  "I personally thought Larson
was nuts, but sometimes even nut cases get lucky.  The only
area where I had misjudged him was that I had thought that he
was harmless.  I think the world is a better place now that
he is not in it.  I did not kill him, nor did I have him
killed, but I would not have hesitated doing so.  He put at
least three of our servicemen in harm's way."

    I nodded at this.

    "James Malen, Debbie's father, had personal reasons for
his interest in Larson's work, but I only discovered that
near the end of his life.  He had received some premonition
that he'd die in an accident, and he met with me to come
clean, asking me to take care of his daughter.  I arranged
for his associate, Charles Penet, to encourage Aimee to
continue working for Debbie afterward."

    Everybody could feel Debbie's melancholia.  Voder ignored
it and continued.  "The one thing I would like to do, but
will be unable to do is to stop Colonel DiPietro.  His
charter is from somebody that had a request from a senator,
so the investigation cannot be be stifled without attracting
undue attention.  He is a good person, and a good leader.  He
has some smart people working for him, but I'm pretty sure
that he'll lose interest in you.  Larson's methods utilized a
lot of paper and not computerized files.  The only place that
he managed to come back from erased files was in computers,
so the procedures may be found, but his reasons will probably
never be figured out.  The best thing I can do for you is to
keep abreast of his investigation and maybe send a wild goose
or two in his way."

    I thought hard about what I just heard.

    William looked up and said, "Ahh, our champagne is
arriving."

    A different waiter arrived and made a production of
opening the champagne.  He used a towel and the cork came out
with a soft "poof" sound.

    He filled a fluted glass half full, and William took a
taste.  He smiled and nodded.

    Soon, all five of us had glasses of champagne in front of
us.

    "What shall we toast?" William asked.

    "How about the three loveliest ladies in the world?" I
suggested.

    I giggled as I felt a wave of happiness wash over me.
How could I have not noticed Debbie's emotional broadcasts
before?

    "Here, here!" William agreed.

    We all raised our glasses and clinked.

    The champagne tasted pretty nice.  As I said, I'm not
much of a drinker, and am, by no means, an expert.

    After we all sipped our drinks, William said, seriously,
"Jim, ladies, today is the last day I'll be able to spend
with you.  In two days, you will receive an additional
package.  It will contain passports, bank statements, tax
returns, social security cards, and other documents pertinent
to your alter egos.  Use the passports or driver's licenses
to get past customs on your way to Windsor, Ontario.  Since I
suspect that you used indirect transportation to get to
Washington, I would suggest indirectly getting to Windsor
over a period of two days, since the searches are looking for
people traveling separately using varying itineraries but
meeting over a short period of time.  From Windsor, arrive
together in Vancouver using your real names and
identification."

    "Allow the government to catch up to us?" Mary asked.

    "Yes," William grinned.  "Your cover story is that you
and Mary are engaged to be married.  I can procure you a
marriage license in San Francisco, using your real names.  If
you prefer, I can have one predated and filed, but I'd rather
not use up a useful contact.  However, I could still do that
by next Friday and alert somebody about it.  If you decide to
go for a ceremony, I suggest that you have a party to
celebrate.  The story is that Mary and Debbie are long time
friends, since Debbie owns the building where Mary lives.
Aimee is simply her associate.  Let them keep guessing about
Aimee in a wedding dress.  It's those facts that don't fit
neatly into a convenient box that makes it look like it's not
a setup."

    "A party sounds nice," Debbie said.

    "Both Mary's and Debbie's apartments in South California
are probably bugged.  Same for the place in Makena and the
ranch in Texas and, now, Utah.  Behave accordingly."

    I nodded.

    William turned to Mary.  "I wish I had met you a few
months before you hit Jim with the jeep.  How did that
happen, by the way, if you don't mind me asking?"

    "Do you want the truth?" Mary asked William, while
looking at me.

    I nodded to Mary.  William already had most of the facts
and probably could "interpret" this one.

    "Would you believe that we only discovered the answer
yesterday?" Mary asked.

    "Indeed?"

    "Yes," said Mary.  "Jim was walking home from a party,
staring at the moon and stars.  He was completely absorbed in
looking at them.  As I drove toward him, we connected
mentally."

    I noticed Debbie, Aimee, and William were all listening
to Mary in rapt attention.

    Mary continued.  "I found myself looking at the moon and
saw the stars... but I realize now that I wasn't looking up.
I was looking through my windshield.  Apparently, I was
looking at the stars through Jim's eyes.  It was a single
image.  No other thought.  Then there was a bump, and the
connection broke.  The rest of the story is exactly how I
told the M.P.s. I lost my concentration and originally
thought I hit a dog.  I soon found, to my horror, that I had
just killed my first soldier, and he was one of ours."

    William nodded at the story.  "I had suspected it might
be something like that."

    Mary continued.  "I could not stay in the service after
that.  I threw away my career, and pissed off some dear
friends and influential people for doing that, but eventually
people understood.  I was willing to risk a dishonorable
discharge, but instead I got an honorable one.  I visited
shrinks, who told me that my obsession with Jim was
unhealthy, but I kept visiting him just about every day.  I
took whatever jobs that I could find that were near the
hospital where Jim was staying.  I worked at a restaurant, a
department store, and a bank."

    William nods.  "That information is in your file."

    Mary nodded.

    William continued, uninterested in my comment.  "I am not
interested in Empaths--Debbie's father was the one intrigued
by Larson's work, but only because he had a personal interest
in it, since he and his daughter had such tendencies.  I have
no such tendencies, myself.  My interest is personal: I made
a promise to James Malen."

    "You said that already," I pointed out.

    "Whether you are Empaths or not, it is not interesting to
me," William said.  "Not being an Empath, I do not have the
same interest in this that James had.  I know for a fact that
Larson's notes no longer exist.  Neither James Malen nor I,
who would be the only ones other than Larson who could have
possibly copied it, had done so.  Neither of us were trained
surgeons, and we wouldn't trust anybody enough to share that
information, especially considering Larson's lack of success
with his treatment.  I'm giving you the information that I'm
privy to solely at the request of Debbie's father."

    I simply nodded.

    William turned to Debbie.  "I have promised James Malen
that I would look after his daughter.  I will do so until my
body is no longer able to continue.  By extension, I will
also look after all of you.  That will mean that I will only
be monitoring you actively at any time when the government
does so--I still have contacts in the intelligence agencies.
I imagine that with the exception of the week or so that you
spend here, you will look like a harmless and lucky person,
Jim."

    "I hope so," I said.

    "Right now, a new suggestion is being added to Colonel
DiPietro's files," William said.  "It suggests that one of
the field agents was spotted by Mary, who has intelligence
experience, and her reaction was to lay low until she could
find out who it was.  The suggestion would be to relax
surveillance accordingly.  That should give you some
breathing room."

    William turned to Mary.  "Darling, it would be
interesting for you to contact a number that I will include
in your package.  You should recognize the voice that answers
that number from your service.  Ask if anybody from the
service is following you, and why.  Also make small talk.
Tell the person you got married or are getting married to the
gentleman that you had hit, and you are helping him get
reacquainted to a new decade, having lost twelve years in a
coma.  Fill in any harmless blanks, including the fact that
you also spent time in Windsor and Vancouver.  Mention Debbie
and Aimee, and how the four of you are inseparable.  Provide
accurate but innocuous information."

    As I said, William was very thorough.

    A couple of waiters arrived with fixings for a salad as
well as Debbie's soup.  We watched the waiter assemble the
dressing for a Caesar salad (you do NOT want to know what
goes into it!), and then tossed the salad with some grated
cheese and large toasted bread croutons.  Each of us got a
portion.

    The salad tasted much nicer than the ingredients would
have led me to think.

    William handed out business cards to me and my wives.  I
noticed it was a different card from the one he handed me
earlier.  "These have an assumed name and the number for an
answering service.  Call it and ask for my real name, William
Voder.  They will tell you that you have a wrong number.
Repeat your request, asking for the name on the card and
leave your information, and I will contact you as soon as
possible.  Use this in an emergency.  Aimee already knows how
to contact me, and I will continue talking to her via email."

    I pocketed the card.

    The meal was as excellent as I would expect from a person
like William Voder.

    Actually, he exceeded expectations, and that is a rather
high compliment to William as well as the kitchen staff at
the restaurant.
<1st attachment end>


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