Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Complete

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Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Complete

Postby Miki Yamuri » Sat Aug 09, 2014 8:19 pm

Title: Lapidem Infinitum Infans

Characters:

Tony Walker - 21yo Video Game Computer Coder

Alex Coom - 40yo Dive Master and Tour Guide

Michelle Lathum - 18yo

Laurie Tylor - 25yo

Scene: Sitting in Tony's office, bored, between projects
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Tony sat in his chair in front of his computer so board he had splinters. His last project, Magnathereium Wars, was one of the biggest video game hits of the year. It had grossed millions in just the few weeks it had been up for retail sales.

He had managed to work the deal, totally by accident, to get 20% commission on all single sales of the finished product since he had done all the development, coding, rendering, testing, and final debugs almost totally by himself. Luck or not, it seemed the flu season had actually done him a favor ... although he had worked himself nearly to the bone during it to meet the deadlines.

Although he was now very financially well off, he wanted to work. There were no new projects currently on the board as all the think tankers were busy arguing over what the next super title was going to be. He sat and stared at the screen for a while until he decided to .... jus randomly look at things.

For no reason in particular, he came up with Archeology. There were many, many people finding and doing much research into the far distant past. He read about the mummys, the pyramids, stone age artifacts, archery, Atl Atls. He read about the rise and fall of many civilizations ... until he came to one that was not so old ... or new. About 2000 years ago, it suddenly ceased to exist as far as contemporary history was concerned. No one had been able to find an actual name for this civilization it had vanished so suddenly and completely, although there were a few artifacts that told of their existence, and it was rumored it was the Mythical City of Bimini.

The location of the remains of the city were located only a few months earlier ... however most of the artifacts were plain an mostly unadorned. The mummified remains they found were almost exclusively children and infants. There was one artifact, however, that was very highly decorated and told what many thought was a bed time story for the children of the city.

It told of how the gods had cast a large fiery orb from the heavens, to land within the city's square. There was a massive explosion and a very large crater. From this crater, under pressure, spewed forth a large fountain of crystal pure waters. The city dwellers built a large temple around the crater and built a very large and ornately decorated fountain and pool surrounding the fountain in the very center over the top of the crater. From the crater flowed what was told as the most remarkable waters.

The story followed that within the ground still rested the orb which had the power of youth. The orb had broken through to a spring that created an artesian well. The waters flowed past the orb and received their remarkable properties then.

Tony laughs to himself as he shook his head. "Another fountain of youth story, obviously." he muttered under his breath.

As he read on, there were references to another explorer from many ages past. His name was Al-Khidr a Babylonian. Tony raised eyebrows as he read how Al-Khidr claimed to have navigated to another world after taking the orb from the heart of the fountain after the city was destroyed by forces unknown.

Tony read with interest as the descriptions were very much like the first Conquistadors that had discovered the Canarus Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean Islands ... and Florida. Now, Tony understood why the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, first Governor of Puerto Rico, looked for the fountain of youth in Florida. Al-Khidr had supposedly taken the orb there and hidden it in a place in ... the Keys.

From the descriptions, It seemed that it was hidden in a coral cave near Grassy Key ... or Marathon Key. To the best of Tony's knowledge ... there were no such outcroppings as described in the scant data in either place. An idea came to him. He needed some vacation time ... and why not get in a little diving to boot. He knew there were places where the shallow waters suddenly dropped off to great depths. Perhaps ... 2000 years or so ago ... one or more of those places were above water.

Tony knew the chances were next to nil of him finding anything ... much less someone who might know anything. He still had the time and resources to go on an extended vacation ... so why not? He began researching all the places ... like John Penny camp, the Fire Coral Cave in Largo
... and the diving around Marathon Key. All those caves had been well explored over the course of the last 75 years. There were tours to many ... he needed a lead on something fairly rare.

There was a place he found on Grassy Key called, 'Adventures in Mystery Diving and Exploration.' They offered many excursions to places not frequented by the normal tours and tourists. Many of the dives were in very deep water to exotic wrecks, not to mention some of the groves they offered excursions into.

The man, Alex Coom, was a master diver and was trained by the Navy. He belonged to the Special Forces Dive Team for many years. He was an expert in demolitions, breathing gasses, and underwater construction to name a few. Tony smiled, he knew this man's Dive Master Certificate would give him the means to earn his own deep water Certifications so he could dive past 66 meters ... 200 feet. The pressure there would be tremendous and he would have to breath a heliox mixture to alleviate the problems with the bends. He wasn't sure he would have to dive that deep, but, he wanted the certs just in case.

Tony sent a long e-mail to the address listed on the net, muffdive@mysterydivingadventures.com. Tony explained in detail he was looking for clues to a fairytale he had discovered while looking into the Fountain of Youth Stories on the net ... needed an extended vacation ... and was willing top pay cash if the man would take him and not make fun of what he was doing. It was all for fun ... and Tony explained he truly didn't expect to discover anything anyway, but did expect training in deep dives and to attain his complete dive certifications. Tony smiles as he sends it on its way.

Tony continues looking into the Fountain of Youth Tales to help alleviate his boredom. He was amazed to discover that in St. Augustine Florida, there is a Fountain of Youth Park that boasts having the miracle waters there. Tony shakes his head as he realizes, all through the Caribbean, every one seemed to know of this remarkable fountain. The legend dated back almost completely to the destruction of this one unnamed peoples and their city over 2000 years ago or more. Herodotus mentions a fountain containing a very special kind of water located in a city named Bimini.

From what Tony read, all accounts seemed to refer to Bimini ... however, it seemed no one could place Bimini in the same place until the stories came to the Caribbean ... then ... it was Florida. One such story told of the Yukka Indians from the Yucatan Peninsula taking a journey to the unknown land as aged warriors, only to return as children ... almost dead from neglect and dehydration.

Tony laughs, "Oh, man. Would this make a wonderful RPG type Video Game." as he brings up the next Google listing.

From what Tony could tell from the scant data, some kind of artifact had arrived in Florida almost 2000 years gone. This was the grain of truth that all such myths are created from. From that point, All the native tribes began telling the tale of the curative powers of the land of Bimini. The Arawak, were the ones that informed the Spanish, by telling the fantastic tale of rebirth and youth.

About that time, Tony noticed the Mail Flag appear in the lower right of his screen. He clicked on it ... and raised a surprised eyebrow, muffdive@mysterydivingadventures.com had already replied to his e-mail. The only thing in the body of the e-mail was a toll free telephone number and the words 'Call me ASAP!'

~~ Preparations ~~

Tony sat for a bit and thought about it. No introductions, greetings ... or anything else. He wrote the number down on a sticky note so he would have a copy with him and put it in his wallet before he called the number, 1-800-555-DIVE.
The phone rang several times before a deep male voice answered, "Hello? Alex Coom. How can I help you?"

Tony replies, "This is Tony Walker, I sent you an e-mail asking for ... a several month adventure."


Coom replies quickly, "Excellent! I have actually been ... wanting to go on this particular adventure since I dove Widow Maker Cave in Bahamas. I ... found a sunken wreck on a deep shelf in the abyssal. I think you might be interested in some of the artifacts I recovered."

Tony says, "Wait, wait ... I think things are getting slightly ahead of themselves here. How can some souvenirs do me any good?"

Coom laughs as he replies, "I'm sorry ... you're right. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself ... allow me to explain. First ... about the adventure you're wanting to go on. I will offer my equipment and expertise ... and even foot half the bill, as long as you're willing to go for a 7 month cruze. I think the artifact known as: Lapidem Infinitum Infans might intrigue you?"

Tony sits up in surprise. He replies with eagerness in his voice, "I would be extremely interested in that kind of arrangement. I'm not real sure what that ... thing you mentioned is though."

Coom explained, "The wreck I discovered in about 500 feet of water was ... A Babylonian warship. A find totally unknown in this part of the world. There were many well preserved crates and amphora that were protected by the cold, darkness, and lack of oxygen at that depth. I also found several tablets written in the original Babylonian tongue. Does the name, 'Al-Khidr', mean anything to you by chance?"

Tony gasps, "So, you're going to tell me ... that was his ship?"

Coom replies, "As best as the tablets I have deciphered so far tell me. It seems they were caught in a severe storm ... possibly a major hurricane. The ship is in remarkable condition, but there is severe storm type damage to the hulk of it."

Tony asks, "And this ... artifact you mentioned?"

Coom replies, "The tablet I have describes it as an Orb. Something the gods gave to mankind many years before and is described as, Lapidem Infinitum Infans ... Stone of Infinite Infants. There is actually a map of the Florida Keys, showing the location Al-Khidr supposedly hid it. The map is ... less than any kind of map we have today, but I think it's good enough we can find what it is you are looking for. I have been waiting for someone to call ... that wanted to find it too ... for a long, long time. I guess it's fate."

Tony didn't know what to say at this point. He thought the chances of him getting any further information ... or even finding someone to help search were next to nothing. Now, he not only found someone ... but this person had a map and was willing to go halves on the expenses, and also provide the necessary equipment, and supplies to boot.

Tony finally said after a few moments of stunned silence, "I would ... be most willing to agree to such an arrangement. I would also like to dive on the wreck you mentioned ... to see it for myself."

Coom laughed, "That's an easy arrangement. No one can dive that particular wreck without specialized gear. I will teach you the proper techniques and give you your deep dive certifications for free."

Tony quickly replies, "It's a deal Mr. Coom. When can we make the arrangements ... and get together on this?"

Coom replies, "Everything is already arranged. I will send my private jet to pick you up at the airport. Meet me there at 9am tomorrow morning at hangar #3. Don't be late."

Tony replies, "I'll be there early."

Coom replies, "Sooner you get there, sooner we can get aboard and be on our way."

The phone went dead with a click. Tony looks at the receiver for a few seconds before hanging up. He can't believe his good fortune. And to think ... it really did seem like fate played a large hand in all this. Finding someone with this kind of knowledge seemed ... too good to be true, but, Coom had information he couldn't have ... unless he had found something really important.

~~ The Journey Begins ~~

Tony left work shortly after the call and went right home. He packed a large duffel bag with enough clothes to last for several weeks without having to wash clothes. He also packed his laptop and enough food to last for at least a week if he rationed it properly. He was sure he wouldn't need it ... but encase of an emergency, he wanted to be prepared.

The rest of the day dragged on slowly. It only whetted his excitement for tomorrow. Tony was unable to sleep his excitement ran so high. He lay in bed and tossed and turned until the first rays of early morning light began to filter through the bedroom curtains.

Tony turned over and looked at the clock, it was barely 6 am. he shrugged it off and got out of bed. He took a quick shower, dressed in jeans, pull over top, and deck shoes. Tony grabbed a cup of coffee and a quick bite to eat before he left the house on the way to the airport. The trip was quick, since there was no real traffic at this time of the morning, and hangar #3 was easy to find.

Sitting in front of the hangar was a brand new Learjet. It appeared to be ready for immediate take off. Tony entered the hangar and looked around. At first, he didn't notice anyone there.

Tony calls out, "Hello? Is anyone here? I'm supposed to meet someone here in a few hours."

A rather large man dressed much the same as Tony came from the back. He was followed by 2 very pretty young women dressed in cutoff shorts and halter tops.

He took off his sunglasses and said cheerily, "I'm Coom ... you must be Tony. That's what I like ... punctuality."

Tony's eyes get big in surprise, "Yea, I'm Tony. It's not even 7:30 yet ... I thought you said 9am?"

Coom laughs as he starts to open the front hangar door, "I also said the sooner you get here, the sooner we could get started. I've been here since yesterday afternoon. Now, if you're ready, let's get your gear on board, we have a several hour flight ahead of us."

Tony grabs his duffel bag and the large gym bag. He follows Coom and the girls from the hanger to the Jet in the early morning light. Tony takes one long look around, before getting on the Jet. The inside of the jet was beautifully decorated. It looked like one of those really upscale apartments Tony had seen only in magazines.

Tony tosses his bags into one of the closets the girls had opened for him and sat in one of the comfortable lounge chairs. The cute little blond buckled him in and sat on one side of him while the brunet sat on the other.

Coom's voice came over the speaker, "We will be flying at 20,000 feet and are expecting a 3 and a half hour fight time. Temperature in Grassy Key currently is a balmy 85 degrees. Sit back, and enjoy the flight. The girls will provide anything you might want."

Tony heard a high pitched whine begin as the engines wound up. There was a loud roar as they ignite and Coom goes through his preflight. Within a few minutes, Tony felt his body being pressed deeply into the comfort of the seat ... as both girls reached over and held each of his hands. The flight was pleasant and both girls were attentive and delightful company.

By the time they had reached Adventures in Mystery Diving and Exploration's private runway and corporate facility, Tony had learned that the blond's name was Michelle, and the Brunet's name was Laurie. Both girls had long since taken off their shoes and cut off shorts and were in just tie on string bikini's. Tony really liked Michelle, although Laurie was a real delight as well. Laurie seemed to be ... holding herself back in some way, where Michelle seemed to have become his girlfriend in the few hours of flight ... which in no wise bothered Tony.

After the plane had landed and taxied to the small field terminal that such private airfields have, Laurie hugged and kissed Coom as he walked from the cockpit. Now Tony understood ... Laurie was being very friendly, but she was Coom's girl. Michelle on the other hand, gave Tony a very wonderful caress in his squeaky place before she took his hand and walked with him from the plane with Coom and Laurie in the lead.

Coom said with a knowing gleam in his eye, "Was the flight comfortable?"

Tony looks at Michelle as she squeezes his hand, "Yes, I have to say it was the best flight I think I've had."

Michelle giggles softly as she says, "Well, if you don't mind .... I'm going to take very good care of you." Then she gave Tony a wonderfully passionate French Kiss.

Coom laughed, "I told you, you and him would like each other."

Michelle blushes softly pink and Laurie giggles. Coom takes one of Laurie's round bottom cheeks in his hand and gave it a squeeze, causing her to squeak adorably.

Coom says softly, "After we leave the harbor, I expect we will be entertained rather nicely. That's why I always take my girlfriend along. We are ... partners in the long boring hours going and ... cumming."

Laurie gasps and her eyes get big as she swats Coom on his large muscular arm. Coom laughs as he hugs her close for a second before walking across the tarmac into the small private terminal building. Inside was a large semicircular counter with several large flat screen monitors on top, several telephones with many buttons, and a very pretty older woman sitting in a soft high backed leather chair.

Tony estimated the woman to be in her late 50's or early 60's ... it was really hard to tell she was so beautiful ... although this only seemed to enhance how attractive a woman she was ... and what a knockout she was in her youth. Even now, even though this woman was a lot older than he, Tony would have no problems dating her ... she was still a total knock out.

Coom says, "Hi Pat, any new calls that I need to know about?"

The woman replies in a very soft and extremely sexy voice, "There have been several calls from BP about a deep ocean repair job in the gulf ... it seems that the lie they have been telling everyone about fixing the leak is coming back and biting them in the butt."

Coom replies, "Assign Jackson and his crew to that. Tell them to document everything and to make videos along the way ... whether or not BP likes it. If they get too much opposition ... leave. There's no one else they can go to for that kind of deep ocean repairs."

Pat replies as she bats her beautiful eyes at Tony, "Yes sir."

Coom turns and pats Tony on the arm, "This .... is the person I told you about that is going with me to recover the artifact. I will have the auto navigate protocols engaged and will notify you when we locate it before recovery ... just in case."

As Coom and the girls lead Tony from the room, he sees Pat pick up one of the phones and press a button. The door shuts blocking the rest from Tony's view.

Coom leads them down a winding sidewalk that seems to meander through a very well kept garden or park. Tony noticed they were heading towards a rather large, modern, industrial type of docking area, complete with a very large ship. As they passed through another private terminal building and exited the other side, Tony's eyes widened with surprise. He saw a custom made Industrial dive ship, complete with several mini-subs, a deep diving bell, helicopters, and many types of antenna's and radar dishes sprouting from many locations. Coom stops and hugs Laurie close as Michelle snuggles close to Tony.

Coom waves his arm in a grand way towards the ship and says with pride in his voice, "This ... is the Argonaut. It's the most advanced oceanographic and research vessel afloat. I have spared no expense. Even the Navy can't touch it. They call me all the time because they don't have the ships or equipment and they know I do."

Tony replies with respect in his voice, "I can see why. I would think this kind of ship would be something only the government could afford."

Coom says with a sneer, "With all the taxes they make me pay every year ... they should be able to afford a fleet."

The girls giggle as Coom and Tony laugh. Coom leads Tony up the gangplank onto the main deck. Tony sees many crew running around in preparation of leaving port.

Coom turns and says softly, "Michelle, why don't you take Tony to his cabin and ... make him comfortable while I get ready for departure."

Michelle, who was still dressed only in a tie on string bikini, takes Tony's hand and pulls him off.

She replies to Coom, "With much pleasure. You didn't tell me how cute he was.

Tony smiles at the compliment and allows Michelle to lead him down the side of the large central cabin and into a hatch door. The walked down several long, narrow corridors before Michelle opened a door and waved her arm in. Tony walked into the cabin and stopped with a gasp of awe.

He had seen similar rooms before ... but only on the program 'Homes of the Rich and Famous'. He stood looking around with his mouth slightly open until Michelle takes him by the hand and pulls him towards another door. When they entered this room, it was a very lavishly decorated bedroom. There were mirrors on the ceiling, a huge flat screen television, a super king sized bed that he was sure he could get lost in, very thick tan shag carpet, a complete bar ... and several door leading off to who knew where.

As Tony looked around in astonishment, Michelle walked to one door and opened it. Tony saw his duffel bag and large zippered cloth bag had already been delivered.

Michelle said in her cute voice, "The food in here can be put in the kitchen area in the other room if you wanna." she walks gracefully over to the next door and opens it, "In here is your bathroom and shower area. Every thing's all set up if you should ... want a bath."

She blushes a cute strawberry pink as she walks to another door and opens it. Tony could see that it was full of clothes of all types and shoes of all types ... both male and female.

Michelle says in a really cute shy voice, "And this is our ... closet ... we are sharing."

Tony replies , "Hay, that's ... perfectly OK with me ... I mean ..."

His tongue started getting really thick and his mind stopped thinking coherently as Michelle giggles and stood in an adorably sexy pose.

She says softly as she walks up and kisses him on his lips, "It's OK sweetie. Take a look around and get your bearings."

Tony walks over to the closet with his duffel bag in it and retrieves the cloth zipper bag. By the time he had turned around, Michelle had lain in the huge bed and was lying there in an extremely sexy way.

She says in a very soft coo, "Ummm ... this bed is so comfy," she pats it beside her as she props her head on her hand, "Come check it out when your done looking around."

Tony could tell she was blushing even deeper as she said that.

He replies, "Give me about 10 minutes, and I'll be there ... OK?"

Michelle says in a sexy coo, "Sure, I'll just lie back and make myself comfy." as she unties the top to her bikini and drops in in a small pile on the bed.

Tony shakes his head as he goes to the kitchen area and opens the freezer compartment. He knows this is going to be a wonderful adventure as he closes the well stocked freezer and begins to load his food staples into the cabinet.

Coom and Laurie climb the ladder to the bridge. Coom walks over to the radar unit and checks to see if there is any weather within the 200 mile line of site. There are a few showers off in the opposite direction to where they will be heading, and all seems to be clear in the direction towards the Bahamas ... and the Laurentian Abyss.

Laurie was hugging Coom's neck and being other wise adorable. Coom finally kisses her on her lips and leads her to one of the soft leather chairs.

Coom says softly, "Sit and be your adorable self until I can get us undocked and on the way. I have a lot of work to do and just a few minutes to do it."

Laurie pokes out her bottom lip in a cute way and says in a sexy squeak, "OK ... I just wanna make you feel good. I know it's what Michelle is doing." she unties her bikini top and drops it on the floor next to the chair as she pokes out her wonderfully shaped breasts in a enticing way, "I just hope she doesn't need any pointers ... this is her first time."

Coom went back to his prelaunch duties as he replies, "I checked out Tony really well. He's the top Video Game Programmer on the planet ... and he's very rich. He's also unattached and hasn't had a social life in 5 years. I think Michelle is in good hands."

Laurie giggles as she wiggles and squirms in the chair ... and drove the rest of the bridge crew nuts.

~~ End Pt1 ~~



~~ Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt2 - A Journey to the Abyss ~~

Coom maneuvers the large research vessel from its mooring slip and out into the large bay. He followed the buoys until he had passed the mouth of the bay and the large sandbar with the beacon. At that point, he turned north and began heading along the east coast of the keys. He allowed the first mate to take the bridge as he took Laurie by the hand and escorted her off to his cabin. There was relief that she was gone all through the pilot house ... Laurie was a very beautiful young woman ... and it was made worse because she wanted to entice Coom. With the course set for Bahamas and the Laurent Abyssal, Coom settled into his bed with Laurie and enjoyed her femaleness to the max.

Tony had quickly finished putting away his trail food in the cabinet. He returned to the room to find Michelle lying on her side, as she gently caressed between her legs. She looks up with a joyful squeak as Tony entered the room.

She sits up, showing off her beautiful perky breasts with their pointy nipples, holds out her arms and coos softly, "Come and check out the bed sweetie. I promise ... it's a very comfortable one."

She smiles prettily as Tony undoes his belt and jeans. By the time he crawls in bed with Michelle, all he has on is his tighty whitys that show off his hard on. Michelle giggles pleasantly as she takes his hardness in her hand.

Her eyes get big as she gasps, "It ... it's so hard and big. I ... I've never done anything like this before. You ... are ok with it .. aren't you?"

Tony feels the wonderful sensation of the girl's gentle caress. He tingles all through his body when she says she hadn't done this sort of thing.

Tony replies as he snuggles close, "It's alright with me ... as long as you want to."

She giggles, "Oh you silly ... I fell in love with you on the trip down. I just .... want to make sure you want to too."

Tony takes the beautiful young girl in his arms and begins to kiss her as he unties one side of her string bikini bottoms. it snaps open, now being held on by just one side. Michelle gasps softly as one of her hands goes to the top of the one now moving sensually towards her privacy. She gently puts her hand over his ... but doesn't impede his slow progress. She begins to pant softly as she kisses him ever more passionately. When his finger touches the warm wetness of her hairless slit, she gasps again as she shivers.

She says in a cute gasp, "That's my ... my privacy."

Tony asks softly, "It's ... ok ... right?"

Michelle says shyly as her cheeks turn a light shade of pink, "It's ok sweet heart. Just ... be gentle. I promise ... I'll give it all to you and you can go all the way. I want to feel your pleasure. Show me how to please you and I will."

Tony is so incredulous. This is truly going to be a wonderful adventure. He slowly lays Michelle on her back as he French Kisses her. He explores her mouth with his tongue as Michelle's wiggly tongue squirms all around his and entwines as often as she could.

Michelle lies on her back. She bends her knees and opens her legs with just enough hesitant willingness to drive Tony nuts. He unties the other side of her bikini bottoms as she lifts her cute bottom enough for him to pull it from under her. He tosses it by chance into the same pile her top happened to be in.

Michelle wiggled and figited beneath Tony. As he pushed up on his arms, Michelle took hold of the elastic band around his tighty whitys and started pulling them down. Tony nods as he helps her remove them. He tosses them away. Michelle looks at Tony's large and swollen manhood as he gets between her legs.

Michelle whisper softly, "Please ... be gentle."

She takes his hardness and places it right in her cute little slit. It is so wet, warm, and wiggly.

Tony says softly, "I promise sweet heart." As he thrusts into her virgin vagina.

She arches her back as she squeaks. Tony can feel her body as it presses against his body as he takes her virginity. Each stroke was so tight, and wonderful. Tony looses himself in her and truly enjoys her femaleness until he cums deeply with her. Each squirt felt remarkable as Michelle gasped and grunted softly and pulled with her thighs that were wrapped around him.

The tension and heat slowly ebbs, leaving a wonderful euphoria. Tony rolls over so he is beside Michelle, but doesn't take his thing form her vagina. Michelle was all wiggly and dreamy at this point. She wraps her arms around Tony as she continues to softly French Kiss him.

She says in a shy cute way, "Did .... you enjoy that sweetie?"

Tony replies lovingly, "Michelle, that was totally fantastic."

Michelle giggles as she says, "I ... could feel the warm wet stuff when you did it," then blushes strawberry pink, "I feel so wet and .... strange there."

Tony smiles, "Did you enjoy it ?"

Michelle lets out a joyous squeak as she replies happily, "Of course, silly man. I so wanted you to be first." she shivers and gets goose bumps, "It felt so weird and wonderful. It hurt some at first ... but the longer we did it ... the better it felt. Laurie said the more I do it ... the better it would feel."

Tony asks, "Did Laurie or Coom put you up to this?"

Michelle replies quickly with a kind of hurt tone, "NO! Of course not! What kind of girl do you think I am?"

Tony takes her tighter in his arms as he replies, "The kind of girl I want as my girlfriend."

Michelle's eyes get large as her mouth falls open. She says in a small voice, "Honest?"

Tony replies, "Honest." As they began to kiss passionately.

It wasn't long before Tony was cumming deep within her young body one more time. They lie together and gasp for breath. They snuggle and kiss as their heartbeats and breathing return to normal.

Michelle says softly, "I ... have to go potty."

Tony pulls his now softening thing from her vagina. She is slightly bloody with what was left of her virginity mixed with cum. She sees the blood all over Tony and the bed sheets. There was this cute little red heart shaped blood stain.

She says quickly, "Oh ... I'm so sorry. Please forgive me! I ... I didn't meant to do that."

Michelle begins to blush very deeply red.

Tony quickly replies, "It's ok, sweet heart. That happens sometimes when a girl does it the first time. Why don't we take a shower together after you go potty?"

She nods her head until her pretty golden hair falls all about her face and shoulders. Tony laughs happily as he takes her hand and leads her to the bathroom. As Tony adjusted the environment chamber to Summer Shower, Michelle sat on the potty. She felt very embarrassed. She had never done this in front of a man before, and having him here watching as she potties was totally new. She had to push really hard to even make a trickle come. After a few minutes of trying, she gave up. She took a small handful of toilet paper and wiped herself. She felt a tingle of surprise run through her as she saw the bloody streaks on the paper. Laurie had warned her that she would bleed, but it made her feel strange to be bleeding and not be having a period.

By this time, Tony had entered the gentle ozone smelling simulated summer rain. He held out his hand to her. She smiles as she shyly takes it and allows herself to be pulled in. Their 2 bodies mingle as they snuggle close and French Kiss passionately as the warm water flowed softly over their nude bodies. Michelle hopes Laurie was telling her the truth. She was totally lost in Tony ... and the worries over the possibility of getting pregnant faded as her love over powered all.

Coom took his time getting to the Bahamas. There was plenty of time for Tony to get in some deep sea fishing and skinny dipping with Michelle. So far, this was the best vacation Tony had ever been on ... he even caught an 1140 pound bill fish that was on ice until he could get it mounted properly.

Tony discovered Michelle and Laurie were very proficient divers, not to mention how smart and inventive Michelle had turned out to be. Tony and Michelle had become extremely close in a very short time. Tony was grateful to Coom for introducing them ... they were as perfectly matched as a pair of custom made gloves.

Coom taught Tony how to deep dive and the various mixtures used in the breathing gasses for various depths. There was one setup that caught Tony's attention immediately. It was the Hydron Liquid Deep Dive Apparatus.

It appeared this particular dive suit was a space suit for making very deep high pressure dives. The theory was ... fluids cannot be compressed under normal conditions. In a very deep dive under pressure, less breathing medium was required to keep the body from compressing. Tony held a beaker of the gold/clear fluid in his hand and looked at it apprehensively. His mind swirled around the fact that Coom was telling him he was able to breath this stuff and not drown.

Tony asked with disbelief in his tone, "So, you're telling me I won't drown?"

Coom laughs as he replies, "Not at all. Watch this demonstration. I know it's kind of dramatic .... but don't panic over it. Here Kitty, kitty, kitty!"

Laurie's beautiful white, long hair Angora Persian cat came wiggling around Coom's legs, purring loudly.

Coom picks her up and scratches behind her ears. The cat wiggles and squirms adorably as it patted one of its paws at Coom's hand.

Coom says softly, "I know you're going to hate me for this .... but it's worth it for the demonstration. Tony, bring the beaker over here and pull the lid."

Tony brought the beaker over apprehensively and pulled the top off. Very quickly, Coom pushed the cat into the large beaker, spilling the excess over onto the deck. Coom grabs the lid and closes it trapping the cat who was now extremely frightened and agitated. Coom takes the beaker from Tony.

Tony gasps, "Coom, it's going to ...!"

Coom waves a hand after he set the beaker on a table, "No, she won't ... she just thinks she will. Now, watch ... it'll take just a few seconds, but she'll get the message and breath almost normally. The liquid is thicker than gas, so it will be slightly more labored ... but within normal parameters."

Tony watched with big eyes as the fighting cat finally settled down and started taking what appeared to be gasping breaths. This went on for about 10 minutes as Tony stared disbelievingly. The cat was actually breathing that stuff and showing no signs of distress except that it wasn't happy about being in the liquid.

Tony says with incredulity in his voice, "I'll be ... I never would have believed it if I didn't see it myself."

Tony takes the beaker from the table and places it on the deck before popping the top. The cat explodes from the beaker in a wave of golden liquid and many screeches as it ran into the cabin and hid. Coom puts the top back on the mostly empty beaker and places it back on the table.

Coom explains, "Hydron is a very wonderful chemical. It carries oxygen 100% better than red blood cells. It's also used as emergency artificial blood, not to mention some of the very best filtration systems and even contact lenses. Another wonderful thing about it in its fluid state, it won't allow the pressures of a deep dive to compress your body or allow nitrogen to invade your system ... no bends. There are a few uncomfortable moments using the stuff ... but you get used to it eventually."

Coom walks over to a large chest that was sitting on the deck and began to carefully remove its contents. Michelle and Laurie come up with beach chairs and unfold them about that time. They sit to watch. Tony is sort of distracted by the very beautiful women in just tie on string bikini bottoms. Michelle blows Tony a kiss as Laurie begins to rub suntan lotion on her body in an extremely sexy manner. Tony's mind is brought back to the present by Coom laying his hand on his shoulder. Tony turned and saw one of the Hydron Dive Suits lying on the table beside the almost empty beaker. Coom removes the beaker and places it under the table out of the way.

Coom says, "I guess now is as good a time as any to teach you how to use this thing. When we get to the Abyss, it's the only way we can free dive to the wreck. I will give you full Master's Deep Dive Certs for this too."

Tony's face shows the shock of what Coom is asking him to do. Tony looks towards the cabin where the cat had run. He could see it sitting near a sofa, licking its coat. It showed no ill effects.

Tony asks with worry in his tone, "And ... this thing ... does it hurt?"

Coom removes several thumb nuts from around the neck of the suit as he replies, "There will be a few moments of panic at first. The same as you saw in the cat."

Tony says sternly, "And why is that?"

Coom smiles as he holds out the suit low enough for Tony to step in, "Imagine yourself being locked into a bag full of water."

Tony backs up a few steps, "I ... I'm not sure I want to do this."

Coom says sternly, "Don't be a pussy boy, step into the suit so we can go on this dive."

Tony hesitates only a second or 2 more before he steps into the top of the suit. Coom pushes a chair near by and Tony sits as Coom helps him put his feet and the rest of his body into the suit. Tony sits, the suit is hot in the semitropical sun, as he watches Coom wiggle his way into another suit just like this one. The girls stand and walk over to Tony and hang on his shoulders as Coom picks up a helmet.

Coom says softly before he places the helmet on Tony's head, "Now, try very hard to relax. I promise you it won't hurt you ... it'll just seem like it."

Tony sits with fear rising up his spine as Coom turns the thumb nuts tight around the ring seal of the helmet and suit. He hears and feels the pressure as Coom attaches the supply and return hoses to the back of the helmet. Tony has a very clear vision through the wide angle of the lens of the helmet.

He hears a static noise, then Michelle's sweet cooing voice, "OK, sweet heart. Just relax. The worst of this will be over as soon as you drowned."

Tony gasps with fear, "Drowned?!"

He finds himself held tightly by Coom and the 2 girls. He struggles as the liquid rapidly fills his helmet. As it covers his mouth and nose and the remainder of the air pocket is somehow bled away, he feels a terrible panic rise within him. There's no air ... he feels a horrible sensation burning in his lungs as what air he held was running out. His body demanded he take a breath. He is totally helpless as he struggles as hard and mindlessly as he can to escape this horrid fate ... He can't help it ... his body forces him to breath ... he takes a deep, but struggling breath of the golden liquid. It's thick ... he feels the cool liquid as it enters his lungs. There is a few seconds of gagging ... then .... he is breathing. It is harder than normal ... but there are no sensations of strangling.

There is a click in his helmet and Michelle's sweet voice, "Very good baby. Now, you have officially drowned."

Coom handles the drowning far better than Tony had. It was obvious he had done this particular thing many times before. The 2 men sit for a few minutes as the girls return to rubbing sun block on each other in a most enticing way.

Tony hears Coom's voice in his helmet, it sounds really strange and high pitched, "Ok, follow me. I'll take you to the bottom. It's about 250 feet. We'll do a slow and easy decent to get you accustomed to breathing liquid. Remember, for 9 months, your lungs were full of fluids ... it takes a bit for your body to remember."

Coom stands and walks to the back of the ship and opens the rail. Tony realizes there is a small diver's elevator there. He walks up beside Coom as he locks the rail back and pushes a button. The elevator lowers them into the water.

As Coom opens the other side of the rail into open water, Tony hears Coom's voice once again, "We will be under about 525 PSI at the bottom. I want you to move slowly and not get excited. We have enough Breathing Medium to last for about 4 hours. The tanks aren't fully charged, but have enough Heliox in them for me to check you out and deep certify you. Ready? Let's go."

Tony now understands why the voice is so squeaky ... it's the helium and the vibrations in the liquid medium changes the vocal patterns. If they were using just helium, they would sound so much like daffy duck. As Tony gives Coom the thumbs up, Coom steps off the platform into open water. Tony follows behind. The vest around his chest seemed to keep him floating beside Coom. Coom showed Tony how to release the gas from the floatation vest and start their decent.

Tony looks down past his feet. He sees the dark waters far below. He sees many fish and some rather large shadows father below. Tony feels the water as the pressure mounts. He finds if he takes a deep breath of the fluid, the pressure he feels seems to ebb away. He had to keep reminding himself not to hold his breath, but to breath as normal as possible.

It took a long time to reach the bottom in the slow decent Coom had chosen. Tony looks back towards the surface. There was very little light filtering down to them. All around him, ebony darkness. Suddenly, several bright spotlights lighten up the darkness. Tony turns slowly and sees Coom pointing to a place on his arm. Tony looks down to that place on his arm. There is a small control panel with several large buttons on it that would make it easy for the large gloved fingers of the suit able to press them one at a time. Tony presses the one Coom pointed to. 2 very bright halogen spots on either side of his helment came on, providing much more light.

Coom slowly took Tony through several exercises to get him used to the pressure and the liquid breathing medium. Tony quickly got the hang of it. It was a bit harder to take a breath, and it felt really weird, but Tony was able to complete everything Coom required of him quickly. Coom explained that under normal circumstances, because of the liquid, conversation would be impossible. Due to a breakthrough he had in sound waves through liquids, Coom was able to make a devise that simulated what their normal voices would have been like in a gaseous environment so they could converse instead of type out conversations clumsily on the large keypads on their sleeves.

Just by accident, Tony spots something off in the dimness just barely within the light of his suit.

He says, "Coom, just for kicks, lets go check out what ever that is." As he points off to their right.

Coom gives a thumbs up and starts to lean/walk in that direction, stirring up a small cloud of silt. The terrain was remarkably flat. There were creatures darting every where that were being attracted by their light. Tony saw a huge Medusa jelly fish hanging in the semidarkness. Its stinging tentacles had to be almost 20 feet long with its canopy able engulf both of them easily. There were clumps of sea grasses swaying gently in an unfelt current of some sort, with many fish hiding within the grasses long tendrils. Tony saw familiar creatures as well. He really wished he could have caught the lobster that darted into an opening in a mound of rock nearby. Steamed and served with butter and lemon would have been really nice.

Tony looks back towards their destination and realizes the object he had seen in the shadows, now stood revealed in their bright spots as an aircraft. It appeared to be a Cessna 182 sitting in a nose down attitude with its prop buried in the silt of the bottom. The doors and all the side hatches were blown open, probably by escaping air as the aircraft sunk. Tony noticed Coom keeping records of the tail number and exact location of the wreck on the bottom. Both men walked around the wreck for several minutes before Comm points up, then at the softly glowing time piece made into the wrist of his suit.

Coom's voice comes over the comm, "I know it's hard to believe, but we've been down for over 2 and a half hours. We have to surface now before we run out of breathing medium."

Tony looks at the glowing time piece on his wrist. He raises his eyebrows in surprise that that much time had passed. He had really enjoyed the dive .... and the new experience of this type of equipment. Coom had walked over to Tony and pointed to a dial made into his vest.

Coom said, "Turn the dial slowly, one increment at a time until you achieve neutral buoyancy. From there, I want us to surface at about 100 feet every 30 minutes. This will give your body time to acclimate and relieve the excess pressures within your tissues. We have 1.5 hours mainstream breathing medium, and another 2 hours of surfacing medium. Take it slow and easy."

"What happens if I just bob to the surface?" Tony asked as he started setting the dial on his vest.

Coom's snorting laugh, "Well, odds are good that you would explode from internal turgid pressures ... unless you did some mighty fancy pressurization of your suit."

A chill runs down Tony's spine as he carefully adjusted the dial on the floatation vest. He felt it begin to slowly inflate. He started to rise from the ocean floor and hovered about 10 feet. Coom joined him there and pointed up. They both began to slowly rise as they talked about what they had seen and the aircraft they had discovered. Coom showed Tony that the further they rose, the more adjustments he had to make to the floatation vest as the pressure lessened ... it required less gas to achieve the same floatation. Tony felt a real sense of accomplishment, he had just made his Master's Deep Dive Rating on a new type of equipment he had never used before. This was turning out to be the very best vacation ever.

Coom and Tony had finally reached the top. They were about a half mile from the ship upon surfacing. Their beacons gave the Argonaut their exact position for pickup. It only took a few more minutes before Tony and Coom stood on the deck. There were several hands undoing the thumb nuts that held Tony's helmet on.

Just before the seal broke, Tony heard Coom say, "Don't be upset, but when the helmet comes off ... You probably need to kneel down."

Tony had just enough time to respond, "Why's that?"

The seal came loose and the remaining clear/gold liquid ran out as they lifted his helmet off. Tony attempted to take a breath and suddenly felt the over powering urge to ... puke. Tony was unable to help himself as he knelt down and puked, coughed, and gagged several times. There was a large amount of the Clear/Gold liquid that came from his lungs each time he heaved. After the 3rd time, Tony stayed on his knees as he gasped and regained his strength. Tony looked up in time to see Coom's helmet come off. Tony felt a wave of pleasure rush through him when he saw Coom go through the same reaction before he could draw first breath. The 2 men stayed on their knees for several minutes, with Coom recovering first and standing up. Coom walks over to Tony and pats him on his head.

Coom says, "Very well done. You're the best student I've had in a long, long time. Now, we have to start planing the dive to the wreck in the Abyssal. It's 2ice as deep as the one we just went on ... and we will be taking several hours more breathing medium with us. It will be a bit richer in helium, and the pressure will be almost a ton per square inch. Do nothing in a hurry ... any breach of the suit at that depth is fatal."

Before Tony could do anything but nod, Coom walked to the other side of the large deck and had another deck hand help him remove his suit. It was late afternoon, but the semi-tropical sun this close to the Bahamas was still very intense. Tony could feel the sweat beginning to form and run down his body.

Tony says in a gasping voice, "Can someone help me out of this thing? It's super hot."

Several deck hands came up and helped Tony from the suit. Michelle came up to him with a large towel, and a ice pack. She handed the ice pack to Tony as she dried him off. Tony kisses Michelle softly as he gives her cute hinny a squeeze. Michelle giggles as she wiggles out of his grasp, causing her cute bare breasts to jiggle in Tony's face. He knew right away that she was super proud of him because of this dive and really wanted to reward him in her special way. Tony could see Coom standing by a plotting table in the cabin ... and knew playtime would have to wait.

Tony kisses Michelle one more time, "Ok, sweetie, we have to wait for playtime until later."

Michelle pokes out her bottom lip in an adorable way, "Hurry sweetie, if you wait too long ... I'm gonna rape you."

She walks off with a wonderful jiggle in her hinny as she hangs the towel off of her index finger. The deck crews were all laughing and cat calling as she enters another room and vanishes from site. All red faced, Tony enters the cabin with Coom to begin planning the deepest and most dangerous dive he had ever been on.

Tony entered the room and walked up next to Coom with an uncomfortable shrug. Coom laughs and says softly, "I guess we better make this quick ... huh? Seems you have a young woman that's about to do you in."

Tony replies with a light embarrassed undertone, "Yea, right. I would hate to think I would miss that too."

Both men looked at each other for a second before Coom lowered his head and pointed to a topography map of the Abyssal wall on the Bahama side. Tony looked for a few seconds before he realized what the scale was actually telling him. His eyes get big in surprise as he looks at Coom.

Tony says with surprise, "I thought you said the shelf was in about 500 feet of water?" Coom smiles. Tony Continues, "This scale says the shelf is in 2500 feet of water."

Coom nods his head slowly as he replies, That's right ... and their are other dangers to contend with."

Tony asked, "Oh, really? Like pressures so great they crush Nuclear Subs? I think you said several tons per square inch ... didn't you?"

Coom nods as he asks, "Have you ever heard of a Kraken, by chance?"

Tony lets out a snorting laugh, "Oh, so now there's a mythical monster guarding the wreck is it. This sounds more like a fairy tale than a serious dive."

Coom replies sharply, "The myth of the Kraken has been made to seem unreal and lots of trash added to the story ... just like the stone we're looking for now. Within the myth is the real monster however."

"Oh, really?" replies Tony as he begins to rethink his disbelief. He does remember that there is a rather large species of squid that live around Madagascar ...

Coom turns around and runs his finger over a shelf of books until he comes to a rather large black bound one. He removes it from the shelf and places it in the middle of the table, open to a particular page. On that page, it showed a picture of about a dozen men standing next to a squid that was larger than an Attack Submarine. The men looked like insects in comparison.

Coom says softly, "That, is one of the small ones. They can get large enough to take down a full grown Sperm Whale. There have been some whales taken by harpooners that had suction scars bigger than a bus located all over their bodies ... not to mention beak scars almost as large."

Tony says with surprise, "Beak scars? You mean those monsters have beaks?"

Coom nods as he thumbs through several pages and shows another picture of a squid with its arms open, revealing a very nasty looking beak.

Coom says, "Those things are basically water jet propelled predators ... and they are fast and efficient. As a rule, no diver has actually been accosted by one on purpose, but a few have been attacked by accident. The men that lived ... regretted the encounter for the rest of their lives."

Tony looks at Coom in shock. He hadn't counted on having to battle one the most feared mythical creatures in this adventure. As he thought about it, however, he realized that it sort of had to be. He was looking for the fabled Stone of Eternal Infants, so therefore it stood to reason that another fabled creature should be guarding it.

Coom puts his arm around Tony and says cheerily, "Don't worry over the small stuff. There are pleanty of artifacts down there that will keep you busy for a while. We will be taking 24 hours of breathing medium ... which is the max. There is an emergency system within the pack that can help keep us alive should something happen and we can't return within that time limit. It removes oxygen from the surrounding water and uses internal scrubbers to remove the carbon dioxide contamination. It's not as efficient as normal and the CO2 levels will be rather high, but we won't suffocate ... although we might get a tad chilly until we get to shallower water. The system will begin to bubble then ... which could prove an issue ... it usually attracts ... things."

Tony shrugs, "So? As far as I can tell, there are critters all around anyway that might think we are a good snack."

Both men laugh as Tony puts his finger on the image of the deep shelf.

Tony says, "It will be completely black at that depth ... and near freezing. If we're down more than a few hours, how does the suit supply electrical power for the heaters, scrubbers, and spots? I would think normal batteries would expire rather quickly."

Coom replies, "That's true, but this time, we won't be relying on just batteries. The suit has a completely self contained Hydrogen Fuel Cell that will supply more than enough electricity for 2 years. Since we only have 24 hours ... that should be adequate."

Tony laughs, "So, you came with all the neat little toys. Do you think we'll find anything interesting?"

Coom nods, "There's plenty of Gold and Silver Bullion we can collect and put in the retrieval basket. I'm sure ... we will be a whole lot richer when we head back to the Keys than when we arrived at the Abyssal."

Tony smiles to himself. He truly hopes to be a whole lot richer and to have Michelle come along for the ride.

Tony asks, "When will we get there?"

Coom replies, "Sometime really late tonight. We should start prepping the suits and getting ready for the dive."

Tony and Coom walk from the cabin and begin to charge the breathing liquid, repacking the scrubber filter cans, and insuring the Fuel Cells were properly charged and ready for action.

-------------------------------------------
~~ End Pt2 ~~
-------------------------------------------



~~ Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt3 - Into the Abyss ~~

Coom and Tony finally completed the preps for the deep dive. Tony was excited to his soul over doing it ... not only was it the deepest dive he had ever done, but this was perhaps one of the deepest free dives mankind had attempted. The new equipment was kind of daunting ... especially the initial drowning he had to go through before the dive ... but the thought of those huge Squid roaming around in the darkness made his skin crawl even worse.

Tony walked into his cabin and sees Michelle all wrapped up in the spread. He smiles, thinking she was fast asleep. He went in the bathroom and set the Environment Chamber to hard rain. He wanted a pounding massage to remove all the stickiness the residual Hydron on his skin caused and to relieve the tension of the labors he and Coom had done.

Tony steps into the hard driving shower. He sighed a relief. The water was cool and refreshing, coupled with the way it pulsed made him tingle as it revived his tired muscles. Unseen by Tony. Michelle peeks her head in the door and slips quietly back out. She had taken his clothes, and anything else he migh use to cover up with ... she didn't want him dressed when he came back into the room.

Tony lathered up well and washed with the neutral smelling soap Coom had provided. It didn't leave anything on the skin that could be soluble in water. He stepped from the chamber and slid the door closed as he grabbed for a towel. He realized it was missing. He looked around. He noticed his undies were missing too. He snorted a short laugh as he walked from the shower into the room.

Michelle was suddenly there. She was dressed in a very sexy semitransparent black babydoll nighty with string bikini panties, a pair of black sof sox booties, and had her long golden hair done in ponytails. She knelt down in front of Tony on the very thick carpet and took his manhood gently in her hands. She caresses it very lovingly. Tony gasps as the intense sensations rush all through him and his manhood immediately begins to harden.

Michelle says in her very cute voice, "I'm so proud of you sweet heart." she gave the throbbing tip of his penis a soft sucking kiss, "I waited all afternoon to reward you for a job very well done."

With this, she licks his hard shaft on the rib on the bottom from his gonads to its tip. All Tony could do was shiver. Michelle took her wonderfully wiggly tongue and circled the tip of his thing, before taking it in her mouth. Tony had chills all over him by this time as he felt her tongue flick across the head of his thing as she sucked passionately. Tony's knees get very weak. He has to lean against a wall as Michelle makes it her mission to make him cum as quickly as she possibly could. Tony couldn't help himself as he felt it building in him. Michelle has his throbbing meat down her throat and is bobbing her head when he explodes. He gasps loudly as he squirts down Michelle's throat.

After Tony finishes and is standing there panting, she slowly takes his penis from her mouth in a very slow, intense suck that causes electric surges to run up and down Tony's spine. He almost collapses in the floor on top of Michelle his knees became so weak.

Michelle giggles like a little girl, "Did big and handsome man enjoy Michelle?"

Tony couldn't speak, all he could do is nod his head. Michelle giggles softly once again as she takes him by the hand and leads him to the large comfortable bed. While Tony climbs into bed, Michelle does a very graceful strip for Tony ... allowing him to see all of her in her most beautiful glory. When she was totally nude, she climbs in bed and wiggles on top of Tony. She takes his still hard member and slips it into her cute hairless and very wet and wiggly slit. As she sits, she pants softly and sqeaks adorably. Of course her tight wiggly vagina drove Tony completely insane as she did this.

Michelle says softly in a sweet breathless gasp, "Baby, I'm so horny ... I hope you enjoy this."

Michelle begins to ride Tony like a wild bronco. He has never had any woman have sex with him this passionately. Michelle finally settles on top of him after many long minutes of wild pounding. Tony's eyes get huge as she begins to undulate her hips and squeeze her cagle muscles deep in her vagina. He is trapped as he looses control of himself for the very first time in his life. All Tony knows until he is cumming very hard one more time ... is he was totally in heaven and Michelle was the angel that took him there.

As the 2 of them lay breathless in each other arms kissing softly, Tony asks, "Michelle, would you marry me?"

Michelle's eyes get big as she gasps softly, "OMG! Are ... are you serious?"

Tony nods as he says softly, "I've never been more serious of anything in my life."

Michelle lets out a wonderfully joyous squeak as she wraps her arms around Tony's neck and replies, "Yes! I absolutely will!"

The 2 of them truly enjoy each other as the night slowly ... and magically passes.

The next morning came much too quickly. Tony awakens to a horrible buzzing sound. He opened his eyes in time to see Michelle roll over and push the intercom button.

Coom's voice rings out cheerily, "Ok, you 2 sleepy headed love birds, time to rise and shine. We have a long, deep dive coming in a little while and it's time to suit up. Just put on your bathing suit and a T shirt. Meet you on the fan tail in 20 minutes."


Michelle stretches and shows off her cute little pointy boobies before she rolls over and kisses Tony softly and lovingly on his lips.

She purrs sexily, "Make me proud sweet heart ... there's more of last night waiting for you when you get back."

She kisses Tony one more time before she gets from the bed completely nude and walks to the bathroom with that most wonderful wiggle she has in her cute hinny. Tony sits mesmerized until Michelle shut the door and breaks the spell. Tony shakes his head to clear the cobwebs. It is so wonderful that he managed to come on this adventure. If nothing else ... he had found the largest treasure of his life ... Michelle.

Tony springs from bed and pulled open one of the drawers in the wall. He takes from it a pair of tighty whities and a pair of Navy Blue crew shorts and a white T shirt. By the time Tony had put his clothes on, Michelle returned to the room wearing just the tie on string bikini bottoms she usually wore. She was now sprouting a very deep golden brown tan ... her hair had started to bleach out a bright white from the sun.

Tony stopped only long enough to hug and kiss her one more time, before the 2 of them left the cabin hand in hand. Coom was waiting for them when they arrived on the fan tail. The suits looked different this time. The floatation vest was replaced by another kind of attachment. Tony bent over and examined it. This was the hydrogen power cell and the oxygen extractor. Tony nodded, it was the emergency equipment to insure they had enough of the essentials at depth.

He checked the heliox content of the Hydron tanks on his suit to insure they were still properly charged. Tony smiles as his meter indicated instead of 24 hours mixture, it was indicating 36 hours. That was fine by him ... any extra breathing mixture was welcome. He also checked the output potential of the fuel cell ... it was reading it had a 2 year supply of potential and its fuel tank was fully charged.

Tony realized someone had walked up. He turns and sees 2 deck hands behind him. One, picks up the suit and begins undoing the thumb screws holding the helmet on, the other went to the very stern of the ship and began lowering 2 cables with a mesh platform attached. Tony stepped into the neck opening of the suit as soon as the deck hand had removed the helmet. He wiggles and squirms his way into the hot suit. It was still early in the morning, but the sun was hot.

Tony saw 2 other deck hands helping Coom into his suit. They were already tightening the thumb screws on the helmet and attaching the supply and return hoses to its back. Tony's helmet was placed over his head. The deck hands began tightening the thumb screws around his helmet just in time for him to watch Coom drown. He took it remarkably better than Tony thought he would. Tony could hardly tell anything out of the ordinary had happened.

Tony felt the coolness of the Hydron as the fluid began to enter his suit and fill. He felt it as it rose above his ears and over his eyes. As quick as he could, he took a deep, but labored breath and filled his lungs with the cool liquid. He had the urge to cough for just a second, but this time ... he went through the drowning a whole lot better than the first time.

As Tony stood, 3 deck hands approached him with a weird kind of backpack attachment. It looked like a half chair with 2 joystick type handles attached by thick cables. They hooked it onto the back of his suit and threaded the cables around until they reached a spot on his glove that the joystick actually attached.

Tony heard Coom say in the high pitched synthesized voice the suit produced, "That, is a hydro jet propulsion unit to aid in maneuvering while we are down there. It's deep, extremely cold, and we will be under tons of pressure. I want to remind you to move slow, and that any damage to the suit will be excruciatingly painful ... and fatal. Ready? Let's go."

Tony followed Coom to the elevator at the stern of the ship and stepped on. They both were equipped exactly the same. Coom handed Tony a large woven bag. Tony looked at it for a few seconds before looking back at Coom.

Coom explained, "That bag is for you to pick up anything that looks interesting. There are several long carbon fiber cables dropped to depth as well. Attached to them, is the carry basket we are going to load as much bullion on as we can carry. The other 2 are there to raise us back to the surface. At that depth, a floatation vest would be almost useless. We would have to pump several tons of pressure into it to make it work ... which would probably cause it to rupture."

Coom presses the button that lowered them both into the water. Tony looks down between his feet. He can see the shelf off to one side that makes the wall to the drop off into the Abyss. He looks down into the darkness below ... and wonders what this day's adventure will bring.

He hears Coom say, "Take hold of one of those cables, Use it to regulate your decent."

Tony obeys and grabs one of the cables. He can feel the texture of it somewhat as it slowly slips through his thickly gloved hand. He watches as the shelf passes off to one side, then the cliff wall leading down into the darkness below. He feels the pressure as it begins to mount. He has to take deep breaths to counter the feeling of being squeezed. Tony looks down just in time to see a very large shark swim lazily by. There are schools of very brightly colored fish every where. Tony is amazed as he saw Coom apparently petting a 9 foot Moray Eel. It was docile as any kitten.

Tony says with awe in his tone, "Coom, I thought those things were ... vicious."

Coom replies, "They are. They also like to have their ... head patted like any other creature."

Both men laugh as Tony sees Coom offer the eel something to eat, which it takes quickly and darts off like a flash. Tony looks down between his feet at the inky blackness below. He realizes that it's getting to be rather dusky now, He looks at the depth meter on his wrist and is amazed to see they are almost 190 feet below the surface. He looks back towards the surface. All he sees is a dim glow. All around them, some kind of white stuff seems to constantly flutter past like snow flakes. Tony sees a large school of Rock Prawn quickly swim past. They were huge ... almost 20 inches long and about the size of small lobsters.

At 250 feet, Tony turns on 1 of the lamps attached to his helmet. He looks down between his feet and sees something ... a sort of creamy gray flash past. Then another, only this one was a bit larger flash than the last. Tony saw Coom take something from his side that had been attached. He realizes with a jolt, it's high energy spear gun with an explosive head.

Tony asks with concern, "What's up? Why the heavy armor?"

Coom's reply, "There's a swarm of large squid hunting those Prawn we saw a bit ago. One just slipped under us .. it was 35 feet long from tail to tip of its tentacles as best as I could tell in this dim light."

Tony felt fear rush through him as he realized those flashes of gray... were one single squid as it passed catching the light on different parts of its body. Tony reaches around to the spot he had seen Coom retrieve the weapon. To his relief ... there was one there for him too. He unclipped it and held it in his hands. It made him feel .... a bit better.

For most of the decent, Tony felt that weird feeling they were being watched and followed. He had turned on the 2nd light on his helmet. but the water was so ebony black, it absorbed it quickly and didn't afford a very large view of the area. Tony also noticed, Coom was acting very jumpy.

Tony said, "Hey. Coom."

"Yea, whacha want?"

"Do those ... Kraken eat ... people?"

Coom didn't answer right away. Finally he replies, "As big as they are ... I think they eat pretty much anything they want."

That didn't reassure Tony in anyway.

After 2 hours more of decent, Tony finally saw the shelf that was their destination. In the light created by their spots as they approached, Tony began to make out more and more detail of the area. He saw the mesh platform that had been lowered earlier sitting next to what looked like the aft section of a buried hulk. After a few more feet of decent, Tony realized the ship had been broken in half by something. The stern was sitting to one side as the bow was on its side very close to the edge of the Abyss. He also began to make out the debris field. There were many weird shapes his mind couldn't tell him what were lying every where. He also saw many small sparkles of silver and gold scattered everywhere.

Coom releases his hold on the large fiber cable and free falls onto the plateau. He lands in a small cloud of silt and debris. Tony did the same and lands in much the same manner a few yards away. Tony sees Coom take the high energy spear gun in his hands and slowly turn 360 Degrees.

Tony asks, "What's up chief?"

Coom again doesn't answer right away as he appears to be looking for something.

Finally Coom replies with real concern in his voice, "At your right side is a spear gun like this one. I suggest you unhook it and keep it ready."

Tony says, "I did that long time ago." as he holds it out in front of him.

Coom walks to the edge of the precipice and looks over, "We are being stalked I think ... or maybe hunted. There are ... several of those monsters hovering around. They've been with us since we hit 190 feet."

Tony feels apprehension run its tingling fingers down his spine in a cold chill. Tony also did a 360 and looked carefully at every thing. He was closest to the stern of the wreck, and Tony could see the places Coom had already salvaged when he was here last.

Coom says, "Stay aleart and keep your eyes open. As large as the Kraken Squid are, just their being curious of our lights ... can cause issues. Remember .... any damage to the suit is fatal at this pressure."

Tony walks to the stern of the wreck stirring up a small cloud of silt as he shuffled his feet. The going was slow like this and he wanted to explore. He flips the switch on the hydro jet pack and takes hold of the joy stick. He pushes on the thumb toggle. He feels the surge of lift as he is swiftly taken off his feet and propelled foreword at a rapid pace. Tony quickly lets go of the thumb toggle ... the thrust ebbs away and he settles gracefully back on the shelf floor once again. He is impressed with the technology.

He once again pushes the thumb toggle forward and allows it to carry him towards the stern. Tony isn't a historian nor an archeologist, so he's not real sure what kind of ship this used to be. In his mind he conjures up a Phonetician battle ship or something. In the hold, the cargo was mostly still intact ... except for the obvious places Coom had been and taken things. Tony sees a moldering, crusty box that in its day had to be rather ornate. He trudges over to it in a small cloud of silt and kneels down as best he could.

He had a bag of simple tools at his waist. He reaches in and removes a small flat wrecking bar and puts it under the edge of the box. It yielded very quickly and some of it crumbled into more silt that spread out in a wave across the floor. Tony knew he would have to be very careful ... many of the floor boards had to be in similar condition.

Within the box, were stacks of what appeared to be thin stone tablets that used to be strung together in a type of book. on both sides of the tablets were strange markings and some simple line drawings. One ... was obviously a map of some sort. Tony carefully gathered them and placed them in the large woven bag Coom had given him earlier. There was plenty of gold and silver trinkets every where. Tony was in exploration heaven as he contemplated his next best selling Video Game based on this kind of diving.

Tony and Coom worked for several hours gathering objects. The large mesh platform held many kinds of artifacts. Amphorae, small corroded metal boxes encrusted with precious stones, and lots of silver and gold objects ... including many large boxes of gold and silver coins. Tony knew they were extremely wealthy at this point in just the trinkets ... the gold and silver coins put them way over his wildest dreams of wealth.

Tony heard Coom yell. He felt more than heard the explosion as the over pressure propagated through the water. Tony quickly engaged his hydro jet and left the stern. When he came out free and clear to navigate, he saw a large spreading mass of white gray debris and what looked like might be blood. Slowly sinking into the deep abyss was a squid the size of the Argonaut ... with a huge gaping hole next to its eye. Tony could see flashes of pasty white gray off in the dimness beyond their spots. This time, they were recurring .... and seemed to be passing back and forth very fast.

Coom backed towards the bow of the hulk quickly as situations allowed as extremely large shadows began appearing near where the squid had been killed. Tony wondered if squid had feeding frenzies same as sharks.

Coom said with authority, "Tony, quick .... find some kind of cover ... it's gonna get sticky for a while."

By this time, Tony was closer to the bow than the stern portion of the hulk. He pushed the thumb toggle all the way forward and zoomed off towards it at full speed. Just before he arrived, he released the thumb toggle and made a perfect landing.

Coom remarked as he backed into the shadows of the over turned bow with Tony, "Very good. Now I suppose you want me to give you a pilot's license."

Both men snort a derisive laugh.

Tony says, "Too bad we don't have some means to turn off these spots and still see in this dark."

Coom replies, "We actually do, just don't have that particular face plate mounted."

Both men stumble as clouds of silt and debris begin to scatter all around them. The hulk had moved sharply closer towards the deep darkness of the abyss. To Tony's left, a huge tear rips through the hull as he sees a beak the size of a bus rip through the ancient, rotten wood.

Tony says with fear, "Coom! We have ... problems."

Coom replies sarcastically, "You think? And what ever gave you that idea?"

Tony replies in the same tone, "I think that beak the size of a truck off to the left did it for me ... what you think?"

Coom turns in time to see the beak gouge through the rotten planks one more time, leaving a shower of splintered wood and silt floating every where. Through the large gouges, it was plain something very large had hold of this part of the hulk. In its frenzy, Tony and Coom could feel the bow section moving. The water all around had become cloudy with silt and other residue. In a near panic of going over the precipice and plunging into the dark depths of the abyss, Tony raises his weapon as the creature opens its beak one more time. Tony fires down its throat. There is a huge explosion ... the bow section takes a tumble and comes to rest seemingly on solid ground one more time. Coom and Tony stand back up and examine their suits ... both were grateful no damage could be found.

For long moments ... nothing happens. Tony and Coom look at each other for a second before Coom says, "Not a bad shot ... for an amateur."

Tony replies, "Right ... and it seems it was as good as the one you did."

Coom says, "You're right ... it was. I'm going to take a gander out and see if I can see anything."

Tony says, "I'm coming with you ... just in case."

Coom gives Tony a thumbs up as he holds the weapon at the ready in front of him. He slowly walks towards the broken open end of the bow section with Tony close behind. As they slowly leave the safety of the hulk, they can see a huge Kraken Squid off to one side, with an extremely large hole blown in the side of its body. It's still in its death throws as it thrashes around, stirring up large clouds and making the cloudy water even more murky.

Tony turns and looks back towards the bow section. It had moved about 125 feet closer to the precipice. It had stopped moving and lodged itself firmly between a large outcropping of rock. If that hadn't happened, Tony and Coom would have been on an express elevator to the deep ebony darkness of the Abyss. Tony feels a shiver run through his body once again at the thought.

Tony says, "It's a shame we can't bring one of those monsters back and have it mounted."

Coom points, "I think ... we might be able to bring that one back ... as long as his buddies don't try and stop us."

Tony thinks about it for a few seconds before replying, "No, I don't want to attract any more of those monsters if I can help it."

Both men look around, they can still see random flashes of one passing quickly off in the dimness almost out of their spots.

Coom says, "You might be right. They have retreated off a distance ... but I'm not sure how long that will last. We need to get our shit together and leave."

Tony looks at the mesh platform. It was loaded with artifacts, boxes, Amphorae, and bullion.

Tony says, "We have enough ... lets go."

Coom gives a thumbs up as he engages his Hydro jet and floats quickly in that direction. Tony takes one more look around before following. Once both men found a place to sit on top of the artifacts, Coom presses the return button. The platform slowly begins to rise, leaving a large trail of silt and small debris marking their passage.

As the light fades from the deep plateau, Tony sees the largest Squid he has ever laid eyes on come from the darker shadows. The size of the thing was beyond belief ... like the one Poseidon had caged near Herculaneum ... and, according to stories .... destroyed the city in the end. Tony couldn't believe his eyes as the tendrils spread across the silty plateau and took hold of the smaller dead Kraken, and pulled it off into the abyss. Until it began to lighten from above, Tony feared it would come and take them. He was sure not even the exploding heads on the weapons could stop it.

It took several hours for them to break surface. Tony was happier than he had ever been. He jumped from the mesh platform onto the deck. The weight of the suit almost buckled his knees, but he managed to catch himself. Many deck hands swarmed the fantail helping unload the artifacts from the platform in well rehearsed order. 2 hands came up to Tony and helped him to a large chair where they made him sit.

Tony felt it as the circulation of the Hydron ceased and the pressure dropped. One of the hands began undoing the thumb screws from around his collar and removed his helmet. The gold liquid drained out onto the deck ... as Tony bends over and gags ... the same as last time. Once his lungs were clear, he took a long gasping breath of the hot , salty air of the surface. Michelle stood next to the entrance to the cabin and waves as she blew kisses. Tony smiles. He was more alive now than he had ever been. Especially when one of the large boxes broke open and spilled several hundred pounds of Gold Coins onto the deck. Work stopped for a few minutes as everyone got over the shock. When Coom's had his helmet off, he walked over to Tony who was stepping out of the hot suit.

Coom said softly, "We are richer than Bill Gates or ... one of the oil sheiks. As long as we are willing to brave those monsters ... there's a whole lot more for the taking. And just so you know ... I'm the only one knows where it is ... and has the equipment to retrieve it."

Tony looks up at Coom as he pats him on the shoulder. Tony laughs and shakes his head ... he had just faced a mythical monster ... even killed one ... and came back to tell the tail. Today ... has been a good day.

---------------------------------------------
~~ End - Pt3 ~~
---------------------------------------------



---------------------------------------------
Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt4 - Search for Immortality
--------------------------------------------

Coom had the Argonaut set course for a lazy cruise back to the Florida Keys. There was enough booty taken from the wreck this time around to keep them busy for a while. Tony sat in the soft, low built chair like a kid on Christmas morning as he rummaged through the many artifacts.

Between Coom and Tony, they had scavenged almost 4 tons of gold, silver, and other relics from their dark watery grave. Tony was most interested in the thing he had found and put in the dive bag. He opened the bag and removed the many tablets ... one at a time. He counted them to insure none would get misplaced. He had 36 tablets of line carvings ... and language ... and even carved pictures. Who ever made this took great artistic care.

Coom came over and looked over Tony's shoulder for a few seconds before he said, "I have a similar set of tablets back at the dive shop. Mine only had 4 tablets though. It was basically a short tail of how the Lapidem Infinitum Infans had come to be given to man by the gods."

Tony replies as he cleans the grime carefully from the stone in his hand, "Do you have a way we can translate these things? I would at least like to know what it says."

Coom's eyes get big as he sees what was carved in this particular stone. Once Tony had removed the grim and the very finely carved lines could be seen, it was an almost perfect map of the tip of Florida all the way to Key West. The shapes were slightly different that a current map, but if the 2 maps were lain side by side, there would be no mistaking what this was.

Coom says with excitement, "Can I hold that for a minute?"

Tony replies as he hands the tablet over, "Sure."

Coom takes the tablet in his hands and runs his fingers gently over the engravings on its surface.

A large smile crosses his face as he says, "This tablet is the missing piece I needed to pin point the place the stone is supposedly hidden." Coom taps one of the depictions of a large island at the end of the chain, "This, is Key West as it looked when ever this tablet was carved." He moved his finger towards the very end of that island's carving, "This, is the approximate location of the Truman Annex Naval Air Station. If I'm not mistaken, there's a sinkhole nearby ... which indicates some kind of underground aquifer. Sinkholes are created by the land above a flowing water source collapsing after the limestone has been washed away."

Coom stands and rubs his head for a few minutes before climbing the stairs and entering the Bridge. Tony follows, bringing the rest of the tablets with him. Tony turns and looks over the large expanse of the Argonaut’s fantail before entering the bridge. Scattered all over, were many hundreds of artifacts, gold and silver coins of many sizes, amphorae still with intact seals, and many other things. Tony knew the people on this ship were carrying all this as cargo to prove where they had been so someone could make a return trip one day.

As Tony enters the Bridge, he saw Coom by the plotting table opening a map and clipping it down at the edges and covering it with the clear plastic plotting board so it wouldn't curl up. Tony watched in fascination as Coom plotted a course and drew red, blue, and black lines on the plastic covering protecting the map. After several minutes of furious mapping, he laughs.

Coom looks up and sees Tony standing near by with the mesh diving bag in his hand. Coom turns and removes a very large book from a rack across the bridge and brings it back to the plotting table.

Coom says, "Bring the rest of those tablets over here," He opens the very large and heavy book, "I think we need to translate those things as soon as possible."

Tony carefully empties all the tablets onto the plotting table as Coom begins to clean them with a soft cloth used to erase plot lines. Each tablet had 3 holes on the leading edge. To Coom's and Tony's amazement, the thick 3 ring binder Coom had picked up, had its rings in exactly the right location to load all the tablets in and keep them in a semblance of a book.

Coom was able to translate quicker that Tony because of having done so with several other artifacts recovered from the first time he had combed the wreck. From what the 2 men discovered, there was apparently and exposed coral cave about half mile off shore from the Air Station. There were references to several Indian tribes ... one named the Guancha.

Coom's eyebrows went up in surprise as he read that name. He said, "Tony," he points to the translated name, "Those are the same Indians that occupy the Canarus Islands today. They also tell stories of the fountain of youth."

Tony replies, "Seems I recall a place in the history books where the Spanish came ashore there ... as soon as they learned each other's language enough they could effectively communicate, they wanted to know if the Spanish were from the valley and survived the great flood. The Spanish were shocked to find out the valley was a very deep underwater canyon just off the coast. They did discover a Temple there under 200 feet of water not very many years ago."

Coom cleans another tablet with warm soapy water and a cloth. As the grime came off the stone, it told that the coral cave where the orb had been placed so many centuries ago, was made into a temple and holy place by the Tribe of Alaxian Indians that lived near by on a small island to the SW. Coom knew the location. It was a very good place to find groupers, lobsters, and shark. As he thought about it, it probably was an island many centuries ago when the oceans were lower.

Coom says with excitement, "I know exactly where this sunken island is today. It's only about half mile off of the place this sunken cave is. If I'm not mistaken, the water there shouldn't be over 125 feet. We could do it in a regular free dive, although we will have to take precautions when surfacing to reduce issues with bends."

Tony nods as he picks up the last tablet and cleans the grim from its face. His eyes get big as he sees a perfect carving of a sphere, sitting in the gushing spray of a fountain. From the looks of the carving, it was a rendition of the final resting place of the Lapidem Infinitum Infans. Tony couldn't believe it ... not only did it appear that the stone was a real artifact, but they just might find the stupid thing.

He had another thought ... what happens if this is for real .... and they all get turned into children? Tony remembered the comment Coom had made to the older woman at the Air terminal. Tony glances at Coom ... so it would seem Coom thought it was real and they had a really good chance of finding it too. Tony felt a slight bit better knowing that there was an autopilot feature on the Argonaut that would return it to its home port if there were problems.

Time passed quickly as everyone opened, inspected, cataloged, and stored all the items retrieved from the wreck. Tony had a lot of fun doing it ... and came to know that Michelle was very knowledgeable as well as Angelically beautiful. Tony and Michelle became inseparable as they worked together long into the night completing the task ... then playing with each other the rest of the time.

Early one morning, after months of searching off the coast of Key West, that horrible buzzing started once again. Tony rolls over groggily and punches the answer button.

Coom's cherry voice came through, "Good morning. I do so hope you love bugs had fun ... but we have arrived at the probable location of the coral cave. I have found a place that may be what we're looking for on side radar. I'm about to send a ROV down to get a clearer picture of what's down there. You should probably be here so we can plan the dive if this looks as promising as I think it does."

Tony takes a deep breath as he tries to shake the sleep from his tired body. He replies, "Give me a few minutes to get dressed and get a cup of coffee."

Coom replies, "See you in a few minutes."

Tony rolls over and kisses Michelle on her cheek. She blinks her eyes open and smiles as she reaches an arm around Tony.

She says in her cute voice, "Good morning. I want some more of what you gave me last night." She blushes an adorable pink.

Tony pats her cute nude hinny as he replies, "We have to get to the bridge right now. Coom has the possible location of the cave we have been looking for on radar and is about to send down a ROV."

Michelle's eyes got big as she jumped from bed, "I'll put on my bikini. I want to go with you."

Tony pulls on his shorts and a crew shirt as he watches Michelle wiggle into her string bikini bottoms. Tony walks to her and helps her tie the triangle top on as he kisses her ears. She squirms and gets goose bumps all over as she giggles like a little girl.

Tony says, "Come on, I have to get me a cup of coffee."

Michelle takes Tony's hand and leads him from the cabin. She says softly, "There's a big pot on the bridge."

The 2 of them enter the bridge in a loving lip lock. Coom looks up and says with a cheery laugh, "All right, no PDA on the bridge. The crew gets distracted too easily."

Michelle giggles as Tony replies, "Well, we wouldn't want them to get too distracted and put us on a submerged reef ... now would we?"

Several of the crew men look around intently at Tony as a wiry smile crosses their lips. Tony walks over to Coom who was holding out a very large cup of steaming hot coffee.

Coom says, "Look at these live images. Side Radar doesn't give the best pictures, but it is showing a submerged island. It's about 75 feet down to its highest point."

Tony walks closer as he takes the coffee from Coom and noisily takes a sip of the hot beverage. Michelle cuddles close as they all look at the images on the screen. Coom maneuvers the Radar view so they can see the fall off into deeper water.

Coom points, "There. See it?" Tony and Michelle lean closer for a better look, "It's those pillars the tablets spoke of I think."

Tony and Michelle look at the fuzzy return image for a few seconds as Coom expertly maneuvers the radar's aperture into a better position. There were in fact 2 large pillars of something standing up from the deep ... in front of a very dark place that appeared to be a regularly shaped smudge or false return.

There are shouts, whines of electrical motors, and metallic clanking noises from the fan tale. Tony looks out the door of the bridge in time to see a crane's boom and the ROV as it passed. He watched as the crew slowly lowered it into the water and released it from the crane. Coom picked up what looked for the world like a game controller and turned on a 47 inch flat screen monitor. The pictures from the ROV were crystal clear.

Tony and Michelle watched in fascination as Coom Expertly piloted the ROV down to the place the pillars were. This time, they could tell that they were carved stone, covered with many years of coral and other sea growth.

Michelle says with astonishment, "Those look like the pillars in front of the Great Pyramid in Giza ... if they were cleaned up a bit."

Coom nods agreement, "And, if I'm not mistaken ..." Coom does a wiggle and squirm in place as he maneuvers the ROV around between the pillars, "That, is a carved entrance to the cave described in the tablets ... wouldn't you agree?"

On the large flat screen, Ocean plants swayed, coral stood in large branching towers, and many fish passed in large schools. Still, there was no mistaking the carved arch way, the letters and pictograms carved into the stone that were almost hidden by many centuries of ocean growth and weathering. It was obviously a large carved door way that fit the exact descriptions from the tablets Tony had retrieved from the wreck at the Abyss.

Tony gasps incredulously, "Wow, this last 3 months of searching paid off finally."

Coom replies with a shrug and roll of his head, "I didn't really think we were going to find anything. Most of these sunken atolls are dive spots and have been well explored. The Ocean is a large place ... so it would figure one hadn't yet been explored."

Coom does his best to bring the ROV to the entrance. As the nimble craft entered the cave, the pictures on the screen began to fill rapidly with static and distortion as the signal was blocked by ever increasing thicknesses of stone. The ROV did manage to go in far enough to discover the entrance didn't proceed directly into a large cavern, but instead was like a trap in a sink and had a goose neck. Because of the extremely weak signal and the expense of the custom made ROV ... Coom turned back and brought it back to the surface.

While the crew brought the ROV back on deck, Coom, Michelle, and Tony prepped for their next dive. It was still early in the morning and the sun had not yet risen high in the sky. There was just enough breeze to make it really pleasant for them as they gathered their dive equipment. Because this dive was less than 100 feet, no special gases or equipment was required. Coom did insist on Dive suits to protect them from the fire corals and other stinging critters, and the razor sharp rocks they may encounter. No one argued that point.

Coom went over the normal safety precautions for diving an unknown cave. Tony made sure he had enough underwater film and power for the camera to last for a week. He didn't want to miss anything on this particular dive.

As Tony and Michelle put on their dive equipment, Tony noticed Coom had gone to the bridge and done something to the Automated Ship controls, before returning and putting on his equipment.

Tony inquires, "What did you just do?"

Coom looks at Tony for a second as he adjusts his tank's harness straps, "As outrageously impossible as all this sounds ... something started the stories. We even found the actual place described it would seem. I don't want to have ... an accident and be left stranded out here. I set the ship's Auto Return System just in case. It will take us back to home port autonomously if the clock isn't reset within 15 hours."

Tony nods as he grabs his fins and tests the air regulator, "Sounds like a plan to me."

Michelle walks over to Tony and drapes herself over him and kisses him, "If it is real, I promise to be a good mommy to you until you grow back up."

Everyone laughs jovially. Tony pats Michelle on her hinny and gave it a gentel squeeze that makes her squeak adorably.

Tony replies as he kisses her back, "And I promise to be a good daddy to you until you grow back up ... then .. all bets are off."

More laughter as the 3 of them sit on the bench at the rear diver's elevator and put their fins on. Coom pushes the button and the elevator lowers them into the warm water. Tony takes Michelle's hand and slowly follows Coom into the depths.

Tony is amazed at the difference of the waters here as compared to those at the Abyss. Everywhere Tony looked, the warm waters teemed with life. Large schools of multicolored fish were everywhere. Large growths of corals sprouted from every conceivable place along with forests of tall seaweed slowly waving in the gentle currents. Tony saw off in the distance, several nurse sharks as they slowly prowled the sandy bottom looking for their next meal.

Tony didn't really pay much attention to how long it took them to get to the pillars ... and the dark doorway into the coral peak. He was totally enraptured to be with the girl he loved in such a wonderland as the waters around him proved to be. Tony was brought back to the present by a soft nudge from Michelle. He looks around and sees the Carved Stone Arch leading into Stygian darkness.

Coom removes a light from his utility belt and clicks it on. It proved to be extremely bright. Michelle and Tony followed suit and lit up the entire entry way. The carvings were unmistakably the same as the ones on the tablets ... and the prominent carvings on either side of the sphere in the fountain, made them positive this was the place. Tony felt a tingle of excitement run all through him. No one had been in this cave in thousands of years ... he hoped what he was searching for was there.

Carefully, the trio swam in, making sure they had plenty of distance so no one would get hung. Every few feet, Coom would place a marker on one side of the cave as Michelle placed another opposite. As long as the trackers on their wrists operated, they wouldn't get lost.

After moving about 150 yards in, they came to a place where the cave took a long drop. Tony pointed his light into the darkness below. The light was quickly swallowed up with no bottom in sight. Tony looked at his depth meter ... it read 45 feet. he hoped it didn't exceed 100 feet ... he wasn't sure if an hour of air was enough to return if it did. Slowly and carefully the trio descended. At 98 feet, the cave made another abrupt curve up. They followed it slowly until their heads broke surface. Apparently, the goose neck acted like a trap ... and kept the water out of the cavern.

They shone their lights all around the large cavern. It was very obvious this was a special place at one time. There were many carvings and writings everywhere. About 55 yards to their left was a small beach ... and another ornately carved doorway into the rock wall beyond.

The trio swam slowly over to the beach and walked out onto the sand. From deep beneath them in a dark crag, 2 red eyes opened and took notice of them as they left the water.

They removed their gear and placed it neatly against the wall as they examined the entry way. On both sides of this door, was a very detailed carving of the fountain with the sphere in the spray. Above the door showed a relief carving of old decrepit peoples wandering into the pool surrounding a fountain, and children and babies crawling from it on the other side. The 3 of them look at each other with incredulity.

Tony shines his light into the door to reveal another long hall. All along the walls of this hall were fire sconces. Apparently this hall was well lighted at one time. When they came to the end of the hall, it seemed to dead end into a solid wall with a deep carving of the fountain and sphere once again. Tony shown his light around on one side, as Coom inspected the other ... Michelle examined the carving. Tony, of course, filmed everything as well.

Michelle noticed a deeper than normal impression around the carving of the sphere. She pushes on the sphere carefully. There is a small click she could feel in her fingers. A deep grinding rumble that was more felt than heard begins. The 3 of them could feel the vibrations all through their bodies. Michelle quickly rushes up to Tony and hugs him tightly.

Coom says sharply, "What on earth did you do girl?"

She replies meekly above the sound, "I ... pushed the sphere in the carving on the wall."

Tony says excitedly as he points, "Look ... the wall .... it's ... it's opening!"

Amid small showers of debris, dirt, and small clouds of dust the door slowly splits slightly off center down the middle leaving the ornate carving of the fountain intact. It slowly slides into the rock on either side of the opening it left behind. There were many loud popping / whoosh sounds within and the large area on the other side of the door as the way lights brightly with many burning sconces. The very definite sound of running falling water can be plainly heard.

A chill of fear runs down Tony's spine as he feels chill bumps rise on his flesh. Michelle clings tightly to him as they enter the door. On the other side was a very large well lit round chamber. In the very center of the chamber was a large pool. In the very center of that ... was a very ornately carved fountain. Water gushed lively from a carved depiction of a flower at the top. Sitting in the very center of that carving, was a very black, porous sphere with the water rushing through it under artesian pressures.

Coom says softly, "The sphere .... kinda reminds me of a bucky ball."

Tony looks closely at the sphere. Sure enough, he could see the many Truncated Icosahedron shapes that made up the soccer ball shaped sphere. Tony counted ... just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Sure enough, it was made of twenty hexagons and twelve pentagons with an object that could be carbon at the apexes. Tony knew that Legends said it fell as a fiery meteor ... it was possible this is a pure form of Fullerene C60.

Michelle says softly above the splashing sounds of the fountain, "The fountain is beautiful. This place," she waves her arm around, "seems to have been made for a large crowd. I don't see any other types of markings or carvings of any kind besides the fountain itself."

Coom nods as he walks to the steps leading into the pool. The water was crystal clear and he could see the bottom of the pool perfectly. Coom dips his finger into the crystal clear cool water and then puts it in his mouth. The water was wonderfully cool and had a slightly sweet flavor. Coom felt a wonderful rush all through his body as he shivers. Goose flesh rises.

Tony gasps, "Coom, you ... you just lost all your gray hair ... it's now light brown."

Michelle's eyes get large as she says, "It's true, even your complexion has changed. You look like your in your late 20's again."

Coom bends and looks at his reflection in the sparkling water. To his total amazement, he did look like he was in his 20's again. A new vigor seemed to fill him as the small aches and pains from his many injuries over the years were gone.

Coom turns with amazement on his face, "It's ... it's true!" he exclaimed, "We found the actual Fountain of Youth!"

Tony had filmed the whole thing. He ran it back and watched it on the LC display part of the camera along with Coom and Michelle. There was no mistaking what happened after Coom placed his finger in his mouth as they watched it happen in real time once again. None of them ... least of all Coom ... could believe it.

Coom says, "It appears that the water must be ingested before it does its thing. According to the tablets, it's the sphere that imparts the miracle to the water as it washes through it."

Tony nods in understanding as he wades slowly out in the knee deep water towards the fountain. His skin tingles wonderfully as he reaches into the sparkling spray and retrieves the sphere. It's remarkably light in his hands as he removes it from its centuries old resting place. By this time, Tony's skin over his whole body tingled wonderfully as it lost all its age related issues and became soft and pliant as any baby's. He hadn't gotten any younger, but his skin and hair had ... it was remarkable.

Michelle had many thoughts running through her mind. They came fast and furious. So many and so fast in fact, she had become dizzy and confused as to what she was really thinking. She had many emotions running through her with a passion she had only experienced with Tony.

Here it was .... the real deal. The actual fountain spoken of in so many myths and legends. She had seen the immediate results when Coom had lost 20 years in a flash right in front of her. She ran her hands over her young shapely body. The dream of every female was less than 10 feet away. Eternal youth. To be young and beautiful for Tony ... for all eternity.

She opens the pack they all had with them that held water and emergency food. Within were a dozen Crystal Springs water bottles. She smiles as she opens each bottle and pours the contents out. While the guys were busy with examining the sphere, she went over and filled all the bottles with the water of the fountain. She knew that they would still retain the youth properties for a while. She looks around after putting the freshly filled water bottles back in her pack and sees the guys are still super involved with examining the sphere.

She goes to each pack and repeats her actions with all the water bottles in each pack and has them all safely stored before anyone even noticed. She giggles to herself as she walks over to Tony and runs her hand gently through his super soft baby like hair. She grins ... it truly was a miracle.

Tony looks up and smiles at Michelle as he says to Coom, "There is going to be major upheavals over this find once the world finds out it's for real. People will kill for it you know."

Coom nods, "I realize that. I was even wondering if it's such a good idea to take it back with us."

Tony pondered that for a few seconds before his thoughts were interrupted by Michelle's cute voice, "If we take it back, we can put it in the fountain in your atrium, Coom. The compound is very secure ... and we can offer a drop as a miracle cure for age related diseases. We can make money off of it ... which we don't need, or we can do it for humanitairian reasons that will make us famous."

Tony and Coom look at each other for a second before they both nod their heads.

Coom replies, "That's a very good idea. I can come up with some BS story that my researchers found a drug of some sort and show them it works. Let them figure the rest out. I have enough firepower to insure no one ever gets their hands on the sphere without it being totally destroyed first."

Tony says, "It's settled then. We take it back for further study and ... Humanitarian reasons." as he begins to pack the sphere in a water tight zip closed specimen bag they had brought.

Michelle still wasn't sure what she was thinking. She had many thoughts whizzing through her mind at warp speed. She had always had a fantasy of being someones little girl and doing cute things and ... Her eyes get big as she realizes how really close that dream was to being fulfilled. She looks down at Tony and smiles. She really hopes he has similar fantasies. She was so in love with him ... even more fantasy thoughts tumbled through her mind in rapid succession until Michelle was totally lost and ditzy with confusion. To the guys ... this only made her seem more adorable than she already was ... and this was saying a lot.

The guys gathered up the sphere and walked out the door into the place the large watery area with the beach was. They gathered up their equipment as tony helps the now totally ditzed out Michelle into her diving gear. By the time the guys had donned their gear, Coom spies something large swimming in the pool.

Coom asks, "Tony? Can you ... tell just what the hell that is?" As he points to the small submersible sized critter swimming back and forth along the beach.

Tony's eyes get big as he sees 2 red eyes come from the water on long brown stalks interspaced with red/orange stripes. From what he saw ... it looked like a mutation of a huge lobster ... and one of those Kraken squids they had encountered at the Abyss.

Tony says with fear, "We didn't bring any weapons ... did we?"

Coom shakes his head as he digs through the utility belt around his waist looking for something he could use as a weapon.

The creature quickly lunges towards them, only to be stopped by the shallow waters of the beach. It was obvious it wasn't going to allow them to pass without a fight. The 3 of them back up as the wave created by the large critter washes around their feet.

Michelle screams and hides her face in Tony's arm. Coom pulls from his utility belt, a smal pistol looking thing.

Tony asks, "You have a weapon?" as he looks hopefully at the thing.

Coom replies, "Not a weapon, but a piton driver. It has a .45 caliber charge. I think we can do damage ... if I get close enough to put one in his head."

Coom pulls a 6 inch serrated piton anchor from the pouch and pushes it into the breach of the driver. he then loads a charge into its breach.

Tony asks, "What happens if we attach the climbing rope to the anchor and drive it into the rock wall before driving it into the carapace of that thing? Won't it restrain it enough for us to get away?"

Coom nods as he walks to the wall nearest the water and places the piton anchor against it and pulls the trigger on the driver. There is a loud bang like a pistol going off, a small shower of dust ... and the piton was driven solidly into the wall. The creature lunges towards Coom violently, but once again comes up short because of the shallow water against the beach. Coom reaches into his belt and retrieves another piton anchor and a driver charge as Tony gathers the rope and the carabiners. While Tony ties the proper knots in the rope and attaches the carabiners, Coom reloads the driver. Tony hands the rope to Coom, and he attaches the carabiner to the loop on the piton anchor driven into the wall first, then in the one in the driver.

Michelle's head clears for an instant. It was long enough for her to have a brilliant idea. She shouts at Coom, "Wait! Before you go out there. Why don't we just dip the piton anchor in the fountain water? From what I saw, that creature will become an infant as instantly as I saw you loose 20 years."

Tony looks at Michelle for a second before a large smile crosses his now youthful face, "You are a genius. I'm so glad you decided to come along."

As Coom started to fumble with the loaded piton anchor, Michelle says, "I have some of the water here."

She holds out one of the Crystal Springs water bottles and poured some of its contents over the serrated edge of the anchor. Coom turns just as the creature lunges one more time. Michelle tosses the bottle towards it. It rears up and opens a huge beak ... and with a loud snap ... swallows the whole bottle.

The 3 of them stand in awe as the frothy water settles and the large bulk of the creature vanishes. There is no shadow ... nothing visible of the huge creature that only seconds ago been wanting to attack them. Tony and Coom look at Michelle as she blinks at the foam left by the creatures last lunge.

Tony walks to Michelle and pats her cute round bikinied bottom and says softly, "That, was an even better idea I would think."

Coom laughs as he says, "I think that was excellent. I do hope you got that on film."

Tony laughs, "I didn't miss a thing. No one is going to believe it anyway for sure."

The 3 of them laugh as they gather up the rope and prepare to leave once again.

Tony says in an off hand way, "I wonder what would happen if something was over dosed on that water?"

Coom asks, "What do you mean?"

Michelle answers, "Maybe they would go back before they were ... conceived?"

The men looked at Michelle for a second before putting their mouth pieces in their mouths and slowly back walking out into the water. When they had reached the drop off, they dropped in, leaving Michelle alone with only her single light pushing back the ebony darkness. The only other light, came from the door leading to the fountain room.

She too quickly places the mouth piece in her mouth and back walks to the drop off, and jumps in. She sees the men waiting for her. She swims up to them and hovers for a second ... before they all turn and swim through the long dark tunnel ... and the ship awaiting them above.

------------------------------------------
~~ End pt4 ~~
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------------------------------------------
Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt5 - A Girl's Fantasy Gone Slightly Awry
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Michelle gathered all the water bottles from everyone's packs as soon as they were on deck. She had two cases minus one bottle ... the one that the critter ate. She didn't know what had become of it after it swallowed the bottle she had tossed at it ... the reaction happened so fast ... and there was nothing they saw in the water when they left the cave.

She quickly took them and stashed them in her personal effects in the cabin she shared with Tony. Her mind twirled with fantasies concerning the water. Before she started to do something like that however, she wanted to test and see how much did what. She remembered when Coom had just dipped his finger into the pool ... he had lost twenty years in a flash. The critter was another example ... of a full two liters of the water's power.

Michelle dug through her clothes and found the cutest jumper top she had and a pair of white cotton panties. She takes off her bikini and puts this on and is brushing her hair in the mirror when Tony walks in. Tony's eyes get large as his mouth falls open for an instant.

Tony gasps, "Michelle? WOW! you look ... amazing."

Michelle turns and manages to blush a little girl's shy strawberry pink in her cheeks. Tony was totally captivated by her appearance. She didn't look a day over four or five ... except Tony knew how old she really was.

Tony walks up to her and says with a soft coo, "Would the little girl like some candy?"

Michelle giggles in her adorable little girl way and replies, "Sure, mister, I like cream filled hard candy tha best."

Tony laughs as he takes her in his arms and kisses her lovingly. Michelle knew at this point ... just what she was going to do.

Tony breaks the kiss and pats her on her cute little hinny, "Me and Coom are going to be in the lab for a while sweet heart. If you want, you can join us there for the analysis of the sphere."

Michelle says, "Sure, I want to know more about it too."

Tony takes her hand and walks her from their cabin down to the lab. All along the way, any crew they happened to pass took instant notice of the adorable Michelle. This particular outfit caused more disruption to the workings of the ship .... than her and Laurie being out topless ... and that would almost bring operations to a total stand still until Coom got onto the crew about it.

When Michelle and Tony entered the lab, Laurie was there in a pair of tight short shorts and a halter top, and was sitting in a swivel lounge chair going slowly round and round. Laurie looks up and sees Michelle and pats the space next to her invitingly.

Laure says in a soft voice, "Come sit next to me. We can cuddle while the boys play with their new toy."

Michelle smiles. As she approaches Laurie, she spies an empty specimen bottle with an eyedropper top. This would be perfect to test some of her collected water. The old woman cook in the galley ... Michelle was sure she wouldn't mind loosing twenty or perhaps thirty years. Michelle grabs it as she passes and puts it in the pocket on the front of her jumper.

She snuggles into the open arms of Laurie as she French kisses Michelle lovingly. Michelle squeaks softly as she feels Laurie's fingers first rub lovingly over her vagina, then gently begin to enter the leg opening of her panties and caress her privacy. She and Laurie had hugged and kissed before, but Laurie had never actually gone this far.

Michelle didn't have time to think about it as Laurie began to caress her vagina and slowly penetrate her. Michelle felt the wonderful tingles all up and down her spine with each gentle thrust. Her nipples tingle as they get hard and poke through the jumper.

Laurie whispers breathlessly, "I want you to know that you really turn me on. Any Time you want ... I won't be shy. I also want you to know how adorable you look in this jumper."

Michelle stops squirming and lets her Friend cuddle and caress her intimately. The boys were so engrossed in examination of the sphere, they failed to notice the two beautiful women as they made soft love in the chair.

Time passed. By this time, Laurie had led Michelle from the lab back to her room ... Coom and Tony had discovered that the sphere was an almost perfect C60 Fullerene, and there was some kind of strange mineral that gave off an energy that they were unable to resolve.

As far as the advanced equipment in the Argonaut’s lab was concerned, and the extremely in depth data base held in the computers they were linked to by satellite, that mineral nor the energy it gave off had ever been seen by mankind before. The GCG spectrum were totally unfamiliar as it showed several base elements that weren't on the periodic charts.

Tony says, "We can't allow this to get out into the main stream. If anyone finds out about it ... they will go to any lengths to ... steal it."

Coom nods, "I agree. I'm wondering if we didn't really make a big mistake by bringing it back. Any contact with water seems to activate the regeneration effects and imparts it to the water."

Tony changes the display screen to show the high peaks and valleys of the GCG spectrum of the strange mineral. Nothing they saw made any sense. This mineral plain and simply didn't exist as far as earth science was concerned. And to top it off, without the Fullerene C60 ... it didn't have any rejuvenation effects nor did it give off the strange energy which also was unknown to earth science. It was of note for them to discover that Fullerene C60 had rejuvenation properties all of it own, which were super enhanced by this mineral.

Michelle was totally enraptured with Laurie as she lay on the bed and gasped in her cute squeaky way. Laurie knew just where to put her tongue within Michelle's sweet hairless folds to make ultimate sensations. Michelle felt each tingly rush through her young body as Laurie explored her tight vagina with her increasingly wiggly tongue.

Laurie thrusts her tongue deep within Michelle, then slowly with a flicking motion, licked the top of her vaginal opening, to culminate with a soft sucking kiss to her clitoris at the end. Michelle arches her back in a squeak as Laurie holds her legs open and dives in for another slow and sensual taste of Michelle's sweet, young opening.

Michelle hadn't ever thought of herself as a lesbian ... nor had she ever had thoughts she might be Bi. She was totally in love with Laurie at this point in a way she had only experienced with Tony. As good as Tony was at oral sex, Laurie knew all the secret little squeaky places that drove Michelle totally nuts.

As Michelle lay gasping softly, Laurie sits back for a second and coos softly, "That's a good little girl. Mommy was sure you wouldn't refuse me." She bends once again and pushes a finger in slowly as she gives Michelle another super sensual lick, "Mommy will take care of her little girl ... I promise. This is our little secret from the guys."

Michelle arches her back one more time as she gasps. She can't help herself ... Laurie tickles a special place within her vagina ... she doesn't want to ... not for Laurie ... OMG!! Michelle has one of the most intensely pleasurable orgasms she had experienced in her very short sexual career. Laurie knew Michelle was a virgin before she met Tony ... and Laurie was sure she could please Michelle enough to have her as a lover as well.

Laurie sat back as she gently rubbed Michelle's hairless vagina with her hand. She says in a loving cooing voice, "You are a very nice Love Pet. One I intend to make very happy. I am so glad we are friends ... and now .. I'm going to make sure you are very happy too."

Michelle looses herself in Laurie in the same manner she lost herself in Tony as Laurie does her very best to make Michelle cum one more time. Michelle can't help herself ... Laurie is very experienced and well trained. This is why she's Coom's personal Concubine Playmate. Laurie knows just what to do to make a young girl fall totally in love with her. Now, Michelle can't really think ... she just hopes ... she doesn't disappoint either of her lovers ... she once again begins to gasp and squeak in her adorable way as Laurie drives her totally insane once again.

Laurie had finally stopped molesting Michelle and let her put her panties back on and go to her own cabin. Michelle lay on her bed, on her side, with her hands between her legs. Her mind and emotions were in total turmoil. Laurie and her had caressed and snuggled before ... even gone so far as to French kiss, remove various articles of clothing, and intimately rub suntan lotion on each other. This was just to drive the guys crazy and make the crew uncomfortable ... wasn't it?

Michelle shivers as another wonderful wave of pleasure runs through her at the thought of what Laurie had been doing to her for the last several hours. This time ... there was no mistaking that Laurie and she had made love. She wasn't sure how she felt about it as she knew .... she loved Laurie as much as she loved Tony. It made Michelle feel really wonderful that Laurie had kept referring to her as a little girl ... and wondered how Laurie would be as a little girl.

Michelle sits up and reaches into the pocket of her short jumper. The specimen bottle was still there. She gets out of bed and walks to the cubbyhole she had stashed the special water bottles. As she filled the specimen bottle, she realized that several bottles were missing. Hard as she searched, she couldn't find the missing three bottles. She giggles. Some one was in for a real surprise over those six liters when they used them.

She left her cabin to go to the galley. As Michelle passed, she saw Tony on the fantail, sitting in the fighting chair, fishing for one of the large fish the Keys were famous for producing. She also heard as she passed, that Coom was enjoying Laurie's body to the max. She could hear Laurie's begging gasps for more as she slipped down the stairs to the galley.

The ship was a rather large one, and Michelle had never actually been to the galley before. She passed several crewmen who gave her more than a cursory glance. She looked for the world like a very pretty little girl because of her outfit.

One older crewman stopped and asked politely, "Are you lost, little girl? Can I help direct you some place?"

Michelle giggles as she replies, "I'm looking for the galley. I've never been there ... and wanted to see it."

The older man smiles broadly as he holds out his hand, "If you take my hand, I will be more than happy to escort you there."

Michelle says in her most innocent little girl voice, "Are you sure mister? I don't wanna be any trouble."

He laughs softly as he took Michelle by the hand, "It's no trouble at all. Especially for a pretty little girl like you."

He led her by the hand until they came to the hatch leading into the large galley where the ship's meals were prepared and the crew came to eat.

Michelle stood on her tippy toes and gave the older man a kiss on his cheek. She says shyly as she blushes softly, "Thank you so much."

He replies with a slight bow, "It's my pleasure." Before he turns and vanishes quickly down the hall, leaving Michelle alone with her mission.

Michelle enters the Galley. She sees many people running around in ordered chaos. She saw the Stewards all sitting in a break room, drinking various types of drinks and talking. They were telling jokes and the routine ship's gossip, then would rush out for a few minutes on some task before returning once again.

Michelle saw the elderly woman cook drinking a cup of steaming coffee as she stirred a large boiling pot. She was still a handsome woman ... even being in her late sixties. She was very healthy, shapely, and could prove to be major competition for much younger women.

Michelle played the part of the interested little girl she appeared so much to be. She found an out of the way place and sat so she could watch the old woman. After a few minutes, everyone was off doing what ever their particular job was in preparing the afternoon meal for the crew and passengers.

It wasn't long before the woman had turned her head to chop up some veggies and the cup of coffee was unobserved. Michelle carefully wandered over to the counter as she removed the small bottle from her jumper and squeezed a small quantity into the dropper. Michelle wasn't exactly sure how much to add ... she remembered that all Coom had to do was lick his finger to loose twenty years. She remembered that two liters had regressed a creature of several thousand pounds to nothing in a few seconds. She squeezed a large drop into the woman's cup of coffee, then retreated back to her chosen place to wait as she put the bottle safely back into her pocket.

The old woman returned to the pot with a small platter of chopped up potatoes and multicolored peppers. She smiles at the childlike little girl Michelle as she raked it all into the large pot with a spoon.

The old woman picked up the cup and took a drink ... the reaction was immediate. The woman's eyes became very large as an expression of shock came to her face. She drops the cup which shatters on the floor leaving a scattered pile of shards and a small patch of brown liquid.

The woman was now about thirteen or fourteen years old in appearance. She held out her arms and looked down at herself in total shock. The clothes she had on hung baggily on her youthful frame as if she were playing dress up with an adult's clothes. She screams loudly. Others had seen the transformation and began to gather around in total amazement. Pandemonium ensued.

Amid all the confusion, Michelle slipped from the galley and headed towards the cabin Laurie shared with Coom. Michelle was in love with Laurie in a way she didn't understand. What had happened earlier had not only opened Michelle to a new dimension in her own very short sexual experiences, but had caused her much consternation and confusion about who and what she actually was.

It had tickled her pink to hear Laurie call her little girl ... it was one of Michelle's fantasies to be a little girl in potty training ... too old for diapers ... too young for panties ... but she didn't want Laurie as mommy ... she wanted her as a playmate.

Michelle carefully opened the door to Laurie's cabin and found her lying on her side. She had on only a pair of black silk string bikini panties and was sound asleep. Michelle felt a tingle of sexual arousal rush through her body at the site of Laurie's almost nude form. Laurie had as cute a figure as Michelle, although Laurie was a bit bigger and older than she was. For just an instant, Michelle wasn't real sure if she wanted to go through with this ... but the moment passed super quickly as she removed the stoppered bottle from her pocket and squeezed a small amount into the dropper. Silently, Michelle went to the side of the bed Laurie's face was on, then dropped a very small drop of the water on her lips. Laurie licks her lips ... the reaction was once again ... immediate. No longer was a full grown adult woman lying in the bed, but what appeared to be a little girl of about 10 in way over sized panties.

Michelle tingled with excitement as she placed a slightly smaller drop on the still sleeping Laurie's lips. This time ... Laurie was a very cute toddler of about two. Michelle was ecstatic. Now she knew about how much it would take to make her the same way. Michelle put the dropper back in the bottle and tightened the top. She placed the bottle back in the pocket of her short jumper and retreated from the room, leaving the unsuspecting Laurie to discover what had happened by surprise.

Michelle giggled to herself, "Lets see how mommy likes being the baby along with me."

All the way back to her cabin, Michelle's mind swirled with fanciful thoughts. By the time she had entered the cabin, Michelle was saying goodby to her adulthood and removing her clothes. She knew they would be too big for her shortly anyway.

In the Galley, there had been one small slightly brown skinned man with shiny jet black hair, that had a tattoo of a brightly colored feathered serpent that coiled all around his body and arms. Whoever had done the tattoo was a real artiest. It had great detail, and if anyone had known the history of it, would have recognized it as Quetzalcoatl ... the Toltec God of fertility, knowledge, and writing.

This man's ancestry went back many hundreds of years ... to the Toltec priests of the temple of Quetzalcoatl. They too had knowledge of the Fountain of Youth. They had formed a Society to await the return of their god ... and one of the major signs ... the return of the Fountain of Youth.

The Toltec followers of Quetzalcoatl founded an organization called the Q-Society in order to prepare for the return of their god. Grooming champions for centuries, the Society's ultimate goal was to create a human vessel for Quetzalcoatl's power in the inevitable last battle against Tezcatlipoca, and to spread rebirth and infanthood to all the world.

The Q-Society, high on a tall mountain, deep within a lost rainforest in a remote part of South America, had heard of Coom and his find from several of their many followers. They then dispatched one of their best warriors to become part of the unbeliever's crew and to await the signs.

When Coom had returned from the last dive ... and was twenty years younger ... he knew the time had arrived. He wasn't sure about Michelle ... she looked like a little girl in many ways, especially if she dressed young. He was certain of one thing ... they had been in the Temple of the Fountain. Even that man Tony ... his skin and hair showed the signs. He heard Tony and Coom as they talked about a creature ... The Guardian obviously. He was sad that it had been dispatched ... but the way it had gone ... by the power of the Waters of Life was perfect.

He saw that Michelle was acting sort of jumpy about things ... and kept an eye on her. He observed her as she gathered all the water bottles from the dive. He did his best to remain unobserved as he saw where Michelle hid the bottles. After she had left, he had entered he cabin and taken three of the two liter bottles of water. It was time for the unbelievers to feel the power of Quetzalcoatl. He knew that he too would soon be under the influence of the water contained in the bottles ... but the honer of it ... made the risk worth it.

The man made his way to the hold and the large water storage tank. He dumped the 6 liters into the large tank, then closed the lid. He left and came to a place he knew one of the women would soon find him. he tipped the last of the remaining water in the bottle, and swallowed the sweet waters. Instantly, he was a newborn infant lying amid the pile of over sized clothing he had been wearing.

Michelle sat cross legged on her bed nude. She held the dropper in her hand as she thought about what she was about to do. She stuck her tongue out and placed a small drop on her tongue and swallowed the sweet tasting water quickly. She closed her eyes as she felt a wonderful rushing sensation all through her body. a split instant ... she felt like her body was way too small for her. She couldn't keep her balance as she fell over. She opens her eyes ... she was no more than 18 months old at this point ... and completely helpless to stop herself from wetting the bed. She sits up as best she can and looks down at the large wet spot beneath her. She tries to say something, but all that came out .... was a very adorable mix of gibberish intermixed with some recognizable words.

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~~ End Pt5 ~~
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---------------------------------------
Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt6 - Infant Ship Returns Home
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Michelle was flabbergasted. She knew she would become infantile, but didn't think it all the way through. Her mind appeared to be intact ... but she was unable to talk properly ... her mouth just wasn't developed enough to do it. She also felt fairly embarrassed that she was unable to help wetting the bed.

She crawls over to the edge and looks down. What used to be a simple putting her feet on the floor, had now become a a huge drop of 2 feet. She felt a tingle of fear run through her now infant body as she thought about getting off the bed.

Coom was in the lab still running tests on the new minerals and energy forms when the first report of a spontaneous regression happened. The paniced voice of the man from the galley was almost incoherent as he screamed out about the black magic that happened right before his eyes. Coom had managed to calm the individual and told them he would go by ship's store and retrieve some clothes for the woman that would fit.

Tony had just strapped himself into the fighting chair. He had snagged a rather large billfish once again and watched as it danced gracefully on its tail off in the distance. Tony set the hook and braced himself for a long fight. This monster was strong and lively.

Coom came up to Tony and said in a matter of fact tone, "Tony, I think we have a real problem on our hands."

Tony pulls on the rod with all his strength as he reels several turns of line in. He asks with strain in his voice, "And what earth shattering thing is going on now? Did you discover references to the gate to the golden fleece?"

Coom couldn't help it, he snorts a laugh as he replies, "Not ... exactly. It seems an elderly woman in the galley ... is now a young girl of about thirteen."

Tony lets off on the rod a bit as he looks around at Coom. The billfish chose that time to launch another wild attempt to flee. Tony had to brace himself on the chair rung and pull hard once again. After reeling in several more turns of line, he allows the fish to sound.

Tony says softly, "Damn ... and I just caught a real lively one."

Coom pats Tony on his shoulder and says, "Stay here and fight your fish, I'll go and check out the galley. I don't think you being there will change what happened anyway. I'll keep you informed."

Tony could only grunt as he fought the beautiful blue/green billfish one more time. It breached and danced majestically on its tail for several yards before sounding once again in a huge splash and wave of foam.

Coom stopped by ship's stores and collected a pair of short shorts, a T top, a pair of cute panties and a pair of tennis shoes for a girl of about 13. When he arrived in the galley, there was a huge crowed of people all standing in a large circle. All of them were talking loudly at the same time.

Coom whistles loudly. Silence reigns as they all turn and look at him. Coom says authoritatively, "Everyone ... return to your duties. I'll handle this from here. Don't touch anything ... I need to do an investigation into how this happened."

The crowd slowly cleared, exposing a very pretty young girl sitting in a chair all wrapped in an emergency blanket. Coom raised his eyebrows. He knows this woman ... or now ... this girl. It was Maria Rodriguez. He knew her to be 69 years old and one of the best cooks he had ever found. He saw the small puddle of coffee and the shattered cup lying near by.

As Coom approached the now young girl, she looks up and smiles brightly. She says softly in a very cute voice, "Mr. Coom ... it's ... it's a miracle! It's so amazing .... I have always fantasized about being young and in High School again .... knowing what I know and having the experience. Just think! It'll be such an amazing adventure ... to know all ready and not have to learn through hard study and doing."

Coom relaxes a bit as he kneels down, "I'm glad that you're not too upset about all of this. If you're still able, you can keep the job you have now if you want. Of course, we have to make it part time .... and enroll you in school again."

Her eyes get big as she asks in an adorable voice, "The garden house .... on your estate where I live ..."

Coom laughs, "Don't worry Mrs ... I mean .... Miss Rodriguez ... you can stay there just the same. Just no really loud and out of hand parties ... Ok? I know how little girls are."

Maria blushes a cute pink as she giggles softly, "Thank you Mr. Coom ... I'm forever in your debt."

Coom hands Maria the bundle of clothes as he replies, "Think nothing of it. I brought you some clothes that will fit. After you dress, you can go to ship's stores and requisition a new wardrobe. Just remember to turn in your old one so we have extra clothes in storage for other people."

Maria nods as she stands up and gives Coom a large kiss on his lips. The blanket she was wrapped in slips a bit exposing more of her femaleness than she wanted. She blushes deeply pink as she re-wraps it tightly, before rushing off towards the Women's Bathroom to get dressed.

Coom shakes his head slowly as he watches the adorable little girl rush off. He turns his attention to the spilled coffee. He happens to have several specimen bottles in his pocket from the examination of the sphere. He pulls one out and removes the top .... then collects as much of the spilled liquid has he can before sealing the lid once again. He collects up all the shards of the shattered coffee cup he could find, then returned to the lab to do some Testing. He was sure that the coffee would prove to be contaminated with the youth water.

Tony wrestled and fought with the large billfish. He truly enjoyed the fight as he watched it breach once again and do a wonderfully graceful dance across several yards of water before sounding again. Tony rears back and pulls on the rod with all his might. He can feel the powerful thrusts the fish made against his efforts in its fight for freedom. Tony once again reels in several turns of line as he feels the fish begin to breach again.

After an hour of this wonderful combat, Tony finally manages to get the fish along the stern where the dive elevator was. He fastens the rod to the locking brace on the chair in case the fish decides to run, then undoes the harnesses in the fighting chair. Tony walked back and looks down into the water below. Following the line with his eyes, he sees it end in the crease of the large bill fish’s mouth ... right next to a large round shiny black eye that looked right at him.

The fish was a beautiful blue and silver color. It had a bill of about 8 feet long. Coom was sure it weighed in at around eight hundred pounds. Coom smiles as he reaches down and takes the leader in his hand. It was a dangerous thing to do ... but Tony was impressed with this fish's courageous fight for freedom and was offering it a sort of fisherman's respect. As he released the large fish from the line, Tony saluted it as it wallowed in the water for a few seconds.

Tony said softly, "That was perhaps the best fight I've ever had. I salute you and your kind. I'm setting you free so that perhaps one day .... we can fight again."

Tony felt a tingle run down his spine as it seemed the fish saluted him back with its fluke, before lazily sounding once again in a swirl of foam and water.

Tony picked up his equipment and stored it properly before heading back to his cabin. He wanted to take a quick shower, before hunting up Coom and finding out what had happened in the galley. Tony opens the door to his cabin and stops. His mouth falls open as he sees a huge wet spot in the middle of the bed. He also sees off to one side of the bed, an adorable, naked little baby girl, sitting with big eyes and sucking her thumb.

Tony gasps in astonishment, "Michelle? Is ... that you?"

The little girl removes her thumb from her mouth and says as she nods enthusiastically, "Boooouuuyyeee. Goombu knphhhhh!"

Tony looks around the room. All he sees is the cute little jumper and panties she had on earlier lying in a pile beside the bed. He walks over to it, then sees the eye dropper lying in the middle of the large wet spot on the bed ... and the small half filled bottle on the night stand.

Tony turns and looks at Michelle with a frown, "You did this on purpose ... didn't you? You kept samples in the water bottles. Where are the other bottles?"

Michelle couldn't answer coherently, although she could still crawl and toddle. She crawled over to the closet door and slapped her small hand against the door. Tony walked over and opened the closet door and peered in. All he saw besides the normal hanging clothes and shoes on the floor, was the unzipped empty back pack Michelle had worn when they explored the Fountain Cave.

Tony says softly, "Sweet heart ... there is nothing in the back pack."

Michelle crawls into the closet and picks up the bag .... and puts it over her head. She couldn't help it .. it was just the thing that had to be done at that moment. She did know however, there was almost a case of the Fountain's water missing ... and she was too young to tell anyone exactly how many.

Tony laughs as he grabs a small hand towel from the bathroom and makes a comfy diaper for Michelle. He had found 2 safety pins in a sewing kit he discovered in the night stand and diapers her after taking the back pack from her head and teasing her about how silly a baby she was. He couldn't resist as he did it and blew a very loud raspberry in her tummy when he was done diapering her. Michelle screeches and kicks her feet adorably as he tickles them too.

Tony says as he picks her to his shoulder, "I'm going to be an really old man by the time you're of age again ... you know that ... don't you?"

Michelle whimpers adorably as Tony carries her off. As Tony passes Coom's quarters, he hears a baby crying. He opens the door and peers in. Once again, his eyes get huge and his mouth falls open as he sees an adorable little baby girl, sitting in the middle of Coom's bed, wearing a pair of soaked panties that are way too big for her, crying her eyes out.

Tony walks in and says with shock, "Laurie ... is ... that you sweet heart?"

The baby looks up at Tony and nods her head as she rubs her eyes. She tries to say something but all that comes out, "Mmmm uuuriii. ummaa beebbee."

Tony gasps, "OMG! ... Don't worry sweetie, I'll put you in a diaper like Michelle's and take you to the lab. Maybe Coom has figured something out."

Tony puts Michelle on the thick shag carpet as he picks Laurie up. He carries her into the bathroom after retrieving a pair of safety pins from the night stand sewing kit and makes a diaper for her the same as Michelle's. He returns to the room after diapering, tickling and blowing raspberries for her, picks Michelle up, then carries both girls off to the Lab ... hoping Coom is there.

When Tony arrived, he could hear Coom swearing softly under his breath. Apparently, Michelle and Laurie weren't the only new infants to join the crew. From what he heard as he entered, there seemed to be about nine ... eleven including Michelle and Laurie.

Tony says, "Coom, the girls are babies now too. Is there any way to reverse this?"

Coom turns with a look of shock on his face as he sees Laurie. She shrugs her shoulders as she starts to suck her thumb.

Coom says, "Either this is spreading spontaneously like a virus .... or the water has some how contaminated things."

Tony replies, "Michelle had taken some samples back from the fountain. I'm not sure how much ... she's a bit too young to talk. Apparently, the bottle she threw at the monster was only one of several."

Coom bangs his fist on the counter as he swears colorfully. He says with frustration, "I have found no way to reverse the effects of the youth. Once the cells have gone through reversion ... it seems to be as permanent as aging was prior. The girls .... will have to grow back up normally ... and relearn some things. Like ... how to go potty and how to walk properly again."

Laurie and Michelle clouded up and began to cry at that point. Tony bounced them both gently up and down comfortingly.

Tony says, "Apparently, their minds are still intact. Their body aren't mature enough for them to react in the proper way. They will be children ... with their adult minds."

Coom nods, "Mrs Rodriguez ... the Chief Galley Cook ... is a girl of about thirteen now ... but her mind is still intact. She's kind of happy about it though and is looking forward to being in High School again. I must say ... she is a really nice looking little girl and I know the boys are in for trouble."

Both men snort a quick laugh as they shake their heads. A Steward from the galley arrives about that time, and starts a fresh pot of coffee. Tony watches him quietly as he makes it.

Tony draws himself a hot cup as soon as it's ready and offers Coom one. Tony sits the girls on the floor and watches as they cuddle together and make adorable noises like they are talking.

All over the ship ... the infant issue spread rapidly as each member of the crew ingested the ship's water in one form or another. The reaction was instantaneous. Some ... had more of a reaction than others depending on the age they were when they started. Some .... unfortunately ... became a small gooey wet mess on the deck because they were young to begin with ... and ingested too much.

The First Mate was just about to reset the recall circuit's timer when he took a sip of his hot coffee. He never got the chance to reset it. Instantly, he was about 6 months old and tangled up in the overlarge clothes he had been wearing. The only thing he could do at that point .... was to start crying.

Coom raises his steaming mug of coffee and says brightly, "Well ... here's to finding the Fountain of Youth. May we forever be young."

Tony raises his mug and clinks it with Coom's. The men take a slurping sip of the hot liquid. The reaction was immediate. Both babies scream loudly as the hot coffee splashes all over them when the mugs holding it breaks on the Lab floor next to them. Fortunately, they were all swallowed up in the over large clothes they had been wearing and didn't really get scalded.

Maria was in heaven. She had retained all of her memories and experiences ... and was thirteen again. She looked at her new young body in the mirror. The short shorts fit beautifully and showed of her cute round bottom. She turned from side to side to get a really good look at it. The T top clung to her body like another skin and showed off her youthful femaleness so wonderfully.

Maria hears a soft cry coming from somewhere. She opens the door and listens carefully. She hears many babies crying seemingly from everywhere. She hurries to the nearest cry and finds a new born wallowing in adult's clothing. She gathers it into her arms and carries it back to her cabin. She cleans and makes a makeshift diaper from the hand towels.

As she gathers the many babies from everywhere, she began to realize how the crew had gotten into this state. It was sort of apparent that each baby had taken a drink of the ship's water supply in one form or another. Maria was a very bright girl and decided it would be in the best interest of all not to rely on the water any more. She gathered up all the soda pops, milks, canned juices, and unopened spring water jugs she could find.

On the Bridge, a timer had reached all zeros. An advanced computer system followed its protocol. Maria heard the ship's engines start and felt it as it began to move. She was too busy with caring for the babies to worry too much about it right now.

The Auto-return function had enabled and started the ship on a return course to its home port. A radio signal was dispatched. An extremely pretty older woman in her late fifties or early sixties was sitting at the radio when the dispatch came. She understood the message. Coom had found the artifact he had sought ... and didn't reset the auto-return clock. Pat smiles to herself as she starts removing her top. Beneath one breast could be seen a very finely done colorful tattoo ... of a feathered serpent.

Pat smiles to herself as she thinks, "So, Mr. Coom. You succeeded did you? Well, I promise to take very good care of you and your ... passengers for the rest of time."

After removing all her other clothing except for her panties, she wraps her shapely body in a very colorful sarong like wrapping and ties the ends behind her neck. The serpent tattoo was sort of visible beneath one wrap.

She walks to the dock. She could see the small dot on the horizon that was the ship. She knew it would be there within an hour or two. The Priestess of the Q awaited the arrival of the Stone. They had waited hundreds of years for it to finally return home to them ... a couple of more hours meant nothing.

------------------------------------
~~ End Pt6 ~~
------------------------------------



-----------------------------------
Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt7 - Eternal Sunshine of Childhood
----------------------------------

Maria did the best search she knew how. She knew that, including Mr. Coom and his three guests, there should be a total of forty five individuals on board. She found one seemingly newborn infant near the engine room. He was covered in a feathered serpent like tattoo. She found the first mate on the bridge all tangled in his over sized pants where he had been kicking and screaming in a tantrum. As she searched level by level and compartment by compartment, she found children ranging from toddlers to newborns.

Maria made the Galley dining room ... the largest actual personnel useable room on the ship next to the lab, into a make shift nursery. She had managed to find twenty nine infants so far. None, it appeared had been fortunate enough to regress to young child or teenager. Maria felt fortunate not to be a newborn.

She left the nursery and went to the last place she had yet to check, the lab. She hoped Coom and his guests had escaped everyone else's fate ... but had a sinking feeling they had not. As she opened the door to the lab, she found two messy baby girls, and two nude baby boys. Maria looked around the lab and saw the broken coffee mugs and the small puddles of brown liquid. She knew instantly what had happened. As she approached the boys, she also noticed the men's clothing lying scattered around. She knew this had to be Coom, Tony, Laurie, and Michelle.

Maria picks Coom up and coos softly, "Aww ... you're such a sweet and cute little baby."

She lifts his tummy to her lips and blows a loud and long raspberry. Coom couldn't help himself. He screeches, squirms, and kicks as Maria does this several times.

She cuddles him in her arms and kisses him all over his face, "I will make sure you are soooo cute. I found some really cute girl's baby clothes in the locker in the ship's stores. There's enough for the 4 of you to be so precious."

Tony and Coom began to fuss. Their mouths were too young to articulate any real words, but Maria knew what they were trying to say anyway. She didn't care. She thought they would look so cute in those outfits. Maria took the squirming and fussing babies and gave them all a nice bubble bath and got them clean. She carried them back to the makeshift nursery and diapered them in the cute Huggies she had found in ship's stores and dressed them each in a little romper. They had adorable little cartoon characters and large white ruffles across the bottom, around the legs, and the bib.

Tony and Coom cried their eyes out as Maria diapered and dressed Laurie and Michelle. The four of them were as adorable as any Babydolls. Coom and Laurie appeared to have regressed to about Toddler size, where as Tony and Michelle were just about able to toddle ... although crawling would still be their primary way of locomotion.

Pat stood on the dock with the Dock Hands as the harbor tugs pushed the Argonaut into its berth. The dock hands quickly tied the ship to the dock and lowered the boarding ramp for Pat. She cut a spectacular figure in her sarong. It showed off her wonderful figure perfectly ... not to mention her lovely erect breasts. The hand stitched multicolored feathered serpent that adorned her sarong, made her look very sexy and elegant as she boarded the ship.

Maria came to the deck about that time and saw Pat board. She waves her arms and shouts, "Patty ... over here ... it seems we have a real problem."

Pat turns and sees the beautiful young girl as she rushed up. Pat frowns for an instant as she tries to think who this might have been. Pats eyebrows shoot up and her eyes get big as she realizes ... this was Mrs. Rodriguez.

Pat says pleasantly, "Maria? Is that you sweet heart?"

Maria nods her head as she replies, "Isn't it miraculous? I get to be a girl again and have fun. All that studying I did ... I won't have to do this time around .... I'll be a valedictorian without studying hardly at all." She twirls around several times in joy.

Pat looks around. All she sees is the deck hands as they square away the ship at berth. Maria knows what Pat is thinking.

Maria holds out her hand and says, "Come with me ... I'll show you the nursery."

Pat asks, "Do you .... happen to know where Mr. Coom is ... and his guests? It's rather important."

Maria nods her head as she takes Pat by the hand and leads her in one of the open hatches, "Yup. They make such adorable babies too. I have them all dressed up cute as buttons."

Pat smiles, "I'm sure you do. I'm also sure ... that they didn't take it very well either."

Maria giggles, "Well ... Mr. Coom and Tony didn't ... that's for sure. Laurie and Michelle seemed to like it though. They appeared to be really happy."

Pat thinks to herself, "Well, at least they will enjoy their new life as eternal infants. Coom ... you should have known better little boy." Then she giggles to herself.

As Maria lead Pat down the stairs to the galley, Pat was in a quandary as to what she was going to do with Maria. As the Priestess, Pat knew it was her duty to regress Maria to infant hood to preserve the secret. On the other hand, if Pat could get Maria to keep the secret ... she would allow her to go back to school and relive her life as a High School Girl.

Pat asks softly, "Maria sweet heart?"

Maria looks at Pat in askance, "Yes, Ma'am?"

Pat replies, "Can ... you keep a secret? Perhaps the biggest secret a little girl has ever kept and tell no one?"

Maria says solemnly, "I know what it is too ... it's about what happened on the ship ... isn't it?"

Pat nods her head, "It is. No one can know sweetie. If you think there's a chance you can't keep it ... you have to be like the rest of them."

Maria says quickly, "Cross my heart and hope to die ... I won't tell a soul."

Pat smiles, "Very good. Just remember though ... you can't break the promise. You will find you are a new born very quickly."

Maria nods as she leads Pat into the make shift nursery. There were happy babies, there were miserable babies, there were sleeping babies, and there were babies playing with the improvised toys. Pat sees the one newborn infant with the feathered serpent tattoo all over his body. She knows that was the warrior they had sent to insure the rest of the ship met the same fate. Pat nods ... he had done a most remarkable job ... and even regressed himself.

Maria leads Pat over to a small area fenced in by several large wicker chairs. Within the central area, were four very adorable little babies. Pat had trouble telling the boys from the girls. The only real clue, was Coom and Tony had short hair, while Laurie and Michelle had long hair. Even with that ... they all looked like adorable little girls. Maria had done a remarkable job.

Pat walks over and picks Coom up. She says in a soft coo, "Aww ... doesn't Miss Alexis make a wonderful baby?"

Coom's face clouds up as he start to throw a temper tantrum.

Pat says softly, "There's one thing you have to realize as well ... Miss Alexis. I'm the adult now .... and since I'm the executive officer of the company while you are away ... that means I'm in charge from now on ... it also means ..."

Pat swats Coom on his bare thigh. It wasn't hard, but it was enough to make Coom's eyes get big and him to gasp softly, before clouding up and crying like the baby he now was.

Pat cuddles him close and bounces him reassuringly, "A baby should be sweet and adorable. I do promise you this sweetie, I will make a very good mother to you and your friends. There are other Acolytes that will make wonderful parents for the rest of the crew."

Coom's mind raced as he whimpered helplessly. There was nothing he could do about it. His body was a baby ... it would be many years before he was old enough again to do anything about the situation ... that is ... if Pat let them grow back up at all.

Maria picked up Laurie and Michelle, while Pat carried Coom and Tony. Pat led Maria to one of the large garden houses located on the Estate. Maria was totally awed at how lavishly the home was decorated. Pat led Maria to a large nursery where they put the four babies in a large playpen with lots of cute cuddly dolls and interesting busy toys for babies.

The girls started playing with the dolls and making adorable gurgling and cooing noises. Tony and Coom stood at the rail and fussed and whined.

Maria bent over and kissed the both of them on their foreheads, "Now be good little girls for Miss Patty, she'll take good care of you."

Maria turned and saw Pat reenter the room. She had four large bottles filled with a pink liquid. She handed a bottle to each baby.

Pat said, "There, a nice bottle of strawberry milk for each of you. I'm sure you are probably hungry since it's almost lunch time. Mommy has a real surprise for you children at dinner."

She kisses each of them on their foreheads and pats the standing boys on their thickly diapered bottoms. The boys plop on their hinnys and begin to pout. Tony tosses his bottle off into a corner of the playpen.

Tony tries very hard to speak, "Nuuu gndoosss emmmaaas jughsss phtthhhh."

It was no use. His mouth and tongue just weren't developed enough anymore to make talking possible.

Maria says to Pat, "They are so adorable. You don't mind if I babysit them from time to time do you?"

Pat replies as they leave the nursery, "Not at all sweet heart. In fact, I'm sure the babies would love it."

The door to the nursery shuts, cutting off what ever else Pat and Maria were chatting about.

Tony looks around the playpen first. He sees that Michelle and Laurie had adapted to being infants and accepted it. They nursed their bottles happily. Coom on the other hand, stared at his bottle dejectedly with his bottom lip poked out in a cute pout.

Tony used the rail to stand. His legs wobbled. He knew he just was too young to walk normally and that crawling would be how he would have to motivate most of the time for a while. As Tony tried to figure a way to climb over the rail to a some what freedom of the large nursery, he felt a pressure slowly building in his tummy. It felt really strange as small waves began. He felt the pressure as it built inside him and began to feel something else.

Suddenly, his eyes get big as he realizes he's about to have a poopie. He struggles to stop it. There's nothing he can do ... he's totally helpless. His eyes get big as his bottom lip pokes out adorably. He makes cute little grunting sounds as he feels the wonderfully pleasant wave push it out. His sphincter opens ... he feels the warm semi-gooshy solid ball as it forms in his diaper and spreads around. He hadn't been eating much solid food, so his poopie was sort of gooshy.

Tony was so embarrassed ... he didn't know what to do. The girls began to twitter and giggle as Michelle pointed. Tony knew ... they knew. He looked around at Coom. Coom was leaning against the rail pouting and hadn’t noticed. Tony also knew, he had no choice at this point ... he had to find a way to fix all this ... but was totally helpless to try.

Pat supervised the removal and assignment of the rest of the infants to the many Acolytes. She gave instructions that once every year, each one was to receive a single small drop of the Youth Water in their milk to keep them forever as an infant. It was the way. All the Acolytes bowed and chanted. They knew that they too would one day be given the water and experience the same thing ... it was the way now that the sacred fountain was to be restored.

Maria had proven to be very helpful with the many tasks involved. Pat was seriously thinking of offering her a Priestess position ... if she would accept it. Maria had followed Pat into the large laboratory. It was perhaps one of the most well equipped labs in the country for analyzing. Pat's eyes sparkled as she saw the long awaited sphere sitting on a three fingered lab clamp inside a glass case. It was exactly as the old writings had described it. It was about the size of and shaped like a soccer ball.

She picked up the glass case reverently. It was so light ... she had thought the sphere would be a heavy thing. It proved to be light as a feather. Pat nodded to herself ... of course it was ... it had to be made from one of the feathers from her god, Quetzalcoatl.

Maria followed Pat back to the large garden house. Within a large interior atrium, in the very center of the garden planted there ... was a large pool. In the very center of the pool, was a very large, ornately carved fountain with many infants depicted around the base. At the very top, the water sprayed out of an open flower held in the palms of two very young naked females. Pat opened the glass case and placed the sphere in the open petals of the flower. The water began to spray through the sphere exactly like the one in the ancient sunken temple. When Pat left the pool, her skin and hair was as soft and smooth as any infants.

Pat turns and kneels. Maria watched with wide eyed fascination as Pat said some kind of chanting prayer in a language that Maria only knew by stories the very old used to tell in her village. She watched as Pat leaned forward and placed her head between her hands and chanted something in the same language.

Pat sat up. She runs her hands over her face, then over her still beautiful body in a cressing manner. She reached out her finger and wet it in the pool. She put her finger in her mouth. The reaction was instantaneous. Maria gasps in awe as she watched Pat ... who was an extremely pretty woman even being in her sixties ... become a young woman of maybe 16 who was as pretty as any description of an Angel Maria had ever heard or any picture she had ever seen.

Pat shivers as the wonderful wave rushes through her body. She opens her eyes and sees Maria wide eyed in awe. Pat stands up, the sarong she had wrapped around her extremely shapely body now hung loosely about her. Pat untied the knot behind her head, re-wrapped it so it fit skin tight once more, then retied the knot.

Pat looked at Maria and smiled, "How would you like to be a High Priestess Matia? You would be my ... executive assistant and remain forever young."

Maria gasped as she shook her head affirmative. She was too awe struck for words at this moment.

Pat says softly, "Good, we must first have you marked. It stings some, but it identifies you as a High Priestess so all will know and show proper respect."

Pat moves the sarong slightly and shows Maria the beautifully done tattoo of the feathered serpent just below her breast.

Maria kneels and places her head between her hands on the floor. She says reverently, "I'm yours to command oh High Priestess of the Fountain."

Pat reaches down and takes Maria by the hand and gently lifts her back to her feet.

Pat says softly, "Now, now, one High Priestess doesn't show that kind of servatude to another .... only the Acolytes, Warriors, and believers."

Maria asks innocently, "Are there any High Priests?"

Pat giggles, "Not in many centuries. It had been decreed many time cycles ago that women should be the bearers of the Fountain, for it is we who bear the young into the world."

Maria nods as Pat takes her hand once again, and leads her off to receive her Mark of the Priestess.

A young Acolyte enters the nursery. She checks all the babies in the playpen. The others were wet, but Tony was the only messy baby.

The Acolyte picks Tony up and says in a cooing voice, "Ohh, is baby aww messy? Didums hava big poopies?"

Coom and the girls twittered and giggled as the Acolyte made a huge deal out of how cute it was and how adorable Tony was. Tony found himself on his back on a padded counter. The Acolyte unsnapped the snap between his legs and pulled the romper up above the messy diaper. She pulled down the plastic panties and undid the safety pins. When she pulled the diaper open, the Acolyte’s eyes got big with surprise.

The Acolyte coos softly, "So ... you're not a little girl .... but are to be raised as a Twin Spirit. That is such an honor. To be both wife and husband to several mates."

Tony feels a tingle of fear run though him at that as the young woman lifts him by his ankles and begins to clean his messy bottom with a large warm cloth. She made sure all of his squeaky places were clean before she set his hinny back into the thick warm embrace of another diaper. She powders him well. The sweet smell of baby powder fills the air.

Before she finishes diapering him, she lifts him by his ankles one more time. He feels something large, cold, and slippery push into his bottom. He gasps and begins to cry as it over powers his sphincter and enters him deeply.

The Acolite places him into the diaper as she coos softly, "I'm so sorry sweet heart. I didn't mean to hurt you. All that was was the female hormones to make you look more like a girl as you grow up. All twin spirits get them ... it's ... the way."

She then blows a very large and noisy raspberry in Tony's tummy. As shocked and dismayed at what she had told him .... he couldn't help himself. he screeches loudly and begins to kick and squirm as he giggles happily. The Acolyte tickles his feet and kisses his toes. She finally takes Tony's big toe between her index finger and thumb.

She coos softly, "This little piggy ..."

Tony totally lost his mind at this point. His feet and toes were extremely ticklish and this young woman kisses and tickled as she did piggies.

Finally, The Acolyte takes his little toe and says, "And this little piggy went Weee, Weee, Weee, all the way home."

As she said that, she tickled Tony in his ribs and under his arms as he squirmed helplessly and giggled. At the last Weee, she blew one more large, loud raspberry in Tony's tummy, before putting his plastic panties back on and fastening all the snaps between his legs.

As she carries him back to the playpen, she softly pats him on his hinny as she hums softly. Tony can feel the warm wetness as the suppository melts within his hinny. It made him feel really good as the tingling wave slowly spread all through him.

Tony watches as she takes Coom off ... then after a time ... brought him back. Coom had a strange expression on his face and acted really strangely. Tony was sure she had put a hormone suppository in his bottom too. The girls returned all giggly and happy. They crawled over to the boys and began to cuddle with them and try to cheer them up. They didn't look too happy at the moment.

Maria whimpered softly in Pat's arms after she had the tattoo placed beneath her young breast. It was beautifully done, although it would be a rather painful wound for several weeks. Pat cuddled and rocked the semi-nude young girl in her arms as she cooed softly to her.

Pat says softly in a musical coo, "Now, sweet heart, is when we shall take our rightful place in the world. Very soon, the believers and the warriors shall be given the task of evangelizing many more followers to our cause. Once we have a mighty following and many warriors, then we shall bring our gift to the whole world. There shall be the eternal peace of infant hood ... instead of wars, killings, thefts, and all the other horrors man inflicts on himself. Quetzalcoatl shall once again bring knowledge and peace to our world as he promised so many centuries ago."

Pat helps Maria to her feet. She picks up a long silk cloth that was artistically embroidered with the same colorful feathered serpent as on hers. She shows Maria how to wrap the sarong so it clung to her shapely young body and showed off her femininity.

As Pat tied the knot behind Maria's neck she says softly, "Come, my young Priestess, I will show you our following."

Pat led Maria down a long winding circular staircase, deep underground. Maria followed Pat closely as they walked down the long featureless hallway carved out of living rock to a large arching door. When Pat placed her palm on the circle in the very center, it slid open in four parts to reveal a huge underground chamber. There were many thousands of Acolytes, Warriors, and believers ... all chanting in that strange language from Maria's bed time stories. In the middle of another large pool that had flame sprouting from several locations around the side, was a large life like statue of Quetzalcoatl ... the feathered serpent god.

Pat hugs Maria close as she coos, "Soon, the leaders of the world shall be returned to the essence from whence they came. We will introduce the waters of life to all the world."

Maria watched wide eyed as a young man dressed only in a loincloth approached the statue. He was handed a large bejeweled golden colored cup. The young man took the cup and knelt down as he bowed his head for a second. He then looked up at the statue and put the cup to his lips and drank. The reaction was immediate. There was nothing left except for the cup which had fallen to the floor ... and a loincloth that had a large gooey wet spot within it.

---------------------------------------
~~ End - Pt7 ~~
---------------------------------------



-----------------------------------
Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt8 - Baby War Plans Within Plans
----------------------------------

Coom lay on his back as the young woman that had become their Nana changed him. He gasps softly as she gently pushed another female hormone suppository deep within his small hinny once again. Coom was infuriated at this. He knew that by the time his body had matured again, he wouldn’t look male in any way. The Navy Seal within him almost couldn't handle the thought of not only his adulthood being stolen away from him ... but his manhood as well.

The young woman lovingly diapered, powdered, and dressed Coom in an adorable little babydoll jumper with plastic lined rumba bottoms. It had little pink kittens and little blue puppies all over it. Coom shivered as the young woman sat in the rocking chair. He knew what was coming even before the woman undid the nursing panel in her blouse.

She pulled a very cute breast from within the nursing bra and gave it a gentle squeeze. A large white drop of liquid formed on the gumdrop sized nipple. Coom was helpless as she put the moist nipple to his lips. He couldn't help himself as he instinctively began to nurse. Pat and Maria walked in about that time.

Pat coos, "Aww, so adorable. Little Alexis having din din?"

Pat walks up and pats Coom on his head as she giggles. Coom had to find a way out. When he and the Nana finished, he and Tony were going to find some way to talk ... even if it killed them. They had to escape somehow and stop these people from doing what ever they were about to do. Coom wasn't real sure what a toddler and an almost toddler could do ... but they had to find something.

Coom watches as Pat and Maria left the room. He over heard Pat telling Maria, "... and when the leaders of the world have that special drink, all of them will return to their primal essence as you saw the young man do a few ..." Their voices fade from earshot.

Everything seemed to merge into one gray happy contented blur for Coom after that. He wasn't even sure when he had finished nursing ... all he knew was Nana had placed him in the playpen with the others, patted him softly on his poofy diapered hinny, and taken Tony with her this time. Coom sits up sleepily and starts to suck his thumb as he looks around the playpen.

Laurie and Michelle didn't seem to mind being infants in the least. Coom knew Michelle had an infantile fetish ... so this was probably heaven for her. He wasn't sure about Laurie, but she seemed to fit right into the persona she had become as easily as Michelle had. He watched as they giggled happily and played with the toys scattered around.

Coom waited for the Nana to return with Tony. Coom had somehow gotten caught up in playing with Laurie and Michelle and the many blocks and things in the playpen ... he couldn't help himself. He was a baby now for all intents and purposes and that aspect overpowered him sometimes. They had the most wonderful time of stacking the blocks up ... then knocking them all down again. The three of them screeched in infantile delight each time. They took turns building and knocking down ... every once in a while ... they would get into a baby fuss over whose turn it was, but they quickly returned to having fun.

Coom realized Nana had returned as she lay the semi sleeping Tony gently in the playpen and pats his thickly diapered ruffled hinny. She checked Laurie and Michelle, before taking Michelle with her. Coom quickly crawled over to the groggy Tony and shook him.

Try as he might, Coom couldn't quite get his tongue and mouth coordinated enough to make coherent adult speech. He did realize though ... if he tried hard enough ... he could make some simple sentences that were understandable ... to another baby.

Pat and Maria enter their lushly decorated room. Pat sits at the vanity and began to brush her very beautiful long hair until it shone. Maria was upset over the return to primal essence ceremony she had witnessed earlier. Pat had told her this is the fate of all those who stood against the Q and all the world leaders ... to be returned to their primal essence.

Maria asks softly, "Patti? Isn't ... returning someone to their primal essence ... killing them? I mean ... isn't it mass murder that is intended by the Q?"

Pat turns and smiles warmly as she replies, "No, my love ... what we are going to do, is take them back before they were born. To ... return them to the vital essence that created them. We aren't killing them ... they just cease to exist in this plain of reality. They are yet to be born here."

Maria shivers at the thought of that young man just ... vanishing that way and leaving behind nothing but a wet sticky mess to mark the place he had once existed.

"But ... Patti ... if they are yet to be born ... and they had already been born once before ... isn't that taking a life?" Maria asks in a small whiny voice.

Pat stands and walks to Maria and holds her lovingly in her arms. She gives her a small kiss on her forehead before walking to an alcove and removing a very large, very old, hand made tomb. She walks to a table and opens the huge book a quarter of the way through and points to the graceful swirls and squiggles decorating one of the many gold, metallic like pages ... and a picture of the Serpent pool and statue Maria had seen in the basement Temple to Quetzalcoatl.

Pat says softly in a reverent voice, "It has been written by our great lord, Quetzalcoatl, that all believers who return to their primal essence shall forever stand by his side and be a bringer of knowledge and peace to all. Any who have their primal essence mixed with the waters of the fountain shall give their life force unto all who partake of the youth energy there in. It is one of the greatest honors there is to be returned to him in primal essence whether you are a believer, or not."

Maria watched Pat with surprise as she bowed her head and appeared to say some kind of prayer in that musical language. Pat then picked up the large tomb and returned it to the alcove she had retrieved it from.

Maria knew at that point that something was very wrong with the organization she had gotten herself tangled up with. They actually believed that taking a person's life in this manner was a good thing. To Maria ... killing was killing regardless of how it happened. She remembered many piles of empty clothes on the ship that had large gooey wet spots in them. She shivered at the thought of those poor people dying in that manner. She truly hoped it was painless ... there were going to be many thousands that will experience this as the last thing in life if the Q had anything to say about it.

Maria says softly as she rises from her seat, "I think I'll go and see the four cute little babies in the playroom. I sorta have a soft spot for Coom."

Pat nods as she turns and begins to unwrap the sarong from her beautifully curvacious body.

Maria slips silently from Pat's room and glides gracefully down the hall to the nursery. When she enters, her eyebrows go up in surprise ... she saw four very cute little girls in the playpen ... not two boys and two girls as she had thought to find.

Maria says, "I know your minds are still intact ... so, is one of you ... Mr Coom by chance?"

One of the cute little girls uses the playpen rails to stand, then begins to wave her other arm wildly.

The little girl manages to say ... in a very adorable collection of babble and gurgles, "Ithsshh Meeee. I Gooom."

A large smile crosses Maria's face as she giggles. She couldn't help it. Coom and the others were so precious now it was hard not to. Maria walked over to the playpen and picked Coom up. She cradled him in her arms carefully as she smiled down.

Maria says softly, "I know it's going to be very demeaning for you and the others, but there's nothing that can be done. You will just have to resign yourself to growing back up as a little girl. The Q have more followers than I ever imagined ... and they have them in many high places. They intend to take over the world and usher in a New Age and World Order with Quetzalcoatl being the ruler."

Coom couldn't believe what he just heard. Tony's eyes get big and he takes his thumb from his mouth in shock.

Tony tries to speak. Being even younger than Coom, made him even more adorably unable to communicate properly.

Tony gurgles and coos, "Gooogggttthhaaa schtoooopppp emmmmssstthh."

Maria looks at Tony for a second before she understood what he was saying, "Oh, so you guys can talk. Unless someone is really listening closely, they won't notice you are speaking words ... it sounds just like baby babble nonsense."

( Author's Prerogative Note: All of the four main character infant's speech will be translated by babylator into normal English for the many Adults that read this. Their speech should be still regarded as adorably cute nearly unintelligible baby babble other wise.)

Coom replies, "I know ... it's taken a long time to get this good at it."

Tony nods, "I have a particular hard time being a whole lot younger than Coom."

Maria says, "We have to come up with a way to stop this from happening. I was hoping you might have some ... friends in low places?"

All of them giggle at the joke.

Coom replies, "I have several contacts with the CIA, the Oceanographic and Recovery Office, and the Geologic Survey Office. I might even have a few markers we can call in in several places in the Military. How do I know .... I can Trust you Maria? I see you wearing that ... dress ... and you have their mark on you."

Coom reaches over and touches the raw, freshly done tattoo of Quetzalcoatl just beneath her perky breast. Maria gasps softly at the sting of Coom's touch on the raw place.

Maria replies, "I thought they were going to stop war ... and many of the other ills that plague our planet. The way they are intending to do it ... is overdose many thousands with the youth water .... convert them back to their primal state ... the state before they were conceived."

Coom shivers as the realization of how close he and Tony had come to that fate. If the coffee had been a touch cooler ... they would now be just a gooey mess in the old clothes they had been wearing. Coom also knew, that all the female hormones that were being put into their bodies, would have a major impact on how their bodies developed in the years to come. He was still not willing to do that ... although he also knew there was little he could do about it ... yet. He had no choice at this moment ... he had to trust Maria. He had known her for many years and she had always been reliable.

Coom says in his adorable gurgling voice, "You need to contact Jackson and his crew. Give them this message ... and then no more contact. Tell them, ' The Raptor has escaped the pen.' Do not confirm the message, nor answer any of his calls for verification. If anyone responds ... it cannot be you ... understood?" Maria nods, "Good, after twelve hours, I will give you the next transmission ... he will be waiting for it I assure you."

Maria says, "I will do what I can to stop the preparations they are making right now. They are needing more money to finance their actions around the world ... I think they are getting ready to go back to the place we just came from."

Coom giggles adorably, "Don't stop them, Maria ... I think they will have a wonderful surprise when they get back to the wreck. I don't think they will be getting any gold or silver from there for a long while. I believe we pissed off a ... really large mother of mothers while we were there."

Maria blinks in confusion, but nods her head as she puts Coom back in the playpen next to Tony. The two girls crawl over and sit next to them and start sucking their thumbs as all four look at Maria with expectation.

Maria says softly, "I'll be back in twelve hours. I'm going to the radio room now."

Maria turns and leaves gracefully.

Tony says to Coom in baby speak, "I hope she succeeds."

Coom nods, "If she gets that message to Jackson and his crew, she already has. It's the code we have for things have gone T&A the hard way ... trust no one but the 12 hour code ... return immediately on Full Battle Alert."

Laurie gurgles, "What does ... T&A mean?"

Coom giggles, "It's an old Military saying ... and not very flattering."

Maria made it to the Radio room with no one seeing her. She turns on the powerful satellite receiver and dials the correct frequency for Jackson she saw taped to the wall next to the set.

Maria says professionally, "Andromeda, this is base ... standby to copy important message from Coom."

The reply came quickly, "Base, this is Andromeda ... Jackson speaking ... standing by for message."

Maria keys the mic and replies, "The Raptor has escaped the pen."

Immediately, the worried voice of Jackson came back, "Confirm the message? Who is this? Repeat the message ... Come back ... Hello ..."

Maria smiles as she turns off the set. If what Coom had told her was true, Jackson would return to base ready to fight as soon has he could get his ship back to home port. She hopes the next message in twelve hours had a bit of warning about water here ... it wouldn't do to have them return, only to meet the same fate as Coom and his crew.

Maria leaves the radio room and shuts the door. As she begins to walk away, Pat rounds the corner at the end of the hall. Pat narrows her eyes as her face takes on a suspicious scowl.

Pat says in mock civility, "And what, has my little girl priestess been ... up to? I went looking for you in the playroom ... the babies seem to be somehow ... different in attitude? I don't know, but their babyness seems to have been slightly contaminated with something."

Maria smiles quickly as she replies, "I couldn't tell you what that might have been. I'm just wandering around looking at all the new places. I live in that little spring house over on the far end ... and never knew about any of this."

Pat smiles warmly, the suspicious tone gone, "I can understand that. We built all of the Temple right under the nose of Coom and all of his friends. None of them had a clue we were providing them with the clues necessary to find the Youth Stone and the Sunken Temple, and the lost gold of Quetzalcoatl. The load that Coom brought back this time is by far the largest ever recovered. It will keep the Q well funded for many years. We still will need more, however, and soon ... I'm sending the Nimrod out with some of my best servants to recover the rest from the Abyssal."

Maria stifled a giggle as she thought of what Coom had told her a few minutes ago. She wondered exactly what the Mother of Mothers was ... and what it being pissed really meant. She knew one thing ... she was so glad she wasn't one of the ones going.

Pat held out her hand to Maria, Maria took it. Pat lead Maria out of the long hall into the outdoor garden. The flowers were blooming and filled the air with the heavenly perfumes. The sound of many bird's song and bees busily rounding up necter filled the area.

Pat lead Maria deep into the garden foliage. Nestled in the very middle was another open area with another pool and fountain with statues of the two nude young women holding the lotus flower in their palms. The fountain sprayed from the center of the lotus blossom. In and around the pool, were many children of all ages playing happily. None were younger than about eight and none older than about fourteen.

Pat says with a reverence in her voice, "These are the many faithful who have followed and grown old in service. They at last have received the promise of Quetzalcoatl as have you my love."

Pat takes Maria in her arms suddenly and French Kisses her passionately. Maria was taken completely by surprise as Pat's tongue enters her mouth and wiggles all around ... exploring every cranny before entwining with hers. Maria resisted for an instant in surprise. She didn't feel right about doing this ... Pat knew how to kiss very well however, and it felt wonderful. Maria finally melted into the most wonderful kiss, and returned it with the same energy so Pat wouldn't suspect ... that she wasn't trusted any longer.

Jackson had been taken totally by surprise by the danger message, Due to the nature of their work and many of the very valuable artifacts that are recovered, Coom had devised a short and simple message that can't be misinterpreted. Jackson didn't know who the little girl was that sent the message, but she knew exactly how to do it.

Jackson had retrieved all of his equipment, but left enough manpower behind so their presence would still be highly visible at the spill site. The Andromeda had been underway back to port for several hours as Jackson sat in the pilot house drinking coffee, awaiting the next message. If it didn't come ... Jackson knew to issue arms and arrive on war alert and be prepared for a life and death battle. The next message should contain more in depth information as to what the emergency was and how critical the response should be ... that is if it arrived.

Right at twelve hours on the mark, a young and sexy female voice rang out over the ship's satellite receiver, "Andromeda, this is base ... I have a twelve hour conformation message about an escaped raptor from the cage."

Jackson dropped his mug on the deck in his mad dash to respond ... it was fortunate the mug was made of plastic or it would have shattered on the steel plate of the deck.

Jackson punches the Mic key and responds, "This is Andromeda ... Jackson speaking ... has the raptor mated?"

The female voice replies, "Affirmative ... it has mated and spread many times and in high tree top.

"Damn, " Jackson swore as his fist hit the table the receiver sat on. He re-keyed the Mic and responded, "Is it viral?"

Jackson held his breath awaiting the response.

The little girl's voice rang out loud and clear, "Affirmative ... the water is contaminated ... say again ... the water is contaminated. The sought object is real and recovered. Many are infected." The communication from base went dead.

Jackson didn't bother with the rest of his charade about trying to get them to repeat the message. Who ever it was sending knew exactly what they were doing and he didn't feel it was necessary. Jackson now knew there were many people involved and they were in many places ... and their numbers were growing and located in very high positions.

Jackson shook his head in almost disbelief ... Coom actually found that damnable youth artifact he had been obsessed with for so many years .... and apparently ... it had gotten away from him. The message had told Jackson that it had contaminated the water supply at port ... so they would have to be under strict orders not to drink anything there until ... or maybe if ... the problem there could be contained.

Jackson stood and walked to the ship's intercom and punched send, "This is the Captain ... RED ALERT ... this is not a drill ... all hands to battle readiness. Quartermaster ... you are to issue combat arms to all personnel that are qualified to hold them. To the rest, issue stun guns ... we have a critical situation at port and Coom in in need of our help. A Battle Briefing will be in exactly one hour on the fantail."

Jackson keyed the intercom off. He stood with his fist against the wall as he shook his head worriedly. If this was the real Fountain of Youth artifact as the message said ... it was perhaps the most dangerous thing mankind had ever faced. Just a few drops of the waters from that thing could ... Jackson's eyes got large in alarm as he realized the implications. A contaminated water supply ... meant ... many would be rendered to infancy ... an over dose would mean sure death.

Coom and Tony played with the girls happily. Michelle and Laurie wanted more than just infantile play, but their fingers were to immature to open the diaper pins so they might explore this possibility. Instead, they contented themselves with kisses and many pleasant caresses. Finally Coom pushes Laurie away.

Laurie pokes out her bottom lip adorably and says in a cute, gurgling, pouty way, "You no likes girls no more?"

Coom takes hold of the playpen rail and uses it to help him stand. He looks out at the slightly open playroom door.

He replies, "It's not that ... it's just our next meal may turn us into nothing more than a gooey pile of genetic material ... we never know."

Michelle replies in her cute baby voice, "We all gets breast fed now ... no think it work thatta ways."

Coom replies, "Those bottles of juice and stuff that tastes so goo ... all it takes at our age is a few drops."

Laurie's eyes get huge for a second, before her face clouds up and tears begin to run from her eyes down her cute cheeks.

Michelle snuggles up next to her and gives her a big hug, "No worries about it. Isat girl does what she supposesa ... help onna ways."

Tony brings the hammer and peg bench over and pushes it next to the playpen rails. Coom looks down and sees that there might be a way out of this prison after all. He wasn't quite sure how this might help as helpless as they were at the moment ... he also knew ... they might get seriously hurt because of their being all baby in their bodies.

Tony gurgles and coos, "Now, is u stand onna top ... shoulds give u nuff hught ta gets over. Itta long faww onna other side ... might hurts hinny." Tony pats his ruffled and thickly diapered butt.

The girls watch as the boys climb out of the playpen, and toddle slowly out of the playroom on their grand adventure.

Pat knelt on the dock with her forehead touching the planks between her hands as she lead a prayer of success to Quetzalcoatl. She rises and sits on her legs as she watches the ship Argos slowly dwindle off into the horizon on their mission to recover the lost treasure of Quetzalcoatl in the Abyss. She knew there was enough gold and silver there to supply them with all the funding they would ever need. Perhaps ... even Fort Knox would ask for a loan now and then.

She smiles at her private joke as she gracefully rises to her feet and glides back to the main building. Pat knew something had changed with Maria, she just wasn't sure what. Maria seemed to be spending a lot more time with Coom and his infant friends than she thought should be. And finding Maria in the hall with the radio room ... was something that made Pat slightly suspicious something was up. Pat shrugs it off and enters the swinging door into the building's main lobby. There was still this .... nagging itch at the back of Pat's mind that wouldn't go away.

Pat decided to check on the infant's to make sure nothing had happened to them. Pat had plans for those four. She giggles to herself over how cute Coom and Tony were going to be as Acolyte Priestesses, Coom was going to make a wonderful little girl. Pat knew just who to give her to. That Acolyte she had just turned into a baby the other day ... what was his name? Oh yes ... Jeremy ... He would make a wonderful boyfriend for Alexis, Coom's new female name.

Pat enters the playroom. She sees two babies snuggled together in a cute snuggling hug. She sees the peg bench next to the playpen rails .... and she realizes ... two of the babies have gotten out of the playpen. She frowns. If they are old enough to do that, then they need just a wee bit more of the Youth Water to ... immobilize them. If they are too young to stand or crawl ... they won't be able to do this again. Besides, that would give the m more time to have female hormones given to them and insuring they would be really cute little girls. Pat immediately begins to search for the toddlers. She knows they couldn't have gotten far at their current age.

Several days later, the Argos had arrived at its destination. The sun was just rising over the Horizon and set the sky on fire with a wonderful panorama of golds, oranges, greens, and purples. The glassy surface of the ocean reflected the majesty for all who were able to see.

On the fantail of the Argos, the crew were all on their knees with their heads to the deck facing this glorious display in morning worship. A musical chant rose hypnotically in a language that had not been written nor spoken in many centuries to their great G_D Quetzalcoatl, as he arose in his fiery chariot to watch over his people one more time.

After many long minutes had passed, the crew rises. One of them starts giving orders to prepare for a deep dive of almost 2 miles. The remainder of the crew scurry like ants in a well ordered chaos making preparations for the dive.

Several men climbed up the gang way onto a medium sized submersible with a large clear bubble in front. After entering the hatch and dogging it closed, the men could be seen seating themselves in the control couches inside the bubble and fastening their harnesses. After a few minutes of prelaunch checks, several appendages extend from the main body of the submersible. Two articulated fingered appendage spin both ways completely around. Opens and closes their grasp, and flexes up and down several times before retracting back into the main body.

The men give a thumbs up. The submersible is hoisted from the deck, swung over the side and released a few feet above the water. It falls to the water making a large splash on impact. A whine is heard as the main propellers begin to spin, and many bubbles rise loudly around the craft. The people on the deck watch as the submersible rapidly sinks from site in the incredibly deep waters of the Larenthall Abyssal.

Jackson had finally arrived at the outer marker. He was worried too much time had passed since initial radio message was received. The Andromeda was a very fast hydroplane equipped vessel and could maintain speeds of up to 90 knots, but it still took time to cover the miles.

The weather had not been kind this morning, as a very large and powerful tropical depression had formed near the Florida coast. The NOAA was predicting it to become a major hurricane within the next several hours. Already, it had wind speeds of just under 6o Mph sustained and gusts of over 90 Mph as the rain bands passed. Seas were rising to about four to five feet on the swell ... and Jackson knew from experience ... it was going to get a whole lot worse.

Jackson stood in the pilot house looking out the forward windows with the super high powered oil lens binoculars. The rain spattered window was whisked clean every few seconds by a wiper, but it didn't help improve the view much. He could see the gray outlines of the dock through the gray of the wind blown rain, and the wind tossed trees and plants on shore. He could tell all the storm shutters were properly in place and the remaining vessels were weathered in the corral dock. One thing was for certain ... the place still followed storm procedures.

Jackson picks up the Mic and keys it, "This is the Captain, I want all assault teams locked and loaded. You are authorized live ... say again ... authorized live. Begin the assault."

Jackson presses a large red knob that had been beneath a clear cover. On the foredeck, a round area that had stood about 6 feet tall, suddenly opens. From within appeared a twin eighty eight deck cannon. Several men climbed the ladder and entered the turret. The auto-load function immediately loaded two shells. Fore of that position, a small square in the deck parted and two fifty caliber antiaircraft machine guns rose and locked into place. On the fantail, two more fifty caliber machine guns rose and locked into place behind the twin eighty eight cannon there.

Jackson smiles as the lights on his control panel turned green. He knew, no one would suspect a small attack ship to be coming into port under friendly flags. Jackson looked around. He could see the men all decked out in their combat uniforms and assault equipment. This would be an assault Special Forces would be proud of.

The men piled into their super-fast inflatable landing craft and departed on the rough seas. Jackson followed close behind ... ready to provide serious back up with the Andromeda.

All the teams landed without incident or detection. The Andromeda came into harbor and took up position in perfect firing location that covered the entire harbor and compound easily. Jackson knew that the teams had to find cover quickly, the storm's rising wind and the blown debris could quickly end this assault in disaster.

Jackson also knew that Coom's compound was built like the best of the military bases and all the team's had to control the vital areas quickly, or the battle would end before it began. While the storm protocols were in place, the compound was almost impregnable if combat lock down was enabled.

Jackson watched through the binoculars as each team gained entry into the main complex and vanished from sight. Unless he was going to shell the place to rubble, all he could do at this point was trust his assault teams to do their jobs. The hardest thing about a Commander's job ... was waiting for his troops to relay sit reps.


--------------------------------
~~ End Pt8 ~~
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Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt9 - The Best laid Plans
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For the first three quarters of a mile, nothing unusual happened as the submersible sank along its predesignated route. The only external sounds, were the groans of the metal as the many tons per square inch water pressures mounted, and the sound of the bubbles as they slowly escaped the tanks. The only other sounds, were the soft voices of the men and the electronic sounds of equipment and the whine of the motors.

One of the men reaches forward and turns on the external spots ... it had gotten very dark and dusky this far beneath the surface. When the light first came on, off at the periphery of the beam, the two men caught a gimps of a whitish, gray, orange thing that was larger that an Aircraft Carrier. It was just a gimps, however, what ever they thought they saw had vanished as quickly as they had thought they saw it. The radar made a ghost ping for several bounces before it too became silent.

The two men stared at the radar and ladar scopes trying to see what it might have been. They ran several scans using ultra violet and infrared, but found nothing out of the ordinary. One thing that was sort of odd, there didn't seem to be the usual fish gathering that normally accompanies a dive like this one. Normally, fish and other aquatic life are attracted to the submersibles because of the light and sounds they make. The only thing the men could see through the clear of the bubble that housed them, was the ever present biological debris snow that falls from the upper levels of the ocean.

One of the men says softly, "Miguel? I have a strange feeling ... we are being watched somehow."

The other man turns the gain up on the radar and watches the scope's return for a few seconds before replying, "I know what you mean Juan .... the hairs on the back of my neck have been standing on end since you turned on the lights."

Both men were silent for a space before Miguel asked in a strange tone, "What ... do you think that ... thing was we glimpsed?"

Juan reached over and patted Miguel on his shoulder, "I don't think it was anything actually. Nothing that size can move that quickly underwater."

Miguel looks at Juan and replies, "The Mako shark can reach speeds of 45 miles per hour. The Wahoo is the same ... the reason it's called a Wahoo ... is the speed and ferocity it hits the bait. The Mako have been known to weigh in at twenty one hundred pounds or more."

Juan laughs, "Yes, Miguel, and the Megladon Shark was as big as a large attack submarine and weighed many tons ..."

Juan's face takes on a really concerned expression as he stops speaking suddenly. Miguel looks at him and asks, "What's wrong?"

Juan replies, "What if ... a Megladon Shark survives at this depth? No one would really know ... would they?"

Both men look at each other with concern as they become quite with worry. What ever that thing was, it was larger than they by many factors ... and could move faster than they by many times. Juan reaches over and turns on the rest of the high powered spots and the rest of the observation cameras. Both men began watching the screens closely for any more signs of ... what ever it was.

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Cleary and his team had penetrated the compound, and entered the main building without any resistance. He and his men secured the entrance and several of the main halls and conference areas within minutes. The radio room was also empty, which Cleary found really strange. There was supposed to be someone monitoring at all times.

A voice comes over Cleary's ear-bud, "Raven, this is Fox."

"Go ahead Fox."

"We've found ... a nursery. Several of them in fact. There's a young girl in one of them ... she's guarding four little girls like her life depends on it."

"Copy, Fox ... what's the location of the five? I want to talk with the little girl."

"NW of your current location, I think this used to be storage area six."

Several more teams called in about that time reporting several more nurseries and many Nanas caring for the infants. Cleary had been briefed on what the artifact recovered had been purported to be ... and what it was actually capable of doing. Apparently, whoever this incursion force was, was wasting no time in reducing the staff to infants.

Cleary gave the orders to drink nothing from the compound and to take the main business office and security office. From those locations, the rest of the compound is under their control.

Cleary wondered where the people they were looking for were. They had encountered no one but infants and the little girl. Cleary was actually expecting to find her. She was the young Head Priestess Jackson had said they were to find. Cleary didn't know how he knew she was there, but that didn't matter at this point ... they had found her and he was intent on speaking with her ASAP.

Cleary entered the large Atrium. His mouth fell open as he came to the large pool and fountain in the middle of the large garden. He saw the meticulously carved statue of the two young naked women holding the lotus blossom in the palms of their hands. He saw the beautiful spray of the fountain. His eyes fell on the sphere in the very center of the blossom ... that ... had to be the artifact that caused so much trouble.

Cleary was almost 60 ... his birthday would be in a few months ... and it would be official. He itched to see if this was the real deal ... or if something else was afoot. He removed the glove from his hand and knelt down at the edge of the pool. The water was crystal sparkling clean. There wasn't even any green algae that usually grows around the sides of a pool such as this. He dips his finger into the water. It tingles all the way up his arm as he sees it change somehow. He looks his finger over and compares it with the others on both hands. Cleary's eyes get big as he realizes ... his one finger was ... younger than his others.

He dips another finger in and puts that one in his mouth. The water tasted so sweet. The reaction was immediate. Cleary felt the wonderful wave wash all through his body. His shoulder where he had taken a large caliber round in his younger days suddenly quit hurting. The minor aches and pains in the other parts of his body stopped. He looked at his reflection in the water ... and he gasps in shock. He was now once again in his prime. He looked exactly like he did when he was in his 20's. Cleary stood and looked at the fountain with new eyes. This was ... in fact ... the fabled fountain of youth. Jackson was right, Coom had found the damn thing.

Cleary continued to storage six. When he entered, The man there stood and looked suspiciously at Cleary as he leveled his weapon at him. Cleary raised his hands palm up.

Cleary says quickly, "Whoa there cowboy, it's me ... Cleary. I sort of ... accidentally found the fountain we had all been briefed on."

The man looked confused. This young man had Cleary's voice for sure and certain, and was wearing his equipment and uniform ... but he was in his twenties.

The man said, "Alright, tell me something only he and I would know."

Cleary smiles as he says, "Remember Rhonda's place in Thailand? What about those ... umm ... girls you liked so much?" A large smile crossed Cleary's lips.

The man's eyes got big as his mouth fell open. Cleary promised not to tell anyone about that.

The man gasps, "It was an honest mistake ... they looked ... you couldn't tell."

Cleary raises his hands palms out, "It's ok, son ... I told no one. It's our secret. I just want you to know ... it is me ... Cleary."

The man wavered a bit, but still seemed unsure. He looks Cleary over very carefully one more time.

Cleary snorts and says sharply, "Larry, your sister Nancy ... we got married 25 years ago in Guam when you were 10. She had a heart shaped mole on the inside of her thigh. The last thing she said before she died to the two of us ... is that we should always act like brothers and take care of each other even though I'm much older than you."

Larry's eye get huge as an expression of total surprise washes over it. Larry lowers his weapon at this point ... this had to be Cleary ... even though he was way too young.

Cleary says, "It's ok, son, the Fountain of Youth isn't a myth ... it's actually sitting in the middle of the Arboretum. I know ... I found it. Now, where's this priestess you said you found?"

Larry hesitates only another second before he leads Cleary into the nursery. Sitting on a very large and thick pillow chair with 4 adorable little baby girls, was a young girl dressed very nicely in a sarong that had the hand embroidered image of a plumed serpent coiled all around.

Cleary took a double take when he saw her beautiful young face and the pretty smile that crossed her lips. Cleary knew this girl from somewhere ... he couldn't put his finger on where however.

Cleary finally says, "I'm Cleary ..."

Maria replies, "I know who you are silly man, it's me .... Maria Rodriguez. I ... discovered the fountain by accident too. Someone put the youth water in my coffee. Good thing it was hot and I was only sipping or I might have fared much worse."

Maria spent the next thirty minutes filling Cleary in on what was happening. She told him that she had become a priestess of the Q because they were saying they were going to rid the world of hate, war, famine, and disease. She told him about the Primal Essence ceremony and how all of the Q thought it was a great and wonderful blessing to be returned to their primal essence. Maria explained how many had already been killed in this manner, and that the many thousands of followers lead by Pat, their high Priestess, had already left for Washington to deliver the youth water to the other agents already in place and to begin killing all the leaders of The USA by returning them to their Primal Essence.

Maria told Cleary also, that many had already been sent to the other countries of the world to begin the same thing with large quantities of the water. Since it was only water ... customs and CSA at the airport would be absolutely no issue what ever. If something wasn't done within the next few weeks ... the world would be in their control.

Cleary and Larry were in total shock by the time Maria had finished telling her tale.

Cleary asks, "Where's Coom? Have you seen him?"

One of the adorable little baby girls began bouncing up and down on her thickly ruffled and diapered hinny and waving her arms wildly.

Maria giggles, "That's Coom ... now. He's not only been turned into a baby, the Q have given him lots of female hormones. They say he and his friend Tony there, are Twin Spirits. In other words, both male and female at the same time. They have been given enough hormones by this time, that it will effect how they look when they grow up. They will look a whole lot like girls."

Cleary's face cracks with a huge smile. He sees the little girl that had been weaving’s face take on a dark and pouty look. Quickly, Cleary quit smiling as he realized what horror was about to befall his country.

Cleary asks, "If all the other have gone, why are you still here?"

Maria replies, "I'm here to take care of Coom and his friends and the rest of the infants. There are a group of Nanas here too. they are probably in the nurseries or kitchens or wash areas washing clothes. There are lots of infants now that the Q have taken over." Maria looks at the 4 babies for a second before she continues, "I just barely saved Coom and Tony from being reduced to their Primal Essence by Pat. She was furious that she didn't find them in their playpen. I was fortunate to have found them in the hall and took them to my room."

Cleary presses the bud in his ear and says, "Jackson, this is Cleary, Compound is secure. Have found Coom and party ... they have been infected. The Fountain of Youth is real ... say again real. I accidentally stumbled on to it and know."

Jackson jumps to the Mic and pushes the button, "How bad did it get you?"

Cleary replies, "I'm back to my twenties. Seems you will have me bothering you for many more years."

Jackson snorts a laugh, "How many casualties and prisoners?"

Cleary replies, "Many infants, Many Nanas, a very young Maria Rodriguez, and infant Coom and party. No casualties. The rest of the crowd has progressed to their next stage of taking over. They have already gone to Washington and other countries to proceed with killing off the leaders."

Jackson sits back in his chair. In his mind he feels they have arrived too late. He looks over at the red phone sitting next to the tracking radar. He knows this next call will be extremely important ... he also knows ... no one will believe it.

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Sonar reflections of the ledge on which the wreck lay had begun to show they were almost there. They were almost two miles beneath the surface. External temperature was near freezing and the pressure was registering several tons per square inch. The radar had been giving ghost signals ... just a few return pings. It was enough to keep the men's nerves on edge.

One camera caught an image of something that looked like a huge monstrous cable or something move behind the submersible. There was some kind of minor impact against the starboard rear propeller ... but it didn't repeat itself. It did manage to upset the men terribly. Any kind of leak into the living compartment would be fatal at these pressures. The water would enter and cut metal on impact ... and anything else of lesser densities as well.

Juan watched the screens diligently as they approached the ledge. The fuzzy images of the wreck began to show up on the return screen. The Ledge was still too far off to be seen through the bubble ... the circle of light didn't penetrate that far.

Without warning, a very large contact on radar coming from the edge of the abyssal. It was huge and moved swiftly. Within seconds, Both men saw the thing just before it impacted amidships and rolled the submersible onto its back. Several green operation lights on the control panel turned red as an annoying alarm started sounding.

Miguel quickly took the submersible off of auto pilot and took manual control. He rolled it back to the up right position as he pushed the throttles to full power. Juan meanwhile flipped several switches. A loud whine was heard as large panels swung on on both side of the submersible. In front, several cannon looking things extended from underneath.

Miguel said excitedly, "Charge main capacitors. I want full discharge ability on the rail guns."

Juan nods as he flips several more switches, "I've opened the torpedo panels as well .... we have 20 of them."

Once again, they see the image on the radar as it shows a major contact one more time. In the far off dim light at the very edge of the spots, they saw it. It was huge ... had many arms, and the eye that was looking at them was bigger than the submersible.

Fear filled both men as Miguel fired both rail-guns at the creature. The only thing they could see, was inky blackness. The radar still showed a major contact approaching rapidly. Before Juan could fire any torpedoes, they were hit again. This time, the operations board showed the starboard side engine compartment was flooded and all power to that thruster was lost. Most of the cameras and spots on that side were also out. Miguel swiveled one of the nearby cameras that were still working. All he saw on that side, was twisted and tortured metal.

The submersible began to make a long corkscrew decent on the only thruster still working. It was all Miguel could do to regain control of the small craft on manual control. It was obvious that they had lost several vector control motors as well. The submersible moved like it was stuck in mud and reacted to all controls in a horribly sluggish way. There was no way to out maneuver that thing now.

Juan saw the stern of the wreck looming large forward of them. He punches Miguel in his shoulder and points.

"In there!" he shouts in a fearful gasp, "Hurry, hide in there!"

Miguel fights the sluggish craft and manages to bring it into the open end of the stern just as the huge creature passes. The wash of its passing created enough forward shove, it pushed them into a large rotten bulkhead section creating a cascade of debris, silt, and what appeared to be many thousands of gold and silver coins.

Miguel struggled with the damaged submersible to back it out of the pile. It really was horribly unresponsive. Miguel managed to turn the submersible around in time to get the best look of the creature any man had seen before.

It was huge. The mother of all Giant Squids slowly passed in front of the opening in the wreck of the stern. Its body was as big as an aircraft carrier. Its tentacles appeared to be many hundreds of feet long. The eye that looked them over was ebony black and merciless. It reached towards the stern of the craft with a tentacle that appeared to be almost a mile long and grabbed it. The next thing the men knew, everything was tumbling. They got a quick gimps of the edge of the ledge as they plunged over into the Stygian darkness of the Abyssal.

Miguel struggles valiantly to get the damaged submersible out of the tumbling mass of gold, silver, amphorae, rotten timbers, and silt. Just as he managed to clear the tumbling stern of the wreck, they both saw a beak the size of the Nimrod reach up and shatter it completely as it snapped viciously open and closed many times amid gigantic tentacles with suction cups equally large that held the disintegrating stern in the monstrous Kraken's unrelenting grasp.

By total accident, Miguel found a cave in the side of the cliff. He backed the crippled submersible into its dark opening while Juan tuned off all the spots. Juan switched on the black lights instead. The area took on a eerie glow as everything touched seemed to shine in the black light.

They could see the huge creature as it hung in the darkness just in front of them. It attacked the cliff face several times with its huge beak, causing a large landslide. Massive amounts of rock, dirt, and silt filled the area in front of the submersible. Fortunately, the opening to the cave remained clear and unobstructed.

Juan said with fear in his voice, "Miguel .. our air ... one of the tanks must have been breached. It says we only have 12 hours left. Is that enough to reach the surface?"

Miguel shivers as he feels the warm wetness of where he peed his pants in fear. Panicking due to the massive damage their small craft had sustained, he quickly moves the submersible from the cave and drops the several ton weight beneath them. The submersible begins to rise rapidly at first ... then suddenly comes to an abrupt halt, reverses its course, and falls off into the abyssal as the huge Kraken pulls it into the Stygian icy cold depths. The last thing the two men see in this life, is the bubble around them as it severely cracks, then implodes under severe pressure overload.

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~~ End - Pt9 ~~
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Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt10 - A Perfect Global Storm
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On the surface, the Communications and Submersible Control Officer for the Nimrod, frowns as he watches the monitoring panel begin to show red lights. What they indicated was the submersible was sustaining critical damage. Try as he might, the only comm he managed to receive from the submersible was they had had a major radar contact. There were screams and loud shouting that over rode the mic's ability to capture what was being said clearly.

The words OMG!! Monster, and the mysterious last statement before the submersible’s comm system went dead, "That thing must be almost a mile long! Quick, in there ... loud static ... only chance."

Ortega had been a comms Officer and Operator for many years. He knew the chances of anyone living through the kind of damage the panel showed was next to nil. He picks up the receiver on the inter-ship comm and punches in the code for the Bridge.

The system buzzed once, before there was a click. A Professional Voice said, "Bridge ... First officer, Florez."

Ortega says, "Bridge, this is Comm's Officer Ortega. I think our sub has suffered a fatal accident."

There was a moment of silence before the response, "Don't beat around the bush. Tell me what happened!"

Ortega quickly replies, "Sorry, we lost all comms with the sub. The monitoring board shows all major red lights on all systems ... and the last comm from them was .... really strange."

Florez says, "Pipe the last transmission through ... I want to hear."

Ortega replies, "Ok, Commander, but there's not really much to hear."

Ortega flips several switches and plays back the message over the intercom. Florez listens to the static filled last message several times. He turns when the Nimrod's Sonar begins to ping at a major contact. The First Officer hangs up the receiver and walks to the large glowing green / blue monitor that showed the signal returns for the most modern underwater detection system known to man.

His eyes get huge in surprise as he sees the size of the return and the speed which it was rising from the Abyssal. It was moving at almost 90 kts. That was impossible for something that large to move that fast ... unless it was rocket powered.

Florez hits a large red button on the control panel as he barks into a mic, "This is Florez .... we are about to be rammed by a very fast moving and extremely large object. It will impact on the forward 3 compartments. Seal all water tight doors starting at and forward of bhdc 19. This is not a drill."

A loud klaxon began sounding. The men dashed madly to escape the forward compartments as the water tight doors quickly closed and sealed. By the bare skin of their teeth did the crew manage to completely evacuate the forward sections before it sealed itself water tight.

There was no time to think as something impacted on the hull. The deck shifts aft suddenly as the bow rises out of the water. Ocean begins to spill over the aft rail on the fantail as it dips below the surface. Men and women madly scrabble for hand holds to keep from sliding on the badly tilting deck.

The ship rises to almost 50dgs above horizontal before it slides backwards, and the bow slams into the surface of the ocean with great impact. A wave of frothy water washes over the deck from the rear as it once again breaks the surface and returns.

The crew scrambles hard to find places to hold on as the ship violently tosses and rocks. Florez manages to seat himself in the Captain's bucket seat and fastens the harnesses. There is little he can do at this second, the ship is bucking like a wild thing.

He messes his pants as he sees, rising from the water directly in front of the Nimrod ... a monstrous creature from his wildest nightmares. Huge suction cupped tentacles boiled from the sea and began wrapping themselves around the ship. From the dark frothy waters came a monstrous beak ... that clamped down on the bow beam and tore a huge chunk of metal loose.

Florez heard men scream and yell in terror. A near crazed voice over the intercom, "This is the quartermaster ... the weapon's locker is open. Combat Crews to the ready."

Florez turns as a young man with 552 combat rifles runs in the door. He hands one of the rifles to Florez just as one of the huge tentacles smashes the conn room's forward window. The young man kneels and pulls the charging handle quickly. Florez raises eyebrows at the speed and accuracy of these weapons. For a simple research vessel ... Coom kept them very well armed.

Florez raises the rifle to his shoulder and gets the monster's softest looking place in site, then fired. The impact of the butt on his shoulder told him this round was about the size of a 50 cal. The monster reacted only by pulling the tip of the tentacle from the broken window, then renewed its assault on the ship.

Flores saw two smoke trails as they shot from the observation deck above him. Two rather large explosions as the small misses reached their targets. This only angered the monster as it wrapped its tentacles around the forward Mast and began to pull the Nimrod under water ... the monster was many sizes larger than the Nimrod.

Florez and the young man stood and began firing at the creature, trying to hit one of its eyes. The flailing tentacles seemed to be interfering with any of the bullets hitting target. Florez pushes the button on the side of his weapon. The empty 60 round magazine falls out and clatters on the steel deck plates. He slaps another magazine into the slot and pulls the charging handle. He renews his seemingly futile assault.

About that time, the deck beneath their feet tilted to a point forward, they almost fell. The men watched as the damaged bow of the ship rapidly vanishes beneath the frothy dark water. The creature snaps its beak viciously as the rails around the conn observation deck were torn loose and fell like twisted spaghetti. The sounds of men in tortured agony rang loud and clear as Florez and the young man began to see red gore splattering everywhere.

Florez sees the water rising rapidly towards the conn ... he tries to run ... but started too late. Water began pouring forcefully into the conn room through the broken windows. The last thing Florez knew in this earth ... was madly rushing water pining him to a bulkhead.

The Nimrod is pulled quickly under by the monstrous beast. The water boils with the escaping air. There is foam and many men swimming in the bubbling froth. Eventually the sea calms. Every once in while, a large air bubble will boil from the depths, although this only happens a few times until the water is calm and smooth as glass.

The men are afraid. They have no supplies and are so far from land, all they could see is horizon in all directions. One of the mates had a compass. They knew what direction they had to go ... although the swim will be long ... even in these life preservers. Hopefully a passing ship will see them. Good thing they had shiny objects to act as reflectors for signaling.

For hours, the men swam in the direction the compass indicated land was the closest. All the men were in a large group to form a more visible orange spot for passing ships to see.

One of the men gasps loudly. His eyes get big in terror as he gasps in fear, "Hay .... guys? It ... it's got me ..."

The man vanishes suddenly from the group. A large red stain slowly appears in the water along with the bloody and shredded life jacket he was wearing.

A voice shouts loudly, "Fins! There are ... hundreds of ... fins!!"

A seaman's worst nightmare had fallen on these men. Over the course of the next several hours, a large school of hungry sharks ... feasted.

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Jackson sat and pondered what Cleary and Maria had told him. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, no one would believe him or listen to him. He looked over the most recent weather report, the storm had gotten worse over the last hour. It now has sustained speeds of 100 kts and was forecast to get even stronger before making landfall.

Jackson reaches for the red phone, then pushes the emergency comm button next to the dialer pad.

The phone buzzes several times before a Gruff voice answers, "War room, Colonel Bell speaking."

Jackson replies, "Colonel Bell, this is Captain Jackson of the Andromeda. I have some .... extremely important information that severely impacts National Security and world stabilization. Only problem ... is getting you to believe it."

Bell snorts, "Alright, Jackson, I remember you as being one not to indulge in fantasy. Tell me what it is .... and let me be the judge."

Jackson replies, "As you wish ... Remember Major Coom? From the Navy Seals Special Forces and UDT??"

"Yes, he was an extremely effective operative."

"Well, you remember his fantasy research project he indulged in every chance he got?"

Bell says, "Jackson, is this some kind of prank? If it is, I'll have you court marshaled. Who in Hell would believe in some fantasy thing like the Fountain of Youth?"

Jackson shakes his head before putting his face in the palms of his hands. He sits for a second and gathers his thoughts.

Finally Jackson replies slowly and succinctly, "Colonel, this is very important you put aside all disbelief and act. Coom in fact .... listen to me ... in fact found the damn thing. It's sitting in his arboretum at the compound. He and even Cleary ... stumbled into it and are ... very young once again. We have verifiable proof."

Bell snaps, "The hell you say Captain. He found it? You have .... documented proof of it ..."

Jackson cut him off, "There's more. There's this Organization called the Q. They worship this ancient god ... Quetzalcoatl. They are going to take the waters of the fountain to all the leaders of our country and the world and ... over dose them on it. It will instantly cause them to revert to their original pre-fecondation genetic material. They intend to take over the world. They are very well organized and have been planning this, from what I have discovered so far , for many hundreds of years. They have a very large and fanatical following ... especially now that Coom found the fountain."

Bell said nothing for a few seconds. Finally he broke the silence, "I'll get back to you Jackson. This sounds ... insane ... you know that ... don't you?"

Before Jackson could say anything further, the line went dead.

Jackson slams the red phone's receiver back in the cradle, "Damn ... and it's almost too late ... and this Damn Storm will keep me immobile for at least 9 more hours."

He beats his fist on the counter in frustration. There's only one other hope ... but this guy is sort of off in another dimension anyway ... but he has high connections. Jackson picks up the red phone and dials a code.

The phone buzzes once, "Hello? Senator McConnel's office ... Trisha speaking ... How may I direct your call?"

Jackson smiles, he likes Trisha a whole lot and remembers many pleasant times in her soft sweet company.

He says, "Hi sweet heart, this is Jackson. How are you these days?"

A happy squeak replies, "Jackson ... OMG!! It's so wonderful to hear from you. How are things? When are you going to be here next? I have to see you."

Jackson replies, "I'm doing ok, I suppose. Situations aren't very good though. I would be there in a few hours if I wasn't land locked by a hurricane. Is McConnel in his office ... or can I get a direct line to him? It's extremely important."

The cute giggly voice replies, "Sure, sweet heart .... anything for you. Give me a bit to make the connection."

The line goes to some really corny elevator music for a few minutes before a male voice answers, "Hello? Jackson? You old son of a bitch ... where have you been hiding? We need to get together and do some hunting and drinking for old times sake. Trisha tells me you have some ... bad news?"

Jackson smiles ... the same old Jerry.

"I have something ... really fantastic to tell you. It's probably the most important thing there is right now ... and I know you probably won't believe it."

Jerry pours himself a straight up triple bourbon and sits back in his arm chair, loosens his tie, and props his feet on the desk. If Jackson starts an important call that way ... this is gonna be a real doozy.

Jerry takes a sip of his drink and says, "Ok, son, spill the beans. I promise to keep an open mind."

For the next 40 minutes, Jackson told him everything he knew about the Fountain and the Q's plot. Jackson sent McConnel several documents from Coom's research and discovery logs from the Compound’s computer system. By the time Jackson had finished talking, Jerry had poured his Highball glass completely full of the amber bourbon and was taking a large gulp.

Jackson had told the truth. This was a seemingly impossible situation ... except .... Jerry did remember one of the cooks in the cafeteria ... having one of those feathered snake tattoos all over his arms. The more he thought about it ... the more of the workers in and around the White House he remembered having that particular tattoo. Tattoos weren't uncommon, and didn't really register since several of the maintenance men were what they called Illustrated Men ... and even went to competitions over their many tattoos.

McConnel sat and listened to more from Jackson as the printer began to spit out current pictures ... of Cleary and Coom. Jerry's mouth fell open as he saw Cleary holding what appeared to be a really adorably dressed baby girl in his arms. McConnel knew Cleary personally as he did Jackson ... and the young man standing there looked exactly like the Cleary he remembered from his special forces days, not the 60 year old man he knew him as now. The girl in his arms ... McConnel cracks a wide grin ... that must really piss Coom off. Being reduced to an infant girl after his long and illustrious career.

McConnel says seriously, "Jackson ... I'm not real sure who will listen right away. From what you tell me of the situation ... we don't have much time. From the looks of things and the deniability of the subject ... those fanatics might just pull it off ... unless we're very lucky."

Jackson replies softly before ending the call, "Let's hope luck isn't a factor, Jerry. If no one listens ... and really soon ... they will succeed."

Jackson hangs the receiver and sits back in the chair. He steeples his hand as he thinks hard thoughts. If only this damn hurricane wasn't here ... Coom has a fast jet in the hangar ... it's only a few hours to Washington. Jackson looks down at the instrument panel ... the wind gauge especially. The sustained wind had reached one hundred twenty knots ... this blow was turning into a real doozy.

Jackson sat for just a few more minutes before he made a decision. He had a unique fast attack helo sitting at weather stations mid deck. As a helo ... it would be totally useless in this weather, but as a fast attack craft ... it would probably make it.

Jackson hit the comm button, the ship wide squealed once, "This is the captain. Ready the Stinger for action. I have to get to Washington. It's a dangerous mission just flying there ... I want two volunteers to fly copilot and engineering / weapons station. Meet me in the below hanger in ten minutes with heavy weather gear."

After leaving the Exec in charge, Jackson stopped by his quarters only long enough to put on a wet suit and boots. When he arrived in the hangar ten minutes later, there were more than enough volunteers to go around. Jackson chose the two nearest to him and then boarded the lift. As soon as the lift door opened at deck level, a massive gale blasted through. The three men took a second to get their footing before making their way carefully to the Attack Chopper.

It looked more like a space ship than a helo. There were two stubby wings forward, and a stablator aft with a small jet engine. On top, the rotor blades were folded and stored in a compartment along the spine for ultrasonic flight. Beneath the stubby wings, were two more engine pods on each side next to a fully loaded missile rack and a fully loaded bomb rack. It also had two 20 mm cannons and dual 8 barrel mini-guns with laser site track and lock targeting .... and pop up holographic imaging. This aircraft was a fighter through and through. It also had a few tricks up its sleeve no one would think about until it was too late.

The men entered the small craft and buckled themselves into the deep leather seats. They ran through a quick prelaunch check.

Jackson said, "Hold onto your jockeys boys ... we're off into the storm."

With that, Jackson hit the ignition button. There was a very loud windup and a small explosion as the rocket engines ignited. Jackson took a deep breath, then pulled back on the throttles to wide open. There was a huge roaring noise as the small fighter left the pad. The flames left on the pad by the rocket engines were extinguished rapidly by the torrential rains and hurricane force winds as the craft rapidly vanished into the massive boiling clouds above.

The men held on as the small craft was severely buffeted all around on its assent through the storm. The men got the wildest ride of their lives as the small craft bucked and pitched like a wild animal. Within seconds, they were above the storm and headed into low orbit if Jackson hadn't altered their vector. The three men sigh a sigh of relief as the craft stops its jostling. Jackson turned the nose of the craft towards Washington and notified Langley of his rapid approach. He did his best to insure the President was there when he arrived. The data Jackson had to show him couldn't wait.

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Cleary sat with Coom on his knee. He couldn't believe it ... but this cute little girl was Coom. It was hard at times to tell some of the words Coom was saying ... it sounded more like baby babble unless you listened really close. Cleary realized the more he actually talked with Coom, the better he understood what Coom and the other three were saying.



Cleary asked, "So you and Tony here just sipped the hot coffee and this happened instantly?"

Tony and Coom nod. Laurie says in her adorable baby voice, "I woke up thisa ways. I went to sleep my normal selfs ... an when I woke up ... wasa baby."

Michelle blushes softly pink as she says in her cute voice, "I sorta ... didit to myself."

Cleary laughs, "Yes, I know about your wish to be a little girl again. Seems you got your wish."

The other three babies giggle as Michelle's cheeks turn a shade darker and she starts to suck her thumb.

Coom asks softly, "Is ... there ennythin that can be done? I mean ta makes us grup fasser?"

Cleary shakes his head, "Coom, when you found this thing ... you should have blown it to hell. You don't understand the trouble it's causing the free world ... well ... the world in general."

Coom looks down as he scowls, "I didn't realize there was a whole combat operation working as my maids and Lawn Persons either. It's funny, that I didn't recognize all the people with that feathered Tattoo. Somehow, the water tanks on the Argonaut were contaminated. The only way that could have happened, is someone dumped the youth water in the tank."

The bigger problem now ... is Pat and the large following that have taken large quantities of the water and what they intend to do with it."

About that time, Cleary's radio chirped. He pushes the ear bud and says, "Cleary here."

The return voice, "This is the Exec. I'm in the conn if there is any need to speak to the Captain. Jackson and two others took the stinger and are trying to beat the Q to Washington DC. He attempted to warn them, but the only one who even listened was Senator McConnel."

Cleary asked with concern, "What about the storm? Even an attack craft like that would have a rough time of it."

The exec replied, "Jackson left out of here like a bat from hell. According to tracking telemetry, he achieved orbit in less than 3 minutes and was gone."

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~~End pt10 ~~
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Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt11 - Global Realignment
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Jackson looked out at the wonders of space from their low orbit. He felt a tingle of pride within his heart as he knew he had joined an elite and small group of individuals who had actually slipped the surly bonds of Mother Earth. He fretted over what must be happening around the world as the Q spread across the globe. He felt the weight of it all pressing down on his shoulders as a message from Langly Approach Control came over his headset.

"Stinger One, this is Langley Approach Control."

Jackson replies, "Stinger One, go ahead approach."

"Stinger One, you have been approved for emergency vector to Washington DC. Follow course 32.11 on the ILS beacon frequency 121."

Jackson raises his brows. He has just been given clearance to land in the front lawn of the White House. A sardonic smile crosses his face as he realizes someone must have started taking him seriously.

Another comm arrives, "Stinger One, Approach ... I have been ordered to tell you that ... " he hears other loud excited voices in the back ground speaking of people vanishing and leaving nothing but their clothes behind, and of others becoming young children and babies, "The storm has struck ... say again ... has struck. Do you copy?"

Jackson quickly replies with a serious sense of foreboding in his soul, "Copy approach ... storm has struck. Stinger One on approach vector. Will arrive at destination in twenty minutes."

"Copy that, Stinger One ... approach out."

Jackson says to the other two men over the inter-phone, "Prepare for reentry ... this is going to be fast and dirty."

The other men began running through their prep procedures as Jackson fired the retros and brought the small fighter into belly first position so the ceramic heat shielding would take the massive heat of reentry.

At first, nothing unusual seemed to be happening. The three men enjoyed the wonderful feeling of weightlessness brought on by free fall. Shortly, Small fiery tracers of plasma began to form and spread their tendrils around the cockpit windows as the fingers of gravity began to tug at them. The small craft began to be buffeted by the ever thickening atmosphere as the plasma fireball preceding the craft grew in intensity.

Quickly, all radio and instrumentation signals from the ground blacked out as the craft made final reentry. Jackson began to sweat slightly as he pushed the attitude vector closer in to critical. He knew if he over estimated the angle of decent, death would come in a massive fireball of plasma as the shielding failed. Delta V was super critical ... he had to be in Washington as fast as possible and knew he was taking a terrible risk. Thoughts of the Shuttle Columbia disaster when the heat tiles failed were ever present in his mind as red lights began to show on the console indicating the dangerous temperatures rising above safe limits.

A few minutes later, the signals all came back, the danger indicators turned to green safe, and the craft slowed enough Jackson had manual control once again. He watched as the view cleared and the craft responded normally to its controls. The men breathed a collective sigh of relief as they began landing protocols.

When they had reached eighty thousand feet, Jackson pushed the blade control lever into the open and engage position. Loud motor whines and clanking noises began until a very loud clunk that reverberated through the fighter. At that point, air speed dropped dramatically to one hundred twenty MPH and the rotors engaged. The fighter had now opened its rotors and began flying as a fast attack helo.

Jackson called, "White House Security Control, this is Stinger one ... will be at contact in 4 minutes."

"Roger, Stinger One, welcome to DC. The President and the rest are wating to greet you in the Oval Office." came the reply.

Jackson replies, "Affirmative ... Stinger One out." Jackson says to the two men with him, "All right ladies, hang on ... we're on the express elevator to hell."

The other two men looked at each other with big eyes as Jackson pushes the control stick forward. The fighter noses over and began a very steep screaming decent toward the earth. The men feel the queasy butterflies in their stomachs from the weightlessness the decent created within the cockpit and the many mounting G forces pulling at their bodies.

Jackson kept his eyes glued to the altimeter and the accelerometer. The G-meter needle registered just barely under six neggies. He knew that six negative Gs or above could prove fatal. The harnesses dug into their shoulders and crotches as the G-Suits swelled to maintain blood in their heads as the other two men held on with all their might. The rapidly approaching ground quickly began to take on features of roads, interstates, rivers, buildings, bridges, and the White House.

At five thousand feet, Jackson pulls back on the control stick hard as the screaming craft fights its helm violently. Large beads of sweat form on Jackson's brow as he pulls with all his might. The fighter shudders and bucks like a wild thing once again as it answers its helm and begins to pull out of the steep dive. The G meter this time starts registering positive Gs as it climbs to 9 and holds. The men feel incredibly heavy as their G-Suits swell uncomfortably tight once again as they continue to feel the crushing effects of gravitic forces of inertia.

After several pulse pounding seconds of extreme exertion, Jackson manages to pull the craft into a slow, descending hover towards the front lawn of the White House ... the altimeter reads a mere 600 feet at this point. Within minutes, they had landed and Jackson shut the engines down and popped the airtight hatch on the fighter.

Jackson removes his harnesses and the head gear. He grabs a rather large briefcase as he quickly went towards the fighter's hatch.

Jackson says, "I want you guys to stay here and guard the stinger. I don't want anyone near it. Don't drink anything indigenous ... only the fluids we brought with us ... is that understood?"

Both men nod as Jackson quickly jumps to the ground and heads towards the White House entrance with the briefcase. As he approached the entrance, four men in gray suits and sunglasses stepped from behind some pillers with weapons in their hands.

One of the men said, "Are you Jackson?" Jackson nods, "We have orders to take you straight to the Oval Office."

The men gather around Jackson with their weapons at the ready and quickly escort him to the office. They open the door just in time to see most of the men in the office vanish. The only thing left ... was their clothes filled with a gooey mess. Jackson's eyes get large as he sees a very cute infant sitting in the President's chair amid the overly large suit that he was wearing when they had taken drinks of their coffee. The only reason the President hadn't been returned to his primal essence as had the Joint Chiefs, the entire Presidential Cabinet, the Vice President, many members of Congress, and the Senate ... he was the last to drink and only had taken a sip before he saw what happened to the other men that had gathered for this meeting.

Jackson points to the only Military Officer left who was standing with his mouth open in total shocked disbelief, "You ... Major, contact whom ever you can and tell them we are under attack. Anyone with a tattoo that looks like this is to be captured or shot on site. No exceptions."

Jackson opens his briefcase and hands the Major a photo of the feathered serpent tatto of the Q.

The Major sputters as he points, "B ... but ... what happened to ...?"

Jackson replies sharply, "That's what the attack is. It's happening all over the world by a well organized group called the Q. If we don't hurry ... it'll be too late to stop it from destroying the governments of the world and they taking over."

As the Major opens the door to the hall, mass panic and chaos reigned. Jackson could hear women screaming and men yelling in panic about the people vanishing and leaving their clothes behind ... and about others who became children ... and babies. Jackson hears several screaming insanely about the apocalypse and the rapture and the end of the world. Jackson also hears the sound of gunfire.

Jackson swears, "Damn ... I'm too late!"

Jackson looks around the Oval Office. He realizes from the many piles of clothes and uniforms, that most of the US Government had been neutralized at this point and wasn't sure what he could do about stopping the rest. He walks over and picks up a phone on the President's desk .... obviously the White House Operator had been neutralized as well. All he heard was a busy signal indicating there were no lines available ... which Jackson knew was impossible in this particular office.

Jackson pushes the bud in his ear, "Tony, this is Jackson ... what's the status where you are?"

The very awe struck reply, "Captain ... it's very ... chaotic here. There are these weirdos with that funny tattoo you said to watch out for running all around with some kind of weird high powered dart rifles. They are shooting everyone with them ... and the ones that get hit are vanishing. Me and Vic had to kill several of them already. What do you want us to do?"

Jackson replies, "Keep up the good work. If you can take one live ... it would be great ... but don't go out of your way to do it. I want you to protect yourself and the Stinger at all costs. Jackson out."

Tony responds above the sound of very close automatic weapon's fire, "Aye Captain."

At this point, Jackson had no idea what course of action to pursue. He could hear sporadic weapon's fire from other parts of the building and the fading cries of people. He left the office accompanied by the armed men who had escorted him there in the first place and entered the now almost empty hallway outside the Oval Office. There were many piles of empty cloths, both male and female lying in haphazard piles everywhere ... not to mention bodies with obvious mortal wounds from gunfire.

Jackson knelt and examined one of the dead bodies. He saw the looping Feathered Serpent tattoo that signified someone was fighting back and knew who the enemy was. Lying next to the several bodies of the Q, was a very advanced looking high powered dart rifle. Jackson removed a dart from one of the bandoliers draped around the body's torso before him. Within the dart's syringe, was nothing more than crystal clear water.

Jackson reached over to a pile of military uniforms lying next to him and retrieved a MP5 weapon and all the magazines within the clothes. As he stood, he saw motion from around a corner down the hall. Jackson heard an airy spitting sound. Because of many years of trained reflex, Jackson managed to drop to his knees and fired towards the individual he saw. The man standing directly behind Jackson vanished suddenly, leaving only a pile of clothing with a spattering of white gooey mess within, the man's weapon clattering on the floor.

The individual Jackson had shot, cried out as he spun from the impacts of the weapon's fire, before falling to the ground in a spatter of red gore. The dart gun the person had carried slides across the highly polished floor for a few feet before stopping amid more piles of empty clothing.

Jackson said aloud, "Damn! There must be an entire attack force." Jackson stood and looked at the remaining 3 men and said, "Come with me. Let's see if we can take out a few more of these fanatics before they kill anymore people."

One of the men toes the empty clothes of his comrade as he asks softly, "What ... what is it they are doing to us?"

Jackson snorts as he begins to move down the hall, "You won't believe it, but they have the waters from the Fountain of Youth. Yes, the real deal as you can plainly see."

The three men look at each other with incredulity before they slowly at first .... then at a medium run, followed after Jackson.

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Around the world in all of the industrialized nations, and many others as well, a similar attack scenario was taking place. Some blatant ... some subtle ... all with the same results. The world wasn't prepared for such a massive assault that came in a glass of water or a cup of one's favorite beverage. It wasn't long before the rulers and their defending army had been completely neutralized and replaced by Followers of the Q which had been preparing for this day for many thousands of years.

The attack was so sudden ... so subtly enacted and massive ... none of the militarys had a chance to retaliate before they were turned into infants or returned to their primal essence. Many millions of new infants were left to be cared for by the young female acolytes. Many millions of others had been returned to their primal essence and ... as the Q fervently believed, to the foot of their god ... Quetzalcoatl.

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In a large bus headed back to the Florida compound and the Q Temple, Pat sat back smugly and thought about all the things she was going to accomplish as the new High Priestess and ruler of the world. She looks out at the passing landscape as she considered having the White House painted a pretty shade of mauve.

Pat smiles at the thought of how cute and adorably she was going to dress Maria too. Pat had decided that Maria should be dressed really young since she was the second Priestess. She hadn't decided yet if she was going to have her in pullups or diapers ... but the other outfits would be really cute.

Pat takes a small radio from out of a pocket in front of her seat and turns it on.

Pat says softly, "Jose? This is the High Priestess ... it's time to take the compound back. Don't let them know you're there until you make your move."

A very reverent voice replied, "I hear and obey, oh mighty Priestess of the Q."

Pat snuggles back into the soft seat as she closes her eyes. She muses at what a wonderful servant Jose has been these many years. A smile crosses her face as an idea for a really nice reward for him when she gets back. She was going to reduce him to his primal essence ... and have herself inseminated with it. If he recycles as a girl ... she would make the perfect Head Temple Acolyte. And since she would be the daughter of the High Priestess ... would give her proper position and authority.

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Back at Coom's compound, Maria, Cleary, and the four 'children' watched the horrid news unfold on T.V. The commentator from Farce News Network ... Channel 57 ... told a terrible story of many people vanishing and just piles of messy clothes left behind, or them becoming infants or very young children. He told that all communications with the White House and Pentagon had ceased ... and there were sporadic reports that the same thing was happening world wide. There was no contact with many of the nation's military as all communications from authority had ceased suddenly with a few minutes of this attack.

Suddenly, they heard many voices and women start to scream from the T.V. On the screen, they saw a man with a weapon in his hand and a feathered serpent tattoo winding around his arms come on camera and shoot the commentator. The commentator vanished suddenly as the person smiles wickedly before moving off camera leaving only a pile of clothes with a gooey mess inside where the commentator used to sit.

Maria puts her hand to her mouth and says, "Cleary ... you must gather your men ... I have to hide you and them or all of you are going to suffer the same fate."

Cleary looks shocked, "We are a fully armed and well trained Special Forces Unit ... I highly doubt it. Besides, we have searched the compound and there are no others left except for the female acolytes caring for the infants here."

Maria looks at Cleary with fear in her eyes, "I don't think you will survive. There's a Temple here ... hidden and secret. Pat didn't show me where it is and there are hundreds of followers there. If you don't hurry and hide your men ... you will be the only one left."

Cleary only hesitates for a few seconds more before he pushes his ear-bud, "All ground units ... withdraw to command location ASAMFP. No questions ... just do it. Anyone with a weapon of any sort not part of our team... kill on site." Cleary looks at Maria, "Will that do?"

Maria shakes hear head slowly as she replies softly, "I only hope it came quick enough. I didn't realize they would actually neutralize the Military and the Government ... it ... it's a nightmare now."

Coom, Tony, and the girls sat with their thumbs in their mouths as they too watched and heard with big eyes. Coom was cursing himself for not doing as others had said do ... blowing that damned artifact straight to hell when he found it.

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Deep in a large underground grotto, Many hundreds of men and women were on their knees chanting in a musical language lost to modern times. The men and women were dressed in just their Dakkis as they continued to bow and chant in a musical rhythm.

The grotto was enormous and completely hidden from all prying eyes. A huge elaborately carved statue of the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl filled an enormous section of the grotto. One of the worshipers stands and slowly walks to a raised dais in front of the statue. He raises his arms above his head, the throng became silent as they all sit back on their knees in unison.

His voice booms majestically across the throng, "I am Jose ... chief Acolyte to the Most High Priestess of the mighty Q!"

A reverent murmur softly sweeps the huge throng.

He continues, "Hear he who speaks with the voice of the Priestess ..." The throng bows once as it says one more line of the chant in the musical language, "The time is now ours ... the world has been delivered to our hands. It is now time for us to leave the Temple ... to go forth among the infidels and send them to the foot of Quetzalcoatl ... our most high god!"

Once again the throng begins to bow and chant in a musical rhythmic way.

Jose says with passion, "The Priestess has commanded we cleans the compound of the unbelievers!! Remove the infidels ... return them to their primal essence as they should be so they once again can be reborn to serve the Q!"

Jose points to two young women in the throng, "Come forth and receive the blessing of our god."

Two young women standing at the dais go to the two young women that were singled out, helped them to their feet and escorted them back to the dais. Their Dakkis are removed and they are made to kneel at Jose's feet as Jose turns at the waist and picks up a small ornately decorated bowl. He dips his finger in the clear liquid in the bowl and holds it over one of the nude young women. She leans her head back and opens her mouth. Jose drops one drop onto her tongue. The reaction was immediate. Where the young woman had knelt ... now sat a very young baby that looked around with big surprised eyes. Jose repeated the action with the other woman with the same results.

Two young girls dressed in a beautiful sarong with an elaborately stitched feathered serpent on it, arrived and removed the infants from the dais. They carried them off, cooing softly to them as the huge throng chanted softly as they continued to bow.

Jose points to two young men within the throng, "Come forth and receive the blessing of our god."

The two young women standing at the dias go to the two young men that were singled out, helped them to their feet and escorted them to the dais. They too had their Dakkis removed and were made to kneel. Jose repeated the actions as before with the exact same results. The two young women in the elaborate sarongs took them off as well, cooing softly and reassuringly to the new infants.

Jose turns to the bowing, chanting crowed as he says loudly as he points to two young men and two young women, "Come you forth and receive the highest honor ... to return to our god!"

The four were escorted up to the dais. This time, two young women had placed four large, flat bottomed trays with high sides in front of Jose. The men and women were made to kneel in them as their Dakkis were removed. Jose hands each nude individual a small cup. When all four had a cup in their hands ... they drank quickly in unison and swallowed. The reaction was immediate as the cups clattered to the floor. All that was left of the four ... was a small gooey mess within the tray.

The throng stood and began shouting another chant in the same musical language ... this time loud enough the walls of the grotto trembled. Amid all of this ... four young women dressed in the elaborate sarongs ... came and removed the trays and carried them silently off.

A large door opens revealing a stone stairway leading up. All along the walls of the stairs ... were many hundreds of fancy air rifles and bandoliers full of darts. As each person left the grotto ... they picked up an air rifle and a bandolier of darts.

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~~ End Pt11~~
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Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt12 - Brave New World
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Jessie was the newest member of the Spec-ops team. He had been hand picked by Cleary to join straight out of Training. Although he was only 19, Jessie knew he was one of the elite. He had passed all the courses in the top one percentile and aced all the weapon's training.

He had rounded the corner on the way to meet up with the rest of the crew and Cleary at the prearranged meeting place when a wall seemingly opened directly behind him. He was fortunate that his specialty ... was the Vulcan cannon.

Jessie whispers softly to himself as he squeezes he trigger and hears the whine of the weapon as it winds up, "Painless, show me your magic."

Jessie didn't know how many were pouring from the opening in the wall, all he knew ... they came in swarms like a fire ant nest someone had kicked. His weapon roared like a rocket engine as the bodies splattered into massive amounts of red gore all over the walls and down the hall.

Jessie backed around the corner, then ran as fast as he could. Just as he reached the next corner, he heard several airy spitting sounds. Jessie drops to his knee and fires back the direction he had just come. Once again, the roar of his weapon sounded as much more gore splattered everywhere. Within inches of Jessie's head, several darts had impacted on the wall. Jessie breathed a sigh of relief as he once again ran towards Cleary ... and hopefully the safety of the rest of the platoon.

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Maria had slid from the bed and quickly went to the far wall. She places her hand on it and a panel slides back revealing a large hidden room behind.

She says hurriedly, "You and your men hide here. If it isn't me that opens the panel ... shoot ... no questions ... no mercy. I promise, they will have none."

As his many men rapidly entered the room and took up strategic positions that afforded optimal firing solution with minimal exposure, Cleary looked at the very beautiful, and now teenaged Maria. Cleary and she had been almost the same age before this Youth thing happened and the two of them were ... a little more than friends. He was now in his early twenties once again, and she looked to be about twelve or thirteen.

Maria looked at Cleary. Their eyes met for an instant as eternity passed between them. Maria wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a very sweet French Kiss. Her tongue explored his mouth for long seconds as Cleary stood in surprise. He then wrapped his arms around Maria and pulled her beautiful young body into his and returned the kiss.

Their kiss was interrupted by Jessie as he ran into the room and shouted excitedly, "They're coming ... hundreds of them ... like a swarm of locusts!"

Cleary releases Maria reluctantly as he says, "In here and take up prime fire position. That weapon of yours will stop them from getting in."

Jessie quickly entered the room and took up firing position. Anyone entering the opening uninvited, would have to be cleaned up with a rather large sponge. Cleary gave Maria one last kiss on her lips and a soft pat on her hinny that made hear squeak adorably, before he entered the room and took position.

Maria touched the place on the wall and the door sealed. She had returned and sat with Coom and the other 'children' just as several of the Q, wearing only their Dakkis and a bandolier of darts ran into the room and looked wildly around.

Coom, Tony, Laurie, and Michelle began to cry and scream as they put on a really good show for the intruders.

Maria only hesitated for a second before she took the hint and ran with it. She says sternly, "Just what do you mean bursting in the nursery like that?" She Picks up Michelle and Tony and holds them to her breast as she rocks gently. "You've scared the babies half to death!"

Quickly, The Q members bow to their knees as they say in unison, "Forgive us, Oh High Priestess Maria."

One man speaks reverently from the supplication position, "We are looking for the men that overran the compound earlier. High Priestess Pat told us to return them all to their primal essence. We thought we saw one of them enter here."

Maria frowns as she says sharply, "Do you happen to see someone like that in the nursery?"

The Q bow with their faces to the floor in reverence as they say in unison, "No, High Priestess Maria. Please forgive us this transgression."

Maria snorts angrily, "Begone with you before I have you returned to your primal essence ... and mix it with a box of filthy cat litter."

The Q members gasp in fright as they quickly leave the nursery. That was a most horrible fate ... to loose your sole in that manner ... was unthinkable to them.

Maria can hear the many hundreds of followers that are scouring the compound, looking for Cleary and his men. Maria knew many of the Q would have died, but so would all of the soldiers if she hadn't hidden them. Maria also knew that as soon as this Storm passed, the Army of the Q would go on a major rampage from here. She hoped the gun boat in the harbor could handle that.

Maria shivers in trepidation as she realizes ... no one was going to be able to stop this ... except maybe ... her. A plan formed in Maria's mind ... as a wry smile crossed her pretty lips.

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Jackson and the three surviving Secret Service men held their own against the far superior numbers of the Q. The many bodies with the Feathered Serpent Tattoo bore witness to their survivability. Jackson pulled the current magazine in his weapon and checked it. He felt bad about his thoughts, but he had six magazines left and needed to find some more.

The Secret Service men had found automatic weapons of their own. Between them, they had maybe 14 magazines. The Q seemed to keep appearing around most evey corner. Jackson began thinking he might need to swallow the losses and return to the Andromeda with these men. They were impressive in a fight ... Jackson had begun to admire them ... and he was going to need as many good men as were left if he had any hope of ... surviving.

Jackson says, "Retreat ... we have to get out of here. Return to the Stinger out front ... hurry, before we are over run."

The three secret service men didn't have to be told twice. They too knew the score as they shot several more Q as they came from a large office in front of them.

Jackson hit his ear-bud and called, "Tony? This is Jackson ... give me a sitrep."

There was just enough silence to make Jackson start to worry, before Tony's voice came over the bud almost drowned out by automatic weapon's fire. "Things here are dicey at best Captain. We are still live with no casualties so far. Those damned darts ... those Q are as accurate with them as we are with our weapons. They seem to have a range of 150 meters ... after that they can't hit anything. Hurry back .... the body pile is getten huge."

Jackson replies, "Copy that. We should be there in about 5 minutes barring over run or other unforeseen crap."

Tony says, "I want to get the hell out of here ... so hurry!"

Jackson smiles as he replies, "Roger. As fast as we can get there ... Jackson out."

Jackson led the 3 Secret Service men back the way they came. The many bodies of the fallen Q were testament to the effectiveness of the four men as a team. Finally, after several more Q gave their lives for their cause, Jackson had found a pile of uniforms that had backpacks. Jackson smiled as he opened them and peered in. The ammo he had needed pulse a few more goodies that would surly help ... if they could keep from getting jumped.

By the time the four men had reached the front of the building, it was obvious the Q were after the Stinger. Bodies filled the front lawn of the White House as Tony and Vic added more.

Jackson gave the 3 Secret Service men hand signals. He indicated one to flank left, another to flank right, and the third to stay with him. He nods to them ... they quickly move off as Jackson and his over watch move slowly out into the fray.

Jackson and his backup began shooting. The unsuspecting Q fell like wheat before the scythe. The men flanking immediately began taking their toll, as the Q attempted to take cover. Tony and Vic were unrelenting as were Jackson and his approaching men. It took them a good twenty minutes, amid a large hail of high powered darts, and most of the ammo Jackson had found to finally reach the Stinger. More Q showed up all the time. Jackson shook his head in amazement. A complete army of many hundreds ... and no one knew they were there until they attacked.

The four men jumped into the Stinger, aided by Vic and Tony. Just as the last man entered the cockpit, several dozen darts slammed into the padding on one wall, just missing two of the Secret Service men. Jackson slams the hatch and seals it as many more darts rattled against the super dense metal composite armor of the Stinger.

Jackson sat in the pilot's seat as he orders, "Everyone, take a seat and buckle up. I'm going to give these idiots a lesson in advanced fighter aircraft 101."

Jackson pushed the Rotor Control handle into the retract position as the loud noise of the motors winding up started. By the time the engines ignited, the rotors had retracted and the compartment doors sealed. Jackson pushed several other switches, More whining motors and the sounds of doors opening and things locking into place reverberated through the fighter.

Tony says professionally, "Weapon's pods open and locked sir. We have all Missles ready to be armed and 4 Vulcan’s in the green."

Jackson says nothing as he pushes the Throttle handles forward. It was unfortunate for many of the Q ... those that were stupid enough to jump onto the craft ... and those standing within a few meters of it when it took off. There was a huge explosion as the Stinger leaps into the air. A large group of the Q ran mindlessly around, as they burned in the hot fires of the rocket engines. Jackson saw several as they fell from the body of the Stinger as they lost their grips. Jackson looks at the altimeter ... they were at two thousand feet.

He shakes his head as he thinks sarcastically to himself, "That's not only gonna hurt ... but it's gonna leave a mark."

Jackson says aloud, "All systems ... live ... we are authorized deadly force."

Vic replies, "Aye sir, all safeties, off." As he leans forward and opens the cap on top of a switch and flips it. Green lights appear on his control panel.

Jackson pushes the control stick forward. The craft takes a serious nose in and the ground rapidly approaches. He sees many of the Q as they scatter across the lawn like locusts on the swarm. Jackson smiles sardonically as he squeezes the trigger on the control stick and introduced many more of the Q to their god.

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Maria sat for a long time and listened to the sound and fury of the Q hoard as they searched for the men. The storm outside still raged. That and the small cruiser in the harbor deterred any who might have been brave enough to venture out.

There was a vary young and beautiful woman wearing a form fitting silk sarong with a finely stitched feathered serpent wrapping around her shapely youthful body who had taken up the broadcast position on the TV. She was making a reassuring announcement to all non-combatants in a soft sexy voice that they had nothing to fear from the Q. A New World Order was now in place as the old ones had been vanquished. She told of the glory of eternal youth and the benevolence of their mighty god ... Quetzalcoatl. She told of a world where war was to be no more ... where hunger and sickness was no longer. She told of a Utopian Society where youth and good heath ruled along side the quest for knowledge, spiritual enlightnement, and universal understanding.

Maria flipped through several stations before returning to the Farce 57 Channel. On each, a similarly youthful and sexy young woman was making the exact same announcement. One young woman caught Maria's eye. She realized ... this was a Twin Spirit ... not completely female ... not completely male. She glances down at Coom and Tony. She smiles at how adorably cute they had already become and imagined them as teenagers.

Maria whispers softly as she checks Coom's diaper, "Forgive me Coom ... but you are going to be too cute not to continue the treatments. You and your friend both will make excellent Head Acolyte Priestesses."

As Maria picks Coom up to change his wet diaper, Coom's eyes get large in trepidation. He can't imagine that Maria, of all people, would continue to take away any chance he had of growing back up to be the person he was before he became a baby again. He began to fuss and squirm and basically throw a temper tantrum.

Maria held Coom to her lovely supple breasts as she patted his hinny reassuringly and cooed softly, "Hush little girl ... I have new plans for you and your friends now. Patty cannot be allowed to rule the New Order. I have seen what she truly intends to do with her power and position. I will need you and Tony to fill certain positions within the Ruling body of the Q. I will need someone loyal to me ... who are also very pretty young women ... that means you and Tony. Laurie and Michelle will, of course, be your Proselytes and you will be allowed almost free reign within the new Order. I have to remove Jose from his position today .... before Patty returns."

She kisses the whimpering Coom on his nose softly as he shakes his head no and still tries to complain. All of this fell on deaf ears as Maria removed Coom's wet diaper and began to clean him with a soft, moist cloth. Maria made a point of showing Coom that his genitals had almost completely been withdrawn back into the pouch in which they had been stored before he was born.

Coom felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the place his nonexistent gonads used to be ... and that little bump that used to be his penis only a few days before. Coom knew that only a few more days from now ... they would be totally gone and nothing would be left but the slit where they used to be.

Maria gently turns Coom onto his tummy and spreads his hinny cheeks. Coom tries his best to tighten up his sphincter to hinder the insertion of the special suppositories that were forcing the change within his body. He knew from past experiences and many other sessions just like this one ... the suppositories were very slippery and would slip in easily. He hated the fact that it felt so good when they did it. Because of this, each time it happened, the wonderfully sensual sensations weakened his resolve to remain male. He was embarrassed that he had actually begun choosing some of the girl toys over the boy toys in the playroom already ... and began liking certain baby girl outfits because they appealed to him.

Maria coos softly as she pushes the suppositories deep into Coom's hinny. Coom gasps and squeaks as the insertion takes place. Maria knows that three at a session were more than necessary ... and she also knew that the current three were causing the rapid changes in him and his friend Tony. She smiles as she picks up a fourth one, and pushes it gently into Coom. Coom's eyes get large as he realizes something had changed slightly ... instead of three suppositories ... Maria was putting in four!

Maria bent slightly and kisses Coom lovingly on his cheek as she cooed softly, "There now, little girl, I'm increasing your dosage to hurry along the transformation. In a very few months ... no one will be able to tell you were ever male. By the time you are once again the size of a five year old ... you will be all girl as far as anyone will ever know."

Coom starts to whimper ... then cry as Maria powders him well and diapers him in a soft, thick cloth diaper. She pulls his plastic rumba panties back on and picks him back to her breast as she pats his hinny reassuringly. Coom stops crying and whimpers softly as he feels the suppositories slowly melting within him ... along with the very last hope he had of ever growing back up as a male.

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As Maria sat in deep thought within the nursery, four very beautiful young women that were nude from the waist up entered the room and knelt reverently at her feet.

The pretty freckled redhead says softly, "High Priestess Maria, we have come to feed the infants. It's time for their afternoon snacks."

Maria looks down at the supplicating young women and gets an idea. Maria smiles as she finally decides how she's going to handle Jose. Once he is gone ... Patty belongs to her. She smiles wonderfully at the thoughts she has.

Maria says softly, "That's fine, Acolytes. I am going to be away for a little bit ... while I'm gone, none are to enter this room for any reason. Is that understood?"

The four young women bow until their foreheads touch the thick carpet, "Yes, Oh High Priestess Maria ... we hear and obey."

The four women stand and each gather one of the 'infants'. They sit cross legged on the thick carpet with the babies cradled in their arms as they coo and humm melodiously to them. Maria smiles as she watches them put a milk moistened nipple from their perky breasts in each of the babies mouths. Maria felt a tickle of humor run through her as she watches Coom and Tony helplessly fight it ... while Laurie and Michelle accepted it completely. Maria knew all four of them were in good hands as she left the nursery on a mission of vital importance to the future of the world ... and the New World Order of the Q.

Maria entered the room where Laurie's Angora Persian lived. The cat's litter box definitely needed to be changed at this point. Maria went to a cabinet and removed a large plastic container with a sealable lid. She emptied the litter box into the container and sealed the lid. She refilled the box with fresh litter and even left out a large bowl of beef chunks for it.

As she reentered the hall, several men of the Q were passing, still searching for the hidden Combat Team. She walks up to them ... they bow reverently at her feet.

She says softly, "I need one of your dart weapons."

All the men quickly offer up their weapons and ammunition to the High Priestess. Maria takes the nearest weapon and bandolier.

Maria points to the man she took the weapon from and says, "I need you to escort me to the Hidden Temple."

The man quickly gets to his feet as he replies, "As you command, High Priestess." then proceeds down the hall at a fast walk.

Maria follows the man until they arrived at the section where the wall had opened and the stone stairway leading down to the Hidden Temple was. Maria quickly points the weapon at the man and pulls the trigger. The reaction was immediate ... all that was left was an empty Dakkis with a small gooey mess within. Maria could have no witnesses to what came next.

Jose stood next to the koricancha, along with his personal Acolytes. He was hoping the storm would break soon so that his beloved High Priestess Patrica would arrive in short order. He had fulfilled all of her commands, and had the followers in process of eradicating the combat troops that had so ignominiously invaded the holy grounds of the fountain. He knew he would have to reduce the other High Priestess to infanthood very soon as per Patricia's commands. He very carefully measured out the amount of water required to return the now youthful Maria to about 3 or 4 years old.

Jose heard several airy spitting sounds and only had time to look up before all of his Acolytes had vanished, leaving only their beautifully made sarongs in piles on the floor with a gooey mess within. Jose looked down the barrel of a air rifle in the hands of High Priestess Maria.

Maria says with a dangerous tone in her voice, "I know what your task is to be concerning me. I will not allow that kind of sacrilege to happen within the Q."

Jose slowly retrieves the wireless radio sitting on the koricancha, desperately hoping he had time to send one last message to Pat before Maria did what she obviously was going to do to him. He had no fear of it, however ... there was no higher honor than to be returned to one's primal essence and to sit at the foot of Quetzalcoatl.

Maria laughs in an evil way as she places the large container of filthy cat litter on the floor in front of her.

She says with that dangerous tone still in her voice, "I know you think this as an honor ... but I'm going to mix your primal essence with this dirty litter and cat poop. No greater desecration of your essence can be done at this time. You will become nothing more than Secheffchea."

~~ Author's note: I personally know of no direct translation for Secheffchea. It is a term I heard used by an island culture I met once with my dad. Loosely ... I was told it is something that is so useless, the universe has no use for it and will not recycle it back into the Circle of Life. ~~

Jose's eyes get large with fear as he snatches the radio up and tries to turn it on. There is an airy spitting sound as Maria fires the rifle ... the radio falls noisily to the stone floor next to an empty Dakkis that contained a gooey mess. Maria stoops and collects Jose's Primal Essence, all of his personal Acolyte's primal essence, opens the top to the container, then mixes the collection of essence with the litter. She intended to show all of the Q ... there were punishments greater than those Patty told them of.

Maria thinks to herself as she seals the container and sets it on the koricancha for all to see, "Don't worry, Jose, soon you will have the company of your beloved Patty in there to keep you eternaly company in what ever you call hell."

She stoops and picks up the radio. She smiles. She has the only link to Patty now ... and Maria intends to catch her totally unawares now that Jose and the rest of Patty's inner circle of loyal followers no longer had the power or physical ability to interfere. Maria knew, the Q had effectively taken the whole planet by surprise and totally subdued it ... and she intended to be the one to rule it ... the way she had been told Quetzalcoatl had said it was to be done.

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~~ End Pt12 ~~
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Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt13 - Maria's Conquest
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Maria returned to the top of the stairs. She runs her hand along the wall until she finds the hidden switch and closes the door. It slides shut and seals, perfectly hiding any trace that the Secret Temple was there. She then turns and goes to where she knows the temple of Quetzalcoatl resides. When she arrives at the stairs leading down to the grotto, there are several warriors there looking around ... still trying to find the hidden Soldiers.

Maria walks up behind them quietly and says authoritatively, "I want you to gather all the followers here and assemble in the Quetzalcoatl Temple immediately."

The men jump in surprise as they quickly turn and prostrate themselves at Maria's feet.

One of the men asks reverently, "What of High Priestess Pat's command to return the soldiers to their primal essence?"

Maria says softly, "There has been a major change of plans. Hurry along and do as I command."

The men jump to their feet and say in unison before running off down the corridor, "Yes, High Priestess. As you command."

Maria smiles. She thinks she's going to like this Absolute Ruling High Priestess job. She is truly troubled in her heart about the whole thing though. She really didn't want this position ... but the genocide Patty was planing ... was too much for her to contemplate. Returning four point five billion people to their primal essence ... just wasn't her idea of a good thing ... regardless of what the Ancient tomb of Quetzalcoatl said or alluded to.

She descended the stairs into the Temple. As she stood in front of the very elaborately carved feathered statue of Quetzalcoatl, she thought hard as to how she was going to handle Patty and what she was going to say to the many Q faithful that were going to assemble here shortly.

She walks over to the flaming torches and looks at their reflection in the crystal clear pool surrounding the statue. Maria still couldn't believe how far this had gone. There were many millions of followers ... and this day had been planned for many hundreds of years. All it took to catalyze this whole thing, was Coom returning with the Orb of Life.

The Q had taken the world totally by surprise. In less than twenty four hours, the Q ruled the earth as effectively as any iron clad force could. All the Earth's rulers were gone, and the Governments had been taken over by faithful members of the Q. Any resistance had been squashed except for small pockets here and there. Those too would be dealt with rapidly as the Q continued its inexorable global advance.

Maria knew there was nothing she could do to stop the takeover ... but she could make it a good thing instead of the nightmare Patty had in mind ... if she could only think of a really good way to take her without issues. Maria would stop Patty even if she had to return her to her primal essence and add it to the cat litter in the Hidden Temple. Maria felt that would actually be a good thing to do to her ... because of all the murders that had already been committed by her command.

It really bothered Maria though ... because she also realized it might seem under certain perceptions ... that she was no better than Patty. Maria clinched her fists ... she was determined that for the first time in human history ... there would be no more wars, famine, disease, and most importantly ... growing old. She shook her head too at how many of the peoples of the planet would have to be reduced to infants once again to accomplish this. She sighs ... this was probably a better fate than being murdered and becoming some jellied goo. The ... lesser of two evils ... or the rock and the hard place kind of thing.

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Jackson made one more low strafing run across the White House lawn. Jackson knew, as many bodies as he saw lying shredded everywhere, many more had run into the building to escape his wrath. Jackson also knew there was little he could do about the ones hiding inside, unless he intended to bomb the White House to rubble.

He glances at his missile load. He is slightly pissed that out of all the missiles he carried, he only had enough missiles to really make a huge serious mess of the building, but not totally reduce it to rubble. He knew, unless that happened, many thousands of Q still would escape his retribution.

Jackson pulled back on the control stick and pushed the throttle handles forward, causing the sleek fighter to nose upward into the clouds. All the men felt it as the G-Forces rapidly mounted. Quickly, the craft plunged through the upper atmosphere and entered a low orbit. Jackson tuned on the homing tracker, and allowed Auto Pilot to guide them back to their home ship.

From what his last update from them was ... his attack crew was safe for the moment, the storm was dissipating rapidly, and apparently there had been a place where many thousands of Q had remained hidden ... until a key moment when they sprang froward and attempted to kill off the soldiers.

Fortunately for them ... Maria seemed to be more on their side ... than the Q. Jackson wasn't totally sure he trusted Maria ... but then again ... she was their only contact to Pat ... the Ruling High Priestess of the Q ... and, Maria had warned his men of the coming surprise attack. Jackson had an itch in the back of his mind he couldn't quite put his finger on. Something Cleary had said about Maria.

Jackson shakes his head as he looks out the cockpit and watches the atmosphere change to dark black as the last vestiges of the upper atmosphere were left behind and the craft automatically began to seek out home.

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Maria watched as the many thousands of the faithful that were left at the compound began to fill the hall and reverently file down the long stairs to the Temple below. Mara couldn't believe how many had actually become part of the Q movement.

Maria turned and followed one group down, as the next followed at a respectful distance behind. Maria hoped she could come up with a plausible oratory to explain what she had planned. If those many decided they weren’t going to follow her ... things would end here and now.

Mara checked the air rifle's ammunition clip. There were 30 darts after she reloaded the ones she had to use to neutralize Jose and the other members of Patty's inner circle. She hoped there would be no need to use any more of them.

Maria walked to the Alter in front of the huge Feathered Serpent Statue, and looked over the many supplicating on their knees. A soft melodious chant began in the lost, sing song voice of the Q faithful. Its wonderfully melodious sound undulated all through the huge underground grotto.

Mara said in her best Priestess voice, "Faithful followers of the Q ... a most grave and heinous blasphemy has happened. It was perpetrated by none other then Jose, the head Acolyte ... and the Holy Inner Council of the Most Hig Priestess at her very command."

A huge collective gasp echoed through the grotto as all the supplicates sat back on their knees and watched Maria intently with big surprised eyes.

Maria continues as passion began to well up in her, "Jose had actually been commanded to attack and kill me ... one of the High Priestesses, and to desecrate my essence ... along with any who disagreed with High Priestess Pat. Her ways ... are not our ways ... as laid forth in the Tomb of Quetzalcoatl."

There was a loud and quick shout from the supplicators that rattled the grotto with its passion. Maria felt relief as she saw they were agreeing with her.

In the middle of the throng, a small man rises and asked timidly, " What are we to do, High Priestess? To know the Most High Priestess has committed blasphemy ... is intolerable. Are we to just accept that she is a Demoness as we were warned could happen by the Sacred Tomb of Quetzalcoatl?"

A rummer began to rise softly from the crowd as all began to realize the implications of a Demoness being in the position of Most High Priestess.

Maria raises her arms, bringing silence from the many worried faithful. Maria says softly, "You do have the right to make ... me the Most High Priestess, and to stop this murderous rampage. How are we to show the world of unbelievers .... the benevolence and love of our god ... if the only face they see is violence? Remember ... Violence begets violence as a rock causes ripples in a quiet pool."

There is silence for a few seconds before the throng once again began supplicating and chanting in that melodious language. Maria smiles ... it was easier than she had thought, because many had already begun to question the violent and destructive ways of Patty.

Maria raises her arms and says triumphantly, "We must do as our god has commanded. To show the world love, peace, and the search for knowledge. This begins here immediately ... all searching for and attempts to harm any of the survivor unbelievers or soldiers ends now! We will defend ourselves ... but no longer are we the aggressors .... we have won our fight and the world is ours."

Without any warning, the throng began chanting, "Maria, Maria, Maria ..." The sound of their voices grew louder with each repetition as their hearts filled with passion.

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In the nursery, Tony lay on his tummy as a very pretty young woman pushed four slippery suppositories deep into his bottom. He couldn't help but gasp and squeak as each one was slowly inserted. Tony hated himself for it ... but he really loved the way it felt when they did that ... and he had come to really enjoy the way they made him feel as they melted.

Tony knew his days as a male were over. He could see his reflection in the mirror every time he passed one. Even his face had changed and become more effeminate. Tony was most flabbergasted by his gonads and penis and how they had drawn back up into his crotch, leaving nothing but a slit where they used to be.

Michelle didn't seem to mind at all. She still gave him very pleasant ... and very un-baby like kisses and caresses. Laurie seemed to be equally as unaffected by Coom's transformation. At least it appeared he wasn't going to loose Michelle as his most intimate friend over this.

The young woman turns Tony onto his back and puts her nose to his as she tickles him in his ribs. Tony was caught totally unawares as he begins to kick helplessly and screech out his joy.

The young woman coos softly, "That was a very good girl." she gives him a small kiss on his cheek, "that wasn't ... so bad ... was it?"

The young woman takes hold of one of Tony's feet and begins to tickle them between his toes. All Tony can do is screech adorably as he squirms and wiggles in the young woman's hand. She bends and gives each toe a kiss. Tony is beside himself at this point. His mind is only working on a two year old level and he can think of nothing but this wonderful assault.

The young woman had diapered and pulled Tony's lacy rumba panties back on before he even knew what was happening. The young woman picked Tony up and carried him to the large padded rocking chair against the far wall. Tony knew what was coming now. It was snack time ... and the young women who were his and the gang's Nanas ... all lactated and came in 4 times a day and breast fed them.

He watched as she takes one of her gumdrop sized nipples into her fingers and gives it a small squeeze. A large white / clear drop appears on its tip. She places the moist nipple to his lips. He hadn't quite returned to his right mind when she did this. Tony knew on some level, this was the reason for the tickling ... so he wouldn't be able to resist.

As he nursed and felt the wonderfully warm and pleasant flavor of mother's milk run down his throat, his mind began to become hazy and drifted again. An extremely pleasant infantile contentedness filled him once again. He tried to fight it ... but for some reason ... he was helpless to stop going to sleep. Rapidly, his mind filled with plushy toys and fuzzy critter snuggle dolls as he drifted off into a very contented baby dream.

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Maria's mood brightened as she learned the Hurricane was diminishing and was passing them at long last. The Q faithful were now preparing to take Patty when she finally arrived.

Maria had to answer many questions from the faithful ... and make many references to the Tomb of Quetzalcoatl. Maria was thankful she was a quick study and had learned the language quickly and could translate.

To the many faithful, when the very words of the written law were violated by a High Priestess, it clearly spelled out they had become a Demoness and no longer obeyed. It was written that the particular Priestess shall immediately be reduced to their primal essence and to have it buried with the rest of the offal. Maria smirked to herself ... the very fate she had chosen for Jose and his circle of cohorts.

Maria climbed the stairs from the Hidden Temple slowly as she thought hard how she was going to explain her plan to Coom and Tony. She knew, Tony didn't really like what was happening to him ... but was accepting it more and more after each diaper change and suppository treatment.

Coom, had started showing signs of liking certain of the female baby toys over the male baby toys ... and he had several outfits he liked that were simply adorable. Maria smiled as she thought about the cute little Ladybug romper and booties ... the pink fairy princess jumper and shorty bloomer bottoms that went with it. Maria especially liked the one Coom chose over and over as first choice ... the Babydoll dress and plastic lined rumba panties that went with it.

Maria was sure they both would make the adjustment easily and grow back up to be perfect young women, and the Perfect Head Acolyte Priestesses in her most trusted inner circle.

Maria thought hard deep thoughts as she slowly walked back to Coom's nursery ... and to let Cleary and his men know they were safe now. When Maria entered the Nursery, the 4 young Nurse Maids had just finished breast feeding the four infants. Mara walks over to a large padded rocking chair and gracefully sits until the last of the Nurse Maids had left. She rises from the chair and glides to the secret door and knocks 3 times on it before putting her hand over a place in the wall and pressing. A panel unseals and slides quietly open ... revealing many armed and wary men.

Maria says, "Don't shoot ... it's me ... Maria."

Cleary says, "Lower your weapons men." the sound of weapons being handled is heard within the dimly lit room.

Maria peeks around the edge of the door and says in a cute voice, "Is it safe for a girl to ... come in guys?"

Cleary feels a wonderful surge of relief as he replies, "Yes ... yes ... my men have lowered their weapons. Tell me, what's the news and ... status reports?"

Maria says softly as she enters the room and looks at the youthful Cleary longingly, "The Q have won. They have taken over the entire planet. I ..." Maria looks down at her feet and says in a soft voice, "Am now the Most High Priestess of the Q ... and rule the entire planet."

Cleary gasps out in shock, "What?! I mean ... what happened to the Army ... the Navy ... the ..."

Maria held up one of her small delicate hands as she answers, "All have been vanquished. The Q are strong ... but they were misguided under Patty's rule. I am sorry, but there is nothing can be done about the New Oder taking over. The only difference we can make now ... is to rule with compassion and honor. I want all of you to ... become part of my Inner Circle ... to help me rule with dignaty .... and also with strength."

Cleary was totally flabbergasted. He shakes his head in total denial. The Q ... couldn't have done this .. it's ... not possible ... is it?"

Cleary pushes his ear bud and calls, "Andromeda ... Cleary ... I need the Exec ... I need a sitrep of current affairs."

A voice comes back, "This is the Exec ... current events are .... the Q have won. We, and a few other rag tag ships ... are all that's left. Jackson is returning in the Stinger and should be here in a little while. According to his eye witness account ... the US Government has been totally neutralized."

The other men heard the report and a gasping of disbelief fills the room as they begin to murmur among themselves.

Maria looks Cleary in his eye and smiles beautifully, "It's not so bad ... being the Most High Priestess’s Consort ... is it?"

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~~ End Pt13 ~~
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Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Pt14 - A Demoness' Demise
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By the time Patty's bus had stopped in Savanna Georgia for fuel and to check the weather, Patty had become rather suspicious and concerned. She should have gotten at least two status reports from Jose and a minimum of one from his minions.

While several of the faithful fueled the bus and bought food for everyone, Patty tried the radio. All she heard was static. The weather reports on the Hurricane showed it had become Category Four storm with winds sustained at 140 MPH as it crossed through Florida. It now had passed over the east coast of Florida and was heading for Cape Fear North Carolina as a rather diminished Category 1 storm. It was expected to become a Category three by landfall in Cape Fear in several days.

In her mind, Patty thought that it was slightly possible the transmitting tower had sustained enough damage, Jose nor his Acolytes could contact her ... then again .... there was this nagging suspicion something was wrong. Patty entered the diner. There were many patrons seated in the booths when she walked in.

One of the Waitresses said with a gasp as she knelt to her knees in front of Patty and placed her head between her outstretched hands, "Most High Priestess ... welcome to this humble place."

There was a sudden loud gasp as everyone rapidly as possible come from their seats into a prostrating position. Patty smiles deeply. This is what she wanted ... all the world subjugated and kneeling to her ... as she reduced all of them totally to their primal essence except for her chosen. Only a handful would enjoy the paradise earth would now be under her iron rule.

Patty waves her hand and says magnanimously, "Rise my faithful subjects and return to what you were doing. I am only here to find a phone."

Within seconds, several kneeling people were at her feet offering her their cell phones. She smiles as she takes one of them and dials the number for the Main Compound at Diving Adventures. The phone rang until the cell broke the call due to no one answering. Patty looked at the phone with raised eyebrows. She was able to get in touch with everyone of the other Ruling locations through out the earth ... but not the one that Contained the Fountain of Youth.

Patty could also tell something was wrong with the other locations. She couldn't quite put her finger on what the problem was ... she knew that there was trouble in her paradise. She didn't know what the trouble was ... and that made it a real worry.

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Maria sat at the podium within the Temple and slowly translated the return of the Q prophecy contained in the lost language of the Quetzalcoatl Tomb. She was totally shocked to discover it described in almost total accurate detail the exact sequences of events that had thus far transpired. With each turn of the page, more exacting details sprang from them in explanation. It felt as if the book were speaking to her mind after a few pages. She no longer seemed to have to translate. The words spoke to her soul.

She finally turned one more page and stopped. Her eyes opened to the size of saucers as her mouth fell open in astonishment. There, in full color ... was an exact picture of ... her. It told her story and how she was the direct genetic descendant of the first Q High Priests and Priestesses and destined to rule the earth.

Maria turned to the next page. Once again, another full color picture ... this time of Patty. It told how one would come from the Infidels and try to acquire the power and position of the High Priestess of the Q. It told of her dark evil plan to destroy most of the population of the earth, leading to the total extinction of the Human Race. It called Patty by name.

The next page told of a mighty war between the priestesses that would decide the fate of the human species as a whole.

Maria turned to the next page. She saw something that looked like a bright golden light scribe more words on the blank pages describing her doing .... exactly what she was doing this instant. Maria slams the Tomb closed with a bang as she stands and steps back from the podium in fear. This ... was more than she could grasp.

Maria's mind began to race. It was true ... from the falling of the meteor so many centuries ago ... the rise and fall of the Mayan, Toltec, Incan, Guancha, Comonco, and even the Arawaks ... to the the legend of Quetzalcoatl ... it was all impossibly true.

The Tomb had mentioned all of the names the many civilizations had known Quetzalcoatl by as well. Ra, Timez, Baal, Molech, Bhoja, Kalie. There was even mention of the oldest religious text known to man ... the Mahabharata that describes in Sanskrit about a majestic world spanning civilization far superior to the current one that had totally destroyed itself through what appeared to be nuclear war.

Maria puts her hand to her mouth as she stood in shock at this discovery. That ... book ... was magical in some way. It recorded everything that happened ... leading up to ... what? She turns and looks at herself in the reflection of the waters of the pool. The picture contained within the Q Tomb was exactly her ... down to the sarong she wore.

The tale it told of the battle to be fought ... told of giant creatures with many tentacles and large serpent like bodies. Maria rubs her forehead with her hands as her mind spins through everything she had just read.

Without warning, she hears a soft voice speak to her deep within her soul. Maria is petrified with fear at this point. She falls to her knees and screams.

The Voice says softly and reassuringly, "Oh, thou most High Priestess, unto you has been given eternal youth and the wisdom of age. Within you lies the power untapped to accomplish that which has not been done before. Given unto you is this."

Maria feels something bright and shiny ... unexplainable ... over powering ... turn on within her spirit. She has sight. Things beyond her surroundings. She can actually see within her mind ... Patty on her bus all wrapped smugly within and totally blind by her own conceit. Maria feels faint. She has to lie down.

Maria struggles to remain on her feet as she climbs the stairs leading from the temple. Slowly, using the wall for support, she stumbles to the nearest room with a bed ... and flops. She is unconscious before her head hits the pillow and began to have ... a most awesomely strange and frightful dream.

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Pat wakes from her sleep suddenly with a startled squeaking shriek as she leans forward and grabs the seat in front of her. She still has the lingering impressions of the very realistic dream she was having. In her dream, she was the Feathered Serpent, Quetzalcoatl. All around her was Stygian darkness, severe cold, and a crushing pressure. Pat's skin still had goose bumps from the severe cold and she could feel the sensation of pain within her body from the squeezing pressure.

There was another creature in the dream as well. Large ... fierce ... tentacled. The two of them had circled each other warily looking for a weakness in the other to attack. When the two of them had engaged, Pat could feel the massive tentacles as they surrounded her serpentine body and squeezed with even more crushing force as Patty clamped down on its rubbery tough hide with her large razor sharp poisonous fangs. It was the huge attacking beak of the other creature that had startled Pat to sudden wakefulness as it severely and very painfully took large ragged bloody chunks from her dream self's serpentine body.

Pat knew beyond a shadow of a doubt ... something had gone terribly wrong. She could feel the pain of each place that creature had bitten her with its beak in the dream. Within her mind, she could feel something ... someone's presents. It was intensely clawing at her consciousness ... demanding ... powerful ... irresistibly calling her to return to do battle. Something within Pat's mind snapped suddenly. Pat fell back into her seat limply as she once again reentered the dream.

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Dream Angel the Mind Warrior
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Maria knew that something had invaded her space. Slowly she circled in the icy cold Stygian depths in search of the invader. She had attacked it once ... but somehow that evil invading serpent had managed to escape. She really didn't like the fact that it had managed to sink its fangs into her fluke. Maria intended to shred the invaders feathered eel looking body as soon as she could find it again for that insult. Maria was glad she had managed to sink her beak into its feathered hide and tear several large chunks from it.

Maria reached out with her specialized, heat sensing organs and hunted. All Squids were predators ... especially Maria. She was the Mother of all Krakens, the largest creature to ever swim the ocean. Maria swirled rapidly around a large cliff overhang in the darkness and found her prey as it seemed to appear magically in front of her.

Quickly so that feathered eel looking thing wouldn't get away again, she wrapped 4 of her large tentacles around it and squeezed with all her might. It retaliated by biting her tentacle with those infuriatingly sharp fangs. Maria became even more angry as she chomped down on the serpent's feathery hide with her sharp beak once again, producing a dark cloud of blood in the water that could only be seen by creatures adapted for life without light.

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Patty was terrified as she reentered that oh so realistic and painful dream. Impenetrable ebony darkness surrounded her as she once again felt the horrid cold, squeezing pressures ... and the pains from the injuries of the previous attack. She slithers down behind an outcropping to get her bearings. As Patty looks around, that horrid tentacled creature appears, rounding the edge of the cliff face rapidly as any rocket and renews the attack.

Patty feels several large and powerful tentacles as they wrap around her and the suction cups fasten on. Patty squirms and slithers to get out of its ever tightening grasp. She sinks her sharp, poisonous fangs deeply into one of the rubbery tentacles as deeply as she could. This only caused the creature to squeeze harder and to take several more nasty chunks from Patty's feathered body with its snapping beak.

Patty squeals in pain as she swings her long serpentine body around like a bull whip and snaps the tip into one of the large creature's dark, merciless eyes. The large creature released its grasp long enough for Patty to wrap her body around the creature like one of its tentacles and begin to bite deeply into its hide once again. This time, Patty manages to draw blood as a large wound finally opens in the huge creature.

The gargantuan battle continued as they slammed into the overhanging cliff face. One of the most massive underwater landslides ever began tumbling down around this battle of Titans, displacing so much water that it created a tsunami on the surface. The two of them encoiled each other as mountain sized rocks fell from above and rained down all around. The water filled with silt and other falling debris as Maria attacked once again. She pulled Patty's tail tip up to her beak and bit a huge section of its end off. Patty would no longer be able to use it as a whip.

Patty retaliates by twisting her long coils in the opposite direction, causing Maria's body to come under several tons of the huge falling rocks. They land on top of Maria with a sickening squish as she is forced to the bottom edge of the cliff next to another massive drop off into the abyssal.

Maria hurts and is almost insane with rage at this point. Patty's coils are grabbed viciously by Maria's massive tentacles ... her suction cups fastening on with an irresistible force. Maria swings Patty's head around just enough ... so that she can take the portion below and just behind Patty's head into her massively powerful beak ... and chomp savagely many times. The water fills with the taste of serpentine blood as Patty's body begins to writhe and thrash in its death throws as serpents do.

On the bus ... Patty springs to her feet and screams horribly, her eyes bulging out. Blood runs from her mouth, nose, and ears as her bulging eyes roll back in her head showing only their whites ... she falls forward onto her face ... dead. All the faithful look on with fear and trepidation. The driver brings the bus to a halt as others examine Patty's lifeless form.

The man kneeling over Patty puts his fingers to her corrotid artery at her neck ... he feels nothing but freezing cold flesh beneath his fingers. There is a massive spreading dark purple bruise forming beneath patty's chin as the man watches.

The man looks up with big eyes and says loudly for all to hear, "She's ... dead. I ... I can't tell you why ... but she is dead."

The bus became silent as a grave as all wondered ... was this divine retribution for all the killings done in her name.

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Maria awakens with a startled gasp. She sits up quickly and looks around the room. Her body hurts in many places and she has several large bruises on her arms that look like bite marks, although the skin was not broken. She sees blood on her pillow and realizes her nose is bleeding.

She gets out of bed and has to put her hand against the wall to keep her balance. She is very groggy and her body has many painful places making it hard to walk. With the intensity of the dream still in her mind, she staggers to the bathroom and looks at her reflection in the mirror as she turns on the water in the sink.

Maria sees she has a very swollen black eye besides her bloody nose. As she scooped a handful of warm water to her battered face, she wondered about the dream she had experienced. Somehow, her body had been just as battered as if she had actually been there. She has to find out what has transpired since she left the Temple. A feeling of a large passage of time filled her as she stopped her nose from bleeding and she cleaned herself up.

After fixing her hair and changing her bloody sarong, Maria felt much better and her head has cleared. The aches and pains within her body had subsided enough they were an almost unnoticed nuisance as she went quickly to the radio room.

As she quickly traversed the halls, Maria saw Cleary's men wandering the halls intermingled with the many Q faithful. Maria smiles. She has this over powering feeling that the battles had finally ended and peace had come at last.

When Maria entered the radio room, Cleary was there seated in front of the radio transmitter. He turned and looked at Maria. His expression went from smiles to concern as he stood up and approached her.

Cleary exclaims with concern, "Maria, just what in the hell happened to you? Did someone assault you and molest you?!"

Maria smiled as she replied, "No, silly man ... but I did have a very interesting experience."

Cleary took Maria's bruised hand in his and said softly, "By all means tell me about it. It looks like it must have been ... fun."

Maria looked at Cleary's concerned face for a minute or two, then told him the whole story ... starting with her experience in the Temple with the Tomb of the Q ... culminating with the Battle of the Titans dream she had just awakened from including the resultant condition of her face and body.

Maria finishes her tale by saying, "I'm going to try and get in contact with Patty's bus by radio. I ... need to see if that dream was more ... than a dream."

Cleary waves his arm towards the empty chair in front of the transmitter and says, "Be my guest. It would be interesting to see ... if something has actually happened."

Maria gracefully sat in the chair and tuned the transmitter to the proper frequency, "Patty? This is Maria ... come in please."

There was a few moments of static before a heavily accented voice replies, "This is Ortega, High Priestess Maria. Patty is dead. She sprang from her seat, screamed, then fell over dead. She was bleeding form her mouth and ears and things ... and covered in really nasty bruises."

Maria and Cleary look at each other with surprised expressions.

Maria replies, "Thank you Ortega, The storm here has passed, all conflicts and hostilities have ended. Return to the compound as quickly as possible."

Ortega replies, "As you command, Most High Priestess."

Cleary walks up behind maria and puts his hand on her shoulder, "There seems to have been a lot more to the ... dream of yours than meets the eye."

Maria looks at several of the large bite looking bruises on her arms, "It wa more than any dream I have ever had."

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Several months passed as the planet Earth adjusted to the New World Order. There had been no violent crimes, no wars or conflicts of any kind. Hunger was actually on the way out as the world economy had radically altered. Since the World Bank no longer funded weapons of war or other detrimental endeavors. There had been no illness of any kind either as the waters of the Fountain cured all sickness, including old age.

At Sunrise, Maria stood on an outcropping of rock that over hung the ocean far below. She watched the glory of the sunrise with a glad heart. She and Cleary had made the most wonderful love that morning and she was hoping she had gotten pregnant. She loved him so much.

Coom. Tony, Michelle, and Laurie were all finally adjusted to their current state. Coom and Tony were indistinguishable from being girls. Their transformation proceeded wonderfully.

Maria looked up at the deep blue sky ... and noticed something weird starting to happen. At first, it appeared to be a whirlpool of darkness ... then rapidly became an anomalous hole in reality. Dark evil looking clouds began to boil from the hole as Massive lightning bolts flashed all through them.

Darkness spreads across everything as the ground begins to tremble and rumble deep within. Maria's eyes almost fall from her head as she sees a massively large feathered serpent emerge from the central hole.

She falls to her knees in terrible fear as a booming voice says, "At last I have been freed from my imprisonment. The earth shall tremble at my revenge."

A large flame emerges from the serpent's mouth and the ocean below the cliff begins to boil. Maria screams with total terror as the earth splits open and the most violent earth quake the world has ever known began.

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Tony sits up with a shout. He is in a cold sweat as he looks around the semi-darkened room. The very adorable and totally nude Michelle snuggles close and takes his manhood lovingly in her hands and begins to softly caress it.

She coos, "That must have been some dream sweet heart. Just relax and let baby make you feel better."

She throws back the cover and takes his hardening manhood in her mouth and begins to suck it sensually. Tony begins to relax from his nightmare as the wonderful sensation filled him with passion.

The intercom comes on and Coom says, "Good morning love birds. Tony, hurry and get your ass to the lab, we have much works to do. It's time to get started examining that weird sphere we found yesterday and discover why it makes things younger. "

Tony's eyes get big as a large fear runs down his spine.

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~~ The End ~~
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Miki Yamuri
 
Posts: 327
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2014 3:06 pm

Re: Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Complete

Postby TiresiasRex » Wed Oct 08, 2014 11:43 am

Thank you for republishing this epic (and apocalyptic) adventure tale, Miki!
TiresiasRex
 
Posts: 57
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 9:05 pm

Re: Lapidem Infinitum Infans - Complete

Postby Miki Yamuri » Sat Jul 03, 2021 12:32 pm

This is a novel length SciFi for those of you who enjoyed this sort of Apocalyptic Scifi.

Enjoy .. have another story still in the works that should be posted shortly

Miki
Miki Yamuri
 
Posts: 327
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2014 3:06 pm


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