Bait and Switch Retype - Complete

"Lela, Harana!" I yell, hoping to get one of their attentions. "I can't open the door. Lemme back there."

"Nick," Summer's hand on my shoulder makes me feel claustrophobic, and I shake it off, "You can open it with the nanites. Just send the command to the ship mentally." I look at my sister stupidly. Can it really be that easy? I know that she could do it for me, but that has never been my sister's way. She's always willing to help me, but never one to do things for me. How ironic that her ability ends up being the same way.

Without hesitation, I mentally command the ship to open the door, and sure enough, it opens to my right. I dash through it, headless of the blackness that surrounds me. I know I have a few steps before the path turns, and my eyes adjust to the infrared light, before I slam into the wall. I run the entire way to where I know Lela to be, sensing her with my switches, and hold up outside her door, slightly out of breath, and full of dread.

Suddenly I'm apprehensive, not certain what I'll find inside. Summer hasn't told me what happened with Lela's and my kids. She'd only told me that the alien is incapacitated, and then she'd started crying.

No, I think, they have to be okay. Something about the alien hatching process must have been hard for the mother. Try as hard as I might, though, I can't convince myself of that. How can eggs hatching be hard on the mother?

I don't know how long I stand outside the doorway, but finally I conclude that I have to walk through it. I have to face what's inside. Commanding the ship to open this door, I step through.

Lela is not on the incubator, as she has been every other time I've been in here, and for just a moment, I wonder at that oddity, until my brain realizes that the children wouldn't be in there, after they hatched. I sense her switches in an adjoining room, and open that hatchway before going in.

It takes me a moment to comprehend the scene before me. Lela is lying on the floor, her arms around some small, unmoving objects, and Harana has her arm around her older sister, trying to comfort her, and talking in their dual-toned language.

I take a step forward, my eyes and even my senses drawn to the six or seven objects that Lela is cradling. I can hear what I take to be crying from Lela, and only then does it really hit me that our kids haven't survived.

I don't know what to think, or even what to feel. My body is locked up in shock, as I try to form coherent thoughts. Yes, they are my kids, but they aren't entirely human, and it's not like I had helped incubate the eggs. The entire time Lela had been on that incubator, it almost felt like she was taking care of someone else's eggs.

But now that I see the tiny things, it strikes home. These tiny things are the product of Lela's and my coupling. I helped create these tiny creatures, and there is some small part of me in each one. My eyes can see that they're gone, but my heart refuses to believe it.

I drop to my knees next to Lela, and only then do they notice me, but I ignore them. There is something. . .

I look at the tiny creatures, marveling at how they look. They have the pinkish skin of Lela's race, but it's tinged just a bit by the baby pink of a human newborn. Their eyes are smaller than Lela's in comparison to the head, which is also smaller in comparison to their body. I notice that some have four fingers and some have three. There are six in all, and they all have light tufts of hair on their peaceful heads. If I ignore the fact that they aren't breathing, I can almost imagine that they're sleeping peacefully.

All of this I note with the outside of my concentration, however. There is something. . . It almost feels like I can sense them, like I can with my switches, but I've never made switches in these little creatures.

"I tried to save them," Lela's voice penetrates the fog that surrounds my mind, distracting me. "Our DNA just doesn't mix," I can barely understand her, as she tries to speak English through her tears. "They all broke their shells, but didn't live long past that." Lela chokes up again, and Harana tries unsuccessfully to console her.

It strikes me as odd, her concern for the children. Hadn't she intimated that her race didn't care for their children? Yet, the death of these six is tearing her apart.

'This was different,' the words appear in my vision. Apparently I'd sent the question to her, and feel like a heel. In her depression, I'd accidently asked her a question like that. 'What we did together was beautiful, not painful. Usually incubation is handled by machines, but my ship wasn't designed for mating and children. I've come to care for them, as I care for you.'

'I'm so sorry,' I send back to her, but. . .

Why can I sense them, if they're dead and I've not given them a switch? The question plays through my head a few times, before something occurs to me.

Without a word, I jump up and ran all the way back to the blue room. I don't say a word as I burst in, only stopping long enough to grab Summer's wrist, and drag her after me. She yelps when she passes into the darkness, but I know her eyes will adjust soon enough, thanks to her nanites.

"Nick, what are you. . .?" she tries to ask me, but I just keep running.

As soon as we're in the room with Lela, Harana, and my kids, I finally stop, and feel for them again. It's fainter now, but I can still make them out. I have to hurry, or it might be too late.

"Take off your shirt," I command my sister, as I start to do the same. Will it be enough, or will it take more contact? I don't know, but I have to try. I'm definitely in no mood to even try to wake my cock up.

"I hardly think now is the time—" Summer starts to protest, but I cut her off.

"Just do it! Hurry, before it's too late." Summer looks from me to Lela and back again, before quickly removing her shirt. I don't think I have time to explain, my sense of them is fading too fast.

Lela and Harana start saying something in their language, but I ignore them as I hug my sister close to me, and feel my strength with the switches magnify exponentially at the contact. A small part of me notices she's not wearing a bra, and I'm grateful for the extra skin that will be in contact with me. I command the ship to bathe us and the babies in the healing yellow light, not knowing if it will be necessary, but wanting every advantage I can have. I feel Summer pulling down her pants, hindered slightly as we hug, and then she works on mine. They hit the floor a second later, and she wraps one leg around mine, and places the other between my legs. I close both of my legs, and know it's now or never.

This is about the most physical contact I'm going to be able to have with her, short of actually having sex. Intercourse is the furthest thing from my mind right now, as I start to form the group switch, and attach it to all six babies.

I try to push it, but nothing happens. Did I overdo it with Donna and the Pokemon twins? Am I not recovered enough from the damage they caused? I push harder, then harder still on their 'life' switch. I don't know if it'll work, but I know I can sense them, and how can I do that, unless they're still alive, but too weak to register to Lela's advanced technology. I notice that the switch I'd made is not completely off, and that gives me some measure of hope.

Groaning, I throw everything I have behind the switch, and some distant part of me hears Summer moan as well, but I ignore it as I feel the switch move a little. It's just a tiny bit at first, but as I continue to shove against the switch, it picks up speed. Some small part of me notices that something is running from my nose. Most likely blood. My ears start ringing again, and we tumble to the floor, too weak to support ourselves.

Just before I blackout, again, from the effort of moving the switch, I hear a small, almost imperceptible yawn.

* * *

I wake with a start, as fear courses through me, followed immediately by a massive pain in my skull, and I collapse backwards onto a soft surface.

"He's awake," a voice says, sounding distant, but I recognize it as Shanna's.

What's she doing here? I wonder, and then realize that I must have been dropped back off at home, after I. . .

I sit up again, as I remember why I was unconscious in the first place. "My kids," I croak, wondering at the sound of my own voice.

"They're fine," Summer tells me, as my eyes try to adjust to the light. Something doesn't seem right. Everything has a yellow tinge to it, which throws my augmented vision off.

So Summer is here too. By the sound of her voice, she's doing better than I am. "You saved them, Nick. I'm so proud of you. You did it!"

I feel a hand grip hold of mine, and give it a squeeze, but I still can't focus my eyes. I know the hand is my sister's, because I can sense my switches better, and can even feel the one that I'd made for the six little babies.

"My eyes," I say, glad my voice is improving a little as I speak. "I can't seem to focus."

I feel someone take my other hand, and know from the switches I sense that it must be Shanna. "Lela says you caused some damage to yourself, saving your kids. The nanites and this yellow light are working on healing you, but it's going to take a bit." That's nice, I think, the yellow light will get me better in no time. Wait. . . Yellow light. . . In my room? I slightly remember Lela using it that night in the basement, and relax. "Nick, you really had us worried. We understand what you did, but it almost killed you." I can hear the fear in her voice, and pull the blurry blob that I know is her to me for a hug. Summer hugs me too, and I'm grateful to sense my switches increase. At least I haven't burned that out.

"How long until the demons arrive?" I ask, afraid of how long I've been out.

"They're still outside our solar system," Summer says, and I relax. Fear about being out of commission for too long, and missing the invasion leaking out of me.

Then I remember the twins.

"Those two," I have to swallow, and clear my throat, "the ones that attacked me. She can sense where I am. They might be on their way here, right now!"

Shanna laughs softly, before replying. "I wish them luck."

I turn my blurry gaze to her, confused. My eyes are finally able to start focusing, and I can make out Shanna's concerned face.

"If they can get up here, then they're too powerful to stop, anyway," Summer states.

My eyes finally focus completely, and I can see we're in the blue featureless room. I groan as I realize I'm on the ship, and not in my room. My head is in Shanna's lap. "Why are you here, Shanna?" I ask my girlfriend.

"Ouch," I hear my sister say a moment before Shanna shoves my head from her lap.

"Maybe because I was worried about my boyfriend, after watching them fry and pummel you on campus." I can hear the hurt and pain in her tone, and realize my mistake immediately.

"Shanna, I'm sorry," I plead with her, and I can feel the light and nanites returning my strength to me, as I sit up. "It's no excuse, but I'm under a lot of stress, and didn't think."

Shanna looks at me for a bit, and then nods. "You're right. I'm sorry I've been adding to that stress." She comes back over to me, and gives me a hug. "I'm just glad you're alright."

"I'm not angry about you being here, but how did you get here?" I ask, as the question occurs to me.

Summer clears her throat and answers. "I've been up here watching over you, so I knew about her becoming your girlfriend. I figured she would want to be here."

Turning to my sister, I thank her, and hold Shanna closer to me. "Did it look as bad as it felt?"

Shanna starts crying into my shoulder, and I have my answer. She must have thought I was dead.

I let her cry for a bit, before looking to Summer, "Did anyone see the ship?" She shakes her head. "My kids?"

Shanna steps away from me, and I realize just how insensitive I'm being. I now have six kids with another woman, even if that other woman is an alien, and haven't really gotten a handle on how my girlfriend feels about that. I open my mouth to apologize again, but the dyed-redhead cuts me off.

"No, don't apologize. They're important to you, and that means a lot to me." She takes a deep breath, then continues, "Go. You need to see them."

Grabbing her hand, I turn and open the portal into blackness. She hesitates just outside the blackness, but apparently trusts me enough, and follows me through.

"How do you see in this?" she asks.

"What do you mean?" Summer pipes up, solicitously. "Can't you see the floor beneath us?"

"Be nice, Summer," I chide. "We've got nanites in us, which augments our vision, so that we can see into the infrared spectrum."

"Nanites? Really? That's so cool!" I smile as the geek in Shanna 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 Lela's room.

For once I think before acting. "Shanna, on the other side of this door are two angels 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 site. Lela is breast feeding 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.

It's also noticeably brighter in here. Not bright, per se, but bright enough that Shanna can see. I hear her gasp as she sees the angels for the first time. The angels are also warily watching Shanna.

"They're. . . They're beautiful," my girlfriend states, and the tension evacuates the room.

"I didn't know your race breast feeds," I state, kind of wishing I could be sucking on her taught nipple.

"Don't be so crass," Summer states, at the same time Shanna hits me again.

'It's okay,' Lela'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?" Summer 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,' Lela 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?" Shanna asks, and I realize she's been left out of half the conversation.

As I start to bring Shanna up to speed, I watch as Summer takes the two kids that Lela 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 Lela, 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?" Shanna 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 Shanna 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?" Shanna asks again, and I whisper the question to her. "Oh. . ." she says, worriedly, squeezing me tighter to her.

"I'll help," Summer says, her voice quavering, and I know she's afraid of facing the two terrors.

"No," I deny her, but 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 Lela, and ask a question that's been in the back of my mind, but only now comes to the surface. "If these two were so powerful, why weren't they chosen to fight the demons?"

Lela 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 to 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?" Shanna grumps.

"Umm. . ." I say, looking at Lela.

'Go ahead. The other room has an applicator ready.'

I look back to Shanna, 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 tells me, laughing, "but 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 minutes later, she's screaming in agony, while I rock her back and forth.

* * *

'We have a plan,' Summer's words appear to me, and I come awake.

Shanna is sleeping peacefully in my arms, and as I try to pull away to see what they've cooked up, she wakes, and pulls me back to her.

"Did it hurt that bad for you?" She asks, and I just nod, as she shivers in memory.

'They have a plan,' I send to her mentally, and 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 as I see the look in Summer'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 gets laid out before me, and despite Shanna's misgivings, I agree to it. Those twins have to be stopped.

* * *

I feel naked, digging my toes into the soft cool dirt beneath my feet. Despite knowing how fast Lela's ship can travel, I'm having a hard time believing that I'm currently standing in Southern Arizona's desert, miles away from anyone else. This time, there will be no chance of innocent bystanders.

The night air is cool, but I barely feel it. Somehow Lela and Harana were able to get the light suit to work outside of her ship. Even now, the four females and six children are a couple miles above me. Far enough to be out of view, tonight, but close enough to get to me in a crisis. Summer had hinted again at helping me out, but with the light suites on, there can be no physical contact between us.

"You came," the words coming from behind me, startles me, as I spin around to face the twins. Thankfully they don't spout their Team Rocket opening line again.

"I see you got my note," I tell James. Shanna had delivered it to them, and somehow they made the multi-hundred mile trip to get here, in only a couple hours.

The large moon sits on the horizon, framing the two, and I see they're holding hands. Thankfully the nanites allow me to see them clearly, even though the light is coming from behind them. With their all-white clothing, they almost seem to glow.

"You're ready to surrender your evil ways, then?" Jessie asks, as she takes in my apparent nakedness. "Or did you hope to tempt us into your wicked ways?"