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My name is Lola Curious .
My mother always called me the practical one. Not given to wishful thinking or dreaming. I, the older of the two Smith twins, was the level headed one, the one who has both feet upon the ground. The logical one.
So, it would be understand able that I, Miss Lola Curious, half alien-half human, would be more interested in seeking New Life and amoung the stars, not looking for love out there.
But I was. Oh, I would never admit it. Not even to my twin sister, Chloe.
Life is as dull as dishwater in this little desert town. This little place in the middle of nowhere.
You would think a town with the name of Strangetown would have some excitement to it. Some kicks, some thrills.
But it doesn't. Not even elements of Magic Town.
Now that would make for some fun times. But as long as StrangeTown is under the stern thumb of one General Buzz Grunt, it's not to be.
Oh there is the usual drama; who is cheating on whom, who is getting married, who is expecting an alien child. But then, we do have the added attraction of being one of those little out of the way places, noted for its ghost and aliens.
Yes, we have aliens.
I should know. One of my dad's is a Alien from somewhere, out there.
Then again, there is the nutty old lady, Olive Specter and her niece Ophelia Nigmos, who live at the edge of town. Married several times, her front yard was littered with the headstones of all of the late husbands, as well as several servants and friends. Many said she actually killed all of those people buried in her front yard, but that rumour has never been proven true. Seems my little brother Johnnie is interested in her niece.
Wonder how dear ole dad feels about that little love affair.
Even my job as a Captain of the Outer Force, the Paranormal branch of the army, doesn't thrill me these days as it once did. My twin sister Chloe, however, had all the fun. She always got the most interesting, exciting assignments amoung the sub-culture of StrangeTown, Vampires and such.
Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's time for me to kick the sand off my shoes and sign up for the next Star Ship leaving out to the Milky Way. After all, Star Fleet has been begging me to join the next crew their sending in a few months.
I was so ready to sign up.
But then, all of that changed one night.

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To truly understand how I feel about my dad, about my dads, is to go back into time...
Most children are born into this world, into the home of two loving parents, eagerly awaiting their bundle of joy.
But not so with Glarn and Glabe Curious. A childless couple, Glarn struggled with the fact his wife couldn't have children. A fact that caused much heartache in Glabe.
One night, while star glazing, Glarn was abducted by Pollination Tech#9, taken away to the Mother ship, were the unimaginable sort of test were performed.
After several hours, Glarn was returned to earth, but very much a changed man. Dark, moody and brooding, sick all the time, he began to pull away from his wife.
Then soon, both Glarn and Glabe learned the truth behind Glarn's illness.
Glarn was pregnant.
While Glabe was somewhat delighted, for at least they could now have a family, Glarn was furious. This was not how things were to be! His anger did a slow boil up until the day of my and Chloe's birth.
That night after we were born, Glabe just cried, while Glarn spend the night vomiting. He wouldn't even look at us.
The disgust and embarrassment of giving birth to twin alien hybrids, let alone how me and my sister were conceived, was just too much for Glarn. Shortly after we were born, Glarn left both his wife and daughters, to create a 'normal" family, never once looking back.
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Normal? In StrangeTown?
Glarn went on to remarry a lady named Kitty. Together they went on to have my half siblings, sister Jenny and brothers, Pascal, Vidcund and Lazio.
Little sister Jenny grew up and actually married my other father, Pollination Tech#9 Smith, making Jenny's kids Johnny and Jill my half-siblings as well as my nephew and niece.
Crazy, huh?
Despite not being our biological mother, Glabe raised Chloe and me as her daughters. Neither Glarn or Pollination were in our lives, so we knew nothing of a father's love.
So Chloe sought love and attention where-ever she could find it.
Me? I had no time for such nonsense as love or marriage.
What did it get Mama Glabe but a divorce, raising kids neither parent wanted alone on her own.
"Intelligent and focused, Lola knows what she wants and how to get it." Mama would often say about me. I guess that's why I move quickly up the ranks in the Paranormal field. No time for daydreaming or wishful thinking. No time to think about the fathers' love that was missing or siblings I really didn't know.
But at night, when the moon was high and full, I would dream.
And wonder what it was like to be loved.
As a daughter.
As a woman.

You have some really fantastic writing here! I'm intrigued and would love to read more! I can't get enough of spin off neighborhood stories.

I just wanted to take a brief break from Lola's story to share a few thoughts.
1. I share a similar background to Lola and Chloe (my dad didn't want me either) so this story is in many ways therapy for me Much of my own life is interwoven in this tale.
2. I have been a member of MTS since 2008 and therefore, these Mods, Sims, etc are included in all stories, so I hope the creators are pleased with what I have done.
With that, back to our story.

My father, Pollination Tech#9 Smith.
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A strange little green man. After a fruitful career, of filling the universe of little Pollinations, he decided to retire on his favorite planet, earth.
Here he met and married the lovely and sweet Jenny Curious. My half sister.
And dear ole Dad Glarn, who couldn't the thought of half-alien daughters, gave his fully human daughter's hand in marriage to the father of his older two children.
Talk about Daddy Drama.
While I have met my siblings a few times, we aren't what you would call a close family.
Mama Glabe passed away a long time ago, I am convince of a broken heart. Glarn died, never knowing his two eldest children. And for Pollination, we don't even exist.
Now you know why I chase dark shadows during the day and wish upon stars at night.
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My story begins, in of all places, the Strangetown grave yard.
It was the beginning of May, an early summer had come to Strangetown along with several changes.
I had just received my captain's bars, a rank I had busted my butt to earn. My sister Chloe, after ending an relationship, moved back home from Pleasentview, coming to live with me and my two roommates, Erin Beaker and Kristen Loste. Kristen and Erin had gone into business together, opening a local dress shop with an Indian theme. With Kristen's business sense and Erin's flair for design, the shop was already a success.
Several new families had moved into StrangeTown, all alien families. The sun around Tello II went super nova and the planet, along with three surrounding planets had to be evacuated. The StrangeTown Parliament agreed to the settlement, feeling both the various races and their culture would be good for SimNation, as well as giving these new homes and new beginnings.
Amoung the changes, Parliament had hired a developer, one Ajaya Loner, to make StrangeTown into a more, welcoming, attractive community.
His first project, a new community center had just open, ready to welcome all Strangetown to enjoy. His aim was to build up Strangetown, a vast desert place, similar to the desert beauty of Al Simhara, where he was from.
During this time, Ajaya had also met and fallen in love with a local girl and friend of my, Jessie Piferson.
Jessie had been Sorority sisters, so I knew Jess quite well. And though I was happy for her upcoming marriage, I had concerns shared by all of our friends.
For lovely Jessie really wasn't the marrying type.

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Jess was a brown haired beauty Wild, free and untamed. Jessie was sass and sizzle to Ajaya's meek and quiet nature. Jessie loved a good party, a good drink, pumping music and hot men. Ajaya was very much the traditional man; wanting a wife and family, pretty house with a picket fence and a big dog.

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I just couldn't see Jessie giving up nightclubbing and hot tubs, to become the quiet housewife and mother Ajaya had in mind.
They had known each other just three short months, before then, Jessica had suddenly gone off to visit family in MoonVillage, a small town just outside the Strangetown Woods.
Since was odd because Jessie didn't get along with her family. She claimed that she had gone to patch things up with her family. A claim I found hard to believe. Maybe that's why the engagement to Loner. To prove she truly changed.
It was around this same time, just before Jessie's wedding that the rash of deaths began to occur.
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May first dawn bright and sunny. I had made plans to meet Jessie, along with our Sorority sisters DJ Verse, Sara Love, and Monica Braford for lunch that afternoon. The girls were in town for Jessie's wedding and we were finally getting together to finalize the wedding plans.
But we never met.
That morning, all four women were still quite alive and healthy. By night fall, all four of my friends were dead. The hotel maid reported a vile smell coming from their room. When she open the door, a green mist floated out of the room, so thick, it literally took her breath away. Her body was found just outside the doorway to the hotel room where the four dead women laid. The appeared to have died the next morning.
Even before I could even fully take in the deaths of my four friends, the next evening, I received another call, reporting another series of deaths, this one hitting even closer to home
The Beaker family were a queer sort. Doctors Loki Beaker and Circe Beaker, lived with their foster son, Nervous Subject.

There always seem to be something strange goings on their home. There were rumours the Doctors were preforming strange experiments in their basement, but nothing that was ever proved. It was the maid that found the bodies of the family. She too, was found lying in a coma in the family courtyard by the mailman and hours later. died.
It was I who chose to tell Loki Beaker's little sister, Erin, of her family's deaths, since Erin is one of my roommates.
The following week was a sad one. Instead of enjoying National Day, a day of picnics, cookouts and fireworks, the town was preparing to bury her dead. A huge mourner's shroud covered the town as daily there were funerals; for my four friends, for Erin's family and for the two maids.
Despite the warmth and light of Spring, Strangetown was in darkness. Someone or something was killing the good people of Strangetown.
It had been a hard week. Going to the City Morgue, looking at the bodies of my friends, of the Beaker family and of the maids, was amoung the hardest things I had ever done. I had known these four young women since college. They had so much to live for. And for their lives to be cut short....I had to find answers.
All had this slimy green film around their mouths, suggesting they ate, drank or otherwise inhaled some sort of air-borne virus that took their lives. I was informed that it would take several weeks to get out that report.
"We don't have several weeks," I told Doctor Amir, head of the morgue. "if this is some sort of virus that has gone air-borne, Strangetown could very well be a Ghost town in several weeks."
I hated pressing Doctor Amir and his staff in such a matter, knowing they were doing the very best they could. But I needed answers. Strangetown had grown fearful over the nine sudden deaths of friends, family and neighours. The public was pressing the Police and City Leaders for answers. And the Police and City Leaders were in turn, pressing the Paranormal Department, my department for those very same answers.
One evening while I was going through the case flies, my friend Elanna White called.
"You sound tired girl,"
"I am. This case is giving my a major migraine."
"When's the last time you slept?"
"Who sleeps?
"As I thought. I'm sending Ira over to pick you up. You need to take the evening off, and my guess a good meal as well as a good night sleep."
Sure, like I could rest at Elanna's home. Elanna with her lovely-dovely husband, his frisky parents, two overly acted sons and a busy toddler. Just the sort of evening I need to get my mind off this case.
I loved every minute of it.
It was that very night the dreams began...
I dreamt of a man, laying in a field. I had seem members of his race before, so I knew he was Vulcan. He was laying upon his back, staring up at the stars, when, suddenly! he sat up, as if spotting a new star or even a planet. His face was intense, as all Vulcans are. But there was something different about this Vulcan. His features were softer, he even appeared to laugh. Then, he laid back down and continue searching the night sky.

Night after night, for a week, I dreamt the very same dream; a Vulcan, laying upon his back, star glazing. Seeking. Searching.

I wonder what it meant.

Interesting and odd - but that's Strangetown for ya.

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Strangetown. A small little spit of a town in the middle of nowhere. One of several small remote detachments of Fort Grome. Quiet. Dull.
Or that's how it use to be.
Over the past few years, Strangetown began to slowly change; new families moving into town. New store fronts, culture center, even a few places of worship. But with the changes and grown came something else.
First it began with the fire that destroyed the home of General Grunt last Christmas, killing his three sons, resulting in his nervous breakdown.
Then several months later, murder.
In a span of seventy-two hours, nine of her town folk had died, all of unknown causes. We are use to the paranormal here in Strangetown. Vampire weddings, alien baby showers. But murder?
Not so much.
In a week's time, there were eight funeral services.
Loki and Circe Beaker's service was a join one. Not well liked in Strangetown, the service was a small with few mourners. Amoung them was myself, my younger half brother, Vidcund, and a few of Circe's co-workers. Vidcund and Circe had been teenage sweethearts, but Circe would later break Vidcund's heart and marry Loki Beaker.
Clearly, even after all these years, Vidcund still loved her. He was the only one who shed any tears.
Nervous Subject, their foster son, turned out to be the only son child Oliver Spector, the old woman with the cemetery in her front yard. Though a private service was held for Nervous, Mrs. Spector arrange for her son to be buried with the couple who raised him, saving a plot next to her son for herself.
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The hardest and strangest service of all was for Jessie. The day we laid her to rest was suppose to be her wedding day. Instead, of walking down the aisle in her wedding gown, she was buried wearing it. Ajaya Loner, the man she was to marry that very morning, was a strange mixture of sorrow and rage.
He was burying the love of his life!" my sister Chloe said surprised my the comment about his behavior.
I wanted to agree with her. But the anger wasn't placed at who or what killed Jessie. It was at Jessie herself. No one could comfort him, Ajaya even kicked the dirt of Jessie's freshly dug grave, cussing the whole time. Thankfully, her family had just moved away and didn't see the outburst. I would give it a week or so before I went to speak to him.
After the funeral of her brother and sister-in-law, Erin Beaker asked my sister Chloe, as well as our other roommate Kristen and I to move in with her to her late brother's home.
"I just can't stand living in that house by myself!"
I can understand that. The former Beaker house was a dark, gloomy place, filled with secrets that were about to spill forth. In the years Loki and Circe lived in the house, Erin had only visited her family a few times.
"Too depressing," Erin often said. "And his wife gave me the creeps. I always felt as if she was looking at me like a test subject."
The place was creepy indeed. But the rent was cheap and I would even have an office at home to work from.
Being it was still a crime scene, it would be several weeks before we could move it. But once we got the all clear from the Police, we could move in and clean up the place, turning it into something bright and cheery.
Erin, Kristen and my sister went to visit friends in Pleasentview until the house was ready for us to move into.
Me? I stayed in one of the rooms at the office.
It was that very same night, that I started having the strange dreams about the the Vulcan glazing into the night sky.
At first, I chalked it up to an over tired mind. After all, eight murders in an once quiet, sleepy little town was bound to shake any law officer up, Paranormal or no.
But then, the Vulcan’s face became clearer, I could see his eyes, even an hint of a smile in the corners of his mouth.
Which was really odd, since Vulcans don’t smile.
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(Giving credit where credit is due; Mr. Spock is the creator of drlatasic. and not my own.)

So I had two puzzles on my hands.
One, the deaths of eight Strangetown citizens and, two, the same dream that repeated itself each night for over a week.
The first puzzle, eight deaths in a span of three days, seem to be, on the surface related to some virus, air-borne from the looks of it. But if so, why wasn't more Strangetown folk dying as suddenly as the eight before them? Did the virus die with its last victim?
Or was it as my partner, Mingha Khan and I thought? Some sort of serial killer and the person or persons hadn't made themselves known yet.
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My partner, Mingha Khan.
Ming and I had met while I was attending Grad school on her former home planet, Tello II. One of a rare breed, Ming was a twin daughter to the Queen of her planet. But being the younger by a few minutes, gave Ming a freedom her older sister would never know. Unlike Lingha, who would become Queen upon her mother's death, Ming was free to chose her own path in life. She married fellow student Singh Khan and when we all finished school Ming and her family moved to earth. Sadly, when Tello II's sun went super nova, Ming lost contact with her family. It was believed that the Royal family made it safely to another planet, but as of yet, Ming hadn't heard a word.
Having just had her first child, Ming was still on leave, but she very much still wanted to be in the know of what was going on. And the eight Strangetown deaths was no different.
We met for lunch one day. Her husband, Singh made us a lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, the cheese, extra sharp, of course.
There is nothing in the world that an Alien, even an half Alien-half Human enjoys more than a good grill cheese sandwich. And of course, with a tall glass of coke.
We sat and talked during our meal, while Singh attended to the baby.
I told her about the very leads the department had gathered so far.
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"Hmm," Ming said, "this reminds me of a story I heard as a child on my home world. It seems that my Great-Grandmother wanted to repopulate a planet several Light Years away. Also humanoid. She wanted a pure race of Telomeres. So she had her Scientists create a type of Flu, that killed only the men. In this way, her sons were free to marry the widows and bred, and within two generations, the planet was hers to rule."
"Do you think this could be happening here?"
Ming laughed. "It was just a wild tale told by my Grand-mother, Lola. Grandmother Quingha was full of them. I frankly don't believe its true. It isn't the nature of a Birth Queen to kill anyone, including another race. Pollenate, yes. But the only aid is to mingle with other races, not world dominance. The only time that has been known to happen is when a Pollination has run afoul a Queen. Then, her judgment is swift and sure. But her anger is directed at Pollination alone. Even then, it has only been a few times."
Ming signed and took another bite of her sandwich. "But then again, this is Strangetown, one never knows...."
"But in the case your speaking of, Ming, if true, it was just the men who were murdered. In this case, it was both men and women, though Loki Beaker and Nervous Subject are the only two males."
"Hmmm, that is queer. And why these eight?"
Good question, I pondered.
"Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless they were more victims and we just don't know about them yet."

Thank you And it is going to get even stranger

"Your dream Lola, ah! now that's easy. The man you are dreaming about is your soul-mate."
"My soul-mate?"
"Yes, your soul-mate. Your meant to be. The one who was born to love you and you love him in return. The Hebrew name for soul-mate is b'sheirt. The word is pronounced as 'besheirt', and it also means the 'intended', one chosen by God for the purpose of marriage. Hebrews considers marriage a sacred vow and therefore they believe that one's spouse is chosen by G-d."
I felt my eyebrow raised. A curious trait I appeared to have gotten from my father, Glarn. "And how do you know this?"
Ming laughed again. "Part of our Cross Culture training, remember?"
Yeah, I remember, up there with how to ride a Camel and still look like a lady.
"So, what your saying, I'm dreaming about my future husband?"
Ming laughed. "Sounds like it to me. That's when I first saw Singh In my dreams. I remember dreaming about my love a year before we met. My mother often told tales of souls across through even time and space to find each other. It appears in your case, Lola, that your souls are reaching out across the universe."
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I shook my head and took another bite of my grill cheese. A soul-mate? Somewhere, out there? It seem so far fetch, so science friction. But then, wasn't I an half alien? Live in Strangetown? Wasn't the age of Space Travel and I was sitting in the kitchen of my best friend, an alien?
Why not dream of a love out there, somewhere....
"His face," Ming's voice broke into my thoughts.
"What about it?"
"So close you can touch it? You can inhale his scent?"
I swallowed. "Yes."
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"I wish you to try something. The next time, you dream of your Vulcan, reach out and touch his face."
"Then what?"
"Then wait and see what happens."

Hi Elanna, I just read your story and it is very good. It is very creative. I really like the adventure and mystery. I look forward to your next chapters.
If you get a chance please check out my "The Brandy Broke Story," I have been writing it for two years and am almost ready to post the end.
I cant wait to get a good look at your Vulcan. I love the new Spock in the New Star Trek movie. He is very handsome. I am watching it now.lol
Keep on writing.
Simcerely,
Tasia.

Thanks for the input Tasia. The Spock I am using is from the 1960's, I found him here. If I can find an up dated version (figure out how to make him myself,)

Hi there, oh that is great! I have seen that Spock here also. The creator did a wonderful job on that one. I cant wait so see him in action.

I would agree. The creator did an amazing job with him. And he is fun to work with.

(Author's Notes and Warning: the following chapter will contain some language and a mature theme, only for story line purposes. While the story is a romance, it is also the beginning of a murder-mystery with several twist and turns)
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"It appears in your case, Lola, that your souls are reaching out across the universe."
A lovely thought. But could it be true?
Soul mates? Men and women who were ordained to be together even before they were born? Souls reaching across the universe to find each other?
How odd all of this sounds?
But then again, how odd is my own life? And having I dreamed of finding love out amoung the stars? So why would it seem so strange that my dream seem to be coming true?
So what am I afraid of?
For the past several weeks I'd been living with one of my dearest friends Elanna White and her family.
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She and her husband Yoel were also new in town. Part of the cultural expansion to Strangetown, Yoel was the town's very first Rabbi.
Elanna and I had were classmates back in high school. After graduation, Elanna went to live in Israel for several years, where she met and married Yoel.
I loved being part of the White household. Never a dull moment. The twins, Samuel and Saul looked just like their father, while baby Ianna looked just like her mother. All three were full of energy and busy doing this and that. Elanna had her hands full as the mother of three small children and as wife to a Rabbi.
And she loved it.
There were times I almost felt jealous of my friend.
On one of the rare mornings I had off, we decided to go out for coffee.
After telling Elanna my dreams, she took a long sip of coffee before answering. Always a spiritual girl, I knew she was sending up a quick prayer before answering me.
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"Given your background, Lola, I would say your afraid of love. Of loving and being loved."
"That's doesn't make sense."
"Really? Think about it. Your father gave birth to you and your sister, ashamed of you both, ashamed even how you two came about. He left you along with his wife, pulling all of you behind him like a bad memory. Both your dads created families you were never part of. You witness the pain of rejection first hand; my mother, your sister and yourself. You have siblings you really don't even know. So of course you would dream of love "out there" as you yourself said. It's quite safe, to dream of love, but never having to deal with the messy day to day. Nor never dreaming it was really a soul cry for love. Or that the Create would answer that cry."
"But is It really from God?"
Elanna was shocked by the question. "Who else would it be? The Creator is a Matchmaker, my dear. If it was from an evil source, you would be frighten, afraid. I don't sense anything evil in your dreams. I agree with Ming; next time, reach out to the man, see what happens."
Fear of falling in love? Yeah, I could see that. My mother died from a broken heart....
"Lola," Elanna broke into my thoughts. "Life itself is full of risk, of rejection. Opening our hearts to another is quite painful. But it is worth the risk."

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Later that evening, I headed out to my favorite haunt, Look Out Park.
I often came here for some down time from my crazy life.
Being an Officer in the Department of Paranormal meant coming in touch with the darkest side of life, witnessing how crude beings, human and otherwise can be to each other. Glarn Curious did my sister and I a huge favor by walking out of our lives.
One of my first cases was a birth father who actually killed his alien baby right after it was born. His reasons? The baby was demon and needed to die.
"All such creatures should die!" He spit in my face. From the hatred in his eyes, I knew he would kill me if given the case.
At least Glarn left us with a loving woman who lived us as if Chloe and I were very own daughters.
Though it was a warm June evening, I suddenly felt chilled.
And alone.
Yes, I was afraid of being left alone, of being abandon as my fathers had done. Rejected because of the colour of my skin, because of the alien blood that flowed through my veins.
"But who says every man will reject you, Lola. Your quite unfair. Not every man is Glarn Curious."
True. Elanna and Mingha were both very happy with their husbands and children, I loved watching Elanna and her husband Yoel together; all almost twelve years of marriage, still so very much in love.
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My step-mother shut herself from the world after Glarn died. Not bitter or angry, just sad. How would have it been if she had also remarried and maybe even have children with a new husband?
I guess will never know.
But at that moment I decided I didn't wish to grow old and alone. I wanted my day dreams as well as the dreams I was having at night to be true. I wanted to share my life with another.
With the man I was dreaming of.
It was then that I saw him. Just a few feet away from me, laying upon his back, glazing into the night sky.
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I couldn't believe it! There he was, in flesh and blood.
I took a step.....
And he was gone.

Oh you are as bad as me with the cliff hangers..LOL!
Spock looks great by the way. I am looking forward to the romance soon to come.
I also want to say, I feel your pain sister. I have a crazy back ground also.. But, at least I learned to develop my imagination to get me through some tough times and brains enough not to go crazy.. Well, sorta not crazy.. hee hee..

I love cliff hangers, keeps people coming back for more
I can tell you this; it is a very sweet romance. And they are so cute together.

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Within a blink of my eye, first he was there, then he was gone.
How????
I couldn't believe it! There he was, in flesh and blood. I took a step…wanting to touch him, to see if he was truly real…..
And he was gone.
I shook my head and headed back to the Whites.
Working too hard, I reasoned.
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The month of June opened with a heavy rain, bring a cold, dark and heavy cloud over Strangetown.
It matched my mood.
Still no answer to the nine Strangetown deaths or to my strange dreams.
Mystery is great for movies and novels.
Not so much in real life.
The second day of June, I received a call from the Morgue. The reports were in.
From the sound of Doctor Cumulus, I needed to get down to his office right away.
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I'd worked with Doctor Tenor Cumulus for several years and I have never known any case to rattle his cage.
Until today.
No sooner had I walked into the door did he cut right to the chase: he didn't even offer me a grill cheese sandwich.
"What we have here, Captain Curious, is a Serial Killer of the worst kind."
Which is?"
"A Lothario."

A Lothario.
One whose chief interest is seducing women; a successful womanizer. A man known for his "love and leave 'em" motto.
Better known as A Player.
Doctor Cumulus's nurse offered me a cup, which I gladly accepted. I was going to need it.
The title was made famous by the play "The Fair Penitent" (1703), by Nicholas Rowe, Lothario is the character that seduces and betrays the innocent Calista, who after being betrayed, killed herself. The word "lothario" has thus entered the English language as an eponym: a lothario could mean a handsome, seductive ladies' man.
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"The eight victims died in the same matter. They were infected with the AHIV41 Virus."
The AHIV41 Virus? Akin to the HIV Virus in humans, but found only in Aliens. Quick acting and always deadly, there was only one way to contract the virus. Sexual contract.
I took a long sip on the extra strong coffee I was offered. Death by lovemaking. Lovely.
So how did eight humans get infected with an alien virus?
"Simple, Captain Curious. The investigators at the Beaker home found that Doctor Circe Beaker had in fact been trying duplicate the virus in her Lab."
"Your kidding?"
"No," Cumulus shook his head, "I wish I was. One of the tubes scattered and the family was killed within minutes of the virus going airborne, killing her, her husband and the foster son."
"And the five hotel victims?"
"That's the real crime. The virus was planted in a perfume bottle, a gift to the bride. Once she sprayed herself with the perfume..."
"The virus went airborne and by morning, everyone in that room didn't stand a chance. The maid came in the following morning, find the four dead women and before she could even reach the phone, she would drop dead from the fumes."
"Exactly, Ms. Curious. But there is another twist. both Doctors Beaker were having affairs. With Aliens."
"Alien?"
"Wild, yes?" Doctor smiled at the irony. "The lady Loki Beaker was seeing, is, like my family, from Calai Betha. There are only three families in Strangetown are Calaiates. The DNA of Circe's lover, we don't know the race of yet."
"Interesting..."
"Very. What is more, Jessica Piferson was having an affair with the very same Alien Circe Beaker was sleeping with."
Jessie was cheating on Ajaya Loner? He must have known. No wonder he was so angry her gravesite. I felt fresh tears well up. Jessie had always been a free spirit, never settling down in one spot or with one man. Now her free loving life was the cause of her death.
"The irony is, it's Circe's fingerprints on the perfume bottle, but the prints on the perfume box came from another source, as well as the signature on the card."
"So Circe murdered Jessica Piferson?"
The Coroner nodded slowly. "But I believe she was setup to take the fall. It is clear she laced the perfume with the virus, howver she may had not known the intended victim. But clearly from the broken vial bottle, she and her family were murdered as well. Though it was overkill."
"I don't understand?"
"Both Circe Beaker and Jessica Piferson were dying of the AHIV41 Virus. It was clear from their autopsies reports. Both women would have been dead within a matter of weeks. Loki contracted the virus from his wife and was in the beginning stages. None would even have known they were sick until it was too late."
I took a deep breath, not liking at all what I was hearing.
"The alien, your Lothario is a carrier of the virus. His last gift to his lover Jessica was perfume, mixed by his other lover, knowing it would kill her."
We have a serial killer.
"There is more."
I took another deep breath. I need more coffee.
"Both women had given birth about four months ago."

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A few hours later, I sat in the coffee shop of Sim Bio-Com, downing my third cup of coffee.
I needed the extra strong brew; it made everything I heard that morning easier to swallow.
Strangetown, that quiet, little spit of a town, where aliens walked amoung us, was now being rocked by a Killer lover. Two women had been made loved to, birth children and died by the hands of the same alien.
Worse. Where were these two babies?
I left the Coroner's office with a migraine and more questions than answers.
How do I explain to Erin that her sister-in-law had been unfaithful to her brother? How do I tell Ajaya Loner that the woman he loved had not only been unfaithful, but had a child by another?
There were two babies out there, without their mothers. Were they with their father? Or worse. Did the children meet the fate as their mothers? We just don't know where their bodies are.
I felt a sudden chill.
Why did Lover Boy kill Jessie and Circe? And where are the children?
And when will he strike next?
I spend the day at the office, reviewing reports, looking for any clues we may have missed.
Later, I headed back downstairs for more coffee.
I could the dreams of the Vulcan right. How I would love for his to walk out of my dreams and into my life, taking me away from all of this madness...
Pity General Grunt wasn't available. After the house fire that claimed his three sons' lives Christmas Eve, the poor man had a nervous breakdown and was now in Hospital. As rough and crude as he was, at least he would be more hands on. No doubt, this case would be solved by now.
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His replacement, a General Alice Simms, from what I could gather, didn't have idea one how to handle the various races of Strangetown, let alone the interworking of my department.
What the Higher Ups of Fort Grome were thinking when send the Diva to the backside of SimLand, I shall never know. In the seven months General Simms has been in the Community, she hadn't met with me or anyone in our department. It was as if she was on vacation and didn't know that she was overseeing the Alien Assimilation of Strangetown, keeping things calm as we welcomes citizens from other plants, that for whatever reason they wish to move to Earth.
At least she wasn't making our lives hell as General Grunt and his boys had done.
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Well speak of the Diva and in she walks....
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I was finishing the last of my coffee, when I heard the sing-song voice of General Alice Simms.
Tall, mocha brown and lovely, the good General wasn't one to stand on formalities. I had seen her maybe once or twice in uniform, General Simms preferred a more casual appearance.
Unlike General Buzz Grunt who kept everyone and everything bottomed up tight.
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Under his watch, Strangetown has lived up to the military installation it was created to be. This often led to offends amoung the Grunts' Alien neighours. Until this rash of murders, our little desert town, out in the middle of no where had remained a well kept secret. Despite the tight reign, I have to admit, General Grunt, despite his hatred of aliens, had kept us all quite safe.
But now with Buzz Grunt, away recovering from a major lost in his life, no one really had an idea what to expect from the change in change in command.....
"Have you seen Captain Curious?" I heard my name. Oh please, don't anyone mention I was still here...
"Yes, madam, that's her over at the coffee bar."
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Great, I groaned inwardly.
Within seconds I felt the slight, buffed form of General Simms slip onto the stool next to me.
"Well, well, well, Captain Curious."
I could get sick from the sugar that coated each word.
"Yes, madam." I forced a smile through my coffee.
"We finally meet. Let's cut right to the heart of things, shall we? I would love to get to know you better as well as discuss your present assignment. Over supper. My treat."
With that she slid off the stool and headed for the stairs to the second floor for the Restaurant, with no doubt I would follow behind.
If nothing else, I got a free meal out of the deal.

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I have to admit, I do like General Simms style; straight, no nonsense, to the point.
"I eat here often," General Simms stated. "I'm not much of a cook and after my husband's death, I really don't care for being home alone,"
A widow? That wasn't in the briefing notes.
"I'd heard nothing but good things about you, Captain Curious. General Grunt rarely has anything good to say about anyone. You, nothing but praise."
I took a swallow of water. Now that's hard to believe.
"Buzz is a hard man, always been. We went through boot camp together. I was there when he got married and god-mother to the boys. He was my husband's best man, though he didn't approve of my marrying an Alien. The past several years have been heartbreaking ones, first his wife leaving him, then the fire. I almost feared we lost him when the boys died,"
Her eyes welled up with the memories of a General Buzz Grunt I never knew. She wiped her eyes when the waiter arrived.
General Simm ordered the fried chicken dinner for both of us. Meaning; this wasn't going to be a quick meeting.
"I took this assignment as a favor to my old friend Buzz, as well as to find halt the Alien taken over...."
"Excuse me?"
"I Understand you met with Doctor Cumulus this morning, so you know that The AHIV41 Virus is a Alien Sex virus designed with the single purpose of wiping out a whole race. The Host isn't affected by the virus. The AHIV41 is a weapon, via a sexual one. That's what happen to your Jessie Piferson and Doctor Circe Beaker; the first step of an invasion. Our playboy is Pollination. He prefers the more personal touch, shall we say. He enjoys romancing his human ladies, get them pregnant and then when the child is born, he takes the baby and leaves the mother."
So that what happen to CIrce and Jessie's children...
Reading my thoughts..."No Captain, the father doesn't have your friend's child. Or Circe's for that matter. I shall explain about them later."
"I see."
"The virus lays dormant in the woman's body until she gives birth, then it quickly moves out and attacks, first the reproduction system, then the blood supple before the mother ever knows what hits her. The mother is then dead within six months."
"But why? I don't understand..."
"Simple. The women serve simply as surrogates, incubators. Once the child is born, they are of no use and are tossed aside like trash. By breeding half alien babies, you are beginning a whole new race of beings. Within two generations, Strangetown will truly be Alien town. Within sixty years, there will be no human beings left on earth."
I suddenly lost my appetite. An invasion without guns or bombs. No blood shed. Human women giving birth to alien babies that will grow up and marry other half human/half alien and thus take over the planet without firing a shot."
"My husband, Thor, had begun working on this case two years ago, when word came to Buzz from the Royal family of Tello II. Last year, someone found out how close he was to getting to the truth and he was murdered, though made to look like an accident. So, as your CO, my very first command to you, Captain Curious is, be careful. Be very careful. It is unknown to most here on earth, but our world is under attack. And with all that you know right now, your own life as well as those you love now hangs in the balance."

War.
This wasn't just another serial killer, but far worse.
Our planet was being invaded by the womb of earth women, taken over by their innocent offspring. A Pollination, like my own father, was spending his seed, not across the universe, but here, solely on earth with the aim to conquer our world.
Through his children.
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I had tons of questions for the good General:
"Yes, Doctor Cumulus is fully up to speed. It was his finding of the AHIV41 Virus coming on the heels of the news about the Royal Family of Tello II that brought things full circle. The rumours of a Flu virus designed by a Birth Queen to wipe out the life of a planet she wished to settle had been floating about for years. Only recently did we learn they were true."
"Yes, my partner, Mingha Khan told me about this rumour, a tall tale told by her grandmother."
"Well, Captain Curious," General Simm sighed. "the rumour turns out to be true."
"But Ming told me, this isn't the nature of a Birth Queen to another race. Only the Pollination, not his or her offspring."
"Captain Khan would have done better to believe the story. Her great-grandmother did indeed repopulate a planet in such a matter. It worked so well, the practiced remain, though for the most part in secret. It wasn't until the late Queen's journals were found amoung her belongings that we learned of the plans."
I shook my head, "The late Queen?"
"Yes." General Simm lower her head and swallowed hard.
"I am sorry to say Ming's mother, twin sister Lingha and her family were all murdered last year. A Coupe. No one survived. We informed former Captain Khan of her family death and as of four hours ago, Queen Mingha Khan of Tello II was taken into protected custody, being transferred them to New Tello II even as we speak."
Ming. Now Queen. The very role she never wanted....
"According to the official papers of the Late Queen Chinghai Lee, the AHIV41 was far better solution to ridding the "Earthling problem. While her Pollinations would indeed marry and bond with human women, there others that would serve only for breeding and then be....eliminated. There are two types of women our Pollinations are seeking out...."
"Pollinations? You mean there are more?"
"Yes, from what we gather, there are three of them. The women they seek and mate with are either very lonely, unhappy women, like Doctor Beaker, or who are rather loose and free with their love..."
"Like Jessie."
"Like Jessie."
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Hi there, just thought I would drop by and say keep up the good work. Looking forward to the next page..smile.