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Chapter 6
When Ken had spoken to Sensei earlier in the week to tell him he
wouldn't be able to make the Thursday class, the man just smiled and said he
understood.
"However," continued Sensei, "I think perhaps it would be a good idea
for you to come to the session on Friday afternoon."
Ken had blinked in surprise. The Friday session was for advanced
students and by invitation only. It was for a fairly small, but very exclusive
group of students and Ken didn't think he was quite ready for it. Still, it was
somewhat of an honor to be invited into the class and Ken knew it would be a
mistake to refuse. He bowed and accepted the invitation.
+++++
Ari had spent Thursday night with her sister, and Ken knew that she was
concerned about something that had happened between Tina and Lea. He'd spoken
to Lea about it after Ari and Tina went to bed, and She'd only had two words to
say about it.
"She's ready."
Ken could only assume that meant that she was ready to be included in
the Circle. He had his doubts, but perhaps spending some time with her over the
next few days would alleviate them.
Friday morning, Tina was still asleep when he went to flight school.
Jane knew that he was nervous about attending the Friday class, and absolutely
insisted on being there to greet him after class. So, she decided that since he
was going straight from flight school to the dojo, she'd just meet him there
when class was over. Ken appreciated it, but was hoping that he wouldn't need
the support.
Ground school was going well. His instructor was very surprised that
Ken was grasping things so quickly. He seemed to be a natural at this. Ken had
to admit he seemed to be taking to it well. It was a lot of fun. Well, mostly
it was fun. Learning Tower protocol was sort of boring, but since his life, and
the lives of other people would depend on it, he wasn't too bored. Jane had
learning just this morning that he was going to flight school, and he realized
that he'd never actually told anyone he was learning to fly. He supposed that
he should tell his wives, at the very least. He somehow knew that Jane would
say nothing about it until he brought it up again. Well, he'd talk to both his
wives about it later today, and wondered if her lack of reaction was a bad sign.
Ken walked out of the locker room and into the work out area. He looked
around as he began to stretch and saw almost no one he recognized. Not much of
a surprise, since this was not his normal class. There were only advanced
students were in this class and his shiny new white belt stood out like a
yes-I-really-am-a-punching-bag beacon. He wasn't sure what type of practice
they'd be doing, but he really didn't care. It was certain he'd pick up some
new techniques. He still wasn't as comfortable in a dojo as he once had been,
but neither was he uncomfortable. As Lea had intimated, going back to the arts
was a good thing. He'd been a little surprised that Sensei had been insistent
that he come to this class after he'd mentioned that he couldn't make the
regular one. He also thought it odd that none of the students questioned his
lack of an advanced belt. Perhaps they thought it was because he was an
advanced student of another art.
One person that he did recognize was Chad. The boy still had something
of an attitude and Ken found it hard not to dislike him. Still, such emotions
had no place on the mats, and Ken had always been able to bury them with ease.
Chad, however, showed no signs of having such control, despite his advanced
level. Sensei appeared and called the class to attention, then led them in
their warm ups. These were more challenging than what they did in the regular
classes, but Ken found he was easily able to follow them. He felt pretty good
since regular work outs with Eric and all the practice he was doing outside the
class had gotten him closer to what he'd consider was good shape. He didn't
feel as fit and limber as he'd once been, but perhaps that was just a feeling
based on memory rather than fact.
They got a three minute water break after they finished the forty-five
grueling minutes of warm up, and Ken expected them to be split into groups.
Sensei clapped his hands and called everyone to attention. "Today is
open spar and we will run the pit."
There were groans which accompanied the announcement, but also some
spirited laughter, along with back slaps and good natured taunts.
"What the hell is the pit?" Ken asked the man next to him.
"Heh. Well, it's kind of a free for all. One student gets in the
middle and defends against all comers. If he loses, then whoever beat him takes
his place. If someone stays in the middle long enough, then Sensei starts
sending in people two and three at a time."
"Yeah," said a young blond woman -- Nikki, he thought her name was.
"There are 'legends' that if a student defeats four simultaneous opponents,
Sensei will step in." She shuddered at that, "I sure as hell wouldn't want to
go up against him, but I'd love to see someone else do it."
A couple of the other students had joined the conversation and there was
some speculation about what that would look like. Sensei had a reputation as a
phenomenal fighter, but he usually only did short demonstrations with the
students. Rumor had it that that he had a small group of students that he'd
spar with, but they didn't really talk about it and Sensei wasn't all that
approachable.
Ken watched with interest as the students circled around the area and
sat. He pointed at one man, a tall thin man whom Ken thought would be very fast
on his feet. He was right and the man won three in a row, but fell to a woman.
The first against her was the blond that Ken had spoken to earlier, and she won.
They were going around in the circle in order and the next up was another man,
stockier and heavier than the blonde. She put up a good fight, but lost, then
it was Ken's turn.
He wasn't nervous -- exactly. But it had been a long time since he'd
spared anyone who was at an advanced level and wasn't an instructor. The man
wasn't very quick, but he was strong. He tried to use that strength to lock Ken
up, but Ken was too fast and in a short time the man was down. Ken won the next
two -- to many people's surprise since he was only a white belt -- then lost to
the tall thin man who'd fought first. Ken saw what the man did, but hesitated
to counter it because it would have required a very advanced technique and he
wasn't sure he could pull it off. So down he went.
Things were going well right up until the time that Chad and Ken were
sparring. Chad was aggressive and seemed to be affronted that Ken, a mere white
belt, had dared to come to an advanced practice. Ken held him off for a while,
which seemed to piss him off even more. He saw where it was going and decided
that now was a good time to take a fall. He didn't expect what Chad did though
and got nailed in the ribs for his trouble. Then Chad swept him before he could
catch his breath and down he went. Old reflexes kicked in and he landed easily,
but if he hadn't just reacted and tried to think, he would have been really
hurt. Emotion disappeared and his focus narrowed. He forgot about the fact
that he'd just lost the match and came to his feet ready to defend himself --
which turned out to be a good thing since Chad had been getting ready to apply a
completely unnecessary finishing move. It landed on an empty mat.
"Halt!" barked Sensei.
They froze, and the man eyed his two students. "I point, you go," he
said to the circle, then looked back at the two in the center. Ken had start to
sit, since he'd lost the match, but Sensei shook his head. "Again, you two."
Ken looked at the man, startled. "Begin!"
As it always had in the past, Ken's focus narrowed while his awareness
spread. He felt Chad coming up behind him and turned, just as a punch grazed
his cheek. Ken reversed, and was already turning away, and swept his hands up
and around in a complex pattern that Chad was completely unable to follow.
Seconds later, Chad was on the mat, but as soon as he hit, Ken heard, "Go," and
he had another opponent to face. This one fared no better and neither did the
next. Ken was in the zone. Ken was untouchable.
After four wins, all apparently effortless, Sensei sent two opponents in
after him. Ken managed to get them to interfere with each other and they went
down in a heap with Sensei telling them to clear the mat as he sent two more in
after Ken. They went down as well.
Ken reveled in the moment, the sheer pleasure of the flowing movements,
the blood pumping through his body and his Chi -- centered, really centered, for
the first time in many years. He was getting a little tired when Sensei upped
the ante by sending in three opponents. It took longer, but they lost as well;
however, when one went down, another was called to take his place. Ken tapped
the reserve of energy that Lea always left him and flowed back into the fight.
Even when four opponents were set against him, he felt only the joy of movement,
the perfection of the art as he allowed old muscle memory to come to the fore.
The last opponent went down and a new one stepped onto the mat. Hands
flashed, attack and counter flowed, but it was short lived. Something
interrupted his Chi, and his opponent's moves no longer made sense. Pain flowed
through his side as a solid strike landed. His foot was swept and down he went,
the breath knocked out of him. He lay there and panted, realizing just how far
he'd over extended himself. A hand intruded into his line of vision and he
grasped it and got pulled to his feet. It belonged to Sensei, who smiled at
him.
The students began clapping and hooting their pleasure at the display
they'd witnessed, except for Chad, of course. Ken smiled, unaccountably shy,
and received permission to sit down. He bowed to Sensei, then knelt on the mat.
At that point, Sensei decided to give everyone a break, and Ken collapsed onto
the floor, looking at the ceiling, still panting. Slowly, he got his breathing
under control and loosed a small amount of energy into his body. He was still
exhausted, but at least he could stand, so he went for some water. He bowed
back onto the mat and got in line when Sensei called the class together. They
stood in line and he looked at them.
"Class is over for the day. Think on what you have learned," he said,
looking right at Ken.
Ken would think alright. In the hot tub as one of his slaves fed and
rubbed him down. He knew that he could draw on his energy reserve, but the over
taxed muscles in his body needed rest. He went into the locker room to gather
his clothes. There was lots of talk in the locker room and a lot of
congratulations. Some of the guys mentioned that they were glad he was now in
their class and they looked forward to sparing again. Ken joked that it was
unlikely he'd be able to move again for about a month. Once everything was in
his bag and he was dressed in sneakers, his Gi pants and a t-shirt, he headed
out.
"Ken," came Sensei's voice. "Might I have a word with you?"
"Yes Sensei," he replied. Ken followed the man through a door in his
office and up a narrow flight of stairs. At the top, it opened into a large
apartment. Ken had always wondered what was up here, since it was obvious from
the outside that the building had two stories.
"Sit, please," said Sensei.
Ken sat in the indicated chair while Sensei walked into the kitchen.
"Would you care for some iced tea?" he asked.
Actually, cold tea sounded nice, and in a short time, Sensei came out
with a pitcher and two glasses. He sat across from Ken, then filled the
glasses. There was silence as the men drained them.
"Your skill is surprising," said Sensei.
For a moment, Ken felt like he was in a bad martial arts movie. But he
read the undercurrent in the words: why have you masqueraded as a white belt?
"Thank you," he paused. There was more that needed to be said, but he
wasn't sure how to make the other man understand. "I enjoyed the arts, many
years ago. As I told you when we met, I haven't practiced in over ten years."
Sensei nodded, and ran his hand through his close cropped white hair.
He didn't appear angry, but it was hard to read the older man, and Ken didn't
want to get kicked out of this dojo. He knew that he liked learning here. His
first instructor was no longer alive and Sensei Turcotte was reputed to be the
best in the area. Certainly, he was expensive enough.
"I think that you are wasting your time in the beginner class. It is
time for you to move on," came the reply.
Silence. Ken was not comfortable with that thought. He'd only been
back into this for a bit more than six weeks, and there was no way he felt sure
enough of himself to practice at an advanced level. He said as much, but Sensei
disagreed. Ken would have pushed the point, but he thought that the man would
not continue as his instructor if he didn't give in.
They chatted for a more few moments, then Ken mentioned that he really
should be going.
Sensei smiled and said, "I understand. Which one will it be today? The
tall dark haired one or the short, red haired one?"
Ken was startled. Sensei was not in the habit of speaking about
personal topics. He was very formal with his students and quickly rebuffed
attempts at familiarity.
Ken smiled and said, "Hmmm. I think, perhaps, both?"
They broke out in laughter as Ken gathered up his stuff to leave. There
came a knock at the door and Sensei got up to open it.
"I hadn't thought that you noticed them," said Ken.
"I'm a little old, not dead," replied Sensei over his shoulder.
"Everything works just fine." He opened the door and Nikki, the blonde girl
from class was standing there with a big grin on her face.
"What works just fine, Sir?" she asked as she stood on tip toe to kiss
him.
Ken stared in astonishment. He would never have thought that Sensei
would have a relationship with a student. It wasn't that it was forbidden, but
still, it seemed so out of character for him. Sensei caught Ken's astonished
gaze and smiled. Nikki blushed as she moved into the room.
"Well," said Ken, "I guess I'll be going."
Sensei offered his hand at the door and Ken took it. The older man's
grip was firm and his hands rough. There were no macho "I'm going to crush your
hand games" but Ken had every reason to believe that the man had above average
strength. Before Lea, he would have been far stronger than Ken. Not anymore --
although as events had shown downstairs, strength wasn't everything.
"Good day Sensei," said Ken and he started waking down the stairs.
"You know," said the other man, "years ago I had a close friend. His
name was Sensei John Tate, and he told me of a brilliant student of his. He was
very, very proud of this student. He was also very upset when that student left
the art."
Ken froze on the steps as he heard his old instructor's name. He turned
to look back up the stairs, but Sensei had closed the door. Ken continued on
his way down and let himself out, to find Jane waiting for him. She looked
suspicious, as if he'd been avoiding her, but he told her everything was okay
and that he'd been speaking with Sensei. He had a lot to think about on the
ride back to the mansion, and wondered whether this was a case of it's a small
world, or if Lea had had a hand in it.
+++++
When they arrived at the mansion, Sally came out to greet them.
"Ken," she said, "Tina has been in the Garden for the last few hours.
I'm worried."
She must be, thought Ken, to have met him right as they pulled up to the
house. He looked at Jane, who shrugged to indicate she had no idea what was
going on either, and they both headed to the Garden. Ken's date with the hot
tub would have to wait.
Once again, Tina was lying on her back staring up at the sky. At least
she was in the shade, which was good since she'd have burned to a crisp in the
sun. Ken did a quick scan of her and was a bit alarmed by what he found. More
than a bit, actually.
He and Jane sat beside the prone teen, but she made no move to indicate
she knew they were there. She knew though. She knew because her body started
almost vibrating with lust, which was something considering how she'd already
been feeling.
"Tina," said Ken gently, "Are you okay?"
At first, there was nothing, then she turned to look at him, her eyes
focusing on him with almost unnatural attention.
"Yes Master, I'm fine. I think."
Ken touched her with his hand and she moaned. Whatever else she was, he
didn't think that 'fine' covered it. It was like her nerves were inflamed with
energy. Closing his eyes, he 'saw' her body was laced with a network of pulsing
bright red lines. Where his hand touched her shoulder, the red dulled a bit.
"I've been thinking about our last conversation," said Tina.
"Oh?" replied Ken as he tried to hide his alarm from her.
"None of this is normal, you know. Not how I was reacting to you, not
the things that go on here, none of it. It's obvious that something is
influencing what's going on around here."
She sat up and Ken opened his eyes.
"I had to leave Sally this morning," she said. "Do you know why?"
Ken shook his head.
"Because I had a sexual fantasy that was so vivid, I thought it was
real. I thought I was hallucinating, or going crazy."
Tina wiped her forehead. Her body was bathed in sweat, and she almost
felt like she had a fever. If a fever caused almost uncontrollable sexual
desire. Desire that was far more urgent than pleasant.
"Who is Lea?" asked the girl. "I mean who is she, really?"
Ken sighed and wondered what to say.
"I really want to talk to her, Ken. Please?"
Tina's eyes were bright with unshed tears.
"Perhaps," said Lea, "We can talk when you're feeling better."
She knelt beside the three of them. The humans, as usual, were all
affected by her presence. She was topless with a see through wrap around Her
waist that hid just enough. Tina smiled and closed her eyes, laying back down
with Ken's assistance. More hallucinations.
"What's wrong with her Lea?" asked Ken.
"Right now," replied the Goddess, "That is not important. What is
important, is that you help her."
"And just how would I do that?" said Ken.
"Watch," She replied.
Her hand extended and touched Tina's cheek. Deep blue lines seemed to
radiated out, cooling the red fire that had spread through Tina's nerves. She
removed Her hand and the effect faded, but it looked like there was a patch of
blue that stayed where Her fingers had touched. She looked at Ken, who
understood that he was supposed to duplicate what She'd done.
He touched the teen's shoulder and concentrated. With his eyes closed,
he was able to see the tracings of red through Tina's body and started to push
against them in an effort to make them cool down. That didn't work at all.
"Pull, Kenneth, don't push. She's overloaded," said Lea.
As soon as he started to do that, he saw the same effect that Lea had
created. Problem was, it was only in the area where his fingers were touching.
"What are you doing, Ken?" asked Tina, now almost completely out of it.
"Your hands feel so cold."
"No love, it's just that you feel very hot." He smiled. The flair of
energy in her body pulsed higher as she translated the word 'hot' into aroused.
She was 'hot' alright. Hot for him to take her virginity. Right now would be
fine. In fact, she could have Jane straddle her face while Ken...
Ken blinked. Whoa! This girl was very strong. She was actually
pulling him in to a fantasy.
"That won't work Kenneth," said Lea. "You'll have to do it differently.
Take the energy from everywhere rather than just the spot you touch."
"Ken? What's going on? I feel really strange," asked Tina again. For
someone who had been dying to talk to Lea, it was odd that the girl was
completely ignoring her.
"She can't see me anymore," said the Goddess
"But you spoke to her," said Ken.
"She didn't, doesn't, actually hear me. She just received the
impression that she would be able to speak to me later," replied the Goddess.
"Now please, concentrate on the task at hand."
Once again, Ken closed his eyes. The network of energy lines were
concentrated the highest in Tina's groin area, surprise, surprise. He put his
hand on her stomach and concentrated on 'cooling' the energy that pooled there
by pulling on it rather than dousing it. It wasn't easy, but he started to get
the hang of it.
Once he got the knack, the initial inrush of energy was amazing. Ken
grew thick and hard in his shorts, which was just a bit uncomfortable. He got
more uncomfortable as he absorbed more and more of the energy. He began using
the techniques he normally employed to release the energy to his Goddess and
that took the edge off his own arousal. Which was a good thing. He wondered
how Tina had managed to deal with this all day and wished Sally had called him
sooner.
Finally, Ken sensed that the energy in Tina's body had returned to a
more normal level and he took his hand away. The teen opened her eyes and
smiled a lazy, comfortable smile. Then she fell dead asleep.
Ken was ragingly horny, so he wouldn't be sleeping any time soon. Jane
smiled at him, able to feel his present state, and said, "I don't think that
we'll disturb her, Master." She began crawling toward him, her movements
sinuous and very erotic. By the time she got there, he'd removed his shorts and
pulled her mouth onto his rigid pole.
Jane swallowed, talking his thick rod into her throat. He was too big
to breathe around, and she enjoyed the sensation of him roughly taking her mouth
while she struggled to get enough air. She actually came when he did, receiving
permission just before he exploded.
Ken wasn't finished though, and literally tore Jane's clothing off. The
cloth ripped like paper and he roughly grabbed one breast and squeezed.
"Oh yesssss," moaned the woman.
Their lovemaking was neither soft nor quiet, and Jane was thoroughly
used before they were both sated. Tina never stirred.
When they finished, Jane looked around at the shreds of her clothing.
"And you wonder why we don't wear clothes in the mansion," she joked.
Ken kissed her and smiled, then picked the teen up off the ground and
carried her upstairs putting her in her bedroom. She never woke. Later, after
dinner, Ken and Ari spoke about what had happened, but neither could figure out
what was going on. Ken was unable to get an answer out of Lea, either.
It was close to one in the morning, when Ken awoke. Tina was in the
Garden. And she wasn't alone.
+++++
The last thing Tina remembered was wanting Ken and Jane to have sex with
her in the worst way. She would have done anything at all that they wanted to
get relief from the almost unnatural desire that had claimed her. Now, sitting
out in the Garden, looking at the stars again, she felt a little ashamed of that
feeling.
"You should not be," came the voice that Tina had been hoping to hear.
That didn't mean that she wasn't startled by it. She was, since she hadn't
heard anyone enter the Garden.
"I should not be what?" asked Tina as she turned.
Once again, the stunning beauty of the woman almost overwhelmed her.
This time though, she seemed prepared for it. Well, at least she didn't faint
or something equally as embarrassing.
"Ashamed of your wants," said the woman.
"You're Lea," said Tina.
Lea nodded.
Tina was at a loss for something to say. All the questions, all the
accusations that she might have uttered sounded ridiculous now that she was no
longer suffering from the fever or what ever it had been. Really, like as
beautiful as this woman was, to think that she was a Goddess was insane.
"Tell me Tina," said Lea, "what is it that you want?"
"Huh?" The question caught her completely off guard.
"You look at the stars often. Would you like to go there?"
Tina snorted. "Of course. But that's not going to happen in my
lifetime."
"You could contribute greatly to it happening at all," replied Lea.
Tina felt sad as she thought of what she knew of human kind. At
fifteen, it wasn't a huge amount, but unlike many fifteen year olds, she did
keep track of her nations policies, and the happenings going on in her country.
Not only did what went on alarm her, it saddened her as well.
"Even if we had the power of faster than light travel right this second,
we'd never use it," Tina said. "Just the fact that we had that kind of power
would mean that there would be tons of other advances in science. Most of 'em
would be regulated out of existence. Then the big business and their lawyers
would get involved, and that would be that."
"It doesn't have to be that way, you know," replied the woman.
Tina realized that she'd been distracted from her train of thought by
the woman's questions. Not a bad thing considering that her train of thought
was something only a lunatic would come up with.
"Do you think," asked the woman, "that there is life on other planets?"
"Yes," replied Tina.
"Do you think that we know everything there is to know about this
planet?"
Tina chuckled. "Not by a long shot."
"Then when Kenneth asks you to join us, what will you say?"
Tina was silent.
"Without science, life can be very difficult. Science fills so many
needs of human kind," said the woman. "But humans need more than just cold
facts. They want more than just what they can touch. Those are the needs of
the spirit. But science and faith don't have to be at odds."
"Science is based on fact, not faith," said Tina.
"Correct" Lea said. "Perhaps the existence of the Gods is as much of a
truth as the science of splitting an atom. It is just that, for a very long
time, there has been no way for the existence of the Gods to be proven. "
Something in Tina shifted and it felt like a window had opened inside
her. It was silent in the Garden long after Lea disappeared. And Tina saw her
disappear. One second the woman had been there, and the next, she was gone.
Tina sat there until just after dawn, staring up into the sky. At times
tears flowed down her cheeks. Sometimes she knew the reason, other times she
did not. Thoughts whirled through her brain, possibilities glimpsed and were
gone. The sun began to rise, the sky turned many shades of pink and blue and
the shadows began to lift. Light began flooding the world again and with it,
came a clarity of thought for the girl. As yellows dominated the sky and the
fire of the huge ball in the center of their solar system began to spread over
the mansion, Tina made her decision. She realized, as she stumbled up to bed,
that she'd known the answer all along. She'd just been waiting for the right
question.
End Chapter 6
