Bite Me!
by David J. Wighton
Book #9 in the Wilizy Series
Copyright 2016, David J. Wighton
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Acknowledgements
This book is dedicated to my wife, Dale, and to my other family members whose support made it possible.
Cover design by Rita Toews at WordPress.com, https://www.yourebookcover.com
Editing assistance from Michelle Scoville who sees typos that mere mortals would never find unaided.
Parent Advisory
Chapter 18 reveals that a young girl was sexually assaulted by an authority figure. The details of the assault are not revealed – only that it occurred. No explicit description of this incident is included in the chapter or anywhere else in the book. However there is a "shock impact" that parents may wish to preview. It comes at the very end of the chapter.
Wilizy Family Members as of May 2086
• Doc and Granny, about 75 years old.
• Hank (44) and Yolanda (40).
• Wolf (20), Mac (20), Jock (1.5), Emily (1 month).
• William (19), Melissa (20), Will & Izzy (1.5).
• Yollie (19), TG (20), Liset (6), Yo-Yo (2), Hank (7 months).
• Wizard (17), Lucas (15), Theo (14), Mathias (13), Reese (11).
• Winnie (10), Patella (3), Scapula (1).
Also
• Stu McKenzie (45), Momaka (41).
• Dreamer (15), Wanda (56).
• Brigadier-General Jock MacLatchie (50).
• Madison (almost 6)
Characters associated with Safe Haven Ranch #4
Big Daddy, Big Momma, Pililiani.
Boss #24 who becomes Boss #15 (Yuri); Boss #2 who becomes Boss #1 (Mike)
Characters associated with the Kingdom of Scandinavia
Queen Freya (Ashleigh), Prince Samuel, Wilhelm (Regent)
Jakobina (Jak) and Benedikta Ekelund (Bean).
This page is to help you if you get confused about who is who in the story. If that happens, click your way back to the Table of Contents and scroll back one page.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Other novels by David J. Wighton
About the Author
Chapter 1
"Mommy's back," Madison declared as Winnie ambled through the door. The word Mommy stopped Winnie dead in her tracks. It was May 3, 2086 – two days after Winnie and Reese had saved Maddy from dying in an abandoned animal lair. Winnie didn't remember giving birth to a five year old girl in the last couple of days. She had been up north sorting out which male wolves would become romantically engaged in creating wolf babies with Patella and Scapula. Winnie was matchmaking again, but this time within the animal kingdom.
Winnie looked up to see Reese sprawled on the cushioned sofa, a well-worn picture book in his hands, and a sort-of-daughter perched contentedly on his knees. Winnie mind-messaged him, Mommy? Really?
I'm Daddy. I'm glad you're back. Madison clutches my hand and follows me around everywhere. Sometimes she stands on my feet, clamps onto my legs, and won't get off. I have to carry her on my feet if I want to go anywhere.
You should have messaged me.
Mom was going to do that today. She wanted you to have at least one day of freedom before you became a mommy.
She's kidding, right?
I dunno. What I do know is that I'm too young to be a daddy.
"Mommy!"
Winnie felt two arms around her waist and looked down. A blond head was nuzzled into her tummy. For a little kid, Maddy was remarkably strong. "Hi Maddy."
"I'm Madison," she corrected.
"OK. Hi, Madison. Uh, could you relax your arms a bit so that I can breathe?"
Madison did. But that pause allowed her to put a foot on top of each of Winnie's feet. "Daddy's been teaching me how to read. What are we going to do now?"
Winnie looked up, but Reese had disappeared. Coward! When did she start talking?
Reese didn't reply.
"Pick me up?" Madison lifted her arms into the air while remaining balanced precariously on Winnie's two small feet.
"Why don't you walk beside me? We'll find Mom."
"Who's Mom?"
"The one who keeps the house neat."
"Oh. That's Daddy's mommy. She's my granny."
Reese!
I didn't tell her that. She figured it out on her own.
Is Mom mad at us? Reese? Reese?
Back to the Table of Contents
Chapter 2
No, Yolanda wasn't mad. But she was insistent that Winnie find Madison's real parents and reunite them with Madison. And do that quickly! What was happening right now was not healthy!
Winnie played with Madison in the house for the rest of the morning, made lunch for the two of them, and then played some more active games in the yard.
"Are you tired yet?" Winnie asked hopefully. "Would you like to have a short nap?"
"I'm never having a nap again!"
Madison seemed quite determined about that, so Winnie asked Yolanda to watch Madison while she and Marie tried to find her parents. As soon as Winnie disappeared, Yolanda told Reese to come out of hiding and take care of his daughter. Some people might believe that Yolanda was enjoying having two of her children learn what it was like to be a parent. They'd be right.
Winnie and Marie returned to the compound later that evening and reported to Yolanda and the rest of the Wilizy that Madison's parents were dead. Winnie didn't think it was necessary to time-travel into the couple's past to learn anything more. But your friendly narrator knows the full story of Madison's parents and I see no reason to keep that from my readers. I'll start with how Madison's mom (Ashleigh) met Madison's dad (Sam) and I'll end the story with how they died. Just remember. Winnie and the Wilizy family do not know any of this yet. In time, they'll know the full story.
# # # # # # # #
The stunning young woman who would become known as Ashleigh was standing nude inside a square of four full-length ornate mirrors, staring at herself one day in October, 2077. This was nine and a half years before Winnie and Reese would become Madison's parents. The four mirrors were arranged so that the young woman could see any part of her body without having to move her head more
than a quarter turn. She had just finished her hour of physical training; checking her body for imperfections afterwards was part of the routine.
As the young woman expected, the body was perfect. It went well with the face which was perfect too. That wasn't just her opinion. Everybody agreed that she had the perfect face and the perfect body. How long the body would remain perfect would be determined by events not entirely within the young woman's control. She did have control over one thing though.
"The body will not bear children." The young woman had made that stipulation abundantly clear to her uncle who had assigned his staff to find a suitable husband for her. She had no shortage of suitors, but few of them had the necessary genes. Although she refused to bear children, the young woman placed no ban on having sex in her marriage. After all, her name could be traced back to the Goddess of Love and Beauty. Having sex was taken for granted. She'd have plenty of children but she wasn't going to mar her perfect body by putting it through the agonizing absurdity of childbirth. It would be up to others to hammer out how her children would be born.
The perfect body wasn't called Ashleigh at this point. The perfect body's name was Freya.
# # # # # # # #
A suitable husband candidate was identified in late 2078. He came from an acceptable family – one that had the right genes plus ample money. At 20, the man was appropriately attractive and sufficiently intelligent. Freya tried him out in bed. Sex for her wasn't for romance; it was just a way to give the body an energetic workout. He had stamina; he'd do. His name was Samuel.
One test of his acceptability remained. A quest, if you like. Not the kind of quest where a knight had to slay a ferocious dragon. This particular knight did not have a shiny coat of armour, a bejeweled sword, a gallant steed, or any of those other symbols of the chivalrous age when a knight's primary purpose in life was to rescue beautiful damsels in distress. This knight wore a white lab coat, required thick glasses to see, and bustled off to his workplace on foot. In his quest, he would arm himself with test tubes to slay the not-so-mythical dragon that he faced. The dragon he had to overcome had an unconventionally long name. How to produce a perfect baby without leaving a mark on the mother's perfect body.
In preparation for his quest, the knight-suitor took a long trip to consult with an expert in his field. She was helpful and gave him custom-made equipment to take back with him. On his return, Samuel's people and Freya's people reached an agreement. The marriage would be allowed to proceed on condition that Samuel produced a perfect baby girl without marring the body in any way. The baby would be named Freya. For motivational purposes, he was granted temporary visiting privileges with the body.
Freya's daughter made her grand entrance into the world of the living on June 6, 2080. Freya, the mother, was otherwise occupied at the time, but that snippet of information was not made public. A marriage certificate was backdated to nine months plus one day previous. Life changed for Freya with that birth. Not because she had to care for her baby daughter; she had servants for that grubby chore. Instead, with another perfect body in the family, albeit a miniature one, Freya's future role in life was now confirmed. She would assume responsibility for the family business.
For Samuel, life did not change all that much after his daughter's birth. He still wore a white lab coat and glasses. He still walked to work. But he had a much shorter commute now because he lived in his wife's house and worked in the basement. His quest had been expanded. Produce more babies for Freya. Lots of them at a time. Samuel found the scientific challenge invigorating. He didn't need motivational sex. That was best for everybody since Freya had other things on her mind besides sex. She was managing the family business – the kingdom of Scandinavia. Technically right now, it was a queendom, but even in 2080, equality of women had not yet made it into the approved vocabulary of constitutional monarchies.
# # # # # # # #
By June 2081 when little Princess Freya celebrated her first birthday, Queen Freya's idyllic life had unravelled. She still had her perfect body, she still draped it in expensive luxurious clothes, and she still exercised an hour every day. But affairs of state consumed a ridiculous amount of time. Her parents may have been willing to dedicate their lives to affairs of state when they had been ruling the country; Freya was not. She asked her uncle to resume his role as Prince Regent. He insisted that he couldn't. The laws of the country made her the queen. Freya continued to attend all the required formalities. Most of the time she didn't understand what the meetings were about. She had been raised to be beautiful and regal, not intelligent.
Queen Freya knew from the meetings that tensions within her country were increasing; their slide into depravity was accelerating. Freya lived within a democracy governed by a parliament. Even a monarch could have little impact. She believed her uncle when he predicted that the country as she knew it now would not be there for Princess Freya. Queen Freya saw ample evidence that he'd be right.
Freya found her public duties difficult to perform because she had to do so without revealing her distaste of some of the people in attendance. Even looking out the windows of her city palace would bring the foul taste of bile to her mouth. Pockets of the disease were visible even in the crowds that were no further away than the other side of the security gates. She couldn't look out her own windows without being reminded of what was happening to her country! Disease was everywhere!
Scandinavia's entire military apparatus was stretched to the limit in attempts to cope with the disease. The country's security presence throughout the borders had been successful in making it difficult for more disease carriers to enter the country. But Freya ruled over a large country bounded by miles and miles of deserted coastline. [Narrator: Scandinavia was the amalgamation of the two former countries of Sweden and Norway.] Their entire armed forces, and almost all of their security budget, were committed to keeping their borders secure. The pestilence was easily detected and the carriers could be caught and turned away. But as soon as the security forces detected and closed one gap in their armour, disease carriers would create another. Their pressure on the borders was relentless.
Special Ops, a secret and impressively big unit within Queen Freya's military forces, had an answer for her. They agreed that it was impossible to imprison or deport the disease carriers who had managed to enter the country already. But similar to AIDS in the previous century, this disease was spread by carriers having sex. The more carriers that were in the country, the more babies they'd have. Once a baby was conceived, that baby would carry the pestilence. There was no known cure.
Special Ops argued that if security forces couldn't do anything after diseased children had been conceived, their focus rightly should be on preventing disease carriers from conceiving children. This could be done quietly and painlessly with secretly distributed chemicals. The head of Special Ops characterized it as a form of vaccination. Carriers would not be hurt. But neither would they ever have children again. In time, the disease's penetration of their society would slow and eventually disappear. Patience would win out in the end.
Special Ops had been working successfully for years on a pilot program that would increase the number of the children in the country who were disease-free. But the officer in charge of that program told Queen Freya that they were finding it difficult to expand that program to meet the growing demands that the country had for healthy children. If Queen Freya were to double their budget, that would give them the additional staff and resources they'd need to increase the number of disease-immune children. Meanwhile their chemical program would be preventing the carriers of the disease from producing more diseased children. The country could be made healthy again. Not immediately, but the country could be free of pestilence in time for Princess Freya's reign.
"Spare no effort," Queen Freya ordered the head of her Special Ops Division. "Do whatever it takes. The future of our country depends on you!"
# # # # # # # #
One year later, 2-year
old Princess Freya was celebrating her birthday on a utilitarian yacht that was making its way slowly from Scandinavia to North America. The year had not been kind to her mother. Officially, the queen was having a difficult pregnancy and was seeking medical expertise outside of the country. Unofficially, she wasn't even pregnant. Prince Samuel had told his wife that another perfect baby daughter was possible whenever she wanted it. [Narrator: Since Samuel was not the head of the country, he could not be called King. He had to be a Prince instead.] Freya wanted more from him than another perfect daughter. She wanted multiple simultaneous births, the better to increase the number of healthy children in the country. Naturally she insisted that these births were to be achieved without leaving a mark on the body. Samuel confessed that the science wasn't ready yet. One of the reasons for visiting America was so that he could gain access to the Americans' advanced computer technology.
Queen Freya had a much more pressing reason to leave the country. Her security personnel had advised her that the royal family's continued presence in the Stockholm palace posed a health risk not only for them but for their security personnel as well. Since both she and Prince Samuel spoke English fluently, why didn't they go to the United States for an extended holiday? The royal yacht could take them that far quite easily.
Queen Freya had resisted, but the army's Chief of Staff had the winning argument. The public had learned how some unknown chemicals were being used on certain pestilence carriers. In response, the disease carriers had purchased the influence of some sleazy politicians who were raising howls of protest about the rights of all people to determine for themselves if they wanted to have health vaccinations or not. The country's majority government was firmly in power, but so long as Queen Freya remained in the palace, the public protests would continue. It was best that she leave the country so that the armed forces could take back control of the streets. She needn't concern herself with how they were going to do that. The army's Chief of Staff could talk to Queen Freya like that with impunity. He was her uncle – the former prince regent.
The royal family left Scandinavia secretly at the end of May 2082. In order to maintain a degree of anonymity in the U.S., the royal couple travelled in a stripped down yacht with only two members of the military to guard them. The guards would pretend to be a married couple. The man would act as a gardener/carpenter; the woman would serve as Freya's maid. Since Freya had never worked a day in her life, and since Samuel was hopelessly inept in anything he did outside of the lab, both soldiers would take care of kitchen duties as well. They also handled all of the sailing duties. If it were necessary to remain away from the country for more than a year, a different pretend married couple would take over guard/servant duties each June.