Hammer's War 1: Forging the Hammer (15 page)

They buried Doctor Hammer on his land, next to his beloved garden.  His funeral was attended by the whole town.  So many people showed up they had to hold it out on the lawn.  It was lovely, and many people spoke about how nice Doctor Hammer had been.  It seemed as if almost everyone in town had been helped by the Doctor at some time.  When the service was over, and all the hugs, and handshakes were done, and all the tears wiped away, Doctor Hammer’s grave was closed and his marker placed.  Thad was glad it was over.  He was exhausted, not from the work, but from all the emotions.  He wanted to take time away from everyone, except the twins, whom he found fascinating.

Life on Nome returned to normal for everyone
, but Thad.  He felt a great loss and did not know what to do next.  He had the twins to take care of and was happy to have them.  If he didn’t have something to focus on, he would have gone mad.  The girls had been offered work by Madame Xandra, which they declined outright.

Jenna offered them work, but they also declined and Thad was happy about it.  He had offered them money, and to take them anywhere they wanted to go, but they chose to stay with him.  This made him happy. Not only did they give him a sense of purpose, but he also found he was growing fond of them, very fond. 

Both girls wanted Thad to train them in everything he knew
, as they said, they never wanted to be powerless again.  Thad trained them in hand-to-hand combat and firearms.  Fiona took to shooting like a duck to water.  Freya excelled at hand-to-hand combat.  Both girls were amazing students.  After only two months of daily training, Fiona was shooting as well, if not better, than Thad.  Freya was the only person ever to land a blow on him in training that he could remember.  

Three months had gone by
and today like many days, he was standing by the window overlooking the pool where the twins were sunbathing.  However, today as he watched them, he could feel a strange and over powering feeling rising up in him.  Confused about his feelings he spoke, “Hey Eve do you have a minute to talk?”

Her warm glow appeared next to him at the window, “I always have time for you.  What is on your mind?”

Never taking his eyes off the twins, he spoke softly, “I need your advice on something.”

She smiled a soft electronic smile, “How can I help?”

Finally Thad turned from the window and addressed Eve directly, “I seem to be having some issues sorting out my feelings.  I seem to be feeling a,” he paused as he tried to find the right word.

However,
Eve seemed to know where he was going with the conversation, “An attraction?”

“Yes, well no, it is more than that
. I really can’t put my finger on it,” Thad said as he fumbled over his words.

Eve’s
eyes narrowed a bit and seemed to sparkle a little, “Well of course you are attracted to the twins.  If you weren’t, I would think you were gay.”

Thad la
ughed, “No, defiantly not gay, but it is more than the physical attraction I feel.  It is like how I felt about the Doc, but different.  I’m not sure what to do about it.”

“Thad honey,
it is called love,” she paused and crossed her arms placing one of her hologramatic fingers to her hologramatic lips.  “Hum,” was all she said.

Curious about what he said
that had made her say, “hum,” Thad replied with, “Hum?  Care to share with the rest of the class?”

She dropped her hand and spoke, “Oh sorry
. I was just thinking about how odd it was a computer programmed AI has to explain love to a human, that’s all.”

Thad laughed at her, “I guess
it would be odd, but in my case love was not covered in how to kill 101.  No Eve, I think you have more knowledge on the subject then I do.”

Eve
, arms still crossed said, “My dear I have more knowledge on most subjects than you, so don’t feel bad.”

Thad wrinkled his brow, “It’s a good thing you are an AI that runs the
household because with your tact, you would make a lousy therapist.”

“Well
, I’m sorry.  I was merely stating a fact.”  Eve said as she placed her hands on her hips.

“Don’t sweat it,” he stopped himself and held up a hand, “and before you say you don’t sweat
, it is just a figure of speech.”  She closed her part way opened mouth.  “Look, what should I do about it?  Should I chase one or the other or both?”

Eve smiled again at him, “Follow your
heart, and do what feels right.”

Not
sure, what to make of her answer he mumbled “Thanks Doctor Phil.”

Thad turned and walked out of the room while Eve stood there, “Who is Doctor Phil?”  She did a quick search of the nets.  It took a few seconds to find out what he was talking about, “Hey I
have a full head of hair and I’m way better looking,” she called out after Thad.  He did not say anything, just waved his hand over his head as he disappeared down the hallway.

Thad struggled for a while
, not sure what do about his new feelings.  He found himself trying to avoiding being alone with one or the other.  He really did not want to show any kind of favoritism.  However, the universe took things into its own hands and surprised Thad.  The surprise came in the form of a lighting storm.  Lighting storms were common on Nome, but the twins, having been raised on a star ship and spending most of their lives in deep space, had never experienced one.  Eve locked down the buildings on the compound and armored storm shutters dropped down to protect the windows from the wind. 

Thad and the twins stood in the observation cupola
watching nature’s light show, “Isn’t it beautiful?”  Thad said taking Freya’s hand, drawing her closer to the window, “All that raw power, deadly, but still beautiful.”

Freya took his hand, “It scares the
Hell out of me.  Every time it booms, I jump!” 

“It’s just lighting,” Thad chuckled.

Fiona joined them, “Maybe for you, planet boy, but we space girls have never seen anything like it.”

“Really
, you have never seen lighting in space?”

Light
ing flashed, and several bolts crashed between the dark rolling clouds, the light lit them from both inside and out.  Multiple rolling booms shook the house, Freya jumped and hugged Thad tightly, “No, we have seen all kinds of weird light, but electrical discharges in space,  even huge ones,  look  like a momentary flash, and do not follow a path or make any sound.”

They sat in silence for a time watching the lighting storm.  The frequency of str
ikes increased, dancing a mad jig across the surrounding hills.  The demonic howling of the wind could be heard, even inside the cupola. 

The storm was
getting worse, “Thad what would happen if it strikes the house?”  Fiona asked.

“Nothing
, these storms happen so often around here every building has a lighting rod built into it.  If a bolt should strike the house, it would strike the lightning rod, which would conduct the voltage into the ground, although I would not want to be standing next to one when it took a hit.”

“Why not
?” Freya asked wide-eyed.  

“Electricity takes the path of least resistance.  If you are too close to the lighting rod and not insulated from the ground
, some of the energy of the hit could arc into you and pass through you into the ground.”  Even as he spoke, three quick strikes hit within a hundred yards of the house sending large chunks of earth cartwheeling into the air.  Thad yawned as if he were completely unconcerned.  “I don’t know about you two, but I’m going to bed.”  He strode toward the lift shaft.  The twins stood scared, but too fascinated to stop watching, until a blinding white light filled the room, followed by a boom that shook the building.

“Don’t you dare leave us behind
,” Fiona screamed as the twins bolted into the lift, just as the doors were closing. 

They both hugged him good night and the three of them headed off to bed.  Thad had just lain down on his bed when a strike either hit the lighting rod on the
roof, or really damn close because the building shook violently, and the noise was almost deafening. 
That was a big one
he thought, then a knock came at his door. 

Thad sat up
as the door opened and Freya entered, “Thad I can’t sleep.  Do you mind if I sleep in here with you?”

Thad was
speechless and not sure how to answer. 
Oh crap, this is just what I have been trying avoid
, he thought.  Not sure what to do, he sat there with a dumbfounded look on his face.

She came and sat on the bed, “Please don’t make me beg.
”  Thad could not find his voice, so she pulled him close.  Her breasts pressed against his chest as she whispered into his ear, “What’s wrong, cat got your tongue?”  Then her hand slipped down his chest towards his manhood.

That shocked him into finding his voice,
“Freya what would your sister think?  I mean I don’t want to come between you two.”

She smiled, “I don’t think she would care one bit
.”  She slid under the covers wrapping her body around his. 

Thad wanted to protest, but his body told his mind to take a flying leap
.  Freya took charge and in no time, they were deep in passionate lovemaking.  After they had finished, Thad lay on his back thinking of what might happen next.  When Fiona finds outhe just slept with her sister...  He was deep in his thoughts while Freya had gotten out of the bed and pulled on her nightdress.

“Hey where are you going?” he asked.

Freya smiled and giggled, “You silly thing, I won, so I got to go first.  Now it is Fiona’s turn.”

Confused and shocked, “Won, won what?”

She sat back down next to him, took his hand, and looked into his eyes, “Look, Thad, we are as close as any sisters could be, it is like we are two half’s of a whole person.  We have always loved the same boys and now that we are women, we have made an agreement to pick a man and share him.  It is the only way we could ever get along.  So, to decide who got you first, we rock, paper, scissor for it and I won.  Paper covers rock!”  She grinned like a little kid who has just robbed the cookie jar. 

Thad was floored
.  She kissed him again and left the room.  Outside Fiona was there.

“How long have you been there?
”  Freya asked.

Fiona laughed, “Not long.”

“Well, he is all yours, oh, and by-the-way, he can do amazing things with his tongue.”  Freya smiled wickedly.

“Thanks for the tip,”
Fiona said as she slipped past her sister and entered Thad’s room.

Thad looked up to see Fiona entering the
room, wearing a long black silk robe, “So I’m assuming she told you to expect me?”  She slowly pulled the tie around her robe.  The robe fell open revealing her naked body.  She dropped the robe down around her shoulders, “Would you like some of this?” she dropped the robe to the floor.

All Thad could get out was, “
Yes, please.”

After the night of the
storm, the girls became comfortable around Thad and took to wearing revealing and sexy clothing.  Eve had taken a liking to the girls in so much that she also started to appear around the house dressed in similar fashion.  They had bodies of goddesses, so he did not complain at all about the bikini days or the nude sunbathing.

At
first Rhonda was a problem, she was jealous.  She even took a stand against them riding with Thad.  It was the first time Thad wanted to take the girls out riding, when things came to a head with Rhonda.  “No, I will not have those little sluts on my back!  I was made for you and they stole you away from me!”

Thad rolled his eyes.  He
was glad the girls were still getting ready, and not out in the garage to see Rhonda’s tantrum.  “Look Rhonda, it’s not like that.”

She stood there all twelve inches of her
image, blazing red with anger, “Yes it is, and you know it.  Besides when was the last time you and I made love in the holosuite?”

Thad sat down on the bike, “Rhonda it was just one time.”

“Exactly, one time,” she said, as she folded her arms and turned her back to him.

“Rhonda you
’re fantastic and you have been a great friend. That time in the holoroom was something special, but you need to understand you are an AI, and as much as I like you, you cannot be everywhere or go everywhere I want to go.”  Thad was trying to reason with her.

“That’s not true
and you know it.  We can go anywhere you want in the holosuite,” she replied, trying not to show she understood his argument.

“I know
, but it wouldn’t be real.”  The red color faded away replaced by blue.  Thad could tell she was sad, but was starting to understand.  “Rhonda you need to understand there are things the twins can give me, that you by your very nature can’t, but by the same token you give me things the twins never will be able to.  So there is no reason we all can’t get along,” he was trying hard to let her down softly.  He had never dumped a girl before, let alone a computerized girl.