Chapter 10:
Everyone wakes up the following day to the wake-up call. Bonnie gets up, uses the facilities, and returns to the bedroom. "Wake up, Marc. you won't like it if your mother wakes you up." Marc ignores her and cuddles into the pillow with her scent on it. Bonnie shrugs and walks out into the hall. Betty smiles down at her as Jack, Skye, and their kits join them in the hall. "You did try, Bonnie; now it's my turn." Says Betty smiling down at her. There is a whine from Bonnie's room as Marc appears in the Hall in a frizzy state. He looks like a giant puffball.
"MooOOooM what the..." "You were asked nicely to get up; as you can see, the rest of the family is here as well. The song I play is the five-minute warning before I do my thing. plenty of time for you to get up." "I'm just a kit. How about a little slack"? "Your attitude says you are mentally old enough to act like a mature individual." Marc huffs as his frizzy state goes down. He turns back to the room to use the facilities. His ears go red at all the laughter at his expense.
Soon everyone is in the DOJO, and the isometrics begin. Marc is good; he only needs a little direction, which his mother supplies. When sparring with Elisabeth, John takes it easy on her, and we wonder why. Until we look with power and get our answer. Jessica and I smile at her. She's only about a week, along with four kits. The new life smell was weak but going to get more robust as her pregnancy advanced. Jessica hugs her and whispers "four" to her. Both know they have four kits on the way. They are power healers, after all.
Marc is still afraid of the shower afterward, but Bonnie helps him. The pool was new to him; he was not sure he liked that big body of water. It doesn't matter; he blinks in and out, landing on everyone's shoulders. He lands on Nick's shoulder, but Nick grabs him and throws him toward the deep end. He blinks out before he hits the water and, popping back in, lands on Nick's head. They both pop out, and Marc takes him out to the deep end, where they pop back in, and he drops Nick. Nick comes up sputtering to see Marc is back sitting on the edge of the pool, looking at him all innocent like as if to say, "Who me"? Not sure he liked the feel of teleporting. Everyone laughs at Nick.
Simon stares at the water with much trepidation. "What's the matter, love"? Simon hangs his head, "I'm scared of the water. As a person with epilepsy, I would drown if I went into the water and had a seizure." "You do know that you don't have epilepsy anymore, right"? "Yes, but the fear is well ingrained." He says this as he slowly steps down into the water. "JJ, can you come over here for a bit"? "What's up, Betty"? "Can you show Simon how to swim, please? He has never swum before." "Sure, can you take my paw, Simon? I will show you the mechanics of swimming." Simon has a little trepidation but realizes that no one here will hurt him. So, he takes his paw. Soon the look of fear is replaced with one of awe. He goes under the water and swims around. He comes up between Betty's legs and lifts her out of the water. Betty screams at her newfound height and then, laughing, bats Simon about the head. Simon has a grin plastered on his muzzle as she dives off, and they both swim for the deep end.
The swim was fun, but most of the adults had to go to work. Skye and Jack get their clothes out of the steamer and dress while the rest of us get dressed. Thomas and Jessica blink back in, fully clothed. Breakfast is a jovial affair, and Miss Watts quashes the food fight the kits were going to start. Betty takes Marc to the storage room and makes him put clothes on. Marc complained they were too restrictive, and going naked suited him just fine. Betty laughs and dresses him up anyway. We get up and wish Miss Watts a good day as we all head out the door for the DOJO. I pick up an oversized parcel by the door as we all head out. Jack takes his car, and the rest of us wait for the cab, which arrives shortly. Mom and Dad informed us that they would meet us at the DOJO.
Vivian gets us all into the DOJO. Skye has had training from the DOJO, so she is recognized as a member. All of us change into our appropriate Karateka. Betty, Mavis, Brian, Jessica, and I join the masters. They are wearing a master's karateka with a white belt and red strip. Jessica and I are wearing a gold sash with a red ribbon. As we sit in front of Mr. Spyroman, I can tell he's not amused.
"Good morning, sir, I'm Thomas, and my mate is Jessica. You know us better as Daniel and Susan Wilde." "You look nothing like them, yet you claim to be them? The sash says you believe you are at the same level as them. What does the red ribbon in your sash mean"? "It means, sir, that we are masters of the discipline of "Dim Mack" This is the art of pressure points on the mammalian body. With power, you disrupt the nerves in the area you are affecting, which can cause debilitating pain." "This is all hokum on your part. I don't believe any of it." We smile at him as we raise ourselves off the mat with power. "We had to do this same thing last time to convince you we are power masters. Nothing has changed, I see." "What do you expect? We would welcome you with open arms. I won't do that. We need proof." "Proof you shall have, sir."
Betty, Brian, and Mavis all get up and go to the center of the mats. Everyone clears off the mats and stands on the sides to watch. They all bow to each other and begin to fight. They go slow until they are warmed up. Then they pick up speed. The masters stare in awe at them. They are going so fast that they are almost a blur. The fireballs start shortly after. Mavis had figured out how to create ball lightning with her generators and showed the rest of us how to do it. We had to beef up the carbon fiber wires in our system to handle the extra power. The claws on our front paws were modified with a high carbon fiber content to act as a conductor. Jessica and I just sat in the air, with our paw palms upright, rotating balls of visible power in both paws. Jessica and I throw the balls into the air, and they go off like fireworks as the three of them stop fighting and bow to the masters. Clapping from the spectators happens as the masters as one stand and turn their backs on them. When they turn around and sit back down. Carl is still not amused.
"All right, I can see that the three of them are masters, but what about you two"? "Mr. Spyroman, we are masters as well. Let us demonstrate this for you." Jessica and I power down to the mats and get up. We bow to each other, pull out our blindfolds, tie them on and fight. Mr. Spyroman, after a few minutes, attacks me as well. With both of them fighting me, I go into my primal brain. After a few, Jessica leaves me alone with him on the mats. I start on him with "Dim Mack," and soon he can't move and gives me the tell. I then touch all the points again and drain away the disruptive power. He gets up with a look of relief as he rubs his arm. Mom and Dad had walked in as Jessica, and I fought. The feeling of pride that came from them was palatable. They change into a Karateka and join the rest on the mats.
"Well, that was very effective. Can you teach us"? I reach into the box I had brought in and hand him three books. "We can, sir, but you need to study these books. They explain where the pressure points are on mammalian bodies. Once you understand them, we will teach you how to use power to disrupt them." "Thank you for this new teaching. This is the first new discipline in over a thousand years. What else do you have in there"?
I reach in and pull out a miniature portrait of Piberuis Wilde. I hand it to Mr. Spyroman. He looks at it and passes it on to the next master. The masters all look at it, and the last master looks shocked and asks. "Is this painting real"? "It is, sir. I painted that in the year thirty A.T.A. I painted many portraits as Daniel, but he was the first."
"How is that possible"? "Jessica and I are more than we seem. Time manipulation was one of the things we learned in the last coma. But we stepped on father Time's toes to save our family, and he wasn't happy with us. So, he sent us back in time to learn not to interfere with time. It was a hard lesson, but learn it we did. We have had over a century to learn this lesson. If you link your paws and hooves, we will show you this." They linked with Jessica and I, and some thought we would show them time manipulation, but we showed them Piberius in action. We showed them the signing of the great accord and our part in it. We lastly showed them the fight on his last day. When we brought them out of our memories, there were tears in the eyes of some of the masters; some had gone hard at our story, and still, others had gone sad. But all understood why we let that lone wolf leave. It was Piberius's last request. We did not show them his gift to us.
"That was quite the story. Where do the two of you come in on the scrolls of this DOJO"? "We are the second scroll of this DOJO. Minuate wrote that one I wrote the first one of Piberius." "What is the first line of that scroll"? I smile at Mr. Spyroman, "The first line reads, "In all of time, there will be only one like Piberius, and I honor his memory with this writing." "The second scroll is a little short on facts. Why is this"? "It was like that because when pressed to tell our story, we switched to meditation to avoid answering. This frustrated Minuate, but we had to keep him in the dark. Who would believe that we were time travelers from the future"? Plus, the future would have changed if we had told him. Some chuckles happen from the masters. "Thank you, was there something else we could help you with today"? "There is, sir. We need testing for all our family members."
The first ones tested were Skye and Jack. They fought the masters separately and as a team. Skye earned a double black belt, while Jack earned a black belt. (Jack was unrated at this point.) Their kits all earned purple belts. Our younger kits went up to a brown belt. John still wouldn't fight, only defend himself, so he stayed at a white belt. Bonnie showed us she was deserving of her black belt. Our siblings and their mates stayed at the black belt level. Though we thought John was ready for a double black belt. Jessica and I had the pleasure of testing our parents. We bumped them up to a brown belt. Mom's fighting style was good, but we still had rough edges to smooth out. Dad was definitely keeping up with her. We then paid the DOJO for the privilege of being tested. Jack and Skye headed home in their car while mom and dad wished us well and headed off in their cruiser. The rest of us waited for the cab.
While we waited for the cab, Betty explained to Marc about personal spaces. He was mortified with himself and proceeded to apologize to everyone. There was some bantering, and a few kits warned him they would grab and dunk him under the water if he did it again. Marc said they had every right to drown him if he did. Everyone laughs, and his head fur gets tussled. He looked like he had gone punk with all the spikes in his head fur. Marc knows that he has a huge adult male to apologize to. He hoped he would take it well.
Once back in the house, we all have lunch. Betty feeds Marc as the rest of the kits nod off in their soup, so we put them all to bed. Betty looks at her husband as they sip their coffees. "So, my love, what do you want to do with your life"? Simon thinks for a minute before responding. "I think I still want to be a doctor." "That's good; I've made you a back story.
You were born in animanial on the east continent. You were born to a red fox; your dad was a sand fox. They don't tolerate hybrids in that country, but your parents convinced the authorities that they weren't together as a couple and that your coloring came from a gene in your body. The mutant gene only expressed itself rarely. A distant relative had the same expressed gene. She was gold in color like you. They verified this with your mom's cousin and allowed you to live. You were picked on as a kit, but you endured it. They were going to refuse you admission to medical school, but your dad's boss vouched for you, and you were then accepted into medical school. It helped that he was a neurosurgeon. You made it through medical school with top honors. But there was a regime change shortly after you graduated. They expressly forbade all who looked different and were terminating them. They found out your parents were married. They were tortured to death for the whereabouts of you. You ran after the end of your parents at the paws of the religious fanatics and found yourself working on a freighter. They wouldn't let you have shore leave at the new port, so you jumped ship in the port of Zootopia.
Thomas and Jessica found you at a small diner not far from Wilde Industries. You were giving an emergency tracheotomy to a diner who was having an allergic reaction to some shellfish he was eating. Thomas and Jessica were impressed with your procedure; it was textbook perfect. They vouched for you to the cops and took you to the clinic to see how much knowledge you had or if it was a fluke. They sponsored you when they found out all you needed was an internship. In two months, you sit and write your test in front of the medical board." "Wow, where did all that come from? And what about my school transcripts"? "I have inserted your info into their computer system. You do exist in their society. You saved a copy of your transcripts in a sealed bag when you jumped ship. You were accepted for citizenship on the grounds of persecution of a hybrid." "Ok, I guess I need to study some medical books. Where's the nearest library"? "No need for a library, love. Davis has all his medical journals in the living room. I'm sure he would let you read them." "In that case, I better get started." "Most of your old knowledge is still valid, Simon. We are modified humans, after all." Said Thomas.
Simon finishes his coffee, gets up, and goes to the bookshelf. He pulls the first journal off the shelf and, going to a big armchair, begins to read. Mavis and Brian head for a nap down the hall. Thomas and Jessica blink out for their apartment. Two hours of uninterrupted time, bonus. Betty comes into the living room and cuddles into Simon's side in the big chair. As he turns the pages, Simon kisses his mate on the top of her head for every page turned. Betty closes her eyes and purrs. Miss Watts flutters around the house cleaning. Vivian went to her chair and, picking up her book, smiled at the homey scene in front of her. But she knew this was only the calm before the storm.
Later, Simon fell asleep, and his muzzle was over Betty's head. The storm starts out small as Marc runs into the room, looking for a meal. He jumps onto his mother, crawls into the carrier, and begins to suck. Several kits scream as they follow him into the room. The full-blown storm is here. Simon startles awake. Betty turns her head, and they both kiss. Several "Ewwwws" come from around the living room. Vivian laughs as she starts a board game with the kits. Marc falls back asleep a few minutes later.
Adults start arriving home a couple of hours later. John and Elisabeth are the first, with William and Amber a close second. Thomas and Jessica blink in as well. Ava and Rick come into the house, laughing at some joke Scott had told. Scott had turned into a gangly teenager. He was almost as tall as his father. Davis and Peter arrive looking a little wiped out. Suzie came home with a bounce to her step, just like this morning never happened. Cindy arrives home as Terry shuts down his computer in his office and joins her in the hall. Several "Ewwwww" happen as they kiss. Nick and Judy were the last to arrive home.
Nick immediately puts his head in the air and sniffs hard. "All right, which one of you ladies is pregnant? I can smell new life." Judy looks with second sight at all her kits and finds Elisabeth is the one glowing. "It's Elisabeth Nick. I can see the glow in her." "Very good, mom. Can you see how many there are"? "Well, if I'm seeing right, you have four kits." "Very good, mom. Can you tell their genders"? Judy falls against Nick's side. "Sorry, I can't; looking with second sight takes a lot out of me." "It's ok, mom. You'll get the hang of it eventually. And for those who want to know, John and I have four kits. Three tod's and one vixen." Vivian bursts out in tears as she hugs Elisabeth. She gets congrats from the rest of the family. Sitting across from Elisabeth, Simon puts his nose in the air and sniffs hard. He gets what new life smells like, but it seems so familiar to him. He shrugs and goes back to his conversation.
Marc wakes up and heads for the facilities. When he comes back into the kitchen, he's naked. It feels more natural to him. In her mind, Betty tells him to go put some clothes on. Marc replies to her in his mind. "He will after he apologizes to Nick." He wrings his paws as he walks over to Nick. He raises his eyes and speaks. "Mr. Wilde, Sir"? Nick turns, "what do you want, you little stinker"? Some chuckling happens. "I'm never going to live that down, am I"? "Are we ever going to forget the day we met you? No, no, we're not."
Outright laughter happens at this point. When it settles down, Marc has very pink ears as he continues. "Sir, I owe you an apology. My mom has explained to me about personal space, and I have invaded yours, and I'm sorry." "Come here, Marc." Nick holds out his paws to him. Marc jumps up, and Nick brings him into his lap. "What kind of mammal would I be if I couldn't forgive so small a transgression? But what you did in retaliation for me throwing you was wrong." "I now know, sir, and I'm sorry." "I forgive you, Marc, but if it ever happens again, I may have to do this." Nick quickly lays Marc on his back and starts to tickle him. Marc is laughing so hard he can't concentrate enough to blink out. As soon as the onslaught stops, Marc blinks out for Bonnie in the living room. The laughter continues as well as the conversations.
Supper was a jovial affair, and the cake and ice cream made all the kits hyper. Thomas and Jessica take all the kits for fun in the pool. True to his word, Marc was respectful of everyone's personal space. But it was Bonnie who tried to drown him for the head-licking incident. It was only a half-hearted attempt. When they all come back up, they head for the storage room for clothes. The clothes they were wearing were put in the steam cleaner. Roxanne starts a fight with Oscar, and we are all entertained by it. Soon all the kits flake out and are carried to the bedroom down the hall. Marc, who had been sleeping all this time, woke up and sat beside his mother. He was the only kit awake.
"So, Thomas, you promised us story time tonight. Are you going to follow through with that"? "Yes, mom, but we need to get one other individual in on this story. Betty, would you do us the honor of calling him, please"? "Calling now." Everyone can hear the call connect through the speaker system. "Bob here, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call, Mavis"? "Sorry, sir, it's me, Betty calling." "You know I can't tell you two apart. Again, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call"? "Do you have time for a story, sir"? "Well, that sounded very ominous. Is it a long story? And am I going to like it"? "Probably not, sir, but it is our story." The tiger on the screen puts his paw to his temple and rubs it. "Ok, fire this story at me. I will reserve my judgment to the end."
Bob, looks around the room and sees new members. "Whose kit is that, and who are you, sir"? He asks, staring right at Simon. "He is my mate, sir." Replies Betty. "The kit is Simon's and I's son." "I can see the father and son resemblance. "Where do you come from, sir"? Betty speaks for Simon. "He comes from the far distant past. He is a modified human. As a human, he got me pregnant, and as you can see, I carried our son to term." "You have always told me we were modified humans, and I now have proof. Can you send me his DNA profile Betty"? "It should be in your inbox now, sir." A look of Surprise crosses his face and then a look of insight. He then rubs his temple again. "This is another time travel story, isn't it"? "It is, sir." "How much has our history changed this time"? "There are some slight differences in the timeline, but only to make it a little better. A higher power approved all the changes." "I wish I could believe you, but again I will reserve my judgment to the end of the story."
Thomas tells Bob the story, from how we ended up in the past and Simon's part in the story. Simon cries as he tells his part of the story. Bob was very interested in this area Fifty-one but was very disappointed it is now long gone, buried at the bottom of the ocean. He was shocked at the news of a new moon base and asked if he could put some personnel on that base. We agreed and told him that his personnel were welcome on board the next time Scott went to exchange personnel. But we told him he didn't have to wait for Scott; he could always use the shuttlecraft we had given him. He grumbled and told Thomas that no one else could fly them at the moment, so he would wait for Scott.
FLASHBACK…
"DOCTOR, STOP"! "I was asked to do this; I need to do this." The doctor sets the syringe down and motions for Simon to come forward. With trepidation, Simon comes over, picks up the first syringe, and turns toward me. "Are you sure about this, Thomas"? "I've never been surer of anything in my life. Thank you for doing this for us, Simon." Thomas hugs Simon and whispers in his ear so low no one but Simon can hear. "See you later, Simon." Simon inserts the needle into the IV drip tube and depresses the plunger. Thomas wobbles for a second and then crashes to the table. He convulses and then goes still as his heart rate goes erratic and then to a flat line. Jessica lets out a whimper and a bark and nuzzles into Thomas's neck. She then licks him on his head and turns to Simon, holding out her paw. Simon picks up the next syringe and approaches Jessica.
She hugs him, "Thank you, Simon, it means the world to us." Again, she whispers in his ear so low only he can hear. "We'll see you later, Simon." Simon then inserts the needle and depresses the plunger. Like Thomas, she wobbles and crashes down on the table, convulsing. Soon her heart stops, and she goes still as well.
Simon picks up the last syringe in shaky hands and turns for Betty. He sets the syringe down and brings her into a fierce hug. Crying, he says, "Don't ask me to do this; I love you, Betty." There are sounds of disgust from the guards and the doctor. "You have to do this, Simon. I told you we would meet again in about four thousand years. And I'm a fox of my word; I will be waiting for you." Simon then picks up the syringe. Betty nods at him as he inserts the needle into her IV. Betty wobbles and crashes down onto the table. Simon throws the syringe across the room as her monitor goes flat line, and a grand mal hits him.
Story continuation…
We all play dead as they make sure we are. When the monitors are disconnected, we then restart our hearts. We breathe so shallowly and stay limp so that it appears we are dead. We are wheeled out of the medical wing and down to the morgue. We are loaded onto trays and closed up in the coolers. When they leave, I open the doors a bit so we can all get fresh air. Late in the night, we get out of the coolers and move around the base. We gather up as many of the pure particles as we can find. Jessica sculpts the particles into a semblance of the three of us. Betty and I supply the electrostatic charge to keep our fake bodies coherent. We then gently close the cabinets hoping they stay coherent enough to fool everyone. Simon tells us they did.
We then go down several levels to a hatch we had seen. It takes all our strength to open the hatch. It hadn't been opened in quite some time. We then close it after us, and Betty releases the cameras. We had made new stealth suits and several more body suits. We were now wearing them and had a small bag with a change of suits for us. This old corridor had not been used in about seventy years. The air was stale but still breathable. We all had to unscrew light bulbs until we found some that would still light up, if only for a few minutes before they would burn out. We had to backtrack a few times for cave-ins. But eventually, we made our way to the old missile silo Betty had found in the building plans on the mainframe. The missile had been decommissioned and removed a long time ago. We started to climb. Seventeen stories up is a long hard slog. We found the hatch, but it had been rusted shut long ago. Jessica and I used power to break it free. Betty made sure that the alarm didn't go off. Figures the alarm on this rusted hatch would still work.
Dawn was only a few minutes away as we started to run for the border fence. We activated our suits as we got close to that fence. We timed the patrols at one every twenty minutes. As the next patrol went by, Jessica and I made power steps to get over the fence. We ran for a bit and then stopped and activated our suits again. The patrol at the fence went by, and after they were gone, we started to run again. We made it to our first watering hole just before sunset. We were running towards Carl's complex as we felt it was our best chance for survival. We fell asleep huddled together for warmth, but in a dream, Gab warned us it was a bad idea, so we changed direction and ran for Simon's place. This was our second choice. Hopefully, we could sneak aboard the X-32 when they came to pick up Simon.
The following day, we tore down a cactus for much-needed sustenance. Then we continued to run. We arrived in Salt Lake City about a month later. We spent about a month going through libraries, saving as much information and stories as possible. But soon, we were run out of town by a bunch of religious fanatics. They saw us as an abomination to God's word. We began to ride the rails and stopped in many more cities. Again, this was for information and stories. Betty had modified a one-terabyte flash drive, which was our storage device. All the stories and information we collected were held in this one drive. It was nowhere near being full. We had gone as far as we could on the rail and had to walk from there.
We were traveling the wilds of Wisconsin just outside of a small city, walking down a heritage trail, talking about a few things, when Betty was shot. "Hot Damn, Earl, I got one. We're going to eat good tonight." Jessica and I froze and activated our suits. "Damn it, Mike, did you see where the other two went"? "They went nowhere. They're standing right there." "Where? I don't see anything." They're in the middle of the trail, Earl. I'll get them." Mike raises his gun and starts shooting at us. Jessica and I slow down time and move out of the way of the bullets; then we move back. In his eyes, it looked like we hadn't moved at all. Earl batted his gun up as the last bullet left his semi-automatic. "Stop shooting, you fool. You'll bring the sheriff down on us."
"Too late, boys, I'm already here." They turn around to see a mountain of a woman standing there with her forty-four-caliber desert eagle pointing their way. Lisa was a very imposing figure. She stood six and a half feet tall and was built like a brick shit house. You didn't want to get on her bad side. "Now, boys, I want you to throw your guns to the left and get down on your bellies, cross your arms on your back and cross your legs as well. Or would you prefer an ounce of hot lead"? "What for sheriff? We were hunting for food, and we got a fox." "Well, boys, we all know that the animals left this forest years ago. What you have shot is a modified human." "Modified human, are you sure"? "From the wound, she sustained unless you were laying on the trail, and she jumped over you. She was walking down the path on her hind paws. When in recorded history has a fox gotten that big and walked upright? You have shot a human. Now boys, do as your told and get down on the trail." They throw their guns and get down on the trail. Lisa comes over and zip-ties their arms.
She then goes to the fox and feels for a pulse. Betty has a weak one. Lisa grabs her shoulder mike and says, "Larry, do you copy"? "I copy sheriff. What's up"? "Can you send a bus down to the Spitzer heritage trail? About a quarter mile in, we have a modified human who has been shot." "Don't tell me it's the Michelson boys again"? "It is. I'm bringing them in." "Right, sheriff, I'll have their deluxe accommodations ready for them." She holsters her gun and returns and hauls them both to their feet. "Damn it, sheriff, that hurt." "It would have hurt more if you didn't cooperate." She then picks up their guns, turns them down the trail, and marches them to her car. She turns back and speaks. "Thomas, Jessica, can you wait for the ambulance, please"? She then turns back and continues to march them down the trail.
How the heck did she know we were there? We drop our cloaks when they are out of sight and rush to Betty's side. (How bad is it?) ("As bad as can be expected. My nanites have repaired the heart muscle damage. And have told them to leave the rest alone. I don't want to be seen as a miracle person now, do I?) ("No, you're right. I can hear the wail of the siren already.") Jessica and Thomas hear a crashing sound as the paramedics rush down the trail dragging a gurney towards them. The paramedics stop dead, seeing two foxes leaning over another one. Thomas motions them forward. With some trepidation, they come forward. Thomas and Jessica make ready to lift Betty onto the stretcher. They lay Betty on her good side, and Thomas stays over her on the Gurney. He pretends to be stopping the bleeding. Her nanites had taken take of that already. It's a bumpy ride to the end of the trail. They all get into the ambulance at the trail's end and peel out for the hospital.
Thomas works on Betty to get her more comfortable. The paramedic stares at him as he does. "Are you a paramedic, sir"? Thomas shakes his head no and enunciates, "doctor." The paramedic lets it go as he is doing everything by the book. The doctor in the emergency room is waiting at the door for his shooting victim. What he sees startles him a bit. Three modified humans were coming in. He had never worked on a modified human before. When they got in, he noticed that one of them acted like he knew what he was doing. They are rushed into the operating room. Thomas and Jessica join the doctor in the scrub room. The gowns and gloves are a bit big for them, but they make do. Thomas goes back in and gets to work. Jessica is his nurse. The doctor is amazed that she knows what he needs when he needs it. As they have no suturing lasers, he will have to do it the old fashion way and sew up the damage. Thomas gets the lung repaired and reinflates it. It holds. Satisfied with his work, he sews her muscles and hide back together. (Thanks, Thomas, I'm going to go offline for a bit.") The doctor was amazed he wasted no effort to get the job done. Jessica and Thomas throw their scrubs in the hamper and scrub down. Hersam wants to ask this doctor who he is, but Thomas turns around and enunciates, "com/pu/ter."
Hersam takes them both to his office and, sitting down at his computer, opens it up for Thomas. He then gets out of the chair and offers it to Thomas. Thomas sits and types away. "Thank you, sir. Is there anything you would like to know about us"? "I saw your work. What was your name before your change"? "Sorry, sir, our original names are long dead to us. I am a qualified surgeon, and my mate is a qualified neurosurgeon. We are just traveling before the end." "The end of what"? "Tell me, sir, if you found out the end of the world was coming, what would you do"? "Find a sandy beach with a few margaritas. So, you are a couple of doom Sayers. "The end of the world is nigh." "We know the world will end in about a month and a half. For us, this is history." "History? So, you are saying you're from the future"? "We are; in my time, we have suturing lasers, and the work on Betty would have gone much faster. But stitching works, just takes longer." Say, I believe you. Why have you come back"? "It wasn't voluntary; we were just sucked into it." Jessica snickers at the bad joke. Hersam doesn't get the joke.
"So, is there anything special Betty needs"? "No, nothing special, but don't try to feed her meat products. The three of us don't eat meat." "Good thing then, all we have is vegetable proteins. We have some meatless burgers, but I find they have a chemical after flavor." "Yes, I find that chemical after flavor as well." "So, you, old saw bones, giving your guests the third degree"? "Daughter, what brings you here"? "Your two-guest dad." Lisa slumps against the door frame and lets out a small moan. "You should be home in bed, daughter." She then stands up straight and gives her dad a look. "I told you, dad, I'll rest when I'm dead." "Just like your mother, I see. Do you need more painkillers"? "No, I'm good for now, dad. But I need to take your two guests from you." "By all means, we are done here anyway. I know they have a mountain of paperwork to fill out with you."
We left with Lisa and the hospital director, who had been waiting for us to go, barged into Hersam's office. "What do you think you are doing? Letting an unlicensed person operate in my hospital." "He knew what he was doing." "That's not the point. You could have opened this hospital up for a lawsuit." Hersam tuns her out as she drones on. He looks around his office and realizes he has nothing to show for thirty years of service. He thinks of what Thomas had said and firms up his resolve. He picks up a few momentous and stuffs them into his briefcase. "Are you listening to me"? "No, after all this time, I'm done with you; I quit." "You can't quit; this hospital needs you." "This hospital can get along without me. I won't be your whipping boy anymore." With that, he heads to the nursing station down the hall to tell them about Betty's needs.
We get in the sheriff's car and head out for the jail. "Hold your questions, for now, Thomas. We will talk later." I shrug and stay silent. We all go into the sheriff's office and sit at a couple of desks. "See Mike, "I told you there were two more. How did you do it"? We ignore him as we fill out the paperwork. Not much has changed in the paperwork over the years. When done, we get back into the sheriff's car and head for her place.
"Ok, Thomas, ask your questions; Gab gave me the ability to understand you." "You know Gab"? "I do; he came to me after my stage four pancreatic cancer diagnosis. I'm going to die soon." "You're taking that very well." "What else can I do? I've had a few months to get used to the idea. My mom died two years ago of the same thing. My dad ran the tests, but nothing came up then. We both breathed a sigh of relief, thinking I had dodged that bullet. But I started to feel bad a few months ago. When he reran the tests, it was already too late. We cried, clung to each other, and eventually came to terms with it."
"So, what happened to the Mickelson boys for them to be soulless"? "Gab did say you two were special. I am now beginning to believe him. To answer your question, I believe they both died at the age of four. Their dad was driving down the road by the lake in a snowstorm when he skidded on some ice and left the road. He got out of the car before it sank into the lake. He ran for the road and flagged down a passerby. It was forty-five minutes later when I arrived with EMS. They got the car out of the lake, but both boys were found in an air pocket in the back of the car. They died of hypothermia. But my father figured he might be able to revive them. He warmed them up slowly, hitting them with the defibrillator at a certain point. He was shocked when their hearts started beating. After a few days in ICU, Both boys woke up. But they were never the same afterward. They no longer smiled and laughed. As they got older, they couldn't get along with other people. They were taken out of school and home-schooled by their parents. Just around their eighteenth birthday, their house burnt down with their parents in it. We could find no wrongdoing on their part, but it was kind of suspicious. Since then, they have lived in a shack down by the heritage trail. Social services visits them every week to bring them food. You just had the misfortune to run across them. But enough of that subject. We're here at Casa de Hersam."
Lisa pulled into the driveway of a modest-sized bungalow. "Come around back with me. I have someone I want you to meet." We walk around back When Lisa gives out a whistle. A bark comes from the woods, and a modified human comes into the yard jumping over the back fence. He is all over Lisa when he notices us. Jessica and I get down on all four to appear less intimidating. He whines at us as he gets down on his belly and crawls over to us. We can see that his head fur is all messed up like it was cut up. Jessica lays a paw on him and has him go to sleep. He collapses, and Jessica checks him out. We waylay Lisa's fears telling her we were checking him out. There was a bullet lodged in the back side of his brain. All of it was bad news. He was dying from lead poisoning. Jessica shows me what she found. It was a crystalline structure connecting several parts of his brain. It bridged his hindbrain functions but none of the higher functions, which the bullet had destroyed.
"You know he's dying, right? "I do; the only thing he ever told me was his name, Nick." "Was it the Mickelson boys"? "Probably, but without killing him for the fragment, we won't be able to tell until he dies." "He hasn't got long to live. "Yes, I know; he's been getting weaker and weaker since the first time I found him." Jessica then has him wake up, and he treats us like a long-lost brother and sister. "Come into the house, you two; I think you could use a shower." We enter the house, and Lisa goes to the couch. Nick jumps onto the couch and, lying down, puts his head on her lap. Lisa pets his head, and Nick purrs at the attention. We head for the shower. It feels divine compared to cold water washes. Lisa knocks on the door, "Hey, no sex in the shower, you two. I don't have enough hot water for that." We both chuckle as we had been thinking about just that. We finish our shower after copping a feel or two. We come out and throw all our suits into the washing machine. We were nude, but it didn't bother Lisa.
Lisa had been making supper for all of us. Nick sat on the floor at her side, watching her. "You know he loves you, right"? Lisa dropped the plate she had been cleaning back into the sink water. "I have been thinking that for some time. Are you sure"? "Yes, we're sure. You are his whole existence right now. And we can see that you love him as well. "I do. He was the breath of fresh air at my lowest point in life. How could I not love him"? "You know you both probably will die at the same time"? "That's good. Who would look after him when I'm gone? That's one worry off my mind." Lisa continues to wash the rest of the dishes and putter around the stove, making supper. We set the table for supper and placed a dish on the floor for Nick. Lisa ladles out three plates of food and fills Nick's dish. He's very dainty about how he eats. We watch a movie with Lisa. Nick curls up on the couch with his head in his tail. Lisa pets his fluffy tail as he purrs. Shortly we all head off to bed.
The following morning Lisa heads off to work and leaves us with Nick. We go to the backyard, and Nick starts to jump back and forth over the back fence. It doesn't take a genius to figure out he wants us to follow him. We get down on all fours and jump over the fence, following him. He leads us on a merry chase, but soon he disappears. We slow down but can still hear him bark from solid rock. We cautiously go to the rock and find it's a hologram. A perfect hologram, just like Ambers. We go into a very unnatural tunnel. It has some dim lights lighting the way. We go down this tunnel until we hit our first hatch. It opens as we approach. There is another tunnel after that. We go through two more hatches before we find ourselves in a big room. There are crystals all around the room, making a tinkling noise as we enter. Nick is up on some sort of table. It looks like a medical bed. As we approach him, "Welcome, children." The voice is very musical and just fun to listen to.
We still don't see anyone until part of the wall separates and walks towards us. Well, flow would be a more accurate term. It goes over to Nick and lays a crystal "hand"? On him. "I did all I could for him, but it's not enough. He is going to die soon." "You did that work in his brain"? "I did. He was almost dead when he ran in here. I repaired his basic functions, but his memory and higher brain function are gone. I recharge the battery in his head, but it will fail soon. I don't have the energy anymore to make a new one. But enough about him, what are you two? By my calculations, the nanobots in your systems have been in circulation for about a thousand years, which I know is impossible. How did you get so advanced"?
We are so advanced, as you put it because we are time travelers." "He waves his hand over us. "Damn, those Menushions Interfering in the natural order of things. I can feel you went through their drive system. Did they send you back"? "No, they didn't send us back. We sent ourselves back. We found an individual in our time who had memories of us in this time. We came back so time would flow as it should." "Very noble, you two. I don't think I could have done that." "What are you, sir"? A musical sound comes from him. It almost feels like laughter. "You would not be able to pronounce my name in your language. I am a historian of the galaxy." "We knew some people who called you a Teton."
He laughs some more. "Yes, I've heard that name before. The question is, how did you hear of it"? "Not important, sir, but we have met the Yabors." "Yes, they were the ones who called us that. But they are new to this part of the galaxy." "No sir, not here. They dragged us to their part of the galaxy. We spent some time with them and taught them what we could." "Interesting, you two are way more than you seem. Have you met God"? "We have. We work under his mandate." "That's good. I believe that when I cease to exist, he will remember me. And I know my time is soon." We looked at him with second sight and realized he has a soul, just a bit different than us. It was very ordered and pulsed with a blue glow. "I believe he will remember you, sir." He folds his head down like he is bowing. "That is good. No one wishes to cease to exist."
"How did you end up here? On earth, I mean." "I ended up here due to an accident. I had the worst luck. I was in this part of the galaxy when I was hit by a micrometeor. I got the warning just before it went through my power drive. It had been traveling at the speed of light. My power plant went down, and my ship started to lose cohesion. Backup generators held the main part of my ship together, but I still made an emergency landing on this world. With the main generator gone, I sent a message for help. But no one has come in all this time. I'm now wondering if I really did transmit a message."
"How long have you been here"? "You reckon time with the passage of your earth once around the sun, correct? In that case, I have been here for close to a millennium. I have watched your people grow and mature over time. I may have helped a bit from time to time. Your people are amazing; they are fast learners, very fast. I have helped six civilizations in another part of the galaxy to uplift. Yours was the seventh. Things were going well until the Menushions showed up. Then it went all downhill from there."
I fought against them, but it wasn't enough. Those meddlesome fools got themselves in trouble when they tried to control humans. Most other species I know have an underlying bond with each other, but not humans. You are your own individuals. As a group mind, they did experiments on humans trying to get cohesion between individuals and to understand individuality. But failed at every attempt. You are just not wired for a joining. Present company excluded. My nanobots were to create this bond but over a long time. Several millennia at most. This underlying bond was to link everyone, not create the bond I see in you two. The link was to make people aware that they needed each other. I have only given them to Oscar Chapman a little over twenty years ago. I invited him to visit a renowned scholar on gene splicing, and he came. He left with the nanobots and a bit of a hole in his memory. Couldn't have him remember who and where he got them from."
"Is this how the hive mind works"? We get musical laughter from him. "My nanobots are nothing so grand as all that. It was only a slight link to stop the infighting that your species has. Think of it as a dampener on your fighting nature. It won't stop fighting, but it makes people think about if it is necessary." "It has worked to some degree in our time. There are no global conflicts in our time. Occasional action is necessary, but not the all-out animosity we see in today's society." "Then I am happy your society is better. The nanobots have done their jobs. I had been warned in a dream not to destroy free will as the Menushions have done. I thought long and hard about this free will thing and came to realize this had been on my mind as I uplifted races. Mine were different from others my brethren helped. I'm sure in time you will meet these other races." "I'm sure we will as well, sir."
"You said you are dying. Why are you dying"? "As I've told you, my generator was damaged by the micro meteor. The backup generators were not made to last as long as they have. The last one is failing, and my cohesion will fail with it. I'm being held together by power. When the power is gone, I will fall into a heap of crystals on the floor." "What kind of power holds you together"? "The essence of all living things holds me together. You would call it life force." "We could give you some if that helps." "I'm sorry you could not supply me enough to stop the inevitable from happening. But I thank you for your kind offer." "But enough of this. I'm tired and need to rest." Nick wakes up at this point and, whining at the Teton, twines himself several times around him. The Teton pets him on the top of the head. The three of us take our leave of him.
"Can I stop you there, Thomas? What happened to this, Teton"? "We don't know, sir, we searched for a week after Nick and Lisa died, but we never found that cave again." "Darn, I'm sure we could have learned a lot from him." "We could have, sir, they are the historians of the galaxy." "Okay, Thomas, please continue the story."
We got back to Lisa's house to find Betty and The doctor from the hospital on her back deck drinking margaritas. Henry gets up, "Nick come over to your father-in-law son." Nick lets out a joyful bark and bowls Henry over. Henry just laughs at Nick as he gets slobbered on. Lisa smiles and lifts her glass in a salute to them. "What are you doing here, Betty? You needed a few more days in the hospital." "I'm here as that witch of a director threw me out of the bed for failure to pay. But I got here back. As I left, I had all the funds disappear from their operating capital. I did not remove the funds just had them disappear for a few days. No more than a week at best." Henry laughs to think she got her comeuppance. Two days later both Lisa and Nick passed on.
Lisa went straight from that lounger to bed. She never left that bed as long as she lived. Nick never left her side the whole time. We were there at the end as well. We grabbed Nick and took him to the meadow with us. When we got there, Lisa had just left Gab's embrace and turned for the veil. "Lisa, no." Screamed Nick running towards her. "Nick? What are you doing here"? "Don't leave me, Lisa." He screams as he flings himself into her embrace. "I have to, Nick. It's my time." "Then I'm going with you." "Are you sure? I mean…." "Where you go, I go. My love for you is stronger than my fear of what lies beyond." "But what if I don't feel the same"? "Doesn't matter to me. I would follow you forever if I can." "Then, my Furry fox love, we do this together." "With that paw in hand, they both step through the veil.
"As I said, after that, we searched for the cave for a week and never found it again. We then continued to Simon's place. We got there four days before the end of the world. Betty and Simon went to town that first day and dragged Jessica and I along for the ride. Mind you; we're not complaining. On the last day, I had Simon block parts of his memories so as not to give us too much information about the future, which is now the past for us all. We dodged a bullet with that one." We Snuck aboard the X-32 and headed for the moon base."
"We have a spaceship"? "No, sir, we don't. We gave it to the Menushions along with the last humans on our world. They were going to destroy us, so we made them the deal with our spaceship." "I wish you had consulted me first, Thomas." "Sorry, sir, there was no time to consult you. From the time we used their tech to the time they showed up, was less than twenty-four hours." "Sir," says William, "we should have an interstellar ship ready in about twenty years. This one will be warp-capable the X-32 was not warp-capable." Why so long, William"? "Sir, I have new ideas I want to try before we settle on the safest design." "I can see your caution. But we already have a design for a warp engine." "Yes, sir, we do, but it used nuclear fusion, and when it went bad, the radiation was quite lethal to all forms of life." "Right, I can see your caution." He looks back at Jessica and I.
"So, what have you changed in our timeline"? "Not much, sir. We brought forward some pollinators, Mealworms, grubs, crickets, several species of beetles, and a few more beneficial bugs. We only brought one form of bird forward. We needed the timeline to stay the same, so the dodo bird was born. We only put them down about a month before they were "discovered". We consulted a being we know, and he helped us design an ecosystem for each region. We could not have done this on our own." "Right, ok, I need a full briefing on what the two of you have done over the years." Betty pipes up, "Should be in your inbox now, sir." "Holy Hanna, Betty, there's over one terra-bite of written information here." "Yes, sir it's very dry reading. You might what some liquid libation to go with it. Might I suggest a twenty-year-old scotch to go with it"? "If you send me the bottle, yes, you can recommend it." "Sorry, all I've got is a fifty-year-old bottle. Will that do"? His eyes bug out a bit. "I'll be waiting for the libation to arrive." "Should be there tomorrow morning, sir. I'll have them deliver it at ten." "Thank you all. I'm going to get started on this report with a little vodka. Night all." With that, he broke the connection. Some snickering comes from around the room at how Betty played him.
"Dad, why did you not tell him the truth"? "Bonnie"? She had come into the room at the request of Marc. No one said anything when she sat in on the last half of the story. "Dad, I could see the "Lie by omission" you did on him, and I wonder why"? Jessica hugs Thomas and waves him to tell her. "Well, little love, we had to omit the fact we did find the Teton again. He was much smaller than the first time we saw him. We helped him on his way to Gab. When we got to the meadow, Gab embraced him, and they spoke in a language I could not translate. I hadn't heard enough of it. As we turned to go, he spoke to us for the last time. "Thomas and Jessica, thank you for all you've done. Take my body crystals and distribute them around. They will find the individuals that best suit them. Do not mourn for me I had a very interesting life and a long one. I'm a little scared about the new journey I'm about to undertake, but I feel we all undertake this journey. Farewell for now." "He hugged us both before he stepped through the veil. That little love is what we omitted from the story we told to Bob."
Amber sniffles as she ask, "Thomas, could you have saved my mother? She was only one mammal in the grand scheme of things." "I'm sorry, Amber, we couldn't. If we had saved her, you would have never met William and have a beautiful daughter on the way." Amber and William sit there in a state of shock as Izzy gets up and lays a paw on them. "Thomas, how is this possible? Amber and William are still fixed." "Izzy, you and I both know that if Ockney wants a child born for a soul he has, a child will be born."
"Right, I thought all celestials had a no interference rule"? They do, but Ockney has bent that rule a time or two. He sets up the circumstances, but it's up to the individuals involved what they do about it. Do you want your child"? Both William and Amber jump to their hind paws with a resounding "YES." They then blush and turn to hug one another. Everyone else laughs at their response. Except for Grandma, she has tears in her eyes and her paws to her muzzle.
"Before you and William go to celebrate, we have something for you both." Jessica reaches into a pouch she has on her side. She pulls out a blue and red crystal on silver chains. "My crystal" screams Amber reaching for the blue one. "I thought it was lost at my mom's fatal accident scene." "It was; Jessica and I got it back from the individual who had picked it up." As soon as the crystal touched her paw, it started to glow. "Amber, you are holding the navigation crystal from the Teton's ship. Your hologram is the beginning of a navigation system for a ship. William, this one is the repair protocols, repair systems, and structures for several ships. Do you want it"? William reaches hesitantly for it. It gives out a burst of red light as William takes it from Jessica. He freezes and gets a look of awe and wonder on his face. Both turn and head for their bedroom.
"Will the rest of us be getting one"? Asked Simon. "Well, all of you will have to go through "The thousand crystal room" when it comes to town. This is how we are dispersing the crystals. Any mammal who freezes and stares at one crystal will get the chance to hold it. If it chooses them, they then get offered a job at Wilde Industries. Few crystals have chosen a holder. We're hoping we get a lot more soon." "Is my crystal one of them"? asks Bonnie. "No love, yours is not. Yours is a natural one mined here on earth. How it does what it does, we're not sure." "It's ok. It's still special to me." "That it is little love, that it is."
After this, the mammals in the room break up and head for their bedrooms. Nick and Judy go into their bedroom. Judy has a puzzled look on her face as they do so. "What's got your panties in a knot, love"? "I'm trying to figure out why Thomas told us about Lisa and Nick." "Can't you figure it out "Lisa"? "Nick"? "Two days ago, I had a dream, and in that dream, I was standing in front of the judge, and I begged him to let me follow you, to be with you. He relented and told me our paths would not be easy. I didn't care as long as I was with you. And both of our paths have been hard. But does it change my love for you? Not one bit. I have loved you in the past, and I will love you in the future. You are my everything." "Geeze, Nick, that was really sappy. But I feel the same way about you, You old horn dog." Nick gets to all fours and pounces on Judy driving her into the mattress. "Well, this old horn dog has found his prey, and he's going to eat her." "Promises, promises." responds Judy. Nick is one to keep his promises.
Simon is the big spoon laying with Betty. Marc is sucking for all he's worth just so he can go sleep with Bonnie. When finished, he blinks out, and Simon and Betty are left alone. Simon thinks about the new life smell from the kitchen and how it was in their room as well. He starts to sniff Betty all over. Betty giggles, "Why all this attention, love"? "Have you hugged Elisabeth recently"? "No, I haven't; why"? "Then why do I smell new life here in our room? It's fainter, but the smell is still here." Betty sighs as she turns over to look at him. "You smell new life because we have a child on the way. I hope you're not mad at me. "But how is that possible? I have been fixed." Betty holds him close, "I lied to you you're not fixed; I so wanted a little girl for our family. I can abort this child if you don't want it." "DON'T YOU DARE! I can love this child as well as Marc. Is it a boy or a girl"? Betty hugs him hard. "We can ask Elisabeth in the morning. She can tell us." "Can we"? "Of course, it's still small enough that you won't interfere with its growth." The lip-mashing starts.