••••
"Nanites? Really? That’s so cool!" I smile as the geek in Stephanie starts to come out. "Can I get some? What else can they do?"
I try to answer all her questions as we walk, and soon we’re outside Vage’s room.
For once, I think before acting. "Stephanie, on the other side of this door are two aliens and my kids. Are you going to be alright?"
Her fist lightly connects with my chest before she replies, "I’m about to meet extraterrestrials and an entirely new species, and you want to know if I’m alright? Hell yeah, I’m alright. I can’t wait."
Even knowing she can’t see my face, I’m beaming down at her.
The door opens, and I’m greeted with a very unexpected sight. Vage is breastfeeding two of our little kids at once while Harana rocks another two. The last two are sleeping peacefully in a pile of blankets and soft yellow light.
"They’re... they’re beautiful," my girlfriend says, and the tension evacuates the room.
"I didn’t know your race breastfeeds," I say, kind of wishing I could be sucking on her taut nipple.
"Don’t be so crass," Loveth says at the same time Stephanie hits me again.
’It’s okay,’ Vage’s words appear to me. ’We don’t, but apparently my body has changed more than I thought. Your sister was kind enough to help me figure it out. I was worried about how to feed them. This ship really wasn’t designed to support kids.’
"Are they going to be alright?" Loveth asks, concern thick in her voice, at the same time the words, ’And her milk tastes wonderful,’ appear in my vision.
’Pervert,’ I send back to her.
’Yes,’ Vage sends to us. ’They don’t demand much, and since I can now feed them, they will live. Thanks to you.’ The last is delivered with a nod to me.
"Can you produce enough milk for all of them?" I ask, concerned. Even engorged with milk, her breasts are rather small for feeding six babies.
"What’s going on?" Stephanie asks, and I realize she’s been left out of half the conversation.
As I start to bring Stephanie up to speed, I watch as Loveth takes the two kids that Vage is feeding and sets them into the pile of blankets next to the other two sleeping children. I realize that I recognize the blankets from Mom’s house. The yellow light bathes Vage, and I watch with fascination as the angel’s breasts grow and firm before she takes the last two from Harana and starts feeding them.
"Can you imagine what kind of games could be produced if we had hardware that’s as powerful as that?" Stephanie asks, and I enjoy how she feels against my side as I pull her tighter to me. She truly is a match for my geekiness.
Harana stands and walks over to Stephanie and me, while my sister softly croons to her nieces and nephews.
’Have you thought about how you will deal with the twins?’ The way Harana is looking at me lets me know that she is the one asking the question, and the room goes quiet.
"What?" Stephanie asks again, and I whisper the question to her. "Oh..." she says worriedly, squeezing me tighter.
"I’ll help," Loveth says, her voice quavering, and I know she’s afraid of facing the two terrors.
"No," I tell her, but I can’t miss the relieved look that crosses her face. "You’d only get in my way. I barely got out of it alive. I can’t be worrying about you at the same time." I turn to Vage and ask a question that’s been in the back of my mind but only now comes to the surface. "If those two were so powerful, why weren’t they chosen to fight the demons?"
Vage and Harana exchange glances before the older sister responds. ’They were deemed too violent, and their mental state is too rigid to accept anything other than what they were raised to believe. They think they were given their abilities to cleanse mankind of evil and have been slowly stealing the abilities from others.’
Well, that sounds logical.
Harana looks at me, and I somehow know the next words are from her. ’You need to stop them.’
Of course I do, I think, because goodness knows I don’t have enough other things to worry about.
"Will someone please keep me up to date?" Stephanie grumbles.
"Um..." I say, looking at Vage.
’Go ahead. The other room has an applicator ready.’
I look back at Stephanie, telling her that she can have the nanites but warning her about the pain she’ll suffer.
"Ha, men always think women are weak," she says, laughing. "If you had to deal with our monthly visitor, you’d know that we can handle more discomfort than men can." I know better than to open my mouth.
Despite her words, I know she’s nervous as I lead her to the other room. A couple of minutes later, she’s screaming in agony while I rock her back and forth.
’We have a plan,’ Loveth’s words appear to me, and I wake up.
Stephanie is sleeping peacefully in my arms, and as I try to pull away to see what they’ve come up with, she wakes and pulls me back to her.
"Did it hurt that bad for you?" she asks, and I just nod as she shivers at the memory.
’They have a plan,’ I send to her mentally, and I smile as she gasps.
"I have my own heads up display!"
I laugh as I take her out to the others in the adjoining room and fill her in on the finer points of the nanites.
My laugh is cut short when I see the look in Loveth’s eyes. "The kids?" I ask, suddenly worried, only to breathe a sigh of relief a moment later when she shakes her head.
The plan is laid out before me, and despite Stephanie’s misgivings, I agree to it. Those twins have to be stopped.