Chapter 8
The group stopped at an Alabama motel for two nights while they waited to see if the Mogs pursued them. They did not. Then they stayed a night in Oklahoma followed by a two-night stay in a Holiday Inn outside of Omaha, Nebraska. Six then set the course one thousand miles to the East. They stopped at a log cabin in Maryland five minutes from the West Virginia border. They were only three hours away from the Mogadorian cave. Harry didn't question her choice. He did wonder if she was planning on infiltrating the cave. He was up for it. But if that was the case he didn't think he would be taking Sarah, Sam, or Emily into the cave. That would be just himself and Six. They could move better with just the two of them using her invisibility. Harry had tried making the disillusionment charm work wandlessly after he had gotten his basic battle spells down.
He could now cast very effectively without a wand an incendio, a banisher, a blasting curse, a piercing curse, a cutting curse, and even a bone breaker. His fire spell was even focused into a narrow beam of fire that was quite deadly. So far, his disillusionment charm was just too unstable to rely on it. If he stood very still, then he would be concealed. No movement would be allowed, or the invisibility would shatter.
"What are you looking at?" Sarah asked as she came up behind him.
Harry was sitting at the table in the motel room looking at a holo-display from the archive in his chest. Six was currently showering. Sarah laid her hands on his shoulders.
"Henry's journal. He took my suggestion about writing a journal with what he wasn't telling me seriously. The only issue is he passworded any information I'm not ready for. He set it up to wait until I am ready for certain information to reveal it to me," Harry explained.
"Just like we suspected the elders have done," Sarah said. "Well what are you ready for?" "Just this small section," Harry said as he continued reading.
Harry,
I've written this letter again and again over the years always wondering if it would be my last. Obviously, it now is. I am sorry. I love you more than words can say. You are like a son to me. Whatever the circumstances of my death please don't accept any blame for it. This may seem foolish. But I had the strong urge to try to give you as normal a life on Earth as possible without overburdening you. It was only at your urging that I even created this journal.
The truth of the matter is we weren't simply at the airfield to see an air show. We were there because the Garde fought to get you there. There were supposed to be ten Garde children. Only nine made it off planet. The Elders told us that when you ten were born Lorien recognized the strength inside of you, your potential. Lorien bestowed upon you the destiny to one day assume the roles of the original ten elders. In time those of you left will grow to be far stronger than anything Lorien has ever seen before, even stronger than the original ten Elders from whom you receive your inheritance.
Harry paused in his reading to digest that. As Six came out of the shower drying off she noticed the atmosphere of the room.
"What is it?" Six asked.
"You need to read this," Sarah urged as she stepped over to allow Six to read.
It was a mark of how distracted he was that Harry didn't even glance at Six's nakedness as he read on.
The Mogadorians know this secret. It is why they are so feverishly hunting you now. Don't let this go to your head. Arrogance can easily get you killed. The Mogadorians have flooded this planet with spies because of their desperation. Grow strong and powerful. Never forget what you learn along the way and where you come from. One day you will make it back to Lorien.
With Love,
Your friend and Cepan -H
Harry felt very emotional after reading the letter despite the fact Henri wasn't actually dead. He turned away from the display to find Sarah had tears in her eyes. Six looked surprisingly misty eyed as well but didn't quite have tears. Beyond that there was a gleam in her eye, of determination.
"So, we're supposed to be more powerful than the Elders huh," Six said. "A lot is explained. Good. We can annihilate these fuckers once we get strong enough."
Six looked every bit the avenging angel standing naked as the day she was born. Her towel laid forgotten on the floor. She was beauty personified in Harry's mind. He stood.
"Yes, we can," Harry agreed.
Emotions were running so very high. Harry felt like they could do anything. He stepped up to the naked Six and kissed her. With his right arm wrapped around Six, Harry used his left hand to telekinetically pull Sarah to his other side. He broke the kiss with Six and initiated a kiss with Sarah, claiming her mouth. For the next hour all clothes were removed in the room.
"What are you thinking?" Sarah asked Harry as she laid cuddling with Harry.
Six was also cuddling on the other side. The two girls had been talking quietly until Sarah had noticed the thoughtful expression on their boyfriend's face.
"Hermione is coming for me," Harry said.
"What do you mean?" Six asked as she sat up and looked at him in concern.
The sheet covering the trio had fallen back from Six exposing her breasts. It was very distracting.
"Please don't press me for details. This is all I can tell you. Part of me is native to Lorien. And another part of me is native to another universe. The part of me that is from that other universe thought it would never see Hermione again. But she has done something to make me think she is coming for me. I can feel her inside emotionally. I don't know how she is doing it. But I can tell she is coming for me," Harry explained.
"To take you back to her universe?" Sarah asked with concern.
"No," Harry said as he shook his head. "I get the feeling that the trip might be one way. She must be monitoring me somehow."
"What about us?" Six asked.
"I think she knows about you," Harry said. A feeling of rightness formed in Harry's chest. It was the part of him that felt Hermione's emotions."
"Can you tell how she feels about us?" Sarah asked.
"I think she is alright with you two," Harry said tentatively. The feeling was again one of approval. "Yes. She is alright with it. I just got an approving feeling."
Sarah and Six exchanged glances with one another. They had just found out that part of their boyfriend was extra-universal. And now his first love had some kind of an emotional connection with him.
"This is a lot to absorb," Six said.
"It is. But given the fact I already got used to dating an alien this isn't a whole lot different," Sarah said. "I will admit I don't fancy sharing your time with two other women. One was enough."
"You feel that way now when we are newly together. When we've been together quite a few years you'll want your own personal space. It'll work out much better," Harry assured.
"I can't imagine feeling like that. But you're probably right from what I've seen with my parents," Sarah said.
"As long as Hermione is it," Six said. "I don't want to share you any more than that." "I have a strong feeling it is," Harry said.
"Hermione sounds brilliant," Sarah said.
"She is a genius," Harry assured. "I have a feeling you will get along with her." Harry and the girls spent some time talking about Hermione.
Hermione sat in her study at her home next to her parents' house in Crawley. She could have stayed at Potter Manor. But money wasn't an issue and she enjoyed living next to her parents.
She was currently thinking over the latest memories from Harry. He had felt her emotions. Even then she could feel his emotions. It wasn't the level of communication she was ultimately hoping to have. Yet it was a step in the right direction. He had told Sarah and Six about her along with a very little bit about his extra-universal nature. Hermine was the only one of the three women who knew Harry's reasoning for not telling Sarah and Six the full truth yet. Harry thought the longer he remained mysterious and a puzzle the longer he would hold the interests of the girls.
"Stupid man," Hermione muttered.
Harry didn't seem to realize Six and Sarah would find him interesting and attractive even if they knew the truth about his wizarding origins. Yet she couldn't deny that his wizarding nature was a major tactical advantage against the Mogadorians. Hermione was happy to hear that Harry and the girls were expecting her at some point. It sounds like they were prepared to welcome her. No matter how much she knew Harry loved her there had always been that small part of her that feared rejection by the girls he had taken up with. It sounded like that wouldn't be an issue. She was relieved.
Hermione's thoughts had turned to her most recent discovery during their dream sessions together. Hermione had wondered if the apparent ban on communicating between her and Harry
encompassed everything or just certain things. She wasn't sure who or what was preventing them from communicating through speech. Yet experimentation had revealed that she could communicate certain things to help Harry.
Hermione had used her nano-constructor to create a copy of the Loric computer that contained Harry's archive. It had taken her a while. But she had been able to use spells similar to the ones which allowed her experience Harry's life to copy the contents of Harry's archive. From there she had gone about designing a well-hidden lunar base for him complete with a runic array to hide the thing from Mogadorians. Harry should be able to carve the runes and empower them without needing a wand.
She had used the dream-scape they met in to create a pensieve and showed Harry all of her plans. They couldn't talk about them because there was no verbal communications in the dream-scape. Yet Harry had been smart enough to catch what she was saying. Even now he was working on the building of the lunar base. He had started by creating a Loric version of a spacesuit and then portkeyed himself to the moon. This would give Harry and his allies a base to operate out of or a fallback location that the Mogadorians couldn't easily find. Hermione was going to suggest to him that he create several more identical bases on other moons in the solar system. Hermione was very happy now that she had found a way to help Harry. She could design things for him to use.
There it was staring Hermione in the face. It was the reason she could not communicate with Harry in their dream-scape. Even though she had the new version of recording Harry's life where she actually recorded everything he experienced in his memories, she had still kept the journal version of monitoring his life intact. She occasionally read the journal in addition to experiencing the highlights of his life. It was while going back and checking the journal that she had her answer.
Harry did not yet realize it. But his dreams of what that universe would have been like without him having merged with Four were a manifestation of his burgeoning greater power level. Harry's power was fast approaching the scale of power enjoyed by the ancient gods. It is his own subconscious that is tapping into dreams of this other universe. Once his power and experience reaches great enough levels he can control his dreams in the waking world prompting visions at will including of other universes. This greater power is also what has allowed Harry to initiate nightly contact with Hermione.
Harry was the one initiating contact with her. Though she doubted he knew that. It was likely his desire to see her that allowed his power to bring them together in the dream-scape each night. Therefore, she suspected it was Harry himself that wouldn't allow them to communicate verbally.
"The question is why?" Hermione asked herself.
Hermione knew Harry Potter better than anyone. She was beginning to suspect that on a subconscious level Harry didn't yet want to talk with her just yet. He wanted to go off and have his adventure on his own. What guy wouldn't want to sleep with two beautiful women and experience the thrills he was experiencing while still keeping Hermione close. Hermione knew that Harry wouldn't make that choice on a conscious level. If he realized it was his power initiating contact with her he would be talking to her in a heartbeat. Yet the subconscious realm was entirely different. Hermione only had her suspicions to go on at this point.
"At least I still get to be with him each night," Hermione thought to herself. "The only thing I miss is getting to talk with him."
Thankfully she had her parents, Susan, and Neville or she might go off the deep end. The babies were coming along nicely thanks to the help of Dobby and Winky.
"So, we're all agreed we'll wait to see what the other versions of us find in Paradise before we actually attempt to go there," Six said.
"Yes," Sarah added. "It might not even be worth it."
The group was sitting in the hotel. They had started experiencing dreams of their counterparts in the world where Four went by the name John heading to Paradise. They had taken to calling this world John World for short. Their John World counterparts were going to see if they could find clues left by Sam's father.
"As much as I would love to run back there it is too dangerous and not worth it unless there is something really good hidden there," Sam agreed.
"So, we'll stay put until we see what we see," Harry said.
"Well good. It isn't exactly a hardship to stay here," Emily said referring to the hotel they had been staying at.
Harry produced the macrocosm for his regular check-in to see if any other Garde had their chests open. As soon as the orbs floated into the air the smaller ones immediately began speeding around the orb representing the star. The brightness began to increase in intensity.
"What's going on?" Sam asked.
"I think it is locating someone," Six said excitedly.
The smaller orbs absorb into the star causing the star to swell to the size of a basketball. The surface of the orb raised and lowered reproducing the topography of Earth.
"There," Sarah said as a small pinpoint of light appeared somewhere around Spain.
Harry pulled out his Loric upgraded version of a phone and took a picture of the location. He then accessed his Archive which also had access to all of the human internet and many satellites.
"I've got a location," Harry announced a minute later. "It's near the Picos de Europa Mountains in Spain.
"So, we are probably looking for a small village in that area," Harry said. "How long would it take us to get there?" Emily asked.
"By plane too long," Six said with a shake of her head.
"That won't be necessary. The Loric had transportation platforms. They were energy intensive which is why they were only used for certain things. When I heard that Seven was being trailed in Spain I had a remote probe sent over to just outside of Madrid to set up a platform. My car has been upgraded with a gravitic drive. I've overhauled every system in the car with advanced Loric polymers and systems. The car is actually space-worthy," Harry explained.
"Wicked," Sam said.
"Will the platform transport your car?" Sarah asked.
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "I just ordered my neural link to set up a matching platform in the woods near here. We'll take a portal over to Madrid and drive to these mountains. It shouldn't take us more than a couple of hours. I don't think the adaptive camouflage feature on the car will work so well flying. We'll take flight and hope for the best if we detect Mogs ahead. Otherwise I don't want to risk it," Harry said.
"What are we waiting for?" Sam asked. "It sounds like we have a plan."
"It will take about twenty minutes to set up the teleportation platform. They aren't exactly easy to set up. I want everyone armored up and ready to go," Harry said.
The group broke apart to get ready. Sam and Emily had gone back to their room. It didn't take Harry, Six, and Sarah long to get ready.
"You're excited," Sarah noted to Six.
"We could be joining up with another Garde member," Six said with a smile. "It is exciting," Harry agreed. "Let's go wait outside."
Sam and Emily had a room next door. It was only a minute later that they exited their room. The group quickly made their way to Harry's car and climbed in. Sam, Sarah, and Emily climbed into the expanded space in back. Harry pulled out of the hotel parking lot and drove
down the road a short ways to a deserted section of the road. He then mentally initiated the gravitic drive. The car rose into the air. The camouflage feature kicked in and they floated over the trees. It was about four miles into the woods that the portal had been set up. The portal platform was a cluster of Loric crystals pointing upwards arranged in a ring set within a clearing in the woods. Harry brought the car to hover over the platform.
Just then the globe's surface shook and a female voice said in Spanish, "Adelina, wake up! Wake up please! Adelina!"
"What was that?" Sam asked even as the glow intensified beneath the car.
"I would say that is Number Seven. She sounded young," Six said.
"Maybe Adelina is the name her Cepan is currently using?" Sarah suggested.
"It could be. I think she dropped the communicator or it lost connection," Harry said as the globe reverted to normal. "If she doesn't know how to use it then she won't be able to reestablish connection. Let me see if I can do it." He reached out with his telekinesis and pulled the orb to him. He closed his eyes and focused on his neural link. The globe suddenly came alive again. The same voice came through. "Hello," Harry responded.
"Hello," Marina responded in English.
"Is this Number Seven?" Harry asked as he mentally told the transporter to pause. If they teleported there was no guarantee they would maintain the connection. "Yes. Who is this? What number?" Marina asked.
"Number Four. I go by the name Harry. I am here with Six and some human friends," Harry said. "What human name do you go by and where are you at? We are on our way to Spain to find you."
Marina's heart was pounding, and she quickly answered, "I go by Marina. I am at the Santa Teresa convent with my Cepan."
"You have a living Cepan?" Six asked speaking up for the first time. "Yes. Adelina," Marina said.
"Ok. We have to transport to Madrid now," Harry said. "We will lose connection. Are you in any immediate danger?"
"Not at this very moment. I think there are Mogadorians in this town. But they just seem to be watching me," Marina said. "I don't know why."
"They probably believe for good reason the charm is still in effect protecting you. We are pretty sure it is protecting you. But it won't protect Adelina. I will reestablish the connection after we transport if we can. We will be there in a couple of hours. Hold on a second," Harry aid.
The connection cut on Marina's end. On the other side of the world the pedestal beneath the car suddenly glowed brilliantly. Then the car was over an identical platform in Madrid. The crystal took on a glow again.
"Can you hear us?" Six asked.
"Yes," Marina said.
"Good. Marina, Harry is already driving towards your location. We are a couple hours out if we don't take drastic measures. If we need to we can get there faster. Harry says he can mute sound from coming through on our end. Put the crystal in your pocket and we will be able to keep track of what is going on there. Do you have any questions for us that are immediately pressing before he mutes us?" Six asked.
Marina hastily tried to think of anything she needed to ask. She had so many questions. But none of them were pressing at the moment.
"Nothing that can't wait until you get here. It's good to know I am not alone," Marina said. "It is. Stay safe. Muting now," Six said.
The group conversed at a whisper as they monitored what was going on with Marina.
"It's a trap in Paradise," Harry says after a lull in the conversation.
"Dude were you just asleep?" Sam asked. "It didn't look like you dozed off."
"I can apparently access those visions of the other world while conscious now if I concentrate on them," Harry said.
"Well that's new," Sarah said.
"So, there were Mogs waiting for us?" Six asked.
"Oh yeah. More than a dozen and with ships," Harry answered.
"Did we at least get to see if there was anything of use in the bunker?" Emily asked.
"There wasn't a lot of time down there before they attacked. We grabbed a tablet computer, a bunch of papers, and a Loric pendant off of a large non-human skeleton. The skeleton was over eight feet tall," Harry explained.
"I'm thinking we shouldn't risk going after these things," Sarah pointed out.
"We might learn the same information our counterparts learn through the visions," Emily suggested.
"We might also figure out things they haven't figured out yet," Sam said.
"Well it isn't a decision we have to make until the revisions give us a chance to see what they have in more detail when they aren't in the heat of battle," Six said.
"That's a good point," Harry agreed.
"I wonder who the skeleton belonged to," Sam said.
"I'm not sure. Our counterparts took the pendant around the skeleton's neck. So, maybe they will figure it out," Harry said.
"How did you unlock the sundial?" Sam asked curiously.
"There were the Loric symbols for number one through nine on the sundial. We had to align them for your birthday," Harry answered.
"Huh...I didn't know Lorien existed when I played with it before," Sam said. "Well damn. That must have been surprisingly easy."
"You couldn't have known," Emily comforted her boyfriend.
Meanwhile Six had just decided something in that moment. She met Sarah's eyes and gave the human woman a look. Sarah's eyes widened, and she glanced at Harry and then back to Six. Sarah nodded.
Six mouthed the word, "After." Sarah understood.
Flashback
Six and Sarah were spending some girl time alone. They were actually painting their toenails in the hotel room. Six had never gotten a chance to indulge in the human past time. Harry was out spending some time by himself. Sam and Emily were spending time as a couple.
"I think I'm ready to have Harry's baby," Six announced.
Sarah was stunned and gaped at her friend.
"Where did this come from?" Sarah asked after composing herself.
"Sorry, I could have been a little more delicate with that," Six said sheepishly. "It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. I think it's in my nature. I am very much aware how close my species are to extinction. It seems stupid to wait any longer. I have a perfectly healthy virile Lorien guy able to do the deed."
"I...I don't know that I'm ready," Sarah admitted.
"You don't have the same hormones or instincts driving you. I don't think I'd be ready if we were back on Lorien with a full population. I'd certainly be ready to have sex. But this is different. I feel like Harry's powers will instinctually negate any form of birth control we use until he gets us pregnant," Six said.
"You mean he won't be able to control it?" Sarah asked.
"Probably not. If we use condoms his powers will make them tear. I don't think birth control drugs would work at all given the different physiologies as play," Six explained.
"What about you being out of action as far as combat is concerned?" Sarah asked.
"That won't be until I start to show. Even then I can kill Mogs from a distance with a rifle or telekinesis. I won't be useless in a fight. I'm thinking we find another Garde soon and they can have Harry's back," Six said.
"You've thought this through. For what it's worth you have my blessing. I'm not quite there yet myself. But I feel like I'll be ready in the not too distant future," Sarah said. "What do you think it'll be like with him?"
"Amazing. This is Harry we're talking about," Six said. "Yeah," Sarah agreed with a goofy grin.
End Flashback
The look Sarah had received told her that after retrieving Seven, Six and Harry would be getting busy making a baby. Sarah was still a little nervous about the whole affair. Yet the Loric population needed to be increased. How she handled this whole pregnancy and baby thing between Six and Harry would determine if Sarah herself was evenly remotely ready to have a baby.
Sarah thought some more over how messed up the situation was. It wasn't like she even needed to be ready to raise any of the babies. Her parents had already volunteered to do it. In fact there would probably be a number of women willing to have Harry's baby. Sarah kept in mind the possibility of paying women to birth Loric children. The idea of going into a fertility clinic and somehow co-opting a doctor into contaminating a massive amount of samples with Harry's seed
was too problematic. If the Mogs caught on to what they were doing, then the lives of all those women were forfeit.
"Not to mention having a bunch of super powered kids running around without the possibility of us looking after them all is probably a bad idea," Sarah thought to herself.
No, it was probably better to have a smaller number of children that could be guided. She had faith her own parents would be able to look after more children. Sarah honestly didn't like the idea of not being at a point in her life where she couldn't look after her own children. She wasn't at the point where she particularly wanted children yet. She knew that someday she did. Yet she knew circumstances were not ideal. If she waited Harry could die. She herself could die.
"The world is not how I wish it would be. It is how it is," Sarah told herself.
She and Six had helped Harry store quite a few samples of his seed in long term storage should the worst happen. She decided then and there that after Six's pregnancy was far enough along, perhaps a few months in, then she would try with Harry to become pregnant too. Her parents would raise this first child until Sarah herself was able to take over. If something happened to Harry, then Sarah could use a stored sample to have more children when she was ready.
Sarah idly wished the vehicle had a partitioned off section in the expanded back space. If it did or Sam and Emily weren't there, Sarah would be relieving some tension with Harry. Sarah was unaware that Six was having identical thoughts about relieving tension. The two women forced themselves out of their heads to pay attention to what was going on in the car.
"How many Mogs do you think will be here?" Sam asked. "Our Intel suggests Marina is being monitored and even she thinks so."
"My guess is anywhere between ten and one hundred Mogs," Harry said. "But that is a guess."
"It's not a bad guess. That's a lot of Mogs. We don't know Marina's combat capabilities," Six said. "Best case scenario is that I can go in invisibly and extract her."
"Worst case is that Six and Harry have to each take out upwards of forty Mogs," Sarah suggested.
"You're thinking you, Emily, and I can account for twenty Mogs?" Sam asked. Sarah nodded.
"Way to put our training to the test," Emily said.
Emily wasn't as good with the rifles as Sam and Sarah. But she could hold her own. "Someone is coming," Marina whispered so that everyone in the car could hear it.
Marina was at the top of a bell tower in the convent she lived in. Someone was coming up the stairs. She used her telekinesis to levitate her unconscious Cepan, her chest, and the cat she had named Legacy out onto the lawn of the convent. Then she levitated herself out and into open air. Marina looks back to see the mustached Mog from the café the previous day round the corner into the top of the tower. Her concentration scatters and she falls to the ground. She barely catches herself before she hits.
Harry immediately kicked the gravitic drive into action and took off of the road. They would just have to hope their car's camouflage would provide some type of cover.
The nerves of those in the car were sorely tested as they heard Marina getting her Cepan, Legacy, and her chest into the nook where they had originally been hidden. But with audio only those listening couldn't tell what she was doing. They also didn't want to expose her location by speaking up. Time flew by without hearing anything except Marina's breathing. When Harry set his car down next to the convent it was daylight once more. The convent had plenty of activity going on. By this point Adelina had woken up.
"Marina, where are you?" Harry whispered through the Macrocosm.
"In a nook off of the main room where prayers are held," Marina whispered back.
"We are here. Sit tight. We will be in momentarily," Harry whispered. To the others in the car after he killed the audio on the Macrocosm he said, "Six and I are going in first. Cover our backs. If you need to take the car up to get a better vantage point you know how to do it."
Six took his hand and they vanished from sight. They made their way into the main room of the convent just past the entrance. Harry can just sense where Marina and Adelina are. He can't explain it. He leads Six over to the section of the floor below where the nook is situated quite a ways above them. There's nothing for it. He lets go of Six and levitates her up to the opening while he stands guard. It's only a few moments later that Six reappears at the ledge. He levitates Six, Marina, and Adelina down from the nook. Both women are wearing nothing but nightgowns.
"I'm Four or Harry," Harry greeted.
"Adelina," Adelina said with an embarrassed smile. "Marina," Marina said with a grin.
A fireball erupts from the back of the church hitting the pews in the rear. A Mog disguised with long blond hair steps into the back of the church and draws a long sword. Harry summons his own blade into his hand. The Mog charges. So, does Harry. The Mog tries swiping his sword down at Harry. But Harry had already surged to the side on a diagonal and drive his own sword through the Mog. It burst into ash. He backed up to Adelina and Marina. Six was invisible.
Harry swept his gaze looking around for more enemies while never lowering his blade. Adelina and Marina were looking at how easily he had killed the Mog in awe.
Another Mog enters the room. Before he could do more than raise a Mogadorian canon, he burst into ash. What looked like another Mog was standing behind him holding a dagger.
"I'm no threat to you. My name is Crayton. I'm Loric disguised as a Mog," Crayton said while dropping the knife and holding his hands up unthreateningly.
Marina recognized the Mog she had seen in the café with the book of Pittacus.
"You'll understand if we don't take your word for it until we can verify it," Harry said. "I understand," Crayton said.
"He's telling the truth," Ella said as she walked into the room.
"Ella," Marina said in bewilderment.
"You're an Aeternus," Adelina said with wide eyes. For the benefit of those who had just arrived she added, "Ella was a little girl the last time we saw her, much younger than the eleven or twelve she looks now. She can shift between different ages."
"Yes," Crayton confirmed. "The last Elder Loridas sacrificed himself so that Ella could grow into his powers."
"How did you get here?" Adelina asked.
"There was a second ship that we know of that made it off of Lorien," Harry said. "This is not the place to have this conversation. But I must be certain."
Harry approached a little closer to Crayton. He mentally connected with his car and ordered it to scan the location he was looking at. It only took a few moments for the car to analyze the space in front of Harry.
"What are you doing?" Marina asked.
"He's determining if Crayton is Loric," Six whispered invisibly from where she stood near Six and Adelina.
"He is Loric," Harry confirmed. "Told you," Ella said.
They glanced over to Ella to find she had resumed her seven-year-old appearance. Harry thought the Aeternus legacy was pretty neat. Ella could live for a very long time using that legacy.
Harry reached into his pocket and removed four armor pendants. He used his telekinesis to float them over to Ella, Crayton, Marina, and Adelina.
"Put these on," Harry instructed.
"What is it?" Crayton asked even as he did it.
"Body armor," Harry said evenly while he mentally activated the body armor.
The armor flowed over the forms of his companions.
"This is amazing," Marina said while Ella nodded agreement.
"How did you make this?" Adelina asked.
"The Elders provided Loric archives in our chest and a nano-constructor," Harry answered.
"And you trained yourself how to make this?" Crayton asked with surprise.
"Yes. It's all in there. It just takes some experimentation," Harry said.
"I thought the Archives were lost with Lorien," Crayton said with a growing smile.
"No. That's why the chests are so important," Adelina confirmed. "I would really like to know the story of this second ship. But for now, I agree that we should go."
"I have a transport outside," Harry said.
Harry gestured the group towards the main doors to the church area. He mentally ordered the car to land nearby.
The second the door to the outside of the church opened there was immediately Mog hand canon fire racing towards it. Dozens of blasts flew towards Harry's position. Harry threw up a shield and put everything he had into it. He made sure to extend the shield around the car nearby. It had its own limited shield.
Harry grunted as blasts tore against his shield. Hundreds of Mogs were in sight. Dozens upon dozens of krauls swarmed towards the group.
"Get in the car," Six shouted as a storm formed in the sky above them summoned by her.
Lightning tore down from the heavens sending bolts into the pack of krauls. Adelina and Ella were the first to get into the car. Harry meanwhile picked up nearby cars with his telekinesis and sent them crashing down upon the Mogadorian soldiers. The soldiers continued to fire with their hand canons. Dozens charged the shield with their swords and slashed at it. Six finished shredding the krauls with lightning and turned her attention to the soldiers.
Harry had taken to telekinetically lifting hand canons from fallen soldiers and using them to kill the living Mogs. He produced several grenades of his own make and threw them into the clumps of Mogs.
"How long can you keep up that shield?" Six asked.
"I don't know," Harry shouted back with strain over the sound of destruction.
The air outside the shield was thick with Mogadorian ash. Sarah, Sam, and Emily lowered the windows of the car and began shooting outwards. They quickly realized the shield would allow fire out but not in. Six kept looking at Harry trying to judge the strain of maintaining that shield.
Mogs were dying by the dozens with every ten seconds that passed. She watched the clumps of soldiers dwindling down. Then four piken swept around the building. Six was closest to the two that appeared on her side. She leapt back in shock. The two pikens lunged towards her and would have had her if they didn't impact the shield. The force of the piken hitting the shield was bled off with a visible changing of color. The shield barrier was pushed back until it was closer to her. She found herself pressed against Harry just as they were right near the car. Within moments the first piken's head exploded. Sarah had hit the overload setting on her rifle. This setting emptied the entire energy capacity of a magazine out of the rifle in one shot. The rifle's emitter would need repair before the rifle could work again. But this was an acceptable sacrifice when dealing with piken.
Emily and Sam followed Sarah's lead killing the other two piken. By this point Marina had acquired one of the grenades in the car and launched it through the shield into the roaring mouth of the last piken. That piken died just as quickly as its fellows.
Harry and Six telekinetically picked up the bodies of a piken each and used it to crush the last few soldiers alive. There was the sound of silence then except for the random fires that burned on the battlefield.
"We did it," Six said as her chest heaved while she struggled to catch her breathe.
"We did," Harry agreed as he glanced around wearily. "I don't think we should linger."
Six nodded and got into the car. Harry climbed into the driver's seat and immediately told the vehicle to take off.
"We need to go to a nearby lake to pick up our chimera," Crayton said.
"Point the way," Harry replied.
"That was amazing," Marina said having watched the action in awe of her fellow Garde. "It was," Adelina agreed.
"Thanks," Six replied.
The group chatted as they went to the lake in question and picked up the chimera Olivia. Crayton had to get Olivia to shrink down to something more manageable. Olivia and Bernie Kosar were very happy when they reunited with one another. Harry ignored the two chimera chatting as he piloted the car back towards the portal platform outside of Madrid.
After going through the platform at Madrid they were soon back in their hotel room.
"So you must be a genius even by Loric standards to get all of what you have working," Crayton said.
"I agree," Adelina said. "What now?"
"Now Six and I are going to go do some reconnaissance at the West Virginia base," Harry said.
"Why just you two?" Marina asked.
"No offense Marina. But I don't think you are quite ready yet," Harry said.
"No offense taken. She isn't. And that is my fault," Adelina said.
"Harry and I will be able to get in and out just the two of us much easier. I can keep us invisible," Six added.
"Sounds like a plan," Crayton agreed.
"I don't like you going in there alone," Sam said.
"Me either," Sarah agreed.
"We can handle ourselves," Harry said.
"We better get going," Six suggested.
"I'm riding over with you. I'll stay with the car," Sarah said insistently.
"Alright," Harry agreed.
The three of them left.
It was a few minutes into the drive when Six announced, "When we get back to the hotel I'm going to screw your brains out."
Harry felt himself getting instantly hard.
"I...I," Harry began.
"I think you broke him," Sarah teased.
"You didn't break me. Not that I'm complaining but what brought this on?" Harry said.
"It's something the two of us have been talking about for a while now," Sarah said.
"I'm ready to have a child," Six said. "I feel driven to have one. Our race is near extinction. But that isn't the only reason. I've wanted to have you inside of me for a while now."
"Someone likes that thought," Sarah said with a grin as she looked down at the obvious bulge in his pants.
"Of course I do. Are you ok with this?" Harry asked while looking at Sarah.
"I'm a little jealous that she gets to have sex with you. But not that much. I'm not quite ready for a child. I feel like I will be in the near future. I know that your powers would likely nullify any birth control measures we took. So, yes. I am alright with it. I don't want to be in the room or anything. But I'm ok with it."
Harry nodded. He was thoughtful as the car drove them to the cave. When they saw a sign to the town of Anstead, Six said, "It isn't far now."
Six had worked with Harry using Loric technology to isolate the location of the cave. As a result they didn't need to retrieve the map Six had previously created and hidden at Hawks Nest State Park. It was another fifteen miles from the town until they pulled the car down a deserted road.
"This is as far as we can get without risking being detected," Harry said.
They suspected the cave may have sensors that could see through the limited camouflage of the car.
"And you are sure you can call the car to you even from five miles away if you need it?" Sarah asks.
"I can," Harry assured.
"Both of you look after each other," Sarah said before kissing Harry passionately.
She reached out and took Six's hand giving it a light squeeze. The two had become very good friends. Harry and Six stepped out of the car. They began running through the woods with Six leading the way. It took them about twenty minutes to reach the place Six had named Lookout Point across from the cave. Harry and Six got down on hands and knees to crawl closer to where
they would have a good view of the cave entrance. A camouflage net of some sort covered the entrance which was probably around twenty feet across.
"Are you nervous?" Harry asked.
"I'm terrified," Six admitted. "The only reason I'm going back to this place is because I have you with me."
"That's understandable given all that happened to you here," Harry said before giving Six a one armed hug.
Six took her boyfriend's hand and caused the both of them to vanish from sight. They picked their way down to the cave entrance and made their way through the grouping of dead animals that had gotten too close to the gas the cave emitted. Six gently moved the camouflage tarp aside. There are four Mogs guarding the entrance sitting with hand canons. They slip past the guards with Six leading the way. Harry took note of the fresh air from a ventilation system, the smoothed walls, and electrical conduits strung between lights every twenty feet or so. Several more scouts are passed as the tunnel slopes down and gradually narrows.
The air grew warmer and stifling. The end of the tunnel ahead took on a crimson glow. The cavern their tunnel opened up into was bigger than Harry had pictured. A ledge spiraled along the walls from top to bottom. Hundreds of Mogs were visible crossing stone arch bridges across the cavern coming and going from different tunnels. Two large pillars sprouted up from the floor in the center to the ceiling to keep the cavern stable. There is a lake of glowing green liquid at the bottom of the cavern. Twenty or thirty Mogs were taking carts of the liquid off to various tunnels. Near the lake was a tunnel that was three times the size of the main passage into and out of the mountain. There were also bars across it indicating this was where the beasts were housed.
"This place is a treasure trove of operations on the Mogs," Harry whispered into Six's ear. "I haven't decided yet if we should destroy it or keep infiltrating it for information. Before we make a decision we should get high value targets out of here first."
Six put her mouth to his ear and whispered back, "Agreed."
Just to break up the tension both of them were feeling, she playfully nipped at his ear. "Minx," Harry whispered at her.
Harry spent several minutes just examining all of the activity in the cavern. He then placed a small object about the size of a tennis ball black in color to one side of the entrance. Its surface rippled taking on the texture and color of the surrounding stone.
"What was that?" Six whispered.
"A combination sensor and explosive. I can trigger either function separately with my neural link. I don't plan to trigger it unless we have been discovered. There's a small chance that the Mogs can detect the data burst. I'd say about a 20% chance. It's enough to kill any Mogs at the entrance to this tunnel and likely collapse this tunnel," Harry explained.
"That would trap us down here," Six suggested.
"Or trap Mogs down here if we are on the other side. I suspect they would be able to dig their way out with all of the tech they have down here," Harry replied.
"Let's start with the passage directly across from us," Six suggests. "Alright," Harry agreed.
The passage was too narrow to easily hold hands. So, Harry maintained the necessary skin contact by slipping his hand under her shirt and keeping his hand on the small of his girlfriend's back. She didn't mind. The walkway was only two feet wide. Partway across a Mog soldier carrying a wrapped bundle comes racing towards them. Reacting quickly, Harry wrapped his arm around Six's waist and leapt carrying them both over the soldier further along the walkway. Their hearts were racing when they had safely landed on the walkway. The first tunnel they went into was apparently quarters for the Mogs, a cafeteria, and a shooting range. They ended up going down several branching tunnels.
They passed many labs. It was after about an hour of searching that they came across a row of prison cells. There were about forty cells with steal doors. Twenty to thirty Mogs guarded the cells. Each door is protected by a bubbling blue force-field. As they watch, two guards move a pale emaciated man who looks to be in his late twenties from one cell to another.
"What do you want to do?" Six whispered in Harry's ear.
"I can feel a Garde in there," Harry said. "Don't ask me how. But I can sense it. It's just one. If they have this Garde's chest I just realized where it would be kept, down with the beasts. I think we should go down there and get it before coming back up to rescue the Garde. Once we free the prisoner we aren't going to have long to get out."
"Sounds like a plan," Six agreed.
"First I'm going to plant an explosive probe over the doorway of the cell I can sense our fellow Loric in," Harry said. "Signal me when no Mogs are looking our way."
Harry and Six snuck into the cell block. When they got close to one of the cells he removed one of the explosive probes from an expanded backpack he was carrying. Six maintained contact with him by placing her hand on the small of his back this time. She looked around while he focused with his telekinesis. When she saw that no Mogs were looking their way she tapped her fingers across his back. Harry floated the probe up above the door to the Garde's cell. It blended into the wall.
They slipped out of the cell block. They reversed their path back to the main cavern. The couple made their way down to the beast cage carefully. By this point they had been in the cave for a closer to an hour and a half. It was sweltering hot on the ground level near the lake of green liquid. They took a quick break to drink some water from the pack.
"You doing alright?" Harry asked in a whisper.
"Yes. I don't like being back here. But I'm alright," Six answered. "Are you doing alright?"
"Yeah. I don't like being here either. But we can learn a lot about our enemy from this place," Harry said.
"I agree," Six replied. "I'm looking forward to getting laid when we're out of here," She whispered with a grin in her tone of voice.
"So am I," Harry replied before kissing her.
Six broke the kiss with a squeeze of his manhood. The two moved towards the beast cage tunnel. A cool wind flows out of the tunnel preventing the gas lethal to all animals present in the rest of the cave from entering the beast tunnel. Once the couple entered the tunnel they found it to be lined with barred chambers along either side. It almost looked like the walls of the tunnel were mucus covered. Perhaps it was an effect of the green goo in the lake outside. Harry idly noticed the ten large industrial fans which provided the air out of the tunnel suspended from the ceiling.
The barred side-chambers varied in size. The sounds of the different beast could be heard from the chambers. Harry took note of several dozen krauls on their left. On their right was a pack of hairless creatures that looked somewhat like wolves with yellow eyes. Further down was a cage containing a piken sniffing the air.
"Let's head right for that massive door at the end," Harry whispered. "Alright," Six said. "You're probably right that it would be there."
They passed more strange creatures. They also passed a mechanical room of some sort which looked like it covered ventilation for the whole mountain.
"A good place to slip poison in if we ever need to," Harry whispered. They reached a forty to fifty foot tall and wide door at the end of the tunnel. "Don't make a sound once we enter here," Harry said while indicating a small wooden person-sized door to the left of the big one.
Six gave his hand a squeeze even as Harry willed scent and sound masking charms over them along with a strong Notice-Me-Not charm. The beast within is humanoid with longer arms than a man's. At its tallest it must be fifty feet tall. The beast is sleeping. In the center of the room
on top of a pedestal sits two Loric chests. Surrounding the pedestal is a force-field and a moat of the steaming green liquid from the lake.
Harry analyzed the situation. The force-field was powered by a portable power cell contained within he force-field itself. There was no way the force-field was coming down without waking the beast. Even if Harry could take down the force-field and kill the beast he didn't fancy having to fight their way out of there. He decided on a plan. They moved back out into the tunnel so he could explain the plan.
"I have a way so we can teleport short distances. But it takes a lot out of me. It's a Legacy," Harry whispered.
"I'll cover your butt," Six said. "I can't let anything happen to it." "Ok," Harry said.
Harry focused on creating portkeys to and from within the force-field. He staggered after creating the portkeys. Six caught him. They went over to the side of the tunnel and sat down. Six was really worried. She couldn't see him. But from what she felt it seemed like her boyfriend was close to passing out. She held him with his head laying against her chest. She wasn't sure how long they laid there. It was probably closer to twenty minutes before she felt him stir. She felt him sit up.
"You ok?" Six whispered.
"I'm ok now," Harry said. "Thank you. This next bit could be a little disorienting. I am not completely certain it won't wake the beast."
"I'm ready," Six whispered.
Harry pulled her tightly against him and then activated the portkey. The concealment they were under held. The beast was still sleeping. They were inside the force-field. Harry produced two fake Loric chests from his backpack. They had come knowing it was possible to recover some Loric chests. Six kept her hands on the chests the moment they left the backpack. So the chests were invisible. Together the two of them swapped the fake chests out for the real chests which were slipped inside the backpack. The fake chests had been constructed to adapt their appearance to the fake chests. They portkeyed back to the other side of the door. Six immediately kissed Harry heatedly.
"One of those was my chest," Six whispered excitedly.
"That's great," Harry said with a grin. "Let's head back up to the cell block."
The couple slowly made their way back to the main chamber, up several levels, and back the tunnel to the cell block.
"Can you teleport us into the cell like before?" Six whispered.
"I'm not sure. I imagine these cells are pretty small," Harry mused. "It would be bad without being able to see it or know that it is a clear open area with no obstructions."
"How should we handle this then? Fight?" Six asked.
"I think we are going to have to. But if we stay invisible it should be easier. Let's disable the force-field and lift the door. We'll slip into the cell and get our fellow Garde. With any luck they will think it is a malfunction for just a little while," Harry suggested.
"Alright," Six said.
The two of them slipped into the room. Many of the guards weren't very alert either standing around talking or playing the Mog equivalent of a card game. Harry focused on the control console for the prison cells. It took him a few minutes. Eventually he was able to isolate the feel of the power generator to the force-fields on the cell doors. It was a local generator. He caused a part on the generator to fail with his telekinesis. All the force-fields immediately went out. Harry sent a Notice-Me-Not charm into the door on the cell the Loric was in while Six forced it up with her telekinesis. They slipped inside. A teen with dark hair, no shirt, and three Loric scars on his leg stood up from the single bed in the room.
"Who's there?" Nine asked.
"We are Six and Four," Six said. "Take my hand. I can make you invisible. We need to sneak out of here as quickly as possible if we can."
Nine reached out. Six grabbed his hand and he went invisible.
"Please remain as quiet as possible to not draw attention to ourselves. If you must speak please whisper when we aren't near any Mogs," Harry said.
Several Mogs were over at the console trying to figure out what was going on while the others had come alert. Harry forced the door back down with telekinesis. He removed the Notice-Me- Not charm on the door. The three Loric quickly left the cell block behind.
When they were out in the corridor Nine whispered, "I am Nine. They have my chest somewhere here."
"We've already recovered it along with Six's chest," Harry whispered. "Wicked," Nine said. "Can I get a weapon out of it?"
"I'm at my limit of what I can keep invisible now. We have it in a pocket dimension storage container. If we bring it out I'm not going to be able to keep us invisible," Six explained.
"Here," Harry said as he passed a Loric pistole and sheathed dagger over to Nine by touch alone. "It's a dagger and pistol. Both are Loric technology."
"Thanks," Nine said.
"Slip this around your neck too," Harry said while passing over an armor pendant. "It's body armor. I'll deploy it once you have it on."
"Ok. I've got it on," Nine whispered back.
Harry mentally activated the armor.
"Damn that feels weird," Nine said.
"It could save your life in a fight," Six whispered.
"No complaints here," Nine said. "Just felt weird."
When they came to the entrance of the tunnel it was to find a couple of hundred Mogs on the bridges dividing their half of the chamber from the entrance ledge.
"Shit," Six whispered. "How do we get across?"
"I have an antigravity Legacy, Liberum, which lets me walk on all surfaces. And I can also share my Legacies with others temporarily. That sharing Legacy is called Miras," Nine explained.
"Power us up then," Harry whispered.
Harry felt Nine's fingers on his forehead a moment later.
"We still have to stay in contact for the invisibility. But at least now we can all walk on the wall. Just trust it," Nine whispered.
The three of them walked out of the tunnel and down the wall of the cave. It was surreal. The only thing that kept Harry from freaking out was the fact that he knew he could catch himself with his abilities if he fell. When they reached the walkway that led to the bridge down they went over it to the next ledge. They ended up walking under the bridge to the entrance tunnel. When they reached the entrance tunnel they walked up the wall to the ceiling. The guards were on high alert at the tunnel entrance. There was no way that tarp was moving without the guards firing their weapon.
Harry began shooting the Mogs with his pistol. By the time he killed the first three Mogs, Harry's fellow Garde were firing their own pistols. The Mogs were a cloud of ash when Harry, Six, and Nine walked out into the countryside.
"Let's get to the woods," Six suggested.
"It feels so good to be in open air again," Nine said.
"How long did they have you in there?" Harry asked.
"A year," Nine answered.
When they reached the trees, Six released their hands and they all came into view.
"Wow," Nine whispered when he laid eyes on Six.
"I can't blame you for that reaction," Harry said. "She is beautiful," He said as he held out his hand to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you Nine. I'm Four. But I prefer the name Harry."
"Likewise, Harry. I'm Nine. For now just call me Nine," Nine said. "I go by Six," Six said as she shook Nine's hand.
Just then a storm formed overhead.
"Six," Harry said.
"It isn't me," Six said as a funnel cloud formed.
A spaceship that reminded Harry of a large white pearl spiraled down through the funnel cloud. The door opens and the Mogadorian military leader steps out.
"Setrakus Ra," Nine whispers. Nine grabbed his chest, opened it, and removed a short piece of what looked like pipe before closing the chest. "We can kill him together."
Before Harry or Six could make a decision on how to proceed Setrakus had reached the cave entrance. As soon as he passed through the entrance a glowing force-field formed.
"No offense meant Nine, but I'd like to train a bit together first before we take him on," Six said. "I've fought together with Harry. But you are a new variable. We just met up with Numbers Seven and Ten. We need to train with them as well. They are back at our hotel room."
"No offense taken I suppose. There is a number Ten?" Nine asked in confusion.
"It's a long story," Harry said. "A second ship made it off Lorien and to Earth. It only had one Garde, a baby, along with a few Loric and a bunch of Chimaera."
"We'd better talk as we walk back to the car. I don't want to stick around here," Six said. "Agreed," Harry said while Six nodded.
They began walking towards the car. They decided not to run by unspoken agreement. Harry did pull out his communicator and let Sarah and Sam know the mission was a success.
"Glad to hear you are ok," Sarah immediately sent back. "I've been very worried about you." "I knew you would be. Six and I are completely unharmed. We got her chest along with Number
Nine," Harry replied.
"Wow. The Garde are uniting. You're just missing Five and Eight now. I can't wait to hear all
about it. It has been quiet at the car," Sarah responded.
After a few minutes of talking to Nine, Harry began to get a sense of his personality. Apparently
Six had too. She was willing to give him the advice Harry wanted to. "Nine, can I give you some advice. Take it for how you will," Six said. "Sure," Nine said warily.
"There are currently three unattached male Garde still alive including you, Five, and Eight. There are two female Garde including Eight and Ten. Do you see where I'm going with this?" Six said.
"I got you. Someone will be left out in the cold," Nine said.
"Yes," Six confirmed. "Ella is still a somewhat young girl right now. Marina, that's Seven, is at a perfect age. Now we just met her. So, we don't know her that well. But I can tell you that in general women like guys who are confident and mature without being arrogant. If I were you, I would try to watch myself around her, be kind to her. Tone down the bragging without being too overconfident. Just be very friendly to her."
Nine was thoughtful for a little bit before turning to Six and saying, "I really appreciate that advice. Thanks Six. Harry is a lucky guy."
"Oh he is," Six said with a grin as she glanced at her boyfriend. "I want our species to survive. The faster we pair up and reproduce the better chance of that happening. So why wouldn't I help you."
"No pressure huh," Nine said.
"There is no pressure," Harry said. "If we don't succeed then there is not much of our species left or any to make us feel bad about it. Six and I are going to give it a go. But there is no pressure."
"There's also something you should know before you meet Sarah. Harry fell in love with a human before we joined up, Sarah Hart. She's waiting for us in the car. We're all making it
work. The way we are choosing to look at it is that even a half Loric sired by a Loric would be better for our people than if that offspring didn't exist," Six said.
"So, you have two girlfriends," Nine said looking at Harry with surprise.
"I do," Harry said. "I wouldn't suggest that to Marina if you manage to get together with her." "Noted," Nine said.
When they reached the car, it was to find Sarah waiting anxiously leaning against it. The moment they walked out of the woods she ran to them. She leapt into Harry's arm hugging him for all she was worth. If he had been a human he would have found it very uncomfortable. Then Sarah detached from him and hugged Sarah just as tight.
"I'm glad you are alright," Sarah said as she drew back.
"Thanks," Six said. "Sarah, this is Nine. Nine, this is Sarah Hart."
"It's nice to meet you," Sarah said as she held out her hand to shake.
Nine stared at her in surprise for a moment before returning the handshake.
"Don't mind him. He gets awfully flustered around pretty girls," Six teased. "He reacted the same way to me."
"I'll take it as a compliment," Sarah said. "We had better get out of here."
When they reached the car, Harry warned, "Now don't be alarmed. But the dimensions on the inside of this car are bigger than the outside should allow. Just think of it as advanced Loric technology."
"Wicked," Nine said when he opened the door and saw the inside.
"Yeah. Harry is a genius with your people's technology," Sarah said.
They all got into the car and began driving. They exchanged brief stories with Nine as they let the car drive them. Six's hand rested on Harry's thigh and began edging its way up reminding him of what she had promised to do to him back at the hotel.
When they reached the hotel rooms, Harry knocked. They had left their key cards behind in case they had been captured. It was Marina who opened the door.
"You're back," Marina said with a happy smile.
Everyone entered the hotel room to find Ella, Sam, Emily, and Crayton also present. Introductions were made.
"Hi," Marina said with a blush as she shook Nine's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Marina," Nine greeted warmly.
"Marina, could you get three or four more rooms. Crayton and Ella can room together. And then that would leave a room each for you with Adelina, and a room for Nine. Or you can have your own room Marina. It's up to you," Harry said as he passed her some cash. "Six and I are going to get cleaned up."
"I'll help you get it set up Marina," Sarah said.
Sarah wanted to give Six and Harry the room.
"Marina, could I have a word in private first?" Six asked.
Marina nodded and followed Six out of the room. Sarah joined them. "What is it?" Marina asked nervously after walking down the hallway a bit.
"I don't want to put any pressure on you. Understand that if nothing ever happens then nothing happens. Harry, Sarah, and I are going to do our best to make sure the Loric survive. In fact we are heading back to our room to get working on that," Six said suggestively.
Marina despite growing up in a convent caught on pretty quickly and blushed. "What are you saying?" Marina asked.
"We're saying that at some point Harry will be producing little Loric with Six and I," Sarah said. "There are only two other Loric girls left including you. There are three Loric guys. We don't know anything about Five or Eight. But there's a pretty healthy looking specimen of Loric genes in the hotel room we just left."
"We're not saying jump his bones right away. We're just saying maybe you would want to get to know him a bit better," Six suggested.
"You don't have to get four rooms," Sarah suggested. "And you don't have to share with Adelina."
"Wouldn't that be too forward?" Marina asked, picking up what the other two were suggesting.
"Just tell him that we suggested you two might get to know one another better if you lived in the same room. You can take your clothes to the bathroom when you shower. Give him the option of you getting your own room and see what he says," Six offered.
"Ok," Marina said nervously. "I don't know how I will get Adelina to understand."
"You don't have to get me to understand Marina," Adelina said as she came into view. Adelina had slipped out of the room and eavesdropped. "I agree with Sarah and Six. I wouldn't throw yourself at Nine. But I would certainly get more friendly if I were you. I'll be getting friendly with Crayton."
"Thank you Adelina," Marina said as she hugged her Cepan.
"If you'll excuse me, I have a man to make very happy," Six said as she walked back towards her room that Harry was already in.
"Don't rub it in," Sarah teased.
Sarah took Marina's hand and headed towards the front desk. Meanwhile Adelina went back to the room Crayton was in to talk with him.
"I don't know that I can follow how your relationship works," Marina admitted to Sarah as the two of them walked.
"Let me explain it to you," Sarah said.