“I have a high tolerance for pain and I heal quickly, doctor. But let’s do as you say and see how this goes. If I can’t convince you otherwise, I’ll stay until you say I can go. Deal?”
“Your choice, of course, but yes, that’s a deal.”
Eaton was watching the two talk and interrupted, “I can take care of Ms. Ri when she’s ready to leave.”
“Excuse me?” The doctor was surprised.
“What?” asked Saldana who was even more surprised.
“I said I can take care of the patient when she leaves. I live alone in a huge home all by myself in San Francisco and I work from home unless I’m in the field. Since I’m coming off a long assignment, I’ll be doing paperwork for at least two months. And, we have doctors in San Francisco. So, I’ll watch over Ms. Ri until she’s ready to move on.”
The doctor said, “Sure. Sounds good. You do realize how much work this will be, don’t you? Ms. Ri will need constant attention. And help. She won’t be ambulatory for quite a while.”
“Hey, I dragged her on a travois for five hours. How much more difficult can a bed ridden woman be?”
Saldana said, “That’s very kind, but why would you want to do that?”
“I can use the company and I need a typist. You do type, don’t you?”
“Yes, but not very well. What would I need to type?”
“I have two months of journal entries to transcribe and multiple reports to file with my employer. I can do it myself, but I’d prefer if you would do the typing instead. See, win-win. Deal?”
“I hardly know you. You might be a serial killer. Or worse.”
“Worse?”
“Yeah. A nice guy.”
“Is that a yes?”
“No, that’s a maybe. Can you hang around here until I’m released?”
“Sure.”
“Then why don’t you visit me every day and we can decide later if we like each other. If we do, then the answer is yes.”
“Do I have to bring flowers too?”
“Not essential but it would make me smile.”
“Me too.”
Chapter 15
Eaton did hang around for the two weeks it took for the doctor to agree to let Saldana leave his care. The good doctor wasn’t excited about the prospect but, agreed to her release provided Eaton promised to get Saldana medical supervision as soon as they got to the City. Eaton agreed, and Saldana was released from the small hospital one grey and overcast spring day.
The doctor pulled Eaton aside the day before Saldana was to check out.
“I admire what you’re doing or at least what you’re trying to do for Ms. Ri, but I urge you to consider the tasks you’re undertaking and the fact you know nothing about her. I can see that you have become quite fond of her and she is very sweet. But we have not been able to find any information on her and I doubt you will be able to either. So, please just be sure this is what you really want to do.”
“Thanks doc. But I’m sure. She doesn’t seem dangerous to me, so I’m not sure what can go wrong.”
“Lots. But maybe nothing. I hope it all works out for you. And for Ms. Ri. You’re a good guy Mr. Gray, but there’s more going on here than meets the eye. I hope my gut is wrong and it’s all good.”
“Not to worry. I’ll take good care of Saldana, and we’ll let you know how things progress. Who knows, maybe we’ll invite you to our wedding. It could happen.”
***
And it did happen, which at the very least, was somewhat remarkable. Maybe not for a human woman whose life had just been saved, but for a female Gens warrior, it was an anomaly.
They returned to live in Eaton’s home in the City and for months he took care of her every need. As she said, she could type, but was even worse than Eaton, who was egregious. They eventually got voice recognition software that Saldana was familiar with. She was healing remarkably fast, and she was almost completely ambulatory and physically fine within a few months.
In the morning, Saldana was greeted with coffee and croissants from the local bakery, and it turned out that Eaton was a fine cook. It also turned out that Saldana had some exotic culinary tastes, but that just meant a wider and bigger world to Eaton. He had fallen deeply and madly in love with this girl, about whom he still knew so very little.
Saldana, contrary to everything she knew, believed, and held dear, felt exactly the same.
Saldana Ri had fallen in human love with a human male. She had never allowed that such a thing was even remotely possible for any Gens female, let alone it could’ve happened to her.
But there it was. Saldana Ri was playing house with a human; she looked forward to his company every day as if it were her last. It was then that she decided to have a talk with her boyfriend.
Boyfriend? Gens women didn’t have boyfriends. They mated and joined a pack.
“Eaton, can I interrupt you for a minute. I’d like to have a talk. An important talk. About the future.”
“Are you ditching me?”
“No. Oh God no. Why would I ever do that?”
“No reason. Just the musings of an insecure nerd coming out. You know how much I love you don’t you?”
“Of course, I’m not a nerd. But I am your girlfriend. And I hope you know how much I love you too. And how much I want to stay here with you. And be a part of your life.”
“When did you get so serious?”
“When I decided we needed to have this talk.”
“About?”
“About who I am, my kin and my culture. About how I felt about you, until now. About the things we have done and the things we haven’t done. Not yet anyway.”
“I see.”
“Doubtful, but I think I know what you mean.”
“Then don’t scare me and tell me you love me again. Then get on with the news, if that’s what this is.”
“I love you, you idiot. And I miss you every time you leave this house, our home, even if it’s just to go shopping. I’m ashamed to say that I peek out the window waiting for you to come back. Then I pretend not to notice when you come through the door. I’m a mess. And I need you very, very much. Do you forgive me for being so shallow?”
“Tell me you love me again and all is totally forgiven. Not that it needed to be, but if I get an extra ‘I love you’ and a kiss, I’ll be in heaven.”
“You’ll get more than that, Mr. Magoo. The doc says I’m completely healed down there, and we can do some very naughty things now. It’s safe … for me.”
“He said that?”
“I’m paraphrasing. Work with me here.”
“Sorry, I’ll try to keep up. Did you say sex?”
“I did, my fine handsome fellow who I now love with complete abandon. Any chance I can get you naked?”
“I think maybe … yes, a definite yes.”
“Just to be clear. I have almost zero experience with this … sex thing. Don’t make fun of me.”
“You’re in luck. I have almost none myself. Who cares?”
***
The sex was more than adequate for two people without experience. Whatever they did, whatever they tried, it was new, and it was beautiful.
Over time, Saldana readied Eaton for the talk she knew she would have to have with him. She explained all about Gens customs and culture, just not who – or what – the Gens were.
Saldana was nearing the day when the talk would have to take place. If she went on much longer, she might not find the courage to be truthful with him, and she wanted him to love her for all of who and what she was. Was it possible? Or would he simply be repelled by her admission?
But in the past few weeks, Saldana hadn’t felt well and was experiencing discomfort she thought might be a long-term affect from the landslide. She had healed well, and it was now more than a year since the accident, but suddenly she felt sick every morning and tired during the day. She mentioned it to Eaton, who seemed delighted by the news.
How could he take such joy in her discomfort? It wasn’t like him.
“No sweetie, no. It’s not the discomfort that I take joy in. It’s the likely reason for that discomfort, however, that delights me. And you too, I hope.”
“What’re you talking about? I’m sick every morning and feel terrible all day.”
“You Gens folk, you do have children, don’t you?”
“Of course, we do. What’s your point?”
“You’re pregnant, Saldana Ri. You are preggers my love, and I’m going to be a daddy. You the mommy, by the way.”
“Not possible, my sweet. Gens folk can only mate and have babies with other Gens folk. You are not Gens folk. Remember when we had this discussion?”
“I do, but you’re still pregnant; I’ll bet cold cash on that.”
Saldana considered her situation and decided that it was time to drop the news.
“Eaton, honey. I have a confession.”
“You cheated on me with a Gens folk, some random devastatingly handsome guy?”
“No. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Then what? That you’re different than me. Different in some very odd, and possibly terrifying way? Some way even you don’t want to discuss but, feel like you now must? In some way you think might destroy our relationship? Because you aren’t like me – biologically? Is that it?”
Saldana was shocked. How could he know? No, how could he guess?
“What? What are you saying?”
“Sweetie remember I saw you at the landslide and saw the condition you were in while you were unconscious. I watched you for a while before I started digging and began talking to you. I watched you … change. Right before my eyes.”
“What? But…”
“But what? Nothing? I know you have a secret I just don’t know what that secret is. And I don’t care if you’re from Mars. I love you. Plus, I’m certain I’ve knocked you up, so there’s always that.”
“You know? You’ve known?”
“I’m a nerd, not an idiot. How could I not have known? Plus, the doc in Utah was suspicious too. I wrote to him later that what he saw was a genetic anomaly. He seemed fine with that. So, what did you want to talk about?”
Saldana, a woman not generally given to crying or expressing human emotions, was suddenly and completely overcome with emotion. She rushed to Eaton and hugged him, hanging on and holding him close so he would never leave.
“I love you so much.”
“I know. Now, let’s talk about baby names. If it’s a boy…”
***
Saldana Ri was indeed pregnant, an impossibility she had always been told. But it was true and how or for what reason, she didn’t know. As for Eaton, he didn’t care. He loved Saldana Ri and his child. He was happy and asked nothing of her life before him, other than what she wanted to share.
Their life afterwards was centered on family and wilderness outings. Saldana had learned how to return to a place where Eaton was waiting with their child, later children. He was always there to provide her what she needed to again become Saldana Ri, mother to their children and wife to a human male.
Over the next five years, the Gray’s had two more children. They now had two boys and a girl, none with the ability to transform. They were human. Fully human.
***
One day, Saldana came to Eaton saying the company she once headed had asked her to return to work for them. As a consultant. She would’ve to travel, but not very much. Mostly clients would come to see her. She would meet them out of the City, to the north, and would assure that there would be no intrusion into their lives.
Did he mind?
He did not. But he also knew she was lying to him, just not why. She kept secrets before, all, he believed, to protect her love for him. He would wait until she was ready to tell him what he could no longer guess.
He was, this time, quite wrong about her.
Chapter 16
Adam burst into Misti’s office, animated and smiling from ear-to-ear. “I think I have a potential solution to our little language problem.”
“How so?”
“I have constructed a plausible solution that fits all the facts as we know them. Using my vast intellect, my connections in the academic community, and access to the DL Main, I have narrowed my inquiry using a few very reasonable assumptions to test my hypothesis. It yields precisely one solution, and one solution only. While my solution doesn’t express absolute certainty of outcome, it does present a significantly better than random chance possibility that my construct is correct.”
Misti looked at her husband, having heard this line of nonsense before, usually when he was stymied and flailing about for an answer that wasn’t otherwise on the horizon.
“You mean you’re stumped and this is the best you can do. And by the ‘academic community’ you mean your Dad’s connections … where this time?”
“Berkeley, but there is no reason to be so … whatever it is you’re being right now. I’m sure as a linguist, you’ll be able to craft the right word that captures the essence of my … whatever.”
“Yeah, I can see how helpful that might be. So, what do you have? Seriously.”
“Seriously, it’s much closer to what you said. Maybe something, maybe nothing. But I do have a lead.”
“Which is?”
“What we have done so far is take the documents we surmise are in Aramaic or other old languages, dead or alive, and run a comparison program through the DL Main. If the written script was elsewhere in our database, something would’ve popped up. We also sent out exemplars of the script we have and asked various experts in ancient Aramaic around the country and around the world to tell us if they recognize the script, or if they don’t where else we might look.”
“Yes.”
“Nothing came up in the DL Main and none of the experts recognized it immediately either. So, it looked like another dead end. But then we received an email from Dr. Herschel Mendez at Berkeley. He said he has a compendium of variations of isolated Aramaic dialects dating back to 500 BCE, maybe even a much earlier. He said these dialects had never been published, mostly due to the fact that the variations were quite isolated, and the cultures using them very small and very remote. As there was little to study, there was little to collect, and little to gain from further studying the ancient script.”
“Did he find something?”
“Perhaps. Dr. Mendez says he thinks he remembers a script that is remarkably similar to a script we sent him in some documents from Lebanon, dating to the Roman era. They were originally discovered buried in a cave in somewhere in the remote mountains of Lebanon. Seems that the Romans, and before them the Hellenistic rulers of Lebanon, had a devil of a time subduing an unruly mountain tribe. The Romans under Pompey decided to leave them alone rather than continually fight them. Their solution was to negotiate a treaty of safe passage and essentially, non-aggression. The truce lasted several hundred years, although after 100 CE, it was largely ceremonial. After first contact, the tribe later began to adopt Roman culture and language and some tribesmen even served in the Roman Auxiliary. Toward the beginning of the Common Era, some of these tribesmen emigrated to Rome to serve the Empire. As Rome declined, many stayed, their connection to their old country and people attenuated and frayed.
“Documentation from the era, archived, and available in both Italy, and Lebanon, used two official languages. One was the ancient Aramaic dialect in question while the other was a form of Vulgar Latin used throughout the Roman era. Vulgar Latin was used in commerce and for low level official communications between governments. Treaties between these parties, however, were written exclusively in this isolated Aramaic dialect and Classical Latin.”
“Do we have any of that data yet? This could be the big break we’ve been hoping for.”
“The data is on the way, but Dr. Mendez sent some of the digitized documents via email, and it looks like we have a m
atch. We’re going to have to do some serious work getting script comparisons and translations, but it looks as though we may have the basis for understanding what’s in the Gens Library we possess. And their Great Libraries when we find them.”
“You realize what this could mean?”
“Among many things, it may suggest we have the means to locate where folks are, what they do and a whole lot about their culture, beliefs and social structure. It will very possibly aid Hannah and Bitsie in developing behavioral models that will help us understand them. And then fuck ‘em up if they decide to get rowdy with us.”
“I sense there’s an ‘if’ in there somewhere.”
“If the Book of Gensarii is accurate. If this Tomas guy wasn’t just bat shit crazy. If anything, he thought, believed or wrote is accurate, helpful or remotely true. If anything, we hope there is actually there. If, if, if. The Great Libraries supposedly have all the birth and death records, current locations and status of all of the Gens Collective.”
“Awesome!”
“Yes I am.”
“No, I meant the discovery. But you too, I guess.”
***
Adam and Edward called Dr. Mendez the following day, trying to determine whether this lead had legs. The good Doctor was well known in academic circles, unfortunately just not for anything very useful. For those academics working in the field of linguistic anthropology, Dr. Mendez could be a godsend or simply the last stop on the way to the death of a doctoral thesis or the box canyon of project funding.
In over forty years of academic inquiry into the most dead-end of dead-end ancient languages and dialects, Dr. Mendez was the proverbial one-eyed jack. Although his acknowledged expertise in ancient dialects of Aramaic was widely acknowledged, it was less well-known that his expertise also extended to a large number of non-Aramaic written languages.
Misti happened to be with Adam when the conference call began and, for no good reason, thought she would listen in.
“Did you find anything in your archives using our script? Anything at all in your tomes on Aramaic?”
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