The Mind Element: Ch. 04

Author's note: All characters are over 18, as established in earlier Chapters or in "Master of Elements" to which this is a sequel.

The Mind Element Chapter 4

"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness" Aristotle.

Fay awoke in a hotel bed lying next to her boyfriend Marco, who was still asleep. She looked at him fondly. Fay had now spent over two months among these humans and she was getting more used to their strange world and their curious bodily form, and even to her own borrowed one. She found many of them oddly pleasing and none more so than Marco Ricci. Fay suppressed a desire to reach over and touch him. If she did Marco would wake and she wanted to take this quiet time for a moment of reflection.

Yesterday they had accompanied Matsu and Jenny to see a local fisherman called Juan Santos and that meeting had gone well. When they got back to the hotel, knowing they needed to rise early, they had gone directly to bed in line with the instructions of Christopher Ward. Today they would mount the attempt to rescue Fay's mistress, Queen Athena. That thought was exciting but also a little scary, despite Fay having complete faith in her companions and being confident that all would be well.

She no longer thought of the human's world as a heaven - she could see it was even more flawed than her own. It saddened Fay that the humans didn't appreciate its beauties more and seemed set on damaging it in ways more thoughtless than evil. And yet humans were also capable of wonderful things - in her view, none more so than this thing they called music. After Athena was rescued, music was something she was determined to introduce to her own world.

Fay no longer stood in quite the same awe of the Emperor Christopher and the elemental Queens. She still honoured them, and that would never change, but now she knew them as people, and thought of them as friends, rather than as distant, untouchable gods. One side-effect of that was that she had been reading their thoughts. Her people, although they had the ability, had always refrained from doing so in their homeland, out of respect for those who had saved them from the Overlord, and when Fay had first entered this world, she had kept to that.

However, to Fay knowing the thoughts of friends and family was natural, something she had grown up with. She was dimly aware that humans would probably think it intrusive - an invasion of privacy - but Fay knew it had many benefits. Although there were other sentient beings on their world against whom her people had needed to defend themselves at times, they had never fought a war among themselves. When you could read minds there was no room for deceit or even misunderstandings, and if you accidently gave offense, you knew at once you had done so, and the other party knew if you hadn't meant it. It all made for a very peaceful and harmonious existence.

So, as she grew closer to Chris and the others, she had read their minds on a regular basis and understood them well. She felt a little sorry for the Emperor himself. Chris took his responsibilities so seriously and was wracked by doubt that he was up to the task. Most of all he was desperate to fulfil his mission to protect the Mistresses of Elements and ensure their welfare and as a result this kidnapping of Athena and Matsu had hit him hard. He blamed himself, although no one else did; in fact his charges had complete faith in their Master, who had, in reality, never let them down. It was only Chris who doubted it.

Queen Brigit was remarkably contented with life, with the obvious exception of the current crisis. Her main concern was to convince her husband of the happiness of her and her elemental sisters. Much the same was true of Queens Matsu and Kitaka, both of whom were greatly focussed on their burgeoning careers in professions they loved.

Matsu was rather proud of her escape from Randall Ness and seemed to have rationalised the fact that she had caused the deaths of others in the process. Fay thought her mental strength remarkable. Jenny was constantly amazed by the turns her life had taken, so very different from what she had been raised to expect, and yet she liked where her destiny had taken her.

Apart from her obvious worry for Queen Athena, it was Queen Freya that concerned Fay most. She was unhappy and Fay knew why. She had determined that she would try to help Freya if she could, but the matter was difficult. Fay decided to tell Marco about it and get his advice - but not today. Today they had other things to think about. For all they knew any of them might be dead before the day was over. Fay looked at the sleeping Marco. If they were putting their lives at risk, she decided, then they both deserved to show their love for each other while the chance was there.

Fay gently probed Marco's sleeping thoughts. They were fragmentary and confused. He was close to waking and in a stage of light dreaming sleep. The dream didn't make much sense, but had definite sexual overtones. Fay was pleased to note that she was in it, as was their friend Maria. This reminded her of their Filipino lover; they had said a fond - and passionate - farewell before leaving Manilla, with many promises to return when they could, promises Fay fully intended to keep. She liked Maria.

After that parting Fay had suggested to Marco that next time they shared their bed with a third person it should be another man, so she could experience what two would be like. To her surprise, Marco had greeted this idea with much less enthusiasm than he had the threesome with Maria. His thoughts betrayed a mix of jealousy, possessiveness and a nagging fear and doubt that she might prefer the other man to him.

Fay wished Marco could read her mind to understand how silly that was, but the experience was a useful reminder that she still had a lot to learn about humans, and males in particular. I could be very relevant to the discussion she wanted to have with Christopher concerning Queen Freya. Anyway, that was for the future. More immediately, she wanted to take advantage of Marco's dream fantasy.

Fay gently lifted the bedsheets. Just as she had expected, Marco's cock was hard, responding to his dream. She quietly shuffled down the bed until she was level with her lover's erection. Tenderly, she took his penis in her hands and stroked it, peeling back the foreskin to reveal the purple bulb of the head. It swelled to her touch. Then she leaned her head forward and slowly and gently licked the throbbing organ.

With a sigh, Marco awoke. He took a moment to orientate himself to where he was and what was happening. Then he took in the purple haired girl licking his cock, her strange but beautiful violet eyes twinkling with teasing mischief and affection as she gazed at his face. She was smiling at him between the oral caressing.

"Wow," he said wonderingly, "I was dreaming of sex and then I wake up and find its real - and better than my dream."

Fay stopped licking for a moment and said, "Given what we have got to do today I think we should fuck each other's brains out first."

Marco understood what she had left unsaid - the rescue of Athena was going to be dangerous and they couldn't be sure that one or both of them wouldn't be hurt. He also winced a little at the crudeness of her suggestion - perhaps a side effect of the way she had learned about sex. Their sex life to date had been wonderful, but had also tended toward the athletically physical. Marco wanted to show Fay there were other ways, different but just as nice.

"No, we're going to make love," he said "and it's going to be wonderful. Come here and kiss me."

They lay side by side facing one another kissing deeply but unhurriedly, their bodies touching. With one hand Marco gently caressed Fay's pussy, stimulating her for what was to follow. She did likewise, stroking his erection almost lazily, understanding what he wanted.

When Marco judged his partner was ready, he said, "Turn over on your side, facing away... yes like that." He parted Fay's legs and slid into her pussy from behind without difficulty, but once he was inside her he did immediately begin thrusting. Instead he just held her in his arms, his front pressed to Fay's back, their skin touching almost from head to toe, his right hand reaching round to gently tease the nipples of her breasts, his breath warm against her neck as he kissed it and all the while his erection filling her pussy. It was intimate, loving but also intensely erotic.

At last Marco yielded to inevitable desire and began to slowly push his cock in and out of her pussy. The position was comfortable and physically undemanding and neither of them sought to change it - like this they could have lasted an hour had they had the time - but unfortunately sterner duties awaited.

Marco began to speed up, thrusting harder. Fay responded, pushing the rounded moons of her buttocks back against his groin to meet his thrusts. Their excitement rose, their movements grew more passionate. Fay slipped a hand between her legs to caress her clitoris. Marco was moulding her breasts and stroking her nipples with his hand. The pace increased until at last the literal climax approached, Marco holding back to ensure Fay got there first.

He felt the girl stiffen in his arms, her head fell back against his shoulder and she gave a series of low sobs as she came. Even as she lay more limply against him, Marco increased the speed of his thrusts again, pushing his hips forward, properly fucking her, his groin striking Fay's bottom cheeks with an arousing slap. Then his balls tightened, his cock grew rigid with blood and with a groan he discharged his sperm, his dick pulsing as he shot strings of cum into Fay's tight, wet pussy.

They lay together in one another's arms, Marco's cock still inside Fay, slowly losing its hardness. Neither spoke for some time, until at last Fay said, "I love you." Marco smiled and held her tighter. He didn't need to say anything in return; he knew Fay could read what he felt about her in his mind.

When he did speak it was to say, "I suppose we'd better get moving. You shower while I order breakfast. We have a boat to catch."

*****

The boat of the fisherman Juan Santos was a common sight in the waters between Randall Ness' private island and the much larger one a few miles away where his home port was situated, and so aroused no particular interest, which was why Matsu had proposed they persuade Juan to help them. He had given her his phone number when they parted in case the authorities needed any further details of her 'rescue' from the sea, and while Matsu was still in Manilla with Chris she had contacted Juan and, after a little persuasion, convinced him to meet her, Jenny, Fay and Marco.

When a beautiful young Chinese woman, accompanied by two other equally attractive ladies as well as a young Italian man, turned up at Juan's house his wife had a lot of questions for her husband, many of which he had difficulty answering. Fortunately for him, Matsu supplied a plausible, if not entirely truthful, explanation of events, Jenny was obviously eminently respectable in her naturally modest way, Marco was charming and Fay amusingly offbeat, and before long Senora Santos was insisting that she cook them all her favourite recipe, the one her mother had handed down to her.

Later that day Matsu had broached the real reason for their visit. Reluctant at first, Juan had eventually agreed to land Jenny, Fay and Marco on the forbidden island. Matsu had insisted that he would be paid handsomely for his trouble, but it wasn't the money that swayed him, but rather her sweet smile and the obvious sincerity of his guests. The plan was that once he had done so, he would move further out to sea and then wait for a signal to pick them up, hopefully with an additional passenger. If no signal came within an hour, he should return to his home port. With the agreement made, Matsu and the others had returned to their hotel to wait.

So it was the next day that half an hour before Chris and the others left port in a hired motor yacht Juan's boat had quietly slipped its moorings and headed for the other side of Ness' Island, its passengers concealed. They had less distance to cover but were going to be much slower doing it. With four aboard the boat was rather crowded, and Jenny, Fay and Marco had to crouch under some tarpaulins so as not to be seen by any watching agents Ness might have. It made for an uncomfortable trip.

But it seemed to work. They assumed that the island would be defended all round, and should they have come under attack Jenny planned to cause enough of a landslide on the mountain to bury the enemy positions but without damaging the internal places where Athena was presumably imprisoned, but, mercifully, there was no need. As Juan's boat approached the island there was no reaction. Now they just needed to wait for Chris' party to start the distraction.

*****

Hiring a large motor yacht had been simple enough - if you had the money such a luxurious pleasure craft was readily available and Chris had no shortage of cash. The more difficult part had been that the yacht's captain was unlikely to be very happy about what they were planning to do. This had led to Chris doing something he didn't like, but given that this was a good cause he had no real choice. Chris had used the power of the fifth element Aether, to bend the perceptions of the captain and crew of the yacht somewhat, so they regarded any request he made as reasonable and would ignore any odd things that happened. In short, he had mind controlled them, albeit to the minimum extent necessary and fully intending to restore them to normal afterward, although perhaps with some of their memories altered just a little.

Once Juan Santos' boat carrying Jenny's rescue party was safely away, Chris and the others had left port openly, their vessel highly conspicuous in its gleaming white paint and chrome metalwork, convinced that Randall Ness would soon know of it. That was fine; they wanted him watching them, not what else might be happening. It took around two hours to reach Ness' island and circle round to the seaward side, then they took station about a couple of miles off shore and prepared to make their presence felt.

Standing on the yacht's bridge, Christopher Ward looked at Brigit, Freya and Matsu and sighed, "I guess I have to give them one chance to do the right thing, even though I know what the answer will be. Stand by everyone, we will probably be attacked shortly, so be ready to counter whatever comes our way."

Brigit grinned at him and held up the cigarette lighter she now always carried, despite being a non-smoker. The Mistresses of Elements needed something to work with and while Freya and Matsu had plenty of air and water to hand, she found it useful to have a ready starting point. The Mistress of Fire could turn the flame of a single match into a raging inferno in seconds.

Chris picked up the radio mic. "Calling Ness Island, calling Ness lsland. This is Christopher Ward on the motor vessel 'Zodiac' off your shores. I wish to speak to Mr Randall Ness concerning Professor Athena Makris as a matter of urgency. Over."

Slightly to his surprise, the reply was immediate. "Copy that MV Zodiac. We are monitoring your position. Please hold. Mr Ness will speak to you shortly. Over."

Moments later, a calm voice, with a smooth Californian accent spoke, "Ah, Mr Ward. I have been expecting your arrival ever since Miss Chen decided to leave my hospitality. I imagine you are about to ask me to return Athena to you. I'm afraid I can't do that, but I promise you she is in no danger. Once I have what I need I'll release her unharmed. Given that, I urge you to depart at once. Any attempt to free your friend could place her in unnecessary danger. Over."

"Sorry Ness, but we can't do that. I think you have some idea of the power we wield. I ask you for your own sake to hand Athena over to us now. We will depart and, provided you leave us alone in future, we will not trouble you again. But if you don't then we will have to take more direct action. Over."

Chris had barely finished speaking when the attack came and what happened next, happened very fast. The most rapid part was the launch of three missiles from the island. They were not designed for surface- to-surface strikes otherwise they might have succeeded through sheer speed; rather they rose into the air first and then dipped down toward their programmed target. This arc gave Brigit, Mistress of Fire, who had been ready for something of the sort, just enough time to react.

Using the flame of the lighter as her starting point, she expanded and projected into the air high above the yacht a barrier of superheated flame, a process that took scarcely more than a second. The missiles were fast and deadly but not designed to withstand the searing 2,000 degree heat they suddenly encountered. Their fuel exploded, followed, in a least one case, by the warhead. The yacht below was rocked by the blast wave but otherwise unharmed. Of the missiles nothing was left save debris falling into the sea.

Even while this brief but violent drama unfolded, Matsu was defeating the second wave of attack with even greater ease. Tubes built into the sea edge of the island launched two torpedoes toward the yacht. They were wire guided, being steered toward their target by an operator, however in this case they didn't even get half way. The Mistress of Water, sensing their approach through her element simply increased the resistance of the sea to their movement, slowing them, then, all too easily, used the irresistible power of vast volumes of water to turn the torpedoes and drive them back toward the island. Alarmed at what that might mean, their own operators trigged them to self-destruct.

The third wave of the attack was the largest but also the slowest and most easily defeated. Some thirty flying drones, simple commercial ones but turned into suicide bombs by being fitted with explosives, emerged from various caves and bunkers and headed for the yacht, but their motors proved entirely unable to cope with the storm force wind that Freya, Mistress of Air, swiftly summoned up as if from nowhere. Scattered by this unexpected mini-hurricane, a few crashed into the sea, while others were hurled back onto the island to explode among the rocks of the mountainside.

The entire episode was over inside seven minutes from start to finish and Chris had held the radio line to the island open throughout. He now spoke. "That was foolish, Ness. We don't want to harm you, we just want Athena back, and your response is to try to kill us. As you can see, we are not defenceless."

Ness replied, "Just remember that I have your friend here. Don't try anything, or she could get hurt. Her safety is in your hands," then cut the call off. Chris thought, with some satisfaction, that Ness had sounded rattled at the ease with which his attack had been defeated.

Chris turned to his companions. "Well done everyone; that was impressive. But stay alert, they might try something else. We also need to look threatening to keep their attention on us. After that the rest is up to Jenny and her team."

*****

That team were aware that the promised diversion was underway. Although they couldn't see what was happening due to the looming bulk of the island's mountain being in the way, they could certainly hear it. A series of loud explosions left no one in any doubt that the attack had begun. Juan asked nervously whether they were not concerned for the fate of their friends, but Jenny replied with absolute confidence that her Master and sisters could deal with anything thrown at them.

Juan had already edged as close to the island as he dared without arousing suspicion and now he turned the boat toward it and headed for the shore at the best speed he could manage. There was a dock on this side of the island, with several vessels tied up there, but he avoided that and headed for a beach at the opposite end of the isle.