Centaurs (Parallel Worlds) Read online

  "I'm not surprised," David said. "Considering what they had done to all of us here."

  "It was their sense of superiority over all others and an inflated belief in their brilliant scientific ability and advances, which brought on their ultimate demise."

  "I love hearing about such a possibility but how and why will it finally happen to them?" Elwood asked.

  "Because arrogance tends to diminish a person and eventually a nation from putting together an appropriate strategic planning in case of a disaster."

  "What exactly does that mean?" David asked.

  "Oops. Sorry for using twenty-first century military terms. What it means is that one must be prepared for something to go wrong and be equipped for it in case it becomes a reality. So when disaster struck the Gogians should've tackled it with precise plans of solving it. I'll give them credit for taking the appropriate approach at first by dividing the responsibility between restocking the land with animals, particularly the food producers, and establishing a research program to cure their women."

  "So where did they go wrong?"

  "In their research program. Their first task should've been to find a solution for the humans and lesser breeds since they were the working class of the world who produced all their food and technology needs."

  "But were too selfish to consider the consequences to them of losing these groups who were imperative for their survival?"Arvin asked.

  "Correct. So they stumbled far too long in researching what we called a bio-medical science in my own time, which allowed us to perform medical miracles such as organ transplants and replacements. But most importantly, we were also able to come up with solutions for all kinds of illnesses that had plagued humankind for thousands of years. So, had the Gogian scientists considered their true reality they would've started looking to preserve their humans first. Which would have been simple to accomplish had they scoured human parallel worlds as they did when they looked there to replace animals."

  "And reached your era where they would've found an established scientific prototype that would've quickly given them a solution not only for their humans but for themselves as well, before anyone started to die?" Paula interjected. "So instead, caring only about themselves, it never occurred to them to think that way and they started their research from scratch and wasted centuries on arriving at a solution they didn't even know if it'll work."

  "Not quite so, Paula. When their experiments with impregnating the centaurs with their own semen failed and they ended up with what they thought were horses, they should've tried to come up with a mental test to determine their intelligence before cutting them up. Had they done that they would've discovered that indeed their interbreeding had been successful and found some means to turn them into beings who they would've been able to communicate with and probably refine the breeding system."

  "But instead they turned them into a food source. So what made them come up with the ghoulish solution of implanting their own trunks on our children's bodies?" Jenny asked.

  "When the centaur breeding experiment failed and they had to start all over, one of their scientists came up with the idea of using centaurs again but this time implanting a Gogian upper body on a centaur trunk and tie both reproductive systems together. It wasn't hard to find volunteers for their experiment amongst those who were near death, and they performed five such operations out of which two managed to survive for a while. To make the story short, the scientists came up with the idea of using a centaur and human hybrid and see what will happen."

  "And use as breeders for a new kind of body that would be compatible with their own?"

  "Yes, and they were highly successful because half their specimen survived and produced young that matured quickly, whose bodies did not reject the transplanted Gogian trunk. That happened three-hundred years ago and led to your existence as breeders for a new genus--a mixture of human, centaur, and Gogian. Who are capable of bearing it's parents' likeness and intelligence."

  "Ergo, survival of the Gogian race?" Eldon asked.

  "That's right. So they brought you over and spliced you onto a centaur body, then merged your glands and reproductive systems into one. It was a highly complicated operation that killed half of your original group of eighty, but was ultimately successful. Then, once most of your firstborns matured they started to splice their oldest citizens onto them in five additional centers such as ours."

  "Why did you say most?"

  "Because unbeknownst to you, of the original group half died on the operating table and then the number went down further when six surviving women killed themselves once they saw what was done to them. As you know, it took a few years for you to start bearing children and for them to reach an age when their scientists felt that they were strong enough to undergo the operation."

  "How many new highbred Gogians are in existence by now?"

  "At their last census they counted slightly over two-thousand."

  "I don't understand. How come they only managed to convert, so to speak, so few of them in three-hundred years?"

  "It wasn't exactly three-hundred, because fifty years elapsed before the first operation took place."

  "Why were they so cautious with the well-being of our children?"

  "It wasn't that at all. The fact was that failure in the program designed to save their race meant death by hanging, which was why few scientists dared get involved and it was left to the marginal ones to carry the load. And those moved very slowly for fear of being killed. Then, once they realized that they can indeed make successful splicings and that the new breed can conceive, bear fertile offsprings, possess longevity such as their parents, and are Gogians in every manner, they presented them to King Fillipi."

  "The bastards have a fucking king to boot?"

  "Always did. Now, the king was nearly a thousand years old at the time and was beginning to slip physically and mentally into oblivion so he insisted that they perform the operation on him and his wife immediately. Which they did, and the results amazed all involved as the operation wasn't just successful but the royal couple regained their youth and fertility, and a year later the queen bore a healthy child."

  "So theirs and our gestation period is twelve months?"

  "Correct. The news spread like wildfire once the couple presented themselves and their baby to the nation and everyone, mostly the old people, demanded to be operated on immediately. Then the king informed them that he intended to run a lottery for the first group of the oldest ones because they did not yet have enough of our foals and the doctors to perform the operations."

  David burst into laughter. "So in their hubris they screwed up again by jumping the gun and telling everyone about their success without being prepared to act on it. So what happened then?"

  "A devastating civil war broke out. The war raged for over a hundred years as the very old fought amongst themselves, and the younger ones tried to get rid of the oldest so they'd get to the head of the line faster. So the operations stopped completely during that time and all they did with our embryos was freeze and then store them here on this remote island, away from the fighting."

  "Couldn't have happen to a nicer bunch of people." Elwood said. "So how far should I downgrade my estimates of their numbers nowadays?"

  "The result of the war was that almost their entire population was decimated and all mainland facilities were destroyed. So their king and his entourage fled over to Crete at the head of the remnants of his army of barely fifty-thousand, all of whom are the toughest, most ruthless ones of the breed. Who, to ensure their place in the waiting line, came here to live next to the only remaining operating medical facility."

  "And the medical staff must be scared to death of them and are moving as fast as they can?"

  "That's right, which gives us an opportunity we might never have again to eliminate them all in one fell swoop."

  "What make you think so? And don't you think that maybe it'll be better if, unlike the Gogians, we take our time in p
roperly planning the fight against them?" Paula asked, apparently unprepared for a fast move.

  "Let me first talk for myself, Paula. I don't intend to ever get in estrus and get fucked so many times by so many strangers again. Nor am I willing to use a grab bar in public like a brainless animal as a result of ingesting their damn drug with my food. I'd rather starve first."

  "Then our food is laced with physical and behavior modification drugs?"

  "Absolutely. It's the chief cook's job to mix it with our dinners, ostensibly in the guise of vitamins necessary for our well-being. She has no idea what the powder truly is so don't hold it against her."

  Jenny chuckled. "So if I don't eat dinner I won't ingest these drugs and stop having frivolous sex in public, and won't go into estrus every three months?"

  "Sure, but we can't tell everyone to stop eating dinner because that'll start a public debate, which will arouse our keepers' suspicions. But at least we won't need to worry about it until after the Gogians come to remove our new embryos."

  "Why is that?"

  "Because we don't get any drugs between conception and abortion for fear it might harm the embryos."

  "Which is why no one is ever sexually inclined during this period? I see."

  "Then as the executive board we're duty-bound to stop the cook from mixing the drug with our food." Arvin burst into laughter. "How about it, Sue, if the cook gives you her entire drug stock and you have it mixed into the mare's milk, which all the Gogians love to drink at least a cup of it with their breakfast."

  Sue joined his laughter. "Oh, my God. That'll be a sweet revenge because I wonder what it's effect will be on them."

  Nick spoke once the laughter stopped. "I'd advise against doing any such a thing."

  Everyone gave him a surprised look. "Why, Nick?" Elwood asked. "Wouldn't it serve them as a just punishment?"

  "Oh, sure it will, but what we must think about is deadly revenge rather than a funny one that won't accomplish getting rid of them."

  "What are you talking about Nick?"

  "Marty and I have been debating about how to eliminate them all in one fell swoop, and you just gave me the best method for doing just that."

  "By mixing poison into their morning drink?" Marty asked with a malevolent grin on her face.

  "Of course. If we obtain a tasteless, fast acting toxin in sufficient quantity to mix with their milk."

  "We got a ton of rat poison that we constantly use to rid the fields of all sorts of vermin." David told him.

  "What kind of poison is it?"

  "Arsenic."

  "Jesus, Dave, it couldn't be better because it's tasteless and kills extremely fast with excruciating pain and suffering when ingested. Don't you think that it'll be better to use it than giving the Gogians a constant hardon?"

  Jenny responded instantly. "Then I suggest that we take a verbal vote on how to kill our enemies."

  "Wait." Marty raised an open hand to stop them. "Before you do, we must consider what'll happen if we're successful in ridding ourselves of the Gogians. So first, Sue and Dave, what'll happen to our food supply when they no longer control the farm."

  "They don't control anything around here other than in general rules and instructions because we've been running it efficiently from the day the farm was established. And as our numbers grew so did the farm size until we now span half the size of the island and we produce enough food to feed both us and the entire Gogian population. And as the farm grew beyond everyone's needs we began canning, freezing, and preserving all the surplus foodstuffs in great quantities."

  "So food won't be a problem for many years?"

  "Or ever if we continue producing at this rate without feeding any Gogians. Except that I doubt anyone will want to eat horsemeat once they find the truth about them."

  "Agreed. But we need to decide how to rule the population, which will grow at a fast pace once the children the Gogians are raising and all the unfrozen embryos join us, in addition to everyone bearing children unhindered."

  "You'd told us about your own form of government, Marty, called a democracy, and we like the idea." Arvin stated. "So I'd like us to vote on that as well and then let's all go to lunch and give everything else serious personal considerations. So if everyone is in agreement let's vote on these two issues right now."

  The vote received a unanimous approval quickly, after which Jenny pounded her gavel. "It has been agreed upon by all present to take the action necessary to rid ourselves of our lords and masters, and to declare our settlements a democracy from here on. The meeting is hereby closed for this session."

  "Then let's go grab some lunch. Shall we meet back here in an hour or two?" Arvin suggested.

  "As much as I'd like to, Nick and I have more investigating to do this afternoon, so I'd rather we meet again tomorrow morning at nine."

  "Okay, tomorrow it is, which will give everyone even more time to reflect on what we're about to do."

  "So what d'you think about our accomplishments so far." Marty asked Nick as they walked to the dining room.

  "Quite impressive considering these people's backgrounds in the old country and here. We'll have to point out to them, though, that after all the Gogians are destroyed their almost idyllic lifestyle here will be gone forever."

  "How can you call it idyllic when it's totally controlled by ruthless beings such as the Gogians?"

  "It sure is, but consider the fact that their life is almost utopian in a way that the old communists had dreamed of--no responsibilities to earn a living, all of their needs are supplied by the state, and all they have to do for it is get milked twice a day and fuck their brains out at all times."

  "But what about personal freedoms? They literally have to fuck on schedule, get pregnant on schedule, and obey rules dictated to them arbitrarily. I call that kind of life total slavery."

  "Wow, Marty, I didn't know that you were such a dyed-in-the-wool individualist. I appreciate it greatly that you are, but I'm afraid it might be a great burden on them once everyone has to earn a living and has the responsibility of making personal decisions about how to live and how to behave."

  "I get your point, Nikki, but they seem eager to do exactly it without being dictated to by others."

  "Or at least the members of the board are."

  "Which I'd assume must be the general opinion around here by the veterans, which the young generation will adopt once they find out about the horrors inflicted on them."

  "You're probably right about that so let's help them all the way in every phase they are going to have to live through in the next few months. Anyway, what's your plan for the afternoon?"

  "Return to our apartment, from where I'll send my mind over to their capital to do some serious spying."

  "Great idea. What in particular will you be looking at?"

  "First I'd like to inspect the living conditions in Heraklion. Mostly, though, I'd like to gather intelligence on all the public facilities and equipment storage. And check the compound where they keep our people before they operate on them to find out how many there are, their ages, and their mental and physical condition."

  "Which will tell us what to do about them once they're liberated? Gosh, I had never in my entire life hated anyone as much as I do these Gogians. Should go together so I can check on the medical center to find out how they handle the embryos and hopefully monitor a splicing surgery in progress? And if none is available I'm sure that I'll be able to find a written procedure manual on it."

  "Excellent idea."

  Chapter 13

  "Anyone have any regrets or further thoughts about our decisions of yesterday?" Jenny asked when they gathered the next morning. "As to me, I'm sure I'm expressing everyone's sentiments when I state that I wish Marty and Nick had shown up here three-hundred years ago, when this nightmare had started."

  "My sentiments exactly." Sue said, with everyone nodding their agreement. "But the fact is that they're here now and committed to help us smash the Gogian yo
ke. So what other shit about this place did you find yesterday while perusing your computer, Marty?"

  "Thank you all for your support. As to what else we found, the answer is a lot--some very good and some not so. And so you know, we didn't work the computers yesterday since we'd figured that we need to pay a visit to the hornet's nest personally and get a better idea about what's going on here physically rather than on the computer."

  "You mean you actually went to Heraklion? Elwood asked with concern. "That could have been quite dangerous for you had you been seen. How did you get there, in one of our crappy electric carts?"

  "We were never in any danger because no one could see us. I thought that you all understood that when we were hit by lightening our minds were freed from our corporeal existence, which is how we'd arrived here--as blobs of pure energy, as we'd thought of ourselves at the time."

  "I thought that once your minds became embedded in your new bodies they became stationary again."

  "Not quite because as a result of what happened to us, we'd acquired the ability to leave our bodies, even these, for a while before we must return to them for sustenance."

  "Gosh, Marty, they would've burnt you at the stake in Old London as witches, you know."

  "All of us, actually, because of the way we look. Anyway, let's talk about what we'd uncovered. My purpose was to find what the Gogians are doing there besides marking time until they're all merged with a fertile young body. What I was able to discover was that probably for the first time in their life the Elites are willing to get their hands dirty while preparing equipment and dwellings suitable for centaur-size new people. They'd built an entire section of single dwelling homes, beautifully furnished and containing appliances such as we have, but much more elaborate. As well as private use wheeled and air cars and public transportation buses, shops, and personal services buildings ready for occupancy."