The Lizard Wars

Next time three different groups were sent to three different POW camps and the reports from them were as good or even better. Supplies were also sent back with these groups too. One commander of a POW base sent back ten refrigerated trucks asking if meat could be sent to the POW's as it was the most requested item of the men.

Mrs. Rose Miller and Mr. Bob Thomson came up with an idea of manufacturing several small and one large grain mill. The small mills could be used by the POW's to turn wheat into flour. Live chickens were brought to several camps with the idea they would be eaten. To our surprise the POW's with the help of guards there built chicken coops and our refrigerated trucks returned with eggs for our town and some for other POW camps.

The next week was uneventful except for Saturday's shock. I had been working late as was Ariel. He finally came up with night time passes for people who had to be out after curfew. The council, police chief, fire chief and others, myself included got them. As busy as we were Ariel couldn't always walk me home, even if I sensed he really wanted to anyways and still did whenever he could. On Friday Ariel had to go out of town for a meeting at the main headquarters about 100 miles away. He said he wouldn't be back until late Sunday so I should take Saturday off and get some needed rest and that he said was an order. I told him I'm not in your army. He looked at me and said, "Maybe and maybe not."

By 6:30 I was falling asleep at my computer. I went out to the outer office where Anna and Private Shia were playing a game between them on their computers over the office network.

"Oh hi Tina. Where just taking a break. We should be done with that project you wanted in about an hour I think. Don't you think so Ty." She said to Private Shia.

Private Shia agreed.

"Well I'm real tired so I'm going home. Anna you have your night pass with you right." I asked Anna.

"Oh yes I have it Tina. As soon as we're finished I'll go right home." Anna said.

"OK. Don't stay to long and there's no work tomorrow so I'll see you both Monday." I told them.

I left and went home. In the morning I found that I had left an important disk I was going to work on this weekend, so it was back to the office for me. On a Saturday I was suppose to be off. When I got to the office I could hear Anna and Private Shia playing that game again.

"What are you two doing here so early?" I asked them.

"Oh, well after we finished the project for you, well we started playing the game and we forgot about the time Tina." Anna said with Private Shia nodding his head yes.

"Anna I know you're 18 now, but your mother must be sick with worry about you being out all night!" I said very madly.

"Oh my mother knows I'm here. She brought us dinner, see." She said as she pointed at the dishes on her desk.

"Well Anna AND PRIVATE SHIA, I don't think the commander would like it! What do you think PRIVATE SHIA?" I said to them.

They didn't have to answer I could see the answer in their faces. Ten minutes later I watched them from the front door as they left in opposite directions. I stayed at the door long enough to be sure they went home.

I decided I might as well stay there and work there as going home, besides it would prevent those two returning to their game. Several hours later I needed the project that Anna and Private Shia had been working on , but I couldn't find it on the network. I went to Anna's computer and checked it than the draws of her desk for the CD I had labeled for her to copy the project to, I couldn't find it. I then checked Private Shia's computer nothing there either. I then started looking in his desk, in the second draw down there was the disk. I picked it up and I saw it. A pair of woman's panties. I picked them up and from the smell and the sticky feeling on my fingers I knew that last night Anna and Shia had played more than computer games, they had also played an adult game! I dropped the panties at the thought that I hadn't watched them closely enough. I thought to myself how I'm I going to tell Ariel or could I even tell him. I couldn't work after that I sat in my office thinking about what to do. I couldn't go to Private Shia's barracks because I didn't know where it was plus I wouldn't be allowed in that area. I couldn't go to Anna's house, her mother would be there. I called Anna. I had to talk to her about this.

"Hello who is this?" Mrs. Wilson answered the phone.

"Oh, hi Mrs. Wilson. This is Mrs. Foster may I speak to Anna.

"Of course Tina I'll get her." She said.

"Hello, Tina." Anna said in a meek voice.

"Yes Anna, I know I said there would be no work today, but could you come in and give a hand for an hour or so?" I told her in my most business-like voice.

"Oh sure I'll be there in about ten minutes Tina." She told me.

When Anna came through the door I was drinking some coffee there.

"Hello again Anna. Bring that disk you made for me of that project to my office please." I told her and went back into my office and sat down.

What should have taken a minute for her to do took ten minutes. She came in and I told her to sit down. As she started to sit she saw the woman's panties, her panties in the middle of my desk.

"I, I can explain Mrs. Foster, really I can." She said fear in her voice.

"Anna I think they explain it perfectly, don't you think?" I said to her.

Looking down at the floor she said, "yes, Mrs. Foster."

"Anna. Do you know the problems this could cause with the people of this town! And what about your mother?" I asked her.

"My mother knows about it. Ty, Private Shia, stays at our house a lot in my room. My mother says no one can stop the heart from loving who it wants to. She says it's better to do it there than get caught by one of the people in town who might cause trouble for both of us. And she really likes Ty too." She told me.

"Do you know that you can become pregnant from Private Shia. The commander told me that their DNA and ours is a perfect match!" I told her.

"Yes I know that and I want to bear his child too." She told me with pride.

"I hope the best for you and Ty. I won't tell anyone either, not even Ariel, the commander, I promise." I told her.

"I also promise to never tell anyone that when you and Ariel are alone he calls you Tina and you call him Ariel. You like him a lot, don't you." She asked me.

"I'm, well I'm not sure how I feel about Ariel, not yet at least." I told her still not knowing my feelings about Ariel.

"You don't know because you can't see your eyes or your face when you look at him. I can." Anna said as she smiled at me.

We only worked for about an hour when I told Anna to go home. I watched from the window as she left. I saw Ty come out of hiding and join her, holding hands they headed to her home.

I stayed there until very late that night, not working just thinking about my life up to this point. I thought about what Princess Yazear had said to me. Was she trying to tell me the same thing as Anna. I had known Frank my late husband for less than six months when we got married. I couldn't even think about how much I knew about him let alone what I knew about Ariel. Who I've known for just about a year now, six months longer than my husband. I finally went home at 1:30 AM, but my sleep was restless at best.

Sunday I just walked around questioning everything in my life. I wasted the whole day and came up with no answers. Ariel knocked on my door at 11:30 PM I was in my night gown and bathrobe about to go to bed.

"Ariel! What are you doing here at this time at night?" I questioned him.

"Big, Big, problems and I'm going to need your help with it." He said a very worried look on his face.

"What big problem?"

"When I got back to our office Private Shia was waiting there to talk to me. He told me that he and Anna have been sleeping together for about two and a half months. Tonight after dinner at her mom's house she told him that she's sure she's pregnant maybe one or more months along too." He said.

Since I had just found out about Anna and Ty yesterday I never thought about how long it had been going on. I think Anna wanted to tell the father first, but my finding out spoiled her plans to do it at the right moment, like in the movies.

Ariel didn't wait for my answer.

"Tina, I can talk to Shia because he's a man, but I don't know what to say to Anna. You're a woman you'll know what to say to her. Please talk to her Tina." Ariel asked me.

"I, I, know there having an affair. I found out yesterday, but I didn't know she was pregnant. That she didn't tell me."

"How long do you think it will be before it shows?" He asked me.

"Just a guess, but I'd say three to five months." I said.

"Maybe we can find a job where she won't be seen. Else we're going to have big problems I think." Ariel replied.

"I think I need a drink."

"I don't think coffee will help." Ariel said.

"No I said a drink, whiskey I mean."

"Oh, right. I guess it can't hurt."

I got a bottle of whiskey and some glasses with ice. We sat on the couch and drank until at least 3:00 AM when we both fell asleep. In the morning I woke up when Ariel started to stroke my hair as I had fallen asleep in his lap. When I was awake enough to realize where I was laying I jumped up to a sitting position.

"Oh I'm sorry." I told Ariel.

"I'm not you can sleep like that anytime you want." He said smiling.

I was very embarrassed.

"We'd better have some coffee and head to work I think." Ariel informed me.

We walked to work quietly. I think Ariel just like me was wondering about his feelings for me as I was about him right now. When we were within sight of the town hall Ariel broke the silents.

"Are you going to talk to Anna again?" He asked me.

"Yes, as soon as I see her this morning."

We entered the office and Private Shia was hard at work on his computer, but Anna was not at her computer. When I entered my office Anna was sitting in the same chair she had the other day when I had talked to her.

"Good morning Tina. From what Ty told me about his meeting the commander Sunday I was sure you'd want to talk to me today." Anna said very calmly.

"Why didn't you tell me Saturday that you were pregnant?" I asked Anna.

"I couldn't tell you before I told Ty but I was waiting for the right moment. I knew I'd have to tell Ty after dinner then my mom too." She said.

"Is that why Private Shia, Ty, when to see the commander Sunday night." I asked her.

"The commander, Ariel is Ty's uncle, but don't tell anyone about that, he felt he had to and he also wanted to get his permission to marry me." Anna said.

"Well what did Ariel say about that?" I questioned.

"It took a lot of talking, but he finally said yes only if he could give away the bride." Anna said smiling, "He is of course still worried about the town's people, which I understand and we'll try to find a way to hide it from them. I promise and so does Ty."

"I'll help as much as I can Anna."

"Well next Sunday you could really help by being my bride's maid Tina."

"I would be very happy to." I told Anna.

The next week was a blessing for some but a tragedy for me. A freakish rain storm came in on Tuesday and continued into Wednesday flooding out the road. Paul Foster injured himself trying to operate a piece of equipment. Ben Foster got him in their truck and tried to get him to the town hospital but they ran off the road and were both killed. Ariel told me to take the rest of the week off. I thought about it, remembering that Paul Foster had never been friendly to me and I only met Ben once and we didn't say more than ten words to each other. I didn't really know them and when it looked like I was in trouble with the invaders they gave no support to me not even one word. So I told Ariel I wanted to work the week out. On Friday Ariel asked to walk me home as he needed to talk to me about an idea he had.

As I opened the door to my house Ariel started to talk.

"I was checking on Paul Foster's last will and testament. It seems that he left his farm to Frank Foster, your late husband which means it's your farm now." Ariel said.

"I can't take it I hardly knew them." I told Ariel.

"I didn't think you would, but if I could give you a good reason to take the farm would you?" Ariel said.

"What good reason?" I asked Ariel.

"Ty Shia and Anna Wilson, soon to be Anna Shia. If we shift all of my people's type of crop to that farm and all workers there to be my men, well someone has to run the farm why not Ty and Anna. Then the people won't know about the marriage or that she's pregnant." Ariel said.

"And what happens when the baby is born?" I commented.

"It gives us some time to think about that." He said.

"It's the best plan I've heard all week so far. And it's for a good reason to." I told him.

On Sunday we all met at Mrs. Wilson's house at 11:00 AM. I help Anna get dressed. It was part Earth and part of the Lizard tradition and they went together very well. There were six friends of Ty's wedding as part an honor guard, and as witnesses.

Ariel pulled me aside to talk.

"Anna just told me you're to be the bride's maid?" He said.

"Yes. She asked me when I talked to her the other day. Why?" I asked seeing Ariel looked a little nervous.

"Well this wedding is a cross between Earth and our traditional weddings. In your wedding the men there usually kiss the bride, but in our weddings the bride's maid must also be kissed by all men there and last by what your people call the best man, that will be me. Ty asked me this morning to also be his best man." Ariel said.

"So I've been kissed at weddings before." I told him.

"Yes, but not by seven men who are lizards! The wedding kisses are very passionate something like your French Kiss. We have an added fluid in our saliva which is like an aphrodisiac to our females but especially earth females. If you don't allow them to do this French Kiss it is considered very bad luck and Anna will have a lot of trouble fitting in with our people." Ariel explained as plainly as he could.

"Are you telling me I shouldn't be the bride's maid or what?" I asked him.

"No, that would be worse than a bad kiss. Granted some if not all the men might not try this French Kiss, but I can't order them not to either." He said.

"Anna asked me to be the bride's maid and French Kiss or not I will be her bride's maid for her benefit." I told Ariel.

The first of the two marriages was from our world the second from their world. The kissing part of the ceremony hadn't started, Anna told me that after a meal and the bride and groom were ready for their honeymoon would the good bye part start.

"How are you doing Tina?" Ariel asked.

"I'm doing fine. What happens next?" I asked.

"Well the bride and groom change into their traveling clothes while we have some food from that table there. When their done they'll come down here eat a little then the bride is kissed by all the men. Then you will be kissed by all the men. You as the bride's maid will be kissed by the first six men then by the best man, who will then take you home. Anna and Ty will be escorted to their honeymoon home, in this case a farm just outside of town. The six men will guard that house for the next five days."

Anna and Ty came down stairs dressed in what looked like long bathrobes to me. The first of the seven men kissed Anna in a somewhat passionate way and I was sure a French Kiss, Ariel being the last. Then the first man started to kiss me. A much more passionate kiss than was given Anna. I had almost forgotten about the French Kiss part which came very soon after he started the kiss. I had never noticed that most of the lizard's tongues where very long and pointed as this man's tongue seem to bathe the inside of my mouth with it. A slight sweet taste of his saliva, not a bad taste just different. When he finished he made a small speech the last two words that all the other men would say was: Truis Rigis. Each following man kissed even more passionate and more of a French Kiss then the man before him. Each French Kiss became sweeter and sweeter and I also was becoming more aroused too. Ariel was the seventh to kiss me. His kiss was the most passionate of all, but when he started to French Kiss me I could tell he was holding back as his tongue only enter my mouth part way and it was the sweetest and I felt the sexiest of all. However I was sad that he held back, I knew he had held back, I could feel it. He then quickly grabbed my hand and we trotted down the street and around the corner before he slowed down to a normal walk. While the six men kept calling out "Truis Rigis, Truis Rigis". I asked Ariel what Truis Rigis meant even in the growing darkness of the evening I could see the reddening of his face he was embarrassed.

"It's hard to translate into English." He said.

I felt he was more embarrassed to translate it into English than it being too hard.

We started to walk toward my house at the same slow pace we have always done, but slowly we increased our speed until we were almost at a jog. I was glad as the aphrodisiac of the French Kissing was having quite an arousing effect on me. The effect was so strong that I almost broke the door down instead of unlocking it. We got inside and I see the dining room table had been setup with more food then had even been at the wedding. I however just wanted to get the kiss from Ariel that I believe he was supposed to give me.

"We have to close the front window drapes within the next minute as part of our wedding traditions." Ariel told me.

I went to the window before Ariel could even move. I jumped back as I saw several figures on the other side of the road. Ariel moved to the window and finished closing the drapes.

"Ariel there were some people out there." I said with a little fear.

"Yes. Like Anna and Ty we will have an honor guard outside for the next five days. We can't leave here until they leave." He said his head looking at the ground and I could see he was embarrassed.

I was getting a little mad as I felt something hadn't been told to me by Anna and Ty about this wedding and its traditions.

"I tried to get Anna and Ty to have a tradition Earth style wedding this morning as it would be acceptable for my people. Anna and Ty insisted that this is what they wanted. Anna said that only I could be the best man for her Truis Rigis." He said.

"What the hell does Truis Rigis mean and don't tell me you can't translate it into English because I KNOW YOUR LYING ABOUT THAT!" I said raising my voice to him.

"Well, Truis Rigis comes from a Queen of ours about 1000 years ago. She had been picked by the Royal Court to marry the king. She was of the royal family, but she loved another man, who she couldn't marry because he was not of the royal family. She met the king on her wedding day. He and she would grow fond of each other during their marriage, but it could never be called love. After six years of marriage they had no children. For a King, and the Royal family, this was a problem. A King needs a son or at least a daughter to become the next ruler of my people. Common people can easily leave their spouse, but for a King or Queen it's not as easy to do. The death of the spouse is one way. The other way and especially if it's the wife who had become a Queen after marrying a King, is infidelity. She knew the King had only these choices and neither he or she had been unfaithful so the only other way was death. The tradition of the seven man honor guard had been around a thousand years and it gave her an idea. She would be the bride's maid at her husband's wedding and instead of leaving after the wedding her and the best man would leave before the bride and groom and also have an honor guard for the five days. This would mean there had been infidelity by her before the King and his new wife left the wedding. The King would have three more marriages like this all without producing any children. His first wife however had twelve children with the best man, her first real love whom she wasn't able to marry. Her third son would become King after her first husband died. Queen Tia, that was her name, became known as the Truis Rigis and soon all bride's maids were known by that name. The Best Man would be known as the Truis Garusi." He said.