As Audrey sat there, something Mary Ann said last night nagged at her. What kind of guy would want to marry a Witch? Her thoughts immediately turned to her parents. Her mother, Janet, was an emergency room nurse at Harborview Medical Center. Her father, Tim, was a Seattle cop patrolling a beat in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, a rough neighborhood, filled with hard-working, hard-drinking, hard-fighting, Baltland fishermen, lumberjacks and industrial workers from the nearby shipyards and the Boening plants.

As the story goes on how they met, (told by both her mother and father, with differing details), Tim had brought in a critically injured 6-year-old boy to Harborview. The emergency room doctor took one look at the boy, gestured Janet over, and said "Do your thing. If you can stabilize him, we've got a chance". Tim was surprised, as Janet held out her hands over the boy and her ears and tail appeared as she connected to her avatar, a mountain lion. Under the blue glow of her healing magic, the bleeding slowed, his breathing became more regular, and his color improved. Janet stepped back, and the doctor and another nurse jumped in, saying "Excellent work, Janet! Chalk up another one!"

Janet slumped as Tim caught her, steering her to a chair. The doctor turned his head, and told Tim, "Get her something to eat and drink!" Tim ran to his patrol car, and found a stale apple fritter and his thermos Giving them to Janet, she tore into the fritter and slurped down the coffee. "I'd thank you, but they're both pretty terrible," she grumbled. "Tell you what, as soon as both of us are off shift, I'll treat you to dinner" Tim said. Janet gave him a speculative look. "Dinner and…?" she asked with an arched eyebrow. "Just dinner, ah…Janet", Tim stammered, looking at her name tag. "Dinner it is, if I get to pick the place. How about Dick's?" she said with a smile. "TTThat'll bbbee great!" Tim stammered. And as Audrey had heard the story, that was the beginning of the Gains family.

Audrey thought more about her father. Why had he married a Witch? To hear him tell the story, it didn't matter if Janet was a Witch. As a policeman, Tim Gains had a reputation for being hard-nosed, thorough, practical, and skeptical, but with an insight and perception that marked exceptional cops. As a father, he'd been protective of Audrey and her sisters, but allowing them to make mistakes, He was also very strict, and set the rules down in no uncertain terms. That insight and perception he had as a cop, was also turned on his family, making it difficult to keep secrets from him.

The more Audrey thought about it, the less it seemed being a Witch had anything to do with finding and marrying the right guy. After all, there wasn't anything to distinguish her from any other young woman in Liberion, except when she called forth her magic and connected to her avatar. Then the ears and tail of a northern red fox would appear.

Audrey's intrinsic magical gift was a variation of the Magic Eye, the ability to pick out what she needed from all sorts of clutter. Her sisters hated it, and would proclaim loudly "NO MAGIC!" when it came to puzzle contests. She used her gift to great effect in Nam, being able to pick her targets out against jungle foliage and camouflage, and deliver her payload on target. But, if her mother was right, finding the right guy depended more on what kind of person she was, not her magical capacity.

Audrey was pulled back to the present, when all of her squadron mates stood up and headed to the hangers. She checked her watch. 0825, time to head to the Wing Commander's office. Arriving early is always a good thing, especially to receive bad news, she thought. Arriving at the base's main administration building, she went to the top floor, and found herself outside the Wing Commander's office some 15 minutes early. The Lieutenant who served as General Cassidy's secretary looked up and said, "The General will be ready to see you in about 10 minutes, Captain Gains. Please take a seat."

Audrey sat down and did her best not to fidget. Her mind is swirling in a storm of nervousness, tension, despair, anger and frustration. Undoubtedly, the flight surgeon is in there with the General, telling him that Audrey is finished as a flying Witch, and that she needs to be separated from the Air Force ASAP. What was she going to do? Audrey did finish her aeronautical engineering degree, but more as a promotion aid than with any real intent to use in in the civilian world. The Air Force was her world and life since she was 10. There was nothing else, as far as she was concerned. There had to be a place in it somewhere for her!

There was a beep from the intercom on the secretary's desk. She looked up at Audrey and said, "General Cassidy is ready for you, Captain. You can go on in. "Audrey stood up, and walked slowly to the office door. She knocked twice, and a gravelly voice said, "Enter." She opened the door, marched to within 5 paces of the desk that dominated the room. She came to attention, saluted as sharply as she could, and in her clear alto voice said, "Captain Audrey Gains reports, sir!" The man sitting at the desk stood at attention, returned the salute just as sharply, and said, "At ease, Captain, have a seat." Audrey sat in the chair to the left of the desk. It was then she noticed someone in the chair to the right. It was the flight surgeon.

General Cassidy sat, and gestured to the flight surgeon. "Doctor Chandler, can you go over the findings of Captain Gains' flight physical?" he said, in that characteristic gravelly voice of his. "Certainly, General" Dr. Chandler replied. She pulled a folder out of the briefcase beside her chair, and reached in her white coat for a pair of reading glasses. She put on the reading glasses, and opened the folder.

Dr. Chandler's posture changed, and in a formal tone of voice, she said, "These are the latest findings of Captain Audrey Gains' last flight physical, and my recommendations concerning her flight status. Captain Audrey Gains, born October 9, 1950. She has been a member of the US Air Force for 10 years, 9 months. At the time of her most recent flight physical, she measured 5 feet 9 and ¼ inches tall. She weighed 148 pounds. Her body fat index is 18.75%. Her resting pulse rate is 59 beats per minute. Her blood pressure is 116/67. Her O2 saturation is 97.6%. Her vision has been checked, and is 20/15. Her hearing threshold is 47 dbs. Her upper body strength has increased by 13%, and her lower body strength has increased by 21% since her last flight physical. Her reflex timing tested at 9% faster than their last test 2 years ago.

Dr. Chandler took off her glasses and continued. "A year ago, Captain Gains put herself through an extraordinarily rigorous physical training regimen, that saw her running 20 miles a day and lifting weights for 3 hours a day. In five months, she lost over 30 pounds, her body fat index fell below 14%, her periods stopped for 3 months and was going through a physical breakdown that necessitated hospitalization for 16 weeks. During the hospitalization, she was confined to bed rest, and put on a 5,000 calorie a day diet, to rebuild her body, after enduring prolonged physical stress. Her periods returned, and have been regular over the past 3 months. She had recovered and was on limited duty for two weeks, before being certified fit for regular duty. Her weight is still some 10 pounds below what is ideal for a young woman her age, height and build, and her body fat percentage is lower than I like, but both are in the range considered normal. Given that, Captain Gains appears to be in excellent physical health, provided she sticks to her diet, and MODERATE physical training." She said, giving Audrey a stern look.

General Cassidy's face was a stern, unreadable mask. "Did Captain Gains give a reason why she put herself through such rigorous physical training?" he asked, in a formal tone.