Chapter 7

George spoke softly, "Babe? I'm gonna start unwrapping you now, we're in the clear so don't worry okay?" Mia felt the hateful burkah being taken off of her and she blinked at the sudden brightness as her eyes adjusted. Sitting up, she began pulling at the cloth wrapped around her tail and when it was off, she stretched out her powerful tail and playfully wrapped it around her husband, then pulled him towards her for a kiss.

A woman's voice said, "Oh my?! You are, real!" and Mia looked over to see a prim looking blonde haired woman sitting there, she looked quizzically at George and he said, "Mia? I want you to meet Rachel Thompson, she is my boss, Mrs. Thompson made all of the arrangements to bring you out of Algeria."

Rachel smiled at her and said, "How do you do, Mrs. Bryce. It is a great pleasure to meet you at last!"

Mia asked, "Mrs. Thompson? That means you're married, right?" Rachel smiled and said, "Ten years now and two children, a boy and a girl."

Mia visibly relaxed and said, "So I'm Mrs Bryce now, right?" Rachel nodded a yes. Mia looked puzzled and asked, "Did they send you, a married woman, to work with me rather than a single woman, for fear I might have a jealousy problem?"

George looked a bit sheepish and said quietly,

"I suggested it dearest, I saw how protective you are of me and I was concerned that any single woman, attractive or not, might be a problem for you."

Mia stared at him for a long moment and then began chuckling. After a few moments of mirth at George's expense, Mia smiled at her husband and asked him,

"Don't you remember that bite I gave you when we consummated our marriage?"

George scratched at the healing bite marks on his neck a bit and nodded, Mia snuggled close and touched his nose with her left middle finger playfully, as she said,

"That bite marked you as being a lamia's mate. Oh, the marks will disappear soon, but now your scent is mixed with mine. Any other lamia will know at once that you are mine, and another human woman will not be attracted to you sexually, nor will you be attracted to her."

Rachel laughed and said,

"Mia, if we could find a way to synthesize that? You could be making a fortune!"

George slipped out of Mia's arms and fetched some cold drinks and nibblies from the Gulfstream's refigerator and handed them to the ladies, Mia delighted in the new tastes.

Having finished her drink, Mia looked over at a mirror mounted on the cabin door and gasped, then she turned to George and said accusingly,

"Why didn't you tell me I looked like a scirocco had attacked me? My hair looks awful!"

George could only blush and reply sheepishly, "In all the excitement, I was more concerned with getting you out of Algeria than I was with how you looked while running for your life."

Rachel quickly dug around in her nearby bag and pulled out a sturdy hairbrush, handing it to Mia she said,

"Here, this'll help get all that hair of yours under control for now. George does have a point, getting you away from harm was our top priority."

Mia smiled at Rachel and replied,

"I know and you're right, but I do want to look my best even if it seems a bit silly." She began working away with the brush to get her luxurious tresses under a semblance of control.

George asked Rachel, "What exactly, are these arrangements you've made?"

Rachel opened up her laptop and pulled up a folder with some images inside, turning it around to face them she said.

"we're going to land in Madrid and take on more fuel, then we'll fly to Miami and fuel up again for the final hop to Phoenix, Arizona."

"Why Phoenix, what's in Phoenix?" asked George.

Rachel grinned at him and said, "The museum has acquired a ranch near there. This 10,000 acre ranch has been virtually untouched for sixty years and is nearly surrounded by government owned nature preserves. In short, you and Mia will live there and be caretakers of the ranch in complete privacy. Eventually, we hope to bring the rest of your family there and any other lamiae we may find, as well."

George and Mia looked at the photos of the ranch house and out buildings and of the property itself. George looked up at Rachel and asked.

"It sounds like a dream come true. So, what's the catch?"

Rachel leaned back in her seat and said hesitantly,

"The catch is, we want to do a full medical examination on Mia."

George bristled and was about to react, when Rachel held up her hands and cried. "Wait! Hear me out, please!"

He crossed his arms and waited, Rachel continued.

"We won't take any biosamples if you don't want us to, nor will we use X-Rays. We will use strictly ultrasound and C-T scans at high resolution and that is all."

George glanced at Mia and explained to her.

"Our Doctors can look inside of you without having to cut you open and it doesn't hurt, ever. Biosamples are a little bit of your blood and a swab taken from inside of your mouth, they'll want a stool sample too. If you don't object? I won't object, it's up to you."

Mia looked at George first then at Rachel, then she asked.

"To what purpose, will this examination serve?"

Rachel sighed and replied patiently,

"Mia, you are the only lamia known to us. Yes, we know about your family, but until we can extract them. They may as well not exist. Our examination will allow us to compare your anatomy to other creatures and learn what your place is, in the animal kingdom. No fossils of lamiae have ever been found and so, you are completely unique!"

"How long will this take? This examination."

Rachel looked thoughtful and replied.

"About two hours, tops. We can do it on the way to the ranch at the University of Phoenix medical center."

Mia shrugged and said,

"Alright, you can examine me, so long as I'm not out of George's sight!"

Rachel grinned and said cheerfully, "Fair enough!"

George asked, "Just what will I do at this ranch? I don't know the first thing about ranching."

Rachel chuckled and replied,

"You'll still be working for us George, we can't afford to let you out of our sight, you have a way of finding things. You'll be mostly stateside now, so you'll be home most every night."

George grinned and said,

"Okay, that sounds better. Now, what about Mia's family? How are you going to watch them?"

"Roger Tate is still working the Sahara desert region and since he knows your in-laws, he'll be checking in on them once in a while." replied Rachel, "Now that we have found one lamia family? There just might be more of your people hidden away out there, Mia."

Mia smiled and said happily,

"That would be wonderful! We grew up wondering if we were the only lamias left. Mom thought there might be a few families in Libya or Egypt. She said to me once, that her grandmother had told her of these families when she was little."

George remarked,

"We can send an inquiry to your dad y'know, he has that satellite phone and computer that Roger and I gave him. Or better yet, have him teach one of your sisters how to use it, that way they'll get some exposure to modern technology."

Rachel frowned slightly and weighed in with,

"We need to caution them about excessive use of that phone, it does have a radio and GPS signature that can be traced and that could be a disaster if some jihadist insurgents found them."

George frowned and said grimly,

"Their lives wouldn't be worth two cents if they're found... Damnit! We could've brought them too, we were right there. We should've just tied 'em up and heaved 'em into the truck!"

Mia chuckled and when George looked curiously at her, she said merrily,

"Darling, the only one's, you and Roger could 'tie up' would have been my dad and Natalie. Adult lamias are quite a bit stronger than a human male, remember how easily I could carry you?"

George nodded, "Well, if a lamia is protecting her family and she is in a fighting mood? As Roger would say? 'It ain't gonna happen!'"

At the sight of George's deepening frown, Mia said softly. "I do agree with you dearest. My parents can be stubborn for reasons that make sense only to themselves, they'll see it your way eventually."

George looked at his wife with worried eyes and said quietly. "I just don't want it to be after they've been captured, or worse!"

Mia looped her tail around George and she held him to her lush bosom, his arms slipped around her and they just held each other.

Rachel said softly, "We land in about two hours, I'll get the lights." she rose to leave the passenger cabin and was amused to see Mia's long tail partly uncoil and reach out to press the cabin light switch to dim the lights, then re-coil around George again.

Rachel simply chuckled and said, "Show off!" as she exited the darkened cabin.

The rest of the journey was a blur of hastily getting Mia back under wraps and back on the gurney during refuelings "Just in case" Since no one entered or exited the Gulfstream, their precautions proved unnecessary.