John Martin had turned his successful engineering business over to his kids -- much to their consternation. While camping deep in the national forest, he met a fox hybrid in great need of help.

sex: 2/10
violence: 6/10
profanity: 3/10

Categories: Hybrid, Elemental, PSI

Timeline: 2068

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Chapter Eleven: Family Rescue

Esther and I were awakened by a strident alert tone from both of our smart phones. The IATE doesn't often use that alert, so we immediately checked our phones.

I used my coin computer to order my personal Swift III prepared for immediate use.

I looked at Esther. "I promised that you would never have to go back to that town. I can handle it if you need me to."

"Not a chance," she said. "I'm gonna get my little sister out of there, and hopefully my mom and little brother."

We both threw on our robes and bedroom slippers, hopped into a ute, and took the tunnels straight to the hangar.

The Swift was ready preflighted when we got there. I double-checked it and hopped into the pilot's seat. Esther went back to the shower.

I set the autopilot to take us high into the stratosphere and go supersonic. When Esther came to relieve me, I went back and took a quick shower. I grabbed my sturdy work clothes and boots and ran back up to the cockpit. Esther was fully trained, but hadn't quite gotten around to taking her check ride, so she technically wasn't supposed to be flying the aircraft by herself.

While we were on our way, the IATE was busy. They managed to get a court order to put Esther's family into protective custody, and sent it with the same pair of morfed state police officers that had given us so much help three months ago. Esther printed a copy for both of us.

As we were approaching Esther's home town, traffic control notified us that there was an aircar with an emergency transponder headed for the same destination -- the Herrington medical clinic.

The intended flight vector of the police aircar came up on our HUD. We landed next to where Bev and Connie intended to land, left the flight control systems on standby, burst out of the Swift, and headed for the front entrance of the clinic.

A man in a sheriff's uniform stood in front of us and drew his weapon, pointing it at my chest. "Stop right there, gene scum!"

"Are we being detained?" I asked mildly. Meanwhile, I used my electric elemental powers to modify the barrel of his weapon, then started working on the weapons of the surrounding mob hidden in the woods.

"Stand down, officer!" Bev ordered.

"You have no authority over me," the cop answered, maintaining a steady bead on me.

"What I see is someone abusing police authority, assaulting a citizen, and making racial slurs. Drop your weapon and get on the ground."

The cop's weapon exploded in his hand. Then he dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. There were several other explosions in the surrounding mob.

Connie started dropping the more distant mob members, while Esther and I did the ones we could reach. The AMORFS2 suite is designed for fine control, not range. Still, we could reach the closer people and drop their blood pressure enough to make them faint.

A larger state police aircar landed next to Bev and Connie's. Six burly officers burst out and started zip tying the prisoners. Connie entered initial charges of assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, assault of an officer, and interference with the execution of a warrant. In the case of the officer, she added resisting arrest.

"It looks like we'll be spending another day or two in court," I sighed.

"Not to mention tons of paperwork," Bev added.

I used my coin to open the cargo hold on the Swift and suggested that they stow the prisoners there. Then Bev, Connie, Esther, and I went into the clinic.

"No, don't shoot my little girl!" wailed a woman's voice.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but that animal must be put down."

Before he could fully raise his weapon, he dropped limply to the floor. Connie zip tied him and called one of the state police outside to take him into custody.

Esther ran to her mom and hugged her tight. Her mom stiffened briefly, but relaxed when she realized that it was her daghter.

"I'm sorry!" she sobbed.

"For what?" Esther asked.

"That you almost got killed. That I stood by while the whole town went after you. That... that I abandoned you."

Esther hugged her tighter. "There was nothing you could do. And I couldn't ask you to abandon the rest of the rest of the family and everyone you know just for me."

"But If I had, you wouldn't have had to come back here. Rachel would be safe."

"Oh Mom, You can't predict the future. And everything worked out for me. And we'll all be safe in Sun City in a few hours."

"No! I won't go to Sin City with a bunch of gene scum!" the twelve year old boy that had been sulking in the corner yelled. He jumped up and ran for the door, only to slump and fall before he got three steps.

"Are you the guardian of this child?" Bev asked.

"Sorry. Yes, I am. My name is Joanne Newton, and Esther, Rachel, and Saul are my children. Esther is of age, and I plan on taking Rachel and Saul with me to Sun City."

Saul was struggling, but his arms and legs wouldn't work. "No! I want to stay with the new preacher! I don't want to go to hell! I know that I'll get morfs if I stay around the gene scum. Esther got it just from taking the online course, and she gave it to Rachel."

I got down on my knees and looked him in the eyes. "It doesn't work that way. Everyone already has morfs, but only some change. Chances are that you will whether you stay here or not. At least in Sun City, nobody will try to kill you the way that officer tried."

"Mom! Don't believe those lies, Mom. The preacher warned us about the devil being in all the gene scum. Let them take Rachel and we can stay with the pure people. Mom! Mom! Don't let them fool you Mom!"

"Now that's enough of that from you, young man! I'll not hear any more of that garbage from you! Your father used to spout that nonsense and look where it got him!"

Bev looked down at him. "You can go peaceful with your family, or you can be cuffed and thrown in with the rest of the prisoners."

Saul struggled, but didn't say anything.

"Well? What will it be, young man? Your family, or jail?"

Saul mumbled something.

"I can't hear you, young man!" Bev said harshly.

"I'll go with Mom," he said with a sulky voice.

The doctor had been waiting patiently by the door. As soon as Connie picked Saul up and set him back on the chair, the doctor examined Rachel and pronounced her stable. He pulled the IV line and installed a forearm mounted portable infusion pump. He shook everyone's hand and wished them luck.

*It looks like we're about to go,* Bev said to Joanne, Esther, and me. *I'll release Saul to you. He's almost sure to do a runner. When he does, just turn off his legs. If you feel like giving him a lesson, increase the transmission of his pain neurons. But I didn't suggest that.*

Bev turned to Saul. "I'm releasing you to your guardian. I expect you to keep your promise."

A nurse came in with discharge instructions and a wheelchair. She pushed Rachel out to the entrance, and I took over from there.

Sure enough, just as soon as we were clear of the building, Saul ran for the woods. He got about five steps, just enough to get up to full speed, when his legs collapsed. He face planted into the gravel. He gritted his teeth against the pain, but refused to give any indication that he was hurt.

Connie went to him. Before he could try to hit Connie and end up with an official charge, I paralyzed his arms. He laid there helpless until Connie easily picked him up and carried him like a baby.

Once we got to the Swift, I strapped him into a seat. I grabbed a cup of water from the bar and threw it at his face. I grabbed the water with my TK before it hit and used it to clean the mud and blood off of his face, upper chest, and hands. I also made sure that there were no pathogens in his wounds. I didn't heal him, though. He needed to keep a reminder of how painful it is to act out.

"You know, trying to catch yourself with your hands when you fall is a good way to break something. Maybe your mom can sign you up for some martial arts classes so that you can learn how to fall properly."

Meanwhile, Bev and Connie took their aircar to Joanne's home and picked up the boxes that she had already packed away in preparation for leaving. She had packed away the kids' yearbooks and baby books, trophies, awards, and other irreplaceable items.

"Your family is now under the protection of the IATE," I told her. "They'll take care of the house, sell it, sell the contents, and ship whatever you want to Sun City."

She shook her head. "I have what can't be replaced. I have the mementos of the good parts of life. The rest of it can just go away."

"What about your wedding dress and all that stuff?" Esther asked.

Joanne made a rude noise. "They can shred it and use it for bedding at a pig farm for all I care. The worst mistake of my life..." Then her face softened and she looked at her kids. "Marrying that man was a mistake, but I got you three out of it, so I can't regret it."

Esther gave her a hug. "It'll all work out. You'll see."

Bev contacted us. *We have the boxes loaded. Is there anything else you want?*

Esther and Joanne discussed it briefly. I commented that we are perfecting a Santa Claus type machine that makes clothes, so there is no reason to bring any. I'll just put everyone down as test subjects.

"Rachel is unlikely to fit her old clothes, anyhow."

"I want my t-shirts!" Saul said.

"Do you really want to take those heretical pures things to Sun City? Think about it, son," Joanne replied.

"I want my baseball stuff! I want my socker ball! I want my football! I want..."

"That'll be enough of that, young man! Maybe I'll get you some new stuff if you act right. Meanwhile, you're grounded."

*I picked up the boy's toys from his room,* Bev said.

*Thanks. It's kind of you, especially considering the way that he treated you,* I said.

"You'll get them back when you learn to act like a human being, and not a bigoted son of a... jerk like your dad."

"Don't talk about Dad that way," he wailed.

"Learn from his mistakes," Esther said. "I stopped swallowing that crap as soon as I could think for myself. And it's a good thing I did!"

I gave Esther a hug and kiss. "I'm glad you did, too."

Saul made retching noises.

Esther went over and kissed him on the forehead. "I still love you, little brother. And I'm looking forward to the day when you're fit for polite company."

He scowled, but still couldn't move his arms or legs.

I walked over and put my arm around Esther. "You know, little brother, both of your sisters morfed. You're next, so I'll give you a word to the wise. If you're wise, you'll heed it."

He scowled at me. "I'm pure!"

"Oh? Like your sisters were? You share their genes, you know. And now you're at just the right age to come down with the change. So don't kid yourself."

I could feel his worry.

"Don't worry, little brother. You'll be living in the city of MORFS. You'll be safe."

"You're not my brother!"

I smirked at him. "I'm Esther's lifemate. That makes me your brother in law." I turned to Joanne. "That means that you and Rachel are family, too. You're all welcome in our home, once it's ready for us to move in. Meanwhile, we have a nice suite for you all at Martin Engineering headquarters, right next to Esther and me."

"I don't want to be a burden..."

Esther made a rude noise. "Burden? Since when is family ever a burden? Besides, John owns the whole company. Well, he did until he passed a share to his kids. He could support a few dozen families without noticing."

"But... I'm finally free of your dad. I need to make my own way."

"Remember what you wanted to do before you married Dad and he decided that you needed to stay home full time?"

"A fashion designer? It's kinda late in my life to start that now!"

I shook my head. "It's never too late! You'll find that the life sciences division of Martin Engineering gives great makeovers. And I don't think that Esther is going to take no for an answer."

"I'm sure that the University of Sun City has some great programs," Esther added.

"And if you really want to do something, and I definitely encourage that, Martin Engineering employs lots of artist types. How would you like to design clothing for Martin Engineering? You'll find that our compensation and fringe benefits package is the best in the world."

"Grab it, Mom! As my sister in law told me, it isn't everyone that gets a personal invitation from the head honcho of Martin Engineering."

Saul continued to sulk.

"Oh yes, that word to the wise," I said, turning to Saul. "MORFS often exhibits a kind of karmic justice. There was this really noisy and obnoxious kid at school that turned into a guinea fowl hybrid. And there was this real rat that turned into a rat hybrid, complete with a naked ugly rat tail."

"Karma is not Christian..." he started.

"Neither is the Church of Genetic Purity," I interrupted. "And the Christian concept that means the same thing is the law of reaping and sowing."

*All of your stuff is stowed, Missus Newton. John, could we prevail upon you to transport the prisoners to the jail? It'll take a couple hours to get a big enough prisoner transport vehicle over here, otherwise.*

*No problem, Bev. And thanks for getting Joanne's stuff.*

*Thanks, John! I'll let you know when the guys get everyone settled and properly manacled. Hey Saul, you sure you don't want to ride with your buddies? We have plenty of manacles.*

Joanne gave him a serious look. "You were headed in that direction, Saul. If you had kept following your father, there might be some manacles in your future."

I recalled the drones. Also, Tabitha, who had been flying several thousand feet up, came down in a steep dive and zoomed in through the open hatch. Like every other housecat in the world, she decided to sit on the lap of the person who least wanted her: Saul.

Joanne was looking at her, so I picked her up and placed her into her arms. Joanne cooed and petted her.

We, along with the two state police aircars, landed in the area near the jail designated for prisoner transfers. The prisoners were efficiently moved to the facility and processed.

We were allowed to stay parked while we all wrote out our official statements. Since we were here at the jail, Joanne decided to visit her soon to be ex. The rest of us went with her -- her kids to see their father, and me to offer moral support and to see the man that was technically my father in law.

The visit went about as well as could be expected. He begged his wife to stay with him, even though he knew that he would likely spend his last days in jail. Saul blubbered and begged his dad to take care of him. I have no idea what the child was thinking. He and Esther just glared coldly at each other. I pointed out to him that the only way he was ever going to see the outside of the jail ever again was to change his attitude about morfs, lose the hate, and have it verified by a telepath. That earned me nothing but a dark glare.

We went back to the Swift. The facility nurse, who had volunteered to watch Rachel, let us know that she was doing fine and walked back to the facility.

Chapter Twelve: Home Sweet Home

The housekeeping staff took Joanne's property from the Swift almost as soon as we set down. The medical staff took Rachel from the Swift and wheeled her to the clinic. Their entire family was given a checkup. The scanner results were converted to clothing sizes.

After conferring with Joanne, I had the nurse put a medical alert bracelet on Saul.

"Since you proved to us that you can't be trusted, you will be monitored. The bracelet will also let us know when you come down with MORFS. That bracelet authorizes you to travel around the public areas of Martin Engineering headquarters."

He scowled, of course.

Rachel got a medical bracelet because she was a patient of the clinic. Joanne got a badge.

We went to their suite and got Rachel settled into her bed, then ordered lunch. While we were waiting, I showed Joanne how to order clothes and food, and how to make designs. She ordered some simple clothing for herself, some large sweats with a tail hole for Rachel, and some standard school and casual clothing for Saul. I suggested to her that she order something nice for herself, but not to fill her closet until she has her makeover.

They found their household items stacked in an extra room. They decided to leave it all there, except for their tablets and phones. That is, Joanne decided to leave it there. Saul wanted his video games and sports equipment. Joanne informed him that he would get it once he proves himself.

The next day, Esther and I gave Joanne and Saul a tour of Martin Engineering. Despite himself, Saul was pretty excited about some of the technology he got to see.

I made sure to pay attention to him and tell him about the stuff that we were working on. I also let him know that he would be able to play with some of it if he didn't give us too much trouble.

I promised him that if he did well in school, I would help him get a college education. Intelligence seems to run in the family, even if it did skip his father.

Rachel's medical bracelet was set to alert Joanne whenever she started to wake up. That meant that Rachel didn't have to wake up alone in an unfamiliar place.

After a couple days of the usual cycles of waking up, using the facilities, eating, and going back to bed, she finally woke up as a partial squirrel hybrid. The fact that her mother welcomed her with open arms greatly eased her transformation.

Once Rachel was settled in and enrolled in school, Joanne went to the clinic for her tune up.

She decided that she wanted some hybrid features as an act of solidarity with her children. Esther and I could tell that she liked the idea of having a tail and ears, and used the solidarity as an excuse.

She chose a fluffy tail that could be considered to be a fox or squirrel tail, squirrel ears, and fox eyes. She remained the same height, and received all of the enhancements that went with the tune-up. She was quite happy with her new timeless looks, hairless body, enhanced vision and hearing, health, sturdiness, and strength.

Saul was a bit miffed at her choice to become a hybrid, but he was having too much fun in the school sports program, all of the recreational opportunities around Sun City, and the really cool technology at Martin Engineering to gripe too much.

The fact that everyone he met was friendly helped ease his fear of hybrids. It was an unusually rapid turnaround, but not really surprising. He got to see first hand that none of what he had heard in his earlier life was true.

And there was a bunny hybrid at school that kinda took a shine to him.

Chapter Thirteen: Pets

I woke up feeling hot desire in parts that I don't have. That didn't surprise me, since I could tell that Tabitha was getting ready to go into heat. Fortunately for the sanity of the owners of flying kitties, they go from zero to fully fertile heat in hours, and drop out just as quickly once mated.

I reached out with my mind for Tina. She felt my gentle inquiry and smirked. *It's time, eh? Why don't you and Esther bring her over. I have a tomcat that would like to meet her.*

When we got to Tina and Jerry's cat ranch, we were mobbed by dozens of flying cats. Most were only visiting, having come over from other nearby houses while their owners were at work of school. Martin Engineering welcomes close pets, but other places of employment are not as accommodating.

We took her to a large cage and let her in with a genetically modified tomcat. He was an ordinary tomcat until Tina modified his testicles to make him compatible with flying cats. She had done that earlier with three female barn cats, Snow Puff, Coal Puff, and Cream Puff.

It didn't take long for them to get down to business. With much hissing and caterwauling, they got the deed done.

Once Tina and I verified that Tabatha was, in fact, pregnant, we let them out of the cage.

Then, Tina led Esther and me into the house and to a box that contained a mother and four kittens.

"They're old enough. What do you think, Esther? Would you like a flying kitty?"

Esther jumped up and hugged Tina tightly. "Thank you! I fell in love with the kitties as soon as I met Tabatha!"

We thought it would be difficult to choose, but a male red point kitten crawled to her just as soon as she reached into the box. She had a beatific smile on her face as soon as she picked up the little six week old ball of fur. It was love at first sight, and Tina sealed the link.

"I think I'll call you Rufus," she said.

Chapter Fourteen: Family Matters

Esther and I accompanied Joanne to the parent/teacher conferences. Her kids had only been there for a couple weeks, but it was enough for the teachers to assess them and start to get them up to speed.

Saul, much to the surprise and delight of his mother, was doing well. Rachel was also quickly catching up.

The teachers noted that Saul was a bit ill at ease with hybrids at first, but got over it quickly. He seemed to be making a concerted effort. He wouldn't tell the teachers what his initial problem was, though. We respected his desire for privacy and told the teachers that he had had some difficult experiences in the past, particularly around the time that his sisters had morfed. It was the literal truth without giving up too much.

"Jenny wants to come over and play games with me." Saul told his mom.

"This is your home. I'm not going to tell you that you can't have guests," I said.

"Jenny's dad wants to meet us all first."

Joanne chuckled. "Protective father? No problem. Just give me his contact information and I'll set it up."

"Oh, Mom! That's so cute! Where did you get it?" Rachel squealed.

"I designed it. Why do you think I have been taking all those online courses?"

Rachel gave her mom a hug. "I'm going to wear it to school tomorrow. The other girls will be soooooo jealous!"

Esther and I had to chuckle. How many teens would be seen dead in something their mom picked out, let alone designed?

Rachel ran into her room and closed the door. A couple minutes later, she ran out with her fluffy tail trailing behind her.

Far from looking like it had been modified to accommodate her tail, the skirt and top looked like they were designed to enhance it. Because they were.

"... And this is my big brother, John Martin," Saul said to his girlfriend Jenny Minstrel and her father Michael.

Michael did a bit of a double take. "Brother, you say?"

I chuckled and put my arm around Esther. "Esther is my lifemate, so that makes Saul my brother in law. I rescued Esther from some radical pures, then we went back and picked up the rest of the set."

Esther and I were in the main reception area when a group of people came out of the pubic lift. Jenny was half dragging, half supporting Saul. She spotted Esther and me and looked relieved.

"Your stubborn little brother wouldn't go to the school nurse," Jenny said. "I had to drag him home or he would have fallen over."

"I can make it," he said weakly.

"Really?" she said, just before she released him.

Esther scooped him up just as he was falling to the floor. "C'mon, Saul, let's get you to the clinic so you can get fitted with a portable infusion pump."

"But I don't have..." he started.

"Just keep telling yourself that," Esther said with a smirk.

"Time to spin your cocoon, little caterpillar," I said. You can't fool a bio elemental, let alone two of them."

Jenny came over and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Don't worry, sweetie. You'll be OK."

"But what if I..."

"You'll be OK," Esther assured him. "You do like bunnies, don't you?"

"And you'll get to keep your most prized possession," I reassured him. Even without my empathic senses, I could tell what was on his mind.

He looked relieved. He relaxed and fell asleep in his sister's arms before we went another ten steps.

Esther held him and I kept him asleep and relaxed while the nurse started the IV and installed the portable infusion pump.

As Esther was carrying him back out of the clinic, I put my hand on Jenny's shoulder. "What do you think of hermaphrodites?"

She turned red and stammered a bit.

"Good!" I said.

She blushed and looked confused.

"I didn't lie to Saul when I told him that he would be keeping his most prized possession, but I neglected to tell him that he'll be picking up some new parts. Since you are attracted to halfies, letting him know the next time that you see him will make his change a whole lot easier."

"How did you know?"

"I told Saul that you can't fool two bios. You also can't fool two empaths," I said with a smile. "You two seem to be more attached than most kids your age. It wouldn't hurt to let him know that, too."

We took Saul to his room and put him to bed. His mother fussed over him a bit, then walked out. Jenny gave him a kiss on the cheek and followed Joanne out.

I showed her how to access the data from the infusion pump on her tablet. That way, she would know when he was about to wake up, and could reassure herself that he was doing well.

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