Chapter 19: Everything Has a Reason

Darren POV:

Brad, Brenda, JB and I just looked at each other in astonished bewilderment for over a minute. We all saw and heard what just happened when Chen was monitoring Gromorik communications. Ibera was listening and confirmed that Chen’s translation was correct, nearly word for word.

Brad asked, “How is it we missed knowing the Gromoriks were there?”

Ibera looked perplexed, “Well, honestly, when Bobby was looking for interesting places to explore, we just did a cursory check of the native population. We found them technologically equivalent to Earth’s 10^th to 13^th century. That’s why this island seemed to be perfect. Yes, they were using boats, but just to go from one port to another, trading and fishing. None of them were big enough to even begin to start traveling far out to sea. The main reason he chose HIS planet was he just liked the idea that they were more like prehistoric Earth.

“That was all because we were already considering this island as the possible destination for ‘undesirables’ to use. If they were to venture to the mainland, they wouldn’t be able to subjugate these natives as their slaves. We didn’t check very deeply into every aspect. Like other, more advanced beings ALSO inhabiting it. From the broadcast we heard, this planet has huge deposits of Lithium, Dilithium, and Trilithium, which are elements many advanced species use for control and power for spacecraft. I also get the impression there may be enormous crude oil and gas deposits as well as other useful minerals and crystals.”

“So, that’s most likely what these guys are really doing here?” I asked.

Ibera nodded, “Yes. But, just like why they kidnapped Bobby, Mary and CJ, their ‘Prime Directive’ is to seek out and study all higher cases of telepathic abilities. That’s mostly due to their encounters with us. I’m just as shocked as you that they have such sensitive Psi-monitoring equipment. The fact that they picked up the dogs’ use of Telekinesis and their ‘Chameleon’ abilities has me VERY concerned. And not just because our prisoners are possibly in danger. Then, that they can even target the subtler uses like telepathy is still more troubling. This is something that I’m going to have to have Zeus and the rest of his crews investigate.”

JB nodded, “I guess that bears the question ... do we need to rethink helping our prisoners defend themselves? Like with guns or at least better weapons?”

Brad groaned, “Aaargh! We’re going to have to monitor things closer. I’m just afraid that giving these guys guns could be like turning a fox loose in the henhouse! Even if we give everybody weapons, we could be unwittingly escalating the aggression that we’ve already seen that Elmer’s group is contemplating. If this was after a few years, and they’d proven they’d changed their ways, that would be one thing. These guys are not there yet! And remember, many of these guys were assassins. I’m going to have to lean toward looking for a different answer.”

I didn’t totally agree with his assessment.

To me, Blaine’s group has convinced me they’ve really changed their ways. Even Max’s group seems to be embracing trying to work together to achieve a better life. Yes, there’s no way I’d want Elmer’s hooligans to ever get weapons, but, I didn’t feel that depriving everyone, just because of them was right, either.

I voiced that opinion and found that Brad was the only one who disagreed entirely. He was caught up in the ‘Pandora’s Box’ aspect of giving any of them weapons. I caught a glance from JB and Ibera that all might not be lost on the defense front. So, I decided to drop it for now.

Especially because Ibera stated that she was going to delve into what the Gromoriks really had going, herself. We all agreed to her idea and we knew she’d keep us posted on what she discovered.

I wanted to talk to Lolita and JB was hyper-yearning to talk to Annie.

We’d been trying to honor Brad’s wishes to stay ‘detached’ to the prisoners, but, the heart wants what the heart wants. He didn’t actually forbid it; he just didn’t want us to be part of their story.

Well, too late, we already were.

Neither girl would still be alive if not for our ‘intervention’. And, Annie was actively staying away from getting sexually close to any of her guys. She’d accept kisses and return them eagerly, but, always stopped short of turning them into sexual invitations. Lolita was a little different, because of her age and previous lack of experience, but she too seemed conflicted.

Maybe I was reading it wrong, but, that’s why I needed to talk to her again.

With my unique situation with Sarah and all of Charlie’s Family, my old feelings of sexual monogamy needed to be shared with Lolita. And JB felt the same.

With Charlie, Bob, CJ and Mary all missing, JB and I had more or less stepped into their lives. We knew we weren’t taking anyone’s place, but we seemed to be firmly ensconced as full members of the Family. We’d been accepted by everyone, especially the ‘East Coast’ Branch who we saw often. It would be even more when Linda and Larry Jones get their ‘Hacienda’ built, where they would all finally be able to live together.

But, that wouldn’t be for nearly a year.

We were just a little over a month away from when they were expecting Greg to reappear out of the portal. The one he’d inadvertently entered a few seconds later than he was supposed to.

Jamie, his wife, couldn’t help but get emotional. We all laughed when she said she wasn’t sure what she’d do first. Kiss him or slap him! Jamie is quite a special lady and a true redhead ... fiery temper and hot-blooded lover. Greg was really one lucky guy. We just hoped he’d survive the reunion!

Thinking of all that gave me an idea. I needed to get with William (Monte) to see what he might be able to obtain to help our prisoners ‘monitor’ the Gromoriks. With his connection to this secret group, he might have things available that we couldn’t possibly get our hands on. Not to mention the entire family’s collection of people with special abilities.

JB and I were still ‘the rookies’, but, with our abilities getting stronger and more second nature, we could now be counted on whenever needed. Which William, Maggie and the rest of their close-knit, 8 member, ‘sub-clan’, said they’d call on if needed. We were all communicating and more or less working together to find Charlie and the others. As we speak, they were infiltrating the Gromorik base here, on Earth, trying to find Bob, Mary and little CJ. Rex and Jeremy were both on that and they just may have the means to really assist us.

I planned on alerting them tonight, as soon as JB and I get home.

Lonnie & Lucy:

The two days following their ‘first night’ encounter would have been spent in bed if Lucy had her way. Even Lonnie admitted it was like being on a honeymoon. They managed to find a lemon tree and even some sugar cane that they used to make, as Lucy put it, ‘the best lemonade ever’. They caught some fish, so they managed not to use any more of their precious MREs.

Lonnie climbed the mountain and using his binoculars, saw that they were indeed north of their island. He figured their island to be about 50 to 60 miles to the south. They agreed that the first day the wind was blowing south, they’d get headed back.

On his way down, he noticed storm clouds coming and the wind was beginning to shift from the south to the east. From the little he knew about previous storms, he knew there was a good chance tomorrow the wind would likely be out of the north.

When he told Lucy of his reasoning, she appeared sad, “Oh Lonnie, the last few days have been totally amazing! Can’t we stay just a few more days? Maybe until after the next storm?”

He embraced her tenderly, “Oh Lucy, I love you! I wish we could stay here too. But, don’t you think we’d get lonely, being out here all by ourselves? That’s why I think we need to go and claim our new home and start on our plans to get in with the Normistronzo’s. We’ve got so much stuff they’ll need they should be more than happy to accept us into their group.”

Lucy let out a deep sigh, “But, they’re all one Family. Won’t they be expecting me to have sex with them all? I only want to be with you now. I’m growing accustomed to that great tongue of yours and won’t ask you to do it with 8 guys jism flowing out of me!”

“Luce, it’s not like they’ll want you every day. If it gets out of hand, you and I will split. Like immediately, and find someplace else. Maybe even come back here?”

“Okay, Baby. You’re my leader! I told you I’d follow you anywhere. Just don’t hold it against me if I hope we end up back here?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t, look at the bright side. Tonight I’m gonna lick and suck that sweet pussy of yours till you pass out again! Then, and only then, I plan on fucking you senseless!”

And Lonnie was true to his word.

It wasn’t the frantic fucking of their first night. It was three hours of much more sensuous and erotic lovemaking. They both used every appendage on their bodies to impart pleasure to the other.

First, while a storm raged outside their cave, they kissed in a stormy, raging passion of their own.

Lucy started by going into a ‘69’ and swallowing Lonnie’s cock all the way to the root. Lonnie then reciprocated by swiping her moist labia and rabbit-licking her clit causing her to nearly scream. She backed off his cock, for fear of accidently biting him, then gasped when he stuck his tongue deeply into her eagerly twitching gash. Lonnie was able to wrap his lips around her clit and nip at it with his teeth, making her jump and scream.

She grasped his cock and slowly began squeezing and stroking it before reinserting it into her mouth. She sucked hard, then erotically, gently squeezing his balls, eliciting a happy groan that was muffled by the fact that his face was still buried in her soaked labia and pussy.

He raised his head, “Oh Goddd! Let me feel your pussy with my cock? I need to feel your depths. To me, that feels like home.”

“Well, come home then, lover!” She moaned as she rolled onto her back and spread her long, athletic legs invitingly.

He slowly drove inside her, then put her legs on his shoulders and sank as deeply into her hot pussy as he could. He felt the tip of his cock ‘bottom out’ on her cervix, causing her to let out a crying scream and she squirted copious amounts of her juice onto their joining. She started humping her hips wildly, causing him to hit that spot over and over again. This triggered her to cum even more and her movements became frantic and out of control. Lonnie reciprocated by humping like his cock was a hammer drill. He felt the burning rush of cum flowing from his balls and warned Lucy, who in turn begged for him to let it go and fill her.

He cried out in ecstasy as the electric rush became one of the most powerful orgasms he ever felt. With one last deep plunge into her cervix, he unleashed his load that triggered her final orgasm which was a squirting, howling, multiple orgasm that sent her into another world.

When Lucy awoke, Lonnie was still inside her and she was lying on top of him, trying to keep him from slipping out. She had a big smile on her face, that was a reflection of his.

“Can we sleep like this, Lover?”

“Oh, Lucy, yes, yes we can. If we don’t move, I may stay inside you. But if not, we can at least cuddle, okay?”

“I love you, Lonnie.”

“You too, Lucy. Let’s get some sleep, okay? We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

In the morning, the wind had indeed switched, so they loaded up their boat and said goodbye to their island.

They paddled out of the bay and promptly turned south. The wind was straight out of the north and they wasted no time fastening their new sail onto the frame Lonnie built. It was a good thing the wind wasn’t stronger or it would have gotten blown right out of their hands.

They managed to get the four loops around the ends of the bamboo, just as a gust of wind sent their little boat sailing south at a very good clip. Lonnie and Lucy fell onto their seats, fighting to hold on. Lonnie took the tiller in his left hand and grinned as he was now easily able to see where he was going.

They chatted excitedly as their island quickly drew ever closer.

Lucy exclaimed, “It feels like we’re flying! How fast do you think we’re going?”

Lonnie chuckled, “Almost as fast as the wind! Do you feel the wind on our backs? No, because to us, we’re going nearly the same speed! I’m guessing we’re going about 20 to 25 MPH. At this rate, we’ll be there in less than two hours. And, all without having to paddle!”

He was right. As they approached the north end of the island, they had to fight the tiller as the wind kept pushing them toward the easterly side. As they managed to get near the Normistronzo’s beach, the wind changed direction and they were forced to take down their sail.

They stowed it and manned the oars.

They could see they still had about five miles to go to their caves, but the wind was now out of the West, making rowing more difficult. When Lonnie saw Otis and Markus out fishing, they hollered at them and paddled into shore to talk.

This was exactly what Lonnie had hoped would happen.

Markus asked, “So, where are you two coming from?”

Lonnie chuckled, “Well, that’s a long story. We wanted to go off on our own, but, got dragged out to sea by the tide when we were sleeping in the boat. We paddled to what we thought might be our island, but it was really a much smaller island about 50 miles north of here. If you climb up the mountain, you might be able to see it with binoculars or a telescope. Anyway, we went there and I built a makeshift sail.”

Markus nodded, “We saw it. Why did you take it down?”

“Because, the wind changed direction and it started pushing us the wrong way. It only works if the wind is going in the same direction as you need to go. It’s not like Max’s sail, that’s a bit more versatile. Plus, I don’t really know how to sail. We only came back today because the wind was blowing this way!”

Otis smirked, “So, the wind blew, your shit flew and in sails Lucy and Lonnie!?”

Lucy giggled, “Something like that! I must say, though, we were going like a bat out of hell when the wind was right! We’ve only been in the water for a little over two hours. If we had to paddle all the way, we would still have many hours to go! So, my ‘one-armed man’ was pretty clever in designing his sail. It beat the fuck out of paddling.”

Markus clapped as he looked over Lonnie’s sail-frame. “Simple, but effective? In the right conditions, that is. I see you have quite a collection of supplies? Where did you get all this stuff?”

“Lucy and I inherited most of Josh and Sly’s things when Max and Tiny killed them for killing AL Hunt, Howard Humbacker, Franklin and that weasely Sam dude. It was mostly Sly’s idea, so, I don’t really hold a grudge, except that when Max found out I killed Franklin, the bastard cut off my hand!”

“I guess you’re just lucky to be alive, then. Aye?” Markus smirked. “I’m surprised Max gave you guys anything.”

“I think it was his way of getting rid of me without my wanting to kill him. After all, Lucy and I DO know where he lives!”

Markus grinned, “Oh yeah, and where might that be? The only ones I know about are Blaine’s crew and my old crew. And I think they’re moving closer to Blaine.”

“Well, they’re in some caves about a mile and a half inland from the south end of this island. So, they’re about 40 some miles south of here.”

“And where are you guys living?”

Lucy gushed, “We’re taking over Marek’s old cave down by the mountain intersection, because, those guys hooked up with Max.”

Markus winked at Otis, “Would you guys wanna shack up over by us? We’ve got like four caves near each other. So, we’ve got plenty of room.”

Lonnie looked to Lucy for her feelings. She shrugged, noncommittally, “Well, I guess we could check it out. We did kinda want to be by ourselves, though?” She said, almost whining.

“I guess we could check it out, we just need to drag our boat up further and set the anchor. I learned my lesson on that!” Lonnie added.

Markus nodded, “No kidding. Uncle E and his boys lost their first boat literally hours after the dummies got here! If you guys want to ... join us, it could make things very interesting.”

Blaine’s Bunch: A couple days earlier...

Blaine and Naomi heard from Max that they had made a second sail and were loaded up and on their way. Blaine and his group were overjoyed that Max and his group were coming and that they had a whole bunch of extra supplies and tools that they were eager to trade and hopefully use together.

That joy was somewhat overshadowed by Max’s cryptic comments that they had some very disturbing news. But, that they didn’t want to discuss it until they got there and could talk in person. He said that everything was fine, health-wise and not to get their undies all in a twist, just yet.

Blaine chuckled and told him that none of them WORE undies anymore!

Blaine and Steve had found some great caves on the north side of the East-West mountain range that he felt would be perfect for them. They were only a few hundred yards from the beach and well protected by trees and other growth.

They also found a natural pathway that led to more caves, higher up, and the same pathway also led to nearly the top of the mountain. One of the higher caves lead deep into the mountain, but they hadn’t taken the time to fully explore it yet.

By late afternoon that same day, Max and his two boat ‘Armada’ landed on the north side of the mountain on the beach that would be their new ‘home port’.

Blaine’s whole group were there to welcome Max and his crew. They were all giving hugs, kisses and ‘high-fives’, making it a really joyous occasion.

After securing the boats high up on the beach, Blaine and Steve led Max, Tiny and Chen on an expedition to investigate the caves they found.

The first one was small, but a bit too close to the beach and offered little natural protection from being discovered. The next one Steve said had a ‘funny smell’ and there seemed to be a puddle of some strange blackish, thick liquid.

Max saw it and started laughing, “Uh, guys, this is fucking crude oil! Holy shit! This is a game changer. My uncle lives in Texas, and as he puts it, ‘this shit is liquid GOLD’.”

Blaine’s mouth was wide open in disbelief, “Whoa, we have a cave near us with the exact same stuff in it! Are you telling me you know how to refine this stuff into, like, gasoline?”

Max chuckled, “Okay, slow your roll. First, we’d need to refine the stuff and I have no idea exactly how it’s done. I know it’s like, ‘distilled’ in these huge vessels that are similar to pressure cookers.”

Blaine grinned, “Well, as you know, I just happen to have two ‘stills’. Would those work?”

Max shrugged, “Maybe, but then, you’d never be able to use them for making booze again. Let’s think about it some more, then see. I DO know, that this ‘sludge’ will burn and just a little will burn for a very long time. We could maybe devise a way to at least start using it for lanterns or torches. Now, let’s see what else you jamokes have ‘stumbled’ onto?”

They were shown the other caves and the trail leading up the mountain to the caves higher up. Two of the caves on the ground level were good and had small openings and large, high interiors, making them very suitable.

When they got to the ones up about 150 feet or so Max smiled, “Okay, now these are REALLY nice! What I especially like is that the openings are facing slightly west, so, they aren’t easily spotted from the ground. These would be perfect!”

Blaine chuckled, “That figures! But, getting all your stuff up here is going to be a back-breaking bitch.”

Max stepped out onto a big ledge. He looked around for a second and saw their boat.

He pointed at it then grinned, “Not when you see one of the surprises we have to show you. Trust me, Annie and Chen will have all of our stuff up here faster than you could ever believe! We just have to make sure they have plenty of water...”

Blaine and Steve looked at each other with scrunched up faces.

Max chuckled at them, “Trust me. But first, let’s see the rest of the caves up here. You said one went very deep into the mountain?”

Steve nodded, “Yeah, but it’s up a bit higher, on like the next level, come on, follow me. I’ve got one of our flashlights so we can see. We didn’t have one when we first found it.”

They nearly ran along the steadily climbing path, up another 200 feet or so higher. When they reached the entrance, it too was facing slightly west and had a much bigger natural landing.

Max was ecstatic, “Wow! I can see your beach from here! Does this path lead all the way to the top of the mountain?”

Blaine shrugged, “I think so. We didn’t go all the way, but it looked like it might. Do you want to go now, or check out this cave?”

Tiny chuckled, “I’ve had enough climbing for now. Let’s check out the cave, okay?”

As soon as they entered, Steve turned on the flashlight and they quickly followed the wide, somewhat curvy cave. There were several wide spots and Max said, “Hold up. Do you guys feel that breeze? It might be a natural vent, or this cave goes all the way to the other side!”

Blaine and Steve grinned, then Blaine said, “We didn’t get this far last time, ‘cause we couldn’t see. Let’s check it out!”

The five of them promptly stepped up the pace and a couple minutes later saw light coming in up ahead of them. They’d found that this cave was actually a tunnel through the mountain. When they emerged on the other side, they found another huge ledge, but no pathways of any kind.

Max was excited, “Wow. This would make a perfect place for a lookout post! You can see all the way to the south end of the island from here! And with the trees growing on the side of the mountain, this place would be hard to spot from the ground. I love it! Shit, we could ALL live up here if we wanted to!”

Blaine started laughing, “Sure, but, getting water and other things all the way up here would be brutal! Your other spot, down a level will be bad enough. This would be ridiculous!”

Tiny nodded, then chuckled, “Unless Annie and Chen helped us, that is?”

Blaine and Steve both shook their heads, “Say what!? Just how could they help? You guys MUST have found some wacky-weed and have been smoking it!” Steve cackled.

“Let’s get back to the other end and maybe we can show you!” Max chortled.

They quickly headed back to the other end, pausing occasionally to see if there was any point where they could see light on both ends. It wasn’t to be. They knew they would always need a flashlight, or risk stumbling into the walls. When they reached the north side, they hollered for Chen and Annie to move nearer to the boats so they could see them.

Max hollered, “Hey Chen, how’s about giving us a lift down so we don’t have to walk?”

Chen pointed and Max floated up a few feet then moved away from the ledge and slowly ‘floated’ down to the ground.

Everyone in Blaine’s group were flabbergasted, just standing there with their jaws on the ground. Blaine went next and after an initial scream, seemed to nervously enjoy the ride.

Annie and Chen alternated until all five guys were back on ‘terra-firma’.

When they all stopped laughing, they noticed Athena getting her little butt chewed out by Zeus.

“You’ve been a naughty girl, Athena! I didn’t give you permission to do that yet!” He said in his silent, but deep James Earl Jones voice.

Everyone who could ‘hear’ started giggling. Especially when Athena said, “But Daddy, they needed the help to get their stuff all the way down to their boats! I’m sorry, please don’t hate me?”