Chapter 8

The final landing and getting through customs at Phoenix international, was a little dodgy and Rachel did all of the talking. While a seemingly unconscious Mia was rolled off the plane and into a waiting ambulance. The couple rode in back while Rachel dealt with the driver as he took them to the university medical school and their internal medicine laboratory. There, Mia was off loaded and rolled into the lab where they met a young woman named Sara Thompson. Rachel greeted Sara with a hug and when they separated, Rachel turned to the couple and said cheerfully,

"George, Mia, this is Sara Thompson, she is a medical imaging technician here and she will be taking all of the images of you Mia."

Rachel said to Sara,

"This is Mia, she is the reason we're all here."

Rachel grinned and asked Mia. "Would you mind stretching out for Sara so she can get a better look at you?"

Mia smiled, uncovered her tail and gratefully stretched it out fully for a few seconds before she coiled it up again.

"Ahhh! That feels so good! After being so confined all those hours, this is wonderful!"

Mia sighed and smiled at Sara, then realized that Sara was almost weeping and her lips were trembling, she finally blurted out in a voice that edged into a squeal,

"Oh, my, Gawd! You are so gorgeous! Your tail is so amazing! I can't believe I'm looking at a real lamia!"

Sara reached out a tremulous hand and asked, "May I touch your tail? I used to help out at the reptile house at the San Diego Zoo and I always loved the pythons."

Mia nodded and Sara smiled in wonder as her soft hand gently caressed Mia's massive tail, Mia giggled and said happily, "That tickles!"

After a couple of minutes, Sara removed her hand and murmured gratefully, "Thank you!"

Sara gestured towards the imaging lab and said cheerfully,

"If you'll come with me, we can get started at once."

For the next two hours, Sara was strictly business as she drew blood samples and swabbed the inside of Mia's cheeks. When Sara held up the specimen jars, she looked at Mia for a long moment shook her head and said,

"I'm not sure how we could even collect a sample. Let's just forget that part."

George helped Sara place a couple of extra exam tables end to end and they placed Mia in the C-T scanner and scanned her lying on her back, her front and on her side. Sara weighed her and measured her length, jotting down her notes and observations all the while.

Finally, Sara smiled at them and said,

"I've copied everything we saw in the C-T scan onto this CD and into my laptop then I deleted the files in the scanner, you now have the only other copy. The bio samples are here in this box and here are your vital statistics, you weigh 350 pounds and are 26 feet long when stretched out. Just for the record, I did not see any abnormalities or tumors inside you, so I'd say you're pretty healthy!" she concluded with a grin.

Rachel walked in and announced,

"Your ride out to the ranch is here!"

Mia looked at Sara and Rachel and asked them,

"Mind if I go under my own power?" Rachel grinned, "Sure! Why not?"

Mia slipped off of the examination table, took George's extended hand and together they exited the laboratory building.

The big Chevy van was waiting and Rachel opened the side passenger door, Mia slipped inside and soon after, the van eased out into traffic and headed out of town. Mia was all eyes as they drove through town, to her it was all wondrous and new. The city lights and the other vehicles all moving in a rhythm, an ebb and flow of traffic. Rachel maneuvered the van onto the freeway and soon the lights of Phoenix, Arizona were far behind them. Rachel steered the van southwesterly and roughly an hour later, Rachel pulled up alongside a light green pickup truck and stopped. Mia sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes then glanced around and asked sleepily,

"Where are we now?"

As if in answer, a man dressed in a forest service uniform stepped out of the pickup and came to the driver's side window. He grinned at Rachel and said,

"I'm Chief Ranger Stan Thompson, You're a bit early, I like that!"

Rachel grinned back and said, "Considering how far we've come, I like it too! Are you my guide?"

"I sure am, miss..."

"It's Mrs., sorry!" Replied Rachel.

He grinned at her and remarked,

"Not a problem, I just need to know who I'm talking too, that's all."

He touched the brim of his hat in a salute and said,

"Just follow me, it's easy to get lost out here at night."

Soon, they were following the truck over hill and across dry washes, the tires crunching in the gravel.

Eventually they stopped at a locked gate, the man got out, unlocked the gate, swung it open and waved them through.

Rachel waited for him to resume driving and she fell in behind him, the road got fairly rough and tortuously snaked its way through and over the hills and descended into a valley.

At the far end of the valley was a soft glow, the lights of a lonely house beckoned. The road wound up and around a shoulder and there the house sat on a site beneath a ridge and overlooking both the valley and the desert beyond it. The truck finally pulled up to the softly lit rustic house and stopped. Rachel pulled up alongside of the truck, stopped and shut off the van. Silence fell over them like a great cloak. Rachel said quietly, "We are here!"

George and Mia looked at each other and they hugged tightly. Rachel opened her door and stepped outside, George opened the side door and they got out, he held out his hand and Mia took it as they approached the house.

Chief Thompson whistled softly and declared,

"They sure weren't kidding when they told me you were special, Mrs. Bryce."

Mia smiled at him and said,

"Thank you, I appreciate what you've done for me and my husband. You're welcome to visit us anytime!"

Rachel chimed in with, "I'm sure Chief Thompson, that you now appreciate our need for discretion here!"

He chuckled and replied,

"I do respect your desire for privacy and even though this ranch is private property, it is surrounded by government land, I can have my my rangers check in on you two from time to time and I'm pretty sure my girl will be here often."

"Oh? Why is that?" Asked Mia, Thompson grinned at her and replied, "My daughter Sara is the medical imaging specialist who examined you, she's really into costuming and loves really big snakes. You, Mia, fall into both categories!"