Au Naturaliste

Géographe

I'm currently writing Chapter 8 of the science fiction story Old Time Gaming. Rylla has been given the task of accelerating the pace of scientific and technological advance in Australia, in order to allow for the early discovery of a special family of fundamental particles: the hierions. That discovery will not take place until the 21st century, but Rylla has been sent to the 19th century in order to begin re-shaping the historical timeline of Earth. Rylla dreams of founding a college of nutrition in Perth at the earliest possible date.

Matthew Flinders - 1801
Circumnavigation of Australia

In Chapters 8 and 9, Rylla is trying to initiate an English expedition to western Australia in 1814, more than a decade before Perth is first settled in the original timeline that she studied when being trained by the tryp'At for her mission on Earth. 

To stimulate increased English interest in the Perth area, Rylla plays the game of stoking fears that the French might colonize western Australia. Rylla spreads rumors proclaiming that the French have already founded a settlement in western Australia. Rylla hopes to pay for her planned expedition to the west by using gold that her team has mined in the hills near Sydney.

Early Dutch map of Australia, then know as New Holland.

Nicolas Thomas Baudin

Originally, the Dutch were the first Europeans to explore western Australia (New Holland). The image above this paragraph shows a Dutch map that was drawn using information collected by early explorers. Shortly before the time period of the events in Old Time Gaming (the events of the story taking place in Australia begin in 1814) the French also sent a scientific expedition to western Australia, led by Nicolas Baudin. That expedition had two ships, Géographe and Naturaliste and among the crews of those ships was a group of scientists.

Bavaria

The French had a long history of support for expeditions to distant locations in search of medicinal plants and other useful biological discoveries. For example, a large number of botanists went with Napoleon Bonaparte to Egypt in 1798. In our Reality, Anselme Riedlé died during the Baudin expedition to New Holland. However, for Old Time Gaming, I imagine a special fate for Riedlé, who was born in the part of Europe that is now known as Bavaria.

After writing Chapters 6 and 7 of Old Time Gaming, I decided to switch their order. I like the way that Isaac Asimov did not constrain himself to a simple linear narrative for his time travel novel The End of Eternity. The events of Chapter 7 take place before those in Chapter 6. However, there are actually two versions of what happens after Rylla allows Captain Doones into her cottage during a rain storm. Manny makes it possible for Rylla to retain memories of one Reality in which Doones has an exciting three-way sexual encounter with Rylla and her maid, Liza, although Manny is forced to erase that Reality from existence. At the time when Rylla first meets Doones, she is making use of the body of Sophie McKnight, a school teacher. Doones is already suspicious: how does a cute school teacher discover gold in the Outback? He'd never believe that Sophie is a French spy and go off with her to western Australia on a lark.

Asterothropes

Manny never hesitates to make multiple copies of her agents. A second copy of Rylla, able to use her original bodily form, makes a concerted effort to beguile Captain Doones and convince him to join the expedition to western Australia. Manny also warns Rylla to not give up on the Captain, even when the situation seems bleak. Due to Rylla's persistence, at the very last minute Doones joins Rylla and a small group of settlers for the journey to western Australia.

Also traveling with Rylla is Abigail Longfellow, a young writer who has an interesting assortment of Asterothrope gene patterns. Rylla slowly comes to realize that Abigail is one of her ancestors and that Rylla is playing a roll in creating a historical timeline for Earth in which she can come into existence. Rylla's discovery of this strange loop in time allows her to realize that her activity in the 1800s has not created a different historical timeline, but rather, has made her own life possible.

From the archives of the Writers Block

When the expedition from Sydney reaches the area where Perth will eventually be founded, they discover Riedlé, his lover, Kardynya (from a native healing family) living on an island. Rylla and her small group of settlers link up with Riedlé and Kardynya and live on that island for the next 15 years before ultimately moving to the mainland. That island is known as Garden Island.

Also among that small group of settlers is George White, son of a doctor in Sydney. George was sailing for England in order to attend medical school, but he ends up staying at the settlement on Garden Island and founding the western Australian White family lineage of farmers that eventually gives rise to Georgy White, the discoverer of anti-gravity hierions.

Rylla and Abigail have Asterothrope features.

As part of an effort by R. Nyrtia to cover-up the discovery of hierions, Georgy ends up being sent to Observer Base by Maria Green. Having already crossed paths with Maria Green in 1814, it takes until 1830 before Rylla realizes that the Phari endosymbiont of her friend Abigail can serve as a convenient "tracking device" for the lurking Maria Green.

There is a link between time travel and telepathy. Because of Rylla's special Asterothrope gene combinations, her brain is well-suited for telepathic communication. Rylla also has some ability to link into information resources that exist in the sedron domain, including information about future events. 

artificial life

Using her ability to "see the future", and with some help from Manny the bumpha, Rylla is able to prevent Maria Green from interfering with Rylla's attempt to accelerate technological developments on Earth.

Related Reading: science fiction in 1817.

Next: Part 6 of Old Time Gaming.

Foot Soldiers

Below, on this blog page, is Part 5 of the science fiction story Old Time Gaming. While John remains in the Outback mining gold, Rylla makes use of the social connections of Dame Laura McKnight to help her gain access to the ear of Elizabeth MacQuarrie, the young wife of the Governor of New South Wales colony. Rylla is on a mission to accelerate cultural development in Australia with the objective of founding a university as quickly as possible.

Part 5 of Old Time Gaming. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

Eight days after asking Sophie's mother to send the invitation, Rylla met Elizabeth MacQuarrie at the dinner party. Dame Laura arranged for Rylla to speak alone to Elizabeth before dinner. As they strolled through the backyard flower garden, Elizabeth said, "I've passed your school house on several occasions."

Rylla nodded politely but could not force herself to make any more small-talk. Now that they were out of hearing range from the other guests at the dinner party, Rylla abruptly launched into her business, "I want to talk to you about education, but not the schools we now have. My dream is to bring into existence a university here in Australia."

Elizabeth laughed and thought about coming decades in the future. "That sounds like a good life's goal for a young woman. Maybe before you die there will be a new-born college here in this sleepy colony."

Rylla handed a gold nugget to Elizabeth. "I've found a way knock some of the sleep off of this colony."

Elizabeth asked, "This gold was found in Australia?"

"Yes, and not far from here."

Elizabeth asked skeptically, "You are sure this is gold? I know nothing about minerals."

"Yes, I'm sure."

Elizabeth handed back the nugget. "Why do you show me this?"

Rylla attached the nugget to the end of her dangling necklace. "I want to make a deal with your husband. Gold for his support... support for education and ultimately, the creation of an Australian university."

"You are an ambitious girl." Elizabeth shifted her eyes from the gold to Rylla's intense eyes. "I am of course, supportive of learning and education, but what exactly do you want me to do?"

Rylla replied, "You can use your influence to make my dream... our shared dream of a better future for Australia... help make this dream a reality."

Elizabeth paced along the length of the rose bed several times and then returned to touch the nugget where it hung between Rylla's two breasts. Holding the gold piece in her finger tips and with her knuckles resting against the soft skin of Rylla's breast, Elizabeth looked Rylla in the eye and said, "Very pretty."

Rylla giggled and said, "My mother's roses are magnificent."

"I'll bet." Elizabeth winked at Rylla. "Write down exactly what you are proposing. I can deliver your letter to my husband. However, I can't promise that the Governor will help you."

Rylla laughed, giddy with relief that Elizabeth was willing to help. "Thank you, my Lady. I have a lot of faith in the power of money." She handed over a letter that she had written to the Governor.

"You anticipated my offer of help? Very well. Now, I suppose we should join your mother at the dinner table." She held up the envelop and asked, "Can I speak of this?"

"I'd prefer not. Besides you, only my mother has heard about the gold and I've asked her not to tell anyone else. We don't want to trigger wild rumors about gold being found." Elizabeth tucked the envelope inside her skirt and Rylla also hid the gold in her pocket before they went to the dining room.

______________

Two days later, Rylla's school session was interrupted by the arrival of a soldier in a utilitarian horse-drawn coach. Speaking from the doorway, the Private said, "Miss McKnight? The Governor would like to meet you. Now."

After sending the school children home, Rylla was transported to Governor MacQuarrie's house by that Private, a member of the 73rd Regiment of Foot. Reaching a dip in the road that was flooded by waters from the recent rains, the Private drove the team of two horses on through the water. Rylla could not avoid being splashed, but her clothing nanites quickly and efficiently removed all the flying mud from Rylla. As they emerged from the flooded section of road, one of the coach's wheels was wobbling. The private stopped and pulled a branch out from where it had gotten stuck in the spokes of the wheel. He climbed back into the seat and commanded to horses to continue. Noting that Rylla was nervously wringing her hands, the Private said, "One of the wheel spokes is broken, but we'll make it." They continued on, at a slower pace than before. 

Arriving at the Governor's house, the Private led Rylla directly from the coach, through a side door of the mansion and to the room that was the Governor's home office. Entering the room and noting the presence of both the Governor and another officer, Captain Doones, the soldier saluted crisply and announced, "Miss McKnight!"

The Governor seemed to ignore the newly-arrived soldier and continued speaking intently to Doones. Elizabeth was there in the room, too, and she took Rylla's arm and said, "Thank you for arriving today on short notice. My husband wants to meet you." Elizabeth presented Rylla to the Governor who was still bent over a table, conferring with Captain Doones. "Here is Miss McKnight."

The Governor finally turned his attention away from the table and took Rylla's hand. "Welcome to our home." He looked at Rylla from head to toe and seemed to like what he saw. "I served with your father in India." He kissed Rylla's hand then said, "This is my engineer, Captain Doones."

The Governor asked the Private, "You were delayed?"

"Broken wheel spoke, sir. The road is still flooded with much floating debris in the waters."

"Very well. Start repairs at once. Dismissed." He waved away the Private and turned back to Rylla. "Your delay is all for the best... I've had a chance to confer with the Captain who just got back from Emu Plains."

Doones nodded to Rylla and allowed his eyes to explore her soft curves and contours, the sight of which brought a smile to his lips. He finally collected his thoughts and gestured towards the table. "Do you recognize this?"

Blue Mountains

Rylla saw that the table was covered by a large map of the coastline near Sydney and the adjacent inland hills. Not waiting for Rylla to answer, Doones traced a line across the Blue Mountains. "This is the road that is being built west of Sydney, opening up the inland frontier."

Governor MacQuarrie leaned over the map and added, "The Captain and I have been trying to guess where you discovered gold."

Doones tapped his finger on the locations of several valleys in the Blue Mountains. "There have been scattered reports of gold or silver in the mountains... even diamonds, but until now nobody has committed the manpower needed to investigate such rumors."

Governor MacQuarrie told Doones, "Frankly, finding gold would be a problem for me. How could I keep all the renegade soldiers and criminals from swarming the mining site and creating chaos? Gold fever would begin with the colony's forced laborers and quickly spread to every sheep sheerer and stable boy. A gold rush would disrupt the entire economy." He looked speculatively at Rylla. "I have two questions for you..... How many people know where the gold is? And how much gold do you think there is out there?"

Rylla dropped a gold nugget on the map, creating a loud clunk. "That is the approximate location where my partners are mining the gold." Pointing at the gold nugget, Rylla continued, "Based on my survey of that valley, I'm expecting a caravan of camels to return to Sydney in about a month with several tons of gold. That will be only the beginning." She turned away from the map and looked into the Governor's eyes. "Only a few people know about the gold, so we can keep its existence secret, if that is your wish."

Lachlan Macquarie

"Your letter said nothing about what you expect to get out of this, Miss McKnight." Governor MacQuarrie crossed his arms and glanced at his wife. "Elizabeth has hinted that you want my promise of support for education in exchange for the gold."

"Yes, that is my proposition. I hope you realize that eventually the wealth and prosperity of Australia will depend on having educated citizens. If you wisely set aside a small fraction of the gold to support education then that investment will build a nation."

"I see you have a vision of the future." MacQuarrie gave a half bow towards Rylla. "I commend your idealism, but in my case, I must deal with practicalities. First, we need to keep the existence of this gold a secret." The Governor turned to Captain Doones. "You just returned from inspecting the Western Road. How many men could be shifted from highway construction and committed to investigation of this gold discovery?"

Doones replied to the Governor's question, but his eyes were on Rylla, "The current phase of work on the Blue Mountain Highway project is coming to an end. The rains have arrived and road construction is becoming difficult. I expect most of the 73rd Regiment could be returned to Sydney in several groups over the next few weeks." Doones pulled his eyes away from Rylla and told the Governor, "However, I must remind you that we previously planned to let those men rest in town for a week and then I'm to have their services to help me build a bridge over the Nepean river."

MacQuarrie chuckled and placed a hand on Doones' shoulder. "Welcome to Australia, lad, where most plans last about three days before being changed."

Doones glanced back at Rylla and then pointed to the map. "By the end of the month, we could probably deploy a force of about fifty men to this remote valley... if they were relieved of other duties." He put his finger on the map beside the gold nugget.

Governor MacQuarrie told his wife, "I'm putting you and Doones in charge of this." He told the Captain, "I want confirmation of this gold find and I want you to establish orderly military control over the mining operations.

"Yes, sir."

"Now, someone tell me, what is all this talk about camels I'm hearing?"

Doones explained, "Some camels were recently brought in through the port, Sir."

"I don't want any caravans coming down the street in Sydney with loads of gold on the backs of camels. Nor horses, mules or anything else. I don't want to hear the world gold..." The Governor rubbed his chin. MacQuarrie's plan was that any gold arriving in Sydney would be secretly loaded aboard outbound military transports and sent directly to London to help pay the King's war debts. "Elizabeth, which sheep ranch had the best wool production during the past year?"

"The Foster ranch."

"Then from now on, any shipments of gold will be disguised as wool. Foster wool. That is all we deal in... Foster wool." He looked intently at Rylla. "Am I understood?"

Rylla nodded. "I understand. I have just one question. In the wool business, what fraction of the profits go towards education?"

The Governor put an arm around his wife. "Elizabeth, I need you to update that old report of yours listing every school in the colony. And update the plan you created for how education can best be supported and advanced by the judicious expenditure of Crown funds." He pointed at Rylla, "Sophie, I believe you are already being paid a government stipend to run your school house. And as for long-range strategy... I ask you to provide us with a written plan with a timeline for your ideas for bettering the colony's education in the future."

Rylla's model for success

Rylla boldly suggested, "1836 is a reasonable target for the founding of an Australian university... 200 years after the founding of Harvard University in the Bay Colony."

Elizabeth said, "I don't think Harvard was actually a university until the 1780s and the establishment of its medical school."

Rylla nodded. "You may be right. I also have interests in the medical field, but I suggest starting with a college of nutrition and health sciences."

The Governor held up his hands and told his wife, "I leave the details of such futuristic imaginings to the two of you. Now, who is ready to adjourn to the dining room? I'm ready for lunch." MacQuarrie stalked off to the dining room, but Elizabeth took one of Rylla's arms and Captain Doones the other. 

Elizabeth gave Rylla a quick tour of the first floor of the house which ended at the dining room where serving girls were setting out lunch and one pretty young woman stood in a corner and seemed to be staring at Rylla. She was a tall, thin girl with hypnotic blue eyes that seemed large when set in her delicate face. Rylla wondered if she was a new apprentice maid, just learning her tasks.

rum shipment

At a side table, the Governor was having a quick meeting with the Rum Bursar from the Port of Sydney. The Governor signed a taxation authorization document and then told his wife that the Bursar had agreed to stay for lunch. MacQuarrie put his pen and ink into a drawer and then introduced the Bursar to Rylla. "This is Miss Sophie McKnight. Sophie, Bursar Longfellow."

Longfellow said, "I believe I once met your father, Sophie... and also your lovely mother."

Rylla said, "If you were taken with my mother's charms, you should call on her some time. She is now a lonely widow."

The tall girl in the corner was still staring at Rylla and she asked "Match-making?" She moved to stand beside her father, the Bursar. She told Rylla, "My father is already married, although he'd probably welcome any opportunity to entertain Dame Laura."  

Bursar Longfellow guided his daughter to her seat at the table while saying, "Sophie, this is my daughter, Abigail. Marriage is on her mind and the tip of her sharp tongue because I occasionally work up the nerve to drag her out into public in an effort to find her a husband."

When everyone was settled in at the table, MacQuarrie tasted the soup, nodded approvingly and then said, "Longfellow, you are at the port every day. Did you see that herd of camels when it arrived a few weeks ago?"

"Yes, I did. The sight of those beasts created quite a stir on the dock. The lads on the dock crew told me that hoisting the camels out of the ship's hold was a stinky business."

MacQuarrie shook his head. "I dealt with camels when I was in India. Not nearly as happy with them as I am with horses." One of the servant girls put a plate down on the table and the Governor plowed into a slice of roasted lamb with gusto.

Captain Doones seemed unable to keep his eyes off of Rylla. She asked him, "Not hungry, Captain?"

His enthrallment with Rylla's fresh appearance and her glowing look of perfect health was broken by her question. "Pardon me for ogling you, Miss Sophie... I continually amazed and dazed by the great beauty of Australia." He told the Governor, "I shipped in with the owner of those camels, sir. An American named Smith," Then the Captain turned his eyes back towards Rylla.

For the hundredth time, Rylla wondered why Manny had told John to bring camels to Australia. Once again Rylla worried that she was no longer on the timeline that she had learned about while in training for her assignment in Australia. However, if MacQuarrie intended to keep secret the gold discovery then maybe John's camels would be confined to the Outback and not ever be seen again in Sydney. 

When Elizabeth completed a short but erudite commentary on the utility of camels for over-land trade, Rylla asked Captain Doones, "When do you expect the Blue Mountain Highway to actually be a highway? The part of it that I've seen seems a sorry collection of ruts, wash-outs and potholes."

Doones nodded. "So far, the workers have done little more than plot out a route and chop down trees that are in the way. Perhaps if we allowed for the building of more toll booths, money could be raised for some professional road-building crews."

The Governor looked at Bursar Longfellow and said, "We could increase the tax on rum imports and use the money to build roads."

Longfellow laughed. "Everyone imagines funding their pet project by taxing rum and tobacco, but the Governor already has access to cheap labor."

Elizabeth said, "Road tolls collected here in Parramatta this past year were promising, but there is little commercial traffic once you get beyond the Nepean."

"The traffic will grow." The Governor sipped his tea then said, "I have an endless stream of requests for access to the criminal labor pool. Ignoring my wishes and the requests of employers, most of them simply go into their old lines of work. Unfortunately, the road builders of England don't often seem to become criminals. However, now that Doones is with us, we can draw on his expertise and start thinking seriously about road construction."

After lunch, Elizabeth took Rylla and Abigail to the second floor of the mansion and showed Rylla the library which constituted the finest collection of books in Australia. Rylla looked at the many shelves full of books and said, "We should make plans to spend.... some wool money on building a public library."

Elizabeth said, "You have me thinking of Chetham's Library in Manchester. Such a wonderful place!" She put an arm around Abigail an told Rylla, "Abi is a writer."

Rylla looked away from the book collection and examined the young girl more closely. Rylla had no memory of Abigail from her previous mission to Australia. "What kind of writing do you do?"

Abigail replied, "Stories about mysterious occurrences and odd phenomena. I'm writing a novel that incorporates some of the myths of native Australians, particularly the belief that our Reality came into existence through a process other than creation."

Elizabeth suggested, "If the universe has always existed, then there is no need to speak of creation or a creator."

Abigail nodded. "My story is set partly in the past and part in the future and features a professor of applied mechanics and a student who build a time portal at their University. I love the idea that the future can have a causal impact on the past through a process that we might call... time travel."

Hearing the words "time travel", Rylla immediately suspected that Abigail was an instantiation of Manny, who had told Rylla that they would meet during Rylla's mission and... what had she said? Something about making love together on long rainy nights. Rylla held up a hand. "Slow down, Abigail, my dear.... what did you say about Reality?"

"I believe in the Eastern mythical idea of repeating cycles of existence. We can say that there are cycles of Reality, one piled upon another... endlessly."

Elizabeth hugged Abigail. "You are so much fun, Abi. Nobody else in the world has a wild imagination like yours! I want to be the first to read your novel."

Creating new Realities.

Abigail complained, "If only I had time to write it. My father prevented me from writing today and brought me here to your home just to put me on display before Captain Doones. Speaking of time travel, according to father, I'm expected to get married five years ago. Now father is probably upset because the Captain did nothing but stare at Sophie's big breasts all during lunch."

Rylla looked down at her chest. Her breasts were normal sized for Sophie, Rylla have made no attempt to enlarge them during her visit to the Governor's house. However, Sophie's body was much curvier than Abigail's. Rylla now noticed that Abigail was slim as a rail and nearly flat chested, but she still managed to project a fiery sexual magnetism. Rylla giggled and said, "I'm sorry if these fat deposits distracted your future husband!" She jiggled one of her breasts. "I should have bound my breasts down before meeting with the Governor, but I was given no warning... just hauled away from my school and brought here today by a soldier."

Elizabeth appraised Rylla's bust and said, "There's nothing wrong with your breasts. The Governor has seen breasts before. He'd like mine to be larger, but I've never been pregnant." She told Abigail, "A clever woman like you does not need big breasts to attract a husband."

Abigail said, "I'm not looking for a husband... you'd think my father would realize as much. I prefer women... they are so much better in bed."

Elizabeth shrugged. "I'll allow you your opinion, Abigail, but for me, there is nothing more stimulating than a good hard penis."

Abigail shook her head. "Allow me five minutes under your skirts and I'll change your entire belief system." She slowly ran her pink tongue around the circle of her plump lips.

Elizabeth laughed and looked at Rylla. "What about you, my dear? You also are not married... do you avoid men? Your shapely breasts don't proclaim a previous pregnancy?"

Rylla asked her own question, "Tell us, my Lady, how old were you when you got married?"

Elizabeth replied, "Twenty-nine, but I was repeatedly ravished by Lachlan when I was 26."

Rylla said, "So I still have time to test the waters... I'm only 20. In fact, I have my eye on one particular fellow. We'll see how things... turn out." Rylla turned an appreciative gaze upon Abigail and added, "But I do have a weakness for the fairer sex. Maybe some day we could have a date, Abi, if it didn't distract you from your writing."

Abigail suggested, "Let's slip into the guest bedroom right now and find out if we're sexually compatible." She took hold of Rylla's arm and said to Elizabeth, "Take us to the guest bedroom... you can watch our love making... it might give you second thoughts about the value of penises."

Elizabeth laughed loudly and said, "Control yourself, Abi. I can't trust you to make love without wild shouts of ecstasy that would attract the Governor's attention. You two will have to arrange your tryst on your own time and in another location. Let me know when your plans mature, because I'd gladly take you up on the offer to be there with you so I can watch your methods." She winked at Rylla and just then Captain Doones came into the library and offered to take Rylla home.

The Captain said, "It's looking like more rain." He bowed to Rylla and told her, "The Governor wants me to get you home before a storm rolls in."

Rylla said goodbye to Elizabeth and Abigail then Doones took her to the stables where they found the wheel of the military coach under repair. Doones looked at the Governor's fancy coach and said, "I'll go ask if we can use the Governor's coach."

Rylla said, "Please don't bother asking. I don't mind riding on horseback." Doones took her into the pasture behind the stables and let her pick out a horse. They saddled the horse and Rylla climbed up saying, "Help me adjust the stirrups." She pulled her skirt up around her waist.

Doones commented on Rylla's shapely legs, "You have the legs of a dancer!" While adjusting the stirrups, he said, "Voltaire may have been in a similar situation that led him to write, "How light your steps and how sweet thy shoe! Your movements so fresh... Nymphs wish to jump like you."

Rylla giggled. "Voltaire never wrote that."

"Something like that. I may have mangled it, but it is the thought that counts." He got up on his own horse and led the way towards the far end of Parramatta where Sophie's cottage sat beside the little school house. He set a good pace under the hot afternoon sun, as if eager to reach their destination. 

In the west end of Parramatta, Doones slowed and asked Rylla to lead the way to her house. "I don't know my way around very well, yet." When they reached Sophie's little cottage, Doones seemed intent on going inside. However, Rylla brought water up out of the well for the horses and then they chatted in the shade of a tree near the front porch. Doones said, "It is never too early to make plans for the future."

Rylla was amused by the way that the Captain tried not to look at her breasts. Hot from the ride, Rylla had undone the top few buttons of her blouse. Doones drank some of the well water and mopped his brow. "Correct me if I have any of this wrong.... You expect your partners to bring a hoard of gold back to Sydney in a few weeks. We need to make sure that the existence of the gold remains a secret. How can we accomplish that?"

Rylla suggested, "I suppose the safest course would be for me to go back to the mine and warn them not to let anyone know about the gold." In the distance, storm clouds were moving in and a rumbling peal of thunder was heard. "I can't imagine how the Governor intends to haul gold shipments through the middle of the colony without attracting attention."

Still enjoying his view of Rylla's cleavage, the Captain suggested, "Misdirection and tricks of distraction might work." There was a flash of lightening to the south and then a booming peal of thunder. "Maybe the shipments will take place quietly, during the night." The wind was becoming boisterous and more thunder could be heard in the distance. Doones looked at the sky and commented, "After years of drought, it seems that Sydney is finally going to have a serious rainy season again... right when the Governor wants me to be building bridges." He turned back to Rylla and watched as the blustery wind ruffled her pretty hair. "I could station some troops at the frontier and order that they watch for the arrival of your camel caravan. But what if they don't get positioned correctly, allowing the gold caravan to slip on through to Sydney?"

Rylla shrugged and pointed to the nearby school house. "If I had an assistant at the school, I could quickly train her how to instruct the students and then I could return to the Outback, visit the gold mine before they return to town and tell my partners about the Governor's plans for keeping the gold secret."

Doones rubbed his chin. "A school house assistant, eh? The Governor asked for a list of financial needs for schools...." Doones opened a saddle bag and pulled out a military script pad. After writing on the pad, he tore off the top page and handed it to Rylla. Hire your assistant. Do you have someone in mind?"

Rylla replied. "Actually, I do. Abigail Longfellow."

Doones nodded. "She's amazing. After lunch today, the Governor suggested that I marry her. I like her a lot, but she suspects that I'm just a stupid soldier. I met her at a party when I first arrived in Sydney, but I've never had a chance to actually talk to her... alone."

"You had a chance today at lunch, but I suspect you would actually want to do more with the girl than just talk before you ask for her hand in marriage." Rylla laughed. "I respect the Governor's opinions, but I think girls must follow their hearts in matters of love."

"I agree... and men as well. I've only known you a few hours, but you caught my eye. You are pretty, smart and pleasant to be with. I'm glad we are going to be working together."

Rylla held up the script. "Thank you for supporting me and my school. Do you expect me to repay you?"

"Assuming you are not mistaken about the size of the gold strike and speaking as a government employee, the entire colony will soon be in your debt. Not to mention the King of England. Allowing you to hire an assistant is the least we can do." Doones gestured towards the front door of her cottage. "Speaking for myself, as a man who finds your company to be quite delightful, if you invited me inside, I would not say 'no'. We can chat and get to know each-other." The thunder was growing closer and now a few rain drops were flying on the wind. "And I would not have to ride back to the fort in the rain."

Rylla said, "I'm uneasy about that, Mr. Doones. If I invite you into my home, I want to be sure that you understand I'm not inviting you into my vagina."

He laughed and suggested, "We have many ways to get better acquainted that fall short of vaginal intercourse, and some of those can be nearly as much fun. We could start by reading some poetry. Do you know the Irish poets? 'Thy traps are laid with such peculiar art...' that's Jonathan Swift." He reached out and let his fingers try to catch some strands of her wind-whipped hair.

Rylla added, "... let the rash depart." For some reason, no matter how much her hair was blown about, it still looked orderly and and beautiful.

"Ya! Hey, you are good." Doones told Rylla, "Swift was popular when I was studying at Cambridge."

The rain started pounding down upon them. Rylla tucked the script into her skirt and ran to get her horse. They quickly put all three horses in the shed and then they ran inside the Cottage. Rylla pulled off her wet blouse and used her clothing nanites to quickly improvise a bandana which she tied in a ring around her torso in order to cover her wobbling breasts. She said, "Your poetry got you inside, but now you need to behave." Feeling his eyes on her only partially covered breasts, she added, "I'm sure you've seen breasts before, Captain... don't get excited."

The narrow band of cloth around her chest now partially concealed her white breasts, but the Captain seemed to be completely dazzled by her charms. "Aye, to be sure, but none lovelier than yours." He took off his damp shirt. His eyes were still on her chest. "That's a rather flashy red fabric for an undergarment."

Realizing that she had used her nanites to form a fabric that may never have been seen previously in Australia, Rylla dissembled, "It is amazing what they do with dyes in India." Rylla gazed at his muscular upper body and felt her knees go weak. "If we are giving out compliments, you are very pretty yourself." She asked, "You graduated from Cambridge University?"

He nodded casually and picked up a towel and used it to dry her hair, standing close and looking down at her cleavage. He asked, "Can you recite Swift from memory?"

Rylla discovered that with her artificial brain and some pre-programming courtesy of Manny, she could quote old poets endlessly. She said, "I think it was Swift who issued a warning to people, to folks who might 'throw the pleasing part of life away'. I'm not in the habit of avoiding pleasure, however, I don't want to confuse our working relationship with any sexual entanglements." Every time Rylla spoke her breasts jiggled and the bandana had slipped downwards. Noticing that one of her nipples was showing, she tugged at her improvised top and pulled it upwards again.

The Captain said, "You don't need to hide your beautiful body, not from someone who appreciates it as much as I do." 

"I'm trying to not get you too excited... but I'm a failure..." She reached out and ran her finger tips over his stiff penis where it pressed outward against his pants. Trying earnestly to explain her position, Rylla said, "I think we need to build a stable business partnership, and that could be disrupted and compromised by sexual intimacy."

He laughed and used the towel on his own head. "How so? Why should I trust you to not cheat me in this gold business if you don't trust me to play nicely with your sweet genitals?" He glanced again at her chest and added as an afterthought: "And your cute breasts... and protruding nipples..."

Thunder crashed outside and wind-whipped rain slashed down on the roof, bringing an end to the heated day. Rylla sighed and could not resist the temptation to gently massaged his stiff penis through the fabric of his pants. Now she was wondering if this was Manny, disguised as a man. What had Manny said about there being more than one penis in Australia? Rylla wondered about the unlikeliness of a soldier who could quote Swift's poetry. She reluctantly pulled her hand away from the fascinating bulge in his pants and tried to cool down their sexually-charged banter. "I imagine that we each have our own preferred styles of love making, but like you, I enjoy loving women. Right now I'm sexually excited and my nipples are erect because I'm thinking about the possibility of getting Abigail to move in here with me and help at the school."

Doones nodded. "I don't blame you for entertaining such a hopeful fantasy. Abigail gets a lot of people excited. She's a special little lady. I hear she writes erotic poetry. Now I'm getting quite hot imaging that I could be here someday with the two of you... that would be fun."

"You silly boys... always wanting to have two women at the same time."

"Blame the military tradition... wanting to be prepared for all contingencies. Not putting your eggs in one basket, so to speak."

Rylla laughed and poured out some wine. "Drink, Captain. A soon as the rain slackens, you will be splashing down the muddy road back to your barracks."

Next: French Fears

The story continues: Part 6 of Old Time Gaming.

Copying Elizabeth

Old Time Gaming

On this blog page, below, is Part 4 of the science fiction story Old Time Gaming. The story involves the use of advanced technologies for time travel and teleportation and their application towards the goal of altering the trajectory of Earth's historical timeline. At the end of Part 3, the young boy, Max, had departed from a remote wilderness mining camp, taking with him all the horses and camels. 

John and Rylla suspect that Max is an Interventionist agent in disguise. Before being sent to Australia in 1814, Rylla had been warned to expect that she would run in to Maria Green, a time traveler from the future. In Part 4, John and Rylla must deal with the meddling Maria and get their gold mining expedition back on track. Also, Rylla is due back in Parramatta.

Part 4 of Old Time Gaming. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

"Well, we can't stand here talking about your sexual fantasies all day." Rylla kissed John on the lips. "You go catch Max or Maria or whoever it is that has the animals. I'll introduce Liza to Manny and see what I can learn from Manny about this mess we're in. She must have looked into our future and been expecting this."

Reality Viewing

With his arms tight around Rylla, John said, "I've been told that the future is nothing more than probabilities. The future can always throw up a surprise." He began telling Rylla a story about a past incident with Manny during which she had visited him on Earth and warned him about a future event.

Rylla wiggled out of his embrace. "That's very interesting, but I know Manny can use her advanced technology to View the future. I don't want to believe that Manny was surprised by what has happened to us today. But enough talk! Hit the trail."

John gave Rylla a mock salute, turned and began running, following the tracks that had been left by the departing caravan during the night. He was feeling rather foolish for having been so engrossed with Rylla that he had not noticed Max's departure with the animals. It seemed to defy all reasonable probability that neither he nor Rylla had heard any sounds when Max took off with the caravan... unless this was all planned by Manny.

As he ran, he morphed his artificial body, transforming his legs into sleek spring-like appendages and he also let a cloud of nanites carry away some of his body weight. Now running at top speed, he was quickly gaining ground on the plodding camels.

"Come with me, sweetheart."

Back at camp, Elizabeth was cooking her breakfast and steaming over the inexplicable behavior of Max. Quickly advancing on the girl and with no warning, Rylla put her arms around Elizabeth and said, "Come with me, sweetheart." At that moment, Rylla activated the teleportation system that could at any time whisk her off of Earth. Rylla expected to be teleported to the sentient spaceship, Many Sails.

Instead, Rylla found herself at some distant location deep in the Australian Outback. For a moment she considered the possibly that she had been mistakenly teleported to one of the lakes in Victoria or South Australia, but then she saw Manny and instantly stopped worrying about her exact location. Rylla and Elizabeth had appeared right in front of Manny, the humanoid appendage of Many Sails, who had been expecting Rylla to make use of teleportation. Manny asked Rylla rhetorically, "What did I tell you about bringing me people from Earth?"

Elizabeth crumpled to the ground. Rylla went to one knee and briefly tried to hold Liza, then let the girl sprawl at her feet. Rylla glancing up at Manny and now she noticed that none of them had any clothing on their bodies. Further, Rylla was now back in her own body, not that of Sophie. Rylla gazed appreciatively upon Manny's sexy body and then finally found her voice and asked, "What did you do to Liza?"

Manny glanced down Elizabeth's prone body and replied, "Don't worry... she'll sleep now."

After weeks of using her telepathic connection to John, Rylla could now sense that Manny was rummaging around in her mind. Rylla felt a distinctly erotic sensation from Manny's telepathic contact and felt her clitoris engorge with blood. "I'm half expecting you to say that this trick with Max was your way of calling me in for... a briefing."

image source

Manny laughed. "We have Nyrtia the positronic robot to blame for all this. Nyrtia discovered that your gold mining expedition was near the root of an Intervention that caused a change to the timeline. Our challenge is, how can we use Nyrtia's counter-move to our advantage?"

Rylla asked, "Can't you send me back in time again? I can avoid my mistake. Now I know not to take Sophie's brother Max along with us into the Outback..." Rylla fell silent as Manny shook her head slowly from side to side, sending her fabulous hair into flashing waves of motion.

"No, I don't want to get into a time travel war with Nyrtia. We just need to be a bit more clever than the positronic robots. We'll allow Maria to think that she thwarted your plans." Manny held up one finger and said, "First, I'll teleport you back into the caravan so that you can fill John in on what you are hearing from me."

Rylla sighed. She had been having so much fun with John and Elizabeth at the mining camp that she was now dreading the prospect of the long, lonely ride back to town. "I'm tempted to stay with John at the mine and give up on the school."

Manny giggled. "Say your sad goodbyes to your lover boy, John. But don't feel sorry for yourself... there is more than one penis in Australia. Get yourself home to Parramatta so that you can resume Sophie's work at the school... remember, education is still our top priority. You need to find a way to expand the Parramatta school, not abandon it."

"Yes, of course." Standing there looking at Manny's graceful body and the way she continued to hold her finger pointed upwards, Rylla was having hard time not thinking about John's penis and the delightful way that he could vibrate it inside her vagina. "Can you excuse my weaknesses?"

"My dear, I carefully designed these so-called weaknesses." Manny stepped towards Rully and placed a delicate kiss on the girl's lips. "I'm only happy when my agents on Earth are happy. Trust me. You'll still be getting plenty of satisfying sex back in sleepy old Parramatta." She jabbed her finger emphatically towards the sky. "I can't tell you too much about the future, but I can say this much: you'll soon become busy with concerns that will take you beyond the school yard."

Rylla looked down at Elizabeth where she lay sprawled across the soft tufts of grass. "What about Liza?"

Manny bent down, plucked an ant off of Liza's cheek and picked up the sleeping girl. Gently cradling Liza in her arms, Manny said, "She'll be busy, too. It is a good thing she's getting some rest!" Manny chuckled at her own small joke and elaborated, "I'm going to make a total of three copies of Elizabeth. Her ability to be in several places at the same time will be the key to our success."

Startled by the idea of allowing more than one copy of Liza to be present on Earth at the same time, Rylla blurted out, "Three copies? You'd do that? It seems dangerous. What do you hope to accomplish?"

"You'll see... eventually this Liza replication strategy will make sense to you." Manny teleported Liza away. "One copy of Liza simply stays in Parramatta." Manny now held up two fingers. "Her twice-weekly visits to your home will help keep you happy until the next phase of your mission."

Still uncertain how the gold mining phase was going to be completed, Rylla asked, "Next phase? How many copies of Liza will that require?" 

Manny giggled then remembered to tell Rylla, "Oh, and there are now also two copies of Max... one copy is very happy living in the Outback, so don't try to force him to go home."

Rylla looked confused. "About Max... how do you know it wasn't Nyrtia who intervened and took control of the boy's mind?"

endosymbionts

"I know." Manny did not want to explain to her operative all the details of how it was possible for a bumpha to not only control human behavior, but also out-fox the positronic robots of Earth. "It is not very difficult for me to influence the behavior of anyone on Earth by using my advanced nanites. For example, you've recently experienced how I made you fall madly in love with John... and he with you."

Rylla felt her nipples pop erect. "Hey!" Rylla felt a heated rush of sexual excitement. "And with my telepathic link to John, I've learned how to recognize the feel of another mind sifting through my memories. You are also a telepath, aren't you?"

Manny nodded. "Yes, I can read your mind like a book." Manny reached down and ran the tips of her fingers along the length of Rylla's hot, wet labia. "More importantly, I can write your memories as if I were writing a book. However, I try to allow my agents almost complete autonomy... with just a few delicate touches from me..." Many deftly massaged the stiff glans of Rylla's clitoris. "...such as the assistance I've been giving you in helping you learn how to use your artificial body to achieve amazing orgasms."

Rylla felt her vaginal secretions dripping down her leg. She rubbed her finger tips over her stiff nipples and experienced a jolting orgasm.

Manny said. "I like to keep my agents happy and sometimes I can't resist tweaking your mind." Looking at Rylla, and snooping through the girl's thoughts, Manny could see her knees quivering and sweat on her brow as her orgasm persisted and Manny could also experience the warm sensations as Rylla's vaginal muscles contracted rhythmically. Although that Asterothrope feature had been devised by Nyrtia, Manny had to admit that it was a job well done. At that moment, Manny was experiencing a simultaneous orgasm with Rylla, and using their telepathic link, she did not hide that fact from Rylla. 

As their orgasms slowly faded, Rylla whispered, "I'm just amazed that an ancient being like you is so interested in orgasms."

"What... you think I should be sitting around in a dusty library or something?" Manny giggled and told Rylla, "There is an ancient Huaoshy saying: the only universal constant is the orgasm." She added, "It is a fact of physical Reality that we bumpha have observed for billions of years and across thousands of galaxies... intelligent life-forms without orgasms simply don't last very long."

Manny in a library.

Rylla suddenly had a series of flashed images pass through her mind, all scenes of Manny reading books in libraries at different points during the history of Earth. In the final image, Manny seemed to be looking right at Rylla. In her mind, Rylla heard: I do love libraries... almost as much as orgasms.

Rylla ran her fingers through Manny's silky hair. "Thank you for that wonderful orgasm, but I did not hear any thunder."

"Patience, my dear. By revealing to you our shared telepathic linkage, I could not prevent us from triggering that one little orgasm, but in the future we will do far better... you'll hear thunder. So, we have that to look forward to, but right now I need to get you back to Earth."

Rylla tried to ignore her erect, tingling clitoris. "I still don't understand how Max... Maria... was able to sneak out of camp without being heard."

Manny explained, "I made sure that you and John were quite well distracted while Maria performed her dirty deed and stole the horses and camels." Manny slipped a finger inside Rylla's vagina and let it vibrate wildly for a few seconds. Then she pulled her finger out and licked it delicately with the tip of her tongue before putting into her mouth. Finally Manny restrained herself from further sexplay, and said, "Remember, we want Maria to believe that she was able to prevent a gold rush in New South Wales. History will not record the existence of an 1814 gold rush." 

Rylla chuckled. "You make it sound like Maria is your puppet."

zeptites

Manny shrugged. "Call it what you like. Human bodies all contain a Phari endosymbiont. Nyrtia embedded Maria in Max's endosymbiont in such a way that Maria could take control of the boy's behavior when the time was right. There is nothing that can prevent me from using the same trick to take control of Maria at just the right moment." Manny kissed Rylla and for a minute let her tongue play around in Rylla's mouth. Then, reluctantly, Manny pulled back and said, "I'd like to stay here playing sex games with you, but I need to go visit Maria."

"So, Maria was hiding inside Max during the whole journey into the Outback?"

Manny shrugged, "I have not bothered to trace back and find the point in time when Maria's mind pattern was inserted into Max's endosymbiont. Do you think that is important?"

"I don't know." Still slowly recovering from her orgasm, Rylla felt her wet crotch and the incredibly stiff glans of her clitoris. "I'm just startled by the idea that such mind transfers are possible. I wonder... could there be another mind inside me right now, hidden in my endosymbiont?"

"Well, this might creep you out, but that is essentially the trick that I use all the time to monitor your adventures on Earth. In fact, with my constant link to your endosymbiont, I can experience anything that you experience, particularly your sweet orgasms."

"I'm starting to understand why you have been arranging for me to have so many orgasms."

"Well, yes, it is a bit selfish of me. However, none of my agents has ever complained about having too many orgasms. I took great care to design that feature of the human organism. Humans are not truly happy and mentally healthy unless they spend several hours a day in intimate contact with the bodies of other people. In your artificial bodies, you and John can enjoy sweet sexplay through the entire day if you have nothing better to do with yourselves." Manny giggled. "Even the positronic robots enjoy having sex."

Rylla could now almost think clearly again after her mind-expanding orgasm. She asked, "Are you going to pull Maria out of Max's body? Will he remember what happened while she took control of his behavior?" Rylla cried out, "This is so confusing!"

"Sorry to dump so much information on you all at once." Manny put a comforting arm around Rylla's shoulders and stroked the girl's protruding left nipple. "Don't sweat the details, my dear. I'll take care of everything." Manny kissed the tip of Rylla's nose. "Now, enjoy yourself.... this will be fun for you." Manny waved her hand and Rylla was teleported back to Earth.

Rylla found herself back with the caravan and back in Sophie's body, dressed in her riding clothes and seated in the saddle on her horse's back. Her crotch was still moist with vaginal secretions, her nipples still erect. She enjoyed the motion of horse and how the saddle massaged her erect clitoris. Max was there on John's horse, just a few feet ahead. The camels trailed along behind. Max turned in his saddle and looked at Rylla with surprise. "Hey, what- How did-"

Rylla did not try to explain anything to Max, instead she heard herself saying, "You don't look well. Are you getting too much sun?"

Max said, "I don't remember how we got here!"

Rylla found that she was not really in control of her own mind. She relaxed and enjoyed the rubbing of her genitals against the leather saddle. Manny had implanted a script in her mind and words continued to pass through her lips: "Sun stroke. Don't tell me you've changed your mind again."

The boy took off his hat and rubbed his head. "Changed- What do you mean?"

"This morning you decided to go back to Parramatta with me."

"No I didn't! I'm staying with John, to mine gold!"

"Well, if that is how you feel, then we better turn around." In a few minutes, they had the caravan turned and were heading back towards the gold mine campsite.

Max said, "This makes no sense. Why were you taking the camels back to Parramatta?"

Just then, seen coming up the trail towards them, was John. As he approached he transformed his body back to normal. He and Rylla happily re-established their intimate telepathic linkage. Looking up at Rylla where she sat on her horse, he said, "How did you- What's going on?"

Rylla turned to Max and said, "Go get up on your camel."

The boy went to the end of the caravan and climbed up on his mount, which Manny had politely equipped with its passenger platform. John got up on his horse. He was telepathically sensing Rylla's tingling sexual excitement and his penis began to stiffen. He said, "So, I guess Manny sent you here to deal with Maria. What happened?" He began searching through Rylla's memories.

After getting the caravan moving again, Rylla shook her head and tried to think. She was slowly regaining control of her own mind, but was greatly distracted by her lingering state of sexual arousal. She told John, "I don't know how Manny got rid of Maria. Manny told me that she would take care of everything. Let's hope we won't have any more dealings with Maria! Max seems to have no memory of what happened during the hours that Maria was using his body." Using telepathy, Rylla quickly explained to John what little she had learned from Manny during the brief visit with her.

telepathy

Rylla's telepathic account of her time with Manny -and the blissful orgasm that Rylla had shared with Manny- was interrupted by a telepathic love making session between John and Rylla. As they rode down the trail and as they reached their sexual climax. John, standing tall with his feet in the stirrups, had opened up his pants in order to liberate his erect penis. Now he powerfully ejaculated his body's artificial semen right over the head of his horse. As the pleasure of their shared orgasms slowly faded, Rylla completed her account: And then, suddenly, Manny sent me back to the caravan. Max and I only had time to turn the caravan around before I saw you coming down the trail.

John laughed and tried to close up his pants. "I'm still confused, but grateful to Manny for the chance to share one last orgasm with you. Do you really have to return to Parramatta? I'm going to miss you. Maybe we can keep our telepathic linkage..."

Rylla shook her head. "The further apart we are, the weaker our telepathic connection."

"Maybe if we tried... if we had a specific shared thought that we could use to keep our minds synchronized..."

Rylla told him, "Don't think too much... Manny indicated that she has everything under control and I believe that she is always arranging for you to have your fair share of pleasing sexual encounters... so even if we must be apart, I'm sure you will do just fine without me. You just get the gold. I still need to get myself back to Parramatta... it will be a long hard ride..." She was still enjoying the pounding rhythm of the saddle against her genitals. "...with little time to rest along the way."

"What about Elizabeth... where are all her copies?"

"I don't know and you don't need to know. Just get back to the mining. Maybe I'll find out what happened to Liza when I get back to town... Manny promised me that one copy of Liza will be there, waiting for me to return. As for the others.... Manny seems to think that we can't know too much about our own futures." 

Before surrendering to her desire to stay with John, Rylla turned her horse, rode past the caravan, waved goodbye to Max and started down the trail, now trying to set a quicker pace than the camels could sustain. Just then, Manny teleported Rylla and her horse back to civilization, to a point just a few miles west of Parramatta. Rylla was greatly relieved that she would not have to endure the a long, solitary trek through the wilderness and back to civilization. Looking up at the sky, she said, "I love you, Manny".

Soon Rylla was back in Sophie's comfortable little home. Waiting for her there was a cheerful Elizabeth, who claimed that she was very pleased to see Rylla and had been house-sitting. This copy of Elizabeth seemed to have no memory of going into the Outback and indeed, seemed to have been living in Parramatta for the past several weeks, with no memory of ever even thinking about going along with Rylla into the wilderness.

That evening, when the caravan finally got back to the mining camp, a second copy of Elizabeth was there, cooking dinner for a group of four natives. She called to John, "Dinner is almost ready."

John and Max watered the animals then joined Elizabeth by the fire. The natives had eaten and quickly departed. Max began to voraciously consume all the remainder of the meal. Liza told John, "The camels make them nervous, so they did not stay to chat."

John asked, "You know their language?"

Liza winked at John and said, "Why not?" At the same time, she telepathically connected to John's mind and he realized that this was not Elizabeth, it was Manny, disguised as Elizabeth.

Max was still confused by the day's events and his mind swirled with questions. Manny telepathically answered a few of those questions and gently erased most of them from his mind. When Max went off to his tent, Manny told John, "In the morning he will have forgotten everything that happened today. Turning to the side, she pulled open a blanket that held a small pile of gold nuggets. "I'll give Max false memories of a day spent collecting all this gold." Anticipating John's next question, Manny continued, "Rylla is back in Parramatta with another copy of Elizabeth. A third copy is with Maria, who is now reporting to Nyrtia on her successful mission here in the Outback."

John laughed and shook his head in wonder. "With your ability to alter and control human memories and behavior, I have to wonder how much you have edited my mind."

Manny disguised as Liza.

Manny took him by the hand and pulled him into the big tent. "Don't worry about such fine details." She proceeded to distract him with some very entertaining sexplay, and he never had any further questions for her about memory editing. When he awoke in the morning, he did not even remember that this was Manny, not Elizabeth. The only mysteries remaining for John were why Liza no longer complained about anything and how she managed to work such long, hard hours mining every day. John seemed not to notice that now it was Max who had good appetite while Liza seldom ate or drank. Even after a long day of mining, Liza always had plenty of energy for sexplay in the tent with John.

One week later, after the team had fallen into the rhythm of the gold mining operation, a horseback rider came into their camp just as evening fell. Rising to his feet, John began to chuckle quietly. A tall woman got off of her horse and walked up to the campfire. Speaking English with a strange accent, she said, "Well, this is a welcome sight." Telepathically, she told John: pretend that you don't know me.

John recognized Rylla's mind pattern and said, "Are you hungry?"

Max pointed to the cooking pot. "Beans and lizard meat. What's your name, lady? I'm Max."

Rylla replied, "My name is Verella, but folks call me Rylla." She glanced towards their sluice. "The rumor in Sydney is someone found gold out here in these hills." She sat beside the fire and took a taste of the food.

Rylla in her own body form

Manny gazed across the fire and winked at Rylla. For Max's benefit, she said, "If you have a strong back and are willing to work, we can use another pair of hands. The gold is here for the taking."

Rylla made up a story about speaking to Sophie and then coming to find the expedition. 

When Max grew tired and went to his tent, John smiled and asked Rylla a question to which he already knew the answer. "So, this is your real body form?"

Rylla nodded. "I told you that I'd let you see my skinny ass." Thunder was rumbling and Rylla looked up at the sky. It would soon be raining again.

Manny pulled Rylla to her feet. "Get in the tent, girl. I told you weeks ago that we'd eventually have time for sexplay and now is that time." John thought that was a strange thing for Liza to say, but as soon as the three of them were in the tent, he forgot all about that.

__________________

New South Wales coin

Back in Parramatta, soon after resuming her school sessions, Rylla was visited by Sophie's mother, Dame Laura McKnight, who wanted to know where her daughter had gone during the past few weeks when she had not been in Parramatta. Rylla said, "Before I tell you, you must promise not to tell anyone else."

Dame Laura shook her head, "If you have done something illegal, I can't promise to protect you."

"I've done nothing illegal, but the law is not very settled here in this colony. I believe that when you hear what I have to say, you will help me."

Dame Laura shrugged. "Go ahead and tell me the tale of your big adventure, but first, before you get caught up in the details, please tell me the big picture."

Rylla handed a silver coin to Dame Laura. "The big picture is money. I have discovered a new source of money for New South Wales... far superior to the silver coins that our Governor had provided." Rylla next handed over a big gold nugget.

Dame Laura examined the nugget and asked, "Where did this come from?"

"I'd rather not say."

Dame Laura handed the coin and the gold back to her daughter. "Then why did you show it to me? I can't suppress my curiosity... but I'd probably be happier if I'd never seen that gold!"

"No, you will be very happy... if you help me. I want to make a deal with the Governor. I'll show him a nearby source of gold... but in return, I need his help. I want support for development of an Australian institute of higher learning, a university."

Elizabeth MacQuarie

Dame Laura laughed. "How can I help you?"

"You know the Governor's wife, Elizabeth. Arrange for me to meet with her."

Dame Laura rose to her feet. Looking out into the backyard, she saw a horse grazing and asked, "What happened to your garden? I thought you hired our Elizabeth to watch your house while your were gone."

"Please mother, don't worry about my poor garden. I now own a horse, which is more useful to me than a garden. What about the Governor's wife... can you arrange it?"

"I'll invite her to my home, for dinner. The Governor knew your father before he died. He may want to accompany Elizabeth if she accepts my invitation and agrees to visit my home."

Rylla sighed and felt like her artificial mind was allowing her to accurately remember all of Australian history and even details of the lives of famous people. "Elizabeth is a very literary person and I know she would support the idea of a university. The Governor is another matter. I don't think he ever went to school. His whole life has been devoted to soldiering."

"Well, I'll send an invitation and we shall see what transpires." Dame Laura moved towards the front door. "The Governor might surprise you... he is not an ignorant bully."

"Thank you, mother." Rylla was surprised that during this visit Dame Laura had never mentioned Max. Rylla felt that she should drag the matter out in the open and make sure that Max's decision to stay in the Outback would not be a lingering source of annoyance for his mother. "About Max-"

Dame Laura smiled. "Don't worry about Max. He got hired to drive a delivery wagon and has forgiven me for not allowing him to go with you into the Outback. He's greatly enjoying his job."

The two women went outside and Dame Laura climbed up into her carriage. Rylla said nervously, "I'll be waiting to hear from you."

Part 5

"I hope you know what you are doing... try to stay out of trouble." She signaled to the driver who prodded the two horses and the carriage began to roll away.

While waving goodbye, Rylla muttered quietly, "If I get in over my head, I'm sure that Manny can bail me out."

Dame Laura chuckled and called to Sophie, "Money can't fix all problems."

Rylla decided it was for the best if Dame Laura thought that Rylla said 'money will bail me out'. She regretted having spoken the word "Manny".

Next: Part 5 of Old Time Gaming.