The Olympus day was dawning, soon it would warm up. I went over to Ben's diner to get something to eat. I had just finished my meal when Talla turned up with a folder in her hand. She sat down, ordered a beer and handed me the papers.
"We are agreed," she said, "the ship is suitable for what we need. Pedro is unhappy with the communications equipment. He has already arranged with the Tai-pan to have it replaced with something of his choosing. Apart from that she is fine. She'll be ready for pick-up in three days. Pedro wants to know where we go from there."
"Wonderful. Let's go and see him."
An hour later we sat with Pedro and Juan in the pub.
"Well,we've got ourselves a ship," said Pedro. "What do you want to have done with her?"
"I want her to be registered to Olympus Colonisation Command. Name: Tikana. Home port: Talla/Olympus. I also want her to take on a cargo of Pumpernickel and have her delivered to Okton4. I take it the ship still has a captain and crew."
"I've spoken to Captain Gomez, the current skipper. He sounds like a good man. He said he was prepared to deliver the ship to anywhere we wanted, subject to the usual contract conditions as to pay and repatriation of crew."
"Excellent. I leave it with you then. Get the Chang Corporation to arrange the cargo. No point in having her arrive empty."
"Anything else?"
"Yes, and it's a big favour. The ship will be new to Talla. I would like it if Talla could fly the vessel under Juan's supervision until he is satisfied she can handle the ship on her own."
"Already arranged," said Juan. "I have downloaded the specs for this type of ship into our flight simulator. Training can start later today. You didn't think I would abandon my best student, did you? She'll be fine. I'm also arranging a crew for her."
"Thanks Juan, you are a champion."
***
I went back to my office and wrote a long memo to Uncle. I told him what my arrangements were regarding the Tikana and what I had in mind with the cargo of Pumpernickel.
"The Pumpernickel," I wrote, "is intended to be a gift to the Oktonians. They will not expect this. In the general scheme of things the price of the cargo is a small matter, especially since the freight costs us virtually nothing. It will however, in my view, go a long way towards establishing goodwill and show our honest intention to make this project beneficial to all parties involved. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.
"There is something else I would like your opinion on.
"As you know General Taubner is trying his best to write the Federation into our project. Let's give him the illusion that he is succeeding.
"One of his closest advisors is Bernice Schreiber, a senior anthropologist. He knows Bernice and I are old friends. He will also know by now that I have fucked her on my last trip to Earth.
"Now here is the scam: I will ask Taubner to send Bernice to Olympus to act as liaison officer between Olympus Colonisation Command and the Federation. He will go for this like a shot, assuming that my request for her is at least partly dictated by my cock, which renders me vulnerable to manipulation.
"There is no liability to having her on Olympus. Only a handful of people know of the Oktonian scam and the Torgons, all are totally dependable. She will not see or hear anything that we aren't prepared to show the Federation anyway, such as our progress with the agriculture and the building of infrastructure as well as our efforts to teach and emancipate the Angels.
"The upside is that Taubner will bend over backwards in helping us to establish accredited embassies and bring about the reforms on Okton4 we have discussed earlier. He will be convinced that we are on the level and that there is no hidden agenda. If you are agreeable we can have Bernice as a passenger on the Tikana, I believe, and get our plans moving.
"As a bonus I'll be able to feed Taubner and his masters any kind of bullshit we feel appropriate from time to time."
I encrypted the memo and sent it off. Hours later I had a reply.
"You've done it again, Frank," he wrote. "I just love your convoluted and devious thinking. The thing with the Pumpernickel is an obvious way to go. Small investment for major benefits. The Oktonian hierarchy has been notoriously difficult to deal with in the past. Since you have been handling matters the Chang Corporation has found it a lot easier to do business with them. This action will help further.
"What you are proposing to do with the Federation is cheeky beyond belief. You are giving them the impression they are winning when in effect they are losing ground.
"Millennia ago, Sun Tzu, perhaps the greatest military strategist of all time, argued that the best way to win a war was to win without firing a shot. He would have approved of your approach.
"Go for it my boy. I will monitor how your proposal is received.
"Good luck, Uncle."
I wasted no time. My proposal to General Taubner went off the same day, so did a letter to Niels explaining why I had asked for a Federation liaison officer and what benefits I saw arising from that action. I asked him if the Tikana arriving with a woman passenger would create problems for him.
He replied that if the Tikana landed in the Federation area he would not officially need to know about it. I made contact with General Nakov to make the appropriate arrangements.
As expected Taubner was over the moon. The way he saw it he had managed to infiltrate the proscribed zone with one of his most trusted advisors, using me as a patsy. He bragged in a memo to the head of secret service how he had sent Bernice to seduce me and how I had fallen for the scam. "I can control this prick via Bernice's cunt," he said, "He won't know what's hit him, that cuntstruck idiot."
Uncle had sent me the above memo with a note saying: "He's not as smart as he thinks he is, is he?" To me Taubner sent a note telling me that my proposals had been accepted. He congratulated me on my initiative and assured me of any help from his side I might need in future.
Just for a laugh I sent uncle a copy of his note knowing full well he'd already know about it.
I made the necessary arrangements. Bernice would be arriving on Okton4 in two week's time.
***
I was having a rest in my room when Talla turned up. Without a word she made some coffee and handed me a cup. For herself she got some beer.
"A bit early for beer," I said.
"You don't understand. Beer for us is liquid food. We know that the alcohol in beer affects humans and can make them drunk and lose control. It doesn't do that to us. We could actually live on beer alone for extended periods and stay healthy."
"Interesting. Anyway, Talla, I gather you haven't come to see me to discuss beer. What is on your mind."
"Tikana is getting worried about you. You have not fully integrated her, it is taking too long."
"I have been doing the exercises you recommended. I felt I was making progress for a while, but just lately I feel I am not getting any further, try as I might."
"Tikana thinks you are hanging on to your humanity too hard. You must let go if you want to claim your new beingness fully. We must try something else. Take your clothes off and stand in front of me."
I felt awkward stripping in front of Talla. When I was completely undressed she made me stand straight and positioned herself six feet in front of me.
"Now I want you to watch me. I want you to take in all of me while watching the feelings that well up inside of you."
Talla began to take her clothes off. I wondered if I was supposed to fuck her. I felt more uncomfortable by the minute. I couldn't understand my reaction. I had fucked dozens of her race and never felt this revolted before. The mere thought of having to fuck Talla gave me a queasy feeling in the stomach.
Soon she stood naked in front of me and watched me intently.
"I know you love me, but right now the mere thought of having to have sex with me makes you feel ill. This is as it should be. What you are feeling is the natural barrier between different species. It is also the very thing that is holding you back.
"In some people this barrier is not there. They will fuck anything as long as they get their rocks off. The vast majority feels like you do right now. It was the drug that stopped you feeling like this, that is why you were able to perform and even gain pleasure from the sex act."
She turned slowly, showing me every part of her body.
"Keep watching," she commanded. "take in every inch of me regardless how you feel."
I did as I was told for what seemed an eternity. The sick feeling in my stomach abated somewhat, but it was still there. Then she stopped. Facing me again she said: "Now take on my form."
I hesitated. I did not know what she meant.
"Come on," she prompted, "you have been a dragon, a dog. a monkey and who knows what else, surely you can take on the form of a dumb Faerie."
It was harder than I imagined, but in the end I managed.
That's when my world exploded.
***
I found myself in Tikana's universe.
'Finally you have found me,' it rang in my head. It took me a while to orient myself.
I had been here before, but this time it was different. Before I had only seen the gemstone like things floating in a void, this time I saw so much more. I could zoom in on the individual islands of recorded consciousness and perceive entire life times in a flash. I saw that there is no such thing as space, there is only time. A universal time that governs all things and a personal time that is different. The difference between personal time and universal time is what we call space. By altering the personal time we can move around in universal time at will. That's how travelling works. I perceived Tikana in all her glory and understood what she was. She was truly a Goddess.
Move back into your human form before this world overwhelms you, instructed Tikana.
