A Long Time from Home Ch. 35

Alice nodded. "Yes. Those're the only one left and the Twins don't use them as playrooms any longer."

Rita and Karen looked at each other as smiles started to form on their faces. The two rooms Alice was talking about were not only a lot larger than their dorm rooms, but they also had a bathroom, a walk-in closet and even a small balcony each.

"Are you sure the owner of the house is okay with you renting out two of the rooms?" Asked Rita.

Alice hesitated for a second, but then nodded. "Yes."

Karen tilted her head. "That didn't sound convincing. Please tell the truth, we don't want to cause trouble for you."

Rita nodded in agreement.

Alice hesitated again, but then said. "I only tell you this because I know you can keep a secret." She paused briefly, but then said. "The owner is me. I own the house."

There was silence in the room for a moment, but then Rita said. "Holy shit. Did you rob a bank or something? A house that size is expensive."

The tall blonde blushed. "If I tell you, you'll have to keep it secret."

Both Rita and Karen nodded.

Alice hesitated a moment, but then said. "After I finished High School, I worked as a private chef, but that didn't pay well enough for me to both have a babysitter, as well as saving money for the future, so I started to work as an ... exotic dancer." She smiled a bit. "It paid rather well... especially since I managed to dance at a few of the internet companies' parties. These guys threw money around like it was yesterday's newspaper. I'm not joking, one night I earned more than twenty thousand dollars just for dancing and talking with people."

"For real?" exclaimed Rita and when Alice nodded, she added, "That is awesome!"

"If it was so good, why did you quit?" asked Karen.

"Well, I got the modelling job, but even more important, dancing began to give less money and there was a pressure for the dancers to work as prostitutes as well and I didn't want to do that."

"So how much did stripping pay?" Rita wanted to know. "In total, I mean."

"Enough for me to buy this house and make sure that the Twins and I had enough money, while I went back to school. To be honest, I lucked out with the house. The guy who sold it had inherited it from his parents, but he already had a house in New York and didn't want to keep both... so he just wanted it off his hands as soon as possible for a reasonable price."

"Sorry for being fixated on the money, but how much did you give for the house?" asked Rita.

"One hundred and twenty grand." Said Alice. "Fortunately, it had been renovated the year before I bought it and the house prices here in LA was a low at the time, so all things considered, it was a good deal."

There was silence in the room for a moment, but then Karen laughed. "Alice, you're awesome!"

The tall blonde blinked in surprise. "What?"

"You're awesome." Repeated the Asian, still grinning. "You come off as a regular, if somewhat older, student, but as soon as you dig a little deeper, all kinda of awesome skills start to show up."

"She's right, you know." added Rita, before Alice could say anything. "I went to high school, played volleyball, and worked at the local museum and library. Then I got a volleyball scholarship for the university and now I'm here. You, on the other hand, had two kids, finished high school, got an education as a chef, a career as a tall model, owns a house, got a scholarship for the university and now we find out that you've been an exotic dancer as well. You rock, girl!"

"You model as well." Protested Alice.

"Only because you recommended me for it... I would never have thought about that on my own." Said Rita with a wide smile. "And unless something unexpected happens, you just got yourself two happy house mates."

Alice smiled. "Good, but you do know, that this not gonna be like Malaga, right?" She paused as she looked from Rita to Karen. "I mean... We're house mates, not ... partners and there's gonna be a lot less sex than we had on the vacation."

Rita laughed softly. "Relax... I'm bisexual, not lesbian. It's not like I'm going to give up dick, just because we moved into your house."

"Crude, but true." Said Karen with a grin. "Alice, I love having sex with both Rita and you, but let's face it... We're very good friends, with fantastic benefits, but we're not romantically involved with each other."

Rita nodded in agreement. "She's right, Alice. Stop being so serious. You know this as well as we do."

The tall blonde nodded with smile. "Yeah. I just wanted to make sure that our expectations were the same, so nobody got hurt or disappointed."

"That's fair." Smiled Rita and stood up. "And now I really got to go take that bath."

Karen waited until Rita had walked out and then looked at Alice. "This reminds me... did you ever get around to ask Zena and Cyra about what happened in the warehouse in Malaga?"

Alice blinked a few times. "Wow... that's a serious change of subject."

"Sorry, but you haven't said anything about it."

"No need to be sorry." Said Alice, as she sat down on the bed Rita had just left. "Yes, I did ask them, and you guessed right. They didn't give me any details and I didn't ask for any, but they did tell me that it was Ivan who rescued us."

Karen showed her pearly teeth in a wide smile. "Nice."

"Nice?"

"I like it when I'm right." Chuckled the Asian. "And it's not like I can ask him yet."

Alice raised her eyebrows. "Yet? You think we're going to see him again?"

"Yes." Said Karen slowly. "He liked us enough to risk his life rescuing us." She shrugged. "He'll contact us at some point, and I look forward to see him again."

"Can he even find us?"

The Asian snorted. "He knows our names and that we play volleyball for the Trojans. He can always ask the university to pass on a message... Not to mention that as far as I know, I'm the only Karen Chai in San Diego. He's smart. He'll find a way."

"Good point... and as much as I hate to admit it, it's been good for the Twins to have a male role model." Alice said, and then added. "Especially one as good at math as Ivan."

Karen chuckled. "Yeah, he does make it sound easy."

Alice nodded. "I don't know how he did it, but the Twins are almost faster when calculating in their heads, than I am on a calculator... And yes, his explanation made sense, but it doesn't work for me."

"Me neither." Admitted Karen. "But as long as it works for them, it's fine... and despite how worried you were before we went to Spain, the Twins are going to crush Math this year."

"I hope so."

---------- Ivan ----------

Wednesday, 12th of July, the Atlantic Ocean

While Dream Weaver was a lot more luxurious than the ships of the past, sitting on a ship with nothing to do but think was nothing new to me and after another few days of thinking, combined with uneventful and relaxing sailing, I was in a better mood. The simple fact that Baylon, and with that my family and friends, had survived was the main reason for that and I had decided to leave the mystery of when I had gone into the trance alone for now, since there was no reason to wreck my mind over an unsolvable puzzle.

Instead, I enjoyed life and was sitting on a sun pad on the afterdeck, drinking a cup of tea while enjoying the fresh evening air, the sound of the ship and the sight of the moon and stars above my head, when I suddenly felt a focused mental communication. I laughed softly to myself as I recognized Zena's mental pattern. It was weak, most likely due to the distance, but it was there.

"< Yes, Zena? >" I answered.

There was a stunned silence, but then she said "< It worked!! >"

"< Yes it did. Now take hold of Cyra. It works better when you're two >"

A few heartbeats later, the connection firmed up and then Cyra was there too.

"< Hey Rascals. How are you? >"

"< Oh, we're fine >" came the happy reply from Zena. "< We're on a summer camp for mute kids in Corpus Christi, Texas, while Mom is on training camp >"

Recalling the map in my head, I discovered that Texas was a whole lot nearer the Caribbean than California, which had to be the reason why they could reach me with mental communication. No matter what, their range was still impressive for their age, even by Baylon standards.

"< Where're you? >" Cyra wanted to know. "< We've tried to reach you for days without luck >"

"< On a ship in the Caribbean >"

"< A cruise ship? >" asked Zena and sent a mind-image of one of the metal giants I had seen in the harbour of Malaga.

"< No, a sailing yacht >" I answered and sent a mind-image of Dream Weaver back to them.

"< Niiiiiice >" sent Cyra "< Sailing is fun... The camp has a boat named Black Swan." A mind-image of a single-masted sailboat followed.

"< That's loads of fun >" Added Zena. "< Then again, many things here are fun >"

"< I have a stupid question... What do you do on a summer camp? >" I asked.

"< Oh, we ride horses, sail, swim, help out, and shoot targets... a lot of stuff >"

That turned into a longer explanation about their vacations, and I drank my tea, while enjoying the mental conversation. It was clear that they loved outdoor activities of every kind and used a lot of time on it. The only surprise I got was when I discovered that the target shooting was with bow and arrow. I would have thought that using a bow was a lost art by now, but apparently, it was alive and well to the degree where some of the older kids at the camp used it for hunting.

"< Oh... have you figured out when you can come to LA? >" asked Cyra after their explanation had finished.

"< That'll take some time >" I sent along with a feeling of regret. "< There's some stuff I need to fix first, but then I'll come visit you >"

"< How long will that take? >"

"< I don't know for sure, but I hope to have it done by winter solstice >"

There was a moment of silence and then Cyra asked. "< What is that? >"

"< The shortest day of the year >" I explained and searched my memory for what people called it now. As it turned out, Christianity had turned it into one of their holy days or at least so close that the few days of difference didn't matter. "< Around Christmas >"

"< Cool! >" said Zena. "< Then you can come celebrate Christmas with us! >"

Cyra sent some happy feelings. "< Ohhh... That would be so cool! >"

"< Well, I can't and won't promise anything, but I'll see what I can do... Hmm... I'll need Alice's phone number >"

"< Okay... but we have phones too now! >" said Zena with pride. "< Mom gave them to us, so we can keep in touch with her by SMS >"

I suspected it was more a concern for the girl's safety than anything else, that had prompted Alice to give phones to the Twins, which was quite understandable.

"< Nice... I would like those numbers as well >"

"< You'll get them >" promised Cyra. "< Along with our emails... one moment >"

That reminded me, that I really needed to learn more about modern technology. I didn't care how it worked, but at least I needed to be able to use it. Especially since the crime organization used it almost exclusively.

"< Are you ready? >" Asked Zena and when I said yes, she sent me phone numbers and emails.

I committed them to memory. "< Thanks... I'll send my number as soon as I figure out if it works here >"

"< That's cool >" replied Cyra "< We need to go to sleep, but can we contact you tomorrow? >"

"< As long as you focus, I'm never more than a thought away >" I sent along with some amusement.

"< Thanks... Talk with you later >"

"< Sweet Dreams >"

The mental communication vanished, and I walked over to the rail. It had been an eventful month and there were many things I needed to learn, but overall, life was better than it had been ever since Baylon disappeared. The people were healthier than in any other time-period in the ancient world and as a result of that, the women were generally both attractive and very sexy. The reinvention of birth control along with easy access to it also helped, as it allowed the women to seek out pleasure without the fear of getting pregnant.

Added to that, the music was incredible varied and easily available no matter where you were. The food was as diverse as the music and much of it was very, very good, while the level of technology was amazing and rivalled the magic of Baylon, making life in general easier for just about everybody.

Looking out over the ocean, a piece of a song from the Irish pub in Malaga popped into my head. The lyrics were jumbled as I put the pieces together to fit the melody and then softly sang.

A man may drink and not be drunk

A man may fight and not be slain

A man may court a pretty girl

And perhaps be welcomed back again

But since it falls unto my lot

That I should rise and you should not

I'll gently rise and I'll softly call

Good night and joy be with you all

Fill to me the parting glass,

And drink a health whate'er befalls,

Then gently rise and softly call,

Goodnight and joy be to you all.

For a moment, there was only the sound of the ship traveling over the ocean, but then I heard Petra's voice say. "Not only do you look good, but you also have a very pleasant singing voice."

I turned to look at her. Standing on the wide deck near the table, dressed in a tight fitting, short, red sports dress, that showed off her fabulous body. The wind tucking playfully in her long dark blonde hair made a perfect frame for her beautiful face, where a little smile showed off her full lips and gleaming white teeth.

That she also emitted lust and desire only made it even better.

"Thank you." I said, as I crossed the deck. A moment later I had her in my arms, kissing her deeply.

Petra returned the kiss with a passion, pressing her body hungrily against mine.

The passion built as we kissed until it reached a level where I couldn't take it anymore. Without stopping our kiss, I simply lifted her up and carried her towards my cabin.

That made her break the kiss. "So, you do want me."

"I did say, that 'on any other day, I would carry you to bed', didn't I?" I replied with a smile, as I opened the door and walked inside.

"Yes, you did. I just didn't think you meant it literally."

"I didn't, but I felt like making a point." I chuckled and kicked the door shut behind us.