The First Day: Life Changes, part 5
"Right, let's get started. Thank you for coming on a Saturday at this late hour; this wasn't going to wait until Monday morning," began Overseer Peter Brent as the replica of the Osaka Station City water clock that spanned one of the two remaining non-glass walls of his corner office signaled 8:00pm. Outside, the last vestiges of a spectacular sunset with vivid yellows, oranges, and purples could be seen as the already-set sun cast its final daylight-savings rays onto thunderheads gathering ominously from the northeast.
Overseer Brent was a tall, lean man with silver hair and slate-gray eyes, still at the peak of health in his late 50s thanks to a disciplined and decades-long regimen of jujutsu, a pursuit he'd acquired from his wife, the daughter of one of the original founders of the ICEP.
James Montrose was seated opposite Brent at the far end of the large oval table mirroring the one in his own office, with Gerald Oswald and Susan Packard seated at either side.
"Sir, I think this is highly unfair…" Dr. Packard began in her nasal voice, her sour expression reflecting her displeasure at the proceedings, but she let her protest die grudgingly when Brent held up a hand to silence her.
"You'll have your chance to speak in a moment," the overseer said evenly but firmly. "First, I want you all to know that I've reviewed the Crater footage of what happened this afternoon. All of it. I have some questions for each of you.
"Mr. Oswald," he said, turning to the bald, well-muscled black man on his left, "You assigned two armed security guards to the lab in which… 'Camila' is it? was placed, correct?"
"Yes, sir, I did," Oswald replied in the relaxed, low-pitched, resonant voice that was his signature. His voice was so powerful that without raising it he could silence a crowded room. "As you know, standard procedure is to take all possible safety precautions with unknown new arrivals until they can be verified non-hostile."
"Quite right. Can you explain, then, why a new employee was allowed into the lab despite these safety precautions?" Oswald continued, his voice still even.
"Yes, sir," Oswald responded, unfazed. "I've spoken with the agents present. They were aware that the subject was very close to death, and they were informed on the spot by Agent Alexandra Jones that the new employee had been flown in for the express purpose of trying to save her life. He was permitted entry for two reasons: first, to give him the opportunity to do just that, and second, to attempt to prevent a diplomatic incident. He was even willing to risk his life."
"Very good, Mr. Oswald. Thank you. Please commend your men on a job well done. Their good judgment may very well have prevented that diplomatic incident, not to mention that they did in fact contribute to saving the life of the girl. Do you have anything else to add?"
"Thank you, sir, I do. You should know that the men were 'ordered' by Dr. Reynard – citing orders from Dr. Packard, here – not to let anyone else enter the lab under any circumstances. He didn't give a reason, but they figured he must have had one."
"Yes, I saw that. Thank you. Mr. Montrose, do you have anything to add to what you've already told me?" he asked, turning to the big man at the end of the table.
"You betcha. Dr. Lochman's finished goin' over all the data and footage from the time they started monitoring Camila's condition when she got here. She was already in bad shape, and they show her steady decline and the questionable 'treatments' Dr. Packard tried, not to mention some bedside manner that was downright abusive. Not only that, but Reynard's folded. He gave us some recordings he'd made of private conversations with Packard, here. 'Insurance', he called it. Seems he was expecting her to double-cross him. Can I play a part of it for ya?"
"I don't have to sit here and listen to these lies. I'm leaving," spat Packard as she fixed Montrose with a disdainful sneer and rose from her seat.
"Indeed you are, Ms. Packard," Brent agreed. "You will be taken to holding until such time as Legal and I have reviewed this new evidence," he said, signaling to Oswald. "Due to your own lies and recalcitrant behavior, your days with DIA have come to an end. All that remains is to determine whether you will be simply escorted off the premises or handed over for incarceration."
"Do yourself a favor and go quietly. Think you can do that?" asked Oswald, also rising from his seat as he touched a spot just above his left forearm. The spot lit up, momentarily revealing a glowing holographic button, one of an array of multicolored holographic controls and readouts extending nearly up to his elbow. The controls faded as two armed guards entered the office and approached Packard.
"You have no idea who you are dealing with...," Packard said haughtily as the guards cuffed her and began leading her away.
"'Whom'," Brent corrected. "And we will find out. Or do you think we lack the resources to do that?"
As the door closed behind Packard and the guards, Brent said to Oswald, "See that her security pass is revoked – and Reynard's as well. Pick him up and take him to holding, but let him know that certain… 'concessions' may be available if he cooperates further. Conduct a thorough search of their quarters and any areas they have had access to. And start digging into who they're working for. I suspect my predecessor may have had some nefarious affiliations. Let me know if you need any special access. Oh, and if you happen to come across that harpy egg, do let me know."
"Will do, sir, and already underway. Good weekend to you both." Oswald moved to the door, pressing another control on his forearm and giving orders as he exited the room.
"Mr. Montrose, I'll leave it to you to terminate the projects they had going, pending a full review of each. You're to take charge of Research until a new director can be appointed. I trust you can handle the extra workload for a time?"
"Can do. Feels good to finally get rid of the last holdovers of the old administration, doesn't it?" Montrose asked with a grin as he rose to leave.
"Indeed it does, Jim," Brent confided. "Stellar job today, and congratulations on a stellar find as well."
"Thank ya, sir. I got high hopes for Mr. Daniel Carson, yessiree."
Camila stirred, her senses instantly coming into razor focus, as normal. They were never truly quiescent, even when she was asleep, which she had been. She'd drifted off while lying atop Daniel, her head over his heart. One velvet wing covered them both like a blanket. She lay there with eyes closed for a moment, quietly taking in her surroundings. She heard and felt the slow beating of Daniel's heart, heard and felt his relaxed breathing. She breathed in the masculine scent that was so uniquely his. She heard and felt every tiny movement of his body, within and without. He was awake and watching her; she could feel his gaze. The fingers of one of his hands began to rub her ears, setting off little bursts of pleasure in her chest. His spirit completely suffused her like a soft, gentle cloud of the purest white. His touch continuously nourished her in way mere food never could. He had saved her – was continuing to save her minute by minute. She had never known love before, but she knew she loved him.
But now, even Daniel's touch was not enough. She had known this moment would come. The hunger that had been growing within her for days would no longer be denied. She felt it in the pit of her stomach, gnawing at her. She needed to feed. And she was afraid – afraid that he would reject her when he found out... But he was her only hope. She could not have found him after so long, so much pain, only to lose him now; it was unthinkable. She had to trust him. She did trust him.
"I need you," she said in a small voice, wondering if would hear her. He'd been so good at hearing her.
"You have me, Kitten," came the instant reply, the calming sound of his spirit in his voice easing a little of the pain of the fire within her. "I… Oh..., I see. Well, let's find out what's happening with that," he continued, and she knew he'd heard her. He always heard her. Love for him welled up anew and filled her heart to overflowing as she clung to him; so intense was it that little tears began to form.
"Alex, are you still out there?" she heard and felt him ask. She expanded her awareness to take in the tiny beeps and clicks of consoles and air circulators and the low hum of the electric undercurrent, the ambient sounds of the lab. She heard the slightly musical chirp when the large monitor activated, the click and the fraction of a second of static hiss as the intercom engaged.
"Hello, Mr. Carson – Daniel. This is Abigail. Alex had to go off-duty. I'm here with Dr. William Barstowe. We'll be with you for the night shift. Er, Daniel?"
"Here!" Camila felt him raise an arm and move to sit up on the bed. She reluctantly folded her wing and moved off him onto the bed – only to have him gently pull her back onto him when he'd sat up against the headboard. Now she was leaning back against his stomach and chest at a slight angle so that her folded wings would not block his vision, and his arms had moved to embrace her, hands folded about her waist. She purred happily, putting her hand-paws over his hands and arcing her ears toward the monitor. He must have known she needed his touch. She did her best to subdue the fire burning in her stomach while she waited.
"Good evening to you, Mr. Carson," Dr. Barstowe said warmly. "I understand you've had quite an afternoon." Camila saw a middle-aged man with glasses, balding, but with an energy in his hazel eyes. His spirit was a bright, vivid green, though she hadn't known enough people yet to understand what this meant. She wondered how Daniel saw him.
"You could say that," Daniel chuckled. "I've got a major question for you both."
"Before you ask," Abigail said, "we've got some very important information for you. It's about Camila's physical condition. Dr. Lochman has finished going over the data, and there are some things you need to know." Abigail looked an awful lot like the other woman who had been there before – Alex, but there were obvious physical differences. Also, whereas Alex's spirit was a strong yellow with tints of orange and red, Abigail's was a pale yellow bordering on white. They really were quite different.
"I'm all ears," Daniel replied. Camila felt a surge of apprehension – and shame. Daniel was about to know.
"OK, here we go," Abigail began. "The first thing we noticed right away was that Camila's tailspines are missing. You've probably seen that yourself. Here's where things get a little… delicate. Please forgive me." She paused and took a deep breath, blushing, then carried on. "A physical examination showed that the entrance to her vagina is sealed. An internal exam showed that everything is in the right place and healthy, it's just that the entrance is sealed. Finally, we found that the size of her stomach is much smaller than we expected, and her bio-energy levels are dangerously low. We think we know why."
"Cami?" Daniel asked very softly. She began to tremble in his arms.
"I-I-I… h-had to adapt… away f-from them…" she stammered, covering her face with her hand-paws, grateful that he couldn't see her face at that moment. "Th-they were using my spines to… Th-they wanted babies… They st-stopped feeding me… S-so my only food w-was…" She wailed loudly and turned about, burying her face in Daniel's shoulder and neck. "P-please don't hate me! Please d-don't leave me!" she cried out mournfully as sobs wracked her body. Flashes of vivid memories crashed through her defenses, searing her mind and piercing her heart like flaming daggers. The pain, grief, and humiliation were so intense that she was blinded to everything else for what seemed like an eternity. She could feel herself screaming.
At length, slowly, her senses began to focus once again as the pain eased, and she became aware of… singing? No sooner had she realized it than she also became aware of its effect on her. Somehow, it was taking the pain away. Daniel's spirit was intermingling with hers; she could feel intricate swirling patterns, almost like a dance, as their spirits resonated, blended, and became one. She felt herself being healed, renewed, restored. How had he known to do this? Then she remembered that she'd felt this same effect once before, only a few hours ago, like the hazy memory of a dream nearly forgotten. She let the sound carry her, nourish her, nurture her, until Daniel stopped a few minutes later. She still had the fire in her stomach, but all of her other pain had gone.
"I don't hate you, and I'm not going to leave you," Daniel whispered softly directly into her ears. "I love you and want to be with you always. I just have one question for you. Does this mean you can adapt to me?"
"Yes!" Camila practically shouted with excitement. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!" she actually did shout, kissing him over and over, laughing with happiness. Once again, Daniel had taken her pain and purified it, healing another area of her heart and mind in the process. He wasn't worried about her past – he cared about their future. And he'd touched the deepest desire of her heart – to truly become one with him, as her species defined oneness. This meant exactly what he'd said – adapting to him. She knew this instinctively with every fiber of her being.
When she finally stopped kissing him, she realized that his arms were around her, holding her, rubbing her wings softly. She rested her head on his shoulder and took several slow, deep breaths, suddenly feeling tired again. These abrupt extremes of emotion were taking their toll on her in her weakened state.
"I'm going to take that as a 'yes'," he chuckled. "So, how do we do that?"
She looked up at him shyly and whispered, "I need you."
"That's what I thought," he said, chuckling again. "Hold that thought," he said and kissed her forehead. "Abigail, Doctor, is there anything else I need to know?"
The monitor, which apparently had been turned off during Camila's blindness, came on again, and Abigail responded, "Yes, but it can wait. Daniel, before anything else, I want to thank you so much for saving Camila. You know how close to my heart this situation has been," she said earnestly. "What you're doing with her is just amazing."
"I want to thank you for bringing me in on this," Daniel replied in turn. "I don't know if you can know just how much you've changed both of our lives; I am eternally grateful. I think we both are." Camila nodded her head against his shoulder. "Just keep in mind that I can only do this with one girl. So, you said that her bio-energy levels are dangerously low. You know how we need to fix that, right?"
"That's actually the one other thing I wanted to talk to you about that couldn't wait. Despite the immediacy of Camila's need, the only legal way is for you to be married. I don't know if you know, but provisional legislation was passed earlier this week to allow select interspecies couples to marry. The provision is that our organization has been charged with selecting a limited number of qualified and interested couples to participate in such a union for a period of three months. This period of time was chosen…"
Camila suddenly sat bolt upright and interrupted, "Please choose us!" She was looking directly at Abigail, but then she turned to look deeply into Daniel's eyes. "Please?" Her brow furrowed with the intensity of her need.
Daniel smiled and drew her gently back into his arms to kiss her; he then said to Abigail, "That's really convenient timing. And you heard the lady. We'd love to participate, even if we didn't have an immediate need."
Camila held him tightly and then turned back around to look at Abigail. It would take her some time to get used to being called a lady, but she liked it very much.
Abigail was smiling as she responded, "I had you two in mind. You know, Alex was sending me messages all afternoon about how you two were doing. You'll be our first couple, and I have a really good feeling about this. So, the next question I have for you is: when would you like to tie the knot?"
Camila again immediately said, "Today? Now? Could we?"
Abigail laughed, and even Dr. Barstowe chuckled good-naturedly. "In fact, you can," Abigail said. "It so happens that all we need is just to get you two committing to each other on video. Alex played for me what you'd said to each other earlier, and that was perfect, but technically it's not legal because you didn't know about the legislation and there were no formal witnesses. We need every legal 'I' dotted and 'T' crossed. What we don't need for the moment is a justice or someone to preside over this – most liminals don't marry this way, and it was decided not to force our human customs on them. So, if you just say those same words again now, with Dr. Barstowe and myself as the witnesses, it will be binding, and that's all we need for the moment. We can take care of the paperwork and the formal ceremony at a later time."
"Well, that's easy." Daniel caressed Camila's cheek to guide her eyes back to his, then he took her hand-paws in his, looked deeply into her shining violet eyes, and said, "Camila, my love, I give you my heart, to have and to hold, to love and to protect, whatever the future may bring. I am yours for as long as we both shall live."
Camila teared up immediately and almost broke down and cried from the intensity of her feelings. Her greatest dream was coming true right before her eyes and ears. Tears flowed freely as she held his hands, looked into his eyes, and repeated with a broken voice, "Daniel, my love… I give you my heart… to have and to hold… to love and to protect… whatever the future may bring… I am yours for… as long as… we both shall live… I love you so much!" She clung to him tightly and kissed all over his face, crying all the while.
Abigail was crying as well, and even Dr. Barstowe had tears in his eyes. After a moment to regain her composure, Abigail said, "Daniel, that's all we need. We'll give you some privacy now. Oh, and there will be some food for you in the back room if you want it. It will be in the refrigerator, so you don't have to worry about it. Goodnight, and congratulations!" And with that, the monitor went dark.
Camila's eyelids and body were heavy with fatigue, but the fire in her stomach was not going to let her sleep. She couldn't wait any longer. "Daniel, I…" she began, looking deeply into his eyes.
"I hear you, Kitten. You're starving. It's okay if our first time isn't so romantic. We can make up for it when you're stronger." He gently rolled over with her to lay her on the bed, being careful of her wings, then he sat up and pulled off his shirt and removed his shoes and the rest of his clothes. Seeing him like this for the first time, with the potency of his spirit unleashed and glowing powerfully around him, her pulse quickened, and her hunger intensified and spread to other parts of her body. She wanted him.
He reached down and behind her to undo the ties to her nightgown and slid it softly down her body and off her foot-paws so that only her tail was still looped through it. She smiled as she felt his own breathing and heartbeat quicken as he looked at her. Leaving her tail still looped through the nightgown and around his waist, he slid into bed beside her and waited, gazing into her eyes.
Camila moved into his embrace and licked her lips in anticipation. The man she loved more than life itself, now her husband legitimately by the law of the land, was giving himself to her. She rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at him, returning his gaze as she moved her tail into position and opened it just enough. She wanted to watch him, see his every reaction. She was going to do her best to make him the happiest man alive. She smiled coyly and slowly lowered her tail.