Arrival
Yori was back behind the wheel of the behemoth. She had switched back from Kim about 30 minutes ago after their little convoy had pulled in at a truck stop for gas and a bathroom break. They had finally driven out of the rain and the moon was peeking through the clouds. It was about 2 AM when the Suburban SUV that Yori was following pulled to the side of the road to let her drive over a cattle guard bridge spanning a drainage ditch. She stopped at a gate under an arch declaring this to be the Lazy C Ranch. She rolled down her window and looked around for an intercom. A robotic voice said, "Okaerinasai, Yori-san. Are the SUV and pickup truck behind you part of your group?"
Seeing no particular place to reply to, Yori said, "Yes, the SUV and pickup truck with the trailer following me are part of my group."
"Welcome to the Lazy C Ranch," said the robotic voice. "Please follow the blinking lights." The gate rolled back and little lights embedded in the edges of the driveway blinked to show her where to go.
In the living room, Ann was curled up on the couch reading a novel. "Really," she thought, "who uses the word 'obstreperous' in conversation?" James and Slim passed the time talking about nothing in particular while playing a kid's game involving rolling a die and moving marbles around a board. The big screen TV came on and showed Yori coming up to the gate.
"Bishop?" Slim called out.
"Sir." came back a robotic voice.
"Have the RV park behind the bunkhouse. Direct the other vehicles to the house parking pad."
"Yes, sir."
"Well, y'all, let's go greet our guests." Slim got up and strode through the kitchen to go out onto the back porch, James and Ann hot on his heels. After nearly a minute, a large pickup truck pulling a trailer and a black Suburban pulled up beside the porch. People piled out of the two vehicles, stretched and started toward them.
"Calvin!" James greeted his fellow "rough man".
"Sergeant Major Chaos?" Ann recognized the man that "busted her" from flying MEDEVAC.
"The kids are in the RV, Ma'am, introductions here can wait until you check them out." Chaos replied with a grin on his face.
"You two go on and hug them kids, I'll see to our guests", Slim told Ann and James.
As Slim greeted Evin and Nova and the small group of 'Credible's Rough Men', James and Ann hustled across the back yard and around the bunkhouse to find Nana and a young dark haired woman with a backpack stepping out of the RV.
Nana hugged them and gently pushed them toward the door. "The kids are asleep inside." Ann was faster and made it first through the door. Ron and Kim were buckled in and asleep on the couch. They were sort of sideways so that Kim was sleeping against Ron with his arms around her. Ann suddenly turned and whispered to James, "Honey if you do what I think you are going to do, I will hurt you, I know where you sleep."
James put his arms around Ann whispering back, "Never again, I will never tease Ron about Kim again. Those two have my blessing as a couple." Speaking softly, he said, "Ronald, Kimmie, time to wake up now." Ann couldn't hold back any longer and launched herself at her waking kids. James stepped back out of the RV.
"Dr Possible, I am Yori, a friend of Ron and Kim's", the dark haired girl standing next to Nana introduced herself, bowing politely.
James bowed equally politely, saying "Okaerinasai, Yori. I'm sorry, but that is pretty much all the Japanese I know. Welcome to my brother's ranch. You must be tired. Mom, you can have your usual room in the house. Ms Yori, if you have the things you need, we can find the others. Slim is putting everyone in the bunkhouse. Technically, it's more of a small dormitory, but I think you will find it comfortable."
Slim came walking around the corner of the bunkhouse. "Miss, I will show you where you can get some shuteye tonight. Squirt, are your kids sleeping in the RV?"
James laughed, "they are if Ann can't get them up. OK to connect the RV to power and water?"
"Sure, you need any help?"
"Can't be harder than connecting the service umbilicals to a Falcon 9 rocket."
Laughing, Slim led Yori and Nana off to find their beds. Coming around the corner he ran into the rest carrying duffel bags. He opened the front door of the bunkhouse and led them in. "Ladies, Gentlemen, there are six sleeping rooms with a single and bunk bed in each. Take your pick. The bathrooms are down at the end. This is a common room, sink, refrigerator and microwave ovens over there. Pretty much all you are going to find here is coffee and tea, if'n y'all get hungry, just walk across to the back door, that leads to the kitchen. I'll leave a light on just in case."
Slim spoke a little louder. "Bishop?"
"Sir." the robotic voice answered.
"If anything larger than a coyote wanders around out there, please let these kind folk know."
"Yes, sir."
Slim continued in a more normal voice. "Not saying that the sensors can't be spoofed, but they should be good enough for your run of the mill intruders at least. Any questions?"
"Mr Dr P, need any help?" Ron came around to the side of the RV where James was pulling hoses and power lines over to the access panel.
"Good timing Ronald," James held up the various hoses in his hand. "Please give me a hand with these."
Ron quickly got power, water, and waste lines connected.
"I thought you and Kimmie would sleep better out here away from the commotion of the main house. And Ron?"
"Yes Mr Dr P?"
"I never really had a chance to thank you for taking care of my baby when you brought her back to me." James had tears in his eyes.
"She saved me. I owe her my life."
"I know how you feel. Let's get some sleep."
Under New Management 2
A young man, dressed in black with head uncovered to display spiky hair strode up to the monastery gates and knocked. A young boy opened the pedestrian door. "I'm sorry, but we are in mourning for the loss of three of our senior masters. We are not receiving visitors for the next two days."
The visitor said, "Please tell Master Chun Yen that Yamanouchi is here to pay its respect."
The boy turned pale and looked around as if expecting to see an army of demons at the young man's back. "P…Please wait here, sir," the boy turned and fled, the door gently closing on its own. The young man tossed a stick of gum in the air and caught it in his mouth.
The visitor meditated on his current task. After about fifteen minutes he felt someone approach. Quickly putting his gum away, the small door soon opened and he looked up to see an aged monk with a face that seemed made to show a happy serenity. And eyes clouded with white cataracts.
"Master Chun is praying at the moment. Perhaps you would like to come in and wait until he is available?"
The visitor bowed very low and very respectfully. "I am Hirotaka, a senior student of Yamanouchi. If it would not be too much trouble, Master Poe, I would be grateful for the opportunity to have tea with you and Master Chun and speak of matters regarding a common interest."
"Does Yamanouchi think so little of us that they send a student to pay their respects?" The monk still had the serene smile.
"There has been a shakeup in senior masters at Yamanouchi as well, Master Poe. Master Sensei thought that sending me to open a dialog would lower the potential for confrontation as you would not have to worry about being overly polite to me and might feel more free to speak openly and directly."
"And if your words upset us as much as your assassins might have done?"
"Then, Master Poe, you could always send me back in a box as your answer."
The aged monk laughed with delight. "Come, senior student, Hirotaka, let us have tea and see if we can avoid any desire to demonstrate our displeasure on a senior Ninja of Yamanouchi!" The monk gestured the ninja into the monastery as if he was an old friend come to visit.
"Hiro-san, I trust that the Chosen One is healthy and well after the plots of some of our fools failed?"
"Master Poe, It appears that the Chosen One might actually be more than one person. One of those is the granddaughter of a student who studied here many years ago."
"Ah yes, Amanda-chan. I knew that she was special. I had warned the masters to not mess with her children. Those fools thought that her granddaughter was cheated out of being the Chosen One and justice required them to fix it. And now we mourn their deaths. So her granddaughter became the Chosen One after all?"
"It is complicated. Part of my visit is to share what we know and to see if you can shine any light on the dark shadows of our understanding. I have been told that the Possible-sama loved this place as a young girl and would like her granddaughter to come here to at least visit. It saddened her greatly when monks from here tried to kill her granddaughter's intended."
"Saddened her?" the old monk laughed, "I would hate to find out what happens when people truly make Amanda-chan angry," the old monk then sighed, "It would truly bring this old monk's heart great joy to greet her again or her granddaughter."
Hirotaka walked beside the old monk glad that, today at least, he would not be going home in a box. Not that he feared death, but that the his current trip on this cycle of his life had so many wonders left to explore and challenges to face. Like Ayame, Midori, and Flavia.
Morning Drills
Ron was woken up to a growling wolf poking him in the ribs. Growling or not, its nose was cold. Evin, standing in the door to the little bedroom, tossed some blue markers on the bed, and said, "Good morning warriors, time for a drill".
Kim moaned, "Too sleepy, come back later," pulling a pillow over her head. She then yelped and sat up as the wolf apparently applied a cold nose to a sensitive part of her anatomy.
Rufus snatched up a marker, then with a blue flash tackled the wolf, knocking it out the doorway. The ball of snarling, snapping wolf and hissing mole rat rolled out the outside door and down the steps.
"Come on 'Chosen One' maybe Rufus can buy us enough time to pee before we have to fight," Kim grumbled as she dragged Ron to the door.
Ann was on her morning run when she heard a commotion over by the yard by the above ground pool and bunkhouse. Slowing down to a jog, she went in that direction. Spotting her boys and Joss sitting by the pool with a man she hadn't met yet, she joined them, dropping her weighted vest on the ground and sitting behind her boys.
A white wolf with blue marks on its neck and nose faced Rufus who had red marks running down his back. Both animals took a step back and bowed to each other. The wolf loped over to a water dish, noisily lapped some water, shook itself out and loped back to the center of the grass where it stared at Kim.
Kim, still in her sleepwear of tee shirt, shorts and bare feet, reached out and snatched a bo staff out of the air. She dipped both ends in a bucket of some blue liquid, spun the staff to shake off the excess and stepped forward into a guard position. The wolf took the first move, stepping into a simple leaping attack. Kim's staff separated into two shorter sticks and she sidestepped and smacked the wolf twice as it flew past amid shouts of "Go Sis!", "Wack'em Kim!", and "Nova! Ta henne!" Red marks on Kim's arm showed that she hadn't completely dodged the attack. The wolf whipped around executing a dive and roll that no real wolf has ever done, sprang up inside of Kim's sticks, knocking her backward. A round shield appeared between Kim and the wolf preventing its jaws from closing on her throat but not in time to prevent red stripes from appearing on Kim's face. The shield appeared to melt onto Kim's upper body forming a chest plate complete with a high metal collar. Kim drew up her legs under the struggling wolf and kicked it off. The wolf landed on its back, scrambled to its feet and rushed her. Kim, still wearing a silver breastplate and collar got up on one knee and made a palm strike while the wolf was at least three feet away. It was stopped dead in its forward rush and tossed back a dozen feet. Rolling to its feet, it rushed her again using great bounding leaps. Standing, she tried a spinning kick. The wolf went under the kick and knocked Kim back to the ground. This time, however, Kim ended up behind the wolf with a shining blade at its throat. The wolf thumped the ground twice with its tail, Kim released it, they got to their feet and bowed to each other. The wolf again got a drink of water then started stalking toward Ron.
Fortunately for Ron, Kim's battle gave him time to get some tea along with some aspirin. Unfortunately for Ron, the wolf appeared to just be getting its second wind. He reached for the blue of the MMP as the wolf stalked towards him. He felt the power surge actually lift him up and the battle was on.
Ron felt like hell. He was tired, his throat was raw, he was still a little nauseous and a little dizzy. If it wasn't for the MMP holding him up, he would have face-planted two attacks ago. He thought this whole business of fighting at the crack of dawn well and truly sucked. The snarling wolf circled him once again looking for an opening. Not seeing one, it attacked anyway making an impressive leap at Ron. He reached out with mystical power but the wolf slipped through and four red lines appeared on his face. The wolf landed and immediately leaped into another attack. This time Ron caught it in mid-leap, spun it around and tossed it away like a stuffed toy. The wolf hit the ground with a yelp and rolled over on its back, all four feet up in the air and its tongue hanging out of its mouth as it panted.
With the battle over, Ron settled back firmly onto the ground and the blue aura around him faded. Several blue markers fell to the ground around him. He staggered and would have toppled over if Kim hadn't steadied him. She helped him to a chair by the above ground pool next to the bunkhouse.
"Looking pretty tribal there, KP", Ron said, looking at the red lines on her face, arms, and legs.
"We're pretty much a pair I think." Kim handed him a glass of tea with a little ginger to help settle his stomach.
As Nova had changed from white wolf back to human, Ann heard:
"Whoa, look at that! That wolf is…" whispered Jim.
"really a woman! And check out…," whispered Tim.
"all those tattoos!", whispered Joss.
Ann thought, 'Just shoot me now, they are all three completing each other's sentences.' She wondered if Joss's completion was the same one Tim or Jim would have used.
"Kids. It's not polite to stare at someone's tattoos." Ann said quietly, getting to her feet, picked up her weighted vest, and started walking in the direction of Kim and Ron.
"Well done my warriors!" a naked Nova walked up and took a robe from Evan, turning around to show them multiple blue lines and a few growing bruises on her body before covering up. We can review the video later to check your techniques. I'm thinking a bit of breakfast and maybe a nap for some of us is in order." Nova tossed a handful of red markers into a bucket then knelt in front of Ron. "Ronald, you are tired and a little sick, but you controlled the MMP. You made it your ally and you used it, it did not control you." Glaring at him, she continued, "Unlike yesterday's performance, this morning you actually used it in combat."
Turning to Kim, she said, "Kimberly you did very well. I didn't see any hesitation in calling on the residual power left over from yesterday. Combined with the Lotus Blade, even residual power can make a difference in battle."
"But I've never needed it so far!" Kim protested.
"Maybe so, but better to have the extra arrow in your quiver, so to speak. How did you know to do a palm power strike?"
Kim looked puzzled, now that Nova mentioned it, how did she know how to throw back the wolf without actually touching it?
Nova bent down to give Rufus a stroke down his back, "Rufus, you put that Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog from the Monty Python movie to shame with your leaping and slashing. Well done indeed!"
Nova announced, "I turned on the sauna before we started the morning drills. I am going to use it before my bruised body freezes up from the abuse you three have given me this morning. Anyone care to join me?" Nova started walking to a small building next to the pool.
"Heat! Steam!" squeaked Rufus, racing for the sauna.
Kim held out her hands to Ron. "Come, my barbarian battle mate, let's get these red marks off before they become permanent".
Nana watched Ron and Kim walk to the behemoth and go inside, followed by Ann. Good, she would feel better to have Ron looked at again by a real doctor. She figured to give them a bit of privacy and then later round everyone up and drag them back to the kitchen for some lunch.
Doctor Ann
Ann followed Kim and Ron into the behemoth. Kim sat Ron down on the couch and reached for some paper towels and hand sanitizer to start taking the red marks off her boyfriend.
"Whoa Kimmy, Ron looks a little scratched up, that hand sanitizer has alcohol in it, if you really loved him, you would use baby oil instead. While you get some baby oil, let me have a quick look at him. You might have to go check the cabinets in the bathroom in the house." Kim, seeing no baby oil in the behemoth's medicine cabinet trotted out the door with a "Be right back" tossed over her shoulder.
Ann took Ron's face in her hands and stared into his eyes. 'Hmm,' she thought as she turned his face to the light, 'No trace of blue, pupils look reactive.' Reaching into a drawer and pulling out a table knife to use as a tongue depressor, she told him to "Open up and say ah." After looking at an irritated throat she said, "Gargle with warm salt water to help your throat feel better."
Ron felt Ann's cool, strong fingers touch the pulse points on his wrist and throat and then the lymph nodes in his neck. Seemingly satisfied, she put her ear to his chest and told him to breathe deeply. Ron protested, "Mrs Dr P, I'm all sweaty."
"Sorry Ron, I'm all sweaty too, but I didn't carry a stethoscope with me on my morning run. I was expecting you two to sleep late this morning." Ann could hear that his lungs seemed clear, and his heartbeat was steady, but that was a ruse. She wanted to smell and what she smelled was a faint trace of Kim's favorite body lotion. Satisfied, she wrapped her arms around Ron and squeezed tightly. "Thank you for bringing my baby back to us, Ronald," she said, "and thank you for bringing yourself back to us."
"It was a team effort by a lot of people Mrs Dr P" Ron replied honestly.
Kim came bouncing up the stairs and into the behemoth carrying a bottle of baby oil and a jar of coconut oil. "So how is Ron?"
"Ron looks pretty good, sort of rode hard and put away wet as your uncle Slim might say. I want to do a full exam on both of you later. Right now, you both look tired, do you know where a picnic ground cloth is?"
Kim looked puzzled, "I think there is a big beach blanket in the cabinet, why?"
"Spread it over the bed so you don't get the covers greasy when you take a nap." Ann looked in the fridge. "There is plenty of food to munch on in here. After you clean up, why don't you eat a little snack and take a nap? We will wait lunch until you two get up. Oh, putting oil on your skin prevents the little hairs on your skin from sticking up to trap air to provide a little insulation for your body, so you might want to turn up the heat so you don't get chilled."
Ann looked at her, well not really children anymore, her young rough people? No, they would always be at least her children if not her babies in a sense. They looked a little confused. Gathering them both up in a hug, she gave them a brief squeeze and pulled back. "Lock the door behind me, I think I am going to check out the sauna. Do either of you have a spare bathrobe or something I could borrow?"
Kim walked into the bedroom and pulled something out of a tiny closet. "Yori gave this to me." She handed her mom a yukata with a lotus blossom pattern.
Ann looked at it, "Very pretty."
Kim watched her mom walk out the door. She then closed and locked the door. "So boyfriend, got enough energy for some oily touching?"
Ron smiled at her with a blue glow in his eyes. "Maybe…"
Steamed Rat
Nova found the sauna to be a blessing. Grabbing a large and a small towel from a table by the sauna, she took off and hung up her robe and followed Rufus inside. Using the small towel and hand sanitizer, Nova, with occasional help from Rufus, scrubbed the blue lines off of her body. Rufus pointed out the marks he put on her with pride. It's not every day that a mole rat takes on a wolf and comes out giving as good as he got. Nova scrubbed two red slashes off of Rufus then tossed the towel and hand sanitizer out the door. Turning to the heater, she poured a dipper of water on the rocks producing a cloud of glorious soothing steam. Leaning back to enjoy the heat, she asked Rufus, "How do you think the others did?"
"Kim thinks MMP is kitten. No longer afraid. Not stupid. Will use it."
"MMP is kitten?" Nova wondered whether 'kitten' was slang for 'cool' or something.
"Kim talks to kitten." Rufus explained, "small fuzzy animal."
'Maybe,' thought Nova, 'when I told her to visualize the MMP as a kitten, it stuck somehow?' Nova then wondered how she would tell when Rufus got overheated. After all, he was pink normally. She thought that mole rats lived in hot tunnels in the wild. She needed to search for that nature show she remembered seeing about mole rats.
"And Ron?"
"MMP likes Ron. MMP is his friend. Not his servant."
"And you?"
"MMP is playmate. Will help fight."
"I hear you, small warrior. The match with you was the most interesting of all of them. The way you leaped and jumped made it seem like you were flying. You would have put a lot more marks on me if you were more aggressive."
"Sister wolf is friend. More fun to play. Fun to show off."
"Rufus, why do you speak in short choppy sentences?"
"Don't have enough. Lung capacity to speak. Long sentences. Plus it makes. People underestimate me."
"Are you really a mole rat?"
"Think so. No memories of anything else."
"Well, sister wolf and I are proud to call you our friend."
'So,' thought Nova, 'Rufus can blush a deeper pink.' She fussed with the water dipper to get more steam and give Rufus time to recover.
"How about a drink?", Nova held out a water bottle to Rufus tipped so that a little stream of water poured out.
Rufus lapped some water. "Thank you. Time to cool off. Bye." and the little mole rat squeezed out the door. Nova laid back on the bench to finish soothing strained muscles.
After a couple of minutes, she heard someone rinsing off using the outdoor shower. She heard a knock on the door and a woman asked, "May I join you?"
"Come on in, there is plenty of room," Nova replied. "It is getting a little dry in here, feel free to put some water on the rocks."
The woman who came in was an older version of Kim with blue eyes. "Hi," she said, "I'm Ann Possible, Kimmy's mom. I didn't get to meet you last night."
"I'm Nova Ohlson, Among other things, I am a professor of Oriental Mythology/Mysticism at Eastern State University."
"I want to thank you for saving Kim and Ron. Without your treatment of Ron with atropine and restraining Kim from touching Ron, they both would have died." Ann poured water on the hot rocks producing a cloud of steam.
"We should have been watching more carefully for an attack on Ron and Rufus. I, my colleague Evin, and Yori knew that there was an assassination order out for them."
"Really? Why?"
"It appears that some people were set on Kimberly being the 'Chosen One, bearer of the Lotus Blade, and sole possessor of the Mystical Monkey Power'. We were assigned the task of killing Ron and Rufus and then ensuring that the MMP transferred to Kim."
"You were what?"
"Evin and I are among other things, Yamanouchi graduates. A ninja often lives undercover in their home community. Their duty is to protect community, family and their fellow ninja. Ron and Rufus are considered to be part of the Yamanouchi ninja family because of their deeds. To attack such honorable warriors of our clan would be a hideous rejection of our duty."
"Wait, Ron and Rufus are ninjas?" Ann was wondering what other memos she had missed.
"They are ninja in service, honor, and spirit. They need training to be a full member of the clan."
"I don't mean to offend, but Ninja is not a word I associate with honor."
"I am first, an úlfheðnar, a warrior-shaman similar to a Viking berserker of legend. Evin is my apprentice. Nova sat up and wiped the sweat from her eyes with her towel. "To an úlfheðnar, there are two kinds of threats to their community and family: ones that have been dealt with satisfactorily and those that are still alive. Ninjas typically take a longer view."
Ann took a deep breath. "I had hoped that Kimmy and Ronald would never need to kill."
"Did you know that Kimberly dropped Ronald on purpose when she was being pulled up into the alien spacecraft? Kimberly told Ronald to protect the Han, save the world, and then she dropped him."
"That sounds like Kimmy, thinking of others first."
"Ronald was not happy about it. His response was that the world could burn if Kim wasn't in it."
"That doesn't sound like Ronald!" Ann protested.
"Do you follow the Illuminati betting pools?" Nova stretched a leg that was threatening to cramp. Probably where Kimberly smacked her with a stick, she thought.
"No, I worry that I would be tempted to do something unethical to protect a bet."
"At the very least it is the most honest of polls since people back up what they believe with money to indicate how strongly they believe. I have bet $10,000 that Ronald will live for at least five days after Kimberly is killed by evil action. The even odds bet is 36 hours. Five days is 100 to 1 odds. I figure that even Ron will need a few days to burn the world of evil." Nova grinned wickedly.
"You people are sick!" Ann was stunned.
"Look at it this way, with people worldwide recognizing that to kill Kimberly is to commit suicide for you and your organization, perhaps her enemies will think twice before trying to kill her."
Ann laid back on her bench and closed her eyes. "Nova, what can I do for my babies?" Her voice was very small.
A strong hand gripped her shoulder. "Love them, hug them, and if something happens to Kimberly, give Ronald one final hug, your blessing and a pack of matches."
"And if something happens to Ronald?" Ann nearly sobbed.
"Hug Kimberly tight and never let her go. I fear that loss and guilt will consume her."
Ann blinked away tears and turned to look at Nova, "What bet do you have on Kimberly?"
"Three days," admitted Nova. She wisely said nothing about her bet on Kimberly's vengeance body count being between 25 and 50 kills.
The two women sweat in silence for a couple of minutes.
"So Nova," Ann asked, "Are your thoughts and mental processes the same when you switch to wolf?"
Nova laughed, "No, my mind is much more 'wolfy' when I am in wolf form. Rufus calls it 'Sister Wolf' as if it is a separate personality. I don't think that it is more than two sides of a coin so to speak. I suppose you are thinking of tests and experiments?"
"Well," Ann admitted, "maybe…"
Breakfast Science
James was putting carbonated water into a drink pitcher at the sink when he looked out the kitchen window and saw Ann walking across the yard with another woman. Coming from the direction of the sauna, Ann was wearing some sort of oriental robe that was just a little short on her, not that he minded the view of her legs. She carried her running clothes and shoes in one hand and her weighted running vest in the other. Next to her walked a woman in a light cotton robe with little cartoon wolves printed on it. James recognized her as the "new MMP instructor" from the video.
"Hi honey," said Ann coming in the back door "This is Nova…."
"You are the one that saved Kimmie and Ronald." James took her offered hand in a grateful grasp. "Thank you. We can never repay that."
Nova released James' hand and smiling said, "Perhaps what is in that pitcher could be a start, what is it?"
James pulled a stick blender out of the pitcher. "Just frozen orange juice reconstituted with carbonated water with a handful of strawberries and cherries for extra color." James poured them both a glass. "Got some tequila around here somewhere that would go well with it if you like."
"Plain will be fine for now, thank you very much." Nova took a glass and downed about half in one drink. "Thanks, between the wolf and the sauna, I needed that."
James topped off Nova's glass and motioned them towards the dining room. "Join us for breakfast? People are on various schedules, it has been sort of a continuous meal this morning." Looking at Ann, he said "Chaos and Calvin are out setting up some kind of perimeter patrol. They brought two people with them last night and four more just showed up, Federal Marshals, I think. Slim is arranging for catering or something like that. Just how many rough men do you have Ann?"
"Only one that holds my heart, honey. I want to get showered and dressed for the day, I'll catch up in a bit." Ann took her juice and headed down the hall.
Jim, Tim, Joss, and Evin were sitting at the table finishing up their breakfast. James introduced the kids to Nova, then returned to the kitchen to make some fresh pancakes.
"Are you a werewolf or maybe a skinwalker…" asked Tim.
"like some of the Navajo shamans?" asked Jim.
"You idjits, she's a shape changer, werewolves take time to transform and aren't really wolves, skinwalkers are evil and wear the skins of the animals they change into." declared Joss.
"Joss is correct. I am a shape changer. I change forms in the time of a heartbeat, I am not evil and I certainly," Nova pointed out the print on her bathrobe, "don't change into a cartoon wolf." Nova reached for a stack of neatly folded clothes that Evin had placed on the table and started to get dressed.
"Does your wolf form have the same…" asked Tim,
"mass as your human form?" asked Jim.
"I weight roughly 68 kilos in both human and wolf form."
"But," mentioned Evin, "She has a mentor who changes into an owl and that is a delta mass of 90%…"
From the kitchen, James had heard the discussion of where the missing mass could be temporarily stored and had an idea or two to add. When he came back into the dining room with a fresh plate of pancakes, he saw that Nova was now dressed and eating eggs and ham while Evin was hot into a discussion with Jim on the possibility of a temporal shift instead of a dimensional shift for the temporary excess mass storage. Tim was adding to the discussion while writing their equations on a white board. James placed the pancakes on the table close to Nova and sat down to study the equations. Nova speared a couple of pancakes onto her plate and continued eating and talking to Joss who had moved to sit next to her.
Ann had showered, dressed and was about to finish drying her hair when her phone beeped with its "official business" alert tone. Opening her encrypted messaging app she read:
—Encrypted Message Start—
RE: Your DNA query
Dr A Possible;
I was passed your query concerning the DNA sequences with signatures:
* d5ba9498-b0fd70cee488 (anonymous child DNA #1)
* 946dbf64-4422990f6204 (anonymous child DNA #2)
* 88720ff6-766c88e1af97 (Maternal DNA #1, "Jane Steerable")
* cb4ac437-de8924090e16 (Maternal DNA #2, "Jennifer Stormrider")
I am most curious how you obtained these obviously computer simulated DNA sequences for the two children. The two maternal sources are in our records as part of a proposed gene combination attempt to correct inheritable diseases in maternal source #1 as well as to potentially provide enhanced mystical/spiritual capabilities using genes from maternal source #2. Our records show that both mothers died without producing a viable child and as their spare genetic materials were ruined in a storage unit malfunction, the one trial was never repeated.
Please call me at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
Dr A Hall
(202)555-2368
Combinatorial geneticist Ph.D.
Blue Heart Society
—Encrypted Message End—
The message suggested two things to Ann. First, Ron's curse where nobody could get his name right was either inherited from his mother or was active before he was born. Second, Ron was a Blue Heart Society 'sponsored' child, but the Blue Heart Society had obviously lost track of him. The sum total of those two things was that nobody was looking for 'Ron the special genetic child'.
Ann knew that Amy Hall was a former classmate of James who had gone rogue for several years then recently returned to the BHS to work on a less 'mad' brand of science. Rumor was that she was trying to get past a broken heart from an unrequited love. Ann was betting that Amy had personally done the genetic modifications for Ron. Talking to Amy could be very productive in finding out what the intended nature of the modifications made to Ron's DNA were. But, talking to Amy would almost assuredly let the cat out of the bag that the experiment produced a living child and was a success to some degree. While it wasn't her decision to make, she knew that Ron and even his parents would look to her for guidance. Was talking to Amy in Ron's best interests?