Ch 125
John and Cameron took a practical view of mermaid aide stations. While Delilah an Bob were teaching Mers about first aide and how to sew up wounds, he had either Deek or Julie - their choice, both were preferable, to go get medical training at minimum to the paramedic level. Preferably be Nurse Practitioners or full Doctors.
Instead of just at Joan's place, they also tasked themselves,Carol's house, the Marine Biologist's place and the Mers own cavern as places injured mers could go to for help so no matter where they were in the lake, help was close by. Helping keep mers healthy hadn't been something they had thought about, but since mers were people too, they all agreed mers needed a place to go to if they were injured.
'Hospital zone' signs weren't going to do much good under water, so Cameron made a post on the end of Joan's dock with a big light green ball on top of it that even showed up well at night. As people became familiar with mermaids' makeup, another was stuck up on the Connor dock. Later, another went up on the marine biologists dock. Carol was a little surprised that they had real mermaids in the lake, but readily agreed she would participate and began medical studies.
Beside the green ball, Bob made a ladder up on one side of their dock to help mer folk get up and on. He also out a bell just above the water so they could ring it and let someone know they were there. The request came from Ellen, who also was interested in saving other mers like she was saved.
Knowing already to listen to motor noises, the Mers didn't mind Joan's plane on the lake. They could hear it and avoid the surface long before anyone saw it.
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Deek was worried about healthier mermaids. He sat down with John to voice his concerns.
"John, what I'm saying is with alligators being more efficient hunters, and now the mers having tridents to be more efficient also, as well as now not succumbing to wounds, their populations will grow, and the available food source, mainly fish, will diminish, leading to starvation," Deek insisted.
John nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "Right now what is the main predator of fish in the lake?"
Deek shrugged and said, "Other fish. By what we found, only 5% of the catch goes to Mers. Alligators mostly feed off land animals, smaller turtles and large fish that are too sick to get away."
"That doesn't sound like crisis to me then if alligators are better hunters, and Mers are healthy." John noted.
Deek pointed a finger at the table. "Not now, no. From what we found, this lake had been here for a long time. We're talking millions of years. It and it's populations have survived because it is stable. There has been a change in that stability. A few more fish being taken won't matter, no. When many fish are taken, that will matter. The food availability goes down, and the lake will depopulate. It might be hundreds of years from now, but it will happen."
"In a few hundred years, I'm sure someone will come up with a solution," John said. "I noticed Mers, like fishermen, like to take the biggest fish. If the biggest fish are harvested, than means the smaller ones have a better chance to grow," John stated. "That means more fish, not less. Alligators hide the prey they can't finish in the water, don't they? and things like turtles and small fish come help them finish it off? Right now, it's sounding to me like more food will be available, not less."
"John, look at every lake humans have been around. They have been depleted and to be stocked so there is something to fish!"
"Because humans come to get their catches from far away and remove those fish," John countered. "That doesn't happen here. The fish taken feed the lake, and help grow more fish. A mer eats the fish. The mer has to defecate, where do they do that? In the lake. There are fish that feed off that. Do you know why only one mer body has been found in over 20 years? Their bodies feed other animals in the lake. So does anything that dies in the lake. It doesn't get carted away. THAT keeps the circle of life active here. If it ever comes to too many mers, then we can find other places for them. I don't think that will happen for a very long time. Hopefully in the next hundred years we can get people used to knowing mers are alive, and they can find new habitats to live in."
Deek sighed and sat back. "John, We're talking the survival of this lake over eons not a century."
"I understand that. I also understand things change. That this lake has survived, and thrived for so long is a miracle by itself," John told him. "That is why we protect it. So people don't come here to pollute or carry away the very reason this lake is prospering, or disrupt the lives of the mers or the smart alligators. There may be a danger of over-crowding, like I said a hundred years from now. Something else may change, but I don't think it will be from this lake."
"Global warming may dry this lake up," Deek muttered.
"Global warming will also raise sea levels, and maybe put this part of Texas back under water. The mers and the animals in the lake won't be trapped here any more, since the last time the sea retreated" John countered. "Earth changes, living things change with it. Why do you think we are here, and not swimming in the lake with the Mers? The only thing that will destroy life is a severe global cooling and an ice age, whether it be from lack of carbon or another large volcano erupting, or another asteroid hit. As a scientist, you should know that."
"I know with warming and sea levels rising, there will be less tillable land," Deek countered.
John shook his head. "Wrong, with cold areas warming, the tillable land will just be moving north. Antarctica thaws, and people can move there as well as Siberia and Canada. Things will change, but it won't be as catastrophic as some believe. Pain in the ass? Probably. Nothing we can't deal with. Except for the rich folks with beach front property."
Deek shook his head. "You certainly have a different perspective."
"Anyway, about the lake, monitor it and see what changes. My guess? not a whole lot," John told him. With a grin, he added, "Until the sea comes back."
.
Joan had to return to her team. They were going to play Denver, and Denver was a decent team. Coach Benson wanted her back for the game. Ellen even came to see Joan off, and promised Joan she would not try to mate with Bob again. Ellen did hang around their house, she liked the fact they were preparing to help others who got injured. Many nights she stayed in Bob's guest room. During the day, she did what she could to help build the Mer hospital that was down by the dock.
Bob got the kitchen and living room paper up, then he also spent time building the Mer hospital. He saw this as more important than finishing their interior decorating.
One thing that helped was John's connection with the NSA. A doctor had been arrested for child porn. Pictures were found in his house and on his computer. He was given a hefty fine, thrown in jail and the news of the terrible thing he did was on all channels. John got his professional files and found out that he was a multi talented doctor.
John contacted the jail and went go see this Doctor who had images, but had never assaulted a child. The metal detectors at the jail didn't like John at all. They began complaining before he even stepped in. Only the fact he was a top member of NSA allowed the nervous guards to let him in. He also was patted down several times and the warden and two guards accompanied him.
John was led to the cell where Dr. Kimble sat. then man looking up only after the door was opened and John was let in. John sat on the empty cot across from him.
"Heard you're a good doctor," John said.
Kimble snorted. "Was," he grumbled.
"Now you're an inmate," John added. "Lodging at the crowbar hotel, for how many years? After than, you get to be on the list of pedophiles which will be posted wherever you live. That tag will follow you around the rest of your days."
Kimble eyed him. "What do you want?" he asked in a harsh tone.
"A doctor who will keep his mouth shut," John stated. "In return, you walk away with me, and your past won't follow you."
Kimble perked up. He then snorted. "Believe it or not, I will not do anything unethical. No matter what you hear."
"Didn't ask you to," John replied. "I need a good doctor I can trust to keep his mouth shut. I also can't afford to pay the high wages doctors demand. You can be my solution. There are limits, however. You live where I tell you to, and do what I ask to help people who right now, don't have any medical help, except having someone stitching them up who is not medically qualified. You will be bound by National Security law to not say anything to any unauthorized persons about what you do. Looking at your records and profile, except for liking pictures of underage girls, I can find no reason not to recruit you."
"And if I mess up, it's back here to jail?" he asked.
"No, you'll just disappear," John stated. "If you walk out of here with me then your criminal records disappear. You can retire a free man, when we are done with you, of course."
Kimble eyed him closer. "Who are you?"
"I'll tell you if you come with me and be the doctor I need you to be." John stated.
Kimble frowned for a moment then said, "All right, as long as you don't ask me to do anything against my Hippocratic oath."
"I won't." John said and got up. He looked at Kimble's prison garb and said to the warden, "He needs decent clothes."
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With a suit on now, Dr. Kimble sat in the passenger sea of John's car as John left the prison and started home. He eyed John and asked, "So, can you tell me who you are?"
"John Connor. Pleased to meet you, Dr. Kimble. I suppose you want to know what job you'll be doing?"
Dr. Kimble stared briefly, then said, "I saw you all over the news. You're the one who kicked the president out of office. Your wives are those cyborg machines."
John grinned. "They are so much more than that. Yeah, I had to play administrator until a new president was elected. That was for the collection of Governors who are the ones who kicked him out of office. We do jobs for the government now and then. Usually things no one else can. It's one of those jobs I need your help with. What do you know about human evolution, Doctor?"
Kimble paused at the strange question. "I'm no expert. The theory is we evolved from apes."
"And what if I showed you, that theory is bullshit?" John asked. "That there is an intelligent species out there, that biologists had proven we came from them?"
"I'd say I have to see it to believe it," Kimble said, now very interested in this conversation. "I take it these ancestors are still alive? That's why you need me?"
"Correct. See, they have no doctors. They are intelligent and all but human though somewhat backwards. The highest tech they have is the tridents we gave them to help them fish," John explained. "The best medical help they've had is my son-in-law who sewed one of them up. He knows nothing about medicine, but did it so he could save her life. He did save her life and we cobbled together a prosthetic for her. I'd like them to have something better than guesswork medicine to count on. Of course, their location is secret so crowds of the curious won't disrupt their lives. The best guess at the age of this species is 2-5 million years old. And that's an educated guess."
Dr. Kimble nodded slowly. "Have your biologists given this species a name?"
John grinned. "They did! To rise them up out of myth, they call them, 'Homo Aquaticus'. Their DNA, bone structure and appearance looks eerily similar to us."
After a pause of staring at the dash, Dr. Kimble asked, "Mermaids?" in a squeak.
"You got it!" John agreed. he then chuckled and said, "My Son-in-law has also been properly chastised and swore he will not sleep with another Mermaid. We have no idea what the infant would look like or the traits it would carry."
Dr. Kimble sat for a few minutes, then waved his finger as he said, "That TED talk I saw, the Dana girl, she told about them!"
"Yeah, Dana was murdered not long after that," John told him. "We searched for who was behind it. Never had enough proof to rid rid of those assholes. I told Dana to be very careful of what she said to who. Some greedy thugs heard too much. We know she was murdered when they tortured her for information. That is why I insist you say nothing to anyone who's not involved with the Mers. The wrong person hears you, and we'll be needing another Doctor."
Dr. Kimble nodded vacantly. "I take it you have security?" he asked.
"Good security, a small air force and a powerful guard force. By the time we're ten miles out of town, they will know we're coming. Mers aren't the only species there under our protection."
" So, is this like a big zoo or something?"
"Nope, everyone lives like they want, where they want. The kids go to school the sheriff runs the town, everyone is happy and gets along well. No matter what they are. We have events the whole town participates in. Our primary concern at the moment is the Mers."
"I'm surprised you don't have aliens," Dr. Kimble said in a chuckle.
"We do, My son is married to a pair of them. Peggy and Lily. They have a grape farm up the road out of town," John told him. "They are empaths, and can project their feelings a short ways away onto others. They kept Allie Gator calm when all those people were at the house. Allie Gator doesn't like strangers."
"An alligator?"
"Yeah, she's about nine feet long now." John chuckle and added, "Scared the hell out of Yuka when Yuka went to sit on the couch, and sat on her."
"You let alligators in the house," Dr. Kimble said warily.
"Not on purpose, someone left a door open and she wandered in. After Yuka sat on her, she went back out in the front yard where she normally sleeps." John then glanced at him. "Driftwood is not your normal town."
"I should say not."
"After we stop by the sheriff's office so he knows who you are, we'll stop by Sonya's furniture store so you can order some basic furniture for your house. She makes good stuff, but it takes time to make. Once we go see Bob and Joan's place where the first Mer aide station is being put up, we'll get you a car and you can look for a place to put your house. Oh and no need to be scared of Sonya, she's really big, but she's a sweet lady."
"Big as in..." Dr. Kimble prodded.
"Seven foot four. Ever seen Saving Atlas?"
"Yeah, OK, A friend and I went to see it. You're talking that red haired woman. She's really that tall?"
"She is, and one of the best people I ever met," John said firmly.
"She has the giantism disease." he concluded.
"No, she's a Terminator. Sonya is a whole story by herself. She was made specifically to kill. We found her and after much modification, she gained sentience and began to learn and is now a good citizen and has a husband and a child."
"Are you playing with me?" Dr. Kimble asked. "A machine having a child?"
"We got three. Joan, Jackie and John Junior," John replied. "My wives are Terminators also."
"Joan Connor, the first ever female quarterback in the NFL," Dr. Kimble said, recognizing the name. "She's your daughter."
"And our oldest. The teams she's on calls her 'miss dynamite' even her husband Bob calls her 'the Energizer bunny'. The worst punishment we found when she was growing up was make her sit in one place," John said with a grin.
"I thought she played for Dallas?"
"She does, in their off season, she plays with Austin on the women's team."
"Energizer bunny indeed," Dr. Kimble said. "I will say you have a ... dynamic family. What about your other kids?"
"Jackie has taken to fencing. She's opened a fencing center in town. When they were younger, She and Joan saw the Princess Bride movie and loved the scene on the clifftops, the sword duel between the man in black and Indigo. They loved it, and after watching Delilah and Sonya sword fight, they got all the moves, dialog, every part of that scene down solid. That was a problem when they were in school. Sword fighting in class isn't allowed."
Dr. Kimble laughed. "I take it they were hard to handle?"
"We had a few incidents. Mom got so pissed when they would run away from her. Joan and Allison loved for someone to yell, 'Get back here', then take off away from them, giggling their heads off. Joan climbing up the grape arbor, then falling on Mom, didn't please Mom either. Joan knocking the cop down to handcuff him on the side of the road. Joan singing an inappropriate and very sexual song during her Prom. Yeah, we had a few troubles."
"Sounds more like they were holy terrors."
"Naw just exuberant. I am happy they have grown up now. For a while, we were wondering if Joan and Jackie had a competition going to see who could get hurt the worst and live through it."
"They hurt themselves?" Dr. Kimble asked.
"No, other people did. Joan's been shot twice, Jackie got shot, Joan had an underwater fight with an alligator and lost much of her arm flesh, then Jackie's in a plane that's crashing so she jumps out and hits a bunch of tress on her way to the ground."
"I'm shocked they aren't dead!"
"We weren't sure about Jackie. After the plane crash, she wandered through the woods for six days before she was found. She was hurt bad, but she recovered. Remember, they are cyborgs, part human yes, but also part terminator. Very hard to kill."
"What exactly is a terminator?"
"An artificial intelligent computer in a human style body made in a steel based hyper allow bones and internal armor that is very strong. The original terminators were built in the future by another AI called Sky Net that we had to destroy. A few of them came back in time to help destroy Sky Net, so it wouldn't cause a huge nuclear war and screw up the planet. See, Sky Net made terminators to kill off all humans. Wanting more efficient killers, it kept making them stronger, more survivable and more intelligent. Some became sentient and refused to follow Sky Net's directives. Sky Net got rid of them for not following orders. Some got away, and came back to the past to help get rid of Sky Net so the war didn't happen. That's the short version." John told him.
Dr. Kimble eyed him. "These machines designed to kill people are still here, and living with us?"
"Sentient ones are, yes. All the older versions that only followed their programs are gone now," John told him. "Either they have been destroyed, or where we could, they were reprogrammed and made sentient. Sonya, down at the furniture store is one. Mr. Nader at the high school is another one."
"You do know that is much to swallow," Dr. Kimble said flatly.
"It is unbelievable," John agreed. "That is until you are faced with a terminator who wants you dead. Usually that's too late to discover the truth. Unless you have a terminator there to fight for you so you can get away."
Dr. Kimble was quiet for a moment, then said, "I'm going to need medical supplies, and a place to work from."
"You can order whatever you need. Bob's helping build the first Mer aide station down by his dock. I'm sure he'll build it like you want. At the moment, It's just a base and a barn looking structure. I know he'll be happy for the help to get it made right."
John's phone rang. He picked it up, looked at the number and put it on speaker. "Hey Cam. I got us a doctor."
"Yes, I saw. John Henry has all his information. John are you sure you want a pedophile here with us?"
"He was caught with pictures. There is no proof, accusations or even hints that he actually abused anyone. I'm sure John Henry has that information also."
"We will need to be careful with him, John. Eventually Joan and Allison will be having children. I don't want our grandchildren to be at risk."
"They won't be," John said firmly. "Dr. Kimble will be working with mers, not anyone in our family, except for those who want to help at the mer aide station."
"Relay to him, if he does anything inappropriate, he will be dead and his body will never be found."
"That's true, I already told him if he messes up, he'd disappear."
"When are you coming home?"
"In about three and a half hours. When we get to Driftwood, I have a few stops to make, then I'll be taking the Doctor here to Joan and Bob's place so he can see the aide station Bob's putting up."
"We'll meet you there." *click*
John huffed and put his phone away.
"Is she serious?" Dr. Kimble asked softly.
John nodded. "Cameron is a terminator. She goes after a target, and she gets it. She shows no mercy, accepts no surrender, and will hunt you down day and night until you are dead. She's done it many times before. The man who shot Joan when she was on the field playing football was beaten badly, decapitated and his head was stuck on a pole in the desert. The small army he had gathered around him only delayed his execution. Do nothing to upset Cameron."
"She's a one woman army."
John corrected him. "Worse, she's a terminator."
Dr. Kimble was quiet for the rest of the ride.
.
Coming into Driftwood, John stopped by the sheriff's office and let the sheriff know Dr. Kimble was going to be working up at the lake to help the residents there.
The sheriff looked on his computer and said, "A good doctor, and I don't see anything for a criminal record on him. Welcome to driftwood, Dr. Kimble."
Dr. Kimble pursed his lips. "I was set up."
"You were," the pretty secretary said. "But now officially, you never did anything wrong."
Kimble looked at her smiling at him. "You now something about it?" he asked in an accusing tone.
She shrugged "I hear things."
"No record means no problem," the sheriff announced. "Doctor, I know you'll need a decent place to live. The Patterson's over on the backside street have built their new house. I imagine they will be putting their old house up for sale very soon. In case you might be interested."
"I'll keep that in mind," he said as he pondered what the secretary has said. "John, can I go see this clinic first?"
"Let's go."
Back in the car and headed for the lake, Dr. Kimble asked, "What's gong on, really."
John smirked. "You've been recruited by an organization that doesn't exist. As I promised, your criminal record has been erased. Do your job well, keep quiet about what you do and you'll have a decent life. Mess up, and Cameron will come see you. You don't want Cameron to come see you."
Thinking, Dr. Kimble said, "You have a way to hack into official records, that's how you got rid of my criminal record. Which means you had to have gotten into county and state records as well. Possible federal records. Whoever your hacker is, is very good. That may also be why those pictures were found on my computer. But how did you get those pictures into my bedroom. A thief maybe?"
"I just saw you were convicted and looked up information on you," John replied. "I went and got you and had your records erased just as I said I would. That's all I know. All you need to know is this is your life now."
"Recruitment by setups and extortion. Nice job." Dr. Kimble said in a sarcastic tone. He also saw no way out of this situation.
John shrugged. "You can always have those records restored and go back to jail."
.
Pulling down into Bob's driveway, John saw the roof was being put on the aide station. Nana was up on the roof with Bob, handing him shingles and nails as he worked. Delilah came out and grabbed some plywood and went back inside.
"Come meet our family," John said and got out.
Dr. Kimble wasn't in a good mood. "Bob, I need to get more shingles!" the purple haired girl on the roof said. She went down to the edge of the roof and looked at the ground where building supplies were. A pack of shingles rose up and onto the roof. She picked up some from the pack and went over to pass them to the young man. "How did she do that?" he wondered aloud.
"That's Nana," John said. "She's a Diclonius. They have very powerful telekinetic powers. Kaede is another one who lives here. She's another one you don't want to anger. You can tell Diclonius by the stubby horns on their heads. The guy up there is Bob. He's an immortal. He was swimming a while back and got hit by a speedboat. It broke his neck. He was dead for a few minutes then got back up."
"More human offshoots you are hiding."
"Protecting," John corrected. "Governments and the greedy want to study them to see why they can do what they do. Essentially trying to turn them into lab rats. Or cage them as circus exhibits. We won't have that. Here, they can have a good chance at a decent life."
Jackie came out of the building to get something. She waved. "Hey Dad, that's the doctor?"
"That's Jackie, one of our children." John told Kimble, then called, "Yes, this is Dr. Kimble."
Jackie ran over to them. "Dr. Kimble," she said with a blank face. Her left arm then changed into a silver tube. She pointed it at his groin. "Hurt anyone here, and you won't have that any more," she stated.
Kimble backed up. "What is that?" he asked fearfully.
"Jackie! Put that away, and Do NOT shoot it!" John said firmly.
Jackie grumbled and her arm returned to a normal forearm and hand. "Yes Dad," she pouted, the ran back to the materials pile and picked up an armload of long 2X6's and went back inside.
Seeing Kimble gape at her, John said, "Jackie, like all our kids, is a cyborg. Part human, part terminator. What you saw was her plasma canon. Being a hybrid, she only has one instead of two that full terminators have."
Kimble stared at him. He then though about Cameron coming after him and shuddered. Motion on the dock got his attention. A light gray skinned and naked girl had jumped out of the water and was on her hands and knees. In one hand was a trident with a skewered, good sized fish flopping on the end. She called out in a moan of words he didn't understand. She moved her hands forward, then hopped her knees forward, he saw she didn't have legs, but a tail.
"Ellen is a Homo Aquaticus, or Mermaid," John said. "She's the one who got hurt. Something, a turtle we think, took a big bite out of the fluke at the end of her tail. that dark fluke she has is what Delilah and Bob made for her so she can still swim."
Atop the roof, Nana had come to the edge and announced, "Lunch time! Fishy woman got a fish!"
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It was the strangest lunch Dr. Kimble ever had. The grill was lit by a weak plasma shot from Delilah, Jackie's mother. Beside the fish, Bob and John cooked some hot dogs. He met everyone, and meeting Cameron, again she warned him to behave himself or else as she was showing glowing red eyes. To get away from her, he offered to help Delilah get more chairs from the house.
"Cameron... she's a terminator?' he asked.
"She is, and my hero," Delilah said with a smile. "She is also terror to those she deems as bad people, as am I."
He eyed her. "You're one of these scary machines too. You look completely human."
"Most of us do. There are still a few who don't have human type flesh. That is being corrected," Delilah assured him.
"You have built in weapons, those plasma canons?"
Delilah chuckled and morphed her arms into plasma canons and held them up. "Martin likes my canons. The first time he saw them, he went crazy over them. He was impressed with the amount of damage they can do. Arm artillery, he called them." She changed her arms back.
"Those pictures I was arrested for, they were planted on me." he said firmly.
"We had to get you here somehow. Dr. Kimble, those mers really need medial help. We can do some, but if they have real trouble, we don't want they to suffer," he told him.
"So, John Connor did set me up!" he stated.
"No, John wouldn't do that. That's why myself and Cameron did," Delilah explained. "With a little help, or course."
"You don't feel bad about destroying my life?" he asked in a hard tone.
Delilah frowned at him. "We didn't destroy you, only changed your life to help others have a better life. We do what needs to be done. Instead of getting rich doing plastic surgery at a hospital, you're now going to help people that have no other help. I think you know what will happen if you decide not to cooperate."
"I'll be dead and buried," he said heavily.
"No, I'll vaporize you with a plasma shot. You'll just be ashes on the wind."
The factual tone Delilah used let him know he was going to help Mers, or disappear, and from what he learned there was no escape. "Why me?"
"Why not you? There are many other doctors more crucial than you are and have families. Are you saying we should have gotten a brain surgeon with a wife and a few kids instead and ruined their lives?" she asked.
"I'm saying you shouldn't have ... done anything to anyone!"
"We needed a doctor. We get what we need, one way or another," Delilah stated.
.
Dr. Kimble was irritated at being railroaded, then basically kidnapped into this strange place. After lunch he showed his displeasure at the plain wood walls inside the clinic, as well as the lack of air conditioning for bacteria control, and the one big room instead of the inside being partitioned as it should. He was ready to rant about what he needed until he saw Cameron watching him blank faced.
"Tone it down," she said flatly.
He forced himself calmer. On the plain wood table he had as a poor excuse for an examining table, he did look at the prosthetic fin on Ellen, and the bite that had been taken out of her. The work was a little rough closing up the wound, but overall for someone why didn't know what they were doing, it wasn't bad. The same with the prosthetic. Rough, but functional. Living in a lake where alligators and other predators roamed, he did have to agree these rare species did need some proper medical attention.