Chapter 3

It was a quarter before noon, local time (quarter to one Eastern Standard Time) when there was a knock on Sid’s front door. Sid looked at the atomic clock with concern. He was supposed to leave for Crossroads in fifteen minutes, and didn’t want to waste time at the door. Rushing to the front door, he opened it to find Cynthia standing there.

She smiled and said, “Hello, Sid.”

“Hello, Cynthia. What can I do for you?” asked Sid.

“I know that you are leaving for Crossroads in a few minutes, and I thought I would see you off,” said Cynthia.

She smiled although she really wanted to rip into him. Even after their dates, he had not given up that nonsense about Crossroads and Chaos.

“Come in,” said Sid holding the door open for her.

She came in and closed the door behind her. Unaware that she didn’t believe him, he continued to rush. He took her coat and hung it up in the closet.

He said, “Come on into the study. I only have a few minutes before I have to leave.”

Amazed that he continued to pursue this fantasy, Cynthia followed him to the study. Once there, he offered her a seat at the desk. Looking at the clock, he said, “I have four minutes. I’m sorry that I can’t be a better host, but I really don’t have much time.”

“That’s okay,” said Cynthia. She glanced at the clock and thought that in five minutes he’d have to give up his fantasy world.

She watched as he opened the desk drawer and pulled out a Sapphire ring. He slipped it on his finger and stepped over to the closet. Looking back at her, he said, “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck,” replied Cynthia expecting nothing to happen. She watched, wide eyed, as Sid stepped through the portal and disappeared with a shimmer. It reminded her of the teleporters in science fiction movies.

Stunned by what she had seen, she said, “Oh my God! He wasn’t making it up!”

Rushing over to the closet, she looked to see if there was any kind of trick mechanism. There was nothing in the closet except her. The full import of what she had observed came crashing in on her.

As if her stomach was on fire, she groaned and said, “There really is a Sally Caretaker. There really are Damsels in Distress. He really is getting them pregnant.”

She staggered back to the chair and stared at the floor, trying to process what she had just learned. In a way, she felt guilty for not believing him. At the same time, she felt angry that he hadn’t convinced her that it was real. Most of all, she was hurt that he was going off to be with other women. She broke down and cried.

Sid stepped through the portal into the small room. The door opened and he spotted Sally waiting for him. The room in which she stood was dark except for a spotlight that cast a soft light over her. She was wearing an ornate loincloth that hung down to her knees, which was held up by a silver chain that was around her waist. Other than the loincloth, she was nude. She was the most erotic sight that Sid had ever seen.

Awed by the sight, Sid said, “You are so beautiful.”

“You are alone, my Hero?” asked Sally surprised to find him alone. She wondered where his companion was, having fully expected him to bring her with him. She had even prepared the computer to produce an identical outfit for her.

“She is waiting for me back on Earth,” answered Sid as he stepped forward. The ornate loincloth was embroidered with gold threads. With her long black hair, oriental skin, and Caucasian features, she looked like some sort of Egyptian Queen.

At the realization that she would have Sid all to herself, Sally smiled. In a sexy voice, she said, “Come to me, my Hero, and ravish me properly.”

Sid followed her to the bedroom entranced by the way her outfit accentuated her walk. Her attire revealed more than it hid, but hid enough to drive him crazy. When they reached the bedroom, she reached down to the belt and, after touching it on the side, her loincloth dropped to the floor. It took Sid considerably longer to get out of his clothes.

It was several hours later that Sid woke to find Sally asleep beside him. Propping up his head on his hand, he watched her sleep. He memorized her features wanting never to forget the peaceful expression on her face.

Feeling that she was being watched, Sally slowly woke and found Sid watching her. She stretched and said, “Two restoratives, please.”

The restoratives appeared on the bed. She grabbed them before they could fall over. Handing one to Sid, she drank one down herself. A shiver went through her body as the magic liquid restored her energy.

Smiling, she said, “My Hero.”

“My Caretaker,” Sid said after drinking his glass of restorative. He reached over to stroke her body.

“Don’t touch me, yet. I’m too sensitive,” said Sally with a shudder. Just the thought of being touched was sufficient to trigger a little one.

Watching as a blush appeared on her chest, Sid asked, “What?”

“That’s from the thought of you touching me.”

“Wow.”

“My lovely man, no woman in the entire history of Cassandra is as lucky as I. You know how to play my body like it was meant to be played. I am happy for your companion on Earth. She is the luckiest woman on your planet.”

Sid said, “We have not done anything yet.”

Shocked, Sally sat up and spun to face him. With concern on her face, she asked, “Is she okay? How could she not want to experience such pleasure?”

“It takes us a little longer to get around to that on Earth. Earth women are a lot different from the women of Cassandra.”

“Different? How? Do they have tails?”

Sid laughed and shook his head at the image of women with tails. It reminded him of watching her from the rear as her loincloth swayed while walking. He answered, “They don’t have tails. They just don’t achieve orgasm as quickly as the women of Cassandra. What I did with you might have brought an Earth woman to a single orgasm. We have to make love to their mind for a long time before we even touch their bodies.”

“Poor things,” Sally said. She couldn’t imagine many women surviving the kind of treatment that Sid had performed on her. Tilting her head to the side, she said, “Tell me about her.”

“Her name is Cynthia...”

“You told me that last time. What’s she like?”

“Why do you want to know?” asked Sid.

Sally blushed as if she had been caught doing something wrong. She answered, “I can’t wait to tell everyone back on Cassandra that my Hero has an Earth girl, too. They are going to be so jealous that I’m caretaker to such a virile man. It may be your pleasure, but it is my pride!”

Sid shook his head in disbelief. He couldn’t imagine that an entire culture of hot horny women existed and that they had nothing better to do than to discuss the sex lives of the Heroes. Sitting up, he said, “You may be surprised to learn this, but I don’t believe that I’m that great of a lover. There have been times when I’ve been with a woman and she hasn’t had an orgasm.”

“That’s horrible. The women on Earth must be like the men on Cassandra. We have to work all day to have them get it up and then ... poof ... it’s gone and we won’t see it for at least another day,” Sally sighed. She looked over at Sid and, with a smile, said, “You don’t have that problem, my Hero.”

“Do you want me to prove it?” asked Sid with a grin.

He reached for her and did indeed prove that he didn’t have that problem.

Later, Sally was wearing the same outfit that she had worn when she greeted Sid. It was a major distraction, but Sid did his best to pay attention as Sally briefed him on the situation in Chaos.

“You’ll port to a town that is only a week’s ride from the Jones Citadel. When you get there, go to the man who runs the Rooster Inn. You’ll recognize it by the sign with a rooster on it. Introduce yourself as Sid Jones and tell him that Gerald Jones is your uncle. He’ll give you a medallion. You’ll take that medallion over to the bank and give it to the bank manager. He will ask you for your name and a code phrase. Once you answer him, you’ll get Gerald’s lockbox.”

“What’s the code phrase?”

“Oh, sorry. It’s — ‘Everyone in my family is a bunch of lazy bastards except for my nephew,’” answered Sally. She laughed at the expression of surprise on Sid’s face.

Sid shook his head and grinned as he imagined his uncle saying exactly those words. Even here, his family wouldn’t have a very good reputation.

He laughed as he said, “You’ve got to love my Uncle Gerald.”

Sally had heard many good things about Gerald. He was among the greatest Heroes of all time, if not the greatest.

She said, “You’re going to have to take everything out of his lockbox because everything inside will be destroyed when it is closed again. One of the items will be a signet ring. That will identify you as the legitimate heir of the Jones Citadel. You’ll take that to Bixby in the Citadel, he was your uncle’s right hand man.”

“That sounds easy enough,” Sid said. He figured that it was going to be a lot more difficult than it sounded. He asked, “Is his signet ring the only ring in his lockbox?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure that you’ll recognize it when you see it, though.”

Sid licked his lips and wondered about that. Disturbed, he said, “I guess I’ll have to see. What else will I inherit?”

“Your uncle’s balance of just over forty-six thousand conchs will get added to your account.”

“So much?” asked Sid shocked at the amount of money. He wondered how his uncle had managed to acquire so much. Shaking his head, he said, “He should have used that money for himself. I don’t deserve it.”

“It’s not that much considering that he acquired it over a lifetime of adventuring. His citadel is worth much more than that. If I’m not mistaken, he’s got little caches of money, weapons, and property spread all over Chaos,” answered Sally with a smile. She had a very good idea of just how much stuff Gerald had hidden, but she wasn’t going to let Sid know. Gerald had wanted him to discover things on his own and she, like any of the caretakers, would respect his wishes.