Family Tails

A Story of a Mixed Family in the Genetic Age

---

Names of actual businesses, their products, etc, are the property of their respective owners.

Story and characters © 2013 Ronald J. Lebeck

---

Chapter 13

Rosie settled into her new environment over the course of the following month since her arrival in Alaska. In order to feel useful, she took it upon herself to keep the house clean while Ron and Lupina were at work. Ron and Rob had a nice little hothouse where they grew their own vegetables and herbs, so she decided to learn about that as well. Rosie read up on the different kinds of plants, what the edible parts were, what growing conditions they preferred, and how to care for them. Rosie was quite a fast learner, and she enjoyed working with the plants. She got to meet the porcupine, J.D., and with some coaxing from Ron, he accepted her, too. It took J.D. a while longer to finally warm up to Lupina, though once he did, he would happily take his ration of baby spinach leaves and chopped apple from her, too.

On a Wednesday morning in the later part of October while she was at work, Lupina got a call from Dr. Nemeth. Going into Ron's office and shutting the door, she switched her phone to speaker mode so that they both could share the call. Dr. Nemeth kept the call brief, saying only that everything was ready and to be there as soon as possible.

After hanging up the phone, Lupina asked, "What do you think, dear?"

Ron thought for a moment and replied with a grin, "I guess 'we're off to see the wizard'."

Later that day, when they were dropping Rob off at his house, Ron asked Lupina to wait in the vehicle a moment so that he could talk to Rob privately for a minute. He got out and the two walked up to the front door of Rob's place before either one of them spoke.

Keeping their backs to the vehicle, Ron spoke quietly first, "I hope they have a good, solid room with lots of padding. No telling what's going to happen."

"You think it might happen that fast?" Rob asked.

"I don't know. I'm sure things have advanced over the past thirty years or so, though I just hope they don't change what already has been changed," Ron replied.

"Or copy it," Rob added.

Ron nodded very slightly once, and then said, "I got the coordinates of the place--found it on the satellite photo, and I drew out a map of what I saw in the compound the last time we were there."

"Old ways don't die, eh?" Rob grinned.

Ron grinned and shook his head slightly.

"I've been working on a new variant of that little worm I created a while back. If I can get it into one of their computers, it'll silently hunt down anything about my DNA, copy and find a way to forward it to me, and then eliminate the record of it without their system having a chance to know anything changed. It'll promptly self-destruct if it gets caught or completes its task, though not before it leaves a little payload that'll point the finger at a random user with high enough privileges on their network," Ron said with a wicked grin.

"You are a sneaky little s.o.b., you know that," Rob chuckled, shaking his head.

"Woof, woof!" Ron smirked.

They were silent for a moment, and then Rob asked, "You have any idea what's going to happen to you?"

"Nope, other than it'll augment what I already have...whatever that means," Ron said quietly.

"Guess we'll find out the next full moon," Rob teased.

"No doubt," Ron agreed mischievously.

When they got in their house after dropping Rob off at his, Rosie had a little surprise waiting.

As soon as Ron opened the door from the garage, they smelled food cooking. Ron and Lu exchanged surprised looks--Rosie was making supper!

"Hey guys!" she called out enthusiastically from the kitchen, when they came in.

Rosie was working away stirring something in a skillet on the stove, wearing just a long, light blue t-shirt and her long white fur-hair tied back with a scrunchie.

"Hi Rosie," Lupina said coming up next to her and peering into the skillet.

Ron came up and stood in the center behind the two, slipping his arms around the waists of both, and lightly resting his chin on top of Rosie's head.

"Hey 'Rozer-Dozer'," Ron said affectionately, "whaaa-cha makin'?"

Rosie smiled broadly and wrapped her tail around Ron's legs.

"Oh, I thought I'd try making some chicken stir-fry. I figured that shouldn't be too hard," she said, slipping her left arm around behind his back.

"It smells good," Lupina said, licking her lips.

Taking a slow, deep breath in through his nose, Ron agreed, "Aye, smells good." He then thought to himself with a slight grin, "The food does, too."

"Well, go get washed up already, it's almost done," Rosie said grinning as she shooed the other two away so that she could finish the cooking.

Ron let Lupina wash her hands first at the kitchen sink, and while he was taking his turn, she started setting the table. Ron pulled out a bottle of white wine and got three glasses, one for each of them. He only filled the glasses halfway, since both Lupina and Rosie still weren't quite used to consuming alcoholic beverages. When everything was ready, and everyone else seated, Rosie brought the food to the table and then took her own seat to Ron's left and opposite Lupina.

When they had a chance to try it, Rosie asked, "Okay guys, how'd I do?"

"It's good, Rosie, I like it!" Lupina said as she speared another chunk of meat with her fork.

Rosie looked questioningly at Ron, lowering her ears a little, as he took another bite.

"Mmm...you used just the right amount of sesame oil--enough to notice, but not too much to overpower it. You did good, kiddo, I like it," he said grinning. He put his knife down and picked up his wine glass. "A toast! To Rosie...for her first excellently prepared, home-cooked meal made from scratch on a wood-burning cook stove!"

When Lupina and Rosie sat and looked confused, he chuckled and said a little quieter, "Um, ladies, when someone calls a toast, that means you have to pick up your glasses, and we all touch them together, and then take a drink."

They both sheepishly picked up their glasses and held them out and Ron demonstrated what to do. After gently touching their glasses together, they all took a drink of their wine.

"Heh, I guess that's something else to add to the list of things to work on," Ron chuckled.

For the rest of the meal they mostly chitchatted about the usual day-to-day stuff. After dinner, they cleaned up and retired to the great room.

When they were all sitting on the couch and relaxing, Lupina told Rosie about the phone call from Dr. Nemeth.

"Rosie?"

"Yeah, Lu?"

"I got a call today...from Dr. Nemeth," Lupina said.

"And?" Rosie prompted.

"She said that they're ready and that we're to be there as soon as possible," Lupina said.

"It's been a month already?" Rosie asked, looking somewhat surprised.

"Yeah," Lupina replied.

Rosie furrowed her brows for a moment in thought, and then asked, "So...when's the trip?"

Ron took another sip of the mead he was drinking, and said, "We're going to leave about midnight Thursday and fly non-stop--that'll take us about 10 hours or so of flight time, depending on the wind and weather, and we should arrive around one o'clock in the afternoon their time. I've already got hotel accommodations for the four of us."

"What time do we need to be at the airport then?" Lupina asked.

"We need to be there by ten o'clock at the latest so that Rob and I can do some things with the jet, get it fueled, and ready to go," Ron replied.

"How long are we going to be staying in Texas?" Rosie asked.

Ron shook his head a little and said, "I don't know. I'm sure they may want to keep an eye on me for a bit to make sure nothing out of the ordinary happens."

"Are you afraid of what might happen?" Lupina asked.

Ron snorted a little, and stared at the fire for a bit. After a few moments, he replied quietly with a blank look on his face, "Fear is not an option--there is only victory with honor or death in awesome glory."

Lupina and Rosie both dropped their jaws and looked at one another.

After another moment of silence, Ron slowly blinked his eyes once and turned to face his mate and her best friend.

"Just an old saying," he said with a little smile upon seeing the stunned expressions on their faces.

Lupina swatted him lightly with the little square sheepskin cushion she had been resting her arm on.

"Ron! That's not funny!" Lupina admonished.

"Yeah, you had us goin' there for a minute!" Rosie added.

Although he stuck the end of his tongue out playfully, in his mind he said, "They'll never understand."

Rosie got up and moved to the other side of Ron, plopping herself down beside him on his left. She put her right arm around his shoulders and when she crossed her left leg over her right, she hooked it over his left leg, turning enough to put her head against the front of Ron's right shoulder, looking up with a sweet, toothy smile.

"I think somebody needs to loosen up a bit...," Rosie said with almost a purring sound.

"Rosie!" Lupina said with mild exasperation at what she was doing.

"Aw, come on, Lu, work with me!" Rosie said as she playfully licked her lips and unfastened the top button of his shirt.

When Ron turned his head to look Rosie in the eyes, he was nearly nose-to-nose with her.

"Trying to get me into trouble?" Ron said, raising an eyebrow and getting a little grin on his face.

"Workin' on it...," Rosie said suggestively, slowly undoing another button of his shirt.

"You do know what you're doing, don't you?" Ron asked Rosie, putting his arms around both her and Lupina.

"Yeah...they're gonna tinker with your insides, and maybe you might not wanna later...or can't...," Rosie replied pensively.

"Oh...so, 'feast before the fall', eh?" Ron asked quietly as Rosie unfastened yet another button of his shirt.

"Yeah...something like that," Rosie said meeting his eyes.

Lupina gulped down the rest of the contents of her glass and set it on the coffee table. Rosie just about had Ron's shirt unbuttoned to the waist by that time, and she thought, "Dang it, she's got a point...we don't know what's going to happen to him! Oh, why did I ask him to do this? I love him the way he is! I didn't want him to become a science project for them like we were!" Lupina slipped her left arm behind Ron's back and nuzzled him.

"We don't have to do this, baby...you know, fly to Texas...," she said quietly.

"I agreed without hesitation to do this for you, luv, because I want to have kids by you if we can, just as much as you do," he said gently to Lupina. Looking to Rosie, he added with a grin, "And as for you, my sweet, little skunkette, I'm going to insist to those yay-hoos--forcefully if necessary--that they don't mess up the whole compatibility issue and make things too specific."

Rosie slacked her jaw in surprise at what Ron had just told her. She looked around him and asked Lupina, "Lu...can I kiss him yet?"

Ron looked at Lupina and raised an eyebrow with an expression of "are you sure?", and she cocked her head a little to one side and with her sly, wolfish grin, said, "Yeah."

Rosie smiled, and putting her hands gently on either side of Ron's face, she turned his head towards her and tugged a little to bring him closer.

"Come here, big guy!" she said with quiet excitement, and did her best imitation of a human's ability to pucker. In actuality, it looked more like a skunk making a similar face that an Alaskan Malamute dog would when making a "woo" sound, causing Ron to grin slightly at the cuteness of it. He felt the longer sensory hairs protruding from her muzzle brush against his moustache just before his lips made contact with the short little fur hairs on hers. Rosie made an almost imperceptible gasp just as their lips touched. As they pressed their lips together a little more firmly, she parted hers a bit as did he, and at first they kissed gently, tenderly. Over the next several seconds, Rosie's kiss became more ardent--she wanted to experience the full effect of a passionate, human kiss, and she let him know it through her actions.

"Wow," Rosie said dreamily, licking her lips when they were through kissing. "Lu's right, you are a good kisser!"

Ron smiled and said, "You're pretty good yourself."

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah."

Rosie smiled broadly, showing her long and very sharp fangs.

"So, am I 'loosened up' enough for you yet?" Ron asked with a smirk.

Giving a quick glance at Lupina, Rosie put her hands on his shoulders and kneaded the muscles a bit, and replied with a sly grin, "Nah, we still gotta work on that."

Lupina stood up...a little slowly, since she felt just a bit fuzzy from the glass of mead she had recently finished. Before he had poured it, Ron asked if she was sure that she wanted a full wine glass of it, after she had a half of a glass of wine during supper. Lupina insisted, so he filled her glass as well as his. Rosie also had some, but she stuck to only a half a glass.

Holding her hand out to Ron, she asked, "Why don't we get comfy?"

He finished off what little mead he had left in his glass, set it back on the coffee table, and stood up, taking Lupina's hand. He took a step and then hesitated, causing his mate to hold up. He looked at Lupina and she shot a quick glance at Rosie before nodding her head once. Rosie thought that they were going to leave her sitting there on the couch by herself, but then she saw that they stopped and Ron held his hand out to her.

"Come on, 'Rozer-Dozer', he said with a grin.

Rosie smiled shyly and taking his hand, she got up, and the three of them headed off to the master bedroom together.

She had only slept together with them the one time, and that because she needed comforting after having been scared out of her wits. This time, she thought, was going to be different.

Rosie and Lupina had been the best of friends nearly all of their lives, something that the scientists at The Center never quite understood why. They had figured that Lupina, being a wolf, would likely be inclined to stay with the other wolf G.E.L.F.s., and that Rosie would be with the cats, ferrets, and other skunks. While she did tend to associate more with the other canine types, particularly the wolves and coyotes, Lupina was always rather protective of Rosie. There were several times when Lupina would come to Rosie's rescue when play was getting too rough when they were little. When they were the equivalent of teenagers, and she thought anyone was being too hard on Rosie for any reason, Lupina would be right there between them and her--it didn't matter if it was human staffer or G.E.L.F.--nobody was going to mess with her friend. As the human staffers were carefully watching how close Lupina and Rosie were to one another, they never once detected any indication of the relationship between Lupina and Rosie as being anything other than that of strong and enduring friendship...and that baffled them even more. Some of the researchers openly wondered if there might be some sort of lesbian type of relationship growing between the two...until one of the janitorial staff, an older woman, scoffed loudly when she had overheard them talking. "You whiz kids can be really stupid sometimes," she said, shaking her head as she mopped the floor. "Any fool can see that those two act like sisters, now leave 'em be and let me get this floor mopped!"

Once they were all in the bedroom, Lupina and Rosie hugged Ron on both sides.

"Ron?" Lupina asked, looking up to meet his eyes.

"Yes, luv?"

"Um, I want you to know that...I love you just the way you are, and no matter what happens after...you know, I'll still love you," Lupina said softly, the emotion clearly visible in her eyes even in the dim light of the fireplace.

Gently holding the sides of her face in his hands, he replied, "I know, baby. I'm only doing this because I love you, too, and nothing is going to change how I feel about you."

Rosie quietly sighed as Ron and Lupina lovingly kissed each other, and looked down at the floor. She suddenly felt like she was being very selfish and shouldn't be intruding. The sudden deflation of Rosie's enthusiasm didn't escape Ron's notice. After kissing his mate, he looked down at Rosie and gently lifted her chin up.

"Rosie...," he started to say.

She opened her eyes and looked questionly at him.

"...As much as Lu and I love each other, we can't...and won't...leave you behind and alone in the world. You're in our hearts, too, and...I don't think either of us can imagine having a family without you being a part of it."

Rosie was surprised. She glanced over to Lupina, who nodded her head, and then she looked back at Ron.

"Over the past month you've been here, I've come to love you, too. Maybe in a little different way than with Lu, but still...there's a place for you...right here," Ron said, lightly tapping his chest over his heart. He cocked his head to one side for a moment, glancing from one to the other, and then held up a finger.

"Hold that thought just a moment," he said, and went over to the bedroom window and looked out through the curtain. The sky was clear and the moon was shining brightly. Satisfied, he did something rather unexpected.

"Get your coats, we're going to take a little walk," he said with a grin, buttoning up his shirt.

"What?" both gals said nearly in unison, looking rather confused.

"You'll understand in a little bit. Trust me," he said.

Ron led Lupina and Rosie to his favorite spot, near the little pond with the large rock that he had taken Lupina to one time. He had the both of them take a seat upon the rock and then he knelt down before them. Ron bowed his head for a moment and everything became still. At that particular moment, they were suddenly not alone, for Atka and his pack silently came out from the trees into the little clearing, and greeted them. Rosie gasped when she saw them and suddenly became nervous, but with Ron and Lupina there, she somehow didn't feel as afraid as she had the first time she saw the wolves. Ron's four-footed friends didn't have the intense look in their eyes this time; in fact, they were quite friendly with all. After all of the greetings were out of the way, the wolves laid down around the three.

Ron reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small object, a little box with slightly rounded corners, and covered in black velvet. He cleared his throat and said, "Lupina, I love you more than I have words to say. We are already in our minds and in our thoughts, and before Nature, mates, and of course, wolves mate for life. It's a human custom, though, for a man to give a token of his love to the woman he wants to share his life with, and even though I'm not sure if it's legal yet for a human and a G.E.L.F. to do this, I want to make it 'official', at least in our customs. Lupina...I humbly ask you, with Rosie and Atka and his pack as witnesses, would you be, my wife?" Ron slowly opened the hinged top of the little box and turned it to show her the contents. The little box held the custom-made ring that he had specially made to fit her finger. The band was fashioned from white gold and had little wolf paw prints engraved and filled with yellow gold, the stone was highly polished petrified amber, that matched the color of her eyes. Alternating around the amber were little diamonds and emeralds. "Oh...Ron...it...it's...beautiful!" she said nearly in a whisper. He removed the ring from the box, putting the box back into his coat pocket, and then gently taking hold of her left hand he poised the ring just at the end of her ring finger. With tears flowing from her eyes, she nodded her head. "Yes," she said simply and quietly. Smiling, Ron slipped the ring onto her finger...it fit perfectly. Rosie also had tears running down her cheeks as she hugged Lupina tightly. Ron and Lupina hugged tightly and kissed with all due tenderness and love.

But Ron wasn't finished yet. He reached into his other coat pocket and pulled out another similar little box.

Facing her he said, "Rosie...by the laws of our country, a person can only have one spouse. While I can't legally be a husband to two ladies at once as far as humans are concerned, I can before Nature, be your mate as well, if you wish it. I know that you greatly desire to have a family of your own, and if I may be able to, I will do what I can to help you with that. If we do have little ones between us, however they turn out, I will be a father to them just as I will be to the little ones Lupina and I may have. I will love you, and them, and you will be a part of our family in mind, in heart, and in spirit. I have this to give you, if you wish to accept, as a token of my love and promise to you, with Lupina and Atka and his pack as my witnesses." Ron opened up the second box, and in it was a ring also of white gold, with little skunk paw prints engraved and filled with yellow gold around the band, and the stone was a heart-shaped cut sapphire, surrounded by tiny little diamonds. Rosie choked back a sob and nodded her head vigorously. "Y-Y-Yes...I...*sob!*...do!"

Ron pulled the ring out from the box and slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand. Rosie stared at it, hardly believing her eyes.

He and Rosie hugged and kissed, and Lupina hugged and kissed Rosie, too.

Atka and his entire pack got up and crowded around Ron, Lupina, and Rosie, giving wolf hugs and many licks, before lifting their heads towards the heavens to sing.

* * * * *

The next night during the flight to Texas, Ron sat in the cabin to be with Lupina and Rosie for a while, letting Rob do the flying. Rosie had gotten up and started massaging his neck and shoulders, which were bothering him again. While she worked on his shoulders, Ron got to thinking about the visit he and Lupina had made to The Center the last time, and other things as well. The idea that he was going to have his DNA "enhanced" again didn't exactly fill him with joy, though this time it was for the love of his life.

The military pushed for the development of DNA identification as a means of positively identifying personnel in the event they were killed in the line of duty. While many civilians were against such a thing for one reason or another, most people in the military didn't have a problem with it because most other forms of identification could be lost, destroyed, or rendered useless, particularly if someone met an untimely end in an explosion or for some other reason.

A spin-off development of DNA typing and mapping of the human genome, along with mapping the genomes of other animals, was the manipulation of DNA with the idea that inherited diseases, abnormalities, and so forth could be detected and corrected by replacing the defective part of the DNA helix with a "normal" part. The scientists' working on it started with lower animals first since their DNA is simpler as compared to a human. As they gained in understanding and learned what was "normal" and what wasn't, along with advances in the technology required for the direct manipulation of molecules and atoms, the scientists began tinkering to see "what if we do this?" Eventually, reports got out of animals that literally glowed in the dark like certain microscopic sea creatures. Various other "designer" animals started appearing, ostensibly find out what specific parts of DNA did what so that defective genes that would cause, say, a malformed appendage could be fixed. However, there was another, secretive, tangent to this--how to make what someone had, better. If a characteristic of one animal could be transferred to another (such as the glow-in-the-dark cat), then perhaps characteristics of certain animals could also be transferred to humans. This particular tangent split in two--one part went towards "cosmetic" enhancements, while the other part went towards making humans stronger, faster, heightened senses, more endurance, and greater resistance to disease, faster healing, and even more aggressive.

Thus, the "super soldier" concept was born.

Humans had been finding ways to "improve" their appearances ever since ancient times. Cosmetics, wigs, implants, injections of one kind or another, tattoos, hair dyes, colored contact lenses, and other methods were the "tried and true", but with the ability to grow fangs, have skin like a snake, grow a tail, and so forth appealed to certain humans who wanted something that nobody else had.

Religious organizations were quick to jump on the topic of such genetic enhancements and made every attempt to have such practices outright banned. In the early days of such cosmetic enhancements, things didn't always turn out quite as expected, which didn't help matters. While that was going on, certain others who had been watching from the shadows, so-to-speak, continued to improve their techniques at manipulating DNA using secret military funding. The first test subjects were people who had "fallen through the cracks" of society--nobody would miss them if they just "disappeared" one day. Whether such actions were moral, or even legal, it didn't matter. The technology advanced rapidly to the point where it was ready to be field tested--all that was needed was willing subjects who were already in excellent physical and mental condition, and steadfastly loyal to their country. The choice was obvious--they would select volunteers from the military's elite combat forces.

Since all of the trouble that brewed up over the practice of cosmetic genetic enhancements, one particular faction decided to try a different tactic. As an outgrowth of creating designer animals, they sought to create fully developed, sentient life forms by re-engineering the DNA of lower animals using human DNA as a template. This led to the creation of the G.E.L.F.s. The idea was to create a race of beings from common animals that would be subservient to humans, perhaps used for such things as space exploration (given that certain animals can hibernate for long periods of time, that was a plus for long duration space flights), search and rescue, even for such mundane things as door greeters and attendants.

However, the universe had other ideas.

Humans have been an arrogant lot for thousands of years. They are the only animal that systematically denies that it is an animal and destroys its environment without thinking...along with everything else they get their hands on, including each other. Humans, it seems, were long overdue for a serious attitude adjustment. Enter the G.E.L.F.s.

The scientists and bioengineers involved in the creation of the G.E.L.F.s got little flashes of inspiration that nudged them in the right direction without their awareness. While the humans thought that they were making a race of beings to do things they didn't want to do, the universe made certain that they would instead be making the very thing that would teach them what would be the most important lesson in their existence--how to respect life. As long as humans could only mate with other humans, and G.E.L.F.s could only mate with other G.E.L.F.s, nothing would change...so, the universe, with its own particular sense of humor, arranged through little nudges, to make at least some humans compatible with the G.E.L.F.s. After all, if other living things that humans had a certain weakness for were at least partially human, then maybe humans would be less likely to harm them. Not that humans had a particularly good track record in not harming each other, though. Who would want to purposely hurt a cute puppy or kitty...especially if said puppy or kitty just happens to be a brother, or sister, or spouse, or cousin, and could really talk to you and do things with you that a four-legged puppy or kitty couldn't?

It turned out that those selected by the military for their little "super soldier" business, just happened to be those who would carry the genetic compatibility to produce viable offspring with the G.E.L.F.s. Of course, though, they had to be "adjusted" first.

Twenty-four men were selected for "Project: Hunter", the genetic enhancing of individuals with just enough animal DNA in key places, to give them certain abilities without making it apparent that they had been "enhanced". Ron and Rob were two of those twenty-four men.

Ron remembered how his body reacted once the blank retro virus containing a copy of his modified DNA began propagating the change within him. As his body adjusted to the new genetic code, there were days, weeks, of aches and pains, unusual sensations, different perceptions, impulses...even violence. It was not a fun time. However, it was all done "for honor and duty to your country" they were told. Once the symptoms subsided and the changes took hold, they explored their new abilities. When they passed all of the tests that were devised beyond expectations, their leaders were anxious to see how they performed for real.

The men were divided up into four groups of six, with one group stationed at each of the four corners of the country. Since the Navy had the most resources to deliver them wherever they might be needed, they were given the name, "Sea Wolves". Each group of six was considered a "pack", and the packs were designated Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omega. Ron and Rob were two of the six men in Sea Wolf Alpha Pack, or "SIERRA WHISKEY ALPHA" as their call sign was designated.

They served their country well, able to do things the no one else could do. They didn't know fear, they had superb reflexes, increased speed and agility, and one particular talent that was totally unexpected--they were all unusually aware.

This heightened awareness served Ron and Rob well over the years, as well as other cognitive abilities gained by the enhancements they received. However, it was one thing that none of the men ever told any of the researchers. They secretly swore an oath among themselves to keep that fact hidden. They never spoke of it, never let it be known to anyone. After their time in the military was up, they went their separate ways, though they always kept in contact with each other. They developed their own little network of contacts, safe places, and any kind of assistance that might be needed by the others. Eventually, years later, it was discovered that every one of the original twenty-four men lived past the age of one hundred.

Various government officials tried their best to keep tabs on them, but they only knew what the former pack members wanted them to know. Most ended up taking jobs with government contractors, and after Ron put himself through college, he went to work with a particular government contractor that had heavy involvement in communication systems, particularly satellite systems. They maintained their former military contacts, often getting called upon to do little discreet jobs here and there, which is how they happened to acquire the particular custom order jet they have.

The carbon composite airframe is reinforced with titanium alloy, the nose gear is equipped with a "holdback", and hidden in the tail is an arrestor hook. The folding wings have hard points for attaching multi-capability pylons, including droppable external fuel tanks, and additional military avionics installed. The upgraded engines produce twenty percent more thrust than the standard. The jet was configured so that to untrained or casual observers, it would normally look like an ordinary small business jet and not one capable of landing on an aircraft carrier. The interior of the cabin usually has typical executive style appointments, though the two rearmost seats can be swapped out for beds for extended flights.

Rosie was doing such a great job at massaging his neck and shoulders, that he considered asking her if she would mind doing a more thorough massage when they got home. He was sure that either one of the ladies probably wouldn't mind him giving them a massage in return. He smiled at the thought.

They arrived at Dallas-Ft. Worth airport in good time, and got a spot to park the little jet. After settling into their hotel room, Lupina went through the procedure of getting through to Dr. Nemeth at The Center. The plan was to spend the first night in the hotel, and then the next morning Ron, Lupina, and Rosie would make the trip to the compound while Rob stayed at the hotel. If all went well, they should be on their way back to Alaska within a few days.

But things don't always go according to plan...