Chosen Chapter 15: Eight Cabins, a mask fanfic

Chosen

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Chapter 15: Eight Cabins

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When the MASK transport landed at the Manaus airport, Alex Sector, T-Bob, and Duane Kennedy were there to meet it.

Scott Trakker was the first off of the plane, tearing down the ramp as it opened, leaping from it even before it touched the tarmac. He ran into T-Bob's open arms and hugged the robot hard. "T-Bob I missed you."

"I missed you too. But I had to help Alex make arrangements. Agora eu falo Português."

"What did you say?"

"I said 'now I speak Portuguese' in Portuguese. Bruce programmed me to. Podemos ir para casa agora?"

"I still don't know what you're saying, T-Bob."

"I said...Oh nevermind. I know the answer would just be no as always."

Trakker and Hayes came down the ramp. "Duane, I wasn't expecting to see you here," said the first, rather surprised by the appearance of the PNA liaison.

"I didn't want to miss the chance to see this thing."

"Not a thing...a she," Hayes smirked.

"My apologies," said Kennedy. "Alex has been showing me his photographs of her and I can hardly believe she's real."

"Very real," Burns assured him, coming down the ramp of the plane.

"Calhoun! How are you?"

Burns shook his hand. "I've been better."

"I can believe that. You've had quite an experience."

"That I have."

"So may I see her?"

"Yes. She's just up in a horse trough in the cargo bay, sleeping soundly and keeping nice and wet."

They went up into the cargo hold, and right between Raven and Gator sat the trough holding the fishwoman for transport. Kennedy gave a wave to Lopez, who was sitting nearby with his computer on a pull-down shelf. Burns pulled back the canvas sheet floating inside the trough, revealing Melusine. "Amazing!" Kennedy gasped. He sat down his ubiquitous briefcase and put both of his hands on the rolled metal edge of the huge tub. "May I touch her?"

"Certainly, but gently. She's well sedated, but we don't want to wake her up yet."

Kennedy reached in and dragged the back of his hand over her skin. "Amazing..." he said again. "A real monster." He flipped his hand over and stroked her arm. "Just look at these muscles. I'm surprised she didn't kill you and Dusty."

"All things considered, I'm surprised myself," chuckled Trakker. His hand went to his shoulder and he timidly massaged the wounds she had given him. He still wore the sling.

After staring at her for a few more minutes, Kennedy straightened up and wiped his damp hand on the towel Trakker handed him. "I'll be around for a few more days. I'm heading down to Brasília for an office visit there and to clean up a bit more of the paperwork left from the incident in Belém."

"I can reach you at the PNA office there?"

Kennedy nodded.

"I'm not sure how much we'll be able to contact you, or for you to contact us. I suspect we'll be heading to some pretty remote places on this expedition, but we should still have satellite contact."

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Alex drove the truck down to the dock on the Rio Negro where the hired boat and its pilot waited. "You'll absolutely love this. This boat was fitted out for scientific expeditions as well as the tourist trade. So down on the bottom level there's this work room with a large live-well for keeping fish—big enough for a boto."

"Or for keeping fish monsters?" asked Hayes.

Sector winked at him. "Now who would have a fish monster?"

Burns raised his hand. He had been taking the whole thing in a much lighter vein since his return to civilization. Arriving at the docks, he parked the truck and led them along one to a fine looking boat. "Gentlemen, I give you the Red Sunset."

"Oh cool!" approved Scott.

The boat looked typical of the other multi-story tourist boats that plied the Amazon and its tributaries. A lower deck sat just above the waterline, open at the stern with cabins running the length of the ship. The second story held the pilot's cabin at the front, the galley in the middle, and a large glass-enclosed salon for dining and lounging out of the heat and weather. A narrow veranda encircled the second story. The top floor was a large partially-shaded observation deck. There were tables and chairs for the comfort of the passengers. Stairways connected the three levels.

The pilot came out to meet them and Alex introduced him to the others. He was a retired naval officer who took it easy these days, enjoying the leisurely pace of ferrying tourists up and down the murky waters of the Rio Solimões.

The team brought their luggage aboard. And then while Dusty and Maria distracted the pilot, the others wrapped Melusine in the canvas covering her and brought her aboard. They placed her in the live-well and kept her covered. Julio checked her monitors, the readings showing that she was none the worse for wear for all the traveling out of the river.

"I'll bet she's the first of her kind to have flown in a plane," said Burns, stroking her hand before tucking it again beneath the canvas.

"So what are we going to tell the Captain?" asked Julio. You know we can't keep her hidden forever—not with all these big windows in the laboratory."

Alex crossed his arms over his chest. "I gave it a lot of thought actually after I saw the boat, and I believe I've come up with a good plan."

"Oh?"

"We're going to hide her in plain sight."

In puzzlement the others all looked at him, except for Trakker, who snapped his fingers and chuckled. "Of course! The lion whose name is 'Tiger' is assumed to be a tiger."

"Matt, just because Bruce isn't here it doesn't mean you have to talk like that," groaned Julio.

"But first," said Sector, pulling out an equipment case. "Before I forget." He opened it up, revealing a dozen or so black rubber anklets. "Line up, chaps. Everyone gets a tracking device."

"For what?"

"In case Melusine starts feeling romantic again."

Burns sighed as the others pushed him to the front of the group. "Better give him two," teased Trakker.

The luckless agent gave Trakker a look as Sector pulled out on of the bands, thicker in the middle, and locked it around Burns' ankle. "T-Bob, record these for me."

The robot stepped up.

"Calhoun Burns, device number six, serial number 317-897-6."

"Got it."

"The guys are right. Better make it two. If any of us go missing it will probably be me."

Sector grinned up at him. "Stiff upper lip, lad," he said, reaching into the box to grab another anklet. "Calhoun Burns, device number nine, serial number 317-899-9."

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The preparations for departure continued, Hayes heading into town with Márcia and Lopez to buy more groceries while Trakker and Kennedy sat a long time in the salon talking. T-Bob and Scott convinced Sector to let them try out his small boat. Privately the scientist had purchased a small boat and motor to use as a launch while on the trip. "Stay within eyesight," was his father's answer when Sector sent him up to the salon to ask permission. "I know you're wearing a tracking device, but no need for you two to go looking for adventure when we're about to set off on one."

"Thanks, Dad! We'll stay close."

Maria and Burns stayed behind on the boat, waiting for Melusine to wake. Lopez had been unsure of when the heavy sedative would wear off, not knowing how her ancient physiology would handle the drug. And in time she did wake, panicking at first, but then calming on seeing the two humans there, her mate and her friend. Immediately she threw her arms around Burns, soaking him to the skin and holding him tightly. Maria explained to her that the transport had been successful and that they were now 900 miles up the river from where they had been...or more simply—a month's worth of swimming for her.

At dusk the Red Sunset departed, the pilot taking the large ship out onto the Amazon. But the first leg of the cruise was not long. He took them to the strange border between the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimões, the Encontro das Águas, where for many miles the two flow side by side in the same bed, married together to create the Amazon. The clear black waters of the Guiana Highlands contrasted sharply with the sediment-laden waters coming from the Andes. Melusine, now awake and eager to taste the Mother River again, leapt into the river and swam between the two currents, looping back and forth between the stained current from the north and the latte-colored flow from the west. Maria was giggling again and tried to join the fishwoman, but the others held her back. But it wasn't long before the verdict was in. The Solimões River was the right one to follow.

"I guess we won't be seeing Paranari on this trip," remarked Trakker.

"A shame. I was wondering how the jungle there is recovering after being eaten down to nothing," sighed Sector.

"Another day."

"Perhaps a quick pop-in at the airstrip there on the way home?" he suggested hopefully.

Trakker laughed. "I think I could be convinced to make a small detour."

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Burns made quick progress in recovering from his bout with malaria, spending his mornings lounging about the deck watching Melusine swim with the others, his afternoons napping beside the live well while Melusine slept there, his evenings hanging out with teammates, and his nights sleeping with his cabin door unlocked. His three caretakers came in at various hours of the night to check on him. Sometimes Lopez would come in for a nighttime check to find a trail of wet footprints leading to the bed and Melusine bent over her beloved, simply gazing down at him in the faint light. She would smile at the doctor and plod from the room, touching Lopez gently on her way out. A quiet splash would follow as she returned to her element. Melusine had a high degree of respect for Lopez, understanding completely his role as a healer, the healer that had saved her mate's life.

Trakker and his son took up one cabin, and Trakker's "office" took over another, allowing him to take his work on the road. When he wasn't answering emails or making phone calls or studying business reports, he would hang out with the others, drinking iced tea and putting his feet up. And with his usual air of mystery, he would swim alone at night if the boat was anchored, sometimes doing laps around the Red Sunset, sometimes floating silently at the surface. Melusine would watch after him, often touching his feet or the fins he wore, and often swimming beside him, nearly undetectable but always graceful and elegant. Next to Burns, she was his favorite of the men, thinking of him as somewhat amphibious as well.

Sector's scientific curiosity was piqued to extremes, and his immediate desire was to examine Melusine. It took some convincing, but eventually she agreed to examination after watching him handle other fish and river animals. But the condition was that Burns would be always present. It was soon discovered that it was best to let Burns do all of the touching, which she absolutely loved. In his hands she would bend and stretch and splay her fins and gills, smiling at him all the while. When Sector had compiled a huge volume of notes on her physical body he began to tax Maria with questions, gathering up all he could about her habits and diet and thoughts. Sometimes Melusine would lie in the live well, speaking though Maria to the men. Though occasionally things would take an awkward turn as Melusine began to kiss and adore her mate, unhindered by fins and claws and the need to wet her gills every ten to fifteen minutes. One session became quite difficult—Melusine had grown somewhat passionate and Burns had to hold her tightly to keep her "well-behaved." Eventually he had to go over to the live-well and stroke her skin to remind her of where her real body was. "A shame she can't possess Márcia," Sector had remarked at the end of the session with his wicked deadpan.

Lopez, having retired from two weeks of work at the clinic, took it easy. Tending to Burns took little time, so he enjoyed sunning himself, playing chess, and doing some reading. His Portuguese was quite good now, and he occasionally would take Alex's boat and the girls into the riverside towns to purchase fresh food.

Hayes, officially the ship's cook now, received the results of Lopez's food-gathering expeditions, and spent much of his time in the kitchen feeding the crew, Scott and T-Bob often serving as his scullery-slaves. Melusine provided fresh fish for him, brought in each morning in her net bag. And sometimes she would hang out in the galley watching him prepare meals. It wasn't long before he discovered that she liked cooked eggs, and Hayes kept some handy to prepare for her when she visited. He liked her and found her curiosity charming, even if he did have to get the mop out every time after she departed.

For Scott it was just one more escapade in another foreign place hanging onto his adventurous father's coattails. Though this time his father had given him a video camera with the instructions of "film everything—you'll always want to remember this trip." And so he had, recording everything; Sector hunting reptiles and insects and other fauna in the jungle, his father cleaning fish, Burns flirting with Melusine in the river, Márcia sunbathing topless on the observation deck, Lopez telling him to take his camera elsewhere, Hayes tossing pizza dough in the galley, and all of the other moments of daily life aboard the Red Sunset. He too took an interest in Melusine, much as he had with the Dinosaur Boy. Only she was better—more intelligent, more interactive. Swimming with her was exciting. While his father enjoyed slowly twisting through the water, Scott delighted in speed, and the faster she went the more he loved it. He held her tightly, clinging to her at the shoulders, their stomachs pressed together, his legs trailing in the water as she rocketed like a dolphin along the river. And sometimes those curious dolphins would chase them as they swam. He filmed her often, both on the boat and in the water, and sometimes he attended Sector's examinations of her in his makeshift laboratory, camera out and recording the work for the scientist.

Maria had the seventh cabin aboard the ship, having come on the journey without her grandfather, released into Lopez's custody. Apparently someone had offered the family a wad of cash for him not to come, explaining it as the money it would have cost to feed the lethargic but hungry old lump of a man. Maria had not minded and was usually hanging out wherever people were, playing quietly with her doll or braiding her hair. She soon was calling Lopez "Doctor Papa" and Márcia "Nurse Mama" affectionately. Often after dinner she would sit on Lopez's lap and he would read to her from a magazine. When she grew sleepy he would carry her down to her cabin and tuck her into her hammock to sleep. After a while T-Bob moved in with her because she said she always felt lonely at night, and the robot was good company, having the role of guardian and nanny and playmate to Scott so many years.

And as for the boat pilot, he soon got used to the strange passengers aboard the boat, Melusine included. Sector's disguise for her was both ingenious and devious. They had started by telling the captain they were the actors for a monster movie and gave him a good look at their monster. "Here's the zipper to the suit," said Burns, running his finger along one of Melusine's lateral lines. "You can't even see it. Best monster suit in Hollywood." The others stood about trying not to chuckle at the irony. "The suit's hot though and it will dry out. Mel has to spend a lot of time in the water to keep cool." And then he went on to introduce the others: Alex, the scientist studying the monster; Matt, the playboy sportsman who had fished up the creature in the first place; Dusty, the cook for the actors; Scott, the adorable little boy to whom the children in the audience could relate; Julio and Márcia; the local couple who were looking after the cast and crew; and himself as the handsome man who had been kidnapped by the monster but ended up falling in love with her.

But after a couple of days on the water, the pilot had begun to doubt the story. The film crew and director in a separate boat had failed to appear. And the actress playing the monster had never been seen out of her suit. And for that matter, how was she able to hold her breath so long when swimming in the river, and even sleep in the live well in the bottom of the boat, sometimes with her co-star lying on a towel on the floor beside the well. He finally decided that she was no actress in the best monster suit in Hollywood, when on waking one morning, he spied her perched on the rail at the back of the boat eating a whole catfish, innards and bones and all. The man supposed to be the scientist stood next to her watching her eat and taking notes.

He thought about it, and then decided to just keep his mouth shut. Obviously she was not a threat despite her strong physique and two-inch claws and mouth full of sharp teeth. Even the children played with her, and there did seem to be quite an intimacy between her and her supposed co-star.

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Chosen continues in Chapter 16 : "Discoveries"

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M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.

This fic is dedicated to Ben Chapman (1925-2008), Ricou Browning, and Tom Hennesey (1923-2011)

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