The Misbegotten
Tiny Feet - Earth Summer 2385

Estefan’s face was grim as he saved what he’d writtenwith a mental command, then waved the sim-screen away. His Neuro-Nanoswarm scattered about hisappointed quarters within the Null-ship.

If I’d onlyknown just how much pussy I’d have thrown in my face back then, maybe I’d haddone things in a different manner, heconsidered. He was serious for about asecond before realizing he was full of shit. There was no way he could’ve denied himself the women who’d come to hisbed eager to please him in every way. Yeah, there’s no way. He glanced down at himself, knowing hecouldn’t have refused.

He was wearing baggy synth-cotton trousers and amatching, dark blue tunic, complete with a drawstring at the chest. It was becoming his favorite sort of clothingto wear when he wrote. It was loose,didn’t bunch and let his skin breathe, which was something he requirednow. His density made him warm, inconstant need of circulating air.

It had been seven Earth-days since they’d departedLuna Prime. Less than half of one, sincethey’d entered what the ships’ Nav-system told them was the Jovian Systemproper. The trip should’ve taken no morethan three days, but traveling by Null-ship was always slower. The programming of the onboard sensory arraysand early detection modules were to avoid discovery at all costs. Oftimes, their course altered in the dramaticto fulfill this over-riding directive.

Because of this, they still had a few more days to gobefore they reached their destination. Traffic about Jupiter and its many, many moons was always heavy. There was little doubt the Null-ships’ routewould prove random, and tiresome, at best.

Most of the time he’d spent writing between times hehad to deal with various pressing issues in need of his attention. Leading an organization as large as the AegisSynod demanded his personal input every day, sometimes many times a day. There were spells when he could not rest orspend time with his wives. This wasproving true over the course of the past week.

His wives, as well as his cousin Jacob, and hisbrother and sister-in-law, had all boarded the Null-ship on Luna Prime. The rest of the High Command had scatteredacross his vast empire after the Gathering ended. Estefan wanted a core group of them to remainwith him.

Two earth-days from the Moon, this provedimpossible. The Synod lost allcommunication with a Diatainium prospecting team deep in the outer reaches ofthe Solar System. It was the same one,Johan and Jolene had left behind when they’d answered Estefan’s call Earth-daysbefore.

This was unusual. They’d left behind cutting-edge equipment and weaponry, much more thanthey would ever need. This included manyredundancies in communications as well as a full company of well-trained AegisMarines.

Yet, less than a fortnight later, they’d lost contactwith the entire mining colony. Nothinghad come out of the region for almost thirty hours before Estefan had to sendJacob, his hand forced. He hadn’t senthim alone though. An entire brigade oftroops, their accompanying transports and a screening force of Agave ClassFrigates and two Chaz Class Destroyers went as well. This was enough muscle to hold off afull-scale incursion from any one of his enemies.

And stillnothing.

Jacob had left the Null-ship via a stealth Sky-car,which wasn’t as good at masking as was Null-tech, but it was all they’d hadaboard. Later, he would rendezvous withthe fleet of warships from Luna. He andthousands Marines would make their way to the Belt in search of answers.

Estefan had been waiting five Earth-days for thoseanswers. They’d yet to come. This was beginning to worry him. Jacob should’ve been able to send word to himby now, and yet, he hadn’t.

Something was wrong.

A day and a half later, one of their many space-labshad sent an urgent communique direct to Johan and Jolene. Within minutes, they were both before him,requesting he grant them permission to leave. He had asked them more than once why the urgency. Neither of them would reply, saying it wouldbe better if they confirmed the report first. Estefan had almost become angry. Until, Jolene had told him, in a vague sense, this group of scientistsmight’ve discovered something incredible.

She had said they’d stumbled upon what they thoughtmight be new sort of particle-bean technology. It was so new, and bizarre, with such far reaching benefits, it couldprove more lucrative than Null-tech. Orso she said.

This was, after all, saying a lot and it piquedKeeper’s interest. Null-tech was by farthe commodity that kept them so far above their competition – in both wealthand technology. If what hissister-in-law told him was even half-way true, this new tech could be worthquadrillions.

He hadn’t bothered dickering around anymore. He got them both aboard the fastest ship theyhad aboard the hulking Null-ship, an Aegis Corvette. This was a large Sky-car capable of reachingninety-nine point eight-six percent the speed of light. They were gone within the hour and aquarter-way to their destination an hour after.

He hoped they could confirm the rumors. It would be nice to hold the patent to yetanother ground-breaking tech. He wouldlike that very much.

The rest of hisdays he filed with the typical goings-on of running the Synod. Interspersed, he had the occasional encounterwith one or two of his wives. OneEarth-morning, it had been five of them in his bed. After, he had to endure a few hours ofMedicinal-Cryosleep to recover from what those vigorous women had put himthrough.

Still though, the thought of them fucking himsenseless was appealing. It was theirway of life and had been for centuries. His wives demanded his attentions and he was more than willing to giveit to them… over and over and over. Hesmiled at the thought.

Then, he frowned, recalling a quick, sticky tryst withone of the engineers aboard the Null-ship. She was a young thing, only forty-nine years old. Not that she looked her age of course. Even those who weren’t Old-Timer’s oftenlived past one hundred and fifty nowadays. All the improvements in diet, drugs and medicine made it so.

Thus, Maggie – that was her name – appeared no morethan twenty-five with the upturned breasts and shelf-like rear end to prove it.

He’d been walking down a side corridor through theengineering level. His thoughts were ofRamona and the wonderful time they’d spent together the day before. Like the novice he’d been back in 2018, at theonset of his Mutation, he inadvertently began to think on her smell. This had always proved his undoing. Before he knew what was happening, Maggie wasin his arms, kissing him, ferocious like a lioness. Her body melded to his, her hips thrustinginto him as if there was nothing more important than having him inside her.

This act didn’t break any rules according to hiswives. They had agreed long ago, sinceEstefan was an Arch-Andro, this was a permanent aspect of their lives. They couldn’t ignore or attempt to push tothe side. It was inevitable. Given the right circumstances, women wouldfall into his bed, willing and wet.

That didn’t mean there weren’t protocols to followthough. Precedence in matters of thisnature went back in the twenty-first century.

It was Ramona who had felt the change in Estefanfirst. She alerted Flavia he and a womanwho hadn’t gone under “review” were moments of sexual congress. His one-time step-sister and cousin Katie hadcome at once, separating the two. Theypulled Maggie aside, asking her if she wished to go under the review of theSynod. This was the first step down thepath toward becoming a Consort of the Keeper.

She’d gone wide-eyed with shock, uncertain of what hadhappened to her, fearing for her life. Everyone knew crossing one of Estefan’s wives spelled death. The one called, the Guardian, was thedeadliest.

Reputation and rumor said Flavia had once killed nineKormieran assassins by herself. She hadcome from the encounter without a single injury to her person. One Kormieran alone should’ve beenenough. Nine, working in concert,could’ve slain any head-of-state. Theycould've done it anywhere in the Solar System, on any day of the week,regardless of security. The fact, Flaviaalone had pursued them. She had drawnthem out and killed them all, had made her legend – a terrifying one atthat. One could even go so far to sayher defeat of the greatest assassins ever known was more frightening thanEstefan’s revenge against those who had hired them in the first place. Genocide was an easy thing in the face of adeath no one saw coming.

So, Maggie had gazed at those around her, petrified,wanting nothing more than to be away from them. She forgot she had ever wanted the Keeper as bad as she had moments before.

Out of necessity, Estefan looked away, shuttinghimself off from his Mutation. Herdecision would have to be her own. Noone could coerce her into making a commitment as final as that the women andgirls make when choosing to go under the review of the Synod. Access to the Keeper’s bed promised longnights of pleasure and days bathed in wealth. But, any resulting offspring would belong to the Synod. A consort could leave at any time, and theSynod would care for her onto death, but only she could leave. Consorts had no parental rights over thechildren they might bear; only Estefan and his wives possessed them. It was the price to pay for a life manycouldn’t even imagine.

In the end, Maggie refused review and she’d beenabruptly confined to quarters for the duration of the trip. Upon their return from Europa, she wouldtransfer to another quadrant of the vast empire ruled by the Keeper, never tosee him again. To seek him out a secondtime, after refusing review, would mean death. This, Estefan’s wives would enforce with ruthless efficiency.

He had seen it before. None escaped them.

Other than those three incidents, nothing else hadhappened that was noteworthy. He andMena had met twice to discuss the synod’s finances. They were so far in the black he had stoppedtrying to figure out why their meetings had once been so important.

The only real tidbit of information he bothered tocommit to memory was the selling of the last of the underworld businesses. One he still owned after all theseyears. It had sentimental value, whichwas the only reason he had hung onto it as long as he had. Yet, it was a dinosaur, more work thanprofit. Thus, he had told Mena a fewearth-months before to sell it to a friend for next to nothing. It was to be a gift more than anythingelse. He didn’t care to profit from thefirst false front he and his family organized.

It had been during the time of the persecutions,financed from the fruits of their first major theft.

Diatainiumand Muslims, he thought harkeningback to his first multi-billion dollar transaction. (When American dollars made been the currencyof choice). It had put them on the map.

Who would’veever made that connection!

It had made them amongst the Mutos – good and badalike. It had been the beginning of theAegis Synod, even before the invention of that title.

I will missMarquez & Associates… but, I have no more use for the illegal drug trade.

The pharmaceutical company he owned now, Med-Core,made more money than all the cocaine, meth, ecstasy and heroine had,combined. Besides, Med-Core couldreproduce the effects of all those crude hallucinogens with easy now. And, do so minus all the addictiveside-effects and the horrible corruption they inflicted upon the human form.

Marquez &Associates, named after my Uncles and the rest of us kids. Back when we ran at the sound of a pindrop. Back when we didn’t get to eatdinner every night or breakfast with the coming of the dawn. So long ago, are they even my memories? Or do they belong to someone else?

An irritating buzz sounded throughout hisquarters. He sat within nothing morethan a moderate-sized, rectangle of a room. He billeted a short distance from the bridge down a corridor abuttingone of the inner hulls of the Null-ship. It was sparsely outfitted with a built-in table and bench unit. A double-sized bed, a desk and a chair andsmall seating area he could use to take a meeting rounded out thefurnishings. There was an in-wallarmoire and a small washing compartment. The Aegis’ stewards had provided a rich set of matching rugs. So, he could walk barefoot and not freeze hislower extremities upon the icy cold of the metal flooring. Other than that, there was little else, butthis didn’t bother him. This was a tripborn out of necessity and not a vacation. He could do without a few accruements for a change, if it meant agreater possibility of success. Obtaining the Shadow Spark and hiding it was all he cared about for themoment. The sooner he got rid of thedamned thing, the better.

“Come,” he called from the desk he’d been writing atminutes before.

The door to his personal chamber slid into the wallwithout sound. Null-ship constructionachieved complete silence. Only thepeople on board made noise.

He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Ledastanding in the elongated hexagonal doorframe. She looked resplendent in one piece, jumpsuit with heeled boots attachedto the garment itself. They were blackand shone like obsidian in the artificial light provided by the ship. The rest of her outfit was white with varyingstrips of black, marking pockets with powered-zippers. There appeared to be sheaths for manydifferent size blades as well, though none of them seemed filled at thetime. The suit looked like leather, butit had a metallic quality about it, belying another sort of materialaltogether. Women’s fashion was sovaried and diverse now. Estefan couldnot keep up.

So, as he sat there and gazed upon his wife, hecouldn’t tell what it was she had encased her body. To him, it fit her like a glove, showing offevery exquisite detail of her petite figure. That’s all that mattered to him.

“Hiya,” she said with a shake of her jet-black hair,placing a lock behind one of her ears. “Can I come in?” she asked in a small voice.

Estefan frowned at once. Leda was never one to tip-toe aroundhim. Something’sup. “Sure you can, my dear. You know you don’t have to ask, since whenhave I kept my wives from seeing me?” he asked with a slight disbelievingundertone.

She sighed and walked forward with urgency. It made him sit up straight in hischair. It creaked for a moment as hisGrav-belt lost its ability to regulate his weight, for a few seconds. It protested, feeling the brunt of four and ahalf hundred pounds.

Halfway to him, she held out her arms to him. Stunned, he saw tears beginning to form inher eyes. He couldn’t recall the lasttime he had seen her cry.

What in hellis going on?

It was all he had time to think before she scrambledup on his lap and hugged as fierce as ever. Her small arms wrapped about him tight. He was certain if he hadn’t been a Heavy, she would’ve choked the lifeout of him, right there, right then. Shebegan to weep in earnest.

“Leda, what’s wrong, sweetheart? Why are you crying?”

She didn’t answer, scooting closer to him, her buttmore on his waist, then in his lap.

He had known Leda since he was tenth grader and, up tothat moment, not once had he seen her as vulnerable. She had always been tough, sarcastic andhead-strong, even borderline moody at times. Though she looked like a model, your regular girlie-girl. In reality, she was far from anything prissyand delicate. She did not jump atspiders or was helpless unless there was a male around to help her. She was the exact opposite, capable ofputting anyone in their place without a moments’ hesitation. She had aviper-like tongue and razor-sharp wit. She wasn’t afraid to go in for the kill, twist the knife between theribs. Call it what you want, Leda was,and always would be, one tough bitch.

And yet… here she was crying in Estefan’s arms like abride who’d been left at the altar. Infact, now that he thought about it, she hadn’t even wept like this on theirwedding day.

Ok, what thefuck was going on?!?

“Leda, please tell me what is wrong,” hedemanded. He was a little harsher thanhe intended, but, the fact she’d never acted like this before, unnerved him.

She pulled away from him as sudden as a hummingbird.

He stared at her as if she was about to break into amillion pieces, right there in his lap. Then he saw her expression. Hismouth gaped with astonishment, his mind was so bewildered; it fired everywhereat once. He found he couldn’t keep acoherent thought for more than a second.

Sitting upon him, her arms still loose about his neck,was Leda with the biggest, goofiest grin on her face. It seemed to split her face from ear toear. Her face flushed with exertion, hercheeks soaked in tears, but she was… smiling?

It hit him like a ton of asteroid fragments. These weren’t tears of grief or anger orheartbreak. They were tears of joy.

But then, whatdid that mean? he thought, thebefuddlement overwhelming him.

“Sweetie, I don’t under -.”

She cut him off, the words spewing forth like bloodfrom a neck wound and so loud it was more of a yell. “I’m pregnant!”

His eyes bulged in their sockets. His hands holding her from beneath her arms, helifted her completely from his body.

She squealed with delight and shook like a trappedpuppy in his grasp.

“Are you serious?!?” said a scraggy, old lady. Estefan almost laughed like a lunatic when herealized he’d been the one to speak.

She nodded as he held her in the air above him like aninfant.

He crushed her to him, tears of his own overflowingfrom his eyelids, cascading down his face and onto his tunic. “But I thought you didn’t want to havechildren,” he recalled, restoring her to her earlier position on his lap.

“I didn’t,” she admitted staring him right in theeyes. “But despite all my efforts –contraception, staying away from you when I ovulate, etc. – this time, ithadn’t worked. You knocked me up justthe same.” She giggled deep in herthroat, squirming on his grasp with utter excitement.

He gazed at her, feeling his love for her pressure hiseyes, fill his chest. My Leda, my Leda, my Leda, was all hecould think as he peered into her eyes and saw nothing but exultation. It was amazing.

He had never seen Leda rejoice. He had never seen elation and rapture joinedas one within his petite wife. It madeher shine like the sun. He could see hernewfound corona and it burned with the luminosity of one million degrees. She was so beautiful in that moment. She was perfect. His heart felt as though it would burst atany second. He reached out for her,holding her with a light touch at either side of her face.

Her expression focused on him.

“I love you, Leda,” he said, his voice a husky mess.

“I love you too.”

They held each other for a long, long time. Somewhere in the midst of the kissing and thecaressing, Estefan had a wondrous thought. This child would be his one hundred and sixty-third, the thirty-seventh bornto him by the Synod itself. But, itwould be his first with Leda and that was what made it unique. He never thought she would want to bear him achild. Whether by accident or fate, they’dmade a baby, and the idea thrilled her!

A moment later, he leaned toward her and touched herforehead to his. “It’ll be nice to hearto patter of tiny feet, my love. It’sbeen eight years, you know.”

“Yes, I know,” concurred his wife. “I only hope little Patricia doesn’t take ittoo hard, now that she’ll be dethroned.”

They both laughed aloud at the thought, because Patriciawas a notorious Daddy’s girl.

“Well, if it’s a little brother, she might not maketoo much of a fuss.”

“But if it’s a baby girl…,” added Leda, her eyebrowsrising.

“Oh man, we might all be in trouble.” Estefan chuckled.

They held each other for a long time. Then, as if by some unsaid signal, they gotup. They made their way to the bed andundressed one another, one garment at a time, wanting their nakedness to flowerinto being. Their lovemaking was just slowand languorous, their words soft and subdued. When they climaxed together, they made little sound. Instead, their tears flowed once more andthey held one another for hours and hours.

Baby Alejandro’s conception had been a mere three anda half weeks in the past, but his birth would change everything – forever.