M/f, f/f, M/ff , MF
====================================================
Castle In The Sand
By Deana Johns.
Copyright 1997
All rights reserved. Limited permission to post is
granted providing this header remains intact. May not be
posted to any pay sites. May be offered as part of a
collection, also provided this header remains intact.
Permission to archive is also granted.
---------------------------------------------------------

This is an adult story, if you shouldn't be reading it,
don't. I trust this is sufficient warning, given that I
am posting this to a predominantly adult area to begin
with.

My most sincere thanks go to Jean Walker for the
outstanding -and massive- task of editing  this story. If
there is something wrong, then it is my fault as I did
some of my own editing afterward, adding back in sections
I had once removed to make it tamer in hopes of
publishing it.

As always, comments are desired, welcome, and helpful. I
especially like to hear from women.  Please reply to:
deanajohns at softcom dot net
---------------------------------------------------------


                     Castle In the Sand



Chapter  91

Judy hadn't told Cindy that they had company at the silo.
When the helicopter came in for a landing there was an OD
green Hum-vee parked by the silo.

An armed soldier came out at the sound of the helicopter
setting down.

At first Judy and the other two were concerned. They had
the Pilot wait while Judy went to check it out.

The man produced his ID for her.

"Mr. Howdy thought it was best that the Silo be guarded
while you folks were away." the soldier explained.

"Thank you. I was a little concerned. I didn't expect
anybody to be here." Judy said.

"Looks like you've got quite a load. Let me help you
carry that stuff in." he offered.

"Thanks. That would be nice." Judy said.

She thanked the Pilot of the helicopter and he joined in
helping the women cart their packages into the Silo.

He was awed by the luxury that met him inside.

"I had no idea." the pilot said.

"That's the idea." Judy chuckled.

"I think it was a fine thing you folks did for your
country." the pilot said, before climbing into the
helicopter.

"Thank you. We didn't do all that much. Just let people
follow us around. Now John and Kevin, they were the real
hero's." she said.

"I think you all did a great thing, but I look forward to
shaking their hands when they come back from their
honeymoons." the pilot said.

"Thank you. And thanks for a nice flight in." Judy said.

"You're quite welcome for that. It's seldom I get
passengers as lovely as you three.... Just when I get a
call to come here." he chuckled.

"Thank you. Have a safe flight back." Judy told him.

The pilot began his pre-flight check. He fired up the
turbine and the rotor began to spin up. Suddenly there
was an odd grinding noise and the pilot swore and shut
down the engine. The rotor slowly came to a stop again.

"Trouble?" Judy asked, returning to the pad.

"Yeah, looks like I lost a bearing on my rotor pitch
control. I'd better have a look at it." he said, climbing
out.

He climbed up on top of the Helicopter and examined the
central rotor.

He moved some arms as he bent his head to examine the
area. Finally he climbed down. He climbed back into the
cockpit and put on his headset, trying to call in. He got
a hold of his base and talked to his mechanic. Finally he
climbed back down and turned to Judy.

"They have to fly me out a part to fix it. But they won't
be able to get one until tomorrow now. Looks like I'm
stuck here. I'm sorry about that. Do you mind if I sleep
in the chopper tonight?" he asked.

"No need to do that. We've got plenty of unused beds
inside. You're most welcome to come inside." Judy said.

"Thank you, but I wouldn't want to impose." said the
pilot.

"No imposition at all. We can use the company." Judy
said.

"You can keep me company, if you have a bedroll. I'm set
up in the first room when you go in. My relief will be
here around midnight." said the solder.

"You both shall have a soft bed and a good meal. Don't be
silly." Judy said, leading them inside.

"Thanks. I could use a good meal. Mr. Howdy didn't want
to be an imposition on your privacy, so I've been on
field rations for a week." said the soldier.

"That we can fix. You'll find Amy and Alice to be
excellent cooks." Judy said, leading them to the kitchen.

"This is mighty nice of you Ma'am." Said the pilot.

"It's Miss. My name is Judy." she said.

"Yes, I know. I saw you on TV. Nice to meet you Judy, I'm
Steve." said the pilot.

"Jim, yes nice to meet you Judy." the soldier said.

Judy found the younger women in the kitchen already
working on dinner. They had already changed into some
terry shorts and tube tops that had become the standard
uniform of the Silo when dressed at all. Judy was
grateful that the matched pair was dressed at all.

"Two more guests for dinner ladies. This is Steve, our
pilot and Jim, our protector." Judy said, "Steve had a
little trouble with his helicopter so he'll be spending
the night with us."

"Nice to meet you." the two triplets said in unison.

"I'm Amy, this is Alice." Amy said.

The men shook hands all around with the women. Judy could
tell that there was an immediate attraction between the
men and the matched pair. She excused herself to go
change. Taking a long hot shower in the process.

Returned similarly clad to the twin pair. She wasn't a
bit surprised to find them sitting on the men's laps.

"Dinner's almost ready." Alice said, looking up at her.

"I see that you two didn't waste any time making our
guests feel welcome." Judy smirked.

"They're real nice men." Amy said.

"Let me guess. They just came up and sat on your laps and
said 'Hi'." Judy chuckled.

"How'd you know?" asked Steve.

"I just know my girls." Judy said, pouring herself a cup
of coffee.

"Your girls?" Jim asked in alarm.

"Relax, a term of endearment." Judy chuckled, sliding
into a chair.

"I'll bet it's nice to be home again." Jim said.

"Yes, it does feel very nice. Although I must admit the
White House wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Judy
chuckled.

"Yes, the girls were telling us all about it." Jim said.

Judy looked to the girls and relaxed a bit from what she
saw, they wouldn't knowingly reveal anything they
shouldn't, but they were *very* trusting.

"I'm glad they've been keeping you amused. What's for
dinner?" she asked.

"A big salad and baked chicken breasts. We've got
tomato's coming out of our ears in the hydroponics room."
Amy said.

"Yes, after a week I can imagine. We can slice them up
and dry them tomorrow." Judy said.

"This is some setup you have here." Steve said.

"Yes, not mine. It belongs to John. He did most the work
himself. Cindy and Theresa helped quite a bit. I just
stay here sometimes." Judy said.

"We helped too." Alice beamed.

"Yes, you did several floors, if I recall." Judy said.

"It must be wonderful living here like this. I quite
enjoyed the stars at night. Kind of like back home." Jim
said.

"Where's that?" Judy asked.

"He's from Tennessee." Alice said.

"How long have you been in the Army, Jim?" Judy asked.

"Six years. I'm just on the last of my tour. I wouldn't
have missed it for the world, but I'm ready to get out
now." Jim said.

"Six years, and still got to be a Ranger?" Judy asked.

"Yes Ma'am.. I mean Judy. Kind of surprised you
recognized the patch." Jim said.

"I may not know that much about men, but that patch is
respected all over the world." Judy said, smiling.

"Yes ma..... I mean Judy. Kind of feels awkward. I'm so
used to calling women Ma'am back home." Jim said.

"I don't mind so much. It  just kind of makes me feel a
bit old." Judy said.

"You're not old. You're barely thirty if that." Steve
said.

"That's old compared to these two." Judy said.

"Oh, you're not old... John's much older than you, and
he's not old. He just thinks he is." Amy said.

"Thank you Amy. Maybe I just *think* I am too." Judy
said.

"I think the breasts are done." Alice said.

The two men sort of snickered at each other.

Judy kind of rolled her eyes. Why were men so damn
predictable.



Back East, Sheila finished her walk-through of the guest
house with Sally and Jean trailing behind Catarina and
Bianca. Shannon was at her side.

"It's just perfect. I wish there were some men at the
Silo. I could get started setting the machines up if we
could  get them shipped." Sheila said.

"Why not give Judy a call. She's pretty resourceful. I'll
bet her and the other triplets could get them up to the
pad. We do have the winch motor you know. In fact they
are already in the Maintenance room. They just need to be
jig poled up to the pad. Or maybe the chopper could lift
them right out of the maintenance room." Sally suggested.

"Maybe it's worth a try. I'd hate to see them get hurt
though. Out there all alone by themselves. John would
never forgive me." Sheila said.

"You're a phony." Shannon giggled.

"Why do you say that?" Sheila asked.

"We're talking about three grown women here. Not kids. I
think they can handle it just fine. If not, then they
will be bright enough to realize it. All that woman's
independence thing you've been fighting all your life and
you act like this. That's why I say you're a phony. I
think you've bought the male sexes line of crap." Shannon
teased.

This was enough to get Sheila to pull out her cellular
phone, she grinned at Shannon as she hit the speed dial
to the Silo.

They were just finishing up dinner when the phone rang.
Judy answered it.

"Judy? This is Sheila. Listen, I hate to ask, but would
you take a look at the crates up in the maintenance room.
We sure could use them here, now. I hate to have to wait
until we get some men back to the Silo.

If you could figure a way to get them up on the pad so
the helicopter could pick them up, or find out from them
if they can lift right out of the maintenance room it
would be a big help. Don't go getting yourselves hurt
though. If you can't figure a safe way to do it, don't
try. Alright?"

"Hold on. I have just the right man for the job right
here." Judy said.

"Man?" Sheila asked into a silent line, as Judy was
already in motion.

"Come on Steve, time to earn your keep. I need an opinion
from you." Judy said.

"Anything. Glad to help. What do you need?" Steve asked.

"Follow me. Amy why don't you talk to Sheila and find out
if she needs anything else. Alice, entertain our other
guest... better yet, you'd better come along too Jim. We
might need you." Judy said.

She led them up to the maintenance floor and showed Steve
the crates.

"We need to get these shipped to New York as soon as
possible. Can you hook on them down here, or do they need
to be lifted to the pad?" Judy asked.

"Down here?" Steve asked puzzled.

Judy grinned and flipped the control on the roof. It
rolled back, despite the weight of the large helicopter
on it.

Steve and Jim were in awe. But it made sense. It was a
silo after all, Steve thought.

He looked at the crates. John and Kevin had built them
strong, with integral lift rings. He looked up at the pad
above. Gauging the opening and the crates.

"Normally, I could hook on to them down here, if the wind
was calm.

The trouble is that I'd need someone to hook up, you
could do that, that's not hard, but I don't have a
portable radio so you could direct me. It would be a
bitch getting lined up without one." Steve said.

Alice had tagged along.

"John used to talk to Kevin in his helicopter on his
snowmobile helmet radio." she suggested.

"That was a military helicopter. It might have a
different radio." Judy said.

"Could you get that radio? Maybe I can tune it." Steve
asked.

Alice left and returned with the helmet and radio a short
time later.

Steve looked at the radio.

"Sure, I can tune this. If Jim could direct me and you
could hook up then we could lift right out of here,
tomorrow, as soon as the part arrives. In fact they can
bring in a portable radio with them and a big enough
machine that we can take several at once." Steve said.

"So  if the wind's calm then? You can do it. What if it's
not?" Judy asked.

Steve looked over at the winch motor and the jig pole
mount that John had fashioned.

"We can still do it. We'll just jig pole them to the
surface. That would be a lot safer anyway." he said.

"Well why don't we do that tonight, then tomorrow we can
ship them for sure. Would you two mind? I don't really
know how to run that thing." Judy said.

"Be glad to. What's in the crates?" Steve asked.

"Scanners for Second Skin. We're setting up another salon
back east. Everyday they are here is a day when they
could be making money for us. I'm sure you'd be well
compensated for your efforts." Judy said.

"No problem there, glad to do it. It ensures us the
shipping contract." Steve chuckled.

"Don't you get all our shipping?" Judy asked.

"I think John divides it up between us and the other
service. I don't mind that. He gives us both more service
than we used to see." Steve said.

"Well, thank you anyway. You're a life saver. I wouldn't
have a clue how to run that thing." Judy said. heading
back towards the kitchen.

Amy was talking to Sheila when she got back to the
kitchen.

She handed Judy the phone when she reached for it.

"Sheila? Can do. We can have them on their way to you by
tomorrow sometime." she said.

"Great. Safely?" Sheila asked.

"Yup. Two strapping men here to help." Judy said.

"Amy didn't tell me much. Just how the hell did you find
two men so quick? We just left you a few hours ago."
Sheila asked.

"Steve -our helicopter pilot- had a breakdown when he
went to leave. He's stuck here for the night. Jim's a
soldier that Bill assigned to guard the Silo while we
were away." Judy said.

"Are they cute?" Sheila asked.

"As a button. The girls have already staked claims." Judy
said.

"They may share. They always were generous with their
loving." Sheila chuckled.

"I don't think I'm up to that yet. I was just warming up
to the idea of Kevin and Bill. I'm not ready for a novice
flight yet." Judy said.

"Well... keep an open mind. And have fun." Sheila said.

"So I ship to Second Skin in New York?" Judy asked.

"No, ship them right to Shannon's place. The address is
on John's computer in the Com room. Ship them air freight
to La Guardia, and then arrange a truck shipment from
there to her estate. Make certain that you tell them that
you need them loaded and unloaded. Those union truckers
back here won't do shit if it isn't on the work order.
Ship them priority. The price is worth it. We can make up
the cost in an hour once they're running." Sheila said.

"Will do. If I can I'll get them moving tonight." Judy
said.

"That would be great. If not tomorrow is fine. I just
couldn't see us losing two weeks  while John and Bill are
on their honeymoon." Sheila said.

"Do you think that Bill will be coming back here?" Judy
asked.

"Oh, there is that. He may get sidetracked with this
homeless thing. I think I know your concern." Sheila
chuckled.

"Yes, I was thinking that I'd like to try him first. He's
well used to multiple company with the triplets." Judy
chuckled.

"Well, I'd better get off or it will cost us another
hours production to pay for this call. I'm on my
cellular." Sheila said.

"Okay, have fun back there. I'll get these going as fast
as possible. I love you all." Judy said.

"I ... and *we* love you too. Bye." Sheila said. Judy
hung up the phone.

Amy was standing by.

"What do you mean we staked a claim. We wouldn't leave
you out." she said, pulling Judy into her arms.

"No love. You two go ahead. I'm not quite up to unknown
men yet." Judy said, hugging and then kissing the young
woman.

"Well, if you change your mind. Then just join us. Okay?"
Amy asked, kissing her again.

"Okay, thanks." Judy said.

When they got back to the Maintenance room, Steve and Jim
already had the Jig pole mounted and rigged. Steve was
studying the controls John had interfaced with the winch.

"Nice set up he has here. Real good gearing and control.
Custom job, John's work?" Steve asked.

"I wouldn't know. Probably. What can I do?" Judy asked.

"Enjoy the show. Maybe you could go topside with Jim. He
may need a hand pulling the crate onto the pad and moving
them aside so we can lift another one." Steve said.

He fired up the winch and played out enough cable to hook
up to a crate. The integral rings made it easier. Jim
hooked up the cable to the crate and then headed topside
with Judy in his wake.

Steve worked the wireless controls and slowly lifted the
heavy crate, guiding it with his hands. Jim had hooked a
small guide rope that he tossed up onto the pad. He
showed his face at the edge and took up slack as the
crate raised. When it was high enough, he used the rope
to pull it towards the pad. Judy pulling too as Steve
slowly played out cable again.

They repeated the operation six times. The girls went
topside and helped slide the heavy crates aside to make
room for the others. Finally they were done.

Jim came down and with the girls help they dismounted and
lay the heavy jig pole back down. Then Steve closed the
roof.

"I can't thank you enough." Judy said, kissing both Steve
and Jim on the cheek, "I just wish that there was some
way to get them shipped tonight."

"It's important?" Steve asked.

"Yes, whatever it cost would be worth it. We could make
up the extra shipping costs in an hour of operation once
they get set up. They're just burning money sitting
there." she replied.

"I have an idea. Can I use your phone?" Steve asked.

"Certainly." Judy said, leading them back to the kitchen.

They all stopped off to wash their hands. The cable was
greasy.

Steve looked in his wallet for a number, then dialed it.

"Charley, you old horse thief. This is Steve.... Oh,
pretty good. Listen, have you still got that big Sikorski
sky crane in the neighborhood? You do? Great. How'd you
like a quick easy haul? Oh, six crates about five hundred
a piece. We'd like to get them on a plane tonight, but my
unit's down. ... Ring bearing on the main pitch... I know
you did, you were right. Anyway, how fast can you lift?
Two hours? What's her name? Your *wife*? That's not like
you. Just tell her it's business. Alright, if your
dinners that important. Where... lets see, call my
dispatch for exact long-lat. When you get in the
neighborhood give my cellular a call and I'll turn on the
lights. Don't go setting down on my baby. You'd squash
her like a bug. Yeah, thanks Charley. Oh, you can bill
through my service, I trust these folks to make good on
it. Great, see you then. See ya." Steve said.

"Okay, he's going to lift in about an hour. It will take
him about another to get here so he'll be here in about
two. He's big enough to handle them all at once. I got to
warn you that this will set you back about three grand."
Steve told Judy.

"Outstanding!" Judy said, launching herself at him and
hugging him tightly.

"Easy darling. What about the money?" Steve chuckled.

"We can make that up in less than an hour." Judy said,
just inches from his face.

She suddenly realized how intimate it had become and
slowly untangled herself.

"I'm sorry, I was just excited." she said.

"No need to apologize to me. I'll have to think of more
ways to get you excited...  Make it up in an hour huh? No
wonder you're in such a hurry to get these things going."
Steve said, grinning.

"Now all I have to do is arrange air freight and trucking
on the other end." Judy said.

"Where they going?" Steve asked.

"Long Island, New York." Judy said.

"Through La Guardia? They could end up in Timbuktu if you
shipped through Kennedy." Steve asked.

"Yeah, Sheila said to ship through La Guardia." Judy
said.

"Your best bet is Travis Air Freight, they have a regular
ten-thirty  flight into La Guardia." Steve said.

"Ten-thirty. Could we make that on time?" Judy asked.

Steve looked at his watch and winced a bit. Then took out
his wallet again and consulted his phone list. He picked
up the phone.

"Ben Travis please, Steve Collier calling." he said,
"Then get him at home. Yes, I'll wait.......   Ben? Steve
Collier here. Could you hold your ten-thirty to La
Guardia for six crates.... About like coffins... Five
hundred a piece.... Charley will be flying them inbound
in about two hours.. figure three to get to you. You
will, great... Listen, could you have your man arrange
for truck transport on the other end. This is hot cargo
and they don't need the hassle of lost weigh bills those
union guys are famous for.... Yeah and they need load and
unload too... You'll make the call yourself? Great. How's
the wife... *again?* I would have thought she'd take the
scissors to your tubes by now.... Well congratulations...
yeah, I know. I did that once, remember?. .... Okay, I'll
call you back with the exact address.. out on Long Island
somewhere... Second Skin... I'll see what I can do...
Okay, thanks. See Ya." Steve said, breaking the
connection.

"All set. He'll have trucks waiting when they set down.
They should be able to load up and arrive in Long Island
by around four A.M. Eastern. They'll unload the crates on
that end for you." Steve said.

"You are a miracle worker." Judy said, kissing him on the
cheek and hugging him again.

"I'm just trying to figure what else I could do to get
you excited again." Steve chuckled.

Judy looked at him again. She realized that she was in
his arms once more.

"I seem to be making a habit of this.... Maybe there's a
reason." she said.

"I was hoping..." Steve said.

"Let's find out." Judy said, lifting her head to his.

He bent and softly kissed her. She found herself
quivering a bit in the middle of it. She deepened the
kiss herself. After a time she finally pulled back.

"Yup, there's a reason." she said, softly.

"I think so too... Uh, I guess we'd better get your
crates labeled and get that address for the shipping...
then maybe we can pursue it once we get your cargo on the
way." Steve said.

"Yes... I think I'd like that. What do we need for the
labels?" Judy asked, still in his arms.

"I find a roll of duct tape and a magic marker or a
Sharpie works best... and the address of course." Steve
said.

"I think we have all those.... I guess we'd better get
started...." she said, making no move to leave his arms.

"Yes... we should..." he said, pulling her back to him.

Eventually they got the crates labeled and the address
forwarded to Travis Air Freight.

A short time later Steve's cellular rang with Charley
inbound. Judy showed him how to manually turn on the
lights on the pad. Steve used the radio in his chopper to
direct the line over the load, then had Judy direct him
on station while he took a second cable off the lift
cable and looped it several times around the crates and
then through the lift rings.

He reconnected the cable and then took the mike himself
to direct the lifting to avoid any damage to his own
helicopter or -more importantly- Judy.

"Okay, that's good. You're on your own. Travis Air is
holding their ten-thirty to La Guardia for you, so make
haste... Yes, she's easily as pretty as she sounds...
Prettier... Yeah, same to ya. Thanks Charley, I owe you
big time for this. Yes, yes, send it to my office...
thanks bud, Good Flying." Steve finished.

"As pretty as I sound, am I?" Judy chuckled.

"Easily.. Prettier, You have a lovely voice. Usually
women who sound that nice look like blimps in person."
Steve said.

Judy chuckled.

"Thanks..... Now where were we?" she asked, moving
against him.

The sun was now down and the stars above were in their
full glory as they kissed in the red glow of the pad
lights.

Sometime latter they found the twins with Jim in the
massive hot tub. Judy didn't think a thing about it as
she stripped off her clothes and climbed in. Steve
shrugged and did the same. Poor Jim looked like a basket
case already. Judy didn't know if he had a chance to last
the night.

"Changed your mind, huh?" Amy chuckled from Jim's lap.
Alice was snuggled to his side.

"Kind of. I kept finding myself in his arms.. we finally
discovered there was a reason." Judy said, leading Steve
by the hand to a built in chair and then moving onto his
lap.

"Who am I to complain? I was ready to sleep in the back
of my helicopter." Steve chuckled.

"You certain you're interested in me?" Judy asked,
softly.

"*Quite* certain, darling." Steve said, kissing her
softly.

"Then there's something I think you should know about me
before this goes any further." Judy said.

"What's that?" he asked.

Judy turned to the girls.

"Come here please, Alice." she said, beckoning her with
her arms. Alice stood and moved toward her.

"Boy, are *you* in for a surprise." Jim giggled.

"Hush! This is *serious*." Amy said.

She insured his silence by covering his lips with her
own.

Alice reached Judy and she took her into her arms and
kissed her deeply, not too far away from Steve's shocked
expression. She could feel his reaction underneath her.

"Thank you dear, now you can go back and join your
sister, so Steve and I can have a little talk." Judy
said, squeezing Alice's cute buns before releasing her.

"Let me know if I can be of any further assistance."
Alice chuckled as she moved away.

Judy turned to Steve.

"Well, I know what your body thinks of it... how about
your mind? Still interested?" she asked.

Steve looked at her and nodded.

"There's something else." she said.

"What's that?" he asked, ready for just about anything
after what he'd just seen.

"Just that until two weeks ago I had never been with a
man before. *Ever*... Now I've only been with one. That
was John." Judy said.

"I'll be as gentle as a lamb with you, I promise... John,
the John now on his honeymoon?" he asked.

"Yes, and you need not worry about being so gentle. John
is an *excellent* teacher." Judy said, chuckling at her
memories.

"Yes, I can see that. I was just wondering about him
being on his honeymoon after being with you." Steve said.

"Well, you see, we all love *each other* around here. Not
the guys... But I don't think that would bother me. But
basically there are now thirteen....no, make it
*fourteen* women who are flat assed in love with John
*and* each other. Two of them have now married other men,
but they understand that the women expect to continue
their relationships with each of us. In fact most the
women -except me- have bedded the other two guys. I
expect to in the future. We are one big happy *family*.
We wouldn't want anything or anybody to change that. So
if you can't handle that then maybe we'd better not get
any more involved." Judy said.

Steve thought about things for a bit.

"No, I'm still interested. It's you that I'm interested
in. Not the others. But I don't mind that you feel that
way.

"It just seems kind of odd that I should become exposed
to this sort of thing.... You see, a few years ago my
wife left me -Divorced me- I didn't know why until I
found out she was living with another woman. It made me
think long and hard about things. Fact is that I wouldn't
have minded her seeing the other woman if she'd just
stayed married to me. I even told her that later, but she
didn't seem to be much interested in me anymore.

"Anyway... I went out and *tested* myself. I spent lots
of time hanging around places known to cater to lesbians.
Most weren't the slightest bit interested in me, but I
did manage to convince one couple to come home with me. I
found that I actually enjoyed it very much... not just
what they did to me, but what they did to each other. I
found it incredibly sexy.

"They weren't much interested in a long term
relationship. I wasn't much interested in a short term
one, so we parted company. But ever since then I've had
the desire with me. It's stayed. That's why I find it
kind of ironic. When I found myself becoming interested
in you, I had no clue that you had those inclinations.
Now that I know you do, I'm thrilled to death." he said,
pulling her into a passionate kiss.

Judy lifted her head and smiled at him, then turned to
the other side of the pool.

"Amy, do you think you could spare your sister for a
night? Jim looks like he's almost done for anyway. I
think I could use that assistance you offered, Alice."
Judy said.

"Sure, no problem." Amy said.

She caught Alice and kissed her tenderly before patting
her rump in Judy's direction.

"Have a good time, Sis." she said.

Alice was halfway across the pool when suddenly her and
Amy kind of smiled and shuddered.

"Are you girls *still* feeling each others orgasms?" Judy
asked, chuckling.

Alice kind of smiled and nodded, moving to their side.

"No kidding? You can feel each other's orgasms?" Steve
asked.

"Yeah, sometimes. If  we forget to shut off." Alice said.

"So how's Bill doing?" Judy asked, pulling Alice onto her
lap while still on Steve's.

"Oh, he's keeping up his end of things." Alice chuckled.

"Where are they?" Steve asked.

"Camp David." Judy answered, her lips descending  on
Alice's.

Steve was going to be excited about the concept of
telepathy over such a distance when he was suddenly
distracted by the sight before his eyes. His questions
vaporized as Alice turned her head and kissed him deeply,
Judy's hands exploring her young, firm body.

When they broke out in a sweat, they used the cool
plunge. Judy and Alice helping Amy with an overdone Jim.
The cool water helped revive him enough that some of his
enthusiasm returned. Amy drug him off to her room to use
it up.

Judy guided a *very* happy and noticeably excited Steve
to her bedroom with Alice hanging on his other side. He
wasn't the slightest bit disappointed. Neither was Judy.
Alice *always* seemed to enjoy herself.



Judy enjoyed herself so much that it sort of bothered
her. She wasn't prepared for the feelings she was
experiencing. That's when she left a blissfully sleeping
Steve and Alice and made her way to the kitchen. She had
just brewed a cup of tea when Cindy called.

After the phone call she found that she was less bothered
herself by what she was feeling. She eagerly slipped back
into bed with the sleeping couple. Her motion stirred
Steve awake and he pulled her into his arms. Their
lovemaking was slow and passionate.

Alice hardly seemed to notice as she slept blissfully at
her side. Occasionally she would shudder a bit and smile
in her sleep. Either Bill was doing *very* well, or Jim
had found his second wind.



Shannon and Sheila were baffled and then shocked when the
buzzer on Shannon's gate sounded. At first she thought it
was kids playing a prank, but over the intercom they
determined that it was a delivery from the Silo. Shannon
directed them where to go and triggered the electric gate
mechanism. Then her and Sheila pulled on some clothes and
found some slippers.

"What's going on?" a groggy Sally asked them as they
passed down the hallway.

"Judy's a flipping miracle worker. The crates are here."
Sheila said.

"You're kidding? It's not eight hours since you talked to
her, that's impossible." Sally said, waking up.

"Maybe they entered a time-warp tomorrow afternoon and
came back to now, but put on some clothes and come see
for yourself." Shannon said, heading for he guest house.

Jean stirred and found Sally dressing.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Sheila says the crates are here." Sally replied.

"Huh? I thought... It's not possible." Jean said, looking
at the clock and sitting up.

Sally sat on the bed to pull on her shoes, instead she
turned and kissed Jean and caressed her bare breasts.

"That's what I thought. Lets go find out. If not I can
think of something else worth doing at this hour." Sally
chuckled, circling Jean's nipples with her fingertips.

"You always *were* a morning person. Alright, lets go
see." Jean said, getting up.

A few minutes later they found that it was indeed true.
Not only that, but the men were cheerfully unloading them
and putting them exactly where Sheila was directing them
to.

There were four strong men, even so they had to carry
over a hundred pounds apiece on each crate. They didn't
bat an eye when Sheila directed them up a flight of
stairs for two of the crates. They refused the assistance
of the women. Perhaps it was the sight of four lovely
women so early in the morning that gave them the strength
they needed to muscle the crates up the stairs and into a
large bedroom.

Sheila had them open the crates while she inspected the
machines. They were all in good shape. So were the
computer monitors and such, which were probably the most
fragile. The men opened all the crates for them and
positioned the heavy machines exactly where they wanted
them. They seemed downright cheerful about it.

"You seem awful cheerful for this time of the morning."
Shannon commented.

"Not often we get to meet an academy award winning
actress and three intriguing heroines, stunning beauty's
every one of you." one of the men replied.

"Hell, we'd be happy to do it if you were ugly. You done
this country a great service. It's the least we can do."
said another.

"Well, let me get my purse, so I can tip you properly."
Sheila said.

"No Ma'am. We don't want anything. That wouldn't *feel*
right." said one.

The men all nodded.

"Well, you've done us a great service here. We'd like to
thank you some way." Shannon said.

"What you done for this country is all the thanks we
need." said one.

"Maybe, but you won't leave here un-rewarded." Shannon
said.

She stepped up to one and kissed him full on the lips.

Sheila, Sally and Jean took their cue and moved to the
others. Then they rotated.

They didn't stop until each had kissed each of the
startled men.

"God, my wife finds out I'm dead meat... but I wouldn't
have missed that for the world. You've made my week for
me Ma'am." said one, humbly.

Catarina and Bianca came in on the tail end of it. Sheila
explained to them and each man got kissed twice more
before they got out the door.

"Best damn tip I ever got. Academy award winning
actress.. who woulda believed it." said one.

"Nobody back on the docks, that's for sure." said
another.

The truck pulled out and Shannon closed the gate.

Sheila and the girls set about setting up the machines.
Shannon woke her staff and ordered breakfast sent to the
guest house for all. Afterwards it was just late enough
for her to start calling. By nine o-clock they had their
first customers. Shannon stayed on the phone and by the
end of the day they were booked through the end of the
week. The rest would follow suit once word got out.

About two in the afternoon, Sheila took a break from the
endless parade of stunning nude actresses and relaxed
with a glass of wine while she called the Silo.

She got Amy on the phone.

"Hi, dumpling, this is Sheila, let me talk to Judy." she
asked.

"Oh, she's not up yet. She had a pretty late night,
according to Alice." Amy giggled.

"Well see if you can rouse her anyway, she managed to get
us up at *four* this morning, I want to know how." Sheila
said.

"Okay, I've got to wake them anyway, the man's here to
fix Steve's helicopter. Hang on." Amy said.

After a time a slightly groggy Judy came onto the phone.

"Just one question; How?" Sheila asked.

"How what?" Judy asked.

"How the hell did you get six, five-hundred pound crates
across the country, in less than eight hours after I
talked to you?" Sheila asked.

"Oh... I tapped into something called the old-boy
network. Steve's been explaining it to me. It's how this
country really runs. He got a part for his helicopter
from Atlanta overnight too." Judy said.

"And how was the *old-boy?*" Sheila giggled.

"Not so old, and certainly no boy.. and absolutely
wonderful." Judy said.

"Sound's serious." Sheila said.

"Could be. The mere sight of women kissing turns him into
a raging bull." Judy chuckled.

"What's he like?" Sheila asked.

"A genuine hunk of a man. Bright, witty, educated,
successful and a tender wonderful lover." Judy mused.

"With all that, still want me around?" Sheila asked.

"That's the *silliest* damn question you ever asked. You
*know* I love you." Judy said.

"Yes, love. And you know I love you. I'm thrilled for
you." Sheila said.

"Hell, *I'm* thrilled for me." Judy said.

"Hope you remembered to wear your galoshes." Sheila said.

"No need. Clipped tubes like John." Judy said.

"You trust he's clean too?" Sheila asked, concerned.

"Yup, checked recently. Clean bill of health." Judy said.

"Still not positive, but good as a girl can usually get."
Sheila said.

"Oh, fairly positive. He hasn't been too active for a
while. Had himself checked because he had a little tete-a-
tete with some women he was a little worried about about
a year ago." Judy said.

"Good enough... You sure you know what you're doing?"
Sheila asked.

"No, but it feels right enough. I'm as sure as I've ever
been... but you've known me to change my mind about
things before." Judy chuckled.

"Yeah, when you change your mind you do it in a *big*
way... Well, kiss the girls for me. I love you all."
Sheila said.

"I will...by the way, that shipping is going to set you
back about four or five grand. Total." Judy said.

"Peanuts and well worth it. We'll clear sixty-five in
profit today. With Shannon's cut that still makes forty
grand free and clear. Not a bad day at all." Sheila said.

"No shit. Well, you take care. I think I'm gonna go find
an *old-boy* and *thank* him again." Judy said.

"Okay, have fun... Oh, how did the girls Soldier boy turn
out?" Sheila asked.

"Oh, okay, Amy was quite taken with him, but I don't
think he's up to our crowd." Judy said.

"Out of shape?" Sheila asked.

"Not hardly, an Army Ranger. But perhaps not up to the
triplets stamina." Judy chuckled.

"Well. Time will tell, huh?" Sheila said.

"Yeah." Judy said.

"Well, see you, lover. I'll save a special kiss for you."
Sheila said.

"As I will for you. Bye love." Judy said.

Sheila was barely off the phone when it rang again, she
answered it as Shannon was tied up with Bianca's
afternoon treatment.

"Hi darling, didn't expect you to answer." Mae's voice
said.

"Hi love, how's work?" Sheila asked.

"Don't have a clue. Was running smooth when I last
checked in, but I haven't been near the place." Mae said.

"Really, that's surprising. Not like you at all. Think
there are too many reporters around?" Sheila asked.

"Hadn't thought about it much." Mae giggled.

"All right, love. I know you *too* well, I know you're
busting to tell me something. What is it?" Sheila asked.

"Oh... not much. Got engaged this morning..... Candice
did too." Mae giggled.

"*WHAT?*" Sheila gasped.

Mae chuckled.

"I got engaged this morning, Candice did too." she
repeated.

"To each other?" Sheila asked.

"Well, no. Not specifically, but that was understood."
Mae said.

"Listen, darling. I left you yesterday afternoon, the
only men in sight were the flight stewards, they weren't
your type. Now could you explain a little better what the
hell you are saying?" Sheila asked.

"The flight stewards weren't, but the co-pilot was." Mae
said.

"O-kay, I never saw him. But that sort of explains one.
What about Candice?" Sheila asked.

"The pilot." Mae giggled.

"Candice fell for the pilot?" Sheila asked.

"Like several tons of bricks. A real charming country
boy. A fighter jockey from the Vietnam war. Swept her off
her feet in seconds flat. I think I took hours myself...
okay, it was several minutes at least." Mae giggled.

"And they *both* asked you two to marry them this
morning, and you both accepted?" Sheila asked.

"My, you're quick.. Yup." Mae said.

"And you're serious?" Sheila asked.

"Never been more serious in my life." Mae said.

"Well... congratulations... I guess." Sheila said.

"You don't sound too enthusiastic." Mae said.

"I'm still in a state of utter shock. I leave three of my
lovers yesterday afternoon and within the last ten
minutes I learn that they've fallen madly in love with
charming men." Sheila said.

"Three?" Mae asked.

"Judy and her chopper pilot. Head over heels. The jury's
still out over Amy and her soldier boy." Sheila said.

"You're kidding?" Mae asked.

"Nope. Sounded as serious as you do." Sheila said.

"I've got to call her." Mae said.

"I'd wait a bit, you'd be likely to catch her *mid-
flagranto* if you called now." Sheila said.

"Well, I guess stranger things have happened." Mae said.

"Yeah, I only got to believe six impossible things before
breakfast, but nine before lunch." Sheila said.

"What were the six?" Mae asked.

"Crates. I called Judy last night and asked if it was
possible for them to ship us the three machines for here
before John returned to the Silo. Less than eight hours
latter they were on the doorstep here." Sheila said.

"You're kidding? That's phenomenal!" Mae said.

"Seems to be the day for it. Well, take care, love. I
can't wait to meet these mystery men, all of them."
Sheila said.

"Yeah, I'll try to hold mine back for a while, he's been
talking about a quick trip to Reno. But after Cindy's,
Theresa's and Andrea's wedding, I'm holding out for
more." Mae chuckled.

"Okay love. See you when we get back. Kiss Candice for
me." Sheila said.

"My pleasure. Kiss the girls there for me and her. I love
you, bye." Mae said.

"I love you too. Bye." Sheila said, hanging up the phone.

Sally stepped out of the guest house and stretched and
inhaled deeply.

"Careful, there's something in the air." Sheila mused.

"What?" Sally asked.

"I don't have a clue, but in the past twenty-four hours
three of our lovelies have met men and fallen madly in
love. The jury's still out on a fourth." Sheila said.

"Who?" Sally asked.

"Candice and Mae are flat engaged. Judy's head over heals
and close on their tails. Amy's the iffy one." Sheila
said.

"How the hell did that happen, we only left them
yesterday." Sally asked.

"Three pilots and a soldier that Bill had guarding the
Silo.. respectively." Sheila said.

"There was only two pilots on the plane, I saw the back
of their heads when I boarded." Sally said.

"That's Candice and Mae. They are flat engaged. Judy's
was the chopper pilot who flew them to the Silo. He had a
breakdown and had to spend the night. Apparently he spent
it with Judy and she's all ga-ga over him today." Sheila
said.

"We almost lost Jean too. She's still talking about one
of those delivery men from this morning."  Sally mused.

"Well, I personally am going to avoid all contact with
men until I'm certain that the plague has passed." Sheila
said, heading inside.

She walked in the door and almost ran into a stunning
nude actress that she had been frothing over for years.

"Oh, excuse me." Sheila said.

"That's okay, you didn't see me. You're Sheila, right?"
said the actress.

"Yes... I've admired your films for years." Sheila said,
enthralled.

"Thank you. I've been wanting to meet you since I saw you
on Television." she said, making serious eye contact with
Sheila.

"Thank you.. Nice to meet you. Really. Ah, listen, I'm a
little tired right now, we've been up since four setting
this up. Perhaps we'll meet again sometime." Sheila said.

"Count on it." said the actress, holding Sheila's hand in
both of hers.

Sheila felt herself sinking into the actresses gaze. It
scared the hell out of her and she pulled away and
excused herself. She made her way shakily into the main
house and into her room, closing the door behind her. She
lay on the bed and tried not to breathe too deeply.

The actress spotted Shannon as she was dressing again.

"I thought you said Sheila was interested in me?" she
commented.

"I'd be very surprised if she wasn't." Shannon replied.

"Well, she sure didn't seem like it." replied the
actress.

"That's not like her at all... but we have been up a long
time." Shannon said.

"Maybe so.. that's the excuse she used." said the
actress.

"Excuse?" Shannon asked.

"That's what it seemed like to me." replied the actress.

"I'll see what I can find out." Shannon said, excusing
herself.

She found Sally out on the deck. Relaxing in a chair.

"Know what's up with Sheila?" Shannon asked her.

"Possibly. Why, what did she do?" Sally asked.

"I've been trying to line her up with a particular
actress she's been frothing at the mouth over for years,
apparently she blew it off." Shannon said.

"I think she's in shock. She just found out that Mae and
Candice got engaged this morning and Judy's going steady.
Also, Amy's got a hot prospect." Sally replied.

"How is that possible. We just left them yesterday about
this time." Shannon asked.

"To quote Sheila: '*Three pilots and a Soldier Bill
assigned to guard the Silo while we were away,
respectively*.'" Sally said.

"Three pilots?" Shannon asked.

"The copter pilot to the Silo. Judy's new beaux." Sally
said.

"I can see why Sheila would be rattled by that news. A
month ago Judy was a *devout* lesbian. Mae was a strong
supporter. If not for John I didn't think that either of
them would have had anything to do with men." Shannon
said.

"Well, apparently all of them are big beaux-hunks and
utterly charming." Sally said.

"They'd have to be." Shannon said.

"Anyway, Sheila said she thought there was some kind of
plague in the air and that she was going to avoid men and
try not to breath too deeply until it was known safe. I
think she's taking a nap." Sally said.

"Thanks.. How are you holding up?" Shannon asked.

"I'm okay. Catarina's a fast learner. She's running one
machine. Jean's running a second. Bianca offered to spell
me on the third, but it's in the midst of casting anyway.
I just came out to get a breath of air. We need to add
some ventilation I think. Maybe some vacuum tubes right
on the casting tables. I noticed you have a built in
vacuum system, think it would take full time operation?"
Sally asked.

"If not then it could be adapted to. That's a good idea.
I'll contact my maintenance man." Shannon said.

"That Bianca's a real trouper. I think she's doing much
better." Sally commented.

"Yeah, so do I. I think she does it for enjoyment as much
as for her addiction now." Shannon chuckled.

"Can't fault her for that!" Sally giggled.

"Yeah, I can't either. I guess I'll go give Jean a break.
She's a trouper too, but I'm sure she could use a break."
Shannon said.

"That's very kind of you. May I thank you with a kiss?"
Sally asked.

"You most certainly may." Shannon said, moving to collect
her reward.

"You know, you really don't need to be doing this. The
offer of the location was generous enough without you
doing the work too." Sally said, once she released
Shannon.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world. I'm having a ball."
Shannon said.

"Okay.. but if it stops being fun, feel free to duck
out." Sally said.

"Maybe I will later. Maybe go join Sheila for a nap."
Shannon said.

"Do it, if you feel like it. We can handle things." Sally
said.

"Thanks, well. See you this evening." Shannon said,
slipping away.

A short time later Jean stepped out onto the deck. She
spotted Sally and moved to her side. Sally kissed her and
then told her all the news from the West.

"Most unusual." Jean commented, moving a lock of hair
from Sally's forehead.

"Yes, I thought so. Perhaps John's marriage just made
them more open to things." Sally mused, "I was a bit
worried about you, over those delivery men."

"Oh, I wasn't really interested in them. I think I was
just missing the feel of John and I was a bit vulnerable.
I kind of got turned on when we kissed them." Jean said.

"Yes.. I miss him too. I don't think I'll ever get over
him." Sally said.

"Why would you try? I mean... he's asked each of us to
marry him. If we actually get a chance, I intend to take
him up on it." Jean said.

"I probably will too. It's just that.... I kind of long
for a less global relationship." Sally said.

"Like waking up next to the same person every morning?"
Jean teased.

"You fill that role quite nicely. If I didn't enjoy the
feeling of a man inside me, I'd be quite content living
alone with you for the rest of my life." Sally said,
softly.

"Yes, I quite agree. On both counts. Seems kind of
selfish of us, desiring a man all to ourselves." Jean
said.

"Oh, maybe not so selfish. Most the world lives that way.
I think the thing that separates us, is that we are
willing to give up that sole proprietorship in exchange
for sharing time with an exemplary man. We're not willing
to settle for less." Sally said.

"I think there's more to it. Theresa and Andrea could
have that sole proprietorship, but they choose to remain
involved with the rest of us. I think it's the feeling of
*family* that we all share. None of us have strong family
ties elsewhere, if we have family at all. These people
are *our* family." Jean said.

"You may be right about that. I certainly feel no desire
to contact my parents now. Not that they gave me so raw a
deal, not at all like Theresa and Cindy, but we just
don't have much in common anymore. I think they just stay
together out of habit. They'd miss each other as a
sparing partners." Sally said.

"Yeah, myself I don't have the option. You know my folks
have both passed away. I have a brother in Jersey, but
he's all wrapped up in his wife and three kids. A
barbecue in the suburbs with a few drinking buddies is
the high point of his life." Jean said.

"Nothing wrong with that, unless it becomes the context
of your whole life." Sally said.

"It is, with him. He's in hog heaven." Jean said.

"I can see why you're not closer. Well, guess I'd better
go spell Catarina. Don't forget to thank Shannon. She's
being a real dear today." Sally said.

"Everyday. Near as I've been able to tell. We wouldn't
have any of this business if it wasn't for her. Stunning
women, every one of them. I'm so damn horny I could
bust." Jean said.

"Perils of the job. I'll be happy to cure that once we
shut down for the day. Maybe we can administer Bianca's
next treatment." Sally said.

"She's already got two dates for the night." Jean
chuckled.

"I heard you turn down that many yourself." Sally said,
standing.

"As I did you." Jean said.

"Well... perhaps later. So many on the first day just
made me feel like a cheap date." Sally said, bending back
to collect a kiss.

"Just like when I used to get offers as a waitress." Jean
chuckled.

"Yeah, see you in a bit." Sally said, excusing herself.

She stepped in and found Catarina doing her best to deal
with an attractive, but belligerent patron. Probably one
of the administrators wives that Shannon had to schedule
to *grease the machinery*.

"I'll take over if you'd like to take a break, Catarina.
Now, what seems to be the problem, Ma'am?" Sally said
smoothly.

Catarina looked eternally grateful as she slipped away.

"As I was trying to tell that bubble headed foreigner, I
want a particular piece of art on my outfit. She kept
saying she couldn't do it." the  woman said.

"That *bubble headed foreigner*, as you refer to her,
was awarded the *Legion of Merit* award by the President
just over a week ago, for exemplary services rendered to
this country. This is her *first* day training in this
position. But she was correct in her assertion. We can't
put a specific piece of artwork on an outfit because of
the copyright laws. If you can produce legal proof of
copyright ownership, a valid release of copyright or
evidence of royalties paid to the copyright owner for the
*specific* purpose of producing an outfit, then we will
be happy to oblige you. However, there are a great many
pieces of famous artwork which are considered to be in
the public domain now. I would be most happy to show them
to you." Sally said, keeping her temper and smiling.

"Well, I expected better service than this for what
you're charging." said the woman.

"We are charging that particular rate, because of
accelerated bookings. If you dealt with our normal
salon's you couldn't get an appointment for six months.
But that has nothing to do with the fact that we must
operate within the laws and regulations of a particular
jurisdiction. The copyright laws are federal laws, and in
most cases are covered by international treaty. So there
are few places on earth that you could go to legally
obtain what you are asking for. We certainly cannot
provide it if we wish to continue in operation. Which we
do. If you wish you could commission a custom piece of
artwork and return at a latter time with it. Otherwise,
may I show you what we *can* do for you?" Sally said.

"Well, I guess while I'm here... What have you got?" the
woman asked.

"In these catalogs we have a listing of all the artwork
that we have on file. There is a print of each work with
a reference number. If you would care to select one then
I can call it into the computer and show you how it would
look." Sally said, offering the woman a thick catalog.

"Wouldn't it be quicker to view them on the computer?"
asked the woman.

"No Ma'am. You can view eight works on one page at a
glance. It takes several seconds to call in each image on
the computer, *after* the proper CD is inserted." Sally
explained.

"I would have thought that you would have better
computers." said the woman.

"Ma'am. These are the fastest computer workstations
available that we know of. If you know of a faster one
then we would be *very* interesting in knowing about
them." Sally said, smoothly.

Finding no edge for a fight, the woman consoled herself
looking through the catalog. Sally glanced at the order
sheet. The piece of artwork that the woman wanted would
have looked absolutely dreadful on her.

Sally knew of another work within the same style and
period that would work out very well, she consulted her
own catalog and pulled up the image. She mapped it over
the image and turned to the woman.

"Ma'am, I've selected a work that I think would suit you
very well, what do you think of this?" she asked.

The woman looked up, prepared to do battle and was
instantly entranced by the image on the screen.

"Oh, that's *just* what I wanted!" exclaimed the woman.

"Yes, Ma'am. Would you like to view it from other angles?
It's best to know how it looks from any direction. A
particular image may look great from one direction and
downright embarrassing from another." Sally said, turning
the image.

Catarina met Jean out on the deck and chose a chair
beside her.

She rubbed her eyes.

"God, that woman would not listen to me. She acted like
her husbands position as a minor local dignitary entitled
her to ignore the law." she said.

"Yeah, kind of like when I'd get an adamant customer at
the diner. They'd demand roast beef when we were out of
it. Like their desires should automatically produce what
they wanted." Jean chuckled.

"I am not so sure that I am up to working with the
public." Catarina said.

"You'll do fine. Actually, you will find that -for the
most part- the public is very easy to work with. The
problems arise when you have to deal with a person who
*thinks* they are important, whether they are or not. In
fact, the ones who actually *are* important are easy to
work with too, because they usually got to be important
by understanding how things work." Jean chuckled.

"And you learned such great wisdom working at a diner?"
Catarina asked.

"A place of amazing diversity." Jean chuckled.

"Perhaps that is where I should start." Catarina said.

"No, that is *not* the best place to learn. Watch Sally.
She's very good with the customers. Observe how she deals
with them, how she tries to turn bad things into
opportunities to make the customer happy.

See, all the customer wants, is to be happy. Sometimes
you have to show them what happy is. Just keep in mind
that the whole point is to satisfy the customers needs.
That's why they come to us. Do whatever you can to make
them happy. If you can't do one thing because of legal
restraints, explain that to them, *briefly*, then offer
them an alternative. Arguing over what you can't do
doesn't solve a thing. If they are insistent, explain to
them that we must operate within the constants of the law
and that they are welcome to pursue their desires
anywhere they please, but that we will not violate the
law. If they aren't happy with that answer, so be it. We
have enough customers who are willing to be reasonable
about their requests." Jean explained.

"Thank you, I will observe and learn." Catarina said,
squeezing Jean's hand.

"You'll do fine. Well, I'd better go relieve Shannon. I
don't want to take advantage of her generosity." Jean
said, sliding off the seat.

She paused to kiss Catarina on the cheek.

Catarina smiled at her and pulled her back into a brief
warm kiss.

Jean smiled at her and slipped away.



Shannon found Sheila in her bedroom.

"May I come in?" she asked.

"Of course. Anytime." Sheila said, warmly.

"I was thinking that perhaps you needed a little stress
relief." Shannon said, moving to her side.

"Perhaps I could use some. I don't know... I just got a
little scared. Several people that I know and love
suddenly getting involved with others.... And then there
was this stunning nude woman who was giving me signals
that were pulling me in that direction... It scared me
just a bit." Sheila said.

"Yes, she was quite puzzled over your reaction. I guess
we all get scared from time to time. *You* scare *me* a
bit." Shannon said.

"Why's that? I wouldn't have thought that I could scare a
fly away." Sheila said.

"I think that you are a more dynamic woman than you give
yourself credit for. You are stunningly beautiful, you
are smart and charming and you make me melt in my shoes
by your very touch. That's scary." Shannon said, softly
caressing Sheila's cheek.

"I wouldn't have thought an actress of your standing
would suffer from insecurity." Sheila said.

"Fame doesn't eliminate insecurities. In some cases it
amplifies them. Sometimes you get a whole new set of
insecurities; Will I retain my looks long enough to make
an adequate pension? What if the public takes a dislike
to the roles I've been typecast into? What if the public
takes a dislike to a particular trait of a character I've
played and attributes that trait to myself?  I was lucky.
I just happened to get a part in a movie that was a big
success. That led to other roles in movies that became
successful. Eventually my name became synonymous with
successful movies, not because they were necessarily
better or my acting was superior, but just because it was
*perceived* that way by those who made and attended them.
Now I'm well off enough that it doesn't matter. This
Second Skin venture will help insure that considerably,
if today is any indicator." Shannon said.

"We're more than pleased by the joint venture. You
brought in all that business with your contacts. It's
only right that you should be well rewarded. I think
you'll clear twenty thousand for the day." Sheila said.

"You're kidding!" Shannon gasped.

"Not a bit." Sheila chuckled.

"Twenty thousand a day!?" Shannon asked.

"Yup, and if you can keep the same flow rate up, every
day. We'll milk it for as long as it lasts. Oh, we should
take Sundays off, I guess. Mainly to give the women a
rest." Sheila chuckled.

"So you're talking a hundred and twenty thousand dollars
a week?" Shannon asked.

"Roughly. It may settle back to a hundred or so." Sheila
said.

"Good god...... You know. I find making money like this
incredibly sexy." Shannon said, laying next to Sheila.

"No doubt, with the parade of stunning nudes that have
passed through today. I found myself literally salivating
several times. They seem to be a lot more comfortable
about it than I thought they would be." Sheila said,
opening her arms to Shannon.

"Perhaps that's from all the times they've had to spend
hours nude, in front of a full crew doing retakes, to get
a scene right." Shannon said, working the fasteners on
Sheila's outfit.

Sheila's fingers were busy themselves. The conversation
lapsed and was replaced by very pleasing non-verbal
communication.

Later as they softly stroked each others bodies they
slipped into a well deserved nap.



"I wonder how the others are getting along?" Cindy asked,
lounging nude around Heather's pool, watching her lithe
nude sliding through the water as she swam laps .

"Probably swimming laps in Shannon's pool or relaxing
wherever they are." John said from a nearby chaise, his
eyes closed to the sun glistening off his nude body.

"Yeah, I imagine Mae and Candice are the busiest of them.
She wanted to get back to work in the worst way." Cindy
mused.

The phone rang and Heather stuck her head up.

"Would you be a dear and catch that for me, Cindy?" she
asked.

"Glad to." Cindy said, picking up the cordless phone.

"Hello."

"Cindy? I'm not disturbing you am I?" Sally's voice
asked.

"No, we're just laying out by the pool. Heather's
swimming laps. What's up?" Cindy asked.

"I just wondered if you had heard from Mae or the Silo?"
Sally asked.

"Not a word. I suspect they didn't want to disturb us
either. But mankind does not live on love alone." Cindy
chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm just taking a short break. I thought I'd
better give you the news if you hadn't heard." Sally
said.

"A break from what? Laying out by Shannon's pool? And
what news are you talking about?" Cindy asked.

"One, a break from making you an even richer lady. Sheila
called Judy at the Silo last night and somehow Judy got
all three machines shipped and here in eight hours. We
had our first customer here at nine o-clock this morning
and we will probably net forty grand today, our cut.

Second. The news is that Mae and Candice both got engaged
this morning, apparently to the pilots of the plane we
were flying on. Also, Judy is love struck over the
helicopter pilot that flew her and the girls into the
Silo. Apparently he had a mechanical problem when he went
to leave and had to spend the night. Seemingly with Judy,
cause she's all ga-ga over him today. Lastly, Bill
assigned a soldier to guard the Silo while we were away.
Amy was quite taken with him but not quite as serious as
the others." Sally finished breathlessly.

Cindy sat with her mouth gaping like a fish out of water,
not knowing which question to ask first.

"Are you still there?" Sally asked.

"Yes, I just don't know which question to ask first."
Cindy said.

"Well, I don't know any further information about the
women and their new loves, so ask any you have about the
business." Sally giggled.

"Okay.. How the hell did Judy get the crates shipped
across the country in eight hours?" Cindy asked.

"Haven't a clue. Something called the *old-boy network*,
whatever that is." Sally replied.

"Okay, how are Catarina and Bianca doing?" Cindy asked.

"They're doing well. Catarina's learning the perils of
dealing with the public. We had a snooty bitch that was
the wife of some minor dignitary who was insisting that
we put a particular copyrighted image on her outfit. I
stepped in and handled that one. Otherwise she's doing
very well. Bianca is doing great. She seems to be doing
much better as far as her addiction is doing. Shannon and
I think she's keeping the level of treatment up because
she enjoys it as much as she needs it. That's fine. We
won't even try to start weaning her for two more weeks at
least." Sally said.

"And you say we'll clear forty thousand today?" Cindy
asked.

"Our cut. Shannon gets a third of profit and the shipping
set you back about five grand. It was worth it. They both
are. We wouldn't have this much business at a new
location near this quick. I expect we'll do sixty-five
net for the day, maybe up to seventy before we collapse.
I'm the horniest woman on the planet right now. You
wouldn't *believe* the parade of stunning nude actresses
that I've witnessed today. I think Sheila and Shannon are
off raping each other as we speak. Sheila was a bit shook
about the news from out West." Sally concluded.

"Well, keep up the good work. You've got me all hot just
talking about it. I'll call and find out the specifics
myself about the girls. I expect that you will cure your
affliction at the first possible opportunity. I like to
keep my employees happy. Love ya." Cindy said.

"I love you too. Kiss that hunk of a man and that
adorable woman for me. Bye." Sally said.

"I will, right now. Kiss them all for me. Bye." Cindy
said.

Cindy let the phone dangle in her hand for a moment while
she watched Heather swim by, then set it down and moved
to John's side. Leaning to kiss him.

"Mmm... what was that for?" he asked, his hands sliding
up over her breasts.

"That was from Sally. This ones from me." she said,
descending once more.

Heather climbed out of the pool and grabbed a towel,
drying herself as she walked over by them.

Cindy held out her arm and Heather moved to her. Cindy
taking the towel and drying her off. Heather smiling down
at her as Cindy held her arm draped around her waist. She
daubed the drops off her and then turned her around and
completed the back.

"Thanks." Heather said, turning once more. Cindy pulled
her down into a warm kiss.

"That was from Sally, this ones from me." Cindy said,
repeating the gesture.

"Mmmm I'm torn over who the better kisser is." Heather
chuckled, "Who was on the phone... oh, Sally I guess."

She sat on an adjoining chaise and lay back. Cindy
admiring her perfect body.

"So what's up? How are they doing?" Heather asked.

"Well, John made about three thousand dollars today from
our newest location alone. We'll net about sixty-five to
seventy for the day in the new salon on Shannon's estate.
She gets about twenty thousand of that. Somehow Judy
managed to ship six five-hundred pound crates all the way
across the country in eight hours using something called
the *old-boy* network." Cindy said.

John chuckled.

"You know what that is?" Cindy asked.

"Yes dear." he said, "That's where somebody who  has been
in a particular business for years gets on the phone with
others he knows who have been in the same business for
years. They all know exactly how the system works and how
to make it run like greased lightning." he chuckled.

"Apparently. I never heard of such a record time for
shipping before." Cindy said.

"They probably could have done it in half the time if
they'd really been trying." John said.

"So, any other news?" Heather asked.

"Yes..  Apparently since we left them yesterday
afternoon, Mae and Candice got engaged to the pilots who
were flying us and Judy's close with the chopper pilot
who dropped her and the two triplets off at the Silo. Oh,
and Amy's quite taken with a soldier that Bill left
guarding the Silo while we were away, but not as
seriously as the rest." Cindy said.

"When the cats away... Wonder how Alice escaped
unscathed." John mused.

"You don't seem surprised or concerned." Heather said.

"Nope. I could even tell you which pilot got which and
what Judy's connection to the old-boy network was." John
chuckled.

"Okay, which pilot got which?" Cindy asked, smugly.

"Candice is enthralled with a big old country boy named
Jimbo. I think the other one's name was Scott. He'd get
along well with Mae. Judy's new beaux is named Steve.
I've flown with him lots before. He's a good guy and
Judy's connection for the lightning fast shipment. I
haven't got a clue about Amy's new beaux." John said.

"Is he always so perceptive." Heather asked.

"Always. He figured out that Theresa and I were making
love in a shack at the end of the road by the way the
phone rang once." Cindy chuckled.

"He was correct?" Heather asked.

"Dead on." Cindy replied, tracing her fingers across his
chest.

"Why were you making love in a shack?" Heather asked,
amused.

"Cause they were pissed off at me. I have the whole Silo
wired for audio and visual recording. It was wired that
way when I bought it. I just started using it. A fact
which I *neglected* to inform Cindy and Theresa of. This
bright girl here figured it out by the sound of a VCR
starting up. I suspect that she told Theresa about it and
then Theresa balked at making love in the Silo. Cindy -
being her resourceful self- carted her down the road to a
shack I had built to hold a vehicle by the main road, so
we would have transportation in the winter. The reason
they went there, was because it was heated." John said.

"Sometimes it's like living with Sherlock Holmes." Cindy
chuckled.

"Last time you said that, it was 'Like living with
*fucking* Sherlock Holmes'." John chuckled.

"Well, I was a bit pissed off at the time." Cindy said,
kissing him on the cheek.

"You have the whole Silo wired? You record everything?"
Heather asked.

"Yes, the tapes have never been watched though." John
said.

"Not exactly correct. While you were in mid-debauch with
Judy I played one for Catarina, Bianca and Shannon. The
one with our conversation about the Russians on it. When
we figured out they were watching us and your plan for
the ruse." Cindy said.

"Why'd you do that?" John asked.

"Because I had sworn that I would not tell anybody the
information. The tape was recorded before any of us took
that oath. A little legal loophole that Bill wasn't
thrilled about, but didn't interfere with." Cindy said.

"Oh, makes sense." John said.

"So how long have you been doing this recording?" Heather
asked.

"Since the night Cindy first arrived......  That's kind
of what started it all. She represented a threat to my
relationship with Theresa. When I started snooping and
saw them making love that first night, I kind of flipped
out. That's when I started recording everything. I don't
know what I intended to do with the tapes, but it turned
into a habit. I just kept it up out of inertia. Now
there's over two years history on them. I was intending
to give them to Cindy and Theresa for after when I was
gone. I guess that the tapes have just about outlived
their usefulness. I'll have to stop it all when the
President and First Lady come to visit." John said.

"The *President* is coming to stay with you?" Heather
gasped.

"Awe, now you've gone and spoiled my surprise." Cindy
moped.

"Sorry, love. I didn't know it was a secret." John said.

Heather's eyes suddenly got real big. "MW.... Muriel
Wilson" she said, softly.

"Shhhhh.  That's not for public information." Cindy said.

"No, of course not.... In the White House? *You didn't?*"
Heather gasped.

"No, we didn't The invitation was made from both
directions. Clearly made. But there was no impropriety on
the First couple's part while we were there." Cindy said.

"If you don't count getting Frenched and receiving a
beaver shot from the First Lady." John chuckled.

"Just the *rumor* of that would be enough to ruin him
politically." Heather said.

"True, but the news media won't be learning it from us."
John said.

"Nor me." Heather said.

"We know that. That's why we're here. That same sort of
rumor could ruin *your* career. You know about being
discrete." John said.

"Yes, the only reason I said anything to you, was that
you put the monogram from my panties last night together
with John saying the First couple were going to visit us.
Otherwise you wouldn't have known a thing unless you
became *personally* involved in it." Cindy said.

"Yes, I trust you two implicitly." Heather said.

"Good. We trust you too. Not that there's the same degree
of danger for us as for you." Cindy said.

"No... Anyway, back to the tapes. Is the quality good?"
Heather asked.

"Not bad, not network quality for sure, but pretty good."
John said.

"The one we watched was clear enough." Cindy chuckled.

"Do you have any idea how much they are worth?" Heather
asked.

"Nothing, except esoterically to the people on them."
John said.

"You'd be wrong about that. From what I understand,
pretty much the whole story of the Russian spy incident
is recorded on them. That's a movie people would love to
make." Heather said.

"Way too much editing would be required. There is way too
much intensely private information on those tapes for me
to ever allow an outsider to view them. And I personally
am not interested in spending several years editing out
those things. Which is what it would take." John said.

"Yeah, I can see that. I wish there was a way." Heather
said.

"What about your logs, John. Don't they list what's on
each tape?" Cindy asked.

"Only what room at what time on what tape." John said.

"You have logs!" Heather gasped.

"Yes, I had to track things somehow. I just had the
computer log which camera was recording on what machine
at what time. That's the only way I could have tracked
it." John said.

"So couldn't you use a computer to select a particular
room and have it move the tapes to that section and dupe
off just that one part." Cindy asked.

"Sure, it could be done. It would still have to be
watched closely. There's not a place in the Silo that
wouldn't contain some pretty racy footage at one time or
another." John said.

"But you could eliminate a lot. Like bathrooms or
bedrooms." Cindy said.

"Mostly. One of the problems, is that I started using
split screen. Putting more than one view on a tape at a
time." John said.

"Yeah, there was some pretty racy footage of Theresa with
Amy and Andrea right next to our conversation about the
Russian's. I made it a little better by panning the sound
balance over to only one channel, but Theresa and the
other two almost glowed in the dark from the footage that
was shown while Shannon and the others were watching our
part." Cindy said.

"Do you have pictures of the Silo, I mean of how it was
when you first bought it and how construction
progressed." Heather asked.

"Some, not many. I'm kind of sorry about that part. The
kitchen, guest room, pool and all the floors were in by
the time I started recording." John said.

"Well, if you ever change your mind, I'll gladly pay ten
million dollars for the screen play." Heather said.

"You're kidding?" John said.

"Not a bit. I'd make ten times that at least." she said.

"Well, I'll give it some thought. You just want the
screenplay? Who said what, at what time and what room
they were in and such? You don't need actual images?"
John asked.

"Some, just to know how to set up a scene. Character
positions and such. That makes it so much easier to
shoot." Heather said.

"I'll think about it." John said.

"Do that. Well... I'm feeling a bit amorous... would
either or both of you care to join me for a little
loving? Since you *are* on your honeymoon?" Heather
asked.

"I don't know, what do you think, John? Have we any room
in our busy schedule for this gorgeous creature?" Cindy
chuckled.

"I think we could fit her in... Say in about the time it
takes us to walk into the house? Or would you like to
make love right here?" John asked.

"Here would be fine.... except I'm a bit skittish about
the outdoors since Cindy told me about the spy
satellites. I was thinking of that huge water bed I had
custom built for your visit." Heather said, drawing her
fingers over Cindy's body.

"Is that where that came from? I was wondering where you
found one that big." Cindy chuckled, standing and taking
Heather's hand to help her up.

"The water bed it is...Work, work, work... it's a tough
life." John said, getting up.

"You don't *have* to come along. I'm certain that Heather
and I can amuse ourselves without you." Cindy said.

"Whichever you would prefer." John said, stalling.

"Don't go getting silly on me. Come on. You know very
well what I prefer." Cindy said.

"And I." Heather said, reaching her hand out to John.

"Your wish is my command." John said, as the two women
helped him up.

They walked arm in arm up to the house. Their hands got a
head start on things.

It was a good thing they chose inside; a short time later
a news helicopter flew over the estate in search of
candid photographs.

"Sometimes I wish we could shoot them down." Heather
moaned, not entirely from the sound of the intrusion.

"I fear we are the cause of that." Cindy said,
breathlessly.

"Mmph" John said.

Chapter  92

It was late evening by the time Cindy made her calls to
the Silo and the West coast. She got Judy on the phone
first. Steve was still there. Even so she managed to
extract most the story from her. Later she managed to get
Candice on the phone. Once filled in on the details she
wished all the women well and sent her and John's love.
Once off the phone she filled John and Heather in on the
details.

"You were right... as usual." Cindy told John, referring
to who got whom.

"Don't you ever get tired of him being correct?" Heather
asked.

"No, actually. I'm quite proud of my man's powers of
perception... I think that's what makes him such a good
lover." Cindy giggled.

"No argument there. The best I've ever known. You both
are." Heather said, kissing Cindy on the neck.



Bill was reading a book when Andrea came and plunked down
in his lap.

"Hi" she said.

"Hello, love." he said.

"I'm bored." she said.

"I'm sorry. There's much to do around here. Watch TV, or
read a book or play on the computer." Bill offered.

"We could make love again." Andrea giggled.

"We could. If you'd like. But there is more to life than
making love, even on a honeymoon." Bill said.

"Sorry you married me?" Andrea asked.

"Not a bit. You sorry you married me?" Bill asked.

"Nope, I'm just bored." Andrea said.

Bill sighed and set down his book.

"Come on, lets go take a walk." he said.

"Why?" Andrea asked.

"That's a silly question for a country girl. For the
experience. To listen to the birds and watch the
squirrels and see the sunlight filtering through the
trees." he said.

"It's getting dark." Andrea said.

"Then to see the stars." Bill said.

"I guess." Andrea said.

"What else would you like to do?" Bill asked.

"I don't know, I'm bored." Andrea said.

"You said that already." Bill said.

"I know... so lets do something." Andrea said.

"What?" Bill asked, again.

"I don't know!" Andrea said, angrily.

Bill sighed heavily.

"Look, Andrea. I love you dearly. And I know you miss
your sisters and having people around you. But if we're
going to be married for the rest of our lives then I
think we need to get something straight." Bill said.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Number one, when you get bored, that's *you* who got
bored. It's not my fault that you are bored. It's not my
responsibility to make you unbored. It's not my job to
keep you *entertained*. I don't ever get bored. I know
how to entertain myself. That's what I was doing when you
came up and sat on my lap and told me how bored you were.
I was reading a book.

Now you don't have to read a book, you don't have to
watch TV, you don't have to play on the computer, and you
don't have to go for a walk with me. Those were just my
suggestions to you for you to become unbored.

Having made them, my job is done. You need to decide what
*you* want to do.

Now I think the main problem -besides missing your
sisters- is that you just got so used to having so many
people around you twenty-four hours a day. Actually I am
quite enjoying the solitude. Compared to what I've been
through in the past month, this is heaven." Bill said.

Andrea leaned against his shoulder and thought about what
he had said.

"I'm sorry... You're right. I do miss my sisters... and
it's not your fault that I'm bored." Andrea said.

"So what would *you* like to do about it?" Bill asked.

"My first choice would be making love... My second would
be that walk you talked about." she said.

"Tell you what. You reverse the order and we'll do both,
okay?" Bill asked.

"Deal." Andrea said.

They grabbed light Second Skin jackets and headed down
the path. There was still plenty of light to see the wild
life that abounded with the protection of the closed
environment. A short way down the path they encountered
Theresa and Kevin walking slowly arm in arm.

"Isn't it gorgeous!" Theresa exclaimed.

"Yes, I think so." Bill chuckled.

"You're not bored?" Andrea asked.

"Good heavens no. I'm having a great time. We made love
about five times today, then we read for a while. Kevin
suggested that we take a walk together. We've been out
for almost an hour now. We were just starting back to
cook dinner together." Theresa replied.

"I guess I'm just not used to being alone." Andrea said.

"But you're not alone. You've got a charming, interesting
man with you. Your new husband. Talk to him. Find out
where he went to school and who the first girl he kissed
was. Ask him about how he got to where he is in his job.
He's your husband. Find out who he is." Theresa said.

"Talk. That never occurred to me." Andrea said.

"Well, he's your husband. I'd think you'd want to know
him." Theresa giggled, "Well, see ya. I think we're going
to go start on dinner so we can get to bed... if you know
what I mean."

"Yes, I think so." Andrea said.

Theresa kissed them both and Andrea kissed Kevin before
they parted.

They walked on.

"So, where *did* you go to school?" Andrea asked.

Once they got to talking, Bill and Andrea's relationship
got stronger daily. It was Andrea who suggested they go
out for a walk, earlier the next evening. They met
Theresa an Kevin on the trail again. This time Andrea was
more enthusiastic.

"I want to thank you, Theresa." she said.

"For what?"

"For reminding me that I was a married woman and didn't
yet know who I was married to." Andrea said.

"No great revelation there. I'm just beginning to know
Kevin, and we talk all the time." Theresa said.

"Well, thank you anyway." Andrea said, pulling her into a
warm kiss.

"You are quite welcome." Theresa said.

"Will you come over for dinner tomorrow night?" Andrea
invited.

"I'd like that. Maybe we can play some cards or monopoly
afterwards." Theresa giggled.

"That would be fun. See you then." Andrea said, kissing
her and Kevin once more.

"You're becoming very domestic." Kevin remarked when they
got down the path.

"Not hardly. I'm just letting Andrea know what she's in
for. Most the world lives like that. If they end up
living around Washington D.C. that's exactly what she has
to look forward to for a social life." Theresa said.

"You sure it's wise to spoil her illusion?" Kevin asked.

"Yes. Because it will be a much harder fall later if she
doesn't learn it now." Theresa said, "You saw them last
night. Bill was trying to enjoy himself and she was
downright miserable. It was making it hard for Bill to
smile. Now at least they're talking."

"So, dear heart. Cards again tonight?" Kevin teased.

"Yeah, strip gin." Theresa said.

"How's the scoring work?" Kevin asked.

"One article of clothing per point. If you run out of
articles you get to deduct from the other person."
Theresa said.

"So basically one hand." Kevin chuckled.

"Yup." Theresa replied, mischievously.

The dinner went well. Andrea pulled out all the stops and
dug deep into the well equipped kitchen. She found a nice
roast in the freezer and thawed it earlier in the day.
She sliced carrots and potatoes in with an onion and let
it simmer until tender. It was great. Afterwards they sat
around and talked a bit. Andrea asked about a card game.

"Actually, I was sort of teasing you, Andrea. I was
letting you know what your social life might be like if
you folks had to live by Washington D.C." Theresa said.

"Bill explained that to me. So if that's what I'm going
to have to live with, then I'd better learn, hadn't I?"
Andrea asked.

"If you really want to. Hearts or Gin?" Theresa asked.

"I don't know either." Andrea answered.

"Then we'll teach you both." Theresa said.

"Careful, she's a demon at gin." Kevin mused.

Theresa smiled at him.

Several hours later Andrea was into it. She was genuinely
disappointed when Kevin and Theresa thanked them for a
wonderful evening and said their good-nights.

Afterwards Bill pulled Andrea into his lap.

"So, little wife of mine. How do you think you'll be able
to handle the social life around D.C.?" Bill asked.

"Bring them on! I'm ready for them." Andrea chuckled.

"Well, it may not be as bad as all that, but it might. I
think that's what Theresa was trying to tell you. That
the important thing is that we have each other. No matter
where we go or live. You can be happy at the North pole
all by yourself, or miserable at the most glamorous party
on earth, surrounded by the creme of the social world.
The difference is attitude." Bill said.

"At this point, I think I'd prefer the North pole with
you." Andrea said.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Certain... at least I am now." she said.

"Race you to bed." Bill said.

"I'd rather you carried me." Andrea said, kissing him
softly.

Bill stood during the kiss and carried her into the
bedroom.

Chapter  93

The men complained that they needed to do some shopping,
as they needed to buy some slacks. A change of shirt,
socks and shorts wasn't sufficient for the environment
they suddenly found themselves in.

"About time you learned what we do." Mae said.

She drug them down to her salon.

"I need some time on one of the machines." she told an
attendant.

"Not much problem on the scanners, but the spinners are
booked solid." she said.

"We'll make time for this. My Fiancée needs clothes." Mae
said.

"Fiancée?" asked the attendant, shocked to her core.

"Yup. Candice's too." Mae replied.

"Stranger things have happened, but not in my lifetime."
replied the attendant.

"So can you fit us in?" Mae asked.

"Yeah, take number three. She's late. I'll just tell her
we thought she wouldn't show. After you get your designs
done we'll just stick them into the task stack at the
bottom. A few hours won't matter much to these folks."
said the attendant.

"Okay guys. Step into my parlor...." Mae said, guiding
them to the scanning room.

It didn't take too long for the scanning with the new
equipment. When the men complained Candice told them
about the prototype. They shut up.

They next moved to Mae's office and designed the clothes
for them. As they would be flying, Mae called in
Theresa's uniform designs she'd done for Kevin and
adapted them to the flight uniforms. She also specified
thermal weave on each item. Next she designed them shirts
and underwear. Her and Candice had a ball with that.
Jimbo insisted on something that he could wear to a plane
crash without starting bad rumors about his past.

Candice relented, but made some very racy ones anyway.
The socks they would buy, but in fact the thermal weave
worked excellent for them. Mae just didn't want to tie
the machines up too long. She transferred her order to
the task stack over her LAN with priority instructions.

"Now what?" Scott asked.

"Now we go to lunch. Your things should be ready for
dinner." Mae said, looking at the task stack.

The weavers would be busy all night. Her staff had
realized what she hadn't. That you could scan people and
then be scanning another while one staffer designed
outfits for the first. The orders got put on a task
stack. When they were done the customer just came in and
picked them up. There was no fitting involved, but her
staff went through the formality anyway. It didn't take
too long to convince the customers that they fit.

Mae picked up the phone and called Shannon's.

She got Sheila on the line and told her of her staffs
innovations.

"I figure we can keep three spinners busy for each
scanner. If we run the spinners all night we can almost
offer overnight service. That will help immensely with
our work load. In fact, almost triple our throughput."
Mae explained.

"No kidding. The problem is getting more spinners with
John and Kevin out." Sheila said.

"Well, how about getting a head start on them. Do you
know the suppliers? Order the parts in so that they will
be at the Silo when John gets back." Mae suggested.

"I have a better idea. You're just up the road from
Silicon Valley. Why don't you look around for a company
that can assemble them for us. We have the designs.
John's broken the assembly down pretty good. We have the
suppliers ship to the assembler and he turns out machines
as we need them." Sheila suggested.

"Can do. Uh.. in a few days? ..Please." Mae asked.

"Okay." Sheila chuckled, "Who am I to thwart true
love.... it is still true love, isn't it?"

"Truer every day." Mae said.

"Okay, but first chance you get. Maybe you could make
some phone calls to start things?" Sheila asked.

"You got it. That I can do. In fact I'll draft a staff
member to start a pre-select on the manufactures in the
area so all I have to do is check out the finalists." Mae
said.

"Good idea. I'll get the suppliers geared up for at least
another spinner for each salon. Better yet, two. We can
afford them." Sheila said.

"I'm certain that they'd pay for themselves." Mae said.

"Okay.. gotta go. Love you both. Wear your galoshes."
Sheila said.

"You know we both went on the pill last month." Mae
chuckled.

"Yeah, I forgot. See you." Sheila said.

"Kiss the girls for me. Love you too. Bye." Mae said,
breaking the connection.

"So that's what you do for a living. Figure out ways to
spend money." Scott chuckled.

"That particular expenditure might just triple our
volume. Double it at least." Mae said.

"You're joking." Scott said.

"Not a bit." Mae said.

"You'll find she jokes very little where work is
concerned." Candice chuckled.

"And how much do you get per outfit?" Scott asked.

"Between seven-hundred and fifteen thousand. Depending on
the complexity of the outfit. Accessories are much
cheaper though. A set of custom stockings to go with a
thousand dollar outfit only cost a hundred dollars. It
all depends on how much set up is required for an outfit.
It's no problem to do a set of gloves when you're already
doing a body suit. If you want custom panty hose, then
the body suit has to come off or be pulled out of the way
before you can make the panty hose. Then there's dresses.
Some have to have stitching done to connect a broad skirt
to a body suit foundation. That stuff really costs. To do
Wedding dresses like Cindy's, Theresa's and Andrea's
would cost you fifteen thousand." Mae said.

"Quite the tycoon you've hitched your wagon too. Scotty
my boy." Jimbo commented.

"Oh, I think you'll find that Candice holds her own in
that respect. She basically runs things for me. If you
guys weren't here I'd have her buried to her eyebrows in
things that need to be done." Mae said.

"So who's doing them in the mean time?" Jimbo asked.

"My staff, on some of them. The others are put on hold."
Mae said.

"We didn't mean to be pulling you away from important
work." Jimbo said.

"Jimbo, it's not everyday that a woman gets engaged.
Everybody's entitled to a vacation." Mae said.

"Well... I don't like keeping you from making money. If
you're going to support me in a manner in which I wish to
become accustomed." Jimbo teased.

"I'm sure that as a pilot for the government you do quite
well. Better than an airline pilot I should hope." Mae
said.

"Ah, just barely. Uncle Sugar's a tight old goat." Jimbo
mused.

"Well, when Sheila finally realizes that they need a
corporate Jet then I know where the pilots will come
from." Mae chuckled.

"I've got two years to go for my pension." Jimbo said.

"We'd cover that." Mae said simply.

"You don't know what you're saying. I get seventy percent
of my wages for the rest of my life." Jimbo said.

"And you said Uncle Sugar was tight.... I suspect that
we'd still cover it. But it may be that long before
Sheila realizes that we need a corporate jet. We'd
probably start small, a Gulf Stream or Lear Fan. But the
first time Sheila can't get where she needs to go and
loses a million dollars because of it, then things will
happen fast. And I know for a fact that you're a good
pilot. I'm not as naive as I look. I know what that
landing took the other night. I saw where we ended up. I
felt how much you had to fight your little darling to
keep her straight. Good pilots aren't easy to find. When
we need one your name will be on the list, both of you."
Mae said.

"Ah, by then darling it would be nepotism. A clear
conflict of interest." Jimbo said.

"Nope, you'd be in a different position from me and
Candice entirely. Neither of us would be directing your
actions, or you directing ours. You'd be working for
Cindy and Theresa, as owners, under direction of Sheila,
as CEO." Mae said.

"Who am I to turn down a good offer when I hear one."
Jimbo said.

"The offer isn't made yet... but I think it's a safe bet.
Don't quit your day job yet." Mae chuckled, "Now, how
about that lunch?"

Mae made the error of taking them to the restaurant where
she had first taken Candice and Alice when Sheila had
made the Second Skin offer to her. About halfway through
lunch they had their pictures snapped. By evening they
were all over the national press. Mae took pity on a
reporter she knew would treat her fairly. She told him of
her and Candice's engagements. This accompanied the
photos. When asked if there was any connection with the
fact they had caught the bouquet's Mae replied that it
hadn't occurred to her.

Sheila read the article that evening.

"I'm not normally a superstitious person, but remind me
never to catch a bouquet." she mentioned to Sally.

"Not even to catch John?" Sally asked.

"Where's the nearest wedding?" Sheila chuckled.



"You really have to go?" Judy asked, Steve.

"Got a business to run, darling. Don't worry. You'll be
seeing enough of me." he said.

"I doubt that. I don't think I *could* see enough of
you." she said.

"Well, you could always *marry me*." Steve said.

Judy looked at him startled.

"Are you asking?" she said.

"Yes." he said.

"Okay." she replied, "Assuming you pass muster with the
family, of course. I don't think that's a problem. You've
already won Amy's and Alice's hearts... and mine."

Steven pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.

"I guess that my business can wait a bit longer." he
said.

"Oh, no. If you're going to support a wife you're going
to *need* that money." Judy teased.

"Actually, I don't have a flight scheduled till morning."
he said.

"Then we can consummate our engagement, but you'll be
leaving early." Judy chuckled.

"Already a nag." Steven said, kissing her again.

He actually did make his morning flight. Well fed on the
twin's biscuits. They all turned out to see him off. He
was floating as high as his helicopter as he flew back.

Cindy read the article about Mae and Candice the next
morning.

"Handsome fellows." she commented.

"I'll say." Heather said, reading over her shoulder.



One of the luxuries at Camp David was a selection of
morning papers.

Kevin stepped out of his cabin and picked them up. He
glanced at the article.

"Oh, my." he said, carrying the stack into the cabin.

"Oh my what?" Theresa asked.

Kevin dropped the stack before her.

"*Oh my god*!" Theresa gasped, "I've got to call them!"

"Later, it's four in the morning out there." Kevin
chuckled.

"Oh, yeah." she said, reading the article.

"My god they must have gotten engaged the morning after
we left them." she said.

"It would seem so. They were the pilots I saw boarding
their plane at the base." Kevin mused.

Andrea's reactions were much the same.

Bill was just as philosophical.

"Aren't you excited for them?" Andrea asked.

"Oh, not really excited. More interested in the men. Two
more guys I'll be sharing my wife with if the family
holds true to form." Bill chuckled.

"At the same time you'll be sharing their wives." Andrea
chuckled.

"There is that." Bill mused, "I wonder how many more will
be involved in this. If each of you women find other guys
that would make .... what? Twenty eight of us?"

"Twenty-six." Andrea said.

"I was thinking about Cindy's flame in Minnesota. From
the way she talked I'm sure we'll be seeing more of her."
Bill said.

"Would you mind?" Andrea asked.

"No, I came to that realization a long time ago. Before I
asked you to marry me." he said.

"Had enough biscuits?" Andrea asked.

"Yes, I'm stuffed." he said.

"There's more here, care to go work up an appetite to
make room for them?" she demurred.

"I think that would be a swell idea. I'd better get my
fill before the demands for your time go up." Bill
chuckled.

"Oh, think I'll be that popular?" Andrea asked, opening
her robe and sliding onto his lap.

"I have no doubt." Bill said, caressing a breast as he
bent to kiss her.



Later in the day Sheila called Judy at the Silo.

"Ready to go to work yet?" she asked.

"Sure... he's gone for now. We consummated our engagement
last night." Judy said.

"*I'll be dipped in a bucket of shit! *I never thought
I'd hear those words come out of your mouth!" Sheila
said.

"My, you're eloquent today." Judy chuckled.

"I'm just shocked to the core. I told Sally to remind me
never to catch a bouquet." Sheila said.

"One out of three isn't bad odds." Judy said.

"Haven't you talked to Mae lately?" Sheila asked.

"No, not since we got off the plane." Judy said.

"Well, darling. Gird your lovely loins for this one; try
three out of three!" Sheila said.

"Huh?" Judy asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't you read the papers? ..of course not. No delivery
to the Silo. Candice and Mae both got engaged the morning
after our flight. To our pilots." Sheila told her.

"*Oh my god!*..... They must have worked fast between
Salt Lake and San Francisco. I didn't see any sign of
them before we got off the plane." Judy said.

"Well, you'd better give her a call... later. I've got
some things I'd like you to do." Sheila said.

"Sure.. oh, yeah, work. What do you need?" Judy asked,
grabbing a note pad and pen.

"I need you to call all the suppliers for our machines. I
need parts for two more spinners for each salon we've got
open. Better schedule for two more each for each of the
ones we've got *scheduled* to open also. Then get on the
line to our personnel agency. I need at least one more
operator for each salon, better make it two. But one for
swing and one for graveyard. They don't need to operate
the scanners, just baby-sit the spinners. We're going
twenty-four hours a day on production. Mae brought it to
my attention that her staff had figured out that one
scanner could keep three spinners busy. So what we'll do
is scan a customer and design their clothes separately.
So we need another computer work station for each scanner
in service. You getting this?" Sheila asked.

"Yes, but hold on, let me grab my laptop." Judy said.

It was close by. She opened it and called in a notepad.

"Okay, continue." Judy said.

"Okay... Mae's doing research on a manufacture to
assemble the scanners down in Silicon Valley. Get with
her to co-ordinate where to ship components. Get with our
Realtor and tell them to search out candidate properties
in Dallas, Atlanta, L.A... make that Beverly Hills,
Seattle, Denver and Miami. Also a second location in
Beverly Hills and San Francisco for another accelerated
high end salon in each location. Anything you can think
of?" Sheila asked.

"Yes, several things. One, this is going to cost a shit-
load of money, and two if you really think we're ready to
ramp up like this, then we should include Kansas City,
Omaha, Phoenix, Salt Lake, Las Vegas, Sacramento, San
Diego, Honolulu, and Reno. I think we should have the
personnel agency start gathering candidates for each new
location. Also I think that you should establish Mae on
the West coast and Sally on the East coast as training
locations. Maybe set up a second salon in each location
for training." Judy said.

"I knew there was a reason I hired you. Tell you what.
Find a map. Any population center over a million people
that we aren't in yet, get it started to get us there.
Standard salon to start with, with contingency plans to
ramp it up to twenty-four hour production once business
warrants in each location." Sheila said.

"You really think we're ready for this big a ramp up?"
Judy asked, "This could blow up in our faces and leave us
penniless if the public takes a sudden disliking to us."

"That's the chance we'll have to take. Now is the time.
We rolled seventy thousand in one day at Shannon's place.
We could have done a hundred if we'd been using Mae's
methods. That's one location. That's too damn much money
to be missing out on." Sheila said.

"Bill Gates, move over, Sheila, Cindy and Theresa are
moving in." Judy chuckled.

"I'd really like to get him into one of our salons. He
still dresses like a nerd." Sheila said.

"Speaking of which, when do you want to start up our
men's salons?" Judy asked.

"Not for a while yet. Let's stick where the money is.
When that starts to slow up, then we'll do something
different. Oh, yeah. See if you can locate another
supplier for our chemicals. Especially the stuff we use
for the thermal outfits. We're selling more and more of
them all the time. See if you can locate several
suppliers and talk bulk rates. Maybe get a bidding war
going. Look at our usage by salon on pigmentation and
work out a flow rate for each color. Extrapolate that to
the new locations in your estimates. Follow the growth
patterns of our established salons. Work out an average
growth pattern and don't forget to factor in financial
conditions in each location." Sheila said.

"My god. Cindy and Theresa sure picked the right person
for your job." Judy chuckled.

"John chose me.. actually his lawyers. But he made the
selection. I have no doubt that he had other candidates.
They just weren't as pretty." Sheila chuckled.

"Or as modest." Judy chuckled.

"Well love, that should keep you busy for a while.
Congratulations on the new beaux. I'm still shocked. See
if you can get this done before I lose you on honeymoon.
I love you. Bye." Sheila said.

"I love you too, kiss the girls for me." Judy said.

"I will, now I get to call Cindy and tell her I just
spent all her money." Sheila chuckled.

"Good luck. Bye." Judy said, hanging up.

She completed her notes, adding her hand written to the
list and then added comments on each one. She broke the
list down into tasks and prioritized it. Then she headed
for the Com room.

She was elbow deep in printouts when the twins found her
a few hours later.

"What's all this?" Amy asked.

"Sheila called. Seems we're making our move into the big
time." Judy said.

"Care for a swim?" Alice asked.

"I'd love one, but I've got *way* to much to do." Judy
said.

"Can we help?" Amy asked.

Judy looked up at her.

"You really want to?" she asked.

"Yes, of course. We want to pull our weight too." Alice
said.

"Okay, sure. I doubt you have much accounting experience,
but here. Fire up those two computers. I'll show you what
to call in and what to do with the information. Keep in
mind that you have to be accurate. A slipped decimal
point could cost us millions down the road." Judy said.

"Okay... Millions? Really?" Alice asked.

"Yes love, don't worry. You'll do fine." Judy said.

She directed the girls transferring data from each store
onto a spread sheet. She showed them how to import
figures, which saved them manually entering the figures
and reduced the chance of errors. They got the hang of it
pretty fast and helped Judy out considerably.

She checked the resultant figures for consistency and
only when she felt secure that the numbers were correct
did she factor them into her calculations. Next she had
them run the supply lists for each location to run an
average for the pigmentation's and other chemicals. A
slipped decimal point almost got by.

"Ouch. That's exactly what I was talking about earlier.
That would have cost us a hundred thousand dollars and
left us with a mountain of yucky green pigment." Judy
said.

"I'm sorry." Alice said, visibly upset.

"I am too. Don't worry love. We caught it. You've been a
great help. From here on out I can handle it anyway.
You've saved me several days worth of work. Why don't you
two take a break." Judy said.

"Not unless you do. It's almost midnight. We haven't even
eaten dinner yet. Sheila doesn't expect you to work all
night and I know it. Let us make you some dinner and then
you can get a start on it again early in the morning.
We'll wake you up." Amy said.

"My god, you're right. My eyeballs do feel like onions.
Yes. Tomorrow it is." Judy said, shutting down for the
night.

She rolled her neck and rubbed it.

"Tell you what, why don't you go climb in the hot tub.
Amy can keep you company. I'll make us a snack and bring
it down." Alice volunteered. Judy pulled her into her
arms and kissed her tenderly.

"Thanks love. That would be great." Judy told her.

"Amy, don't let her fall asleep until she's eaten." Alice
called back, after she slipped out of Judy's arms.

"I think I can think of ways to keep her awake." Amy
mused.

It turned out tougher than Amy thought. After ten minutes
in the hot tub Judy was turning to mush. Amy pulled her
out and into the cool plunge.

A few minutes later Alice brought down a tray of roast
beef sandwiches with some chips and soda's.

"Thanks dear heart." Judy said, groggily, despite the
chill water.

Amy helped her out to a patio table that John had added.
They sat around on resin chairs as they ate the meal.

"You girls really were a great help." Judy said.

"We like to help. I'm sorry about the mistake." Alice
said.

"That's really okay. I should have seen it myself. We
were all just too tired." Judy said.

"Do you think that we could learn accounting?" Alice
asked.

"I don't see why not. Does it really interest you?" Judy
asked.

"Some. Business interests us. We don't get to do much
lately. Not since that fashion show." Amy said.

"That is an oversight that I'm sure we can remedy. You
girls are valuable to us all. As friends as well as
lovers. I guess we all just get caught up in our own
little worlds and we forget. Especially with all the hub-
bub with John and those spy's. You enjoyed modeling,
didn't you?" Judy asked.

"Yeah, it was okay, what little we got to do." Alice
said.

"Well, we'll be opening a bunch of new salons. How about
I schedule you to go out and open each new location?
You'd probably meet with local celebrities and news
media. You'd be modeling new outfits and flying to a new
location almost every few days."  Judy suggested.

"That sounds like fun, but... do you really need us?"
Alice asked.

"In those figures tonight was all the evidence you need
of that. If you look at the growth rate of each salon
compared to the advertising done then you would see a
direct correlation of over a thousand to one ratio of
return to investment. I think it would help the business
allot. So the answer is yes, we need you." Judy said.

"Then we'll do it." Amy said.

Alice nodded.

They were through with their meal. Judy was nodding off.
The twins helped her to her feet and put her to bed. Then
they snuggled to her. She was asleep moments later.

Alice motioned to Amy and they slipped away.

"You think they really need us or that she's just being
nice?" Alice asked.

"I remember those figures. She was telling the truth
about the advertising." Amy said.

"Okay.. then we do it, but I want to go to school too. I
want to be able to read those figures like she does and
make sense of them." Alice said.

"I do too. I think we might end up kind of alone. I think
that Andrea is going to end up living with Bill on the
East coast. We don't have a husband yet. We'd better
prepare ourselves in case we need to support ourselves."
Amy said.

"I think you're right. Well, we'd better get back to
bed.. wanna make love." Alice asked.

"Sure, but we gotta get up to get Judy up. There's
something big going on in the company. I've never seen
Judy working so hard. She was tense as a badger when she
first got into the hot tub." Amy said.

"Okay, just once then. Double or single?" Alice asked,
pulling Amy by the hand to their bedroom.

"Why not both. We'll get up in plenty of time, we always
do." Amy chuckled. They pulled off each other's clothes
and fell together nude on the bed, an instant later they
were locked in a deep kiss.

Andrea stirred in her sleep next to her husband. She
realized why and snuggled to him smiling to herself as
her sisters pleased each other several times. Then she
slipped blissfully back to sleep snuggled to Bill's side.

.

"Breakfast is ready." Amy said, softly kissing Judy's
cheek.

"Mmm  Thank you." Judy said, not opening her eyes.

"Come on. Here's a cup of coffee. You said you needed to
get up." Amy said, swinging the tray around and placing a
mug of coffee on it. Judy opened her eyes and groaned a
bit.

"Okay, I'm awake." she said, sitting up.

She reached out and Amy guided her hand to the coffee.

"Careful, it's hot." she said.

"Okay, what time is it?" Judy asked, carefully taking a
sip of coffee.

"Almost Seven." Amy said.

"Mmm... That's about right, I guess." she said, taking
another sip and then putting the mug down, she slipped
out to the bathroom.

She was gone for a while. When Amy heard the shower start
she carried the mug into the bathroom. Judy was just
about to step in. Amy handed her the cup and Judy smiled
and took another sip before she set it down and stepped
into the shower.

Amy slipped out of her clothes and joined her.

"I'm quite alright. You don't need to do this." Judy
said, kissing the younger woman on the cheek.

"I want to, unless you don't want company." Amy said.

"No, Love. You're quite welcome to shower with me
anytime." Judy said, pulling her to her.

Amy soaped her body for her and then used her own like a
scrub brush, sliding against her and squirming.

Judy used her finger on her teeth and rinsed on the
shower head before she turned her head to find Amy's
lips.

Amy kept it mostly business as she washed Judy's whole
body. Then she washed her hair for her. The shampoo
seeming slicker as it coated Judy's breasts; a natural
invitation to squirm together more. Judy returned the
favor and then they rinsed.

Stepping out they toweled each other dry. Judy moved to
brush her teeth as Amy finished toweling her hair. It had
grown quite a bit longer since her arrival at the Silo.
She let Judy have precedence with the blow dryer. But
then Judy pulled her against her and dried her hair for
her, treating it with anti-tangle spray and brushing it
out as she worked. Amy did the back of Judy's hair as she
sipped the last of her coffee.

"Quite a pleasant way to wake up. Not a devastating
orgasm, just enough loving to get the blood boiling."
Judy mused.

"You are quite welcome to whichever you'd like... anytime
you'd like. But I figured you'd want a clear head this
morning." Amy said, finishing up with Judy's hair.

"Thank you. Where's Alice, cooking?" Judy asked.

"No, breakfast is all ready. She's going over the figures
she input last night." Amy said.

"Maybe I'd better check on her first." Judy said, finding
some shorts and a tube top.

"Nope. She said not to let you near the office till you
had some food in you. She's alright, honest. We wouldn't
spoil your work." Amy said, pulling her shorts and tube
top back on.

"Wouldn't you rather put on clean clothes?" Judy asked.

"Clean this morning. So was I. Alice and I showered
together before we dressed. We do every morning. I just
did that for you." Amy said.

Judy pulled her into her arms and kissed her tenderly.

"Thank you, that was nice of you." Judy said.

"My pleasure. I enjoyed it myself. I always enjoyed
rubbing up against you. I'm gonna miss you something
fierce when you get married." Amy said, hugging Judy.

"I don't think I'll be going far, and you'll be seeing
lots of me. I'll probably be traveling with you to the
salon openings, so we can keep each other company every
night if you wish." Judy said, leading Amy toward the
kitchen.

"I wish." Amy chuckled.

After a large tasty breakfast they joined Alice in the
office.

"I found some more errors. I got to wondering how I made
that one cause I was importing the data like you showed
me. These figures were in the wrong place. Look if you
add this up then it don't work. But if you shift this
whole column then it all fits. There's a whole bunch like
that." Alice said.

"My god, you're right. I would have never spotted that. I
wonder why that happened." Judy said.

"I pulled the form that the girls use to make their
reports. You have to skip this section and go down to
this. They probably just went along copying figures and
not paying attention to the skip. This whole group of
figures ends up in the wrong column." Alice said.

"Yes, I can see that. We'll have to change the form. Put
this other section off by itself. You just saved us
several million dollars and got yourself another job."
Judy said, hugging Alice and kissing her warmly.

Alice beamed brightly.

"Me too?" Amy asked.

"You too, love. You are both going to be my assistants
from now on." Judy said, pulling Amy into a kiss.

"Wow, assistant to the assistant to the CEO. That puts us
third from the top!" Alice said.

"Yes. It does. And with that discovery, you deserve it.
I'll talk to Sheila about getting you a bonus for finding
that." Judy said, turning to the figures.

"Oh, that's not necessary. I just got bothered that I
made a mistake and tried to find out why." Alice said.

"Which is exactly what makes you perfect for the job and
deserving of a bonus." Judy said, lifting the phone.

She dialed Sheila's cellular.

"Hello." Sheila answered.

"Good morning. Have you got a monthly inventory report
sheet handy? And a general monthly sheet?" Judy asked.

"Yeah, just a sec." Sheila said.

A minute later she was back: "What about them?"

"Put them side by side and scan down to the pigmentation
section. Think about moving figures from one to the
other." Judy said.

"Yeah.... Oh my, that could be a problem. Yes, I see it.
That explains some of the odd material orders we've had.
I'll bet that we've got excess pigmentation stored at a
lot of salons. Good eye." Sheila said.

"Not mine, Alice's. I just hired the two of them as my
assistants. They were helping me last night and I got on
Alice's case because I thought she made an error. She was
importing the data to the spread sheet, so she couldn't
have. It bugged her and this morning she went back over
all the salons and found that. I figure that's about two
million over the past year and deserving of a fat bonus."
Judy said.

"I'll say, approved. Both things. Give her a three
percent bonus on the total saved. I hadn't thought about
it but I'll bet they were feeling kind of left out
anyway. We haven't utilized them since the New York show.
I hadn't thought about you needing any help either, but
I'll bet your work load is huge by now. Yes, hire them.
If Alice found that, then she's just the kind of help we
want on our staff. Now the trick is figuring out where
our overages are." Sheila said.

"Just a sec." Judy said, "Alice, did you keep a record of
which salon's had the error?"

Alice held up a carefully hand printed sheet of paper.
Judy smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Done, Alice tracked her work. I can go back and trace
just exactly where the overages are. I'll redesign the
form and have a memo out to all the salons before the
next monthly." Judy said into the phone.

"Great. Good work. Give her a big kiss for me. Anything
else, how's that list I gave you yesterday going? I hope
you didn't stay up all night working on it like you're
prone to do?" Sheila asked.

Judy chuckled.

"No, the girls dragged me into the hot tub about midnight
and then put me to bed. With their help last night I made
good progress on building a growth profile. We'll have to
go back and correct it now that Alice found that error,
but that's nothing. I got the orders for the scanner
components placed. I'll get on the phone today to our
Realtor and personnel agency and start looking into
chemical suppliers." she said.

"Great. Okay, I gotta go. We're busy as hell here."
Sheila said.

"Okay, take a break every now and then yourself." Judy
said.

"Yeah, I'm scheduled for Bianca's next treatment in about
an hour. Bye love." Sheila said.

"Bye, darling." Judy said, breaking the connection.

"Well, 'darlings. You are both officially hired. And you
get a fat bonus to start off with. How do you want to
divide it?" Judy asked Alice.

"Oh, it was Alice that found it. I didn't see it." Amy
said.

"Nonsense. You helped me figure it out this morning. You
should get half." Alice said.

"It was mostly you. I don't want any." Amy said.

"Tell you what. How about a third to Amy and two thirds
to you, Alice?" Judy asked.

"That sounds fair." Alice said.

"But she found it!" Amy protested.

"Hush up, I love you." Alice said.

"Okay it's settled, About twenty thousand to Amy and
forty to Alice." Judy said, making a notation in her
laptop.

"Forty thousand dollars! Are you joking?" Alice
exclaimed.

"Nope, Sheila said to give you three percent of the
savings. It will work out a bit less than that, but
roughly three percent of two million dollars is sixty-
thousand. Two thirds of that is forty, one third is
twenty." Judy said.

"Gosh, this work stuff is cool." Amy mused.

Judy chuckled.

"Okay, what I'd like you each to do, is to go over each
of the salon's that had the error and figure out the
difference in the numbers between before and after the
error. Can you do that?" Judy asked.

"Sure, I figured you'd want that. That's why I wrote them
down." Alice said.

"Good. Now if you can do that I can get a bunch of other
things done. Great to be working with you." Judy said.

"How much do we get for being your assistants?" Amy
asked.

"Mmm... Lets see.. I think that twenty-five thousand a
year to start is about right, with a raise to thirty when
you come up to speed, probably in six to nine months.
Maybe sooner the way you're going." Judy said.

"Wow, we'll be rich women. We can go to school too."
Alice exclaimed.

"Not rich, but comfortable. Talk to John and Cindy about
how to invest it when they get back." Judy said.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Amy said.

"As far as school is concerned, I want you to take some
accounting classes. We'll pay for them. I'd like to see
you get your CPA's. Okay, lets go to work." Judy said.

"What's a CPA?" Alice asked.

"Someone who looks for problems like you found this
morning, but gets paid a whole bunch more." Judy
chuckled, turning to her task list.



"This is the most comfortable uniform I ever had on."
Jimbo mused.

"Mine too." Scott added.

"Our pleasure, nothing but the best for our men." Candice
giggled.

"Just remember, gentle wash, drip dry, if you must use
the dryer, then low heat. Don't dry clean them." Mae
said.

"That will save me a bundle right there. Wish I had two
of them, I'm gonna hate wearing that other one while this
dries." Jimbo said.

"It should dry overnight, but I'll slip another outfit
for each of you into the task stack. You deserve them. I
wouldn't have noticed how much we could save if I hadn't
been making them for you. That's going to make us
millions." Mae said.

"Wish we didn't have to go." Jimbo said.

"I wish you didn't too. But we all have work to do."
Candice said.

"Well, you know that we'll be back. I'll ask to get
assigned to Pacific sector so that I can live here. Could
we stop at a liquor barn on the way to the airport?"
Jimbo asked.

"Sure, but you've got that bottle I gave you." Mae said.

"Ah, that ones mine. Besides, I want to get a case for
that guy." Jimbo said.

"Jimbo! That's almost a thousand dollars!" Candice
gasped.

"Are you telling me that you're not worth that?" Jimbo
asked.

Candice beamed at him and pulled him into a kiss.

The man at the airport was overwhelmed, but Jimbo
wouldn't take no for an answer. The man read the papers
so he understood why.

There was a tearful farewell between the men and their
brides to be. Then Jimbo and Scott inspected their craft.
It sported a new set of tires and four new engines. The
inspection had shown bearing wear on the other three. The
delay was well justified. They also had new brakes all
around and a new hydraulic pump and three new hoses that
had shown wear. The airplane was also shiny clean.

Jimbo carried a sack with him as he boarded. He handed it
to the steward.

"My lunch, roast beef. They should be thawed just about
lunch time. If you could just add some lettuce and
mayonnaise?" Jimbo asked.

"We just got restocked. I've got some fresh." replied the
steward.

"I want those. You can make me up some fresh to take when
we land back East." Jimbo said.

"I understand. Congratulations on your engagement."
chuckled the steward.

"Thank you. We'll be taking off in about ten minutes."
Jimbo said.

"Maybe, we've got a senior senator and his staff to haul
back with us. I haven't seen any sign of them yet." said
the steward.

"Then make me a cup of coffee and one of those fresh
sandwiches if you would. Back to the grind." Jimbo said.

It was forty-five minutes later that they lifted off.

Mae and Candice waited and watched the plane take off,
feeling their hearts go with it.

"Come on, darling. We've got work to do." Mae said to
Candice, taking her arm.



"Feels good having four new power plants." Scott said.

"Yeah, keep your eye on those gauges. I don't trust new
overhauls, too easy to leave out an O-ring." Jimbo said.

Scott nodded and complied. One engine showed abnormally
high oil flow. An inspection when they landed revealed a
missing O-ring.

"Noted and logged, skipper." Scott commented.



The next little while passed like lightning. As the trip
in was at the government's request, they scheduled to fly
the Silo residents back. The couples from Camp David
boarded the plane and then it made it's way to New York
to pick up Sheila. A hop to Minneapolis and John and
Cindy joined the flight with Heather. During the flight
to Salt Lake Jimbo and Scott each came back separately
and got aquatinted with the Silo crowd.

Jimbo warmly shook John's hand as he sized him up. John
was doing the same.

"Pleased to meet you, Jimbo. Welcome to the family." John
said.

"Thank you. It's an honor, Sir." Jimbo said.

"You may change your mind about that." John chuckled.

The other men shook Jimbo's and hand but the women all
welcomed him more warmly. He was very surprised when more
than one tongue found it's way between his lips. Scott
got similar treatment.

Steve met them with a large helicopter in Salt Lake. The
women made him feel very welcome too. Unfortunately,
Jimbo and Scott had to fly on. The women's farewells were
as warm as their welcome.

"Looks like I'm gonna need a bigger helicopter if I'm
going to serve you folks. I had to borrow this one."
Steve mused to John on the flight to the Silo.

"Don't spend your money just yet. It's not too often so
many of us travel at the same time." John said.

"Thanks. That just saved me a bundle." Steve said.

At the Silo the women poured out to greet them. Judy
leapt into Steve's arms when he got out.

"Whoa, darling. So you missed me?" he chuckled.

"Like air." Judy said, melting into a kiss.

"Yeah, now I believe it." Sheila smirked from the side.

Judy opened her arm to her and Sheila moved into a warm
embrace. They kissed deeply just inches from Steve's
face. Cindy and Theresa noting his reaction carefully
from the sidelines.

"Yup, he'll fit in nicely with the family." Cindy
chuckled, over the bulge that showed in Steve's pants.

"I do believe you're right." Theresa said.

Amy and Alice were all over Andrea and Bill. The
greetings continued as the crowd worked their way inside
with their luggage.

Judy had helped Amy and Alice prepare lunch for the
crowd. They sat around the table talking. Judy sat in
Steve's lap until he had to leave. After seeing him off,
along with the other women, she slipped onto John's lap.

"Seems you found a replacement while I was gone." John
mused.

"I have you to thank for that. If it hadn't been for your
outstanding indoctrination, I wouldn't have been open to
it. And he's not a replacement, he's an addition to my
life." Judy said, pulling him into a warm kiss.

"Ah.. it's good to be home." John mused, when she let up.

After lunch Sheila called a meeting between the Second
Skin hierarchy to explain the changes she'd ordered. Judy
quoted figures for them, consulting her notes. Amy and
Alice took notes off to the side.

"You realize that this could blow up in our faces if the
public takes a disliking to us?" Cindy said.

"Yup. That's the gamble, of course. But I think the time
is right. We did almost half a million at Shannon's in
the first week, and it's booked solid for the next month
and a half." Sheila explained.

"What about capital? Will we have enough, or will we have
to borrow?" Cindy asked.

"That's the good part. Our business is so good right now
that we can finance the whole expansion internally and
still have working capital." Sheila said.

"Okay, in for a penny, in for a pound. Let's do it.
Assuming you concur, Theresa?" Cindy asked.

"Yes, of course. I trust Sheila's and your judgment.
Besides, I've got a decorated officer to support me if we
belly up." she chuckled.

"Then it's settled. Now about my pay cut. We were
supposed to re negotiate a long time ago." Sheila said.

"What are you getting now?" Cindy asked.

"Five percent of gross. That's way too much." Sheila
said.

"Nope. Sounds right to me. Why don't you stay right where
you are." Cindy said.

"Oh god, Cindy. That's millions of dollars we're talking
about!" Sheila said.

"I know. You're well worth it. Theresa and I would be
nowhere near where we are if it wasn't for you." Cindy
said.

"But you two just put all you've got on the line." Sheila
said.

"That's our choice." Cindy said.

"Nope. I won't take it." Sheila said.

"Yes, you will. I insist." Cindy said, evenly.

"Tell you what I will accept then. Throttle my wages back
to the one percent that we previously agreed upon, I'll
take the rest in stock. If you're going to put your cute
asses and assets on the line on my recommendation, then
I'm going to too." Sheila said.

"That's agreeable. Judy, how much are you paying Amy and
Alice?" Cindy asked.

"I started them at twenty-five, but I think that they
should be moved up to thirty. They've proved invaluable
to me since I put them on." Judy said.

"Do it. And I want one percent stock transferred to
everybody that's been in this from the start." Cindy
said.

"God, that's millions of dollars." Judy gasped.

"Not if this expansion bombs. Then it will be so much
wallpaper. If it takes off like I think it will, then we
can well afford it. Do you concur, Theresa?" Cindy asked.

"Yes, of course. They deserve it, all of them. They've
been working their asses off. I think we should do
something for our salon managers too." Theresa said.

"I agree. I don't want to do stock with them though, we
could lose control if we give too much of that away.
Judy, figure a one percent bonus on sales per individual
salon to be divided between the staffs on a sliding
scale. See that the managers get half of it and split the
rest between the employees. And half again for Mae's
group for their innovations. Do you concur, Sheila?"
Cindy asked.

"No, and I'll tell you why. One, it's way too generous,
even for you. Second, it would put a crimp in our cash
flow, it wouldn't leave us enough head room to deal with
things like a sudden increase in chemical prices. I
figured the expansion pretty close looking at the
figures.

I think the bonus should be based upon net, not gross,
which retains the incentive for the salons to be cost
conscious and efficient. Also I think it should be given
to those who have been with us for a year, as a one time
bonus. If and when the new salons do well, then we can
reconsider making it a standing policy. Also; Yours and
Theresa's worth is now based solely on stock value or net
worth. I think that you should take a salary at least
equal to mine. Right now you couldn't buy anything
without selling some of your stock. You've been working
your butt's off too right along with the rest of us."
Sheila said.

"But isn't that actually more than I said? If that would
hurt us, wouldn't what you suggest hurt us even more?"
Cindy asked.

"No, because I  want my Salary based on net, not gross. I
said an equal salary to my own. Also, because the bonuses
are based on net, it deals with overhead shifts
automatically. And it spreads the outflow over a period
of time based upon when employees started with us. That
also retains the incentive for our employees to remain
loyal to us." Sheila said.

"Alright... if you insist. Do you concur, Theresa?" Cindy
asked.

"Sure." she said.

"Okay, done. So, any other new business?" Cindy asked.

"No, not much anyway. Candice and Mae have located us a
manufacture to assemble the spinners and scanners. We go
twenty-four hour production on the existing salons while
retaining the current scanning schedule or stepping it up
even. The new salons go twenty-four hour when each
warrant's it. All we need is your okay to start things
rolling." Sheila said.

"Go." said Cindy.

"Looks like we're going to be busy little beavers the
next little while, we've got seventeen cities to look at
real estate in to start with. Oh, I specified lease with
option to buy." Sheila said.

"Sounds like a lot of work, Unfortunately, I won't be
able to get away for a while. With the President coming
in and then our trip to Europe with Catarina and Bianca."
Cindy said.

"I was hoping that would be a business trip, with you
scoping locations for salons. I think that Judy and the
girls and I can handle the real estate visits. I'd like
to draft Mae to do the West coast and Sally to check out
the Eastern locations. Judy and I will take the
heartland." Sheila said.

"With the exception that the triplets all need to be here
for the presidential visit. I think you and Judy should
too as well as Mae and Sally. Use the time for strategy
meetings and to work out training protocol." Cindy said.

"Okay, no argument there. But I might get a jump on
things and visit some locations before the President
comes in." Sheila said.

"Okay, that's good. Any more business?" Cindy asked.

Shakes of heads around the table.

"Good, lets go to work." Cindy said.

"The President's coming here?" Alice asked, in awe.

"Yes dear, and he specifically wants to see you three."
Cindy said.



Judy and Sheila got on the phones and started things
rolling. Within the week, components were arriving at the
assembly plant. Within days completed units were heading
out to the salons. Judy got onto the phone to Steve who
hooked her up to Travis freight. This sped up the process
considerably. Within a week and a half several of the
salons went to twenty-four hour production. This
increased throughput considerably. They were well on
their way to the half-billion mark that Sheila has set as
their goal. It would come and go like a blink of an eye
as they passed it on their way up.



The secret service arrived two days before the President
and did their best to stick their noses into every nook
and cranny of the Silo. John tolerated it for a day. When
they began talking about taking over the new Com room as
a command center with full access to the video system
John put his foot down.

"Nope. I know for a fact that the President wants you
restricted to the first floor. The video system is
getting locked out. You can watch me solder hard shorts
on every line and then put your seal on the panel. Then
you can set up in the old Com room on the first floor."
John said.

They started to argue.

"Take it up with your boss." John told them, "Now you've
checked the Silo from top to bottom. You know it's clean
so clear out."

"But there are weapons in the arsenal!" said the agent in
charge of the detail.

"You can alarm it from the inside. Then put your seal on
the outside. I'll put my python in there too. Then you
can search the Silo one last time from bottom to top, but
after that you're restricted to the first floor unless
the alarm goes off." John said.

The agent in charge grudgingly agreed. John walked away.

When he found an agent taking food samples from the
freezers and hydroponics tanks he blew up again.

"We are going to be eating the exact same food as they
are. They will have their choice of plates. You can make
this option clear to them. We won't be poisoning them
without poisoning ourselves." John said.

"Just doing my job sir." protested the agent.

"No, you're over-doing your job. The President is coming
here because he trusts us. I realize it's your job to be
paranoid, but if you don't get out of my pantry right now
I will get him on the phone in about three minutes!" John
said.

The agent retreated, taking the samples he already had
with him. John sighed.

Candice and Mae flew in from the West and Sally, Jean and
Shannon flew in from the East. Catarina and Bianca were
left running the salon on Shannon's estate with several
lovely guests in residence seeing to Bianca's treatments.

Sheila, Judy and the triplets flew in just before the
President arrived. Steve landed off to the side on a
newly paved section of the compound. The place looked
much more hospitable, with several large tree's
transplanted off the side of the compound and a new dirt
berm surrounding the compound like the one around the
housing project, just far enough out that it didn't
obscure the view of the mountains. The berm was green and
spotted with transplanted foliage. An automatic sprinkler
system kicked on whenever ground sensors detected too dry
of conditions for the foliage. The estate was beginning
to resemble the millionaire's retreat that it was.

Air Force One set down at Hill Field to avoid reporters.
A large executive helicopter that was flown in the day
before awaited the President and First Lady. Jimbo and
Scott were given the honor of back-up crew on the 747.
The flight time would be logged on their record. It had
been the First Ladies idea that they be given some time
with their brides to be. They accompanied the First
couple in the executive helicopter.

"I tell you Scotty my boy, I never expected to be riding
with the boss." Jimbo commented on the flight to the
Silo.

"Yes, quite a star we hitched our wagons too. Who 'woulda
'thunk it." Scott said.

"That's what we get for losing our senses and getting
engaged." Jimbo chuckled.

"Would you rather you weren't?" Muriel Wilson asked,
coming to sit by them.

"Oh, no Ma'am. I love Candice with all my being." Jimbo
said.

"Well good. Because I think quite highly of them two. I
would take it *personal* if anyone hurt them." the First
Lady said.

"We would take it quite personal ourselves. No need to
worry about us." Scott said.

"Good. When the time comes, how would you feel about a
White House wedding?" Muriel asked.

"Really, Ma'am? We would be quite honored by that." Jimbo
said.

"Yes really. I've decided that these folks are going to
be our friends, our *good* friends. I know that they can
well afford any wedding that they'd wish, but I'd like to
do whatever I can for them while I'm in a position to."
Muriel said.

"Uh, excuse me Ma'am, but I'm not sure you realize
exactly what you're saying." Jimbo said.

"Jimbo, I'm not blind, and I'm not stupid either. I well
know exactly what I'm getting into, so does the
President. I assume you are referring to certain
*inclinations*?" the First Lady asked.

"Yes Ma'am" Jimbo said, startled.

"I'm well aware of them. I think I was before you two
were. We know what we're doing. I trust you will be
discrete about this?" she asked.

"Oh yes Ma'am. Both of us." Scott replied.

"Good. I'm glad we had this little chat. See you in the
hot tub." Muriel said, returning to the President's side.

Jimbo and Scott just looked at each other speechless.
Neither could think of a thing to say.

The secret service were thick as flies around the
compound. A bunch of them patrolled the dirt berm keeping
a watchful eye outward while numerous others patrolled
within. John had given them access to the road and
personnel sensors. They would be well aware of it if
anyone approached the Silo within three miles cross
country or thirty miles by road. A helicopter gun ship
patrolled the perimeter of the outer fenced property.
Troops patrolled the whole fence line in OD green
Humvee's. All in all it was one of safest locations the
President had ever visited. If you didn't count that it
had once been targeted for a nuclear missile by several
nations and may still be on more than one list.

Several gun ships came in first and scanned the area,
holding station while the executive helicopter set down
on the Silo roof.

John stepped up and welcomed the President and First lady
with Cindy at his side. The others waited a respectful
distance back. Candice and Mae were flabbergasted when
Jimbo and Scott stepped off the helicopter. They ran to
jump into their men's arms, much to the discomfort of the
secret service who had their guns half out by the time
they realized that their target wasn't the President.

Jimbo caught Candice on the fly and spun her around,
settling into a massive kiss before her feet hit the
ground again. Mae's approach was slightly more reserved,
but not much. She lip locked Scott for a long time.

The President and First Lady chuckled along with John and
Cindy. John ushered them all indoors.

The only other non-crew person to step out of the
helicopter, was the officer carrying the *football*. The
helicopter pilots stepped out last. They looked over at
Steve's helicopter in question. Steve separated himself
from the crowd after he'd been introduced to and
congratulated by the President and hugged by the First
Lady. With Judy at his side he showed the executive
pilots his baby. They *acted* impressed.

The President stopped inside and directed the officer
carrying the *football* and the Secret Service not to
descend below the first floor unless there was a national
emergency.

Everybody protested, but the President was adamant. He
walked with John to the elevator.

Cindy and the First Lady accompanied them in the first
trip. The others either took the stairs or waited for the
elevator to return. John first directed them to the
kitchen.

"What a lovely, functional kitchen." the First Lady
commented.

"Thank you, Ma'am" Cindy replied.

"Oh no, none of that. I'm Muriel for the duration of our
visit." Muriel said.

"And I don't want to hear *Mr. President* once while I'm
here. As far as anybody is concerned, it's Tom and Muriel
for four days." Tom said.

"You got it, Tom, better repeat that for the others when
they get here. Scotch?" John asked.

"A bit early for that. A beer would be nice if you have
one. I so seldom get to drink it." Tom said.

"Beck's light or Dark, Carona or Bud Light?" John asked.

"Beck's light. Now that nobody's looking." Tom replied.

"Muriel? What for you?" John asked.

"A glass of white wine if you have it." she replied.

"Certainly, ah, good the others are here. Amy, would you
please run down to the wine cellar and snag a bottle of
Mirasou Mendicino County Chablis for Muriel?" John asked.

"I'll get it, she hasn't been hugged yet. What year?"
Cindy volunteered.

" '82, I think that's the only year of the Mendicino
County we have." John said.

The others filed in as Cindy went out.

"I just told John that I don't want to hear '*Mr.
President'* once while I'm here. We are Tom and Muriel,
and that's all."  Tom said.

"Does that mean that we can hug you?" Amy asked.

"Yes, Amy and kiss him too. Right after me." Muriel said,
taking Amy into her arms.

Steve, Scott and Jimbo exchanged surprised glances, as
the kiss wasn't just a friendly one.

"We're hoping that we get to spend the first night with
you three." Muriel said.

"Fine by us.... Muriel." Amy said, shakily as she moved
to Tom.

Alice moved into Muriel's arms followed by Andrea.
Theresa and the rest formed a line behind her.

When the women were through, Muriel made a point of
making the rounds between the men. By that time Jimbo
wasn't surprised when it wasn't just a friendly kiss.

"Please, sit down, make yourself at home." John said,
placing a frosted mug and the beer before a place at the
table.

"That's your spot and I know it." Tom said, sitting in
the next one over.

"Jimbo, Scott, Steve, help yourself to the bar. The rest
of you are home so you know the rules." John directed,
carrying his beer to the table.

Cindy returned and opened the wine, pouring Muriel and
herself a glass.

Theresa got a wine cooler. Sheila and Mae selected the
wine. The triplets chose coolers.

John was drinking his beer from the bottle. Tom looked
envious.

"Do I have to use a glass? I so seldom get to drink out
of the bottle." he chuckled.

"You can do as you'd like, but peel the foil from around
the top. It makes the beer taste metallic." John replied.

Muriel accepted the glass from Cindy and then pulled her
into her lap. She kissed her sincerely. Cindy returned
the kiss just as sincerely. Jimbo sat down with a beer, a
little hard..

"This is a lot to digest all at once. I never thought I'd
be kissing the First Lady." he mused.

"You didn't. You kissed Muriel Wilson, private citizen.
The First Lady would be shocked and totally denies the
accusation."  Muriel said.

"Yes, Ma'am" Jimbo said.

"No, it's Muriel. I mean that." Muriel said.

"Okay, Muriel, if you say so." Jimbo said.

"I do. Speaking of which, have you told your fiancée's
yet?" Muriel asked.

"No.. Muriel. Haven't had time." Jimbo replied,
awkwardly.

"Candice, Mae, Judy, I would be honored if you would let
us host a White House wedding when you decide a date to
get hitched. Just let me know when you'd like to do it.
Give me a little time as those things take some
planning." Muriel said.

"Oh thank you!" said Candice, launching herself at
Muriel.

Cindy slipped out of the way just in time. She bent and
welcomed Tom to her house while Candice was lip locking
Muriel.

Mae and Judy were next in line, Candice settled in
Jimbo's lap.

"Yup, quite the star I've hitched my wagon to." Jimbo
mused, bending to kiss Candice.

Cindy settled in Tom's lap and Sheila took the
opportunity to sit on John's.

"So, what first, Tom?" John asked.

"Actually, I'm quite enjoying this. I haven't felt this
relaxed in years." Tom said, kissing Cindy on the cheek.

"Tell you what. After lunch I'll give you and Muriel the
tour. Jimbo and Scott haven't seen the place either.
After that you are on your own. Do or go anywhere you'd
like. I think that you'll find many options to keep
yourselves amused." John said.

"Sounds wonderful." Tom said.

Cindy kissed him on the cheek and then moved to Heather.

"You were included when John said the rest of you were
home. Help yourself to the bar." she said, kissing her
softly.

"You certainly live up to your promises of an
entertaining time." Heather said, pulling Cindy back into
a longer kiss.

Amy, Alice and Andrea set about making lunch. Candice
kissed Jimbo and joined them. Lunch was simple but good.
Breast of Turkey sandwiches with alfalfa sprouts and
Roast beef with lettuce and tomato, accompanied with lots
of Cambell's Low-fat Cream of Mushroom soup.

"I promised the secret service that you'd have first pick
of the food, so we couldn't poison you." John told Tom
and Muriel.

"That's silly." Tom said, offering the plate to John
first. John chose one at random and Tom made a point of
choosing last.

The lunch was casual and relaxed. Muriel asked about
Second Skin and Sheila explained their expansion plans.

"Wish there was some way that I could own a piece of it."
Muriel mused.

"I know, there's no way we could legally do that, but
you're very welcome to join us after Tom's terms are up.
We can always use good managers." Sheila said.

"*If* we get re-elected." Muriel mused.

"We might just spoil that for you, you know." Cindy said.

"If that's the case, then so be it. Muriel and I talked
about that. If the press turns on you folks, I'll back
you up any way that I can." Tom said.

"My god, you mean that, Tom?" John asked.

"Yes. Muriel reminded me what it meant to be the
President, and in no uncertain terms. You folks represent
exactly the kind of citizens that this nation should be
very proud of. That's what I believe, that's what I'm
going to say." Tom said.

"Well, lets just hope that if it happens, that it's
*after* the election then." John said.

"I'll drink to that!" said Tom, raising his bottle of
beer.

The others around the table toasted and clinked glasses
and bottles. All drank to the toast.

"So how do you like your uniform, now that you've gotten
used to it?" Candice asked Jimbo.

"I'll tell you darling, it's the most comfortable uniform
I ever wore.

I don't feel like a wet dishrag after an eight hour
flight anymore. I love how it regulates temperature. I
feel comfortable enough and it looks good enough that I
can go out to dinner on the other end without changing.
The other pilots are all jealous as hell." Jimbo said.

"I thought they looked very good on you two. Are those of
Second Skin manufacture?" Muriel asked.

"Yes, Muriel. Candice and Mae drug us into their salon in
San Francisco and made them for us." Jimbo replied.

"Could you do the same for our pilots on Air Force One?"
asked the President.

"Sure, just let us know which salon you want to use.
We'll arrange it ahead of time so they can get in and out
quick. In fact, with the new system they only have to go
in for the scanning. Anybody can come pick them up the
next day." Sheila said.

"I'd like to make them standard issue for the entire
government pilots list." Tom said.

"Just a minute, Tom. I think we're getting into conflict
of interest here. Sheila offered Muriel a managers job
for after your terms of office. A contract that size
would be of benefit to Second Skin. Instead, why don't
you let me contribute the uniforms myself. Better than a
campaign contribution which might come back on you." John
said.

"That's mighty nice of you John, but I don't think that's
a problem. Jimbo, you guys have a pilots union. Just make
the suggestion through your union. I'll see that it's
approved." Tom said.

"I'm sorry, Tom. But that would definitely be conflict of
interest. See, I'm engaged to Candice, a Second Skin
officer." Jimbo said.

"Damnit. I hate all this lawyer shit. All I want to do is
get comfortable uniforms for my pilots." Tom said.

"Tell you what. We'll donate the first uniform to all the
pilots. After that they can vote on whether or not they
want to adopt them as standard issue. That removes
conflict of interest all around." Sheila said.

"That will work, that's a great idea." Tom said.

"That's why we hired her." Cindy beamed from Heather's
lap.

"Yes, I can guarantee that will work. Once the other
pilots try one of these on they won't go back to the old
ones for anything." Jimbo said.

"Now that that's settled, how about that tour, John. I
can't wait to see this *Castle in the Sand* that you've
built." Tom said.

Tom and Muriel were more than a little impressed with the
Silo. Jimbo and Scott were virtually speechless. After
the tour Candice led Jimbo off to her room and Mae led
Scott to hers, Judy led Steve to hers.

"You're on your own, Tom. Whatever you'd like to do is
fine by me. Make yourselves at home and pick a corner...
I suspect that you'll need all the room you can get
tonight with the triplets, so count on the master bedroom
as home base." John said.

"I don't want to put you out of your bed." Tom said.

"You won't be. Around here that's variable. I spend my
nights in one of the women's rooms as often as I do here.
Whoever has the largest party gets the big bed, but for
tomorrow night we've been saving a little surprise for
you. If you'll just come this way." John said.

He guided them up to the guest room above the family
room. In it was a replica of the four poster from the
Lincoln bedroom in the White House.

"Complete with creaks. Cindy and I tested it real hard."
John said.

"Thank you. That's a lovely gesture." Muriel said,
kissing him in thanks.

"So what are you going to do now, John." Tom asked.

"Well, it's the start of football season. I was going to
sit back with a beer and watch a football game." John
said.

"That sounds absolutely delightful, may I join you?" Tom
asked.

"Certainly. Come on." John said.

"Who's playing?" Tom asked.

"The Bear's and the Lion's" John answered.

"I've got five on the Lion's" Tom said.

"You're on." John said.

Muriel caught her husband and kissed him deeply.

"Have a good time, dear." she said.

"You too, love. I love you." he said.

"And I love you, now scoot." she said.

The men left and Muriel caught Cindy's hand. Cindy held
back as John and Tom headed down the stairs.

"A question, Muriel?" Cindy asked.

Muriel sat back on the bed, still holding Cindy's hand.

"Before you left he White House there were certain
invitations made. Were they sincere?" Muriel asked.

Cindy smiled at her and pulled off her top. She let
Muriel remove the rest.

"Care for more company?" Cindy asked, unbuttoning
Muriel's blouse.

"No, not for my first time." Muriel said.

"I'm honored." Cindy said.

"Not too much, I hope." Muriel said, pulling her down
into a kiss as her hands found Cindy's firm breasts.

Somehow one each of the triplets found their way into
Candice's, Mae's and Judy's bedrooms. Sheila and Heather
snuck off together with Shannon.

Sally and Jean came by the family room with a big bowl of
popcorn.

"Who's ahead?" Asked Sally, settling back against John.

"The Lion's" Tom beamed, helping himself to the popcorn.

Jean was more reluctant, but Sally pulled her down onto
the cushion in front of Tom. She quivered a bit as she
lay back against Tom.

"Easy, darling. No need to be so worried. I don't bite."
Tom said, sipping his beer.

"I'll bet he's a great nibbler though." Sally chuckled.

"You two here to watch football, or gab." John teased.

"Football." Sally said.

Nods all around.

"Okay then." John said, turning up the sound a bit.

After a time Jean got into the game and forgot about the
fact that she was leaning back against the President.
When his beer ran out she dutifully snagged him another
and a round for the rest. She settled back into her
previous spot and Tom kissed her in thanks. After that
she relaxed a bit more. It felt natural when a hand
softly caressed her body. John couldn't help but caress
Sally's. But the groping took second place to the game.

The Bear's won it with a last minute field goal. Tom
fished in his pocket for a five dollar bill.

"I'd be honored if you'd sign that, Tom." John said.

"Sure." Tom said. He signed it: "*To my friend John
Stevens, Thomas J. Wilson, Bear's by one!*"

"Thanks, something for the office wall." John said.

"You're quite welcome." Tom said.

John whispered something in Sally's ear and she giggled
and nodded.

"Have fun, we're gonna go take a little nap." John said.

"Sure." Tom said.

John and Sally slipped out.

"Perhaps you'd care to take a little nap too, Tom?" Jean
asked.

"Yes, that would be nice. Where?" he asked.

"My bedroom? Or another?" she asked.

"Yours please." he said.

She smiled and led him away.

Nobody was watching TV when Cindy passed through a short
time later wearing a light robe. She turned it off and
then continued on her errand, returning a short time
later with her toy. She ascended the stairs back up to
Muriel. A short time after that, a serious amount of
moaning could have been heard drifting down the stairs,
if anybody had been there to hear it.

A couple of hours later Cindy and Muriel found Tom and
Jean in the hot tub. Muriel came up and kissed them both,
then settled back into Cindy's lap. A short time later
Candice, Jimbo and Amy came in. Jimbo seemed hesitant,
but Candice and Amy dropped their robes without thought
and climbed in. Jimbo felt a bit self conscious but did
the same. Amy settled in his lap after kissing Tom and
Jean.

Mae, Scott and Alice came in, followed by Steve, Judy and
Andrea. They all dropped their robes and climbed in.

"Has anybody seen my husband?" Andrea asked.

"I think he's with Theresa. Kevin got shanghaied by
Sheila, Shannon and Heather." Judy said.

Just then Bill and Theresa made their way in followed by
the rest. They all dropped their robes and moved into the
hot tub.

"I can see why you made the tub so large, John." Tom
said, as John settled in, with Heather on his lap.

"Yeah, the last one got a little crowded when Candice and
the triplets arrived." John said.

"Did you really rescue them from a blizzard?" Muriel
asked.

"He sure did." Alice said, launching into the story.

"I'm much obliged to you for saving my darling." Jimbo
told John, at the conclusion of the story.

Hearing it from another source just confirmed what
Candice had told him.

"Quite welcome, Jimbo. They've been reward enough for me.
Way more than enough." John said.

Alice moved to him and kissed him anyway. Various folk
started to cycle into the cool plunge and to the chaises.

"Our turn to cook, Theresa." Cindy said.

"Coming, love." she said, sliding off Kevin's lap after
kissing him.

"I'll help." Jean said, kissing Tom and then slipping
out.

"Me too." Sheila said, sliding off Shannon's lap.

"I think I'll take a swim before dinner." John said.

"I'll join you. You know I'm a water baby." Heather said.

Tom and Muriel lay in a double chaise after the cold
plunge. He kissed her softly.

"Great idea you had coming here." he told her.

"One of my better ones." she said, returning his kiss.

"So you had a good time?" he asked.

"Yes, very nice, and you?" she asked.

"Yes, very nice as well. I love you." he said.

"And I love you too." she said, pulling him back into a
kiss.

"Mind if we join you?" Candice asked, pulling Jimbo to an
adjoining chaise.

"Not at all. We're the guests. You're at home. I quite
envy you for that." Muriel said.

"Oh, I think you folks are becoming family fast enough."
Candice said.

"You know, that's just what it feels like. A big happy
family." Tom said.

"That's because it is." Candice chuckled, snuggling to
Jimbo's side.

"I'm slowly learning that." Jimbo said.

"The only difference between us and a real family, is
that we're free to make love to each other." Candice
said.

"I quite understand Jimbo's reticence. That's not easy to
get used to." Tom said.

"I told you I'd see you in the hot tub, Jimbo." Muriel
giggled.

"That you did, Muriel, that you did." Jimbo said.

Shannon and Andrea joined them on the chaises.

"How long did it take for you to feel like family,
Shannon?" Muriel asked.

"Oh, I was sort of brought into it slowly. First there
was Sally and Jean and John at my estate. John spent the
first night with me alone. Then Sally and Jean joined us
the second night. By the time I got here, I just felt
like part of the family. But even that was a little
overwhelming at first. They were fairly understanding
about it. They each took me off one at a time and made
love with me. By the time they were through I'd hardly
notice if six or eight people were making love in the
same room. Not that that happens very often." Shannon
replied.

Andrea came and sat cross legged on the bottom of Tom's
and Muriel's chaise.

"Hi" she said, simply.

"Hello, which one are you, no let me guess... Andrea?"
Muriel asked.

"Yup." she said.

"Careful, that's how they started with me." Shannon
giggled.

Neither Tom nor Muriel could take their eyes off the
enchanting view before them.

"So, we get to spend the first night with you?" Andrea
asked.

"Yes, if you want to. We'd be delighted." Muriel said.

"Okay, yeah, I'd like that too." Andrea said.

Bill kind of rolled his eyes from the cold plunge.

Alice came over and stood by them. First she bent and
kissed Candice and Jimbo, which put her shapely behind in
front of Tom's face. His eyes got a shade big. Muriel's
view was even better.

The young woman then turned to Tom and asked: "Can you
swim?"

"Not bad." Tom replied.

"Good, then you can teach me some." she said, taking his
hand.

"I think I'm going swimming, love." Tom said, kissing
Muriel.

"Have a nice time, dear. Maybe, we'll join you later."
Muriel said, taking Andrea's hand.

"I think that I'll take a swim myself." Jimbo said.

"Coming, love." Candice said, stopping to kiss Andrea and
Muriel.

Andrea moved up on the chaise and snuggled to Muriel's
side. Bill and Sally came over and moved onto the
adjoining chaise.

"Kind of different, huh?" Sally asked.

"Yes, very different. How do you feel about it, Bill. Do
you mind your wife spending the night with us?" Muriel
asked.

"Not at all. I kind of figured that out before we left
the White House." Bill said.

"You didn't quite answer my question, how do you *feel*
about it?" Muriel asked.

"Muriel, I had to ask myself that question the first
night I came here. When I found that the triplets made
love with each other. They spent that night with me and
it was one of the most enjoyable nights of my life. John
told me before hand that their inclinations extended to
each other. He said that they'd had little enough honest
love in their life, and that he didn't want to spoil it
for them. I came to realize what he was talking about
later that night. It was the most natural honest love I
ever encountered. The taboo against same sex incest is
just a carry over from thousands of years of social
pressure.

The taboo against incest had a solid foundation in that
it made deformed children. But the global taboo against
all forms of it has no such solid foundation where there
is no possibility of offspring. In reality the most
damage that could be done from it, is the social stigma
that has been placed upon it.

Okay, that took care of them making love with each other,
as far as I was concerned. From there it was an easy
extension for me when they made love with one of the
other Silo residents. Everybody loved each other.
*Really* loved each other. I knew that up front before I
ever got involved with any of them.

Now I *understand*. I *really* love all of them. I
understand each of their attractions to each other. Every
person here contributes their unique personality, their
talents and charm to the whole family. I'm thrilled to
death to be a part of that.

So in answer to your question. I don't mind it at all. I
admire her taste in women and men. You are quite an
attractive woman yourself. Besides that, it's what *she*
wants. It's part of her, part of *all* that I love. She
wouldn't be the same person without the affection she
gives to and receives from other people. So it would be
silly of me not to want her to do that, because that
would be trying to make her into something other than
what I love.

Besides, I think I have my date for the night." he said,
drawing his fingers over Sally's breasts.

She giggled and nodded.

"Kind of cute, isn't he?" Andrea said, letting her
fingers trace over Muriel's breasts.

"Yes, he's adorable." Muriel said, responding to the
young woman's touch.

"Nicely put, Bill, may I join you too?" Shannon asked.

"Yes, that would be very nice." he said.

"Shall we join the others in the pool, or would you like
to get a head start on the evening?" Sally asked Muriel.

"What I would like very much, would be if I could kiss
every one of you." Muriel said.

"Oh, we can do that." Andrea said, becoming the first.

Sally and Shannon came next, Muriel standing to embrace
and caress them. When Bill moved into her arms she
trembled a bit. Andrea moved herself against her backside
and rubbed up against her. Sally and Shannon smiled at
each other and slipped off to the pool Andrea's hands
softly cupped Muriel's breasts from behind as Bill kissed
her. Muriel's hands found Bill's manhood and softly
touched it. When he pulled back Muriel looked around,
they were alone. Even so, Bill led her to one of the
bedrooms. Andrea snagged their robes and followed behind.

Sally and Shannon joined the crowd at the pool It
actually was fairly crowded.

They dove in and each swam several laps then climbed out
and toweled off.

Tom was sitting alone on one of the chaises. Alice was
frolicking in the pool.

"She wore me out. She's a much better swimmer than I.
Where's Muriel?" he asked.

"Getting a lesson in family. Would you like one?" Sally
asked, extending her hand to him.

"Yes, I think I'd like that. You'll save enough of me for
the triplets later?" he asked, being led by Sally and
Shannon.

"Oh, we make no such promise. But I think you'll find
that they are more persuasive than you think." Shannon
said.

Jimbo watched from the pool, a strange expression on his
face.

"I was thinking of the curious occurrence of the dog in
the night." John said.

"But the dog did nothing in the night." Scott said,
setting him up.

"My point exactly." John finished.

Jimbo looked at the two of them.

"He's a human being, Jimbo. We all are. The only
difference between us and others is that we're not afraid
to share our love with more than one person." John said.

"Yes, I'm slowly learning. I understand that well enough
for myself. I just didn't expect it in... others." Jimbo
said.

"Does it bother you that I've been with your woman?" John
asked.

"No, of course not." Jimbo replied.

"Does it bother you that I may be again?" John asked.

"No, I don't think so." Jimbo said, less sure.

"Good, because it doesn't bother me that you've been with
one or several of *my* women." John said.

"Point  taken." Jimbo said.

"Is it? Because there isn't any jealousy around here,
Jimbo. That's the one thing that could tear this all
apart. There isn't any room for it because we're all too
busy being in love. You see, jealousy is rooted in
insecurity. And you have no need of that. I know that
Candice loves you with all her heart." John said.

"He speaks true, Jimbo. I do love you with all my heart.
But we was all *his* women first. We all love him and
each other. Much as I love you I never want to give this
up. I owe these folks my life, but more than that. I
*want* to love them. I didn't know what happiness was
before I came here. I discovered the other half when I
met you. I don't want to give up either now that I'm
whole." Candice said.

"You don't need to worry, there'll be no trouble from
me." Jimbo said.

"It's more than that Jimbo. You see, I like you. I know
that Candice loves you. I want her happiness as much as
you do. I want her to have you. I want you to be a part
of this family. I'm just trying to explain to you what
that entails. The other part of that is that we don't
judge each others actions. We can't. For one thing we're
all guilty of most things that others would be inclined
to judge us for. But I don't feel the least bit guilty. I
give my love freely where I feel it. I don't try to tell
those who I love who they can or can't love. Because that
isn't love, it's control. And we don't control anybody
around here, but ourselves. Do you understand what I'm
saying?" John asked.

"Yes, I think so." Jimbo said.

"I hope so." John said.

"I understand you." Heather said, swimming up and
crawling onto his lap.

"Do you now? What would your mother think?" John asked,
chuckling.

"She'd be absolutely scandalized." Heather said, melting
into a kiss.

"I understand too." Alice said, swimming up to Jimbo and
climbing into his lap.

She pulled Jimbo into a deep kiss. Halfway through it he
realized that this was one of *John's* women that he was
kissing. Candice by his side was another. When Alice
lifted her head Candice moved in and kissed both of them
alternately. He looked over and Amy was kissing Scott and
Mae. Not too long before she'd been with him and Candice
in her bed.

Then he understood better.

"I'm thinking that you are a wise man, John Stevens. And
I will be quite honored to be part of your family." Jimbo
said.

"I don't know about how wise I am, but you are quite
welcome here, Jimbo." John said.

"Thank you. And thank you for sharing your women with
me." Jimbo said.

"That's  the easy part. You see, they aren't mine like
property. They're mine in my heart. I want what each of
them wants to make them happy. If you are part of that,
then that's just fine with me." John said.

"Then I thank you for your understanding." Jimbo said.

"You are quite welcome, Jimbo. Quite welcome." John
replied.

"You guys talk too much sometimes." Heather said, pulling
John into another kiss.

"If they didn't, we'd have nothing to tease them about."
Mae chuckled.

Heather was persistent enough that John got an erection.
She shifted position to take advantage of it.

Mae and Amy had Scott in readiness. Mae guided Amy over
his hips. Kissing him from the side.

Jimbo didn't have a chance, especially when Alice
practiced her diving lessons. Candice finally guided her
former co-wife over her new man. Joyful at their union.

There was very little talking for some time. After
Heather cried out and fell back into the water, Mae swam
over to support and caress her back to consciousness.
Candice crawled up onto John's lap and whispered in his
ear. He nodded and touched the spot the triplets had
taught him. A short time later Candice impaled herself.
Jimbo passed the test with flying colors. What could he
have done otherwise, with John's woman riding his hips.

Afterwards they all sort of floated about, relaxing and
cooling off again.

A short time  later Cindy announced dinner over the
intercom.

"One more thing is that we dress for dinner around here.
How much clothing is optional at the other meals, but
always at least a robe. It's not that we mind the sight
of unclothed bodies when we eat, but it's too big a
distraction and the meals last too long." John chuckled.



Tom and Muriel were likewise informed of the clothing
rules.

"Where *are* our clothes?" Muriel asked.

"You're booked for the master bedroom tonight, so
probably in there." Andrea answered.

"Thanks... and thank you, both of you." Muriel said.

"You are quite welcome, Muriel." Bill said.

"Yes, it was nice." Andrea said.

"Nice... well maybe you can teach me about *great*
later." Muriel said.

"Don't be silly. This isn't a contest! It's the sharing
of pleasure. It takes time to learn that. I'd be more
than happy to show you anything I know, anytime. I think
you'll find any number of willing teachers around here."
Andrea said.

"Yes, I'd like to learn. Thank you Andrea." Muriel said.

"You are quite welcome, now you'd better go dress for
dinner." Andrea said.

Tom also found his way to the master bedroom. He was just
starting to dress when Muriel walked in.

"Hello, love. Have a nice time?" he asked.

"Yes.. And You?" she asked, moving to his side.

"Quite  nice. I'm beginning to feel like one of the
family." Tom said, pulling her to him.

He kissed her softly and she quivered a bit in his arms.
Despite all the loving she'd experienced during the day,
she found herself being more attracted to him than she
ever had.

She kissed him back, hard.

"My, what brought *that* on?" he asked.

"I just suddenly realized how much I love you." she said.

"I'm quite in love with you as well. Odd, that we should
each realize how much after we've been with others." he
said.

"I'm not so sure it is odd. I think I've learned more
about love -both physically and mentally- today then I
ever understood before. And I think that we've just
scratched the surface." she said.

"Well, we'd better dress. If it was anybody else I'd
leave them wait while we proved it to each other. With
these folks I'm content to wait for later." Tom said,
kissing her once more and releasing her.

She selected a sexy evening gown. One that she couldn't
wear to most balls. She pulled it over a foundation of
soft and sexy underwear.

"I ought  to take you out more often, you look stunning."
he said, love in his eyes.

"You don't look so bad yourself, in that tuxedo. I just
wish that my hair wasn't so tangled." she said.

"Knock, knock" a voice said from outside the door.

"Yes, please, come in." Muriel said.

"I thought you might need a hand with your hair." Sally
said, stepping in.

"Hello Sally." Tom said warmly.

"Hello, Tom." she said in return.

"You are a lifesaver." Muriel said.

"We shall see. Lets go into the bathroom and see what we
can do." Sally said.

"I'll just step out." Tom said.

"No please stay. I want to walk in on your arm." Muriel
said.

"Okay. Glad to." Tom said.

Sally led her into the bathroom and seated her before a
mirror. She pulled out some hair brushes and a bottle of
anti-tangle.

"Baby conditioner?" Muriel asked, examining the bottle.

"Best stuff I've found. Almost too good, it robs a bit of
body." Sally said.

"Only from your *hair*, I can see." Muriel said, looking
at Sally's body in the mirror.

"You are such a *flirt!*... I love it. Yours is quite
lovely too." Sally chuckled, spraying Muriel's hair and
then working a brush through it.

"Do you really think so?" Muriel asked, comparing hers
visually to Sally's.

"Yes, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. That guy
out there does too." Sally said.

"He told you that?" Muriel asked, surprised.

"Oh, not in words. In the way he looks at you... and
calls your name at *certain* moments." Sally chuckled.

"You're kidding." Muriel said.

"Nope. Shannon is my witness." Sally said, working the
hair with the brush.

"I wouldn't have thought he would have had a thought
about me while with you two stunning women." Muriel said,
sadly.

"Oh don't put yourself down. You're prettier than you
know. If there's one thing that I've learned, it's that
each of us is stunning at certain moments to somebody. A
simple smile from John can make me feel like the queen of
Sheba. A misread look can make me feel like the ugliest
scag on the planet. That man out there loves you. Maybe
more than you realize. If a man tells you you look nice,
then you look okay. If he tells you you look stunning. He
really means it." Sally said.

"You heard that?" Muriel asked.

"Heard what?" Sally said, concentrating on her hair.

"When he said I look stunning just before you knocked?"
Muriel said.

"No, but it doesn't surprise me a bit that he said it,
you do." Sally said.

"So do you." Muriel said.

"Thank you. Now hold still." Sally said, tossing hair
left over right.

"So how was he?" Muriel asked.

"Don't you know?" Sally chuckled.

"Yes, I know how he is with me." Muriel said.

"Well, it's not a question I really consider. I enjoyed
myself, he did too. Does that bother you?" Sally asked.

"No, once it would have. Not now." Muriel said.

"Well, why there is a difference between those times is a
question for you to answer yourself. I wouldn't have been
with him unless I thought it was okay with you. I took
your actions with Bill and Andrea as a fair indicator of
that. Also your actions with myself. You see, I don't
make a differentiation between making love to a man or a
woman. It may in fact feel differently and the mechanics
might be different. But ethically it's the same thing. As
such there is no difference between you making love to a
man or woman and Tom making love to me." Sally said,
finishing Muriel's hair.

"That's the best I can do on short notice." Sally said,
stepping back and bending a mirror behind to give her a
view..

"It's lovely. I've never been able to do a French braid
like that." Muriel said, looking at herself in the
mirror's.

She stood and pulled Sally into her arms.

"You are lovely and wise. Perhaps we can get together,
tomorrow?" Muriel said.

"Yes, I'd like that." Sally said, moving to kiss her.

Muriel deepened the kiss and held it. Finally she
disengaged herself.

"Thank you, and you're right, I am a flirt. But I get so
little chance to practice." Muriel said.

"I can understand that. Well, there's a man out there who
loves you and you look like a million bucks. Why don't
you go let him spend some of that." Sally chuckled.

"Thanks, for everything." Muriel said, squeezing her
hand.

"That's what friends are for." Sally said.

Muriel smiled and nodded and moved out to see her man.

Tom stood as she entered and a smile came to his face.

"You look stupendous." he said.

Muriel beamed and kissed him. Then they headed off to
dinner.

Sally saved time by climbing on one of the inside
elevators. It pushed aside trap doors as it ascended.
Sometimes it was fun. She surfaced into a startled group
of nubile nude women just dressing in the triplets common
area. Sally chuckled and continued her ride.

"We should put a bell around her neck." Amy giggled.

"She's no more of a prankster than Alice." Andrea said.

"Sorry ladies." Sally called back down.

"We don't mind, you just startled us." Amy called after
her.

Sally arrived in the kitchen ahead of Tom and Muriel.
Most everybody else was there except the triplets. Jimbo
about choked on his drink when the floor beside the sofa
suddenly lifted up and parted and Sally came into view.

"Easy darling, it's just an elevator." Candice chuckled.

"I was standing there not three minutes ago." Jimbo said.

"Yes, and if you'd been standing there just now, it would
have gently pushed you aside. You were in no danger of
falling. John's a good engineer." Candice said.

"Yes, I can see that." Jimbo said, looking at the small
cage next to him.

Tom and Muriel stepped into the kitchen.

"What a handsome couple." Cindy said, looking up from the
stove.

"You look gorgeous, Muriel" Theresa said.

"Thank you, all due to Sally's handiwork. She was right
behind us, I fear we lost her somewhere." Muriel said.

"I only take credit for the hair. The rest is all her
doing." Sally said from the bar.

"Just how did you beat us up her. Sprint up the stairs?"
Tom asked, startled.

"She took the dumb waiter." Jimbo said.

"No, that's over there. See, you can program it to stop
on any floor." Candice said.

"I took one of the small elevators. We actually have four
-small ones-, but John's now converted one into the dumb
waiter." Sally said.

"They came with the Silo, I just adapted them and made
them a little safer. You both look very nice. My
compliments on that gown Muriel, you look ravishing in
it." John said.

"I think he looks quite handsome too." Alice said,
entering with the other triplets.

"My my, where have you been hiding those outfits?" Sheila
asked.

"Like them?" Amy said twirling around, "Judy helped us
with them last week."

"Yes, very alluring." John said.

"What a good word. Yes, quite alluring, all of you." Tom
said.

"Why don't you all be seated." Cindy said.

John had done some calculations the previous week and
performed surgery upon the massive trestle table. It was
now three feet longer. Additional chairs had been added
to fill the gap. Enough that everybody could comfortably
sit around it, there was quite a crowd.

Candice and Jimbo, Mae and Scott, Judy and Steve, Theresa
and Kevin, Bill and Andrea, Amy and Alice, Cindy and
Heather, Sally and Jean, Sheila and Shannon, Tom and
Muriel and John.

The table looked lovely. There were fresh wild flowers in
a vase in the middle. Low enough to see over. The china
was some that John had spotted in San Francisco. Kind of
a frosted pastel glass. The table cloth was simple white
linen. Each place held an embroidered place mat from
India. The silverware was real silver and sparkled. There
were earthenware wine coolers on each end of the table,
the wine open and breathing.. Cindy and Theresa set
salads in front of each person before John and Kevin
seated them.

"You certainly set a lovely table." Muriel mused.

"Thank you. Jean and Sheila set it." Cindy said.

"Tuna casserole again?" John teased.

"The thing he hates most on the planet." Cindy said, "We
have; fresh vegetable salad with Bulgar wheat, followed
by Gazpacho, Judy's recipe. For the main course, we have
Parmesan stuffed skinless chicken breasts with wild rice
and baby carrots. And no John, I didn't stuff them with
tuna."

"Please, dig in." John said.

"Ain't he eloquent." Cindy chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"This salad is great!" Tom said.

"Nothing fancy, got the recipe off the Bulgar wheat box.
We just happened to have the fresh vegetables in our
hydroponics garden." Cindy said.

"It's terrific. I'll have to ask the chef about it when
we get back home." Muriel said.

"Looking around this table, I don't ever recall seeing so
many devastatingly low necklines." John chuckled.

"We wanted to look nice for you." Cindy said, beaming.

"That you certainly do. You ought to come by more often,
Tom. I usually get T-shirts or tube tops for dinner."
John said.

"Really? How long do they cook them?" Tom asked.

John guffawed. There was polite titter around the rest of
the table.

"Don't let it bug you Tom. I thought it was funny. They
don't like my sense of humor either, and what I think is
funny, *really is*." John said.

"Yeah, what was that one; '*How dost I cast dispersions
upon your character*.' " Cindy chuckled.

"I remember that one, that was the morning after Sally
sent him back from New York looking like a zombie."
Theresa said.

"Why did he look like a zombie?"  Muriel asked.

John winced and waited.

"He made love to her thirty times in thirty-four hours."
Theresa said simply.

Several people at the table stopped eating and looked up
startled.

"By my soul, he did." Sally said.

"I saw her a few days later, she still looked badly
dazed." Jean said.

"I didn't think that was possible." Muriel said, looking
to John curiously.

"He broke that record with Judy. *Averaged* once an hour
for three days. Recovered for a day and a half and still
managed to fulfill my wishes in the Lincoln Bedroom."
Cindy chuckled.

"I wasn't the only one there for all of that. Sally still
holds the record for exclusivity." Judy said.

"I'm not so sure this is proper dinner conversation."
John said.

"Oh, I think it's fascinating. Maybe I should have given
you a medal for prowess, if we had one. It sounds like
you were a good candidate for a purple heart of your
own." Tom chuckled.

"May I ask what prompted you to this level of
performance." Muriel asked.

John looked to both Sally and Judy, they both nodded
their assent.

"They were both virgins. I wanted their first time to be
memorable." John said.

"It certainly was all of that." Sally said.

Judy nodded vigorously, as she had a mouthful of salad.
Steve looked at her in chagrin, remembering how he said
he'd be gentle with her.

"You've never done this sort of thing with the others
though?" Muriel asked.

"I've offered Cindy several times, but she's turned me
down flat." John said.

"He put in quite a respectable showing when they were
staying with me, but nothing like that." Heather said.

"He made love to fourteen of us one day." Alice added.

"There weren't fourteen of us then, that was fourteen
times among eight of us." Theresa said.

"That was about four days after he got back from New
York." Amy said.

"Yes, well, we don't need to go into the details of
that." John said, heading off any conversation that
really wasn't fit for the dinner table.

"So beside Sally's and Judy's records, what's the most
times he's made love to any of you others?" Muriel asked.

"I guess that would be the fifteen times in one night
split between Sheila and I." Cindy mused.

"You called me a beast." John said.

"Not me, all I could say was '*Uh...'* It was Sheila who
called you a beast." Cindy chuckled.

"I remember that, you kept saying he was possessed." Bill
said.

"I think he was." Sheila said, "At least he acted like
it. The worst part was that it hardly phased him. Poor
Cindy and I were zombies. He came down and talked to you
folks like he'd just had a weeks rest."

"You are indeed quite a remarkable man, John." Jimbo
said, raising his glass.

"Hear, hear." Tom said, raising his and clinking Jimbo's

This led to everybody clinking glasses and drinking to
John.

Cindy sat back in awe.

"I do believe he's blushing." she said, "I've never seen
that before."

"Sure you have, that allergic reaction he gets to
vinegar." Theresa chuckled.

"Speaking of which, I forgot round two." Cindy said,
jumping to her feet.

Theresa and Sheila helped her clear the salad plates and
serve the Gazpacho.

"What's Gazpacho?" Alice asked.

"A delightful cold vegetable soup." Sheila said.

"*Cold* soup?" Amy asked.

"You'll love it." Judy told her.

Indeed, it was wonderful. It went very fast and snubbed
much of the conversation, much to John's relief.

This time Cindy noticed when it was time to change the
courses. John got up and helped her with the serving
platters.

The parmesan stuffed chicken breasts were exceptional.
The wild rice and carrots cooked to perfection.

"You're turning into a very good cook. Want a job?" John
asked Cindy.

"Got one." Cindy replied.

"Wanna get married then?" he asked.

"We did." Cindy replied.

"Oh... I've run out of offers." John said.

"*That* I doubt." Cindy chuckled.

"So what's next for you John?" Tom asked.

"Oh, I've got a trip to Europe next week with Cindy,
Catarina and Bianca. After that, who knows. I just bought
a little spot outside of Salt Lake not far from a
reservoir with horribly bad fishing. If Bill ever gets
another week or two off I'd like him to teach me fly
fishing and I need to find a director for my homeless
program. That might take a while." John replied.

"You wouldn't consider public service." Tom asked.

"Not a chance on earth." John replied.

"Speaking of Catarina and Bianca, where are they?" Muriel
asked.

"Well, one, someone had to run the salon at Shannon's
place. We didn't have anybody else available, and second,
I didn't think the secret service would allow you much
privacy with a confessed foreign agent on premise." John
replied.

"There is that. But Catarina's alright, so is Bianca."
Tom said.

"I believe that to be the case myself, but convincing the
rest of the government might be a different thing
entirely." John said.

"In all honesty, we wanted them to complete their
training before they left for Europe. With Catarina's
language skills, she's a natural for the position of
European director for our salons there when we go
international." Sheila explained.

"How's Bianca doing?" Muriel asked.

"Quite well, actually. Sally and I think that she
indulges in her treatments as much from enjoyment now as
from her addiction." Shannon chuckled.

"I was kind of looking forward to being part of her
cure." Muriel giggled.

"Why Muriel Wilson, what a scandalous thing to say.
Dessert?" Cindy said.

"Ooh, what have you got?" Muriel asked.

"*Pure* decadence; Chocolate moose in white chocolate
ravioli topped with a white chocolate Frangelico sauce
and topped with shaved hazel nuts." Cindy said.

"You might have to twist my arm a fraction of an inch..
Okay." Muriel said.

"Tom?" Cindy asked.

"Too rich for me." he said.

"Okay, show of hands for the rest of you for desert."
Cindy said.

Most hands went up.

"I'll help."  Jean volunteered.

"Me too." Muriel said, standing.

"You are a guest." Cindy said.

"Please?" Muriel asked.

"Sure, why not." Cindy said.

Muriel moved along one side collecting dishes and carting
them over to the counter, Jean along the other doing the
same. Cindy dished out the desserts and passed them
around.

"Coffee?" Cindy asked.

"Yes, I'll get it love." John said, standing.

"How many?" Cindy asked.

Most the men and a couple of the women raised their
hands.

"No coffee Tom?" John asked.

"Not this late in the day." he replied.

"You should try this. Decaffeinated French roast." John
chuckled.

"In that case, sure." Tom said.

When the coffee and desserts were passed around, most the
women seemed in ecstasy. The men were slightly more
reserved in their reactions. John alternated small bites
with coffee. It really was rich.

"I've died and gone to heaven." Judy said.

"Where did you get this recipe?" Sheila asked.

"Saw it on a cooking show one day." Cindy replied, quite
enjoying her handiwork.

"I must have the recipe for our chef." Muriel said.

"Simple really. I'm certain that he can make chocolate
moose. Just soften and roll out the white chocolate and
place it in ravioli forms. Fill it with moose and top,
seal and trim. The sauce is just the trimmings melted
with Frangelico Liqueur added. Use a double broiler so
you don't singe the chocolate. Refrigerate the ravioli's
while you make the sauce. I guess they were in the fridge
longer than that, as I made them yesterday." Cindy said.

"Tastiest dessert I ever had." Jimbo said.

"You said I was." Candice chuckled.

"That you are, my darling." Jimbo said.

"Care for a cognac and a look at the stars, Tom. Maybe a
cigar?" John asked, after the deserts were consumed.

"Cognac sounds nice. I'd love a cigar, they won't let me
smoke them in the White House anymore." Tom said.

"Well, they won't let me smoke them around here except in
the solarium. And it's my place." John chuckled.

"Stinky old things." Theresa shivered.

Jimbo bit his tongue.

John poured two snifters of cognac and handed one to Tom.

"I'm sorry, how sexist of me. Muriel, would you like a
cognac and or a cigar?" John asked.

"No, thank you, John. I feel perfectly content." Muriel
replied.

Cindy looked longingly at John, Sheila caught it.

"You go ahead, Cindy. We'll be happy to clean up." she
said.

"You sure?" Cindy asked.

"Yes, you've done quite enough preparing that lovely
meal." Sheila said.

"Yes, it was quite lovely. Excellent in fact." Muriel
said.

"I concur." Tom said.

"Ditto." Amy said, "I even liked the cold soup."

There were many thanks and appreciative remarks from the
rest of the table.

"Best Tuna Casserole I ever ate." John said, offering his
arm to Cindy.

"One of these days I'm going to make you a tuna
casserole." Cindy said, taking his arm.

John shivered.

"Will you join us, Muriel?" Cindy asked.

"Yes, that sounds nice." Muriel said.

"Mind if I tag along?" Heather asked, "I'm quite
intrigued over this solarium of yours."

"No, not at all. Anybody else? I figured the rest of you
as residents who could fend for themselves." John said.

The others declined.

They rode the elevator to the top floor. A secret service
agent was immediately present.

"Relax. Just going to look at the stars in the solarium."
said Tom.

"Are you alright, Mr. President?" asked the agent,
looking at the cognac.

"Yes, now disappear." said the President.

"Yes, Mr. President." said the agent and disappeared,
talking into his lapel.

"*Hacker on first base. Back away from opening and watch
out for rolling roof*."

"*Hacker*" was the secret service name for the President.
Referring to his not so good golf game, rather than any
connection to computers.

John stepped into the solarium and switched on the red
lights. Then he tripped the control to roll back the
roof. The large helicopter presented no problem to the
winches. The weight was all vertical. Once the inertia of
the thirty ton roof was overcome, the addition of a five
ton helicopter was nothing. Cindy handed an afghan to
Muriel and Heather, donning one herself. Their low cut
dresses left their shoulders bare. Inducing a chill from
the autumn air. The women thanked her.

John dug out a box of cigars and offered one to Tom and
then cut the end for him with a cutter he kept in the
box. The box was actually a small humidor. Plain stick
matches were kept close by as the best way to light a
cigar. John gave several to Tom along with a small flat
stone for striking on.

Muriel settled onto a double chaise and Tom sat by her,
but lower on the end. Laying his hand affectionately on
her leg. She smiled at her husband.

John offered a cigar to the women, but they declined.

"I may have a puff or two on yours." Heather said.

John trimmed and lit his cigar, tripping a small exhaust
fan off to the side. It hummed quietly.

Cindy and Heather settled into a triple wide chaise that
John had built. John sat at their feet like Tom did with
Muriel.

"This is an excellent Cigar." said Tom.

"Yes, I lucked out on those. A friend went to Mexico
years ago. I asked him to get me a box of cigars. He came
back with a box full of Cubans. Havana Clubs they're
called." John said.

Tom puffed on it affectionately.

"May I?" Heather asked John.

He handed her his cigar and she tried a puff or two.

"No loving for you two until you brush your teeth again."
Cindy chuckled quietly.

"Just part of loving a man." Muriel mused, rubbing her
husbands back affectionately.

Tom leaned back into her touch and gazed up through the
transparent roof. The autumn desert sky was glorious.

"The sky is gorgeous." Tom said.

"Yes, people tend to forget that in the cities. That was
one of the selling points for me." John said.

"You've done a marvelous job on the place. I wouldn't
mind owning one myself. A little retreat away from the
city." Tom said.

"I'm afraid I lucked out in that regard. I may have the
only trouble free Silo in existence. There's some real
problems sinking a hole a hundred-seventy-five feet into
the earth. The biggest is the water table. Which in this
case is down a hundred-fifty feet. That means that the
bottom twenty-five feet is actually *under* water. The
concrete must be incredible and they must have sealed the
outside as well. I'm real lucky that it doesn't leak. But
a single earthquake could crack it, and I would lose the
bottom two floors. I'm real lucky I didn't crack it
myself when I started heating it. I saw a report on
*Sixty-Minutes* about some other people who were trying
to make a home out of another Silo. They had to pump
constantly. If the water table was higher here, the
hydraulic pressure would probably cause seepage anyway.
Basically I lucked out." John said.

"I would say that it was a safe assertion to say that you
were a very lucky guy. Winning the lottery, meeting all
these stunning women." Tom said.

"I wouldn't have thought so five years ago. I wasn't
poverty struck, but I certainly wasn't well to do either.
My social life was non-existent." John said.

"You think that the turn in your social life came as a
result of the money?" Muriel asked.

"I have little doubt of that. If nothing else it gave me
options. Options to do things. Like the scanner. Also
helping Sally. I wouldn't have been in a position to do
that -or even have been there- if I hadn't won the
lottery. I also wouldn't have been in a position to help
Theresa and Cindy, nor do I think they would have had
their initial attraction to me. Not that Theresa and
Cindy were gold diggers. They're not. At least they never
were with me. They hardly ever asked for anything,
really. They just wanted a safe haven." John said.

"Oh, it didn't *hurt* that you had fourteen-million
dollars. I might not have been attracted to you
otherwise. I remember when I first arrived, I just
thought of you as old. Not that you were, but as young as
I was, twenty-five would have seemed old. But I think the
fact that you had money made me look a little closer.
Then I was done for." Cindy said, caressing John's back.

"I think the isolation had a great deal to do with that
as well. I was the only game in town. I'm not so sure
that you would have fallen for me given a few options."
John chuckled.

"Maybe not, but I have. And the money certainly isn't a
factor in that now. I have much more than you, now."
Cindy giggled.

"So do I, and I've quite fallen for you as well." Heather
said.

"Yes, but what about when I get too old to satisfy you?"
John asked.

"Your satisfying us isn't totally connected to that thing
between your legs. That's just a bonus. We satisfy each
other quite well without one." Cindy said.

"Yes, I must say that I've never known a more loving
group of people in my whole life." Muriel mused.

A slow moving dot passed among the star field. Cindy
pointed it out.

"I wonder if that's our friends from Russia." she
giggled.

Tom looked up at it and flashed it the bird. A curious
secret service agent chose that moment to stick his head
over the edge of the roof. He found himself facing his
commander and chief flipping him the bird.

He hastily retreated. Everybody in the solarium broke out
in side splitting laughter.

"That's right! I remember you telling me that you and
John were looking at the stars when you figured out that
the Russians were watching you." Heather said, suddenly.

"That was quite a fancy piece of reasoning." said Tom,
admiringly.

"Oh, I don't recall it being that tough, and it certainly
wasn't all me. Cindy and I played off each others
speculations. Both Sally and Sheila had highly suspicious
stalkers. They didn't *act* like stalkers at all. They
were being *watched*! Connected with the fact that I
lived in a location that was undoubtedly being watched at
one time, it wasn't hard to realize it might still have
been. Then I thought about how the work I'd done here
would look from a spy satellite. I undoubtedly scared the
pants off them when I used an arc welder while I was
hanging floors. It would have triggered a launch
warning." John said.

"Didn't Catarina say it had?" Cindy reminded him.

"Yeah, I forgot about that." John said.

"Perhaps you *are* getting old." Cindy giggled.

"Age had nothing to do with that. There have been so many
events happening in my life that it tends to merge into a
blur." John said.

"Well, I still think it was a marvelous piece of
reasoning." Tom said.

"Thank you Tom. Nice of you to say so." John said.

The ash on Tom's cigar had grown long, John retrieved an
ash tray for him and himself. Then he walked over to his
telescope and panned it around to find Jupiter.

"A lovely sight of four of Jupiter's moons." he said,
offering the eyepiece to anyone.

Both Tom and Muriel came and looked through the eyepiece.
They were suitably impressed.

"Can you see Saturn with this?" Muriel asked, looking at
the moons.

"Yes, but it's not very impressive. The rings are edge
on. It just looks like a fuzzy elongated dot." John said.

He used a small red penlight and consulted an ephemeris.
Checking on several items.

"Too early for the Orion Nebula. That's my favorite. How
about the ring nebula? That's quite impressive." John
asked.

"Certainly. Anything." Muriel said.

"Anybody else for Jupiter's moons first?" John asked
Cindy and Heather.

"I've seen them often enough. I'm content to relax here."
Cindy said.

"I'd like to see them." Heather said, standing.

She looked through the eye piece and was quite surprised.

"Yes, four small dots, obviously moons." she said.

"Either that or my lens is dirty again." John chuckled.

"Dust would be dark." Heather said, absently, continuing
to look.

Afterward John swung the telescope around to the
coordinates of the  Ring Nebula. He searched in the
eyepiece and got the image centered. Giving Muriel the
first look.

"OH! That's lovely!" she gasped.

"Yes, it is quite." John mused.

Muriel pulled from the eyepiece and Tom moved in. Muriel
spun and hugged John. Then she leaned to kiss him.

John returned the kiss, but kept it reserved. Even so
Muriel found herself quivering a bit. There was a strange
power about John. The fact that he held an attraction for
so many women not the least of it. Muriel turned to her
husband when he pulled back from the telescope and pulled
him into a soft and tender kiss. She quivered even more.

John moved back to sit down by Cindy's feet.

"Hey you. Can I have a kiss?" she asked.

"I haven't brushed my teeth yet." he teased.

"You won't have any if you don't get over here." she
giggled.

John leaned to her and she kissed him tenderly. She
forgot all about the taste of tobacco in a few seconds.
Searching his mouth with her tongue. The kiss ended
softly, their lips just barely touching.

"Thank you." Cindy said.

"Most welcome. Have we met?" John said.

She held up her ring finger.

"Oh, you're married? Mores the pity. Such a lovely woman
too." John said.

"This is incredible!" Heather exclaimed from the
eyepiece.

Four people hardly heard her, as they were gazing into
their lovers eyes.

Tom and Muriel made their way back to the chaise. Muriel
sat back against the raised back and pulled Tom sitting
against her. Then she handed him his cigar.

Seeing this Cindy did the same with John.

Heather continued to gaze into the eyepiece, a heavenly
body herself. She was bent low and her cleavage was quite
pronounced. Cindy noticed it and giggled.

"What?" John queried.

"Oh, just admiring another heavenly body." Cindy said.

The others followed her eyes and chuckled.

Heather looked up and could have blushed a bit. If the
red light would have revealed it.

"What?" she asked, feeling a bit self-conscious.

"We were just admiring your heavenly body. My adorable
little minx. Won't you join us." Cindy invited.

Heather smiled radiantly and moved to sit by Cindy's
side.

"She is quite adorable. Could we get one of them?" Muriel
asked.

"Not until I'm out of office." Tom mused.

"Yes, or now. That would put you out of office." Muriel
giggled.

"You want me out of office?" Tom asked.

"Oh, not really. Just sometimes the lack of privacy and
the way we have to act bugs me. I've quite enjoyed the
freedom we've had here today." Muriel said.

"Yes, it's been one of the most enjoyable days we've
spent in a long, long time. And it's not just the loving,
although that was quite nice. It was the freedom to be
Tom and Muriel again." Tom said.

"Yes, despite the other loving I think that we've grown
closer today. Or maybe that has a bit to do with it.
Everybody likes to know that they're still attractive to
others. But there's noting like the sight of another with
your mate to make you realize how much you care for
them." Muriel mused.

"Well, you folks are quite welcome. You're welcome to
come anytime that you can. I realize that will probably
be quite seldom with your position, Tom. But you are
quite welcome here. Think of that as a standing
invitation." John said.

"Yes. I quite enjoy the company of both of you." Cindy
said.

"Thank you. That's very kind of you. I realize what a
hassle it can be with the secret service and all. We'd
love to come again sometime if we can. But logistics
might make that tough." Tom said.

"Well, you're welcome to come spend a month or a night.
Whenever you can. You don't have to show up together
either. If you're schedule's allows one of you to come,
but not the other, feel free. But I must warn you that
after the first time, it's self serve. You have to line
up at the feeding trough with the rest of us." John said.

"Oh you! He doesn't mean that." Cindy said, slugging him
softly.

"No, actually that's the way we'd like it. We don't want
special treatment. In fact what we most crave is *normal*
treatment. Like tonight, Cindy, when you let me help
clear the dishes. I felt like one of the family. That
meant a lot to me. I quite appreciate what you offer,
John. Thank you." Muriel said.

"You *are* one of the family, Muriel. You both are."
Cindy said.

Muriel got a bit misty eyed. Tom kissed her on the cheek
and squoze her hand.

"Thank you. That means a lot." Muriel said.

John took a last puff on the cigar and let it lay in the
ashtray to die out. Then took a last swig of the cognac
out of the snifter and shivered a bit. Sucking his breath
in through a constricted "O" shape as the liqueur warmed
his insides. His  hands reached down and felt a warm soft
thigh.

"Ah, The finer things in life." he mused, "Life is good."

For a time they just  lay back looking at the stars and
enjoying each others company.

Finally John stood and offered his hands to Cindy and
Heather.

"Shall we join the others?" he asked.

They all stood. John collected the Snifters and made
certain that the ashtrays were placed safely. He didn't
empty them. He tripped the control to roll the roof
closed. They made their way back past the secret service
and back down to the kitchen.

The agent spoke into his lapel: "*Hacker back into the
pit*."

After they left a secret service agent entered the
solarium. He took samples of the cigar ash and the
clippings from the ends, then exited again. They would be
tested for traces of drugs along with the food samples
they had obtained before John chased them out.



Cindy collected the afghans from the women and set them
aside.

"Some coffee, something to drink?" John asked, Tom and
Muriel.

"No, nothing thanks. We've been pampered and well fed. I
feel more content than I have in years." Muriel replied.

Alice came up and wiggled between them.

"Hi" she said.

"Hello.... Alice is it?" Muriel asked, putting her arm
around her.

"Boy they get names quick. Nobody's ever figured out our
names this fast." Alice said.

"Well we may not always get them right. I was just
lucky.... I guess you want to go to bed, huh?" Muriel
asked.

"Not really... Well, sorta. I just wanted to tell you
that you can anytime you'd like. If we get sleepy, we'll
just go down and climb in. You folks can climb in
anytime. Just nudge us when you're ready." Alice said.

"Oh, we wouldn't want to wake you up." Muriel said.

"Oh.. Why not? Sleep's just sleep. Making love with
someone special is *way* more important than that. I can
sleep when I'm old." Alice said.

"Actually, I think it's time we turned in anyway." Tom
said, grinning.

"Yes, we'll come down with you." Muriel said, smiling at
her husband.

"Thank you folks for a wonderful day and a lovely
dinner." Tom said.

"Yes, it was wonderful. And the dinner was great. Good
night to you all." Muriel said.

"You'll find that it's not that easy getting to bed at
night around here." Cindy said, stepping up and pulling
Tom into a hug.

He hugged her back and she kissed him warmly saying
goodnight. Muriel moved to John and the rounds began.
They didn't get out the kitchen door until they'd been
kissed by all in Muriel's and the triplets case, and
kissed by all the women in Tom's case.

Going down the elevator, they had a triplet between them
and one on each arm.

"This seems to work out well." Tom mused about the
configuration.

"Makes it hard to go through doors." Amy mused.

John took off his coat and loosened his bow tie. He hated
all ties anyway. He poured a cup of coffee and sat down
on the sofa in the kitchen, leaning back against Cindy.
He kicked off his shoes and took a sip of coffee.

"Where are we sleeping?" he asked, rubbing his eyes a
bit.

"I think we're in the Lincoln bed. Heather would quite
like to join us." Cindy said, kissing his cheek and
caressing his chest.

"I have no objection to that. Is that okay with the
others? I think I've been neglecting some of the others."
John said.

"Sally and Shannon are with Bill, acting proxy for
Andrea. Candice is with Jimbo, Judy with Steve, Mae and
Jean with Scott, the triplets with Tom and Muriel and
Heather with us. That leaves Sheila, whom I believe is
still deciding between Candice and Judy. I think Judy's
going to win that one, but she's quite taken with Jimbo.
We all are a bit." Cindy said.

"How did it all get so complicated?" John asked.

"Oh don't feed me that crap. A few minutes ago you were
musing about the good life." Cindy chuckled.

John kissed her cheek and then turned back.

"It is good. I was just wondering how it got
complicated." he said.

"It was all that charm of yours. I seriously doubt that
Theresa and I could have attracted all these people. But
I break it down into groups and it makes it easier to
understand. First Theresa and I, Then Sheila. Mae and
Judy sort of came with her, Steve with Judy, Scott with
Mae. Then you rescued Candice and the triplets. Bill for
the triplets and Jimbo for Candice. Then you met Sally.
Jean and Shannon came with her. Heather also, as a friend
of Shannon's. Then you went and became a hero, enter
Catarina and Bianca and Tom and Muriel. That brings us up
to date. Oh, I forgot Kevin with Theresa -by way of Bill-
and Me with you." Cindy finished.

"That last part particularly interests me. What say we go
make the bed creak." John said.

"Sweet talker. I'll snag Heather, you start on the
goodnights." Cindy said.

John grabbed his shoes and jacket and made his way around
wishing everyone goodnight. Cindy and Heather followed
behind kissing everybody. On a whim John kissed Jimbo on
the cheek. Jimbo stiffened and his eyes got real big and
scared.

"It was a joke, Jimbo. I'd *know* by now." John chuckled.

The others laughed. Finally Jimbo busted out himself.
John shook his hand and Cindy and Heather kissed him good
night. Then they headed out arm in arm.

When they entered the bedroom, Cindy got a wild look in
her eyes. She stripped off Heather's clothes without
prelude. She literally ripped her own off and climbed
onto the bed pulling Heather with her. She leaned back
against the headboard, holding Heather before her,
squeezing her large breasts and teasing John. She pulled
Heather around into a passionate kiss as John pulled off
his clothes.

"I want to watch you enter this gorgeous creature, then I
want to lick it!" Cindy said.

"What was that about no loving till we had brushed our
teeth?" John chuckled.

"You keep asking to lose them." Cindy said, returning to
her kiss. There was obviously no trepidation on her
tasting tobacco.

As John was already erect, there was no difficulty in
fulfilling her request. He licked Heather several times
to make entry easier and then inserted himself. Heather
moaning softly and kissing Cindy harder.

Cindy pulled back and watched her man stroking inside the
gorgeous blonde actress. She played with her breasts and
kissed her on the neck. The motion driving Heather's tail
bone up against Cindy's erect clitoris. Between their
combined assault, it didn't take long to work Heather
into a frenzied orgasm. She barely stopped shaking before
John withdrew and Cindy crawled out from beneath her.
John stood on his knees as Cindy sucked him into her warm
mouth.

Heather recovered enough that she moved between Cindy's
shapely thighs and licked upwards. Cindy moaning in
response and sucking John down her throat. After she had
thoroughly cleaned him he moved around behind her. Cindy
dipped her head between Heather's thighs and dove in as
John entered her from behind. Cindy began to orgasm at
once from the double assault upon her nether regions.
Heather soon followed her again, both from Cindy's
actions and the view above her of John stroking into her
tight vagina.

John  kept  stroking. He leaned over and cupped Cindy's
breasts, playing his fingers around her nipples.

Cindy cried out suddenly and lunged forward, pulling John
out of her. She spun around and sucked him into her mouth
again, sucking her juices from him. Then she descended
into a deep kiss with Heather. She began to grind her
hips into Heather's.

John moved around again behind Cindy. When she got this
way he knew of only one way to satisfy her. He positioned
himself against her backside.

Cindy began to lengthen her strokes, grinding downwards
against Heather's vulva with her own and then upwards,
back into John. Pushing him farther into her with each
stroke. John lowered himself upon her so that it drove
deeper while Cindy still maintained contact with the
stunning blonde beneath her. Cindy's breath became a
frenzied gasp. She was kissing Heather and playing with
her breasts. Her own riding over the large set beneath
her.

John was now seated fully inside Cindy. He lay his weight
atop her, driving her hips downward forcing them to grind
harder into Heather's.

Heather began to convulse, which triggered another wave
of convulsion from Cindy. John waited. Cindy's hip
movements became frenzied and sporadic. She was going
wild from the stimulus she felt. Any direction she moved
her hips brought a new pleasurable sensation. When John
as moving freely inside her, he began to stroke himself,
timing her hip movements with his own. each time she
lifted up, he stroked downwards.

Tears began to roll down Cindy's cheeks. She became like
a wild animal bucking between them. John controlled
things so she didn't hurt herself. When she cried out and
her hips began bucking violently, John pushed then down
harder into Heather. Heather's response was instant as
her hips began to buck upwards violently to match Cindy's
spasming response.

John began to stroke in earnest. Taking long slow
strokes. Almost leaving her before he thrust downwards
all the way. Each time bringing his full weight down on
Cindy, causing her to grind into Heather. Then he picked
up the pace, driving down hard. Each collision of her
backside against his hips causing a second collision
between the women. When he heard a guttural cry building
in both women's lungs he let himself go. Stroking for all
he was worth. The tingle in the base of his neck
signaling the start of his own orgasm. He stroked another
two dozen furious stokes downwards. As the cry escaped
their lips, so did the one from John. He spurted his warm
inert seed into Cindy's backside as their cry ended.

Cindy's hips continued to spasm between them. Goose bumps
ran in random sheets over her body. Her breath a gasping
inwards cry. Her sweat mingling with the gorgeous blonde
woman beneath her. Tears from her eyes dripping onto the
angelic face. John slowly withdrew and Cindy winced and
moaned. Her body spasmed once more and became motionless
except for the labored breathing.

John rolled off to the side and Cindy moved half atop
him. They all passed out in this position.

John felt a warmth on his member. He lifted his  head to
find Cindy tenderly wiping him with a wash cloth. He had
responded to the action in his sleep and he was fully
erect. Cindy finished up and cast the cloth aside. She
moved over him and kissed him tenderly. Guiding him
inside her. John held her to him, feeling her breasts rub
against his chest. Their strokes were slow and easy,
their eyes locked together. Their orgasm when it came was
mutual and gentle. Cindy descended to softly kiss him.

"I shall love you forever." she said, and lay her head
upon his shoulder.

John pulled the covers over them and they slept that way,
him still inside her.



Muriel crawled over a sleeping body and snuggled to her
husbands side.

"I love you." she said.

"I love you too. Seems an odd comment after what you just
witnessed me doing." Tom said.

"You were magnificent." Muriel chuckled.

"Not up to John's standards, I fear." Tom mused.

"Oh pooh. As Andrea said to me earlier; '*Don't be silly.
This isn't a contest! It's the sharing of pleasure. It
takes time to learn that*.' " Muriel quoted.

"Very philosophical. I should know by now." Tom said.

"Darling, you know as well as I that we are but babes in
the woods compared to these people. We've both
experimented with each other and a few other people in
our whole life. These people have spent the past several
years perfecting the act of pleasing another to a fine
art. With open, free communication between each other
about what  does and doesn't work.

These lovely young women sleeping peacefully around us
aren't even twenty yet and they know more about
lovemaking than I ever dreamed existed.

God, I never had so many orgasm's in my life. And I paid
very careful attention to what they did to you too. Every
time you thought you were done for, they managed to
convince you otherwise. They knew just exactly how to
make you last longer too. Even when they were helping
with me.

They managed to give me six orgasms while keeping you on
the edge and going.

No, we never had the opportunity to know what these folks
do. We could learn a lot from them if we don't let our
ego's and our pride get in the way." she said.

"I take it that you want to." Tom said.

"Yes, don't you?" she asked.

"Yes, of course. But I don't want to lose you in the
process." Tom said, pulling her close.

"That's not going to happen, *ever!*.

I think that's another very valuable lesson we can learn
from them. These people *care* very deeply for each
other, much more deeply than any of the so called happy
couples that we've ever known. *Including ourselves*.

I want to learn that. I want to love you *that* deeply. I
want you to love me that deeply. And it's clear that
monogamy has nothing to do with that depth of feeling
that they share.

Right now I love you as deeply as I know how. I know you
feel the same about me. If we don't learn that further
depth of feeling, fine. I love you enough right now that
I will always be with you. But I think we have the
opportunity to feel so much more, and I want to try."
Muriel said, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Tom kissed at them tenderly. Something he had never done
before. He realized exactly what Muriel was talking
about.

"Okay. I want to know that too." he said, pulling her
mouth into a gentle kiss.

Despite all the loving they had experienced during the
day and that night, Tom began to respond. He pulled her
over him and guided her onto him. Then he held her close
as they slowly moved to the deepest orgasm of their
married life. Their eyes open and locked to each others.
Later they caressed each other to sleep.



"You seem distracted, Jimbo." Candice said, snuggled atop
him.

"Oh, just a whole lot to digest in a single day." he
replied, gently caressing her soft skin with his
fingertips.

"Not a single day, Mae and I tried to give you a sample
of what you were in for that first morning." Candice
said.

"Yes you did. And I enjoyed every second of it. But it
hardly prepared me for what I witnessed today." Jimbo
said.

"You're thinking about Tom and Muriel aren't you."
Candice said.

"Yes, I was thinking about the President and the First
Lady." Jimbo said.

"Well, there's half your problem. They may be the
President and First Lady, Jimbo. But first and always,
they are Tom and Muriel. The office didn't take that
away. They are just people like you and I.  They feel
things like you and I. They take a crap in the morning,
just like you and I. The office didn't change that a bit.
I like them very much. They are nice people." Candice
said.

"A President shouldn't act like that." Jimbo said.

"Why not? What did he do that was wrong? Or better yet,
what did he do that was any different than what *you* did
today? Do you feel wrong about what you did?" Candice
asked.

"No, I don't. I did nothing wrong. I made love to the
woman I love. I shared my love with another that she
loves. I watched her share her love with one she loves.
But Tom's different." Jimbo said.

"How so? Didn't he make love to the woman he loves?
Didn't he share his love with others. Didn't Muriel share
her love with others? It's *not* any different.

"The only thing that's different, is what that could do
to him outside here. Away from the family. Those are the
people who are different. They are the ones who want to
tell us how we should act. They are the ones who would
tell me that I couldn't make love to you until we are
married, when I love you now. They are the ones who would
tell me I could *never* make love to Amy or Alice or
Andrea or any other woman. I don't buy that crap, and I
thought you didn't either. I thought you enjoyed the
sight of two women making love. -at least your body does,
cause you get harder than a rock whenever you see it.-.
But my whole point is that Tom and Muriel are *human
beings*. They need love and affection just like you and
I. They enjoy pleasure, just like us.

"If anybody needed worry about what they did today, it
was them. It was what it could do to them as a couple,
based upon those rules from outside. But I didn't see
that. What I saw was a couple who loved each other enough
that they weren't afraid to share their love with other
people.

"Can't you see the incredible trust they have in us? How
hard it must be for them?

"If a single one of us were to blab about what went on
here, it would be the end of Tom's career. The end of
their public life. The press would crucify them.

"What they *need* from us in return for that trust, is
the freedom to be just Tom and Muriel. They need that
desperately. Didn't you see it in their eyes?

"Tonight when Muriel asked to help clear the dishes. She
was *pleading* with Cindy to let her. To let her be
*just* Muriel again, not the First Lady. That's what both
of them want from us, and I think they deserve it."
Candice finished.

"Guess I never looked at it that way before... I guess
you're right. It just takes some getting used to." Jimbo
said.

"I know. It took me some getting used to, also.

"I remember catching myself when Theresa was making a
mannequin of Alice. She put a heater inside of it in case
John should want to be reminded what she felt like. I
caught myself thinking that was sick. When I had in fact
mounted his own mannequin and enjoyed myself quite allot.
Theresa reminded me of that fact. And told me that the
only time John had ever mounted one of the mannequins,
was at her request.

"She also told me that they don't judge each others
actions around here. She meant it. They accept you for
what you are. They will accept you, Jimbo, for what you
are. As they accepted me for what I was.

"In the process I got to be a whole lot more than I used
to be. I used to be ignorant and a backward bigot. Not
over the color of ones skin -but I guess I was a little
of that too-but over how people lived their lives. If
they didn't live their lives the way I did mine, then
they were somehow lesser people than I was. But the fact
was that my life was shit. A living hell that I was
willing to risk a blizzard to escape from. Then I met
these people. They saved me from that blizzard and that
life. Eventually they saved me from that attitude. I'm a
much happier person. I know joy. I feel love and I feel
loved. And it's all because of John and the rest of them.
And now you." Candice finished.

"You've convinced me, darling. I'd be grateful if you'd
help me along in my learning." Jimbo said.

"Well, lets work on joy first." Candice said, bending to
kiss him as her hand reached downwards.



"Do you think John was a little tough on Jimbo today in
the pool?" Scott asked.

Mae was snuggled to his side. Jean was sleeping very
peacefully on his other side.

"No. I think he was a little easy. And not because I
think badly of Jimbo, you know I don't. John's got an
awful lot he needs to protect. It's easy to forget how
much he has to lose. Or how much Tom has to lose. Fact is
that we *were* *all* his women before you and Jimbo
arrived. In fact Sheila was *my* woman before *he*
arrived. But instead of losing her, I gained him, and a
whole lot more. Candice for one. You for another. Because
I wouldn't have been on that plane if it hadn't been for
him.

I caught that look in Jimbo's eyes. He was disgusted with
the fact that Tom was going off with Sally and Shannon.
But Tom's no different from Jimbo or yourself or John or
Bill or Kevin. He's a man. He just happens to be in a
very visible public office. That doesn't mean that he's
not entitled to feel like a man. In fact it *should*
entitle  him to feel *more* of one. At the same time
Muriel was off with Bill and Andrea. That's not a
justification, he doesn't need one as far as I'm
concerned.