EXODUS

— by Jeff Karamales

Chapter 20
Simple Pleasures
 

Ásmundr had approved of the break for Wyatt without hesitation, glad that Halley had pointed out the very things that he’d wanted to speak to the Fur about and was concerned that Wyatt was working as hard as anyone else but with the condition that he had to keep himself out of sight. With a bag packed, the savannah cat was taken to the Village while the others took care of finding a suitable boat for them to take on a two day run.

For Wyatt, being in the presence of other feline Furs was definitely soothing. It allowed him to spend time with Ramad in the comfort of their original group as he was reintroduced to Perry Layton, Joe Curry, Tonya Dolens and Paul Nixon. Perry was the largest out of all of the feline Furs, almost standing at six-eight, his muscles even more defined than they had been when he was a man. When his brownish hair had come back in it had done so with a vengeance and the shock of unruly hair almost made it look as if the tiger had a small haystack on top of his triangular head. A Fur from Group 2, Gina Bellefonte, a cougar hybrid that had something of a Harlem accent had taken quite the liking to the shy, gentle tiger and could often be found with Perry, a brush or comb with her trying to arrange his hair into some semblance of order. It was clear looking at them that their feelings were fairly deep and it made Wyatt smile to see that there was someone looking after his friend. The memory wipe hadn’t caused Perry to lose any of his simple innocence, but it had remedied the nightmares the giant cat had been suffering from.

Joe Curry looked like a lion, his own black hair getting lost in the full mane he now sported. The man had found a lioness from Group 2, one Candace Deans. Mundane lions in the wild might have let the females do the hunting, but it wasn’t too difficult to tell that Candace and Joe saw things differently and often got into competitions to show that the pair was about as equal as they could be. Wyatt didn’t know much about the lioness, but like the rest, the memory wipe had taken her back to the developmental stage of a teenager in attitude and behavior.

Mornings were the time for serious exercise that was more play than anything else, but hard play. Afternoons found the Furs lounging around in the sun as a group or flopped in the Arcade watching movies as a group. Nighttime often found most of them playing tag in the dark or odd games of hide-and-seek, all of them using better than normal night vision, enhanced hearing and a sharper sense of smell to locate each other. They accepted Wyatt into the mix easily, Perry Layton once again forming an instant and close bond with the savannah cat.

When Ásmundr’s car arrived to pick him up after a couple of days spent with the others, Wyatt had to admit that he did feel better. While the savannah cat was leaving again, Ramad opted to stay, not really interested in spending a day or two on a boat, and despite his new body, the snow leopard still didn’t care all that much for the taste of fish. With a shrug, Wyatt left the others, looking forward to getting out on the water and more than a little curious as to what kind of boat Ásmundr had been able to find. 

*** 

Instead of being delivered to Ásmundr Gustavsson’s manor house as he’d expected, Wyatt was dropped off at a small marina south of the city of Stockholm, most of the trip passing by as the savannah cat napped in the back of the limousine that had picked him up. The past two days had been rather packed and when he hadn’t been engaged in different activities with the other Furs, Wyatt had been trying to fend off the advances of Julie Valance.

Despite the intimacy they’d shared while still prisoners, the other savannah cat didn’t remember him, but was strongly attracted to her male counterpart. Shy at first, the female’s attempts to make her feelings known had become more and more proactive. While he found her more than attractive, his senses such as smell and hearing found the female’s purring chirps and scent more than a little arousing. Her allure was tempered as Wyatt saw her as too different from the woman he’d known on the island. Mannerisms and behavior she’d exhibited before were gone and her seeming innocence from the memory wipe made him look at her as a kid, and made her attempts to seduce him almost clumsy. He was thoroughly convinced that if he gave in to what she wanted that he’d be no better than a pedophile. Dodging the anthrocat had been a bit of a drain and when Ulfi showed up Wyatt had shut the door to the passenger compartment with a sigh of relief. He’d dozed off almost immediately and stayed asleep until the limo hit a bit of a rough patch on the road that led into the marina proper, the rumble of the synthetic tires on loose gravel bringing him out of his slumber.

All around the basin shaped cove that the facility had been built in were all manner of craft. Small yachts sat next to the latest sailing vessels, the masts for canvas sheets replaced with directional airfoils, much like vertical wings, that would use the principles of lift and apply it to forward momentum. Sleek, hydrodynamic hulls that looked like they were based more on spaceships from a movie sat low in the water, their cockpits and bridges enclosed by black, one-way glass, their prows shaped like knives meant for cutting through the water at impressive speeds.

All of the boats and yachts were the kind of pleasure craft that the wealthy bought, large, comfortable vessels that were more toy and status than anything else. There were no working boats here. Vessels designed for work, for fishing and commercial ventures would have been as out of place as Wyatt himself would have been at a fancy ball. There were no low, solid fishers, no crabbers or line boats with blocky designs to accommodate holding tanks. There were no net or stabilizer booms on swivels mounted to the port and starboard flanks, no deck cranes for hoisting a catch. Despite that, Wyatt couldn’t help but admire the different boats or small ships designed by marine architects that saw a boat as being a potential work of art.

Ulfi brought the luxury car to a stop at the end of the last pier and turned around to look at the cat through the lowered privacy screen. “Mister Gustavsson wanted me to tell that everything is waiting for you at the end of the pier. Number twelve. He wanted me to tell you that he has already stocked the galley and that there are clothes in a bag waiting for you.”

Wyatt stretched a little, the claws of his fingers and toes extending as he splayed both his paw-like hands and feet, a smile pulling his feline mouth into a recognizable expression while keeping his teeth concealed. “Thanks, Ulfi.” The man inclined his head with a return smile, Ulfi actually liking the Fur and being around him and turned back to the front as Wyatt exited the car.

As soon as the door opened, the smell of water and the shore tickled the savannah cat’s nose while a warm breeze riffled his exposed fur. Like the others at the Village, Wyatt found that he preferred the shorts and various tops that Ásmundr had designed that were expertly carried out by Frau Ginzler. The blue shorts he wore were comfortable, but the top had been chosen specifically for a day on the water. The red pullover was sans sleeves, but had a sort of hood that Wyatt dragged over his head, more to keep people from looking too closely at him, though he knew that was hardly any sort of disguise. The configuration of his legs and the fact that he had three and a half foot tail would ensure that anyone that saw him would know that he wasn’t human. Not that it really mattered as the marina seemed completely devoid of people. The hour was far too early for the rich and affluent to be about, much less awake, those that were most likely heading into Stockholm for an appearance at the office or bank or hospital that comprised their regular lives.

Seagulls wheeled and dived overhead, already stirring with the smudge of sunlight to the east, looking for whatever they could scavenge, their shrill cries at each other when one bird thought another was too close or had something perceived to be a morsel of food. It sounded like music to the savannah cat. As he walked upright along the dock, his bare foot pads landing silently on the weathered wood, Wyatt felt a sort of energy fill him that he’d almost forgotten with everything else that had transpired in the past few years. It was something that happened every time he neared the water, a sort of primordial surge that was as powerful as the feelings he had for Halley, but was directed to the other mistress that had long been part of his life.

Wyatt loved the sea, her motions, her temperament, and learned at an early age not to fight the ocean, but to move with her, to read sky and wind and waves to become part of her, to let her embrace. The sea was capricious at best, deadly unforgiving at worst, and Wyatt loved her for all of that. The gentle undulations of waves had rocked him to sleep more than once, and when he was far too full of himself, the ocean reminded him that he was mortal and that his existence was little more than the blink of an eye from an insignificant speck of flotsam, but if she wanted and he were unwary, the ocean would drag him down to her depths for eternity.

The savannah cat reached slip number twelve and found an aggressive looking cabin cruiser of a little more than forty feet in length, the prow sharply curved with a lean, fast look like a mako shark. The flying bridge was covered by a sort of shell made of a darkened material that would allow someone to see through it without the blinding glare of the sun. From the bridge to the foredeck was a gentle slope that comprised the transparent roof of the main cabin. At the aft was an open area with padded bench seats and weather proof reclining chairs with the normal hardware for surf rods and deep sea sport fishing.

From the below deck cabin came Halley, the woman wearing a pair of running shorts and loose sweatshirt with some university logo in faded in print on it, the neck line and cuffs a little frayed. Her white-blond hair was a little longer now than it had been on the island and the silken mass was held back by an elastic hair band and pair of sunglasses.

“I distinctly remember someone saying something about a bikini,” Wyatt told his girlfriend with a mischievous grin.

“Not until the sun comes up a little more!” the girl said with a laugh. “Unlike you and the others I don’t have a nice covering of fur to keep me warm.” She didn’t wait for the savannah cat to step across, instead reaching over the gunwale and snagging his paw in her fingers before hauling him the couple of feet to the rear deck, her arms siding around his middle as she pressed her lips against his, feeling his fangs as the contact deepened for several long, ecstatic moments. “Mmmmm! And good morning to you, sexy!”

“You’re in a good mood,” the cat man said after a deep, throaty chuckle. Wyatt leaned to the side, still maintaining a hold on the woman. “Is Ásmundr below decks?”

“Nope,” Halley all but chirped as she placed a kiss on the end of the Fur’s nose. “You and me and the water,” she informed him. “Just you and me…” She pulled his head back down and planted another deep kiss. “C’mon, sailor. Show me what you can do with a boat,” the young woman challenged playfully.

“I’ll show you what I can do,” the Fur answered with a purr to his voice as he held the woman tighter. The sounds Halley made when he nibbled at her neck while his hands checked out lines that were as sleek as those of the boat elicited a gasp and sigh before the girl disentangled herself as warmth flooded through her that completely chased away the morning coolness. “Why don’t you go cast off the bow lines from the cleats and I’ll get the aft.”

Wyatt watched with a small snicker as Haley nodded with a grin, her steps a little unsteady that had nothing to do with the slight roll to the deck in the fairly calm waters. He got the aft line cleared and took the flying bridge as the girl held the forward tether while holding onto the rail and giving the Fur a thumbs-up, ready to cast the line as soon as her lover got the motor going. Taking a moment to familiarize himself with the controls, Wyatt scanned the instrument board, locating the compass, radar, depth finder and locations where emergency gear was located and the charts of local waters printed on synthetic paper that saltwater wouldn’t harm and sunlight wouldn’t fade. When he hit the starter, the engines caught on the first try, the fuel cells spinning up the twin turbines that generated power for powerful electric drive motors and tandem bow and aft thrusters, something that boats this size rarely had, lateral thrusters normally being found on larger ships.

Never having piloted a boat with the thrusters, Wyatt relied on his skills to drive the craft from the slip, using a combination of rudder and reverse thrust to crab the boat to the side so he could get clear of the pier. Once he obtained the desired space, Wyatt pushed the throttles to slow forward and aimed the bow towards the cove’s entrance and the breakwaters with their bright navigational lights and color coded reflective plates.

The controls of the boat were far more sensitive and responsive than Wyatt’s old boat that he’d run charters from in Florida. Despite all of that, the Fur missed his old scow, the Calliope. He’d found her for sale, needing extensive work, the summer before his last year in high school. The entire summer had been spent working at the boatyard to earn money for the materials to get the old craft seaworthy again, and long hours at night and days off were spent working on the boat; his boat. Calliope was an older hull, but she’d been elegant, capable of handling surprisingly rough waters during storm surges. She’d lasted through five hurricanes and when newer boats were swamped, had hulls crack or simply sank, she kept afloat.

This boat was far more advanced, newer by a good three decades, and power was readily available without having to fuss or feather the controls. As she built up speed, the boat settled easily, the bow cutting through the water with an almost unbelievable ease. As he made a slight adjustment to the wheel to head for the open waters past the jetties, Wyatt smiled without reservations, without any of the problems that had haunted him as the small vessel and the Fur fell into the rhythm that was a part of the sea.

It hardly seemed like any time passed at all before they were out of the cove that sheltered the exclusive little marina and were in the open Baltic, the water so dark a shade of blue that it looked purple. The sky was deep azure with perfect puffball cumulus scudding across from the southwest following the steady breeze. With his paw on the wheel, the other around Halley’s narrow waist, Wyatt felt that it couldn’t get any better. The temperature climbed with the sun and the savannah cat grinned as Halley placed kiss on the side of his short feline muzzle before pulling her sweatshirt off and tossing it aside. Before the Fur could turn and look she’d skinned her shorts and threw them on top of her sweatshirt.

The girl struck a pose while holding onto the vertical rail with one hand, the other perched on an out thrust hip and one leg bent and her foot tucked behind a calf. Wyatt couldn’t help but stare with interest as he took in Halley’s form and the rather skimpy bikini in a light lavender, most of the outfit consisting of strings and silver rings that kept the small patches of fabric in place.

“I am so glad we aren’t driving a car,” the Fur muttered appreciatively as he began a second long look while a grin split his muzzle.

“And why’s that?” the girl asked solicitously.

“Because we would wreck and die,” Wyatt told her. “But I can tell you I’d be grinning when we hit the Pearly Gates!”

“Then you’re going to love this.” Without any hint of what she was going to do Halley tugged on one of the strings and let her top flutter in the breeze before dropping it on the rest of her clothing. “We are in Europe, after all.” Halley sauntered to the savannah cat and draped herself over Wyatt with a smile.  

*** 

The couple stayed out until sundown, avoiding other boats, which required a little creative navigation on Wyatt’s part as the excellent weather brought out a staggering number of pleasure boaters. By the time Wyatt and Halley returned to the pier it was well after sundown and the savannah cat had had to pay close attention to the nighttime navigational buoys. They got in a little fishing though the only excitement was when Halley hooked a rather small cod fish. Lunch and dinner came from the small galley that Ásmundr had ensured was well stocked for the outing. Apart from simply enjoying the time on the water and being in Halley’s company, there was nothing else that Wyatt could’ve wanted.

It was at the girl’s insistence that they drop anchor after supper, the savannah cat making sure that the collision lights were on before stepping below decks to find Halley waiting for him while lounging on the bed that took up the forward portion of the cabin, the rest of her bikini tossed conspicuously on the floor though she was keeping herself teasingly covered by a silk sheet that clung and shimmered enticingly to her body. At any other time Wyatt would’ve already been scampering up onto the bed to join his lover, but with the last bit of the setting sun streaming from behind him through the open hatch and the way it lit the pale flawless skin that covered Halley’s body, he couldn’t help but stand there and gaze in awe at the woman that he loved.

Their union was added to by the gentle pitching and rolling of the boat as it shifted ever so slightly in the light current and there was no one around that could hear the sounds of passion that came from both woman and Fur. When the moment had passed they simply lay in each other’s arms and listened to the sounds of the sea all around them.

If there had ever been a more perfect day that ended so fantastically, Wyatt couldn’t recall it and with his head resting against hers let sleep call him into a blissful nap, as warm and satisfied as Halley was. For a little while all of their other troubles and worries disappeared. However, had he known what was waiting back at the Village, Wyatt would have stayed on the water until Gustavsson sent the Swedish Navy out for him. 

*** 

Blue flashing lights lit up the evening at the gate that let into the former Olympic Village where the rest of the Furs were being quartered. As Ulfi drove up, Wyatt and Halley stared first at the different news vehicles and mobile satellite transmitters before encountering police vehicles that lined either side of the road. As the limousine passed through, reporters and camera operators tried to get pictures of who was in the back, both the Fur and young woman comfortable in the knowledge that not only was the glass exceedingly strong and impact resistant, it was also impossible for any imaging unit, either standard optical or electronically enhanced to penetrate the privacy measures that Ásmundr had incorporated into the luxury vehicle.

The police were a different matter and as Ulfi slowed to a gentle stop and rolled down his window at the behest of several policemen in riot gear, military style submachine guns in hand and half with their protective faceplates lowered. Rapid conversation in Swedish passed back and forth between Ulfi and the lead cop, the uniformed enforcement officer pointing to the back of the car insistently and walked back along the length as the window lowered. Wyatt winced as a flashlight was aimed in the back, the multiple LEDs extremely harsh after the subdued twilight of the passenger compartment.

The officer jerked in response to finding the anthrocat in the back, his hand automatically reaching for his weapon until Wyatt lifted his paws slowly. “I’d really appreciate if you didn’t shoot me,” he said in as soft a voice as possible but loud enough so the policeman would hear.

The Fur and young woman had no idea what the officer said, but a moment later he grinned and stuck his hand through the window. “You are being der Furman? Yes?” He grinned even wider when the savannah cat took his proffered hand and rattled more excited words in Swedish before laughing and stepping back and waving Ulfi through with shouted commands to his fellows.

Ásmundr’s manservant didn’t roll up the back window until they passed through the gate though he kept the privacy screen lowered as he steered the car towards a small corporate style helicopter.

Wyatt had learned over the past weeks that Ásmundr Gustavsson was more than one of the wealthiest individuals in Europe, or the world for that matter. The man had holdings in an aerospace company, medical engineering firms, pharmaceutical manufacturers and even a personal communications corporation. The man gave freely to aid groups that assisted impoverished lands, donated medicines for Third World relief efforts and involved himself in nearly anything that would help the planet as a whole, lending, at times even giving, large sums to fund worthwhile projects. When more might be needed he added his name, much of the world waiting to see which things the man deemed worthy, which schemes he avoided and followed suit. But the tall Swede was more than just an affluent philanthropist. He was an avid amateur archeologist, funding grants to research that took the time to properly research their digs and enjoyed vacations working with paleontologists in some of the most desolate locations of the globe. For fun he’d learned scuba diving, flying and had his ratings for single and multi-engine craft as well as rotor wing vehicles.

If anything, Wyatt likened the man to a modern Da Vinci, learning and engaging in anything that fascinated him.

“I am glad that you are in the car, Sir,” Ulfi called back as he slowed to a stop near the copter. “If you hadn’t been in the car I would have been arrested for interfering with an investigation. Our police here tend to take their jobs very seriously.”

“Ulfi, do you know why they’re here?” the savannah cat inquired, noticing more police decked out in riot gear around the immediate area.

“No, Sir. All that I was told was that there was some sort of intrusion. Master Gustavsson is waiting near the gymnasium for you and Miss Kane.” The man turned around to look at his passengers. “Don’t worry about your bags. I’ll bring them along and ensure that they’re put in the guest room.”

Wyatt shook his head. “I’ll be staying here tonight,” he told the driver.

“Me, too,” Halley added quickly. When the Fur gave her a quizzical look she shrugged and smiled. “They might need both of us to help with whatever’s happened.”

 The savannah cat didn’t argue as he stepped out of the car, his paw finding the girl’s hand as they retrieved their small travel bags from the rear storage compartment and walked briskly to the gymnasium, both pointedly ignoring the curious or scandalized looks from some of the police. Outside the triple set of glass and metal doors they found Ásmundr with one of the officers and another man that Wyatt didn’t recognize until he and Halley had drawn closer. Todd Farbes gave the Fur a nod before turning to Gustavsson.

“It was bound to happen sooner or later, Ásmundr. The security fence helps, but I’ve got four square miles to watch at the present and only eight people with rotating watches. I need more security, surveillance equipment and anything that can move my guys faster than those damn golf carts,” the American was saying. “Now that every person with a TV has seen the trial, you bet we’re going to have people trying to get in to see Wyatt and the others. If it isn’t some group like animal activists wanting to free them from human oppression, it’ll be some religious fundies that think they need to be killed.

“You want to keep them safe, I want to keep them safe. In order to do that, I need people and material. I also need hardware. Stunners and things are fine, but I can’t deter potential threats without being able to make it manifestly clear to potential hostiles that my people and I will meet any threat with force and violence ourselves if we’re pushed too far. I’ve seen this happen too many times. A threat’s only as good as its backing and the level of fear it can cause.”

The police officer looked askance at Farbes. “Religious fundies?” he asked in confusion.

The American nodded. “Fundamentals. Emphasis on mentals. They take their beliefs very seriously and anything that’s not covered in the Bible is bad and must be destroyed. Almost like a Christian version of some of the more militant Islamic factions.” Farbes smiled but there was no humor in the expression. “When believers start forming their own translations of God’s or Allah’s laws to suit their opinions, it normally means bad things for everyone else.”

The officer nodded in agreement before turning to his countryman. “I think that I am being in agreement. There is a need for more security so that this is not happening again and the chances are reduced.” He nodded to Farbes before switching to Swedish and talking at length with Ásmundr.

Taking the gesture as a dismissal, Farbes stepped over to Wyatt and Halley, a slight frown pulling the corners of his mouth down while the small furrow between his eyebrows deepened and became more pronounced. “Some tabloid journalists were able to find out where you and the rest of the Hybrids…um, Furs are staying,” the man began before the savannah cat could ask what had happened. “They came in from the construction site that Ásmundr’s had going on and got into one of the residences with cameras. Scared the daylights out of Julie before we could stop them or even knew what was going on. Fortunately the Swedes take their posted ‘No Trespassing’ signs very seriously. More seriously than Americans or the British, it seems.”

“Is Julie okay?” Wyatt asked with a sudden lump of cold fear in his stomach. “They didn’t hurt her, did they?”

“She’s fine,” the man replied, a sigh of frustration blowing out his cheeks. “They cornered her in her bedroom and tried to force an interview. Actually backed her into a closet and treated her like she was a spooked housecat if you can believe it.” Farbes looked around the perimeter. “I just don’t have enough men and women to cover this place. We need a lot of stuff and more people if we’re going to make it secure for you guys. I’ve already given Ásmundr a list of the things that I need, some that I want, and a few others that might just be wishful thinking.”

“You’ll probably get everything on your list, then,” Halley told the man. “Ásmundr takes the wellbeing of the Furs pretty seriously.”

Wyatt nodded in agreement before looking at the young woman. “I’m going to go check on Jules. With the memory wipe she’s more like a kid now and this has probably freaked her out pretty bad.”

“Want me to come with you?” Halley asked. “You know I’ve got that whole minor in psychology thing.”

“Give us a bit, first,” the savannah cat said. “When you come over to her apartment if you’d bring some snacks or something, that would be good.”

The woman nodded as her lover turned and headed to the other Fur’s small set of rooms that had been designed and built for visiting athletes, a strange look in her eyes. She was brought out of a moment of contemplation when Todd Farbes spoke softly.

“You okay, Halley? You look a little off.”

The girl nodded. “Yeah.Just thinking that nothing good lasts forever.”

Farbes tilted his head. “You mind clearing that one up?”

Halley waved her hand in a vague gesture and turned to the building that held the cafeteria. “You know. Me. Wyatt. I don’t know if it can last.” She looked up at the man next to her with a sad smile. “I love him, I really do, but I can’t give him what another Fur can, you know? We can’t get married, we can’t have kids. I don’t react to him the way another Fur would. I don’t have the traits that will keep him interested.”

“He loves you,” the man said simply. “Isn’t that enough?”

Halley shook her head. “No. Not really.” She sighed as Farbes opened the door to the cafeteria. “I don’t have the right scent markers…I don’t respond properly to him. Well, the part of him that’s human I do. But not the part that’s cat. The only one that can do both is another cat Fur. All of them are both more and less than human.”

“Like Julie,” Todd offered.

“Yeah. Like Julie.”

The man grew thoughtful and narrowed his eyes as ideas began to form. “Back on the island, you knew how to run all of that equipment, right? And the process that was used to do this to them?”

“Of course. Most of it’s fairly simple and automated. Some of the more complex units required a human to guide them or an operator to oversee the processes they were built for.” She stopped in front of a rack with different packages of snacks, the set up looking more like a convenience store from back in the US with a selection of different things. “The genetic material with the goetazine was the real trick. As long as donor material is properly sequenced with the tag modifications made all that’s needed is a unit that can apply the mixture. That and you want to review the sequencing process to make sure you’ll get the traits and ratio that you’re looking for, but that’s no big deal to be honest. Why do you ask?”

The man looked around to ensure that there were no people or Furs within earshot and shrugged before moving closer and lowering his voice. “If you know how to operate the equipment, you can teach others how to do that, yeah?”

“Sure,” the woman said as she loaded her arms with bags of chips and snack items she was unfamiliar with before heading to the soft drink section. “Like I said, a lot of it is just push the button.”

Farbes moved closer and leaned down so that he could whisper in the girl’s ear. “I know where the equipment and materials are being stored. It’s all right here at the Village.”

Halley turned her head quickly to regard the man, her own brow furrowing. “Why is it here?” she asked, more rhetorically than anything else. “Why are you telling me?”

Todd shook his head. “It just strikes me as odd that Ásmundr would have it all here. The Village hospital and one of the storage buildings is where all of it’s at and it’s something that we do keep a very close eye on. All of the machines are hooked up, powered, whatever, and there are stacks of vials in gigantic cooling units. It’s like he plans to either use it, or study the machines that were used to make better ones.”

“He holds the patent, now. On the process to make Furs,” Halley told the man as she spied a hand basket and dumped the bags of chips and other things into it before returning to the soft drinks. She didn’t protest when Farbes took the basket from her. “You do know why, don’t you? Why Bolivar let Lesko off her leash?”

“I know that Bingham was looking to get into it for using the process for law enforcement and combat troops. That scares me. That scares me a lot because as a sailor, soldier, whatever, when you sign up for a term, you sign away a lot of your rights. A seaman or soldier could be put through the process without knowing the why of it.”

“Nope. The treaty that the US signed more than thirty years ago prevents that. Same with Russia, Japan, all of the European Union. Believe me when I say the UN watches that stuff closely,” Halley told the man as she gave up trying to pick drinks and just got one of anything that looked good. “That would be a violation of international proportions that no one could ignore.

“When I was told about the project, I was informed it was for advanced scouts for interplanetary exploration. You know, better explorers, more of an environmental resistance, better senses. All of this came about after the incident on Khepri when that mining team all froze to death. They found what they were looking for, but no one was ready for the winter. Scouts that could handle that kind of cold would’ve known, they would have found out and could’ve warned everyone else so that the operation might have been postponed, or better equipment sent out.”

Farbes grew thoughtful. “Advanced scouts? Really?”

“Yup,” the girl replied as she gestured to the door. “I don’t know if that’s what Ásmundr plans, but it makes sense. Some of the memos I saw when I was at the TCC in New York was about people wanting to volunteer or petition for colony posting, but there really weren’t any open worlds. There are several that are in the satellite survey process, but nothing is opened yet.”

“Why would anyone volunteer for that?” Farbes asked with a frown.

Halley led the way outside after logging in what was taken from the cafeteria stores at the man’s suggestion. “Why wouldn’t they?” she asked in response. “Think about it. It’s like being part of Columbus’ crew or something, but an actual new world. Some people are tired of this, Todd. They’ve had it with the whole crowding and pollution and political crap that seems to be the status quo anymore. Maybe they want to do something that has a lot more meaning than just sitting in an office and punching a clock. My sister would love something like that. Then again, she is part of the neo-hippie movement. That whole get back to nature-free-love-primitive thing. She’d probably jump at a chance to go to a colony. She’d probably love to become a Fur, even.”

“She’d be willing to give up her humanity?” the man asked in surprise.

Halley nodded. “Probably. You see, the process literally rewrites the subject’s DNA. It can fix a lot of diseases other than just cancer, you know. Some of the lab tests that I had to do back on the island showed that it can also repair damage from things like spina bifida, scoliosis, some of the problems with aging, even reverse some of the ravages of Alzheimer’s. My sister has a problem getting pregnant and if she were to become a Fur the process could very well fix that. You’d be surprised what some people would do to be healthy and live like a normal person even if they might not look normal.”

Farbes nodded as he listened, understanding just what some might do to have a functioning body again. “So you really see Wyatt and the others as people still?”

“They are,” the girl replied sharply. “Just because they look like a cross between animals and people doesn’t mean they’re no longer like you or me. They’re still people.” She looked askance at the man as they walked to Julie’s apartment, Farbes indicating where to go by gesturing with the basket.

“I’ll buy that. Wyatt strikes me as a decent guy. I know he saved my life.”

“You saved his as well,” Halley pointed out.

“Maybe.” The man seemed to wrestle with a question for a few moments before speaking. “I know this might be a little personal, but when you’re with him, that doesn’t feel…wrong?” Farbes swallowed. “It doesn’t feel dirty or anything?”

The girl jerked slightly, the thought never having crossed her mind. “What do you mean dirty?”

“Um, you know,” he mumbled evasively. “It’s not like…um, doing your cat or anything?”

Halley stopped dead in her tracks and looked at the man with shock, her cheeks blushing pinkly, the color running down her neck and disappearing under her sweatshirt. “Of course not!” the girl almost screamed. “It’s good and right and he’s no different than any other guy in that department, thank you very much!” She looked like she wanted to hit the man or storm off. “He’s still a man, Farbes, and a caring one at that,” she told him icily and began to stomp away.

“Wait a minute!” he exclaimed before catching up and gently grabbing the woman’s shoulder with his free hand. “It’s not like that!”

“Oh?” Halley asked as she crossed her arms over her breasts. “Then what is it like?”

Farbes opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again. “I…I’ve been talking to a couple of the…um, Furs. I haven’t had a lot of time for social interactions, and…um, I’ve been talking to one of them…” The man shrugged with a self deprecating grin. “I, uh, like her.”

The day on the water must have taken more out of her than she’d thought because Halley took a few moments as her brain caught up with what the man just told her, the girl’s eyes widening slightly as her mouth fell open. “Oh?” Then the implications fell into place. “O…OH!” She smiled widely. “You like-like one of them!”

“Yeah. I do. So what?” Farbes replied softly though there was a hint of defiance in his reply.

“It’s not that big of a deal, you know,” Halley said brightly. “They’re the same in that regard as you or me, Todd. They aren’t any different than any other guy or girl. They just have fur on. It’s not like I think you’re thinking.”

“You don’t see it as, well, almost like bestiality?”

“That’s a hell of thing to ask me, don’t you think?” Halley said with a wry twist to her mouth though her eyes said the question was more than a little inappropriate.

“No!” Farbes protested. “It’s not like that.” He looked as if he wanted to say more before his shoulders slumped. “You know what? Just forget it.” The man adjusted the way he held the basket and headed off for Julie’s apartment, ignoring the slap of Halley’s sneakers on the rubberized paving surface.

“Hey! Wait up!” Halley said, coming abreast of the man who was doing his best to hide his discomfort at the situation. “I’m not making fun of you, Todd. I…I didn’t think you were serious and then the way you asked…” She smiled apologetically. “Look, I’m sorry, okay?” She waited until she got a slight nod that he accepted what she said. “You won’t know unless you try. Just remember these people have been through enough.”

“Right,” the man answered quietly.

“So who is it?”

“Kari. She’s some kind of canine. A lot of nights she walks the grounds with me.”

“Yeah!” Halley responded happily. “The African dog from Group 4! I haven’t seen a lot of her since we got picked up from the island, but she seemed sweet. Rough life before everything happened. Did you know that she was the youngest person on death row back in the States?”

Farbes spared a glance at the girl. “Do you know what for?”

Halley shook her head. “I didn’t get a chance to really go through her file, but apparently her whole family died because of her. They were some kind of fringe cult that believed in the whole polygamy thing. Problem was they tended to keep that sort of stuff fairly, um, close. Like cousin to cousin marriage and stuff. Isolationists. I think Kari got caught looking at another boy when her family went into town for whatever supplies they couldn’t get, make or grow on their own and she got punished pretty badly. She’d had enough, didn’t want to become the third or fourth wife to someone, maybe an uncle or cousin, I think, and tried to get away. Unfortunately she burned her family’s house down. Killed her parents, two brothers and four sisters and a couple of others after killing her dad with a camp hatchet.”

Halley looked at the man.

“You know none of that matters now, right? She doesn’t remember it. That and I think that she’s paid her debt with what she and all of the Furs went through.”

“I can’t judge her by her past,” Farbes said matter-of-factly. “I can go by what she is now, and how she treats others. Whatever she was before, Kari’s a good person now.”

“And you like her!”

“Yes. I like her,” Farbes agreed. “I think she likes me as well. That’s why I wanted to know what you thought.”

The girl shrugged. “I say go for it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!”

The man agreed and felt a little better for the talk, glad that they were able to avoid potential misunderstandings, and found the woman’s insight to be quite valuable. He rapped his knuckles on the door to Julie’s apartment before opening it, Halley still smiling until she turned her head to find Wyatt in a deep kiss with the other savannah cat. Before Wyatt could do anything more than turn his eyes to his lover, Halley made a sound deep in her throat before turning and bolting.

“Oh, hell,” Farbes muttered with a small shake of his head.

— NEXT CHAPTER —

Unless otherwise noted, all material © Ted R. Blasingame. All rights reserved.