Creation's Guardian

Author's notes: Apologies to my readers. I realize it's been far too long since my last posting. Real life tends to get in the way of my writing. The love of my life finally lost her six year battle with cancer and that has really taken the wind out of my sails.

In addition to that, I seem to have lost contact with my editor and haven't been able to find a replacement. I'm actually looking for a female editor because I feel that adding a woman's perspective to the story helps strike a better balance.

I've tried to proof-read this chapter several times but I'm sure I've missed a few things so I apologize in advance for any errors.

**********

Amanda pulled a surprised Lyssa in for a hug while giving her a kiss on the cheek. She stepped back taking Lyssa's hand and said, "come on. Let's get back to the picnic table. We've still got an alliance to forge yet."

Upon reaching the picnic table Amanda sat in the middle between Lyssa and Jacobia. Amanda looked at Lyssa and said, "Master tells me that the psionic shield over New Atlantis has been deactivated. Your link to your Personal AI should be active and your psionic powers restored. Also the Seeker is in orbit above Neuveia and in the spirit of cooperation and friendship we'd like to invite you to allow any of her crew who wishes it to take some shore-leave provided they follow a few basic rules. No clothing, no weapons, and until your diplomatic staff is up to speed, all personnel are restricted to Neuveia only. Once your embassy is operational your people will be free to visit any planet they wish. You might also wanna keep the nudity requirement in mind when selecting your diplomatic staff."

Lyssa laughed then said, "the nudity around here is so casual that I'd almost forgotten that Jacobia and I don't have any clothes on. I can't believe just how liberating that actually feels." She looked at Jacobia then continued, "I don't have any problem with your crew spending some time planetside. But you're their captain so it's totally up to you."

Jacobia giggled then said, "I don't have any objections to the crew having some R and R, but I can picture the look on Ron Sullivan's face when I tell him the ground rules." She grinned then said, "this is gonna be sooo much fun! Bob, can you patch me through to my ship? Just keep the view from my shoulders up for now please."

Bob created a small vidscreen in front of Jacobia. He nodded to Cailin and she connected it to Neuveia's main communication system then said, "I've narrowed the focus of the camera as you requested. Don't move around too much when you're talking to him though. Because if you do, he'll get a good look at your boobs." Cailin then opened a channel to the Seeker and Ron Sullivan's face appeared on the viewscreen.

"Captain McDonald are you okay? We were allowed to hear Defense Minister Sullivan order the surrender of Atlantian forces and we've been really worried about you and Queen Lyssa."

"Both Queen Lyssa and I are perfectly fine Ron. We haven't been harmed in any way. In fact we're currently working out the preliminary terms of an alliance with the Neuveian Federation. I think you'll find that all shipboard systems other than weapons have been fully restored. I've decided to allow any crew member who wants it some time on the ground. But like any port of call there are some rules to follow." It was all Jacobia could do to keep a straight face as she recited the groundrules. She grinned as she said, "nudity and no weapons are cultural norms for this society at the present time. The non-interference directive is in full force. The crew are to wear their COMS bracelet and nothing else. Are we clear on that Commander?"

"Yes Ma'am," a shocked Ron Sullivan responded.

"Oh and one final thing Commander. The crew may purchase anything they want while on leave. In the spirit of friendship, the Guardian will cover all their purchases as well as meals and hotel rooms. Enjoy yourself Ron; it's not often you get a freebie like this!"

"Okay I'm sold on the idea Captain. But what about keeping watches aboard ship?"

"Keeping a watch crew aboard ship isn't necessary Ron. The Seeker's AI is quite capable of maintaining a stable orbit around a planet without any Atlantian assistance and Queen Lyssa is using her personal authority to suspend that regulation for the duration of our stay here. I'll port myself up to the ship and transport the first group back aboard when the time comes for us to leave. If anyone doesn't want to come down, that's fine too. They'll be the ones missing out on the opportunity to explore a new planet and meet a new civilization. I'm sending you the transport coordinates to Tranquility City. Make sure everyone transports there. This continent is off limits to all ship's personnel other than Queen Lyssa and myself. Any more questions Commander?"

"No Ma'am. No more questions. I'm due on the control deck in a few minutes. I'll brief the crew and send down anyone that's interested in a little exploration."

Just as Cailin closed the channel, Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera groaned in unison. Aphrodite looked down at the liquid pouring from between her legs and giggled as she said, "oops, sorry to interrupt, but it's that time, Master."

,

Bob was stunned. He looked at the growing puddle under each of the three goddesses feet then at their swollen bellies. He looked at Aphrodite's smiling face and stuttered, "you mean...? All three of you? Holy shit! Can you all port to the hospital, do you need help? What do I do?"

Cassandra laid a hand on Bob's shoulder and said in a soothing tone, "relax, Master. Women have been delivering babies since the beginning of time. Just go to the hospital with them. I'll handle things here for you. Don't worry they'll be fine, I promise. I'll have Stacy contact her mom and dad and have them meet you there."

"Oh, okay sweetie." Bob ported the three goddesses to the triage area of the hospital.

The nurse on duty pointed to the elevator and said, "second floor. Doctors Rodgers are already waiting for you."

Fifteen minutes later Bob became a proud papa for the first time when Aphrodite delivered a baby girl that Bob named Alicia followed quickly by a son that he named David. Ten minutes after that, Athena gave him a second daughter that he named Brianna followed by a son he named Jacob. Bob barely had time to take a deep breath before Hera proudly presented him with his third daughter Charlene and his third son Micheal. Bob was ecstatic when the doctors pronounced all six children healthy and all three mothers doing very well!

For comfort and convenience all three mothers shared a four bed ward room. Bob sat in a recliner taking turns holding each set of twins, one in each arm as he grinned at their mothers. He thanked each goddess for the wonderful gifts they had presented him with as tears of joy streamed down his cheeks.

Aphrodite smiled at him gently and said, "we should be the ones thanking you, Master. You've given us all strong, healthy children that'll grow up to be very powerful gods and goddesses. They're all children of the light and I can hardly wait for the day when they're all fighting for what's right along side their father. We know how happy and proud you are right now. But we also realize that you're a creature of honor and duty. Right now your duty lies on New Atlantis forging an alliance with the Atlantians that will stand the test of time. Go, do your duty, build your embassies, we'll all be here safe and sound when you get back, I promise."

Athena said, "she's right, Master." She looked down at the two beautiful children suckling hungrily at her swollen tits and smiled. "we did our job. Now it's time for you to go and do yours."

Hera looked up from the twins sucking noisily on her huge tits and frowned playfully. "Don't make me say it, Master. You already know they're right."

Bob stood throwing his hands up in the air as he chuckled. "All right I'll go. Geeze women! Ya can't live with em and ya can't live without em!"

When Bob reappeared back at the picnic table Cassandra frowned and said, "what on Neuveia are you doing back here? You should be at the hospital spending time with your babies and their mothers. Anything you need to do here can wait a day or two."

Bob laughed softly as he threw his hands up in the air again. "I give up, I really do. I can't win no matter what I do. I'm sorry, Sweetie but your mother doesn't agree with you. Neither does Athena and Hera. All three of them told me to get my ass back to work. According to them, all three of them are fine and the twins are all strong and healthy. They seem to think that the alliance with Lyssa and the Atlantians is the most important thing right now so they literally kicked me out of the room."

Cassandra nodded thoughtfully then said, "well if Mom thinks your being here is more important than being with her; she must have a damn good reason. So I'm not gonna try to second guess her." Suddenly Cassandra turned to Lyssa with a shocked look on her face. "You have an enemy aboard the Seeker! Commander Sullivan is planning to assassinate you under the guise of a rescue attempt. He has a dozen security officers in a briefing room planning the rescue operation right now. They have no clue that he's planning to make it look like you were killed in the crossfire."

Lyssa frowned and said, "I guess I shouldn't be too shocked by that. Commander Sullivan is a direct descendant of my sister Sue. Sue and I have the same mother but different fathers. Atlantian law states that only a direct descendant of my father may become king or queen of the Atlantian Empire. Ron Sullivan was really pissed when he found out he wasn't eligible for the throne. Sue and I thought he was over it. That's why we gave him the XO slot aboard the Seeker. I guess we were both wrong. One thing I'm curious about though. How did you know?"

"Aphrodite spooked me when she sent Master back here. That isn't like her at all. So I was reaching out with my mind, searching for any kind of danger. We haven't got much time, do you mind if I handle this mess? That way I can insure no innocents get harmed." Cassandra replied.

"It's Neuveian soil; I don't have any jurisdiction here. Do what you gotta do," Lyssa said with a smile.

"Thanks Lyssa," Cassandra replied. She turned to Bob and continued, "Master can you please loop the rescue team back to the Seeker as soon as they materialize, then cut the power feed to their transporter device? That should keep them all safe and sound."

"I like it! No problem sweetie," Bob replied with a grin.

"Thank you, Master. All right everyone, shields up. Selena, Kadir, I don't have time to explain but can you please extend your shields to cover Lyssa and Jacobia? Cailin, you're with me. Commander Sullivan's gonna pop up in back of that boulder over there about twenty five feet in front of Lyssa and Jacobia. Our job is to take him down. But I don't want him killed or hurt too badly. I plan to hand him over to Lyssa to face whatever charges she chooses to bring against him. Okay places everyone."

Cassandra and Cailin flanked the boulder. Cassandra behind and to the left with Cailin behind and to the right. Both were well hidden behind huge trees. A few seconds later the "rescue team" materialized in a skirmish line. Before they could react Bob sent them back to the Seeker then cut power to their transport device and shuttles. When Ron Sullivan appeared, Cassandra let him fire three quick shots at Lyssa then stunned him with a quick thunder clap. After that Cailin whacked him in the back of the head with the hilt of her sword sending him face first into the boulder, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious. Cassandra created a set of handcuffs, some ankle shackles, and a waist chain, then trussed Ron Sullivan up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Cailin scooped him up in a fireman's carry and unceremoniously dumped him in the sand near Lyssa's feet as Cassandra picked up his weapon. Cassandra handed the pistol to Bob and said, "Commander Sullivan knew that Lyssa's shield would've been useless against this. He fully intended to kill her."

Bob pulled the clip then ejected the round from the chamber. He set the clip and the ejected round on the table and looked the handgun over carefully then said, "it's similar to the nine millimeter handguns made on Cailin. Though the workmanship on this one's far superior to anything they've ever made. The frame is lighter yet appears to be stronger and it still takes fifteen rounds in the clip and one in the pipe. It has a DNA scanner built into the handgrip and a safety sensor that prevents it from firing aboard a starship. Whoever built this is one hell of a clever weaponsmith!" He set the handgun down and picked up the ejected round. He examined it closely then continued, "these are some really nasty rounds. They're coated with an anticoagulant substance and were made to fragment on impact, maximizing the damage they caused to whoever they hit. It looks like he wanted to make damn sure his target had absolutely no chance of surviving her wounds. It's a good thing you had Kadir and Selena extend their shields to cover Lyssa and Jacobia, Sweetie. Otherwise we'd have one hell of a mess to clean up right about now. Healing the kind of wounds these rounds would've made would've been damn near impossible; even for us."

Lyssa looked at Cassandra with gratitude and said, "you're right, Cassandra. Our personal defensive shields will only stop energy weapons. We haven't seen a hand held projectile weapon in thousands of years. In fact I don't recall ever seeing one personally. So it never occurred to me to defend against them. Thank you; you saved my life. I owe you a debt of gratitude I can never repay."

"I appreciate your gratitude, Lyssa. But you don't owe me a thing. As Queen of Creation, I have a responsibility to protect beings of the light such as yourself, and Jacobia from harm. I know we got off to a rocky start, but I've grown to like and admire you over the last few hours. I honestly believe that there's a lot we can learn from one another. Putting my personal feelings aside, I'm a creature of duty. So no matter what my feelings may be, I would react exactly the same way. Caring about you is just an added bonus that makes doing my duty that much more pleasant."

By now Ron Sullivan had regained consciousness. He struggled to move for a minute or so then realized that he was hogtied by chains and wasn't going anywhere. He couldn't understand how he ended up shackled hand and foot lying face down in the sand with blood still trickling out of his broken nose and two black eyes forming on his swollen face. When he noticed that Lyssa was still sitting at the picnic table totally unharmed, he was stunned. He was positive that he had hit her in the center of her chest with at least three of his carefully crafted rounds before the world went black around him. He didn't know how long he'd been out cold but Lyssa should've been dead or at the very least dying as her blood gushed out of gaping wounds. Yet he was the one lying in the sand bleeding, not her. He couldn't figure out what the fuck happened, and for the first time in his life, he was scared shitless. He winced as Cassandra pointed to him and asked Lyssa, "so what are you gonna do with that pile of camel dung?

"Him? He's a fleet officer and that makes him subject to the Atlantian code of military justice. For now, I'm gonna toss him in Jacobia's brig. When we get back to New Atlantia, I'm gonna turn him over to my sister Sue. She's my Minister of Defense and has full jurisdiction over all military matters. She's also one of my personal guards, part of an elite squad of very powerful women ironically called guardians. I shudder to think of what she'll do to him. I can pretty much guarantee you that whatever she decides to do, it'll be far worse than anything I could have dreamed up.

There's something else I've been thinking about though. I doubt that the bastard said anything to the crew of the Seeker about shore-leave. If he had, they would've realized that a rescue attempt wasn't necessary. I think it's time that Jacobia and I got our garbage off your beach and into the brig where he belongs. While we're aboard, Jacobia can explain things to her crew and I can check in with Sue so that she knows everything's fine."

"Yeah I can see how telling the crew that they can have an all expenses paid vacation would put a damper on his assassination plans," Cassandra giggled then continued, "one thing more before you go. Your crew is free to engage in sexual activity with any willing partners they can find. The only requirement is that it must be completely consensual. Now, do you want your clothes back on or do you want to go as you are?"

Jacobia looked at Lyssa and giggled then said, "fuck it, Nanna. I'm comfortable just the way I am. Besides you've always said that I should lead by example. Nudity's a cultural norm down here. It's up to us to lead the way."

Lyssa laughed then said, "well I guess I can't fault your logic. It's time for me to practice what I preach. So I'll go just the way I am too."

*****

Place: Aboard the Atlantian scout ship H.M.S. Seeker in orbit around Neuveia.

Shipboard time: 14:30 hours.

Second officer Lieutenant Carolyn Molloy's five foot seven inch, one hundred six pound frame paced back and forth across the control deck. Her waist length red tresses were tied in a tight french braid that whipped from side to side as she spun her head back and forth so that her beautiful brown eyes could scan every monitoring station aboard the ship. Her 32A-24-34 figure was moving sensuously despite the fact that the twenty three year old woman was a nervous wreck. Most of the rescue team had returned the instant they touched down planetside. But first officer Ronald Sullivan had been gone for more than an hour without any contact. The ship's transporters and shuttles were all offline so whatever the hell was going on down there, he was totally on his own. So was she for that matter though. According to the stars and the ship's star charts, the Seeker was more than a thousand lightyears from home. It would take more than a century for a sub-space message to reach Defense Minister Sue Sullivan. So there was no way Carolyn could expect any help from that quarter. She was just about to ask the communications officer to try contacting Commander Sullivan again when her captain and her queen appeared naked on the control deck with a shackled Commander Sullivan between them. A surprised Lieutenant Molloy froze in her tracks with her mouth agape as everyone else on the control deck let out a shocked gasp.

Jacobia looked over at the communications officer and snapped, "get a security team up here on the double!" She turned to Lieutenant Molloy and said, "round up the rest of the crew and have them meet me in the briefing room in fifteen minutes, no exceptions!"

A couple of minutes later a four member security team came running onto the control deck. They stopped short, stunned, nearly tripping over each other when they saw the naked bodies of their captain and their queen.

Jacobia shook her head and sighed then said, "good heavens you all act like you've never seen a naked woman before! I haven't got time for this shit!" She pointed to Commander Sullivan and continued, "throw this son of a bitch in the brig! He's being charged with attempting to murder me and attempting to assassinate Queen Lyssa. After you've tucked him in a cell, meet me in the briefing room. You've got ten minutes so move your asses!"

Meanwhile, Lyssa sat in the command chair uploading and installing the communications software that Bob had given her access to after he had Kadir modify the Seeker's COMMS system and place a miniature time/space communications relay in orbit around New Atlantia. When she finished, she turned to the Communications officer and said, "open a secured channel directly to Defense Minister Sullivan and pipe it to Captain McDonald's ready room."