The Pilgrimage Ch. 06

Authors notes:

Special thanks to Taco1085 for a great editing job; Well done, Larry!

Also to Cecilia Martin for her invaluable content advice; Great job, Cecilia!

*****

Morrigan woke several hours later to the delicious feeling of a warm, wet tongue gliding sensuously around her three inch areola and across her swollen, titanium hard, half inch nipples as Megan's mouth switched back and forth between Morrigan's succulent "D" cup tits. Morrigan moaned softly. "Gods, Babes; that feels sooo fucking good! You can wake me up like that anytime! Unfortunately, we don't have time to go any further. We've got a hell of a lot to get done today." Morrigan pulled Megan up for a long, slow, passion filled kiss then continued, "I'm really sorry, Babes; we can play all you want later tonight. But right now duty calls." Morrigan giggled and said, "Good Gods; we both reek of wet pussy. We don't even have time for a quick shower. This will have to do for now." Morrigan closed her eyes for a few seconds. "There we go Babes; all fresh and clean. Now lets get our asses out of this bed, get dressed, and get to my quarters. Everybody else is already there waiting for us."

Megan gave a quick little girl pout then giggled. "Mean, old, duty; one of these days I'm gonna have to kick it's butt," she giggled again.

"Just let me know when, and I'll help you do it," Morrigan laughed. As they walked to Morrigan's quarters; Morrigan's mood slowly began to change. She became quiet and somber. She took Megan's hand and kissed it softly. "I love you, Meg. More than you'll ever know. Last night was the best night of my life. But this morning; in the cold light of day; I feel... I don't know... maybe... guilty? I'm not sure if that actually describes how I feel. I mean here I was having the greatest night I've ever had, celebrating life, and a new found love with the woman I adore more than anything in creation. Yet there are families aboard this Ark that have had the worst night imaginable. I feel... like I let them down by having a great time while they were hurting so much. Have I become so horrible a queen that I've lost all compassion for my people's suffering?"

Megan spun around in front of Morrigan pushing Morrigan against the bulkhead. "Pull yourself together, Morrigan," She snapped! We're about to enter the control deck and your people don't need to see you acting this way! We WILL talk about this when we get inside your quarters. In the meantime, you're a queen; act like one," Megan growled!

Morrigan gave Megan a shocked look. Megan had never spoken to her like that before so Morrigan knew Megan was pissed. Morrigan took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "You're right, Meg. There's a time and place for everything. This is not the right time or place to show my emotions. I'm sorry. I'm okay now; let's get to my quarters."

Megan stood on her toes brushing her soft lips against Morrigan's. "I'm sorry too, Babe. I shouldn't have talked to you like that; but it was the only way to snap you out of your funk." Megan took Morrigan's hand and together they walked through the control deck and into Morrigan's quarters.

They were both shocked to see Vanessa standing just inside the door waiting for them. Vanessa pulled a surprised Megan in for a hug while kissing Megan's cheek and whispering "thank you."

Vanessa stepped back and frowned at Morrigan. "Well, Sis, I don't know if our bond is getting stronger or what. But I can feel your emotions, and I know exactly what you're thinking. It's pure unadulterated bullshit! Yes, you're our queen. But you are in no way responsible for ensuring our happiness; that's up to each of us to do on our own. As far as the grieving families go; there's really nothing you can do. They each have to deal with their grief in their own way. Get the idea out of your head that you let them down. You've been working your ass off. There isn't a soul on this Ark that would begrudge you last night! You earned it and you were entitled to it. Every single person in this suite is happy that you FINALLY took some time off to relax and enjoy yourself for a change. You haven't lost your compassion. The very fact that you've asked that question is it's own answer.

I'm your sister, and your second in command. Yes, yesterday was horrible. But you know as well as I do, there's gonna be good days, and not so good days. Yesterday was only the first of many bad days yet to come. You can't put your life on hold every time something bad happens. Do that, and you'll not only have one VERY unhappy lover; you'll have a shitload of very unhappy people as well, and that includes me. Hopefully, I've said enough to calm Megan down a bit. She was ready to explode all over you once that door was closed. You two should grab some breakfast. It's already zero eight thirty and we're due in the conference room at zero nine hundred."

When they entered the kitchen, Morrigan and Megan both got a hug and a kiss on the cheek from Aileen, Kelli, and Ashling. Once they were all seated again Ashling said, "I know you feel bad, My Queen. But you really shouldn't. You deserved last night. You've both earned it, and it's time you start paying some attention to your own needs. Yes, you're our queen. Yes, that's a 24/7 job. But that doesn't mean you're not allowed a private life, and it damn sure doesn't mean you can't take some time to be happy. You had my life given back to me so that I could tell you when you're making mistakes. You're forgetting that you have Vanessa, Aileen, Kelli, and me to fall back on. We're not just your battle crew, Morrigan. Hell, we're not even just teammates and friends; we're your family too. We can help you in so many other ways. Last night was a good start but you need to allow all of us to be there for you. There's no good reason that each of us can't take a night shift. You and Megan can take one together, and we could rotate the other night shifts between all of us. At least think about it, Morrigan."

Morrigan sighed deeply then threw her hands up with a giggle. " I give up; you all win. Aileen, you're on night duty tonight. Kelli, you've got tomorrow night. Ashling, you take the night after that. Then we cycle back to me and Meg. There, everybody happy now," she giggled again.

Everyone chorused, "yes, My Queen; we're very happy now!" Then the high fives passed around the table.

Vanessa grinned. "It's about damn time you smartened up, Sis. You two done eating yet? We need to move our asses or we're gonna be late for your advisory council meeting."

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming, you slave driver," Morrigan laughed.

Vanessa put her hand on her chest. "Moi? I'm no slave-driver. You're the hard-ass, Sis. I'm just being the helpful big sister, that's all," she giggled.

When they entered the conference room, everyone else was already there. When Megan went to take her usual seat, Morrigan pulled a blushing Megan into her lap. "Oh no you don't, Girlfriend; this is your seat from now on."

Megan's blush got even deeper when Erin said, "I saw this coming a long time ago. It's about time you two finally hooked up. Relax, Megan; you've got the best seat in the house," she said with a smile.

Morrigan winked at her mom. "Okay, enough chit chat. It's time to work. I'm gonna start out with an announcement." She gave Megan a pat on her luscious ass. "Meg, would you please stand for a minute?

Megan stood while giving Morrigan a confused look. Morrigan took Megan's hand and snapped, "Megan battledress!" Everyone gasped in surprise when all of Megan's battle gear appeared on her body. Morrigan grinned. "Everyone, meet Sorceress Megan; the newest member of our battle team!"

Vanessa was the first to speak. "Holy shit! Megan, a battle mage?" She looked over Megan's gear. "Good Gods, Sis! You really went all out! Megan can kick some serious ass now! She'll make a great addition to the team!" Vanessa stood walking over to Megan. She gave Megan a hug and a kiss on the cheek then stepped back a couple of steps. Vanessa saluted Megan with a traditional Kelli salute. "Welcome to Her Majesty's battle team, Sorceress Megan!"

One by one each of the other battle team members stepped up and welcomed Megan to the team. When they were finished, Megan looked at Morrigan. When Morrigan gave a slight nod, Megan's gear disappeared and Megan sat back in Morrigan's lap.

Morrigan locked eyes with Vanessa. "Don't worry, your power of foresight isn't screwing up. I had Banba block this from you so that I could surprise everyone this morning. Part of the reason that Meg's so heavily geared, is that a sorceress by her very nature uses almost all of her energy for spell-casting. Meg's gear takes that into account and compensates for it by increasing her strength, speed, and stamina. She's as powerful as any team member and can easily hold her own during battle. The other part is, because as everyone now knows, Meg's very important to me. I love her very much and I wanted her protected. One thing I learned the hard way yesterday, is that if something can be done, it will eventually be tried. The team needed a sorceress, and keeping Meg safe was a priority. The two objectives fit together nicely.

That's not saying Meg's my only problem regarding safety. Every person in this room who's not a part of my battle team is potentially in as much danger as she was. So..." Morrigan pointed her finger at each person in the room one at a time. As she did a silver breastplate appeared on each. "This isn't exactly battle quality armor. It does however protect each of you from being harmed or kidnapped. Just to be on the safe side every one of your family members are similarly protected. Now that I've thwarted any would be assassins and kidnappers, we can actually get some work done. Uncle Pete, Aunt Sally, you're up first today. What have you got for me?"

Sally frowned. "Everybody that was in this room when you and Megan left last night stayed here until about zero two hundred. Even Kylie joined us. We brainstormed for hours, and Kylie told us your thoughts on long term gun control. Everything you mentioned to her is absolutely doable. You rule an imperial queendom. There's no such thing as a second amendment anymore. The only things we would add is to limit hand guns and assault weapons to security forces. Magazine size should be limited to ten rounds each; with no more than two clips per person, and ammunition should be limited to no more than one hundred rounds per household at any given time. None of that solves the short term problem though. The best we can offer there, is do, or don't do, options. You can do nothing, which we don't recommend at all. You can confiscate just the ammo. Doing that will make the weapons useless. You can just take all the guns, or you can confiscate both until we reach Erie if you want. Once there, we can issue permits to those who can pass a firearms proficiency and safety test that Pete can set up and start administering later today. It definitely won't make the gun owners happy. But it's the only way we can see to insure public safety at least until we land."

Morrigan thought about what her Aunt Sally had said for several long minutes. She turned to Banba and asked, "My Goddess, thanks to you, I know the layout of this Ark like the palm of my hand. I can't think of any place big enough, or secure enough, to hold that many weapons. Am I missing something?"

"No, Morrigan, you're not mistaken in your assessment. This is something we obviously didn't expect when the Ark was built. You do have an armory on deck twelve opposite the brig but it's already full of weapons you'll need to arm security forces and hunting teams when we reach Erie. Besides, it would take nearly half a full deck to store that many weapons. The only solution I can offer is to add another deck to either the top or bottom of the Ark. It would change the total mass of the ship somewhat, and that would require Danu, Brigit, and myself to draw more on our will to continue to move the Ark at it's present speed. The difference in our energy usage would be relatively minor. So it's definitely doable. Since there won't be any need for living quarters, it'll only take us about five minutes to complete. But it's your Ark, so all I can do is offer you the option,"Banba replied.

Morrigan ran the Ark's schematic through her mind as she considered her options. "Thank you, My Goddess. I don't think adding another deck to the bottom of the Ark would meet the security needs. It would be to far away from ship's security for them to adequately protect. An upper deck, on the other hand, would work perfectly. Especially if you made the only entrance to it here in this room with a ramp that could be raised and locked leading up to it."

"I see your point, Morrigan. This deck is designed to be sealed off from the rest of the Ark in case there's an emergency. Not only that, but not even an army of well trained, heavily armed people could get past you and your battle team. We'll have everything ready for you in a few minutes."

"Thank you, My Goddess." Morrigan turned to Kelli. "How many Kelli's can you field at a moments notice, Kelli?"

"Eleven hundred fifty one, if you count Erica. Speaking of Erica; I stopped by to see her this morning. She's asking to meet with you; but asked me to promise not to say anything more than that. Also, all my Kelli's have been fully geared and received their skills from their patrons. Although they haven't had any practice using their new skills; all their patrons made sure that everyone could use their telepathy and mind probing skills. Some of them are a little better at it than others; but they can all do it," Kelli replied with a smile.

"Thanks, Kelli, I didn't realize just how many Kelli's you were training. But that'll work great for what I have in mind and I promise I'll meet with Erica a little later today." Morrigan looked around the table briefly locking eyes with everyone before continuing. "As you've probably already guessed; I've decided the safest course of action is to confiscate all the weapons and ammunition. But first I'm gonna give people a chance to voluntarily turn them in themselves. I'll make a public announcement about that later. After this meeting is over, Kelli, Uncle Pete, I want the two of you to work together. Pair off a police officer with a Kelli and be prepared to sweep the whole ship if it becomes necessary. I want every single firearm and all the accompanying ammunition stored in that upper chamber by days end."

She turned to Mark and said, "Okay, Mark, you, Rose, and Adam are up next. Where do you stand with your planning?"

Mark tapped a button on his keyboard and the image of Hope's Landing popped up. He stood and walked over to it with a long pointer in his hand then spoke. "We actually finished late last night. Over here on the west coast is your capitol city. For our own reference, we've given it the temporary name of Queensborough. We've reserved a thousand acres here on the northwestern end of the harbor for your palace and whatever other buildings you may want down the line like cottages for a groundskeeper, stable hands, gardeners, that sort of thing. On this hillside just to the southeast of the palace grounds, we've added an Imperial Cemetery for fallen heroes. Monuments to Suzanne Fernandez and Josh Higbie will be placed here and here. We're hoping you'll be willing to create a gold framed black onyx plaque with a few personal words from you that we can place on a marble pedestal in between the two statues. Josh and Suzanne's graves will be right in front of the statues. The Fernandez and Higbie family homes will be over here just to the north facing the two monuments. This is the only cemetery specifically designated to those who die in the line of duty and to anyone else you feel deserves an honored resting place. A queen's decree is necessary before a person can be buried here. The other thing we were hoping is that you'd speak to the two families and ask if they'd do us the honor of being the groundskeepers for us.

Running down the eastern border to the southern most part of the city are all your administrative offices. The rest of the city consists of temples, private homes, public parks, and businesses. We've planned a series of fifty docks and piers for the city for now. Five of them are reserved for coast guard cutters for patrols and search and rescue operations. Because of your palace and the Imperial cemetery, Queensborough is the only city with it's own specific template. All the other cities are pretty alike with only minor variations."

He nodded to Rose. She tapped the keyboard again and the view zoomed in on another city. "This is the basic template for all the other cities. The named streets run north to south and the numbered ones run east to west. We've used an alphanumeric code for ourselves just to make the template a little less cluttered. But anyone typing in their name will be able to see exactly where their homes and businesses will be. Also, all the interconnecting roads and bridges are already planned out as well. Oh, and we got some surprise help from Demeter. She helped us design a waste treatment plant that turns human waste into organic fertilizer that can be used for farms and gardens. So we added a waste treatment plant next to a recycling center in every city. We've even managed to include all the pathways for water lines and sewerage pipes."

"That's great! Mark, Rose, Adam, I really wanna thank you! The three of you have exceeded my expectations by a hell of a lot more than I even hoped possible! I'd be honored to create a plaque for Erie's heroes. But I'll need some time to think about what I want it to say. I'll also make some time to speak to both families about tending to the graves and the cemetery grounds. It's not something we need to rush, so I may wait until after the funerals to ask them about it"

Morrigan turned to Caroline. "Okay my Minister of Education, you're in the hot seat now. How are your plans coming along, Caroline?"

Caroline glanced at her watch then replied, "With a lot of help from Joe over there and my goddess jumping in to help out; we're way ahead of schedule. In fact, the last of the virtual classes for the standard grades K through sixteen should be coming online right about now. We'll also be able to begin night courses for adult education starting tonight at eighteen hundred. So far about two thousand people have signed up for everything from basic high school to collage curriculum.

I'd like to offer a suggestion though. I really think it might be wise to consider the next few weeks as a test of the system just to make sure everything works as planned. If you think it through, our landing schedule puts us at the end of February, beginning of March. That's gonna be the start of planting season on Hope's Landing. The farmers are gonna need all the help they can get. Not only do they have to plant crops; they have to round up livestock, build fences and whatnot. Between the farmers, the hunters, and the fishermen, I know that nobody is gonna starve. But that doesn't mean keeping over five million people fed isn't gonna be a challenge. There's also the change in orbital positioning to consider. People are gonna need time to adjust to a new calendar. In addition, it'll give me some extra time to get some physical campuses set up so that I can at least have some functioning labs for high school and collage courses when classes start up again in September. We've set things up so that we can continue the virtual classes for as long as necessary after we land. Once physical campuses are up and running, I'll still maintain the virtual sites as they will be very useful for those being home schooled"