That morning, Perry awoke to find two beautiful vixens cuddled up on either side of him.  Both were smiling sweetly in their sleep, and each had an arm lying across him, effectively making him their captive.  This gave him a feeling of being possessed which he quite enjoyed, but only because he really liked the two girls and was glad to have them lay claim to a piece of his life. 

     Perry was not at all unaccustomed to waking up with beautiful female companions.  In fact, it could be said that this was all but an everyday occurrence for him.  But many such females that he found himself with were strangers, one time encounters, or just plain arrogant gold diggers after his wealth and social status. 

     He always managed to scrape up a modicum of affection for anyone who wanted to be intimate with him, but his genuine love and devotion was reserved for comparatively few.  In that respect, Vicki and Christine were special to him. 

     Unlike the constant stream of momentary lovers that were forever passing through his days, he longed for these two vixens to be permanent fixtures of his life.  They offered him a sense of stability that was even more comforting than the love they showered him with.  And were they to drift on by him as well he would not be able to forget them like the others.  They would each leave a painful hole in his soul, as large as the one Dorothy had left.  And the awareness of this intruded upon his joy at being part of this pleasant scene. 

     Silently he vowed that he would never take these two precious friends for granted.  He would thank his lucky stars for every day they were able to remain with him, until such time as circumstance would take them from him, as he knew it inevitably would. 

     Perry looked at Christine and contemplated his feelings for her.  He had been wrong to think she would become just another female to him after her transformation into a fox.  Not only was she an inordinately attractive fox, but her exotic alien mannerisms and tendencies remained.  She was still not like anyone he had ever encountered before, and he could not help being attracted to her uniqueness. 

     During the previous night she had done yet another strange thing he would never have anticipated.  He had confessed his continued fascination with her and expressed a desire to yiff with her in her new fox form.  And, to his amazement, she had turned him down flat - even going so far as to state that she would never yiff with him again.  But this time it was not out of any fear of yiffing on her part.  It was because of some sense of alien morality and loyalty to Vicki.

     Perry had never encountered such nobility in a female before, and it only increased his admiration and desire for her.  Also he noted that in doing this Christine had made herself just as much an unattainable dream as she had seemed when she was a pure human. 

     In a sense Perry was thrilled to finally know a female who had no care at all for his wealth and position.  She neither kissed up to him nor tried to dominate him.  It was as if she could look into his soul and admire him as something more than a physical being.  And if ever he told her something about himself that she didn't approve of, she didn't get indignant or critical.  She merely expressed disappointment that he didn't live up to the potential she saw in him, urging him to expand his vision of life and try to do better in the future.  How could any male not wish for a mate that would be such an inspiration?

     But she had made it clear that this was out of the question.  As far as Christine was concerned, Perry already belonged to Vicki, as surely as if they had already had a successful yiffing.  And Christine would not be swayed from this belief by any long-winded explanations of the customs, laws and natural improbabilities that might make a marriage between Perry and Vicki impossible.  To her it was clearly a matter of true love, which was to be believed in regardless of any odds. 

     Perry was almost moved to tears by Christine's childish belief in the power of true love.  Oh how he wanted to believe in her words.  Still, how could it be so when the evidence was quite clear that Perry and Vicki would never be able to mate successfully? Was Christine after all nothing but a child with no firm grip on reality? Or was she perhaps some kind of guardian angel sent to insure that Perry and Vicki would have their happily ever after?

     What strange thoughts his alien cousin inspired in him, Perry reflected.  He was a scientist.  He did not believe in angels or miracles. 

     Then Perry turned his head away from Christine and looked at Vicki.  How radiant she seemed as she slept beside him, her body absorbing the seeds of another fruitless yiffing.  And he felt a pang of emotion to think of the suffering she must have endured every time their bodies parted without a sign that the love they shared would become life. 

     Yet Vicki did not seem to be suffering.  Perhaps he had loved her well enough to overwhelm that sadness, at least for the moment. 

     Now he began to think about the matter scientifically. 

     As a mega-playboy, Perry knew as much about yiffing as anyone.  And as a scientist he knew more about biology than most.  But still he was at a total loss to understand why his best efforts continued to fail in making Vicki pregnant.  The only thing he understood with great certainty was that his time for finding a solution was running out. 

     Logic clearly dictated that he should be making preparations for a future without Vicki.  And it seemed just as certain that Christine would find a mate and leave him, as well.  Where would he end up after that, he wondered.  Hopefully with someone he could learn to love.  Hopefully not with someone he would totally loathe.  Either way, he would just have to bury himself in his work, as he would have so much more he'd need to forget. 

     Had he been alone, Perry might have given utterance to his pain at this thought.  But for the sake of his companions he suppressed it. 

     Then, when Perry looked back at Christine, he was surprised to see that she was awake and staring at him. 

     "Are you alright?" she asked quietly, so as not to disturb Vicki

     "Why do you ask?" he queried in a similarly hushed tone. 

     "My new body is so sensitive," said Christine.  "It's telling me you're troubled and anxious - that I should be worried about you."

     "You'll have to get used to feeling such things and interpreting what they mean," said Perry.  "I'm not in distress.  I'm just feeling introspective.  If anything was wrong with me what you'd feel would be much more intense."

     "Will I feel the feelings of everyone around me?" asked Christine.  "Or am I especially attuned to you because we've been sleeping together?"

     "You'll always be able to sense the moods of the people around you," said Perry.  "But your senses become especially attuned to the people you love.  So that, even if we were far away from you and hurting, you would know."

     "Soul bonding?" asked Christine. 

     "Perhaps," said Perry.  "It's just second nature to us.  We don't see much need to contemplate the origin of it."

     "Does your .  .  .  I mean, our species, think of itself as having five senses or six?" asked Christine. 

     "Sight, scent, hearing, touch, taste, emotion and projection," said Perry.  "That's seven."

     "Emotion is a sense," said Christine in a contemplative tone.  "When you walk into a room full of people it hangs about in the air, just the same as their scents do.  Is that right?"

     "Yes," said Perry.  "You breathe in the emotions of others, just like their scents.  Your heart decodes them and sends the message to your brain.  This will encourage you to share their emotions.  If it's a room full of happy people, you may become ecstatic.  If it's a room full of frightened people you may become paranoid."

     "But what is the seventh sense, projection?" asked Christine. 

     "In certain states, such as the yiff dream, we have the ability to transcend the physical and the temporal," said Perry.  "We may perceive the future or the past.  We may commune with beings on other plains of existence.  As a scientist I use this sense to rediscover the lost science of the elder race.  In the proper state of mind I can project my senses into the past to see what they saw and learn what they knew."

     "Are you unique in that ability?" asked Christine. 

     "No," said Perry.  "But it does require training if one wishes to control it.  Otherwise it just shows us random images that may or may not be of significance to us."

     "Like dreaming," said Christine. 

     "Very much so," said Perry.  "Though a dream is just a random fantasy.  While a projection vision is actually seeing something taking place far away, or in another time."

     "Are we telepathic as well?" asked Christine. 

     "If you mean can I read your mind, the answer is no," said Perry.  "But, if you wanted to or needed to for some reason you could project your thoughts into my mind, and I would see them as a projection vision."

     "So if I were trapped and in danger somewhere far away I could send you a vision of where I was," said Christine. 

     "Yes," said Perry.  "And you could compel me to come to you, because I would feel the urgency of your need."

     "Show me, Perry," said Christine.  "Project yourself into my mind.  Show me the thoughts that have been troubling you."

     "I'm sorry, I can't do that," said Perry.  "My troubled thoughts are private, even from my precious cousin."

     "Are you ashamed of your thoughts?" she asked. 

     "Maybe I am," he confessed.  "Perhaps my thoughts would betray a weakness I'd rather you not see.  Or maybe I fear you'd lose interest in me if you knew everything about me all at once.  If it was good for us to be able to know each other that intimately, I'm sure we would have evolved telepathy."

     "If you could, would you share your innermost private thoughts with Vicki?" asked Christine. 

     "I do," said Perry.  "Every time we yiff dream together she knows me heart, mind and soul.  And I know her as well.  Just as I knew you that one time.  I remember touching your mind and being struck by its beauty.  In that moment you were free to wander through my mind and learn anything you wanted to know about me.  What did you see?"

     "I saw only your passion for me," said Christine.  "You weren't thinking of Vicki or anyone else.  Just me."

     "I'm like that," said Perry.  "My thoughts are always completely absorbed by my partner.  But you were different.  The moment your mind felt freedom it flew light years away in time and space, taking me with it.  I was amazed by the visions you showed me.  Even more amazed to learn that I had known and loved you before, and that you and I may have been friends throughout all eternity, constantly meeting each other in one life after another.  And yet, even knowing that, you're willing to give up your chance with me.  Even after touching your mind I still don't know what to make of you.  But I like it that way.  If I could just look into your mind and understand everything I'd be denied this delicious mystery that exists between us."

     "Perry, life is a sweet confection," said Christine, in a captivatingly knowing tone.  "The people who need you in the here and now are the cake.  The mysteries of eternity are the icing that gives life flavor.  Both should be taken in their proper proportions.  Too much icing spoils the cake.  And to cast the cake aside and try to live only on the icing will poison you.  That's why Vicki is your predestined mate and I am only your cousin.  She's your cake - your food of life.  I'm the icing.  Take me in small amounts, and never think you could live only for me.  I can't give you the sustenance you need.  I can only drown you in sugary fantasies."

     "My goodness," said Perry, reeling from Christine's words.  "How can someone so cute be so deep? I'm enthralled by your wisdom."

     "Dearest cousin, learn one more thing," said Christine affectionately.  "I'm a song writer and poet.  But my ability to create attractive metaphors doesn't reveal anything about my actual wisdom.  All this is just as much a mystery to me as it is to you.  Don't be like my silly fans back home.  Don't go around thinking I have all the answers just because I think up captivating ways to ask the questions."

     "I think you sell yourself short," said Perry. 

     "So do you .  .  .  Raelian," said Christine. 

     "That's the name you called me in our yiff dream," said Perry. 

     "Yes," said Christine.  "The name of the wisest person I ever knew - the one who taught me all these things that so entrance you.  And that great wisdom sleeps within you.  That's why you can always find an answer for any problem if you just open that door in your mind and let it come out."

     "I swear, Christine," said Perry in an astonished tone.  "I could build a new town and base its religion entirely on you."

     "You'd set me up on a pedestal and make me a goddess," said Christine.  "But I have so much to attain before I'd be worthy of such an honor.  If you wanted to build a religion around someone it should be your father.  Jonathan Ommandeer is the master of a true religion that is more than fantasy and faith.  He has stood in the presence of the gods and been the instrument of their justice for more centuries than can be counted."

     "You do realize that's my dad you're talking about," said Perry.  "Everyone knows he's a great leader, but .  .  .  Emissary of the gods?"

     "If you think that's strange you should have him tell you about the gods sometime," said Christine.  "They're not at all what you might expect."

     "Have you stood in the presence of the gods?" asked Perry, in an awed tone. 

     Christine thought a moment.  Then a broad smile spread over her face and she said, emotionally, "I remember.  It's been blocked out since I was a child.  But now I can remember.  Jon and Rael and me together stood in the presence of The Omman Lord Of Wisdom to receive our diplomas and his blessing.  I can remember it so clearly."

     "And The Omman Lords are the gods?" Perry clarified. 

     "Yes," said Christine.  "But they're not at all like the gods of most mythologies.  They're actually quite approachable."

     "I don't understand," said Perry.  "How can you have a religion without mystery and faith? To us religion is all about living in the hope of something that we know is impossible.  If you could actually meet your gods you'd know they existed, and there'd be no need for faith.  Without faith there's no religion.  And if there's no religion, then you have no gods.  And if you have no gods, then you have to start looking for a new religion so you'll have someone to pray to - hopefully someone that you can't meet so you can have faith in them."

     Christine cupped her hands over her muzzle to suppress her laughter, as Vicki was still asleep and dreaming peacefully. 

     When she had regained control Christine said, "That's not religion.  That's more like psychobabble from The Intergalactic Hitch-Hiking Manual."

     "I beg your pardon," said Perry. 

     "Cute little book I read once," said Christine.  "It showed how dogma and philosophy are little more than the makings of a hilarious sit-com."

     "Really?" said Perry, seeming not at all enthusiastic about the idea.  "So what is a religion if it's not mystery and faith?"

     "Mystery and faith were the tools of wicked men who sought to rule others through awe and fear," said Christine, in a more serious tone.  "Your people have learned how easy it is to create a religion.  All you need is a fantasy that will captivate the hearts of the people.  And once your fantasy has enthralled them or made them fear for their immortal souls, they will follow you anywhere.  And then they will live their entire lives for your dream.  But so long as it only has faith and mystery to sustain it, it's not a real religion.  It's just a mythology.  A real religion is about a truth that you know.  It doesn't matter if you learned it from someone else or achieved it through your own experience.  Real religion is living by what you know in your heart to be true.  If you live by something you need to have faith in, then you don't know it's true.  And you have no righteous justification for thinking your mythology is any more valid than anyone else's."

     "In other words it's all crap," said Perry, dejectedly. 

     "Can you say 'crap' in Suburbia?" asked Christine. 

     "I can now," he replied, unhappily. 

     "Awe, don't be like that," said Christine.  "Is your faith so shallow that it could be destroyed so easily?"

     "I don't know," said Perry.  "There's so much I don't know.  But until you came along I thought not knowing was the way it was supposed to be for mortal creatures.  But not you.  You know things.  And I've no reason to doubt what you say you know.  So how can my simple faith sustain itself against your knowledgeable words?"

     "Perry, all I'm saying is you don't need a religion to teach you what's good and true," said Christine.  "You have a good heart.  Listen to it.  It will tell you nothing but truth."

     "How did you get to be so wise?" asked Perry in a bewildered tone. 

     "It's because I spent so much time with your daddy and your uncle," said Christine.  "I shared part of their training.  Silly little girl that I was.  I didn't realize I was sharing the training of immortal heroes."

     "So, tell me," said Perry.  "In your opinion, how does my religion stack up to your truth?"

     "Aww, Perry, you sure you want to pursue this?" asked Christine, in a sweetly concerned voice.  "I don't want to destroy your faith.  It's beautiful, even if it isn't real."

     "I want to know what you think about it," said Perry, insistently. 

     "Well," said Christine, thoughtfully.  "You remember when we were sitting in your backyard and you told me about your religion - about how you've based your entire life on black and white TV shows from the most conservative era in Chikyu history?"

     "I remember," said Perry. 

     "Well, I looked around," said Christine.  "And I saw how all the houses are painted black and white.  And all the lampposts and cars are various shades of gray.  You wanted to create a black and white world where goodness and morality are constants - where the difference between right and wrong is never a quandary.  But then I looked down at the beautiful green grass beneath our feet, and at Vicki's vibrant blue fur.  They were like the truth mocking your illusion.  One just can't build a black and white world where morality is pre-determined.  Morality changes constantly like the colors of the leaves with the seasons, and your heart must be free to change with it.  Otherwise you're just obeying the law rather than doing what you know in your heart is right."

     "I see," said Perry, seeming slightly dejected. 

     "Of course you see, silly," said Christine.  "You've always seen.  Otherwise you'd be required by law to paint the grass gray, and Vicki would have to bleach her fur.  Your people aren't stupid like the people of Chikyu.  Religions on this planet are just for fun.  You don't allow them to disrupt your natural state of existence.  You don't go to ridiculous lengths to perpetuate an illusion and force it on others.  You just use them to augment your lives in pleasant ways.  You take what good you can get from them and the rest you set aside.  I mean, seriously, think about it.  Do the yiffy needs of your people mesh at all with black and white theology? Husbands and wives wouldn't even be able to sleep in the same bed."

     "I see your point," said Perry.  "It really is a lot of foolishness, isn't it?"

     "Oh, I don't know about that," said Christine.  "That's why I asked you if you were happy this way.  As long as you practice your religion or fantasy in moderation so that it doesn't become an oppression, it's harmless.  And, so long as you are happy in a harmless way, my morality doesn't permit me to destroy your illusion by impressing my truth on you."

     "Christine, what do you think of conservatives in your world?" asked Perry. 

     "I've spent most of my life at war with them," she answered, hesitantly.  "You see, when I was growing up, my society didn't want us to have a choice about living in a black and white world.  And we felt very oppressed.  In fact, those TV shows you've based your life on were part of the propaganda our society used to trap us into an existence we couldn't live with."

     "Did they try to make you paint the grass gray?" asked Perry. 

     "Figuratively, yes," said Christine.  "You know what I notice about your lawn.  You let the grass grow high.  You like high grass, don't you?"

     "Of course," said Perry. 

     "On Chikyu it was against the law to let your grass grow high," said Christine.  "Can you imagine people being punished by the law for not cutting their grass?"

     "That does sound pretty oppressive," Perry admitted. 

     "Can you imagine being pulled out of your normal daily life, forced to join an army, and fight and kill and die for a cause you didn't even believe in?" asked Christine. 

     "That's horrible," said Perry.  "Was it really like that on Chikyu during that era."

     "Of course it was," said Christine.  "What you see in those TV shows is just a fantasy.  It's what we wanted, not what we had.  But you took our fantasy and made it real.  I would really have enjoyed growing up in this town, because everyone being happy is important to you.  And if someone's unhappy with the way things are, you don't try to make them fit the mold, you change the mold to fit them.  Don't you?"

     "Whenever it's possible," said Perry. 

     "Conservatives don't do that, you know," said Christine.  "Conservatives like constants.  They like black and white with no odd colors to confuse the issues.  They believe all men are created equal and therefore no one is special.  But they also believe in the privilege of wealth and the hard life of the poor.  Not to mention the unconditional subjugation of all other species who are not allowed to have any rights at all - not even to their very lives.

     "As a member of the Rhoades family I had unlimited wealth.  I was privileged to enjoy the highest of status in that black and white world if I wanted to.  But instead I used my wealth to try to make things better for those less fortunate than me.  I challenged my black and white world and became a being of color.  And because of that I've spent my whole life dodging assassin's bullets."

     "I just don't get it," said Perry.  "How could such a horrible society have produced such beautiful art?"

     "Oh, Perry," said Christine.  "You're a scholarly fellow.  Surely you understand how art is escape into fantasy from the horrors of life.  When you look at our art you're seeing the best of us - our hopes and our dreams - all very far away from our reality.  How could we have known that so far in the future your people would see our dreams, mistake them for our history, and go on to achieve them for yourselves?"

     "Then the dream is of value?" asked Perry. 

     "Oh, yes," Christine sighed.  "It is a wonderful dream that you've based your life on.  And I'm going to love sharing that dream with you."