Plan of the Shusheen

Shifter Worlds

By Vic James

Copyright 2013 by Vic James

vicjames2@hotmail.com

http://vicjames.com

 

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CHAPTER TWELVE

"When do you want to leave for your lodge?"

"As soon as we can get ready. Two or three days, if possible."

"Are we going to drive?" I asked.

"No, I thought we would fly."

"I've never flown first class, Mike!" I said excited.

"Well you won't be going first class this time. You'll be the pilot."

"Huh?"

"I thought we would fly there the way you flew back from Colorado. Only with clothes and money."

"That sounds like fun!

"Wait. I thought the lodge was far away from everything. Is it stocked with food...and clothes?"

Mike asked "Ar-Tan-Bey, how much weight can we each carry in flight?"

"I would keep it under ten pounds each. The more weight, the more often we will have to stop for food."

"How much do the detectors weigh?"

"About two pounds all together."

"Ben, do you think you could live with nine pounds of personal stuff?"

"I have no idea. I guess I would have to figure out what a couple of shirts, a couple of pairs of pants, and underwear weigh. Oh, and shoes. If it's in the mountains, do we need coats? What about toothpaste and body wash and stuff like that?"

"That's at the lodge. As far as clothes, I was thinking we could wear shifted clothing like you did coming back from Colorado.

"Ar-Tan-Bey, can we shift into a form that is less sensitive to cold?"

"Yes. Easily."

"So maybe we don't need too many clothes. We can bring food to the lodge from the nearest town in twenty pound trips." Mike said.

"Mike, the only thing I can't live without is you. You and nine or ten pounds is fine with me."

"We need to start working on shifting into the forms we'll need there," Mike said.

We started to plan what we would take. Mike had explained to his family why we were leaving.

The night before we were due to leave, Mike got a call from his investigators. I could see Mike was very angry about what they were telling him.

He hung up and I asked him what they had told him.

"They were instructed to drop you and your crate somewhere desolate. David told them it needed to be isolated enough that you wouldn't be found or rescued before you starved to death or died of thirst."

I was stunned. "Why would he hate me that much? Wouldn't a bullet have done the job? Oh! It was the suffering that was important to him! Mike, you never noticed the guy was so cruel?"

"No, he never did anything around me. He hid it well."

"Wait a minute! Alpo was a sick joke!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I was in a cage bolted to the bottom of a wooden crate. When I got out I saw someone had stenciled `Alpo' on the outside of the wooden crate. It wasn't professionally done." Mike looked blank.

"Alpo? Dog food."

That was the maddest I'd seen Mike.

"I am so glad I killed the guy." He shook his head.

"The investigators said the guys David had contracted to do the job got paid in advance, so they didn't care whether the job got completed or not. One of them said the guy who hired them was even slimier than their usual customers.

"I guess this means we don't need to hide at the lodge, Ben."

"We're not going?"

"We can still go, we just don't need to hide there."

"Can we still fly? I was looking forward to flying there with you, Mike."

"Well, we still can. We won't have to carry our clothes. We can have things shipped ahead. Do you want to have Mrs. Lawry cook for us there?"

"Won't she be lonely up there by herself?"

"Good point. We can ask her, though."

The next morning Ar-Tan-Bey announced that the detectors were built and tested.

"I've discovered something very interesting," she told us.

"There are a huge number of Vin-Ta to the east of us in the metroplex."

"Really? That's hard to believe," Mike said.

Ar-Tan-Bey said "Approximately half a million." I stared at Mike.

"Maybe the detector is not accurate. You haven't had time to do a lot of testing," Mike said.

"No, Mike. It is accurate. Keep in mind I had to be able to track the created races so I could observe whether the changes were beneficial. I detected the members of the household as well as your family. There are others around the lake. Based on the numbers I'm seeing, I estimate up to eight percent of the population may be Vin-Ta."

"How is that possible, Ar-Tan-Bey?" I asked.

"Ben, it is very likely that they do not know they are Vin-Ta. With no one telling them how to activate the implant, they live normal lives."

"Do they all have mates? How does that work if they think they are human?"

"The mating bond is part of the implant. If the implant is never accessed, the mating bond is not active."

Mike said "The implications are staggering. Should we tell them how to activate the implant? If we did, would we endanger their lives if and when the ninety two percent find out about them?"

"We don't have to do anything about it right now. It definitely requires thought. The decision could have enormous ramifications for everyone on the planet."

"Ar-Tan-Bey, did you scan for my race?"

"Yes."

"Are there a lot of us, too?"

"No, Ben. There were eleven in a hundred mile radius. One of them has been very, very close."

"Besides me?

"Yes."

"Where?"

"In Evie's room."

"Ernie?"

"Very possibly. I don't know if she's had other guests though. It could have been one of them.

"Did you locate any of the second species?"

"No, however I did locate a concentration of hybrids in southeast Texas. They appear to be hybrids between Vin-Ta and Atrea's race. The population appears to comprise entirely of the hybrids. There seemed to be no unaltered humans or pure Vin-Ta in the population."

"That's weird. They don't mix?"

"There was a tendency among Atrea's race to avoid contact with other races. I assume they inherited the tendency from them."

"Mike, I really want to talk to another member of my species. I want to find out if Ar-Tan-Bey is constantly active in them. I want to ask about kids. They might even be a relative of mine. For all I know, Ernie could be my father. Or my mother, but I don't want to think about that!"

Mike said "Let's go talk to Evie."

Evie was cleaning windows outside.

"Hi Evie," Mike said.

"Hey, Mike! Do you need anything?"

"Just a few minutes of your time."

"They're yours! I'm the most overpaid maid in the world!"

"You're a relative. I can't pay you minimum wage!"

Evie walked over to us.

"How are things going with Ernie?" Mike asked.

"Messy. His wife is not happy. She's promised to take him for every cent he has."

"Does she know about you?"

"No. And I asked Ernie to stay away until things are decided. If she hasn't already, she'll probably have a private eye watching him. Proof of him having an affair would make things worse."

"That's got to be rough for you."

"Mike, I've waited one hundred and twelve years to find my mate. Six months is nothing."

"We need to get in touch with him."

"He's not in trouble, is he?"

"No. You know helped Ben get home?"

"That's all very confusing. Ernie was sure Benjamina was a woman."

"I was in disguise, Evie," I told her.

Mike said "I haven't said anything about what really happened, but David had Ben kidnapped. He was being driven to a remote area where he was going to be killed. Ben escaped and disguised himself because he didn't know who to trust. He thought he might have been kidnapped because he's a shifter."

"How many times did I tell you David was an asshole, Mike?"

"See why I pay you so much?

"I know, Evie. I knew he was not a nice person after the first couple of days. I just didn't know he was thoroughly rotten."

"So you need to talk to Ernie?"

"Yes."

She gave us his work phone number since it was less likely to be overheard by his wife.

Mike called Ernie, who agreed to meet us at the Decatur airport the next day.

We took the limo and did what we always did in the back seat.

"Oh, I like this!" I said, rubbing the outline of Mike's cock in his pants.

"Do you really?"

"Absolutely. Do you mind if I do this?" I unbuckled my mate's pants and then unzipped him. He lifted himself up and I pulled his pants down around his ankles.

"No, I don't mind. I was hoping someone would do it."

"Someone like Carl?" Carl was the limo driver.

"Carl knows very well he can't do this anymore. My mate might find out."

"Carl's loss is my gain."

And then Mike moaned and my mouth was full.

When we pulled up to the airport, I spotted Ernie's car. Ar-Tan-Bey scanned and said "It's Ernie."

We pulled up alongside Ernie's car and got out.

"Hi, Ernie!"

"Hi, Ben,"

"Evie sends her love."

"Thanks. I wish I could at least call her and tell her I love her."

"She understands." And then I whispered "She said she waited one hundred and twelve years to meet her mate. Six months is nothing. She'll wait for you. As long as it takes."

"Is that why you wanted to see me?"

"No. Ernie, you mentioned you heard there was more than one kind of shifter. Well, there is and I'm one of them. I can shift into shapes other than wolves."

"I guessed that much, Ben."

"Well, I have reason to believe that you might be the same kind as me. We could even be related. I was adopted by regular people and grew up thinking I was normal. I don't know of a single soul who is like me and I would really like to meet at least one."

Ernie looked at me and paused.

"Ben," Ernie paused again and sighed.

"Lots of people with special abilities get hoodwinked into doing dangerous jobs for rich people. People that drive limos."

"Do you think we could be related?"

Ernie looked at me but didn't say anything. Finally he said "Probably."

"Ar-Tan-Bey, is it possible for you to tell if he's a blood relative?"

"Yes, if he's willing to let me do a blood test."

"Do we need a lab?"

"No. I can do it right here."

"Ernie, would you be willing to let me do a test to see if we are related?"

"What kind of test?"

"Tell him I will perform it."

"Ar-Tan-Bey will perform the test for us."

"She died thousands of years ago."

I recited "We cannot die. We do not kill."

Ernie looked really freaked out. I grabbed his arm.

"Please, Ernie."

"Oh, what the hell! What do I do?"

A thing extruded from my hand into Ernie's arm. Ernie looked even more freaked out.

"Yes, Ben. You are close relatives."

"Ernie, she said we are close relatives!"

"I figured that, Ben. You look like a couple of my relatives."

"Well, it's very exciting to me! I was adopted and you are the first blood relative I've met!"

Ernie smiled at me. "I can understand why you're excited."

I whispered "Have you ever gotten pregnant?"

Ernie looked at me like I lost my mind.

"Ar-Tan-Bey, would he know about his abilities?"

"Not necessarily. After all, unless he's activated his implant, he could think he was completely human."

"I'm sorry, Ernie. I thought you knew."

"Knew what?"

"That people of our type can get pregnant whether they are male or female."

Ar-Tan-Bey said "Ernie, activate your implant and ask if it's true."

"My what?"

"Your shifting instructions."

"OK." Ernie closed his eyes for a couple of minutes.

When he opened them, he looked...scared.

"I can do all that?"

"Yes."

"I thought I could look like other people. I thought that was plenty special enough."

"You and Evie can have lots of kids, if you want," I said.

"Oh, I want 'em. Lots and lots of 'em."

Ernie whispered "How does that work? Does Evie get me pregnant?"

Ar-Tan-Bey said "Ernie, you can get Evie pregnant in the normal way, with you as the father and Evie as the mother. You can also have children as a mother. You can give birth to children who are identical to you, or if you have a sperm donor, you can become pregnant with yours and the sperm donor's child."

"Too fuckin' much! What does identical to me mean?"

"They would be genetically identical to you. They would have their own personality, however. Their own soul."

"How would I do that?"

"Ask your implant. She can tell you."

"How come my implant doesn't volunteer information like yours, Ben?"

Ar-Tan-Bey said "Ernie, in Ben, I've been active since right after he was born. It is some kind of malfunction. The switch that should deactivate me doesn't work. Your implant is there to offer advice when you ask for it. For example, if you want to shift into fish, you can ask your implant to do it for you."

Ernie's mouth dropped open. "I can become a fish?"

I said "Yes, Ernie! It's so cool! We can fly and do all sorts of things!"

I whispered to Mike "Can we help get Ernie out of his marriage?"

Mike whispered back "You don't know anything about the man."

"He's a close relative, Mike! And David lived at your house." Maybe that last bit was a low blow, but it was true.

Mike sighed and said "Ernie, do you have any kids with your wife."

"No."

"I can afford to get your divorce expedited. Would you want to live with us and Evie at my house?"

Ernie looked shocked and then thoughtful.

I said "Ernie, you are my only known relative."

"I would be very grateful to you, but I don't really want to be dependent on you."

"I can understand that," Mike said.

"Ernie, where else can you learn everything you can do and still be safe enough to even get pregnant, if you want?" I asked him.

"I got a lot to think about."

I gave Ernie my phone number and then I hugged him. After a while, he hugged me back.

I said to Mike "Let's go."

We headed home.

 

 

 

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