Salt and Foam
An original story by Kathmandu [email protected]
This story is copyright (c) 2000-2002 Kathmandu (David White) and is covered under United States and International copyright laws. This story may NOT be posted or used on any commercial or pay site without my written consent.
The following material is of an adult nature/mature theme and intended for adults only (no explicit sex but it is still a mature story). If you are not an adult, if you think you might be offended, or live in a country/state that prohibits such material, please do not read.
This story contains a disaster at sea, shark attack and a drowning sequence; consider this a sci-fi horror/adventure story similar to "Abyss" with a little "Titanic" thrown in. I hope it has its redeeming aspects. If you are looking for hot masturbation material, this probably isn't what you are looking for although it has bit of mature content. (no explicit sex) Comments are always welcome and if you want me to write more, you really should say something, good or bad.
Salt and Foam
Prolog
"Coded priority one transmission, Commander. Emergency code 'Ice,' repeat; emergency code 'Ice.' Acknowledge?" The Utharian Defense Force Commander looked at the second in command with an expression of horror and utter defeat. It was a message he had hoped he would never hear but fate and a desperately lost war changed that. It meant the enemy was overrunning the shinning blue world below them. The plan made sense, the majority of their forces were on the world destroying everything. Kill them here and buy the outer colonies time to defend against the deadly tide. It also meant the death of the homeworld. At the hands of the enemy, it was dead already. "Acknowledge code 'Retribution,' he said then under his breath, "May Gailian forgive us."
The second's eyes grew wide as the implications set in. Still, he maintained his composure as he gave the order to lock down the ship and prepare to launch. They trained for this so it was a smooth operation, just like another of the endless drills. The codes were given and the target selected. The Commander relaxed then, his part was over. There was no turning back now, the weapon was armed and only waiting for proper orbital conditions for launch. It wasn't actually a launch as much as it was just pushing it out of the bay. The ship would be ionized a fraction of a second later as the intense radiation would scour the planet of all life and anything else within close range.
"Transmission coming in from the planet, Commander." The holographic projection lit up with the image of a Gentech soldier speaking, that in itself was amazing but the message was even more incredible. "... found out they have several eggs inside their bodies that hatch after they die, they grow quickly and they have memories of their parent. Killing them only makes more of them. The more generations we produce the more violent they become. We stunned them at Horgan Narrows instead and we broke their advance. Tell all the field commanders to stun, it's the only way to stop them..." The transmission broke off." That was recorded earlier, Commander. Seems the ground forces are turning the tide but the war council still feels the best way to stop them is to kill off their main force here."
"Too late to change their minds now anyway, we can't stop the launch. Be sure to relay the message to the outer colonies, it may help them. Utharia is lost."
"Priority one message code "Star" from the council, it's an emergency code Commander."
"Commander! Incoming fire from the Admiral's ship, 'Bitter Sea,' shields coming up!"
"Belay that crewman, drop our shields. Helm, put our bay doors directly in its path. Time to impact?"
"Twenty seconds sir!"
"Time to launch?"
"Twenty five seconds!"
"Excellent! Put me on shipwide, now!"
"Attention crew, this is your Commander. As you are well aware, we were given the order to launch and true to our clans, we carried out our mission without flinching. We did our jobs too well it seems, for just as we completed the launch sequence, the abort order was given seconds later. We cannot stop the launch but missiles from the 'Bitter Sea' have been deployed and they have a good chance of destroying us before we desimate our homeworld. I have been proud to serve with you these past several months, Utharia is proud of your actions this day! Rejoice in the knowledge that we did not destroy our world as it was intended and sanity still reigns, thank Gailian on his throne. Enter His hall as heroes this day and know that we still have a chance as a people. Our deaths will be remembered always..."
The first missile detonated on the outer doors, the second detonated squarely on the planet killer bomb. The explosion simply broke it, making it essentially a useless hunk of metal. The third hulled the ship, opening it's compartments to the cold vacuum of space while the next three made sure there was nothing larger than a fist would be left. The remaining half dozen failed to impact on any target since it was no longer there. They shut down and disarmed, drifting in a cloud of debris and ionized gasses.
A lone figure disconnected its data interface from the communications station. Already dozens of soldiers were descending on the room to find the one who had used override codes to launch a missile salvo at one of the evacuation ships, destroying it utterly. The figure collapsed onto the floor as the enormity of what had been done sank in and seconds later when they burst into the room, they found the figure weeping.
Chapter 1
"Cozy cabin with beautiful picture window, perfect for a couple who love the sea..."
Cassie and I were finally on the cruise we had talked about for months. We had somehow scraped up the cash and here we were enjoying ourselves. The ship was a medium-sized affair, but it was nice. It even had a tiny pool with way too much chlorine. We were bunked in a small cabin that was well below decks but it had a good-sized window that made it seem bigger than it was. We couldn't complain since we had gotten a good price and it allowed us to book a weekend in Cancun for some scuba diving and snorkeling to boot. Anyway, the idea was not to spend a lot of time in the cabin but to enjoy the ship's activities, the sea and sun.
Cassie and I had been lovers for a couple of years but by that time we were also best of friends. We have a lot in common and we just love doing things together, like this trip for instance. The great sex was just icing on the cake. I was hopelessly, madly and deeply in love with her. I had already asked her to marry me about a year before and to my surprise and disappointment, her answer was no. I was devastated. Her reason was simple; she felt we needed to get to know each other better before making such a commitment. She had suggested we move in together though and see what happened. She wanted us to be absolutely sure because it was a very serious matter to her. When I asked her why she didn't want to get married, she would get a distant look in her eyes and would say there were things about herself she couldn't tell me about because we needed to know each other a lot better. She promised she would tell me when the time was right. I told her there was nothing she could tell me that would make me love her any less. Believe it or not, I really could not have cared less. I figured it had something to do with sex, drugs or maybe an ex-boyfriend. The only thing she would say about it was it wasn't illegal, immoral or fattening. From that point on, I had made it a game to imagine the most outlandish thing she could be hiding and kid her with it whenever we were together. We did move in together a month later and it was the best time of my life. We had gotten to know each other very well in that year and I loved her even more now than before. I planned to ask her to marry me again at some point during the cruise.
I was down in the cabin taking a break from the heat and humidity above decks and snatching a bit of a nap. We had made love last night until the wee hours of the morning and I was a little sluggish after lunch. Cassie was on the main deck by the pool catching some sun and taking an occasional dip. I had stayed with her for a while but I had gotten a little too much sun the day before and I didn't want to burn, so I headed back down to the cabin for a snooze. I had maybe slept for an hour or so when I heard Cassie open the cabin door and quietly pad in. Feigning sleep, I had cracked an eyelid and watched her untie her bikini top and throw it into a pile with her towel on the floor. Although she had her back to me, I caught a glimpse of her beautiful breasts in the full-length mirror mounted on the wall next to her. They were not big by any standard but they made a nice firm, perky handful and fit her sexy 5'9" frame well. Her nipples were hard from cabin's air conditioning and I could see her skin getting goose pimples.
She bent over slightly, giving me a nice view of her curvaceous backside as she stepped out of her bikini bottoms. "Ya know, seeing your body like that, I think I finally know what your big secret is," I said as she tossed the damp swimsuit into the pile.
"And just what is your grand theory, Detective Colombo?" she said as she launched herself into the air and landed with a bounce on the bed next to me. "Enlighten me, my greatest love," she said with a passable Victorian English accent as she wriggled back up to me in a snuggly spooning position and I had soon wrapped my arms around her naked, nicely tanned body.
"I think you were once a truck driver named Bubba and you got yourself a sex change operation. I can see it now, you had a beer gut and a chaw of tobacco in yer cheek," I said as I lifted her slightly damp jet black hair away from her neck and began lightly nibbling her ear.
In a very bad southern accent, "Ya got me thar buddy, ya found me out." She then snorted and then pretended to loudly hack up a lugie and spit. "I had me a damned good surgeon, no scars or nuthin'. Come on baby, give Bubba a big, wet sloppy kiss."
I laughed and then began to tickle her mercilessly. The ticking fit lasted a few minutes until we were both breathless. When I stopped I said, " One of these days you're going to tell me what your big secret is."
"And I keep telling you again and again what it is but you keep forgetting, dearest."
"Yeah, right." I had been playing this game so long I'd stopped caring about what it was, I just loved teasing her about it. As I said before, there is nothing she could say that would make any difference, but I know I would have remembered her telling me. Oh well, it kept life interesting.
"How about some covers and a nap there, detective?" she had said as she snuggled up against me again.
"Be a pleasure Ma'am," I said in a laughable imitation of the famous TV detective as I pulled up the bed sheet and put my arm around her again, just beneath her breasts. She, in turn, maneuvered her shapely bottom to press into my crotch, garnering a response.
"Mmmmm, a man of discerning tastes, always good to know I'm appreciated," she had said in a sleepy voice.
"Glutton for punishment is more like it," in an equally sleepy voice. I remember her smell as I drifted off to sleep; sweat, cocoa butter lotion, just a tinge of chlorine from the pool and her slightly damp hair.
I awoke a couple of hours later to find myself alone in the bed. I heard the shower running so I got up and walked into the bathroom to relieve the pressure in my bladder. I passed by the growing pile of dirty clothes and added my underwear to it. As I walked into the bathroom I noticed Cassie's blurred shape through the shower stall door, and realized there was something different about it. "Honey, you ok? You want some help in there, scrub your back maybe?"
"OOH, that would be nice."
"Ok, just a sec," I said as I stood over the toilet and relieved myself. I looked at the blurry shape through the door one more time and it looked roughly Cassie shaped again. 'Odd play of light,' I had thought to myself. I finished my business then opened the shower door and stepped in. The warm water felt wonderful and Cassie's wet, nude body held my full attention. I took and lathered up the scrubbing sponge she handed me and I began to slowly rub her back as she let the water spray onto her face and neck. I washed her slowly and sensually, just the way she liked it. The result of such attention was usually a round or two of warm steamy sex, and this time was no exception. Once our passions were sated, we finished our shower and caught our breath.
While we were rinsing off she had said, "You know Gary, I'm famished. I need food. You are a great lover, babe, but nothing satisfies me like a big, long, warm piece of bloody meat," Laughing, I grabbed a couple of towels and we dried each other off. My girl had no fears of appearing "less than dainty" and would tear into an extra rare New York strip that would make a US Marine wince. There have been many times I would have to remind her to wipe the blood running from her lips as I'm eating my salad and medium well sirloin. I still find it kind of sexy in a primal sort of way.
"We'll get dressed and see what we can scare up, how's that?" That was one of her ways that took me a while to get used to. She could go days without eating a thing, then eat like a hungry lion at the free zebra buffet. Now was one of those times, she would actually get sick if she didn't eat soon after she got that way. She said it was just the way her metabolism was.
"Sounds like a plan," she said as she toweled her hair then wrapped it around her head like a turban. I went over to the sink and started shaving. As I scraped the whiskers and shaving cream from my face, I watched her put on her bra and matching black lace panties in the mirror above the sink. I also caught her looking at my firm buttocks as I
stood there naked, shaving. God, I love that crazy girl.
That's when everything was suddenly slammed into total chaos. There was a deep rumble somewhere below us in the bowels of the ship and then there was the explosion. It picked me up and threw me into the shower stall door, shattering it and slicing up my arm on ragged chunks of broken plastic. As I lay there stunned, I heard the sound of tearing metal as the hull buckled and shook. I heard Cassie let out a curse in the other room that was suddenly cut off. That cleared the cobwebs from my head and I scrambled up from the deck, noticing the angle of the floor and the closeness of the water in the thick Plexiglas window as I stumbled into the main cabin. The window had survived undamaged but the hull surrounding it was bent and buckled. The cabin's deck was bent up as well and there were small gaps and cracks in the deck plating under the carpet. I looked over the wrecked room and yelled, "Cassie!" I heard her mumble something near the window, somewhere under the mess that used to be the bed. It had broken from its mountings and had slid over to the wall in a heap. I tore through the mattresses and debris and found Cassie laying there, mostly in one piece. "Cassie, are you hurt?" She opened her eyes and looked up at me.
"I think I'll live, just weak. Damn, I'm starving. What the hell happened?" She lifted herself to a sitting position with my help and looked around. Her eyebrows shot up as she realized how badly the ship was listing. The sound of screaming, crashing furnishings and smashing glass was almost deafening. She looked out the window and noticed she was looking almost straight down to the water a few meters below. "Nice view," she said without the slightest bit of fear in her voice. "Gary, we have got to get out of this cabin and help other people get off this ship. This tub is sinking like a stone."
"Yeah, sure, I guess. Just saving ourselves might be a bit of a problem as it is though." I had said with just a hint of sarcasm. Cassie had said she was some sort of a nurse and a paramedic before she met me and her instincts were showing through. On the other hand, I was becoming truly afraid. I grabbed a pair of shorts from the floor and Cassie found a pair of jeans and we both dressed quickly. I started to climb up the slanting deck to the door, as did Cassie. I reached the door first and pulled. It was stuck. I pulled again but it wouldn't move. I frantically looked at the door and found the problem. The doorframe was bent and the deck plates were buckled, effectively sealing the door. Because the room had the big window in it, the door was required to be a metal, waterproof affair to prevent flooding if the window broke in rough weather. It was apparently the lid to our coffin now. The bulkheads were also steel plate and waterproof. I looked around and noticed the air vent. Damn, it was way too small and I couldn't reach it anyway. I was starting to panic when the ship shuttered and listed even farther. I was still holding onto the doorknob when the floor went out from under me and I fell straight down onto the Plexiglas window. I lay there stunned looking down to the water. I could already see people in the water, some were floating lifeless, and others were trying desperately to swim away from the doomed ship. I noticed a body floating face up just beneath the crystal clear water under the window. It was our cabin steward, Carl. He looked so peaceful. 'I suppose I'll look that way here in a few minutes,' I thought as I passed out.
"Gary, wake up honey. I need something to eat." The cobwebs were back with a vengeance. I couldn't remember where I was or anything. I did remember a candy bar though. Cassie was sounding desperate, like she sometimes did when she was really bad off. "Cassie, I think there is a Snickers in your camera bag." I said groggily, "I thought you wanted to go get something to eat."
"Yes dear, but things have changed," she said as she rummaged through her bag. "Ah, found it!" she exclaimed, "Gary we have a problem, you need to wake up." She tore into the candy bar and ate it in one bite. "That will have to do." She said as she swallowed it whole.
I sat up and looked around, remembering just what kind of deep kim chee we were in. The water was at the window now and would be under in a minute or two. "My god, what are we going to do Cassie?" I began to shake. Real fear gripped me and I began to panic. Water trickled into the cabin from the gaps in the deck plates. Cassie walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders and we held each other for a few seconds, letting the water come up to our calves.
"Gary, I know this is going to be hard on you and there is nothing I can do. I don't have the strength to do any more. I am sorry Gary, normally this wouldn't be a problem."
"What the hell are you talking about? We are both going to drown like rats in a cage and you say it's going to be hardest on me. What...?"
"Hush, We don't have time. Just promise to hold me as long as possible and don't leave me alone when the time comes, honey. Don't let me float away. Swear you will not let go of me, swear it."
I was trembling and not thinking too clearly, but I remember promising her that much. Letting go of her was the last thing I wanted.
She grabbed both of my ears in her hands and looked straight into my soul and said, "Gary, listen to me. Don't torture yourself, accept the sea. There is no reason to fight it. I can't stand the thought of you suffering. Please Gary, promise me. The fear is the worst part of it."
I had no idea what the hell she was talking about. She wanted me to drown myself I guess. The water was up to our necks and we started to float and tread water. I was terrified as we drifted up toward the wall with the door. I held onto her and began to shake uncontrollably. "I promise Cassie, just don't leave me," I sobbed.
"I will always be with you." She put her lips to mine and kissed me deeply. As we kissed, the top of the cabin bushed my head. I closed my eyes and desperately returned her kiss. She pulled away, and said, "Just remember to hold on to me as long as you can and don't fight the sea, accept it. It will only make you suffer for no reason. You promised me, I expect you to keep your word." She paused for just a second and said, "I love you Gary."
With that and a peck on the cheek, she lay back in the water and closed her eyes. I held onto her and began to feel very, very alone. She let out her breath and slipped under. I began to tremble even more. I felt something move and I realized it was Cassie's hand. She reached out and took mine in hers and squeezed. I felt a whole lot better then, for
just a moment anyway. Her hand trembled a little then just went limp and I began screaming for help. My God, what had she done! In my panic, I pounded on the wall until my fists were bloody. There was just a narrow pocket of air left and I had to lie back to keep my nose and mouth above water. Soon though, that began to leak away. I took a deep breath just before the pocket disappeared. I had Cassie's limp body in my left arm and I swam to the door. I tried it again out of desperation but it wouldn't budge. I looked around the cabin but all I could see was a blue blur and a lot of junk floating around me. I drifted there knowing my lungs wouldn't hold out for long as my heart pounded madly in my chest. After maybe thirty seconds or so, my lungs were beginning to burn and the need to breathe was beginning to become more urgent. I pulled Cassie to me and I wrapped her in my arms and I held on as tight as I could. I let out some of the air in my burning lungs and we both sank down to the window. I fought to keep the remaining air in my lungs, my chest and diaphragm heaving, trying to force me to breathe. The fire red edges of panic began to tear my mind as I thrashed in the water.
I then remembered the promise I had made to Cassie and I just relaxed. About that time I felt Cassie move a little, I couldn't be sure. I wasn't thinking clearly at that point. I could feel my arms getting numb so I shoved my left arm into Cassie's jeans so that I could keep my promise and not let her float away. It was a funny feeling at that point; everything seemed distant, like it was happening to someone else. With my strength gone and about to blackout anyway, I exhaled the remaining air from my lungs watching it bubble away in a silvery stream. Soon it was gone and I let the sea enter my nose and sinuses since I had no air to keep it out. Funny, it didn't burn like freshwater usually did.
Not being able to resist anymore, I breathed in a small amount of water to cool the fire in my aching lungs that instantly caused me to cough out a small cloud of tiny bubbles, expelling what little air remained in my tortured lungs. I then reflexively pulled in a deep breath of seawater that at first seemed cold but quickly warmed as it invaded my body. It felt thick and heavy as it coursed down my throat and into my lungs. Since there was no air for buoyancy, we sank down and I settled onto my back with Cassie's lifeless body next to me. The water brought with it a sense of relief and stillness as my vision dimmed. My lungs no longer ached with the need to breathe; it was over. I felt my heart slow it's mad beating and soon paralysis overcame my body as it began the quick, inevitable spiral toward death. I knew I shouldn't have fought it so hard, it didn't hurt really, rather peaceful in fact. Damn, I should have listened to her, my fear was completely gone as I accepted the sea. I lost consciousness as I drew in a second breath of cold salt water.
Chapter 2
"...in an octopus's garden, in the shade."
I dreamed I was floating in the pool back home. Cassie was there, splashing and carrying on. I dreamed I was at work, trying to barcode scan a live chicken (I dream this one often for some reason, comes from managing a grocery store maybe). Later I dreamed I hurt my back somehow but the pain was gone quickly. I remember thinking how can I be dreaming if I'm dead? Strange.
Usually when I question my dreams, I wake up and this was no exception. I woke feeling slow and lethargic as I opened my eyes and looked around. Everything was in sharp focus but dark. A little light filtered in through the window but it was just a meager blue glow. I moved a little and noticed I was floating. My eyes opened wide with fear right then as I realized I was still in our cabin, very deep underwater. The ship had straightened itself and was now sitting upright on the bottom of the ocean. It was then I noticed my breathing. It was slow, regular and just a little labored, just like you would expect from breathing seawater. "Oh shi..." I think I passed out.
I woke up a bit later and found to my horror I was still sucking seawater like a fish. In time though, my horror turned to boredom as I realized I wasn't going to die from this weird situation, not yet anyway. I took a moment to check to see if I hurt anywhere or if anything was broken. I couldn't feel anything wrong except I was weak and I seemed to move in slow motion, like I had the flu or something. I decided to look around and take stock of my rather miraculous situation. As I moved around, I sensed something behind me. I reached around and felt with my hand and found something attached to the upper part of my back, right between the shoulder blades. I spun around slowly and found some sort of hose or tube running behind me and I could feel it was firmly attached. It wasn't very big, maybe 3/4 of an inch in diameter. I pulled on it a little and felt some pain then, best to leave it alone, I thought. I then followed it to see where it ended. I moved around the waterlogged mattresses and other floating junk until I found the hose's source. It was Cassie, or at least I thought it was Cassie. It was some kind of creature that floated there. It was vaguely human shaped with two legs that ended with small but graceful fins or flippers. It was wearing Cassie's jeans and black lace bra. Its body was covered in a glossy black fur, like a mink or otter. Her hair was the same midnight black it normally was but the face was totally alien. It had a smooth, streamlined fur-covered face with a short, seal like muzzle minus the whiskers. The mouth was open and full of small, sharp teeth and it was slowly breathing seawater much like I was. The hose ended up being some sort of tentacle sprouting out of her side, just under her arm. There were three on each side with one on her right side attached to me; the others were retracted and not really evident except for small indentations in the skin and fur. Amazingly, she also sported a tail. It had a thick base and reminded me of an otter. In fact she looked a lot like a human shaped otter with swim fins on. Her arms were floating limply at her sides and they ended in webbed fingers.
I floated there in shock for a long while. I slowly came to accept that this was Cassie, because there was no way anyone or anything could have gotten in the cabin. It also explained why I was still alive. Who in the world would have thought "Star Wars" was a documentary and Cassie was straight out of the cantina scene? Jesus, this was just way too weird. I worked up my courage and touched the fur on her arm and found it to be smooth and slightly oily, rather pleasant in an odd, mushy sort of way. At my touch her eyes slowly opened. Seeing this I jumped back, later feeling kind of silly for doing it. They were a vivid green with slit pupils like a cat.
"Don't move around too quick or pull the umbilical out, it's what's keeping you alive." I could hear Cassie's voice in my head. "Don't be afraid Gary, I won't hurt you." She could sense my confusion and said, "Our larynx won't work in water so I'm using the umbilical to talk to you. All you have to do is think of what you want to say slowly and clearly, I can read your nerve impulses from your speech center."
Hearing her familiar voice in my head caused my fear to instantly evaporate, this had to be my Cassie. Alien space otter or not, it was her. "Mmmm, let me guess, this is your big secret? Hell, I was afraid you were an ex-porn star or something, jeeze. Big deal." I could see her chest convulse a little at that. I thought something was wrong and asked her if she was all right.
"Yes Gary, I'm fine. I was laughing. Laughter doesn't transfer over the umbilical. You sounded disappointed."
"Well, with my superior deductive skills, I should have realized you were a water breathing space otter with tentacles a lot sooner." Again she convulsed and I did too. It was odd to feel the thick water passing in and out of my lungs with my laughter and not make a sound. "Blows the hell out of my truck driver theory." Thinking about it a second, I asked, "Why am I not as surprised about this as I should be and why the hell am I not balled up in absolute terror seeing you like this?"
"Gary, believe it or not, you've seen me in my native form before, you just don't remember. I blocked the memory, at your request, by the way. I'll remove the block when I'm up to it. Right now I'm working very hard to keep us both alive. This would have been a lot easier if I had eaten first. As hungry as I was I couldn't change fast enough to prevent you from drowning and I'm not really up to doing this for long. I knew I'd be weak after I changed and there would be no way I could search for you before you were irrevocably damaged from drowning so I had you promise not to let go of me. The arm in the pants was a good idea, I had no problem at all."
"Huh, well it wasn't any fun, trust me. I wish I had known before hand though. Hell, I was scared to death and drowning does nothing but suck. I really thought I was dead; you have no idea how weird it felt to wake up afterward. You turning into this and sticking a garden hose in my back is positively mundane." I looked at myself and then at her. "This is real right, not some asphyxia and endorphin induced hallucination is it?"
"Oh, it's real all right, Gary. I'm one hundred percent, genuine space alien and you and I are probably over 1000 feet under the Gulf of Mexico trapped in a sunken passenger ship being barely kept alive by your fiancé's tentacle as you breathe seawater."
"Hmmm, just another day in the life of a grocery store manger," I just floated there looking at her, "By the way, I don't seem to remember you telling me why a water breathing, shape-changing, tentacled space-otter is living with a grocery store manager from bum-phuck Egypt." I said, heavy with the sarcasm.
"Yes, I told you all of this the night you asked me to marry you and I then showed my true form to you. What you said then made me realize you loved me and I would gladly spend the rest of my life with you."
"What did I say?" I asked as I floated over to her and held her hand.
"You said basically the same thing you just said a little while ago. 'Is that all? I thought it was something terrible'."
"Yep," I said, "sounds like me." Silently chuckling. I really do love her and I could accept her this way, hell, I figured she had been born a guy, murdered her parents or something else just as Jerry Springer-ish. True love is not only blind, but deaf and dumb too. This was a relative walk in the park.
"Then you asked me to marry you anyway. I was so happy but I knew we needed to try it out first because I'm not human and I wanted you to be sure. We planned this little trip and then you asked me to block the memory. You were so afraid you might give me away if you could remember or would be so paranoid that you might cause suspicion, I did as you wanted and blocked it and we lived like normal people for a year. I planted the suggestion for you to ask me to marry you again in Cancun. We had to wait to get married on this trip so we could avoid a blood test, my orange blood isn't exactly normal around here." She paused then said, "I also planned to show you my true form again to be absolutely sure and maybe show you the sea as well." She shrugged, "I got the last part done anyway, not the way I had planned though."
"As to why I ended up in Peabow, Canada engaged to the most wonderful grocery store manager on the planet, well Gary, I am a soldier from a terrible war. A genetically engineered killing machine designed to also be a mobile life support unit or 'Biomedic' for other soldiers wounded in battle. That would be my life until I was killed or deactivated. The Utherian made me to keep my fellow soldiers alive until they could be transferred to a hospital ship. My shape changing ability is a camouflage tool that is a standard feature for my generic soldier body. They made us to help them fight a bloody war with the Chron. They are a nasty race of methane breathers who seem to delight in killing anything not Chron. Anyway, during a terrible battle, I was captured by the Chon and I was changed somehow. My conditioning was removed and it caused me to end up killing hundreds of Utharians and my fellow soldiers. I made decisions that I shouldn't have been able to make and do things far beyond what I was designed to do. I live with the guilt, their blood on my hands and I am still haunted by their deaths. I found since my conditioning was removed, I couldn't perform my job effectively anymore either. "
"Our genetically engineered minds are based on our maker's brains and sometimes they can be damaged by events around us or in my case they were removed. Complex conditioning and hardwiring allows us to be efficient soldiers. If that conditioning breaks down, there is no way to repair it. Without the conditioning, we feel terror and helplessness on the battlefield. It's sort of similar to dropping a human child into a war zone in that the genetech soldier does not have a great deal of past experiences to guide them. To go into a battlefield without the conditioning is like nothing I can describe. I cannot function like that, no genetech soldier can. To know you are created to only to kill and you have a life expectancy of a couple of months is unbearable."
"They knew I would be useless if I ever went back into combat so they locked me away, using me as a propaganda tool or something. The Chron messed with my brain, they made me smarter and self aware. This made me different and they didn't like the idea of me getting killed. Whatever the Chron did to me, it made me unique and I suspect they wanted me around for studying, cloning or whatever. I was isolated and alone for a long time, paraded out on occasion for the cameras. I eventually came to realize I was going to spend the rest of my life like this and it was intolerable. I stopped eating after a while, preferring to die of guilt and despair. Later I found out they were feeding me intravenously when I slept, refusing to let me suicide. This went on for a long time, my depression growing day by day."
"Death not being on option, I considered it a long time and chose to live instead. I made plans to escape the insanity and try to live as a normal person. I started eating again, got my health back and managed to escape. I stole a ship and ran. I found this little obscure mud ball and took to hiding here. At first I planned on living out my days in your world's oceans, but boredom soon set in. I lived a lot longer than I expected since no one was shooting at me. After three years or so, I couldn't take it any more so I risked trying to learn about the inhabitants and try to blend in. It took me a long time to learn how to shift well enough to get close to humans. I did though and became very good at it. I wondered around from place to place learning as I went. I lived alone and stayed quietly in the background. Years later I met you and found you to be a good person that I grew to care for deeply and made me forget about my past. As a soldier, I was nothing, a tool or machine. Here, with you though, I am a person."
"Would it bother you if I were to hold you?" I asked, afraid I might hurt her in some way.
"It would be wonderful right now, I could use it. I'm weak and very tired but not fragile."
I maneuvered myself over to her and wrapped my arms around her very alien body and squeezed her to me. I soon noticed her chest convulsing again. "Why are you laughing?" I asked, mildly surprised and just a little hurt.
"I'm not laughing, crying doesn't translate either." That melted my heart and I think I might have added a tear or two to the ocean myself. I held on to her for a few minutes, just holding her with my face buried in her billowing hair. "Gary, we have to get out of here," she said very quietly to my mind. " I can't support you like this for very long as weak as I am. If I get to the point to where I endanger my life doing this the umbilical will detach and there isn't anything I can do about it."
"Oh joy. How are you now?" I said as my eyes grew wide.
"I'm ok for the moment, getting a little stronger in fact." She said, maybe just a little forced. "I noticed there was a crack in the window, maybe we can widen it and break it out." She slowly moved herself over to it, looking for any weakness.
I floated over to the window and looked with her. There was a crack about four inches along the bottom edge curving up slightly. I used my foot and kicked at it and was rewarded with another inch or so. I reared back and really gave it a kick that gave me another two inches but also sent me flying across the cabin. Cassie had anticipated this little reaction and launched herself across the cabin to ensure I didn't pull out the umbilical. I managed to bump into the ceiling with a nice solid thump. Rubbing my head I smiled at her and said, "oops"
"Is there anything we can use to batter it?" I thought to her, looking around the room. "Hey, how come I can see so well underwater? Did you change my eyes or something?"
"No, I'm adjusting the images in my brain using neural tendrils and feeding it back to your visual cortex," she thought to me. "Oh, ok," I thought. What ever that meant, ask a silly question.
I pulled a drawer from the clothes chest and slung it in slow motion at the window. It hit and made another half inch or so in the crack. Again I slammed the drawer at it and it cracked more. After repeated smackings the window had a corner with a crack running from side to side and that was it. I hit it and hit it but no other cracks formed and I couldn't break it out. I looked over at Cassie and I could see she was clearly stressed, her chest heaving. I realized I wasn't breathing at all which made sense since my lungs weren't doing anything anyway. I stopped and she slipped up next to me and put my arm around her waist. We both just floated there looking rather dejectedly at the silly crack. I idly wondered what it was going to be like to die again.
That's when I noticed the fish slowly drifting in front of the Plexiglas. It looked like a good-sized clownfish just hanging out. I didn't pay it much attention until I realized it was on the inside of the cabin. I nudged Cassie and she saw it. She reached out and snatched it up lightning fast in her webbed fingers and shoved it into her mouth. It kind of startled me until I realized she needed the food badly for both our survival. She tilted her head back and swallowed the fish whole. It was still sexy in a primal sort of way. Well, that's what I told myself anyway.
The change in her was almost immediate, her breathing slowed and became more even and there was a sparkle in her slit pupil green eyes. I watched her stretch and start to come alive. "Wow, was it that good?" I asked, amazed.
"Not really, but I needed the proteins to finish the transformation. That fish may have saved our lives and I surely do feel better. Give it a minute and you will feel better as the processes become more efficient." True to her word, shortly I was feeling much better. "My body can now extract more than enough oxygen for us both and wash out the carbon dioxide the way it needs to. I think we..." she stopped and looked at me with this puzzled look on her face. At the same time I asked myself, how did that fish get in here? We both slowly turned and looked at the door. It was hanging wide open, revealing a dark passageway beyond.
We both stared at the door for a second or two before we both erupted in silent convulsions, laughing ourselves silly. The sense of relief washed over me and I couldn't stop laughing and neither could she. Soon we both laughed ourselves out and we just floated limply, her chest heaving and I just felt a little dizzy but happy. Once we recovered, she swam us both over to the door and we peered out finding just a flooded corridor with debris and a few adventurous fish awaiting us. She pulled me back in the doorway. "Gary, we are going to run into a lot of bodies finding our way out of here and neither of us is going to like it. I've seen it before and I can work my way through it but it's going to be gruesome for you. Ordinarily I'd just knock you out and drag you out of here but I can't. I'm not strong enough to do it. There were women and children on board and as fast as the ship went down, most didn't get off."
I shuttered at that, "What else can we do? We can't stay here. Besides, as long as you are there to hold me when I have nightmares years from now, I can cope." With that I floated to her and kissed her on her very alien mouth. She hesitated at first, keeping her lips shut tightly. I pulled back slightly and looked into her eyes and thought to her, "Cassie, it's me. What's wrong?"
"I'm not very human right now and I'm a little nervous about being close to you in this form, I don't want you to be afraid of me and I could easily hurt you if I'm not careful. I have a lot of sharp points and barbs that could shred you in seconds."
"Cassie, my god, I trust you with my life... literally. I know that you would never purposely hurt me. Come on, it is still you, right?" I picked up her hand and began running my fingers over her webbing, feeling the soft texture of her skin. "I'm in love with all of you, not just your body. I suppose my subconscious has gotten used to your true form because I didn't even notice when I kissed you. Hell, I lust after your human body but it will be you that I love and hope will be holding my hand when I die a very old man," I said smiling at her. "Besides, I've seen you in the morning as a human and you haven't reached that level of ugly yet."
"Boy, you really know how to charm a lady." She reached up and kissed me, parting her lips but letting me make the first move. I considered the fact I was kissing an alien for a split second, but then it really didn't matter did it? I would be dead now if it weren't for her. I brought my tongue out to caress her thin and odd feeling lips and explored her water filled mouth. Her teeth were sharp and her tongue was a little rougher but not much different. I eased my tongue back and I let her explore my mouth in turn. Her lithe tongue entered my mouth and felt my teeth and lips then slowly started to ease back farther into my mouth, almost going down my throat. I started to feel a bit dizzy and she quickly retreated from me. "Sorry," she said, "I forgot to breathe."
"That was interesting, to say the least, I bet you were popular with the boys back home," I thought as she caught her watery breath. She just smiled and thought to me, "Most genetech soldiers die virgins, both male and female. Dearest, you were my first and I'm still a virgin in my true form, by the way." With that she rubbed my cheek with the back of her webbed hand very gently.
I laughed at that and took her hand in mine and peered again into the corridor, "Come on, let's get out of this tomb and see if we can't find you a few more fish." We swam out into the corridor, Cassie taking the lead. After only a few seconds we were plunged into total darkness. I looked back and could only see a dim glow coming from the doorway we had just left. I hesitated slightly, "Cassie, can you see anything?" I asked, a tinge of fear in my mental voice. Suddenly the passage lit up like someone had turned on a switch. "Wow, is this what you see?" I asked, somewhat taken aback.
"I think so, what do you see?"
"Everything is lit up but without any color and very sharp detail. Kind of odd, like looking at one of those microscopic pictures of a dust mite. I know there are stripes on that fish over there because I have seen them before but there is not a hint of coloration on it although I can see every scale on its body."
"That sounds about right, I'm using my natural sonar. I'm sending the image to you. The only difference is I can focus 360 degrees around me; your brain couldn't process the image correctly so I am narrowing it down. I don't know exactly how I am doing it though."
I thought about that for a few minutes as we both opened cabin doors looking for an opening out but found all the windows intact. Thankfully there were not any bodies in any of them. We gave up after about a dozen cabins and swam slowly to the forward staircase next to the elevators. Cassie was a little ahead of me and stopped next to the elevator doors to wait for me to catch up. I noticed the humor of the situation and said, "Honey, I think we need to use the stairs. I pointed to a small metal sign mounted to the wall next to the elevator. "Remember the drills; 'never use the elevators during fire, power failure, heavy seas or flooding.' I think this counts as flooding, if I'm not mistaken." She stuck out her tongue and I smiled and then stuck mine out as well. We continued on making our way through the passageway and around the debris.
We came to the stairwell leading to the upper decks. I picked up the conversation where we left off, "You don't know how you are doing these things to me?" I asked, somewhat incredulously. I pushed the doorway open and was met with a flurry of trash and debris. We waited for it to subside a bit before going on.
"I have a good idea about how it works but I don't control my body that closely, a lot of what I do is done subconsciously and automatically. Something like your blinking your eyelids, you don't think about it most of the time and it is mostly automatic. Same thing with what I'm doing with you to keep you alive, my body takes care of oxygenating your blood and whatnot without me having to concentrate on it. It's the same thing with the vision. I couldn't function in the chaos of battle if I had to micromanage everything I did to keep my patients alive."
"Makes sense, I suppose." We were approaching the top of the stairway when Cassie stopped and I bumped into her. "What...?" I saw the first body as I came around Cassie and hovered beside her. I tried to not to look too closely as we maneuvered around the quietly floating body and continued on. We rounded a flight and found the stairway blocked, the bodies of around a dozen passengers and crew that had been trapped in the stairwell as the ship sank. There were maybe ten or so wedged into the passageway, their life vests caused them to float to the highest point in the compartment, blocking the exit. "This wasn't in the brochure, that's for damned sure," I quipped as I tried to push them out of the way. I pulled on a leg but found I could not overcome the buoyancy of the vest. "This isn't going to work," I thought to Cassie.
I reached up and unbuckled the life vest and pulled again. This time I could get the body to move. I pulled it down hand over hand until Cassie could catch hold and continue to move it out of the way. As it went by, I caught a glimpse of its face; it was the woman in cabin next to ours whom I had chatted with my first day onboard. Thankfully her eyes were closed but I still shivered and felt like puking. I fought down the nausea and reached up for the next one. I unbuckled the vest and pulled the body down as I did before, desperately avoiding looking or thinking. I passed the unidentified crewman down to Cassie.
After what seemed like an eternity, the passage was cleared out and we made our way out onto the main promenade deck. We swam out onto the passage and then stopped for a rest. Thankfully, the passage was free of bodies as far as we could tell. I noticed Cassie was breathing hard and her thoughts were unusually quiet. "Are you ok?" I asked. I was still a little shaky myself.
"I'm ok, just need to rest a second. I'm still awfully weak and that took a lot out of me." She closed her eyes and floated on her back. I drifted over and took her hand and held it, waiting for her to rest up a bit. Soon her breath slowed and evened out.
"I don't think Steven King could have come up with a more horrible scenario than that. If there is any memory you can block, that would be it," I thought to her as she rested beside me.
"I have seen and done much worse, believe me," she said. "I can't block that memory, I'm afraid. The memory is far too well established in your brain, too many interconnecting neural associations that ... well, trust me, I can't block it out. The mind is very difficult to change around much, I can block simple things like the memory of me showing you my true form but that passageway is too much a part of you now. I could block it but the next time you see a body you would remember. I can't implant memories because you would know instantly it was fake, there is a lot of subtle chemistry involved."
"That's ok I guess, I'm not too thrilled with the idea of someone messing around with my brain anyway, I don't have much to begin with and the last thing I need is to scramble what little I got," I said, big goofy gin on my face.
She turned her head toward me and stuck out her tongue, which confused me for a second until she told me it was her way of smiling, 'can't bite you with my tongue out' is the message it's supposed to say. Makes sense because her human-like smile in this form is kind of scary, lots of teeth. About that time an inquisitive fish began edging close to us, seemingly unafraid. I hung there motionless, trying not to startle it. It swam close enough I could almost touch it. I remembered how Cassie had caught the fish back in the cabin and figured I could give it a try. I darted my hand out and snatched the fish. I was as surprised as the fish was when I managed to catch the wriggling thing. I used both hands to hold on to the silly thing, it's struggles managed to cause me to spin. I didn't have the use of my hands so I couldn't control my position at all. I eventually turned upside down and drifted away. I turned my head towards Cassie and I could see her laughing. "Hey, I caught lunch!"
"I don't know, the way it is dragging you around, I would say lunch caught you." She grabbed the umbilical and gently pulled me back.
I thrust out the fish to her as I approached. "Thank you, what a wonderful surprise. You are a most skillful hunter, my love." She said as she relieved me of my wriggling victim. Without warning, she bit the head off and swallowed. I watched in fascination, not the least bothered by the display. I was rather surprised she didn't just swallow it whole like she did before. She then took a claw and split the fish's belly open and scooped out the entrails and ate them as well. She again used her claw tip and cut the fish along the back then peeled the skin off and let it drift away. With a quick slice, she sliced off a goblet of flesh and handed it to me. "I know it's not all that appetizing to you Gary, but it would be a great honor to me if you would accept this."
She looked into my eyes as she thought this to me. "Since it is so easy to provide for ourselves, to catch food and present it to another is considered an act of true friendship, to share it is only right. Just think of it as sushi."
I took the morsel and popped it into my mouth. It had a somewhat rubbery texture to it but it tasted ok, if kind of bland. I expelled some of the seawater out of my mouth and swallowed. It went down easily enough and without thinking about it I swallowed a mouthful of water to wash it down. I was rather amazed at how well that actually worked. She tore off another piece and offered it to me. I waved my hand and said, "That was pretty good, but I am not at all hungry, you need it far more than I do. Please, have the rest."
She tilted her head slightly down and said, " You honor me, thank you." She then opened her mouth and sucked in the remaining fish in one swallow. After finishing the meal, she stretched and yawned in a very human way and said, "That made a world of difference, I feel almost human again." She stuck out her tongue in a smile and I smiled back.
"Human huh?" I said, tugging on her tentacle trying to untie the knot that lunch and I had put in it.
"Well, close enough anyway," she said as she untangled her tentacle from around me.
"Great, do you feel up to going on?" I looked down the promenade deck and said, "I think the stairway to the main deck is down that way about 30 meters or so. Hopefully there are some broken windows we can swim out of before then, I'm not looking forward to another stairwell."
"Me either, come on." She took my hand and we swam down the window-enclosed passageway, looking for an opening out. No such luck. "I'm going to have to write a letter to the company who made these freaking windows telling them how well made they are."
"No kidding" I stopped by one and gave it a kick, nothing happened. I tried again and as I kicked I saw a shark come barreling out of the bluish murk outside the window and turned an instant before crashing into the window. In absolute terror, I pushed back away from the window. "Sonavabitch!"
Cassie looked at me and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Shark; scared the bejesus out of me, big one too." I said, still shaky, "I can see why they are called the most fearsome predator in the sea."
"Shark? Bah, stupid fish. Nothing more than a swimming mouth. I am the most fearsome predator in the sea!" The transformation was almost instantaneous, she unsheathed all of her claws, bared her much longer fangs that seemed to double in length and assumed a very aggressive stance. Her otter-like tail was thrashing behind her and the fur on her body and tail bristled, two additional tentacles emerged from her sides, each tipped with two very sharp barbs on the end. The effect was fearsome and terrifying, worse than any demon you could imagine from any nightmare. Still rattled by the shark, I lost all rational thought and could only think of getting away, lost in total panic. I let out a mental scream and tried to swim away. I panicked further and found myself tangled in something. I tried to free my body from around it but couldn't, the fearsome creature swam towards me and I tore at my bonds frantically, only tangling myself worse. My heart was pounding madly in my chest and I was screaming silent screams. The rope that entangled me suddenly pulled free and I felt a searing pain in my back. I barely noticed it as I swam away in terror. I didn't get very far before I felt very tired and out of breath, I couldn't seem to be able to breathe at all in fact. I slowly stopped swimming, my limbs refusing to move. A lassitude fell over me as I floated there, panic giving way to the terror at the realization I was drowning. I closed my eyes and waited for death to claim me.
Something touched my arm and I opened my eyes. My god, it was Cassie, my human Cassie. She floated next to me with an expression of sadness and fear on her face as she touched my cheek. She then hugged me and I tried to hug her back but I couldn't move. I was so glad to see her. Suddenly I became confused and wondered what the hell was going on. Then I realized what had happened. Oh shit, I pulled out the umbilical. I could feel the pain between my shoulder blades then. I sensed Cassie crying as she held on to me, her presence in my mind gone. I wanted to tell her I was sorry and not to cry, I was just being stupid. I don't know what came over me, I had no control over the fear that had hit me and I reacted like a panicked animal. That's when the pain hit, a searing, tearing pain that made me feel like I was being torn apart. I convulsed with the shock of it and I passed into oblivion.
Chapter 3
"Dying is the easy part, livin' is what is hard..."
I dreamed I was lying on the couch back home with my feet propped up on a 700 pound Siberian tiger who was gnawing on a frozen Butterball turkey. I then dreamed I was in an old Man from Atlantis episode and I was fighting a giant shower curtain underwater. I woke up while trying to barcode scan that damned chicken again.
I awoke to find the pain was fading rapidly. Soon, there was no trace of it, the pain in my back was gone as well. I was feeling better, the paralysis lifted and my mind began to clear. Thankfully the fear and panic was gone as well. I moved my arms and found them to be back to normal. I opened my eyes and looked around. My vision was back to its normal underwater blurriness, seeing with only the dull bluish glow coming from the sea outside. Cassie was curled into a ball, her webbed hands covering her animal like muzzle. I took a deep breath of seawater and stretched. Feeling better by the moment. I swam over to her and touched her fur covered shoulder.
I guess I startled her because she jerked up suddenly and looked at me with a sad and piteous look to her alien eyes. The pain turned instantly to wide-eyed amazement and then transformed into pure joy as she looked at me. She uncurled and threw herself onto me into a crushing bear hug. She clung desperately to me for a few moments then kissed me with her very alien mouth. I returned the kiss with equal passion. "Cassie? Can you hear me?" I thought to her but nothing seemed to come through. I was soon out of breath and had to break off the kiss. As I caught my breath, I looked into her eyes, trying to tell her how sorry I was.
At that moment, I realized I had been out of breath. Odd, that hadn't happened before with the umbilical. I held my breath and sure enough, I felt the need to breathe a few seconds later. I let go of Cassie and slowly turned around, the umbilical was missing. I reached around and felt my back and sure enough, it was gone. I could only feel a small hole back there. I looked back at Cassie and she held the end of her umbilical and I could see where parts of it were ripped off and oozing dark fluids into the water. She let go of it and let it slip back into her side. She made a gesture to get my attention then pointed to me. She then made a pulling motion then, with a very unmistakable gesture, she pulled her thumb across her neck. Oh my god! She was telling me I should have died when I pulled out the umbilical. No wonder she was so glad to see me. "I'll be damned, I've turned into a fish myself." I thought as I grabbed up Cassie in a hug and spun her around in the water, showing her I was happy to still be here. I planted a passionate kiss on her muzzle and we explored each other's mouth and our hands roamed, touching and caressing each other, both apologizing and forgiving at the same time. I think I would have made love to her right then and there if the body of a middle-aged man from the stairwell hadn't bumped into us. It sort of spoiled the mood, yuck.
Cassie and I disengaged and swam away from it, wanting to put some distance between it and us. A different umbilical extended from her side and wound itself over to me. I touched the end of it with a finger before she moved it around behind me. It had a smooth, warm texture to it. I felt a slight pressure and just a touch of pain as it entered me, fading quickly. "Gary?" I heard in my mind. I was so relieved to be able to communicate again. My vision cleared up and the chill I was beginning to notice disappeared.
"I hear you sweetie, and I am so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I had never been so terrified in my life. I couldn't control myself, I just panicked. I feel like an idiot"
She looked at me and said, "You have nothing to apologize for, and it was my fault. I should never have displayed myself without warning. You and I are under enough stress already. I was just feeling so much better after eating, especially after you had shared your catch with me that I just wasn't thinking. I was lulled into treating you as I would another of my kind. I should have known better. I didn't mean to frighten you, I am so sorry. You don't know how happy I was when you touched my shoulder, I just knew I had killed you and I was so devastated. I still don't understand why you are not dead right now. When you pulled out the umbilical I tried to reattach but I couldn't do it. Something would cause it to disengage. Now I know why, you didn't need it. I suppose that instead of just keeping you alive, I was making changes to your body. I guess the only way to actually heal you from drowning while still underwater was to make you aquatic. I'm not supposed to be able to do that."
I smiled at her, "Slipped by quality control, hmmm. Not that I'm complaining, mind you." I ran my hand across her cheek and muzzle. "After I had pulled out the tentacle, I thought I remembered seeing you in human form, was I dreaming?"
"No, I partially changed to try to calm you down. You needed to see a human face right then and I think it helped. I can't maintain it for long and it wouldn't fool you now but it was close enough then. To hold it, I would have to fully change but then we would be far too vulnerable and limited. I am so sorry."
"It's ok, its over now. Besides, now that I know that your human body is a façade, I would rather see you as you are anyway." I thought for a moment then asked, "Cassie, show me your ummm whatchamacallit, that scary look you had. I promise I won't panic this time."
"Gary I ..."
"Please, I need to reassure myself."
"Ok, but you know I would never hurt you no matter what I look like right?"
"I know. I'm also not scared half to death by a shark right now either. Go ahead, let me see you in all of your glory."
With that she extended her wickedly barbed tentacles and she opened her mouth and I saw her normal teeth grow into monstrous fangs, her claws extended, fur bristled and her tail moved like a mad viper. She looked very scary, very alien. "Impressive, I wouldn't want to have you pissed off at me." I said as I circled around her to get a better view and as I did another tentacle appeared out of her side and slowly made it's way to me. It hovered near me as I looked her fearsome visage. Suddenly she commenced to tickle me under my armpit but she never moved the rest of her body. I started silently laughing, trying to bat away the offending appendage but it grew more insistent. Soon it had me squirming and laughing uncontrollably, but still, Cassie never moved. Finally I grabbed a hold of the silly thing with both hands and then Cassie reeled in the tentacle and me with it. When I got close enough, she stopped and extended her clawed hand out for me to see. I took it and turned it over and felt of her claws, sharp as razors. "Nice set of Giensu knives you got there lady," She retracted and extended them a couple of times to let me see how they worked. Handy (mental note: for future reference, do not engage in spousal abuse, bad, bad idea). I then placed her hand on my chest and let her touch my skin with them. Never caused a scratch as she played them over my vulnerable body. Emboldened by this, I floated up closer and tilted my head back, exposing my throat to her arsenal of sharp teeth. "Go ahead, I trust you."
She paused for a second considering the idea then she opened her muzzle and gently nibbled my neck with her elongated fangs. The feeling was incredibly erotic and more than just a little frightening as she played her tongue and teeth across my throat and her razor sharp claws raked gently and harmlessly across my back. The idea that this genetically engineered killing machine could be so gentle was totally amazing. I was getting horny as hell as she did this and I think she was too. Unfortunately, we needed to get out of here because this was possibly the worst place on earth to carry through with our foreplay so I broke it off, reluctantly to say the least.
I backed away a little as she returned to her normal, less threatening form. She tilted her head down and looked into my eyes, "Gary, thank you. No one has ever shown me that much trust before." I smiled back at her and took her hand and rubbed it on my cheek, her fur feeling silky against my skin.
"Honey, that was nothing compared with letting you balance the checkbook. Now that's scary." She gave me her smile and goosed me with a tentacle. "Hey, no fair!" I said as she tickled my neck. We both laughed for a bit then we started swimming down the passageway. There was a lot of debris littering the deck and a lot of smashed doorways and such but the windows along the outer hull were just fine. We wound our way through the mess until we came to the stairway up to the main deck and freedom. We entered the stairway only to stop and turn around. To our disappointment, the upper section of the stairway was blocked by wreckage. We swam back into the promenade deck and I said, " Let's try the main dining room, it has a stairway up to the main deck as well." It was just a few meters beyond and was easy to find. The polished wood and brass doors were ripped off their hinges and floating at the top of the passage way as were a couple of life vested passengers, their arms and legs dangling down like macabre stalactites from a cave in hell. I shuddered as we swam under them.
The dining room was a mess, broken tables and other debris littered the room and there were a lot more bodies lining the ceiling. There was a great variety of fish in here as well; already some were feasting on the hapless passengers. I was ok until I passed a little girl, maybe eleven or twelve whose fingers were being nibbled on by some small fish. I puked
up the meager contents of my stomach and continued to heave for a minute or so. Carrie put her arm around me and guided me on toward the stairs not saying anything. After I calmed down, I ran my hand back and forth across her back and quietly said, "Thank you, I'm ok now." She let go and we continued on. We reached the main staircase and started to swim up when a large shape came barreling toward us. Carrie threw me out of the stairwell and then darted out of the way herself. A moment later a shark burst into the room. It was a big one, maybe 5 meters long. The other fish in the room scattered as the big brute circled the room then began attacking a body, not paying us the least bit of attention. It bit into the body then shook, tearing it in half. Thick, cold blood clouded the water as the shark fed. Cassie was in her combat mode, her barbed tentacles waving toward the feeding monster. I, being the strong, manly type that I am, proceeded to piss on myself. Thankfully, being underwater made that a much less embarrassing experience than it could have been.
My heart was hammering and I was shaking violently. Carrie sent to me, "Check the passageway while I keep an eye on this bastard, I can handle any shark easily but not in such a confined space like that stairway."
I eased my way around and looked up the stairs and found it was empty. "Clear so far." I said in my nervous mental voice.
"I'm going to grab onto you and get us the hell out of here, I think I'm recovered enough to swim us out of here in a hurry. Go limp and let me do the driving."
"Uh oh, here comes another one!" I backpedaled away from the stairway as another; a slightly smaller shark entered and began feeding. With that, Cassie grabbed me under the arms and began swimming us up the passage. I just went limp and watched in amazement as she swam incredibly fast through the stairwell and with absolute precision, darted us out through the opening into clear, open water. As we burst up through the dark stairway into the bright blue water, we startled the daylights out of a shark that was about to enter the stairway and join his buddies in the feeding frenzy down below. Cassie slowed down as we passed over the railing on the main deck and swam away from the wreck. There were dozens of sharks swimming around us, looking for easy meals. Once we were well clear of the ship and the sharks, we stopped and looked back the way we came. Cassie used her sonar to light up the view and we could see the entire ship. I pretended to slap my forehead as we floated there, "Why didn't I think of that?" We could plainly see the damage; a huge hole had been torn into the side of the ship, well below the waterline.
Cassie noticed it the same moment, "No shit Sherlock, every freaking window below our cabin is broken and open to the sea. Duh." She thought to me and I laughed a silent laugh. An incredible sense of relief washed over the both of us as we floated there, laughing our waterlogged asses off.
Chapter 4
"Row, row, row your boat..."
As the laughs died off and we hovered there regaining our breath, I asked Carrie, "What now?" I looked up toward the surface but couldn't see much except an odd, distorted reflection like a mirror. "What the heck?" I asked, rather confused.
She noticed me looking up, "The reflection is just a thermal layer and my sonar bounces off of it. Concerning what next, I hadn't thought that far ahead, let me think about it."
"Thermal layer?"
"Oh, different temperature water is all. Sound doesn't pass through it very well and it reflects back. Let's swim though it so I can see what is happening on the surface."
"Sure, suits me." We swam up and approached the layer then passed through it, kind of like moving through a mirror, unsettling in a way. As we passed through, the water suddenly turned warm, almost hot. It took me a few moments to adjust. I suspect Cassie was somehow helping me with that. It caused me to think about our situation a bit, "Cassie, how cold was that water we were in on the ship? This water felt like bathwater when we passed into it and we are still really deep."
"Oh, I don't know maybe two degrees or so above freezing. It took a lot out of me to keep you from feeling the cold."
"No kidding, Jesus, you are amazing."
"It helps if you are not from around here, I would think."
"Too true, too true."
We swam up about 100 meters then stopped. Confused I asked, "Why have we stopped?"
"Our bodies have to adjust to the different pressure, me especially since I have an air bladder, I don't want to rupture it."
Believe it or not, that is when the true alien-ness of Cassie's body hit me. It was odd thinking that she was as different from me internally as I was from the sharks feasting back on the ship. I laughed to myself realizing what an idiot I can be, jeez. Of course she is different internally, she breathes water and has tentacles. No wonder she was allergic to doctors back home, they would have freaked at her x-ray. Considering I was sucking seawater with gusto myself, they might get a shock looking at mine as well. "Uh, Cassie, I was just thinking. We can't be rescued. They will want to look us over. We can't even let a doctor get anywhere near us. There is no telling what they will find with me and you, well you are a whole different ball game."
"I was thinking of that myself. Gary, we need to talk about the future but right now there are a lot of people in the water with night approaching in shark-infested water. I need find a life raft and drop you off so I can help as many of those in the water as I can."
"That's my Cassie. Ok, that sounds like a plan. Any idea what is going to happen when I try to breathe air again?" We started moving up again slowly.
"I'm not sure, but from what I can tell you should be fine. I won't leave you until I'm sure you are ok, if not just jump back in until I get back. I just need you safely out of reach of these sharks until I return."
"Oh, good idea. I really like the part about keeping me out of reach of the sharks."
"I figured you might like that part best, anyway." She undulated her body a few times and we began to pick up speed just a bit. "It will take a few hours to round up the rafts and get as many into them as I can without being discovered. When I get back we can talk about what to do next." The rafts were the inflatable type that automatically deploy when they hit water. There was no way the regular lifeboats could have been lowered.
"Ok, be sure not to overdo it. How do you feel anyway?" I asked, remembering how bad off she was a short time ago.
"I'm okay Gary, pretty much back to my old self, in fact. I'll do some fishing before I take off, you hungry?"
"Actually, I am, now that you mention it, mind catching one for me?"
"My pleasure, would you like it fried, broiled, grilled or blackened?"
"Actually, I'm in the mood for sushi, thank you."
"Very good sir, may I suggest our house wine to go with that, Brackish Seawater, 1987? We also serve Salt and Foam, 1979. A very good year."
"Ah, a '79 Salt and Foam, perfect," I took a mouthful of water and swished it around my mouth, "A light, yet impetuous vintage that delights the pallet, perfect accompaniment for the bounty of the sea."
Cassie smiled at me and then said, "That reminds me honey, your body is processing saltwater now and you are dumping salt out of your body like crazy. That means if you get thirsty on the surface, you will need to drink saltwater or jump back in for a few minutes to maintain your salt levels. Otherwise you could get rid of too much salt and get really sick, maybe die."
"Well, I guess I can manage that, saltwater being so hard to come by out here and all," I said with a sarcastic smile. We were not too far from the surface when Cassie flared out her fins and slowed our assent to a crawl, again letting our bodies adjust. After a while we continued on, angling up toward a raft on the surface. We broke the surface a few minutes later. Cassie expelled the water from her lungs and then drew in a shallow gurgling breath then expelled the rest in a very wet sneeze. She then watched me as I tried to do the same. I pushed the water out and then pulled in a seeming insubstantial breath of air that set off a fit of coughing and vomiting that lasted until most of the water was gone, my chest heaving from the effort. Soon my breathing became regular and only gurgled and rattled a little bit. I soon felt a little dizzy and euphoric. Not a bad feeling at all in fact and it seemed so effortless to breath. I leaned back in the water and enjoyed the feeling for a few moments.
"Well, according to my tentacle you are feeling pretty good right now, the rush of oxygen to your system accustomed to so much less has got you high as a kite. It will pass soon enough though. It happens to me too but I'm used to it. Feels nice, doesn't it?"
"Oh wow, feels great, like stepping out of a crowded, smoke filled elevator into a lush rainforest." Far too soon the feeling passed and I brought myself upright again, lightly treading water. My sinuses started draining and I began sneezing again for a few seconds until they were clear of water. I smiled and paddled over to Cassie and took her up in a hug and kissed her dripping muzzle. We kissed for a minute or two, my hands running through the fur on her back and hers were exploring my backside as well.
"I need to see if you are going to be ok. We need to go back under for a minute or two," she sent as she kissed me.
"No problem." With that we slipped back under and I broke off the kiss to take a watery breath, letting out all my air and sucking in a deep breath of warm brine. I lost buoyancy and sank a bit until Cassie caught me and held me steady. I gave Cassie a thumbs up as I adjusted to breathing water again. A slight feeling of lassitude came over me for a second or two but still, nothing serious. "How do I feel?"
"You should feel ok as far as I can tell, any problems?"
"None here," I said as I resumed the kiss, once again exploring her body and enjoying the feel of her fur. This went on for a few more minutes. We ended it and surfaced again, this time my lungs cleared much easier, no vomiting and the euphoria was almost unnoticeable. "Just call me Aquaman," I said as I laughed aloud. The raft was not too far away and I began to swim over to it. Cassie pulled the umbilical out of me then swam off like a bullet and pulled the raft over to me. I clambered in awkwardly then turned around and looked down into the water at Cassie's submerged face. She didn't bother to surface again, she just reached up and ran her hand across my cheek then took my hand and squeezed. With her other hand, she motioned me to lean closer. I lowered my face almost to the water as she brought her muzzle to the surface. I looked at her for a second waiting for her to rise up; instead she playfully squirted a mouthful of water into my face and let go. She took off before I could react. I just laughed and slapped the water. She surfaced a bit away from the raft and blew me a kiss before disappearing into the murky depths. I flopped down into the bottom of the raft and collapsed in utter exhaustion. I fell asleep almost instantly.
Chapter 5
"...and a star to steer her by."
I awoke hours later in the middle of the night feeling very thirsty and my bladder was painfully full. I leaned over the side and scooped up some water and drank. I couldn't taste the salt at all; it tasted pretty good in fact. After drinking my fill, I felt much better. I stood up on the side of the inflatable raft on my knees and relieved my bladder. The sound was almost deafening in the silence, like a cow pissing on a flat rock. The stars were brilliant and the utterly calm sea had a greenish blue glow to it in places. Must be that bioluminescent algae I had read about in school. I was about to flop back down in the raft when I heard the voice, far off in the distance.
"Is anybody out there? Help! I'm over here," the voice cried piteously.
I bolted upright and strained to hear which direction it came from. I was about to call out when I heard it again somewhere off to my right. It was a woman's voice. "Oh God, please someone hear me... help! Is any one there?"
"I hear you, hello. Keep yelling so I can find you!" I called. "I'm on my way, just hold on." I felt around over the raft and found a compartment with several paddles, a flashlight, water bottles, survival blankets, a whistle and several other items I couldn't identify in the dark. As I searched, I could hear her calling out to me, relief evident in her cries. I tested the flashlight and glory be, the damned thing worked. I shined the light in the direction of the voice and was rewarded by her yelling, "I see you! I see you! You need to shine the light to the left, no your right, that's it! You have it pointed right at me!
I noted the position of the stars and paddled in her direction, stopping frequently to shine the light toward her and getting my bearings. After about an hour my exhausted arms pulled out a middle-aged woman in a life vest who had been floating on a steamer trunk. She lay in the bottom of the raft shaking and crying. I rummaged around the compartment and pulled out a foil survival blanket and wrapped her in it even though it was a hot tropical night. I put my arm around her and gave whatever comfort I could. Between sobs she told me her name was Mary and there were seven of them together before the sharks came. One by one they disappeared leaving only her. She waited for the inevitable ever since nightfall and feared any moment would be her last. A trunk floated near and she managed to crawl onto it. It had become waterlogged over time and was starting to come apart. She had all but given up hope until she heard me taking a wiz. I laughed when she told me it sounded like a cow pissing on a flat rock. Soon, she was asleep with her head on my shoulder and I soon followed her.
I awoke the next morning to the sensation of a snake slithering around my neck. I grabbed it and saw that it was Cassie. I smiled and looked over the edge of the raft. She was just under the surface. I motioned for her to come up and put my finger to my lips warning her to be quiet. She slowly raised her head but didn't exhale. I whispered to her I had company and she nodded. She handed me up a couple of fish, already cleaned. I said thanks and that I would dive in after breakfast. She gave me a peck on the cheek and disappeared without a sound. I made some splashing noises and pretended to clean her catch. After a bit, I rolled back over into the raft and met Mary's surprised face as I showed her the fish.
"I caught breakfast!" I said lying through my teeth.
"That is...um wonderful. Who were you talking to?"
I never missed a beat, sitting back down in the bottom of the raft. "Damn, you caught me. I was talking to the most beautiful mermaid in all the seas who just happens to be in love with me, she even brought me these fish." Took a bite out of one, the flesh rubbery and tasteless, yummy. "I plan on swimming with her after breakfast, I would ask to join us but I think she would be jealous." At that precise moment, a very odd wave rocked the raft and managed to slap the soft rubber floor of the raft directly under my testicles. I never even twitched but a tear formed in my eye and I bit my lip. It didn't hurt much but I was fighting to keep a straight face. Apparently Cassie had very good hearing.
Mary looked at me with a slightly sour expression, completely oblivious and said, "Of all the rubber rafts in all the world, I get pulled into one with a loony bin commando on it."
"Yes, but a loony bin commando with breakfast. Care to join me?" I handed her a fish and she took it somewhat reluctantly. "Just think of it as sushi."
"That's the problem, I hate sushi. I'm so hungry though I'll eat just about anything. Do you have any water?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even think about it. Let me see here," I opened the compartment and found a couple of liter bottles of water and an inflatable plastic bubble looking device. The label said it was a desalination kit in ten different languages. I handed her a bottle and said, "go easy on this, we may pick up a few more guests before I can get this thing going."
"Thanks. Hopefully we won't need that. They should be looking for us by now, I'm sure we got off an S.O.S." Mary bit off a piece of fish and chewed, her face showing she wasn't enjoying it much. She chased it with a sip of water. I had pretty much finished mine and tossed the carcass as far away from the raft as I could.
"They were probably on their way last night but who knows if they have the right spot in the ocean and there is no telling how far we have drifted since the sinking." I looked out over the ocean trying to see anything. There might have been some rafts to the southeast of us but they were very far away. "Mary, I'm going to go for a swim, heed the call of nature and all that. I am an excellent swimmer so don't worry about me but I need you to keep an eye out for sharks. When you are done with the fish, toss it as far away from the raft as you can, away from me and watch for fins. They will head for the leftovers first, I think."
"Be careful and don't go too far. Please"
"No problem, I'll be back in a bit. If the sun gets too bad, use the solar blanket for shade. See ya!" With that I jumped in and swam around. Cassie's blurry form was hovering just under the raft, apparently asleep. I swam over to her and stroked the fur on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked at me then stuck out her tongue in a smile. She snaked out a tentacle and inserted it into me, reestablishing our link. "Morning," I said in greeting. "How many did you find?"
"Morning baby. I corralled about 150 survivors or so. I have been chasing sharks most of the night. Looks like the ship sank right in the middle of a shark breeding area, there are lots of them around, hungry and in a bad mood. The lady there was surrounded by half a dozen of them and they were in the middle of a feeding frenzy. I arrived too late to help the others I'm afraid. I had to kill a few of them and that caused them to turn on themselves. By the way, shark is very tasty." She had a far away look in her eye as she thought that to me. "I found the lady something to float on and had to leave. Funny, I didn't think she would have drifted this way, the currents around here are strange." She looked me over and asked, "How do you feel?"
"I feel good actually, thanks for breakfast. I was starving." I kissed her muzzle with just a quick peck. "I need to surface so Mary doesn't get worried," I thought to her. Cassie nodded.
I started swimming away from the raft and Cassie swam under me in an effort to prevent Mary from seeing her in the crystal clear water. We stopped about 15 meters from the raft and I surfaced, pretending to be out of breath. I called to Mary as she was looking out over the water with a worried expression on her face, "Over here, see any thing?"
"You ok? You were under a long time. I got worried." The relief was painfully evident in her voice. "I haven't seen anything yet except maybe a cluster of rafts that way, a long way off though." She pointed.
"Yeah, saw them myself, they are a good seven klicks away or more. It is too far to try and paddle in this heat. Hey, I told you not to worry about me, I have my beautiful mermaid swimming with me." I felt a claw tip poke me in the left butt cheek and I winced, trying to keep a straight face. "I'm going to swim around some more to work out the soreness. I'll be back in a few minutes." With that I took a couple of deep breaths and dove back under.
I let the air out of my lungs and took in a breath of saltwater, enjoying the feeling of calmness that washed over me. "Cassie, I have to go to the bathroom, you may want to back off a bit." She smiled and faced away from me, allowing some privacy even though she was probably monitoring the process through the umbilical. I unbuckled my shorts and proceeded to do my business. "Any thoughts on our current situation?"
"I have done what I can for the survivors, what few there are. Your friend complicated matters a little. I came back to the raft some time after midnight and started to pull myself in when I noticed the extra passenger, thankfully she was dead to the world and I slipped back under. You missed out on supper, by the way. I came back a few minutes after you crawled into the raft and you were zonked out yourself. I let you sleep. You needed it."
I finished up and put my shorts back on, swimming away from my contribution to the oceanic ecosystem. Cassie and I swam for a bit more, popping up occasionally to check up on Mary and waving at her for reassurance. "Cassie, you're back to normal right, you feel okay?"
"A little tired but I'm fine otherwise, why?"
"Can we swim back to land?"
"Well, we are over 230 kilometers from the closest land, over 300 from any civilization. I can swim about 40 kilometers a day; stopping only for food and brief rests. Toting you it would cut it down to maybe 15 kilometers a day. I can do it but I wouldn't recommend it. Your body couldn't take submersion for that long, not without changing your skin and digestive system at least. I suspect the changes may be going on already but I can't bet your life on it. Letting them pick us up is a safer bet for you, we are in perfect health so if we refuse to let them look at us, what can they say?"
"That's true, I hope so anyway. What about you? You going to find a life vest and float by so you can join us?"
"That is what I had in mind anyway, I have to find some clothes too, I shredded them back on the ship." I was slightly taken aback at that because I hadn't even noticed. I looked her over and realized it was true. The fur covering her hid any of the naughty bits that would have been visible otherwise, effectively making her appear to be dressed in a black, fuzzy wetsuit. Funny how the mind works sometimes.
"You have a point there, indeed. I would wait until rescue was close at hand though, we might get hungry." I smiled at her.
"I would guess maybe a few hours or so. There is a military ship making full steam in this direction but won't make it near here until late afternoon. Three fishing trawlers are less than an hour away but all of them are heading in the wrong direction at the moment. A helicopter is criss-crossing the sea where we surfaced yesterday and it is headed this way but he will probably run low on fuel before he gets this far. The current is stronger here than they expect."
"Now how do you know that?"
"I can hear them, silly. I have sonar, remember? Sound travels a lot farther underwater and they are making a hell of a racket. I think there is a submarine in the area but they are below the thermal layer and I can't hear them well enough to mark their location. I'm designed as an aquatic soldier, I wouldn't last long if I couldn't hear these guys rattling around let alone a squad of enemy assault troops in stealth gear."
"Good point. Take off and see what you can find to wear and a life vest if possible. If you can't, just find something to float on. This was a disaster at sea remember? No big deal."
"I suppose so, I'll be back before too long. You need to get back, your friend is probably getting nervous by now." With that, she gave me a hug and pulled out the tentacle. When she did, my vision instantly blurred and Carrie's presence evaporated. She shared a light kiss then turned and swam off. I swam up to the surface and cleared my lungs as quietly as I could, then swam back to the raft while Mary appeared to be on the edge of panic. I dove down then swam up as hard as I could and surfaced right next to the raft. Surprisingly, I managed to propel myself almost over the side, requiring only a pull up and in with my hands and I landed into the floor of the raft. My raft-mate looked at me with an expression of both surprise and exasperation and I just smiled back at her.
"Have a good swim? You part fish or something? You were under for at least 6 minutes at one point."
I chuckled and said, "Well, you know a mermaid's kiss can revive a sailor who strikes her fancy." I gave her a wink then said, "Of course, there were several times you were looking the other way when I came up for air."
"Oh, well yes, of course. Silly me, you will have to excuse my nervousness, considering my ship sank out from under me and I barely survived five hours in the sea. I then find myself in a raft with a guy who talks to mermaids and swims around in shark infested water like he doesn't have a care in the world."
"I'm sorry Mary, but you are right, I really don't have a care in the world after what I have been through. I should still be on that ship, trapped in my cabin and quietly decomposing right now if not for a set of out-of-this-world miracles. Every moment of life I have from now on is pure gravy; every second I live is a second more than I should have had. I have plenty to eat and drink and I am sure we will be rescued in time for supper. My fiancé pulled me from the jaws of death more than once and got me off the ship after it sank, unfortunately she is still down there. If I talk to her every now and again, just keep in mind I miss her terribly." I stretched out and let the morning sun dry me off. "Survival is a matter of attitude more than anything." With that, I closed my eyes and reflected upon the events of the last two days. I regretted having to lie to this woman but I couldn't tell her the truth, no way.
"I'm sorry about your fiancé, a lot of good people died on that ship. I keep asking myself if there was anything I could have done to have prevented this, but I don't even know what happened other than there was an explosion. There was no warning... Please forgive my comments and you are right, attitude is the key to survival."
A few moments later I opened my eyes when I heard her take off her life vest and jump into the water. I sat up and looked around, soon seeing her surfacing not very far from the raft. She had her blouse off and she threw it to me and said, "Keep an eye out for sharks for me?"
"Sure, my pleasure." I scanned the sea for a moment then spread her white blouse out to let it dry. The epaulets on her shoulders surprised me a bit as did the nametag with the name Capt. Mary L. Booth, S.S. Island Carnival, Panama engraved on it. I guess she had a right to be in a bad mood.
I watched out for sharks and kept an eye on the good captain as she swam around the raft, moving into different swimming strokes and disappearing underwater every now and again. She did this for about twenty minutes before she tried the same maneuver to enter the raft that I did. She didn't quite make it high enough so I reached down and grabbed her arm and helped her in. She lay on the floor breathing hard, her bra moving up and down in relation to her panting. Not bad considering she was just shy of fifty maybe. I handed her blouse back to her as she sat up and caught her breath. She wiped her face off then put the shirt back on. "You were correct Gary," she said in her British accent, or was it Australian? I had no idea really. "I feel much better now. Thank you for the attitude adjustment." I handed her a water bottle and sat back watching her take a small sip. As she drank, a thought came to her, "Gary, since I have been on this raft, you haven't taken a drink of water even though there is plenty here. The bottles had not been opened so I know you haven't had any since the sinking. With this heat and the way you are sweating, you should be stressing by now. Yet, you sit there watching me drink this water and you haven't the slightest interest in it at all. What is going on?" She stared at me like a drill sergeant looks at a recruit who has just shit in his mess kit.
I didn't know what to say so I kept it simple, "I'm not thirsty." I tried to keep a calm demeanor while I panicked inside. I could see why they made her a captain.
"Tell me you are not drinking saltwater, because if you are you are in big trouble. Your body can't handle that much salt, son. It will drive you insane with thirst, then kill you."
"Ma'am, the last thing you need to do is worry about my health. I am fine and there is no chance of me having problems drinking saltwater, believe me. I'm just not thirsty." Well, it really wasn't a lie if you looked at it right.
She eyed me but didn't say anything. We sat in silence for a long while. It might have been an hour later when I faintly heard a voice calling in the distance, Mary heard it too and snapped her head up and scanned the ocean in the direction it came from. I could see a figure in the water a good ways from the raft. Whoever they were they were waving, trying to get our attention.
I looked at the captain, "Do you think we can paddle out to them?"
"Not a chance with this wind and current," she said, shielding her eyes against the glare from the sun.
"I didn't think so. I'll be back." With that I flopped over the side. I started swimming toward the lone survivor with powerful strokes. I stuck with air because I didn't think I could handle the exercise breathing water. I could hear the captain screaming at me to come back or at least take a lifejacket. I ignored her and kept on swimming. I picked up
a rhythm and stroked my way out to who ever it was. It seemed like forever but I eventually reached the lone swimmer. It was Cassie of course, clinging to a piece of life vest. She was back to her human self and had on a t-shirt. I looked at her and thought how odd she looked in her human form, having gotten so used to seeing her covered in fur. I wrapped her in my arms and kissed her, relishing the familiar feel of her lips. "Hi stranger." I said after we parted for air.
"Hello baby, miss me?" she asked.
"You bet I did," I said as I pulled hair out of Cassie's eyes. "Guess who our guest is. It's the captain and she is not a happy camper," I said as I grabbed onto her and lay on my back and started swimming us back to the raft. Cassie swam as well and ended up doing most of the swimming for us. "I think the cast iron bitch suspects something, she noticed me not drinking water and heard us talking."
"Oh hell, I never thought about the water situation. You can drink fresh water, it will just make you thirstier and drop your salt levels. A swim would have set you right again. I wish I had told you that. The mermaid bit didn't help either."
"I don't know about that, I have her convinced I am nutty as a granola bar which could explain my odd behavior. You showing up may be a different matter though." We swam in quiet contemplation back to the raft. We were perhaps 20 meters from the raft when I heard Mary scream out something I couldn't make out. I raised my head and looked
at her. She was pointing to the east of us. She yelled again, "Shark!"
Cassie had her head underwater and was casting about; I could feel my teeth vibrating from her sonar pulses as she looked for the beast. I let her go and treaded water as Cassie sank. I rose up as high as I could kick and looked out over the water in the direction Mary was pointing. I could see a fin and it was big and close, then I saw another. Cassie surfaced next to me.
"Gary, we need to swim underwater to the raft with sure, steady movements. Swim casual. They are attracted to us by our swimming on the surface. I'm going to have to change, we are too vulnerable as I am."
"The captain will see, damn it."
"Can't be helped, these guys are way too unpredictable. By myself, no problem, but you are in real danger. If they attack from different directions they could get past me and get to you and I can't let that happen." With that, she changed before my eyes. Her mouth and nose elongated into a muzzle, teeth growing into fangs. Fur sprouted from her skin and her muscles moved and shifted. Her hands widened and her fingers grew long as webbing appeared between. Her ears disappeared and the shape of her skull shifted and became more streamlined. She closed and then reopened her slit pupil eyes. Her two barbed tentacles appeared from her sides and her claws extended. She was done in less than ten seconds. I looked at her, my eyes wide with wonder. "Does that hurt?" I asked, my mouth open.
"No, not at all. Does it hurt when you get an erection? It's a function of my body, same difference, sort of." Cassie looked over my shoulder and saw Mary watching the entire process with a mixture of wonder and fear. "Cat's out of the bag now, Dear, let's go." I turned around and waved at Mary as Cassie sank and dragged me down with her. I reflexively held my breath for a few seconds until I remembered that wasn't a problem anymore and let the air drain from my lungs and let them once again fill with seawater. Calmness surrounded me for a second or two until my body realized I wasn't drowning and then returned to normal. Cassie let go of me then I started swimming with slow, powerful strokes back to the raft. Cassie hung back a bit, guarding me with watchful eyes, her tail thrashing the water in agitation. I noticed my eyesight was better this time, I could focus and the image was much sharper now. I could almost see as well as I could with the umbilical in me. With my improved eyesight I could also see the two sharks circling us, approaching almost casually. All I could think of was every shark documentary I had ever seen on cable plus the memory of them tearing into the bodies back in the dining room. I thought sharks weren't normally this aggressive but I found out later that due to over fishing in the area they were on the verge of starvation. I shuddered but kept on swimming. I caught glimpses of Cassie as she kept herself between the sharks and me. Suddenly the big one veered sharply and darted straight for Cassie, she quickly danced out of the way and sent one of her barbed tentacles straight into it's belly like a torpedo. It ripped a long gash into it, spilling blood and entrails into the sea. It spiraled lazily down to the bottom trailing blood like a burning airplane falling from the sky. Cassie followed it for some reason.
Our attention was focused on the big one and at the same time the small one circled and came in behind me, effectively using my sonar shadow to sneak up on Cassie. I had forgotten about the other one until it attacked. I felt an indescribable pain then as the shark tore into my right leg, just below the knee. It bit into it then shook violently. I could feel the tendons and bone snap and muscle tear as it ground into my flesh, the sea turning red with my blood. Just as suddenly as it attacked, it was over. The shark took off in a flash. I screamed but not a sound came out. I drew in another breath and could taste my own coppery blood in the water. I screamed another silent scream. I started to go numb as shock set in and I felt cold. I tried to swim but my arms felt like lead and I started to sink, trailing blood just as the big shark did a few moments ago. I silently called out Cassie's name as I watched my severed leg drift below me in a slow spiral, trailing blood and leading me to the bottom.
I felt something grab me by the arm seconds later. I prayed it was Cassie and not the shark, returning for seconds. I weakly looked and to my surprise it was Mary, pulling me to the surface. As we swam up, I heard a sound I will never forget as long as I live, it was a sound so full of pain I almost forgot my own situation and felt absolute sorrow for whatever had made that sound. Mary heard it too and swam faster for the surface. I looked around and saw Cassie suddenly appear next to me, following us up. The look of anguish in Cassie's eyes told me it was her who had made that awful sound. She kept up with us but didn't interfere with Mary at all. We broke the surface and Mary sucked in a huge breath and started coughing and fighting for breath. She tried to keep my head above water until she caught her breath herself. I could only lay there in silent agony. I think she noticed I was breathing water and started to give mouth to mouth.
About that time Cassie slowly surfaced next to us, "Captain," she said very quietly. Mary snapped her head up in surprise, her eyes wide with fear. "Please, Captain, do not be afraid. I will not hurt you." She placed her hands in front of her, palms up.
"Who are you? I saw you change... What are you? What do you want?" Mary said, obviously afraid but standing firm. This woman was tough as a boot heel.
"I am Gary's fiancé, Cassiopeia or Cassie for short. I am also Gary's, ahem, mermaid. I am from another world as you can guess but I mean no one any harm. I can help Gary, please let me help him." Cassie cautiously extended a hand, palm up and the captain looked at it for a second then hesitantly placed her hand in Cassie's. Cassie gently held her hand for a few moments then Cassie said, "Thank you for saving him, that was incredibly brave."
I was so weak; I couldn't clear my lungs properly. I lay there gurgling and wheezing pitifully. I was at the point of passing out when I felt Cassie insert the tentacle. A sudden rush of coolness spread throughout my body, flushing the pain with it and replacing it with a warm glow. I opened my eyes and saw Cassie watching me. "Gary, how do you
feel?" she said into my mind.
"I feel a whole lot better, thank you. What's going on?"
"I have you stabilized and I am swimming you back to the raft. You are going to be okay, Gary. I just need some time to repair what I can. I am so sorry this happened, I couldn't get my barb free of the other shark. I was caught and dragged down pretty far before I could free myself, it was only a few seconds but it was long enough for the other one to strike. By the time I realized what had happened, Mary was already bringing you to the surface. I was so terrified I had lost you. I am so sorry..." She was crying as she said that.
"Hush, it's ok. It'll be ok. It's over and at least I'm alive. It was just something that happened and it couldn't be helped. You are not to blame for this, no one is. I love you Cassie." I tried to lift my arm but couldn't. "I can't move Cassie, how bad is it?"
"I've got you sedated, it will pass soon. You have lost your leg just below the knee and the joint is fairly well destroyed. You lost a good amount of blood and went into deep shock." I heard Mary scramble into the raft then I heard Cassie say out loud, "Mary, I need to work on him a few minutes then we will get him into the raft, I need to make sure he is out of danger. We are going to slip under for a bit so I can concentrate. Don't worry."
"You're not going to let him drown, are you?" The concern in her voice was evident.
Cassie smiled in her way as she wrapped her arms around me from behind and pulled me close as she lay on her back and said as we sank, "This sailor has stuck my fancy." Only her muzzle remained above water as she said, "Besides, you can't drown a fish, we will be fine." We slipped under and floated just under the surface. "Gary, I have to sever your
leg above the knee and close the wound, it's too bad to heal. I'm going to knock you out. Trust me, I'm designed for this."
"Do whatever needs to be done Cassie."
"Oh, Gary I'm so sorry. It is the only way."
"You know better than I do, Doc." I felt a spreading coolness as I became extremely tired. Soon, I embraced oblivion once again.
Chapter 6
"Insert witty quote here"
I woke up some time later, a survival blanket was tied above me for shade. I looked around and found myself alone with Mary. She was under a similar shade dozing on the other side of the raft. I sat up and I looked at the ruin that was my right leg. It ended right above where the knee should have been. There was a sponge like material, greenish-white covering the end of the stump. I touched it and found it to be tough and almost plaster like. I tugged on it a little but it didn't move. I couldn't feel anything except numbness.
My stirring woke Mary and she sat up and looked at me. "How do you feel?"
"Tired, weak and thirsty, but otherwise ok. Where is Cassie?"
Mary handed me a water bottle and said, "It's ok, it's saltwater. Cassie said you would need it when you woke up." I took a long drink and then splashed a little on my face, rubbing the salt crust from my eyes. "Cassie said she needed to get some rest so she is probably still under the raft asleep. I haven't seen her for a while."
"Jeez, how long have I been out?"
Mary glanced at her watch, "About 4 hours or so. Cassie and I had a long talk after she finished patching you up. You guys have one hell of a story to tell. I still don't believe it. Truly amazing."
"Hmm, isn't it? I'm having trouble believing it myself. I'm sure she expressed the need to keep this between us, right?" She nodded as I looked around, "I figured we would have seen a rescue by now." I noticed a large red plastic container next to Mary. She reached over and opened it and said, "Oh, we are already found, a helicopter located us just after you and Cassie got back in the raft but was running low on fuel. They dropped this and took off. I pointed them to the other rafts and they buzzed over to them and then left. You hungry?" She pulled out a sandwich in a plastic bag and a foil pouch.
"I am starved as a matter of fact," my mouth watering as she handed the food to me. I tore open the plastic bag and took a bite of turkey and ham on whole wheat. It had to be the most wonderful tasting sandwich I have ever tasted, especially after eating raw fish for two days. The foil pouch contained vegetable beef stew. I ripped open the foil and slurped the stew from the pouch between bites of sandwich. I noticed Mary helping herself to a sandwich as well.
"Cassie said there was an American ship headed this direction trying to make it before nightfall and I certainly hope they do, I wouldn't want them to miss people in the dark or run over anyone." She took a bite from her sandwich and looked around. "Ah, there it is. American Aegis missile cruiser to the southwest near the horizon bearing 227 approximately 20 nautical miles." She smiled at me, "Sorry, old habits. I was a captain, remember."
I sat up and looked in the direction she indicated and I could barely make out a gray blocky shape emerging from the afternoon haze, very far away. Mary scrambled over to the red case and dug around for a second or two then emerged with a small, hand held radio. "They may be in range by now," she said. Keying the mic, "American cruiser, this is Captain Booth of the S.S. Island Princess, mayday... mayday. Do you read over?"
A very static and weak voice came over the radio's small speaker, "This is Radioman 2nd class Foster, U.S.S. Ticonderoga. I read you, glad to hear your voice." We could hear cheering in the background. "Please continue transmitting so we can get a fix on your location, over."
Mary keyed the mic, "Ticonderoga, I have you in visual range, you are 20 nautical miles southwest my location, bearing 227. You are transiting 25 degrees right of my position. There are other rafts, maybe eight or nine tied together to the northeast approximately five nautical miles my location, over."
"Roger that, what is your current status and how many are with you, over?"
Mary looked at me and tilted her head, "Gary, what do I tell them?"
At that point, Cassie rose up from the water and looked at me, then nodded. "Tell them three to beam up." Cassie and Mary both smiled at that and Mary said, "I have three, including myself. I have one injured. Injury is not life threatening and is stable, over." Mary pointed to the other rafts and we both nodded our heads, "Recommend picking
up others first, they are closer to your location, we can wait, over."
"Captain Booth, this is Commander Philips. My condolences for the loss of your ship. We have a helio warming up and on it's way to you. We are turning now to the location of the other rafts and will pick them up shortly, over."
"Roger that, over." Mary looked at us and said, "Ok, you two, you have maybe twenty minutes before they get here. After our talk Cassie, you don't have anything to worry about from me but you have to come up with an explanation for Gary and his condition. Not only that, but you need to get human, quicker the better."
Cassie shrugged and leaned back in the water, transforming back into her human form. The strangest part was her body fur, it just fell out and floated away in a cloud as her shape changed to human, her head hair remained the same though. She disappeared for a second then popped over into the raft then scrambling over next to me. Her naked body
dripping water as she pulled the hair from her face. She went to my leg and touched the material at the end of my stump. It instantly dissolved at her touch. "I'm afraid the plasma matrix bandage has to go, couldn't explain that. There is a "Men in Black" type of item we don't need." She took out a roll of bandages from the raft's tiny first aid kit and opened the package. She removed a plastic Ziploc bag from the red container. She then returned to my leg and rubbed the open wound just a bit and got it to bleed. I couldn't feel anything so I just watched in fascination. She took about half the bandage and wrapped it around the wound, soon turning it red from my blood. She then unwrapped it and placed the bloody bandage into the bag, sealing it. The remaining bandage was then wrapped around the wound and tied off. Cassie then emptied most of the remaining contents of the first aid kit into an empty water bottle and put the empty packages in with the bloody bandage. A claw popped out of her fingertip and she used it to puncture the plastic bottle.
"Gary, give me your watch." I took it off and handed it to her. She made a slit in the bottle then inserted the watch. It was full of water and not working anyway so it was no big loss, I think I exceeded the 200meter waterproofing somehow, go figure. She went over to the side and dropped the bottle, making sure it sank out of sight. Mary and I both looked at her with raised eyebrows. "I have to make it look like I have been using these supplies. That reminds me, Mary would you empty out a couple of water bottles for me. Thanks." As Mary opened the bottles, taking a large drink then emptied the remaining water into the sea, Cassie put on her t-shirt. It was rather oversized and almost made a dress on her. "Ok, guys, keep it simple. Stick to the truth, just don't mention I'm an alien and we should be fine. Gary, if they separate us, remember to intake a lot of salt, I mean a lot of salt. I think it will stabilize after a couple of days, your body will know."
About that time the steady droning thump of a helicopter could be heard, approaching from the Ticonderoga. They were flying a bit to the right of us so Mary pulled out a flare gun from the red container and launched a flare to get their attention. The helicopter pilot corrected and headed in our direction. A few minutes later several flares were
launched from the other group of rafts. "About bloody time somebody woke up over there," Mary muttered under her breath. Before too long the helicopter hovered above us, blasting us with prop wash and sea spray. A couple of rescue swimmers in masks and fins appeared in the open doorway and jumped in next to the raft. The helio then
veered away some and then settled into a very low hover just above the calm sea a few dozen meters away. The two swimmers came up to the raft and peered in, "Ok folks, we are going to swim you over to the helicopter and transfer you... holy shit!" That was about the time the guy noticed my severed leg and bag of bandages. The other swimmer let go and began swimming the raft to the helicopter, "Hang on buddy, we're getting you out of here." With that he let go and helped swim the raft over. Shortly we were at the door and with practiced precision they transferred us into the craft and just as the last swimmer pulled himself into the doorway the pilot pulled us up and away.
A Navy Corpsman was instantly at my side as we flew away back to the Ticonderoga, he was a young looking kid but did his job very professionally; taking my pulse, blood pressure and giving me a quick once over. He then radioed my condition to the ship so they were ready when we landed. Blankets were handed out to Cassie and Mary
along with water and fruit juice as we flew back. It was a short ride back to the Navy ship but a bumpy one as we landed on the moving deck of the ship. After that harrowing ride, give me sharks and sinking ships any day.
Chapter 7
"Say Doc, it hurts when I do this..."
An hour later, I found myself in the ship's sickbay watching the recovery of the other passengers and crew on the closed circuit TV. I caught glimpses of Cassie helping the injured as they came aboard along with the medical staff and crew. Soon they were bringing the worst into the sickbay, they put a little girl next to me. Her arm was in a
splint and she had a purple bruise on her left cheek. The corpsman who put her in the bed put a sheet up and tried to remove a soggy stuffed toy from her, she started crying and he gave up. He took her pulse and temperature then left to attend to someone else as they brought them in.
Cassie walked into the sickbay a little later and slid in between the two beds. She stopped when she saw the little girl and her stuffed toy. I noticed, for just an instant, her bottom lip quiver ever so slightly. Something terrible had happened out there that involved that little girl and her toy. I knew her well enough that I could almost read her mind sometimes. She paused for a second then put on a big smile. "What are you doing Gary, seeing another woman while I'm out slaving away?" She bent down and kissed me on the cheek. I noticed the name "Lubowski" stenciled on the borrowed uniform and laughed.
"So seaman Lubowski, how goes the battle, dear?" I whispered over to the little girl, putting a finger to my lips, "Don't ask, don't tell. Shhhh!" I heard her giggle at that
Cassie smiled at her then turned to me and whispered, "We need to talk."
About that time an officer with an impressive display of gold on his collar walked up, "Excuse me folks, I am Commander Bill Phillips, may I have a word?" He extended his hand to both of us in turn then spoke in hushed tones. "We are getting ready to medivac the worst of the injured to the carrier USS Kitty Hawk where they can be flown back to the States from there." He looked at his clipboard, "Right now we have you scheduled to leave on the first helio out since your leg is the worst injury among the survivors."
"Look, I really don't think there is anything else that can be done except keeping the wound clean. Give my spot to someone else. I'll be fine." I said, prepared to argue about my refusal of medical treatment.
"We were hoping you would say that. We will be heading back to port and we'll be there in a couple of days. You are in pretty good shape considering and as you said, there really isn't much more anyone can do. It is fairly typical of amputee's really. A severe wound that can cause you to be at death's door and bed ridden for weeks even without infection, sever the appendage and the patient will usually be up and around in a day or two. I'm sorry there is nothing that can be done about the leg, sir, other than prothstetics and physical therapy. You are extremely fortunate to be alive after such a vicious attack, most die of blood loss and shock if they don't drown right away. I understand Captain Booth rescued you after the attack?"
I nodded as he continued, "Also I must commend your fiancé for doing such a good job cleaning and dressing the wound. In fact she has been a great deal of help with the other passengers. She is a natural." Cassie and I exchanged glances and smiled. "Speaking of medical treatment, are you sure I can't talk you into letting our medical staff to take a look at you or at least let us do some simple blood and urine analysis? We will honor your refusal of treatment of course but I strongly suggest you change your mind."
"Thank you but I am quite sure. I have my reasons." I said hoping to end this line of conversation.
"We are not looking for drugs, if that worries you. We just want to help anyway we can."
"Thanks and rest assured drugs are the least of my concerns, Commander."
"Ok, well if you change your mind just let the corpsman know. I need to be going. Ms. Miles, thanks again for all your help and keep an eye on your patient there." He turned and walked about the compartment visiting other patients, making introductions and small talk, then eventually left.
Cassie pulled the privacy curtain around the bed then sat down on the edge. She leaned close to me and whispered, "Gary, I'm going to make your day." She put her arm around my chest and hugged me, "I think I can heal your leg, don't worry."
I looked at her in shock, "You can do that with your tentacle?"
"No, I can't do it myself but my ship has a medical unit in it, I think I can reprogram it to do your leg. I've been thinking about it since we were picked up and I think it would be for the best." She looked at me for a moment with a hint of sadness. "I have to tell you the truth Gary, if it were just the leg, I wouldn't risk going back to the ship but there are changes going on in your body that are impossible to explain. I'm hoping the medical unit can provide some clues. I want to make sure you are not in any danger from what I have done to you."
"So, where is it? I'm afraid I'm going to be a burden with the bum leg if it is hard to get to."
"Oh Gary, I could carry you the whole way and not even break a sweat. Not necessary though. We can fly most of the way there then hitch a ride, I've done it before. We'll need a couple of tickets to Barrow, Alaska. From there we can hire a pilot to take us to a fishing village north of the artic circle called Ulee. We'll catch a ride from there."
"Ok, sounds like an adventure. How are we going to pay for it? This trip is going to just about wipe us out as it is?"
She smiled and had a very distant look in her eyes, "Gary, money is not a problem. I have more than enough money, in fact I am very wealthy."
My eyes were as wide as saucers with this news, "You are?" I have known her for two years and lived with her for one of them and never suspected. "How? How wealthy?" I stammered.
"Not obscenely wealthy, but I can get a hold of a couple of million in a hurry, more if I really need it. Underwater salvage can be extremely lucrative if you don't need dive gear or submarines." She put her finger on my nose and said, "Now that you are properly equipped, I expect you to help with the family business and earn your keep."
Still rather shocked I looked at her for a moment, thoughts running through my head like a freight train. Her being an alien didn't shock me near as much as finding out she was a millionaire. But then, I never asked. She was working in a department store when I met her and she lived very simply. I never dreamed it was by choice. I suspect it had a lot to do with her need to remain hidden. She was right, we did need to get to know each other better. If she had told me a year ago I would have resented her wealth and her deception, now I just see it as just another method of her survival on a rather hostile world. I reached up and planted a big sloppy kiss on her lips. Her eyes got big then she closed them as we tongue wrestled for a minute or two. We broke off the kiss and I said, "That means I can go up to Mr. Haskins and tell him to kiss my ass and shove that miserable grocery store up his wazoo!"
"Well, yes and no. You can certainly quit but we can't just start living it up because I cannot justify where the money came from without a source of income. There will be questions I can't answer."
"I don't think that will be a problem if we can get a settlement from the cruise line. We take the money, tell everyone we are going away then start a new life elsewhere, perhaps start a business that becomes wildly successful. I figure we head home, get myself fitted for a prothstetic leg and wait for the settlement. We will settle quickly, put the house up for sale then head up to Alaska so you can check me out. Hopefully I won't have sprouted scales and gills by then."
Cassie hugged me close then she told me she loved me.
Chapter 8
"North to Alaska, just a little northeast of Nome..."
We met with Mary later that evening and told her about our plans concerning our trip to Cassie's ship and her concerns about the changes in my body. I also told her that if the cruise line offered to settle with us very quickly they could avoid a lot of lawyers and never hear from us again. She said she would do what she could but made no promises. We thanked her and told her we would be in touch. We saw her again when we pulled into Pensacola, FL a couple of days later. We said our goodbyes to the captain and she left. I had acquired a set of crutches and managed to learn to walk with them fairly well but the Corpsmen insisted I be carried off. I was pissed off until I saw the gangway I was supposed to leave the ship on. No way I could have done it with the crutches.
After regaining what dignity I could after being toted down the gangway by a couple of sailors, we were met by a crowd of reporters, survivor's families and loved ones. Far too many would leave without finding anyone.
We expected no one to meet us so we hopped on a shuttle that took us to the hotel provided to us by the cruise line. We were there maybe a couple of hours before a phone call interrupted our nap. It was a representative from the cruise line that wanted to talk with us. We met her in the restaurant over coffee.
The meeting went very quickly, after a couple of offers and counter offers, we settled on a quite reasonable sum plus medical expenses. Once the money had been transferred and the papers signed a week later we were booked on a flight to Juno. After discussing it, we agreed there really wasn't anything back in Peabow that couldn't be replaced and it would take months for my leg to heal and be fitted with an artificial one. Cassie really didn't wan to wait that long. We spent a week in Pensacola recovering and getting ready for the trip to the great white north. I practiced getting around on crutches and Cassie took care of the finances. All too soon, we were on our way.
The flight to Juno was uneventful and we got a room at the airport hotel. After enjoying the hot tub and room service that night, we caught a flight to Fairbanks the next day. We stayed a couple of days due to the weather and bought a few things and arranged the flight to Barrow and also chartered an air taxi flight to Ulee. The weather was bad that far north and we had to wait a couple of days for the skies to clear so we could continue to Barrow.
Once the snow eased up, our plane took off and we headed for Barrow. It was an uneventful flight so we slept for the most part. We landed at the surprisingly modern airport in Barrow and met our single engine air taxi flight that headed west for Ulee. This far north at this time of year the sun was a memory, just a dull glow to the south even at high noon. The northern lights kept us company in the dark, it was beautiful in fact.
Several hours later we landed in what could only be described as a flat, white nothing between two large mountains. The plane sputtered to a stop next to a post sticking up out of the snow, it had a hand painted sign that said "Ulee's Trading Post." We clambered out of the plane and gathered our gear from the baggage compartment. The pilot, Mike just shook his head, knowing we were not prepared for the cold conditions out here. Figured us for clueless tourists and wondered if he would be called up to search for the bodies. We were way underdressed for the 15 below zero weather and he figured we would probably want to return when he did in the morning. They usually did. Truth was, I could have stood naked in the snow and it wouldn't have bothered me in the least. I knew it was cold but it didn't effect me much at all. Cassie wasn't bothered by it either apparently. I was liking my new body more and more, even if it was a leg short. I pulled out the crutches and hobbled out. The snow and ice was hard enough to support the crutches without much trouble with the wide feet on the ends.
Cassie walked over to the sign and turned directly north then paced off two steps. She then started brushing away the snow. Moments later the pilot and Cassie had a wooden door cleaned off and opened. Cassie motioned me to hobble over and I peered in. It was a set wooden stairs leading downward. She grabbed me around the waist and picked me up with one hand. I put both crutches in one hand and put my free hand around her shoulders. We had done this a couple of times already so it was routine by now. Mike just stood at the doorway carrying our two meager bags and watched in amazement as Cassie easily carried me down the frozen steps. There would be a landing every 10 or so with a door. "What's with the doors?" I asked after the third or fourth one.
"Those are doors to the outside, this is a snow tower that allows access to the settlement in the long winters up here. The town is almost entirely underground so there has to be someway down to it as the snow builds up. The mountains funnel the snow into this valley and it builds up quite a bit. We arrived here in the depths of winter so we ended up at the top of the tower."
"Amazing, beats shoveling by a long shot." We stopped at a wooden door that appeared to be an entrance. There was a hand painted sign above the doorway that said "Welcome to Ulee's Trading Post," under that was another on the door, "Heat and space is valuable, drunks and thieves ain't." That sign spoke volumes about life up here. I suspect ol' Ulee didn't have much trouble with those types, especially this time of year. The doors opened up to another room and another set of doors. This one had two signs on it, the first one said to close the first door before opening this set. The other had us all snickering, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Signed, "Ulee's wife."
Cassie sat me down and I set my crutches under my arms and waited as Cassie opened the doors as soon as Mike closed the first set. A wave of heat met our faces as we walked in. Mike closed the door quickly as we entered a rather large room. There were piles of gear, snowshoes and skies, even a genuine seal skin kayak hung on a set of pegs on the wall. There were two doors, one to the left led to the trading post and lodging, the other had a very colorful sign painted with parrots and tropical flowers with the words, "Ulee's Tiki Lounge," except the "Tiki" was marked through and had "Tacky" written above in black marker, again signed by "Ulee's Wife."
Mike suggested we see if Ulee had a room available then head back to the lounge for a bite to eat. Cassie said she would look into it and suggested I go to the lounge and park myself somewhere until she got back. Sounded like a plan to me, I really didn't relish the idea of navigating this very odd place on one leg. Mike opened the door to the Tiki Lounge and I waddled in and then they both left. I turned and looked into the room and was struck by the incredible decor. There wasn't an empty spot on any wall, every inch was covered by some form of tropical kitsch, more than you could imagine. Tacky was a good word for it, the plastic pineapples and thatched roof bar. Every table had a plastic Tiki totem or a mini Easter island stone face. There was fake foliage everywhere and Tiki masks and shields hung randomly as well. There was even a fake parrot or two. There was a very large guy in a Hawaiian shirt behind the bar watching TV and maybe three other customers scattered around the place.
The bartender looked up and saw me. He jumped up and walked over and helped me to a table. The guy looked Polynesian but I suspected he was just as genuine as the rest of the place. He helped me with the crutches as I settled into the table. "You fly in with Mike? I thought I heard his plane land. Enjoy your trip?"
"As well as can be expected. Nice place, rather unusual for the arctic." I said, smiling.
"It has its charm, plus it is designed to break up the boredom. Visitors from around the world have left this stuff for me to display. The only thing I have bough myself was the stuffed parrot over there. Just sort of grew on its own. The lights are artificial sunlight types to counteract cabin fever and the winter gloom, very scientific in fact. You want a drink? I have a very good Kailua coffee that will warm you right up."
"Sounds good, I'll give it a try. My fiancé and Mike are going to join me in a few minutes and we will want something to eat."
"Ah, I have a pot of caribou stew on the stove that will be done in about thirty minutes or I can cook up something else. What I have is up on the chalkboard over there. The salmon is pretty good and the whale is an acquired taste."
"The stew actually sounded pretty good, I'll wait for the others and try your drink for now, thanks."
"That's great. My name is Carl Littlebear and let me know if there is anything else I can do for you. I'll get your drink, just a second." Carl headed back to the bar and mixed up my drink. Then disappeared into the back.
A rather rough looking older guy dressed in a wool sweater and cap looked at me and said, "I lost my big toe to frostbite about six years ago, is that what happened to you, son?"
"Actually, I lost it to a shark." The other two patrons, both looking like the classic definition of native American looked at me with interest.
"You don't say, that must be quite a story."
"Yeah, you could say that. You heard about the Island Princess sinking last week? I was a survivor."
"I seem to remember that, heard it on the radio. Explosion wasn't it?"
"Yeah, most passengers didn't get off in time. Horrible experience. Others died from the sharks, almost did me in."
"Well, son, it's none of my business but a man with a fresh amputation has a death wish coming up here. This is a very unforgiving place for a whole man, let alone someone such as yourself. Hell, it's been less than a week, shouldn't you be in a hospital?"
"You're right."
"Oh, about what?"
"It's none of your business."
The old guy busted out laughing, "You are absolutely right, you are going to fit in just fine 'round here. Didn't mean to pry but I'm what passes for the law around here and I hate searching for bodies"
"That shouldn't be a problem, I'm a lot tougher than I look." I said smiling a big dumb grin.
"Don't matter how tough you are son, it's how smart you are. Being outside with one leg in deep snow ain't smart. It's your business though and I'll leave you to your drink."
"Thanks for the concern, sir." Just then Cassie and Mike walked into the cantina. "Oh, hi." Cassie waved and Mike walked up and helped himself to a beer from a cooler behind the bar. Cassie sat down and talked in hushed tones.
"OK, we managed to find one open room. Mike is leaving after a few hours of sleep so I told him to use it first and we will move in after he wakes up. We can use the time to find transportation out on the ice. Hopefully we can persuade someone with a dog team to take us out." Mike saluted us with his can of beer and went to the room.
"What about a snow mobile or one of those crawler things?"
"The snowmobile is an option but not a good one, not very reliable and heavy, same with the crawler if there was one in the area. The ice is really thin around here due to warm water currents and something like that could go right through the ice. It's why I chose this area, I can usually get into the water without too much trouble."
I shuddered at the thought of swimming in water cold enough to turn my blood into slush. Or would have a couple of weeks ago anyway, Cassie said it shouldn't bother me in the least. I suppose I would find out soon enough. My body was still changing, mostly in small ways. My eyes now had a membrane that slides over them when I'm in the water or if I get into strong light or dirt. I can still see fine but it makes everything look like I'm looking through thick, slightly tinted glass. What surprised me was the fact Cassie didn't have them. Cassie was a little shocked at that too since the changes occurring to my body seemed to be pretty close to hers. My lungs for instance were almost a carbon copy of hers except they are slightly modified to handle the different biology and I now have a swim bladder just like hers. My digestive system has changed as well as other systems which has basically made my body able to withstand prolonged submersion. I'm just waiting for the tail to pop out.
These changes were the main reasons we were there, her ship was hidden under the ice and with it was a high tech medical thing which should be able to determine just what was going on with me. That and maybe do something about the leg. She really didn't like going to the ship because it made it a whole lot easier for her to be found. If they discovered the ship, they still had to find her among billions of people unless she was on it. No use making it easier for them.
The chances were extremely small that they would find her, she doubted they would even look considering the near infinite number of planets and stars she could have headed to. Still, it bothered her to go there unless she really needed to. The problem was, if I kept changing and stopped looking human, we were in trouble since I would have to hide for the rest of my life or leave Earth for somewhere more cosmopolitan. That could cause Cassie problems since it would be a lot easier for them to find her. It would be my luck to have to leave Earth because I'm became an alien.
About that time the old man got up and walked over to the table, "Cassiopeia? Is that you?"
Cassie looked up at the guy and her face lit up with a smile, "Ulee, I didn't see you sitting there! How are you?"
"I'm getting old and my wife hates me but other than that, I'm doing good. Is hop-a-long here with you?"
"Yeah, he is my fiancé in fact. Gary this is Ulysses Smith, Ulee to his friends and enemies alike. Owner and proprietor of the best Trading Post this side of the artic circle. Possibly because it is the only one this far north." She stood up and put her arms around the old guy.
Ulee blanched a bit at the announcement of her engagement to me. I figured it was the leg.
"My god Cassie, does he know?" He said very quietly as he hugged Cassie. I wouldn't have heard it if my hearing wasn't ten times better that it was. I could hear Ulee's heart beating across the table if I cared to tune it in.
Cassie looked at me and said, "Yes, Ulee, he knows."
Ulee looked at me as well and said in hushed tones, "Son, you know who and what she is?"
I couldn't resist the temptation, the geezer had it coming so I stood up and reached out my hand in a friendly handshake and as he took it I slid the nictitating membrane over my eyes. "Glad to finally meet the famed Ulee Smith and yes, I know what she is, you got a problem?"
The membrane trick had the desired effect, Ulee's jaw dropped slightly but never tried to pull his hand away. He looked over at Cassie and she was trying not to laugh too loudly. "No, not at all, glad to hear it in fact. I've been telling Cassie for thirty years she needed to find someone to settle down with. Even better she found someone with so much in common."
Cassie leaned over and kissed the old guy on the cheek and said, "Thank you Ulee, I think we will be happy together. It's just a shame you gave me up for your wife. How is Carl anyway?"
"Getting fat and lazy, 'course he's been that way all his life, so why expect anything else." He laughed and waved Carl over to the table. I was somewhat confused about Ulee calling Carl his wife until it clicked. Silly me. Women were rather scarce up here and hell, who was I to judge? At least Carl was the same species.
Carl walked over and put on a big smile when he saw Cassie, "Well it is so good to see you again, Waterchild. I see time has been very kind to you. It has not been so kind to me I'm afraid and has been very bad on Ulee here, he has turned into an old man."
"See, what I tell ya. Hates me. Worse than an old squaw sometimes, always complaining. Worse even 'cause he can't cook 'neither." I noticed Ulee wink at Cassie as Carl turned ten different shades of red.
"That's not true Ulee, Carl is the best chef I've ever met." Cassie put her arm around Carl's and said, " In fact, the main reason I'm here is to get some of Carl's cooking, I've missed it so. That and do some swimming, how is the ice, Ulee?"
"Well, we've gotten a lot of snow this year but the ice is breaking up north east of here, went fishin' there about a week ago. There is a pressure ridge about ten miles from here that should still be opening ice in places. I suppose you and Gary need a ride?"
"Any dog teams around? We need to get into the water somewhere and they need to be trustworthy. I can pay them well, as you know."
"Dog teams? Hell Cassie, nobody uses them but for the tourists any more, everyone uses snowmobiles or ATV's now. They are a lot better than they were the last time you were here. I'll take you out myself Cassie, I don't trust anyone else except Carl and he is not in the best of shape for the ice anymore."
"Ulee is right I'm afraid," Carl said as he sat down at the table. "I have gotten old too, I'm not as spry as I used to be."
"That's ok Carl, I know the spirit is willing and all that. Ulee, thanks. We are going to have to rig up some way to carry Gary out there, he is the reason I have to go to the ship." Cassie rubbed my arm and said, "We may not come back, depending on what I find with Gary. I triggered changes in his body that may end up turning him into a stranger alien than even me. If that is the case, we may have to leave. I can't force him to live in hiding for the rest of his life just because of me."
"Hmmm, I've got a six wheeler ATV that should do the trick, it can carry two people and it has a flat bed in back. I can run you two out there and drop you off. I can leave a radio out there in case you need a ride back. I can spare the radio but the six wheeler is irreplaceable this time of year."
"I understand Ulee, that will be fine. One more thing, as you know I have to eat before I can get into the water. How are you set for meat? I'm going to need about 2 pounds, and I'm not choosy. Hoppy's a little pickier though."
"We have more than enough whale to last, you want some? How much of that do you want in blubber?" Carl asked.
"About half and half will work fine. I want a few pounds to go as well, Gary may get hungry after we hit the water, I just don't know."
I kind of winced at the thought of eating raw whale, give me a Big Mac and fries any day but Cassie knew more about my body than I did and I had to trust she knew what she was doing. I was hungry though, "How is the stew coming? Maybe I can remember the stew as I'm choking down whale blubber." The table laughed at that one and Carl stood up.
"I think it is ready, I'll go check. Don't worry, I'll prepare the whale so you will like it, it is very good when cooked right. You want it tomorrow then? What time do you intend on leaving?"
"We aren't on a fixed schedule, whenever Ulee wants to go is fine with us but we would like to get some sleep. How about around noon? That ok with you Ulee?"
"Fine by me, take a couple of hours at the most, depends on the ice and the weather. Report said it should be ok, may even warm up to minus ten. Practically balmy."
"Good swimming weather eh?" Cassie said as she elbowed me in the ribs. I just sort of nodded. I know intellectually that the water temperature shouldn't bother me, in fact it should be about the same temperature as in the shipwreck but my body refuses to believe it. I just hope she doesn't have to drag me in.
Carl brought out the food in short order and it was fantastic. Ulee and Carl got up and left us to our meal, walking off together bickering like an old married couple. I had to smile at them. I've seen a few homosexuals before but I have never been this close to an open couple like that. Seemed sort of weird but then it didn't. They were nice people regardless.
Carrie noticed me watching them and she smiled, "They aren't gay, you know."
"Huh?"
"Those two, contrary to appearances are not a gay couple. They share a bond that goes far beyond sex Gary. It's hard to explain. They are both straight as an arrow. A few years before I found Ulee on the ice, they were both happily married, even had a couple of kids apiece. The wives decided to fly down to Nome to do some Christmas shopping. Tragically, they and the kids never made it back, the plane crashed in a freak storm about twenty miles from here. After that, they used each other to fill the void left in their lives. It's been a running joke around here for years now, everyone kids them about being married because they act like it at times."
"Oh, well it's none of my business anyway. Shame about their families though."
"Yes, it is but it was a long time ago." Cassie pushed away her empty bowl, "I need to see if Ulee still has my stuff I put up in storage. I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Ok, what is it?"
"Oh, just some stuff we will need to get to the ship."
"Bathing caps and water wings, right?"
"Yeah, that's it. You want the blue or the yellow?"
"You are the one with the fashion sense, you choose."
"Ah, lime green it is."
"You really are an alien, aren't you?"
She got up and stuck out her tongue, "Yeah, but I was here before you were, so who is the alien, hmmm?"
"Ha, you have a point there. I'll just wait here for you, my favorite martian."
"See you in a bit," and with that she left to talk to Ulee for a second then headed out the door.
I ordered another bowl of stew in hopes I wouldn't have any room for whale later. The idea of eating it brings up images of Greenpeace and Captain Ahab. Idiotic, I know but what can I say. I found out later that the Inuit could legally hunt a couple of whales per season and they traded the extra meat to Ulee and Carl for other necessities like medicines and clothing.
Cassie returned with a small case and said she would open it when we were alone. We spent a few hours watching movies on the satellite TV and tried to get drunk. Cassie just laughed when I complained about the alcohol not doing more than giving me a light buzz. She said my body was a bit better at handling such chemicals. Drat. No hangovers were a plus but dang it, a fellow may want to tie one on occasionally. Especially just before swimming with seals and polar bears in the arctic. Oh well.
Mike showed up and said he was done with the room and asked if we were sure we didn't want a ride back to civilization. We told him no thanks and have a good return trip. We moved into the room and closed the door. Cassie opened the case and pulled out a black looking ring and handed it to me as I put my crutches up and sat on the bed. I looked at it but I couldn't hazard a guess as to its function. There were two squares on it that were slightly raised. She told me to press both squares at the same time. I did and the ring split and opened between the two square buttons. She told me to put it around my neck, open end to the front. I did and the ring snapped shut as I closed the gap. It was snug but not tight. I asked her what it was.
"It's a Chron slave collar, you get farther than six feet from this bed and your head explodes."
The look of shock on my face caused her to bust out laughing. I realized she was joking and I picked up a pillow and threw it at her. "Not that I plan on going that far from this bed, at least for the next few hours anyway, but what is it really?"
"It is a skinsuit, a sort of standard issue space suit in other words. I figure you don't want to swim in the arctic naked do you? Take your clothes off."
"Ooh baby, that's all I need to hear." I proceeded to strip with her help and soon I was sitting there in the nude.
"Now, press the collar's buttons, left then right." Suddenly a blue haze formed around my body then turned a dull red color then shrank next to my body. It solidified into a very thin coating on my skin, almost like a full body condom. She then told me to press the right button three or four times until it fit right. I did and with each press of the button the suit became thicker and less defined. The third press had it looking very much like an expensive tailored wetsuit, the fourth had it looking like I was a little over inflated. She told me to press the left once to return to the last setting. "How does it feel?"
"It feels like I don't have anything on actually, I feel a little warmer than I did, but I wasn't cold to begin with." I moved around and found it still didn't feel like anything. I tried to get up and smacked my elbow against the wall as I lost my balance and realized something was different. My elbow never contacted the wall, just sort of bounced off. I tried hitting my hand on the wall, same effect. It was like I was in armor. I reached up and touched my left hand with my right and I could feel it like normal. The suit sort of parted and molded itself to allow contact without exposure. I could scratch my arm easily. "Is this some sort of material or what? Kind of like soft armor."
"It is actually a field generated by the collar, put your fingers on each side of the collar and draw them back. I did and the blue field formed over my head then turned clear. I didn't feel any different.
"Draw your left finger forward again and it changes to a water environment." I didn't try it, I preferred air. Blame my human side. "Drawing you fingers back again opens the head area." I did it and a blue flash appeared suddenly then was gone. I would have to take her word for it that it was working.
"It is good for projectile impacts and will protect you from high gravity and hard vacuum. Cold isn't a problem and heat is after about 1500 degrees Fahrenheit unless you have somewhere to dump the heat. It will block most radiation you would encounter in a working space environment but it has its limits. No dancing on a neutron star or riding a nuclear bomb. We wear these under our combat armor. The skinsuit is completely useless against energy weapons so we wear combat armor over it. They will last about 30 hours before it needs to be recharged on the ship." She pulled out another one and put it around her neck but didn't turn it on. "There are two ways to take it off, first and best way is to press the collar studs in reverse order, right then left." I did and the same sort of blue flash appeared and I was naked again. "The other way is to just reach up and pull it off your neck. It will turn off and it works as a way to get it off in an emergency. It also burns up the charge and is useless until it can be recharged."
"Gee, and I would have been happy with a pair of Spiderman Underoos."
"I know dear. They are not really needed where we are going but they are the power source for these." She pulled out a set of short tubes just big enough to put your fist through and maybe two inches thick. It had little holes all over it, apparently randomly spaced.
"What are they?"
"They are thrusters. I put these around my legs and turn on the skinsuit. With these on, I can swim about ten times faster with little effort." She handed it to me and felt it. Didn't weigh more than a couple of ounces. Felt like hard plastic.
"Where is mine?"
"Sorry dear, you have to have two legs or you will tend to spin in circles and they have to be set up to pick up your nerve impulses so you can steer them. They are set up for me and that's it. I can set up a pair on the ship for you though once we have you standing on your own two feet again."
"Oh wow, neat."
"That they are, one of the few things I really miss."
"Would have been handy a couple of weeks ago." I said, looking it over. "What's with the holes?
"High energy water streams are what propel you forward from these nozzles here, the other holes keep you straight or allow you to turn."
"What if one of these streams hit your body? I would imagine it could cut your leg clean off."
"Yes, it can. That is why it only works with the skinsuit on. It can't hurt you then. It's designed to protect against meteoroid impacts so a little water spray is no big deal.
"So, about how far do we have to swim before we get to the ship?
"It's only about sixty miles from here, a little closer where we are going into the water. It is sitting at about 700 feet. Should take a couple of hours to get there."
"You can swim 30 miles an hour with these 'thrusters' on?"
"No, I can swim 70 miles an hour with thrusters, but carrying your lead ass, I may be able to hit 30 or so," she said with a big smile on her face.
"Oh, gee. Well, next time you get drowned, shark bit and changed into the Creature from the Black Lagoon and I'll cart you around."
"Promise?"
"Promise," I said then leaned over and kissed her. She responded with unusual passion. It had been a very stressful week for us both and we really hadn't fooled around for a while. We made love for the first time since the ship sank and it was wonderful, my leg made things a little more complicated but Cassie made up for it in spades. Much, much later, we fell asleep in each other's arms.
Chapter 9
"...when it's springtime in Alaska, I'll be 600 feet below."
I woke up feeling well rested and hungry despite my dreaming that stupid dream again. The two of us cuddled for a while just enjoying each other's company then we dragged ourselves out of bed. We dressed, making sure to put the collars under our clothes and Cassie put the thrusters on under her pant legs. We were dressed rather lightly for an arctic winter outing but it was for show anyway. We gathered up our meager belongings and trundled out for breakfast and headed for the Tiki Lounge since it was the only game in town. Carl was behind the bar cooking eggs and bacon on a small electric griddle. We sat at a table close to the bar and Carl came over and sat down a couple of cups of coffee. "Good morning folks, interested in some delicious eggs and savory bacon hot off the grill?"
"Sounds great Carl, the coffee smells wonderful too, thanks. Where is Ulee?" Cassie asked as she sipped her coffee.
"He is getting the six wheeler ready, should be back in a few minutes." Carl said as he sat down a couple of plates filled with eggs, toast and bacon.
I am not that big a fan of eggs and bacon normally, but I seemed to have a hankering for them. It was excellent and hit the spot (and really freakin' expensive, but then again, not many chickens north of Fairbanks).
Cassie motioned Carl over to the table and asked him to sit down. He maneuvered his large body onto a chair with a puzzled expression on his face. Cassie pulled something out of her pocket and pressed it into Carl's hand. He looked down and saw a roll of thousand dollar bills, close to $20,000 if my estimate was close. It was all the cash we had on us not including a couple of grand I have stashed for emergencies. I still wasn't used to having money and all, I almost had a heart attack until I remembered twenty grand was pocket change, well almost. Carl's eyes grew wide at the realization of what she was giving him.
"Waterchild, what is this for? I know my food is a little expensive but not like this." He said, a smile on his face. "You want me to put it in the safe for your return?"
"No Carl, this is for you and Ulee. I want you to have it. I know Ulee would not accept it so I'm hoping you will be a bit more... practical."
"I cannot accept this! It is too much! You are a friend Cassie, we can't take this." Carl protested.
"Carl, we are very rich. We can afford it, believe me. We want you to have it as a token of our thanks. All we ask is you do as you have done in the past and keep our secret."
"But I cannot accept ... you aren't going to give me any peace unless I accept this are you?" Carl said, resignation in his voice. "You know Ulee will be angry I took this money, right?"
"Yes, that is why I chose to give it to you and hope you will wait to tell him about it after we leave." Cassie said with smile on her face.
"You are very kind, Cassiopeia. I will never forget you or your generosity. Gary, I thank you as well." He reached out and took Cassie's hand. "I hope you find the answers you seek and I wish you both the very best. If there is anything you need, please let me know."
"Carl, you and Ulee have already done more than I could ever ask. I..."
About that time Ulee walked in and waved at us. "Hey, I see you two are up and among the living again. I just checked on the six wheeler and everything is ok. We can leave as soon as you are ready."
"Good Ulee, we are leaving our luggage with you so we can have some clothes if we come back through here. We don't need them where we are going and it will just get soggy anyway. If we don't come back in a couple of weeks, donate them to who ever could use it."
"Ok, not a problem," he said as he shook off the cold and snow.
We gathered up the food Carl had for us and set out for the other side of the settlement. We said good bye to Carl and left the Tiki Room and ventured down a well lit hallway. The passage we walked down led to the corral. We went through a double door setup like we went through at the snow tower. It opened up to a large underground hall. I expected to find some animals in the "corral" but it was instead filled with every manor of all terrain vehicles and snowmobiles. There was even a small airplane with the wings removed in one corner. We walked through the collection of four wheelers and snowmobiles in silence until Ulee explained that the area was originally used for housing dog teams and other animals until the ATV made them obsolete. There were a couple of people working on their machines in an open area along one wall. Ulee waved as we walked by.
We walked through a set of large garage style doors that led to a ramp covered with snow. Sitting just outside the doors was a large ATV with six wheels and a flat bed on the back. Ulee and Cassie closed the doors then walked to the machine. I hobbled along on my crutches and then I tossed them down near the wall and hopped up into the flatbed. Cassie helped me swing over and I got situated holding onto a couple of ropes that were tied to the frame. Ulee and Cassie climbed onto the seat and Ulee started the engine. Soon we were on our way up the ramp, the ATV's headlight making a small circle of light in the oppressive darkness. It was snowing slightly but the wind was calm.
We rode along in the dark for what seemed like days, but couldn't have been more than an hour. The engine made conversation impossible so we rode in silence. The snow crunched under the tires as we made our way through the arctic night. Being I was positioned over the rear tires, I took a real beating as we trundled over the snow and ice. I was tempted to turn on the skinsuit but Cassie warned me to save the charge as there was no guarantee that the ship could still charge them. It had been over ten years since she had been there and who knows what sort of condition it's in. It would be a long swim back without a skinsuit and thrusters. I bore the beating in silence knowing any bruises would heal pretty quickly.
The trip was as uneventful as it was long. We arrived at this apparent jumbled wall of ice and snow. Ulee stopped and looked around then headed along the ridge at a slow pace. Before long we came across a block of ice that was wedged against another resulting in an area of open water just big enough to swim through. Ulee stopped the ATV leaving the headlights shining into the water. "What do you think Cassie?"
"Let's have a look." She jumped off and approached the pool. At the edge of the ice she bent down and stuck her head in the frigid water. Ulee and I both shivered at the sight. A few seconds later she pulled her head up and waved us over. Ulee maneuvered the ATV near the hole and backed up. In the few seconds it took, the water in Cassie's hair and face had frozen into white clumps and frost. "The water is clear down through the ice. The ice plays hell with my sonar but I can see open water. Ready to get wet?"
"Umm, no?" Ulee smiled at me, winked at Cassie then hit a lever. The bed on the ATV lifted up and I slid unceremoniously into the frigid water. I wasn't cold really but my mind said otherwise. I began dogpaddling and hyperventilating. Cassie and Ulee were both doubled over laughing as I tried to hold onto the ice.
"Not very graceful is he? I seen pregnant walruses move better. You sure he is waterproof?"
"He's supposed to be. Honey are you OK?"
"Just peachy, I just got dumped into ice cold slush, my clothes are heavy and I can't swim very well with one leg," I said struggling to stay afloat.
"So stop swimming and take your clothes off."
"I... I can't."
"The cold water shouldn't bother you a bit."
"I know but my body doesn't."
"Well Ulee, looks like I have to drown my fiancé. Thanks for all your help."
"My pleasure darlin', I'm gonna set the radio over and away from the ridge there. It ought to be ok for a few days, the ice isn't moving much." He pulled out a reflective triangle and a radio out of a box on the side of the ATV and he trudged over the ice about 30 paces and set the radio and triangle up. As Ulee did that, Cassie undressed, pulling her legs out of her pants with the thrusters on turned out to be a little clumsy. She suddenly transformed into her natural form and shredded the pants with her claws. She turned on her skinsuit and was standing there when Ulee returned, her clothes bundled under her arm. "Damn girl" He blinked a couple of times at the transformed Cassie, "It's a shame I'm an old man. That there swimsuit looks good on you even if you are an alien with tentacles and all. Be sure and remind Aqua-boy there how lucky he is."
"Don't worry, he knows but I'll be sure to remind him often anyway." She smiled at Ulee and kissed him lightly on the cheek, "Good bye Ulee. I want you to know you and Carl are the closest thing to family I have."
"Damn, don't make me cry out here Cassie, the tears will freeze. Come back and visit yer family every now and then, you hear? Now go on and get out of here, you're making me cold just watching the both of ya. Gary, you take care of Cassie and make an honest woman errr... female out of her."
"I will Ulee, good bye and thanks," I said through the mustache of frozen water vapor forming on my face while trying to remove some of my clothes and keeping my head above water. My hair was frozen to my head.
"We have to go, good bye Ulee." With that she dove into the frigid water. Small chunks of ice swirled and danced as she went under, hardly making a splash. A few seconds later, Cassie grabbed my leg and pulled me under. The head light of the ATV did not penetrate into the water very far so I really couldn't see much. I felt the nictitating membranes slide across my eyes and I could feel another sense take over from my eyes. I could see the world just as I had with Cassie's tentacle in me, everything in sharp detail but absolutely no color. Although this time, there seem to be a lot of false echoes or something because I could sense some of what I was getting was confused and distorted.
That's when I realized the incredible amount of sound underwater. My hearing was bombarded by countless different noises that was almost deafening. The creaking and groaning from the ice, the snapping and popping from millions of shrimp and who knows what else combined to make a hell of a racket. All this noise was probably what was causing my sonar to look weird. (I've got sonar?)
Cassie pulled me down past the surface ice and then let go. I just sort of floated there taking in my surroundings and still holding my breath like an idiot. Cassie pulled off my jacket and let it drop into the darkness. I shrugged out of my shirt and let it drop as well. While I struggled out of my clothes, Cassie untied and pulled off my boot. I did have the presence of mind to grab my wallet before my pants and underwear joined the growing pile on the distant bottom.
I showed her the wallet and she took it and placed it on my hip and a few seconds later the skinsuit formed itself around it then it became a slight bulge. Better than pockets. Once that was done she looked at me for a few seconds then tilted her head slightly. That's when I heard her speak the way her race normally did, by sonar. "Honey, are you ok?" I nodded my head having no earthly idea how to talk like that. A look of surprise crossed her face as she realized I could hear her. "You can understand me?" Again I nodded. She overcame her surprise and asked, "If everything is OK, why are you not breathing?" I raised my eyebrows and shrugged. I felt sort of silly and exhaled, letting the stale air in my lungs bubble to the surface in a curtain of diamonds sparkling in the glow of the headlight.
I tried to inhale and my throat closed up tight. My eyes grew wide as I started to panic. I tried swimming for the surface when Cassie grabbed my arm. She shook me then pointed to the collar on her neck then motioned for me to press the buttons. Oh, yeah, right. I pressed them once and suddenly the blue flash occurred and I was in air again. I sucked in a breath and found I could breathe it just fine. I caught my breath and Cassie put both of her hands on my shoulders and looked at me.
"Gary, what's the matter? Do I need to insert a tentacle?"
"I don't know what happened, I tried to transition to water and my throat closed off, I was strangling. I'm fine now though. Why would that happen? I can still breathe water right?"
"Let me find out, hold on." With that she extended her tentacle and inserted it into my back. A few seconds later she said, "Everything is as it should be, may just have been the shock of dumping you in, human physiology being as it is. I suspect it was a purely mental reaction since it has been a while since you have breathed water. Your body has forgotten is all, let's try it with the tentacle so I can see what is happening."
I slid my fingers and the head opened to the water. I let all the air out of my lungs and tried to breathe in. Again my throat closed tightly preventing the water from entering. I struggled to breathe for a few seconds then suddenly my throat opened up and the water flooded my burning lungs. The transition was smooth after that, just as it had been back in the Gulf of Mexico a couple of weeks ago. "Well, what's going on with me?"
"Your lizard brain is overriding your higher functions; as far as it's concerned water equals death so it is kicking in and stopping you from drowning. I'll put a block on that, there is no reason for it now." Her brows knitted for a second then, "There, done. Feel any different?"
"Nope, nothing here. Should I?"
"I wouldn't think so, just blocked a set of nerve impulses to your larynx. Shouldn't effect anything else," she said as she withdrew her tentacle. "Let's get this show on the road then, put your hood back up and we will give these thrusters a try." She suddenly zipped around swiftly and silently, a blast of water hit me but it just pushed me around a little. She headed to the surface and jumped out of the water then splashed back in. Suddenly the headlight moved away from the hole in the ice and faded into the distance. I could hear it puttering away. Cassie made some very quick turns and very skillful maneuvers in and around the ice. It looked like underwater dancing. I was impressed.
"Man, I want a set of those, that looks like a lot of fun."
She buzzed by a couple of times then stopped near me, "Yeah, they are a lot of fun, I had forgotten how much. I told Ulee to head on back and grabbed the groceries." I noticed the package under her arm and I was suddenly very hungry. I'm talking stomach wrapped around my backbone kind of hungry.
"Cassie, I don't know why but I am so hungry I could eat the ass out of a skunk, tail included."
She laughed and opened the package and handed me a chunk of cooked whale meat. "Your body is burning calories at an accelerated rate to keep you warm. Every breath you take is chilling you internally, robbing you of body heat. Your body can handle it no problem but to keep you comfortable, your metabolism is in overdrive. Mine does the same thing. In a few hours you would feel the cold and become lethargic. After a day or so you will become essentially cold blooded and probably slip into a coma then eventually die."
"Well, let's make sure that doesn't happen, pass the vittles." I took the food and bit into it. As I did, Cassie ate some of her raw blubber as well. I realized then that it wouldn't have mattered to me at that point, food was food. I didn't even really taste the meat as I wolfed it down. Soon I had devoured what she had given me and I felt much better. My hunger becoming more a dull ache as opposed to a knife wound. I looked over at Cassie and smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
"Ok, Aquaman, time to hit the road. Just relax and let me do the driving." She reached up and pressed the buttons on my collar then pressed hers. "I set up your skinsuit to sync with mine, that way if your body impacts the water jet it will not sling you away from me or wrap your foot around my neck."
"Oh, that would be a bad thing..."
"Yeah, I know. All aboard." With that she grabbed me under the arms with one arm and started moving. I could tell when my foot would cross the jet stream from the thrusters but it was nothing more than a gentle bump, less than the jet on a hot tub really. We picked up speed and moved deeper into the sea. There wasn't much water noise as it rushed by our bodies, I figure it was blocked by the suit or something. We traveled in silence with only the background noise of the arctic sea. To pass the time I tried to speak using sonar the way Cassie had. I kept trying to say Cassie's name using sound pulses but all I ended up with was making a lot of confusing echoes in the water. I asked Cassie what I was doing wrong. Of course I was breathing water and didn't have a tentacle implanted either so imagine my surprise when she answered me.
"Doing what wrong?" She said, concentrating on steering the thrusters with my added weight and drag.
"Holy shit batman, you heard me!"
"Of course I... " she slowed down some and looked at me. "Gary, you are using subsonics to speak to me."
"Yeah, I was trying to use my sonar to talk but all I did was make a lot of echoes, I asked you what I was doing wrong, forgetting I was breathing water and your tentacle was out and somehow you heard me."
"Gary, that is impossible. The physical changes are one thing, rewiring your brain to speak subsonically is not possible. Gary, you are speaking another language! It isn't possible; I can't rewire a brain like that. You are hearing English, right?"
"I think so."
"Gary you are speaking and hearing me speak in my native language using subsonics. Your brain shouldn't even be able to distinguish anything but noise. I... sonar? Did you say you had sonar?" We sort of lost control at that point and zoomed around a bit before she got us back on course.
"Um, yeah. I guess that's what it is, it's like back on the ship, sharp details but no color. Lots of confusing echoes though."
"Gary, I don't know what to say other than it is impossible, you lack the organs and the brain structure to use it."
"You know, I've been told I lack brains before but..."
"I'm serious Gary, you are not possible. The physical changes maybe but you suddenly speaking my language, It can't be. I need to get you into that med scanner."
I didn't say anything else. I could tell I was freaking her out and I have never seen her lose it before, ever. It was hard for me to really get worked up over it too much since I felt perfectly normal. It was like the nictitating membranes, weird but it was still me. I was lost in thought and didn't realize we had stopped until Cassie let go of me.
The bottom was rocky and uneven; the sea was very dark as well. Since I could see perfectly well for miles with my sonar, it didn't seem that way. There wasn't much in the way of sea life other than shrimp and crabs; maybe a squid would pass by but not much else. Cassie swam a little ways off and floated a few feet off the bottom. She suddenly emitted a series of high-pitched squeals, a couple of which vibrated my teeth and made my head buzz. The pile of rocks she was near shifted and rose from the seabed. A few seconds later, a rounded shape pushed the rocks aside and hovering there was her ship. It looked sort of like a sunflower seed to me, really streamlined and fast looking. A door opened up and I could see inside. A few dim lights showed from within.
Cassie swam over and peered in then entered. She motioned me to stop then disappeared. A few minutes later she popped her head out of the door and motioned me over. I swam to the entrance and met Cassie there. The first thing I noticed was it wasn't all that big, maybe the size of a streamlined motor home. I touched the hull and found it to be rough and slightly pitted. "Well, everything looks ok so far. Welcome to Earth's only alien interstellar spacecraft," she said as she waved me inside.
"I was expecting a flying saucer and little green men."
"Well, no flying pie plate here but give me a week and I could look like a Cassie sized green man."
"Umm, no, that's OK. Green is fine but the man part bothers me."
She giggled at that and said, "But honey, I'm an alien with tentacles, what's a little plumbing?"
"We'll talk about that later, right now show me your ship. I want to see what an interstellar craft looks like."
She moved aside and I swam in. The first impression was anticlimactic really. It looked like the spartan and utilitarian interior of a human military vehicle. She turned on the interior lights and sonar was supplemented with light. It turned out to be a dull blue color mostly. Probably the alien equivalent of olive drab. There were a few seats, two arranged in the middle of the cabin facing an instrument panel, the rest lined up along the far wall like a small troop transport. There were several oblong tubes stacked against the rear bulkhead like bunk beds. Other than the floor, every available inch of space in the cabin was crammed with instruments, controls, switches, boxes and conduits. No sharp corners thankfully and there was padding around objects you were likely to bump into. "I love what you've done with the place dear, it has a real woman's touch. A few curtains and a plant and I could call it home."
"Yeah, real homey. It's a military vehicle. I was in the military at the time and I had a chance to steal one. Designed purely for point A to point B travel, luckily this one also came with medic pods installed for treating the wounded. With those I should be able to find out what is going on with you and maybe replace your leg. Probably a synthiprothstetic but you won't be able to tell the difference. It depends if I can adapt the machine to work with human biology. I'll run some checks on the ship first then get you hooked up. Look around if you like while I do this but don't touch anything that looks like a switch or button. I'd hate for you to hit the self destruct button or something."
My eyes grew big and I silently vowed not to touch anything, period. She smiled and said, "Don't worry, there isn't a self destruct button but do be careful, I don't want to alert anyone to our presence."
"I'll be good," I said. She kissed me then did a back flip that landed her near the center console. She began punching areas on the panel with a claw tip and he noticed a few lights coming on and blink or go off. Once as I was looking at the medipods, a box screeched and a cloud of bubbles boiled out of it with sparks. Scared the bejesus out of me and her both. "What was that?"
"Looks like we won't be watching cable anytime soon. It was an entertainment module someone had patched into the power grid, a cheap one from the looks of it. Folded as soon as the grid powered up. Violates several regulations by the way, unauthorized communications device but just about every ship has one hidden somewhere. Space travel is boring as hell, trust me."
"Damn, I'm going to miss my soaps. Everything else OK?"
"So far, everything looks nominal. I'll be just a few more minutes, I need to check the engines in case we need to leave Earth."
"Do you really think that will be necessary? It kind of worries me, you know."
"So far your changes have been all internal, except for the nictitating membranes. If you begin changing on the outside, where we going to live? We will just have to see Gary, I don't want to leave but I do want the option." Cassie went back to concentrating on the controls of the ship as I drifted around looking at the various parts of the ship. I opened up the door at the rear of the compartment and discovered the bathroom, or at least their version anyway. I poked my head in and was greeted by a sudden downward flowing current within the stall. There was something akin to a toilet in the middle of the stall and the current seemed to be directed into it. Apparently, You enter the stall, close the door and do your business letting the current carry the wastes away. Sort of like going to the bathroom inside the toilet while its flushing.
I was about to ask Cassie if this was indeed the way it worked when all the sudden I heard Cassie scream and start cursing. I turned around just in time to see the door close and I could hear something heavy clunk inside the door mechanism. I looked at Cassie and I could see she was slamming her fist against the console. "What's the matter Cassie?" A small tinge of fear entered my voice as I swam over to her.
"Oh God Gary, they have found me! They found the ship and set a trap. I can't open the door and they have overridden the controls. There's nothing I can do." She began sobbing, "I don't know what they will do Gary, I don't know what they will do to me and I have no idea what they will do with you. I'm afraid, Gary!"
I swam up to her and folded her into my arms. Her slightly oily fur felt warm and comforting in the icy water. I could feel her shaking as she buried her muzzle into my shoulder. I was afraid too, afraid of what they would do to me and especially what they would do to Cassie. They would probably wipe my memory and dump me in the middle of a South American jungle somewhere. Cassie on the other hand, had the very real possibility of being executed for desertion. What ever the future held, it was almost certain we would be separated. I couldn't bear the thought. "Cassie, the war has been over for years, I mean perhaps they... Damn it Cassie I'm sorry, it's all my fault. If it weren't for my leg and these cursed changes to my body this would never have happened."
"It's not your fault Gary, I would've had to come back to the ship eventually anyway, it's just that that trap has caught you as well." Just then, the water inside the ship began to drain away and was replaced by warm, moist air.
I pulled back and looked at her, "What's going on now?"
"The ship is purging the water atmosphere in preparation to take off. It looks like I'm going home and taking you with me."
The water drained away fairly quickly and we both had to switch to breathing air. All too soon, we felt the ship rise from the ocean floor. With my arm around Cassie shoulders we both stood and watched a holographic representation of the outside world. It showed the ship move along the bottom of the Arctic Sea for a short distance and angle up toward the surface. We never felt the angling of the deck nor did we feel the impact with the surface ice. Seconds later we were above the atmosphere. We were traveling at a fantastic speed, the Earth rapidly diminishing in the hologram. Suddenly the scale in the hologram changed and it showed a representation of the solar system and our progress through it. We just stood there, our hearts filled with the hopelessness of our situation.
"How long?" I asked, my mind numb with fear.
"Not long Gary, once we get past the gas giants we will slip into subspace. From there it will take may be an hour or so, it really depends on the conditions at the exit point." She shrugged.
"Nothing we can do at all? Disconnect the computer, cripple the drive, anything?"
"I'm afraid not Gary, do anything like that and they will just come back and pick us up, or our bodies as the case may be. No, this is a pretty well thought out trap. The only thing we can do is wait."
We didn't say much after that. I moved over to the benches and sat down heavily. Cassie curled beside me, putting her head on my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around her. The skinsuits felt odd rubbing together, like rubber I suppose. I turned mine off and Cassie did as well. Her fur was still damp but it felt nice against my bare skin. I could feel her shaking occasionally or a sob would escape every now and again. I don't know how to describe it really, Cassie had always been strong and confident. To see her like this broke my heart. I hugged her tightly and tried to be strong for her. So far so good, I didn't pee my pants or anything.
In the time it took for us to reach our destination we talked about the happy times we had together, cuddled and tried to make the moment last. "Cassie, what about suicide? I mean, if we are going to be separated and you executed, what do we have to lose?" I stared at my hands, "I figure they will wipe my mind or something and its like dying anyway so why not? Maybe put up a fight, take a few of them with us?"
Cassie just stared at me for a long time, her eyes boring holes in my soul then said she loved me. She grabbed me and opened her mouth and locked her teeth around my throat. I closed my eyes and let it happen. She bit down, her teeth sinking into my soft, vulnerable flesh, tearing and ripping my throat out. I didn't feel much really, just the sensation of a large part of me was missing. Blood sprayed all over the cabin as Cassie pulled away, her muzzle dripping with my blood and gore. She gently laid me down on the deck as I quickly bled out and slipped into shock. I had this odd detached feeling, I could see what was happening but it seemed remote and distant. My body was convulsing, blood still spraying all over. Cassie stood over me, I could see her crying as she watched me die, my blood running down the fur of her neck.
She looked down at me then she stared at the blood on her hands and I heard her scream out in terror and pain, the same sound she had made before when the sharks attacked. She picked me up and at the same time inserted a tentacle into me and then things went fuzzy. I felt her set me inside something and then a lid shut. I lost consciousness and drifted into oblivion... again.
I turned the chicken this way and that looking for the barcode and not finding it. I turned it over and that's when it started flapping its wings and trying to get away. It jumped out of my hands and flew up at me. Its claws dug into my chest and started pecking at my neck, ripping bright red goblets of meat out each time. I tried batting it away but it was like a scene out of "The Birds," it kept attacking. I screamed and woke up thrashing.
Now, imagine my surprise at waking up again. Of course, having done it before made me a bit more blaze about it but still... I've died so many times before, I figure when it actually does happen, I won't believe it. Probably turn into a zombie or something. I looked around and discovered I was inside one of the medical pods. I had some sort of goo on my neck with what looked like a couple of Cassie's tentacles embedded in it and running out to the side of the pod. I tried turning my head and found I could if I did it slowly, otherwise it would just lock up. I could see through the clear lid of the pod and realized Cassie was there doing something to a console, she had its guts hanging out, wires and components littered the deck. After a while Cassie pulled off her collar and started fiddling with it. A few seconds later a blue flash erupted from the collar and something inside the console erupted in a shower of sparks. She put out a couple of small fires that started in her fur then put the collar back on. I tried to talk but found that was impossible, the fact my voice box was laying in a pool of blood not far from where Cassie was standing might have had something to do with it. I tried to move my hands to beat on the pod's lid but found they were restrained somehow.
I was pretty much stuck there with nothing to do but watch. Cassie was doing something else when I noticed the holographic display above the center control console. There was another ship right next to us, coming closer by the second. Just then I felt something hit the ship, the sound reverberating through the hull. Cassie was hitting buttons and I could tell she was screaming in rage even though it was silent in the pod. Soon the door glowed red then evaporated in a shower of sparks. Cassie put her collar full on and had another collar in her hands. Suddenly something entered the cabin, it looked mechanical to me but what do I know? It was hit by that same blue beam that Cassie had used earlier and it sort of melted in spots and stopped. Seconds later, several figures appeared at the door, weapons pointed at Cassie. She used the collar again and one of the figures lit up like a neon sign and went flying backwards. At the same instant the remaining figures opened fire. The first round hit her in the chest, the second hit her in the shoulder. The skinsuit absorbed the energy but at the same time it drained the charge so the third round took her right arm off at the elbow. The collar fell to the deck, her hand still attached.
They stopped firing then. Cassie howled in rage and charged. Four of the figures jumped on her while Cassie did her best to rip them to sheds. Their armor was tougher than that and it didn't take long to subdue her. Once she stopped struggling she just laid there panting, eyes wide with fear and rage. They put some sort of restraints on her as she couldn't move and the figures got off of her. One of the armored figures picked up Cassie's arm and put it into one of the other medical pods then rejoined his buddies. They picked Cassie up and stood her up on her feet. Her wounded arm looked to be cauterized since it didn't bleed or anything. A few moments later, one of the figures turned off it's armor and walked up to Cassie. It looked a lot like Cassie, same fur and tail along with tentacles. It extended one to her then inserted it into her back. She calmed considerably after that, the pain on her features seemed to vanish. She turned her head and looked at me then, her lips moved slowly, mouthing "I'm sorry" to me. I tried to say it was ok but just then another figure entered the ship. It was another Utharian and it seemed to be in charge of the others. I had this vague impression of Darth Vader walking onto the Rebel ship looking for the stolen plans. I would have smiled if it weren't for Cassie standing there with her arm missing and probably facing execution. That's when the Utharian in charge walked up to Cassie and bowed to her, she just stared at him like he was nuts then she looked at me and shrugged. They escorted her out of the ship and I was alone. A few minutes later a Utharian came back into the ship and did something to my pod and I drifted out of consciousness.
Chapter 10
"As you know Bob..."
I woke up alone in a small but comfortable looking room and I was lying on an oddly shaped bed. I looked down and found I was naked. I felt my neck and found it was healed and the skinsuit collar was there as well. I clicked it on, I didn't want to meet my captors in the buff. Didn't matter to them perhaps but it made me feel a lot better. I got up and walked around the room and found it was essentially empty. Testing my limits I walked over and tried the door and to my surprise I found it was unlocked. There wasn't a handle; instead it had a recessed button that opened the door as I pressed it. I looked out and found it opened into a larger room very much like an expensive hotel suite. There were a few weird couch looking things and a pool in the middle of the floor. I walked around the parameter and found a sort of kitchen area, nothing much there so I kept looking and found a toilet. I then came across another door. Fully expecting it to be locked, I was mildly shocked to find it was open as well. I looked out and found it led into a hallway.
I peered in both directions and found it was deserted. I guess they didn't consider me much of a threat, but then, thinking of Cassie's claws and teeth, I don't suppose I was. I left the doorway and walked down the hall. I rounded a corner and found what I knew would be there, a guard. It looked pretty much the same as Cassie, six foot tall otter creature with black fur. I assumed it was male although I couldn't be sure, it was wearing a skinsuit and sitting behind a sort of table. He saw me but didn't do more than watch me approach.
"Hello Gary, are you well?"
"I uh... I'm fine. Were is Cassie? Where am I?"
"I am glad to know you are well, Gary. Follow me and I will take you to Cassiopeia. You will be briefed shortly, follow me." At that, the fellow stood and walked down the hallway. I followed.
"What is your name?"
"I am Jarre, of the forty third swimmer assault division, Swift Claws."
"Well, Jarre of the Swift Claws, what is this place?"
"You are in the hospitality wing of the Benih Research Facility, in the heart of beautiful Benih, capital of Twen Province, the most picturesque of the Upper Provinces."
I recognized the tone of voice along with the words, soldiers are the same on both worlds, "That much of a dump, huh?"
"Well, it is nice but it is too dry and the females here are only interested in officers it seems. There are only a few ponds and streams around, give me the Veris Sea any day." Yeah, like I know what the hell he was talking about, spoke outstanding English for an otter. He was friendly and polite and was taking me to Cassie so I nodded and followed him. We came to what I expect was an elevator but it looked like a glass tube set in a wall. I then realized it was filled with water. Jarre stopped and turned to me and said, "This is a watershaft, I would suggest putting your hood up on your skinsuit. You don't want to breath this stuff, although not harmful it tastes like chemicals."
I touched my collar and the hood came up. Jarre looked at me a second then said, "Hey, that is a model 26. I've never seen one of those actually used before. Has the blue flash, right?"
"Yeah, it does."
"Electron leakage, field distortion, it's a wonder they work at all. It's even possible to wire it around and shoot plasma beams with it. It was made for combat, that's for sure." Jarre put his hood up as well and started for the tube. He walked up and pushed into it. I could see him inside the tube waiting for me. I did as he had and walked into the transparent wall and found it offered no more resistance than water. After I was in, Jarre showed me a set of flat red and orange bands along the wall, up on this side, down on the other apparently. "Place your hand on the mover and it will hold and carry you along, pretty quick if there isn't anyone else in front of you. Pull your hand off anytime and it will let go. Say what floor you want and it will let go automatically when you get there. Simple and fast once you get used to it, you can also freeswim if you care to but I like to ride."
"What floor then?" I said as he pointed to the red band on the left.
"Twenty one. Now put your hand on it."
"Twenty one" I said and cautiously put my hand on the band. I didn't feel much at first but I could tell I was moving. I looked down and saw Jarre was directly under me. We picked up speed and rushed upwards quickly. A Utherian passed us going the other direction. I wondered about collisions but then I remembered the skinsuits. You could jump off the building if you needed down in a hurry.
The floors flashed by rapidly and soon we were slowing down then the field let go and I drifted and stopped directly in front of a clear wall like the one we entered, Jarre stopped directly beside me. Faster than any elevator back home once you get the hang of it. Jarre settled onto a sort of plate in front of the opening and walked out into the air. He turned and waited for me to follow. I set my feet down and realized I wasn't floating anymore and I could walk normally through the portal. I came through and found I was dry. Neat trick.
We continued down a featureless hallway then entered a set of doors that slid open for us as we went through. Jarre put his hood down and I did as well. The doors led into a large room with several clear tanks filled with water. There were maybe six or seven other Utherian milling about. A couple were lounging in the tanks, others were looking at a hand held devices or at instrumentation on the wall of the tank near them.
"Where is Cassie?" I asked, afraid to ask what they were doing.
"She," he said as he stared off in the distance for a second, "will be out about now I suspect. Ah, query says two minutes."
"What is this place? You keep prisoners here?"
Jarre's tongue loled around his muzzle, obviously amused at my question, "Not hardly, this is a medical facility, not a prison. She is just getting her arm replaced and taking care of her other wounds. She should be done in a couple of minutes. The Brass want you there when she wakes up. She may be rather uncooperative if you aren't."
'Oh, do you think?' I thought to myself as I followed Jarre into the room. 'The Brass?' I was about to ask him how he knew English so well when a Utherian with fur so black it looked blue walked up to us. I could tell he was male because he wore little else other than a thin tunic. He wasn't wearing a skinsuit like most of the other Utherian I had seen so far.
"Hello Gary, good to see you awake and moving around. Jarre, did he limp at all?"
"No, I don't think he realized any difference. Your team did excellent work, just as they did on my arm."
I sort of stared at them with that deer in the headlights look then put my hand down and felt my perfectly normal leg filling my skinsuit. "Uh, wow, thank you." I said looking at it in shock. "I never did realize ... it worked perfectly."
"Thank you, Gary. That is wonderful news. How is the neck?"
"Good as new. No pain at all."
That is good, I am Wonsaw and you can consider me a doctor although I would probably fall more under computer geek but I think it would confuse you to think of a computer specialist performing surgery."
"That's great... You've put me back together for what? To wipe my memory and dump me on a rock somewhere or just lock me up. Cassie should have followed through with it..."
"Gary, what are you talking about? Why would we do that? Also, we don't understand why she tried to kill you, did she attack you for a reason?"
"Attack... no I asked her to. I couldn't handle the idea of never being with Cassie again. We were committing suicide rather than..."
The look of shock on Wonsaw's face didn't need translation. "Gary, we never dreamed of interfering with the two of you. In fact we are delighted Benih has taken a ma... companion. We would never..."
"Enough! Where is Cassie? I want to see her."
"I understand Gary, sorry about that." Wonsaw said and motioned me to follow him with Jarre in tow. We walked into a room off to the side of the larger chamber. There was a water tank in the middle of the room along with a bed and a few tables with instruments on them. Inside the tank floated Cassie, apparently sleeping. I looked to make sure and I could see her chest rising and falling as she breathed the water, her Utharian form beautiful to my eyes just as her human form was. My heart ached at the sight of her. "Is she ok? You said she was sleeping."
"Yes, Gary, she is fine. I would wake her up but I need to talk to you first now that you see she is all right. Have a seat."
Chapter 11
"Tastes great...less filling!"
I couldn't help thinking this was the big exposition scene in a movie that tells the audience what the hell is going on. I've been waiting for this scene for a while now. I sat down on the bed and let the good doctor explain.
"Do you know what Cassie is? I mean, really know what she is other than a genetically engineered soldier/medic?"
'That's about all she told me, that and she said she was a deserter from a terrible war." Jarre's eyes lit up and I could see a hint of his tongue, something was up.
"Well, first off Gary, she is not a deserter and even if she were it was a war that occurred 132 years ago and no one alive now was born then. It was a long time ago. You and her have nothing to fear from us, believe me." Wonsaw smoothed the fur on his arm and continued, "Cassiopeia or Benih in Utherian is a biological machine, a breathing robot if you will. When she was created, she was about as intelligent as a very smart, well trained animal and designed to do certain tasks on the battlefield; hers was as a highly mobile first aid station. She performed her job well and did her part as best she could.
During a battle where the Chron overwhelmed our beleaguered forces, she was captured. During her time with them they modified her mind, removing all of her conditioning and hardwired responses. They made her a sentient person and they gave her a message to carry to our side. They begged us to stop the killing of Chron. Oddly, it seems they wanted to sue for peace while they were winning the war."
"That doesn't make any sense, they were winning?"
"Oh yes, they were about to start the final invasion of our last stronghold and home system. We were to the point of launching radioactive planet killers to slow them down; we were on the edge of total destruction. The renegade Chron who modified her knew it would spell destruction for both species and demonstrated to Cassie what actually happened when we killed a Chron. They are a strange race that carry cysts inside their bodies from the day they are hatched. If a Chron dies violently, anywhere from 3 to 7 cysts hatch and baby Chron spring from the body with full memories of it's parent. The problem was they were born devoted to revenge, their only objective is to destroy its parent's killer. We could never defend against an enemy like that. We had no idea at the time really."
"This anonymous Chron had spoken three Utherian words to Cassie, three word which stopped a war. "Stop killing children." This revelation along with Cassie's enhancements allowed her to basically stop Armageddon. She convinced her unit commander to stun, not kill. This permitted them to actually defeat the Chron instead of being overwhelmed by an exponentially expanding population of death crazed Chron children.
With their discovery also came the realization that the Utherian planet killers would do nothing but make matters worse and create an unimaginable number of enemy. It seems the bursts of radiation would kill the parent and its cysts, but not the third generation. You would then have a huge number of totally insane immature Chron ready to kill. Her unit commander tried to convince his superiors to stun and not to use the bombs. He did manage to convince them about stunning but some in the war council wanted to still use the bombs confident nothing could survive the blasts. Cassie knew different.
The Chron who had captured Cassie had also given her something else, command codes to the Utherian's greatest warship. With those codes, she commanded the ship to fire upon two small, unnoticed evacuation ships, killing their crews and destroying the planet killer bombs. Later, the council reversed it's decision to use the bombs after seeing first hand that nothing short of a direct nuclear fireball could kill the second generation of cysts that hatch after the parent and its cysts die. If it weren't for Cassie, the council would have allowed the bombs to be used. If it had, two species would have most likely have died that day.
The decision to fire on her own ships broke the fragile frame-work of her cobbled together mind and the guilt of killing her fellow soldiers drove her to suicide. Never mind that she had saved billions of lives doing so, Chron as well as Utherian. Gary, she is the national treasure of two galaxy spanning civilizations. The Chron are convinced she was touched by their god Ahshan, given the will and the power to stop the madness. Frankly, we can't prove that it wasn't. Whatever this mysterious Chron did to Cassie's mind, we can't duplicate it. We have been researching the problem for 130 years, this center is devoted to her and the capital is named after her as well.
"Her Utherian name is Benih, which is the Utherian name for your constellation Cassiopeia. Same stars, just arranged differently. After the war, she was regarded a hero by both sides, the Chron even have a cult that worships her in fact. In the meantime, her mental condition was deteriorating and she stopped eating, her guilt and depression tearing apart her mind. We could not convince her that she did no wrong, there was no other way to stop the implementation of the planet killers once the order was given.
The medical and science facilities of two civilizations tried to help her, a fragile peace could be shattered if they failed. Unfortunately, it only made matters worse for her. She was monitored 27 hours a day, no privacy, no friends and she was placed in the most secure military facility we had to ensure her safety. To her, it was prison and any person's view of hell.
This went on for a few years and soon she faded from the limelight somewhat until that cult started on the Chron homeworld. The Ashram-Benih Cult leaders discovered what two governments had tried to keep secret, Cassie was a suicidal prisoner in a dungeon. They went berserk first and then they went public. The outcry was unbelievable; it has been said it was the day the galaxy trembled. Needless to say, things had to change.
After a great deal of debate, a solution was settled on that could give Cassie a life outside the military facility. She was given the suggestion of escape and hope for a future. The change in Cassie was almost instantaneous. She rebounded and became interested in living again as she formulated a way to escape. Security was allowed to become lax and a ship was made available. Before long she did take the ship and left for parts unknown. It became called the Day of Freedom and it is a holiday within the inner rim planets. The Chron said the war did not end until the last prisoner was free and now both our people celebrate that day.
We let her go where she wanted and she settled on your world. It turned out to be a good choice and we let her start a new life as an independent entity. We of course kept her monitored to ensure her continued health and to show the people she was indeed free. Periodically we would bring her back here for detailed medical exams and testing. We knew there would be situations where she would return to the ship. When she activated the computer, it would then lock down and bring her in. We would check her over then return her with her memory of the incident blocked."
"I'll be damned, you mean you have been jerking her around for 130 years, shanghaiing her every now and then to give her a check up?" I was amazed and more than just a little pissed off. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you all nuts? You let her believe she is a criminal and on the run for over a hundred years. Letting her believe she was a traitor to her people and a murderer when she is the reason you are breathing right now. My God, I can't believe you could do this to a person."
"Gary, we did what we thought was best at the time." Wansaw pointed to a spot on the wall and as I looked I saw a projected image. It was a room and inside huddled in a corner was a miserable looking creature, terribly thin and fur was missing in large patches. A Utharian walked into the room and squatted in front of the creature. "Benih," the Utharian said, "Listen to me please. You are free, you are free to go."
The creature looked up and I was shocked when I recognized it was Cassie. My god she looked awful, I couldn't believe it was her. "You lie, they will never let me go... I killed them. I killed them..." The images faded as Cassie just balled up again into the corner.
"That was Cassie? She looked terrible, was she insane?"
"She wasn't very stable but her mind was healthy, it was guilt that made her that way. She was a programmed soldier that had violated its most basic instructions, do not harm your own. Her intellect allowed her to go against it for the greater good but it still ate her up inside. We couldn't go in and change her instruction set without the possibility of damaging or destroying the sentient mind that had developed from the meddling by the Chron. Her mind could collapse like a house of cards if they touched anything."
"We were at a loss, she couldn't be set loose on Utharia because of her mental state, we couldn't keep her as a prisoner or there could start another war and we couldn't convince her of her status as a hero. At the time, the best solution that could be found was to plant the suggestion of escape. Live life on her own terms."
"Even so, 130 plus years of living as a criminal? That seems so cruel to me."
"Well, Gary what else do you suggest we have done? Oh, and try not to start another interstellar war while you are at it. This was a policy that was enacted four generations ago. We merely have been entrusted to carry it on. She has a life Gary, far better than any other we could have given her here or on Chron. Tell me Gary, was she happy?"
I thought about this for a few seconds. Yeah, I would say she was happy. That was one of the things that instantly drew me to her. The only thing I could say was she seemed a little lonely and hesitant about entering a relationship. Once we got together and she opened up to me, she was truly happy." Yeah Doc, I'd say she was happy. The only time I remember her being sad was when she thought I was dead and again when we were in the spaceship, knowing she wouldn't be with me again especially after she had ripped my throat out." I rubbed my neck, just to convince myself I was whole again. "That whole thing on the ship was rather sadistic of you guys, I want you to know."
"The entertainment unit that exploded was supposed to turn on and explain what was happening. Unfortunately, time was hard on it and it failed. The ship's computer tried as well but Cassie refused to use the interface after the ship launched. The Chron have submitted a formal protest over the incident and the Utherian government will be making official apologies to you and Cassie later, it was unfortunate and cruel. The ship's computer was frantically broadcasting the fact Cassie had killed you and was attempting suicide. We dispatched our fastest ship to intercept you before she did irreparable damage to you or herself. The computer dropped the temperature in the ship to give you time until we could get there. Fortunately for you, she changed her mind and put you into the medpod before brain damage occurred."
"Yeah, lucky me. So what happens now? You going to wipe our memories and send us back or what?"
"No, this time the choice is yours and hers to make. We maintained the status quo simply because Cassie was thriving on Earth, we didn't see a need to change. Unfortunately the fiction nearly killed you and Cassie both and that would be intolerable. It's time for the charade to end."
"Your damned right it's time it stopped, you manipulative bastards. I hurt Gary because of it! I came close to killing him and myself because you thought it was a good idea to keep me in the dark?" Cassie was almost screaming as she rose out of the tank, her claws elongating and her fangs grew to twice their normal length. She was pissed. I noticed she was beautiful when she is angry, in a primal sort of way.
"Cassie! My god it is good to see you again. Are you ok?" I ran up to her tank as she sat up and leaned out to hug me as I approached. Water cascaded over my body as her wet fur touched me. I licked her muzzle and tasted the slightly antiseptic tainted water. Hospitals, ick.
"I'm fine and now that I know you are still alive. I finally know what the hell is going on so I feel even better. I am so sorry Gary, you have no idea how hard it was to do that to you. Can you forgive me?"
"It was my idea remember? Of course I forgive you. Why did you change your mind?"
"I didn't change my mind Gary, I never intended to kill you dearest. You are a lot harder to kill now with the changes and a few things I've done myself so you weren't in any immediate danger."
"Then why tear my throat out?" I remember being very calm about it, I seemed to be ok with the idea Cassie had bitten a large chunk out of my neck that should have been a fatal wound. I found out later that the Utharian's are very good at trauma management, mental as well as physical. I never suffered from nightmares or Post-Traumatic Syndrome since, thank heaven.
Cassie put her hand on my cheek and said, "They can erase memories, my love, but there are some that can never be removed except by lobotomy, I imprinted myself in such a way you could never forget me. It's really hard not to remember someone who rips you apart with their teeth. I also needed you wounded so the medpod would lock you in and hopefully protect you from any stray fire when they boarded the ship. I could never kill you purposely Gary, I'm not capable of it. I could only do what I did because I knew the medpod was close and if that didn't work, I could keep you alive myself."
"Oh... ok." I considered it for a second, "We need to work on your sense of drama and romance my dear, you should have said the sorrow of losing me would have been a burden on your soul and the pain would have destroyed you. You could have played it up a bit even, a little wailing or something. Kind of anti-climatic knowing you weren't actually trying to kill me." I pouted for effect, "I was hoping for a 'Romeo and Juliet' death scene, instead I get a sort of 'X Files'/ 'Twilight Zone' sort of thing."
"Well, next time I'll disembowel you and recite Shakespeare, how's that?" She asked with her tongue lolling.
"No, no disembowelments call for Dante, not Shakespeare. I see you need a lot of work yet." I smiled and kissed her.
After a bit of tonsil tickling, we separated and I asked, "So, um... Cassie..."
She interrupted me before I could finish, "I know what you are going to ask and all I'm saying is you taste like chicken..." You know, I think they could have heard us laughing in orbit. Even Wansaw and Jarr got the joke and joined in.
Chapter 12
"As you know, Bob..." pt 2
As we recovered our composure, I asked the good Doctor, "So the Chron actually worship Cassie?"
"Well, they worship the miracle she represents anyway, being touched by Ashram, so to speak."
"Speaking of miracles, what about me and my changes?" I asked. "Am I a result of her change or what?"
"No, Gary, you are the result of good, old fashioned Utharian genetic manipulation, no divine intervention here I'm afraid. It was decided if Benih, I mean Cassie, ever took a human for a mate they should be able to share the same environment without harm. We made a virus that would transform her chosen mate enough so that Cassie could actually mate without drowning them. We had no idea she would be able to change her appearance to mimic humans and live among you or we wouldn't have bothered."
"It took me years of practice, smoothing the muzzle was murder you know. So, I changed him enough to mate without drowning him, would it be enough to reproduce?" Cassie asked as she smoothly exited the tank.
"That was insisted on by the Chron actually, we really don't know what will happen though. The potential is there. We won't actually know until you become pregnant and go full term."
"My god, what would they look like?" I asked, imagining a baby with tentacles and claws. Not that I had a problem with that but we couldn't live on Earth. Imagine finding a day care.
"They would look a lot like you Gary, human appearing with Utherian internals. We were expecting you and her to live in the sea as we do on Utheria so we made sure you and your offspring would be aquatic. We did the modifications to her a hundred years ago and we basically forgot about it since Cassie had not been interested in finding a mate among humans. We were caught off guard when she returned to the ship with you. We were also surprised to learn of your intentions to permanently bond. The Chron are ecstatic and have declared two days of festivities upon learning the news. They have also asked that perhaps you would visit the Chron homeworld. The Chron ambassador will formally ask you later. I cannot tell you what to do Cassie or Gary, but I would suggest you at least consider it."
"Chron? Are you nuts?" Cassie said looking over my shoulder.
"Cassie, they aren't the insane little monsters you fought so long ago. They are peaceful, really. We triggered a natural response to aggression, apparently by accent and nearly destroyed ourselves. The Chron regret the war Cassie and they helped rebuild the Republic from the ground up. Anyway, no need to worry about it now, the ambassador will discuss it with you both later."
"Doc, I gotta know. How much more am I going to change?" I asked.
"Well, the designers of the virus are long dead so we really are unsure. The records indicate it would only be internal, enough to allow you to live in the same environments Cassie could comfortably. From our tests you are almost completely Utherian under the skin. What other changes we don't know for sure."
"What about the membranes on my eyes, Cassie doesn't have them?" I asked, letting them slide across my eyes for effect.
"Utherians have them, Genetech model 5600 combat medics do not. Her body is based on Utherian but you have to remember she isn't Utherian. She is a construct with artificial eyes. If not for the modifications 'Ashram' made, she would be in cold storage with the rest of the Genetech soldiers of the war."
"Now you see Gary why I can't stay here. The Utherians view me as a toaster oven and the Chron think I am divinely touched. Two extremes. My creators consider me a machine and I become physically ill when I'm near the ones who accept me as a goddess." Cassie took my hand in hers and squeezed.
"Cassie, you can't... great Grailia on his Throne, you still have your inhibitors active?" Wonsaw asked, apparently shocked.
"Inhibitors?" I asked, obviously clueless. No surprise there.
"A normal Gentech soldier is not very smart and isn't really capable of hating the enemy. Without inhibitors, the Chron could have captured and reprogrammed them to fight against their own. It's insurance against that by making sure the Genetechs know who the bad guys are. We had always assumed 'Ashram' had disabled them but apparently he did not. He got around them by making her sentient instead."
"So? She doesn't like Chron, from what I hear I don't like them either."
"You don't understand, with her inhibitors in place, turning against her own and collaborating with the Chron would have caused her to suicide. Being around anyone not Utharian or Gentech would have made her ill. Gary, your mate is physically revolted by you."
I was shocked to say the least. "We have been together for two years, living together for one. Cassie, do I make you sick?"
"Gary, I...all humans make me feel uncomfortable, not just you. I have grown to ignore the feeling over the years and it doesn't bother me much. My love for you is far stronger than an upset stomach any day. It's nothing really."
"Cassie, I had no idea these were still in place. I cannot believe no one checked. Including myself. If you want, I can remove them."
Cassie whispered in my ear, "I'm sorry, I didn't intend to hurt you Gary. I didn't want you to know because I love you."
"It's OK Cassie, you only made me love you just a little bit more. I only ask that you not hide anything else from me. We can handle it together. Promise?"
Cassie hugged me and buried my face into her damp, oily fur. "Promise," she whispered. Damp oily fur never felt better than right then for me.
"Cassie, if you want you can step back into the medbath and I can remove the inhibitors right now. It won't take but a few minutes to remove them but you will need to sleep for a few hours afterward to let your mind adjust and assimilate. Gary, you can join her if you like. I'd like you both to get some real sleep, not induced unconsciousness."
"Cassie?"
"No other changes, right? No more memory blocks?" Cassie asked Wonsaw hesitantly, fearing more manipulation.
"Now that the illusion of your 'desertion' isn't necessary any more, we have no reason too. Besides, the Chron would be very upset if we did something like that, especially after telling you we would not. Everything we do is recorded and monitored by both the Chron and Utheria. There is nothing to fear from us, believe me. Your continued good heath and welfare is our only priority. This facility is dedicated to that end, it is called the Benih Medical Research Facility for a reason. It is jointly run by both Chron and Utheria to study you, keep you healthy and reasonably happy."
"OK, well forgive us if we are a little skeptical, your record of honesty has been somewhat lacking," I said as we both looked at the Doctor.
"Honest injun," the Doctor said.
Cassie looked at me with a quizzical look on her face, I had to smile. It was very strange hearing an alien using English slang. I told Cassie what it meant and she nodded, her tongue peeking out in mirth. "An alien space otter that says 'honest injun' can't be all bad. I'm not going to be in the way in the tank with her, am I?"
"Not at all, I just have to insert a tentacle and do a few things. I need to monitor her as she sleeps." The Doctor motioned for Jarr to leave and he followed him out. He stopped in the doorway and turned, "There isn't any hurry, the tank is set up and it will start whenever you are ready. I'll turn off the cameras so you can have some privacy. If you need anything, there is button in the tank that will notify me."
"Ok, Doc. See ya later." I said. He turned and left and as he did, the lights dimmed. "Neat trick."
"He has a computer interface inside his skull, he was probably setting up the tank while we were talking to him. I've seen some before."
"Ooh, a Commodore 64 in the ol' noggin eh?" I said as I climbed into the tank, flopping over the side with a splash. Cassie waved a hand over a plate and the platform she was standing on silently rose to the top edge and she stepped in. "Show off!" I said as I splashed water on her.
She rubbed her claws on her chest fur then blew on them, "When you are good, you're good, what can I say?"
"I say you need to lay back so we can get this over with, the thought of you suffering really bothers me."
"It's not as bad as it sounds, remember, I've had 130 years to get used to it. Still, it would be nice to have it stop though. Mind turning off the skinsuit, it feels kind of rubbery if I don't have one on too."
"Uh huh, sure. You're just trying to take advantage of me."
"That transparent am I? Really, it does feel weird, that and I want to see your new leg."
"Ok, me too." Gary reached up to the collar and deactivated the suit, "I never realized they had replaced it, just as if it had never happened. I walked across the building and didn't notice anything until the Doc mentioned it. Good work."
Cassie picked Gary's leg up and let him float on his back. The leg was perfectly melded into the flesh, seamlessly attached. "Looks like they regrew it instead of using a prothstetic. Far better that what I could have done with that medipod on the ship. Feels completely normal?"
"As far as I can tell it's my old leg," I wiggled my toes for emphasis. She ran her claw tip across the bottom of my foot and I instantly started squirming, "Still ticklish too, damn it!"
"Oh, don't be such a baby," she said as she tickled me some more just for good measure. I was laughing so hard I submerged and flooded my lungs without realizing it. Not that it's a problem; it was just strange not to even notice. I was thrashing about completely at her mercy when I noticed her tail. I lunged for it and gave it a nice, firm pull. This unexpected shift in balance caused her to tip over and fall backwards into the tank. Her yelp of surprise was suddenly cut off as she slipped under. She let go of my foot and I drifted beside her. As I came face to face with her, I noticed her eyes were closed and she was very still. Concerned, I reached out and shook her shoulder. Suddenly her eyes flew open and she blew a cloud of bubbles directly into my face. She got me again, damn it. I grabbed her throat and pretended to strangle her as we both laughed and settled to the bottom of the tank.
Moments later, Cassie enveloped me in her arms and pulled me close. Her fur felt warm, soft and somewhat mushy against my bare skin, really quite pleasant in fact. I returned the hug and we sort of cuddled there for a while, our hands gently roamed and explored. Before long and without either one of us planning on it, we were making love. It was a special moment for both of us and we took our time and savored the experience. It was a time of firsts, my first time underwater and her first time in her natural form. It wasn't the warm lagoon off the coast of Cancun where Cassie had planned but it was still a shining moment in my life and hers as well. Hell, it had taken 130 years for her to lose her virginity. Well, sort of anyway. When we finished, we just held each other and I lost myself to thought while enjoying the afterglow. It was also my first time having sex with her as a water-breathing, honest to goodness space alien who just happened to be a warrior goddess celebrated across the galaxy. I smiled at that as we drifted off to sleep.
Epilogue:
OK, I swear it wasn't my idea. It was Cassie's, really. Not to say that I didn't love it but I have to give her the credit. The Chron built the damned thing when we asked for a ride back to Earth and I get a big smile every time I think about it (it is nice to have the resources of two wealthy and technologically advanced civilizations at your beck and call). They said it was only right that Cassie should have her own ship and the Utharian government agreed. They made the mistake of telling her they could make it any shape she wanted, it only had to conform to a very few engineering constraints.
She chose a design and went back to Earth to get a set of plans. It was intended as a joke at first but now the Chron are convinced Cassie and I are engineering geniuses and the Utherians appear to be impressed as well. It seems our design is 35% faster and twice as efficient as any design currently in use. It was the mounting of twin but slightly mismatched drives on pylons that did it, they created some sort of shockwave between them that made it work better. Apparently we started a revolution in starship design. Cassie and I almost peed ourselves laughing when they said, quite by accident, our private yacht was the fastest ship in the known galaxy. We had our wedding ceremony on the bridge the day it was launched. The Chron, who are rather nice once you get to know them (just don't get trapped in a small room with one when it takes off it's skinsuit because they essentially breathe swamp gas, blech). They thought we were nuts when we insisted on breaking a bottle of fermented fruit juice on the bow. Now they do it themselves, except they use something I suspect is a derivative of crude oil but they seem like it.
It's odd. I haven't dreamed that dream I used to have that involved trying to barcode scan a live chicken in years, not since that day we first made love underwater in that silly tank at the hospital. I instead have this recurring dream involving me trying to barcode scan a live salmon. Go figure.
Cassie, our two daughters and I have traveled to hundreds of planets over the years, we even stop by Earth on occasion (you just can't find good cheeseburgers anywhere else) and we always get asked the same question, "The name I understand but what the hell does NCC 1701 stand for?" Our eldest daughter Andromada gave the best answer to that question when she was five or so after some visiting dignitary or other asked the question. She said in her older than her years voice, "It's an Earth thing, you wouldn't understand." I have a plaque with that on it mounted above the main view screen on the bridge.
The end.