The Visitors - Chapter 3
#3 of The Visitors
The Visitors
The Visitors - Chapter 3 - On the other Side
This story is © 2002, 2003 by Christian Schimkowitsch.
Stanley, Nicolle and Melanie are © by Christian Schimkowitsch.
This story may not be sold or used for commercial profit in any form or fashion. This story may not be modified in any way. This story may not be posted on a mirror site or any other Internet site without the written permission of the author. This story may not be distributed on print, magnetic, electrical, optical or any other mediums.
For an unknown time I was totally cut off from any sensory input. It can't really have been more than a second or so, but it felt like forever. Or my senses were completely overloaded by sensations, I can't really tell. I was completely disoriented.
Then I suddenly found myself in a large room, and I promptly lost my footing and fell down. My head was spinning wildly as I lay on the floor and tried to reorient myself. After a few seconds I managed to make sense of what I was seeing. Melanie and Nicolle stood only a few meters away and looked down at me. They were both grinning, most likely amused at my discomfort. There were several other beings in the room, but I could not tell how they really looked, they seemed to wear space suits of some kind. Two of them stepped up to me and helped me up. Now that I was upright, I could make more sense of them. They (and the other beings in the room) were furs. "Those are probably Hazmat suits or something like that." Most of them had a red paw emblazoned on their suits.
The fur holding my left arm asked "Are you all right?"
"Still woozy." I said "Give me a few seconds." The dizziness receded quickly and I announced "I'm fine now." They released my arms and stepped away when they saw that I did not have any problems standing.
One of the two furs who had helped me up, a canine of some sort, turned to me and addressed me "Stanley Schultz, I presume?"
"Yes."
Another fur, a feline who did not have the red paw on his suit, stepped up to me, held out a pad to me and said "If you would please place your paw here."
I did so and after a few seconds the pad gave an affirmative beep. He said "Thank you, your pawprint has now been registered." Then he turned to Melanie "Melanie Vulpes, do you affirm that this is the male Stanley Schultz?"
"Yes."
"And he is the one who is responsible for your pregnancy?"
"Yes."
"Then please acknowledge it and sign."
"Yes, sir." She touched the pad a few times, and then she placed her paw on it, until the pad beeped a confirmation. Then she pawed the pad to Nicolle who also signed it.
The male took the pad from her and examined it, then he turned to me and said "Welcome to the United States of Rivender. You have been granted a temporary visa. You will have time to study the terms while you are waiting for medical clearance. Good day." With that he turned around and left.
Melanie and Nicolle hugged me and said "All right, Stan. It's goodbye for now. But we'll stay in touch. Go now."
"I'll miss you. Even if we can talk on the phone, it just won't be the same." I kissed them both and then I reluctantly released them and stepped back.
They both grinned at me, turned around and walked away, swishing their tails most invitingly. "I miss them already." Was about all that I could think.
"If you would come with me?" I looked up with a start and realized that Melanie and Nicolle had already left. I turned to the fur who had spoken. She was a pretty female cat with one of the red paws emblazoned on her Hazmat suit.
"All right." I said and followed her. We left the room through a different door than the others had used. Two more furs fell into step behind me, both large males. "Not exactly reassuring. I'd bet that they would be wearing expensive black suits if they did not wear those Hazmat suits." I thought as I watched them from the corner of my eyes. The dark shades they wore seemed perfectly fitting, even though it was not nearly bright enough for them. For several minutes we walked along mostly empty corridors.
The femme opened a door that looked more like a submarine's bulkhead than a regular door and waved me in. I walked in and she followed me. There was a short room and another similar door on the other end. She closed the first door and after a minute the other door opened. "Sorry if this looks like a prison or something, but until we are sure that you do not carry any dangerous diseases, we have to take strict precautions. This just is a decontamination chamber. By the way, my name is Bonnie."
Then the second door opened and we walked into the next room. And I found myself in what looked very much like the living room in a small apartment. Which is actually what it was. Except that it did not have any windows.
Bonnie said "Let me show you around a bit." She pointed at what looked like a computer monitor "This is the entertainment center. You can watch news, access information and place phone calls from there. It has quite a few other functions as well. If you want, I will tell you more about it later. There is the kitchen, if you want, you can prepare your own meals, or we will provide you with ready meals if you prefer that."
"I always like to try new things, I'll be interested what kinds of foods you have around here."
"You'll find out soon. From what your mates told us, you have more or less the same things we have here, so I'm sure you will find something that you can enjoy. The doctor will be along in a few minutes and you can discuss your dietary requirements with him." She turned around and walked to another door "This is the bedroom and the bathroom is through that door over there."
I put my bag on a dresser and went to the bathroom to have a look at it and to see if I would be able to use it "Hmmm, so they are technically a few hundred years ahead of us, but they did not really find anything to improve on our toilets. This one looks just like ours. Except maybe that there is more space in the back, so that someone with a large tail can use it." Satisfied that I would be able to use the most important pieces of equipment in my temporary home, I turned around and walked back into the bedroom.
The nurse took something from a drawer and turned back to me. "Would you please put this on?" It was a hospital gown.
"Ummm... Do I really have to?"
"Yes. We will have to disinfect and examine all your things before we can let you use them. The immigration police have to clear every one of your possessions, I'm afraid. And that includes your clothes."
"Oh." I stared at her "So, how long will I have to run around in this..."
"Not too long. You will have to submit to several examinations in the next few days. Once we have your measurements, you will get new clothes. And you will probably get most of your things back by tomorrow."
"All right." I said and accepted the gown from her. Then I went back into the bathroom to change into it. The gown fit me well enough, but I did not feel very comfortable wearing it. "Ok, I put it on." I said when I left the bathroom.
"Is it all right? You don't sound too happy."
"Kind of. It is a little too cool and draughty for my tastes. I don't have nice warm fur like you do."
"Hmmm, I'll turn up the heat a little bit." We walked back into the living room and she sat down in front of the computer "This is how you bring up the environmental control menu for the suite here. You can set the temperature and humidity to your liking by changing the values here. Got it?"
"I think so. Go back to the main menu and let me try." After a minute I said "Ok, got it. Thank you."
"No problem. Now let me take your things away so we can get them cleared. The doctor should be here soon." She picked up the clothes I had discarded, put them in my bag and left.
I was just about to have a look at the kitchen when the computer beeped, so I walked back there and studied the screen. It said "You have a phone call. Accept ?" Wondering who that could be, I pressed 'Accept'. "It's really convenient that they use the same language and alphabet as we do. Otherwise I would have a lot more problems."
After a moment Melanie and Nicolle appeared on the screen "Hi, stud. How are things."
"Hello, lovely. I'm ok, I think. I did have to put on this hospital gown and I don't really like wearing it."
Melanie grinned at me "Well, then take if off."
I stared at her, but before I could answer, Nicolle asked "Do you like what we are wearing?" and adjusted the view to show me.
"Ummm" I stammered and felt the heat rise up on my cheeks. They were wearing their oldest clothes. That is the ones they were born with. "Yes."
"I think he does." Melanie leered at me.
Nicolle sniffed the fur of her arm and sighed "Too bad we'll have to wash your scent out of our fur now. But if you want you can watch us doing it." With that they turned around and walked out of the screen. Actually, they waddled more than they walked. A few moments later the view changed. It now showed the bathroom and the filled tub. They both climbed in, waved at me and began washing each other. From time to time they looked at me and said things like "It's so nice in here, I wish you were here as well."
I wished I was. Suddenly my hospital gown felt way too tight. I could not look away as they teased me by washing each other.
"They put on quite a show, don't you think?" A male voice suddenly asked from right behind me.
" Argh!!!" I screamed and jumped out of what little fur I had. Stumbling back, I nearly fell. When I turned to regard the sudden intruder, my face felt hot enough to melt lead.
The male fur in the Hazmat suit grinned at me and waited until I had found my balance again. Then he said "Hello, I'm doctor Kenneth Rockinger, but you can call me Ken. Or doc if you prefer that. We'll be seeing quite a bit of each other in the next few days, until I have given you the medical clearance."
"I have no doubt on that matter, doctor." I said in a slightly miffed voice. "That you'll be seeing a lot of me, that is."
"Hello, doc!" Melanie shouted "Take good care of our Stan, will you?"
"Sure, girls."
"Bye." With that Nicolle switched off the phone.
I stared at the blank screen, my face was burning with embarrassment.
Finally he asked "Are you ok?"
"Ummm, yes." I turned to him "What next, doc?"
He looked me up and down for a moment "Since I know that your biology is pretty similar to ours, I assume that we can use the normal methods to examine you. For today, I'd like to do a magnetic scan and take some blood samples. You don't have any problem with that?"
"Oh, well. I'm not too happy about having needles stuck into me, but I guess I can't well say no, can I?"
"Not really." He motioned to the door "If you would come with me, please..."
We left my apartment and walked to an examination room not far away.
The magnetic scan was not too bad, basically I only had to lie still while I was slowly moved through a short tunnel. Taking the blood samples was a different matter. I can't say that the doctor was incompetent or anything, it actually did not hurt all that much. Still, I passed out when he stuck the needle into my arm. He was really concerned and afraid that he had done something to hurt me. When he tried again, things went more smoothly and soon he had collected enough of my blood for the tests he wanted to perform.
"That's it, Stan. We are finished for today. Bonnie will take you back to your room now."
"All right, doc. Any results yet?"
"Nothing really new. Your biology is very similar to ours, but we already knew that. We have identified a few dozen of the microbes in your body. Most of those that your femmes had with them when they returned here six months ago. We have also identified several foodstuffs that are compatible with your system and stocked the kitchen in your room accordingly. You'll have to wait a few days for more complete results. Goodbye for now."
"Goodbye, doc." I turned around and followed the feline nurse back to my room.
"Are you hungry?"
"Yes."
"All right. Let me show you how to use the kitchen." We walked there and she showed me the computer in the kitchen "You can order everything from here. Either the ingredients if you want to cook yourself or a ready meal. Or partially done courses if you don't want to put in that much work but still want to exercise your creativity a little. This icon shows if the foodstuff in question is suitable for you. If the icon is red, you should avoid it, if it is yellow, you probably should avoid it as well, or at least eat only a little of it. A gray icon means that the doctor has not yet decided if it is suitable. For now you should stick to the foods with a green icon. Ok?"
"I think so. Let's see what the doctor recommends." The nurse pressed a few buttons and the list removed all the non-recommended foods. Looking through the available things, I finally selected a vegetable soup with noodles.
"The foods may taste a little boring. Until we know which of our microbes you can handle, everything has to be thoroughly sterilized. Once you are cleared or vaccinated against the common bacteria here, you will also be able to get fresh food."
At that point a bell announced that my soup was ready and I carried it to the table. Bonnie watched me eat for a while before she asked "All set?"
"I think so."
"Then I'll leave you now. Just so you know, you are of course under constant surveillance. To make sure nothing happens to you, of course." Then she smacked her forehead " Stupid me! I completely forgot about your collar!"
" Collar?" I asked, suddenly concerned.
A moment later she returned and put a leather collar on the table "Nothing to worry about. It's only there to record your medical data. Blood pressure, heart rate, nervous activity. Those kinds of things."
"Ummm... That does not sound too inviting."
"Sorry, but you have to put it on. One of the functions is to map your brain activity, so we can tailor the implant you'll get to your specific requirements."
"I'm not sure I want to get that implant either."
"Unfortunately, you can't say 'no' to that. It is required for all immigrants."
"Really?"
"Yes." She gave me a rather nasty grin "There are only two alternatives and you probably won't like either of them. We can't let you talk about us if we have to send you back to your home world. So, we can either mind wipe you or... not send you back." She drew one finger across her throat.
I swallowed "No. On second thought, I would like to put on the collar."
"And of course we also need it to be able to react as quickly as possible if you start developing any medical condition. We are taking every precaution, but there is always the possibility that you react badly to some bacteria or something."
"All right." I grumbled and put the collar on. At least it did not feel unpleasant. After a few moments I almost stopped feeling it altogether. I stared at her and tested my neck to make sure that the collar was still there " Hey! I can't feel it any more!"
"Yes, it suppresses the nervous signals from there, to make it more comfortable to wear."
"Oh, well." I went back to eating my soup.
"Stan?" The nurse asked after a moment.
"Yes?"
"Just let me show you how to contact me or one of my colleagues in case you need anything."
"Fine."
"Here, you just select this icon. If there is something seriously wrong, press against the collar strongly with your fingers, that will activate an alarm. As will any unusual change in your biological functions. And, well, since we are monitoring you, if you scream or something that will also sound an alarm."
"Ok."
"Unless you have any more questions right now, I'll be going."
"I can't think of anything at the moment. Good night, then."
"Good night." She gave me a smile and turned to leave.
The door opened and she walked out, but then she leaned into the room once more "Stan?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for the inspiration."
" What?" But she was already gone and the door closed before I could get up. I stared at the closed door and tried to make sense of what she had said. But I came up empty. I wondered if I should call her to ask her about it, but I decided against it. I finished my soup. Since it was way past midnight for me, I had a quick shower and went to bed. I don't know if they had given me anything to help me sleep or if it was only my exhaustion, but I was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
#####
I opened my eyes and stared at the unfamiliar room for a moment before finally I made sense of my surroundings. I was on the other world, together with Melanie and Nicolle. I threw off the blanket and got up. A few moments later the screen came to life.
Nicolle greeted me "Hi, sleepyhead." She leered at me "It's about time you got up, stud."
"Good morning." I walked into the kitchen area and Nicolle's face appeared on the screen there. I turned to the kitchen computer and mused "Now to figure out if this thing can brew a decent cup of coffee." I scrolled through the list of available beverages and found something that looked promising. "Ahhh, that smells good." I said when I held the mug in my hands a few seconds later. I sat down and looked at Nicolle who had been joined by Melanie "Good morning, sweethearts."
"Good morning, Stan. Feeling better?"
"A little." I yawned "Let me get a little more of that 'Nectar of the Gods' into my system." I sipped again, drinking as much as I could without boiling my tongue. Then I inhaled the aroma again. "Hmmm, that smells good." I looked at the two femmes in the screen again "But what I really miss is to wake up with my nose full of your scent."
Melanie grinned and licked her chops "It won't be long."
Nicolle snickered "And it won't be for long. Before very long you'll wake up to the wonderful scent of overripe diapers."
" Yuck!" I finished the mug and padded back to the kitchen to get some food and some more coffee.
I was about halfway finished with my food when I remembered that there was something I wanted to ask the two femmes "Hmmm, yesterday the nurse, Bonnie, said something that still puzzles me. Maybe you can help me figure it out?"
"Yes?" Nicolle asked.
"Right before she left, she said 'Thank you for the inspiration.' I wonder what she meant by it."
Nicolle and Melanie looked at each other, then Melanie answered "I'm not completely sure what she meant, but I can think of one possibility... She was one of the nurses who helped us when we were in quarantine when we came back here. And we became friends and kept in touch with her after we were released. She married not long afterwards. And, well... when they found out that we were both pregnant, we did have to tell them something about you."
"So all the furs here know that we had sex together?" My voice rose a little "Just how much did you tell them?"
"Calm down, Stan. That we had sex would be rather difficult to hide. Since we are pregnant and acknowledged you as the father, I doubt that anyone would not know that we had sex with you."
"All right. But I that does not really explain her comment."
"Well..." Melanie looked a bit embarrassed "Since we really enjoyed our time with you a lot and... maybe we did tell her more than we should have... Maybe she got a little inspiration from this and tried out a few of the... positions that gave us so much pleasure..." She trailed off.
My face suddenly felt hot enough to melt lead. Something did not feel quite right, though. Melanie did not seem as embarrassed as she should have been and neither did Nicolle. But before I could try to get to the bottom of this, a bell announced another call. The screen split into two windows and Bonnie appeared in the second one. I nearly fainted in shame, my face must have glowed brightly enough to be seen in the dark.
"Good morning, Stan. Are you ready for another round of examinations." She studied me and when I did not answer right away, she asked "Are you ok?"
"Ummm..." Was the only reasonably intelligent reply I could make.
"Hi, Bonnie." Nicolle greeted her. Apparently this was now a three-way conference call. "He asked why you thanked him yesterday."
"And you told him?" When the two nodded, she went on "That might explain his apparent lack of wits today." She turned back to me "Get ready to leave for your examination in a few minutes." She winked at me and her image on the screen winked out.
"See you, Stan." Melanie said and disconnected the call as well.
I sat there, staring at the suddenly empty screen. When I had finished my food and coffee, I got up and went to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
A few minutes later I was done and headed back to the living room. I stopped dead when I saw the feline nurse sit on the couch. She gave me a welcoming smile (that might well have been a leer) and said "Good morning... Stan." I was almost sure she wanted to say 'Stud' instead.
"Ummm... Good morning." I stammered as my face turned crimson.
She stood up and asked "Ready?" I nodded and she got up and said "Let's go."
When we waited in the decontamination chamber, she asked "So, does it make you uncomfortable that your femmes let others know about the sex you had with them?"
I tried to answer, but somehow I could not get my mouth open. I nodded instead.
She grinned at me "Get over it. Most other males would be very proud if their femme friends spoke so highly of their skills in bed."
"Maybe. But..."
She put a gloved paw on my shoulder and said "If it's any help, I want to thank you all. You may not have wanted this, but what I have learned from your friends has brought me and my husband a lot of pleasure. And it will bring even more in a few months."
I stared at her face for a moment, then I looked down at her stomach. And, sure enough, now that I was looking for it, I could see that she was carrying. Before I had just thought that she was a little overweight (it was not so easy to make out her figure through the Hazmat suit), but now that I looked again, I could see that she was not overweight but pregnant. I stared at her face again "You... you got pregnant because of... us?"
"Well, not only, of course. But when Melanie and Nicolle decided to keep their kits, somehow it got us thinking. And then I wanted some as well. I would have gotten pregnant at some point anyway, but I might have waited a little longer. So, there you are, you helped, but you were not the only reason. Thank you." She gently pressed the faceplate of her suit against my cheek and kissed it.
I don't know why, but somehow this made me feel a little better. And I did not feel quite so embarrassed about the whole affair. A moment later the door opened and she led me to another examination room.
For several hours I was poked and prodded, scanned and tested. Mostly it was rather boring. I was pleasantly surprised that it did not hurt at all, even when they poked needles into me. Bonnie explained that the collar I now wore had analyzed my neural patterns well enough to suppress the pain almost completely. For which I was very grateful.
When I was finished for the day, I got to talk to the doctor "How am I doing, doc? Any results yet?"
"Most of the tests are not done yet, but the preliminary results are good. Your biochemistry is very similar to our own, so I don't see any big problems. Most of the microbes in your body are similar to ours. You will have to get vaccinated against several diseases that either do not occur on your world or are not a problem for you. Unless anything unusual comes up, you should not have to stay here for more than a week or so."
"That is nice."
"I have also updated the list of foodstuffs and you have been cleared for quite a few. We will continue to give you sterilized food until you have received all the vaccinations, however."
"Ok."
"I think that's it. See you tomorrow."
"Goodbye."
"Bye. Bonnie will take you back to your room now."
When we got back to my living room, an icon was flashing insistently on the computer screen "What does that exactly mean, Bonnie?"
"That you have an important message waiting for you." She pointed at the icon "And that bit means that it is a protected private message. You'll have to identify yourself to read it."
"How?"
"Put your paw here." She said, sat down and turned the screen so she could not see it "This is a personal mail for your eyes only, but if it is what I think it is, you might have some questions about it. If you want, I'll stay so I can answer any questions you might have."
"It's fine with me if you stay." I answered and laid my palm on the pad next to the keyboard. A few seconds later it confirmed my identity with a beep and the message opened. I read the message, which was rather short "It says here, that my Blue-card application has been provisionally approved, pending medical clearance and that a Mister Donald Ursus has been appointed as my integration counselor and that I should contact him. And there is a link to my personal information site. It says that there is important medical and financial information that I should review."
"The Blue-card is what you'll need to stay here. You will be allowed to work and own property and such. Just about the only difference to a full citizenship is that you are not allowed to vote. And it can be revoked if you commit a crime or something like that. After six months the Blue-card will be made permanent, unless your counselor votes against it. And after two years you will be allowed to apply for a full citizenship. Or you may be allowed to get the citizenship earlier if you marry your femmes."
"Would I be allowed to marry them both?"
"Actually, yes. Some species have significantly more females than males. There have been marriages with more than two partners since ancient times."
"What about the counselor?"
"You'll have to stay in contact with him until your Blue-card is turned into a permanent one. Until then, he is allowed to keep pretty close tabs on you to make sure you are not a danger to the state, that you did not falsify information on your application and such."
"I don't really like that."
"You'll have to accept it, though. Actually, it is pretty much of a rubber-stamp thing. Unless you commit a crime or something like that, he'll approve you without a problem once the mandatory waiting period is over."
"What is this good for, then?"
"Mostly, I think it goes back to times when applicants were not screened so thoroughly before they got the initial ok. Nowadays, if you get approved for the temporary permit, you'll get the permanent one as well. For some reason the law has not been struck from the books. And, of course, you got some pretty influential and wealthy sponsors, so I don't see any problems."
"Influential sponsors? Who? Melanie and Nicolle?"
"Actually, yes. That they are very good friends with some pretty important furs does not hurt either." Seeing the look on my face, she added "Only friends, nothing more."
"So this is only a formality?"
"Mostly. He does have access to all your private data and such and he is required to check it, but apart from that, yes."
"Ok."
"If you want to, we can look at your medical data together. Otherwise you might not know what it all means."
"Fine."
She sat down next to me and we went through my medical details together. There were not a whole lot of definite details there yet, most of it was marked as 'preliminary'. After a few minutes she got up, said goodbye and left.
When she was gone I turned my attention to the 'Online banking' area, where I found out that a checking account had been set up for me. My eyes almost popped when I saw the balance: 116 873 256.54 Credits. Looking at the account details, I found that the money had been deposited by a 'Vulpes & Sciuri Productions Inc.' "Melanie and Nicolle have their own company?" I stared at the screen for a minute.
"Better find out how much money that really is, before I ask them about it. I could be enough to make me as rich as Bill Gates or this could be just enough money to buy a hot dog."
Playing around with the computer I soon found their version of the web and a search engine. A few minutes of searching and checking the prices on consumer goods confirmed that this was a whole lot of money. About 50 million Euro [or a similar amount in US Dollar, for those on the other side of the pond].
I stared at the screen " Holy cow! I'm bloody stinking filthy rich!"
End of Part 3