Dawn of Tears - 18. Growing Circles

Note to Readers: I'm a thinker, and when James Jacobs revealed a little of his plans for the future, I started thinking. The problem with being a thinker is that sometimes you think too much, and end up just going in mental circles.

"Son, there are people out there that would take over this country if they could. They'd strip away our liberties, they'd rob us of our freedoms, and force us to follow their beliefs, because they want everyone to be just like them." Dad had told me when I was nine or ten and asked him what the fuss about gay marriage was. Not Dad Jacobs, but Dad Thomas. I could remember the sound of his voice, the timbre of it as he answered my question, and then the other questions his answer had brought up. No matter how many 'why' questions I threw at him, he'd try to answer them, and if he couldn't answer them, he'd find a book that could and give it to me to read.

In that year that I'd been just friends with Henry, not brothers like now, he'd been over to my house many times for dinner. I remember one of the first times, we'd been eating mom's fried chicken and both of my sisters, Cindy and April had gotten gravy all over their dresses. Something about that had kicked off a series of 'why' questions from me about how people in Africa could go so hungry when there was so much food elsewhere in the world. I think it had been on the fifth 'why' that I noticed Henry sitting there with his mouth hanging open and a look of shock on his face.

"What's wrong, Henry?" My first dad had asked my brother.

"I can't believe you're letting him ask all those questions and…and challenging what you said." Henry has whispered in surprise. "Dad would have told me 'because God made it that way' after the second 'why' Dylan asked."

That is why I knew better than to challenge my second dad's statement that America was dead, and that people would willingly follow Henry and me into this 'Kingdom of God'. Don't misunderstand me; I knew that their plan was a good one. Cults of Personality are amazing things. When I was eight I read about some guy named Jim Jones. During the latter half of the 20th Century, he'd led a cult of followers that were so taken in by his Cult of Personality that they drank poisoned kool-aid and killed themselves. Parents had fed their children that kool-aid and watched as their kids died them. Jim Jones's Cult of Personality was so strong that he'd overridden the primal urges most humans have to protect the young.

I'd looked up other Cults of Personality after that and found that they weren't uncommon, and they were capable of the most amazing feats. Jim Jones was one, and another the cult in L.A. that killed themselves in the belief that a flying saucer would pick up their souls are child's play in the annals of human history. Adolph Hitler was a prime example of how one man could lead an entire nation down a certain path, and consume the world in horrible war. Before he'd been beaten though, he'd seized control of an impressive amount of land, and his eventual defeat was only because of a series of crucial errors, and good luck on the part of his enemies. If he'd surrounded himself with better people, people who weren't blinded by his Cult of Personality, he'd have succeeded.

Japan was another great example I remembered from that study, although its Cult of Personality was less direct, and at the same time more relevant to the situation I found myself in at that moment in my life. The Emperor of Japan was a figure of great importance to the Japanese people. He still was even in the early 21st Century. Not all, but so close to all that it made no difference, Japanese revered the Emperor so much in the 1930's and 1940's that they would not hesitate to kill themselves, or smother their children if the Emperor commanded such an action. The military and pro-imperialist leaders of the country, the politicians and military officers who actually ran the day-to-day life of the Empire of Japan knew their people were dedicated to their Emperor. They used this dedication to expand garner support for their war with the US, and their seizure of most of Southeast Asia early in the war. When they were losing the war, and began desperate measures to stave off the looming American military war machine, their young soldiers didn't hesitate to ram explosive-laden aircraft into American carriers, because they were told they were protecting the Emperor and to give one's life for the Emperor was the ultimate expression of love for that Emperor. The Japanese people threw themselves off cliffs as Americans invaded, threw themselves at American soldiers, scratching with their fingernails in vain attempts to take the enemies of the Emperor with them, not because the Emperor had said so, but because others had said so, in the Emperor's name.

All these things I knew, and I was not blind to what was happening around me, through me, in my name, and by me directly. I only had to look at my gift, and the men surrounding me to realize that I was already mired in my own Cult of Personality. All but one had been unwilling, or unknowing, when my power, my ability seeped into their bodies, their souls, and made me the focus for their very existence. Not even the Emperor of Japan could have ever commanded the immediate obedience, the love, and awe I had from those I'd gathered into my circle.

I had been surprised that dad Jacobs had reacted so calmly to the revelation of our abilities, and to the growing Cult of Personality around me. I'd been nearly shocked when he'd changed his mind and actually ordered me to increase the size of my circle. Not even the sexual nature, a display he'd witnessed firsthand had shaken that order, and I'd wondered why at the time.

Now I knew, because he'd seen me, and Henry, developing a leadership of a small Cult of Personality around ourselves, and he knew that by our doing so, we'd be preparing for a much larger Cult of Personality he'd need us to lead in the future.

I also knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he intended us to actually lead that Cult, that Cult that would be made up of nearly 200 million people. We were far too intelligent, even now, for us to be led blindly down that path. If we'd learned of these plans on our own, there would have been a big chance we'd have rebelled, reacted negatively. Even the development of our abilities had played into his plan, placing us into the leadership roles he planned for us, making us accustomed to holding such a great power, and knowledgeable in the actual use of that power as well. Neither of us would be afraid or inexpert at holding that power on a larger scale in five years, something that men like Adolph Hitler had never fully been experienced in, and that the Emperor of Japan had never held on his own, but rather others had grasped in his name.

I also understood where those past Cults of Personality had failed, and while I often tried to downplay my intelligence, I knew instinctively that I was far smarter than those men had been, and I had something none of them had: A brother to work with who shared the same abilities, and whose strengths and weaknesses balanced my own. Henry and I were not Cain and Abel. Our differences didn't come between us, but were causes for the other to celebrate. We understood each other, and we knew that if we needed the other, he'd be there.

Maybe that was because we were brothers not by birth, but by choice. We'd grown up separate, alone. We'd not listened to parents compare us to each other and say 'why can't you be more like your brother?' Instead, when we became friends, we'd heard our parents tell us that it was a good thing, that we'd made a good friend, and who encouraged us not to compete, but to become a team, to work together. My father, who had been very cautious of Henry at first, and very wary of him and his father, had told me that he thought Henry was the best thing to ever happen to me, and to make sure that nothing came between our friendships.

Dad Jacobs had reacted to Henry's friendship with a similar enthusiasm, not questioning Henry's reticence to bring me to their home, not complaining when Henry ate dinner at our house, and even letting him sleep over occasionally, something he'd never allowed Henry to do with other friends. He'd also rescinded a rule he'd given Henry when Henry was young, that any friends Henry made had to be members of their church. Most importantly though, at least to me, was that when my parents had died in the first week of the crisis, he'd welcomed me into his family with open arms and without hesitation.

Not only had he welcomed me, but he'd included me in his plans for the future. He hadn't tried to make me subservient to Henry in his 'Operation Rebuilder'. It was obvious he'd always planned this Cult of Personality to be built around Henry, and it would have been all too easy to try to keep me from an equal footing with Henry. Instead he'd changed his plans and instead of one 'Cult', he was now building two equal but different Cults around both of us.

Five years from now, he planned to dissolve the United States I'd been born in, and lead the formation of a "Kingdom of God". To do this, he'd need a lot of different things. He'd need people controlling the military, he'd need political leadership, and he'd need the people to want to follow him. He'd need a moral, or spiritual, power that touched all the people. He'd need something that they trusted so inherently, that when that source told them it was a good thing, they'd believe what they were told and they would follow.

This plan started long before Henry or I was born. Yes, dad Jacobs could have planned to use his children this way, but he hadn't planned for Henry's intelligence, or our secret abilities. He couldn't have planned for a crisis he could never have known about occurring, and for me to become a part of his family with an equal intelligence and ability as his natural son. Even more importantly, he could never have planned for nuclear bombs to propel him to the leadership of this country at such a crucial moment in time.

I believe in God. I'd come to that belief recently, and I had not yet fully explored that belief. I knew I was gay as well. That was even newer than my belief in God. It was something I refused to admit to myself, even though I'd known deep down ever since that first time I'd shaken hands with Henry. I'd been attracted to him at that time, and in a way I still was, and that was something that I still had not admitted aloud, and probably never, ever would. Dad knew, Henry knew, and people in my circle knew, but I never said it, and I had no plans or desire to ever say it either.

I also knew that it was something the Bible, and dad in his role as preacher, condemned. However, there'd never been words of condemnation from dad towards me, and I remembered his one statement about gay people the day after he'd taken the Presidency. He'd said what people do in private was between them and God, and none of his concern.

That sentence, and his lack of reaction after seeing me bonding, and having sex with Paul Connors, the commander of my Guard Detail, gave me an inkling of the nation he'd be forming in five years. I knew it would be founded on the scripture, and a religious body, but if what I'd seen from dad, and from how he handled witnessing my sexuality was a real indicator, there'd be a measure of privacy still. I could see an outwardly religious society, where in public, towards each other the tenets of faith were followed as law, and within the confines of their homes, people could choose for themselves.

Wasn't that basing a society on a lie?

The argument in support of that question was an easy one to make, but the argument against it was proving to me to be more powerful. Part of this came from my studies of political science. Societies, and government, were in their basic nature no more than a set of rules, and the power to enforce those rules, that allowed people to live together in relative peace and harmony. Innately, as taught by both religion and science, people would use whatever they had at hand to increase their comfort and would rarely consider the cost to others around them. Government, society, and religion all sought to limit, curb such behavior and create a more equal comfort among its entire people.

To believe in God was a personal choice. The bible stressed that, and dad stressed that all the time. Someone must choose to believe in God in order to be saved. How then could a society be shaped that required everyone to follow God's laws if they didn't believe in God? That was the crux of my problem with dad's plan, and why I doubted my place in its implementation.

The answer for me, though, lay in the concept of private behavior in private homes. There was no doubt in my mind that a law formed, based, and existing on the laws of the bible would be a better place. However, I had a problem with forcing people to choose. That was my biggest problem with the bonding of people in to my circle, and what had led me down this path of mental argumentation. The two problems were intertwined, and I knew the answer lay somewhere in where they met. One day I'd figure out the answer, and when I did, I could then decide if I would help lead dad's revolution or if I'd be the one to end it before it began.

Yes, end it before it began, because with my circle, I knew I could easily end it with violence, killing its leaders before they began, and with my position and role amongst them, they would not be able to stop them. I knew this essentially meant I held the future of the nation in my hands, despite only being thirteen. It was a testament of how much anyone could change in four months that it no longer bothered me quite as much as it had when dad hold told me about these long-range plans two weeks ago.

"I didn't say anything wrong, did I?" Sergeant Collins asked in a concerned voice. She'd recently gotten her hair cut, and the brown frizzy mess I'd grown use to in Idaho was now neatly framing her oval face. She looked worried, and he brown eyes were widened slightly.

"No, Mary, you didn't." I said with an answering smile. It wasn't hard to smile. She was a pretty woman, and if women had been my thing, I'd have been very attracted to her. As it was, I'd felt a very minor attraction, and I realized that must be similar to how Henry had felt about guys, and that thought gave my flagging courage a boost that it needed. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Paul Connors giving me a very pointed look while still fiddling with the silver bar of a First Lieutenant that now adorned his uniform's collar. The sudden promotion from Sergeant to Lieutenant had shocked him and he still was trying to adjust. He'd always had the innate scorn of officers that most enlisted men harbored deep in their hearts, and now that he was one, he didn't quite know what to think. I knew Lt. Ellington (She was Navy, which meant that her Lieutenant rank was actually one step higher than Paul's now) was enjoying his confusion and teasing him about it mercilessly.

I also knew it was because she was sexually attracted to him, and now that he was an officer, he was more fair game than he had been as an enlisted man.

"You seem lost in thought." Sergeant Collins said, still nervous despite having served as the Crew leader of my plane for over four weeks now.

"He gets that way when he's looking at a pretty lady." Paul said from the couch, getting me to blush for some unknown reason. "Sometimes he forgets he's not really an adult and his real teenager hormones take over."

"Shut up." I growled, but Paul was not done teasing me yet.

"That's shut up, sir." He corrected me with extra emphasis on the last word.

"Shall I kick you out of my suite as well, sir?" I asked, referring to how I'd kicked an over-excited Petty Officer Darby out earlier that morning. Darby was the sex maniac of my circle, and had been overjoyed when he saw Mary Collins' name on the list of people I was interviewing today. Once they were bonded to me, the members of my circle lost any sexual desire they had for people outside the circle, and focused instead on me or the other members of the circle. Darby, while he enjoyed sex with men just fine, liked variety and before he'd been bonded, he'd been trying to woo Mary Collins into a quick shag in the plane's galley.

"No, no, just finish your damn interview." Paul replied to my question, going back to staring at his collar.

"Sorry." I told her, and found she was smiling slightly.

"I never really noticed you being this relaxed before." She said with that smile. "It's actually kind of nice. On the plane and in Idaho you were always so business-like. You were nice usually, you even made jokes a lot, but there was always an edge about you that felt…I guess dangerous. Here, it's like you're just totally relaxed, having fun with your buds."

"That's because I am, in a way." I told her, smiling again. "That's kind of what these interviews are about. All the people that travel with me, well, we're going to be pretty much living together for long periods of time. In a way, we're going to be an extended family and so dad wants to make sure that I get along with everyone. He's worried that with the work that we have to do we might feel lonely, disconnected from him and the rest of the family, so he wants to make sure we're surrounded by people we like and know. That's why everyone assigned to Henry, mom, and I was requested to voluntarily shift their duty rotation so that they stay with us for the rest of their enlistment. When it's time for you to consider re-enlistment, you'll be offered a bonus if you agree to stay assigned with us, and if they switch our staff from military to civilian, you'll be allowed to leave active duty with an honorable discharge and invited to continue in your duties as a civilian. You can say no at any of those times, though, if you want. There's lots of reasons you might want to, and we'll be sad to see you go, but no one will force you to stay. It's not like joining the mafia or something. It's more like you'll be joining my family, in a way."

"That's not something I quite expected." She said with a smile. "But I can tell you right now that I'm honored, and I hope that someday you might think of me as your sister, if you still want me as part of your family, that is."

"I'd like that." I said, standing up. She did as well. I knew, but she didn't know that I knew, that Paul had taken her aside on her way up to this interview and given her a basic rundown that I'd make a speech like this. He'd then told her that my family always hugged the person afterward and gave them a chaste kiss on the lips. He'd said it was something that dad had taught us as a way of welcoming new people to a close-knit family type group. He'd stressed it was non-sexual and although he'd been embarrassed by it, there was nothing really wrong with it. A couple of the new security detail men had laughed at it, but Paul stressed my age and the fact that I was naïve in a lot of ways and when the time had come they'd all been expecting it and not reacted with fear or other negative emotions when the time came.

That had been important for me because when the time came to do this, it was going to be much more of a kiss than they had any ability to expect. I was also happy that the tingling of my abilities didn't start until I stood up and summoned them. Always before it had been something I'd only had partial control over, but for the last two weeks I'd been working on calling them up when I wanted them to be there, and not having them activate when I didn't (especially when I was feeling strong emotions). As I stood and hugged Technical Sergeant Mary Collins, United States Air Force, the tingling grew stronger and became just as strong as it did when it was a guy I felt attracted to and was preparing to bring into my circle.

When my lips touched hers, what started as a chaste kiss became something more for both of us. I had not known quite what to expect from this. Henry, my straight brother, had told me that when he did this with a guy, the gender stopped being important the moment his lips touched theirs. The key to our bonding was the moment of the subject's orgasm. There was something that happened at that moment, some release in the subject's psyche that opened them up to our power and sealed them to us permanently.

What made it easier for Henry when he was bonding men, and I hoped would make it easier for me with women like Mary, was that it wasn't necessary for full sexual intercourse to bring the subject to orgasm. The first few times I'd bonded the subjects hadn't even gotten their pants off before their orgasm hit them, and the very first time had been completely accidental on my part. I had had no idea what it was I was doing to fifteen year old Jimmy Connolly.

I knew what I was doing to Mary Collins, although she had not expected this whatsoever. Her eyes were wide, and a moan, so different from a man's, escaped her throat as I deepened the kiss and my tongue entered her mouth. Even this was different than I'd grown use to with men. With men, our tongues had wrestled, battled each other and I would grow more excited by that, but her tongue caressed mine as it entered her mouth and I felt a different arousal, but one that was in its way more exciting than the others I had experienced.

Maybe women weren't so bad after all.

This time when she moaned deep in her throat, I answered her with a growl of desire, and my hand moved up to caress her neck while the other hand became buried in her soft hair. Her body started shaking as the hand that had caressed her neck moved further down, caressing her now through her uniform top, and her moan changed into a series of whimpers. I could feel it happening now, something I'd only started experiencing when I'd bonded Corporal Harry Jameson an hour earlier. He'd been another first for me, the first black man I'd ever bonded and his reaction had been unforgettable as well.

But it was Mary Collins whose eyes now widened as she felt her orgasm sweep through her body, and my power flowed into her unlocked psyche, forever imprinting itself there. I could feel it filling her with a subtle presence that was distinctly mine, and that would forever put her sense of self secondary to my well-being, or my wishes. I knew that I had taken something from her at this moment, and given her something of myself in return. We were learning more about the bonding, and there were effects she'd enjoy that normal people wouldn't, but the price was that her life was now permanently entwined with mine and that extended separation from me would end her life.

If I ever told her to, she'd even end her own life without hesitation.

"Oh my god." Mary gasped as I pulled back from her, still supporting her nearly limp weight in my arms. "What? How? What's happened? I…that…oh my god."

"Shhh." I whispered softly as she weakly stood on her own once again. "It's nothing to worry about now. Paul's going to take you into one of the other rooms and explain what happened. It's nothing to worry about. Just stay calm and let him explain everything."

"O…okay." She said softly, still staring at me with those wide eyes. Paul had moved closer to us when I started the kiss and he was smiling as well as he took the still shaking woman under one arm and led her into one of the bedrooms that had been converted into an office and bedroom for him. That was our system now. I bonded them, and he explained things to them. This was far better than the near-disastrous bonding with two of my men previously.

That disaster had resulted in two paranoid men that were still jumpy despite the efforts I'd made in modifying their behavior. I had approached them differently than I did now, and as a result, at the moment our bonding began they'd felt suspicion, betrayal, and fear. That had carried over and been magnified by the bonding, nearly causing several minor disasters.

Now though, this new approach eliminated those feelings. Even the staunchly conservative, and Mormon, a nineteen year old soldier by the name of Thomas Thoreau had approached the moment of bonding feeling only slightly uncomfortable, but also wanting to humor a weird tradition by a kid he'd already started to think of as a little brother after a thirty minute interview/conversation. The old approach would have ended worse than the two previous mistakes, and might have required drastic action. Still, two days later, he was having problems adjusting but his problems weren't severe and wouldn't hamper his duties as a member of my security detail the way that Jones and Halpern could still occasionally cause problems.

"You done with interviewing Sergeant Collins?" Sammy Richardson asked from where he'd opened the main door of my hotel suite and stuck his head inside.

"Just finished." I answered him. "She's talking with Lt. Connors right now. What do you need?"

"I was wondering if you had time for an unscheduled interview" Richardson asked. "The last squid finally arrived. If you remember his ride broke down this morning on its way here. We weren't expecting him until tonight when a patrol was heading out in that direction but he decided to jog twenty miles instead of waiting with the rest of the crew at the local shelter."

"Send him in." I said with a grin. The Navy Seals that had been assigned to my team had seamed bound and determined to prove that they could do everything better than the Army soldiers, and most especially the Special Forces troops. When they'd been told about the welcome to the family kiss and hug tradition, the two previous squids had bragged that they'd show the army how it was done. In the last day, it seemed that their attitude had been made stronger by the bond and when they'd learned about the recent discovery we'd made about how the bond increased the endurance of bonded soldiers, they'd set out on a run to see just how much better they were.

They still hadn't made it back and if this last seal had run twenty miles since his vehicle broke down a few hours ago, I'd be lucky if they got back tonight.

Still, the last Navy Seal that would be joining my team walked into the room with a grin on his face and confidently walked towards me, stopping just an arm's length away. As was always done when I was in a room with someone unbonded to me, Richards closed the door and sat down on a couch where he could observe everything. When the Seal stopped and saluted, he was close enough to me for me to smell a faint aroma of sweat from him.

"Gunner's Mate Guns Second Class Michael Rogers reporting for duty as ordered, sir!" The Seal's salute was crisp, despite the grin on his face as he spoke. I was surprised that I actually was taller than him despite being only thirteen. He couldn't have been more than five foot six, was whipcord thin as the other Seals had been and seemed to buzz with energy even after having run twenty miles. I felt the tingling begin fiercely, and as I returned his salute I forced it down as I'd been trying to do, keeping it under control until I wanted to use that power.

"Have a seat, sailor." I said as I returned his salute. He grinned, seemingly unfazed at saluting and being told to sit down by a thirteen year kid, even if said kid was wearing a Warrant Officer's uniform. That was a good sign to me as I sat down as well at the small table I used for the interviews. The size of the table always meant I was within quick reach of the subject, and stood a good chance of using my abilities if something went wrong.

"May I ask a question, sir?" Michael Rogers asked as soon as were seated.

"Yes, and I'm Dylan Jacobs by the way." I answered with a grin.

"I figured that one out for myself, sir." He said with a grin of his own. "I'm sure you're not surprised I saw the video of you in Idaho, when you faced down that Jefferson guy. I'd be surprised if there was anyone on this planet who hadn't seen that video. You've got a fine set of balls, sir. What I was wanting to know was how you were so certain that guy holding you hostage wasn't going to shoot you after you said that to him. The camera showed his face real good, and if I'd been one of your guards and seen that look in person, I'd have capped Jefferson just the way your man did. Whoever it was reacted right on. After you said that stuff to him, that guy holding you wasn't going to move until you told him to, I could read that for sure, and that Jefferson man realized it to. The thing that I get is I looked at that video over and over, and I saw it in your eyes. You knew it too. You couldn't see the guy's face, you had no way of seeing how he'd reacted to what you said, but still, you knew. There wasn't a trace of doubt in your face, and I swore to myself if I ever got to meet you, I'd ask you how you knew. I've been trained by the best in the world, I'm seven years older than you, and without seeing his face I still wouldn't have been as sure as you were."

"I can't explain it all to you yet." I answered with total honesty. "Part if it was that I was sure, without a doubt, that my words had given us at least a few extra moments, and I'd even managed to order Sammy to shoot Jefferson in those moments, so I knew that Jefferson would die no matter what."

"Which one of your guards was Sammy?" Rogers asked.

"Richardson, the guy who showed you up here." I told him and he nodded.

"So how is it that the VIP knows the first names of his guards well enough to expect them to react to hearing it like?" Rogers asked.

"I'm not just a VIP." I said, leaning back in my chair a little and launching directly into the 'family' portion of the interview. I usually hit it last, but I knew this one was different and it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep the tingling of my power from filling me. "I'm not a normal thirteen year old kid either. I know that, most of the damn country knows that. But that doesn't mean that I'm not still a little young in some ways. No matter how smart I am, there's things I'm always not going to know, and when it comes to the biggest difference between kids and adults, experience, I still have a lot left to learn. There's one thing I do know now and that is experience plays a big role in life, and I don't have a hell of a lot yet."

"I wish I could pound that into my little brother's head." Rogers said with a wide grin and a nod of his head. "He's real smart, kind of like you and doesn't realize that just because he's smarter than everyone else he knows doesn't mean he knows everything there is to know. I tried showing that to him a few times when I went home on leave but he shrugged me off. He's just a little younger than you, but I can already tell you're a lot smarter than him in the most important things. I'm going to enjoy serving with you if you'll have me."

"I think I'm going to like having you around, Rogers." I said instantly. "Where does your brother live?"

"He lives in Kansas with my family." Rogers said. "I got lucky and hitched a ride on a plane heading there and got to see him and my parents before coming here and then hitched a ride down to Mobile. That's why I was a little late getting here 'cause the ride I got coming back up here broke down. My old C.O. told me this duty would be extended and it'd be a while before I had a chance to go home again, even if things do get back to normal."

"That was a very accurate statement." I said. "My dad, excuse me, the President has decided that I'll be very busy for a while and that means that those people on my permanent team will be busy as well. They told you about shifting your duty rotation so that you'll be on this assignment for the rest of your enlistment didn't they?"

"Yes, they did." Rogers said, nodding his head enthusiastically. "I have no problem with that all. I don't have a girlfriend, and the biggest thing I'd miss is seeing my family. But, well, to be honest I like the idea of knowing where I'll be for the next few years. I've got four years left on this hitch and I like knowing that I'll be with the same group of guys. That's part of why I wanted to be a Seal, because the Seals are a tight group. You know the people you're with, and they know you. You know you belong. From what it sounds like you're saying, this is even more of that. It's going to be as tight as family and I like that. From the first time I saw that tape of you in Idaho I knew I'd love to work with you and everything I've heard so far only makes this sound like the best job for me. That's why I ran here instead of waiting."

"Well, I think this is where I say 'welcome to the family'." I told him with a small laugh. The tingling was back and this time it wasn't going away. It was all but leaping to get out of me.

"This the part where we do the 'hug and kiss' thing Sammy over there told me about?" He asked and I started blushing. He laughed at that, but not cruelly. It was a warm laugh, and it only made me blush more. "Don't worry about it, my family's always been the hugging and kissing type to."

"Okay." I said, feeling slightly odd that he was the one telling me not to worry when this whole thing was my idea. He was on his feet before I was and actually hugged me before I'd finished standing. The moment he touched me, the seething mass that was my power practically screamed into him, and then pulled back as it brushed against something that felt foreign, odd. I knew instantly that it meant someone had been controlling him recently and was about to pull away when the resistance washed away by the instinctive surge I'd sent back into him. He'd stopped in the middle of hugging me with a weird look on his face, but as my power ripped away the resistance I touched my lips to him and started the bonding process.

He may have only been expecting a chaste kiss, but with my power flowing into him, bringing him into an aroused state, his arms that had been hugging me pulled me into a kiss filled with desire. As my body tightened against his, I knew that his was not going to be a quick bonding. I wanted more from him and my hands that had been caught at my side squirmed up until I grabbed his uniform top and ripped it open. He'd been wearing a Navy uniform essentially the same as the Army's green field camouflage and was equally as hard to rip open, but I did it just the same. I pulled my mouth from his roughly, gasping for a breath of air and turned my head to Richardson.

"Door, no one inside, now." I gasped out and Richardson leaped to his feet and made sure the door was locked, standing with his back against it as further assurance, but a look on his face said he wasn't going to miss this for anything.

"This is so not happening." Rogers moaned aloud, burying his head against my shoulder and something like a sob escaped his throat. "I am so not outing myself just before I get the best job I ever had."

"It's better this way." I said softly, laughing gently as I reached an arm up and around his shoulders, grasping his hair in my hand and pulling his head back, tilted up towards me. I locked my lips to his, and he moaned again as my power flowed into him, this time in a soft wave that carried reassurance. "You're going to be mine for the rest of your life."

"Oh god, this had better not be a dream." He whispered, now reaching upwards on his own to meet my lips.

It was odd, I noticed with a very small corner of my mind, kissing someone, bonding them to me while laughing softly. We had barely reached the couch before we were both ripping the rest of his clothing off of him. I knew that he wouldn't last much longer, and unlike when I'd bonded Collins, I knew that this time I would also experience an orgasm. I'd barely entered him, his legs over my shoulders when his orgasm hit, and mine followed soon after.

This was another new thing for me. I'd never experienced an orgasm at the same time as the person I was bonding, only with Henry with whom I hadn't bonded because we both had this ability. With Rogers, my power reached further inside of him than it had ever done with anyone else, and as I collapsed, panting onto his chest I realized that something new had happened, something I'd never tell dad. For a moment I felt me lying top of him from his perspective, not just my own. It didn't last long, just a fleeting moment, but when it was gone, I felt something else. As I recovered my breathing I searched that feeling in my mind and it held a flavor, a scent that was filling my nostrils, Michael Roger's scent. I knew this was something I'd be exploring more, but other things were demanding my attention at just that moment.

"Holy shit." Mary Collins voice was soft, and filled with surprise. "That was the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

"You okay, Dylan?" Paul's voice was tinged with concern, and amusement.

"More." Michael Roger's voice was filled with lust still. "I want more, please."

"Oh shit, we've got another Darby." Sammy Richardson's voice was filled with amusement, and he burst into laughter as did Paul and I both. Collins, who knew Darby and by now knew at least he was part of the circle, looked slightly puzzled while Rogers looked totally confused.

"There are people watching." He whispered. "Does this mean we're in trouble?"

"No." I told him, pulling off his chest, standing up, my own pants bunched around my ankles. He took my proffered arm and I pulled him to his feet, turning him so he could see the rest of the people in the room. "Meet the rest of your family, Michael. There's nothing you can do that will change the fact that you belong with us."

"This sure as fucking hell had better not be a dream." Rogers stated in a voice filled partially with disbelief. That was when the knock sounded at the door, springing us into action. Paul and Collins swooped down, grabbing Rogers, and the remains of his uniform strewn between the couch and the table and taking everything into Paul's office/room. I quickly bent down, fixing my pants and my uniform top, trying to get everything back into order while Richardson waited at the door. When I was at least presentable he opened the door.

"Your next appointment's here, Mr. Jacobs." Muldoon, the fiery red-headed Irishman that was part of my bonded detail said as Richardson opened the door. I could see an almost shy, and very young looking soldier behind him. That had to be Roger Killmer I figured from the filed I'd already read. "What's that smell?"

"Squid." Richardson replied with a dead pan face. "The guy was so eager he ran twenty miles to get here and didn't bother to shower before demanding his interview. At least Army knows how to take a shower when they're available."

"Damn squids." Muldoon replied, a knowing smile on his face. It was very obvious to anyone who had sex before what the smell was, and the young soldier behind Muldoon was very possibly a virgin because he didn't react at all at the smell, just looked nervously in my direction. My powers were tingling as I looked at the most innocent face I'd seen on a soldier, ever. With short, blond hair and smoky green eyes, and a Mormon background according to his file, Roger Killmer was the youngest and only recruit for my detail that was not a combat veteran. He'd been chosen more for the fact that he had a cousin reported to be an officer of the Utah Militia than anything else, and while it was believed he might be a potential spy, Dad and I knew that as soon as he was bonded to me, he would be nothing but an asset for my upcoming mission to bring Utah back under federal control.

Twenty minutes later, I was holding a sobbing eighteen year old kid, no longer a virgin, and telling him repeatedly that I wasn't mad at him for the fact that he'd been planning to kill me for his 'prophet'. I waved Paul off when he came back into the main suite and headed towards us immediately. I decided that this guy required my direct attention if he was going to be useful to me. He was my last appointment of the day, and I had free time on schedule after this until lunch in twenty minutes. Knight, my personal assistant, another of my circle, and a sailor, would be coming up with lunch to go over tomorrow's interviews. Other than the first four interviews, they were all officers or Professors and wouldn't be bonded. I'd bonded five today, and not experienced the exhaustion I once felt after just two, so I wasn't worried. If Roger Killmer wasn't settled down by the time Knight arrived, I wouldn't worry too much.

"How did you know?" Killmer whispered a few minutes later as we were alone, lying on my bed and he was clinging to me, head resting on shoulder with tears leaking from his eyes. "How did you know I liked guys? I never told anyone. It's a sin, and I don't want to be excommunicated."

"That had nothing to do with this." I told him. "It had nothing to do with you liking guys or not. It's just part of working with me."

"But, but this is a sin." He whispered. "I don't know. I just feel like I'm lost. I've always known what my life was about, what I was here for. I'm here to serve god, to serve the Prophet, that's what I've known ever since I could speak. I had to hide it, like I had to hide the other thing because I knew it was a test by god. The Prophet had said the time was growing close when the Church would be free again, and my family was trusted. He knew we'd need soldiers so I was sent to train, to be a soldier so I could one day use those skills for the Prophet. I'd just finished my Special Forces training when things happened, and they told me to stay where I was for now, so that maybe I'd be able to do God's work where the enemy least expected it. It was like I a miracle when I got word I'd been chosen to be part of your security team. I knew it was a message from God that I should kill you. Why else would he have sent me here? But now, I just wish you'd kill me for even wanting to hurt you. You shouldn't be alone with me here."

"Calm down, Roger." I said, choosing his first name as a more intimate connection. I smoothed his short hair with one hand, trying to be comforting. He was a true believer, the rarest sort of tool in the hands of those who knew how to use him. Obviously this Prophet did, and had made very effective use of him. If this was any sign of what going to Utah was going to be like, I was in for a rough ride. But there was another good thing about him being a true believer, because I was fairly certain I could use that as well, and combined with my power, Roger Killmer would be a very effective tool for me now.

"Have you ever thought that God did indeed send you to me?" I asked him softly, and felt him tense at my words. I pulled up my power again, and tried to focus to be comforting as my hand rubbed his short hair. "Maybe he did send you to me because he wanted to give you your true mission in life. Maybe he wanted to take you from the lies of your past, and bring you to me, where you could do more than you thought possible."

"Maybe." He whispered, relaxing just a tiny bit. I couldn't help smiling at the soft way in which he said that single word. My smile continued as he relaxed even more, drifting off into a light slumber against my chest. As I listed to his soft breathing I realized that I had a lot of more unanswered questions from my last two bonding experiences than I had ever expected.

First, I'd have to question Michael Rogers closely about who he'd come into contact within the last few days, or maybe weeks. The resistance in him had been from someone with my abilities, someone I didn't know because I would have recognized the power of the two others I did know about. That meant confirmation at last that there were others out there, and that they could pose a real danger.

Whoever had touched him though, hadn't bonded Michael Rogers or I wouldn't have been able to bond him. That meant that whoever it was either didn't know how to do that or had only used the most basic level of our abilities on the sailor. Then there was the fact that here, in another room I knew he was still in Paul's office. I could tell exactly where he was, and get a vague idea of his emotions. I'd tried to see if I could do this before with my other bonded, but never had succeeded. The problem intrigued me, and I wanted to know more.

Then there was the guy sleeping on my chest. How much of what had happened in Utah did he know about? What would he tell us when I questioned him? What should I ask him? So much to know, and I felt like things were rushing at a pace that wouldn't give me time to analyze everything I needed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"What was so important that I had to come down here tonight, instead of setting up an appointment in the morning?" Dad asked in a slightly hushed tone. He was sitting down at the larger table in my suite, as was Henry. I knew that outside the door to my suite, Jones and Paul were standing guard, glaring at two Secret Service Agents who were glaring at them, and at the two Marines that had come down with Henry.

"It's about two of my new guards, dad." I said softly and his eyes widened in concern.

"What about them?" Dad asked.

"Did you know that Roger Killmer was Mormon?" I asked him and he nodded.

"He has relations that we think are pretty well situated in the Utah command structure." Dad answered. General McFarland was worried that he, and Martin Carrolls, the other Mormon in your group could be a danger and didn't want to risk attaching them to your detail. He graduated top of his group from SF training. His training reports couldn't say enough good things about him. Words like 'extremely dedicated' and 'a natural' aren't things I'm use to seeing from trainers at that base. I wasn't too concerned considering your abilities would take care of any loyalty issues, if it was a real risk. I take it that General McFarland was correct?"

"Yes, dad, he was very much correct." I told him and he let out his breath slowly. "Killmer came in here thinking he'd just been given a gift from God, the opportunity to kill me. He was smart enough to not try the first time he met me, but had planned to wait until he was trusted enough to be alone with me, when he could be sure there was no chance of being interrupted, like having someone walking in at the wrong moment."

"Then it's a good thing you have your ability." Dad said with a nod of his head. "But what's so important that you wanted me down here at midnight? If the problem's taken care of you could have told me tomorrow. You're meeting with Senator Crawly, Admiral Fullard, General McFarland, and me to discuss your Utah trip. They finally agreed to a date for you to come, January tenth."

"They probably picked that just so I wouldn't be here for my birthday." I stated with a flat expression. "It'd fit with what Killmer's told me about this 'prophet' and his enjoyment of putting people off-balance. No, dad, this couldn't wait and it couldn't wait until tomorrow when General McFarland will be there. Killmer was a true believer dad, totally dedicated to the things he was raised to believe. He never questioned them, and when he was told to join the US Army and learn everything he could for the day when his 'prophet' would lead the church in breaking the chains placed on them by the United States, Killmer would use the skills he learned in the Army to protect them. He wasn't alone, dad. There's people throughout the Army, Air Force, and Marines that are true believers as much as he was. Most of them stayed where they were even after Utah declared their independence. They were told to 'watch and wait' for the opportunity to do the most good. I think some of them may have already have been doing some things."

"Does he know names?" Henry asked immediately while dad pinched the bridge of his nose again. "Are they organized in some way we could break them?"

"I called Carrolls in and talked with him as well." I said slowly. "Carrolls was a casual believer, never really caught up in the faith. When he heard about Utah declaring independence, he decided he was an American first. He knew nothing about this, and Killmer doesn't know anyone else, he just knows they're out there."

"So, we could have agents in our ranks, and if we cast our net, pulling everyone who is a Mormon, we'll tip our hand and piss a lot of good, loyal people off." Dad said softly as continued pinching the bridge of his nose. "I can't even tell Crawley and Fullard why I'm so sure there are sappers in our ranks without revealing too much about you two. They'll want to question him, remove him from your detail and that will only risk exposure of your group, Dylan. One thing for sure, you won't be going to Utah until we're certain about your officers, civilian staff, and your advance teams being secure. I'll just send them a message saying you're unavailable. I'll think about how to approach this in a way that won't risk you and your man."

"Thanks Dad." I told him gratefully. He sighed and was about to stand when I brought up the next problem. "At least we got the minor problem out of the way now."

"If that was the minor problem, I don't think I want to know what you're about to tell me." Dad said, his hand going to his nose immediately. Henry just looked at me with a slight frown on his face.

"I've found proof that there's definitely another person out there with our abilities, and whoever it was, he exerted a basic control of one my men, Michael Rogers." I told them in a steady voice. This time Henry let out a groan and dad shook his head.

"I was praying that I was just overreacting to the concept of others with your abilities out there." Dad said as he let out a big sigh of his own. "How sure are you? Is there any chance you might have been mistaken?"

"No chance at all." I told him firmly. "When I started to bond Rogers, I met resistance inside him. My powers flowed into him like they always do when I bond, but they hit some barrier, very similar to what we feel when he touch someone who's been bonded to another, but weaker. My power rebounded for a moment, but I sent it back into him and it swept past the resistance, bonding him to me. He wasn't bonded to whoever did it to him, but he'd been controlled in some way in the recent past. I don't think it was fresh, as in the last day, but it was still recent. The taste of the person who touched him was one I didn't recognize, which means it wasn't Henry or Tim."

"So he wasn't bonded to someone else?" Dad asked and Henry shook his head.

"If he had been, Dylan wouldn't have been able to bond him." Henry said. "You know, this is the first time we've encountered someone who was controlled but not bonded. I've been wondering if we could overcome the controls set in someone by another of us. We haven't been able to test this on anyone who wasn't already bonded. At least we know now that we can overcome controls someone else set."

"Not really, Henry." I corrected him. "We only know the effects of recent controls can be overcome, not when they're fresh."

"Dylan, we need to find that out as soon as possible." Dad said. "We have to know if you can overcome someone controlled by another, especially if they get past your guards and you're otherwise defenseless."

"We'd need someone to practice on, and unless you plan to kill whoever it is afterwards, or have us bond them as well, we risk the person revealing what happened." Henry said and dad nodded.

"Is there anyone either of you plan on bonding that you haven't yet?" Dad asked and we both nodded in agreement.

"I've got three tomorrow." Henry said with a tired sigh. "I'm so exhausted from the last few days already. I'm just going to be glad to rest for a few days afterwards."

"I've got a few as well." I added.

"Interview them together." Dad said. "Make sure you have enough of your people present that if something goes wrong the situation can be handled. I suggest you start with some of your more subtle controls, tell them to relax, and then be somewhat truthful. Tell them that you're part of a secret government project, and your security details have to know and understand what you do. Tell them you're going to give them a sample of what you do so they know what it feels like. Do a few controls, start with subtle and then make it obvious so they feel what all of them are like, and then you I want you to both to test if you can take control back of the person the other is controlling. You can make it seem like you're giving them an example when you're actually experimenting. Then you tell them that if they still want to be part of your security force you'll be making it so that no one can ever do those things to them. Then bond them."

"It's risky, isn't it?" Henry asked and I nodded, agreeing with him. There were so many possible reactions to that approach.

"It's risky, but you'll have armed security with you and they won't be armed." Dad said firmly, and his entire posture indicated he wasn't going to budge. "They won't be expecting the full effects of your…bonding them. Once that's done, there will not be any security risk. I really should have thought of this before. These are answers we need. Make sure you take careful observations."

"We will dad." I said. He left after that, and Henry did as well. I was exhausted as I went to bed, smiling at the sleeping form of Jimmy who'd snuck in from the bedroom he shared with Tim and Sandy. He'd only seem me for an hour that day, and he always craved more contact with me. The large number of people I'd bonded lately, all older than either of us, and all of them military, had been leaving him lonely, feeling marginalized. He'd taken to coming into my room and cuddling up to me in a search for reassurance that he was still important to me. The fact that he alone was actually able to spend the night with me provided him that reassurance.

I had barely undressed, noticing it was now past one in the morning as I crawled into bed, and pulled the covers over me before he snuggled against me, still sound asleep. Within another few minutes, I was also sleep, trying not to think about the fact that Paul would be waking me in another four hours and making me run in the freezing morning cold.