Master McCoy and the Princesses of the Golden Ring: Master McCoy Series, #1

By Sterling Paxton

These enhancements include such things as telescopic vision, microscopic vision, infrared, and x-ray.
Using his new Multi-Brain, he is able to invent new products and write computer programs which make him very wealthy. The alien helps him transform his body and assume a new identity. He always wanted to be a country singer. His Multi-Brain gives him the skills necessary to fulfill his dreams.
He is transformed into a handsome, muscular, 6 foot 3 inch singer. In his new identity, he buys a nightclub in downtown Nashville.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sterling Paxton
• Release date: Jun 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227538390

Book preview

Chapter 1

Cletus Pike was not human—not entirely.  He had been a rotten maggot of a man whose very existence polluted the earth, and it would have been better for everyone, if he had been quickly exterminated like a bug smashing into a car window. 

Thirty-one years of his life wasted away, crawled up inside an alcohol bottle; a bitter rejection of the human species.  Cletus had been a filthy, nearly toothless boozer, with a wretched carcass racked with the DT’s, and constant pain.  His skin was color was yellow from his diseased liver, and matching his equally diseased soul.  Cletus would have likely ended his pathetic existence, if he had ever sobered up enough to realize what a swollen, pus infected boil he was on the posterior of humanity.

The day started out normally enough with Cletus getting up late as usual.  He didn’t worry about mundane things such as brushing his teeth, changing his clothes, or washing himself.  The drunkard didn’t have many teeth left, and the filth helped fight the insects and keep the cold away.  Cletus took his large, black trash bag and started his daily walk. 

It wasn’t for the sake of exercise that he did his daily tour.  He searched the places where he might pick up a few empty deposit bottles.  If he was lucky, he’d gather enough empties to purchase a cheap bottle of wine, or if he was extremely lucky, he might find enough for two.  And thus, were the life’s ambitions of the dirty, little creature known as Cletus Pike. 

This was drunkard’s lucky day and the pickings were better than usual.  After several hours, he was able to gather enough to purchase two bottles of rotgut.  He was brimming with joy while walking back with his treasure clutched tightly to his chest.  He wasn’t going to take a chance on dropping, and breaking his hard won gains. 

As he made it back to his sanctuary under the bridge, he didn’t notice the foreign presence watching his every move.  Cletus’ home under the roadway was damp and dark, but the homeless bum liked it like that—it keeps the thieves away, he thought.

The truth was Cletus didn’t have anything worth stealing.  There were just some brown cardboard, old newspapers, and filthy rags he used for a bed.  The dampness was caused by the filthy, polluted river that ran under the central portion of the bridge.  Each end of the steel structure had a dry area underneath unless the rains came and caused heavy flooding.

The darkness of Cletus’ home was no hindrance to the eyes that intently observed him, nor was the concrete.  Even from its distant vantage point, the eyes could see Cletus with enough clarity to count the hairs on his face or even to count the chest hairs underneath his filthy, shirt and jacket.  Distance, solid concrete, and steel were no obstruction to these unearthly eyes.

If events of that night had not intervened, Cletus Pike’s death would have quickly gone unnoticed, and un-mourned.  He had crawled out from under the bridge he called home, and was staggering down to the edge of the river to drain the urine from his full bladder. 

Before getting his fly unzipped, he was only successful in soaking his filthy, black trousers.  As Cletus turned to go back to his home, he slipped on a rock and fell head first into the brown, filthy river water.  Stoned out of his mind, Cletus barely struggled as the foul water sought entrance into his nose and mouth.

In an old oak tree, near the steel river bridge, a small luminance floated, studying the primitive biped.  Since arriving on planet, the Klidzii being had been patiently waiting and searching.  The alien was intently monitoring several biped life forms that appeared to be under stress.  The Klidzii wanted one that was on the brink of extinction. 

Its sensors indicated that success could be close at hand, the biped that had fallen into the liquid, hydrogen oxygen mixture and was in extreme distress.  The galactic traveler used its sensors to monitor and verify that the creature faced certain death with no possibility of survival—The Klidzii Code demanded this.  Only a subject facing certain termination could be harvested as a host.

The Klidzii watched and waited until the last possible moment before acting, and then it moved quickly to sustain the biped’s life functions.  The alien projected a protecting film that encased an area around the creature and prepared it for transportation.  The humanoid was then moved from the wet river onto dry earth. 

The near lifeless body was rotated so that it faced upward and the river water was pumped from the interior of the film casing.  Small tubes from the protective barrier then extended downward and entered the creature’s facial cavities.  The tubes moved into the body’s lungs pumping out the water and supplying life sustaining oxygen. 

Before transformation could begin, sensors were used to determine how the various biological elements fit together and functioned.  Tissue samples were taken for analysis and future study.  Then drugs were used to render the new host unconscious and pain free—in preparation for the transformation.

The alien Klidzii used the host humans DNA and distant scans of other bipeds as a guide to the work ahead.  The process then began with the creature’s brain.  The biped’s memories, emotions, and personality were transferred, and encoded into an indestructible, quicksilver like substance.  Functions of the brain-case that no longer served a purpose were ignored.

The essence of what Cletus had been was relocated into the alien substance. There was no deterioration of his memory, emotions or personality during the process. This new brain was greatly reduced in size, but the transferred elements lost none or their prior functionality.  The organics of the old brain were removed from the brain case and discarded.

Additional brains elements were also installed.  The new solid-state brain that was now Cletus, became part of a much larger 'Multi-Brain' capable of operating on many levels.  The largest portion of the brain cavity was reserved as a rest and work area for the Klidzii.

Next, the eyes were replaced with incredibly realistic copies with astounding capabilities.  Perception would increase to 360 degrees when hidden sensors were installed around the head area.  In essence, the new human/alien cross-breed would be able to see in every direction simultaneously. 

Vision enhancements included telescopic as well as microscopic vision.  Vision was also enhanced with x-rays, infrared, and many other useful wavelengths.  Likewise, hearing was fully directional with the ability to enhance sound frequencies from long distances.  Unwanted and distracting sound frequencies could be blocked at will. 

Teeth were repaired or replaced and infused with an indestructible base material.  The mouth were made self-cleaning.  Skin, hair, and nails were also infused with a base material that made them far  superior to the original. 

Hair and nails did not grow and required no extra care, other than occasional cleaning.  The nerve system in the skin was up-graded with the ability to shut down pain above a certain pain threshold.  The Multi-Brain could turn on or off parts, or all the nerve system at will.

Below the skin, interior human organs and muscles were discarded and replaced by an alien substance, pliable, but much stronger, and lighter than any metal on earth. The Klidzii knew that mating was an important part of any creature’s life, therefore, the alien intended to use this very strong drive to gain co-operation from its new host.  The biped’s reproductive organs were enlarged slightly, and the pleasure from mating activities were increased. 

The Multi-Brain allowed the host to completely control its sexual functions, and sensual stimulation could be controlled by the will.  The host would have the ability to become excited instantly, satisfy as many mates as desired, and then enjoy completion only when desired.  The visitor wanted and needed the full support of its new host to fulfill its mission because the Klidzii Code was very specific in this regard.

After completing the transformation, the alien moved into the empty portion of the host’s brain cavity, that it had reserved for itself.  After settling in, the Klidzii used the host’s memories to learn its language and as much information as available about every facet of its new environment.  The information was woefully inadequate as expected, but information would increase, once the host became fully operational. 

Next, the distant visitor began a detailed inspection of the newly acquired memories, emotions, and personality of the biped.  The alien worked to gather a detailed picture of its new life partner.  The Klidzii knew that a complete profile of the host must be competed and understood, before the biped could be allowed to return to consciousness.

The alien learned that the biped had a background of substance abuse, violence and criminal activities.  The root cause of this destructive behavior was the tragic death of its mate.  This abhorrent behavior presented no problem; however, the Klidzii Code was very specific in outlining the corrections that could be made to the host’s brain.  Only those memories and emotions that were considered extremely detrimental could undergo correction. 

These corrections must be as small as possible to gain the desired results.  Only the host could approve changes greater than this.  It was important that the biped retained some memories of its harmful behavior, and the unpleasant consequences they reaped. 

The Klidzii came from a species that valued truth, honesty, and respect, and the host’s brain was slightly modified to encourage and strengthen these values.  It could not allow the host to use the technology installed in its body to steal, or commit violence against others.

The Klidzii then turned its attention to the memories that it had collected from the biped and absorbed everything there.  It learned that his new host was a male of the species that called themselves Homo Sapiens.  This particular humanoid was called Cletus Pike, and he was relatively intelligent in comparison to others of his species.  He had received high marks in the places of education and was proficient in the physical activities they played there.  The biped had studied to become a lawyer and had gained success in that endeavor.  Soon after finishing school, he had found a female mate and had deep affections for her.  They were married and living happily until tragedy struck.

One dark night Cletus came home from work and was assaulted by a group of male, home invaders.  He was knocked unconscious, and when he woke up, he found that his hands were tied behind his back, as he was lying on the bedroom floor.  He managed to struggle to his feet and saw several men holding down his wife on the bed.. 

He screamed and stumbled towards the bed, but a large man in a white shirt knocked him down on to the floor again.  He heard one of the men say, Bring him over here.  Two of the men then picked him up off the floor, and shoved him down hard in a chair, and held him there.  He tried to look away, but they forced him to watch. 

After what seemed an eternity, the men finally stopped.  The man in the white shirt came over and snickered in his ear, We’re done and you can have her back now.  Then another man took a flowerpot and slammed Cletus in the forehead, knocking him unconscious. 

The police came and did an inspection of the crime scene lasting for several hours.  Weeks went by and the home invaders were never apprehended.  His wife then became increasing worse as time pasted.  She cried when he tried to touch her, and she barely spoke the rest of the time.  She would sit for hours and stare out the windows, or at the walls—and it broke his heart to see her like that.

In desperation, Cletus took her away on a vacation where he thought the peace and quiet might calm her jittery nerves.  He loaded up the RV and they drove from their home in Nashville up to Niagara Falls.  She seemed to enjoy the falls, and he saw her smile for the first time in weeks. 

Next, they drove to Las Vegas and then on to the Grand Canyon.  The view at the canyon was spectacular, and they stood and watched it for some time.  He asked her if she would like some water, and she smiled weakly while nodding her head.  Cletus went to grab a couple of bottles of cold, water out of the cooler—and he turned just in time to see her step off the canyon ledge.

Cletus had dated other women after his wife’s death, but his cold, dead heart caused him to use them for his own gratification, and degrade them whenever possible.  He despised the women for being alive, while his only true love was dead.  He had been a social drinker, but after the home invasion, his drinking became more excessive, and his law practice started to suffer because of it. 

Finally, Cletus was not financially able to keep the doors open.  His abusive behavior finally drove all of his friends away, and he cleaned out his bank account to finance his alcohol addiction.  After the  money ran out, he sold his house and car to keep his booze supply coming.  More and more, he turned to the bottle, and it eventually became his only friend. 

Destitute, Cletus left his home in Nashville, and fell in with some bums.  He learned the drifter lifestyle, as they taught him how to beg and steal, to survive.  He used these new skills to support his addiction while wandering around the country.  This was the pattern of his life for many years, until he finally fell into a dirty river and lost his organic brain, and interior body parts.

The inspection of the humans' memory clearly showed that the death of its mate was the pivotal event in its life.  The alien did some adjustments and reduced the pain of these terrible memories to a more manageable level.  Many people are able to recover when they hit bottom, and realized their situation, but Cletus wasn’t one of them.  When he hit bottom, he clung there like a vine with all his strength. 

The years of binge drinking eventually took their toll on his health, and left him just a shell of a man.  With his kidney’s shot, Cletus was little more than a dead man walking.  This would have been his closing act in a long, miserable life, if not for the chance fall that led to his salvation.

Cletus opened his eyes and quickly noticed that something was different.  There was new clarity to the world that he hadn’t experienced in many years.  Where was the hangover and pain that usually racked his body?  He took a deep breath of the fresh air and starred up at the yellow sun in the blue, cloudless sky—it was more beautiful than he ever remembered.  The filthy, old man was surprised at the ease with which he was able to climb to his feet.  He also noticed that he didn’t experience the hunger pains, or discomfort from a full bladder that usually welcomed him on awaking.

Cletus took a long look around and then headed back to his home under the bridge.  He tried briefly to recall the events of last night, but he